Before putting pen to paper on this subject, I searched the web for the reasons why Paypal payment elude Nigerians. I read a post titled Is PayPal Scared Of Nigeria? on forbes published in 2011 by Mfonobong Nsehe If Nigerias ban is attributed to fraudulent crimes committed by some Nigerians, I do not see the claim as sufficient reason to shut out all Nigerians from operating a Paypal account. If that is the case, Master Card, Visa Card and all other payment options could as well do same. If the truth must be told, fraudulent acts on the internet are not limited to Nigerians, and as Mfonobong Nsehe noted in his submission; fraudulent acts by Nigerians is a handiwork of a few whose activities are being fought to a stand still by Nigerian security agencies. I call on the appropriate authorities to mediate between Paypal and Millions of Nigerians who are denied using the platform for legitimate transactions. The likes of Mrs. Omobola Johnson, Minister of Communication Technology and other stakeholders in the Nigeria Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector should lend their voice to this cause. I plead with the administrators of Paypal to reconsider the ban on Nigeria. Security measures should be put in place to checkmate legal activities on accounts whether by Nigerians or Non-Nigerians. At the moment, Nigerians who need to make transactions via Paypal are made to pay through their noses by employing the services of self-acclaimed in-country experts, who have Paypal accounts. I feel very worried and sad about this development, I hope Paypal will have a rethink on their position and make Paypal available to Nigerians. Here is an excerpt from Mfonobong Nsehe article dated July 18, 2011 Why is PayPal reluctant to include Nigeria into its network? The world’s frontline payment processor is currently available in over 190 countries, and over 40 African countries including Eritrea, Djibouti, Gambia, Togo, Mauritius, Mali, Chad and Tanzania, among others. But Nigeria is conspicuously absent from the list, and it hardly makes sense. Resident Nigerians are not allowed to make or receive payments through PayPal. Nigeria has the largest internet penetration in Sub-Saharan Africa of over 43 million active users (out of a population of 155 million), and the second largest economy in Africa, behind that of South Africa. If there’s any opportunity for PayPal to thrive in Africa (and there is), Nigeria should definitely be a focal point of the company’s activities. Understandably, PayPal has its fears about Nigeria. The country has earned for itself a negative reputation as a bastion of internet fraud. PayPal is probably scared about the prospects of being caught up in a messy fraud of colossal proportions in the event of doing business with Nigeria. But nowadays, Nigerian online scams are being mitigated by various economic and financial crime watch groups. Fraud has been reduced drastically, and I’m not just saying this to make Nigeria look good. It’s the truth. Nigerian internet scammers do not constitute the majority of the population, but only a tiny minority. It is wrong to stereotype the majority of a people based on the unscrupulous activities of a minority, just as PayPal has done, I believe. neeksta/editorials/paypal-ban-in-nigeria-making-a-case-for-nigerians/
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 04:58:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015