What Makes Me A True Nigerian

Many years ago, as fate will have it, there came a Nation consisting of people of diverse backgrounds and discrepancies.

Since then, many things evolved. Our various cultures have been adulterated, our food types have been replaced with western foods and our music are now old fashioned.

However, something was passed on and for 100 years, it remain unaltered. I have something which am sure my forefathers had and that is my Language. Our numerous unaldulterated languages truly identify us as Nigerians.

In our various localties, We speak them as they were spoken by the people before us. And that is why in Nigeria today, ethnicity remains paramount, not for discrimination but for acknowledgement and ensuring continuity of originality.

This makes me a true Nigerian!

What about you?

Everything You Need To Know About World Bank Paid Internship For Graduates

The World Bank Group Internship offers highly motivated and successful individuals an opportunity to improve their skills while working in a diverse environment. Interns generally find the experience to be rewarding and interesting.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the internship, candidates must possess an undergraduate degree and already be enrolled in a full-time graduate study program (pursuing a Master’s degree or PhD with plans to return to school in a full-time capacity). Generally, successful candidates have completed their first year of graduate studies or are already into their PhD programs.

Interns will gain exposure to the work of the World Bank Group in the hopes that some will be interested in returning to the Bank for a career after completing their studies. The Bank Group pays an hourly salary to all interns and, where applicable, provides an allowance towards travel expenses.

This internship typically seeks candidates in the following fields: economics, finance, human development (public health, education, nutrition, population), social science (anthropology, sociology), agriculture, environment, private sector development, as well as other related fields. Fluency in English is required. Prior relevant work experience, computing skills, as well as knowledge of languages such as French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese, and Chinese are advantageous.

Internship Benefits

The Bank Group pays an hourly salary to all interns and, where applicable, provides an allowance towards travel expenses. Interns are responsible for their own living accommodations. Most positions are located in Washington, D.C. (some positions are offered in country offices) and are a minimum of four weeks in duration.

The Bank Group’s Internship is offered during two seasons, and applications are accepted during the following periods:

Summer Internship (June–September)

The application period for the Summer Internship is December 1–January 31 each year.

Winter Internship (December–March)

The application period for the Winter Internship is October 1–31. All applications MUST be submitted online. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

 Application Details

The application checklist is meant to facilitate your application experience.

• Ensure that you use either Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, or Internet Explorer 10 or higher as your browser version.
• Please make sure that you are connected with a reasonable bandwidth of internet connection without any network/firewall restriction.
• You will be asked to register for an account and provide an email address.
• You must complete your application in a single session and will be able to submit it only if you have uploaded all the required documents and answered all the questions (all questions marked with an asterisk-*- are required).
• Please complete the application within 45 minutes to avoid the system timeout.
• Provide the most current contact information.Ensure that you have correctly spelled out your email address, since this will be our main channel of communication with you regarding your candidacy
• Ensure that you have correctly spelled out your email address, since this will be our main channel of communication with you regarding your candidacy.

Remember to enter your complete phone number (country code + city code + number).

Please do not enter any special characters (“-<>&#” etc.) in any of the application fields.  Try not to copy and paste any characters/text from Microsoft Words.

Please attach the following documents (mandatory) before submitting:

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Statement of Interest

Proof of Enrollment in a graduate degree

Note:

 Each file should not exceed 5 MB, and should be in one of the following formats: .doc, .docx, or .pdf

Please make sure that the filenames of the documents that you are attaching do not contain any special characters, such as “-<>&#” etc.  PDF files are the best files to upload.

Once you submit your application, you will not be able to make any further changes/updates

Consulting Or Consultancy

Where we are today

We currently live in a society where words and derivatives are manufactured and coined on a daily basis. The English Language is a very rich one and seems like it gets updated like a computer program. In fact, the most interesting part is its many variants by geographical locations and period.

Consulting and Consultancy is one of such cases where ‘ing” and “ancy” seek to explain one concept in two slightly different dimensions or realms. This is the first stage to solving the rampage-holding confusion which is understanding that there is just  a meaning defined by context the words are being used.

Breaking it down

To start with, consulting means the allocation of businesses objective advice and assistance relating to the management, structure, strategy and operations of an organization in pursuit of its long-term purposes and objectives. However, consultancy is the provision of professional services to give professional advice within particular field external organizations and other companies. 

With regards to IT consulting companies and IT consultancy companies, the term consultancy tends to be used more widely outside of the United States... consultancy tends to be used more widely outside of the United States

What next

There is a lot to correct and set straight as regards the brand of an organization. Most Nigerian companies are SMES. SMEs will not have any meaningful evident impact on the economy except there are well packaged to reflect their place in the society. If you offer professional advice and documentations to businesses then you are a consultancy firm, which means also that you provide consultancy to firms and individuals.

