NIGERIA'S PETROLEUM MINISTER EMERGES FIRST EVER FEMALE PRESIDENT OF OPEC

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has appointed Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison- Madueke, as newest president. Diezani was elected at the 166th General Meeting of the organization held on Thursday in Vienna Austria

 Alison-Madueke, who makes history as the first female to be elected into the office, was elected just as members of OPEC began their meeting at the headquarters of the group in in Vienna, Austria.

She succeeds Libyan Vice-Prime Minister for Corporations, Abdourhman Atahar Al-Ahirish. Until her election, Mrs. Alison-Madueke, who would serve for one year, was OPEC’s alternate president.

She is expected to commence work immediately to pilot the affairs of the organization at a time members are coming together to find ways of curbing falling global crude oil prices, which dropped to about $73.07 per barrel on Wednesday.

Mrs. Alison-Madueke was born 1960, the same year OPEC was established. She was formerly Minister of Transport from 2007 to 2008 and subsequently appointed Minister of Mines and Steel from 2008 to 2010. She became Minister of Petroleum Resources in 2010 as Nigeria’s first female Petroleum Minister.

ONYEMA ELECTED PRESIDENT OF AFRICAN SECURITIES EXCHANGES ASSOCIATION

The African Securities Exchanges Association has elected the CEO of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Oscar Onyema, as President of the body the association’s 18th Annual General Meeting held in Diana, Kenya. The association also elected Karim Hajji, the CEO of Casablanca Stock Exchange (CASA) as its new Vice President.

Onyema who had previously served as the Deputy President of ASEA, will work with members of the committee to fulfill the mission and vision of the association. They will do this by focusing on four key strategies. These include strengthening the Association’s governance, financial and reporting framework; promoting the sustainable development of African capital markets; facilitating an increase in market access at the regional level, and promote cross-listing among African exchanges; and aligning the goals of African capital markets with those of the African Development Bank (AfDB). 

Other members of the committee include the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM), The Egyptian Exchange (EGX), Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE), The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.

Onyema became the president of the Nigeria Stock Exchange in April 2011 and has helped the exchange grow in capitalization and status. Under his leadership, the NSE was recently named a member of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE).

On the regional level, Onyema serves as the Chairman, West African Capital Market Integration Council, Chairman of Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS) and council member of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers of Nigeria (CIS).

In 2009, Mr. Onyema founded Market Strategists LLC and consulted under the Gerson Lehrman Group platform in the United States, successfully enabling decision-makers at investment firms and corporations to understand financial products, services, companies, and issues in global financial markets. 

He served as the senior vice president and chief administrative officer at American Stock Exchange (Amex), which he joined in 2001. He was the first person of colour to hold that position, and was instrumental in integrating the Amex equity business into the NYSE Euronext equity business after the latter’s acquisition of Amex in 2008. He then managed the NYSE Amex equity trading business, which he helped position as a premier market for small and mid-cap securities.

Mr. Onyema holds an MBA, Finance and Investment from City University of New York, Baruch College and a degree in Computer Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University.

EVERYTHING YOU WANT IS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FEAR

By the way, the topic of this post is one of my most favourite quotes of all times. I have not come across a lot of phrase that is this liberating. It simply captures the essence of what fear has done and can do to everyone of us. We have our dreams bubbling inside of us until we fear sets in and blows them right in our faces. 

One of the greatest battles we fight in life is the one not to fail. Those who don’t win are the ones who stopped fighting. For the better part of my sojourn in this world, I have come to understand that extreme failures can end up becoming huge successes in life. 

Some of the greatest success stories to ever come out of this world are the ones of people who once failed woefully but never gave up. Every time they failed, they moved one step closer to success. The most endearing people I know are those who have known failure and suffering yet they found their way out of those depths.

There are instances where you can be so overwhelmed by failure that your options are either to fight back or let the consequence of your failure kill you. Unfortunately, some people choose the latter.

It is your reaction to failure that will give birth to the revolution your life needs. You must hate failure with a passion in order to strive for success. Always learn to say to failure “You have beaten me up till this moment but not anymore”. Until you address failure properly, you cannot arrest it totally.

The best way to fight failure is to fight as if your life depends on it; and in fact it does. Putting up very little resistance may not yield the right results. Failure is like a monster, it will continue to keep you down until you become aggressive enough to kill it.

Success is not for the gentle or the submissive. This is not just a statement, it’s a fact. Successful people may dress in three piece suits and act courteous but I bet you they can get dirty when failure stirs them in the face.

