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A woman gave a terrifying account of what she witnessed some years back and that story held me spellbound. I thought I should share. This is a true life story. The name Aduke is however fictitious.

It was one of those days during my maternity leave. My baby was sleeping after the usual morning bath so I quickly stepped out to see my next door neighbour (a hairdresser) to book an appointment, leaving the baby in the care of my mum who had come for the omugwo (post pregnancy care for a new mother and her baby). My neighbour’s salon was always very busy and I hated waiting in line to have my hair done.

I was surprised she was not in a hurry to leave for the salon. She explained it was a Thursday, a sanitation day for shop owners in Lagos, hence she would not be leaving until 10a.m. In her living room was a middle-aged woman who lived down the street and whom I believed had come for the same purpose. We weren’t close but we exchanged pleasantries all the same. “Eku ewu omo”, she said congratulating me on the birth of my baby. Then as it is the practice among women, she opened her arsenal of post-natal advice stressing the importance of hot water bath for a new mother. “I know of women who have the cold water bath each morning in line with age-long family tradition”, my neighbour interrupted. So they started discussing some weird after-birth traditions like eating bland meals (meals without oil, salt or pepper), giving the new mother well-prepared lizard meat with or without out her knowledge. Some of these I had heard before and thought had been overtaken by civilisation.

Just when I thought I had heard enough, my neighbour’s guest shared an experience which she said left her in shock for months. She witnessed the incident in one of those ancient ancestral homes on Lagos Island. She recalled she was in her late teens at the time and worked as a tailor apprentice on the Island. News came that Aduke, a co-apprentice who got pregnant out of wedlock had put to bed. She and another apprentice planned to pay her a congratulatory visit.

When they got to Aduke’s house, they were told she had moved to the baby daddy’s family house in preparation for the naming ceremony. They got the new address and went in search of the family house. On getting there, they were excited to see their friend and the new baby. They greeted an elderly woman (the baby daddy’s mom) who was sitting on a chair directly opposite the bed on which the baby was laid. There were some other women in the room, all relations of the baby daddy. After some minutes, the elderly woman told them that the family was expecting a very important guest and they could leave if they wanted to. They did not see the need to leave. They had just arrived and the room was big enough to seat more guests.

Shortly after, the elderly woman broke out in a loud voice chanting what seemed like an oriki (praise chant). In a twinkle of an eye they saw a huge snake coming in through the door which had been opened since their arrival. Both apprentices screamed in shock gripping each other and raising their feet from the floor. I also screamed when she got to this point in her narrative.

The elderly woman continued her chant referring to the snake as their ancestral father who had the ability to unravel all mysteries. In a swift move, the snake climbed the bed, moving its tongue all over the baby’s body. View this link for the rest of the story- http://bookconvo.com/cultural-dna-testing-the-most-scary-proof-of-paternity/

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To differentiate the two terms, I will give an example. An IT support officer who manages the network of 12 bank branches got calls from 3 of the branches that their links were down and therefore could not pay their customers. The calls came in around 9am in the morning. An effective IT officer would get agitated. He would simply start running to the branches. Let us assume he gets to branch A at 10am and fixes the problem. Branch A customers would have been on queue for about an hour. Branches B and C customers would have stayed on queue much longer. He gets the job done at a huge cost cos he didnt make use of all resources available to him. He is effective but not efficient. An efficient officer would attempt to solve the link issues remotedly by telling his users what to do on phone thereby saving man-hours, energy, and cost. Hope this helps.

babatundeizbad:
Nice. But still, nothing new.

I agree that these points may not be entirely new but some business owners and top executives still make these mistakes

This article is a divergence from the norm. Over time you must have read books and articles on business success or attended seminars where you are taught how to succeed in business. This article is different. It is straight hard talk based on Donald Keough's Ten Commandments for Business Failure. Donald Keough, a former president of the Coca-Cola company tells you how to fail. Hear him:

"After a long time in business, I've never been able to develop a set of rules or a step-by-step formula that will guarantee success in anything, much less in a field as dynamic and changing as business. What I can do however is talk about how to lose. I guarantee that anyone who follows my formula will be a highly successful loser".

Below are highlights of ten blunders most business owners make all the time:

◾Quit Taking Risks


It's tempting to remain in the comfort zone and quit taking risks when you've recorded some success in your business. When you quit taking risks because you do not want to make mistakes, you're one step away from failing. Mistakes even huge and costly ones are the price you have to pay if you want to remain in business for long. Innovation remains the hallmark of any successful business venture.

