The Baboonism

Copyright @ 2014: DR AKIN
ENOCH ZERUBBABEL
OLOWOOKERE
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may
be used withoutthe prior
written permission
of the author with the
exception of brief
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articles, reviews, etc.
ISBN: 978-978-942-072-8
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ii
DR AKIN ENOCH
ZERUBBABEL
OLOWOOKERE
DEDICATION
iii
I dedicate this book to the whole of
humanity, Loved ones, Friends and the
Christian community at large.
CONTENTS
Chapter One
Of Monkeys & Baboons 1
Chapter Two
The Role Of Churches in Poverty Elimination 9
Chapter Three
The Failure Of Political Institutions 23
Chapter Four
Poverty & Unemployment 33
Chapter Five
Belief: The Ladder to Baboonism 39
Chapter six
Forces Controlling Baboonisim 47
Chapter Seven
Skill Acquisition as Instrument for Baboonism 55
Chapter Eight
Poverty Elimination: Never Wait.. .. 67
Chapter Nine
Eradicating Poverty Through Education 79
Chapter Ten
Eliminating Poverty: The Dangladash Example 87
Chapter Eleven
Reducing Poverty Through Professional Courses 97
Chapter Twelve
Becoming a Baboon 111
Chapter Thirteen
Demystifying Baboonism 121
Chapter Fourteen
Quotes on Poverty 133

iv
I acknowledge God, the creator of heaven and
earth for His wisdom and empowerment
to write.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This book is part of our Life Changing Series
FREELY distributed by the Foundation for Family
Positive Orientation (FFFPO).
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v
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ABSTRACT
Monkey Dey Work
Monkey dey work, baboon dey chop
T'day the hunter left his house with his dogs
To hunt for games in the forest logs
Before the hunter pulls the long gun
The dog caught the game without a gun
The game is done and home they came
Yes the dog it was that caught the game
The dog and hunter home they came
Now when it's time to share the game
When the meat and fire came to fuse
The hunter came with breaking news
Let no dog be let on the loose
Let no dog get close to the meat
These dogs are thieves don't let them out
Yet the dog it was that caught the meat
When meats are down from fire place
The dogs are bound they found no space
They lay on the floor with face of shame
vii
Waiting for the meat that never came
At last the bone it was that took the blame
Yet the dog it was that caught the game
I am the dogs by the chain side
Mopping as my good wishes died
Watching the word as swift they stop
Monkey dey work, baboon dey chop
- Author unknown
viii
very theory is a discovery of some working
Esecretes in nature. Its intention, if well utilized
would serve as solutions to questions and puzzles and
bring liberation to mankind. In doing this, we are able
to come out of puzzles set by traditions, nature, and
human errors. Obviously, there are puzzles to be
answeredpuzzles that border on superstition,
religion and others.
We live in a world where hypocrisy and the ignorance
of others are weapons in the hands of a few who
manipulate them to their advantage.
I preach the theory of Baboonism. This is derived from
division of the occurrences in the world into two main
groups: Baboons and Monkeys. All human beings,
rich or poor, fall within these two groups: no middle
way. You are either a Monkey or a Baboon. Let's call
the Baboons the rich ones and the Monkeys, the
labourers, so you are either a Monkey or a Baboon.
C h a p t e r 1
OF MONKEYS AND BABOONS
1
after print correction
Some were born baboons; and throughout their lives
they remain baboons; some were born monkeys, and
by hardwork and wisdom, divine blessing or by
marriage they have been able to transform themselves
into baboons. Some were born monkeys and they
have died as monkeys and others may die as monkeys.
The world is a bundle of contradictions. Some work so
hard with nothing to eat; while some perhaps a
limited few do not seem to work or work as hard as the
other group, yet they have all they need.
The division is necessary to enable competition,
struggle and ultimate success to prevail. Human
experience has taught us that there are bound to be
workers and eaters. But then, you must take your
stand. Are you a worker or eater?
Among my intentions here are:
a) Though you were born a monkey, you must know
that it is not good to remain so because it does not
bring out the best in you.
b) That every monkey must consciously take steps
towards becoming a baboon, through intangible
savings sowed on fertile soil.
2
Baboonism

c) That every monkey should consciously see or
identify the circumstances monkeynizing him/her
either in marriage, work place, religion, conventions,
traditions, superstitions, taboos, etc.
d) That when you eventually transform from a
monkey into a baboon, you must make efforts to
baboonize others.
e) That having become a baboon, you are now
fulfilled.
f) That a baboon marrying a monkey should elevate
the monkey to the status of a baboon by the
transforming power of marriage.
g) That it is possible for a monkey to become a baboon,
and also for a baboon to degenerate back to a monkey
through carelessness!
Poverty perhaps is the greatest error and stupid choice
of mankind. It is not a virtue, but the greatest
subjective destroyer of all generations. Poverty choice
never uplifts a man. It is not a choice anyone should
inherit or wish to inherit from anybody. It hinders
devel opment , ful fi l l ment , goal s and sel f
3
Of Monkeys and Baboons
devel opment , ful fi l l ment , goal s and sel f
actualization.
Unfortunately, Nigeria is gradually becoming a poor
nation by habit. One major reason which experts have
given for this high level of poverty is income
inequality, which is a bullshit excuse! Income will
ever be unequal and uneven. This is even more
serious because of the idle and lazy self indulgent
choice called unemployment!
Although that of Nigeria is not the worst in Africa, it is
insulting enough to have such a large number of idle
and lazy people in a nation so blessed. Are you among
them? Blame it on your choice to be idle .Rather
comply with whatever your hand finds doing, do it
with all your might, and you'll never come to
poverty.
Also, Defer not till evening what the morning can
accomplish Yield to nature's offered alternative
engagement and stop discriminating jobs. Keep
moving and leap from menial jobs to noble ones over a
duration.
4
Baboonism

more than the unengaged graduatesthus creating a
sharp imbalance in income inequality. In this
situation, we have frustrated monkeys by choice
while others are super baboons also by choice.
A poor monkey will live in a perpetual state of
inability to achieve a minimal standard of living. In
reality, Nigeria has not been developed due to the
monkeynous attitude of the majority. No Nation can
develop in a situation where idle citizens fail to realize
that National development is every good citizen's
business and not solely government business. So
every good citizen should be busy spending time
wisely to build the nation and challenge government
to good governance rather than wasting time
watching films and chasing shadows and vanity.
As the World Bank observed in its report, Nigeria's
annual growth rates that average over seven percent in
official data during the last decade placed the Nation
among the fastest growing economies in the world.
This growth has been concentrated particularly on
trade and agriculture, which would suggest
substantial welfare benefits for many Nigerians.
The few who engage themselves earn many times
5
Nevertheless, improvements in social welfare;
indicators have been much slower than it would be
expected in the context of this growth. Poverty
reduction and job creation have not kept pace with
population growth, implying social distress for an
increasing number of Nigerians. Progress towards the
fulfillment of many of the Millennium Development
Goals has been slow, and the country ranked 153 out
of 186 countries in the 2013 United Nations Human
Development Index.
The World Bank further notes that Job creation in
Nigeria has been inadequate to keep pace with the
expanding working age population. The official
unemployment rate had steadily increased from 12
percent of the working age population in 2006 to 24
percent in 2011. Preliminary indications are that this
upward trend continues till date.Unless the
individual takes the bull by the horns, the problem of
unemployment may linger further. As at today, the
few areas where jobs are available have been taken
over by wise baboons who now prefer to casualize
workers and pay them peanuts without health,
transport or housing benefits.
Baboonism
Under this idea, qualified Nigerians are recruited and
treated as slaves, while the children of the owners of
the business are concentrated in the main. These
employers are so brilliant that they have cleverly
gagged the mouths of government functionaries who
should be able to speak against this. Here the World
Bank suggests:
It is imperative that Nigeria finds a recipe to unlock
rapid growth and job creation in a larger part of the
country, as well as to increase standards of education,
health, and other social services to enable its citizens
to find gainful employment in the emerging growth
poles. There is no two ways about it; gainful
engagement will drastically reduce poverty. No one
should be under any illusion that only the
government holds the recipe to fight unemployment
and poverty. However, government needs to provide
the enabling environment that will make the private
sector, not necessarily the organized private sector but
the informal private sector, the cottage industries, the
artisanal service providers to thrive. If there is
significant public electricity supply, it will reduce the
7
cost of doing business drastically as many welders,
hairdressers, barbers and other artisans will find it
easier to ply their trade. Once the government can
help bring down the cost of doing business through
appropriate policies inclusive of low interest on
loans, provisions of critical social infrastructure and
adequate security of lives and property, returns on
effort will be drastically rewarding.
Since the battle between poverty and riches is the
issue at hand, and we have seen how the theme of
poverty have ravaged Nigerians , the next chapters
ahead will dwell more on poverty eradication means.
6
Baboonism
he business of any leader, pastor, politician,
Tcorporate executive should be to emancipate
people from poverty.
Poverty is the greatest disease that spreads across the
divide and it must be fought with all energy. The
African Development Bank (AFDB) in a recent
assessment of Nigerian's poverty level has reported
that:
Nigeria's prospect of halving poverty in the near
future seems weak. The proportion of people living
below the national poverty line has worsened from
65.5 per cent in 1996 to 69.0 percent in 2010.
Poverty is higher in rural areas at 73.2 percent than in
urban areas at 61.8 percent. The document pointed
out that inequality as measured by the Gini
coefficient, rose from 0.429 in 2004 to 0.447 in 2010.
(Gini coefficient is a measurement of statistician and
sociologist, Corrado Gini, which measures the extent
C H A P T E R 2
THE ROLE OF CHURCHES IN
POVERTY ELIMINATION
9
of distribution of income or consumption
expenditure among individuals or households.)
The report added that the rate of poverty varied
significantly between the urban and rural citizens and
among the geographical zones, and that 66 percent of
the rural population live below poverty line of one
dollar per day.
Malnutrition is widespread. Rural areas and
disadvantaged groups are particularly vulnerable to
chronic food shortage and unbalanced nutrition. 41
per cent of Nigerian children are stunted, nine percent
wasted or thin and 23 per cent underweight. The
report said.
The report pointed out that an average of 12.8 million
people entered the labour market every year over the
past five years.Unemployment, particularly youth
unemployment is an urgent policy priority, several
agencies and plans have been established to tackle
poverty and unemployment, it said.
This must be enhanced to ensure effective
engagement of the youth for economic growth and
development.
10
Baboonism
On social protection, the report added that though it
was a priority in Vision 20:2020 plan, it was yet to have
a comprehensive policy and budget support.
Social protection policy has been on the agenda for
some time. Several actors are involved in funding and
ensuring social welfare, mainly civil society groups
with programmes supporting orphans, widows and
people living with HIV/ AIDS
It is obvious from this report that various
personsinstitutions, governments and to a large
extent, religious bodies have failed in this business of
poverty elimination.

POVERTY IN NIGERIA
Nigeria's poverty level has become globally
significant, despite the height growth rate recorded as
averaging 7.5% of recent; and the recent rebasing of
Nigeria as Africa's largest economy.
In the past, various governments since 1972 made
attempts:
For example, in 1972, the then government of Yakubu
Gowon established the National Accelerated Food
11
The Role Of Churches In Poverty Elimination
Production Programme and the Nigerian Agricultural
and Co-operative Bank.
Even where the government makes efforts, her goal is
not poverty elimination but alleviation. This
deliberate terminology shows the extent of our
collective challenge.
Like the government, the church has no basis for
existence if she does not religiously address the issue
of poverty, because it is written in the Holy book that :
He became
Poor that we
Might be rich
Poverty alleviation also involves improving the living
conditions of people who are already poor. The church
should be the first post for poverty elimination. This
notion had being demonstrated in Acts 4: 32-35.
And the multitude of them that believed were of one
heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that
ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but
they had all things common. And with great power gave
the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord
12
Baboonism

Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was
there any among them that lacked: for as many as were
possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought
the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them
down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made
unto every man according as he had need.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for
brethren(continents, nations, states, communities,
societies, parents, couples, friends, siblings,e.tc.) to
dwell together in unity!....for there the Lord
commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
Psalm 133. In Unity is God's blessing anchored upon
nations,(parents, couples, households ,e.t.c) where
there is no unity, there is war, rancor , strife, tension,
disorder, chaos,e.t.c In unity does nation dwell and
tarry forevermore. This is a divine principle-
It takes the combined effort of the poor to reject
poverty. All efforts in this regard must begin from a
strong realization of the need to reject poverty and
move from the status of a monkey to that of a super
baboon.
13
This is the power of co-operation. The joint provision
and desire to eliminate poverty among the early
Christians simply demonstrated the will of God for
mankind. Therefore cooperatives must emerge; farm
lands, roads and infrastructure should be made
available and within their reach to challenge, or
complement government efforts.
Unfortunately, the rich will never set you free. If they
do, you may be like them; if they do, they would suffer
because their pride would be gone; they would lack
drivers to pull them around, cooks would not be there
to boil their coffee; and their children may become
their cleaners. Thus, the baboons are not willing to
release the monkeys or empower them, so as to
prevent them from becoming super baboons.
Let me restate this: Various institutions have thus
failed the masses and had pointed fingers at the poor
as being responsible for their poverty.
The poor are not entirely responsible for their lot.
Institutions made them so in that they failed to show
and teach ways out which is work, save and invest!
My father died at 80. If he had started contributing to
14
Baboonism
the church in his 20s, he would have contributed for 60
years. On the other hand, if my mother did the same
thing, she would have contributed for 40 years as at
the time she died at age 60.
Their combined contributing years would have been
100 years. This is a century within which money
contributed if adequately and prudently utilized in
sowed investment, would have eliminated my
father's children from poverty for generations yet
unborn. But would the church do this?
If we knew or experienced poverty at youth, why
should we at old age? This is because we all have
access to money at one time or the other during our
strong years which if we saved and sowed through
cooperative means, we would have harvested wealth
in the evening of life when our strength is ebbing, for
money is a seed to be sown on fertile soil.
Thank God the Holy Book talks about sowing so that
you can reap. The church is the platform of wisdom.
She should be able to sow what the sowers had sown
so as to remove them from the root of poverty and
suffering. Sow is an acronym for Secret of Wealth
which is why I founded, Secret of Wealth Bible
15