References

This dichotomy also happens in our institutions of higher learning where discipline name have a long range of different words referring to a single discipline. Some school say Accounting some say accountancy the same logic applies here and should not cause any interpretation issues.

Activities for the First 5 Years of Your Career

As usual, no long story, no superfluous foreign alignment, no theoretical validations, this is pure yarns for naija youths.

Well, if you never knew, be aware that the most fantastic and wonderful task ever completed or accomplished by you can only be done in the early part of your career. As you go higher, whether you like it or not, things that matter to you change and part of this is a rapid dwindling of the zeal to create an impression. There is a time limit to when you can put in crazy energy and sacrifices to the rudiments or Nitti gritty of your profession.

As you move higher, you will tend to have seen it all and you have more distraction from family. Not only that, your financial responsibility increases, your ego increases and that enthusiasm you used to have as a graduate trainee declines rapidly. There is nothing to worry about if you are still within this ‘enthusiasm rush’ age, just make sure you do the following:

Read anything readable

Look here, at this point there is nothing like reading within your field or discipline after all you are not yet experienced in any field yet. Don’t waste this energy rush, take up any task takeable, read up anything readable and consume anything consumable. You never know when all this will come handy. This was how random knowledge saved me some days ago at the office.

Don’t reject task

If you look at my CV, I wrote “I have been privileged to work and learn in ………”. This is

because you actually learn in some tasks you take part in. Most relevant and career-uplifting tasks that will be assigned to you during your career journey will be beyond your skillset and will usually require extra time at work, research and seeking help from a colleague (within and outside your workplace). Never say this was not stated in my contract or employee letter, take it up, jack up, and attempt to deliver.

Promote your brand

My guy, no time for waiting on the management to recognize you after this much work. Oga, you need to market yourself.  First of all you even need to brand yourself, declare and publicise what you stand for, craft a custom way of handling projects you are a part of. When this is done, you can then consistently be outspoken about your accomplishments. Craft an updated professional profile with tasks completed by you including your inventions and discoveries (Intellectual property) . Brand yourself like Debola Williams.

Learn the politics

Know exactly where to concentrate effort, align yourself properly, never believe only on competence or technical know-how. Identify the caucus and be aware of their interests in order to avoid a conflict. Know who to fight in the public and identify those that do not care about work but loyalty. You have been warned.

Thank you.

The Power of Random Knowledge

Random knowledge does not have a definition. Anything you know and you find it difficult to see a need for it immediately could be random knowledge.

Some years back, I had just finished my NYSC and was applying to places. I had no laptop but owned a smartphone. I thought of what I could do to fortify my knowledge domain and I decided to save a page of countries and capital on my phone. I learnt one (country and capital) each day for four months and learnt the remaining later randomly after I got my first job.

As I was doing this, I never knew this will happen:

I was in the office today and convened a project status meeting. This meeting actually involved mid-level managers and consultants from 3 companies – My firm, an audit firm and an IT firm. As we await my MD to come declare the meeting open as the sponsor of the project, there was a discussion on issues with American embassy and rejection of Visas.

Prior before this meeting,  please note that I had already been told at a sitting with HR that it’s like I am actually enclosed within the cubicle of my day-day job activities and not really interested in other areas of life such as social media, world affairs and sports ( I am actually not a football fan which they all know). I smiled and was like me? I am so good at the first two and was actually good on the last one as a staunch Arsenal fan until 2007 when I lost track of sporting events.  Well that was it, it was noted as failed in my employee record.

Back to the meeting, as the issue of visas rejection was discussed, they later got to a stage where a guy said actually there are other countries in the world that Nigerians can go to instead of USA to enjoy. Everyone was like where again apart, then the guy mentioned Lima, they were like where is that? I chipped in Peru. The guy said even Caracas, I added “in Venezuela”, the guy then said or Helsinki for scholarships, I looked up and found everyone waiting for me to state the country and I said Finland. The team lead of one of the firms instantly stood up and handed me his business card and as I was almost doing same my boss walked in and was like “this man you want poach my boy?”. He said no and explained all what happened, that he hardly see full time employees getting to know general stuffs. 

The meeting was declared open by my boss. 45mins later, meeting was over. Ten minutes later, I went for lunch, met the HR boss in the canteen and he told me to see him after lunch to review my file as there is a urgent need to take a decision before COB today.

As I entered his office, he engaged me in more world affairs, I surpassed his expectations. He handed me a letter of recommendations and a new prestigious responsibility (Not promotion o). He said the essence of the earlier review meeting was to assess me and confirm to every one of the management who raised doubts if I am fit to be in this position for the task assigned.

 This is one of a few life-saving moments for me as far as random knowledge is concerned. Pick up some weird stuffs and learn.

Your 2.2 or 3rd Class Will Take You Far

Just because you came out with 3rd class or 2.2 everyone will tell you to give up or settle for something lesser than you wish for. Some might even tell you to go back to school, never listen to them.

