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Home Blog Page 5261

Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State Already Walking The Talk

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The good people of Anambra state recently witnessed the swearing-in of their newly elected Governor Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo who recently took over the leadership of the state from Ex.Gov. Willie Obiano. During his campaign, Governor Soludo made a lot of promises which is the common thing all politicians do.  But unfortunately, most of them get voted for and refuse to fulfill those promises they earlier made. Permit me to say that Governor Soludo has shown that he is indeed an exception and he is already walking the talk.

Governor Soludo is indeed hell-bent on restructuring Anambra state into a place of Eldorado with his recent plans and accomplishments. Recall that during his campaigns, Governor Soludo promised to wear mostly made in Nigeria clothes, where he specifically made mention of the Akwete clothing.

He also promised to patronize made in Nigeria products as he disclosed that he was going to make use of Innoson’s vehicle as his official car. He promised to ban the collection of revenues by touts in the market, and before his swearing-in ceremony, he disclosed that it was going to be a ceremony devoid of pomp and celebration.

It might interest you to know that all these promises above-mentioned have been fulfilled and implemented. What seemed like empty promises to some people has finally been carried out. Governor Soludo has on several occasions been spotted wearing the Akwete dresses which have shut up the demand for the locally made fabric.

A media team of the governor sent one of its reporters to Akwete in Abia state, where the fabric was made. It was discovered that the demand for the material has gone high since Governor Soludo announced that he will be wearing the locally made material.

Already, the women of Akwete are already smiling to the bank due to the association of their products with an iconic figure who many look up to. Recall that Soludo promised to use Innoson vehicle as his official car. He indeed didn’t mince words, as he was spotted arriving at his inaugural ceremony in an innoson G80 Suv, a replica of the Mercedes G-wagon. Recall that governor Soludo disclosed that his inaugural ceremony was going to be devoid of pomp and lavish spending, this was indeed evident during the just concluded ceremony.

It was learned that the government of Ex. Gov. Willie Obiano budgeted N500 million for his oath swearing ceremony, but Soludo was said to have advised governor Obiano to cut down the budget as he preferred a low-key ceremony. He advised the previous government not to commit such money in such flamboyant ventures as the funds should be used to address more pressing issues in the state. All this was visible for everyone to see as there was nothing like fanfare and glamorous ceremony.

According to recent reports, it was disclosed that Governor Charles Soludo has banned the collection of revenue by touts in markets and parks across the state. He announced the ban immediately after he was sworn in as governor which has already taken effect. According to him, as a new order, many unproductive systems will give way, as there will be better ways of managing motor parks in the state. Indeed “Soludo Solution” as fondly called by the people of Anambra state, has not just shown competence lately, he is already walking the talk.

This is the kind of person the Igbo people call “Ekwueme” which means talk and do. Governor Soludo continues to exude the exuberance of an intellectual reformist, a mere look at his portfolio, one won’t be surprised at his ideologies. His playbook is indeed a fascinating one for everyone to look out for. With his impeccable ideas, with some already implemented, I strongly believe Governor Soludo will transform Anambra state into an industrial hub. Permit me to say, it is a new dawn for Anambarians.

Dissecting Nigeria’s Unending Unemployment Palaver

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Despite the apparent severe steps being consistently taken by the citizens and successive governments to ensure they aren’t trapped in the pothole dug by unemployment, they still overtime encounter its ruthless scourge, apparently signifying their efforts aren’t good enough.

Though unemployment isn’t peculiar to Nigeria, the degree at which it shows its elbows in the country is so enormous that she’s ostensibly taking the lead in the comity of nations. Hence, there’s a need for drastic measures towards cushioning the excruciating effects.

It’s noteworthy that unemployment is not a personal plight but a general one, thus the essence of a societal approach in a bid to tackle the menace. This is the reason countless schools of thought have overtime shown great concern over the lingering nature of the cankerworm as well as aired their views on how best to tackle it.

Though unemployment isn’t a convincing excuse to indulge in any crime, hence no discerning mind encourages people to resort to it, it’s worth noting that its scourge remains one of the prime reasons all sorts of criminal activities have escalated in recent times.

Another disturbing occurrence that’s apropos of unemployment is the employability status of our present days’ graduates. It’s not anymore news that most of these youths are obviously unemployable, thus posing a threat to the labour market and their chances of being meaningfully employed.

