Valentine’s Day, also called Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14.
Although Valentine’s Day is not a public holiday, February 14 is considered a significant cultural and religious celebration of romance.
It is a day lovers express their affection in a special way with greetings, gifts and many other beautiful things.
As we know, since December, 2022, Nigerians have continued to battle the naira scarcity due to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s currency redesign policy.
According to a report by Vanguard, some working class wives in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have cried out over the naira scarcity.
The wives, on Wednesday, decried the inability to access Naira, which prevented them from getting the desired Valentine treat from their spouses.
Some of the women told newsmen in Abuja that the current cash crunch in the country ruined their Valentine outing with their spouses, celebrated every February 14 worldwide.
Mrs Chelsea Ndubaku, a public servant, said she lost hope when her spouse, also a public servant, could not get cash from any of the bank’s Automated Teller Machines (ATM). She narrated:
“For the five years we have been married, on Valentine’s day, my husband took me out for some treats at night. I do not like going to restaurants to eat the usual. I like going to local joints to eat bush meat and local drinks.
Yesterday (Tuesday), when we got to the joint, he tried to use the Point of Sale (POS) to pay when ATMs did not pay him. But the network was too problematic.
After so many trials, we decided to use the little cash we have to buy only drinks and left. I was so angry that I slept with the anger. He pleaded with me to understand because it was not his fault.”
Another working class mother, Mrs Peace Agede, said the celebration of her birthday coincided with the Valentine Day, but was disrupted due to the cash crunch. She said:
“We usually celebrate the Valentines day together with my birthday. My hubby usually purchased gifts for me to celebrate the two events.
This year, he simply told me that he looked for cash everywhere but could not access it. When I asked him if transfer was not also working, he said the one he did for someone has been pending but he has been debited.
He told me that he won’t do any other transfer till the one he did was resolved.”
Also, Mrs Blessing Odeje, a housewife, appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and commercial banks to collaborate and resolve the issues.
According to her:
“We have not gotten to this cashless policy. I wanted to give my family a special Valentine surprise but I was not able to purchase everything that I needed to do this.
This is because most traders in the market said they do not collect transfer, especially for very little items purchased. This is frustrating.”
