Serious - April 2023

I
 didn't
 know
 the
 meaning
 of
 cash
 is
 king
 till
 February ,
 my
 eyes
 r eally
 opened.
 Anytime
 you
 wak e
 up
 is
 your
 good
 morning
 sha.
 I
was
in
a
k ek e
one
day
ar ound
the
time
okadas
wer e
banned
 and
 the
 bus
 driver
 hailed
 the
 k ek e
 driver
 'king
 of
 the
 r oad',
 this
 was
 the
 same
 feeling
 I
 had
 when
 I
 encounter ed
 POS
 agents,
 this
 no
 cash
 period.
 One
 thing
 you
 must
 love
 about
 our
 country
 is
 that
 wher e
 ther e's
 a
 casting
 down,
 ther e'll
 always
 be
 a
 rising
 up
 somewher e.
 Anyways
 thank
 God,
 that
 phase
 is
 nearly
 gone
 now

What
 next?
 Honestly ,
 the
 new
 Tiwa,
 A yra
 and
 Y oung
 Jonn
 Jam
 is
 my
 answer The
 only
 permission
 Nigeria
 has
 is
 to
 show
 us
 it
 has
 the
 stamina
 to
 ensure
 our
 progress.

In
 other
 news,
 na
 GenZ
 dey
 r eign
 now
 o,
 we've
 helped
 you
 analyse
 this
 new
 mark et
 for ce.
 If
 you'r e
 going
 to
 be
 in
 business
 for
 the
 next
 few
 years,
 get
 with
 their
 pr ogramme,
 otherwise,
 you'r e
 cancelled,
 no
 cap!

I
 leave
 you
 with
 my
 mantra
 for
 the
 next
 quarter
 fr om
 my
 song
 of
 the
 moment꞉
 “ Live
 to
 fight
 another
 day ,
 Live
 to
 fight
 another
 day .”

Applaudissez
 for
 you,

The
 last
 thr ee
 months
 haven't
 been
 for
 the
 w e a k E v e r y w h e re re d w h e t h e r y o u ' re a
 Nigerian
 living
 her e
 or
 in
 the
 diaspora.
 It's
 as
 though
 tough
 times
 ar e
 now
 beginning
 to
 last
 because what
 playing
 is
 this?

At
 this
 point,
 we
 must
 agr ee
 that
 all
 of
 us
 –
 w h e t h e r O b i d i e n t B a t i fi e d A t i k u l a t e d o r
 K wankwasified
 –
 deserve
 a
 warm
 hug
 and
 a
 thr ee‑week
 paid 
holiday
because
wetin
our
 eyes
 don
 see
 this
 first
 quarter
 is
 enough
 to
 pr oduce
 a
 Netflix
 classic
 –
 please
 don't
 say ,
 Chief
 Daddy T o
 all
 our
 r eaders
 who
 have
 made
 it
 thr ough,
 we
 say
 congratulations.

The
 way
 we
 started
 the
 year ,
 it
 was
 lik e
 everything
 was
 on
 hold
 for
 that
 one
 event꞉
 the
 Almighty
 Elections.
 For
 one,
 the
 NBS
 tells
 us
 that
 at
 only
 3 01%,
 economic
 gr owth
 was
 much
 slower
 in
 2022
 than
 in
 2021.

“ Anyone
who
is
capable
of
getting
 themselves
made
President
should
on
no
 account
be
allowed
to
do
the
job.”
 ~
Douglas
Jones.

Elections
 ar e
 crazy
 everywher e
 in
 the
 world,
 but
 nothing
 beats
 the
 drama
 in
 Nigeria.
 This
 year's
 elections
 wer e
 tightly
 contested;
 it
 was
 so
 tight
 that
 the
 r esults
 ar e
 still
 being
 c o n t e s t e d a s w e w r i t e T h e t o p t h r e e
 c a n d i d a t e s w o n 1 2 s t a t e s e a c h a n d t h e
 e v e n t u a l w i n n e r , A s i w a j u B o l a A h m e d
 Tinubu,
 only
 won
 about
 38%
 of
 the
 total
 votes
 cast.
 It's
 also
 important
 to
 note
 that
 for
 the
 first
 time
 since
 1993 no
 former
 military
 general
 was
 on
 the
 ballot.