Court(www.swbm.org) Read my book entitled:
Secret of Wealth Bible Court
Suffering is a product of error. It doesn't matter who
made the error. Every error made by someone will
bring a proportionate suffering .The IMF motivated
borrowing and devaluation of the 80s, led Nigerians
into the beginning of untold hardship from which the
nation and majority of over 160 million inhabitants
are still struggling to overcome. This is the nature of
human error.
God does not make anyone to suffer. It is our
foolishness that informs our negative choices, which
in the majority of the cases leads to error; and all errors
are painful.
Institutions can work to remove poverty . The church,
for example can avoid untold hardship among her
believers. The machinery should be that people can
contribute carelessly to the church and should be
happy about it. They should be sure that their
collective fund is in safe hands who will prudently
manage it on their behalf to buy properties and other
16
Baboonism

investment options.
The sorry state is that churches are contended with the
level of their growth which is usually within the
circumference of soul-winning. Consequently, most
church members remain perpetual monkeys while
their pastor or the General Overseer moves from the
level of a monkey into a super baboon. Historically,
the church members know their pastor to be in a one
room apartment. They could remember when he had
only a pair of shoes. But overtime the man bought a
jet. Yet he did not inherit wealth or borrowed money
or won lottery; neither was he born into money. If the
pastor, the General Overseer of the ministry had
prospered, is it bad for the church members to equally
prosper?Recently, we noticed that churches can now
build schools, hospitals, and universities that the
members' children can hardly afford. Even those who
are not of their faith send their children to such
universities thus making strangers to the covenant
of faith to become beneficiaries of such endeavours
while the children of the akara sellers are left out even
though their mothers' tithe built the universities.
17
This is another case of Monkey dey work, baboon
dey chop. These are the dark days that have pervaded
the land.
A system that wants some people to be perpetually
poor; to be servants to others; that does not want others
to stand up or make conscious effort to elevate them is
undemocratic. Rather we should evolve a marketing
system that transforms the have nots (monkeys)
into the haves (super baboons.)
Under the baboonism theory, I have found poverty
elimination machinery intentionally programmed to
transform the monkeys into baboons.My case is this:
if the trustees, who are representing the Almighty in
the church, had a plan to transform the monkeys into
baboons, they would have sowed 10 percent of my
parents' contribution into fertile lands in terms of
investments by buying lands in remote places. 30
years later, that would have given a high uplift in
transforming the monkeynized members into
baboons.
If my parents lived and died serving an expanding
church with poverty elimination focus, the children
18
Baboonism

should not be poor because their father had
contributed to a blessed purse, which would have
been tailored to reward hard work and faithfulness.
In the Baboonism theory, the church should have kept
a proper account of the contributions transparently,
because the church is accountable. I, as a child of the
diseased should be able to ask the church: What is the
contribution of my parents for the last century? I
want to know how conscious they are, how much they
fear God, what their transparency level is, including
what they have given to God and what they have set
aside to God.
Another question: When they entered the church a
hundred years ago, where was the church and where is
the church now? How many branches had they when
my parents joined and how many branches now? Who
are the owners of the assets and the liabilities? Should
the church fold up who are the beneficiaries of the
assets? No wonder we now witness feuds in
successful organizations, including religious
organizations, and these feud are consequent upon
unbalanced rewards and considerations.
19
WHAT TO SOW
The spending currency or means of exchange in
Nigeria is the Naira, measured in Naira and Kobo,
that of America is the Dollars and Euro is spent in
Europe while that of Britain is Pounds Sterling.
What is the currency or spending means of God? It's
TIME measured by Hours, Minutes and Seconds.God
is impartial in that at 12 mid night and beginning of
each day, he hands over 24 hours as talents to sow for
every living soul (Beggers, Kings, Slaves, Presidents,
Pastors, Unbelievers, etc).
Poverty of character is the mother of all poverties and
the buyer of consequent poverty. Time must be spent
imbibing teachings, aimed at super good and reliable
behavioral tendencies which renders you a
dependable worker, husband, wife, friend son,
daughter etc. Good characters or manners is the king
of virtues that attracts wealth and prosperity in
matrimony, workplace , family theater etc. And of
virtues, patience is the father that begets good
positive virtues.
20
Baboonism
Toward poverty emancipation , you must join a
cooperative that promotes Enterprises Saving
Account(ESA) culture and whose aim is to return
unto you a landed property for your contribution.
Such is www.woposinvest.com founded by the
author .
We also have the following :
www.nationalunityvillage.com, Abuja Properties
Ownership Scheme Multi- purpose Cooperative
Society Limited, www.votersvanguard.org, a society
aiming to vote the righteous unto authority because
when the just rules, the people rejoice but when the
corrupt are in authority , the people groan and
mourn!
21
22
ike the Church, the political institutions have
Lfailed us too. Corruption, more than anything
else has contributed largely to the failure of poverty
alleviation in Nigeria.
The political crises of 1966 and the civil war that
followed led to the adoption of what could be termed a
modified Federal System that combined both the
qualities of a unitary system of government in
otherwise Federal structures. The outcome in practice
is a situation where many citizens are dissatisfied; yet
voiceless to form a formidable objection.
Consequently, all government organs, - especially the
Federal Government enjoys huge percentage of the
national revenue, that hardly ever get to the people in
the real sense of the word. Consequently services thus
provided are massed up in organizing corruption that
only provides financial figures on the pages of
newspapers. This endemic corruption had hindered
past poverty alleviation efforts and may continue to
C H A P T E R 3
T H E F A I L U R E O F
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
23
do so.
The Nigerian political institutions have also failed to
transform monkeys into baboons; rather, more
monkeys have been created over the years owing to
this failure. This negative transformation followed
through the ladders of corruption to unemployment
then to poverty and consequently crime. Under this
situation, becoming a baboon becomes, relatively
very difficult task. The essence of this chapter
therefore is to work at the failure and face the
consequences so that any monkey who wants to
become a baboon would be able to see where things
went wrong and then take a positive step of escape.
The primary essence of governance is the provision of
basic necessities of life including water, food,
housing, schools, employment, health, security, etc
for the citizenry. But one major corrosive weapon that
has aided the failure of political institution's ability to
fulfill its obligations is corruption which is also
informed by morbid fear of poverty or sliding back
into poverty. The system must create functional
structures to allay the fear of poverty which happens
24
Baboonism
to be the motivating force behind mad materialism
and acquisitions.
WEAK INSTITUTIONS
The failure of political institutions could be directly
or remotely linked with the weakness of political
institutions, hence the emergence of endemic
corruption and its attendant consequences.Naturally,
corruption will be the outcome in any country where
legal and political institutions are weak and policies
generate economic rent.
The Nigerian Public Service, far from the intention for
which it was created, is left with wide unrestricted
powers to create avenues for unjust enslavement. In
many cases, civil servants are the contractors to the
projects they execute. In fairness to them, they are
poorly paid, compared to their counterparts in the
private sector. This leaves them with the first and
immediate option of finding alternative to 'support'
themselves by any means According to the World
Bank report recently: The normal motivation of
public sector employees to work productively may be
undermined by many factors, including low and
declining civil service salaries and promotion
unconnected to performance. Dysfunctional
25
The Failure Of Political Institutions
government budgets, inadequate supplies , delays in
the release of budget funds (including pay), and a loss
of organisational purpose also may demoralise staff.
The motivation to remain honest may be further
weakened if senior officials and political leaders use
public office for private gain or if those who resist
corruption lack protection. Or the public office may
have long been dominated by patron-client
relationships, in which the sharing of bribes and
favours has become entrenched. In some countries,
pay levels may always have been low, with the
informal understanding that staff will find their own
ways to supplement inadequate pay. Sometimes these
conditions are exacerbated by closed political systems
dominated by narrow vested interests and by
international sources of corruption associated with
major projects or equipment purchases
The army, the police, customs or/ and the judiciary are
not left out of this failure chain. Although the
corruption in the armed forces is closely guided from
public glare, that of the customs, immigration,
judiciary and the police are public domain.
For the customs for instance, the high level of their
corruption can be measured by the influx of the
26
Baboonism
otherwise banned products into the Nigerian market.
The Government of The Federal Republic of Nigeria
does not allow the importation of used clothes into
Nigeria. But a casual visit to some parts of Lagos- like
Yaba, Kontagoa in Abule Egba, Lagos and many
other major markets will tell the best story. Frozen
foods, acclaimed to have been banned can be
purchased in any street of Lagos as well as other parts
of Nigeria.
Recently, Nigerians, aided with modern smart phones
have started recording a few of the very common acts
of corruption among the members of the police force.
Recently, over 23,000 Nigerians visited You Tube page
of the secret recording of a police woman who openly
demanded N100 from a driver- barely two weeks after
another police man was dismissed for appearing in a
video recording of him demanding N23, 000.This
happen because our institutions are weak.
In a lecture presented by the Chief of Staff, office of
the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crime
Commission: he said: Closely related to the issue of
weak institutions is the role of formal rules and the
criminal justice system. There is hardly any country
where corruption is legalised; to the contrary, there are
27
several formal rules and laws prohibiting corruption
and corrupt practices with appropriate sanctions and
punishments. In addition to organic laws, several
public institutions such as the Police, Customs ,
Immigration, Road Safety Corps, Fire Marshals, the
Armed Forces, Internal Revenue Agents, and other
i nst i t ut i ons i ncl udi ng t he Judi ci ary have
comprehensive Codes of Conduct to regulate their
behaviours which also prohibit the receiving or
accepting of bribes, gifts, gratifications, etc. However,
in a political economy that is laced with corruption,
such formal rules are usually supplanted by informal
rules or customs that allow corruption to flourish. For
instance, the law may criminalise the giving and
taking of bribes; but in practice, one can hardly get
anything done without gratification or settling
someone. In Nigeria, until the establishment of the
EFCC, the laws were hardly enforced and the informal
rules prevailed. The EFCC was thus established to
strengthen the institutions and to shift emphasis back
to the recognition and enforcement of formal rules. In
addition to the formation of the EFCC, the Federal
Government, recognising the need to have a strong
formal rules, had also enacted various other laws such
as The Money Laundering Act, the Advance Fee Fraud
28
Baboonism
Laundering Act, the Advance Fee Fraud Related
Offences Act and the Failed Banks (Recovery of
Debts) and Financial Malpractice in Banks Acts and
several other appropriate legal framework to control
corruption and strengthen the legal and economic
institutions including the criminal justice
administration.
Unfortunately, the Nigerian public seemed to have
accepted corruption as a normal way of life. If not,
why would a parent deliberately enroll his/ her child
in a Special Centre where a water-tight guarantee is
made that every candidate in that centre must pass
because they paid a special fee for their various school
Certificate Examinations?

Why would a publicly acclaimed corrupt individual
be offered a chieftaincy title by a traditional ruler in
his village? Why are governors already fingered in
corruption, elected into the senate by the people? In
many cases, even churches have been known to ordain
or pray for corrupt public officers and ex-convicts.

