January 2012 Timeless Magazine

TIMELESS Published Since April 2003

Vol. 10 No. 1

JANUARY 2012

300 NAIRA

Starting Out in 2012

How to live a better life

Podium

Corruption is ‘good’ business in Nigeria

Life & Society

I fired my Husband to save our marriage

Personality

The Doris Simeon Interview www.timelessnewspaper.com timelesscourage.blogspot.com

From the Editor-in-Chief member of our Teenage Church about 16 or 17 years old. We took her from that hospital around 8 or 9 pm and rushed her to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). We got there around 10 pm in the emergency ward only to find that there was only one doctor on duty. Initially they refused to accept this girl because of a certain process. However on my contacting a young man I know in LUTH; she was subsequently admitted. She was then dumped on a small table because there was no bed. There was this small doctor on duty running among the 8 – 10 accident cases, sweating profusely. He will run to one patient, fix something, run to the other one fix another thing. I had to call and draw his attention that this girl needed his attention as he did not pay her any attention since our arrival.

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f one looks at the world’s ecosystem and the background of creation, one cannot but wonder in amazement at the perfection created by God. As far as I am concerned, the only imperfection in the world today is ironically the creation put in place to rule the earth. I am irrevocably convinced that the source of most of man’s suffering in the world today is man himself (his self centeredness) and his Godlessness. The inability to care about anything but himself alone. For the Black man, the situation is worse; it is very painful for anyone to suffer in a world of outstanding resources freely provided by the Almighty. There is nothing that man needs, that has not been provided; for the Black man it is an absurdity of “water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink”.

I want therefore to share with you a topic I consider important and hopefully life changing. As long as a man keeps limiting his thoughts to himself, as long as he keeps thinking only within himself, he cannot do better than himself, no matter how rich or wealthy he is; he cannot do better than himself and therefore he cannot make giant strides or make outstanding progress in life.

When we limit our lives to ourselves and our thinking doesn’t go beyond self, we literally destroy the lives of other people. No wonder our country Nigeria is going through very critical periods because we are surrounded by people on a daily basis who limit their thinking to themselves and therefore they destroy the lives of others.

About six or seven years ago, in the church, I suddenly got a phone call that one of our sisters was critically ill; so I left everything I was doing and ran to the hospital in Anthony where she was and she was already in a coma. At that time she was a senior

This is supposed to be the primary teaching hospital of this nation. This is the hospital we should call the pride of Nigeria and yet there is only one doctor on duty on emergency with no facilities whatsoever. I was wondering to myself about what happened to Nigeria that things went so bad.

When I was growing up in Ibadan, the University College Hospital, (UCH) Ibadan, was a leading hospital in West Africa, it was the 8th best hospital in the entire world and here we are in LUTH with no facilities and no doctors. The nurses were slow and indifferent. They couldn’t be bothered, and couldn’t care less if somebody was alive or sick. Then suddenly, the doctor announced that we needed blood. So we began looking for blood, and went all over Surulere. We eventually found 2 pints which she used up immediately. Then there was no more blood from the blood bank, so they said: “who will donate blood? We got those who will donate but there was no blood bag. By now, the time was 2 am; we went looking for blood bags. Then one girl said she knows where we can get blood bags. We then drove that night crossing from one barrier in Mushin to another barrier in Mushin, because all the gates were locked for security purposes; we have become prisoners in our own homes. Finally we found the blood bags under one nurse’s bed in her home. We asked her: ‘what are you doing with the blood bags underneath your bed?’ She answered that that is how she makes her own money. We finally got the blood bags and then at 4:30 am the girl died. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life. Then I looked at myself; looked at Nigeria and asked how a nation that can be so blessed yet be so poor.

What is the problem with the Black man? It is the limits of his thinking. Hear what someone called Lord Fredrick Luggard said about the Black man

when he became governor general of Nigeria around 1907 or thereabout.

“In character and temperament the typical African of all his race types is a happy, shiftless excitable person lacking in self control, lacking in discipline, lacking in foresight, full of personal vanity, with a little sense of veracity, fond of music, his thoughts are concentrated on the events of the moment and he suffers little of the apprehension of the future or grief of the past.”

A hundred years later and the African is still living in the same way and everybody is wondering: ‘what is happening to us? What is happening to Nigeria?

What is happening to the average African person?’ If a man is poor in intellect, it would eventually reflect in his wellbeing and that’s why a lot of formerly rich Africans die extremely poor. The world is always predictable, there will always be good times and there will always be bad times. There would always be times of plenty and times of famine. But if you are in the right place, you discover that famine or not you will prosper.

How are you still thinking and what are you thinking about? What is the total summation and collection of your thoughts? Are you lacking in self control?

Are you lacking in discipline? Are you lacking in foresight? Are you full of personal vanity? Do you have little sense for veracity? Are you fond of excessive music? Are your thoughts concentrated on the events and the feelings of the moment? Are you suffering from little apprehension of the future or grief of the past? Are you lacking in organization, deficient in management, deficient in the control of man and resources. Welcome to the world of the African.

I still cannot get over the way that Colonel Moummar Gaddafi died. It was typically African. Typically and traditionally a limited thought to himself, for 42 years he ruled in Libya and within six months everything had collapsed because the man really had neither depth nor substance. What surprises me is the capacity of the African to allow another African to dominate him for 42 years and that’s what frightens me about a lot of us; we have no thoughts, no depth, no thinking and we are willing to be led by the mouth by men not capable to polish our shoes. And we run to these places, run to these men, prostrate before them and allow them to dominate our lives because we are fearful, anxious, ignorant, limited, lazy, incompetent and unable to decide where our future is going. The Black man needs to change his thinking and character.

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Business

Society

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TIMELESS TIMELESS Success OUTLETS Habits Published Since April 2003

Vol. 9 No. 1

JANUARY 2011

EDITORIAL

300 NAIRA

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CEO

Ituah Ighodalo EDITOR

Ayodeji Jeremiah

...for the New Year As Selected by You - Our Readers

1. UNILAG Bookshop, Akoka 2. Edysyl Bookshops, Jibowu Str, Yaba & Kodesho Str, Ikeja 3. Royal Dividends Store 4. Iman Cosmetics, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi 5. Total Filling Station, Awolowo Rd, Ikoyi 6. Media Store RCCG Christ Church, Gbagada 7. MM1 & MM2 Local Airport 8. CCD Stores, Ogudu 9. Pharm Affairs, Ogudu 10. Cheeses Stores, Ogudu 11. Terra Kulture, Tiamuyi Savage, V.I 12. Prince Stores, Diya Street, Gbagada Culture A Dissection of Chimamanda’s “The Thing Around your Neck at Farafina Book Review Style The Coolest Watches Money can Buy Society “My Vagina is Embarrasing...”

SENIOR WRITER

Adeleke Adeyemi SENIOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Tola Majolagbe EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Titilope Oyelade

www.timelessnewspaper.com timelesscourage.blogspot.com

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STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Matthew Osarenren CORRESPONDENTS

Godwin Thomas Taiwo Tunkarimu Tolu Ifekoya Kunle Michael GRAPHIC DESIGN & PRODUCTION EDITOR

Agbele Olusola BUSINESS & COMMERCIAL SERVICES DIRECTORS

Victoria Tandoh Nneka Nwobi Bayo Rotimi HEAD, SALES, MARKETING & CIRCULATION

Steve Atannoye HEAD, ADVERTS & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Dotun Wale-Sulaiman MISSION STATEMENT To establish a well Structured, Educative and Informative Newsmagazine based on Sound Moral Values; providing Honest, Unbiased Reportage in Fairness to all.

SEPTEMBER 2010 TIMELESS

Editorial

Nigeria’s Homosexuality Bill:

Why it is Pro-norm and the West Hypocritical

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othing in recent times has gripped the imagination, drawn the ire (both for and against) and stirred the soul (and pens and tongues) of a very wide cross section of the public as the Homosexuality Act recently passed by the National Assembly, to await the President’s ratification. With it has come surprising yet predictable threats by Western nations to cut off aid and the collective rejection of the threats by sections of the society.

The bill prescribes a 14-year jail term for anyone entering into same-sex ‘marriage’ or civil union.

Those who abet or aid such unions could also be sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, as would “any person who registers, operates or participates in homosexual clubs, societies and organisations” - a provision that seems to target homosexuality advocacy groups as well. The bill also sets out a 10-year sentence for “any person who... directly or indirectly makes public show of same-sex amorous relationships”.

If as reliable sources hint that the Embassy of the United States in Nigeria is presently wooing local human rights groups with funding with which to jump into the fray to heckle the populace with well-orchestrated anti-norm harangue, it would amount to the Americans meddling in the internal affairs of another sovereign state.

The trumpeters of human rights are in this case the bold-faced hypocrites. It is widely known, for instance, that virtually every jurisdiction in the West does not permit polygamy in their laws. But virtually all African countries allow polygamy, which is against the law in European and American countries.

The question might arise as to why people who are freely consenting and believe it (not that we do) to be the right thing for them should not be allowed to marry more than one partner, particularly since the concept of marriage is being redefined to allow same sex partners anyway.

As for the twin ‘consenting adults’ and ‘nobody is harmed’ arguments, the poser in the preceding paragraph puts to test the worn out argument of two consenting adults being entitled to do with themselves what they like and that law should not regulate what goes on in the privacy of people’s homes.

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Firstly, what goes on between two people in the privacy of their homes has always been regulated by law. Conspiracy is a crime in most jurisdictions never mind that the people may never carry out their plans, the mere expressed intention to commit certain crimes is in itself a crime in the law of many societies.

The idea of rendering actions legal because nobody is harmed (in reality, seen to be harmed) is even more tenuous. What constitutes harm is an amorphous subject amenable to various interpretations. While there is overwhelming damning evidence for instance that two adults who mutually consent to divorce happily (that’s hilarious) leave their children scarred for life, divorce remains a very popular and very legal means of handling problems in marriage.

In contrast, there are even amusing examples of harmless (if one were to use ‘their’ standards) activities like streaking, and euthanasia which are still illegal in many ‘advanced’ societies. At the risk of stretching the example, one must also ask how polygamy which is consented to is more harmful than the acrimonious divorces that we see on Jerry Springer and Judge Judy.