The
 elections
 wer e
 imperfect
 –
 ask
 Dino
 –
 but
 we
 ar e
 hopeful
 that
 they
 will
 only
 get
 better
 fr om
 her e.
 The
 power
 of
 the
 ballot
 has
 b e c o m e g r e a t e r, a n d m o r e p e o p l e a r e
 becoming
 educated.

On
 a
 positive
 note,
 it
 was
 good
 to
 see
 first‑ time
 voters
 ex er cise
 their
 civic
 rights.
 W e
 hope
 that
 mor e
 young
 people
 will
 get
 into
 politics
 and
 ex er cise
 their
 civic
 rights
 in
 the
 futur e.

They
 say
 the
 journey
 of
 a
 thousand
 miles
 begins
 with
 a small
 go‑slow at
 Ojuelegba.
 W h a t t h e y m e a n i s t h a t n o m a t t e r t h e
 challenge,
 k eep
 moving.
 It's
 also
 okay
 to
 tak e
 a
 deep
 br eath
 and
 r ead
 our
 articles
 thr ough
 the
 delays.

Whatever
 you
 do,
 don't
 give
 up;
 you've
 come
 this
 far ,
 and
 ther e
 is
 no
 going
 back.
 Y es,
 i n d e e d , i nfl at i o n re m a i n e d h i g h , re a c h i n g
 21. 91%,
 the
 highest
 in
 over
 18
 months.

Queues
 remained
 as
 fuel
 scarcity
 hit
 us
 lik e
 a
 wrecking
 ball,
 but
 we
 k ept
 pushing.
 In

January
 alone,
 fuel
 prices
 incr eased
 by
 over
 200%
 –
 you'd
 have
 been
 lucky
 to
 get
 it
 at
 ₦ 400 The
 r esult
 was
 an
 incr ease
 in
 the
 cost
 of
 transportation
 and
 everything
 else.

N o w t h a t t h e e l e c t i o n s a r e o v e r , w e ' r e
 hoping
 that
 the
 coming
 Ramadan
 gives
 us
 the
 peace
 and
 strength
 we
 need
 for
 the
 rest
 of
 the
 year

T h i s N a i j a m u s t b e g r e a t e n o u g h f o r
 ever yone,
 even
 Mama
 Shukwudi.

W i t h t h e e l e c t i o n s d o n e a n d d u s t e d ‑
 unless
 the
 courts
 say
 otherwise
 ‑
 we
 can
 n o w f o c u s o n o t h e r i m p o r t a n t t h i n g s ꞉
 Champions
 League
 football
 and
 BBNaija
 (not
 that
 Mzanzi
 one)!

W e
Need
a
Br eak

No
C ondit ion
is
P ermanent

Elec t ion
S eason
is
Cr azy

“ T o
win
the
people,
always
cook
them
 some
savour y
that
pleases
them.”
 ~
Aristophanes

While
 we
 all
 focused
 on
 the
 pr esidential
 elections,
 the
 senatorial
 and
 house
 of
 r eps
 elections
 wer e
 also
 happening
 on
 the
 low The
ruling
party
has,
so
far ,
r etained
contr ol
 of
 the
 upper
 and
 lower
 chambers
 for
 the
 next
 four
 years.
 Apart
 fr om
 the
 elections,
 the
 next
 big
 news
 out
 of
 Nigeria
 is
 the
 scar city
 of
 cash.

When
 we
 thought
 the
 queues
 for
 fuel
 wer e
 t h e p e a k o f v a w u l e n c e w e g o t t o t h e
 deadline
 for
 the
 use
 of
 old
 notes.

