Why Nigerians prefer the US dollar to the Naira

Posted by Chidinma on Thursday December 25, 2014 at 22:30:32:

Most Nigerians place more value on foreign currencies like the Great Britain Pounds, Euros and especially the US Dollars than their local currency. It is not unusual to see people spending in dollars in Nigeria even though our legal tender here in Nigeria is the Naira. I even heard that some house owners in high brow areas now insist that tenants should pay their rents in dollars instead of Naira.

Why do Nigerians prefer the US dollar to the Naira?

Let’s consider reasons why Nigerians prefer the US dollars to Naira.

1. Dollar Has More Value To Naira: Owing to the fact that 1 dollar is equal to over a one and sixty Naira or above, Nigerians believe that the US Dollars have a lot more value than Naira and gives them more spending power to the Naira; for this reason, an average Nigerian will prefer making their transaction with the dollars. The Dollars truly have more value than the Naira, but that is one more reason why we have Nigerians has to invest in our country and increase the value of the Naira.

2. Spending In Dollars Is A Sign Of Prestige: there is this mentality amongt Nigerians that anybody spending in dollars is a wealthy man, or that such person has lived in the United States before then, and they see it as a sign of prestige or achievement to spend in Dollars. It is a common sight here to see a guy spending lots of dollars in a bar and others looking on in awe of the person.

3. It is a better store of monetary value: The value of the US dollar has relatively remained more stable than the Nigerian Naira over the years. The Naira has lost a lot of value but the US dollar has remained a safe haven for people to save money. Saving money for the long term in Naira actually loses more value that saving it in US dollars.