On Depression

I believe depression is NOT an issue to be trivialised or responded to in an offhand manner. Like other types of psychological trauma, we have for too long in Nigeria pushed depression under the table and asked people to just deal with it.

It is my opinion that it is presumptuous to think that every person dealing with depression can easily overcome it or even has the strength to believe they can. It is wrong to dismissively suggest they need faith or religious deliverance. It is insensitive to assume that only those who lack material things or blessings have cause to be depressed.

If you are lucky enough to have overcome depression, you shouldn't use your experience, knowledge (or lack thereof) to make sweeping statements or generalisations about others. Seek to understand, cite credible facts & data about the issue not just personal exceptions.

Finally, may God not visit upon us the things we mock so we can learn humility and sensitivity.

The 20 Laws of Nigerian Politics

To understand Nigerian politics is to understand the following:

1. Almost every power play is executed by proxies, many times without the direct knowledge of the Principal.
2. Proxies are all powerful; getting away with murder in the name of the Presidency, ex-Presidents, Ministers, wives of political appointees & elected officials and so on.
3. Politics is about POWER and how much of the RESOURCES of the nation you can personally appropriate. It is not about PEOPLE or DEVELOPMENT.
4. You CANNOT escape tribe and religion in Nigerian politics. Accept and work with what you have. 
5. Money is an inescapable force. It's virulently ingrained in every aspect of our polity and has been known to make otherwise rational Nigerians lay aside logic and humanity.
6. He who controls the distribution channels of information controls the political conversation.  
7. Many news stories are sponsored and full of agenda. Mere citizens are never deemed worthy of knowing the real story. 
8. Morality hangs by a thread. There are many grey areas in an arena characterised by iniquity, inequity and impunity.  
9. Political fights and party cross carpeting are the norm. Pull up a chair. They are always rather interesting. 
10. To succeed in Nigerian politics, you must be exceedingly wise and crafty. True intelligence is not required. We have technocrats for that.
11. You need spies everywhere as well as a comprehensive political intervention structure (attack dogs included).  
12. You must be willing to accept what is possible as opposed to what is ideal.
13. You must have the capacity to sleep well at night having heard plenty of bullshit and witnessed unimaginable evil.
14. You must have the patience of a snail, the resilience of a caterpillar and the doggedness of a bull.  
15. The Nigerian citizen can be likened to a daughter who has been imprisoned in a dark basement by her father with barely enough to eat & has been repeatedly raped.  This is the only way to appreciate the trauma, malfunction, split personality and self-preservation of the average Nigerian.
16. In a country of mass iliterates where the majority are not entrepreneurs and where stock options barely exist for professionals, the easiest route to prosperity is political patronage.
17. Many Nigerians will claim any tribe, swear any oath and sleep with anyone to get a piece of the national cake. 
18. Access to power is not by merit. It's based on who you know and who owes you.
19. Idealism must be tempered by reality and pragmatism.
20. Beware of violence. It is often a ready tool in the hands of those who seek to take all, keep all and protect all.

No Bullshit Volume 2 - Development Diary: September 13, 2013

My book has two expressions: opinion pieces called Disclosures and shorter free form inspired verses called Freestyle.

I wrote a Freestyle piece today called, In Search of Love.

Here's the first verse:

"I commit to finding love
The love between a man and a woman
But I can't tell you whether it requires enduring search or simple faith"

Musical Musings

Portrait of Nellie Lutcher, New York, N.Y., 1946/1948 [LOC]

I'm beginning to understand why Jazz, Country and other forms of  "classic" music are referred to as elevated music (relative to "popular" music). It's not so much the style of music as the elevated thought required to create or understand it.
It takes patience to listen to the storyline; experience to relate to it; exposure to understand it and good taste to appreciate it. Only a contemplative soul can discern the subtlety of instrumentation. It's not in-your-face or shamelessly obvious. The noble can deeply recognise the hard work and character needed to tow the unpopular line to create complex art.

Pop music is like brash sex without foreplay or seduction. It lacks finesse. Elevated music is like a 3-course meal in a deliberately chosen restaurant with mood lighting and vintage wine.

Elevated music calls to your spirit; makes you want to make love to it over & over, plumb its depth and build a lifelong friendship. Popular Hip Hop or R n B sometimes leaves a sour taste in your mouth. Its unoriginality astounds you. Its baseness and disrespect for any and everything surprises you. You wonder how an artiste could take a chorus, repeat it over & over, add a beat and present it as a finished work of art. Sometimes it does a pretty good job of capturing in 4 minutes all the things wrong with a generation - the shallowness; commercialisation and desperation.

I'm beginning to acquire the patience required for elevated music; broadening and stretching my musical palate. I listen to a lot of different genres nowadays, especially Country, Bluegrass and Folk Music. It's been an interesting and exploratory journey. I wonder what music has captured your heart and mind lately? My Twitter handle is @SubomiPlumptre. I'd like to hear from you.

© Subomi Plumptre 2013. All Rights Reserved

On Financial Discipline

The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason is a life transforming book. It teaches you to live within your income, while investing and paying off debts concurrently.

Essentially, it teaches you financial principles to meet your present needs, escape the debts of the past and ensure your future prosperity.

This is what I learnt and now practice:

For sums I earn, that are given to me or are proceeds from investments, I take out 30% FIRST - 10% for giving, 10% for investing, 10% for settling debts (if any). Then I live within 70% of my means!

When I take out the 30%, I pay it out IMMEDIATELY (give, invest, pay debts) so it doesn't remain in my account. That way I am FORCED to live with the remaining 70%. No amount of emotional blackmail or crisis can touch the money. It's left my hands!

The key to financial discipline is to know what you're going to do with money before it comes your way and to disburse it immediately it comes. If not, you'll end up spending money that isn't technically yours, including money meant for suppliers, contractors, staff or your future.

Another principle - Keep a daily or weekly record of spending by category - giving, food, provisions, entertainment, debt service etc. At the end of each month (and at year's end), insert the figures and plot the charts in Excel. You may be surprised at what you regularly spend the largest proportion of your money on.

Money doesn't lie. Spending patterns are an insight to life's priorities. They also identify never before seen leakages. Documenting your spending builds the habit of tracking expenditure and keeping receipts. It breeds responsibility.

If you choose to practice these principles, I'd like to hear from you about whether they helped. I'm @SubomiPlumptre on Twitter.

I wish you all the best on your financial journey.

No Bullshit Volume 2 – Development Diary: September 4, 2013

It's been 5 years since volume 1 of my book, No Bullshit. It was compiled in 2006 and released in 2008. I’ll complete volume 2 in 2013.

I've decided to keep a progress report of sorts, as I round up writing No Bullshit volume 2. I'll give you previews of the book cover, completed chapters and ongoing narrative from the website development process. For those lucky to read the first draft of volume 2, I hope to be able to share your reviews as they come in.

So far, I've completed 17 chapters of No Bullshit volume 2. I have 11 more chapters to go. The deadline is September 2013 to commemorate my birthday. I added a new chapter today - Chinenye, the Customer Service Officer. It's a parody of a telecom operator’s attitude to service.

I’m about to commission the website for www.subomiplumptre.com. It will be a comprehensive repository of my book, thoughts, blog and bio. My new website will have the following main sections: Myself, My Book, My Work, My Articles and My Blog. Sub-sections will include: My Causes, My Interests, My Quotes, My Top Tweets and My Travels.

More to come later. Stay tuned!