CASHLESS POLICY: NEW MONEY SAGA (part1)

Sometimes I envy trees; living for so long with no worries.

Heavy is the heart that muses and grave are the circumstances. According to “The Wanderer”, 'man is fleeting , maid is fleeting'. Please, let's also add that 'government is fleeting' and 'naira is fleeting'. So it seems to me because when something does not serve the purpose for which it exists or was created, it becomes useless, as though it is non-existent.

Ours is a nation where out of the blues our sun can decide to rise from the West and set in the east. One thing begets another and we discover that things are falling apart. Surely, we won't cry at the remembrance of the 'happy new year' we chanted on the 1st of January and the next few days that followed, neither will we bemoan the gate of the chickens whose lives went for it because it doesn't matter now. What of the 'wishing you a prosperous new year' we received and said to people? We'll keep them for better days ahead.

We love to live in the moment, it's just that over here, one moment, things could be fine and in the next, the situation gets wesser. if you are not prepared in the least for the change, you could lose your balance.

Towards the end of 2022, it was fuel scarcity. Motorcycles, tricycles and cars lined the roads waiting for their turns to get fuel. Fights erupted many times. Perhaps it was so frequent that many filling stations had to get soldiers to help them coordinate the sale of fuel. For many people the only way the issue of fuel scarcity came to be of concern to them was because of the resultant hike in cost of transportation and subsequently, inflation. Yet, all of it was still bearable.

#NigeriaDecides2023 #NewNairaNote #WeCantContinueLikeThis #Nice_Linus

CASHLESS POLICY: NEW MONEY SAGA (Part 2)

The new naira notes minted by the CBN were supposed to be in circulation by December 2022. However, in a cosmopolitan city like Ibadan, ATMs didn't stop dispensing old naira notes until about seven days to the deadline, January 31st.

Usually, people would have been waiting at ATM stands as early as 6am. By the time the average person comes around, the queue would be so long that one could collapse while standing and waiting for their turn. Many times, ATMs run out of cash as well. I can recall that there was a whole weekend when no ATM in my environment was dispensing cash. They were either out of service, temporarily unable to dispense cash or something else.

Naturally, people turned to the POS operators in relief. Just as in wartimes, however, these business men and women wouldn't render their services for peanuts. As the tension increased, so did their charges. At a time, they charged one hundred naira on the new design of one thousand naira note. Later on, right after the deadline was extended when both old notes and new notes became scarce, people didn't mind paying two hundred naira to get the old design of the one thousand note.

The rate at which the pressure rose was alarming. Every new dawn broke out with a different level of uncertainty. Without doubt, many passed their days in weariness, the kind that weighs heavily on the soul. Banks were always crowded and their gates were usually locked. People would stand outside these gates under the scorching sun for hours. Network service was terrible and customer care agents are always busy. Not only was withdrawing money a problem, transfers often went wrong. In this case, the party transferring money could be debited though the transfer was unsuccessful.

People soon began to protest and riot. Both public and private properties were vandalized. Banks were set on fire. Roads were blocked and this affected both transportation and trading.

Lives of people have been put at risk. We've faced starvation, insecurity, penury, backwardness, depression, emotional and psychological turmoil. Individuals were stranded. Families were stranded. Businesses have suffered regression. We've spent money to get back our money. We had fought back in anger, desperation and frustration. I have one word for us all.

Fight. Keep fighting. Only fight in the way that's legally acceptable and morally right. In this struggle for peace, we'll all have to be brave and strong. It might take time but we will win against corruption. One day, our dream of having a better nation will come to pass. God bless Nigeria!

#NigeriaDecides2023 #NewNairaNotes #GodBlessNigeria #Nice_Linus

WHERE MAD MEN ROAM THE STREETS

Change is constant. It may come in different variations, yet, this phenomenon is without doubt, a constant, just like time. Days, weeks and months come with varying weather conditions and seasons.

Atmospheric conditions differ from one environment to the other. The sky may be blue in one place and black in another. Even in that community where the sky is bright and blue, it could be fogy from someone else's sight. Here, the day after Sunday is Monday. In some other place, it could be Tuesday, Friday or no day at all!

There is the cosmos. In the cosmos, different worlds also exist. On a normal day, these different worlds should be interdependent and coexistent. However, where nuts go lose and no one is found to tighten them up in their right places, they eventually rot.

