Category Archives: Parenting

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, Excel-VB Solutions, My DN Travel News, My Ideas for Making Nigeria Better, Parenting, Recommended Websites & Articles, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

Developing Positive Income Earning Competence In Nigeria Is The Key to Eliminating Corruption Amongst Nigerians [Case Study: Aljazeera “Africa Investigates” video report titled “Nigeria’s Baby Farmers”]

March 8, 2016 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

If you have not yet watched the Aljazeera “Africa Investigates” video report titled “Nigeria’s Baby Farmers”, starring Ghana’s famous under cover journalist – Anas – and Rosemary an investigative journalist from Nigeria, then click here to watch it now. The revelations of the sickening yet vibrant trade in babies, actively engaged in by hospitals and clinics, in connivance with the country’s infamous baby factories, are simply heart breaking.

However, for me, this video report further reinforces my belief that equipping as many members of society as possible with competent income earning capabilities, is a critical requirement, if they are to stand a chance of resisting financial pressures in their lives.

And that is the problem we face in Nigeria today.

What we see today – represented in the above mentioned video – is the irrefutable evidence of the fact that:

1. Many Nigerians lack the income earning competence to stay away from crooked ways of making money.

2. And for some who possess skills adequate to earn income for themselves, they engage in naughty corner cutting due a lack self-confidence!

They do not believe enough in the abilities they possess, to focus on using them to earn a living. This is often coupled with wrong – even warped – values they grow up having, from observing others who are misbehaving in society, without getting punished for it.

3. On top of all that, there is the reckless greed and need to own and spend, which drives many in Nigeria, due to the showy culture we have.

(Almost) everybody wants to keep up with the others who seem to be doing well. So, people live desperate lives going out of their way to get more money to outdo one another – even if they have to do dishonest and criminal things!

That’s why when someone proposes a dishonest or criminal/illegal way to earn extra income almost without having to lift a finger, they readily go for it!

The above are just a few of the reasons I vowed LONG ago, to invest all of myself in PREPARING my own kids to arrive adulthood VERY differently from me, and most others I’ve seen.

This was especially after I found myself enduring serious hardships – despite my demonstrable competence – at the hands of those who chose to be crooked, as I went about my affairs as a young adult.

I saw and experienced it in paid employment. But that was mild, compared to what I later saw and experienced at the hands of MANY, after I quit my job to become self-employed.

The sad thing is that it has progressively worsened, with seemingly no sign of improvement in sight – at least not in the near future.

So, I’ve been practicing what I preached in an article I first e-published on 31st July 2003 via www.spontaneousdevelopment.com titled “Pre-Marital Sex Amongst Teenagers – A PROPOSED SOLUTION“

But contrary to what the title suggests, the ideas I shared in that article actually apply to everyone.

If every member of society is helped to develop the needed competencies to overcome the socio-pyschological pressures mentioned above, they will be less willing to engage in naughty acts.

The foundation that needs to be laid is that of income earning competence.

Without it, nothing else can work. I’ve been practicing what I preach with my own kids and in my own circle of influence with other adults and youths.

It is why I have been helping EACH of my kids develop his/her passion into a micro business that generates income. I’ve shared many stories of the progress they are making in past articles on this blog.

But that’s been mainly with regard my 3 boys, supported by their 2 younger sisters.

In the last month or so, I’ve been especially excited to be working directly, and closely, with my 10 and 7 year old daughters to launch their Cookies baking project using our family’s trademark No-Oven Charcoal Stove baking system.

Two weeks ago, they made their first batch of cookies and sold N110’s worth at an event they attended with cousins and friends. Then last week, they made Chin-Chin as well as Cookies – and made another sale, with the buyer asking for a pack of 10 chin chin sachets.

Just this morning, I joined them, along with their brothers, to bake home made bread – using a French chef’s recipe we saw on Youtube – and it tasted great.

Then they went out to give taste samples to their grand parents and customers. When they returned, my 10 year old daughter came up to me and asked when I would be printing the labels for the packs, as I promised. I assured her I would.

On one night we’d gone out, she’d asked if we could market her products to people working in offices and I’d told her “Of course”. I could see from the look in her eyes that she had tasted blood. And her questions showed that she was hungry to do more.

Their Facebook page (Temi and Oluoma’s No-Oven Charcoal Stove Cookies) tells their story in photos and words, and at some point, videos will appear.

Indeed, we’re already creating home study demonstration videos that interested persons can buy to learn how to make the same products on their own, using our low cost techniques.

Once a person discovers a passion that makes him/her willing to do what it takes to get the results s/he wants, in a way that is adequately financially rewarding , s/he becomes self-driven and MUCH more difficult to distract.

This is my purpose with my kids.

And I believe it is the kind of purpose other parents should have for raising theirs as well.

As for the government, they need to create programmes that encourage and encourage people to become micro-entrepreneurs – even as they hold on to day jobs.

That way, they will be sure of augmenting whatever salaried income they earn, in a way that prepares them to deal with unexpected financial challenges, as well as the inevitability of retirement, or forced exit from paid employment.

It is my considered opinion that the above is the most viable way to get most people to stop looking for short-cuts in life.

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, Excel-VB Solutions, My DN Travel News, My Ideas for Making Nigeria Better, Parenting, Recommended Websites & Articles, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

Temi & Oluoma’s No-Oven Charcoal Stove Cookies [Facebook page now LIVE!]

February 28, 2016 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

‘Temi (10) & Oluoma (7) are sisters who (with support from their family) use creative low cost recipes & a charcoal stove pot to bake cookies for sale.

This micro business venture began as a “skills acquisition project” Temi asked their Dad to let her do, after seeing videos of home made cookies baking.

Click here to continue reading…

My DN Travel News, My Ideas for Making Nigeria Better, Parenting, Self-Development

Teach Kids to Develop (& Monetize!) Market Relevant Abilities EARLY In Life [VIDEO DEMONSTRATION: After Watching Short DIY Video, 12 Year Old Builds Battery Powered Toy Power bike Using Sticks from Sweets as Frames, a Rotor from Damaged DVD as Engine, Plastic Coke Bottle Covers as Tyres & a Microphone Battery from his Mother’s Church As Power Source]

February 10, 2016 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

This video (click here to watch in a new window) shows me test running the battery powered toy power bike built my 12 year old son, whose natural talent for creating electrical gadgets continues to excite and amaze me.

