By Bayo Adeyinka
I broke out in sweat with my heart pounding against my chest. I could hardly drive as I got into my car. It was as if everything I’d ever worked for had gone down the drain. I felt empty and for the first time in my life, I felt like running away. I had a way of escape but up till then, I had never really thought of it. I was one of those selected when the UK Highly Skilled Migrant Program (HSMP) was on and I’d been given a renewable 3-year work permit which I hadn’t used up till that time. But suddenly, it seemed my whole world had collapsed.
Someone had told me about Treasure Line, a Ponzi scheme Ibadan people then called ‘s’ogun d’ogoji’ (a euphemism for money doubling). The person showed me her winnings and how the scheme had made her life better. Coincidentally but unfortunately with the benefit of hindsight, I had just been paid an allowance by the company I worked for. It was quite a significant amount and all that was in my head was to ‘blow’- make it big. I started dreaming about all the things I wanted to do- the house I wanted to build, the new car I wanted to drive and the various vacations I told myself I deserved. I no longer wanted a bungalow- my house now has to be a 6-bedroom fully detached duplex with a wide compound and unbeatable horticulture and landscaping. I was tired of the ‘Tokunbo’ padded baby Benz I drove at that time- who says I shouldn’t ride a 4-wheel drive with full options? And for vacation, Accra had become boring. I deserved Bahamas or somewhere in the Fiji Islands at least. I was finally going to break the stranglehold of poverty and I will be free ever after! Or so I thought!
I had rushed to a bank at Bodija to lodge the allowance I’d just been paid into the account of Treasure Line. After the cash was counted and my teller stamped, I kept the teller safely. That was my ticket to financial freedom. Alas! Just a week after I paid in, I started hearing rumours of the collapse of the scheme. I passed in front of the scheme’s office at Adamasingba and saw a rowdy crowd. By then, the normal payment date had been shifted by a week. And then we started hearing different stories of how banks are delaying payments. And then the story changed to how they needed to regularize their registration at the Corporate Affairs Corporation. I pleaded for a return of the principal I invested but my ‘investment’ had entered ‘voice mail’. How could the investment fail just one week after I joined?
Shortly after, I was introduced to another scheme. This time, the name was Wealth Solution. They come in all sorts of names. The introducer told me my earlier mistake was that I didn’t cash in early and that Wealth Solution was at the early stage- week 4 or so. And that I only had to wait for 2 weeks after investment to receive my payment. I desperately wanted to compensate for my earlier loss. At least, I had heard stories of those who built houses or bought lands from the schemes. So I ‘invested’ N27,000. Two weeks later, I was paid N54,000. I was elated. Finally, God was about to restore everything I had lost. But then, N54,000 was not enough. I had to re-invest it. So I put back the whole N54,000. Two weeks later, I got N108,000. Mother luck was smiling on me. So I re-invested N108,000. I made up my mind I wasn’t going to add any additional penny so I can minimize my losses. Two weeks later, I got N216,000. Life couldn’t be better.
I started dreaming again. Work now seemed drab to me. My life was all about wealth solution. I had finally found the key to wealth. Re-investing the N216,000, I was paid almost half a million naira. Ok. I needed to break through finally. I had tested the waters very well and I was poised to make a net-breaking catch. I approached a friend who was a fellow banker and I took a personal loan in a significant sum. I added the new sum to the previous amount and lodged it in. At this time I was expecting a bit over N3m. Heaven was about to smile on me. And then the unexpected happened. With rumours flying around, I called my agent. Each ‘investor’ had to come in through an agent. My agent had switched off his phone. I visited Wealth Solution’s known office but all the Directors were nowhere to be found. I was not only once beaten but the second time, I felt like a fool. Why didn’t I cash out early? Why was I so greedy?
And then, someone I respected who worked for a multinational in Ibadan told me about Club Freedom. This one was different and was done is US dollars. It was similar to MLM (multilevel marketing) and all you needed was your initial investment and then get people to register under you- down lines they were called. At that time Club Freedom had a beautiful website that promised cruises and vacations at exotic destinations. The initial investment was little- so as to make it easily catch on but you need to promote the scheme to move up. A friend who heard about the scheme approached me and brought a lot of money to invest as my down line. Since we had to change the Naira to USD, so many ‘abokis’ in Sabo knew me. I worked hard to move my position up so I could start earning. Long story short, Club Freedom was everything but freedom to me. I didn’t even get a penny. And my friend was on my neck for her own funds. I told her I also invested just like she invested. Till date, our relationship has not been the same again. I lost money and I also lost a valued friend. It was my personal savings that I put into Club Freedom.
