I did Retail banking for four years and I can comfortably tell you that it is one of the toughest units in the bank. Many people think the job is simply about opening personal accounts. It isn't. You open an account, then you have to make sure it is funded. After that, you need to enroll the customer on the bank's digital channels and ensure they collect and activate their ATM card. If those things don't happen, the account generates little or no value for the bank. Now imagine going to a random motor park for an account opening campaign. The first challenge is convincing people to share their BVN and NIN. Those are probably the hardest pieces of information to get from an average Nigerian. To make things even harder, many of them already have accounts with other banks and see no reason to open another one. After you finally convince someone to open an account, the next battle begins, getting them to fund it. In many cases, Relationship Managers end up funding some of these accounts themselves just to get them active. Then comes ATM card collection. You'll be calling, sending text messages, and following up repeatedly just to get customers to come to the branch and pick up their cards. Retail banking is definitely not for the faint-hearted. – at Lagos, Nigeria

The solution to Manchester United is simple. If the management truly wants a rebuild, it should openly back Carrick. Then you will see all these overfed babies called players adjust or leave. After Arsène Wenger left Arsenal, the coaches who came afterwards failed to deliver the desired results until the management decided to rebuild and openly back Arteta. Özil, Lacazette, Aubameyang, Leno, Xhaka, and many other big stars either left or were moved on as the club rebuilt. The instruction was clear. If you are not playing at the level the coach expects, you are out. When Arsenal appointed Mikel Arteta in December 2019, the club finished 8th, 8th, and 5th in his first three Premier League seasons before qualifying for the Champions League. Some fans wanted Arteta out, while others believed in him and said, "We trust the process." You don't achieve quick success during a rebuilding phase. It's obvious that some players want Carrick out, and the management needs to make it clear to them that Carrick is not going anywhere, regardless of how bad the results get. The players need to understand that their job is to play at the highest level and deliver results. Any player who fails to perform at that level should be put up for sale, regardless of their name or how much they earn. I'm not happy seeing Manchester United this way even as rival fan. But the truth remains, when you're rebuilding most times it feels like it's not working but you'll need to be patient. You cannot say you are rebuilding a team, then sack the manager every time results don't go your way. At this point, the players must also be held accountable. You cannot keep changing managers while the same players continue to underperform. If the club's management trusts Carrick enough to appoint him, it should give him the backing to do his job. Let the players know that nobody is bigger than the club. If you're rebuilding, you'll suffer until things gets better.

Your rich friend or relative will not deposit millions in your bank because you work there. Don't go thinking that the moment you accept a bank sales job your wealthy friends and family will bring big money to help you meet your target. Some of these people don't even want you to know how much they have in their accounts. They would rather open an account with a random bank officer who doesn't know them personally than expose their financial worth to someone close to them. Even if they decide to open an account, you might just be lucky if they deposit more than 100k to the account. You'll enter PIP straight because you'll be disappointed.

I read somewhere that China has rules requiring people who create certain types of specialist online content to provide relevant professional qualifications for verification. Like if you're creating content around Business, Finance, automobile, law, health and education you must provide relevant professional qualifications for platform verification. Honestly, I would love to see something like this in Nigeria. If you're going to position yourself as an expert and tell people what to do online, you should possess some level of professional experience or authorized training certifications.

You see those provision stores where you sell everything, from biscuits to detergents, noodles and beverages? Sometimes, you can sell plenty of goods and still make very little profit. Six years ago, I facilitated a ₦1 million business support facility for Mama Ada who was into the sub-distribution of noodles. Three years later, her business had grown to the point where her credit request has increased to ₦10 million. From experience, It is more profitable to focus on one FMCG product and build a strong customer base around it. Mama Ada explained to me how she became the only wholesaler selling noodles in her local market. Most of the retailers in her neighbourhood buy from her because they can make over ₦1,000 in profit on a carton, depending on the brand. For her, she buys noodles in bulk and supplies retailers who depend on her for regular stock at a cheaper rate. She buys from distributors and his distributors need reliable sub-agents who can buy consistently, help them meet sales targets and earn rebates and incentives from manufacturers. So to keep the business growing, these sub-agents often need financing to increase their stock and meet demand. That was how I met Mama Ada. Her business generate regular cash flow because retailers need to replenish their stock frequently as demand increases. Today, her business has grown significantly from where it was when I first financed her. To those working in the bank or fintech across business development and credit financing, pay attention to FMCG distributors and their agent networks. One relationship with a distributor can open doors to several sub-agents.

I buy my football jerseys from him. A very reliable guy.

I didn't want to further engage with the tweet. People assume everyone lives the same reality as them. When life puts you in a difficult situation, you become vulnerable. Nobody will help you, but they will ask, "Won't you sell that your car? Just sell it off." People know you are desperate, and the value of your asset suddenly means little to them. That is the reality of being in a difficult financial situation.

Madueke wasn't the upgrade we wanted as at the time we signed him. Only the coach knew exactly what he saw that made him initiate that signing. To us fans, then he wasn't the signing we wanted.