He’s been like this since he was about 8 years old. I’ve written several articles in the past – including one about how at the age of 10, he revived the laptop batteries I discarded, and used them to build a crude but functional rechargeable lamp using the bulb he picked up from a damaged one. Last year, I wrote about his talent for playing the recorder and harmonica (including putting up downloadable audio samples).

This time around, as part of our home schooling for income earning life skills project, I’d made him and his siblings watch a series of 2 to 3 minute You tube videos about how to build:

(a). balloon powered toy cars and

(b). battery powered cars and bikes – with tyres made from plastic Coca Cola bottle covers.

By the next morning, the 12 year old’s sisters came running to inform me that he had already built a functional balloon powered car made from carton paper, drinking straw, rubber band and plastic coke bottle covers – just like the videos they’d watched the night before.

I was NOT surprised. He’d played back the videos repeatedly till well past midnight, on my laptop, when the rest of us were watching TV or asleep. He was in his elements!

After watching the toy car run for a while, I asked why it always tended to veer leftwards. He replied that he was not sure. From the narrative in the video we watched, I suspected it would be the alignment of the parts.

The video showed where the builder had sketch out the “chassis” and measured out the sides of the paper to hold the wheels. Looking at the one made by my son, it appeared the tyres were not properly aligned and the paper itself not evenly cutout.

So I told him to consider taking it apart and rebuilding it from scratch. He groaned.

I told him the finishing of such products was the key to succeeding. If your finishing is poor, few people will be interested in what you’ve created. He knew I was right and nodded in agreement. But, “I want to make the power bike before I go back to the balloon car” he voiced.

He’d taken the words out of my mouth. I’d actually wanted to ask him if he could give building the battery powered toy bike a try…

I challenged him to see if he could make it ready, so I could take it with me as a gift the for kids of a client I was to meet with, along with his spouse for a paid consulting session, in their home.

24 hours later, just before I left, he had his battery powered toy bike running, BUT it kept falling off to one side, after a few seconds.

In other words, it was not ready. So I left telling him to keep at it, so I could see it on my return.

Long story short, my boy got it working – with some creative improvisation informed mainly by lack of access to refined materials and tools used by the creator of the video we’d watched. The video below says it all; I am so proud of him – and of his 14 year old brother who provided support (and is also very good with his hands – more mechanically inclined and especially gifted in handicraft fabrication)/

This is the role I play in the lives of all my kids. I act as a collaborator and catalyst to help the nurture their minds and abilities. That is the role a parent needs to play – one that NO TEACHER can play as well as a determined parent can.

I share my stories not to brag, but as a public service wake up call to parents who are willing to listen, that they should take ownership of giving their kids a more real world relevant and balanced education, BEFORE it is too late!

Our Next Step: Monetizing His Talent/Genius

As the title of this article indicates, I argue that it’s crucial for parents – and societies – to guide kids to identify, nurture and ultimately monetize any talents or abilities they have, as EARLY as possible in life.

Why?

Because – as we all know – life can get VERY depressing when one is unable to achieve financial independence. When you lack money to meet your needs and wants, it tends to make you feel limited and unfulfilled.

When you know you have undergone ALL the formal schooling you were told you needed to be able to function competently in society, and you STILL find yourself unable to achieve financial independence, that can be VERY painful.

Trust me dear reader, THAT was the hole from which I had to use my self-taught skills and abilities to climb out of despite all my academic brilliance through university, and my exceptional performance in paid employment.

Truth be told – when I stepped into the real world of my society, in Nigeria, I quickly discovered that MERIT, based on demonstrated competence, ranked VERY low on the criteria that determined if one achieved business success or not.

For that reason, after trying without achieving sustainable success doing things the “normal” way offline, I turned my skills and attention to the online world, and began to offer the SAME solutions to the SAME people (Nigerians) – later reaching to African countries and beyond.

Today, it is on record, from MANY articles I’ve shared true stories in, that I earn passive income from sales of my custom Excel-VB software and Information Products, which I create based on needs I identify in my target niche markets.

The instincts and insights which guide me to do the above, so well today, that I enjoy an international following of clients and fans for my Customizable ExcelVB software as well as my Cost-Saving Farm Business Support solutions, are what I want to help my kids develop MUCH earlier.

It is for this reason that I’ve asked my son to take apart THIS his first attempt at the battery powered toy bike, and rebuild it so it no longer falls over like it periodically does.

Like I explained to him, that’s when we can proceed to confidently offer it for sale to the target market I have in mind. This is the Best Practice Mental Attitude that guided me in developing the growing range of passive income generating products that I have today.

In other words, I want him to start a new micro business based on this product.

His 14 year old brother who has worked with him on this and other projects is recording a video of the process as I type these words, so that we can SHOW how he does it, to remove any doubts there might be about the veracity of the claims I’ve made here.

NB: I found it quite interesting that each time I asked him if he needed money to buy anything to make the toys, he readily told me he knew where to find the needed items, at zero cost.

In no time he would be out the door and off to look around the estate grounds, grocery shops, collecting the needed items. That’s why some of his finished products don’t look as neat as those in the videos he watched.

However his demonstrated attitude is likely to enable him carry out his products creation/development very cost effectively, leaving ample room to reap useful profit margins if he decides to make money selling them.

And why not? I am convinced it’s the way to go. That’s why I’ve resolved to work with him on that aspect, once we establish that he’d got it right.

My plan is for us to – for instance – apply creative paint job to new toy bike, then sell it with a standing offer to provide FREE repair services to any buyers.

The interest from his 2 year old brother (Tayo Solagbade Junior) as well as 4 older siblings proves we can succeed in attracting parents with kids to buy these repairable toy cars and bikes from my son.

For me therefore, THIS is yet another opportunity to further coach him and his siblings on the crucial importance of developing and monetizing a market relevant expertise, like I do for a living!

Helping Kids Understand Money, and Money Making Via Passive Income Generation – A Crucial Imperative

Over a week ago, my kids made their first cash withdrawals from their respective individual accounts.

Since mid January, I’ve been introducing my kids to the formal world of banking so they can take their micro business training more seriously. I did not own a bank account till I was 23, serving in Niger State’s Lapai LGA in 1993. The pain and embarrassment that my ignorance about money and related issues made me resolve to give my kids a different experience.

That’s why each visit has seen them carry out tasks like filling withdrawals slips, transfer forms, deposit slips etc. And we discuss – and practice in real time – various aspects of bank related activities – including use of the ATM/Debit cards on and off the web.

