A friend of mine came to me asking for 200naira and some Garri. Being the Good Nigerian that I had always been known for, I gladly gave him the money telling him that I'd get it back in two days li...ke he promised. After he left, it struck me that this same boy went on a picnic just the week before with some friends to Obudu Cattle Ranch in Calabar. A trip which saw him spending about 20000naira. Now looking at this boy who is the typical personification of the saying that goes 'Penny wise, pound foolish'. I thought about the reason why students go or remain broke, asked a few questions like I always do and below are some of the reasons I came up with.
KEEPING THAT 'OVERMATERIAL' GIRLFRIEND: Some ladies reading this would be like 'This guy and attacking girls though' but I don't intend to twist or hide the truth because it had to be said. This remains the number one reason why a lot of young male students remain broke just because they intend to date or keep that hot chick on Campus. A good chunk of the little allowance they get from their parents goes into making the supposed girlfriend look 'uberbeautiful' and classy and this is manifested in the Peruvian, Brazilian, Indian hair which she rocks, the channel bags, Mary-Kays and those designer wears all at the expense of this boy who has nothing left after making all these expenses. The more she gets from requesting, the more she requests(Trust girls na) and the more broke you remain.
LIVING ABOVE THE MEANS: Just to be perceived as a 'Bigz boy' or a 'bigz galz', some students prefers to live in areas usually inhabited by those who earn a salary. These students would end up spending money that was meant for their upkeep on transport, water, light bills and other miscellaneous'. There is also this issue of appearing 'Flashy'. Most girls are guilty of this one as they spend every penny on clothes,'Braz', Louboutins just to seem classy. A good number of male students appear 'on point' yet they have virtually nothing in their pockets as every penny is spent on that wear that is in vogue.
THE FRAT or KUSH THING: Some would argue that this has got nothing to do with this topic but having observed and gotten to know some things about these 'Brotherhoods' leaves me in a position to state that it is one of the reasons why some students remain broke. This might not be applicable to all of them but a few Frat or Kush as some people call it have those 'codes' which entails that the members spend some certain amount of monies on some occasions where the 'eves' come by and there is booze and stuffs. There is also this donation issue that could be weekly or monthly as the case may be. The dress code thing makes a lot of members spend the little they have on clothes, shoes and fashion accessories. Believe me, once you are a member, you must not 'Fall hand', so you must represent atleast for the gals, hype and packaging like a friend would say.
FRIENDS & LAVISH LIFESTYLE: My friend has this so I must buy it, my friend does this so I must do it, my friend goes here so I must go here. This particular one I attribute to either 'social madness', low self esteem or yearning for acceptance. A lot of students compare themselves with their friends not minding how much this friend of theirs gets as allowance. Just to look 'fresh', smell good and appear sophisticated like their friends, they sacrifice the little amount they get and go knocking from room to room at 1am in the morning in search of Garri to drink or kerosene to borrow. LOL. One story was told about a boy who travels to neighbouring states for parties, sprays cash on 'Night models' and does that 'drinks on me' thing just to impress his friends and feel among but would borrow everything he needs to stay alive the moment he gets back to school.
Why spend your parent's hard-earned money on things that are not worth it just to get attention and then suffer the consequences. Cut your coat according to your size, keep calm until you graduate. *winks*
Twitter: @victorikeji
