COMPARISONS

I just read two amazing books, one about Jews and the other about Blacks. It was fascinating to do some kind of comparison. It was an eye opener for me. I decided to share some the points of comparison and lessons learnt on my blog.

Jews and Blacks in the West

- Jews and Blacks were both "immigrants" into the west (first generation immigrants) Blacks went into the West through slavery and suffered a lot psychologically, physically, mentally and every form of "allys" we can think about. Jews too had their own share of discrimination and segregation one. In spite of the segregation, one can see that the Jews have certainly done better than the Blacks. One might also say it would have been easier for the Jews to blend in to the society because of the colour of their skin but even they had to live in closed communities by themselves and be self sufficient. The Black man however would stick out like a thumb in the midst of whites.

- Many years after the abolition of slavery, a lot of Blacks still live in abject poverty and even Native Africans that live in Africa don't seem to be doing any better than their counterparts in the developed countries. One would then wonder what is responsible and much more than that, what can be learnt and what can be done. If Jews, who make up only 2% of the American population, can have One third of all American multi millionaires as Jews, 20% of the professors in leading universities as Jews, 25% of all American Nobel Prize winners as Jews etc (The Jewish Phenomenon), then, I think we as a people can do better than we are doing right now.

Comparison

- Jews take care of their own because they believe that if you take care of your own yours will take care of you. This they do by supporting community based charity orgnizations, supporting issues that promote their cause and patronizing their group's local businesses. On the other hand we (Blacks) would rather patronize international / foreign businesses as opposed to local ones. Given, some of the products made/ distributed locally might not be as good but in some cases where they are equally good, it has become a classy thing not to use anything manufactured and produced locally. By doing this, we are not in any way helping our local businesses move forward. One word to the local businesses though, PLEASE!!! Produce good quality products and see us patronize you en masse. Also, the rate of Black on Black crimes is alarming. It almost seems like we are set on exterminating our race. People kill themselves for any and every flimsy reason imaginable.. I think its time we begin to take care of our own. Some of us have started doing one form of taking care of our own or the other. I want to encourage us to continue and if you have not started, now is the time.

- Successful people are professionals and Entrepreneurs - Jewish. On the other hand, the average educated Black person wants to finish school, get a job and sit tight with the job - serving the master. I was discussing with one of my colleagues last week, I asked him what he saw himself doing in the next 10-15 years and he said he would still be with the company. I must say that I was very amazed. I asked about him moving to another company and he said he didn’t see that coming. He is just satisfied with working with the company until he retires. A lot of us have the mindset of working with someone else till we drop. I am not saying that all of us should be entrepreneurs but I am saying that that is how successes are built. The Jeans industry was started by the Jews – Levis Strauss, the movie making industry MGM, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios etc. These are a very few of the businesses started by Jews and passed on to the next generations. A lot of others that were not business owners were very successful and skilled professionals who left their marks in history. If we intend to be extremely successful, we should be ready to plunge out on our own, go the extra mile and leave an inheritance for our children's children.

There are at least two more points I'll like to bring out, that I'll do that in my next post.

Police is your Friend

As a firm believer in the "new Naija" (new Nigeria), I went to the lauching of the "new Naija" club that took place on the 1st January at the Balmora hall in Oregun, Lagos State, Nigeria - what a way to usher in the year. The interesting thing was that the PRO of the Lagos Nigeria Police force was one of the speakers of the day along with notable icons - Pat Utomi, Deolu Akinyemi, Fela Durotoye, Gbenga Sesan, Niyi Adesanya etc.

The speakers said a lot of notable things but since I had previously written some things on the Nigeria Police, the PRO of Police who spoke on the topic "Police is your friend" caught my attention. I eagerly awaited what he was going to say.

He started by acknowledging that the topic is a difficult one since a lot of people - (yours truly inclusive) are biased.

Amongst other things, He said that sometimes, the members of the public give the Police wrong information which sometimes leads to ambush and sometimes death of members of the Police force. He implored us to please cooperate with the POlice so that they can do their work well ..................

Anyway, the only thing he said that caught my attention and I chose to hold onto/ pick was that just as there are some young people who believe and are committed to working towards the new Nigeria, there are also some Police Officers who are committed to working towards a better Police force. I CHOSE to believe him. I therefore look forward to a better Nigeria Police force where the Police is really my friend.

WRITE THE VISION

Tic Toc!! The clock is ticking. Even though the year is already rolling, I believe I am still permitted to say a happy new year to my people and while I am at it, I will like to ask what you have decided to do this year.
Do you have resolutions or goals? Or are you just going to live out the year as it comes. Taking it one day at a time. Allowing circumstances to shape your year and invariably your life.

Some might say they wrote goals and resolutions in years past but they either didn't meet their targets or they totally forgot about the goals in the hustle and bustle of the year. So, they wonder “what’s the point anyway?”

I would say the point is taking charge, proactively planning and having a yardstick to measure achievements by quarterly, at the end of the year or whenever you choose during the year. After all, you wouldn't have known that you did not achieve what you set out to if you did not set out at all or if you did not have any goals/ resolutions at the beginning of the particular year you thought you didn’t achieve your goals. There would not have being a real measure of achievement.
Imagine that footballers play matches without a goal post. They'll keep running around aimlessly and at the end of 90 minutes, they would have succeeded in exercising their bodies. They would not be able to measure their performance. There would not be a measure of achievement.

I would say "write the vision and make it plain on tablets that they may run who reads it" - Habakkuk2:2. Have something to prove. Do not let the year just roll by. Install a goal post, be able to say at the end of the year that I achieved 1,2 and I need to work on 5,6. This way, we can continually strive to be better people, strive to meet the deadlines we missed.

This might be coming late but I don't think it’s too late. It should serve as a reminder for someone who has being procrastinating. Or even for someone who had not decided to "Write the vision"