It was at about this time last year that MMM Nigeria crashed, throwing thousands who had hoped on the popular Ponzi scheme for their Christmas and New Year celebrations into grief. It was exactly on December 13, 2016. The claim was that the MMM accounts would be frozen for a month and reopened on January 13, 2017, but those with spiritual eyes knew it was the beginning of the end, the decline that would ultimately lead to a final fall.
Although many participants had had the premonition that it was only a matter of time before the system, which clearly had its foundation built on sand, would crash, the reality of its eventual permanent eclipse was too big to swallow.
Of course, the top echelon of MMM Nigeria was on hand to soothe frayed nerves – whether that was successfully done or not is an entirely different question.
One such intervention was a circular signed by “Administration” and sent to all confirmed MMMers. It said, “Dear members! As usual, in the New Year season the system is experiencing heavy workload. Moreover, it has to deal with the constant frenzy provoked by the authorities in the mass media. The things are still going well; the participants feel calm; everyone gets paid – as you can see, there haven’t been any payment delays or other problems yet – but!… It is better to avoid taking risk.”
On the basis of the above, the circular said, all confirmed Mavro will be frozen for a month, for the “evident” reason that “we need to prevent any problems during the New Year season, and then, when everything calms down, this measure will be cancelled”.
Two MMM Guiders, DonVal Amaechi and Philip Awazi, followed up with a message to participants purporting that the account freeze was only a measure to protect MMM Nigeria from danger.
“This is a kind of caution taken to avert danger. So our mavros are safe. I encourage those who want to PH to still do their PH. The maturity is January and doesn’t change anything, by then the system is back and stronger,” they said.
“Don’t lose hope, all of us have mavros in the system and let’s not use because of this little setback forget what MMM has done for us and will do more if the system is safeguarded…. Let’s be optimistic and positive. This is our community, let’s protect it,” they further said.
Whether it was these series of messages that did the magic or the need for MMM participants to call the bluff of their critics and reassure themselves that they hadn’t lost their investment, something akin to the lost limb syndrome, I couldn’t tell, but hope seemed to have sprung anew among MMMers that I knew.
One, a friend on Facebook, wrote on his wall, “People still don’t realise it. The ship can never sink. Believe it or not, MMM rocks.”
Then came the appointed time, and MMM Nigeria said it had unfrozen all accounts and participants could PH (Provide Help) and GH (Get Help). Unfortunately, those waiting to GH outnumbered by far those willing to PH. The system slowed – and then died.
In March, a property vendor in Lagos used the outcome of the MMM saga to advertise his products.
“Do you still invest your money in Ponzi scheme?” he asked in a message I found in my email box. The mail was randomly sent to multiple recipients. “For those who partake in Ponzi, you need to understand that a system that collects from you and gives to another is not reliable. People have lost millions of naira to Ponzi and, surprisingly, people are still losing on a daily basis. Ponzi is not designed to last, it is an advanced system of robbery. Instead of Investing in dubious Ponzi schemes, why not try real estate? If you had invested that money you lost to MMM and other Ponzi in real estate you would have been smiling to the bank by now.”
But did the lessons of MMM’s collapse sink in? I doubt very much. Young Nigerians have since increased their quest for “ego mbute” – quantum cash without hard work. At a time much of artisanal jobs in the country are increasingly outsourced to neighbouring Ghana, Togo and Republic of Benin owing to skills gap among working-age Nigerians, most of these youngsters are hoping on sports betting and ‘Baba Ijebu’.
The other day I overheard a young man in my neighbourhood say he would never leave BetNaija, one of the popular sports betting outfits in Nigeria. His reason: “Where else can I get the kind of money I’m hoping for? No job in this country can pay me that huge amount.” I was too far away to ask him the kind of money he was expecting.
On this note, I am certain that if MMM or a similar scheme springs up right now, many Nigerian youths would sign on. Just on Friday morning as I was working on this piece, I received an email from [email protected] with the subject “Double Your Investment”.
The email read: “GET DOUBLE OF YOUR INVESTMENT WITHIN 48 HOURS. This system is similar to the popular MMM or Twinkas but it is much reliable and faster. You can get 100% of your investment within 48 hours. For instance, If you invest N100,000 in one member, two other members will pay you N100,000 each making N200,000. If you invest N5,000 in one member, two other members will pay you N5,000 each making N10,000. Go to www.twofund.org to learn how it works.”
It then provided a link. What was I going to lose? So I followed the link and it took me to the website kindcash.org. Kindcash describes itself as “a global charity organisation that helps its esteemed members to donate to one another and help improve the standard of living of the entire community at large”. Its mission, it says, is “to promote the greatest good, with a particular emphasis on helping man and the environment”.
I went on to check how it works and found out that it operates a similar model with MMM of blessed memory – donate to one member and have two members donate to you.
Interestingly, it claims it has 11,220 registered members as at Friday. Though this number is paltry compared to the millions that subscribed to MMM, it still gives a cause for concern as one can be sure that with proper publicity more people would sign on to Kindcash.
Do I need to say this again? Ponzi scheme is a fraud. And though regulated, betting can never be a sustainable means of livelihood. But admonition is only for those who have ears.
CHUKS OLUIGBO
