Rate That Biz

Hey guys, it has been a really long while.

I have been working on something I’m hope would become the www.yelp.com of Nigeria and hopefully Africa. For it to succeed, I would need the help of each and every one of you.

It would start out as a section of the blog and eventually, depending on its success as a blog section, a website of its own and finally an app would be developed for it.

In the early days of this blog, we decided to start up a section that would showcase and encourage up and coming young business owners. The Young and In Charge Section was a huge success and we achieved this aim.

The primary aim of this new section would be to give consumers a voice to speak out on the services they receive from business owners, it would be a forum to speak out on the good, the bad and the ugly services they receive from business owner.  Its very important to note that we are not out to run anybody’s business down and so business owners would be given an opportunity to tell their own side of the story.

In the long run, one of the side effects I hope we would achieve is an improvement of the services rendered by business owners. When business owners know that there is a place where their services are being rated, they would sit up and give their consumers value for their hard earned money.

That said, I would like to introduce the new section of the blog to you, Rate That Biz. Rate That Biz was inspired by my personal experience with the poor services of an Abuja based Tailor. I would be sharing my story tomorrow.

If you have an experience with a business owner you would like to share, please send it to the email, abjloving@gmail.com. Where possible if you have it, include the business’s/business owner’s contact details.

Inspire: Ants, The Real MVPs

Inspiration comes from the weirdest places sometimes. Most of the time it just sneaks up on you without you even noticing until you are inspired to go out and achieve more. And sometimes your inspiration can come from one of the smallest living thing known to man: ANTS. Yup you read right, ANTS. I bet you never thought you would see the day when someone would say something as crazy as that, right?

I sat outside my house on Saturday evening enjoying a cob of corn and some native pear, oka n’ube as my Ibo people would call it. I’m sorry brothers and sisters in diaspora, I didn't mean to make you salivate, it's just the season back here in Nigeria. Anyway, back to my story. Some ears of corn made their way to the ground as I ate, some big and some smaller than the others.

Young and In Charge: Ugonma Chiori

'One particular day, I had made up my mind to quit baking, get a real job then keep baking as a side hustle. I ran into a group of children I had baked cupcakes for and they screamed,"Aunty Cupcake Aunty Cupcake"... I teared up, nobody understood why.' When the motivation for what you do goes beyond the monetary compensation that comes at the end of a successful job, the will to keep on moving even when defeat is staring you in the face never runs out. Our YIC of the month has a couple of lessons to teach us, from never giving up to starting small. It promises to be an interesting read and I hope you enjoy getting to know baker extraordinaire, Ugonma Chiori, as much as I did.

Let’s start by getting to know you a little bit. Tell us a little about yourself, from childhood till now. 

I'm from Abia State but I was born and brought up in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. I had all my education in Akwa Ibom State, my family stays there so basically, I am an "Uyo babe". I am a baker, blogger, choreographer, fitness enthusiast. I'm a 3rd generation baker. I have vague memories of my maternal grandmother baking, sewing...you see, she was a Home Economics teacher. I remember my mother used to bake for leisure but later in life, I found myself doing it as a business. However, before I became a baker, I used to be a "makeup artiste". Actually, I have always been a "business woman". Back in the University, I sold everything ranging from chocolates to sweets to dresses my mother bought for me I was a Mary Kay/Avon sales rep... I sold everything. "Do you like it? Do you want it? Okay, bring money". Yes, that was me. 

Just My 2Kobo: South Africa! Xenophobic Attacks, Maka' Why

 Ngozi .G. Izuora

 

Being simply speech less is the reaction on the lips of many in relation to this subject matter. People have only but imagined, especially for us Nigerians in Nigeria we are disgusted by this reaction from South Africans for whatever reason why should you harm your fellow African not to even talk less of any one? What are the underlying issues from this outburst which reared its ugly head as far back as 2008? 

Young and In Charge: Osasogie Uwaifo

Running a successful business is never easy, "but when find something you love doing, you would always find time for it". As long as the passion is present, every other thing is secondary, but also as important. Our Young person of the month shows us that passion supported with hard work, gives birth to success. Meet Osasogie Uwaifo, she is young, creative and in charge.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I'm just a young woman trying to make her dream work. LOL

Bridging the Patient - Doctor Gap

When was the last time you had to visit a hospital?

What was the experience like? Did you have to wait long hours to get registered before seeing the doctor? How long did you have to wait to see the doctor? What was the environment? Crying babies, wicked nurses, hot waiting rooms?

Would you be willing to adopt a technology that makes your visits to the doctors relatively non existent? Would you be willing to have your doctor at your finger tips? Did you know that, that mobile phone you are using to read this could bridge the patient - doctor gap?

Please take this survey to help a PHD students research on a technology that we are all waiting for. Just click on the link below to take the survey, it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. Thanks alot for your time.

https://www.survey.bris.ac.uk/coventry/madukapghdpilotv1/

Better Nigeria: The Price Of Change

BY IPHIE OBIECHINA

What price are you willing to pay to ensure that the change you want to see in Nigeria is a reality? We go on and on about how we need things to change in Nigeria and in the same breath we support actions that have left us where we are today. We say we want change but by our actions and sometimes our words show otherwise. We pay lip service to the idea of change without putting in any work to bring about that change.

FreeFormFitness

Art Imitating Life: When Love Hurts

‘He would do it again’, she said quietly.

They remained silent for a few seconds, staring into space. ‘I don’t think so’ she finally answered, ‘he has promised it would never happen again, he is very sorry, he has been apologizing ever since. We love each other, I know it wouldn’t happen again’.

Ngozi sighed, ‘they always say they would change, but they never do’, she goes on her knees, ‘please sister you can leave now, the bride price can be returned, its not too late sister’.

JUST MY 2 KOBO: WaZoBia

BY IPHIE OBIECHINA

Have you ever been amongst a group of people, when suddenly, the people who understand a common language switch to that language? They decide it is ok to ignore the language understood by everyone in the group, that common language usually being English. There is nothing as rude and annoying as switching to a language understood by a select few in the group.

Better Nigeria: Is Buhari The Change We Need?

By Iphie Obiechina 

CHANGE!!!

A word we have heard a lot of in this New Year, it has to be the Nigerian word for 2015, and we haven't even gone through the first month of the new year.

This word has become a slogan for the APC, it has been a word rolling on the lips of almost every Nigerian, whether old or young, but most especially the young Nigerians. Before I go into what my opinion on what change should really mean and what it has come to mean to the average voting Nigerian, I would first like to see what the dictionary defines the word change to mean.

The word change has a lot of meanings, but I would go with the ones closest to the meaning of the change we have been chanting about in Nigeria. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines change to mean ‘to make (something) radically different”,  ‘to replace one with another’, ‘to make a shift from one to another”. Going by these different meanings stated, change is simply the process of making something different from the norm, something different from what we are used to. In Nigeria, the word change has come to be associated with the presidential candidate of the APC, General Muhammadu Buhari, in this light change can be taken to mean something or rather someone different from our present leader, His Excellency Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.