Yesterday was supposed to be a busy day in Mararaban Liman Katagum, a Bauchi suburb hosting a weekly livestock market that operates on Thursdays. But the market was scanty unlike its atmosphere in the previous weeks, WikkiTimes’ Babaji Usman observes.
Local traders who deal in livestock at the market have deserted the market over fears of trading with old notes which are still much in circulation despite the fast-approaching deadline to get rid of them.
Bauchi Cattle Dealers Bemoan Alleged Fraudulent POS OPerators, Seek CBN’s Intervention
During yesterday’s market day, both the livestock section and other shops were crowd-free as the deadline for old naira notes stairs reaction across the country.
Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had reiterated that the January 31 deadline remains sacrosanct had no intention to extend it.
The CBN Governor announced this in a media briefing after the apex bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held a meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.
The new notes N1,000, N500 and N200 were launched by President Muhammadu Buhari as part of the federal government’s plan to implement the cashless policy in Nigeria. But the given deadline is taking tolls on business activities across the country, according to media report.
Hashimu Isa, Chairman of Cattle Dealers Association in the Mararaba market told WikkiTimes that the new naira notes are not in circulation for the deadline to stand.
He pleaded with the government to reconsider the date, explaining that a larger proportion of villagers have huge amounts of the old currencies and don’t have access to the new notes.
Saleh Gambo, a trader who sells goats said from the time the policy was announced about two months ago, several businessmen were in a panic, “but it became worse when the deadline was approaching and they insisted on it.”
Terrorists Abandon Naira, Switch to Another Currency amid CBN’s Redesign Plan
Gambo explained that he came to the market to observe the situation without any plan to buy or sell anything at his disposal. “I will not do anything these days, I will observe the situation till next week because I am afraid of the consequences,” he said.
In many places, marketers are lamenting the stiffness of the policy and how it affects common men and the country’s economy at large.
Previous pictures of market days could give one a clear definition of how the deadline negatively affects businesses in the market.
