Last Yuletide, I was heavily involved in rice supplies from Abia. I got a large order from the North Central but the logistic didn't add up so I sought a local producer in the region. I was referred to Rofiat Ayoola based in llorin & without ever meeting her, I sent her millions. We went on to run multiple transactions & I admired her professionalism & logistics mechanism. Once, a truck she dispatched broke down midway & lost comms. She loaded another truck from base & dispatched to the client & asked the distressed truck to return to base when fixed.

5 Trivia.

You know the rules. No looking up the answer.

Name 5 LGAs in a neighboring State to you.

I'll start.

Imo State
Obowo
Ihite Uboma
Ehime Mbano
Ezinihite Mbaise
Mbaitolu

You can go more than once in same or different states.

Happy weekend. Imo
Isiala Mbano
Ikeduru
Aboh Mbaise
Nwangele
Isu

Miracle no dey tire Jesus. Stay

Had a Pius Adesanmi moment recently. A newly opened 5-Star Hotel didn't have hot water. I notified reception on my way to my engagement. Upon return, I was told it had been fixed. Entered shower, no hot water. Called reception, maintenance said it was okay. No energy. I slept. One of the things that require recalibration in Nigeria is our concept of what is okay & what is not. We need to acquire a healthy disdain for mediocrity. We need to eradicate the spirit of manage am like that. We need to not be okay with less than okay.

In marriage, you won't always like your partner. May there be enough gas in the tank to tide you over times you don't like them until you start liking them again. It's a journey of patience. Fill up your patience tank before you set out because you will need a lot of it. Oh there will be many times you will say you're not doing again & mean it. There will be long periods of silence & sometimes, technical separation. Marriages that survive are the ones that find fuel to start liking each other again. The ones that break are the ones that run out.

Fellow Nigerians, your Secret Service has accused your Central Bank Governor of terrorism financing and is seeking a court order to arrest him.

Other than that small detail, it's normal weather out there. Judge said nah, he can't be a bad guy. I saw him on TV last night with the President so surely, you're up to some mischief and I refuse to be a party to it.

Mahn! The scrutiny Peter Obi is getting. Can only mean one thing. They are scared. They know. They're evil geniuses. They know that if he is not stopped, there will be problem. This onslaught is not organic. It is orchestrated. They're ensuring the horse doesn't bolt.

Pressss. They're applying lessons from #EndSARS. If this Peter Obi-centred movement is allowed to proceed at this pace, it will spiral to what they cannot control. The gatekeepers of our status quo are united to derail the train & sadly, they have complicit enablers as always.

Monday Newsletter June 20, 2022

INVEST IN RELATIONSHIPS

Dear Strategic Leader, on your journey in life, you will need a lot of strategic relationships that will be beneficial to you at various stages in life. Therefore it is expected of you to be strategic in building and nurturing relationships. There are a lot of doors on your journey that will only open to relationships and nothing more. Not money, not fame. Only a prior relationship.

In all these savings & investments pressure, shout out to all who make just barely enough to pay the bills as they come up with barely any reserve for emergencies. May God ease your path. My honest prayer is that may your finances improve along the way. Constantly living with anxiety. Checking & rechecking last alerts to see if there's any unacknowledged balance in any account, scanning your memory for anyone who owes you money, juggling debtors, surely, there's more to life than earning for bills. Oluwa sanu.

Monday Newsletter April 25, 2022

BE PREPARED FOR YOUR OPPORTUNITY On the night of Tuesday, July 27, 2004, in Boston, Massachusetts, a certain, gangling Illinois State Senator by name Barack Obama mounted the stage to deliver the Keynote Address of the Democratic National Convention.

Monday Newsletter. March 28, 2022

When the new Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, visited our PSLC 43 Class, he left us with a word: "Think like a crazy idiot!" Yesterday, I listened to an audio book on the Leadership style of the ruling family in Dubai and I have to admit that Dubai is the way it is because their leaders think like crazy idiots.

The book is titled: Leadership, Dubai Style, written by Tommy Weir.

