‘this is the toughest Christmas ever’: Nigerians narrate Christmas adjustments

Inflation is high, cash is scarce, jobs are disappearing but it’s Christmas. So Nigerians are doing what they can to make something out of what used to be taken for granted. Vanguard spoke to some parents and traders in Lagos. Their innovative adjustments reflect the dire economic realities of the country.

Mr Femi is a banker. But he just broke his children’s heart. He was standing before a row of ATMs looking forlorn. Femi said: “The children are asking ‘Where’re our Christmas clothes and chicken?’ I told them maybe next year. ‘For now, you will wear what you have and we will eat panla (fish)’.”

Asked how come a banker has no cash, he said maybe he left it late.

“I couldn’t get money from my bank, ATM or POS. Maybe I wasted time. I’m begging my wife to lend me money right now for the basic things.”

However, even the fish as substitute is beyond reach.

Babatunde has been selling live catfish for years. But on the evening of the last Saturday before Christmas, he still has three big bowls of fishes with no customer in sight. When a housewife with a baby strapped to her back stopped to ‘price’ one, it turns into a long battle.

Babatunde tells Vanguard: “It’s terrible. Just last year, a fish was N1,200. This year, its N1800. No matter how hard a customer bargains, I can’t go lower.

“However, what I have done is buy fewer quantity. Even at that, there are still no buyers. We hope the economy doesn’t get worse.”

How I could cope – Housewife
Mrs Oyebunmi is a tailor. But to contribute more to the family table, she has added POS operation to her CV.
Since her shop has space to spare, you can get sachet (pure) or bottled water to buy.

“Last year, I was doing my tailoring business from home. But I felt like expanding the business. So I took this shop,” a move she now regrets.

Asked how she coping, Mrs Oyebunmi said: “I take from here to cover there, and take from there to cover the other place. No so we dey survive and look to God.”

It’s Pidgin English for using whatever one gets to solve pressing needs, then hope for a better “next time”.

One thing is clear, she should have remained with her home-office arrangement of last year.

Wilson, a football team manager from Delta State, cut a pitiable image even with the traditional Waffi ebullient nature.

He said: “We live for our family. When people see how good your children look, they respect you. But to feed them now is like planning to build a house.

“Usually, at this time, I put them in the car and take them for shopping. They pick anything they want. But now, I have told them there’s nothing on ground. It’s heartbreaking. But there’s nothing I can do.”

POS
At the heart of one aspect of this year’s financial crisis are the POS operators. Their ubiquity took on special significance during the new Naira design saga.

However, if we believe Rita, a veteran POS operator, their hands are clean. This time.

Rita said: “I don’t even know if it is CBN (the Central Bank of Nigeria). I was in the bank for cash last week. I once came home with just N5,000. At another time, N10,000.
“There might a row of many ATMs but only one is dispensing cash. So imagine the queue.

“What we are doing now is borrowing ATM cards. We use one bank’s ATM to cash N20,000. Then use another to get N40,000 and so on. That’s the only way to come home with something reasonable.

“So, this is why most of us charge high. I still try to keep my charges low because we should be humane about business.”

No one can say when things will be “normal” again. Or, as usual, Nigerians just get used to the new normal and soldier on.

However, one thing is sure, this is no normal Christmas.