Kano School defies CBN, accepts fees in cryptocurrency

In spite of the ban on cryptocurrency by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), a private secondary school in Kano, New Oxford Science Academy, Chiranchi, on Thursday said that it is accepting cryptocurrency as payment for school fees.

Proprietor of the school, Sabi’u Musa Haruna while speaking to reporters in Kano, declared that the school management took the decision to accept cryptocurrency after consulting parents and guardians.

Haruna said, “We have decided to accept cryptocurrency as school fees because the world today is tilting towards the system.

“We believe one-day digital money will gain more acceptance than paper money.

“The decision is aimed at easing the payment of school fees for the parents.”

Recall that Central Bank of Nigeria had on February 5, 2021 banned all forms of transactions using the cryptocurrency.

The apex bank said that dealing with cryptocurrencies and facilitating payments through them are illegal in the country.

The CBN statement was contained in a circular addressed to banks and other financial institutions. It said that breaches of the directive will attract severe regulatory sanctions.

The ban on cryptocurrency transactions was also backed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and also the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).