olaluwe

[olaluwe]

Without budgeting and planning, we cannot achieve the financial future we desire if we do not get the basics right.

A personal budget is an essential tool for managing our incomes, controlling our expenses and ensuring that we have enough money left over for wealth creation.

To control the future, we must plan and create the future we desire. At every point in our lives, there’re important events that life brings.

For the young man in his late twenties, it is marriage, getting his own apartment and having children.

For the middle-aged, it is paying for tertiary education and weddings of their children.

Though we believe ‘God will provide’, we have to be sure our case is not one of ‘God has provided’ but we used the money imprudently.

We must set something aside from every income we receive. It’s not the absolute amount but the percentage – so irrespective of how much we earn we must practise keeping a percentage for ourselves.

It’s what we keep that we can use to meet the financial considerations of life’s events, emergencies, and wealth creation.

In wealth creation- it is not how much you earn that matters, it is how much you keep. To know how to save, we need a spending budget.

For us to diligently adhere to the budget, it must be realistic and not significantly diminishing the quality of our life.

We need to make sacrifices, but they must be gradually introduced, and every member of the family must be on board. A realistic budget carefully considers all our spending obligations and put realistic figures on them.

Popular wisdom recommends that before the budget is developed, we spend one month (one salary circle) writing down every kobo we spend-this enables us to determine how much to allocate to each category of expenses and which expenses we can successfully reduce.

Budgets should make allocations to food, housing, utilities, personal care and clothing, transport, dependents’ requirements, entertainment, taxes, insurance, creation of emergency funds and savings.   

Next, we create a financial plan that details when we want a life event/investment to occur. The timings coincide with the time we take to raise the amount of money required to meet the needs of the event/investment.

However, some life events do not ask our permission before they occur. A child going to law school or any school at all happens whether we are prepared or not.

But we if we have been proactive and prepared early with sufficient savings and creative investments, we would have the school fees available-after all, we got four or more year preparation period.   

Like all plans, our financial plans must contain SMART components -Specific, Measurable, Achievable Realistic, and Time-Bound with Threats Mitigated.

Regular savings is our gateway to financial freedom. Little drops water make a mighty ocean. So, we need to be patient with ourselves and be consistent in building up our Investible Funds.

We should not be looking for get-rich-quick schemes. People who get rich quick soon become poor because they never learned the principles of wealth creation, retaining, and multiplication.

Before financial management training became common for lottery winners, studies showed that over 99% of them became poor within 5 years despite winning tens of millions of dollars.

We need to develop a saving habit-remember what happened to Nigeria when crude oil prices dropped below $35.

We had nothing to show for the times when it was over $100. It is easy to criticize our leaders but we mirror the same errors in our personal finances.

Savings are the vehicle we use to generate funds for investment in higher-yielding assets like treasury bills or stock market investments. Savings themselves yield close to nothing in return.

Our investment portfolios must be diversified include money market (fixed deposits and government bonds), equity market (shares of blue-chip companies), real estate (we can start with real estate bonds from the money market) and even private equity.

Diversification may not be justified when our investments are still few, but we must always pursue diversification as an investment objective. Remember the adage-do not put all your eggs in one basket.       

Budgeting and planning help is available in our cellphone app stores. The apps have features for budgeting, payment reminders, investment management, enforcement of spending limits, etc.

They use artificial intelligence to help us manage our finances and create the financial future we desire. Wasting another day puts us at the disadvantage of the time value of money. Let’s move now.

Happy investing.

Note: This piece is culled from the Financewise Column of Ololade Adesola as published in the Nigerian Tribune of 13th November, 2019.

[olaluwe]

Going by the culture of the Yoruba with which I’m very versed, there’s no greater insult that a younger person can hurl at an elder than to tell him, especially to his face that his mouth smells.

And I honestly believe the same thing applies in cultures across Nigeria and indeed Africa no matter how barbaric and backward.

It doesn’t matter if such an elder has either in a one-off situation or repeatedly crossed the boundary of self-respect and honor, such a youngster stands reproved.

That’s not to say the grouse of the youngster is not deserving of attention in the court of public opinion. That’s not also to say the concerned elder cannot be corrected or cautioned as it were.

But when a subject addresses his monarch either to his face or by some other mechanics of communications as may be convenient that his mouth his filthy just because his line of thought diverge from his, it is the height of contempt imaginable, to say the least, and must not be taken lightly. 

I say this with every sense of cautious neutrality not forgetting that traditional institutions in the country are subject to constitutional authorities of elected public officers.

To say they are permanently sidelined and sometimes intimidated in the scheme of things is not debatable.

At the same time, the same political authorities often count on their supports when things go awry whether it is in the area of security, social mobilization, and youth restiveness name it.

That’s the lot of Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II in recent times whose Kano Emirate has been split into five by the Kano State Governor, Umar Ganduje during what appears to be a politically motivated attempt to whittle down his power and influence not long ago.

The latest of his ordeals happened in the hand of Salihu Yakasai, the Director-General, Media and Communications, Kano State government.

To be sufficiently availed of what went down between them, let me quickly background the originating issue at dispute.

There has been a heated debate across the country and especially in the North in recent times about the abductions of some children from Kano State specifically to the South-east where they were given Igbo names and converted to Christianity.

In the manner of journalists possibly on an all-out for a scoop, the view of the once and still respected first-class monarch concerning the incident was sort.

“And not only did he caution his subjects against attacking the Igbo, he went further to lay the blame on the parents of the affected children.

“He insisted that many northern parents had the bad habit of allowing their children roam the streets, to which I can attest though I only arrived in the FCT which is but a peripheral of the core north a little while ago, tarrying till odd hours to beg thereby making them vulnerable to kidnap.

Worrisomely, I’ve seen children with parents living and productive at odd hours left to the mercy of both the elements and ill-fate practically scavenge the streets to survive. Nothing can be more irresponsible. To be more reflective, I’ve seen nothing like it in my life.

If you ask me, agreed that the matter just like others on which the vocal and liberal-minded Emir had bared his mind is a sensitive one that touches on the nerves of the conservative north, still, there can be no fairer response than the position he took. It’s all about perspective.

You may, however, say it sounds fault-finding like blaming a rape victim for dressing indecently or the person whose car was stolen for not fitting a car tracker in his vehicle. But there’s always a cause and effect to every event in life. And some though are inevitable.

The position of the Emir may not be the whole truth surrounding the incident. But it is a good starting point pending the determination of the circumstances in which the children in question were kidnapped.

And one must be reminded that to become a victim of one social vice or the other it takes either being at the right place at the wrong time or at the wrong place at the right time.

Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

However, abandoning the basic tenets of conventional media practice which he represents, Yakasai acerbically tweeted at the Emir:

“A very reckless comment to make. I wonder if any of his relatives get kidnapped or stolen, he will act the same way. The kids are not almajiris for goodness sake. SLS (Sanusi Lamido Sanusi) should have kept quiet instead of opening his filthy mouth to make such insensitive remarks. Nonsense! “

The reaction is rudely punchy and emotive considering the puny nature of the Emir’s position. It also has an undercurrent of a seething dislike and disregards for the progressive Emir whose well-weighted commentaries for some time now on the state of the north have been met with unreserved and rumbustious outrage and backlash.

It clearly suggests two things. One, that there are still outstanding issues between the Emir and Governor Ganduje despite a series of parleys to bring them to a truce and a middle point.

Two, it is possibly a continuation of the seeming political war between the governor and the Emir though there appears to a calm of sort in the frontiers lately.

So, therefore, the statement from the Director-General, Media and Communications, Kano State government must be official and endorsed.

Trust Nigerians especially online, they have expressed outrage at the insult hurled at the Emir. At the same time, Yakasai too was not without support.  This underscores the popular saying that ‘if you’re good you will have enemies and if you’re bad you will have friends.’ That’s life for you.

But again, something tells me Yakasai may as well be acting his own script. Why did I say so? There is a cache of controversial statements linked to him which clearly characterized him as a man who loves controversies.

I could recall that during the presidential election in February, the Yakasai did opine that the south-west did not deliver enough votes for President Buhari. How he arrived at the votes delivered not being sufficient is still a mystery. 

In his political ignorance, the south-west geopolitical zone got more than deserved in terms of appointments and developmental projects and, he specifically mentioned the ongoing rail line, so its people are duty-bound to cast all their votes for the president.

Doesn’t that amount to wishful thinking? Doesn’t that also amount to an insult to the individual and collective choice of the mass of its highly literate yet partisan voters?  

Would something not have been deemed wrong if the region with the highest number of educated people in the country go to the poll and there’s no marked signpost to the intellectual engagement with issues underlining the election from its voters unlike what obtained in other regions?

He, of course clearly, failed to realize that by carrying out the developmental project so mentioned and others, the president is not doing the south-west any favour. Rather he’s merely fulfilling his electoral programs and programmatic.

More importantly, it is for the purpose of national socioeconomic advancement to which he has sworn to undertake if he’s to leave any legacy behind at the completion of his presidential two terms.  

In September, Yakasai also derogatorily characterized Vice-president Yemi Osinbajo as the ‘Vice-president academics. ‘The term, of course, is used by the critics of the president.

It could well be interpreted to mean that he does not align with the president even as he goes about portraying himself as a Bonafide member of the ruling party, The All Progressive Congress.

Whereas he Yakasai has a right to his opinion, it must be calibrated in such a manner that it would give sound representation to the exalted office which he occupies. 

Unlike traditional stools, Yakasai must be reminded once again that political office is transient. He would one day leave that cozy office in the statehouse and goes out to confront the reality of being an ordinary citizen without the trappings of power.

And here’s the crux of the matter, finally. When the Yoruba say that a younger person cannot just berate the elder, it sprung not out the slightest believe, imagination or insinuation that the elders are infallible. Far from it!

But it is out of the recognition of the need to promote civility in social interaction, especially between the senior citizens and those ones we may call the little-uns.

In a nutshell, the idea is not to silence or gag the youths’ right to free expression but to teach good manners and lessons in reciprocal respect.

Besides, there are, like I hinted above, more civil ways to air discontent and engage both the elders and contemporaries alike.

And no efforts must be spared to democratically explore them no matter how disagreeable the task; divergent and contentious the points of view. 

More so because a day is coming when there would be a change in status, naturally - they too will grow old.

Would they appreciate it if they’re randomly insulted by somebody that’s younger?  The answer would be a no, regardless of what transpires.   

I hope Yakasai relearns this because I know for a certainty that the north and northern elements are known for the culture of groveling deference to the elderly and more importantly its traditional and political authorities.

Above all, he should learn to use words to good effects as a communicator, democrat and a public officer appointed at that. He should not be so officious and consumed in the temporarily petty politicking to override his sense of judgment.  

[olaluwe]

In a world afflicted with wars, natural disasters, diseases, and widening inequalities; neither can the call for men and women with a large heart too loud nor their supply too surplus to requirement. If anything, they can only be inadequate.

We all know that Nigeria’s North-east has been ravaged by war of terror hatched by the lawless group called Boko Haram, fighting with impunity for a theocratic or what may be called an Islamic state.

Among other atrocities committed by the ISIS backed group, schools in their numbers have been destroyed. Girl-child in their hundreds have been abducted from their various schools many of whom were married off as child-brides, sexually abused and impregnated, murdered, and brainwashed as suicide bombers.

The lucky ones were either ransomed with undisclosed sums of money or swapped with Boko Haram prisoners in the custody of the Nigerian government.

Even as we speak Leah Sharibu, one of the last set of girls to be abducted by the terror group is still being held purportedly on the ground that she refused to deny her Christian faith. No one can tell for sure if she’s still alive.

Women have been raped, tortured, and killed right before their husbands and children; and men likewise.

Proportionately, Mosques and Churches have been razed and worshippers killed. Farmers have been displaced from their farms. Artisans callously killed.

Indeed, victims of their dastardly acts cut across the boundaries of the two dominant religions in Nigeria and across all ethnic nationalities.

In conclusion, it would be an economical truth to say social and economic activities have nearly halted in that region, especially in Bornu State. 

The entire landscape of the country’s north is today littered with IDP’s camps teeming with unschooled, unclothed, unshod, diseased and malnourished children and mothers, jobless able-bodied men and women and traumatized directly or indirectly drawn from the activities of the insurgents or their fleeing members who have mutated into other criminal activities for survival.

Profile image: Otedola in all-white attire at the ball. 

So much that an urgent intervention is needed to arrest the situation and bring succor to the sick, stressed, distressed, and a helping hand to weak.           

In a clear response to the urgent call to affect these ones and other lives and show the milk of human kindness Nigeria business mogul, Femi Otedola doled out what’s arguably the single largest donation in the history of philanthropy in the country. He gave out N5billion for the North-east intervention.

This he did through his daughter at a ball organized by the Cuppy Foundation. The Cuppy Foundation is a Non-for-profit organization founded by Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola popularly known as DJ Cuppy.

The well-attended event took place at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja on the 10th of November, 1999. In attendance were the Vice president Yemi Osinbajo, Aliko Dangote, Lagos State Governor Babajide San-Olu and his Ogun State counterpart, Dapo Abiodun to mention a few.

Specifically, the donation was made to the Save The Children charity which a 100-year-old United Kingdom-based charity. 

