Food for Thought

[Salida]

Greetings to Everyone on SMN. Thought about sharing this with everyone.

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company. He passed the first interview, the director did the last interview, made the last decision. The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduate research, never had a year when he did not score.

The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?" the youth answered "none".
The director asked, " Was it your father who paid for your school fees?"
The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees.
The director asked, " Where did your mother work?" The youth answered, "My mother worked as clothes cleaner. The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.
The director asked, " Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?" The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than
me. The director said, "I have a request. When you go back today, go and clean your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.*

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the kid. The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled, and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother shivered when they were cleaned with water.

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fee. The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his graduation, academic excellence and his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.

That night, mother and son talked for a very long time. Next morning, the youth went to the director's office.

The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, asked: " Can you tell me what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?"

The youth answered, " I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes'

The Director asked, " please tell me your feelings."

The youth said, Number 1, I know now what is appreciation. Without my mother, there would not the successful me today. Number 2, by working together and helping my mother, only I now realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done. Number 3, I have come to appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.

The director said, " This is what I am looking for to be my manager. I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired.
Later on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team. The company's performance improved tremendously.
-

-
A child, who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted, would develop "entitlement mentality" and would always put himself first. He would be ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a
manager, he would never know the sufferings of his

employees and would always blame others. For this kind of people, who may be good academically, may be successful for a while, but eventually would not feel sense of achievement. He will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more. If we are this kind of protective parents, are we really showing love or are we destroying the kid instead?
You can let your kid live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let them experience it. After a meal, let them wash their plates and bowls together with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love them in a right way. You want them to understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day their hair will grow gray, same as the mother of that young person. The most important thing is that your kid learns how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and learns the ability to work with others to get things done.

Keep up the good work everyone!

[blanka]

Amazing story!
The Blind Multi-Millionaire Stock Investor | Investing | Adam Khoo On Success, Business And Life

[Picolena66]

Originally Posted by blanka

Amazing story!
The Blind Multi-Millionaire Stock Investor | Investing | Adam Khoo On Success, Business And Life

Great Moral Heart warming story, it should be told to all abled bodies persons who can see.
That they should not waste their lives!!!.........But did not like sales Pitch at the End!!!

[blanka]

Originally Posted by Picolena66

Great Moral Heart warming story, it should be told to all abled bodies persons who can see.
That they should not waste their lives!!!.........But did not like sales Pitch at the End!!!

Inspiring to say the least. I'm still deeply in thought!

[blanka]

Another food for thought by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi...not on banks but on politics and nationalism.
Log In | Facebook

[Salida]

FACTS

Your mouth produces 1 litre (1.8 pints) of saliva a day.

The human head contains 22 bones. More on the head and brains.

On average, you breathe 23,000 times a day.

On average, people can hold their breath for about one minute. The world record is 21 minutes 29 seconds, by David Merlini.

On average, you speak almost 5,000 words a day – although almost 80% of speaking is self-talk.(talking to yourself).

It is impossible to sneeze and keep one’s eyes open at the same time.

55% of people yawn within 5 minutes of seeing someone else yawn.

Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, suggested that a woman could enlarge her bust line by singing loudly and often.

A person can live without food for about a month, but only about a week without water.
You’ll drink about 75,000 litres (20,000 gallons) of water in your lifetime.

After a certain period of growth, hair becomes dormant. That means that it is attached to the hair follicle until replaced by new hair.

Hair on the head grows for between two and six years before being replaced. In the case of baldness, the dormant hair was not replaced with new hair.

Men loose about 40 hairs a day. Women loose about 70 hairs a day.
In the Middle Ages the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow was called an ell.

On average, you blink 15000 times a day. Women blink twice as much as men.

Unless food is mixed with saliva you cannot taste it.

The liver is the largest of the body’s internal organs. The skin is the body’s largest organ.

On average a hiccup lasts 5 minutes.

Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails.Your middle fingernail grows the fastest.

The bones in your body are not white – they range in color from beige to light brown. The bones you see in museums are white because they have been boiled and cleaned.

Our eyes are always the same size from birth.

Every person has a unique tongue print.

If all your DNA is stretched out, it would reach to the moon 6,000 times.

Approximately two-thirds of a person’s body weight is water. Blood is 92% water. The brain is 75% water and muscles are 75% water.

We actually do not see with our eyes – we see with our brains. The eyes basically are the cameras of the brain.

