We should all read about the non-violent People Power Revolution in the Philippines and how it is what is today. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_Power_Revolution

Enough truly is enough.

IT_Guru:

Sorry for the incidence. You may need to also report it to the Nigerian Police Auto Theft/Recovery Portal: http://74.55.133.250/reportlogin.php . (I don't know how efficient it is as I have not used it before).

But you could have saved this act, recover your Vehicle by now and have Peace of Mind if you have our 3-in-1 Vechicle/Fleet Management System installed in that Vehicle.

Please Read our Post for details: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-376333.0.html

For other readers: A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE

I was going to install a tracking system, initially the first insurance company we approached had offered a package which came with tracking, unfortunately I had been advised to stick with an insurance company I have history with, so that when a situation as such happens they would be no *story* getting the funds bank. Unfortunately as I had only driven the car 4 days (it had arrived Lagos just the week before and I had only just gotten the MOT done) I hadn't even had enough time to learn how to navigate Lekki to VI let alone researching a decent tracking system. No point crying over spilled milk but this is certainly something I would advice anyone to invest in. Two companies that most people seem to recommend are Cotrak and Track Tag.

Thank you everyone for the kind words and my apologies for the delayed response. The VIN/Chassis number is AHTLC58E903009590 and proof of ownership was issued on 09-02-10 with Spec VIN A3812368.

I am thankful to be here, insurance has said the process will take up to six months as the police have to send a final report stating they have not been able to recover the vehicle. There is a reason for everything I believe, so in all this I'm thankful.

Thanks again everyone.

My car was stolen from me just this Monday (1st of March 2010). I'm still in shock from the whole incidence. I don't know what possessed me to go use the ATM, but it was a fairly public place at about 8pm on admiralty way in Lekki 1. Two men walked up to me, one put a gun to my stomach and asked for my keys, they took my car Toyota Corolla 2009 Model Silver, with all my belongings in it, Blackberry, Nokia, Wallet, Cards, Drivers License and my hand bag. They even took my house keys, leaving me stranded.

Writing about it now even makes me want to cry as I'd barely had the car for three weeks and had just driven it four times. I'm also new to Lagos and was just starting to find my feet. Now I'm taking refuge back at my family house which I had proudly moved out of.

If anyone has any details at all (especially car details), the registration number is FM520 ABJ, although I'm certain they would have removed the plates. I don't have a picture of my car but here is a picture of what it looks like. The VIN/Chassis number is AHTLC58E903009590 and proof of ownership was issued on 09-02-10 with Spec VIN A3812368.

It's a challenge I tell you. Another point I'd add is "once you have doubts over a staff, let them go", "an infection untamed always leads to total decay". We're now selling one of the businesses. It's hard to do business in Nigeria and keep your integrity. I couldn't ever bring myself to ridiculously marking up products and so this (in addition to my staff using my store to sell stolen products) led to the downfall of my business.

Another story for my kids. For now I'll stick to service industry businesses.

My car was stolen from me just this Monday (1st of March 2010). I'm still in shock from the whole incidence. I don't know what possessed me to go use the ATM, but it was a fairly public place at about 8pm on admiralty way in Lekki 1. Two men walked up to me, one put a gun to my stomach and asked for my keys, they took my car Toyota Corolla 2009 Model Silver, with all my belongings in it, Blackberry, Nokia, Wallet, Cards, Drivers License and my hand bag. They even took my house keys, leaving me stranded.

Writing about it now even makes me want to cry as I'd barely had the car for three weeks and had just driven it four times. I'm also new to Lagos and was just starting to find my feet. Now I'm taking refuge back at my family house which I had proudly moved out of.

If anyone has any details at all, the registration number is FM520 ABJ, although I'm certain they would have removed the plates. I don't have a picture of my car but here is a picture of what it looks like.

@Motomax I can genuinely say I know how you feel, but we should thank God for our lives. It could have been worse.

Sales Assistant

› Contract Type: Permanent
› Company: Vecktor Ltd
› Sector: IT/Consumer Retail
› Location: Abuja Business District, FCT
› Salary: N20,000 - N35,000 (depending on experience) + BONUS + MANY BENEFITS
› Reference: SA003

Description

As a Sales Assistant you will be the ambassador of the brand, providing excellent customer service, driving sales, maintaining store presentation and positively upholding the standards and values of this luxury brand.