Clearly, therefore, those preaching tolerance from the burnished but rotten rostrums should be warming a seat in the pew.

And now we come to the issue of Aid. Were it not for the ruling class that has plundered the land for decades, the country would not have been subjected to the unfortunate tragic-comedy of UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s rant as a spokesperson of sorts for the West. The charade of the well-oiled highstakes Aid industry and its beneficiaries has been rather well documented, but will bear some consideration.

Pre-independence, the West did the stealing by itself, brazenly carting away resources and artefacts most of which are displayed proudly in their museums to date without remorse – imagine paying to go to your neighbour’s house to watch the TV he stole from your house.

Post-independence, they do the stealing through their stooges who have put hundreds of billions of dollars (one authority estimate $300 billion since independence) of our commonwealth in the safe keeping of Mr Cameron and his compatriots. Somehow in the warped logic of Mr Cameron, it is morally upright to rebuke your partners in crime on issues of homosexual legislation but have no problem receiving stolen goods the next day.

Rather than give Africa Aid, the West should repatriate all the money they daily collude with African leaders to steal from their people; return the money to its rightful owners instead of giving us a tiny part of the interest on the stolen money and cheekily calling it Aid. In addition, the West should focus on fair trade rather than Aid. Till date, several Western countries subsidize their economy but instruct our clueless leaders to remove subsidy of every kind.

It would have been comical if it were not tragic to threaten us with the withdrawal of Aid when Nigerians in Diaspora repatriated $10 billion last year alone.

It is crucially important to understand that righteousness cannot be legislated. Laws – those of God and Man – do not on their own make people good. The purpose of the law is to regulate behaviour by suppressing (not eradicating) evil desires and thereby sustain society and ensure its healthy continuance in perpetuity.

With contribution from Wole Olabanji, who works full-time raising a godly family and parttime as an architect in real estate development advisory. He also devotes considerable time to providing Biblical perspective to tackling contemporary challenges in business and governance.

Cover Feature

“Those who wish to sing always find a song” - Swedish Proverb

Ajose Kehinde

How to live a Better Life in 2012 - Ingredients for living an enviable life JANUARY 2012

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n old man who lived long ago enjoyed a reputation in his community for near infinite wisdom. A young lad, skeptical of the aura surrounding the old man, decided to demystify him once and for all. He caught a cricket, enfolded it in his hands, and then called out to the old man: “Old man, the cricket that I hold is it alive or dead? The young boy had come up with a clever idea. He thought “If he says the cricket is alive, I shall crush it in an instant “.”If on the other hand he says it is dead, I shall release it and show him to be a liar.” The old man looked at the boy squarely, and told him in a slow deep voice: “Young man, whether the cricket is dead or alive lies in your hands.”

Whether this year is going to open you up to endless possibilities or perilous experiences is up to you. Living a better life is about being able to live life at its peak and fulfill your destiny on this terrestrial platform. It takes a lot of guts, willpower and a certain amount of doggedness to live an enviable life. Believe me, it doesn’t just drop on your laps. It’s more of a goal you work towards continually. We live in a world where it’s easy to live an ordinary life, all you need to do is to simply DO NOTHING. But as long as you have your heartbeat still racing and your blood still flowing, it presents you an opportunity to live life to the fullest capacity. Never allow life to catch you by surprise; instead take the bull by the horn by pulling your acts together and unleashing your God-given potentials. The rate of success stories in this part of the world is low compared to the amounts of negatives that spring up every now and then. That’s why it’s essential for you to succeed in your craft and multiply this country’s success rate.

Below is a comprehensive time-tested route to living an enviable life this year. It has been working for me; I know it will work for you if you apply it religiously to your life. All I will be sharing with you in this life transforming article that will pace you up for success is encapsulated in the acronym B. E. T. T. E. R and in what I have termed the L-Factor.

Better B: Be bold: 2012 like every other year is not going to be a piece of cake. But our fulfillment and roof raising achievements is predicated on the magnitude of boldness we take into the New Year, which eventually makes us outstanding in our various life pursuits. In the words of Dolores Ibarruri: “It is better to be the widow of a hero than to be the wife of a coward.” To be willing to do better, you have to face your fears and lean on your faith. Owen Gee, one of Nigeria’s best comedians took a bold step when he left his lucrative job to pursue his passion: stand up comedy. Today Owen Gee is living his dream and crashing ceilings in his chosen craft.

E: Embrace excellence: Vince Lombardi said: “Your success in life will be determined by the 8

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depth of your commitment to excellence than by any other factor”. Resolve to be the very best at what you do. Seek to increase your capacity for excellence and efficiency. What one quality if developed and worked on will have an excellent impact on your life?

T: Think possibilities: People bound for greatness think possibilities all the way. They are die hard optimists who are unshakeable despite the gravity of whatever they go through.

In life you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you believe and enthusiastically expect.

T: Tenacity: Michael Jordan was told he wasn’t good enough when he decided to join his varsity basketball team, but he refused to give up. Today he is one of the greatest sports men of our time. Mahatma Ghandi once remarked: “The history of the world is full of men who rose to prominence by tenacity”. Persistence wears out every resistance.

you act on these outlined thoughts.

The L-Factor Love: Love in this context connotes your passion, obsession and your natural fit.

Everyone is created with a passion, and it is imperative to live that passion. As a result of my coaching sessions, I have discovered that the primary road block stopping the majority is fear. It’s been proven that the solution to overcoming your fear is to simply do what you fear. Live your passion, stop living in your comfort zone. Let go of whatever is stopping you from starting that business, writing that book, submitting that proposal. Do what you love, stop dreading Monday mornings!

Learn: The difference between human beings and animals is the capacity to acquire knowledge. Animals have instincts, but they do not have knowledge, so they do whatever

E: Execute: Kane Kramer, a British gentleman designed and sketched out the first IPod in 1979 but did nothing with it.

Today the IPod has taken over the world. He remains a store man at a furniture company in Hertfordshire England. Nothing happens unless you move. Action orientation is still the culmination factor that leads to predictable success. Resolve to take steps of action towards your projects, proposal and plans in 2008.

R: Remember God: After all is said and done the role of God can never be under estimated in the affairs of men.

One of Nigeria’s leading motivational speakers once made this statement: “I am not self-made I am God made”. No one can do what God can do, solely because He rules over the earth. Beyond your plaques, achievements, and successes you still need to hook up with God if you desire to go a long way in 2008. This year can be your best year ever in your life time if

they feel like. A human being has instinct and knowledge and that knowledge controls his instinct. That is why he does not ease himself, anytime anywhere. It is knowledge that tells him some things are right while others are

cover feature within if a change must spring forth on the outside. It is important to leave the pains of the past and embrace a new future. The failures of the past are not worth brooding over, as they drain you of the opportunities the future presents.

Leverage: High achievers are known to use what they have i.e. their G.U.T.S - Gifts, Uniqueness, Talents and Strengths, to get what they desire from life. Opportunities are all around us waiting to be tapped. The Internet is an opportunity to sell your goods and services, please do leverage on it. I have experienced certain amount of economic value just by leveraging on my strengths (speaking, writing, coaching, playing the bass guitar). Every gift has an economic value tied to it, it’s imperative to leverage on it.

Level Up: Never be satisfied with your present achievements, dissatisfaction is the catalyst for change. Yesterday’s success is an old version of you, level up! Constantly commit to improving on your skill sets and never be complacent. See yourself as a product competing for shelf space in life’s supermarket, upgrade!

Launch It: Mobility is a constant element in getting to your destination in life. You’ve got to take steps of action so as to achieve your dreams. It’s not enough to set goals, make plans and dream dreams. You need to take action by learning to launch out and making your dream happen. M.I., one of Nigeria’s leading entertainers didn’t become a success overnight. In an interview, he said while starting out back then, he had over 3,000 CDs of great rappers in his collections. Success doesn’t happen by accident, it is put in motion.

inappropriate. During a mentoring session with Dr Sunny Ojeagbase, I was marveled by the amounts of books stacked up on the shelves in his office. Little wonder, he is succeeding and making impact. We act to the best of our knowledge per time. Resolve to acquire skills that will upgrade your relevance in your field.

Lead: For most of us, the word lead connotes the picture of anyone who occupies a leadership position, especially in a government.

The key world in leadership is influence ability to influence people towards achieving extraordinary goals. The challenge in our country is that the majority (the people) complain about the minority (our leaders),

who have done nothing to improve the quality of life we live. I do not belong to the group that complains and resolves to do nothing about the state of things; I belong to the change makers - individuals who take responsibility for the problems around them. An example that comes to mind is the Mushin Makeover project initiated by Fela Durotoye and a team of volunteers who painted the Mushin suburb of Lagos Nigeria. Fela doesn’t live in Mushin but he took responsibility for their problems. That is the true example of leadership.

Leave It: Attitude is critical to success of any kind. Until your change your attitude, nothing will change for you. There has to be a change

Leave A Legacy: What will you be remembered for tomorrow, if you were to die today? It’s a question I constantly ask myself. You only succeed in life to the degree you help others succeed. Having a good job, living an healthy lifestyle, and a massive money stacked in your bank account is not all there is to life. Life is simply about making impact. In the words of my friend, Agbolade Omowole: “if you are a millionaire and you are not making a difference, it doesn’t make any difference.”

Bishop Oyedepo puts it this way: ‘A millionaire is someone who has touched a million lives’.

Resolve to make an indelible difference this year. Go and rule your world!

Kehinde Ajose is a celebrated talent development coach, motivational speaker and publicist, who helps individuals to discover and develop their talents in order to create wealth and become global brands.

His success stories have been featured on both the electronic and the print media.

He can be reached on 08024212530 or splendidkenny01@yahoo.com

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cover feature

How to Stand Out and Count in 2012 little fellow and, using the crusty language of one who had come up from the soil of labour, said, “Buy a red shirt, son, and work like [mad].”

The startled little boy obviously didn’t understand what the older man was telling him. The man pointed to the workmen crawling around several stories of the open steel latticework of the rising skyscraper and said to the boy, “Look at those men working there. They all work for me. I don’t know them by name. I’ve never met some of them. But look at that fellow in the red shirt. Everybody else is wearing blue.

“I’ve noticed that the man in red works harder than anyone else. He comes in every morning, just a bit earlier than anybody else.

He seems to work faster than anybody else.