[Salida]

Nice Travel Etiquettes across the Globe

BBC - Travel - Travel etiquette: Eating and drinking : Food & Drink

[Smartbn]

Nice words @Salida thanks . Best Regards

[Salida]

Black People Don't Read



Finding Your Force: A Journey to LOVE~: "Black People Don't Read"


"Readers are Leaders".

[Oracle]

Originally Posted by Salida

Black People Don't Read



Finding Your Force: A Journey to LOVE~: "Black People Don't Read"


"Readers are Leaders".

The writer generalized and that was where he or she missed the point.

This writer cannot think! Buying a designer clothing or whatever doesn't mean being greedy! Or spending excessively doesn't mean greed!

Greed has to do with satisfacton of needs with available resources. If a man buys 5 designer shirts and he has the money to do so, then he is simply satisfying his needs. But when this man who we know doesn't have so much, steals from others or prevents others from access to some resources just cos he wants to buy 5 designer shirts, then the person is greedy.

And that was why Mahatma Gandi said,'' The world resources is enough for everyone's need, but not enough for one man's greed''.

Spending is a function of earning!

I am not defending the black race, I'm only correcting the writer on his choice of example.

[pumping]

Originally Posted by Oracle

The writer generalized and that was where he or she missed the point.

This writer cannot think! Buying a designer clothing or whatever doesn't mean being greedy! Or spending excessively doesn't mean greed!

Greed has to do with satisfacton of needs with available resources. If a man buys 5 designer shirts and he has the money to do so, then he is simply satisfying his needs. But when this man who we know doesn't have so much, steals from others or prevents others from access to some resources just cos he wants to buy 5 designer shirts, then the person is greedy.

And that was why Mahatma Gandi said,'' The world resources is enough for everyone's need, but not enough for one man's greed''.

Spending is a function of earning!

I am not defending the black race, I'm only correcting the writer on his choice of example.

Hmm...this piece is definitely not new...read it several months ago..to truly appreciate this piece, understand that it is directed at black Americans or other blacks that were uprooted from African and now like outside the continent like Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago etc..

The writer is spot on. Blacks exist in other continents apart from Africa but we are not properous anywhere. How come?

Buying excessively can mean greed if you cannot really afford it. A 40 year old man with 4 children and a wife with NO savings should not buy a BMW. That is greed. It's a free world...but maybe the kids should go to college. Having the cash to buy something does not mean I can "afford" it. Think of the modesty of Warren Buffet and Bill Gates...we can't even have pastors with this level of modesty...Our pastors justify they have to be as flamboyant as the rest of the world..Many Nigerians have money that is inconsequential in the larger scheme of things...yet they cannot contain their themselves..

I am very close to believing that the piece was written by another black person in pain...just to open our eyes..We contest equality but we have NOTHING to present as basis for our arguement...

The more we refuse to understand that there is a problem with the black race that needs to be addressed, the more we will remain slaves consuming but not creating anything...

[Oracle]

Originally Posted by pumping

Hmm...this piece is definitely not new...read it several months ago..to truly appreciate this piece, understand that it is directed at black Americans or other blacks that were uprooted from African and now like outside the continent like Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago etc..

The writer is spot on. Blacks exist in other continents apart from Africa but we are not properous anywhere. How come?

Buying excessively can mean greed if you cannot really afford it. A 40 year old man with 4 children and a wife with NO savings should not buy a BMW. That is greed. It's a free world...but maybe the kids should go to college. Having the cash to buy something does not mean I can "afford" it. Think of the modesty of Warren Buffet and Bill Gates...we can't even have pastors with this level of modesty...Our pastors justify they have to be as flamboyant as the rest of the world..Many Nigerians have money that is inconsequential in the larger scheme of things...yet they cannot contain their themselves..

I am very close to believing that the piece was written by another black person in pain...just to open our eyes..We contest equality but we have NOTHING to present as basis for our arguement...

The more we refuse to understand that there is a problem with the black race that needs to be addressed, the more we will remain slaves consuming but not creating anything...

The writer is only spot on in the case of Selfishness.

Yes it is true that Greed is one of the problems in Nigeria. But you cannot generalize. If a man buys a BMW and has kids that are not well fed, not well schooled, then the man is stupid and at the same time greedy. Cos he has used the resources meant for the upkeep of his family to buy a luxury good.

However, U cannot generalize on this issue. Another person may have all his family problems solved and still buy a BMW with the excess. Is that greed even when the guy is black?

[pumping]

Originally Posted by Oracle

The writer is only spot on in the case of Selfishness.

Yes it is true that Greed is one of the problems in Nigeria. But you cannot generalize. If a man buys a BMW and has kids that are not well fed, not well schooled, then the man is stupid and at the same time greedy. Cos he has used the resources meant for the upkeep of his family to buy a luxury good.

However, U cannot generalize on this issue. Another person may have all his family problems solved and still buy a BMW with the excess. Is that greed even when the guy is black?

To my first point, this is not directed at Nigerians for instance. The focus is migrated Africans that have put themselves in 2nd place compared to whites because of choices they make every day. If you are looking at this in the context of the Nigerian black man or woman, you will miss the point. Think of MTV cribs..then you may be closer to home..

There is nothing wrong with buying a BMW if you can afford it. However, buying a BMW at the expense of the education of your children because you think it provides some status symbol is the problem. Priorities make a difference. We cannot generalize on anything. There are smart black people and follish white people. We are simply referring to the norm here.

Let me summarize it this way. In a place like the US, if a black man or woman and a white man or woman earn the same salary with in circumstances, it is more likely for the black man or woman to spend double what the white man or woman will spend buying a car. Why?

I remember on MTV cribs when one black rapper said he buys new sneakers every day (wears them only once) because when he was young he could not afford to buy one. Today he is broke.

I am not generalizing. Obama and Ophrah are blacks and successful and I recognize that. However, they are exceptions to the rule.

[Oracle]

Originally Posted by pumping

Hmm...this piece is definitely not new...read it several months ago..to truly appreciate this piece, understand that it is directed at black Americans or other blacks that were uprooted from African and now like outside the continent like Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago etc..

The writer is spot on. Blacks exist in other continents apart from Africa but we are not properous anywhere. How come?

Buying excessively can mean greed if you cannot really afford it. A 40 year old man with 4 children and a wife with NO savings should not buy a BMW. That is greed. It's a free world...but maybe the kids should go to college. Having the cash to buy something does not mean I can "afford" it. Think of the modesty of Warren Buffet and Bill Gates...we can't even have pastors with this level of modesty...Our pastors justify they have to be as flamboyant as the rest of the world..Many Nigerians have money that is inconsequential in the larger scheme of things...yet they cannot contain their themselves..

I am very close to believing that the piece was written by another black person in pain...just to open our eyes..We contest equality but we have NOTHING to present as basis for our arguement...

The more we refuse to understand that there is a problem with the black race that needs to be addressed, the more we will remain slaves consuming but not creating anything...

As for why all black nations are still in poverty, I think we need to look at it from many angles.

Lets use Nigeria for example and from there we can extrapolate it into other nations.

Lets look at these issues one by one
(1) Greed
(2)Ethnicity
(3) Religion
(4)Education
(5)Contagion

Greed
When a man's need is greatly not in proportion with resources available. The needs exceeds available resources alloted to him. And for that reason, he either steals or takes others resources by force or by fraud.

This is the reason politicians steal billions of naira meant for development and use of the masses. They divert such foir themselves and their families.

Question now is, why are people greedy? First, U need to look at the family structure of a nigerian.There are 2 family structures-Nuclear and Extended family structure. Nuclear family involves the husband, wife(wives) and kid(s) while extended family structure involves husband, wife(wives),kid(s), inlaws from both sides, uncles from both sides, aunties from both sides. Some include friends as well.

Now here comes the problem.

If the husband in the nuclear family need to feed just his wife(wives) and kid(s), then there would not be problem. Cos a reasonable man would simply allocate available resources to managing these people.

Now tell me how a husband can manage all the people listed above in the extended family structure? He needs to augment his income. And for that to happen, the husband will either steal from the company he works for(through diverting funds or overestimation of project costs) or he will forcefully take resources that are meant for others(through power, he would divert all funds to himself and questions will not be asked).

And in case u don't know,all tribes in Nigeria operate the extended family structure where u will either always remember to send money to ur family or u will be forced to send it through frequent disturbances from family members.


Ethnicity
This is when u are identified by where u are from.

A brilliant Hausa graduate will not be given a job cos they said it is meant for another tribe (Nepotism).Even if the Hausa graduate is believed to the one that can effect a change, we will prefer to wait for the particular tribe that will fit there.

what is the problem with this?
There will be delayed development since u are still waiting for the particular tribe to take the post. Even if the particular tribe takes the position, he is clueless about how to run the affairs and he will be waiting to receive instructions.

