KOBO vs NAIRA

Ufan mi,

That’s simply “My friends” in Efik language of Cross River State, Nigeria. Hope you had a nice weekend? It is my pleasure to welcome you to another episode of our weekly motivational Versus Series. We are getting close to celebrating a year of writing this series as this is the 47^th edition. We might need to tweak after the first year evaluation. So get ready, your feedback is highly important.

Today, we would be talking in financial terms. Fortunately and unfortunately for me, I do not like Mathematics as a young lad but when you add the naira sign, I comprehend it fast.

Some weeks, the water pumping machine within my premises broke down. Some of my neighbours felt that the machine had served for five years as such; it is due for replacement while some neighbours differed saying that we can fix the machine. The machine was fixed and it went back finally two weeks afterwards. We were back to square one, alas, “kobo wise, naira foolish,” the Nigerian equivalent of English saying, “penny wise, pound foolish”.

Kobo is that little fund that seems minute but matters when accumulated. In the Yoruba parlance, it is said to be, “eesun teretere ni dibu” which means, ‘small drops makes the mighty ocean’. Kobo mindset makes one feel he has conserved funds. Some ways in which we exhibit the kobo-mentality is when we fix a worn-out item, buying a fairly-used or second-hand item. This eventually runs in thousands of naira at the end of the day and it cost more than the purchasing a brand new item.

Naira is the huge amount expended to procure a particular item. Many of the needed new things that are purchased are usually tagged expensive but the value will be gotten over time. Naira is that hugged amount that is spent an item while one is sure of maintaining distance from a plumber or any other emergency repair service as the case maybe.

Remember, whatever you gain at the corner will be lost at the bend. Make optimal use of your limited funds by not spending wasteful when you actually want to be thrift. Go for the best at once and not keep buying inferior products over and over.

Have a thriving week.

Best regards,

Olu

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BAKING vs ICING

Hello Associates,

It is a good day to come your way again. I hope you had a great weekend? Work is going on smoothly and it’s all good news around you. That is what we pray for, that we might continually be bombarded by good news.

Today, we are learning from the world of the bakers. It is a simple lesson that we would arrive at, however, we must know that it is one of the fundamental things that we must have at heart when we are doing things.

There are different methods of baking a cake; an electric oven, a charcoal oven while some even use the stove to bake after ingredients might have been mixed. These ingredients determine the taste of the cake, however, after baking, what distinguishes the cake, aside the taste, is the look of the cake. The finishing process is crucial to the sustenance of the business. Let’s read together, baking vs icing.

Baking is a situation when you put the ingredients together. As for people, the time of baking can either mean the time of preparation or the time of re-building. There are people who were prepared in adversity while there are people who get rebuilt during trying times. Baking is just the raw, rough and wrought product.

Icing is the time of restructuring the raw product. This can be described in writing as, “dotting the I and crossing the t”. It is very essential to editing the raw product to make it acceptable to everybody. I was once guilt of not editing my work after writing, as such, my writing was tainted with little errors that could have been avoided if edited. I learnt to edit my works after writing in the hard way. I had better write-ups afterwards.

Irrespective of the great ingredients that make you up after baking, you have to learn to add the icing to beautify it. The icing would ensure it is attractive and acceptable to all. The icing will enrich the value at which it would be purchased. The icing would recommend your work to others. The gains of having the icing on the cake outweigh just baking the cake. Icing is the highpoint of baking. Icing could be academic, certification, finesse etc.

Get the necessary icing on your cake this new week.

Cheers!

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PRELIMINARY vs PENALTY

Ikot nyin,

I hope you are not perplexed! It simply means “My people” in Efik language from Cross River State, Nigeria. I hope the month of September has been going on smoothly? As for me, it has been a pleasant month. This month has a peculiar history in the world; World Trade Centre in the United States was attached some years ago and we, as a family, suffered the dead of one of our mothers. Remember, in Africa, we uphold family ties.

