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How Sleep Deprivation and Talkativeness Are Indicators of Mental Health Problems

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Sleep deprivation research demonstrates that otherwise healthy adults who sleep poorly can suffer greater worry and unhappiness. Those suffering from mental health conditions are more likely to have chronic sleep problems, which can exacerbate psychiatric symptoms and even raise the risk of suicide. Though research on the impact of talkativeness on mental health is limited, there are a lot of evidences from the treatment of people with this illness that point to being mentally challenged as a result of jinn possession.

In this piece, as a continuation of our mental health series, our analyst and the contributor looked at how talkativeness and lack of sleep contribute to mental health issues. To determine the nature and dynamics of the two components from a spiritual standpoint, the case of a young lady was explored.

Ma’s Sudden Lack of Sleep & Loquaciousness

Ma (a pseudonym) was in her early 20s. I didn’t know her until she started having three ‘strange’ symptoms. She would talk for a long time, far longer than she used to. She no longer slept at night. Her continuous chatter kept everyone around her awake. If she didn’t sleep, no one else would either! Also, she was not worried about her single jilbab (a long, non-tight head covering used by Muslim women). She would wear it every day for days. Because of these red flags, our local mosque decided to take care of her. We resorted to this because her father and mother were separated.

These symptoms were similar to those associated with Jinn possession. However, we didn’t conclude yet for several reasons. One, Ma had a traumatic childhood experience. Two, Ma’s father was accused of amassing wealth through diabolical means; Ma’s mother affirmed the allegation. However, the father had lost almost everything he acquired when Ma’s symptoms manifested. Then, Ma’s association with a young guy before the case began was questionable. As our norm, we decided to opt for two therapies: Islamic exorcism to test for the presence of Jinn, and/or clinical psychiatric test/treatment.

Read How Do You Bring Jinns Into Your Life?

The first, second and third exorcisms and clinical psychiatry

Hearing about Ma’s case, the Imam of the mosque performed Islamic exorcism to test for the presence of Jinn. At a point in the recitation, she covered her ears with her hands. She then had a short nap. Everyone thought she was possessed by a Jinn. Her previous symptoms continued on the second day. The exorcism was repeated for the second time. The Imam later stressed that her case wasn’t about Jinn possession. For the third time, a professional Islamic exorcism, Mallam Musa, also diagnosed her for Jinn possession and nothing was found. As an experienced and enlightened practitioner with 12 years of practice, he suggested Ma be scheduled for a clinical mental test and treatment. At the hospital, Ma tested positive. She needed thorough mental care.

Read How to Identify Authentic Islamic Exorcists

What did we learn from Ma’s case?

Ma’s case provided us with some insights. First, some traumatic experience symptoms may share some similarities with symptoms of Jinn possession. So, don’t conclude until you run a holistic therapy on those who have lived through it. Second, Islamic exorcists who are enlightened about the biopsychosocial components of mental health are the round peg in the round hole of Islamic exorcism. They aren’t after monetary benefits. Third, be very careful of being the source of people’s traumatic experiences. Fourth, native intelligence shouldn’t be sidelined. Finally, avoid becoming overly individualistic; instead, identify with your community. Ma’s parents, especially the father, were very lackadaisical about Ma’s mental health; it was the mosque that covered 90% of her hospital bills and other alternative care she received.

Umar Olansile Ajetunmobi, an independent, interdisciplinary researcher with special interests in political, (mental) health, development, and digital media communication, contributes to the development of this piece through his skills and knowledge garnered over the years.

Google to Pay $700M Antitrust Settlement Following Allegations of Overcharging

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Giant tech company Google has agreed to pay the sum of $700 million and make several other concessions to settle allegations that it unlawfully restricted the distribution of apps on Android devices and imposed unnecessary fees for in-app purchase.

As part of the settlement, Google will pay $630m into a settlement fund for consumers and $70m into a fund that will be used by states.

In the settlement, eligible consumers will receive at least $2 and may get additional payments based on their spending on Google Play between 16 August 2016 and 30 September 2023.

Consumers eligible for a piece of the $630 million compensation fund are supposed to be automatically notified about various options for how they can receive their share of the money. Also, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, will partake in the settlement. Lawyers for the states in their court filing said the settlement terms will offer significant, meaningful, long-lasting relief for consumers throughout the country.

As part of the settlement, Google disclosed that it will implement changes to its Google Play app store to reduce competition barriers for developers, including the ability for apps to charge users directly.

