Continue reading »]]> In 1979, the election was between Awolowo and Shagari – Nigerians voted Shagari (an unknown grade 2 teacher hyped by the cabals of the day). 22years later, the same Nigerians learnt nothing from history  – I would have been expecting people who have been voting recently since 1999 (after years of military rule) to be more “open and fair” when choosing their leader but I guess my views are insane and unpopular as I watched with tears people jubilating and popping champagne over the win of GEJ.

As a good loser, I congratulated my opponents and sucked it in – the win was just too awesome as the numbers were clear whom Nigerians wanted. 7 months later, I am surprised at peoples’ complains – “Boko Haram Bombings, Fuel Subsidy Removal, ASUU strike, Incessant Power Supply, etc”. How can one make a choice and be complaining about it? The choice in itself was beyond comprehension – imagine you own a company and you wanted to select a General Manager between two candidates.

Candidate A Profile

I am a Christian from the South of the country like you and I believe in God’s favor over my life. I have been acting in the capacity of the General Manager for 1 year now though I was the Deputy General Manager for two years. Before the getting to the position of Deputy, I was the Manager of the Sales Department; I became the Manager because the other Manager was accused of fraud. During all my appointments, which came through Luck, I have achieved nothing in fact; sales dropped drastically when I was managing the Sales Department. However, I am a likeable person and no body in my region has ever been the General Manager. Your company will be better if I am giving the chance to serve as your GM.

Candidate B Profile

Unlike you, I am a Muslim from the North. I have been in the position of a General Manager 17yrs earlier. As the General Manager, I implemented quality processes which where pivotal to company’s bottom line and employee motivation. I protected the company’s brand and improved it amongst all stakeholders like suppliers and customers. Please, check company records for references. Though the General Manager’s position was taking from me, I humbly took the position of the Project Manager for Diesel Supply some years later, where I not only saved the company millions of Naira, I initiated and implemented an Education Trust Fund for the wards of the employees. I know that I am strict which is not a likeable characteristics but I believe more in company progress than human sentiments.

If you truly own this company and you want to leave a legacy for your children’s children to the 10^th generation, would you have chosen candidate A? If you are privy to a Pilot’s record which shows abysmal and reckless handling of his simulation testing and he wants to fly for the first time and you are to be the passenger; would you agree even if he is a likeable person from your tribe and religion? If in our everyday decision, we demand excellence amidst sentiments, why do we trivialize the most important job vacancy – leadership – since everything rises and falls with it?

It is important to note that I am not anti-GEJ or blaming him for anything; the truth is that I actually like him. However, he cannot do beyond what he is equipped to do; please, cross-reference the parable of the talent in the bible. All responsibility goes to the citizens that complain especially the ones that voted him in – why blame another for what you caused? No matter the debate, forum discussions, arguments, tantrums, etc, the way forward is that we work with him as the President…

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Continue reading »]]> Africans may be myopic in recognizing the most difficult issue facing them– the general agreement is that HIV is the number one killer but I disagree because Bad Leadership takes precedence and ranks higher in priority. While HIV infects in an Arithmetic Progression, Bad Leadership attacks in a Geometric Progression. Before HIV can attack a whole country, it will take years but with Bad Leadership, a week is enough to destroy millions of people and the initial target populace for the two syndromes is those in the low-income bracket.

The only prevention we seem to have against these viral infections is how we choose to exercise our choices. One of the most difficult things to control, as humans is our emotion; somehow, our emotions fool us and we cannot make an informed decision when the moment comes. However, I will keep saying the obvious; “Prevention is cheaper and an easier solution than cure” but when you are already infected with the syndrome, you just wait while millions die because as you proffer solutions, puns must also die.

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Continue reading »]]>  I was held down by traffic just 30 minutes to the close of my daughter’s Open Day in school; I realized how important it was that I attended such function but my thoughts were already defeated; “I can’t make it on time – what a waste of effort with those Catholic Schools and their strict regimen”. I decided to turn around but a voice in my head painted the picture of me as a quitter so I persisted watching as the clock ticked away.

Somehow, I got there before the close of the function and was able to do all I was required to do. As I was leaving the school meditating on the importance of “persistence” and how far it could take one in life, I saw a colorful hard cover children’s bible – I fell in love with it and bought it for my daughter promising her that I would read it to her every night before she goes to bed. 4 weeks after, I have neither read it once to her nor have I read it myself.

As I sat in my sofa meditating clouded by early morning darkness, it occurred to me that the most important ingredient to success is not all this stuff that we run around trying to acquire but a simple character trait called “Integrity” – just do what you promise or claim you can do (no excuses). It goes deeper than honesty or a particular moral conduct – it is aligning oneself to your core belief; a oneness of the spirit, soul and body. Your words align to your deeds.

The whole concept of “honor amongst thieves” has always piqued my curiosity – how can thieves trust each other? How can crime be organized? If the popular belief concerning criminals is true, then it is impossible to have organized crime. The success of the organized crime in the 1920s in America proved an important point about integrity – it does not matter which side of the law you are or which particular religion you adopt, success begins with integrity.

It is impossible to influence people without integrity – the ability to influence people is a key component to achieving goals (no matter how small). Due to social or economic pressure, there is always a “disconnect” between our core believes and our outward expression. When this happens, your level of authenticity starts to erode and intuitively trust issues begin. I will reference an anecdote from Acts 19: 13-15, NIV version of the Bible.

