₦airaland Forum

BlueRayDick:
Wike wey fit bring cutlass come the press briefing

This looks like a joke for a comedy sketch until you realize Wike has actually done this before at a live press briefing... With a live band to booth.

.

raumdeuter:
From time in Nigeria early 2000s Access Bank does this Bond thing that you cannot leave them for a certain number of years or you pay a sum back. And many have always argued that such violates labor laws

If the staff decides to get another job what are your recourse?

An enforceable clause. Example: "Cost of training for 6 months is capped at #4 million. Onboardng for basic recruitment for successful candidates is XYZ amount monthly renumeration for a period of 1 year. Onward review occurs at the end of stated period and successive salary review.
Trainees who break this term and seek other employment before the expiration of this contract are required to pay 90 percent of the training expenses."
Guarantors are required to sign and a period of 7 days for review so the excuse of signing under duress doesn't come in.

At that point, it's your right to enforce it.

raumdeuter:
I have a few guys in Tech in Nigeria currently who are having issues, They get smart guys train them up and in 6months when they are starting to get really good, they jump on a remote gig and leave my guys company.

Put pen to paper. It's not illegal to do it. Have option of first refusal and a cap of engagement period before they can leave. Some agencies are doing it. Absolutely above board.

Say two years on full or part-time engagement.

It's the same thing VCs like Y Combinator do: Take risk with early-stage startups, get the right of first refusal to further funding rounds with a cap on participation. It's even right there on Y Combinator's website so it won't be wrong for others to emulate this. After all, you are investing in their upskilling so should get some sort of equity you can cash in.

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If your guys are into web development then I have a few guys they might like. They can do background checks and all to vet too.

raumdeuter:
When I had that discussion with my friend over Xmas some of the solutions we think can work is if some Nigerians in corporate world in Nigeria and Diaspora get together

1. Go to a University campus outside Lagos preferably OAU, Liaise with the University that I will offer to pay a part of the student school fees, I will have a lab filled with laptops and trainers for different in demand IT skills. An initial 8weeks boot camp with many real world scenarios

In exchange get them jobs which they can coordinate with their school work, and pay them. They have a bond time where they have to work with the organization, after the bond period you can leave or stay

Tying it to the school setting ensures they are serious minded people, they are captured very young at the age of curiosity and fun not when you are doing things because you need to survive. Also we can use the data submitted to the school to track anyone who tries to be steal asset or data

The choice of outside Lagos to stay away from typical Lagos distraction

Note: A big percentage of Indian IT guys come from 1 school (cant recall the name of the school)

I believe if Nigeria churn out 50K new Tech guys yearly. We will dominate Africa, and soon overtake the Asian countries

Probably another reason why I am particularly excited about Bosun Tijani's plan even though implementation might be a challenge.

I'd say we are churning out talents at a fast rate but we need to specialize into other subspecialties. Everyone wants to do UI and Frontend. High-tech like Cloud Computing, DevOps e.t.c should get just as much attention too.

And for the ones who are already skilled, facilitate their absorption. Due the due diligence then recommend or act like middle outsourcing companies just as Filipino agencies do for Australian companies.
The skill isn't the problem. Tech upskilling awareness isn't too. Networking and absorption are.

raumdeuter:
I think Nigerians are doing okay in the Tech and outsourcing world for now.
Over Xmas I had this conversation with a friend and we came to conclusion that the fastest way to grow Nigeria was to develop outsourcing. East Asian countries have the jump on us

India has like a 20yrs headstart over us and China maybe like a 50yrs headstart. What you will call the Tech revolution in Nigeria started less than 10yrs actually closer to 5yrs. In 2010 If you mention you have a Developer based in Nigeria people will look at you funny, but nowadays with the growth of online training platforms, the knowledge is spreading faster. And more Nigerians are tapping into it. In the US, At a very big organization I was working, I sent an email to a Distribution list and one Nigerian guy came to look for me cos my name was Nigerian the first he is seeing in the Tech side while we had over 300 Indians. Nowadays Nigerian names are getting more and more common in these space

[b] I still think very few people are into Tech in Nigeria compared to those countries. The more Nigerians get into that space the more we establish ourselves as a force in it. Because we have what Indians don't have which is determination and die there mentality.

