A call to all Diasporans: Nigeria is changing

This post tells me something; there is still hope for Nigeria.

The normal expectation of society is that a government will develop policies and platforms upon which the business opportunities will emerge, jobs opportunities will be created, needs will be met, and everybody will live happily ever after. But when you consider that our government is one of kidney failures (I know, my what you're thinking "very funny, Mr. C" (in a sarcastic way) !!), nepotism, quick win and a baseless vison 2020, you begin to wonder, will things get better? My own opinion is our evolution will be different.Nigeria might evolve under the ideolgies of Wikinomics; mass collaboration changing everything.

The initial flow of these foreign based Nigeria (Nigeria expatriates or whatever you want to call them) will target the established institutions of commerce (banks, oil firms and telecoms companies). Presently, (in my opinion) the roles in these institutions are filled up by HR policies with 'connection' undertone and warped methods of determining remuneration. In simple term, salaries and positions are a reflection of who you know, and what or where you studied as opposed to what you can do. Obvious the industry has not developed yet to a stage where a more complex system of human capital management is required. But that evolution is on the way.

Individual response to that will be to enroll for courses they think the industries would demand for. This would make, for example, people to rush into petroleum engineering, project management, ACCA and other cliché degrees and certifications that they believe will look attractive to the employing institution.

The remuneration will start looking less attractive as the staff get promoted, the supply begin to exceed the demand for foreign trained Nigerian graduates, and employers begin to see the need to critically look at their internal onboarding & recruitment policies. Also, those employed in the established institution, who are traditional not passionate about their present role and are frustrated about their work/life balance (fueled by crazy traffic, outrageously expensive cost of goods and service and high crime rate), would start exploring self employment opportunities that would align with their self-actualization plans. This could lead to growth in other sectors of the economy and slowly changes the scheme of things when you take into account the entrepreneurial Nigerian spirit (think of the Nigerian entertainment industry, how it was (and is still being) revolutionized by the influx of adequate human capital. The industry has so far been successful in developing awareness of its existence amongst the global community, and a platform upon which those who have some form of passion for entertainment can showcase their skills. There is now the need to develop more interactive content, cause in my opinion the output on average is wack).

Even with the crisis faced, the option of moving back abroad will start losing it allure as most will have their lives completely ingrained in the Nigerian system and the thought of starting all over again will look less like a good idea. This critical mass of Nigerians educated at home and abroad engaged in legitimate sources of employment, will begin to question every policy that govern their lives and create platforms upon which they can influence things for the good of their business. They would begin to push for better public policies and transparency in government. All these could lead to more jobs, more needs met, and everyone living happily every after.

The next couple of years in going to be exciting. There will be winners and losers, successes and failures. But the fact remains, NIGERIA WILL CHANGE.

Never have I been so glad that I moved back!!!!

I thought this was funny.....

Before the marriage:

He: Yes. At last! It was so hard to wait.
She: Do you want me to leave?
He: NO! Don't even think about it.
She: Do you love me?
He: Of course!
She: Have you ever cheated on me?
He: NO! Why are you even asking?
She: Will you kiss me?
He: Yes!
She: Will you hit me?
He: No way! I'm not such kind of person!
She: Can I trust you?
He: Yes.
She: Dear!!

Now, after the marriage - you can read it from the bottom upwards!!

Reflections of a one year Old Blogger!!

It only starts with a match and fire. Before you know it , everything will burn.

One of the greatest changes to my thinking resulted from a discussion with the boys last weekend.What we chatted about could be summarized into this sentence: If my reality is a product of the blood and dreams of those that came before me, what can I do for those that will come after? Of all the ideas discussed, none was as captivating as the belief that some difference would not be possible unless we say so..
Thinking further about that statement made me aware of how much impact I can make to the world around me, without even knowing it. But why a change? Our experiences are metamorphosing at a rate faster than our society's capabilities. To prevent chaos we must transfer these changes to the world around us (a catalyst that makes this vicious cycle continues, until we evolve to a point where our collective mental state is at par with the environment around us).
I question my position in the grand scheme of things, and I realize how insignificant I am; I am referring to me, a product of the net generation. This is reflected in how different my perspectives is to those that dictate the harmony of my life. And I am not alone in this internal crisis.
Most Western economies,for example were built on a foundation of racial hatred ("our leaders must be protestant, white, heterosexual males"). African on the other hand, has a foundation where economic policies are influenced by politics and selfish interest. But we, the emerging product of a new world order, are different. There is something similar in how we speak; a similarity reflected in our writings. Passion, and a desire for something we cannot see, yet.

I didn't know what a blog was until June 2007. My first conscious encounter with one was with that of Jeremy. (Before then, I had probably seen some very disjointed stories and wondered what magazine the person worked for; I thought all writers were either established journalists or freelance writers) .A friend sent me an article that we found interesting. I read it and took no serious thoughts about who the dude was (till we met at a friend's place and struck me I had seen his face before). My clicking on the long forgotten bookmark is how my journey started. I observed the content of the articles and after a few days, I noticed a link called 'comments'. From this I came across the blogs of the in my head and around me lady and a weird bloke who named his blog Unaked Soul. Through this network, I also came across the writings of Good Nigerian Girl and the blogs of Vera (that babe don kolo since....LOL ).

