36 CHRISTIAN WAYS TO REDUCE STRESS

36 CHRISTIAN WAYS TO REDUCE STRESS


An Angel says, "Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice."



1. Pray

2. Go to bed on time.

3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.

4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.

5. Delegate tasks to capable others.

6. Simplify and unclutter your life.

7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)

8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.

9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficultprojects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.

10. Take one day at a time.

11. Separate worries fromconcerns. If a situation is a concern, findout what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety. If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it.

12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.

13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.

14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.

15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.

16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.

17. Get enough rest.

18. Eat right.

19. Get organized so everything has its place.

20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.

21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.

22. Every day, find time to be alone.

23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try and pray.

24. Make friends with Godly people.

25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.

26. Remember that the shortest bridge between
despair and hope is often a good
"Thank you Jesus."

27. Laugh.

28. Laugh some more!

29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.

30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).

31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).

32. Sit on your ego.

33. Talk less; listen more.

34. Slow down.

35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe

36. Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)

My request is to send this to four people that I wanted God to bless and I picked you. I decided to send it to more than four. SEND IT FORWARD PLEASE, not backward!

Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.
He had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.
He had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.
He had no army, yet kings feared Him.
He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.
He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.
He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.
I feel honored to serve such a Leader who loves us!
If you believe in God and in Jesus Christ His Son ... Send this to all on your buddy list .. if not just ignore it. If you ignore it, just remember that Jesus said .... "If you deny me before man, I will deny you before my Father in

Think About This

Hi Bro, oh I meant to say Sis. Wait, what am I saying, he or she? I beg, choose the category that you belong to.

Now, let me ask you a question, do you have a friend? You have! Glory be to God. Oh, you don't have, there is no cause for alarm. Eh, you don't even know, that sounds interesting then. Okay, let me put it this way, are you a friend? Ah ah, you can't really say or probably you can't really say what a friend is. Okay, let's consider it briefly.

What is a friend?
I will tell you

It is a person you dear to be yourself
Your soul can be naked with him. He seems to ask you to put on nothing, only to be what you are.

He may not want you to be better but of course, he does not want you to be worse. When you are with him, you feel as a prisoner feels who has been declared innocent

You don't have to be on your guard, you can say what you think, so long as it is genuinely you

He understands those contradictions in your nature that lead others to misjudge you. With him, you breathe freely

You can abhor your little vanities and envies and hates and vicious sparks, your meanesses and absurdities; and in opening them up to him, they are lost, dissolved in the white ocean of his loyalty

He is like fire that purges to the bone. He understands. He understands
You can weep with him, sing with him, laugh with him, play with him

He understands. You do not have to be careful. You can abuse him, neglect him, tolerate him

Through it all and underneath, he understands, he sees, he knows, he loves you
Best of all, you can keep still with him
It does not matter, he likes you

A friend! What is a friend? Just one, I repeat, with whom you dare to be yourself

Hello mine, looking at this, it seems you don't have a friend right? There is no cause for alarm. Only one thing is needed. You try and become one! And then, we see what follows.........

Why Rich Men Go Broke

Chief David Ajibosho in his heyday was a well-to-do socialite, a member of some of the elite clubs in Lagos. His lifestyle was funded by a booming transport business and a printing press. He had three wives, a fleet of cars and a large house in a low density area in Surulere, Lagos. He was a virtual showstopper at the parties he attended religiously every week, resplendent in all white flowing robes.
But just as he turned 56, the music stopped. Despite, his seemingly solid financial standing, all it took to bring him to the ground was one “hit” by scammers and he lost everything. He had taken the wrong bet and by the time the banks closed in, he suffered a stroke and died, penniless, a few days after.
The gossip columns of celebrity magazines here and abroad are full of similar stories; of yesterday’s men who had made it big time or at least lived comfortably but still ended dead broke.
The list includes company owners, top politicians, civil servants, failed contractors, military officers, musicians, journalists and lately executives and directors of failed banks who have been stripped of their assets by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Most are mired in debt, lured into investing into business they know nothing about, or were victims of 419ers. But the most common scenario is that they were victims of themselves. Extravagant lifestyles, poor financial planning or none at all; greed, lack of depth or just plain bad luck is sometimes to blame.
And the consequences can be dire as those who have treaded this feared path will tell. A sudden loss of self respect, loss of prestige among peers and family members, health issues, homelessness etc readily come to mind.
It baffles less privileged mortals that those higher up could crash easily. “It cannot happen to me” is a usual refrain when such issues come up for discussion. Boxer, Mike Tyson, reputed to have earned over $400m in his short-lived career as world champion recently filed for bankruptcy due to his inability to repay almost $30m in debts. United States rapper- turned preacher- Hammer, went into bankruptcy several years ago; his fortunes having been eroded by his decision to live a life of opulence and support a 200-man entourage consisting of friends and family.
Many lottery jackpot winners have ended up broke just a few years after multi-million wins: They could not just handle their good fortune.
Here at home, once high rollers such as Chief Femi Adekanye and Mr. Ralph Osayeme, former chairman and managing director of defunct Commerce Bank respectively, are on the run, their fortunes gone after the bank went bust on a failed sugar importation deal, and expensive legal fees spent to defend charges before the Failed Banks Tribunal.
Why does this happen? And why do people fail to learn lessons from the fate of others.
Head, Asset Management at IBTC Chartered Bank, Mr. Akeem Oyewale, says that windfalls or wealth built over time through savings needs to be managed knowledgably.
“The key issue is not to be greedy and to be knowledgeable about how to make money work for itself”
He points out that many people make the mistake of quitting work after they hit a wind fall not realising that expenses of every day living, school fees, hospital bills, rent, handouts and other forms of recurrent expenditure can make a significant dent on any cash stack.
Oyewale points out that the key to wealth protection is defining your objective and finding the right type of investment or investment mix commensurate to one’s risk appetite.
The questions to be answered, he says, include: whether the client wants more money or just wants to live off the accretion on current holdings. But he cautions that people should not expect N1m to turn to N2m overnight, pointing out that this is one of the reasons people fall for schemes offering 100 per cent to 200 per cent returns per month and end up losing money.
According to him, three classes of investments – money market, capital market and real estate – which all require specialised knowledge are available for the picking, to cater for varying tastes.
The capital market, which is his company’s specialty, offers a good hedge against inflation over the long term as the market usually outpace, inflation. But it carries some risk too. “You can make 20 per cent return in a week if you make a good decision, but if the market is bearish (share prices are falling), you could also lose even part of you principal.
Real estate could be the best bet, he points out, as land appreciates all over the world but it is less liquid and could prove problematic to convert to cash quickly. Money market instruments such as treasury bills or bankers acceptances, he notes, have fixed guaranteed returns, but this is usually low and if lower than inflation rate, returns could be in the negative.
However, if one is considering investing in a line of business, he says it is important to acquire some knowledge in that field and people should avoid joining the bandwagon or else one could find himself on a slaughter slab.
Experts elsewhere attribute financial failures to overconfidence and refusal to acknowledge signs of looming disaster. They find that it is difficult for those accustomed to betting and winning, making decisions that unlock wealth, to accept that they could be wrong.
Many of the owners of the banks that failed last year did see the ominous signs. But greed and dishonesty in some cases egged them on to sink deeper into the murk of borrowing to pay for previous borrowings until the bubble burst.
It was a matter of huge egos and keeping up appearances, usually testosterone induced, as studies have shown that men are more prone to risk taking.
The financier and speculator, George Soros, known as the “Man who broke the Bank of England” earned a whopping $1.1bn return in a single day by gambling his entire $10bn fortune in a spectacular attack on the British pound in 1992.
According to a recent article in the International Herald Tribune, business professors at the University of California at Berkeley, Brad Barber and Terrance Odean, in an analysis in 2001 of stock trading, titled: “Boys Will Be Boys,” pointed out that psychological studies demonstrated that men tended to be more overconfident than women.
Psycologist and Chief Executve, Simple Solubles, Mr. Folusho Ayodeji, points out that those that make their money through easy or fraudulent means are more likely to lose it.
“If a man works hard for his money, the tendency for him is to protect it. But if you inherit money, or win a lottery or you get lucky and someone gives you a contract and you make a lot of money from it, you are more likely to be careless, on the assumption that it can be replaced. But as we know, an opportunity once lost can hardly be regained, so we usually advice that people slow down and reflect and do some planning for the future.”

Marriage Software

(Marriage Software Division):

Dear Systems Analyst,

I am desperate for some help! I recently upgraded my program from Girlfriend
7.0 to Wife 1.0 and found that the new program began unexpected Child Processing and also took up a lot of space and valuable resources.

This wasn't mentioned in the product brochure. In addition Wife 1.0 installs itself into all other programs and launches during systems initialization and then it monitors all other system activities.

Applications such as 'Boys' Night out 2.5' and 'Golf 5.3' no longer run, and crashes the system whenever selected. Attempting to operate selected 'Saturday Rugby 6.3' always fails and 'Saturday Shopping 7.1' runs instead.
I cannot seem to keep Wife 1.0 in the background whilst attempting to run any of my favorite applications. Be it online or offline.

I am thinking of going back to 'Girlfriend 7.0', but uninstall doesn't work on this program. Can you please help?

... AND THIS IS WHAT OUR ANALYST SAID:

Dear Customer,

This is a very common problem resulting from a basic misunderstanding of the functions of the Wife 1.0 program. Many customers upgrade from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0 thinking that Wife 1.0 is merely a UTILITY AND ENTERTAINMENT
PROGRAM. Actually, Wife 1.0 is an OPERATING SYSTEM designed by its Creator to run everything on your current platform.