F u e l a n d N a i r a n o t e s b e c a m e t h e m o s t
 sought‑after
 commodities,
 as
 POS
 agents
 and
 petrol
 black
 mark et
 sellers
 became
 the
 biggest
 boys
 in
 town
 (plays
 billionaire
 onye
 ji
 cashi,
 chopping
 and
 spending…)

Never
 has
 money
 caused
 the
 kind
 of
 chaos
 that
 Aunty
 Naira
 unleashed.
 E ven
 though
 ther e
 wer e
 extensions
 and
 a
 Supr eme
 Court
 order
 stopping
 the
 r ecall,
 e
 still
 kinda
 chok e.
 Let's
not
lie,
we
even
forgot
that
FX
was
still
 moving
mad
because
the
pr essur e
was ver y
 mush. At
 this
 crucial
 time,
 every
 dollar
 of
 Naira
 matters.

This
 cash
 scar city
 has
 gone
 a
 long
 way
 in
 triggering
 inflation;
 that
 one
 is
 customer
 daada
 alr eady With
 the
 pr essur e,
 you
 can't
 trust
 bank
 transfers
 any
 longer
 –
 unless
 it's
 OneBank ;
 that
 one
 is
 such
 a
 sure
 bank er T h e r e s u l t o f t h e c a s h c r u n c h w a s a n
 incr ease
 in
 online
 transactions;
 NIBSS
 said
 we
 r ecorded
 transaction
 value
 worth
 ₦ 38 7
 trillion in
 January
 alone.

A s w i t h e v e r y n e w a d m i n i s t r a t i o n expectations
 ar e
 high,
 yet
 the
 division
 has
 never
 been
 mor e
 obvious.
 Jagaban
 will
 have
 his
 work
 cut
 out
 for
 him
 trying
 to
 unify
 the
 c o u n t r y a n d re s t o re c i t i ze n a n d i n v e s t o r
 confidence
 in
 the
 government.

He
 will
 also
 need
 to
 addr ess
 the
 thr ee‑pr ong
 i s s u e o f s e c u r i t y , p o w e r a n d , o f c o u r s e ,
 p l a n t a i n h a t e r s F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e n e w
 pr esident
 will
 inherit
 a
 high‑debt
 state
 and
 will
 lik ely
 need
 to
 tak e
 drastic
 decisions,
 so
 brace
 yourselves
 for
 incoming
 tough
 times.

No
 matter
 what
 happens,
 we
 will
 be
 her e
 for
 you
 thr ough
 the
 good
 and
 the
 Chief
 Daddy
 2.
 The
 task
 is
 enormous,
 and
 the
 energy
 needed
 to
 power
 thr ough
 the
 year
 must
 be
 enough
 to
 r oast
 corn
 but
 we
 will
 get
 ther e.

Ther e's
 been
 a
 lot
 to
 focus
 on
 locally ,
 so
 we
 have
 unfortunately
 not
 had
 time
 for
 global
 gist.
 F r om
 the
 US
 debating
 a
 balloon,
 to
 the
 SVB ,
 gr owing
 inflation
 and
 T ems
 blocking
 people's
 destinies,
 the
 world
 has
 seen
 and
 heard
 shege.
 I
 mean,
 the
 Russia‑ Ukraine
 war
 is
 still
 on
 and
 so
 is
 the
 Jollof
 one
 too–we
 guess
 some
 things
 never
 change.

W h i l e CO V I D c o n t i n u e s t o r a v a g e s o m e
 p a r t s o f t h e w o r l d * e r m C h i n a * g l o b a l
 economic
 activity
 has
 mostly
 r esumed,
 and
 everything
 seems
 to
 be
 well
 with
 the
 world
 a g a i n u n l e s s y o u ' re a C h e l s e a f a n H o w
 about
 crypto,
 you
 say?
 Shh...
 W e
 don't
 talk
 about
 crypto
 oh!