Since alot of clueless people are packed together, they do nothing but wait and collect salaries. No development, but funds wasted. While they do nothing and cannot be laided off, they scheme of ways of increasing their income(knowing they run an extended family structure).

Many people in Nigeria who the cap fits are not allowed to wear this cap. Instead they give to people who are just there as stooge.

Religion

This has to do with ur belief. People in Nigeria are so attached to religious matters that it kinds of erodes their senses. Some people go to places of worksip to pray throughout the day fro there to be job. Jobs cannot come this way! You must find it. And some pastors are being so deceptive in telling them to come and pray from Monday morning till friday evening. So deceive them to sow a special seed with money when they are looking for a job. How can a sensible man think that giving money(..special seed) without going out to look for the job will earn u a job.

Another is that there is no harmony between religious worshipers. Christain fight moslem and vice versa? Doing all these things, investors who are meant to come in with their funds are not coming cos it is not safe for them.

Education

Education level is low here in nigeria. Even when alot of people get to Unversity level, they don't get quality education. They are shallow in their respective fields. And when u don't know much about ur field, how then do u know what to do or say.

Contagion
This is a copy cat phenomenon. For the fact that people steal and they don't do anything about it, then let me steal too. People need bridges but they don't build, then let menot build too. Before u know what is happening, alot of people are invloved in it. And that is exactly wat is happening to our public office holders. They steal without pity. Afterall, the last guy that stole, u didn't do anything. Let me ssteal joor.


If u extrapolate this into other african nations and black nations, U will discover that if Nigeria for example does badly, other leaders will follow. They will say,'' our types in other nations live like this, why should we be different from them? Why should we copy the whites?''

Corruption is just a by-product of greed.

[migiets]

Originally Posted by Oracle

As for why all black nations are still in poverty, I think we need to look at it from many angles.

Lets use Nigeria for example and from there we can extrapolate it into other nations.

Lets look at these issues one by one
(1) Greed
(2)Ethnicity
(3) Religion
(4)Education
(5)Contagion

Greed
When a man's need is greatly not in proportion with resources available. The needs exceeds available resources alloted to him. And for that reason, he either steals or takes others resources by force or by fraud.

This is the reason politicians steal billions of naira meant for development and use of the masses. They divert such foir themselves and their families.

Question now is, why are people greedy? First, U need to look at the family structure of a nigerian.There are 2 family structures-Nuclear and Extended family structure. Nuclear family involves the husband, wife(wives) and kid(s) while extended family structure involves husband, wife(wives),kid(s), inlaws from both sides, uncles from both sides, aunties from both sides. Some include friends as well.

Now here comes the problem.

If the husband in the nuclear family need to feed just his wife(wives) and kid(s), then there would not be problem. Cos a reasonable man would simply allocate available resources to managing these people.

Now tell me how a husband can manage all the people listed above in the extended family structure? He needs to augment his income. And for that to happen, the husband will either steal from the company he works for(through diverting funds or overestimation of project costs) or he will forcefully take resources that are meant for others(through power, he would divert all funds to himself and questions will not be asked).

And in case u don't know,all tribes in Nigeria operate the extended family structure where u will either always remember to send money to ur family or u will be forced to send it through frequent disturbances from family members.


Ethnicity
This is when u are identified by where u are from.

A brilliant Hausa graduate will not be given a job cos they said it is meant for another tribe (Nepotism).Even if the Hausa graduate is believed to the one that can effect a change, we will prefer to wait for the particular tribe that will fit there.

what is the problem with this?
There will be delayed development since u are still waiting for the particular tribe to take the post. Even if the particular tribe takes the position, he is clueless about how to run the affairs and he will be waiting to receive instructions.

Since alot of clueless people are packed together, they do nothing but wait and collect salaries. No development, but funds wasted. While they do nothing and cannot be laided off, they scheme of ways of increasing their income(knowing they run an extended family structure).

Many people in Nigeria who the cap fits are not allowed to wear this cap. Instead they give to people who are just there as stooge.

Religion

This has to do with ur belief. People in Nigeria are so attached to religious matters that it kinds of erodes their senses. Some people go to places of worksip to pray throughout the day fro there to be job. Jobs cannot come this way! You must find it. And some pastors are being so deceptive in telling them to come and pray from Monday morning till friday evening. So deceive them to sow a special seed with money when they are looking for a job. How can a sensible man think that giving money(..special seed) without going out to look for the job will earn u a job.

