Recession, the two quarters of negative growth that makes our lives miserably.
Just a year ago, you swore to yourself that you must go on that magical vacation this year. You dreamed of that tear rubber car. You vowed that this Christmas, boys must feel you in the village, in fact, they must hear am. Then, this haunting thing called recession came around and messed everything up.
I
was in a shop to buy a soft drink when a lady came in to buy just two
cups of rice. The lady asked the owner the price of a cup. One twenty naira, the owner responded unconcerned. The lady was alarmed. I thought it was eighty naira, she said.
The owner first shoots her a look as if saying… where is this one from, is she even in this country.
In this Buhari regime, the owner said.
Virtually in every conversation, you will hear the phrase… in this Buhari regime.
Stop
an Okada man and dares to haggle the price with him, he will defend
himself that this is Buhari’s regime. Go to the market to buy pepper,
fish, vegetable, anything, the response is all the same.
Times
are hard. The collapse of oil prices has plunged our economy into
recession. Food prices have gone through the roof, high energy costs
have led to high transportation costs, the most family can barely
survive.
This dire situation does not only affect
individuals and companies, it has a devastating effect on the finances
of our government thereby pushing the economy more and more into the
abyss.
But how did we get here?
Just
a year ago, everything was fine. We enjoyed a period of sustained
growth between 1999 and 2015. Houses were rising around the country with
speed never seen before. Millions were lifted out of poverty, the
middle class exploded which led to massive sales of consumer goods.
Banks became more efficient. You no longer have to wait for five hours
or even the whole day waiting for the cashier and his piles of thick
cover long notes. Virtually all of us now own a mobile phone and most
have access to the internet.
Life was good.
All of a sudden, bam! It feels like we are back to the dark ages again. The recession is biting hard.
But the recession is a good thing.
Let me tell you why.
The Benefits of Recession
1. It removes waste
Can you imagine that a country like Nigeria which is known for its corruption is now blowing the fans of efficiency?
This
is what recession brings you. You will agree with me that in the boom
time, there was a lot of waste going on in the country, from the
government, to companies and to individuals. Everybody was spending
money with careless abandon. We didn’t care, after all, more will come
in the next day.
Then the recession came around
and jolted us back to our senses. Individuals who buy luxury items just
to show off to their friends now think before they buy those items.
Companies that engage in luxury expenditures has postponed those
expenditures till God knows when. Our government now realize the waste
and are giving corrupt officials hell.
You will
think that fighting corruption is in APC DNA. But it may not have been
this fierce had it not been for the dwindling revenue that has impeded
their economic plans.
2. We go back to the basics
The
federal government is now trying to get us back to agriculture. The
reason? They don’t want us to depend on a single commodity any longer.
Which is the right thing to do? But they didn’t do it earlier. Why? We
were enjoying oil at $120, nobody cared, the petrodollars were coming
in.
If not for the recession, the FIRS would not have the ambitious goal to raise five trillion naira from taxes for the government.
These are the basic things that a robust economy thrives on. But they were neglected because of economic boom.
Now the boom has gone bust and we are back to the basics.
3. We get more creative
During
the recession, resources have thinned out. To survive, you must make
use of the little you have. This forces you to be creative in what you
do.
Companies that source their raw material
abroad have found creative ways to make use of local raw materials
because of the high cost of foreign exchange.
Individuals who have lost their jobs have found ways to survive in this difficult times.
4. Bad time is good for everyone
Finally, I believe that we will get out of this stronger.
The government will be better and more efficient, companies will be stronger and you will be better financially.
This
is because bad times is exactly what we need to get us out of our
comfort zone and switch on our creative juices that will enable us to
push on to the next level.
If we woke up every day
and we are comfortable with our lives, no challenges whatsoever, we
will not have seen civilization. We might probably still be in the
jungle, jumping among the trees and striving every day to escape wild
animals.
The Lessons of Recession
The best lesson of recession is this… bad times will always be there.
No
matter how hard economists, policy makers, financial experts have tried
to banish recession away from our world, it has always come back,
sometimes even stronger.
Why? Because we human are
wired that way. No matter how our leaders try, some people will still
be greedy, some will still cut corners, some will make poor decisions,
there will still be bad management. All these will inevitably plunge us
again into recession.
That is why you must learn
to protect yourself by taking the pain to manage what you have in time
of prosperity. You must start to do the right things with your money.
Don't spend it as if there is no tomorrow.
During
the credit crunch of 2008, discount stores Aldi and Lidl gave UK
traditional retailers like Tesco and Sainsbury a massive scar because
shoppers realized that it was a major waste of money to buy things at
high prices. But in time of prosperity, nobody cared.
Let
the lessons of recession remain with you that no matter how rosy things
look at a particular time, there is always a chance that things might
go wrong. It might be an accident, health issues, death of a loved one,
even recession. There is always a chance
Guard yourself, do not be wasteful, because you never know what tomorrow will bring
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