Who'd believe this day will come, when Naira will be scarce and expensive, buying Naira with Naira to buy another scarce commodity with an increased tariff.
One minute, the masses are scampering to deposit their old notes and the next, they're trying to re-obtain the old notes at an even higher cost of time, money and efforts, with the new notes nowhere in sight.
Let's say that large bills can be sorted with a mobile transaction, what happens when you want to pay a bike man #100 for a ride? Most of which aren't interested in transfers. Ride apps showing busy as it's booked up, as demands exceed supplies.
We've yearned for the Naira to gain value, but in this manner that it is unavailable and difficult to acquire.
There's now the Naira parallel market, where you buy back your money at a 10-20% fee. Insanity.
Makes me wonder if storing cash would have been the best policy, ignoring the threats from the CBN Governor before the deadline for depositing old notes exceeded.
Funny thing is, these new notes are seen in their bundles in lavish weddings and occasions being sprayed and thrown in the air. The amount of which shouldn't be with just one person as stipulated by the CBN rules. Or are rules for the poor masses and not for the wealthy and powerful?
Against the dollar, Naira is devaluing and against Naira, Naira is getting expensive. Old notes were being rejected days back. Now, to obtain both the old and new is gold.
To think we're scampering to obtain a paper whose value is rapidly declining. Regardless of how much you have, if you can't spend it, of what use it is?
This has led to overspending via mobile transaction; because one doesn't have cash to take a cheap option, one will have to look for a cashless option which costs more.
The whole money situation feels like a failed Ponzi, especially those fake robot trades where you're seeing your income but can't access it.
Now, people are being offered money in the smallest naira notes. Imagine going to pay for a commodity and you pull out a bundle of #5 notes. The moment one of those notes goes missing, the money ceases to be a round figure.
The situation might be bearable to someone without an extra responsibility aside from self, but it's really fatal for most people.
For those who might be able to let go of 20% to obtain the notes, there's hardly a means to obtain it. It is scarce.
For now, we can spend both old and new notes, though scarce. I wonder what it'll be in the coming weeks when the old notes are completely banned. I hope a miracle happens quickly. For that time, I'm storing money in the smaller notes which is not affected in the old Vs new saga, even though not much. That way I'm not completely stranded.
Should we go back to the era where you can exchange goods for services, goods for goods and services for services instead of a paper?
With up to a trillion dollars spent on the recycling and re-printing project, one would expect that we wouldn't get to this point. But, here we are.
How can this Naira issue be resolved?
What is the way forward with the Nigeria's financial system and every other sector?
PS:
Fuel scarcity
Money scarcity
Light scarcity and in turn Water scarcity.
And yet, we're to show up at work daily to earn enough and pay taxes.
Should I say it is well?