THIS WASTEFUL CHILD

IF only Children at their youth would know how difficult it is for our Parents to raise money and sustain a home financially and otherwise. If only youths are wise with their spendings rather than throw away their senses to creating false impressions on the minds of their peers. We will get a lot of things right in other areas of life.

This boy I know just said something now and I was pinched hard. He just told me that on Saturday, he would like me to accompany him to Oshodi to buy two long sleeve shirts. "Only two" he emphasized. I told him that he may buy more than two. Because market can be tempting....

Immediately I said that, he said, "After wasting the money My father gave me For my undergraduate thesis, My eyes opened" I asked him how much that was and why he thought he wasted it. He replied that its 100,000 naira and that he was consistently sponsoring parties in his lodge in school. He also said his father gave him 70,000 naira while he was going for NYSC and that he cannot account for the money. He shunned camp food and spoilt himself living big since November.

Why do People not ask themselves questions on how best to spend money. Shouldn't one evaluate his needs and know what counts and what does not count? Shouldn't we all be aware of our backgrounds than try to deceive ourselves to a higher echelon. It baffles me because even if one was not taught the habits of prudent spending, it is in the one's court as a grown up to consciously acquire the beneficial habits and to be accountable.

Now this guy has another cruel plan; he lied to his father that he won't be paid the government stipend till April because he redeployed to Lagos from Kaduna (Spending 70,000 in Kaduna where things are cheap is alarming). He will also ask for 150,000 naira for rent while he has no plan to leave his current residence which is free of charge.
According to him, he needs the money to pay for a post graduate diploma after NYSC.

Most young People are fond of this. In fact for most of them, it starts from their teenage years when they think extorting from their Parents can rescue them from a lesser lifestyle not knowing that it is a build up of a harsher life when our Parents pump stops pumping out money because it is expected we should be able to fend for ourselves at a certain age. Most of the extorted money is not put to good use. It ends up purchasing bottles of alcohol in bars and prompts an uncalled-for generosity made to buy friendship or love or class.

Preparing for the future demands conscious efforts that employs focused techniques. It should start from that moment we are 'into the world' which demands that we manage and direct our lives how we want it to be. It is pitiable that we remember the need to have stored goods for future use when we are at the edge of stepping into the said future.

Even after these sudden realization, many still return to status quo because Rome was not built in a day. Management is learnt, not decided.