Having dealt with the very critical issue of relationships, I shift my attention to the issue of earning a living, making money and staying employed. I live in Kano, North West Nigeria- a city with a trading history dating back to over 1000 years of trans-saharan business. Kano is Nigeria's second largest commercial city next only to Lagos in the South West of the country. However, the population of poor people in this city is amazing. It is a serious paradox... how can there be so much lack in the midst of plenty? The problem can be seen from two perspective - there is not enough government jobs to go round those who are qualified and educated to work in such places; and there are those who are blind to glaring opportunities on the street, so they resort to begging and lazying around and complain so loudly that there is nothing to do.
It is very easy to shift the blame of unemployment at the door-steps of government. In Nigeria, the highest employer of labour in terms of salaried employment is the government. However, those employed in the government circle rarely add any much value at the end of the day because they do everything possible (they are in the majority) to evade responsibility while they protest so greatly for salary and fringe benefit increment. I understand that government needs to provide the enabling environment for personal entrepreneurship to succeed but when such platforms are not there, you must always find a way to survive. That is the essence of this blog today and in the days to come. You don't have a job? Create something that people can gladly pay for and you are in business!
The problem with a lot of us is that we do not engage our minds. Even for those who try to engage their minds, they have an empty frame of mind. Nothing really in there to reflect upon because they have not read up any knowledge. The first step to developing the capacity to create your own job is to be a veracious knowledge seeker. How many books in the area of your potential do you read in a month? Do you have the knowledge of the field you want to engage yourself in? You can only operate to the level of knowledge you have. You can't operate beyond your frame of reference.
You might say its not part of your nature to read and that its strange. Well, I guess you might want to try how ignorance has killed the desires and dreams in the heart of millions of people. If knowledge is expensive they say, could you try ignorance?
In the days to come, I will be discussing how you can effectively be your own boss and enjoy it. Stay connected.
It is very easy to shift the blame of unemployment at the door-steps of government. In Nigeria, the highest employer of labour in terms of salaried employment is the government. However, those employed in the government circle rarely add any much value at the end of the day because they do everything possible (they are in the majority) to evade responsibility while they protest so greatly for salary and fringe benefit increment. I understand that government needs to provide the enabling environment for personal entrepreneurship to succeed but when such platforms are not there, you must always find a way to survive. That is the essence of this blog today and in the days to come. You don't have a job? Create something that people can gladly pay for and you are in business!
The problem with a lot of us is that we do not engage our minds. Even for those who try to engage their minds, they have an empty frame of mind. Nothing really in there to reflect upon because they have not read up any knowledge. The first step to developing the capacity to create your own job is to be a veracious knowledge seeker. How many books in the area of your potential do you read in a month? Do you have the knowledge of the field you want to engage yourself in? You can only operate to the level of knowledge you have. You can't operate beyond your frame of reference.
You might say its not part of your nature to read and that its strange. Well, I guess you might want to try how ignorance has killed the desires and dreams in the heart of millions of people. If knowledge is expensive they say, could you try ignorance?
In the days to come, I will be discussing how you can effectively be your own boss and enjoy it. Stay connected.
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