A Chief Priest, A Jew and seven sons of Sceva tried to exorcise evil spirit from a man. The evil spirit questioned their authority to do so and humiliated them. They were trying to do what they do not believe in; I can picture a Chemical Engineer working in a bank due to economic pressure; five years down the line, he/she is complaining about being stagnant. As a young man in life, I realized how common this flaw of keeping one’s integrity is disregarded and how it has shaped careers or perception of people.

Since I can remember, I have been propositioned by youths on either getting a job or getting a loan to start a business. There was this particular speaking engagement in Ibadan where a young man blamed his condition on his inability to get a loan. From his own admission, he seems to be proactive, hardworking, innovative and gregarious but his suppliers refuse to extend him credit. So I started my preaching by telling him that the word “credit” simply means trust.

The issue may not come from him but on the perception of his suppliers on extending credit – they may have a history of being burnt. I asked him what he has been doing to change this perception – “have you told them you are coming at 2pm and you reached there 10 minutes later; did you promise to buy a certain quantity of good but you reneged; do you dress in a questionable way; did you ask for a little quantity of the goods and demonstrate to them over time that you could be faithful.”

When people trust you, life becomes easy. The issue I realize is demonstrating that you can be trusted. When you ask young people looking for jobs to intern for free or volunteer, they simply find it difficult to do. Although trust is built over time, you must start with one person at a time no matter how low you regard the person. One common mistake is to assume that you are defined in life by what you posses, where you work, what you do or the personality you assume. What defines you is your integrity – a man they say is as good as his word.

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Continue reading »]]> “our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measures. we ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous,  actually who are u not to be; we were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us and as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people the permission to do the same” – Marianne Williamson

Freedom is a concept that I am very interested in and like I have mentioned in my earlier posts, freedom has nothing do with being self-employed; you could be gainfully employed and be at a higher level of freedom than someone who is self-employed. You may read my earlier article; “Before you leave that job“ to get a good grasp of what I am saying. One of the major words associated with freedom is independence (from external stimuli like person, organization, etc). The less you depend on the external body, the freer you have become.

My search for a job after my compulsory one year military service exposed me to an insight that has guided me throughout my career. There is nothing as demoralizing, heartrending and pathetic as competing with your peers for a limited position. The most painful part of this experience is the lack of awareness that there are better alternatives. Wait! I think I should correct myself; I believe we were aware but on a subconscious level, we chose to stick to pursuing a goal that had a 99% chance of not happening – thirty thousand fresh graduates seeking for ten advertised position.

It actually seems like madness but it keeps happening again and again; we keep pursuing dead-end situations; it almost seems as if we enjoy the wild goose process rather than the end. Day-in day-out, people jump from one test center to the other, hoping (earnestly hoping) that it would be different this time, but it remains the same. Fast forward to present times, I realize the same program functioning; we are looking for the “in” thing; we are focusing all our power and energy depending on a path that we are subconsciously aware would produce the same failed result – why jump into an MLM program when you know it would fail? Why? When you know only a few people would reap the benefit just like the limited advertised position?

A story in the bible aroused my interest (John 5); it was about an impotent man in the midst of other impotent men (the bible referred to these impotent men as lame, blind, paralyzed limbs, etc). These impotent men struggled to get into a pool that had the potential to heal them but there was one limitation – only one person can be healed at a season – the first person to jump into the pool. This caused the said impotent man to dwell in the same position for thirty eight (38) years waiting seasons upon seasons without ever achieving his dream of being potent.

The solution to this impotent man’s problem was an alternative to the pool; he dwelt so much on the pool as a panacea that frustration set in (38 years); “I can’t be potent for I have no one to help me into the pool at the movement of water. While I am trying to enter, someone else always gets in ahead of me”. Does this man’s situation sound familiar? It sounds very familiar to me; when I could not get a job on time, I blamed my parents lack of connection; when my salary was not commensurate with my peers, I blamed the company I worked for; when my business was not succeeding amidst friends that were succeeding, I blamed my choice of business and ultimately the government.

I never cared to look at another alternative; it was an alternative that was easy to figure out but somehow, we miss it. Jesus told the impotent man; “stand up, roll up your sleeping mat and go home”. I was inspired with this advice during those job-hunting days that in one of the test centers crammed with about twenty thousand fresh graduates, I refuse to take the recruitment test instead I stood up, rolled up my sleeping mat and went home. I decided to depend on the power within me; I researched, developed and created my first book; it was a book for job seekers. It increased my financial worth till I wanted more, so I joined the bank.

I realized something quite funny; I developed the power within me instead of running a wild goose chase that when I joined the bank, I rose up in ranks faster than my peers. Hence, I stuck to this winning formula – always develop the power within you and with time, you would be the leader. Forget about the external stimuli – your salary has not been increased for some time, focus on developing the power within you rather than join your peers complaining. If you focus on developing the power within you, a company that is better would appear in your radar.

Standing up (or developing the power within you) is not as easy as I am making it appear; it involves some certain process that you must pass through. It is by developing the power within you that you gain you more freedom. The stories are all over the place – a certain accountant friend of mine was earning 35K a month and keeps complaining, he developed the power within himself through certifications and now works with Oando for 500K a month. A theater arts graduate with no hope for a good paying job in Nigeria developed the power within her with a degree in film making and has produced the first Nollywood film on a 35mm Camera with Hollywood actors.

