Nigerians have been encouraged to embrace and sustain saving culture as one of the strategic and shrewd approach to make headway in the country’s distressed economy.

The Managing Editor/CEO, Premium Eagle Media Limited, publishers of The Eagle Online newspaper, Dotun Oladipo, gave the advice at the 2022 Annual General Meeting of a non-governmental organisation, Ikhwan Mutual Forum, in Ojokoro, Lagos State.

At the AGM on Sunday, Oladipo, a former President of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), discussed the theme, “Surviving the Challenges of Family Upkeep, Harsh Economy and Rising Cost of Living.”

In this period of economy downturn, cultivating saving culture, Oladipo stressed no matter how small, would impact positively on a family in the long run.

Speaking further on the theme, the immediate past President of GOCOP noted that for every family to survive and thrive under the harsh economy, serious attention must always be paid to daily cost, at homes and in the offices, with a view to whittling down expenses and maximise the benefits of every spending.

The media entrepreneur also stressed that the country’s present economic situation did not permit only husband to belong to the working class, but it is more advisable that both couple are productively engaged and empowered.

He however reasoned that the family must be calculative in going about this, noting that aspiration for one of the couple to be self-employed was very key so as to really reap the benefits of the self-reliance.

For the couple to be calculative, The Eagle Online Publisher restated: “One of the two, (husband or wife) should be free, be self-employed to make more money.”

While noting the effects of factors such as climate change and health challenges on socio-economic life, Oladipo declared that the global financial system was not getting better, warning that this necessitated why the heads of families must be self-disciplined in thought and prudent in spending.

He noted that one key aspect many families underrate is bulk purchase.

This measure, he proffered, must be given due attention, noting that any household item purchased in bulk, when the resources are available, would better serve the family in the nearest future as well as save cost.

The media practitioner asserted that individuals must be realistic and disciplined in their finances as he alluded that nobody could be too big than his source of income.

Moving forward, Oladipo reasoned that to forge ahead in these hard times, Nigerians should be creative, work out better alternatives, avoid imitating others blindly as well as not being wasteful.

Also discussing the theme, an Assistant Director in the Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alhaji Abdul Razzak Misbahudeen, said the state of the economy in the country called for families to be prudent in spending, focus on needs instead of wants, as well as prepare the family’s budget.

Speaking specifically, MIsbahudeen advised members of the Ikhwan Mutual Forum to devise collective efforts in order to ensure that individuals can conveniently cater for their needs.

Working on alternative sources of income that can take care of heavy expenses, he advised, was also a positive approach under the troubled economy.

The public servant urged parents to encourage their wards to acquire vocational skills, side by side with the formal education, adding that the young ones should be trained to aspire to be job creators.

The AGM is an annual event of the group and it heralds the new business year.

The membership cuts across different professions.

In attendance at the event, which featured the group’s first business session for the new year, were the Group Business Deputy Editor of The Nation newspaper and Coordinator of the group, Alhaji Taofik Salako; Tajudeen Balogun, Deputy Editor, The Eagle Online; and the group’s Secretary; a Public Relations expert and part-time Lecturer at the Lagos State Polytechnic, Abdul Ganiyu Olowu; Alhaji Abdul Wasiu Yusuff, a school administrator; Abdul Wasiu Oyeniyi; Abdul Akeem Adeleke; Dhikrullahi Alimi; and private entrepreneurs among other members and participants.

Also in attendance was the wife of the Publisher of The Eagle Online, who is also the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Premium Eagle Media Limited and CEO of Aya’ba Stores, Taiwo Oladipo.

Update news