There’s a Yoruba proverb that the dog destined to be lost will never hear the whistle of the hunter. While I was ruminating over my series of losses and quietly licking my wounds, a colleague at work introduced me to forex trading. He had found the ‘sure banker’. He had a professional trader whom he had given a sum to and he showed me from his statement of account the various sums he had been paid since he started forex trading. The various payments were in USD. My eyes widened as I saw the amounts paid to my colleague- little sums of $10 and $20 almost on a daily basis for close to two weeks. I was sucked in again. At least this time, I was going to get a platform I can view as the trader traded in forex. I was taken through a tutorial on how the market works. It was too good to be true. Maybe God had seen my labour and efforts and had finally decided to be gracious unto me. So I approached a bank that issued the naira credit card then. With a credit card given to me, I withdrew the sum, exchanged it to $10,000 and gave it to the trader.
The first day, I got a profit of $10. I couldn’t be happier. Life is bitter sweet, I surmised. The second day, I got $5. That’s not bad at all, I thought to myself. Let it continue to come in trickles. Little streams make a mighty ocean but then the little trickles were in foreign currency. I was on the path to restoration. Or so I thought! And just about four days after I started the forex trading, I was in my office with the platform opened on my laptop. Since I was not an authorized trader, all I could do was view. That fateful day, I saw how my initial $10,000 became $9,000 and then $8,000. In panic, I called our dear professional forex trader who assured me that everything was fine and the market was just a bit turbulent. Those were his exact words. I had lost my peace. I paced up and down as I watched the platform. From $8,000 it became $7,000 and then $6,000. I called him again and his voice sounded at ease. He re-assured me that he was up to the task and that the market will rise again. I didn’t believe him but I didn’t have any choice. I sat down in exasperation. I cracked my knuckles on end and felt like collapsing in a heap. $6,000 became $5,000 and then $4,000. $4,000 reduced to $3,000 and then $2,000. I called the trader but he didn’t pick my calls again. That night, my forex investment of $10,000 was reduced to $600.
Now, for anyone caught or trapped while giving help, please remember it is not the end of the road. Get your back off the floor and make the right choices. If you’re in debt, please make arrangements to pay them. That’s the price you have to pay for the choice you made. You have learnt through a bitter experience. Now, it’s time to get back to the basics of hard work. No nation ever achieved national wealth through lottery or Ponzi schemes. I am yet to see any lottery winner on the Forbes list. I got back on my feet after more than two years of pain. Yes, the process will be painful if you lost money to MMM but you can get back on your feet again.
That night was one of the longest of my life and I tossed to and fro on my bed until daybreak. I rushed off to the forex trader’s office and I was shocked when I met over 100 people at his door so early in the morning. They were all people who were in need of common sense like me. That day, I came to myself like the prodigal son and finally realized that a fool and his money are soon parted. I also came to the realization that the easiest thing to lose is money. I had to learn the hard way that the best way to make money is slowly and that success including financial freedom is not overnight but over time.
I had to make some very hard choices- face my creditors, restructure my debts, cut down on my expenses and pay off my debts. I couldn’t run away even though I felt that pressure and I had an escape route. But my faith wouldn’t allow me to throw away my integrity. I was in a hole already and I wasn’t ready to dig in more. I wanted to get out and come clean. So I went round my creditors, pleaded to restructure my debts and faced reality. For two years, all I earned as salary went into debt payments-100%. I didn’t take a dime from my salary. I couldn’t even eat lunch at work. There was no hanging out with the boys. There were no frivolities. What I failed to learn from the warnings of others, I learnt by bitter experience.
And so when MMM became a fad some months ago, I warned several people I knew. I spoke against it in church. I was aghast when several people I respected even supported MMM openly. We had been this way before and it was an avoidable tragedy. The rule of the thumb is to investigate before you invest. What did MMM invest in? Are they so much in love with our people that people have to help people? What about evidence that the scheme failed in Russia, Zimbabwe and South Africa? It is shocking that people failed to realize that the only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. I will not gloat against anyone, however. Some people invested out of desperation. Some out of greed. But the truth is that the signs were there. And people were warned.
Now, for anyone caught or trapped while giving help, please remember it is not the end of the road. Get your back off the floor and make the right choices. If you’re in debt, please make arrangements to pay them. That’s the price you have to pay for the choice you made. You have learnt through a bitter experience. Now, it’s time to get back to the basics of hard work. No nation ever achieved national wealth through lottery or Ponzi schemes. I am yet to see any lottery winner on the Forbes list. I got back on my feet after more than two years of pain. Yes, the process will be painful if you lost money to MMM but you can get back on your feet again. I’m sure you have learnt the bitter way. You’re not a failure until you fail to learn from your mistakes.