₦airaland Forum

Interesting thread

Hehe

What's this asslicking about

Tabuse2024:
Well said. Sadly, they will still argue with you on this. Nigeria is cheap for a person doing relatively well, not for the average Nigerian. The average Nigerian in this case is about 150 million of us who do not have strong purchasing power. The remaining 50million which had, has been depleted already with the massive job loss and business challenges due to covid 19 pandemic.

Comparing the average minimum wage earner in US/UK who has access to many things with his money to a Nigerian minimum wage earner who supposedly has access to "affordable" things based only on conversion rate is quite simplistic.

The rising poverty (which is most times collective) in Nigeria is a cause of concern.

50 million with 'good' purchasing power is an exaggeration. I'd say it's less that 2 million that can boast of that.
A while ago, CBN released data that showed that only about 5% (thereabout) of individual accounts had upto 500k. I'm sure that proportion is much reduced now.

Now what tangible long-term would 500k give in Nigeria or any part of the world. Take that sum to the market and watch it fritter away

ahiboilandgas:
he doesn't know that the manpower required to generate 1000 usd is same as 1000.

Hmmmm... I don't see where this is applicable except in the area of minting/printing the notes

NL1960:
I will take #450,000 which is the present value of $1,000 and stay in Nigeria. Stop equating $1 to N1 as the currencies are not equal.

Btw, will you take $1,000 or £1,000?.

Even though his analogy was faulty, one thing we're not considering is this...

What proportion of working Nigerians have a monthly pay of 450,000 and compare to working Americans with that pay.
98% of civil servants working with a state government would not earn upto that legitimately through their carrer. Heck, even the annual salary of some graduates is less than that.
Now would any graduate working a regular 9-5 job as a graduate in the US earn 1000USD a month talk more of a year

Some people are misrepresenting the currency conversion thing and are not considering the relativity which is the bedrock of the discussion. It's like comparing apples to oranges.

The fact is that even though basic items in $/£ may be more expensive when directly converted into Naira, looking at them in real terms, you'd see they are cheaper for those living and earning in the west. That's the advantage of having a stable currency with a high standard of living

Take certain examples.
1. Someone earning about 150-200k in Nigeria should roughly earn between £2000-3000 after tax working in a similar field abroaf. Asides rent (£350-550 or 15-25% monthly), you're likely to spend a greater percentage of your income on virtually every other aspect of living and still get a lower standard for such if you were in Nigeria.

Take food for e.g. Even if you set out to be obese, as far as u cook your food, it'd be very difficult to spend over £200-300 a month on feeding. £10-£15 would make you a full pot of stew which will include a large sized chicken, 3-4pcs of large mackerel, good quality rice + fresh vegetables/salad to go along. That pot would easily last a single person 2 weeks. Now what percentage of income has been spent about 0.5%. Someone in Nigeria would spend about 7,500 asides fuel for generator to get such which will translate to about 5% of their pay.

2. The scenario above cuts across virtually every other aspect like clothing, gadgets e.t.c. The only things relatively more expensive in the West are accomodation and cost of labour (if you're paying someone to do a job).

The same ratio would apply to fueling vehicles. Even though fuel is more expensive in Nigeria, you'd spend proportionately much more of your income fueling your vehicle than if you were in the west.

Take other examples;

3. Minimum wage in the UK is currently £8.7/hr. Most people earn more. Even if you take away tax (which they'd be paying very little if at all), a person earning that would likely live a more comfortable life than someone earning 100k in Nigeria not to talk of the 30k federal minimum wage and much lower amounts even graduates earn with states or the private sector.

The least one can get a male haircut is £10 (can easily be upto £30). Much more for a female hair do. So anyone doing any regular job, should earn enough to live life to some standard.
In Western countries, it really should be called a minimum living wage and conversely a barely surviving wage in Nigeria. Some people sit at home all day and still earn stipends from the government which are enough to cater for certain things.

More examples...
4.The chap in the UK would from his 1month pay be able to sponsor himself to a regular holiday in any part of the world. The chap in Nigeria would have to save for several months just to get a flight ticket not to talk of visa fees e.t.c
There's a reason why developed countries have the most number of travelers/tourists. Most Nigerians/Africans don't travel for leisure even within Nigeria/Africa because we cannot afford it. A return ticket to nearby Ghana is well over 100k. A return ticket from between UK and France can easily be less than £50 or £100 for most parts of Europe

Same applies to phones, cars vehicles e.t.c.

