By our reporters
In the pre-colonial times, Nigerians exchanged their goods with European traders in the coasts and fellow Nigerians who had what they needed through a process called trade by barter.
With the unending cash crunch in Nigeria occasioned by the dearth of the new naira notes in most banks, automated teller machines (ATMs) and point-of-sale (POS) operators in the country, trade by barter has suddenly returned to many parts of the country.
From the Federal capital, Okwe Obi reports that many traders have resorted to trade by barter, owing to the scarcity of the new Naira notes.
A trader at Garki Market, Area 11, Oge Innocent, explained that she only engages in trader by barter with well known persons or fellow traders.
According to her, when items, mostly foodstuffs are demanded and collected, the worth and prices are always known by the two parties.
“Like most of us who are traders, we understand ourselves. If my neighbour has what I need, I will exchange from her with what she has. If there is a balance, we will leave it till the next day or some order day and we continue.
“We know the worth of what we exchange. For instance, I collected a litre of palm oil, I know the price. And if my neighbour needs a mudu of beans, she knows the price. We will balance up. If I collect Semo vita from my neighbour’s shop for N800 and he or she collects crayfish or stockfish of N1000 from me, I already know that the person is owing me N200. If we buy another item tomorrow, we will balance it.”
She regretted that the CBN policy is spreading misery all over the country.
“The ATMs are full. Cash is very scarce in the market. And the transfer most customers do is fake. You will only receive alert without the money. People are rejecting transfer and people are frustrated. If it continues, people will be forced to react,” she stated.
Isa Ali, a livestock dealer at the Nyanya Market, said he had no option aside adopting the trade by barter concept to keep his business going.
“We are not enjoying the new policy. But we have to adjust. My business is still standing because of long-time relationship with my business associates.
“I exchange my cows and goats to truck drivers to import more goods. This cashless policy is not helping matters. Thank goodness that we know the worth of what we exchange. An average cow is from N200, 000 to N300,000. For a driver to transport my goods, I know how much to deduct or pay. Government should review the policy,” he said.
In Kebbi State, villagers in the rural areas have started engaging in trade by barter. Saturday Sun gathered that in Bagudo, Dakingari, Zuru and Zuru areas, villagers with rice, beans and yam flour area exchange them with those in need of seasoning cubes, red oil, groundnut oil and other ingredients for daily meals.
While speaking with Saturday Sun’s Olanrewaju Lawal, Mallam Umar Abdullah said: “The villagers who have rice and need seasoning cubes have to measure the quantity of rice that is worth the cubes and come to an agreement. Also, those who need other things for their daily meals always measure them and come to an agreement before exchanging the commodities among themselves.
“They are doing this, because their villages are far away from the state capital, where the commercial banks are located. Instead of spending money again for transportation, they rather prefer to exchange goods and commodities among themselves.”
In the Bagudo area, a community leader, Mallam Malami Bagudu, confirmed in a telephone chat that villagers in Samia and Lamudu villages were engaging in trade by batter. He said each time they give bank agents N8,000 of the old naira notes, they get only N5,000 new notes in return.
“So, instead of travelling many miles to the state capital to exchange their money, they resort to exchanging goods for goods, and if they have old naira notes, they get less than what they have exchanged.”
From Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Femi Folaranmi reports that trade by barter has been taking place in areas like Emeyal, Ayama-Ijaw and Ogu in Ogbia, Southern Ijaw and Yenagoa Local Government Areas of the state.
For instance, in Emeyal, people with bunches of plantain exchange them for cups of rice, tomato, pepper and sometimes fish.
“It depends on the size of the plantain. An average bunch of plantain sells for N2000, so, with the naira scarcity, you cannot get the exact value. So, for me, I just exchange a bunch with four cups of rice, a handful of pepper, which we use to prepare rice and pepper soup to eat. The problem is, however, getting someone who wish to trade with you,” said Mr Joshua Igoni, a farmer in Emeyal.
In Ayama-Ijaw and Ogu, there have been reported cases of people exchanging fish with plantains to survive.
“Sometimes they come very early in the morning and stay by the Swali bridge where they see people with plantains, and they exchange fish for plantain and return to Ayama- Ijaw and Ogu communities,” said Mrs Lydia Asawei, a tomato seller.
She said several people have also come to her to beg for pieces of tomatoes, pleading that they have no money to pay. “Today, five people came to beg for pieces of tomato. Since last week, that is how people have been coming. Not only to my shed, but to other people selling things. I helped people on Monday and initially on Tuesday, but I have stopped. I also need the money to buy other things. The government should find a way to do something. The begging is too much,” she said.
Speaking in Ikarama, Yenagoa Local Government Area, Mrs Welder said people were finding it difficult to feed: “I went to the okro seller in the community, but she said she is not going to collect the old N200 note that I have. I had to return home. As we are now, I don’t know what to do.”
In Imiringi community, Ogbia Local Government Area, Mr Afagha Ramani said the situation in the community was now critical. “We have not reached the stage of trade by barter here, but we are gradually moving close. There is no POS that operates again in Imiringi. A major restaurant in this area did not open because the woman said she could not get money to buy foodstuff,” he lamented.
