HOW TO TAKE BACK CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCIAL AFFAIRS IN 2023 SOFT FINANCE WITH AYO AROWOLO Shortly after I had scanned the concept, SOFT FINANCE, to the designer working with me to come up with design options
Shortly after I had scanned the concept, SOFT FINANCE, to the designer working with me to come up with design options, he sent back a WhatsApp note to me asking me to explain what I meant by soft finance. He needed this to come up with a fitting design. I tried some explanations, which appeared to be okay with him.
He made me understand that the only place he could place me was the business desk, especially since the guy covering the business desk was on leave. I had to accept his offer but with a lot of trepidation. I was truly scared. To compound the matter, the first assignment he gave me was to cover the stock market at the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Late Akintunde Asalu, former President of the Nigerian Shareholders Association, was one of my great sources when it came to reporting the stock market. I was always at his James Robertson Street in Surulere, Lagos or his house in Bolade, Oshodi. He shared with me an interesting method for analysing companies. He called it soft screening. He taught me not to look much at the annual report of a company if I truly wanted to know their performance.
d. Of my total expenditure, so much is allocated to expenditure that will bring more income into my wallet as time goes on. These are other expenses that, if properly executed, may not necessarily generate cash, but they will provide the enabling environment for making the above happen. More fundamental is the fact that those who were supposed to provide necessary checks and intelligent reviews of the exercise have no idea of what that means. So, when they invite heads of parastatals to come and defend their proposal, those who are intelligent among them hardly honour such invitations because they know they are mostly avenues to lubricate the wallets of those inviting them.
And this one is a very scary one. We are busy focusing on the supposed loans accumulated by the Federal Government. Nobody is focusing on what is happening at the state level. When you look at the exposures by the states, you will weep for the country. We are in deep trouble, but because we only focus on the surface, we have no idea of the collective damages the disasters the states and the FG are accumulating for generations of unborn Nigerians.