Vigil@ the ATM; OOU @ 40, Ugwumba @ 80
When I read this verse
about 30 years ago, I wondered what the people did to the extent of being
served this heartless dish described as bread of adversity and water of
affliction (Isaiah, 30:20). I also sympathised with the people in arrears as I
wondered what it would be like when neither the food nor the water could
give succour. Now, I have seen it live;
I am a living witness as the Government, which promised to lift us from top
to bottom has served us in concrete terms, this bitter dish in the form of excruciatingly long queues for
the troika of fuel, cash and PVCs under
this oppressively hot sun!. To further
complicate matters, Nigeria, the largest concentration of black people across
the world has in the process become the global headquarter of ‘whitemarket’,
with the historical black-market in its own currency, Naira, which sells at a
margin of up to 50% depending on the desperation of the buyer and the
heartlessness and greed-quotient of the seller. Before then,
there were black-market injunctions, judgements, security operations,
certificates, pastors and bishops, subsidies et al. Nigerians have moved from ordinary
distress, to A-Level distress, to multidimensional
distress and finally to this current level of officially dished bread
of adversity and water of affliction
However, before the expose on this unpalatable dish, we shall interrogate some interesting
developments around town. In 2016, Tony Momoh authorised us to stone them (APC)
if they failed to perform after two years.
Nigerians in their kindness and church-mindedness patiently
waited for 7 years and then started stoning. So, why are people blaming the unknown
stone-men for starting today, what they should have started in 2017?
Meanwhile at the height of the campaign in 2015, Fashola urged Nigerians to
support the APC with the proviso to them
out if they failed to perform. Of
course, the author and finisher of BATism had
recently admonished Nigerians to take power from them by all means
and ‘vote them out’. We
are awaiting the verdict of Nigerians on 25/2/23. It is also funny that when
the stoning in the northern hemisphere occurred, the first complaint and
condemnation was from PDP but when Chimaroke, a PDP member, was suspended in
Enugu State, the first complaint and
condemnation came from the APC quarters. You see why I always talk about APDP.
And of late, Tinubu’s diatribe is never complete until he throws punches at ‘him
or them’: the leaders and members of his party! And E’lRufai has now seen the light and supports him
spiritedly. Sure, our oppressors are ‘eating
their own flesh’(Isaiah, 49:26)
I was at Okota-FESTAC axis of Lagos over the weekend and I saw several emergency
ndi-Igbo with red-caps and even titles. These include Ganiyu Johnson,
Ladi Ajomale, Lanre Sanusi, Saheed Aregbe and Deacon Segun Adewale, who goes by
the title: ‘Anya Ndi-Igbo of Lagos State’! I don’t blame them.
This is the season of election, when people suffer from pretend-brotherhood.
Afterall PMB was crowned the Ogbu-Agu of Aba
in 2015, and this ‘chiefness’ was renewed in Imo State on
14/2/23. Tinubu’s son was also crowned in Anambra just the other day. It was
reported that the military had gone after the informal members of the Jagaban
Army, under the command of Oluomo at Oshodi. But on Friday, 3/2/23 I
passed through Oshodi-Oke and they were FULLY on duty, with more
ferociousness. But methinks they should
have gone for the official Jagaban army before looking for the black-market
ones! The Nigerian calendar would soon be restructured by legislative fiat to
accommodate June 31st, the date when the Senate
proposed that the currency swap should end. And then, PMB is not the only one
madly in love with Niger. Kwankwaso has just carried his presidential campaign
to Niger-Republic, in continuation of his ‘consultations especially his
Afrocentric foreign policy’.
Neo
Nd’Igbo Chiefs Adewale &
Buhari; the formal Jagaban army
Wike is still trending: he had cancelled the permission
granted to PDP to use the Amaseimeka
stadium. Last week, he had warned them not to dare him because he would cancel
the permission and that heavens would not fall. I think they dared him or he
woke up from the wrong side of the bed and decided to cancel it so as to know
if the heavens would fall! And he followed it with a midnight invasion and
demolition of an emergency venue being arranged by PDP, saying it was on
Government land. 30 Atikulators were also arrested in PH, arraigned and sent back to prison till
22/3/23 when the case would be heard and they blamed Wike who responded: ‘wetin concern agbero with
overload? Go ask the police’! Wikeism
at its highest! Of course, PDP has
wisely cancelled its PH Presidential campaign while Wike had just secured a
court order restraining the PDP from
expelling him. And as in the rat and lizard scenario I mentioned last time,
Ikpeazu’s preferred candidate lost out in the PDP Secondaries conducted
subsequent to the death of its
gubernatorial candidate(They had done the primaries before).
