Navigating the Current Economic Storm in Nigeria
It is no longer a secret that the secret to survival is adaptability. However adaptability is a double-edged sword, and Nigeria is proof of that.
Before I continue, it’s important that I clarify my political stance, given the unpopular opinion I hold.
I believe that if Peter Obi had won the election, Nigeria would still be facing the same economic challenges it is dealing with today.
The difference would be that the current supporters of this administration would be its greatest opponents, while the current opponents would become its strongest supporters.
Not that the record needs to be set straight, but I am no fan of the sitting president, even worse, I am no fan of any of the three men that was paraded by the media during the last election.
So, let’s navigate the current economic storm in Nigeria.
There is no denying that Nigeria is going through an economic storm.
Over the past eight years, the price of water has increased by about 500%
To further illustrate, pure water was about 5 naira per sachet in 2016, in 2024 it is sold in some places for 50 naira per sachet.
The scary increase in price was not limited to water, it affected all goods and services across the nation. A result of chronic inflation.
Nigerians have a pattern; things get worse, they complain a bit, they might even protest, and then they adapt. But even worse they forget there was ever a problem.
We were like frogs in water that is gradually boiling.
But what if instead of seeing problems as problems we could see them as opportunities?
Problems are meant to be solved right?
What then are the problems
Commodities and services are 10 times more expensive than they use to be.
The Nigerian naira is now one of the weakest currencies in the world.
High Unemployment rate and many more.
How we arrived at this point is a story for another day.
Although it is important to know how we got here, for if we know how we are where we are, then it might point us in the right direction on how to escape.
The focus for now should be how we are going to leave and probably more importantly how we are going to leave with our lives.
When I was a corps member, or to make it more thrilling for non-Nigerians, After I graduated from the university, I was deployed for three weeks of para-military training camp, followed by nearly a year of service in a remote area on the other side of my world.
I received a stipend of 33,000 naira per month which was equivalent to over 70 dollars at the official rate during that time.
It is 2024, corpers still earn 33,000 naira per month, but it is now equivalent to less than 20 dollars.
But that isn’t the point, the point is, with what I earned, I fed myself, saved, paid my dues, and even did "dorime" for others.
This seemed impossible at first, but it immediately became possible when I saw the realities of other families.
Families whose total income per month wasn’t up to mine. Husband, wife and 3 children.
How they survived I don’t know, but if they could survive I certainly could too.
As a nation, we need to learn to cut down on frivolities. We need to learn how to stop living beyond our means and what better time to learn that than now?
We have learnt discipline but discipline without a plan to success is a slow painful death.
With the problem of the naira devaluation, how can we take advantage of the crisis we have?
As citizens of a country whose government doesn’t exactly care about its survival, a way to take advantage of the drastic devaluation of our currency is to simple earn outside our economy.
This is the easiest time to be a millionaire.
With approximately 608 dollars, you could now have over a million naira.
This is a sad reality for people who had their millions when one million naira was equivalent to over 3000 dollars, no amount of investment could have saved them from this inflation.
We have cheap labour.
We have cheap products.
There is no better time than now to gain foreign investors. Of course, the government has made enough scary policies to scare them away.
But nonetheless, these investors can still be attracted. All you need is a business model that will work in an economic such as ours.
You could make the minimum wage in a day, performing online tasks for someone abroad and when I say abroad I don’t mean Ghana, they probably need more help than we do.
If you could make one dollar a day every day at the end of the month, you would make almost double what a Corper is making in a month.
This is sad, but this is fact.
We should not forget that where we find ourselves as a nation today in terms of currency devaluation, China intentionally put itself, just so they can boost exports.
If China is where we are economically today, what would they do. Boost productivity and increase exports of course.
Luckily for China, they don't have the leaders we have.
Of course, the economy is bad, the leaders caused it, we should not forget that we appointed those leaders, but this is not a time to pass blame, neither is it a time to concentrate on the limitations of our problems. It is a time to find ethical opportunities, to navigate turbulent times such as this.
Is it too hard to make 1 dollar per day?
Of course this idea has some hiccups, electricity is more expensive than ever, internet isn’t cheap either.
Only if the government had large equipped IT hubs to export online labour to the rest of the world.
But then again when has waiting on the government helped anyone.
If our products are cheaper, why can't we export it ourselves, the truth is, Nigeria's policy and excessive bureaucratic hurdles makes it very hard to export produce and products but it is the same in importation and it doesn't stop Nigerians from importing massively.
Export agents can be used, while online platforms like Alibaba, Amazon, and specialized B2B marketplaces can handle logistics. Even services like DHL and FedEx can do the trick.
There could even be a tech app service that pays people to carry small goods with them to another country. This way travelers can save little money off their flights.
I mean inter-state bus drivers offer product delivery services at a discounted rate, such arrangements could legitimately be made with pilots.
The point is if Nigerians really want to export, they will find a way. They will figure it out regardless of the complicated policies that stand as barriers.
There are various ways and platforms to work for people abroad and earn. This is the time to leverage heavily on those platforms.
As individuals in a country like Nigeria, our salvation lies in our hands; we must work harder and smarter than ever before.
In all honesty, the reality is harsh, but we’re not a nation that waits for rescue, nor one that can afford to.
Our currency may be weakened, our policies may be flawed, and our leaders may be what they are, but last last, Nigerians are Nigerians.
