Corporate Social Responsibility

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

ENSURING SECURITY BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE ELECTIONS

ENSURING SECURITY BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE ELECTIONS

While the electorates are jostling around up and down the country for their PVCs the authorities are in battle over election logistics which has escalated to the point of calling for the removal of the chairman of the electoral umpire Prof. Attahiru Jega. This scenario is not strange in Nigeria’s political lexicon.

One of the logistics issues that has been raising dust even to the legislature is the deployment of military for security during the election. The minority leader at the house of Representatives moved an unsuccessful motion to declare the move unconstitutional. I would not subscribe to the view that mobilizing the military for security before, during and after the election as unconstitutional. The reason is because s. 14 of the 1999 Constitution made security and welfare of the people the primary purpose of government. It is an experiment that has proved successful at Ondo, Ekiti and Edo state elections. The presence of adequate security personnel in their numbers is even more compelling and reassuring in an election year such as 2015. The atmosphere has been charged beyond other election years when the terrorists had not appeared on the scene.

Provision of security hitherto had been the role of the police during normalcy. You do not need an oracle to know that Nigeria, since the activities of terrorists commenced is passing through normal times. In fact if need be the president should mobilize all security outfits to assist in the two-day national event that would not be repeated until the next four years, with the exception of five exempted states.

The terrorist activities in the 3 North Eastern states no doubt delayed the progress made by this administration on the provision of security. Bornu state governor sometime ago warned that no one should make comments and insinuations that demoralizes the field officers as if they were not competent. I think it is a critical comment coming from the governor on the hot seat.

That is why General Chris Olukolade upped his game on 24^th February 2015 when he raised the morale of Nigerians and the Army by declaring that the terrorists had retreated, fled and some drowned in Lade Chad basin. It was soothing for the military spokesman to air to already despondent Nigerians that military hardware and combat skills of the soldiers have improved tremendously. And the question that readily comes to mind is why did the military descend so low that the nation have to wait for years to flush out a hand full of militants? Suppose it was a full fledged invasion?

Therefore with the declining fortress of the terrorists and increased preparatory activities for the 2015 polls, one can visibly notice substantial silver lining on the horizon. A situation when sustained will ultimately return Nigeria to a stable democracy; a condition precedent to all means of livelihood we undertake, including inflow of foreign investment to flourish,

With this improved security situation the burden is now on the politicians and their supporters not to do anything that could subtract from the level already attained. A former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, SAN who had seen it all having been minister at three different occasions was quoted as saying that politicians use security agents meant to assist Electoral Commission and protect the masses to achieve their own selfish purposes against electoral rules.

No one is sure how many people would be disenfranchised because they would not be able to get their PVCs before the D-day. Added to those who possess only TVCs i.e those whose cards were not printed at all, could they be huge enough to constitute a threat, like protests? In one of the suits filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja to compel INEC to postpone the February election to enable all registered voters collect their PVCs, the plaintiffs insisted that TVCs should be used against PVCs recommended by INEC and the Electoral Act, because once a voter is registered

and data found in the voters register, he/she becomes eligible.

lives and properties could be used to persecute citizens on civic duties or enjoying constitutionally guaranteed freedoms.

Against the background of National Human Rights Commission’s Report that more than 50 persons have fallen victim to election violence, in spite of non-violence pact and elections not yet held, one can see that without these safe-guards the 2015 election would have been very bloody. However, it is not yet late to continue with voter education especially within the remaining days to the election.

Voters should expect rubbing shoulders with all and sundry, including security officers on duty. It is pertinent to remind you that they are wearing the aura of protection by the law. S.356(2) of the Criminal Code protects police officers (including other security personnel on duty and those acting in their aid) from assault. The law is a bit strict because whether you know that they are security men or police officers on duty may not be available as a defense. A conviction may earn as much as one year imprisonment. Where the accused person feigns ignorance, innocent mistake or provocation it appears that s. 24 would offer a defense of accident. But it is advisable to control your movements with patience, in the midst of the crowd and while queuing on line, waiting to vote or for the votes to be counted and declared.

