By our Reporter
As the naira spirals downwards, school administrators and owners in Nigeria now price their fees and other payment in dollars and other foreign currencies, a development the Central Bank of Nigeria says it will no longer hesitate to come hard against.
According to the CBN Director Corporate Communications, Ibrahim Mu’azu, the CBN Act of 2007 criminalized the use of other foreign denominations over the Naira.
“Furthermore, the Act stipulates that any persons, who contravenes this provision is guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a prescribed fine or six months imprisonment.’’
CBN’s Governor Godwin Emefiele insisted that the mode of business transactions in the country remained the naira. He also threatened to take legal actions against those breaching the act.
Meanwhile, media reports on the effect of the naira fall on education confirmed that some education stakeholders have frowned on the use of foreign currencies to pay for tuition in Nigeria.
An educationist, Dr. Segun Omisore, says a situation where the naira will be struggling with the dollar as the legal tender in Nigeria is condemnable.
“It is like surrendering our sovereignty. Why can parents not pay the Naira equivalent of whatever they want in dollars? If our economy is faulty, why can we not work towards fixing it? It is morally wrong to demand payment of school fees in dollars. If the educational sector cannot build a sense of pride on our pupils, then we have a long way to go,” he said.
However, the Lead Consultant of the Child Centre Limited, Mrs. Ibiwunmi Akinola, has noted that many schools had stopped the practice, urging others to do the same, in the interest of our economy.
“Though, many schools have stopped demanding tuition in dollars since last year but many expatriates still convert such fees to their currencies for ease of transfer. They claim that their companies pay their salaries in hard currencies,” said Akinola.