Introduction

Basically, a market is an interaction between buyers and sellers. A generic market however, can be described as an interface between sellers and a broad group of customers with approximately the same universal needs.
For instance, consumers of analgesic drugs want their pains relieved fast; buyers of photographic lenses need quality images for their money.
How can a firm position itself in a homogeneous market so as to have discretion in setting its prices and gain competitive advantage above its peers?


Generic Markets

In generic markets, consumers hardly care about the manufacturers of the product they purchase; they simply ask for a generic and any product offered by the seller is acceptable to them since all products in the industry furnish them with the same basic satisfaction at the same price. A generic market to this extent can be described as a perfectly competitive market. Basic examples are the salt, sugar, chalk and pure water markets.
Firms in a generic market are price-takers but they can have their profits increased or become price-makers only if they possess competitive advantages over their peers.


Competitive advantage

A firm is said to possess a competitive advantage over its rivals if it sustains profits that exceed the industry average. Essentially, competitive advantage may be in the form of cost advantage or differentiation advantage. Cost advantage emphasises a firm’s ability to deliver the same benefits as its competitors but at a lower cost whereas, a firm possesses differentiation advantage if its product delivers benefits that exceed those of its competition.
A firm can achieve cost advantage over its competition through better buying conditions, greater labour productivity and several cost reduction strategies. Differentiation advantage on the other hand is subject to several complex factors.


Product Differentiation

“Differentiated products refer to a group of products that are similar enough to be considered variations of one generic product but dissimilar enough that they can be sold at different prices” (Lipsey)
In product differentiation, the firm has a limited discretion in the setting of its prices. Product differentiation is intended to distinguish the product of one producer from that of the other producers in the industry. It can be real, when the inherent characteristics are different; or fancied, when the products are basically the same. Differentiation should be real to a reasonable extent because customers must be able to see the product as unrivalled and unequalled, therefore, the price elasticity of demand for the product tends to be reduced and customers tend to be more brand-loyal. This can provide considerable insulation from close competition.

Real product differentiation in some industries (e.g. pharmaceuticals) could be difficult so the consumer has to be persuaded, via advertising, packaging or design, so as to make the product unique in the mind of the consumer. This is because alterations to a drug compound gives another drug entirely which must be approved by NAFDAC.
According to an estimate presented by Bleidt (1992), most pharmaceutical companies spend slightly more on marketing and promotions than on research and development. This can be linked to the product differentiation strategy applied by these firms in their bids to soften price competition.
For example, PANADOL and EMZOR paracetamol differentiate their products by packaging them in sachets. Another is CAPQUINE, which is an encapsulated (aimed to prevent the bitter taste of the drug) brand of chloroquine.
Psychologically, a drug consumer feels more secured buying a packaged drug compared to unpackaged generics. Moreover, since the brand name is trusted the consumer feels a psychological healing; this, generics hardly offer.

To buttress this view, Fridman et al (1987) reported that only half of 245 surveyed physicians believed generic drugs to be as reliable as branded drugs. Physicians and patients alike believe more in branded drugs than generic ones because definitely, the branded or owner drug actually pioneered the production of the drug and the drug company would have operated in a monopoly thereby creating a trusted name in the minds of the consumers. The brand creates anticipation in the consumer’s mind; a unique and defined experience, obtainable through consuming the product offered by the brand. Another case is the branding of salt by UNILEVER under the brand name: ANNAPURNA. Annapurna, a brand of salt contains the normal iodine quotient required for the human body compared to the generic, which is highly deficient in iodine.


Patents

For a firm to sustain its competitive advantage, it must have resources and capabilities that are superior to those of its competitors; without this superiority, competitors could simply replicate what the firm was doing and its advantage disappears. Examples of such resources are: patents and trademarks, proprietary know-how, installed customer base, reputation of the firm, brand equity etc
Of utmost importance to us at this juncture are patents.

Firms invest in research and development in order to find better ways of doing things and to gather relevant information for effective decision-making. A research exercise may be directed towards the development of a new product or a new way of doing something; when this becomes a success, the firm may be granted patent right, which gives it the sole right to manufacture the product. Patents last for specific numbers of years after which other manufacturers in the industry may follow suit. Brands manufactured under patent protections enjoy a sort of monopoly throughout their patent life; the abnormal profits earned diminish after the expiration of the patent thereby placing the brand in a monopolistic competition.


Genericised Trade names

Some brand names weld enormous influence or have their usages abused that their trade names become genericised over time. Genericised trade names are former brand names, once legally protected as trade names, which have since come to signify a generic product regardless of its manufacturer.

