Questions that Come to Mind!

• Why can't education be free in the real sense for all
• Why is everyone showing their relationship status on facebook
• Can my Project manager ever allow me to work Virtually
• Where is Ubiquitious Mobile Computing going
• Why would an Engineer wear 'Agbada' to the Ofice
• Why would a Computer Operator or a cook fix her nails
• What manner of Scholarship does NIIT offer
• Is it true that Raid doesn't kill Naija Mosquitoes anymore
• Will super eagles qualify for the world Cup
• Why do you need to ask for a raise before your employer realises that you are due for one?
• When will Electricity be stable
• When will Ya'r adua resign?
• Will someone admit that he killed Dele Giwa
• Why would you carry a travelling bag to the office everyday(i see that in my office on a daily basis)
• Why do we always drop names
• Why do we speak so well of the dead and despised them when they were alive
• Why are the Universities built by churches so expensive
• Why would my Pastor buy an aeroplane
• Why do we go to school when we can never be taught how to make money in School
• Why would you want to start your own Business when you can Invest
• How come indians are so good at what they do
• How come people give advices they will never use
• When will the Federal Government scrap NYSC
• Where is Erastus Akingbola?
  
  
  
  

Re: Straw, hackers and the rebranding Nigerian project.

Some of we youths would have stopped writing about what our leaders have failed to do and resign to fate but for the reserved energy and the enormity of the need for the government to provide things that would shape our future .

I couldn't agree less with the submission of the writer of this piece.

It's really a shame that our leaders have failed to face the reality on ground. My confidence in the believe that this country will get it right someday is dwindling with recent developments.

Madam Dora should know that what we need now is re-orientation and not rebranding .What image are we trying to rebrand? Is it the image of endless kidnapping and agitation from the Niger delta or an image of chronic power failure being experienced by the masses?

Our economy is in recession and the custodians are saying it is not true irrespective of the glaring evidence.

Government is being handled by old hands who spend three days in office and four days in hospital beds abroad. The few young brains like Dora are made redundant by being given a post they know nothing about. The righteous are being persecuted while the corrupt are having a field day amassing wealth for their unborn generation.

The perpetrators of the scourge called corruption that contributed to the dented image of this country are getting lighter sentences for stealing billions of naira while a petty thief who stole a meager sum of 4,800 naira and a chicken was recently sentenced to 5 years imprisonment without an option of fine…..yuk!

While I’m not trying to justify the actions of the few uncultured “Young Guns”(using the Arsenal sobriquet for their players) among us, it is evident that our youths have lost appetite for that which is dignifying scrambling for the piece of the action in a get rich quick scheme. Our education sector is in comatose; there are no jobs for the rising number of graduates. The few who have decided to embark on entrepreneurships are not being supported and yet these impressionists we called leaders are thinking of rebranding an obviously sick country like Nigeria.

Mummy Dora, please you can't model a product that is evidently bad, we need to repackage and re-orientate ourselves, provide jobs, reposition our educational sector, aid our ailing economy, improve electricity, create programmes that can encourage innovation among youths, scrap or restructure the N.Y.S.C and genuinely support entrepreneurship. Until these are done, the rebranding effort will be another charade, another effort in futility and a waste of our dwindling income.

Oyepeju Oyewale.

Hanging on What Corruption can Offer !

Are we all not?
Yet we condemn our Politicians at any given opportunity
Each time we heard that they embezzled public funds
We crucify them not knowing that
We are also part of the decadence

Corruption is a cankerworm,
A virus that has eaten so deep into our sub-conscious mind
It is everywhere,
It is our way of life and means of livelihood

Ask a child what his ambition is
And you won't be surprised that he want a piece of the national cake
He will cry for no reason
Hoping to be bribed with a piece of meat or Ice cream

Our Youths have lost appetite for that which is dignifying
Scrambling for a piece of the action in a get-rich quick scheme
The middle-aged are caught in the mesh of being the major giver and the receiver

Our elders are not tired of being involved,
They have tasted the piece of the cake too
And won’t let go.
Not even when their health is
Telling them to leave the system for good

The haves amassed wealth through her
For their unborn generation
The have-nots feed on her crumbs waiting for the next manna from heaven
It has taken the shine of Patriotism and replaces it with disloyalty
A gateman or a security man could be nice to you
Don't be shocked he wants some Tip or Egunje in return


How can we get rid of this Cancer or is it virus?
The nation have spent trillions of naira to cure her citizens of this disease
Scapegoats have been made out of the perpetrators
Yet Corruption still thrive among us
Sweeping across the six geo-political zones
Devouring and destroying what is left of our pathetic Integrity

Only God knows how we came in contact with this scourge
And only he knows how and when we will all be cured
This country will end up being a sad one
Full of potentials and yet cannot thrive
Just because everyone is hanging on what Corruption can offer!

Oyepeju Oyewale
02' 09.

About me !

If there is a better word to describe me
Then I will choose Pragmatic
People often say I’m an Optimist
But I know I’m more of a realist

I'm not only a programmer
I'm also an actor rehearsing for
A play that you and I will act
Not in this world but in the heavenliness

I may have a melancholy expression
But I still have a reserved strength
To declare each day
As the day the Lord has made
Just like the Psalmists

Time is precious to me But
Doing it right is more important
I love Gold
But I will rather invest it
For a future return

I am one of those who will re-write
The history of this Country
Call me a dreamer
And I won’t sue you
Remember, the dream of one Man
With an unknown pedigree
Is shaping our world today

My story is not just about me
Rather it is about the values
I can add unto others
Just like everybody
I also have my shortcoming

Life is precious to me
But being a realist, I know that one day
I will be recalled to give an account
Let this spur whoever is reading
About me!

