I joined the service of the state government in August 2020, and while in the course of service to the state government and people of my state, I was informed of an opportunity to take triple of one's savings as a loan. I had several capital projects I wanted to execute, but they all seemed far reaching than I could afford. The major requirement of the cooperative society was that I must have contributed for at least six months. I joined them in December 2020 and began to save one hundred thousand Naira monthly into my savings for the purpose of taking a loan triple the amount I must have saved up. My target was about two million Naira.
By the time I was at six hundred thousand Naira, I was glaring for another job outside of the state government, and the choice was to either withdraw only my savings or take the loan I so much desired. I opted for the latter and took a loan of one million, eight hundred thousand Naira (N1,800,000) from the cooperative society. The repayment plan was for twenty-four months (two years) with an interest of one hundred and eight thousand Naira (N180,000) in addition. This was a fair deal for me, and I embraced it as a 'good' loan.
Beyond executing a major project for which the money would not be enough, I had some petty debts and financial obligations to solve, which I did with a fair share of the loan I took. Two major achievements I had with the loan were installing a solar power system in my parents house and securing three plots of land for myself in July 2021.
My family knew I took a loan to set up a 1 kVA solar system, which brought great relief to them and even now. Just two weeks after the solar system was installed, an item from the transformer feeding the community was stolen, and this plunged the residents into pitch darkness for the next two months. The solar system was not just timely but eased us from procuring fuel every now and then or experiencing the nuisance of the noise from the generator set. The cost of setting up the solar system was three hundred and thirteen thousand (N313,000), which we enjoyed for about two years, after which I got another inverter with higher power so as to sustain more load on the solar power system. This was at a cost of two hundred thousand Naira (N200,000). Well, setting up such a solar power system goes for about one million, seven hundred thousand Naira (N1,700,000), thus bringing us luck to have had the foresight for its installation three years ago.
My other capital project was to procure three plots of land at nine hundred thousand Naira (N900,000), and other paperwork and beacon set up rounded the cost to a million Naira. You must have heard that land appreciates. Two Decembers ago, 2022 precisely, each of the plots was valued at N500,000, and there, I made up my mind to hold on to it as a valuable asset. I still have the three plots of land to my name, in addition to a few other plots in other locations.
Paying back a loan is never an interesting or happy ordeal. Loans usually stifle one's finances, and the individual often needs to intentionally calculate how his lifestyle would be. My repayment was about eighty-two thousand Naira monthly (N82,000). By August and September of 2021, I started another job where the pay was just a bit better than the state government. I approached the cooperative society and demanded my monthly hundred thousand Naira be subdivided into loan servicing and savings at a ratio of 80:20, which was readily adhered to. Thankfully, I cleared the complete loan about a year later after closing down my previous savings with them. I never defaulted, even though repayment was inconvenient. I was permitted to continue my membership even after I had left the workforce of the state government, but I could not access any other loan.
Thank you for reading. I would love to have your comments and contributions.
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