Not a few who were 15 years and above 38 years old would recollect perhaps with angst the harrowing experiences their parents, relatives and others were subjected to when the military regime headed by Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari directed a change of the country’s currency, the Naira. Some were direct victims of the new policy.
The sudden change of the country’s legal tender then threw many off board.
The regime said the new policy was to prevent stolen funds from being repatriated to the country. So, it was targeted at corrupt politicians and their cronies who had fleeced the country of its scarce resources, undermining efforts to lay solid grounds for resounding economic takeoff. Ill-gotten graft would be recovered and the recouped funds ploughed into capital ventures to buoy up the economy and strengthen the infrastructural base of the nation.
With glee the masses hit the streets in jubilation. Expectations were high that the days of corrupt enrichment through abuse of public funds were over, but that was short-lived.
Implications then
The older generation of Nigerians, who were adversely affected by the re-design policy, would rather be forgotten 38 years ago be forgotten. Unpleasant memories – anguish, exploitation by banks and bank managers, kick-backs and “deliberate frustration” as some of them said, was a thinly veiled policy of the regime to impoverish many in the guise of fighting corrupt politicians.
The new policy came into force on April 1, 1984. The government had granted a two-week grace period for changing old notes, but the amount any individual could convert legally was strictly limited to about $7,000 at the official exchange rate at that time. Land borders were sealed; those leaving by air or sea were thoroughly searched to ensure that none had the old currency. There was tension and uncertainty everywhere and the government refused all entreaties to extend the deadline.
Ezeugwu, who was a spare parts trader at Ojo Alaba International market, said, “Our businesses practically came to a standstill; we could not sell for fear of receiving old bills which would be almost impossible to change to the new ones. We locked shops and formed long queues at the bank, but often all was in vain. It was indeed traumatic because only two weeks of grace were given and the banks were in short supply.”
Another unfortunate experience was the shortage of the new Naira note. Though the government said no more was supplied to the banks, the reverse was the case as most banks ran out of supply.
A bank worker, Daniel Imowo, explained, “The Naira had an official exchange rate of $1.30, but on the black market it was worth only around 33 cents. The government introduced a deliberate but unofficial policy of limiting the amount of liquid cash in circulation. Therefore, the deposit of hoarded money in the banks was expected to ease a shortage of cash in circulation in black Africa’s richest nation.”
It would be recalled that Nigeria was hit by a drastic decline in its oil exports and was then suffering inflation of 60 to 90 per cent and had a balance of payments deficit in 1983 of $3.7 billion. The same applies today. The country’s crude oil production stands at about 1.08 bpd.
In 1984, Nigeria had fewer banks, most of which only existed in the state capitals and a cluster of cities. The few that existed only maintained branches in the state capitals and perhaps had no inclination to expand into the rural areas.
Then, NITEL was the Lord of Manor as people relied on it for telecommunication services and it was terribly deplorable. Hence, communicating information of the change and deadline to rural dwellers was Herculean and therefore a major reason the banks were flooded with customers and why many could not change the old bills to new ones.
To most people, the banking system was elitist and so the culture of saving money was rather odd. Transactions were mostly and conveniently done by cash and in-person. This compelled them to carry large cash to wherever they have had business engagements requiring exchange of physical cash.
Harrowing experiences
Okoro Dennis
Hmmmm… people died out of frustration and those that were mostly affected were petty traders. People who could not change their money into the new legal tender committed suicide. Firstly, Nigerians were given only two weeks to change their money. You were given a change to a certain amount of money per day.
Usually, you go to the bank as early as possible, but no matter how early you went it was always filled to the brim and you were fortunate to be given a tally number. People who engaged in buying and selling things in the market were cruelly affected because they needed their money to transact business on a daily basis. But with the new policy they were required to change whatever amount they held in possession to the new legal tender. It was difficult so they were not able to change even a third of what they had and once the deadline expired their money became invalid tender and could not be used. It was very difficult for those who were doing daily returns.
Kayode Olaoye
He’s a small business operator in Utako, who was in his early 20s in 1984, recalled with sadness the experience of a cousin that committed suicide because he could not change his money. The cousin used to deal in timber and mostly collected goods on credit. You know then N200, 000 was a huge sum. He was unable to change it to the new legal tender in order to meet his creditors’ demands as well as other family responsibilities including school fees for children and so he opted to commit suicide.
Many tenants lost their tenancy because they were unable to pay their rents even as landlords themselves were equally victims of the short period given to members of the public to change their money into the new currency. The landlords were desperate and, therefore, depended heavily on their only source of livelihood – the rent.
Ibok Gregory
He worked in a car Sales Company; he recalled an incident where a prospective groom could not meet his heart throb because the money he needed to meet demands for the traditional and white weddings was in the currency made invalid by the new policy.
“Emeka was a colleague. We were residing in Orile Iganmu in Lagos then. After strenuous efforts day after day to change his money to no avail, until the deadline, my friend suddenly found himself with N110, 000 useless tender. Distraught and blighted, Emeka wept for months as he watched his love pressured to marry someone else,” Greg said.
Adebajo Oluwole
He said merely mentioning the 1984 Naira change got him agitated. He lost his first N10, 000 in life.
