Do Nigerians Ever Learn?
I have heard countless times the adage which says “a word is enough for the wise”. I have also heard- countless times as well- that “twice bitten is twice shy”.
As a soft reminder, an adage is a lesson from someone else’s experience shared to protect us from making the same mistake. Alas, my people do not seem to heed these two adages despite them been common knowledge and their meanings loud and clear! I understand that everyone has financial needs and that the financial landscape in the country- or anywhere else for that matter- has never been accommodating enough for one to be without wants or needs. This however, doesn’t rule out the utilization of the cogent thought vessel each individual is endowed with, to decipher legitimate money making ventures.
One of Nigerian’s biggest financial investment weakness is the Ponzi Scheme and our get-rich-quick syndrome which has over the years brought unprecedented loss and woe to a number of families and even businesses. A ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation where the operator, an individual or organization, pays returns to its investors from the new capital paid to the operators rather than from profit earned through legitimate sources (Wikipedia).
In Nigeria, Nospetco is one of the classic cases of ponzi schemes. Nospetco promised a monthly return of about 11.25% (i.e. 135% per 12 months) on an investment. As the dice began to roll, the lucky ones began reaping astronomical profits before the traffic became heavy and liquidity became a problem for Nospetco to settle its obligations when they fall due. The scheme crashed and then trouble began.
The resultant catastrophe was so bad that an online publication some investors fell into depression and all sorts of ailments caused by worry and apprehension. https://www.google.com.ng/amp/www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/218130-7-trending-ponzi-schemes-nigeria-2016.html/amp listed the names of 25 depositors who lost their lives while over 13,000 investors lost a whooping N22bn to thin air. A number of the investors were said to be retirees from both public and private service.
A decade later, other ponzi schemes are surfacing and pulling a mammoth crowd to heart ache and a fate worse than death. Apart from MMM which the Nigerian authorities had cautioned against, other schemes are gaining popularity and patronage. Recently, I listened to audio recordings of several women in Katsina State said to be involved in SwissGolden scheme- a panic stricken group of women who were not paid their monthly “profit” for a period of time. This is usually the red flag in any ponzi scheme. The emotional recordings were rife with allegations, insults, threats and entreaties for the state coordinator to refund them their initial investments while they forfeit the monthly profit. Even the state coordinator herself (a young wife in her early twenties) was said to have circulated an audio message requesting understanding and empathy from her aggrieved investors.
In all this rigmarole, I keep asking myself the following questions:
1. Is the financial situation of such investors so bad that they fall for such schemes?
2. Or is it plain greed?
3. Is financial ignorance the reason people are so gullible to believe such astronomical returns can be earned on investments in such a short term?
4. Can such returns really be earned in a legitimate business and in such a short time?
To this paragraph, I am yet to get empirical answers to these questions. If you do, please share your findings in the comment box below. Until then, refrain from investing in a scheme which the financial authorities in the country have thrown a word of caution on. If NDIC isn’t giving cover to any such scheme, then I’d say stick with conventional money making ventures but create a niche for yourself for that added edge over the competition.
Jamilah Abubakar
Instagram: mrs_am_halilu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamilah.a.abubakar
As a soft reminder, an adage is a lesson from someone else’s experience shared to protect us from making the same mistake. Alas, my people do not seem to heed these two adages despite them been common knowledge and their meanings loud and clear! I understand that everyone has financial needs and that the financial landscape in the country- or anywhere else for that matter- has never been accommodating enough for one to be without wants or needs. This however, doesn’t rule out the utilization of the cogent thought vessel each individual is endowed with, to decipher legitimate money making ventures.
One of Nigerian’s biggest financial investment weakness is the Ponzi Scheme and our get-rich-quick syndrome which has over the years brought unprecedented loss and woe to a number of families and even businesses. A ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation where the operator, an individual or organization, pays returns to its investors from the new capital paid to the operators rather than from profit earned through legitimate sources (Wikipedia).
In Nigeria, Nospetco is one of the classic cases of ponzi schemes. Nospetco promised a monthly return of about 11.25% (i.e. 135% per 12 months) on an investment. As the dice began to roll, the lucky ones began reaping astronomical profits before the traffic became heavy and liquidity became a problem for Nospetco to settle its obligations when they fall due. The scheme crashed and then trouble began.
The resultant catastrophe was so bad that an online publication some investors fell into depression and all sorts of ailments caused by worry and apprehension. https://www.google.com.ng/amp/www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/218130-7-trending-ponzi-schemes-nigeria-2016.html/amp listed the names of 25 depositors who lost their lives while over 13,000 investors lost a whooping N22bn to thin air. A number of the investors were said to be retirees from both public and private service.
A decade later, other ponzi schemes are surfacing and pulling a mammoth crowd to heart ache and a fate worse than death. Apart from MMM which the Nigerian authorities had cautioned against, other schemes are gaining popularity and patronage. Recently, I listened to audio recordings of several women in Katsina State said to be involved in SwissGolden scheme- a panic stricken group of women who were not paid their monthly “profit” for a period of time. This is usually the red flag in any ponzi scheme. The emotional recordings were rife with allegations, insults, threats and entreaties for the state coordinator to refund them their initial investments while they forfeit the monthly profit. Even the state coordinator herself (a young wife in her early twenties) was said to have circulated an audio message requesting understanding and empathy from her aggrieved investors.
In all this rigmarole, I keep asking myself the following questions:
1. Is the financial situation of such investors so bad that they fall for such schemes?
2. Or is it plain greed?
3. Is financial ignorance the reason people are so gullible to believe such astronomical returns can be earned on investments in such a short term?
4. Can such returns really be earned in a legitimate business and in such a short time?
To this paragraph, I am yet to get empirical answers to these questions. If you do, please share your findings in the comment box below. Until then, refrain from investing in a scheme which the financial authorities in the country have thrown a word of caution on. If NDIC isn’t giving cover to any such scheme, then I’d say stick with conventional money making ventures but create a niche for yourself for that added edge over the competition.
Jamilah Abubakar
Instagram: mrs_am_halilu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamilah.a.abubakar
Comments
Post a Comment