The plight as stated in the above paragraph is mainly attributable to lack of adequate knowledge as acquired from their respective institutions of learning, or inability of our various undergraduates to stick to the needful while on campus.

Taking a painstaking study of all these issues, it’s needless to assert that the ongoing unemployment crisis in Nigeria is not unconnected with dilapidated learning environment cum facilities, decline in the country’s value system, and insufficient employers of labour, among others.

Though nepotism is highly condemnable and unacceptable, those who attribute unemployment to it might be making a big mistake because if there are sufficient firms or employment opportunities, such a practice like favouritism or what have you would hardly be detected by anyone.

Before now, or in the olden days, Nigerians were gainfully engaged with various works simply because the jobs were readily available and the population was conspicuously far lesser than what we could witness now.

But with the growing lack of sustainability of various government-owned establishments coupled with the astronomical growth of the country’s population, the job spaces abruptly became overwhelmed by the number of people in the labour market.

A lot has really gone wrong in the system, but the good news is that, we can once again get it right if the needful is done by the relevant authorities. This can only be actualized by revisiting the drawing board.

It would be very wonderful for the government to comprehend that the endless unemployment issues can aptly be addressed by truly embracing tech-driven measures. It’s worthy of note that only technological approach could significantly alleviate all crises that are apropos unemployment.

First, we need to revamp the country’s education sector. The current educational system of the Nigerian society has really deteriorated that an urgent, candid and apt measure is required towards its revitalization.

We must be ready to train our young ones with a view to becoming self-reliant in their respective abilities. Since the population is growing by the day and the firms aren’t increasing meaningfully, there’s a compelling need to prepare these Nigerians so they could emerge as entrepreneurs or employers of labour rather than seekers.

Our various technical colleges, which have apparently gone into moribund, must be revived in earnest to keep the ground running. Those days, graduates of these institutions – even without proceeding to a higher level of learning – could stand on their own as well as comfortably raise wonderful families with their earnings.

The governments at all levels ought to endeavour to equip the various tertiary schools in their respective jurisdictions, so that, the graduates can defend themselves in any setting and equally start up something meaningful without ‘giraffing’ for the availability of any form of white-collar job as it is currently the case.

In view of the above, the schools’ authorities must strengthen the value of the ongoing Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), which was primarily set up by the government to aid the technical upbringing of the learners irrespective of their disciplines.

Hence, it’s high time the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), the body imbued with the powers to service the SIWES and sustain its viability, started doing the needful. The authority must endeavour to face priorities squarely at the expense of frivolities, as I rightly mentioned in my previous works.

They must deploy a functional mechanism that would ensure thorough monitoring of the industrial trainees from time-to-time as long as the training lasts. This proposed task mustn’t be shortchanged for any reason whatsoever if we truly want the SIWES to be result-oriented.

Our engineering graduates, just as it’s being observed in the medical and law fields, ought to be mandated to undergo a compulsory one-year national programme strictly on further industrial workshop training. This should serve as a prerequisite to the ongoing National Youth Service.

Inter alia, the governments need to provide an enabling environment to enable all tech-driven talents to thrive as well as ensure that the available patents of the numerous institutions domiciled in their jurisdictions are duly commercialized. Research works in any quarter must also be given due attention since technology is strictly dependent on research.

Conclusively, it would be sacrilegious to beat about the bush while discussing tech-driven matters, because technology is all about facts. Hence, the government needs to acknowledge that the suggested measures can never yield significant and tangible results if we continue to relegate the power supply issue to the background.

We must understand that only uninterruptible electricity can encourage entrepreneurship to a great extent as desired by the people. Therefore, this technological factor requires the highest sincere attention.

All in all, in the contemporary global society, joblessness or unemployment can only be aptly tackled via the apt deployment of tech-driven mechanisms, which Nigeria as a country is yet to fully embrace.

Tekedia Live – Application of OODA Framework in Business Growth

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Join me tomorrow at Tekedia Mini-MBA Live as I use the military OODA framework to teach business growth and expansion. I am an Ovim man and we like the military. And when you have some business frictions, you consult them. They share great ideas.

I recently learnt about OODA. And quickly, I am translating what they taught me into business. I am developing a full course on this framework but will share some elemental components tomorrow as we continue to master the mechanics of market systems.