They already EACH have a webmail account setup on my website and linked to their respective accounts, so that we already see the various bank notifications and alerts on the Blackberry smartphone I bought for them to use in their web based home studying.

The bank messages provide additional opportunities to coach them more about ways to make use of their accounts.

My 10 year old girl asked: “Tayo, will the money grow?” (after they had each deposited N2,000 (Two Thousand Naira) I’d handed to them, into their individual accounts).

I replied: “Of course it will. Simply make sure you do the stuff I teach you, about making money, along with others you learn by yourself, then pay the money you make into your account. In no time you’ll see your money growing.

Then I made an offer: “If you like you can make some money working for me. I have some tasks I need done on my website. If you can do them, without serious errors, to my satisfaction, I ‘ll pay you as my “Virtual Assistants”.

Her reply: “YES!”

Action Plan: We’re now working on the modalities to get her started !

The others don’t seem so keen – yet. I anticipate that might change when the SEE her actually get paid!

They already have their own Blackberry with an active subscription, so the rest will just be a matter of agreeing when to work, what to do, and how much to pay.

Most of the work, for now, will be updates of URLs on my blog from the defunct spontaneousdevelopment.com to tayosolagbade.com. I’ve tried my best to do it myself, but hundreds remain. So I definitely need help – and what better way to get such help, than to coach my kids to do it for REAL pay as Virtual Assistants!

Final Words: My understanding of money and the need for real world relevant money making knowledge, attitudes and skills was NIL when I completed my schooling.

And it caused me lots of avoidable hardships during that June 12 presidential elections crisis ridden year & even later.

I’m determined to ensure that my kids do not arrive adulthood with THAT kind of handicap!

What about YOU???

See photos below…

1. A Tried & Tested Strategy For Achieving Financial Freedom (Hint: Get My Audio DVD Information Product titled “Proven Ways to Generate Useful Passive Income”)

2. [PDF] “Resisting Corruption as a Nigerian in Nigeria: Is it Impossible?” (IDEAS for Making Nigeria Better)

3. Your Child Needs Strength of Character to Successfully Resist Corruption

4. Read more of my Best Practice Parenting articles here.

5. Download and listen to my FREE MP3 audio report titled “The Dangerous Miseducation of Today’s Kids, by Schooled Elites, About What It Takes to Succeed in the 21st Century – and Beyond“

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, Excel-VB Solutions, My DN Travel News, Parenting, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

You Need an Experience Sharing Habit to Succeed More…in Career, as a Parent & in Life!

January 12, 2016 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

In this article, I explain what drives me to keep using my writing to share my experience based knowledge, ideas and insights on various areas of life, and why doing the same thing can help you succeed in your chosen occupation, as well as in parenting your kids!

It is my vision to be the best father possible to my kids, so that I can spare them needless pains of self-discovery I have had to suffer, and
endure, in arriving/evolving my adulthood.

A lot of what I do in coaching young people, and my kids, is greatly
influenced by the knowledge and memory of the pains visited on me because I got VERY little in form of proactive preparation for the REAL WORLD of the society into which I was born…until it was almost too late.

Instead I’d been trained to focus of developing my academic genius almost
without regard for my other abilities and with little or no effort being
made by those who raised me to ALERT me to the shocking contradictions extant in Nigerian society.

Now, I’m not trying to blame anyone, but like I’ve told relevant persons, I am determined to make sure I do a MUCH better job of preparing my kids to face the REAL WORLD…

And when they do begin their journey, I intend to be THERE, always ready to give them the needed support without making them dependent on me, until they can carry on by themselves.

In the recent photos taken during our 2016 Lagos Bar Beach New Year celebration outing, five of my kids appear I.e 2 girls (6 and 9 years old respectively), and 3 boys (the 2 older ones are
12 and 14 years old respectively…while the little man will clock 2 years in
April). Click here to see the photos in the article I wrote.

It is instructive to note, that one child – the eldest in fact – is missing from the photos.

In other words the kids are 6 in total. He is my first son – Fela, and is 16 years old.

He did not go on that outing with us because he had to join his mother to take one of the Cockerels sent to me by a client, as a gift to his maternal grandmother.

Click the link below to see the 2016 Calendar I sent out as a GIFT to all my newsletter subscribers in December.

Click here

On pages 4 and 8 of the calendar, you’ll see Fela, in a pose with the others – excepting the little man (Tayo Solagbade Junior).

These kids are the ones who inspire me on the home front, to do what I do the way I do it, especially with regard to my Best Practice Parenting Advocacy.

Going further, and by way of interest, the above mentioned 2016 Calendar features a quote by Burt Dubin, which I put there as a reminder of how far I’ve come in my journey to success as an entrepreneur.

You see, just like I am passionately driven to be the best father I can be to my kids, I also remain unequivocally committed to making the most of myself vocationally and professionally.

In this regard, I have found Burt Dubin’s work to be of especially great value to my socio-psychological development towards achievement of my valued goals.

Like I’ve told Burt many times, his words/writings have inspired me for over a decade: Since way back in 2000, when I discovered him – and his famous Speaking Success System – via a series of classified ads in Michael Angier’s Success Digest newsletter!

Many MANY times, over the years, I’ve re-read Burt’s words to keep myself motivated to continue despite the delays and setbacks I suffered in trying to achieve my goals.

For instance, when I relocated to Benin Republic on 1st April 2013, I used a quote I found in one of Burt’s write-ups, to stay focused on my goal, by putting up an image version of it on my website then hosted on my spontaneousdevelopment.com domain (which later became defunct at 9 years, in 2014).

That same quote is the one I’ve put up on the cover of the above linked calendar.

The inspiration I’ve derived from reading the works of accomplished experts like Burt Dubin, Napoleon Hill, Zig Ziglar, Les Brown, Robert Kiyosaki, Wole Soyinka and Jim Rohn, is what encourages me to keep doing my own writing, sharing my own ideas and stories, in the
hope that they might serve as useful and timely inspiration for some other person(s) when they need it.

I hope that what I’ve written here will make you give serious consideration to sharing your own ideas and stories for others – includind your kids – to learn from.

Excel-VB Solutions, My DN Travel News, Parenting, Self-Development

Take Your Kids Out to Experience The REAL WORLD of Your Society [True Story: A Last Minute New Year’s Outing with my Kids to the Bar Beach via Public Transportation in Nigeria’s Lagos]

January 9, 2016 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

You take it for granted, but your kids don’t have a clue about it – even though they WILL have to deal with the reality in future.

