“Economic policies usually come with pains, but when compared to the benefits that we will accrue thereafter are worthy pains”
Following the 10 days extension for the swapping of the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes with the new notes, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) has partnered with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to create awareness of the importance of the policy in the rural areas.
The Director General of NOA, Dr Garba Abari during a visit to the Headquarters of the NURTW in Abuja, said the NOA is the custodian of national symbols.
He said the naira redesign policy may come with pains but there are economic benefits that will be accrued from it once it is implemented fully.
He lamented that a huge chunk of money is in the possession of individuals and organisations instead of being in the banks.
“The government in its wisdom has decided to redesign our national currency. The NOA is a custodian of national symbols; the naira is a national symbol. We have not had the naira redesigned for a very long time, this time around, the government in its wisdom decided to redesign the naira having taken all the technical inputs that are constitutional.
“There is a huge chunk of money outside the banking system and this is not healthy for the economy, as a result of this, so much cash out of the banking system in the hands of individuals and corporate bodies, moments have arisen where such has constituted a serious security threat to our country.
“Economic policies usually come with pains, but when compared to the benefits that we will accrue thereafter are worthy pains.
“It is in this respect that we have come to solicit the support of the NURTW because we know that your hierarchy touches down the line, we want this message taken to your respective state branches, down to your local government branches, down to the communities”, he said.
Abari said the NOA also has structures that will be working with NURTW by way of carrying out the messages and creating awareness around the policy.
“The N200, N500, and N1000 redesigned currency are the ones in addition to the N100, N50 and N20 that remained in their original colours and forms.
“We are taking this as an awareness creation platform to ask for your support and partnership because of the very extensive structures that you have, and that we will be working with the NURTW in the states and the local governments, and of course bring in other stakeholders to propagate this policy”, Abari added.
On his part, the National President of NURTW, Chief Tajudeen Baruwa said the naira redesign policy is a welcome development which he said has many benefits.
He said NURTW with members in all the local governments across the country will carry the message of the policy to their passengers in the rural areas.
He however urged the government to ensure that the new air notes are made available in rural areas, especially areas where there are no banks.
“NURTW is everywhere in Nigeria, after the federal government, we have a large number of employees, because we know our strength, we know how many members we have in each state, we have at least 37,000 members in each state.
“We support the government’s naira note redesign policy, it is a welcome idea, we welcome it, although it affects us little, there is no way the NURTW will not support any programme from the government because we believe that we are part of the government.
“The redesigned naira notes are very good to my members across Nigeria and we support the government, what I will ask the government is that the money should be available in the banks for the people in the rural areas where there are no banks.
“In some rural areas where there are 5 to 10 vehicles transporting passengers to the cities, they may not have access to the POS, the government should think about them.
“NURTW believes in good things, and this policy is good, and it has been about 20 years since this money has not been redesigned, and this is a good achievement for the present government.
“I will only appeal to our members and all Nigerians to have patience, when a good thing is coming, it may be difficult from the beginning. We are going to pass the message to the rural areas because we are the ones that transport the passengers from one place to another, Baruwa noted.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
