Swagz alone would pay NO bills… #skilloverswagz

Ok young people can we talk…FRANKLY.  I am seething as I write this… Really seething. In fact let me show you what my status reads atm (that is, at the moment)

Now before I proceed let me say something about this article I once read- ‘A message to GARCIA’… You can google it up and read, if you are not too lazy to. I recall that my then boss in Emzor where I did a temp job one time ASUU was on strike, introduced it to me. He was thrilled a young very pretty nice figured young girl like me could be that enterprising. In fact one of the best compliments anyone has paid me has been when he told me I should get the book ‘Tough choices’ and read because he sees me as a Carly Fiorina… A woman who will shake the world. Carly was the first ever woman to be CEO of a top TOP Company Hewlett Packard HP… Tough Choices is her auto-bio. I savor that book. I had to buy it from London cos it aint in Nigeria.

So back to Garcia, basically it was a period of war or so and a general needed to take an URGENT message to Garcia who was at the warfront at the other end of town or so. The Governor calls a man by the name ROWAN and asked him to deliver a message to Garcia, and the man took the letter, asked no question (which would have been ok to do since there was a war situation on ground) and delivered it to Garcia… Let me add a paragraph from that article here…

…The point I wish to make is this: McKinley gave Rowan a letter to be delivered to Garcia; Rowan took the letter and did not ask, “Where is he at?” By the Eternal! there is a man whose form should be cast in deathless bronze and the statue placed in every college of the land. It is not book-learning young men need, nor instruction about this and that, but a stiffening of the vertebrae which will cause them to be loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies: do the thing- “Carry a message to Garcia!”

Let me add another line from that article… By the way it was written in 1899 by Elbert Hubbard but it is a classic walahi.

No man, who has endeavored to carry out an enterprise where many hands were needed, but has been well nigh appalled at times by the imbecility of the average man- the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a thing and do it. Slip-shod assistance, foolish inattention, dowdy indifference, & half-hearted work seem the rule; and no man succeeds, unless by hook or crook, or threat, he forces or bribes other men to assist him; or mayhap, God in His goodness performs a miracle, & sends him an Angel of Light for an assistant. You, reader, put this matter to a test: You are sitting now in your office- six clerks are within call.

Summon any one and make this request: “Please look in the encyclopedia and make a brief memorandum for me concerning the life of Correggio”.

Will the clerk quietly say, “Yes, sir,” and go do the task?

On your life, he will not. He will look at you out of a fishy eye and ask one or more of the following questions:

Who was he?

Which encyclopedia?

Where is the encyclopedia?

Was I hired for that?

Don’t you mean Bismarck?

What’s the matter with Charlie doing it?

Is he dead?

Is there any hurry?

Shan’t I bring you the book and let you look it up yourself?

What do you want to know for?

And I will lay you ten to one that after you have answered the questions, and explained how to find the information, and why you want it, the clerk will go off and get one of the other clerks to help him try to find Garcia- and then come back and tell you there is no such man. Of course I may lose my bet, but according to the Law of Average, I will not.

Now if you are wise you will not bother to explain to your “assistant” that Correggio is indexed under the C’s, not in the K’s, but you will smile sweetly and say, “Never mind,” and go look it up yourself.

I would not add any more. I expect you to look it up yourself… here for the full article. Meanwhile every picture that goes up here are some young people i Know who are diligent much… SHOUT OUT TO US ALL…

My boss’s point was that everybody pities the jobless man on the street and the man who was just laid off his job, that is SACKED, while cursing his boss (and blaming evil forces from his village) but often they should also spare a thought for the boss who has so many ‘useless staff working for him’ and he still thrives despite doing his work and the work of paid employees. “Nothing is said about the employer who grows old before his time in a vain attempt to get frowsy ne’er-do-wells to do intelligent work…”