I’m talking about everything you have to do, to provide for them and/or to pursue your goals in life.

That includes the STREET SMARTNESS to move around in YOUR society, without getting lost, losing money or possessions…or worse, falling victim to fraudsters, scammers and the like.

You know how to do all that today, having grown up in society learning from your mistakes and those of others. But do your kids have the same competence?

Can you confidently let them go out of your home, ALONE, without worrying about them till they return?

If you said NO, then this article suggests what you can do to equip them to develop the competence that will give you THAT peace of mind!

Remember what it was like when you went on your first “trip” away from home without your parents? How nervous and/or scared were you?

Right. I doubt any of us found it easy.

Yet most of us rarely consider that our kids will one day have to find their own way in the real world.

Evidence of this is seen in the way we let them move around in chauffeured cars, or hired taxis etc. We think of what is involved too simplistically, from our perspectives as adults who have already mastered the process – and fail to put ourselves in the shoes of our kids.

They do not have the benefit of access to our reservoir of YEARS of experience based insights to tap from for decision making!

This is why I write my articles on Best Practice Parenting – to warn parents who may not be aware – of the need to take deliberate conscious steps to give their kids real world relevant exposure to, and experience of various aspects of life that they will eventually have to deal with.

As usual I practice what I preach. Like I always say, no matter how successful you become in life, the success you achieve as a parent will ALWAYS be the most important success of all. Fail as a parent, then you’ve failed as a person – this is my belief.

In this article I share photos from an outing I deliberately took my kids on…for the New Year celebration…on Saturday 2nd January 2016

It was meant to give them yet another dimension of real world relevant education I’ve been taking them through in their Personal Achievement Coaching.

We’d talked about going to the beach for weeks before then. But each time something always happened to make us shelve the idea.

However, my 2 daughters, who had no conscious recollection of all the previous family outings we’d had on the beach (because they had been too young back then) remained insistent.

That morning, after initially telling them I needed to rest, I finally gave in and we began cleaning up the house.

One big concern had been what to do about the 4 remaining Cockerels (from the 9 delivered to us as part-payment by a client who signed up for my Sales and Marketing Coaching program on New Year’s day), which needed to be delivered to buyers.

Eventually we found a way to pack them into one of the rooms in a large wooden box.

Then we cooked a large quantity of jollof rice, with cubed meat, and soon got on our way.

1. Do your kids know how to move around by local transportation?

None of the kids had ever ridden on the famous Lagos BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) buses. So when I announced we would be going to Victoria Island and back via the BRTs, they were excited.

I felt it was important to let them compare traveling via BRT with going in private car as well as the rickety local transport buses.

Apart from discovering that the BRTs were more spacious, more comfortable, and FASTER, the kids were shocked to find (when buying their tickets) that the BRTs were 50% cheaper!

For instance, the local CMS bus conductor we spoke with on our way to the BRT terminal had told us the fee was N300 per head. We ended up paying only N150 [NB: Official exchange rate is N200 to $1 USD, but black market is about N270 to $1 USD]

This was an important lesson I hammered into their heads i.e. the fact that the benefits superior comfort and speed do NOT necessarily have to come at a higher cost!

Indeed, as most people who work on the Island will confirm, many car owners find it makes more sense to go via BRT and leave their cars at home. Not only do they expend less money, they also save precious energy and time too from driving their own cars in the troublesome Lagos traffic – which NEVER affects the BRTs, since the latter have their own lanes!

Below: It’s NOT easy to take steady shots while in a fast moving BRT bus…so I ended up with several blurred images. What I offer below are the best I could salvage from the lot. I must say though that I really missed my Blackberry 9015 Pearl camera. In this kind of situation, it NEVER failed me!

2. We got off the BRT at the popular CMS bus stop, and I found myself forced to give in to the need to ease myself in a public toilet, that was (mercifully) located just at the edge of the jetty.

Er…we tried HARD to ignore the “messy” environs during our short stop over here – I was to their right, after easing myself. We spent some time watching people get on the speed boats behind us get transported to the rig. One of the boat’s engines stalled just before we left, and another was dispatched to help out.

I took that opportunity to tell my kids about my trip across the Atlantic Ocean in 1999, on my way back from Cameroon’s Douala. It was past midnight and our motor boat engine propeller got caught in a mass of water hyacinth right in the middle of the sea. It took the boat man over 1 hour to get it free, before we could continue our 12 hour journey to Oron in Nigeria. During that time, I said all sorts of prayers…lol! Click here to read the full story.

A few thoughts crossed my mind while I was in there e.g. where did the “flushed” stuff go?

The arrangement I saw there suggested it all went into the Lagoon…but I refuse(d) to believe that!

What do you think….???

Trust kids – by the time I came out, THAT was the first thing they asked me: “Tayo, where does all the poo poo go?“

My answer: “I haven’t the slightest clue!”…then we all burst out laughing, because we were ALL thinking the same thing….:-))

Is someone from Lagos state government reading this?

If YES, it would not be a bad idea if you guys check out that public toilet facility and ensure what’s happening there is not something that could cause a major health problem.

This is after all the “Centre of Excellence!”

3. When we arrived at the Bar Beach, I got a rude reminder of the fact that I’d not visited the beach or even the Island since BEFORE I relocated to Benin Republic in April 2012.

Indeed the last time I was on the beach, with the family was back in December 2011.

A LOT has changed since then, especially due to the efforts made by the government to control the flooding from the sea, which sometimes covered the roads and even swallowed the lower floors of buildings close tot he beach.

As a result, the beach we knew was no longer accessible, having been sealed off using a barrier setup by the construction company engaged to put in the reinforcements to check the waves and erect structures on various parts.

The kids were disappointed.

We were forced to join other families who had resigned themselves to playing on the narrow strip of concrete left accessible.

Left with no alternative, especially since we arrived there after 5p.m, we made the best of what there was to be had.

After they gobbled up the jollof rice (including half of mine!) the kids went for ice creams, drinks, horse riding (our smallest member VERY reluctantly!), till night fell.

The girls were the main agitators all through that outing: they wanted a horse ride, so I let them have it. Pity the photos of them actually riding away turned out blurred (Once again, I miss my Pearl 9105 camera).

