Me, I and Myself

A Professional Accountant 'Segun-Martins Ogunyemi is the Principal Consultant at Pro Logic Ideas Consulting. He started his professional career as an auditor with Akintola Williams (Chartered Accountants), Maiduguri office where he worked between as an Audit Assistant. He later moved to Lagos where he worked with AirFreak Nigeria Ltd as an Account Officer. He left to join SA Insurance Plc as an Internal Auditor. Based on his diligence, discipline and dedication he was promoted to the position of Head of the Finance and Investment Department of the Standard Alliance Group office.

He worked as Management Accountant and Transaction Risk Analyst at Rainoil Limited, an Oil and Gas company based in Lagos, Nigeria. Based on his meritorious service he was deployed to Gobel Marine Services Limited, a Rainoil's subsidiary company as the pioneer staff and Chief Financial Officer. He was later elevated to the position of Head and Chief Operating Officer of the shipping and maritime company. He was later re-deployed to Rainoil Limited as Acting Group Chief Financial Officer and Head Treasury & Investment Management before he resigned his appointment with Rainoil Group to mind his own businesses.

He studied Accountancy at Ondo State Polytechnic (now Rufus Giwa Polytechnic), Owo, and University of Maiduguri. He is an Associate member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN); member, Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK. Segun-Martins, a Deloitte trained IFRS Expert has attended various leadership and management trainings within and outside Nigeria. He is someone that loves what he is doing. He has passion for helping people and seeing to the fulfillment of dreams while he pursues his own vigorously.

As a serial entrepreneur, he establishes and pilots the affairs of Pro Logic Ideas Consulting (financial and management consulting firm based in Lagos, Nigeria) since 2011. Based on his love for ICT his Firm is known and patronised for its innovative Accounting Services on the Cloud (ASC). He is the co-founder of G2Plus Hub, a business support, mobile money operations and ICT company. He is a Microsoft Partner and sits on the board of other viable companies in Nigeria.

He believes in qualitative leadership that is built on the tenets of integrity, contentment and excellence. Segun-Martins is the Founder and President of Learning for Leading Foundation, an NGO based in Lagos, Nigeria. He reads, plays Scrabble to relax. He is a proud husband of one, father of two.

My contact details are:
Mobile Nos./Whatsapp: 08027299259, 08061187718
email: sogunyemi@prologicideas.com | smogunyemi@consultant.com
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...the JUST shall live by faith!

A post commemorating my birthday on 15th December.

Birth Rate vs Death Rate

Birth rate is measured by Crude Birth Rate (CBR) while Death rate is evaluated by Crude Death Rate (CDR). Birth and Death are also known as fertility and mortality respectively. On the global space, putting Birth rate side by side with Death rate it is expedient to state that there is natural increase on the surface of the earth.

According to the 'United Nations' World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision Population Database, crude birth rate is the number of births over a given period divided by the person-years lived by the population over that period. It is expressed as number of births per 1,000 population. CBR = (births in a period / population of person-years over that period).

The birth rate is an item of concern and policy for a number of national governments. Some, including those of Italy and Malaysia, seek to increase the national birth rate using measures such as financial incentives or provision of support services to new mothers. Conversely, other countries have policies to reduce the birth rate, for example, China's one child policy. Measures such as improved information about and availability of birth control have achieved similar results in countries such as Iran.

There has also been discussion on whether bringing women into the forefront of development initiatives will lead to a decline in birth rates. In some places, government policies have been focused on reducing birth rates through improving women's sexual and reproductive health and rights. Typically, high birth rates has been associated with health impairments and low life expectancy, low living standards, low status of women, and low levels of education. There are claims that as countries go through economic development and social change, population growth such as birth rate declines.

Generally, birth rate is calculated using live birth counts from a universal system of registration of births, deaths, and marriages, and population counts from a census or using estimation through specialized demographic techniques. Birth rate is also commonly used to calculate population growth. It is combined with death rates and migration rates to calculate population growth.

As of 2009, the average birth rate for the whole world is 19.95 per year per 1000 total population, a 0.48% decline from 2003's world birth rate of 20.43 per 1000 total population. According to the CIA - The World Factbook, the country with the highest birth rate currently is Niger at 51.26 births per 1000 people. The country with the lowest birth rate is Japan at 7.64 births per 1000 people. (Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China, is at 7.42 births per 1000 people.) As compared to the 1950s (birth rate was at 36 births per 1000 in the 1950s), birth rate has declined by 16 births per 1000 people.

