The effect of the Global Economic Crises is closing in on Nigeria gradually. A recent report predicted that 18 percent of Nigerians would further be classified as being poor in 2009. That mean the gap between the poor and the rich will get wider still. But then, it is said that if the riches of the world were shared between the rich and the poor, in 30 years, those rich would still be rich and the poor would have returned to their normal position. Apparently, the poor and the rich seem to have habits that consistently make them remain in the same position. These habits would be analysed based on assets and liabilities. What is an asset? An asset is whatever you acquire that gives you money to maintain you and your purpose on earth, while liabilities are things you have that require more money to maintain them.

Those called rich are the people whose assets are more than their liabilities, while poor people have more liabilities than assets. What do the poor do so exceptionally well?

1. Value liabilities more than assets.

If you value liabilities more than assets, it is likely you would be poor if you are not already. If all you seek or aspire to have are all liabilities instead of assets, you are most likely poor. It is notable that more students and poor people use more good looking phones than rich people. Cars, clothes, phones are all liabilities and these are things most poor people aspire to have as a status of being rich.

2. Acquire liabilities with income.

Supposing you use your hard earned cash to purchase a car, don’t doubt it- a car is a liability, if we follow our previous definition above- except if you have a mobile shop. If income is directed at obtaining liabilities which requires more money to maintain them, then you have just bought a pipe through which all your hard-earned income would be drained. The issue with rich people is that they earn faster than they spend.

3. Spend income maintaining liabilities.

Definitely once the money is spent on acquiring liabilities, you would require more money to maintain or continue to use them. Poor people spend a large part of their earning maintaining the liabilities they have. Imagine having four cars, it requires more money to maintain the four cars, while assets make more money for you.

4. Spend and try to save leftover.

The spending pattern of the poor is also evident in the fact that once they earn some money they spend them on liabilities and save the left over. After expending all the money on liabilities, the little money saved would be used to settle the debts or costs incurred on maintaining the liabilities they have bought.

5. Save to expend on liabilities.

Poor people may have excellent saving culture, but they may spend it on liabilities. Imagine spending time and life going to work, and saving only to buy a car to use to go to work. A car may not be bad when you have assets in excess of the money you earn in a year.

When saving towards anything, be sure it is towards an asset that may bring more money into your pocket, rather than a liability that would take more from you.

6. Play today, pay tomorrow.

The mindset of delaying gratification is only found in the dictionary of the rich. A poor man/woman would prefer to enjoy the pleasantries of life as soon as some cash enters into their pocket, only for them to regret those decisions in years to come.

If you find a seventy year old woman begging on the streets, what readily comes to mind is to ask what she has been doing? There are too many cases of “have beens” in the earth, who are worth nothing today.

7. Their children inherit debt.

The thirst to acquire more and more might even drive some people to take loans from banks. Other people love to admire such; flashy cars, houses, glamorous clothes and accessories only for them to die and put their children in line for paying back debts owed or for credit card abuse

This is intended to x-ray our behaviours as we position ourselves on the way to the future. We should look at our habits and choices and have no doubt where we hope to end up.

                                      “You cannot afford to sleep walk into the future”.

Interestingly the kind of Nigeria we are building is gradually following the American model. The system of thinking entrepreneurship will build the nation, entertainment taking a major driving seat in the reshaping of our values, and musicians creating songs to define our norms and ideas. How else can you accept the public acceptance of Yahoo-yahoo (online scams) as an acceptable pastime without the input of an Olu Maintain. We need to pay attention to the direction of our growth.  Our dream democracy in America is on its knees today, begging for answers to the questions she created. Building businesses enhancing corporate establishments will not build the nation- only righteousness will. It is important to build in a way that what is built outlasts present sensations.

There has to be a system of managing the kind of Nigeria we want to build, we do not want to drive and build a Nigeria we would begin to cry against later. We are not seeking a Nigeria where everyone is in a desperate rush for survival, following latest ladder of opportunity available or advertised to others, are not crying for change in Nigeria not because life is not as peaceful as Dubai, or has more opportunities like China- we seek change because we cannot exist in a nation that cannot allow us to express our deepest values; values of equity and justice, which are hallmarks of an egalitarian society.

I remember with fondness, the great passion with which Blessing Awosika spoke with passion at The Platform, a programme organized by Covenant Christian Center. I remember her starting by saying that people should be careful not to run and start businesses because entrepreneurship is the next big thing- some people are called to work for others. It is important not to rush and follow the latest fad in town, from HYIPs to Stocks; hoping from one idea into another, it is important we understand how to manage the change we seek.      

I attended a meeting of the future thought leaders’ summit titled “BACK TO THE FUTURE”, somewhere in Gbagada. I could not make the Saturday meeting because I could not make it to the venue before the electoral curfew imposed on Lagos State took effect. this was an event organized by TSL Global initiatve led by Ernest Paul. It was a summit that further confirmed that the uncertainty and crises we have in the nations is the opportunity we have to define the future, to proclaim the principles of true life in every facet of human existence. In the true sense, there is never a true future without a pointer from the past- the future comes in circles.

It was powerful, but like most beginnings and programmes that seek to build, there was no hype, no gig, no pancake fixes, just the real meat – business-like. The future will reward those who not only prepare, but also plan TODAY in shaping the future.

People have been encouraged to do anything to graduate with at worst a second class, so they read like mad, drug, cheat, bribe, sleep… only to become disillusioned when they discover the job market was also made for the other 60+ Universities, Colleges of Education and Polytechnics all around the nation, which also produce a significant number of “degree-qualified” graduates.

And Saul said to him, Young man, whose son are you? 1Sa 17:58

Your pedigree is extremely important, if not more than your degree. What then, is your pedigree? By pedigree I mean not your family lineage and connections; it represents the totality of your experiences, your knowledge and skills, lessons you have learned from trying projects and have failed or succeeded. It represents your grace and your strength, the wisdom and ideas you had gathered in times when you were not ready for the market. Joseph came from the prison to interpret the dream of pharaoh which other learned people and magicians (who would have had degrees today) could not interpret. Joseph came without a degree, but he had a pedigree. There is a lineage of experiences he had learned from. Learned faithfulness to his father’s house, learned to manage resources in plenty in Potiphar’s house, learned to manage resources in scarcity in prison, learned to interpret dreams in prison, as such he only needed to have his bath, shave and approach the job requirement- he was coming with a pedigree, not a degree.

While I your opportunities have not come, what have you been doing? For surely every man’s opportunity will come. But when your time comes, will you be ready? Or you would have spent the time complaining. Your degree is important, it improves your self esteem, it makes you feel among, it gets you a job, it does not guarantee your success- your pedigree does.