The Winner In You: Nigerians are not fantastically corrupt

The Winner In You: Nigerians are not fantastically corrupt: Permit me to recall this phrase by the deposed PM David Cameron of Britain which I think Mr President- Buhari should not have accep...

The Winner In You: Nigerians are not fantastically corrupt

The Winner In You: Nigerians are not fantastically corrupt: Permit me to recall this phrase by the deposed PM David Cameron of Britain which I think Mr President- Buhari should not have accep...

The Winner In You: Cherish The Vision

The Winner In You: Cherish The Vision: Not everyone believes in your vision so lets not be deceived. The same applies in your personal life and business. I recall clearly t...

Cherish The Vision

Not everyone believes in your vision so lets not be deceived.
The same applies in your personal life and business.

I recall clearly the first time I tried to resign from my bank job 4 years ago.
My dad just could not wrap his head around it. So after  a very lengthy and unfruitful discussion, he got my dear Uncle B to talk some sense into me.

Anyway, I did not leave then because my dear boss - Aunty T convinced me to stay a little while after laying out a practical savings and business plan.

Recently, someone I respect a lot expressed his discomfort with my job. He just did not how I was coping as a Travel Consultant with all the abnormal Forex fluctuations. I was totally caught off guard, so I listened to his concerns. In the end, it would have been better if he asked me of my plans than to have concluded.

When you are unsure of a matter, ask questions. Seek clarity, keep your judgments at bay.

It is important to do what you love, especially when you are hitting your forties. And I love what I do. This translates to passion. I see opportunities in my business and that gives me room to continually innovate.

Having weighed all risks involved in my line of work, I have developed a series of business models that include reducing credit risks to people and corporations and innovating towards capturing the mass retail. Pardon my big grammar, what I mean is, if more people patronize my services, I can make more money from the 10 kobos.

So all I have to do is find out ways to make more people make their travel bookings themselves.
You see, it is impossible for everyone to share your vision.

Your staff will complain and cut corners but remember, only you are the custodian of your dreams and visions. The best you can do is share them.

You can only grow as far as your eyes can see.

If Judas could not catch the vision as communicated by Jesus, then why get upset?
For every 12, there will always be a Judas.

The onus is on you to set goals and ground rules. Then sanction staff that break those rules.
Maintain efficiency levels at all times and communicate the vision as often as possible and as clear as possible - always.

And, keep dreaming.
Never stop dreaming.
Your growth is dependent on how far you dream.

As far as your eyes can see...

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Till we meet again, keep winning.

Mr David Chiaka

Nigerians are not fantastically corrupt

Permit me to recall this phrase by the deposed PM David Cameron of Britain which I think Mr President- Buhari should not have accepted.

It just dawned on me that this year 2016, I met with only 15% of my clientele to consummate actual financial transactions.

If you understand the travel business, you will know that each transaction culminates to hundreds of thousands, if not millions.

Now, do you know what it means to speak with clients in Owerri, Abuja, Kaduna, Lagos, PortHarcourt, USA, Canada, Nairobi et al and receive funds from them (without physical contact)?

That is trust.

Some did lament about cases of fraud but that was just 0.5 out of 100.

My point is this, do not be deceived by the crowd of Politicians that loot the common wealth of Nigerians.

Of course you have to be careful when doing business in Nigeria. But above all, we are not all corrupt. Many of us are dependable.

I have never been a beneficiary of "money miss road" or free money.
I have earned every penny I make.
So I avoid money doubling schemes that defy common sense/financial logic.

In all, Nigerians are relentless (I know, I am). And we still trust each other to commit funds to people with whom we do not even know how they look like.

So do not be afraid of Nigeria or Nigerians.

We truly are good people, in a great nation.

#GodBlessNigeria

The Winner In You: Stay Away, Am Reading

The Winner In You: Stay Away, Am Reading: The arrow shot by the archer may or may not kill a single person. But stratagems devised by a wise man can kill even babes in the womb. ...

Stay Away, Am Reading

The arrow shot by the archer may or may not kill a single person.
But stratagems devised by a wise man can kill even babes in the womb. 
Kautilya,
Indian Philosopher (3rd century BC)



In all honesty, I have been having a very illuminating moment reading Robert Greene's The 48 Laws of  Power. Contrary to all the hullabaloo on how evil the book is et al, I have come to understand over time that no knowledge is evil in itself. It depends on the application of knowledge.

