By Izekeo Adegoke

Somewhere in Nigeria right now, a diligent, financially responsible person is watching their savings grow, and losing money at the same time. They do not know it. Their bank balance is rising. Their statement looks healthy. But in real terms, their wealth is quietly and consistently shrinking.

This is not a fringe scenario. It describes the financial situation of millions of Nigerians who are doing everything they were taught.

The gap nobody talks about

Here is the arithmetic that changes the conversation.

The average Nigerian savings account yields between 2% and 4% per annum. Nigeria’s inflation rate, as of recent Central Bank data, sits at approximately 15.69%. That means if you have ₦1 million in a savings account today, it will nominally become ₦1,030,000 in a year, but the real purchasing power of that money will have fallen to the equivalent of roughly ₦790,000 in today’s terms. You saved diligently. You lost ₦210,000 in purchasing power.

This is what economists call negative real returns, and it is the financial reality for the majority of Nigerian savers right now. The distinction between keeping money safe and making money grow has never mattered more than it does in this macroeconomic environment.

Why the savings instinct made sense and no longer does

The preference for savings accounts is not irrational. It is inherited. A generation of Nigerians was raised during periods of significant economic volatility, bank failures, currency devaluations, and frozen accounts. Saving in a regulated institution felt like the responsible, conservative choice. The alternative, markets, stocks, and funds, felt speculative and risky.

That instinct made sense in its context. But the financial landscape has changed materially, and the definition of “safe” needs to catch up.

A savings account today is not a low-risk option. It is a guaranteed negative return dressed in conservative language. The risk is not that you will lose your capital in nominal terms. The risk is that your capital will progressively lose its ability to buy things, fund a retirement, educate children, or build the future you are working toward. That is a real loss, even if your statement does not show it.

The behaviour-change that changes everything

The shift from saving to investing is not about abandoning caution. It is about directing caution more effectively. A diversified investment portfolio spread across fixed income instruments, equities, dollar-denominated assets, and alternative holdings does not eliminate risk. It manages it intelligently, and in doing so, gives your money a fighting chance against inflation.

Consider a ₦1 million portfolio invested across a balanced mix of Nigerian equities and fixed income instruments targeting a 15–18% annual return. Over three years, compounding and market participation could bring that to approximately ₦1.5–1.6 million in nominal terms and, depending on portfolio construction, meaningfully above the inflation rate in real terms. The savings account brings you to ₦1.09 million, having lost ground every single year.

The numbers are not subtle. They are decisive.

Coronation Wealth’s answer to the problem

This is precisely the problem Coronation Wealth was built to solve. Our platforms give individuals access to professionally managed, diversified portfolios across multiple asset classes, including dollar-denominated instruments that provide a structural hedge against naira depreciation. These are not products previously available only to institutional clients or high-net-worth individuals. They are accessible, clearly structured, and designed for people who want their money working as hard as they do. Wealth creation, as we understand it, is not about spectacular bets. It is about making consistent, informed decisions over time with the right tools, the right structure, and a partner who understands the environment in which you operate.

The reframe you need

Safety is not a function of where your money sits. It is a function of what your money does.

A savings account feels safe because the number never goes down. But if that number cannot keep pace with the cost of living, the cost of education, the cost of the future, it is not protecting you. It gives you the illusion of security while inflation quietly does its work.

The most dangerous financial decision most Nigerians are making right now is not taking too much risk. It is the decision to play it safe, and that is precisely why it needs to change.

Izekeo Adegoke is the Chief Digital Officer at Coronation Wealth, the digital investment and wealth management subsidiary of the Coronation Group in Nigeria. 

There were times when entertainment moved slowly enough that you could catch up later without missing much. This is not one of those times. Right now, everything is happening at once, and if you blink, the internet will already summarise it for you in a version that may not even be fully accurate.

We are in a phase where the moment a show, movie, or reality series airs, clips are already circulating online before many people have watched the full episode. Opinions are formed from short edits, screenshots, and snippets rather than the full context, and conversations often take shape around what has been clipped and shared instead of what actually happened in real time. The ongoing BBNaija Reunion is a clear example of this, with viral moments driving debates and narratives long before many viewers have seen the complete exchange.

And it is not just Big Brother.

The World Cup is literally here, and you already know what that means. Most of the matches are played deep into the night, so many people will wake up to scores they didn’t watch live, scroll cautiously through social media trying to avoid spoilers, or quickly hunt for highlights before someone ruins the result in a group chat or on X. Somehow, everyone will still be expected to join the “did you see that match?” conversation the next morning as if they were awake through every minute of it.

This is the reality of modern viewing: nobody is waiting for you anymore. The funny part is what people do when they miss it. You will see someone on X asking, “abeg who has the link to watch last night’s episode?” and within minutes, replies start flying. Somebody drops a Telegram channel like it is normal, another person shares a random website link, and another group is already posting 30-second clips with captions like “full gist inside” as if that is the full experience.

Before you know it, people are no longer watching the show. They are watching fragments, then opinions, then blog interpretations, then X reactions. And somehow that becomes the version of events that spreads fastest.

That is where the problem starts. Social media does not give context. It gives highlights. Blogs chase clicks, not full stories. Even viral clips in group chats are usually missing the build-up that actually explains why people reacted the way they did.

So, you find yourself arguing passionately about something you did not fully watch. You are forming opinions from “see finish” clips and half-context screenshots. And when you finally watch the full episode later, everything suddenly makes more sense than the version you were dragged into online.

