Can your life drastically improve in the next one year? Did it, in the last one year? What are you prepared to do differently?

Let’s not fool ourselves, things are not likely to suddenly progress and transform you into success or greatness without doing something you didn’t want to, or think you can do before! Don’t read this mail, don’t take action based on what you read, and I can guarantee your life will continue the way it did before you started. Act however, and you may discover that you have untapped potentials for unique achievement and greatness.

The Foolish buy today, the Wise buy tomorrow based on trends!

I can still remember the hot afternoon of June 6, 1997, under the trees in the Alumni centre of the University of Ibadan, I asked my wife to be, the big question about marriage. It took her almost a year to get back to me. Why?? There was nothing much in that guy back then, if you looked at my shoes or rated my clothes, the answer would have been negative and quicker. Thank God however that our lives don’t stay on pause, we progress, and our progress creates a trend. My wife eventually said yes, but she didn’t buy the present, she bought the future. The foolish insist on current face value, the wise think about seasons down the line. The foolish waits to buy the estate when it’s an estate, the wise buy the estate when it’s a bush and then waits. All the wise wants to see, is the trend. What do you have in your hands that is trending towards a greater future? What you are about to hear, you have heard before… but not this way and not at this level.

Would you like an opportunity to get special treatment?

Imagine that there is an ultramodern international supermarket being erected at Tejuosho. An offer is made to the public for anyone who wants to lease a shop space. Not only do you get this shop space, you also get to become a member of the “Tejuosho international market association”. This leased space and membership means three things.

1. Anytime you have anything to sell, you have an opportunity of selling via your shop and advertise to all other members of the association – FREE.

2. Anytime anybody comes to you to ask for any product, you have an insider deal with all the members of the association to buy at distributor prices and if you want, to resell.

3. The Tejuosho space owners are willing to reward you for telling your friends about the ultramodern shopping mall and getting them to lease a space.

The good thing is, even though your foundational product is the leased space, you have a unique privilege of being able to sell anything else on offer in the shopping mall. Imagine that you sell beverages, and someone approaches you to buy phones, all you need do, is ask them to wait, while your girl… fetches the mobile phone and sells to you at the price you would have gotten it upstairs… but this time, you make a margin.

All your life, you can enjoy an opportunity to buy everything at distributor’s price, and you can determine to be anybody’s distributor.

This shop… is the new face of Holidays and Cash in Nigeria… the trend is real, and today we have over 100 shop spaces filled with goods, and over 18,000 members of the association enjoying all the 3 benefits.

For Real??

Oh yes, for real! You can ask any of the distributors you know to log into the company’s website with their unique passwords, and you’ll see that the estate is beginning to evolve from the bush.

It is fast becoming a solutions city, a growing domain where whatever it is your want or need can be found. We are fast becoming an enlightened company of special elects, our motto is empowering others, our values are L.I.F.E – Love, Integrity, Future Orientation and Excellence and our vision is to have distributors in every family in Nigeria by 2020 and be strategically positioned to replenish the earth and have dominion.

Even becoming more solid…

Is the fact that as distributors of the same international organization, we are getting to for a cooperative together to strengthen the asset base of each other, give our members access to loans for their dreams and creating investment options. We are also taking giant strides of building mini estates branded in our name, and our company is setting out to acquire property and build structures that will last forever… God willing. We are investing in people development, in values entrenchment and in carrying everybody in the team to a desired future.

We are not where we want to be… but we are far from where we were almost 2yrs ago. The network is getting bigger and richer, and only your friend can bring you in. You don’t want to be left out and be in the company of those in the world buying everything at retail prices

Our name could be misleading… and is going to be changed. Only those who can see the future may buy. Let me know if this is it for you!

Kind Regards

Zimbabwe

Towards the end of last year, I felt I needed a vacation for myself and decided to take one. I wanted to go to some part of the world I had never been to just to unwind and refresh my energies. Incidentally I got an invitation from my Uncle and Aunt in Zimbabwe and I decided to honour it. While at it, I also made up my mind to go to South Africa and see the land.

A few months before, I would never have thought of going on a personally-sponsored vacation but since I got involved with Holidays and Cash, it’s become a dream come true.

On Dec 17, 2009, I hopped on a plane to Zim and was there till the beginning of 2010. I had a beautiful time there with my cousins who I hadn’t seen for over 10years and who studied in the UK. Loads of new friends were made and it was fun all the way. We went to some resorts and I particularly enjoyed the cooking of the house chef – Imagine! I was fasting during the period. There was also this tasty punch-like drink called Mazoe. I couldn’t drink enough of it. After which I went directly to South Africa to have some good time.

