by ESV. Patrick Ogungbola
MD/ CEO, BLUEHEDGE REALTORS
“Happy new month sir”
“What is good about the month!”
“It’s just a compliment, or have I offended you in anyway sir?”
“I’m sorry, don’t let me transfer my aggression to you. But, don’t you live in this country?”
“Of course, I do sir”
“And you like your condition of life? This petrol crisis no dey affect you?”
“It’s affecting almost everyone, but what’s your point sir?”
“You know, I already said you don’t live in this country. Don’t you know that since last year even before the change in government, we’ve been experiencing perennial fuel scarcity. Few days ago, I queued for about 4 hours to buy petrol in my car, and just as I was getting close to the pump, the fuel attendant informed us that fuel has finished; I almost fainted. By this time, my fuel indicator had turned red; I had to result to black market”
“It is well sir. Just be careful with this black market of a thing. The other day, I heard that some of these black marketers have started mixing kerosene with palm oil, so that it will look like petrol”
“Nigerians!!! God will help us…Desperate action arising from desperate situation. I heard that it is now a criminal offence to sell and/ or buy ‘petrol’ black market…You’ll be arrested by men in black uniform, thereafter you’ll be charged to court, and you may then find yourself in Prison”
“This is strange! If the commodity is available everywhere, will anyone sell or buy black market. God will help us in this country!”
“Leave that one my brother, na we go help ourselves before God help us. Don’t you know that ‘Heavens help those who help themselves’? We are our own problem. A product like petrol should be readily available like water, but here, it is not so, and they said we are one of the largest producer of petrol in the world”
“We produce crude oil sir, not petrol. The refined state is called petrol”
“Abeg, leave matters for Matthias, there can’t be a refined product without the crude. Abeg, make we talk another thing, no be that one bring me come your office”
“Hope no problem sir?”
“Hmmmm…… Chaiiii……Hmmmmmmm (After deep and long sigh); I’m in deep mess my brother. You know, recently, I’ve lost so much money”
“How did that happen sir?”
“It’s a long story”
“You can summarise it sir”
“Hmmmm……Well, sometime last year, I went to my stock broker for advice about stock that I can buy to get about 80-100% return on investment between 3 – 6months time. He enlightened that most stocks are already selling at their lowest price as most of them had lost value. Based on his advice, I invested some money to buy some ‘quality’ stocks…. Ahhh!!!….and you know, my wife advised me against it, but I told her that what does she know about investment. But today, I can’t even tell her what I’ve gotten myself into”
“But you can tell me sir, I believe”
“Sure, the summary of it all is that I have lost over 50% of the money I invested. I’ve even fought with the stockbroker for mis-advising me, but he justified himself by saying that no one could have rightly predicted what had happened, just as Nigerian top economists in government couldn’t have predicted that oil price will ever fall below $30 per barrel, or what the exchange rate would be tomorrow or next. Infact, the guy they vex me, what has my loss got to do with all those rubbish he’s telling me”
“I’m so sorry about that sir”
“No no no, it’s not your fault, I’m only sorry for myself”
“So, what do you plan to do now?”
“Uhmmmmmm……….Haaaaaa……. What I plan to do, or what I already did. I fell from frying pan to fire my brother. When I saw what was happening to my stocks, I quickly instructed the stockbroker to place them on sale, I decided to count my loss. That was around the period the value of the exchange rate of Dollar to Naira was skyrocketing. Hence, I used the balance of my stock proceed to buy dollar with the hope of regaining part of my stock market loss. …Honestly, I wished it was a dream, and that it never happened …I bought dollar at the rate of N370 to $1. My intention is to sell when dollar gets to like N500, but it’s now obvious that I’ve made another big mistake … My brother, na die I dey now!”
“Every investment comes with its own risk, but you will not die sir…but live to proclaim the works of God in the land of the living”
“Amen ooo, Amen…but, you no go understand. Na die we all dey for Nigeria now. I heard the other day that the husband of a Nigerian celebrity wanted to jump into the lagoon at the Lekki-Ikoyi bridge. I heard the guy was depressed because he had issues with the wife”
“The problem of this life is enormous, I agree, but that should not allow anyone to take his or her life. Cutting off ones head is not the cure to headache”
“So, what do you advise I do now in my own case?”
“My advice is simple and straightforward, and it’s also what I’ve always advise my clients: Consider real estate investment. Yes, the return may be slow, but it is sure; and if the intention is long-term, you’ll reap your investment bountifully (especially if you are guided by an experienced real expert). When investing, you need to consider the security of your capital, security of your income (return on investment), regularity of the income, hedge against inflation and ease of disposal to mention a few. Those are referred to as the qualities of good investment”
“My brother, you don’t need to talk too much, I’ve learnt my lessons, although in a difficult way, but I now know better. I cannot make the same mistake the second time. Thank you so much for your advice, I sincerely appreciate your time”. Greet your people for me.
“Thank you sir”
As usual, we want to remind you that we care so much about you, and that when it comes to your real estate investment, we are always here to give you the very best service you can never get elsewhere. That is our promise, and will always be.
Meanwhile, please find attached the powerpoint presentations of our current properties for sale and to let in Lagos, Nigeria.
We wish you the very best in the month of May.
Thank you.
We remain;
Very truly yours,
