How ban on crypto currency will hurt Nigeria economy – Expert
An IT expert, Daniel Chinagozi, has observed that banning Nigerians from participating in cryptocurrency business would hurt the nation’s economy, which needs foreign intervention and collaboration to grow.
Chinagozi, advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to properly regulate internet transactions rather than ban them from participating in such activities thereby depriving Nigerians of business growth opportunities on internet, through poorly thought-out measures.
The expert gave the caution, Wednesday in Aba, commercial hub of Abia state, ahead of its planned online Twitter chat event, to mark the 2021 World Safer Internet Day.
He stressed that proper regulation would give Nigerians huge benefits Internet offers, noting that withdrawing Nigeria’s participation from certain international operations on internet, through poorly thought-out measures, would only hurt the country and its citizens.
“I think the federal government should put a lot of structure around the internet and cryptocurrency space, regulate that space and start licensing people dealing on it, so that if anybody wants to deal in it, such a person will follow due processes.
“But if you make the transactions in cryptocurrency illegal, or withdraw Nigeria from its transactions, Nigeria will begin to lose the value and benefits it could derive from it, which is not the best for Nigeria’s economy”, he stated.
Chinagozi said there was the need to make the internet safer for all, through everyone’s effort, because the internet was becoming bigger and more useful to all areas of human lives.
He said that the country could make the internet safer, by ensuring the implementation of the federal ministry of education’s online safety education programme now in the national curriculum.
He also urged the government to erect stronger firewalls and expand online safety education to enable people know what to do or not do online, types of persons online and types of activities necessary to be safer.
He said a safer internet would ensure cyber criminals would find it difficult to hack into people’s personal information and people would know what to do on the internet to stay safe.
“A lot of things have happened to people on internet that should not have happened and we are making a call for everyone to rethink the way we use the internet.
“We should also strive to understand that we can make the internet better and safer for all and that this is something we can do as a community to protect our activities and businesses”, he said.
