Godwin Emefiele: a hero or villain?
The name of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has entered the parlance of Nigerians. When you go to parties, markets, schools, supermarkets, banks, car parks, the name always echoes.
Godwin Emefiele has become a subject of discourse to several thousands of Nigerians, most especially those who are displeased by his policies on naira and cash. They have talked more about him with his backed contempt for the apex court of the land.
He announced last year that there would be new naira notes for 200, 500 and 1,000. Nobody raised eyebrows over the announcement because redesigning currency isn’t unique or special to Nigeria. Several other countries do that periodically.
But by January 31, Nigerians didn’t have enough or sufficient new naira notes in circulation. They started asking and querying Mr. Godwin Emefiele about the arrangements he had made for the country. The people rushed to deposit their old notes following the instructions of the bank.
All of a sudden, they become cash strapped as they couldn’t get naira cash to spend. To make the case more worrisome, the Point of Sales operators started charging astronomically. They said they were buying cash from the commercial banks.
Mr. Godwin Emefiele assured Nigerians that there would be cash swap. But that didn’t materialise as the issue reached the climax. They trooped out in major cities to show their feelings. The protests turned violent in some quarters of the country.
In fact, there was a need to deploy military men to calm nerves in some parts of Lagos State. At that time, Godwin Emefiele has become an “outcast”, an individual to be cursed by market people, whose businesses suffer more as a result of the policy of the bank.
When President Muhammadu Buhari addressed Nigerians over the matter, he mentioned the issue of vote buying and vote selling, which has become a recurring feature in the elections. Desperate politicians induce the poor and impoverished voters with tokens.
The president wanted to curb that and one way to do that is to regulate the flow of naira in the country. That’s how Godwin Emefiele became an instrument to achieve a goal.
There is no doubt that vote buying has ridiculed Nigerian democracy because the best and most qualified candidates do not emerge in the elections. The highest bidders often win the poll. But the president wanted to end it really.
Has that been achieved? The general elections were held on 25 February. International observers have lauded the INEC for the conduct of the exercise. Meanwhile, issue of vote buying and selling didn’t seem to appear that day. That must have been curbed with the policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
If the general elections are the yardsticks to assess Godwin Emefiele, he has become a hero. Through his persistence and insistence on banning the old naira notes, Nigeria has been able to curtail the scandal of vote buying and selling.
Evaluating the CBN governor, Emefiele, may depend on the angle or perspective one is viewing the issue.
Follow us on social media