To be honest, this type of writing is something I am new to; the art of 'expressive' writing. I termed it such because, the writer is required to use words as a medium in describing his opinion and personal conviction on an issue. My profession as a Management Analyst has put in place the discipline of unbiased opinion on external issues, business report writing style, and a step by step approach to reporting; thus makes this very hard to write in a fluid manner (I sometimes can be found demonstrating my idea with hand movements as I try to write sentences that makes cognate sense and is aligned with my personal compass, at the same time goes along with the story). Article of this kind could take me two straight hours of uninterrupted thinking (a rare instance for me in these "dark" NEPA days) to write and express something that will engage reader.
Arriving at present state was the result of continual transformation. The name, for example, has been changing. Previously, this blog was called:

• The world as I see it (burrowed from Albert Einstein book of the same name)
• Blogging my mind (from the previous url name which was www.bloggingmymind.blogspot.com)
  
• Thinking Far>>>>

The concept and style of writing kept changing also. Since I don't have the time to do my own research, I use people's blog to determine my benchmark. I am super at look at things from a first principle basis then linking that idea with a critical issue under review; thus most of my post will try to relate the issues to fundamental units that everyone can relate with. Units that identifies cost/benefits. I have used other blogs to help refine the medium through which my concept is expressed

• Jeremy's blog was helpful in pointing me out to contemporary Nigerian issues, as he effortless dug out articles from archives that I am still baffled how he found them out
  
• I use the style of 'in my head and around me' to test how fluid my sentences are. I still haven't got her style yet but I am now falling in love with that of Vera.
  
• Naked Soul's use of quote at the beginning of every new post is brilliant (which I adopted)
  
• I am using GNG's rambles to develop my "Internal conversations**" (statements labeled in red) (**Internal conversations are meant to uphold my opinion of the idea with a comment that doesn't fit into the structure of the sentence in consideration. This word should be in Wikipedia if it doesn't exist as something else already.lol)

As I try to redefine better ways to express myself, I cannot help but notice that although all blogs seem to explain personal stories, there is always something this undertone that questions the norm. There is like this silent revolt against all that the establishment stand for. Institution that are not evolving rapidly enough to deal with our changing ideals and perceptions of the world around us.
It have been tolling with the idea of a wiki-blog, after I came across this blog. If a mega blog is built that any registered blogger can edit, how powerful would that idea be if all our skills are channeled towards one single idea? The impact of that can be so overwhelming that it could set the right energy in motion capable of engaging policy makers and project managers towards implementing the issues being deliberated about. This could be a thesis more powerful than what is present being pushed out of the ivory towers today. An idea backed with a passion, loads of humour, well-researched articles and a proposed practical solution can be a platform upon which academic ideologies can be transfered to the way our society runs. With passion, people in the corridors of power,NGO will discover practical ways to manage ideas they believe in (and edited) to develop and execute work plans. As people see the impact of their work in action, they get motivated to work more and with more peer to peer softwares available, the idea will spread like wildfire with everyone contributing their own conclusions and suggestions; no one can ignore the power to a concept something as little as a 'comma' can do.

We are all striving to achieve something. It might be on a very subliminal level but being every article, blog, comment writeup, there is this drive to change something no matter how mundane. It might be the mood of a reader, someone perception of us or an issue, or to draw our support a particular notion. Once we know our capabilities and strength and focus on it, we would be capable of making the change that replicate our vision. With an idea, the right skills and passion, the mind of the world remains the conquest we must dominate.

Versions.

She studied History in university.
Bright student, I must say. Intended on studying law, but ended up with something else.
Never did I realize how important her profession was until we had that heart to heart conversation.
Historians do change the world also. They interpret the world that came before us, which helps us shape our perception of things.

Think of this; do you see facebook (and other social network sites) playing any role in communicating our ways of living to other generations? With the present trend of things, facebook will possible contain pictures of all your life experiences and expressions. It might even contain the day of death (enabled by some application an MIT nerd comes up with). The profile will be archived for public domain viewing (or maybe the deceased’s next of kin will determine how much of the profile is sharable).

Wow!
We are making history.

Strange innit?

I wrote this poem....

..at one point in time. I wrote it to encourage myself. A message of hope, believing that as one day, we as a people will moving forward.
This nation does frustrate, but I think with persistence and the bold daring, we might make something new.

Lands are tilled with many hands,
But it is the product of vision of one,
Someone courageous enough to push forward an idea,
which becomes a spark,
then a flame,
afterward it consumes everything in this path,
till a new order is formed,
new ways and a new future. Just like a fire
I am not sure of our heritage,
but I can guess our origins,
somewhere in forest,
amongst plants and wild beast,
fertile land and a lovely weather,
the till of the land is consumed before it is ripe,
by the harvester sent to pick,
the people are relentless and say the must survive.
Our foundation made us strong,
resilience made us multiply,
giving us the seed we scattered across the earth.
Similar yet different, charming yet unattractive. But a desire to survive
No order of formation, but our place on the earth is known.
In the right season wherever we touch will be conquered
a plantation will evolve consuming what exist on our path
till the whole world see that what we fought for was a battle to stand the test of time.

This will be our way.
We are Nigerians, the children of the corn.