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Fikayo and Abraham Snub Shows Nigeria is Still Way behind in Football

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Fikayo Tomori

Tomori and Abraham picked up by England again.

For how long are we going to keep losing our young and talented players to England?

We have talented players. Nigeria is a great nation but it seems we are not doing enough to lure our British born players to play for us.

Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham have been called up to play for the three lions of England. Remember in the past, we have lost talented players like Dele Ali, and Gabriel Agbonlahor, even though the latter didn’t end up playing for the English team.

Image result for Tammy Abraham
Tammy Abraham (Source: Talksports)

We also have some players like Victor Anichebe, and Shola Ameobi, who didn’t accept at first to play for Nigeria but later turned up for us when they were declining. Perhaps, they saw the Nigerian team as a last resort.

Where are we getting it wrong?

Legendary super eagles player, Nwankwo Kanu said we (Nigeria) are bigger than players, therefore, Nigeria cannot beg players to play for us, rather players should beg to play for us.

I agree to some extent, but if we actually look inward, the NFF has failed us.

Often times, we hear and read so many unpleasant news on the media. They don’t treat the players well. You can’t bring someone who plays for top clubs in Europe and owe them match bonuses and other benefits. Considering the stress of travelling and change of the environment, it is unacceptable.

There are scenarios where these players are not even paid for several months. We saw the scenario of our female players. They threatened to stay in the hotel where they were lodged if they are not paid their wages. Do players who have accepted to serve their fatherland had to threaten NFF for their rights?

It’s really bad for the image of the country and our football as well. If I am eligible to play for England or other European countries, will I think about playing for Nigeria? I don’t think so.

This is not about patriotism. It is about creating an enabling environment. A positive atmosphere that makes everyone feel a sense of belonging.

These are the issues we must address or else, we will keep losing our talented players to other countries. This is what our Papillo should address before he can think of players begging to play for Nigeria.


Featured image: Fikayo (source: BBC)

What is the Career Risk to “Management Professionals” in the Age of AI?

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Question: What is the career risk to “Management Professionals” in the age of AI (artificial intelligence)?

My Response: Management cannot be automated out, because its construct is multi-dimensional, unbounded by the rituals and liturgies of computer codes. Yes, management, as a profession or role, will always be here. Nonetheless, management systems and processes will evolve as digital platforms emerge, and penetrate, across sectors and markets. How you run Amazon will be different from how you run GE; Amazon is natively digital, and GE is not. The key to career preservation is having the management skills necessary in an era. It could look simple but how a digital manager reads balance sheets and P&L differs from what a fast food manager does! You may be surprised that the former has set its Profit/Loss line to red for years while the latter is sure of gray or thick black in months.

Note: there are many elements to management. I noted the redesign AI will bring in a recent article in Harvard Business Review.

Between Innovator’s Ignorance and Persistence of Great Founders

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Dreams lose their lustre over time. What remains is tenacity, if you like persistence. In the beginning, creating a dent in the universe  becomes so simplified in your mind that you begin to feel it will happen tomorrow. Just do it and the whole world will give you that standing ovation! And the laurels will start begging for permission to enter your sitting room Simple, right?  And then you start that great business or social enterprise. And then tomorrow comes and nothing happens! You say to yourself another tomorrow is the true tomorrow.  

A cluster of tomorrows soon becomes one year, then another, then another. Then you get your greatest shock: nobody really believes in that ‘rubbish’ you fancifully call ‘big idea.’ The mockery that ensues this realization makes you doubt whether you are a badassness. So many things may go wrong at this trying moment. The worst of them all is giving up. Sometimes, you can’t help it: you need some rest. So many things may make you doubt, make you depressed, but please don’t kill yourself. 

Friends, it  is at this juncture the outliers become separated from the ordinary guys.  This is where the Bill Gates and Edisons of this world became separated from their peers who had similar enthusiasm and probably better intellect in the beginning. It is not always about the idea. It is more about the process, about the building, about the presentation.  Friends, this is where persistence comes in to take over from wish, from dream, from genius and all those fancy words that kept you moving over the years. 

Great founders – Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and Bill Gates (Microsoft)

Teachers, parents, and in some cases journalists hyped you, but they didn’t tell you it was going to be this bad. Nobody really taught you how to deal with all the rejections, mockery and negativity. So, while our dreams of changing the world and innovating for tomorrow, the reality of the matter may force us to reshape our priorities. That fire, that raw passion mixed with exuberance and blissful ignorance is a great way to start. We could never have given up that job or withheld the resumes, if we knew the whole story! However, just as  it is true that the truth will set you free, persistence is what will make you fly after you are free.

