A Nigerian man who patronised a local restaurant got embarrassed and assaulted by the owner for paying for his meal with the redesigned 1,000 naira note.
A clip of the incident posted on Twitter on Friday showed a woman, the restaurant owner, insisting that the man must pay for his food with the old naira note.
The woman violently held on to the man’s trouser and got it torn, while rejecting the redesigned 1,000 note the man was holding.
“Give me my money immediately, what kind of rubbish is this,” the food seller yelled at the man as she continued to drag him.
“I never see dis kind money before, I no dey collect,” the woman said in Pidgin English.
“Na dey new note na, which one be dis?” the man responded, shouting at top of his voice.
Another woman, who apparently came over to intervene, backed the food seller in rejecting the note. “Oga, pay your money,” she said to the man.
A small crowd gathered at the scene. The food seller insisted the note was fake. She called the man a thief and continued to harass him. The woman and the man intermittently spoke in the Yoruba Language.
Although it is not clear where and when the incident happened, it definitely underscores the lack of awareness about the redesigned notes that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) began circulating on 15 December.
The apex bank is phasing out the old 200, 500, and 1,000 naira notes.
“It seems there is not enough awareness on the naira change on the streets. Cases like this will continue to happen,” a Twitter user, @ideniyor, commented on the clip.
CBN reacts
When PREMIUM TIMES contacted the CBN spokesperson, Osita Nwanisobi, he said the bank was already doing its best to sensitise Nigerians on the redesigned notes.
“We are upping our sensitisation programme, and we are partnering with the National Orientation Agency so that it goes everywhere, including the rural areas,” he said on Friday.
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