Oteh splashes a billion Naira on a single book

The -appointed Vice President (Treasury) of the World Bank, Arunma Oteh, on Tuesday, has bought 200,000 copies of A-Z of Persona Finance, a book authored by Nimi Akinkugbe of Money Matters.

According to her, a copy of the book will serve as one of her reference materials as she resumes her new job on Monday.

She made the purchase today in Lagos at the presentation of the new book. With the book going for N5,000 per copy, Oteh will be coughing our N1bn to clear the bill.

She announced a purchase of 200,000 copies of the book, copies she promised to give to young Nigerian graduates, who she said direly required lessons in personal asset management.

Oteh, a former Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said this at the public presentation of A-Z of Personal Finance, said financial literacy was key to the country’s transformation and economic breakthrough.

“Everybody that knows me knows that I am passionate about financial literacy and education. One of the things that will transform our nation is building financially responsible citizens,” she said.

Oteh said financially literate citizens would contribute to the attainment of the sustainable infrastructural development goal of the country. She said government alone could not raise the amount required for infrastructural transformation, which was put at $3.9 trillion some years ago.

According to her, financial literacy is a life-long skill every parent should continue to teach their children even when they have grown into adulthood.

Describing A-Z of Personal Finance as a great book, Oteh said nobody could teach the topic better than Akinkugbe, who had touched several lives through her training initiatives.  

Akinkugbe said the book is a product of her experiences as a banker. While in banking, she recalled, she said people earned large money just to fall back to poverty few years later as a result of poor knowledge of resource management.

To make Nigerians financially literate, she said, “We should use social media and other means” to create awareness among a large number of people. She said schools should be included in plans to educate young Nigerians on money issues.

“The purpose of the A – Z of Personal Finance is to remove the mystique surrounding savings and investments and to provide readers with information and tips on matters concerning the management of their money throughout their lives.

Soboma Ajumogobia, Akinkugbe’s sibling, said the author picked interest in financial literacy at a very tender age.