In Nigeria, it appears that anybody who steals from
the public coffers is not usually considered a thief.
Consequently, people elected into public places are
29
celebrated as heroes if they end up building chains of
houses and possess high profile cars.
The result of all these is poverty, joblessness and un-
employment with the direct effect on the youths. This
high level of ranking has placed Nigeria among one of
the most corrupt nations in the world by the
Transparency International.
About 84% of those surveyed recently by
Transparency International claimed corruption had
increased in the past two years, a higher percentage
than almost any other country in the world.
Troublingly, 75% of those surveyed also said
government was at best, ineffective at fighting
corruption, worse than in all 10 countries. TI says
Nigeria is heavily dependent on the oil industry, yet
the government refuses to act on accusations that the
oil companies are underreporting the value of the
resources they extract and the tax they owe by billions
of Dollars.
The report adds that Certain transparency groups
also blamed politicians for encouraging corruption. In
all these where are our churches?
30
Baboonism
31
32
Baboonism
more refined definition of poverty has removed
Ait from one's inability to feed. Today, it is seen as
denial of opportunities and choices that are regarded
as essential to healthy creative life and a decent
standard of living.
The previous chapter has chronicled this denial as
linked with corruption. Consequently, what you have
is poverty and unemployment - two most important
factors we shall look at in this chapter.
Defining poverty as related to Nigeria would be
extremely difficult. To the International community,
Nigerians are the happiest people in the world. Some
writers like Muhammed Ajah had attempted at
categorizing poverty into three parts:
One, there are those who are poor but do not believe
that they are so. For this group, they struggle-
sometimes by all means possible-to find ways of
keeping their bodies and souls together. They are not
C h a p t e r 4
POVERTY & UNEMPLOYMENT
IN NIGERIA
33
keeping their bodies and souls together. They are not
limited to:
- Those begging on the streets
- Those unable to feed thrice a day with good
meals.
- Those unable to cater for their own children in
terms of education, health and shelter.
- Those languishing in the prisons for trivial
offences.
Two, they are those who are not poor but they believe
that they are equal to the poor. This group is made up
of the insatiable minds who will refuse to pay a
labourer his paltry reward upon the abundance they
swim in. They compete to be the greatest in wealth
amassment which arithmetically translates to
impoverishing.
According to the former Senior Special Adviser (SSA)
to a former President on Poverty Alleviation, Dr.
Magnus Kpakol, in a paper titled, NAPEP
Programmes As Enabler For Rapid Economic Summit
Seventy four million Nigerians are poor. The figure,
which was so as at December 2008, dropped by one
million from 75 million in 2007. He said the
population of the nation's poor people was 80 million
in 1999, i.e. when Nigeria returned to Democracy
34
Baboonism
According to him, the poverty rate is higher in the
Northern part of the country as stated here:
North West -72.2%
North East -71.2%
North Central -67%
South East -26.7%
South-South 35.1%
South-West 43.1%
Between the time this report was released and the time
of writing this book, the bad situation has further
deteriorated because Nigerians have no record or
feelings that their poverty level have improved in the
past ten years. The direct impact of this is on the
youths, the young graduates who constitute the bulk
of the Nigerian population. If in a country where
about 50% of her total population are youths, and a
large chunk of this figure are unemployed, how bleak
is the situation!
Young people are the next generation of potentially
productive economic and social actors. This growing
youth demographic, in the context of developing
nations, represents a once in a lifetime opportunity for
locally led economic growth which can secure a
prosperous future for some of the world poorest
people.
35
Poverty & Unemployment inNigeria
Let's narrow down this view on a section of the youths,
the Nigerian graduates. Although there are no
accurate records, experts have estimated that about 75-
80% of Nigerian graduates are unemployed or idle.
Like mentioned before, the record may not be exact,
but when a body, like The Chartered Institute of
Personnel Management of Nigeria says so , then one
can attribute a high degree of accuracy to it. According
to Dr. Charles Ugwu, the Director, Professional
Development Directorate. ...If you check the
quantum of people who are not sufficiently engaged,
it is a very staggering figure. But in terms of
percentage, I can tell you that over 75-80% of Nigerian
youth who are graduates are not fully employed. I
mean graduates .... There are people who have tonnes
of money in the bank, lying idle, waiting for people
who can turn it around (the Punch)
If the level of unemployment is this high and
government seemed not to be making any effort to
stop the slide, one wonders how many poor people
would be created in a decade from now. The effect of
this situation has already forced many youths into
unimaginable acts, from prostitution to Yahoo-Yahoo
to (of recent), Kidney sale!
36
Baboonism
Here is somebody's revelation:
Early this year a friend of mine who's into air
ticketing and reservation kept complaining to me the
rate at which Nigerians travel to Malaysia this days.
He told me over 65% of their monthly ticket sales
comes from those traveling to Malaysia...well,
initially I felt it was normal thing boys must hustle
as country no pay . ..not until recently, a man in my
area returned from Malaysia after being away for like
5 months. Bought a land, bought cars and started
raising a building, he just started living large all of
a sudden and then he took ill and eventually, he got
diagnosed of failed kidney. In the end he confessed
that he traveled to Malaysia to sell his kidney for
50million naira but it appeared they played a fast one
on him...they removed both kidneys and replaced one
with a weak kidney.
He said so many Nigerian boys are fast selling their
kidneys presently; more especially yahoo boys and
that rumours of kidnaping cases among Nigerians
living in Malaysia isn't about rituals it is actually
about KIDNEYS. Statistics shows that Malaysia has
the highest number of kidney related diseases in
world! These are unwise actions that lead to nowhere
except sorrow.
37
Poverty & Unemployment inNigeria
38
Baboonism
A belief is not just an idea that you possess; it is an
idea that possesses you John Maxwell.
aving seen the corruption and the hardness of
Hthe Nigerian situation , only faith can save the
monkey who must become a baboon. Belief or faith
should be the first ladder of the monkey who must
seamlessly transform into a baboon.
The Power of belief or faith is so dominant that some
people call it the conquering force because it is an
invisible force that eliminates any impediment on the
partway of success. Its force has the power to destroy
all barriers and obstacles thus helping its possessor to
surge ahead like a bull. (To my mind, belief generates
enthusiasm). The power of faith is the power of God
when operative; it can render all oppositions stupid.
For example, many years ago, a professor of
mechanical engineering once declared (in disbelief)
that it was impossible for man to design a machine
Chapter 5
BELIEF:
THE LADDER TO BABOONISM
39
that could fly in the air. Years later, the Wright
Brothers, in their faith or belief disagreed with the
professor and did just the opposite. They declared that
they would be the first human beings to fly!
Remember, the boys were mechanics!
Sometimes, (or should it be all the time?), the
declaration of experts or gurus should not be allowed
to kill our faith or belief in our vision or strong desire.
If we listen to them too much or too often, they might
kill us or our intense desire. This is not to undermine
the wisdom of professional advice but the point is that
belief or faith is mysterious and God linked, it has
the power to up-turn long standing traditional or
scientific stands. In 1977, Ken Olsen, President of
Digital Equipment Corporation said There is no
reason for any individual to have any computer in
their home. If someone had listened to the opinion of
an expert, would there have been mini-computers
today?
Men of faith or belief are those who overlook contrary
opinions to set faith on their own.
Henry Ford, another mechanic, broke barriers with his
belief when he instructed his engineers (who
40
Baboonism
obviously knew better) to build an eight cylinder
engine. They retorted that it was impossible under
heaven to embark on such attempt. But the belief force
in Henry Ford forced him to tell the engineers
Produce it any way. Go right ahead. I want it and I
will have it.
Henry Ford said it: I want it and I will have it. That
force in the spoken word of Ford compelled his
engineers to realize that their boss meant business. So
they put their acts together and they got the solution.
Medical Science has confirmed the biblical stand that
there is a nexus between your faith, your word and
your nervous system. This means whatever you voice
out: positive or negative, affects your nervous system
and thus your whole being who will be compelled to
act like you said. This is why you often hear men like
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome saying: Keep saying it
because if you think and believe you can, you can. If
you believe and think you can't, you can't. Either way
is right. What you think, believe and say is real
eventually becomes your reality.
Therefore, what a person believes and thinks is
possible or impossible, to a great extent determines
41
Belief: The Ladder to Baboonism
what he/ she can or cannot do. When you don't believe
you can do something, you're sending your nervous
system consistent messages that limit or eliminate
your ability to produce that very result. But if you
think and say you can do something, you are
delivering consistent messages to your nervous
system that signal your brain to produce the result you
desire, and that opens up the possibility for it.
In other words, when you say I can't or it's
impossible, you shut down the ability of your mind
to generate ideas. But if you ask, How can I do it? or
How can it be possible? you open up your mind to
the inflow of limitless possibility ideas.
Obviously, it is clear that belief or faith is positively
linked with vision. A monkey without a vision may
never become a baboon. What forces faith into action
is the vision which our faith must accomplish. Why
was Henry Ford so insistent that his engineers must
produce an eight cylinder engine contrary to experts
opinion? It is because he had a VISION. He knew
what he was aiming at. One can therefore see the
beautiful relationship between belief, VISION and
self worth. Those who believe that they are not
ordinary, that they have a mission, also have vision.
42
Baboonism
To this end, one can infer that belief stems from a
realisation of self worth. A monkey who constantly
believes that he is worth nothing within, or that he can
never be a baboon has nailed his or her coffin; and no
matter how much he tries to undo that it , will become
futile until there is first a change of mindset. We must
be able to see our worth; that there is no meaningful
difference between the monkey and the baboon.
Dr. Myles Munroe gave an illustration of this fact
when he narrated a mid-twentieth century story in
Bangkok, Thailand. The government of Thailand
wanted to build an express road; which must link up a
village. Incidentally, the road must pass through a
monastery housing a Buddhist image which should
give way for the government project. The only option
was to move or relocate the heavy foot clay goddess.
So, they called in their Julius Berger who carefully
used a crane to move the monastery in sections-
careful enough not to break the age-long god.
Unfortunately, as they moved, the idol began to crack!
People feared because it was an important symbol. Yet
the more care they took, the more the object gave way
until the whole clay crumbled!
But something happened. When the clay crumbled,
43
something was revealed; inside the clay was a multi
million naira worth of pure gold!
Inherent in each of us is tones of pure gold worth
billions of dollars. It may not be seen from the outside
like the clay covered gold of Buddha. In reality, we
are pure gold inside. Our external lives do not reflect
who we truly are or what we can be.
This innate belief motivated Martin Luther more
than 50 years ago to declare I have a dream! and a
little while ago, somebody picked that up to declare:
Yes, we can and became the first African to rule
America.
Obama was a monkey who through faith or belief
transformed himself from a monkey, into a white
baboon. So, it's possible!
Faith runs through the rail of vision and vision stems
from a life of purpose. Purpose pushed Henry Ford to
want to create the in-existent by fire by force. Why
would a monkey want to be a baboon? Vision; why
did Obama desperately desired to become the
American President? Vision; why was Martin Luther
so confident in his declaration? Vision!
44
Baboonism
Vision is the borrowed sight that enables an
individual to see far beyond his normal ability. It is
this vision that propels desire. Ordinarily, every
monkey would have been content to remain a
monkey. If he does, he may never grow. And where
motion stops and no growth is, death results.
Your desire to leave the forest of poverty through a
legitimate means may seem laughable to those who
know you. Let it be. Dream big. Pursue your dream;
make a decision, no matter how stupid it might look.
Believe in yourself and forge ahead.
45
46
Baboonism
Chapter 6
FORCES CONTROLLING
BABOONISM
very monkey will not end up a baboon although
Eall monkeys have the potential to become one.
Every Tom and Harry cannot be instant success
although everyone has the potentialities to be. This
follows therefore that there are forces that should
control anyone who wants to move to the next level.
These forces are:
Faith
Passion
Perseverance
One's willingness to choose or possess all these
gifts would obviously propel the individual to
another world of possibility. It also follows that
because man is a free moral agent, he could choose
what he wants to believe whether or not they are
essential to his survival. This probably explains why
many people do things or fail to do others despite
warning or encouragement stop it .
For instance, despite millions of Dollars (and Naira)
47
spent in advertising intended to dissuade people
against cigarette smoking and alcohol, millions still
engage in and often die directly or indirectly from the
course of smoking or alcoholism. Desire makes the
difference.
From the distant past until now, men and women of all
classes have risen to greatness in all fields of human
endeavour despite the so called economic downturn.
In every nation, there are millionaires, though their
rating and valuation varies. Not long ago, Jaco Maritz
made a compilation of millionaires in African
according to their nationalities. Here are his findings.
Top 10 African countries ranked by millionaires
(2012)
Rank Country Number of millionaires
1. South Africa 48,800
2. Egypt 23,000
3. Nigeria 15,900
4. Kenya 8,400
5. Angola 6,400
6. Tanzania 5,700
7. Libya 6,400
8. Tunisia 6,500
9. Morocco 4,900
10. Algeria 4,100
48
Baboonism
Fastest growing African countries for millionaires
(2012-2020)
RankCountry Growth rate Millionaires
Per annum In 2012 in 2020
1. Ethiopia 7.4% 2, 700 4, 700
2. Ivory Coast 7.4% 2, 100 3, 700
3. Zambia 7.3% 900 1, 600
4. Ghana 7% 2, 500 4, 200
5. Angola 6.7% 6, 400 10, 800
6. Nigeria 6.4% 15, 900 26, 100
7. Tanzania 6.3% 5, 700 9, 300
8. Kenya 5.5% 8, 400 12, 900
9. Morocco 4.7% 4, 900 7, 100
10. Algeria 4.1% 4, 100 5, 600
source: www.howwemadeitinafrica.com
Further, how come there are only about 16,000
millionaires in Nigeria (2012) of the 160 million
people in the country? Passion is it!
Passion rebuilds the world for the youth. It makes all
things alive and significant Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Those who had made progress have on their own
keyed into these forces which are available and
accessible to all. It is the prerogative of all humans
despite age differences; and it is from God the
49
Forces ControllingBaboonism
Father and Creator, who has made such available to
all, You can force a horse to the river, but you cannot
force it to drink water ..as the saying goes . That is one
beautiful theory that applies solely to life. God has
endowed us with a covenant backed prerogative of
choice, but everyone - no matter the age or tribe will
ultimately desire what he wants from life.
Here we are concerned with monkeys who obviously
want to be baboons a life of freedom, fortune and
luck.... if such combination exists.
Our desires are not all directed to the same place or
towards the same goal. Some have their desires fixed
on irrelevances; on worthless issues or even deadly
ones. Some choices are right. Some are dead wrong as
dictated by logic and common sense or morality. But
some people are not guided in their desires. Rather,
they are controlled from within. Whatever their minds
tell them they do, no matter the impact on the other
men out there or in consideration of the societal laws.
On the other hand, another person's burning desire
could be to write some books within a target time.
Both are desires. Curiously, common sense
50
Baboonism
Baboonism
or experience tells us that not all our desires are
progressive-they do not have the ability to shoot us
forward.
What then is your desire? The question is vital
because desire or passion on a worthwhile goal will go
a long way in determining the height of our lifting. Of
these two: Faith and Patience; desire seemed to
occupy the base. Faith and Patience spring from the
rocky stand of desire.
Then, we have a hard work here. We must determine
what we desire and our desire must be appropriate.
Appropriateness of our desire, like mentioned before
will have to be determined by the individual
alongside with other variables. There is what the
Bible terms inordinate desires. These are among the
reckless and unprofitable pleasures that stand to sap
our energy, wisdom and other resources rather than
adding to them . Until we accurately determine what
our desires are, we may always lose focus. Focus is
often the straight line facing desire. Lack of focus
naturally equals lack of success. So while desire is
important, focus too is.

51
Forces Controlling Baboonism
To focus on anything is to concentrate one's time,
energy and thought on it. When this is done, his/ her
point of focus will affect the mind and the tongue. The
Oxford Dictionary chooses to define focus as: The
centre of interest or activity, the act of concentrating
interest on something We shall return shortly to this.
But mean while we must not forget our main issue- the
focus of our present talk: desire.
Let's repeat this: our desire must be appropriate by all
standards. Perhaps, inappropriate desire more than
anything else could be said to be responsible for
failure in life more than all other variables put
together. The lack of focus is the lack of impact or
success or achievement. A monkey that wants to be a
baboon already (naturally) has his object of desire,
and therefore focus, concentration and investment-
knowing full well that the noble achievement of that
single purpose will see his transformation from a
monkey into a baboon.
Unfortunately, many people do not know what they
really want. People like this do not have the right
desire, or a focused - concentrated desire in life.
52
Baboonism
Let me add that many people do not know what they
want and many more are wanting the irrelevant. The
two must be relevant and marriageable: One cannot be
divorced from the other. This is the kind of desire that
generates motion. Remember the story of the 13 year
old Benin boy-Daniel Oikhena, who in a strong desire
to leave the country hid in the tyre section of an
aircraft while it flew from Benin City to Lagos . There
are many others too, who did strange things in the
name of desire. To become a baboon , you must have
the right desire!
53
Let me add that many people do not know what they
want and many more are wanting the irrelevant. The
two must be relevant and marriageable: One cannot be
divorced from the other. This is the kind of desire that
generates motion. Remember the story of the 13 year
old Benin boy-Daniel Oikhena, who in a strong desire
to leave the country hid in the tyre section of an
aircraft while it flew from Benin City to Lagos . There
are many others too, who did strange things in the
name of desire. To become a baboon , you must have
the right desire!
53
The responsibility of acquiring skills then falls
squarely on the individual who must take the bull by
the horns and rise up to become skilled.
A skill is the ability to do something well, usually
gained through training and experiences. Acquiring a
skill therefore means developing a new ability in
something practical- far away from the theory- based
knowledge as you find in courses like Economics (to a
large extent), Political Science, Sociology, History, etc.
But as we know it, skills are acquired in areas like:
Carpentry
Mechanic
Computer repairs
Phone repairs
Printing etc.
That is not all. Skills also include entrepreneurial
activities (small scale businesses such as operating a
kiosk, selling of spare parts, business centre, cyber
cafe, etc). Others in the group include:
1. How to produce custard powder.
2. How to make bar soaps.
3. How to produce liquid soap.
4. How to produce liquid insecticide or pesticides.
5. How to produce cosmetics (body creams).
56
Baboonism
6. How to produce detergent.
7. How to start coaching classes.
8. How to start the supply sales of farm produce.
9. How to export packaged food items.
10. How to start a foot ball match viewing centre.
11. How to become a mobile book seller.
12. How to make millions from plantain chips
13. How to make huge income from mobile boutique
14. Home based ice- block production business.
15. Large scale ice block production.
16. How to set-up a mini water packaging business.
17. How to start printing &publishing business
without owing a press.
18. How to set-up a profitable laundry & dry
cleaning business.
Source...http://www.nairalist.com/lagos/services/5208/18-small-scale
Others are:
Agricultural and agro allied sector
Poultry farming business
Catfish farming
Livestock farming
Livestock feed production
Dog breeding business
Soya beans processing
Maize cultivation and procession
57
Skill Acquisition As InstrumentBaboonism
elf employment is the easiest way to create
Semployment. And one beautiful path to self
employment is skill acquisition as a very important
step to end poverty and create opportunity for oneself.
Why wait for others to create jobs for you? The
influence of Western education in Nigeria has in this
regard done a lot of damage to our consciousness.
Long before now, our fathers did not wait for anybody
to create jobs for them. From age 18 or less, a boy was
capable of making his own money, to the extent that in
his twenties, he gets married. Unfortunately, the
coming of Western education and the university
system wrongly changed all that. Our University
system was largely established to create the then
urgently needed clerical and administrative staff. But
when we had enough of them, we couldn't stop. The
situation has even become ridiculous to the extent that
our lecturers who are too one-sided cannot turn round
to introduce skills into the system.
C h a p t e r 8
SKILL ACQUISITION AS
I N S T R U M E N T
FOR BABOONISM
55
Rice processing (milling)
Cashew production and processing
Cassava processing
Ethanol production (from cassava)
Employment services sector
You can start a resume writing business
Career advice and counseling
Job placement and recruitment agency

