One of the earliest awakenings I had was when I learnt about the concept of “work”. I mean work in scientific terms; when a force moves through a distance.

By definition, that’s the only condition for work to be said to be done. If a force F for instance moves a block from point A to point B, only then can work be said to be done. I didn’t understand why it had to be so as someone being introduced to elementary physics back then. I recall there have been instances where I tried to push heavy objects, expending a lot of energy but still not being able to move it. On one occasion as a boy a man gathered about 6 of us to help him push his vehicle out of a ditch, we tried as hard as we could then, but still the car didn’t move.

In the world around us that definition comes in handy as people measure work or success by visible  results and tangibilities. So for instance, the success of a coach is measured by the number of trophies won. Also football players are rated based on how many trophies they have won with their team. I was in a conversation with someone on one particular occasion and he said that the fact that Jay Jay never won the African Player of the year award, his achievements as a footballer was limited. We argued about that for a while and my argument was based on what I will try to explain in the paragraphs following.

Threshold

I actually believe that work should be measurable, but how this measurement should be done is where I disagree with many.

Not minding the fact that the earliest definition of work I learnt of was based on a measurable physical distance, I eventually over time came to find out that work could be actually done internally in a system. Yes this too is scientific .

 In the real sense of it, the effort that leads to work(results) is more cumulative than instantaneous. In the same way the number 10 could be arrived at by say hitting 10 once or by hitting 5 twice or even by hitting one 10 times, results get visible when our cumulative efforts hit that threshold.

Speaking of threshold, an electron will remain in stable state until it hits the threshold frequency. It implies that frequencies below the threshold will not do any visible work until it adds up to the right numbers.

A similar  analogy that may help is when you consider what happens to water before it boils. As more energy is added to it in the form of heat, it doesn’t boil until the heat raises the temperature installmentally to 100degrees Celsius, only then will it boil. So at 99°, 98°, 97° nothing(visible) happens.  So what happens is that the energies are being accumulated so as to attain the needed temperature where it can now boil.

A binding wire is a thin, long, wire used in binding pieces of reinforcement together.  I’ve never seen any one break a binding wire with his hands in his first twisting attempt. It usually breaks after twisting so many times. You notice that it begins to heat up the moment you start twisting . The heat increases gradually as the force is applied .This force continues to do cumulative damage until it becomes large enough that the bonds holding the metal particles together is broken. The effect is incremental. Of Course there are simple machines that can cut it in an instant. 

Here are a few real life examples.

Real Life Examples

I know a particular Nigerian politician who lost in 3 consecutive elections until he won the fourth in 2015. I think this is what happened in that scenario. His popularity was increasing installmentally in previous years that he lost. For every election he lost, he accumulated popularity which was greater than what he had in the past. It continued until he reached that threshold politically where he won by a wide margin. Another example in politics is Abraham Lincoln. He was never the favorite in so many of the elections he lost, until his popularity built to the point where he ran and won. Today many consider him to be the greatest U.S President of all time.

• 1832 – Defeated in run for Illinois State Legislature
• 1834 – Elected to the Illinois State Legislature (success)
• 1838 – Defeated in run for Illinois House Speaker
• 1843 – Defeated in run for nomination for U.S. Congress
• 1846 – Elected to Congress (success)
• 1848 – Lost re-nomination
• 1854 – Defeated in run for U.S. Senate
• 1856 – Defeated in run for nomination for Vice President
• 1858 – Again defeated in run for U.S. Senate
• 1860 – Elected President (success)

In sports, a typical example is Jose Mourinho. In his three years at Real Madrid he did a lot of invisible underground  work that his successors eventually benefited from. Though many consider his spell there to be unsuccessful, it is important to note that for the first time in a long while someone took Real Madrid to 3 consecutive semi finals. After his departure his first two successors won a combination of 4 champions league trophies in 5 years using most of what he had left including his players and strategy .In other words,  Jose Mourinho had done some internal work that many didn’t seem to recognize. 

So I would love to say that every effort has an effect whether it is visible to the eyes or not. In building very large structures, you notice that a huge part of the building is buried underground. This serves as the base. They are invisible, below the surface, but yet they still exist. They don’t just exist but they also play very important roles. Cumulative effects of any work done will be made visible to the eyes when they hit the required threshold.

If you do not know that the Nigerian market is totally different from the western market, then you might be building a business that will fail on day one. While it is good to watch videos from successful business owners around the world, prominent marketers around the globe, it is also very wise to learn from locals. I was a victim of this for a very long time and I learnt from painful experiences. I alienated myself from the African professionals that I took everything that has been taught by westerners hook line and sinker.

