NIGERIA AND OUR PRESENT STATE: WHAT DO YOU PRAY FOR?

Times without number, a lot of people have embarked on turning great business ideas into reality with a mindset of succeeding at all costs, believing that with a  large circle of friends and family members, the business will definitely succeed.

Alas they are disappointed 70% of the time because the same circle of family and friends would rarely patronize them and even when some of them do at all, a large number of that group will either want it for free or for a token and also  many a times give the attitude that they are just doing you a big favour for even attempting to buy into your idea.

Alright, let’s assume the business eventually sees the light of day, you would be shocked to realize in the long run that your loyal customers are people you never knew or thought would even give your business a thought or two at the time you conceived the idea.

Apart from the human factor, the many other necessities such as unavailability of constant electricity  supply, lack of good road, insecurity and most importantly the many stringent and unfriendly business Government policies on the other all add up to frustrate businesses in this county.

What is responsible for the above scenario?

 Life is complicated! Really complicated therefore, it is impossible to get all the answers to the countless “whats, hows and whys”.

Sadly, it is the same “we” who make the life as complicated as it is. We need no ‘rocket science’ to hit that hard-truth nail in.

Just yesterday, I watched on one of the local stations as a 37 year old man from the eastern part of Nigeria who now lives in Doha was being interviewed about his life in Doha and why he left Nigeria in the first place. I was totally disappointed and deeply hurt to hear the first statement from him was “Nigeria is a killer of destiny”. Those words cut really deep.

I wasn’t disappointed at the man who is now doing so well in Doha that he said those words without any apologies, I was disappointed because our government pushed the young man, a Nigerian University Engineering graduate to that point and I was hurt because the man reminds me of the reality once again that I’m also a Nigerian thus makes me scared that I may one day, if care is not taken, be pushed to that same level of saying “Nigeria is a killer of destiny”. Gosh! May God not let it get to that level for the rest of us even as we pray for a better Nigeria.

We pray for a better Nigeria where the gap between the rich and the poor will get so short by just an arm’s length.

We pray for a better Nigeria where our leaders will think about led positively before policies are made and actualized.

We pray for a better Nigeria where entrepreneurs will be encouraged and not be frustrated out of the country  seeking  greener pastures only to die in the desert, at sea, sold as slaves or killed in places such as Libya amongst others.

We pray for a better Nigeria where every family would not need to toil so hard to put food on their tables, clothes on their backs or shelter over their heads.

We pray for a better Nigeria where the era of “brain drain” will be over thus our great and excellent professional doctors, teachers, scientists, lawyers, sportsmen/women, engineers and more will be well taken care of so that they would not need to leave home to go work in other countries thus leaving Nigeria as wrecked as it is right now.

We pray for a better Nigeria where immorality will gradually become unfashionable, eventually fading out completely as every Nigerian becomes comfortable hence they would be no need for so much atrocities.

I could go on and on as the list is endless!

What do you pray for? Yes, I mean you, dear reader!

STELLA ENE-INYANG

Pray! Pray!! Pray!!!

Nigeria must get better!

THE 'GOOGLE RAISED' ADULTS AND THE LEFT-OVER GRADUATES OF NIGERIA

One of the ways the common man pikin chooses to adapt to a labour market that has no place for him, is to reduce his age. Yes, he does this without guilt. Again, this is a no brainer as human instinct for survival can over shadow morality. I want to be clear on one thing; my analysis is not trying to justify this action of the common man pikin. I am only trying to understand where the rationale to undertake such action is coming from. Reduction of biological age to have official age is morally bad and illegal but the situation in our dear country is not helping matters. I know people will say they should go and start business rather than wait for someone to employ them. To such critics, I can hear you loud and clear. Tell me, with which skills will they become entrepreneurs?

Our educational system is so muddled up that hardly any school teaches entrepreneurship skills. I have seen many graduates who went through the four walls of Nigerian universities and they don't know ‘jack’ about our economy or how political issues affect everything we do. Something as basic as the difference between export and import trade is a mirage to some of them. I have seen an applicant who didn't know the difference between a current account and a savings account. You will hear graduates lamenting about not having hundreds of thousands of Naira to start a business but the fact is that, so many graduates have no idea on how to start a business, let alone how to run one profitably.

For many graduates, it is about the big dream of working in big organisations that will pay them tens of million. All they know is to dream, pray and believe in the idea of finding big-time jobs with big paycheck, in oil and gas sector, international NGOs, banks, telecom companies; and government job slots which they buy with hundreds of thousands and where they will rarely report to work but will get paid every month.

I will enjoin Human Resource Practitioners and External Recruiters, to create a level playing ground. It is important to discuss with Management about lifting age limitations on recruitment. There is nothing wrong or odd about a company hiring someone in his/her thirties or forties, if that is when the person gets his/her first job.

From experience, I have noticed that the ones who have searched for job for a long time before getting it, are usually more committed and loyal to their organisations, when compared with fresh graduates in their late teens or early twenties. Some employees in the latter group are so full of themselves that they usually create problems while trying to fit in. With the world looking like an Aladdin's cave for them to explore, they are least likely to stay on a job for more than a year; they expect you to babysit them while they adapt to their tasks. They are ‘Google-raised’ adults who are so knowledgeable about everything the internet has to teach them; this makes following simple directives a big problem to them as they come at you with the “know it all” and “seen it on Youtube” attitudes. With their “know it all attitude”, they are usually in conflicts with their superiors. And when their misconducts explode, they expect HR to wipe the sh*t they cause as a result of them having disrespectful attitudes. This is not to say they some of them don't have good qualities- they do, and in many ways, are as resourceful as any generation. And I am still amazed at their confidence level.

