DREAM/THINK BIG, START SMALL, GROW FAST

New Motto for 2009

My good citizens of blogville, It is good to see you in this very interesting year. Many good things have happened in 2009 and I hear there are bad things happening alongside. What I do know is that 2009 is going to be a defining year in the lives of many people. With all the job losses going on and 'insecurities' that exist (one day you are middle class and the next you are below the poverty index belt) many individuals are finally looking on the inside to tap some heat from the fire that burns in them. Yup! When you make that fall from the top of that income pyramid, the ground at the bottom can be very cold. No doubt you'll need all the heat you can get. That's why I always go back to the proverb about stars climbing in the night sky (you know...when a star is rising it always takes other stars with it so that when it falls, those stars above will shine upon it). But...leave that aside (lol...inside joke).

Everyday I get the opportunity to meet people on the job. Many of them inspiring, others not so much. One individual I met who falls in the former category is Fela Durotoye, who considers himself a social entrepreneur. Basically he is in the business of inspiring and motivating people. I am sure he also does a lot more so that description doesn't do him justice and only happens to be the hat he wore on the day I met him. You can google him if you'ld like to learn more. Fela has such a great command of conversational oratory (I make that distinction because there are some who are great in that pulpit, podium and chalk board way but are not conversational). I don't particularly remember what he came to talk about on the show but all I remember is the phrase he left behind, "Dream BIG, Start SMALL, Grow FAST". 

I have heard many variations of this concept (mostly from Oprah, but I guess cos there are so many Oprahisms in my head, this one got lost in the pile) but hearing it again and put in the context of finding new opportunities in the 'Global Economic Meltdown' was like slapping it in my brain with EVOSTICK or super glue. The phrase doesn't need to be broken down further, it is what it is. Dream Big, Start Small, Grow Fast!

But to help you out just a bit, if you are trying to take control of your financial life, that in itself is a dream. To get to that point of control, you have to take that small step. That leap of faith. The word leap can confuse people but a leap need not be like jumping off a cliff. Let's say you have a spending problem, a leap can be taking a simple step like cutting up all your credit cards and spending cash only when you need something. It could be creating and living on a budget and making wise spending choices. By taking that small step you can reach your goal of controlling your finances and watch your savings grow. That little change along leaves you with available funds to invest or start a business with and watch your financial life grow. That's the simplest way I can describe this. And you can apply it to anything in life really. Starting a business, excelling at the work place, new projects, spiritual life, family life etc.

Anyways that's my little dose of inspiration for ya'll. Not as profoundly conveyed but who cares about semantics as long as you get the point. Sharing is caring they say, so go out there and create or re-create your own destiny. So stick this phrase on top of your bathroom mirror so you see it every time you brush your teeth, shave or put your make up on. Dream BIG, Start SMALL, Grow FAST!!

( By the way- I don't know about you but in 2008 we rejected Poverty...casting and binding it to the bottomless pit, as my mother would always say whenever she prays. In 2009 we don't know how to SPELL...povty.... povari...pofti...pohvahtee....LOL. You get my point. AMEN SOMBORI!!!)

CRUNCHED AND CRUMBLED CHRISTMAS

2ND YEAR IN NIGERIA

The time of the year to take stock has come again and I am still in Nigeria. By this time 2006 when I was packing all my baggage and leaving America, I was sure I would be doing the opposite this year. This especially with the prospects of having a black president. Not that that would have changed too much of anything. Oh well I am still here and that in itself is giving me sleepless nights added to the fact that the stock options acquired for the year 2008 weren't as impressive as I'd hoped. Literally and metaphorically speaking. Anyway, one of these days I will pause and give you a summary of my 2 years in Nigeria. We might just visit subjects I rarely talk about. Who knows. That aside, the euphoria of Christmas has been crunched and crumbled down thanks to bad 'stock' market, that I hardly recognize where I am. I don't know what it looks like where you are. These days I am jaded about everything and completely clueless as to where this 'transition' is going to land me. So I have a new mantra and that's letting life happen. As 2009 heads in, I'm just gonna let life happen and stop trying to be so calculated. Sometimes you just need to allow the square peg own the round hole and that's just what I am gonna be doing. So here's to square pegs in round holes. All the best everyone as we usher in a new year. Thanks for sticking around for as long as you have to read up on my exploits. Do come back in 09.