PDP National Chairman, Iyorcha Ayu has just affirmed what we all know: That the PDP
brought untold hardship to Nigerians. He should have added that the APC
took it to the over-graduate levels! And there is this beautiful ‘gal’ named BOO, running for State Assembly at
Ijebuode. She does not bother
about political philosophy, or promises, or record of past performances. She
just posts beautiful pictures in different postures, different attires and
different places, showcasing her beauty and that is that. And I ask: Is this a political contest or a beauty
contest? Anyway, at least, I noticed her! 6000+ PVCs and NINs were retrieved
from foreigners in the recent times and Lagos REC has announced that he had no
choice than to use the services of Oluomo, a certified APCian and
core BATist in the distribution of electoral personnel and
materials. We could jolly-well store the materials at Bourdillon; after all
there are vaults there and that was why it witnesses a good traffic of
Bullion-Vans.
Back to real business! We
have been served an incomprehensible dish by the APC/PMB government of the day,
even though many APCians are making futile efforts to distance
themselves, belatedly from their ruining party, where a dog-eat-dog scenario is
at an advanced level. We all know the
situation of things. People sleep at the fuel stations or queue for 12 hours to
buy fuel, which is being sold at N185 and N400 by stations sharing fences in
the same economy. On 3/2/23, when I was at the queue for 3 hours a colleague-in-suffering
left his car for his wife and joined the cash queue across the road. By
the time I left three hours later in protest against the sluggish queue and
blistering sun, he had neither cash not fuel.
And the best that PMB,
the Minister of Petroleum, with a ALL the executive powers at his disposal could do was to set up a committee. But
before you go for fuel, you go to the bank, sleep at the ATM so as to get a
tally and still spend the whole day where the bank would give you N500, N1000
or at most N5000, if you are lucky. Yet some of us have enough bundles to throw
at parties, ( where you can buy any amount from local currency hawkers);
some can access the new gold in millions while even the bandits and our ‘japa-ed’ brethren
are making mockery of us, by displaying intimidating amounts of the new
currency. And you see Nigerians going naked, jumping on top of the counter,
weeping unabashedly, attacking the banks and bankers, fighting @ ATM galleries, threatening to
commit suicide, and going to the banks with their mattresses and cooking
utensils, keeping day and night vigils… in desperation and frustration! I wish
that Prof Awojobi or Gani Fawehinmi were
to be alive; it would have been good to take on the banks for not paying money
on demand and see if they could plead force-majeure! Some have to intimidate others with native-doctor work-attires so as to gain attention;
at least one person has slumped and died within a banking hall and many have been turned emergency beggars
as they cannot transport, feed or treat themselves. I was involved in the last
currency exchange done by this same Buhari and I thought that we had seen the
worst. Sacks and heaps of the disgraced old notes were carelessly abandoned everywhere as the cash-deadline
got nearer; some Kaduna Bandits rejected the old notes while those in
Kebbi shared as much as N100000 apiece to travellers, asking them to exchange
if they could.
Many people now reject transfers and even the
transfers have become epileptic. On
15/2/23, I was ‘detained’ at Mobli
fuel-station along Lagos-Ibadan expressway, until the transfer was confirmed. The fidelity of
our banks has been badly damaged because they can no longer pay on demand. The reputational damage done by the CBN, in
addition to those caused by Emefiele’s
abominable presidential bid and his ding-dong with DSS, is incalculable.
