By Kalu Ndukwe

Combining work and study can be very hectic in itself. One of the things you wouldn’t want to experience however is to contact a colleague in order to get information, but got a sustained cold treatment that leaves you feeling embarrassed and humiliated. This was exactly what happened to a colleague of mine recently. The person and I had met. In the course of our conversation, he told me this story.

“I had completed a draft of my thesis proposal. And in a bit to get an insider information about the situation of things in school, I contacted one of us, who I suppose should be within the school environment, the fellow hooked up but cut the call on me before I could finish saying “Hi, good afternoon “. I called back on the assumption that the call ended due to network problems. But that call was busied. I tried the third time and the receiver busied my call also. Having reasoned that the receiver was busy, I sent an SMS introducing myself and requested to speak with him when he was less busy (this was for formality sake. The person concerned and I have exchanged calls in the past.)

“Days passed and there was neither a return of my calls nor was the SMS acknowledged. Shocked as to what was the problem, I even felt afraid that the person I’m calling may be unwell which could be why I couldn’t get a response. In a bit to know exactly what was the problem, I sent him a whatsapp message requesting an understanding for the unexpected silence. That too was buffed. I couldn’t figure out the meaning of all that crap of a behavior, nor was I able to understand the cause of it.

We’ve never had any quarrel in the past. That’s never happened. I was only shocked to see posts by that fellow in our Class Group handle.  And I was like ”So the guy is alright and not too busy anyway? Thank God he’s fine. ” (emphasizing) I hold no brief for him in any way. I don’t give bunks, that’s why I chose to talk about the guy in the anonymous. It’s been over three weeks. I am yet to hear from him. Ain’t even thinking anymore about it though. I had since contacted two other persons, and got a piece of relevant information from them.”

I shared the story with the following note:

It is high time professionals had realized that it is not easy, all the time, to separate professional behavior from personal attitude. At one point or another, any personal attitude that is not nice might really show up in one’s professional life. If this is considered from long term perspective, it will be seen that it might affect one’s career, I am sorry, perhaps negatively. Those who are in a position to make a decision that may influence one’s professional progress are watching everyday. It is not possible to know all the persons who could be in such position. But when such occasion comes it’s very clear that what will be decided about one will be based on what is perceived of one.

For the sake of emphasis, no one has ever lived a day without the input of others in their lives. Nobody has ever achieved anything meaningful without support from others in one way or the other. Every one living today is benefiting from the benevolence of something or someone ( such as Providence, parents, siblings, relatives, friends, bosses or superiors, neighbors and sometimes, even strangers). If you think what you are getting from those is your right, can you have this smart rethink that, it’s equally the right of those benefactors including Providence not to grant your wishes?

Kindness is not always about the big things done than the little gestures overlooked. If you have followed the story carefully, you’d have realised that what made that experience ugly for the dude was not that he couldn’t get the information he needed. What made that experience a “bad day” for him was that he felt demeaned by the embarrassing manner he was treated by a colleague. To me, that unsavoury handling was seriously uncalled for. His pain and sense of loss was that after spending moments of his time to make those calls, send those messages, he got crap in return.

My point is that wherever we may be,  may we always bear in mind that those who shy away from act of humanity are making themselves ungrateful people. Ungrateful because they expect favor from others but shy away from offering good gestures to other people. Isn’t that unfair? And may we please remember that if we have any personal reason why we’re unable to do something nice for someone, may we find a polite way to tell the person to try elsewhere.

The following day, there was an apology!

By Sani Nahuche

In the normal sense of things, if a government existed within another government, one would ultimately seek to oust the other. Politically, it can be described as running a parallel government – where one government aims to concurrently run alongside one in a state or country.

The fundamental role of any government is to promote the welfare of the state. This role can be assumed in various ways and forms, some of them include monitoring the economy, business, security, providing basic infrastructure and so on. However, where the government has been grossly incapable of carrying out their most basic functions, do they still serve as the government of the people?

Albeit, the contrary is the case in Nigeria. The government has basically failed to provide anything remotely close to what any normal government should. Nigeria amidst its massive earnings from oil still lacks basic amenities like electricity, good roads, housing, and water. This sad trend has ultimately forced the people to assume the job of a government that they ironically pay tax to.

In Nigeria today, the average citizen is saddled with at least 65% of the normal function of the government. Citizens are forced to provide their own electricity – this is on the back of the phantom 16 billion dollars that was said to have been invested in the nation’s power grid since 1999. Most Nigerian homes and businesses are forced to buy a power generating set and fuel it themselves. Imagine running a successful business or industry without a reliable power supply.

The security situation in the country has steadily worsened over the years. Politicians now seem to draft a battalion of the country’s security operatives to themselves and their families. The average citizen is left with no option than to hire and pay someone to secure their premises/business. The saddest part of the nation’s security state is that the government uses these security agencies at will to oppress the citizens, rather than defend them.

