Money and why it makes Nigerians uncomfortable

Perhaps there is nothing as crucial yet, equally as sensitive as the money conversation in Nigerian circles. We need money for basic sustenance, yet we refuse to talk about it. We cavort and spray crisp notes on one another at parties, but that’s as loud as the conversation gets. We love to spend it, so why don’t we talk about it? A mix of superstition, miseducation and competition fuels this continued silence in our community.

It is common for close relatives, close friends, even colleagues to be in the dark about one another’s income. Ask Nigerians why and they’ll tell you they’re protecting themselves. You see, letting people know how much you earn is inviting them to do one of two things:

Ask you for help
Inflict a curse on you

Family ties are very close in our communities hence, many of us stretch our income to support several family members as often as possible. While this is admirable, guarding your income figure means that no one can harass you to give more than you want to. After all, how do they know you can afford it? If nobody knows how much you make, they’ll leave you be. Na all of us dey hustle.

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On the other hand, keeping your income a secret protects you from the forces of darkness out to get you. The stories of rich folk who fortify themselves with charms are not uncommon. The principle behind this is simple: what they don’t know, they can’t use against you.

For many, financial literacy is something attained much later in life. Those privileged to grow up in comfortable homes only hear about budgets and money management within the classroom. Talk about the economy, inflation, credit facilities and debt are all theories until we enter the labour market. Even then, each person struggles in silence to understand the reality. Sometimes, it takes more than one mistake to learn the lesson, but nobody hears about it. And the cycle continues.

Social media has popularised the term “DM for prices”. Vendors are unwilling to publicly disclose their selling prices, they say, to keep their prices hidden from competitors. The desired outcome is that no one knows what the market price for that item is and sellers can set prices at their whim. This is contrary to the rules of economics which order price through the forces of demand and supply.

Similarly, in the creative service industry, the culture of secrecy ensures that service providers have a lower negotiating power with clients. Many such providers agree that negotiating rates is the most unpleasant part of any contract, and it is because there are no public conversations about what these services are worth.

Clearly, this taboo surrounding money conversations needs to be broken. We can only be empowered if we take charge of our finances and the first step is to share what we know as a community. Learning from one another brings us closer to achieving the financial independence we all seek.

JR Kanu

Kanu holds an MBA from Stanford University, a master’s in Journalism from NYU and a bachelor’s in Engineering from Calvin College. His career has included time at Konga, Amazon, The United Nations, Esquire, CNN, and Black Enterprise magazine. Armed with a strong conviction that you can live a great life no matter how much money you have, JR founded REACH Technologies, www.reach.africa. His company builds software to help young people and companies to manage and grow their money.