MMM: Momentary Madness to Many?

Chai! “I don die o, which kind bad market be this, money wey I don plan to use for Christmas, na hin dis MMM people talk say dem wan upgrade dia system,” those were the words of Davidson, an MMM participant who recently decided to invest in the controversial Ponzi scheme, was disgruntled when he heard the latest development. Many other participants like Davidson, are in shock following the heart breaking news of not being able to access the site.

“On the 13th of December, MMM announced the freezing of all members' accounts due to systems overload and the negative attention brought on by the Government and mass media, leading to wide spread panic in the Nation and even attempted suicides. On the 14th of December, LASEMA (Lagos State Emergency Management Agency) of Lagos State  pleaded with Lagosian to dial their emergency number if they spot anyone trying to commit suicide. LASEMA took this action, because of the number of suicides MMM caused in Russia” (Excerpt from Wikipedia)

Before the breaking news, there was a clear warning on MMM’s webpage for those who wanted to participate, the warning was BOLD enough, it read, "there are no guarantees and promises! Neither explicit nor implicit, there are neither investments nor business, participants help each other, sending each other money directly without intermediaries. That’s all, there is nothing more. There are no securities transactions, no relationship with the professional participants of the securities market; you do not acquire any securities…there are no rules…In principle, the only rule is, no rule at all, even if you follow all the instructions, you may still lose or if you win you might not be paid. Without any reasons or explanations. In general, you can lose all your money, always remember this, and participate only with spare money or do not participate at all.”

Indeed millions of Nigerians participated in the Ponzi scheme, many achieved a lot, others gave thousands and millions hoping to reap massively during the festive period but were dumbfounded when they couldn’t log into the site (MMM).

A mechanism such as crisis management was implemented immediately to control the damage that might follow. A guider who chose to remain anonymous, said, “with a pause mode, there's no mavro growth; but with a freeze mode, your mavro still grows…” It’s crystal clear that many people don’t even understand what pause mode or freeze mode is all about. Of a truth, Nigeria is going through a difficult phase (recession)Another difference is that with pause mode, your mavro starts afresh at the time of lifting and you lose all your bonuses: referral bonus, leader bonus, guider bonus, testimonial bonus etc. But with freeze mode, you continue from Another difference is that with pause mode, your mavro starts afresh at the time of lifting and you lose all your bonuses: referral bonus, leader bonus, guider bonus, testimonial bonus etc. But with freeze mode, you continue from where your mavro growth stops at the time of unfreezing - not at the time of freezing. It works exactly like your blue mavro that keeps growing even when is blue, your registration bonus is an example.Another difference is that with pause mode, your mavro starts afresh at the time of lifting and you lose all your bonuses: referral bonus, leader bonus, guider bonus, testimonial bonus etc. But with freeze mode, you continue from where your mavro growth stops at the time of unfreezing - not at the time of freezing. It works exactly like your blue mavro that keeps growing even when is blue, your registration bonus is an example.Another difference is that with pause mode, your mavro starts afresh at the time of lifting and you lose all your bonuses: referral bonus, leader bonus, guider bonus, testimonial bonus etc. But with freeze mode, you continue from where your mavro growth stops at the time of unfreezing - not at the time of freezing. It works exactly like your blue mavro that keeps growing even when is blue, your registration bonus is an example., but it won’t be forever, looking at how the poor masses are suffering, some can’t afford three square meal a day, others have lost their jobs, the list is unending, these reasons and lots more made Nigerians to participate in the scheme, they turned deaf ears despite CBN warnings.

14^th January, 2017 has been fixed for the Ponzi scheme to be back on the internet, but my question is, what if it does not happen? One need not to be told that to be forewarned is to be forearmed…the warning was there, “…you can lose all your money, always remember this, and participate only with spare money or do not participate at all.” I believe vast majority of the participants counted the cost before making up their minds to join. Let participants pray that MMM does not cause Momentary Madness to Many!