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Business as Missions, Heart and Art Foundation, Just Thinking, Mere Christianity

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February 15, 2023 at 9:54 am

The Democracy of the Glory of God

We all, with unveiled faces behold as in a mirror, the glory of Christ are transformed to that same image, from glory to glory.

God in His glory is revealed only by the congregation – the Church; each man revealing a measure of glory – the multifaceted wisdom of God.

Apostle Paul in 2 Cor 3 wrote that the Corinthians represent his apostolic epistle engraved in human hearts; in other words, that the glory of God manifest within the hearts of the Apostles has been ministered to the Corinthians, as it is known and read by all men. This Ministration of the glory is in the same manner as the epistle of Moses, which he termed the Ministry of Death; yet was manifest with glory, a glory that the Israelites could not stand.

Moses had to wear a veil, but not us – not here, in Christ, we do not wear veils, we can stand the glory; for God who has commanded light to shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

So, the Apostolic Ministrations always manifested with surpassing glory can be beheld with unveiled faces. When we do so, this causes transformation in the hearts of the beholder, hence, our challenge is not in the capacity to behold, but in the willingness to behold; the Christian is therefore limited by the quality and quantity of his consecration to his sanctification.

So, here then is the summary:

  1. Anyone who turns to Christ has had the veil removed, there is now an inherent capacity to stand the revelation of glory and to be transformed to the same level of glory.
  2. It is God who has made this capacity possible – the Lord is that Spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
  3. The duty of continuous beholding is the common task.
  4. With this confidence, the revelator or the Minister is emboldened to speak freely, confident that the revelation of the ascending glory of God (from glory to glory) can effect corresponding transformation to the receivers via the technology of being-in-Christ-Jesus.
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Business as Missions, National Development, Our Initiatives

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April 28, 2022 at 6:23 am

An alternative path for the governance of nations

(First Published on The Cable, April 27, 2019 – https://www.thecable.ng/an-alternative-path-for-the-governance-of-nations)

The world has seen a gradual rise in populist movements; our own President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term victory could be attributed to the unquestioning support of low-income-earning citizens. Not necessarily because they’re convinced he can help the status quo but for the mere fact that they can better identify with him. President Trump’s ascent to power was on the promise of reviving the economy for the middle class – “Making America Great Again”. The yellow vest movement in France, the nationalist parties in Germany and the Brexit brouhaha all have a major connection to the relative economic shift happening in our world – huge economically disenfranchised populations are feeling the pinch and are fighting back.

 

The summary is that capitalism as presently constituted is losing its appeal: In an April interview with Marketwatch.com, Richard Trumka, the president of the largest labour union in America – the American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) – noted that capitalism has failed to boost wages for the lower and middle class and is in danger of getting replaced. He cited Trump’s emergence as proof of this shift.

His assertions hold water. For the past 40 years, according to data from the Pew Research Centre, adjusting for inflation, wages for non-supervisor roles in the USA have not risen by more than 10%. In Nigeria, it has actually regressed – if we use the minimum wage for example, in dollar terms, N30, 000 (84USD) in 2019 is a lot less than N18, 000 (118USD) in 2010.

Note, however, that within the same period, globally, the prices of assets like land, housing and automobile have seen major growth. This is so much so that, in most European cities, even surgeons – who represent the typical well-paid middle class can hardly afford a home close to the city centre; the scenario is same in Nigeria.

In addition to this gradual pauperization of the low and middle class is the increase in national debt profile. According to PENCOM (September 2018), the Nigerian federal government has borrowed more than 70% of the contributed pensions; and though Nigeria is yet to default on her debt obligations, with more than 60% of the federal government revenue going towards debt servicing, we are not too far from that destination.

With a debt to GDP ratio of 23.4%, Nigeria is pretty better than USA (82.3%), China (47.8%) and India (70.2%). Considering the size of the GDP of these nations, these are gigantic debts; and since domestic debts account for the bulk of these debts, the working middle class are hardest hit when governments print more money to pay this debt or fund the now ubiquitous welfare programmes causing inflation. In other words, it is the middle class that lends its pensions to governments that suffer the most when governments print money to repay them.

It is no surprise, then, that the middle class is shrinking. Few working-class millennials can afford what their working parents achieved at the same age. This is not just a Nigerian challenge; it is a global challenge and is contributing to a lot of global conflicts including the xenophobia in South Africa. Xenophobia and similar militant nationalism are quite appealing: it is easier to blame someone else, particularly foreigners, for intractable issues like these. Brexit is a classic case study.

BEGGAR THY NEIGHBOR: LOCALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY

Capitalism is driven by corporations, and corporations exist solely to maximize shareholders’ wealth. Though capitalism has done much better in supporting a free and prosperous society than socialism and communism, the challenge of unequal income distribution is becoming a significant concern. With it comes a growing tolerance for socialism: many people are beginning to wonder if Karl Marx was not right after all. We now expect governments to solve most of our economic problems and it appears we must make a choice between the freedom that comes from capitalism and the equality socialism/ communism offers. The challenge is that it is unlikely that we can have both.

Even though we can argue that capitalists do not seek to beggar their neighbours, yet it is not the stated goal of the capitalist structure to drive the development of her neighbours; rather, it is to harness the best of available resources to achieve optimal profitability. Hence, developing countries, which are less competitive generally, have a hard time getting good deals; even the USA is now aggressively renegotiating her trade deals. This survival-of-the-shrewdest scenario is the reason Nigeria will need a lot more than aid money to develop; we are far from competitive in a frantically competing world – in fact, the word “competitiveness” is just making a renaissance with our political elite.

CONSIDERATIONS

The goal of this article is to offer an alternative perspective particularly for developing countries in Africa which are not yet completely enmeshed in the capitalist culture and are also at a loss as to which forms of governance to adopt considering the challenges of the available alternatives. It is premised on the conclusion that the current state is not sustainable. The basis of the recommendations is underpinned by the following key factors:

  1. Socio-economic impacts can and should be measured – regardless of the agent, i.e., either the public or private sector.
  2. Sustainability of national development interventions is hinged on the level of balance within the system (quality of human and material development, equal opportunity in income distribution, etc.).
  3. The pricing of inputs and outputs provides indicators on the level of efficiency, level of balance in income distribution and long-term system sustainability.
  4. Culture and education are key factors that influence capacity for long-term productivity.

