Way Forward FCT?

In the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, word has it that the city has since become a shadow of what it was six years ago… Mallam Nasir El-Rufai seems to be the best thing that happened to Abuja as there was sanity in this city while he was in power. What do you think?

Street beggars and hawkers – Driving on the roads, one has to be extremely attentive these days as beggars and hawkers are everywhere on the streets. At any traffic light, once the red light stops you, they all appear. Sad part is, hand bags and mobile phones could get missing if you have your car doors unlocked or windows down without paying attention. Once upon a time, these people would not dare show up on the streets as there were laws to ensure that such people were never around town.

Boss - Employee relationship

In her one year of working at this firm, Mfon got all the scolding she had not got since she was a child. With a boss throwing tantrums like this every now and then, he is worse than a woman going through that time of the month. It is usually women who are this bad she thought to herself, but not in this case!

She decided to track his record...previous employees all found that he was a horrible boss and couldn't put up with his tantrums for very long. She decided to be the different one and see this through. He would bend this time and not the other way round. Feisty she had been told she was but it was about to be displayed at the very maximum.

She talked with a friend who manages a major organization and his advise to her was simple 'bad managers are everywhere and you will always meet them, count yourself lucky to have a good one'. She had to read between the lines and her own interpretation of the statement was...be the best you can be given the circumstance! Zeal renewed and her challenge belt worn, that was what she was determined to be.

It takes some effort to be up there. Are you ready to put in what is required?

About time!

The mystery envelopes him like a blanket of darkness,

all directions make no headway,

becoming a seemingly aimless wander as if in a maze,

Head buried, arms clasped, uncertainty taking over….

The strength, the courage, the will, the hope have all been lost.

That light, that blinding light is nowhere in sight.

Once upon a time, he had so many aspirations,

reality, life, experiences, they all happened.

Tears roll freely; he feels emotions not felt in such a long time:

self pity, anger, resentment all course through every vein.

It’s useless staying down there, get up he had heard one too many times.

From the depth of pain, he vows, it’s about time…about time!

The Liebster Award

I was nominated by Lizi, (see her blog here) for the Liebster Award. l looked to see the origin of the award but I have seen numerous blogs so I'll stick to Lizi's introduction which is pretty much the same as many others.

The Liebster award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
What is a Liebster? The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome

Pollution or Not?

Crackling sounds pierce through the quiet moments of dawn,

those microphones come to life in the bid to call on believers to pray, the day has just begun. . .

Cars on the roads move with little or no respect for traffic rules, impatient drivers cause unnecessary traffic jams and in between all of that, some hurl insults at each other while horns blare so loudly, almost deafening.

Some cars are road unworthy but how they stay on the roads is a story for another day! From emissions of silencers from such cars to the wobbly movements that scare the drivers right behind, driving is sometimes a pain. PHCN powercuts may excuse the intermittent street or traffic lights, but those cars driving without lights at night can't blame the faulty grid. And if our visibility wasn't bad enough already, you can normally count on someone having a bonfire of black plastic bags on the side of the road, spewing noxious fumes into oncoming traffic just as you'd put your window down to cool off. 

The road dividers sometimes serve as trash outlets for moving cars, street hawkers and not to mention the sides of the roads where heaps of trash stand unattended and this seems to bother no one. As a matter of fact, stalls are erected and business is carried out beside the trash without a care. Does the smell not almost choke these sellers? Man must survive abi?

Roadside sellers vs trash

Drainages are not spared; they are filled with trash and do not serve the purpose for which they were created. When the real need for these drainages is required to be met, it proves impossible. And we wonder why there are floods?!

Customer Service

It is almost common place to hear 'anything for the boys?' from guards to drivers, filling station attendants and worse, Policemen! I don't mean to sound . . . (can't find the appropriate word) but I always stop to wonder if they aren't paid a salary. It may not be decent but begging shamelessly, I simply can't come to terms with that and it puts me off.

Once I was travelling and thanks to a certain group of people, there are numerous military and police check points on the roads in Nigeria. I was flagged down and we greeted each other then the elderly man who happened to be a policeman standing by my car door asked, 'won't you give your father anything?' I looked him in the face, my response was 'will a father not be the one to give to his children? Besides I am travelling so I'll prefer that this father says a prayer for journey mercies for me'. It worked like magic, he said a few words then bid me farewell, I was on my way again.

Confrontation or Inclusion

There is nothing as good as going for a meeting not knowing what to expect but coming back feeling like it was extremely productive. I had one of such on Tuesday, and a serendipity moment that I’ll hold onto for a while. I met with some great minds and I smiled all the way through my drive home.

How do you tackle issues? Do you go the confrontational way or the inclusive way? I discovered that in many cases, we react to situations and decide to take the confrontational approach which may not always be the best way. The person or people we may be confronting could feel attacked and may also take the knee jerk reaction approach to attack back. We all have the tendency to categorize ourselves into ingroups/us against outgroups/them.