You are unlikely to be able to purge Wife 1.0 and still convert back to Girlfriend 7.0, as Wife 1.0 was not designed to do this and it is impossible to uninstall, delete or purge the program files from the System once it is
installed.

Some people have tried to install Girlfriend 8.0 or Wife 2.0 but have ended up with even more problems. (See manual under Alimony/Child Support and Solicitors' Fees).

Having Wife 1.0 installed, I recommend you keep it Installed and deal with the difficulties as best as you can. When any faults or problems occur, whatever you think has caused them, you must run the.........

C:\ APOLOGIZE\ FORGIVE ME.EXE Program and avoid attempting to use the *Esc-Key for it will freeze the entire system.

It may be necessary to run C:\ APOLOGIZE\ FORGIVE ME.EXE a number of times, and eventually hope that the operating system will return to normal.

Wife 1.0, although a very high maintenance programme, can be very rewarding.
To get the most out of it, consider buying additional Software such as 'Flowers 2.0' and 'Chocolates 5.0' or 'HUGS\ KISSES 600.0' or 'TENDERNESS\
UNDERSTANDING 1000.0' or even Eating Out Without the Kids 7.2.1' (if Child processing has already started).

DO NOT under any circumstances install 'Secretary 2.1' (Short Skirt Version)
or 'One Nightstand 3.2' (Any Mood Version), as this is not a supported Application for Wife 1.0 and the system will almost certainly CRASH.

Journey so Far

A well-worn Five Hundred Naira note and a similarly
distressed Five Naira
note arrived at the Central Bank to be retired. As
they moved along the
conveyor belt to be burnt, they struck up a
conversation.
The Five Hundred Naira reminisced about its travels
all over the country.
"I've had a pretty good life," the Five Hundred Naira
proclaimed. "Why I've
been to Lagos, Ibadan, Benin, Kano and Abuja, the
finest restaurants in
Victoria Island, Kaduna, Abuja and Port Harcout ,
performances at Muson
Centre and Glover Hall, hottest nite clubs all over
the country and even a
cruise on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans."
"Wow!" said the Five Naira. "You've really had an
exciting life!" "So tell
me," says the Five Hundred, "where have you been
throughout your lifetime?"

The Five Naira replies, "Oh, I've been to the
Apostolic & Methodist Church,
the Redeemed Christian Church, Catholic Church, the
Deeper Life Bible
Church, Baptist Church, the Anglican Church ,CCC, the
Lutheran Church..."
The Five Hundred Naira note interrupts, "What's a
church?"

Please help the N500 notes go to church.

Dont Lie

BUT THIS IS A GOOD 1...

When next you want to lie think twice ‘cos there is special robot in town.
Enjoy.

One day Jonny's dad bought a robot.The robot was special in that it could detect a lie and would slap theperson who lied on the face.Jonny returned late from school that day and his dad asked him, " Son whyare you late from school?".Jonny answered, "Dad we had extra classes today".Much to his astonishment the Robot jumped up and slapped Jonny on his face.His dad told him son, This robot is special in that he can detect a lie andwill then slap the person who lied now come on tell me the truth, " Why areyou late?""Dad I went for a movie", " Which movie?" "The Ten Commandments" , SplattJonny got a tight slap on the face from the robot." No dad honest I went for the movie Sex Queen." Shame on you son when I wasyour age I never used to do such shameful things."Splatt, the dad gets a tight slap on the face from the robot.Hearing all this, Jonny's mother comes walking out of the kitchen saying, "After all he is your son, he will be like you ",to which the robot steps up and gives a resounding slap on Jonny's mother's face .

Microsoft vs GM

Microsoft vs. GM

For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection forthe way computers have enhanced our lives, read on.At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedlycompared the computer industry with the auto industry andstated, "If GM had kept up with technology like the computerindustry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000miles to the gallon."In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a pressrelease stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft,we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:
1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you wouldhave to buy a new car.
3. Occasionally, your car would die on the freeway for noreason. You would have to pull over to the side of the road,close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, andreopen the windows before you could continue.For some reason you would simply accept this.
4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn wouldcause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which caseyou would have to reinstall the engine.
5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, wasreliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - butwould run on only five percent of the roads.
6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lightswould all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed AnIllegal Operation" warning light.
7. The airbag system would ask, "Are you sure?" before deploying.
8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lockyou out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously liftedthe door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radioantenna.
9. Every time a new car was introduced, car buyers would have tolearn how to drive all over again because none of the controlswould operate in the same manner as the old car.
10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.

A Trick

A TRICK

A young man, a student in one of our universities, was one day taking a walk with a professor, who was commonly called the students' friend, from his kindness to those who waited on his instructions.As they went along, they saw lying in the path a pair of old shoes, which they supposed to belong to a poor man who was employed in a field close by, and who had nearly finished his day's work.The student turned to the professor, saying: "Let us play the man a trick: we will hide his shoes, and conceal ourselves behind those bushes, and wait to see his perplexity when he cannot find them.""My young friend," answered the professor, "we should never amuse ourselves at the expense of the poor. But you are rich, and may give yourself a much greater pleasure by means of the poor man. Put a coin into each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch how the discovery affects him."The student did so, and they both placed themselves behind the bushes close by.The poor man soon finished his work, and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes. While putting on his coat he slipped his foot into one of his shoes; but feeling something hard, he stooped down to feel what it was, and found the coin.Astonishment and wonder were seen upon his countenance. He gazed upon the coin, turned it round, and looked at it again and again. He then looked around him on all sides, but no person was to be seen. He now put the money into his pocket, and proceeded to put on the other shoe; but his surprise was doubled on finding the other coin.His feelings overcame him; he fell upon his knees, looked up to heaven and uttered aloud a fervent thanksgiving, in which he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children without bread, whom the timely bounty, from some unknown hand, would save from perishing.The student stood there deeply affected, and his eyes filled with tears. "Now," said the professor, "are you not much better pleased than if you had played your intended trick?"The youth replied, "You have taught me a lesson which I will never forget. I feel now the truth of those words, which I never understood before: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

Waiting Upon The Lord

Waiting upon the Lord is expecting His promised strength to help us rise above life's challenges.


Waiting on God

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:31

About the time when most people in their mid-fifties were thinking ahead to retirement, my parents adopted two teenage boys from Vietnam. Scarred by the events in their early lives, my brothers came to us with many emotional wounds, and life around home was not always smooth as they tried to adjust to a completely new way of life. A conservative Christian home seemed confining, and at times they rebelled. While some parents would have become discouraged and perhaps wondered why they had ever taken such a drastic step at their age, Mom and Dad never wavered in their assurance that they were following God's leading.

In this situation, and in many others where problems were unresolved and prayers seemingly were unanswered, Dad's comment often was, “The last chapter isn't written yet.” Sometimes his words were tied to the verse in Isaiah 40:31, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” Dad had faith that God was still at work.

A study of the word wait reveals that it has a connotation of patience, rather than just marking time. And I believe the strength that is promised goes beyond physical endurance, but includes emotional and spiritual help as well.

Notice that the admonition is to wait “upon the Lord.” I believe that means we are to patiently await the fulfillment of His promises. Waiting upon the Lord is expecting His promised strength to help us rise above life's challenges, and keeping our eyes of faith fixed upon Him rather than circumstances.

Today, as a parent and grandparent, I find myself quoting Dad's statement quite often. There is an undercurrent of faith and hope woven through those simple words. God isn't done. He does hear my prayers. He is still working, though perhaps behind the scenes. The picture could be entirely different around the next bend.

May God help us all to wait upon Him, for as we do, the answer we need is sure to come.

SEX

A lot of people don't associate sex with God - they associate it with Satan and darkness, as if sex weren't holy. The bible is explicit when it comes to sex. Sex is holy within marriage, and there is no prescribed style. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the missionary position is the only sexual style. Not discussing sex in a relationship leads to divorce!!!!!.Pastor Khathide has counselled women who've complained: my husbandtreats me as if I were his brother. There was one who told him: I am tired of getting sex fortnightly, like a salary. Khathide told her she was luckyto be getting sex fortnightly, since some wives only get it on big days,like elections. Many husbands leave their wives to seek sexual pleasures in Hillbrow. Have you ever asked yourself what those wives have that you don't. Wives have become very frigid and even sleep with their panties. If you're a married woman, you should sleep naked and let your bum touch your husband.Today you find men going out of their way to get a glimpse of a vagina.They page through magazines and even go to lingerie departments in stores hoping to see what's hidden under panties, because their wives hide it from them. Marriage is about being free with your body in front of your partner. A woman should parade naked and do some modeling to tempt her husband.There are many married women who don't know what their husbands' penises look like. They only feel it when he entersher. They've never switches off the lights before undressing. A penis is a wife's toy - she is supposed to play with it. He blames couples for not making time for sex and complaining about being tired after a day's work. You find many couples who've been sexually starved for years. God created sex for procreation and also for pleasure.You can't marry and not have a good time in bed. WHO SAID YOU CAN ONLY HAVE SEX AT NIGHT? Why can't you drive home during lunch and have a quickie with your wife? We're all equal in sex - it's not just about a woman satisfying a man.You have to satisfy each other. Have you ever seen a woman who hasbeen satisfied? Have u noticed how she glows and becomes energetic?May the Lord Bless you. This is the "Whole Truth, Nothing But The Truth"So God Help Us From The Beginning.Once you read this letter you have to keep it going. This game has been played since 1996. You must send this letter to 7 people.On the 5th day someone will ask you out or say "I love you." This is not a joke. It has worked for many years. If you break the chain, you will have bad luck with guys/girls forever. This is just for future readers. This began in 1996,not much of a past, but it works. So here are the rules:If you read this on a Sunday,wish for a good weekIf you read this on a Monday, wish for moneyIf you read this on a Tuesday, wish for loveIf you read this on a Wednesday, wish for successIf you read this on a Thursday, wish for anythingyou want If you read this on a Friday, wish for a really hot dateIf you read this on a Saturday, wish for an important phone call

Husband On Sale

HUSBANDS ON SALE!!!


