Seeing the word "loan" sends so many kinds of memories to my brain, because my experiences with bank loans have really not been funny at all. From the onset, I had not really been a fan of loans and lending of any sort.
Because I remembered a time when MTN (A popular networking company here in Nigeria) was giving out 10,000 Naira loans to its users. All you needed to have was an MTN phone number that has been linked to your bank and BVN. Most of my friends back then jumped into this opportunity and took loans of 10,000 Naira each.
I refused to join them because I had a bad feeling about the consequences that might follow, and I was right. According to the agreement, the loan was supposed to be paid back in a month's time with the interest that must have been added. Many of my friends couldn't pay back, and their interest continued to increase till this day (their debts might have accumulated to millions by now😂).
Well, as we all expected after a few months of not paying back the MTN company reported the BVNs of their debtors to the appropriate authorities and they were all sanctioned; they won't be able to collect any kind of loan from any government-approved bank across the globe until they pay back their debts.
Just when I thought I had escaped these bank loan issues and to think that I was always laughing at my friends for falling into MTN's trap. Then came a need for me to get loans from the bank to buy a tricycle (also called Keke here) which I would use for business.
When I went to my bank to enquire how much loan I could get from them, they told me that I wasn't eligible for loans mainly because I had no job or any tangible property to set as collateral. It was really a challenge for me because I needed to buy that tricycle so badly.
When I saw that there was no other urgent way to raise 800,000 thousand naira by myself, I went to my dad to beg him to take the loan on my behalf. Dad was a civil worker and he was earning around 90,000-100,000 thousand naira per month.
If not for other monthly family bills and responsibilities, Dad would have saved up some of the money for me within an interval of 1 year or more, but there was no other urgent way but an appeal for a loan. Dad later agreed with my opinion and took a loan of around 800,000 thousand with an agreement that some percentage of the loan should be deducted from his salary upon every monthly payment.
We successfully bought the tricycle, and I got all the paperwork requirements needed to start up my new business. I worked like never before with that tricycle, as I would wake up by 5 a.m. and start carrying passengers till 9-10 p.m.
I would give a higher percentage of the money I made for the day to my Dad so that he could start paying off the bank loan in time. I gradually continued to regain the bank loan until I became down with sickness for some weeks.
I couldn't go to work for those few weeks, so I called on one of my most trusted friends (Kelvin) to come help me use my tricycle to carry passengers. I agreed to share the profit made for these few weeks with him, because I had no other option, at least it's better than keeping the tricycle at home.
To cut the long story short, my trusted friend together with some hoodlums used my tricycle to carry out a robbery attack on a street close to a police station. I never knew what caused an innocent boy like Kelvin to associate with those gangsters.
The robbery operation wasn't successful, as all the bad boys were caught including Kelvin. The tricycle was destroyed and demolished by some angry passersby. It was now up to me and my family to pay the remaining part of the loan without any support from the business we invested the loan.
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My Dad's salary which wasn't even enough in the first place is now being divided to pay loans. It was one of the worst years of my life, as I saw my family go through alot because of me. It took a long while to repay the loans and interest, but am glad we survived.
As it stands, I don't have any advice for those seeking loans oo, as for me am just avoiding it, lol. But on a serious note, if the need arises to get a loan, it's fine. You just have to make sure you have a working pay-back strategy.
Hehehe, loan is a two edged sword, it can either build you or destroy you. Sorry about your experience. Never conclude that a person is trustworthy, people can be so funny. Just like life pushed you to acquire a loan to get a tricycle, it's possible it was life that pushed him to do what he did. Well, it has happened and the sweetest part is you have learned your lessons
Yeah brother, I really learned alot from that experience; not to trust others to the point of putting all your hopes on them. Of a truth loan is a two edged sword affair.
wow this is a crazy story O.O. I'm glad you guys were able to pay it off . Ya that's for sure. You definitely need to plan properly how you paying it back and probably better not to borrow under a family members name @_@.
Yeah brother, I have learned alot from that experience already, proper planning before getting a loan is key.
That's great. That's life we learn