Spraying U.S. Dollars in Canada – By Phil Tam-Al Alalibo

Posted by admin American Politics, Articles, Columnists, NNP Columnists Monday, August 20th, 2012

By Phil Tam-Al Alalibo | NNP | August 21, 2012 – The spirit of Owambe is pervasive among Nigerians well ingrained in their socio-psychological awareness no matter where they are domiciled on God’s green planet. Even when the federal government of Nigeria outlawed the mutilation of the currency indirectly banning the practice of Owambe, I was told that Nigerians in Nigeria devised a clever means of spraying plain paper at parties on which they wrote the naira equivalent to be redeemed later. Imagine that. A faculty colleague from Malawi once noted to me in jest as we discussed African affairs at a recent conference in Halifax, “A world without Nigerians will be a very boring one.”

By this statement, he was alluding to the fact that Nigerians bring so much excitement and exhilaration to our global and collective existence through their acts, ingenuity, inventions (good or bad) and of course, intellectual prowess. Nothing, indeed, could be truer as I recently observed at a well-attended Nigerian party in downtown Toronto one more of such inventions alluded to by my Malawian colleague; the spraying of U.S. dollars at parties known in Nigerian parlance as Owambe. This is a little wonder, especially, when Canada has its own currency that at times surpasses the U.S. dollar in value and most times equals it.

As the music rambunctiously rented the air at this party convened to celebrate the 50^th birthday of a Nigerian icon and philanthropist, I began to wonder why Nigerians (in Canada) were spraying in U.S. dollars, an act that could be well considered as an affront to the sovereignty of Canada by well-meaning and patriotic Canadians who rather prefer their own currency sprayed on their own soil. One after the other, Nigerians, decked in their Sunday’s best marching in assorted gaits to the dance floor came to lavish their wealth on this icon and his wife that were dancing rhythmically to several tantalizing Nigerian tunes of yester-years.

Some came with the famed Ghana-must-go bags overflowing with U.S. dollars to demonstrate their love, admiration and appreciation for the celebrant. As the macabre show of materialism flourished in its purest form unabated with teenage girls bending ceaselessly in uncoordinated chase of (sprayed) dollars at the feet of merry-makers, I came to the understanding that the reason for the spraying of U.S. dollars in Canada borders more on the cheapness of Nigerians than on the mistaken belief that spraying in U.S. dollars accords one prestige, a higher status and class.

What do I mean by this; it all has to do with the denominations of the currencies of both countries. In the U.S., the smallest paper currency is one dollar and this means if one sprays twenty times with one dollar bill, that person has only spent $20, whereas, if that some person were to spray in Canadian dollars whose smallest paper currency is $5, it would mean he would spend 100 Canadian dollars which is equivalent to 100 U.S. dollars, plus/minus a few cents.

Evidently, Nigerians in Canada are wise, concealing their astute cheapness under the camouflage of spraying in the ‘esteemed’ U.S. dollars; from now on, celebrants in Canada must insist to be sprayed multiple times in Canadian dollars and that indeed will be the moment of truth as many would be unable to indulge in such frivolities with a minimum ‘spraying’ currency of $5.

Most Nigerians under such circumstances can only afford to spray twice, perhaps thrice and by the time they are about to pull out the fourth $5 bill to spray, their minds will wonder to the electric, car, mortgage and assorted bills that await them at home.

Our culture of Owambe belies a far greater cultural and sociological malady plaguing our society and could very well be the catalyst for the moral paucity that has eaten deep into our collective fabric. In this part of the world, most Nigerians live beyond their means unable to afford the homes they live in and the cars that are parked in the garages of those homes. To many, their material image is more valuable than sound financial planning for their families.

I remember a Nigerian gentleman who bought a brand new “S” class Mercedes Benz worth about $80,000, since many of his Nigerian contemporaries in the U.S. city where he lived were driving such highly priced cars. He felt the need to “belong”; to be seen as doing well in life and a Benz, he concluded, would fit the bill and tell his story of success and material conquest.

Unfortunately, death came calling shortly after he bought the vehicle and in the process of according him a befitting burial, it became public knowledge that he had not planned well for his family in such eventualities. With no life insurance and other financial planning expected of a man of “S” Class caliber, the Nigerian community had no choice but to bear the cost of his funeral and to attend to his family financially. At the end, when the financial expenses tipped the scale, the “S” Class had to be sold off. Of what use then?

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