He is the last one to clock off the job. He stands out from the crowd because he wears that red shirt every day. I’m about to go over there and ask him to be my supervisor. From there, I suspect he is going to rise to the top and maybe become one of my vice presidents.

“That’s how I made it, son. I decided to work a little harder and a little better than anybody else on the job. And if I wore overalls, nobody would ever notice me. So I always wore a striped shirt. I worked harder. I stood out from the crowd. I was noticed. I got the promotions. I saved my money. And that’s how I got where I am today.”

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n his phenomenal bestselling book that taught the world to “possibilitize” life, Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do!, Robert Schuller of the Crystal Cathedral fame tells the inspiring story of a little boy in hand-me-down patched overalls, who asked a rich general

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contractor in fancy clothes observing the skyscraper rising under his overall supervision from the dusty ground where they both stood, “How can I be rich like you when I grow up?”

The tough old construction man looked at the

‘Janus’, the Roman god after whom the first month of our new year is named, makes for an interesting study. Because Janus has a face that’s looking forward and backward, he maintains a view on the past while also keeping an eye on what the future holds. There is a moral in that for us to ponder.

events

Bambini School holds Christmas Concert

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ambini School, a nursery and primary school located at GRA Ikeja held its annual Christmas Concert with the theme ‘Christmas in the East of Nigeria’. Bambini School, which was set up in September 2004 aims to provide a high quality, integrated education and a culturally enriched child care service. In addition to the school’s nursery and primary school, Bambini also provides after school care services. The concert featured music and drama presentations with parents, children and well wishers of the school in attendance.

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events

Pastor Olusegun Omotosho at 50

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f you are meeting him for the first time, Pastor Olusegun Omotosho cuts the picture of a simple-hearted and easygoing man of God. However, behind his unassuming look lies a strong character determined to give his all in his father’s Vineyard as the Pastor-in-Charge of RCCG True Vine Parish. The amiable Pastor and Management Consultant who was formerly Pastor in Charge of RCCG Christ Church Parish was born on 24th November 1961 at Ibadan. Pastor Olusegun (he prefers to be called “Olusegun” and not ‘Segun) started his education oddysey at Ebenezer African Church Primary School Oke-Ado Ibadan from where he proceeded to Ibadan Grammar School for his Secondary education between 1973 and 1978.

Oyo State College of Arts and Science, Ile-Ife was his next port of call for his A’levels before proceeding to the Universuty of Ilorin for his Bachelor of Science in Sociology and the University of Lagos for a Masters in Business Administration. He is happily married with 4 kids to his ever smiling beautiful wife – Mrs. Omotayo Omotosho (MFR), a National Merit Awardee and a former Director General of the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation. Family, friends and well wishers joined him recently as he marked his 50th birthday with a thanksgiving service at the church and a luncheon at Eko Hotel.

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events YES Business Leaders Fair

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ES, (Yearning Earnestly for Success), an organisation set up with the aim of positively impacting the lives of the youths and making them valuable contributors to national growth and development recently held a Business Leaders Fair.

The event, which had several sponsors including Dove Vision, Soft Skills, RCCG City of David and GlaxoSmithkline was aimed at empowering youths for improved socio economic wellbeing. Speakers at the event included Kayode Ladele, Chief Accountant at RCCG City of David, Isaac Okanlawon, Brand manager at GSK, Modupe Asanmo, CEO at Livestock Plc and Patrick Abraham, CEO at Dove Vision TV.

YES was set up to harness the great potential amongst the youths. This potential according to YES cannot be realized without paying good attention to the youths who represent a high percentage of the population.

Amongst their objectives at YES are: • Social Empowerment by teaching the youths life skills (e.g. interpersonal skills, communication skills, critical thinking, self awareness, creative thinking, problem solving, etc.)

• Mental and Physical Empowerment by organizing local sports events that will enhance physical and mental well-being • Economic Empowerment by teaching success strategies, and imparting entrepreneurial skills • Educational Empowerment through seminars and courses • Gender Empowerment of the Girl Child through Finishing School programs for girls (including etiquette training and other social manners etc) and • Spiritual Empowerment through imparting spiritual knowledge.

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Getting kids excited about reading is important for their future.

Helping a child learn to read, is a gift that will last a lifetime.

Reading serves as the major foundational skill for all school-based learning.

Only 5% of children learn to read effortlessly.

20% - 30% of children learn to read relatively easily once exposed to formal instruction.

60% of children face a more formidable challenge.

We provide phonics, reading, writing, speaking and vocabulary related programmes and activities for children ages 4-9.

(234) 7070210116, (234) 8034559663, (234) 8023194296 soganigeria@yahoo.com

Life & Society FAmily

relationships

Health

education

I Fired My Husband to Save our Marriage

science

TRAVELS

Life & Society

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n 2002, I lost my executive assistant at Corporate Performance Consultants. That same year, my husband took an early buyout package from Verizon, where he had been a manager in customer service for 30 years.

I needed to fill the position at my company, and my husband was looking for a corporate job.

He had previous experience with bookkeeping and working closely with executives at Verizon, so we decided he could temporarily fill the role until I found a permanent replacement.

It sounded like a great idea at the time, but it turned out to be a big mistake — and one that I would eventually have to correct.

had to talk with him about the mistakes, it strong further emphasized his subservient role and Now my husband works as a counselor at undermined the equality in our marriage. a substance abuse rehabilitation facility. He coaches patients and leads seminars, and is I fired him passionate about the work he is doing to help Six months ago, my husband made a mistake others. that almost lost my company a major client and cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars. Putting some distance between us has helped I invited him into my office the day I found out him to better understand the strains of my and told him about the problem. I was furious. job and the importance of having someone to He could tell. He said half-jokingly, “I think I come home to who isn’t part of my working am going to kill myself.”

I looked at him and said, “Make sure your life insurance is in order if you do,” and was silent.

We got comfortable At first, working with my husband was incredibly convenient. His thirty years of experience at Verizon meant he didn’t need very much training. On top of that, we were always together, during work and after, which meant that I had an executive assistant by my side 24/7. Sometimes we’d plug in at midnight and do work together. A few months turned into two years, and eventually I forgot about hiring a permanent replacement.

I was immediately sorry I’d made such a cruel remark.

One of my cardinal rules is never to speak to an employee in anger, and I regretted breaking this rule, especially with my husband. To keep myself from saying anything else I’d regret, I asked him to stay clear of me for 24 Things fell apart hours to give me time I hadn’t considered how being my husband’s to cool down before we boss would affect our marriage. Part of what discussed it again. makes marriages work is that each person contributes a unique perspective to the When we reconvened, relationship. They bring something fresh to the rather than scolding him, table from their own lives. But after two years I told him that I felt his of working together, we no longer asked how heart wasn’t in the job. the other’s day was because we already knew. He could be happier and Before I hired him, my husband was someone more focused working who could distract me from the stresses of somewhere else. I told work; now he was part of my work life. him he could use the office to job search, and I At work, my husband was no longer my put him in touch with our husband. He was my assistant. Many of our career counselor. clients didn’t even know we were married.

I felt like he was losing his own identity and My husband was hurt, but becoming an extension of me. Sometimes when he saw the truth in what I he made errors in bookkeeping or was late for was saying. The realization a meeting, I wondered if there was something that we couldn’t work else he would rather be doing. together saddened my husband, but he also saw Our relationship became strained in other that our working relationship was hurting our ways. For instance, I held my husband to a marriage. In the long run we both knew we’d higher standard because of his relation to me. be happier working at separate jobs. He used I thought he should be a role model to other the opportunity to consider what type of work employees. Of course nobody’s perfect, so would make him happy. my husband inevitably made mistakes and I became more and more frustrated. When I My husband is happier and our marriage is 16

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life. I have hired a new executive assistant, and our marriage is stronger than ever.

By Ellen Cooperperson, CEO, President of Family Division, Corporate Performance Consultants, Long Island, N.Y.

Life & Society

Turning Your Husband to Your Lover Kayode Odesanya

should be actively involved in love and romance with you.

Turning your husband to your lover is an art (because you need to learn it and is a skill you must acquire) and act (because it is all about practice) of doing everything within the will, way and word of God to make your husband be in hot and sizzling love affairs with you. You make your husband your lover when his passionate and strong affection is directed towards you only. Your husband becomes your lover when through your attitude and behaviour has a very strong feeling of genuine love for you.

It is when you turn your husband to your lover that he is hungry and thirsting for you and wants to have you all day long.

I

t is only the wise woman that turns her husband to her lover because not many wives today know the technicality of turning their husbands to their lovers. To some wives, the games to attract and impress end immediately after the wedding only for them to resign themselves to the traditional ways of managing and coping with their husbands at home. A woman once ran to me during our marriage counseling services complaining that her husband is going out with a young lady in the same house and the husband is almost abandoning her. I asked her few questions, which eventually will become the strategies you will need to use to turn your husband to your lover. Let me tell you this that it is not enough for your man to be a husband; he must go forward to be your lover and your friend, he

Do you know that many wives have lost their husbands to the hands of strange women because of their failures to work hard in order to buy up the totality of their husbands? Don’t forget that the wise woman (wife) builds her house but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down – Proverbs 14:1. In other words, you can choose the path of wisdom and make your husband your lover following the outlined steps of action: Super Sex Life: It is your major duty to capture your husband by the use of your sexual power.

You must be the powerful bedmate and mistress of your husband. Use series of sexual styles and body language to always seduce your husband and see whether he will think of any other woman again. Even the Bible says satisfy him by your breasts and captivate him by your sexual life (Proverbs 5:19.) Men are curious;

they want to have better taste, touching, teasing and exploit all the sexual treasures you have, therefore, don’t be stingy, don’t be too rigid and never be too religious to abandon this. A super sex life has the capacity to turn your husband to your lover. If you develop your sexual life well, your husband will never have the mind and choice for another taste out there. So, change styles, show skills and satisfy the soul of your husband.

Smart Dressing: Let your dressing skill be high and always dress to impress your husband.

You don’t need over-size dresses; you don’t need to dress anyhow just because you are married. Get fitted shirts, skirts with perfect colour combinations. Your underwear and outer dresses must be attractive and carry the anointing to hold the attention of your husband.

