Greed is one major reason why many fall into financial troubles, and lives are laden with debts. Many want to reap where they didn’t sow—often looking for shortcuts to prosperity.

That misnomer of ‘ise kekere, owo nla’ (small work but big rewards) has led many into avoidable headaches, including scams.

Initially, I ignored all the news of people getting astronomical returns from their ‘investments’ after just three weeks. I saw various testimonials everywhere but resisted the pressure.

The Ponzi schemes came with very fanciful names, and new ones sprang up weekly with ‘investors’ eager to put money in Week 1 so they could cycle out quickly. It was when a friend showed me proof of his investments and returns that I decided to try it out.

When you have little, you want more. When you get more, you desire even more. But when you lose it, you realize little was enough. Share on X

You’re usually encouraged to start with money you can afford to lose, but it’s a bait. Once your fish swallows the bait, you’re hooked. Most schemes started with 16,000 naira. By Week 3, your reward is 32,000 naira. Many often roll over the proceeds to get 64,000 naira by Week 5.

If you roll over again, you get 127,000 naira, and this is where it gets interesting. If you roll over 127,000 naira, you’ll get almost half a million in just seven weeks. No bank or investment will pay this kind of return.

That was the situation around 2008/2009 when those schemes ran amok. There was a particular rave in Ibadan, and I was introduced to the wife of the owner of the company. I asked her if the scheme was genuine. She replied in the affirmative—but what was I expecting her to say?

I also asked what businesses they were investing in that gave them such crazy margins. ‘Oil and gas’ was the ready answer. I saw a particular fellow, one of the agents, cruising in a tokunbo car. It was purchased via the proceeds of ‘investment.’ A friend also bought a plot of land. 

Could all these people be wrong? You would never know unless you found out.

I was paid an allowance at work, so I took it and headed for the bank where the account of this particular company was domiciled. I paid it in and collected my teller. I can’t recall the exact week I joined, but I was full of expectation.

I was about to join the league of millionaires. In just a few weeks, my life would never be the same again. The countdown started. A short while later, I began hearing rumors about some kind of trouble with the company.

‘It’s not possible,’ I told myself. Not when I finally decided to invest. Which kain wahala be dis! (What kind of problem is this!) I went to the company’s office at Adamasingba in Ibadan. It was shut. I met ‘fellow investors’ there, cursing and wailing.

Anyway, I knew the wife of the owner of the company, so that should offer me some form of immunity. I called her number. It was switched off. I tried that number every five minutes, expecting to hear the woman’s reassuring voice. I’ve not seen the woman to date.

I got home and started plotting how I would recover from this temporary setback. The problem with many is that they don’t know when to cut their losses and call it quits. I was told about a very fresh scheme that was in its second week. 

I thought maybe the problem with the previous one was that it had already matured before I started. I borrowed some funds to invest in the new scheme. I was happy when I cycled out in two weeks and was paid.

Now, this is my Ebenezer. I rolled over immediately. I got back the new rewards in two weeks. I thought it was Ebenezer, but maybe it’s Rehoboth—open doors. Greed has a way of sucking one in.

Then I had a thought. Why was I investing small? Why not look for money to borrow and invest big-time so I could cash out big-time? Little investment, little returns, but a big investment will yield bigger returns.

If I had invested big a few weeks ago, I would have cashed out big. The words of Lao Tzu come to mind: ‘There is no calamity greater than lavish desires. There is no greater guilt than discontentment. And there is no greater disaster than greed.’

I borrowed some more and added it to my existing investment. I was waiting for my biggest payout ever.

Mo fe blow—I wanted to hit the jackpot. I started calculating all the things I would use the payout for. My house was uncompleted then. I imagined the kind of roofing I would instruct my architect to use—state-of-the-art and very modern with beautiful finishing. Greed will always make you spend before you earn—at least in your mind.

Quick money schemes are rarely what they seem. Greed will have you spending money you haven’t earned on things you don’t need. Share on X

The payout never came. I was expecting a breakthrough, but I was broken—through and through. Around that time, there was another pyramid scheme where the investment amount was in dollars, and part of the reward was traveling around the world.

The name was carefully crafted to depict freedom, and we called ourselves a club. Anyone who registered was to look for downlines to register. The more people you registered under you, the more you earned. You could check your position by logging in to an online platform.

One day, we discovered the scheme had gone bust. Many were left weeping and gnashing their teeth. This was my experience and the precursor to my dabbling in forex. Many go from frying pan to fire in a bid to solve their money troubles. I was heavily in debt. My savings were gone, and I owed two major creditors. I was getting letters reminding me of my outstanding indebtedness.

You see, MMM, Get Help, Flip Cash, Binomo, and a few others that came around recently are just recycled versions of those older ones. These schemes will keep thriving on people’s greed. There is actually nothing new under the sun.

Here’s one of the lessons I learned during that turbulent period: when you have little, you want more. When you get more, you desire even more. But when you lose it, you realize little was enough.

The good news is I was able to resolve my indebtedness in two years. I’ve shared this background so that anyone who is indebted will understand that no matter how deep you are in that hole—even if you made silly money mistakes—you can get out and take control of your finances.

Now, how did I get out of the hole? I will show you in Part 3.

Luke 12:15 ERV: Then Jesus said to them, “Be careful and guard against all kinds of greed. People do not get life from the many things they own.”