Its like a gun. It is amoral (neither good nor bad in itself), it depends on who is in possession of it. The individual at the end of the gun will tilt the scale of good or bad.

This book is about retaining power and a chapter of political concern to me is chapter 6. I got to learn of PT Barnum, an American premier shown man in the 19 Century.
He loved to be in the news. He strategized to constantly make headlines.
You see, he ran a circus and then a unique kind of museum.

To him this line of business required attention so he deployed different eye swaying techniques to be in the newspapers. Criticism, reviews etc. If there was no news coverage about him, he would write a critique on his own business.

I asked myself why?
And so I found out.
You see, over the years Barnum had come to understand the power of followership or the crowd.
He understood that to keep making money, he had to keep the focus on him (whether good or bad).

He observed that people lost interest easily so when he found out that an approach was waning, he would come up with another controversial or outrageous report to stir up more interest in his business. This kept money coming his way.

He did this untill he was granted access to perform in Buckingham palace for Queen Victoria.
Can you believe that?

This strategy worked for him and can be deployed by any business person that can think out of the box. Keep the attention on you. Be in the news - ALWAYS.

So for those of you listening to those keeping you away from reading books, my advise to you is stay away from them. Your destiny is as far apart from them as the sun is to the earth. Pick up a book and read. Ideas will come to you only if you dare read.

Unitil we meet again, keep winning.



Thank you,

Mr David Chiaka
Twitter: @MrChiaka

A Case For Fried Eggs

I woke up this morning to a call from a client (thinking about it, its a potential client that keeps asking me for fares to the whole world, but never buying).

So, my client comes to me with how responsible I sound (this gets my spider senses tingling). This sensation signifies an anomaly or an indication of a danger of some sort.

So "Client X" proceeds to ask me what church I attend, and I respond.
He yells "I said it."

I smile, its the typical fraud line.
So he asks me which satellite church I attend and I give him a vague answer - Surulere.
He goes "WOW! You are my brother."

He now tells of a Pastor Blah Blah who is his "Father in The Lord" (we don't use such phrases- nothing wrong, but its not our phrase).
So, Client X asks me if I know his Pastor? And I smile and say "Uhuh"!
The delicious onion in my bread plus egg combo just struck a note with palate and I had to wash it down with some tea.

So I ask him "whats up" and he tells me of how he needs to transfer N600,000 to Bayo (a car dealer in Seme boarder). Very typical of a fraudster to talk to you as though you have been in on the transaction from inception.

Client X then tells me he wants to really help me and for some unknown reason the tea goes the wrong way. I choke on my cocoa (is there a song along those lines?).

At this point, I ask him what he actually needs and he says he wants me to go check Bayo guy at the boarder cos its a lot of money involved, then I say "okay, lets do it like this" (giving him the benefit of doubt). "I  have someone who deals in boarder cars sales and I will gladly connect him with my contact."

Client X says  "no! no! no!" It has to be you, cos I trust your voice".
Just then, Bayo's picture flashes in my head with him holding a cutlass and with me all tied up and ready for sacrifice... T.I.A. - This Is Africa!

The phone went dead.
Looking at my device, I saw my hand on the kill button.

I stared at my empty plate of bread and fried eggs.
I take up my cup of warm cocoa and mutter "THUNDER FIRE ..."
I don't conclude as I see my Pastor stare at me from my subconscious (sorry sir).

I wash down my very dry throat with the rest of my tea, then take up my pen and notepad to put down my 'to do's' for the day.

LESSON FOR THE DAY:
Stick to what you know. That's how to avoid Bayo's cutlass.

Enjoy your day.

Till we meet again, keep winning.

Mr David Chiaka
Twitter: @MrChiaka

Call Me Bond

 · 

I had a very busy week.
The biggest event in the whole of West Africa is holding in Ghana today - Night of Bliss with Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.

As it should be expected, I had been doing everything possible to get a market share of travelers. Besides, na "we-we", so it was more like sorting out the family.