A Store that sells husbands has just opened in F.C.T where awoman may go to choose a husband.Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how thestore operates:"You may ONLY visit the store ONCE!"There are 6 floors in the building and the attributes of the men ondisplay increase as the shopper ascends the flights.There is, however, a catch . . . You may choose any man from aparticular floor, or you may choose to go up the next floor, but you cannot changeyour mind and go back the lower floor to select except to exit thebuilding!So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband. The sign onthe door of the first floor reads:Floor 1 - These men have jobs and love the Lord.The second floor sign reads:Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids.The third floor sign reads:Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and areextremely good looking."Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads:Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-deadgood-looking and help with house works."Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it" Still, she goesto the fifth floor and the sign reads:Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-deadgorgeous, help with house works, and have a strong romantic streak.She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the signreads:Floor 6 - You are visitor 4,363,222 (four million, three hundred andsixty-three thousand, two hundred and twenty-two) to this floor. Thereare no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that WOMEN areIMPOSSIBLE to please.Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as youexit the building, and have a nice day!
Please send this to all men for a good laugh and to all the women who

Strategic Agenda for the Naira

I: Introduction



It is my pleasure to welcome everyone to this important briefing on the ‘Strategic Agenda for the Naira’. As you may recall, it is about three years since we launched (in this very Auditorium on July 6, 2004) the 13-point reform agenda designed to restructure, refocus and strengthen the Nigerian banking and financial system. At that meeting, I observed that the agenda constituted ‘Phase One’ of the reforms. We have since introduced other complementary reforms designed to stabilize the exchange rate, reduce inflation, reform microfinance, restructure the lower denominations of our currency and re-introduce coins, as well as promote the efficiency of the payments system. We have also launched the design of a comprehensive long-term reform agenda for the financial system (the Financial System Strategy 2020 ---FSS2020).All these reforms are driven by our medium and long-term objectives to ensure economic prosperity of Nigeria, and for Nigeria to become the Africa’s financial hub by the year 2020. Only a sustained stable macroeconomic environment and a sound and vibrant financial system can propel the economy to achieve our national desire to become one of the 20 largest economies in the world by the year 2020.The Strategic Agenda for the Naira is therefore being launched today as ‘Phase Two’ of our reform agenda, and as a necessary complement to the 13-point agenda of Phase One and other reforms. Phase Two of the reforms has become all the more imperative given the progress so far on Phase One, as well as the emphasis of the new Central Bank of Nigeria Act on ensuring monetary and price stability. According to the “Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007”, (Section 2) the key objects of the Central Bank shall be to: (a) ensure monetary and price stability; (b) issue legal tender currency in Nigeria; (c) maintain external reserves to safeguard the international value of the legal tender currency; (d) promote a sound financial system in Nigeria; and (e) act as banker and provide economic and financial advice to the Federal Government. The Phase Two, by focusing on the Naira, means that the Central Bank intends to give greater emphasis to the most important function of central banks everywhere in the world namely, to issue legal tender currency and to defend its value (domestically by ensuring low inflation and externally by ensuring appropriate and stable exchange rate regime). Our specific objective in Phase Two of the reforms is to make the Naira the currency of reference in Africa, and thus a strategic catalyst for achieving the goal of an international financial centre as well as promoting Nigeria’s rapid economic development. We also need the Phase Two to ensure that the results being achieved under Phase One are deepened and sustained.
II: Overview of the Reforms since 2004 and OutcomesBefore we outline the elements of the Strategic Agenda, it is germane to briefly review our progress so far. As you are aware, most of our reforms have focused on structural and institutional reforms, and have included the following:• Strengthened the institutional framework for the conduct of monetary policy• Bank recapitalization/ consolidation • Programme to possibly eliminate or reduce government ownership of any bank (to no more than 10 percent)• Improved transparency and corporate governance • Zero tolerance to misreporting and data rendition, and strict adherence to the Anti-money laundering regulations• Implementation of Basel II Principles and Risk-based supervision• Payments system reforms for efficiency-- -- especially the e-payment• Reforming the Exchange rate management system--- adoption of the Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS) and increased liberalization of the forex market (which since 2006 led to the convergence of the parallel and official exchange rates for the first time in 20 years).• Restructuring the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting, Plc;• Addressing issues of technology and skills in the banking industry especially in risk management and ICT.• Launching of a new Micro finance policy and regulatory framework to serve the un-served 65 percent of the bankable public• Ongoing Pension, Consumer credit, and Mortgage system reforms• Forging strategic alliances and partnerships between Nigerian banks and foreign financial institutions especially in the area of reserve/asset management• Establishment of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), as first private-sector led African Investment Bank• Encouragement of Nigerian banks to go global, leading to more than doubling of branch network in West Africa since 2004; setting up of subsidiaries in London as well as Nigerian banks successfully issuing Eurobonds and getting listed on the London Stock Exchange.Our grand objective in the banking sector reforms was to re-engineer and fast-track a system that will engender confidence and power a new economy. So far, the grand objectives of that policy are being achieved, and our consolidation programme has been adjudged about the most successful and at least cost to the tax payers in the world. The total deposits trapped in the failed banks as percentage of GDP is about 0.7% (the lowest in the world), and no private sector depositor would lose a kobo of his/her deposit. The banking system is the safest and soundest it has ever been in history. Deposits and credits have more than doubled, and non-performing loans as percentage of total loans have gone down from about 23% before consolidation to about 7% currently. Individual banks now finance big projects valued at hundreds of millions of dollars and also operate in the oil and gas sector --- a feat they never could do before now. Interest rates are gradually coming down (with average lending rate at about 16.9%, down from 25%). Currently, commercial bank branches have gone up from about 3,200 before reforms to over 4,100, and total employment in the sector has gone up from about 55,000 before reforms to over 61,000 currently. The world is celebrating Nigeria’s success, and over $1.5 billion of foreign investment has gone into the sector since 2005. By end 2007, there will be about 7 or more banks with shareholders fund in excess of $1 billion and over 10 banks with market capitalization of over $2 billion each (there was none in 2004). In 2004, there was no Nigerian bank in the top 1000 banks in the world. As at the end of 2006, there were 12 banks in the top 1000, with one ranked 355th (top 500 in the world). Our banking system is powering the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Today, Nigeria has the fastest growing banking system in Africa, and one of the fastest in the world. As seasoned commentators have observed, it has taken Nigeria less than three years to achieve what it took South Africa 20 years to achieve in the area of banking. To put it succinctly, a new banking system has emerged, and will only get stronger for the benefit of the Nigerian economy. We firmly believe that with the sustenance of the reforms as the CBN is determined to do, the best is yet to come.On the macroeconomic front, double-digit and volatile inflation rate (which used to be the norm) have been subdued as inflation rate has remained at single-digit since last year. However, inflation risks remain high. The Naira/US dollar exchange rate has remained stable (with steady appreciation of Naira against the dollar) since 2004, and the GDP has maintained a robust growth rate of over 6% per annum since 2003.
III: Matters Arising and Challenges AheadDespite progress on a number of fronts, there are still enormous challenges and unfinished business. At the economy-wide level, there are still chronic challenges of insecurity of lives and property, infrastructure deficiency (especially power and transportation) , education crisis, among others. At the level of the financial system, we have the huge task of effectively implementing the FSS 2020. There is still the risk of fiscal dominance and volatility in the fiscal operations of government. Evolving Fiscal Responsibility arrangements and framework for managing highly volatile oil revenues will be critical. Other unfinished business in the reforms includes:• Risk-based, consolidated and strengthened banking supervision• Mortgage, SME, and consumer credit reforms• Adherence of States and LGs to the requirement under the Micro Finance policy to devote at least 1 percent of their annual budget to micro credit• Continued reform of the payments system, especially the e-payments system and enforcement of the Dud cheque offences Act.Efforts will continue to be made to address these unfinished issues.
IV: The Strategic Agenda
The thrust of the agenda focuses on the Naira as our national currency---- to realign its denominations, ensure its stability and global integration. These will help to deepen the reforms of the financial system and national economy, and make the Naira the currency of reference in Africa thereby facilitating our quest for international financial status.The new focus is an extension of our previous currency redesign and re-issuance of the lower denominations and attempt to re-introduce coins. Our goals were to redesign the currencies after 23 years (contrary to the international norm of currency redesign after 6- 8 years), drive down the cost of currency printing and experiment with the polymer substrate. Our objectives are largely achieved and we have learnt a lot from the exercise. However, in the light of the new mandate by the CBN Act (2007) to ‘ensure monetary and price stability’, as well as the vision articulated under the FSS 2020, it has become imperative for us to evolve a more comprehensive strategy for the Naira as a reference currency.Currency redenomination and liberalization are not without risks especially for small open economies such as Nigeria. However, we believe that the time is auspicious for such reforms especially in the light of the following enabling conditions:• Overall commitment of the Federal Government under Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (GCFR) to sustaining macroeconomic and other structural reforms• a robust external reserves to meet almost 20 months of foreign exchange disbursements and 25 months of imports• Stronger banking system powering a new economy and capital market• Inflation down to single digit, and robust GDP growth of about 6% and above• Exchange rate stability and elimination of multiple currency practices that had been prevalent before now• Strong capital inflows (with Central Bank as increasingly marginal player in the forex market)• Debt relief: Nigeria without a debt burden• Non-oil exports growing strongly (24% in 2006)• Nigeria de-listed from the FATF listNew CBN Act not permitting CBN to grant ways and means advances to Government exceeding 5% of previous year’s revenue provided such financing is retired before end of the financial year. Indeed, CBN is not positively disposed to granting any ways and means advances.It is in the view of the foregoing enabling conditions, and our vision for a Naira that is the currency of reference in Africa that the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Nigeria has approved the following agenda for the Naira:
