Experts: Nigeria’s Crisis Is Wealth Architecture, Not Wages - Ebunoluwa Dayo

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:01][music] >> Welcome back to News Day. Nigeria's poverty crisis is not simply a wage problem. Millions earn, yet few accumulate. Over 133 million Nigerians live in a multi-dimensional poverty. But the debate has focused on wages, not why those who earn remain poor. Income is a flow, wealth is a store. Without mechanisms to convert one into the other, earnings are wiped out by inflation, medical bills, and school fees. Naira has lost more than a 70% of its value since 2023. Service say those with assets like real estate fared better. Those with only Naira savings saw their purchasing power collapse.

[00:00:41]Now, successive governments have focused on income support, not asset building.

[00:00:46]No land reforms, no financial literacy mandate, no pension for the informal sector, which employs 80% of workers.

[00:00:54]Now, experts argue that without assets to pass on, each generation starts from zero.

[00:01:00]Advocates say wealth building must become a citizen's right, not an elite privilege. Until then, rising incomes will keep evaporating.

[00:01:10]Why do Nigerians need structured wealth and not just income? Managing Director Block Chord Asset Management, Aboluwade Ayo, joins us now to provide informed perspective on this episode. Good to have you with us on News Day.

[00:01:23]Thank you for having me today. All right. So, for the benefit of the viewers, how would you describe structured wealth and how applicable in our society, you think?

[00:01:33]Okay. Very good question. So, in our society, you know, it's very important that you you structure your wealth, you know, and is that by you having discipline. So, it's one thing to earn income, like you mentioned, but you now have to start putting in the discipline the discipline to build. So, as you're doing that, you know, you have to do while you have the discipline, you're putting away something, then you have to consistently do it. So, it's important because don't just focus on the short term, but there should now be a long-term wealth plan that you're building. So, the structure, very important for individuals, businesses, everyone. But, aren't we ignoring the real issues here?

[00:02:21]Because we know that the naira has lost its value and even with the ongoing war in the Middle East, it keeps, you know, losing its value. The inflation rate is also really nothing to write home about.

[00:02:32]We know that yes, it has dropped to 15.38 as at March, but are we really looking at the real issues when it comes to wages, when it comes to income?

[00:02:45]Because a lot of Nigerians would tell you that they're working hard, they're earning income. Is why is this not translating to wealth? That's the big question.

[00:02:56]Okay.

[00:02:57]Very loaded question, but so, I'll take it this way.

[00:03:02]The truth is when you look at it, people are actually even earning more than they were maybe 20 years ago. So, the true question is inflation. Inflation really is a silent killer. It eats into it eats into your savings or even idle cash. And that is why it is this kind of conversation is important. So, we can keep looking at wages, but then it's how do we actually teach people what to do?

[00:03:30]Because this is a global issue. It's not just a Nigerian issue. Inflation it happens everywhere.

[00:03:37]However, there is a process to actually keep something away. And I think the idea here is you don't just have to put big money away. You need to start small and that's where the discipline and consistency comes in.

[00:03:53]A lot of people would say yes, they don't have money, which I understand that part of things, but it's when you even do have a little bit extra, >> Mhm. what are you doing with it? A little 10,000 a week a month, which maybe not everyone can afford, but that's just a figure I'm using here. A 10,000 a week over the next 10 years, and you do that consistently every month. That's about saving. No, so it's invest So, not just saving, it's investing. And investing here is putting it in assets that generate money. And then also the compounding effect. So, when you save, you just save it and put it away, you're probably getting the minute very small return on that money. But when you're investing it in, you know, there's a there's loads of assets you can invest, for example, fixed income, equities, you know, have a diversified portfolio is what we tell people. Sort of have the mindset of investing the way even institutions do it. Individuals need to also take that approach to their money. So, no matter what it is you're earning, you actually need to put something away in a vehicle that also makes money for you. Therefore, there's a compounding effect, and that then over time, you see the return essentially. Okay, I'll take you from the return aspect. So, how do you uh adopt wealth management to your goals, whatever goals that might be? It's one thing to have all of those assets you try to uh you know, save and try to invest, uh which uh your investment can be eroded if there's the usual market volatility, and of course, even if you're buying equities, as it were, and they're not performing uh as they should. So, I have a goal in mind, how do I translate what I've invested into that goal without actually hurting my pension or my other savings, as it were?

[00:05:45]Okay.

[00:05:47]So, that's where, you know, companies companies like ours come in.

[00:05:50]>> Yeah. I knew you were going to say that.

