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The newly redesigned naira notes will go into circulation today, December 15.

Recall that the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, had in October announced that the apex bank would release re-designed N200, 500 and N1000 naira notes by December 15, 2022.

He stated that the old notes will cease to be legal tenders by January 31, 2023.

Emefiele pointed out that the redesigning of the naira notes would help to curb counterfeit notes, and reduce ransom payments to terrorists and kidnappers.

The CBN boss said it is worrisome that 85 percent of the total currency in circulation was being hoarded by Nigerians.

As such, he said the redesigning of the local currency would help to mop up the currency outside the banking sector, adding that out of about N3.3tn in circulation, close to N2.75tn is outside the banking sector.

This came about three weeks after the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), unveiled the new bills at a weekly Federal Executive Council meeting in Aso Rock Villa.

Banks are expected to disburse the new Naira notes to their customers from today.

29 countries voted in favor of expelling Iran, 8 countries, including Nigeria, Russia, and China, voted against it, and 16 countries did not participate in the vote.

Despite Iran’s breaches of women’s rights, Nigeria joined seven other countries on Wednesday in voting to keep Iran on the UN Women’s Rights Commission.

After Tehran intervened to violently put an end to protests that had erupted in response to the disputed death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, who died in detention, the United States demanded that Iran be overthrown.

The United States’ ongoing membership of Iran, according to Linda Thomas-Greenfield, ambassador to the UN, is a “ugly stain” on the commission’s integrity. She argued that if the U.N. is being undermined internally, it will be unable to carry out its important work of “promoting gender equality and empowering women.”

The U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), made up of 54 member states, accepted the resolution on Wednesday to “remove with immediate effect the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) for the duration of its 2022-2026 term.”

After being detained for a few days on suspicion of breaking the Islamic country’s rigorous clothing standards, Ms. Amini unexpectedly passed away.

Global indignation over Ms Amini’s passing resulted in condemnation of Tehran from national and international human rights organizations. In Iran, women took to the streets to demonstrate against the passing of one of their own.

While distancing themselves from their government, which voted to keep Iran on the commission despite the mistreatment of women, some Nigerian people have resorted to social media to celebrate Iran’s removal from the committee.