They kept asking for one treat or the other, and I made a point of letting them have it, to the intermittent consternation of the boys :-))

Then we began strolling around the whole place, taking photos, chatting, just to get some variety. Like I said, we just had to make the best of what we had…lol!

NB: The beach was to our left…notice the fence

BELOW: Tayo Solagbade Junior – Protesting vigorously and with real terror in his eyes, as he was being put on the horse he’d just watched his sisters dismount from! He had the same reaction to the Cockerels we brought home until they were down to the last one, at which point he got bold enough actually touch it…!

The rest of the clan have a nickname they coined for him which I’m NOT at liberty to share here. Here he is after we finally got him to stay long enough on the horse to have his photo taken (phew!)

By 7.30p.m, the girls were still saying “let’s wait a little longer” when I reminded them the last BRT would leave by 8p.m – meaning we would have to take the local buses if we were late.

That got their attention: none of them wanted to go back in the small, rickety, cramped buses.

We hired a Keke Marwa (commercial tricycle) to take us back to the TBS (Tafawa Balewa Square) BRT terminal, and boarded a BRT back to our locality.

The kids were especially excited on mounting this return bus because it was one of the new ones, and the air conditioning as well as on board TV was still fully functional.

They were glued to the TV for most of the trip, as different content flashed across its screen – including music videos, promos, news, interview etc.

Any doubts I had that they understood the news reports in particular were however cleared when – after we got back home – I heard them tell their mom about the report about a lady who got her finger cut off by robbers who wanted her gold ring!

By the time we went to bed, I reflected on the day’s events, and noted with satisfaction that a lot of what we’d seen/done had prompted the kids to ask questions that provided ME a good opportunity to give them information & tell them TRUTHS.

A good example was the truth about how to move around safely in the real world of our society, and what to look for before asking for directions; who to ask for directions; where to ask for directions etc.

These may seem obvious to us as adults, but in a place like Lagos, our kids in their innocence will rarely realize asking questions in the wrong manner can make dubious characters focus on you as a potential victim or target!

My purpose is to let my kids have a DIRECT experience of, and exposure to what happens in society daily, in a way that will prepare them physically, psychologically and emotionally, to move around confidently, and successfully on their own.

School cannot teach them that.

Neither can reading of books.

They simply need to go out and DO IT.

What better way for them to do so, than with their own parent(s)!

PS: When we eventually relocate to Benin Republic’s Cotonou, we’ll be doing something similar, to get the kids familiar with moving around in THAT society.

Excel-VB Solutions, My DN Travel News, Parenting

The Hood Does Not Make the Monk. School Uniforms Don’t Guarantee Learning!

December 17, 2015 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

"Clothes don’t make a man" – said Jay-Jay’s mum to him in an episode of the popular ’80’s American sitcom – Good Times.

The hood does not make the monk. School uniforms don’t guarantee your child is learning all s/he needs. Don’t abdicate your primary parenting responsibility, which is to teach him/her what s/he needs to know.

Check and confirm that your child’s teachers/school are giving him/her the right QUALITY of learning.

Do this by interacting with your child based on what s/he is expected to know and be able to do. If you notice any shortcomings, especially in aspects relating to important foundational concepts, call the attention of the teacher/school to it. Then wait, watch and check again for changes. If none, or too little, either do it yourself or hire a COMPETENT private tutor.

Personally I recommend doing it yourself. Today, even finding competent private tutors that can give reliable value for money is not easy.

What’s more, quite often, doing it yourself produces other benefits beyond improved learning in your child.

And if you doubt that YOU can teach your child successfully, take it from me when I say you were born to be a teacher to others, young or not, starting with your own kids.

Indeed as a parent you are your child’s best teacher!

Incidentally, after attended university in Nigeria, many of us observed our compulsory year of post-graduation national service working as school teachers.

It was often not up to us to choose. We simply reported to our respective place of primary assignment, and if it turned out to be a school, or locality where school teachers were in short supply, you were most likely to get posted to serve as a teacher for one or more subjects.

As a matter of fact some of us actually taught students in preparation for their final qualifying WAEC exams.

I observed my service year in Gulu-Vatsa village in Lapai LGA of Niger state. There I found myself officially assigned to GSS Gulu teaching Maths, and Agriculture.

But not for from that school was GGSSS where I later got drafted to teach the same subject as word spread about my habit of putting in extra hours to help the students catch up on several areas they were yet to cover.

Note here that I taught mainly final year students preparing for the WACE examinations, and so had to test them with questions at that level. What I found out was that they had VERY little in terms of their foundational knowledge to get them successfully through the exams.

Yet I recalled that at 16, I’d successfully self-studied for, and passed my WAEC exams just a few months after returning from a 2 week suspension.

The suspension followed a blitz of bad behaviour in which I, as a School Health Prefect, along with another prefect, and some seniors, began to routinely miss classes,while playing all sorts of pranks.

The pranks included catching, slaughtering and roasting the Vice Principal’s backyard homestead chickens).

One day we got caught in a trap specially set by the school authorities for us, and it was all over.

What saved me – enabling me fulfil my promised to my disappointed parents, that I would redeem myself by passing the exams – was my sound grasp of the basics of every subject I’d learned.

This derived from the strong reading, comprehension and writing skills I had developed from YEARS of exposure to a mother who took it upon herself to COACH each child till s/he developed reliable proficiency.

To facilitate that process, she created a home environment where books of ALL kinds that were relevant to our study needs were readily available.

Having done that she regularly encouraged us to engage in self study. The result, especially for me, was that I developed the ability to self-teach myself on virtually any subject, and therefore learn any topics I chose to, from the syllabus, even if the school teacher had yet to cover it or was not even around.

Only one compulsory subject gave me problems – both when I was in class as well as when I tried to self-study. It was Maths – and the 5 credits I got from my exams did NOT include it.

Since my mother did not teach that subject, she had not been able to help me with it.

When I got a P7 in the exams, I think my parents asked around and eventually arranged for me to attend private coaching classed at Translat Training Centre, not far from the University of Lagos gate.

It was there that I met a wonderful Igbo gentleman teacher, who took me under his wing and taught me how to overcome my Maths challenge. By the time I took the Nov/Dec GCE exams, less than 6 months later, I scored a distinction (A1).

I should add that I’d become so confident of my Math skills that I’d predicted the "A1" score to my mother, but she’d gently smiled and replied "Tayo, just get a credit. That will do" – apparently thinking of how I had always struggled with the subject.

