When you say it is time for critical thinking, how does pan out and how does it impact on what people call the New Normal now?
In 1998, as we began to prepare for the new millennium, I began to talk to people on the need to prepare for the new season. If you remember, in 1998/99, they were talking about Y2K, they were saying that in the year 2000, computers will shut down, this and that. But we were talking about people becoming Y2K compliant and all those stuff. Now, 20 years later, are we millennium compliant? Are we Y2K compliant? So it’s not COVID that is the problem, COVID has only come to show us our report card that in the last 20 years of technological advancement and global ICT revolution, we have refused to become ICT compliant. So COVID is just a shaking to tell us that in the last 20 years, we have been wasting time. Do you know how long they have been talking about the digitalization of the media? All the TV and radio stations are supposed to have been digitalized but they are still dilly-dallying. Up till now, we don’t have solid broadband and internet infrastructure, 98 percent of our civil service from the federal to state and local government are still operating on analogue, carrying files from place to place when everything is supposed to be digital. Most of the things we operate on analogue here in Nigeria, when you go to other countries, you find them on the internet. We have not critically thought about how to make everything ICT compliant here. Look at our educational sector, schools are on lockdown but many countries are going to school online, they graduated online, people are going to resume again in August online. But here in Nigeria, we are arguing whether our children should write WAEC or not. Look at our schools like rehab centers for drug addicts. We have not gone into critical thinking because we don’t have transformational leaders, what we have are rulers and looters. My brother, look at all the money they are stealing, billions, they have even left millions. These are political hushpuppies and somebody stole 1 billion dollars, that money is enough to complete all the road projects across the country, it is enough to give us electricity. Many estates in Lagos have 24 hours electricity and internet services. Look at Cananland, since 1998, they have only taken light twice, they produce their own electricity, no. Meanwhile, some people are there stealing all the money.
Because when we are talking about the New Normal, we are talking about value. The only thing that will make you relevant now is to be a person of value. You must continue to render products and services that have value. A man, woman or an organisation of value can never go under. What is value? It is tripartite in nature. Firstly, it means answering questions, secondly it means solving problems and number three it means meeting needs. So if you are able to answer questions, solve problems and meet needs for people, you are offering value. Every individual and organisation will have to ask themselves if they are valuable. If you are valuable, you will attract money but if not, you will suffer. Every company is doing staff evaluation to know how valuable each staff is. Any staff that is not valuable will not have a job post-COVID, any business that is not valuable will expire with COVID-19 but once you are a person of value, you will continue to make it. So that is why you need critical thinking. Think about your life, your skills, your values, your organisation, products and services, vision and afterwards ask yourself if you are still valuable. All the days of 9 am – 5 pm and thinking somebody will pay you for nothing is gone. Nobody will pay you for activities you are going to be paid for productivity. I’ve been saying it, we should stop paying people per month because we are raising lazy people. We should start paying people per hour. That is how it is being done in all the developed countries of the world. That is how to know whether people are useful or not. If you pay people per hour, you don’t need them the whole day. Since 2015, my staff have been working virtually, even before COVID, Common Sense Group has gone virtually. I don’t pay people for an activity, I pay them for productivity. Truth is that we need help but everybody can start by being a part of the solution. We can complain from today till tomorrow, it will not bring any result. Too much analysis leads to paralysis so we must become a problem solver.
Let’s talk about what you’ve been doing in the last few years. Are you still involved in the activities you used to do those days? Book writing, delivering lectures, etc. is the Common Sense Group still doing all that?
Yes. I’m speaking to you now from Owerri. I’m in Owerri for a 5-day economic summit and we have been speaking to people in sessions. We have been raising people, equipping them for entrepreneurship and we have been doing them for close to 30 years now. I am also still writing, I wrote two books two months ago; 50 common money mistakes to avoid and 50 thongs to avoid. They are two new books that came out in May. Anyone reading this can get them free of charge, they should log on to my website, www.olumideemmanuel.org it can be downloaded free of charge. I also released two books last years, how to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor and how to create your own success story. So every year, books and manuals are still coming out, we are also still running the school of money seminar. In January and March, we were in 2 states and South Africa while we were in 3 states in February. And now we are here in Owerri. Since this lockdown started, I’ve been doing a lot of webinars online, some of them are free while some are paid. I’ve also been running a lot of programmes on Instagram, people can follow me @olumidemmanuelon Instagram and Twitter or Olumide.Emmanuel on Facebook. On the Common Sense Group, we have estates all over the country. Some years ago, I got an award as one of the topmost real estate companies from City People, we have raised a lot of people. Many of the guys you are seeing making noise now are my sons, they are my mentees, and now we want to consolidate. We are currently running a promo for people to buy a plot of land for N1 million in five of our estates and the documentation for another N1 million. We have lands in Ofada, Ikorodu, Atan, Ota and Abuja. So people can contact our office and take advantage of that.
There have been issues with 5g and religion lately, what’s your take on that?
A lot of people don’t know that capitalists are the ones ruling the world. Whenever you see a battle in the world, it is either an economic or religious battle. So all the 5G noise you are hearing is a noise of economy because the country and company that started it were the ones they didn’t want to start. So other countries that expected to start it look for a way to spoil to it. America was angry that it was Huawei that started it, so it is about the economy. When economic theories are going on, a lot of Christians will not know because they are not in the market place. They don’t understand the economic warfare of the market place. So some charlatans try like to ride on it and turn it to a spiritual matter because they know that religion is the opium of the masses. That’s the same way they tried to turn COVID-19 into a spiritual matter because they know that many Christians don’t use their brain. Salvation doesn’t take away your mind, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think critically and just follow bandwagons. So 5g is the next level technology, whether you like it or not, there will be 6g and 7g and all you need to do is decide whether you want to stay analogue or go digital because if you are not updated, you will become outdated, if you are not inspired, you will expire and if you are not informed, you will be deformed. If you stay in yesterday, you will never be able to operate tomorrow.
At the time you came up with the phrase “common sense is not common”, how and what made you come up with it then?
It was in 2001 when Ben Murray Bruce started saying I just want to make common sense, people started calling me to sue him because he was using my phrase and I actually have a copyright for the phrase because I trademarked it. But I love the man and I just said let’s be making common sense together. I started out in the early ’90s with Indian films rental services and some other small businesses not in 1998 when I got tired of poverty, I went into research for 8 months on how to come out of poverty and that encounter was what changed my life entirely. I was initially talking to singles about relationships and then I realised that poverty has caused a lot of people not to get married so I started teaching them how to make money. I had been using the phrase ‘common sense is not common’ in my speaking since 1999 but when I wanted to register my company in 2001, I realised that what people lack the most is common sense for relationship, business, finance and their lives. So we called the company Common Sense Ltd where we have common sense estate, common sense oil and gas, etc. and now it is common sense group with many subsidiaries. It was in 2001 I wrote a book on common sense is not common. So the phrase came out of the fact that everybody is supposed to have common sense but not everybody has it.
What will be your last message for our readers?
Become a person of value. Evil thrives when good men do nothing and if you are not a part of the solution, you are indirectly a part of the problem.
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