A: Currency Re-DenominationHere, we intend to restructure the entire currency by dropping two zeroes or moving two decimal points to the left from the currency, and issuing more coin denominations. This would entail a total currency exchange and phasing-out of all the existing denominations from August 1, 2008. Effectively, at the current exchange rate, this policy would mean that the Naira/US dollar exchange rate would be around N1.25 to US$1 then. All Naira assets, prices and contracts will be re-denominated by dropping two zeroes or two decimal points to the left with effect from this date.The proposed currency structure is as follows:COINS: 1 kobo, 2 kobo, 5 kobo, 10 kobo, 20 koboNOTES:50 kobo, 1 Naira, 5 Naira, 10 Naira, 20 Naira Effectively, our plan will restore the value of the Naira (in the short-term) close to what it was in 1985 before the commencement of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986.Re-denomination and re-introduction of totally new currency structure (notes and coins) following the progress so far with other reforms and the enabling conditions in the economy today are designed to better anchor inflationary expectations, strengthen public confidence in the Naira, make for easier conversion to other currencies, reverse tendency for currency substitution, eliminate higher denomination notes with lower value, reduce the cost of production, distribution and processing of currency, promote the usage of coins and thus a more efficient pricing and payments system, and lay the foundation for the convertibility of the Naira as well as make it the ‘Reference currency’ in Africa. The African Union has granted Nigeria the right to host the Headquarters of the African Central Bank when the common currency in Africa materializes. We must therefore lead the way in terms of properly aligned currency structure and sound monetary policy framework.Several countries in the world have undertaken currency re-denomination at various times and for different reasons, including: Afghanistan (2002); Germany (1923, 1948); Argentina (1970; 1983; 1985; 1992); Bolivia (1963, 1987); Brazil (1967, 1970, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994); China (1955); South Korea (1962); Mexico (1993, 1996); Ghana (2007); Israel (1948, 1960, 1980, 1985); Turkey (2005); Angola (1995, 1999); and others. Evidently, many countries have had to undertake the re-denomination more than once. In the case of Brazil, it had to do it many times before it got it right. The major challenge is to undertake other complementary reforms, particularly macroeconomic reforms that will underpin price stability and continuing confidence in the economy. This is where we believe Nigeria’s experience is likely to be different from others, having learnt from the experiences of other countries.Consequently, as necessary complements to the currency re-denomination, we intend to introduce three additional measures:• Adoption of Inflation-Targeting Framework for the conduct of monetary policy;• Sharing Part of the Federation Account in US Dollars to deepen the Forex Market and for Liquidity Management• Current Account Liberalization/ Co-nvertibility and Accession to Article VIII of the IMF.
B: Adoption of Inflation-Targeting Framework for the Conduct of Monetary Policy: to commence from January 1, 2009.
In the light of the new mandate as contained in the new CBN Act (2007) urging the CBN to “ensure monetary and price stability” as well as the need to provide a transparent, credible framework to lock-in inflationary expectations, the CBN will adopt inflation target as the nominal anchor for monetary policy with effect from January 1, 2009. Low and stable inflation will be our monetary policy’s primary long-term goal. Focusing on inflation targeting does not mean that the CBN will not be interested in other broader objectives of macroeconomic policy--- output growth, employment, exchange rate, and balance of payments. Rather, an inflation-targeting framework will enable CBN to pursue these objectives in a more disciplined and consistent manner rather than the ad-hoc processes of the past. Locking-in inflationary expectations is one effective way of ensuring that the currency re-denomination will be sustainable. The outcome of this new framework will greatly improve the credibility of the CBN as the Monetary Authority, as well as deepen the financial markets and promote rapid development of a private sector-led economy.We will use the next 16 months to fully prepare for the introduction of this framework especially in the light of the deep technical issues involved. The CBN would collaborate with the National Bureau of Statistics in significantly improving the availability of high frequency and reliable data especially those of the GDP and more robust measures of the price indices.
C: Sharing Part of the Federation Account Allocation in US Dollars to Deepen the Forex Market and for Liquidity Management: to commence from September 2007.
Given the structure and development of the financial system, the underdeveloped nature of the Forex markets, as well as the restrictions on foreign exchange transactions, the CBN has traditionally fully monetized the foreign currency receipts in the Federation Accounts, to be shared by the three tiers of government. Initially, the CBN also maintained the accounts for all the tiers of government-- - as part of the liquidity management framework. Subsequently, as the banking system developed, the CBN allowed the share of the states and LGs to be deposited with the commercial banks.Recently, following the reforms in the banking sector and the further liberalization of the Forex market, both the financial system and the forex market have deepened and become increasingly sophisticated. Since 2006, the CBN adopted the Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS) in the forex market and significantly liberalized the forex market. Furthermore, Nigeria has exited the debt trap, built up significant external reserves, and the autonomous inflows into the Forex market are such that the CBN has become a marginal player in the forex market. The forex market has become so efficient that Nigeria no longer has multiple currency practices (as defined by the IMF). In the last two years also, the CBN has consistently intervened in the forex market through the increased sale of foreign exchange as an instrument of liquidity management (the so-called special auctions). In December 2006, the CBN introduced the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) with the corridor, and this has eliminated the high volatility in the money market interest rates. The money market is deepening, and the bond market is also evolving.The above conditions indicate that the private financial markets are getting deeper and sophisticated enough to warrant further steps on the part of the Central Bank to gradually withdraw as a dominant player in the forex market. The inter-bank forex market is now the dominant segment of the market, and needs to be deepened. Consequently, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the CBN has approved the sharing of part of the Federation Account allocation to the Federal Government and the State Governments in US dollars. The Local Governments are excluded in this phase. For the Central Bank, this could also provide an additional instrument for effective liquidity management as we migrate to inflation-targeting framework.The proportion of the Federation Account to be distributed in dollars will be determined from time to time, but largely dependent on the assessment of the forex market as well as the liquidity management requirements of the CBN. Both the States and Federal Government will be required to open ‘Special Domiciliary Accounts’ with commercial banks of their choice. The special account can only be accessed by monetizing the balances into Naira. In other words, the Governments cannot withdraw dollar cash but may also utilize part of their domiciliary accounts for settlement of external obligations (e.g. opening of letters of credit). From September 2007, the exchange rate that will be applied in the monetization of Federation Account as well as the ‘Special Domiciliary Accounts’ will be the inter-bank rate on that day.As the market deepens, the CBN will gradually withdraw from the WDAS, and only intervene in the market (buy or sell forex) as may be required to achieve defined policy objectives. This new policy thrust is expected to deepen the forex market, promote financial market development, and improve the degree of integration among the domestic markets and with international markets. This policy will complement the ongoing programme of allowing Nigerian banks to manage part of our external reserves in collaboration with foreign asset managers. The net effect of these will be to create and deepen capacity within our banks. All these will also provide important building blocks for the external current account convertibility and attainment of the IMF Article VIII status. The challenge here is that both the CBN and the commercial banks would have to manage the risks inherent in foreign exchange trading and deploy a sound system of monitoring foreign asset-liability matching. The CBN in particular, would need to sharpen its skills to monitor and regulate the use of domiciliary accounts in accordance with the international best practices as well as the rules and guidelines governing the anti-money laundering laws and regulations. The Governments too would need to be on top of the risk management techniques for optimal management of their portfolios.The CBN is conscious of the risks of dollarization of the economy and will take steps to avoid such. Also, we are conscious of the dangers of the Dutch Disease and hence the need to avoid the repeat of history in terms of high overvaluation of the Naira in real effective terms as happened during the 1970s until early 1980s. Non-oil exports have begun to recover and grew by 24% in 2006. Also, capital inflows have been growing rapidly and highly overvalued exchange rate would hurt these trends. More fundamentally, without a currency re-denomination/ realignment, a significant appreciation of the Naira/dollar exchange rate would lead to fiscal crisis given that much of the revenue is dollar denominated, and such appreciation would also significantly deplete our external reserves. Thus, while we deepen the forex market and effectively manage our liquidity, we would not lose focus on ensuring appropriate exchange rate regime for macroeconomic balance.
D: Current Account Liberalization/ Convertibility and Accession to Article VIII of the IMF: to commence January 1, 2009As a necessary complement to the foregoing policy initiatives, and to further deepen the integration of our financial system and economy into the global economy, we intend to embark upon full current account liberalization/ convertibility by January 1, 2009. This would entail that Nigeria eliminates all restrictions on current account transactions, and accession to Article VIII of the IMF means that the policy is not easily reversible. Out of the 185 member countries of the IMF, 167 have acceded to the Article VIII on current account convertibility. It is our belief that the conditions are right for Nigeria to now join the world league. The timing is proposed to coincide with the commencement of the inflation-targeting framework.
V: ConclusionThese measures constitute a key component of the FSS 2020 agenda: our quest to become an international financial centre and Africa’s financial hub. They will complement and deepen the ongoing financial system reforms. The conditions are now right, and despite the challenges, we are determined to ensure effective design and implementation.Furthermore, we are working towards greater transparency in the formulation and implementation of our monetary policy. A new Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will soon be reconstituted in accordance with the new CBN Act, and Minutes of the MPC shall be made public. We also intend to undertake greater public education about what we do and why we do them the way we do.Are these policies consistent with the drive towards a single currency in West Africa? Yes: Nigeria remains committed towards the ECOWAS goal. Currently, the Nigerian economy constitutes about 70 percent of the entire ECOWAS economy and accounts for about 80 percent of the total external reserves. It therefore goes without saying that if the Naira is properly aligned and can become the ‘Reference Currency’, the goal of a monetary union becomes all the more credible and sustainable. Nigeria has met all the primary convergence criteria and hopes that the other countries will do same on a sustained basis. In the meantime, Nigeria must continue to make progress.

