SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS

Where do I start from? #Question

A local proverb says, "If you ask questions, you will not miss your way." True. But what if I told you that this is not totally true? 

You see, whether you miss your way or not is dependent on certain factors. Factors like: Are you asking the right question? Is the person you are asking knowledgeable enough on the subject matter? In order words, does he/she know the way? And such other factors...

Now, to the crux of this 'epistolic' submission.

That Nigeria has been in recession and many Nigerians are experiencing depression because many of our so called leaders have chosen to keep us in oppression is no longer news. (Abeg wetin be the cost of rice and gari now for your area? Now you see what I mean).

That many of us are in our little ways trying the best we can so that we can find answers and navigate our way out of this economic quagmire is also not in doubt. And this is necessary. We must definitely as individuals find ways to keep body and soul together and stay above water.

It is this desire that has led many to join different fundraising platforms like MMM (which seems to be the most popular and most desired of them all. I mean you can't blame people. Just bring your money and get 30% in 30 days).

And there are several others that have come up with all of them sharing some similarities and quite a number of them having some unique features.

Some of them work with the MLM - Multi-Level-Marketing structure. Zarfund, iCharity, CrowdRising, UltimateCycler, and a host of others.

Losing money can cause headache

However, there are people who still have aparthy for joining some of these platforms, not because they don't want to, but because they are afraid of losing their capital. I mean you can't blame someone for being afraid of losing N12,000 now in our Nigeria of today.

Okay, finally to why I wrote this 'epistolic' piece...

I know another platform that is not expensive to join... Not expensive to run... Gives you returns almost immediately... is designed to earn you millions within a short period of time... and you can have as many accounts as you can manage.

In fact, all you need to start this business is N1,000. YES! You read right, 1k is all you need.

I can see you are excited about this already. To get started, simply go to... Not so fast. I am sorry this info is not for everybody. Sorry. What you have to do is to join me Whatsapp 08023771690 or join the Naira Rain group using the link https://chat.whatsapp.com/BlTMK341gEF7DTHYA0TbnV 

My name is Abiodun Mabadeje (MSA)

MC Abbeylosophy

The MARK of Distinction… Mark Zuckerberg Example

I guess I am not alone on this, can you imagine, the 7th richest man in the world came into Nigeria and I never knew that was going to happen until he was already in the country and I started seeing pictures online, especially on Facebook. Is it that there was no noise, propaganda or some official publicity to prepare the ground for his coming? Or was it that the ‘gentle’ man didn’t see a need for all the noise and just wanted to be himself – Simple, Humble and Easy-going?

Eventually, I was able to watch on YouTube one of the meetings he had with some Nigerians. Let me quickly state here that I am very happy that these Nigerians were not the “pot-belled-agbada-wearing-attension-seeking-clueless-Nigerians”, they were “ordinary-everyday-regular-forward-looking-Nigerians”. Oh, how glad I was.

Another thing that caught the attention of so many people, especially the young ones, is the fact that #MarkZuckerberg looked so simple in his dressing – no suit, no tie, no unnecessary stress that many people in our society would have burdened themselves with. Just jeans and simple round-neck tops – 7th RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD O! (Except of course when he returned to see Mr. President. I guess some politics must have gone into bringing him back for this ‘presidential’ visit).

Now, let me get to the meet of this piece. I saw a lot of posts, pictures and even Youtube posts about his visit, and as I pondered and tried to make sense of it all, I got some ideas and I will like to share them with you. So, enjoy reading and enjoy learning – THE MARK OF DISTINCTION

Hitting that MARK in life where you become distinct or achieve distinction, I believe is one thing majority of people desire (Let us not assume everyone does – but saying ‘majority’ is safe).

And in hitting that MARK there are a number of things that one must endeavour to do, imbibe as a habit and live out on a daily basis.

These are the things I picked from #MarkZukcerberg and his visit to Nigeria.

M – Mentorship: As I watched the Youtube video of one of his meetings, Mark kept talking about his Foundation and Facebook looking for opportunities to create platforms for Tech engineers, developers and business people. They want to simply create opportunities for people to help create the future. 

One of the banes of Nigeria’s development is the lack of leadership, which is an aspect of mentorship. People in our environment find it difficult to pass on what they learnt on their way up to achieving success in life to those coming behind them. That is why many businesses die after the business owners die. And I make bold to say that is why we are experiencing the many challenges we are as a nation, even in government circles. Where are the true leaders? Who is teaching the next generation the tenets of leadership? Look at the people supposedly leading us today, all a set of recycled men. 

Now, the other side of this coin is that those of us, who are growing in business and influence, need to learn from Mark Zuckerberg. Mentoring is the way we must go. There is something you know, whether by way of knowledge acquisition or experience garnered over the years that someone around you needs to know. Don’t deny that person the opportunity to learn and to grow.