South Africa

SA was quite an experience. I had never been there before so I was really looking forward to it. I got picked up by a colleague from my university days and we headed straight to Pretoria from O. Tambo airport in Johannesburg. Pretoria proved to be exciting. I met and made a few new friends and we had a time of our lives. We went ICE-SKATING, GO-CARTING, to the zoo, football playing and so on. I met a few nigerians, zambians, south africans and other nationals as well. I got back to Nigeria after about 9 days in SA and started preparing to go to India.

India

What made India possible? Holidays and Cash says, “If you build leaders in your team, you can qualify for an all-expense paid vacation in an exotic city of the world.” I did build leaders in 2009 within the qualifying period and got to qualify for this vacation.

About 40 leaders qualified from around the world and we all met in India. INCREDIBLE was all I could describe India as. We went to see the Taj Mahal ( one of the wonders of the world). We were treated as kings from city to city. 5-star hotel accomodation (Galaxy Hotel in Delhi and Jaypee Palace Hotel in Agra). It was so much fun shopping, touring and networking. After 7 days of luxury, we moved to the UAE.

United Arab Emirates

I had been to Dubai before but I didn’t have the same kind of experience. For one, I went with a friend when I went earlier but I didn’t get to enjoy an all-expense paid luxurious time there. This time around, it was made even better because I had about 30 other friends from Nigeria with whom I explored and shopped in Dubai.

We went on a Dhow boat cruise on a lovely evening on the waters of Dubai with beautiful Dubai in the background as soft music played on our boat and cool breeze blew into our faces. It was a perfect moment to propose but my babe was in Nigeria. The buffet was quite good and after a while, trust us Nigerians to begin to make a noise singing praise songs to worship God.

Then we went on a desert safari the next day. Yes, I’d gone the safari before but it was as exciting as if I had never gone before. I recommend this activity for everyone who goes visiting in dubai. We left after 3 nights for lagos and to plan for the next leadership luxury vacaton(MALDIVES). I’ll talk about that in the next post.

Holidays and Cash has simply given some of us a new lifestyle of freedom, income and fulfilled dreams. If you also want to own your life or be as free as I am, simply go to www.holidaysandrewards.com/lcp1a/bussee and fill your details. I’ll get back to you as soon as I see your details.

Hi Everyone, I wish you all a very prosperous new year. I saw a news flash this morning that stated that Americans were not optimistic at all about a good 2010 but I assure you that if you trust in God and do His word, He’ll single you out for outstanding revelations on what to do in a failing world economy that’ll guarantee your immense success this year without a shadow of doubt. I watched a movie in the last few days of 2009 and want to share my thoughts about that movie.

The title of the movie is “Flawless” and I’m sure you may have watched it. The actual plot of the movie had to do with a very senior executive played by Demi Moore who kept getting passed on by the management for promotion in a Diamond producing company and a janitor played by Michael Caine who assumedly wanted to retire rich. Both of them colluded to rob the company of a few pieces of diamonds, at least that was what Lara Quinn (Demi Moore) thought until she found out with shock that every single piece of the diamonds had been stolen – about 2 tonnes of diamonds. The details of the plot I won’t go into now because that isn’t where the major lesson I learnt was.

After the theft had been successfully carried out by the old janitor (Michael Caine), Lara really got jittery and remorseful begging him to please return the diamonds because they were going to be caught by the insurance investigator who seemed to be gaining ground in his investigation especially with his interest in her as a prime suspect becoming more intense. She regularly required to meet with the janitor at different nondescript places to express her fears and to implore him to give up the diamonds but he wouldn’t budge.

Eventually, she determined to find the diamonds where they were stowed and started her own parallel investigation. She finally stumbled upon a clue that led her to the diamonds but before she could alert the company, she was held hostage by the janitor for a few hours until the insurance company paid the sum of $100million to an account the janitor had anonymously demanded they should pay into. While he held her hostage, he asked if she had been thinking about what she was going to do with her own part of the ransom ($10million). ARE YOU GOING TO BE A TAKER OR A GIVER?

The janitor apparently had a grudge to settle with regards to his dead wife and simply wanted to take it out on the insurers who had refused his wife health insurance when she was ill may years ago. The CEO of the insurance company eventually committed suicide which seemed to satisfy the janitor as revenge for what that CEO had done to his wife several years ago. The janitor disappeared before the stash of diamonds were found and was never seen again by anybody.