Let’s do something modest today again. Cars owners in Nigeria, especially, do forget when their various licenses would expire. The time when all documents are complete is when a car is newly purchased, subsequently, the renewal becomes a burden. Many of these documents do not expire on the same day as such one might run into any of the road and traffic regulatory agencies and therefore get penalized. Let’s consider Preliminary versus penalty.

Preliminary is a situation when you have gone ahead of time to prepare all that is needed to make your vehicle roadworthy, insuring your house against hazards, living life responsibility to reduce the damage done to ozone layer and importantly, body organs. Other ways of getting prepared is constant academic improvement and certifications among others. Preliminary work is usually easy, cost-effective and strategic. It safeguards regret and depression.

Penalty is when the strong arm of the law catches up with one or the repercussion of reality comes. Many organizations have suffered immensely from fire accident and they could not recover from it because all their machines are not insured. Many cars have been impounded by road and traffic regulatory agencies for not having the right licenses. Many people had died as a result of illicit use of drugs or are spending huge funds on medical treatment to stay alive. It is noteworthy that penalty fee outweigh the preliminary cost.

Why spend good money on penalty when you can rightly prepare? Why pay charges when you can pay the actual fee? Why drive around panicking when you can actually be poised? Why treat sickness when you can really be healthy? The questions are endless but it is the same coin with different sides. Get prepared or get penalized.

I wish you a lovely week ahead.

Stay prepared,

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ADOPTION BY PROXY vs BIOLOGICAL BY DISTANCE

Hello People,

A great greeting to you as a new month is starting. I would also encourage you to be determined for the best. This year is gradually running to a close, if your appraisal is done now, would you be above average? If not, kindly step up your game. Like the saying in Yoruba language, “Orun to wa loke to aso gbe” meaning, the sun above, can still dry the clothes.

We are looking at something interesting today. A young man left the hinterland for Lagos, Nigeria, in search of greener pastures, to live with his siblings. He met an old man, whose children had left the country for greener pastures, as well, in European countries. He became the backbone of the old man who introduced him to all his children and in turn, made them know that he had adopted for himself a son. The young man was delighted in helping the old man, while the old man expended the last of his energy in advising the young man. Fortunately, the young man’s parents had also younger people, within the community, helping them in their house chores. This made us arrive at the discussion, Adoption by Proxy vs Biological by Distance.

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BIG FISH IN A SMALL POND vs SMALL FISH IN A BIG POND

Owhiome,

I am delighted to reflect the multilingual status of Nigeria on this platform. Today, I said My People in Esan language of Edo State, Nigeria. I had a very engaging weekend with various activities; I joined a family in the christening of a new baby girl and also an exercise session in which we walked for two hours.

The vast body of water has a tale for all of us. Waters are in various categories namely; streams, rivers, lake, dam, lagoon and ocean. Some people had also classified various organizations into such. There are organizations that are very small, they are typically group under the Micro-Small and Medium Scale Industry (MSMEs); some are national companies, example Transcorp, Nigeria while some are multinationals, example are Oil and Gas companies.

The mode of operation of companies makes it categorized. There are companies that are sole big fish. These companies have the competitive advantage in just a particular field or location. The owners of these companies might be everything: secretary, accountant, marketing officer, business analyst and the human resources personnel or have few employees with fantastic titles. Truthfully, the owners are the CEO but it has a minimal sphere of influence and projection beyond the immediate environment of operation. As such, senior officers in these companies are the big fishes in small ponds. Small pond is restricting in terms of growth.

In the big pond, many of the fishes are relatively small. In such companies, some staffs are “forgotten” in specific roles amongst others. The small fishes scenario, allows for career progression, greater recognition is accorded to the company, policies are made & implemented, in-depth trainings are done from time to time. 

In the big pond scenario, fantastic titles are for top professional; such titles are acquired over the years.

As it is known that small bodies of water flow into larger bodies; a small company can decide to partner with bigger companies. For example, a small firm in West Africa can increase its global relevance by being part of an international company.

Whatever little that you do, you can make it flow into global relevance. The doors in this era of globalization are readily available. The question is, “Will you avail yourself the opportunity of becoming a part of a big pond which allows you to grow proportionately with size of the pond?”

Have a grand week.