MY VOTE FINALLY COUNTED....

Now I'm One Step Away From Being More Than I Can Be......

WE DID IT AMERICA!!!

NOW ALL WE NEED IS A FEMALE PRESIDENT IN 2016!!!

CAST YOUR VOTES IN HONOR OF....

If Not For Anything Else....

AND ALL THE OTHERS WHO FOUGHT FOR A DAY LIKE THIS IN AMERICAS HISTORY AND WILL PROBABLY BE WISHING THE WERE ALIVE TO SEE THIS DAY. THEY ARE WITH THE MOVEMENT IN SPIRIT AND ARE CASTING THEIR VOTES TOO....

THE CHANGE IS COMING....ARE YA'LL READY...CAN YOU HANDLE IT!!!

(YES I AM OFFICIALLY AND UNASHAMEDLY PUBLICLY DECLARING MY SIDE IN THIS WHOLE GAME. I AM BLACK AND PROUD TO ALSO BE AN AMERICAN FROM AFRICA. NIGERIAN LEADERS NEED TO TAKE A LEAF FROM ALL THIS AND STOP SHORT CHANGING US -- LITERARILY )

THE FACE OFF: OBAMA OR MCCAIN

Day 2 and 3


It has been a roller coaster ride leading up to today. The d-day. The polls have opened and I am down with allergies, The benedryl is shutting me out. The fact that I am the camera man is also 'not cute'. BUt hey...doing what I have to do. On Sunday one crew went off on a 5 hour drive to Ohio while I stayed in the city to attend a church service at the historic Quinn Chapel AME church in downtown Chicago where there was a very moving sermon. This church played a huge role in the underground railroad days when black slaves treid to make their way up to Canada to gain their freedom. Leaders like Ida B Wells and Martin Luther also stopped their to make speeches. Even Susan B Anthony of the women's suffrage movement. Then later on we sat with the Young Republicans of Chicago as they set up the final touches of their election night party. They agree they are the underdog but are fighting to the finish. After dealing with a few 'house keeping' with the entire crew, we set off to speak with the cook county elections clerk recorder and then guess who showed up in the hood. ASIWAJU!!! The former governor of Lagos State Bola Tinubu Uh hmh. I envisage some of ya'll scratching your head. Apparently he is in town as an election observer. He set us up with some of his contacts. Alderman Carrie Austin and Congressman Danny K Davis. We had been trying to get tickets to the Grant Park event for months but that didn't pan out and neither did getting press accreditation. However, the congressman got us tickets and his office is working on the press passes. As per 'West AFrican Media Corp.' Today we are checking out of Elk Grove and heading to a hotel downtown. We'll be going to some polling precincts and checking out what's happening as polls open up in 26 states. I had to hire a freelance cameraman for $400 to cover for me as I feel like a cat whose head is stuck in a jar.

THE FACE OFF: OBAMA OR MCCAIN

Covering the US Elections: Day 1 (JUST REALIZED I NEVER POSTED THIS)

It's 4.45 AM Chicago time, which is 10.45 AM Nigerian time and I cannot sleep as we head into the second full day of our bid to cover the US elections. Basically our 'guerrilla' crew of Nigerian journalists arrived Chicago late Friday night aboard Delta Airlines. That flight was not funny at all. Not only was it just too long, it was a bit too scary as we had some serious turbulence in the middle of the Atlantic. As in come and see people firing prayers like we were in some Mountain of Fire Prayer and Deliverance service. In my head I started going over the sins I had committed before embarking on the trip and started asking God for forgiveness. I mean if it was my time, that's the least I could do to make the passage through 'the golden gates' less stressful since we can't tip the 'winged bouncers'. I shall comment some other time on the turbulence matter. But back to the 'guerrilla news crew' made up of Silverbird TV, Channels and a lone guy from the Punch Newspaper. MBI is supposed to be joining us today and I imagine the folks from 'This Day' are living large in some of the key cities and states. If they can spend all that money on concerts and spiffed up satellite technology they better give me LIVE VIDEO on the pages of their newspaper. Yes o. As a reader of their newspaper, that's the least they owe me. Dunno about ya'll. I am sure NTA and AIT are equally capable to the task so if you want a Nigerian style reporting on the election (mostly phone-ins and commentary) make sure you tune in to STV. It is not like we will 'do pass' CNN or 'BBC' but 'we dey try the wan wey we fit'.