It might interest you to know that the charity organization is the biggest children-focused organization after UNICEF.

Its focus is to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic opportunities as well as providing emergency aid in natural disasters, war, and other conflicts.

Of course, the donor’s daughter who’s also the facilitator is a Board Ambassador for the Save The Children and a Member of the organization’s Africa Advisory Board.

While Otedola may not be the richest man in Nigeria, he has, however, demonstrated so far an uncommon commitment to philanthropy, helping the underprivileged.

He rubbed shoulders with some of the towering names in this regard. To be sure, names like Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, Odoole Odua of Yoruba land, Chief Adebutu Kessington readily comes to mind; not forgetting also late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola. There are numerous others too whom space will not permit their roll call.

Permit me, however, to run through a number of good causes to which Otedola has identified with financially in the course of time which undoubtedly had underlined his true status as a philanthropist per excellence.        

In 2005, he instituted an N200 million scholarship for Lagos state undergraduates. In the same year, he donated N300 million for the completion of the National Ecumenical Centre in Abuja.

He at various time donated N100 million to the Lagos state College of Primary Education, N100 million to the Central Mosque, Ilorin (Kwara State), and N100 million to the University of Port Harcourt (River State).

He has committed to building and donating a faculty of engineering valued at N2 billion to the Augustine University in his hometown, Epe in Lagos State.

Recently, his intervention proved life-saving for the sick Christian Chukwu, former captain and coach of Super Eagles; and Peter Fregene, former international goalkeeper; Malek Fashek, celebrated Reggae artiste; Sadiq Daba and Victor Olaitan.

Philanthropy is a way of showing gratitude to God who blesses whom he chooses to bless.  And for those who have found it in their heart to commit to it for the rest of their life like Otedola openly declared during the ball, they’re worthy of celebration and encouragement with the prudent application of these ginormous figures.

It would be a tragedy of monumental proportion to hear much later that those interventions are frittered away for personal purposes or diverted to other unrelated purposes. With Save The Children charity, we can only hope based on their track record that the fund would be judiciously used for the purpose it is intended.

And by the time account of stewardship is rendered if indeed it would, the life of Internally Displaced People in the North-east of Nigeria would’ve been positively affected to the glory of God and the donors. 

[olaluwe]

Writing about the dreary and inexact subject of Economics is a truly confounding exercise. Yet there are times when one cannot shy away from the patriotic obligation. No discipline can be more exacting than modern Economics. 

Consensus is rare and intellectual unanimity even more elusive.

Yet in the hallowed field of medical sciences, physicians are aware when the object of their skillful attention is about to expire. It is only a certain species of economists who pretend otherwise even as the object of their learned attention goes into rigor Mortis.

About twelve weeks ago, the Nigerian federal authorities, fearing that the nation might simply collapse economically as a result of its having become a vast dumping site for imported goods smuggled through our neighbouring countries, closed the borders of the country.

As usual with everything Nigerian, the move has elicited mixed reaction with the country split along the traditional fault lines of ethnicity, regionalism, and religion.

To be sure, it was a drastic and extreme move which in a normal democracy ought to have been driven by elite consensus and conciliation. But we live in extraordinary times and an unusual democratic arrangement. After some initial objections, the protests petered out. It is obvious that despite having fallen prey to the hocus-pocus of neo-liberal economic orthodoxy in recent times, President Mohammadu Buhari still retains an awkward sense of the economic nationalism of his youth.

As a doctrine of economic growth and inclusive development, with its Keynesian echoes, is often dismissed by the chic sophisticates of the Breton Wood consensus against the developing regions as sheer economic illiteracy. It has not occurred to our modern economists that regurgitating western economic theories with Pavlovian punctuality without adapting them to the specific local conditions is a higher and more dangerous form of illiteracy.

It is on record that it is when economic nationalists are in control of the engine room of Nigeria’s economy, from Chief Obafemi Awolowo during the civil war to Professor Sam Aluko and Anthony Ani during the Abacha regime, that Nigeria recorded its greatest economic growth and relative currency stability.

For example, it is well known that Awolowo managed the Nigerian economy in a war situation without borrowing a penny and with plenty to spare. And despite the political depredation of the era and his own untrammeled personal burglary of Exchequer, the naira was stable throughout General Abacha’s reign of terror and the nation’s economy experienced relative growth.

The neo-liberal canard about the big-spending which turns the state into a huge economic almshouse for unproductive mendicants cannot apply to developing countries, particularly if the spending is wise and invested in infrastructural developments. You cannot roll back a state which is yet to find or fulfill its organic destiny.

African nations yet to domesticate and consolidate the nation-state paradigm are being frog-marched to frontiers beyond the nation. This is the bane of our local economists trained and hooked on theories meant for other societies and who mouth such economic shibboleths to the applause of their western backers and entrenched interests.

Whatever the political failures of the Buhari Administration and the reservations of pan-Africanists who are still sold on the nostalgia one big African community, it will be intellectually dishonest not to applaud the decision of the federal authorities to close off our borders for now. To many of our neighbours, Nigeria is not a country at all but a huge dumping site for smuggled goods and other nefarious cross-border activities.

The shameless, state-driven xenophobia emanating from South Africa notwithstanding, Nigeria remains the only African country that has found the pluck and temerity to drive the nation-state paradigm imposed on hapless African communities to its ultimate conclusion in a manner that suggest a countervailing move to developments on the global chessboard.

If the Nigerian authorities are conscious of the geo-political implications of what they are about, t is well and good. But if it is a case of intuitively sleepwalking to the right answer, then it is fraught with mortal perils as we will advance shortly for both nation and its rulers. By enacting closure at the sacred shrine of modern nationhood, Nigeria is following developments from the west itself.

Having pioneered and benefitted twice from the momentum of globalization, first with the internationalization of political slavery and now with the internationalization of economic slavery, western nations are recoiling in the horror and terror of as the ultimate logic of their own creation begins its homeward journey.

Hence the frantic retreat to the primal and even primitive nationhood by the same leading western nations that pioneered the two historic waves of globalization. As usual and without any sense of irony, Donald Trump is on record as having showered praises on the apostles of ultra-nationalism who are thwarting the advances of globalization by defending their nation with any means and method possible.

In the civilized bastions of liberal tolerance in Europe such as France, Holland, Hungary, Italy, and Poland, we have witnessed the eruption of racial hatred and the ascendancy of extreme right-wing groups. In Britain, the country of good manners, the rise of xenophobia, the whole Brexit rumpus and the rise of one -nation nationalists led by Boris Johnson who is himself of Turkish extraction represents a forlorn attempt to stall the march of history.

Former voluble internationalists have now strangely transformed into ardent nationalists. In the end, perhaps nothing can beat Robertson’s classic description of globalization as “the universalization of the particular and the particularization of the universal’. In this instance, the universal is western capitalism which ought to have many unique variants all over the world and the particularized is the attempt to impose western capitalism on the rest of the world.

That move has met a catastrophic end, and the west is in full retreat. Leading the resistance from the weakened ideological rampart of the old left are vibrant ultra-nationalists countries such as China, Russia, North Korea and the remaining enclaves of socialism. From the right Singapore, Malaysia, Iran, India and one or two Arab monarchies in the Gulf States are baying at the notion of one-race capitalism.

In this emerging polarization of the world driven by the ideology of nationalism rather than the old bifurcation along class lines, no one is sure where African countries stand within the divide. Most African nations are too riven by internal schisms of ethnicity, religion, culture and countervailing worldviews for its political elites to make a strong pitch for any form of nationalism, except when they are confusing ethnic interest with national interests.

Last week, the Nigerian authorities began to climb down from their high-horse of ultra-nationalism and autarky by giving conditions for the reopening of borders and stipulating a timeline. Just as one ad suspected, the whole thing has been a combination of bluff and bluster rather than arising from a holistic strategy which is a function of a strenuous and stringent intellectual evaluation of national needs. In short, it is one of those strange whimsical impulses so characteristic of the current administration.

Autarky, or extreme self-isolation based on economic self-possession and self-reliance is normally based on sterner stuff. It can only come from a nationalist political elite forged in an overriding ideological war or steeled in elite consensus based on negotiated national destiny pr a combination of both.

In the case of former socialists’ countries such as Soviet Union, China, Cuba, Vietnam and North Korea, it is the former. In the case of old and emerging democracies such as America, India, Britain, South Korea, and post-Franco Spain, it is the latter or the combination. It can also help if a nation has an indigenous tradition of home-evolved capitalism such as the chaebol oligopoly in South Korea or the Juche doctrine of Spartan self-reliance from North Korea.    

It is to be noted that several traditional societies in what has become Nigeria practiced a rudimentary and pre-industrial version of capitalism. Although this can no longer pass muster in the face of the onslaught of western modernity, the elite unanimity that drove them ought to be noted and applauded.

When Pandit Nehru famously declared that if Indians could not feed themselves let them go hungry of if they could not build their own indigenous car let them trek, he was confident of his own shinning personal example and of nationalist political elite that would not sabotage this immaculate vision of national self-pride and sense of worth no matter the personal rivalries and differences. India boasts of an ancient, well-heeled and a well-ordered civilization which had already established its own pre-modern versions of university by the eighth and ninth centuries.

The Cambridge-trained, intellectually self-assured founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, boasted with supreme self-confidence that he and his close associates and collaborators routinely took apart imported doctrines and ideas from the west before isolating what was useful to his country and thereafter dumping in the rubbish heap what was useless and inapplicable. So does the equally accomplished recently returned nonagenarian ruler of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad.

Yet it is not as if Nigeria has not thrown up its own local avatars. In the fifties, a man known as Mazi Mbonu Ojike was already preaching the doctrine of boycott all boycottable. Even more famously by 1945, Obafemi Awolowo, a private Law student in London, was already contesting the affliction of unitary federalism foisted on the nation by our imperialist masters.

Here is the crux of the problem. A nation that will borrow any money from anywhere in the world to finance its deficit budget, a nation whose political leadership is so steeped in primitive hedonism that they hanker after any western luxury goods and gadgets, including the latest automobiles, aero planes, shoes and expensive watches and most tellingly a nation whose president is currently on medical tourism in the hallowed epicenter of metropolitan mayhem, cannot afford to preach not to talk of practice economic autonomy without inviting mortal peril on its own head.

This whole drama about border closure reminds one of an infamous argument once canvassed by one of our forgettable military regimes. We were told that in Nigeria, a bottle of coke was more expensive than a liter of petrol and therefore in order to discourage the rampant smuggling of the prime good across our border, it was mandatory to drastically increase the price of petrol products.

Thirty years and several price quadrupling later, the phantom subsidy not only remains but petrol continues to be smuggled across our borders. Meanwhile like the condemned of Altona, the number of people living in absolute poverty has quadrupled even as the old Nigerian middle class has been obliterated.  Before our very eyes, Nigeria has become one hell of a place to live in and a vast penal colony boasting of its own internal horror chambers where citizens are chained and tortured without any recourse to law and order.

The current drive against corruption and recovery of stolen money must be commended despite its awkward partisanship and polarization one-sidedness. But unless the leadership finds true moral courage and vision to rein in the recurring fiscal prodigality as seen in the reckless unbudgeted spending by the executive and the legislative infamy which still defends the humongous pay packets of our lawmakers, the run on the naira will continue leading to devaluation and further ruination of the Nigerian people.

Unless we urgently find a nationalist ruling class and a leadership with the will and altruistic courage to do the needful, it is obvious that a world-historic implosion is loading in Nigeria. The most dangerous thing about false and hypocritical pretenses to autarky is that it can actually be used by clerical fascists and extreme reactionary groups to quash genuine efforts aimed at local and sub-national self-sufficiency on the altar of a bogus national interest. We surely live in perilous times in Nigeria.

Disclaimer: This piece was written by Tatalo Alamu and first appeared in his column ‘Snooping Around with Tatalo Alamu’ in The Nation Newspaper of Sunday 10, 2019.   

[olaluwe]

The Nigerian Army after initially vacillating about admitting an earlier report that it is planning to conduct a nationwide operation code named: 'Operation Positive Identification' has now come out to accept the truthfulness of the report. Clarifying the position of the Nigerian Army,  the chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai confirmed that the force indeed has perfected plans to conduct the said operation which is intended to fish out the remnants of the insurgents who are currently on the run after they were flushed out of their various hideouts in the north-east by the military. The Army Chief went further to state that the operation has the backing of the president and other relevant authorities. It was to commence on the 1st of November, 2019. During the duration of the operation, citizens are required to carry with them any of means of identification- national Identity Card, voter's Card and the likes. But in a swift reaction right from day the news first broke, Nigerians have been expressing their thoughts and views concerning the operation and its modus operandi. While some are in support, others have expressed their misgiving and apprehension over the planned operation. Among others, talks of possible victimization of the people was rife. And there was also the fear that free movement of the people, goods, and services might be encroached upon. In the calculation of others, the operation is also capable of causing panic among the populace. Indeed, all the expressed angles above are not completely misplaced. More than that, it only goes to show a general lack of faith and preparedness to jointly and urgently confront some of the challenges facing us as a people. Having said that, one cannot also forget that the vast majority of Nigerians especially at the grassroots still don't have any means of identification thereby exposing the inadequacies of the various national identification projects. We can, therefore, conclude that many who falls into this category may end up becoming the worst hit.

