FIJ
Nigerians witnessed a turn of events in 2023. Some of them shook the nation and its citizens to their core, while others ushered in the beginning of a new tide.
Some of these events caused massive street protests, a social media outcry and a push-up on the inflation figures.
FIJ highlights three such notable events related to the economy.
NAIRA SCARCITY
In November 2022, Godwin Emefiele, the immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), announced that the old N1000, N500 and N200 bank notes would cease to be legal tender by January 31, 2023, following a redesign.
This new policy, which Emefiele said would force Nigerian politicians hoarding money to release it, caused a serious cash shortage nationwide.
This policy also pegged bank withdrawal weekly limits at N500,000 for individuals and N5,000,000 for corporate organisations. This scarcity, new in the nation’s history, culminated in nationwide protests and bank vandalism.
Court petitions and rulings provided for different extensions to the deadlines for the use of the old banknotes. On the brink of it, the Supreme Court in March stated that the use of the old notes extended beyond December 31, 2023, and no longer had a deadline.
SUBSIDY REMOVAL
When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was sworn in as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, during his inaugural speech, he announced that petrol would no longer be subsidised for Nigerians.
His statement pushed citizens into a frenzy as it sparked a massive fuel shortage across the country. In the wake of his statement, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) issued a directive that made the fuel price jump from N189 per litre to about N537 per litre across different states, though prices varied across the country.