If at forty years of age you still haven’t accomplished anything in life, it’s time you get angry with your situation and fight. There is still enough time to make something out of your life because your life will only measured by what you achieved and not when you did. Don’t get discouraged by that “a fool at forty a fool forever” catchphrase, your life is not over until it is over.

Stop condemning or comforting yourself for having tried, do all you can to win. Nobody gets a pass for how many times they have attempted an examination. It’s normal to feel discouraged but it’s your choice to be a failure. No one is interested in your past failures, stop recounting them already. Forget the things that are behind you and press towards the mark that is set before you.

In conclusion, the fight is not against those around you, your forefathers or God. It is against those things that are in you which have been preventing you from moving forward. It is against your negative attitude and self-defeating personality. Always remember that nobody was born to be a failure. We can all succeed in life if we show a great amount of determination. Failure can be your greatest gift.


#HappiestManInTheWorld

FRIENDSHIP: SEPARATING THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF

Before the advent of social media, we used to have real friends and real relationships. These relationships were built on sacrifice and nurtured on mutual trust. When you say someone was your friend, it literally meant they were your family. Their loyalty was unquestionable and though as humans they may fall short but they never give up on you.

Today, it’s hard to tell who your real friends are and who is really in a relationship with you. Your friends are not necessarily the ones who chat with you the most or the ones who like your pictures, comment on anything you post or write on your wall on your birthday. These actions are worth appreciating but we don’t have to get too carried away by the gesture that we fail to see its shallowness. True friendship is built in the real world and over a period of time.

Social media makes us put our trust in friends that haven’t earned to be so called. People become your friends or start off relationships with you on the various social media platforms for various reasons. There are those whose insecurities make it difficult for them to interact with you in real life, those who are reconnecting with you after a long time and others who are mostly strangers that take advantage of the access they have to you.

These virtual relationships can lead to positive outcomes in some cases but only few of them lead to happy endings. Most of them become selfish, dangerous, embarrassing and sometimes fatal.

The purpose of this article is to help you distinguish understand what true friendship is and to encourage you to invest more time to pursuing real lasting relationships. I am not entirely against virtual relationships but it’s safer to relate with the wheat than the chaff.


A Follower Is Not A Friend
It is important at this point to distinguish between a friend and a follower. I will simply put it this way, a follower is someone who has not really earned the right to be called a friend. A friend is like silver, you can’t tell their true value until they have gone through fire with you.

People admire and follow you on social media because they perceive you in a certain way. But most of them will not be patient enough to support you when the need arises. It takes more than just following someone to become their friends; you have to pay the price.


Your Friend Is Your Family
Being friends with someone makes you a part of his or her family. The parents look out for you as if you were their child and the siblings and even extended family members took you as one of their own.

Growing up, I had many fathers, mothers and countless siblings. What one family lacked, the other made up for. Every holiday is shared among my numerous family members. This experience shaped my life and gave me a broader view of life.

Youths of today miss out on all of these because social media has created a false enclave that has swallowed them up. They spend more time online with virtual contacts than with real people thus creating an indelible vacuum.


Only Real Friends Can Tell You The Truth
Truth is like fire, it refines every relationship. Your friends are the ones who would tell you the truth no matter the circumstance. They say it in such a way that the love in their voice overrides whatever impact the truth leaves in your heart. The truth hurts but everyone needs to hear it quite often.

Most of what you come across on social media are calculated deceit. People mislead you on everything. They put up appearances to get your attention with little or no regard for truth. If you want to find out about someone, the last place you should look is on a social media platform.


A Real Friend's Love Is Evergreen
Your true friends do not need to tell you they love you because you can always feel it every time you around them. You are indebted to them for life because they go out of their way to give you their best. True friends are priceless and they are very rare to find.

I know a couple of people who have found love on social media but most of it played out in real life. However, it is important to note that due to the nature of the social media platforms, desire can painted in colours of love and does fade as fast as it blossoms.


Real Friends Can't Hurt You Deeply
Forgiveness is another key element of friendship. If someone says they are your friend and have done nothing wrong against you, it is one of two things; they are either pretending or you haven’t been friends for too long. Friends don’t go out of their way to hurt one another but sometimes their humanity gets the best of them. The ability to forgive your friends who trespass against you is the hallmark of a great friendship.