Even if incidents lead to the police station remember that we have constitutional guarantee of personal liberty, including taking the arrested person promptly to the station; giving information as to the crime/offence committed; access to legal advice and granting facilities for bail and preparation for trial in accordance with s.36 of the 1999 Constitution, as well as release on bail where it become impractical to arraign the accused within 24 hours as provided by the law, It is also within the powers of the DCO or the IPO to release the accused unconditionally under s.19 of the Criminal Procedure Act if there is no prima facie evidence of any offence committed.

The absence of Electoral Offences Commission as being proposed does not condone nor justify violation of electoral rules and criminal offences on election day. Voters should also be educated to avoid or resist violence prone comments discussion or conducts to avoid such post-election violence that occurred in Kenya in 2007 and in Nigeria in 2011. The aftermath of that incident indicted president Uhuru Kenyata and his vice at the International Criminal Court. Although INEC outlawed these conducts in s. 7 Code of Conduct for political parties, politicians seem to observe them in breach.

Iyke Ozemena

IKECHUKWU O. ODOEMELAM & CO

Corporate Attorneys/Consultants

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

AGRICULTURE BEYOND STOMACH INFRASTRUCTURE
At first encounter with the expression “stomach infrastructure” in the dailies one could not grasp the extent of its use so one’s appetite to read columns with that expression became doused. Admitted as a colloquial yet I thought it could only come from unsophisticated mind of some motor park economists whose philosophy is, for obvious reasons, built around their daily stomach needs without minding about the future. If the expression was coined with more accepted phrases that have been with us for a long time like “food security”, “food politics” etc., no eye brow would have been raised, but alas the philosophy of “stomach infrastructure” is what Mr President transformed into agricultural revolution.
As an individual who have over the years invested in the pursuit and research of ideas for success and excellence, each time I read opinions regularly expressed by enlightened commentators I tend to subscribe to those ideas that the moral strength of leaders and their philosophical direction should not only reflect on the masses but actually influence them. If that strike you as a fact then the level of indiscipline today therefore due partially to negative democratic culture imbibed from past, and present leaders.
Although most Nigerians are pleasantly surprised at Mr President’s relative progress at agricultural sector with continuing political commitment, considering his background as a zoologist and educational laurels, including thorough understanding of human nature and psychology, one should actually expect more success in that direction. Napoleon Bonaparte, that 18th century French military leader excelled because of his masterly appreciation of human instincts and sensibilities and that in turn earned him committed and unflinching followers. It is impossible for intellectually blind leaders to command such influence.
If food security is fully attained and quickly followed by housing simultaneously with security of lives and properties enshrined in the constitution, it therefore means that Nigerians would less and less demand that presidency should be produced from their political zone. Instead they would more and more demand that whoever that succeeds president Jonathan should be a candidate, who, apart from sustaining the momentum would exhibit qualities to surpass his in terms of performance.
As African Union (AU) declared and marked 2014 as a year of agriculture and food security, Mr president’s experiments and agricultural sector achievements is actually replicating success stories from Eastern part of the continent that started the agro-revolution earlier than Nigeria. The remarkable outcome of the exercise appear to be the acknowledgement that Africa’s problem: hunger, diseases, unemployment; lack of productivity and their vicious cycle can be solved. How? The main and smart prescriptions to invest more fund into agriculture to create millions of employment; provision of modern infrastructure; boosting of industrial base by the supply of raw materials rather than importing them and at the end of the chain, litter the markets with fresh and healthy foods. And as the competition in agro-revolution proliferates with all the countries aiming at exporting food the inescapable question become: exporting to who? Since every country would
have become food secured!
In my submission gleaned from my understanding of the economic and political policies deployed by Dr Julius Nyerere of Tanzania I want to believe that Ujamaa, (African socialism) was an honest attempt to elevate agriculture through investment but without sufficient capital (saved or borrowed) instead farmers and cooperatives across Tanzania were used as capital. That was a time Brettonwood did not see any economic potentials in the continent except raw material. It was a time no telecommunication, internet nor digital platforms that are now aiding agro-revolution. The worst was that the model was not fashioned along capitalist/market economies, so there was no support for the programme that was exactly what the Chinese did under Mao Tse Tung and succeeded. He was the Chinese leader that introduced agriculture at such scale (beyond stomach infrastructure) which led to and preceded industrial revolution. Today with increased funding agriculture in
market economy is producing the solutions the erstwhile Tanzanian leader envisaged with his agricultural policies.
The recent crash of petro-dollar at the world market brought home with it the reduction of price of PMS. Since then analysts have had a field day on the economic and political consequences. Without much ado I queue behind those who argue that the reduction will bring down transportation costs across the nation making movement of agricultural produce more cost-effective. The ultimate being that even as this administration battles with readjustments of budget bench-marks, on the domestic front the masses and farmers would feel the advantage of the fall in price of PMS, all things being equal.
On a negative note the outbreak of avian flu in three states has punctuated the positive ambiance surrounding agricultural sector under this administration but it is so skeletal that “Ebola combatants” will soon halt its spread. However, generally there is optimism in the horizon for Mr President’s agricultural policies and achievements so far.

