JENNIE IFEATU

Apart from your identity card, another thing that identifies or characterizes you will be your hat. Hats? Yes, Hats. I hated them. I felt they had their way of denying my scalp air as a little girl plus I though it looked clumsy. This week, I took the time to observe the number of people I have been in contact with. Some wore hats and some didn't.  Here's my observation; Baseballs hats or caps are for the cool kids, fedoras are for the older men, berets are for the frat guys, floppy female hats are for the bourgie and classy women.  Interesting, isn't it? So, perhaps you can decide to embark on this with me and place people wearing hats in a category (But, don't tell them, that I sent you). Credit: CNCAPS  Social media managers too get to wear hats. Most likely not the Fedora, baseball ball or even beret. But they really do. Their hats are more superficial yet innate. These are characteristics they need to have to enble anyone spot them and say," Aha...

Over the week, I had a conversation with a friend who was being skeptical about demanding her worth from a gig because a senior colleague in the same industry tried to talk her out of it. When asked about my opinion.  I had two questions for her.  "What have you done to get you to where you are? (I wasn't concerned about if she had movement pace so far had been an inch) How bad do you want to get what you deserve? She looked at me with intent eyes and told me about the efforts, time and discomfort she had invested to get her where she was. As for how much she wanted what she deserved, she wanted it just as much as a drowning man will need a lifeguard.  Sometimes, in life, business, career, relationships or even pursuing an education, we are going to be talked out of reaching out to what we truly deserve. These suggestions and lame excuses often come with whispers of " You are not good enough," You need more experience," or  Wait a ...

A country, community or organisation without youths is one without a future. Youths in this context refer to those whose minds, talents and creativity bring a fountain of life to everyone and everything they come in contact with.  When you do this, you have truly defeated age. The human body can be young for a short for a period of time while the spirit can be young forever.  According to the United Nations, 226 million youth aged 15-24 lived in Africa in 2015 representing nearly 20% of Africa’s population, making up one- fifth of the world’s youth population. If one includes all people aged below 35, this number increases to a staggering three-quarter of Africa’s population.  It is important to note that people who often fall prey to the learn but don't remove the 'L' are often young people. The good book saw this coming and admonished, " Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduc...

If I were in need of a pharmacist in my startup and two people showed up with almost same performing ability with one bagging a degree and masters in pharmacy while the other had a first degree plus other qualifications such as marketing, being multilingual and other non-related qualifications. I will pick the latter over the former.  I remember my mentor once saying she would prefer to employ someone who had diverse skills or qualification as against one who had just one skill or qualification set. I didn't totally understand this at first.   However, looking at the rise and fall of careers and businesses. It is obvious that the trend of activities change on a daily basis. This paves a way for diversification.  Diversification is an act of branching out, expanding or broadening one's resources. This is also applicable in investment. However, my focus is on how it applies to human resource.  Gone are the days when you can rely on ...

What did you just read?  Standalonation? Is that English, French, Spanish or Swahili? Accept my apologies because I don't have an answer.  The above word is my coined word for the opposite of collaboration. I grew up to hear the phrase 'One man show.' Anyone who was termed a 'One man show' was perceived to be some kind of genius, a Superman of his kind.  Collaboration  is known to be the act of working together to achieve a common goal.  Effective  collaboration  is achieved when the results of the team's efforts are greater than those which individual members could achieve on their own.  Over the weekend, I was opportuned to work with an amazing team on a short film project. We were to write, shoot, produce and edit a short film within twenty hours.   20 Hours?  😳 As soon as I got the call from a childhood friend who was the producer, my eyes popped out. That's a mission impossible! We decided to lay anxiety aside and at...

If you thought that we go blind when the light fails our eyes, it's likely you believe that snowballs fallen on the floor are scoops of ice cream cascading from the skies. There is a thing about the generation that tends to stir the leadership of this country when the frail ones visit the land of no return. We love 'big things.' Big phones, big cars, big houses, big dreams, big husbands, big wives, big names or just about anything as long as it has the prefix 'Big.' You can't blame us!  We are the Millenials, the Gen-Z, no other generation has had a name as hip as ours. The digital era heralded us. So, No! You can't blame us.  But the next time we desire something big, let us remember that tiny pieces of sedimented particles make a huge rock.  Let us bring our bigness to remind us that a young Nigerian boy named  Dr. Emeagwali carefully studied the efficient ways in which bees communicate and build honeycombs and decided to create...

"Many of you will not pay your bills from a job that is related to what I teaching you in this class," Mr Iwuala said in his usual didactic tone during an Immunology class.  He was my university lecturer in the Department of Public Health at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri.  It was my last year in school. A tiny voice within me whispered, "Jay, you are in this category." How dare you? I swore under my breath during the same class. Every time I reflect on that moment, I just can't help laughing. Truly, I have not been so much involved in the health sector until lately when I started writing health articles to bring my 'prodigal self' closer to home.  This year, I promised myself to put my thoughts in prints and have people read them amidst giggles, anger, laughter and tears. So, I proceeded to have Ekwensu's Harvest in prints.  Have you read it? Reviews and encomiums have been pouring in. I wouldn't lie...

