I know a lot of us wrinkle our noses whenever rich people collect their change. Especially at filling stations, cash counters at the Mall. You wonder why that man needs to collect his change, isn't he rich enough to just forget money with you ni? Why can't you pray that you also become that rich by doing your job?
Chill bros. I am of the opinion that anyone that thinks this way is yet to understand how it feels to honestly earn and spend your own money.
Yesterday night I went out with one of my cute young friends. I know what i'm saying when I say cute, he is a "lady swooner." We were so hungry and he had begged me earlier not to eat my beans and bread because we were going to share the same bed at night. You know, my combustion engine does a lot of strange things .
So we decided to go for some KFC wings and chips. I had also been craving some icecream, so we stopped by MCdonalds to get a McFlurry.
The cashier took our orders and gave us the change which was about 10 cents out of a Rand.
There were some giggling girls nearby so I understood my young friend's dilemma. He couldn't be that guy taking a 10 cent change off the counter.
He took the slip and left the change. I asked him why he left the change but he just kept blushing and couldn't say why.
I went over and took the 10 cents then gave it to him. You cannot be ashamed of your own money.
When I was younger, maybe I would also have done that to impress the girls. Now I know the pain of working day and night to earn honest money, I have a collection of coins on my table which I use for offering, or emergency cash.
Not long ago I was remembering the Nigeria I grew up in. A place where 1 Naira was worth something. You could actually spend that money as offering in church and you won't have been shamed for throwing coins in the bag.
Now you may not even have 5 or 10 Naira notes. If you have them, it would be shameful to spend them, even beggars would insult you for giving them such money. Now people compete in church to give a bigger denomination in church. I have been to church and I was ashamed to bring out my 100 naira offering. We don't know what "small change" means.
It means accountability, it means dignity for income honestly gained. If we must teach young people to be happy, content and to be proud of their work, we must recognize the power of currency.
Something I love about Igbo traders is their respect for currency, they don't understand anything like big money or small money. It's the same way they will vigorously market their okay shirt business at Ebute Meta that they will pursue their overseas container.
Like days when I offer 1k for a 5k shirt, bros will be like "ehnn that wan too na money but hin no gree."
Go to oja Bodija in Ibadan and tell iya shikira that you will give her 10 Naira for her 100 Naira efo, she immediately starts cursing you like you have stolen her products.
Money is part of our everyday existence but it seems we are not aware of what is happening to our currency and how it's making thieves and yahoo boys out of us. If you give that your little cousin 100 naira, don't be surprised if he does not greet you well again because of that.
Maybe our parents were right to sieze all those free gifts we got as children. Maybe that's what makes some of us so prudent and honest. It used to be painful but now when you earn your own money, you are able to appreciate it.
Enough of the long story, I just hope for that Nigeria where 1 Naira was actually money. Those days of baba dudu, lolly and cutting icecream into two with scissors. Those were the days our role models were actually honest business people, not all these yahoo boys selling music and clubs as cover up. If you didn't experience that Nigeria, kindly address me as Uncle