SUSTAINABILITY INDICES

Sustainability Indices (SIs) as envisioned here are guidelines/regulations/laws prescribed by government (in collaboration with the private sector) that stipulate expected, desired and required ranges of input and output conditions for broad sectors of the economy. For example, what is the required ratio of house pricing as a proportion of median income, corporate profit allocation between workers and shareholders, the price of basic education as a ratio of long-term individual productivity, the price of basic health care as a proportion of median income and the best pricing system for public bonds?

The key goal of the SIs is to ensure that the activities of both the private sector reflect, foster and achieve sustainability considerations. This is very important, as capitalism as presently construed does not consider sustainability as a target.

Take, for example, the cost of housing – one of man’s most important expenditure items. When the cost of housing exceeds a certain proportion of household income, it becomes non-sustainable; the same applies to cost of basic household feeding, health and education. Proactive collaboration between the state and private sector to achieve outcomes that meet the sustainable indices are critical for sustainable development.

The SIs therefore provide a goalpost for economic activities – regardless of whether they are capitalistic or social in nature. The goal of government, consequently, will be to engage critical stakeholders to meet those sustainable ranges and to be inactive when market forces alone can achieve the same.

For income distribution, for example, the SIs can determine what is equitable, either by using taxes or by regulating in-house company profit sharing systems.

Another major issue is public bonds issuance. Governments have fallen in the habit of issuing long-term bonds they don’t plan to repay in the foreseeable future. However, with an SI system that ensures that all bonds are repayable from their impacts within, say, a 25-year interval, it is expected that greater thought would be applied to government debt management systems. Note that the asset prices in some industries, e.g., railways and road construction can be inflated based on the fact that governments are the main buyers – in other words, when evaluated for their economic output, some of such assets are overpriced. SIs ensure that public borrowings for public infrastructure must reflect sustainability; outputs should be sufficient to cover the cost of inputs after adjusting for other costs (inflation and premiums).

The above, if implemented, will lead to structured independent government bonds and a departure from a typical socialist structure where government builds ultra-cheap infrastructure in the short term with heavy loan obligations in the long term. Under this arrangement, a road infrastructure bond will exist as a self-repayable bond. For example, government can structure itself to focus (this is an example) 30% of its revenue on unrepayable investments (security etc.), 25% on overhead, 10% on savings, 30% on repayable investments (its investment) and 5% on prospecting.

Note that taxation is a form of repayment. This proposal essentially recommends that the government be restructured as a social venture capitalist managing public resources with a focus on sustainability and not just growth.

KEY EFFECTS OF THIS APPROACH

  1. Immediate dwindling of the cost of governance as many government institutions will fail to meet the requisite sustainability conditions.
  2. Increased transparency in the governance process, as the goal posts are real and easy to comprehend.
  3. Massive investment in long-term impactful education as this portends one of the most sustainable interventions.
  4. Decrease in government debt resulting from more pragmatism in project design and implementation.
  5. Reduced income disparity due to relatively reduced asset appreciation and better income distribution practice.
  6. Emergence of balanced incentive structures.
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Business as Missions, Heart and Art Foundation, Just Thinking, Mere Christianity, National Development, Publications, Rhythms of Infinity, Stuff of Kings

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July 13, 2019 at 7:36 pm

Calling and the Individual Sense of Significance

Me:                      I am going to change the world

The World:         Change thyself first!

It is true that charity begins at home; it is also true that leadership and true salvation are inside-out; hence, when we meet potential change-agents, particularly the ones we know, it is a lot difficult to believe they can make significant differences. Particularly if we met them before they became “significant”; afterwards, everyone else can believe.

When David showed up to kill Goliath, everyone took him serious except his brother; to whom he answered, “is there not a cause?”. Of course, David, there is a cause; the only issue is why it had to be you that is concerned about it!

Why You?

The reason why this question is often difficult to answer can be attributed to knowledge – our knowledge of ourselves – our perception. David had an individual sense of significance and everyone who has achieved anything significant does. Your internal sense of mediocrity is not a virtue, particularly if you cannot rise above it.

For David, he rose above it, not because he found anything extraordinary about himself, but that He could see God in his very ordinary life. Our sense of significance need not come from ourselves, in-fact, it shouldn’t come from ourselves. It should come from the acknowledgement of our relationship with God and from our basic humanity; I will discuss the latter first.

Public Good and the Individual Sense of Significance

There is a correlation between the influence of individual liberty or the sense of it on the development of nations (public good). When men lived under tyrannical kings, the nobles owned everything of value and there were few incentives to be creative or aspiring; particularly for public good. Hence, when Goliath taunted Israel for 40 years, it was primarily King Saul’s problem – he had the most to lose. We see a similar structure in corporate firms and nations where CEOs and Presidents are the “kings”; the leader is deemed to be personally responsible for the socio-economic destinies of those under their jurisdictions. It is not common to see a “commoner” share these “kingly” burdens even though for the most part, the “king” is really no different from the commoner.

The result of this state of affair is that though everyone talks about the kings, few ponder on the things kings ponder on; it is as if we don’t know that this pondering, regardless of titles, is kingship itself. So, when for example, you take a look at the topics of our undergraduate and post-graduate thesis, particularly in Nigeria, you begin to see the incapacity of the current system to contribute significantly to the current problems of the society; we are not even asking the right questions, simply because of the lack of this sense of significance. You can do a better analysis by evaluating the quality and “kingliness” of the private meditations of the average young person.

Africa and The False Assumption of Significance

It is important to point out that it is often falsely assumed that those with positions are significant and should worry more about our development issues. Hence, it is not unusual that in Africa, it is assumed that the Colonial masters know better (the foreign-is-good syndrome), that the Professors know better, the PhDs, the Senators and the Executive Cabinet Members. Well, if they did, with all the AID money and support we’ve been receiving; the plethora of leadership and Academics at every level, our problems would have been solved.

It is even worse when these individuals believe they actually do know better. Good kings, however, know that the Davids, Josephs and Daniels of this world hold the answer and are not afraid to let them shine.

These false assumptions, to me, is one of the most limiting stereotypes of the African race, it breeds mediocrity, closes its eyes and is lost in perpetual prayer; waiting for a messiah. It is no surprise then that a lot of such “close-your-eye” religiosity is now focused on demons, witches and enemies; it is simply because the problems haven’t gone away – hence, someone need to be blamed.

In truth, Christianity is not a leap of faith into the dark but rather, into light. Arise from your slumber, allow Christ to give you light!

