time to work
STALLION HOUSE
I dont know about other people but on Fridays I feel both drained and exhilarated. Its a sense of having accomplished your bit, but exhausted enough to just go find quiet someplace.
Last Friday, as I trudged towards the bus stop I looked up at Stallion House (sited just at the entrance into Ajose Adeogun) and really took in the very visible building. I observed its towering height, its pinnacle to one side seemed like the control centre of an airport terminal. Appreciation for the building imbued a respect for the work that went into bringing it about. I thought of the surveyors that readied the land, the urban planners, the building engineers and architects who conceived and crafted the building design. All these were needed to bring about the reality that housed corporate giants as Ecobank (found in all West Africa) and Oando (an energy firm dual-listed on both the Nigerian and Johannesburg stock exchanges). They planned that building and worked to plant it on the earth's surface, unleashing splendour and value.
Just having a view of all this made me have an awareness of the LONG HOURS architects put into their work. Back in school, architectural students continue nights and weekends producing building plans. It dawned that such marvel as Stallion House would be impossible without the care, diligence and precision these workmen devote into their duties. Creating stunning architectural pieces demand nothing less than accuracy of every line, every dot on that drawing board. They are focused and UNHURRIED as they inch their way step by step to a complete view of a masterpiece.
That contemplation birthed a desire to adapt the same principles to my own living practice. Friday night, tired and exhausted but a resolution formed inside me to take a large chunk of the following day to pursue the software project I have been on for months without success. I made a decision to deploy unhurried TIME to the problem as do architects, researchers, accountants and others.
I decided time is the sacrifice for novelty, anything strong and noteworthy. When it came time to act out my resolve it was trying. It didnt come easy neither early. As a matter of fact, it was around 11pm on Saturday having worked and strained all afternoon that a table displayed on the laptop screen displaying entries from a database.
Not easy, neither fast nor cheap but it works. And worthwhile!!
We still have values
Morning rush hour is a period when everyone descends to the level of "area boys" in a bid to catch a bus to work. Against this backdrop, it was refreshing to see a display of normalcy today. I was seated already when the maddening crowd lunged for the bus (as if I'm not part of the system, my eyes in a reflex action turns away at the violence with which buses are boarded). Now , this lady and this guy having entered had to contend for the one available seat as it turned out. It was the bus conductor that started it, he said "you no go let the woman sit down?"The guy who was more advantaged to take the seat shifted back to "hang" until some people get off at the next stop some 200 metres away at Mile 2. The lady graciously and gratefully took the seat.
It was assuring to know that the rush and the throwing away of decency and human dignity on display everyday was not really us. Neither a culture we have unreservedly embraced but inside people there is still that place for propriety, fairness and rightness.
The power of goodwill
"If I get money, na Zenith I go put am,"says the bike rider taking me back to the office as we negotiated the Ajose Adeogun Roudabout. The conversation began with his comment about the beauty and good aesthetics put on display at the Roundabout construction. I went ahead to inform him that the bank was the one undertaking the road construction. The Okada man was so surprised, he asked whether it really was not the government undertaking the road project. I confirmed to him that its Zenith Bank doing all that was going on at a cost of three hundred million naira. His response was what I qoted above. It set me thinking what massive goodwill the bank has garnered by this singuar undertaking among the elite seeing already what the lower classes think straight from the mouth of my Okada friend. And as we know, busineses flow more through relationships and goodwill than all the other factors put together.
Dance to the rhythm
music is lifeThe structure of our lives is a product of both decisions and discoveries we make about ourselves. The component of our choices is also bilateral. It consists of both mind and emotion. We come to conclusions and determine our courses in life, business and relationships on the basis of careful thought and logical deductions. However, anyone will agree that reasoning only forms part of our basis. The rest portion is made up of feeling, perception and intuition.
I'll just give a few examples before wrapping up with the follow-up to this idea.
Ndi-Onyike Okereke, DG, Nigerian Stock Exchange while commenting on the on-going public offer of Intercontinental Bank Plc stated that the investing public buys into a company based on their perception of that company and of course, the company's performance. Its striking that she noted the perception part even before the performance as measured by the financial fundamentals and profitability of the company. Makes much sense then that organisations devote mega resources to creating and maintaining strong brands. Only in that light of perception making or marring the destiny of organisations could te huge monies put into adveritsements, PR and corporate image be justifiable.
Another example that stirred me in recent time, still in the public-offer fray, is Standard Alliance Insurance Plc where I happen to work currently. In selling the share, it occurred to me that the staff just ask potential investors to support the company by buying its stock. Hardly any mention is made of the pay-off to the investor based on the previous and projected performance of the company. It follows then that the success of the offer will be based on relationships--investors willingness to exercise goodwill to the benefit of this establishment.
So, I was thinking what concept to adopt in capturing and conveying this mind-emotion synergy in dictating human directions and outcome. I hit a brickwall until walking by a shop playing soulful melodies in my neighbourhood after a day's tiring work, my mind made a connection. Music. Music is Words set to a rhythm. Rhythm proceed from the heart and soothes the emotion. Words derives from thoughts, conveys our reasoning. Music is where both are expressed harmoniously to stimulate that beauty people deeply desire from life.
See, music is life!!
p.s: i started to think about decisions while musing the frustration of loving. I love her, she doesnt want me cos there's another person, whom ironically may not want her. So, I was wishing she would only understand that its about making decisions. I liked this person but opening my heart was a decision for me and by no means automatic. Will some1 make feyi see that to love and feel passionately about another is a choice we ALLOW our heart to make.
Dance to the rhythm
music is lifeThe structure of our lives is a product of both decisions and discoveries we make about ourselves. The component of our choices is also bilateral. It consists of both mind and emotion. We come to conclusions and determine our courses in life, business and relationships on the basis of careful thought and logical deductions. However, anyone will agree that reasoning only forms part of our basis. The rest portion is made up of feeling, perception and intuition.
I'll just give a few examples before wrapping up with the follow-up to this idea.
Ndi-Onyike Okereke, DG, Nigerian Stock Exchange while commenting on the on-going public offer of Intercontinental Bank Plc stated that the investing public buys into a company based on their perception of that company and of course, the company's performance. Its striking that she noted the perception part even before the performance as measured by the financial fundamentals and profitability of the company. Makes much sense then that organisations devote mega resources to creating and maintaining strong brands. Only in that light of perception making or marring the destiny of organisations could te huge monies put into adveritsements, PR and corporate image be justifiable.
Another example that stirred me in recent time, still in the public-offer fray, is Standard Alliance Insurance Plc where I happen to work currently. In selling the share, it occurred to me that the staff just ask potential investors to support the company by buying its stock. Hardly any mention is made of the pay-off to the investor based on the previous and projected performance of the company. It follows then that the success of the offer will be based on relationships--investors willingness to exercise goodwill to the benefit of this establishment.
So, I was thinking what concept to adopt in capturing and conveying this mind-emotion synergy in dictating human directions and outcome. I hit a brickwall until walking by a shop playing soulful melodies in my neighbourhood after a day's tiring work, my mind made a connection. Music. Music is Words set to a rhythm. Rhythm proceed from the heart and soothes the emotion. Words derives from thoughts, conveys our reasoning. Music is where both are expressed harmoniously to stimulate that beauty people deeply desire from life.
See, music is life!!
p.s: i started to think about decisions while musing the frustration of loving. I love her, she doesnt want me cos there's another person, whom ironically may not want her. So, I was wishing she would only understand that its about making decisions. I liked this person but opening my heart was a decision for me and by no means automatic. Will some1 make feyi see that to love and feel passionately about another is a choice we ALLOW our heart to make.
Geoplitical beat
Conspiracy Theory: My encounter with Mossad
Friday 29th September
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Getting to work saw a combination of my personal indiscipline, sheer madness of Lagos traffic with Murphy's Law(whatever could go wrong always will at the worst possible time) at its quintessence ensuring my arrival at 10am!! It didnt begin to get exciting however till my cell phone got off its usual passive profile, ringing and showing an out-of-town number. Well, you pick a call which is what I did. On the other end was a foreign voice doing damage to the name I so pride myself to be identified by. I forgave the offence and acknowledged she's connected to the crrect target. She wanted to know whether I'd seen a mail inviting me to an interview in a sophisticated hotel not far from Nigeria's hub of commerce where my current workplace s located on Victoria Island.
Eight hours later was when the mail got read. Yes, I'd be glad to attend an interview was my return correspondence. A couple of activities and plenty hours afterwards, I returned to a sane V.I when the working population was home enjoying a deserved public holiday on October 2 courtesy Independence anniversary. Converting this opportunity would sure irrevocably change my entire existence and upgrade my experience in a superlative manner. So, I wanted this job and put up what capacity I had to get it. I simply answered the questions posed by the three-man foreigner panel the way my frame of mind and person afforded. Standard questions: Tell us about yourself, your interests, experiences; where do you see yourself five years from now; why do you want to work with Comverse, etc. That was after a rich history of the company as well as the identity of the panel has been poured into my brain via the ear gates. Done, they let me go.
Tuesday October 3
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Brimming over with expectation of turnaround eventuality of my being selected for the job since I wasnt confident in my output at the interview, my heart was in my mouth when other events led to checking up on my mailbox and there it was sitting in the inbox. Bottomline, they regret...
News bits
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My heart was really burning over the missed opportunity and to assess what I had passed up I did what should have been done in the first place. Ask who Comverse was, not from Comverse but from disinterested, outside voices. And it began to pour in. The company was what its supposed to be, the no.1 communications value-added services provider that started in Israel and transmuted into an American enterprise. What I missed was the person of its immediate past president/chief executive. His first name was Jacob, was a former Israeli intelligence officer who became high-tech enterpreneur.
My theory
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Google led me to sources where I got info that Mr. Jacob fled the U.S after FBI got after him ostensibly for backdating his stock options in the then fledgling Comverse Technologies but the real scoop was that the wiretapping of the entire communications infrastucture set up by American intelligence apparatus was implemented with Comverse hardware and software. What I put together was that this access to privileged info by Comverse not only secured advantage to Israel but has been compromised through reverse wiretapping mechanisms and is being leveraged by America's enemies notably the terrorists.
This was what made enemies of FBI and Comverse, turning Mr Jacob to a running fugitive.
Connecting Nigeria
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The week leading to the Comverse interview was when Mr Jacob got arrested, not in Israel or anywhere in Europe or the whole of the Americas. He was arrested by Namibian security in the South West of Africa. Now, I ask--could it be that the man was heading for Nigeria? Were not those recruiters Israeli intelligence conducting reconnaissance and picking candidates for Mossad? Now, I wonder at the equivocation in the reply I got from the HR Director when I asked the interview panel why they were in Nigeria. She said, the company was in Nigeria cos their clients-- Celtel, MTN, others--are here. To this, I told them, "You are welcome." Their response was enthusiastic.
For those who understand this country, what a haven it would have been in sheltering an Israeli on a mission to help secure the most beautiful of all lands!!
