22/03/2025
Mr. Macaroni and the half a Billion Debt…
First of all, all debt is not bad debt.
There is no successful business person who is not heavily indebted. None.
If you don’t have debts, your business is still a small business and you have not taken up projects bigger than you.
The first day I met with Oga INNOSON of INNOSON motors, he didn’t waste time to share about his multi billion debt exposure. I smiled because only intelligent people are that free.
Elon Musk’s liquidity comes from using his Tesla shares to collect loans. So while he’s the richest person in the world, he’s also the most indebted individual in the world.
Yes, Nigeria is a CASH system where most people purchase homes and cars with cash. Debt is considered slavery and cash is king. But in developed economies, credit is king and those whose credit scores are great, have more access to the bank’s money. When
Unfortunately, in Nigeria, most people in debt are in bad debt. They borrowed money to SHOW OFF. A lot of Nigerian influencers are in bad debts - flying first class internationally just to impress their fans to living lavishly with borrowed money. They abuse debts and make all debts look like bad debts.
If you are in bad debt, don’t freak out. Calm down. If you are indebted to individuals, meet them face to face and tell them you will like to arrange a monthly repayment plan with them. Structure the repayment in a way that makes it easy for you to fulfill your obligations without pressure. If they refuse, ask them to go to court. No court will force you to pay what you can’t afford to pay. This is also a lesson to people who freely lend millions to friends and family without collateral, you are not financially responsible. Don’t tag it “good heart”, it’s a foolish heart.
Bad debt can be fixed and good debt is a necessity for growth.
I have never borrowed money for pleasure. Never. But my businesses have borrowed for big projects and we have never missed a repayment.
If you are a