L-R Olamitayo, wife, Mrs Nike Monica Okudaye, professional Textile Artist and the author

The author and Pa Tunji Oyelana, renowned Nigerian folklore musician

The author and Gbenga Adeyinka, Grand Comedian of the Federal Republic

The Author With Marcus Sorour, General Manager, Waggener Edstrom Communications, South Africa

The Author With Jahman Anikulapo, Program Chair, Committee for Relevant Arts (CORA)

30 Mar 2015

WAITING-FOR-OTHERS vs DO-IT-YOURSELF

Ezigbo Enyi,

It is a wonderful time writing to you. As for Nigeria, this moment is quite critical because we are all waiting for the announcement of the winner of the Presidential elections. My passion for a greater Nigeria is summed up thus that the person who would take the nation to a greater height emerge. Lest I forget, I greeted you in Igbo language, South-South region of Nigeria.

As a small boy in the Royal Ambassadors, we had a mentor that we look forward to; he was one of the person who showed many of us the road to Lagos, in fact, he accommodated us before we came of age. He leaves Ibadan on Sunday at 3 pm, on one of such trips, expectedly, there was a need to clean the car. My mentor started it, this is against the typical idea of the Yoruba tradition that believes that the younger person does the task. He told me that in his workplace, the attitude is called “Do-It-Yourself.” After this experience, I have learnt to do many things myself!

Waiting-for-Others is the lazy way of delegation. There are many tasks that are assigned to the ranks by the officer that does not take anything from the officer to get it done personally. At times, the junior officer feels insulted but he has no choice but to swallow the bitter pill. We just thank nature for not giving the ability to send people on “defecation” errand. That’s the height of it.

Do-It-Yourself is the way of getting involved! Anybody who knows how to do it spends less because he won’t give it all to the artisans. There are a lot of home tools that can be procured and used to get some simple tasks done. There are people that fix their electrical cables themselves; paint their houses themselves and many more. Many of these tasks can be learnt after watching someone doing it once or twice.

As we build ourselves; as we learn to conserve our limited funds; as we build our career; as we proceed in our daily activities, there are simple  tasks that can be done ourselves. However, the fund we would spend might not be much but these activities help the brain; get one engaged during the weekends, exercise the body and shows how creative one can be in resolving issues.

Learn to Do-It-Yourself!

Cheers!


Olutayo

22 Mar 2015

RAINY SEASON vs RAINY DAY

Ciao amici,
I decided to go global today because there is hardly any nation where Nigerians do not reside and there are many foreigners also resident in Nigeria. I said “hello friends” in Italian language. This week is very crucial in the history of Nigeria; let’s keep our fingers crossed while we do not relent in prayers for the best for our dear nation.

In our parlance, rainy season is the period of the year filled with rain. It has many features, there could be rainstorm, thunder, flood, blossoming of plants and many others attributes. However, the context of today’s discussion is based on the abundance at this time. The earth has enough water for plants to grow, in fact, fruits are available in great quantity but waste away.

9 Mar 2015

FOCUSED vs OUT-OF-FOCUS

Ndi beanyi

I hope your day has started in a memorable way? It was a weekend full of activity for me and I hope you enjoyed yours as well. As I do regularly, I greeted you in Igbo language of the South-Eastern part of Nigeria it means “my people”. May this week be a blessed week for everyone.

There is story about a blacksmith; the man was tenaciously hitting a particular spot as he was trying to get a shape out of the metal that he was casting. He did this till he got the desires result. Two things happened thereafter; his apprentices understood that their boss had a particular shape in mind he wanted and his customers saw his craft as distinct from what his contemporaries did. This led to this Yoruba saying: “Alagbede to n lu irin loju kan na, oni ohun to n wa”

2 Mar 2015

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS vs NATURAL BITTERS

Okpam,

I am truly Nigerian and I am proud it’s a heterogeneous country. I just said, “My friend” in Idoma language, Benue State, Nigeria. Welcome to the month of March, we all pray to move forward and that will be our experience by God’s grace. Fellow Nigerians, as we are called by our leaders, I hope we would use our Voters Card right; it is just few weeks to elections.