The central bank may have kicked the crypto movement in the balls, but that hasn't stopped it from moving in the right direction. In fact, after the ban, Nigerians just switched to onboarding mode, invariably increasing interest and onboarding even academic institutions into the mix.
Amongst the recent converts, we have a secondary school situated in Kano state that is roughly three hours away from my city. The school named New Oxford Science Academy in Kano recently declared their intentions to accept cryptocurrencies for payment of school fees.
This move comes despite the central Bank's insistence on holding on to the silly cryptocurrency ban they placed on financial institutions from facilitating transactions. However, since this ban doesn't outlaw the use or hodling of crypto by individuals or businesses, it is within the rights of the secondary school to accept it.
Speaking on behalf of the school, Sabi’u Musa Haruna thethe director of the New Oxford Science Academy in the Kano suburb of Chiranchistated that;
“We’ve decided to accept cryptocurrency as school fees, because the world today is tilting towards the system,” said Haruna. “We believe one day digital money will gain more acceptance than paper money.”
Pressure the oppressor
Judging by the reaction of politicians, it is safe to say that the central Bank's decision was unsolicited. In fact, in a somewhat ironic twist, politicians, who I presume have some investments in crypto, have been fighting the "right cause".
The only reason why we're still holding on to this situation is that there are stubborn and corrupt boomers holding the executive positions. In Nigeria, most of the governing policies were made during the military era, so our legislators are just there for design.
Regardless of the situation, people have continued using and trading cryptocurrencies in Nigeria. The ban on financial institutions may have affected the trade but people can still easily convert crypto to naira when the need arises.
Also, there are more institutions accepting cryptocurrencies in the country. A close look at the Travala hotel listing shows that there are numerous hotels and flights that you can book with crypto.
A new generation of hodlers
Another interesting part of this move to accept crypto by the school is that it will create a new generation of crypto enthusiasts in the country.
Naturally, since the school accepts cryptocurrency as payment, they will have to educate both parents and students about the digital assets. Through this simple process, the school will be onboarding both the young and older generation, thus making the society at large more crypto friendly.
So from a young age, students will develop interest in cryptocurrency. The parents will also benefit greatly from this move because imagine how awesome it will be when some of them realise they could just stake LP tokens to pay school fees of their kids regularly. Alternatively, imagine how awesome it will be for transparency, when the school decides to tokenise certain aspects of learning and maybe even introduce NFTs into the model.
The point is that there's limitless potential to where this could go and I believe this is just the starting point. Nigeria will be a hub for crypto adoption because it is not just a matter of convenience, we NEED cryptocurrency. In the long run, I believe the exploits of El Salvador will pale in comparison to Nigeria because while theirs is state funded, ours embodies the Decentralised and autonomous nature of the crypto industry.
Nigeria is bullish about crypto
So, regardless if what the government may do, cryptocurrencies and Nigeria are best friends. The union is a perfect match, for a country embroiled in many layers of problems.
As the interest continues to grow amidst the noise from FUD and Bulls in the market, the powers of the anti crypto forces will wane. The government will try and as usual they'll fail because they forget that they can't use paper to stop a moving train in it's track.
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