[/quote]Still, our numbers are high population-wise. In the last five years, if you find a young Nigerian with a backpack, there's an 80 percent chance, he has a laptop in it. And no, he's not into fraud like the prevalent perception would have everyone believe.

We have some natural disadvantage. In the world of outsourcing the biggest currency is Trust and perception.
An average westerner hears India/China and thinks smart, They hear Nigeria they think something else. If you are a white guy calling your bank and their call center is in India/Phillipines you will be like Shitt I have to deal with terrible accent, Ifyou call and hear Nigeria your mind goes to something totally different. It takes a while to correct that.

I have called Microsoft M365 o troubleshoot a license issue and the rep who picked it a smart girl that sounded young with a familiar accent, Pa pa pa in a few minutes figured the thing out and resolved it. After the call I asked for her name and I wasnt wrong she is Nigerian based in LAGOS!!. If I am to hire someone I will get her immediately

My point exactly! We have the talent but our bad reputation precedes us.

As an experiment to prove this point, if as a Nigerian resident techie, once you change your LinkedIn location to South Africa or even Barbados, see the offers pour in, or quicker responses. Of course, this is dishonest and burns in the long run so won't do it or advise anyone to as it'd only reinforce the stereotype of dishonesty when it blows back.

To counter this, that's where networking and recommendations come in as I have stated. Many of the techies working remotely for foreign coys or providing services part-time or freelance from Nigeria got them through recommendations. Holds true for people in my close circle too. Higher-ups with more influence who recommend and stand as sureties for these Nigerian talents.

That whole demography of Nigerian techies can't be horrible and dishonest. The lousy dubious minority just seem to get more press than the majority.

Somehow I wish it were possible to embed individual Nairaland comments as one can do with individual tweets.

The back-and-forths so far about outsourcing services and the future of work from the everyday Nigerian (and African) perspective make for truly robust anecdotes with various key points touched on, particularly about skill competence and the place of networking.

"to being unable to produce documentation in simple English"

This part I don't understand. And if you take a detour to writing gigs outsourcing platforms, it's filled with offers by these people offering to write, edit, and transcribe for less than peanuts just to frustrate more competent people of other nationalities. Probably worse than Filipinos on this scale.

Hats off to Nigerian writers who still try to get gigs from these platforms or depend on it for living.

DeadPresidents:
Not his fault really. Tech is a competence based venture and if you display competency, you will get an opportunity especially seeing how most tech companies care about Diversity and Inclusion for underrepresented groups. Truth is, you just don’t have many talents at the level of competency that is required.

I have 2 friends in Cloudflare, 1 mutual in Apple, 2 in Amazon. I can tell you these guys are some of the most intelligent and competent engineers I’ve met in person.

Valid point and that's the good thing. But most times the only way to show competence is getting on that stage, or getting into that room to begin with.

While recruiters on LinkedIn would look at your portfolio and all of that, the influence of a higher-up in the ecosystem can't be understated. That's why it is often stated that networking is just as important as being skilled.

In October, I mentioned a Tech Week fest in one of the SS states and how by November, the representatives of Silicon Valley companies who were a part of it had already begun recruiting some talents in that state due to the influence of a higher-up who recommended them. He let these talents into the room and they proved their competence.

Would they have gotten these roles regardless? Yes. But a deliberate facilitation made it easier to get into the room.

You are a product of this system and you know well enough that talent isn't lacking - networking is. Sometimes networking aids visibility.

BlueRayDick:
When u have a president of the most populous black nation making unguarded utterances like the one blow, what perception do u think the outside world would have about Nigerians?

Exactly! That's why I stated our bad reputation precedes us.

