₦airaland Forum

vicmoore:
1st get an architect to perfect the design wit adequate regulations then set out for a QS either...

U can check our profile https://www.nairaland.com/1972824/building-plans-taste

My regards
08062858110

Hello Mr Victor, I have gone through your link and you have nice collections. Pls what do you mean when you say I should first get an architect to perfect the design with adequate regulations then set out for a QS either?

Pls note the following:
1. The first thing we want to achieve is someone who can design exactly that building going by our taste/quality
2. As a professional in this field, what type of roofing is that? Can it stand the test of time or do you advise we modify it?
3. Any other vital information from you as a building expert?

Good afternoon dear Nairalanders. My uncle in US wants to build a duplex in my village in Ebonyi State. He has a land already. No work has been done on the land so far. He believes so much in me to the extent that he has asked me to handle the entire work from start to finish. I don't intend betraying this trust for whatever reason either through price hike or other underground activities. In fact, my uncle is also a proud Nairalander, so he is aware of this thread.

I recently was going through some buildings online, I stumbled on the one attached below with that staircase inside. It is a building in India. You can see their website pasted to the building. I sent it to him and he loves the building with passion. The only issue with the house is that we don't know what the roof top is made of and if it can stand the test of time! Pls can someone help explain the roof top? Or should we use the normal Nigerian roofing (zinc) while maintaining every other thing about the building?

Here are what my uncle wants with this same plan/ design, materials (most likely) and colours.

TOP FLOOR
1. 3 bedrooms (2 plus the masters bedroom, all with modern toilet/bathroom gadgets). Each bedroom will come with big wardrobe that can accommodate other valuables other than clothings alone.
2. A sitting/living room (palour).
3. A reading/study room
4. Gym/fitness room

DOWN FLOOR
1. One bedroom (visitors room with ensuit modern toilet/bathroom)
2. Main Sitting/Living room (palour)
3. Visitors Lounge
4. Store
5. Kitchen
6. Dining
7. Guest toilet
8. Inbuilt swimming pool at the back end of the building as attached below. The person outside must not see the pool

COMPOUND SURROUNDING
1. Overhead water borehole (with 2 big GP tanks)
2. Mini bush bar
3. Side car park (3 to 4 cars) by the side of the building not the compound
4. Interlocked compound
5. Well patterned flower lawns and trees within the entire compound
6. Play ground (kids and basketball)
7. Enough space for about 10 to 15 cars in case of meeting/function
8. Tall fence and good quality gate with a selfcon security house

PS: [/b]The house will still come with the small fence around it but with a well structured sizeable water fountain (like the one attached without causing any flooding or nuisance) in front of the house where that car is parked inside.

[b]NB: Any Nairalander giving a complete breakdown of costs and materials should also include his pay (as the contractor/supervisor). He should also estimate the completion time in months (assuming all the money needed was available). Only authentic materials will be used. No substandard materials will be used and no improvisation.

The Nairalander with the most comprehensive information (exactly this design, may be or not with a slight change of the roof top as earlier stated, most suitable materials and costs estimates) will be contracted to handle this work.

Best of Luck!

Good evening Nairalanders and welcome to the beautiful month of August.

I was amongst the 2014 Batch B corpers who completed their service year on 2nd of July (exactly one month today). I served in Abuja.
Towards the tail-end of my service year, after my usual Friday CDS meeting, I was on my way to the house. I flagged down a taxi going my way. I had just N500 on me, and was deeply thinking what life will look for me that weekend with only the balance I was to get from the taxi guy. When I got to where I was to drop, I gave the young, ebony black, slim Hausa guy in his early 20s the only cash on me (N500). There were two other passengers on board the taxi.

To my generational surprise, the guy handed N900 (500+200+100+100) to me as my balance. I gave him back the entire money and alerted him that I was overpaid. He smiled at me faintly, collected the money from me, sent his hand towards the driver's door, brought it out and handed yet another N900 to me (500+200+200). I counted the money again and sensing that he may not be doing the repeated mistake with his sense of self-worth (common sense), I smiled at him, but this time, with a mild irritation! I gave him back N500 from the N900 he handed to me. I was now left with my due balance of N400 (200+200) since my route's fare was N100.

