On Friday afternoon, on the floor of the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, I ran into my seatmate from the flight from Washington, D.C. to Omaha — a lovely woman working the Geico booth.

“Bill Murray is here,” she told me. I told her I’d keep my eyes peeled.

Of course, to the tens of thousands of shareholders who flock each year to Nebraska, Murray, or any other celebrity, is second fiddle to the real star of the show, Warren Buffett, and in years past his right-hand man Charlie Munger, who died in 2023.

Around these parts, the honchos at Berkshire do have one key thing in common with Murray: everyone who’s met them seems to have a story.

Earlier on Friday, I attended VALUEx BRK one of the many gatherings of investors that crop up around Omaha as sort of satellite Berkshire meetings. Run by Guy Spier, manager of the Zurich-based Aquamarine Fund, the event featured talks from a wide array of value investing enthusiasts, from investment managers to academics to authors to Munger’s longtime assistant Doerthe Obert.

Just about everyone who had encountered one of the Berkshire luminaries shared some of the wisdom they imparted. Here’s what you can learn from their stories.

Choose the right partner

Monsoon Pabrai, managing partner and portfolio manager of Drew Investment Research, recalled a lunch where she and her sister — both young girls at the time — sat on either side of Buffett. She took careful note of the three-and-a-half-hour conversation, but tends to return to one piece of advice.

“The one that always stuck with me was that he looked me and my sister in the eye, because we’re women, or young girls, and said, ‘The most important decision you make is who you marry,’” she said. “I think that goes for both partners in a marriage. It’s really important who you pick to be your life partner.”

Indeed, it’s advice that Buffett echoed at the shareholder meeting on Saturday.

In response to a question about advice everyone needs to hear, Buffett urged shareholders to think about the way they’d like their obituaries to read and to pursue life accordingly. “Certainly in my day it would have been marrying the person who could help you do that,” he said.

Give yourself some inspiration… and accountability

William Green, author of “The Great Minds of Investing” spoke alongside photographer Michael O’Brien about the experience of profiling and photographing Munger.

An encounter with his friend, Berkshire board member Chris Davis, reminded him of a key piece of advice from Munger: surround yourself with images of your idols.

“Charlie told him very early on, put photos of people you admire in your office, because they’re people you don’t want to disappoint.”

Munger famously owned a bust of his hero, Benjamin Franklin, Green noted. Green, in turn, has a bust of Munger.

“I think this idea of structuring your physical environment to have pictures of people you admire is a really good hack. It’s tilting the odds of you behaving decently,” Green said.

Make time for yourself

Gillian Segal, author of “Getting There: A Book of Mentors” spoke about her persistence in nailing down an interview with Buffett. After failing to get through to him remotely, she pinned him down at a charity event, where he agreed to lend her a few minutes of his time.

When it came time to schedule their meeting, Segal was in for a surprise.

“Once I had gotten in past [Buffett’s assistant], she was telling me all of the available times, and it was like, ‘OK, this week he’s available Monday,’ and it was a huge block of time. Tuesday, huge block of time, Wednesday, he has this. Thursday, huge block of time,” she says. “And I just realized he is who he is because he guards his time. And he has time to do the important things. He’s not overscheduled.”

Chances are, you don’t have nearly as many people as Buffett does asking for your time – or an assistant who is an expert at guarding it. But it’s an example that’s useful for anyone: To be successful in your career, you’ll need time to give it your undivided attention.

Stay in your lane

Munger’s longtime assistant Doerthe Obert told a litany of charming, personal stories about Munger, from his focus on his work to his attempts at dieting.

Her recollections of her working relationship with Munger are instructive for anyone who has employees. “We had such a good working relationship, and he just trusted me completely,” she said. “You’ll handle it – whatever it was. You’ll get it done.”

Trusting his assistant to do her work let Munger do his.

And when it came to the working relationship, Munger was happy to stay in his lane, too.

When I asked her what, if anything her boss taught her about investing, Obert demurred.

“He never talked to anybody about investing once,” she told me.

Never? Not even in passing?

“No. Because if he gave some advice and it [might not] work out,” she said. “If he loses some money, it’s not so bad. But if I would lose a lot? He didn’t want that responsibility.”