We've settled for a Days Inn near the airport as opposed to downtown just because we figured we would need transportation for our equipment and road travel to neighboring towns. It was wiser to spend the money on transportation rather than comfort. Unfortunately I am the only person in the crew who has been to America or been here more than a week so naturally I have to play mother hen. We practically spent the whole day securing all the things we needed (finding a hotel down town only to discover that because we are cash customers we would have to pay walk in rate of twice the online listing as the only available and acceptable credit card, mine, could not hold the entire amount), establishing contacts, renting a van and Nigerian driver/guide (this worked out as he rented the van added me as second driver and we just reimbursed him). Now all this may not have been the case if I was rolling solo and I am sure the other guys would have 'sorted' themselves out eventually but by golly I would be a cold heartless bitch if I decided to pull the 'competition' card and not send anybody. That's the 'nice girl' in me talking and as I write this I can see one of my new self help manuals "NICE GIRLS DON'T GET RICH by Lois Frankel" saying "don't do it gurl, don't do it, don't be nice, not now..." (I'm now placing a pillow over it...I will pull it out when I get on the plane. Ya'll ladies need to read that and NICE GIRLS DON'T GET THE CORNER OFFICE by the same author. I'll blog about these books soon).

So right now we are all squared off and ready to start working on some stories. I haven't been very lucky with many of my US media industry contacts as it seems everybody is busy and bogged down trying to get their own election scoops and all that drama that plays out. Oh the fun of election coverage. How I miss that. I used to hate it in the past when I had to be the one collecting and collating the election data back at WTVD. Paying my dues. Now I can't wait for the elections to come. It needs to come like every two years or may be there should be a 'popularity or favorability' election two years before the general election so that junkies like me can get our fix.

Yes the coverage unfortunately cannot be wholesome as the interest of our viewership is because Obama is in the race (The theory of 'Obama's to win and his to lose'). I know how that sounds in general as a cynical and highly sarcstic Nigerian myself who can easily kill someones excitement and enthusiasm about something with a wave of my hand, a hiss and an "abeg, abeg'.

THE STORY OF THE MYSTERY GUCCI RING

Paranormal Activity or Just plain Paranoia?

Word Up my people. Hope you are keeping hope alive, not just waiting for change but being part of the force that will create that change. So many things have been happening. First of all I must be congratulated on taking a bold step and owning real property of my own in Lagos. A mattress. Yes, indeed I finally own something. It is an achievement considering the high cost of living in this city. I was coasting in my hermit status until a certain wind blew my way and I had to find another place of shelter. Sadly. I was enjoying the hotel/dormitory life of 'the guest house'. No responsibilities, no obligations, constant electricity but nearly deafened from the generator. The food was good but occasionally the cook messed up and I had to pay for it. But all of that has now changed. I have to do housework, cook and clean and worst of all pay bills and additional salary. Living with my parents never looked more enticing. So if you are tight handed and frugal like I am and you are about to move from your parents home. DON'T!! If your concern is that they will kill your mojo and prevent you from tripping, just give them a nice 'working late', 'company retreat' excuse or just buddy up with a friend in your favorite 'play' destination and chip in grocery every now and then to cover for your food. I also now have a better appreciation for Criagslist and those friendly neighborhood yard sales. Can you imagine I went to one of those fancy and well decorated furniture showrooms and the price tag for a couch (may be it was the set) read "N650,000". An equivalent of just about $6000. For GINI? Oche!?! chair...a variation of a stool...a log and two stumps of a tree trunk...one cinder block. Please how much is it at 'Rooms-To-Go'? I didn't wait for anyone to tell me to go to the carpenter under the tree at the Chevron Round-About. At least I know the man is excited to be making furniture for a 'VIP client' who will at least recommend him to other members of the 'VIP caucus'. Then I have to find a cook if I want to keep this little weight that I have gained. That or I begin to cook. I tried it last night. Indomie noodles, microwaved heinz baked beans with chopped avocado and cucumbers on the side. It was indeed a daunting task but I ended up with a nice platter. I will try cooking again tonight. Same delicacy might just throw in some canned sardines and corned beef. Sadly. Will probably end up getting pounded yam and egusi from Tantalizer or Moi-Moi from Chicken Republic. Oh the misery.

