Opinion
Consumer Credit Scheme: How Desirable?
On Thursday May 2, 2024 , an analyst on national radio programme lambasted some Nigerians who did not buy the idea of the consumer credit scheme that was recently approved by the Federal Executive Council and launched by President Bola Tinubu.
A statement from the presidential media office, had indicated that the scheme which will be run by the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP), will offer credit facilities to working citizens in the country and will be implemented in stages, starting with public or civil servants and later extend to the general public.
The analyst did not see the reason why some people should kick against the initiative which in his view offers several advantages of Increased Purchasing Power including: providing individuals with the ability to purchase goods and services even if they do not have the full amount required at the point of sale; offering a convenient way to manage cash flow, allowing consumers to spread the cost of a purchase over a period that suits their financial situation; helping people acquire essential items—like refrigerator or car—that they might not be able to afford upfront, thereby improving their quality of life; providing a critical resource in emergency situations, allowing consumers to afford necessary services or repairs that they might not have the immediate funds to cover, among others.
Definitely, advantages of consumer credit schemes abound.
The scheme can greatly enhance purchasing power and provide financial flexibility but we must also admit that it is a double-edged sword and can lead to debt accumulation and financial hardship if not used wisely.
Consumer credit schemes can carry high interest rates and fees, particularly if the balance is not paid off during any interest-free period offered. This can significantly increase the overall cost of the purchased goods or services.
Easy access to credit can lead to overspending and the accumulation of debt, particularly if consumers use credit impulsively or fail to manage their repayments effectively. Missing payments or defaulting on a credit agreement can negatively impact a consumer’s credit score. Poor credit scores can restrict access to future credit and result in higher interest rates on loans.
Again, relying too heavily on credit for regular purchases can lead to financial dependency, reducing a consumer’s ability to save and prepare for future financial needs. It is also a known fact that some credit agreements come with complex terms that can be difficult to understand. This can lead to unexpected charges or conditions that a consumer may not be fully aware of, when entering into the credit agreement.
While this write-up is not aimed at an in-depth focus on the merits and demerits of consumer credit schemes, it is aimed at looking at the suitability of the scheme in present day Nigeria. The nation’s economy is in comatose. Poor electricity supply, high electricity tariff, high cost of petrol and diesel and other economic variables are forcing a lot of companies to pack up.
For some unclear reasons, there has been fuel scarcity in the nation’s capital, Abuja and other cities across the country for over two weeks. While NNPC claims it is due to logistic and vessel problems, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), through its Public Relation Officer, Chinedu Ukadike stated categorically that the current fuel scarcity is because “most of the refineries in Europe are undergoing turnaround maintenance.”
Nigeria catches fever whenever Europe and other continents that refine our crude oil cough because we have failed to make the nation’s refineries work. Deadline upon deadline had been given by the federal government on when Port Harcourt and other refineries in the country would commence operation, all to no avail.
One will want to believe that a government that loves its citizens would address the pressing economic challenges before embarking on a consumer credit scheme. Let power supply be made stable and affordable, the refineries be brought back to life to guarantee steady supply of petrol at an affordable price and the value of the nation’s currency be improved so that the salaries of civil servants and other workers will be more meaningful. It is not a question of a new “living wage” or “minimum wage”. It is rather a question of healing the economy and strengthening the Naira so that the workers’ salaries will be more valuable.
What is the essence of encouraging workers to partake in a consumer credit scheme when they are likely to miss payments or default on credit agreement due to numerous financial pressures on them? Is that not capable of increasing their financial stress and anxiety and thereby impact other areas of their lives?
In the past, many civil servants in the country augmented their salaries through agriculture. I remember my uncle, a civil servant working in Enugu, coming to the village almost every weekend to carry out some work on his farms in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of the State and when going back to Enugu on Sunday, he goes with jerry cans of palm oil and different kinds of food items from his farms. Today, due to the lingering insecurity in communities across the country, many civil servants hardly visit their villages not to talk of going to farms. So they depend solely on their salaries.