*Service Chiefs at a security briefing of the President recently 

Consequentially also, a suit challenging the constitutionality of the planned operation was filed at a federal high court in Lagos by the civil rights activist and constitutional lawyer, Femi Falana. He argued that the Army has practically usurped the constitutional role of the Nigerian Police and other agency like the Nigerian Immigration Service. He, therefore, pray that the court should declare the planned operation as unconstitutional, illegal, null, and void. The National Assembly has also stepped in and called on the Nigerian Army to suspend the operation pending the outcome of an inquiry into the matter by its security committee. As such, the operation could not kick off on Friday, November 1st, 2019 as earlier scheduled. While commenting on the development,  the chairman of the committee expressed the view that such operation though strategic to winning the ongoing war against insecurity cannot be hastily carried out without the proper sensitization of Nigerians. This, no doubt, is well said. However,  the implication of all these is that the fleeing Boko Haram elements will continue to roam about free and possible mutating into other criminal activities and terrorizing the our communities like has been widely reported.   But instead of all these hues and cries about the Army's intentions with a focus only on the negatives, I'd rather, more than ever, that we begin to appreciate the contributions and the elasticity of the Nigerian Army in the nation's fight against both the insurgency and other security challenges facing the country in the past and in recent time. In the first instance, while its statutory role is to combat both external aggression against the country and nip in the bud internal insurrection, it has on several occasions been called upon to assist the Police saddled with the task of social policing when they appeared overwhelmed in the discharge of that important responsibility.

President Muhammadu Buhari 

This has been attributed to the decades of poor funding of the Nigerian Police starting from the military era and has persisted into the current democratic dispensation. The resultant effect of poor funding of the police is now its visibly lack of necessary capacities of ethical recruiting process, up-to-date training and retraining, high-morale arising from prioritize welfare of its rank and file, and firepower to effectively carry out its constitutional assignments. Overtime, it has become a normal sight to see combat-ready military personnel in the company of men of the Nigeria police on the streets of our towns and cities about which people rarely complain. As a result of such collaborations, it must be remember that significant successes have been recorded in the fight against crime and criminality in the country. One can easily recall that since the Buhari administration came to power in 2015, the military has actually operationalized many counter-insecurity measures in different parts of the country- operation crocodile smile, operation python dance are good examples, while at the same time fighting insurgents in the north-east. There is no single one of them, however, that has gone without one form of bad press or the other if I may put it that way. They've not also been free of suspicion especially when operationalized in the south-south and south-east regions of the country being the strong hold of the opposition. When it was launched in the southeast, for instance, at the height of the separatists movement's activities, it was seen as an invasion of that region by a government desperate to silence the Biafran agitators. And I ask, is there anything wrong in that? After all, there is a popular saying among the Yoruba that it is responsibility of the leaders to do everything possible to prevent a dismemberment of the community or country under his watch. That's exactly what the President has done and he must be commended for it and not castigated. In general, counter-insecurity measures of the military have been seen as attempts by the government to intimidate the opposition and put it on the retreat. Such is the nature of the opposition politics in Nigeria that it fails at every point in time to appreciate the overriding national interest in the actions of the government. It's especially worse with the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. Seeing the successes similar operations have accomplished in the past, I'm tempted to ask, what is different about the proposed operation positive identification of the Army compared to the roles it has played overtime within the security architecture of the country? If it doesn't constitute an usurpation of the constitutional role of the police in the past, why does it now constitute such? Does it not amount to a mischief, display of wilful ignorance, and irresponsible opposition politics for anybody or groups to assume or imagine that the Army has taken over the statutory role of the police? I want to agree with the senate though that the Army would need to sensitize the people over a period of time before deploying its officers and men to execute the operation. The other thing is the widespread believe that the Army can carry out military operation covering the entire country without counting the cost of the logistics involve. War or counter-insurgency or insecurity operations are not just about personnel and hardware but money importantly. The best the Army can do in the circumstances it has found itself now is to delimit the areas to be covered which I think they must have done based on intelligence reports that are at their disposal. Otherwise, it would be foolhardy for any military no matter its level of capability to conduct a nationwide operation in a country as wide as Nigeria. Again, the downside to the proposed operation for me is that it's unlikely the terrorists who are on the run would come anywhere near the Army roadblocks if such approach is adopted not to talk of getting them arrested. And so the purpose is defeated right from the start. Continuing with the old pattern, I would rather the operation positive identification is, however, this time around non-intrusive, staggered, and collaborative involving the police, immigration, and other relevant security agencies for optimally effective results. 

[olaluwe]

Image for representational purposes only As a woman, her three kids, and their house-girl laden with two small cartons and a poly bag of consumable walked down the staircase of an Abuja supermarket, suddenly it began to rain. It was a heavy rainfall but surprisingly devoid of a high wind. It was a well-heralded one going by its anvil-headed cloudy onset. Obviously taken aback by the development and unprepared to let her kids walk through it, understandably though, she approached the security personnel on duty and asked to be allowed to drive in to enable her pick her family and all she has bought from the supermarket. The head-guard politely turned down her request citing the existing rule of engagement that no customer should be allowed to drive into the supermarket premises for reasons of lack of space. He went a little further to intimate the woman that since the commencement of operations by the plaza where the supermarket is housed, only the MD normally parks her car in the premises. The chairman who is also the husband to the MD hardly ever drives in much less parked his car in the premises. The only people that are occasionally exempted from this regulation are the products delivery mini-buses and the bikes. Many times too, they are also denied access and asked to park outside. The lack of space was that acute and the approach has ensured sanity. But the woman would have not of it. She flew into a rage questioning the authority of the guard on why she could not be allowed to drive in to pack her things even as the rain continues to pound everything in sight. The guard would not shift ground as a man under authority which led to a heated argument. It was a battle that she was ready to give everything to win no minding whether or not it runs counter to the policy thrust of the supermarkets management. The guard being very professional, however, tried to calm her down and imploring her to reason with him that being a security officer he's duty bound to execute the existing traffic and security protocols put in place by the management of the plaza which also owns the supermarket. He also assures her that it is nothing personal. Rather than become convinced, the woman became edgy and loudly abusive. She demanded to see the manager who unfortunately was not on seat because it was a Sunday. While her fit lasted, she insisted on driving in and even went as far as opening the gate. This the guard immediately countered. He railed it back to position and promptly put it under lock and key. This got her the more infuriated. She nevertheless daringly drove her car with the aim of forcing her way in. She was prevented by other cars that were parked in such a manner that it would be impossible for another car to navigate in-between them. After discovering that she was not making any headway and obstructing traffic on the narrow way which other road users were not finding funny, she decided to park the car properly. She yet immediately stormed out of the car to continue her insulting rants.

Image for representational purposes only

The guard at this stage has to fade into the background of the circuitously nervy moment to avert a confrontation breaking out. She, however, continued to rasp that had it not been for the obstructive cars, she would've either ran her car into gate or look for something to break the gate's padlock and nothing would happen. At this point, the CSO came out of the building from where he had been attending to other pressing matters. He was an elderly man and a retired prison official. He also unsuccessfully tried to persuade the woman to see reasons with them. He even went as far as providing a solution that's most appropriate to the situation by sourcing for an umbrella- first a small one, then later a bigger one. And he also offered to help in taking the children, who from the look on their faces could not understand what the fuzz by their mother was all about, to the car. The overtures fell on deaf ears. But one could see that the children were more than prepared to walk through the rain as it is the manner of children, especially as it begins to peters out. Playing in the rain is a moment children would always love to savor. More so, when the circumstance is even different  But their mother had other ideas. They must not walk in the rain no matter how mild and under an umbrella too. And for the umpteenth time, she stormed out of the supermarket premises and went straight into her and drove off. After a while, she returned and the shouting match continued this time around with the CSO who consequentially lost his cool. It was then that the CSO dared her to do her worst and see if she would not be answerable for whatever damages she eventually caused. For the last time, she exited the supermarket's veranda where her children, the house-girl, and goods were. She now drove the car as if to permanently obstruct the entrance to the plaza. By then, the CSO now has the full attention of the kids. And they were a conversational bunch of happy, smiling sweethearts who excitedly talked about their names, school, and various classes.   The CSO's olive branch also continued as he attempted to immediately begin to move the kids covered with the umbrella towards the car. From afar, she screamed that her kids be let alone. And the CSO simply sat back on the plastic chair.   Now the rain has subsided into a drizzle. In a surprise move, however, she began to move the kids, proudly and practically lifting them off the ground one after the other like eggs ostensibly to prevent their feet from touching the wet, clean floor of the plaza with its beautifully set interlocks and placing them in the backseat of the car. When she was done, she zoomed off. And sanity immediately returned to the ambience.  She would subsequently become a subject of intense and revelational conversation among the members of staff, bystanders, and fellow customers. Many are of the opinion that her attitudes was unbecoming especially towards the security hierarchy who through their boss even went as far as providing an umbrella in the bid to amicably resolve the impasse. Some confessed to knowing the husband whom they described as a perfect gentleman. And that she has caused the man embarrassments on a number of occasions. They concluded that she is not a worthy ambassador for wives and mothers Some find fault in her approach to showing the children love, and I think I did too.To me, if there is a terrible way to love children, who are the next generation of parents and leaders whom we expect to lead by example, then the act she puts up must ranked as one.   It's unthinkable that showing children love would include preventing them from being beaten by either the rain or, sunshine if I may add; and more so, unjustly fighting constituted authority on their behalf and constituting a public nuisance.   Of course,  I've no objection to not wanting them to step out in the rain particularly when it was in its forceful state but to practically lifted them so their feet don't touch the floor even when it has calmed is a height of mischief and a disservice to their evolving personalities. It's clearly not the kind of life any child would want to live. It's also not the kind of life parents, under any guise, should give to their children and wards. But then the choice is for each and everyone of us to make and the consequences to live with.

[olaluwe]

Opportunity has been compared to a missing pearl which everybody is assumed to be looking for.

It has also been likened to a treasure hidden on which all and sundry are looking to lay hold of their hands.

I remember in the early days of GSM in Nigeria, you’d see people climbing all sort of raised platforms or randomly walking around their households or rooms as the case may be purportedly in their search for a strong-enough signal which is forever unstable in all its ways. Of course, it is now a thing of the past substantially.

But is opportunity fluctuating like network’s signal or hidden as treasure so much that we all must labor to identify it and bring it to a profitable use of ourselves and others?

Or is it that we are the one looking elsewhere while it continues to pass us by?

In the event of any of the two, how then can we locate opportunity or make opportunity locates us for our maximal usage?

Before we attempt to answer these questions, let's first of all take a cursory look at these two prominent myths surrounding the subject of opportunity.

1. Opportunity lost is believed can never be regained.

This is a myth because opportunity missed can be recovered depending on the nature and preponderance of the wasted opportunity.

For instance, you cannot tell me as a man that because you missed out on marrying that delectable, well-behaved lady, it automatically translates to a tightly closed door to a similar if not a better opportunity for you? The answer is no.

This is because God has made available a steady supply of alternative women to choose from either by their varying statuses as eligible spinsters or single-again mothers as results of either the death of their spouses or having divorced from their previous marriages.

The same applies to the women folks. Because you were rejected by a man surely isn't the end of the world and shouldn't trouble you so much that the only solution that occurs to you is suicide.

Yes, you might have lost out on the opportunity to marry that person whom in your human estimations you considered special, (in any case, everybody is special perspective is what matters) I can assure you, however, that the door is not irreversibly shut to you to meeting better people if only you will not only be diligent in your quest the next time around but be ready to take your chances.

2. Or alternatively, many people even belief opportunity comes but once.

This is another fallacy, a myth. I can tell you for free that opportunity comes to all not just once but the second, third, and even the fourth time provided your belief or faith has not gone on a long holiday.

Again, I'm strongly convinced that many people sometimes missed out on a great opportunity, not due to any faults of theirs. Life just happens to them which they cannot help.

It could be due to the dark forces are at work in their life. It could also be due to being careless.

Therefore, are we to conclusively say that a force far more superior to the ones messing up their life cannot and should not step in and restores order? The answer again is no.

Let’s go back to the questions I asked earlier on.

Opportunity is neither fluctuating nor hidden. It’s just what it is - a free-roaming spirit of possibility waiting to be activated- which avails itself much to those who look earnestly forward to it.

Like money, it is mostly an unscheduled visitor. Its favor can also be curried. If it pays you a visit, make the most of its stays. In other words, it is advisable you make it visits as ensconced as possible so it’s tempted to make it stay a permanent one.  

Therefore, the second scenario is most likely that we’re possibly the ones not paying enough attention to details. Devil, remember, they use to say is in the details.

So literally speaking, opportunity passes most of us by because we sometimes get distracted by the diversionary side attractions to life which competes with our attention.

And we must as a duty learn to shout-out-loud at our own drowning or floundering attention to focus more on weightier matters of life.

Distinguishing between opportunity contenders and pretenders

For example, just as there are contenders and pretenders in the race for the coveted diadem in all the football leagues around the world by reason for better or poor preparation in terms of recruitments of new players who can bring something different to the team and keeping the core of the team which have been together for some time play an important role.