The Effect of Naira Redomination

How The ‘Big Bang’ Will Affect YouFrom Paul Ibe in Abuja, 08.15.2007



How will the new monetary regime rolled out by the CBN yesterday affect Nigerians is the million Naira question resonating in the minds of its citizens and foreigners alike. Although the new monetary regime will be effective August 1, 2008, the days and months ahead will be crucial. A picture of how this new regime will impact on the lives of Nigerians, and how individuals, organisations and the system will respond to the challenges of this revolutionary policy will soon begin to crystallise.However, one thing is certain: the Naira will shrink, but the value will go up one thousand per cent. On August 1, 2008 all currencies and coins will change with the highest denomination of currency being N20. All prices for goods and services including those for labour and food will move two decimal points to the left. What this means is that on that date, if you go to the bank to change N50,000, you will get N500. If you earn N200,000, your salary will translate to N2,000 while your house rent of N419,000 will now be N4,190. Your plate of meal at a restaurant, which used to be N2,000 will now be priced at N20 while the N130 price tag for your favourite loaf of bread will now sell at N1.30k.A consequence of this is that the nation’s billionaires may be downgraded to millionaires, its millionaires will now occupy the ‘thounsandnaire’ spot, while the latter will now become ‘hundrednaires.’ Effectively, Nigerians will be spared the ordeal of bulky sums, which before the advent of bigger denominations have been transported via all manner of means including cartons. The new CBN policy will usher in a new regime of pricing of goods and services. By ensuring that the Naira becomes a currency of value and a currency to hold, the likely scenario is that people will stop pricing goods and services in US Dollars. Those goods and services that will be affected may include hotel room rates, house rents, airline tickets and a number of others things. An immediate impact on the forex market is a run on US Dollars, as most people in the hope of getting more value for their money will begin to trade in their US Dollars. So, in the days ahead, the Naira may begin to firm up against the US Dollars. In the new order, if you store value in US Dollars, you will certainly lose value. In the same vein people who price goods and services in US Dollars will continue to get lower quantities of Naira. But may be we should have read CBN Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo’s lips last year when he said that Naira is the currency to hold. He had made the prophetic(?) saying against the backdrop of the convergence of the parallel and the official markets.This will no doubt spell the final death knell to parallel market operators otherwise known as black market. It will no longer be profitable for them to trade in forex as the margin will not guarantee any meaningful gains. With time, CBN will gradually withdraw from its interventions in inter-bank market and proper trading in forex will evolve between banks and dealers. Because the new currency regime will be simple to exchange, simple to denominate, simple to store and above all have value, it will become a reference currency to which other currencies can be benchmarked in the African region. To this end, the dream of making the Naira the currency of the West African sub-region may yet be realised.There is no doubt that the Naira has for several years been insulated and shielded from all of these things that would have ushered a new dawn. But the realignment of the value of the Naira, the deliberate attempt to ensure its stability and convertibility would in great measure facilitate global integration.On the take off date of the new policy, the Naira will nearly be at par with the US Dollars. N1.25k will exchange for US$1. This was what the exchange rate was before the advent of the Structural Adjustment Programme. It means that in nominal terms, nothing will change, but with inflationary targeting, the Naira will gain value.But there may yet be a downside to this new monetary regime, as it concerns budgets for all tiers of government. Assuming the Naira appreciates so much against the US Dollars. The price of the nation’s crude oil, which is still a major component of its earnings, will become expensive. If the product is too expensive, buyers may be forced to source for it elsewhere. Consequently, there will be less income and less money for the Federal Government, the states and local governments to share. This situation will certainly make nonsense of their budgets. So what is the way out of this scenario: recourse to internally generated revenue (IGR) and taxation. These two elements will not be subject to the volatility of the forex market and the demand and supply of crude oil. Experience has shown that in the new world order, taxation and improved fiscal regime and not recourse to export proceeds is the way forward.The consequence of this new monetary regime on investments is that it will further attract foreign direct investments (FDI), as Nigeria will become a preferred investment destination following improved value on the Naira.

Be Your Boss

Be Your Boss

THE world has finally agreed in the words of Brian Tracy "that the primary source of value is no more land, and capital but knowledge, information and ideas." Thus, only business people with knowledge, with information and understanding will be the ones to prosper in the brave new world that has reduced the geographical boundaries lined between nations to a very chin line.
"The more one knows, the more one will be able to control events." This thought found in the works of 16th century philosopher, Francis Bacon, has never been truer than today.
Without doubt, the reasoning of Tracy and Bacon seems to be the underlying current behind the new wave of global glamour for entrepreneurship.
Generally, there appears to be, especially in developing economies of Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, a global shift towards entrepreneurship, even as large-scale entities are failing and in many instances, in an irrecoverable manner. Thus the new breed of entrepreneurs is characterised by greater vigour in turning knowledge, information or ideas into profit.
These entrepreneurs are usually young people as GEM 2005 survey revealed that people in the 25 to 34 age bracket account for the highest level of entrepreneurial activity with a significant drop in the level of activity among those under 25 and above 44 years of age. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) is a joint research initiative to study the complex relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth. By conducting a solid research across many countries in the world, GEM provided an authoritative basis for understanding the key issues involved in global entrepreneurship.
With the need for development all over the world exacerbated, therefore, logging into the new entrepreneurial spirit is very urgent and profitable. Although, the entrepreneurial process is immensely complimented, involving an endless stream of trade-offs and variables, a practical framework to guide fledging entrepreneurs through the complexities of business venturing is largely lacking, hence the need for this programme.
However, being fully aware of the huge scope of the topic, I would suggest specific areas that will push individual entrepreneurs here towards the fulfilment of their entrepreneurial initiatives and ambitions.
These include the following:
(i) Identifying entrepreneurs.
(ii) Traits of entrepreneur.
(iii) Stages of an entrepreneurial venture.
(iv) Practical guide to venturing
(v) Advise for the plunging entrepreneur.
(b) Identifying Entrepreneurs
Several attempts have been made to define entrepreneurship using several yardsticks as well as viewing it from different perspectives, honestly there is no unique definition, but what is basic is that entrepreneurs are marked by a need for achievement, a need to see something they create and a need to be masters of their destiny.
They do not like structure or control and do not work well with others. They tend to be creative and persistent hence they clash in a number of ways with factors that made a mature organisation's work.
Entrepreneurs seek to be autonomous and do something different, but mature organisations have reporting systems and controls geared towards minimising deviation.
They have a high tolerance for uncertainty, but mature organisations try to promote efficient processing of information and decision by reducing uncertainty and ambiguity.
As innovators they tend to be independent and unstructured and do not value conformity; mature organisations breed interdependence and co-ordination through structures and specialisation.
Entrepreneurs see their success as primarily a function of their energy and efforts. They seek conditions that offer individual freedom, but mainstream managers see their effectiveness as a result of their ability to work with and influence others.
While entrepreneurs look to express their ideas and their individuality, mature organisations work to ensure consistent treatment of people through policies and procedures.
Invariably, entrepreneurs do not exhibit behaviours that fit a mature organisation. The conditions for entrepreneurship are antithetic to the success of mature organisations.
(c) Traits Of An Entrepreneur
While there are several traits, one major trait at the heart of entrepreneurship is the recognition of opportunities followed by the will and initiative to seize these opportunities.
Secondly, it is also closely related value creation. Most successfully entrepreneurs are opportunity focused.
Thirdly, they are also very good observers as these normally produce unique opportunities.
Entrepreneurs also exhibit a high propensity to start new ventures and a readiness to assume risks while some people need certainty and fail to take decisions whereas several indices of success are wrapped in uncertainties. Entrepreneurs fail to evaluate risks and subdue all indices under the excitement of their innovative ideas. A year of failure does not paralyse entrepreneurs as it does other types of people. In fact, they have gambling mentality. This trait-strong risk taking nature is the most overriding consistency found in the behaviours of all entrepreneurs. The ability to bet the farm on one's belief is fundamental to successful entrepreneurshp.
Finally, there is a general consensus that most entrepreneurs posses the following traits: Inno-visionary personality; autocratic-like a king; charismatic; inspirational leader; Competitive - winning is everything; confident - awesome self-esteem; Driven - result oriented; focused Goal oriented to a fault; mpatient - intolerant of mediocrity; Intuitive - right brain mentality; passionate- psychic and libidinal energy; persistence -persevering prevails; persuasive - Pre-eminent salesperson; rebellious - defies tradition; risk-taking; gambling mentality
Stages Of An Entrepreneurial Venture
This classification is important as it will assist in understanding the topic better. There are typically three stages of organisational development: start up, growth and maturity.
Stage 1: An entrepreneur launches a start-up company by doing nearly everything, including designing the product, financing the business, lining up customers, and delivering goods. Risk is high in this stage. The organisation structure is flat. Even as the firm grows and the owner hires help, roles and responsibilities remain loosely defined. The entrepreneur plans and controls the company while he or she gradually assigns operating duties to others.
Overall, the style is one of individualism, informal relationships and close attention to market place success.
Stage II: If the start-up organisation succeeds it, it then evolves into the growth stage as the entrepreneur adds employees, equipment and control methods hence hierarchy and division of labour become pronounced. Personal relationships give way to job definitions and formal reporting systems. Management looking to gain control of the mushrooming organisation starts to rely on more formal procedures. Close contact between the owner and customers may diminish and be replaced by the introduction of more formal marketing and sales definitions. The threat of failure decreases in stage if because the organisation has acquired a stable base. Now, management's tendency to avoid risk rises, thereby leading the business toward the next stage of development.
Stage III: The mature company starts experiencing slow growth because of increasing competition or a changed environment. Growth makes necessary complex budgeting and planning systems substantial increases in staff to handle administrative and reporting requirements and the greater value of business managers strive for stability and control to improve results, therefore they focus on strengthening the planning process and control systems.
The company again tends to focus on activities rather than results, developing more layers of hierarchy which slows its decision, making process.
Prolonged maturity leads to rigidity and sometimes rigour morths. There will be serious attempts at re-enacting the past entrepreneurial drive, but too many troubles impairing implementation.
(d) Practical Guide For Entrepreneurs
The major issues for the development of the entrepreneur are attempted here.
These include:
(a.)Choosing the appropriate business.
(b.) Quick check on the business feasibility.
(c)Marketing tips for the entrepreneur.
(c)Preparation of a thorough business plan.
Recognising Business Opportunity/Idea Generation
There are several methods to generate business idea. Below are some few examples:
(c.) Identifying human need
(d.) Assess skills and goals
(e.) Navigate the market
(f.) Trendspotting
(g.) Problem identification and solving
(h.) Purchase reports
(c)Perform A Quick Check On The Chosen Idea
Ask questions on the basic areas necessary for the success of the business venture. The basic areas are:
(i.) Technical/operation analysis of the venture
(j.) Market for the venture's product
(k.) Monetary issues
(l.) Management of the enterprise.
(c) Niche Market Identification And Tips
It is necessary for the entrepreneur to distinguish itself from other businesses in a crowded market place with superior goods and services. These can be done using the following strategies:
Defining core competency
Explore the market
Choose a specific customer focus
Choose a market focus
Identify a dominant need
Turn the need into a performance-specific offer
Size up the competition
Imagine the future
b. Preparation Of A Business Plan
i. Executive Summary
ii. The service/project description and the general industry scenario
iii. The market and marketing strategy
iv. The technical analysis and requirements of the venture
v. Investment cost determination and financing
vi. Financial analysis of the venture
vii. Project implementation scheduling
viii. Conclusion.
5.Advice For The Plunging Entrepreneur
a. Prioritise carefully.
b. Harness win-win. opportunities.
c. Make every Naira count.
d. Work with your market in mind.
e. Remember that management is more important than technology.
f. Invest in partnership that works.
g. Economise on administrative and regulatory capacity.
h. Use market instruments where possible.
i. Involve employees adequately
j. Syncrhonise the business. goal with the 'environment' from the start.
k. Be not detached from your structural source.
The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, nor a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will, according to Vince Lombardi.
Being excerpt from a paper delivered by Bamiyo at the FECA Entrepreneurs Seminar organised by Eastflair Consulting at Dover Hotel, Lekki, Lagos recently.
Prepared by Thomaseun Onih.