CNBC

The federal government has announced a strategic plan to utilize the N20 trillion pension fund, alongside other domestic resources, for infrastructure development in Nigeria. This initiative was disclosed by Wale Edun, the coordinating minister for the economy and finance, after a federal executive council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

Edun emphasized the government's focus on leveraging domestic financial resources, particularly pension and life insurance funds, to foster national growth. He highlighted the potential to channel over N20 trillion available domestically into critical sectors like housing and long-term mortgage provision.

As part of the plan, the government aims to address Nigeria’s estimated 20 million housing deficit by providing significant housing and mortgage loans at 12 percent interest rates, with 25-year repayment plans. Edun pointed out that before seeking foreign investments, it is prudent to utilize the available long-term funds within Nigeria’s pension and life insurance sectors.

He explained that pension funds are long-term savings, which makes them suitable for funding infrastructure projects. The initiative will be executed in collaboration with the private sector, ensuring the expertise and capacity necessary for such projects are harnessed.

Initially, the government will offer support, especially during periods of high interest rates, but as rates decline, its involvement will decrease. This plan aims to leverage substantial domestic funds in partnership with the private sector to drive economic growth.

The construction industry will benefit from funded housing projects, and Nigerians will gain access to affordable mortgages through their pension savings. This comprehensive approach aims to boost the construction industry and provide significant economic benefits.

This initiative echoes a similar plan by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who also aimed to use pension funds for infrastructure development. However, Buhari’s proposal faced significant resistance from the Nigerian labour movement and other stakeholders. Concerns were raised about the security and safety of workers' retirement savings, with critics arguing that mismanagement or failure of infrastructure projects could jeopardize these funds.

Despite these challenges, the current administration is pressing forward, seeking to address past concerns through robust safeguards and collaboration with the private sector. Edun concluded by expressing confidence in the initiative, highlighting the collaboration of Nigeria’s top talents in achieving these infrastructure and economic growth goals.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has raised concerns over the announcement by the federal government regarding the use of pension funds for infrastructure development. Speaking out against the initiative, Abubakar warned that tapping into the N20 trillion pension fund could breach the Pension Reform Act of 2014.

The controversy arose following a statement by Wale Edun, the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, after a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on May 14. Edun disclosed the government’s plan to unlock pension funds and other domestic resources to finance critical infrastructure projects across Nigeria. He emphasized the focus on domestic savings, though he mentioned the potential for attracting foreign investment in the future.

Abubakar criticized the lack of specifics in Edun's disclosure, particularly the absence of details on the percentage of pension funds to be allocated for these projects. He argued that such a move is not only misguided but could have severe consequences for retirees who rely on their pension savings.

“This move must be halted immediately! It is a misguided initiative that could lead to disastrous consequences on the lives of Nigeria’s hardworking men and women who toiled and saved and who now survive on their pensions having retired from service,” Abubakar stated.

He urged the government to adhere strictly to the Pension Reform Act and the revised Regulation on Investment of Pension Assets issued by the National Pension Commission (PenCom). According to these regulations, pension funds can invest no more than 5% of their total assets in infrastructure projects. With total pension fund assets around N18 trillion as of December 2023, Abubakar noted that a significant portion is already invested in federal government securities.

“There is NO free Pension Funds that is more than 5% of the total value of the nation's pension fund for Edun to fiddle with,” he emphasized.

Abubakar concluded by calling on Edun to find alternative solutions for funding infrastructure without compromising pension funds. He stressed the need for economic reforms to restore investor confidence and leverage private resources, skills, and technology for sustainable development.

Abubakar served as Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 and was the presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party in 2023.

On Wednesday, organized labour representatives walked out of a minimum wage committee meeting with the Federal Government in protest over the proposed new wage of N48,000. The labour unions, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), had initially demanded a new minimum wage of N615,000 and set a deadline of May 31 for the government to finalize the negotiations.

The Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage resumed negotiations on Wednesday. Sources from Vanguard reported that representatives of the NLC and TUC were furious over the government's offer. Theophilus Ndubuaku, one of the NLC representatives, expressed the union’s frustration, questioning whether the N48,000 was intended to cover transport, food, clothing, or housing.

"We told them that since they are not serious, we better just leave, so we stormed out of the place," Ndubuaku stated. The offer was presented by the Permanent Secretary from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation's office.

NLC President Joe Ajaero emphasized that the government has until the end of the month to make a decision, warning that the labour unions will take action if their ultimatum is not met. TUC Deputy President Tommy Okon, who was also present at the meeting, co-signed a joint statement with Ajaero. The statement criticized the government's proposal of N48,000 as an insult to Nigerian workers, highlighting the disparity between this offer and the N54,000 proposed by the Organized Private Sector (OPS), where the least paid workers receive N78,000 per month.

