Mo gbomoya

Article not written by me. Y'all know the drill. Enjoy...

This Easter was a very special one for me, my husband and the kids. My husband just got a double promotion at work, a perfect reason to celebrate. We decided to organize an Easter party for close friends at our place, not more than 30 people I estimated.

How wrong I was. As the party started, friends and family began trooping in and suddenly I realized that Nigerians don’t hear party and pass it by. “Cynthia, so you’re having an Easter party? Am coming o! What time is it starting?” That was Amina! “When last did I even see that woman and how did she hear about the party? She’s not even a Christian!” Here was I making preparations for just 30 people, and already, there were guests way over that number seated, and more still on the way. “Nigerians and Mo gbomoyasha!”  I grumbled after dropping Amina’s call.

I was fast running out of food so I called the caterer to make more and bring within the next 2 hours, while I dashed to the ATM to get more cash however the 5 I tried were all out of service and banks won’t be opened on Easter Sunday, so I decided to manage the little money I had with me to buy a few things at a nearby shop. “The caterer would have to wait to collect her money on Tuesday after the Easter break” I decided.

I picked all I needed from the store, and got to the cash point to pay only to be left feeling embarrassed when the lady said all I took cost me 13,500 Naira, and I had just 11,000 Naira on me. I told her I would return some goods but she saved my blushes by telling me I could pay the balance of 2,500 with the use of their POS machine and my bank card. I agreed and before I slotted my card into it asked her to take the full money instead so I can still have cash on me. I typed in my pin, and smiled as I got the bank debit alert SMS on my phone before she even handed me back my card. I was like “WOW! That saved me a lot of stress! How did you get a POS? I need one for my business too” I asked. “Oh it’s madam o! She got it from her bank, she said it was freesef” the attendant replied. “Wow! It’s free?” I blurted, clearly surprised by the information I just got. “Yes o! And it’s very easy to use! Just like using an ATM”

“Just like using an ATM…” those words were still ringing in my head when the caterer arrived with the extra food and asked me to pay using her POS. She said she brought it along because she guessed I would be out of money on a Sunday.