Life is all about what u call it

Please endeavour to go through this at your leisure time Its long but its worth the time.Got it from a friend.It helps us appreciate the fact that life is a gift and the best we can put back into it is to try and touch the lives of the everyday people we most times ignore.
Be Inspired to touch a life today

This is from a column (Segun Adeniyi) in one of the Nigerian dailies (This Day, March 3rd or so, 2006). I just feel like sharing it. I first read the story of the girl back in 2004.


Dear bro. Segun, good morning. Please it is only from you I can seek for this help. Please, I want to tell you that my mum is not feeling fine so I need your help. Even before I was coming to church this morning she had not taken anything because there is nothing with us, no money and no food. So I tried to tell her that I will inform you, may be you can help us for some money, so we can use to manage for her health. God bless you as you help, it's me (name withheld).
Given the state of the economy that has turned many otherwise respectable people into beggars, we all, from time to time, recieve these kinds of letters from friends, relations and sometimes the next-door neighbour. Of course, most often, the situation is not as grim as it is being painted. But the fact that someone would beg depicts a certain level of deprivation though one is also mindful of the fact that begging has become an industry in Lagos. That explains why when I received the foregoing letter in Church last Sunday morning, I tried to ask the brother who brought it to identify the sender. He pointed in the direction of about six well-dressed teenage girls and I concluded it must be one of those letters since none of the people I saw could have been going through the situation so described in the letter.The particular girl he pointed at happened to be active in church and she looked anything but hungry so I concluded that she probably needed money to buy GSM recharge card. By the way, buying a recharge card has become such a heavy burden for ladies nowadays that no lie is considered too big just to get 'credit'. Well, I called a friend's wife, Mrs. Ronke Kayode, to discuss with the girl to find out what her real problem was and I soon forgot about it. A disciplinarian, Mrs. Kayode detailed three men to follow the girl home to pray for the 'sick mother' and to take some money along just in case the tale happened to be true. By the time they came back, however, the reality hit us hard that we are really in trouble in this country.The home of this girl happened to be a dingy face-me-I-face-you room she shares with her mother and three other siblings in a part of Yaba generally regarded as a slum. The brothers who went said they could not stay beyond ten minutes in the place because they were almost suffocating in the room reeking with indescribable odour of poverty. The mother was indeed sick and she and her four children, including the girl, actually had nothing to eat. Having been abandoned by her husband, father of the children, she sells what they call 'paraga' (dry gin usually sold to local touts). The girl herself finished secondary school a year ago and without any prospect of further education, she has been looking for a job that is not there.I have had to worry about that girl since Sunday because if she could be facing that type of ordeal with the facade of all-is-well I see around her all the time, I wonder how many young people in our country today go about hungry and helpless. Yet from what we can see now, things can only get worse as real income shrinks against a rising population. This should be a serious challenge for all of us. Because if, for instance, a girl had not eaten and there was no prospect of how her family would feed, then chances are high that she would use what 'she has' to get what she needs. None should therefore wonder why prostitution has almost become a compulsory course on our campuses. Whether we want to admit it or not, there must be a nexus between the level of moral decay in the society and the seeming hopelessness of many of our young people. What makes our situation particularly sad is that young people are the hardest hit by poverty because it destroys the potentials for their physical, mental and intellectual development, all of which have terrible consequences for the future, especially when it is agreed that if a child's growth and development is stunted by poverty, this often becomes a lifelong handicap. And with poverty in many Nigerian homes today, what really does the future hold for us as a nation?...
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When I wrote the foregoing lengthy piece on July 22, 2004, in my column titled My Mum is Sick and There's No Food..., I did it not to seek charity for the girl whose story I used to illustrate the message but rather to draw attention to the level of poverty within our society and to arouse the conscience of those in authority. My contention was, and still is, that most Nigerians see money and power as end in themselves and not as means to advance the development of the people. Incidentally, while the message was lost on those for whom it was meant, some people were touched by the story of the girl that they volunteered to help. Mr. Akin Malaolu invited me to his office and gave N20,000. My friend, Usman Umar, leveraged his position at MTN to secure for her a job that would have fetched N20,000 a month, so she could at least help to put food on the family table. But while it was still being processed, the JAMB result came out and the girl scored 259 marks, high enough a grade to get her admission into the University of Port Harcourt.I spoke to the Speaker of the River State House Assembly, Hon Rotimi Amaechi, on the possibility of his intervention in the girl’s education and he said I should remind him at the next meeting of the National Stakeholder Working Group of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) of which we are both members. Amaechi is a progressive-minded politician with a social conscience and my interactions with him in the last two years have reinforced my belief that there are indeed good people in government. Even while domiciled in Port Harcourt, he has been very active in NEITI work whereas his colleagues in National Assembly who reside in Abuja have not shown as much commitment.My plan was to persuade Amaechi to get the state government to take up the responsibility for the girl's education as an indigene. While he was, however, ready to help, it turned out that the girl actually hailed from Bayelsa state and that door closed. But notwithstanding, he still gave me N100,000 for her mother to start some little business while promising N50,000 for the girl, a promise he kept. But having decided that the Teens Unit of my church which I head would take up the education of the girl, I asked Amaechi whether he would be ready to support me financially if I needed assistance while the girl was in school and he answered in the affirmative. Meanwhile, I brought the money he gave me to church and handed over to my pastor (Niyi Ajibola) who detailed another pastor, Gbenga Olanlokun, to liaise with the girl's mother who became a member of the church and was thereafter being cared for by the parish. Meanwhile, the girl went to register at the University of Port-Harcourt and she also began a new life. A few weeks in school, however, she called me frantically that she gathered her mother was terribly sick and wanted to come home. She did and money was provided for her to take her mother to the hospital. The next day she came to my office crying. Her mother had been diagnosed as HIV positive. I was not surprised because given to the woman’s physical condition, it was almost too glaring she had full-blown AIDS. In all these troubles, I always marveled at the girl’s strength with the enormous burden she had to shoulder at age 18. With the development concerning her mother's health, Pastor Niyi had to detail a pleasant mother of another teenager, Mrs. Bunmi Utomi, as the woman's guardian and she was rather wonderful in the ways she related with the woman who, perhaps for a long time in her life, saw love. Her condition, however, taught me several lessons about life and in all my interactions with her, I was always conscious of the fact that she had but a short time to live.Of course, no one is sure whether he or she would live long or would die young but in her own case, long life was already out of the question. Eventually, last November, she succumbed to death. This was a fatal blow but the girl took it very stoically when she came from school. Fortunately, my Head of Department, Mrs. Folake Fajemisin of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), took a special interest in her and had become more of a mother to her.I most often reflected on the life of the girl with imagination that she would end up a success story, someone whose tale would inspire many young people that notwithstanding the hard knuckles of life, one could rise above adversity to become something. I had this conviction because even as young as she was, she already had an understanding of what it meant to bear her misfortune with exemplary grace. To me it was good that she could still dream and I was happy to be part of the story. I just felt that she was coming from a background of sheer hopelessness, the kind most of us see around us everyday now. I believe without any iota of doubt that a girl like that had a story to tell in future. You can then imagine my shock last Friday when my pastor called to say that he had bad news from the University of Port Harcourt: The girl and another student as well as the okada rider carrying them were all crushed to death by a trailer!At the time the news was broken to me, I was with my aged parents in Ilorin and when I broke down in tears they were quite naturally alarmed. After I had narrated the pathetic story, wondering why such calamity could befall such a girl, my mother, in trying to calm me down, said: "You are reacting like that because you are a small boy. If you live long enough, as we have, you will see more of such mysteries..."For almost an hour, I listened to an unsolicited sermon about life but that still did not take away the fact that a sudden, unexpected death like the girl's is usually harder to accept than an anticipated death for which we have had time to prepare. The circumstance of her death, which is rather cheap, also greatly complicates the grieving process. That perhaps explains why the last few days have for me been a rather sobering period because when an elderly person close to you dies, it is said that you lose a part of yesterday; but when you lose a young person for whom you cared, you lose a lot of tomorrow. The death of the girl has brought to me the futility of life and all our daily struggles. She obviously had dreams, having suffered deprivation through no fault of hers beyond the accident of birth. But then, we also had dreams for her, thinking of the endless possibilities of what she could do for her other siblings and perhaps even her run-away father. But all of these turned out as mere vanity of human wishes. Expectedly, it was an emotional period for all my teenagers in church last Sunday when the news was broken. Tears flowed freely but there was nothing we could do. The reality though is that whether we are young or old, poor or rich, powerful or powerless, beautiful or ugly, we would all answer the call of death at one unknown point in time. Death is, however, one thing people hardly want to talk about, even those of us who preoccupy our minds with making heaven. Yet, a reflection about death, which remains the most significant but often unconsidered variable in the cold calculations of those whose minds are forever fixated on acquiring ill-gotten wealth or perpetuating themselves in power, would help. Because it brings home the reality that there are situations for which we have no control. For the first time in years, I have in the last one week closed my mind to the happenings around me: The anti-democratic antics of Ibrahim Mantu and his third term orchestra, the roforofo Senate fight between Taliban Sule Yari Gandhi and Militant Lee Maeba, the rising political tension and the intermittent telephone calls from the Niger Delta MEND hostage takers. The loss of the girl at such a tender age and in that gruesome manner has indeed brought home the message in the poem by an anonymous author. I commend it to readers as I bid goodnight to Justina:
The clock of life is wound but once,And no man has the power,To tell just when the hands will stop,on what day or what hour.
Now is the only time you have,So live it with a will,Don't wait until tomorrow,The hands may then be still.

