Ride hailing startup Bolt has launched a driver verification initiative in collaboration with Nigerian data management company YouVerify.

This partnership will allow drivers on the platform to  request and check their verification as part of the onboarding process. Its features include an SOS button in the driver app, a 24 hour high priority team, and the ability to share the details of the route. According to its  Marketing Manager, Opemipo Kehinde, Bolt has been engaging in continuous ways to improve safety.

Considering Nigeria’s high accident rate which saw 2482 road accidents in the first quarter of 2018 with 1,292 deaths, this will help improve safety.  The Federal Road Safety Corps in 2017 reported 33.7 percent deaths per 100,000 people annually, making Nigeria one of the highest in Africa, on accident fatality. Every four hours, no less than two lives are lost on the Nigerian roads with about 20,000 of the 11.654 million vehicles in the country involved in accidents.

Also with  incidences of theft by drivers on passenger items and robbery, kidnap allegations especially on late night users, Bolt hopes to solve the trust paralysis by ensuring its customers get the best experience on each trip ahead of the competition.

Yet, TC Daily notes that Bolt has some issues on customer debit cards:

Bolt (previously Taxify) riders in Nigeria say they are getting random debit alerts for trips they didn’t take. It is currently unclear what is going on but some riders say there’s been a hack and many have resorted to unlinking their cards from the app. Bolt has released a statement in which it denied that there’s been a hack. It also communicated that it is working with its payment processors to investigate the causes of the debits and has asked affected riders to get in touch. What’s apparent is that there’s been a technical glitch but the effect on customers’ trust could be very expensive for Bolt.

I travelled over the weekend and, as usual, turned off my gas from the cylinder. I came back on Sunday afternoon and turned on the regulator only to hear the hissing sound of a leakage. I was so surprised because there was no such thing before I left, and that was just two days before. Besides, I only bought that regulator early this year. I didn’t find this funny because I had a similar experience with the precious regulator.

Well, I had to go for another one; gas is not something to toy with. Getting to the hardware store, I laid my complaint to the seller – I can’t be buying regulator every few months. He brought out 3 different regulators with prices pegged at #2,000, #2,500 and #4,500. He told me that the first two are China products, while the third one is Indian. He said the Indian one will last longer than the China ones.

Hmmmmm. The first two looked so attractive. I bought the one that just got spoilt #2,500 and it lasted for more than 8 months (and it’s ‘China’). Besides, I never had an issue with it until that very day. And to add to it, I was low on cash.

So, I took the one of #2,500. I got home, fixed it, used it for some minutes and noticed that I smelled gas. Well, safety first. So, I returned it and took the Indian one. When I unwrapped it, I saw a lot of differences – you can’t compare its durability with the other two.

I know a lot of people will blame me for even going for cheap things because we already have this belief that the more expensive something is, the more durable it is. This is true, but not in all cases. It is possible that I will pick up this Indian one, break the seal and still meet something close to the Chinko ones. So I initially didn’t want to take the risk.

Besides, I have had the opportunity of buying things directly from China, through Aliexpress. I found out that things may be cheap and still be durable in China. The jewellery I bought were gold plated and they are still in good conditions for over five years now. This is the same thing with some other things. The truth is that, in China, if you want cheap things that you will use and dispose immediately, you will get them; if you also want the not so cheap ones that will last longer, you will still find them.

Honestly, I believe that our importers buy those very cheap products and bring them into the Nigerian markets. If they had gone for something better, I don’t think we will have a lot of low quality materials in our markets.

Anyway, my interest today is not on our importers and the products they flood the Nigerians markets with. My concern today is to throw a little light on the benefits and disadvantages of Made in China products in our markets.

Their Advantages

I know this is debatable, but you will agree with me to some extent that those sub-standard goods in the market have been benefiting a lot of Nigerians. I’m not talking about the business men and women that make their millions from buying and selling them; I am referring to the consumers that benefit from buying and using them. Below are some of these benefits

1. Price Regulation:

No matter how we see it, Chinko products help to regulate the prices of things in the market. That you are selling German product at #1000, while your neighbour is selling Chinese own at #150 means you will sit and watch your neighbour take your customers away. Trust me, you may stay a whole day selling just one product while your neighbour doesn’t even have time to sit down because he has so many customers to attend to. So, the only thing you have to do is call your German people and tell them to do something or you will switch to Chinko level.

