15 pieces of advice for the times

Ventilating cannot ultimately substitute for pragmatic and clear thinking. But venting – or even ranting – is the natural default for this time and age of social media. It offers a good catharsis that is often important for mental health, and it could even allow you ‘blow’ (go viral). And with blowing may come money – paid to you by online platforms. Still, it is good at these times to take hard decisions. We are all drifting towards a standard way of living, anyway. We may try to delay our full globalisation as a people, a continent or a nation, but we can no longer stop that fusion. The COVID-19 era saw even slow-adopters like me having to embrace e-commerce like never before.

A brute-force approach was utilised in corralling everybody towards a particular way of doing things in that epoch. At some point, we even learnt to be perfectly scared of ourselves when husbands and wives kept a distance of two meters even on their beds.  We wore masks everywhere; travelling was a nightmare until recently. We filled out all sorts of forms before we could reenter our own countries. We subjected our noses and throats to invasive swabs of all types, and our blood samples were taken for curious tests that we would rather have rejected. Thankfully that era is over. But it must not be forgotten in a whim.

What hasn’t ended are the vestiges – the new ways of life that we have gradually acquired. Apart from e-commerce and perhaps a globally improved hygiene practice for most people, we are now marching decidedly into the modernist, globalist era. Even in Nigeria, we have learnt to save on energy, use less fuel, pool cars, track every expense, leverage a credit culture, and so on. The Western world, of course, is the standard. And since we desire to live like them, we are getting there.

In time, we may use smaller cars, give less charity, and depend more on the state than our family for succour and bailouts because we pay more taxes to the state. That is the way the world is wired. Are we ready for it? We better be, because we cannot now stop the inexorable march. Nigeria remains one of the lowest tax-to-GDP countries because we are naturally wired to hide our wealth from the state. However, from time to time, information leaks out that indicates that as a people, we may be a lot richer than we admit.  

Of recent, Nigerians have insufferably regaled about the harshness of the times. Yes, the reforms came back-to-back and caused a spike in inflation. This article is designed to advise us on how we can weather the season. For nothing lasts forever. The policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are designed to create a greater country of greater people. The reforms are profound and groundbreaking. What the reforms have done is to cause behavioural change, some of which are mentioned above. Nobody likes change. And so, behavioural changes are hard to achieve. Whether it is the reforms around the naira or the deliberateness around petroleum subsidy removal, they were hard pills to swallow.

But they affected every Nigerian, with the rich having to pay more (see the case of electricity and Band A and the proposed reforms on taxes which exempt the poor totally).  I believe they have started to show results even though there is still an urgent need for quick balance and to ensure that our most vulnerable demographics are not totally forgotten in this hyper-capitalist world. We note that some sectors are doing great – banking, petroleum, exports (including agricultural commodity exports), real estate, entertainment, and a few others. It looks like today, those who are ‘making it’ are doing so in meteoric fashion. The numbers are out there, speaking to this fact. Our state governments are also awash with naira cash and with a little pressure and follow-up, we may soon see an explosion of rural infrastructure. 

It has also become imperative – and inevitable – for us to keep our money circulating within the family. Therefore, more advocacy is needed to ensure that contracts are availed to local companies and that young companies, run by our energetic youths, are considered. This is already being done, but I believe that the energy deployed towards protests should be channelled to these practical purposes. More than ever before, we are forced to look inwards, to be ever wiser, and to finally accelerate the development of our own country.  The double-whammy reforms hit an inflection point. They have been bold enough to cause real behavioural change and are not merely palliative like before. We must ensure that Nigerians get the full benefits of the reforms and that the gains are not dissipated like has been the case in the past. President Bola Tinubu has played the role of a great visionary.