So there I was booking flights and getting my team to check-in all travelers. Our standard email had all details imaginable. From latest time for airport check-in, to the mandatory travel documents eg Yellow fever inoculation card, to Airport terminal to board (shockingly it dawned on me that the bulk of travelers planned to board from local airport for an international flight. And Yes! Ghana is considered international?).

So, there we were late yesterday evening, thinking all T's were crossed and i's were dotted when I got several calls by 6:30am today from Pastor T.

This could not be. "My spider senses were tingling". Gate closes by 6am and flight time was 7am (Medview).

We spoke.
I had to take a seat to swallow what I had heard.

Pastor T (6:30am): Hello Br Dave I left my passport at home. Please... (My mind went blank)

Help me go get it, my driver is at Oshodi. Help give it to him.
Me: Okay Sir! Am on my way.

I put on fresh clothes, got my own international passport. I foresaw I may do some running into the International airport and I did not need any security personnel stopping me due no travel document.

I raced to his place in 10mins, got his passport from his very anxious wife.
"I packed everything, how did this happen?" She said.
I smiled, "don't worry Ma, I will fix this. It's what I do"

I got the GSM number of the driver and in 5mins we were heading to the airport from Surulere. Time was 6:45am.

Ring! Ring!
Pastor T (6:45am): Bro Dave where are you?
Me: Pastor I am with the driver and we are leaving Surulere right now.
Pastor T: Okay, they say I have till 7:20am to board.
Me: Okay Sir, you will get it shortly.
Pastor T: God bless you Br Dave.
Me: Amen Pastor

We drove.
F-A-S-T
Our main exit linking to Ojuelegba Road was blocked - ROAD REPAIR.
Lawanson was our worst nightmare at this rush hour but at this time it was our only route to connect to the Express. I prayed in tongues as I screamed at the driver G-O...!!!

It was free, at Ijesha... Ring! Ring!

Pastor T (6:50am): Br Dave they said I have till 7:00am
(The car spun round).
I shook my head to clear the shock effect.
Me: Okay Pastor, relax! God is in control we will get there as fast as possible.

A voice from inside me screamed "ARE YOU CRAZY? YOU WANT TO BLOW THE EXPRESS TO THE AIRPORT IN 10MINUTES?

Pastor T: Okay, so where are you right now? Are you at the warehouse?
Me: Yes Pastor
Pastor T: Okay thank you.

As I dropped the phone, Babalola (the driver) caught my eye. He heard, switching gears, He swerved from the service lane into the Express and tore through the cluster of buses at Ilasa and blew through Aswani to connect the bridge linking into Airport road.

I prayed as I saw a cluster of cars by 7/8 bus stop.
We passed through amidst horns blazing and swerves.
I checked my watch - 6:55am
My heart beating... I closed my eyes and prayed the only way I knew how (in tongues).

"Do you think he will make it?" Babalola asked?
I replied with my eyes still closed "I believe in miracles, do you"?

Ring! Ring!
Pastor T (6:57am): Brother Dave where are you now?
Me: NAHCO, Sir
Pastor T: Okay, am coming outside

I squinted as we fast approached the NAHCO intersection.
I wondered if Babalola had plans to slow down for the cars moving through the intersection but alas, he was squinting calculatively too.
This was "Fast and Furious" epic finale and I bet he thought he was Vin Diessel.
We blew past as I clutched my car seat as he swerved and avoided a miss.

Phew!!!

The usual traffic through the ascent upward the Departure wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport was dry! Very odd!!!
Lo! I spotted Pastor T as I unhooked my seat belt, unlocked the car door, opened the car door, as the car was grinding to a halt!!! I had seen this in a movie somewhere.

As I stepped out, Pastor T smiled and said "Hmmm, James Bond"!
He took the passport from me as we both ran through Security (with me showing my international passport).

He passed through the checks cos he had already collected the boarding pass.

As I waited for final confirmation, I asked myself, what if I had not pre-checked him in? This would have been a disaster.

I called him in 10mins time and he said, "wow! I made it... You did this.
Thank you, God bless you"

As I strolled out of the Airport, as I heard Pastor T's voice again "James Bond"...

I smiled as I walked towards the car park. 15 minutes from Surulere to The airport... Hmmmm

These are real time events.

Signed

David Chiaka

05 February, 2016