Education sector
Start a tutorial centre for exams like JAMB,
WAEC/GCE, ICAN, CIS, etc
Crche school
Day care centre
Start a self defense training school
I CT/ technology sector
Computer repair services
Mobile phone repairs
Mobile apps development
Games development
Software development
Web based business services
Web design and development
Search engine optimization services
Search engine marketing services
Waste management
58
Baboonism
Waste management
Waste recycling business
Security
You can start a security guard training school
Start a security company
Import security gadgets
Import non-lethal self defense weapons
Source : http://pressvilla.com/list-of-40-profitable-small-scale-
businesses-in-nigeria-to-start/
The importance of skill acquisition cannot be over-
emphasized because of its obvious roles in catalyzing
national development. In the United States of
America, what sustains and run their economy are not
the multinational companies but the small-scale and
skilled workers which make up about 70% of the
country's economy. Youths, right from secondary
school are trained on pin-pointed skill where they
latter develop and enlarge. It is not unlikely in such
developed countries to find youths spending
adequate time to learn skills like hair cutting. That
means, seemingly lesser jobs are broken down and
schools are provided where youths would go.
In Nigeria, the reverse is the case. Every youth wants
to acquire university education and end up working
59
Skill Acquisition as Instrument for Baboonism
in the bank. Do a road side research on this by asking
ten youths what they would like to study. You are
likely to find over 80 % of them desiring to or already
studying business administration related courses.
The role of skill acquisition is multi-dimensional.
a) It eliminates poverty and hunger
b) It reduces or removes joblessness.
c) It reduces crimes by keeping youths engaged.
In realising the need to transform the economy
through skill acquisition, the Federal Government in
1981 introduced the 6 3 - 3 4 system of education,
which allows children after their primary education to
spend the first three years of their college life in skill
acquisition. As a follow up, the government provided
tools in some areas to enable the scheme take off. But
the idea died after about 30 years of trial without any
success, owing partly to the peculiar nature of our
corruption among others. In many cases, the tools and
equipment provided were stolen in the schools. On
the other hand, the influx of private schools, that could
not afford to operate the full requirement of the 6-3-3-
4 system contributed to its early death.
60
Baboonism
Federal Government established in 1987, National
Directorate of Employment, which has the following
youth-friendly and inclined programmes: Vocational
Skills Development (i.e. fashion designing, furniture,
carpentry, GSM repairs/ maintenance, auto mechanic,
foundry, metal works, iron bending, etc); Special
Public works programme; Rural Employment
Promotions and Small Scale Enterprises
programmes.
Others include the National Youth Service Corps
(NYSC).Entrepreneurial Programmes, National
Poverty Alleviation Programme, Industrial Training
Fund to mention but a few. The Programmes are
aimed at the acquisition of marketable and applied
skills as well as basic scientific knowledge.
Sadly, they all seemed not to be working.
The urgent need for skill acquisition can be learnt
from what happened to Ghana about 30 years ago.
With massive corruption rocking the nation then , her
citizens flooded Nigeria in search of jobs. I can vividly
remember a particular situation where Ghanaians
who were teaching in a particular school were sacked.
In order to boost the skills of the Nigerian youths, the
61
to Ghana, the young teachers immediately turned
to their other skills: Builders. We saw them on the
other side of the town as building contractors,
surveyors, etc.
They did all manners of jobs ranging from shoe
shining to motor repairing and other minor jobs
all in demonstration of the fact that they had skill
in them. The same goes for China. China High
School and Junior High school Students, including
other less youths are assigned work in line with
what is called the three-in-one employment
programme. The skill is based on China's opening
and selecting the best applicant policy.
Under the policy, workers with no specialised
training are apprenticed for a period of one to three
years after entering the enterprises. It is on record
that the programme has assisted tremendously in
the country's procurement of solutions to
unemployment problem, shortage of skilled
manpower and antisocial activities.
But as soon as they lost their jobs, they didn't return
62
Baboonism
regard. Neither the government nor the universities
are doing enough to educate and persuade youths to
take up skills. There seems to be a governing body of
pride among the youth. They see skill acquisition as
an insult to their university degrees. But for me, I have
already programmed the minds of my children
towards skill acquisition.
It takes less than three months to acquire some skills.
For example, to learn the process of graphic designing
takes less than four months, a thing a university
graduate could easily key into : this still remains the
quickest way to get out of poverty.
The minds of our youths must be re-moulded to accept
this stack reality, and their pride must be adequately
down loaded and deleted, the nation may still
continue to struggle in abject poverty because over 50
percent of the Nigerian population are youths.In
recent times, the Nigerian society has been
inundated with a cankerworm of youth intolerance,
violence, and lawlessness, a phenomenon which has
reared its ugly head in almost all the regions of the
country. The youth who have been involved in this
unacceptable behaviour have sometimes cited
demand for their fair share of jobs and other political
largesse as their reason.
The Nigerian situation is particularly pathetic in this
63
Secondly, the development approach in recent times
emphasizes a reduction of public sector jobs and an
increase in private and informal sector employment.
You would however agree with me that politicians do
not directly control filling of vacancies in the private
sector.
Today, the agricultural sector is still begging the
youths to enter and undertake modern farm practices
to improve food supply, or even pursue agribusiness.
With unemployment bitting harder every day in
Nigeria, many young graduates have consciously
taken to skills on their own, especially where their
courses of study is theory based.
It however takes some level of qualification and
commitment to be absorbed in the areas mentioned.
With the necessary qualification and skills, you do not
have to go and do a 'dirty job' or runs for any one
during election time to be rewarded with an empty
promises. The long and short of the story is that
education and skills training in lucrative areas are the
keys to making progress in life and achieving
64
Baboonism
micro level social and economic independence.
Education and skills help to extricate a person from
the apron strings of parents, big siblings, friends,
politicians and some others who sometimes
deliberately perpetuate dominance-dependence
relationships for their parochial interest.
The youths, are both the present and future leaders,
and before we can play a meaningful role in society,
we must prepare ourselves, and also accept the bitter
truth that there are no shortcuts to life.
The requirements for getting employed, incidentally,
do not include expertise in doing a 'dirty job' for any
politician or big man or shouting and singing
honourable during election campaigns. Our
involvement in elections should be our patriotic
contribution towards deepening democracy and
sustaining good governance so as to resist oppressors'
rule. Of course, new governments would require
human resources in certain areas, but the educated
and those with unique skills would always be the
early birds to catch the worm.
65
66
he era of white collar jobs is gone. The
Tmanagement and lecturers in our university
system must let the youth know about this and this
should reflect the school scheme of studies. The fact
that this white collar thing is no longer sustainable is
the reason why the development of entrepreneurship
in Nigeria is an urgent necessity. But that's a topic for
another day.
Our youths are still waiting for the government to give
them jobs. Those who have successfully transformed
into baboons did not follow the ladder of Government
programmes. They took the bulls by the horns. This is
one reason we set up the Unity Village at the very
heart of the nation. Here we promote National and
individual development through conscious measures
of personal concern as opposed to the negative
orientation that National Development is solely
government business.From available records, the
truth is that the government of Nigeria,
Chapter 9
Poverty Elimination:
NEVER WAIT FOR
THE GOVERNMENT
67
are
68
devoted to funding agriculture. In 1976, Gen.
Olusegun Obasanjo introduced the Operation Feed
the Nation (OFN) programme which, like the Gen.
Gowon's programme, was designed to encourage food
production and food security in an economy that had
become increasingly dependent on crude oil. A major
highlight of the programme was the encouragement
given to ill-prepared undergraduates of our
universities to go to the rural areas to teach peasant
farmers modern farming techniques. Many saw (and
still see) the OFN as an operation meant to fool
Nigerians rather than to feed them, because it never
yielded the anticipated food security.
On assumption of office as civilian President in 1979,
Alhaji Shehu Shagari established the Green
Revolution Programme. The aim of this programme,
like the one before it, was primarily to provide more
food for the teeming Nigerian population. The
hallmark of the programme was to curtail food
importation and boost crop and fibre production. As
the notable writer and social critic, Chinua Achebe,
summed up the Green Revolution Programme, it gave
us more food for thought than food for the stomach.
69
Poverty Elimination: Never wait For The Government
68
judging from the past failures, may not from the
look of things be able to provide a solid sustainable
means to bring the majority of Nigerians out of
poverty. The reason is simple. All the efforts made so
far right from the time of General Yakubu Gowon
till date have failed woefully despite the huge
investment and millions spent to provide them. In the
end, it only succeeded in creating more monkeys
among the generality of Nigerians while a negligible
few became or remained super baboons.
Let me repeat this: Government alone cannot
eliminate poverty in Nigeria. They may be able to
provide enabling environment but the truth remains
that you as an individual must engage yourself .
Perhaps at this time let's chronicle the past efforts of
the past government in this regard. We draw
extensively from the write up by Orayo O. Agbi of the
office of the Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly:
here is the record.
The earliest efforts at poverty alleviation were made
in 1972 by Gen. Yakubu Gowon, the then Head of
State, when he established the National Accelerated
Food Production Programme (NAFPP),which was
Rather than empower the poor by providing them
with the facilities they needed to boost agricultural
production, the programme made the rich richer
and the poor poorer. It produced overnight elitist
farmers who had no business with farming and
infact knew nothing about it. Serving and retired
military officers, senior civil servants ant top
businessmen and politicians used their power and
influence to secure acres of land and Certificate of
Occupancy for themselves, their familiesand
friends under the guise of wanting to establish
farms. The programme came to disgracefully abrupt
end in 1983 with the Buhari coup which ousted the
government. Meanwhile, it gulpedmore then N3.2b.
Of all the military leaders who have ruled Nigeria,
Gen. Ibrahim Babaginga would, arguably remain
the only one who introduced the highest number of
Pove r t y Al l e vi a t i on Pr ogr a mme s . Hi s
administration in 1986 established the People's
Bank (PB) and empowered it to offer soft loans to
prospective entrepreneurs without collaterals.
Community Banks were encouraged to exist as
adjuncts to the People's Bank and the PB regulated
their activities.
70
71
The Directorate of Food Roads and Rural
Infrastructure (DFFRI) was created in 1986 with a
mandate to open up rural areas (as practiced in
NUMATVILLE Urbanization Scheme) through
massive construction of feeder roads and
provision of basic amenities which would
transform them into production centres for the
national economy.
The hinterland was to be opened and made more
accessible so that farmers could transport their
produce to the markets easily at cheaper rates,
thereby reducing the cost of food production.
There was also an attempt to promote rural
employment, the understanding being that if
infrastructure such as electricity, for example, was
available in the rural areas; there would be gainful
employment for skilled workers like welders,
tailors, bakersetc. In that vein, some roads were
constructed and a number of other constructed
were provided to reduce rural-urban migration.
However, the programme succeeded more as a
beautiful dream than reality after it gulped more
than 1.9b. Naira . There were strong allegations of
Baboonism
72
Baboonism
diversions of public funds to private pockets and the
growth of a new class of millionaires.
The Nigerian Agricultural Land Development
Authority (NALDA) was another programme that
General Babangida created in 1986 which targeted the
agricultural sector and was aimed at encouraging large
scale commercial farming by assisting farmers with
inputs and developing land for them to the point of
planting at subsidized rates. This was to reduce the
prevalence of subsistence agriculture in the country.
The usurpation of the privileges and rights of the
under-privileged by the powerful, rich and strong,
which has remained a typical Nigerian problem, reared
its ugly head again. However, the programme was a
failure.
The Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) also
established during the Babangida administration
stressed greater need for the realization of policies and
programmes to alleviate poverty and provide safety
nets for the poor. The programme failed because it had
no human face in its implementation.
Secondly, the other reason it failed was because it
did not emphasize on our major need of human
development and the aggravated socio-economic
problems like income inequality, unequal access
to food, shelter, education, health and other
necessities of life.
The only anti-poverty legacy of the Babangida
administration that survived beyond his
administration was the National Directorate of
Employment (NDE) also introduced in 1986. The
NDE was mandated to design and implement
programmes to battle the menace of mass
unemployment and also to articulate policies that
would develop work programme with labour
intensive potentials.
The scheme adopted four approaches which
included Vocational Acquisition Training,
Entrepreneurial (Business) training, Training for
Rural Employment and Training for Labour-
based works Programme. While thousands of
Nigerians may have benefitted from the
programme, a major drawback has been that the
NDE scheme did not have follow-up plans for
beneficiaries.
Thus, many did not utilize acquired skills or
73
not properly invest the loans they took have found
themselves in worst states and that defeated the
original aim of the programme. It is on record that in
all these, Gen. Babangida's programme including
the Family Support Programme consumed more
than N100b of the Nigeria's wealth.
Not to be beaten by his predecessors and to prove
that he too had a way out of the nation's poverty, the
late Gen. Sanni Abacha in 1993 introduced the
Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP).
The programme gulped over N7b in its life span of
two years but disbursed N3.3b as loans to about
21,000 cooperative societies.
Programmes like the Better Life for Rural Women
by the late Mrs. Maryam Babangida and the Family
Support Programme (FSP) spearheaded by Mrs.
Mariam Abacha established in 1986 and 1993
respectively were like other programmes before
them, initiatives designed to bail out Nigerians from
debilitating poverty. But they never did.
Pro-gender in thrust, both programmes acted on the
assumption that women in Nigeria generally
deserved a better deal than they got because of their
74
Baboonism
8
75
immense contributions to the national economy, not only
as keepers of the home but also as small-scale
entrepreneurs. But remarkably, these programmes
which used state funds only served to better the lot of the
women who spearheaded them as well as their friends.
In 1999, the civilian administration of President
Olusegun Obassanjo formulated a good number of
development policies. Paramount among them was the
National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP)
which came to being in 2001 with the aim of wiping out
poverty from Nigeria by the year 2010. The policy aimed
at assuring Nigerians that unemployment, poor
educational system, lack of portable water, poor power
generation and supply, poor health care system,
inadequate infrastructure and insecurity of lives and
properties will be things of the past.
With all these promises, after about nine years of
implementation, the situation was not better than it was
before the advent of democracy in 1999. What then, to
use the words of the late poet and writer , Professor
Chinua Achebe, is the problem with Nigeria?
76
Baboonism
Five decades after independence, majority of
Nigerians cannot even have portable water
despite the huge sums of money invested in
Poverty Alleviation Programmes.
NAPEP had existed for a long time and like other
alleviation programmes before it, there is no
legislative backing for the programme.
This is democracy and no longer the era of
dictatorship of the military, how can a laudable
programme that is being implemented throughout
the federation with the aim of reducing the
suffering of the poor and the vulnerable would not
have a legal backing? How would there be proper
monitoring and evaluation (M7E), commitment
on the part of the implementers, how would the
defaulters and those jeopardizing the aim of the
programme be brought to book? This can only be
done through appropriate laws and regulations.
It is obvious from these records that it makes no
sense waiting for the government because despite
their efforts, the level of poverty has been on the
up ward trend. Recently, the United Nations
Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) revealed that about 92% of Nigerian
Population survives on less than $2 daily while
71%survives on less than $1 daily.
BABOONISM in this regard , is a campaign against
poverty. We do community organizing and social
entrepreneurship. We support the poorest to drive
economic and social change. We see poverty as the
most serious challenge, locally, nationally and
globally. It affects everyone, directly or indirectly.
Poverty is the key cause and result of hunger, disease,
illiteracy, conflict, (illegal) migration, etc.
We join resources with strategic partners and
community partners. Our strategic partners include
the public sector, businesses, charities and private
donors and other actors in the non-profit sector. We
regard the rural women as our community partners,
not beneficiaries. We partner with them to fight
poverty because we believe that the poor would be our
best resource to bring about change.
We believe that agribusiness and skill acquisition are
the fastest, most cost-effective and most sustainable
ways to move communities out of poverty.
77
Poverty Elimination: Never wait For The Government
We agree with Ruth Manorama who said: I have
tremendous confidence in the capacity of the poor to
transform not only their own lives but also to build a
just, humane, and democratic society.