[00:05:52]>> [laughter] >> So, I think you know, it's the same Well, well, in my head it's the same thing, but let me just explain that. So, asset management companies like ours, Black Cord, we are we understand that you need to build wealth, but we also understand that there's a bit of an educational gap there. People need to really understand So, these things you've said, people need to understand what it means, what it translates to. Because yes, um I have some money. I have a goal, but how do I sort of put this in a way that, say for example, I want to achieve one um a million in the next 10 years, you know? What can I put it in that will help me achieve this? And then the market changes over time. The you know, there's changes, interest rates goes up, goes down, you know, you have inflation, different things happen. So, with an asset management firm like ours, then we're able to also keep you updated. I mean, there's a lot of awareness about some of these things as well. You can see some of it online, different places, but um we we constantly keep our customers, our prospects updated on the changes. And when those changes happen, we could also help you readjust your savings so that you and your investments so that you're able to achieve that goal at the end. These things look very beautiful on paper and also verbally. But when it comes to the know-how, the education, the financial literacy, I think there's a huge gap there. And that gap needs to be breached if you want people to come into that circle of knowing what to do when it comes to investing in the stock market, investing in bonds, and all of those, you know, areas to secure the bag. Can you, you know, tell us areas or I want you to speak to that fact that there is a huge, um, gap, a loophole when it comes to bridging that gap between, um, education and helping people to know what to do.

[00:08:01]Okay.

[00:08:04]So, good question again.

[00:08:08]But, okay, so we have the educational one. We have the gap here, which is from education to actually doing it. So, um, like I mentioned, there's a lot of awareness now, well, thankfully because of, you know, the digital economy, social media, and all of that. So, you get all this information, but rightfully said, a lot of people are still not actually actively doing the investment.

[00:08:31]And that is where that's also a something that my company is trying to a gap that we're trying to bridge, which is the education. You just have to constantly educate people. You don't just say, "Oh, we've educated, therefore do it." You It's constant education. Keep reorienting them that this is something you need to plan for.

[00:08:51]>> What are the platforms you use? How do you make it as easy to understand as possible for the layman? Okay, so we currently do things on social media. So, some of these educational series, we try to make them interactive, you know, like a a a wealth therapy session, so that the conversation is easy to understand, you know, just to make sure that people are getting the key points, which is, okay, you have a goal. A lot of people at this age, maybe they want to plan for, I don't know, maybe education. They want to go do higher education, or they want to plan for, even if it's just end of the year, right? December, I want to have something to be able to, you know, enjoy myself or share with my family and friends. And it's how do I do that without Okay, say for example, all you need is 500k.

[00:09:46]But you know that on a monthly basis, you can't just pull out 500k. What can I do that I will get there? So, we help our clients understand that, you know, should you engage with us, we help you to understand this is how you can do.

[00:10:03]This is the path. This is what the pathway looks like. It's not You may not You may need to um what do I say? You may need to not do something now just so that you can have that enjoyment. So, delayed gratification. Those are part of it.

[00:10:17]It's reorienting people that something must give for something else to happen.

[00:10:22]Right? Um And that that that really is what we are doing. I know we are also looking at other channels that will reach a wider audience, you know, do radio, do more of, you know, TV, things like this. But essentially, we want people to really understand how to get from point A to B without, you know, killing yourself or yes.

[00:10:42]>> Yeah, I like that concept, delayed gratification, because most people Yeah, yes, we're in a hurry to at least start seeing the dividends of those investments. So, um let's just delve into the role of digital tools on financial diagnostics of maybe perhaps a client's assets. Do you How often do you have to use these, you know, digital tools to analyze and even project the likely outcome of whatever you try and invest in, as it were?

[00:11:12]Okay.

[00:11:14]So, digital tools here, we're talking about Yeah, yeah, anything. Okay.

[00:11:20]Well, I mean, we use So, some I mean, you can use it as a enabler.

[00:11:26]So, as some But we also bear in mind that we have the years of experience.

[00:11:32]We've seen different cycles. So, nothing we're seeing today is different is different from what has happened. What to do in when there's a boom, what to do when you know, there's a bit of a depression.

[00:11:44]We've seen the cycles and these digital tools are they're an enabler, you know. So, we know what we're telling our audience as well. We know what we're We're essentially trying to give them the truth so that they're not um We're not giving you unrealistic expectations and that we we we just try to ensure that you're you're getting relevant data at this point.

[00:12:11]Very important and on that note we'd like to thank you for coming on board to educate us on how to, you know, make wealth. We've been speaking with Managing Director, Black House Asset Management, Abimbola Diaw. Thank you for your time.