The Eskom board room tussle

Let me first start by appealing to anyone that knows my father to please appeal to him not to keep reminding me of the fact that I am still single. Every day I come back to a quiet flat it reminds me of that fact, so I am sure that I can do with a little breather from him. I know that the intentions are genuine, but the additional pressure is counterproductive as women tend to perceive a sense of desperation which is not necessary. But if he wants to go ahead with his plan of finding a good woman from a good family for me, well that would also be fine. That’s just by the way; this is a topic for another day.

A lot has happened in the past few weeks around South Africa in terms of management of government owned parastatal. The new trend seems to be that once black people rise to the hem of affairs; there seem to be a power ready to push them out. People have different opinions about why this happen. Some believe that white people just can stand when a black man is the boss while some believe that black people lack the ability to run such organizations profitably. First it was Dali Mpofu at the SABC, then Siyabonga Gama at Transnet, and now Jacob Maroga at Eskom. Sorry did I forget the guy that used to be the CEO of SAA, Khaya Ngqula who was accused of mismanagement, yet had to be given a huge monetary settlement to terminate his appointment, even though the company was not profitable.

People are quick to pull the race card when things like these happen. But I am sure that based on the policies of the ANC, people who get to serve on these boards are either predominantly black or the party candidates. So I still find it hard to believe that the issue is just simply about white people not wanting black people to ascend the corporate ladder. One thing I can be sure about is the fact that styles of management might be very different, so while many black people might not see anything wrong with man-know-man style of business being disguised as BEE, the white man thinks that its unfair practice. I am not in a position to judge whether BEE should be scrapped or not but I do know that you do not right a wrong with another wrong.

I was particularly interested in the final outcome of the Eskom debacle. First was news that the CEO, Maroqa resigned. Then the Black Management Forum and the ANC Youth League came out, all guns firing with the race card, saying that the CEO of the power utility company never resigned but was “edged” out by the Chairman of the board Bobby Godsell. Then to our surprise, the chairman resigned complaining about political interference in the running of the company, especially considering the fact that Maroga resigned voluntarily and now he was being dubbed racist. His resignation was accepted and an interim chairman was appointed who happened to be a black man. The new chairman came and reaffirmed the decision of the board, which was that Maroga was no longer the CEO.


So after about 2 weeks of bad publicity and miscommunication, the whole Eskom fiasco is over with two management vacancies. Who would become the new CEO and chairman remains to be seen. Whether that would affect the already proposed 45% hike in the price of electricity annually for three consecutive years is something we all eagerly look forward to. Even though I personally believe that the race issue would always pop up for a while, I am optimistic that economic and management sense would always prevail. I look to a future where issues would be debated on its merits and demerits, not on the basis of whether you are white, black, coloured or Indian. All said the beauty of this country is the freedom of speech. People love to talk and are encouraged to talk even when it is obvious they are talking “nonsense”. But at the end of the day the most important thing is that a consensus that moves the country forward is reached. I am sure that a lot can be learnt from the experimental democratic experience of this rainbow nation, where we disagree to agree.

Together, we can achieve more. Cheers

Time for Transformation

I have often overlooked the use of the note facility on FB, reason being that I have a blog site which I blog on once in a while called the Naija boy in Jozi. But I have come to realise that I tend to spend more time on FB, at least because of the ease of keeping abreast of happenings in my friends' lives and the truth be told; I share a common addiction of many, the FB dependency.

So I decided, at least if I am going to use this medium created by some guy who is much younger than I am and who is smiling to the bank, I can as well find a creative use of the platform. So it is my intention to use this avenue as a means of getting across some of my opinions concerning issues that touch me in places that drives my passion. You can call it an extension of my blog site, but I intend to use it as a means of communicating my desire to see and be the change that I believe our society needs.

Yes I said our society, yet I live in Johannesburg South Africa, yet I am originally from Nigeria. So what society am I talking about, Well I guess you already have the clue, Africa is my society, I am domiciled in Joburg but Nigeria remains my passion. Hence the Naija boy in Jozi - uniting two nations by comparison. I want to be able to use the examples of qualities that are desirable in Nigerians to teach South Africans to become a better people while also using exemplary traits of this great rainbow nation to teach Nigerians how they can become the true giant that God has called them to be. As I know some people would quickly interject, "but better is very relative". And yes I agree that's why it’s my note and not theirs. But I am very open to criticisms that are positive.

What exactly do I hope to be writing about? I am not so sure yet, but I believe it would almost be like doing a SWOT analysis of our livelihood, developing on our STRENGTH, working on our WEAKNESSES, finding means of tapping into our OPPORTUNITIES, while also guarding against factors that can constitute THREATS to our existence as a people. In between though, I might also chose to write about personal struggles that I encounter on my way to becoming who God has called me to be.

It is my desire that we would be able to help build leaders into trans-generational thinkers who know that it is their responsibility to build a better society and leave a legacy for generations to come. We need more people to share the vision that a nation can only be transformed by transforming the people. So it is time for us to be the change that we want and deserve. Cheers.


Together, we can achieve more. Cheers

Trying times

I have come to realize that it is much easier to write about other people or happenings around me than to write about myself. And the truth really is that a blog gives very little room for privacy. Not that I have not had times when I blogged about personal matters and heart breaks, of course I did; playing my weakness to the gallery once or twice. But there were consequences. I once had a female friend ask me about my ex-girlfriend and while trying to respond to her, she asked, is that the first one or the third one? I was surprised and she said but I read it from your blog. Things have been spooky to me on blogsville ever since.

So maybe not about the heart I thought; especially considering the fact that I just seem to have a thing for heart breakers. But the story gets even more complex when you are heartbroken, you need a new job and you are a Nigerian. You tend to feel lonely, incapable and rejected by the society. I remember one of my colleagues coming to my desk and asking me, Temi why do you like slaving away when you can be making so much money? Then I asked him how this money can be made, then he said, but you know what business your brothers do in this country; drugs. I told him how stupid and crazy he was. Obviously I knew he was only clowning around. But yes we all still have that stereotype hanging over our heads being Nigerians.

It really can be frustrating trying to get a new job when you are a Nigerian in this country. One would have thought the mere fact that you are qualified and have been in the work force for a while would make a difference, but to my surprise it seems as if it would be easier to pass a camel through the proverbial eye of the needle. You keep sending the CVs but without positive response. It has gotten to a point where you begin to recognize adverts in the job mail or career junction simply because you check them at least twice a day. Eish. The normal tendency would be for one to get depressed and begin to play the self pity game. But unfortunately the devil’s got something else coming his way. It’s the time to re-strategize and apply new tactics. In war strategy separates the victor from the vanquished. God has not given us the spirit of fear or timidity. The sound mind that He has given me, I would use to achieve that which I desire. It is sheer folly to keep doing things the same way, yet expect a different result. It is time for transformation.



Together, we can achieve more. Cheers