According to Professor Sam Aluko too:
Unless we take measures that will prepare us for a
technological and industrial revolution, before too
long, the Nigerians of the 21st century will become
much more inferior to the 21st century inhabitants of
Europe, America, Japan and Oceania than our fore-
fathers were to their imperial masters in Europe in the
18th, 19th, and early 20th century.
78
Baboonism
C h a p t e r 1 0
ERADICATING POVERTY
THROUGH EDUCATION
Studies have shown that if an individual is given
the slightest quality education, such can possess
every tendency to redeem himself out of poverty
caused by various economic factors in the world.
Aside corruption and other problems, Nigeria is today
bedevilled with poverty amidst our abundant
resources. (Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, SAN)
Education has been known to break the poverty circle.
For people like the late Moshood Abiola, this was his
secret. Extreme poverty within his immediate family
constrained him to a life of penury until Chief
Obafemi Awolowo came to his rescue with free
education which the young Abiola embraced with all
his heart. He later trained as an accountant which gave
him the ladder out of poverty and the weapons to fight
poverty.
According to Julius Nyerere, former President of the
United Republic of Tanzania, Education is not to
escape poverty. It is a way of fighting it.
79

It follows therefore that a monkey who desperately
wants to become a baboon must use among his
instruments, the factor of education. Such a monkey
must place emphasis on education. By extension, most
poverty eradication interventions- either by
government or individuals depend on the availability
of COOPERATIVES to spearhead them.
Defining education is difficult in the minds of most
people. A boy who chose to become a motor mechanic
is seen as not educated. This is wrong. Although this
chapter is not devoted to defining all the wide
spectrum of education, one fact remains that for the
mechanic to be a better mechanic, he must have the
basic minimum education to enable him practice his
trade as well as continuously get himself educated
within the circumference of his trade. This is where
many people fail. They believe ignorantly though,
that a tailor has no business with further education.
Consequently, one has seen men and women who
have being tailors, bricklayers, mechanic for well over
30 years without noticeable expansion. The reason for
this anomaly is simple. They have suddenly limited
their sphere by limiting their education.
As previously mentioned, wealth creation is a
significant aspect in education programmes intended
to contribute to poverty eradication. How can
education assist learners to create wealth? Integration
of school education within the activities of a
community is one example. For instance, in a wood -
weaving village, lessons would also cover various
aspects of the art industry. In this way, school
education would help children to improve traditional
trade skills of the village alongside other curricular
contents. It would ensure their future employment
possibilities and contribute to the (economic) well
being of the whole community. Furthermore, the
school would not then be alienated from the
community and traditional trades would reinforce
learning.
For the education system to truly respond to the needs
of the poor children and to contribute to wealth
creation in communities and society at large, it needs
to take the issue of poverty into special consideration
in the planning of educational services. Essentially, it
empowers them by heightening their awareness of
their rights and responsibilities, their abilities, and
enhances their self-confidence to enable them to
improve their lives.
Education systems need to heed the lessons of
successful, and less successful initiatives
implemented by NGOs, private individuals, religious
bodies and Government themselves, and translate
these initiatives into policies, strategies, and specific
action that can be taken to scale.
Understandably so, because this is the level of
education through which most poor children pass and
within which their achievements should assist them
to break the cycle of poverty. In fact, education is the
social institution that reaches the largest segment of
the population with the goal of guiding it through a
systematic learning process.
The main asset of the poor is human capital. Human
capital development, particularly education and
training is a critical ingredient for a country's
sustainable socioeconomic development and poverty
eradication.
This is especially in line with the fact that poverty is a
complex issue that requires to be tackled by using all
fronts including education. Education is thus a vital
tool because its role in poverty reduction cannot be
underestimated. As one of the most powerful
instrument of poverty reduction, education can be a
guarantee for development in every society and to
every family. Its centrality is not only for poverty
reduction but it can also contribute in reducing
inequality. (World Bank 2004).
It can also be argued that education enhances people's
productivity. No one would doubt that education
gives people some necessary skills that would
increase their capacity to produce more corresponding
and effectively. Education can thus directly reduce
poverty through the contribution that productivity
enhancement makes to economic growth, and that
could indirectly help to alleviate poverty through its
positive spill-over effects.
One can establish a linkage between education and
poverty by considering the fact that investment in
education is a poverty reduction strategy, which can
enhance the skills and productivity among the poor
households and secondly, poverty is by itself a
constraint to educational achievement both at the
macro-level and micro-level. This is because the poor
endures much serious deprivation of poverty as
compared to the rich people, and this affects the level
of educational attainment. In addition, low level of
education affects individual productivity.
Low production is considered a serious handicap to
poverty reduction efforts since low productivity is
considered to be a product of and in turn a producer of
poverty and unemployment, and it is positively
associated with income. There is evidence that poor
countries like Tanzania generally have lower levels of
enrolment, while children of poor households receive
less education. (Oxaal, 1997)
Therefore emphasis in education could be of
paramount importance. As Adams Smith argued,
education makes people more sophisticated and
progressive, and this is very essential for the smooth
functioning of a nation's economy. (Khan and
Williams, 2006).
80
Baboonism
The Late Chief Obafemi Awolow, was probably an
artisan, until he rebelled against his limitation. He
was an active journalist and trade unionist as a young
man, editing The Nigerian Worker amongst other
publications while also organizing the Nigerian
Produce Traders Association and serving as secretary
of the Nigerian Motor Transport Union. After earning
a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Nigeria from a
London University through correspondence, he went
to the UK where he earned a law degree as an external
student He never had the privilege of a modern
secondary education. If he had chosen to remain only
within the knowledge provided by his trade, he
wouldn't have become the best President Nigeria
never had as the Late Biafran War Lord, Nkemba
Emeka Ojukwu described him.
Education is the key to wealth creation. No country
has ever been known to succeed if it had not educated
its people. This is where the initial rejection of
Western education in the Northern part of Nigeria has
as at today, seem sad. They saw Western education as
a Christian weapon ; this has landed the region as the
most poorest part of Nigeria.
81
Eradicating Poverty Through Education
The Ibos of the south east of the country have their
major trades of iron works that dates back into
centuries. A school of iron works would be suitable
for them. Among the Yorubas clothe weaving, acting
trading etc play a dominant role there.
For the education system to truly respond to the needs
of the poor children and to contribute to wealth
creation in communities and society at large, it needs
to take the issue of poverty into special consideration
in the planning of educational services. Essentially, it
empowers them by heightening their awareness of
their rights and responsibilities, their abilities, and
enhances their self-confidence to enable them to
improve their lives.
The main asset of the poor is human capital. Human
capital development, particularly education and
training is a critical ingredient for a country's
sustainable socioeconomic development and poverty
eradication.
This is especially in line with the fact that poverty is a
complex issue that requires to be tackled by using all
fronts including education. Education is thus a vital
tool because its role in poverty reduction cannot be
underestimated. As one of the most powerful
instrument of poverty reduction, education can be a
In situations of extreme poverty, girls are particularly
at risk as they tend to inherit the poverty of their
mothers. They are prone to abuse of all forms, and
very often confined to households in which they are
virtually slaves.
As previously mentioned, wealth creation is a
significant aspect in education programmes intended
to contribute to poverty eradication. How can
education assist learners to create wealth? Integration
of school education within the activities of a
community is one example. For instance, in a wood -
weaving village, lessons would also cover various
aspects of the art industry. In this way, school
education would help children to improve traditional
trade skills of the village alongside other curricular
contents. It would ensure their future employment
possibilities and contribute to the (economic) well
being of the whole community. Furthermore, the
school would not then be alienated from the
community and traditional trades would reinforce
learning. This can be done by looking at the local
crafts among the local people. The Binis of Edo state
who are good in arts should have a school to that end.
82
Baboonism
83

every family. Its centrality is not only for poverty
reduction but it can also contribute in reducing
inequality. (World Bank 2004).
It can also be argued that education enhances people's
productivity. No one would doubt that education
gives people some necessary skills that would
increase their capacity to produce more effectively.
Education can thus directly reduce poverty through
the contribution that productivity enhancement
makes to economic growth, and that could indirectly
help to alleviate poverty through its positive spill-
over effects.
One can establish a linkage between education and
poverty by considering the fact that investment in
education is a poverty reduction strategy, which can
enhance the skills and productivity among the poor
households and secondly, poverty is by itself a
constraint to educational achievement both at the
macro-level and micro-level. This is because the poor
endures much serious deprivation of poverty as
compared to the rich people, and this affects the level
of educational attainment. In addition, low level of
education affects individual productivity.
guarantee for development in every society and to
84
Baboonism
Therefore emphasis in education could be of
paramount importance. As Adams Smith argued,
education makes people more sophisticated and
progressive, and this is very essential for the smooth
functioning of a nation's economy. (Khan and
Williams, 2006).
85
Eradicating Poverty Through Education
86
n this chapter, we reproduce the experience of one
Iman, who, contrary to all opinions was able to
banish poverty among his people a thing that can be
done here in Nigeria too if....
Dr. Muhammad Yunus is the founder and Managing
Director of the Grameen Bank in Dhaka, Bangladesh,
and a member of the Advisory Board of Global Urban
Development.
Here is an extract from his book: Banker To The Poor:
Micro-Lending And The Battle Against World
Poverty. Hear him.
I am an optimist because I am convinced that poverty
is not as difficult a subject as the experts keep warning
us. It is not a difficult subject because it is not about
space science, or about an intricate design of a
complicated machine. This is about people. I don't see
the possibility of a human being becoming a 'probl
em' when it comes to his or her own well-being.
C h a p t e r 1 1
ELIMINATING POVERTY:
THE DANGLADASH EXAMPLE
87

always comes neatly packaged within that person. A
human being is born into this world fully equipped
not only to take care of himself or herself (which all
other life forms can do, too), but also to contribute in
enlarging the well-being of the world as a whole
(that's where the special role of a human being lies).
Then why should 7 billion plus people on the planet
suffer through a lifetime of misery and indignity and
spend every moment of their lives looking for food for
physical survival alone? We must find some
explanations. Let me narrate how I came to face these
issues in the real world and how they affected me.
I became involved in the poverty issue not as a
policymaker or a researcher. I became involved
because poverty was all around me. I could not turn
my eyes away from it. In 1974, I found it difficult to
teach elegant theories of economics in the university
classroom in the context of a terrible famine then
occurring in Bangladesh. Suddenly I felt the
emptiness of those theories in the face of crushing
hunger and poverty. I wanted to do something
immediate to help people around me. Not knowing
what I could do, I decided to find a way to make
All the ingredients for ending a person's poverty
88
Baboonism
myself useful to others on a one-on-one basis.
brought me to the issue of poor people's struggle and
helplessness in finding small amounts of money to
support their efforts to eke out a living. I was shocked
to discover a woman borrowing US $0.25 under the
condition that the lender would have the exclusive
right to buy all she produced at the price the lender
decided! What a way to recruit slave labor. I decided to
make a list of the victims of this money-lending
'business' in the village next door to our university
campus. When my list was done it had the names of 42
victims. The total amount they borrowed was US $27!
What a lesson for an economics professor who was
teaching his students about the Bangladesh Five Year
Development Plan with billions of dollars in
investments to help the poor. I could not think of
anything better than offering this US $27 from my
own pocket to get the victims out of the clutches of the
moneylenders. The excitement that was created by
this action got me further involved in it. The question
that arose in my mind was, if you can make so many
people so happy with such a tiny amount of money,
wh y s h o u l d n ' t y o u d o mo r e o f i t ?

I have been trying to do just that ever since. The first
That
89
Eradicating Poverty: The Dangladash Example
thing I did was to try connecting the poor people with
the bank located on the campus. It did not work. The
bank said that the poor were not creditworthy. After
all my efforts over several months failed, I offered to
become a guarantor for the loans to the poor. I was
stunned by the result. The poor paid back their loans
every single time! But I kept confronting difficulties
in expanding the program through the existing banks.
Several years later I decided to create a separate bank
for the poor, to give loans without collateral. Finally in
1983 I succeeded in doing that. I named it Grameen
Bank, or village bank. It now works all over
Bangladesh, giving loans to more than 4 million poor
people, 96% of whom are women. The bank is owned
by its borrowers. Over the past two decades, the bank
has loaned a total of more than US $4.8 billion.
Generally the repayment rate has been nearly 99%.
The Grameen Bank makes profits, and financially it is
self-reliant. It stopped taking international donor
money in 1995, and stopped taking loans from the
domestic market in 1998. It has enough deposits to
carry out its lending program. It gives income-
generating loans, housing loans, and student loans to
poor families. More than 620,000 houses have been
built with loans from the Grameen Bank. Impact
90
Baboonism
studies done on the Grameen Bank by independent
researchers find that 5% of borrowers come out of
poverty every year, children are healthier, education
and nutrition levels are higher, housing conditions
are better, child mortality has declined by 37%, the
status of women has been enhanced, and the
ownership of assets by poor women, including
h o u s i n g , h a s i mp r o v e d d r a ma t i c a l l y .

