Rather than succumbing to peer pressure, stay motivated!

Emeka (actual name withheld) was my colleague at work and also a medical doctor. He was from the eastern part of the country, and we both worked at the same private hospital here in Kwara State. The most industrious tribe, I will say, are the Igbos. You are likely to find an Igbo man in almost all the villages in Nigeria, even up to the far north. Emeka, however, was a medical professional and my senior at work, but we related more as friends and co-workers.

Emeka disclosed some of his experiences and intentions to me. He spent the larger chunk of his internship savings on his mom by building a house for her in the village. I didn't see the need for that, but it was a worthwhile decision a child can make for his parents. His finances were not buoyant, which was understandable.

I had a Volkswagen 4 salon car that I drove around town. It looked neat but was beginning to give me problems, and I thought of disposing of it as soon as possible. Emeka showed interest, but I declined, avoiding having the buyer of a problematic car within my vicinity. The truth is that, even if the car didn't have problems, I wouldn't still sell it to someone within my vicinity.

Emeka disclosed to me that he wanted to desperately buy a car. The year was 2020, and things were fairly stable. The Volkswagen was the second car I was using, and I had experienced enough trouble with cars. From Emeka's presentation, he wanted to upgrade his status among us and even with his family back home. He wanted to buy a car so he could travel back to the east so as to show his family and relatives his achievements. Also, he wanted a tinted car so he could live the life of a boss in secrecy.

I cautioned him against buying Nigerian used cars. I have never fancied Nigerian used cars because I know sellers would never be sincere with the buyer concerning things that may be wrong with the car. Emeka wanted to have the car by December so he could travel home for the holidays with it.

The problem, however, was that he had limited funds; thus, he convinced me to join a private cooperative society with him, to which I obliged since it could be another form of savings for me. Emeka was able to save some money with the cooperative society and added some loans he took from Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) via his phone.

By August of 2020, I had a state appointment, leaving Emeka still at the private hospital where we worked. By late November, Emeka had told me that he had bought a Jeep for ₦950, 000, which was a Murano. I reacted with a 'wow' because I knew he had gone into a bad buy just because he wanted to travel down to the village with a car.

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With apologies to Murano users, but here in Nigeria, it is not common, and that could mean there would be limited mechanics to handle it when problems developed. Another thing I was interested in knowing was who inspected the car for him since he had never owned a car before. And finally, who buys a Jeep for such an amount unless he is buying a packaged, damaged good, which was the case?

I drove the Murano when I went to visit him, which was barely three days after he bought the car. There, I saw many faults in the car, and I told him straight up that it was a bad buy and he should work on getting his money back if possible. Painfully, he got the car sold about two weeks later to another client at a price of ₦450, 000.

Here, he was back to a loss and no car. He sorted out some urgent loans with the money he got from selling the car and went back to his legs on the street without having any cars to take to the East during December. Emeka did not learn his lesson; he bought yet another Honda car for about ₦1,150,000, if I can recall clearly. The type that looks like a matchbox is the Honda CR-V 2002 model, I think. And yet again, immediately after he informed me, I tested the car and suggested that he return it immediately. He bought the car just outside the gate of the hospital from car vendors that hang around the roadside, selling used vehicles. He didn't disclose how much was returned to him, but I was glad he needed my advice.

I wondered why he didn't inform me before making those two purchases, probably because I was not readily in town and he desperately wanted to make the purchases. Also, he was using borrowed money to buy bad products. I advised him to stay off Nigerian used cars and probably have tangible money before making any purchases.

Emeka returned to the east barely a year later. He didn't keep me posted about his life's achievements, but I assume and believe he must have learned his lesson.

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PEER PRESSURE EFFECT

This is mostly negative as it is drawn from the achievements in our environment or by people around us, which prompts us to take similar or sometimes more drastic steps in order to achieve the same or similar results. I have also been a victim of peer pressure. My first taste of alcohol was because of a girlfriend I had. She didn't ask me to drink alcohol; however, I wanted her to feel comfortable around me. It took me a while to stop drinking, even though I consumed it only occasionally. I'm sure I haven't tasted it for at least two years.

Peer pressures are mostly negative, but motivations are positive and usually positively directed. We can be motivated to work harder or engage in healthy competitions, but anything else is negative. Many people have had depressing thoughts and engaged in unhealthy practices all because they wanted to be accepted or identified as relevant within a group or society.

Here is my entry into #aprilinleo monthly and daily prompts. You can participate via this LINK

Motivation is a necessity for me, while peer pressure should be quickly identified and discarded.

Thank you for reading. I would love to have your comments and contributions.