“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” Quote by Thomas Jefferson, the third President of The United States of America (U.S.A- 1801-1809).

Every individual on this planet is desirous of satisfaction and fulfillment of purpose but sadly, only about 8% of the human population is always able to live purposeful lives. Reason: they chose to do things differently from the gamut of people who remain in the 92%. Hear this: the cosmos is guided by universal principles and standards and when one is not able to key into the acceptable rules that guide the universe, one becomes a lost identity in course of time. You become like the flat car tyre that cannot go anywhere until you change it. That is exactly how bad going up and down with the wrong mindset and attitude is. In the end, the person goes on a rigmarole in this cosmos without achieving or leaving a legacy, thereby going back to his creator the same way he came.

It is based on this that Heraclitus of Ephesus, who lived Pre-Socrates while studying the nature of Man and the cosmos: revealed “that a man’s character is his fate.” In this quote: he referred to fate as homo deus which means character, attitude and habits.

Humans have used procrastination tools to make themselves poorer with respect to wealth creation. This article is not about being philosophical but rather includes salient success principles that can be acquired when one is a ‘procrastination victim’ and inculcates herewith some cosmos truth.

My opening quote speaks a lot about our generation. Our generation is made up of largely laggards (people who take so much time in arriving at a particular workable decision) and thus requires stiction (a force that causes one’s body to move or act). People often talk of destiny and surely what we call destiny is actually our character; and if character can change, then destinies can be altered as well. Reno Omokri said and I quote: “increase your productivity by preparing for tomorrow today. Select what you will wear tomorrow and have breakfast ready before you sleep. They are small things but the small edge they give you is the winner’s edge. Shape the future in the present”

In this period the world is facing health and financial crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, some will develop wings, some others will go for clutches; and the difference between them is action oriented. Humans do not appear to bring in their best except when they are thrown into hot water and you see them scamper for safety; meaning that they are hamster wheel or like tea bags that can only be useful in hot water. Are you this person?

Then overtime, I have also discovered that one of the reasons people are still where they are is largely due to procrastination. As a Success Coach and Trainpreneur, I am very passionate about people who daily seek to achieve their goals and meet their objectives within a time frame and having conquered perceived encumbrances. You too can join this clerisy (intelligent or successful people).

To procrastinate is to put off what you are supposed to do now for a future date cause largely by indecision. And this is a major problem for everyone. It does not have respect for class, creed, race or levels of people. Anyone can be a victim. But the big difference between the high and low performers or achievers is knowledge and action. The person who knows and does not take action is not better than the person who does not know at all. So knowledge and action are the pivots in procrastination.

Many would say “I am still thinking”; “I am still brooding over the business proposal”; “I still need more time to go over the business plan.” I may not exhaust the statements of excuses people give. But you know yours. Come to think of it, life does not reward you for what you are planning to do but what you have done. Action oriented steps and vision are what we need to change our lives and beat procrastination.

In this piece I will not fail to mention the damaging effects of procrastination and how it has turned many into paupers. First, procrastination reduces your capacity and tenacity to achieve goals. Besides you waste quality time and opportunity that would have been used up in productive activities. Many do not even know that time is one powerful resource that you cannot recoup and one motivational speaker even said it is a value resource. You should be able to convert time to wisdom. Many say they save time but erroneously they convert time to keep. Again, procrastination will make you not keep promises. A promise is a future cheque but for ‘procrastinating victim’ failed them. A major blow of procrastination ruins your reputation and causes you to lose self-drive, self-esteem and in the end you suffer complexity, you start avoiding calls and people. Finally on consequences, your career suffers a nosedive, stymies, ultimately hurts and suffers you emotionally and brings in health challenges. Seriously!

Thankfully, there are a handful of remedies I shall walk you through to kill the ‘monster’ in procrastination. The paramount one is being able to reprogram your mindset. You are literally what you think. As it is written in the Bible “as a man thinketh so he is.” One quick way to kill procrastination is by being in a haste to fix whatever will drag you back. Man is a product of habits and when you do not act fast, that beautiful idea dies or the urgency to do dissipates. Too much thinking is planning to fail. Are you shocked? But that is just an obvious fact. Here, lots of energy is required to overcome inertia. Inertia means lethargy or the unwillingness to do something or simply put: being sluggish. Some people are only successful in the ‘thinking world’ and not in reality. You are not wrong if you call them castle builders in the air.

Another empirical remedy for procrastination is you taking a plain sheet of paper to write down your positive action statement as many times as possible with things like “do it now”; “act now”; “execute now”. Reason: whatever that is committed to the subconscious mind produces propensity for action.

Besides, you need to have the right knowledge that will spur you into taking the right steps. Knowledge is power. Why many refuse to start a business or an investment is the absence of knowledge for that ‘thing’. And here, you need a mentor or one who is vast in that field to guide you through and kill your fears. You must be very meticulous with whatever principles your mentor or guide puts down so that you do not pay dearly for any act of foolishness or unscrupulousness.

In addition, start a new association with people who are action oriented and very spontaneous too i.e fast moving people. This is referred to as Law of Association. The people you associate with are more likely to influence your decision and cause you to remain stasis (a condition in which things do not change). So you need to evaluate the people around you and you might discover that they are as weightless as tissue paper. Your life cannot be better than the association you keep. Your net worth is your network. Think about it!