Now, the obvious question that anybody will ask: if
poor people can achieve all this through their own
efforts within a market environment, why isn't the
world doing more of this? Some progress has been
made, but much more could have been achieved. One
difficulty may have arisen from confusion.

Grameen's banking methodology has become known
as microcredit. But gradually the label of 'microcredit'
got into general use for all types of small loans,
including agricultural loans, co-operative loans,
savings bank loans, rural credits, etc. This has created
confusion in policymaking, institution-building, and
in designing regulatory frameworks. If we now
classify microcredit into different categories to sort
91
this out, I think we can come out of this confusion. (I
think we could have avoided the confusion, to some
extent, if we had called it 'micro-capital'. That's what it
really is.
Grameen-type microcredit has spread around the
world over the last two decades. Nearly 100 countries
have Grameen-type microcredit programs. In 1997, a
Microcredit Summit was held in Washington, DC,
which adopted a goal to reach the 100 million poorest
families with microcredit and other financial services,
preferably through the women in those families, by
2005. At that time the number of families reached with
microcredit was only 7.5 million globally, of which 5
million were in Bangladesh. This outreach crossed the
halfway mark of 50 million at the end of 2003. I am still
hoping to double these results and reach our goal of
1 0 0 m i l l i o n b y t h e e n d o f 2 0 0 5 .

But the biggest problem for expanding the outreach is
not the lack of capacity, but strangely, the lack of
availability of donor money to help microcredit
programs get through the initial years until they reach
the break-even level. Beyond that level, these
programs can expand their outreach with loans from
92
Baboonism
93
the market or from savings deposits. In most
countries, micro credits NGOs are not legally
permitted to take deposits. If micro credit NGOs can
open the door to taking public deposits, expansions
of their outreach could be very rapid because this
would free them from the dependence on donor
money. It is a very strange phenomenon in many
countries to see that conventional banks with a
repayment rate of below 70% are allowed to take
huge amounts of public deposits year after year but
microcredit institutions with an unbroken record of
over 98% recovery are not. It is often argued that
since micro credit programmes do not come under
any law, it is highly risky to allow them to take
deposits. This always seems to be a strange
argument. Why don't we pass laws to bring micro
credit programmees under legal oversight,
establishing special regulatory commissions to
regulate them and allow them to take public
deposits?
This will make local deposits in the villages work
for local poor people, instead of being siphoned off
to the big businesses. This is the frustrating part of
our experience. One feels like throwing one's arms
in the air and screaming in protest.
94
Baboonism
The most important step to ending poverty is to
create employment and income opportunities for
the poor. But orthodox economics recognizes only
wage-employment. It has no room for self-
employment. Yet self-employment is the quickest
and easiest way to create employment for the poor. I
have been arguing that credit should be accepted as
a human right, because it is so important for a
person who is looking for an income. Credit can
create self-employment instantaneously.
In developing countries, even if you march in the
streets, there is still no job for you. As a result, the
poor go out and create their own jobs. Since
economics textbooks do not recognize them, there
are no supportive institutions or policies to help
them. That's why the money-lending business
thrives. The money- lender's business is as old as
money itself. We read about the cruelty of money-
lenders in our religious books. We condemn them
as a part of our religious duty. We read the great
classics about making payment with a 'pound of
flesh' and get horrified by it, but we had done
nothing significant about, or in addressing
95
that problem until Grameen credit came around.
While we keep hearing the spread of microcredit
around the world, about its 98% repayment record,
about poor people getting out of poverty with
microcredit loans, about women's empowerment, it
has had no impact whatsoever on conventional
banking. These banks continue to practice that same
old banking as they have been doing from the very
start of their business- as if nothing new happened
in the world! Probably they still shield themselves
by arguing that the poor are not creditworthy.
It is a very strange world. A big step towards
eliminating poverty is to make sure that we offer
financial services even to the poorest people, that
nobody is rejected by a bank on the ground that he or
she is a poor person.
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Baboonism
any people down the lane have blamed our
universities for the lack of skills or M
professionalism in Nigeria. This is not the time to
apportion blame. We, as individuals especially the
youths have to understand and take concrete steps to
stop the fire. Many youths are not aware of the
seriousness of the situation. Perhaps lets peep into
the mind of one of Nigeria former vice president who
said:
The poor and unemployed population should begin
to appreciate the option of being self reliant rather
than waiting for government patronage. He stated
further that we cannot just sit down in our homes and
imagine that because we have acquired some
education, nothing more is required of us. Equipped
with that education, we should move to use our hands
to produce. This is the best solution to the problem of
poverty and unemployment.
C h a p t e r 1 2
REDUCING POVERTY THROUGH
PROFESSIONAL COURSES
97
on the offering of outdated courses that offer no jobs
to graduates. To this risqu is the need to do
something different or additional: Acquire skill or
professionalism. The former has been treated in one
of the previous chapters.
Here, our concern is the need to go professional, as an
addition to the basic secondary or university
education.
Over the years the majority of youths are ignorant of
any good alternative to the university degree .To
them, to be a graduate, or to be called one is enough
source for pride even if they go hungry afterwards.
Unknown to them many Professional courses are
available, which graduates or school leavers could
pursue and still become what they intend to become in
life. For example many professional bodies offer
training and courses whose certificates are equivalent
to university degrees, for examples:
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
The Nigerian Insurance institute.
The Nigeria institute of Bankers to name but a
few have courses; for individual to pursue without
necessarily going to the universities.
98
Baboonism
Like mentioned before, it is unfortunate that many
youths are not aware of this chances. Even when they
know, many students are more interested in
university education just for the pride of it. Parents
and schools need to do a great deal of work to convince
these youth of the urgent need to embrace
professional courses and or skill jobs as it is done in
most advanced countries. For examples, in Germany
after graduation from school at age of 15-19 students
start an apprenticeship.
After graduation from school at the age of fifteen to
nineteen (depending on type of school), students start
an apprenticeship in their chosen professions.
Realschule and Gymnasium graduates usually have
better chances for being accepted as an apprentice for
sophisticated craft professions or apprenticeships in
white-collar jobs in finance or administration. An
apprenticeship takes between 2.5 and 3.5 years.
Originally, at the beginning of the 20th century, less
than 1% of German students attended the
Gymnasium (the 8-9 year university-preparatory
school) to obtain the Abitur graduation which was the
only way to university back then. In the 1950 still only
5% of German youngsters entered university and in
99
Reducing Poverty Through Professional Courses
the increased demand for academic professionals in
Germany, about 24% of the youngsters entered
college/university in 2000. Of those, who did not
enter university many started an apprenticeship. The
apprenticeships usually end a person's education by
age 18-20, but also older apprentices are accepted by
the employers under certain conditions. This is
frequently the case for immigrants from countries
without a compatible professional training system.
In a broad sense, professional development may
include formal typing of vocational education, typical
post-secondary or poly-technical training leading to
qualification or credentials required to obtain or
retain employment. Professional development may
also come in the form of pre-service or in-service
professional development programs. This program
may be formal, or informal, group or individualized.
Individuals may pursue professional development
i ndependent l y. Professi onal devel opment
opportunities can range from a single workshop to a
semester-long academic course, to services offered by
a medley of different professional development
providers and varying widely with respect to the
philosophy, content , and format of the learning
100
Baboonism
experiences.
SOME PROFESSIONAL BODIES IN NIGERIA

1. Advertising Practitioner's Council of Nigeria.
2. Chartered Institute of Administration
3. Chartered Institute of Bankers
4. Chartered Institute of stockbrokers
5. Chartered Institute of Professionals
6. Printers of Nigeria CIPPON
7. Financial Institution Training Centre. (FITC)
8. Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
9. Inst i t ut e of Chart ered Secret ari es and
Administrators of Nigeria.
10. Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria.
11. Nigeria Institute of Estate Surveyors and
Valuers (NIESV)
12. Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM).
13. Nigeria Institute of Marketing (NIMM)
14. Nigeria Institute of Public Relations
15. Nigeria Insurance Institute.
16. Nigeria Publishers Association
17. Chartered Institute of Taxation.
OTHERS ARE:
Microsoft Office Specialist Certifications
A Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification
helps validate competence in using Microsoft Office.
skills necessary to understand the functions -
connectivity and applications issues.
user accounts, database availability, recovery,
and reporting. They also design or implement security
or server automation and monitor and troubleshoot
SQL Server activity
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS)
Earn the latest operating system certification, MCTS
for Windows 7 configuration, with New Horizons.
The Windows 7 Microsoft Certified Technology
Specialist (MCTS) certification is ideal for support
technicians who install, upgrade, configure and
maintain Microsoft Windows 7 network clients.
4. Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
Cisco CCNA certification is an associate level Cisco
101
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS)
Earn the latest operating system certification, MCTS
for Windows 7 configuration, with New Horizons.
The Windows 7 Microsoft Certified Technology
Specialist (MCTS) certification is ideal for support
technicians who install, upgrade, configure and
maintain Microsoft Windows 7 network clients.
.
Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
Cisco CCNA certification is an associate level Cisco
certification which demonstrates core Cisco switching
and routing knowledge. With CCNA certification,
students will learn :
Building simple to medium-sized switched
networks
Ethernet LANs
Wireless LANs
WANs and WAN connections
OSPF Implementation
EIGRP Implementation
Access Control Lists

Database administrators install or configure
Microsoft SQL Server and manage or maintain
databases or multidimensional databases.

to earn a MOS certification.
Microsoft Certified IT Professional
Candidates for the Microsoft Certified
Technology Specialist in Windows Vista,
Conf i gur a t i on ( MCTS: Wi ndows Vi s t a ,
Configuration and features of Windows Vista and to
troubleshoot network) possess the knowledge and
skills necessary to understand the functions -
connectivity and applications issues.Candidates must
pass one certification exam in order to earn a MOS
certification.
Microsoft Certified IT Professional
Candidates for the Microsoft Certified Technology
Specialist in Windows and to troubleshoot network)
possess the knowledge and to earn an MOS
certification.

Candidates must pass one certification exam in order
102
Baboonism
103
Certified Ethical
A Certified Ethical Hacker is a skilled professional
who understands and knows how to look for the
weaknesses and vulnerabilities in target systems and
uses the same knowledge and tools as a malicious
hacker.
Marking Certified Professional
The demand has never been higher for professionals
with standardized training and experience with
Online Marketing. Now, there is the opportunity to
become an Online Marketing Certified Professional.
VMware Certified Professional
As the demand for IT professionals with datacenter
virtualization skills increases, it is essential to
distinguish yourself in the market with a certification
that validates your technical capabilities. Becoming a
VMware Certified Professional does just that.
CompTIA Certification
For individuals, attaining industry-recognized
CompTIA certifications means increased job security,
additional career opportunities and increased
credibility in the workplace.
104
Baboonism
The course teaches students the necessary skills for
implementing and managing wireless security in the
enterprise by creating layer2 and layer3 hardware and
software solutions using tools from industry leading
manufacturers.
This course targets experienced networking
professionals who wish to gain critical skills in
wireless networking security, including how hackers
attack networks and the means to prevent such
attacks.
Oracle Database 10g - Administration I
In this course, students will perform key
administrative tasks in Oracle Database 10g, such as
creating and controlling databases, administering
users, implementing security features, monitoring
performance, and performing backup and recovery.
This course is intended for Oracle Database 10g
Administrators, Sales Consultants, Support
Engineers, Oracle Software Developers, and
Technical Consultants. Students should have some
knowledge of Oracle database utilities, architecture,
and terminology.
105
Oracle Database 10g - Administration II
In this course, students will develop an advanced
understanding of complex Oracle database concepts,
maintenance and recovery routines, and database
management. Students will learn how to control and
manage an Oracle installation
Visual Basic 6.0
Students will learn how to use Visual Basic 6.0 to
develop Windows applications
Adobe
Adobe Dreamweaver CS3: Students who wish
to familiarize themselves with the basic techniques
used for creating websites using the Adobe
Dreamweaver CS3 application.
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Baboonism
Photoshop Cs3.
It is also designed as one in a series of courses for
students pursuing the Adobe Certification Exam for
Adobe Photoshop Cs3,
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 -
Basic Video Editing: In this course, students will use
Adobe Premiere Pro to create a video program that
combines video, audio, and still images.

