Unspoken Truth: Some advisors profit from your confusion, not your success.
The Nigerian Financial Illusion
We’ve all heard it:
“Save 20% of your income.”
“Invest early.”
“Cut out luxuries.”
But here’s the truth, for many Nigerians, that advice is not just unrealistic, it’s insulting.
How do you “save 20%” when the price of garri and transport doubled in one year?
How do you “invest” when your salary disappears into rent, light bills, fuel, and data before the month ends?
The problem isn’t that Nigerians don’t want to build wealth.
It’s that most financial advice isn’t built for our reality.
It’s built for economies where systems work, not where you’re the system.
The Hidden Bias Nobody Talks About
There’s a quiet game being played in the financial world, and you’re not meant to notice it.
Because here’s the truth: many financial experts make more money keeping you dependent than making you free.
- They sell you “courses” and “mentorship” that teach you how to do what they did, even though the economy, inflation, and exchange rates have changed.
- They recommend savings apps and investment platforms that pay them referral commissions, even when the returns barely beat inflation.
- They push imported financial rules like they’re universal truths, forgetting that Nigeria runs on survival math, not spreadsheets.
1. Tunde, the hustler from Yaba
He followed “expert” advice to invest half his income into crypto and tech stocks.
Then, the crash came.
No safety net, no backup savings.
He sold his phone just to survive.
2. Chioma, the corporate worker from Lekki
She was told to “cut unnecessary expenses.”
So she stopped buying lunch and took danfo to work every day.
But her biggest expense: rent kept rising.
Cutting coffee didn’t save her. It just made her tired and frustrated.
3. Musa, a tailor from Kano
He joined a cooperative savings group that promised returns higher than banks.
The group leader disappeared six months later.
Now Musa avoids all “financial gurus” like the plague.
The Root of the Problem: Imported Advice in a Broken Economy
Most of the financial advice we get is imported from Western systems where:
- Electricity is stable
- Public transport is reliable
- Inflation is predictable
- Salaries are paid on time
- Dollar doesn’t lose 40% value overnight
In Nigeria, that logic collapses.
When Naira devalues, your “savings plan” becomes a waiting room for poverty.
When you “invest for the long term,” but the system keeps changing, your “strategy” becomes survival tactics.
Why Financial Gurus Love to Keep You Confused
Because confusion pays.
If you truly understood how money works here, you’d build wealth your own way not by buying their eBook or joining their Telegram group.
They tell you “financial freedom” is the goal, but they secretly build business models that profit from your dependency.
Think about it:
If everyone became financially independent, who would keep buying their advice?
So What Actually Works in Nigeria?
Forget “10 rules of money.”
Let’s talk reality:
- Build emergency buffers in real assets, not just bank savings.
Naira loses value fast. Consider assets like goods, skill investments, USD savings, or gold. - Diversify your income sources.
One job can’t carry you here. Learn a trade, build a side hustle, go digital. - Invest in what you understand.
Forget hype. If you can’t explain it in plain English, don’t put your money there. - Protect your mental health.
Financial pressure in Nigeria isn’t just economic, it’s emotional. Rest is a strategy. - Network with sense.
The right relationships open doors faster than any “financial literacy webinar.”
The New Money Mindset Nigerians Need
- Stop chasing foreign formulas.
Build your own local playbook. - Don’t wait for “stable economy”, stability is personal here.
- Stop measuring yourself with Western success metrics.
You’re not behind. You’re fighting battles they don’t even understand.
The Revolution Is Personal
The day you stop seeing money advice as gospel, you start winning.
Because you’ll finally understand: no one knows your struggle better than you.
Your financial freedom won’t come from another influencer’s thread, it’ll come from street sense, smart risk, and the courage to question everything.
Financial advice should empower, not enslave.
And until we start building systems that reflect our realities, most of what you hear online will remain theory, not survival.
If this spoke to your spirit, share it.
Let’s start exposing fake financial wisdom and rebuilding our own truth.
Then, read more powerful money and mindset articles at EuniceIrewole.com/blog where we write for real people, in the real world.