Neva giv up

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for GOD to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.
Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions.
One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger.
"GOD, how could you do this to me?" he cried.
Early the next day he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. "How did you know I was here?" Asked the weary man of his rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied.
It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because GOD is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain, and suffering.
Remember that, the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground; it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of GOD.
You May Want To Consider Passing This On, because You Never Know who Feels Like Their Hut Is On Fire Today.
Man says that seeing is believing, but God says that believing is seeing.

Digital world

The onus of bridging the digital divide between the developed and the under-developed nations lies on both the private and the public sectors of the economy. In the past, computer was perceived as a kind of television meant for only the affluent and beyond the reach of the poor.

But the world has been reduced to a global village and the removal of geographical boundaries by information and communications technology also complements not only the relevance but also the importance of computers to economic growth of any nation and relevance in the comity of nations.

In an effort to comply with the United Nations’ objective of ensuring that computer is available for at least 80 per cent of the world’s population by 2015 and the move towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, both the public and private sector operators in Nigeria have also taken the lead in ensuring that more people have access as well as own computer.

The Federal Government has tapped into the opportunity provided by a United States-based non-profit organisation to manufacture and distribute about 10million computers to seven countries, namely, China, India, Brazil, Nigeria, Egypt, Thailand and Argentina.

Under the One Laptop Per Child Project, a laptop, which is expected to cost $100, would be designed to give one million Nigerian children of primary school age access to knowledge, educational tools and bridge the digital divide between the rich and poor countries.

The government will buy the machines and distribute them free to students under the pilot project expected to take-off in the first quarter of 2007. The project is now enjoying the backing of the United Nations Development Programme.

Speaking recently on the project, the Project Director, Prof. Nicholas Negroponte, said that given the fact that a great proportion of the target populations were children of the rural poor, the laptops would be designed to be rugged, very fast and consume low power, adding, “The $100 laptop is an inexpensive, robust computer, with open-source software and a very low power consumption. It can also be powered by handcranking.”

Early this year, the Federal Government announced reduction in tariff on imported used computers to allow more Nigerians to own computers.

Organisations such as Zinox, Omatek, Hewlett Packard Nigeria, NetnearU and individual initiatives, including the collaborations between Chief Tunde Fanimokun and SchoolNetGlobal, also put in place various projects to ensure that more Nigerians have access as well as own computers.

HP initiated the “With out Worry” to help Nigerians own laptops with ease. HP initiated the project in partnership with other organisations, which directly sell to end-users. Under the WoW, people have the opportunity to pay for an N series of HP notebook over a period of 24 months.

The Marketing Consultant of HP Nigeria Limited, Ijeoma Onyuike, told THE PUNCH on Tuesday, that even though HP do not sell to the end-users directly, the system would allow Nigerians to own computer without stress. She added, “This is an opportunity that Nigerians should tap into, to bridge digital divides and enhance the nation’s technological advancement by acquiring modern knowledge available in other parts of the world, especially the developed countries, through the Internet.”

Zinox, an indigenous computer company, put in place the “Computerise Nigeria Project, which gives working Nigerians opportunity to own computers very cheaply. The scheme provides for workers to pay for notebook and desktop computers under an agreed format through their organisations.

NetnearU recently unfolded a project, where Nigerians could own computers, paying as little as N20,000 monthly, with a warranty of two years. This was done in collaboration with HP, Zinox, Microsoft, Intel and some financial institutions, such as Ecobank Nigeria Plc, among others.

The Chief Executive Officer of NetnearU, Mr. Kaycee Kennedy, at the roll out of 300 new wireless fidelity hotspots, told our correspondent that his organisation’s agreement with Intel takes care of provision of hardware solutions that address the challenges faced in the deployment of personal computers in Nigeria, such as affordability and use in the rural areas.

He said Intel explored further opportunities to collaborate with NetnearU on the digital inclusion initiatives, such as Computer for All Nigerians Initiative, WoW and rural connectivity

She died and rose after eight hours
Umuahia Wednesday, April 26, 2006


• Evangelist Oluchi Precious KanuPhoto: Sun News Publishing

Ever heard of a mortal who rose from death? That’s what happened when Evangelist Oluchi Precious Kanu lay dead for eight hours only to wake up later.Indeed, the story of the 20-year-old evangelist is as thrilling as it is interesting. She told Daily Sun her story."I started serving God in the year 1997, though I answered His call in 2004. My dream had always been to read Law. I was working hard academically for it. It never occurred to me that God had other plans for me."I was in a dream one day when a man came to me. In this dream, I was holding a dictionary. The man collected the dictionary from me and gave me a Bible. I never knew what this meant when I woke up. I entered for WAEC examination. The day I was sitting for Mathematics, God appeared to me and asked me to use the money I had ear- marked for NECO examination for a crusade.“I asked myself how a little person like me could do that. I told God that this was not possible”.“After the WAEC examination, I was lying on a sofa when God spoke to me again, telling me that Friday of that week was a day of competition between Him and I, and that whoever won the other would serve. "On that Friday, I was lying down when I passed out. People started crying that I had died. They did everything to revive me to no avail. I laid down there for eight hours and when they felt that I was dead, they sent somebody to go to the village and call my father. Before the person could leave for Uzuakoli, I woke up and there was jubilation everywhere. In that "death" state, God took me to a big hall and stood me on an altar. I saw more than 100 ministers of God in that place. It was a big cathedral and the altar covered half of the auditorium. I mounted the altar and started preaching to the ministers."God told me that unless I agree to go and do so in the land of the living, He would not allow me to go back. I then agreed to come back and work for Him. This lasted for eight hours, under which people thought I had died."How did I know that it was God? When He came, He told me that He was the elder with grey hair who never grew old. Then he started growing up and I saw only his legs and he kept growing until I did not see him again."When I did not do the crusade he directed me to do, I was afflicted with stroke and for a period of six months, I was bed-ridden. I decided to do the crusade which he demanded. In that crusade. I was holding a microphone with one hand and before I could finish, I was completed healed. "God opened my eyes and exposed many evil doers in my community and I know them. He asked me to call their names, which I did. It was during her crusade that the revolution by the youths of Uzuakoli to wage war against witches and wizards erupted in which over 30 unrepentant witches and wizards were banished from the villages."Sometimes, when I finish ministration, people would tell me what I said. I tell them to write down what I say during preaching. I am just a vessel through which God does his work. I am not the miracle worker.