But something had changed, and that was how I thought about the subject. My new teacher had opened my eyes to see a new way that enabled me apply the intelligence everyone knew I had to succeed at it.

Now, my parents were not the ones who taught me to get over my Math problem. But it’s obvious from the above story that they were the ones who did the thinking, and ultimately identified a competent person or provider (the Training Center), to help me overcome that single limitation.

It was a serious limitation that threatened to hold me back from pursuing further studies at university level – because a CREDIT in Maths was a minimum requirement to continue at that level.

My story illustrates the powerful role parents need to play in their children’s "learning" while they are in their formative years.

The idea is for you to understand that you do NOT need to know EVERYTHING your child needs to learn – and I don’t just mean academics or school work alone.

Instead, you need to get involved in checking or testing to ensure s/he demonstrates a convincing grasp of what s/he is expected to know and be able to do at the right stages of his/her life.

If I were you, however, I would also make a point of including life skills acquisition in the "learning menu" I present to him/her during our interactions when s/he returns from school. That way, the delicate balance in information and education for school and for life is more likely to be achieved.

Today, more than ever, book knowledge alone in NOT enough!

Letting yourself and/or your kids feel satisfied with wearing uniforms, and going to learn academic subjects in school, may be a dangerous game that prevents you from fully preparing them for life AFTER school.

You should remember that your child will one day need to leave home to function as an independent income earning adult away from you.To do that with minimal avoidable setbacks, in today’s world, s/he needs to complement his/her formal schooling with real world relevant knowledge, and skills.

Here’s a tip: Think back to what you have had to LEARN that formal schooling never taught you, but which you’ve found crucial for making your way in the world successfully, in caring for yourself and your family.

Whatever comes to your mind are possible examples of what YOU as a parent may need to add to his/her life skills LEARNING menu, to complement whatever formal schooling s/he gets!

PS: If you have kids and are reading THIS, know that I say the above from VERY personal experience as a child from my years with my parents, as well as a parent today, to my own kids.

Do the above, and the results you get will make you thank me for telling you to do it.

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, Excel-VB Solutions, Farm Biz, General, My DN Travel News, My Ideas for Making Nigeria Better, Parenting, Public Speaking, Recommended Websites & Articles, Self-Development, The Farm CEO, Writing/Blogging

How a Hilarious definition of “Black Friday” Made Me Offer THIS Black Friday Sale on TayoSolagbade.com [True Story | Goodies Inside!]

November 27, 2015 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

Yesterday, after returning from the Agra Innovate Exhibition on Lagos-Nigeria’s Victoria Island, I stopped at the office of a small firm to see the CEO.
While waiting, I overheard a young female employee voicing the following truly hilarious definition of Black Friday sales based on a Jumia.com TV ad being shown on the office TV about their (then impending) Black Friday (today’s) sales offers:

“These people are not serious with this Black Friday thing they are doing. So they plan to only sell products that have patches of black on them? What is the sense in that?”

I was still trying to get my jaw that had dropped to go back into its normal position, when her equally clueless male colleague said:

“Nooo, that’s not why they call it Black Friday O. It began in the USA to encourage black people who did not have enough money, by selling at low prices on that day.”

“Haba, this is serious misinformation!” I exclaimed to myself.

But just then I was called to see the CEO and never got to suggest they try using Google to learn the right meaning for the expression.

The truth is I’ve known about Black Friday for years, and it always comes the day after Thanksgiving Day in the US (I.e the 4th Thursday in the month of November)

According to Wikipedia, it generally signals the start of the festive Christmas shopping season.

Learn more at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping).

I’ve actually taken advantage of Black Friday sales to buy products at 90% discount from online merchants, especially those based in the US.

But I’ve never had a Black Friday promotional sale of my own – before today, that is!

The key principle in Black Friday promotional selling is the surprise element: Buyers do not get to know exact details of the offers to be unveiled, until the D-day, otherwise they could plan ahead and the sellers would be shortchanged.

That’s why I’ve not given any hint of my plans before now.

However, in my usual habit of putting a twist to any idea or concept I adopt from other cultures, I’ve been calling up individual clients I’ve made offers they’ve not taken up, to subtly sound them out.

Most responses I got told me it would be good to make a Black Friday offer to them.

So here’s my hacked Black Friday blanket promotional selling offer:

1. Regarding services I offer, I’ll I’m sending phone SMS Black Friday offers to sweeten the deal for clients I made offers. For those I can’t SMS, I’ll call them up to get the required Yes or No response.

The time is now 2a.m.

If you’re a client and have not received my Black Friday offer by 10a.m Nigerian time, send me SMS on +234-803-302-1263 or call.

2. Regarding products I offer:

A. For clients/past buyers:

Get any product(s) of your choice at 70% discount throughout today.

Go to:

I. http://www.lulu.com/sdaproducts

II. www.tayosolagbade.com/sdn-sell.htm

III. www.excelheaven.biz
[Customizable Excel-VB driven software for individuals and businesses]

IV. www.thefarmceo.net [The Farm CEO newspaper and Farm Business Support Solutions]

Or simply email tayo@tksola.com with details of what you want.

B. For new buyers/clients:

Get any product(s) of your choice at 50% discount throughout today.

Use above links to learn more or simply email tayo@tksola.com with details of what you want.

Got questions or require clarification? Click here to send me a message

Happy shopping!

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, Excel-VB Solutions, General, My DN Travel News, My Ideas for Making Nigeria Better, Parenting, Recommended Websites & Articles, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

To Achieve Uncommon Success, Avoid Specializing [Hint: New York Times Article About Steve Martin’s Amazing Success As a Multipreneur]!

October 31, 2015 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

The following 2 quotes set the tone for this piece…

“Specialization is for Insects A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” – Robert A. Heinlein

2. “Everyone always tells you to focus and choose a niche, but some of the most successful people “refuse to choose.” Steve Martin has always been a great example of someone pursuing more than one career focus. Among other roles, he’s been an actor, a comedian, a novelist, and a professional banjo player, often at the same time.” – “Chris Guillebeau, in his September 28, 2015 Facebook post featuring a link to a September 2015 New York Times article titled “Steve Martin Adds ‘Curator’ to His Wild and Crazy Résumé”

Chris Guillebeau is one of my role models in Location Independent Entrepreneuring. I’ve found he also has a bias for doing more than one thing at a time – which has been a way of life for me for over 2.5 decades(in both paid as well as self-employment, as I’ve explained in past articles linked below)
And through him, I learnt the great Steve Martin achieved globally recognized successes by doing the opposite of what majority believe and advocate to us right from our you: by being a “Jack of Many (not ALL) Trades”…or Multipreneur!