Lara Quinn didn’t go to prison for helping find the loot and confessing to the conspiracy and the company got back all its diamonds. She retired later to find out shockingly that an account had been opened in her name in an offshore account with a balance of $100million. She then decided to dedicate the next 40 years of her life to ensuring that every single penny of that money was used to help other people around the world either regain their health or find a new reason for living. She paid for organ transplants of different kinds for different poor people all over the world through a foundation she opened; she paid for education for several indigent students and built schools. She kept empowering poor and rather  unfortunate people till she had spent every last penny.

40 years later, she felt at peace. “At least and at last”, she told herself, “I have turned a previously criminal and very bad situation into a very beautiful solution”

The Moral:

In 2010, God is going to give you a lot of opportunities and resources; those we plan for and those that happen along our way without our pre-knowledge; those we think are negative and those we are sure are positive; those we imagined and those we didn’t dare imagine; those that are just sufficient, not sufficient and more than sufficient. Let me ask you the same question?

ARE YOU GOING TO BE A GIVER OR A TAKER?

…Ponder on these things. The year will tell.

Hi folks, I know you want to say “where have you been for all these months?” or ” How come you haven’t written a single article in 4 months?” I really don’t know the answer. I must admit quite honestly that even right now I don’t feel like or want to write anything.

It’s not because there aren’t things to write, it’s just because I feel quite unmotivated and unworthy to write them. Anyway, I’m writing now ain’t I? So please just bear with me and read on…this will bless you.

I once heard about the parable of the monkeys. Once upon a time a monkey was placed in a particular cage with a bunch of bananas hanging from the top of the cage. Naturally, the monkey swung up the cage excitedly and reached up for the bananas, he was immediately doused with a jet of cold water from a hose that was aimed at the cage. Immediately, he dived back down to the bottom of the cage. Of course, monkeys don’t give in that easily so he tried again – no one was going to deter him from feasting on the bananas. He swung up again to retrieve the bunch of bananas but as soon as he almost touched it, he got doused with water again. He immediately dived back down looking for the source of his affliction (apes hate water). He couldn’t really see anybody and tried after a few minutes. He got doused again. He tried again and again and each time he got doused again and again. After a few days and many attempts, he stopped trying.

One month after, another monkey was brought into the cage. The monkey saw the bunch of bananas and immediately went for it (Note: The bunch of bananas were changed to fresh ones from time to time). He got the shock of his life as a jet of cold water hit him in the face. He quickly scurried to the bottom of the cage and waited a few minutes for the shock to wear off before trying again. He got the same result and after trying a while and getting drenched, he understood why the first monkey wasn’t as eager as he was to eat “free” bananas hanging at the top of the cage. He also succumbed to fate and stopped trying to get the bananas.

Another month after, a new monkey was introduced into the cage. As custom will have it, he went straight for the bunch of fresh bananas he saw hanging at the top of the cage but the other two monkeys went for it as pulled it down with his legs. They immediately pounced on it and beat it silly and into submission. They did that because they knew he would get sprayed with water  and all of them will get wet. They didn’t want to get wet and they knew that he wont get the bananas anyway so they took steps to ensure it didn’t happen. After a while of trying and getting beaten, the monkey gave up trying. One month went by and another monkey was introduced into the cage. He suffered the same fate as the 3rd monkey only that the 3rd monkey was involved in beating him up and keeping him from getting the bunch of bananas.

After a few weeks, the first two monkeys were taken out of the cage. Now of the two monkeys remaining in the cage, none of them actually had water sprayed on them for reaching for the bananas. They were only restrained with pain by the first two monkeys.

Yet another month went by and another monkey was introduced into the cage. He immediately was giving the customary beating treatment when he tried to get the bunch of bananas. After trying a while and getting beat a few times, he suddenly blurted

“Why are you monkeys beating me and holding me back?”

The other monkeys looked at themselves blankly and said

“We don’t know, we don’t know why we are beating you? We were beating as well when we came and tried to reach for the bunch so we just took on the custom of beating every other monkey who tried to reach for the bananas”.

How many of us are like that? We don’t why we are where we are or why we are doing what we are doing. We just know that that is how it should be done. Who told you that? Who told you that you must have only one stream of income? Who told you that you can not live above sin? Who told you that you can’t own your business? Who told you that you can not be financially free?

We were mostly brought up hearing our parents and environment say,

“Get a good education, get a good job thereafter, work all your life, retire broke and busted with a good pension and die!”