The difference between ‘cash at hand’ and ‘cash at bank’
has become very glaring while a multidimensional blame-trading model between the banks, bankers, presidency,
APCians and DSS is at work, with some banks being accused of hoarding, some
being arrested for the act while some swore by their balls that they don’t have any. Sherif
Almuhajir , the MD of Yobe MFB accused the Banks in Yobe of diverting N4.3bn
disbursed to them arguing that the N700m
given to less than 50 ATMs in the state
could not have been utilised within so short a time. And them, under this wrenching circumstances, some
heartless policemen extorted N300,000
from a driver in Uvwie LGA of Delta state, over tinted
glass permit!
And for the first time in
history, ‘hard Naira’ is being
bought in Nairex Market with e-naira’, where
the premium varies from 10% to 50%. I have already told my biggest customers
(provisions and fruits) to open ledgers and accumulate the bills for me to settle when to amount becomes
meaningful. How can I do transfer for a N50 purchase? Bankers have suddenly
turned from the beautiful brides to endangered species and have been forced to dress
down while banks are being attacked. The rich now have to live as if
they were poor because in the absence of cash to throw about and fuel to
galivant aimlessly, they can no longer oppress the lesser mortals. They cannot
even spray because the one caught spraying is in detention as I write. And we
had a cashless valentine! Even kidnapping has ebbed; no money to be transferred
and even the kidnappers have no fuel to operate! My sister just paid N4500 to send N12000 to
her son at the NYSC camp!
Worse of all, the
politics of it all has overwhelmed the existential challenges and wrenching
suffering, which we are going through. Governors have undertaken a march on the
rock asking for the suspension of the
cash-swap policy just as some parties
threatened to boycott the election if the policy was extended by a second while
many APCians are alleging
coordinated internal sabotage and BAT
together with the National
Association of BATist co-led by ElRufai and Gbajabiamila, saying it was
targeted against him. Ganduje even accused Emefiele of trying to punish the APC for losing his
abominable presidential bid. Even the hailers have turned wailers as Oshiomhole complained of buying fuel at
N1000/Ltr, condemning the tainted subsidy regime in the process ; ElRufai had
treasonably asked his people to ignore the currency swap sine the incoming
government of BAT would cancel the policy while Igbokwe, LASG Adviser
on gutters and allied matters was stranded at the bank and was asking ‘who
is doing this?’ If he asks me,
whom I go ask?
Meanwhile, the
cash-swap policy was introduced by an APC government and is being enforced
by the CBN governor who is a certified
APC stalwart. Some APC governors went to Supreme Court which appears to be
suffering from executive-capture
to overturn the policy and the matter is being ‘countermoted’ in
court by an APC Attorney General and Minister of Justice who is perceived to be
a key member of the APC dominated CABAL! So how can a house
divided against itself stand?( ark,3:25) Meanwhile, Shehu Sani had said that if
some governors from the East had gone to court over this matter, they would
have been roasted for being IPOBians! And to complicate matters,
some APCians have called for the postponement of the election being organised
by APC because of fuel and cash wahala being caused by policies
introduced by APC! There are rumours that this cash-crunch is another way to
enforce the cashless policy and to
minimise the monetisation of the elections I have three comments: You do
not force people to change! Change is a persuasive affair and in the process,
you must address the WIIIFM question( What Is In It For Me).
Secondly, I learnt they tried this trick sometimes in India. Emefiele should
ask his research department to find out how this policy faired in India.
Thirdly, the politicians have a good
quantity of hard Naira ( though not as much as they would like) and the
original hard currencies to execute their electoral monetisation agenda. There
would be an impact but I doubt if it would justify subjecting the people to this level of
suffering and strangulating a wobbling economy.
CBN says that its 10/2/23 deadline
stands but that people could deposit at CBN branches. However, with the
stringent conditionalities introduced by CBN and the revelation by Rewane that
we have N2.5trn cash shortfall, it is obvious we are in for tougher days ahead.
And with the CBN deposit window now open, I have seen videos of ordinary
Nigerians invading the CBN with acks, I mean large sacks of expired
naira notes. From where? They did not go with SUVs or police/military escorts
or bullion vans!
