I did Retail banking for four years and I can comfortably tell you that it is one of the toughest units in the bank. Many people think the job is simply about opening personal accounts. It isn't. You open an account, then you have to make sure it is funded. After that, you need to enroll the customer on the bank's digital channels and ensure they collect and activate their ATM card. If those things don't happen, the account generates little or no value for the bank. Now imagine going to a random motor park for an account opening campaign. The first challenge is convincing people to share their BVN and NIN. Those are probably the hardest pieces of information to get from an average Nigerian. To make things even harder, many of them already have accounts with other banks and see no reason to open another one. After you finally convince someone to open an account, the next battle begins, getting them to fund it. In many cases, Relationship Managers end up funding some of these accounts themselves just to get them active. Then comes ATM card collection. You'll be calling, sending text messages, and following up repeatedly just to get customers to come to the branch and pick up their cards. Retail banking is definitely not for the faint-hearted. – at Lagos, Nigeria

If your firm credit assessment is based mainly on repayment history, you can still fall victim to this strategy. A borrower can build a good repayment record with small loans to qualify for a much larger amount, then default when the opportunity comes. One way to reduce this risk is to adopt a more comprehensive credit assessment framework. Your existing repayment history is a good criteria, but alongside you should include cash flow, income, existing debt obligations, business performance, repayment capacity, and the purpose of the loan. You should also be careful about how quickly you increase a borrower's credit limit. Successful repayment of a ₦50k loan does not automatically mean the person can be trusted with ₦200k, let alone ₦1m. Credit limits should increase gradually, based on evidence of the borrower's ability to repay higher amounts, not just a record of paying smaller loans on time. One important measure I will recommend for your firm is to set exposure limits based on your firm's risk appetite and financial capacity. Your firm should decide how much you can afford to lose on a single borrower or group of related borrowers without threatening the business. Your obligor limit could be set at 1M or at most 2M. You can also introduce stricter verification and additional approval requirements as loan amounts increase. In my opinion, collective loan approval and repayment can help, particularly in agricultural lending, but it should complement individual credit assessment rather than replace it. The firms's goal should be to ensure that every loan decision is supported by evidence of repayment capacity, while keeping your exposure to any single borrower within manageable limits. Implement this, if you can't then recommend to your management.

Some people have mastered the art of how to game loan companies. They know how to build a temporary trust with the loan system just to take advantage of it later. Here is the strategy they use. In most loan companies, a first-time borrower may not be eligible for more than ₦50k, with a repayment period of one month. Here is how the user exploits the system. The borrower takes the initial ₦50k and repays it within one week, even though the repayment period is one month. This builds a positive repayment history and makes the borrower look reliable to the system. The next time, the loan eligibility increases to ₦200k. The borrower takes the money and repays it within one week again. After another successful repayment, the system records an even stronger repayment history, and the borrower's eligibility may increase to ₦1m. This is the point where the loan customer agents will start calling to inform the borrower about the increased loan offer. In their records they have seen a good customer. This is where the real intention comes in. The borrower takes the much bigger loan and deliberately defaults on repayment. The whole idea is to start with a small amount, repay early to build credibility, keep doing so until the loan limit increases significantly, and then default when the amount becomes large enough. In other words, the borrower uses a history of timely repayments to gain access to a much larger loan, with no intention of paying back that final amount. This is how people exploit the trust built into the lending system.

The people behind "The Neolla Foundation", a supposed NGO are the people in government. You didn't do this part of the research to find out. And if you understand how most NGOs are funded you will agree with me that these people are looting this country. You can vote for Pres. Tinubu and that's absolutely fine.

This is one of the downsides of taking loans from loan apps. Imagine you took a loan for six months, but you decide to liquidate it after one month. You would expect that since you are liquidating the loan after just one month, you should only pay back the principal and the interest for the period you used the money. But no, with a loan app you must pay the principal and the full interest calculated for the six months. That's a trap. But with a bank or a proper MFB, if you want to liquidate the loan early, you will only need to pay the outstanding principal and a small early repayment fee, depending on the loan terms.