Develop new habits. Man is a product of habits and success is a habit too. Be very determined to combine ‘thinking with doing’ otherwise you will never achieve anything. The last remedy that works for me is by starting small. You may decide to dive into the pool of water, but start from the brink by using your legs to measure the deep then gradually progress into the deep. Anyone that must dare to lift a mountain should first start by at least carrying rocks (an African maxim).

In conclusion, when you start, you should always have the end in mind. This simply means that your goals on financial decisions or any other target as you seek must be purposeful, determinable, achievable, timely bound, measurable, specific and challenging too. When you have all the variables, then the road map becomes something you can see even to the very end.

I wish you good luck as you start that new career, business, investment, network, etc.

I leave you with the words of Eleanor Roosevelt “you gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself. I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.” What is keeping you down?

On Wednesday 27 May, 2020, nine (9) civil society organizations coming together as the African Internet Rights Alliance (or AIRA), submitted two (2) joint letters to the Special Rapporteur’s – African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the United Nations – focused on freedom of opinion and expression and access to information.

These two letters expressed deep concern about the use of Kenya’s Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act (or CMCA, 2018) and Nigeria’s Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, (or CA, 2015).

The partner organizations of AIRA – ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa, the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT), Paradigm Initiative (PIN), BudgIT, Co Creation Hub (CcHub), Legal Resources Centre (LRC), the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) and Amnesty International – strongly urged the two Special Rapporteur’s to call on the Kenyan and Nigerian governments to:

Place a moratorium on the use of cybercrimes legislation in both Kenya and Nigeria. Specifically, the partner organizations called for a moratorium to be placed on the ‘fake news’ and cyber-harassment provisions in Kenya and the cyber-harassment and records- retention provisions in Nigeria;

Drop all charges imposed on any individuals under the CMCA, 2018 and the CA, 2015;

Review any current civil and/or criminal cases where persons have been fined and/or imprisoned using the provisions in the CA, 2015 and the CMCA, 2018; and

Initiate participatory and transparent processes to reform the CMCA, 2018 in Kenya and the CA, 2015 in Nigeria, whilst ensuring their strict compliance with regional and international standards relating to freedom of expression, privacy and media freedom.

The partner organizations insisted that the situation in Kenya and Nigeria is dire, especially during the COVID-19 period where freedoms, particularly movement, access to courts, as well as economic and social rights are being curtailed owing to the Kenyan and Nigerian governments’ possession of extraordinary powers.

The partner organizations of AIRA urged the two Special Rapporteurs to publicly call on the governments of Kenya and Nigeria to ensure that their cybercrimes frameworks do not restrict fundamental rights and freedoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the 2015 Nigerian Cyber Crime Act, the distribution of racist and xenophobic material via social media or any other computer network is forbidden. The Act also prohibits the use of violence threats, insults based on a person’s race, religion, ethnic or national origin. Anyone found guilty of these acts are liable to 5 years imprisonment or a fine not less than N10 million.

However, it became imperative for the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to watch the government’s application of the cybercrime laws due to incessant abuse of power. Last year, the Nigerian government was repeatedly caught in attempts to enact draconian laws that will stifle free speech. It took vehement opposition from CSOs and the Nigerian public to kill the bills.

Nevertheless, the cases of journalists, bloggers and critics of the government getting locked up based on the 2015 cybercrime Act keeps on the rise.

In April, Paradigm Initiative held a media parley that was centered on digital rights across Africa, especially in the face of COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of Paradigm is to provide pro bono services for those whose digital rights have been abused by the authorities, and to provide a secure digital platform for victims of digital right abuse to make their complaint.

“Work has now started on a platform that would allow people to report cases of digital rights violations the platform will serve to collate cases of violations across the continent and it will allow us and our partners to coordinate best responses,” the statement from Paradigm said. “Our goal is to ensure that no violation goes under the radar and also to create a safe space for citizens to report violations without fear and intimidation.”

Just like Nigeria, Kenya has high cases of digital rights violations. The East African Cybercrime Act of 2018 was a subject of legal battle owing to some sections of it that were perceived as oppressive to free speech and digital rights. The Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE), filed a petition challenging several provisions of the Act.

BAKE’s petition argued that several provisions of the Act violated and denied constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms such as the freedom of expression, opinion, media, right to privacy and the right to fair hearing. Based on this argument, 26 sections of the Act were suspended until February 20, 2020, when the High Court of Kenya ruled that the petition was unjustified, and therefore, lifted the suspension.

CSOs across Africa have been wary that in the face of global health crisis that has resulted in skeletal function of activities including the courts, African governments would take advantage of the situation and trample further on people’s digital rights.

Therefore, the coalition of civil society groups across Africa are stepping up to ensure that governments across the continent are restrained from overstepping their bounds.

About AIRA:

The work of the African Internet Rights Alliance is rooted in four values: accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance. Using these values as a guide, AIRA undertakes collective interventions and executes strategic campaigns that engage the government, private sector, media and civil society to institute and safeguard digital rights. The alliance is made up of nine civil society organizations based in countries across Sub- Saharan Africa. AIRA is a coalition of regional and national organizations that undertake collective interventions to promote data protection and privacy, affordability to the internet, access to information and freedoms of assembly, expression and the press in Africa. The membership is comprised of: Article 19 Eastern Africa, The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), Co-Creation Hub, The Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT), iHub, Kenya ICT Action Network ( KICTANet), Legal Resource Centre (LRC), Paradigm Initiative, Amnesty International, BudgIT.