Lesson
There are a number of lessons from my encounter with this young driver. But one significant thing I learnt is that "Not everybody has the opportunity you have". That this guy didn't go through formal education (like I had the privilege to) was never enough reason for me to path away with his money.

On daily basis as I think, we encounter various opportunities that present themselves as veritable platforms for us to make a life worth living. What we choose to do with these opportunities is better left at the judgment of our consciences. I will stop with the Golden Rule which posits that "Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them To Do To You"

May heaven accept your soul, amen.

The writing is intelligently crafted. When I read to the very last, the Post Script stated that the writer is a die-heart supporter of Mr Buhari. He was even claimed to be one of the nominees for the Adesina's Media role. In conclusion, he was very intelligent to use the opportunity to seek for another appointment.

One thing I however disagree with every writer on this discourse is that there are still thousands of appointments to be made by Buhari. This writer can't tell me that the appointments so far made are based on competence! That is an insult to the neglected region. From the position of the service chiefs to start with, it is wrong to tell me that no competent person can be found in the entire east!

Beware of 2019!

OK. Happy new month

As written by JEFF BOSS, Contributor to The Entrepreneur Media

When you find the right cultural fit, you share common interests with co-workers, understand how your role plays to the overall mission of the organization and believe in the company’s mission so much that the thought of going to work compels you to jump out of bed in the morning. Otherwise, you find yourself hitting the snooze button roughly nine times before throwing it across the room, rolling out of bed and falling to the floor -- thump! -- only to continue snoozing.

From the individual perspective, finding the right fit can be the fuel that ignites personal passion. However, doing so is easier said than done. After all, who doesn’t want to leap out of bed and yodel their way into work?


Fortunately, as an entrepreneur, you have a say in who enters, stays and departs “the wolf pack” known as your company. If you want to bring in top talent and ensure a culture of excellence, here are five questions to ask your next victim, I mean, interviewee, to assess if he or she is the right fit:

1. How do you improve yourself?
Constant self-improvement is how a person stays competitive and relevant, so be leery of applicants who lack the intellectual curiosity -- or the courage -- to personally reflect.

What should you expect for responses? I have no idea, but the following are three that come to mind: 

The novice will ask, “At what?” because he just doesn’t get it.
The amateur will ask for the question to be repeated in hopes of stalling long enough for an answer to come to mind (because he or she really doesn’t have one).
The professional will simply answer the question.
Be fair, though. Remember to expect of others only what you would expect of yourself in answering this question.

2. What do you look for in a company?
I’m not going to lie, this is a tough question to answer for a couple reasons. First, it immediately places the interviewee under scrutiny because he or she wants to say the “right” thing -- but that’s the catch, there is no right answer. It’s a test to see if he or she is willing to be open and honest or if they'll just tell you what they think you want to hear.

Here's the second catch. If the applicant rattles off what they want in their ideal company, you now have the chance to say, “Well, we don’t have that. Are you willing to settle?” Oh, this interview just got better.


3. What are you curious about?
The aim here is to test the interviewee’s intellectual curiosity. Is the person going to watch problems be solved or actually solve them? Also inherent in this line of questioning is humility. If the applicant likes to know everything possible out of a need for control or power then, well, that may not be a good thing.

4. Tell me about your greatest accomplishments.
This is a smokescreen to deeper, more revealing, insights. You, as the interviewer, don't necessarily care what the interviewee has achieved -- it’s how he or she got there that matters. You want to test his or her work ethic, values and belief system.

If, for instance, the applicant finished first in his or her college class out of a total of four people, then the "wow" factor just depleted significantly. The same goes if the interviewee has any ninth place ribbons to share. However, if he or she placed ninth out of 9,000, then that’s a different story.

5. How do you fail?
Another tough one, but very revealing. I've written before how failure is only determined by where you choose to stop, so if there's great consternation or hesitation in the interviewee's answer, it's quite possible he or she isn't comfortable with failure. Of course, he or she may also just be having gas pains. You just don't know.

"Great organizations are built by great people, and if you have the right ones on your team, you can accomplish anything," wrote Jennifer Dulski, president and COO of Change.org. 