The moral of this article is simple; your destiny is neither in the hands of any person nor organization; if you develop the power within you, you would surprise yourself. The process of standing may require a lot of fallings but when you stand, you stand. The mat in the Bible story above signifies all the resources that is within you (talent, money, people, etc.). Jesus did not say, take another person’s mat, He said; “roll up your own mat”. Please, I would appreciate it if you do not ask me what the latest business is instead ask me what can you engage in to develop the power within you. Simple, join our Project Management class. Click HERE. Have a lovely week!

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Continue reading »]]> One of the major obstacle we experience in achieving our individual goal(s) is a phenomenon called the Monkey Mind – It refers to the little voice in your mind that comments on nearly everything you do or experience. It is that stream of consciousness that keeps flitting from one thing to the other like a monkey jumping from one branch to the other. When one tries to concentrate, the mind drifts off to fantasies about something you are going to do next week or an unresolved problem you must face tomorrow.

This chattering voice not only distracts you in most situations but it also uses valuable brainpower. When we allow our action to flow from the ramblings of the monkey mind, we become ineffective and blocked. I am sure you have been on a phone call before when suddenly the monkey mind thinks; “I wonder what emails I have received?” At this moment, our concentration is split and we are definitely not listening the person on the other end of the line. Only when our minds are clear and our thoughts are focused, can we achieve productivity.

Seni finished his NYSC two years ago and is at a loss on how to get a suitable job – he has tried up to 10 Companies Recruitment Test and failed. He has gone to his uncles and aunts who are highly connected but nothing seem to give headway. He has changed location from Lagos to Port Harcourt and recently to Abuja but he keeps hitting the wall. During his job search, he travelled to Germany with some of the monies that he could extract from his relatives but he was deported back to Nigeria after 4 months of stay.

Seni’s problem is rooted in the monkey mind syndrome – the inability to concentrate and stick to one course of action. As he is trying to solve one problem, he believes the answer is in another so he does not concentrate on one solution before his mind flips to another. Let’s take a cue from nature – the sun has the power to inflame but because the rays are dispersed, we only feel heat. If you want to experience the burning ability of the sun, just take a concave magnifying lens, place it under the sun and place your hand under the lens.

If you try the aforementioned experiment, the lens will concentrate the entire sunray into a focal point and it immediately inflames whatever is under the lens including your hand. Hence, there is futility in the dispersion of thoughts and action and power in focus. What to concentrate and focus on thus becomes the issue – If only Seni realizes that concentrating on developing his aptitude to solve recruitment test was vital to getting out of the pool of unemployment, he would have saved himself a lot of heartache and headache.

However, the monkey mind syndrome goes deeper into the human condition and it’s associated symptoms blind us from recognizing, concentrating and appreciating our inherent gift – we are always striving for what we do not have – this is the beginning of man’s dilemma. The more something eludes us, the more we want it and when we finally have it, the less we want it. The paradox of the situation is that we can only grow with what we have hence the monkey mind reduces our chances of ever attaining success.

The only solution is gratitude – it is simple but difficult to keep. At the end of each day, lets keep a written record of what we are grateful for no matter how mundane it seems. Clarify them on its importance to solving the problem you are facing or the venture you want to undertake (you can use the Pareto’s principle) and develop them accordingly. If we learn to be grateful for what we have – relationships, gifts, material possession, education, etc, we would not be in haste to tune our minds from it.

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Continue reading »]]> The job-search industry in Nigeria is a big market with zero barriers to entry and unlimited opportunity – only few people have been able to harness its potential. There is an estimated eighty thousand unemployed universities and polytechnic graduate at every given season in a year. The odd part of the deal is that different initiatives have been exploited in order to capture this market from network marketing schemes to varying entrepreneurship agenda without success. However, one thing rings true – the market is interested in a mirage of hope – it does everything it can to grasp for air with its hands – a huge untapped energy wasted on false hopes.

Day in – day out, the market gropes for vacancies making the owners of mediums like Tuesday Guardian, Naijahotjobs.com and Nairaland.com, stay in business.  I believe it is worth mentioning that it took me time to learn a very important lesson in life and when I learnt it – it became an important element to every successful endeavor that I have achieved. Find what people want and give it to them – it may appear cruel and somewhat manipulative but seriously, it works. It is so funny that you cannot influence someone by giving the person what he needs but by giving the person what he wants – his wants (however, your opinion – whether negative or positive) is all you need to control him.

How do you know what people want? Its not that difficult – just listen to what they complain about – “there is no job in Nigeria and every vacancy I come across is asking for experience” – “I cannot execute my business dream because there is no capital” – “nobody will extend me credit because I have no collateral”. If I am permitted, I could rephrase the three complaints above – “there is no job in Nigeria because you choose not to have one and you are not experienced because you avoid voluntary work” – “nobody will extend you credit because you have not earned their trust; you choose not to earn their trust because you devalue some certain types of jobs; those jobs you devalue would have granted you access to collateral and a new network”.

Did you see what I just did – I guess I never learn – I just told you what you needed to hear not what you want to hear – you want to hear that jobs fall from the sky without any sense of personal development. There is another important news that you may not have heard and you need to hear – you can earn 80K monthly distributing our Job magazine – it requires no capital, no collateral, just two friends who are willing to trust you to the tune of 21K Naira. If you are interested, you can attend a strategic seminar on how this can be done:

Date: Wednesday, 15^th of June, 2011

Time:  11am sharp – 1pm

Venue: Jobmag Center, 254 Herbert Macaulay Way, Yaba by Zenith bank

Hope to see you there? Have a wonderful day!

