NAN
Some residents of Lagos State on Thursday said they had come to terms with the dirty and mutilated Naira notes in circulation, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
The residents, who spoke to NAN said getting clean Naira notes were hard to come by nowadays.
Miss Ekene Okugba said that she hasn’t seen new Naira notes in over two years.
“I’m used to seeing and receiving dirty notes, so I have got use to it. I can’t remember the last time I received clean Naira notes from anywhere.
“Even Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) dispense dirty notes, so we have all got used to it not because we like it, but because we don’t have a choice.
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A trader, Miss Damilola Ajayi, said she was used to accepting mutilated notes from customers.
“Most customers always come with dirty notes but what can I do than to accept it from them. I can’t drive them away because of some dirty notes.
“Even when you go to the bank to get money, you will be given dirty notes. I can’t remember the last time I saw neat notes; that is really a scarce commodity.
“The most important thing is that it can be accepted whenever l spend it, so I’m fine with it,” she said.
Mr Timi Alawode, a public servant, urged the relevant authorities to address the situation which, he described as worrisome.
“People in this country always settle for less and that’s why we can tolerate some certain kind of things which should not be.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria should address the situation by sanctioning erring banks so give out dirty notes to the public.
“The whole situation is an embarrassment to the country and it must be rectified,” he said.
Another resident, Mr Folabi Adenugba, noted that the problem has been in existence for a long time.
“We have had this for a long time and nothing has been done to correct it. It is about time we do something about this,” he said.
However, NAN reports that poor handling of the currency notes had contributed to their dirty state.