Is there an online conspiracy against Ecommerce in Nigeria? Destination: Internet.. Principal Actor: You Mission: Make a purchase online.

Why wouldnt you be beaming from ear to ear you just joined the global elite club of a MasterCard holder which qualifies you to step into any store in any of the worlds major cities make a purchase, wipe you card (with the critically acclaimed logo) out and pay for the goods and services you just purchased/enjoyed. With most of the top Nigerian Banks positioning themselves as parties of MasterCard you would think all your problems are over but nay you ask is this the beginning of eCommerce? The banks tell is good to go just plug and play.

Whoosh back to our destination. First you say let me pay for this domain name Ive been itching to have www.yahoo.com. Clickdomain names you make the payment at yahoo it goes through.

YOU HAVE ARRIVED. CONGRATULATIONS!

Now your confidence is rising you decide to purchase an ebook from www.clickbank.com...your transaction is rejected. You call your bank they say try again your card is perfectly okay. Transaction rejected!!!! again try purchasing another domain name, but this time around from www.godaddy.com...your transaction is rejected, moneybookers.com (we dont receive payments from Nigeria.) 2checkout.com, you must confirm this card is yours (at least they are kind enough to own up to the fact that a population of 120 million Nigerians cannot all be criminals)

You now realize that owning a MasterCard does not guarantee you membership of the global elite club of a cyber elite. You could have met all the criteria but the only stumbling block is the fact that your location/origin is Nigeria.

Hmm wahala dey.you call the merchants, you holler, cajole, rain insults, they remain calm and tell you sorry, its based on the fact that Nigeria is a high risk country when it comes to Internet fraud. For real? Does it have the worst case? No!the truth is that the United states accounts for over 70% of all online fraud. maybe you would say it is being perpetrated by Nigerians......... your thoughts!

That, my fellow Nigerians is the heart of the matter. Why are we being denied full access to the new global economy that was worth 7 trillion Dollars in the United States alone in 2005?

Why are we being denied the opportunity to obtain goods and services at rates that are obtainable to other people ion different parts of the world. Why are we paying MasterCard charges (funds which are repatriated back to America) for cards that do not meet our needs? Too many whys and of course nobody is willing to offer a because, A because or becauses will not be offered because from time immemorial weve not had the voice to talk as one, however this will be a thing of the past as the netizens of Nigeria have decided to rise up and ask the following questions:

1. Why do some American & UK based Internet businesses refuse to accept payments from Nigerians who genuinely own Credit Cards issued by an American Company?

2.Why should we continue to patronize a product whose promoters are not ready to make their product accepted universally despite the huge income they stand to gain or are making from Nigerian Citizens.

3.Why wont our banks move a step further from issuing the cards to assuring that the cards are accepted universally? Our banks can only imagine the volume of business they are loosing if the cards they have issued us do not serve our needs.

Just three questions which I believe if well answered will change the feelings of hundreds and thousands of Nigerians it truly hurts.

Alternatively, you can log on to www.nigeriaspeaks.com and air your views on a variety of issues, this one inclusive.

We all deserve a piece of the pie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stand up and talk.