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Continue reading »]]> One of the amazing things about the BON debate was the final speech of President Jonathan – it was unexpected, surprising and inspiring at the same time. I stood up in my living room and actually clapped for PDP. As a student of marketing, I have to give respect to the consultants that packaged it – it sounded so believable and for a moment I was worried about the effectiveness on the people it was meant to reach. Then the picture above flashed in my mind (a Juju man holding a laptop (lol)) – no matter how wonderful the packaging is, 15 minutes after the debate, reality struck! The sound of electric generator permeated the atmosphere and you realize that a 90 minutes debate cannot erase the 12-years of PDP failed promises.

However, I realize that I am a sort of visionary and I do not matter in the scheme of things. Let me explain – there are 5 types of customers in any adoption system – the enthusiasts, the visionary, the pragmatic, the conservative and the skeptics.  The enthusiasts and visionary are always first to adopt a political party and they contain a minute number of the voters whilst the biggest numbers lie with the pragmatic and the conservative – these ones are always undecided and wait for some certain triggers to make their choices. They are also more loyal than the others. So for any business, if you can get the pragmatic and the conservative on your side, you are sure of having a sustained business. No successful persons waste their time on the skeptics.

With that out of the way, it is important to note that the debate was focused on the pragmatic and the conservatives. Emotions, which is the strongest driver to any buy-in, was employed – “I was born poor”, “I am one of you”, “I came to the presidency through divine providence” instead of “while I was governor of Bayelsa State, I did this and that with the revenue I was giving”, “while I was vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I propose this and that” or “my presidency for 1 year has produced this or that”. All commons sense thrown out of the window, it was plain emotions all the way.

Another fascinating discuss was his reason for not attending the NN24 debate; first, he was not in the country, he got back late to realize there was a debate and second, NN24 did not have the coverage and the President does not have the luxury of attending every debate. Seriously? And all the questions were superficial and none of the eminent panelist could ask; “is it true that you requested for the questions before the NN24 debate?” “If you could not attend, what about the Vice President Sambo?” Ok, maybe it skipped their memory and nothing was asked that actually put 12 years of wasted resources on the spot. And just like any charade, there will always be miscalculation – President Jonathan boldly said; “ask the chairman of my party, I follow their objectives” translated to “if I am elected, add another 4 years to the 12 years of wasted resources”.

Just like I envisioned, the debate actually worked; the popular chorus on the street is; “he is surrounded by bad people, he is actually humble, the devil we know is better than the ones we do not know, let us vote for him”. I personally feel it was a huge mistake for the other parties not to show up for the BON debate but on the flip side, none of them had the vision and the enthusiasm to cause a major upset – neither can a candle placed on the bushel illuminate the room nor can a hero be made in the dark. As we are likely to witness another 4 years of PDP presidential rule, who do we blame? God? Jega? Nigerian populace? Other Parties? Or you?

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Continue reading »]]> Once upon a time (well, not too long ago), I was a strong proponent of the Buhari/Bakare ticket for the presidential race in the April election in Nigeria but I have woken up from such dreams and done a complete 360⁰ repentance. In other words, I am taking the biblical stance in my support towards this wonderful duo (BB) – the bible leans towards the big picture rather than single or collective events. With my experience and credentials in business management, I have realized that the product cannot in anyway compare with the process that produced the product.

About 20 centuries ago, a man named Pontius Pilate washed his hand off the decision of a high percentage of Israelites to release Barabbas – a known murderer and thief – in place of Jesus – a controversial healer. Due to vested interest of the High Priest and Scribes, the people of Israel voted for Barabbas overwhelmingly. Looking at this particularly outrageous event from the big picture, we have come to appreciate the result because most bible students know that Jesus losing this election was paramount to his success today.

In this same light, we have witness the errors made by President Jonathan since the bomb blast on October 1st, 2010 till date on the campaign trail. His mistakes are just too numerous to call it a slip – a rational mind does not need a seer to know what his presidency holds for the Nigerian state. However, he is the most favored to win the election according to “This Day” Newspaper poll with a 60.3 percent popular votes across the nation. Despite, this apparently disturbing news, I am not perturbed; I am more concerned about the Nigerian people who believe in the “messiah” status.

In trying to understand this mentality, I questioned a beautiful young lady on her reason for praying before a flight took off. Her answer seemed plausible; “we are to pray without ceasing and to acknowledge the Lord in all our doings; I pray before doing anything before eating to waking up – don’t you believe in prayers?” I answered and posed her a question; “I believe very much in prayers – do you pray before kissing or making love to your boyfriend?” She laughed hysterically and said “NO”. Then I told her that her prayers were inspired by fear and without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Fortunately, she agreed that she has a phobia during plane take-off. Her constant prayers before plane take-off would not remove the phobia. Her problem was not the plane take-off but the phobia. It is by developing the desire to live without fear and by confronting the phobia that true change could take place. Our problem in Nigeria is not a messiah of some sort but a credible system of governance that would reveal all ineffectual works. Let’s lay more emphasis on the system rather than the person – alas, it is a person with the will and fortitude that creates such system that may reveal even his/her weakness. One of such system can start with the electoral process.   