The statement also condemned the government's failure to provide data to support their offer, accusing them of lacking transparency and good faith, which undermines the credibility of the negotiation process. The unions argued that accepting the proposed N48,000 wage would effectively reduce the income of federal workers, who currently receive a total of N77,000 when including Buhari’s 40% Peculiar allowance and the N35,000 wage award.

The NLC and TUC reiterated their proposal for a N615,000 minimum wage, citing the high cost of living in Nigeria as the basis for their demand. This proposal was made on April 14 following consultations between the NLC and TUC. The unions pointed out that the current minimum wage of N30,000 is insufficient to support the average Nigerian worker, noting that many governors are not even paying the current minimum wage, which is set to expire five years after the Minimum Wage Act of 2019.

The unions have repeatedly called on President Bola Tinubu's administration to expedite the review of wage awards to reflect contemporary economic demands. In January, the Federal Government established a 37-man Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage to recommend a new national minimum wage for the country. Initially, the NLC proposed a minimum wage of N1 million, due to rising inflation pushing many Nigerians into poverty.

Nigeria has experienced 15 consecutive months of rising inflation, with the rate reaching 33.69% in April, according to the latest consumer price index report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Wednesday. This represents a 0.49% increase from the March inflation rate of 33.2%.

On a month-on-month basis, April 2024's headline inflation rate was 2.29%, 0.73% lower than the 3.02% recorded in March 2024. This indicates that the rate of increase in the average price level in April was slower than in March.

The food inflation rate in April 2024 soared to 40.53% year-on-year, a significant rise of 15.92 percentage points compared to April 2023's rate of 24.61%.

Several factors are driving this persistent inflation, including the high cost of transportation, which saw a 79.17% increase in March. Insecurity, particularly in the northern regions, has prevented farmers from accessing their fields, leading to food shortages.

Additionally, high energy costs due to increased fuel and diesel prices, an unreliable power supply forcing manufacturers to depend more on diesel, multiple taxation as the government seeks to boost revenue, and a high exchange rate have all contributed to the inflationary pressures.

The continuous rise in the prices of household items has subjected Nigerians to severe hardship, exacerbating the economic challenges faced by many in the country.

President Bola Tinubu has requested the Senate's approval for the reimbursement of over N15 billion to the Kebbi State Government for the construction of Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport in Birnin Kebbi and N9 billion to the Nasarawa State Government for the construction of Lafia Cargo Airport.

The request was outlined in a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during Tuesday’s plenary session. In his letter, President Tinubu explained that the federal government had assumed control and ownership of the two airports, necessitating reimbursement to the state governments.

The president cited the 1999 Constitution, which places aviation, including airports and air transport, under the federal government’s jurisdiction as specified in item three of the second schedule. This constitutional provision gives the federal government exclusive authority over aviation matters, including the ownership and management of airports.

Tinubu also noted that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved the reimbursement in its meeting last May through the issuance of promissory notes. The letter detailed the specifics of the reimbursement:

- A promissory note of N9,000,542,651,786.11 to be issued to the Nasarawa State Government for the Lafia Cargo Airport.

- A promissory note of N15,137,336,95.88 to be issued to the Kebbi State Government for Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport.

The letter emphasized the constitutional mandate that places aviation under the federal government's control, reiterating the need for Senate approval to formalize the reimbursement through promissory notes.

“In light of the above, I urge the Senate to consider and grant concurrent approval for the establishment of the promissory notes program in favor of Kebbi and Nasarawa state governments, respectively,” Tinubu concluded.

Gaza fighting intensifies, Israel asks why armed men were at UN site

Israeli troops battled militants across Gaza on Wednesday, including in the southern city of Rafah that had been a refuge for civilians, in an upsurge of the more than seven-month-old war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Antagonism between Israel and the United Nations worsened as the Israeli army sought an explanation for footage showing armed men next to U.N. Palestinian relief agency vehicles. Separately, India was working to bring home the body of a U.N. staffer killed in Rafah by what the global body said was tank fire.

Israeli forces have in recent days pressed into the east of Rafah in pursuit of what they say are four Hamas battalions despite warnings by Israel's main ally, the United States, to hold off to avoid mass civilian casualties.