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MASS IMPUNITY vs POLITICAL IMPUNITY

E n le o,

This means, hello there. Yes, I am delighted to welcome you to another week. May it be a new week that would propel us to greater heights. Our discussion today is peculiar to Nigeria and some African countries. If you are a Nigerian, please do not get offended but see it as a call to re-orienting ourselves. It is quite easy to say that we are not whites but we need to know that behaving in a globally accepted way should be a target for us.

If you are walk down the streets of Lagos, Nigeria, you can find people urinating anywhere despite the attempt made by government to stop this act. Pedestrians would prefer to cross the road than using the pedestrian bridge. Drivers driving against traffic, drivers also ignoring the traffic light among others. One needs to stop and ponder if people want to do things in the ethical way. In the same light, one keeps hearing of political office holders who are guilty of financial impropriety and they are community leaders. The simple thing that comes to mind is, are they not ashamed of these doings?

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PATIENCE vs TIMELINESS

Hello Friends,

Welcome to another great week. None of us knows what the week has for us but we sure believe that it will be goodies that will last a lifetime. My desire is that no evil sickness will come near our household. However, we also need to do things rightly. Let us not be like the proverbial, Folorunsho who climb a palm tree with the banana’s strap.

I have a story to tell you. Supo left his house for the airport unfortunately, the vehicle broke down. He made spirited effort to get to the airport and Debisi, the airline counter supervisor told him that he had missed the flight. He made a call to Sope who works in the technical unit of the airline, who in turn called, Soji. Due to the nature of Sope’s work, he could not leave his beat. Supo was told to wait for Soji at the boarding gate but Soji could not come out for close to two hours, Supo was agitated, he was on an official assignment and he had no gut to call the office to tell them the state of things.

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SUPERIORITY STRUGGLE vs ACKNOWLEDGED SUPERIORITY

Eyin temi,

As traditional of me, I am saying in Yoruba language, My People. I hope you enjoyed your weekend? Mine was full of activities with my family and friends. It’s always great having time out with them regardless of the adjoining challenges which still makes us know that we are men. I see the fun associated with it then the pain.

When I was younger, I had some big brothers that  usually call by name. At some point, even when I was corrected and told to call them “brother” as we do in Yoruba culture to show respect. It is rebuffed. As time evolve, nobody called my attention to it again; I succumbed and since then, I added the appellation, “brother” with all pleasure.  Let’s do today’s discussion, superiority struggle versus superiority discovered.

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SHORT TERM REQUIREMENTS vs LONG TERM REGULATIONS

Hello friends,

Here we are again for another edition of our regular weekly versus series. Holidays have started, I hope parents are finding it pleasurable and students relaxed. Hope you had a restful weekend? May all your endeavour this week lead to great success.

In Lagos, Nigeria,there are vehicles that ply short distances, the drivers and owners hardly worry about renewing the documents of the vehicles. All they essentially need is fuel to power their engines and earn a living. Also, there are vehicles that ply other routes within the state and they can be sanctioned for what those vehicles within the areas are exempted from by some agency of the state government. Ultimately, there are vehicles that travel out of the state that need to confront to the regulations of federal agencies. There are short term requirements and long term regulations.

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STRUGGLE FOR RELEVANCE vs OPTIMUM RELEVANCE

Mavor,

This is a question in Urhobo language, South-South area of Nigeria meaning, How are you? I am grateful that I am alive to see another new week.  Hope your weekend was fine? I am not taking for granted the opportunity to write to you regularly. Without wasting time, let’s advance to today’s main discourse.

A young man came to Lagos, Nigeria to learn a distinct vocation which is not available in his country home. He stayed back to practice and see if he could break into the congested environment where the same skill is in abundance. He tried for many years to make ends meet but he realized that he was struggling to emerge due to the existing competition. For all the years, traffic was offensive to him; payment of his annual rent was not easy among other factors. There came a day when he realized that he had dissipated much energy on making it in the midst of competition than relocating to where he would be needed. Are you struggling for relevance or you are having optimum relevance?

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FINALITY vs INFINITY

Saanu Janmo,

It is an opportunity greeting you in Hausa language today. I hope you are fine and you had a great weekend.  May your strength be renewed for this week’s tasks. I appreciate all the comments that I have received online through linkedin and my blog, I look forward to receiving more comments for this will help focus and direct my writings.

There is someone who had made up his mind about the brand of vehicle that he preferred above others (I would not mention any brand name to avoid free advertising) it was a policy statement, he had driven three different models of this brand till a point when he had a choice to pick an official car either his choice brand or another brand. He was dissatisfied with the latest model of his choice brand; as such he went for the other brand which he had always condemned. Let’s now read, Finality of decision versus Infinity of choices.

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ANIMAL INSTINCT vs HUMAN REASONING

Your Excellency,

I decided to address you as such because it takes a great mind and a great personality not to get tired of my endless weekly writings. I am glad to share my thoughts and view with you today. I pray that it will be a great week for us this new week.

It is a known truth that lazy people are usually referred to the ant to consider its ways. How the ants gather during the dry season and remains in the hole throughout the raining season. However, there is a difference between animal instinct and human reasoning.

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Parent vs Spouse

Hello friends,

I am glad to write to you again today. I have been challenged and I have been encouraged since I started writing to you weekly. For all these responses, I am grateful.

I am looking at something that is very personal and controversial today. I remember the story of an old man who said, “I am grateful to my wife, she has been my only companion in the journey of about 60 years. My parents journeyed with me to certain extent in life, my siblings were with me till some point but the large chunk of my life has been spent with my wife. My own children have also left me to start their families and the genealogy continues.”

There is a song from the prominent Yoruba singer by Ebenezer Obey, that says, “ohun ti obi lese, Iyawo o lese yen, ohun ti Iyawo lese obi o le se yen” meaning what a wife can do parents cannot do it and what parents can do, the wife cannot do it. With this, let’s read together parent versus spouse.

Parents are those who biologically brought us into the world. Parents are levelers, there is no man on earth who never had a parent: either living or dead, either responsible or irresponsible. The child firstly comes in touch with a nuclear family. The family determines the level of affection of each child. As it is usually said, the girl child is attracted to the father while the son loves the mother; however the reverse is the case in some families. The child’s love for the parents remains till it is time to get married.

Spouse is the person that boy or girl decides to marry as maturity sets in for the child. The man is the usual initiator of the process and when the lady agrees, at the point of marriage, they become spouses.

As it is known, the love of the child towards the parents should be transferred to the spouse. The transfer might not be easy but it should be learnt, cultivated and adopted.  There should not be comparison between the parent and the spouse. Your parents have their standard and you have the opportunity of setting new standard for your children. You can adopt some good policies of your parents and you can eschew the ones you do not like.

The final thing that must be realized is that you have longer years to live with your spouse than your parents, so learn the ways of your spouse and not judge him by the way of your parents. The crack-up that one has with one’s spouse is more turbulent than the one with one’s parents but when things finally settle, you will enjoy it. Your spouse will be with you for the longer part of life than your parents. Keep it in mind that one’s parent differs from one’s spouse.

May you enjoy your life with your parents and with your spouse happily thereafter.

Cheers!

Best wishes this week.

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DONATING vs FATHERING

Hello All,

Congratulations to all men who are opportuned to see the 2015 edition of the Fathers Day. The category of men include: the bachelors, expectant fathers, fathers, grandfathers and widowers. I am happy to be a part of these men and I know you will agree with me that I am going to write something that will prick us all. Let’s read: Donating vs Fathering.

When a man approaches a lady for a relationship; his love for her might be 80% while that of the lady is 20%. When the relationship starts, the lady’s love rises to 80% while that of the man goes as low as 20%. This accounts for many things that happens subsequently.

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STARING FROM THE SHOULDERS vs SITTING ON THE SHOULDERS

Good Morning,

I am writing with joy to you today. I hope I am neither boring you nor clogging your box? Hope you have been enjoying your world cup matches and I hope the matches has been entertaining and not frustrating. Today is a good day to look at what we have neglected these days.

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