It is not really about who wins the election but the process of election. The product that emerges from the right process is a “win” for the Nigerian state. You cannot bully people into making the apparent right decision; people have to personally learn from their mistakes before true repentance can take place. If after a free and fair election, President Jonathan emerges the winner – it will be a decision in the right direction because the people would come to understand that they chose whatever situation they are experiencing and that is the advantage of true democracy – it shows you the result of your choice.

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Continue reading »]]> First things first, let me define what I mean by hustling as it seems to connote variety of meanings – According to “AudioEnglish.net”, a hustler is a shrewd person who knows how to circumvent difficulties. Hustling is a state of mind and can happen to the best of us no matter how morally upright you are. In the 90s/early 2000s, the prosperity message championed by the evangelicals was a hustling mentality – where people were encouraged to acquire wealth without going through any form of process. I dare say this was the bane of Nigeria regression as oppose to the blames and aspersion given to the military leadership of those times.

This particular seed bore the fruits of the calamity of our times – teenage cheating from JAMB to WAEC; corruption in every nook and corner of the Nigerian socio-economy; 419 and other related fraudulent vices and the list goes on. So far, I am sure you will think hustling is a bad thing; a big YES, It is! But don’t be deceived into believing that this write-up is not talking to you. First, let me highlight some triggers to hustling:

1. Not bothering about the future implication of what you are doing today
2. Not caring if you make money without adding value
3. No form of justice in your dealings
4. Depending on people for anything without a reciprocating any form of value
5. Win-lose mentality
6. Constant search for juicy opportunity

Alternative to hustling is building; building isn’t fun and most times building is not appreciated especially when it’s not finished. But a builder that has foreseen the end of the building will not be moved by the ugly snipes and comments that are thrown at him. Building is difficult and requires a lot of patience but when it is built, it can create the economic, social or political shelter you desire. As oppose to the hustler, a builder knows that every action he takes today will affect his future building. He tries to be honest in all his dealings; he knows that all his transactions with customers are never one-off so he estimates the life time value of each customer.

I remember walking to a friend’s office who was building a new business; I could feel and hear the frustration in his tone. His business does not seem appreciated and he was on the verge of dropping it. What he did not know was that all uncompleted buildings are not appreciated. I guess the problems with builders are that they do not have a picture of what they want to build on their minds and their desire to finish the building is not as strong as the obstacle they face while building. Compared to the hustlers who shy away from difficulties or obstacles, the builder knows that the secret of his long time success lies in the ability to surmount the difficulties.

A huge mistake that builders make is comparing themselves with hustlers especially those who just came into some kind of money. A hustler can easily buy a flashy car, buy a house, travel to the best of destinations in the world but a hustler can never sustain wealth. A hustler does not have the requisite skill to sustain himself economically. The ability to sustain wealth lies in the difficulties that the builder faces constantly. When a man falls, if he chooses to learn, he learns a lot about the fall that he is not afraid to fall but a man that has never fallen will never know what it is to fall. The bible describes hustling and building as the wheat and the tears, it is time that tells the difference.

Most builders that turn hustlers always blame the vehicle – the problem is not with the vehicle but with the driver. I categorically say this without any regret, there is really no business venture in this world that does not have the potential to be great – the variable lies with the desire and fit of the builder. I have seen a stark formal illiterate bathroom slippers seller in a first class seat of a plane and I have seen an oil logistic business man languishing in penury. It is not the nature of business that you do but the person seating in the driver’s seat. I also see cooperative executives that do not want to take time to build their careers but all they do is hustle their bosses.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Continue reading »]]> As I sat in the company of iconoclasts in a Youth Business Initiative (YBI) discuss meeting, I had no choice but to learn. First let me tell you the kinds of cerebral guys that were there – Peterside of Stanbic IBTC, Sulaiman of Accenture, Pastor Ighodalo, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, former Governor of Ekiti State and the list goes on – funny enough, it was not this caliber of people that taught me one of the most important lessons I learnt in 2010 but their presence actually made me sit-up to pay attention to the speakers. Did I tell you I was one of the speakers? Sorry for the diversion but it is important for my ego that you know that I speak in these kinds of meeting (lol).

Ok, back to the topic – the speaker was part of the editorial team of This Day Magazine (I think!). His story was not unusual but it was something he said that made me re-evaluate my thinking. It was a village where people went to the stream to fetch water and a man had the idea of creating a pipe from the stream to the village to reduce the stress of going all the way to the stream. After the man executed the plan, he started collecting funds (barter trade) from the villagers to save them from going through the stress of going all the way to the stream.  After some months passed, the villagers came together and thought to themselves; “we are many and this is a single person collecting all the funds of the villagers, let us make a law to take this pipe invention from him”.

The speaker compared the story to the Nigerian situation where creativity is stifled by the people it was meant to protect. He continued his story – when the man that created the pipes was told of the new law that prevents him from collecting money for his invention, he was in a dilemma and so many thoughts came to him; “I have made so much from this invention, I could use what I have to bribe the village heads and they will restore my rights to collecting funds for my invention”. He knew that if he did this, the village heads will certainly agree but they will become so rich and build their own pipes – competition. “He could leave the pipe for them and live with all the money he has made”. This was not wise because his funds could finish one day and he had nothing to trade with.

