The decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign N200, N500 and N1,000 naira has got legislative backing from the Nigerian Senate.

The upper legislative arm of the National Assembly approved a motion supporting the redesign of the naira notes after a rowdy session.

Senator Uba Sani moved the motion with the title: “Re-design of the New Naira Notes by the CBN: A Call for Legislative Support.”

The motion read: “Notes that currency management is a key function of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the integrity of the Naira and efficient supply of banknotes are indicators of a performing central bank, especially in predominantly cash-based economies such as Nigeria;

“Notes also that in recent times, currency management in Nigeria has faced series of challenges that have affected the ability of the CBN to efficiently carry out its mandate of issuing legal tender (i.e., provision of an adequate volume of clean banknotes in the right denominational mix for members of the public)

“Concerned that these challenges will continue to grow in scale, with attendant consequences on CBN and Nigeria’s reputation, if left unaddressed;

“Aware that these challenges are primarily centered around the wholesale hoarding of Naira banknotes by members of the public. Available statistics show that cash outside banks consist of over 80 per cent of Currency-In -Circulation (CIC).”

The motion succeeded by a majority of bipartisan support amidst concern that the Jan 31, 2023 deadline given by the central bank to totally implement the redesign is insufficient.

The motion was debated mainly on the argument that the deadline should be shifted by three more months. Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, with the support of senators Ali Ndume, Abiodun Olujimi, Betty Apiafi, Barau Jibrin, Chukwuka Utazi, argued that although the CBN policy is good, the deadline should be extended to enable effective compliance.

According to Kalu, the CBN governor Godwin Emefiele should be invited by the Senate Committee on Banking and Finance and be persuaded to move the deadline to April 30, 2023.

However, the senators’ push for the CBN to move the deadline is understood to be a ploy to help politicians offload the huge cash they have stockpiled for the elections. With the elections scheduled to hold in the early months of 2023, the central bank’s directive that old naira notes should be deposited to banks by the end of January, will greatly scuttle politicians’ chances to influence the outcome of the elections with vote-buying.

But senator Sani urged the red chamber to support the CBN naira redesign policy including the deadline. President Muhammadu Buhari had said that the CBN’s decision to redesign the naira notes, which is scheduled to take effect from Dec 15, has his backing.

The CBN said as at the end of September 2022, N2.73 Trillion out of the N3.23 trillion currency in circulation, was outside the vaults of commercial banks across the country, and supposedly held by the public. Thus, the apex bank’s decision to redesign the naira notes is aimed at curtailing the amount of cash stashed outside banks’ vaults. This, as believed by many, will help tame inflation.

With a divided house, the concern that rural areas would not be able to meet the CBN’s Jan 31, 2023 deadline, due to underbanking, became another concern for the Senate.

Senator Ali Ndume had earlier noted that there were only five banks in the entire 27 local government areas in Borno State since the insurgency started in the state, amplifying the concern that in some states across the country, Nigerians who lack access to financial inclusion will be seriously impacted by the naira notes redesign. Most banks in the rural communities have been shut down due to insecurity.

Although the senate indulged in heated debate over the matters arising, particularly the deadline issued by the CBN, it later resolved to support the naira notes redesign with legislation.

Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, who presided over the session, said it was the prerogatives of the CBN to redesign the naira and put a deadline for compliance.

However, the Senate agreed that Emefiele has more clarification to make on the issue as regards its impact on national interests.

There is belief that the naira redesign will help in the fight against insecurity. But Senator Betty Apiafi noted that terrorists have opted to collect ransom in foreign currency, following the CBN’s decision to redesign the naira notes.

In the Ovim community, there are two key axioms everyone grows up with: 

(1) aka ojoo gara na-nnu agwo gbakwaya” [ any bad hand that enters into the rabbit warren, may the snake bite him or her].

(2) nkparuri egwu la mu [as I work and pursue legal ways to earn a living, I will not die on it]

These two axioms are connected: you are expected to work hard to earn a living – but in that process, if you do evil while in that process, you should expect to be consumed. 

That takes me to what Elom Musk is doing to Twitter workers. Yes, while he has the right to push for higher productivity, he needs to respect the dignity of work. Earning a living in Twitter is an honuorable thing. Somehow needs to tell Musk that. These workers are humans and not “numbers” to be experimented with.

Read his latest memo.

“Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore.

“This will mean working long hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade. Twitter will also be much more engineering-driven.

“Design and product management will still be very important and report to me, but those writing great code will constitute the majority of our team and have the greatest sway. At its heart, Twitter is a software and servers company, so I think this makes sense.

“If you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter, please click yes on the link below:[Google form link] Anyone who has not done so by 5 pm ET tomorrow (Thursday) will receive three months of severance. Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Twitter successful.”

That memo is degrading but I understand to earn a living, men and women have limited options in this firing age. But that does not mean Musk must not be cautioned!

He can achieve his points without making work look like “0” and “1”. Running a social media is largely within social science and not the same as building cars and rockets (natural philosophy). What that means is that things are not that easy for social media firms because uncertainties are unbounded!

Updated: After I wrote the piece, LinkedIn News reported as follows.

So many Twitter employees took Elon Musk up on his offer of three weeks’ severance — rather than commit to “hardcore” work by a 5 p.m. ET deadline Thursday — that the new CEO was left scrambling to retain workers, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources. In somewhat of an about-face email to staff, Musk said flexible options would now be available. Early reports suggest it wasn’t enough, however, with The New York Times saying “hundreds” left the company. Employees were signing off internal channels with salute emojis, which became the symbol for “I quit.” Sources tell Bloomberg Twitter would undoubtedly “have trouble fixing problems or updating systems during its normal operations.”

Comment on Feed

Comment: Well, that’s how Elon has been running his companies and his the world’s richest man. So, maybe sir, you’re the one that needs to be spoken to. By the way, Elon Musk himself is a workaholic, there is nothing wrong if he demands the same kind of energy from his employees.

My Response: There is nothing he is doing that others do not do. But in life, there is always a space for decency and respect. That you can hire someone and pay him does not mean he has no rights to decency. Think about him, a professor has you as a PhD student in his lab. First day, he fires you. Second week, he recalls you. Next week, he asks you to check a button if you want to stay or not. Next day, he comes back, you are fired. That he is your professor does not mean he is your lord. You cannot fire and re-hire someone 3 times in a month. That is not how it works.

Another commenter on my response: I completely agreed with you on this Prof. He needs to take a well-rounded decision but not in this haphazard manner. Human beings are resources with dignity and should not be used for experimentation and guess estimations

Comment 2: Prof ,until you have 200Billion USD in equity or cash,I’d prefer Elon Musk’s approach.

My Response: I understand your feelings. It was like that until one day I sat on the same table and ate lunch with Bill Gates. By the time we finished that first meeting, I knew something: the best liberation is not thinking of the size of your pockets day and night. Why? If you do crazy things because you have a big bank account and can do whatever you want, you will become miserable. Elon can afford to fire, hire, fire, etc because for him, it is all money. But check over time, he will grow wiser to see beyond $$$. 

When that happens, he will look for how to give out most of the money so that he can feel better. I am not sure he will be Twitter boss in 6 months because he will feel empty at night despite the increasing digits in the bank. Go for it….but as a teacher, I have no chance.