Finding the right fit isn’t easy, but when you do, you unlock a whole new world of workplace potential because you have people who want to work and grow the company.

Source: www.entrepreneur.com

Maybe, just meet the white elephant demands of a nagging wife or overzealous girl friend; and they decided to shatter the car of the innocent woman. No peace for the wicked!

"I hate poverty, that is why I own private jet"... Mallam Rochas Okorocha

There is no peace for the wicked... The Book of Peace (Holy Bible)

Congrats to them

10 what
I am quite sure the parents of this dude forced him to study medicine. Look at the outcome now. A glorious destiny just wasted like that.
This reminds me of the movie "3 Idiots". A guy committed suicide at Imperial College of Engineering because of his lecturer. Finally, another guy finished the project the guy had started.
God forbid! My portion shall no man take! Just hit like to say amen...

The LGA according to the police has a system of paying workers through the bank. Why did this guy deviate from the norm? There is more to this robbery story. He should be properly interrogated. The truth may just come out at the fullness of time

We have entered a bus going to nowhere. May God deliver us from this nightmare

The lesser power has finally bowed.

Hh

seunmsg:
OP, why can't you complete your research by also giving us a list/link of the sensible and positive news that was issued by Garba Shehu. This your one sided write up is sensational. Do a better job next time.

Olodo one kobo, What is the topic of my thread? I expected people like you to open a thread on Shehu Garba to counter my points like the great Barcanita will always do. He does not just attcak, he comes with verifiable points. Advise yourself next time, not me.

On May 2015, the Presidency appointed the former MD and Editor-in-Chief of Sun Newspaper, Mr. Femi Adesina as the presidential Special Adviser on Media and Publicity. He is joined in this position by Mallam Garba Shehu as the SENIOR Special adviser on the same Media and Publicity.

However, from my series of observations, Femi (a Yoruba man) is always used by his paymasters to convey or defend extremely useless points from the Presidency, whereas Garba (an Hausa man) is used by the same Presidency to convey more sensible position of the government..

For instance, here are just few points to prove my claims.

1. Femi was used to defend that the presidency didn't accuse the US of supporting Boko Haram (Even when live reports prove otherwise)
https://www.nairaland.com/2474693/didnt-indict-us-over-boko/2#36228784

2. Femi was used to defend why it was justifiable for the president to have embarked on an official US assignment with his son, Yusuf
https://www.nairaland.com/2474777/dont-see-anything-wrong-buhari#36227947

3. Femi was used to convey that the presidency will only probe Jonathan's administration and NOT the "Far Past"
https://www.nairaland.com/2472094/buharis-planned-probe-only-jonathan/13#36220039

4. Femi was used to convey the embarrassment of Patience Jonathan at a VIP lounge in PH airport
https://www.nairaland.com/2473774/did-not-bar-anybody-vip#36213186

5. Femi was used to inform us that probing ONLY Jonathan was not a Witch-hunt
https://www.nairaland.com/2473374/presidency-probing-jonathans-govt-not#36208762

6. He was used to tell us that Buhari and Obama never discussed anything on Same-Sex Marriage (Even when we know the truth)
https://www.nairaland.com/2472485/obama-buhari-never-discussed-same-sex#36193911

7. Femi was used to tell us that Buhari borrowed $2.1 Billion from World Bank to rebuild North East. Borrow such an amount to rebuild a current war zone when there is no end in sight?
https://www.nairaland.com/2469025/buhari-borrows-2.1-billion-dollars/3#36146911

8. He was the same prophet of doom for the dumping of the confab reports
https://www.nairaland.com/2469012/president-dumps-national-conference-report#36142544

9. He was used to defend what the president said to the Nigerian community in South Africa, that "At 72, there is a limit to what I can do"
http://www.heynaija.com/presidency-defends-buharis-age-limit-statement-says-like-old-wine-will-get-better/

10. He was used to tell us that the planned boko haram invasion of VP's residence was a typo error meant for VIPs (Even when the circulated paper stated Vice President...it was never abbreviated...)

