I weep for my country, Nigeria.

The Giant of Africa!

A land full of milk and honey,

Yet the citizens are suffering.

Graduates with ”first-class”,

Being ruled by graduates with ”pass”.

When will it get better?

What do we need to say to our leaders?

Politicians earn millions with comfort,

Citizens can’t even earn 30,000 naira every month.

Minimum wage took them ages to be implemented,

Yet we have hardship allowance for the government.

The rich keep getting richer,

The poor are turning beggars.

Buhari promised a change,

But all his words were for his gains.

Oh, Nigeria!

Your citizens are dying of xenophobia.

But our leader said he will be there in October.

Unemployment is on the rise,

To get a visa is as hard as touching the sky.

The value of public schools has dropped.

Because all our leader’s children school abroad.

No hope for a common man,

Everything is political.

Religion made it worse,

Pastors and Imams keep looting us.

Our pastor needs a car – let’s donate,

But our members can’t pay tuition – let’s pray.

Brothers can’t live together in peace.

Religion preaches against the marital union of a Christian and a Muslim.

Are we not all humans?

God made them man and woman – human.

Why the discrimination?

Why the battle for supremacy in both religions?

If a Nigerian commits a crime, he must be Igbo.

If a Nigerian kills, he is Hausa.

If a Nigerian marries ten wives, he is a Yoruba.

The idiosyncrasy of the highest order.

Stigmatization and generalization,

Leading to disagreement and confusion in the nation.

Look at your roads,

You can’t travel safely back home.

Mr. President,

Are you not ashamed of yourself?

Don’t you travel overseas?

Tell us what you see.

A leader that cannot use his own medical facilities is a failure.

Our youths must stand up for their future.

Revolution must happen.

You can’t sit and complain because no one will hear you.

It’s time to fight the government.

It’s time to be independent.

For how long will you be fooled?

The government doesn’t love you.

Not after the hefty paychecks.

While you sit and ask what’s next,

Government already secured the future for their children.

It’s time for the dog to eat dog.

It’s time to fight for what you love.

Fela already talk am – ”sorrow, tears and blood”

That’s what it takes to rise above.

When I saw the clips of Nigerians that died in South Africa,

When I see first-class graduates earn less than 100 dollars,

When I see the Boko Haram killing the people every time,

When I see senators earning billions after the four-year tenure,

I weep for my country, Nigeria.

The business world is a complex web of interrelationships in the exchange of value between producers/businesses and consumers/customers. There is a form of behavior sanctioned by society and entities within that defines these relationships and a deviation attracts consequences.

As a grocer, do you have good service etiquette and professional grooming? You will have low footfall if your customers do not get good shopping experience despite stocking the best quality products. According to findings on consumer behavior, not a few customers show loyalty to a brand that highly esteems them. In capitalist market theory, it has been established that the customer is king; I will add that, as an employer, first treat your staff as kings and queens then watch how they treat your customers.

In this series on service etiquette with respect to Fast Moving Consumer Goods, FMCG, we will look at the human side of good customer experience on the shop floor. In other words, we will consider the Dos and Donts expected from front-end retail staff as they interact with customers. This first part of the series will avail us an overview of the subsequent parts. Here you may find the solution to your poor sales from real life scenarios of staff-customer interaction.

Posture: What is the right posture for store staff? As a grocer or merchandiser how do you man your sales area? How do you guide inquisitive customers? How do you stand and/or walk? Generally, you are expected to chin up, chest out, pull your belly in, and look forward. For males, when standing, your arms should be down naturally and folded in front or at the back. For females, put your arms down naturally with your right hand over your left on your belly.

Guidance: Customers always need guidance since they are not always familiar with how and where certain products are displayed. Therefore, when guiding a customer to a product, walk two steps ahead with your arm and eyes (not finger) pointing to the direction.

Squat: Restocking and rearrangement of merchandise after customers patronage and contact is one significant and real time activity in the store. Most often, store staff squat the wrong way bottom up exposing their underwear or buttocks (not a good sight) and obstructing customers.

Walk: It is easy to identify a soldier by the way he walks even in mufti because of their training. As a store staff you are expected to walk gracefully without shuffling. You are to walk smartly. Be careful not to get in the way of customers, and your countenance most always be cheerful.

Scenario 1: Road Block

When a customer is in your way or you come face to face, you should never squeeze yourself through. You are to use pleasant words to make the customer give way or you make way for the customer.

• Store staff: Hello sir/ma’am, excuse me please. Thank you.

Scenario 2: Customer as the priority

Whenever you meet a customer, you must suspend your activity to honor, greet, and ask in what way you could help.

