by
Patrick Ogungbola
MD/ CEO, BLUEHEDGE REALTORS
You are most welcome to the beautiful month of September, which marks the beginning of the last quarter of the year 2016.
Recent headlines in the media with regards to the state of the Nigerian economy are very unpleasant. You will see headlines like:
– Nigeria’s economy in bad shape – CBN (Vanguard Newspaper)
– Nigeria in worst possible time, says finance minister…as National Bureau of Statistics confirms economic recession (Punch Newspaper)
– Nigeria slides into recession, economy shrinks by 2.06% (The Nation Newspaper)
– Nigerian economy officially enters recession as pressure mounts on Buhari government (Sahara Reporters)
– Nigeria’s economy already on life support when Buhari took over – Badaru Abubakar (Daily Post)
– Nigeria’s socio-economic crisis enormous but surmountable – Gov. Ibikunle Amosun (The Punch)
– Naira sinks to N418/$ (This Day Newspaper)
– Nigeria approves plan to borrow more from abroad as recession hits (Reuters Africa)
– Nigeria lost N105.9bn to gas flaring in six months (The Vanguard Newspaper)
– Forcados shutdown: Nigeria loses N356.6bn in five months (The Punch Newspaper)
– Urhobo militia dares military, blows up pipeline in Delta (This Day Newspaper)
– 14 airlines close shop in Nigeria amid forex hike (The Guardian Newspaper)
We can go on and on and on, but that will be unnecessary, as the point is obvious:
‘Nigeria is broke; there is no money in the economy’. Someone once said that Nigerians are people full of hope, and it is the hope that is still keeping us together as a country. It is good to be hopeful, but it is far better to come to reality and face it squarely.
The question is, ‘where has all our money gone to?’ At least, to the best of my knowledge, no one (not even government) has called everyone to ‘surrender’ the money in their possession, except those that has ‘looted the nation’s treasury’. However, most of us don’t belong to the latter political class. So, as individuals, where has all our money gone to? In other words, if you had say, N70million last year, and today, you are broke, what has happened to your money, how did it disappear?
The presiding factors are ‘ The Power of Choice and Decision/ Indecision.
Every day, we make hundreds of choices. We choose what to wear, what to do when we get home from work or school, and how to respond when someone makes fun of us. Sometimes, we also make big decisions, such as what kind of school to go to, what career to pursue, whether to get married, and whether to have a child. Sometimes, people make decisions that are even bigger than these because the decisions affect hundreds and millions of people – decisions about war and peace or about changes in the laws. Even if we ourselves don’t make such big decisions, we need to understand how they are made as we can be affected by the aftermath. Obviously, the decisions/ indecisions of our leaders got us into the present economic quagmire.
We all have the freewill to make our choice, and the choices we make today will ultimately determine what we become tomorrow. For instance, if someone purchase a N65million Range Rover, the money will be transferred to the car dealer he bought from, in exchange for the ‘machine’ and then he will have less money. What this mean then is that the money we had hasn’t really gone anywhere, it has only been transferred to some other people. A man will always give to that thing which he considers most important to him.The right to choose is your empowerment!
With the present economic reality, we need to reassess ourselves, vis-à-vis our income and expenditure. We need to be more financially disciplined. There’s no better time than now to read such timeless books as “Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do”, “The Richest Man in Babylon”, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, “Think and Grow Rich”, “The Millionaires’ Mindset”, “As a Man Thinketh”, etc.
This is a period we need to be very discerning and to consider our choices and decisions before taking action. The truth is, there is so much uncertainty in the Nigerian economy. We only live by the reality of the day, as no one knows what will happen tomorrow. The law that was in operation just yesterday may cease to take effect today.
All these notwithstanding, it is a known fact that tough times bring the best out of people. Periods of economic crises brings with it new sets of opportunities, innovations and creativity. In the words of our own Prof. Pat Utomi of Lagos Business School, he said that ‘the present economic recession in Nigeria is a blessing, as it is an opportunity to finally get the economy right’. People will device new and better ways of getting things done. As times and seasons change, the new ways of wealth creation and acquisition also change. No doubt, new sets of millionaires and billionaires will emerge at this time.
Man has experienced and lived through different periods/ ages: Dark age, Stone age, Age of discovery, Age of oil, Industrial age, etc.
This is the information age (also known as the Computer age, digital age, or new media age). The difference between those that will make impact at this time will mostly be those who seek for information and most importantly, having the ability to translate the information to financial gains.
If the only business someone knows is oil and gas, and he/ she is not adept to learn and diversify into other business(es), such a person may not be able to survive the present ‘doom’ in the oil sector. The same apply to other businesses. You may need to acquire new skills, and look for new ways of solving old and new problems.
There will always be money for those who are not caged in the concept of ‘status quo’, there will always be money for those who are thinkers. There will always be money for problem solvers. There will always be money for those with positive value system and for those that value time. There will always be money for those who know that their finance is not tied to their country’s economic condition.
We live in an era of limitless possibilities. The only limitation you might have is the one you set for yourself.
In closing, this is a period to buy and invest in ‘valuable assets’. All over the world, real estate has been adjudged as ‘the World’s Most Valuable and Best Asset in Times of Crisis’. Real estate is the best store of value, and it is a hedge against inflation.
Franklin D. Roosevelt supported this when he said that “Real estate cannot be lost or stolen, nor can it be carried away. Purchased with common sense, paid for in full, and managed with reasonable care, it is about the safest investment in the world”, and
Louis Glickman (US business executive) once commented that “The best investment on Earth is earth (real estate)”.
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.
We wish you the very best in the month of September.
Thank you.
We remain;
Very truly yours,