Anyways to the real story I wanted to share. About something very strange. I am not sure if I am just being paranoid or I should be really concerned. The other day I picked out a hand bag to go out with my sister. The bag was empty when I picked it out and I put in all the stuff that I needed. Money, lip gloss, sunglasses, powder, a pen and my book. We visited a number of people, had lunch with a client, went to the tailor and ran a few errands at the market. Later that night I went out with a friend and had the same purse. Fortunately, being that this is Lagos, I didn't spend any money so I had exactly the same amount I started with. The next day I went to my friend's mother's 10 year remembrance at Unilag Chapel. Unfortunately for me they have two services simutenously, one catholic and one anglican. Yours truly went to the catholic service and was wondering to herself, "this certainly does not look like an anglican set up". I then went up to the attendant and was directed to the other service which was just rounding up. Suffice to say, the spirit has been calling me and decided to allow me publicly embarrass myself. Anyway after hanging with her family I went home and set out to clean my purse and transfer things to my work bag. Then I made an odd discovery. A silver men's ring with the word Gucci 'perforated' into it on two sides. A very tacky and N.C., for 'no class' ring. Automatically I assumed it belonged to my driver so I thought nothing of it and waited for him to come to work the next day. I asked him and he said it was not his. I asked a few of the folks in my office thinking may be it fell into my bag. No one took ownership. Then I started getting interested in finding who owned this ring. I decided to call my family members. Although I knew they would never own such I still had to satisfy my curiosity. I called everybody I knew who could possibly have fingers that large. I was afraid they would say they didn't own it because it was a rather tacky ring. This got me very concerned, especially when I looked in my bag and the money I had there was SHORT. I tried to retrace my expenditure but could not account for a huge chunk of money. Then I thought to myself, could the missing money be related to the discovery of the ring? And then to add to my paranoia, I have been getting 'proposals' from strange people. Some who have been persistent I have had to shout down and others I have turned down nicely. HOWEVER...nigerian men don't give up and are known to try 'spiritual' means. Now the first thing my sister told me to do was as long as I had the ring with me I needed to put it in a bible. Another suggested that may be I had come in contact with some of these crooked money changing mallams who do abracadabra for you and disappear with your money. Then someone said to me that I have been contracted in a 'spiritual engagement' and of course my answer was "Olounmaje... God Forbid'. I have covered myself with the B.O.J (Blood of Jesus) and since thrown the ring away though and will go to church on my own volition on Sunday for the first time since I moved back to Nigeria nearly 2 years ago (not because of this but because I have been meaning to do so and the spirit pushing me towards a particular church has been nudging me harder). So back to the mysterious ring. My question now is how did it get into my bag, who owns it and where did my money go to? Do I have reason to be concerned or is this one of those funny things that happen in life that you just can't explain? Has this or something similar ever happened to you? Holla and MAKE SURE YOU VOTE IF YOU CAN.

ADVICE TO BRIGHT EYED YOUNGSTERS AND UPWARDLY MOBILE PROFESSIONALS........

From your neighborhood bi-cultural 'ELDER'...

Odd title. But it fits the mood I am in right now. I have not written a blog entry in a while. It's like I am sitting silent as our world changes by the second. The political landscape has turned into a potential landslide and much to my chagrin, I have not churned out anything sensible. This writer's bloc is taking too long or may be life is truly beginning to take over. That aside, today I was just thinking about so many things and the one that stuck out for me is the fact that I am not fluent in another UN WORKING LANGUAGE.

