MMM Nigeria: Our love for easy money

That people love making easy money is no longer an opinion but a fact. And the recent rise and success of betting shops across the country are sufficient proof of this fact.

People always want more for less, and even when the story sounds unreal, they still stay fixated on what they could gain. This is why fraud (419) stays successful.

And there’s a simple word for this phenomenon, it’s called greed. Greed itself is not bad, but when it clouds your sense of reasoning, then it’s a problem.

MMM Nigeria is not the first company nor will it be the last to play to this weakness of mankind. Before they invaded Nigeria, there have been several others before them, all with their own version of this Ponzi scheme.

Typically, they promise you incredible returns on investment over a short period of time, normally 30 days.

There was this one called Establishment House but more popularly known as "21 Days" for its promise of 50% profit in 21 days. A barber by the side of my house lost N400,000.00 he had invested in hopes of cashing out big, it crashed.

When I quizzed him about MMM just before writing this article, he said he was still investigating them but he wanted one with higher profits and faster time of maturity, and if I had any recommendations.

And that sums up the “make I hammer mentality” of us as a people and the reactions of people to an article about MMM by my colleague is an eye opener.

ALSOREAD: MMM Nigeria: The dark history of this popular Ponzi scheme

I don't care how or in what you invest your money in and as someone who once participated in one these schemes, I’m not here to judge. What concerns me is the feasibility of this scheme.

MMM survives by paying older members with funds collected from newer ones. Whether or not money is being paid into a central account, this principle remains true.

They do not invest in Gold or in any other commodity neither do they provide any kind of service. As in all such schemes, the early bird gets the worm and the late comers get high blood pressure.

Sure MMM is "bust proof" as its die-hard members like to point out simply because their money stays in their accounts.

But the owners of this scheme only need to request for one huge Provide Help request, to which individual members will make little contributions and say goodbye to Nigeria like they have done in other countries.

Well as the popular saying goes “all die na die,” all man to his own hustle.