Use statistics to change your position

BY TUNDE OYEDOYIN 

Tunde Oyedoyin is a London-based personal finance coach and founder of Money Intelligence Coaching Academy, a specialist academy of personal finance. He can be reached as follows: +447846089587 (WhatsApp only); E-mail: tu5oyed@gmail.com

It was less than a week to the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure, and to be specific, it was on Tuesday, May 23rd, that yours truly saw a video clip on a family platform. It was from an interview that Dr Reuben Abati had with an investment banker on the Arise News Morning Show.

Probably that day’s edition of the show, but not sure. Besides, the clip didn’t capture the guest’s name. It is irrelevant, though. But boy oh boy! The revelation from the banker’s analysis was humbling and a wake up call for anyone seriously thinking of their financial freedom. Even if not, you’ll have to rethink your personal finance.

Though the gentleman was primarily analysing the $800 million loan facility that our man’s administration had sought as a golden handshake from the World Bank before his imminent flight to Daura on May 29, noting that their claim to want to use the funds as a palliative to help 50 million poor households cope with the removal of the fuel subsidy doesn’t add up. However, what really earned the clip a place in one’s heart were the statements he made when referencing the statistics he reeled out from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC.

According to him, “based on the records at NDIC and the CBN, out of the over 112 million account holders in the banking industry, less than 0.6 percent have at least five hundred thousand (N500,000.00) Naira in their accounts.” Lord of mercy!

Continuing, he said, “if you look at these accounts by … you discover we have less than four hundred thousand Nigerians, out of a population of two hundred and ten million, who can boast of five hundred thousand Naira savings.” This was depressing news and yours truly took it personal.

It wasn’t that one was planning to invoke Holy Ghost fire or threatening to ask the God of thunder to pop around to the TV studios, or like King Odewale in the Gods Are Not To Blame, ask Sango “to strike that your mouth.” Rather, one did use that revelation to check the balances on the two accounts one has with Nigerian banks. That clip is now a working document for me and a resource material.

Tell you what? One has since moved money across the accounts in order to change his standing in the NDIC and CBN records. As already mentioned, I’ve taken it personally, and will continue to use it as a driving force. Please do something if you don’t belong in the class of the less than four hundred who have half a million in savings.

Card will always give cash a run for its money

You probably may have heard the saying that “cash is king,” and that isn’t without a body of evidence to call on.

But it turned out that while out of the office just over a week ago, we popped in somewhere to grab some refreshments. The colleague I was with asked for cappuccino and something to grub, while yours truly fancied a cup of cappuccino.

As my colleague fiddled with the coins he wanted to use for the transaction, the gentleman behind the till told us, “we don’t take cash payments.” Thank goodness, my card was handy.

But a few days later when I shopped for garri and plantain near my east end apartment, the shop owner said: “We don’t take cards. Cash only.” Didn’t need to pull one’s hair off. There was over a tenner in the wallet to sort things out.

• business a.m. commits to publishing a diversity of views, opinions and comments. It, therefore, welcomes your reaction to this and any of our articles via email: comment@businessamlive.com