Iyke Ozemena
IKECHUKWU O. ODOEMELAM & CO
Corporate Attorneys/Consultants

INDUCED CRIMINALITY AND DISENFRANCHISEMENT Delays as a result of dearth of data and effective structures and apparatus for collecting them have become almost a permanent feature of Nigerian public services institution as well as private institutions in the service of the public. Take a typical public service institution like Civil Service Commission whose function is to recruit civil servants, post them to primary locations, train and retrain them, promote, demote, transfer discipline, suspend, terminate, dismiss their appointment retire them. These are enormous logistic work, I admit but they know that it is their job. But a civil servant who retires after keeping his/her record for the entire working life of 35 years or less will be delays for couple of months and years for the commission to trace his/her file, name or some other day and confirm them. Within there periods of delay host workers have been receiving their salaries and allowances but the genuine worker have not confirmed that they ever stepped into the governments department. What a shame! Now INEC is an umpire with sufficient staff and a forthright chairman who had display qualities of indefatigable and committed leadership. But when you juxtapose his qualities with the fact that a couple of days to the election million of eligible Nigerians have been waiting to obtain their PVCs and hopes are deeming by the day that they would ever get them. On the part of INEC their assurances on daily basis is that the PVCs are there for their owners to showing arte obtain them, discount all the time commencing protocol that electorates are made to go through before colleting them. These class of people are those who have gone through the initial hurdles of getting their bio-data into the INEC voters register. The ones that deserve our collective sympathy are the 4 million eligible voters confirmed by INEC to have registered more than once and therefore became accused persons to be prosecuted according to electoral act 2010 but INEC rather than comply with the Act decided to invoke a waiver. The doctrine of nolle prosequi is entered as a plea by a State or Federal Attorney General in a criminal case before a competent court when the states legal department decided that for some reasons it will be futile to prosecute the case or even if it goes ahead it will be counter productive. One can imagine the amount of time and resources that will be required to investigate, fish out arrest and arraign 4 million persons across Nigeria. They must have taken a piece of advice from their legal team. But that is just one side of the coin. Who are these 4 million person? Most probably they are you and me queuing up, get registered once and obtain temporary voters card, and on subsequent calls to confirm or collect PVC only to find that the computer data will report non-existence of such names, or another scenario where your name will appear in multiple. And these are through no fault of yours. When these 4 million cases are thoroughly dissected you discover that we will be talking about induced criminality. While these cock and bull story are on millions of Nigerian stand a risk of been disenfranchised through no fault of theirs. Just recently 14 thousand PVCs were lost to rubber in rivers State and any attempt by their owners to go to voters registered constitute a crime. The computer registration is configured to accept one version of registration. Subsequent once go to the trash and the issue multiple registration would not come up at all. Voters register is not configured to incriminate voters with honest intention to obtain one PVC. I find INEC’s inability to carry out its duties incomprehensive because, it has full description, analysis and scope of its electioneering duties; it has enabling environment like budged, electoral acts and presidential support to ensure transparent, free and fair election at a cost often dictated by INEC. How then did we have such an avalanche of eligible voters that turnout for registration in June 2014 without getting registered and the popular view that the registration will continue at the LGA was not implemented. There is no doubt that INEC was overwhelmed by the large number of voters they have to carter for, but does it not go with the common acknowledgement that Nigerian turn 18 daily in their thousand and accumulating endlessly. That those who have been given temporary voters card by INEC not vote is induced disenfranchisement due to legal incapacitation, which a clause amending the Electoral Act could rescue a few hundred of thousand if not millions of eligible voters holding that piece of paper. That is a demonstration of not acknowledging the value of electorates civil responsibilities. Iyke Ozemena IKECHULWU O. ODOEMELAM & CO Corporate Attorneys/Consultants