Of course, the launched consumer credit scheme is optional but necessary steps must be taken to improve the economy, security and the living standard of the citizens so that anyone who opts to obtain a loan through the scheme will not have a nightmare servicing the loan. CREDICORP and other relevant authorities also owe the citizens the duty of explaining the nitty gritty of the scheme to the citizens. Let the consumers know that what they are taking is a loan that must be paid within a specified duration with an interest – not a grant.
It is important that consumers, that is, federal and state civil servants and others included in the first phase of the scheme , are advised to carefully consider their financial situation and the terms of credit agreement before committing to the consumer credit scheme so as to minimise risks and enable consumers to maximise the benefits of the scheme.
It is hoped that the experience of previous federal government loans like the CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Programme, the Targeted Credit Facility (TCF), introduced by the CBN to support households and SMEs affected by the Covid-19 pandemic does not repeat itself. We saw some beneficiaries of the TCF protesting when commercial banks began the loan recovery, claiming that what they received was Covid-19 grants not loans and it should not be repaid. The would-be beneficiaries of the Consumer Credit Scheme must be properly educated. Adequate mechanisms must be put in place to ensure recovery of the loan from defaulters.
CREDICORP must also ensure that only the eligible citizens who have applied for the loan got it. It should not be a way of empowering some political party members or people that are highly connected. According to the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Ajure Ngalale, “The scheme will be rolled out in phases, starting with members of the civil service and cascading to members of the public.” The president believes every hardworking Nigerian should have access to social mobility, with consumer credit playing a pivotal role in achieving this vision.” Nigerians await the materialisation of this.
Calista Ezeaku
The line that separates betrayal and corruption is very thin. Betrayal and corruption are two sides of the same coin. Like the snail and its shell they are almost inseparable. They go hand-in-globe. Betrayal and corruption are instinctive in humans and they are birthed by people with inordinate ambition – people without principles, without regard for ethical standards and values. Looking back to the days of Jesus Christ, one of his high profile disciples-the treasurer, was a betrayer. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ for just 30 pieces of silver. One of the characteristics of betrayers is greed.
So, when on resumption from his imposed suspension, the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminilayi Fubara threatened to bring permanent secretaries who were found complicit in “defrauding” the State during the days of Locust and Caterpillar regime, he did not only decry a loot of the Treasury but the emotional trauma of betrayal perpetrated by those who swore to uphold the ethics of the civil service. Governor Siminilayi Fubara had least expected that those who feigned loyalty to his administration would soon become co-travellers with an alien administration whose activities were repugnant to the “Rivers First” mantra of his administration. The saying that if you want to prove the genuineness of a person’s love and loyalty feign death, finds consummate expression in the Governor Fubara and some of the key members of the State engine room
Some of those who professed love for Governor Siminilayi Fubara and Rivers State could not resist the lure and enticement of office in the dark days of Rivers State, like Judas Iscariot. Rather, they chose to identify with the locusts and the caterpillars for their selfish interest. Julius Caesar did not die from the stab of Brutus but by his emotional attachment to him, hence he exclaimed in utter disappointment, “Even you Brutus”. The wound of betrayal never heals and the scar is indelible. Unfortunately, today, because of gross moral turpitude and declension in ethical standards and values, betrayal and corruption are celebrated and rewarded. Corruption, a bane of civil/public service is sublime in betrayal. The quest to get more at the expense of the people is the root of betrayal and sabotage.
This explains why Nigeria at 65 is the World’s capital of poverty.
Nigeria is not a poor country, yet, millions are living in hunger, abject poverty and avoidable misery. What an irony. Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest economies and most populous nation is naturally endowed with 44 mineral resources, found in 500 geographical locations in commercial quantity across the country. According to Nigeria’s former Minister for Mines and Steel Development, Olamiekan Adegbite, the mineral resources include: baryte, kaolin, gymsium, feldspar, limestone, coal, bitumen, lignite, uranium, gold, cassiterite, columbite, iron ore, lead, zinc, copper, granite, laterite, sapphire, tourmaline, emerald, topaz, amethyst, gamer, etc. Nigeria has a vast uncultivated arable land even as its geographical area is approximately 923, 769 sq km (356,669 sq ml).