Generally, Bayelsans are groaning over the inability to get cash to buy essential commodities, as the scarcity of naira bites harder in the state.
The heightened tension caused by the naira scarcity forced many banks not to open to customers beginning from Monday.
The police, which said it uncovered a plot to cause mayhem, beefed up security at most banks and ATM points in the state, and warned that “miscreants, under any guise are hereby warned to desist from carrying out any unlawful assembly to unleash violence in the state.”
Saturday Sun investigations, however, revealed that it was not miscreants planning to protest, but residents of the state who could no longer bear the hardship caused by the naira scarcity.
From Aba, Abia State, Ogbonnaya Ndukwe reports that the announcement that some naira denominations in use had ceased to be legal tender and the lingering scarcity of the new ones by commercial banks are now leading the people to think about returning to the old ways of trade by barter.
Saturday Sun gathered that, in the commercial city of Aba, people were so frustrated that they now live by the day, with business houses, traders and even food sellers, refusing to be paid with the old notes.
Chief Ijoma Ukaiwe, a foodstuffs trader in Ngwa Road Market (Ahia Ohuru), said frustration had come into play, as those refusing to collect the old notes go home in the evenings without doing any business.
He revealed how some women approached him and requested to exchange other belongings for stuff like rice, beans and other items.
“Here in the market, some women even have approached me to exchange items like rice, beans and yam with their wrappers, but I rather collected the old notes from them.
“Government should help us by releasing more of the new notes or, in the meantime, allow the continued use of the old ones alongside those being introduced,” he pleaded.
Madam Ijeoma Ukaegbu, a roadside food vendor, said young men and families coming to her to buy food have been urging her to take solid property in exchange for cooked food, with a promise to pay and repossess such belongings when the situation improves.
She said: “People are coming to me to request that I collect and keep their belongings while serving them food. I used to sell to them and collect the supposed old notes, which I hope to pay into the bank someday, if the authorities accept.”
A survey by Saturday Sun in different parts of the city, including markets, bus stops and gatherings, revealed the challenge to be the same in all strata of the society.
In Ibadan, as reported by Oluseye Ojo, it was gathered from traders at Akobo, Bashorun, Bodija, Mokola, and Oje markets that the scarcity of naira notes has led to low patronage from their customers, even as they have devised new ways of doing transactions.
One of the traders at Bashorun Market, Mrs. Rukayat Ishola, said: “Some of my co-traders have bank accounts and their customers have been transferring to them. But, for me, I don’t have a bank account. I sell tubers of yams. What I do now is to allow my customers to buy and give me the money when they get the cash.
“But that is for the customers that I know well. It is better for people to owe me than for the yam to decay. But for others that I don’t know, I will not sell to them if they don’t have cash.”
At Mokola Market, a chicken seller, Mrs Tayo Oyeniran, stated: “There is nothing like trade by barter in this market, though we are suffering over the non-availability of naira notes. People have not been coming to buy chicken the way they used to. I don’t have a bank account, so I tell people to transfer the money to my son’s account, and I have always been calling my son to confirm every payment for me. But I still have some people that have been paying cash. So, I retain the cash for my personal use.”
Priscilla Ediare reports from Ado-Ekiti that the cash crunch has brought untold hardship on the people as they are now forced to adopt new austere lifestyles.
Speaking with some of the residents, Mrs Bolajoko Adetutu, a civil servant residing in Ado-Ekiti, decried the hunger in the land, which she said has weakened the economy.
“I don’t understand what is happening in this country again. I don’t know where we are going to and where we are coming from. I can’t collect money from the bank and can’t spend money. The situation is crazy and terrible. My family and I can hardly feed now. I can’t buy foodstuff in the market except when I pay with cash. Most of those traders don’t collect transfers, and this has affected purchases.”
“So far, the highest amount I have collected from the bank was N3,000 and POS operators are also making things difficult for us. They now collect N300 per N1,000. My children now feed twice a day.
“Okada riders have increased their fares. Since this cash crisis started, I leave my house early to work, because I will first trek some miles from my house to a certain place before mounting okada to the office.
“Government should please help us. The suffering is much. We need urgent relief.”
Another resident, Mr Tope Samuel, said: “I have not seen this kind of thing in my life. This is a near-hell situation. I come from Ilawe-Ekiti to my office in Ado-Ekiti everyday through commercial vehicles and spend between 1,200 and N1,500, and if I want to reduce this amount, I will not board a commercial motorbike from the motor park when I am coming in the morning to work. I would have to trek from the motor park to the office and also trek to the motor park after office hours to board a vehicle home.
“Getting cash from the bank via POS is not easy at all. We get peanuts from the bank and struggle to get money from the POS with heavy charges. Initially the operators were collecting N100 per N1,000, but now, it is N300 per N1,000.
“I am imploring the Federal Government to have mercy on us and ameliorate this suffering for us.”
Paul Osuyi, reporting from Asaba, writes that in Delta State, the sad story resonates, with residents adopting austere measures to survive the ugly trend.
While traders in various commodities are lamenting over low sales, potential buyers spend endless hours in banks where some succeed only in withdrawing funds grossly inadequate for their needs.