By so doing, it is either the respective team consolidates on the successes of the preceding seasons or they allow them to fritter away. In sports generally, the availability of the required financial wherewithal plays a vital role in teams’ successes.

Similarly, opportunity contenders may well have a better preparation ahead of time in term of training, experience, connections, awareness, and exposures which the pretenders, unluckily, may not have or might have papered over in the course of time may be believing in error that things just happen by chance. Hasn’t success been aptly described as opportunity meets preparations?

Even in the culturing process of crops, growth doesn’t just happen naturally all the time. Conscious and deliberate efforts are required of the farmers to ensure the crops in their fields grow well in their natural environment or a simulated one in order to achieve better yields and improved profitability. Sometimes, it takes the sampling of improved crop varieties.

How then can we locate opportunity and as well maximize it?

There is a popular Yoruba saying: the ears of the king at home and abroad, that’s what the people are.

The king obviously cannot be everywhere at the same time. So, it is - the ordinary citizens and the people to whom he has delegated powers - that form his first line of getting firsthand dependable information about what’s going on that would aid his effective and efficient rule of the realm. The same applies to each and every one of us.

The essence of that is that the people are the opportunity and the opportunity is the people.

Let me briefly illustrate the point I’m making here with a bible story of the widow at Zarephath of Zidon whose husband died living her with debt. 1 King 17 vs. 8-16.

The debt was so much that the receiver’s managers are determined to take her only son which is most likely the collateral for the loan away from her. And what did she do?

Prophet Elijah paid her a visit on the instruction of God and had to prepare a meal of cake to entertain him in obedience to his word ‘out of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar’ that was left in the house. 

When he was done, he asks her to gather all the empty jars in her households as well as even going to borrow from the neighbors.  And the prophet pronounced a blessing on her. 1 King 17 vs.14

And that was the most instructive part of the event because it is filled with an important life lesson which is very profitable for instruction in the task of locating and maximizing life’s opportunity.

Because here comes an opportunity of a lifetime, one that’s pregnant with transforming possibilities for her family with regards to the repaying of the debt owed and having enough left to cater to other existential matters.

But it was all dependent on the number of empty jars she could gather. Now imagine for a moment that she was an unfriendly type who is always making trouble with the people closest to her such as co-tenants and neighbors? Imagine if she’s not on talking terms with them?

That opportunity would have been screwed because there could’ve been no one to turn to for empty jars that would go on to determine the size of her blessings.

It would’ve been payback time for them by turning down her request for their empty jars though they may not have any use of them at that point in time.

The moral of this story is that you prepare for life’s opportunity with the right attitudes and cordial relations with people around you.

To locate and maximize opportunity, consider the following:

Preparation.

You can locate and maximize opportunity through preparation by way of the acquisition of relevant education/orientations/skill in one or more areas of specializations or by the way of developing your God given talents and gifts for such, the bible says, shall not only make ways for you, but make you stand before Kings. 

Indeed, it’s apt to recall that the motto of one of the greatest youth movements in the world, the Boy Scout is ‘Be Prepared’.   

 Information.

You can locate opportunity and maximize the same through staying informed. This is more pertinent because we now live in the high-speed information age which enables a very rapid transformation like never seen or known in the history of humanity.

So, positioning yourself for the right and timely information will go a long way in helping you to locate and maximizing opportunity in life.

Alertness.

Alertness is the reflexive capacity to ably response to positive energies around you, while avoiding or ignoring the negative ones.

And we speak of mental, social, economic, political, and spiritual alertness.

It generally involves knowing the signs of the time and minding them for your own good. Your opportunity for breakthrough, promotion, deliverance, healing, and restoration comes from all of the above.

Build a people-centric network.

Like I said earlier, people are the opportunity and opportunity is the people. The Chinese call it Quingxi.

The people are more often than not your eyes, nose, and ears concerning your search for lifelong progress and advancement.

Surely, they would bring you reports of new development to which you can avail yourselves if you’re in their network.  Summarily, have a good relationship with people for they are your sure resource for the blessing which God has destined for you. Always remember, nobody succeeds as an island. 

Being level-headed.

Level-headedness is the ability to stay calm even when the situation doesn’t warrant it or is going haywire. When you’re level-headed it makes you see and think clearly. As such you don’t get things all muddled up for yourself.

Being faithful.

Faith, the bible says, is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seeing. By it, the elders obtain good testimony.

The bible also says that ‘faith doesn’t make things easy, it makes them possible’. When you’re faithfully committed to what your hands have found to do and doing it well, you automatically identify and maximize opportunity around it.

Being goal-oriented.

Goal-oriented persons will easily locate opportunity and maximize opportunity than people who are not.

They’re so motivated and driven to succeed that they are continually on the look-out for ways to upgrade on their competences which ultimately leads to the awareness of and maximization of opportunity in their chosen field or career.      

Being focused.  

When you’re focused on something or on a journey it’s unlikely that you will not get to your desired destination.

It’s most unlikely that you would be driven and tossed around like the waves by the wind. And though storms of adversity may arise and wind of uncertainty may surge, they shall found you fearless because you know they are merely temporary distractions. 

Looking beyond temporary gratification.

Obsession with temporary gratification can make you miss out on an enduring opportunity and more so maximizing it.

Some jobs and callings come with little or no financial gains, especially in the beginning, and this has led many to overlook them thereby skimming over the brighter side to them in the long term.  

It’s advisable to try delaying your gratification even if the enterprise is self-originating. It makes it more fulfilling when it finally comes through. Food is sweetest, filling, and satisfying when hunger is more pronounced.

Despise not the day of little beginning.

All big things have a little and almost insignificant start. The mother hen of today was once a fragile pullet. There’s a seminal point to every significant thing you see out there.

We must be prepared to swim like a trout in the small stream then grow to a shark or other cetacean mammal capable of swimming in the ocean whose waves and tides are most violent and threatening to the feeble of aquatic creatures which carelessly venture beneath the treacherous sea.

As I leave you with this quote by Jack Ma, China’s richest man who, when asked to compare his brand, Alibaba with the big American rival, Amazon humbly reckoned that:

 “Amazon is like a shark in the ocean, while Alibaba is still like a crocodile in the Yangtze”.  

The import of that, however, should not be lost on those who genuinely are seeking for an opportunity to launch out in business or career.

Because contextually the statement is neither that of admittance of failure and defeat nor of surrendering before the fight even commences.  

Rather, it’s a fair pronouncement borne out of humble assessment of the current reality of the two rival brands.

Yet, it’s so full of positives for those who can dare to dream, for those who are willing to start small where they presently are, being ready to scale up or diversify when possible.

Opportunity may be few and far between but real chances for growth will always come. However, don’t despise the day of little beginning and so bungled your chance to succeed in real-time in no distant future.  Follow your path, locate the inherent opportunity, and maximize it. Impossibility is nothing!

[olaluwe]

Though the seed of the idea of establishing The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), the air branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces, was first sown in 1961, it was not until April 18, 1964, that it became a reality.

This was after the nation had participated in peacekeeping operations in Congo and Tanganyika (now Tanzania) respectively.

It would be recalled that during these peace-keeping missions, foreign air forces aircraft were employed to airlift the Nigerian Army Regiment to and from the theatres of operation.

The Nigerian Parliament, having recognized the urgent need for the establishment of an Air Force that can fully complement the nation's military outlooks, therefore, approved the establishment of the NAF.

Consequently, the NAF was officially established by a statutory Act of Parliament on April 1964.

The recruitment of cadets had earlier commenced in June 1962.  Though still in its infancy, the Force would go on to take an active part in the nation's civil war which ended in 1970. 

Air Warrant Officer Grace Garba.[credit] Punch

Its four cardinal purposes are as follow:

            1.       To achieve a full complement of the military defence system of the Federal Republic of Nigeria both in the air and on the ground.

            2.       To ensure fast versatile mobility of the Armed Forces.

            3.       To provide close support for the ground-based and seaborne forces in all phases of operations and to ensure the territorial integrity of a united Nigeria.

            4.       To give the country the deserved prestige that is invaluable in international matters.

The strategic roles played by the Air Forces of Ethiopia, Canada, India, and Germany in the takeoff of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) cannot be overemphasized.

Special mention must be made, however, of the German Air Force on who the lot fell to develop for the proper takeoff of what is today known as The Nigerian Air Force.

Over the course of the years, the Force has gone through different expansionist stages especially with the promulgation of Decree 105 (Armed Forces Amendment Decree) of 23rd August 1994 which provided additional roles for the NAF with regards to enforcing all international laws and conventions relating to space activities in the Nigerian airspace.

However, November 15th, 2019 was a special day for the Nigerian Air Force family and especially, its female personnel.

This is because, on that day, the force's top echelon supported by the minister of women affairs Pauline Tallen decorated the newly promoted Grace Garba as its first female Air Warrant Officer in its 55 years history.

By that singular action, Grace Garba effectively became the first female Senior Non-Commissioned Officer (SNCO) to be promoted to the highest rank in the Non-Commissioned Officers cadre since the force was established.

Garba was reported to have joined the NAF back in 1986 as a member of the Basic Military Training Course (BMTC) 10 aged 20 years.

In the intervening years, Garba in addition to putting in excellent work rates also garnered four certificates  a Nursing degree from the School of Nursing, Maiduguri, Midwifery from Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Public Health Nursing from the School of Health Technology, Kaduna and an Advanced Diploma in Public Administration at the Federal University of Technology, Yola.

She rose to become the Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) of the Nigerian Air Forces School of Medical Sciences and Aviation Medicine (NAFSMSAM), Kaduna which is her current position before this promotion.

Thats not all; on that same day the force also inducted 13 new fighter pilots which historically included two women-  Kafayat Sanni and Tolulope Arotile.

They were reportedly trained in the United States and South Africa respectively.

The new pilots were inducted at the NAF Headquarters, Abuja, on Tuesday in a ceremony attended like I said earlier by the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Pauline Tallen.

*Minister of women affairs Pauline Tallen and Chief of Air staff, Air marshal Sadique Abubakar decorating one of the two female jet-fighters pilots in Abuja on Tuesday, 15th, 2019. [credit] Punch

They are expected to be deployed in the North-East in the ongoing fight against the Boko Haram insurgents as well as for other security operations Nigerian Air Force is conducting in different parts of the country.

The two female Regular Cambatant Officers, according to a citation by The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, are not only female officers, but they are also outstanding aviators. 

While one is the first female fighter pilot in the Forces 55-year history, the second one is the first female combat helicopter pilot in the history of the service.

The first female fighter pilot trained at the US Air Force, following an excellent performance during her initial flying training course at 401 Flying Training School in Kaduna, while the second graduated from Starlite International Training Academy. They both performed well during their training 

From all indications, therefore, the promotion of Garba and the two female Combatant Pilots inducted would seem to demonstrate the commitment of the current NAF leadership in giving adequate attention to the empowerment of its female personnel to realize their full potentials.  

Before the news broke, one wouldve have assumed that this is a routine activity in the Nigerian Air Force. But that's, not the case.

The promoting of Garba and the inductees' fighter pilots Kafayat Sanni and Tolulope Arotile was indeed a welcome development for the Nigerian women who are known to be ever resourceful, ever resolute to accomplish like the popular saying that- what a man can do, a woman can do better. 

And it is a very commendable proverbial first step in a journey of a thousand miles because The Nigerian Air Force is a growing force. 

It the expectation of all and sundry that NAF will not rest on its oars by continuing to provide equal opportunity to all regardless of whether they are male or female.

Whatever might have caused the delay in the empowerment of female personnel in the Nigerian Air Force to fulfill their potential like it is in its sister Armed Forces I believe by now are not only fully identified but being given the desired attention with a view to scale up the number of women in its rank and file.  

Be that as it may, I want to join The Nigerian Air Forces Family, families of the newly promoted warrant officer Grace Garba and the fighter pilots Kafayat Sanni and Tolulope Arotile in welcoming them to this historical and highly honorable pedestal in their chosen career. 

Its a call to national service to defend the flag, the nation's unity and territorial integrity. And at those, I'm confident they will excel.  

[olaluwe]

Tinu, my mother's last child.

On the 11th of October every year, The international day of the girl child is marked around the world.

The day was set aside in 2011, by the United Nations General Assembly to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls around the world face realizing them.

The significance of the day is to enable stakeholders to appreciate and brainstorm on the life and time of the girl child with respect to meeting her existential needs and to eradicate to the barest minimum what constitute threats to achieving her lifelong ambitions.

As usual across Nigeria like other United Nations member countries, different activities were organized by governments at all levels as well as non-governmental bodies and agencies to make the day worthwhile and memorable for them.

There were parades, marches, outreaches, symposiums, and seminars to name a few whose focus is to raise awareness for the prospects and drum up support to confront the challenges of being a Nigerian girl child. 

In fact, I catch a glimpse of some of the fanfare on the television and they were indeed a sight to behold.

Beyond the fanfare, I heard members of the social group in focus talk boldly about lofty issues of their life highlighting areas they would love the government, parents, guardians, and other relevant institutions to be more proactive in coming to their aid.

