Animal Kingdom

"I suspect this country is one of those referred to as being in hell on earth"  

"how do you mean?"

"How can a naira be 1k for a dollar, it means if you get a thousand, it would be a million naira"

He walked into my small room with a face that looked like what came out of his mouth and was lamenting on the state of the nation. How the president is the wrong guy on the sit

   "don't you know who a baron is?" 

"How do any one expect a baron to know how to run a nation? We are sinking badly and there is no light at the end of this tunnel as am seeing it" 

He kept lamenting and reminiscing on the amount the dollar was changing to naira two years ago he started going to China for importation and the amount it's changing now. "could you believe that all the things I am buying from China are still at the same amount in dollar there, and what is naira now? Many nations are moving forward, why's this country always transcending to the next level of calamity?" he queried himself. "I believe It would get worse before getting better. It is always this way" he eyed me like one that noticed an Anaconda that had not been there and sighed loudly. " '60, it was normal, the '70s it was somehow better from late '70s it was free fall downhill and in 2023 you have joined the camp of those 'it would get worse before better bullshit.' let me ask you, how much are they paying you guys?" I tried to look hurt and insulted and it was earning me no reprieve from the look on his face. "Throughout history, it had been the same. Let's not lose hope. Magic doesn't happen overnight" he sighed again. " Rwanda and even Ghana, magic is not only happening overnight, it happens in living daylight too. Why not here?"

I wouldn't know if he is asking me or asking rhetorical question. All I know is that the nation is in shambles and not only business sector that are feeling the pinch of bad policies. The whole sector is lamenting and the masses are the ones suffering most.

Sunday, my cousin is the kind that never forgets anything he was involved in twenty years ago. He is the kind that makes a lot of cool comparisons between how things work in other nations to how it works in Nigeria. 

     He was calculating how the other business guys in other neighboring nations were faring. He had spent about a month and a half visiting our neighboring nations and seeing how the state of buying and selling is there. "I am contemplating whether to move one of my branches to the neighboring nation and send two of my boys to that side as precautionary move because this nation is in shambles, wobbling and would sink at any time now considering how worse things are getting each day"

Once again, I was wondering why I was the one he was discussing buying and selling with, I am not good at such things. I refer to myself as a businessman although but of words not physical goods environment here is not organized so giving theoretical advice to such a volatile business environment like Nigeria might backfire engaging in permutations in a nation without solid laws, many things are bound to fail.

Moving your branch to a neighboring nation as precautions sounds to me like good advice but the problem is that those nations are poor while Nigeria is rich even though individuals are poor. There is no way the rate of turnover would ever be the same. You might turn over in Nigeria three times before finishing once over there. Do you see the problem? Laws might be being observed 60% in those nations and broken 60% here but who cares about regulations when constitutions are being flouted by those who should know better? The problem is monitoring the boys who would be managing the business over there. It is hard to rein them in here one is with them how much more when you need to cross borders and monitor them. It sounds like gifting such a branch to them and their harlots for there is no way they would not fall into such temptation in a poor nation girls of every shape is struggling to survive.

I can see he's still waiting for my advice or rather contribution to what I considered his musings. I delivered my suggestion of putting eggs in one basket for now. "Try to reign your fear in for it is running out of control. Most of those nations have Chinese turning those nations into dumping ground. There's noway you can compete with them over there when you are not 24 on the ground"

He was mulling it all over as he always do. Those eyes of his pierce through whatever they land on and focusing on whatever is beyond the wall. He's not here at all. "That is how I see it" It takes about three more minutes for him to return fully.

It was highly disorganizing thought and plan for human are not trustworthy animals. Maybe, he was judging his boys now he is a boss with his own acts when he was serving his master. Maybe still, he was worrying about Karma for apprentice sins has this way of living among them while others including politician's sins lives after them. He sighed heavily and shook his head in the injustice of it all.

He inferred that it is far better to put all his eggs in one basket and watch over them with care than to spread them like tentacles and find them too difficult to monitor. It's like buying a book for another to read. "No, I think the plan should be shielded for now but, these leaders?"

It was getting dark and this part of the year is leaning on the part of the longer night, short day format. 6 pm and everywhere is pitch dark. He gathered his phones, notebook and bunch of keys that I guessed would be about 25 pieces in one ring and said his fare well and left.