wonders

Purdue grad student arrested for Internet threats

Vikram Buddhi, a 34 year old grad student and teaching assistant is in federal custody.
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HEADLINES David MacAnally/Eyewitness News
West Lafayette, April 17 - The Purdue University community is shocked over the arrest of a teaching assistant for making threats against President Bush and other national leaders.
Vikram Buddhi, 34, is charged with making threats in an online Yahoo chat room that landed him in federal custody.
The Purdue students Eyewitness News spoke with couldn't believe it. "He is a nice guy and helped my friend to move," said one student. Another said she didn't believe the charges "because he is such a nice person."
Commments on a Yahoo chat site were allegedly traced back to Buddhi's computer at Purdue.Among the messages attibuted to him: "Call for assassination of G.W. Bush.," "Go Iraqis," "Kill Bush," "Rape, kill Laura Bush," Kill Cheney, white fat pig," "Rumsfeld: old geezer crook," and "Kill Republicans."
Buddhi allegedly urged people to target key sites like nuclear power plants.
Eyewitness News asked another student if that sounded like Buddhi. "I don't think so. I don't see him as the kind of person that would do this."
Buddhi is still in custody. He has nutritional supplies placed at his door waiting for him. He lives in grad and undergrad campus apartments on the edge of campus with a roomate. No one Eyewitness News met got to know him there.
His lawyer said their neighbor was just exercising his free speech rights and didn't intent to act. His neighbor did come to his defense.
"Obviously there are a lot of opinions like internationally. I think threats on an internet chat room don't have a lot of validity."
A web surfer in Texas spotted the message and contacted the Secret Service. Buddhi could face disciplinary action at Purdue.Three years ago Buddhi was recognized as an outstanding graduate teaching assistant.

Wonders shall never end

efcc: The arrest of Manira
6th February


Have you heard that Manira Haruna Dariye has been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission? This, I shamefully confess, is not the first time the EFCC has arrested anyone and therefore it ought not to be news. But, quite unfortunately, it is news all the same because Manira is a newborn baby who, if you were to put the money allegedly laundered by her Uncle Joshua Dariye in her tiny hands, she would try to chew it thinking it were food. But whether she could tell the difference between money and bread is immaterial as little Manira is as much under arrest as if she could tell the difference between her right hand and her left.
It is Manira’s enviable fortune to get arrested so early in life so that she would learn later in her formative years that justice does not roll down the high plateaus of Jos like a mighty stream, nor does it cover the heightening rocks of Abuja like a harmattan fog. It should do her a lot of good because suffering breeds patience and patience breeds character and character breeds honesty. And honesty, according to conventional wisdom, pays – though it does not seem to pay enough to satisfy the Alamesieyeghas, Baloguns, Dariyes, Wabaras and Osujis of this world.
According to media reports, the EFCC had gone to arrest the younger brother of the embattled Governor Joshua Dariye of Plateau State, Mr Haruna Dariye. Not finding the man they decided to arrest his wife? Which action, I figure, the EFCC could justify by sanctimoniously quoting the fact that the Good Book and conventional wisdom declare that the two (the man and his wife) shall become one. And since little Manira had just been born she had to be arrested alongside her mother to also prove to Nigerians at home and abroad that the sins of fathers shall be visited on their children (even to the third generation) by the all powerful EFCC.
Press accounts of the incident of the arrest of Manira have left the facts a little murky. There clearly was a fight and some men (including EFCC officials) were injured. One account even has it that an EFCC man was abducted. Manira could not have joined in the fight and she could not have cared a wee little bit about it. She would have been crying in her cot over all the noise, and desirous of being breast-fed. But she, poor child born at the "wrong" time to the "wrong" couple, deserved to be arrested because the daughter of a lion would eventually become a lioness, and the daughter of a Dariye would ultimately become a Dariye – that is if EFCC does nothing about it in the national interest. So they picked her up to keep her under their watchful eyes and see how by careful genetics engineering they can kill the Dariye genes and turn her into a Ribadu or better still, Obasanjo, and thereby make the world a better and safer place for you and me.
Uninformed people could argue that in civilised societies you do not arrest a woman or a baby for the sins (or if you prefer, the crimes) of her husband or father. You could even refer to the Good Book which posits that no more shall it be said in Israel that the fathers’ have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But this is not Israel, so if a father eats sour grapes his children should begin to worry about their teeth being set on edge. Though the whole problem here is that Manira has no teeth to be set on edge, and as such should have been given time to grow something which could be set on edge before her arrest.
You could argue that babies ought to be spared arrest in the macrabre drama of money laundering and sundry financial crimes committed by the high and mighty in our land. That, I suppose, is a position informed by the fact that you were once a baby. I sympathise with you. Well, if you must know, folks like us (EFCC officials and me) were born as adults. We were never babies and we do not know why a baby should be innocent of the father’s misdemeanor. Ribadu, I have it on good authority, was solving mathematical puzzles before he was born and the day he was born he looked the doctor straight in the face and said "Decent conduct demands that you do not look at a naked man who has just come out of the womb. You can leave now Mr Man, I can take care of myself from here." You who were once babies hold babies in high esteem, eh? That is okay, but not folks like us (Ribadu and me) who missed this metamorphic stage of mankind’s existence.
So… this is partly why EFCC does not have compunctions about the moral imperatives of right and wrong in arresting a baby. To them Nigeria is made up of two kinds of people – thieves and the President’s men and women. And they know for a certain that the son or daughter of a thief is either a thief or a thief in the making. They are not concerned with civil liberties and civil rights – they would rather leave such distracting matters to the Ganis of this world and focus on catching thieves through using avowedly McCarthyist methods.
Of course lately the EFCC’s operational methods have reminded one of McCarthyism. The word McCarthyism is derived from the activities of United States Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy (1908-1957). During the cold war, Senator McCarthy - one of the most patriotic Americans who ever lived and a man who left his office as a circuit judge to fight for his country during World War 11 - headed the House Committee on Un-American Activities. He waged an obsessed and paranoid campaign against communists and members of the American Communist Party. His methods left a lot to be desired but he capitalised on the paranoia of Americans for communism and got away with his unorthodox methods for a time. Much later moderates put paid to his unwholesome hounding methods and his only ignominious legacy is the contribution of the word McCarthysm to the English language. This word according to Encarta Dictionary means the practice of using unsubstantiated accusations or unfair methods of investigation to discredit people. One may not accuse the EFCC of using unsubstantiated accusations to hound its quarries, but you can sure accuse them of using unfair methods in their investigations.
The same mistake Joseph McCarthy made is being made by EFCC. It is a mistake captured perfectly a couple of millenniums ago by the Roman orator and statesman, Cicero (106 - 43 BC) when he said "extreme justice is extreme injustice." But these are not the best of times to pontificate on the need for the respect of citizenship rights by the commission in its fight against endemic corruption in high places in the nation. As a matter of fact, you lose your citizenship right at the moment the EFCC’s torch swings in your direction.
As a point of fact, forceful arrest in the kind of case involving Governor Dariye is supposed to be effected in a situation where a citizen ignores a summon or an invitation to appear before a competent investigative body or judicial panel. We have not been told that Manira had such an invitation extended to her, nor did her mother receive such an invitation. Newspaper reports have not also said whether Haruna, Manira’s father received his invitation before the swoop on his house while he was (by his own account) in Gombe. EFCC believes in shooting first and estimating the damage after.
But let’s not digress further, let us consider the question of what should be done to Manira. I suggest she should be found guilty immediately of being born at the wrong time, to the wrong man, who married the wrong woman, and lived in the wrong house and had a wrong brother, who became the wrong governor of a wrong mountainous state named after a plateau. And do note that a plateau is defined in one of its entries as "a phase of stagnation: a phase in mental or physical development during which little headway is made." Let us convict her of not having the common sense and moral rectitude to decline to suck breasts assisted with laundered and embezzled funds. Since the father used laundered money to marry her mother and nurtured her with this same money when she was pregnant, the baby should have known better than to be born to such a couple and would have elected to be born to my wife who is interested in a ‘third’ child. As a matter of fact she is an accomplice after the fact of crime and a potential key prosecution witness. Meanwhile, I suggest her name be changed from Manira to Ma-Naira or better still, Ma-Nigeria.
But if this is not all right by Ribadu, I would simply suggest that he should keep the baby and throw away the bath water.