To conclude, my point is that companies in general and HR department/units in particular, should give older graduates the chance to prove themselves. Don't make life more difficult for a 34 year old who graduated four years ago and hasn't been able to secure a job, by telling him he is unemployable. If he is rejected because of his age, the odds are that he will simply edit his resume and come back with a DOB that puts his age as 26 with glaring inconsistency showing he started primary school as a baby still being breastfed by the mother. Let us give every Nigerian graduate equal chance to get a job. I know there are other factors exacerbating their job search for example nepotism, corruption and that fact that some applicants are simply unemployable because of appalling education; but on this article, I choose to focus on age. Let their knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) speak for them, and not age.

Written By Edith Mokwe, an ACIPM licensed HR Practitioner residing in Lagos. She has B.A from the University of Benin (UNIBEN), and an M.A from the University of Lagos (UNILAG). She loves research, creative writing and board games. An introverted-extrovert and by every way a multi-dimensional being who is not only a lover of African Arts but one who stands up to bullies and finally an addict to sugary foods.

TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT "DON'T BET ON IT"

Until recently, I have always held this catchphrase “business flourishes when friends and family pay”. Still holding onto that slogan, I have also added “business flourishes when friends and family patronize”. So putting both slogans together, it is now “business flourishes when friends and family patronize you by paying for your services rendered to them”. *funny, yet true*.

I have always told people that if you run a business as an entrepreneur and you think you will succeed in that business just because of the mere fact that you have a ‘VERY’ large family, then you are bound to fail or *at the least* operate at the most insignificant level.

The hard truth is, not every family member will patronize you and even when they do, you are either paid very poorly or not even paid at all given “too much familiarity” or the silent fear of you becoming bugger than he/she, that is, their status in life. Did I hear somebody say that’s not true? I kid you not!

Ok. If you think otherwise, then ask Chief Innocent Chukwuma, the Chairman of Innoson  Vehicle Manufacturing Company! Why are Nigerians not buying the Innoson vehicles like they buy other cars from around the world, everyday? Huge question, isn’t it?

As huge as that question may sound, it has a simple answer which is “a prophet is never recognized in his own home”.

When the Innoson company, sometime in December 2014 unveiled its locally assembled  Hyundai and Nissan  brand of ‘IVM’ vehicles many Nigerians shouted ‘hurray’ as it was reported that about 70 percent of the parts used in the manufacture where locally sourced. But then, as expected, after that, not much was heard about it apart from a few people who patronized, until only recently when the ‘let’s patronize our locally made goods’ did some people decide to look the way of Innoson again. What a pain!

Many Nigerians have the propensity for foreign goods, even in situations when some of us know that most of these things brought into the country come from the lowest of shops abroad, the Nigerian markets still get flooded with such sub-standard goods and are continually sold over the Nigerian made products.

I can bet that some of you would be saying “a lot of locally made stuffs are substandard”. Yes, I agree with you to a large extent and so do they exist in other parts of the world. But then in those ‘parts of the world’ because the agencies in charge of ‘quality control’ are on the alert, the substandard goods are not allowed in their markets or allowed into their countries if produced outside.

A couple of weeks ago, a radio commentator said that Nigerians are beginning to buy back some made-in-Aba shoes which were exported outside the country. The commentator added that what saddens him the most is the huge price being paid for the same kind of shoes which were rejected within the country even for a small asking price.

      

Take for instance. A young man graduates from the University and two years down the line no job in sight. In the two years spent hoping for a job, he was not idle but paid a fee and learnt how to design and make clothes as well as worked as an apprentice at a renowned fashion outfit in Lagos.

    

The young man within a few months excelled as he began making fabulous designs to the amazement of the Proprietor, the other Trainees and even the employed in the organization. And so after one year of training, he was placed on a small salary by the proprietor until he left at the end of his two years agreement to start his own outfit.

Then check this out:

While he served at his former place, his friends and members of family patronised him or *should I say, the company* as they would come to his place of work, a staff would take their measurements, give them a price as the company deemed fit and without any hesitation, they would pay whatever amount they found on their bill even though they knew he would be the one to make the clothes under the organization at the end of the day.

Unfortunately for the young man, having seen this trend over and over again, he decides to veer out of ‘paid employment’ to start on his own with the hope that those huge number of friends and family who have been patronizing his ‘boss’ would be his first set of clients as an entrepreneur but ‘alas! His hopes are dashed because the same friends and family who have paid huge sums to his former ‘Boss’ *knowing full well that it is not his boss who made the clothes* would give him materials but pay less or nothing for making the same quality of outfit he made while working in that organization. A big shame.

This why a lot of people/entrepreneurs get discouraged and it would take the grace of God not to ‘close shop’ after such an experience.

That is the kind of situation we have found ourselves in this country.

Nigerians, please, for those things we know are well made locally, let us patronise the producers.

IT'S TIME TO REALLY GO LOCAL!