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Inside Kwara community, Ijara-Isin, where residents have own ‘currency’
The Ijara-Isin community in Kwara State, North Central Nigeria has devised a means to keep money within its community in a bid to foster economic development. Ijara-Isin came up with its own ‘currency’, which is accepted through out the community.
The Ijara-Isin community in Kwara State, South West Nigeria has devised a means to keep money within its community in a bid to foster economic development.
Ijara-Isin came up with its own ‘currency’, which is accepted through out the community.
The Managing Director, Ijara Isin Development Fund and Corporative, Alo Oluwafemi, talks about the motivation behind the ‘currency’, also called vouchers, that residents of Ijara-Isin use when they go to the markets.
Oluwafemi said the Olusin of Ijara-isin, Oba Ajibola Ademola Julius, got the idea when he travelled to the United States of America in 2021.
He narrated that the monarch noticed that each time he gives out money or a job, the residents prefer to save the money in their accounts or use it outside of Ijara Isin which doesn’t help the community, so he thought of a way to keep funds within the community.
A community official, Akinleye Tolulope, said the idea is to boost the economy of the community. He also said that residents get paid with the ‘currency’ to discourage residents from taking the money out but rather spend it within the community to help in its development.
