SELL THE OIL, NOT THE JAR OF OIL by Ambassador Ademola Adeoye

Not long ago, I was invited to speak on the issue I have chosen to decisively look at today. It is a very crucial portion of life that no one can afford to fail to notice. It is what makes folks poor, not a lack of money.  This is the major reason why many African men and African women are broke. And I do not need to tell you that it can be so unsightly and horrible when one cannot pay his or her bills. What’s more, the toughest pressure to be under in life, leadership and business has to do with finances. I hope you do know.

Who does it affect the most when we cannot pay our bills—as leaders over our homes? It affects our children the most! How do I mean? When the arrow-head of a family cannot pay his bills, it will impact negatively on the family, especially the children. This is a very serious issue, particularly in a third world country as Nigeria.
What happens when those of us who are leading various homes are poor? We will not be able to send our children to first-rate schools. We will not be able to put good clothes on their back. We will not be able to take them to first world countries for vacation. When they take ill, we will not be able to take them to countries where their health-care systems are working. The truth is that many children are not in high spirits with leaders over their families today because of poverty. Poverty kills and sends folks to the land of the silent ones ahead of time and too soon. I detest it. And I want you to detest it too. This is why I have chosen to write on this fundamental area at the moment.

When those of us who are leading over homes are poor, it will impact negatively on our wives too. Remember, no woman would be happy when her children are not being well taken care of. And when there is no happiness in a home, the home will lack the strength to advance. This is what leads to tension in many homes today, leading to them falling apart—if nothing is done to salvage the situation before it becomes too late.

There are many pious and smug folks in our beautiful country who either have been wrongly taught or wrongly believe that they could become wealthy without knowing how to give birth to either breathtaking products or render excellence-driven service and sell themselves and whatever they have got to offer. The only bridge that connects people to prosperity is their capacity to brilliantly and superbly sell themselves and what they have got to offer. Remember, if people do not like you, they are definitely not going to buy from you.

For the umpteenth time, as an individual, you will need to learn how to sell yourself and what people within your reach are in a dire need of. If you do not know how to sell, forget about coming out of the pit of poverty. If I were you, I would do all I can to learn how I can become an excellent salesperson in the 21st century. There are many homes in Nigeria at the moment that do not know anything on the issue I am briefly touching on today. Equally, there are too many homes that do only buy from others. They are not selling anything to anyone. This is why they have been leading an imbalanced life financially.

When it comes to coming and staying out of debt, knowing how to sell is inescapable. Selling is the capacity to make money and this is superior to money itself. If you are given money (to pay your debt) without having the capacity to produce and superbly sell it, with time, you will land back in the den of debt and abject poverty. For the umpteenth time, to come out and stay out of debt perpetually, you shall need to know how to brilliantly sell what you have got to offer. But you are only to sell the oil, not the jar of oil.

What does the jar of oil mean in this context? You are to sell what is being produced, not what produces it. Keep your own jar of oil from the public, so it is not duplicated. Across the planet-earth, front-line companies do not reveal their jars of oil. If their jars of oil (recipe) are revealed to their competitors, they will soon be out of business.

What you will only see all around you is the oil, but you will never see the modus operandi (the jar of oil) that produces it. I remember the story of the family that was heavily in debt in the Bible. It was while the family was swimming in the painful pool of poverty that the husband passed on. Time and space would fail me to completely drain the truth contained in the narrative. But see this: the late husband had what could birth wealth in the family, but he was too blind to see its worth. Years after the husband passed on, the jar of oil was still in the house, but the wife also failed to see its worth. They were in debt, not because they did not have money, but because blindness kept them away from the solution to their problem. And you know that it is impossible to run with what you are blind to!

This is where I am coming. The responsibility of the family I am talking about was to fabulously sell the oil, so they could come out of their debt and perpetually stay out of it, but the family was not told to sell the jar of oil. They were to cover it! Apart from the widow, there were only three other trusted people who knew about the jar of oil—their recipe for financial success.
Cover your own jar of oil (recipe for financial success) while you cleverly sell the oil!

See you where great leaders are found.