“This clearly demonstrates the wide mineral spectrum we are endowed with, which offers limitless opportunities along the value-chain, for job creation, revenue growth. Nigeria provides one of the highest rates of return because its minerals are closer to the suffer”, Adegbite said. Therefore, poverty in Nigeria is not the consequences of lack of resources and manpower but inequality, misappropriation, outright embezzlement, barefaced corruption that is systemic and normative in leaders and public institutions. According to the World Poverty Clock 2023, Nigeria has the awful distinction of being the world capital of poverty with about 84 million people living in extreme poverty today.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data also revealed that a total of 133 million people in Nigeria are classed as multi-dimensionally poor. Unemployment is a major challenge in the country. About 33 percent of the labour force are unable to find a job at the prevailing wage rate. About 63 percent of the population are poor because of lack of access to health, education, employment, and security. Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) speculated that unemployment rate will increase to 37 percent in 2023. The implications, therefore, is increase in unemployment will translate to increase in the poverty rate. The World Bank, a Washington-based and a multi-lateral development institution, in its macro-poverty outlook for Nigeria for April 2023 projected that 13 million Nigerians will fall below the National Poverty line by 2025.
It further stated that the removal of subsidy on petroleum products without palliatives will result to 101 million people being poor in Nigeria. Statistics also show that “in 2023 nearly 12 percent of the world population of extreme poverty lived in Nigeria, considering poverty threshold at 1.90 US dollars a day”.Taking a cursory look at the Nigerian Development Update (NDU), the World Bank said “four million Nigerians were pushed into poverty between January and June 2023 and 7.1 million more will join if the removal of subsidy is not adequately managed.” These startling revelations paint a grim and bleak future for the social-economic life of the people.The alarming poverty in the country is a conspiracy of several factors, including corruption. In January, 2023 the global anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International, in its annual corruption prospect index which ranks the perceived level of public sector corruption across 180 countries in the world says Nigeria ranked 150 among 180 in the index. Conversely, Nigeria is the 30th most corrupt nation in the ranking. It is also the capital of unemployment in the world.
Truth be told: a Government that is corruption-ridden lacks the capacity to build a vibrant economy that will provide employment for the teeming unemployed population. So crime and criminality become inevitable. No wonder, the incessant cases of violent crimes and delinquency among young people. Corruption seems to be the second nature of Nigeria as a nation . At the root of Nigerians’ poverty is the corruption cankerworm.How the nation got to this sordid economic and social precipice is the accumulation of years of corrupt practices with impunity by successive administrations. But the hardship Nigerians are experiencing gathered momentum between 2015 and 2023 and reached the climax few days after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who assumed power as president of Nigeria, removed the controversial petroleum subsidy. Since then, there is astronomical increase in transport fares, and prices of commodities. Living standard of most Nigerians is abysmally low, essential commodities are out of reach of the poor masses who barely eat once a day.
The Dollar to Naira exchange rate ratio at one dollar to N1,000, is the most economy-unfriendly in the annals of the history of Nigeria. The prohibitive prices of petroleum products with the attendant multi-dimensional challenges following the removal of the subsidy, has posed a nightmare better to be imagined than experienced. Inflation, has been on the increase, negatively affecting the purchasing power of low income Nigerians. Contributing to the poverty scourge is the low private investment due to.unfriendly business environment and lack of power supply, as well as low social development outcomes resulting in low productivity. The developed economies of the world are private sector-driven. So the inadequate involvement of the private sector in Nigeria’s economy, is a leading cause of unemployment which inevitably translates to poverty.
