The Economic Management Team (EMT) that was chaired by the vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has been replaced by Economic Advisory Council (EAC).

President Buhari constituted the 8-man advisory council to take the place of EMT which has been deemed ineffectual. The members made up of:

• Prof. Doyin Salami – Chairman
• Dr. Mohammed Sagagi – Vice Chairman
• Prof. Ode Ojowu – Member
• Dr. Shehu Yahaya – Member
• Dr. Iyabo Masha – Member
• Prof. Chukwuma Soludo – Member
• Mr. Bismark Rewane – Member

Dr. Mohammed Adaya Salisu – Secretary. (He is also the Senior Special Assistant to the president on Policy Development), will report directly to the president.

According to the statement signed by the Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina:

“the EAC will advise president Buhari on economic policy matters, including fiscal analysis, economic growth and a range of internal and global economic issues, working with the relevant cabinet members and heads of monetary and fiscal agencies.”

The statement also said:

“The EAC will have monthly technical sessions as well as scheduled quarterly meetings with the president. The Chairman may, however, request for unscheduled meetings if the need arises.”

The recent development has been in an effort to curtail the impact of escalating poor economic policies on Nigerians. President Buhari has promised to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years through fiscal policies.

His past administration was heavily criticized for nepotistic appointments and harboring people who were considered unfit for the positions they were appointed into. And it appears that the president wants to right the wrong this time.

Nigerians are expressing optimism that the newly inaugurated council will offer the best advice that will yield the needed economic result.

It has been months of losses for Uber: from the stock market to court to ride hailing, there have been unprecedented cognitive hits to its anticipated growth. But losses are not something strange to Uber, only that this time, it came with new challenges.

Legislators in California have approved a landmark bill that will push gig companies to treat independent contractors working with them as employees.

The bill which has been endorsed by California Governor, Gavin Newsom, is expected to be signed into law this week, and go into effect January 1. Uber and Lyft, among other companies operating on gig economy are expected to adjust to the expensive law.

Uber is operating as a gig company to cut operational cost that would have been difficult to manage otherwise. Now that there’s a law against it in California, and other states are pushing bills to make such laws too, the future has become scary for Uber.

Another downside of the situation is that it’s going to affect the flexibility of E-hailing drivers. The New York Times reported that Uber sent messages to their drivers urging them to contact their legislators on behalf of the company.

Many of the drivers obliged for a reason: their flexibility will be impacted if the law goes into effect. It will mean that Uber will keep drivers on schedule and may be forced to cut down the number of drivers working at a time.

The challenge is that most of the drivers enjoy the flexibility and at the same would want to enjoy the benefits of employees. A desire that many legislators have thrown their weight on. State Senator Maria Elena Durazo, said:

“Today the so-called gig companies present themselves as the innovative future of tomorrow, a future where companies don’t pay social security or medicare.

“Let’s be clear: there is nothing innovative about underpaying someone for their labor.”

Although Uber has mobilized about $90 million with Lyft and DoorDash to challenge the bill, the possibility of losing cannot be ignored, and the precedent will aggravate an already grave situation.

In August, the company reported a record quarterly loss of $5.2 billion, which triggered the curiosity of its shareholders. The investors have implied that about 13 000 workers in Uber’s payroll, in the US alone is exorbitantly reckless. And the company is likely heading to more downturns if nothing is done to address that.

On the 10th, Uber laid off 435 workers in its products and engineering teams. That’s about 835 since July, even the executives were affected.

In the face of low revenue generation, unfriendly government policies and stock market’s downturns, Uber’s Chief Executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, said some serious decisions need to be made to keep the company competitively sound.

“In the past, we grew our team rapidly and in a decentralized way. This made sense as we worked to scale the business globally and find product-market fit.

“But at a certain point, bigger teams do not mean better results. It’s critical we get our edge back and continually push ourselves to do better.” He said

Although Uber claimed the cuts in workforce has nothing to do with the clamor of its investors, it did not deny that it is necessary.

