I have really not been active on this space for a couple of months. However, I feel I need to share this to set you on the right foot in 2020.

Over the past few months, I have had a major observation and it is a fact that we disregard process in Nigeria. Well, it may be the same, but I can only speak of that which I know.

Process can be used interchangeably with structure and I have discovered that we really do not care about following process to get things done which is why we really do not do amazing stuff or make big wins.

I really cannot point out if our total disregard for process (structure) is due to laziness, or ignorance or fear but I can tell you that if you learn to pay attention to structure, it would help you get things done faster.

Let me give a quick example; I have received hundreds of messages from fellow youths personally and via social media platform on their wish or quest to become professionals in their skills.

Matter of fact, the questions are centered on how they can make good money.

Now, I’d tell you that as Nigeria is concerned, money does not grow on trees; not yet.

So in order to make money, you need to go through a certain process or a structure set already. Structures vary in locations and instances anyways.

Most times out of few, I always recommend that these fellow youths learn certain skills.

To make money, you need to have a job, to have a job, you need to have a skill, to have a skill you need to learn it.

The responses I get most times are what baffles me. Let me give you a few of the responses;

Me: you need to learn a skill to have good money

Person 1: I don’t have data ooooo

Person 2: I don’t have time oooo

Person 3: It is hard oooo

The list is endless. Well, while I am aware that the economy is hard to purchase data, or to create time to learn a skill, it is just the process to having a skill.

I mean, you cannot be paid $4000 as a software engineer if you don’t know software engineering and you cannot obviously know software engineering if you don’t devote time to learn it.

Now let me paint a very common example and I am pretty sure a lot of job seekers are guilty of this.

I have also been privileged to discuss with job seekers on their quests to get jobs and I pop up questions like;

What job platforms are you following and when last did you check up on them?

Do you have an updated CV or Resume?

How often do you google for new jobs?

Do you actively disturb your uncles to connect you with jobs or even friends?

I always get replies in the non-affirmative which indicates that nothing is really done actually.

Let me be honest with you, from observation, I have discovered a subtle delusion that comes to not following structures (processes).

Just because you wish to get a job, there’s a feeling that you are really active in seeking for it whereas you’re literally not doing anything.

I have been there and I tell you, time will keep going and you would feel very comfortable because you actually feel you’re doing something.

You’d wake up in the day with the bugging thoughts of getting a job, sit on whatsapp all day and because you’re aware of the fact that you need a job, you think you have spent all day doing something.

What structures does to you is that it reveals inactivity. It helps you realize that you are not doing anything.

Just like a chain reaction, structure helps you understand that there’s obviously no way your Resume can be concrete if you don’t have good certifications and to do that, you need to take courses either online or offline.

Structure gives clarity!!! It helps you identify where the problem is exactly.

You’d be able to figure out that you didn’t get the job because you don’t have good job experiences or perhaps you have not built a certain skill.

The second law of motion (my updated version): to every reaction, there has been a coordinated action.

This simply means to get a desired result, there must be coordinated sets of actions. Remember, I said coordinated.

This does not just apply to getting jobs but in business and other activities as well. The law of karma (my definition) states that whatever you do, you get the reward.

When people win grants and fundings, it’s not because their names fell into the list. It was because they applied for it.

The reward for applying is the win. Sometimes, you may not get the win. Matter of fact, the result for the following process is not a win in the real sense, it is clarity and opportunity.

It means following processes enables you to be aware of the purposed consequences of you action, you have a prediction of the outcome and it becomes an opportunity.

In 2020, learn to respect processes (structures). It would do you a great help.

Got any questions? Let me know.

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced a trading surplus of 13.23 billion naira in October 2019, representing an increase of 54 percent vis-à-vis the 8.59billion naira surplus posted in September last year.

The NNPC, in a release signed by its Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Samson Makoji, explained that the figures contained in the recently released October 2019 edition of the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR), reflect the sustained streak of positive results in the operations of the National Oil Company.

To underline the increasing fortunes of the corporation in recent times, the September, 2019 trading surplus of ?8.59billion in turn indicated a significant increase of 65 per cent compared to the 5.20billion surplus posted in August 2019, even as that beat the 4.26billion surplus posted in July 2019, reflecting an increase of 22 per cent.