To a near mundane level and I’m not being unmindful of the embarrassing and sometimes painful experiences this has caused and continued to cause many of them, they made calls for sanitary pads to be distributed free for the girl child to adequately cater to the issue of their monthly menstrual flow which isn’t a choice ethically but naturally incumbent on them.

 File image of the Nigerian girls-child [credit] legit ng

Of course, I’m not unaware that this is advocacy that’s been going on for quite a while now.  But it appears no one is listening as yet. 

On a personal note, I would have felt bad with myself if I’d been negligent to the point of allowing an occasion so great to pass by without a word or two.

And it almost happened due to reasons I wouldn’t want to bring to the fore here. But thank God I’d rescued the situation at the last minute.

But what can I say concerning the Nigerian girl-child that hasn’t been said by eminent professionals, politicians, and academicians and already existing in the public domain.

Is it her education? Is it her vulnerability? Is it the abuse: sexual, physical, emotional, early marriage, unwanted pregnancy, forced labor?  The list goes on and on and on ……

Even for so great causes, the Nobel Prize winner and international girl child rights activist, Malala Yousoufzai, I could recall, was here sometime during the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Now because I’m a father and interestingly to a girl child it makes it the more incumbent on me to randomly muse on what it takes to raise a girl child to becoming a worthy ambassador of the family to her community, her nation, and the world at large.

It makes it the more incumbent on me again to continue to appreciate what it means to be a girl child growing up in an environment currently laid with mines that threaten her wellbeing as a social personality and rights to a safe and peaceful existence.      

From what we know, it’s clear it was never an easy ride or job if you like and isn’t going to be, especially, at a time like this.

Of what may constitute a challenge to the evolving of the Nigerian girl into a well turned out personality, I personally consider two to be of great and urgent concern.

Number one is illiteracy. The only antidote to that is education. The education of the girl child has been categorized by social development experts as strategic to nation’s building.

So much so that educating a girl child is universally equated or acknowledged to educating a nation.

She is, first and foremost, a homemaker. And some have also called her, a domestic engineer, responsibly for giving birth, raising the children and caring for her family.

These, sincerely men would agree, are a combination of tasks not easy to take on. And so she must be adequately equipped through functional education to excel at them. She must be adequately supported by fathers, brothers and other matured members of the society to excel and not abused.

Above that, she is increasingly becoming bored restricted to activities in the other room for so long and is aggressively transiting into a big-time player in the boardroom if current trends are something to go by.

Some men, however, have seen that as a threat in itself to sustaining the cohesion of the family structure and values which she was naturally ordained to upheld from the beginning of time.

But looked at critically, it holds a promise of a mixed-blessing and reality men must learn to live with.   

So, more than ever before, governments at all levels must continue to prioritize the education of the Nigerian girl child to reinforce her position as a strategic partner in nation-building.

Likewise, parents and guardian must put in the front burner the educational interest of their girl child and not easily give up and give in on them to the advantage of cultural and religious practices and other primordial sentiments that seek to take exploit them.

Number two is the safety of the girl child. Nothing can be more frightening than to see or hear of different abuse being perpetuated against the Nigerian girl child.

Fathers are sexually abusing their daughters and putting them in the family ways.

Poor families are marrying off their poorly educated under-age daughters to wealthy members of the community in drove.

Also cases of rape, of under-age girls becoming prostitutes at home and abroad are also on the rise.

In fact, no day passes by today without our news apps, television and radio being headlined by one or more from the above.  

Indeed, there is no more perilous time to raise the Nigerian girl child than now. It’s grim.

And this calls for proactive actions from the governments, parents, and guardians with a view to nipping in the bud acts of criminalities which are destituting our future mothers at the formative stage of their life.

As a father, I’d very much love to see my little girl grow up to becoming a shining light for her generation and I’m more than committed to support programs and policies and laws of government targeted at eliminating the evils  which may stand on her way.

I believe so should other fathers and parents; instead of perpetuating these evils or conniving with criminally-minded elements to truncate the destiny of their girl child at the altar of temporal or permanent pecuniary gains and satanically inspired pleasure.  

Finally, I say a happy international day of the girl child to the Nigerian girl child. And may her day be filled with joy, love, care, and provisions that make life worth the while from parents, guardians, and governments.

[olaluwe]

I may not know what your faith is - Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, name it; but one thing I know for sure is that 'redeeming the time' is one thing that's common or applicable to all. 

It has always been and will always be. It's, therefore, a topic worthy of listening to or reading about, even of your own free will.

Let me, however, concede to the fact that this post would rely more on materials freely drawn from the bible.

It wasn't an idea borne out of the logic of the superiority of the faith but because it's one with which I'm conversant to an appreciable degree as a Christian and growing; and of which I've been stunned, lately, by a revelation that I'm a messenger by the will of God almighty through his only begotten son Christ Jesus.

Knowing this; I’m most humbled and seeking in all sincerity and truth for the best ways to fit into doing his will which he has set before all whom he had called as partakers and ambassadors of his riches in glory.

So, I crave your understanding as you come along. My prayer and hope is that you're richly blessed reading it. 

Now before we proceed, let me quickly attempt defining the two ideas or concepts encapsulated in the post title namely 'redeem and time' for nothing is more dangerous than assumption.

What is time?

Time is the passage, circle or sequence of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years in the life of everyone and everything. Since it is a circle or sequence, it has a starting and also a closing point. It's finite, at least, to everything and every work under the sun.

What does it mean to redeem?

To redeem is to buy back or recover something or someone that has been pawned, lost, or endangered. It also means to accomplish a set goal, desire, dream, glory, and destiny. 

As living souls, we live to accomplish our earthy purposes in space and time.

And you may never know the true significance of redeeming the time until you have lost or crave for something - a car, a house, a wife, a husband, a child(ren), a job, name it; but can't have it even when your soul yearns for it the most. 

Of essence, therefore, time is central to everything we do or become as human beings. So much so that the bible says 'to every purpose and everything under heaven there is time and season.'  Ecclesiastes 3: 1.

There is a time to be born, and a time to die; and a time to plant and a time to pluck what’s planted. The list goes on and on and on. . .

On top of that, it is frighteningly short and quick; however, we look at it because it always catches up with us in all that we do.

In this present age, the maximum of a long life is roughly a hundred years and it's so full of troubles. Even at that, it would surprise you how it is quickly lived or fast spent. 

Of course, there is a lot that we can achieve within the allocated period. It’s no gainsaying that these things must be accomplished with a measure of godly violence too. They must be redeemed, I mean to say.

After all, the Bible also says "that from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and only the violent take it by force." John 11:12.

To corroborate the position of the bible, I remember as a teenager the popular saying among my hustling brothers and uncles then that "the way of the mouth is the way of heaven.

This in a literal sense means what to eat and drink take preeminence over other existential matters. That goes to show how they prioritize their work over lazying about. That's, of course, redeeming the time as far as surviving is concerned for them. 

The same mentality, if not more is required when it comes to what we're here to accomplish. There's a popular saying that 'may we not let what we're going to eat take preeminence over the glory we're here to fulfill; the destiny we’re here to accomplish’.

From the foregoing, we all can see clearly how time can be redeemed through a combination of factors. 

But how can you and I redeem the time, if its nature or attributes if you like, and to all what it serves as an agency we know very little about.

Having said that, I think it's only sensible I devout the next paragraph to listing out what I personally consider as the characteristics of time as it were.

In no particular order of importance, the following are some of the characteristics of time or the agency work it does.

(1) Time is glory (2) Time is destiny (3) Time is money (4) Time is success (5) Time is failure (6) Time is family 7. Time is knowledge and its applications thereby mutating into wisdom (8) Time is birth (9) Time is death (10) Time is salvation (11) Time is peace and safety (12) Time is relationships (13) Time is friendships (14) Time is work or labor (15) Time is rest (16) Time is reward (17) Time is reconciliation (18) Time is war (19) Time is fashion (20) Time is taste (21) Time is love (22) Time is hatred

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 expanded.

You can see that it's almost all-encompassing and hardly is there any aspect of life not covered. But then, if you can think of more, you're highly welcome to specify them in the comments section. 

But rather than go the whole hog with the details of how time functions in relation to each of its  attributes above, I'd concern myself first with redeeming the time as it relates to accomplishing your  purpose and my purpose under the sun.

And secondly, as time functions regard the salvation of your soul and my soul that was purchased by our Lord Jesus Christ at a great price.

Why must time be redeemed?

Time must be redeemed because like I said earlier it's short as apportioned unto each and every one. It's on a quickening pace such that it is hardly sufficient to get all that we desire done. 

Secondly, time must be redeemed importantly because the days are evil.

The days of a glorious earthly man are evil because desperately arrayed against him are stronger humans by position, connection, wealth, riches and glory; power and principalities, attitudes, beliefs, name it.

Why are these ones arrayed against him?

It a mystery that I think, among others, finds expression in the often-quoted line: The test of fire makes the finest steel.

Those things arrayed against you are the proverbial tests of the fire which you must pass to claim your glory even if you're the anointed of God.

To illustrate the picture I'm trying to paint above, I'll cite two bible stories of King David and Joseph and how they redeemed the time concerning fulfilling their glorious destiny. Some of us who’re Christians are already familiar with them.

True, David was anointed a king over the nation of Israel at a tender age after God zero his mind on taking the kingdom away from King Saul and his lineage. 1 Samuel 16:12-13

But he was not going to ascend to the throne immediately because his hour has not yet come.

Not only that, the way must be cleared which isn't going to happen in one day. He must also be seen to be capably deserving of the huge responsibility that's about to be entrusted into his charge. 

Echoing in advance what would later be played out with our Lord Jesus Christ at the wedding in Cana of Galilee when his mother approached him with the report of exhausted wine by reproving his mother 'woman, what is this your concern have to do with me. My hour has not yet come.' John 2:4.

Continuing the story above, a deadly game of throne simply ensued between a young David and the incumbent King Saul. To cut the long story short, repeated attempts were made on David's life by the out-of-favor king Saul.

But he was able to survive the king's murderous onslaught, let me emphasize, not by wishful thinking. He followed some specifics. 

At the same time, David had the opportunity to take the king's life because he played into his hands during his blind pursuits but he didn't, recognizing him still as the anointed one of God to whom no harm should come. 

The next is Joseph. Joseph dreamt dreams detailing his glorious future. But the same God hide from him the trials that lay ahead to redeeming it possibly because he knew he had what it requires to pull through.

But again he could have failed if he didn't take the ownership of the Godly revelation concerning him.

So he went from being sold into slavery by his siblings to being tempted by the Potiphar’s wife and being sent to jail. 

These are real life's stages upon which he must act his parts well to redeeming the time apportioned to him.

And he puts his soul in the role to emerge one of the most beloved bible characters to all through the ages.

Do not make the mistake of thinking the time was all theirs for the taking, after all, there's a revelation to that effect and more so because it comes with an anointing. 

For there are examples even in the same bible of people who had the revelation got what was promised but in the end, lost it because they couldn't keep their sanity. 

What did David and Joseph do to redeem their glorious destiny?

Or put differently, how can you and I redeem the time in practical terms?

1. Put God first

God is the source of all the purpose, glory, and destiny under the sun. And so his authority must be recognized at all times. Abiding by his plans is far beneficial than following the dictates of our limited mind. John 3:27. Putting God first entails worship, praying, thanksgiving, supplications, and work.

2. Be circumspect

There is a need for us to act with what I call 'divine caution' in the matters of fulfilling our purposes in the land of the living. Ephesians 5: 15-16.

3. Always act wisely

Wisdom is the principal thing. And the bible admonishes us that in all we do we should seek it. And wisdom is nothing but the practical application of knowledge.  Knowledge, on the other hand, is a collection of facts about things in heaven, on earth and beneath it. Ephesians 5: 15-16

4. Show self-restraints

There's a perpetual need for us to act with self-control and not to put our glory and destiny on the line for a few seconds of earthly pleasure. Pleasure divinely ordained and programmed for an appointed time is far better.

What Joseph courageously avoided from the Potiphar’s wife would've been seen by someone lacking in self-restraints as an opportunity that must not be allowed to slide. But the end would've been disastrous. 

5. Focus

Being focus entails not losing the sight of the prize or goal for which you and I have been called to fight. We must learn to press towards it and not allow ourselves to get distracted by diversionary and temporary things of this world. Philippians 3: 13-14.

6. Perseverance

Perseverance is staying the course come what may. When your goal and glory and destiny have to been declared by God who owns the earth and its fullness thereof, of necessity, it is that you endure the path he's taking you. The bible says it is not given unto you and I to direct our steps.  

7. Be obedient

Obedience, the bible says, is better than sacrifices and fat of rams. 1 Sam 15: 22-23. No doubt, you can make sacrifices to God in praises, thanksgiving, supplications, and doing good to the people. But they would amount to nothing if you neglect the obedient part.

8. Keep faith

Faith, the bible says is the evidence of something not seen; substance of something hoped for. When God declares anything concerning you, he keeps faith to see that it is accomplished in his own time.

And so of necessity, you and I must keep the faith because God honors his words more than his name. 

9. Movement

It has been observed that movement is key to achieving any goal in life. As a marathoner, you don't stop until you reach the finish line.

