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New Naira: 10 Takeaways From Buhari’s Nationwide Address

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday morning addressed the nation in a televised broadcast where he addressed the naira crisis plaguing the country.

In his address, the president apologised for the difficulties experienced across the nation in accessing the scarce new naira notes.

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Here are 10 major takeaways from the president’s address

New naira has come to stay

The president has defended the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria. In his address, he said the policy became necessary noting that the proportion of currency outside banks grew from 78% in 2015 to 85% in 2022. He said as of October 2022, the currency in circulation had risen to N3.23 trillion; out of which only N500 billion was within the Banking System while N2.7 trillion remained permanently outside the system; thereby distorting the financial policy and efficient management of inflation.

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Old N200 note will remain legal tender till April 10

The president, in an effort to cushion the effect of the new naira policy on the citizenry, approved the continued use of the old N200 as legal tender for the next 60 days. This means that till April 10, Nigerians will be able to trade with the old N200 banknote. However, it will also cease to be legal tender after its 60 days of grace elapses.

Old N500, N1000 notes no longer legal tender

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On the contrary, the president had nothing much to say about the old N500 and N1000 bank notes, which indicates that they are no longer legal tender in the country, as he said the old N200 will circulate alongside the new N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.

READ ALSO: Buhari’s Broadcast Contempt Of Court — Adegboruwa

He however added, “In line with Section 20(3) of the CBN Act 2007, all existing old N1000 and N500 notes remain redeemable at the CBN and designated points.”

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Buhari apologises for difficulties

Speaking on the difficulties Nigerians have experienced since the naira redesign, the president said he was deeply sorry for the hardship caused.

In his words, “I am deeply pained and sincerely sympathise with you all over these unintended outcomes. To stem this tide, I have directed the CBN to deploy all legitimate resources and legal needs to ensure that our citizens are adequately educated on the policy , enjoy easy access to cash withdrawal through availability of appropriate amounts of currency and availability of currency.”

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Why naira was redesigned

In a bid to enlighten Nigerians on why the naira was redesigned, Buhari said, “I feel obliged to avail you a few critical points underpinning the policy decision. These include:

a. The need to restore the statutory ability of the CBN to keep firm control over the money in circulation.

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b. The proportion of currency outside banks grew from 78%in 2015 to 85% in 2022, thereby distorting the financial policy and efficient management of inflation;

c. The huge volume of banknotes outside the banking system has proven to be practically unavailable for economic activities and by implication, retard the attainment of potential economic growth;

d. Economic growth projections make it imperative for government to aim at expanding financial inclusion in the country by reducing the number of the unbanked population; and

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e. Given the prevailing security situation across the country, which keeps improving, it also becomes compelling for government to deepen its continuing support for security agencies to successfully combat banditry and ransom-taking in Nigeria

READ ALSO: Naira Notes Scarcity: Buhari Addresses Nigerians, Seeks Patience, Understanding [ FULL TEXT]

What new naira policy will achieve

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The president highlighted the expected short, medium and long terms goals the policy is supposed to achieve as; a strengthening of our macroeconomic parameters; reduction of broad money supply leading to a deceleration of the velocity of money in the economy which should result in less pressures on domestic prices; lowering of Inflation as a result of the accompanying decline in money supply that will slow the pace of inflation; Collapse of illegal economic activities which would help to stem corruption and acquisition of money through illegal ways; Exchange Rate stability; availability of Easy Loans and lowering of interest rates; and greater visibility and transparency of our financial actions translating to efficient enforcement of our anti-money laundering legislations.

Saboteurs of naira policy will face the law

Buhari said he has directed the CBN to intensify collaboration with anti-corruption agencies, “so as to ensure that any institution or person(s) found to have impeded or sabotaged the implementation should be made to bear the full weight of the law.”

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He added, “I have directed the CBN to deploy all legitimate resources and legal means to ensure that our citizens are adequately educated on the policy; enjoy easy access to cash withdrawal through availability of appropriate amounts of currency; and ability to make deposits.”

Buhari appeals for understanding

Insisting that the naira redesign policy is for the economic best of the nation, the president pleaded with Nigerians for understanding. he said, “I seek your understanding and patience during this transient phase of implementation,” adding that “I wish to once more appeal for your understanding till we overcome this difficult transient phase within the shortest possible time.”

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Next administration will benefit from naira redesign

On the fast-approaching general elections, the president said, “On the 25th of February, 2023 the nation would be electing a new president and National Assembly members. I am aware that this new monetary policy has also contributed immensely to the minimization of the influence of money in politics. This is a positive departure from the past and represents a bold legacy step by this administration, towards laying a strong foundation for free and fair elections.”