The genericisation of a trade name sometimes results because the trade name is the name of a product protected by intellectual property rights, especially patents. Since the patent gives an inventor the exclusive right to manufacture a product for a period of time, consumers will only know that product by the inventor's trademark and name for the period of the patent. When the patent expires, the inventor's competitors begin producing their own adaptations, but using the inventor's trade name to christen their products because this is the name by which the general public identifies such items. In some instances, when the new entrant gives his product a very unique name, consumers tend to call the new product the same name as the older product.

Some patents that lost their trademarks these ways are:
‘Cola’ - soft drink; genericised part of Coca-Cola;
‘Aspirin’ – acetylsalicylic acid; still trademarked in many places around the world by BAYER and
‘Heroin’ - narcotic drug; also originally registered by BAYER as a pain reliever.

Also, the following current trademarks are often used generically:
DHL - to courier something, e.g. I need to DHL this parcel
Omo – detergent registered by UNILEVER
Pampers - disposable nappies for babies
Sellotape - transparent adhesive tape
Vaseline - petroleum jelly
Xerox - photocopy machine. Sometimes used as a verb, e.g. "Xerox two copies for me"

Rank Xerox at a time advised its customers to ‘photocopy’ their documents and not ‘xerox’ it. The effect of genericisation of trademarks on a brand is that customers may purchase other adaptations of the brand thinking they are one and the same.


Transition from Generic to Brand

Note however that a firm in a perfectly competitive market can move into a monopolistic competition by product differentiation. And when it differentiates its products, the demand for its product becomes less price elastic. A manufacturer of generics can create an entirely new brand from that generic product, so that the brand becomes a differentiated product in the industry. EVA and RAGOLIS table water differentiated themselves from the generic pure water; PANADOL and EMZOR paracetamol differentiated themselves from the generic paracetamol; ST. LOUIS sugar also differentiated itself from the generic granulated sugar by presenting its refined sugar in cubes thereby allowing consumers ease of measurement.
Successful differentiated products are innumerable and their secrets are simply the sustainable competitive advantages they possess over their competition.


Summary

Before branding a homogeneous product, cost-benefit analysis of the strategy must be carried out and a positive contribution should be feasibly earned so as to increase the revenue base of the firm.
However, a firm can decide to stay in the generic market while creating another product through differentiation with the intention of having another product line on which it has reasonable price discretion. A simple application of marginal costing techniques should guide the firm in this decision-making process. Furthermore, the firm must be careful in its pricing policies because its product now faces a price elastic demand whereby increase in prices reduces the units purchased.

References

Aronson, Thomas et al, The impact of generic competition on brand name market shares (1997)
Cannon, Tom, Basic Marketing: Principles and Practice (London: Cassell Publishers Ltd, 1992)
Koutsoyiannis, A., Modern Microeconomics (London: Macmillan Press LTD, 1979)
Lipsey, R.G, Principles of Economics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999)
Porter, M., Strategic Competition (1980)

Crisis leadership came the hard way for U.S. Army Colonel Thomas Matthews, who led the Task Force Ranger mission in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1993. Matthews shared his hard lessons at the Leadership, Values, and Spirituality Forum at Harvard Business School.

by Martha Lagace, Senior Editor, HBS Working Knowledge



In business, a wrong decision can cost you money. In war, it can cost you your life.

Thomas Matthews, now a retired U.S. Army Colonel, had to make life-or-death decisions in full-out crisis mode, once with very tragic and very public results. His leadership experience included the Task Force Ranger mission in Mogadishu, Somalia on October 3, 1993. On that day, five of his aircraft were shot down. Two of them crashed in the city of Mogadishu. More than 500 Somalis and eighteen American soldiers were killed. Trapped overnight in the hostile city, his unit was rescued the next day.

The grisly scene was broadcast around the world.

Matthews talked about how and why he made the decisions he did that day at the Leadership, Values, and Spirituality Forum held at Harvard Business School on April 4, 2003. HBS professor Henry Reiling was panel moderator.

The failed mission, which had been launched at the direction of the United Nations to grab two lieutenants of a warlord, was later recounted in the book, Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden, and reenacted in a 2001 feature film of the same name directed by Ridley Scott.

"That was my crisis, that point in time as a commander of that aviation force, the leader in charge. And what are you going to do?" asked Matthews, a sober man with ramrod-straight posture and an unwavering voice.

He said he is not sure how exactly he made decisions that day. "You're out of time," he told the group. "You have a situation in your face ... I don't know [how I knew]; but I'll just tell you that in my mind's eye every decision I made I felt was crystal clear," he said.

"I don't know the metrics or the reasons for all that. I'll just tell you it was clear in my mind's eye what should be done at that moment. Here's why I think some of that's true. It is a function of experience. It is a function of time on the rock: I've been in the Army for twenty-eight years.

"I will say it is also a function of where you came from, what your family was, what your religion was, what's your base, your foundation, your cornerstones that you grew up with. And they vary [for leaders], but there are some common things there. And it's off of those base things ... because in crisis what you try to do is make your life as simple, and as black and white as fast as you can—because it is serious. And because of that you power down and revert to basics."