The successful candidate must be well presented, driven, keen, highly motivated & sales orientated and enjoy the world of electronics and IT. You will see this as an opportunity to work for an aspirational brand with whom you can develop your career. You should also have proficient knowledge of:
› Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari etc
› Microsoft Office (Excel, Word and Powerpoint)
› Emailing
› Current gadgets and gizmos

Successful candidate must also be able satisfy the following:
› Fluent english
› OND/HND/BSc or above
› Must have completed NYSC if applicable with certificate
› Must have valid identification such as National ID/Driver's License/Passport (University ID cards or previous job ID cards will not be accepted)
› No criminal record
› No physical health issues that will affect lifting products
› Most be available to work from 1pm on sundays.
› You will be required to take a series of assessments (min 2) which will be arranged with you shortly.

If this sounds like you please send your CV with a brief cover letter to talent@vecktor.co.uk with reference above in the e-mail subject.

Sales Assistant
› Contract Type: Permanent
› Company: Vecktor Ltd
› Sector: IT/Consumer Retail
› Location: Abuja Business District, FCT
› Salary: N20,000 - N35,000 (depending on experience) + BONUS + MANY BENEFITS
› Reference: SA003

Description:
As a Sales Assistant you will be the ambassador of the brand, providing excellent customer service, driving sales, maintaining store presentation and positively upholding the standards and values of this luxury brand.

The successful candidate must be well presented, driven, keen, highly motivated & sales orientated and enjoy the world of electronics and IT. You will see this as an opportunity to work for an aspirational brand with whom you can develop your career. You should also have proficient knowledge of:
› Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari etc
› Microsoft Office (Excel, Word and Powerpoint)
› Emailing
› Current gadgets and gizmos

Successful candidate must also be able satisfy the following:
› Fluent english
› OND/HND/BSc or above
› Must have completed NYSC if applicable with certificate
› Must have valid identification such as National ID/Driver's License/Passport (University ID cards or previous job ID cards will not be accepted)
› No criminal record
› No physical health issues that will affect lifting products
› Most be available to work from 1pm on sundays.
› You will be required to take a series of assessments (min 2) which will be arranged with you shortly.

If this sounds like you please send your CV with a brief cover letter to with reference above in the e-mail subject.

Salary: Up to N50,000 + bonus
Reference: PA001
Contract Type: Permanent
Location: FCT Abuja

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for a Personal Assistant to join a Top Tier Umbrella company.  Our client is a market-leading organisation, a global name, recognised for rewarding hard working employees and encouraging career development.  This P.A. role therefore provides an excellent opportunity to hone your marketing, business administration and project management skills in a supportive and encouraging environment.

As part of this Personal Assistant role you will have responsibility for the following:

Diary management on behalf of Senior Management
Making travel arrangements on behalf of Senior Management – organising flights, booking hotels, arranging itineraries
Booking meetings and conferences
Liaising with clients and employees – acting as the main point of contact for any queries
Rolling out company policies and overseeing quality standards
Meeting and greeting key clients
Fielding and monitoring telephone calls

In order to apply for this P.A. role it is essential that you have good academics and previous experience gained within a Corporate environment.  It is a pre-requisite that you have excellent systems skills (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook) and are a good team player.

This fantastic Personal Assistant position is available mid december – if interested in this role please e-mail your c.v. along with a cover letter to talent@vecktor.co.uk.

So I'm planning the big move back home in a month and in as much as I continue to get cold feet I know it's going to be amazing. But what gets me are the things I'm going to miss, pilates, sushi, fast internet, my blackberry (yes I know there is BB in Nigeria but it's so complicated) and salsa! Now all the others there is a remedy to, I do want to stay away from the internet anyway so thats great, pilates I can rent a video, sushi well I can get recipes I guess. But salsa! My heart sinks.

The irony is I did get into salsa in Lagos, La casa to be exact. Started taking classes and it such a beautiful thing. Not so easy when you live in Abuja! Are there any classes in Abuja? I haven't heard of any. Is any one interested in classes? Ideally if I could find a guy I could salsa with I'd be content, thats all I need a salsa fix every week. Or ideally we can start a group/night and teach those interested. What do you guys think?

- Hire based on intuition, work experience is completely unreliable
- Deadlines should be doubled
- You need an office!
- Think tomorrow, and not today, grow and don't end up being another start-up

Hi Sbu

Long time no speak ey? I took a bit of a nairaland break, it was becoming the 2nd addiction (1st being facebook) and half the time people were arguing etc, so no I'm back and treading every so softly. Still in london?

Hey guys,

So with my experience, I've noticed there are some standard business rules some global and some Nigerian specific. For those of you out there business owners or not, please add as much as you can to this thread - I later want to compile for future reference.

All points can be debated but please also add ideas!

