In my catch-up work on this site, I shall soon commence a series on the vast opportunities for any serious investors in my country Nigeria. The windows are open and returns are just simply unbelievable! Huge.
The out-going Obasanjo Administration has set the regulatory and political framework that make our land an investors' haven. Just like most of Africa is aiming these days. Here is where to start from. Believe.
I am particularly keen on jobs, jobs, jobs! Getting our youths off the streets! And this, through entrepreneurship. So SMEs, micro projects, sustainable partnerships and some innovative green business will have my utmost attention. Most of Nigeria is simply and surprisingly "untapped"!
Then, my passion: Women Development - a half of our moon! We in Africa know what the power of our women is, especially within our collective livelihoods. But we must now formalise things, and do more strategic plus pragmatic mainstreaming. Lots of creative ideas will spring from this site. Bet.
2007 is bound to be exciting, folks...please, stay tuned!
Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 25, 2006
Saturday, December 02, 2006
APOLOGY
Internet connections have been lousy here. For a Serial Blogger, it's been hell. That is why all my wild theorems and even wilder thoughts are yet to float on this site. I apologize. Sincerely.
But things are improving. So, this month I suspect we'll have a feast! No question. I am ready. And I'll find a way or some ways round the service betrayal. It's a promise.
Watch out!
But things are improving. So, this month I suspect we'll have a feast! No question. I am ready. And I'll find a way or some ways round the service betrayal. It's a promise.
Watch out!
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
World Airlines and AFRICA
I have never ceased to marvel at how African leaders unabashedly short-change our people. It is a long list: from looting and stashing our funds abroad to condoning degrading immigration and travel practices by their erstwhile colonial masters; from denying local contractors to killing indigenous entrepreneurship; from pushing academics to the wall to disincentivizing our vibrant Diaspora. We serve other lands, and damn our land! We import shamelessly and export little or mere commodities - scant value added. So, dear reader, Africa is the world's dumping ground - a veritable dust-bin!
Because public funds pay their fares and passage, our leaders and their crowd care not (perhaps, check not) how much it costs our people to fly, or to freight....at home and abroad.
Pray, how do you explain the outrageous disparities between the airfares to Africa and those to other world destinations? We know that from Europe to America (at least 9 hours) costs less than from Europe to Nigeria (about 6 hours)!!! So, what is this whole thing about NEPAD and its Development Partners which brings no benefits to the African masses? Where are the low-cost airlines? Why has the EU intervened in so many areas of pricing and business practices, as the US does in antitrust and price gouging, yet our own leaders look the other way?
Are the airlines bribing their way to the bank? After all, some of them are under investigation! Remember how the oil conglomerates soiled their hands in very sticky corrupt practices, and are now being probed by their home countries? What are African leaders still waiting for in the matter of tickets and freights? Should our people continue to bleed unabated? No!
Enter Virgin Atlantic. I know that the airline has yet to give Nigerians the much-anticipated low costs in air tickets. But I also know that Richard Branson saved the British masses from the tyranny and exploitative practices of the air travel cartel in the 1980's. He can and should lead the way in Africa, today. The collusion and exploitation in this sphere must be stopped. Now!
African airlines also need to get their act together. There should be urgent mergers, alliances and consolidation. Our continent is a profitable destination...especially Nigeria/ECOWAS. Why then should we not have vibrant and successful airlines, world class air business? Let our sons and daughters in the African Diaspora invest heavily in African airlines, and stop this crying shame. African pilots, like medical personnel, are in many successful airlines around the globe. Let them join the crusade. The time to act is NOW.
The present prices will make our continent unattractive for both internal and external tourism. If we act now, it will stimulate intra-African travels and trades, and help mobilize our peoples towards the FIFA World Cup, as fans and tourists, in South Africa 2010. As a continent full of potential and repeat pilgrims, lower fares will help our people with their faith-journeys' costs.
This is certainly a subject for the EU-ACP Cotonou Agreement. Europe, as usual, should step in to help stop the mindless exploitative practices which perpetuate poverty and retardation in the African continent. European airlines will be pursuing their enlightened self-interest if they were to proactively redress the matter by industry-action, as telecoms players are now doing with mobile phones' roaming charges within the EU.
If they don't, from the comprehensive debates now in the African media, they can count on new players in the near term. And new reality, too. Certainly in Nigeria, post-Elections 2007.
Qatar Airlines is a sensible model. And why not!
***wherever you go, you may find thoughts in my views or fun in my thoughts: www.versesforthemasses.blogspot.com
www.onoviranseries.blogspot.com
www.manifestoesnigeriafrom2007.blogspot.com
Because public funds pay their fares and passage, our leaders and their crowd care not (perhaps, check not) how much it costs our people to fly, or to freight....at home and abroad.