The Army's leadership doctrine is used for soldiers aged eighteen through generals. They embed it, practice it, and preach it, Matthews said. The word crisis in the abstract means urgency, danger, a problem. In the military, the consequences are often life-threatening, he added.

"And of course you have to live with the effects in the future of the consequences of your action. That's not always the case" in other professions, he said.

What All Leaders Should Be, Know, and Do
Matthews offered the audience and other panelists a brief primer on the Army's leadership framework. Though leaders in civilian life are fortunate to be spared from making decisions with such dire consequences, they may benefit from the basic foundation.

The essential framework is known as "Be, Know, Do." Leading hinges on the DO part, Matthews said. "In order to be a leader, you've got to do; you must act." Words such as "loyalty" do matter. "We have a motto: NSDQ. It means, Night Stalkers Don't Quit. That matters in time of crisis and [when] you're under a lot of stress: Don't quit. Persevere. Have the will to push through the problem."

In times of crisis, he said, do the right thing. "What is that exactly? You know. Do the right thing. You know what's not right, and oftentimes you can define this in the negative sense. You can define what to do, what the correct leadership decision is, by knowing what you shouldn't do, what you wouldn't like to see be done," he said.

"Leaders have self-confidence. They get it by being comfortable in their own skin. They get comfortable in their own skin by being grounded emotionally, being supportive of others, and having had the freedom to fail."

"It's easy to say," he admitted, but leaders need to remain calm during conditions of stress, chaos, and rapid change. Anyone can prepare in advance for the possibility of crisis leadership, he said. "If you work on it now when you have time prior to the crisis, then that's the way you'll behave at the time of the crisis, because you know no other way to behave."

Maintain a positive attitude, he said. The thinking should be: The glass is half full; we'll figure it out; we'll handle it; we'll survive the situation.

The BE piece of the Army framework means character. Character can be strengthened through repetition, practice, and daily behavior. In a crisis a leader will "power down" to the basics of character. The pressure of subordinates looking to the leader for guidance is also a very powerful stimulus for decision-makers.

The KNOW piece of the Army framework means competence. It means technical and tactical competence, said Matthews. "That means work, study, put in the time. Do it now while you have the time. You won't have time to open a book in time of crisis," he said.

Other Experiences with Crisis
Joining Matthews on the conference's Leadership During Crisis Situations panel was Donald Hastings (HBS MBA '53), chairman emeritus of Lincoln Electric Company. He said that as a leader he found meditation to be very helpful.

For Dr. Gary Klein, head of his own research organization, Klein Associates, it has come from examining decision-making through the lens of science, and more recently through observing leadership in action.

For Ford Rowan, it has come from practical experience accrued as a lawyer, journalist, and university professor.





This article is Copyright © 2001 President and Fellows of Harvard College

…”if all the hands that reach could touch”….

We all cannot become anything we want to be if we just work hard. If we can become whatever we want to be, then we all have the same potential. And if we all have the same potential, then we lose our individuality; we are not uniquely talented, expressing ourselves through unique goals, unique capabilities, and unique accomplishments. We are all blank sheets of canvas, ready, waiting, but featureless.

However, we should not be troubled by the fact that there is a limit to how much we can rewire our brains. Instead, we should view it as a happy confirmation that people are different. There is no point wishing away this individuality. It is better to nurture it. It is better for us to understand our filter and then channel it towards productive behaviour. So if you can’t carve out new talents for yourself, what, if anything, can you change about yourself?

First, you can discover your hidden talents. The greatest people are adept at spotting a glimpse of a talent in themselves and then repositioning so that they can play to that talent more effectively.
Second, you can teach yourself or get taught new skills and new knowledge.

This is the most profound insight shared by most great men that ever lived; skills, knowledge and talents are distinct elements of a person’s performance. The distinction is that skills and knowledge can be taught while talent can’t be taught. Combined in the same person, they create an enormously potent compound. Trying to learn a talent may result to a waste of time and money trying to teach what is fundamentally unteachable.

Skills are how-to’s of a role. They are capabilities that can be transferred from one person to another. For accountants, arithmetic is a skill. If for some reasons, the neophyte accountant does not know how to do arithmetic, he can still be taught. The best way to teach a skill is to break down the total performance into steps, which the student then reassembles. And naturally, the best way to learn is to practice.

Knowledge is simply “what you are aware of”. There are two kinds of knowledge: factual knowledge - things you know; and experiential knowledge - understandings you have picked up along the way. Factual knowledge for an accountant would be knowing the rules of double entry, and for sales people, it would be their products’ features and benefits. Experiential knowledge is a little quiet different. It is less tangible and therefore much harder to teach. Acquiring it is your responsibility. You must discipline yourself to stop and look back on your past experiences. And try to make sense out of them. Through this kind of musing or reflection, you can start to see connections and patterns. You can start to understand.