Native dresses all the time make you ten years older than your age. The day you dress without catching and holding the attention of your husband, you must know that you have not dressed well. At home, when you are alone with your husband in the bedroom, when none of the children are around is another opportunity to put on something revealing, attracting, and seductive.

Sweet fragrance will go a long way to catch your husband and make him your lover. To turn your husband to your lover, you must go the extra mile to fill your body and garments with pleasant smells that can arrest your husband for you, in other words make yourself smell nice because I don’t want you to be like that woman whose husband always finds it difficult to sleep with her because of bad odour. Clean your body using antiseptic and medicated soap, use perfumes. Men generally love pleasant things.

Don’t just be a wife, go a mile further to be the soul mate of your husband; you can achieve this by becoming a special friend to your husband, establishing a unique friendship with him by showing special concern for him through the understanding of his feelings and interests.

Kayode Odesanya is the CEO of Homefront Concepts 08022326854, 07072251521, 01-8420244, homefrontconcept@yahoo.com

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Life & Society

Healthy ways to prepare your body for diet it right? We get into silent rage when people ask us “are you sick?” “No, I’m on a diet”, we reply coyly A weight loss diet will be more effective if you get your body started on a healthier note by flushing out impurities and toxins from your body and furnishing it with a raw food diet loaded with vegetables and fruits. When you get rid of buildup of harmful chemical and waste products, your body’s ability to absorb vitamins will be heightened. And you can put your best face forward this New Year.

W

e’ve all heard it before, “throw out those old clothes. Buy smaller clothes that don’t fit so you can work your body into them”. But after many attempts at weight loss, what do we do? Ignore the treadmill, throw in the towel and revert to that old familiar diet that felt so good. Except that it doesn’t feel so good now because every time we open that bowl of ice cream, our hearts go on a guilt trip and we say “here I go again!” why didn’t the diet work?

Most diets don’t work because we cut down on food portions or skip meals and think that will do the magic. Instead we look worse than when we started out. Dull dry skin and sagging flesh that cling to weary muscles exhausted from poor diet are all signs that we didn’t do 18

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Here are a few tips to help you prepare your body for a successful diet plan.

1.

Water: Your body needs a lot of fluid to stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water to keep your skin moist and flush out those impurities and get rid of waste matter. Make water your daily companion and drink up to eight glasses a day.

2.

Eat green vegetables: Many green vegetables contain hair-growing nutrients. Dark, leafy greens contain rich amounts of various hair growth nutrients such as vitamin C and iron.

Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant that is required for your hair and tissue growth.

Apart from the fact that they are great sources of fibre, they also cleanse the blood and tissues. Your body needs a little dietary fat to absorb some of the vitamins found in dark green vegetables. Add a bit of oil (such as olive or canola oil) or salad dressing to your dark green vegetables to make sure your body absorbs all of the vitamins you eat.

Bitter leaf which is known for its anti-parasitic, anti tumor and antibacterial effect comes highly recommended as well as Spinach and pumpkin leafs, which are readily available in large supplies in this part of Africa. If you’re not huge on eating vegetables in raw form, you can juice several combinations of leafy green leaves to ensure that you get your fresh and adequate intake of vitamins every day. One glass of green vegetable juice will do wonders for your skin.

3.

Make avocado a compulsory addition

to your meals: Many people do not realize the benefits of avocado in the beauty department.

Apart from its rich, creamy texture, the avocado is considered the world’s healthiest fruit, because of its nutrient contents such as vitamin K, dietary fiber, potassium, folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin C, copper, and reasonable calories in it. Regarded as a natural anti oxidant, it also contains measurable amounts of related carotenoids plus significant quantities of vitamin E, which explains its presence in some beauty products. It has also proved useful in the treatment of some skin disorders. Women with frigidity problems also find this fruit helpful.

Avocados fall into the category of good fats.

With its rich source of monounsaturated fatty acids including oleic acid, it helps to burn fat and prevents sagging. A few slices of avocado in salad, or mixing some chopped avocado into salsa will not only add a rich, creamy flavor, but will greatly increase your body’s ability to absorb the health-promoting carotenoids that are readily available in carrots and other vegetables.

4.

Eat fruits that contain vitamin C: Fruits come with the seasons so you can start with the fruits that are available in the market when you start your diet plan. Mango is loaded with vitamins (also vitamin A), minerals and anti oxidants, which are good for the skin. Vitamin A deficiency can cause dull skin, open clogged pores of skin. Consuming mango makes the complexion fair and the skin soft and shining.

Boil mango leaves and skin in water and apply for skin infection. Pineapples and oranges are also good sources of vitamin C and they help in body repair as well as fighting infections.

Kathlyn Eyitemi has a background in sociology. She is the editor of Bells magazine and the Initiator of Sisters Interact, a Facebook group that provides a networking medium for women to trade experiences and empower the girl child.

Living & St yle FASHION

BEAUTY

FOOD

HOMECARE

GADGETS

CARS

LEISURE

Ayodeji Jeremiah

Decorating your Living Room

Living & Style

T

he living room is the central place where family gatherings, social events and celebrations take place. Bringing creative vigour to this room can change the look of your home.

How you decorate your living room also says a lot about who you are. Do you want it to be formal or casual? Bright or neutral? Exotic or traditional? How would you like your living room to make you feel: Relaxed? Elegant? Exotic?

Traditional? Do you want it to be cozy or open, formal or casual? Should the colours be bright or neutral? How would you like the windows dressed? However you answer these questions, you should determine the mood you’d like to create and focus your palette and style around that. I know what it’s like to be staring at your living room, thinking, “I don’t even know where to start!” So many design styles, an infinite number of colour schemes and combinations, a multitude of accents, so many different kinds of tables, chairs, sofas, and armoires and not to talk of the thousands or even millions of naira in consulting fees for an interior decorator, which we all can’t afford.

So, are you decorating your first home or apartment? Updating an older home? Or just looking for some home decorating ideas? It’s possible with a little thought and planning, for anyone to decorate a room brimming with home decorating ideas that will rival any home

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and it doesn’t have to cost millions of naira. To get you started, and hopefully inspire you, here are some of the living rooms we love (by we, I mean my Creative Director and me.) You don’t

JANUARY 2012

Living & Style

necessarily have to design your living room like those in the pictures but you can get design ideas from them.

You can also make your living room vibrant simply by following the following steps: 1. If your living room does not get sunlight, paint the walls of the room with yellow to provide the illusion of bright sunlight. The correct yellow shade can serve as a neutral when you combine it with other colours.

2. Make your living room brighter by placing vases of fresh yellow and red flowers on tables, windows or throughout your living room. Yellow and red flowers add sparkle to the room and provide refreshment.

3. Brighten your living room by adding throw rugs with bold designs and colours.

4. You can also brighten the living room by adding small lamps or high intensity lights. If you are using dark colours for painting the living room, more lighting is needed to keep the room bright.

6. Living rooms can look small and dark with the presence of clutter. Remove clutter lying around.

Check for any items you can remove from the room to give a spacious look. If present, move out of your room.

Living & Style

Most Common Makeup Dos and Don’ts individual eyebrow hairs. For more definition, add eye shadow matching your brow colour.

Don’t: Forget to blend eye shadow. Though you may use three different shades of shadow, you should not be able to see the lines between those shades.

Do: Blend, blend, blend. After you’ve applied your shadow colours, use a shadow blending brush, or your fingers, to blend the lines between the colours. The effect will be more flattering and natural.

Don’t: Wear too much makeup or too little.

Some women of colour apply too much foundation and powder because they are imitating celebrities or they believe that’s how makeup is supposed to look thick and cakey or they want a flawless face with no imperfections showing under ton of foundation. Others, turned off by a “made up” face, wear no makeup at all, or only lipstick.

Do: Wear just enough makeup to bring out your natural beauty. If you apply concealer and one layer each of foundation and powder, coverage should be complete and even.

There’s no need for multiple makeup layers. To complete your look, add some complementary eye shadow, mascara, and lipstick. If you’ve selected the appropriate shades, you will not look too made up you’ll just look like a better you. Consult the experts at a makeup counter for guidance, and take notes.

D

on’t: Line lips with black eyeliner. This look, based on a trend set by Naomi Campbell back in the nineties, is no longer in fashion and is not as flattering as some women believe. Lip liner should never look like a dark ring encircling the mouth.

Do: Match lip liner with lipstick and blend.

Your makeup will look more natural if there is no clear line between liner and lipstick.

Try colours like plums and burgundies. Or you can blend a neutral tone liner (chestnut,

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chocolate) with matching lipstick and gloss just in the centre. Whatever you do, don’t forget to blend.

Don’t: Draw in your eyebrows. To frame the face some women mistakenly use pencil to create an artificial looking arch.

Do: Take time to create a natural-looking brow. Pluck or wax only excess hairs. Enhance thin brows with a combination of light eye pencil strokes the strokes should look like

Business FINANCE

MANAGEMENT

TECHNOLOGY

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

TRADE

MARKETING

By Harish R. Rao

Want To Keep (And Motivate) Your Best Employees?

It’s Not About The Money

Business

A

nita* was a model employee. As CEO of my previous tech company, I had hired her to take charge of our bookkeeping and administrative affairs. When Anita came aboard, I asked what she wanted in order to feel fulfilled at work. “Harish, I want to do such a great job that you’ll want to pay me a sixfigure salary and feel great about it.” This was a bit of a stretch--it was hard for me to conceive of bookkeeping as a six-figure position. After doing the math, I saw how with the right mix of hard work from Anita and better systems, she could indeed earn a justifiable six-figure salary.

I wrote a work-incentive plan that had Anita making her target salary after 18 months, if she hit the right benchmarks. “You’ll be worth every penny if you make these goals,” I told her. I gave her a lot of autonomy and leverage to get her work done well. Anita exceeded expectations, and hit every one of her targets within 14 months instead of 18, earning the six-figure salary she richly deserved. A success story, right?

Sadly, no. Two years after her initial success, Anita was fired. Despite clear subsequent targets and pay incentives, along with new assistants to support her, Anita’s ability to deliver declined. The once-star employee had deteriorated into an employee who filled only the basic job description and fought with me over minute details of her work plan, just so

she could claim the monetary incentives. What happened to Anita? It took me several years of making the same mistake with others to figure this out. And it happens in all sorts of places, not just in entrepreneurial startups.

Archan* is a a guy that I’ve worked with in the past and think highly of. Archan just quit his $150,000+ per year job as a full-time searchengine expert for a well-known and growing web company. He had been working in his spare time for more than a year on a brilliant mobile app, something that could be a boon to business travellers. Archan had finally raised enough money to pursue this more fully. What did he have to lose? “If my product’s not a success,” he said, “I can always go back to the corporate world and get a job pretty easily.”

Archan’s quitting represents the same category of mistake I made with Anita a few years ago, and both are insidious because they represent a failure of understanding on the part of both parties--the employee and the employer. It represents a failure in relationship-driven leadership.

At the core of these failures is how leaders and entrepreneurs, and employees in turn, typically ask for accountability and are then rewarded.

Money is the carrot (or some proxy for money, like vacation time, or a trip, or a bonus, that

sort of thing). That works in an industrial operation where there are fairly time specific goals to be achieved. But the reality is, money isn’t as important as the relationship. The long and short of it is, “pay enough so that money isn’t an issue, then give your employees high recognition, autonomy, and the opportunity to learn and grow,” and watch them excel.

Reflecting on this, I immediately understood my mistake with Anita, and I’ve started to see more of these mistakes in others today.

The six-figure salary threshold Anita wanted was the level at which she stopped worrying about money. Sadly, though, both Anita and I were conditioned to think of money as the main motivator, so we wrote her subsequent work plans with money as a continued focus.

In my new company, I emphasize a relationship where I’m supporting the growth and personal goals of each team member, like getting them to a point (since I can’t always afford sixfigure salaries for all!) where a team member is achieving compensation where they feel secure, and then spending a lot of time insisting on learning and growing, recognizing them for their results, and giving them the space to fulfil some of their entrepreneurial visions. I adore working with entrepreneurs and try hard to find those people who have big ambitions.

What about Archan? This one’s a little harder.

Archan has a brilliant mobile app idea and demo, but all brilliant ideas and demos are worth little without execution. The missed opportunity is that his mobile app concept is aligned with a forward-thinking strategy for his old company. They could have both grown together. Unfortunately, as Archan himself told me, “My old company doesn’t care about me and my work, they just care about meeting short-term revenue targets.”

Although it made sense for Archan to leave and pursue his dreams, the alternative would have been for Archan to find a way to stay in his old company and bring his mobile app to the table there in some sort of symbiosis. Sure, this is a stretch, but a workable one.

In the past year, I’ve had a half dozen of my friends quit or prepare to quit their jobs in a bad economy--well-

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Business and products. I figure that if they’re stronger, have autonomy, and are learning and growing, their being successful will ultimately help me.

This has been a difficult and uncomfortable shift in thinking, but so far, it’s been good to see the results. My work is more meaningful, and more profitable, as is theirs. *Names have been changed.

This article was first published on Fast Company Online Magazine Blog

paying, high-profile positions--to pursue their entrepreneurial vision. These friends have all contemplated taking tremendous risks and are brave to face the high odds against success.

I’m feeling sad that each, had they had had a better relationship with their companies and comrades, could have found success and support for their visions within the context of their old companies.

I’ve changed the way I operate, and I’ve been (so far) successful at supporting the entrepreneurial visions of the people I’m working alongside, going so far as to keep them on payroll and working and making introductions to ensure the success of their product idea. I’m also trying actively to find ways to integrate what they want to do with my company’s services

Harish R. Rao is an acknowledged authority in the realm of new media. Beginning his career in the “sink or swim” environment of the Howard Dean Presidential campaign, Rao successfully helped build the legendary online/ offline technology structure that galvanized community movement on a massive scale, influencing political campaigns to this day. As Director of Information Technology for Dean for America, Mr. Rao was responsible for all back-end technologies for Howard Dean’s 2003 – 2004 Presidential campaign including communications, technology, infrastructure and data services. After the Dean campaign, Mr. Rao continued to develop ideas for fundraising and outreach, ultimately co-founding the company EchoDitto with the goal of connecting political parties and candidates, non-profits, institutions and forward-thinking corporations to the new energy of science and talent that was transforming new media and social network outreach. The firm’s client roster included entities such as The Clinton Foundation, Research in Motion (BlackBerry), and the United Nations World Food Programme. In 2009 Mr. Rao founded Interpersonal Frequency LLC, an online communications and strategic advisory firm. Working in tandem with traditionalmedia analysts and creative media experts, Interpersonal Frequency assists a range of clients, drawing upon a studied understanding of the science of moving ideas through the culture, in all forms of communication. Rao holds a BA from the College of William and Mary and is currently working toward his PhD in Computing in the field of network science and prediction from Rochester Institute of Technology. His parents, a biologist and a cancer specialist, are both committed to giving back to their homeland of India, where they have created medical centers throughout the poorest sections of the country. Harish and his wife live in New York City.

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Business

How Can I Help To Deliver Exceptional Human Resources and Administrative Management Services? to deliver exceptional Human Resources and Administrative Management services so as to recruit and retain the best team for our stores?”

I find that question precise, relevant and interesting. It encapsulates in unequivocal terms the requirements of the job and profile of the suitable candidate for the vacancy.

Hmm……..My strategy will be to use the art of coaching!

Coaching is a type of consultative discipline that focuses on setting goals, drawing priorities and managing personal change.

Firstly, I will need to identify and differentiate the skilled members or team from the talented ones. A skill is the way we do something and therefore it is learnt and transferable. Talent on the other hand is an innate, natural ability or flair for doing something. It is discovered and developed.

R

ecently, I was going through one of the national dailies and stumbled on a particular job advert for the vacant position of Human Resources and Administrative Manager. What really caught my attention was the question which the interested applicant was expected to answer and send through the stated email address.

The question is as follows: “How can I help

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Adopting the coaching style would involve one on one sessions, several observations especially on the job, review of past evaluation and appraisal reports, sampling of opinions’, challenging the employee/team member with various tasks and responsibilities that will support or deny the findings and deductions drawn on the skills/potentials of the individual team member.

These, of course will run concurrently with the updating and regularization of staff records so that, I can have a clear first-hand information of the human resources available

at the organization’s disposal. This will also help in the deployment of members and job allocation.

Having or setting up efficient evaluation and appraisal systems that can help us follow through the entire reformative and corrective processes of the individuals or teams are very important. Getting a feel of the employees’ understanding of what the company/ organization is all about with particular focus on the core values, vision and purpose; why they are or would like to join the team (beyond making money) would be very revealing and insightful. A happy member who enjoys his/her job will be productive, retentive and consistent in deliverables.

My strategy is transformative. The objective is to develop, draw and implement programmes, policies and procedures that will re-orientate and change the workforce, so as to meet the ever-evolving business objectives and needs of the organization; regardless of the business climate and industry at large, while staying competitive and true to it’s core values, within the provision of the law.

My strategy, is “a strategy for fundamentally transforming, not simply investing in human capital……Coaches Training Institute (CTI)”.

Folake Oluwole is a corporate and career coach and the CEO of GTD LTD (i.e. GETTING THINGS DONE LTD), a consulting firm based in Lagos, Nigeria. She connects with people and organizations in order to inculcate a passion for the vision of the organization. For more information, call 08083179384 or email oluwolefolake@yahoo.com or gtdltd@yahoo.com

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Life’s Lessons – Children A Book by Tayo Olarewaju

“You want a better world? How do you eat an elephant?

A bite at a time. How do you change the world?

A child at a time."

N1, 500

Children’s minds are almost like blank sheets waiting to be written on. They come to us incredibly unique. Each one of them smart in their different ways. Waiting to learn from the adults and the world around them. This book helps you to search for, find and ignite the light within the children you are surrounded by, yours and others.

Available at The Hub, The Palms and other major leading bookstores in Lagos Please call 08191774810-6 for further details/enquiries

PreSchooler

VICTORIA TANDOH

activities for Preschool Children from Age 2-5

L

Say the word leaf

. Leaf starts with an L sound.

Say the name of each picture.

Circle all of the pictures that begin with an L sound.

Copyright © 2010-2011

by Education.com Copyright © 2010-2011

by Education.com

Make Your Own Puzzle Sure, you could go out and buy a puzzle at the toy store. But why buy one when it’s so easy to make your own at home?

Do-it-yourself puzzles are inexpensive and fun to make, and kids can pick any design they like. This personalized puzzle is sure to be a hit with even the pickiest preschooler.

What You Need: •Thin cardboard or posterboard •Glue •Scissors •Knife •Crayons or markers •Magazines •Paper

More worksheets at www.education.com/worksheets More worksheets at www.education.com/worksheets

What to Do: 1. Help your child to decide if he wants to cut a picture from a magazine or draw his own picture.

2. Hand him the markers or crayons if he’s drawing his own design, then skip to Step 4. Or, if he’d rather choose a picture from a magazine, let him cut it out, then help him glue the picture to the cardboard. Leave it to dry.

3. When the glue is completely dry, use the scissors to trim the cardboard to fit the picture exactly. Be sure to toss any extra cardboard into the recycle bin.

4. This next step is for parents. Use the exacto knife to cut the picture on the cardboard into squiggly shapes. The smaller the pieces, the more challenging the puzzle will be.

5. When you finish cutting the picture into pieces, mix it up and give it to your child to solve.

Good luck putting it back together again!

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29

We Stock Christian Books And

BIBLES I N

M I L L I O N S

TEXT/REFERENCE BIBLES OF DIFFERENT VERSIONS (KJV, NKJV, NIV, NLT....)

STUDY BIBLES

E-BIBLES

CHILDREN BIBLES

STUDY HELPS/COMMENTARIES

WEDDING BIBLES

AUDIO BIBLE

BOOKS BY NIGERIAN GOD’S GENERALS These include ALL publications of men of God such as Bishop Oyedepo, Pastor Adeboye, Pastor Ashimolowo, Pastor Kumuyi, Pastor Olukoya, Rev. Oyor to mention just a few.

