Do you know the Most Valuable Commodity in Nigerian Market?

     

The most valuable commodity in the Nigerian market is …well, its not what you think. Can you guess? First of all lets define ‘value’. According to the dictionary ‘value’ is defined as:

  1) the importance, worth or usefulness of something  2)estimate of monetary worth

 So we clearly see that ‘value’ is a relative term. What is valuable to one person may not be valuable to another . So the most ‘valuable’ commodity in Nigeria may not necessary be the most valuable in the UK or in China for instance. So ‘value’ in our context can be defined as what Nigerians on average will find ‘most useful’, ‘most important’ and ‘has greatest estimate of monetary worth’ that is, people will be willing to pay for it. People pay more for what is scarce than what is abundant.

Ok, lets look at some possibilitites. First of all everyone would assume its crude oil or some oil derivative like petroleum or gas. These are among the most traded commodities in world but in Nigeria its not the most valuable. The most valuable commodity is also not to found in FMCG, agriculture or solid minerals. It cannot be found in telecoms, manufacturing, small scale business, currency trading or in the stock market. Certainly, its not to be found in the financial system.

The greatest and most valuable commodity in the Nigerian market is *drum roll*……integrity. Yes integrity is the single most valuable commodity in the Nigerian market and business space. Do you doubt me? Think about it for a minute. Its less abundant than every other commodity in this country that you can imagine. It is also the most desired quality in terms of business and market dynamics. By the way, commodity is also defined as ‘a useful valuable thing’. Sounds a lot like integrity. If your friend has integrity you could trust his loyalty in every situation. If your banker had integrity you could trust them with your life savings and every kobo you make. If politicians had integrity you would vote them into office every single time and trust they would do the job. If your phone network provider had integrity you would buy into every available product or service that was offered to you. In short, integrity is the key to unimaginable wealth. Integrity is business. Integrity drives business and builds economy. The level of a businesses integrity is proportion to its success in the long term. This is true for people, businesses and nations. In Nigeria integrity is lacking and is often never a subject of discussion. If something is not important to you then you can’t improve in it. Its no surprise that we are doing so badly.

By improving integrity in both personal affairs and business transactions, it is possible to make outstanding progress and turn around any difficult situation. It is time we shift focus from systemic problems and structural inefficiencies and focus on the real core issue. It is our lack of integrity.