The U.S. also wants Israel to produce a clear plan for Gaza's future, a position that Secretary of State Antony Blinken underlined by saying neither Israeli occupation nor Hamas governance were acceptable.

"We also can't have anarchy and a vacuum that's likely to be filled by chaos," Blinken said during a visit to Ukraine.

The remarks drew an apparent Israeli riposte, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying post-war planning was impossible without first completing the demolition of Hamas.

Netanyahu was later publicly challenged over post-war plans for Gaza by his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, who said he had tried to promote a blueprint for an alternative Gaza administration made up of Palestinians, but "got no response" from various decision-making cabinet forums under Netanyahu.

"I call on the prime minister to announce that Israel will not rule over Gaza militarily," Gallant said. "An alternative to Hamas governance should be established"

In an apparent response, Netanyahu said any move to establish an alternative to Hamas as the government of Gaza required that the Palestinian Islamist group first be eliminated, and demanded this goal be pursued "without excuses".

RISING DEATH TOLL

Since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, Israel's Gaza offensive has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, with at least 82 killed on Tuesday in the highest single-day toll for weeks.

Hamas-led gunmen killed some 1,200 people and abducted 253 in their Oct. 7 raid into Israel, according to Israeli tallies.

With fighting picking up across Gaza, residents said Israeli tanks had destroyed clusters of homes in the northern Jabalia district but faced heavy resistance from Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad.

Islamic Jihad said it had killed some foot soldiers in Jabalia. Israel's military said it had eliminated many gunmen in the area, where it declared major operations over months ago.

Israeli tanks have been massed around the eastern edges of Rafah and in recent days have been probing into built-up areas of the city, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people have been sheltering from fighting elsewhere.

Residents said Israeli forces had pushed into three neighbourhoods and Palestinian gunmen were trying to prevent soldiers and tanks moving towards the centre.

Israel reported one death in southern Gaza which public broadcaster Kan said was the first such fatality since the start of the Rafah ground operation last week. Netanyahu told the broadcaster CNBC that the operation could last weeks.

In the north, Israel said it had concluded an operation in the Zeitoun area, killing "dozens of terrorists". Residents said tanks had pulled back from the area, with dozens of homes destroyed or damaged, while Palestinian medics said dozens of civilians had been killed and wounded.

An Israeli strike hit a gathering of people outside a Gaza City shop that provides an internet signal for customers to call and check on relatives and friends, killing at least three people and wounding more than 20, medics said.

An Israeli air strike killed a local journalist, Hayel Al-Najar, and three of his family in his house in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, medics and fellow journalists said.

INVESTIGATION INTO U.N. FATALITY

Israel said its troops had identified fighters in the central logistics compound of the U.N. Palestinian relief agency UNRWA east of Rafah, demanding an explanation. Reuters verified the location of video released by the Israeli army but could not verify when it was filmed or the identity of the men.

"The U.N. has in part become a terrorist entity in itself because it cooperates with Hamas and covers for it," Israel's ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan told Army Radio.

UNRWA has denied cooperating with Hamas.

An UNRWA spokesperson said the agency could not verify the authenticity or content of the video or the exact timing or location, but it was likely that the video showed an UNRWA warehouse in Rafah that staff left in the week of May 6.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters the men were there to protect aid distribution.

"These are false allegations and lies. This is a police force tasked with securing aid centres against acts of theft and looting," Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

The U.N. is investigating a strike on a car in Rafah this week that killed its first international staff member since Oct. 7, a retired Indian army officer en route to the European Hospital. It blamed tank fire in an area where only Israeli tanks were present.

The Israeli military said an initial inquiry had concluded the vehicle, whose route it was unaware of, had been hit in an active combat zone and the incident was under review.

Some 254 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the war began, including 191 U.N. staff, according to the U.N..

As the fighting intensifies, ceasefire talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt are at a stalemate, with Hamas demanding a permanent end to attacks and Netanyahu's government saying it will not stop until the group is annihilated.

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian forces advancing daily in special op, everything going according to plan — Putin

Russian forces are moving forward according to plan, this year making daily advances in all areas, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with commanders of troops of military districts.

"Work is being carried out according to the plan approved and drawn up by the command of the battlegroup, by the General Staff. All the assigned tasks are being accomplished," the president said.

"Not only last year were - I want to say it again - all enemy counterattacks repelled, but also starting this year, our troops are constantly, daily, improving their position in every area," the supreme commander-in-chief said.