What a big lie!

You are like the monkeys!

Why can’t you dare the jet of water and pull out all stops to get the bananas!

What is your own excuse? Are you pulling others down who are trying to get the bananas?

Have you been enslaved by the system?

Do you merely wish freedom or do you DESIRE it?

Listen!!! those who have tried and failed have been taken out of the cage!

Ask yourselves what they did and how you can do it better?

Perhaps, if the three remaining monkeys planned to go for the bananas together the focus of the water spray would be divided and one of them would have been able to get the bunch.

Instead of proliferating negativity and pessimism, think of another way to achieve your dream and go for it.

LIFE DOES NOT GIVE YOU WHAT YOU DESERVE, IT GIVES YOU WHAT YOU DEMAND.

I once read about a story that talked about freedom. Once upon a time, some circus workers captured a baby elephant from its family in the amazon jungle of South America. This elephant was very aggressive and violent towards its captors. It resented deeply its forced seperation from its mother and the rest of its family. It fought its captors bravely but unsuccessfully and they were able to subdue it a little, bind its legs and carry it on a horse drawn cart to the circus camp.

On getting to the circus camp, they tied up the elephant to an iron stake in driven deep into the ground. The elephant tried time after time to get away from his captors but each time he tried, when he had stretched the chain fully, he got stopped by the chain and had to return back to the stake. He kept on doing this for days and after a while resigned to fate that he could never be free from bondage.

One day after many months, one of his captors came and removed the chain from his ankle and literally set him free. The elephant simply walked to the same point at which the chain gets fully stretched and stopped. After a while, he returned to sit by the stake. Day after day, the elephant performed the same ritual, never stepping beyond the point he had been unable to cross when he was bound.

The elephant though hav’n been set free in reality was still bound in his mind and as a result could not live in the reality of his freedom.
The state of the elephant is one I like to define as being delivered but not being free.

Many people are like the elephant in this story. They have shut down their minds to freedom so much that in the moment of their deliverance, they are not aware of the consequent freedom that attends it. Deliverance is many times an external activity but freedom must be internal.
People’s minds are bound to the prevailing circumstances in the environment. I just got into Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti state with a great opportunity. I really expected to be greeted with enthusiasm and drive, rather I was met with skepticism and excuses. I almost got discouraged but quickly recognised the fact the deliverance vs. freedom issue springing to the fore.

People don’t want to fail forward. They don’t want to try something that looks like something they have failed at before. It is no wonder that Nigerians support one club in England this season and another in Spain next season and another in England next season and so on….People are so used to rushing after the winning team. They don’t understand the importance of building a winning team.

I couldn’t help but wonder, “what will it take me to drive the elephant beyond the boundary of his bondage in his mind?”. “what do I need to do to open the eyes of his mind?”

People have one negative thing or the other to say about network marketing and I ask myself.

“would people rather stay on a job, work their lives out, hate their bosses and their organisations, earn less than they desire, deprive their family of necessarily time  and still get stuck int he rat race simply because they are unwilling to bolster up courage and write their own stories?”

“If network marketing especially those with models by which you can earn passive income for the rest of your life  isn’t the fairest type of marketing inthe world, then tell me is it conventional marketing that only rewards the direct salesman and not the chain of advertisers, referrers or indirect marketers?”

“Why are people hypocritically behaving as if there’s one particular thing they are passionate about, the absence of which they’d rather die when it’s obvious that all they truly wish for is freedom (financial and otherwise)?”.

“If only wishes were horses, even beggars will ride”.

“The proof of desire is pursuit”.

Apparently, loads of people around here are not desirous of freedom, they only wish it, otherwise, they’ll pursue it with all they’ve got.
Deliverance is not equivalent to freedom until one gets involved in making it so.

Deliverance is to wishing what desire and pursuit are to freedom.
You may have been delivered, but are you free?

Michael Faust, the International Sales Director  of HolidaysandCash, a multinational network marketing company headquatered in Nigeria is set to formerly launch the current fastest growing and most rewarding online marketing product in Nigeria ith the course of this week and next week. Michael is going to launch the product in major cities across the country namely Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt and maybe a few other ones starting from Saturday, 24th January at The Coliseum in Lagos to 29th January in some other part of the country.

HolidaysandCash is marketing a travel product called “privilege pack”. This product gives access to the owner an online portal that has the ability to search for over 900,000 of the best hotel reservation, resort reservation and flight reservation deals all over the world at unbelievably discounted prices. Interestingly, H&C as holidaysandcash is fundly called also provides an opportunity for its members to earn as much as and over $10,000 weekly.