The list is endless. I didn't open this thread to crucify him (I am a Yoruba person). My worry is that they keep using him to propagate falsehood while that Mallam (Garba) is used for something more sensible. These Northern elements have only succeeded in using him as a Prophet of Doom on the sensibilities of Nigerians.
My advice is that from this moment onward, let every Nairalander watch out the news from the presidency. If it is something positive, Garba's name will be there. But if it's a bad news like the ones enumerated above and more , Femi's name must be mentioned.

God Bless us All...
Cc: Seun, my tribesman.

Mistake is part of human existence. Everyday, we are bound to making one mistake or the other. However, it becomes very worrisome when this becomes a recurring decimal, especially, to a very dignified public element. From the campaign season to this very moment, the almighty president has consistently embarrassed Nigeria with things that are supposed to be at the finger tips of each primary school pupil. My concern is: does he not have a private coach? It is highly discouraging, demoralizing as well as disheartening to always cover our faces in shame each time the president embarks on any trip as a result of a supposed mistake. One thing is making these constant mistakes and the other is putting measures on ground to avoid a repeat. In the case of our number one citizen, what measures are on grounds?
Here is a collection of some of these consistent mistakes. Please, be free to add yours.

1. Buhari calls INEC " Independent Nigerian Electoral Commission"...during an Aljazeera interview
http://theinfong.com/2015/02/buhari-makes-mistakes-on-al-jazeera-interview/


2. Buhari Calls his running mate "Yemi Osinbade" instead of "Yemi Osinbajo" during the APC rally in Imo state.
http://www.naij.com/359759-buhari-forgets-name-of-his-running-mate-at-owerri-rally.html

3. Buhari calls Germany " West Germany" during the post G7 invitation talk
http://lindaikeji..com/2015/06/nigerians-react-after-buhari-refers-to.html

4. Buhari calls The German Chancellor - Angela MERKEL - as President MICHELLE
http://lindaikeji..com/2015/06/nigerians-react-after-buhari-refers-to.html

5. Buhari calls APC "All Nigeria's People's Congress (ANPC) during his visit to US
http://www.date360.com.ng/2015/07/22/president-buhari-forgets-full-meaning-of-apc-while-speaking-to-obama-video/

Please add yours oooooo with verifiable links. Thanks

Terrible

Bodily exercise profiteth little

Their money, their business. They may even bet their future for all I care

There are so many people with Online Masters from good schools abroad. The policy of some UK universities is that you must have a two week physical contact time with the school in UK before returning to your home country to continue the online programme. I have issues with this NUC pronouncement.
1. Did they just realize about the online degree stuff now?
2. If they want to ban it, what will happen to those who long obtained theirs before this pronouncement?
3. With effect from what date (day, month and year) will this take effect (as it was not stated on the report)?
4. Would there be any penalty for those who have got good jobs with their online certs? If so, to what extent?

As for the Maryam Abacha University, I think NUC should find out what is obtainable in the country where the university is domiciled. I agree with them that certain professional courses are not supposed to be run on part-time basis.

About 4 days ago, the president left for US to honour a visit extended to him by the US government. The president went with mostly politicians from his party to this August visit. The baffling thing is that while the various groups that had closed door meetings with Buhari had seasoned person as the secretary to take down their minutes, Mr Buhari along with his entouraged governors only sat down to listen. No secretary of state to do the work. Who could have taken down the minutes? Mallam Okorocha?

See the reaction of Nigerians on Facebook on this issue.

An angry Facebook user asked if Oshiomole was wearing a SUIT or a COAT... The stuff almost swallowed Osho...

KPMG Nigeria shared this on their linkedin page. Please front page for the benefits of those to whom it may concern. Thanks

Hhh

Nice points. May God forgive all these employers. They are always confused. The point acceptable by company A is a taboo for company B. Why subject job seekers to such misery? Anyway, God pass them!

crispberry:
Dogara is a fool with a capital F

If towing the path that will favour the common man like u makes him a fool, then who are you

Why not tell your gods (Americans) the truth?
Una still carry lie enta America...!
Which Boko Boys are losing when there are countless number of deaths on daily basis?
Anyway, a house built on lies can only be sustained on lies

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said the recent suicide attacks launched by Boko Haram against military and civilian targets were signs that the radical sect was losing the battle to the Nigerian military.

