You know, we Nigerians tend to see the glass half-empty. And often-times we have good reason to. What with various social issues like corruption, mis-governance, political instability, etc. You can hardly blame anybody for being pessimistic about the outlook for the future.
But is it really that bad? I think a lot has happened since 1999 that gets me thinking, well, Nigeria may not be so far off from development after all. Sure, the pace is slow, and the impact is hardly felt. But a lot of things have happened in the economy that we don't usually take notice of. I'll list a few:
1. Pension Act: This fund has grown to around $11bn as at 2010. The funds, having being largely secured in bonds rather than equities or futures, are largely secure from the tanking of the global markets we're currently experiencing everywhere. I wonder if U.S. 401(k) holders can say the same?
2. Insurance Industry: Though not yet uhuru, the industry has managed to grow 11% over the last 4 years, since 2007. They've also diversified into various products. The challenge they still face is the natural pessimism of Nigerians. But that they have managed to grow and sustain their business is quite remarkable.
3. Health Care: The health insurance scheme has changed the face of health care in Nigeria for the better. The only problem is, there is very little investment in private health care by Nigerians. I'd have expected that, just like in India, the Nigerian healthcare entrepreneurs could have teamed up with their diaspora counterparts to finance mega projects in health care delivery, pharmaceutics, and biotech. Health insurance bridges the gap, and more people can now get access to good services. But right now the few private hospitals cannot cope with the volumes, and end up delivering poor service.
4. ICT: I won't dwell too much on this, cos it has been said too many times. However, it is worth mentioning that ICT, especially telecom deregulation, has probably generated an income for Nigeria in the billions of USD, and may have created over a million direct or indirect jobs.
Maybe you guys can help me with a few more sectors where you think we have made progress. Remember, this is about positive developments, and especially areas where we all should be looking at for investment, rather than trying to make our fortune from forex trading or IB jobs (I am saying that tongue in cheek!)
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
We Need To Rediscover Ubuntu
Ubuntu: "I am what I am because of who we all are." (From a translation offered by Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee.)
I actually stumbled on the meaning of the word Ubuntu by accident this evening, while watching Jacob's Cross. Of course I had heard of the word in computer circles, the operating system that's a variant of Linux, but I certainly was not aware that behind Ubuntu was a very interesting concept or philosophy, and the fact that it was something unique to Africa. So I decided to do a little research.
Ubuntu, from what I have been able to garner, is very much in consonance with the concept of interdependence as preached by Stephen Covey his bestseller, the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey, in his book, talked about a Continuum of Maturity, which represents the bridge between low and high effectiveness. Milestones along the continuum represent stages of Dependence, Independence, and Interdependence. According to Wikipedia, Nelson Mandela explained Ubuntu as follows:
A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu, but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?
It appears the whole point of Ubuntu is essentially interdependence, which is exactly the same concept Covey has postulated. You first learn how to become independent, and stand on your own, then you unite with your fellows and ultimately depend on each other. It's a noble concept, without a doubt. Why should it concern us? I'll seek to answer.
Sometimes,you tend to wonder what it is all about, why and how it is that we seem to be self-absorbed, and obsessed with the pursuit of self-preservation and advancement of self. We Nigerians are particularly ultra-competitive and, I dare say, quite selfish. We treat each other oftentimes more with contempt than respect, and seem to be more interested in getting one over the next person. We go to great lengths, and ultimately achieve measures of independence. But we inherently don't trust each other, and end up competing against each other. Small wonder we hardly ever achieve beyond the individual.
We need to imbibe Ubuntu.
I actually stumbled on the meaning of the word Ubuntu by accident this evening, while watching Jacob's Cross. Of course I had heard of the word in computer circles, the operating system that's a variant of Linux, but I certainly was not aware that behind Ubuntu was a very interesting concept or philosophy, and the fact that it was something unique to Africa. So I decided to do a little research.
Ubuntu, from what I have been able to garner, is very much in consonance with the concept of interdependence as preached by Stephen Covey his bestseller, the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey, in his book, talked about a Continuum of Maturity, which represents the bridge between low and high effectiveness. Milestones along the continuum represent stages of Dependence, Independence, and Interdependence. According to Wikipedia, Nelson Mandela explained Ubuntu as follows:
A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu, but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?
