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OPINION: IF YOU STILL DON'T HAVE BVN, HIDE YOUR FACE

President Muhammadu Buhari shakes hands with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele
46 million bank accounts without BVN are about to be forfeited to the federal government. It's harsh, but it makes sense.

But if you had three years to get a BVN for yourself and didn’t move a muscle; or moved that muscle only slightly, I just think you should stare hard into that mirror until the mirror begins to speak to you.

Of course, there are exceptional cases. Most Nigerians in the diaspora couldn’t acquire their BVNs in record time. There were also not enough BVN registration centers abroad for these class of Nigerians. But did they try hard enough?

It was also doubly difficult for persons residing in rural Nigeria to get their BVNs in record time. I think there should be a special window for everyone who operates a legitimate bank account to get a BVN, after this ruling. I propose an extension of the window to another three months and no more.

If after three months; and if after more BVN acquisition centers are opened abroad and we still have over 40 million unregistered bank accounts, the banks should freeze same accounts and all the monies returned to the federal coffers.

We live in a society where money that should have been used to reflate the economy is hidden by faceless persons in various banks. We live in a country where money laundering is carried out through the banking system....where there's never money to lend to small and medium sized businesses but plenty of money to grant loans to 'big men' who never pay back those loans.

To rid Nigeria of corruption and illicit money, the banking system won’t be a bad place to start

Everyone had three years to get a BVN. If you still don’t have one after three years, hide your face. Those who, through special circumstances, couldn’t get a BVN, should be given a little more time and no more.

Knowing Nigerians, we sometimes never take things seriously until it comes down to a deadline. This court order is therefore right on the money.

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