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Micheal Sunday Ezeh - Market Insights, 14 Benin Street, Sabon Gari (2026)

22/08/2026

There is something about bargaining that I find unnecessarily irritating, especially when a customer walks into your shop or starts chatting with you online and says, “I saw this same thing somewhere else for ₦37,000, but you are telling me ₦40,000.”

Honestly, if you saw it somewhere else for ₦37,000 and you are comfortable buying it there, then buy it there. There is no need to bring another seller’s price into the conversation as though you are putting vendors on trial.

If my price is ₦40,000 and you want to buy it for ₦37,000, simply tell me, “Can you sell it for ₦37,000?” That is bargaining. I can accept, reject, or make a counteroffer. Simple.

Bargaining is supposed to be a negotiation, not a competition between two sellers who may not even be selling under the same conditions. One person may have bought cheaper. Another may have higher transportation costs, better quality, different overhead, or simply a different profit margin. You cannot always compare prices as if every seller bought from the same source and under the same circumstances.

And sometimes, what makes it even more interesting is that the customer has never actually priced your product before. They simply come with a figure they heard somewhere and expect you to immediately match it. That is where you have to understand the game. Every seller has a bargaining chip, and every buyer has one too.

The seller can say, “I am already giving you my best price,” or “I am selling this one to you because of you.” The buyer can say, “Can you reduce it to ₦37,000?” Both sides are bargaining. That is perfectly normal.

But there is a difference between bargaining and trying to make a seller feel like they are overcharging you because somebody else supposedly sells cheaper. If you genuinely found the exact same product at a price you prefer, nobody is stopping you from buying it there.

At the end of the day, business is negotiation. Know your price, know what you are willing to pay, make your offer, and let the other person decide. You do not need to insult somebody’s price just to negotiate your own.

22/08/2026

There was a time when Onga was almost like a secret weapon in the kitchen. You wanted your stew to look redder, your noodles to have more colour, and your food to have that extra flavour, so you reached for Onga, Maggi, Kitchen Glory and other seasonings.

But here is something I have been thinking about lately: why have we become so obsessed with changing the natural appearance of things?

Personally, I have never really been a fan of Maggi, Onga or excessive artificial seasoning. I prefer food in its natural form. Give me fresh tomatoes, fresh pepper, onions, garlic, ginger, natural spices and good oil. Even if the food doesn't have that exaggerated colour or artificial taste, I am fine with it. At least I know I am eating something closer to its natural state.

And this brings me to something I see in the market today.

We often criticize people who add dye or food colouring to palm oil to make it look more attractive. And rightly so. But sometimes, I wonder if we are also guilty of the same mentality in another form.

We complain when someone adds food colouring to palm oil because they want it to look redder. Yet, in our own kitchens, some people use four Maggi cubes, six Maggi cubes, Onga, Kitchen Glory and several other seasonings just to force food to taste or look a certain way. We have become so accustomed to artificial enhancement that sometimes we forget to appreciate the original product.

This is not to say that every seasoning or processed food is automatically harmful. But moderation matters. The fact that something is commonly used does not mean excessive consumption is necessarily wise. And that same principle should apply to the products we sell.

If your palm oil is naturally deep red, sell it deep red. If it is yellowish-red, sell it yellowish-red. If it is lighter because of the variety of palm, processing method or season, let it remain that way.

Who actually told us that every good palm oil must have the same shade of red?

Palm fruits themselves are not identical. Varieties differ. Processing methods differ. Seasons differ. Consequently, the natural appearance of palm oil can also differ. What should matter is the quality, cleanliness, aroma, taste and proper processing—not whether the oil looks like it has been painted.

I understand the argument: "This is what the market wants." But businesses also shape the market. If every seller keeps altering products because consumers have developed unrealistic expectations, the cycle will never end.

As palm oil sellers, we should be able to say: this is the product exactly as nature gave it to us.

I would rather sell good palm oil in its natural state than artificially make it look more attractive simply to make a quick sale. If the oil is naturally deep red, let it remain deep red. If it is naturally lighter, that does not automatically make it inferior.