Life also has been compared to running a marathon. Because you have to keep moving, it requires endurance. It requires maturity. It requires dedication. Besides, until you move not moves in your life.

10. Humility

Pride the bible says comes before a fall. The haughty God says he would humble.  So it is better to stay on the side of God by being humble.  Humility brings divine wisdom and understanding which are needed to safely navigating the dark alley of the labyrinth called life whose every second, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years are evil.

Finally, as regards so great a salvation of your soul and mine for which our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased at a great price of his precious blood which was shed on the cross, it's now and not tomorrow for a second delay may prove costly. 

The door of the ongoing grace opened to you and I when he showed up two millennia ago may just be shut if we remain hesitant in deciding and, if peradventure death comes suddenly. For the bible says it's appointed unto man to die once and afterward judgment follows. 

Today's chance for the salvation of your soul is a rare opportunity. It's more precious than gold, silver, and the riches and glories of this world.

Arise, make haste to redeem it. The time is fast counting down. Take your chance now! Receive him as your Lord and personal savior. Shalom!

[olaluwe]

Just yesterday the 5th of October 2019, teachers were celebrated the world over. And I want to join everybody in wishing them a happy teachers' day in arrears. Interestingly, my father and his twin brother were first and foremost teachers; and my father, especially, for almost all through his life. They were fine gentlemen in whom no deceits were found. And they were proudly the saving baskets of Yoruba culture and traditions. I'm a living testimony. While his twin brother later veered into a non-teaching profession, he stayed. The rest, like they use to say, is history worthy of recall by every line as regards their professional conducts as teachers. What became of him like his contemporaries, however, compared to people of other professions is quite interesting but beyond the scope of this write up. Of course, it cannot be completely lost to the realm of your guesses if you're a Nigerian and are familiar with the popular saying that ' teachers rewards are in heaven.' But then, they never complained of anything. Instead, all they exude is joy doing what they love. The other thing I remembered my dad did was becoming a magistrate after retirement. So, it is glaring that I'm from a lineage of teachers. And I'm very proud of them both not just for being teachers alone but being fathers, indeed.

File Image of a teacher and a school student.  [Credit] Pulse Ng.

And if I'm to come back into this world, I'd very much love to come through them. Even If I'm to reincarnate in the next world as an antelope, I'd definitely love to graze on their pastures.  For evergreen are their memorials on my mind and those of my siblings. But then I'm tempted to ask 'why should we celebrate the teachers'? Why should we celebrate them? Why? I ask this question not necessarily out of spite or lack of appreciation for their persons and what they do. I surely do in all honesty. If for anything but that my own parents were teachers during their lifetime. But I'm just being curious. And it's not just about them alone. It is about every profession and professional out there in Nigeria. I just feel it's rather superfluous, and more so not for the right reasons. Before you crucify me, won't you just hold your breath and your tongues until you hear me out? And the end of the day, you might just want to transpose what my musings would be all about after reading through this post to other professions and professionals. And I would be going in the direction of Socrates, one of the wisest and maybe weirdest men to ever live. He was considered an unnecessary intellectual evil, detested and murdered for his spirit of enquiry by the state of Greek forced to drink a poison. If you don't yet know, he doesn't believe any professional should be praised or celebrate if you like. You might think he hated professionals, far from it. And his reasons are quite not so odd but valid when viewed shun of the usual human biases and sentiments. It was Socrates' belief and one which he vigorously espoused that professionals have no choice than to be up and doing with regards to their jobs. Accordingly, he said praising professionals for their commitment to their jobs or sources of livelihood amounts to unnecessarily patronizing them. To do otherwise than being professional and thoroughgoing is courting hunger and lack which no one likes. He argues.

Students at a school in Nigeria.  

So, that's the foundation of my thinking.  But I'm by no means restricted on this very matter. Fine, teachers are being celebrated today. They're a most worthy set of professionals to be celebrated. The similar way people of other professions too would be celebrated some other time. It's a merry go round. It's a ritual we all look forward to reveling in. But why are they being celebrated? That's the question that should bother us, especially, as Nigerians. Of course, it's a fact they're strategically positioned at a great intersection of our life. One way or the other, we all have encountered the direct mentoring of teachers in the process of becoming whatever we are today - doctors, engineers, pilots, name it. While like Socrates, I too don't subscribe to celebrating any profession or professional because being on a giving job is a function of choice borne out of existential necessity. No one can do otherwise. Absolutely no one! It's a fact or reality cuts in stone. They are there not because they hope that one day they would be celebrated rather because it puts food on their table, clothes on their bodies, shelters on their heads, and helping them to meet myriads of other existential needs. But then like an adage in Yoruba which says - Yinni Yinni keni le shemi. When translated it means 'the praise of one good deed leads to more of such'. You can say it again that it comes with a gnomic correctness. If a day is set aside for the celebration of a group of people like it is for teachers a few days ago, it must be to spur them to do more. And how can they do more in our circumstances? It's by making their job a lot easier and more rewarding so others are motivated to enlist since we all seem to be in agreement that they're occupying such an important place in our life. As we speak across the country, many of the serving teachers, especially, in the public sector are being owe several months of salaries and other benefits, and the retired ones, gratuity and pensions. The schools where they are teaching are fast sliding into a sorry state for lack of proper and sustained maintenance. The privately own schools are over-glorified, many pay their teachers poorly, and random mistreatment and sacking of members of the teaching staff are regularly reported. The owners, proprietors, and the proprietresses who see the venture as strictly business without any core corporate social responsibility to deliver are not left out of the unchecked depleting assaults. The song on their lips nowadays is 'if you think education is expensive, try ignorance' to justify the need for incessant increases in tuition fees and other sundry charges as if education must be expensive to be qualitative. Acts of sacrificing the teachers on the altar of whims and caprices of wealthy parents who doubled as the school's patrons and matrons are rampant. And as such celebrating the teachers likewise our military personnel, medical officials, name it without corresponding actions at mitigating the existing desperate situations is nothing but fraud and amounts to paying a lip service to the importance of their existence and unnecessarily patronizing them.

[olaluwe]

Image for representation only Note: The poem you’re about to read was composed to console myself in the course of days and months of unmitigated loneliness, distraught, and existential boredom being separated from my young family as a conditional bachelor faraway in Abuja. It expressively commemorates the love I’ve for a woman long after my heart and to whom I’m married, the vintage and certainly self-underappreciated, Funmilayo Olaluwe. And it is part of a forthcoming collected poems whose title is undecided yet. This is the first time also that it is being published anywhere. I’m burning, burning with the fiery fire of passion: the passion for your mind, body, and soul; the passion for your essences as a woman. I can't wait to have you all for myself and by my side. I can't wait to get swallowed up in your world; a world seething with endless possibilities, and assumed perfection only in dreams, desires, and wishes that fades away in their waking moments. I can’t wait to experience the inescapable bites of its thorns, the soothing smell of its roses in bloom, the flash flood of its emotive downpours, the warmth of its habitation, the ever increasing fruitfulness of its mother earth, the depth of its vanity, the comforting reception of your tenderly bosom, and your affectionate hands outstretched wrapped around my being in spirit-filled ascent comforted in the fragranced and candle light ambience of the other room. I can’t wait to take you the land of a thousand stars, Make you explode with exhibitive ecstasy naked in their unearthly soapsuds of twinkles. I can’t wait to glide on its hills, valleys, and rivers with a loud scream of joy at my priceless freedom and privilege. I can't wait to make you feel like a queen, for that has always been your divine portion. I can't wait, likewise, to be crowned a king for that is my honor. Or has anyone seen an honorable king without a queen? If you have, don’t hesitate to ink me so I can pay him homage with a coarse jesting. I can't wait to have you complete me, to have you fill this deepening void within my soul; to have you put an end to this life's wanton waste, to have you breakdown the iron bars of this life’s cage. Then I would truly be free to live out my full potentials, to live for you and you and you till this sinking earth of mine bids all its fated good night. Those have always been my dominant dreams, my overarching desires. Make haste then, my love, come to my rescue. Make haste to put out this consuming fire of your absence, my love. Make haste, come to me, my arms are wide open for your embrace. For you are the first true seal of my consummate love apostleship, the source of the fullness of joy to my manhood, the substance of my marital faith comes full circle. Come swiftly and don’t be late, for you are my holy grail of love elixir. I will wait; yes, I will for your arrival is only seconds away after waiting for light years for this longed-for dream to be fulfilled!

[olaluwe]

AdSense is certainly the most popular of the several monetization schemes available to online publishers and it is owned by the tech giant, Google.

It is, however, debatable if it is the best in terms of other important metrics like earnings. I’ve heard many publishers say it is not. That’s by the way.

As a publisher, I must confess that I didn’t break a sweat to get approval to serve AdSense ads on my blog the first time way back.

Although I had to abandon it shortly afterward because it wasn’t showing on my blog which I later discovered was down to the fact that I had pointed my blog away from blogger’s BlogSpot subdomain to a custom domain.

Recently, I changed to one of the new themes and decided to take another chance with it. I found out it had become a different kettle of fish.

To state the obvious, the procedure is more rigorous now. As a result, my application was disapproved on more than three occasions or more if I’m not mistaken.

The message each time was I had violated Google’s AdSense policy which was zeroed in on the availability of scrappy contents on my blog. And I concurred.

I remembered back then that I started with literary contents that are exclusive to me. Somehow, I had deviated.

But I didn’t give up. I got things fixed up and I was able to scale through after waiting for about two weeks or thereabout at the last try.

However, many publishers aren’t so lucky because they have never got approved for the program even once.

Grudgingly, they have to move on to other alternatives.

There is a sense of a hangover from that disappointing experience which many did not overcome and found expressions in the occasional bashing of Google on several online forums.

The perception is that there is some level of highhandedness and discriminations that comes with the policy of the program. 

But then if you want to enlist in a program, isn’t it normal you meet its basic requirements?

Let the answer continues to pound in our heart with all sincerity and truth.

Again, as far as I’m concerned, one important thing about AdSense is still shrouded in a mystery to which I would’ve wanted more clarity.

For instance, what does Google measures?  And how was the sum paid the publishers who serve AdSense ads on their various platforms arrived at?

As a policy, I’m aware Google does not count traffic, unlike other ads networks. What then do they count? 

Now let’s go to the juice of this post.

Are you a new publisher who may necessarily desire approval to serve AdSense ads on your blog or site one day?

Or have you tried times without success to get approval to serve AdSense ads on your blog or site?

Whichever is your case, I’ve got you covered in this post.

Mind you; I don’t claim to know the deep things of information technology, but I’ve been around long enough that my perspective and insights cannot be totally wished away.

Now like I said earlier, a lot of things have changed about AdSense approval procedures.

Unlike before, a detail manual check or observation, if you like, is now conducted on blog or site seeking to serve AdSense ads.

And this may take a minimum of three days and a maximum of two to three weeks. Remember what I told you concerning my recent experience.

The bottom-line is you must be prepared for the waiting game and be willing to endure the checks and balances processes Google have put in place.

For Google, policy compliance is paramount which is essentially about the interest of the advertisers.

That said; still, to get AdSense approval to me is still a pretty straightforward affair if you will follow my proven suggestions as I would lay them out here.

Let’s assume your blog or site is set. Things to evade consist of what Google generally termed as policy violations. But to get your application approved -

·        The first condition you will have to meet is the age of your platform which is 6-months.

Your blog must be 6-months old before you can apply for approval to serve AdSense ads on your blog or site. I hope that’s taken.

·        The second is you must have sufficient, original, and value-adding contents on your blog or site.

That means avoiding laden your blog or site with what Google considered as scrappy contents.

These are files that are scraped up from the web and therefore add little or no value to your site as well as the people, are downright a downgrade to the existing body of knowledge or incapable of bridging the existing body of knowledge.

·        The third requirement is ensuring your blog or site is clean both in layout, customization and overall purpose.

Google’s idea of a clean blog or site layout follow in this order – content, share links, and related posts. No more, No less.

Anything outside of these is superfluous. It is allowed in special cases but not essential.

Google now frowns at the idea of people deviating from the purpose for which AdSense ads were approved to be served on their blog or site by engaging in malicious redirecting of users to different pages or tricking them to click ads links for the purpose of raising their earnings.

If this is discovered, the violator faces instant Google’s penalty. 

I believe once you meet the three criteria outlined above, you are on your way to getting the much sort after approval to serve AdSense ads on your blog or site.

I wish you the best of luck! 