Birth rates ranging from 10-20 births per 1000 are considered low, while rates from 40-50 births per 1000 are considered high. There are problems associated with both an extremely high birth rate and an extremely low birth rate. High birth rates can cause stress on the government welfare and family programs to support a youthful population. Additional problems faced by a country with a high birth rate include educating a growing number of children, creating jobs for these children when they enter the workforce, and dealing with the environmental effects that a large population can produce. Low birth rates can put stress on the government to prove adequate senior welfare systems and also the stress on families to support the elders themselves. There will be less children or working age population to support the constantly growing aging population.

World historical and predicted crude birth rates (1950–2050)
Years CBR% Years CBR%
1950–1955 37.2 2000–2005 21.2
1955–1960 35.3 2005–2010 20.3
1960–1965 34.9 2010–2015 19.4
1965–1970 33.4 2015–2020 18.2
1970–1975 30.8 2020–2025 16.9
1975–1980 28.4 2025–2030 15.8
1980–1985 27.9 2030–2035 15.0
1985–1990 27.3 2035–2040 14.5
1990–1995 24.7 2040–2045 14.0
1995–2000 22.5 2045–2050 13.4

Mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in some population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of deaths per 1000 individuals per year; thus, a mortality rate of 9.5 in a population of 100,000 would mean 950 deaths per year in that entire population, or 0.95% out of the total. It is distinct from morbidity rate, which refers to the number of individuals in poor health during a given time period (the prevalence rate) or the number of newly appearing cases of the disease per unit of time (incidence rate).

One distinguishes:

1. The crude death rate, the total number of deaths per year per 1000 people. As of July 2009[update] the crude death rate for the whole world is about 8.37 per 1000 per year according to the current CIA World Factbook.
2. The perinatal mortality rate, the sum of neonatal deaths and fetal deaths (stillbirths) per 1000 births.
3. The maternal mortality rate, the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 women of reproductive age in same time period.
4. The infant mortality rate, the number of deaths of children less than 1 year old per 1000 live births.
5. The child mortality rate, the number of deaths of children less than 5 years old per 1000 live births.
6. The standardised mortality rate (SMR)- This represents a proportional comparison to the numbers of deaths that would have been expected if the population had been of a standard composition in terms of age, gender, etc.
7. The age-specific mortality rate (ASMR) - This refers to the total number of deaths per year per 1000 people of a given age (e.g. age 62 last birthday).

In regard to the success or failure of medical treatment or procedures, one would also distinguish:

1. The early mortality rate, the total number of deaths in the early stages of an ongoing treatment, or in the period immediately following an acute treatment.
2. The late mortality rate, the total number of deaths in the late stages of an ongoing treatment, or a significant length of time after an acute treatment.

Note that the crude death rate as defined above and applied to a whole population can give a misleading impression. The crude death rate depends on the age (and gender) specific mortality rates and the age (and gender) distribution of the population. The number of deaths per 1000 people can be higher for developed nations than in less-developed countries, despite life expectancy being higher in developed countries due to standards of health being better. This happens because developed countries typically have a completely different population age distribution, with a much higher proportion of older people, due to both lower recent birth rates and lower mortality rates. A more complete picture of mortality is given by a life table which shows the mortality rate separately for each age. A life table is necessary to give a good estimate of life expectancy.

According to the World Health Organization, the 10 leading causes of death in 2002 were:

1. 12.6% Ischaemic heart disease
2. 9.7% Cerebrovascular disease
3. 6.8% Lower respiratory infections
4. 4.9% HIV/AIDS
5. 4.8% Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
6. 3.2% Diarrhoeal diseases
7. 2.7% Tuberculosis
8. 2.2% Trachea/bronchus/lung cancers
9. 2.2% Malaria
10. 2.1% Road traffic accidents

Causes of death vary greatly between first and third world countries. See list of causes of death by rate for worldwide statistics.
Scatter plot of the natural logarithm of the crude death rate against the natural log of per capita real GDP. The slope of the trend line is the elasticity of the crude death rate with respect to per capita real income. It indicates that a 10% increase in per capita real income is associated with a 1.5% decrease in the crude death rate. Source: World Development Indicators.

