TOPIC TODAY: What is the most urgent, actionable step needed to curb "needless spending" by low-income earners

SCENE: A busy WnP Bar, everyone waiting for for a football match.

​OLA (Looking at one of the bar service boy buying multiple lottery tickets):

​It's an indictment on our society. People who can barely afford their next meal are queuing to buy pure-water sachets, betting on sports, or paying for worthless 'miracles' instead of saving. They complain about poverty, then actively drain their meager resources on needless items. I find it less about a lack of money and more a lack of financial discipline.

​JIDE (Shaking his head gently):

​Ola, you're treating the symptom, not the sickness. When a life is defined by constant scarcity - the lack of food, light, security - the brain works differently. Psychologists at Princeton found that poverty impedes cognitive function. The mental load of daily survival leaves little 'brain power' for long-term planning. Those lottery tickets aren't financial waste; they're a tiny, desperate, and sadly predictable attempt to buy relief from constant stress. It's a poverty trap, not a character flaw.

​JENNIFER (Consulting her phone notes):

​Jide is correct. It is a cognitive tax. Furthermore, the spending on non-essentials often relates to the need for a momentary sense of control or pleasure. As a report on overspending highlights, impulsive purchasing is frequently linked to emotional shopping, where people seek temporary relief from anxiety or depression caused by financial stress. They "spoil themselves as adults" to compensate for past deprivation. The spending provides a brief moment of feeling "normal" or deserving.

​NNE (Adjusting her headphones):

​I see the psychology, but the reality is this: the people who sell those "needless items" are also poor Nigerians. The suya seller, the airtime vendor, the church with the special offering. We are poor people extracting small amounts of money from other poor people because the system doesn't give us a third option. The solution isn't judging the buyers; it's providing accessible, practical financial education through the same channels they use - phone apps, community groups, even viral short videos. Stop shaming the poor; start teaching them how to budget for the long game.

​AMARA (Interjecting firmly):

​The issue is structural, and any solution must address the systemic waste - the corruption that ensures the poor remain poor. The need for those scratch cards, church offerings, and small pleasures is a symptom of human rights being denied: the right to stable income, the right to affordable healthcare, the right to education. If the government wasn't failing in its duty to provide basic security and infrastructure, citizens wouldn't be forced into high-risk, low-reward impulse spending to cope. We need accountability for the funds stolen, which would cover the basic needs that lead to this desperation.

​OLA:

​So, the immediate solution is what? Do we wait for the government to stop stealing, or do we start with the individual? Nne's practical education idea is the only one we can implement today. The urgency is now. Every Naira saved is a blow against the scarcity trap.