Looks like a ok location for a quick getaway-- especially if you're sick of Lagos.
Been to Accra like 3x; and can't honestly think of anything exciting to do. Might as well go to Cotonou
which is closer and cheaper too

Even though, its less developed than Lagos, I'm sure the "feel" and "vibes" would be different.
Different food, different language, different culture, sights; scenes and smells,

Folks, it'd be great to learn about your reviews on hotels; restaurants; and fun attractions.
Holla!

Still on this matter: does anyone know any decent hotels in ther Ikeja region for 10-15k/night.
I'm finding almost ridiculous that I can hardly find anything online- except for the >$250/night options.

Still on this matter, does anyone know any good hotels under 12-15/night in the Ikeja area?

@Savanto: any idea how much it costs to fly into, and lodge, Seychelles?
Do you know what airlines fly there? Can't seem to find any,

Speaking of external programmes, I think the University of London (external programme) has a solid track record in this space.
They've been doing this for decades, and I think their fees should be within your strike zone too.
You should check them out.

MEDICAL TEST FOR IMMIGRATION

Hello all, does anyone have the contact details (address & phone #) for the Abuja hospital listed as one
of the locations for the medical test for Canadian Immigration purposes?

Thanks!

See this Chambers guy oh

His signature says "Good things are not cheap,cheap things are not good.", and he complains about high cost of an MBA?

@ Chamber2, true point about most of the current top shots being locally schooled. Although that's arguable- Subomi Balogun, Fola Adeola, Tayo Aderinokun, Atedo, Segun Aganga - all schooled abroad at some point. Specifically, I think >60% of the top shots in "finance"- IB, PE et al, schooled abroad at some point.

It would appear that times are changing: an MBA from Unilag/LASU might not just cut it in 5-10 years time.
Ten years ago, ICAN would/might have been the ultimate for any finance professional,

That being said, your education can only take you so far. I'm sure most of you would agree that its your combo
of talents, skills, ambition - and luck, perhaps- that would make the difference.

Breezed through the posts by Jarus, Ajanlekoko et al, and you guys hit the bull's eye.

The craze about storming the UK, right after your undergrad, to complete "one MBA" at a school (usually a 3rd-tier one) is not helpful
if you want work in high-level finance. Except you know people well- the "Big G", most importantly.

I think it would make more sense to do a MFin, or something related. You can leverage on that to "get your foot in the door", and do a "proper MBA" in 4-6 years time.

I'm currently in North America, and would like to hear more about how the top IBs in Nigeria are doing. Vetiva, BGL, Rennaissance, ChapelhillDenham et al.

Anyone heard of CardinalStone? I heard they recently raised some debt for Sterling Bank.

Omo, with those pensions accruing billions on a monthly basis, things should be really looking up for finance professionals oh!
Those pensions have to put all that money to work now. Abi?

By conservative estimates, there are at least 50million people, under the age of 30, living in North Nigeria.
Sadly, they are mostly illiterate.

I just got off the BBC website, and saw pictures of these folks destroying the towns and villages in which they live.
I tremble at the thought of such a large, illiterate, population which is quick to violence and destruction.

Hopefully, the Govt would take a cue from this and work seriously on education and job-creation. Hopefully,

Thanks a bunch, folks.

My wedding cometh, more ideas would be appreciated.

Lived in North America for ~ 2years now, and in the course of my work, I've come across several Foundations.

The white man's perspective on money is simply amazing. They work hard and leave the bulk of the wealth to foundations, which are set up for specific purposes. You'd be amazed at how much wealth these foundations control. They've been able to grow their seed money over the years.
Some Foundations and University Endowments here are bigger than Nigeria's biggest banks.

Thankfully, some Nigerians are following this trend. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Tony Elumelu has a foundation. Imagine if all our "big, big men" set up foundations to provide scholarships, infrastructure to public schools, fund research, and even create jobs for the foundation's employees etc.

Its amazing how we have this funny attitude towards acquiring wealth in the midst of so much poverty and suffering, without considering giving back to the society.

@coolgb: do you have any details re Idanre hills? Hotels, Tour guides, Holiday Package Organisers? Thanks.
I did a google search and couldn't find any tangible leads,

@ Siwee, can you send me an email?
Or whats your email Mine is Laajman@yahoo.ca

@Sienna/r231/bukizo- thanks a bunch. I simply have no idea why people just want to post without adding any value.
@breathless- I've heard about Miccom, but my impression is that it is structured as a business resort, with golf being the focus.