According to Jean Ziegler (the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food for 2000 to March 2008), mortality due to malnutrition accounted for 58% of the total mortality in 2006: "In the world, approximately 62 millions people, all causes of death combined, die each year. In 2006, more than 36 millions died of hunger or diseases due to deficiencies in micronutrients".

Of the roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two thirds -- 100,000 per day -- die of age-related causes. In industrialized nations, the proportion is much higher, reaching 90%.

World historical and predicted crude death rates (1950-2050)
Years CDR Years CDR
1950-1955 19.5 2000-2005 8.6
1955-1960 17.3 2005-2010 8.5
1960-1965 15.5 2010-2015 8.3
1965-1970 13.2 2015-2020 8.3
1970-1975 11.4 2020-2025 8.3
1975-1980 10.7 2025-2030 8.5
1980-1985 10.3 2030-2035 8.8
1985-1990 9.7 2035-2040 9.2
1990-1995 9.4 2040-2045 9.6
1995-2000 8.9 2045-2050 10

Source: United Nations, Wikipedia

Knowledge: Source of Power

Knowledge will give you power, but character respect. John Locke (1689) in his Essay: Concerning Human Understanding, describes Knowledge as the perception of the agreement or disagreement of two ideas. In other words, knowledge breeds answer and solution in an atmosphere of confusion and disparity.

Knowledge flows from a fluid mix of framed experience, contextual information, values and expert insight." This includes a number of things that we have within us, such as experiences, beliefs, values, how we feel, motivation, and information.

It is regarded as power because it shapes the way one thinks and acts. Also, it provides a framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information. According to Peter F. Drucker in The New Realities "Knowledge is information that changes something or somebody — either by becoming grounds for actions, or by making an individual (or an institution) capable of different or more effective action."

Nigeria @ 50: Politics, Leadership and Governance

After swagging from one military coup to another in the greater part of her existence, Nigeria now has a democratic leadership. With the advent of democracy, the country has faced a lot of challenges ranging from ethnic and religious crises, militancy at the Niger-delta, spate of killings and kidnapping of innocent Nigerians and foreigners alike. Amidst the good, bad and ugly experience of Nigeria, the citizenry in diverse culture and ethnicity seldom work in unity.

According to UN Report of 2009, Nigeria has a growing population of 154.7million with an area of 923,768sq.km. Major languages in Nigeria are English (official), Yoruba, Ibo and Hausa. And the citizenry is grossly divided into Islam, Christianity and indigenous beliefs. UN Research group went further to state life expectancy in Nigeria as 47years and 48years for men and women respectively.

Across the world, it is an acceptable opinion that if we do not have any reason to celebrate the golden jubilee of the nation called Nigeria we should do it for the sake of unity which entrenched in the country in spite of all odds. In approaching this subject amply, I shall do the write-up in a reverse order. In succinct terms, this arrangement will instill better understanding of the topic.

GOVERNANCE
History affirmed that Nigeria passed through several stages of governance ranging from colonial administrations to self government. Most African countries that got independence in the 1960s have faced herculean tasks of converting colonial institutions into national organs or replacing them altogether. Consequently governance in Africa came with inherent problems of conflicts and contradictions. In actual fact, African countries like Nigeria did not experience true governance which is bound to define expectation, grant power and verify performance after their independence from colonial rules. Hence many of them embraced military governments between the 60s and 90s. Typical example is Nigeria which has experienced both civilian and military administrations at various periods of her political development since independence in 1960.

Alas, the incessant political crises that greeted the attainment of sovereign national government in African countries provided scholars and political commentators a point of discourse on the appropriate style of leadership for governance in the African continent. However, governance in Nigeria has been characterized by the crises of various form of transitions: colonial rule to civilian rule; civilian government to military regime; military administration to interim national government; interim national government to military regime; military regime to democratic government. It is sad to note that these transitions are not devoid of bloodletting and bloodbath. Terrible experiences which contribute to making governance a back-breaking task in Nigeria.