It appears the whole point of Ubuntu is essentially interdependence, which is exactly the same concept Covey has postulated. You first learn how to become independent, and stand on your own, then you unite with your fellows and ultimately depend on each other. It's a noble concept, without a doubt. Why should it concern us? I'll seek to answer.
Sometimes,you tend to wonder what it is all about, why and how it is that we seem to be self-absorbed, and obsessed with the pursuit of self-preservation and advancement of self. We Nigerians are particularly ultra-competitive and, I dare say, quite selfish. We treat each other oftentimes more with contempt than respect, and seem to be more interested in getting one over the next person. We go to great lengths, and ultimately achieve measures of independence. But we inherently don't trust each other, and end up competing against each other. Small wonder we hardly ever achieve beyond the individual.
We need to imbibe Ubuntu.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Why I support FC Barcelona
1. They are mostly short like me.
2. They are kind of geeky rather than cool, like Becks or CR7.
3. They plank a lot during games. Some haters like to call it 'diving';)
4. They are like jackals. Jackals are not very big and strong, but they have fantastic wits and speed. That more than makes up.
5. Last but not the least ... they play darned good football!
...I'm back!
Well, I'm back!
Have I gotten older and wiser since I last came on here?
I guess. My son certainly has, he can't stop yammering about everything and anything. Me I am feeling rather jaded, and want to go back to the days i had hobbies, of which blogging is one. I am a bit rusty anyways, so you won't mind this first return post.
Anyways...my second coming will see me writing about a wider range of stuff. Just ranting about anything in general. Not just career stuff, I am kind of tired of that. Could be politics, tech, religion, music, just about anything that catches my fancy. Like my daughter on the way. I haven't thought about a name for her yet, and she'll soon be here. WOW ... Not feeling less excited anyway.
Anyways, guys...I'm back.
Have I gotten older and wiser since I last came on here?
I guess. My son certainly has, he can't stop yammering about everything and anything. Me I am feeling rather jaded, and want to go back to the days i had hobbies, of which blogging is one. I am a bit rusty anyways, so you won't mind this first return post.
Anyways...my second coming will see me writing about a wider range of stuff. Just ranting about anything in general. Not just career stuff, I am kind of tired of that. Could be politics, tech, religion, music, just about anything that catches my fancy. Like my daughter on the way. I haven't thought about a name for her yet, and she'll soon be here. WOW ... Not feeling less excited anyway.
Anyways, guys...I'm back.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Of Me, Music, and Boredom
This week, it has been a bit lazy for me. Generally I've not had much to do. So I spent most of my work days listening to much of my music archive at work, while pretending to be busy.Started with classical and hymns, moved up to hip hop and reggae, and now on African jazz. Altogether it was a fun experience, but nobody to share the joys with, so i resorted to blogging about it.
Music has changed so much, it's almost unrecognizable nowadays. As a student, my music tastes were wide and diverse, from comtemporary to ancient, classical to jazz, hip hop to Rock. You name it, I listened to it. Still do to a large extent.
I wonder why the current generation of youth/aspirational don't want to deepen their music listening, but rather focus on the mundane. Names like 'Slow Money', 'Mad Cash', 'Vocal Slender' now rule the airwaves. All singing the same stuff. 'Owo to yapa', 'Igboro ti Daru', 'Nothing do me because I be Shayo', etc, etc. Smacks of our typical short- cut attitude. These chaps are doing it to fill their bellies, no doubt.
Music has changed so much, it's almost unrecognizable nowadays. As a student, my music tastes were wide and diverse, from comtemporary to ancient, classical to jazz, hip hop to Rock. You name it, I listened to it. Still do to a large extent.
I wonder why the current generation of youth/aspirational don't want to deepen their music listening, but rather focus on the mundane. Names like 'Slow Money', 'Mad Cash', 'Vocal Slender' now rule the airwaves. All singing the same stuff. 'Owo to yapa', 'Igboro ti Daru', 'Nothing do me because I be Shayo', etc, etc. Smacks of our typical short- cut attitude. These chaps are doing it to fill their bellies, no doubt.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
The Old Boys Network: Does It Exist In Nigeria?
This is something that happens everywhere in the world.
In NY, the Columbia, Yale or Harvard IB scions dominate the world of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan. Likewise for the Ivy League lawyers, they are usually set for a career at some of the most prestigious law firms in the US, mostly founded by some ex-alumni.
