TalkAfrique - Page 6 of 138 - Connecting To Advance

December 13, 2013

If Nelson Mandela was a Nigerian

By Darasimi Oshodi

If Nelson Mandela was a Nigerian

Was Nelson Mandela a man from our clime? Was he truly African? He definitely did not think or act like an African. He looked like he came from another world. He exhibited characteristics that you would hardly find in an African leader and that is why he is respected the world over. He was a true statesman, a man of integrity, a man of peace, the father of a nation, a bridge builder, a visionary, a selfless personality, a man who knew how to connect with the people he led, a man who lived for the people and who will continually be in the hearts of people the world over.

This post is a tribute to this extraordinary person. It is my own way of showing how much he was different from the rest of us in Africa and particularly, our politicians in Nigeria. The following, therefore, are my thoughts on how he might have acted if he was a Nigerian.

If Nelson Mandela was a Nigerian:

He would have spent more than one term in office as president.
He would have tried (and might have succeeded) to tinker with his country’s constitution to elongate his time in office perpetually.
He would have found a way to get back at a particular ethnic group for the years he spent in incarceration.
He would have set up a sham truth and reconciliation commission.
He would have made himself the life patron of the African National Congress (ANC).
If he eventually left office, his home would be the venue of different political meetings where fates of election candidates would be determined.
He would have installed his crony or a puppet in office as his successor.
He would have spoken against the administration of succeeding presidents.
He would have denied his health condition or the cause of his son’s death (when he died of AIDS in 2005) but instead would have provided various cover-up stories.
His children would have been made ministers.
He would have asked to be flown out of the country for medical treatment.
An expatriate company would have built a palatial mansion for him as a retirement gift.
He would never have retired from public life (that’s actually a strange concept to Africans). He would be seeking relevance by all means. Ironically, the great Madiba was relevant till death and still is even in death. He never sought relevance but he could not be ignored. He was venerated. He was loved. He was celebrated.

Continue reading “If Nelson Mandela was a Nigerian”

December 6, 2013December 6, 2013

What is on your bucket list?

By Darasimi Oshodi

“Every man dies – Not every man really lives.” ~ William Ross

Do you have a bucket list? Or maybe I should ask, “Have you heard of the term ‘bucket list’?’’ I first came across the term ‘bucket list’ from the 2007 film, The Bucket List, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. If you don’t have an idea of what the term means, below is an example of a bucket list.

Write a book
Take singing lessons
Take my grandmother on a vacation to the destination of her choice
Build or buy a home
Take my children to the White House
Travel around the country
Travel the World.
Fly first class on an international trip.
Write your memoir

10. Publish a book

11. Learn to play a new musical instrument.

12. Learn painting.

13. Learn photography.

14. Learn how to start a business.

15. Start a blog.

16. Public speaking.

17. Own your dream home.

18. Own your dream car.

19. Start a company

20. Donate blood

Does it look like goal setting? For me, it doesn’t necessarily have to be about goals but wishes. A bucket list is list of all the things you desire to experience during your lifetime. Your bucket list contains all the wishes and desires that you have always wanted to fulfill. Having a bucket list reminds you of what’s really important so you can act on them. Your bucket list is your wish list. The reason I said bucket lists don’t have to be about goals is because the activities or experiences listed don’t have to be time-bound. Continue reading “What is on your bucket list?”

November 27, 2013

The Ten Thousand-Hour Rule: Becoming a Champion

By Darasimi Oshodi

“Champions do not become champions when they win an event, but in the hours, weeks, and months, and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely a demonstration of their championship character.”

The statement above is credited to Michael Jordan who is arguably the best basket ball player ever.

Jordan’s long time coach, Phil Jackson reveals that it was hard work that made him a legend. When Jordan first entered the league, his jump shot wasn’t good enough. He spent his off season taking hundreds of jumpers a day until it was perfect. He says Jordan’s defining characteristic wasn’t his talent but the humility to know he had to work constantly to be the best.

From childhood, Serena and Venus Williams would go to the tennis court at 6 o’clock in the morning before going to school and when they returned from school, go back for tennis practice. Any wonder then the two of them have dominated women’s tennis.

Kobe Bryant spends his free time endlessly practicing jump shots. Workers at his club, the Los Angeles Lakers say he is always doing the same thing at their practice facility at all hours of the day and night.

It is reported that Demosthenes, a great orator of Ancient Greece, stammered and was inarticulate as a youth yet became a great orator through dedicated practice which included placing pebbles in his mouth.

I read that Tiger Woods’ father started teaching him golf at eighteen months. So it should not be too surprising that he took the world of golf by storm at age eighteen.

The Beatles performed live in Germany over 1,200 times between 1960 and 1964 and by the time they went back to England they had become inimitable. Those hours spent performing paid off.

Bill Gates gained access to a computer in 1968 at the age of 13 and spent thousands of hours programming on it. His efforts have been hugely rewarded. Continue reading “The Ten Thousand-Hour Rule: Becoming a Champion”

November 14, 2013

There will always be Garbage In

By Dr. Kwabena Amponsah-Manager

There is a popular saying that ‘garbage in, garbage out’. What this means is that if you receive poorly refined instructions, codes, methodology, you act on it as you receive it. When this is true, it reduces one to the level of a robotic machine or a lower level being.