Then a thought came to him; “he could empower the villagers with his money to specialize in their area of gifting and they will use this specialization to trade then he would make them feel what he felt when his invention was taking from him”. He reasoned when the villagers had enough skill to trade with, they will not be angry about his pipe invention but will be thinking of protecting their skill trade. So it came to pass that all the villagers had one skill or the other to trade with (fishermen, shoemaker, hunter, etc). In order for the villagers to keep their skill trade, they had to abolish the law and gave the man back his pipe invention. No man was envious of the other because every man brought something to the table and the man lived happily ever-after living off his pipes.

It is funny how a selfish and ambitious dream of a single man can salvage a village – this is what entrepreneurship is all about. It always leads to empowerment and specialization e.g. I have never heard the word GSM Engineer until the advent of GSM in Nigeria. Although the story was meant to teach entrepreneurship but it taught me the most important lesson in 2010; it is by focusing on one single thing in life that other things are created. This one thing must be something that you can see the future from the beginning; kindly note that it is what you see that you can achieve. It was by meditating through these thoughts that I discovered one of the most outstanding revelations – it does not matter what you do in life, as long as you are fruitful in it, you will dine with the Kings and Princes of the land.

The most outstanding comedian – Ali Baba – has the phone number of the president; the best tailor dines with the big shots of the land. Forget about present security; chase your dream with singleness of purpose. The Bible puts it this way; chase the Kingdom and everything will be added to you. The group picture above is our January 2011 PMP Class. This year, my vision is singular and it is to produce 50 Project Management Professionals (PMPs). A tall vision that will require a lot of effort and sacrifice but it will produce a lot of good business practice in the land, increase confidence in the working executives and will surely reduce the statistics of failed business start-ups in Nigeria. I commit to this vision, by God’s grace. Now I pass the question to you; what vision are you committed to? Have a lovely week!

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Continue reading »]]> I have never heard of The Goat Race until I got to Uganda – Luckily for me it was held once a year at the Munyonyo Resort where I was residing in Kampala so it was easy to get full gist and access to the venue. It is actually one of the biggest events in Uganda with celebrities, politicians and professionals from East Africa in attendance. Prior to the event, there was so much buzz about the event that I was caught up in it – I actually missed the seminar I flew all the way from Nairobi to attend in order to witness the much talked-about Goat Race. After the event in my hotel room, it dawned on me the importance of what had happened and it was a lesson I had always heard but it never dawned on how important it was; any wind, hype or storm can easily change your course in life if you do not have a singleness of purpose.

As the political atmosphere thickens in Nigeria, I can see how easily this 4^th lesson is. Back to my room at the Munyonyo Resort, I realized there was nothing tangible derived from living for the moment. The whole event was over and the opportunity cost was higher than I could imagine. I jumped into the Jacuzzi to relax and reading Nairaland forum; a particular discuss got me into serious meditation; it was a lady after forgiving her sister for getting pregnant for her fiancé found it difficult to cope with the pain she felt whenever she saw them. It was five years after the sister had married her fiancé but the episode makes her very angry despite her wanting to forgive them. Just like an epiphany, lesson five occurred to me; anger is a manifestation of ignorance.

The lady was angry because she felt when she says; “I have forgiven you”, all will be well in utopia. An imbalance was already created in justice – her sister stole her fiancé and she has not sought for justice. She has been bottling-up her true feelings and has not asked God to judge the situation. There will be no freedom until there is true justice – it is until she gets justice that she becomes free of the situation. In God, justice does not necessarily mean punishing the culprit so that the appellant can get emotional closure but God will lift you to a different level of operation so that the level that caused you pain will become insignificant. God may give her a family that she would love so much that her sister’s family will never appeal to her. Lesson #6; justice and judgment are the foundation of God’s Kingdom.

This was why King Solomon’s quest for an understanding heart to Judge God’s people was pleasant to God. True justice is also the foundation of the Golden rule. As I wanted to contribute to the forum, I looked at the replies by other people – there were diverse opinions on the best way she should approach the situation and I realized something very strange, which is important lesson number 7, I learnt in 2010; argument neither influences nor does it bring any solution. Why argue with people when they will simply stick to their opinion? The lady, who initiated the thread and was openly seeking for advice, was seeking for endorsement rather than advice. As I kept on learning, I kept on gaining more understanding in 2010. Please, keep your fingers crossed as I bring you the final part; have a lovely week!

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Continue reading »]]> I really learnt so many things in 2010 from books, movies to varying speakers but none of these lessons can be compared to one I picked from personal experience. At 5.00am, I was at Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou rushing for a meeting in Chongqing. I was tired and sleepy because two days prior to this day, I just got back from an 15hours flight from Lagos. I got a tap on my shoulders while looking at the itinerary – “where are you headed to?” the short man with a funny accent looked at me with a bland face. I was too tired so I replied him; “I am looking for the earliest flight to Chongqing”.

He took me down the stairs to a place I seem not to know and I was approached by two guys speaking Mandarin to the short guy that escorted me downstairs. They asked for my passport which I willingly gave to them thinking they were security operatives of some sort. They asked how much Yuan and Dollars were with me; it was then that I realized that I forgot to bank the huge sum of money I came with. I had some few Yuan but a large amount of US Dollars. They spoke in Mandarin once more and brought out their ID card so I gave them the money and they gave me back almost immediately. They directed me to the earliest flight to Chongqing.