Apprenticeship in professional courses.
Apprenticeship in skill acquisition in professional
training is very important. It is a system of training a
new generation of practitioners of a structured
competency a basic set of skills. Apprenticeship range
from craft occupation or traders to those seeking a
professional license to practice in a regulated
profession. Apprentices (or in early modern usage
Prentices build their careers from apprenticeships.
Most of their training is done while working for an
employer who helps the apprentices learn their trade
or profession, in exchange of their continuing labour
for an agreed period they have achieved a mensurable
competencies.
107
To be successful, the individual must have
perseverance, ambition, and initiative. Like a college
of education, the successful completion of an
apprenticeship term does not come easily, but is the
result of hard work on the part of the apprentice.
As mentioned earlier somewhere in the book ,
regrettably, owing to pride , ignorance and or lack of
manpower has pushed Nigeria Youths off the
benefits of professionalism, apprenticeship and self
employment.
The truth is that the western nations from where
Nigeria copied her educational pattern have not
abandoned the traditional and professional mode of
training. For instance, in Germany, after graduation
from school at the age of fifteen to nineteen
(depending on type of the school), students start an
apprenticeship in their chosen professions.
Of those who did not enter university many started an
apprenticeship. The apprenticeships usually end a
person's education by age 18-20, but also older
apprentices are accepted by the employers under
certain conditions.
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Baboonism
While most advanced countries are upholding the
age-long apprenticeship, Nigeria's educational
system has destroyed it. With time, if nothing is done,
professions like motor mechanics, watch repairers,
carpenters, plumbers, painters, bricklayers etc. may
disappear, because as at now, it is hard to find
established institutions where these trades are taught
as it is done in advanced countries.
Recently MTN's Project Fame, Glo's XFACTOR
and similar others have proved to Nigerians that if a
school of music is established, where talented singers
would be trained on a professional level, great minds
and talents would be turn from monkeys into super
baboons within six months.
This is one quick and profitable way to leave
poverty into the class of rich if well applied and
appreciated.
109
ith minor exceptions of where divine favour
Whas transformed people into instant
millionaire, or super baboons abundant evidence
abound where it could be proved beyond measure
that our promotions in life are directly proportional to
our level of education, skill and relative competence
as already mentioned .
At a time when men were still gathering and
depending on fruits gathered from the bush, the Bible
recorded that Esau and Jacob, Cain and Abel all were
skilled in their various professions!
.and Abel, he also
brought of the first things
of his flock and the
fat thereof Gen 4:4)
And the boys grew and Esau was a cunning hunter,
A man of the field, and Jacob was a plain man,
dwelling in tents (Gen. 25:27)
That is not all. In the New Testament , Lord Jesus
C h a p t e r 1 3
BECOMING A BABOON
111
Christ himself distributed talents.
For the kingdom of heaven is as a man,
traveling to a far country, who called
his own servants and delivered unto them
his goods. And unto one he gave give talents.
To another two, another one.
To every man according to his several ability
And straightway took his journey.
Then he that receiveth five talents went
And traded with the same and made then other five
talent
-Mathew 25:14 - 16
In the parable of Jesus just quoted the owner
distributed talents to his staff according to their
ABILITIES. It follows therefore that what we receive
is a function of our abilities and competences.
Over the years, super baboons have keyed into the
basic life principle and have successfully maximized
it to their advantage. Consequently, they spend time
polishing their skills thus paying the price. Because
they have paid the price, they are rewarded with
profitable businesses, large contracts and growing
institutions.
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Baboonism
This reward is one way in which the benevolent God
tells them Well alone, thou good and faithful
servant. The talent given turns faithfulness to
fruitfulness.
The dictionary defines faithfulness as discharging
one's duties exceptionally with a measure of skill
Faithfulness has to do with productivity using your
skill. You are faithful only to the degree you produce
fruit. In Jesus parable, the faithful servants
promotion came as a result of his faithfulness with
what he has been given. It could also be deduced that
the faithful servant's attitude played a major role in
his fruitfulness, compared to the unfaithful servant
who has potent reasons to bury his talent. One of the
attributes of rich, great people is attitude. They can be
identified with their attitudes towards their task.
They are
- Faithful.
- Committed and
- Dedicated
Causes Of Poverty
Except where a devourer exists, laziness could be held
responsible for poverty. Even the Bible acknowledges
this when it noted.
113
Becoming a Baboon
Sometime ago an Indian citizen came to Nigeria with
the purpose of setting up a business venture. While he
was ridding around town accompanied by his
Nigerian friend, the visitor exclaimed and said;
My friend, your country is full of money, I see
money, money every where in your streets
But the Nigerian who was his guide in the same car
did not see what he foreigner saw. The Nigerian
friend now asked him Where is the money?
The native could not see the money which the Indian
man saw every where until the Indian started his
money spinning business. Today that small business
has grown up to a Multi Million Naira Enterprise.
Guess What? He employed the Nigerian friend in the
branch he established in own country.
In the midst of plenty, some people are complaining
of lack. The reason for this is lack of knowledge. A
man with knowledge sees what his mates cannot see.
Slothfulness
This is another word for procrastination. A slothful
man, although with a vision will always wait for luck
to take over his circumstance and put food on his
table.

He that tilleth his land
Shall have plenty of bread;
But he that followeth
After vain person shall
Have poverty enough Prov. 28: 19
Work, and hard work instead of staying idle is what
this Bible passage prescribes as the medicine against
poverty. Ignorant of this, most people have resorted to
prayer and fasting as a means of killing poverty and
ascending into riches. This is wrong .Money does not
answer to prayer and fasting. Sowing does since ...He
that tilleth the land... Good enough, there is a reward
for hard work which is abundance and self
sufficiency.
There's the need for us to pay the price before we can
get the prize. The price we pay is the service rendered.
Where no service is rendered,no one should expect to
be served with abundance. Very close to laziness is
ignorance .
Ignorance
No one can be outstanding in life until he
understands.Lack of understanding is like blindness
that prevents free movement in the dark wall of
blackness. Lack of understanding is ignorance, and
ignorance is a waster.
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Baboonism
115
Becoming a Baboon
Their erroneous dependence on luck often push them
into lottery and pool betting hoping that one day
mother luck will strike favour on them (Whatever that
means). But remember that your tomorrow can't be
better if you don't handle your today wisely. What you
are lacking today is what you refused to do yesterday.
Wake up, do something before it is too late . You must
invest!
Areas of Investment
The Stock Market
Money Market
Estate
Catering services
Bread baking
Chin Chin
Cakes
Meat Pie
Advertising
Commodity exports
Fashion designing
Graphic designing
Writing
training
Car repairs
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Baboonism
Restaurant
Printing
Advertising
Editing
Publishing
Ghost Writing
Transcription
Interior decoration
Car rentals
FacilitatorsCar washing
Commission sales agent
Book sales
Transport business
Digital colour separation
Large format printing
Book publishing
Hospital Management
Clinics
Maternity
Accounting
Insurance Brokerage
Stock Brokerage
Career Development
Marketing
Motivational speaking
Sales Representations
Engineering

117
Becoming a Baboon
OTHERS
Furniture Making
Hair Dressing
Barbers' Shop
Car repairs Electronic repair shop
Computer Repairs
Security Management
Phone call Services
Shoe making
Electronic repair shop
Manufacturing
(1) Oil Seed projects
(2) Butter production
(3) Fresh palm wine
(4) Coconut processing
(5) Sugar Cain crusher
(6) Extrader
(7) Rice processing
(8) Rubber processing
(9) Millet processing
(10) Cotton processing
(11) Kaolin processing
(12) Hydrated lime
(13) Bentonate processing
(14) Crushed granite stones
(15) Flooring tiles (clay)
(16) Gypsum processing
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Baboonism
17) Refractory and insulating
(18) Bricks plant
(19) Caustic Soda
(20) Soda ash
(21) Mini cement factory
(22) Low tension porcelain insulations
(23) Ceramic Art ware & Toys
(24) Barium compounds
(25) Welling Electrical production
(26) Plaster boards
(27) Ferged steel ball
(28) Marble roofing/flooring tiles
(29) Cooper sulphate plant
(30) Chalk processing plant
(31) Phosphate Rock Beneficiation plank
(32) Sodium Dictate
(33) Marble/granite cutting and polishing
(34) Plaster of Paris (POP)
(35) Industrial mineral Grinding
(36) Aluminum & Sulphate (Alum)
(37) Rubber Shoe sole
(38) Cosmetic production
(39) Printing inks
(40) Screen printing
(41) Break fluid production
(42) Battery acid
(43) Radiator coollant
(44) Crayon etc.
(45) Entertainment
119
Becoming a Baboon
120
Baboonism
o be rich is easy. But before that can happen to
Tyou, you must be ready to demystify riches.
Demystifying riches means domesticating it; that is to
say,you must bring its possibility within the focus of
your mind. Lets make a little analysis through a true
life story.
A few years ago, a pastor went to see another pastor
friend of his. What he saw in his friends Church
fascinated him. His host had through a carpenter
manufactured several wooden boxes (kolo). The
Pastor's intention was to distribute these boxes to all
the children in the Church. They were to take them
home and begin to learn how to save money in the
wooden boxes. At the end of the year, each child
would bring his/her box to the Church in a Saving
Box Opening Ceremony. The Child that had the
highest amount of money in his box was given a price.
That was not all. The parents of these young bankers
C h a p t e r 1 4
DEMYSTIFYING BABOONISM
121
were They were
strictly advised to invest the little money for the
children, not just for the year, but on a yearly basis.
This visiting pastor, surprised at the idea caught the
vision immediately. Before he left, he bought two of
the boxes for his two children. He explained to them
the usefulness of the saving mini-bank boxes and
encouraged them to save.
The Children complied. At the end of the first year, the
two young children of ages 5 and 12 have saved N1, 500
and N1, 700 respectively. By January of the same year,
he decided to invest the little money for them.
The house where they hired provided ample space for
chicken farming. So he went to the market and bought
25 young chickens with the N3, 200 which the two
young bankers haD saved.
A cage was made for the Chickens , and they were
reared for another 10 months. By the 11th month the
fowls haD become big. Naturally some died, while
others survived.
By Christmas of that year, the price of a full grown
warned not to spend the savings .
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Baboonism
fowl was between N2, 000 / 2,500 and all the 20
Chickens that the two children had reared were
sold at the rate of N2, 000 each. That gave the two
children N40, 000. That means each child had N20, 000.
The Forty Thousand was deposited in a Bank Account
on a fixed deposit basis. While the money was there,
their yearly savings continued. While they were
selling the chicken, the two children combined, again
to saved another N5, 000 which they used to buy
another fresh round of hens for the second year.
By Five years the two children according, to the
testimony of the pastor, have accumulated about
N600, 000.
What would have happened if they had being
working and saving more than that? If a child's N5
accumulated over 12 months could yield N20, 000, it
becomes obvious that to become a millionaire is a very
simple process, provided one is disciplined to save
money in his Intangible savings Account (ISA)
Lets go biblical: What Esau saw as worthless, Jacob
saw as valuable. While Esau saw the need of the
immediate, Jacob saw the future. Before the transfer of
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Demystifying Baboonism
rights, a proper negotiation took place; and it seems
that Jacob is a man of foresight. He saw Esau's right as
something that would benefit him in future, so he
compelled his hungry brother to part with his
birthright. If it were valuable to Esau he wouldn't
have sold it. Jacob saw the future and bought it.
Today, many people cannot see the future, even when
the future fly by them, they cannot see it. The present
Global crises gives opportunity for people to sell.
Consequently, many are buying the future in Estates
like the NUMATVILLE Urbanisation Scheme, (NUS)
stocks and many others. In Nigeria , recently stocks
went down. These who have foresight and who knew
that the fall was only temporary began to buy up the
crashing stocks. Those will resell when the stocks are
up and make for themselves un imaginable profits.
LAND
NUMATVILLE Urbanisation Scheme, NUS
The NUMATVILE Urbanization Scheme, is an edge
against inflation, and an investment portfolio for the
discerning .It will give hope for those who dream for
homes for the low and middle income earners and a
124
Baboonism
125

intangible savers.
It is a social network for interface providing
shoulders to lean on in time of need e.g. (guarantors,
referrers, loan ,interest on deposits, cooperatives,
clubs , socialization, employment , against inflation,
and an investment portfolio for the discerning .It will
give hope for those who dream for homes for the
low and middle income earners and a sure harvest
into wealth for the disciplined intangible savers.

The Urbanization scheme allocates a subscriber a
plot in an outskirt of a fast growing city to kick start
development by assessing land at less than 5% of land
value at the developed or developing city with the aim
of moving the suburb to kiss the developing city
somewhere in between. So many suburbs: Lagos
Satellite towns ,the Redeem Camp, Mowe, Arepo etc.
were achieved this way. I did the same at Zion
Golden City in Akure, Ondo State and now at Bwari
Area Council, Abuja and Panda, Karu L.G.A,
Nassarawa State. There , we embarked on
urbanization schemes, flagging off NUMATVILE
sure harvest into wealth for the disciplined
exhibition and procurement International market
thus anchoring over 774 L.G.A . Liaison offices in the
course.
One important area of investment where people have
been known to be buying their future has been in the
area of land and landed properties. The price of land
does not ever come down. A piece of land bought for
N100, 000 a few years ago new sells for between 5 and 7
million naira depending on the area in question.
Presently, plot of lands in very remote areas in places
like Lagos and other major cities in Nigeria, which
perhaps sells for between 20, 000 and 50, 000 today will
soon change the financial level of most people who are
wise enough to buy the future today .
The several places we considered to be bush some years
ago especially in the city of Lagos has turned to
become bustling commercial areas today. It becomes
obvious therefore that the future belongs to those who
buy it today.
It is easy for most people to complain that there is no
money. But evidence has shown that the real problem of
most people is not how to get enough money, it is
how to pay yourself first by setting aside intangible
amount into your ISA account. Don't spend all you have
on marriage ceremony, or naming etc.
PAY YOURSELF FIRST.
Saving and accumulating wealth is hard work.
Particularly for the self employed, the risk of spending
every dime in his hand is obvious, because human
wants are elastic, so no amount of resources at one's
disposal will ever be enough. It appears, therefore the
private worker must be very careful and prudent with
resources. Only accumulated resources will ever
amount into something greater if well invested.
When most people think of investment, their mind go
back to huge sums of money which could be borrowed,
stolen or inherited to start a business. But the truth
remains that from the little one is earning, a fraction
could be kept and allowed to grow over time.
Experts have devised the strategy to pay your self first
by keeping or following what they called the 20%/ 30%
principle. This principle takes discipline to follow. But
those who did followed found good result.
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Baboonism
127

What this means is that whatever comes into your
hand as money, make sure that only 70% of it is spent.
The rest 30% is either kept, saved or invested into
something worthwhile. Some people chose to
distribute theirs in different ways:
10% - Tithe
10% - Saved for investment
10% - Saved for exigencies
Or
20% - Saved for investment
10% - Saved for exigencies
When this idea is kept overtime, and for a very long
time, the result is accumulated fund for future
investment no matter how small it may be.
A long time ago- precisely 20 years now, a young man
heard of this 30/ 20% principle and decided to follow it
strictly.
Rigorously, he kept 10% of every kobo that he had.
With time, he was able to save N600, about 600
Dollars then. With the experience of his engineering
background, he started an engineering business with
it. The business was carefully nurtured; and in less
than 10 years, it had turned to a large engineering
company: Techo Engineering Limited located at
Egbeda in Lagos. The man behind that company has
grown big that he could afford to singlehandedly
build a church of N100m, even before he started the
church. Today, he is still preaching the 30/ 70%
principles to the people both inside and outside the
church.
Wealth accumulation should begin at a small
personal level; nothing should be too small to start
with.
The direct opposite of keeping a little of what you
have is EATING IT ALL. There is the temptation to eat
it up in the midst of conflicting responsibilities. When
one views the challenge window of problems, there
would be none to save.
At the same time, people are able to manage the little
they have in the event of hardship. On the other hand,
when there is a surplus, we tend to respond
accordingly and spend as they come; until we get to
the point of real extravagance. History abounds,
128
Baboonism
129
especially in advanced countries when people who
have made huge sums in lottery went bankrupt. A
recent case in point is the U.S based Mike Tyson, who
in his days as a successful boxer, made millions of
dollars. But over night he went down into debt.
Money is like a spirit, it flies if not well captured in the
tight box of prudent savings. The desire to save
regularly in the midst of problem compelled people to
invent the ESUSU concept-where its operators go
about collecting little sums from contributors who are
also entitled to loan facilities in time of distress.This
seemingly primitive method has been successfully
utilized by some people.
Concisely, the principle of pay yourself first is hinged
on the moral of financial discipline that forces a
business man/ woman to keep a little of what he/ she
has instead of the petty temptation of eating it all.
INVESTING IN PEOPLE
Becoming wealthy in life is often determined by the
kind of people we associate with; and these people
may not lead us unto the breakthrough we need today.
130
Baboonism