• Store staff: Welcome to DriveMeNuts! How may I be of help? Beckon on me when you need help.
• Customer: Sure. Thanks.

Scenario 3: When a Customer Needs Help

When customers need help you should immediately stop whatever you are doing and attend to the customer.

• Store staff: Hi, welcome to DriveMeNuts.
• Customer: Hi there. I am look for adult male glasses, they are no longer where I saw them the last time I came, where did you put them, please?
• Store staff: Come with me please. Here they are.
• Customer: Thank you.
• Store staff: You are welcome.

Scenario 4: Forbidden Expression

• Customer: Excuse me, could you come, please?
• Store staff: Hello Ma’am, how can I help you?
• Customer: How do I use this product?
• Store staff: I don’t know.
• Customer: Oh, really?!
• Store staff: Yes Sir, I have no idea.
• Customer: Do you have deodorants?
• Store staff: I am not sure. I am a new staff.

Scenario 5: Correct Expression

• Customer: Hello, come please.
• Store staff: Hello ma’am, how can I help you?
• Customer: How do I use this product?
• Store staff: Sorry, I will find someone to help. Please wait a moment.
• Customer: Do you have deodorants?
• Store staff: Sorry, I will confirm and get back to you. Wait a moment, please.

Scenario 6: Reminding Customers of Anti-theft

This is very important in order not to embarrass your customers, and to make potential pilfers know their is surveillance.

• Store staff: Welcome to DriveMeNuts. Your wallet is exposed. Please take care of your personal belonging to avoid losing them.
• Customer: Thank you.
• Store staff: Hello, welcome to DriveMeNuts. I am sorry we don’t allow bags inside the store. Let me keep it for you please. Here is your key/tag.
• Customer: Thank you.
• Store staff: You are welcome.

Scenario 7: Check Receipt

Store staff: Hello sir, please may I see your receipt. Let me have a look at your bag, please. Thank you for shopping. Please come again. Bye.

Conclusion

A high volume and value of transaction is easy with consistent adherence to good service etiquette and professional grooming. It’s said, a good product sells itself. Good service is good product. A simple smile from a grocer has made many loyal customers, while a rude attitude has made many to abandon what they bought and never return. An investment on service etiquette has a very high return on investment, ROI. You could be excellent at this, but what about your floor staff or employees that daily interface with your customers?

Job hunting is a job on its own; a very serious job at that. It is a job that comes with lots of pressures and tensions. It’s a job that can make you happy, sad, angry, afraid, surprised, disappointed, or a mixture of all of these emotions at the same time. Job hunting is a type of job no one wants to go into. Besides, it pays no salary; instead it takes the little money you have.

Anybody can find himself hunting for a job. You may be searching for a job that is better than the one you have; you may be looking for new business partners and investors; you may be a freelancer pitching for freelance jobs; you may be hunting for customers; or, maybe you are just a fresher searching for a job after completing your trainings. So long as you are looking for a way to make a better living, you are job hunting. That’s life.

No matter what you applied for, there is always this tension that comes with opening the mail that replies your application. I thought I have passed this level until recently when I got a long awaited mail from an establishment, whose attention I have been trying to catch for some months. I couldn’t believe myself when my hands shook and my heart beat faster as I saw and tried to open the mail. That was when I realised how slow our network is in Nigeria. Finally I opened this precious mail only to see that my application was rejected. I hissed and dropped my phone like I was fighting with it (lol).

Well, those minutes it took me to read the notification and the mail were enough to send me to another zone if I didn’t have these tips I am about to share with you. I truly understand what a lot of people pass through in their search for greener pastures because I have been there, and I’m still there. The fear of rejection, the disappointment from finding out that you are not qualified to apply, and the pressure from seeing your mates getting better paid jobs are just too much for job seekers. However, all these feelings are forgotten once a job lands.

But as we look for jobs, we need to learn some tips that will help us manage the pressure and tension experienced within this period. These tips include:

Tip #1: Apply to many jobs
This trick works for everybody. What it does is that when your application for a job is turned down, you will have hope that another one will accept you. Besides giving you hope, this trick also helps to keep you busy so that you don’t have time to lament on your loss. But you need to apply to jobs you are qualified for so you don’t end up wasting your time and money.

Tip #2: Belong to Job Seekers Forums
There is something good that comes with belonging to a group where all members share something in common. In this case, all of you are job seekers. This forum will provide a place for you to receive consolations when you feel overwhelmed by your situation. Besides that, you may hear about a new recruitment process and receive tips on how to scale through the interviews of some companies. You can find a lot of online job seekers forum. Find one that suits you and subscribe to it. But be careful so that you don’t let them feed you with negative thoughts about your job seeking status.