SECURITY CHALLENGES & KIDNAP RANSOM INSURANCE POLICY
In an election year security is a serious issue with violence, kidnapping, terrorism and political intolerance or threat of them as some of the phenomena that pose serious danger to it. So the price of security becomes higher than normal non-election times when life is taken for granted. In recognition of this high stake Federal Government’s recent delivery additional military hardware to deal terminal blows to the insurgency in the North-East is a welcome development.
There have been violence at Edo State legislators’ quarters as well as anarchy and vandalism at Ekiti High Court as the nation counts down to election. The 2007 and 2011 were characteristized by election violence. Perhaps these omens led political parties to sign non – violence pact also known as “Abuja accord” binding leaders and supporters against provocative and violent campaigns. However commendable as that may appear, reports of violent incidents thereafter keeps one wondering whether that pact requires further validation for its efficacy. And that questions how much reliance to place on the provisions of criminal / penal codes, Electoral Acts offences, Public Order Act, Prevention of Terrorism Act and their enforcements.
Even though political associations are ordinarily considered social goods, they sometimes metamorphose into a repressive evil, just like Khamer Rouge party did in Cambodia some years ago; or the activities of Sandanista in Latin America or the heinous activities of Italian mafia which dated as far back as 1875 in Sicily. They had at different times posed threat and real danger to security.
Sicilia mafia were a group of aggrieved individuals acting on revenge or protest against denial of the right to vote which led to a “boss” with followers springing up to redress that denial. In the course of redressing the social malaise, various tactics and strategies were adopted: threat, harm, kidnapping, torture, maiming and killing, just as Boko Haram has been doing in the North East.
Although some analysts paint the picture of mafia as political instead of terrorist, especially if the account that led to their origin in Sicily is taken as fact. It is probably such analyst that equally label terrorists political. In my view both are on the same page even though the difference between their modus operandi remain subtle with a common denominator of illegality.
The word ‘mafia’ does not have modern definite meaning except that link above with their historical origin, however it can share antecedents with Boko Haram since their ‘Jihad’ to make the nation ungovernable came after electoral victory of Jonathan in 2011, which is also a protest about votes. But they are not exactly the same. However, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defined ‘mafia’ thus: “In Sicily, the spirit of hostility to law and its ministers, often manifested itself in vindictive crimes. Also the body of those who share in this spirit”,. Simply put any group that poses security threat to individuals, governments or both can be tagged ‘mafia’, especially if they remain amorphous and use subterranean operation.
However, in the eye of the law both groups and operations are illegal and unconstitutional. My worry is that if the laws, especially criminal law of all nations have criminalized the conducts of those groups as unlawful societies against government, (s.62 Criminal Code) where did modern state or government found the audacity or is it exception to meddle with their activities by approving or condoning insurance policies that accrue to their benefits? Although most insurance companies are private investments with shareholders across borders but there seem to be complicity if governments hold shares in those insurance companies.
By s. 62 of Criminal Code these groups have to be at least 10 persons and there has to be a declaration order by the government that the groups are unlawful societies. In the light of this one wonders Nigeria took such along time before it could declare Boko Haram a terrorist organization only for the USA to do so forthrightly.
Sometimes like a dream or nightmare one hears about kidnapping. You are not the victim. Of course not or that victim is a relation. Perhaps not at all. But the hard fact is that you could be a victim; your relation or someone(s) you know could be. That is the crux of the menace. It is at this point that I heard the idea of kidnap ransom insurance policy with mixed feelings. #The idea is not local yet since crisis management consultants are still working on the operational modules. A syndicate of American Insurance Group (AIG), American International Insurance Company (AIICO) etc. are teaming up with other insurance companies to provide policies that could be taken up by families, corporate bodies to recover sums paid as ransom for the release of loved family members or staff of corporations especially those who travel to areas with record of militancy, terrorism, mafia activities or even drug barons taking hostages in exchange for release of detained
drug offenders.
In the case of corporate bodies it is difficult to see the moral basis of what looks like tacit approval of bribery albeit to save life. Commenting on corporate bribery in this instance, FIFA bribery report recently published Kolawole Olaniyan defined bribery as: “the receiving or offering of any undue reward by or in any person whatsoever in a public or private role, in order to influence his or her behavior in that role, and incline him/her to act contrary to the known rules of honesty, impartiality and integrity.”
However, I am more disposed to come to terms with the psychological basis of kidnap ransom insurance policy. For families of those in the employ of corporate bodies it is a golden assurance that in the case of such sad and undesirable incident nothing would be spared to secure the release of their loved ones, although such polices cannot exceed $30 million. Suppose the ‘devils’ decide to play the Oliver Twist by asking for more than that? The entire scheme becomes meaningless. But the rationale is psychological succor. You may not use it but it is a precaution that could come to aid any time. It offers protection to corporate bodies against incidence of kidnap and preventive protection when such sad even occurs. The proposed insurers have made it clear that they do not pay ransom on behalf of the insured but reimburses sum paid as ransom, injuries or death, losses; medical bills and ransoms paid on transit.
Since huge sums of money are paid annually as kidnap ransom, those likely to consider this policy include but not limited to those who operate in militancy prone areas, companies with sensitive information or technology or in control of huge cash.   Equally prone places are areas with records of drug barons taking hostages in exchange for release of detained drug offenders; holiday resorts as well as hijacking spots. It is possible that this policy would become desirable to many people and institutions considering that the insurgency in the North East has not abated coupled with the fact that it is an election year.