It’s all about market positioning and once established, release the forces by efficiently controlling, coordinating and organizing the factors of production. #WIN. Zoom link in the Board.

To join the June edition, register here 

Fuel your life with inner optimism and confidence to advance

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This is Friday and as we move into the weekend to renew, I want to challenge everyone to focus on listening to those who believe that YOU CAN than those who think you cannot. Yes, there are those who will find a reason to discourage any idea you throw out there; find ways to pause from them.

To take this home, I share from Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (Anambra state). Left secondary school in second year, moved to Ghana and built the largest spare parts factory, went to DRC and built a power plant, came back to Nigeria to build the largest private fuel depot.

And he wanted to go to the Senate, get his degree, get etc. As we were listening, someone in the meeting said “Chairman, that should be too much”. That day, I was there, he told him “sit down my friend and please do not talk again”. Simply, he did not want anyone to say he would not become a senator, get his bachelor degree, etc! (Sure, we need to manage risks in life. But even risks must be calibrated.)

Searching for an old email, I saw one I sent him in the past, and magically, he had accomplished everything listed therein. Which voice do you hear whenever you want to TAKE ACTION for something productive and impactful?

Here is the deal:  until you can fuel your life with inner optimism and confidence, moving to that next level will be hard. You need to believe YOU (i.e yourself) before others can be of value.

Happy weekend ahead.

Companies Must Prepare For Digital Disruption

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First of all, what is digital disruption? According to Google, digital disruption is an effect that changes the fundamental expectations and behaviors in a culture, market, industry, or process that is caused by or expressed through digital capabilities, channels or assets. In simple terms, digital disruption refers to the change that occurs when new digital technology and business models affect the value proposition of existing goods and services.

As the popular saying goes, “Life is full of uncertainty”, this means no one can predict what is likely to occur in the future. This is the reason why businesses/ organizations need to rewrite their business operations and plans to accommodate the unpredictability of the current world. Lately, there has been a high number of technological changes that have transformed companies and industries. Old methods are no longer sustainable anymore because it has been proven to retard growth and progress.

This is the reason why businesses should be prepared with a well-mapped-out strategy to handle digital disruption, to fuel their growth. Employers who remain reluctant to move from their legacy of technology and operations often experience a decrease in value in their business. They must understand that digital disruption can occur at any time and its impact on a business can be adverse.

Employers must take careful note of the technological disruption happening around them, they need to see advanced technology and change management as a continuous interplay that facilitates the delivery of optimal products and services. They need to deploy best practices on how to deal with digital disruption ahead so that it can work for them and not against them. During my research on this topic, I came up with three main causes of digital disruptions which are; Automation, Value Proposition, and Dematerialization.

Automation: What does this mean? It is the creation and application of technologies to produce and deliver goods and services where human input is minimized. It improves task efficiency which positively increases employees’ productivity. With automation, digital tools help businesses and organizations to automate repetitive tasks which enhances the efficiency of company resources. Most organizations that make use of automation, notice that it helps them save time and money and also allows them to focus on priority tasks. There are different types of automation systems such as; Fixed automation, Programmable automation, Flexible automation, Integrated Automation, etc.

Value Proposition: A company’s value proposition discloses to a customer the major reason why a product or service is best suited for them. The area of value proposition has evolved, with companies adopting new innovative ways of doing business. The main purpose of a value proposition is to convince customers, stakeholders, or investors that the company’s product and services are worthwhile. A value proposition can be communicated to investors and customers either via the company’s website, marketing, or advertising materials. Today’s modern companies have the data of their consumers and employees on their system which helps them to understand what they need. This data can be leveraged, tweaked, or revamped to change the business model to satisfy the demand.

Dematerialization: This has to do with the substitution of physical products with digital ones which simplify business processes. This process has reduced the marginal cost of production drastically and has opened new methods or channels of communication. One of the reasons why organizations adopt dematerialization is to smoothen the process of buying and selling. It is the process of using less material to create value. Examples of dematerialization are; Car Clubs, Bike Hire Schemes, laundry services.

Final Thoughts

In this 21st century, the world has become more digitally connected than ever before. Technology is gradually taking the center stage and it is already having a positive influence on business. Therefore, employers must see the need to prepare their company for digital disruption because it enables growth, enhances customer retention and satisfaction which makes the workforce faster and better.