THE FRAME

This Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) circular sent to commercial banks and other financial institutions surfaced online. Here is my submission explaining what I understand about the circular and  why the CBN issued it. Cryptocurrencies have gained popularity since bitcoin, the most valuable crypto, rose significantly four years ago. The coin went from $900 in January 2017 to almost $20,000 by the end of that year. While cryptocurrencies are known for people making (or losing) money from trading, they have many use cases, including making cross-border payments, remittances or storing wealth (protected from inflation or exchange rate depreciation). In countries where the official fiat currency is less reliable, cryptocurrencies have gained significant popularity: cue Nigeria and its ever-weakening naira.  For many in Africa’s largest country, cryptocurrencies were a breakthrough, and in 2017, we started to see a rise in bitcoin volumes. According to one estimate, local...

MY OPINION ON DR. AHMAD GUMI PEACE MEDIATION WITH BANDITS "BREAKING: Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Gummi, meets some of the most notorious bandits in Zamfara State on his peace mediation efforts to end banditry in Northern region. Some of the bandits leaders are Kachalla Turji of Shinkafi/Sokoto Axis and Kachalla Muhammadu Bello among others" .  Angrily, some apologist of the ruling party were pertinent and perturbed by the display of valour of the Kaduna Based cleric, it has been on the News for the past weeks that Dr. Ahmad Gumi took unto himself a risk task of reaching the remotes areas where it has been identified as a 'no go' areas for ordinary people as well as Security operatives. A Bandits dens, to preach the chronicle of peace, a message from Islam. One can predict the motive behind Dr. Gumi's moves and frankly speaking, those of us that views the move as non partisan applaud the man for his foresight to at least bring to an end the banditry bedevell...