This post is to help you as a Wantpreneur and even for entrepreneurs reading this as well. You might have been having setback on sales, progress and growth and you know for sure that your strategies are right. Well, it might be but maybe not for this market. Few things to note;

1. Freemium Model doesn’t work effectively here: In Nigeria, we’re very used to anything that is free. If your business model is built just like that of Netflix where you put a free package and you expect that with time they’d see a need to upgrade to premium packages, I’m sorry to let you know that you may fizzle out waiting. A typical example is Medium Blogsite. It started out as free then placed a three-free-articles-monthly offer then you need to subscribe to get exclusive contents, a lot of Nigerians with time will abandon your products. I once had a friend complain about why Medium will have to use such strategy and had to quit reading on Medium.

Another good example are apps that give us free features then tell us to upgrade to enjoy better features. Most times, we get comfortable with the archaic features because we don’t want to upgrade. A good example is the jotterpad app I’m using, I can type and edit but to upgrade to more features for a certain amount looks stressful to me.

2. Aggressive system of marketing works here: If you’ve read Seth Godin, on marketing, you’d want to totally buy the idea of FREE which I did. The FREE strategy works well in the western world where value is appreciated but you will have issues here because Nigerians will want to take you for granted if you’re not smart about it. You will end up being used and not valued in the long run. There’s a way to strike a balance between offering services for free and letting people know your worth, the earlier you figure this out, the safer it is for you.
3. Services works better than products: The only products that work without having glitches are products that we all cannot survive without. Aside from that, we take products as second option. Service company’s seem to have an upper edge because people are quite aware that they cannot get some tasks done without paying for services. If you can strategize on how you can convert your product offering into a service offering without altering any other profession, the better it will be for you.

With these few tips, I expect that you stay safe in the Nigerian market and not get consumed by the anomalies in the behaviour of the market, understanding that buying behavior here is unpredictable and varies.

Water supply in Nigeria is a topic we don’t hear very often. Today, it is almost an alien discussion when one brings up the issue of water supply in Nigeria in any conversation. Where did we get it wrong? How did we miss the fact that just like electricity, provision of potable pipe-borne water is a basic necessity.

Water is an essential requirement for the survival of every living thing. Water supply is critical to sustainable development and economic competitiveness of any nation. As the human population increases, as people express their desire for a better standard of living, and as economic activities continue to expand in scale and diversity, the demands on freshwater resources continue to grow.

Water can be obtained from different sources including; ponds, lakes, springs, streams, rivers, infiltration galleries, wells, and stored rainwater.

Though, Nigeria is naturally blessed with tremendous water sources, Harnessing this water to meet the provision of clean water for the populace is still an issue. River Niger and River Benue is a national treasure, cutting across the wide Nigerian landscape, not to mention the presence of the endless body of the Atlantic ocean in Southern Nigeria.

A few statistics about water resources in Nigeria can be found in WhatcWash.com. They are quite focused with providing water data from various countries around the world. Ranging from a countrys’ population with access to basic water to her population with without. You will find the statistics quite incredible.

Problem

1. It is no news that the water from our various bore holes might already be contaminated with faecal matter and other dissolved chemicals such as iron and manganese and a lot of man made contaminants like fuels and infiltration of chemicals from dumpsites. In Lagos alone, there are countless septic tanks and “suck-away” pits surrounding almost every house in any neighbourhood. So clearly, we know that our borehole water is not entirely potable, that is,  not totally safe for drinking and even cooking in some cases.
2. Water borne diseases is still prevalent in the rural areas, while the urban centres rely heavily on thousands upon thousands of sachet water popularly known as “pure water” and bottled water, of which a number of persons have even made choices on NAFDAC approved brands that are good for their health and those that are not according to their own personal judgement.
3. The menace of pollution arising from improper disposal of the used sachet and bottled water can be seen in various places as they cause environmental pollution and block flood drainage channels.

Possible solution

I was having a conversation with a colleague one day and we were talking about the possibility of a private municipal water provision. Talking about the possibility of people investing in water processing plants. Plants capable of providing pipe borne water to homes. To me, it is a welcome idea. It portrayed an example of thinking outside the box. People spend thousands of hard earned Naira on a weekly basis to buy potable water to mount on their water dispenser. How about a time when fully processed and disinfected water no longer have to come to people’s homes through big cans and bottles but come through pipes and collected with a turn of a tap? I will not say it is not possible. It is possible! Afterall, Iju water works in Lagos still provides pipe-borne drinkable water, maybe not just sufficient enough to go round.

The Future

There are many ways to improve the standard of living of the populace.

John D. Rockefeller started a big crude oil business in the US that thrived, Aliko Dangote is building a refinery that will serve refined crude oil to millions.

Africans must change their minds and action. The key to building your continent depends on your will-power, persistent effort and action towards self liberation.   Lailah Gifty Akita

Technology has taken over; ideas now rule the world.

The future of municipal water supply may not be so clearly defined under government policies and interests but how about us?

There is a probable future, a future that can help save the environment, protect lives through proper sanitation, provide employment for the unemployed and avail business opportunity for the entrepreneur. A time great individuals will invest in the business of provision of clean pipe-borne water to every home.

This future is possible.