From spendable to symbolic: Can ₦5, ₦10, ₦20 and ₦50 notes still buy anything?

Guardian Nigeria

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00:00In 2007, 50 Nera got you a steaming plate of rice, meat, and sachet water at Mama Efi's

00:08kiosk.

00:09Today, it can barely buy you a handshake.

00:12The low-denomination error note, once the backbone of daily transactions, now lie crumpled,

00:20ignored, or outright rejected in the corners of our wallets.

00:24So what happened to change?

00:27To find out, I stepped into the market and stalled armed with 5 Naira, 10 Naira, 20 Naira,

00:3450 Naira, and a big question, what is the real worth of our lowest denominations today?

00:42And I wasn't alone in this.

00:44Across the city, many have stopped seeing these notes as currency.

00:49But it wasn't always this way.

00:52To understand how Nigerians are experiencing this shift, I took to the streets to hear

00:57their voices first hand.

00:59Here is what they had to say.

01:03Do you still accept 5 Naira, 10 Naira, or 20 Naira notes?

01:08And why or why not?

01:10The candidates, many people do accept it.

01:13But me, as for me, naturally, I don't really see it in my pocket or in my wallet.

01:18Why?

01:19Because even if you go to the banks, the banks will hardly give it to you.

01:23Even the coin, you can even see that even our coin is still acceptable.

01:27Okay, for example, if you buy something now, 19, if you go to all this mall, you see their

01:32price tag is always 99 points, which means our coin is still legal.

01:40And in the market, you won't find it in the market.

01:44So the banks are not pushing it out.

01:46Do you understand?

01:47They are not pushing it out.

01:48So if they push this money out, then the masses can as well use it.

01:53But in Asbada, they are not pushing it out.

01:55So how can people like me use it?

01:58Believe me you, even some people today, they never still believe that even the coins exist.

02:03This smallest amount of money I have in my pocket now is 100 nira and it's by mistake.

02:08So as you can see, it's 100 nira and it's by mistake.

02:12I have it in my pocket.

02:13I even likeлось Maha, how many people like them are working for Nigeria?

02:27100 nira, 50 nira?

02:35you are ready for your day.

02:44she hasn't paid like that,

02:51She has paid hold in 15-20-23-20-23-20,

02:58so her condition was good,

03:01surely she would get paid for 20-20 fields,

03:0515 years old.

03:35now

03:40first

03:41Joanna

03:43as

03:45a

03:46smile

03:49we

03:50know

03:51yeah

03:54peace

03:57marc

03:58once

03:59now

04:01he

04:02me

04:04When I was 담당, I was waiting until this place.

04:08RogersQuoteCast went into theina and found that you would like to cook for a few weeks.

04:17At 21st, I arrived at the opening of pincol, about 21, and those were that difficult.

04:24Dear Luego, with an important subject to opinion and not by the future,

04:30so of course, after 20 or like.

04:33The last time I saw Five Nara was, I think a couple years back, I can't remember.

04:58And then, why do I think these denominations are no longer in circulation?

05:04I think it's because of the high cost of living in Nigeria.

05:08I would not go outside and see anything for Five Nara.

05:11I mean, if I ask someone how much pure water, pure water that used to be, I think Five

05:14Nara a couple of years back, now, one sachet of pure water is, I think, Fifty Nara, and

05:20I can't walk up to you to give me Fifty Nara, you won't even give me Five Nara because there's

05:24nothing that costs Five Nara or even Ten Nara or even Twenty Nara.

05:28So I think that it's as a result of the high cost of living because if things were not

05:33as expensive, we'll still have these denominations.

05:36The last time I saw a lower denomination, that would be in primary school because then things

05:43were cheap and you could easily still get change for little, little things.

05:48Now, I don't even think you can get Fifty Nara.

05:52Like, it's very hard to find Fifty Nara.

05:55Even going down to Ten Nara, Five Nara, Twenty Nara, that's even too far.

05:59As little as Fifty Nara can be because now you can hardly get things for Fifty Nara.

06:04Not that there are no things for Fifty Nara, there are, but like, you can still get things

06:09for Fifty Nara, but you can't just pay Fifty Nara.

06:11You have to add something to make it Hundred Nara and above.

06:15So, that's the thing.

06:16Before, what I could get for Fifty Nara, I could get water, like, about five, six, clean,

06:22clean six, pay water, when I'm tasty, um, gala, I could get gala, I could get biscuits.

06:29Once a symbol of daily life, used for bus fares, snacks, and pocket money, low denomination

06:37notes now carry more memories than value.

06:41For many, their fading presence is a quiet reminder of how much has changed and how far

06:48come.

06:55.

06:57.

06:59.

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