Network marketing, I’ve always believed is at the core of our economic development in Africa. Until people can begin to get rewarded for the simple action of referring other people to buy products or services, Africans will never believe that wealth is attainable by all and sundry. Network Marketing also creates a flat level of relationship between all that participate. No graduate has undue advantage over the undergraduate. In fact, experience and statistics have shown that people with no other options succeed more at Network Marketing than those who fill they have other options. Here what the money bags say about network marketing………….

“Network marketing is the business of those who love helping other people.”…………….Robert Kiyosaki

“If I go bankrupt and lose all the money that I have now, I will simply join a network marketing company and rise through the ranks on the way to my making back all I lost.”…………..Donald Trump

HolidaysandCash since its launch in July, 2008 has succeeded in making several millionaires in Nigeria and many other countries all over the world. Ijeoma Chukwu in Nigeria is currently the highest earner in the country. She earns over $10,000 per week. Many others in Nigeria earn hundreds of dollars per week on the basis of referrals. Many others have had to access prime vacation deals through the online portal that H&C offers to its subscribers.

To know more about holidaysandcash, you can mail me at busayoakanro@gmail.com or check the link out at www.holidaysandcash.com/bussee and my phone number is +234-803-4717-104; +234-8072690079

Other Cities for the H&C Launch are:

Holidays and Cash “Nigeria” Events
Lagos, Enugu, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Ibadan

We encourage you to make one of these events a high priority and encourage your team to do the same. The information shared has the potential to change your life forever!

Please note, all attendees must register and make payment prior to the event to secure places.

Lagos

• Venue: The Coliseum, off Opebi Road, Ikeja, Lagos.
• Date: Saturday January 24, 2009
• Schedule (2 sessions)
  • 10:00am – 1:00pm
  • 2:00pm – 5:00pm
• Cost: N1000 per person (Seminar packs and refreshments)
• Presenter: Michael Faust (CEO/President of H&C)

Enugu

• Venue: Cassino Hall, Zodiac Hotels 5/7 Rangers, Avenue Independence Layout, Enugu, Enugu State.
• Date: Sunday January 25, 2009
• Schedule 12:00pm – 3:00pm
• Cost: N1000 per person (Seminar packs and refreshments)
• Presenter: Michael Faust (CEO/President of H&C)

Abuja

• Venue: The Haven, Conference and Halls, No 6, Lasale Street Off Shehu Shagari Way, Maitama (Near MTN Office)
• Date: Monday January 26, 2009
• Schedule (2 sessions)
  • 12:00pm – 3:00pm
  • 4:00pm – 7:00pm
• Cost: N1000 per person (Seminar packs and refreshments)
• Presenter: Michael Faust (CEO/President of H&C)

Port Harcourt

• Venue: Royal Banquet Hall, Presidential Hotel, Port Harcourt.
• Date: Wednesday January 28, 2009
• Schedule: (2 sessions)
  • 10:00am – 1:00pm
  • 2:00pm – 5:00pm
• Cost: N1000 per person (Seminar packs and refreshments)
• Presenter: Michael Faust (CEO/President of H&C)

Ibadan

• Venue: Nigerian Union of Journalist, Oyo State (NUJ) Millenium Press centre, Iyaganku GRA, Ibadan.
• Date: Thursday January 29, 2009
• Schedule 2:00pm – 5:00pm
• Cost: N1000 per person (Seminar packs and refreshments)
• Presenter: Michael Faust (CEO/President of H&C)

Africa has been dubbed the untouched and virgin continent. This was due to the seeming unscathing of African countries in the global meltdown that characterised the latter part of 2008. African seems to have escaped almost wholly from the economic recession that hit the world and crushed many countries and multinationals in other continents of the world. Iceland is bankrupt, auto makers in the US are bankrupt; Mega Banks in UK, Japan, Switzerland, US, Belgium, Germany and many other countries of the world would have gone under but for aid from their governments. Albeit, many banks have still being crushed in the wake of the recession.