David believed God

David’s sense of significance came from His knowledge of God and His work in Him; all of us who claim such knowledge are called to find likewise courage in Him. Studying David’s life, we do not find a saint, rather, we find a man who sought and found God. By that knowledge (the truths he found) he literally changed the world, he changed himself too – he allowed truth to always conquer him and by that, he could conquer all, including his gravest errors.  

Me: You can change the world.

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Business as Missions, Heart and Art Foundation, Rhythms of Infinity

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April 20, 2019 at 9:12 am

The Caricature of the Soul; the Burden of Hope, the Animal Man and Truthful Grace

“Are we not all cowards, here, in the comforts of this hotel pontificating on what ought to be, what we would want to see; yet, forever delaying the day? Are we not cowards, to have great visions buried under the unease calm of safety, waiting, hoping that one day the King would come calling; is change ever freely given?”

Those were my words to a friend yesterday, it was a bit more pointed than that though; to an extent we agreed that in our patience, we could sense another feeling – the sense that we could do a lot better, if we were a bit bolder. Our concern was for the nation, yet the subject matter appeals to an even greater truth – the human burden in the light of a soul contorted by the vicissitudes of life.

The Caricature of the Soul

Life happens; to us all and she leaves her marks. The human ideal of joy and happiness are ideals not even conceived by everyone, some have never known it; to some, life has been a bitter pill from the beginning, hence, the hope of joy and happiness is something quite different from the norm; yet something none-the-less.

To some, joy and happiness is to overcome their burden – to beat the odds that have beaten them for as long as they can remember; to some who’ve never had such odds, the ideal is of a different nature altogether.

Hence, since the soul should in its perfect soul be of a particular sort, we often do not even know of what sort it is, yet, we feel it; and we feel it so strongly. We share a common burden, the burden of the soul; to attain to a certain utopia – a utopia that constantly eludes us.It is the chase of this utopia that has made the best and the worst of us; urged on by his diverse contortions, man has strived, pushed and shoved to attain this illusory light – to some, nobility, to some, ignobility. Weighed on by his burden, man have in the process lost something so unique, yet so easily lost – his conscious self.

The Animal Man

He is a lot more clever than the ape; could be socially literate, financially literate, yet an animal none the less. A creature of instincts, of flesh, nerves and bones. The animal man is very much like the real man, the difference is that the former is not really conscious; he is not awake. You must have seen him, this animal man, he could fool you; like the beautiful sculpture, it is almost alive, but it is not.

The animal man is man who had labored at the burden of hope, found it tiresome and had gone to sleep, a deep sleep; yet dances to the sway and tunes of the times. In fact, only to that tune; the great noise of the universe is his dreamland, he sings along, dances along, prays along, speaks along, sleeps along and dies along.

Now, I must say this; will not hold back, yes, the animal man is at sync with the caricature of his soul; he is defined by it, motivated by it, praised and rewarded by it. These different caricatures in its diversities typifies persons, people groups and cultures; as if forged by fire, the soul of man bends to the ills of his time and somehow stays frozen by it, stone hard; immune to change.

When we say people of different cultures behave in particular way; we refer to their unique caricatures.It is not that this man loves all of his caricatures, he hates it and hates it even more in others; hence, he is not only bent, he is also alone. The height of this liberty is insanity, a phenomenon so much more common in our world. Hence, national development is not enough, civil liberties are not enough, not even human rights could help this animal of a man. Great ideals no doubt, yet attuned best to man; liberty is great, but not for pigs – it would kill him; and yes, the animal man kills himself, by his liberty. So, we must wake him up, for nothing else will do.

Truthful Grace

An ape cannot make itself into a man, but God can do so; hence, the term “grace”. Not that it is unmerited, but that it is God-given, this ability to be alive. At creation, that something upon which God breathed, of course is not man, he is the object of which I’ve been talking about.

But that entity with whom He conversed after He had breathed, is fully man. The Great Spirit, God; is Truth, in Him there is no variableness, no contortions, no caricatures. He breathes unto dead men to make them alive, and He breathes unto them in truth. “Sanctify them by your word, your word is Truth”; Truthful grace calls our caricatures what it is – sin, and only the contorted man who is humble enough will accept this. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”; only the humble can come alive.

Only the Penitent

I read quite a lot of Indiana Jones growing up and one particular line in his adventures had left an indelible mark in my memory, the place where he had to pass “The Breath of God” – one of the 3 puzzles to be passed before one could have access to the grail cup.

A lot of Indiana Jones’ colleagues had been beheaded as they tried to cross the dark tunnel; as his turn came and he wondered what the words “only the penitent shall pass” meant, he remembered from Scripture that “the penitent man is a humble man before the Lord, the penitent man kneels before the Lord”! He immediately knelt, and missed the sharp blade that almost had his head.

Humble Living

Humble living is truthful living, it is the sincere understanding of the human condition, of its bondages and contortions, it is also the commitment to truth in love; and the knowledge that only those who can humbly come would in reality experience the life they had longed for all their lives. Nothing else will do.

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Business as Missions, Heart and Art Foundation, Just Thinking, National Development, Publications, Rhythms of Infinity, Stuff of Kings

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October 31, 2017 at 8:21 am

Beyond CSR to CSI

Earlier in 2015, I was invited to make a presentation at a brainstorming session on development practice in Nigeria. Our aim was to fashion out the possible engagement focus for a particular organisation. At the end of the session, we all agreed that achieving socio-economic development is at the heart of development in Africa, which can only occur when we have sustainable productive entities (profitable firms). –  Corporate Social Responsiblity (CSR) was discussed too.

A good development agenda must therefore be holistic and should address the challenges that limit our competitiveness as a nation, rather than focusing on increasing specific inputs. This is because even though the latter is good in itself, it cannot singularly bring us to the intended path.

A good example of this is the act of donations to charities as part of corporate social responsibility. While it is a good deed and is intended to help with the wellbeing of the recipients, if it does not improve the chances that a profitable sustainable productive entity would emerge, then it is not a sufficient contribution by itself. Although it is necessary, it is not sufficient.

Considering that the bulk of our private and corporate giving is in the said category, it is not surprising that Africa has not been helped much, even by well-planned aids. The simple reason for this is that the factors that make the African business environment non-competitive have not been sufficiently addressed. For example, increasing the volume of research and development funding without developing sufficient platforms for interactions between research institutes and the industry is an inefficient strategy for innovation development.