What makes you a superior being, that is if you think you are, is that you are not at the mercy of the external instructions you receive. You have the capacity to refine and filter out the ‘garbage in’ so that the output is not garbage. This is the reason I do not run chemical reactions that explode and burn my laboratory buildings or develop ‘weapons of mass destruction’ despite the myriad of information available to me on the web and the library.

You are the middleman between the instruction, information and codes you receive and the output they are meant to produce. Whether you receive the bulk mixture from your accountant, PTA, spiritual leader, politician, counselor, etc., your role is to filter out the garbage, retrieve and concentrate the fine code to get required output.

There will always be garbage in, but that does not mean there has to be garbage out if you and I pay our part.

November 11, 2013

Youth Focus Initiative Honors Falana Afolayan, Others, Report by Ajibola Olarinoye

Dr. Tunde Oseni delivers a speech at the Youth Focus Role Model Awards 2013 ceremony.

Legal icon and Human Rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana and top Nigerian film maker, Mr. Kunle Afolayan were among eminent Nigerians honoured by Youth Focus Initiative (Y.F.I) on the recognition of distinguished roles they have played individually in motivating several young people in the society.

The historic event tagged “Youth Focus Role Model Awards 2013 and Public Presentation of SOURCES OF SUCCESS” was held on Saturday 19th October 2013 at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry Conference Building, Ikeja Lagos.

In his welcome speech, the Founder of Youth Focus Initiative and President of Upward BAO Consulting, Dr. Tunde Oseni said Y.F.I is a pet project which he started in 2001 at the age of 24. He asserted that since then, the idea has remained to motivate and engage the youths wherever they are. “I am happy to report to you that our strategy is working. We have transformed Y.F.I into the Corporate Social Responsibility and Advocacy of Upward BAO Consulting, a growing Human Capital Development Company’.

Attendees listen as Dr. Tunde Oseni talks at the Youth Focus Role Model Awards 2013 program

The awardees and their categories of awards are: Petroleum Geologist and retired Senior Manager of Chevron, Prince Adekunle Oduborisha (Leadership), Mr. Femi Falana S.A.N (Career Development), Mr. Kunle Afolayan (Entertainment), Founder and C.E.O, Flying Doctors, Dr. Ola Orekunrin (Social Entrepreneurship) while Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan (Chairman, Ejigbo LCDA) and Comrade Ayodele Adewale (Chairman, Amuwo Odofin Local Government) bagged awards on their roles in Grassroots Development. Continue reading “Youth Focus Initiative Honors Falana Afolayan, Others, Report by Ajibola Olarinoye”

October 22, 2013

Motivating Tomorrow’s Leaders: Doing it While the Plane is Still on the Runway

by Dr. Kwabena Amponsah-Manager

Doing something and feeling at the end that you did the right thing at the right time gives a kind of a sweet feeling.

Last week I was at Aketenchi, a village in the Western Region of Ghana to help train health workers as part of the Ghana’s grassroots healthcare delivery program. After the training, I had about 2 hours before our team was scheduled to depart from the village. I had a wonderful idea. I did something which was the most fulfilling part of the day. If everything works right, I believe I might have prepared the next presidents, UN Secretaries, teachers, pastors, businessmen and women of the next two decades, hoping every kind of luck under the sun works out too.

I called three kids who were roaming about the streets of the village and started to talk to them about the importance of school and education. Initially I was afraid what their parents would say if they found me talking to these children without the patents’ knowledge. I had no idea what I was getting into. Within minutes of starting, the crowd had grown to over 40 children and 14 adults. I was scared. I was really terrified about someone getting hurt with each child trying to find their way to get as close to me as possible. I had no security personnel for crowd control.

Dr. K Amponsah-Manager motivates kids in Akatenchie in the Western Region in Ghana that they can be whatever they want to be in life.

I talked to them about why they need to love school and stay in school. I assured them of the possibility that any of them can become the president, a teacher, a scientist, a pastor, footballer, a businessman or woman or the next PULSE volunteer to come and help their own community in the future. The grins on their faces were beautiful. They listened attentively.

I had some gifts (pencils, crayons, books, balls, games etc) that I carried with me to the village that day. Because I had not planned for such a large crowd, I did not have something for everybody. I therefore gave a quiz and the kids who got the answers right got gifts first and everybody else by chance. It was chaos but so much fun. Continue reading “Motivating Tomorrow’s Leaders: Doing it While the Plane is Still on the Runway”

October 22, 2013October 22, 2013

You are Not a Prisoner of Your Past

Darasimi Oshodi

The ability to recall facts, events and names of people is a trait that is admired by many. I believe this is also a trait that is needed for one to succeed in academics and other areas of life. People are usually pleased when people remember their names and they tend to think such persons regard them as special. So the ability to remember things is one that everybody should possess (and I think everybody possesses this ability to a degree).

Every one of us also possesses the ability to forget things. It is just natural with us to forget things because of the enormous amount of information that we take in all the time. My inspirational teacher explained human beings’ ability to forget things in a write-up he titled How Old is Your Knowledge? He explains that human knowledge can easily become stale or obsolete if not used all the time. He explained this with a graphic analogy: Knowledge is like documents that come into a pigeon-hole. The first document to come in soon takes the back seat as more documents are placed in the pigeon-hole. This means, he said, that the knowledge acquired today soon becomes obsolete or forgotten when not applied. So it is just natural for us to forget things. Continue reading “You are Not a Prisoner of Your Past”