Recession: Abuja Couples Sell Wedding Rings To Feed..
The economic recession is biting harder
by the day and it’s affecting symbols of many unions. DEBORAH OCHENI
recently ran into a section of the popular Wuse Market where couples
trade their highly priced bridal wears for cash
At first it
looked like fable from one of the Nollywood series until the reporter’s
interaction with some of them revealed the unimaginable true story. But
the truth is that the level of hardship in the country has reached an
alarming rate. Who will ever think of a couple who are barely six months
old in marriage letting go of their precious symbol and reminder of
their marital vow just to meet up with their needs? While some are in
this act because it is the only available means left for them to
survive, others are selling it because of increase in value of the
dollar (foreign exchange) which invariably boosts the price of foreign
made wears.
Wedding rings
Wedding
rings are a symbol of faithfulness and everlasting love between a
husband and his wife. It is meant to be a lasting reminder of your
special wedding day but the reverse seems to be the case now as couples
desirous of surviving the recession now take to selling these otherwise
life time souvenirs. A woman in her early 40s who simply identified
herself as Gloria said she is not happy selling her wedding band but
after discussing and analysing the situation with her husband, they have
to sell it in order to pay the children’s school fees and attend to
other needs.
“You and I know that it is strange for a woman to
sell her wedding ring no matter what but that is the only thing I can
count on for now and after discussing with my husband, he understood the
situation and gave me his consent. My marriage is just 11 years old but
I have to take this ugly decision to save my children (tears rolling
her cheeks) from the unbearable ugly situation facing us.
My
husband was sacked from a construction company last year and we have
been managing to survive since then, I have sold many of my valuables to
cater for our feeding and I have to sell my wedding ring,” she told
Inside Abuja. When Inside Abuja inquired to know how much she will make
from it, Gloria said: “It weighed 3.6 carat at 14000 per carat so
everything is N64,400. I only need N40,000 to balance up my children’s
school fees even my friend that promised to borrow me the money changed
her mind for the fear that I will not be able to repay.”
Wedding band
Similar to Gloria’s condition is that of Mrs. Ene Ocheme, a business woman from Benue State.
Ocheme
took to selling her wedding band just five months after her wedding.
Her words: “My mission in Abuja is to sell my golden wedding band to
start up a business. My husband lost his job and life has not been easy
ever since he lost his job. We have been praying and believing God that
he secure another job.
I am a graduate too, but I have no job.
So, I decided to drop my ego and start up a business no matter how
little because it is really embarrassing when I see my husband asking
people to borrow him money and they disappoint him at the end of the
day. The one that even made me to take this ugly decision is that he was
invited for a job interview but he didn’t go for the interview because
we couldn’t source for transportation fare from Makurdi to Lagos.”
Ocheme
added that her husband is not aware of her decision to sell her wedding
band. She, however, assures that the husband will not be too angry with
her if he eventually find out because she intends to do something big
and better with the money realised from the sale. “When I told my
husband that we should sell our wedding band he said no because the
marriage is too young for that but I will be able to calm him with the
outcome of my business.
I will also make him understand that the
ring has to go for our marriage to stand because my parents were
sceptical of his ability to take care of me. So, I feel it’s too early
for me to start complaining to my parents. I believe everything is going
to be fine and I will get a better wedding band and take it to the
priest for blessing.”
Pure business
While
Gloria and Ocheme sold their wedding band to meet up with critical
urgent needs, Halima Isah, a beautiful young woman from Minna, Niger
State said she is selling her wedding band now that FOREX is high so
that she can make profit from it.
“What is the big deal in
selling wedding band? Even if I don’t sell I will still change it for
another one so I don’t think it makes any difference. I wedded in 2009
and then one gram of gold was sold for N7,500 and now a gram is N14,000.
It will be stupid of me to keep the band and allow exchange rate to
drop because the price will drop as soon as dollar drops,” Isah said.
Inside Abuja’s meeting with Mr. Uzo, an Abuja-based business man in the
company of his wife at Wuse gold market confirmed that both couple
agreed to sell their band in order to make profit.
“My wife and I
are here to sell our gold wedding ring so that we can add the money to
our business. It is just like selling your car when you are in need of
money moreover the price has really appreciated. So, we are not loosing
anything. We will get another one when the price drops until then, we
will get GL ring which is also durable,” he told our correspondent.
Buyer’s reaction
As
weird as selling of wedding band sounds, the buyers are happily and
readily available to buy them. Another fascinating thing about this
business is the fact that buyers have cash readily available to give to
seller in exchange for their wedding band. “They should even thank God
that they have something to exchange for money, that is the essence of
buying gold, it is always useful and the owner will readily get buyers
whenever he or she want to sell them,” was the response of Alhaji
Mohammed Usman, gold merchandiser.
When Inside Abuja asked Usman
of what he will do with used accessories he buys, he said: “Now that
dollar is high, those who are selling their used gold accessories are
gaining very well because of high foreign exchange rate, we are buying
them at a very high rate now, we will either take them to Dubai where
they will melt them and do another thing with it or clean them and
resell.”
Clergy’s position
Rev.
Fr. Jeremiah Omonu, parish priest, Holy Spirit Imane, condemned the
act, saying that the ring is meant to be the symbol of their
faithfulness and love. “Their reasons for indulging in such act varies
and I am not even sure if it is the blessed wedding ring but in
situation that it is their original blessed wedding ring then it is not
the best because it was blessed for them to use as the symbol of their
faithfulness and love and not to be sold out.
“It is not the best
and it will go a long way to show that they lack trust in God because
if they have trust in God, God can provide their need without them
necessarily selling off their wedding ring. They should have gone to the
extent of selling their blessed wedding ring because it is for a
purpose that it was blessed for them.”
He however said if the
couple buy another ring and present it for blessing it will still serve
as a symbol of their faithfulness and love since it carries the same
blessing as the one sold. “if they bring another one for blessing the
blessing will be same but physically it is not the same, marritally, it
shows lack of trust in God because it is an intentional act.”
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