Residents, Traders Lament Scarcity Of N100 Note In Ile, Modakeke

By Sodiq Lawal

Residents, traders and others in Ile Ife and Modakeke, State of Osun have expressed worry over the scarcity of lower denomination of 100 Naira note.

The residents, traders and others on Wednesday expressed concerns over the scarcity of the note in the town.

They noted that the scarcity poses a severe threat to the economy of the nation, which is just recovering from recession, as it is worsening inflationary trends.

In an exclusive interview with our correspondent, scores expressed worry that banks in Nigeria no longer dispense these lower Naira denominations with the excuse that they hardly receive them from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

Mrs Olabisi Olakunle, a trader at Knowledge Private School in Ile Ife, said, “The scarcity of lower denomination especially N100 is seriously affecting my business. As you can see I am a petty trader in this school. Sometimes students go away with my money when I can’t give them their balance with a promise that they would bring my money. They do but not all the time. So I decided to collect their money and tell them to come back for their balance. It worked for a while but I discovered that some students collect their balance twice.

“This limits sales and makes me record losses. In this business we only earn less profit (N20) from a dozen of biscuits or a pack of sweet or chewing gum. The banks and the CBN should look into this issue to save our businesses and economy at large.”

However, another petty trader, Mr. Usman Abubakar, said the scarcity of lower naira denomination doesn’t affect his business but the mutilated note does.

“The only problem I am experiencing is that of the mutilated notes, faded and burnt polymer notes that are in circulation. The government should release new notes as most customers reject the bad ones and this tends to hinder sales.”

On his part, Mr. Faruq Amoo, a manager in one of the popular eateries, said, “Our business is being challenged with the scarcity of N100. Sometimes our cashiers leave the counter to source for lower naira denomination leaving customers unserved. The impatient customers collect their money and leave. They see it as fraud. This limits our daily sales.

“Sometimes we urge customers to use the Point of Sale (POS) terminal to save us the time of sourcing for their balance. Some of them reject this option saying, “do you know if we have money in our account,” he said.

Also lamenting, Mr. Sunday Afose, a KeKe NAPEP operator, said, “The N100 note is very scarce to the extent that we do wait for passengers to board other vehicles in other for them to pay us. The sad part of it is that the N100 in circulation is very tattered and passengers reject them when given to them. The CBN should issue quality minted currency.”