Pray, how do you explain the outrageous disparities between the airfares to Africa and those to other world destinations? We know that from Europe to America (at least 9 hours) costs less than from Europe to Nigeria (about 6 hours)!!! So, what is this whole thing about NEPAD and its Development Partners which brings no benefits to the African masses? Where are the low-cost airlines? Why has the EU intervened in so many areas of pricing and business practices, as the US does in antitrust and price gouging, yet our own leaders look the other way?
Are the airlines bribing their way to the bank? After all, some of them are under investigation! Remember how the oil conglomerates soiled their hands in very sticky corrupt practices, and are now being probed by their home countries? What are African leaders still waiting for in the matter of tickets and freights? Should our people continue to bleed unabated? No!
Enter Virgin Atlantic. I know that the airline has yet to give Nigerians the much-anticipated low costs in air tickets. But I also know that Richard Branson saved the British masses from the tyranny and exploitative practices of the air travel cartel in the 1980's. He can and should lead the way in Africa, today. The collusion and exploitation in this sphere must be stopped. Now!
African airlines also need to get their act together. There should be urgent mergers, alliances and consolidation. Our continent is a profitable destination...especially Nigeria/ECOWAS. Why then should we not have vibrant and successful airlines, world class air business? Let our sons and daughters in the African Diaspora invest heavily in African airlines, and stop this crying shame. African pilots, like medical personnel, are in many successful airlines around the globe. Let them join the crusade. The time to act is NOW.
The present prices will make our continent unattractive for both internal and external tourism. If we act now, it will stimulate intra-African travels and trades, and help mobilize our peoples towards the FIFA World Cup, as fans and tourists, in South Africa 2010. As a continent full of potential and repeat pilgrims, lower fares will help our people with their faith-journeys' costs.
This is certainly a subject for the EU-ACP Cotonou Agreement. Europe, as usual, should step in to help stop the mindless exploitative practices which perpetuate poverty and retardation in the African continent. European airlines will be pursuing their enlightened self-interest if they were to proactively redress the matter by industry-action, as telecoms players are now doing with mobile phones' roaming charges within the EU.
If they don't, from the comprehensive debates now in the African media, they can count on new players in the near term. And new reality, too. Certainly in Nigeria, post-Elections 2007.
Qatar Airlines is a sensible model. And why not!
***wherever you go, you may find thoughts in my views or fun in my thoughts: www.versesforthemasses.blogspot.com
www.onoviranseries.blogspot.com
www.manifestoesnigeriafrom2007.blogspot.com
Monday, August 28, 2006
To Boost Organic Farming
The world is finally going crazy about ORGANIC FOODS. I applaud. Of all the regions of our planet where help can come from in this enterprise, AFRICA certainly stands high. It is the real place to produce ORGANIC FERTILIZERS from. And this is her time. So, where is the deal?
We must call on the governments, leaders, and peoples of the ancient continent to rise and arise for the task TODAY. Africa must lead the way to better farming...thus, better feeding....and better living, through organic agriculture. Over the next few months, we will be looking at lots of creative possibilities that one can conjure for this project. Will they be exhaustive? Absolutely not. Will they be challenging? Sure. Will we see enough temptings to grow and glow? You bet.
Let's start with BUSH BURNING: The menace, the pace of damage and the place of change.
Over the years, natives have used fires to clear the land, hunt for wildlife and games, herald a season, or just plain fun. Some have set accidental fires, while bush fires have been used in some conflicts and boundary disputes as well. Nature's abundance, in lustre and greenery, is so much that no one seems compelled to worry: After all, it will all grow back next year! After all, no one lives there! Sheer abuse. Sheer waste. And cumulative serial, if ritual, damage.
The fires in wooded lands are creating new grasslands, even as poverty is pushing rural souls to fell more trees for both fuel and food money. The costs to our combined ecosystem are simply rising by the day. Yet, it need not be so. From now, it must not be so....again.
To combat Bush Burning successfully is to borrow from the ploughshares concept: "Give a little something in exchange". In this case, substitute burning with composting of cropped vegetation. Meaning, harvest the greens - be it grass or shrubs, etc. - and turn them into a rich, natural manure, in an organized and orchestrated programme.
How to proceed? Easy:
1) Leave it to local governments and local communities
2) Build capacity and capability
3) Introduce appropriate incentives and create market windows
4) Empower civil society organisations as catalysts and monitors
5) Introduce composite national legislation
6) Work with rural women
7) Partner with faith organisations
8) Challenge and incentivize the media
9) Improve schools curricula
There is a role for the donor community and international development agencies to join this crusade immediately. One crucial input from them will be funding solar cooking stoves and dissemination of liquefied gas, briquettes, slow-burning fuels, etc. To make it work, please do not create centralized and national bureaucracies! Go to the PEOPLE.