What you need to know is that currently, the system does not give any one a free chance, and rather you need to find a way around the system.

Once you are willing to start from somewhere and gain experience, 2.1, 2.2, 3rd class soon becomes rather irrelevant. It's all a matter of time. Never be intimidated.

Some of the things you need to do are:

  

      Gain Experience

There is no limitation to garnering experience. Never be too proud to work in a small or start-ups, as a matter of fact, you will get wider experience there. As you get up the ladder in a company, you learn skills specific to each level and before you know it you have acquired what is termed industry knowledge.

 Discover Your NBA

I tell people every day that aside the whole idea of schooling or academic, we all have some sort of huge skill within us which serves as foundation to whatever skill we acquire through the school system. This is referred to as Natural Born Abilities. Perhaps, you already know it’s time to package them and sell them to the world already waiting to consume. You will agree with me that, many of us are already wired naturally with skills and structure to be leaders, presenters, marketers, inventors, programmers, artists etc.

Go Online

In this era, the cyber space is filled with an ocean of knowledge and opportunities. Take advantage and do something worthwhile online. No matter what you may be doing offline, add an online credibility to it. Maintain a social media account, keep a blog and explore other online opportunities. Guard your social media reputation and let it reflect who you are and what you stand for.

     Self-Development and Personal Branding

Have a personal motto and live your life around that. Most successful people today who other young people take as mentors are mostly people who have branded themselves and are known for something. Debola Williams, Steve Harris and Omojuwa who already carved a niche for themselves by nurturing an impressive personal brand.

     Look Beyond

Looking beyond involves expanding your thinking and opportunity beyond where you are. Never be tied to your locality or community where you grew up or comfortable, rather you need to move out of your comfort zone, explore other geographical areas. This will not only make you more educated but also enlarge your opportunity coast. As part of looking beyond you may also want to consider switching career. 

Building The Foundation Of Success From Now As A Young Mind

There is no better time to make it in life than now! You are young and energetic.

According to Bill Gates – “Young people are better than old people at driving innovation, because they are not locked in by the limits of the past. I was 19 when I founded Microsoft. Steve Jobs was 21 when he started Apple. Mark Zuckerberg was 19 when he created Facebook”.

Your youth is a unique period marked by zeal, energy and many opportunities, but it is a passing phase. If you think otherwise, visit your grandparents or an elderly neighbor to find out how their lives are different now as compared to when they were still in their teens, 20s or 30s.

Here is a quick list of productive opportunities that you can utilize to set you on the right track towards having a more productive youth:

1   Boost Your Knowledge

The essence of Knowledge cannot be overemphasized.  Knowledge in this era is easily accessed via various media such as the internet inform of web pages, newsletters, blog posts and social media. People who will lead the next generation are people who know more. Before you talk about information there must be knowledge, so it all start from reading that single new line of texts.

With knowledge comes the responsibility of taking action. So strive to put into practice what you learn and spread the knowledge so that others can benefit. You can do this through writing and sharing your study notes, giving talks and lectures, teaching and mentoring others; and also through recordings – audio, video and PowerPoint presentations.

Be Confident

You need this more at this point. Believe yourself to an unreasonable extent, Yes!. After all what matters is what you think of yourself. Say good words to yourself and never adjust the goal to meet with your capacity. I always tell folks that you have the capacity to be what you wanna be and in cases where the capacity does not actually exist, then there is a potential. If you are aware of this, then you would continue to do great things at this time of your life so you can be proud of yourself in a decade from now.

Network

Meeting a girl every now and then is so important right now. However, the intent should be clear and strictly for enlarging your friendship coast and nothing more. At this point, you don’t need the playboy or throwing money around thin, rather what you need is converting strangers to friends with useful benefits. Get on a circle or gang or group, hang out, read a book together, attend events and accomplish pet projects together.

Don’t Compromise Your Health

This needs the least emphasis. Health is wealth they say. All that have been written up there would have no meaning with a poor health. Now, I will tell you categorically to stop doing drugs, reduce alcohol intake and never stop going for check-ups periodically. It is easy to get carried away with youth frenzy – party, clubbing, sexual fantasies etc but remember your health tomorrow is dependent on what you do with your body today.

     Be Disciplined

In actualizing your goals in life, discipline is what determines if you will actually give a success story or a sorry story at the end. Stick to what ever plans, schedules and regulations you have promulgated for yourself in order to achieve any task. Remember you will lose some friends, friends will complain, some will say “life is not that hard”, be prepared for all that. However, Never give up and then you start to hear stuffs like – “wow how did you do it?”, “Congratulations”, “Great”, at each milestone of this journey to fulfillment.

 I wish you all the best and hope this will re-energize you as well as cause you to start a new file.