Once I read in the papers, where someone from the older generation said “If the future of Nigeria is in the hands of these young people today, then our future is very bleak’ I was mad as hell when I read it. What nerve, how dare he say that? Today, I find myself secretly wondering if he doesn’t have a very VALID POINT here. Most young people today are hardly motivated. They have this lackadaisical blasé attitude about so many things. Follow me to my classroom and indeed the average class in a university today. We CANNOT as a rule have 8am classes ooo. We have to find a way to prevail on the lecturer to change it. Once I asked someone why and she said “Because most of us are not awake by 8 ooo. In fact that is when I usually wake so we cannot come for lectures by that time” I was beyond stupefied. And she didn’t even mince words ooo. I had to ask her when she sleeps hoping to goodness she would say between 3 and 4 am. Not on your life… She says ‘like 10pm…” that’s TEN freaking hours of sleep. Even the 8hours of sleep doctors prescribe is a lie. BIG LIE. Did they get their MBBS by sleeping 8hours daily? Are they dead? Mba… 8hours is a third of a full day so it means if you have lived for 40years, you would have spent 13years sleeping… Imagine all you would have achieved instead. I think we should sleep for 6hours at the very most. My opinion. Now this same people would graduate and hit the job market and when they do not get a job, they would blame the economy, Nigeria, Ngozi okonjo Iweala and don’t forget GOOD LUCK JONATHAN and Patience while at it. My heart bleeds when I read twitter sometimes. I wonder, ‘are these the future of Nigeria?’ You read some statuses on BBM and you wanna cry. Young strong healthy people who spend their whole day on social media sites as twitter and Facebook. Are you kidding me??? When you are neither Ohimai nor Omojuwa who earn a living from just tweeting. Blackberry though, it has its good and its bad. Somehow a lot of young people have embraced the other side much more than the beneficial. Like a favorite person of mine says, ‘no wonder you are black and BURIED’ hehehe. Or folks who spend all their time discussing wizkid, Davido, Dbanj, etc. gisting for 5hours non-stop discussing Things that have no bearing whatsoever on destiny or their future on the long run.  Some of us follow Linda Ikeji’s blog like a religion but would not take time out to see the other wonders of the internet that would teach you a skill or even earn you some money. Not that I have a problem with you enjoying your youth. Heavens forbid. By all means, have fun. Just that there is a time for everything. And when you do not do things in their time, disaster looms. I love how the bible puts it in lamentation 3; 27… It says ‘it is good for a man to learn discipline from an early age… It is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of discipline. And of course, the message translation puts it nicely… It is a good thing when you are young to STICK IT OUT through hard times… ‘

 (CEO ST COLORS)

(CEO DMARX CLOTHING)

Have you ever been in a group with some young people and you figure that over 80percent are loafers but because it is an additive task where everyone gets the same mark, you have to get the work done if only by yourself. In fact, you cannot even complain because wherever and to whomever you turn to complain, they would look at you very strangely, like what’s the big deal. Lectures that even hold at 10 am yet some people will stroll in casually at 10.20am… In fact, in school, you have people who ask me ‘Ha ahn, you have started reading again…?’’ HELLOOOOOOO!!!! What the heck am I in school for? To sleep? No darling, whatever my hands find to do, I have learnt to do it just well. Diligence always FINALLY pays. I recall once how hard it was for me to get a study group. My standards, they all complained, was too high. And God knows, I was even lenient much ooo. I had to bend a bit to accommodate all sorts and even that did not work. Abeg, I walked away. I could not lose myself identity to “kiss ass”. I believe that it is the same attitude we have as students that we would take to the job market. Call for an interview for 8am and we would stroll in at 15mins to 9, casually. In fact smugly. Like the party starts only when we arrive. Complete a project in two weeks, and they would set ears to hear 4week to 6weeks. Then when people stay jobless or under employed, they blame Nigeria and GEJ. Then they would get the BRIGHT idea that a Masters would automatically give them a job, so they return to school with the same attitude. Of course I do know that there are plenty sources of irritation in Nigeria which confront us daily but there are many others who thrive DESPITE the state of the Nation rather than fail and then blame it on the NATION. Don’t kid yourself ooo, some young people are making mad crazy waves. They abound!!! TAKE THE PAINS OF GOOGLING SAME. Not even in Yankee ooo, I am talking NIGERIA!!! This same Nigeria. A part of this MESSAGE TO GARCIA actually says something about such conscientious diligent people CAN NEVER BE OUT OF JOB. Infact to paraphrase it would be to take away from it so let me once again copy and paste…

“…Anything such a man asks shall be granted; his kind is so rare that no employer can afford to let him go. He is wanted in every city, town and village- in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such: he is needed, & needed badly- the man who can carry a message to Garcia.”

Let me take this to the Church. I love the part of the bible that says ‘Woe to those who are at ease in Zion…’ Zion is the house of GOD in case you didn’t know. Ah!!! Dem plenty for church too ooo. Sometimes I feel for Pastors because while your boss can sack you, a Pastor cannot sack you, In fact he has to now over pamper you with love sef. You fix a meeting for 5pm and then we stroll in, bible in hand, at 15mins to 6. Church service starts at 8.45am but NOOOOOOOO God forbid we come that early. We have to come at 9.30am instead. The number of frustrated HODs in church I can imagine. Hehehe. I am one so I should know. But we cannot vex ooo. We have to love em. And then the other set of people in church, my favorite. The slacking and lazy Christians. Who think that prayer miraculously erases diligence. Or that Grace is a substitute for work… then they quote isolated Scriptures to back up their claim. They believe that God is a magician in addition to being a miracle worker. Grace is not a substitute for effort, Grace would only amplify our effort, make a little look like much and give us amazing results. God would only bless the work of your hands, occasionally throwing in a few miracles for effect. But to bless your laziness, No baby. Like my pastor would say, we do NOT live by miracles but by principles… Jesus did not walk on water everyday… Occasionally miracles would happen but to base your life on it is to ask God to tolerate your laziness. Knowing God, he won’t. Obey the principles and enjoy his blessing. As a Christian, you have an edge over the unbelievers but if you are not diligent with whatever your hands findeth to do, then the unbelieving diligent man would get the blessings, SIMPLE.

