If you've ever asked yourself what the perfect job was, it would probably be one with little work and plenty pay, preferably. In my neck of the woods this would literaly translate to some oil and gas job.
Some weeks ago i asked myself after a days work, 'if the shoes were on the other feet and i was my employer, would i pay myself what i presently earned as a salary'. This was a difficult one to answer, so i decided to throw it open to some colleague's. I got some interesting anwers to the question as one or two stated immediately that they could not, another actually stated that he could only pay a third of his current salaryand put the rest to better use. This answers were a result of self examination based on daily input and exercetions on the job as against their impact on the actual job.
Some days back i watched a snippet from Fela Durotoye (speakers corner, VIP consulting) where he spoke on the difference between earning a salary and making a difference daily by adding value and why the latter was more important for the nation to develop. I agree strongly with that principle as many of us today have fallen into the trap of appearing at the office and not actually attempting to improve our quality of work or add value to our jobs.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Hello it's another weekend
Woke up this morning feeling the usual urge to spend more time with Georgie.. (By the way i'm male and Georgie is actually my bed,Yes it has a name) unfortunately i had to resist the urge as i had an appoinment for 8am.
Sadly i do not have a vehicle and have to navigate Lagos using the okada's, danfo buses and now the newly introduced BRT's. This has left me dreading Ikorodu road whenever i have to go out. Despite the unmistakable dangers (and exhilirating feelings), i usually employ Okada's as my preferred transport means, but alas this are a red flag on major roads and over very long distances.
Over the last two weekends, i've had to face the body and mind numbing experience of spending several hours in traffic, reason being that all vehicles have been restricted to using only two lanes instead of three since a single lane has been restricted to the BRT's and more most exchanges its like pushing large balls of pounded yam through a straw,it will eventually go through but it takes time and lots of patience.
This is not totally condeming the BRT's, they are rather nice to look at presently and its good seeing lagosians observe the 'normal' rule of queing for service instead of rushing like demented individuals from an apocalyptic movie but it also has several pitfalls too.
I have decided not to dwell on the problems, (i guess a simulation was never carried out before introducing this or the governor might have had nightmares about this). but will attempt to suggest some improvements.
1. For vehicles plying the Estate -V.I stretch and other commercial routes, the buses should move at scheduled times, wether or not they are filled up. This will encourage workers on the to employ this instead of having to drive to work, as they know that if they get to the bus before 6am, it will depart at that time and they will arrive at their offices on time too.
2. Insisting on stringent employment rules for drivers to prevent the program becoming a rehabilitation tool for unemployeable danfo and molue drivers.
3. Insisting on regular inspections and maintanance of the vehicles to prevent a repititon of the City bus, Labour bus and LSTC bus models
4.Exploring other transport channels to reduce the impact on Lagos roads.
Sadly i do not have a vehicle and have to navigate Lagos using the okada's, danfo buses and now the newly introduced BRT's. This has left me dreading Ikorodu road whenever i have to go out. Despite the unmistakable dangers (and exhilirating feelings), i usually employ Okada's as my preferred transport means, but alas this are a red flag on major roads and over very long distances.
Over the last two weekends, i've had to face the body and mind numbing experience of spending several hours in traffic, reason being that all vehicles have been restricted to using only two lanes instead of three since a single lane has been restricted to the BRT's and more most exchanges its like pushing large balls of pounded yam through a straw,it will eventually go through but it takes time and lots of patience.
This is not totally condeming the BRT's, they are rather nice to look at presently and its good seeing lagosians observe the 'normal' rule of queing for service instead of rushing like demented individuals from an apocalyptic movie but it also has several pitfalls too.
I have decided not to dwell on the problems, (i guess a simulation was never carried out before introducing this or the governor might have had nightmares about this). but will attempt to suggest some improvements.
1. For vehicles plying the Estate -V.I stretch and other commercial routes, the buses should move at scheduled times, wether or not they are filled up. This will encourage workers on the to employ this instead of having to drive to work, as they know that if they get to the bus before 6am, it will depart at that time and they will arrive at their offices on time too.
2. Insisting on stringent employment rules for drivers to prevent the program becoming a rehabilitation tool for unemployeable danfo and molue drivers.
3. Insisting on regular inspections and maintanance of the vehicles to prevent a repititon of the City bus, Labour bus and LSTC bus models
4.Exploring other transport channels to reduce the impact on Lagos roads.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Our democratic journey
The bell has tolled again on the regime of one of the (s)elected governors. The silver man himself has been removed from office joining his counterparts from Rivers,Kogi etal electing him as the 12th member of the disputed governor club.
Thumbs up to the Nigerian judiciary for another removal; on the flipside we still have the Professor still presiding over INEC and judjing from the happenings at the abuja bye election and others, the man, his team and the politicians have not learnt a thing yet and its still aluta continua as they attempt to impose their chosen candidates on the people.
Providing an addition twist to the unfolding story, some members of the Bayelsa house claimed to have impeached both the senate president, who was supposed to replace the governor in an acting capacity, and his deputy who would have taken over from him in the instance when he is unable tio assume the position and instead elected their own candidate as speaker cum acting governor.
