This morning at the airport, I ran into one of the most successful Igbo traders, who is a billionaire in his 40s.

Dude is unassuming and under the radar, but he is very successful.

In the niche that he trades at the Trade Fair market in Lagos, no trader comes close to him in terms of turnover and revenue.

He is a beautiful bride, and companies in that niche are always begging him to take up their product because they know and understand his power of influence and distribution.

We greeted each other, and ironically, we were heading to the same city and the same event.

Something happened that reminds me that people who are liquid and rich and who made money through enterprise and hard work don’t spend money the way we think they do.

When our flight was called, I was shocked when we boarded that his ticket was economy class and we were even sitting close.

Hey bros! I asked him, What are you doing with me in this economy class?

Economy class is for people like us who never make your kind of money, I teased him.

He laughed and said he does not fly business on a local route.

Why? I asked

It is a waste of money, he said. Just one hour, and it is not worth it.

I only fly business class for international travels, and most times, the companies I even trade with abroad pay for my ticket.

I know someone who is not as rich as this guy and who is popular on Instagram that flies private jets for his local travel, not business class but rather a private jet, and he even trades with this particular guy as he markets one of his products.

What this trader from the trade fair displayed was not new to me; I have seen shrewd businessmen behave the same, again and again.

Many years ago, I was on a flight with a big man and one of my oga from Abuja to Lagos.

Our ticket was economy class, but this big man was going to Lagos to buy a property worth 900 million.

Funny enough, he met his friend asking him for an urgent loan, relaxed inside business class.

They greeted Ooo, and lessons were not lost on me, just like this morning.

When you work hard to make your money and build your wealth through enterprise—not through money laundering, Ponzi schemes, or Yahoo, but rather through hard work, sweat, and blood—there are frivolities you don’t indulge or splurge in.

Frugality and being shrewd must be a lifestyle.

You understand the value of money, and you weigh every expense critically, whether it is worth it before you spend money on it.

My generation, who loves the soft life a lot, who loves showing off on Instagram in the name we have arrived, and who loves shouting we are outside, has a lot to learn about money management and financial discipline.

A lot oooo