The company said it is expanding the ability of app and game developers to provide consumers with an alternative billing option for in-app purchases next to Play’s billing system. Google added that it piloted “choice billing” in the US for more than a year.

The company’s vice-president for government affairs and public policy Wilson White, said the deal is a positive one for the company, despite the money and concessions it entails. He  added that the settlement builds on Android’s choice and flexibility, maintains strong security protections, retains Google’s ability to compete with other operating system makers, and invests in the Android ecosystem for users and developers.

Apart from allegations that it unlawfully restricted the distribution of apps on Android devices, Google faces an even bigger legal threat in another antitrust case targeting its dominant search engine which serves as the centerpiece of a digital ad empire that generates more than $200 billion in sales annually.

The company, which is a key player in the online ad market as well as a dominant force in search ecosystem, is accused of abusing its power in the ad tech market, which coordinates the sale of online advertising space between publishers and advertisers. Google has however denied any wrongdoing in these cases.

The Summary – LinkedIn News

Google parent Alphabet will pay $700 million to consumers and states and make adjustments to its app store to allow for more competition, according to the newly released terms of an antitrust settlement. The agreement resolves claims by a group of states in 2021 that Google Play operated as an illegal monopoly on Android devices. Roughly 102 million consumerscould potentially benefit, with $630 million set out for U.S. consumers and $70 million for a fund used by states. A tentative settlement was announced in September, but terms were not released.

  • App developers will also be allowed to charge consumers directly, and Alphabet will make it easier to download apps directly from their sites without using an online store.
  • Google is facing several other U.S. antitrust challenges, including federal government claims that it has abused its dominance in online search.
  • Alphabet last week lost a case brought by Epic Games alleging it used its position to profit from app developers. Alphabet said it was challenging the verdict. (source)

In 2024, Master This Skill To Accelerate Your Career

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As 2024 arrives, I want you to invest in one skill: accounting and the broad understanding of Balance Sheets and Profit & Loss Statements. Yes, everything we do in companies has one destination: financial statements. And some special people (the Board of Directors) are anointed to use those statements to evaluate the health of the business. Those people are powerful, and most times, you may never see them in any building in a company, even though they control and influence the firm.

When they meet, typically quarterly, they evaluate if the coding, marketing, pitching, selling, customer support, etc are going well. Magically, they do not even need to come and ask you the coder how you are coding: they’re extracting and extrapolating based on the financial statements. Those statements are the summaries of how the firm is doing on its mission.

If they conclude that the numbers do not align for the grand vision, they tell the executive management to re-calibrate, and sometimes, due to the instructions pushed, people will lose their jobs, and factories can be closed. In Nigeria, some people reading financial statements out of GSK, P&G, etc headquarters, decided that things were not working, and commanded their lieutenants to close the Nigerian operations.

The question is this: do you understand the financial statements of the company you work for? If you do not, you are a follow-follow person with no bearing, because you are financially blind to the state of the business. When you cannot make sense of these documents, you  will not understand how the business is reporting everything ALL of you have been doing to the “owners” or custodians.

I am an engineer and I am proud that I understand financial statements. As a young banker in Lagos, I did not want to be blind; I enrolled for ICAN (graduate, intermediate), and became aware of the implication of the two most important documents companies create yearly.

In 2024, I challenge you to master how to at least read them. If you do, veils will be lifted, and you will understand that company better.

The Power of Accounting

Computing along with the whole information age is built on 0s and 1s. Those 0s and 1s are like the biological cells which are the fundamental units of life (cells make up tissues, tissues organs, and organs systems). In the world of business and commerce, the language most spoken is the language of accounting, and that language is expressed in credits and debits.

Debit comes from Latin’s “debitum” which means “what is owed” or simply debt; credit also comes from Latin, now “creditum” which means “having been loaned”. Since Luca Pacioli formulated the double-entry system in the 15th century, the core attributes remain. 

As 2024 arrives, plan to understand basic accounting. If you do not, you simply follow others, blindly. And that means you will not rise to the highest level of your call because business is nothing but accounting, chronicled in statements like balance sheets and income statements.

Indeed, your tech skill, your strategy session, your sales, your loans, and everything in that company comes down to debit and credit, souped with ingredients of asset, liability, equity, revenue and cost, with the asset (=liability + equity) and the revenue/cost delta (profit or loss). If you do not understand this, you are following others in the world of business, and opportunities will pass by which your antenna will not pick.

They have passed you twice for a new promotion even though you are the best tech guru. Have you checked? The other guy is a tech guru and also understands the business which gives him/her an edge.

