The Happiness Assesment

Nigeria has fallen in the Gallup polls happiness assesment

Reengineer Nigeria?

A lot of people seem distraught with the results of our recent elections; the air is filled with angst and discontent. Some of them are even suggesting an interim government; others have resigned to the dark clouds of doom they perceive is hovering over this country. But I disagree with these people not because there is no sense in their perspectives but because l am naturally one of those people who prefers the path of least resistance to my destination. I believe growth and progress is better lf it is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Change is desired but abrupt change might bring along a crisis that can take too much from us.

I'll want to capture the cries of these people in two words: reengineer Nigeria. Reengineering is a business jargon that has to do with changing the way a business is done or ran. It comes with words like "fundamental,", "radical" and "change.'' reengineering attempt to change status quo by dealing with fundamental issues in a situation and then proffering solutions that will likely send an organization in a 90 degrees change in direction to its promise land. Sometimes the sharp turn may end in a crash, other times it proves successful but in both cases the people always bear the pains and the trauma may last longer than the benefit of the change.

Should Nigeria be a reengineered? I say a big NO. Let's keep trudging on the evolutionary path. It might be a motion at a snail-pace and relatively, to some embittered people, it is no motion at all. If only we could put things in perspectives we will see that we are no more where we use to be, we have moved forward even if it’s by an inch. No matter the flaws in the last elections we should be glad that democracy continues even if blighted by imperfections

A piece of the global cake.

A piece of the global cake.

Some say it might be a herd trend, but the executives believe is a strategic step in search of cost efficiency but the bottomline is that a sumptous cake is being baked in global outsourcing and IT services businesses and the countries in the emerging market are at the other side of the table to enjoy the billions of dollars that are being doled out. India has taken the lead in the grub with muscling first mover advantage. China is also close behind. But they did not shut the door behind them and there is still large chunk of the growing cake for late-comers.

So is there a place for Nigeria with everybody focussed on dwindling national cake? Can there be an attempt to reach for the more sumptous global cake?
I believe there is a place for Nigeria because we have the resources that can give us national advantage to be a player in this booming industry. But why have we not started up something? I believe, amongst other things, it's false confidence in oil that has blinded us from exploiting other means of earning foreign currency (but the sad fact is that oil can not sustain our future.)

Beside this, india success in the global outsourcing and IT services industry has been championed by entrepreneurs like Nandan Nilekani of Infosys and cloning such success in Nigeria must begin with technology-obsessed entrepreneurs who are "die-hardly" determined to explore the global information technology terrain leveraging on globalisation and harnessing our human resources to deliver a niche service to global companies. The service must be cheap and of international quality.

There are so many reasons this might not be achievable especially the infrastructural state in the home front. So I believe the environment was not not conducive for them in India when they started. It took men that had vision-powered Will to break through into the level of success they have now. And besides, opportunities opened by globalisation has made the playing pitch so flat enough that no player can be considered to be disadvantaged enough not to get into the game.

I believe the future GDP growth of Nigeria will be driven more by service exported that any other thing. I also believe internet and telecommunications technology exploitation can be a great source of future prosperity in Nigeria. So let's build our own Bangalore now. Let's build our technology parks and campuses and invariably we will be building our future prosperity and guarranteeing our chunk of the global Billion-dollar cake.

Naija go beta

Are we suffering from "analysis paralysis" in Nigeria? Everyone seem to have a theory on why things seem not to be perfect but not too many tends to point to the way to utopia (may be it's because they are so consumed in the fire of woe-mongering that they can not see that there can be a leeway out of their self-professed doom.)

A lot of people I know can burn excessive energy explaining the nightmares they are experiencing as Nigerians yet can not whisper a sentence on what should be the new Nigeria dream. The bitterness, the anger and the "finger-pointing" gestures has sapped their strength to dream a new Nigeria and weaken the will to birth this dream.

We know the situation in Nigeria isn't perfect but we can't spend the rest of our lives playing the broken records and wallowing in our bitter complaints- we have to move on!

I do not mean moving on into a new location that fits our escapist ideals (as many Nigerians you find queuing for Visa at many embassies are trying to) but to move on beyond the hopelessness we have conceded to today into a new vision for tomorrow. Let’s begin to move ahead through the thorny jungle we are surrounded with with a course through to a greater and better Nigeria charted in our heart. We can't give up (it is not an option) and we can't remain still, paralysed by pessimistic perspectives of our realities (no way!).

Let's gather our wills together. Let's change our outlooks. It begins with you and l.

Things are looking up...

Have you been catching the business headlines lately, then you should know that millions of dollars are finding their way into Nigeria economy? The banking industry is funneling foreign moneys into Nigeria and I am so glad about this for two reasons: Firstly, foreign investors are putting faith in our economy (imagine this- while some people I call the pessimistic lots are still crying of hopelessness.) and secondly, the financial sector with good enough cash in their boot will help drive the economy to another level.
I know the latter point is not an easy thing and it is premised on the belief that the banks will not be over-driven by greed disguised by profit motive or the corporate cliché of maximizing shareholders' value (same reasoning that has been bane of SME funds reserved in their kitty) and will not fail to play their part in bettering Nigeria economy.NSE

Really, things are looking up. The NSE is growing deeper with over 40% increase in market capitalization in few months and with market index recalcitrant, l mean, not reacting to the political situation in the country too badly. I believe it is a reflection of investor unshaken confidence that things are looking up.

Some people with attention fixated on power situation and infrastructural deficiencies may see gloom in the horizon but I am of the bandwagon sold out to economic vision 20 by year 2020 and Chukwuma Soludo's dreams of making Lagos the financial hub of African businesses. Indeed things are looking up!

Things are changing...

Sometimes change does not come like an earthquake, flagrant and disruptive. It rather creeps in on us, quietly; Most of the time, while we are focused, brimming with pessimism, on the not too palatable situations around us.

Despite the nagging all over, anybody who looked deep into the darkness of tunnel will see streaks of light, even if they are so tiny, almost microscopic. Things are changing in Nigeria and we must open our eyes to see. We need to stop celebrating the darkness: the fact that there is still poverty and stunted socio-political growth as highlighted by the UNDP human development index and even as obvious around us.

I've heard so much of the developed nations. I've seen stuffs in movies that kept my mouth agape with a reverberating "wow." I've always wondered about the reality of such things in Nigeria and had always admitted that to enjoy such stuffs you must jet out of this country. But this has been proven wrong because such stuffs are now realities around here.

Imagine hours and hours of free calls, browsing the internet on your phones and in your house, and flashing money with your mobile phones. Just imagine that you don’t need to carry cash anywhere as long as you have your plastic ATM card you are good. You can buy on the internet with this same ATM card (thanks to Inters witch).

These all may seem superficial and you may be so convinced that these do not affect the fundamentals of development as it does not put food on the table of a hungry man and his starving family living under the Oshodi Bridge. These may be true but it does not change the fact that things are looking up for us in this country and it is just a matter of time before it permeates into the nook and cranny of our socio-economic strata.

I believe what we should begin to do is to celebrate this tottering steps of a new Nigeria rather than mocking failures of the giants who is not making great strides. We should adjust our lenses and begin to see a new Nigeria emerging from heart of the old, craggy one. We should hold out our hands wide and embrace this change, with the enthusiasm fueled by hope in our collective tomorrow as a nation. We should put our hands on the oar and ensure this journey of change reached its destination.