Most of the used clothes, London phones and used/tokumbo (what we laughably now call brand new) cars we buy in Nigeria are items used by regular people in the West. Ask yourself why our middle class have been reduced to such if Nigeria was cheap.

What percentage of Nigerians would their total one year salary give them a recent tokumbo vehicle talk more of a new one. Someone in the west can get something similar with a few months pay and can even take a long soft loan for it.

Also, living in a developed society comes with some perks... There are always benefits to claim on certain items, you can easily get items and structure paying back over a while, most items bought new (no matter the price) are of relatively good quality because of consumer protection laws and a robust return policy, there'd always be a standard playground around where you can take kids to play for free, driving good vehicles/going on holidays/using recent gadgets all of a sudden would be regular items for you and not luxury. There's also good quality 'free' healthcare in alot of places

Like I said the only time when you may pay relatively higher is in paying for labour or accomodation. Even at that, you still get a better quality.

Hehe

seanwilliam:
bro that video sent chill down my spine.. can the lady treat the man like dat in lagos??

Oboy I shock ooo.. I bless the day I know nairaland..

I will never forget what I see today.. my wife is not coming abroad with me!.. hahah.. imagine sharing 50% of what I have worked for with a useless bastard... imagine my wife denying access to my kiddo... I just wish I could lay my bare hands on that woman neck!



Oboy this video has increased my hatred to naija women I swear.. be like na PAYG pay pass now..

Lol.... When you go abroad and see the European/American ladies, you'd likely go and give thanksgiving for your Nigerian wife and beg her to come over

Like how he replied the lady without coming across as proud. Nigerians too like the 'I had no shoes' narrative

Much has been said about the attitude of Nigerian women abroad. What many people forget are certain things I'd outline for clarity.

1. Being married in the west is different from marriage in Nigeria. That is what many don't get. Just as with kids, no matter how 'African' and disciplined you claim to be, don't go about using whips on your kids or you'd get into serious issues. Same applies with marriage. People want to get married in the west but want to lord it all as in Nigeria


2. To add to the point above. Most naija guys would go out and treat younger European kids with respect and dignity but they come home and want their wives to kneel and serve them. Most ladies would see how u treat their fellows outside and take a cue.

3. There are multiple privileges that come with being a man in Nigeria that no one would give in the West.
There is nothing that the Nigerian lady did that an average white lady wouldn't do and exceed. If in doubt, ask the white married dudes what they pass through. It's in Nigeria that a married man would have lots of girlfriends and the wife would know and do nothing.

4. Another phrase getting common on nairaland is that 'most Nigerian ladies are entitled'. I'd hazard to say that if you think they're entitled, then you've not come across a white lady living in the west. You can ask the average white lady what they think about the roles we've come to expect from ladies in Nigeria

5. There are lots of success stories with Nigerian marriages. Most successful marriages are based on compatibility. Fact is for most Nigerians who grew up in Nigeria, they'd be most compatible with a fellow Nigerian and hence having likelihood of long lasting relationships with them.


6. They're are lots of things that are taken for granted with a Nigerian brought up lady that would be major issues if it was a white counterpart e.g maintaining a relationship with relatives, model of training ones kids, maintaining ones heritage in their offspring, food, domestic chores e.t.c.
Except if you're marrying for survival (papers) but if you're standing on both feet, it'd be difficult to gel with the average white lady for a long-term relationship. Good luck finding a British lady that would rather spend her summer touring your 'boring' relatives in Nigeria than vacationing somewhere else
I'm not even talking about Asians, cos they too have a very strong cultural background.

7. In the US, it seems there's a pattern with Nigerian nurses. But it seems some guys idea of bringing a lady over is for her to work as (or train her to be) a nurse, make much more that him while he expects her to bring it back for them to spend, and he'd still Lord ot over her like they were back in Nigeria. In the west, the society would not expect a lady to remain in such a relationship for the sake of being married.