Because I like to provide solutions when I write, I made sure that our Tekedia Mini-MBA (register for next edition starting in Feb 2024) has ICAN and accounting experts who can help you on that journey:

  • Accounting – Ndubuisi Umunna (ACA), Head Finance, Grand Treasurers
  • Auditing, Forensics, Controls – Yusuf O. Sanni (ACA), Chief Internal Auditor, BUA Cement Plc
  • Internal Auditing Strategy for SMEs – Abel Osuji – Director, Internal Audit & Risk Control, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) Egypt
  • Managerial Accounting, Business Decision Making and Growth – Idris Ayinde, ACA, CFA, KPMG UK
  • Building Your Business Financial Models (templates included) – Michael Olafusi, Financial Analyst Fellow Brightmore Capital

Crypto is Not Perfect, but Neither is Fiat

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Crypto is not perfect, but neither is fiat. This is the main argument that many crypto enthusiasts use to defend their preference for decentralized digital currencies over traditional government-issued money. But what does this argument really mean? And is it valid?

I will try to examine the pros and cons of both crypto and fiat and explain why I think neither of them is perfect, but both of them have their own advantages and disadvantages. I will also discuss some of the challenges and opportunities that crypto faces in the future, and how it can coexist with fiat in a more harmonious way.

First of all, let’s define what crypto and fiat are. Crypto, short for cryptocurrency, is a type of digital money that uses cryptography to secure its transactions and prevent counterfeiting. Crypto is not issued or controlled by any central authority, but rather by a network of computers that follow a set of rules and protocols. Some of the most popular examples of crypto are Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin.

Fiat, on the other hand, is a type of money that is issued and regulated by a government or a central bank. Fiat derives its value from the trust and confidence that people have in the issuing authority, and not from any intrinsic or physical property. Some of the most widely used fiat currencies are the US dollar, the euro, and the yen.

Now that we have established what crypto and fiat are, let’s compare them on some key aspects:

Security: Crypto is generally considered to be more secure than fiat, because it relies on cryptography and mathematics to ensure its validity and integrity. Crypto transactions are recorded on a public ledger called a blockchain, which makes them transparent and immutable. Crypto also eliminates the need for intermediaries or third parties, such as banks or payment processors, which reduces the risk of fraud or theft.

Fiat, however, is vulnerable to counterfeiting, inflation, corruption, and manipulation by the issuing authorities. Fiat transactions are often opaque and subject to censorship or interference by intermediaries or regulators. Fiat also requires trust in the stability and solvency of the issuing institutions, which can be eroded by political or economic crises.

Accessibility: Crypto is more accessible than fiat, because it can be used by anyone who has access to the internet and a compatible device. Crypto does not require any identification or verification to use it, which makes it inclusive and empowering for people who are unbanked or underbanked. Crypto also enables cross-border transactions without any fees or restrictions.

Fiat, however, is less accessible than crypto, because it requires a bank account or a physical location to use it. Fiat often imposes barriers or limitations on who can use it, such as age, nationality, credit score, or income level. Fiat also charges fees or taxes for transactions, especially for international ones.

Volatility: Crypto is more volatile than fiat, because it is influenced by supply and demand dynamics in a relatively new and unregulated market. Crypto prices can fluctuate significantly in a short period of time, due to factors such as news events, market sentiment, innovation, adoption, speculation, or manipulation. Crypto also has a limited supply (in most cases), which makes it susceptible to scarcity or deflation.

Fiat, however, is less volatile than crypto, because it is backed by the authority and reputation of the issuing institutions. Fiat prices are usually stable and predictable in the short term, due to factors such as monetary policy, fiscal policy, inflation targeting, or exchange rate regimes. Fiat also has an unlimited supply (in most cases), which makes it prone to oversupply or inflation.

As you can see, crypto and fiat have their own strengths and weaknesses. Neither of them is perfect, but neither of them is worthless either. They both serve different purposes and cater to different needs in different contexts.

So, what can we do to make the best use of both systems?

One possible solution is to use crypto as a store of value and fiat as a medium of exchange. A store of value is something that can preserve its purchasing power over time. A medium of exchange is something that can facilitate trade and commerce.

By using crypto as a store of value, we can protect our wealth from inflation and devaluation caused by excessive money printing or currency manipulation by governments or central banks. By using fiat as a medium of exchange, we can enjoy the convenience and stability of transacting with a widely accepted and regulated form of money.

