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By Ola Emmanuel
The man suddenly found himself trekking on the highway on a long-distant journey to his home town in another state. How he managed to embark on the trip without informing anybody, not even his wife, remained a puzzle unto him. Without money in his pocket, safe for a note whose value couldn’t cover the trip, he started thinking about how to get out of the situation he found himself in. He would trek some kilometres, and then use the note in his pocket to board any available vehicle. He would call his brother to meet with him where the vehicle would drop him so that the brother could take him to the village.
Suddenly he became aware of his financial status. Why would he make this trip to the village without anything on him? What called for the trip? Why was he going to the village, a trip he didn’t plan, a trip he didn’t know when he left his house, and without informing anybody. No one knew where he was. Here, on the trip alone and trekking he was going home to see who and for what purpose? There was nothing with him and nothing on him to give anybody in the village. Of what use was the trip? But he continued on the journey.
On reaching the intersection where the state government-announced road network project was happening, a construction work that the state government announced with fanfare, it was already an abandoned project. The work had been abandoned and the site was desolate, overgrown with weeds and the beams for the flyover had been removed.
He continued on the journey, trekking on the highway and was being moved by a force to embark on a journey he knew he shouldn’t. After some kilometres, he saw ahead of him some individuals boarding a vehicle and he hastened his steps to join them. But he was suddenly confronted by a fellow who was trying to steal something from him. That was the time he became aware that he had his telephone handset on him and the assailant was trying frantically to get the handset. Somehow he managed to defend himself, secure the handset and some series of activities followed on that spot. At the end he didn’t board any vehicle, didn’t call his brother again and he never continued on the journey to the village.
What could this mean at this time when non-availability of cash has rendered every city, town, village and hamlet very mournful? I recall the direction of the discussion that I and my guest had on my radio programme about the latest CBN’s attitude to the Supreme Court ruling that the old notes should return as legal tender till December 31, 2023. The conclusion of our discussion did not show that millions of Nigerians that are suffering due to shortage of cash will enjoy any respite soon. Without clear-cut instruction from the CBN, can Money Deposit Banks on their own obey the apex courts judgement? The doubt remains.
But the suffering caused by the cashless situation is already at snapping point. Depositors’ funds are trapped in various banks. Youths and elders alike are daily amassing at the entrances of the banks for hours unending, wailing, gnashing and shouting themselves hoarse. More than 10 days after the Supreme Court ruling, I am convinced that the CBN has no cash, new or old notes, to release to the people.
Clearly greater percentage of Nigerians, the 133 million that are adjudged to be multidimensionally poor (National Multidimensional Poverty Index Report, November 2022), are on their own and practically abandoned. These are people that rely on daily incomes in cash to buy foods, buy drugs to take care of their health, take care of their children2’s education, and keep their souls and bodies together in their own little way in a country where their well-being is of little concern to the people that rule over them. They are micro traders who dominate the informal sector who rely solely on daily sales and payment in cash for services rendered through hard labour before they can eat and feed their family members and other dependants. Through non-availability of cash to enable them carry out their enterprises, these people are already dropping dead.
It was shocking when the news broke Saturday morning of a radio presenter in Ibadan who was said to have embarked on trekking because of no cash to the radio station for an early morning programme. He never reached the station, several miles away, because it was reported he slumped on the way. It is easy to imagine the condition of this man that led to his finishing the life’s journey by collapsing by the roadside. Lack of cash and inability to gain access to what he had in his bank account would have affected the quality of his food intake. Perhaps he was not able to eat the night before; and the week preceding this unfortunate incident, he had forced himself to adjust the eating pattern of his family to reflect the cashless situation.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s demonetisation policy has destroyed the businesses of several millions of Nigerians. Go to local markets where petty traders hawk their wares and see wastage. Yam sellers, fish sellers, plantain sellers and others like them have lost their businesses. These over 133 million are people who don’t have bank accounts that are trying to sell to those who don’t have cash to buy.
For months now it has been a case of hunger, misery and untimely death among these multidimensionally poor people. This pathetic state of genocide is caused by CBN’s inability to understand the state and condition of the people the institution is churning out policies to affect. Mr CBN Governor, your January 2023 monetary policies, like others before, are too deficient and myopic.
Now to the market leaders and trade association leaders, this is the time to think out of the box to help your members who are negatively affected by the current CBN cashless activities. Instead of appearing helpless and disillusioned, as leaders of the micro traders, it is time to think out of the box. You need to get more organised and become more effective in your leadership responsibilities. Unusual situation requires unusual approach. If the policymakers have no place for you in their thinking, you need to reinvent your own approach to mitigate and cushion the negative impacts of policies that affect how you do business.
This is not the time to be rigid in approach and process. If your members rely on cash before they can sell and the buyers have no cash, perhaps you need to consider having a Point of Sale where buyers can pay for purchases and you have good understanding with your trader-members to have their money.
The cashless situation we currently find on our laps is lending credence to the cooperative economy I have been talking and writing about for years. Individualism is failing, you need to become more organised and collaborative to seize opportunities and enjoy good business.
- Emmanuel is a business planning consultant and founder of Leacent Incorporated Trustees, a network of entrepreneurs and group of cooperatives.
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