Buhari made this claim in an opinion article published by the Washington Post (read the article here) in the United States, where he currently is on a State visit.

“Already we are beginning to see a degrading of Boko Haram’s capabilities as a fighting force. In recent weeks, it appears to have shifted away from confronting the military directly to an increase in attacks on civilian areas, as we saw only last week when an elderly woman and 10-year-old girl blew themselves up at a Muslim prayer gathering in northeastern Nigeria. We should not be confused by this change, hateful as it is: It does not mean that Boko Haram is succeeding in its aims — it shows that it is losing,” Buhari said.

He explained that the sacking and appointment of new service chiefs and director-general of the State Security Services was informed by the need to re-strategise the fight against Boko Haram. According to him, the new service chiefs will be based in Borno State, where the headquarters of the armed services has been relocated.

He said the scourge of insurgency continued to fester in the past because past administration did not muster enough will to tackle terror.

“Indeed, the failure of governance, it can be argued, has been as much a factor in Nigeria’s inability thus far to defeat Boko Haram as have been issues with the military campaign itself.

“So the path we must take is simple, even if it is not easy: First, instill rules and good governance; second, install officials who are experienced and capable of managing state agencies and ministries; and third, seek to recover funds stolen under previous regimes so that this money can be invested in Nigeria for the benefit of all of our citizens.”

While expressing confidence that the insurgents would be defeated, the President cautioned against expectations of quick decimation of Boko Haram.

He said: “While we work to defeat the terrorists, I ask the people of Nigeria and the world for resolve and fortitude. The campaign we will wage will not be easy; it may not be swift. We should expect stages of success and also moments when it may appear that our advances have been checked. But no one should have any doubt as to the strength of our collective will or my commitment to rid this nation of terror and bring back peace and normalcy to all affected areas.”

Elsewhere in the article, Buhari expressed his resolve to tackle the perennial problems confronting the country. He specifically reiterated his commitment to fighting corruption. He also pledged to instill good governance.

“My determination should not be underestimated in other matters. This includes instilling good governance and tackling the scourge of corruption that has held Nigeria back for too long.”

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/07/boko-haram-is-losing-says-buhari/

Members of the House of Representatives loyal to the Femi Gbajabiamila have written to the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) John Oyegun insisting that party supremacy must reign in the selection of four principal officers in the House.
The group, in a letter to the national chairman, dated July 18, said the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara had defied the party on several occasions before his election as speaker, and was poised to do same in the emergence of principal officers in the House.
The “APC Loyalists” as they call themselves said in the letter copied to President Muhammadu Buhari, chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum Rochas Okorocha and the forum’s mediator, former Speaker and Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waizri Tambuwal that Dogara’s “injustice” in his proposed sharing of the position must not be allowed to stand.
The Speaker has in a letter to the party’s national chairman, dated July 16, said going ahead with the party’s nominees for the four offices amounts to breach of both the constitution of Nigeria and the standing House Rules.
Dogara said to respect the provision of federal character as enshrined in the constitution, South-west and North-east must not produce another principal officers, so as to allow remaining zones have one position in the House’s hierarchy.
He therefore proposed to the party leader a new sharing formula that zones the House leader position to North-west, deputy House leader to North-central, South-south, Chief whip position, while South-east will have deputy chief whip.
Initially, APC had in a letter to the Speaker in June, nominated Femi Gbajabiamila as the House leader, Alhassan Ado Doguwa as his deputy, Mohammed Tahir Monguno as Chief whip, and Paly Iriase as his deputy, which the Speaker refused to read before the House.
That the “Loyalists Group” said in a letter signed by Nasiru Sani Zangon-Daura (Katsina) on behalf of the group and addressed to the party chairman, that Dogara’s letter “was fraught with several fundamental flaws in his analysis and interpretation of the Constitution and House rules.”
The letter reads in part “We stand on our earlier position that whilst we accept and agree with the principle of Federal Character, the Constitutional provisions in that regard are strictly in reference to the appointment to the Federal Executive and its agencies.
“Whilst we maintain that our party’s mantra of ‘Change’ for the growth and development of our dear nation requires that merit should not be sacrificed on the altar of zoning, we have painstakingly ensured that in the selection of our leaders in the House, all zones are represented, except the South East.”
The group explained that South-east zone is excluded by the House Rules from holding any principal position as the only two members from the zones lack “cognate legislative experience” as stipulated by the House Standing Rules.
On the issue of “morality, which Dogara mantioned in his letter, said the Gbajabiamila group, Dogara had before the election rejected the planned zoning arrangement by the party, which compelled it to conduct a straw primary election.
“We find it highly immoral, disingenuous, insincere and downright hypocritical, that someone who rejected and was anti-zoning will now be the person waiving the zoning card when it serves his purpose.
“Mr. Chairman, history beckons and posterity will always judge our conduct and contributions to the development of our democracy. A Political Party is an institution and its supremacy is universal and not a Nigerian coinage.
“It is on record that the Speaker defied the Party going into the elections and he is about to repeat such defiance.
“The party must assert its authority over all its members the Speaker inclusive as none of us came to the House as independent candidates and we subscribed expressly and impliedly to the Party’s supremacy in political activities,” the group said.

