Good evening, what is your emergency?

Hi Blogville,

I should start this with an apology for staying away this long. A lot of times, the chore of going through the day can get so demanding that you are forced to exclude all else. I really wonder how the likes of Vera can afford to blog every three days. when I grow up, I sure want to be like her, lol.

Living in Nigeria can ‘dull’ person o! we get used to so many nonsense and so much irresponsibility that we do not for once believe anybody in government, anybody aspiring to government, anybody that has any sympathy for those in government or anybody directly or remotely related to anybody in government (I wonder if that does not include all of us).

The abnormal has become the ‘norm;’

the ‘inexcusable’ is easily ‘excused;’

an ‘aberration’ can easily become ‘the familiar;’

‘madness’ has become the new ‘sanity;’ and

the ‘irrational’ has become the ‘conventional.’

razz the new cool.

If these were not so, we would not have become accustomed to a lot of things that the average person should frown at, things like:

rubbish heaps covering half of our roads,

reckless driving that we experience everyday – be it from the danfo driver, trailer drivers, men in uniform, the bullion vans, or worse of all, vehicles attached to our ‘servants’ in public office;

school students roaming about the streets at the very times they should be in school – I remember when all students seemed to leave home at exactly 7.00 am to go to school;

our elected – selected – public officials doing everything but what they are expected to do and cursing/damning those amongst us that have the gumption to question them – a la Ojo Madueke;

our streets being flooded at the slightest rains because some government agency has neglected to clear the drains, or another government agency has cleared the drains and put the debris on the road, or another government agency has awarded the contract for the repair of the road/drains, has gone ahead to cut the roads and thereby reduce the effective width of the roads and refused to be done – as we have on Acme Road, Ogba, Lagos;

the corruption that we see everyday and everywhere – from the armed robbers that proclaim themselves as our friends, to the local government registry officials that ask for all manner of things all in the name of rejoicing with you on your wedding, etc;

and the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and then on some more….

you get the drift right!

Then out of the blues you are surprised when things are done properly in some little way, and here is the kernel of my story….

It was just a lovely evening and enjoying a lovely trip while going home from work, it was Friday May 14 2010.

Cruising along Lateef Jakande Road, in Ikeja, I perceive a mammoth conflagration consuming my paternal edifice – for those of us who are not members of Pst Kris Okotie’s church, that means I saw this huge fire burning not at my father’s house, but at the premises of Boulous Limited, whose factory is along the road between Acme and Wempco Streets. The fire was so huge and out of the recesses of my mind, 767 popped up.

767, I immediately remember is the Lagos State Emergency Number. I pick up my phone and dial 767, and wait for it….

Surprise Number One – the call connects immediately. For those of us in Nigeria, we usually do not expect calls to connect immediately the call is initiated.

Surprise Number Two – A pleasant voice (a lady of course) is at the other end and asks pleasantly, ‘Good evening, what is your emergency? We have gotten used to the merry-go-round that accompanies calls to customer service units of firms. was expecting to hear Press 1, if you have a fire, Press 2, if you have been robbed, Press 3, if it’s an accident, Press 0, if you want to speak with our Customer Service agent, …. etc…

The lady asked for specific information and confirmed the location and premises. and wait for Surprise Number 3 – She informed me that men of the Fire Service were already there and thanked me for calling.

I was mighty impressed. so things could work in this jungle we call Lagos! well it seems something good has come out of Nazareth!

This is me saying kudos to all staff of the Emergency Response Unit of the Lagos State Government and please keep up the good work. As the Yoruba’s will say,

“Ibere ko n’se onise, afi eni t’oba f’oriti d’opin”

– meaning it’s not him that starts a journey, but he that endures till the end that would get the praise.

And to all the other governors in Nigeria that do not have a clue as to how to better the lives of their people, they can borrow a leaf from Lagos State.

Nigeria is definitely getting better, lets all do our part in making it a working and worthy nation.

Eko o ni b’aje O!

Nigeria o ni b’aje O!

PS: I would be back soon, and not keep you hanging for another four months, so help me God

Happy New Year

Sorry for the short absence. it was due to power failure. that was the excuse we always heard, listening to Nigerian television in them days.

anyway, this is to wish a bountiful new year to everybody on here. i hope and beleive its gonna be one that we would be happy to reminisce about come December 31, 2010.

sure you lot have made different resolutions. the only resolution i consciously made is this:

“I would not buy another book until i have read all the books that i have bought and left unread.”

this should not be an issue but at my last count, i had about fifteen – or is it closer to twenty – books that i have not bothered to read. some of these include the rules of life, the rules of wealth, the rules of work, corporate finance, the e-myth, the two books by Barack Obama, Business Strategy, three Max Lucado Books, the 10-day MBA, Thinking for a Change – John Maxwell, Execution, How to write a business plan, finishing strong, Napoleon’s Guide to Project Management, a book on the haulage industry.

i have also had my eye on these books – Right from the start, Loyalty rules, Built to last and outliers.

i really hope that i find the time to settle down and read these books sometime this year. came across this writeup while net-crawling and thought it fit to share with blogville. gives one a little strategy to use through the year. Enjoy and have a splendid 2010.

GREAT SERVICE IS A CHOICE – Excerpt from Harvey Mackay about a cab driver.

Harvey was waiting in line for a ride at the Airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing he noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey . He handed him a laminated card and said:

“I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk, I’d like you to read my mission statement.”