I’ve been criticized for my multipreneuring habit, yet my life’s achievements are proof that it works, for those who know how!

Indeed, I can tell you without any shadow of a doubt that had it not been for my ability as a multipreneur, I would NOT be succeeding as well as I am doing today.

That’s why I’m sharing the links offered in this post with you all. For those willing to look beyond the bias, and learn a new way, there is wisdom to be had from adopting this unusual lifestyle.

Below are links to 2 articles I’ve written to help those willing to listen understand why being a “Jack of Many (not ALL) Trades”…or Multipreneur… can be a viable way of life for those gifted with the aptitude for it.

1. More Real-Life Proof that Being an Intelligent Jack of Many Trades (aka Multipreneur), Can Make You Succeed More Often

2. A precursor to the above article is titled How To Be A Jack Of Many Trades™, And Why It Can Make You Succeed More Often! In it I described my personal experiences as a Multipreneurial Employee in Guinness between 1995 and 2001.

Happy reading!

“I always feel like all these things are linked…You might say it’s extreme to curate an art show and then do an hour banjo show, but it’s not that far off-center to me. And you apply the same principles to both — the first being, you do the best you can.” – Steve Martin in New York Times article titled “Steve Martin Adds ‘Curator’ to His Wild and Crazy Résumé”

Career Development, Excel-VB Solutions, General, My DN Travel News, My Ideas for Making Nigeria Better, Parenting

Science Subjects are NOT Superior to the Arts: The Case for Self-Managed Schooling

October 27, 2015 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

“After a certain high level of technical skill is achieved, science and art tend to coalesce in aesthetics, plasticity and form. The greatest scientists are always artists as well.” – Albert Einstein

Despite agreeing with virtually everything else he said in his THIS DAY newspaper article on the recent NBL sponsored Maltina Teacher of the year competition, I TOTALLY disagree with the sentiment expressed in that piece (see quote below) by Olusegun Adeniyi, that suggests he considers science subjects more important than those in the arts, humanities etc.

Nothing could be further from the truth, as I explain in this PDF white paper…AND as the above quote credited to Albert Einstein himself indicates.

This report is meant for parents looking for guidance to help their kids get the kind of education that will equip them to arrive adulthood with the ability to function as happy, competent income earners, doing what they love doing in life.

“It is also gratifying that the teachers who performed well in the exercise are in the sciences (especially mathematics, physics and chemistry) as well as English.” – Olusegun Adeniyi in his article titled “An adventure to discover the best teacher in Nigeria. Drama Galore…lol!” – published in THIS DAY Newspaper – 15th October 2015

Send name, country and phone number, to tayo at tksola dot com to request your copy of this paper or click here to use a web contact form.

Excel-VB Solutions, General, My DN Travel News, My Ideas for Making Nigeria Better, Parenting, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

Why Instead of “SELLING” Fela Anikulapo Kuti to Them, it’s the WORLD – led by America – that’s “SELLING” Fela to Nigerians!

October 25, 2015 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

[PHOTOS: A visit to Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s Kalakuta Museum with my 16 year old son – who is named after him]

In my 2003 personal philosophy paper titled “Why I Do What I Do, The Way I Do It”, I wrote as follows:

“In certain ways, I see myself as a non-singing ideological equivalent of Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Through his lyrics, I discovered myself, and became passionately proud of being Black

, Nigerian and African. (I named my first son after Fela, for this/his other good sides). My objective is to help others achieve similar Self-Discovery.” – Tayo Solagbade

The photos below show my (now 16 year old) son who got named after Baba 70

The photos were taken when I took him through some areas of Ikeja I used to “pavement-pound”, doing my door-to-door marketing. That was how I worked back then (pre-2012), to find clients for my custom Excel-VB software development service and products (like the Payslip Generator, Hotel Records Management System etc).

I told him how I would park close to Fela’s house, before leaving to “hunt for clients”. AND I also told him MANY stories about how I had to go on marketing all day, most times with NO money to eat/drink.

Sometimes I’d return to take a break in the car, for 30 minutes to an hour to recover my strength – before resuming my “runs”. Most times I returned home as late as 10p.m to 12 midnight, with little to show for my efforts (I’ve since learnt to make clients/buyers come to me, instead of going to them – click here)..

But back then Fela’s house was a shadow of itself, badly neglected.

I recall I would sometimes see “Seun” – one of Fela’s sons (younger brother to Femi Kuti), come outside from one of the rooms at the top of the building – often shirtless – having returned from a music tour abroad.

Each time I parked there however, I could not help wondering how the house of a legend like Fela could have been allowed to degenerate the way it had. It saddened me greatly.

It goes without saying that I was not alone in thinking this way. Anyone who’d heard Fela’s legend would naturally think the same thing on seeing the house!

One time I overheard a white man with an American accent who’d come to see the house with a Nigerian friend, asking why it looked so neglected.

The response he got missed me, but I’m sure it would have been along the lines of “Search me!”

Thankfully, the broadway show named after FELA (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fela! and http://felaonbroadway.com), has helped to raise the profile of this great man’s legacy to the height it belongs…

…And I BELIVE the massive followership triggered worldwide by THAT wonderful broadway show, was the reason things changed for Fela’s house!

That show boosted Fela’s global popularity, leading to overwhelming international demand for news and information about him. Among other things, all-white Afro beat bands springing up in Europe became commonplace. Events of all kinds, art shows etc got organized to share his story.

Nigerians in diaspora who’d previously neglected to mention they knew a Fela Anikulapo Kuti back home, suddenly got infected with the fever.

They became proud to answer questions about Afro beat when asked “Hey, you’re Nigerian…do you know Fela?”

It became “cool” to be associated with the name of Fela…who some had previously called “hemp smoker” and “trouble maker”…!

YES. It is my considered opinion that ALL of the above made it “politically acceptable” for the Lagos State government and other stakeholders to finally ACT.

They provided the funding and support to transform Fela’s historic building’s appearance into something befitting of a true tourist attraction.

But it SHOULD have been done earlier, and not just that, we should have been the ones to tell the world about Fela, from the time he died!!!

I know some will tell me I’m wrong, but I would ask them:

How come NIGERIA’s government waited sooooo LOOOOONG to do this simple deed of turning Fela’s house into a museum????