[olaluwe]

Over the years, the mass media have evolved to becoming highly liberalized, community-based off and online, and most importantly, interactive unlike what they used to be. In Nigeria and most especially among the Yoruba speaking people of the south-west where I’m from, the mediums of the radio and television and their gadgets are tagged as “Ero asoro ma gba esi”. When translated, it would very roughly mean: “machines that talk and cannot be talked back to” buttressing their perception of their one way traffic functionality. Thank God, all that has changed with the advancement in technology which allows for the integration of inventions like the telephone. Commenting, therefore, has now become the all-powerful feedback mechanism available to both the media owners/practitioners and their audience members which is in line with the democratic participant theory of the media. Without such, the whole process would have remained a one-way traffic affair as it used to be. On the one hand, that wouldn’t have been good for the credibility of the news as well as the feature contents of the programs of the various media organizations. Another drawback would be that the media users’ valuable perspective on the top stories of the day would not have been allowed to come through.   Today more than ever before, the good news is the audiences of mass media are now able to engage with both the media personalities and media contents being churned out, for instance, by the traditional media platforms of radio and television. Now each program comes with a segment that allows for phone in, text, Facebook and Whatsapp messaging for interactivity. The forwarded messages are read out by the program anchor or presenter as the case may be who acted necessarily as gatekeeper filtering the messages with a view to eliminating those that do not align with the relevant national broadcast codes and editorial policy of the respective media house. The same thing applies to the new media platforms of websites and blogs. To facilitate this all-important functionality, however, websites and blogs come with default commenting section. For those not in the business of news transmission, it is a way of measuring the success or otherwise of their content promotion campaigns and marketing strategies. Commenting is also a way bloggers gauge if they are actually delivering on the expected end of adding value to life and businesses in the digital space. So, every blogger look forward to seeing comments on their blog someday. Sometimes, this takes much longer to happen and sometimes it happens pretty soon. Over all, it helps to validate the bloggers’ sense of self-worth and as a measure of their progress. But the business of commenting on blog posts has never been as interesting as it is today. How do I mean? Just as there are different blogging platforms – Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr to mention a few, so are there different commenting solutions providers. And there has been an ongoing trend of bloggers opting for third party commenting solutions because they arguably offer better functionalities and features in terms of designs and customizations. This cannot be denied, of course, by those blogging on Google’s blogging platform of blogger. The complaint or the argument is that blogger’s default commenting feature isn’t cool enough for it lacks those great features that are visible in the ones provided by the third parties. Despite, admitted, a lot of improvements have been made to it especially in recent times. Still, most publishers on blogger prefer to go for the third party commenting solutions. The popular ones are intense debate, commento, and disqus to name a few. Interestingly, I belong among publishers on blogger who had romanced one of this three mentioned. But my experience hasn’t been good to say the least. And unfortunately, this has happened twice. Persuaded by write ups of influencers that what blogger is offering is inadequate, I opted for Intense Debate and I think it is a great platform as they offer a seamless checklist of services in that regard. As a publisher, you can install, uninstall, or reinstalled their commenting script from your blog or site as you wish. And I have no reasons to entertain any apprehension whatsoever there could be a negative after effect electing any of those great alternatives. So, it happened that I got tired of it one day and I decided to uninstall the script from my blog template with the sole aim of going back to blogger’s default commenting feature. The process went smoothly after downloading and uploading my theme to their page where the uninstall part is to be completed. I copied the theme and pasted it to my template field and clicked save. And then I switched to my blog home page to see my blogger default commenting which I had toggled on in the blog layout. Lo and behold nothing happened. I checked, double-checked, and even triple-checked if something wasn’t properly done but the right box has been ticked. The question that popped up in my head was what happened? Could it be that Intense Debate script has actually corrupted my theme? It looked more like it and nothing else. And I felt really very disappointed. As we speak, blogger default commenting section has disappeared from my older posts. It is only showing in the recent posts. I’ve tried many different troubleshooting options that I know of but nothing has changed. Now I’m even contemplating going for another third party commenting solution because I can’t stand my posts whether old or new not showing commenting link. It’s like denying my blog users their inalienable right to have their say concerning my post which isn’t the case. That’s about my disappointing rant about Intense Debate and I don’t recommend it for the use of any publisher because you just might want to go the way I went someday only to discover it has led to the disappearance of the default commenting feature of your blog. This post is not done in bad faith but actually out of being responsible to others who might fall prey to the downside of using Intense Debate commenting solution like I have. Not doing this would’ve meant being irresponsible on my part to my constituency. The choice is, however, yours.

[olaluwe]

Athlete [photo credit] unplash.com

I don't know of anybody who embarks on a journey without having a clear-cut description, road-map or if you like graph of the destination he or she intends to reach.

And if such a person does exist, he or she is definitely just taking a walk.

Having a clear-cut description will enable the traveller to navigate the route with ease.

Therefore based on what may suit the individual journeyman, it is either the road-map is in the traveller’s head memorized or on a piece of paper for ease of reference as the journey progresses.

Or alternatively, it is on the traveller's phone if he or she owns one.

This is to makes it more likely for the traveller to make a call to someone who may be of help in case he or she misses the way.

Or God forbid like we used to say in this part of the world where I come from, something terrible happens. Contacts on the phone might just come handy for the rescuers. That's by the way.

In the case all these are not available, the traveller must be prepared to ask for the direction where and when it is necessary as the journey hots up from those they meet on the way who are familiar with the route or have being to the destination he or she desires.

To do the contrary is akin to courting a disaster altogether. It is also tantamount to ending up wandering aimlessly in no man's land as if on a wild goose chase.

As unpalatable as it may sounds, however, it is the reality of some people's life and a fate that awaits anybody who is presently going through life without a purpose.

What then is a purpose, if I may ask?

Purpose is a goal or a plan of action which one has set his or her mind to achieve.

It can also be defined as a vision of what one wants to see comes to reality in one's life.

It may be to get married at a specific time in one's life. It may be to go to university. It may be to learn one vocational skill or the other. It may be to start a business or grow an existing one into a profitable national or global brand. The list goes on and on and on.

How is a life purpose set?

Life goal can be set provided there is sufficiently clear understanding about what it entails and what it requires to achieving it.

Life goal can also be set so far there is the courage of conviction, spiritual, intellectual, material, and psychological enablement- that the goal-setter can go all the way not minding the challenges that lay ahead.

One can set a life goal for himself or herself or it can be predestined. 

I'm not saying setting life goals for oneself is wrong. In fact, it is allowed.

It is even possible for one to stumbles into his or her God's given purpose (s) as the case may be. It happens.

It is, however, far better to seek to know the plan or the purpose of God for your life.

The reason being that its fulfilment and glory far outweigh anything you can ever imagine.

It is clearly for this reason Apostle Paul said in the book of Romans 8: 30. [Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, and these He also glorified. NKJV.]

This verse, though occurring as a form of spiritual exhortation to the church in general; its very essence can as well be transposed for use in myriads of the aspirational situation of an individual.

When to set a life goal?

If you are setting a life goal for yourself, it is best to do so when you are setting forth at dawn.

I mean you must start as early as possible. There's nothing age-specific about it. We have seen people who find their purpose so early in life. And they are often called geniuses. Parents and guardians are therefore implored to be observant of their children and wards.

Right from elementary school, conscious efforts and attention must be paid to signs on the way of our lives that indicate where life is leading us through not only responsive self-awareness and of the environments but a deliberate developmental engagement with our natural endowments and acquisitive skills.

But if you are not sure or still clueless, like I said earlier, then it is time to go and meet your maker so that he can help set the record straight and it shall be well with you.

Qualities of Purpose:

·         Purpose is spiritual.  Just like most things in life, purpose, too, takes its root from or in the spirit before their physical manifestations.

·         Purpose is adjustable.

There are short, medium, long-term purposes or goal. As a footballer for instance, the longest you can stay active is roughly, very roughly around forty years.

After that, you have to adjust your goal to something else that demands less of kinetic intelligence.

Inability to do this has often led to many great athletes suffering greatly from then henceforth because of either problem of adaptation or mismanagement of their finances.

Going bankrupt is one of the many consequences.

So, we must be able to adjust our goal as we journey through life because we are most likely to end up not where and how we started.

·         Purpose is time-bound. Life is transitional - childhood, adolescent, and adulthood- which require different rules of engagements.

There are things you can do as a babe that you cannot do as an adolescent. And there are things you can do as an adolescent which you cannot do as an adult and vice versa.

So, everything in life happens in space and time. Besides, life purpose can only be achieved when one is alive.

As such, only the living strives towards their life purpose. If it doesn't happen when you are young, it may happen when you are old.

I've been around long enough to confidently say nobody should be written off on the account where they are today.

Things can change. And I've seen many of such happened. So, you have no reason to lose faith in achieving your purpose in life even if you suffer repeated setbacks.

·         Purpose leads to success.

When one is purposeful in life, success is a near assurance with hard/smart work, optimism, enthusiasm, faith, and perseverance.

·         Purpose is definable.

Whatever in life can be imagined can be defined. It outlines can be verbally or manually painted. And the moment one can define his or her purpose in life, the battle is half won, the rest is left to the details of the methodology adopted towards achieving it.

·         Purpose is conceptualizable.

Life is a campaign; and long and tortuous one at that. So, there is a need for proper conceptualization which gives room for feedback, evaluation and adjustment to strategies as and when necessary.

·         Purpose is plan-able.

A purpose is plan-able when it becomes a revelation. And writing out the methods, steps or approaches to achieving it is of necessity because it is a journey. And it advisable not to take lightly this part of our goal-setting; it could make or mar you.

·         Purpose is achievable.

Purpose is nothing if it is not achievable. A purpose well-conceived is achievable.

Right from the point of its conceptualization, no stone should be left unturned to ensure everything is put in their place. Otherwise, it is not a purpose. It is a wish.

·         Purpose is miss-able (like a sitter-goal in a game of football)

Purpose can be missed if we give in to distraction.

It is like when you get to the marketplace, (which life is metaphorically, speaking) do you focus on what you are there to buy or you allow yourself get distracted by the noisome environment occasioned by the many buyers and sellers? No!

Let your eyes stay on the ball of your purpose in life at all the time.

·         Purpose is recoverable.

 If a footballer whose purpose on the field of play is to score a goal and he misses a sitter (s) as the case may be or if he misses what we often refer to as glaring chances but in a sudden change of fortune he is able to atone for his sins of not converting obvious goal-scoring chances by netting a brace at the dying minute of the game.

We can say he has recovered his purpose maybe not when the fans of the team expect him to but it doesn't matter. It would have been worse if he didn't and his team ended up on the losing side.

From the foregoing, we can then conclude that a purposeless life is, among others, one that's lacking in direction, focus to buttress what have been mentioned above.

A purposeless life can therefore not be worth living because it is miserable. It is time-wasting. It is unprofitable. It is frustrating not only to the one living it but to others who are stakeholders in our life project.

And so a purposeless life is, put summarily, and to reinforce what I said earlier, a disaster.

And this definitely is not the plan of God for your life and my life.

But how come then that people live a purposeless life?

On the surface of it, I want to assume nobody sets out to live a purposeless life, at least not consciously, which unfortunately they now live for one reason or the other.

People live a purposeless life sometimes out of sheer ignorance, disobedience, wishful thinking, dishonesty, and misguided exuberance, or as a result of a care-free lifestyle if you like.

To illustrate the points I'm driving at, let me give one practical personal example.

I think it is only fair and proper I start with myself instead of with others, more so because; charity they say begins at home.

In 1999, I was in Abuja as a member of a team of builders to execute a project for the Nigerian Army.

But somehow, the project didn't go according to plan.

And out of anger and frustration, I left and returned to Lagos which was our originating state and my place of residence.

Still, for saving grace, unknown to me, I travelled to Abeokuta to see my family where I met a God's servant at the earnest imploring of a blood brother.

The God's servant told me that I should go back to Abuja that God has something in stock for me there.

But under my breath, I was disputing his prophetic declaration and vowing never to go back. I didn't go to disobedience.

Later, it so happened that another project was substituted for the one that suffered a delay and my compatriots who tarry make really good money.

And I only get to know of it two years afterwards when out of frustration I was forced to go and rejoined them in Calabar where also the main project has been completed. There I was left with scraping the remnants.

So, you can see what an act of disobedience did cause me.

On a daily basis, purpose and opportunities have been missed by people who, among others, are disobedient, dishonest, wishful thinkers, ignorant, living in misguided exuberance or a care-free lifestyle.

What having a purpose does for your life?

    It gives direction to life.

When you are living a life of purpose, there is a direction to your life. You are not just wandering aimlessly around. And like the saying goes - if you don't stand up for something, you fall for anything. May that not be your portion in Jesus Name? Amen.

It gives life a focus.

When there is a purpose to life, focus is automatic. You gaze don't shift impatiently from what is helpful to things that are don't add up to your life.

    It puts sparks into life. 

Purpose puts sparks into life. There are no dull moments in your life because a set of actionable plans or projects have been put in place. You have something to live for.

      It makes life worth living.

A purposeful life makes life itself worth living. And the more your life's goal continues to take shape right before your eyes, the greater your zeal to wanting to see it all to the very end,

      It helps to determine where you stand and how much ground you have covered in life.

When you are purposeful, you have something to evaluate every now and then as regards where it manifestation vis-a-viz its realisation stands and how much ground you have covered with an ongoing project (s) as the case may be.

Finally, in all education must be prioritized because it has a place in the greater fulfilment of our life goals and purposes.

[olaluwe]

Seun Onigbinde [photo credit] Daily Post

In less than four months or thereabout into the second term of the Buhari administration, nemesis in a way has caught up with two of his proven critics in a manner, arguably, never before seen in the political history of the country.  

I say this, reasons being that, I’ve been around for some time now and I don’t think I’ve heard or seen similar scenario ever played out in Nigeria where politically active personalities would be barred from joining, in whatever capacity, a government of which they once hold critical opinions.