Another is that there is no harmony between religious worshipers. Christain fight moslem and vice versa? Doing all these things, investors who are meant to come in with their funds are not coming cos it is not safe for them.

Education

Education level is low here in nigeria. Even when alot of people get to Unversity level, they don't get quality education. They are shallow in their respective fields. And when u don't know much about ur field, how then do u know what to do or say.

Contagion
This is a copy cat phenomenon. For the fact that people steal and they don't do anything about it, then let me steal too. People need bridges but they don't build, then let menot build too. Before u know what is happening, alot of people are invloved in it. And that is exactly wat is happening to our public office holders. They steal without pity. Afterall, the last guy that stole, u didn't do anything. Let me ssteal joor.


If u extrapolate this into other african nations and black nations, U will discover that if Nigeria for example does badly, other leaders will follow. They will say,'' our types in other nations live like this, why should we be different from them? Why should we copy the whites?''

Corruption is just a by-product of greed.

Great insights. Though i do not like discussing or commenting on religion because of the way people take it, i could not help myself in this case. What you have just said is very true. I see this as a great threat. A friend of mine with a wife and 2 kids recently relocated to Lagos to begin afresh. He came with nothing and so i decided to give him something to be able to move around and look for something to do. I was shocked when i heard that he went and spent about 3 days in his church because he has been told that his miracle job is on the way. To matter worse, he even went and paid tithes on the money i gave him and spend some more in paying for an accommodation within the church when he went for the program and now the money is finished without him utilizing it to move around to search for a job. He is waiting for a miracle well paying job as said by the Pastor. We advised him that having been and managed the hospitality industry, it will be easier for him to follow that line and quickly get something since there are so many hotels in Lagos but he is waiting he is waiting for a prophetic miracle job. Luckily for me, iam presently outside the country. By the time hunger finishes him, he will trek all over Lagos to look for a job.

[Oracle]

Originally Posted by migiets

Great insights. Though i do not like discussing or commenting on religion because of the way people take it, i could not help myself in this case. What you have just said is very true. I see this as a great threat. A friend of mine with a wife and 2 kids recently relocated to Lagos to begin afresh. He came with nothing and so i decided to give him something to be able to move around and look for something to do. I was shocked when i heard that he went and spent about 3 days in his church because he has been told that his miracle job is on the way. To matter worse, he even went and paid tithes on the money i gave him and spend some more in paying for an accommodation within the church when he went for the program and now the money is finished without him utilizing it to move around to search for a job. He is waiting for a miracle well paying job as said by the Pastor. We advised him that having been and managed the hospitality industry, it will be easier for him to follow that line and quickly get something since there are so many hotels in Lagos but he is waiting he is waiting for a prophetic miracle job. Luckily for me, iam presently outside the country. By the time hunger finishes him, he will trek all over Lagos to look for a job.

shit happens!

That is one problem about not being able to think. At times like this(which ur friend is going through), he needs to stay away from anything that will drain his cash. It is a common thing in Africa that we are so religiously attached that we cite many passages just to justify what we do. Even Police citing Matt 5 verse 25 to a Pastor(who doesn't have his complete vehicle papers) and said it is not in the bible to pay bribes.

There are many times I ask myself, why we have churches here and there. Why? Why are people so intensely religious? Why do I see myself as a catholic and would not want to associate with someone who is a Jehova witness? And we say we serve one God. isn't it laughable!? Some churches have genuine intentions while some are just business centres.

I have learnt to treat man as a physical being and not attaching religious sentiments.

Going back to the point, ur friend seems to have lost his mind and that will invariably drain U.

[ejemaim]

Originally Posted by migiets

Great insights. Though i do not like discussing or commenting on religion because of the way people take it, i could not help myself in this case. What you have just said is very true. I see this as a great threat. A friend of mine with a wife and 2 kids recently relocated to Lagos to begin afresh. He came with nothing and so i decided to give him something to be able to move around and look for something to do. I was shocked when i heard that he went and spent about 3 days in his church because he has been told that his miracle job is on the way. To matter worse, he even went and paid tithes on the money i gave him and spend some more in paying for an accommodation within the church when he went for the program and now the money is finished without him utilizing it to move around to search for a job. He is waiting for a miracle well paying job as said by the Pastor. We advised him that having been and managed the hospitality industry, it will be easier for him to follow that line and quickly get something since there are so many hotels in Lagos but he is waiting he is waiting for a prophetic miracle job. Luckily for me, iam presently outside the country. By the time hunger finishes him, he will trek all over Lagos to look for a job.