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Deadline For N500, N1,000 Notes Stands – Buhari

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Shun electoral violence

Buhari further urged every citizen to “go out to vote for their candidates of choice without fear, because security shall be provided and your vote shall count. I however admonish you to eschew violence and avoid actions capable of of disrupting the electoral processes. I wish us all a successful general election.”

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Fake Labubu Dolls Worth Millions Seized In London Raid Amid Growing Safety Fears

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Thousands of fake Labubu dolls believed to be worth millions of pounds have been seized at an industrial estate on the outskirts of London following a major crackdown led by Trading Standards and law enforcement agencies.

The operation, which followed weeks of investigation, traced the fake merchandise from a corner shop in Swansea, south Wales, to a warehouse complex in London.

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Officers discovered rooms stacked floor-to-ceiling with fake goods, but it was the imitation Labubu dolls at the centre of a viral TikTok craze that drew the most concern.

The dolls, produced by popular toy company Pop Mart, have surged in global demand, with some genuine pieces retailing for up to £80. The popularity of the brand helped the company double its revenue to £1.33 billion last year, according to Forbes. However, authorities say the boom has also attracted criminal enterprises looking to profit from the trend through counterfeit production.

READ ALSO:‘This Is Why I Hate London’, Ivan Toney Fumes After His Car Is Broken Into

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“The head comes off. The feet pull off. The eyes aren’t glued in,” said Rhys Harries, a Trading Standards officer, while examining one of the seized dolls. “These are clear choking hazards.”

Using a plastic tool modelled after a child’s throat, Harries demonstrated how easily parts of the fake dolls could become life-threatening. “These parts would get stuck and potentially cause choking,” he warned.

The scale of the operation was alarming. Border Force officials say they have intercepted hundreds of thousands of fake Labubu dolls at UK ports in recent months, with many traced back to manufacturers in China, Hong Kong, and Turkey.

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In one case, a mother from Caerphilly, Jade, recounted how fake Labubu dolls she bought for her six-year-old son Harri’s birthday began falling apart within hours. “The hook came off and ended up in his mouth,” she said. “Luckily he was old enough to spit it out and tell me.”

READ ALSO:Bank CEO Beaten To Death In London

Despite knowing the dolls were fakes, Jade said she bought them due to the high cost of the original ones and peer pressure from other children. She got the knock-offs for just over £10 each.

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Authorities say the rush to cash in on the craze has led to the use of substandard and potentially dangerous materials, including toxic plastics. Kate Caffery, deputy director of intelligence and law enforcement at the UK’s Intellectual Property Office, said counterfeiting is the second most lucrative source of criminal income worldwide, after drug trafficking.

“There’s a complete disregard for safety,” Caffery said. “They’re made from anything from the inferior to the outright dangerous.”

READ ALSO:Nigeria’s Uche Nnaji’s Car Burgled At London Carpark, Rolex, Foreign Currency, Others Carted Away

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TikTok collector and plush toy enthusiast Meg Goldberger, 27, said she struggled to find genuine dolls due to scalpers bulk-buying authentic stock and reselling them at inflated prices. “They sell out in seconds,” she said. “Some resellers are using bots to buy hundreds at once.”

Investigators found invoice books showing the dolls were destined for locations across the UK. Some of the seized dolls will be used as evidence, while the rest will be stored in a secure location before being recycled or destroyed.

Pop Mart has been contacted for comment on the counterfeit issue, which authorities say is now a national concern.

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Young Catholics Converge On Rome For Pope Leo’s Vigil

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Thousands of young Catholics began assembling Saturday for an evening prayer vigil led by Pope Leo XIV, the culmination of a week-long pilgrimage and a key event in the Jubilee holy year that is expected to draw up to a million people.

The “Jubilee of Youth” — when the Vatican invites Catholics aged 18 to 35 to the seat of the global Church’s power — has seen young pilgrims from around the world flood Rome, waving flags, singing or praying in groups.

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It comes nearly three months after Leo, 69, the first American pontiff, began his papacy, and 25 years after the last such massive youth gathering in Rome under Poland’s Pope John Paul II.

On Saturday morning, thousands of young pilgrims had already gathered at the vast open space in Rome’s eastern Tor Vergata neighbourhood where the pope will lead the vigil, the ground already dotted with blankets and mattresses.

READ ALSO:Full List: 57 Lawyers Nominated For SAN Status

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Elsewhere in the Eternal City, numerous groups of young people were seen preparing to set off for the venue.

