Referencing the e-Naira, Journalist Nick Corbishley said, “A very dark experiment is underway in Nigeria.”

In a tweet posted on Feb. 16, as riots broke out across several Nigerian cities, Corbishley said a failure to convince citizens to adopt the e-Naira has led to a doubling down by the central bank.

“Since October 2021, 99.5% of Nigerians have refused to use the central bank’s digital currency, the so-called e-Naira, preferring to continue using cash. So what did the central bank do? It doubled down.“

Drawing parallels with what happened in India in 2016, in which high-value bills were demonetized, Corbishley pointed out that Nigerian officials ruled a similar move in December 2022.