|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Do you still have any recollection of me? Well, I have got my doubt. Absence does either of two things – strengthens affection or keeps it comatose. Where do I belong here? I can lay out good arguments for both. But I am more shifted to believe I have inadvertently skidded myself off the front pages of your memory to its rear or forgotten leaves. I am not going to stress your mind, wondering. So, I provide you some reminders. A few months, oh, no, years ago, I wrote the ‘Strictly Impersonal’ column for this paper. As the columnist, I focused more on social issues every Friday, getting you set for the weekends. I penned about places I visited, people I met and things I or others did during the course of one week, most times, leveraging on the experiences of previous years. This frankly, was not the big glow for me, although at the time I gladly embraced it. It was not some Hobson’s choice though.
I pride myself as an economist, a University of Nigeria-trained economist. Being an economist gives me the buzz, for with so much comfort I can easily see the flip sides of an issue. And, I like to discuss economies, their (mis)fortunes or their many policy, governance and event trends. There was however an overriding bent for the shape of the ‘strictly impersonal’ column – I was under paid employment and it decided most of my arrangements at that time.
More importantly, I had to respect the terms of my engagement. My gratitude to my previous employers will, nonetheless, remain ceaseless. They were and still are wonderful lads, great men. As young adults, these men chose to put their backs to the noon-day sun; they worked and sweltered whilst most, arguably all, of their ‘mates’ enjoyed some deep sleep, slumbering away. They understood my desire to let the ink flow from the tip of my ballpoint and gave me some good span of space to do just that. I love to write. And, like most who love to engage the pen, I smile each time a ballpoint in my right hand moves eastwards on plain sheets. With their permission, the smiles only grew wider and brighter. That employee-employer relationship has since deceased a few years ago. As I take further steps along my chosen alley, my admiration and respect for the two men have grown without bounds.
After what I would aptly call a ‘sabbatical’, many things have morphed and many decisions re-made along a narrower lane. All of the changes are however quite positive. My friends know I am incapable of hate or small ‘stuff’. I don’t know the how-to. I don’t want to know. When your mind enjoys some elevation, you feel a lot lighter, whilst beautifully embracing so many joys and freedoms. And, that is one of them. My ink has risen in volumes. Also, my head has grown slightly bigger. Not in size but in content. One decision I made is to rest the ‘Strictly Impersonal’ column. It was not easy though. I missed you – my readers. So, I won’t hereafter focus on social issues. It has some exceptions though, especially when something big hit the social scene. I will from now on live within the borders of some of my deepest passions, which are few, in the new column, with my names as title. Yes, passion calls a career.
So, I possibly make a calling of the few henceforth. I like to talk economics. I love discussions on leadership and policy. I find some great excitements in strategy – strategy to compete fairly, outpacing others. Are you able to guess the best and biggest of all my passions? I delight in all conversations on Nigeria. I am Nigerian. I can never be grossly Nigerian. Shaken by my passions, I put a call to one brilliant mind – Chris Akor. And, with me on this page, the rest, like they often say, belongs to yesterday, belongs to history. My opinions in the column will be honest. No pretence. No malice. Just my thoughts, views, sometimes, my wishes and my dreams – hope for a better future, experiences and things, for myself, country men and women and above us all, for Nigeria.
Between my last piece on this paper and now, I have done several things. I have left my former employers. No fight. I love reading. So, I read more, in a more formal sense. Motivated by our passion for quality, improved standards, promotion of higher ideals and knowledge-sharing, I, in conjunction with some friends, set up two firms. One awaits the authorisation licence from the federal government. The other – Rham Durham is a leadership development, policy, marketing, strategy and human development consulting firm. Somehow, I enjoy the fortune of being asked to lead very capable group of men. That’s quite humbling. I will serve them with all my heart, to the best of my strengths.
In a fortnight, you will read my piece on leadership. It suffers so much from unorthodoxy, especially from the Nigerian eyes. See you then. Stay well.
Tony Monye
Managing Partner, Rham Durham Consulting Ltd – A leadership development, policy, marketing, strategy and human development consulting firm