"I will like to walk into a place empty and walk out with bags," I said with an air of carefreeness.  "You are on a road trip to being a bandit," My friend chuckled.  Come to think of it. Only a woman with a gun walks into a place with an empty bag and walks out with a bag full of goodies.  What direction is my merry-go-round talk headed? The unwanted marksman who never misses a shot in a squad,  the industrious wife of a lazy man whom he never sends away, the arrogant ultra-skilled employee who can't be fired, and the badly behaved yet talented Mario Balotelli of the 2010 Inter Milan squad all have something in common.  As much as they are not totally indispensable, they had value to offer. This is what kept all the individuals mentioned in place.  I am no proponent of behaving in an uncultured manner but suffice me to say, that the good, bad and ugly is a triad.  Value is the leverage that enables you walk in as a nobody with a...

"Click! Click! A shutter sound follows suit. Jojo takes a more intent stare at the selfie. It was not her perfect shot. She tilts her head, takes a few more shots then heads off to the buffet. Nodding her head to the beats of the newest song on the town and munching on small chops at an event no doubt made her feel like the coolest kid on the block.  The DJ was the next best thing after strawberry parfait. His playlist was the real deal. Gradually, guests were soon leaving in skeletal numbers till Jojo thought it was time to go too. She would go home with the DJ's rhythm in her head but without the memory of anyone she had introduced her new startup to. With the rise and rise of entrepreneurship and the need to advance a career, it is becoming next to impossible to go for an event and come back home without a new name. As much as we might prefer to wait until we have to attend a seminar, workshop, conference, symposium or masterclass before we can networ...

Chukwuebuka had been my friend for a long time.  I had come visiting and he had just bought a new Play Station 4 set way back then. We sat and discussed about  the Nigerian school system to politics, to social trends and ofcourse literature.  He had been waiting for 'the boys' so he could 'trash them' in a game.  "I would like to play," he gave me the 'girls-don't-play-games kind of smile but I insisted.  Five minutes into the game, he had a knowing smile on his face as he stared at me to the gamepads and back to the screen. One thing was certain, it was not the first time I 'd touch a gamepad. Growing up with my male cousins groomed me for that.  Life itself is a game and realising this in good time will help you pull through it with ease. Life is designed just like games just like your favourite Candy Crush to Grand Theft Auto , Super Mario or even Temple Run . It teaches you to scale hurdles and unlock higher realms of operation. Ga...

I have a thing for geographical places. Each place, I have visited or lived in leaves an emotion or lifelong lessons for me. Some are pleasant and some are not too pleasant but the fact is that they all come bearing something. Lagos is one of my best cities. Sometimes she comes with a feeling of nostalgia, sometimes anger, on other times an enormous explosion of unexplainable positive energy and on somedays some sort of craziness. The good thing about her is that she has something to offer. I have a habit of staying away from places where my emotions are blank. Lagos is a doting mother who spoils you silly like her only child if you understand her. Sometimes, I get really embarassed when people ask me how I have the time to read or write.  This is because the answer usually at the tip of my tongue that I do not let out is that, "Lagos has taught me to maximize my time." When I started working, I apparently started realising how useless sitting in ...

One of my old bosses had got off the phone with a grunt and a scoff. " Any problems?" I asked with concern.  "Another baby adult, " she mumbled. Apparently, she had given out a project to someone to handle and the fellow had not met up with their agreement. Instead of apologizing, he found it more convenient to pass the blame to a third party. Excuses are the tiny little holes that end up forming the large bored holes on your trousers.  I know where your thoughts are straying. Anyone can disappoint, make mistakes and flop. This is true however when you fail to take responsibilities for your actions and push the blame to another fellow. You just bought your enrollment form into the 'baby adult league.' This does not apply only at work. It transcends down to your business, relationships and way beyond your expectations.  Over the weekend, the scheduled elections in Nigeria was rescheduled due to  mainly logistical challenges faced in deploying huma...

One of the activities that make my Sundays beautiful is spending time with the kids in my church. I would teach and listen to them as they ask the weirdest questions. A fortnight ago, a little girl with bulgy yet innocent eyes walked up to me. She tugged at my dress. Looking down I flashed a smile at her, "Any problems?" She nodded. "Ma, I wanted to ask if candles burn adults when they put their finger through it?" She said in her sweet babyish voice. I found the question amusing but explained that we all feel pain irrespective of if we are older or younger. She showed me a blister on her finger which she had gotten when she had tried holding the wick of a candle.  "Sorry," I said to pacify her and warned her not to try it again, explaining further that it could injure her more. It appeared that I satisfied her. She grinned and scampered away. I reminisced how I also played with lighted candles as a kid. Just as everyone feels pain when burnt...