@ ABUJA DISTRICT ABUJA - BEFS PLAZA 21 AJOSE ADEOGUN STR., OPP. MFM UTAKO DISTRICT ABUJA FCT. TEL: 08105682176

ABUJA/NASARAWA MR. BIGG’S HOUSE, 2ND FLOOR ALONG YANYAN-KEFFI RD MARARABA. 08105682211

CHRISTIAN BOOKS/FICTIONS

DAILY DEVOTIONALS These include:

OUR DAILY BREAD, OUR DAILY MANNA, OPEN HEAVENS, EVERY DAY WITH JESUS, DAILY GUIDE, DAILY POWER, THE GOOD SEED, MORNING BY MORNING, FAITH FOOD AND HEALTH FOOD DEVOTIONALS.

OTHER CHRISTIAN MATERIALS APART FROM BIBLES AND BOOKS Christian audio cassettes and VCDs (including all Mount Zion Faith Ministries’) Communion Elements (trays, cups, wafers and wine) Tambourines, Anointing oil, Bible covers, Bells, Maracas (Beaded, Plastic), ComputerKeyboard (Diff. Languages), Auto Emblem.

BIBLE WONDERLAND LTD. HEADQUARTERS

Plot 33, Funsho Williams Avenue, Alaka Estate, Surulere, Lagos | Phone: 08105682185, 08023302098 Web: www.biblewonderlandng.com | Email: biblewonderlandng@gmail.com EASTERN DISTRICT ABA 39, OKIGWE ROAD ABA, ABIA STATE TEL: 08105682168 MARABA. 08105682211

LAGOS DISTRICT

176, ABEOKUTA EX/WAY IYANA IPAJA BUS STOP IYANA IPAJA. TEL: 08105682177 472, IKORODU ROAD, KETU B/STOP, LAGOS TEL: 08105682181 41, SHASHA ROAD, AKOWONJO ROUNDABOUT, CELE B/STOP, LAGOS TEL: 08105682183

14, BALE STREET, AJEGUNLE LAGOS. TEL: 08105682178

12 IJU ROAD, AGEGE.

BY RAILWAY CROSSING TEL: 08105682180 88 WESTERN AVENUE, OJUELEGBA B/STOP, TEL: 08105682182

70 BROAD STR., OPP. HOLY TRINITY CHURCH LAGOS ISLAND - 08105682179

Viewpoint

Our Police Force Omoniyi Fats but what we have is what the great Fela sang about years back: “Demonstration of Craze”.

I

believe the Police Force of every nation has its flaws. Even the so-called first world countries can’t boast of having a perfect Police system.

So I believe we have no more right to condemn our own police force as much as we should praise them. My question is why do they constantly use their sirens to harass people? It’s like that is the only form of excitement these “morons with attitude” get. They go about brandishing their guns, blaring those horrible sirens and ordering people out of the way. They are forever oppressing innocent citizens, moving around like the country is under siege. I guess creating unnecessary chaos and panic seems to be their forte. It wouldn’t even be so bad if they weren’t such cowards. Just think back to the fateful January 27, 2002 day of the Ikeja Cantonment explosions. They were among the first to shed their uniforms and flee, looking like dogs caught with their tails in between their legs. Cowardice at its peak!

My main concern is the lackadaisical and flimsy manner in which they waive and swing the guns. I am sure we all remember a couple of years back when a stray bullet at Ilupeju hit an innocent girl.

Till now, there is no definite explanation but all we know is that a former deputy of Lagos State was passing at that time.

What is sad about all this is the fact that these acts are performed whilst a political figure or some nonentity without portfolio is being conveyed.

You claim to be democratically elected, but yet due to your perfidy, anomy and innate selfishness, you quietly sit in the car and watch, as we are somewhat dehumanized and shed of our rights as road users. To think that we voted you there and it is the tax from our hard earned money that pays you to listen and try to mitigate the problems surrounding the penurious state of the nation.

Just recently on Third Mainland Bridge, at the peak of the rush hour with commuters and workers all heading to their various destinations, yours truly appeared. As usual they were making unnecessary noise with about four bullion vans in number, driving like they were carrying WMA (weapons of mass destruction) which they probably wouldn’t know if they tripped over it.

Amazingly we claim to be in the democratic era,

A friend of mine was in a cyber cafe chatting with his girlfriend around 8.30 pm in the evening when all of a sudden policemen came in and bundled everyone into the Danfo bus they brought alleging they must be carrying out some fraudulent ventures i.e. 419. My friend’s pleas and explanations fell on deaf ears and his I.D. card was torn and flung aside, they smelled of alcohol and inevitably a bit high.

When we have such an illiterate police force that can hardly spell the word computer talk less of having the faintest idea of what goes on in a cyber cafe. We know there are cases of internet fraud but the crime of robbery and killing is going on out there so the least of their problems should be arresting customers at an internet cafe. Of course the end result was money by settlement.

All the time we hear such statements from government and the Inspector-General of Police that policemen should remove all road blocks; civilians should stop having policemen as personal guards and much more but do they ever enforce them? Do they ever think of solving the real problem of revamping the force so as to change their perspective and paradigm so that they know they are to actually protect and serve?

Do they ever think of actually paying the police, giving them incentives? It cannot be so because the government themselves are the real cause.

They lead by example and it is that example these people follow. The saddest part is that we the people are living in constant fear of the police. We have heard stories of how people are extorted for money, how people are shot mistakenly and how people are jailed incorrectly yet it seems nothing is being done. May God guide us against police wahala in this country.

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Dabar

Insights for Christian Living

A Story of Loving

By John Powell

S

ome twelve years ago, I stood watching my university students file into the classroom for our first session in the Theology of Faith. That was the first day I first saw Tommy. My eyes and my mind both blinked. He was combing his long flaxen hair, which hung six inches below his shoulders. It was the first time I had ever seen a boy with hair that long. I guess it was just coming into fashion then. I know in my mind that it isn’t what’s on your head but what’s in it that counts; but on that day I was unprepared and my emotions flipped. I immediately filed Tommy under “S” for strange...very strange.

Then came a sad report. I heard that Tommy had terminal cancer. Before I could search him out, he came to see me. When he walked into my office, his body was very badly wasted, and the long hair had all fallen out as a result of chemotherapy. But his eyes were bright and his voice was firm, for the first time, I believe.

“Tommy, I’ve thought about you so often. I hear you are sick.” I blurted out.

“Oh, yes, very sick. I have cancer in both lungs.

It’s a matter of weeks.”

“Can you talk about it, Tom?” I asked.

Tommy turned out to be the “atheist in residence” in my Theology of Faith course. He constantly objected to, smirked at or whined about the possibility of an unconditionally loving Father/God. We lived with each other in relative peace for one semester, although I admit he was for me at times a serious pain in the back pew.

When he came up at the end of the course to turn in his final exam, he asked in a slightly cynical tone, “Do you think I’ll ever find God?” I decided instantly on a little shock therapy.

No!” I said very emphatically.

“Oh,” he responded, “I thought that was the product you were pushing.”

I let him get five steps from the classroom door and then called out, “Tommy! I don’t think you’ll ever find him, but I am absolutely certain that he will find you!” He shrugged a little and left my class and my life.

I felt slightly disappointed at the thought that he had missed my clever line, “He will find you!” At least I thought it was clever. Later I heard that Tommy had graduated and I was duly grateful.

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“Sure, what would you like to know?” he replied.

“What’s it like to be only twenty four and dying?”

“Well, it could be worse.”

“Like what?”

“Well, like being fifty and having no values or ideals, like being fifty and thinking that booze, seducing women and making money are the real ‘biggies’ in life.”

I began to look through my mental file cabinet under “S” where I had filed Tommy as strange.

(It seems as though everybody I try to reject by classification, God sends back into my life to educate me.)

“But what I really came to see you about,” Tom said, “is something you said to me on the last day of class.” (He remembered!) He continued, “I asked you if you thought I would ever find God and you said, ‘No!’ which surprised me. Then you said, ‘But he will find you.’ I thought about that a lot, even though my search for God was hardly intense at that time.” (My “clever” line.

He thought about that a lot!)

Tommy continued, “But when the doctors removed a lump from my groin and told me that it was malignant, then I got serious about locating God. And when the malignancy spread into my vital organs, I really began banging bloody fists against the bronze doors of heaven. But God did not come out. In fact, nothing happened... Did you ever try anything for a long time with great effort and with no success? You get psychologically glutted, fed up with trying. And then you quit.

Well, one day I woke up, and instead of throwing a few more futile appeals over that high brick wall to a God who may be or may not be there, I just quit. I decided that I didn’t really care...about God, about an afterlife, or anything like that. I decided to spend what time I had left doing something more profitable.

I thought about you and your class and I remembered something else you had said: ‘the essential sadness is to go through life without loving. But it would be almost equally sad to go through life and leave this world without ever telling those you loved that you had loved them.’ So, I began with the hardest one, my Dad. He was reading the newspaper when I approached him: “Dad”.

“Yes, what?” he asked without lowering the newspaper.

“Dad, I would like to talk with you.”

“Well, talk.”

“I mean...it’s really important.”

The newspaper came down three slow inches.

“What is it?”

Dabar Would you come into my present Theology of Faith course and tell them what you have just told me? If I told them the same thing it wouldn’t be half as effective as if you were to tell them.”

“Ooh...I was ready for you, but I don’t know if I’m ready for your class.”

“Tom, think about it. If and when you are ready, give me a call.”

In a few days Tom called, said he was ready for the class, and that he wanted to do that for God and for me. So we scheduled a date. However, he never made it. He had another appointment, far more important than the one with my class and me.

“Dad, I love you. I just wanted you to know that.”

Tom smiled at me and said with obvious satisfaction, as though he felt a warm and secret joy flowing inside of him.

“The newspaper fluttered to the floor. Then my father did two things I could never remember him ever doing before. He cried and he hugged me. And we talked all night, even though he had to go to work the next morning. It felt so good to be close to my father, to see his tears, to feel his hug, to hear him say that he loved me.”

It was easier with my mother and little brother.

They cried with me, too, and we hugged each other, and started saying real nice things to each other. We shared the things we had been keeping secret for so many years. I was only sorry about one thing: that I had waited so long.

Here I was, just beginning to open up to all the people I had actually been close to. Then, one

day I turned around and God was there. He didn’t come to me when I pleaded with him. I guess I was like an animal trainer holding out a hoop, ‘C’mon, jump through.’ ‘C’mon, I’ll give you three days, three weeks.’

Apparently God does things in his own way and at his own hour. But the important thing is that he was there. He found me. You were right.

He found me even after I stopped looking for him.”