My advisory here is designed for winners. They speak directly to those who want to make something of themselves, those who understand that life is lived only once, and that the betterment of our lives is in our hands. They are meant for sharing, especially with young people at these times. I believe that this kind of advisory is way better than winding up our young folks in destructive anger and denuding them of hope or selling them illusions that Nigeria is hopeless and the only hope that can be found is resident abroad. We need strong youths who understand the process and nuances of socioeconomic development, because the African era is coming, and Nigeria will play a central part. Enough of the shallow analysis and jaundiced catastrophe-baiting laden with absolute negativity.

So, to the average Nigerian – and I have our younger folks in mind – I have etched below, about 15 pieces of advice that I believe will help you through the times. The fundamental principle is that the way this world is set up, there are no places where everyone is okay. And no place where everyone suffers. What you want to do is to ensure that you are among those who can hold their own, not permanently among those who complain and point fingers. There’s a short time to live. And even though there is value in being a critic, it pays even more to be part of the grand dreams and ambitions of our country, and the black people everywhere. 

1. Focus on essentials – Sit down and actually try to plan your finances. I know it is not what we usually do. But the times demand it. Deploy whatever finances you guy, first to the essentials. Food. Subsistence. Save as much as you can. Note that this is a global thing and Nigeria only feels the pressure after other major countries. The good thing is that we are turning the corner. Don’t celebrate yet. But don’t despair. 
2. Don’t imitate the Joneses – We all feel the pressure to want to show that we are not failures. But this is not the time to ‘fake it till you make it’. I know that philosophy has gained ground among many young people. But it is often unwise. Be real to yourself. What you cannot validly afford, stay away from it – at least for now. Don’t get into unsustainable habits, especially because you are trying to impress people. Many young people develop destructive habits from peer pressure. Parents should take note of the kind of friends their children move with and try to influence positively. Parents should also ensure that they are not the problem because many parents wittingly or unwittingly feed bad habits in their young ones. 
3. Defer gratification – This means that you can put off that ‘flexing’ that you enjoy doing. You can delay splashing out, visiting expensive restaurants and nightclubs where the drinks are priced 20 times what they are normally. It’s often a total waste of money and time. And these habits dig a permanent hole in your finances. The good thing is that when things balance out, these places of enjoyment will still be around, and you can then spend. No one is also asking that you stop forever. Even a two-week or one-month deferment begins to make an impact on your finances. Reducing the frequency of your visits to these places is what we are talking about. Live within your means. Don’t get into destructive borrowing habits. Run from gambling addiction.
4. Run from expensive places with inflated prices – As different from the advice above about avoiding expensive things, it is important to note that there are so many less expensive places that you should pry out. We know that food is expensive. But the cheapest option is to eat at home. And if you cannot cook for yourself, be wise and seek out places where their bills will not bankrupt you.
5. Learn the art of negotiation – Always price items and get a bargain. You are part of the war on inflation. We cannot all be victims, waiting for predators to gouge prices and cheat us before we start to ventilate against the government. Where there is no government, at least there are people – You. This is not the time to play politics with your finances. Whether you like the faces of those in government, or not, you are part of the war on inflation. Bargain. Haggle. Take on those who you think are exploiting everyone because they want to make quick money. Boycott them. Tell them you know their games. But lowkey, just learn the art of negotiation. It always pays and if you’re young, you will need that capability everywhere in the future. 
6. Buy local as much as possible – To help ourselves, we must buy local as much as possible. We must patronize Nigerian entrepreneurs because it comes back to us all. There is the anecdote about Jews keeping their money within their family, while Blacks can’t help gifting their money to other people because there are no businesses to anchor the cash flow within their communities. This also plays out on a global level. In Nigeria, an inordinate proportion of our income as citizens go towards the purchase of foreign-manufactured goods, foreign travel, foreign education and so on. The policies of government today try to dissuade this attitude. It is for our own good and we should encourage the government more in the promotion of local enterprise. 