When Finland adopted a policy that each postgraduate student must have an industry partner for their projects, the government set the stage for creating industry-relevant personnel. It saw the need for a catalytic, systemic approach that emphasised the complementary nature of the inputs that make for national development. When such a structure exists, it is still not sufficient. Access to finance and a robust intellectual property regime are also critical requirements.

A Case Study of Firm strategy in the Health Care Sector

To be profitable and remain in business, organisations must be more competitive than their competitors. They also must exist in a nation that offers some certain levels of competitiveness. For instance, an equal investment in two pharmaceutical firms, one situated in Nigeria and the other in India, would offer different returns, even when both firms are focused on the Nigerian market.

Several factors act to contribute to the national competitiveness of a particular industry and we would all do better if the corporate social responsibility investments of firms are made to increase the national competitive soil within which they compete.

Source: http://www2.giz.de/wbf/lred/intervention/reflection-analysis-appraisals-diamond.asp

The diagram above reflects the factors that influence national competitiveness as outlined by Prof Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School. The four factors identified as Porter’s Diamond,contribute to the competitiveness of any industry.

The pharmaceutical industry, for example, would benefit from increases in demand if the Nigerian government pursues a more aggressive health insurance policy. An industry-sponsored health insurance promotion programme directed at the government to influence policy could be packaged as a corporate social responsibility programme with the attending tax benefits.

 

For example, I have personally been leading a programme (www.wapip.org) to promote the interaction between research and industry actors for the advancement of pharmaceutical innovation in West Africa. To us, supporting such an initiative is a fantastic corporate social responsibility initiative as it offers numerous advantages, such as increased rate of pharmaceutical research industry partnerships for product development and lead identification.

The first event supported – the NIPRD Industry Business Summit which held at Sheraton, Lagos in 2013 – witnessed some firms making strategic commitments in the area of increased dialogue and alliance formations with NIPRD. We are also working to help make similar contributions in the area of innovation capacity analysis and industry report to assay areas of national competitiveness.

Such efforts, as the ones enumerated, are within the arena of “factor endowments” – in other words, the nature and quality of human and material resources. The factor endowments in the Indian pharmaceutical and health industry would include the rich educational structure that has succeeded in producing a large number of industry-relevant professionals. This factor endowment, coupled with other factors, makes the Indian pharmaceutical industry relatively more attractive for direct foreign investment.

Investments in fostering the quality and volume of the human resources in the Nigerian health care sector cannot be overestimated. Personally, I believe that this is one of our biggest challenges, hence, efforts like those made by Juhel Pharmaceuticals with the support of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, is quite laudable.

We have also been canvassing for investments in pharmaceutical research structures, where a sponsoring industry partner could dictate the research questions that an MSc or a PhD project should seek to answer. When structured properly, an arrangement of this nature could pass for a corporate social responsibility initiative.

 

In the area of promoting the supporting industries – besides the health insurance industry, the finance, agricultural and petrochemical industries are other areas that companies can focus their corporate social responsibility efforts on. The phyto-pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria offers immense opportunities, considering the volume of local demand, with the right factor conditions (the kind we are trying to create) and with the right supporting industry (agriculture), there is a lot that can be done when the corresponding firm strategy and structures are in place.

One of such structures is intellectual property protection, which currently lacks strong enforcement in Nigeria. This is perhaps one good reason why despite the courage of the private sector, it still would take a good government to help Nigeria emerge from her myriad of challenges. The private sector could, however, help in articulating what the remedies should look like.

An innovation system perspective

From the diagram above and from the Porter’s Diamond, the factors contributing to the innovative and therefore, competitive nature of firms are sometimes beyond the scope of their regular business operations. Identifying, designing and implementing projects that would help boost their competitive advantage, even if the advantage is not limited to their firms alone, would go a long way. The options become even more attractive if those projects can be constructed as corporate social responsibility projects.

Finding individuals with the depth and breadth of knowledge base required to make such projects feasible is another challenge on its own. Even though this author has been contributing in this area, the demand gap is still huge, considering the level of time and resource commitments required to see appreciable impact.

Beyond CSR to CSI

At the brainstorming session, we coined a phrase that summarised the thoughts above – “Beyond CSR” – Beyond Corporate Social Responsibility to Corporate Social Integration. The underlying thought frame is that, most times, the same things that would help a nation to be competitive are the same things that would make its citizens and its firms competitive.

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Business as Missions, Heart and Art Foundation, Just Thinking, National Development, Publications, Stuff of Kings

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October 31, 2017 at 8:16 am

Redefining Executive Priorities

 

In August 1939, Albert Einstein, who had fled Nazi Germany some years earlier, wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt informing him of his concerns about Germany’s capacity to develop a nuclear weapon and made suggestions on how America could so same. In response, Roosevelt set up the Manhattan project, to work on developing a nuclear bomb, the project was successful and resulted in the historical bombing of Hiroshima and a few days later, of Nagasaki in August 1945.

Afterwards, the world will never remain the same; we’ve developed a relatively cheap way to annihilate humans.

After, a thoughtful consideration of the damage done and the implications in the future, Albert Einstein spent the latter part of his life canvassing for an end to armed conflict; it was no longer a reasonable proposition for countries with nuclear capacities to engage in wars.

Einstein understood that technology left in the hands of the wrong kind of men could wipe us out; in his words “the human spirit must once again prevail over technology”.

In 2013, Pope Francis generated quite a controversy when he attacked unfettered capitalism as “a new tyranny”, urging global leaders to fight poverty and growing inequality. The crux of the Pope’s message was that if left unchecked, the present exclusive culture that prevails in the market place which extols Money as King would not help the society on the long term.

To me, the Pope was saying that the technology of enterprise when left in the hands of the wrong kind of men could wipe us out as easily as the nuclear weapons could.

Both men are right. The aim of this article, however, is not just to prove the veracity of their assertions but rather to raise some pertinent issues within our unique context.

What is the Goal?

This question is not just for the market arena where the CEO reigns but also for the serene academic institution, the health care service centres and the research community.

What really is the goal of the organisation?

Why do we exist?

Changing Public – Private Boundaries

This question should be answered in the light of the present societal environment where the gaps between private and public organisations are fast disappearing. Globally, universities and research organisations that do not cultivate private sector influence and collaboration would gradually become irrelevant.

All over the world, the Health Care Sector is increasingly being private driven and in Nigeria, the emergence of Managed Health Care led by Health Management Organisations is an indicator to the nature of the future. In India for example, the growth of huge private hospitals and the accompanying decline in the quality and funding of public health facilities gives a pointer to the likely possibilities for us in Africa if we do not arrive at good answers to this question.

