Globally, February 14 of every year is usually set aside for partners, families and friends to celebrate their love.
Lovers, especially eagerly await the special day which is usually spent by having romantic outings, and merriment.
Celebrating this special day mostly involves spending cash to get gift for their lovers and in some cases, family and friends.
However, this year’s celebration may be difficult for many lovers to celebrate as the cash crunch, occasioned by the policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria to swap the old Naira notes for the new ones, will play a very huge part in negatively affecting many relationships.
The CBN policy, precisely the ban on the old notes as legal tender and the unavailability or hoarding of the new notes, which has deprived Nigerians from accessing their own monies from financial institutions, fell into the special day for lovers.
The fuel scarcity which started last year, has already worsened and the price of PMS has skyrocketed astronomically.
Although the fuel price was last month quietly increased from N165 to N185, many are unable to get fuel to buy, while others who luckily get the commodity, buy it between N250 and N1,000 depending on the location. This will definitely affect lovers’ movement who would like to visit romantic or fun sites
With people now sleeping in their various cars at filling stations and banks entrances, the following is how the biting cash crunch and the fuel scarcity in the country will affect lovers’ celebration of this year’s Valentine’s Day:
Firstly, due to limited cash in circulation, people have very little or no cash with them to spend. This is as a result of more Nigerians being used to carrying around and spending cash.
Many are also not either using internet enabled phones or are not accustomed to electronic transactions. Many others who are familiar with online and electronic transactions, have at one time been disappointed with both methods, hence prefer handling cash to spend.
Now that bank customers have no choice that to use other options than handling cash, many have been complaining that many of the USSD and bank app options have not been functioning. Others that are functioning are limiting the amount that can be transferred.
Secondly, many companies have been experiencing low patronage since the introduction of the CBN policy, fun spots such as eateries, parks, and hotels inclusive. Unfortunately for these fun spots, the yearly influx of customers on Valentine’s Day won’t be the same and the turn out would be low. Many of them will have to be satisfied with few customers who are able to patronise them and transact through online or electronic means.
Aside the inability to get cash, with commercial bus transporters already either rejecting the old notes or unable to get fuel, many lovers who are still insitent on visiting fun spots, will have to patronise ride-hailing companies to transport them to their various fun spots.
Additionally, Naira notes which is usually paid to commercial transporters are not even available. Hence, during this challenging period, lovers and friends shouldn’t be hopeful of much hamper gifts, bouquets or even cash gifts as usual. The givers will have to make use of cashless technology, if it doesn’t fail them.
But for those defiant lovers who still insitent on buying gifts for their lovers, they will also have to patronise ride-hailing companies to help transport the gifts to their recipients.
