Since the Supreme Court’s famous ruling on the obnoxious cash swap deadline, issued on 3 February 2023, it has become clear that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) naira redesign policy has, for all intents and purposes, failed. The deafening silence that greeted President Muhammadu Buhari’s and CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele’s decisions became concerning. It took the President two weeks just to acknowledge the Supreme Court’s decision on the matter. This added to the confusion because the CBN did not formally issue a directive to deposit money banks (DMBs) regarding the status of the contentious N500 and N1000 notes.
President Buhari finally broke his silence on March 13th, in a disjointed and rather verbose press statement. Many Nigerians had high hopes but were left disappointed.
However, here are the five lessons we’ve learned since the naira crisis began in January:
- The policy was badly thought out, resulting in completely unnecessary chaos
Even the blind can see that the policy was rushed. Its planning and development were not well thought out. Even with repeated assurances from erstwhile loquacious Emefiele, a rabid defender of this poorly-implemented and unprecedented act of economic sabotage, keen observers saw the disaster that awaited the introduction of the Naira redesign implementation since October 2022.
Nigerians are obviously accustomed to chaotic situations, but this is completely unnecessary. The reports that the CBN burned a large portion of the old notes that were removed from circulation confirm that the policy was designed to create unnecessary chaos in the country. But to whose benefit(s)?
- The Buhari administration lacks coordination
The implementation of the naira redesign has also revealed how uncoordinated and chaotic the Buhari administration has been. The announcement of the naira redesign policy revealed that there was no consensus within the administration on the policy. A few days after the policy was announced, Finance Minister Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed publicly stated that she was not consulted before the CBN Governor made the famous announcement in October.
The policy appeared to be the CBN Governor’s personal initiative, which he managed to persuade the President to support. The drowning Governor Emefiele had only one straw to cling to: the President. He was seen visiting the President late at night to legitimize his unpopular policy. He met the President more than three times in his hometown of Daura before making critical announcements from prepared speeches.
For a decision of this magnitude to be made, the president must have all of his advisors and key ministers by his side at all times, not just a desperate and drowning CBN governor. This only confirms that Buhari’s administration is the most disorganized in the country’s history!
- Buhari has already left office before May
Despite the fact that his eight-year term officially ends on May 29, all indications are that President Buhari has either closed shop or is just filing time. The country is effectively on autopilot. The implementation of the naira redesign exemplifies this.
Recall that when the chaos began in early February, Buhari asked Nigerians to give him seven days to resolve the cash crisis, which had clearly become an embarrassing problem for the people. Nothing significant was done even after the 7-day period had expired. Even the hastily convened National Council of State (NCS) meeting on February 10 did little to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians who waited patiently for a decisive solution.
According to keen observers, Buhari’s tenure ended in 2020, just a year after re-election.
- The cabals lost the plot
Some believe Emefiele is only playing the Aso Villa cabals’ cards. He now has a job thanks to the cabals who persuaded Buhari to re-appoint him in 2019. With this hurriedly packaged naira redesign program, the cabals had an agenda. With Buhari’s decision to throw Emefiele under the bus, the cabal may have lost the plot!
- Buhari’s silence is NEVER a virtue
Buhari, as President of Nigeria, has access to vast amounts of intelligence. His silence on major issues is frequently suspect. His most recent silence or failure to respond quickly to the Supreme Court’s decision on the CBN’s deadline demonstrates his complicity in the naira scarcity mess.