A well-managed company shouldn't need an exit interview to understand why things are not working. When there is a problem in the workplace, HR is usually aware. These HRs make recommendations to management, and most times management don't implement them. So what's the significance of an exit interview? If a company wants data and trends to make better decisions, it should regularly conduct regular surveys among its current employees. These are the people experiencing the work environment daily and can provide useful feedback on what needs to change. The day I decide to leave any company, HR should not ask me to grant an exit interview. I won't. The company always have an opportunity to make things better. Why wait until I'm leaving before asking what needs to be fixed? I no go talk to you.

You get it, even if car price drop to six figures people will still struggle to buy. Our purchasing power is at all time low. The little money people earn goes straight into survival. People are struggling to pay rent, buy food, pay transport fares, support their families and settle other bills. By the time they meet these basic needs, there is hardly anything left to save or invest. Cheaper goods will always remain out of reach for an average Nigerian until cost of living becomes manageable.

Used cars have become cheaper lately. You can easily find decent cars selling for between ₦3m and ₦4m. But who will buy the car is now the problem. A friend who urgently needs money has been struggling to sell his 2010 Toyota Venza V6 for ₦4m. A car that would ordinarily sell for nothing less than ₦8m.

You can find love and your life partner at your workplace. We always talk about how workplace relationships can end in a messy situation. But if both of you are serious about each other, you can find a way to make it work. I'm not talking about those that sleep with other people spouses and call it office Romance. That's evil. In 2019 I had a colleague whose friend, a lady in sales, married her colleague a teller. They both started dating. It was the usual office thing, but nobody knew they were that serious with each other. People didn't know they had a plan. The lady started learning fashion designing. She bought a sewing machine, attended training at close of work and every weekend, and practised at home whenever she had free time. She spent a full year learning the skill while still working her sales job. After about a year, she resigned from the job. She set up her own shop and started sewing professionally. Over time, the business grew, and she became very good at what she did. Six months later, the teller guy married her. Till today, they are doing well together, and they are even planning to Japa.

The best time to learn a new technical skill is when you can use it to improve what you already do. Acquiring skills with the hope of using them at some UNDETERMINED point in the future is a bad strategy. You may feel like you are preparing for the future, but you could simply be spreading yourself thin, gathering skills you may never use. I am not saying you should stop learning. I am saying you should be DELIBERATE about what you learn and when you learn it. Imagine someone working in banking sales who decides to learn software development to get a job in tech. They spend months learning Python and earning certificates, hoping to land a tech role. Years pass, but the job does not come, and they continue with their banking job. When a tech opportunity eventually comes, those who are actively working in software development will have an advantage. Even someone with internship experience may get the nod ahead of someone who has a certificate but has barely practised coding. Here is what I would suggest. First, learn skills that make you better at what you already do. If you work in sales, learn how to close deals. If you work in customer service, learn how to analyse complaints and identify recurring problems. Look for skills you can apply immediately to improve your performance and make you more valuable in your current role. Second, if you want to change careers, have a clear plan. Know the role you want, understand the skills it requires, set a realistic timeline, and create opportunities to practise what you learn. Do not just learn the theory. Build projects, gain practical experience, and look for ways to demonstrate your competence before the opportunity comes. The technical skills you learn should help you build your competence. This is why you should learn a skill with purpose. Do not spend money accumulating certifications without setting a timeline for applying what you have learnt. Learning is an investment, and like every investment, you should have a reason for making it.

Even if you would or your faith permits it, why do you always have to tell your wife that you’ll marry a second wife? That’s a risky thing to do.

If you work in a fast-paced commercial environment where everyone has a run-rate target, the least performer is always exposed. I know how this feels. But in that same team, someone is performing better than you and building stronger relationships in the workplace. Meanwhile, you seem far behind. In this situation, you have two choices. You can become bitter about the success of others, or you study what they are doing differently and learn how to become a top performer yourself. Competition within a team exposes the areas where you need to improve. Take advantage of this and learn. Learn from people who perform better than you. Pay attention to their methods and improve your own approach. You do not have to like everyone you compete with or be friends with them, but you can learn something from their results. Be humble. In a fast-paced companies, your strongest competition can also be your best source of lessons. If you still want to improve your numbers, you've to humble yourself well enough to learn from the top performers.

What have you done? How many deals have you closed? The answers to these questions are what count. I used to have a colleague whom we felt did not do as much marketing as we did. Yet, before the end of the month, he would have already achieved over 200% of his target. You can work harder than everyone else and still finish behind them in performance. You can make more calls, visit more customers, and spend more hours in the field, yet someone who does not do all these things may close bigger deals and more of them. Why does this happen? It happens because effort is only one part of the equation. It counts for little if you do not know how to convert that effort into deals. This is where you need to be cautious and intentional. Your strategy, timing, product knowledge, negotiation skills, customer relationships, and ability to identify the right opportunities make all the difference. Working hard is important, but you must also learn to work intelligently. During a performance review, your results are what matter most. If your effort is not producing results, do not just increase it. Examine your approach. Life works in a similar way.