Some pilots may be necessary, but not a long one. One year work, one year result. Use these in demonstration farms and pace-setters communities. Do so in several countries and regions of the continent. You are on your way!
With regard to the media, we need to draw up a special scheme that fully incorporates both the local and national press. There is something about us in Africa: We love competition and thrive on community spirit. Never mind the show of shame that our governments display all over the place. Most of those guys do not truly represent the real culture of hard work and tradition of honour that are the bedrock and essence of our African Humanity.
The true Africa is the Cradle of Humankind, and is the one that must, and I believe will, rise to the millennial challenge of Organic Agriculture.
Arise, O' Continent! The sun is up!!
We must call on the governments, leaders, and peoples of the ancient continent to rise and arise for the task TODAY. Africa must lead the way to better farming...thus, better feeding....and better living, through organic agriculture. Over the next few months, we will be looking at lots of creative possibilities that one can conjure for this project. Will they be exhaustive? Absolutely not. Will they be challenging? Sure. Will we see enough temptings to grow and glow? You bet.
Let's start with BUSH BURNING: The menace, the pace of damage and the place of change.
Over the years, natives have used fires to clear the land, hunt for wildlife and games, herald a season, or just plain fun. Some have set accidental fires, while bush fires have been used in some conflicts and boundary disputes as well. Nature's abundance, in lustre and greenery, is so much that no one seems compelled to worry: After all, it will all grow back next year! After all, no one lives there! Sheer abuse. Sheer waste. And cumulative serial, if ritual, damage.
The fires in wooded lands are creating new grasslands, even as poverty is pushing rural souls to fell more trees for both fuel and food money. The costs to our combined ecosystem are simply rising by the day. Yet, it need not be so. From now, it must not be so....again.
To combat Bush Burning successfully is to borrow from the ploughshares concept: "Give a little something in exchange". In this case, substitute burning with composting of cropped vegetation. Meaning, harvest the greens - be it grass or shrubs, etc. - and turn them into a rich, natural manure, in an organized and orchestrated programme.
How to proceed? Easy:
1) Leave it to local governments and local communities
2) Build capacity and capability
3) Introduce appropriate incentives and create market windows
4) Empower civil society organisations as catalysts and monitors
5) Introduce composite national legislation
6) Work with rural women
7) Partner with faith organisations
8) Challenge and incentivize the media
9) Improve schools curricula
There is a role for the donor community and international development agencies to join this crusade immediately. One crucial input from them will be funding solar cooking stoves and dissemination of liquefied gas, briquettes, slow-burning fuels, etc. To make it work, please do not create centralized and national bureaucracies! Go to the PEOPLE.
Some pilots may be necessary, but not a long one. One year work, one year result. Use these in demonstration farms and pace-setters communities. Do so in several countries and regions of the continent. You are on your way!
With regard to the media, we need to draw up a special scheme that fully incorporates both the local and national press. There is something about us in Africa: We love competition and thrive on community spirit. Never mind the show of shame that our governments display all over the place. Most of those guys do not truly represent the real culture of hard work and tradition of honour that are the bedrock and essence of our African Humanity.
The true Africa is the Cradle of Humankind, and is the one that must, and I believe will, rise to the millennial challenge of Organic Agriculture.
Arise, O' Continent! The sun is up!!
Saturday, April 15, 2006
The African FINISHING School....My Concept
Over the years, we've been involved with "political" families either appointed (in the military days) or elected ( in our democracy interludes!). In both cases, we've worked with numerous officials in public, private and civil society sectors. One common factor has been how much they were NOT prepared for high office!
Many are qualified technically and otherwise, but lack both the adaptability and confidence for the new call: What we may tag "applied professionalism" or "applied competency". Then there is the issue of style, class and carriage: What we call "finesse". This is the most telling of their known deficiencies. It manifests in personal interactions and at public presentations. It is not about speeches but about language, it is not about questions but about enquiry, it is not about control but content. We have otherwise good people who perform below par, for this reason.
Then the spouses: thoroughly left behind when their husbands or (less so) wives were climbing up the ladder, or positioning to be picked. As first or second or third ladies, our obsession with office and status has placed/plunged many unprepared/ill-prepared spouses into limelight. Many cannot even read prepared texts! You can then imagine how they may perform other intellectually-challenging and resource-consuming tasks. Disaster. Yet, not entirely their doing.