Because at the end of the day, a good business is not just about making a product attractive enough to sell; it is about making the product trustworthy enough for people to keep coming back.

Don't colour your palm oil to satisfy the eyes while compromising the trust of the person buying it.

Sell what you have. Sell it honestly. Sell it naturally. Let the quality of the palm oil not artificial colour be your advertisement.

21/08/2026

There is something a friend of mine keeps saying that I initially found difficult to understand. He would always say, “Every good thing comes to an end.” At first, I wondered why someone would constantly remind himself of such a gloomy reality. But with time, I began to understand what he was really saying. The truth is, it is not only good things that come to an end. Everything does. Nothing in this life was designed to remain exactly the way it is forever.

Look around you. Youth comes to an end. Strength comes to an end. Wealth can come to an end. Relationships change. Businesses rise and fall. Seasons change. Even the things we once believed could never happen to us eventually happen. Sometimes the end comes through death, which in a strange way may be the simplest ending. Other times, it comes through betrayal, sickness, disappointment, bankruptcy, separation, or circumstances we never saw coming. You can build something for twenty years and lose it in twenty minutes. That is one of the uncomfortable truths about existence: nothing comes with a permanent guarantee.

And perhaps the most frightening part is that the end does not always announce itself. Sometimes, you are enjoying the best season of your life without knowing that you are already living in its final chapter. You think you have finally figured life out. You think you have found the perfect person, built the perfect business, secured the perfect future, or escaped a particular problem forever. Then life reminds you that human beings are not in control of the entire story. What looks permanent today may simply be something that has not ended yet.

This is why I have come to believe that the temporary nature of good things should not make us bitter; it should make us more conscious. If you know that a beautiful season will eventually change, then appreciate it while it lasts. If your business is doing well, don't become arrogant. If you have good people around you, don't take them for granted. If money is flowing, don't mistake today's abundance for a lifetime guarantee. The fact that something will end does not make it worthless. In many ways, it is what makes it precious.

But there is another strange side of life. Evil sometimes appears to have no retirement plan. You see one problem end, and another one takes its place. You defeat one enemy, another emerges. One form of suffering disappears, another arrives wearing a different face. Technology changes, society changes, generations change, but greed, betrayal, corruption, hatred and wickedness somehow keep finding new ways to survive. Evil seems to understand one thing very well: adaptation. It changes its clothes, changes its language, changes its methods, but it rarely disappears completely.

Perhaps that is why good people must never become careless simply because things are going well. The moment you believe you have permanently conquered every problem, life can humble you. Protect what you have built. Protect your relationships. Protect your reputation. Protect your capital. Keep learning. Keep preparing. Because sometimes the very thing you think has secured your future can become the thing that destroys it if you stop paying attention.

This is also how I look at business. When things are going well, enjoy the season, but don't sleep inside the season. In the palm oil business, for instance, there are periods when prices rise and everybody suddenly believes the market will continue going in the same direction. But markets don't make promises. Supply changes. Demand changes. Weather changes. Production changes. Prices change. What is profitable today may become dangerous tomorrow. That is why, in business, wisdom is not simply knowing how to make money; it is knowing how to protect the money you have already made.

For me, that is one of the biggest lessons in trading palm oil: don't become too excited by profit that you forget the possibility of change. Buy wisely, store wisely, sell wisely and, most importantly, protect your capital. Because every good market eventually changes, but the person who understands the market can survive the change. The goal is not to win every season; the goal is to remain in business long enough to experience many seasons.

21/08/2026

There are moments in life when you think you have finally figured things out. You think you have solved a particular problem, eliminated a certain risk, or put someone in place who can help you handle things. You begin to relax because, in your mind, that area of your life is now under control. But sometimes, the very solution you trusted to protect you can become the thing that eventually brings you down.