http://dailytrust.com.ng/daily/index.php/top-stories/60463-gbajabiamila-to-oyegun-party-must-exert-supremacy-on-dogara-others

What happened?

SAMUEL MADUKA ONYISHI, MON
(THE BEACON OF HOPE)
The Story behind the Glory

Chief Samuel Maduka Onyishi, MD/CEO of Peace Mass Transit, is one of Nigeria’s leading entrepreneurs who could be rightly described as the Doyen of African Entrepreneurs.

Who is Chief Onyishi?

The story of Samuel Maduka Onyishi is the story of an African child who will not allow his background to determine his destiny. It is the story of the dogged spirit of the African child, in his quest to fight poverty to a stand-still. Sam’s story is a bitter-sweet one. A poor child whose father died when he was in the first year of his secondary school, what was a jolly good ride soon became a struggle. He had to start from that early age to fend for himself, his mother and siblings. His childhood psyche was seriously bruised when after his secondary school education, what he saw as an opportunity for him to secure an employment and begin to earn a living, slipped through his fingers because he didn’t have two naira to bribe a messenger to let him enter an office to pick his appointment letter, meanwhile people who didn’t even have the basic qualification got the job.

Disappointed, he came close to tearing his school certificate as according to him then, “What was the use of education?” This statement he withdrew years later when again, his ego was seriously wounded. His junior in primary school who had become a university graduate ordered him to keep quiet because he shouldn’t be talking where educated people were talking.
Like a wounded lion, Sam abandoned his thriving business in Kano state to return to Nsukka to acquire that University education, for which he was insulted. At the University, he did not only acquire a degree, but also started his transport business — Peace Mass Transit, for which he is better known today.

BACKGROUND
Born in Nsukka, Enugu State in November 1963, Sam is the first son in a family of nine. Sam’s father was a bricklayer at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. He slumped and died on the last day of February, 1977. Sam had his primary school education at the Enugu Road primary school, Nsukka from 1971-1976. He then was admitted into Bubendorf Grammar school, Adazi, in Awka, Anambra State. But the death of the father left the mother with no option than to withdraw him from the school for financial reasons and bring him closer home. He then entered Community Secondary school, Mbu in Isi-Uzo LGA of Enugu State.
Barely managing to survive in school because of poverty, Sam had only one pair of white khaki shorts and a white shirt as a school uniform as against two recommended by the school.” At that time, I only wash my school uniform on Saturdays, wear it clean to school on Monday to Wednesday and avoided morning assembly on Thursdays and Fridays because my uniform was too dirty. I used to report to school early those two days, but I would go and hide somewhere until the assembly was over. Of course, I was always punished for coming late. That was not all. I climbed all the mango and cashew trees around our school to pluck their fruits for food and for sale, to supplement what my mother was giving me as pocket and feeding money. I climbed these trees so often that I know those trees knew me by my name.”
At the end of his class 3 at Community Secondary School, Mbu, he could no longer cope with the financial demands and subsequently, had to be transferred to St. Theresa’s College, Nsukka where he felt a lot more relieved as it his home. But as a senior student as he was in class 4, he was expected to wear trousers to school. He had no money to buy trousers, and so he continued wearing shorts until the second term of his final year. It was a public embarrassment!
While in secondary school, Sam had dreamt of being a lawyer, but his poor financial background made sure that dream was never achieved as he could not continue after the secondary school. “At the time I passed out of secondary school, government was recruiting auxiliary teachers in his state. The minimum qualification was five credits in one sitting. So, I applied because I had that. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the job because I didn’t have two naira to bribe a messenger to allow me enter the zonal commissioner’s office to collect my appointment letter. What pained me more was that some applicants, who did not have up to five credits at one sitting, got the job. I couldn’t explain what could have happened. That was my first encounter with what they call the ‘Nigerian Factor’. I was so fed up with education that I contemplated tearing my school certificate to pieces so as to forget all about academics. On a second thought however, I remembered the sufferings and the sacrifices my mother went through for me to go to school. I decided to handover the certificate to her and leave to search for what to do with my life.