What to do? That is the point of this Position Paper. Unlike the limited crash programmes our
folks embark on, I thought we should have a home-grown package of Capacity Building in this regard. This concept is borne out of my own experiences over TWO decades of involvement. I have viewed, reviewed and helped to revamp friends, colleagues, and clients successfully over this period. I hope this concept will help even more people.
PREAMBLE
Africa is unique. Believe it. And please act it. Public office or high position is not compositely prepared or planned for. That is not surprising, it is just a subset of our general tardiness in national development and international interaction. It is why even at the African Union level there is less harmony than expected. Dialogue, debate, dissent and negotiation can do with "Social Graces" which many are yet to acquire. To be a smooth operator, even in hostility, needs class, courage, integrity, finesse and hospitality NOT hiding behind officialdom or vain diplomatic inanities. People see through you from a million miles! If you be refined, they'll respect even in dissent.
My African FINISHING School Concept is like the popular saying "what they don't teach you at Business School" or a more robust "university of real life". You must be real, solid and flexible (i.e. pragmatic). You must be smart but wise. You must be African. Not European, not Asian, not American.
When you get elevated, get educated! That is the basic motto. As you read the official files, tread the civilized lines. Get your spouse up to speed. And the time is short. Very short.
While employers should help you adjust, you must develop yourself. As you go, drag your spouse (and household, especially grown-ups) along. Avoid embarrassment and double shame! Finally, remember that your now performance is key to public acceptance and future elevation. So, learn and master Social Graces. Getting the finishing touches is like icing on the cake. And this one is with our rich African Flavour.
GOALS and OBJECTIVES
1. To equip and polish office holders and their spouses for the challenges, etiquette and style of higher office/special posts
2. To expose them to the "Gems of African Renaissance" to support their success
3. To help them in Productive & Selective Networking
4. To groom "Family & Household Members" on their appropriate roles/duties
5. To entrench the African Flavour in "Social Graces"
6. To develop, produce and provide high quality publications and multimedia materials
7. To support national, regional and continental bodies/authorities
8. To help civil society operators through Leadership Packages/Programmes
MODE/FORMAT
A. Special Clinics
B. Workshops
C. Modular/ Sandwich Training
D. Intensive Immersion Tutorials
E. Executive Retreats
F. Household Plan
G. NGO Class
DURATION
Depending on status and assessment, training will vary as case and class vary. It could range from one to twelve weeks, and one to six months.
CONTENTS
* Etiquette
* Speeches & Languages
* Presentations
* Communication
* Negotiation
* Diplomacy & Security
* Afro-Gems
* Style
* Fashion & Foods
* Global Thematics
* Post Needs & Office Challenges
* Service Delivery & Due Process
* Managing Meetings
* Media Matters
* Corruption Challenge
* Personal Development
* Legacy Matrix
* Biographical Journal
* ICT for Social Graces
It is such a pleasure when one encounters a well-groomed, well-prepared and polished office holder. When we go on international assignments or to global fora, nothing is more depressing than seeing our compatriots lose it all because of wrong language, style or temperament. It hurts. Political Parties must take this seriously, since the public sector still plays a dominant role in African Affairs.
PARTNERS WELCOMED
Many are qualified technically and otherwise, but lack both the adaptability and confidence for the new call: What we may tag "applied professionalism" or "applied competency". Then there is the issue of style, class and carriage: What we call "finesse". This is the most telling of their known deficiencies. It manifests in personal interactions and at public presentations. It is not about speeches but about language, it is not about questions but about enquiry, it is not about control but content. We have otherwise good people who perform below par, for this reason.
Then the spouses: thoroughly left behind when their husbands or (less so) wives were climbing up the ladder, or positioning to be picked. As first or second or third ladies, our obsession with office and status has placed/plunged many unprepared/ill-prepared spouses into limelight. Many cannot even read prepared texts! You can then imagine how they may perform other intellectually-challenging and resource-consuming tasks. Disaster. Yet, not entirely their doing.
What to do? That is the point of this Position Paper. Unlike the limited crash programmes our
folks embark on, I thought we should have a home-grown package of Capacity Building in this regard. This concept is borne out of my own experiences over TWO decades of involvement. I have viewed, reviewed and helped to revamp friends, colleagues, and clients successfully over this period. I hope this concept will help even more people.
PREAMBLE
Africa is unique. Believe it. And please act it. Public office or high position is not compositely prepared or planned for. That is not surprising, it is just a subset of our general tardiness in national development and international interaction. It is why even at the African Union level there is less harmony than expected. Dialogue, debate, dissent and negotiation can do with "Social Graces" which many are yet to acquire. To be a smooth operator, even in hostility, needs class, courage, integrity, finesse and hospitality NOT hiding behind officialdom or vain diplomatic inanities. People see through you from a million miles! If you be refined, they'll respect even in dissent.