Another possible solution is to use crypto as a medium of exchange and fiat as a unit of account. A unit of account is something that can measure the value of goods and services. A medium of exchange is something that can facilitate trade and commerce. By using crypto as a medium of exchange, we can benefit from the speed, security and privacy.

Think Beyond Starting Another “Fintech” Startup in Nigeria, Africa

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Fintechs are everywhere and it may be challenging to build a new one as category-kings have already emerged. In Nigeria, we already have clear kings like Moniepoint/ OPay/ PalmPay/ Kuda (POS, SME banking), Interswitch (card network), Flutterwave (web payment), PiggyVest (saving), FairMoney (lending),  Bitmama/ Changera (cross-border) and  TAP (micropayments) controlling their domains. Unless you have a clear new basis of competition, it may be tough going after these companies frontally.

So, if you cannot find another financial service niche to pioneer and dominate, a good playbook could be anchoring a business upon some of these companies. One of Nigeria’s finest agtech startups – Winich Farms – is a very big company which taps into the fintech world, but serving farmers and those in the broad agro-sector. Another is Cinderbuild which focuses on construction while also deploying typical fintech services from partners.

Looking at the state of the market, establishing new companies where we have obvious category-kings without having a way to reshape the competitive equilibrium may not be a smart strategy. If you want to enter these areas where we have clear dominant players, and plan to do exactly what they are doing, you must come with a lot of cash as “quantity is also quality”, because with deeper pockets, you can find ways to win some territories (not recommended though). 

But if you ask for my opinion, I will tell you to go from the flank, and that means going into a sector and within that sector, you offer value to customers, even as you work on ways to embed fintech solutions on your products. My fintechnolization postulation remains that all digital platforms will offer a fintech solution. But it does not mean that you have to start a fintech product that collects online payment in Lagos today. 

In December 2020, I introduced the concept of fintechnolization: “a construct that every digital platform must have a maturity state of offering a fintech solution. I had watched all great digital platforms on how they ended up providing fintech solutions even when they began in an unrelated sector.”

Nigeria and indeed Africa are moving to the next phase of fintech evolution as the core operating system has been established. With this OS running, we can unlock opportunities in new sectors like agriculture, retail services, construction, etc across all nexus of financial services. Pursue those latent opportunities and do not waste time building another “fintech” solution.

Comment on Feed

Comment 1: I agree with finding another financial service niche to pioneer and dominate. Makes things a lot easier and indeed there are other promising and untapped opportunities and infrastructures that could be set up.

Just like you said, unless there is a clear new basis for competition. It may be tough to challenge;

The good thing is there are gaps and areas where these category kings have failed to fill in.

Well, I always fancy a David vs Goliath Story! ?

Either ways, it’s key to solve problems in a healthy way and to seek partnerships where necessary, even with the category kings.

Comment 2: Excellent and apt insight Prof. Months back a Nigerian fintech hopeful asked me for advice with their fintech payment idea. Although he was highly technical I pointed out to him the plethora of fintech options already available there, and I asked him to tell me what his value proposition was. His answer was he was planning to use a different protocol for small payments. I pointed out to him the number and success of small payment systems already entrenched in Nigeria and going up against established companies with nothing new other than an underlying system wasn’t enough – end users don’t necessarily care “how” transactions are completed, just as long as they are completed.

So I asked him to think more deeply about his target market, existing competition, the costs and time involved in setup, and what his vision for his product was, from infancy to operationally to accelerating, and to really think about if his product was actually new or if it was just doing the same thing already available.

Barriers to entry may seem low initially, knock out some code and away you go. But reality is the backend systems/servers/security is very costly. Unless you have an excellent product and strategy that adds value think twice:think niche.

My Response: A brilliant template for any new founder: ‘end users don’t necessarily care “how” transactions are completed’

My Response on “opportunities are still there” – check Twitter

All have opportunities. My point is that even in the present categories, you need to approach the problems in new ways. Going to do what Flutterwave is doing may not be smart because they have more resources. But you can pioneer new categories in the fintech space and control them.  MPESA in Nigeria may not work because what Nigeria has is good enough to care. That it worked in Kenya does not mean it can work in London, Cape Town, Lagos, etc since they have different levels of sector maturities.

You might read people writing that in Nairobi, you can do that with MPESA when it is not available in London. That is not the full story: London’s financial services might have abstracted the very reason MPESA was needed. So, if you bring it, no one cares.

You can click to get the full view of my note. Everything remains in infancy , including what Flutterwave is doing since it is not in Ovim, my village. But I am not sure the new fintech with limited resources has a higher chance, doing exactly the same thing.