Omo, this life no really balance ooo Living in Nigeria at this time can be really depressing if one isn't positive, this time both the rich and poor are in the same predicament, having money has almost become useless coupled with the fact that the banking network has been down for nearly a month. This brings Nigeria's economy to the point of what I would call nothing. By nothing, I remember a popular riddle we use in high school back in the days, and it goes like this:
I am greater than God, and more evil than the devil. The Poor has me, the rich don't need me. If you eat me, you will die.
When I think about everything this riddle talks about and its application to humanity in general, it's only fair to say that Nigeria is coming into a state of nothing as both the rich and poor can't use the money they have. It's come to a breaking point where you need to buy the money you will use to get food as you can only get your money for free in the bank if you decide you have nothing to do that day, and decide to spend the whole day with fellow citizens who queue up in the bank with the hope that there will be network to withdraw the money they deposited in the bank馃う
At first, the hardship started with the redesigning of the new naira notes which failed in actualizing its purpose of stopping corrupt politicians from rigging elections and instead became a cause of economical hardship. At first, it started as a joke that made me refrain from going to work, until reality dawned on me after finding out that most Nigerians Around have already adapted to the new system.
HOW IT AFFECTED ME
Since the No Cash Policy started, I haven't held cash at hand. I only move around my location, the highest I have gone away from my location is 5KM whenever I go for road work. I haven't gone to work also, and honestly, at this point, I hope my boss is still understanding because I don't have the money to buy money. I went to school yesterday and entered into a discussion with one of my lecturers who was complaining seriously about how he had to buy 5,000 naira with 4,000 so he could go home the previous day seeing his house is far from school. Meaning after withdrawing 5,000 naira, he was left with 1,000 as 4,000 went in as POS charge.
Now you won't blame me if I don't go to work. Because I can't even imagine myself withdrawing such an amount, throwing away money I worked hard to get all in the name of POS charges. Also, I have only been feeding on foodstuffs I can get within my area, and paying via transfer or debit card. And once the network is down, I go hungry for the day. Although I'm grateful I haven't gone a day without eating at least a square meal, sometimes I end up eating at a friend's house for the day, and a few times, friends come with food.
I'm fortunate to know a lot of people in school, being very popular with many I don't even know, but I'm not good at asking for handouts I only ask when I'm in desperate need of it and see asking for it could be my only way out. Right now I wake up every morning not just unsure of what to eat, but also unsure of whether or not I can get something to buy with the money I have. I'm also grateful I'm in a good relationship with food retailers around my area who are happy to give me on credit when I'm unable to do a transfer. Nowadays, bank transfers only work in the middle of the night between the hours of 12:00 am - 5:00 am. So In case I'm not able to do a transfer during the day, I get to do a transfer for all my daily purchases at night adding between 50 - 100 naira charges which is quite better than the one POS vendors charge to withdraw cash. Another thing that came in handy for me was the use of electronic banking systems like; OPAY, PALM-PAY, MONIE-POINT, BARTER, KUDA, and the rest of them... Although I only use the above simultaneously, as their network system is more functional per time than the normal banking system. Although I don't put more than 3,000 a time using any of them except for today when I funded my OPAY account with 16,000 naira that was used almost immediately. These are the new norms in Nigeria, but I'm still hopeful it will be for a while, and things will get better.
Thanks again for stopping by my blog today, until next time