Can the entrenched hegemony in Nigerian political system be toppled? Of course. Akpabio emerged against Attah's choice. Ditto Umahi & Elechi. Problem then becomes those who topple the system, instead of becoming beacons of a new order, go in & set up their own more vicious system That is my disappointment with the Nigerian political system. You see bright lights & you believe, surely, they will do things differently & we can start building that critical mass from within. Whosai? They go in & become same if not worse than what you were all fighting.

Politicking in Nigeria, at any level, is insanely expensive. Unless a machinery adopts you from scratch & bankrolls the process, if you are going solo, you will spend money. Good money. Before Primaries, during primaries, then election proper. Hah. Body go tell you. There's preliminary consultation to notify critical stakeholders that you're interested. Apart from shuttle logistics, you go bearing gifts. Plenty money.

Then groups & organisations will pay you courtesy calls. Throw in Chieftaincy titles & invitation to religious activities.

Governors as State Chief Security Officers. A practical example.

Day 1. Abuja
Military High Command declares Operation Python Dance. Soldiers & hardware roll into the streets of Umuahia to 'show strength'. Skirmishes ensue. Death & destruction. State is thrown into turmoil. Day 2.
Governor summons State Security Council Meeting. Declares Curfew. Meeting lasts for hours. Brigade Commander agrees to pull his men off the streets & return them to the barracks. Gives assurance of working with the Governor to restore calm to the state.

Watching the match at a hotel bar in Aba.

"Nna nata ya ball ahu. Owu ya zu ra gi boot?"

Priceless. "Kante nwa mama! Obere nsi na emebi ike".

One thing about the elite, they network a lot. Mostly among themselves. They're constantly on the phone. Talking to themselves. Exchanging visits. Accross political & ethnic lines. Whatever division may be going on among the rest of us, the elite are 1 tribe. United in patronage. They don't operate the same 24hrs timetable we use. Perfectly okay for them to show up at each other's gate by 2am. No emergency. Just in the neighbourhood & thought to pop in. It's ok. The host is still awake. Probably hosting another tribe member.

My Assistant is Dedicating his son today. He opted for his village church for the service.

1. An all-male Praise & Worship Team. Interesting.
2. Got here past Noon believing they'd be winding up seeing they began at 8am. Nope. They're just getting warmed up. No sermon yet. So men are the problem! Pft. She was done with her Sermon in 10 mins. A Queen.

Yes to more women Preachers.

In all our efforts with #MadeInAba, one area I still think we are yet to crack is online marketing & proper digitization of Aba products. Today, we signed an MOU with @theighubafrica led by @Danielchinagozi with one mandate: Innovate how to sustainably market Aba online. Recall we started the year by unveiling @Nobsdaslushhkid as a #MadeInAba Ambassador and he has since taken various steps to enhance the visibility of Aba on the public consciousness including unveiling a clothing line to promote the identity of Aba.

Clearing your container at Tin Can is the ghetto. Been to Lagos twice to expedite the process, chilled with erujeje-kwaffing & weed-puffing stragglers, negotiated with 3 different trailer drivers (they drop you for higher offers) & adapted to the situation to get things going. So it takes weeks for flatbed trailers to get to the front of the queue. The closer the trailer is to the loading point, the higher the bargain. Like ticket sales at rush hour. Your driver you negotiated with last week can accept double what you offered & ditch your deal.

January 19, 2021

PRESS STATEMENT

ABIA STATE APPOINTS NOBLE IGWE MADE IN ABA AMBASSADOR

The Abia State Government has appointed foremost Style Icon, Noble Igwe @Nobsdaslushhkid as an Ambassador for the Made In Aba Campaign. A release issued by Sam Hart, Director-General of the Abia State Marketing and Quality Management Agency and Team Lead for Project #MadeInAba quoted the Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu as appreciating Noble for his “activities over the years fully supporting ...

I urge you to find a gold exchange where @asemota talked about making 50M in Nigeria & @saratu asked @afalli for his thoughts wherein he broke it down succinctly by pointing out the bleak %tage of those who hit it compared to other climes & the odds stacked against you with it. Summary of the exchange was that while with the way the system is set up, you can make it but you'll be a part of a small %tage who make that figure compared to a large %tage in other climes & even with that balance, you still face a systemic malfunction reducing quality of life.