The word Sapa has been the most used word on social media lately. Excerpts like ‘‘Omo Sapa dey’‘, ‘’I get Sapa‘’, ‘‘Sapa dey my house’‘ and so on have been rending the air. For some it is fun, for some it is cruise, for some it is legit. In all, one is left to wonder in the view of its fame, what it really is. Is it a human being or a perhaps a virus that has come to take the place of the infamous COVID-19?
A dig into the word “Sapa” would inform you it originated from the Nigerian Pidgin English to depict a state of being extremely broke or poor, especially after spending extravagantly.
There are three classes of people in the world. We have the Higher Class: those that have enough. We have the Middle Class: associated with relative poverty, that is, those that have but never enough. And lastly, the Lower Class: relating to absolute poverty; in other words, the less privileged.
Approximately, 34% of the population in the world are classified as middle class, while 47% of the population are classified as either poor or lower class with the remaining percentage, the higher class. The gulf is telling.
Now bringing this statistics home to the Nigerian Youth who mostly have taken to the slang “Sapa” to depict their financial state – jocular or otherwise. Only a few of these people can be categorized under the Higher Class with the rest struggling to get their way out of absolute poverty, be it legally or illegally.
But the pain in all this is that, we have a high rate of “unwise youth” who with the little or much they have, they end up in the web of Sapa. Their hard-earned money – legally or illegally – wasted in lavish expenses that could have been substituted for cost-effective ones, that would have them save for the future. It is almost as though when they receive money and spend, they don’t factor in that there is a tomorrow, and that they would live in it.
That being a frivolous factor that causes Sapa to youths nowadays, let’s delve into the environmental factor, and that is where the Nigerian economy comes to play. The economy of Nigeria is a big culprit in this regard with most Nigerians both old and young impoverished as a result of high cost of living. To put it mildly, most people find it difficult to afford basic needs because of inflation.
If you bring this to the campus, the case is worse as most students depend on the little their parents send to feed on, making them preys to Sapa.
In all, the question is: Is this all black? Is there no way out of this? At least, some youths are living well in this economy; how are they managing to do that. How can I avoid Sapa as a student?
Here are the tips you need:
1. Always have a budget
This covers all sorts of conventional wisdom. Don’t go shopping for clothes when you’re hungry, manage your loans and cut out unnecessary costs. Figure out yourself. What gets measured gets managed. If you keep track of what’s coming in and going out of your bank account, it will make you focus on the cost of your purchases, and you’ll automatically start saving money.
2. Be creative with your activities
One of the biggest non-essential costs for students is social life. Most social activities cost money, but there are cheaper ways to have fun.
Instead of going out to a restaurant, why not buy food and cook in your house? Rather than going to the movies with friends, why not watch a few classics on Netflix at your place? Instead of hitting the town on Friday and Saturday night, why not just have fun at home. The truth is you can create fun in your personal space and not necessarily at some venues that exist to take your money.
3. Venture into Investment and Have Savings
As a student, you shouldn’t devour or consume all your income. Make reservations for tomorrow. Venture into profitable businesses instead of exhausting the whole of it. Save as little as you can so you can have in the dry days. Look out for small-scale businesses you could venture into. They fetch huge profits in return if you are serious with it.
To end, I would advise you not to live your life to impress, live your life to express who you truly are.
Oladele Akinyemi is an ND1 Student of the Department of Mass Communication.
Nice piece
This would really help.