Build IT That TRANSFORMS

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To a Board of any insurance company, I presented this slide. I explained to the leaders that the IT they have today is merely RUNning the company. But for them to experience leverageable growth, IT has to TRANSFORM the company. In our presentation last page, we concluded: To deepen your scalable advantage and find category-king positioning in South Africa, we believe this company must evolve. Today, this firm is an insurance company that uses IT. It must become a TECHNOLOGY Company that offers insurance services if it hopes to thrive in this age.

Look at your company, and answer the questions. Understand that IT is not just having servers and computers but using data analytics, software tools to stimulate demand and drive sales, etc.

At Fasmicro Advisory, we help companies invent INNOVATION.

Fasmicro Advisory Services

The Blames When Lecturers Demand Money and Sex from Students

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Lecturers acting like a demigod is no longer a new thing in the country.

Yes, I tell you that some lecturers are worse than death. The ongoing saga at the University of Lagos, Akoka shows the type of lecturers that we have in Nigerian institutions.

The pay-for-grades and sex-for-grades have always been happening in the institution even before the Unilag saga. You bet this won’t even stop this ugly incident at any moment from now until there is a capital punishment put in place.

The University of Lagos, Akoka, has suspended Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu of the Department of European Languages and Integrated Studies, Faculty of Arts after he was filmed making sexual advances to an ‘admission seeker’ that went viral on social media.

The shameful part of the story, Igbeneghu, is a pastor at the Foursquare Gospel Church. However, news reports said he has been suspended by the church over the footage, which went viral on social media on Monday. This looks like a great judgement but will he change?

We still have many lecturers out there that take advantage of innocent undergraduates and admission seekers.

My good friend, Akinbamiro Akinniyi shared a message with me about her sister at the same University of Lagos, Akoka. In the message, a lecturer was demanding 650,000 naira from her sister who is currently a postgraduate student. The money would be for the completion of her master’s degree project. After many pleas, the lecturer lowered the fee to 500,000 naira. Isn’t that exploitation of the highest order? A daylight robbery indeed.

Isn’t it a shame when all these lecturers that are meant to shape the future are the ones destroying the future. A student finds it tough to get admission, struggles to graduate, and even finds it tougher to stay relevant after graduation. Shame on our lecturers!

According to the footage, Igbeneghu, a former sub-dean in the faculty, told the 17-year-old girl about a cold room where lecturers sleep with girls to give them undeserving marks. This statement is enough to screen the whole lecturers in that institution.

We all know the whole story so I won’t waste more time talking about it. I will rather go straight to the point. We all can learn something from this ugly scenario that has eaten deep into our educational sector.

Blame some parents for this trash happening.

Yes, blame parents for everything. There are many parents out there who will always seek shortcuts, and would not mind paying lecturers to give their children admission.

During my secondary school days, I know some parents who bought WAEC results for their children, I know some who paid for special centers and bribed some WAEC invigilators. The list is endless.

Adeleke Lekan also shared this with me in one of my previous articles. He talked about an ugly scenario that involved an invigilator and a school during a WAEC exam. The invigilator left immediately the exam started and the students were allowed to copy from the chalkboard. The invigilator was rewarded with a brown paper bag which definitely contains money. This type of students can never do well in higher institutions. They will always succumb to the demands of the lecturers. Since their foundations have  been faulty, they can only build erroneous structures on it.

When I was seeking admission to the University of Ibadan, I recalled a lecturer who placed a call to an admission seeker. He asked if she would accept a particular course of study since the one she wants has been occupied. From their conversation, she turned it down. I walked up to the man and told him that I wouldn’t mind if he considers me for that same course of study she rejected. He looked at me and said, ”I don’t know you. I’m sorry, I can’t help.”

I lost that admission not because I failed but because I had nobody to help me and I also have no money to pay. I tell you the truth, our parents have destroyed the educational sector and they are the ones running out there crying for help.

You can’t teach a lecturer how to take bribes and leave your children with them. They’ll keep demanding from them. You can’t direct your beautiful girls to a lecturer’s office all because she’s seeking admission. Trust me, the lecturer will definitely demand something else in return.

Protect your kids. Let them read to pass. Just like Felix Eshesimua would always say, ”Focus to pass.”

Nothing pays better than hard work. You can’t buy a future for your kids in a deceitful manner and expect everything to go well. Remember, a destructive means can never lead to a constructive end.