Many people have challenged me on why I have been silent on MMM before now. The truth is I have not really been silent. I started to hear about MMM in Africa in the summer of 2016, around July/August. Most of the information I came across were news reports about the collapse of MMM in Zimbabwe and South Africa. I read in the newspapers and social media. I made sure that I immediately reposted all the warning articles I saw on social media on my official Facebook pages. Between August and September I had posted over 20 articles warning both Nigerians and Africans about the fraudulent activities of MMM in other countries. Since there was so much information in the media warning the people about the danger of this scheme, I did not see it necessary for me to set apart my precious time to write personal articles. There were more than enough warning signs for those who wanted to listen.

I however finally decided to find time out of my busy schedule and lend my voice to the countless number of those warning against MMM after I read the open letter that was addressed, to the Nigerian government by the MMM founder Mr. Sergey Mavrodi. So why did I take that decision? Especially knowing that when I decide to do something, I don’t like to do a shallow job. I know it will cost me at least 40 hours of work. That is a full week working hour. For those who live in the western world, they know what that means, but for me in particular, that is very expensive, bearing in mind all other activities I am already engaged in. I however decided to pay the price and write these series of eight articles, this being the third even though it is titled number 2, to warn my compatriots about the danger of MMM. This is thanks to Mr. Mavrodi’s open letter.

In his letter I could see that Mr. Mavrodi wrote that letter as an exit strategy. For any analytically thinking person it is evident that his letter was meant to play certain strategic roles. Namely:

1. Mavrodi was trying to hypnotise his adherents so that on one hand they will think of him as caring master who sincerely cares about their wellbeing. – False.

2. MMM’s chief scammer wanted to present the Nigerian government as the real scam instead of MMM. This is a pure case of shifting blames. In my local language there is an adage that says “if the owner of the farm is not swift enough to catch the thief, the thief will turn around to accuse the owner of being the thief.”

3. Mavrodi knows that his scheme like all other pyramid schemes will fail. Hence he was giving himself a soft landing through that letter to say, if this fails, I am not the one to blame, it is the Nigerian government.

4. Mavrodi knows that at the rate at which MMM Nigeria was growing, too many people would be demanding for some of their money back at the Christmas/new year season. Meanwhile, not too many would be bringing in much money which will automatically lead to an accelerated collapse of the whole scheme. So as a scammer that he is, he decided to protect himself and jump ship.

5. One of the most annoying things he did in his letter is that he was actually pointing accusing fingers at the Nigerian government for failing to provide for their citizens as if he had come to provide for them. Even though yes, the Nigerian government has a lot of failings, but he has done absolutely nothing to contribute to the welfare of the people in his organisation. Mavrodi has only come to steal from these very people, yet blaming the government for his crime.

6. Knowing that no serious government will engage him in a public debate, he decided to play out a spectacle by asking the Nigerian government questions to which he knows there won’t be answers. The goal is so that he could then turn around and tell his followers that, you see, your government could not answer the questions I asked them on your behalf. This is a master fraudster that must be exposed for who he is.

7. Mavrodi in his letter allowed himself to treat a whole country – the largest Black Country in the world as a laughing stock. This is the same old stereotypical way Europeans treated Africans leading back to the colonial days.

“Stolen bread tastes sweet, but it turns to gravel in the mouth.” — Proverbs 20:17

As a Nigerian citizen that has lived in Russia for the past 30 years of my life while studying and living among his people. I have distinguished myself in every possible manner. Intellectually, mentally, politically, etc. I sense that Mr. Mavrodi was trying to play on the intelligence of an entire country. As a Nigerian who lives in his country and studied with his people, becoming the very best in their University where there were 16,000 other students from his country, I think I deserve a right to respond

As a black man, who lives among his white European compatriots, and has been able to do what no one of the whole 300 million citizens of the former Soviet Union in building the largest evangelical church in Europe. I thought it right not to sit down here and keep quiet while a con artist is throwing a challenge at my country and at my president. Hence my title of this article “MR. MAVRODI, LEAVE PRESIDENT BUHARI OUT OF THIS, I WILL PROVIDE ALL YOUR ANSWERS!”

I have taken it upon myself to provide answers to the questions he asked one by one. I intend to prove to him by answering his questions that he is indeed a fraud, I only pray that my countrymen especially those who have been deceived by him are listening.

“People with a style of denial and blaming are definitely on the list of unsafe people to avoid.” ― Henry Cloud

ANSWERS TO MAVRODI’S QUESTIONS

Q: Do you want the MMM system to collapse and millions of people to suffer?

A: Hahahahahaha! Wow! Wow!! Wow!!! Did you just hear his question? Wow! What a philanthropist! What a humanitarian! Mr. Mavrodi, you make yourself a laughing stock by this question. You want to tell people that you care for the interest of millions of people in Nigeria? I know exactly what you think of the Nigerian people. You are thinking they are foolish monkeys down there, you have not even visited Nigeria to know what they look like. Even those who are promoting your fraudulent enterprise in the country, you will not even meet with them. I can guarantee that you have never met any Nigerian officially, because you don’t think they are good enough for you to even talk to. Now you are trying to tell me that you care for millions of Nigerians when you don’t care enough to meet with even your representative. How will you care for millions when you don’t even care for one? Care for one first before you care for millions.