“Tommy,” I practically gasped, “I think you are saying something very important and much more universal than you realize. To me, at least, you are saying that the surest way to find God is not to make him a private possession, a problem solver, or an instant consolation in time of need, but rather by opening to love.

You know, the Apostle John said that. He said: ‘God is love, and anyone who lives in love is living with God and God is living in him.’

Tom, could I ask you a favor? You know, when I had you in class you were a real pain. But (laughingly) you can make it all up to me now.

Of course, his life was not really ended by his death, only changed. He made the great step from faith into vision. He found a life far more beautiful than the eye of man has ever seen or the ear of man has ever heard or the mind of man has ever imagined.

Before he died, we talked one last time. I’m not going to make it to your class,” he said.

“I know, Tom.” “Will you tell them for me? Will you...tell the whole world for me?”

“I will, Tom. I’ll tell them. I’ll do my best.”

So, to all of you who have been kind enough to hear this simple statement about love, thank you for listening, and to you, Tommy, somewhere in the sunlit, verdant hills of heaven: “I told them, Tommy...as best I could.”

Father John Powell, a retired professor at Loyola University in Chicago, wrote this article about a student in his Theology of Faith class named Tommy. The article was posted by Joyful Catholic Magazine.

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ARTs

& Culture

books movies music theatre photography exhibitions architecture

The Dorris Simeon Interview Nollywood Actress, Dorris Simeon is one of the few scandal-free actresses in the film industry. In this interview with David Olanrewaju, she tells us everything about herself - her family background, education, profession, life, travels, passion, ambitions, religious inclinations, e.t.c. Excerpts…..

Can we meet you? My name is Dorris Simeon. I’m a Nollywood Actress, Film Producer, Model and Compere. I am from Edo State but I have lived in Lagos State for the better part of my life! I am married to Delta State-born Film Producer, Director, Writer and multi-talented personality in the person of David Ademinokan. I believe he’s the most talented man in the whole universe. His brain is full of ideas and innovations.

When did you join the film industry? I joined the film industry in 2001.

Can you give us an approximation of the total numbers of films you have appeared? I have appeared in over 50 films.

How many films have you produced personally? I have produced three films, “Onitemi,” “Omo Iya Kan” and “Asiri.” I’m coming with my fourth production in 2012.

What’s your opinion or impression about the frequent report of scandals in the film industry? I see it as an over-expression of the stars! Most of these reports about these stars are awfully false but because all over the world; bad news is good news; the press/media are having a field day! Do you know that the general public and most especially the people reporting all these scandals are involved in more terrible scandals but because they are not public figures; their scandals die naturally but they always go ahead with passion and excitement to report famous people in their publications. It is very sad.

That’s interesting. Are you now saying that all those reports are false? I’m not saying that they are false and I’m not saying that they are true. All I’m saying is that they should always confirm their stories very well before rushing to the press! That is what credibility is all about. Credibility is one of the professional ethics of a good journalist or a media house! You have to confirm your story especially from the

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Arts & Culture horses’ mouth and balance your story before rushing to the press! You cannot destroy other people’s lives and careers and expect God to build yours! It’s not possible! We have seen many cases where hired assassins were sent after journalists for destroying somebody else’ life, career, business, e.t.c. Sometimes; the assassins succeed and sometimes they do not succeed.

Where do you expect to be in the next 5 years? Only God can decide that. I don’t plan for myself. Only God plans for me.

What’s your ultimate life ambition? My Ultimate life ambition is to do something positive and good to the society (most especially to the children of the world) so that the world will never forget me even after 100 years that I have left the world! Once I can achieve that,

Are you a day person or a night owl? I’m both. I go out according to my work schedules.

Sometimes we shoot films in the dead of the night. It all depends on my schedules.

As someone who has travelled extensively to different parts of the world; what’s your impression about Nigeria generally? Nigeria is a great country but we need a whole lot of discipline to succeed! We have good ideas, good people and good intentions but we lack discipline within and without!

What’s your impression about Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN)? The man has really tried to transform Lagos State. He has made his mark! The lesson we can learn from the Fashola legacy is that we don’t always have to look up to the Government for help! That help is within us! We need to create that help ourselves. Everyone has to follow the right order!

Hmnnnn….. That is very emotional. Well; let’s talk about yourself. What’s the secret of your scandal-free Nollywood life? My secret is God! I believe so much in God and I fear Him in all I do. Discipline is another thing that has helped me! I have been extremely disciplined.

The third factor is the way I was brought up.

These three factors have helped me so far to live and maintain a scandal-free life!

I’m fulfilled!

What’s your happiest day in Life? My happiest day in life was the day I had my son, David Ademinokan. It was indeed a very happy day for me.

Which schools did you attend? I attended St. Agnes Primary School, Maryland; Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School and the Pencils Films and Television Institute (PEFTI).

What’s your saddest day in Life? My saddest day in life was the day I lost my Parents.

What’s the secret of your fluent English? I read a lot! I also watch a lot of films!

What’s your most-prized possession? family.

My

What’s your dream vacation spot? Anywhere.

How religious are you? I am a very religious person who doesn’t play with God and the word of God at all. This has made me to be free from any form of scandal, real or phony!

How many countries have you visited so far?

I’ve visited eight countries of the world so far namely: England, Northern Ireland, Germany, Spain, Holland, South Africa, Canada and the USA.

Who are your role models? My Role Models include Opray Winfrey, Joke Silva and Pastor Ituah Ighodalo.

What’s your advice to Nigerian youths generally? It all comes down to what I’ve been saying since! They need discipline to get to the top and to make a mark! Discipline can take you to the top and propel you to where you never expected to reach in life as we can see in the Bible in the life of Joseph where his boss’ wife seduced him but he refused! That refusal (discipline) made him become the Governor of Egypt!

It’s nice talking to you, Dorris. My pleasure.

If you come back to the world again; would you still choose acting as your profession? Yes. I’ll choose acting over and over again.

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Podium

Corruption is Good Business Akintokunbo A Adejumo On the way to Ibadan from Lagos, just after crossing the first of the concrete bridges on that most horrible and dangerous of roads called Lagos/ Ibadan Expressway (more like expressway to hell) on the Lagos/Ogun States border, on the right you will see the business empire of one Otunba Ghadaffi (SAN), and the sign saying “SHIT BUSINESS IS GOOD BUSINESS”, referring to the commendable fact that he has departed from being a lawyer and made a fortune in dealing with what most of us are repugnant of – waste and environmental management. The man supplies mobile toilets to venues, clears drains and soak-away. In short, his business is clearing, removing and disposing shit, mostly human faeces, and he’s doing very fine, thank you.

line, corruption is now good for the economy.

Furthermore, the government - civil servants and their political masters – are trying to convince us that it is corruption that is keeping the country economically; and that if not for corruption, this country would have collapsed.

A report just released by Transparency International claimed that Nigerian Federal civil servants took N450 billion in bribes, kickbacks, gratifications, etc in 2011 so far. Good business to some; and bad business to the people they are supposed to serve, isn’t it?

ago, because really, there is no society that is not corrupt; the “good” societies, e.g. Western countries, only manage their corruption well, and do not allow it to debar or interfere with their human progress and development.

When ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo promised a reduction in the growth and practice of official corruption, and then established the ICPC and the EFCC, he was subtly admitting that the Nigerian Police, who should be the ones dealing with corruption in public sector, cannot do it. He failed (This is another story to be told one day, but we all know why he failed – he himself could not resist

Anytime I see Otunba Gaddafi’s (he must be a big guy, because in Nigeria, we always refer to big and imposing guys and women as “Ghadaffi – God rest Moammar el-Ghadaffi’s soul) signage, I always have a wry grin on my face and relate it to the issue of corruption in Nigeria. Please, I am not in any way impugning that corruption was responsible for Otunba Ghadaffi’s success. In fact, with his line of business, we are certain he made his money from dirt and turned it into riches through dint of hard work, and he deserves accolades, respect and awards.

Corruption is good business to the participants and those who profit Nigeria’s former speaker of house of representatives Dimeji Bankole is escorted out from it. I am not talking about official of the Federal High Court in the capital Abuja June 13, 2011. government corruption, but also private and public sector, and even (Afolabi SotundeCourtesy Reuters) the petty corruption we encounter in our everyday life, which to me, has ensured Risible and ludicrous as this may sound, there seems being corrupt). In fairness to Obasanjo, corruption that corruption will never be eradicated or even to be an element of realism in these assertions. Of bourgeoned into Nigeria’s major “growth industry” managed to acceptable levels in Nigeria. course, corruption by any name is an evil. Small under Babangida’s administration, and continued on or big, petty or massive; it is evil, even its origin to his successors – Abacha, Abdulsalam, Obasanjo, It has permeated into our social, religious and and definitions; religious, sociology, psychology, Umaru Yar ‘Adua and now Goodluck Jonathan. cultural fabric. It is everywhere, and some people, philosophy, etc.

There is no end in sight. In fact, it is now of such who think they are clever than the rest of us, are enormous proportion such States Chief Executives doing fine by it.

What these ruling elite are admitting to, is that (or Execu-thieves) stole money in double digit while corruption is good for their illegal business, billions. Soon, it will be triple digit billion (a former Corruption — is a good thing when it’s “official” they are privately wishing it could be managed to an Governor of Rivers State was rumoured to have With several government officials and politicians acceptable level. In reality, the competition amongst stolen in this figure, yet he obtained an injunction trying to convince us at every opportunity that the thieving elite in trying to outdo each other is that he cannot be investigated or prosecuted. That official corruption, while still growing, is no longer beginning to be terrifying and very alarming even for was 4 years ago, and nobody has challenged this a hindrance, the rest of us should apparently them, so they are getting spooked. I have proffered curious court order) understand that according to our government this Corruption Management solution some time

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Podium Taking the reins just over five months ago, President Goodluck Jonathan, with ministers and state government executives vowing steadfast support, promised that fighting government corruption would be a top priority. Mr Jonathan is failing, too.

And we are not even talking about corruption in the private sector.