7. Create value in entrepreneurship – A number of people who are engaged in entrepreneurship today are in the buying and selling segment. I understand that there is a groundswell of anger among them. There are no brownie points for importing all sorts of things from say China. Nigerians pay for such things with hard-earned money. Continuous importation is unsustainable. Value-added entrepreneurship, which focuses on innovation, is the way to go. Think hard about how you can add value to things. That is where real happiness resides.
8. Stay among positive people – Let your friendships add value. You are only as good as the people you have around you. You will find it hard to soar above them – not only monetarily but especially in terms of intellect and positivism. If you’ve been roiling with the negative types who cannot find a way forward, think about relocating to somewhere you can interact more positively. 
9. Give more. You will receive more – This is very critical. Everyone seems to be complaining in Nigeria. Until we hear that some young people lose huge amounts – according to them, scams, gambling of all types, greed, recklessness and what not being the reasons for their losses. We then realize that we’ve been interacting with billionaires all the while. This is a time to give more if you’re one of those privileged or whom the current policies have changed their lives. By giving more, you create opportunities to receive even more. It’s a natural law. And a warning to those who try to stoke insurrection even though they are comfortable – if you pull down the roof, it falls on you. Those with thriving businesses should be the ones advocating for social stability.
10. Confess positive to yourself – It’s simple. Positive attracts positive, and vice versa. Over the medium to long run, positive people attract positive results in all spheres of life. Negative people hardly have lasting wealth. The toxicity of negativism eats them and their wealth away. Like someone said, you cannot curse your country and expect her to bless you. Simple. 
11. Look out for positive changes and opportunities – Reforms of this magnitude will always have winners and losers. The projection is that eventually, even losers will become winners. Learn to ride the positive wave and don’t just curl up in the corner believing that someone is against you. No government wishes to be unpopular. Every leader wishes to do good by the people. And great leaders take great calculated risks and have a grander vision. That is the reality of Nigeria today. Many people are winning and staying silent in Nigeria. We can see banks declaring record profits – and the government is also letting them know they cannot just game the system. Other sectors like Real Estate, Finance and Banking, Commodity Export, Services, IT, and Entertainment – including music, movies, skit-making, comedy etc are doing incredibly well. Align with the winners. Create wealth.
12. CSOs should continue to hold the government’s feet to fire – objectively. Especially for better value-for-money spending and giving opportunities to local contractors…including new ones.  This point is very critical as such a measure is not considered under ease of doing business criteria as prescribed by the World Bank.
13. Keep your money within the family. In Nigeria. Foreign assets have issues you don’t know about. The marketers may not let you know from the beginning. It’s okay to chase dollar investments but when you think carefully, there’s nothing wrong with naira investments that help us build the Nigerian economy. We have only one life to live and life is short indeed. Calibrate your investments to maximize your happiness. It’s a valid strategy. Let your investment build the local economy. 
14. Keep your investments where you can monitor them – And be wary of investments that look too good to be true (because they aren’t real). Many people have lost money to all sorts of schemes – FX trading, cryptocurrency, and the lot. 
15. Middle class and we’ll to do Nigerians should understand that Nigeria is the platform where they built their wealth. Never watch her damaged. Those who have been lucky within the Nigerian space should not sit around while people stoke violence which sets us all back. There has been no voice from the sectors that have done good with the policies and reform of government. And that is not wise.

This ended up being an advisory on personal management and personal finance management. And it is timely for two reasons. We live in an age greatly influenced by social media where images get beamed into our brains as people put on great shows on their handles. Impressionable youths and the not-so-young feel under incredible pressure to live a perfect life – a utopian construct. The other reason why this has become very important is that the same illusions created by the deluge of information on social media have led us to believe that everybody has all the required information.

But the reality is that we have a lot to teach our young people. Many may not listen and believe they know it all, but information sharing is still very important. I hope someone – just a single person – finds something to learn from the advisory, which is also part of the duty of those of us who somehow manage the economy of Nigeria. One additional person who gets a positive angle from this is enough. May I add, especially to young people, to stay fit, take a long-term view of life, make positive-minded friends, and understand that the world is their oyster. Life is what you make of it.