The Finance Dude

Much as I appreciate what the media has done by publicizing the speech delivered by Dr Oby Ezekwesili at the Inaugural Business Lecture of the Lagos Country Club, I am still not quite certain about what that speech hoped to achieve. You see, Dr Ezekwesili did a fine job of detailing the current issues in the country. She even took it a step further by saying the problem did not begin with President Buhari’s government, but had been brewing when Goodluck Jonathan was in office. The former minister explained how bad policies had led to this downward spiral we now call ‘recession’.   Donning her advocacy cap, she called on the citizenry to ‘convict’ the government to retrace its steps and to sit up. At that point, I knew that this speech was a dud. I must hand it to her though, that she is a great communicator. Anyone who is able to analyse their audience and feed them what they want to hear is great, really. I mean, delivered in Lagos Country Club, I’m sure she ...

After months of wheeling and dealing, the member nations of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have finally agreed an average drop in production level of 1.2 million barrels per day, effective January. The agreement exempted Nigeria and Libya, but gave Iraq its first quotas since the 1990s, Bloomberg reports. Iran seems to be the greatest winner, as OPEC agreed for the country to raise output to about 3.8 million barrels a day as the country sought special treatment as it recovers from sanctions. However, Iraq OPEC’s second-largest producer, agreed to cut by 210,000 barrels a day from October levels despite its previous push for special consideration based on the urgency of its offensive against Islamic State. Saudi Arabia, which raised oil production to a record this year, will reduce output by 486,000 barrels a day to 10.058 million a day. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait will reduce output by 139,000 barrels a day and 131,000 a day while ...

Research suggests that we have between 40,000-70,000 thoughts a day. We carry out most of our daily activities without even thinking. These can include brushing our teeth, driving a car or even breathing. So most of these 70,000 thoughts are new thoughts, how many do you pay attention to? Within all of these thoughts, there is at least one a day that could change your life or the world as we know it, but how many do we let slip through our fingers never to be thought of again? Here are some great ways to ensure that those ideas don’t pass you by: 1. Journal In The Morning You’ve been asleep for 8 hours, imagine what magnificent thoughts have been running through your mind all night. We need to get them down on paper. This is why it’s a perfect time to journal. Write anything down that you’re feeling or thinking. Go crazy and write as if no one else will read it. It doesn’t even have to make sense. When we wake up those thoughts can slowly dissolve as the day pr...