The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has concluded plans to extend the cashless policy to Rivers, Kano, Anambra and Abia States as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from July 1.

CBN Deputy Governor (Operations), Mr. Tunde Lemo, told THISDAY in an exclusive interview in Abuja that the aforementioned states and the FCT were chosen because of the large volume of cash transactions in some of their major cities such as Aba, Kano, Port Harcourt and Onitsha.

The cashless policy, whose implementation began in Lagos in January, last year, is aimed at reducing the dominance of cash in the system. The policy specifies penal charges for individuals and corporate organisations that want to withdraw or lodge cash above prescribed limits.

Under the policy, the CBN pegged the daily cumulative cash withdrawal or deposit limit for individual accounts at N500,000 per day and N3 million per day for corporate accounts.

Lemo, in the interview, explained that the policy earlier planned to be implemented in other states in January 2013 was deferred due to some infrastructural challenges.
He said: “When we talk about nationwide roll-out, we are also being careful to ensure that we make use of resources in a smart way. Cash doesn’t flow the same volume in every state of the federation. What we would do in July is to look at those other market clusters where large amount of volume is transacted and add them to Lagos.

“It is cheaper that way because the resources you need to cover the entire 923 square kilometres in Nigeria are huge. But you can achieve almost the same thing by looking at the pattern of cash distribution and you can cover about 90 per cent of that by adding about five more locations to Lagos. That is: Abuja, Kano, Aba, Port Harcourt and Onitsha.

“That is basically what we want to do. We would get those five clusters and add them to Lagos. When we add those five locations to Lagos, then we would have covered about 90 per cent of the cash volume. We would see how far that goes and once we perfect that, we then begin to look at contiguous market centres around these locations and we would gradually cover the entire country.”

Lemo also said the cashless policy had been successful in Lagos, adding that the number of Point of Sale (PoS) machines in Lagos has increased significantly from about 5,000 when the policy took off last year, to over 150,000.

The implication of this is that 31 remaining States only handle about 10% of cash transactions and this is in addition to other parts of Abia, Anambra, Rivers and Kano States.

“It is cheaper that way because the resources you need to cover the entire 923 square kilometres in Nigeria are huge. But you can achieve almost the same thing by looking at the pattern of cash distribution and you can cover about 90 per cent of that by adding about five more locations to Lagos. That is: Abuja, Kano, Aba, Port Harcourt and Onitsha.

Abuja = Nigeria's Federal Capital Hosting the Seat of Government and the Nations MDAs
Lagos = Nigeria's Former Capital more than 200 years old City hosting the Nations Banking , Telecom, Sea port, Oil company Headquarters
Port Harcourt = the oil Capital Hosting All the Oil and gas Operational Headquartes and oil servicing
Kano = Commercial Capital of Northern Nigeria State/Regional Capital more than 1000 years old
Onitsha =
Aba =

The point i am trying to make is that the owners of Aba and Onitsh and indeed thee state Governments and the Federal Government ought to do more to make full use of the potentials of these Cities by making them the next stop Shopping Cities for Africans who do not want to go to Dubai and China to do their Shopping.

Modern Shopping Complexes high speed rail links to and fro the International airports availability of infrastructure and constant electricity for Businesses.

If the FG spend 1 % of what it has spend in the Abuja , Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano in Aba and Onitsha Nigeria would be the number Business Destination in Africa

kettykings:


The point i am trying to make is that the owners of Aba and Onitsha and indeed thee state Governments and the Federal Government ought to do more to make full use of the potentials of these Cities by making them the next stop Shopping Cities for Africans who do not want to go to Dubai and China to do their Shopping.

The only way we can achieve that is by improving our. Economy. From importation based to manufacturing. We can't continue marketing foreign products and expect economic emancipation.

Meanwhile kudos to my Aba and Onitsha brothers for representing the Southeast up there. "E no easy" with no airport, no federal presence, no regional capital and 2billion Naira monthly allocation. With what Rochas is doing, Imo will be there in a bigger way soon.

I swear anambra state impresses me. From being almost leveled during the civil war 40yrs ago, it has found its ground and moving faster than states that were before it. That state is something else.

^^^must we bring civil war to every matter.
That is a good developement anyway

Tolexander: ^^^must we bring civil war to every matter.
That is a good developement anyway

Yea,there is no discussion on the igboman in nigeria,that can be complete without mentioning biafran war.

Our existence was reseted in 1970,as we had to re-build our cities and towns,(yea including Aba and Onitsha)and our lives from that point on from the ashes of biafra. And oh! We equally lost millions of our people. So,better get used to us always mentioning biafra. *laughs*

pazienza:

Yea,there is no discussion on the igboman in nigeria,that can be complete without mentioning biafran war.

Our existence was reseted in 1970,as we had to re-build our cities and towns,(yea including Aba and Onitsha)and our lives from that point on from the ashes of biafra. And oh! We equally lost millions of our people. So,better get used to us always mentioning biafra. *laughs*

u could have stayed not rising! Mtchew

Always represented(both good bad) ma home state Anambra

And to think that Onitsha and Aba has no international airports is the most egregious case of injustice I have seen anywhere.
My only consolation is that Enugu will (hopefully this year o!) start international flights.
If not, then we must build (expediciously) an international airport in Onitsha, by God's grace.
I would prefer a rail link between Onitsha and Enugu though, airport or no airport.