The Triple Helix

The concept of the Triple Helix of university-industry-government relationships initiated in the 1990s describes the shift from a dominating industry-government dyad in the Industrial Society to a growing triadic relationship between university-industry-government in the Knowledge Society.

The Triple Helix thesis is that the potential for innovation and economic development in a Knowledge Society lies in a more prominent role for the university and in the hybridisation of elements from university, industry and government to generate new institutional and social formats for the production, transfer and application of knowledge.

The point is that the long legs of Industry has entered the hallowed chambers of the University and many other public service utilities, hence leaders in universities and other public organisations would need to answer questions they have not asked before – questions like “what really is the goal in light of scarce resources and competition?”

It is noteworthy therefore that in this brave new world of ours aptly called a Knowledge Society, the goal of the individual or individuals that lead this Innovation Environment is going to affect every one of us. A case in point is the efforts by Bill Gates with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; his personal answer to the question raised in this article is making a lot of difference even here in Africa.

Corporate Goals: What Business Schools Teach

One of the introductory remarks one would get in any self-respecting business school is on the goal of the enterprise. The general answer is to “maximise shareholder’s wealth”, and frankly in the past half a century, business managers have done a great job of this. Figure 1 is a graph of corporate profits Vs Wages in the United States over a couple of years.

Figure 2Corporate Profits vs. Wages as percentage of GDP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The point to note from the above is that there is almost an inverse relationship between profitability and wages. Though there are a whole lot of arguments right now calling for a breach in income inequality in most parts of the worlds, it is clear that business managers are doing a good job of achieving the goal of business – to maximise shareholder’s wealth.

Given the difference in knowledge base and the resources at the disposal of the operators of the machineries of trade, we do not expect the observed scenario to change much except when the conditions become quite intolerable.

Nations: Global Competition

Of recent, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, defending his visit to Kazakhstan, a nation with a rather bad reputation for human rights abuses, noted that “in the global race for jobs and employment”, some certain actions were necessary. The Prime Minister, I must say, is not at all squeamish about the way he has gone about driving national development, the latest of which is the planned Islamic bond that would make UK the first non-Muslim country to sell a bond that can be bought by Islamic investors. His aim is simple: to encourage massive investment. That said, we must bear in mind that other nations are making trade-offs to increase their aggregate productivity and it is with these nations that we are competing.

Implications for Africa

Given global trade dynamics and the current state of our economies, maximising shareholder’s wealth when adopted as the goal of the enterprise would not bring the majority of our people out of poverty because the wealth of a nation is measured in the aggregate productivity of her citizens and not in the number of billionaires she has (this is a question of wealth distribution) hence outcomes that increase aggregate productivity would go a long way to ensure long term prosperity.

Maximising Aggregate Productivity Vs. Maximising Shareholder’s Wealth

Many times, these are not the same thing and in developing economies like ours, they are definitely not the same. To maximise aggregate productivity, one has to own the factors of production and sometimes it is not immediately profitable to own the factors of production.

Consider the fact that it could be more profitable for a Nigerian trained doctor to practice in the UK than to practice in Nigeria, though aggregate productivity has been reduced on the long term, maximum profitability has been achieved on the short term. The same applies to the cost of medications and other considerations. Hence, though maximising shareholder’s wealth could be a good goal for any particular company in Africa, for a whole industry it is not, especially as it is currently defined.

Can the Human Spirit Prevail?

Einstein believed that the human spirit must once again prevail over technology, the Pope in his address sought to inspire the human spirit to prevail over the technologies of trade and for Africa, that plea is timely. The best decisions that need to be taken in the Health Care Sectors of most African countries will most likely not be the most profitable decisions, yet they are the ones that would increase aggregate productivity. This context as said earlier is important considering the increasing influence of the private sector. In pharmaceutical research and development, we know some diseases will never find funding until someone with a different goal comes around. Some health care training institutions will not be built, some products will be dropped from the product line and some indigenous research projects cancelled for competing engagements that are more profiting.

These ideals cannot be legislated, (Marxism has tried) they can only be preached. Albert Einstein, Pope Francis and now, my humble self, lend our voice to that cry – that the human spirit can prevail over the technologies of war and trade.

For Africa, we must think in terms of the aggregate productiveness of our industries – the ownership of the factors of production, human capacity development and retention, adequate technology integration and the right application of capital. Considering our current predicament, our challenges are great but so are our spirits.

Thank you.

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October 31, 2017 at 2:43 am

THE MANNER OF KINGS…

THE MANNER OF KINGS IN THE CHURCH, NATION AND WHERE WE ARE MISSING IT

“…If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Jesus Christ

The words above have inspired millions of men, the words “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” – Veritas vos liberabit (Latin) is the motto of several leading global institutions, including John Hopkins and the CIA. For Harvard, it is just “Veritas”, meaning “Truth”. Somehow, the men behind these institutions have recognized the liberating power of truth. Bondage in all its forms, is a depiction of the various forms of falsehoods to which we are capable, and if we are to take the words of Jesus seriously, as we should, then the pursuit of truth should be the pre-occupation of everyone.

I’ve written extensively on this subject, particularly as it applies to life and enterprise; you can download a free copy of my 2012 book on the Heart and Art of Innovation here.

What is Truth?

Truth is the right picture of reality; it is the way things really are and when we comprehend it, we can be truly free. Jesus Christ is the ultimate truth, He is the express image of the Father for whom and by whom all things are.

The United States of America alighted on truth when the authors of their constitution wrote “we hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal and endowed by the Creator to certain inalienable rights”. We sometimes forget that it is the democratization of rights that has made the USA what it is today. The truth had set her free. Note also, that her many troubles and ultimate failure can be traced to the truths which she is currently trampling. However, the subject today is on the matter of governance and I wish to beg your indulgence, this article will be a little long but not too long.

I had argued in the 2012 book that truth can be gleaned from three main sources – the observation of nature, the study of relationships between humans and between humans and God (that is, judgments, as found in Scripture). Thirdly, by direct observation of reality (inspiration).

On the truth of governance, we will look at judgments (scripture) for our reference point to truth.

Judgment as Captured by Prophet Moses

Deut 17: 14 – 20

14 When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; 15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. 16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: 20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

Note the Keyword here – “That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren”. It is important that we note that generally, all leaders have the capacity to multiply possessions, yet it is the express requirement of God that they do not. There is no king in Israel that has met this requirement, not even David. In fact, the Achilles hill of David is because of his incapacity to adhere to this injunction.