ENTRY INTO BUSINESS
His mother gave him N200 which was the bride price of one of his sisters to enable him go to Enugu and fix himself somewhere, but this failed. Back in Nsukka, he tried his hands in many things and at a time, he was a barrow-pusher and a bus conductor. Later, he went into learning a trade after which he could not still go into the business because there was no money. He then went into music as a song writer and singer. His producer went into political detention before his record was released .Out of frustration, he left them. “I traveled to the North, Kaduna state, to serve as a laborer at a place called Ikara. I left my employers in1984 because my salary wasn’t paid in full. I returned to Nsukka fortunately for me, that was when UNN was paying my people some money for our land which was sold to them. My mother received N1200 as her own share and she handed over the whole money to me because she trusted me. With that money, I returned to Ikara and went I to second hand clothe business and later moved to Kano in 1987. By 1989, I had saved up to N12000. With that, I went to learn motor spare parts business for 24 days and then, set up my own. I had saved up to N260000 in my bank account.”

GOING BACK TO SCHOOL
Sam was challenged to pursue university education by one of his village men who ordered him to keep quiet because as an ordinary West African School Certificate (WASC) holder, he shouldn’t talk where graduates like him were talking.
“this guy was my junior in Primary school, in fact, he was two years behind me; even though he was older than me, but he had become a graduate. He told me in public that I should not argue with him because I was only a WASC holder. Can you imagine that? That was when I told myself that I must go back to school, to acquire that University education for which I was insulted. I personally like challenges and this was just enough challenge to make me abandon my business in the north to return to Nsukka. Like I said, I like challenges because when someone delivers a punch on you, the person’s armpit is open and you can always land a shock on the person’s open armpit, although, it depends on how you position yourself and are able to land a cut on the person’s open armpit. I was a boxer in my secondary school days and I know how to give a good punch. I am always guided by this belief in confronting challenges on my way. I got admission to do a diploma program at UNN between 1993 and 1996 and later, a degree program from1996 to 1999. I graduated with a second class upper in Social works and Community development”

THE BIRTH OF PEACE MASS TRANSIT
When he started his lectures as a student, he discovered he had plenty of idle time. To fill that space, he went back to Kano and withdrew that N260, 000 in his account and used it to purchase two buses. He gave one out to another driver and managed one himself. He used the bus to convey passengers after lectures on week days and full time one Saturdays
“my going into transport business was like a film. At a time, I was only doing it to support myself in school. but before I knew it, I had moved from the initial 2 buses to 8. I went into a contract with Nsukka LGA to use their name. my company then was called Nsukka Mass Transit. The number of buses continued to grow that when I was graduating in 1999, I had up to 45 buses.
“I fell out with the local Government because they violated our agreement by allowing another operator to use a similar name as mine. The new person called his Nsukka Urban Mass Transit. I had to change my name to Peace Mass Transit. I applied for a private park and it was granted. So, I owned the first mini-bus private park in Nsukka, Enugu, Onitsha, Aba, Abakaliki, Owerri, Njuba Abuja. Then, it was almost impossible, but God was with me.”