C a s h
Mone y
 i s
King

The
S t or y
o f
C a s hle s s

T h e s e l a s t f e w m o n t h s h a v e b e e n v e r y
 d e m a n d i n g I m e a n , w e s e e s h e g e o n a
 steady ,
 but
 this
 last
 quarter
 took
 the
 cak e.
 N i g h t a n d d a y m e n w o m e n a n d d o g s
 queued
 for
 one
 thing꞉
 cash.

A l t h o u g h t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t h a s n o w
 weighed
 in,
 and
 the
 old
 notes
 continue
 to
 be
 valid
until
the
end
of
the
year ,
it
is
important
 to
 look
 at
 why
 Gov E.
 was
 so
 k een
 to
 r educe
 the
 amount
 of
 cash
 in
 cir culation.

Our
 journey
 doesn't
 begin
 in
 2023;
 it
 begins
 in
 2012
 –
 the
 year
 of
 the
 Olympics
 and
 Wizkid's
 Ojuelegba
 –
 when
 the
 then
 apex
 governor Oga
 SLS intr oduced
 the
 cashless
 policy
 –
 a
 policy
 he
 had
 hoped
 would
 mak e
 mor e
people
use
banks
and
r educe
the
cost
 o f b a n k i n g H e p l a c e d c h a r g e s o n c a s h
 d e p o s i t s a n d w i t h d r a w a l s i n e x c e s s o f a
 c e r t a i n t h r e s h o l d , f o r c i n g p e o p l e t o u s e
 A TMs
 for
 large‑volume
 transactions.

Essentially ,
 he
 wanted
 to
 push
 more
 people
 to
 mak e
 online
 transactions.

W i t h t h e c r e a t i o n o f t h e N I B S S I n s t a n t
 Payment
 (NIP ,)
 the
 sixth
 largest
 r eal‑time
 payment
 system
 in
 the
 world
 according
 to
 the
 W orld
 Bank,
 the
 CBN
 set
 us
 on
 the
 path
 to
 going
 cashless.

Why
 go
 cashless? For
 one,
 printing
 money
 is
 expensive.
 In
 2020 ,
 the
 CBN
 r eportedly
 spent
 ₦ 58 6
 billion
 to
 print
 ₦ 1.1
 trillion.
 Essentially ,
 the
 cost
 of
 printing
 naira
 notes
 r epr esented
 5 .5%
 of
 the
 value
 of
 the
 notes
 p r i n t e d F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e a p e x b a n k
 deliver ed
 2.5
 billion
 individual
 notes
 in
 the
 same
 period,
 which
 means
 that
 it
 cost
 ₦ 23
 to
 pr oduce
 each
 note,
 on
 average.

Ev en
Though

Who
 would
 have
 thought
 that
 this
 much
 m o n e y g o e s i n t o e n a b l i n g t h e u s e o f
 physical
 cash?
 And
 yes,
 it's
 not
 necessarily
 wrong
 to
 spend
 money
 on
 printing.
 It's
 normal
 all
 over
 the
 world.
 The
 US
 spends
 17
 cents
 ( ₦ 8 .20)
 on
 every
 $100
 note
 and
 13 .3
 cents
 ( ₦ 6 .30)
 on
 every
 $50
 note.
 The
 US
 dollar ,
 today ,
 is
 a
 standard
 for
 trade
 and
 is
 still
 cheaper
 to
 pr oduce
 than
 the
 Nigerian
 naira.
 The
 British
 pound
 costs
 between
 6
 ‑
 7
 pence
 ( ₦ 33)
 to
 pr oduce,
 according
 to
 the
 Bank
 of
 England.

O f c o u r s e , t e c h n o l o g y o p t i o n s a r e n o t
 e x a c t l y f r e e T h e r e i s t h e c o s t o f
 maintenance
 and
 initial
 infrastructur e.
 E ven
 today ,
 transfers
 ar e
 not
 exactly
 fail‑pr oof
 ex cept
 if
 you
 ar e
 using
 OneBank
 (if
 we
 do
 say
 so
 ourselves);
 that
 needs
 to
 be
 sorted
 out
if
we
ar e
going
to
convince
our
people
 to
 go
 cashless.