It is a fact beyond shadow of doubt that ethnic factor constituted a major problem to governance in Nigeria and other African countries alike. No one will forget in hurry, the Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda; the Hausas, the Ibos and the Yorubas in Nigeria. In spite of this factor the Military played a major role in the history of governance in Nigeria since 1960 of her independence. The 'unsolicited' intervention of the military certainly truncated various democratic experiments in Africa. Several African countries such Nigeria, Rwanda, Liberia, Somalia etc experienced civil wars which constituted the dilemma of governance in Africa even in the recent years.

Statistics shows that governance of Nigeria has been in the hands of the military for more than two thirds of our country 60 years of independence. Over the years, it has become a debatable issue as to whom to blame for the woes of nation in the area of poor governance. Some political commentators are of the opinion that the inherited colonial infrastructure are responsible for the unsuccessful democratic governance in Nigeria. Indeed, one could state categorically that one of the main feature of independent Nigeria is the fragility or lack of political institutions to support genuine democratic governance.

The first form of government in Nigeria was parliamentary system of government which was bequeathed on us by the colonial masters who never consulted us through our then leaders to know the nature of government that will be suitable for a multi-ethnic nation. No doubt, parliamentary system thrives in Britain because it is British national ideology. And while it worked for Britain, it failed in Nigeria. This is because the crisis of governance in Nigeria can not be totally divorced from our historical experiences and the character of the post colonial ruling elites. In Nigeria today, presidential system of government is being practised. Surprisingly, this form of government has been criticised greatly by the progressives especially. They are clamouring for a reversal to the condemned and abandoned parliamentary system of government. This attitude is uniquely Nigerian. We easily forget and seldom give new experiment a chance.

In this context therefore, what is required to tackle some of our problems including ill-governance is visionary leadership and a cohesive civilian elite with a sense of mission.

LEADERSHIP
Rhetorically, this section will follow the notion of Nigerians who attribute the major problem of Nigeria to leadership. We all have the idea of what leadership should be but we rarely talk about the aspect of followership which dictates the intensity of leading as an activity. But let us leave that aspect for another day and face the topical issue at hand which is leadership.

What is leadership and who is a leader? According to WordWeb, leadership means an act of leading; the body of people who lead a group; status of a leader and ability to lead. In the same vein, a leader is a person who rules, guide and inspires others. According to John C. Maxwell, a leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. He went further to describe as influence. All these definitions are applicable to both animal and human social settings. However, the greater complexity of human interaction enable us to develop and practise our leadership style at a higher level.

In the context of human beings, the vacuum of leadership must be filled by a willing heart with a person or group of people that willing to be led. Some scholars are of the opinion that leadership position bestows much on the degree of influence while others insist that it is a matter of personality. For this write-up, I will pitch my tent with leadership by influence school of thought. When we talk of influence and power what readily comes to our minds is the source of the power. Power within such a group frequently resides, in whole or in part, in a person appointed or elected by the body to exercise the authority delegated to him by the members. In a normal group relationship, the leader's authority is spontaneously accorded him by his fellow group members, the followers. In spite of this authority, no leader is immune from sanction from the followers if and when he deviates too far from the bounds of acceptable behaviour prevailing in the group.

In sum, leadership role can not be detached from followership. We can only begin to understand the intricate connection between followership and leadership as along as we agree that there can be no leading without following, and of course, no following without leading. In this connection, it is important to view the concept of followership from the perspective of reciprocal responsibilities. That is, in art of leadership, the followers fulfill active roles. In like manner, leaders derive power from the electorates in a true democratic environment. Since independence for example we have only elected 5 out of 14 heads of state/government. In effect, Nigeria spent most of her years of existence in a state of discord between leadership and followership. Experts often refer to our leadership pattern during military regimes as rulership rather than leadership. In succinct terms, the source of power is the basic distinction. The authority of a ruler derives from power, force and coercion which he often exert on his followers while a leader derives his authority from his followers.

Professor Chinua Achebe in one of his numerous write-ups once said that "the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely of failure of leadership. There is nothing basically with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land and climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of her leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership." Alas, at age 60, Nigeria in spite of her natural endowment, she is still striving to realise our potential for greatness. As long as there is leadership crisis, we cannot entirely exonerate the followership from blame. For us as a nation to effectively analyse and evaluate the extent of our leadership problems, we also have to focus some attention on the ability of the populace to play its followership role effectively and responsibly. Sincerely, crux of the problem is the fact that most Nigerians do not know what they want for ourselves and what we want from our leaders. We all want the prize but nobody is ready for the price. One is tempted to ask the question: what are our leaders looking for? They exhibit deadliness in their quest for leadership positions based on selfish and myopic interests at the expense of national unity and peaceful co-existence of our nation.