Some of these understandings are practical. For example, over a number of years, an accountant comes to know a number of ways to shield a client’s asset from excessive taxation. Some understandings are more conceptual. Your awareness of who you are and how you come across to others is experiential knowledge. It comes with time, if you’re listening. In the same way, your values, -- those aspects you hold dear-are experiential knowledge. As you make your choices, sometimes compromising, sometimes holding firm, you come to realize that certain aspects of your life are more important than others. These critical aspects become your values, guiding the choices you make in the future. Some of these values will remain constant throughout your life. Others will change with time and reflection.

Talents are different phenomena altogether.
A talent is a recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behaviour that can be productively applied. It is what keeps us going when skills and knowledge fail us. In some instances, our relevant and intelligently acquired knowledge and skills require something grander for a qualitative decision to be made; talent makes the difference.
In accountancy, the talent required is an innate love for precision. For example, ask a great accountant - not any accountant, but a great accountant --- when he smiles and he will tell you, “when the books balance”. When the books balance, his world his perfect. He may not show it but inside, he is aglow. All he can think about is, oh, when can I do that again! This might seem rather too odd for you. But if you think about it, for the person blessed with the innate love of precision, accountancy must be a wonderful job. Every time his books balance, he experiences absolute perfection in his work. How many of us can claim that?

A love for precision is not a skill nor is it knowledge; it is a talent. If you don’t possess it, you will never progress as an accountant. If someone does not have this talent as part of his filter, there is very little a manager can do to inject it.

Talents are very important to success. However, they may be grouped into three classes: Striving talents, Thinking talents and Relating talents.

Striving talents explain the why of a person. Why he is motivated to push and push just that little bit harder. Is he driven by his desire to stand out or is good enough good enough for him?

Thinking talents explain the how of a person. They explain how he thinks, how he weighs up alternatives, and how he comes to his decisions.

Relating talents explain the whom of a person. They explain whom he trusts, whom he builds relationships with, whom he confronts and whom he ignores. Does he think that trust must be earned or does he extend trust to every one in the belief that most will prove worthy of it? Is he drawn to win over strangers or he is at ease only with close friends.

However, there is a myth that talents are rare and special but as a matter of fact, there is nothing special about talent. If talents are simply recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behaviour, then talents are somewhat commonplace. Everyone has certain recurring patterns of behaviour; no one can take credit for these talents. They are an accident of birth, “a clash of chromosomes”. However, each person can and should take credit for cultivating his unique set of talents.

If you are a dark-sider, find a role in life where skepticism is the key to success. Regardless, it won’t be that bad.

....at last, I found myself....

..don't just do your best, do your impossibles!

School resumes tomorrow after a very long break, so I arrived today! I've really missed school....I really wish I was a book so that i may never have to leave the school.

The fire of lust burns who wills;
But the fire is alluring.

When a man sees it,
It looks like Eden.

When he is inside it,
It seems like Pluto;

And when he is out;
He feels like just returning from the Sun.
He then prays never to fall near it again.

The next day he sees the fire,
It looks like Heaven;
How gullible he is!
He lusts after it again;
When he is inside it,
It seems like Canaan;
When he leaves it,
He feels like just returning from Hell.

The animal called man!
He will always refuse to learn:
until he is burnt beyond redemption by the fire of LUST!

Do you know the philosophy behind a baby’s cry? You must have seen a nursing mother cuddling and appeasing her baby just to stop him from crying. Why are mothers always uncomfortable whenever their baby cries? Why do babies cry?

Once upon a time, we were all babies; can we figure out why we loved crying? A typical baby cries everyday for one reason or the other but immediately he learns to speak and walk, his rate of crying reduces.

But why are babies always crying?

Maybe when you were a baby, you became thirsty on a dry afternoon, actually, all you needed was just some water, but you couldn’t tell you mom. All you could was just CRY! By crying, your mother knew you needed something from her…



1) To be cuddled

2) T o be fed

3) To be kissed

4) To be given some water

5) The temperature of your room has changed

6) Your nappy is wet

Etc.



Just because of your cry, your mother had to satisfy these possible needs one after the other till you stop crying. So, as a matter of fact, all you needed was just water but you were given not just water, you were cuddled, fed, kissed, you got your nappy was changed if wet, etc.

So subsequently, you got more than you needed. By crying, your mother realized you were helpless, you relied on her only to get your needs and she satisfied them. You humbled yourself.

Your mother did all the humanly possible things she could to satisfy you. If you were God’s baby, what do you think God would do?