You may think you have found the perfect partner, the perfect employee, the perfect person to manage your affairs, or someone you can completely trust with what you have built. And because everything seems to be working perfectly, you gradually let your guard down. That is where the danger can begin. When the betrayal or failure eventually comes, it can become a free fall because you were no longer prepared for the possibility that the person or system you trusted could become the source of your greatest loss.

The truth is that anyone who wants to take advantage of you may spend more time studying you than you spend studying them. A scammer, a dishonest partner, or even someone close to you who has bad intentions may be thinking several steps ahead while you are operating from trust and familiarity. That is why we have to be careful. Times have changed, and the world is becoming increasingly unpredictable.

But being careful does not mean refusing to trust people. The truth is, you cannot do everything alone. You will always need people. You will have to work with others, delegate responsibilities, trust people, and sometimes give people the benefit of the doubt. There is no amount of carefulness that can completely eliminate the possibility of betrayal, disappointment, fraud, or loss. At some point, something can still go wrong.

What matters, therefore, is not trying to build a life where nothing can ever go wrong. Instead, build a life that can survive when something does go wrong. Always consider the worst-case scenario—not because you should live in fear, but because preparation gives you options. Don't put everything you have in one person's hands. Don't make one relationship, one business arrangement, one investment, or one source of income the foundation upon which your entire life depends.

Because when disappointment eventually comes, you need something to fall back on. The person you trusted may fail you. The business may collapse. The investment may go bad. The opportunity may disappear. And when that happens, having another door open can make the difference between a setback and complete destruction. That is why diversification is not always about expecting people to betray you; sometimes, it is simply about understanding that life itself is unpredictable. Trust people, but don't abandon wisdom. Love people, but don't surrender your entire future to one person. Build with people, but always make sure you have something to fall back on.

20/08/2026

There is something very interesting I learned from Ragnar Lothbrok in Vikings.

Ragnar once said he never asked to be king. He never set out with the ambition to become one. He was simply a hardworking farmer who kept pushing, kept learning, kept taking opportunities, and doing what he had to do.

And somehow, life took him somewhere he never planned.

That, to me, is a lesson about life.

You don't always have to force things. You don't have to be desperate to become rich, powerful, famous, or successful overnight. Sometimes, your job is simply to work hard, stay prepared, improve yourself, and keep moving.

Opportunities have a strange way of finding people who are ready for them.

So don't make life a do-or-die affair. Don't destroy yourself trying to force an outcome that may not even be yours yet.

Work hard. Do your part. Stay prepared.

And when the opportunity comes, you may realize that you were never chasing the destination. You were simply preparing yourself for it.

Maybe that is why I have come to appreciate the palm oil business so much. There are seasons when you buy and wonder whether the market will ever move in your favour. There are times when prices rise, times when they fall, and times when patience is the only thing separating a good decision from a bad one. But if you understand the business, do your homework, protect your capital and stay consistent, you don't have to force the market. You simply position yourself and wait for the right moment.

Life, just like the market, has its seasons. Sometimes you plant. Sometimes you wait. Sometimes you harvest. The important thing is to keep working and be ready when your season finally comes.

20/08/2026

The Customer Who Bought Only Three Bottles

As you all know, I sell both palm oil and vegetable oil, both in retail and wholesale.

Yesterday evening, I had already closed my shop. It was after 7 p.m. when a customer called me and said he wanted to buy three bottles of 75cl palm oil. He noticed that I had closed and asked how we were going to do it.

I told him not to worry, that I wasn't far away, and that I would be there in five minutes.

So I went back to the shop, opened it, and gave him his three bottles.

He was surprised and kept thanking me. But honestly, I didn't see anything extraordinary in what I did. I was simply doing business.

The interesting thing about this particular customer is that there was a time I travelled and wasn't available when he came to buy from me. He waited for two days until I returned.

When I came back, he told me something that stayed with me. He said he had already become used to buying from me. He didn't want to start buying from someone else because he might end up getting palm oil he didn't like, paying a higher price, or facing one problem or another.

That statement made me understand something about business.

Customers don't only buy your product. Sometimes, they buy your consistency, your reliability, your character and the peace of mind that comes with knowing what to expect from you.

