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Showing posts from March, 2013

Don't break the egg: Easter Thoughts

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  This should go down as one of my shortest blog post. Decidedly so. Don't break the Easter egg. Don't let euphoria steal the real deal. The truth is not for sale. I was not at Golgotha but I know that the message of the Cross is simple and needs no lengthy episcopal piece. Dear Christian, Refuse to allow the euphoria of life and the season to distort the truth. Resurrection is not an event. It is a person. Jesus is the resurrection. Selah.   Image Credit: Google Image

Brand it!: How to connect to the soul of the market

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            This is a digest for those who desire to attract the favour of the invisible hands that control the market; the God of Commerce.     It goes without saying that the world has become a very noisy place. Multiple businesses are clamouring for attention in ceaseless trains of transactions. Its been said that buyers won't mind if 70% of the brands cease to be. Short span of attention from the customers is not helping matters in any way as businesses have to cut through a huge clutter to pass their message. To be able to stand out of the pack (Differentiation), you need more than a breakthrough product, you need to connect to the hearts and minds of people. This process has many names. Traditionally, this process is called branding. Others like Guy Kawasaki; the veteran Silicon Valley brand evangelist calls it Enchantment. Interested in becoming the darling of the market? I say BRAND IT!     ...

Grow Up!

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" Most people don't grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honor their credit cards, get married, have children and call that maturity. What that is, is ageing "- Maya Angelou   In my secondary school, my biology teacher defined growth as an irreversible increase. Growth is part of the life attribute (MR NI G ER D CALL). It is interesting that passage of time doesn't equal maturity and that grey hair does not signal wisdom. I had a heated argument with an elder cousin of mine. In the middle of the argument, he echoed " Grow Up " and that got to me. It really got to me. It got me thinking. I was pissed off and all but it got me thinking real hard. This post is about self-preservation. It's about confronting me. This post is for those who are not afraid to tell the truth without holding back. This is for that person who is not afraid of being vulnerable.     Many of us find it comforting to hide under self-bravado allowin...

Men at work: The Safety Joke.

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I wrote this article in 2009. Have you noticed the recent appearance of motorcycle riders popularly known as Okada Riders in Lagos? Have you seen the daily proliferation? The Pathetic sight of the Okada Rider and his Passenger? It’s such a sight to behold. Each time I see the Rider and his passenger all I can do is Laugh Out Loud (lol). Sincerely, I am really taken aback by the whole Helmet thing. While the idea behind the new policy is laudable and genuinely in the interest of the Biking Community, I must say that we have got it really twisted. Totally in abeyance. What they call Helmets are actually Safety Caps used in Construction Sites. It struck me when I discovered that there is a vast difference between Safety Helmets and Crash Helmets (I hope you are aware?). I decided to do a random sampling of the distribution and was greatly amazed by the level of what I call “Vehicular Ignorance”. The whole idea of Helmets is not just mere costuming; it’s essentially for safet...

When the Jungle Matures

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      ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes , And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ (Jeremiah 31v29)     One word readily describes the macroeconomic environment called Nigeria. That word is paradox. Nigeria is a paradox. Or how else do you describe a nation so blessed with abundance of resources yet majority wallow in abject poverty? In the piece I express solemn thoughts on the most populous black nation which has remained a potential for decades. This is my lamentation for my fatherland.     There was a country is what a son of the soil recently asserted about a beloved nation. The elements that make a nation is lacking in the Nigerian set up was what another said. A failed state is what many outside her shores proclaim about her. They have even predicted her breakup with dates earmarked. Ungovernable she has become. Her soul bleeds. Her children  are sacrificed on the altar of wicked lofty enterpr...

Accidental Engagement: Not an accident

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    S ince many of us are now claiming to be many things, I have decided to borrow a leaf also. Please don't get me wrong, there is nothing particularly wrong about claiming to be whatever. In fact, it is a healthy thing to do. Engaging in such an exercise is pure self-preservation. It think it was Aristotle that asserted “Man Know Thyself ”. In the spirit of Mallam Nasir El Rufai's publication; The Accidental Public Servant, I am borrowing the phrase "accidental" with the hope that this will help create some mystic about the subject I intend to write on. I am not alleging that Mallam El Rufai chose the title to create mystic but I must confess that the title has something invitational about it. In this piece, I will be sharing some few thoughts about customer engagement.     I transited from my office in Central London to Leyton; North London in a journey of about 2 hours using the tube station and the metropolitan bus. Exhausted, I made my way throug...