Let’s take king Solomon, the son of David as an example, Solomon humbled himself, he never believed he could solve the case without God’s help so he sought His guidance. Solomon asked God of wisdom, knowledge and understanding but God added more unto him. God made him the wises and richest king in the world.

If you humble yourself in the sight of God, he shall answer your prayers and grant you more than you requested. Even when everything seems rough, just believe it is for your own good. God tested Job, maybe this seeming hardship is your test too, don’t give up, believe in him and trust in him. He loves you and he wants the best for you. Just like the mother and her baby, God does not want us to be sad. So have you given him a cry lately?

THIS PATRIOTIC NIGERIAN STARTED THE DAY EARLY, HAVING SET HIS ALARM CLOCK (MADE IN JAPAN) FOR 6:00AM. WHILE HIS COFFEE POT (MADE IN JAPAN) IS PERKING, HE PUTS HIS BLOW DRYER (MADE IN TAIWAN) TO WORK AND SHAVES WITH HIS ELECTRIC RAZOR (MADE IN HONG KONG). HE PUTS ON A SHIRT (MADE IN CHINA), HIS DESIGNER JEANS (MADE IN SINGAPORE), WEARS A PERFUME (MADE IN FRANCE) AND A PAIR OF TENNIS SHOES (MADE IN KOREA).
AFTER COOKING UP SOME BREAKFAST IN HIS NEW ELECTRIC SKILLET (MADE IN PHILIPPINES), HE SITS DOWN TO FIGURE OUT ON HIS CALCULATOR (MADE IN JAPAN), HOW MUCH HE CAN SPEND TODAY. AFTER SETTING HIS WATCH (MADE IN SWITZERLAND) TO THE RADIO (MADE IN HONG KONG), HE GOES LOOKING AS HE HAS BEEN FOR MONTHS, FOR A GOOD PAYING NIGERIAN JOB.
AFTER THE END OF ANOTHER DISCOURAGING AND FRUITLESS DAY, HE PARKS HIS CAR (MADE IN GERMANY) AND DECIDES TO RELAX FOR A WHILE. HE PUTS ON A PAIR OF SANDALS (MADE IN BRAZIL), POURS HIMSELF A GLASS OF WINE (MADE IN FRANCE), AND TURNS ON HIS TV (MADE IN JAPAN) TO WATCH PASSIONS (AMERICAN SOAP OPERA), AND PONDERS AGAIN WHY HE CAN'T DERIVE THE MAXIMUM BENEFIT FROM LIVING SUCH A HIGHLY PATRIOTIC NIGERIAN LIFE.

If there is a fire outbreak in your house, certainly, you may make attempts to quench the fire and / or evacuate the building. By the above actions, the fire gets quenched successfully or it eclipses the whole building, destroying everything. At a particular point, the fire gets to a point whereby you may either evacuate the building or make attempts to put out the fire. Not the two at a time.
You evacuate the building and your belongings when you loose hope of salvaging your house because at that point, if you continue making attempts to extinguish the fire, the fire may consume you and your property. As a matter of fact, when saving any situation from destruction, the devastation may be beyond redemption and if you make attempts to save it, you may get hurt or even get destroyed.

A similitude of this situation is our world, our society and our life. If your country is a developed country, you are either contributing to the development or working for its downfall. You can't sit on the fence because your inaction encourages the 'destroyers'.
If your country is a developing or underdeveloped one, you are either contributing to its development or scuttling it further. You scuttle it further if you don't believe in it again. You may loose believe in your country. You may believe your country has derailed beyond redemption and that nothing can be done to make it better. There may be some power brokers in your society who suck the economy. What are your ideas, what do you think can be done to forestall their acts? Or do you believe they are just too powerful that nothing can stop them? Do you intend joining the bandwagon? Or do you prefer to be a noble man by keeping quiet and not joining them? The quieter you are, the more opportunity to give these swindlers to siphon your country’s financial wealth. Or do you believe your country is plagued and can never become any better?

There used to be a classmate of mine during high school days; His gospel was to dissolve Nigeria because Nigeria has got nothing to offer her citizens. He believed Nigeria can never be any better tomorrow than today. But could he be blamed? He claimed that his father used to tell him that during his days, they longed for a better tomorrow. And today, the loss of a better tomorrow is mourned, how sad! This is not new to many African nations.

As a man living in a dynamic environment, you must be able to contribute positively towards the development of your country. And you won’t be able to do this effectively if you do not believe better days lie ahead. Like a house on fire, are you emigrating, believing life can never be better in your home country; or are bilking your country since you believe it is a sinking ship and the best you can get from it is to suck it dry? No matter how difficult it may seem, no matter how fuzzy the future may seem, always have a believe … you shall make it to the promise land if only you believe in the journey. If you do not believe in your country, if you don’t believe that the corruption level in your country can be brought down, then you are weak. In fact, what is the meaning of impossibility? Impossibility is a phenomenon that lies in the minds of the weak, the lazy, the visionless, and the failure! The future of your country is in your hands, the future of a generation. It is a generational fight, you either betray it, or fulfil it.