However, Nigeria for one has been touched by the recession. Even though the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria has kept assuring Nigerians that we are beyond the reach of the economic whiplash swinging across the globe, happenings in our own economy are pointers to the fact that his assurances hold no water. Examples are:

1. The crash of the NSE

The Nigerian Stock Exchange fell through about the same time the economic crisis started in the west last year. The Central Bank of Nigeria ordered banks to refrain from giving margin facilities to investors and SEC pegged the condition for the rise in value of a stock to its ability to trade over 100,000 units. Investors immediately lost confidence in the market and the inevitable loss of the All Share Index started. One policy after another was released to the public by SEC, CBN and NSE at different times to help boost the market but it seemed to have tipped. The irrecoverable free fall cost the lives of many as people who had so much exposure with regards loans decided to end their lives as they couldn’t take the pressure anymore. The NSE has since lost more and more value as institutional investors (especially foreign ones) cashed out of the Exchange unable to vouch for the credibility of the market any longer. All those who had planned on creating a path to financial independence through the NSE are having to look elsewhere now as all their investments have at least been cut to about one-third the value a few months ago.

2. The crash of Oil

When the stock exchange started making people cry, and even die, another opportunity opened up in the Oil and Gas industry. Oil seemed to be the next panacea. Oil products were selling for unbelievable margins. The price of crude oil per barrel had hit $150 and was reaching for $200. AGO (Diesel) in particular was the next best thing to be involved with. The commodity is in high demand in Nigeria and completely deregulated by the Federal Government. This made it an all-comers market. People made as much as NGN1billion in single deals on oil products. DPK (Kerosene) and LPFO were not left out. As if the cloud that had hung over the NSE was moving in the Oil and Gas direction, the price of crude oil started to dip in the international market. People started incurring losses and getting heavily indebted to banks who were financing oil deals. The volatility in the market made it even harder to play in and ultimately it also bottomed out with the price of crude oil hitting below $40 per barrel. Banks stopped financing Oil deals. Gist had it that collectively they were exposed to the tune of almost NGN400billion. Bad debt that is.

3. The rise of Real Estate.

Immediately, opportunities moved from Oil & Gas to Real Estate. 3 bedroom flats were going for about $3million in places like Banana Estate. Rental rates increased by as much as 100% in some places. It seemed as if those who lost in categories 1. and 2. wanted to recoup through category 3.

4. The crash of Real Estate

This boom unfortunately like the golden era of real estate and mortgages both in Europe and America which has since crashed, appears to be headed for the precipice and signs abound to that fact. Banks had financed loans with which developers built houses. These houses are still on the market with no buyers in sight because of the low cash flow of buyers due to number 1. and 2. above. Even buyers who had bought had bought with loans from the same or other banks. One way or the other, banks have financed loans from both developers and buyers and neither of these have the cash flow to repay the loans. The banks are therefore foreclosing on the properties and selling at any price possible to regain their monies and developers are making distress sales at ridiculously low prices to offset their loans and keep the banks at bay. One way or another, the property market in Nigeria is headed for a crash and Lagos is leading the downward tumble predict analysts. Brace up for this eventuality and get out of the way if you can.

Once upon a time, 10 virgins were chosen to meet the bridegroom at a certain marriage ceremony in Israel. For some unstated reason, the bridegroom didn’t seem to be arriving and the virgins started getting apprehensive. Actually, in the custom that existed in Israel, the bridegroom usually arrived late at night with his friends to take his bride. The bride usually has maids of honour or bride’s maids as the case may be who at the arrival of the bridegroom go out to meet him with their lamps in their hands to light his way into the house where his bride is. The key element of the bride’s maids is the lamp that provides light for the bridegroom and his envoy.

In this particular story, the bride’s maids were ten in number and 5 were said to be wise while 5 were said to be foolish. When the bridegroom eventually showed up, he met only the wise bride’s maids who he accepted and certified and disallowed the participation of the foolish bride’s maids. The foolish bride’s maids have gone to buy oil for their lamps when the bridegroom arrived and so were not there to welcome him with their light and consequently were locked out of the ceremony. This seems to be quite instructional for me in a season like this. A season where in Nigeria, the president has no clue as to what the year 2009 holds for Nigerians. He can give no direction, no assurances, no commitments to alleviate the fear of Nigerians. A season where the Stock Exchange has crashed and the financial sector is tethering dangerously on the edge. A season where firing might become more lucrative than hiring. A few lessons I have outlined below.

1. Integrity

The bride’s maids were virgins. They had not corrupted themselves sexually. In fact their virginity was what qualified them for selection as bride’s maids. In these times, where economic recession has set in world wide, where people have lost so much confidence and trust in the systems (especially financial) that should have delivered positive returns for them, they will begin to look to those who through time have exhibited their Integrity and Honesty. Those who have never sought gain wrongly from the public. Whose words have not been spoken lightly in the past. These ones will the world look up to for the purpose of shedding light or bringing illumination that will guide them (bridegroom) to their desired financial goals (bride). The major characteristic that will qualify anyone to be a major leader of thought who will become a leader in these times by reason of those who willingly will decide to follow him/her is Integrity.