© 2009 Oyepeju Oyewale.

Year 2009:The Survival Strategy!

After all the Pageantry, the Frills and Grills that characterized the ushering of the New year, it is now time for all and sundry to really have an insight on how to survive the Year against all odds.
Year 2009 has been prophesied as a year of Famine, it has been predicted as a Year where Nations will groan and some of the rich will commit suicide .
Listening to my Pastor the other day, I couldn’t agree less with his submission, not with the Financial gloom, Food Crisis, Downturn in the Oil Price coupled with other fundamental problems this nation faced in 2008.The Prediction to most of us who is hopeful of the year 2009 is shocking bearing in mind the losses in Salaries and various Investments we experienced in the year 2008.
According to the Popular saying: He who fails to plan , Plan to Fail. The reality on ground is that the world is in a troubled state and without adequate planning, Year 2009 will have many causalities. Tagging the year as a year of Famine is not to condemn the year, rather it is to throw caution to the wind, to prevent us from living in self delusion, to reconstruct our character and to improve on our steadfastness and commitment to God.
It has also been said that an individual who cannot cater for his Family outside his present Job or income throughout the year is an endangered species, reason being that more Jobs is expected to be lost this Year. Pondering on this, How many of us can survive if we lose our various Jobs today? Can we settle the recurrent bills of this year from our savings alone? If your answers to these questions is No, then you are an endangered species who urgently need to sit and plan .This is not also to say that those who have the resources to absorb the challenges of the year do not also need to plan, we all need to do things right this year irrespective of our Financial status.
How do you Plan for the Year?
1. By Reconstructing Your Character: Are you guilty of self delusion-Living the important things undone to take care of the unimportant? Are you guilty of Procrastinating? Do you do things because others are doing it? Are you investing your resources in things you don’t understand or rely on people to handle your money?
It is time for you to change the “WHO” in you this year. It is never too late because year 2009 is not smiling at all. It will only smile on those who plan early enough for its challenges.
Our actions an inactions today will surely affect our tomorrow.
Character reconstruction is important because it is that which separate the Just from Unjust, the Qualified from the Unqualified and the Professional from the Unprofessional. Your conscience is the minister of internal affairs of your destiny and he whose character does not match his words is a Fraud.

2. By Diversifying Your Investment Portfolio: There is an old financial advice that one shouldn’t put his eggs in one basket. Having a diversified investment portfolio will prevent your fortune to disappear . It has been predicted that the economy gloom being witnessed today will get worse by the day. There is the need for us to change our ways of doing Business. You need to look at other areas you can invest your time and money in other than the usual Practice of buying Stocks, Commodities, Mutual Funds, Forex and Fixed Assets.
Don’t ever think you know what a market will do at any given point in time.
One of the biggest advantages for a sound money management is “Knowing that you don’t know” what a market will do at any point in time.

3. By being Prudent :A car is a means of Transportation to get you from one Place to the other. Many people consider it a reflection of themselves and spend money on it at every given opportunity instead of driving the car for its entire useful life and invest the money saved.
Others buy things they don’t need. Take a look around your house; Bedroom, Bathroom, Kitchen, Sitting Room, Wardrobe and Drawers and see if there are things you haven’t used in the past one year, if there are, chances are that the money you spent in purchasing all those things are wasted money that could have been used to improve your net worth.

It is really important to invest your savings wisely this year in order for it to give you a handsome ROI(Return On Investment).Put that empty space in your House to good use, Cultivate the habit of drawing your scale of Preference and Prioritize your spending this year and the end will justify the means.
3. By Being Wise: Bulls make a little, Bears make a little and the Pigs get Slaughtered is a popular guide to investment in the financial market. The meaning you can deduce from this is that you need to be wise with whatever financial dealings you are involved .Don’t be Greedy this Year, greed has ruined many potential Business men. Also have it at the back of your mind that any fool can get into a market but it is the real Pros that know when to get out.
On the other hand, we should invest our resources in Knowledge acquisition this year for it is the surest way out of Poverty. That first degree that earned you your present Job can only get you employed but will never guarantee the Job for long or make you become wealthy.
A willingness to learn, to improve your career and finances is essential if you want to eventually become wealthy this year.

4. By Embracing the Attitude of Giving: It has been said by men of God that there is no Supernatural Miracle that can be performed or experienced without a supernatural sowing of seed. This fact is what the likes of Warren Buffet, Larry Ellison and Bill Gate realized that made them resolved to give to the needy and also to churches even though they don’t attend church services. The popular U.S Oil Mogul-John D. Rockeffella Fella wrote in his will that A “Perpetual “ Tithe and Offering should be given to the Church while he is dead, how many of us can be that magnanimous?
Think about what will be the faith of the motherless, the widows and the Homeless in view of the challenges that are to come in the year 2009. The reality is that whatever we earn, no matter how small our income or savings are, we need to share it with people in want.
Irrespective of the fact that you are categorized as the Haves or the Have-nots , you should cultivate the attitude of giving because it’s the only secret of receiving.

Conclusively, Let us all put our trust in God. He is the alpha and the omega. We need to commit our strategy for the year in his hands. There is also the need for us to embrace that which is righteous in his face so that we can take dominion of the goodies of the year 2009 as is expected of a true child of God.
May God help us all this year(amen).

Oyepeju Oyewale,
Http://oyepejuoyewale.blogspot.com.