Today, make a decision; think about new ways of changing the trends of things in your immediate environment, positively. Believe in yourself, and believe in a better tomorrow.
Remember, ‘winners don’t quit and quitters don’t win’

The entire city of Lagos (Nigeria's commercial hub) was rattled as results posted on the website of the Nigerian electoral body; The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mr. Funsho Williams of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winner of the April 19th Lagos State Gubernatorial elections. According to the website, Mr. Funsho Williams of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled more votes than the Lagos State Governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was earlier declared winner of the April 19 gubernatorial election.

According to the results on the website, while Tinubu, the Alliance for Democracy (AD) candidate, was given 838,000 votes, the PDP candidate, Williams was given 1,066,000 votes. However, the INEC Commissioner in charge of information, Okpo Sam Okpo, said the figure posted was a regrettable error. He stated that when the commission's attention was drawn to it, immediately correction was effected.
The crisis this error may cause cannot be overemphasized. A similar situation was the Miss World beauty pageant that was to hold in Nigeria, which was later, transferred to London. Unprofessional handling of information by the press caused the Miss world crisis.

We need to be very careful with the way we handle information because it can ruin a nation before we say ‘Jack Robinson’! More so, the people we entrust to the management of information must be experts and professionals. They must be very intelligent to avoid this sort of error that can cause a war.


This type of error can cause political unrest and crises throughout the country as the Governors elect may have their results challenged and it can be concluded that such errors may be possible in all other states thereby, rendering all declared results invalid.

The April 19th polls has come and gone and the results are out. The results were greeted with mixed feelings from both the electorates and politicians but history has been made. That Nigeria has broken the jinx of a successful transition from a democratic government to another democratic government is laudable. Nigerians have decided to govern themselves under a government chosen by the people and politically popular. I give kudos to all Nigerians who came out on that rainy day to perform their civic duties.

Although, the transition seemed to be successful but for the books of history, the election results should be intelligently studied. This is not just for us to savour but also for us to understand that we still have a long way to go in our democratisation process.

A close study of results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, seems to have supported allegations of irregularities in last weekend's polls.

The result from Ogun State, the president's home state, shows a wide discrepancy between the total number of votes cast for the gubernatorial and presidential candidates. The total number of votes cast for all the presidential candidates exceeded that of the gubernatorial candidates by 618,071 votes. This staggering difference has set many eyebrows askew. During the elections voters were given two ballot papers: the shorter one for the gubernatorial poll and the longer for the presidential.
From results crosschecked on INEC's website (www.inecnigeria.org), 1, 576, 875 names were on the voters' register in Ogun State. The total number of ballots cast (both valid votes and rejected ballots) for the gubernatorial candidates was 747, 296. However, the total number of votes cast in the presidential category was 1, 365, 367, a difference of 618, 071. Out of the total votes cast, President Olusegun Obasanjo polled 1, 360, 170 (99.92%), while General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) scored 680 (0.05%).
The discrepancy in the figures has thrown up a number of questions. Is it that thousands of voters in Ogun State were not interested in who becomes their governor? Is it that they were only interested in returning their kinsman to the presidency? Did thousands of voters refuse to take the ballot paper for the gubernatorial candidates? If so what did they do with the ballot papers? Did they drop them at the polling stations or did they take them home? Or did they forget to vote in the gubernatorial category? Were there more than 600, 000 voided yet unrecorded votes in the gubernatorial category? Are these figures from actual voting or are they cooked figures? Is there an honest mistake somewhere? Or a deliberate manipulation of figures?

These and many other questions are crying for answers.It is also noted, however, that though Ogun State posted the most staggering difference in the votes cast simultaneously, the trend is not peculiar to it. In 10 other states with full results on the INEC website, the differences ranged from 1,000 to 94,000.
In Adamawa State the difference is 94,143; in Akwa Ibom, 68,861; in Ebonyi, 1,457; in Edo, 24, 197; in Ekiti, 2,675; in Enugu, 70, 922; in Jigawa, 55, 740; in Kwara, 3, 325; in Oyo, 46, 336; and in Niger, 31, 850. Whether they are in a few thousands or in hundreds of thousands, the differences point to the fact that something is amiss somewhere.There are also questions about Rivers and Bayelsa states where the president and incumbent state governors scored almost 100 per cent with 97 per cent turnout.
This reminds us of elections held in Saddam's Iraq. The expired maximum dictator, Saddam Hussein, almost always scored 99 per cent in a vote where turn-out is akin to that of Rivers State. This leaves several questions unanswered especially when some local government areas like Brass recorded 100 per cent turn-out and 99 per cent vote for the incumbent.
The doubts engendered by the turnout in Rivers, which the PDP national chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh, called “historic”, cast a question mark on the credibility of the elections.