Another reason for my lengthy post last night about the mental conflict about civic duty, self-preservation, and masked patriotism of posting about Nigeria's challenges publicly on my accounts on Facebook and Twitter because I know the optics hurt me and others more in a very competitive international talent market. Yet I know it's still wrong not to lend my voice loudly as I know I can. It's the dilemma of the Nigerian situation.

MumEmdy:
See me crying and shouting why why see innocent beautiful kids why involving them your fight??

Parents should start teaching their children the stigma and dangers of commiting suicide cause this is becoming too much for crying out loud.

Amina God will require the blood of this innocent kids from your hand, I truly don't want to know what transpired blw you and your husband. Rest in peace to these innocent beautiful kids

A woman can sacrifice anything to get at a man. Women are vindictive to the point of illogicality when they want to be.

Yvonne Nelson to get back at Sarkodie didn't mind ridiculing herself as a serial abortionist.

Tonto Dike didn't mind lying that she paid her own brideprice to get back at Churchill.

A woman doesn't mind setting a house she built with her husband on fire just to hurt him.

Women can be very vindictive, so when you notice women with these obvious signs, flee for your life.

BlueRayDick:
As per the bold

1. Indians have the numbers and they are one of the most travelled set of people on this earth.

They are about 6 times our population but control 67 percent of the market while we don't control up to 5 percent of the market.

2. Indians live this kinda communal lifestyle/they have camaraderie spirit amongst themselves. Indians patronize fellow Indian companies, they literally watch out for their countrymen anywhere they are. I've seen them exhibit this over and over again.

True. That's where diaspora influence comes in.

For example, Ime Archibong is of Akwa Ibom extraction, but has been Mark Zuckerberg's second in command for years. As at last year, he was VP of Development at Meta, and Head of Messenger, yet he's done nothing to facilitate Akwa Ibom (and, by extension, Nigerian) tech talents into being absorbed at Meta.

Heck! Kenya had to win Meta content moderation gigs for Africa which is something he can influence. If he were Indian, I know he'd bring other Indians into the loop.

3. Indians actually take work serious. They work like machines and do not believe in explaining ur way out of a disappointment/ failure to meet deadline. They believe in results.

A little harsh on the Nigerians I see on Upwork and LinkedIn putting in the work everyday. Maybe our tacky reputation precedes us but Nigerians in the ecosystem have crazy work ethics.

nihilistjnr:
Cost of outsourcing to India is becoming almost comparable to local hires as their standards of living improve. In big corporate,the main Indian sweatshops like TCS and Infosys still hold sway, but some smaller businesses have started moving to Eastern Europe or other places in South East Asia

In 2017, I was working for a British consultancy that had ALL their tech talent in Vietnam, and spent a couple of weeks in Ho Chin Minh doing work for a British law firm.

In 2022, I was working with 4 development teams all based in Ukraine. We dey do sprint ceremonies with automatic rifles visible in the corner of some screens as all Ukranian males of a certain age had been conscripted. At least twice, we had to end meetings when air raid sirens went off.

Right now I'm working with Bulgarian and Russian full service consultancies to deliver some work for one of the top 2 phone makers in the world to support expansion into Australia.

Big 4 consulting hasn't been left out - KPMG and PWC are pushing Nigeian talent heavily to their UK engagements. They've also been doing near-shoring in Ireland for years.

The advantages the Indians have is political clout. Rishi Sunak is married to the daughter of the owner of Infosys for example, Tata controls IT infrastructure for the BBC as another example.



But the Indians reputation of skill is s myth. I've worked with several from the indian body shops, and most of them were not very good. As a matter of fact, I once got hired by TCS to work for a large pharmaceutical client, because of communication issues - nobody at the client could understand their thick accents, and so someone there I'd worked with before said guy I need you again.

Thank you! We are just as skilled here, and it irks me that we aren't having a lion share of the outsourcing market. India was already a top outsourcing destination before Rishi Sunak though, and even more so for Silicon Valley companies.

Just last year, Microsoft had to downsize and that's when I discovered most of its Github top engineers were Indians. Imagine Indians being almost entirely responsible for maintaining the dependencies of millions of websites, web app, and programming languages. Crazy.

