Naira scarcity: My dilemma

I was on my way back to Abuja after a short trip I had embarked on, and the vehicle stopped by a small community to get items, so passengers could stretch their legs (as is customary for long journeys).  The issue was that I had just enough cash with me to take me home when […]

I was on my way back to Abuja after a short trip I had embarked on, and the vehicle stopped by a small community to get items, so passengers could stretch their legs (as is customary for long journeys). 

The issue was that I had just enough cash with me to take me home when I alight, and I was also exhausted and needed to rehydrate. 

Because I didn’t have enough cash on me, I approached a man in his kiosk and asked if I could transfer to him and pick something.  

He didn’t agree at first because what I was buying was little. So I picked more items and also requested that he gives me N500, so I have extra cash on me. 

He agreed. Time to transfer, NO NETWORK! 

I tried going back to the vehicle to get my second phone, but the vehicle was locked. 

I then approached a lady, who I assumed was a corps member because she was putting on a crested face cap. 

She had agreed to turn on her wireless hotspot for me to make the transfer; but after connecting, the transfer failed to go through. She also had to leave because her vehicle was leaving. Back to square one. 

I approached someone else, yet again. I know this person and I were in the same vehicle because he was the second person to my left. I could see him as I wrote this piece. 

I made the same request but he didn’t understand me as much so I flung in a few Hausa words. 

He agreed to help and as I was in the middle of copying out his phone’s hotspot password, he changed his mind, mumbled a few words under his breath and walked away. 

The poor chap assumed that I was somehow trying to hack his phone. 

Now, if cash were available, I wouldn’t need to transfer. Let’s not even talk about the cellular network part (we seem to have made peace with their idiosyncrasies). But I had my card on me and would have easily withdrawn some money from POS operators around; but there’s no cash and someone suspected that I’m a fraudster! 

But I approached yet another person. I was really thirsty. 

The guy was standing beside the vehicle I was travelling in, and asked for help. He looked like a higher institution fresher and seemed to understand my situation.  

He told me that his phone was about to die, but he was willing to share his hotspot since it would be quick…and then two elderly women, his mum and an aunt (I suspect) spoke to him in their dialect. 

They asked what the issue was and I explained my situation to them. Their response was: 

“No ooo… we don’t do that here.” 

They then spoke to the boy in their dialect, maybe telling him not to engage me. 

And he said to me, “I understand you.” 

And I responded, “There’s a huge illiteracy gap in this country bro.” 

I can’t buy anything because I don’t have cash, I can’t do a transfer because there’s no network to talk more of internet. And people weren’t willing to help because they couldn’t understand what I was trying to do. They wrote me off as some ‘scammer’. 

But I can’t blame them. They don’t know better. 

However, I’ll now have to continue the trip dehydrated, till probably when I alight. 

Many Nigerians are uninformed about things some of us would consider as basic; such as sharing mobile data via mobile hotspot. How much more getting acquainted with full implementation of the cashless policy? 

Most importantly, the naira scarcity is biting hard. Nigerians are having it really rough. 

 

Sagir Ibrahim sent this from Abuja