And this is where many Nigerian businesses get it wrong.

We sometimes look at a customer and say, "What is he buying? Three bottles? Let him go."

But we forget that today's three bottles can become tomorrow's three jerrycans. Today's three jerrycans can become ten. And that same customer can introduce you to people who will eventually become some of your biggest customers.

Business should not be selective when it comes to respect.

If you have a minimum quantity that you sell, make it clear. There is nothing wrong with that. But if you sell both retail and wholesale, then every customer deserves to be treated with respect.

Whether someone buys one bottle, one jerrycan, five jerrycans or twenty jerrycans, the money is still money.

₦20 is money.
₦50 is money.
₦100 is money.
₦500 is money.
₦1,000 is money.

All these little amounts are part of the same business you are building.

Sometimes, we are so focused on the big customer that we forget that businesses are not built only by big transactions. They are built by thousands of small transactions repeated over time.

That customer buying one bottle today may be the person who brings ten new customers tomorrow.

And sometimes, the customer buying twenty jerrycans may leave you tomorrow if you treat him badly.

Never make the mistake of measuring a customer's importance only by the size of his purchase today.

Treat people well.

Give people reasons to come back.

Build trust.

Be consistent.

Because in the Nigerian market, where people have seen enough bad products, inconsistent prices, poor customer service and broken promises, being the person a customer can trust is already a competitive advantage.

At the end of the day, I didn't go back to the shop yesterday because three bottles would make me rich.

I went back because I understood that business is bigger than one transaction.

You are not just selling palm oil.

You are building a relationship.

And sometimes, the smallest customer is quietly becoming one of the most valuable assets in your business.

18/08/2026

Sometimes, the more I try to understand life, the less I understand it.

I have reached a point where I sometimes question whether God is really concerned with the affairs of this world in the way we imagine. Perhaps there is a force that governs the universe, a system of cause and effect that we don't fully understand. Maybe life simply operates according to rules that have nothing to do with whether a person is good or bad.

Because if goodness guaranteed protection, then why do some of the most morally upright people suffer the most?

You see people who genuinely try to live right. They help others. They keep their word. They refuse to cheat. They try not to hurt people. They pray. They sacrifice. They endure. And yet, somehow, tragedy still finds them.

Some lose everything. Some become victims of circumstances they didn't create. Some spend their entire lives struggling. And some even die while trying to do the right thing.

Then we are told, "Don't worry. Your reward is in the afterlife."

But sometimes I honestly wonder: which afterlife?

What if the only life we can be certain we have is this one?

And then comes the part that makes everything even more confusing.

You look around and see people who have no problem stepping on others. People who lie, manipulate, exploit, intimidate, and sometimes destroy other people's lives just to get ahead. They don't seem troubled by morality. They don't spend their nights asking whether what they are doing is right. They simply see an opportunity, take it, and keep moving.

And sometimes, they prosper.

They become wealthy. They build houses. They buy expensive cars. They gain influence. People who once criticized them begin to respect them. People who called them wicked begin to celebrate them.

And that is perhaps one of the strangest contradictions of human society.

We condemn ruthlessness when we are watching it from the outside, but once ruthlessness produces wealth, we often call it success.

Nobody asks too many questions when the person arrives in a convoy.

Nobody wants to know how the money was made when the house is beautiful.

Nobody remembers the people who were trampled upon when the man becomes powerful.

We simply say, "He made it."

And perhaps that is why life can feel so unfair.

Because being a good person does not guarantee that you will be rich.

Being honest does not guarantee that you will be protected.

Being kind does not guarantee that people will be kind to you.

Being morally upright does not guarantee that tragedy will stay away from your door.

And being ruthless does not guarantee failure either.

Sometimes the wicked prosper.

Sometimes the greedy become wealthy.

Sometimes the dishonest person gets the opportunity that the honest person prayed for.

Sometimes the person who cares about nobody sleeps comfortably in a mansion, while the person who spent his entire life helping others struggles to pay his bills.