8. Finally, the fact is that a good number (didn't say all or majority) of Nigerian dudes abroad are in the lower economic classes and take up humble jobs. But these same dudes want to get married to a lady and not be humble at home. They want to be Hitler at home but outside they become doves...


I agree that some ladies are the devil's incarnate and would bring anyone down. But that trait is not shared by Nigerian ladies alone or by one sex for that matter.

chigo4u:
Cbn is doing everything to reduce demand of dollar why some folks here are doing their best to cause others to sell in panic.
My advice if you are saving your money in dollar for the long term do not panic sell, if not, follow the trends. CBN will soon hit a brick wall and realize their policies can’t stop naira from staying at it’s true value, unless crude oil revenue improves!
Like someone said earlier, free market will always win. CBN should get ready to involve the military to keep defending the naira. Clowns

So what's the true value of the Naira against the dollar?

Double post

.

@op How much is it?

Also, do you deliver nationwide?

superemmy:
Good Evening Nairalanders,

Let me state that for the record I've been an ardent android user, and my android devices have served me well.

My last phone was a Xiaomi Mi Max 2 which I used for close to four good years and never for one day did I experience any lag issues or problems with the phone till this month.

It fell from a couple of stairs resulting in the screen being shattered.

Back to the topic, well I wanted to try my hands on something new. So I decided to browse through for an Iphone according to my work needs, research and also out of human curiosity as it is normal for a human being to try out new things.

In my ordeal, I discovered Iphones especially the latest ones are overpriced sometimes almost to the tune of N600,000.00 with the lesser valued ones being more than a 100k.

Even though I'm able, capable and well to do to afford such a device. I wonder if my ancestors would be happy with me if I splash such an outrageous amount on an object which will definitely depreciate in a few years.

Is it just that our Naira doesn't have any value, or the mental perception of the iphone as a luxury gadget or corona or what. Please someone should explain. Why an Iphone is overpriced in Nigeria

@op iPhones have traditionally been regarded as premium and have been relatively more expensive. The exchange rate has also played a role.

On another note, I know the asset vs liability crew will soon arrive. I find it upsetting when people assume the role of financial advisors for others to determine what is sensible to buy and not. There are cars that go for 5mil and others for 50 mill, a plot of land somewhere can go for 1 mil and same sized plot elsewhere can ho for 500mil. Anything we buy whether assests or liabilities usually has cheaper and more expensive ones. People should go for what they like and let others make their decisions. There are multiple roads to success

Kdos to emma and those who brought up the witheld dividends issue.

It looks like a relatively straightforward process and most people are not aware. I believe such is front-page worthy so more people can claim their unpaid dividends

As regards unclaimed dividends in UACN, does anyone know how to pursue it for someone who's still alive.

Can it be done online or does the person have to present anywhere?

Also, is there a way of confirming how much is pending in unpaid dividends?

Faithful4real:
@jedisco
I have said it before you can never trust the Chinese government.

Not just the Chinese government... We cannot trust any foreign government to protect our best interest. Protecting our interest is the job of our government which they've sadly failed at.

See it this way, the Chinese give low interest loans for usually major national projects. First the country has to pay some counterpart funding in full and then they handle the construction of the projects which are usually completed once the country plays it's part. They do not give cash. The country runs the service and pays back. If they default, the Chinese take over the project and recover their funds before handing it back. Sure it's not the fairest of terms.

Now compare this to Western institutions/countries who give out higher interest loans mostly in cash knowing fully well that over 80% of it would be stolen by the recepients country's officials and diverted back to their country leaving us in perpetual debt and hence servitude. They have robust institutions to monitor the use of those loans but they prefer to turn a blind eye.

Question you would ask yourself is why are Western countries seemingly very worried about Chinese loans to African countries? Do you think it's because they care about us or are worried about the increasing influence of China? Also, most of the IMF debt that crippled Nigeria in the past, what was it used to accomplish? In other words, we were repaying a loan which was actually sitting in banks in their countries. At least, we can see, benefit from and use the railways which the Chinese loans built

While I'm not fully in support of Chinese loans, if I had to choose between $5Billion loaned to Nigeria but tied to major capital projects and same sum given in cash to the government, I know which I would choose.