So what are we to think about corruption in Nigeria? Everybody knows that it was a cancer, a killer of the Nigerian private and business sector, but nobody seems to be able to do anything about it. In fairness to some people charged to fight corruption, like ICPC and EFCC, they are trying their best against apparently insurmountable odds – believe me, in Nigeria, fighting corruption is no easy task, especially if you are not supported 100% by the government itself, or there are elements in government and politics who are bent on being corrupt, or even the members of the public who are frustrating the efforts of the sincere corruptionfighters. Corruption fights back using hundred times more power and resources than you have. And then some of those charged to fight it (including staff of the agencies mandated to fight it) have neither the commitment, the nerve, the resources nor the desire to do so. Or maybe they were there in the first place as decorations just to give the impression that the government is doing something. That has been like that even since the days preceding democracy in Nigeria.

Corruption is responsible for our country‘s current state, including our terrible image. We don‘t have electricity power and security simply because of corruption. Our entire infrastructures are moribund because of corruption. When you fight corruption, it fights back. Our government now seems to openly love corruption. It may well be that the official government line is that corruption is good for Nigeria and is helping fuel the Nigerian economy! I think it is from the evidence I have personally witnessed.

Don’t get me wrong, bribery and corruption at all levels is up, and as payoffs and kickbacks are a cash economy not reported as taxable income, one would expect the government to be concerned about the growth of corruption. But are the various governments – federal, state and local – concerned?

No, because that is where the money is.

Once upon a time in America, a man named Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks. He replied: “`Cos that’s where the money is”. It was an uncomplicated philosophy which served him well until he was caught and marched off to prison. Today, Mr Sutton would not have risked incarceration.

Today, were Mr Sutton to be a Nigerian, he would have had the choice of being a Nigerian politician, a Nigerian civil servant or a Nigerian banker or contractor. Better still, he could have been a Nigerian Policeman, although he would have been

severely limited as to making loads of money, but at least he could be in official authorised uniform and waylay people on the highway and collect money from them without facing any charges of armed robbery.

Of course, as one who operated outside the law, Mr Sutton might have experienced problems in working with this brotherhood of political and civil uprightness and patriotism. But the vast mountains of easy Naira and foreign currency on offer would surely have stifled his reservations.

This is the exact philosophy of our leaders: politicians, legislators, civil servants and everybody who wants to be in government – federal, state, local - in Nigeria. “The GOVERNMENT IS WHERE THE MONEY IS. It is where there is easy, unaccountable, easily-stolen money is. So I better get myself in there to steal mine”. It is free for all.

Don’t worry — be happy. It’s all good; at least that seems to be the stance from the politicians. This is big business and the only big business allowed in Nigeria is big business related to the government, so that means corruption. Bureaucracy breeds corruption, this is not unique to Nigeria; it happens all over the world; but an inefficient, unwieldy and uncontrollable bureaucracy that exists in Nigeria makes our case even worse.

There is almost nothing you can engage the civil service and the government for that you will not pay a kickback. Like one retired senior civil servant told me, all palms must be greased before they pay you your contract money, or before you even get the contract. An average bribe of almost a million Naira is a lot of money for someone. In US dollars that is $6250.00 or £4000.00. As non-taxable income you can be assured that none of that money makes its way into the treasury. So much for funding social responsibilities like pensions for the elderly and medical care for the young, or building roads and funding schools and universities.

Today there is no drumbeat of calls to rid the country of official corruption, at least not from the government. It seems that corruption and bribes are a good thing. So the next time you hear someone complaining about it, tell those individuals to sit down and shut up.

Mr Good luck Jonathan and EFCC’s Mrs Waziri are doing okay it would seem. Isn’t that enough?

“Corruption is the enemy of good business and of sustainable development” Speech by Cynthia Carroll, CEO of Anglo American, at Transparency International (UK) Annual General Meeting (20 November 2007) “As a long-term investor, we have a strong interest in defeating corruption. It increases political

instability and makes the process of doing business less predictable. Moreover, corruption erodes trust and, in our business, having a government that people trust to protect their interests is of crucial importance on issues such as permitting, tax and the enforcement of environmental standards”, said Cynthia Carroll, CEO of Anglo American, in her address at Transparency International UK’s Annual General Meeting.

So Is Corruption Good for Business?

Believe it or not, corruption can help entrepreneurs in some situations. Some research points out that bribe can grease the gears of bureaucracy in highly regulated economies and make it possible for entrepreneurs to achieve their goal of starting a business. But make no mistake: in general, corruption is a deterrent to potential entrepreneurs, and countries should strive for less regulation rather than more corruption.

In sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and other regions with widespread corruption and difficult business climates, the entrepreneurial spirit is often stifled, and when it is not, entrepreneurial energy is channelled into informal sectors outside formal legal and financial systems. Unregistered firms may thrive: in some countries the informal sector makes up around 40 percent or more of economies. But such businesses don’t contribute much to the public welfare as they don’t pay taxes and sometimes pose a danger to the public. Informal businesses themselves rarely if ever are capable of reaching their growth potential because of impediments of an informal economy: “higher capital and transportation costs, more storage problems, greater difficulty hiring quality staff and less ability to enforce contracts”.

Countries that want to tap entrepreneurial energy start with relaxing their regulatory regimes. This reduces the potential for corruption. For example, according to the World Bank’s Doing Business 2011 report, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Hungary have made significant progress in deregulating their economies, thereby improving conditions for starting a business. This promotes much stronger economic growth than the opposite strategy – increasing regulation and counting on entrepreneurs to make the system work by greasing the wheel.

So is corruption good for business, and is just a nasty taste but necessary evil? You tell me. What I know is corruption is killing Nigerians by the thousands, if not millions Is some corruption not so bad? Why do some countries grow even with corrupt governments? Is a strong corrupt ruler not as bad a weak corrupt ruler?

Lord have mercy on us! akinadejum@aol.com

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Random Musings with Ayodeji Jeremiah

both the parliamentary and presidential systems.

In economy, there has been austerity measures and SAP (Structural Adjustment Programme). In agriculture, we have had OFN (Operation Feed the Nation) and Green Revolution. We have had every kind of committee that you can think of set up to investigate almost every possible scenario under the face of the earth.

T

he beginning of a New Year. For some it is an opportunity to make a new start, to have new ideas, new vision, new plans and new aspirations. Such are ready to overlook the mistakes of the past year and forge ahead notwithstanding the bleakness in the horizon.

For others, it is the same old song. Nothing has changed and nothing seems to want to change.

Such are not ready to have new faith in anything, for the faith of yesteryears has waned out and has not gotten them anywhere. And rightly so. We live in a very difficult world. A world that is not fair.

A world where everything that can go wrong has done so and will continue to be so. A pessimistic outlook you might say. And in Nigeria an even more difficult country, we are oscillating between George Orwell’s Animal Farm and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies.

But then what do you want to tell someone who has served his fatherland for over thirty years and finds it very difficult getting his pension every month? What kind of hope do you want to preach to someone who has left college for four years and has not been able to get a single job?

What kind of a new horizon does a youngster who has been waiting for admission to a college for three years since leaving high school want to look forward to? Primary school teachers have to march on the streets waving leaves in protest before their salaries are paid. One can go on and on. The Nigerian situation is a pathetic case. A country so blessed. Yet we never seem to be able to get it right. We have tried every palliative under heaven and none seems to want to work here though they have been proven to work in other places. In governance, we have been through

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Everyone in Nigeria knows our problems but no one seems to know the solution. There is so much insecurity, poverty, illiteracy, hunger, disease, deprivation and uncertainty across the land. The UNDP human development report of last year placed us at the 156th position with a life expectancy of 52. For a nation that produces over two million barrels of oil per day and is adjudged to be the eight largest oil producing nation in the world. In this country there are people living below two dollars per day. In this same country, some of our children are still dying from polio – a preventable disease that has been wiped out in other parts of the world. That is the irony of the Nigerian situation. Poverty in the midst of abundance. A small rich minority controlling the larger majority of the wealth of the nation at the expense of the large poor majority.

And then to make matters worse, our leaders are robbing us blindly. It has now become the rule rather than the exception that you must enrich yourself while holding political office. Not to do so will leave your flanks open to the vituperations of your family, friends, colleagues and neighbours.

It is no more honourable for you to be honest and trustworthy in today’s Nigeria. People are stealing not only from the nation’s treasury but also from their churches, mosques, political parties, companies and organisations.

In the ICT age that we are in, our governments roll out the carpets and call out the drums and trumpets to celebrate the commissioning of a borehole project, an electricity project, a road project, a school building and donation of motorcycles as worthy achievements. These are things that are supposed to be part and parcel of our everyday lives. Things that are being taken for granted in other parts of the developed world.

Nigeria presently doesn’t have a national airline.

Its’ four refineries have refused to work. Sources have hinted that it is due to sabotage by those benefiting from fuel importation. It is going to take

another ten years to deregulate NEPA and make it work. The powerful unions would not allow that to happen. The Chinese that we brought in have not been able to revitalise our comatose railways.

Ajaokuta would probably never work in this lifetime. Again one can go on and on.

Nigeria has a covetous, barren and unproductive leadership and an equally greedy, impoverished and apathetic following. It is high time we get it right. We don’t have any excuse for not doing so. Our multiplicity or ethnicity is not an excuse.

The political or economic systems we use are not an excuse. We the people are the only excuse available if we don’t get it right. And posterity will not forgive us if we don’t get it right. We have to get it right in our economy. We need to make the manufacturing sector attractive so that goods can be produced and employment generated. We have to get it right in our education sector. Our universities can still recover their lost glory. We have to get it right with our public utilities. Our public infrastructure need not continue in their decay. 51 years is more than long enough to be wandering about in the wilderness. We need to decide what we want to do with every facet of our national life. We are not short of ideas; we are not short of intelligent people. What we need is a behavioural change. A change in orientation. It is time to stop changing policies and decide to make present ones work.

Nigeria is a blessed country. There are numerous untapped potentials everywhere. But the environment must be made conducive. Our leaders must stop being selfish and start doing the right things. How many of us are going to ‘check’ out? How many of us are going to send our children to schools abroad? How many of us are going to be travelling abroad for medical check-ups and surgeries? No matter where we go or what we do, eventually when we are in this country, we still have to face the same bad roads, epileptic power supply, comatose schools and hospitals and confront the same social problems of crimes, terrorism, and prostitution. For our leaders, no matter the things that may be working to their advantages right now, a day is going to come when the people are going to get fed up, march out, pound on the streets and demand for what is rightfully theirs – good governance.

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