Wally’s Mission Statement:

“To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible, in a friendly environment”.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean! As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, “Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.”
Harvey said jokingly, “No, I’d prefer a soft drink.”
Wally smiled and said, “No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.”
Almost stuttering, Harvey said, “I’ll take a Diet Coke.”
Handing him his drink, Wally said, “If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.”

As if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day.

“Tell me, Wally,” Harvey asked the driver, “have you always served customers like this?”

Wally smiled into the rearview mirror. “No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years of driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He said, ‘Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competitors. “Don’t be a duck; Ducks quack and complain. Be an Eagle; Eagles soar above the crowd.”

“That hit me right between the eyes,” said Wally. “Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an Eagle. The other cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.”

I take it that has paid off for you,” Harvey said.

“It sure has,” Wally replied. “My first year as an Eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.”

· Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab.

· Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like Eagles.

No one ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction.

Think about this: “The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does”.

The LORD is always there for you, therefore don’t loose HEART.

Randoms

Never thot that i would be away for this long. for a newbie to blogville, i ought to still be excited and should be able to post regularly.

 

unfortunately, seems i am in a rut presently and things just look bleak and down, and for God’s sake, it has dragged on for far too long.

i really need to get my groove back.

i need to be able to get back to my nice and bubbly self.

i need to be able to pay attention at work – though work seems to be the major cause of my present condition – and get things done at the rate i used to do.

i just need to get my groove back.

I hope you dance…

Sometimes, one can not but wonder, what is the essence of life?

We get so involved with being on the run twenty four hours a day, we have no time to have meaningful conversations with friends and family, because most of the time we have to be at work and we only get to talk about things related to work. we are afflicted by the tyranny of the urgent?

Is that all there is to life? are we just living or existing? are we living just to work? no wonder its also called “the rat-race!”

Methinks we need some more time to ponder on life itself and appreciate the small mercies that the Almighty daily loads us with.

We need to watch the sun rise…
… enjoy the sunset,…
… feel the caress of the morning sun on our skins…

… get on the floor and play with that kid, instead of yelling at him to get up…

… stop a while, and have a good laugh…

when was the last time we walked in the rain?
when did we last enjoy the solititude of a quiet moment in the cool of the day, withour the shrill ringing of our numerous phones, the din of our televisions and all the other noises associated with our lives?
when last did we enjoy watching a smile form on the face of a fellow man?
when was the last time we retreated into that still place we all have in our minds?

methinks we need to find delight in life itself like little babies who have no care in the world, we need to smile more, hurry less and pause sometimes and appreciate all the things around us.

we need to take time to make our lives fuller and our experiences richer. this song by “I hope you dance” by Lee Ann Womack captured this succinctly and since listening to it three days ago, i have been held spellbound.

Enjoy!!!!

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,
May you never take one single breath for granted,
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed,
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance….I hope you dance.

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taken chances but they’re worth taking,
Loving might be a mistake but it’s worth making,
Don’t let some hell bent heart leave you bitter,
When you come close to selling out reconsider,
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance….I hope you dance.
I hope you dance….I hope you dance.
(time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along,
Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone.)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

Dance….I hope you dance.
I hope you dance….I hope you dance.
I hope you dance….I hope you dance…
(time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along
Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone

The Passage of Time

I have been meaning to write this for some time now, but the major problem of humanity has been afflicting me. I mean ‘procrastination’ or am I the only one afflicted by the disease of procrastinitis?

The whole world might not want to agree with me on this, as we all want to feel and live up to our image of being serious minded, achievers, purpose driven, focused, and all that but save me the balderdash. We know that there are a million and one things that we have been meaning to do that we do not eventually get to do.

Sometimes it seems to be no fault of ours as the demands of one’s job, moving around in Lagos, being available for friends and family and ‘the tyranny of the urgent’ are all enough to take up the whole 24 hours of a day three times over, but do we ever pause! and realize that time is moving on so slowly, the clock goes tick, tock, tick tock and it’s a brand new day. All the plans and ‘to-do lists’ left unfinished, once again.

It sometimes just dawns on me that time moves on, or as a certain Minister Lagbaja would say ‘Aye n yi lo, ko ma duro.’

It’s the start of another month, and time that I ought to sit back and take stock of the first four months of this year. At the start of 2009, for many people – the SonofPhilip inclusive – have set goals and targets of things to achieve by the end of the year. If it’s the same for the other 5,999,999,999 people on this terrestrial ball as it is for me, we would have moved these goals to one nice corner of our mind while we struggle to make it from day to day only to wake up towards the end of the year and realize that the whole year is almost gone without getting to do half of what we set out to do at the start of the year.

So sometime today – or tomorrow, “see me procrastinating again” – I would sit down and examine where exactly I am in my goals and plans. It’s time to measure progress, earned value, and use all other performance indices to check and see if going at the rate, I would achieve that that I set out to achieve this year, or I’ll be needing to do a lot of fast-tracking to be able achieve the goals within the time remaining.

Eventually I want to be able to say like Paul,

‘… …but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal … …’

So that come December 31, 2009 I can say, again like Paul,

‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown … … which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day (31/12/2009)… …’

Wow, I have digressed so much and did not get to write the April fool article I have wanted to write since April 1, 2009 (that will be some other time) but at least I have confessed to ‘thorn in my flesh,’ and so let the healing begin.

Catch you, some other time, and not so fast, this is a poem from growing up years, ciao!

‘Tick say the clock, Tick, tick,

What you have to do, do quick.’