Nigeria cracks down on ‘spraying’ money at parties to defend currency

On a recent Friday night at an upmarket Lagos nightclub, the sound of Afrobeats filled the air. On the dance floor, a man launched bank notes worth N1,000 each (about 60 cents) over a throng of women dancing around him.

Until recently, the scene would have been unremarkable. Nigerians have long indulged in “spraying” — throwing cash over friends for fun at parties or as a gift to married couples at weddings.

But the man that night was risking a six-month jail sentence due to an unusual crackdown by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency on “naira abuse”.

The naira has fallen 70 per cent after two devaluations in two years, part of President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda to revitalise a stagnant economy. He has cut costly petrol subsidies, overhauled the central bank and removed a peg that overvalued the currency against the dollar.

But, with the naira still vulnerable, authorities have also turned to unorthodox measures to defend the currency. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has revived a little-used 2007 law to charge hundreds of people for “mutilating” the currency by “spraying” and “dancing on” it, punishing those convicted with fines or jail time.

In a country plagued by graft, many Nigerians are unimpressed by the anti-corruption agency putting resources into arresting everyday people enjoying a national tradition, rather than targeting crooked elites.

“It’s crazy to me this is where EFCC has drawn the line given all the things happening in this country,” said Kanyinsola Yusuf, a 31-year-old Lagos resident who admitted that she actually “hated” being sprayed. “If people want to spray, let them do it.”

On Wednesday, an influencer was convicted and fined in the city of Kano for “the abuse and mutilation of the naira”. The ruling came days after the conviction of a man in Lagos, who was handed the option of a fine or six months in jail.

Bobrisky sprayed 3 packets of N500 on Nengi (150k). Wow! Then went to spray Tacha a packet.
Bobrisky after u na u o 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽#WorldNengiDay #NengiAt23#HappyBirthdayNengi pic.twitter.com/J4NSDAHIuL

— Bùnmi 👑𓃵 (@ms_bhunmy) January 1, 2021

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