Pocket of Thoughts™ by Saint Akanji

When the purpose of a thing is unknown, abnormal use is inevitable- Myles Munroe. The man Myles. It wouldn't make too much of a sense for me or anyone to repeat what has been said about a man who emptied himself. Rhetorics as to greatness and profound impact won't do enough justice to the memory of a leader extraordinaire. Death is truly an ultimate leveler. At the time I received the news of his passing, I was halfway into one of the many hundreds of books he published. Dr. Myles Munroe; the Kingdom preacher lived to his full potential. His legacy transcends the scores of books he wrote, the millions of lives he touched and the very purpose he lived for. His purpose statement was " I exist to transform followers into leaders. " Dr. Munroe placed an emphasis on the Kingdom of God and believed that the whole Bible , along with the message of Jesus , revolves around the kingdom and not a religion. His philosophy was, trapped in every follower is...

Taxi business and transportation for that matter is not just about getting people from here to there. Passengers aren't just guests. They are royalty.―  Femi Oni   Technology aside, what's up? Really? This is 2014 and so I'd be an idiot to pretend that technology is not important. On the contrary, I swear by it. By technology, I refer to the application of knowledge to create better things. This definition sure covers the entire nine yards of software, hardware and interfaces. This is not just about some Jackie Chan (a term for dexterity) App doing miracle. Although, Apps have made life much more easy for us and by so doing impacted on productivity, my bone of contention in this piece is to attack the institutional thinking around technology and specifically deride any "inordinate technology agenda" as it relates to the modern Nigerian taxi business. I hope at the end, I'm able to contribute my quota towards this ongoing narrative. My intentio...

  The  pyramids in Egypt whisper to my youthful soul, a ray of hope.— Femi Oni       The mark of Cain. The first murder in the entire history of man happened outside the lofty Garden of Eden. It was the killing of a brother by another brother. Once the deed was done, the killer was quick to hide his deed. He dug a grave and buried the body of his brother hoping that would conceal his wickedness. The blood of his brother cried unto the maker and his judgment was swift. From then on, he shall be a vagabond. A mark was put upon him. What mark was it? My friend Farouk A. said he once heard a tale that this is the origin of the Black skin.  That, the mark that was put on Cain was a Black skin. Now, as a man of color myself, I'm hoping that this tale is nothing but a sham. My hope is built on the same pedestal as the unlikely application of the Esau narrative. Remember the guy that sold his birth right for a morsel of potage? I...

Purpose is greater than strategy- Kurt Oellermann       No pun intended. My sincere apologies to the religious types because this piece has got nothing to do with organised religion. It certainly has nothing to do with "tithes" and "offerings" nor any of those sanctimonious talk. My intention here is to establish once and for all why putting God first is not only a viable business model and strategy, it is the most viable thing to do in a world that is uncertain of its own future. According to Frank Bold (a purpose-driven law firm), in 1960 the average holding period of stock in the S&P 500 was eight years. Today it is four Months. In the 1950s the average life expectancy of a Fortune 500 company was 50-60 years, now it is 15 years.    The reality of managing an enterprise (big or small) in today's world comes with great challenges. The subsequent lines of this piece will get right down to the issue at hand but, not ...

  Considered how much we sacrifice in the name of digital?      What does it mean to augment reality? According to Wikipedia, Augmented reality (AR) is a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented (or supplemented) by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is also related to a more general concept called mediated reality , in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. In colloquial terms, augmented reality is a broad concept that refers to man's attempt to make things as real as much possible. The motivation for augmented reality is not unconnected to the apparent loss of reality in a digital world like ours. It is understandable why we try to compensate for the things we loose in our now ubiquitous world. The moment you cross into the digital world of bits and bytes, it is ...

  “ By the instrumentality of collective faith and work, Africa will become the best place to live and do business” — Femi Oni Prologue This is a clarion call. The purpose of this thought piece is to consider the knotty issue surrounding the future of Africa. For a continent that is home to the world’s poorest and a pocket of war torn countries, it has become increasingly crucial for citizens and people of African extraction as well as well-wishers to think more broadly and act decisively about dealing with the massive challenges facing Africa at this time because what happens in Africa will not stay in Africa. If this presentation should achieve anything, it should be to provoke this reader that the time has come for Africa to live up to its true potential. There are questions begging for answers.       Africa is not a country. By the end of 2013, the total population of Africa stood at 1.1 billion. This accounts for about 15% of the world’...