Already, the president's opponents have alleged gross manipulation of the polls. Both local and international observers have complained of lapses, irregularities and manipulation in a few states.

According to the European Union observer group, "the elections were simply not credible."Fair and square Obasanjo would have won but overzealous element within his party may have spoilt the day for him.

We still have a long way to go and by the year 2007, Nigeria shall by God’s grace have to witness another transition to a civil rule. If it continues this way, we may tend towards a pseudo-democratic state.

This is a must read it will only take 2 min. Be
Blessed!

There once was a man who had nothing for his family
to eat. He had an old shotgun and three bullets. So, he decided thathe would go
out and kill something for dinner.
As he went down the road, he saw a rabbit and he shot at the rabbit and missed it.
Then he saw a squirrel and fired a shot at the squirrel and missed it.

As he went further, he saw a wild turkey in the tree and he had only one bullet,
but a voice came to him and said "pray first, aim high and stay focused."

However, at the same time, he saw a deer which was a better kill. He brought the gun down and aimed at the deer. But, then he saw a rattle snake between his legs about to bite him-so he naturally brought the gun down further to shoot the rattle snake.

Still, the voice said again to him, "I said 'pray, aim high and stay focused." So, the man decided to listen to the voice. He prayed, then aimed the gun high up in the tree and shot the wild turkey.

The bullet bounced off the turkey and killed the deer. The handle fell off the gun and hit the snake on the head and killed it. And, when the gun went off, it knocked him into a pond.

When he stood to look around, he had fish in all his pockets, a dead deer and turkey to eat. The snake (Satan) was dead simply because the man listened to God.

Bottom line: Pray first before you do anything, aim and shoot high in your goals, and stay focused on God.

A diamond, the most beautiful and precious gemstone, symbolizes love, purity and strength. A perfect diamond can dazzle any beholder with its brilliance and sparkle. Yet one that appears beautiful to the eye may contain imperfections and flaws when viewed by an expert with a special magnifying lens.

All of Christ’s suffering and death, the maturing process of the individual and corporate believer and the eternal plan of God is to create a Church - a body of believers - which when showcased to the world will sparkle and shine like a perfect diamond, without spot, wrinkle or blemish. This final Church is described in Revelation as having the glory of God, shining like gold and transparent as glass (Revelation 21: 9-21).

A perfect diamond is of the highest clarity, cut, carat and color. Clarity refers to lack of visible or invisible flaws or imperfections. In a diamond, some spots or flaws are visible to the naked eye, diminishing its value. Within the Church, these represent failures that can be detected with relatively little difficulty. These are the glaring sins that are exposed by their natural or inherent consequences, such as a non-marital pregnancy, a husband who abandons his family, exposed theft or gossiping, etc.

The more subtle imperfections that distort the true brilliance of God’s people are the inner imperfections, the inclusions in a diamond which many don’t see, but are known to the expert, the one who eventually determines its worth.

A diamond dealer will examine a supposedly valuable diamond with a magnifying lens to detect any flaws invisible to the naked eye which mar the true clarity and value. These flaws, called nature’s birthmarks, are the result of the environment in which the diamond was formed or from which it emerged, reminders of an imperfect past. They are specks of other minerals that reduce the overall brilliance by interfering with the path of light as it travels through the gem.

The Holy Spirit knows the Church God desires to reflect His glory- a perfect diamond of a Church. And He works to reveal the inner imperfections, those hidden flaws that only He can reveal. Often we may not know we have these imperfections or may not realize the extent to which they are reducing the glory of God’s Church, thinking that they are individual issues. These may be acts of inner rebellion, lawlessness of spirit, disobedience or inaccuracy in our lifestyles.

Our individual imperfections hinder the overall corporate effect. Though we are individual gems, at the same time, we are part of a body intertwined and dependent on each other, with Christ as the head. As light bounces off one surface to another, a flaw in one area will cause the light to be poorly directed to another.

While imperfections in diamonds remain, reducing the ultimate value, there is no such option with us. There is a requirement for perfection in each of us: all imperfections must therefore be removed. God demands nothing less. We have to aggressively push our lives to the point of perfection, sanctification and holiness. This is not achieved by living complacently or by gliding along from day to day. We must work on our characters and our lifestyles to ensure that we are not hindering the passage of light through the body. We must not compromise the Truth, seek to circumvent His purpose or rely on earthly wisdom. We must cooperate and partner with the Holy Spirit and embrace God’s principles and standards in every area of our lives so that when the world looks at us, there are no imperfections, only a true reflection of the glory and honour of God.