It was two days later in my hotel room in Chongqing that the reality of what had happened dawned on me; a huge percentage of my dollars was missing. I cannot really describe how I felt but it was not funny. My business partners consoled me but I was inconsolable; all my monies were budgeted and I had 4 weeks more to stay in China. Everything I hoped to achieve during my trip seemed bleak; to tell you the impact of this loss, I moved from my normal hotels to a one star hotel. As if things could not get worse, my blog site (which was a huge channel to my income) was down and my then internet host company was unresponsive. My site was down for 6 weeks (let’s leave this story for another day).

It was during these successive losses that I met the guy you saw in the picture above and I learnt the number 1 lesson for 2010: Whenever one faces a loss or a disappointment, there is a corresponding seed for greatness. Note the word seed (as oppose to fruits) – it is actually your adjustment and response to this loss that will qualify you for a huge blessing. Immediately, I realized the fraud, I adjusted my activities to my new found economy. I started taking metro train instead of taxes; going to cheap African restaurants instead of McDonalds, KFC and exclusive restaurants and I visited low-priced shopping mall. It was during one of my visits to one of the low-priced shopping malls that I met Ben (the guy in the picture above)

On a cursory look, Ben was not my usual guy; he owned a 4-square meter shop where he sells original BlackBerry phones in retail. So there was really nothing in common because I dealt with factories not wholesalers not to talk of retailers. I have neither been interested in dealing with phones nor was BlackBerry, a brand of phone I considered buying with my present economy but I was somehow drawn to his shop. I saw a young beautiful lady working with him (I later learnt was his wife) – Ben is 28 years old Electrical Engineer who graduated from one of the best universities in China. After my initial visit, I was in his shop everyday till I left China. This leads to lesson number 2: Anyone, that you have an unexplainable attraction to, has a very important role in your destiny.

The tiny shop was just a front; Ben owns one of the biggest VOIP Companies in Hong Kong and owns a lucrative Cargo Company in Guangzhou. If a Chinese citizen is driving any private car, he/she is likely to be in the upper middle class; Ben drives a 2010 Range Rover Sport and it was just April, 2010. Ben was neither a Christian nor a Buddhist but I learnt humility first hand. He taught me lesson number 3; it is paramount to appear small to attract the right people to your life. According to Ben, the right people in your life are vital to fulfilling your destiny and the wrong people will cause unnecessary delays. Then I remembered that I met strategic people in my life when I had no economic attachment.

Lessons Learnt in 2010 continues in my next write-up. Have a lovely week!

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Continue reading »]]> Kindly look at the picture above; I want you to focus on this picture for a while before proceeding to read this article. What do you see? If after looking at this picture, you do not see yourself then you are really doing what you do every day – ignoring your true calling. Apart from the sadness and pains associated with seeing this picture, I realize how this picture depicts our everyday existence: In order to get to the destination we see (success); we hurry; we step on our fellow brothers and follow the same medium of transportation (jobs, school, etc) albeit the cheapest.

Molue is the cheapest means of transportation in Lagos State; I do not know if they exist anymore but I used to take them. In the Molue, you will witness hustling at its best – I actually enjoyed the sales pitch for one form of medicine or the other, more people were standing than sitting, it was always dirty but the motivation for me then was the cheap fare. Looking back at those days, I realized how much economics played a huge role in the lives of Molue takers: Saving money was more important than the human life and dignity.

Just like in my Molue-taking days, we somehow sell our destiny for a morsel of porridge – anything for the money; we compete, we lie, we cheat, we defraud, we socialize, we politicize, etc. I remember when I decided to stop taking Molue – it was as if I was hit by lightening; it was more of a mindset thing than a change in economical situation. I looked in the mirror and I told myself that I would never take Molue again. It took a lot of economic sacrifice but with this sacrifice, came a positive change in my economic situation (not the reverse – wait for a positive change in my economic state before making a decision).

I realized that in order to change my economic situation, I needed to make sacrifices; the bottom of the economic strata is too crowded because people fail to make sacrifices. I hear working class executives complain everyday about their salary and the question I pose to them is; “what are you sacrificing to get you out of this present predicament?” and the answers are always the same and funny to me; “I do not have enough money and time for the sacrifice”. It’s called a sacrifice, my dear, because you do not have enough (lol).

I remember a budding entrepreneur needed “something” and told me how much the “thing” will change his business. His presentation was so beautiful that I was moved to give him my heartfelt advice; “why not sell your car?” His look alone told me all I needed to know; “he wanted another person to sacrifice in his stead”.  I try my best not preach what I do not practice. Please, note that you are in the same level because you are not giving-up something; it’s not for me to categorically tell you what to give-up; it’s for you to know by seeking the face of God (Well, it’s not that complex, just look within you).

There is no such thing as a static existence. You might sometimes feel like your life is going nowhere, but you are always moving towards something and away from something else. This is why I advise working executives to upgrade their knowledge base; sacrifice the money and time they have to increase their knowledge portfolio. These are my reasons:

1.) The world changes and only those that move with the change reap the fruits.

2) To move from one level to another, you need to acquire a different knowledge from what you are used to.

3)In order to get out of rat race, you need to continuously invest in a liquefiable asset and education is one of the lowest risk investment in the world.

4) Competition is real and only those who are ahead of competition survive.

5) In the event of crisis leading to job loss, nothing keeps you employable than a higher knowledge.