Iyke Ozemena

IKECHUKWU O. ODOEMELAM & CO
Corporate Attorneys/Consultants

Thursday, August 28, 2014

HOISTING GOOGLE ADSENSE CONTACT & SEARCH TO YOUR WEBSITE/BLOG

One of the numerous ways of earning money online is to apply for Google Adsense to your website or blog. You need websites and or blogs where ads from Adsense can be displayed. Then begin to write and post your contents with the products and services you own or affiliated with. A few of such essays and literary contents would be considered when assessing your eligibility to get an account. Therefore, good and quality contents are important factor for application which takes several days to approve. www.google.com/adsense.

If your application is successful Google would install search engine on your sites as well as ads. Clicking on those ads on your sites by visitors to your site earns you a percentage of sum earned by Google.

Some of the tips for earning high percentage of incomes through Adsense is choose words that attract high earnings. These words are known as adwords. This is why the rate at which you are paid differ from each other. www.mediaworks.co.uk

This is why the rate at which you are paid is a little higher than plain words. And Google pays via 3 ways: cost per click, cost per impression and cost per action.http://Earn6FiguresFromHome.com

Google devised adwords for its advertising programme which allows participants, usually advertisers to bid silently in an auction to advertise for keywords separately. It is after this bidding that you discover how costly certain words could be.

Words like ‘auto insurance’ could become dearer than ‘ebooks’. Sometimes ‘video games’ ‘training video’ or key words like ‘digital’ had topped the ranking at search engine, thereby raising their values. The scope of their services includes digital images and video advertisements.http://Earn6FiguresFromHome.com
.

The latitude to write and post on your website/blog is enormous as long as you observe Google Terms and Conditions. It is usual to reel out list of donts in transactions.

These conditions ensure discipline and sanity and guarantee elevated standard of integrity. For instance in the entire internet no website encourages the posting or display of obscene materials.

Decency demands that where products and services are displayed, one does not tarnish the reputation of that environment by radical or immature contents. It is also against terms and conditions to compete with Google ads.

Be creative decently to avoid confusion that may arise when you copy . The Adsense ads are organized in such a way that it can only come from Google search engine. www.journalauthors.tandf.co.uk.

The ads displayed on your sites/blogs are meant for others to click on, not by you or affiliates when you solicit their patronage to click for you. The practice of using digital or mechanical devices to promote clicking artificially on your page is prohibited. That may amount to click fraud which occurs when website/blog owners artificially increase the number of clicks on their pages. This can be annoying to advertisers who often criticize Google for allowing that to happen. www.zealmedia.co.uk.