That is why access is becoming more important than ever. Not just access to content, but access to it in real time. Because nothing really hits like watching it live, as it unfolds, with everyone reacting at the same moment. Whether it is a last-minute World Cup goal, a heated reunion moment, or something that instantly becomes meme history, the experience is always different when you are actually there for it.

And this is exactly where viewing has changed. People are no longer tied to one screen in the sitting room. Life does not even allow that anymore. You might be in traffic, at work, outside, or simply away from your decoder when something important is happening, which used to mean you missed your favourite show; now you don’t have to.

Because platforms like DStv and GOtv now let you stay connected even when you are not in front of your television. So instead of chasing Telegram links that may or may not work, which is piracy by the way, or waiting for someone to “summarise what happened,” you can actually watch it yourself.

You can still stay connected using the MyDStv or GOtv Stream app. It is simple. Download the app from your store, log in with your account details, ensure your subscription is active, then head to the Live TV section and select the channel you want. In a few taps, you are back inside the moment everyone is talking about.

And honestly, that is what this season demands. Between Big Brother conversations taking over timelines, new reality TV seasons building buzz, and the World Cup about to dominate every screen in the next few days, this is not the time to be disconnected. Not even the time to say “I’ll catch up later”, because later is exactly where spoilers live now.

So, whether you are watching from your decoder at home or streaming from your phone on the move, the point is the same: you are not out of the conversation. Because in today’s world, missing the show is one thing.

Missing the moment everyone is talking about? That one is harder to recover from.

By Tony Ogunlowo

In the past few weeks, two high-profile kidnapping cases have captured the attention of the nation. One involved the kidnapping of more than 45 pupils and teachers from a school in Oyo state, and the other involved the relatives of an ex-minister.

Whilst the relatives of the ex-minister, his sister and her two sons, were rescued in a highly publicised police operation, the fate of the missing school children and their teachers remains unclear. Already two teachers have been killed: one was shot and the other beheaded.

Nigeria is a hotbed for kidnapping, and in 2025 alone, there were more than 4,000 reported cases. But bear in mind that for every case recorded, two or three went unreported, leaving relatives to deal with ransom demands on their own. And for cases reported, the overstretched and understaffed police are not much help and often suggest relatives negotiate with kidnappers. As a result, what was once a small sore has now festered, becoming an even bigger wound and growing.

It has been more than twelve years since 276 girls were kidnapped from their school in Chibok. To date, not all of them have been recovered. Some have died whilst others, heavily traumatised, have been found bearing children of their captors: their lives destroyed and those of their families.

The swift rescue of the ex-ministers’ relatives in a short window of just a few days points to one thing – elitism! If you’re well-connected, the powers that be will pull out all the stops to do what they’re supposed to be doing in the first place. If you’re a mere ordinary citizen, they can’t be bothered.

Even though the Federal Government has a policy of not negotiating with kidnappers, which is understandable since they don’t want to encourage the practice, they should have the means to end the scourge. Every government from the Obasanjo regime up to the incumbent have promised to take a hard line on abductions and banditry. To date, all that hardline rhetoric has just been ‘audio’, leaving bandits and kidnappers to get up to all sorts of things. There have been calls to allow citizens to take up arms: not a good idea, as this might encourage extrajudicial killings rather than for self-defence. There have also been calls for stiffer penalties, but, yet again, you need to catch the perpetrators first and make sure they don’t bribe their way out of the judicial system. The Forest Guards program is taking off, and hundreds of them are being recruited, trained and deployed, but are they paramilitary trained to be able to fight kidnappers in the bush?

Just like when the Chibok girls went missing under President Goodluck’s watch, the government is taking a lukewarm approach to the matter. What should be classified as a top priority has been pushed to the bottom of the list as all politicians rush to get their nomination forms in for the 2027 elections: the only thing that matters to them. If this were America, Trump would have mobilised the Army, Navy, Air Force, CIA, and whatever else he could think of to find ALL kidnapped victims. In Nigeria, the only thing politicians are interested in, their top priority, is re-election.

Children’s Day has come and gone, and so also has Democracy Day, as we head towards Independence Day, and somebody’s child, uncle, aunt, husband is still being held against their will with the security services running around like headless chickens, clueless as to what to do next. What happened to their network of informers? Are their surveillance techniques so primitive that they can’t locate a large gathering of people in the bush? Surely contact has been made with all kidnappers so they can list their demands, and why haven’t these leads been tracked using basic cellular telephony technology? But if it’s an ex-minister’s relative, they know how to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

Until the government adopts a zero-tolerance policy towards kidnapping and banditry – and sticks to it, these unfortunate incidents will continue.

Perhaps it’s time to seek foreign assistance since we don’t know what to do: already, Trump has stationed US troops, up North, to help us fight Boko Haram and ISIS. They already have the technology and personnel that can find a fly hiding behind a dune in the Sahara. An ordinary Air Force surveillance plane, or drone, equipped with heat-seeking infra-red cameras, overflying the place at night can easily find anyone hiding out in the Old Oyo park within hours, not days. And please don’t involve the NAF, who seem to bomb more innocent people than bad guys! Alternatively, bring in Sheikh Gumi, who seems to know most of the bandits. He might be able to help.

There is no easy fix to ending insecurity in Nigeria other than to bring in a brutal state of emergency that will grant security services carte blanche to deal with situations as they see fit. Again, this can lead to abuse of power, as was the case with the disbanded SARS.

To truly eliminate all insecurity in the country, the government needs to think long-term and go back to the root cause of all these problems – hunger. A hungry man (or woman) faced with unemployment and a high cost of living, with nothing to lose, will be crazy enough to do any kind of crime to put food on the table and a roof above his head. Doubling the size of the security services and equipping them doesn’t solve the problem.