Today is Valentine’s Day and as has become customary with its celebration, couples and other people go all out to get gifts for their loved ones.
Even before the day, a visit to any supermarket and you’d notice that they’ve cleared out front shelves and replaced them with the most sought after items of the season – Valentine-themed gifts such as teddy bears, throw pillows, mugs, perfumes, cards and others.
Players in the hospitality industry such as hotels and restaurants also come up with various packages specially put together to ensure that those who want to celebrate have a good time.
Usually, Nigerians being the creatives they are will come up with all manner of jokes on social media, throwing jabs at women particularly and how their men may or may not be available to spend the day with them, advising them on the kind of gifts to give, not the regular boxers, inner vests and handkerchiefs.
Things appear to be a little bit different this year.
The naira redesign and revised cashless policies seem to have changed things.
Since the beginning of the year, there has been some kind of unease in the general polity as a result of the naira redesign policy in particular, which set an initial deadline of January 31 for the return of all old N200, N500 and N1000 notes to the banks.
Not wanting to be caught napping, people returned the old notes to banks as the deadline approached but were unable to get the new notes from the banks.
The use of alternative channels has not proven to be a viable solution as banks’ e-channels have continued to pack up, frustrating customers and leaving them with many failed and incomplete transactions to deal with.
While bank customers are having a hard time accessing the redesigned notes, they have somehow found their way into the hands of Point of Sale (PoS) operators who are making brisk business, charging as high as 20 per cent service charge on transactions, a situation that has made many people vow not to patronise them unless it becomes absolutely necessary.
Amidst all these, there are businesses that are still adamant about accepting fund transfers and receiving payments for their goods and services through PoS machines.
Many vehicle owners in Abuja have tales of woes about their experiences at petrol stations that insist on only selling petrol to those who will pay cash.
Following public outcry and interventions from governors, President Muhammadu Buhari had promised to take a decision in seven days. It’s been 11 days now and mum is the word from the president.
All of these have, therefore, provided a perfect alibi for those who want to run away from Valentine’s Day expenses.
They will never run out of excuses to give this year.
They couldn’t buy the gifts they were supposed to buy because the supermarket’s PoS was faulty, transfers were not going through and there was no cash to pay for them with.
They tried to make a dinner reservation but after initiating a bank transfer and their account being debited, the restaurant was yet to receive the money and there is no deal until they confirm that their account is credited.
They ordered fresh flowers but the florist called last minute to say they were unable to get the flowers delivered to their store as a result of hiccups experienced in the course of payment.
By and large, this Valentine’s Day is a sit-at-home kind of Valentine’s celebration.
However, beyond the alibi the policies by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may have provided for lovers, it is instructive to note the negative impact of this on seasonal sales by businesses.
The monetary value of the manpower lost while queuing at banks and ATMs cannot even be quantified yet. People are now spending more time trying to get cash than at their businesses.
People have resorted to trekking to and from their workplaces as they do not have cash for intra-city transportation. This is partly because even the lower denominations of the naira such as N100 and N50 are in short supply and this, in particular, has been going on for a long time.
These policies are hurting the economy and it is difficult to understand why the CBN has yet to see this as glaring as it is.
The shock on the economy was quite sudden and it has not responded well to it.
While we await the February 15 date set by the Supreme Court to hear a suit by some state governors, President Buhari and the CBN need to act and fast too as there seems to be no end in sight to the lingering problem, especially with recent stories alleging lack of capacity by the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company and the CBN.
Anyhow, have yourselves a wonderful Valentine’s celebration and remember to show love to one another in this difficult season.
