CBN: Why Students Should Embrace eNaira for Payment of School Fees

Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti

The Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) has explained why students of higher institutions across the country should embrace payment of their school fees through the use of its digital currency platform, the eNaira.

The Assistant Director at the CBN office in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Ayodeji Adeboboye, spoke during the bank’s sensitisation programme on the eNaira at the Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere-Ekiti (BOUESTI).

The apex bank explained that the digital platform launched by the former president, Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in October 2021, was designed to boost financial transaction through technology in line with global best practices and growth of the economy.
He stated that the sensitisation drive became necessary for the students and staff in order to enhance the effective financial transactions in the university community without the usual bottlenecks associated with other payment platforms.

According to him, the CBN remains committed to its core mandates of ensuring that the nation’s currency compete favorably with others across the globe through the e-naira digital platform and entrenched cashless policy in the economy.
Adeboboye, while calling on institutions to key into the digital platform for seamless transaction through technology, said other institutions that had embraced it were already enjoying the numerous benefits of the digital platform.

He disclosed that the CBN had selected students in BOUESTI who would serve as ambassadors for the eNaira project and would be paid monthly stipends for promoting the use of the digital currency platform in the university community.

He said, “We are here to sensitise members of the university community on the use of e-naira and how to bring them on board. It is naira in digital form and let me say that the same things you can do with the physical naira, you can equally do it with the e-naira with even more comfort and convenience.

“Once the university community embrace this, they can use it for payment of school fees and do other businesses in the campus. We are starting the sensitisation with the universities now, with time, we will take it to other members of the society.

“Already, we have champions in the school, who will serve as our ambassador to help drive the campaign here in building an ecosystem to transact seamlessly through technology to help our monetary policy and the economy at large. “

Speaking, the Deputy Vice chancellor of BOUESTI, Dr. Veronica Makinde, who received the CBN officials on behalf of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olufemi Adeoluwa, commended the apex bank for considering the university for the sensitisation programme.
She explained that for the country to witness growth and development, there was need for citizens to embrace digital platforms for financial transactions like in the developed world.

Makinde said the eNaira platform would stem out the numerous complaints and difficulties including long queues at banks and missing funds faced by students during payment of school fees.