This
 was
 even
 less
 than
 the
 pr evious
 year
 due
 to
 an
 incr ease
 in
 online
 transactions
 as
 a
 r esult
 of
 C OVID

Naira
 notes
 ar e
 then
 distributed
 to
 all
 the
 CBN
 branches
 acr oss
 the
 36
 states
 and
 the
 FCT
 at
 a
 huge
 logistics
 cost.
 In
 2020 ,
 it
 cost
 the
 apex
 bank
 ₦ 4 .5
 billion
 to
 distribute
 new
 notes;
 we
 ar e
 assuming
 this
 includes
 all
 the
 logistics
 and
 insurance
 involved.

They
 also
 have
 to
 destroy
 old
 notes
 which
 cost
 the
 CBN
 N539
 million
 in
 2020
 and
 N647
 million
 in
 2019 .

This
 cost
 does
 not
 include
 the
 banks'
 incur With
 over
 4 ,500
 commer cial
 bank
 branches
 acr oss
 the
 country ,
 distribution,
 insurance,
 s e c u r i t y p e r s o n n e l a n d p h y s i c a l
 infrastructur e
 costs
 add
 up.

W it h
The s e
Fe w
W or d s
o f
Mine

E vidently ,
 we
 can't
 completely
 divest
 fr om
 cash
 transactions.;
 However ,
 we
 must
 put
 in
 mor e
 effort
 to
 go
 cashless
 and
 drive
 digital
 t r a n s a c t i o n s t h r o u g h l i g h t n i n g f a s t
 innovation,
 infrastructural
 deployment
 and
 e v e n m o r e p e o p l e f r i e n d l y p o l i c i e s e
 dakun!!!

C a s h i s e x p e n s i v e , b u t w e a l l n e e d t o
 understand
 that
 the
 strength
 of
 money
 is
 less
 about
 how
 much
 of
 it
 is
 in
 our
 pock ets,
 b u t i n w h a t i t c a n b e u s e d f o r ( o s h e y
 Ik or odu
 Adam
 Smith).

The
R e al
C o s t
o f
C a s h

S elling
a
C omb t o
a
Monk

Gen
 Zs
 can 't
 catch
 a
 break; every
 day ,
 it's
 gen
 Z
 this,
 gen
 Z
 that.
 Y es,
 the
 people
 who
 w r i t e S e r i o u s a r e n ' t o l d e n o u g h t o b e
 millennial.
 E
 shock
 you?
 What
 has
 Gen
 Zs
 done?
 Why
 is
 everybody
 talking
 about
 us?
 Befor e
 Gen
 Z,
 ther e
 wer e
 millennials
 and
 –
 you
 pr obably
 don't
 r emember
 them
 –
 Gen
 X.
 In
 years
 past,
 millennials
 wer e
 the
 toast
 of
 everyone,
 but
 global
 attention
 has
 shifted
 to
 us
 now

F rom
 branding
 to
 strategy
 to
 advertising
 to
 work
 and
 business;
 ever ybody
 is
 talking
 about
 what
 is
 next,
 especially
 in
 a
 fast‑ changing
 environment.

Apart
 fr om
 being
 huge
 spenders,
 we
 ar e
 also
 traditional
 influencers;
 our
 63%
 influence
 on
 decisions
 is
 the
 highest
 of
 any
 generation.
 When
 we
 cancel
 something,
 it's
 truly
 cancelled.
 While
 the
 older
 guys
 wer e
 getting
 their
 first
 jobs
 at
 21 /22,
 by
 18 ,
 we'd
 have
 almost
 two
 years
 of
 work
 e x p e r i e n c e a n d f r i e n d s i n a t l e a s t t h r e e
 countries.

The
 most‑educated
 generation,
 we
 are
 also
 the
 fi r s t s e l f ‑ r e l i a n t d i g i t a l n a t i v e s , – w e d o n ' t
 know
 a
 world
 without
 the
 internet.