This story has little to do with christianity but much more to do with poverty and ignorance.
Such scenerios are unfortunately commonplace in Nigeria.
People who are mentally lazy( and your friend unfortunately falls into this category) look for excuses that will justify their mental state.
This causes them to look for charlatans who tell them a god who makes the sun shine on both the lazy and hardworking.
True christianity, however, talks about a God that commanded Adam to till the earth . It talks about a God who demanded tithes from THE FRUIT OF THEIR LABOUR which He had blessed.
What your friend needs is to change his church and get a mental renewal as well as true biblical teaching
I also recommend he visits a christian psychologist/psychiatrist cos false hope, especially religious ones, in the face of poverty is like opium. Very addictive. It requires intense psychological therapy.

There is still hope for your friend.

[nosa2]

Originally Posted by Oracle

As for why all black nations are still in poverty, I think we need to look at it from many angles.

Lets use Nigeria for example and from there we can extrapolate it into other nations.

Lets look at these issues one by one
(1) Greed
(2)Ethnicity
(3) Religion
(4)Education
(5)Contagion

Greed
When a man's need is greatly not in proportion with resources available. The needs exceeds available resources alloted to him. And for that reason, he either steals or takes others resources by force or by fraud.

This is the reason politicians steal billions of naira meant for development and use of the masses. They divert such foir themselves and their families.

Question now is, why are people greedy? First, U need to look at the family structure of a nigerian.There are 2 family structures-Nuclear and Extended family structure. Nuclear family involves the husband, wife(wives) and kid(s) while extended family structure involves husband, wife(wives),kid(s), inlaws from both sides, uncles from both sides, aunties from both sides. Some include friends as well.

Now here comes the problem.

If the husband in the nuclear family need to feed just his wife(wives) and kid(s), then there would not be problem. Cos a reasonable man would simply allocate available resources to managing these people.

Now tell me how a husband can manage all the people listed above in the extended family structure? He needs to augment his income. And for that to happen, the husband will either steal from the company he works for(through diverting funds or overestimation of project costs) or he will forcefully take resources that are meant for others(through power, he would divert all funds to himself and questions will not be asked).

And in case u don't know,all tribes in Nigeria operate the extended family structure where u will either always remember to send money to ur family or u will be forced to send it through frequent disturbances from family members.


Ethnicity
This is when u are identified by where u are from.

A brilliant Hausa graduate will not be given a job cos they said it is meant for another tribe (Nepotism).Even if the Hausa graduate is believed to the one that can effect a change, we will prefer to wait for the particular tribe that will fit there.

what is the problem with this?
There will be delayed development since u are still waiting for the particular tribe to take the post. Even if the particular tribe takes the position, he is clueless about how to run the affairs and he will be waiting to receive instructions.

Since alot of clueless people are packed together, they do nothing but wait and collect salaries. No development, but funds wasted. While they do nothing and cannot be laided off, they scheme of ways of increasing their income(knowing they run an extended family structure).

Many people in Nigeria who the cap fits are not allowed to wear this cap. Instead they give to people who are just there as stooge.

Religion

This has to do with ur belief. People in Nigeria are so attached to religious matters that it kinds of erodes their senses. Some people go to places of worksip to pray throughout the day fro there to be job. Jobs cannot come this way! You must find it. And some pastors are being so deceptive in telling them to come and pray from Monday morning till friday evening. So deceive them to sow a special seed with money when they are looking for a job. How can a sensible man think that giving money(..special seed) without going out to look for the job will earn u a job.

Another is that there is no harmony between religious worshipers. Christain fight moslem and vice versa? Doing all these things, investors who are meant to come in with their funds are not coming cos it is not safe for them.

Education

Education level is low here in nigeria. Even when alot of people get to Unversity level, they don't get quality education. They are shallow in their respective fields. And when u don't know much about ur field, how then do u know what to do or say.

Contagion
This is a copy cat phenomenon. For the fact that people steal and they don't do anything about it, then let me steal too. People need bridges but they don't build, then let menot build too. Before u know what is happening, alot of people are invloved in it. And that is exactly wat is happening to our public office holders. They steal without pity. Afterall, the last guy that stole, u didn't do anything. Let me ssteal joor.