2. Lamp and Light

Even though what qualified the bride’s maids to act in that respect was Integrity (Virginity), what they carry is what will convince the bridegroom (the world) to accept and follow them or to lock them out. It is not sufficient to have integrity. Alongside the integrity, one must have illumination and insight for the purpose of directing and leading the bridegroom (world). In the story all the virgins had lamps but not allof them had lights in their lamps when the bridegroom arrived. Everyone in world who has integrity has a lamp (potential for wisdom, insight and direction for the world) in him/her but not everyone has light burning in his lamp. Some people’s lamps are devoid of oil and so can not show light. To be relevant in these times, it’s inadequate to have a lamp; there must be light burning in that lamp.

For the first time after it was created, the Eurozone is in recession, needless to overflog that the U.S is also in the same state. Japan and other parts of Asia are not left unscathed by the economic whiplash flying all over the world. Banks are crumbling; industries are folding up; mega multinationals are laying off staff. All are begging for bailouts varying from one to another but not less than billions of dollars. Only Africa has remained untouched, unsullied by the economic mistakes caused by excessive credit exposure and lending. Africa’s economy remains solid and at the top of it is Nigeria. Our stock exchange boasts of companies with strong fundamentals, our economy is strong and deep enough to deliver sizeable returns on investment. The world is turning to us. See what Merril Lynch has to say.

A major boost was given to Nigeria’s quest for foreign investment inflow at the weekend as the country was named the least vulnerable economy in the world, according to a report, Global Economics, compiled by a team of experts from Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch is one of the world’s leading financial management and advisory companies, providing financial advice and investment banking services.

The report, a copy of which was made available to THISDAY at the weekend, was compiled following several data requests from clients of the investment bank for key risk indicators for all major economies including Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

According to the statistics, the world’s 10 least vulnerable economies are Nigeria, Mexico, Philippines, Colombia, Egypt, Oman, Indonesia, Peru, China and Russia. Also, the report identified Australia, Switzerland, Korea, Romania, Hungary, Sweden, Bulgaria, Euro area, United Kingdom and the United States of America as the highest risk economies in the world.

The risk ranking was based on seven indicators and they are – current account financing gap, foreign exchange reser-ves/short-term external debt ratio, private credit-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio, and private credit growth, loans to deposits and banks capital-to-assets ratio. Merrill Lynch said the report also addressed all the requests in 62 indicators of the 60 world economies.

According to the report, Nigeria, with a population of 141.41million, was able to record a 7.3 per cent growth in GDP, with its Consumer Price Index hovering at 11.5 per cent, its current account balance, fiscal balance and public debt at 6 per cent, 6.3 and 10.4 percentage respectively.

To determine its external vulnerability, Nigeria’s external debt position was put at 12.9 per cent of the GDP, while external debt /exports ratio was put at 9 per cent. Her forex reserves totalled $60.8billion.

The percentage of Nigeria’s total external debt in relation to the GDP was put at two per cent, total foreign claims is $15.3billion while international claims stood at $13.1billion.

The report stated that the percentage of Current Account Balance plus net Foreign Direct Investment of the Nigerian GDP was 34, Forex reserves/short-term external debt totalled 41, while percentage of export of the GDP was 38 point.

The percentage of private credit of GDP was 43, while the percentage of bank capital to assets, according to Merrill Lynch was 41.

The 10 most vulnerable countries, which are mostly European countries, were said to have exhibited worse balance of payments positions, stretched external debt service ratios and overleveraged financial systems.

“Many of the economies that top our risk ranking have been identified by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) as those that have experienced capital flow bonanzas in the past five years and hence exhibit higher likelihood of economic crisis,” the report explained.

Explaining further on how it put the report together, Merrill Lynch states that: “While we believe that our country risk ranking produces plausible results, one needs to be aware that, as any ranking of that type, it is highly sensitive to the selection of indicators employed. For example, developed countries can probably sustain higher external vulnerability indicators than emerging markets; some Euro area country statistics are possibly misleading given there is a monetary union.”

In their reactions, the leadership of the Nigerian organised private sector said the various investment-friendly programmes put in place especially in the past five years largely gave Nigeria a pride of place in the ranking.

