Short-term lenders quote a period rate, never an annual one, and the number looks small only because the window is small. A fee described as 10 per cent for 30 days is not 10 per cent a year - it is roughly 120 per cent a year, and more once you roll it over. Nothing is hidden from you. The mind simply reads 10 and stops there.

Do two calculations before you accept anything. First, total repayment divided by amount received, so you see the real cost in naira. Second, multiply the fee by the number of times that period fits into a year. Write both on paper, because a figure on a screen is easier to dismiss. Then ask what the app cannot ask for you: what does the alternative cost? A landlord's grace, a salary advance, a cooperative or ajo loan at 2 per cent a month, a school's instalment plan, a family loan - almost all of them are cheaper. The genuinely cheapest option is usually a conversation you do not want to have.

There is a legitimate use for expensive short-term credit: when it unlocks income inside the repayment window - stock you already have a buyer for, a machine repair that restarts production tomorrow. A loan that funds ordinary consumption in a month that will look exactly the same next month is not credit. It is a subscription to your own shortfall.