1. Affordability:

This is the commonest characteristics of every China made product. In fact, I always wonder if China deliberately reduces prices of goods to attract customers. For instance, I once checked ASOS, an American online shopping outlet, for gold plated jewellery and couldn’t find what I wanted. I then checked other jewellery and saw the ones made with steel. But what surprised me is that a plain simple-looking small earring was sold at $40 dollars; while in Aliexpress, I could buy a set of glamorous gold-plated earrings, necklace and pendant at $20 (for the whole set) or less. So, no matter how we look at it, Chinese products are affordable.

1. Accessibility

I don’t really know the right word to use here. But what I have in mind is the way China made things easily accessible to people. Today, a lot of people use mobile phones because China made theirs cheap. For instance, there are phones of #2000 in the market these days (and I’m not talking about second hand o). I even saw Android phones of #7000, with big screen and all.

Their Disadvantages

In as much we enjoy some benefits from China made products, we should also remember that there are some problems we face as a result of them. These include:

1. Disposal Problem:

We know that some China products sold in Nigeria spoil faster. Nigeria, which has yet to develop a sound waste disposal culture, is now faced with how to dispose of these wastes. A good example is the rechargeable torchlight (hope it doesn’t get banned, please). This type of torch costs as low as #250 and lasts for like 4 months. This means that in a year you may have to buy about 4 torchlight (that is, if you didn’t spoil any before its expiration date). Knowing the state of electricity in the country, you can imagine how many people buy torchlight every year.

2. Disappointment:

This is another characteristic of China made products. They are known to disappoint at any time. If you rely solely on it, you may find yourself stranded one day.

3. Lesser Value for Money Spent:

You know, you may look at Chinese products as cheap, but when you add up all you spent on replacing spoilt one, you will realise that you have actually spent a lot. Because of its cheapness, you won’t realise what is happening until you sit down to calculate how much you have spent. So, in the long run, these products aren’t cheap.

4. Risk:

It is not advisable to go for China made when you are buying high-risk products. For instance, this regulator that suddenly started leaking gas could lead to gas explosion if I didn’t detect it on time (that the cylinder is outside may not stop that).

But all in all, I still believe that it is the fault of we, the Nigerians, that we have substandard goods flooding our markets. Our traders should be made to buy products that are of good quality and sell to us. If they want to buy from China, they should go for better products and bring into the country and not look for very cheap ones because they want to make profits.

The brain is the box in the humans head that flash, memorize, sense, stimulus and solve a logical or mathematical problem.” The brain does not grow but it develop”.

The earth consists of the biosphere, ecosystem, biotic and abiotic factors in the world. Human beings are major organisms that control the planet without them no earth. “It is in the earth and in the world that there is nothing more important than to know what is right,” that’s the ethics; discovering the right and wrong. When a roof is strongly construct and built; this means that no amount of rainfall can destroy or penetrate inside the building because it’s been strongly constructed. Sequel to this, if the roof is not strongly constructed this means rainfall will penetrate into the building.

Likewise, building a house on a sinking sand. Building a house on the rock means having a healthy mind, no negative environment can change you, no unworthy friend can corrupt you, no negative vibes friend can corrupt you. But is your mind that corrupts you. This means when you carry out a particular project which can be positive or negative; it is from your mind the inbuilt and chips in man that project evil or good is the mind. The mind deals with the spirit and the spirit deals with the mind which means before a particular thing is been project or program the two must be applied effectively.

The Life of a Healthy Minded Individual

The Random Access Memory, Image copyright of Techspirited

The mind is like random access memory (RAM) in humans. In mind, positive things are plan and negative things are also plan in the memory. People will ask what the difference is between the mind and the brain? The brain is the box in the humans head that flash, memorize, sense, stimulus and solve a logical or mathematical problem.” The brain does not grow but it develop”.

The healthy mind I’m talking about is the right mind that obey the law of good nature; people will ask what is the law of good nature? Nature has a law that covers it or rule it; according to Murphy’s law it states: “Anything that goes wrong must surely comes bad” and I opine that anything that goes good must end well. If you project evil you ripe evil and if you project good you ripe good; this is the law that govern nature. When the mind is healthy what you will be thinking of how to create, establish , invent and also live and give off a life of morale support. A healthy minded person or individual is one who thinks about the right thing, who is law abiding, who is trustworthy, patient, honest and caring.

Qualities of a Healthy Minded Person

Image courtesy of Campusroyalty, depicting a health-minded Individual who is a Stock Agriculturist

A healthy minded person or individual lives an exemplary life, not egoistic and aggressive. A healthy minded person exhibit a good character in any environment he found himself. A healthy minded human shows interest of any good agenda to establish which can be effective to his life and his household. A healthy minded person thinks about the future. They project for good not for bad. They talk about the reality and are realistic in nature. A positive minded person is straight forward.