The truth is NO answer they give can ever justify the delay.

Only in Nigeria can that kind of atrocity ever be committed against a legendary figure of Fela’s stature!

FACT: Before now, MANY educated and enlightened Nigerians would NEVER allow their kids go near Fela’s shrine or even play his music.

When I was young, I recall reading stories in print media about how some Nigerian elites accused Fela of being a bad influence on youths.

They never saw anything good about him, his music or his activism.

All they did was focus on the fact that he smoked weed, and had multiple wives.

Yet today, NONE of those arm chair theorists/phony critics commands the recognition that Fela, and his kids (who are carrying on the Afro beat tradition admirably), enjoy from fans all over the world.

I don’t smoke weed. Never have. Never will.

I don’t need it to function in any way. My creativity is 100% nature driven, and requires no artificial stimulation.

But the fact that Fela smoked weed NEVER made him any less worthy of my admiration.

What he stood for went beyond his foibles.

Indeed, no genius exists without faults – and that should NOT stop us from appreciating his/her ingenuity!!!

Sadly, many of our people – we Nigerians – missed it. As a result, instead of being the ones to SELL Fela to the world, the irony is that the WORLD, led by America, is SELLING our own Fela to us!

Think about it and you’ll see my point.

Which American great did outsiders ever have to help Americans recognize or celebrate?

None that I can think of. And that’s because America always celebrates its own.

That’s why even though Martin Luther King Jr. has African roots and fought slavery, AMERICA was the one that SOLD him to the rest of us.

They went further and set aside a day to remember him, which even here in Nigeria we recognize and join them to observe.

Several years ago, I saw audience members at Benin City’s Igbinedion Education Centre, applauding wildly to the rendition of Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech by a student, at an end of year event broadcast on TV.”

Would ANY Nigerian school, before now, have ever let students recite lyrics from a Fela album at ANY event???

Indeed, can we easily find schools today that would even readily permit that to happen?

The answer is debatable…BUT the fact that it is ONLY serves to further underscore the point I’m making in this article, that we do NOT value our own.

Instead we devote needless time, energy and money joining others to celebrate their own geniuses.

For instance, as I’ve noted in my writing, Fela’s lyrics played a powerful role in helping me learn to be proud of being Black, Nigerian and African.

In other words, they taught me to have self-esteem: which is what schooling should do. And that makes Fela’s lyrics relevant, for instance, in Civics classes, and his life story relevant for History classes.

Instead, our kids/youths get taught about Mungo Park, Malcolm X, Mahathma Ghandi, Karl Marx etc.

As a result, YEARS after Fela died, we (Nigeria as a nation, and Nigerians as a people) have no formal message about his life and works to share with the world.

Many Nigerian youths today cannot really tell you what he was about. But they can tell you the life history of Michael Jackson!

No “official” Nigeria branded interviews or documentaries were done to capture the history of his amazing life.

And to make matters worse, his house was left neglected for about a decade and a half after he passed on in 1997.

Things only changed when the Americans – JayZ, Will Smith etc – got a glimpse of the life and times of Fela: they instantly knew it was a story worth telling.

So the broadway show was born, about 3 years ago

Eventually, after the show had generated rave reviews all over, they brought it down to Nigeria’s Lagos to show it to Nigerians – last year I think.

They came to show their dramatization of a legend made in Nigeria. They came to show it to NIGERIANS, in NIGERIA.

They came to show it to Nigerians who should have been telling the whole world the story themselves, in their own voice, by their own people.

It thinks it’s sad that it happened that way.

BUT I also believe it probably would never have happened at all, if it’d been left to Nigerians to do it!

And that says a lot about the people – us Nigerians – who Fela fought and died for.

We have SUCH a long way to go where it concerns celebrating our own!

I find it ironic that many well schooled Nigerians (who in the past snubbed Fela and those who followed him) now readily take their white-skinned tourist friends from Europe and America to see Fela’s house/shrine.

We now see/hear them narrating anecdotes about Fela, and getting kids in their posh schools to recite his life story during history classes or celebrations.

Few, if at all any of them would however admit that they NEVER identified with Fela when he was alive!

On one occasion, an elderly relative pointedly told me Fela was a criminal

He claimed to have known Fela from his childhood days, arguing that he’d been “spoiled” by his mother – Mrs. Ransome Kuti.

This elderly relative would later query me for saying Fela was my role model, adding that as far as he was concerned, “the man was a criminal!”

I could not believe my ears, because I recalled once hearing Fela’s music blaring from a music player in this relative’s car, 3 decades earlier.

When I asked why he now called Fela a criminal, he said it was because Fela got sent to jail, and served a sentence for a criminal offence (actually trumped up charges), adding that even his activism was often unlawfully done.

I countered that the logic he employed qualified to make Nelson Mandela eligible for labeling as a criminal too, but he disagreed!

It goes without saying that I tossed his expressed opinion out of the window, and gave it no more thought.

Today, I’m sure the massive worldwide celebration of Fela must be hitting him hard where it hurts most…his ego!

Anyway, I’m glad I finally got to take my son to see Fela’s tomb, and house-turned-museum.

I’ve told him MANY stories about his name-sake, and shown him photos, plus videos of his live shows and interviews for him to watch.

As far as living one’s life in service of others, Fela – for me – is the ultimate role model. He took it to a whole NEW level!

Like I tell all who care to listen, Fela Anikulapo Kuti was the closest I ever came to having a human being I worshipped.

And I live my life today striving DAILY to emulate him in every way possible.

Not just by myself – but also through my kids…who I ALWAYS challenge to be like him in the way they FEARLESSLY stand up for truth, and justice.

PS: To Better Prepare them for Life, Spend Quality Time Sharing YOUR Life Experiences With YOUR Kids

I must not end without saying this….

Regular readers of this blog know I’m currently home-schooling my kids to give them Personal Achievement Education (PAE) – with a special focus on building street-smartness and income-earning-skills to complement their academic education.

Like I continue to point out to parents who will listen, PAE is crucial to giving your child the BALANCED education s/he will need to function competently as an independent adult in society AFTER s/he leaves your home.

My actions derive from the RUDE awakening I got after leaving school – especially when I chose to leave the security of paid employment, about surviving in the real-world’s shark infested waters of our society.

Look around you, and observe the warped values prevalent in society today, and you’ll appreciate the need to adopt a similar strategy, for your kids’ sake!