Actually I've been in touch with other banks. I hear it is UBA only as they had an issue with EFCC and CBN. The amount is irrelevant, it applies to any monies being transfered out of the country so I've moved my funds to Oceanic and now use them. If UBA continue like this, they'll lose my business all together!

p.s. There is an apple store in Abuja (ceddi plaza) and one in Lagos (civic centre and dolphin estate). Both stores deliver to any part of the country (I think) for circa N4000. Food for thought.

Ok I'm an employer. I have just employed 3 people (in Abuja) out of a pool of 30 from around the country, cut down to 15 who went through a whole test/orientation day (you never want to interview 15 people in one day - tiring!). Only one person sent a thank you note, it wasn't the ass kissing type. But it was articulate, with brevity and the style of interviewing we used was very unconventional and not common place in Nigeria. He sighted all that and guess what - he's now the manager. It's a bit cheesy but it does indeed make you stand out. Even if it's just saying thank you for having me, look forward to hearing from you sort of thing.

I've never been to an interview really. Because of the nature of my work, you find most employees want to be very informal and "have a chat" as they commonly call it. You end up talking to them about other somewhat unrelated things like photography and telling them you'd send them cool bits, so the "was lovely meeting you today, here are the links to my pictures I told you about bla bla" is inevitable. I say go with your gut.

LOL You guys are making me laugh. My stomach aches. Especially the possibility that they might be dummy camera's now that would be a huge prank! I've never seen any of these cameras in Abuja I dare say. Solar power is great, they did manage to solar power streetlights from Asokoro to Maitama and beyond - rather impressive.

Disgusting. Is there really no end to this problem. Utterly digusting - I have to go look at solar power again,

I hope no one was affected Only in Nigeria will a building "collapse" without any external effects!

Sky Blue:

to be honest i am still at a loss in understanding how one single agency can be responsible for providing power to a whole country, and a country of 140million people at that. Just does not make sense especially given that the country we speak of is Nigeria. The way the government continues to handle this issue is just shocking. The market needs to be open and the task needs to be delegated to smallers regions or states. Let lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcout, etc be in charge of generating their own power. This monopoly in the power sector has not helped anything at all.

I couldn't agree with you, exactly what happened with the telecom industry and Nitel, needs to happen with NEPA or PHCN or whatever new rebrand they come up with to hide their appalling service. They should have a grid/main supply and suppliers, just emulate the system as it as around the world.

Quite simply our resources would become our vast number of educated, intelligent, imaginative people. We'd sell services, improve our agriculture (of course when there's no money to important) and take taxes seriously. In other words, our resources would become our people (in addition to billion other things we have in our rich soil).

I'm completely disgusted at the new apparent criteria passed by CBN. You cannot transfer money (your OWN MONEY!) out of the country without a FORM M or FORM A on anything "substantial" or "taxable" - of course in true Nigerian fashion there is grave ambiguity here. Here is the dumb part, to get a FORM M you require a company registration certificate, a proforma invoice, a marine certificate and a SONCAP.

The former three are not too far fetched, now the last is what really grates at me. A SONCAP certificate is basically a document saying the goods are of a working standard, now the majority of products already have international certification but of Nigeria have implement their own protocol, furthermore it used to be possible to get this tests done say at the warehouse of the supplier, now apparently this has to be done on ground in Lagos or Abuja. How in God's name are you to get the products at the port for test, without the funds to secure them in the first place. A vicious cycle one ends up. Why do we think out of our arses, without any simple common sense. So in the even I want to send money to a friend in say Paris, for no apparent reason - I can't! In the name of fighting corruption. Anyone here with some banking experience? Please shed some light on this. Running a retail outfit in Nigeria means I'm unable to get more goods in the country without funds (MY OWN FUNDS).

Our Client is one of the world's most prestigious household consumer electronic brands specialising in media players, home computers, accessories, and peripherals. It has built its name on its unrivalled stylish and sophisticated product range wedded to retail experience that is unlike any other. Much copied but never matched. They are now looking for a Retail Manager and Sales assistants to help maintain and build on the growth within the Nigerian market.  The positions available are as follows

[size=15pt]Retail Manager [/size]
Contract Type: Permanent
Company: Vecktor Ltd
Sector: IT/Consumer Retail
Location: Abuja Business District, FCT
Salary: N40,000 - N60,000 (depending on experience) + BONUS + MANY BENEFITS
Reference: RM001

Description
You will be responsible for providing the drive and direction as well as representing the brand within the retail outlet. You will liaise with the Head Office to decide on best strategies and maximise sell-through of products.