Recently there has been a clamour for the restructuring of the nation’s security agencies due to misuse of power, harassment, bribery and assault, but these vocal complaints have been matched by an equal amount of silence by the government. Nigeria is a country where only the rich – the politicians and celebrities – are entitled to any form of decent security.

The same harsh fate awaits our roads and water supply. The average Nigerian has to drill a borehole with their own money to gain access to sustainable drinking water. Our roads are bereft of any sort of coordination, maintenance or infrastructure. This sorry picture is the same for education, housing, and economic policies. In a country where the government taxes its citizens and yet grossly fails to provide the most basic of amenities, can the country still be thought to have a working government?

A country where the majority of those in government would prefer to send their children abroad to study, rather than upgrade its educational institutions, a country where those in government shamelessly travel abroad for medical treatment rather than fix their hospitals, a country where the citizens are forced to provide their own security, power, water, education and basic infrastructure, can be likened to a country without a functioning central government.

A ‘supposedly’ developing country running one of the most expensive democratic systems in the world, at the expense of its majorly poor citizens that are ultimately forced to provide their own basic needs. A country where 70% of the youths are either underemployed or unemployed – wasting away its youthful population. A country where its leaders comfortably conspire and connive to loot the commonwealth of the nation without pity or fear of authority.

Small and medium scale businesses – the heartbeat of any economy – are currently struggling to break even. Interest rates are astonishingly high, ease of doing businesses is ludicrously difficult, people are forced to provide their electricity, water, security and other necessities, at the expense of the little profit they make from their businesses. Ultimately, most businesses in Nigeria are folding up, relocating or retrenching their staffs, the government’s economic policies are poorly thought, and it’s just too expensive and unprofitable to adequately run a profitable business in Nigeria.

Corruption has always been the Achilles heel of the most populous black nation in the world. The citizens have also failed to treat those in authority with as much disdain and vocal criticism as they maybe should have. When politics and power are seen as a tool to steal, oppress and undermine the will of the people rather than diligently serve them, the result is a society where impunity, stealing, corruption and lethargy is the order of the day. The average Nigerians  each as governments of their own.

The time has come for the citizens to start voting in the government of their choice and holding them accountable to their every actions. A government that would be made up of people that are actually willing to assume the role of a government and lift the heavy load that now rests on the weary shoulders of most Nigerians.

Nigeria is the sad tale of a nation where a good number of over 180 million citizens have to largely provide their power, education, water, security, health care and general welfare from their own impecunious pockets, despite the existence of a central, state and local government. A country where a central government exists and these many flaws are apparent can only be likened to a country with over 180 million individual governments and ineffective central, state and local governments.

To aptly describe this unfortunate situation, Nigeria is currently a country of various governments, a country where every citizen is a government of  its own, a country where the central government has monumentally failed to carry out even the most basic duties to the people they claim to serve. A country where you, I, and the next man are walking governments of our own!

Uber announced that it would be launching UberBOAT in West Africa this week, and markets responded favorably. I expect Uber to unveil Uber Copter in Lagos for helicopter operations. The best routes would be Eko Hotels to local/ international airports at Ikeja, and Festac to Ikeja airports. Uber can charge $300 and people will pay; the Lagos traffic will make that $300 a good deal! Uber is already in the helicopter business; the Lagos one should not be different. Watch out –  Uber Copter will be flying by Q3 2020 in Lagos, Nigeria. Of course local companies like Gokada and Max can offer that service if they raise more money.

Starting July 9th, Uber will offer helicopter rides between JFK airport and Lower Manhattan that can be booked on demand through its app. Uber Copter, The New York Times reports, will offer eight minute flights between the city and its major airport, with prices typically costing between $200 and $225 per person. Flights can be booked up to five days in advance.

Uber Copter’s launch comes almost three years after Uber launched its flying car project called Uber Elevate, which was an ambitious plan to offer flights using a network of lightweight, electric aircraft. Since then the company has continued to offer one-off marketing stunts where it gives people helicopter tours of big events like CES, but nothing that will actually get you from point A to point B.

As I had predicted, the lion is out of the cage, and the big boys will be using helicopters for errands around city. Since that man called a helicopter to “get him” out of the traffic, exhalation has happened. This one (video below) used his helicopter to visit his warehouse. He even flew himself, and the staff went mad on jubilation. Who will not when your boss descends from high and you need the clapping to put food on the table? I once visited a building in Manhattan where the CEO comes to work from top of the building (helicopter). Check in the night, beggars would congregate to sleep in the outside basement. My only contribution is this: FIRS, make sure all the big boys pay big boys tax in Nigeria.

Nigerian Naira Billionaire buys $2 million helicopter and flies it to his warehouse to avoid traffic. pic.twitter.com/tHl41saQiK

— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) June 26, 2019