He got it. He got it on a platter, and that is what deserves. What he was served is what he requested. It is similar to the way you order meals at restaurants. If you request chicken and chips and cappuccino that is what you would get. On the other hand, if you choose to climb a cage so you could steal the chicken’s eggs and you fall and break your limbs in the process; that is your lot.
However, whatever you find in your plate is what you have attracted, nothing a morsel less, and nothing a morsel more. Therefore, our James got what he deserves. Whatever judgement he is served is not a punishment for his actions. Rather it is the direct consequences of his deeds. Every action has reactions. Every cause has effect. Every wall has two sides. Every beginning has an end. May be you could say the prison terms signalled his end. And, you know, he has been running, running away from the long arms of the law. How long can one keep running? How long? Well, you can only hide, you cannot run. Or can you?
However, isn’t it ironic that the same action he was accused of in Nigeria and was set free, the same action he was charged and convicted for in another land? Talk about running away from a law only to run into the waiting arms of the law. Is the law in the UK different from the law in Nigeria?
Yes, the law is blindfolded in the UK. It has 20/20 Vision in Nigeria. It is sensitive to the feelings and shenanigans of the rich and powerful in Nigeria. It is insensitive to feelings and emotions of the citizens in the UK. If you break the law in the UK, it boomerangs and breaks you. If you break the law in Nigeria, it steps out with its paraphernalia of office and escorts you to your palatial home; unless you do not have a godfather. The law fines or imprisons offenders in the UK. It throws plea bargain at offenders in Nigeria.
That is why the cash-less banking policy is still at its infancy. It is still a toddler and it would take a while for it to learn how to crawl because the law is porous, and Nigerians would always find a way around it, over it, under it and behind it. Come, let us go to the banking hall and you would be converted.
Cash corridor
There is a ‘cash corridor’ in the Niger Delta where the oil companies have fallen in love with cash. There is unusual demand for cash in this space. However, as salaries are paid, the cash is taken to Onitsha market for the purchase of goods. The banks have since devised means to constantly mopping up cash in this corridor. How? Bullion van would be driven to Onitsha, mop up the cash and return to disburse the cash in Port Harcourt, Warri and other areas, and then the customers would go back to Onitsha to deposit the cash!
Point of Sale (PoS) terminal
The scenario above can be solved by the deployment of PoS terminals, but would the system make it work? The answer is locked within the question. The cost of moving cash around, investment in Bullion vans, investment in sorters and processing the cash, have all become prohibited especially as the cash base is growing. What is the way forward?
Dollar to the rescue
Okay, the CBN has said you cannot withdraw over N1 million. That is not a problem. How does Nigeria walk around this? The smart move is to ask a third party to transfer the money to your domiciliary account in hard currency. Once this is done, you can withdraw the dollar equivalent in your local bank and that is cashless banking! A fellow withdrew $12,000 over the counter. When converted that is about N2 million. What the local currency cannot do, hard currency would do better, abi?
30 standing, 3 serving
Before the advent of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Lagos, the yellow bus also known as “molue” was king. The bus has seat for few passengers. But to maximise gains, owners of the buses would collect as many passengers as greed would allow to the extent that only a handful of passengers would be seated while numerous other be standing.
These passengers would be pressed so tightly together like canned fish. You would have thought that scene is gone forever. But when you walked into the banking hall and 30 or more bank customers were standing on a queue waiting to be served, you were shocked. The customers had become agitated and were shouting, calling the attention of the bank manager to ensure speedy service.
Why? The three bank tellers attending to the crowd had been overwhelmed with the load of work at hand. They could not do more than they were doing already. Among these customers were youths and market women. What caused this logjam? The bank’s debit platform had ground to a halt! This discovery automatically led to frustrations being expressed in varying degrees by the customers.
Wedding versus marriage
There are several news reports of marriages that have ended in divorce. As it is in Europe, so it is in America and Nigeria. Divorce happened in all fronts including lowly citizens, not only among celebrity couples. The overriding factor identified by marriage counsellors is that majority of couples who have found themselves on the other side of marriage is that they were not ready to weather the storm of marriage.
According to the experts, these divorcees usually planned big for the wedding day, forgetting that after the wedding ceremony comes the marriage, and marriage is not a crowd game. It is a couple’s game. The same experience is being played out in the banking sector. The banks have ended their wedding ceremonies, but they are now confronting the challenges that come with marriages.
These banks are still battling with platform integration, software and culture issues. If the platform is not breaking down, it is not having a handshake. If it is not causing bottlenecks at the banking halls, it is giving cash-less banking bad name. And like our James who is serving 13 years prison term in the UK, the cash-less banking deserves the mud it attracts.
