The impact of the poorly implemented Naira Redesign and Currency Swap Policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria is being more acutely felt in the rural areas than the urban areas despite the unusual Videos of people fighting in banking halls and the shocking picture of a man who had to go naked to get access to his money. 

Food Security Expert, African Farmer Mogaji disclosed this while speaking on TVC News Breakfast on Monday Morning.

African Farmer Mogaji said in defining Nigerians affected by the policy, it should be noted that there are two categories of people affected.

He said one is the Urban dwellers who are affected and their reactions can be seen all over social media with fights, people going naked, and protests that have led to the burning of Banks and loss of lives.

He however disclosed that the other people who are suffering more acutely from the Policy but are not being given the same level of attention are those in the rural areas who are either in underbanked or unbanked communities.

He gave the example of the Food Production belt of Oke Ogun in Oyo State with the specific example of Sepeteri in Atisbo Local Government Area of Oyo State where there is no single bank in the community with a large concentration of labourers, farmers and farming settlements who work daily and expect to be paid at the end of the day.

He said the settlement is in the Southwest which many people think is the most developed part of Nigeria.

He added that people usually contribute their ATM’s for someone to go to Shaki from Sepeteri to go and withdraw cash for them to get things done.

African Farmer Mogaji said this has been the case in most villages where he has worked in the south West.

According to him moving to the North Shows that things become very challenging with many unbanked communities littering the whole region.

He added that the Policy has ensured that the Agric Sector is under serious strain and will lead to Food Price Inflation will start going up from this week since most workers in the sector work in the morning and expect to get paid in the evening.

According to Mr Mogaji, most Youth in the South West are involved in menial jobs where they are paid cash daily, it becomes a problem for them to survive, he said the scenes we see in the urban areas pale into insignificance when compared to what obtains in the rural areas.

He said Nigeria focus too much on the elite and the urban areas.

He added that if care is not taken, Nigeria will soon pay a very high price for what is going on across the Country all in the name of Cash Swap and Naira Redesign.

He said the Northern part of Nigeria is still very far in knowing what people are going through.

Going Further He said the Central Bank of Nigeria going from its experience in the Anchor Borrowers Scheme is aware that more than 60 percent of Nigerians are unbanked adding that the Currency Redesign and Swap is nothing short of trying to make magic.

TVC News