Anyone who is a resident of Lagos should know the part of the vibrant city that is Surulere. For those who’re not in the know, the National Stadium is there and just opposite it is what we used to know as the UAC stadium.

Yours truly made a couple of trips to the former in the late 70s and 80s, watching the Green Eagles (now Super Eagles ) and Children’s Day parades. I made annual trips to the UAC as well to watch the Principals Cup. So, Surulere is worth its weight in gold as one of the places to live and visit in Lagos.

While in Lagos in the summer of last year, we even had lunch at two of the restaurants in that lovely area of the vibrant city. For the purpose of this piece, I’m going to split the name into two – Suru Lere. In other words, patience is profitable.

It won’t be a surprise if anyone is whispering and doing a John McEnroe, saying: “you cannot be serious”. How dare you say patience is profitable in a fast paced world? I would have thought so myself, reason being also that many of us have only known of the virtues in patience. But to say it is even profitable seems almost like a paradox. Patience and profit don’t seem to mix. Wouldn’t even be surprised if someone heads to the High Court to take out an injunction asking yours truly to not say patience is profitable –- Suru Lere.

But then, over a year ago, I made a request that my bank keep a little lump sum in their vaunt for me. That instruction would later bring about a new reality of the strand of patience that is least heard and talked about. Upon receipt of that letter by First Bank, every single month afterward, they credited one’s account with four -figure bucks. I was always looking forward to it on the tenth of each month. On one occasion, I was even at a dinner at the London Croydon Aerodrome Hotel when the alert popped up.

Though you may not be able to string two meals together at a fancy Lagos restaurant with the monthly interests accruing on my deposit, what a joy it was to get the notification every month. It only stopped rolling in a few months ago; and that was because yours truly wrote them another letter, asking to liquidate the deposit.

They transferred the principal back to my current account. In other words, the interest they had been crediting to my account for about a year that the money was fixed was free money. Guess what? It seems I’m even having a “depositor’s remorse.” Doing a similar thing would have to be part of next year’s financial goals.

Here’s the thing. If you want to see the profitability of patience, pack a tidy amount of money in your account and ask the bank to keep it for you in a fixed deposit. Leave it there for at least six months. That’s how to get free money from your bank and know that patience is profitable – Suru Lere.