On the plaza outside the Basilica of St John Lateran, they filled water bottles, applied suncream and checked bags of food and snacks — ready to spend the next 24 hours surrounded by a swarm of people and then sleep under the stars.

Victoria Perez, who carried a Spanish flag, could not contain her excitement at seeing “the Pope up close.

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It’s the first time I’m going to see him, and I can’t wait,” the 21-year-old told AFP, excited to experience the “night of prayers under the stars”.

French pilgrim, Quentin Remaury, 26, said he had been inspired by the late Pope Francis’s rousing message to youth during a 2016 visit to Krakow, Poland.

READ ALSO:Gunmen Invade Catholic Seminary School In Edo, Kill One, Abduct Three

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Pope Francis told us to ‘get off your couches,’ and that really gave me a boost,” he said.

– ‘What is his message?’ –

Since the youth jubilee began on Monday, attendees have participated in various Church-planned events throughout the city.

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On Friday, approximately 1,000 priests were on hand to take confession at Circus Maximus, one of Rome’s top tourist spots.

Some 200 white gazebos lined the hippodrome where chariot races were once held, and youths lined up to speak to priests in 10 different languages.

Of the many languages heard on the streets of the Italian capital this week, Spanish seemed to dominate. The Vatican has said that more than 146 countries were represented, and it expects up to a million people to attend the vigil.

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READ ALSO:Okuama-Ewu identifies 11 persons Killed By Military, 413 Houses Destroyed

The pilgrimage is taking place as economic uncertainty and anxiety over climate change rise among the under-30s, with many saying they were curious to hear the Church’s position on global warming, wars and economic inequalities.

Samarei Semos, 29, said she had travelled three days from her native Belize to get to Rome.

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“We are still trying to understand his leadership,” she said of the new pope, adding she hoped he would have a strong say about “third world countries”.

As Parisian student Alice Berry exclaimed, “What does he have to say to us? What is his message for young people?”

– Raising voices –

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The youth pilgrimage also comes amid global alarm over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and more than three years of war in Ukraine.

READ ALSO:Pope Leo XIV Outlines A Path For A Modern Church That Follows Francis’ Steps

The Vatican has praised young Catholics who managed to travel to Rome from war-scarred countries, with Pope Leo saying the voices of the world’s youth “will be heard to the end of the earth”.

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In an unprecedented move, Leo hosted a mass on Tuesday for Catholic social media influencers, signalling the Vatican’s openness to supporting the Internet-savvy youth.

More than 4,300 volunteers will be working the event to welcome the young pilgrims, along with over 1,000 police, according to organisers.

Roman authorities have tightened security in the city — which has seen an unprecedented number of people, with both tourists and pilgrims inundating the city.

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Ukrainian Drone Strikes Kill Three In Russia

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Ukrainian drone strikes killed three people and wounded two others overnight in western Russia, regional governors said on Saturday.

One woman was killed and two other people were wounded in an attack on an enterprise in Penza, the region’s governor, Oleg Melnichenko, wrote on Telegram.

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An elderly man was killed inside a house that caught fire due to falling drone debris in the Samara region, Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev posted on Telegram.

In the Rostov region, a guard at an industrial facility was killed after a drone attack and a fire in one of the site’s buildings, acting Rostov governor Yuri Sliusar said.

READ ALSO:CAF Awards 2024 Final Nominees Revealed [Full list]

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The military repelled a massive air attack during the night,” destroying drones over seven districts, Sliusar posted on Telegram.

Russia’s defence ministry said its air defence systems had destroyed 112 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory — 34 over the Rostov region — in a nearly nine-hour period, from Friday night to Saturday morning.

In Ukraine’s central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, overnight Russian drone attacks left three people wounded, governor Sergiy Lysak wrote on Telegram.

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Several buildings, homes and cars were damaged, he said.

READ ALSO:Tension In Edo Over List Of Commissioner-nominees

Russian forces have claimed advances in Dnipropetrovsk, recently announcing the capture of two villages there, part of Moscow’s accelerated capture of territory in July, according to AFP’s analysis of data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War.

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Kyiv denies any Russian presence in the Dnipropetrovsk area.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire in the more than three-year conflict, said Friday that he wanted peace but that his demands for ending Moscow’s military offensive were “unchanged”.

Those demands include that Ukraine abandon territory and end ambitions to join NATO.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, said only Putin could end the war and renewed his call for a meeting between the two leaders.

“The United States has proposed this. Ukraine has supported it. What is needed is Russia’s readiness,” he wrote on X.

AFP

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