The situation is gradually shifting from the painful and frustrating to the ludicrous as exemplified in a new phone culture that is fast-evolving.
Increasingly, people are now ignoring phone calls coming mostly from friends, acquaintances, relatives, including, church members, office colleagues and corporate beggars.
This is because, besides being brazen, spurious and inconsiderate in most cases, the requests that follow these calls have become a case of “one good turn deserves another.”
Essentially, it has become a risk to pick these calls and attend to the demands of the callers as such action is an invitation or licence for more calls and more requests.
Almost on daily basis, people call to say they have no money to feed, transport themselves to places of work or that one child or two are in hospital or have been driven out of school for unpaid fees.
Sometimes, calls come from people who have gone to the hospital and got drug prescriptions from the doctor but no money to buy those drugs, hence, the request for help.
While at a barbing salon waiting for his turn, a middle-level public servant was irritated by the many calls, which the barber ignored after checking the identity of the callers.
He was angry that the unanswered calls were disrupting the barber’s work, considering the many customers on the queue. Angrily, he urged the lanky barber to pick the calls or switch off the phone.
“Oga, the calls are from my younger brother and a neighbour, they want money and I don’t have any. I can’t switch off my phone because I am expecting an alert from a customer who is owing me,” the barber responded in cold tone.
The once-irritated customer laughed and advised the barber to always pick his calls, no matter the caller.
“My dear, I get such calls every minute, but I explain to them that the Tinubu economy is biting harder on everyone and some callers who are reasonable have stopped calling because I will keep picking their calls and wasting their little airtime without sending the money they are requesting,” the customer said.
Nowadays, on commuter buses and public places, many are often reminded that their phones are ringing, yet they wave it away, knowing who the callers are and why they are calling.
As well, in corporate places, many now put their phones on silent mode due to the many calls from relatives, begging for money or for one favour, as putting them on vibration mode also attracts attention.
Well, the habit of ignoring calls to fend off callers seeking assistance is not new, but the rate seems alarming nowadays due to the harsh economic realities.
“I often ignore calls that I think are for requesting assistance. Sometimes, I summon courage to answer and tell them my mind because the situation now implies that people should carry their cross. The days of Father Christmas are over because the givers don’t have enough to go round again. I tell them to manage what they have because I am trying to manage here too,” Ajoke Lawal, a banker, said.
Speaking further, Lawal, a single mother of two, decried that apart from relatives, even her mechanic, house-help, gateman and church members, who have her number, will always call, seeking financial assistance and that such calls often weigh her down, when she cannot assist.
“When I decline calls, I often get text messages like, but you work in a bank, you don’t want to help, there is God.
“But they fail to understand that I don’t own that bank, I only earn salary. Sadly, those I have assisted in the past don’t appreciate the gesture. Now, I decline calls, and I don’t care,” she said.
For Onyewuchi Akagbule, a senior lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, ignoring calls to fend off callers seeking assistance is a trend now and also a function of the economic hardship.
According to him, with a 33.9 percent inflation in October, from 32.7 percent in September, amid the anticipation of further rise, the purchasing power of many Nigerians is dwindling daily, hence many now beg for assistance from people, especially to meet the escalating food prices.
“As an economist, the reality in a persisting inflation period like we have in Nigeria now, is being frugal.
To survive, people have to adjust to the situation and the increasing pressure from the high cost of living.
“That adjustment includes ignoring calls that will take money from your pocket, instead of adding to it.
“Some tech-savvy people even have settings on their phones that keep telling you they are unreachable, whereas, they are.
“The economy is biting harder on everyone including the so-called rich people, because their billions have been reduced to paper by the persistent inflation and the devaluation of Naira.
“So, the many ignored calls are a reflection of the economic hardship,” he said.
In the same vein, Sandra Adewale-Oni, an executive of a foundation, decried that many Nigerians are living above their means, hence the persistent calls on others for financial assistance.
“Our foundation carried a survey mandated by one of our donors and we found out that 70 percent of the beneficiaries of our financial grants use the money on material things. As the money lands in their account, they remember to buy better phones, change their cars or rent better apartments.
“So, they will keep begging for assistance because of the frivolous lifestyle style and when they call, we don’t pick their calls because those are wasted opportunities.
“People should learn how to manage their lives and not begging always because those who give did not pick money on the streets,” she said.
Gideon Oleka, a church youth counsellor, and business executive, also observed that if people learn how to manage the little they have, the calls for financial assistance will reduce, and phones will ring less.
“I handle teenagers and youths. They can call 10 times a day for money and that reduces them to beggars, which is not good at their productive age.
“So, we often bring financial experts that speak to them on creativity and money management and it has helped a lot of them,” he said.
According to him, the frequency of the calls reduces the caller in the face of the benefactor, who often declines the calls as a sign of protest.
Ferguson Ojobe, a politician, thinks that the calls for assistance cannot stop coming as long as the economy is in a bad shape, but that one has to find a way around it because the callers are often in need of assistance.
“It is the politicians that should be complaining of many calls because everyone in your unit, ward, constituency, or senatorial district believes that you have money and you are their saviour. If they manage to get your number, your phone will keep ringing until you answer.
“Instead of ignoring calls, which might be insulting to many, we keep changing our phone numbers. There is hardly a politician that uses same phone number for a long time, just to curb many calls requesting for financial assistance, contracts or job offers,” Ojobe, a People’s Democratic Party stalwart, explained.
But Sussan Unanka, a petty trader, who is fond of calling family members for financial assistance, noted that life have never been fair to all, hence those who don’t have will always disturb those who have for assistance.
According to her, most people who call others for assistance do not like disturbing people, but they don’t have option.
“I am a petty trader and a twin, but my twin sister went to school and is a medical doctor. She is better than me and her husband is rich.
“So, who will I call if I have a problem if not her. She cannot help it because I will be calling her until she answers my call and assist me,” she said.
Ayuba Yahaya, a Panshin, Plateau State-born soldier, thinks that it is unfair to decline people’s calls because it could be vital security or business information that they want to pass across.
“Professionally, all calls are vital, pick to hear the caller out, even in private calls, pick and tell the person your mind and save your battery.
“Again, those who often call for assistance see you as their last hope, pick, help or decline so that they can move elsewhere, if need be,” Yahaya said.
However, observers think that as the economy keeps biting harder, more people will keep calling for financial assistance, while the habit of ignoring the calls to fend off the callers will keep increasing.
A public relations practitioner who spoke on condition of anonymity, narrating his personal experience said that sometimes, situations are painted such luridly and painfully that one finds it difficult to resist the urge to help.
According to him, “This, more than anything else, is the reason for people choosing not to pick calls so that they can be happy and at peace in their ignorance. Ordinarily, it is a bad attitude that smacks of pride and arrogance for someone to ignore calls from friends and relatives. It is even a huge risk because such calls could be for emergency that involves saving lives, but not so anymore.
“That, unfortunately, is what a badly-managed economy has made of us- an uncultured people with brash and detached attitudes and manners.”
According to him, “But I must say that some of the frequent callers overdo it. Once you have shown you can assist, they will continue to bombard you with calls and requests. A friend of mine puts it this way, ‘if you put your shoulders for people to cry on, before long, they will begin to dump catarrh there.’ That is why many people are not willing to accept additional responsibilities these days.”