The Judgment According to Samuel

The children of Israel were served by Judges who God raised to save them from their many captivities occasioned by their sins. These Judges, relatively speaking, adhered to this injunction, until they requested for a King from Samuel, the Prophet. A notable case was that of Gideon who refused blatantly to be King (Judges 8:23); “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: The Lord shall rule over you”. The Israelites desired a King, but it has always been the intention of God to directly rule over His people. This is important, particularly for the Church of God.

1 Samuel 8:7-19.

7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. 8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. 9 Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. 10 And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. 11 And he said, this will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. 13 And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. 16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.17 He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. 19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;

Note that this is exactly what happened and is in many ways happening right now, even in the Church of God. It will come in many guises but the essential element is materialism in the name of God. Note what the Lord also said, “I will not hear you”; it is not every prayer that the Lord listens to, we must search out the truth of the matter, before we start praying, or better, pray to know the truth.

The Testimony of our Lord Jesus

Mathews 23:1-12

Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: 3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. 4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, 6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. 8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. 9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. 11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Notes

Observe that our Lord’s grouse with the religious leaders was not their message but their lifestyle. “Listen to them,” He said, “but don’t copy them”. I am essentially saying the same thing, it is amazing to note that a lot of religious leaders know about the features and colour of the latest SUVs; the materialism is appalling to say the least.

The Lord desires to lead His people individually and though we must encourage and support the fivefold Ministry, of which I am also part of, however, they must not replace this Kingship of God over His people. In the old testament, it was Moses that saw God and narrated to the people; in the New Testament, it is different. “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate. the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Cor. 3:16-18. In Christ, we all, not some of us, not our special leaders, but we all have access to the Father.

Consciously or unconsciously, this common access does not serve the purpose of men, it is a lot better to have you believe that someone else has a much better access. Religion can be sweet, particularly if it profits you, it is not surprising the volume of start-ups in the “industry”.

The Lord’s Testimony in John 13: 12 – 17

12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, know ye what I have done to you? 13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. 16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

Christ was here, establishing the principle of service in the body of Christ, and it is important we note that the Kingdom of God is when we permit the uncontested rule of Christ and His truth in our lives and in the public sphere. For example, if the Church of God, which is the ground and pillar of truth does not practice accountability in its financial dealings, how can we hypocritically expect that level of integrity from politicians?

We lie and do deceive ourselves if we believe that political leaders will maintain a higher level of integrity, accountability, humility and service than we do in our Churches.

 

Conclusion

In summary, a good leadership that has humble, non-materialistic and truth-filled servant leaders will always deliver the dividends of governance – firstly in the Church and then in the nation. Regardless of the beauty and accuracy of the presentation, if we don’t see this, as long as it pertains to the dividends of governance, the Lord will not hear. Until Nigeria achieves this, nothing will save us.

The darkness is already here and we must embrace the light or be completely blinded by the Lie of the enemy. The dark ages in Church history interestingly occurred at the time when the Church was at its height of political and economic influence, the “Kings” of the day did not heed the Oracles of God as captured above, and there were grave consequences, particularly for the followership. That history is repeating itself, hence, the need for a more concerted effort at truth.

The revival we need is not necessarily a fresh outpouring of the Spirit; we just need to get men out of the way. I am convinced it will happen not too long from now; the Holy Spirit is at work already, a lot of people are disenchanted and interestingly, the disenchantment is not with Christ who is the ultimate wonder but with men who’ve captured His Church and it is in the true Spirit of Christ that we must say “get out of here! My Fathers house shall be called a house of prayer but you have made it a den of thieves.

I wrote this piece, particularly for the young yet to be revealed Minister, do not be part of this darkness; we must engage the earnest and noble task of redeeming the righteous mind of this young generation.

May God’s Grace be yours, veritas vos liberabit.

 

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October 31, 2017 at 7:41 am

To Build Your DREAM

Leaders are dealers in hope. They are not hope-dealers because they are more optimistic than the rest of the team but because they are less afraid – not unafraid – to follow their instincts. They smell out water and follow the chase, some have died before they found water but the ones we celebrate today are those who found their chase just before the last breadth.

Often times, their chase is not entirely rational especially at first, at least to the onlooker. It is not that leaders are entirely irrational but often operate with different hues of rationality. Much more than others, the leader is much more prone to cross-examine herself; as she is operating by a higher yardstick. The fears and criticisms of onlookers help her in this quest – to verify her persuasions, hence the necessity of these.

She is special, like the rest of us are and her task also is; so she thinks herself double so and with this, Heaven agrees.

Her failings force her to learn more, to study more and to engage the deliberate act of exposing herself to new ideas and people. She knows the drawings by heart but needs the information out here to help execute her blueprint. Between the actual execution and the learning curves are timelines – the price the leader must pay, the ability to survive this interval is a combination of the Grace of God and practical wisdom. Wisdom to prepare for the rainy day and the Grace of God when preparations fail – as they often do.

The leader is therefore spiritual – she hears things and most time has a great deal more faith in those things than in the observable. To kill her before time, one must first disconnect the vital link –this meditative heart, to fill it with noise and cares.

A leader knows that life is really a preparation for death – not a cessation from existence but a completion of the race of this particular phase of life. She lives not to survive it or to just exist because she knows she would always do (we all will keep existing), rather she lives to be ready for the finish line –to die. With her, God is really glad, for she has lived as she ought to.

For her journey, she must find wisdom and faith. This is written to remind him that both are within grasps, that though the errors of life be many, but with faith and wisdom, one can arrive ready –having done all that God had required of us. For some, that path might involve many failures but these kinds are akin to those of a child learning to walk. The one who stumbled trying – and all would, might have failed to stand but the wisdom is not in calm sitting but in the faith to try again.

 

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October 31, 2017 at 7:28 am

THE HIGH CALLING OF GOD

Faith is not man’s quest for God, it cannot be, for where can he find Him? It is God’s quest for man; hence, genuine acts of Faith are best seen in man’s response to the passions of God. When the Scripture says “seek Me and you shall find Me”, it is not because of the greatness of our efforts but in our response to the one who so earnestly seeks us. The true seeker is truly sought. Yes, in many ways, God has been really looking for you.