If u extrapolate this into other african nations and black nations, U will discover that if Nigeria for example does badly, other leaders will follow. They will say,'' our types in other nations live like this, why should we be different from them? Why should we copy the whites?''

Corruption is just a by-product of greed.

Your point is obviously well thought out but its wrong, did we not have an extended family structure during the 60's, and early 70's? Why was corruption virtually non existent then? Corruption in Nigeria today has been caused by a number of factors such as the first coup (which highlighted our tribal differences in a negative way), no stiff penalty or virtually no punishment for corrupt practices, the long military incursion in governance, which totally destroyed civil institutions and brought about a short sightedness to people in govt, i.e this is our govt lets grab enough to sustain us and face any eventuality and finally inexperience, Nigerians were/are not just used to running a country, people did not equate their little deeds to the larger picture hence did/do not see the damage their action has on the society. I hope its become clear that the extended family is not one of the causes of corruption.

[omydee]

Originally Posted by migiets

Great insights. Though i do not like discussing or commenting on religion because of the way people take it, i could not help myself in this case. What you have just said is very true. I see this as a great threat. A friend of mine with a wife and 2 kids recently relocated to Lagos to begin afresh. He came with nothing and so i decided to give him something to be able to move around and look for something to do. I was shocked when i heard that he went and spent about 3 days in his church because he has been told that his miracle job is on the way. To matter worse, he even went and paid tithes on the money i gave him and spend some more in paying for an accommodation within the church when he went for the program and now the money is finished without him utilizing it to move around to search for a job. He is waiting for a miracle well paying job as said by the Pastor. We advised him that having been and managed the hospitality industry, it will be easier for him to follow that line and quickly get something since there are so many hotels in Lagos but he is waiting he is waiting for a prophetic miracle job. Luckily for me, iam presently outside the country. By the time hunger finishes him, he will trek all over Lagos to look for a job.

Your friend is deceiving himself--not God. Why? God made it EXPRESSLY CLEAR that "faith without works is dead [useless, valueless, senseless]! Same God said clearly, "do not despise the days of small beginnings".

Methinks, your friend is just a lazy bum in the garb of faith. He is faking himself--not God. God is not mocked.

[Oracle]

Originally Posted by nosa2

Your point is obviously well thought out but its wrong, did we not have an extended family structure during the 60's, and early 70's? Why was corruption virtually non existent then? Corruption in Nigeria today has been caused by a number of factors such as the first coup (which highlighted our tribal differences in a negative way), no stiff penalty or virtually no punishment for corrupt practices, the long military incursion in governance, which totally destroyed civil institutions and brought about a short sightedness to people in govt, i.e this is our govt lets grab enough to sustain us and face any eventuality and finally inexperience, Nigerians were/are not just used to running a country, people did not equate their little deeds to the larger picture hence did/do not see the damage their action has on the society. I hope its become clear that the extended family is not one of the causes of corruption.

Haba Nosa, I don tire to explain oo. There is a difference between corruption and greed. The explanation I gave about the family structure is on GREED. Corruption surfaces when you then involve other people in order for u to divert funds obtained through greed. Other people's involvement may come as directly assisting in movement fo these funds, standing as a front for funds diversion, pretending not to be aware of what is happening after taking your cut and many more forms of involvement.

Scenerio 1:
An accountant for a company withdrew N10m for an engineering job to be done. He gives the N10m to an engineer to finance the job. However, the engineer uses N6m for the job and keeps N4m in his personal account. He gets a receipt to back it up as materials used during the job. No one knew about this and the N4m is keep till there is no suspicion.

Is this greed or corruption?

My answer is Greed.

Scenerio 2:
An accountant for a company withdrew N13m for an engineering job to be done. He gives the N10m to an engineer to finance the job. But he doesn't know how to balance the account without involving the engineer. He(accountant) then calls the engineer and explains to him(engineer) that he withdrew N13m and gave him( engineer) N10m to do the job. He wants them to split the money so that the engineer will cover him up and tell management that he(engineer) spent N13m on the job due to conditions beyound his control. The engineer agrees and the deal is done.

Is this corruption or greed?


There are many ways corruption emanates from people's greed. You just need to look well and see.

While greed cannot only be attributed to family structure, other things fuel greed. Like the one pumping described about status symbol in the society.