My African FINISHING School Concept is like the popular saying "what they don't teach you at Business School" or a more robust "university of real life". You must be real, solid and flexible (i.e. pragmatic). You must be smart but wise. You must be African. Not European, not Asian, not American.
When you get elevated, get educated! That is the basic motto. As you read the official files, tread the civilized lines. Get your spouse up to speed. And the time is short. Very short.
While employers should help you adjust, you must develop yourself. As you go, drag your spouse (and household, especially grown-ups) along. Avoid embarrassment and double shame! Finally, remember that your now performance is key to public acceptance and future elevation. So, learn and master Social Graces. Getting the finishing touches is like icing on the cake. And this one is with our rich African Flavour.
GOALS and OBJECTIVES
1. To equip and polish office holders and their spouses for the challenges, etiquette and style of higher office/special posts
2. To expose them to the "Gems of African Renaissance" to support their success
3. To help them in Productive & Selective Networking
4. To groom "Family & Household Members" on their appropriate roles/duties
5. To entrench the African Flavour in "Social Graces"
6. To develop, produce and provide high quality publications and multimedia materials
7. To support national, regional and continental bodies/authorities
8. To help civil society operators through Leadership Packages/Programmes
MODE/FORMAT
A. Special Clinics
B. Workshops
C. Modular/ Sandwich Training
D. Intensive Immersion Tutorials
E. Executive Retreats
F. Household Plan
G. NGO Class
DURATION
Depending on status and assessment, training will vary as case and class vary. It could range from one to twelve weeks, and one to six months.
CONTENTS
* Etiquette
* Speeches & Languages
* Presentations
* Communication
* Negotiation
* Diplomacy & Security
* Afro-Gems
* Style
* Fashion & Foods
* Global Thematics
* Post Needs & Office Challenges
* Service Delivery & Due Process
* Managing Meetings
* Media Matters
* Corruption Challenge
* Personal Development
* Legacy Matrix
* Biographical Journal
* ICT for Social Graces
It is such a pleasure when one encounters a well-groomed, well-prepared and polished office holder. When we go on international assignments or to global fora, nothing is more depressing than seeing our compatriots lose it all because of wrong language, style or temperament. It hurts. Political Parties must take this seriously, since the public sector still plays a dominant role in African Affairs.
PARTNERS WELCOMED
I am looking forward to possible partners in this endeavour. We need to widen the intervention. Reach me at victoronoviran@yahoo.com or veonoviran@gmail.com. Who knows!
Friday, March 24, 2006
The Rise and Era of Non Governmental Individuals (NGIs)
We know of NGOs: Non Governmental Organisations. Recognised. We also know of NGIs: Non Governmental Individuals. Unrecognised. Now, we must!
As mainstream publishers have found, on-demand publishing is redefining our world. From books to music to multimedia materials....and out-of-print titles! You can now write your "obscure" stuff for your equally obscure tiny audience, and have it published! This technology is called "Print on Demand", POD.
As the mainstream media industry has discovered, citizen-reporting has now gone high-tech. Individuals use the Internet to report happenings around the world, for all the world: News that no media house can possibly have the resources or presence to cover. We saw it during the Asian Tsunamis, the Hurricane Katrina, the Pakistani Earthquakes, the Dafur Crises and The Olympics. This has been taken further by BLOGGING - the online journal. Now, we call it "Citizen Journalism".
NGIs are going to extend the frontiers of voluntarism and charities. There will also be excitng home-based actors everywhere. We better start recognising and rewarding them with our fullest embrace. It will be tricky, for we need special incentives, including tax breaks, donation-matrix, legal protections and new actuarial services, etc.
With Baby Boomers heading for retirement in due course, the world would have a reservoir of human and material resources never known to humankind before. Spare, and available!
The key: Non-Profits and For-Profits, as well as mixes in-between.
Watch this space.
As mainstream publishers have found, on-demand publishing is redefining our world. From books to music to multimedia materials....and out-of-print titles! You can now write your "obscure" stuff for your equally obscure tiny audience, and have it published! This technology is called "Print on Demand", POD.
As the mainstream media industry has discovered, citizen-reporting has now gone high-tech. Individuals use the Internet to report happenings around the world, for all the world: News that no media house can possibly have the resources or presence to cover. We saw it during the Asian Tsunamis, the Hurricane Katrina, the Pakistani Earthquakes, the Dafur Crises and The Olympics. This has been taken further by BLOGGING - the online journal. Now, we call it "Citizen Journalism".
