BY SOLA ONI
Sola Oni, an integrated communications strategist, Chartered Stockbroker and Commodities Broker, is the Chief Executive Officer, Sofunix Investment and Communications. You can reach him at onisola2000@yahoo.com
In his executive summary of what constitute strong brands, a global business consultant, Nick Cober, says such brands focus on their niche, remain consistent, reflect the communities they serve, create excellent products and services and have strong and authentic personalities. It is debatable to ascribe these attributes to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in recent times.
When the incumbent governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, announced the plan and justification by the apex bank to redesign some of the Naira notes on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, he never envisaged that he had unwittingly set up a booby trap that will later plunge innocent Nigerians into unprecedented fit of rage in their attempt to withdraw their money from deposit banks. Communication strategy is critical to the success of any initiative at individual or corporate level. In public relations parlance, it is said that brand communication, brand image and brand trust are antecedents of brand loyalty. The whole world is watching with shock and disbelief why the redesigning of a country’s currencies has led to loss of lives, protest in many states of the federation, wanton destruction of property, recourse to the use of CFA franc – a currency used in the Francophone countries – by Nigerians in the land borders following scarcity of new Naira notes. In some places, trade by batter has been adopted.
The Central Bank’s poor stakeholder engagement became public knowledge when the announcement of the new currency redesign was faulted by the minister of finance, Zainab Ahmed, that her ministry was not consulted. The failure of the apex bank to consult the key stakeholders, including the legislators to work out the impact analysis of the project ahead of implementation was in itself a public relations error of planning. There are other instances of gross abuse of public relations practices by the apex bank. In the early hours of Thursday, February 16, expectation was high that President Mohammadu Buhari’s nationwide broadcast would douse tension as he shall announce the CBN’s compliance with the ruling of the Supreme Court that the old Naira notes should remain legal tender alongside with the new ones until the determination of the substantive suit filled by some states. The broadcast was a misplaced optimism as President Buhari said only N200 note would remain legal tender for 60 days. The brazen disregard of the Supreme Court’s ruling elicited protests in many states of the federation as people could not withdrawal their money and they desperately need cash. As of today, the Nigerian economy is predominantly cash based. The federal government’s disregard of the Supreme Court’s order is a mockery of the Nigerian legal system. With all his strong campaign for the All Progressive Congress (APC), Festus Keyamo, the party’s presidential campaign spokesman could not hide his condemnation of the abuse of court order by President Buhari, saying he was misadvised. But what does it cost the CBN to comply with the court directive which would have calmed frayed nerves? Is there a hidden agenda? Who are the people misadvising President Buhari and Emefiele to deny Nigerians access to their money? Hopefully, Emefiele shall one day tell his story and unveil the cabals that have messed him up as the brand personality of the CBN.
Unfortunately, due to bad planning and poor timing, the objectives of the new Naira notes are far from being achieved. Against market expectation of further reduction in inflation rate, the Nigerian inflation rate in January rose to 21. 82 percent from 21.34 percent in the prior month. Similarly, the country’s foreign reserve has dropped further to $37.1 billion on January 30, 2023 from $ 37.8 billion in December, 2022. Other objectives of the new naira notes are more of wrong permutations by the apex bank. Nigerians have lost confidence in the financial system. There is a trust deficit already. The apex bank’s brand value has lost steam. Investors are largely adopting a wait and see attitude as the atmosphere is cloudy. There is tension in the land.
For the apex bank to remain relevant, it is now a game of brand recovery strategy. Transparency makes central banks more effective and trusted. One of the lessons from the global financial crisis of 2008 is the obligation of central banks to deploy effective communication with all its stakeholders to reduce uncertainty and enhance better policy choices.
The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has offered some tips as brand recovery strategies for the apex bank to salvage its reputational damage. The bank should embark on gradual phase out of the old notes, a euphemism for obeying the Supreme Court order. It should take advantage of the gradual phase out of the naira notes to commence massive production of the new ones. The bank should embark on renewed public enlightenment on the substance and essence of redesigning some naira notes. This assignments should be undertaken immediately by the CBN’s High Priest of Image Makers, Osita Nwasinobi and his team. The apex bank should lead the campaign for the federal government’s investment in critical infrastructure for seamless transition to a cashless economy, especially in the rural areas.
As the presidential election is at the back of the corner, President Buhari must disprove the insinuations making rounds that the ongoing confusion is to scuttle the election and constitute an interim government. He should direct the Central Bank to obey the Supreme Court order to reverse the current abuse of executive power, a subtle invitation to anarchy.
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