Methodist Bishop caution Nigerians against app borrowing for trivial purchases

Stanley Ihedigbo

Bishop, Methodist Church Nigeria, Lagos North Diocese, Rt. Rev. Job ‘Gboyega Ohu, has cautioned Nigerians over app or bank borrowing for trivial purchases.

In his opening address at the ministrial session of 13th annual synod of Lagos North Diocese, the Methodist Church Bishop, advised people to cut their needs according to their pockets, not borrowing for little importance or value or insignificant thing, which they would later found difficult to pay back.

He explained that, it is better for the people to live within their income than to be borrowing from the online app or bank.

In his words,” If you take loan from the online app or bank for trivial purchases, the interest you pay is never in your own interest. If you must get a loan from the bank, it must be to expand your enterprise and never to acquire material things.

Bishop Ohu further advised,” You must be prudent in life if you wish to build up a strong financial base. To be prudent therefore means to be judicious, sensible, economical, cautious. For instance, many find it difficult to negotiate price of items before purchase. This is not wise ; for bargaining power counts a lot. Know that every penny counts in business. Therefore, check prices of goods from other sellers before you buy at a particular place.

“Avoid waste. In terms of time, effort , money, food, etc. Most wealthy people rationalize before they spend. Be wise and feel comfortable bargaining for goods and services. Avoid impulse buying. Don’t spend money anyhow. Know that money is difficult to make and difficult to build up. Don’t buy things just because you fancy them or because your friends or colleagues brought similar things. Material things are perishable; mind what and how you buy them. Make sure you acquire only what you need and not what is in vogue.

“Plan your life and your spending. Make it a point of duty to make weekly and monthly budget in a way that your expenditure will not be more than your income. By this, you will be able to save some amount no matter how small, and your life will be better for it,” Bishop Ohu stressed.

He added,”The two greatest thieves of time are procrastination and distraction. There is a thief around you all the time. Have you realized that it is easier to miss it than to make it in life? The question is: What does one need to do to be a failure? The answer is simple, see nothing, do nothing and a failure will emerge.

“Procrastination is a thief of time; when you push till tomorrow what you ought to do today, you have already compromised and compounded tomorrow, and tomorrow will compound the next day, the next day also will add to the next , then frustration and stagnation will set in. If you procrastinate , you will be stagnated . A challenge you fail to meet will become a problem, a problem you fail to solve will become a mountain while a mountain you fail to move becomes impossible,” he emphasized.

He further added,” The other monster is distraction, it means diversion, interference, disturbance and obstruction. When you lose attention, you enter into detention. Young people between the ages 23 and 40 should be very careful because it is within this age bracket that one takes or loses grip on destiny.

“Don’t defer actions; don’t dilly-dally and don’t fritter your time away. Remember that time is no one’s friend and also waits for no one. Write out your daily schedule and stick to it. Shut your door against distraction. It may wear the garb of a friend, a member of your family or it may be your undisciplined thoughts and temperament. Any suggestions, idea or programme that will take you out of your scheduled plan is a distraction, avoid it,” he emphasized.