Real Friends Help You Discover Yourself
With your true friends you are real. They don’t compel you to be more or less of who you truly are. They do not judge you and simply accept you the way you are. They know all our flaws and weaknesses yet they see your value and encourage you to be the best.

By virtue of its nature, majority of the things on social media are make-believe. Everyone tries to outshine the other leaving those who can’t compete to deceit. It’s even more disturbing when you see people you know in real life become so transformed. Honestly, social media basically takes you far and far away from true self. Sometimes this can be a good thing and other times it might not be too good.

Every Real Friend is Unique No two of your friends are the same; they are all special in their own way and complement you absolutely. They fill a void in your life such their absence makes you incomplete. You might be able to adjust to life without them but there would be that constant reminder that once upon a time they rocked your world.


Real Friends Can be Lost and Found 
Friendship never dies a natural death. It only ends because you fail to replenish its source due to selfishness or carelessness. There is always that point in your life where you become too busy for the people that care about you. Your ambition becomes more important leaving your friends starving for your attention.

Not everyone will understand what you are going through and after a while they will seek new alliances. Never neglect your real friends because when the chips are down they are the only ones left to pull you back up.

The attachment to friends on social media is not as strong as the one with real friends. And very little value is placed on the numerous friends you have there. It’s hard to know how many friends you have left and sometimes you don’t care.


Real Friends Live Forever
When you lose a friend to death, a part of you slowly goes with them. And the scars they leave in your life will never go away because they are just irreplaceable. They leave a place in your heart that will never be filled and even in your finest moment you will know it that something is missing.

#HappiestManInTheWorld

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES THAT WILL HELP YOU OVERCOME DISAPPOINTMENT

Throughout life, you are faced with several disappointments. And maybe you are dealing with one right now. Whether something in your work or business didn’t go as planned, whether someone you trusted and loved let you down, whether your life isn’t where you want it to be – life just seems to have a way of kicking us when we’re already down.

Disappointment is not an easy thing to face, but standing strong in the face of disappointment and rising afterwards is crucial to living a beautiful life. Here are some quotes on disappointment that will help restore your hope.

“There's always failure. And there's always disappointment. And there's always loss. But the secret is learning from the loss, and realizing that none of those holes are vacuums”

―Michael J. Fox

“Present; that part of eternity dividing the domain of disappointment from the realm of hope”

―Ambrose Bierce

“Disappointment to a noble soul is what cold water is to burning metal; it strengthens, tempers, intensifies, but never destroys it”

―Eliza Tabor

“If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment”

―Henry David Thoreau

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope”

―Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Not every disappointment is a blessings. Some disappointments are lessons - lessons on how not to trust certain people ”

―Anonymous

“The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality”

―Conan O'Brien

“There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love”

―Martin Luther King, Jr.

“The principles of living greatly include the capacity to face trouble with courage, disappointment with cheerfulness, and trial with humility”

― Thomas S. Monson

“Disappointment is a sticky one, because no one can steal contentment, joy, gratitude, or peace - we have to give it away”

―Kristin Armstrong

“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed” 

―Alexander Pope

“You may be disappointed if you fail but you are doomed if you don’t try”

―Beverly Sills

“Disappointments are just God’s way of saying “I have got something better”. Be patient…live life”

―Anonymous

“One of the best protections against disappointment is to have a lot going on.” 

― Alain de Botton

“Remember that sometimes not getting what you want can be the best for you”

―Anonymous

“Be calm and strong and patient. Meet failure and disappointment with courage. Rise superior to the trials of life, and never give in to hopelessness or despair. In danger, in adversity, cling to your principles and ideals”

―Sir William Osler 

“Most things disappoint till you look deeper”

―Graham Greene

“These slight disappointments are sent to prepare. For what may hereafter befall; for seasons of real disappointment and care, which commonly happen to all”

―Jane Taylor

“What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy? What if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights Are your mercies in disguise?”

―Anonymous

“When you learn to accept instead of expect, you'll have fewer disappointments”

―Anonymous

“Disappointment and failure are two of the surest ways to ensure that we are approaching to success and just have to keep trying”

―Anurag Prakash Ray

“It is better to know and be disappointed than never to know and wonder”

―Anonymous

“The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire, the size of your dream and how you handle disappointment along the way”

―Robert Kiyosaki

“One’s best success comes after their greatest disappointments”

―Henry Ward Beecher 

“Man must be disappointed with the lesser things of life before he can comprehend the full value of the greater”

―Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton