Plugs in Headphones 🎧 — “How Many Miles Must We March” x Ben March🎶

Growing up, the party hadn’t started until the DJ played Awilo’s Karolina; that was the cue for some fierce dancing or a thrilling game — “Musical Chairs”, where we would dance around the chairs to the music, and when the music stopped, whoever failed to sit on a chair got eliminated.

Just recently, I came across a tweet from the Chief economist at Stears

https://twitter.com/Mikey_Fam/status/1479808274727936000

if you like headlines

Immediately I saw that tweet, and it felt like Deja vu because I knew I had seen something similar last year, pretty much around the same time. A little googling and voila 

A Game of Musical Chairs

Since 2009, the naira has lost 74.6% of its value to the dollar, and its current inflation level is more than double the 9% limit of the central bank’s target range.

You couple the above with the two significant recessions we’ve had in the last five years. It paints a clear picture that states that if your income and investments didn’t grow annually at or above Nigeria's average inflation rate, you are poorer than where you should be.

https://twitter.com/senisulyman/status/1266788410120974340?s=20

This reality, amongst others, has led several (well-meaning) people, startups and businesses to create avenues that will help Nigerians escape the harsh realities of the naira by accumulating foreign currencies;

It is widespread to find people advising everyone to ‘buy dollars’ immediately oil prices start dancing like it’s had five shots of tequila.

However, suppose you’ve studied the apex bank, especially during high Naira volatility. In that case, there seems to be an unmistakable pattern that shows only ‘holding dollar investments through centralised agencies working within the jurisdiction of the federal government of Nigeria will ultimately end in tears.

A few examples:

1. In 2015, the current Central poverty governor decided to create a list of items that shouldn’t access FX unprovoked; there have been several additions throughout his 6-year tenure to 46,47 and even 50

2. The CBN has also decided how much Nigerians deserve to spend out of their hard-earned money ranging from $3000 to $1000, then $400, then $100 (when I started publishing this article.)at the moment, Nigerians can only spend. $20 monthly.

   (to bypass this limit, you will have to get a USD domiciliary account which also has restrictions)

3. Twice now, the CBN has stopped selling dollars to BDCs

4. The CBN has also cut trees in central areas in parts of Abuja to curtail BDC operators from selling dollars. Yes, seriously!

5. The CBN has banned the banking system from plugging as an on/off ramp for cryptocurrencies.

6. The CBN governor just woke up one day and locked many betting companies’ forex accounts, and the rumour is that they can only access their fx funds with approval from oga for fuel and salaries.

7. The CBN governor has also banned price boards(abokifx) that report the daily exchange of fx at parallel market rates and publicly asked the owner to engage him in a physical brawl.

However, the one that has caught my attention the most, which I have also predicted with some form of success, sets a precedent for the final form of the CBN when everything breaks loose - freezing every foreign currency operating within Nigeria.

Every time the oil price is volatile, the CBN, through creatively crafted circulars, inches closer and closer to this destiny. No one stops in the game of musical chairs; a seat is constantly being removed to keep the player-chair ratio at a disadvantage while the music continues.

Each circular that appears represents just one more chair removed from the game. So you need to ask is, “where will I be when the music stops”?

Why Becoming your Bank Matters

In October 2020, Nigerians took to the streets to protest against police brutality; donations followed almost immediately to ensure protesters were well fed (stomach infrastructure is supercritical) as they sought to rebirth a new country. However, as the protests gathered momentum, the Central bank of Nigeria instructed several banks to restrict account numbers, among other disappointing events.

Going bankless meaning having access to Censorship-resistant, ultrasound money. To be very simple, censorship-resistant means no one can deny you entry/access to your funds, b) freeze your account or c) kick you out. Going bankless is a journey towards freedom from double-digit inflation, government overreach and arbitrary international AML/KYC red flags.

People often think this blatant overreach is restricted to merely bad or controversial actors, but Lebanese banks have locked depositors out of their accounts and blocked transfers abroad since the country's crisis in late 2019; this is 2022!

Furthermore, living in a country where the government’s currency holds its value is also not the norm for many. Venezuela is a prime example, where irresponsible government policies have led to hyperinflation. Keeping your life’s savings in a hyperinflating currency is the same thing as lighting a bunch of it on fire, as it has less and less buying power each day.

I hope with the few points of mine and your history of being failed by the Nigerian government, I have convinced you and not confused you that you need to take some form of sovereignty over your money and your future.

Thanks to the creative intervention of Satoshi Nakamoto and others that have continued to build on his legacy through blockchain technology - it is now possible to be your bank - try it today!

How you might ask, well, reach out to that friend who has stopped talking nonstop about crypto to guide you on how to

1. Open a non-custodial wallet

2. Set up an ENS name

3. Play around with Defi

In the second part of this series, I will detail the step by step process of becoming more bankless.

WAGMI

Further Reading on Nigeria’s precarious position

https://twitter.com/Ambrosia_Ijebu/status/1479836743398576132?s=20

https://twitter.com/zeal_a/status/1318207759981158401?s=20

Thanks to Dayo and David, who looked at drafts of this article before publishing.