After months of high expectation, the new Naira notes have been unveiled and are ready for circulation. The unveiling of the new legal tender took place in Aso Rock with President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) Godwin Emefiele and others.
When pictures of the new naira notes hit the internet, they became a total sensation. The redesigned pieces are the 200, 500, and 1000 naira notes, but they aren’t anything like what Nigerians expected. Up close, the design, and details of the new notes are same as the old notes, but the colours are different.
Nigerians questioned the reason for the change. In response, Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor said that the change was important to tackle the cases of money laundering, security threats, and illegal money printing across the country.
According to him, the security feature present in the new Naira notes makes it immune to being counterfeited. He assured that the authenticity of the new notes can be put to the test using ultraviolet (UV) light.
On his part, CBN Director of the Currency Operations Department, Ahmed Bello Umar said, “the ink, the paper, the lines – all were carefully done with advanced features that will be difficult for any one to counterfeit,” adding, “the best that can be done is photocopy but any Nigerian who is very meticulous will clearly differentiate the fake from the original.”
The CBN Governor says that the new notes will make Nigerians step over to the cashless economy. The current policies in place with this improvement will place more attention on how physical cash circulates in the economy. In a few weeks, we expect to start seeing this new currency in circulation across the country.