Putin opened his meeting with commanders of troops of military districts by extending his greetings on the occasion of Victory Day.

"I wished to do it in person, as I know that on [May] 9th, all of you must be and were at your workplaces, marking this holiday in a combat situation," the president said.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian forces shell central Kharkiv, two injured, governor says

Russian forces shelled the central Shevchenkivsyi district of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, on Wednesday, injuring two people and damaging a five-storey building, the regional governor said.

Oleh Syniehubov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the two men were being treated in hospital.

Reuters was unable to independently verify battlefield reports.

Kharkiv has been a frequent target of Russian forces in recent weeks. Russian troops pushed their way across the border last week in northern parts of Kharkiv region and military officials say they have captured 12 villages.

** Zelenskiy postpones travel abroad as Russian troops enter Ukraine border town

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy postponed all his foreign trips as Ukraine's battlefield situation continued to deteriorate on Wednesday and Kyiv said fighting raged in the northeastern border town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv region.

The capture of the town, 5 km (3 miles) from the border, would be Russia's most significant gain since it launched an incursion into the region on Friday, opening a new front in its invasion and forcing Kyiv to rush in reinforcements.

The assault keeps Ukraine's forces, also holding the 1,000- km (600-mile) front line in east and south, off balance ahead of what Zelenskiy has said could be a big Russian offensive. Moscow has been slowly making ground in the east for months.

"The situation is extremely difficult. The enemy is taking positions on the streets of the town of Vovchansk," Oleksiy Kharkivskyi, Vovchansk's patrol police chief, said on Facebook.

Dmytro Lazutkin, a spokesman for the defence ministry, said "some" Russian infantry groups had entered the town. Ukrainian troops later managed to "partially" push them back, the general staff said, but "defensive actions" raged in the north and northwestern outskirts.

A late-night report issued by Ukraine's General Staff said its troops had repelled four Russia attacks along the border, but fighting was raging near a string of villages. Troops "continued to carry out stabilising moves" near Vovchansk.

The report said heavy fire had prompted the military to reposition some troops near Kupiansk to the southeast, an area that has seen heavy fighting in recent months.

On Tuesday, the General Staff said troops had pulled back to new positions in the Vovchansk and Lukyantsi areas due to "a consequence of enemy fire and storming action".

Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday its forces captured two more settlements in the region, bringing the total count to 12 since Friday. The latest were Hlyboke and Lukyantsi, it said, both about 25 km from Kharkiv's outskirts.

Police remained in Vovchansk and were continuing to evacuate people, Kharkivskyi said. Nearly 8,000 people have been evacuated from Vovchansk and border areas since Friday's assault.

WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

Zelenskiy has postponed all his foreign travel planned for the coming days, his spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov said, after the Ukrainian leader held a daily conference call with senior military figures to discuss the situation in Kharkiv region and the supply of weapons.

Zelenskiy later confirmed the postponements himself in a post on the Telegram messaging app, saying that "all attention now is focused on our current defence operations".

Ukraine is trying to snuff out the assault in Kharkiv region, while holding the line against Moscow's main thrust in the eastern Donbas region and guarding against potential new border incursions.

The top military spy has warned that Russia had small groups of forces located to the north of Kharkiv region along its border with the Sumy region.

Ukraine's shortage of troops is compounded by months of delayed weapons deliveries, in particular from the United States, after Congress took six months to approve a major aid package.

"For Russians, now is actually a window of opportunity. ... The Russians feel it, they have accumulated enough resources," Serhii Rakhmanin, a lawmaker and member of the Ukrainian parliamentary committee for security and defence, told Reuters.

He said he expected the next three months to be the most critical for Ukraine, but anticipated that the situation would improve due to fresh weapons supplies, if they arrive in time.

The deteriorating situation in Kharkiv region coincided with a visit to Kyiv by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said the U.S. was aiming to ensurethe speedy delivery of much needed weapons.

"We're rushing ammunition, armoured vehicles, missiles, air defences - rushing them to get to the front lines to protect soldiers, to protect civilians," he said.

Kyiv says the Russian assault into the northeast does not present an imminent threat to the region's city of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest, which is home to 1.3 million people.