Man’s righteousness therefore is not a product of good deeds but in the obedience to God. If you have really tried hard at being good, you would agree that the self awareness posture required to pursue righteousness quickly leads to the discovery of one’s depravity. We are not perfect creatures, but we can be. The passions of God for us, makes such possible.

Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

The Nature of the Call
This call of God, however, is not essentially a physical or material calling, it is that and much more. It is true that God must not be judged by the material, many have missed Him by so doing.

The call of God is to God. ”Abraham” He says,”I am your exceedingly great reward”. For Abraham, his son Isaac was the promise – the material result of his faith, yet God wanted to bring him to the place beyond Isaac. This divine desire is same for all of us. The day Abraham believed God was the day he pleased Him and his faith was accounted for righteousness; yet, it took a longer while for Abraham to get Isaac. Our Isaacs are not as important as our response to the call.

Yes, material results are not as important to God as we think of them; though in many ways we deal with Him in the material, He is more concerned with what goes on in our hearts. Every business man knows how easy it is to lose money after it is made; the wise one learns that the critical thing is the nature of the heart of the individual, with or without the resources. By that, it is easier to judge men, not in the size of their pockets, but in the size of their hearts.

1Ki 4:29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

God in the Mundane
God speaks to us, when we are in relationship with him and sometimes even when we are not. Now, it is difficult to claim to know God if such a relationship of hearing does not exist; if we are not in pursuit of Him on a daily basis. But if we are, we would find that even in every day things of work and living, God has a will for us as individuals; that agenda sometimes look mundane and not so spiritual but the source is always very clear, even when the message is not.

For someone, it was to literally help carry the cross of Christ. Another gave his tomb to be used for His burial and countless persons have in the ordinary course of human pursuit dedicated their lives and resources to doing the biddings of God. However, beyond these desires of God from us is His desire of our lives – we are desired to be creatures of a particular sort.

2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

He desires us to be creatures of love in a world where such love is alien and of righteousness where corruption is rife. It is a calling away from ourselves and to God – for it is only in Him that we can truly find ourselves. We’ve not always lived up to call, yet like Paul, it should be the relentless pursuit.

The Glory and the Glorifier
God is both – the glory and the one that glorifies. True glory is to know the applause of God – the ‘well-done, thou good and faithful servant’ commendation. The pursuit of the high calling is to pursue that commendation above every other accomplishment. In pleasing God, we might gain the glory of men but must learn to count such as nothing and fleeting. His is the one that endures.

The Fear of the Lord
The Lord commandeers his own, like soldiers in an army, we obey the supreme command. There are times when in battle array, when in the thick of the battle we are jostled from our positions and shaken by enemy fire, it is particularly then that good soldiers listen to receive the orders of their commanding officer. The one who fears the Lord waits upon Him, he might be slow but eventually he would arrive right on time.

Who am I?
I am thine!

1Pe 2:9-11 But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you- from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul.

Muchas Gracias

 

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October 31, 2017 at 4:26 am

Bishops in the Market Place

The Premise

The nature of the individuals to which this text refers are individuals who have come to a place.

These individuals have come to a Psalm 23 and 46 place.

Psalm 23:        The Lord is my Shepherd…

                        He makes me lie down in green pastures

                        He leads me besides still waters

Psalm 46:         Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!

                         A river brings joy to the city of our God, the sacred home of the Most High

God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed. From the very break of day, God will protect it.

There are men that have a river, not really that they are led by still rivers but that there is an inner river that makes all the difference, men whose trust is in the Lord and in Him alone.

David was of that rank.

He had known the Fatherhood of God

He had an inner stillness

He was accustomed to God-refreshing

This premise is not innate; we often arrive here after passing through the wilderness.

The Wilderness

The purpose of God-ordained wildernesses is to bring us to rest – to an inner refreshing, an inner stillness that is not affected by the shaking of the mountains and the surging of the seas.

The wilderness is often the first encounter in following God’s plan. It is the introduction to process.

Jesus was here.

Joseph was here

Jacob was here

Abraham was here

David was here

You will come here

Wilderness shows ours heart, teaches reliance on the word and, hence, we are approaching this discourse from this premise of rest.

Characteristics

  1. From the finished work of Christ, we have mastery!
  2. Here, we are not in a quick-fix mode
  3. We are operating from rest
  4. We are not hustling

 

The Motivation

1        We are not trying to make money

2        We are not trying to be like the Jones’s

3        We are not trying to prove a point

4        We are about our Father’s business

 

 

Eph. 2:10 for we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.

Heb 4:9 so there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God.

Heb 4:10 for all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labours, just as God did after creating the world.

 

The Business Arena

When you look at governments and the Business Arena, What Do You See?

Jer. 1:11 Then the LORD said to me, “Look, Jeremiah! What do you see?

What you see matters; it defines your reality and your rules of engagement.

Contemporary World Views

Most people see:

  1. The rat – race
  2. Pay checks
  3. Connections
  4. The Big names

 

What We SEE

The Kingdom perspective is to Systems – Spheres of Influence

The Business Arena and governments are spheres of influence – of control.

The prevailing mind-set and culture in the market place is a direct picture of the prevailing influences – either that of our Kingdom or of this world’s.

 

Bishops

Bishops within this context refers to overseers – men and women who to an extent are charged with the responsibility of administering the socio-economic fate of other men under their charge.

Though a Bishop in this case would be a major industry leader, I’d chosen the term to depict the spiritual nature of the responsibilities of these men and their effects on the economy. Though it is the government that administer policy, security and the rules of the economic playing field, it is the business leaders that ultimately operate that field.

Bishops operate within three main arenas – business, governments and the academia.

Responsibilities of Market Place Bishops

  1. They win and administer the contracts that comprise the majority of the government’s budget.
  2. They administer the pooled resources of the team – insurance, pension funds and savings of the public and the government.
  3. They manage the resources of the government, e.g. oil wells, firms, etc.
  4. They store the resources of the team. E.g. Banks, investment houses, etc.
  5. They employ a great number of the society members.
  6. They directly and indirectly influence the quality and quantity of the food on the table of the team.
  7. They influence the election of the personnel on the team into government positions (note that government personnel were all from the team).
  8. They are lobbied by Government to bring in investment and drive economic growth.
  9. They lead efforts in the creation of new products and services and determine the level of the industrialization of the nation.
  10.  They are great leaders and are often paid premiums for administering the funds of the nation.

 

Responsibilities of Bishops in the Academia

  1. They directly and indirectly shape the culture of the people
  2. They provide credibility to the policies and strategies of the other bishops
  3. Their intellectual garb provides a powerful stimulus for action; they essentially seek to perpetuate the prevailing logic of the society.

