Muhammad Garba
Substantial tension loomed among the Jigawa rural communities as they found it difficult to get the new Naira notes to carry out business transactions or buy food to feed their children as many people are rejecting the old Naira notes ahead of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) deadline.
Stallion Times reports that only 10 out of the 27 local governments in the state have functional commercial banks.
Residents in some rural communities groan in untold hardship as they lack access to financial institutions to exchange their old Naira notes with new ones.
Businesses and markets are almost shut down across the state as a result of the scarcity of the new Naira notes while e-banking appears to be unfriendly to those who do not have bank accounts coupled with the low literacy level among the rural dwellers.
Mustapha Sulaiman of Kuma town in Buji local government revealed that there was no single CBN or any commercial bank agent providing the service of the Naira swap in his locality.
“Please, we in the villages lack access to the new notes, life is becoming very unbelievable to us as old notes are being rejected.
“We are calling on the CBN governor to extend the deadline to avoid total breakdown of law and order in our society, the security situation is already alarming,” Sulaiman stated.
A rural woman, Hajiya Talatu who is also one of the All Progressives Congress women leaders in Dangayami village, Taura local government said the old Naira notes deadline must be reviewed without further delay to rescue the situation.
“We are politicians and this policy potent negative impact on our campaign and chances for the APC to win the forthcoming general elections.
“Please Baba Buhari and CBN governor look consider the future of our party and the avoidable difficulty of the common man in rural communities and extend the deadline.
“Extend the deadline and increase the withdraw limit for God’s sake,” Talatu called.
