You are not patrotric...

You are not patrotric...
Screamed the Inspector General of Police IGP at the site of the explosion incindented on the 26th of December, by people scooping fuel from a vandalised NNPC pipeline in Abule-egba a suburb of Lagos.
His pronouncement was worrisome and I wondered if he knew what patriotism really meant.

Scooping fuel from a bust pipeline is bad in itself, but the act only brings to the fore the deplorable state of the people and the real issue at hand here is not patriotism.

NIGERIANS are poor though NIGERIA is rich.

Many in this country can not afford necessities as basic as a roof over their heads, 3 square meals a day, and clothes on their back….

This people read and hear of the several billions of naira that is squandered by the leadership of the nation.

This impoverished people see those they have entrusted with their destinies rob them of their future in the prime of day.
They watch haplessly as what belongs to them and their children is confiscated by a few others for themselves and their children.
That fateful morning, they saw an opportunity to take back part of what was theirs.

They are hungry people and not necessarily greedy people as they have been made to look, trying to make the best of an opportunity they believed was god sent.

When and if the issue of patriotism arises, people like the Inspector General of Police (in my opinion) do not have moral grounds to blame anybody for he is as guilty of the crime as anybody else. If not, then where are the killers of Eng. Funso Williams and those who murdered the home-boy of Ekiti-Dr. Ayo Daramola.

Why are the men and officers of the NPF who had promised under the leadership of Mr IG to serve with Integrity still demanding N20 bribes from commercial transport operators?
Or is it an act of patrotism to create charges and offences on the spot in a bid to demand some form of settlement from ignorant motorists as done regularly by the men and officers of the NPF corruptly led by Mr. Ehidero.

I honestly think the sad occurrence of the “pipe-line fire” has once again brought to the fore the perennial problem of neglect of the people by the leadership they have so trusted.

The incident has shown clearly that the masses are hungry.

And an hungry man may not be patriotic.
So if Mr. IGP wants Nigerians to be patriotic then he should start with his men. – some example will be good sir.

NEW YEAR... NEW GOALS

The three major areas of focus for me this year are:

1. Personal development and growth

2. Career.

3. Project.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT & GROWTH.

Increase my knowledge base.
i. Project 100 (2 books/week).
ii. Blog subscription & consumption .
iii. Magazine subscription & consumption

Improve my speech making/speaking abilities
iv. improve my diction (learn 10 new English words a week)
v. improve my telephone manners (get resource materials)-Feb 07
vi. ask & review others opinion/criticism of my speaking abilities with a view to improve where the need arises.

CAREER
In my 10 year plan lapsing in the year 2015, this year was tagged “transition” i.e. am moving from undergraduate studies to pre NYSC and later NYSC.
Hence the goals I have set for this broad area are:

A. GRADUATE

i. Round up work on my Bachelor’s degree –in January-and if there are delays they should not be traced to negligence of any sort from me
ii. Complete my final clearance ASAP
B. FURTHER STUDY

i. research & learn all I can in my chosen area of further study
ii. initiate pet project in the my chosen area of further study
iii. contact institutions offering training in my chosen area of further study

C. SKILL ACQUISITION

In order to consolidate on my appreciation of the internet and my other intrests, I have set goals to acquire at least one IT based skill once every three months. This shall be accomplished via tutorials and trainings.

PROJECTS
Students’ Survival Kit:
i. build a web based support portal for the book ( February 2007)
ii. heavily publicise the book(Jan – March 2007)
iii. reach out for bulk buyers
Knowledge-prenur: web based information sharing resource (April 2007).



I am happy you have patiently read this far, I have done this post not to impress you but to encourage you to do same for I have realized that people who fail to plan often live miserable lives and those who plan though may not actualize their plans due to reasons beyond their control, they often time end up better off than people who don’t plan.

I will appreciate if you are willing to be my accountability partner, send me an email and I will tell you the things we can make possible together.
I wish you a happy new year.

NO NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

I have in the past fallen victim of failed new year resolutions and have often taken solace in the fact that am not alone -the story is told of a certain Gym club, were every January regular members- those with several years of consistent membership have to contend with the January rush of new members. The rush soon thins out, as the year progresses and the resolutions behind the new membership fail.

For three years or thereabout, I had stopped bothering about resolutions and did not really find an alternative thus living my life, as the day comes without any serious or documented long term goals-except of course to pass my semester exams!

Several events-and people-towards the end of last year changed my vision of life and existence and pointed me in a new direction.

A new consciousness

A will to succeed

A will to work consciously toward success

This year, I, instead of making new year resolutions, decided to set targets (goals) for my self in 3 different areas of life/living

My goals obey the age long SMART criteria for good goals: -
S- specific

M- measurable

A- attainable

R- realistic

T-time based

Specific: in that my goals have been honed down to specific issues & ideas and are not ambiguous.


Measurable: each goal in my list have measurable parameters.

Attainable: each goal are simple enough to be attained with some measure of discipline and resoluteness

Realistic: all goals are backed with reason and not fantasy

Time based: all my goals have been set within realistic time limits.