Naira Scarcity: Petty Traders, Transporters, and Petrol Attendants Become Top Sources of Cash for Nigerians

• Some Nigerians have found a way of getting around the cash problem by adopting three alternatives
• Investigations reveal that there are three sources for cash-seeking Nigerians
• Petty traders, petrol station attendants, and transport operators have been identified as sure means of obtaining cash

Cash-weary Nigerians are devising new means of accessing it daily for daily needs.

The current crunch in the country has led many to seek alternative means of getting the much-needed cash.

For many, urgent 2k has become a lifesaver during this intense cash crisis.

But there are three primary sources that Nigerians have said to be unfailing during the cash crunch.

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Petty traders are a sure bet

For Blessing Nwogu, a Mass Communications student at the University of Lagos, life would have been hell, but for her mother, a petty trader who is always liquid.

Nwogu told Legit.ng that she discovered that her mother always had cash when she was leaving for lectures one day but didn’t have enough money for the bus fair.

“My mum sells food stuff at a popular market in Lagos, but she always complained of low sales and always requested to make transfers. So, I thought she too had the same cash problems until I saw her by chance one day with wads of cash,” Nwogu said.

The 300-hundred-level student estimated that the amount with her mother could be more than N200,000.

She said:

“I became wide-eyed when I cited the wads of cash with her. She wanted to hide it, but it was too late. Since then, I never ran out of cash.”

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Nwogu’s statement was corroborated by Emeka Anyanwu, who said his wife, who sells stockfish, has become his ATM.

He said:

“I would persuade her to give me some cash and transfer the equivalent to her bank account. She often told me to add the charges because PoS agents would want charges.”

Anyanwu said he has never been stranded due to his wife's trade.

Transporter operators

One sure way to get out of the present cash quagmire is to befriend transport operators and bus conductors.

These sets of Nigerians always have cash on them. Nigeria is a cash economy, and most transactions by transport operators are done primarily in cash.

Transport operators are highly skeptical of bank transfers and repudiate the idea of passengers asking to make a transfer for bus fare.

Egedeyi Michael, a bus driver in the Ogba area of Lagos, told Legit.ng that he would pack his bus at home rather than accept bank transfers.

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“Why would I accept transfers? All the bank problems of money sent not getting to their destination make me very doubtful of accepting bank transfers. Unless I know you, everything must be in cash," Michael said.

Michael said that his colleagues in the business adopted the same approach.

He says they always have cash on them and sometimes dispense it to loved ones and close acquaintances.

Petrol attendants

Available data shows that about 65% of transactions at petrol stations are conducted in cash.

Despite warnings by authorities to petrol stations not to reject PoS or bank transfers, findings show that petrol attendants, in the guise of faulty PoS machines, demand that customers pay for services in cash.

“Due to their high cash liquidity, I have three friends at a petrol station in my area,” says Anuoluwa Bamidele.

He said he had befriended the petrol station manager long before the cash crisis began.

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Bamidele said:

“He was my friend when there was petrol scarcity. But when the cash problem started, I knew I could exploit that friendship further to my advantage.”

He said he always finds a way to woo him despite the petrol manager objecting to parting with cash.

“He could be difficult sometimes, but I know his weaknesses,” he said.

Nigerians are hoping with their fingers crossed that the current cash crisis will pass sooner than later.

PoS operator, 5 petrol station managers arrested in Kano

Legit.ng reported that about five petrol station managers allegedly selling petrol above government-regulated price have been arrested by Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission.

The acting Chairman of the Commission, Balarabe Mahmoud, stated this at a press briefing on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.

Mahmoud said that the Commission got complaints from members of the public regarding the issue of new naira notes.

Source: Legit.ng