I fully expect the Indian market share in outsourcing to continue to drop, slowly but surely. They'll most likely always still dominate, but smart money knows you can find a lot better for a lot cheaper elsewhere.

Sadly, Nigeria has an uphill task at hand to really measure up to India on this scale.

As at 2022, India had the cheapest internet in the world, second only to Israel. As at 2023 and last week, it's still top 3.

It's tackling its electricity challenges. India is producing electricity in Gigawatts while Nigeria last peaked at ~ 10 megawatts years ago.

Plus the Indian government continually engages these countries in trade deals, gives tax breaks to tech companies, e.t.c. to lure them.

These combine to give the Indian the advantage. Cheap and constant electricity, and cheap internet means tech-wise, the Indian has an advantage to rake up new tech skills quicker.

During the Lockdown, tech courses I took on Coursera and Futurelearn were filled with Indians, and only occasionally would I stumble on a Femi or Dekunle.
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Unlike Indians in the diaspora, Nigerians abroad in the tech ecosystem do not connect Nigerians on the continent to gigs. The Yorubas do this to their credit, but others have to step up.

Most times these companies just need credible referrals for one to get these gigs.

joseph1832:
the solution to insecurity is one even your messiah, Peter Obi doesn't have, as he's yet to criticise Simon Ekpa and his IPOB/Autopiloters, who have almost crippled the economy of the South East, so let's leave that aside.

As for those statements. Pretty random statements as even I can say I can't be a Nairalander moderator because seun pay chick feed.

I can even say Osun allocation is small change to Me. It is what it is, talk, nothing more, nothing less. It is because Tinubu made those statement that's why you and others are dancing skelewu allover it.

This is why engaging some of you in Nigerian sociopolitical debates is tiring and fruitless.

Buhari and Tinubu are a part of the APC, and have succeeded each other as President, but somehow, a Peter Obi who left public office 10 years ago is the one to kick.

Vacuous, baseless Red herring arguments is what you always use with an intention to distract. Your hope is we'd deviate to analyse Peter Obi's talking points so it'd help you achieve your predetermined end - taking attention away from Tinubu and the party you support in power.

Even Femi Adeshina as brash as he is stays more on topic than you do.

I never meant to debate it with you but I couldn't help luring you into revealing for all to see the typical mindset and modus operandi of the average Tinubu apologist.

DissTroy:
Completely different topic, but while doing a research for a tech article, I found out of the 190+ countries in the world, India controls a whooping 67 percent of the outsourcing services and jobs market. 67 percent!

India has become the preferred destination for most companies and people around the world seeking to get a seeming infinite source of affordable talents. 67 percent is a lot and it's sad that Nigeria isn't competing for the share of this enough when we can. Think employment boost and foreign remittances.

Another topic I find puzzling: Australia seems to prefer outsourcing writing, editing, and transcription jobs to Filipinos even though Nigerians on the market speak and write better English on the average.

Most of the middle recruiting agencies for these service are in the Philippines itself who in turn outsource to Africans (and Nigerians) for way less than the premium.

Just one of the ways our bad reputation robs Nigerians of opportunities. The more our reputation continues to take hard hits, the more we'd lose opportunities.

Completely different topic, but while doing a research for a tech article, I found out of the 190+ countries in the world, India controls a whooping 67 percent of the outsourcing services and jobs market. 67 percent!

India has become the preferred destination for most companies and people around the world seeking to get a seeming infinite source of affordable talents. 67 percent is a lot and it's sad that Nigeria isn't competing for the share of this enough when we can. Think employment boost and foreign remittances.

joseph1832:
which Tinubu antecedent proved he's detached from the realities of everyday Nigerian?

2018: "Osun allocation is chicken change to me". Proof he'd never value the prudent use of relatively lean state resources.

2022: " Na statistics we go chop?"
"What concerns Nigeria whether dollar rises?"