The amount Google pays to you for the use of keywords is not for public knowledge. Google encourages that to be personal. For US residents what you earn is subject to IRS tax, otherwise known as income tax. But outsiders are subjected to withholding taxes.

A lot of money can be made through Adsense account. Some receive close to $10,000 a month. These classes of people are very rare and well exposed online websites with huge content and quality followers/audience. Traffic to such sites are usually heavy and steady, making cost per click, cost per thousand impression, as well as cost per action infinatum. www.blog.wellcome.ac.uk/2014.

When you have public service ads on y our sites/blogs it signifies that the adwords used in your sites have not been purchased and you don’t make money through public service ads. www.wsi-internetmarketing.co.uk, www.webmarketinggroup.co.uk.

Compared with other forms of ads, Banner, Graphic displays etc Adsense tops all of them because it does not obstruct contents or views.

Adsense ads are strategically positioned and can be clicked by visitors. Quick and inexpensive, you don’t need a website to use adsense, just a blog would do and you don’t need to be a guru or expert to commence. They are just your ad agents wherein you don’t need to bargain for anything. It’s already maid.

Iyke Ozemena
Corporate Attorney/Consultant
www.corporateleadersboard.ning.com
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http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0075RXXLE COMPANY SECRETARIES HANDBOOK
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005783S6S DIRECTORS http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MKCESY MEETINGS: Dynamics and Legality

Friday, August 22, 2014

CHALLENGES FACING ENTERPRISES

Businesses are established by individuals or and institutions. Most businesses were either established by government or big companies because of he capital-intensive nature of the business. However, most of small scale enterprises are usually one-man proprietorship which ranges from local farmers to produce distributors and shop owners in the neighborhood. Provided the individual or institution is legal and productive for financial rewards these activities can be classified as business outfit.
The next form of business ownership is of course partnership usually formed by two or more trusted individuals in order to pull their resources and capital together and take advantage of large-scale production or reduce the risk of failure tha usually attend individual entrepreneurs who need financial, material or intellectual help.
These days professional colleagues quite often take to partnership in order to pull capital and increase the chances of increased expertise and accelerate advantage of professional efficiency.
The most frequently sought type of enterprise is the limited liability company. So named because possible losses or total failure are stemmed at the capital value of the company. It is an important legal notice to the public that business dealing with company is done with the hindsight of their capital exposure only. This type, when it complies with Securities & Exchange Commission's requirement might go public in future.
That is not to say that the types earlier discussed are not important, but it is just the diverse nature of the choices, every individual(s) going into business would have to consider.
Becuase of the teething problems the small scale business face I want to comment on one of them that I consider very critical and sadly has defied many government's solution. World leaders have held summits after summits in order to solve the problem but it remains a major problem in most countries and indeed all developing economies. It is the problem of access to capital. Yet small and medium scale enterprise remain the catalyst of growth for many economies.
ACCESS TO CAPITAL
Banks' refusal to grant credits without collateral is based on common sense. Recovery of bad debts is not only a burden to capital, in many cases they become express way to huge losses and eventual bankruptcy.
Cumulative impact transaction of granting for instance, 90-day credit to many willing and ready SMES is also founded on the basic calculation of return on investment, generated from the cumulative effect of the transactions.
This experiment of 90-day no collateral credit can be anchored on a system of guarantee. An applicant for 90-day credit mist have a guarantor as ancillary to the contract. No guarantor would agree to act as such if s/he has not verified the claims of the applicant of how the credit would be paid in 90 days.
Of course needless to say that a successful transaction qualifies such applicant and guarantor to access another 90-day credit. It could even mature for revolving facility with little or no further protocols.. It is also practical to charge the business transaction to which the facility would be used .
Perhaps non-interest banking provides an alternative mode or more radical way to present collateral hinged credit system where, in order to ensure profitability ahead of transactions banks charge interest on the credit facility granted as well as demand collateral which stands in its stead when the debtor defaults.
Iyke Ozemena Attorney Corporate Consultant Author:

COMPANY SECRETARIES' HANDBOOK (Kindle Edition)

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CORRESPONDENCES FROM MENTORS