Especially in a place like Nigeria, where survival itself can sometimes feel like a competition, these contradictions become impossible to ignore.

You can work hard, remain honest, avoid exploiting people, and still struggle for years.

Meanwhile, someone else may cut corners, manipulate the system, exploit people's desperation, and become extremely successful.

Then society looks at both of you and asks the same question:

"What have you achieved?"

Not, "How did you get there?"

Not, "How many people did you hurt along the way?"

Just:

"How much do you have?"

And perhaps this is where we have misunderstood life.

Maybe morality was never designed to be a business transaction.

Maybe being good was never a contract with the universe that says, "If I do good, good things must happen to me."

Maybe life doesn't work that way.

Maybe the universe doesn't keep a simple scoreboard where every good deed earns a reward and every evil deed receives punishment.

Maybe life is far more chaotic than that.

People are born into different circumstances. Some are born into wealth; others into poverty. Some are born into peaceful families; others into violence. Some meet the right person at the right time. Others spend their entire lives meeting the wrong people.

Some work hard and succeed.

Some work hard and fail.

Some do terrible things and succeed.

Some do terrible things and destroy themselves.

There is no neat formula.

And perhaps that is the hardest truth to accept:

Life does not always give people what they deserve.

But that doesn't necessarily mean goodness is meaningless.

Maybe the value of being a good person isn't that the universe owes you wealth.

Maybe the value is that you don't become the very thing you hate simply because the world is unfair.

Maybe morality is not about guaranteeing success.

Maybe it is about deciding what kind of person you want to be in a world that gives you very few guarantees.

Because if the only way to survive is to become heartless, then what exactly have you survived as?

Perhaps the real tragedy isn't that good people sometimes lose.

Perhaps the real tragedy is when we become so obsessed with winning that we eventually lose ourselves.

I don't know whether there is an afterlife.

I don't know whether God personally intervenes in every tragedy.

I don't know whether the universe has a moral balance sheet that eventually settles every account.

And honestly, I don't think anyone can prove all of these things with absolute certainty.

What I do know is that life is strange.

It is beautiful and brutal at the same time.

It rewards people who don't always deserve it and punishes people who sometimes don't deserve punishment.

It gives some people everything before they even know how to appreciate it, while others spend their entire lives fighting for things that should have been ordinary.

And perhaps the greatest mistake we make is expecting life to be fair simply because we want it to be.

Maybe life isn't fair.

Maybe it never promised to be.

So perhaps the question isn't, "Why does the good person suffer while the wicked person prospers?"

Perhaps the deeper question is:

"In a world where goodness guarantees nothing, what kind of person do I still choose to be?"

And I think that is where the real battle is.

Not between the rich and the poor.

Not between the lucky and the unlucky.

But between the person you are becoming and the person you could become if you allowed the cruelty of the world to completely change you.

30/07/2026

One way I know that tomatoes are in abundance is very simple. When you start seeing young boys and children hawking tomatoes, pepper, and even onions on the streets, it usually means supply is high. The markets are full, and prices are generally lower.

But for the past month, I have hardly seen that. Even when you visit the market, you no longer find tomatoes everywhere like before. Fewer traders are selling them, and fresh produce is not as abundant. That is a clear reminder that every agricultural product has its season.

This is why I sometimes disagree with the claim that storage is the main reason food prices increase. If that were true, who is storing fresh tomatoes, fresh pepper, or onions for months? These products are highly perishable, yet their prices still rise whenever supply falls and drop whenever supply increases.

The reality is that demand and supply remain the biggest drivers of prices for most agricultural commodities.

In fact, storage often helps stabilize the market rather than destroy it. When products are abundant, some investors buy and store them. During periods of scarcity, those stored products are released back into the market. Without storage, shortages could become much worse, leading to even higher prices.

Storage is not the enemy. It is one of the reasons essential commodities remain available during the off-season.

