Hi guys, there are only a few days left to the general elections and other Nigerians, and I wonder, “are we ready?”
The last two weeks have not been very nice to Nigerians, from fuel and cash scarcity to political drama and online controversies. Hopefully, Valentine’s Day, which is just around the corner, would provide some respite.
In these trying times, we need that aura of love and laughter. But, we need to be careful about how we celebrate our lovers; money bouquets are now a form of naira abuse, according to the CBN.
This social media roundup brings you the premium gists that topped the charts in the social space this past week.
Read Also: Why your bank apps are malfunctioning and ‘won’t stop soon’
Dear CBN, can we still spend our old notes?
Friday marked the official deadline stipulated by the CBN for using old Naira notes. But the struggle to get a hold of new and old Naira notes has been real, and the deadline did not seem feasible even at the beginning of last week.
Many Nigerians pleaded with the FG and CBN to extend the deadline. Even the International Monetary Fund gave its two cents on the issue. The Nigerian Supreme Court had to intervene by suspending the deadline until further notice, pending another hearing that would take place this week.
It will be interesting to see what this week holds as the CBN seems determined to achieve its objectives.
As the deadline passed, many were unsure of what to do. Can we still spend the old naira note? Is the deadline extended? Will banks still collect old naira notes? All these questions dominated the social space over the weekend, and reports indicate that some businesses have begun rejecting the old Naira notes.
The recent days have been marked with long queues at banks and atms, anger towards POS agents, a few protests and Nigerians complaining about the inefficiency of bank apps, and more.
Nigerians have taken to the social space to voice their opinions on these happenings, calling on the CBN and the FG to take actionable measures to solve these issues.
Read Also: Relief as Nigeria’s apex court suspends controversial new Naira notes deadline
Aluta continua with Election drama
There is palpable tension on social media as the presidential election draws closer. Many people have started coming out of their shells to declare support for their favourite candidate, and celebrities who have been openly endorsing a candidate for the past few months are now reaffirming their support, regardless of the insults they get for doing so.
This is politics, and everyone has a right to vote, have opinions, and make choices. Mr Macaroni engaged in a scuffle on Twitter after Qudus, a user, accused him of being a Cashtivist for supporting Peter Obi, the Labour party’s presidential aspirant, after receiving the sum of seven million Naira.
In response, Macaroni asked the user to prove the transaction and promised to deliver a court summons as a valentine’s day gift.
While Macaroni’s engagement may have gone under the radar, Seun Kuti and Paul Okoye of the P-Square provided premium content for social media observers over their disagreement on who should lead Nigeria from May 2023.
Legacies were questioned, names were dragged, fathers were insulted, and brokeshaming was used as a weapon. Naturally, tweeps picked sides, and several hilarious comments trailed their conversation.
Tems got a Grammy Award for the culture
The afrobeat industry has been blessed, and Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, got a grammy nod after Future’s Wait for you (ft Drake and Tems) won the best melodic rap performance of the year.
Tems looked stunning at the event and flooded the social space with pictures. She is the first female Nigerian artist to win a Grammy, which is a big deal for someone relatively new in the industry.
The grammy award ceremony did not come without its share of ‘breakfast’ as some fans took the opportunity to drag Burna Boy who did not win any awards despite getting two nominations. Some disagreed that Tems is the first female Nigerian to win a Grammy.
Sade Adu and Cynthia Erivo have five Grammy awards between them. However, some netizens explained that these women, despite having Nigerian blood, never presented themselves as Nigerians, so Tems is still and will forever be the first.
Election holiday break for Nigerian students
As the election is fast approaching, the Nigerian Universities Commission declared a three weeks break for Nigerian university students to enable them to vote.
This is not surprising given that the Independent National Electoral Commission has stated that youths make up most of the 2023 general election registered voters.
Mr Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner of INEC in charge of the Information and Voter Education Committee, stated that between June 2021 and July 2022, there were over 7 million newly registered voters aged 18-34.
So, it just makes sense that these youths should go out and exercise their rights, especially as many of them registered outside their school region during the prolonged ASUU strike last year. For many students, this is a big win as they have been petitions flying around for the Federal government to impose a break for the elections to allow youths to vote.
For others, they find it rather insulting that the union is paying more attention to the election, but the education of these students was practically neglected during the strike
WHEW! That is all for this week.
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