As a growing child, even as young as six years of age, I remember that at school and in local shops, there were items sold for five kobo (5k), twenty kobo (20k), twenty-five kobo (25k), one naira (
I see a lot of times that manufacturers for instance would sell their goods to retailers who are expected to sell the same goods with some fraction of kobo or naira included. Yet this is not possible all the time because how would one give balance for selling an item for example ninety-nine naira (N99) or thirty-two naira sixty-three kobo (N32.63k)? In cases like these, you would notice that the seller would round up the selling price of these items to say one hundred naira (N100) or a whole thirty-five (N35) or worse off, forty (N40) or fifty naira (50)!
No business would think of rounding up the figures to a lower whole number because even though they would not mind throwing the excess cost on the customers, they would not want to lose even a kobo. This makes customers buy goods or services at prices higher than they should. Sad, isn't it?
Have you also considered what happens in bank transactions or in supermarkets? Has there been a time a bank teller would pay you on a cheque to a whole number lower than what you are expecting? No, the bank would automatically expect you to forgo the kobos and nairas less than five naira (N5) for example or the denominations of the naira that are available currently. The same goes for the supermarkets. The smartest way to make payments in supermarkets these days is by paying with a debit card. That way you do not lose a kobo.
I wonder a lot how on earth a nation that claims to have her currency in naira and kobo do not actually have certain naira denominations and no kobo denomination physically at all!
I once went to a major supermarket in my city of residence to purchase some items. Even after forgoing the smaller naira denomination that I already knew I could not get back, the cashier at the checkout counter still expected that I forgo payment of the extra balance of up to about twenty-five naira if not more. The sad part is that the cashier had no decency to even explain to me that she did not have sufficient small denominations to pay all my balance, but assumed that I should automatically be happy with whatever she had decided to hand me. On my own money!
This was quite shocking to me especially for the fact that she was so outrightly rude about it as if she was doing me a favour to have given me even the part of my balance that she had given me. I mean like I should be grateful that I even had any change at all! Before now this had been a consistent experience from other cashiers except that the others were polite enough to explain their situation rather than see it as a right. I have also visited a gas station where the same thing happened, however, this was worse in the sense that the pump attendant did not even bother giving me any change, and my change this time was up to about fifty naira or one hundred naira I think. I mean even the denomination that shouldn't have been a challenge to give. The pump attendant just made a move to attend to another vehicle. I had to alight from the vehicle I was in to ask for my balance and what she said casually to me was that she did not have change. I stood my ground and demanded that I expected my balance and she said that I would have to wait for her to sell to other vehicles until she could get my change. I knew or should I say, sensed that she was just saying so to shake me off. You can imagine how I felt when other customers who should have seen what the pump attendant was doing was not right, began to make snide remarks like 'how much is the change sef?' and 'Abeg attend to me bo!', like my case was closed, like 'case dismissed, next!' Of course, I had to quietly leave. I mean what else could I have done other than causing a scene?
Now over the long years, customers have had to continuously give up part or all of their balance due to sellers, bank tellers, and so on because of their inability to give back appropriate cash. This has now made it look like these people have a right to dole out to customers whatever they decide as customers' change or payment.
It is bad enough that customers have had to experience and endure these. What makes it more painful, is in situations where if you as a customer took a stand to expect all your cash within reason, that fellow customers would be unsympathetic and react against you, asking questions such as ‘how much is the change self?’ ‘so we will not hear word because of common ten naira change?!’ and so on and so forth!
Now my issue is basically on the non-existent naira and kobo denominations. Where is our kobo? And naira? Does it make any sense to say our national currency is in naira and kobo?
I have regularly pondered on how much money that as customers, we lose on a regular basis during and after most transactions that require the exchange of cash. For most transactions, customers could lose three naira (N3), fifteen kobo (15k), etc. Now for at least, the past ten years or more depending on how old one is, even up to thirty years back, add up these seemingly negligible amounts and you will be amazed at how much money you lose every time you shop or bank. Especially since there is almost no item purchased that has not been sold to you above even the recommended retail prices.
Now if you are in Nigeria and have a bank account in the country, check your bank balances. You will most often notice the kobos included as your bank balance. Now answer this question, 'do you think you could ever be able to withdraw up the kobos staring you in the face in your bank statement as part of your balance? Your answer is as good as mine. So I ask again, where is our kobo?
A lot of us are quite aware that this is not the case in a lot of other countries. Residents in countries where provision is made for the availability of all the denominations and fractions of their currencies, which will normally include coins of course, have developed a habit of having purses and/or wallets that have coin compartments where they safely store their coins. Even in the pigeon holes of cars and drawers of desks including coin jars and so on, coins are stored. The rich and poor alike are expected to transact even using coins. And they use them. Because of that, they are able to save a lot of money from their transactions.
This makes me wonder what could be wrong with the mindset of residents in Nigeria where people feel that being in possession of coins is beneath them. This was one of the major reasons that caused the coins to become very unpopular. Counting back to some years back, there are generations that have never used coins to transact and may not even have seen them physically before.
True that carrying coins can be inconveniencing. But then it is our national currency! If residents in other countries can accommodate the use of coins, why not us in Nigeria? Have a look at the design of wallets and purses we buy every day. A lot of them have coins compartment in them. If not, there are compartments in our vehicles where we can conveniently store coins given to us as change. There is also the possibility of keeping coin jars in our homes to store these coins and when they have accumulated to a good amount, we can deposit them in the bank or even as the bank to convert them to naira notes for us if that is what we prefer. However, the bottom line is that we will no longer lose so much money and payments would make more sense because if the business does not have change at that point in time, the customer can offer change that they have to ensure that they get their proper cashback.
Is it really hard to transact with our kobo coins? Where is our kobo? Please bring back our kobo!
