By Austine Uche-Ejeke
Of all the problems bedevilling the country and Nigerians today, the issue of cash scarcity and the inability of Nigerians to access their money in the banks should not come up at all. This is because Nigerians have not had it so bad in decades in terms of the current hardship, suffering and neglect they are passing through today. The least they can ask is the right to access the money they saved in the bank or money the banks used as a means of payment for products and services they rendered.
But what do we have today, a situation where Nigerians will queue for hours either at the bank’s counter or at the ATM, only to be paid a paltry N5,000, N10,000 or N20,000, depending on the bank or how lucky they are. This is not supposed to be so.
Perpetual praise singers and supporters of evil will be quick to tell you that the problem did not start with this regime. In fact, they will be quick to tell you that President Bola Tinubu sacked the former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, because of this problem.
The question is how long we should continue in this blame game and when it will stop. Thank God Emefiele is no longer the CBN governor today. The current regime campaigned and promised to right the wrongs of the previous administration. Then, why does this problem persist to this moment?
It is our position to lay the blame at the doorsteps of the CBN governor under Yemi Cardoso. Our position is predicated on the fact that the CBN remains the lender of last resort, regulator, and enforcer of all monetary transactions and activities in the country.
If that is the case, the CBN as an enforcement monetary institution should know how much money it dishes out to the banks and monitor if this money is evenly distributed to ensure that a greater number of Nigerians have access to their money when they want it.
To us, it is merely tomfoolery and playing to the gallery when CBN asks Nigerians to report banks that don’t meet their demands. Funny enough the CBN will put some phoney phone numbers that are hard to connect for Nigerians to make complaints.
The most annoying aspect of all these is that the same cash that Nigerians cannot get across the counter or at the ATMs are often seen with individuals and you keep on wondering how individuals and organisations manage to get this cash.
Cases of burst warehouses and apartments where stacks of bundles of naira were discovered keep on insulting the psyche and sensibilities of Nigerians who often question if this is not the same cash they are not able to withdraw at the banks and ATMs.
Also, the same scarce cash is what we find in the hands of PoS operators and those described as cash merchants. The implication of this is that Nigerians now use money to buy the money they are supposed to cash out at the bank’s counter or the ATMs! What a tragedy and suffering of double jeopardy by depositors.
The problem is further accentuated by the shocking revelation that supermarkets, petrol filling stations and others now engage in the lucrative business of cash trading, where the cash they collect from buyers is now sold to PoS operators and cash merchants for them to resell to hapless Nigerians.
An ageing woman in Umuahia, Abia State cried out recently, lamenting how they now buy their own money from PoS operators. This is the money they are supposed to collect from the bank. She recounted how she used N400 to collect N15,000. The actual charge is supposed to be N100.
All these points out to the rot in the system whereby banks rip off depositors not only through extraneous and out-of-this-world charges but also sell off their hard-earned cash to PoS operators, who in turn will resell the money to them at very outrageous rates. No wonder banks keep on declaring sickening billions of naira as profit every year even when the economy is not smiling.
So, we call on the Federal Government to put fire on the CBN and particularly its governor, Yemi Cardoso, to sit up and do their work. IT should police and monitor these banks properly. It can go further to make publications of how much cash each bank gives out daily and question them when there are reports of shortage or cash scarcity by depositors.
That also brings us to the role of security agencies in the country. The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, should leave politics alone and stop being the poster boy of President Tinubu. Ribadu should stop doing the work of the minister of information, publicity secretary of the ruling All People Congress or a presidential spokesman. He should face the onerous task of providing adequate security for the entire country.
A country where its citizens cry out daily of inability to access their money in the banks is a huge security risk and problem that if not urgently and adequately tackled could lead to an uprising and breakdown of law and order.
The Economic Financial Crime Commission, Department of State Security, police and other security agencies should live up to their billing and police these banks. The EFCC should not just be seen pursuing “Yahoo boys” and other ‘minor criminals ‘ but see this as a major economic and financial crime against the citizens of this great country. It should put its eyes on the ground to see how this money develops wings and finds solace in the confines of individuals and organisations.
This is a festive season and end-of-year activities and as such Nigerians need their money to carry out a lot of transactions. They should not be denied access to their money or forced to buy the same exorbitantly from PoS operators and cash merchants. They should have it when they need it.
Nigerians have suffered enough untold hardship concerning this and the government better wake up to its responsibility before things get out of hand.
• Austine Uche-Ejeke, a public affairs analyst, writes via [email protected]