I might be wrong as I don’t have a monopoly of knowledge. As such anybody with a superior experience is free to correct me.

And the executor of the judgment on the two was none other than the Buhari Media Organization and by extension his die-hard fans.

The undoing of the two, like I hinted above, was after all the while of throwing invectives at the person of President Buhari and his government they suddenly make a U-turn by accepting an offer to serve in the same government.

The first casualty of the Buhari Media Organization’s intolerable stance for anybody who looked double-faced a personality was Festus Adedayo.

Festus is a brilliant writer and critic who has not spared the Buhari administration with the vitriol of criticisms ceaselessly flowing from his pen.

He has a well-referenced stockpile of unkind words for the president and his men in his locker-room as an opinionated writer.

It is fair enough, you might say. After all, being a Nigerian and a writer, he is such a critical stakeholder in the country’s democratic project that’s duty-bound to breathe his perceptions on the state of the nation.

He is also eminently qualified to hold the government accountable as far as governance is concerned.

But more often than not, his written pieces are borne out of bad faith, personal aggrandizement or a calculated but hidden lure of lucre through self-promotion unto the government consciousness by way of launching scathing attacks on it which all played out not too long afterward.

All seem to be going well for him as an independent critic until he veered off the track in a manner of speaking by accepting the appointment as the chief media aide to the current Senate President Ahmed Lawan.

The Buhari Media Organization, as well as his supporters, would have none of it. And their response was tidal enough to cause a significant shift in official quarters.

Adedayo was not only severely criticized by the group for accepting an appointment from a government he sees nothing good in, his innocent benefactor; Ahmed Lawan was likewise hounded through a frenzied social media campaign into terminating the said appointment.

That settled the score with critic Festus whose only rebuttal was his vehemence resolve to continue criticizing the government where and when it appears it’s not doing well as it concerns good governance no matter whose Ox is gored.

I personally wish him well at such a laudable endeavor from which I also advise that he should never deviate.

But if feelers from his antecedence are anything to go by, that’s left to be seen because I’ve it on good authority that he was once a media aide to one of the governors in the south-south region of the country. 

This makes it a forgone conclusion that he would always be on the look-out for similar openings by whatever means suitable including demonizing his targets.  

This time around the victim, literally speaking, is Seun Onigbinde.

Before his appointment gone awry as the Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, he was the co-founder of a certain IT company named BudgIT which specializes in fiscal transparency.  

Like Festus, Seun has been a long-standing caustic denigrator of the government of the day, and indeed of the president.

He had at some points in the past described the president in the lowliest of language imaginable. Summarily, the president to him is 'incompetent, dictatorial and perpetuating illegalities' in one of his rabid jibes.

And those men and women of goodwill and genuine interest of the country at heart which includes my humble self who support the president he had also uncharitably characterized as 'ethnic jingoists'.

It is a thing of interest that long before now the route of criticizing a government of the day at every opportunity has been traveled by many with clearly the singular motive of getting noticed and followed by an appointment.

And many indeed were later appointed into the same government they had harangued at every turn even needlessly for the reason of not appreciating its limitations as a bunch of elective and appointive persons seeking the good of the country in their various capacities.

What usually happened next is they were not only quieted but would go on to singing a new song of praise of the government in which a while ago they see nothing good to write home about. Isn’t that hypocritical? Yes, it is. The reality that had stared us in the face-up until now is that they always get away with it.

With the few examples so far seen, it seems that is not working with this government because its supporters are strict, conscious and are well-armed to take on individuals who might want to access the government on the back of being self-entitled critics of its programs and policies.

And I think it is a good one. People, by whatever names they go – critic, opponents, name it should not be allowed to eat their cake and still have it. You cannot describe something or someone in the most odious terms and still want to co-travel with it. It shows in practical terms a total lack of honour, decency, morality, and integrity.

If the critics truly believed in the ideas and ideologies they are espousing which indeed most of the time are at variance with the government one should expect that they find an alternative home in the wide skies of our political climate to push them rather than seeking to sneak themselves into the same government at nightfall thinking people will just look the other way.

To me, it is nothing short of an act of moral instability or bankruptcy if you like which has long been condoned in the political landscape of the country.

It is even quite different from when politicians switched allegiance from one political party to the other no matter how ridiculous the stated reasons are.

In their case, they constitute themselves into arm-chair critics and are from their cozy inner-rooms slashing at the heart, body and soul of a government only to emerge as beneficiaries of such dirty antics while the real party men get soiled from head to toe in the murky trenches of Nigerian electioneering campaign. 

Without mincing word, Seun Onigbinde is a social and intellectual scoundrel who seeks to profit by a calculated subterfuge. He is a horrible wretch hoping he would not be uncovered.

And his types should be restrained or resisted if you like by every means possible from having their ways in our society just as the Buhari Media Organization has done.

It is not about clamping down on the rights of Nigerians to keep an open mind and freely expressing their views and opinions on issues of national importance like some people are saying.

It is about the critics themselves not condescending into the domain of imbalanced and hysterical commentaries and analyses of national developmental issues for selfish gains which is what the likes of Seun and Festus has been doing when they have the platform to constructively engage the government.

                                                             Instead, all they spend their day doing was shading the government without proffering solutions. And they still have the effrontery to step forward to accept an appointment from the same government.

Whereas if they have shame, they would never have even secretly desire to serve in a government they both had at one time or the other called illegality among other unprintable words while deliberately overlooking the fact that it is a democratically elected government we are talking about here.

And for going as far as deleting his Twitter account so that his ridiculous and denigrating posts against the President Buhari administration would not be recalled, Seun has shown himself to be a tendentious opportunist - a scam artist to the core.

And that's mostly regrettable because it is coming from a young Nigerian whom we all have been vigorously campaigning for to be given a chance in a leadership position in the country.

I think more searchlight should be beamed on him lest we have another Obiwanne on our hand pretty soon.

Now if we think the political class is the worst set of people in the country, I think more than ever before, we should begin to have a serious rethink.

I believe like the Buhari Media Organization said that there are countless supporters of the President who have more powerful backgrounds and records, who are better qualified, and who would offer better professional and intellectual support to the attainment of the President’s ideas and goals, which they believe in – which Seun, from his posturing, has said he does not.

More so, I also think it is high time conscious efforts should always be made by public office holders to recruit only people whose political positions aligned with theirs into appointments to avert a similar occurrence in the future.

This is because we have had enough of people of imbalanced and unstable morality trying to reap roses where they had sowed thorns.

It is the most unimaginable evil. And it should never be allowed to stand.

I pledge my availability and support to fight the scourge of moral instability wherever it rears its ugly head because it is not good for the progress of this country.

And for those who think he (Seun) shouldn't have resigned from the post, and that he should have come prepared for the criticisms that was bound to follow his appointment knowing fully well his own antecedent as a critic of the government, they are not only being dishonest with themselves they are equally promoting the cause of travesty of decency, honour, integrity and above all moral stability.

Finally, I for one strongly believe there should be a clear demarcation of political ideologies in operation in Nigeria; instead of the current ideological fluidity in the system which is leading us to where.

No wonder Nigerian politicians’ cross-carpet at will from one political party to the other simply for a lack of political ideology. What we have today is more of politics of interest, of jobbers, of butchers and not politics of pan-national development driven by ideologies.

[olaluwe]

Minister of education Adamu Adamu [Photo Credit] The Guardian.

Clearly, the deafening song (not swan song now) on the lips of many Nigerians youths, especially, those who have passed through the four-walls of a university, these days, is that education has failed them. And the question you're tempted to ask is "in what context or in what ways as the case may be"? Is it that the educations they've received is inadequate and so are unable to function according to the dictates of their discipline or meet societal expectations? Perhaps, either of the divides may well fits the narrative if you consider a growing concern being accentuated by experts cutting across several industries, whom you might say should be in the know, anyways, about their employability. Just like the Yoruba have aptly said: the hands are the forerunners of dance while songs are the forerunners of treachery. Today, we're quite familiar with these lines: "Nigerian youths are unemployable" , and "The lazy Nigerian youths" uttered by the president not long ago". If you ask me, the two are like self-indicting refrains of the same musical composition of our failings as a people and a nation that should by now be weary to the ears of genuinely concerned stakeholders. Indeed, the one constant feature of the recruitment process of many corporate establishments today include an in-house re-training of successful applicants regardless of what their CGPA says. Notwithstanding also what their performance is during one of a written examination or an oral interview they are made to face. These in the meantime may have cast a shadow of being negligent, first on the policy makers whose duty it is to upgrade as and when due the existing educational curricula through properly funded researches. And secondly, the educational institutions (tertiary particularly) saddled with the responsibility of impacting learning, helping these teeming youths build lifelong capacities and character for effective socio-economic and may be political participations in addition to other existential needs. Definitely, if they've done their job the embarrassing scenarios painted above would not arise. In addition to what educational experts referred to as obsolete curricula still being operated by our tertiary institutions, the sector has on several occasions had to contend with incessant industrial actions embarked upon, especially, by members of the academic staff, and to a lesser extent, the non-academic staff. More often than not, the crux of their strike action is usually that of inadequate funding to which financial autonomy has been suggested as a permanent solution, This proposition, though, has regularly been rejected by successive governments and yet, surprisingly, none has been able to meet its financial obligations to the sector at least in such a way that reflects the agreement reached with Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) which date back to 2011 or thereabout. And when these strike actions are called off, what most of the universities do is stepped up academic activities with a view to covering lost grounds after which the students are herded into the examination halls.

It is no brainer; therefore, that this unfortunate turn of event has more often than not leaves the Nigerian students at a great disadvantage.

In between, there are also a couple of other challenges which students are face with. This comes in the form of financial and passion related exploitations depending on the sex of the students now. 

Although the latter it must be acknowledged is gradually reducing after a couple of scapegoats have been made of some lecturers who instead of acting as proper in locus parentis to these young girls have decided to take advantage of them. For much too long, "sex for marks" has gone on to become a trending phrase on our university campuses.

In the other instance of exploitation, students are made to sign course form to which failure to comply attracts penalties such as mark deduction. 

Another one is the need for students to purchase handouts which attracts specific marks. I'm aware it has been outlawed in our universities especially the ones belonging to the federal government. But occasional breaches still do occur.

There are penalties too when they're absent from lectures many of which are scheduled for timeline not considerate of students' conveniences.

But I for one cannot feign ignorance of what the lyrics of the somewhat mournful elegy Nigerian youths from the north to the south are mouthing entails.

It is chiefly about their inability to secure gainful employment or lack of opportunities through which to fulfill their other potentials or dreams if you like after graduating from the university.

But it has not always been like this. There was a time in this country when as you're graduating opportunities of jobs accompanied by mouth-watering packages are lined up for you. And I'm speaking specifically of the 60s to the early 90s.

Then, the population of the country is still very manageable but not controlled. 

Now, however, it has more than tripled which has, necessarily, for a lack of adequate planning compounded a lot of developmental projections for the country of which the provision of jobs for the growing army of graduates being churned out yearly by the tertiary institutions whose numbers have also increased is not factored in.

So, valid as the angst and rumination of these youths may sound concerning their inability to secure a gainful employment many years after graduating, it is yet not enough reason for them to become hopeless or perpetually frustrated. 

The one fact they must come to grip with is that the dynamics are no longer what they use to be back in the day. And it is everybody's fault. I mean if we're to apportion blame, there's certainly enough to go round.

But more certainly will go to the older generation, whom one may argue have everything on the platter of gold - free education, spacious hostel, free food, overseas allowance, committed and motivated lecturers and the likes and yet are not reciprocating such privileged gestures from the state.

Instead, what you hear from them and dishonestly too is "if you think education is expensive, try ignorance". However, they cannot be totally exculpated from the eye-sore which the education viz-a-vis the political-economy sectors have become overtime.

Population explosion and lack of corresponding economic development have combined to make nonsense of the genuine aspirations of the Nigerian youths.

More so because of the belief of the young Nigerians that university education is the only passport to success in life. 

University education, the young Nigerians must be reminded is the minimum requirement needed for them to face the world they've never known outside the four walls of their various university campuses.

We're clearly in the era of responsible self-help and aggressive personal development by the routes of entrepreneurship, talent based aspiration, innovative abilities driven of course by a turbo-charged evolution in the IT.

To it, we must accept that a lot of the regular jobs we are used to have been lost and many more are destined to follow suit in the coming months and not years.

Now more than ever, the Nigerian youths are in need of more practical trainings in entrepreneurship, IT, Agricultural value-chain, digital oriented skills because going by the new trend a lot of jobs are been served professionally over the net remotely.

Though, things to some extent, are skewed against them, I'm nevertheless more convinced that the Nigerian youths even from what they have received from the arguably disjointed educational system can still get the job done provided they will keep their eyes on the ball of what matters.

Otherwise, it would amount on their part to have failed even the education they have received if they remain lay-back hoping and wishing things will just happen without their direct involvement. And as we continue to hope and advocate that the needful is done by the way of government declaring a state of emergency in the sector.

Now more than ever is the time for the youths to be deliberate at trying out new and daring options not just through what worked for others but what may work for them both experimentally and experientially following faithfully in the trajectory of one of the nine fundamental intelligence available to the human person by default.