Asked about the solution to bolstering security: "We will recruit 50 million youths into the Army, and feed them agbado and ewa".

joseph1832:
is it today Nigerians started suffering? They should take a hike or go and pray 5 times a day. Tssk.

You know this yet you supported Buhari twice and voted in Tinubu whose antecedence proved he was detached from the realities of the everyday Nigerian?

BlueRayDick:
As per ur last paragraph , attached is a screenshot of APC in 2022 ( 7 years after Buhari took over power ) accusing Jonathan of incubating Boko Haram ; yet u Alhaji monerozi is being sensitive and don’t want me to mention Buhari for his role in incubating his Fulani brothers and their atrocities not only in the north but even farther south .

For 8 years under Buhari, GEJ's Facebook posts on alternate weeks used to be him encouraging Nigerians to pray for the country, wishing it well, while asking us to hold still as the country gets better, even as he got dragged through the mud by the APC for 5 years.

I just checked his page now. He no longer cares or posts about the Nigerian situation. Just updates about his work and wishing his Nigerian friends on their birthdays well while those who blamed him for every woe in the country fill the comment section with, "Sir, say something. We are dying. Tell Buhari (now Tinubu) what we are facing", and he ignores all as he should.

iamoyindamola:
Exactly I was looking at the shockwave here
It was massive, I dan Google tire of gas can produce such because it affected almost 5 different locations and there was no fire
This incident is just like ikeja bomb blast
Those in oworo, bariga even gbadaga felt the impact

I doubt it can be like Ikeja bomb blast. I doubt any explosion in Nigeria in the last 3 decades compares to Ikeja's.
Folks as far as Ifo in Ogun admitted they felt it. Maryland was a mess.

Ibime:
Few brief posts here and there won't jeopardise your custom so far you don't crowd your page. It may actually set you apart as trustworthy and conscientious and may even increase your custom

Such things only boosted the careers of the likes of Pius Adesanmi, Jarus and co rather than derailed it.

True. I've resolved to do so more in 2024, but mostly from economic perspectives and metrics comparisons.

Late Pius, Jarus, Tosin, Ademola and the likes built their brands on social commentaries and never had to be cross-border service providers or collaborators so the optics mattered little from that standpoint. But maybe I'm biased in favour of tech and areas I mentioned above.

Maybe the problem is really the shame that my country has to deal with these issues in today's world. Shame because I am more inclined to be introspective naturally.

Another annoying part about these unfortunate incidences is, some of us are caught in the midst of patriotism, self-preservation, and civil responsibility to speak out.

I've got a thousand issues I want to address about the Nigerian situation on my Facebook and Twitter timelines, but as a remote service provider and someone seeking to collaborate across border lines, I know I'd be shooting myself in the foot by shitting on my country like I should because of the optics.

How do I marry complaining about the prevalent epileptic power supply, the unreliability of ISPs, insecurity, and endemic corruption at all strata of our national life yet seek to work remotely and want to be trusted as a Nigerian while advising people in these places to outsource to more Nigerians and even pitch their tents with us?

How do I rant on about the pervasive corruption yet not expect these people to question my integrity as one in the system?

How do I marry national pride in the comity of internationals where we are discussing about advancements in digital tech and other areas when a quick perusal of my timeline depicts me being a citizen of a seeming Banana Republic?

So, here I am waking up daily with lengthy drafts I know I can't post on my time save for the nested comments of some Facebook page or group, and at intervals on the pages of the EPL Chatroom thread on Nairaland, yet my timeline doesn't reflect the reality my countrypersons rake on about daily.

I convince myself it's patriotism - national pride, but the voices in my head sneer knowing DissTroy is avoiding the obvious - it's more, and it's also about self-preservation so the picture of my country I paint right on my own timeline doesn't hurt my chances.

And I feel this raging conflict everyday even when folks ask me to write more about such issues when they encounter my back-and-forths in the abovementioned corners of the internet. But how do I really explain to them why I am writing only about tech and life and ideologies and pictures when I possibly can address my country's sociopoliticoeconomic issues too on my timeline?