According to Marian Anderson, leadership should be borne out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it. In its proper sense, leadership means sacrifice, sacrifice of time, energy and intellect for the greater good. The very essence of leadership is its purpose. And the purpose of leadership is to accomplish a task. The task as laid down in the Nigerian constitution is to take care of the nation and her citizenry. Like never before, Nigeria requires a leader who is pragmatic, realistic and idealistic.

POLITICS
Having talked about governance and leadership which are centered principally on individuals, let us look at the political system and structure of Nigeria and how it has fared in the past 60 years. As a matter of fact, no form of leadership, individual, government sponsored rallies, slogans or jingles can make up for a defective political structure. No doubt, our leaders have had many talents and qualities, but the art of modern government has been rather difficult for them to learn or manage. The popular slogan in Nigeria political arena is 'one nation'. Meanwhile dream has eluded us for long and in pursuit of unity without consensus or the capacity to adequately enforce it, we forgot that unity requires certain objective conditions, that is, certain parameters that must go with unity. Most of our political leaders hide under the tenets of 'one nation' but their intent is regionalism. The prevalent problem of Nigeria has its roots in the conflict between power and principle as conceived by the various sub-groups in Nigeria.

In this kind of political terrain of ours with pervading slogans and wishful thinking we can not achieve true unity. We need a political system conceived in dynamic terms as an active agent with capabilities to perform functions and influence our political environment. We must admit as a nation that changing of political players will not do much as to changing our political system which is faulty in itself. Hence the need for a major reform of our political structure and institutions which in turn will re-awake the Nigerian spirit. Nigeria problems are solved the moment we admit we have problems. However, a problem known is half-solved. The onus is on us all to revitalise our efforts in ensuring that Nigeria is redeemed from its history of chronic political instability and put it on the road to a genuine political integration which will translate into economic growth.

CONCLUSION
In 50 years, Nigeria has had 14 different governments with two successful and successive civilian administrations. But it can not be affirmed that the country has come of age in the area of governance, leadership and politics. We still have a lot 'Ts' to cross and 'Is' to dot. The problems in the Nigerian polity transcend both military and civilian regimes with peculiarities. As a result of this, the Nigerian citizenry has lost faith in the country and its political system. Good spirited Nigerians are not willing to participate in the electioneering process because of the sheer demonstration of melodrama and mediocrity by the political elites.

Reading, Leading

It is often said that Great Leaders are Great Readers. I have heard people say: "leaders are readers" severally. It made a big impression on me and I never forgot it. I cogitated on how the phrase must have been coined, but I must have recited it in my head hundreds of times. I doubted, perused and absorbed it to be true. Therefore, it is not out of context if we say Readers are Leaders!

Reading is a very interesting for avid readers but boring activity for those who have or would never tried. Of course, it doesn't follow that all readers are leaders, but I think we can safely say with little exception, all leaders are readers. If that's true, then why don't more people read? However, it is not out of place to aver that every human being does not aspire to be leaders. Some people are satisfied to be follower-driven all their life.

Research has shown that only ten percent of the people who begin reading a non-fiction book ever get beyond the first chapter. It's been shown that people's earnings are in direct proportion to their vocabularies. In other words, those who have larger vocabularies have greater responsibility and earn the most money - with very few exceptions. I know for sure that most people want to earn more money, so why is it that they don't study more? It is sad to note that Nigeria and counties have few libraries. Meanwhile I read recently that less than four percent of the American people own a library card. Can you imagine? American have the best free libraries in the world but they are vastly under-utilised.

Reading about Abraham Lincoln I realised that he used to walk miles to borrow and return books. He read them by candlelight after working long, hard days. Do you think his reverence and devotion to books made a difference in his ability as a leader of our troubled nation? I do. The good news is that people are reading more than they used to. But it is still far from what it supposed to be in the 21st century. In spite of sales and purchase of books, it's not enough!

I cannot go into a bookstore without buying a book. My personal library is my most valued material possession and I take pride in adding to it regularly. Please ask my wife. She oftentimes ask me to choose between her and my books. I have several non-fiction books. I've even read most of them. and my soul yearn for more. This should be true for any serious student of success.