I highly recommend Project Management for working class executives and entrepreneurs. Our next class takes place in January and we offer qualitative friendly-price program. Registration is going on now and our class is always sold-out (we only accommodate 25 people). The picture above is a group picture of our just-concluded November class.  Click HERE for more details on our Project Management Class. Have a lovely week!

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Continue reading »]]> Resistance in life is an indication of progress; it is important I mention this since most people interpret resistance (what some people call challenges or problems) as a bad thing. For those who experienced Physics in their secondary school days, the electric circuit may paint a good picture of the importance of resistance to producing useful electricity in the home; without resistance, there will be no voltage; without voltage, there will be no flow of electrons (electric current).

The force motivating electrons to “flow” in a circuit is called voltage. When we speak of a certain amount of voltage being present in a circuit, we are referring to the measurement of how much potential energy exists to move electrons from one particular point in that circuit to another particular point. Without reference to two particular points, the term “voltage” has no meaning. It is possible to have voltage without current, but current cannot flow without voltage.

It is imperative we understand this concept when we are talking about moving forward in life especially from one reference point to another. As I indicated in my earlier post; “Are you frustrated with work?” The average worker is frustrated because he is not progressing but in order to progress, you must face resistance. This resistance produces the potential energy (the voltage) to move you to the next level in life. The potential energy is always there but it is not productive without resistance.

This is what happens to someone who wants to move from a 2million net worth to a 3million net worth, from singlehood to married, from employee to self-entrepreneurship, etc; as long as you are moving from one point to another, you will need a certain amount of voltage to get you there but this amount of voltage cannot be produced without resistance which is the reason why most people give-up on their dreams of moving forward. The question then becomes; “how do we combat this resistance that appears to stop us but we need to move forward?”

David in the bible may have opened our eyes to an insight in combating resistance and moving forward; in order to move forward, you must think backwards. According to 1^st Samuel 17, David explained to Saul why he believed he could combat the resistance that troubled Israel; “I catch Lions and Bears by the jaw and club them to death whenever they attack my father’s sheep; if I could kill lions and bear, I can kill this Philistine Giant that troubles the army of God”.

David looked back at his testimony; he instinctively knew that if God could give him victory over lions and bear, there really isn’t any challenge that God could not give him victory over. This is the attitude we must take when faced with any resistance. For every person reading this article, God has at one time or the other giving you victory over some particular resistance; you must use this testimony to build an attitude because 100% of every resistance that is overcome is a function of attitude.

How we see the resistance (attitude) is more important than the resistance itself; even if you have never encountered the resistance before; drawing back from past victory is all you need to solidify a winning attitude. Attitude discussed here, is equivalent to the voltage of an electric circuit because without the right attitude, you can NEVER progress from one point to another in this life we live in. Always think of this anytime you decide to move forward in life. Have a lovely week!

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Continue reading »]]> There is one particular dilemma that keeps haunting me “finding a balance between the “ideal” and the “reality”. The ideal appears “unattainable” while the reality is a “no-go area”. If by any chance, we experience the “ideal” in our minds and face the “reality”, there is a confliction and consequently a constraint that hinders most people from moving forward. Hence, we live in two worlds that numerous people on earth find difficult to reconcile together; contribution and significance.

Everyone is motivated by either two of these elements; we want to attain significance (economic, political and social) or we want to contribute (give to the poor, fight for the oppressed, open the eyes of the blind, etc.) Since we are (consciously or unconsciously) finding fulfillment in whatever we venture in, we are conflicted on which particular path to take; we do not want to contribute and miss out on the significance and we do not want significance without feeling guilty of not contributing.

My role in my undergraduate days was more inclined to contribution; help out in what capacity I could in the Christian Fellowship either teaching newly intakes a subject for free or pastoring a hall. Since I did this for 4 years, it sort of shaped my paradigm that it became easy for me to contribute when I left the four walls of the university. Till date, I still feel a pang of guilt if my inclination is more towards significance than contribution.

These two elements are not mutually exclusive: However, I have noticed two very important schools of thought on this matter; while some feel that you cannot be truly significant without contributing e.g. Mohammed Yunus founded one of the biggest bank in East Asia (Grameen Bank) through contributing, others feel you need significance to contribute e.g. Bill Gates after his economic significance with Microsoft decided to contribute fully to humanity.

I would not attempt to hide my bias towards “Contributing to Significance” paradigm because most of my heroes contributed to significance (e.g. Bishop David Oyedepo) and not to mention my undergraduate Christian Fellowship background but we must understand that habits are difficult to break; this is the problem I have with “Significance to Contributing” paradigm e.g. IBB with all his economic and social power believes he has to gain political power to create a positive change in Nigeria.

In Proverbs 31, a mother advise his son, King Lemuel, on the difficulty of contributing when significance has been obtained; she made him understand the vices and the challenges that someone who has reached significance face when they try to contribute; this reminds me of the adage “you cannot really know someone unless he is given power”. The two vices associated with power (as mentioned by King Lemuel’s mom) are Women and Alcohol.

Women and Alcohol are symbolic of distractions that come with power and are a travesty to the help that God promises us: Instead of the Holy Spirit, some men subscribe to Alcohol and instead of a Virtuous Woman, some men subscribe to women. Knowing the distinction between the substance and the shadow is vital to being a virtuous man. Is there really a man on this earth that contributes without seeking for significance: What do you think? I guess I will continue next week; have a lovely week!

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