The NNPC said the increase of 54 per cent trading surplus in October 2019 accounts of the corporation was majorly attributable to improved trading surplus posted by its flagship Upstream subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

The 51st edition of the MFOR stated a total Crude Oil and Gas export sales of $483.25 million in October 2019; which is an increase of 35.77 percentage point, compared to the previous month, implying that in the month under review, Crude oil export sales contributed $396.94million (82.14 per cent) of the dollar transactions, compared with $267.97million contribution in September, 2019, even as the export Gas sales for the month amounted to $86.32 million.

Overall, the October 2018 to October 2019 Crude Oil and Gas transactions indicated that Crude Oil & Gas worth $5.49 Billion was exported.

In the Downstream Sector, to ensure sustained PMS supply and effective distribution across the country, 1.16billion litres of PMS, translating to 37.30mn liters/day, were supplied for the month.

NNPC stated in the monthly report that it had continued to diligently monitor the daily stock of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol, in order to achieve smooth distribution of petroleum products and zero fuel queue nationwide.

The report said that in October 2019, 35 vandalized-pipeline points, representing a decrease of 81 per cent from the 186 vandalized-points in September 2019, were recorded.

Out of the vandalized points, eight failed to be welded, while only one pipeline was ruptured, with Ibadan-Ilorin axis accounting for 34 percent of the breaks, while ATC-Mosimi and other routes accounted for 23 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively.

In the Gas Sector, out of the 235.82billion Cubic Feet (BCF) of gas supplied in October 2019, a total of 134.97 BCF of gas was commercialized, consisting of 31.37 BCF and 103.60 BCF for the domestic and export market, respectively.

This translates to a total supply of 1,011.85Million Standard Cubic Feet (mmscfd) of gas to the domestic market and 3,341.84mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market for the month, implying that during the month, 57.23 per cent of the average daily gas produced was commercialized, while the balance of 42.77 per cent was re-injected, used as Upstream fuel gas or flared.

The surplus was attributed to the 81 percent drop in pipeline vandalism among other issues that have seen improvement recently.

In 2008, there were over 2500 cases of pipeline vandalism in Nigeria; the alarming trajectory was heightened by the activities of militancy in the Niger-Delta region of the country. Attempts by the governments to quell it had come in two major ways, paying off the militants to stop their activities and keeping an eye on the pipelines, and using the military to provide security for the pipelines.

Each of these attempts did little to stop the vandalism being fueled by greed and grievance. Consequently, the activities took a toll on the oil-based economy of Nigeria, and there was a significant drop in oil output in the country. The NNPC claimed a lot of losses during the period incessant vandal activities on the pipelines, a situation that brought notable emptiness to Government’s treasury. In 2014, pipeline vandalism cost Nigerian Government $14 billion and the preceding years did not have it better.

It appears now that there is a break in the activities of the militancy and that has allowed free flow of the oil through the pipelines. The National oil Corporation repeatedly posted losses to the point that it stirred suspicion of fraud in the organization. The announcement of surplus for the month of October is a strong indication that things have improved for the better in a long while.

The development beckons hope because the Government is on the verge of borrowing $30 billion for infrastructure. As oil prices seem to be rising, there will be enough funds in the treasury to minimize the amount of money the Government is seeking to borrow externally if the trend of surplus is sustained.

Jeff Bezos closed the year 2019 retaining the top spot in the list of richest people in the world. He narrowly took the first position beating his Microsoft rival, Bill Gates, by about $2 billion. The feat is remarkable because of the events of loss incurred by Bezos in the past year.

The Amazon founder’s net worth was down $10.1 billion since the beginning of the year. The major contributing factor being his divorce from his wife of 25 years that gulped a chunk of wealth off his assets and saw a massive decline in his net worth.

In mid-2019, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos finalized their divorce with a notable settlement of $38 billion. The announcement of the divorce agreement details back in April disclosed that MacKenzie would grant Jeff all of interests in the Washington Post and Blue Origin, and voting control over her stake in the company. While The Amazon CEO would keep 75% of the Amazon stock their co-owned, and MacKenzie would keep the rest of the stock.

