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.