BANKERS’ CYCLE
By :Peter Odofin
Personally, I was fascinated with becoming a
banker when I was a teenager. This resulted
from the childhood perception I had then as
regards to all the money being deposited in the bank. I strongly and erroneously believed
they would be shared among the bank’s staff
from time to time, but now, I know better that
banking profession
is beyond my infantile
imagination. I
was facinated by the corporate environment, which comprises of the air-
conditioned
banking halls and the well- dressed banking officials.
The matured perception that finally made me to choose the banking profession as a career was due to the corporate outlook and supposed financial buoyancy. However, now I understand
that being a banker does not
guarantee financial freedom but the wisdom
not to live above ones means and this should be our watchword.
When you work in a bank, irrespective of your
position or take home pay, it is assumed that you have money. This assumption maybe true as
you can be said to be comfortable, independent, and possibly save money, if you
have a good saving culture. The upfront and
access to other staff’s incentives
like loan, lease etc., may also lend credence to
the people’s assumptions.
Unfortunately, the desire to affirm this ill-fated
misconception and the easy access to incentives has made some bankers to live
beyond their income. There is, therefore, need
to check ourselves in our journey so far,
as bankers. I stand to be corrected and criticized,
so as to learn as well, as we sincerely
rub minds together. When you just got your job as a banker weren’t you so excited? It was like you were on to a
new height. You soliloquized,
“I am now 50% above poverty, goodbye
to lack, wants and being dependent
on
your family or friends.” Isn’t it?
Yes! But the truth is many of us are carried away with the new status and we fail to manage the little or much we earn as the case
maybe. We flaunt around with the latest, trendy and expensive gadgets, jewelries, suits, shoes
and some other frivolities. We are happy
collecting loan facilities to purchase expensive cars and other
things that are irrelevant,
hoarding our rented apartment with 3D TVs and
other expensive home appliances. We
use at least two expensive mobile phones with
frequent recharging. Ipad is good but it should
not
be a do or die possession. You begin to
live a life that is not yours. They call it ‘swagger or effizzy’, or is it packaging? I advise a break
should be applied on such spending spree before your today’s swagger causes you to stagger and fall eventually tomorrow.
It’s mind throbbing and shocking at this period of no job security from the top executives to
the
lowest cadre in the banking profession.
Some bankers, who fully understand
the concept of economics and investment, will
spend heavily on cars or other frivolities worth millions of naira. This is done with no
alternative
plan in place. This is a time
bomb of financial tragedy ticking away ready
to detonate! It seems unimaginable
that
a banker with no other source of income or financial succour will embark on a journey of exorbitance on liabilities rather than assets.
The bitter truth is that those you want to
impress by your show of packaged
luxury might even be well off than you. During a recent
chat
with some security personnel in a bank in
Lagos, I got encouraging responses with respect to their financial situations as majority
of
them have at least half a plot of land in
remote locations like Mowe, Ibafo, Ikorodu
etc. Some
have even gone ahead
to developed theirs. Few lease out the parcel of
land for farming and livestock rearing. Some have commercial buses which give them
returns. Is there any other better
way your money can work for you other than this? Such
people have confidence of sustenance even
if
they are shown the way out of their job.
This was so impressive as many professional bankers never thought of securing a plot of land in those areas because they think the areas are remote disregarding the fact that cities like
Lekki, Victoria Island, Ikoyi and Surulere were
once
remote areas, before they developed over time. We love enriching the pockets of
landlords’ and most landlords, especially in Lagos would rather rent out their houses to a banker or an oil company worker, because they feel secured about getting their pay
annually even if they increase the rent, bankers and oil workers have the capacity to pay. For
these set of people, losing their only source
of livelihood, will simply spell F-I-N-A-N-C-I- A-L D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R!
The reason the life of some bankers is always miserable anytime the company disengage or advise them to resign, is that they find it so
difficult to cope with their lifestyles. The reality of life starts to catch up with them
very fast and hard.
A top management staff in the
industry as a senior manager was advised to
resign,
and
to my surprise she started
lamenting seriously, saying the bank had killed
her
and wondering where she would start from. I easily deduced her main worry from that outburst: she had little or no PLAN B, and the fact that she would lose the position of a senior manager, with official car and a driver, ease of securing a loan, child education support, vacation abroad and other perks at the
expense of the bank, is simply unimaginable.
These lacks of future plan clearly explain the
words of A.R Bernard a Spiritual leader “If you
don’t have a
vision for the future, then your future is threatened to be a repeat of the past”.
A lot of bankers are easily carried away with
the
winds of some activities
in the industry
which are relevant. They have forgotten that they
are
not indispensable and that with or
without them the bank will go on. They should
know that they are not rooted in the place but
to be seen as part of their journey. Developing our career is advised but each one of us is
also born with array of abilities. Unfortunately,
only
a few are actually putting theirs to use.
You should think and explore the talent within for success and plan for an alternative from
the day you got an appointment in the bank in order to accomplish your goal in life.
This brings to mind the quotation of Brendan
Francis Behan who was an Irish poet “If you have a talent, use it in every way possible.
Don’t dole it out like a miser. Spend it lavishly
like
a millionaire intent on going broke”.
In this bankers’ cycle, relationships are not left out. Some people’s savings are literally spent on different bevy of beautiful ladies. Some lady
bankers are also involved in ‘managing’ relationship if assuming that available finance will make the relationship better. The worst case is
if such lady falls prey of a gold digger, jealous or betrayer as a husband or fiancé. By the time
Peter Oluwatosin Odofin is a Publisher, Writer, Blogger, an Entrepreneur and a career coach . He is the MD/CEO of Pet -Dof International Consulting Limited which is into Educational Consulting, Career & Self development, Travels & Tours and Publishing.
He is passionate about encouraging financial independence and engaging young entrepreneurs (Youths) on the steps needed to be at top of their chosen career.
+2347030092510 or petdofinternational@gmail.com
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