If you are committed to be all that you are capable of being, I implore you to become a voracious and avid reader. A book a month will keep you even. It takes effort, but it's worth it. Since it is often said that "what is worth doing at all is worth doing well" read when you like to read. If you don't like reading encourage yourself. It's just something that you have to do. This is because reading is a means to an end.

If you develop the habit of reading, you will start to enjoy it. You'll look forward to it, your thinking will sharpen, your vocabulary will increase, and you will become a more interesting person.

Remember, leaders are readers.

6Ps of Excellent Performance

Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.

PROPER means appropriate, right, correct, suitable or good. It is a prerequisite for anybody aspiring greatness to do that which is proper, appropriate, right, suitable and good for the actualisation of the goal. This is the price that must be paid for the prize.

PRIOR depicts the time frame. It emphasises when action should be taken. Before, now or after. Going by the addage "look before you leap" it is better to plan before. For expediency sake, it prior action is better and preferred. This is because relevant adjustments can be made before the due time.

PLANNING is an act of formulating a program for a definite course of action. It is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. It is a common adage: he who fails to plans to fail.

PREVENT is a precautionary word which means impede, foreclose, preclude, forbid, forestall, avert, obviate. It explains an effort to keep from happening, esp by taking precautionary action or advance planning.

POOR is an adjective related to a state of poverty, low quality or pity. In other words, poor describes a performance that is below expectation. It is an unsatisfactory state of attainment.

PERFORMANCE can be defined as accomplishment of a given task measured against preset standards of accuracy, completeness, cost, and speed. It is synonymous with accomplishment. When we say 'the end justifies the means', we are actually talking about planning and performance respectively. When there is good planning (means), there will be good performance (end). Therefore, the crux of this write-up is planning which is essential for any result-oriented venture.

What can't be cured must be endured

The above idiomatic statement as quoted by Burton Robert is an elucidation between patience and impatience; smartness and stupidity; ambitiousness and complacency. Literary speaking, it means that if you can not do anything about a problem, you will have to live with it. You should have patience and complacency on a permanent scale.

Looking at Nigeria democracy and politics in general, one may want to correlate the above to the appalling situation in the political arena. Fela Anikulapo Kuti of blessed memory termed democracy to be "demonstration of craze" among the elites which in effect, inflict so much pains on the innocent citizenry. But in the real sense of it, must we continually endure evil, corruption, pains, embezzlement, wickedness just to mention few. Ain't you tired as a bonafide citizen of this great nation?! What can we do, you asked? I have also asked this rhetorical question severally. But something must be done.

I wonder why we must always choose the best of the worst. People in the Accounting or other business oriented discipline would recollect the minmax regret theorem in Decision Theory in uncertainty. The theorem teaches us to minimise the worst-case regret. Inorder words, you should settle for the better of the worst options. This should not be our case all the time.

We would have had a good fight if most of our problems are not self-afflicted. Hardship and suffering synonymous with name Nigeria. With great natural and human resources, Nigeria is still in the array of the poorest countries of the world. And same country has individuals who can buy off the entire substance apart from human beings in the nation. No sector of the economy is working seamlessly! The nation's problem is leadership. We seldom need soothsayer to confirm this. This is because it is evident that our vast natural and human resources are being mismanaged.

Cost of doing business is too high because of lack of basic infrastructural facilities like power, passable roads,water and so on. These basic infrastructural facilities are simply what other countries do not take for granted. All these are responsible for the decay, decimation and degradation of lives and livelihood in Nigeria. On account of these national ordeals, manufacturing sector can not thrive. Wealthy economies excelon the platform of thriving manufacturing sector. In the whole world, Nigerians suffer the most cost of services becuase the service providers operate like a small sovereign community that has to provide all infrastructure. For example, cost of doing business in South Africa was 2% of sales compared to 16% in Nigeria. However, most of this on-costs are infrastructure related.

The foregoing are suffice to make one think and rethink on the manner of leadership we have in Nigeria. We deserve better if not best. They kept Nigerians in the illusion that we have democracy where the nation is rottenly pervaded by kleptocracy, gerontocracy and oligarchy.

For how long are we going to endure this...only time will tell.