Your main responsibilities will be;
› Coach, train and develop your team.
› Ensure KPI's (Key Performance Indicator's) are met.
› Deliver exemplary customer experience.
› To be creative in the planning of store events , and in day to day floor management.
› Drive sales and brand awareness.

The successful candidate will be computer literate, and have a track record showing you as an excellent 'people manager' , as well as someone who improves sales within your organistion, combined with an ambition to work with one of the best companies within retail and have proven knowledge of:
› Internet Explorer, Firefox etc
› Microsoft Office (Excel, Word and Powerpoint)
› Use of email clients (MS outlook or mozilla thunderbird etc)
› Current technological equipment
› Basic accounting skills

If this sounds like you please send your CV with a brief cover letter to talent@vecktor.co.uk with reference above in the subject.


[size=15pt]Sales Assistant [/size]
Contract Type: Permanent and Part-time available
Company: Vecktor Ltd
Sector: IT/Consumer Retail
Location: Abuja Business District, FCT
Salary: N20,000 - N40,000 (depending on experience) + BONUS + MANY BENEFITS
Reference: SA001

Description:
As a Sales Assistant you will be the ambassador of the brand, providing excellent customer service, driving sales, maintaining store presentation and positively upholding the standards and values of this luxury brand.

The successful candidate must be well presented, driven, keen, highly motivated & sales orientated and enjoy the world of electronics and IT. You will see this as an opportunity to work for an aspirational brand with whom you can develop your career. You should also have basic knowledge of:
› Internet Explorer, Firefox etc
› Microsoft Office (Excel, Word and Powerpoint)
› Emailing
› Current gadgets and gizmos

If this sounds like you please send your CV with a brief cover letter to talent@vecktor.co.uk with reference above in the subject.

@Ibis

Are u a Guy or lady? I know ladies find it easier to float without any movements because of their less body density.

When u say thread d water do u mean like Bruse-Almighty did?

Lol no, to tread water (not thread) is to float in water as though you were walking in it but at same time not really moving - you move your legs in a sort of riding bicycle motion. Heres a photo http://www.fhp.state.fl.us/academy/ClassActs/Class112/images/112PG062606g.jpg

I'm a decent swimmer, unfortunately I find a lot of Nigerians can't swim, I can do as much as 50m, can freestyle and breaststroke (the butterfly maybe in future) I can tread water but get tired after a few minutes, I need to practice some more. Most human beings can lay flat on their backs and not drown, its just natural and not that phenomenal as some people in this thread seem to imply. As long as you take deep breaths and breathe out slowly.

Exactly as seun has said you just need to update the name servers of the .com site, furthermore you should tell your client its in their best interest as the original site has horrible HTML mark up (tables and capital letters YUCK) is SEO unfriendly and will give them a tainted-ish name, i.e. make him see that he'll be wasting his money and time by not using what you built. Welldone however

I found this http://www.cac.gov.ng/Pages/fee1.htm and this http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreTopics/StartingBusiness/CaseStudy.aspx?economyid=143 , it looks ever so complicated

You've got it sooo twisted. Any real interactive designer would use illustrator or fireworks, mainly fireworks for digital design and illustrator for digital and print design. Illustrator is also faster than fireworks but I use fireworks more. Photoshop is an image editing application, period (fine its more versatile than that, but illustrator was designed for vectors not photoshop) - I work with people who have been in the design industry since 1987 (thats when our company was founded) and they ALL use illustrator. Frankly I don't see the point of this post.

Definitely not, you need to differentiate web designer and web developer. I know too many female web designers (mostly called interactive designers). Infact at work we have alot more female designers than male (myself included).

Oh ok. Phew.

No, kai is it because this forum is 99% Nigerian that english/communications seems to be a problem or is it me :p (joke!)

What Sbu was telling you is within computing you will get maths because they need it, however you would only get some sections of maths that are relative to comp sci (not the whole 9 yards for obvious reasons). Same goes for engineering but because electrical engineering is 80% calculation we do take ALOT of maths modules (taught by people from the maths department)

I'm giving you advice not debating with you, I have 2 friends studying maths and I studied engineering and we can almost tackle similar problems, civil engineers and chemical engineers have their own bits of maths they need to cover. (Packages like MATLAB, Mathcad etc we ALL had to learn - engineers and mathematicians - at my uni that is, not many of my comp sci colleagues can compete with me at maths)

So moral of the story is doing maths would be a good idea - I reckon - whilst self-tutoring yourself in comp sci, it makes a good balance. And what I was also trying to hint is if you do take an engineering degree you would still know a significant amount of maths (there are alot of options - don't restrict yourself to sciences)