Igbiki Benibo
In today’s fast-paced, hyper-competitive world, the pursuit of success and growth has become an all-consuming force. Individuals, organisations, and nations alike, are locked in a perpetual struggle to achieve more, earn more, and surpass their rivals. Yet, beneath this relentless drive for progress lies a silent danger—the risk of self-destruction. This perilous pattern, which I call the self-destruct trajectory, describes the path taken when ambition and growth are pursued without restraint, awareness, or moral balance. The self-destruct trajectory is fueled by an insatiable hunger for more—a mindset that glorifies endless expansion while disregarding the boundaries of ethics, sustainability, and human well-being. At first glance, it may appear to promise prosperity and achievement. After all, ambition has long been celebrated as a virtue. But when growth becomes the only goal, it mutates into obsession.
Individuals burn out, organisations lose their soul, and societies begin to fracture under the weight of their own excesses. The consequences are everywhere. People pushed beyond their limits face anxiety, exhaustion, and disconnection. Companies sacrifice employee welfare and social responsibility on the altar of profit. The entire ecosystems suffer as forests are cleared, oceans polluted, and air poisoned in the name of economic progress. The collapse of financial systems, widening income inequality, and global environmental crises are all symptoms of this same relentless, self-consuming pursuit. To understand this dynamic, one can turn to literature—and to Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. In one of the novel’s most haunting scenes, young Oliver, starving in the workhouse, dares to utter the words: “Please, sir, I want some more.” This simple plea encapsulates the essence of human desire—the urge for more. But it also mirrors the perilous craving that drives the self-destruct trajectory. Like Oliver, society keeps asking for “more”—more wealth, more power, more success—without considering the consequences of endless wanting.
The workhouse itself symbolises the system of constraints and boundaries that ambition often seeks to defy. Oliver’s courage to ask for more represents the daring spirit of human aspiration—but it also exposes the risk of defying limits without reflection. Mr. Bumble, the cruel overseer, obsessed with authority and control, embodies the darker forces that sustain this destructive cycle: greed, pride, and the illusion of dominance. Through this lens, Dickens’ tale becomes a timeless metaphor for the modern condition—a warning about what happens when ambition blinds compassion and growth eclipses humanity. Avoiding the self-destruct trajectory requires a radical rethinking about success. True progress should not be measured solely by accumulation, but by balance—by how growth serves people, planet, and purpose.
This calls for a more holistic approach to achievement, one that values sustainability, empathy, and integrity alongside innovation and expansion
Individuals must learn to pace their pursuit of goals, embracing rest, reflection, and meaningful relationships as part of a full life. The discipline of “enough”—knowing when to stop striving and start appreciating—can restore both mental well-being and moral clarity. Organisations, on their part, must reimagine what it means to succeed: prioritising employee welfare, practising environmental stewardship, and embedding social responsibility in the core of their mission. Governments and policymakers also play a vital role. They can champion sustainable development through laws and incentives that reward ethical practices and environmental responsibility. By investing in education, renewable energy, and equitable economic systems, they help ensure that ambition is channeled toward collective benefit rather than collective ruin.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provides a tangible pathway for this transformation. When businesses take ownership of their social and environmental impact—reducing carbon footprints, supporting local communities, and promoting fair labour—they not only strengthen society but also secure their own long-term stability. Sustainable profit is, after all, the only kind that endures. Ultimately, avoiding the self-destruct trajectory is not about rejecting ambition—it is about redefining it. Ambition must evolve from a self-centred hunger for more into a shared pursuit of the better. We must shift from growth at all costs to growth with conscience. The future will belong not to those who expand endlessly, but to those who expand wisely. By embracing restraint, compassion, and sustainability, we can break free from the cycle of self-destruction and create a new narrative—one where success uplifts rather than consumes, and where progress builds rather than burns.
In the end, the question is not whether we can grow, but whether we can grow without losing ourselves. The choice is ours: to continue along the self-destruct trajectory, or to chart a more balanced, humane, and enduring path toward greatness.
Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi
