NewStats: 3,261,389 , 8,173,874 topics. Date: Thursday, 29 May 2025 at 06:29 AM 2j5h16

aremuforlife:

Even the electronics are cheaper in Nigeria than Europe,. I can attest to that.

That means we r importing substandard ones into the country. Blame it on SON. Very useless entity. Na we de do ourselves

Kpomosauce:
so in essence dollar has more value than naira?

You can come to that conclusion only when the compare the purchasing power of the equivalent values in the local economy. If $1=#500, what can $1 do for you in US and what will #500 do for you in Nigeria?

This analysis is riddled with lies . The reason the US might appear as portrayed is because of production costs. Nigeria basically imports from China, the OP should do a comparison with China

Idiiot.. see the mumu comparison. It is Easier to get 100$ in America than 37000 in Nigeria

Openbusiness:
Mr man don't be clever by half, if you want to compare, compare of equal grounds. You can't be mentioning average business man in Nigeria and then saying average person in America. Why not say average business man in America too. Cuz that will expose your errors. Do you know how many millionaires America produces per year? Far far far better than your Nigeria.

if you want to go by equal grounds, I can bet that Nigeria produces more naira millionaires than dollar millionaires in US. What is even one million naira? #100, 000 x 10. So you see, you can't compare the value of the currencies on equal ground. Every currency and its purchasing power is peculiar to their local economy.

Obas101:

There is no job in US that will charge you $1 per hour. Now compare that to #500 per hour. The average earning in US is about $20 per hour... Now think about it again

But that does dispute the fact that 1$ (500 naira) in US cannot get you the same value as 500 naira in Nigeria does it?

This has to be the Most foolish thread I've seen on Nairaland

iHart:
if an american company pays their staff $25, 000 per year, will you accept to work remotely for that company from Nigeria for a pay of #25, 000 per year?

See, don't come up with half intelligent discuss. If you want to talk about wages, then let's talk from a point of total intelligence.

How much is the highest minimum wage in Nigeria? N30,000 per month.

How much is the highest minimum wage in America? $15 per hour. Now average legal working hours = 40 hours per week = 8 hours per day (calculated at five days a week). Therefore, you have it as 40 h/w X 4 weeks a month = 160 hours per month. So highest minimum wage = $15 x 160 = $2,400 per month.

Therefore,

Highest minimum wage Nigeria = N30,000 per month (20 days)
Highest minimum wage America = $2,400 per month (20 days)

As a human being that you are, please be 100% honest, question number
1) where would you rather work for highest minimum wage, Nigeria or America?
2) which country will give you the best quality of life and best value for your money when you spend it, is it Nigeria or America?

seanblaise:

Most times, its not about the work you do, its about WHERE you do the work. Quality of life life differs from one place to another. For instance, here in Lagos, house rents are generally more expensive on the island than on the mainland. A house of 1million naira on the mainland may go for 700k or 800k on the mainland. So if an individual earns 500k a month and lives on the island (where things are more expensive) and another individual earns 350k and lives on the mainland where things are not so expensive you discover that both of them enjoy the same amenities irrespective of the fact that their salaries differ. This post is not in defense of Nigeria (because things westerners take for granted are seen as luxury here), but to further prove that someone who earns 2k dollars sweeping streets abroad may have the same savings with someone who earns 400k frying akara in Nigeria. In Nigeria you can beg your landlord to extend your due date to pay rent but overseas you dont even know who your landlord is. Tell me why you need dollars and I will show you how our government has failed us.
In conclusion, As long as the status quo remains, we spend less on our local commodities( things we produce locally like from raw materials to finished products.) and spend more when we patronize imported goods. Unfortunately, the west has an upper hand internationally because we are an import dependent economy. If we stop importing, we will grow. If we continue importing, then the dollar continues dictating the strength of our economy.

Except I don't get your points, lemme ask you

Is cost of living similar to quality of life? If a 3 bedroom flat is 500k in lagos and 250k in Onitsha, will you say it is because the standard of living in lagos is higher than that of Onitsha?

On quality of life, except you don't want to tell yourself the truth. There is no difference between lagos Island and lagos mainland except you live in makoko slum. The difference in pay and rent has nothing to do with quality of life as long as Nigeria is concerned because you are getting virtually nothing for price difference.

Why will you beg your landlord if your income source is certain like it is in western countries? This is a symptom of diseased country.

You can't just stop importing. There's a reason why Nigeria as a country is import dependent. It is not as if it is a hobby, it is borne out of necessities.


Edit: Now I got the point you are trying make. It is basically on saving. Shalom

iHart:
Which currency in the world has its one unit equivalent to one unit of dollar? If $1 is equivalent to #500, you compare the purchasing power of $1 and #500 in the respective country!

Can N500 buy the Internet Data $1 can buy? Can N5000 buy you the power $10 can?
I never said naira and dollar should be equal. I said they were once equal.

iHart:
You can come to that conclusion only when the compare the purchasing power of the equivalent values in the local economy. If $1=#500, what can $1 do for you in US and what will #500 do for you in Nigeria?

why 500 naira to 1 dollar? why not put equal amounts head on in each country?

KendrickAyomide:
Idiiot.. see the mumu comparison. It is Easier to get 100$ in America than 37000 in Nigeria

This is very very true

The argument baseless and meaningless

CHRISDMANAGER:
You may argue that Naira has more purchasing Power within our borders,But I still want to let you understand that Nigeria is an Importing nation,we are dependent on the whites for so many things and ,when you want to trade you convert to hard currency..

If you are an Importer or you are about to go school Abroad you will understand the reason...By the time chinedu importer imports goods and tells you that dollar is high you will understand the relativity....

Imagine if I want to school Abroad and of course I will pay via hard currency, let's say the school fee is $200 Dollars,convert 200 dollars to Dollar/Naira exchange rate when it was 200 that will be #40,000 in naira ,now convert it to $388 rate now that will be Approximately #78,000 thousand Naira..

This is just my own little analogy,why I will say you are not wrong to some extent,you still can't disregard this points stated here unless you are shying away from the truth..

That's his point exactly,he said Nigeria is unproductive that's why we complain of the valuof the dollar,we need to start producing massively stuff n nigeria

iHart:
if you want to go by equal grounds, I can bet that Nigeria produces more naira millionaires than dollar millionaires in US. What is even one million naira? #100, 000 x 10. So you see, you can't compare the value of the currencies on equal ground. Every currency and its purchasing power is peculiar to their local economy.

Lies! America produces more billionaires per year than any other country in the world; and before you become a billionaire you must millions. How many billionaires does your country produce per year? Legitimate business not yahoo yahoo and government looting. You can't be bringing up imaginary facts. America has statistics about the wealth creation in its economy. Then common sense should tell you that the biggest economy in the world will also be producing the biggest wealth. I mean, this is a very common sense. How can someone even want to debate on what is already obvious.

Pointless

@iHart, you are manufacturer, so you should understand better. Let's even ignore the terrible FX and focus on local manufacturing. For a product that is 100% manufactured in Nigeria locally with 100% local materials VS a product that is 100% manufactured locally in America, against the local currency in each country, which currency gives you the higher purchasing power: is it Naira or Dollar? Even in this regard, the naira fails. As per their own shale oil, locally refined, Americans buy petrol like $0.6 per liter approx. (or like under $3 per gallon). Many people including me used to confuse it sometimes and quote this per gallon figure as per liter figure. Let's forget about current indices of importatiok of fuel and base our computation 100% on local refinery for Nigeria. As per 100% locally manufactured Nigeria crude oil and local refinery aka Dangote refinery (when it starts working), willl Nigeria ever sell petrol at less than N1 per liter? Even in the dream, it can't happen. Yet some people say Naira is better than dollar. This kind of lie is EVIL!

Openbusiness:
Mr man don't be clever by half, if you want to compare, compare of equal grounds. You can't be mentioning average business man in Nigeria and then saying average person in America. Why not say average business man in America too. Cuz that will expose your errors. Do you know how many millionaires America produces per year? Far far far better than your Nigeria.

All things being equal, is your university degree in Nigeria not equivalent to College degree in America? Or is a University degree in China not the same thing as a college degree in America?. Different names, same thing. Where you argue is when you compare the value of of both degrees. This is the reason why I get so angry when government try their artificial solutions to make the naira strong. How can you keep on 'subsidizing' the naira? Allow the naira to flow in the market then you will know the exact equivalent of the currency. Officially, federal government is pegging the exchange value at 380 naira per dollar. But the actual value of the one dollar is close to 500 naira in the open market. What they do is this, when government wants to spend money in dollars, the CBN exchange for them at 380 naira per dollar ( same thing with people like dangote, otedola, Arthur Eze). This means that government is indirectly stealing 120 naira from the coffers of the nation to fund their spending. Now if we use the market value of the dollar which is 500 naira, and every one accesses dollar at the market value (including the government) then they will realise that Nigeria as a nation is actually spending more. This is the reason why there is hike in fuel price, electricity price etc. They are trying to use every avenue available to cushion the effect of the dollar on national spending. If Buhari was wise or if he surrounds himself with wise people, he will know that man Labour is still very cheap in Nigeria, hence he will ban importation of EVERYTHING we can locally produce. Cheap labour is one of the most important factors in production. Do you know that Apple prefers to manufacture its gadgets in China than in America?. This is because labour is cheap in China. Using cheap labour will save a lot of forex for us then we can focus on learning to manufacture those things we can not produce in Nigeria.
Here is a secret the west will not tell you; Oil is still VERY VERY valuable although its not the cleanest source of energy but they have been able to understand the mechanism of action of crude oil to a very high extent. In china for instance, they can develop any kind of machine you want as long as it works on crude oil derivatives. These machines work in the same principle ( conversion of chemical energy into mechanical energy).
P. S. I study economics for fun.....

interesting

Since you are in a comparimg mood OP, Can you also campare for us how much you can earn per hour in New York to how much you can earn per hour in Nigeria.
You can comfortably earn in a day what you can't earn in a month in Nigeria.

seanblaise:

All things being equal, is your university degree in Nigeria not equivalent to College degree in America? Or is a University degree in China not the same thing as a college degree in America?. Different names, same thing. Where you argue is when you compare the value of of both degrees. This is the reason why I get so angry when government try their artificial solutions to make the naira strong. How can you keep on 'subsidizing' the naira? Allow the naira to flow in the market then you will know the exact equivalent of the currency. Officially, federal government is pegging the exchange value at 380 naira per dollar. But the actual value of the one dollar is close to 500 naira in the open market. What they do is this, when government wants to spend money in dollars, the CBN exchange for them at 380 naira per dollar ( same thing with people like dangote, otedola, Arthur Eze). This means that government is indirectly stealing 120 naira from the coffers of the nation to fund their spending. Now if we use the market value of the dollar which is 500 naira, and every one accesses dollar at the market value (including the government) then they will realise that Nigeria as a nation is actually spending more. This is the reason why there is hike in fuel price, electricity price etc. They are trying to use every avenue available to cushion the effect of the dollar on national spending. If Buhari was wise or if he surrounds himself with wise people, he will know that man Labour is still very cheap in Nigeria, hence he will ban importation of EVERYTHING we can locally produce. In doing this, he will save a lot of forex then we can focus on learning to manufacture those things we can not produce in Nigeria.
Here is a secret the west will not tell you; Oil is still VERY VERY valuable although its not the cleanest source of energy but they have been able to understand the mechanism of action of crude oil to a very high extent. In china for instance, they can develop any kind of machine you want as long as it works on crude oil derivatives. These machines work in the same principle ( conversion of chemical energy into mechanical energy).
P. S. I study economics for fun.....

Even at N500 per Dollar, i dey tell u, it is still subsidized. If they allow free flow market to determine currency value, Nigeria under this Buhari regime can sink as low as N1500 per dollar. If they born d government well, let them try it and kukuma sell d country on eBay. How many Nigeria crude oil ships are still parking on the ocean as they continue begging for buyers. Crude oil s for more than 90% of what makes other currencies exchange with naira. Now that crude oil sector is shaking, which other aspect of economy is making people want to exchange with naira, very few. That's why the govt keeps subsidizing the economy, if they don't Naira is finished and they know it.

Firespitterz:


Except I don't get your points, lemme ask you

Is cost of living similar to quality of life? If a 3 bedroom flat is 500k in lagos and 250k in Onitsha, will you say it is because the standard of living in lagos is higher than that of Onitsha?

On quality of life, except you don't want to tell yourself the truth. There is no difference between lagos Island and lagos mainland except you live in makoko slum. The difference in pay and rent has nothing to do with quality of life as long as Nigeria is concerned because you are getting virtually nothing for price difference.

Why will you beg your landlord if your income source is certain like it is in western countries? This is a symptom of diseased country.

You can't just stop importing. There's a reason why Nigeria as a country is import dependent. It is not as if it is a hobby, it is borne out of necessities.


Edit: Now I got the point you are trying make. It is basically on saving. Shalom

Thank God you finally got the point. Quality of life and standard of living should not be confused. Quality of life refers to the basic amenities an individual has access to based on their location usually it is a government induced factor. (eg is electricity, medicare, infrastructure, education, etc) while standard of living refers to an individuals economic strength. For example, Obalende and ikoyi are both in Lagos Island LGA. If the Primary Health Care facilities in Lagos Island LGA are upto standard, then both the politicians and the low income earners can access the same health facility. This is Quality of life. Now the politician can decide to always have lunch at Dominos while a low income earner (aware that his financial strength is poor) can opt for a road side canteen. This is standard of living.
In summary, quality of life is a function of the government while standard of living is a function of an individual.

True talk. If you are a reasonable person, you will definitely understand what the writer is saying.
But for those who don't know how currencies are valued at home by what you can afford to buy locally, they will not understand.
If you are not living a life of consuming international goods and services, you don't have any problems with how much dollars is exchanged with naira.
For those who are trading internationally, yes, they are affected by dollars exchange rates.

Starcrest1:
Naira is not more valuable than the dollar but it's just about numbers. This will make sense to people who are converting the dollar to naira but if you stay in the US, it wouldn't mean much to you because the value of the goods is proportional to what you earn.

Some people earn $2000 a week. That's what some average earners earn in six months in Nigeria. Now imagine renting apartment to that average earner for $1500 a month it's not possible naa.

So the value comes in play when you compare it with what you earn understand?

Biodun556

rottennaija:


Please explain

My income is N1000 and a litre of petrol N30. Mr B's income is N100 and a litre of petrol in his Country is N20

Which of the two is operating under a better economy

seanblaise:

You still miss the point. Strength of a currency does not lie in the digit number but in the value of such currency in the international market. Value is the watch word and not digit. High school in the US is the same as Secondary school here in Nigeria. College degree in the US is the same as University degree in Nigeria. Where the disparity comes is when you begin to measure the value of education offered abroad as compared with what is obtainable here in Nigeria.
This simply means that you should not focus on the digits of a currency but on the strength of the currency. Here is what it means; if the federal minimum wage in America is 1000 dollars per month, and the federal minimum wage in Nigeria is 480k per month, then it means people in both countries earn exactly the same amount of money irrespective of the fact that the amount in Naira is way higher than the amount in dollars but the value is equal( if the exchange rate is 480 naira per dollar).
P. S. The minimum wage values I used are not real. Its just an analogy.

