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“The recent shortage of physical cash in Nigeria has caused major hardship in Nigeria. People are spending hours in long queues at banks just to withdraw cash, and many are forced to rely more on digital transaction platforms which tend to be unreliable due to poor bank network coverage in Nigeria. POS operators also charge outrageous sums; as much as N1000 for a N10,000 withdrawal.”
Nigerians are stranded at banks and can’t withdraw money while banks give all the available cash to politicians.
Usually, we laugh at this saying. But can we truly laugh when the country is now “happening” to everyone?
Every day we are forced to stand in a queue. If you’re not standing in a fuel queue, you’re definitely standing in an ATM queue.
When CBN announced the redesigning of the old notes, we kicked against the ridiculousness of the released design. Our complaints were still on our tongues when the Naira note suddenly became a luxury item.
Now, you work hard. You get paid. You try to move money but bank apps are not working, the USSD code displays error messages, and banks suddenly have no money to spare. When you do get debited, the receivers do not see the transaction, leaving the money hanging in the air.
You try to prevent this by going to withdraw from the bank. You are slapped with the frustrated cashier’s “I’m sorry, the maximum withdrawal over the counter is N1000.”
You try your plan B, the POS users and they explain for every N1000 withdrawal, they charge N500. You start playing out the mathematics in your head and realize that for the petty cash of N5000, you will pay a total of N7500.
While you’re still laughing at the mere ridiculousness, you are slapped with the 150% increment in transport fare.
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Now you’re stuck.
Do you stay in the bank and fight, do you pay the charges of patronizing POS users or do you begin your long walk home?
May Nigeria not happen to you. Read more.
[Contributed]
