A disempowered currency in flames: The fall of the Nigerian naira and the bruising effects

The naira, Nigeria’s currency, has bitten the dust. Once the dominant currency on the African continent, stronger in global purchasing than the US dollar and pars the British pound, the currency is no longer safe as its value is being attacked and disempowered on two fronts to a level not seen in more than half a century. Abroad, exchange rate depreciation is quickly diminishing its worth and at home, inflation is sweepingly destroying its power to buy goods and services. The combined impact of these discrete changes has significantly ravaged the welfare of millions of Nigerians, drifting the economy, yet again, to the brink of another recession – a period of intense economic hardship and a fertile terrain for breeding violence and crime in the land. Tracing the roots of these economic problems and how the naira can be liberated to restore faith in currency is what this article is about.