Immediate past Director-General of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Dr. Mansur Ahmed said the latest ranking has confirmed that Nigeria is indeed an investors-haven. The feat, he said, should be traced to a regime of consistent and sustained improvement in the nation’s fiscal management.

Speaking with THISDAY in a telephone interview yesterday, Ahmed acknowledged that Nigeria has been able to maintain a healthy foreign exchange management, low budget deficit and heavily low external indebtedness, which he said have combined to grossly reduce the nation’s level of risk. He said those indices have also endeared the nation’s economy to foreign investors.

However, the incumbent DG of NESG, Mazi Sam Ohuanbuwa said the investment community would not be surprised at the latest ranking by Merrill Lynch.

According to him, the key indicator to the safety of investment in Nigeria is the freedom to invest in any part of the country without government’s intervention.

He maintained that issues like hostile acquisitions, or government take-over is not common in Nigeria, explaining that even in cases where government reversed policies, it is always limited to government investments.

“In Nigeria, people can invest anywhere without hindrance. Other important considerations are the sheer size of the Nigerian market and underlying macro-economic issues,” Ohuanbuwa said.

He noted that although investors in Nigeria are still complaining of high cost of doing business, the level of risk is far lower than what obtains some other economies of the world.
Relevant Links

* West Africa
* Economy, Business and Finance
* Nigeria

On measures to improve on the latest ranking, the experts were unanimous in their call for the sustenance of investor-friendly policies by the government.

Ahmed emphasised the need for effective management of the nation’s foreign asset especially in the face of the dwindling prices of crude oil at the international market.

Ohuanbuwa charged the government to liberalise the economy by removing all hindrances to the economy.

written by Felix Akanbi on

After listening to this news, I suddenly got apprehensive. The last budget for 2009, before it was reviewed was done based on crude selling at $69 per barrel. If Nigeria plans on that, it simply means we’ll experience loads of deficit as a country. Even if the revised, unapproved budget based on $45 per barrel is implemented, there’s no guarantee that the price of crude wont fall below $45 within the period (2009). What it reveals is that our erstwhile weak economy may be about to take a plunge into darkness. If we are talking about recession in the World, we may decide to term ours Depression. Does that mean I’m a prophet of doom or a seer of gloom?

No. Not necessarily. My Mother used to tell me when I was much younger. “It’s always darkest before the dawn” and so I developed an attidtude towards bleak situations. The worse it gets, the closer the reprieve is. Some people say, “there’s always light at the end of a tunnel”. So what light have I seen at the end of this dark tunnel of recession coming. What dawn is likely to break over this apprehensive and cloudy outcome? – NETWORK MARKETING.

Network Marketing is what i’ve come to dub, the 9th wonder of the world. It is a business that is owned by all for the good of all. Everybody becomes a marketer of the products the business makes and earners from the business are determined by their referral ability. Telling someone to purchase the products rewards the teller, the told and the business altogether. The teller earns referral bonuses, the told gets a good product and an opportunity to earn referral bonuses if he/she decides to tell someone else about the product and the business profits since it’s products are being sold.

I’ve heard someone say before “the economy of Nigeria is tied to Network Marketing”.  and I sincerely thought the person made a lot of sense. There are very few countries like Nigeria where networks are taken very seriously. We have networks within networks; networks or barbers, welders, pure water sellers, dwarfs, physically challenged, okada riders, taxi drivers, market sellers, vulcanizers etc. to name but a few. That doesn’t have included religious networks – churches, fellowships, mosques of different denominations and convictions; and even other networks within these networks. What about blood? So many people at the end of the year travel long distances to re-unite with other members of their extended family. These networks can number as many as 100 sometimes. Then, there are clubs and networks of primary schools (different sets), secondary schools, universities, polythecnics and all other institutions.

If building social networks has moved literally from being a talent to being a skill for us, there just might be window (large one) of opportunity for our economy to leverage on in the guise of network marketing. We would find it relatively easier to buy and sell on that model than on any otherI know of. Better still is the fact that as a developing country, it will accelerate our efforts into becoming 1st world because it empowers all that are concerned. Of course, it’s no news that common wealth can only be achieved when wealth is common. That is, when many have access to and can easily harness the opportunities to create wealth. If Network Marketing is then the answer to our economy, what is the question….LOL…..what network marketing products are available. Well, I’ll talk about that later but the 2 that are currently making waves every Nigerian needs to ride on right now are Holidays and Cash and Independent Field Advertisers(IFA). For any info on these, feel free to send a mail to busayoakanro@gmail.com.