If you registered a business name in Nigeria, you are the promoter of that business. If you as the promoter had taken a ₦500,000 loan from an online lending app, failed to repay it, and moved on with your life. Let's say, a year or two later, you need ₦5 million to expand your business. You approach a bank, submit your business documents, and everything seems fine until the bank checks your credit report. They discover the unpaid ₦500,000 loan, the consequences is that your business loan application will be rejected. Imagine losing access to millions of naira in business financing because of a personal loan you ignored. If you have a personal loan that has gone bad, it can affect your chances of getting a loan for your business. Do not assume that because you registered a business name, your personal credit history no longer matters. As a business name promoter, your business inherits your personal credit risk assets.

Most of these loan apps don't report debtors to credit bureau. That's why you can be owing sokoloan, fast loan, easy loan and Fizi loan will still give you another loan. People use it now as a strategy. Take 50k from one loan app, delete the app and move to the next app that will borrow you.

In your spare time you can make a research about the dark side of NGOs and how they're funded. Then also make research about the Founding team of The Noella Foundation? In your research you will understand how the movement of money works with NGOs, and if nothing worries you afterwards, please go ahead and vote for Pres. Tinubu.

Everyone thinks other people's work is easy until they have to do it themselves. It is easy to judge another person's work when you have never had to do it. "Your work is just to sit down and attend to customers". Please come and do it, let's see if you will do any better without complaint of burnout.

In Nigeria, we blame the Discos for lack of power supply. But in reality, a significant part of the problem lies with the Gencos and TCN. The Gencos generate power, TCN transmits it, and the Discos distribute it. But because the Discos deal directly with customers, they take most of the blame, even when the problem starts elsewhere. You cannot fix a chain by blaming only the last person in it. This problem is beyond what the Disco can solve alone. It's not entirely on them.

After achieving a major life milestone you once desperately wanted, you will find yourself asking, “What was all the fuss about? Was this what I was stressing myself over all along?” And after a while, life goes on as usual. We spend so much time chasing the next big thing that we forget that, once we get there, it may not feel as special as we imagined. Especially, a Masters degree.

You joined a company as an officer earning ₦150,000 a month. Five years later, you have gained experience, learnt new skills, taken on more responsibilities, and become one of the people the team depends on to get things done. When there is a problem, everyone calls you. When a deadline is tight, you are expected to deliver. Sometimes, you even train new employees who earn almost as much as you do. Yet, your salary has only moved from ₦150,000 to ₦200,000. You can apply for a similar role in another company and gets an offer of ₦400,000 a month. Same experience. Similar responsibilities. Almost the same job. The difference is that the new company is willing to pay what the experience is worth in today's job market. This is why staying in one company for years does not always mean your salary will grow with your experience. Some employers will keep increasing your responsibilities because they know you can handle them, but the salary adjustment may never match the value you bring. And sometimes, it is only after you resign that the company starts looking for someone to replace you at a much higher salary. In the current market, where the cost of living keeps rising, you cannot afford to assume that your years of service will automatically translate into better pay. Be loyal to your employer, but be intentional about your own career too. Check what other companies are paying. Build your skills. Apply for opportunities. Know what people with your experience are earning. You should know when you are being underpaid and have a plan to address it. Your years of experience should count for something, and your salary should reflect the value you bring to the table.

The level of support Shooting Stars Management gave to Rangers today against MC Algers is so commendable. The club chairman, the manager and fans were all present in the stadium to support Rangers. It was so beautiful to watch.

You'll always see Opay, Moniepoint and Fairmoney hiring on LinkedIn. It's more like an every day notification. But Kuda and Palmpay are quite different. Seems they're great with staff retention and welfare.

A few hours ago, I received a random job application in my work group email from a young man looking for an NYSC opportunity. His application was well written, neatly formatted, and with a very good CV. Tomorrow morning, I will forward his email application to HR and make sure he gets feedback. I know the process of getting this kind of opportunity can be exhausting. I'll not allow other emails hide this intentionality. Very smart young man.