  (CEO REAL FACES)

Beyonce’s SINGLE LADIES video. I hear the ladies that danced there, Bey killed herself to get them. Dunno how true it is but I hear she found them on YouTube, traced their location to someplace in Africa or so, and kept showing pictures to the natives who were not even English speakers till she found them and brought them to dance for her video. I also hear she devotes a crazy amount of time to daily rehearsals. Sweetie, Illuminati or not, that DILIGENT woman is paying some goddamn bills… Most times we see the fruits and then we want to ‘be like them’ People pay the price my dear. Occasionally we would have some flukes who just hit stardom but time will tell which among the tortoises, is male… (That’s an Igbo proverb which I spared the non-Igbos by saying in English hehehe)

I am almost done with my degree and I dare say I have jobs waiting. My boss then told me; please join us when you graduate. I did a project with one of the leading banks in Nigeria and one of top management said to me, please come and serve when you graduate. I once anchored Funmi Iyanda’s show where I played Funmi and interviewed her, while my friends were panelists.

I remember Funmi saying to me, I will look out for you… Charly Boy was a guest on the show too, and he said to Funmi, right on set, That young woman is going places. Funmi was so impressed she removed her pair of correct designer shoes and gave them to me.

 

This was about 5years ago. I was really young then. I have worked on several projects with groups and even when some don’t fly, the bosses of some of the companies we worked with would look at me and say “When you are out of school, please come let’s talk, I need you on my team.’ Just yesterday, one of the GSM companies in Nigeria agreed to sponsor a certain project I took to them. I did not even go with a proposal. I just went and talked. Initially he said, oh we don’t operate small scale, we usually do BIG BIG things and we cannot afford to sponsor this project because it is too small except you make it bigger and the send us a proposal. Mehn, I engaged the guy in a serious talk o and then like play like play, he agreed to do it. Infact it was like a dream. Now having read all this about me, ARE YOU ANGRY? Do you think I am bragging and being proud? Angry much at me? Darling save your anger, this is just the iceberg’s tip. When you see what my future would turn out to be eh, you may hang yourself ooo if this one is annoying you. But all this takes diligence. It is the diligent woman that stands before kings. It is the WORK of our hands that God will bless.

Don’t beef my glory if you do not know my story. Cos every succesful person has a STORY. In the future when you see me filthy wealthy, even the wealthy will call me wealthy, neither beg nor beef me. And please don’t beef me when you see me with my private jet and a couple of cars you would not even know how to pronounce their names. I am paying crazy dues now and intend to keep paying. I am working my butts off, putting in my best in whatever stuff I lay my hands on. I juggle quite a lot… Aside from being a student, I am the CEO of my own business, E’s signature, a makeup outfit, I am the HOD of Meeters and Greeters/Follow up unit in my church and I am also an active Drama Unit member, I am an Executive of my student association and events are at the peak now including a student excursion to Ghana, Finalists Party, Departmental dinner/awards night, A beauty pageant amongst others which all fall under my office directly… All these are time consuming… Did I mention that I am top of my class and would most likely graduate best graduating student… Long and short, I am paying dues now and the fruits we will all SEE LATER… All these notwithstanding, some of the above I have written apply to me too. As I write, I learn more. I have failed before and i have dusted myself and kicked right back up

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am not asking young people to NOT be young… I am asking you to be YOUNG…  Party, club, gist if you must. Be very young, but be resourceful and diligent while being young. Cos NEWSFLASH!!! You will NOT BE FOREVER YOUNG…

Let me end with this ‘two cents’ SWAG ALONE PAYS NO BILLS!!! In fact I have a friend on bb now who has all the swag in the world but his PM reads #skillsoverswag. By all means, please have swag, but when the rubber meets the road, your swag will be worth almost NOTHING.

 Steve Harris, from College dropout to Corporate sellout

Like I said on BBM to those who asked me ‘what’s up’ when I put up that status, GOD WILL HELP US, amen…

Fabulous, Young and DILIGENT…

Eziaha