Seems like Obudu, Miccom and Yankari are the only resorts in Nigeria- the most popular anyway.

Interestingly, this is a gold mine in terms of business opportunities. Its impossible to think that with our geographical size, and resources, there is little to offer in terms of fun vacations. I "holidayed" in a Carribean country last Dec, and that country's economy was simply built around the tourism business. The only edge the have over Nigeria and other african countries is their proximity to North America- a couple of hours by flight and a couple of hundred dollars in air fares.

Considering that there is a sizeable number of folks in the diaspora who visit home regularly, as well as a much larger fraction of the local population who can afford to visit Dubai/Accra and the likes, there is tremendous potential for fun destinations in Nigeria. Imagine how many couples (newly married and otherwise), could easily pay N50-100k to hop on a plane to a local destination for a week (air ticket, acc'dtn, and feeding inclusive)!!!

With all the billions sunk into Tinapa, is there a reason why Gov Imoke should take that to be his #1 priority? Seeing to it that it fulfills its potential? Imagine the ripple effect on struggling domestic airlines, commerce and job creation

Rare display of brilliance
Little wonder you've racked up >3k posts, this must be one of the more brilliant ones- I imagine.

I'm getting married much later this year.

Does anyone know any fabulous local destinations for a honeymoon??
I do not want to go to Ghana or Kenya or South Africa.
Perhaps, I could go to some other african country, but preferably somewhere in Nigeria.

I've heard the Yankari game reserve is super. Almost the same for the Obudu Cattle Ranch.
But there is no info online regarding Yankari.

Your ideas and responses are most welcome. Thanks!

Hopefully, we can discuss issues relating to finance & investments affecting the Nigerian Scene.

I've noticed the Private Equity space is really evolving in Nigeria. Does anyone have some inside scoop?
Seeing that the credit squeeze is far from over, this presents some opportunities for PE firms,

Siwee16,
Can you shoot me an email @ Laajman@yahoo.ca
I'm interested in a bespoke holiday package some time this year.

Y'ello,
i want to organise my wedding reception in the ikeja area in May.
Just host 20-30 people in a nice and classy location for 2-3 hours.
Is any wedding planner here interested in handling this?

Does anyone use this in Abuja?
Whats the reliability like? 98%, 85%?

Comments please,

Hello all,

I'm looking to use an hotel in the Ikeja region for a wedding reception for 2-3 hours.
Not looking to spend more than 200k for the hall, food, drinks etc.
30-35 person max.

Any ideas folks?

Rather than derail this argument into a tribal argument, we should thoroughly trash out this issue.
Its a common trend affecting our demographic-- I imagine a most of NL users are in the 20-35 year age range, and a large fraction live abroad.

Why is this becoming more and more popular? How can we avoid this?
I imagine its not always the case that complete strangers get married.

I'm more curious about cases where the spouses are somewhat familiar with each other, and their relationship degenerates into this type.

Awaiting your contributions.

Dude, i'm here already.
make we relate offline, laajman@yahoo.ca

Very serious matter; and better appreciated by folks who have worked abroad.

My experience has not been exactly exciting. Interestingly, english is the only language I speak- and I speak it well.
Some colleagues and superiors would use your "thick" accent to try to put you down simply because they might feel
threatened by a bright, black person.

On your part you must simply make the effort to speak clearly, and quite understandbly so, because North Americans
aren't simply used to our accent. The thing is everyone has an accent, and that's the beauty in diversity.

Even George Soros (google him if you havent heard of him), has a "thick" eastern european accent!

@ JOhnkent and davidif-- show us the way na? Me sef dey North America, and have come to discover that "knowledge is power"-- absolutely!

Show some love brovs

Hello Folks!
Does anyone know any Universities in Canada that do not require the GMAT/GRE for
MBA/MSc (Business/Finance related) programmes.


I'd appreciate your feedback. Thanks.


P.S-- I'm interested in only Universities, and not Colleges.

Think twice

Set your heart on an MBA? Philip Delves Broughton suggests a radical alternative: don’t bother

Business schools have long sold the promise that, like an F1 driver zipping into the pits for fresh tyres, it just takes a short hiatus on an MBA programme and you will come roaring back into the career race primed to win. After all, it signals to companies that you were good enough to be accepted by a decent business school (so must be good enough for them); it plugs you into a network of fellow MBAs; and, to a much lesser extent, there’s the actual classroom education. Why not just pay the bill, sign here and reap the rewards?