 

Responsibilities of Bishops in Governance

  1. They directly influence the socio-economic state of the people
  2. They provide public leadership and manage public resources
  3. They shape culture
  4. They operate security and other public infrastructure

 

Note that the roles of these leaders are a given, someone must play that role and only few people can do that at the same time. The system is such that playing these roles – particularly for business leaders, would ultimately make one very rich; hence, the billionaire club is a default niche team. The global economy is such that some people would need to be billionaires. Hence, this article is not about material possession, but about influence.

For business leaders, examples of such leaders are the owners of the major corporation in Nigeria, their actions and inactions affect us more than we care to admit. The recent upheaval in our banking sector is a clear indicator of the potent power of a few individuals. The way our business leaders would react to the Chinese and Indian onslaught would very much determine our national economy ten years from now.

Their decision to either make more money for themselves or create more value for Nigerians would influence you. Note that value creation and money generation are not always one and the same, within a global economy, a nationalistic posture may not bring maximum returns for a business owner but would generate best returns on the long term for the nation within which he operates. The Bishop’s decision at such situations is the main thrust of this text.

Joseph as a Bishop

Gen 39:4 -5 

And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.  And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.

Bishop Question

Does it matter who the bishop is? 

Your answer is important.

Our Rallying Point – It is a Good Thing

1Ti 3:1 this is a true saying, if a man desires the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.

Other Words use for the good work:

  1. Noble,
  2. Virtuous,
  3. Honourable and
  4. Worthwhile

Remember …

Eph. 2:10 for we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.

Phil 4:8 and now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

It is good thing to desire to be a Bishop.

It is honourable and for many of us, it is the good Work.

 

Our Case Study Bishops – Men to Study

Daniel | David | Melchizedec | Joseph | Abraham |

 14 Character Traits of a Bishop

  1. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach – integrity
  2. The husband of one wife: Loyalty of affection
  3. Sober-minded,
  4. Self-controlled,
  5. Respectable,
  6. Hospitable,
  7. Able to teach,
  8. Not a drunkard,
  9. Not violent but gentle,
  1. Not quarrelsome,
  2. Not a lover of money.
  3. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,
  4. He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
  5. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

 

The Trajectory of a Bishop

  1. Faithful with that which is another man’s
  2. Faithful with Money
  3. Faithful with Little

From the above, a Bishop is a good manager.

We see such in the life of our case study bishops, these men were able to manage resources very well

Posture of the Bishop Heart

  1. God focused – Spirit led
  2. Love – To see God in others
  3. Faith – Unbelief is not the lack of confidence in God’s ability but rather, a doubt of His revelation.

 

The best of our universities, businesses and public corporations that deliver the greatest value to the society today were built by well-meaning bishops. Well-meaning in this context refers to individuals whose primary motivation was not just to increase the bottom line (annual profit) but rather to provide optimum service to the society and to the nation in general and to advance the Cause of Christ. 

It is important to note that Daniel, Joseph, David and Abraham served their society as well as the Cause of God; they were not hermits, stowed away “unto the Lord”.

This is written because God has commissioned certain Bishops for certain tasks and our roles include articulating our responsibilities and the belief system within which those responsibilities would be discharged.

A bishop therefore must be a man of vision and skills, a man who lives for a larger cause other than the bottom line, he must be a man of passion, a man who loves his nation and his people. He should also be a man of faith, he should be able to see opportunities in our bleak horizon and lead his team to maximize such. As a spiritual man, he should see both the seen and the unseen, hear the inaudible and move immovable scenarios. He should be a studious man, a diligent learner committed to maximum value creation for his team, nation and Lord.

The Focus of Bishops

Learn Management

  1. To Build a Team or be Part of a great team
  2. To provide leadership
  3. To drive followership for a cause

Learn how to build and lead an organisation – a system, a culture of excellence and of getting things done. Be wise; have practical wisdom.

Management

This skill-set is transferable – He that is faithful in little is faithful in much

Do it for free if necessary. Provide Management even when you’re not paid for it, one day you will. Remember Joseph in the prison and at Potiphar’s house

Be faithful at it.

Keep growing your circle of influence – that’s discipleship!

 Interpret Dreams

Provide Solutions, you will do these at three levels.

  1. The dreams of neighbours/colleagues
  2. The dreams of Pharaoh – significant people of greater influence
  3. Your own dream – saving Jacob

 

Be solution driven – let compassion take you away…let it move you to action.

Be concerned and curious

Do something about your curiosity

Research, Research, Research!

Meditate on things…you have the mind of Christ!

What bothers you? Meditate on it.

Interpreting Dreams can be delivered at three levels:

  1. Advisory                          –  Daniel
  2. Project Management    –  Joseph as Prime Minister and Daniel as Administrator
  3. Business Management – Leadership in the business of government David as         King/You as CEO

 

Providing Solutions Essentially Involve three things

  • Managing people
  • Managing the Vision
  • Managing Results

Don’t just have good ideas, always have capacity to deliver – i.e. management capacity.

 Make Proposals          

 Raise your hand for the job!

 Joseph wasn’t asked to make an offer, He did. (Gen 41:33)

Daniel initiated his first solution provision. (Daniel 2: 14-19)

David applied for the Job (1 Samuel 17:26)

 They all had what it takes, yet they had to go out and make an offer.

Don’t wait for an invitation. You may never get one.

Volunteer ship is one way to find ourselves within the purposes of God – it does not overlook the profit that would come out of it (like David’s inquiry on the reward) yet the primary motivation is not profit.

Note: It is Beyond Isaac

Imagine if all that Abraham saw was Isaac…he wouldn’t have agreed to the sacrifice.

This is the cure for materialism; the one that measures himself/herself by the name of their car, jet or building have fallen for the major pitfall of bishopric.

The Purpose of Isaac (The Promise) is to bring us to the Divine Nature.

Remember the Oracle of Kingship – Deut 17: 14-20; the God chosen King must not multiply resources (houses and wives for himself) so that his heart be not lifted above his brethren. You can read more on this here.

2Pe 1:4.

Through which He has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, so that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. The corruption in the world comes through lust…

Finally, Be Faithful!

 Luke. 17:10 So also when you have done all things commanded you, you say, we are unprofitable slaves, for we have done what we ought to do.

Faithfulness is to do our work out of a deep sense of obligation, this is our reasonable service.

 

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