Blog of the week ending 22 October 2023
I had a hectic week of work and no play. My MBA class had back-to-back projects due for submission, all within the week. I did three presentations, two in the Group and one individually. The ABP course was particularly challenging, and it had to do with analysis by numbers or working with numbers. Then, we had the capstone project, which had to be submitted by the deadline of Thursday at midnight. It was a different intensive week in comparison to the first intensive week. It ended on Saturday with a bang – lots of dancing and relaxation afterwards.
On the home front, relatively peaceful in comparison to the ongoing war in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas. I managed to catch up with the news, and the last count of hostages held by Hamas was 210, although 2 Americans were released in the last few days. This has impacted oil prices, which for Nigeria is neither good nor bad, depending on which side of the discussion you are on. The exchange rate of the Naira to the US Dollar does not seem to be affected by the price of crude oil. This I consider strange given that 90% of Nigeria’s GDP comes from Oil production. One would have thought there should be some correlation between the exchange rate and the price of crude oil produced by Nigeria. The exchange rate was a topic for discussion in the class during lunch; the projected rate by December 2023 is N1,500 to 1 US Dollar (although, as Nigerians, we all prayed against this).
Still, on the home front, I missed out on two social events: my aunty marked her milestone birthday of eighty years old, and a mutual friend had a party as she turned sixty. Well, I missed out on attending either of the socials as I was knee-deep in the intensive week course on Saturday. I am told they were well attended, and my aunt at the Thanksgiving service gave a testimony. The second social for the sixty-year-old friend was grand, with lots of dancing as expected. Then Sunday came along, I had to attend another church function in which my late father was being honoured by a church society. The society celebrated its 50th anniversary, during which some patrons were recognised. The family agreed that I represent the family at the function, which was fairly well attended. The citation was short, and I collected a plaque and souvenir on behalf of the family.
It is been a nonstop working week, even socially and mentally tasking. I am still dazed by the ABP course in which I must think about my thoughts. The case study titled “Clean Spritz” was a group task (phew!) and contained lots of information. We had to sift through the case, to determine what was relevant and significant and what was not. Needless to say, my thinking was in automation. I am looking forward to the start of the next week, in which I plan to study and work on my assignments and, of course, work itself.
Modeleola Jegede
#MEMBA 12