Listen “Mr. Charity”, you don’t care about anybody, not in Nigeria or in your country. You only care about your own agenda, your own image and about your own pocket. You are not caring about Nigerians, you are caring about their millions of dollars that you can take away from the country. The millions you care about is not millions of people, but millions of their money.

Q: What will the Nigerian government say to a mother who does not have money to buy food for her baby if MMM is shut down by the government?

A: Thank God the government did not have to shut it down. We are now hearing news that MMM itself is freezing its own operations. Hello Mr. Mavrodi, the situation you were predicting in your letter is already here not caused by the government, but by you. The little money that mother had to feed her child she took it to your company and now she cannot get it back. You said you are the kind one, you came to help the country, help the lady whose money you took please! There are already reports of people drinking pesticides and trying to commit suicide. Can you resolve that and stop people from committing suicide by returning their money to them? You don’t have to do charity to them. They are asking for their money back without interest and they will be happy.

Q: You Nigerian government don’t even pay wages to your people.

A: Hahaha. Mr. Mavrodi, yes the Nigerian government doesn’t always pay wages to their people. Wow! You are so well informed. I am impressed by your vast knowledge of Nigeria’s situation. But the little wages the Nigerian government was able to pay her workers were enough for you to be attracted to Nigeria. Those little wages were even enough for you to build a whole company that was collecting those wages from them, howbeit in a fraudulent manner. So the best you can do for the Nigerian worker my friend is to return those little wages back to the people you collected them from, pack your load and close down your fraudulent company forever.

Q: MMM is the only means of livelihood for Nigerians who are in the MMM system.

A: Did you ever ask yourself how they lived before you came? Most of these people you are talking about are at least older than 2 years old and your company in Nigeria is just a year old. Did you ever wonder how they ate and fed themselves and their families before you came into the country? You have only been here for just one year, and you are now claiming that your organization is their only means of livelihood. Didn’t they eat before you came?

Hello Mr. Sergey, no serious government will ever have anything to do with you and I will dare to say no serious human being should even have anything to do with you either. Mr. Mavrodi, you are just a joke.

Q: You say MMM is a scam

A: No no no, we didn’t say MMM is a scam, the whole world is saying MMM is a scam, even you said MMM is a scam. You were convicted and served prison time as a fraudster and a con artist. So why should you make it look as if it is the Nigerian government that is calling you a scam? You make it sound as if you are really not a scam, as if we are the ones who tagged you as a scam. I have a video and here is the link where you yourself was admitting that you are a scam and that your structure MMM is a pyramid scheme. (http://youtu.be/V5-HrluEFy4).

You said it here in video, translated in English. You know you are a scam, but you think people are foolish and you are treating them as foolish people who could be taken advantage of. Mr. Mavrodi you have video recordings where you said that yes you are a con artist, but you build your business on people’s greed.

You were quoted as saying, MMM is a business built on exploiting people’s vice of greed and lust for money. Thanks to my ability to understand and speak Russian language fluently, I personally listened to you in an interview in Russian language when you were saying this. According to you, this philosophy will survive as long as greed and lust for money is part of human nature, MMM will live. You said that there is nothing anybody can do in any country to stop your business, because people still want to have quick and easy money.

Even today, on your MMM website, you give a clear warning to all the participants that they could lose their money and yet people still go ahead and get involved. In your mind which you openly spoke about, you said you are not cheating anybody and you are not robbing anybody, because according to you, you are sincere enough to tell them exactly what you are doing. So you say, “I tell people what I am doing, they know they are involved in criminal acts, they know they are involved in pyramids, they know they are involved in frauds, so what am I doing wrong then?” People are intentionally getting involved in something they know is evil and could go catastrophic at any time. That is in your own words.

Q: MMM is only restoring social justice by taking money from the richer people to give to the poorer ones. Nothing gets out of the country.

A: Well, this fairytale can only be believed by those who have been brainwashed by you and have joined your Ponzi scheme. Unfortunately, some of them even in Nigeria keep on repeating this same mantra of yours, under the guise of MMM’s philosophy. Did you say nothing leaves the country? So what has happened to all the money that has presently not been paid back to those who brought their own money into your system? Why is it that they cannot get their money back if their money has not left the country? Why is it that these poor Nigerians that you want to help have to bring money, why don’t you give them money if you want to help them without them having to be deprived of their own money? Maybe you will tell us why the money has to be brought to your system, or as you say it, paid through your system. If you really want people to help each other, just tell them to help each other directly, without you been the middle man through whom all the money passes to get to them. Maybe you will tell us why your server is not based in Nigeria? Maybe you will tell us why the head office that is managing the Nigerian operation is in Dubai and the server in the Philippines.

Q: If you know what is right for your people, why is the life so bad in your country?

A: Yes, you are right Mr. Mavrodi we know we have a lot of challenges and troubles in our country. Yes the standard of living of many of our people is poor. We however didn’t give you an invitation to come and make it worse! Despite how bad things are in our country, it is still good enough for you to come and harvest some of those fruits.

So thank you Mr. Mavrodi, your efforts are greatly appreciated. You have done the worst that any none human could do. You have made the lives of 3 million Nigerians worse than when you met them for which we are saying thank you, God bless you, and we pray that one day you will eventually meet your waterloo.

“There is no greater fraud than a promise not kept. — Gaelic proverbs

•Dr. Sunday Adelaja is a Nigerian born leader, Transformation Strategist, Pastor and innovator who lives in Kieve Ukraine. He can be contacted at sundayadelajablog@gmail.com

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