B eing
W ok e

As
 for
 our
 attitude,
 we
 have
 str essed
 gan.
 F r om
 the
 Gr eat
 Recession
 to
 the
 pandemic,
 even
 add
 the
 Bok o
 Haram
 insurgency
 ther e;
 we
 h a v e e x p e r i e n c e d ( d i r e c t l y a n d i n d i r e c t l y )
 society‑wide
 str ess
 and
 uncertainty ,
 which
 has
 ultimately
 impacted
 how
 we
 navigate
 life.

W e
 ar e
 also
 under
 social
 pr essur e;
 it's
 not
 just
 our
 friends
 that
 ar e
 pr essing
 our
 necks,
 but
 the
 world
 –
 just
 check
 IG
 and
 Tik T ok.
 For
 us,
 social
 r esponsibility
 is
 not
 just
 a
 buzzword
 as
 it
 was
 for
 the
 pr evious
 generation;
 we
 car e
 about
 the
 kind
 of
 futur e
 we
 want
 to
 see.

The
W orld
i s
our
O y s t er and
W e
ar e
P e arl s

I
 think
 it's
 important
 for
 brands
 to
 focus
 on
 us
 and
 for
 people
 to
 accept
 us.
 As
 such,
 b u s i n e s s e s m u s t e v o l v e w i t h t h e n e w
 generation
 to
 r etain
 life‑long
 customers;
 they
 must
 begin
 to
 pay
 attention
 to
 our
 inter ests
 and
 pr efer ences.

It
 is
 estimated
 that
 Gen
 Zs
 r epr esent
 32%
 of
 the
 global
 population;
 at
 mor e
 than
 2
 billion
 people,
 O
 purr that
 mak es
 us
 the
 largest
 generation.

The
 Global
 Mark et
 index
 estimates
 that
 we
 h a v e a $ 4 4 t r i l l i o n p u r c h a s i n g p o w e r
 globally ,
 $360
 billion
 in
 disposable
 income
 and
 will
 outspend
 any
 other
 generation
 by
 2026

W e
 don't
 want
 to
 conform
 to
 the
 norms,
 we
 w a n t t o s o r o s o ke Ev e n h o w w e s h o p i s
 d i ff e r e n t , w e t a k e o u r s w e e t t i m e b e f o r e
 buying
 anything
 and
 will
 cancel
 you
 if
 your
 business
 doesn't
 align
 with
 our
 values.

W e
 are
 also
 the
 most
 racially ,
 sexually ,
 and
 r e l i g i o u s l y d i v e r s e g e n e r a t i o n I f y o u l i ke
 don't
 be
 wok e.

Look
 at
 the
 Nigerian
 elections,
 for
 example,
 it's
 t h o s e m i l l e n n i a l s w h o k e p t s h o u t i n g t h a t
 someone
 wasn't
 a
 “pur eblood”;
 for
 the
 most
 part,
 we
 didn't
 car e.

No
 generation
 will
 be
 lik e
 its
 forebears.
 Rather
 than
 ask
 for
 conformity ,
 people
 need
 t o a c c e p t G e n Z ' s q u i r k s a n d t h e
 o p p o r t u n i t i e s t h e y p r e s e n t We a r e t h e
 T rybe a
 community
 that
 wants
 to
 earn,
 l e a r n , a n d h a v e f u n w h i l e d o i n g s o C o m p a n i e s a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n s m u s t fi n d
 u n i q u e w a y s t o a d a p t b u s i n e s s e s a n d
 e m p o w e r t h e n e x t g e n e r a t i o n I t s t h a t
 solution
 and
 mor e
 that
 offers. T rybeone

Now
 that
 you've
 mastered
 Gen
 Z,
 get
 ready
 for
 Gen
 Alpha.

TrybeOne

A
community
that
intersects
between
pop
 culture
and
finance,
a
world
where
you
live
 on
your
terms
and
you
are
 
anyone
 free
to
be you
want
to
be.

Follow
us
 Earn.
Learn.
Fun