Dipo Tepede » Jokes and Poems http://www.dipotepede.org Empowering Nigerians Financially. Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:34:51 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 NIGERIAN YOUNG MEN NEED HELP! http://www.dipotepede.org/2008/08/15/nigerian-young-men-need-help/ http://www.dipotepede.org/2008/08/15/nigerian-young-men-need-help/#comments Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:01:38 +0000 Dipo Tepede http://www.dipotepede.org/?p=391 So many relatives, friends and acquaintances have asked me time and time again; “why I left my lucrative job and career, to chase a world of the unknown; a world where there are more failures than success; a world that seems like a pipe dream; a world where only the fittest and the street smart excel; a world if not carefully guided can lead your family into economic ruins and turmoil?”

 

I have given various answers that even I cannot confidently defend to myself; some of them include:

 

1.      MBA program: The way my MBA program is structured; I could have integrated it with my work load. The place I work was perfect for me to take time out to travel for my exams and thesis.

 

2.      More Money: If you cannot make more money than your salary while working, you definitely cannot make more money on your own. If I wanted to make more money while working, I knew how to manipulate the system to get it done while still enjoying my monthly fat salary.

 

3.      Freedom: The concept of freedom has been highly misplaced and misrepresented. Freedom simply means more responsibility. Since I have launched out into a perceived abyss of self employment, I have been more constrained to do what I like than when I was employed. In the work place, I have only 2 bosses; my unit leader and the customers but in the self-employment regime, I have so many bosses and they include the customers, the suppliers, the landlords of my various offices, market forces and the investment partners. I work harder and think harder as a self employed than when I was employed. 

 

4.      Ability to do what I enjoy doing: I was enjoying my work where I was employed; travelling to various countries on the company’s bill and collecting excess travelling allowances, meeting Nigerian young men from various parts of the world, eating various kinds of food and understanding various culture. I still had time to blog and do my frequent importation of goods.

 

5.      Owning your own company: I owned my company while I was still working; in fact, I registered my company with CAC when I started working with Access Bank. The company account was running smoothly with inflows and outflows.

 

 

Then why did I leave paid employment? I may not be able to put in absolute words but the writings below embody it: 

 

Nigerian young men are hoping for help.
…A real way to help themselves.

 

Nigerian young men are trying, yet not succeeding. And they need a better way. Nigerian young men are hurting. I see them every day. Talk with them every day. Interact with them every day. Nigerian young men are afraid. The world changes so quickly and many feel they’re struggling to keep pace. Nigerian young men are becoming so unsure.

 

Nigerian young men don’t know where to find help.

 

Nigerian young men are giving up on attaining that elusive ‘Abundance’ and simply hoping they find a way to ‘Enough’. Nigerian young men keep working harder and harder, but are so uncertain as to whether they’re doing their ‘Best’. Nigerian young men are living the expectations of others instead of their own intentions because…
Nigerian young men are also lost.

 

Nigerian young men are abandoning the excitement and surprise and spontaneity of their dreams, and their joys, and their blessings, and exchanging them for the predictability and the seeming security of fear‫thinking what is known is better than the unknown.

 

Nigerian young men would like a guide and a companion in their search.

 

Nigerian young men are feeling trapped and judged, by others and by themselves. And thus they find themselves in cages of their own making; cages of fear, and longing, and judgment.

 

Nigerian young men are finding too much darkness in their quests for light.

 

Nigerian young men NEED help.

 

I would like to help them but I would also like to do it very well; competently, confidently, effectively and with excellence, to ignite inspiration in myself and others.

 

 

This is the concept behind POeTSolvers and the reason for floating the JOBFinder series…….www.poetsolvers.com/jobfinder

 

Listen to this podcast Listen to this podcast ]]> http://www.dipotepede.org/2008/08/15/nigerian-young-men-need-help/feed/ 5 WHO'S CHILD ARE U? http://www.dipotepede.org/2006/07/17/whos-child-are-u/ http://www.dipotepede.org/2006/07/17/whos-child-are-u/#comments Mon, 17 Jul 2006 07:56:45 +0000 Dipo Tepede http://www.dipotepede.org/2006/07/17/whos-child-are-u/ Wistfulness, nostalgia and reminiscence; these are feelings that filled my soul as I read the poem below. The author of the poem (who enjoys being called Kim) was a member of POeT Team back in the days of Obafemi Awolowo University. She creatively weaved this poem with such depth that leaves any human heart very pensive. Here is a master piece that I personally kept for 6 years; enjoy!

She’s pregnant the doctor says

What joy erodes her mind?

A life of nurture and cherish

Growing inside her!

With such immeasurable joy

She spreads the news

As day crept past, weeks crawled past

And months dragged past

Such was the excitement within her

As she felt his heartbeat and his first kick with pride

With such care she picked out a diet

To suit the growth of her child

Such unknown joy she felt as the time finally came

Shaking within and maintaining an outer calm

She walked into the ward, shed her garments,

And went on the stretcher

Her life she endangered for a life she knew not

She was pushed to the theater

To be subjected to blade and scissors

But she closed her eyes and fantasized

The pangs of pain shooting through her

Brought her back to reality

She was about to bring life to somebody

Such unbearable pain engulfed her entire being

She screamed and tossed and turned

Her breath she held to give it breath

Her body she subjected to such pain

To give this creature life

Suddenly there was a release

A voice coaxed her on gently, guiding ordering

With all her strength, she pushed

Yes, the child was doing well, coming through the right path

Push, push, she pushed

Suddenly there was alarm, tension in the air

The child has gone the wrong way

She did try, oh, how she tried

But this child would not follow her again

She was lacerated but nothing done could save that child

He had been stolen, killed and destroyed

Such unknown and unbearable grief racked her

As she held the dead child in her hand in her arm and wept

This child is not mine, it never was mine

But how I loved it, such selfless love I had for it

She shook it with so much vigor,

As if that would bring it back to life

Screaming

“Whose child are you?

I have life and cannot beget that which has no life

Whose child are you?”

Listen to this podcast Listen to this podcast ]]> http://www.dipotepede.org/2006/07/17/whos-child-are-u/feed/ 4 MY WIFE, MY LIFE http://www.dipotepede.org/2006/06/13/my-wife-my-life/ http://www.dipotepede.org/2006/06/13/my-wife-my-life/#comments Tue, 13 Jun 2006 10:29:29 +0000 Dipo Tepede http://www.dipotepede.org/?p=37 mercys weddin pix 013.jpg

As a choice begins with a voice

Either for good or for crude

A path of life is defined

To make our future refined

As our stride leads to our bride

We begin to review our pride

Compromising and synergizing

We know we are in for a ride

 

We learn, we earn, and we train

Praying for the harvest to rain

Pondering, wondering and struggling

My wife becomes my life

 

 

 

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