◾Be inflexible

Your ability to adapt to changing situations will determine how long you will remain in business. If you are not dynamic and flexible, you would soon out of business.

◾Isolate Yourself

Another sure step to failure is to isolate yourself from staff, managers, customers and distributors. Just sit in the comfort of your well-furnished office with several Personal Assistants, Secretaries and a "do-not-disturb" sign on your door. You'll be the last to know when things are going wrong. It is important that you go round to see how your workers are doing, try to know the names of the people who work with you, answer your own phone and even make your own coffee.

◾Assume Infallibility

When you shy away from your mistakes, you're on the brink of failure. If you pass the buck, blame the economy, the weather and everyone else except you, you're on the road to ruining your business.

◾Play the game close to the foul line

Never achieve success by destroying your own values and principles. Let your customers, staff and the board of directors know you for the right thing.

◾Don't take time to think

Don't fall to the temptation of just focusing on the huge paperwork on your desk. Take time to think things through. When there's a mistake, analyse and evaluate objectively to know the reasons for your mistake. Remember being busy is not the same as being effective.

◾Put all your faith in experts and outside consultants

If you rely heavily on outside expertise taking in the opinion of experts and consultants hook, line and sinker, failure may not be far away. Take responsibility for the future of your business. Do not delegate important decisions to outsiders.

The three other tips are available on www.bookconvo.com. These three tips could set you apart from your competitors.

This article is a divergence from the norm. Over time you must have read books and articles on business success or attended seminars where you are taught how to succeed in business. This article is different. It is straight hard talk based on Donald Keough's Ten Commandments for Business Failure. Donald Keough, a former president of the Coca-Cola company tells you how to fail. Hear him:

"After a long time in business, I've never been able to develop a set of rules or a step-by-step formula that will guarantee success in anything, much less in a field as dynamic and changing as business. What I can do however is talk about how to lose. I guarantee that anyone who follows my formula will be a highly successful loser".

Below are highlights of ten blunders most business owners make all the time:

◾Quit Taking Risks

It's tempting to remain in the comfort zone and quit taking risks when you've recorded some success in your business. When you quit taking risks because you do not want to make mistakes, you're one step away from failing. Mistakes even huge and costly ones are the price you have to pay if you want to remain in business for long. Innovation remains the hallmark of any successful business venture.

◾Be inflexible

Your ability to adapt to changing situations will determine how long you will remain in business. If you are not dynamic and flexible, you would soon out of business.

◾Isolate Yourself

Another sure step to failure is to isolate yourself from staff, managers, customers and distributors. Just sit in the comfort of your well-furnished office with several Personal Assistants, Secretaries and a "do-not-disturb" sign on your door. You'll be the last to know when things are going wrong. It is important that you go round to see how your workers are doing, try to know the names of the people who work with you, answer your own phone and even make your own coffee.

◾Assume Infallibility

When you shy away from your mistakes, you're on the brink of failure. If you pass the buck, blame the economy, the weather and everyone else except you, you're on the road to ruining your business.

◾Play the game close to the foul line

Never achieve success by destroying your own values and principles. Let your customers, staff and the board of directors know you for the right thing.

◾Don't take time to think

Don't fall to the temptation of just focusing on the huge paperwork on your desk. Take time to think things through. When there's a mistake, analyse and evaluate objectively to know the reasons for your mistake. Remember being busy is not the same as being effective.

◾Put all your faith in experts and outside consultants

If you rely heavily on outside expertise taking in the opinion of experts and consultants hook, line and sinker, failure may not be far away. Take responsibility for the future of your business. Do not delegate important decisions to outsiders.


Visit www.bookconvo.com for the three other important tips. Your knowledge of the three other tips may set you apart from your competitors.

funny you

HURUCHI:
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Have you been tinkering with the idea of setting up a bookshop? Whether your idea is borne out of pure love for books or you're just out to make money, you'll find these tips helpful.

1. Location must be strategic

First, you have to bear in mind that at present, Nigeria does not have an impressive reading populace. In my years of book retailing, I have come to realise that those who love to read are often so consumed by their everyday work routine that they hardly find time to read let alone visit bookshops. Thus, it is important that you carefully select the location of your bookshop. I strongly advise that you consider an area with a lot of leg traffic like a major bus stop, or a shop situated opposite the main gate of a tertiary institution, or the main road of a middle-class neighbourhood. The ideal shop should also have some frontage where you could display books and magazines with catchy titles. This is almost like "putting the books to their noses". The whole idea is to enhance visibility and patronage.