A – Articulate: This refers to your ability to be able to explicitly explain; lay bare your thoughts, ideas, plans and actions in a way that your respondents can easily comprehend. Mark Zuckerberg did that well. He explained simply his plans, without any flamboyant grammatical expression to try and impress anyone he came from America. 

This is a total departure from what we are used to with most of our so called leaders. They try to impress by using unnecessarily big grammatical expressions, but what is even most annoying in the end is that they end up being incoherent. Some of them even talk like ‘na by force them take go school’ (pidgin).

We must all learn to communicate effectively in order to be able to get across to people in the simplest way possible. 

Another part of communicating in an articulate manner is listening. Mark Zuckerberg emphasized again and again that he also came to learn from Nigerians some things he could take back to California and use to improve on what Facebook is already doing. What a leader!

One of the signs of true leadership is ability to listen to your followers. What are their concerns, complaints and complications with their work and their lives? And you want to find out from them what they think you can do to assist them to overcome those challenges. That Mark Zuckerberg did very well. He didn’t just come to shove his ideas down the throats of people, but he also came to listen and to learn in order for Facebook as an organization to get better.

Dear reader let me ask you, how often do you listen to people? Do you even create the ambience where people can express their thoughts and concerns? Think about it!

R – RESPECT: As Africans, especially Nigerians, this is something we consider very important as a people. Respect, or if you like, you could say ‘regard’; we want people to respect us; our ideas, our work, our culture and everything about us.

Mark Zuckerberg, in spite of being one of the richest men, not only in America, but in the world, still had enough sense to hold us as Nigerians, in terms of our culture, in high regard. He ate pounded yam, not with cutlery, but he used his bare hand. 

You may say, “What has that got to do with business?” But don’t forget that when you are in Rome, one way to connect with them is to behave like them (When you are in Rome, you behave like the Romans). He did not come to show us his ‘Americanish-tendencies’. He was simple and down-to-earth. He answered questions posed to him in simple terms, acknowledging everyone and every question asked. He complimented people and praised them. Wow!

Dear ‘rich’ man, or rich-man-to-be, do you RESPECT people? Or do you see them as trash to be trampled upon? Food for thought!

K – KNOWLEDGE: Yea, industry knowledge. I listened to him as he oozed an abundance of industry-based knowledge of what the technological world is and the direction it is likely to go, and especially the role they at Facebook are willing to play to even further determine which direction it should go. 

Not only did he communicate as a tech-person, but he did very well as a businessman, I mean we are talking about the 7th richest man in the whole-wide-world. He definitely knew what he was talking about.

How much of the industry we play in do we know? What levels of business acumen have

#WisdomFromMZ

we developed? In what ways are we in our own little corners seeking knowledge to improve on what we do? These are questions we must all be asking ourselves, with a view to finding answers to them. Knowledge is power, especially when it is rightly applied.

There you have it, the lessons I was able to glean from #MarkZuckerberg and his visit to Nigeria. I hope I have been able to make some sense to you and encouraged you to do more than you are currently doing?

I am your friend,

Abiodun Mabadeje (MSA), Author/Actor/Speaker/Trainer/Publisher

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abiodun-mabadeje-67059329?trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile

Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/Abiodunmsa/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

twitter: @AbiodunMabadeje

ROSES HAVE THORNS

The Rose flower is unarguably one of nature’s gifts to planet earth and indeed humanity for adornment. When set in flowery array, one cannot but marvel at what the Creator’s idea of beauty really is.

But before we dwell so much on how beautiful and alluring this gift of nature is, let me quickly note that the essence of this piece is not so much about its tempting attractiveness of the Rose, but about something in its very nature that one could say is a big dent on the total package of the Rose flower - the thorn!

I am not a horticulturist or a graduate of Agric Science,  nor even so much a lover of nature, so I cannot exactly say why roses have thorns, but they do.

However, I will like you to think with me for a moment. We all know and agree that roses are not man’s idea, they are God’s idea. And one thing majority of people can agree on is the fact that God is too perfect to create an imperfect ‘thing’ – He is too perfect to create the Rose with thorns and not have a reason for the thorn in the life of the Rose flower.

I was in meditation recently and received an inspiration, which goes thus: “Roses have thorns, but the thorns are not strong enough to choke out the beauty of the Rose.”

This thought was so strong in me and I began to think, how many people have neglected their beauties because of ‘necessary’ thorns? How many people have allowed challenges of life choke the beauty of life out of them? How many people have focused so much on the thorns of life and lose sight of the beauty thereof? Oh, how many have listened to wrong people and wrong counsel just because of a thorn appearing by the side of the rose flower and they completely ignored, neglected and totally abandoned the beautiful Rose – a relationship, a job, a business, a family member, or possibly a country?

If many people will take time to think and look deeply they will realize that it is true that Roses have thorns, but equally true is that fact that those thorns have roses on/in them.

I challenge you if you are reading this, what are the roses in your life right now that you are ignoring because of the thorns growing by the side? 

