Our idea of wealth has for so long endeared us to a set of unrealistic dreams without knowing how to take each step to lead us to the end we desire. Your desire for money, quick money, has always made you want some sort of no hardwork but huge cash. That process is not sustainable. And if you think it is the way to go because you are getting results now, my advice to you is to have a rethink and change your strategy to life.

Put your skills to a productive use and let them make positive impact.

Let me give you a quick illustration. Have you ever considered internet fraudsters, those they call yahoo boys? Have you ever considered their digital skills? What if they restrategise and decide to trade their digital skills through legal means? What if instead of defrauding unsuspecting internet users and lavishing their ‘proceeds’ from ‘magas’, they decide to help people solve their digital needs. Imagine the chain reaction of job creation, legal and legitimate wealth creation, multiple layer empowerment of younger generation and more importantly, reducing criminal population in the society. Those who would have joined them in criminal act would now be mentored on legitimate value creation and skill development.

Who remembers ‘Evans’ the alleged kidnapper? Oh what high wired first rate strategy skills that must have been deployed into his business of kidnapping! What if he had restrategised his life course and become a better citizen and a good ambassador of his country by becoming a business strategist and consultant, with his philanthropic heart?

Who remembers the Young promising Nigerian billionaire Obinwanne Okeke? Yes, I know we do not want to be reminded of these names.

Now on this side, who knows Professor Ndubuisi Ekekwe, Chris Kwekowe, Obi Ozor, Saheed Adepoju, Seyi Oyesola, Jelani Aliyu, Col. Oviemo Ovadje (Rtd), Cyprian Emeka Uzor, Kunle Olukotun, Sebastine Chinonye Omeh, Shehu Saleh Balami, Yemi Adesokan etc. These are Nigerians, yes, Nigerians who placed more emphasis on value first and money was attracted to them. You will be pleasantly surprised to find out that most of them never had money in their motivation for doing what they did.

The totality of the young people learn values and vices from their environments in collaboration with their personal choices and tendencies to form their identity. It is always good to make the choice of values over vices to be a positive influence.

Make it a duty to learn one skill every 3 months.

Yes, every three months, try to learn one skill in the direction of your goals! Determine those things that will move you one step or two closer to your dream. Do you ask yourself why would I advise three months interval? It is because a good habit can be formed in 21 days of consistently doing the same thing. This habit can now be more consolidated in 90 days. So anything you do consistently for 90 days, be sure you’re just some months away to becoming an expert in any field you so desire to master.

As a forward looking champion, a soon-to-be millionaire and a positive influencer that you want to be, you need to learn relevant skills and make it a continuous habit of improving upon the knowledge and skills you have for positive and developmental use. Continuously learn new things, useful values, become valuable and let your invaluableness create better influence on any and everyone that has any dealing with you. This is the true attraction that brings true wealth. This is the money you truly need! This is the currency for the right exchange you can ever imagine!

Money is a slave and not you! Money should be attracted to you and not you to money.

I spoke with my mom this afternoon. I told her I was bringing my TV to her home – to dump. The television all of a sudden developed a malfunction – the screen display colour suddenly went berserk and turned ghostly. The two technicians I consulted told me I should keep at least 40k for the repair – and they are not sure they will find the parts to fix it. Anyway, I decided I will dump it and start saving for another one. So, I called the only dumping ground I’m comfortable with – my mother’s home.

For the first time ever, my mother said ‘no’. She reminded me that all of us have taken up much space in her house to dump broken gadgets and electronics. Worst is that she has no means of disposing of them. And right now, I’m talking of bringing a ‘big’ television to join the collections. Anyway, she said I should find a way to dispose of it myself.

But where do I go? Honestly, we have problems with the way we dispose of electronics and gadgets in this country. And to crown it all, we are bringing in a lot of second-hand electronics (did I tell you my own television was ‘Belgium’?). Even some of the ‘new ones’ in our market are substandard; though they may last longer than the fairly used ones.

Some people may wonder how Nigerians have been disposing of their spoilt-beyond-repair electronics. Well, that’s easy to find out.

