There are various ways of reacting to a major calamity in the Yoruba-speaking Southwest. Elders simply shake their heads, recalling how they tried without success to talk the young ones out of trouble. They could also shed some tears and then recede into the cocoon of their homes to mourn their fate.
The young ones scream to alert the world that an evil occurrence had hit a target. In expressing their pains and agony, they cry out, exclaiming in such a moving manner that neighbours will rush out to offer some comfort and consolation.
Exclamations, such as moku, mogbe, modaran (I’m dead, I’m lost and I’ve commited a crime) are common. Did you grab the alliteration and the acronym MMM? Some poetic coloration of a mournful situation, if you wish.
What is “Editorial Notebook” up to this morning? Poetry? Language? Neither, I assure you.
It is all about the major calamity that befell some of our compatriots on Tuesday when the promoters of the foggy Mavrodi Mondial Movement (MMM) ponzi scheme that has seized the land like harmattan suddenly suspended payment till January. Christmas was just some 12 days away. Now, the cries of mogbe, mote (I’m disgraced) and molo (I’m gone) have been ringing out from many corners. From other parts of Nigeria have been tears as the greedy and the gullible count their losses.
At least a suicide attempt has been reported in Benue State. A would-be groom who invested N300,000 in the scheme, on learning about the payment suspension, grabbed a can of an insecticide and gorged himself on the acidic stuff. Doctors are battling to save his life.
Is this new? No.
The picture remains as gripping as its first appearance on prime time national television. Ace comedian Sunday Omobolanle, who is also known as Aluwe or Papi Luwe, unusually decked out in a big ceremonial dress, an agbada, a cap made of damask, the type the Yoruba call abetiaja because of its two sides standing firm, erect like a dog’s ear. His face is wreathed in smiles. Behind him is a small crowd of incredulous well-wishers, who also turn out in beautiful dresses. All beaming.
Aluwe throws open the front door of a beautiful house and looks back at the crowd, raises his hand like a traffic warden’s and says in a loud arresting voice: “Everybody, come inside. Na work of Forum.”
Forum was the Lagos mortgage firm that promised everyone a home in the 1980s. Many, including the middle class and the wealthy, rushed in there to seek some fortune. Forum became the toast of the town among those who wished to own their own homes. From all over the country, they stormed the company’s elegant headquarters in Lagos to deposit cash.
Forum crashed. With it were the hopes and aspirations of thousands of unwary depositors. There was no news about the company’s chief promoter, a certain Chief Owolabi, who an American returnee said was seen in New York behind the wheels of a yellow cab.
There were also other “wonder banks” that promised depositors huge returns on their investments. Umana Umana held sway in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. Plan Well got Benin City residents excited.
By the time the depositors realised that they had been conned, it was too late to go back.
Any lesson learnt? None, I dare say. Enter the pure tricksters, pranksters and fraudsters popularly referred to as 419 – in fearful reference to the aspect of the Criminal Code that makes such acts offences. They would write some barely literate letters, claiming to have some fortune somewhere, which has been allocated to you. Unsolicited. There will always be a condition; you must pay some fee to access this huge cash. That is the sting in the operation. As soon as the fool (mugu) is drawn in by a “catcher”, more demands are made. He may even get to see some fake dollars that will need a certain chemical to be cleaned and ready to spend. Wash wash, they call it.
The gullible continue to fall. In fact, at a point, the Nigerian scam letter was competing with oil – the mainstay of our economy – as our major export. The world was alarmed at the ingenuity of our compatriots, who called it all “reparation” as greedy foreigners would not listen to several warnings from the INTERPOL and local police. Thankfully, with the coming of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), 419 cases have reduced.
Who would have thought that with their rich experience Nigerians would some day become victims of any major Internet scam. First it was forex trading. Many pumped in their life savings in a bid to earn dollars in a scheme that is as complex as its obscure players. The jury is still out on how many got injured in this strange game.
Just as the forex trading noise was subsiding, MMM made its amazing debut. Like all other such schemes, it came with jumbo offers wrapped in some sentimental nonsense – that it is a kind of wealth redistribution in which the poor will have priority. You invest money, which will be transferred to somebody who requires help and 30 per cent is yours at the end of the month. What is more, should you require help, it will be yours for the asking. But there is a warning, which many failed to heed – invest only what you won’t need, the smart, shadowy fellows said.
According to Wikipedia, MMM was a Russian company that perpetrated one of the world’s largest Ponzi schemes of all time in the 1990s. “By different estimates, from five to 40 million people lost up to $10billion. The exact figures are not known even to the founders.”
In Nigeria, the promoters defined MMM as a “community where people help each other”. “MMM gives you a technical platform which helps millions of participants worldwide to connect those who need help to those who are ready to provide help for free”.
The scheme won a multitude of people, many of them middle class who feel the biting effects of the recession. There are also greedy folks who believe in a short cut to wealth and – you won’t believe this – bankers.
How was MMM getting the cash to pay 30%? Is it a legitimate venture? Who are the promoters? Who decides who needs help and how? Is this a charity? From where do the organisers draw their remunerations? Who are their bankers? Do they have auditors? Any insurance cover in case of losses? They do not invest the cash they collect; so how do they make money? Is there any free lunch anywhere?”
These are legitimate questions that many recession – dazed investors failed to ask .
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) warned that it had no hand in the whole show, but the participants sneered at it. The EFCC advised against investing in the bazaar, but its adherents were too far gone in their dream of a life of abundance and jollification promised by the promoters.
MMM founder Sergey Mavrodi wrote to the Federal Government to explain the workings of the ponzi scheme. He lambasted the government for not providing for Nigerians and attacking those who are trying to help. He lashed out at the government for its ignorance, adding that the about three million participants were aware of the risks.
In a cocky and scurrilous letter, written in jerky and childish language, Mavrodi said: “Honourable authorities, so far MMM has come under a constant attack from you. In this regard, I would like to ask you a few simple questions. Since you are concerned with the interests of millions of your fellow citizens, I hope you will be so kind to answer them.
“What are you trying to get? Do you want the MMM System to collapse and millions of people to suffer? Who will support them if now MMM is their only means of livelihood? Will you? You don’t pay wages to people. Or might you not care about them? Might you be using a trendy topic to make a good name for yourselves? What will you say to a mother who will have no money to buy food for her child? Will you let her child die for the sake of the higher interests of the economy?”
He rambled on and on, turning logic on its head. The participants were warned about the risks, he said, so the scheme is no scam.
Now the fairy tale seems to have ended
In this tragedy, Nigerians have found an opening for laughter. In the social media, there have been videos of some victims lamenting their indiscretion. A man collapses, his mobile phone in his hand, after getting a call that MMM had crashed. The man on the other side keeps screaming his name.
Besides, there is an advisory on the MMM disaster:
“Ensure that you are close to your friends and relations who are into MMM.
Observe their movements and monitor where they go to.
If you see any of them going close to a river, an ocean or stream, raise the alarm and invite the police or RRS.
If you see any of them talking to himself or herself, alert Aro or Yaba.
If he or she gets aggressive and smashes things, please seek help of neighbours to tie the man or woman with a thick, cow rope.”
Another wondered what newspaper headlines will be. His suggestions:
“MMM stings Nigerians”; “Man commits suicide as MMM closes shop”; “Wife stabs husband, claiming he introduced me to MMM”; “MMM victims protest at National Assembly”; and “Atiku condoles with MMM victims”.
The promoters say the payment freeze is temporary. MMM is threatening to return in January. How many of its investors will wait?