The rest of the Amazon stock valued at 4% was worth $38 billion, just enough to shoot Ms. MacKenzie up to the list of the richest women in the world, she was the fifth in the Bloomberg index, sitting a little behind Francoise Bettencourt Meyers and Alice Walton.

But MacKenzie’s fortune brought misfortune to Jeff at the tune of $45 billion, reducing his net worth to $121 billion from its $165 billion peak.

The decline in Bezos’ fortune was second to the highest in 2019, just a little behind Rupert Murdoch’s heart-wrenching loss. The media mogul whose net worth fell from $18 billion to $7.8 billion bore the greatest loss of the past year.

Despite losing a huge sum in the biggest private financial event of the decade, Jeff Bezos ended the 2019 as the richest person in the world, with a net worth of $115 billion.

The only other billionaire who incurred huge losses in the past year according to Bloomberg was Chinese Hui Kai Yan, who also experienced a decline in his net worth. Many others had a good year with notable increases in their net worth.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg saw an increase of $26 billion; Microsoft’s Bill Gates upped his figures by $22.7 billion. Google founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin enjoyed fortune soar of $13.3 billion and $12.8 billion respectively.

From Asia, the wave of fortune placed China on the table as the figures soared to its highest rank in time. The nation’s contingent rose to 54, following the U.S closely. He Xiangjian led the surge that increased his fortune by 79%, adding a whopping $23.3 billion to his net worth.

Russia’s richest also added $51 billion, as emerging market assets from currencies to stocks and bonds rebounded in 2019, with a collective increase of 21%.

In Africa, there is a significant rise from the previous year. The African richest man Aliko Dangote witnessed a substantial growth that resulted in addition of $4.3 billion to his net worth.

So collectively, 2019 was a good year for billionaires around the world, though there were cases of loss, but there were not bold enough to trump the significant growth that the year witnessed, surpassing largely the numbers from the previous year.

Here is the list of top 50 richest people in the world according to Bloomberg Index.

Rank Name Total net worth

1 Jeff Bezos $115 billion

2 Bill Gates $113 billion

3 Bernard Arnault $105 billion

4 Warren Buffett $89.3 billion

5 Mark Zukerberg $78.4 billion

6 Amancio Ortega $75.5 billion

7 Larry Page $64.6 billion

8 Sergey Brin $62.7 billion

9 Charles Koch $62.0 billion

10 Julia Flesher Koch $62.0 billion

11 Carlos Slim $60.2 billion

12 Francoise Bettencourt

Meyers $59.0 billion

13 Larry Ellison $58.8 billion

14 Mukesh Ambani $58.6 billion

15 Steve Ballmer $58.1 billion

16 Rob Walton $54.2 billion

17 Jim Walton $54.1 billion

18 Alice Walton $53.0 billion

19 Jack Ma $46.6 billion

20 Jacqueline Mars $42.5 billion

21 John Mars $42.5 billion

22 Francois Pinault $41.8 billion

23 Pony Ma $38.6 billion

24 Sheldon Adelson $38.6 billion

25 MacKenzie Bezos $37.1 billion

26 Phil Knight $36.6 billion

27 Giovanni Ferrero $32.0 billion

28 Michael Dell $30.9 billion

29 Tadashi Yanai $30.7 billion

30 Alain Wertheimer $30.1 billion

31 Gerard Wertheimer $30.1 billion

32 Hui Ka Yan $30.1 billion

33 Li Ka-Shing $29.7 billion

34 Vladimir Potanin $28.0 billion

35 Elon R Musk $27.6 billion

36 Yang Huiyan $26.9 billion

37 Laurene Powell Jobs $26.5 billion

38 Len Blavatnik $25.9 billion

39 Leonardo del Vecchio $25.4 billion

40 Dieter Schwarz $24.8 billion

41 Leonid Mikhelson $24.5 billion

42 Lee Shau Kee $24.1 billion

43 He Xiangjian $23.6 billion

44 Jorge Paulo Lemann $23.6 billion

45 Leonard Lauder $22.6 billion

46 Vagit Alekperov $22.3 billion

47 Pallonji Mistry $21.5 billion

48 Vladimir Lisin $21.4 billion

49 Elaine Marshall $21.4 billion

50 Jim Simons $20.9 billion.