ALl other peer cities (in terms of volume of cash) have international airports, except Onitsha and Aba.
Something should be done about that!

Abagworo:


The only way we can achieve that is by improving our. Economy. From importation based to manufacturing. We can't continue marketing foreign products and expect economic emancipation.

Meanwhile kudos to my Aba and Onitsha brothers for representing the Southeast up there. "E no easy" with no airport, no federal presence, no regional capital and 2billion Naira monthly allocation. With what Rochas is doing, Imo will be there in a bigger way soon.

guy can you explain what rochas is doing in imo?i am not asking out of mischief but because i have not yet visited the state since 2009.lol

Onlytruth: ALl other peer cities (in terms of volume of cash) have international airports, except Onitsha and Aba.
Something should be done about that!

anambra and abia states have been both denied so many things but dey still progress. Imagine if this two states were given all the basic necessity they Needed...just imagine.

Onlytruth: ALl other peer cities (in terms of volume of cash) have international airports, except Onitsha and Aba.
Something should be done about that!

i think what aba needs is revamping of the city.the imo airport is actually 25mins from aba.i just hope that abia a better gov to help the city and geometric to keep to their promise of making their power plant function.as for airport for onitsha(or anambra as a whole)i listened to obi's reason for not embarking on airport project for anambra at the moment and it made sense(at nggf town hall meeting in awka).

Onlytruth: ALl other peer cities (in terms of volume of cash) have international airports, except Onitsha and Aba.
Something should be done about that!

The airports in Asaba and Owerri can be upgraded if need be, those two cities have more pressing needs than international airports.

Onlytruth: And to think that Onitsha and Aba has no international airports is the most egregious case of injustice I have seen anywhere.
My only consolation is that Enugu will (hopefully this year o!) start international flights.
If not, then we must build (expediciously) an international airport in Onitsha, by God's grace.
I would prefer a rail link between Onitsha and Enugu though, airport or no airport.

Onitsha not having an airport has little to do with injustice but more to do with the fact that it has never been a capital city. It's unfortunate that airports are cited in state capitals ahead of commercial cities.
Building an airport in Onitsha will render the one in Asaba almost redundant. But that shouldn't stop Onitsha from building one if it wants to be regarded as a world-class city. A rail system that connects all parts of the SE is also in order.

asha 80: guy can you explain what rochas is doing in imo?i am not asking out of mischief but because i have not yet visited the state since 2009.lol

About 30,000 Imo indigenes in Aba shoe cluster reached agreements with Rochas on relocating or opening up branches in Imo State. http://www.spyghana.com/okorocha-to-relocate-over-30000-indigenous-shoe-makers/

He has done a lot in infrastructure. If you left 2009 you will neither recognise Orlu nor Owerri now. Infact Orlu will surprise even surprise himself as it measures up to many State capitals.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/02/urban-regeneration-how-indigenous-contractors-gave-orlu-a-new-face/

Abagworo:

About 30,000 Imo indigenes in Aba shoe cluster reached agreements with Rochas on relocating or opening up branches in Imo State. http://www.spyghana.com/okorocha-to-relocate-over-30000-indigenous-shoe-makers/

He has done a lot in infrastructure. If you left 2009 you will neither recognise Orlu nor Owerri now. Infact Orlu will surprise even surprise himself as it measures up to many State capitals.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/02/urban-regeneration-how-indigenous-contractors-gave-orlu-a-new-face/

Why is he poaching existing businesses in Abia state? why can't he initiate his? Does he lack ideas or is he simply short of initiatives? That's a minus IMO.
Orlu is his zone and I honestly expect no less, Woulda been awed if you were speaking of say Okigwe. Haven't been to Owerri lately so I can't say how massively or not he's impacted the city but bare in mind that Owerri has always been among the top 5 cities in Nigeria, I wonder what the new things he did are.

wesley80:

Why is he poaching existing businesses in Abia state? why can't he initiate his? Does he lack ideas or is he simply short of initiatives? That's a minus IMO.
Orlu is his zone and I honestly expect no less, Woulda been awed if you were speaking of say Okigwe. Haven't been to Owerri lately so I can't say how massively or not he's impacted the city but bare in mind that Owerri has always been among the top 5 cities in Nigeria, I wonder what the new things he did are.

Rochas is really undergoing massive constructions not just in his native Orlu but also in Okigwe. This is to dispell the popular saying that was even captioned in a popular song about these two cities

Obodo nile emepe siala ofo ndi Okigwe na Orlu

Afam4eva:
Onitsha not having an airport has little to do with injustice but more to do with the fact that it has never been a capital city. It's unfortunate that airports are cited in state capitals ahead of commercial cities.
Building an airport in Onitsha will render the one in Asaba almost redundant. But that shouldn't stop Onitsha from building one if it wants to be regarded as a world-class city. A rail system that connects all parts of the SE is also in order.