But we need to hold on to them because by tomorrow,
they may become the people that will lead us through.
Investing in them will ensure that we never loose
sight of them. We must call them, interact with them,
attend their programme (if there are) visit them and
altogether keep them in touch. This is one way to buy
the future today.
BUY STOCKS
Although risky, the future could be bought today
through stocks with time it will grow into what we
never expected many years ago, a family here in
Nigeria was wise enough to buy into the luerative
stocks of Coca Coal. Today, 30% of every bottle of coke
you drinks goes to that family. This is because they
were wise enough to have bought today a few years
ago thus transforming the unborn generation of that
family into super baboons.
God never intended that you remain a monkey for
life . You too can be a super baboon if you carefully
apply the principles s found in this book among
others.
131
1 AUTHORS REGULAR QUOTES:
All dependence are informed by poverty lies,
pornography , decor satanic dancers, greed,
treachery, derogatory singers , and counterproductive
entertainment
For everyone is founding what in he\she is doing in
an effort to walk out of poverty.
Poverty underbelly the root cause of all sins, even
sins of deceit pervading the church as well as other
religions
Poverty is the root cause of all manifestations of
ugliness , greed , gluttony, lust, pride , pervasion,
injustice, depravity name it !
Wars emanate from undemocratic perverted
teachings which begets utter shameful ugliness
revealed in waging wars
War is a disgrace to and abuse of human intellect
because it is not perpetrated in the Animal
C h a p t e r 1 5
QUOTES ON POVERTY
133
kingdoms!
The cost of war is more than enough to eliminate
poverty and turn the earth into paradise. Away with
war and shameful human ego and aggrandizement
leading to it
OF OTHERS
Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is
an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental
human right, the right to dignity and a decent life . ..
Nelson Mandela
Poverty devastates families, communities and
nations. It causes instability and political unrest and
fuels conflict. Kofi Annan
Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.
Aristotle
Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows
how extremely expensive it is to be poor. James A.
Baldwin
We, who have so much, must do more to help those
in need. And most of all, we must live simply, so that
others may simply live. Ed Begley, Jr.
There's enough on this planet for everyone's needs

but not for everyone's greed. Poverty is the worst form
of violence. Mohandas GhandiGandhi
We're looking at the singular condition of poverty.
All the other individual problems spring from that
condition doesn't matter if it's death, aid, trade,
AIDS, famine, instability, governance, corruption or
war. All of that is poverty. Our problem is that
everybody tries to heal each of the individual aspects
o f p o v e r t y , n o t p o v e r t y i t s e l f .
Bob Geldof
We must work to ensure the human dignity that
comes with a life free from hunger and poverty.
Julian R. Hunte Former President of the UN General
Assembly
Poverty is a scourge that must be overcome, and this
can only be accomplished through concerted
international efforts involving effective partnerships
between developed and developing countries and
between government, the private sector and civil
society. Dr.HAN Seung-soo, Former President of the
UN General Assembly
No one who works for a living should live in
poverty. Senator Edward Kennedy
The world is very different now. For man holds in
his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of
human poverty, and all forms of human life. John F.
Kennedy
134
Baboonism
This is not about charity, it's about justice The war
against terror is bound up in the war against poverty
I didn't say that, Colin Powell said that . . . In these
disturbing and distressing times, surely it's cheaper,
and smarter, to make friends out of potential enemies
than it is to defend yourself against them..Justice is the
surest way to get peace.Bono
There was never a war on poverty. Maybe there was a
skirmish on poverty.Andrew Cuomo
Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced,
where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is
made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to
oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor
property will be safe. Frederick Douglass
Just because a child's parents are poor or uneducated
is no reason to deprive the child of basic human rights
to health care, education and proper nutrition.
Marian Wright Edelman
I believe that, as long as there is plenty, poverty is
evil. Robert F. Kennedy
True compassion is more than flinging a coin at a
beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces
beggars needs restructuring. Martin Luther King Jr
Peace does not fare well where poverty and
deprivation reign. It does not flourish where there is
ignorance and a lack of education and information.
Repression, injustice and exploitation are inimical
with peace. Peace is gravely threatened by inter-group
fear and envy and by the unleashing of unrealistic
expectations. Racial, class and religious intolerance
and prejudice are its mortal enemies Frederik W. de
Klerk
Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction.
Homelessness is a weapon of mass destruction.
Unemployment is a weapon of mass destruction.
Dennis Kucinich
Witnessing the extreme poverty in remote parts of
Africa can make you feel sad and powerless until you
realize how little it takes to change these people's lives
fundamentally in sustainable ways. John Legend
Such is the scale and depth of poverty in many parts
of the world that it won't be ended overnight. That is
why if, like me, you want to see an end to poverty, you
need to be in it for the long haul. Annie Lennox
In this new century, many of the world's poorest
countries remain imprisoned, enslaved and in chains.
They are trapped in the prison of poverty. It is time to
set them free. Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is
not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and
eradicated by the actions of human beings. Nelson
Mandela
135
Quotes on Poverty
We're looking at the singular condition of poverty.
All the other individual problems spring from that
condition doesn't matter if it's death, aid, trade,
AIDS, famine, instability, governance, corruption or
war. All of that is poverty. Our problem is that
everybody tries to heal each of the individual
aspects of poverty, not poverty itself.
Bob Geldof
We must work to ensure the human dignity that
comes with a life free from hunger and poverty.
Julian R. Hunte Former President of the UN General
Assembly
Poverty is a scourge that must be overcome, and this
can only be accomplished through concerted
international efforts involving effective partnerships
between developed and developing countries and
between government, the private sector and civil
society. Dr.HAN Seung-soo, Former President of the
UN General Assembly
No one who works for a living should live in
poverty. Senator Edward Kennedy
136
Baboonism

True compassion is more than flinging a coin at a
beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces
beggars needs restructuring. Martin Luther King Jr
Peace does not fare well where poverty and
deprivation reign. It does not flourish where there is
ignorance and a lack of education and information.
Repression, injustice and exploitation are inimical
with peace. Peace is gravely threatened by inter-group
fear and envy and by the unleashing of unrealistic
expectations. Racial, class and religious intolerance
and prejudice are its mortal enemies Frederik W. de
Klerk
Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction.
Homelessness is a weapon of mass destruction.
Unemployment is a weapon of mass destruction.
Dennis Kucinich
Witnessing the extreme poverty in remote parts of
Africa can make you feel sad and powerless until you
realize how little it takes to change these people's lives
fundamentally in sustainable ways. John Legend
137
Quotes on Poverty
Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is
man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by
the actions of human beings. Nelson Mandela
Trade justice for the developing world and for this
generation is a truly significant way for the developed
countries to show commitment to bringing about an
end to global poverty.Nelson Mandela
Massive poverty and obscene inequality are such
terrible scourges of our times times in which the
world boasts breathtaking advances in science,
technology, industry and wealth accumulation that
they have to rank alongside slavery and apartheid as
social evils.Nelson Mandela
I have tremendous confidence in the capacity of the
poor to transform not only their own lives but also to
build a just, humane, and democratic society. Ruth
Manorama
Wars are bred by poverty and oppression. Continued
peace is possible only in a relatively free and
prosperous world. George C. Marshall
138
Baboonism
Until it's understood to involve justice for those in
poverty, a future for generations yet unborn, and a
commitment to the rest of creation, it's unlikely we'll be
able to overcome the status quo. Bill McKibben
The greatest step forward in human evolution was
made when society began to help the weak and the
poor, instead of oppressing and despising them.
Maria Montessori
Of course I am frustrated with regard to extreme
poverty, to violence that never seems to cease. Greed is
the key. It's easy to sit in relative luxury and peace and
pontificate on the subject of the Third World debts. Not
many of us are willing to give up everything we have.
We can however give some, and millions of people do,
governments do, but there is so much more to be done.
Sir Roger Moore
If poverty is a disease that infects the entire
community in the form of unemployment and violence,
failing schools and broken homes, then we can't just
treat those symptoms in isolation . We have to heal that
entire community. Barack Obama
139
Quotes on Poverty

An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest
and most fatal ailment of all republics.Plutarch
The good news is we have the technology and the
tools to alleviate poverty on a global scale. All that is
standing in our way is education and will. Natalie
Portman
Small loans can transform lives, especially the lives
of women and children. The poor can become
empowered instead of disenfranchised. Homes can be
built, jobs can be created, businesses can be launched,
and individuals can feel a sense of worth again.
Natalie Portman
He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and
he who gives gifts to the richboth come to poverty.
Proverbs 22:16
He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their
Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
Proverbs 14:31
Extreme poverty is the best breeding ground on earth
for disease, political instability, and terrorism.
140
Baboonism
The key to ending extreme poverty is to enable the
poorest of the poor to get their foot on the ladder of
development. The ladder of development hovers
overhead, and the poorest of the poor are stuck
beneath it. They lack the minimum amount of capital
necessary to get a foothold, and therefore need a boost
up to the first rung. Jeffrey Sachs
Every morning our newspapers could read, 'More
than 20,000 people perished yesterday of extreme
poverty.' How? The poor die in hospital wards that
lack drugs, in villages that lack antimalarial bed nets,
in houses that lack safe drinking water. They die
namelessly, without public comment. Sadly, sad
stories rarely get written. Jeffrey Sachs
The rich do not have to invest enough in the poorest
countries to make them rich; they need to invest
enough so that these countries can get their foot on the
economic ladder . . . Economic development works. It
can be successful. It tends to build on itself. But it
must get started. Jeffrey Sachs
The greatest of evils and the worst of crimes is
poverty. George Bernard Shaw
141
Quotes on Poverty
Security, the chief pretense of civilization, cannot
exist where the worst of dangers, the danger of
poverty, hangs over everyone's head. George
Bernard Shaw
We think of violence as being conflict and fighting
and wars and so forth, but the most ongoing horrific
measure of violence is in the horrible poverty of the
Third World and the poverty in the United States as
well. We have our own Third World here. And we
have to first become aware of that and how to help and
solve that. Martin Sheen
Once you experience Third World poverty, you're
really changed forever, if you're at all open to it,
because we're all united in our common humanity.
And we are so made as to feel something for people
who are in pain. It's not possible to be human and to be
unaffected by what you see in the third world.
Martin Sheen
Globalization has improved the lives of people
throughout the world, but it has also widened the gap
between rich and poorWorking to end poverty will
make the world safer. Robert Alan Silverstein
142
Baboonism

Most of the poverty and misery in the world is due to
bad government, lack of democracy, weak states,
internal strife, and so on. George Soros
A society is judged by the way it cares for its most
vulnerable citizens. As an American, I am ashamed
that we have turned out backs on millions of our
children. I want to do my part to rectify this terrible
situation. Marlo Thomas
Peace will never be entirely secure until men
everywhere have learned to conquer poverty without
sacrificing liberty or security. Norman Thomas
There's an awful lot of misunderstanding here about
what being poor actually means. I don't think people
understand that being poor means you have to work
from dawn until dusk just to survive through the day.
I think there's some notion that poor people lie about
all day not doing anything. It is remarkable how many
misconceptions there are here about life in the
developing world and I think that knowledge gap has
done a lot to contribute to the imbalance quite
frankly. Emma Thompson
'We must live more simply so that the poor may
simply live. F.E. Trainer
Because there is global insecurity, nations are
engaged in a mad arms race, spending billions of
dollars wastefully on instruments of destruction,
when millions are starving. And yet, just a fraction of
143
Quotes on Poverty
Poverty is not something people impose on
themselves for want of effort and community
organisation. It is constructed by divisive and
discriminatory laws, inflexible organisations,
acquisitive ideologies of wealth, a deeply rooted class
system and policies which serve privilege in the short
term and destroy society in the long term.
Peter Townshend
'We must live more simply so that the poor may
simply live. F.E. Trainer
Because there is global insecurity, nations are
engaged in a mad arms race, spending billions of
dollars wastefully on instruments of destruction,
when millions are starving. And yet, just a fraction of
what is expended so obscenely on defense budgets
would make a real difference in enabling God's
children to fill their stomachs, be educated, and be
given the chance to lead fulfilled and happy lives.
Desmond Tutu
Let's share our abundance and make our country
144
Baboonism
The arms race can kill, though the weapons
themselves may never be usedby their cost alone,
armaments kill the poor by causing them to starve
Vatican statement to the U.N., 1976
Poverty is multidimensional. It extends beyond
money incomes to education, health care, political
participation and advancement of one's own culture
and social organisation. '' AtalBihari Vajpayee
The Bible insists that the best test of a nation's
righteousness is how it treats the poorest and most
vulnerable in its midst. Rev. Jim Wallis
What a devil art thou, Poverty! How many desires
how many aspirations after goodness and truth how
many noble thoughts, loving wishes toward our
fellows, beautiful imaginings thou hast crushed
under thy heel, without remorse or pause! Walt
Whitman
The issue of poverty is not a statistical issue. It is a
human issue. James Wolfensohn
145
Quotes on Poverty
What we need to do is increase the totality of
money that is given to the poorest areas and then
we can do more on prevention but we have crucial
needs at the moment just to get people out of
poverty and to get the eight hundred million
people that go to bed at night hungry, give them
some food and some hope. James Wolfensohn
I was deeply concerned then, and have become
more concerned since, that unless we can deal with
the questions of development and the questions of
poverty, there's no way that we're going to have a
peaceful world for our children. James
Wolfensohn
Too many of the conflicts which are caused today
are caused by the problems that emerge from
people who are in poverty. James Wolfensohn
The first thing that you need to deal with is the
issue of equity and poverty.
James Wolfensohn
It is not great wealth in a few individuals that
proves a country is prosperous, but great general
146
Baboonism
Poverty is unnecessary. Muhammad Yunus
Some people think that poor people are lazy.
Actually, it takes a lot of work to survive when you
are dirt-poor.' Muhammad Yunus
If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of
nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.
Charles Darwin
Poverty sits by the cradle of all our great men and
rocks all of them to manhood. Heinrich Heine
We have grown literally afraid to be poor. We
despise anyone who elects to be poor in order to
simplify and save his inner life. If he does not join
the general scramble and pant with the money-
making street, we deem him spiritless and lacking in
ambition.' William James
147
Quotes on Poverty
150
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There's enough on this planet for everyone's needs

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