![[NEW POLICY] FG is Cutting Down Trees in Abuja to Discourage Black Market Operators](https://nairametrics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Sad-trees.png)
The Financial Times reports that the Nigerian Government has started chopping down trees in Abuja as part of its plans to discourage black market operators of forex.
According to the Times, smaller trees lining up major streets in the FCT are being hacked away with machetes whilst branches of bigger trees are cut down using chain saws.
It appears this is one of the many unorthodox ways the CBN is now using to defend the naira against speculators who sell to black market operators or buy from them. Here is an excerpt from the Financial Times article
The Nigerian government has resorted to chopping down trees lining the streets of its capital to thwart black market money changers, one of a range of unorthodox measures it is deploying to defend its weakening currency.
On an August morning in Abuja, a labourer who said he was hired by the city government cut branches from a towering tree with a chainsaw. Nearby other workers hacked away at smaller trees with machetes.
Asked what they were doing, one, who did not want his name published, replied: “The government does not want the trees because people are doing illegal work under them”.
The man was referring to money changers from the north of the country who rest under the shade of the trees and sell US dollars, British pounds, and even Saudi riyals to customers hungry for hard currency.
Another worker who gave his name as Alex said: “People change dollars on the road here and it’s not supposed to be like that. People are supposed to go to the banks to do transactions”.
This is an extremely odd measure to counter Black Market currency trading. Did Emefiele order this? Is there another source for this story aside from Financial Times? I find this very embarrassing, and only possibly doable by a Clueless government.