In the words of Hajo Holborn, a German-American historian once said that _“History gives answers only to those who know how to ask questions.” It is important to know the source of what we have in our world today.
A lot of people have had different origins of savings, but in the African tradition, especially in Nigeria the origin of the *piggy box* is such an incredible one.
A lot of people have had different origins of savings, but in the African tradition, especially in Nigeria the origin of the *piggy box* is such an incredible one.
Kolo is a Yoruba name for a piggy box. There are different types of Kolo. The earliest one was made of mud and had a slip-on it where you can drop your coins and notes. To drop your notes, you have to fold or squeeze the note, but we now have Kolo made of wood or metal, with other security. Due to the absence of banks in the olden days, or having to trek miles from the rural area to save money, the idea of Kolo as a means of savings was invented. Kolo started in the days as a homemade bank, other valuables like receipts, and little gifts are also kept for future use. Kolo is one of the traditional methods aimed at encouraging savings, especially for the younger ones. It is one of the disciplines that you have to save every single day or whenever you are gifted. Yoruba will tell you that "a ki fi owo me wewa jeun.," that is, we do not eat with all our fingers. You must learn the habit of saving because you can not be a spendthrift reason being that you can not share what is left after spending, you can only spend what is left after saving.
Money is also kept in an earthen pot or box, and then it is buried in the ground. The spot in which the money is buried will be marked to ease recognition.
Keeping money and other valuables on the ceiling is another method. It is a funny method because you have to climb on the ceiling and go to the deepest part of the ceiling where you find it safe enough. An outsider can't wander around your house and thinks of stealing from there. People find it safe to keep their valuables there. The cooperative institution is another piggy bank where people save their money. It is a norm to see different savings schemes where traders contribute a daily portion of their profit to a thrift collector. The thrift collector comes daily to collect each person's contribution. Some tend to collect the entire contributions on a rotational basis. Every ethnic group has a special name they call this savings scheme. It is called Esusu in Igbo, in the north it is called Adashe, the Yoruba calls it Ajo, it is called Dashi by the Nupe of Kwara and Niger, the Ibibio calls it Etoto, and the Tiv's of Benue calls it Bam.
Keeping money and other valuables on the ceiling is another method. It is a funny method because you have to climb on the ceiling and go to the deepest part of the ceiling where you find it safe enough. An outsider can't wander around your house and thinks of stealing from there. People find it safe to keep their valuables there. The cooperative institution is another piggy bank where people save their money. It is a norm to see different savings schemes where traders contribute a daily portion of their profit to a thrift collector. The thrift collector comes daily to collect each person's contribution. Some tend to collect the entire contributions on a rotational basis. Every ethnic group has a special name they call this savings scheme. It is called Esusu in Igbo, in the north it is called Adashe, the Yoruba calls it Ajo, it is called Dashi by the Nupe of Kwara and Niger, the Ibibio calls it Etoto, and the Tiv's of Benue calls it Bam.
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