President Muhammadu Buhari has defended some of the tough economic policies his administration enforced during his eight-year tenure, stating that they were for the “overall good of the country”. The outgoing President acknowledged that while these policies may have caused “temporary pain and suffering”, they ultimately yielded the desired results. The naira redesign policy implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria, which led to a shortage of naira notes across the country, has been singled out as an example of this approach. The policy caused farmers to lose approximately N30bn as they had to resort to bartering to feed. Banks also reportedly lost N5bn as a result of customers destroying their facilities in protest. Despite these negative effects, Buhari believes that these measures were taken “in the course of revamping the economy” and were necessary for Nigeria’s progress.
