IN #NIGERIA ZEBRA CROSSINGS ARE FOR ZEBRAS ONLY

When I was in primary school, they had just completed the painting of several Zebra crossings along Allen Avenue and Opebi areas. Our mum was driving us on that particular day when we approached one of the newly painted Zebra crossings and then she told us … and I can never forget

“If you walk on the Zebra crossing, cars will automatically stop for you.”

Well several months after that, the driver or our parents forgot to pick us up from school (St. Leo Catholic School), so we had to walk all the way from Toyin Street to Adeniyi Jones, needless to say no cars stopped for us at the Zebra crossings. It was like the Zebra crossings were invisible. In fact it seemed like cars moved faster in the Zebra crossing zones. Except that you happen to be a Zebra … then they will stop!

But it is not that we have bad drivers, we just are not trained drivers.

People often say that if you can drive in Nigeria you can drive anywhere in the world … “huh” is my reaction … because, actually if you can drive in Nigeria, chances are that you can’t really drive anywhere else. Because other places have rules, and without an understanding of the rules you can’t drive there.

But it is not all our fault…the government has a hand.

They (the government) wake up one morning and paint lines on the road put up signs left right and center, sometimes the signs vary from local government to local government depending on who got the contract. Its like a hodgepodge of road paint. Some roads have lanes, others don’t have lanes. And soon people are ignoring the rules not because they want to but because the implementation is inconsistent and confusing.

Now back to the Zebra crossings…

The reason Nigerian drivers will only stop for Zebra’s is because there is no adequate training. And the people meant to implement this training (traffic wardens) are clueless most of the time except when there is a financial benefit. If the traffic wardens understand that their role is not to prey on drivers mistakes but rather to educate and teach drivers, we might see some change.

But for now and to be safe … dress like a Zebra before you cross!

OfiliSpeaks

 

WORD FOR TODAY..

Here are two more stumbling blocks you need to remove in order to win someone to Christ:

1) Boredom. Jesus isn’t boring, but sometimes religion is. The story is told of a lady who fell asleep during the sermon. Pointing at the man sitting next to her, the pastor said, ‘Please wake that woman up!’ The man replied, ‘You put her to sleep, Reverend, you wake her up!’ Jesus is called ‘the Good Shepherd’ (John 10:11), and the Greek word for ‘good’ is ‘kalos’, which means ‘captivating’; that’s the Christ we need to present to those seeking spiritual direction.

2) Money. It’s been said the most sensitive nerve in a person’s body is the one that runs to their wallet. Have there been financial scandals in the church? Yes. They even had them in the New Testament church (Acts 5). But don’t throw the baby out with the bath water! It takes money to build churches, feed and clothe the needy and send out missionaries. When money is in the right hands, it’s a solution, not a problem. Furthermore, if God can trust you to finance His plans, He will show you how to make more money. He said, ‘…I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you to profit…’ (Isaiah 48:17 AMP).

3) Discomfort. People say, ‘I just don’t feel comfortable in church.’ The truth can do that to you! The gospel is designed to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. When Paul preached, some people trembled, but when trembling leads to trusting in Christ, it’s a good thing.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE….Vol 17

Stopped by Jide Salu’s blog and found this, thought I should share with you all.

I thought it was an ingenious poster. In this season of Wars, Boko Haram and What-have-you-atrocities…I thought this pic should bring much needed smile or laughter to readers depending on your humour level.

Feel free to send us photos you think will make us smile or laugh.

WHO KNOWS WHAT YOU KNOW MATTERS.

From birth we have been wired to believe that the people who know the most, the ones who work the hardest, the ones who are the best in their field are the ones bound for success. But that is rarely the truth, because it is never really about what you know but rather who knows what you know that matters.

You could be the very best at your job, but if your manager is not aware that you are the best at what you do, you will get stuck. And many people get stuck but they don’t know why. They swear they have the best cupcakes in town but nobody is buying, they know they have the most awesome manuscript in the world but no publisher is biting, they know they are the most kick-ass worker at their job but no promotion. So what do they do? They try and be better.

They bake sweeter cupcakes, write better manuscripts, put in extra hours at their job hoping that somebody will notice. But nothing. In fact they watch other people with inferior products and subpar performance surpass them. They curse their luck and try and become even better…they go to culinary school, go to creative writing classes, get a PhD…but nothing really happens. Because it’s never been about what you know…

Steve Wozniak was definitely the best at what he did; he invented the Apple I the first ever computer system to display on a home television. Or so we are told, we don’t really know who was the first ever to design a computer system that displayed on a home television. It could have been another geeky kid in a another geeky garage, but that does not matter. Because Wozniak met Jobs. Without Jobs apple will still probably just be a fruit.

Jobs called investor after investor; telling them about Wozniak’s invention. Despite several rejections he kept at it until they convinced Mike Markkula to see their invention…and the rest is history. They could have decided to build an even better computer system much faster and sexier. But they understood that they needed to find someone who knew what they had invented.

That was 1976…today the ‘who’ has expanded…we don’t have to depend on a few people to know what we can do, we are now in the age of the crowd. Where the crowd decides. Blogs have replaced traditional publishers, youtube has replaced record labels and kickstarter has replaced venture capitalists.

Today we can create products and make noise about it with the web and people will listen if it is good. Today, we can’t afford to sit on the sidelines hoping that someone will notice us. We have to take it to the people that matter, because the more people that know about what you can do the better your chances of success. Make noise about yourself today!

Ofili