While this scene acts itself out, our brothers in Zimbabwe with the worst rate of inflation in the world still await their election results days after the election which reportedly resulted in the incumbent Bob Mugabe being beaten by the opposition after over 20 years in power.
Thumbs up to the Nigerian judiciary for another removal; on the flipside we still have the Professor still presiding over INEC and judjing from the happenings at the abuja bye election and others, the man, his team and the politicians have not learnt a thing yet and its still aluta continua as they attempt to impose their chosen candidates on the people.
Providing an addition twist to the unfolding story, some members of the Bayelsa house claimed to have impeached both the senate president, who was supposed to replace the governor in an acting capacity, and his deputy who would have taken over from him in the instance when he is unable tio assume the position and instead elected their own candidate as speaker cum acting governor.
While this scene acts itself out, our brothers in Zimbabwe with the worst rate of inflation in the world still await their election results days after the election which reportedly resulted in the incumbent Bob Mugabe being beaten by the opposition after over 20 years in power.
Monday, April 14, 2008
All's well...not really
Had a dissapointing day really, but had to embark on a self motivational trip after lapsing into hours of self depression.
Its funny how difficult it is to swallow your own bul****t especially when its close home.
Back to my Malthusian quandry when i am gone and buried, will my descendants be able to cope under the pressure of the teeming masses. It's an uphill task as i think about it.
Any way our president has set out for Germany to see his doc again as he appears to be suffering from an allergy. I hope he turns a more critical eye to the health sytem when he gets back as even i ( Lagos big boy) will find it difficult to go to communist cuba for a heart sugery.
Some months back i recieved what was referred to as a performance bonus which was made possible due to the financial growth of my organisation within the financial year, so i was a little bemused when i heard about the Health ministry's bonus payment to top officials as it would be hard to imagine the criteria for such, because like most of my compatriots i am racking my head to remember any noticeable growth within the last decade in the sector
Its funny how difficult it is to swallow your own bul****t especially when its close home.
Back to my Malthusian quandry when i am gone and buried, will my descendants be able to cope under the pressure of the teeming masses. It's an uphill task as i think about it.
Any way our president has set out for Germany to see his doc again as he appears to be suffering from an allergy. I hope he turns a more critical eye to the health sytem when he gets back as even i ( Lagos big boy) will find it difficult to go to communist cuba for a heart sugery.
Some months back i recieved what was referred to as a performance bonus which was made possible due to the financial growth of my organisation within the financial year, so i was a little bemused when i heard about the Health ministry's bonus payment to top officials as it would be hard to imagine the criteria for such, because like most of my compatriots i am racking my head to remember any noticeable growth within the last decade in the sector
Sunday, April 13, 2008
All's well that ends well............
In a good mood this night, although i have to catch the bus again in some hours, reason being that we( in this i refer to Manchester United) beat arsenal once again to get a step closer to the title.
On a more serious note however, while thinking about my classes (also for tommorow), i was pondering the malthusean theorem.For non-economists this simply relates population growth to resource management and implies that while population grows at a geometric rate.
i.e a * b*c * ...., resources to take care of the population will grow at an arithmentic progression a+b+c+.....; this eventually will bring us to a point at which the population will outgrow resources. Although eventually technological advancement has gladly reduced the impact of this theory, it brought me to another theory which unfortunately concerns myself and many of those who i mix with.
Imagine this scenario, thirty or fourty years from now, my children and yours whom due to our levels of exposure and our desire to provide them with the best of opportunities we have kept to two or three (in extreme cases) are all grown up and on the other hand the children of the present low income and poorly educated whom in the absence of leisurely holidays and other distractions have continued to produce offspring in droves are also living side by side in the same communities. Keeping the present poor states of social infrastructure and support systems, there will be serious pressure on the educated ellite to provide sustainability for the poor uneducated mass(the vicous cycle).
This is akin to the story of the wealthy man who wakes up one morning in his well guarded mansion only to find his neighbours from the community fetching water from his swimming pool.
Scary aint it.
On a more serious note however, while thinking about my classes (also for tommorow), i was pondering the malthusean theorem.For non-economists this simply relates population growth to resource management and implies that while population grows at a geometric rate.
i.e a * b*c * ...., resources to take care of the population will grow at an arithmentic progression a+b+c+.....; this eventually will bring us to a point at which the population will outgrow resources. Although eventually technological advancement has gladly reduced the impact of this theory, it brought me to another theory which unfortunately concerns myself and many of those who i mix with.
Imagine this scenario, thirty or fourty years from now, my children and yours whom due to our levels of exposure and our desire to provide them with the best of opportunities we have kept to two or three (in extreme cases) are all grown up and on the other hand the children of the present low income and poorly educated whom in the absence of leisurely holidays and other distractions have continued to produce offspring in droves are also living side by side in the same communities. Keeping the present poor states of social infrastructure and support systems, there will be serious pressure on the educated ellite to provide sustainability for the poor uneducated mass(the vicous cycle).
This is akin to the story of the wealthy man who wakes up one morning in his well guarded mansion only to find his neighbours from the community fetching water from his swimming pool.
Scary aint it.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
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