Please read this post carefully and thoroughly. It might be a bit lengthy but sure worth your time.

A lot of Nigerians really don't have an idea how poor they are and more still, don't have a clue on how to help their situation. When you see adverse poverty in a society, it does not necessarily mean the government is at fault all the time. Start with yourself, do a self evaluation and see how poor or rich you are, then you will know how to proceed in your life's journey.

Facts:
If your business or salary is not more than $200 (N64,000) monthly, which is N768,000 or $2,400 annually, then my dear, you are really living in poverty. This applies to both me and everyone.

Statistics:
0% of Americans earn less than $2,500 annually, Americans 25+ years old earn a minimum of $20,000 annually (high school graduates - same as SSCE holders in Nigeria), while the average American with a degree earns a minimum of $35,000 annually. (Wikipedia)

Minimum wage in America is $7.25 per hour, so if you work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, you should be earning an average of $1,160 (equivalent to N370,000).

PS: My emphasis here is not to showcase how much American government pays her citizens, but do a comparison on total monthly or annual earnings. Your earning might come from government, private sector or personal business.

Lets make some natural deductions:
Cost of cooking an average soup and stew in Nigeria is between N2,500 - M4,000 (things are damn expensive in the market) and if you cook this 3 times a week, that will be N30,000 minimum.

Cost of fuel for generator (home and shop) weekly is around N2,500 if you dey manage well well oh. Monthly, that gives you N10,000 - Note that I didn't add your vehicle fuel and maintenance cost.

Cost of a 2 bedroom apartment in modern Nigeria is N20,000 monthly.

Total cost of expenses monthly has now clocked N60,000 (salary or monthly business profit don finish).

Note that I didn't add the following;
Recharge cards - Personally, I spend more than N8000 monthly on recharge cards, I am a businessman.

Shop rent - The average shop rent in Nigeria is around N8,000 monthly

School fees for kids - A good average school costs around N20,000 a term which is every 4 months. If you have 3 kids in School, that is N60,000 every 4 months.

Nepa bills and TV/phone subscriptions, security levy (where I stay we all pay for security).

Now:
If you earn approximately $2,400 annually, how do you expect to cope with basic expenses going upwards of $10,000

These calculations are not for the rich, they are for the average Nigerian. Anything below average, is poor.....sad truth.

Have you ever sat down to calculate your monthly expenses compared to your earnings?? Have you ever thought about the reason why you keep struggling and life seems to be getting tougher??

My next post will bring up some revelations, insights and solutions. Comments are welcome.

Interesting

Okay. I'm not poor. *walks out of thread**

Emmyk:
Okay. I'm not poor. *walks out of thread**

Kudos

More signs of poverty;
Your diet usually consists of noodles, and basically starchy food (rice, eba, yam, bread, etc).

As a guy, you have had to make the choice between buying cigarettes and buying food. Cigarettes won. As a lady, you make a choice between food and fixing your hair.

You say that not having DSTV is a "lifestyle choice" and you "don't watch television anyway" but you go over a friend's house to watch True Blood or the Zeeworld.

You have never bought a band new phone in your life. Recently I asked a friend when was the last time he bought a brand new phone, and he just gazed up and smiled say, he has never bought a new phone. He was so surprised.....too much of OLX, and you are poor mate!

Your mattress is on the floor, bros its not a matter of choice, its simply that you cannot afford to get a good bed set.

Waiting for the right time. Many remain poor because they are forever waiting for that elusive perfect time that never comes! And while they wait, their dreams end up with them in their graves.

You seek short-cuts to fortune such as sports betting, pools, MMM, etc. In the process they burn their fingers and even fall deeper down the abyss of poverty. Truthfully, a well to do man hardly do these.

FACT:
You do a business that generates over N3,000 daily, its good because if you calculate it, that's about N60,000 monthly....hurray!!

BUT after spending on the above monthly expenses, what will be left? Nada.

In fact, you see a guy driving a cool car and you want to own such a car. But the question you should ask yourself is; how many N3,000 can I gather to buy a car of N1.4million (which is like an average car for an average Nigerian).