However, the greatest threat to Uber’s existence does not lie on what it does or does not but on what the governments do.

They call it Monday Blues. Do you know that feeling of tiredness you have when you wake up on Monday morning wondering why there should ever be a Monday? Do you remember that feeling that makes you wonder, for some minutes, if Garfield was right to ban Mondays in his kingdom, and declare that every Monday should be called Tuesday (lol)? Well, that’s what they call Monday Blues.

Don’t feel uneasy, it doesn’t happen to only you. Even I sometimes wish my alarm clock should just shut up and let me sleep for some minutes. But time waits for no one. And we got bills to pay. So, we have to get up and get ready for work, prepare the children for school, or leave for our various businesses. You know how we say it here, “man must chop”.

The truth is that Mondays are always hectic. You start feeling the rush that comes with it once you leave home. It always feels as if everyone is trying to make up for the lost days (that is the weekend). Traffics also seem much on Mondays. So, when you think of all you will encounter on this very day that marks the beginning of new week (at least week days), you’ll wish your office and clients will just let you sleep off half of the day.

I can’t really say why people experience this negative feeling on Mondays. I believe it has something to do with relaxing on Saturdays and Sundays. It could also be because Mondays are usually seen as days for new beginnings. Or maybe we have already programmed our minds that Monday mornings should be part of the weekends. Whatever the cause is, we have to make it stop.

Well, here are some tips to help you get up the bed excited to face this very day.

a. Look your best on Mondays. This may sound vain but it helps. The thought of wearing that beautiful clothe can make your Monday exciting. And you must have noticed that people usually look their best on Mondays. I think it’s the mind trying to make us feel happy about the day. So, try to make your Mondays special by looking gorgeous, it will make you look forward to the day. Besides, when you start off the week well, every other day falls in place.

b. Permit Fridays to bring in Mondays. I believe why we look forward to other days, like Tuesdays to Thursdays, is because we left unfinished works we wanted to tidy up. Well, you can also do that for Monday. The best way to do this is to leave some crucial assignments undone on Friday. This way, you can’t wait for Monday to come so you can finish it up (before your superiors or clients find out). But you need to be smart here so you don’t allow work pressure to spoil your weekend.

c. Create something exciting for Mondays. You can choose your Mondays for some exciting activities in the office. For example, you may decide to use Mondays to pay courtesy visits to clients, set time tables for the week, or have special brunch with your colleagues on that day. Just find anything that will make that day different and do it. This will make you never want to miss office on Mondays.

d. Wake up at the same time everyday of the week. This trick works for me. I noticed that if I let my alarm wake me up at the same time everyday, even on weekends, I rarely feel the Monday Blues. In fact I don’t feel it at all. If you are wondering what to do on Saturdays and Sundays when you wake up early, I’ll suggest that you mediate on your prayer, watch television, read a book, listen to music or go to social media. Or you can just get up and do some house chores.

e. Make friends with your colleagues. You know, you actually spend more time with your colleagues than you spend at home with your family. This means that you need to have friends among your colleagues. You can also belong to an informal group that will create room for you to relax and chat your colleagues. The logic behind this is that when you think of the chats and laughter you will enjoy in the office, you wouldn’t feel so bad waking up.

f. Don’t keep late nights on Sundays. Yes we know that Sunday is still weekend, but we also remember that it ushers in Monday. So, don’t let your mind tell you that you still have time to socialise till late hours on Sunday because it’s weekend. You will wake up on Monday wondering what hit you. So, retire early on Sunday and wake up early on Monday.

g. Create special activities for Monday evenings. Mondays shouldn’t be all about works. You can also create funs on that day. Try to reward yourself every Monday evenings. You may decide to eat out, watch a special TV programme or write that book you’ve been thinking of.

Anyway, Monday Blues won’t stop you from going to work, but it can make you unhappy. And when you are not happy, your productivity at work reduces. So, get rid of those nagging feelings when your alarm sounds and get up happy.