NGIs are going to extend the frontiers of voluntarism and charities. There will also be excitng home-based actors everywhere. We better start recognising and rewarding them with our fullest embrace. It will be tricky, for we need special incentives, including tax breaks, donation-matrix, legal protections and new actuarial services, etc.
With Baby Boomers heading for retirement in due course, the world would have a reservoir of human and material resources never known to humankind before. Spare, and available!
The key: Non-Profits and For-Profits, as well as mixes in-between.
Watch this space.
Monday, March 20, 2006
User's Guide for Onoviran PAGES (OP)
You see, I come from an area of the world where politics has always been played yet democracy and development seem to be at loggerheads. If you have some ideas, good or bad, your chances of being heard are pretty slim. If you send in views about ongoing programmes and projects, very few decision makers get them. They're most likely to be blocked or killed in bureaucratic processes/files!
The news media of course carries a lot of these things but they are transient and, for many publishing houses, perishable. Most are not archived at all, nor put in indexed user-friendly form.
Political party manifestoes, where they truly exist, are most likely bland and grandiose - such that elected officials implement them in the breach or by whims and caprices. Tied to the now ignoble past of military dictatorships, one can and should leave that past to the past. What now?
As we move into a new era , both for Nigeria and Africa, I thought we ought to try new ways of proffering advice, advancing initiatives and motivating change. Using creative thought processes and projectised delivery, we can stimulate debates and instigate action at trisectoral levels - i.e. Public, Private, Civil Society(People/Popular).
For several decades I have thought, fantasised, romanticised, speculated and projected about the future of our land, and the world at large. I have also taken action. Most times, however, the environment hadn't been right or ready or both. Now, I believe things are different, should change, or will certainly be changed!
And, fortuitously, reforms are officially underway, which includesNational Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy - NEEDS (for Nigeria), New Partnership for Africa's Development - NEPAD (for Africa), UK Africa Commission, ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement, and UN Millennium Development Goals - MDGs (for the Global Community). Then, enter the Internet and 24/7 Satellite TV & Radio Broadcasts with their multimedia mechanisms, matrix and outreach. NOW is a different world!
OP Goals:
a) Sharing my thoughts in longer essays and detailed formats
b) Proposing new, creative, crazy and ambitious projects
c) Dedicated PAGES for NEPAD, MDGs, ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement, UK Africa Commission
d) Advancing policy advisories, business development and civil society interventions
e) Offering "OP BlogBooks" on special subjects and spotlight-sectors
f) Showing/Sharing my personal archival materials for reference and nostalgia!
g) Strategic support for NGOs, CBOs, CDAs and other civil society entities in Africa
h) Critiques, Recommendations, Commendations, Competitions and Awards through "Onoviran PAGES Presents..."
OP Contents:
i) Long Essays and Special Columns
ii) Action-Studies and Action PLANS
iii) Research & Development (R&D)
iv) Joint Works
v) Project Profiles
vi) Product/Service Profiles
vii) Feasibility and Viability Reports
viii) "From My Library" materials
ix) "Onoviran PAGES Presents..."
x) "OP BlogBooks" and "e-Manuals"
xi) Announcements/Notices
Who Can Use OP:
1) Africans, African Diaspora and Friends of Africa
2) Operators in Public, Private and Civil Society(People/Popular) Sectors
3) Politicians, Political Parties, Governments and Parliaments
4) Au, EU and UN Agencies, IMF/World Bank and the ADB
5) Diplomatic, Development and International institutions
6) Academics, writers, students and researchers
7) Thinkers, Forcasters and Futurologists
8) The Media
9) Bankers and Entrepreneurs
10) Anyone wishing to link to this site and to my Onoviran OBZervatory blog
What OP Isn't:
Onoviran PAGES is not a cast-in-stone definitive or contractual offering. Its contents are my personal opinions and creative ideas. Where so-indicated, especially in joint works, they represent the views of the authors. Readers are strongly recommended to seek independent professional and expert advice on all matters covered or propagated in OP.
Please update all data, references, status and other info at point-of-use.
REACTIONS WELCOME
i) Post your comments here or on your sites
ii) Link this site or any posts to your sites
iii) Refer or Recommend this site or any posts
iv) Advertise or Sponsor right here
OP Partnerships/Services:
We invite partners and collaborators on any aspect of OP Goals and Contents as well as new areas of mutual interest/benefit to all.
We are also able to offer professional services and special consultancies on short, medium, long terms or one-off dedicated basis.
All inerested parties are encouraged to link to Onoviran PAGES for the above purposes and/or general dissemination.