Onitsha market traders idling away on
6/2/23: no cash, no fuel, no business
As at 15/2/23, it
was chaos, war and uncertainty across the land. CBN announced that the old
notes were no longer legal tenders; Supreme Court announced that it was still a
legal tender; some people were accepting and some people were rejection the
notes and some governors were ordering their people to accept the discredited notes
or punishing those who rejected it. The banks directed customers to the CBN
while the CBN redirected the people to the commercial banks. Banks at Olabisi
Onabanjo University were closed. Even the court registries in Lagos had
rejected the old notes, despite the Supreme Court ruling! And there were riots
across the land, especially at Edo and Delta states. The tension, frustration,
desperation was not about depositing the old notes; it was about the new notes.
And I ask, where are the notes? People feel that the government deliberately demonitised
them, tricking them to surrender their old notes without giving them the new
notes. And the only the President could
do via the much awaited broadcast of 16/2/23, was to praise the policy, plead
for our patience and re-legalise the
N200notes! One bad-belle friend of mine said the N200 note
received a reprieve because of the 2 cows in it!
Lucky N200, bridal
dance wit Acct Number, Poorwater with POS, cashless valentine
I agree with PMB that the policy is working(
his speech contains the 1001 benefits): A superstore proprietor told me on
15/2/23 that 99.9% of his sales were through e-Naira! I had wanted to source some h-Naira(
the hard Naira or REAL cash) from him. I
have also been forced to acquire the ATM when it was the only source of
accessing cash. Funny enough, a day after I acquired the prized
possession, cash vanished from the ATMs.
I have also ‘seen’ a poor water vendor clutching a POS terminal
and a lady engaged in the bridal dance
boldly clutching her account number: to flee from DSS/CBN trouble and to give no room for escape for those stingy
fellows who would use cashlessness as the alibi for not spraying
her. It is now e-spray! Nasty Blaq also praised the policy,
saying it has saving man from fulfilling their obligations( dates, cash, gifts)
to main and side chicks! That is an
evidence that the policy is working. Even unrepentant debtors now have an alibi
The
Nouveau-rich bankers
as endangered species; So, Where is the CASH?
We have almost forgotten
the PVC wahala, for which my sister had to leave the house at Midnight the day
she eventually got her own. And the greatest singsong in Lagos is ‘PVC not found’! Some people
are alleging political ethnic-cleansing. It has also become obvious that we
have abandoned the long-term strategic PVC quest in favour of the
immediate needs of Fuel and Cash. Of
course, it is natural, you have to survive today before thinking of tomorrow
A new set of
emergency millionaires, nouveau-riche in
big grammar has emerged in the process-bankers, fuel attendants, POS opertors
and Naira-hawkers(if you are lucky to escape the DSS raids) and to a lesser
extent, PVC-clerks. We have all been subjected to a triangular circle: queue
for bank to collect cash, with the cash, queue for fuel and with that, drive to
the PVC queue. This reminds me of my days at UI: ZikHall to Department to
Library! It also made the 2023 valentine a queer and unique one:
no cash to give, no network to transfer money and no fuel to take anybody out.
It was a silent-Valentine!
Sure, we have been
served the bread of adversity and water
of affliction and I agree with the young lady who suggested that Nigerians should be given a two-week all-round leave at
the end of Buhari’s tenure. The BOOK says that In prosperity, people lose their good senses;
they behave no better than dumb animals.( Ps 49:20). God wanted us to
borrow sone senses just before the elction and that is why the cash matter has
become the last plague preceding the exodus and ultimate freedom
Celebrations
These are unusual times
but life goes on. Congratulations to OOU for its 40th anniversary. It
isn’t easy and if you want to know how far we have come in the past 40
years,… Come and see( John, 1.39). Our active Corporate affairs
department will make your visit worthwhile!
And then, one of the key players in Corporate
Nigeria, Chief Ikechi Ezeh, Ugwumba Igbo-Ukwu, Chairman of John Holt PLC,
proprietor of Christopher University, Chairman of Igbo-Ukwu Community Bank,
Chairman of Esut Business Council( Promoters of ESUT Business School, a
renowned Corporate and Social entrepreneur turned 80 the other day. This is not a mean feat in a nation where
life expectancy is 50+. Congratulations Ugwumba as we pray to get up to that
age.
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