Satan has many strategies to make us lose sight of what is truly important by bombarding us with the ‘immediacy’ and the demands of the world of work. Too many of us are so busy striving for that next promotion, trying to make the right ‘connections’, or simply trying to cope with huge mountains of work, that we forget the basic principle: that the only way we will ever be truly successful in Babylon and fulfil God’s purpose in the earth (that’s what we are here for!) is to put the Lord and His agenda first, whatever the natural circumstances may be.
The Pains
1. Roadrunning: The “rat race” seems to begin in the university. There seems to be the 'spirit of Pharaoh' at work there. We know, the whole 'making bricks without straw' technique. In a nutshell, there is a demand to produce more and more excellent work without any extra resources. Consequently, many people become "roadrunners" always running here and there...group meetings, assignments, transferring courses ….. not recognising the essential futility in the enterprise well enough to come to terms with the situation and strategically plan for success.
2. Crashing! Have you noticed that the work never ends? The later we work, the harder we work, the quicker our desk gets filled again and then we crash. The reality is, crashing is not fun! We get to a place of extreme frustration where nothing works and we are forced to stop.
3. Deflated Spiritual Life: Some live in the office, often to the detriment of their spiritual life because it causes them to forsake assembling with the believers. Whilst it is productive at one end, it is bad at the other end because success is achieved at the expense of their salvation and relationship with God. It is so easy to get caught up in work because of a desire to impress bosses, to be a major contributor to the continued success of the company and to be "somebody," that we become entangled in a web of deceit.
Daniel’s Technology
God has placed the detailed accounts of Daniel’s life in Babylon in the scriptures to show us what our attitude must be in the midst of Babylon.
1. Accurate Spiritual Position: Daniel was, undisputedly, as successful in the secular environment of his day as he possibly could have been. However, it is clear from his writings that Daniel did not place any undue emphasis on his worldly success. His success was simply a by-product of his accurate position in God.
2. Community as Priority: In modern times, Daniel’s refusal to eat the king’s meat could be equated to our refusal to compromise our standards, simply to be popular with work colleagues. His faithful and regular prayer life before during and after the king’s edict was an act of faith in God and defiance against the devil, as is ours sometimes when we pack up our things at 4:30pm and walk boldly out of our office to assemble with the believers. Daniel's close friendship with Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego can be compared to our conscious effort to build community by taking time to interact with fellow saints. This sacrifice is clearly seen in Matt. 16:25-26:
'For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul…?’
3. God 1st = Success: The important thing to note about Daniel’s life is that, despite the fact that his heart remained in Jerusalem i.e. God’s kingdom, and despite the fact that placing the Lord first often brought him into direct conflict with Babylon, he still managed to far surpass the Babylonians.
What does this account teach us?
The Lord does desire that we succeed in our jobs, and outshine the unsaved in every arena. Giving Him top priority in our lives will do nothing but benefit us in all areas of life: Mal. 3:10 ‘ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test me now in this . . .if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.’ This scripture is not necessarily limited to money, but can be applied to anything we have offer to God - that is, our time, or our talents. In order to get the Lord’s best in every sphere of our lives, we must give the best of all we have to Him. How many of us can say we honestly do?
Freedom from the Trap
1. Plan strategically: Start by thinking about the type of organisation you want to be a part of and work toward getting there. And remember, there is value in hard work but what we resist is Babylon's dominion through overwork. A lot of the times what we actually need to do is work smarter during the day, so that we don't spend more hours doing stuff that could have been done within the normal work hours. There are the jobs that require 14 hours day and there are other jobs that require 8 hours day. Some people may be required by God to work 14 hour days…if but for a season. On the other hand, maybe some of us may need to make sacrifices i.e. lower salary for more hours to dedicate to community building and most importantly, our relationship with the Lord.
2. Leisure is a Must! The reality is though, for our own good health (spiritual, emotional, physical), we have to take time out for leisure. Very important is time spent just for you, doing things you like. This is not self-indulgence; this is part of fostering a healthy internal environment; that does not only come by praying in tongues for an hour. We also need time to interact with others. I think that we should all be smarter by taking time to hang-out, to pray, to build the community, 'time-to-smell-the-roses' breaks; these are essential. Our lives are more balanced that way and God can do more with us.
3. Intimacy with God: We must always seek the Lord first in these situations and strive to maintain balance. There is a time to put in the extra hours; sometimes striving for a promotion may be just what the Lord has for us at this time. Anyone who is considering being a serious professional should realise that there are hours to be put in and if you were to ask anyone who, for example, owns his/her own business, packing your bags at 4:30pm all the time simply would not cut it.
The key to averting the cleverly set ‘career trap’ is a close relationship with the Lord so that in ALL that we do, we are in the middle of HIS divine purpose for OUR lives. In other words, one day we may be required to work the extra hours, another day it may be just fine to leave at 4:30pm. If we keep tuned in to His requirements we will find the balance.