2. Identify your niche

Like in every other business, you must know your target market. Your target market would determine the kind of books you'll stock. For instance, a bookshop close to a university may find it appropriate to deal in textbooks and other academic materials since the target audience is the university community comprising students, lecturers etc. A bookshop close to a church with a large congregation may deal in Christian literature and self-help/motivational books. And if you're setting up shop in a highbrow or elitist neighbourhood, you may consider titles relating to business, wealth management, fitness, health and well-being; some popular foreign magazines (e.g Time magazine) and some modern African literature with Caucasian appeal would also not be a bad idea.

3. Ambience

The character and atmosphere of your shop must be appealing. A relaxed ambience would go a long way in attracting patronage. That is the secret behind the success of the malls springing up in major Nigerian cities. People like to shop where the atmosphere is relaxing. You should consider this when setting up your shop.\

It is also important to guard against your books getting dusty. Dusty books are generally not appealing. Make use of transparent plastic covers. This would enable you sell them as new no matter how long they stay on the shelf.

4. Use the Internet to your advantage

Alongside your physical shop, you should also consider having an online presence. This may entail opening an online bookstore with door-to-door delivery service. You may also feature on your website e-version of popular books or other downloadable content. Join major online book forums like goodreads, amazon and bookconvo for book ratings, pricing and to keep abreast of best selling authors and titles.

5. Pricing

A lot of factors come into play when setting prices- rent cost, electricity charges, and labour cost to mention a few. It is therefore important to source your books from publishers and major dealers to be able to sell at fair market rates. Bookconvo Resources offers consultancy services in this regard. You may visit www.bookconvo.com or send an email to bookconvoresources@gmail.com.

Seek the kingdom of God first
Seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness before seeking worldly things and pleasure which in most instances come with anxiety and unbearable level of distress. Obedience to God’s commandments should be the ultimate reason for the thirst and aspiration of every heart.
◾Shun or ignore ignorance.
William Shakespeare once wrote that ignorance is the curse of God while knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven. It’s a sad thing to allow the mind waste away as a result of lack of requisite study. To acquire knowledge, one must study. Unfortunately, most people of our society nowadays are more in tuned to money and pleasure giving involvements rather than acquiring lifelong knowledge. Remember that 2 Peter 1: 2 says that grace and peace is multiplied unto us through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ our Lord. So, I urge you to begin to find out the extent of your ignorance as from now on in order to ascertain what you know from that you do not know.
◾Always Be Prayerful and Exercise Faith
A Christian should pray as well as watch (focus on the Holy Spirit) at all times. Prayer is the only way one can reach God’s throne under any circumstance. It is the act of communing with God. To pray without exercising faith will only result in mere imagination, double mindedness and unsure expectation. A Christian should pray always in the spirit and not by emotional sentiments.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen - Heb. 11:1. So, next time you are about to pray, believe that the Almighty Lord and God, the invincible creator of all things sees and hears every word that has come out of your purified and sanctified heart. The lesson is, “ find the courage to thank God for giving you the opportunity to be humble enough to realize that He alone can provide solution(s) to every of your request; for that’s why we pray to Him.”
◾Praise and Thank God in all seasons
Praise means to call God His names and titles. There are innumerable reasons why a Christian should praise and worship God at all times. Praise and worship Him in truth and spirit for His unending mercy, unfailing love, protection, provision, e.t.c. Praise him when you are happy, praise him when life seems too difficult and unpleasant to bear, praise him just because you want to acknowledge his sovereignty, praise him in all situations; good or bad.
It is in the holy atmosphere of praise and worship that healing, miracles and transformation of the soul begin to manifest, and God’s glory starts cleansing and changing our canal nature into the nature and character of Christ. So, dear friend, offer God the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving and see what He does in your life.
◾Don’t think negatively of yourself
Whenever your heart condemns you, know that God is greater than your heart and that His mercy will prevail over judgment. Friend, hold on to God’s mercy and promises and never allow your heart ache as a result of your negative reasoning which are in most cases buttress by physical and logical facts weigh the promises and unending mercy of God down in your life. Psychologists believe that we have between 60, 000 and 70, 000 thoughts a day and approximately 80% of those thoughts are negative or self damaging.
Negative thoughts about us are in most cases self- talks which are detrimental to one’s self esteem and block God’s divinely given visions. Always remember what God has said in His word; JEREMIAH 29: 11- “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
This discourse is getting interesting, and by the grace of God, this discourse will continue by next week. The peace of the Almighty God is with you throughout this week in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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