Saturday 25th April, 2020 was  a happy day for Anambrarians, at home. This followed the press release of the governor Chief Willy Obiano, announcing that their state’s COVID 19 confirmed case has been discharged after testing negative;  that all the contacts of the survivor have equally come out negative. The hallmark of this was the announced partial relaxation of the state’s lock down, which will (beginning from the stated date) enable only persons within the state to go about their businesses, provided they adhere to extant hygiene and personal safety practices.

Following that announcement, Anambra became the first state to officially enter into the post COVID-19 era in Nigeria.

Here’s the reason for that:

One of the available information provided by experts is that coronavirus can’t travel by air past a distance of  1m.

On this assurance that the deadly virus can’t simply fly like a bird from one locality to another, an essential task was to initiate reliable measures that restrict interstate travel to only essential ones by authorized persons. The state did so through a joint agreement between the state authority, all village heads and vigilante of every community in the state, to secure their village borders and not allow unauthorised entrance.

Breaching an agreement at the cost of one’s crown or collecting bribes to let someone in, at the risk of danger to one’s family, relations and people in addition to punishment is not a gentleman thing to do. So the border was secured. As long as that measure is not compromised, things will remain stable in Anambra State.

This brings to mind that, It’s often been the case that an all-size-fit design does not always fit all. A home made solution that takes cognizance of the peculiarities of  a home felt problem and the unique circumstances of the particular people, is always the best way to go. It does better.

With the rising cases of the COVID 19 in Nigeria, it’s not yet late to engage traditional rulers and vigilantes to complement the efforts of the security outfits of the federal government, in securing interstate borders. The hard to understand issue that’s still happening is that people are still moving from one state to another. A friend called today (29th April, 2020) to tell me that someone checked into their compound in Aba last night from the North (Northern part of Nigeria). Why I advised them should ask for self quarantine or alert NCDC, if the person refuses self isolation. I know that the person and other persons who flaunt ‘Stay At Home’ order and travel these days don’t travel as invisible spirits. Some of them move by road. How are they able to do so even when there are police and military men on the road? Maybe the government of Anambra knows why, which made them to engage all their villages to work in ensuring that the task of securing their state borders is not compromised.

If it worked for Anambra, it makes sense that every other state should find ways to adapt related measures to secure their borders. Endless bit-by-bit total lock down is dangerous in any part of Nigeria and Africa as a whole given the unique economic situation In Africa.

An aggressive movement restrictions at national and state borders can help a lot in preventing easy spread to other places. Which of course ensures the pandemic doesn’t reach a level that will overwhelm available health facilities.

Just as Anambra, when every least affected state has put in place effective and reliable border closure measures, in line with the peculiar case of their environment, they can confidently come up with and enforce guidelines that will permit people within their respective states to return to businesses partially.

We’re going through a very tough time. Many of us all over the world are currently on some form of restrictions, and we can’t continue our normal activities. The impact of COVID-19 is experienced differently by people; there are many families exposed, many people going through difficulties, it is nice to be good in any way you can to people around you. It’s nice to be good anytime, but the present situation calls for more kindness. 

There are many stories of people doing good, sharing with the needy, helping the elderly and this shows the love we still have despite everything going on. It shows there is hope for humanity.

There are many “viruses” spreading online apart from COVID-19. Misinformation. Be careful and try to always verify the information before sharing (if you need to share it). Having said that, I want to draw attention to many new make-money-from-home schemes flying around, digital entrepreneurship options. I am writing this because I have seen a lot of them spreading online. We need to always be careful. Every good investor does proper due diligence and weighs the opportunity cost and risk of any venture. This is what we all ought to do. I have seen a lot of new options for making money, too many to count. 

I couldn’t look at all of them fully because it would take forever to do that, but a lot of them look like Ponzi(pyramid) schemes. I figured it would be better to find out what characterizes Pyramid schemes, how to spot them from a distance, then one can use that template to analyse any new ones that come your way.

The not-too-distant wave of MMM [1,2] came and swept a lot of people off their feet. A lot of us got involved. Some cashed out, while many others lost large with a lot of stories that touch the heart. The interesting thing is that there is nothing new under the sun, so MMM was nothing new. It was founded by Sergei Mavrodi [3] and his associates, a very intelligent mathematician in the early nineties when the Soviet Union collapsed. There were other schemes before Mavrodi’s, Ponzi is in fact someone’s name – Charles Ponzi, an Italian swindler and con artist who became known in the early 1920s in North America[4]. 

I watched a film Sergei Mavrodi’s based on his story and a couple of interviews he gave. He was out to harness people’s greed. It was said that at some points, people preferred his notes over the official currency! He designed a very brilliant scheme that worked then, still works and will keep working. Although Mavrodi is dead[5], there will be many versions of this scheme popping up everywhere [6]. This time seems to be a good one for fresh schemes as people are at home, some with the capital they want to quickly multiply.

Be careful. Genuine wealth creation takes time, knowledge and patience. Be very wary of anyone coming to promise you a get-rich-quick source. I constantly see a lot of such flying around and have received many links from friends. I always want to take my time and get to understand the value proposition, the financial model, and the product involved.

Pyramid Schemes

What Is a Pyramid Scheme? A pyramid scheme is an illegal investment scam based on a hierarchical setup of network marketing. The most famous kind of pyramid scheme is, perhaps, the Ponzi scheme.

New recruits make up the base of the pyramid and provide the funding, or so-called returns, in the form of new money outlays to the earlier investors/recruits structured above them in the scheme.

 A pyramid scheme does not usually involve the selling of products. Rather, it relies on the constant inflow of money from additional investors that works its way to the top of the pyramid. This means that multilevel marketing schemes are not classified as pyramid schemes and are not necessarily fraudulent. [7].

These are some hallmarks of a pyramid scheme[8]:

1. Emphasis on recruiting
2. No genuine product or service is sold
3. Promises of high returns in a short time period.
4. Easy money or passive income.
5. No demonstrated revenue from retail sales.
6. Complex commission structure.
7. All Pyramid Schemes Collapse. The question is when.

All pyramid schemes eventually collapse, and most investors lose their money. The question is when?

I didn’t mention any schemes here, not because there aren’t any I am suspecting and almost certain that they are pyramid schemes, but because I could be wrong in some cases, and I generally want you to decide for yourself. The least you could do is google and check 2-3 external links about it and immediately you will get a picture. There are many legit ways to invest out there and a quick google search can show you that they exist, even in Nigeria. So again, I won’t mention any. You should decide for yourself.

You can read about other types of fraud[9] and how to protect your investments[10] from the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission. Keep learning, and stay woke!

Disclaimer: I am not an investment expert but a learner. The main message I have is – do your due diligence before putting down your money into any investment.