THE BUSINESS GROWS
Peace mass Transit (PMT) from that humble beginning has today, blossomed into not only the foremost road transport business in Nigeria with over 3000 buses, but also the fastest growing Mass Transit business in West Africa. It has grown into what is known as the Peace Group of Companies, comprising among others, Peace quick response Insurance brokers; Peace Petroleum Limited; Peace Micro-finance bank; Peace express service ltd; Peace Capital Market ltd (Stock Brokers); Dealers and Investment Advisers; Maduka Commercial and Futon International Ltd, the sole importers of Peace Hiace Brand of vehicles; Peace Bureau de Change; Peace Aviation Services, PMT Beijing Trade ltd. China.

LESSONS
“One important lesson I want the young generation to learn is that there is nothing like carry-over in success. Success does not necessarily come from one’s background. My father is rich and therefore the richness will come to me or that my mother is very poor and therefore I will be poor, no way, I do not believe in that. Any body can be successful; there is no hindrance from being successful in life.” “I also want the young generation to know that God gives money, through hard work and dedication to duty”
Chief Onyishi reveals that God talks to him in dreams and directs him on whatever he wants to do. “God revealed to me in a dream when I wanted to venture into the big buses that I shouldn’t, that He wants me to concentrate on the small buses.” The directive from God was very instructive because after about 12 years in the business, all the big bus operators left the big buses and came down to the small buses and it’s like every transporter is now doing the small bus business.
One another important lesson of Chief Onyishi is Honesty in Business. He recalled that when he was in Kano, that there was on Alhaji Lawal Kurfi who used to give them goods on credit to go and sell in Lagos. He said, while other people will sell and invest the money and pay instalmentally, he will sell and bring the whole money back to Alhaji and this has made the Alhaji to trust him which aided rapid growth in business, because the alhaji introduced him to more suppliers because of his honesty.

PHILANTHROPY
Recently, Dr. Sam Onyishi dolled out 11 fairly used buses to 10 retiring drivers from the company who had served the company for 15 years. Among the recipients was the widow of a late driver who lost his life during a brief illness after completing the 15 year service mark. The Peace Foundation which was set up in 1998 has empowered over 640 young men and women through start-up business capitals and awarded scholarships to many students in different higher institutions of learning in Nigeria. Sam himself has built a-16 room office block for the Faculty of Social Sciences UNN; built a-10 room administrative block for the Nigerian Police, Nsukka Division; built a hostel block for St. Theresa’s College, Nsukka; he also completed the Nsukka Town Hall which was eventually name after him; Samuel Maduka Onyishi African Entrepreneurship Foundation (SAMOAEF) domiciled at Institute of African Studies, UNN; he has also given scholarship to undergraduates and postgraduates students both in Nigeria and Abroad. Some of such students given scholarship by the Foundation to study Chinese language have been employed by the University to teach Chinese language at UNN. Others are engaged to teach Chinese language in Afe Babalola University, Ekiti. Every year, the Foundation of ‘the boy who could not register for his University education when he passed JAMB’ gives scholarship to minimum of 100 students.

HONOURS
For his numerous contributions to community development, Sam is a recipient of numerous awards and Chieftaincy titles. These include:

 A Doctorate Degree in Business Administration, conferred on him by the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) in 2013

 The National Honours Award as a Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) which was conferred on him by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012.


 The same year, the company emerged the highest buyer of Toyota vehicles in Nigeria and won a brand new Toyota Sport Utility vehicle (SUV) RAV 4, 2013 model.

 In 2012 still, Peace Mass Transit won two out of three Avensis cars from Elizade Motors as a reward for being the highest buyer in Nigeria within the three periods the buyers’ survey was conducted.


 The company started business with two fairly used Toyota Hiace buses in 1994; eight years later, in 2002 it won Silver award from Toyota Nigeria when the company had 200 Toyota buses. The company later in 2005 won a Gold award when it had over 400 Toyota buses in its fleet.

Others are Transporter of the year 1997 by the Rotary Club Nsukka; Grassroots Transporter in 1998 by the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Enugu State chapter; Friend of the Masses by Rotary Club of Enugu; Community Service Award by the University of Nigeria Alumni Association; Friend of Students by the SUG of UNN.
He has also been variously honoured by traditional institutions with many chieftaincy titles