By the way, do you realize that the thorn is what forms the base in which the rose flower seats and grows from? 

Challenges of life are real and they are sometimes necessary to bring out the best in you, in your relationship and other areas of your life.

Life doesn’t always follow a straight line where everything is in a state of utopia – no worries, no challenges, no oppositions (Someone rightly noted that your opposition is what will determine your position in life), sometimes, it is a zig-zag.

Challenges are like lifting weight, they help you build muscle and make you strong. You build faith, emotional, psychological, intellectual and relational muscles.

The question I want to ask you is, are you going to ignore this beautiful Rose flower that God has given you because of the thorns or you are going to ignore the thorns and focus on the Rose, savour its beauty and bask in its glory, because this Rose will blossom? 

Thank you for reading. I hope you were inspired, motivated, encouraged or challenged?

Abiodun Mabadeje (MSA), Author/Actor/Speaker/Trainer/Publisher

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abiodun-mabadeje-67059329?trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Abiodunmsa/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel 

 

twitter: @AbiodunMabadeje

The EBA Factor

It was the first Monday of January, 2016. Most organisations, both private and public resumed for work on that ‘day’.

For me work resumed on Wednesday the 6th of the month.

I thought for a while what I should eat for breakfast on this first Monday of year 2016. After my mind sojourned in search of the answer to the question, I concluded I would eat Eba.

Now, I know what’s going on in your ‘holy’ mind, “Eba on a Monday morning?”

Yea, I know it goes against doctors’ and nutritionists’ dietary advice to take such heavy food for breakfast.

Well, I broke that rule/law. I went against professional dietary ethic. May be it is because I am an Ijebu man and Eba is one of our staple foods (as it is in many other parts of Nigeria) or is it because I just felt since I wasn't going to work, so what’s the big deal if I take Eba in the morning?

So, I did and believe me, I enjoyed it; supported with Uwgu and Bitter leaf soup and some smoked fish to complete it (Please don’t salivate).

Now, I can imagine you are asking, “So what is the big deal about all of that?”

The big deal is not the fact that I ate Eba or that I ate it on a Monday morning – very first Monday of 2016.

The BIG DEAL is the instruction I received while I devoured the mountainous obstacle called Eba that was served in my plate.

‘EBA’ all of a sudden came alive and began to ‘minister’ to and inspire me.

It became apparent that I need to adopt the ‘EBA’ factor and (in my) approach this year, if I am to get more results out of this year than the previous years.

The letter ‘E’ in ‘EBA’ started ‘talking’ to me that I need to be more ENTERPRISING and ENTREPRENEURIAL in my thinking and approach to life and the things I do. Enough of doing things just to please people. Enough of doing things just for fun. Enough of doing things for FREE. Even for friends, there should be some ways that I receive value in return, if not in monetary terms.

So dear friend, do not be surprised if you ask me for some freebies and I say ‘NO’ or ask, 'What is in it for me?'

Then the letter ‘B’ in ‘E.B.A.’ also spoke up and said, “Hey, I'm here too. You need to take a look in my direction if you’re going to do better this year than you did last year. So in my mind I inquired of letter ‘B’, what do you want me to do? And it answered “You must be ‘B-old’”

“You have been playing the game called LIFE too easy.” Letter ‘B’ said to me. “You've been swimming in shallow waters for too long. You have stayed on this mountain and level long enough. It is time to break a leg. Approach life – your life with some gusto. Even if you have to go on a limp. Caring about what people will think or say is no longer an option. It is your life. Life does not favour the timid; it favours only the B-old.”

 I sat in quietness for a while and before I could gather myself together, letter ‘A’ quickly jumped in to get my attention and began without wasting time to offer its own piece of counsel so I can squeeze out more juice from this fruit called 2016.

Letter ‘A’ said to me, “Look at you with so much innate ‘A-bility’ – divine endowments; heavenly deposits; godly resources.” Then I looked truly at myself and realized not many have as much talents (Ability) as I do. I am like the proverbial servant with five talents in the “Parable of Talents” as told by our Lord Jesus Christ in the Bible – Multi-talented.

Each one of these talent areas need attention and if given, each could stand wholly on its own and generate steams of income regularly.

Sure, I trade with these talents and truly I eat from doing so. But the time has come to do more ‘talent/Ability-trading’.

Dear friend, I strongly believe these instructions are not meant for me alone. They are also for you. You need to adopt the “E.B.A” factor this year 2016 and beyond.

You must become ENTERPRISING, carry out your tasks with BOLDness, while you use your ABILITIES.

Thank you for reading; I am your friend…

Abiodun Mabadeje (MSA, OAP),

Author/Publisher/Printer, Minister/Counsellor, Actor/Acting Instructor, Compere (MC)…

Meet me @:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Abiodun-MSA/211052825580?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/AbiodunMabadeje
http://linkedin.com/abiodunmabadeje@yahoo.com
http://abiodunmabadeje2.blogspot.com

08023771690, 08135891291