Dear Iyke,

As I showed you yesterday, with help from a story in the book Napoleon Hill's Golden Rules, you are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of your goals.
If your goal is to be a freelance writer, it's up to you to make it happen. And the first step is to believe in yourself and your ability.
And that's why today we're going to once again enlist the help of Napoleon Hill.
Today, I'm going to share Hill's seven-part self-confidence "chart" (as he refers to it) from his book Napoleon Hill's Golden Rules. And I'm going to show you how it relates to your journey to the writer's life.
Hill recommends that you repeat each of the seven points out loud several times a day. Stand in front of a mirror as you read them, look yourself square in the eye, and speak with enthusiasm. And if you ever get the feeling that the person in the mirror lacks courage, shake your fist at that person until you arouse a reaction.
Affirmations like this work because repeating them makes your mind accept them as being true. They have the power to change the way you think and feel about yourself by replacing negative beliefs with positive ones.
Hill's Seven Steps to Self-Confidence:

I know that I have the ability to accomplish all that I undertake. I know that to succeed, I have only to establish this belief in myself and follow it with vigorous, aggressive action. I will establish it.

(Note: It's important to make every day of your freelance career a success. Here, Hill is reinforcing the importance of believing in yourself.)
I realize that my thoughts eventually reproduce themselves in material form and substance and become real in the physical state. Therefore, I will concentrate upon the daily task of thinking of the person I intend to be and of drawing a mental picture of this person and of transforming this picture into reality.

(Note: Here, Hill says to describe in detail your "chief aim" or the life work you have selected. For example, if you're a web writer, you might say, "My goal is to boost the profits of my clients by writing effective and persuasive web copy while offering them strategic marketing guidance.")
I am studying with the firm intention of mastering the fundamental principles through which I may attract to me the desirable things of life. Through this study, I am becoming more self-reliant and more cheerful. I am developing more sympathy for my fellow man, and I am becoming stronger, both mentally and physically. I am learning to smile that smile that plays upon the heart as well as on the lips.

(Note: For writers, mastering our craft is an ongoing journey. That journey is a lot easier if you do so with a smile on your face.)
I am mastering and overpowering the habit of starting something that I do not finish. From this time forward, I will first plan all that I wish to do, making a clear mental picture of it, and then I will let nothing interfere with my plans until I have developed them into realities.

(Note: A simple but sometimes hard lesson to follow: make plans and don't give up until you've accomplished your goal. For anyone who wants success in life, this is critical.)
I have clearly mapped out and planned the work that I intend to follow for the ensuing five years. I have set a price upon my services for each of the five years, a price that I intend to command through strict application of the principle of efficient, satisfactory service!

(Note: What do you want to be doing five years from now? Will you be a web writer? Working on your third book? Coaching other writers? Plan out where you want to be and how much money you want to make over the next five or 10 years.)
I fully realize that genuine success will come only through strict application of the "Golden Rule" principles. I will, therefore, engage in no transaction which does not benefit alike all who participate in it. I will succeed by attracting to me the forces that I wish to use. I will induce others to serve me because of my willingness to serve them. I will gain the friendship of my fellow men because of my kindness and my willingness to be a friend. I will eliminate from my mind fear by developing in its place courage. I will eliminate skepticism by developing faith. I will eliminate hatred and cynicism by developing love for humanity.

(Note: Treat others [clients, colleagues, fellow writers, and freelancers] as you want to be treated yourself.)
I will learn to stand upon my feet and express myself in clear, concise, and simple language, and to speak with force and enthusiasm, in a matter that will carry conviction. I will cause others to become interested in me, because I will first become interested in them. I will eliminate selfishness and develop in its place the spirit of service.

(Note: Speak with clarity and enthusiasm when you talk to prospects, clients, and other copywriters. Ask questions and listen. Take a genuine interest in helping others.)

Hill says you don't have to follow the above seven points word for word. In fact, he says you can write an entirely new version if you prefer. Think of the above as a blueprint of the person you intend to be.
With this chart, you'll have a guide for embarking on a great career and the self-confidence to do what's necessary to be successful in the freelance world.
What do you think of Hill's chart? Do you think it will help you reach your goals? Share your comments here.
To your success,
John Wood
Freelance Copywriter and AWAI Member
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Iyke Ozemena's ebooks at amazon.co.uk