Tass/Reuters

After alleging his life and family were in danger, FirstNews editor, Segun Olatunji, walked out on his job and the messy situation of Nigeria’s state security agents going feral on him. Their actions were not out of character. When a situation embarrasses one of the country’s many self-important “big men,” violence is always their resort. In this case, the big man with a punctured ego is the president’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila.FirstNews had written an unflattering story bordering on corruption and abuse of office about him, a civic action that turned out to be a mistake on the part of journalists who took the fact of Nigeria’s democracy as self-evident. For now, one cannot definitively state whether the case peaked with the editor’s resignation.

Some military men were said to have arrested Olatunji from his Lagos home. According to Olatunji’s narration of accounts, they arrested his wife and used her as bait to get to him. They (officers of the Army, Air Force and Defence Intelligence Agency!) burst into his home, bundled him into a van parked outside his house, and whisked him away. They blindfolded him and transported him to Abuja in a military helicopter. They also detained and tortured him. When confronted, they at first denied their involvement in his arrest. It was thanks to a sustained media campaign that Olatunji was later released. It probably helped too that the FirstNews management also apologised to Gbajabiamila stating that their report contained “falsehoods and fabricated stories handed out to us as facts by a misleading source.” Trouble is, in situations like this, you never know what constitutes a genuine apology and what was obtained under duress.

Several commentators have already addressed the issue of the journalist’s abduction. What I am curious about is the role of Gbajabiamila in all of these. Is he satisfied with the outcome? Is this how he is going to be resolving issues going forward? Notably, he was silent all through the saga (or maybe I just never came across his statement on the issue). However, we are Nigerians enough to know that the state agents would not deploy that much resources to arrest a single journalist if they were not acting on “orders from above.” The fact that he was publicly silent does not absolve his fangs of this venom.

As you might know, Gbajabiamilia is a trained lawyer with many years of practice in the United States. Yes, his career was blighted by professional misconduct but he was still a practitioner. Back home in Nigeria, he cut his political teeth by working among the breed of activists/intellectuals whose perpetual claims on the public never surpass their glorious days of challenging military despots. It is consequential of how we (mis-)attribute our freedom from autocratic government to these people that someone like Gbajabiamila eventually rose to become the Speaker of the House of Representatives. In short, Gbajabiamila is a man whose professional career and political credentials have been defined by the law—the rule of law, advocacy against an unruly order, and the making of the law.

So, why would a man like that fight supposed libel/slander through means that repudiate the law? Why did he abjure the path of pursuing a civil case and instead opt for the very “Gestapo” military techniques that negate the ethos of Nigeria as a democratic society? I am genuinely curious if, at any time during Olatunji’s saga, Gbajabiamila was struck by the irony of a lawyer/lawmaker defending his supposed integrity using brute despotic tactics. Is this not another instance of Nigeria as the quintessential Orwellian animal farm?

There are many disasters in Nigeria today, and Olatunji’s abduction illustrates some of them: those who boast they fought for democracy were never fully convinced of democracy’s true potential; those presently vested with power do not believe in the country enough to let us attain our true potential. At every turn, and every opportunity they get, they subvert our chances of becoming the nation where “peace and justice shall reign.” As it turns out, even the man who has worked with the law all his life does not even believe in the law enough to let the law take its course. He could have gotten FirstNews to apologise if he had filed a civil case in the court, won, and the judge ordered a retraction. Instead, he took a shortcut. For a country where insecurity is perpetually rife, security agents sure wasted resources to make a spectacle of the vindictiveness of self-vindication.

When you read the FirstNews report that triggered the abduction, what you see is a case of losing a needle and invoking Sango to help retrieve it. Ultimately, the expenditure of summoning a wrathful God will outweigh the value of what was initially lost. Like millions of Nigerians, I never even heard of FirstNews until the arrest of their editor. I had to go dig up the story online, and there it was: a wishy-washy and gossipy report that lacked substance. If there was any truth to that account, it was buried deep down in the shallowness of that reporting.

You look at the article now gleefully republished on the internet and wonder, what is it about this tripe that triggered the autocratic instincts of a lawyer, lawmaker, former Speaker, and Chief of Staff to the President? It really does not take much for people with really small feathers to have them ruffled. Then you look at the whole situation again and it suddenly gets clearer why Nigeria is in a state of administrative mess: our leaders are not busy enough. Those who are tasked with carrying the elephant of national responsibilities on their heads are obsessed with using their toes to dig up crickets in the soil of Nigeria’s decaying media institutions.