One good luck that comes with lunacy is blindness to reality. Mad men live in a world of their own. Mad men never know they are mad. In fact, they regard the sane person as the abnormal one. They could casually discard things they used to cherish. They could also forget people they loved. Similarly, things that used to matter would not matter anymore.

Mad men know no promise. Mad men do not understand the sanctity behind oaths, neither are they bound by them. Mad men do not understand development. Only what is right in that world in their head feels right to them.

Mad men have a different definition for many things. Justice could mean 'just us'. Freedom could mean doom. Stability could mean oppression. Violence could mean peace to them. They could mistake the oppressor for the oppressed.

Insanity can come in varying degrees. It could be partial or total. It affects various classes of people, both the rich and the poor, the ruler and the ruled, proletariat and bourgeois. Yet, insanity is insanity. It is characterized by blindness to reason.

In a world where mad people are allowed to roam the streets in their numbers, you could end up trying to differentiate between the sane man and the insane man. Worse would be the case when people who claim to be sane make people who turn out to be insane their leaders.

The good news is that insanity could be treated. In this case, the treatment would start from the mind. One's mindset should be positive and objective. Sentiments and prejudices should be sieved when making decisions.

#NigeriaDecides2023

CASHLESS POLICY: NEW MONEY SAGA (part1)

Sometimes I envy trees; living for so long with no worries.

Heavy is the heart that muses and grave are the circumstances. According to”The Wanderer”, 'man is fleeting , maid s fleeting'. Please, let's also add that 'government is fleeting' and 'naira is fleeting'. So it seems to me because when something does not serve the purpose for which it exists or was created, it becomes useless, as though it is non-existent.

Ours is a nation where out of the blues our sun can decide to rise from the West and set in the east. One thing begets another and we discover that things are falling apart. Surely, we won't cry at the remembrance of the 'happy new year' we chanted on the 1st of January and the next few days that followed, neither will we bemoan the gate of the chickens whose lives went for it because I doesn't matter now. What of the 'wishing you a prosperous new year' we received and said to people? We'll keep them for better days ahead.

We love to live in the moment, it's just that over here, one moment, things could be fine and in the next, the situation gets wesser. if you are not prepared in the least for the change, you could lose your balance.

Towards the end of 2022, it was fuel scarcity. Motorcycles, tricycles and cars lined the roads waiting for their turns to get fuel. Fights erupted many times. Perhaps it was so frequent that many filling stations had to get soldiers to help them coordinate the sale of fuel. For many people the only way the issue of fuel scarcity came to be of concern to them was because of the resultant hike in cost of transportation and subsequently, inflation. Yet, all of it was still bearable.

#NigeriaDecides2023 #WeCantContinueLikeThis #NewNairaNotes

THEIRS IS A JUST FIGHT. YET, WHEN WAR LINGERS, IT WOULD BE IN THE BEST INTEREST OF ALL TO CALL FOR A TRUCE!

Knowing fully well that when two elephants fight, it's the grass that bears the brunt, I refrained from picking sides when all of this began. As a matter of fact, my disappointment in the failed educational system and anguish wouldn't let me.

Resuming school as a fresher(after a year and a couple of months) was like a dream come true. Omo! Come and see galavanting I trekked down to the school gates a couple of times just for the fun of it(and the most of the time,as a result of a phenomenon common to students popularly known as Sapa).

When the time table came out, I wondered why some courses were taught virtually, especially the GES courses. Soon enough, I attended my first lecture. I took an available seat at the far end of the lecture theatre. Subsequently, students who came in after me either had to make do with the remaining seats or stand so as to hear the lecturer properly. Later on, when someone told me that GES courses had to be taught virtually because no lecture theatre had enough capacity to house all the students who are to take the courses, I readily agreed.

On February 14 when ASUU embarked on the industrial action, I thought it would all be over soon. I didn't know . Now, it's seven months already since then. How time flies! I still remember how I donned my matric gown atop my white and black. In fact, I can still picture how I held the scholarly cap in place with my red flowery hair pin. I was seriously expecting that my lecturers would resume after two weeks. I thought two weeks was enough time for the government to sort out things with them. However, I was wrong.

We know that this administration is irresponsible and uncaring about the Nigerian students. Their despicable actions show this. The strike has obviously not achieved the desired effect. So, I ask: isn't it high time it is called off? At least, for the sakes of students all over the federation who have engaged in protests and done all in their capacity to advance the just cause of ASUU and parents too, the strike ought to end.

#ASUUStrike #EndASUUStrikeNow #NigeriaDecides2023 #EducationIsOurRigh