Forget about FX. Look at 100% local production with local materials, and compare between the 2 countries, your country Nigeria cannot measure up to America is any SINGLE way as per local content value, and the naira currency is BENEATH the dollar as per local purchasing power within the 2 local economies, let's not even look at purchasing power outside the local economies. If you put a degree from the best Universities in USA (Yale, Princeton, Harvard, MIT, UCLA etc) on the table and then place a degree from the best Universities in Nigeria (UI, OAU, UNN, Unilag, Covenant etc) on the table as per 100% locally produced content, please tell me, in the eyes of the world, that is in the WORLD'S FREE MARKET, which countries degree has a better value as per local manufacturing content? Which country's locally manufactured degree has better acceptance in the global market of employment? Or do you want to say that since $1 = N500, so therefore, we should measure the degree value of the certificate as MIT BSc First Class should not be compared with UI BSc First Class but a UI PhD? Does that logic make sense? Because you people are saying we shouldn't compare $1 to N1. Lol, issokay

yaki84:

That means we r importing substandard ones into the country. Blame it on SON. Very useless entity. Na we de do ourselves

No, the European importers make more profit than African importers do because of the high purchasing power in Europe and high cost of living.

seanblaise:
Its always good we do our research before writing a post of commenting on a post. In this article, the OP tried to compare goods and services we produce locally to goods and services produced locally in the western world. While he has some valid points, his analogy was not holistic.
Lets look at it from this angle; The world sees the US dollar as a global currency. If a nation or an individual wants to trade internationally, he/she has to convert his funds into the dollar in other to trade. In Nigeria for instance, our naira is a second class currency, so when ever you deposit 1000 naira in a bank, the CBN only views such funds using the lens of the dollar. It simply means that taking the current 460 Naira per dollar, an individual who has 1000 Naira in his bank only has a little above 2 dollars. Its the exchange rate should drop to about 200 Naira per Dollar, it means that same individual now has 5 dollars domiciled with the CBN. Like someone said above, the average wage in America is $4800 ( not sure about this though), this loosely translates to #2208000. How many people earn more than 2million naira per month in Nigeria.
The CBN does not even keep your funds in Naira, the keep the dollar equivalent for you and that is why even our own National reserves are kept in dollars.
Here is the trick which confuses many people. The value/strength of a currency is not reflected on the digits of the currency, it is rather a function of the purchasing power parity (PPP) and global acceptibility. What this means is that, the british pounds may have a lower digit strength than the dollar, but its not stronger than the dollar in the international market. 1$ is equivalent to 0.79 pounds sterling, but when you want to trade internationally, you still have to convert to the dollar. That does not mean the British pounds is weak. Another instance is comparing a successful and developed nation like Japan to America. The Japanese Yen trades at 105yen per dollar. This doesn't mean Japan as a country is doing badly.
Ask yourself this question, If you earn 50k in Nigeria, will you be paid 50,000 dollars for the same exact jobe you do in Nigeria in America??

Biodun556

celeiyke:
This analysis is riddled with lies . The reason the US might appear as portrayed is because of production costs. Nigeria basically imports from China, the OP should do a comparison with China

Most American companies have factories in China and just istrative offices in the States.

U can still buy bread with coins. I mean cents in the USA.
U can buy bread in pence in UK.
But the quality of those bread u buy in dollars no be agege bread oh.

But then I understand ur point.

The quality of life there is better than here.
That one has no argument .
But then the genes of the black.man is quite tough. Na die hard be Nigeria.

engrsyer:
Why not also compare the minimum wage their govts give their civil servants with ours? Why not compare the social amenities their govt gave to her citizens with ours? Most State Govts in Nigeria are yet to implement the N30,000/Month salary for civil servants which is just US$78.945/month at an official exchange rate of N380/1$.

In Nigeria, Federal Govt pays their civil servants of GL 08:05 just N60,000/month then compare to what those countries you mentioned to their graduates(GL 08:05) before you now talk about how our private sectors are paying graduates 30,000 or less.

In US/UK they can never pay their graduates less than N1,000,000 in a month when even those doing miniature jobs are earning more than that as a semi skilled person in a month.

Op, do you think if FG/State Govts are paying the least worker 500k people would complain?
If you earn 500k in a month in Nigeria and your total expenditure as a poor Nigerian is 300k which comprises monthly feeding, housing, transport, education, utility bills and health people would complain?

My dear think.

Biodun556

Obas101:
Nigerians go school but nothing dey their head. How can you compare the same amount of money in buying a bag of pure water. Do you know how much a cleaner earns in a month in US? A cleaners earning in a month can pay a standard house rent in US.

Biodun556