Meanwhile, by descending on Olatunji so high-handedly, reasonable people are left wondering why anyone would move a muscle over something so forgettable. It had to have triggered something in a seared conscience. While we will never know the truth of what happened, the overreaction suggests that there must be a raging fire underneath the wispy smoke ofFirstNews’ report.

Olatunji’s story is yet another lesson for Nigerians who accede when government officials advocate more social media regulation. Now you can see that when people like Gbajabiamila go around whipping up a moral panic around social media, claiming social media is a menace that must be regulated, what they are actually doing is putting themselves beyond incrimination when they take certain extrajudicial actions like abducting and torturing a journalist. What they are trying to achieve by disseminating such glaring nonsense is a situation where they can justify themselves when they express their own unregulated power. Do not be beguiled, the real menace to society is those unaccountable to no one and who will observe no limits in their expression of coercive force.

Nigeria is a place where virtually everyone with a modicum of power does not hesitate to rain down abuses by using state-invested power, and here is another frightening instance. What is far more annoying is how the same state security agents who cannot protect us against crime, terrorism, banditry, and all sorts somehow always have enough resources to salvage the ego of the big man who is apparently too soft-skinned to take public criticism. For Nigerian soldiers who make videos to complain they fight Boko Haram and bandits without sufficient resources to fly a non-violent “offender” in a military helicopter shows an abject lack of seriousness in their organisation. But that imprudence is the nature of our democracy. There are never enough resources to do any public good, but they somehow manage to privatise the little that exists to assuage the feelings of puny gods who want their feelings worshipped.

Punch

Dropping your prices to get more customers may not lead to more profit. While this approach may have benefits in the short term, pricing psychology research reveals that lowering your prices too much can negatively impact your customer satisfaction scores and brand perception.  

Years ago, I had the chance to learn valuable lessons about pricing psychology from Brad Fallon, a lawyer-turned-entrepreneur with whom I interned as a college senior.

Brad and his wife co-founded MyWeddingFavors.com in 2004. Within two years, they had turned a $2,000 investment into $32 million.

Following this success, Brad launched StomperNet, an internet marketing company, which made $12 million in 12 hours, setting a record for the highest launch day sales for an information product up to that point in history.  

Brad's insights about pricing psychology were deep because, among other things, he sold digital products. Persuading people (especially in the early 2000s) to pay a high price tag for information products is hard because you're selling an intangible solution. 

Among the most valuable lessons I gleaned from him and others about pricing psychology is this: How consumers evaluate value, the worth of a product or service, is subjective and rarely rational. 

I'll give you an example. 

Mind over matter

In a 2008 study, participants were asked to rate wines at different price points while inside an MRI scanner, which allowed researchers to observe their brain activity. Ultimately, participants rated the wines with the heftier price tag as the best tasting.  

Researchers saw more activity in participants' orbitofrontal cortex, the brain region that processes pleasure, when people drank the pricer wines.

But here's the kicker: It was all the same wine. The only difference? The price tag. 

People believed the pricier wine tasted better and was of higher quality. As they say, perception is reality.

A pricey perspective

These insights relate to profit margins. You may have set your prices using competitive analysis or a cost-plus model. 

Competitive pricing means setting your rates based on your competitors' pricing, while cost-plus pricing involves adding a markup to your production costs to create a profit margin.

While these pricing strategies are useful, they have a drawback: They fail to consider your customers' perceptions of value and what they're willing to pay.  

In other words, these two pricing strategies overlook the most valuable person in a pricing conversation: your customer, the one who's paying you. 

Van Westendorp

Luckily, tools like the Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter, developed by a Dutch economist in the 1970s, can be invaluable for analyzing what your customers would be willing to pay for your product or service.  

It can help you find the optimal price range by asking your target audience four simple questions in a survey:  

• At what price is this product or service too cheap?
• At what price is this product or service a good value or bargain?
• At what price is this product or service getting expensive but still worth considering?
• At what price is this product or service too expensive?

As you gain insight into what your customers are willing to pay for your goods and services--and why--you may discover something: Their beliefs about your solution's value and how much they're willing to pay for it may surprise you. 

It could be better or worse than you think. And it would be hard to uncover these insights with other pricing strategies. 

So use the Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter to reduce the risk of underpricing or overpricing your products and services.  

Whether you're selling wine or wedding favors online, never underestimate the power perception and psychology play in shaping people's buying behavior. 

To overlook this would be a big price to pay.

Inc