The problem is that these days it doesn’t work like that. Rather, more and more students are finding the promise of business schools to be hollow. The return on investment on an MBA has gone the way of Greek public debt. If you have a decent job in your mid- to late- 20s, unless you have the backing of a corporate sponsor, leaving it to get an MBA is a higher risk than ever. If you are getting good business experience already, the best strategy is to keep on getting it, thereby making yourself ever more useful rather than groping for the evanescent brass rings of business school.

Business schools argue that a recession is the best time to invest in oneself. What they won’t say is that they also need your money. There are business academics right now panting for your cheque. They need it to pad their sinecures and fund their threadbare research. There is surely no more oxymoronic profession than the tenured business-school professor, and yet these job-squatting apostles of the free market are rife and desperate. Potential students should take note: if taking a professional risk were as marvellous as they say, why do these role models so assiduously avoid it?

Harvard Business School recently chose a new dean, Nitin Nohria, an expert in ethics and leadership. He was asked by Bloomberg Businessweek if he had watched the Congressional hearings on Goldman Sachs. He replied: “The events in the financial sector are something that we have watched closely at Harvard Business School. We teach by the case method, and one of the things we’ll do through this experience is study these cases deeply as information is revealed over time so we can understand what happened at all these financial firms. I’m sure that at some point we’ll write cases about Goldman Sachs because that’s how we learn.” He could have stood up for Goldman or criticised it. Instead he punted on one of the singular business issues of our time. It is indicative of the cringing attitude of business schools before the business world they purport to study.

Over-qualified?

When you look at today’s most evolved business organisms, it is obvious that an MBA is not required for business success. Apple, which recently usurped Microsoft as the world’s largest technology firm (by market capitalisation), has hardly any MBAs among its top ranks. Most of the world’s top hedge funds prefer seasoned traders, engineers and mathematicians, people with insight and programming skills, to MBAs brandishing spreadsheets, the latest two-by-twos and the guilt induced by some watery ethics course.

In the BRIC economies, one sees fortunes being made in the robust manner of the 19th-century American robber barons, with scarcely a nod to the niceties of MBA programmes. The cute stratagems and frameworks taught at business schools become quickly redundant in the hurly-burly of economic change. I’ve often wondered what Li Ka-Shing of Hong Kong or Stanely Ho of Macao, or Rupert Murdoch, for that matter, would make of an MBA programme. They would probably see it for what it is: a business opportunity. And as such, they would focus on the value of investing in it.

They would look at the high cost, and note the tables which show that financial rewards are not evenly distributed among MBAs but tilt heavily to those from the very top programmes who tend to go into finance and consulting. Successful entrepreneurs are as rare among MBAs as they are in the general population.

They would think to themselves that business is fundamentally about two things, innovating and selling, and that most MBA programmes teach neither. They might wonder about the realities of the MBA network. There is no point acquiring a global network of randomly assembled business students if you just want to work in your home town. Also, they will recall that the most effective way to build a network is not to go to school, but to be successful. That way you will have all the MBA friends you could ever want.

They might even meet a few business academics and wonder. Then they would take their application and do with it what most potential applicants should: toss it away.

Philip Delves Broughton is the author of “What They Teach you at Harvard Business School” (Viking) and a Harvard MBA


Is the MBA overrated?

The string of draws and losses is becoming ridiculous.
Apparently Carlo cannot motivate and inspire the players anymore, and want to settle
for "a top 4 finish",

An interesting topic!

Really, it boils down to the individuals. If you know your partners inside out, happen to be on the same socio-economic level,
and see yourselves as partners (not as lord and servant), and most importantly with the grace of the Almighty, there
shouldnt be any problems.

Glad for y'all.
If any of you is in Toronto, or comes around Toronto, drop me a line @ Laajman@yahoo.ca, and let's meet up.

Cheers,

Two sides to this coin:
1. Is Ngozi one of the several africans who like to kick away the ladder after they've climbed up? If she didn't get a western
education, and world bank job, would she be where she is today??

2. If that is the purpose of the univ, and it is made clear before admission, this might be sane. But again, would this amount
to violating the graduands FHRights? I'm sure a court would upturn the Univ's argument.