Onitsha does not need an airport at all. Asaba airport is also Onitsha airport. What Onitsha needs is an operational Riverport.
Also, an airport for Aba is a waste of fund. Aba is surrounded by Port Harcourt, Owerri and Uyo airports.

wesley80:

Why is he poaching existing businesses in Abia state? why can't he initiate his? Does he lack ideas or is he simply short of initiatives? That's a minus IMO.
Orlu is his zone and I honestly expect no less, Woulda been awed if you were speaking of say Okigwe. Haven't been to Owerri lately so I can't say how massively or not he's impacted the city but bare in mind that Owerri has always been among the top 5 cities in Nigeria, I wonder what the new things he did are.

i am not sure if poaching is the right word.if he builds a much more modern industrial market than abia(i guess aba is the city here)then the onus to relocate is on the traders.imo govt cannot force them,moreover there should be new traders coming up.also some of those traders patnering imsg are of imo descent.oo

Andre Uweh:
Onitsha does not need an airport at all. Asaba airport is also Onitsha airport. What Onitsha needs is an operational Riverport.
Also, an airport for Aba is a waste of fund. Aba is surrounded by Port Harcourt, Owerri and Uyo airports.

Don't forget that an airport is also meant to be generating revenue and it won't be a totally bad idea to have airports in these commercial cities. These cities have to be made complete with these infrastructure. Tell me how many commercial cities in the world does not have an airport.

Afam4eva:
Don't forget that an airport is also meant to be generating revenue and it won't be a totally bad idea to have airports in these commercial cities. These cities have to be made complete with these infrastructure. Tell me how many commercial cities in the world does not have an airport.

Many of these cities are very tiny. Onitsha needs to Join Asaba and develop all the way to Agbo to achieve a standard city size like Lagos. Aba needs to join with Owerri and Port-Harcourt or Umuahia to achieve same.

^ Tell me how many commercial cities are carved up like Aba and Onitsha? All you have to do to get to Asaba from Osha is cross a bridge! Spending billions for an airport when one is just a stones throw away makes no economic sense whatsoever.

Afam4eva:
Don't forget that an airport is also meant to be generating revenue and it won't be a totally bad idea to have airports in these commercial cities. These cities have to be made complete with these infrastructure. Tell me how many commercial cities in the world does not have an airport.

^

wesley80: ^ Tell me how many commercial cities are carved up like Aba and Onitsha? All you have to do to get to Asaba from Osha is cross a bridge! Spending billions for an airport when one is just a stones throw away makes no economic sense whatsoever.

You have a point...but i just feel like the Onitsha that i'm envisaging deserves an airport to add to it's credibility and some income. But again, Asaba seems like a suburb of Onitsha and the airport is just a stone throw.

Abagworo:

Many of these cities are very tiny. Onitsha needs to Join Asaba and develop all the way to Agbo to achieve a standard city size like Lagos. Aba needs to join with Owerri and Port-Harcourt or Umuahia to achieve same.

These cities are still growing...They don't need to merge with other cities to achieve that. What they need to do is to develop beyond their limits into smaller towns and villages like PH has done but in a more structured way.

I would prefer a rail line in onitsha that would help move goods n service in and out of onitsha to other parts of anambra and nigeria. The airport was never ment to be in onitsha but another town/city in anambra state

^^^
The rail you mentioned will serve a better purpose for nown than the airport.

Andre Uweh:
Onitsha does not need an airport at all. Asaba airport is also Onitsha airport. What Onitsha needs is an operational Riverport.
Also, an airport for Aba is a waste of fund. Aba is surrounded by Port Harcourt, Owerri and Uyo airports.

I believe that Onitsha (or somewhere nearby) needs an INTERNATIONAL airport. I don't know if Asaba is international. I always ensure that I add international to any ideas of an airport in Anambra state. We don't need any local airport really because Asaba is there of course. That is why I referred to Enugu in the first place.

We cannot hang our hope on Asaba because they may never have a plan for an international airport.
Now if they upgrade and convert Asaba to international overnight or (anytime before we have one in Anambra state), then I would agree with you.

^^^
The rail line you mentioned will serve a better purpose for nown than the international airport.

Customers across SE/SS will found it very easy to transport their heavy duty goods with cheaper price.

achi4u: ^^^
The rail line you mentioned will serve a better purpose for nown than the international airport.

Customers across SE/SS will found it very easy to transport their heavy duty goods with cheaper price.

We can still have the rail line even if we have the international airport in Ontisha or environ.
It is even a no brainer that SE needs at least TWO international airports, just going by current statistic here, and it is only fair that cities that generate huge cash flows get those airports.
However I would still accept a rail link to Enugu INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT from Onitsha.
Bottom line is that Onitsha is desperate for an international air access, being a commercial city.

Peter Obi may not see the sense in it, after he is a tight-fisted man; onye mkpi mkpi!
Bring in Soludo in Anambra and watch as realities change.