Tip #3: Subscribe to an Online Job Search Engines
There are a lot of online websites that post jobs existing within an area. You can’t be seeking for jobs if you didn’t subscribe to as many of them as possible. Note that I am not saying that you will definitely get a job through these platforms, but it will be of greater advantage to you because you will get to know most of the job openings around your area and their basic requirements. What I also like about these platforms is that they keep job seekers busy and enlightened on what they need to land their dream jobs.

Tip #4: Follow Recruiters on LinkedIn
Following recruiters on LinkedIn doesn’t guarantee jobs, but it gives the much needed hope this period requires. Also, you will get to know what employers seek for in employees, this is very important. Recruiters also serve as training grounds for job seekers because they usually post articles on why people’s applications are rejected, different tips for interviews, how to write captivating cover letters and CVs, and different jobs in high demands. So if you haven’t attached yourself to many recruiters on LinkedIn, kindly do so now.

Tip #5: Connect with People in your Area of Interest
If you want to be a banker, connect more with bankers. If you want to teach, deal more with teachers and school owners. It will be odd that you wish to work in a bakery and you network more with carpenters – they will have nothing much to offer you. The essence of connecting with people in your area of interest is that they will be like informal on-the-job trainers to you. And you will also get to know when there is opening in their establishments.

Tip #6: Listen to Motivational Speakers and Read Motivational Books
I know that people are beginning to think that motivational speakers are not worth listening to; but you actually need to listen to these people. They are not going to give you a job, but they will inspire you to get up and keep hustling. That is their main job. Trust me, anyone can find himself at very low ebb every now and then. At this period, it will take the person’s will power and the help of someone else to pull out of this mood. Motivational speakers and writers are some of the people that can do this. So, don’t worry about what people say, listen to motivational speakers and read motivational books.

Tip #7: Pick up a Small Job
Having something doing keeps the body and mind busy. This helps a lot in removing the pressure and tension that comes with job hunt. The way this happens is that because you have something doing already, you always have it at the back of your mind that you have something you will fall on if your application is rejected. So, pick up any job you see, irrespective of how much they pay you. It will help to reduce tension and pressure.

Tip #8: Go into Internship
These days a lot of companies are seeking for interns. You may decide to go in for that to help you build up your skills and experiences, which will give you a better edge in your job search. It will be better if you go for internship in your dream job or career. Remember to continue your job search during internship unless you are sure the company you are attached to will automatically offer you employment after the internship programme.

Tips #9: Go for Skill Acquisition
You can look for a place where you will pay to acquire some basic skills, especially the ones needed for the job of your interest.

Remember what I said earlier, job search is a job in itself. Don’t let the pressure and tension that comes with it weigh you down.

The House representatives has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria to halt the implementation of the charges component of the cashless policy.

This is coming barely 24 hours after the Apex Bank issued a circular directing Money Deposit Banks to charge 3% for withdrawal and 2% for lodgment in transactions at the excess of N500, 000, for individual accounts.

And for corporate accounts: It’s 5% for withdrawal and 3% for deposit for transactions that are in excess of N5 million. Upon the announcement, the policy has been met with heavy criticism with experts calling it “exploitation to enrich the banks.”

In view of the backlash that followed, the House of Representatives, has in its plenary session on Thursday considered the policy ill in the current economic dispensation.

The lower House said it has a negative impact on small and medium enterprises, which are the backbone of Nigerian economy.

Nigerians have been wailing over multiple charges by banks over the years, and believe that cutting the charges would encourage depositors to accept the cashless policy without being forced to do so through the imposition of additional charges.

The attempt to implement the cashless policy has been hitting one hurdle after the other since 2012, due to existing bank structure that thrives in customers’ exploitation. And the Apex Bank has done nothing or little to quell it.

It is in view of all these that the Thursday’s plenary session birthed the decision ordering the CBN to call it off.

“Our Central Bank still thinks we are in the military era. If, for whatever reason, you are going to introduce charges for deposits, will you just issue a circular? No explanation? No justification? No sensitization? You just issue a circular and call it cashless policy?”

This is how the former DG of Bureau of Public Reforms (BPSR), Dr. Joe Abba, responded to CBN’s circular to all Deposit Money Banks entitled: RE: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CASHLESS POLICY. Where all the deposit banks were directed to charge 3% for withdrawal and 2% for lodgment in transactions at the excess of N500, 000, for individual accounts.

And for corporate accounts: it’s 5% for withdrawal and 3% for deposit in transactions that are more than N5 million. The directive takes effect on the 18th of September, in Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Abia, Anambra, Rivers States and the FCT. The nationwide implementation will take effect from March 31, 2020.