This is the dilemma the Nigerian situation has put me in even as I draft another lengthy reply in a WhatsApp group I know would never go on my timeline. And I know I am not the only one in this fix. Damn, Nigeria!

BlueRayDick:
U will be surprised the Egyptian armed forces will rescue Sallah before Nigerian authorities even finish their emergency meeting

Like the Wagner Group rescued Mikel's father in 2018 on Abrahamovic's orders before our security forces could finish drafting their shitty press releases.

More shame for us.

Funny that Nigeria is also currently bidding to host AFCON.
Imagine Salah and Onana disappearing with their team buses in the suburbs of Abuja...

akwesenana:
You na Barca fan?

You are probably one of the few active persons on this board who doesn't know I'm a Culer and Messi fan(atic?). I just frequent that other thread more now since the build-up to the last elections.

A40:
People that can drone an innocent village in the night in Kaduna, talk nonsense about the first lady on Twitter and see if DSS will not show up for your doormot are the people that can't find these kidnappers?

Everyone knows what they're doing. Let them keep up the fooling

Exactly why I find the ridiculing of the technological know-how of our security forces in the last two pages funny.

If your phone gets stolen today, cough up less than #60,000 to the Police and it'd be recovered in a week or two as long as it's switched on.

You need cell towers signals to make mobile calls. ISPs can triangulate these signals to the nearest 100 meters. It's how David Hundeyin was able to geolocate Uduak Akpan, the killer of the job seeker on Twitter, through his contact at Airtel. He also had insider information of call logs on his SIM.

You think our security forces can't do this if a random Nigerian resident in Ghana with a tiny budget can pull these strings?

Like Book Haram, the kidnappings are a conspiracy between the perpetrators and those who have the power to stop them. Only willpower is lacking.

Sportsweb:
Why my Barca friends ain't celebrating Leo Messi FIFA award win na

We are already exhausted from partying all night on Twitter and getting inebriated on the free-flowing intoxicating tears of the other guy's disciples. Hungover, we are.

When Sheik Gumi became the spokesperson for bandits and kidnappers even warning of grave consequences if they were treated violently yet the Buhari administration looked the other way was the period kidnapping became an explainable and excusable vice in the public discourse.
State governments began negotiating ransoms for release of school kids and public officials.

Sheik Gumi still walks free, and those kidnappers got even more bolder, with new converts getting more ideas.

The foreign media is going bunkers with negative reports about Nigeria, and you can be certain our FDI (for this quarter at least) would be tanked.

[quote author=GrammarNazi1 post=127967942][/quote]Keep it coming!
No breathing space for Camel boys on the internet.

What's a lion to a camel?

What's a Leo to a Pendu?

Trevor012:
Imagine writing all these epistles because of an of award won fraudulently 😂😂

I was awake for most parts of last night binge-watching videos and soaking in the disciples of the other guy's tears on Twitter.

Copa America would be here by June, and from all indications, LM10's team are the favourites. And a trophy here and there with Inter Miami.

We go for the 9th Balon d'Or. Just because we can.

Bow to His Royal Magnificence!

At the risk of veering away from a topical sociopolitical issue, Football's very own god, Leo Messi, won Fifa The Best last night. And we are all not going to act like greatness wasn't on display again. The sweet spot being he was also voted by:
- Real Madrid's Valverde and Modric, his archrivals in club football, and;
- Mbappe and Portugal's coach, his rivals in international football.

You know who has a closer link with these people? The other guy. Yet they voted Messi as the Best. Not like it needed proving.
You know why? Of course, you know why. It's the same reason the Earth stopped revolving for hours last night, why asteroids in outer space were frozen in motion, the universe stopped expanding for a few hours...

Last night, the universe kept vigil. I did too for most parts. And for the hours it lasted, a god descended from his throne to walk amongst mere mortals; humbling himself to revel in their praises and accept their awards.

Last night, Lionel Messi rekindled humanity's belief in the divine, again. All hail the King!