Nigerians And The Concept Of Monetization.

I remember when ex President Obasanjo introduced the monetization policy in Nigeria in 2003. There were mixed feelings as top civil servants had hitherto enjoyed free housing, house-helps, drivers, cooks, etc that were on the  government's payroll.
With monetization however, the civil servants were given allowances to cater to all these fringe benefits, and you and I know that the monetary equivalent can never be equal to the services they had been enjoying. For some, they were forced to let go of services they didn't need but were enjoying because the payment wasn't coming from their pockets (who doesn't love free stuff?), and save their money; some bought the houses they were living in at a cheap rate. Different strokes...

Nowadays, it seems monetization have crept into our daily lives. It's not unusual to hear people say 'monetize it', in the event that the requestee doesn't have what the requester is requesting for, lol! Is it just me that has observed that people don't even buy gifts anymore? They just shove money into your hands, or in an envelop (if they want to be decent and civil). I remember when we looked forward to people visiting from other parts of the country and the world because we knew they'd bring gifts, now they just give you money. 

Don't get me wrong o, I like money o, but i wish we'd still give gifts. Attend a wedding and nobody brings gift anymore (though I think the cost of asoebi also contributes to this, story for another day). People seem more comfortable to just gift people with cash, rather than put thought and emotions into choosing a befitting gift for someone's wedding, and it's not as if they'd even put better money in the envelop o.

You invite someone to a birthday party and they give you cash as gift. I personally don't like it. Get me a gift. You know why? Whenever I see that thing, be it years or months later, I will smile and remember you, but if you give me money and I spend it, I don forget be that o! Call me old fashioned, but I still like to open a gift bag/box and see a nice gift inside. It shows you actually thought about it and concluded 'Nneka will like this'. 

I also realise I might be alone in this line of thought, but hey, it's my thought. I feel we musn't monetize everything, even our feelings and emotions. 

Hugs...