HAPPY NEW YEAR

Good morning everyone, 

 
Yaas, finally I get to write the very first blog post of the new year. Lest I forget, Happy new year to all our readers and critics we wish you all the best of 2019. Today is 1st day of the month of February and it’s very difficult to believe we are already in the second month. This is obviously the fastest of January I have witnessed since I was born, because there is this general notion that this month is always slow but this time around I wonder what actually changed. 

But why is that so? last December, I drew up a list of my top priority expenses in January and just then I discovered that there is nothing so special about any month than to just observe the public holiday only and get back to work the next day to make some money to cater for the bills. Naturally our people will suspend business from 24th and some of them may not return until the Sunday that preceded the day kids resumes back at school. This might fall within 4th, 5th and 6th of the January most of the times and by the time you calculate the number of days’ businesses and stores has been under locks and keys you’ll realize some would have spent an average of 10 days of expenses without any income. 

To an average civil servant who had received a 13th month pay as a bonus, they quickly forget that the January salary will arrive so late due some factors won’t have the time to explain this morning as soon as they enter the December mode. December mode; December mode; They will forget that their rent expires in that same month, the second term of the new school session starts in January with lots of them still having outstanding school fees bills to clear, most of the food items in the house would have been cleared (lol), outstanding textbooks and other stuffs. 

So what changed? Just like myself, our people have started to wake up to responsibilities of setting priorities and making a scale of preference. I had deposited an advance tuition of the new term on the last day of the previous term before the holiday arrived. I went around town and it was shocking to discover that most stores were open for half days and some were for all day on 24th and 25th. Fast forward to 31th, the new year eve. Some business owners used the opportunity of the long night to extent their opening hours and make more money. Where I come from, that tailor shop will open all night to meet up with deliveries of cloths for people, that barber shop down the street is always there. People will want to have new hair cut into new year. Don’t bother to talk about the churches and the mosques(lol), that night is there harvest night. The beer joint is no-no; it is a carnival night. In 2017, that pharmacist shop will be closed, save goes to confectionaries, to the woman selling recharge voucher, to the dude selling cloths at a small kiosk etc. But 2018 was surprised that in places where the owner of the store is not there to attend to you, they’ll have someone in place to attend to your needs. 

To my surprise, my workers were so reluctant to take the new year holidays off. They made arguments such as, no be who get money to celebrate their reason holiday, why would anyone wants to stay at home on a Tuesday morning why not close earlier than normal days than to have an entire shut down. We got everything we might need ahead of time thinking the cement store might not open as well. Guess what When I passed that store on the early hours of the new year, someone sat at the entrance shouting “Happy New Happy New Year Engineer”. Isn’t it a beautiful year already. 

 
Did we also notice that money is not in circulation as it used to be in every January of an election year?  Hehehehehehehe, everyone is trying to be very careful this time around. People have bought votes and induced voters in the past and still end up on the losing sides. Things are really really changing in our dear country, but the first is that our people are getting more serious with their businesses and finances free cash is not flying around like it used to be or should we say it has reduced so part of my contingency plans this year is to explore our religion diversity to my gain this new year. I won’t allow any public holiday to shut down my business except I choose to give myself break. Muslims among my workers must turn up for work on good Friday, Easter Monday, Xmas and Boxing day. Christian are expected to turn up on Eid-il-molud,2 days of eid-il-fitri and 2 days of eil-il-ahd and gain 9 more days for myself. 

  I wish us all a fruitful New year