Some qualities of healthy minded person includes according to PyschCentral:

• You’re Able to Hold Two Opposites in Your Mind at the Same Time.
• You Can Manage Your Feelings While Communicating.
• You’re Self-Aware.
• You’re Comfortable in Your Own Skin.
• You’re Willing to Take Risks.
• Become Less Invested in Being Right.
• Learn and Practice Mindfulness.
• Work on Viewing Failure Differently.

Always remember that no one is perfect but will work towards a little, only our creator is perfect. We humans are imperfect, so we do our best. Be strong, Honest, Loyal, Be submissive to the master, Patient, Never outshine the master, Don’t argue, Don’t gossip, Always obey the law of the land, Think big, Create, Invent and Help others.

A healthy minded individual is strong in any environment he/she found his/her self. When you are in the midst of social smokers and your mind is healthy, the best thing to do is to go away from that spot because it will affect the mind by displaying or signal the cigarette to you to have interest. Abstaining from that spot is the best solution for the problem;

A man who think about sex outside marriage has unhealthy mind; be honest to your partner,fidelity and fully cherish he/she.

Be careful in any environment you find yourself and try to adapt positively. “Let your believe be your believe, let your yes be your yes and let your no be your no”; with this method no man on earth will confuse you”. We all know the right and wrong and it is left for us to choose the one that will suit us.

Conclusion

Brain conclusion (source Codeburst)

My spirit is the engine of my body likewise heart and mitochondria. The spirit and mind are twin brothers in me that works hand in hand to achieve a common goal which can be negative or positive. These two brothers agree in any decision they take and they are responsible for good or evil that affect man.

Traveling to America or Europe can not change your mind if you have an unhealthy mind; your mind is your mind and your spirit is your spirit.

Man is nothing without the twin brother in him. Thinking is a spirit which cannot be seen but it comes in when the mind is about to project. Humans are nothing without this twin brother because with them you think rationale. In conclusion, life is good when a healthy mind is apply in all ramifications and in every sector of your life this means that your life is your life in the spirit of your mind and it takes many years to construct, plan and build a bridge but it takes seconds to destroy it likewise the mind.

The decision of the members of Anambra State House of Assembly, to turn down the proposal of purchase of Prado Jeeps at the cost of N1 billion has received a lot of encomiums.

It was reported that Anambra State Governor, Willie Obianor, had planned to give the cars to the lawmakers as gift.

But the members of the state assembly opted for Innoson Vehicles instead, saying it would save cost and add vigor to the economy.

The South East and South-South Governments had agreed in an economic summit, to patronize locally made goods in order to augment the economy of the zones. In line with this agreement and the need to save cost, the lawmakers have taken their stand.

Their decision to go Innoson has been praised as it resonates with principles of good leadership set out by the preceding Governor Peter Obi. It also serves as an example in a country where such traits are rare.

A week ago, the news broke that the National Assembly is proposing N5.5 billion for cars. A development that has stirred outrage among the people because the same government is crying lack of fund to implement the basic infrastructures needed in the country.

The criticism that trailed the announcement did not deter the lawmakers, neither did the obvious infrastructural decays gaining momentum on the daily. In fact, the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, said it is an insult to the senate that Nigerians are complaining about such a huge sum. After all, the cars are going to be used in the interest of the country.

All these are taking place at a time when Nigeria’s foreign debt is at $25.6 billion, and the external debt is over $21.04, and the Government is in talks with the World Bank for a fresh $2.5 billion loan. The over N13.5 million running cost per a lawmaker in the National Assembly is taking over 25 percent of the annual budget. And basic infrastructural amenities are at the receiving end of the brute spikes.

Nigerians are urging the National Assembly to learn from Anambra lawmakers in cutting the cost of governance and putting the country first. If at all there is a justifiable reason to spend such a whopping sum on vehicles, local producers should be patronized to boost the economy.

The 8th senate was famous for its slogan, “Buy Naija to grow the Naira,” invented to encourage patronage of locally made goods and services. It is clear that unlike in many other commodities, the Nigerian Government is not going to ban foreign made vehicles in order to promote locally made ones.

Nigerians have thus urged the governments, especially the National Assembly to set a patriotic example by buying from Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing, or enact a law making governments’ patronage of local producers compulsory.