WAYS NIGERIANS DISPOSE THEIR BROKEN ELECTRONICS

There is nothing new that I will say here, but we need to be reminded of what our problems are. Some of the ways we Nigerians do away with old electronics that can never be repaired include:

Abandoning Them in Repairers’ Shops: This is the commonest method used here. In fact that’s the method I am considering right now. Honestly, these technicians have suffered in the hands of people. Someone that knows he is not ready to pay the amount mentioned for repairing his electronic device will still leave it with the technician and disappear. See, if you want to know the shop of a technician (and a good one), just look for shops filled with old televisions, fans, stabilizers and co.

But these technicians have their own problems. When they know that they can’t repair something, they will ask the customer to bring it hoping to siphon some money from him. Well, when the customer abandons the device, they will have extra loads to bear.

I hope we understand that abandoning these devices in the repair shops hasn’t solved our problems. This is because these people will still dispose of them wrongly and that action will affect us in the long run.

Dumping in Waterways and Bushes: This is the next alternative people have for dumping their old electronics if the repairer’s shop strategy didn’t work. Even repairers dump the ones abandoned in their shops in places like this. I once saw someone’s farm used as a dumping site for old television casings and couldn’t help wondering if the act was done out of malice. I know that this problem is already being battled by the government and concerned individuals but more efforts need to be made.

Using the Dumpsters: Let me be honest, the only television parts I see beside dumpsters are empty casings (without screens). But I know that spoilt gadgets such as flashlights, and small electronics like small radios, are thrown there. But my worries are, do the sanitation workers that empty these dumpsters sort these wastes? If they don’t, it means that they still dump these devices in the same place with other refuse. But, do we even have different dump sites for this kind of waste?

Well, this article is just a simple call to the right individuals and authorities to look into the matter of providing a good and safe place for the disposal of electronic devices, gadgets and other devices such as batteries. Some of these devices contain toxic materials that shouldn’t come in contact with human, animal and plant food. Yet we throw them into our waterways and litter the environment with them.

Another thing that needs serious attention is the quality of electronics brought into the market. It is quite wrong that we allowed substandard goods to fill our markets because our economy is bad. Let the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) buckle up in ensuring that Nigerians obtain maximum satisfaction for the money they spend.

Our cities may boast of maintaining good sanitary condition (in some areas) but our rural areas still practice the old method of using the bush and the ‘gutter’ as refuse sites. Waste management authorities need to see these.

On Tuesday, the MTN Group announced that it has granted a third party access to its mobile money API,  for the sake of innovation furtherance and financial inclusion. That means, the Access Programming Interface (API) platform for MTN’s mobile money platform (MoMo) has been opened up to enable access for developers and programmers to innovate on the platform and develop products and other solutions that would create a wider range of digital financial offerings for MTN’s customers. According to a statement issued by the telecommunication giant:

“MTN is inviting developers and entrepreneurs, across five countries, to participate in the MoMo API Hackathon. The Hackathon, run in partnership with Ericsson (MTN’s MoMo technology partner), will give app developers based in Ghana, Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Zambia the opportunity to create innovative financial and transactional applications using the MTN MoMo API platform,”

MTN Group executive for mobile financial services, Serigne Dioum, added: “Enhancing financial inclusion through digital technology is an essential element in supporting the continent’s realisation of some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). We also see this as an opportunity for more tech developers, entrepreneurs and businesses to work with us in bridging the financial divide, whilst also creating ample opportunities for themselves.”

Developers are required to create a mobile application that uses MTN MoMo APIs and the mobile application needs to target consumers, merchants or businesses. It is also mandated that the application is useful and usable in the market where the applicants have registered and can cover use cases beyond payment but must utilise MTN MoMo APIs, BusinessDay reported.

According to MTN, the hackathon further illustrates the essence of the company’s ‘We’re Good Together’ initiative, which celebrates the role that collaboration can play in ensuring that more people enjoy the benefits of a modern connected life. The range of solutions to narrow the financial services gap can only be achieved through various partnerships with entrepreneurs, developers, financial services providers, regulatory authorities, other mobile network operators, merchants, distributors, businesses and technology providers.

To participate in the challenge, MTN and Ericsson in each country will select 12 applicants. The preselected applicants will have two weeks to develop their ideas. After submitting a live demo of their application submission, finalists stand a chance to win up to $2,500 and one team member will win a trip to Ericsson’s Innovation Lab in Sweden.