The popular Christmas greeting cards have been replaced with Short Message Service (SMS) and telephone calls by most residents of Lagos, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
NAN reports that some places known for the sale of greeting cards in Lagos– including Ojuelegba, CMC, Ojota, Boundary, Lawanson, Ikorodu Roundabout, among others, were either displaying few cards or none.
Mr Festus Okechukwu, a greeting card seller at Ojuelegba, said the business was no longer lucrative.
“At Ojuelegba here, we are not up to four persons selling cards at this open place, unlike before. Many people are no longer buying cards like before. Between Dec. 1 and now, I have not sold up to N10,000 worth of cards.
“When the business was moving, there were cards I sold for between N800 and N1,500 each. Today, I can’t ask anybody to pay so much for a card, so that I will not scare them away. I have to sell few cards because there is little patronage,’’ Okechukwu said.
Another seller at Ojuelegba, who simply identified himself as Fred, said that the regular seizure of their goods by officials of Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI), also discouraged many sellers from going into the business.
“The selling of greeting cards is a seasonal business. In the past, many students make quick money through the selling of cards, but that has changed due to declining patronage,’’ Fred said.
A correspondent of NAN who visited Ikorodu , Ojota, CMC and Lawanson, reports that no seller of greeting cards was seen in the open areas, unlike it used to be at Christmas.
NAN reports that the few people who wanted greeting cards had to go to supermarkets to get the cards of their choices.
Some Lagosians, however, told NAN that greeting cards was no longer in vogue since the introduction of the GSM to Nigeria.
Mr Ebuka Ogboanugo, a University student, said that he stopped sending cards to people in 2010, stressing that he now sends text messages to family and friends.
“Before now, I don’t like sending text messages to people, but now I do. I don’t have to waste my money on cards,’’ he said.
For Ms Opeyemi Adepoju, a lab-scientist, she usually don’t send cards but do receive from people in the past.
Adepoju said, however, that she had not been receiving cards for about two years running, but has been getting a lot of SMSs.
“I send out text messages to people and they reply me immediately, no stress,’’ quipped Mrs Chidinma Igie.
