The joy that greeted the announcement of the return of the Ponzi scheme, MMM Nigeria, on Friday, seems to be giving way to resentment and anger, following the announcement of new guidelines by the organisers of the scheme.
The payment policy was published by MMM on its website on Friday, a day earlier than it had promised to reopen.
According to a statement published on the website, payment will be made to “the poor and the economically disadvantaged in the first place; it means to the members with small PH amounts. The richer can wait.”
The new policy also notes that the scheme will “make gradual paybacks by setting internal output limits.”
The arrangement, however, did not go down well with many participants, according to findings by Sunday Tribune.
Some Nigerians, who spoke with Sunday Tribune, queried the rationale behind the new guidelines, describing it as another strategy to further deceive subscribers.
While announcing its decision to resume the scheme in Nigeria, MMM Nigeria had announced the introduction of Bitcoin, a digital currency that will allow participants receive payment in bitcoin and watch their money grow in bitcoin.
Before its suspension, the scheme only allowed subscribers to provide help in Bitcoin, but were paid back in Naira.
“It is another strategy to further deceive those that initially fell for the scheme in the first place,” retorted Mr. Biyi Adesuyi, a finance consultant and CEO, Wealth Advisor.
Adesuyi queried the rationale behind the introduction of a digital currency, when it was obvious such currencies were not legal tender.
“It is another means of buying time; another way of enticing more Nigerians to the scheme. We all know that this is a pyramid scheme and the people that always benefit from such schemes are early subscribers. As it grows, the chances of getting one’s money back becomes remote.
“Why would anyone introduce the bitcoins, when it is a fact that such digital currency cannot be taken to the open markets and accepted? You can’t even shop online and settle your bills with such currencies,” he stated.
Another subscriber based at Iyana Ipaja in Lagos State, Raphael Gbadebo, who expressed delight at the return of the scheme, however, said he did not understand why new rules were being introduced.
“For me, it is like shifting the goal post after the match has started. It has a way of weakening one’s confidence. What the majority of the people want now is to just collect their money and opt out,” he stated.
Another participant, who simply identified herself as Stella, noted that she had enlisted many family members into the scheme, and expressed her displeasure, stating that the return of the scheme might be a deceit after all.
“For instance, my dad’s funds were due for refund on the very date the thing was suspended. We checked on Friday and discovered that the ‘Get Help’ button was active, but it was rather late in the date, since banks must have closed and there was no way evidence of payment could be shown. But today, few minutes ago, I clicked the ‘Get Help’ button again and the response was that the Mavro Scheme was not available,” she lamented.
She, however, stated that she would wait till Monday before giving full vent to her anger.
“See what this government has pushed me into! I actually went into this scheme as a way of augmenting my income, but see how it has turned out. In the past, my job was enough to take care of me and my family, but today, unless you look for other ways of making money, you cannot break even,” Azeez, a vulcaniser on Akinola Road, in Aboru, a community in Agbado Oke Odo Local Council Development of Lagos, stated.
He expressed bitterness that his hard-earned money, which had grown to N55,000 before the suspension of the scheme, might have gone down the drain.
The short-lived excitement was also the case for investors in Osun State as some of the ‘rich’ investors who spoke to Sunday Tribune in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, said their hope of getting paid appeared dashed.
One of them, who identified himself as Mr Tunde Sekoni, said: “I invested N500,000 and I am very worried with this new condition on payment. This is terrible because that’s all I have and the effects of the agony I went through in December when the scheme was temporarily stopped is still there.”
Another investor, Miss Folasade Adebona, a trader in hair extensions, narrated her experience to Sunday Tribune.
“My plans have been shattered because I invested almost N1million in the scheme. I was supposed to have used the money to re-stock my shop in December 2016. With this new condition on payment, I am in serious mess. Where do I go from here? It is only God that can save me now,” she lamented.
However, Emmanuel Ogbe, one of the foremost promoters of MMM, told our correspondent that there was nothing bad in the mode of payment to subscribers as released by the financial outfit on Friday, saying it was designed in a way to sustain and stabilise the system and ensure that all subscribers eventually got paid.
Ogbe, who hails from Delta State and also has his wife as a member, expressed optimism that given the approach adopted by MMM, it would be able to accomplish payment to all subscribers within the next two weeks.
According to Ogbe, sorting out payment first to those subscribers with small amount of money is the best way to go, as doing it for everyone at once as some Nigerians had expected was capable of making the scheme go out of business completely.
“That approach is the best as payment to all subscribers at once would see to the collapse of MMM. On Friday, I helped three people to get their payment sorted out and yesterday (Satuday), I have also assisted three other subscribers. So by Monday, they would get their payment. I expect that in the next two weeks, every subscriber would be paid. I am a proud subscriber and I can’t deny it,” he said.
Rowland Olonishuwa, a civil servant, and Guider for the MMM programme in Kwara State, also expressed happiness over the new guidelines, stating that “As a Guider, none of my downlines are angry. Rather, we are happy. In, fact we want to host a welcome party next week among our members in the state. Our expectation is that members would play by the rules. People should participate with only spare money.”
Citing efforts of the scheme in the state, Olonishuwa stated that at the first year anniversary last year, they hosted members and the general public at NUJ press centre, Ilorin, the Kwara State capital and later donated foodstuffs and other materials worth about N300,000 to the orphanage home in Idofian, near Ilorin.
According to him, “I can now pay my children’s school fees, my house rent and I’m working on a project right now without any hassles. I now take giving to the underprivileged as a duty because that is how MMM pays its tax. Its ideology is to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. I also understand that the money I donate to the system helps someone else out there to live comfortably. Even if I don’t get it back, I won’t feel bad because the platform has helped me more than the government job I have had for the past eight years.”
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