In this day and age of global convergence, this fact is depressing. I actually tried to learn French but I am sure I have told you that story. F9. JSS 3 WAEC. I remember the whoopings I got from my late french teacher Mr Oyetunji, and Mrs Ojo just because I could not conjugate verbs in French. But my rebellion towards 'another man's' language (except for the English language) started in Primary 5 when I walked to my then headmistress's office with my Yoruba Exam paper filled with Zeros ( badly draw sad smiley faces) and several red markings, crying that I would not place in the top 15 of the class (my apologies for being one of the regular kids who knew their place was definitely not top 5 and never wasted time agonizing over that) and would she consider offering IGBO language so we could choose. I think in that year's end of term exam I may have influenced my friends to leave their exam papers blank in protest. I am not sure who else did but I know my fellow rebel, Enuka left her paper blank, my dad petitioned and the next semester there was an option to be exempted from Yoruba (really only because it was our final year and Yoruba was not offered in common entrance). I would use this form of protest (blank exam paper) later on after several attempts at trying to learn maths. But unfortunately for me, I paid for it later on in life. If not for the Holy Spirit that intervened and softened my dean's heart to my numerical learning challenges. I swear mathematics was like greek. Impossible to learn. But I digress.

My mother speaks Hausa fluently because she grew up in the North until the Civil War sent them packing. We used to marvel at the way she would engage the meat selling mallams at Sabo Market, our may-guard 'Ali the Kasali' (Kasali was a gate-man character from an NTA TV show) or even the Abokis who change dollars. Not one of us cared to learn it because back then we were like, 'whatever, that's the language of the oppressive ethnic group and the corrupt leaders in government, we'ld never need it cos we'ld never go to the north anyways'. So we brushed it aside. Big mistake. When I went along on that Sahara trip, my dumb ass discovered that Hausa is the most widely spoken language in West Africa. All the way into Mali. If someone had told me way back when I was still rocking 'Kotina' that I would go on that expedition, may be I would have made an effort to know more than just counting 1 to 10 in Hausa. Even that I don't even remember. But my new goal while I am still here in Nigeria (as you might recall my deadline is meant to be up this December but I have extended it to a 'yet-to-be-determined' date o. LOL. Please don't ask me why but it has a lot to do with my portion of the National Cake for which I am still mixing the flour and egg) I would try to get working knowledge or the Hausa language, improve my Yoruba and get better at my french.


Which brings us back to UN WORKING LANGUAGES, which include ARABIC, FRENCH, SPANISH, CHINESE/MANDARIN, ENGLISH and RUSSIAN. PORTUGUESE, ITALIAN, FARSI, URDU, SWAHILI are not but these are widely spoken languages in certain regions that having working knowledge of or ability to carry conversations in them can be useful. The BBC is one of a few international organizations that actually lists HAUSA as one of it's major broadcast language. Read more about the Top Ten languages HERE

So that I don't waste your time with gibberish. Let me go straight to my advice. Along with the language of your Father/mother (if you don't have one, for the purpose of driving my point home borrow your favorite neighbor's or friend's. A language that is, but I guess 'renting-a-parent' might work too). If your father/mother speaks only one language, trace your lineage until you hit a foreign language. Except you are from England or you just happen to be able to read this because you are 'exposed' or are one of the many whose ancestors relocated or were forced to the New World, chances are you will hit a Foreign language. Trust me, if you learn it, It could be the JACK POT in your life somewhere down the road. If you are a parent and you have young impressionable children, don't just teach them their own native tongue, teach them 2 more languages. Start them off in an ALL French/Spanish speaking creche or nursery school. Send them to language camp or summer school. If yo are an adult, attend language classes. There won't be any more pressure now that your grades don't depend on it. I think IF grades were not an issue I would KNOW french by now. Today's world is one where if you can't speak more than one language, preferably a UN WORKING LANGUAGE, you are under qualified. It's NO LONGER just enough to speak just IGBO or just YORUBA or your own native tongue. So now that you are armed with this little advice that I have been burdened with get out there and get MULTI-LINGUAL. It's never too late to start. WORD UP!!

Incase I am not convincing enough or you are one of those hard head who said 'pssh..what am I gonna do with a foreign language?" HERE is a list of opportunities you might be preventing yourself from taking advantage of (notice how my field is listed as #1. i'M SCREWED!! Where was google in my freshman year. LOL.)