The principle of storing during times of abundance for use during times of scarcity is not new. It is a practice that has existed for generations and is even reflected in the biblical account of Joseph, who stored grain during seven years of plenty to prepare for seven years of famine.

Instead of blaming storage alone, we should pay more attention to the real issues: seasonal production, weather, transportation costs, insecurity, post-harvest losses, and the balance between supply and demand. Understanding these factors helps us have a more informed conversation about why food prices rise and fall.

29/07/2026

The greatest strength I bring to business is helping people preserve their capital. I'm better at protecting money than chasing extraordinary profits. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and I believe the ultimate goal in business is not making the highest possible profit on every deal it's protecting your capital.

A few years ago, during a major rise in palm oil prices, a colleague wanted to buy much more stock because he believed the market would continue climbing. I advised him not to. I told him to buy only what he needed for immediate sales and wait before buying more. My reasoning was simple: the price had already risen sharply, and historically, markets often cool down after such a surge. If he bought heavily at the peak and the price dropped, part of his capital would be tied up or lost.

He followed my advice. Unfortunately, that year the market kept rising instead of pulling back. Later he reminded me that if he had bought more, he would have made a bigger profit.

I understood his point, but I don't believe the advice was wrong. It was based on the information available at the time and on sound risk management. The only thing he lost was additional profit. He did not lose his capital. In business, there is a big difference between losing money and missing an opportunity.

This is why I always tell people: whenever a market suddenly jumps from, for example, ₦20,000 to ₦27,000 almost overnight, don't rush in because everyone else is buying. If you need stock for immediate sales, buy only what you need, and even consider reducing your usual quantity. Ignore the noise from people predicting that the price will keep rising forever.

Markets rarely move in a straight line. Even if the price never returns to ₦20,000, it often settles somewhere lower, perhaps around ₦23,000 or ₦24,000. That is usually a better point to rebuild your inventory.

Smart investors prepare before the excitement begins. They buy extra stock when the market is calm, prices are stable, and few people are paying attention. Then, when prices surge and everyone else is scrambling to buy at the new high, they sell the inventory they accumulated earlier. After the market settles again, they quietly replenish their stock and wait patiently for the next opportunity.

That cycle repeats itself in many commodity markets. Success is not about chasing every price increase. It's about staying disciplined, protecting your capital, and letting patience work in your favour.

28/07/2026

One important lesson I recently learned from a fellow palm oil trader completely changed the way I think about risk in business.

He told me, "No matter how much you trust someone, whether you know them online or offline, never send your entire working capital at once."

For example, if your working capital is ₦1 million and you have the capacity to buy 100 jerrycans of palm oil, don't send money for all 100 at the same time. Instead, send enough for about 20 or 30 jerrycans. Once you receive them successfully, you can send money for the next batch.

What really struck me was that this advice wasn't based on distrust. It wasn't about assuming the supplier would scam you. It was about recognising that life itself comes with risks that nobody can control.

A truck carrying your goods could have an accident. A vehicle transporting the oil could catch fire. The products could be damaged during transit. Unexpected delays, theft, or other unforeseen events can happen. None of these situations necessarily means anyone acted dishonestly. Sometimes, life simply happens.

I realised that I had been making this mistake for a long time. Whenever I had enough money to buy a large quantity, I would send almost all my capital to one supplier in one transaction. Looking back, I now see how risky that approach was.

Buying in batches protects your business. If something goes wrong with one shipment, you still have enough capital to continue operating instead of losing everything at once. It gives you room to recover and reduces the impact of unexpected events.

So, if you're like me and you have enough money to buy 10 jerrycans, don't rush to pay for all 10 in one transaction. Buy two or three first. Once they arrive safely, pay for the next batch. Repeat the process until you've completed your purchase.

Sometimes, the desire to move quickly can expose us to unnecessary risks. Business isn't just about making profits; it's also about protecting your capital. A slower, more disciplined approach may seem less exciting, but in the long run, it can save your business from losses that have nothing to do with trust and everything to do with managing risk wisely.

Micheal Sunday Ezeh - Market Insights

22/08/2026

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