Pocket of Thoughts™ by Saint Akanji

  Identity crisis remains the greatest crisis.     In my usual fashion, I had a difficulty naming this. I almost called it "The Commoditization of Nigerian e-commerce segment " but changed it at the last minute. This is one of my numerous outbursts that I couldn't just contain within my belly     My frustration is not unconnected to what I strongly perceive to be a dismal state of things. I speak as an unrepentant evangelist and believer in all things pro-African. And of late I have been thinking a lot about her (Africa). I have more questions than answers. These are some of the questions in the capital of my mind:   1.    WHY IS IT THAT WE ARE NOT ADEQUATELY REPRESENTED ON THE LIST OF POLYMATHS ? (Polymaths are regarded as individuals who have moved humanity forward intellectually).   2.    WHY IS IT THAT IN THE LAST TWO PRODUCTIVITY ERAs (Industrialization & Internet age) AFRICA HAS E...

      Of course you know I never met with him (lol). For very awkward reasons, I feel very nostalgic in a funny way talking about Abraham Maslow and his sensational pyramid. I have had the opportunity to study this gem over and over. The earliest of my study was during my A levels programme almost a decade ago. My pastor recently referred to this theory when he was demystifying the concept of money and value to us. The rebel and critic in me salutes and reverence the genius of a man whose insight on the nature of human needs has helped us to better understand the nature of man and what motivates him. The wikipedia account of him recorded that he stressed the importance of focusing on the positive qualities in people, as opposed to treating them as a "bag of symptoms. The man sure had a beautiful soul. Abraham Maslow was born on the 1 st of April, 1908. He passed on to the eternal realm on the 8 th of June, 1970 . I am obsessed intellectually and in ev...

    I am still thinking aloud..... You can call this a pre-humus piece on the death of the communist republic China’s economic bravado.   I don't have much statistics to brandish here and now but China is indubitably giving the USA, BRITAIN and the rest a good run for their money. Looks like China is cashing in and firing on all cylinders. Isn’t it interesting that everybody seems to be trading with communist China? Even the USA is strengthening ties with our darling China. Don't blame the USA. He who pays the piper surely dictated the tune. With a staggering debt profile, USA must remain loyal to the communist republic of China. The bigger view is also the seeming failure of American capitalism. Has American Democracy failed compared to China Communism? I perceive a war of Ideologies here.   China is not only flexing its muscles alone in the economic hallway. The military strength of China seems to be maturing with an unrepentant oc...

      I am not an authority on the subject of markets and economics but I dare say that there is more to the market than what the ordinary eyes can see. I mean, there is certainly more to the numbers. But for its alphabetic longevity, I could have titled this piece "The new real estate paradigm and the coming wealth transfer. I choose however to go with a more poignant title.   My source dates back to 1987. Remember the movie Wall Street where Gordon Gekko; the erstwhile rogue trader said "The BULLS and the BEARS get paid but the PIGS get slaughtered". Interesting allegory for a real life phenomenon or how else do you explain billions of dollar value vanishing from the market in the name of recession? Where does the value go to? You may easily know who the BULLS and BEARS are but who are the PIGs? It is not a question of whether or not there is something called PIG because the equation of recession requires these three actors to occur.   There...

      The road to hell is paved with good strategies- Anonymous   Of an immutable truth, talk is very cheap. Infact, it is free. Just about anybody can get busy with their bucal cavities. A wise man once said to me Son "Knowledge doesn't profit much. It is understanding that profits a life". He said to me "Beware of the generation that basks in the euphoria of speech and vanity of elocution. Talk is cheap, he asserted.   There is a tendency to lose sight of what really matters and in no time at all, one will become a noise maker. In our world today, it is a stale fact that most of us are experts in identifying what is wrong. We are quick to deploy our microscopic and judgmental weaponry. We excel at rebuffing others while upstaging their faults and weaknesses. For the most part, we lurk in the deep hallows of shear hypocrisy. We are like pots calling kettles black. The irony of life.   This is...

In retrospect, 2012 was a year of great many lessons.   A wise man once said that time is an illusion and I agree with him in many material respects. While many may struggle with this concept, a philosophically bias mind will relate easily with this concept. Maybe I can do a piece on this topic sometimes later in the year. Sufficient for today however are the troubles in it. I am feeling very retrospective at the moment and will do the needful. I will talk about my 2012. May not be exhaustive but certainly will be worth your while. I guarantee that you would have something at least a veritable link.   On relationships: A wise man once said that the change in seasons is not time. He opined that calendars don't define seasons. Relationships do. Year 2012 for me was a phenomenal year of connections across many platforms. My digital real estate footprints grew in leaps and bounds. In 2012, I added more than 500 friends on my professional page on LinkedIn ( ng.link...