Although super stores with POS machines are booming with sales, residents still complain that not all items required in the home can be bought from such stores except in the open market where traders accept only cash.
When Saturday Sun visited Ogbogonogo Market along Nnebisi Road, Asaba, forlorn faces of traders dotted the commercial landscape. Activities have dramatically reduced at the hitherto busy market, almost like a shadow of its old self.
A trader, who simply identified herself as Madam Augusta, decried that she has to dispose of her perishable tomatoes at a very low price because of lack of sales.
“I did that in order not to completely lose out. People are not coming to the market to buy with cash, and most of us who sell here do not operate POS,” she said.
While the long queues at banks’ ATM spots are discouraging, cash vendors have cashed in with cutthroat charges as holding cash to meet essential needs have become inevitable.
Mr Charles Uwagwu narrated his bitter experience while unsuccessfully trying to withdraw money from the bank ATM for two days. He was still forced to approach a POS operator to withdraw N5,000.00 with a charge of N1,000. Further investigation revealed that most residents in urban centres have adjusted to the use of debit cards in making payments for goods, particularly at the super markets.
“We are paying more for goods these days, because most of us go to supermarkets where they use POS to make purchase,” Mrs Rachael Okonkwo. Mrs Okonkwo informed that some people now withstand the stress of being on the ATM queue just to make minor withdrawals to ensure that there is little cash at hand to meet little but essential needs.
Meanwhile, in some rural communities without banks, there are indications that the people have resorted to unconventional means of exchange to make ends meet.
Local sources claimed that rural farmers now make direct exchange of goods in order for them to have their desired needs. The development seemed to have crept into some households in urban centres as neighbours now exchange goods to keep body and soul together. Although the practice appears not to be widespread, those involved said it was done within their neighbourhood where the agreement was usually between acquaintances.
“Yes, it is possible that people now engage in trade by barter, particularly as it affects foodstuffs.
“If I have items which I don’t need, I can exchange them for the ones I need. But it must be commensurate in price.
“For instance, if I need egusi (melon) and you know a cup of egusi is N500 and I have ogbono and the cup of ogbono is N800. What we will do is that the cup of ogbono will not be as full as that of egusi so that both parties will be happy and nobody is cheated,” a social commentator, Peter Ossai volunteered.
From Abakaliki in Ebonyi State, Chijioke Agwu reports that dealers in essential commodities, such as oil, vegetable, sachet water, meat and general food items have lamented the scarcity of the new notes. They said business has been slow because of the situation.
Our correspondent, who visited the Margaret Umahi International Market and the Kpirikpiri Market, alongside some other markets in the state capital, observed that many of the dealers in essential commodities have closed their shops. However, those in the market said they have resorted to a transfer method to remain afloat. A meat dealer at Margaret Umahi International Market, popularly known as Oga Emma, said he had an account number, which he gave to his customers to send money to.
He said: “The situation is worrisome, as we are not making sales as we are used to. But we thank God for everything. What I do, if you don’t have the new notes, is to give you my account number. If I receive an alert, I will sell. That is how we have been doing it for about two weeks now. Although the process is slow, what can we do?” In Lagos, many people complain that they have suffered financial losses as their bank accounts have been debited even when financial transactions do not go through.
A businesswoman, Oge Okonkwo-Ugochukwu, narrated her experience to Saturday Sun’s Kate Halim: “I went to the market yesterday to get some foodstuffs, and I suffered. Market women rejected the old naira notes that I had, and told me to make payments through POS. I made payments using the POS that was provided to me. The transaction declined, but my account was debited.
“I decided to make a transfer, and the transfer showed ‘successful’, yet the recipient didn’t get a credit alert. I waited for hours, yet the person didn’t get the alert.
“I couldn’t leave the market, because I made a transfer and the person didn’t allow me to go either. After all the back and forth, the person asked me to go with half of the goods, telling me that, if he got the alert by midnight or tomorrow, I could come for the remaining stuff. He also said that if he didn’t get it, we would find a way around it.
“I didn’t have a choice, but to accept his condition, because I needed foodstuff at home. Tomorrow, I will try again. I don’t know why the new notes are scarce if the old naira notes are no longer legal tender. This suffering is too much.”
From Makurdi, Scholastica Onyeka reports that many people in the rural areas have never sighted the new notes.
Mama Mary Hir who is resident in Tyogbenda Udende, in Katsina Ala Local Government Area, LGA, of the state said, “As I speak to you, I have not seen the new money with my two eyes. I don’t know the colours, I don’t have one and yet we are told not to collect the old ones. We can’t sell our yams and other produce. We can’t buy other things that we need.”
Mrs Elizabeth Abah who resides in Ugboju community, in Otukpo local government area said the scarcity of cash is biting so hard.
“We don’t even know how the new money looks like. We are only seeing it on television. We have money but we can’t have access to it, we want to buy things but we cannot. This is not what we bargained for.”
Chairman of Igbo Traders Welfare, Wurukum Market, Felix Chukwu, said businesses have been worst hit since the introduction of the new CBN policy.