Most people know about Stanford/Caltech/UCB and the Silicon Valley connection. In fact, Sun Microsystems is basically owned by ex-Stanford comp sci grads.
My question is, do we have anything like that in Nigeria? Is there really an 'old boys network'? Do we have firms primarily dominated by ex-alumni of some certain institutions? In my early job-seeking days, I came up a number of times against an 'Ife clique', in places like Telnet, Spar Aerospace (later GS Telecom), Philips Projects Center, and even Resourcery. These days, I hardly hear of such things among the fresh guys coming up. Though I hear Renaissance Capital is dominated by Ife people, that's just about it. All the places that I have worked, and indeed most organizations these days, people join from just about anywhere.
I think it's not so bad to have an old boys network. The only thing I have not seen in Nigeria, is what I consider to be the next level: old boys actually going on to set up their own outfit, and taking it up there. With all the Ife domination of Telnet and GS Telecom, I haven't still heard of any homegrown outfit founded by a bunch of Ife guys competing with those chaps. Pretty disappointing if you ask me.
What do you guys think?
In NY, the Columbia, Yale or Harvard IB scions dominate the world of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan. Likewise for the Ivy League lawyers, they are usually set for a career at some of the most prestigious law firms in the US, mostly founded by some ex-alumni.
Most people know about Stanford/Caltech/UCB and the Silicon Valley connection. In fact, Sun Microsystems is basically owned by ex-Stanford comp sci grads.
My question is, do we have anything like that in Nigeria? Is there really an 'old boys network'? Do we have firms primarily dominated by ex-alumni of some certain institutions? In my early job-seeking days, I came up a number of times against an 'Ife clique', in places like Telnet, Spar Aerospace (later GS Telecom), Philips Projects Center, and even Resourcery. These days, I hardly hear of such things among the fresh guys coming up. Though I hear Renaissance Capital is dominated by Ife people, that's just about it. All the places that I have worked, and indeed most organizations these days, people join from just about anywhere.
I think it's not so bad to have an old boys network. The only thing I have not seen in Nigeria, is what I consider to be the next level: old boys actually going on to set up their own outfit, and taking it up there. With all the Ife domination of Telnet and GS Telecom, I haven't still heard of any homegrown outfit founded by a bunch of Ife guys competing with those chaps. Pretty disappointing if you ask me.
What do you guys think?
The Reality Of Overqualification - Are People Getting Overqualified?
Yes, let's face it. We are getting overqualified, truth be told. Not only in Naija but all over the world.
Someone was telling me today that he attended an interview for Google in the UK. They wanted a Phd! Come on, a Phd to do what? Even Larry and Sergey didn't complete their Phds.
There was a time that advanced scholarship was pursued solely for academics or research. Now you need any number of degrees and/or certifications to hold down a basic straightforward job that requires little more than commonsense, as opposed to Laplace, Fourier, or Lagrange's equations. People cite 'competition' as the reason for all this, and these companies claim they are using these new criteria to generate more competition for their jobs. Are they, or are they just ignoring the basic values required to do a simple straightforward job?
There are a few questions that come to mind:
1. Are all these qualifications necessary to hold down a job in today's economy?
2. Are employers benefiting from any perceived knowledge these degrees and/or certifications are supposedly bringing to the table?
3. Who are the real winners? Could it be that the various professional bodies and degree-awarding institutions are the real winners, raking in millions of hard currency on an annual basis?
Your thoughts and responses are much appreciated.
Someone was telling me today that he attended an interview for Google in the UK. They wanted a Phd! Come on, a Phd to do what? Even Larry and Sergey didn't complete their Phds.
There was a time that advanced scholarship was pursued solely for academics or research. Now you need any number of degrees and/or certifications to hold down a basic straightforward job that requires little more than commonsense, as opposed to Laplace, Fourier, or Lagrange's equations. People cite 'competition' as the reason for all this, and these companies claim they are using these new criteria to generate more competition for their jobs. Are they, or are they just ignoring the basic values required to do a simple straightforward job?
There are a few questions that come to mind:
1. Are all these qualifications necessary to hold down a job in today's economy?
2. Are employers benefiting from any perceived knowledge these degrees and/or certifications are supposedly bringing to the table?
3. Who are the real winners? Could it be that the various professional bodies and degree-awarding institutions are the real winners, raking in millions of hard currency on an annual basis?
Your thoughts and responses are much appreciated.
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