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.