The 'RE's of 2020

Introduction

2020 still seems like a hard pill to swallow.

I took some time today to think on my highlights for the year and as I drifted back into the events of the year, I am reminded of the article I have written in my head for close to 4 weeks now but was never written. I had thought about it so hard that it became more complex in my head. Very typical.

To break the jinx, I will write the RE-(s) in 2 parts:

1. The Re(s) of 2020 and;

2. The Re(s) of 2021.

The Re(s) of 2020

With the bright start to the year suddenly dulled by the reality of a global pandemic and a looming lockdown that went on for over 6 months, there were certain norms that had to be “re-defined’ to suit our new reality.

1. Remote: Before this time, the happening phrase of the year in Nigeria must have been “We locomote.” That became even more apparent when one of the busiest bridges in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos (Nigeria’s commercial capital) was partially shutdown. Then it became worse with the government of Lagos State announcing the ban on Kekes and Okadas in some areas in the state which led to unending locomotion for a lot of people. Little did we know that the horses that adorned the streets would soon be forced to rest easy. The buzzword once the lockdown was set in full motion (pun intended) was Remote.
2. Restrategize: I am personally yet to find someone to tell me they saw the pandemic coming and disrupting 2020 the way it did. Even until the day the government finally declared the total lockdown, several people were swimming in uncertainty. The pandemic was novel. If it was a Tsunami in Africa, we could have learned to deal with it. If it was harmattan in place of winter in Europe, climate researchers would have a good idea of where to look for answers. But this, this one was very different – something none of us had experienced in our lifetime and the only way to survive was to maintain social distancing and take every day as it comes. As for the organization where I work, Utiva, we quickly piloted with a series of online masterclasses before moving all our programs online. Today, we have an online learning platform at app.utiva.io.
3. React: There are two kinds of people I identified during the lockdown – the ones who attended several zoom meetings, enrolled in many free courses (which they still have not completed. I know because I am one of them ??) and there were those who went into the hibernation. Regardless of which category you belong to or blended more with, it is almost impossible to not react to something of this magnitude. I recall having a virtual meeting with the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and other members of the directorate. There were a few lapses here and there but once their system got stable, it was a smooth meeting with a great outcome. See outcome here.

There are likely other REs in 2020 you can identify, please share in the comments section. In my next article, I will take a proactive look into 2021 and try to predict the RE-s of 2021 as we close this long year.

The uncertainty of the coming year may be daunting but like a wise man once said, “Have a strategy that will determine your next action but be flexible enough to take that next action, developing a new strategy.”

Compliments of the season!