STOOGE vs STAND OUT!

Morning,

It is a great day and welcome to a new week. The year is just starting and I am sure we are all preparing as much as possible to attain God-ordained heights for us this year.

There are many stories that we have heard about people who cannot exercise their rights in an office because they take instructions from a mentor, godfather, benefactor etc and this becomes obvious to their followers. The Yoruba have a saying, ‘ewo ni ka j’oye awodi; ka ma le gbe adiye’ meaning why would you be a hawk that can’t hunt for chick. Let’s think together about a stooge or someone who stands out!

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ÀBÍKÚ VS ÀLọ́YÈ

Ẹ kú ìkàlẹ̀,

That greeting in Yorùbá that has no English equivalent! Let me give a scenario that can best describe when to greet in this manner; if you are walking pass an elderly person who is sitting down and you want to exchange pleasantries that is when you say such. Some make jest of us that there is greetings for everything in my mother tongue but I am delighted; I have a topic in my mother tongue for the 93^rd edition of Versus Series.

For us who heard stories from our parents of the types of stores that existed while they were young; ‘Kingsway’ was the name that comes to mind. In our days, Shoprite would be the name that comes to the mind. The question is why are some brands ‘àbíkú’ meaning stillbirth while some are ‘àlọ́yè’ meaning ‘flourishing’?

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OFFICIAL PERK vs PERSONAL POSSESSION

Bon jour,

Today’s opening greeting takes me down memory lane when I was a student of French in the secondary school and also during a basic certificate course in the University of Ibadan some few years ago. Bon jour means ‘Good morning’. Kindly allow me to say this; October 29, 2010 was the launch of the biography of my maternal granddad that I authored. It’s a project that I am extremely proud of; I am grateful to those who made the day a success and equally, all those who have read the book.

Back to business, top executives have a lot of benefits attached to their offices; these include cars (SUVs), apartment, subscription to world-class magazines, business class air travel, hotel accommodation, medical insurance, membership of influential clubs and a lot more. However, some of them come to nothing immediately they leave the office because they are unable to meet up to the financial obligation of such lifestyle they were introduced to while working. Today, we would be looking at official perk versus personal possession.

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EMPLOYEES FAVOUR VS EMPLOYERS FAVOUR

Iba o,

That is a way of paying homage and obeisance to Elderly people Yorùbá land.  Hope you are enjoying the challenges encountered daily? This would make us stronger, no doubt, because this is the reflector of the expertise that we have gained.

Today, I will be looking at something quite important and salient to our lives. There is a story of a particular man who was once working with a government agency; he went on assignment to a private company regularly. Along the line, they saw him playing a prominent role in their organization and he was poached. As of now, he has risen to the top echelon in the organization now. Who is favouring who?

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EXTERNAL PERCEPTION vs INSIDER’S REALITY

Aba die,

That is ‘Hello’ in Ibibio language of the Akwa-Ibom State, Nigeria. Hope you had a nice weekend? Mine was hectic but fun because I was engaged in activities that I enjoy. I pray that we would have a great week ahead.

Have you even seen companies that look really great in terms of branding, advertising, public relations and the carriage of the management staff but when you strike a conversation with a low-cadre staff; you will be blow off but the inability of the company to live up to external expectation.

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SCHOOL HOLIDAY VS PARENTAL LEAVE

Ina kuana, Antashe lafia ko?

These are expressions in Hausa language, Northern Nigeria, meaning, ‘Good morning, hope you had a nice night?’ I am delighted to have picked some words during my mandatory National Youth Service Corps some years ago. Well, that’s another story for another day.

It is the holiday season for pupils and students. Some of us who had the opportunity of going for holidays with our grandparents now appreciate those visits. We have come to an age when children are permanently left at the mercies of their teachers. From normal academic session to summer classes and to another academic year; let’s think together on school holiday versus parental leave.

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CONFLICT OF INTEREST vs MULTIPLE STREAM OF INCOME

Good morning,

Thank you for taking time to read my writings from time to time. I appreciate those who read it and I know that I would be tempted one day to write some specific names. Don’t worry; I will make it look like a genealogy!

I once had an experience wherein employees were all sent a document on the conflict of interest policy of the organization because it was noticed that many of the management staff now have company that are contractors to the organization. The organization got information about some people and they were shown the way out. However, the economic realities of our days need multiple streams of income. This is not an exhaustive HR note but it will be helpful for us all.

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP vs INTRAPRENEURSHIP

Idun nyin,

Welcome to another week. I hope you had a nice weekend? Hope it was splendid. I was at a wedding ceremony as the compere. May I tell you that I enjoy doing it when the programme is orderly. Well, I greeted you in Ibibio language of Akwa-Ibom State, Nigeria.

The late Revd Goke Adeleke, chaplain of the Bowen University, Iwo, Nigeria. Once described at a wedding ceremony, how people are now being responsible more to career than the family. He believed it is a ploy to separate man from marriage. If a man has actually left his parents and cannot cleave to his wife because of career; there is a need to tread cautiously because it might be the beginning of other relationships. You know what I mean, infidelity creeps in. This is an aside; we are considering Entrepreneurship versus Intrapeneurship.

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ACTUAL TIME vs INJURY TIME

Okpam,

The year is on a fast lane. A new month is already here. Hope you had a grand Worker’s Day holiday or outing and also a good weekend? The holiday was good for me because of the nostalgic memory that it brought; I had sufficient time to listen to music. I greeted you in Idoma language of Benue State, saying “My friend”.

Our tent is pitched with football today; there are different ways of referring to time on the pitch. The actual game would last for 90 minutes while few minutes are added as injury time based on the assessment of the referee of the summed up time when the game paused. However, there might be Extra time during games that a qualifying team needs to emerge. I am discussing this in relation to other areas of our lives hoping that football would teach us something helpful for our daily lives.

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PRAISE SINGERS vs TRUTH SAYERS

Okpam,

I last spoke with you last week when Nigeria was the cynosure of all eyes. The tension has doused and the nation is still nostalgic: some felt bad about losing the elections, some felt great about winning. May both be for the good of the nation at large. Okpam means my friend in Idoma language of Benue State, North-Central, Nigeria.

There is a set of traditional people in Yoruba culture and tradition called the “Ayan”. It is likely that you might have come across people whose surname starts with Ayan as the prefix. I would not want to waste your time on discussing this but you can read up a sister blog where this has been discussed in the past- Etymology: Prefix and Suffix as Variant of Yoruba names. This family’s craft include playing of the traditional drum and singing the praises of people and families. In fact, they add aesthetics to any event of Yoruba people. In this twist today, we would be examining it from the political angle.

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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”

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