Recently, someone very close to me and based in Nigeria asked me to help pay $1999 registration fee for an online course with a plan to return it the same day because she couldn’t make the transaction from Nigeria. Before I did the payment with my credit card, I asked what she was going to gain from the course and I also said it was a lot of money for an online course (not offered by a University).

She told me about the benefits of the course and agreed that it is a lot of money. But that it’s not as expensive as some courses she has come across before and that in the end, if she applies the knowledge, she will make the money back in no time. After she returned the money to me as she promised, I commended her for her wise decision and informed her how I did the same thing.  

I used part of the savings from the salary my former employer in Nigeria paid me while on study leave to invest in my education and training. In 2007, I attended a 5- day Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) biosafety workshop in Italy, organized by International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB). I used the salary to pay for my return ticket. Accommodation and feeding was provided by ICGEB. In 2009, I attended a conference in Harrogate, UK co-sponsored from the salary.

The same year, I used the same salary for a research visit to Centre for Food Safety, University of Georgia, USA. It was there I met the professor emeritus, Larry Beuchat a pioneer in food safety and other researchers that helped shape my research post PhD. It was also the same salary I used to purchase air ticket (accommodation and feeding were provided by UCDavis) to United States the following year to attend an Entrepreneurship course at University of California, Davis, where I learnt about how to turn research into a start-up.

The knowledge acquired from the course was also valuable when I had to write my book –Innovation and Investment, a step by step guide on how to create wealth. As I think about all the money I spent from the salary for my training, and the fact that I had to pay back to my former employer all the salary paid while doing my PhD after resigning, I do not have any regrets and grudges. Those trainings/learning/development helped me to stand out at the interview of my current job.

Also, the fund that I can use for my education, training or skill acquisition in a year today, is more than all the four-year salary I returned to my former employer in Nigeria. I give all the glory to God. So be enthusiastic to spend your money on your education or knowledge and never resent the money you have spent. It is an investment which usually pays the best interest.

 “Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what they are.” James W. Frick