He said, “The banking culture did not quite register then. Most Nigerians preferred alternative means of saving their money because of the rigours people were often subjected to at the point of withdrawing their money in banks. You queued for hours to make withdrawal and so it was a wise course to keep your money in anywhere but the bank.
“Besides, the banks were few and one far in between. My N10, 000 was safe with me before Buhari and Idiagbon forced me to seek a new lodging for it in the bank. I never succeeded in changing my money in spite of using one full week for that adventure.”
Adesola Olabisi
Olabisi, a public finance expert, recalled that the 1984 Naira re-design was largely hinged on the high rate of currency smuggling. It was common knowledge that the Naira was being smuggled out of the country by politicians and the “10% contractors.” So, on the surface, the change was designed to be positive to the nation, but to the detriment of corrupt politicians who had stolen from the public coffers.
“But it turned out to be a lopsided mixed bag of gains and losses because the intended real beneficiaries of the policy were actually the victims. The masses could change their old banknotes to the new bill because they were in short supply and the time limit for effecting the change was cruelly short.
“As a fresh graduate then, even I could not change the few notes in my possession. I spent days in the reception hall of one of the first generation banks in Victoria Island struggling in vain to change my old notes into new ones. It was painful to condemn about N560 in twenty Naira notes denomination.”
Ajayi Oyewale
Oyewale remembered that, “Banks were few and mostly located in the major cities. In Ibadan, you needed to be at a particular part of town- Dugbe- to access bank services and must be ready to undergo whatever was required before you could gain entry into the banking hall and eventually reach the counter to be attended to by the bank clerk. Tally numbers were usually issued but that in itself was not a guarantee that you would have your old notes exchanged for the new ones.
“There were usually stampedes on a daily basis at banks. Bank staffers were lords of the manor as they conducted illegal businesses. Even at that, you were fortunate not to be duped by your notes. Many had to travel from rural areas to the city all in an attempt to change their old notes. It was not a pleasant experience, especially for our parents and other relatives that domiciled in the villages.”
Chief Oluwatosin Odukomaya
He’s a retired civil servant; he said experiences throughout the duration of the exercise were far from pleasant because of the hardships people were subjected to which worsened their desperation to get their old notes changed to new ones often without success.
“But we, the masses, were not alone in the failure. We often read in the Tribune newspaper about money being discovered in water reservoirs in Ibadan, Lagos and other far flung places. Their owners were unable to smuggle them or change them, so they were wasted,” he said.
Only recently, APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu recalls that the late Alhaja Habibat Mogaji, the Iya-oloja, was unable to change her notes as a result she left a huge sum of money which could not be used. So, the suffering brought about by unsuccessful efforts to secure the new notes in exchange for the old cuts across all fronts.
Previous changes
Since Nigeria gained independence in 1960, she has effected changes to her currency 10 times. Some were redesigning while at other times change in inscription, from metal to paper and paper type, colour and artistic inclusion and design have all constituted change in Nigeria’s legal tender.
Expectedly, soon after independence, Nigeria demonstrated control over her sovereignty by parting ways with the colonial currency that had held sway. She brought into use a currency that reflected her sovereignty and inscriptions including images and colour which peculiarly identified her.
1962: Nigeria changed her currency to include the inscription “Federal Republic of Nigeria” in place of the hitherto inscription of “Federation of Nigeria,” but retained the name Pound on the notes.
1973: Eleven years later, a total change to the nomenclature of the currency and the unit came into force from the pound to the Naira and Shillings to Kobo. Prior to the changes, a Naira was equal to 10 shillings, but with the new development 100 kobo became one Naira.
1977: The military regime of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo superintended over this. The change introduced two major developments: A new 20 bank note was introduced. It was the highest currency in circulation and enabled people to hold huge sums of money in a few banknotes. Secondly, the image of a prominent citizen was put on the bank note.
1979: Before paving the way for a democratic government, the military under Obasanjo again changed the Naira. Three new bank notes namely: one naira, five naira and ten naira (1‚5, 10) were introduced. A new dimension was added: colours. This was essentially to assist people to differentiate them. The third element in this new change was an artistic image reflecting the culture of the country.
1984: The first of two changes under Muhammadu Buhari. Except for the 50 Kobo note, the colours of all the other banknotes were altered.
All the colours of the bank notes were changed except for the 50 kobo note which according to the authorities was to control the withdrawal of the money to foreign countries.
1999: This was a third exercise by Obasanjo this time as an elected president. The need to expand the country’s economy and facilitate foreign trade was given as key reasons for the development. Thus, the 100, 200, 500 and 1000 banknotes were introduced in December 1999, November 2000, April 2001 and October 2005, respectively.
2007: For the first time, a polymer N20 bank note was introduced as part of much vaunted economic reform. Like the 1979 exercise, the features of N50, N10, N5 as well as N1 and 50 kobo coins were also changed, while N2 coin was introduced.
2009: The minders of the country’s tilt saw huge benefits in changing the N20 note to polymer, and therefore extended the same to the N50, N10 and N5 notes.
2010: The CBN introduced a new N50 note to celebrate Nigeria’s 50th anniversary.
2014: To celebrate the 100th year of the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates to constitute Nigeria in 1914, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) decided to re-design the N100 bank notes. The N200, N500, and N1000 bank notes were equally to enjoy the new look.