Read: The CBN’s Gift

Dr. Joe Abba isn’t the only prominent Nigerian who expressed the sentiment of concerned Nigerians, Senator Shehu Sani did so also. He tweeted:

“The new directive to Banks amounts to selective corporate extortion.”

This is not the first time that Nigerians will have to complain about CBN’s enabled extortions in the guise of implementation of Cashless Policy. The pilot of this policy was first implemented in January 2012, following the same pattern of a few selected states first, then it took effect nationwide on the 1st of July, 2013. It was relaxed in no time only to be resurrected in 2015, with adjusted figures and charges. It has been intermittent since then. The only thing that has consistently improved over the years has been the frivolous transaction charges sanctioned by the CBN.

• ATM charges
• POS charges
• Online Transaction Charges
• Account Maintenance charges
• Card Maintenance Charges
• SMS Charges.

Read also: Nigerian Banks Hitting Record Numbers on Arbitrary Charges and Fees

In 2018, spurred by the outcry of Bank customers, the Nigerian Senate waded in and summoned the CBN Governor, Emefiele. In a motion sponsored by Olugbenga Ashafa, on the illicit and excessive bank charges on customers’ accounts. An issue the Senate acknowledged that it affects the flotsam and jetsam as long as you operate a bank account in Nigeria.

Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, while responding to the motion noted.

“Banks declare profits and you wonder where these profits are coming from – it’s from the sweat of the common man. Let’s come up with a law that puts banks on their toes.”

The truth in this statement doesn’t need a telescope, you only need to visit the page of the Nigerian Consumers Protection Agency to see things for yourself.

The then Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, didn’t hide his disappointment either.

“For me this is a major step that we are taking.” He said. “This is because I introduced the first ATM that came into Nigeria over 25 years ago. Now, after 25 years, we should have grown out of these excessive charges and move on. So I believe that this is something that we must address to create an environment that protects all Nigerians, because these kind of charges in this economy affects everyone.” He lamented

Unfortunately, the efforts of the Senate did little to change the extortions. In the CBN’s circular directing banks to implement the 3% and 5% charges, the Apex Bank boldly noted that the newly introduced charges do not affect the existing ones. So we are talking about encouraging cashless policy through charges skewed in favor of the banking institutions as against their customers.

Compared to banking practices in the rest of the world, the CBN policy has been rigged against the Nigerian people. It has been nothing but a calculated decision to rip bank customers off in the name of encouraging digital transactions.

You pay the banks for keeping your money, you pay the banks for trying to keep more money with them, you pay them for helping them do their job (DIY, online transactions) etc. A Nigerian bank customer doesn’t hope for interests, not even in a savings’ account.

Though there is an argument that the policy will help digital startups, especially fintechs. That’s true, every bad policy has those it favors. But in this case, there are people who have suffered more losses from the existing chagrin, and need no more losses.

“Why do I need to pay an extra 2% when I deposit over N500, 000 or pay 3% when I withdraw same? Asked Dr. Dipo Awojide, the Founder of BTDT Hub, a career advisory organization. “After paying account maintenance charges monthly, ATM maintenance charge, stamp duty charges and transaction charges when I transfer to other banks? This cashless policy is confusing.”

The most confusing aspect of it comes from the Federal Inland Revenue (FIRS)’s announcement that stipulated banks to collect taxes (VAT) on online transactions on behalf of FIRS. That means, if you do cashless, you will pay taxes, if you do cash, you will pay charges. A good way to encourage people to keep their money away from the bank.

Read also: Online VAT Where The Nigerian Govt. Got It Wrong

The Director General of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Mr. Timothy Olawale told PUNCH:

“Though the overall aim of reducing cash transactions is good, the policy will, however, increase the cost of doing business and force organizations and individuals to start multiple deposits and withdrawals in order to beat the charges.”

A sentiment that many Nigerians have expressed in various social media platforms.

A professor of Economics at the Department of Economics, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Sheriffdeen Tella, also told PUNCH:

“The Charges are becoming too many that people may decide to not to take their money to the banks anymore. They may begin to look at other options.

“The new charges will not in any way encourage the cashless policy the CBN is trying to promote. I see it as being more contradictory. Government should look at other ways of making money for the banks.”

Another bone of contention in implementation of cashless policy over the years has been failed transactions. From the ATM to online transfers, leaving bank customers at a loss now and then. The CBN, in its quest to encourage a cashless society, has failed to address these issues head on. Even though it is apparent that the distrust emanating from transaction failures is more deterrent to the cashless policy implementation than the exploitative charges being imposed by the CBN.