CONTACT ME
* By Email: veonoviran@gmail.com
* See my blogs: www.onoviranobzervatory.blogspot.com
www.onoviranseries.blogspot.com
www.manifestoesnigeriafrom2007.blogspot.com
www.versesforthemasses.blogspot.com
* Telephone: Mobile + 234 804 2123747
The news media of course carries a lot of these things but they are transient and, for many publishing houses, perishable. Most are not archived at all, nor put in indexed user-friendly form.
Political party manifestoes, where they truly exist, are most likely bland and grandiose - such that elected officials implement them in the breach or by whims and caprices. Tied to the now ignoble past of military dictatorships, one can and should leave that past to the past. What now?
As we move into a new era , both for Nigeria and Africa, I thought we ought to try new ways of proffering advice, advancing initiatives and motivating change. Using creative thought processes and projectised delivery, we can stimulate debates and instigate action at trisectoral levels - i.e. Public, Private, Civil Society(People/Popular).
For several decades I have thought, fantasised, romanticised, speculated and projected about the future of our land, and the world at large. I have also taken action. Most times, however, the environment hadn't been right or ready or both. Now, I believe things are different, should change, or will certainly be changed!
And, fortuitously, reforms are officially underway, which includesNational Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy - NEEDS (for Nigeria), New Partnership for Africa's Development - NEPAD (for Africa), UK Africa Commission, ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement, and UN Millennium Development Goals - MDGs (for the Global Community). Then, enter the Internet and 24/7 Satellite TV & Radio Broadcasts with their multimedia mechanisms, matrix and outreach. NOW is a different world!
OP Goals:
a) Sharing my thoughts in longer essays and detailed formats
b) Proposing new, creative, crazy and ambitious projects
c) Dedicated PAGES for NEPAD, MDGs, ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement, UK Africa Commission
d) Advancing policy advisories, business development and civil society interventions
e) Offering "OP BlogBooks" on special subjects and spotlight-sectors
f) Showing/Sharing my personal archival materials for reference and nostalgia!
g) Strategic support for NGOs, CBOs, CDAs and other civil society entities in Africa
h) Critiques, Recommendations, Commendations, Competitions and Awards through "Onoviran PAGES Presents..."
OP Contents:
i) Long Essays and Special Columns
ii) Action-Studies and Action PLANS
iii) Research & Development (R&D)
iv) Joint Works
v) Project Profiles
vi) Product/Service Profiles
vii) Feasibility and Viability Reports
viii) "From My Library" materials
ix) "Onoviran PAGES Presents..."
x) "OP BlogBooks" and "e-Manuals"
xi) Announcements/Notices
Who Can Use OP:
1) Africans, African Diaspora and Friends of Africa
2) Operators in Public, Private and Civil Society(People/Popular) Sectors
3) Politicians, Political Parties, Governments and Parliaments
4) Au, EU and UN Agencies, IMF/World Bank and the ADB
5) Diplomatic, Development and International institutions
6) Academics, writers, students and researchers
7) Thinkers, Forcasters and Futurologists
8) The Media
9) Bankers and Entrepreneurs
10) Anyone wishing to link to this site and to my Onoviran OBZervatory blog
What OP Isn't:
Onoviran PAGES is not a cast-in-stone definitive or contractual offering. Its contents are my personal opinions and creative ideas. Where so-indicated, especially in joint works, they represent the views of the authors. Readers are strongly recommended to seek independent professional and expert advice on all matters covered or propagated in OP.
Please update all data, references, status and other info at point-of-use.
REACTIONS WELCOME
i) Post your comments here or on your sites
ii) Link this site or any posts to your sites
iii) Refer or Recommend this site or any posts
iv) Advertise or Sponsor right here
OP Partnerships/Services:
We invite partners and collaborators on any aspect of OP Goals and Contents as well as new areas of mutual interest/benefit to all.
We are also able to offer professional services and special consultancies on short, medium, long terms or one-off dedicated basis.
All inerested parties are encouraged to link to Onoviran PAGES for the above purposes and/or general dissemination.
CONTACT ME
* By Email: veonoviran@gmail.com
* See my blogs: www.onoviranobzervatory.blogspot.com
www.onoviranseries.blogspot.com
www.manifestoesnigeriafrom2007.blogspot.com
www.versesforthemasses.blogspot.com
* Telephone: Mobile + 234 804 2123747
Thursday, March 16, 2006
My MILLENNIUM Telescope
There is this sense of "home-coming" about so many aspects of our humanity that one can be forgiven to assume that the world is returning home! Which home, you are bound to ask, and I am (who the heck do I think I am!) triggered to suggest: BASIS....the basic values, basic needs and common good. The basis of all things. I suggest also that, as the elders (baby-boomers and above) of today ease into retirement and relinguish power, or the looming prospects of that reality, the world is getting sobre and saner. Slow or gone are the cut-throat contests and incestuous conspiracies, sharper are the internal and insider conflicts, mellow is the emerging mien and shrieller be the voice of civil society.
