The glory of work 2?

EVEN when surrounded by so much abundance in prevalent adversity, “People are hungry” is the favorite refrain of the entitled. Popularized by politicians and amplified by armchair On Air Personalities who constantly host them for a fee, it has become the refrain of many people who have settled into laziness and entitlement in the warped belief that government owes them a livelihood. If you are reading this and you are part of those who sing that worn-out song, stop it. Wake up and smell the coffee. Times have changed. Does Nigeria have an economic crisis? You bet. With the subsidy removal and the liberalization of the exchange rate, there is no doubt that prices have gone up drastically in many cases. Many people (the same Nigerians who shout that people are hungry) took advantage of various government interventions to buy foodstuffs at cheaper rates, only to hoard, rebag and resell at cut-throat prices to the public. Some landlords (even of houses inherited from grandfathers) tripled rent without notice. That is not government. That is us, the citizens.

The law of cycles and seasons makes us know that every season of abundance is usually preceded by a season of crisis or lack. Crisis and opportunity walk and work together. What you focus on is what you get. Crisis is always the birthplace of problems. Money lives inside people’s problems and will only flow towards those who can provide solutions, not those who grumble. Task your brain and think.

In the same Nigerian economy where many able-bodied people are “hungry”, some farmers produced over 500,000 metric tonnes of cocoa, an increase of over 600% over the previous two years. This was at a time when cocoa sold at a premium worldwide. Many people made their first million.

More people became digital millionaires through legitimate endeavors online. Not every digital millionaire is a Yahoo boy. I saw a young lady who celebrated her first $100,000 through the sale of digital products. I see her activities online. She works very hard. And it is paying off. Many conglomerates and banks made unprecedented profits. Nigerian Breweries went back to profitability for the first time in many years. The Nigerian stock market is currently one of the most capitalized in the world today with current market capitalization at over eighty trillion Naira! Non-oil exports surged dramatically to levels never before attained in Nigeria’s history. But the lazy and entitled only sees problems but never thinks of solving them. So, he is perpetually expectant of a largesse that is expected to come from those who embrace hard work and who have turned adversity to opportunities.

Adam had no government to feed him. The only thing God gave him to do was work. Contrary to what you may have been taught, work is not a curse. Responsibility was the first blessing man received at creation, “And God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, subdue it, have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air’.” That is work as a vocation. After that declaration came the platform to demonstrate that responsibility. God planted a garden and put the man in it, not so that he could sit all day under a tree for fruits to drop in his mouth each time he opened it, but so that he could apply disciplined work to it through cultivation. God already planted the garden but whatever outcomes would come from it thereafter would be the man’s responsibility. He was to tend and to keep it. That is work as industry.

I am a strong believer in the power of positive confession and declarations of anticipated outcomes. But I am smart enough to know that dreams without action are nothing but daydreams. You don’t become successful just by dreaming about success or because you uttered some words into the mirror. If a man makes declarations until his tongue turns, nothing happens until he gives legs to those words. Action gives traction to dreams.

I have been privileged to employ several people in Nigeria, and I must say that, with very few exceptions, the experience has been largely unpleasant. I had to close down two factories, not because of government policy or lack of sales, but because of manpower issues bordering on pilfering, complacency and many other malpractices from the people who assured me at the onset that they could be trusted to deliver value even if I was not there. Before I traveled out of Nigeria (not because of “japa” but out of necessity) I was trying to start a food processing factory. When it was obvious that I would be traveling, I wanted to hand the factory over to a young person along with the machines and support him with running funds for six months to help him stabilize and get things running. We had already test-run the equipment and succeeded in producing samples. The factory had all the required machines, along with a generator that could power them. I conducted interviews with a few young people and selected one of them who sounded so convincing. It was a disaster. After him, I tried to hand it over to the husband of my house help who lost his job with a Chinese company. The result was even more demoralizing. I simply walked away from it and gave some of the equipment away. Many of my friends tell me that there is no shortage of work, only a shortage of workers.

Patience, loyalty, diligence, perseverance and integrity are in high demand but in short supply. Last week, I watched a video of someone who has some short-let apartments in Victoria Island. For several months, his manager kept telling him that occupancy rate was very low. However, the utility bills remained the same as when there was full occupancy. Initially, he didn’t worry, until it became obvious that the company was running at a loss. One day, he got hold of the Manager’s phone by accident and scrolled through it. What he saw shook him to his pants. The apartments, about ten in number, had consistently been having guests who paid about one and half million Naira daily. At best, the Manager declared N400,000/day for maybe two or three apartments. Just as a garden expresses the esthetic value of the gardener, your identity is best expressed in the quality of your work. I know how good you are when I see how well you work.

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Singapore is a one-city country of about 6.5 million people. But its GDP is ranked among the thirty biggest economies in the world and the first when it comes to free trade. Its biggest asset is the citizens’ work ethics. No Singaporean would ask you for a bribe or tip. In many cases, even if you offered, they would politely decline and tell you that they are just doing what they were paid to do!

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might and with integrity.

Diligence is power. God worked. Jesus worked. The presence of the Holy Spirit on earth shows that they haven’t stopped. Why should you? …continued.

Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!

Do you also want me to smoothen minor grammar and punctuation inconsistencies while still keeping the original voice, or should I leave it exactly as-is (just with dashes/line breaks fixed)?