Haven't you noticed (why am I pestering!) that all men and women of power end up in either charity, philanthropy or crusading after leaving office? And, note you not how some are now clever enough to compete in the realms of Goodwill Ambassadors? Smart souls! And, pray, welcome lights, also.
I just thought that instead of huge after-thoughts, we may reinvent power and its Internet-age public/private utilisation. So I should be beaming my Millennium Telescope on this matter because it matters. Major pragmatic propositions. Crazy...easy. MT be means.
Ha, definitions, right? Sure. My MT is the slim equivalent of a surgeon's knife: DISSECTION!
We need a fresh, deeper, inventively incisive look at things. The "what now" introspection. You won't be prepared for my propositions, I tell you! But very few will be surprised. People are speaking out.
So, this prior note is to wish you kindly take note of another tool in the toolbox. The full guide
cometh!
Haven't you noticed (why am I pestering!) that all men and women of power end up in either charity, philanthropy or crusading after leaving office? And, note you not how some are now clever enough to compete in the realms of Goodwill Ambassadors? Smart souls! And, pray, welcome lights, also.
I just thought that instead of huge after-thoughts, we may reinvent power and its Internet-age public/private utilisation. So I should be beaming my Millennium Telescope on this matter because it matters. Major pragmatic propositions. Crazy...easy. MT be means.
Ha, definitions, right? Sure. My MT is the slim equivalent of a surgeon's knife: DISSECTION!
We need a fresh, deeper, inventively incisive look at things. The "what now" introspection. You won't be prepared for my propositions, I tell you! But very few will be surprised. People are speaking out.
So, this prior note is to wish you kindly take note of another tool in the toolbox. The full guide
cometh!
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
My INTELLECTUAL KITCHEN Concept
Perish the thought! This is not bookishness. This kitchen is the hub of my creative day-dreaming, the lab for propositions and theatre for display. Yet it will be real, and it will be simple. Yes, the Archives for Action. Well, sort of.
I am thinking of how a non-rocket scientist (that's me!) can bring down-to-earth ideas to the sustainable development mix of our planet. I am cool about robots. I do not mind mass production. But, hey, why would we need to grow artificial food? Have we run out of natural fields? Well, not in Africa or South America or Asia!
When people talk banking, I truly wonder. The majority of humankind is left out of today's financial system. Can that be true banking? Now, with the corporate frauds around the globe, where should banking be heading? In this celebrated Global Village, where is village banking, the People's Bank?
Then the media, especially third world media. Shouldn't journalism be reinventing? Media people are now subjects of renewed targeting worldwide - even in the United States! Can't the Free Press protect itself, and our world?
Right here, we will mix, concoct, cook and manufacture ways and means for public consumption. Who knows!
The guide? I'll keep my word. Next week. These prior notes are merely...well, prior notes.
I am thinking of how a non-rocket scientist (that's me!) can bring down-to-earth ideas to the sustainable development mix of our planet. I am cool about robots. I do not mind mass production. But, hey, why would we need to grow artificial food? Have we run out of natural fields? Well, not in Africa or South America or Asia!
When people talk banking, I truly wonder. The majority of humankind is left out of today's financial system. Can that be true banking? Now, with the corporate frauds around the globe, where should banking be heading? In this celebrated Global Village, where is village banking, the People's Bank?
Then the media, especially third world media. Shouldn't journalism be reinventing? Media people are now subjects of renewed targeting worldwide - even in the United States! Can't the Free Press protect itself, and our world?
Right here, we will mix, concoct, cook and manufacture ways and means for public consumption. Who knows!
The guide? I'll keep my word. Next week. These prior notes are merely...well, prior notes.
Monday, March 13, 2006
BACKGROUNDERS
Welcome to my "Intellectual Kitchen" where you will find appropriate materials that look, read and feel like me....and my thought process.
There will be a healthy fare of backgrounders as a necessary component of our postulations and permutations. In a week from today, I should have a Layman's Guide posted...some kind of road-map for safe navigation and utilisation of the kitchen. You want a menu card, don't you! So tarry, as the humble Chef gets on all fours.
See you folks next Tuesday!
There will be a healthy fare of backgrounders as a necessary component of our postulations and permutations. In a week from today, I should have a Layman's Guide posted...some kind of road-map for safe navigation and utilisation of the kitchen. You want a menu card, don't you! So tarry, as the humble Chef gets on all fours.
See you folks next Tuesday!
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