Sen

They plan. And Allah plans. And Allah is the best of planners ~ Qur'an 8:30 Well Connected, Well Respected and Well Protected. Co-Founder/CGO

[Sen @ImranRapID]

Tohhhh MashaAllah, say MashaAllah.

[Alex Hormozi @AlexHormozi]

My father fled Iran during the revolution.

He landed as a young man in Paris and decided to become a doctor.

But…he failed his first year of medical school. Because he didn’t speak French.

Then, he retook the first year again…and failed for a second time (because he still barely spoke french and was taking organic chemistry in a language with a different alphabet).

He decided to move to Brussels to give it a third try and start over.

And on his third try, he’d learned enough French to pass. He went on and graduated top of his class.

Then, he met my mother and she convinced him to come to the U.S.

He came here with $1000, a suitcase, and, yet again, didn’t speak the native language (now English).

They wouldn’t recognize his foreign MD and no one would give him a residency because he was a foreigner.

So he spent 2 years as a technician working barely above minimum wage.

Then finally, he was finally given a
residency in the U.S.

After residency, he joined my grandfathers practice (moms dad).

Just as he began to develop a reputation, he found himself locked out of his own office. The locks changed on him overnight.

My mother decided to get a divorce.

He had to start over, again, this time on his own.

But he didn’t have the money.

And - to build a surgery center was $250,000 (in 1995 dollars).

He didn’t have that kind of money.

So looked up the legal requirements and he built his own. The entire thing. Himself. To code. Actually. Out of sheer will. And built it for under $30,000 (all the money he had at the time).

Finally, he was on his own.

This time, he kept growing and growing his practice until he became the top eyelid surgeon in Maryland. And eventually, in the U.S.

He’s done more than 16,000 cases meaning somewhere upwards of 50,000+ eyelids.

And every year he (on his own) does more eyelid cases than all of John’s Hopkins eye department combined.

My father taught me many lessons. Most of them through example, not preaching. He’s not a man of many words.

But the few things he did say, he’d say with his actions over and over again:

Failures are just detours.

Don’t let anyone tell you you aren’t good enough for what you want.

Whatever you do, be the best.

God gave you the power to ignore, use it.

It’s better to be envied than pitied.

You won’t even remember their name in 20 years.

You’re only stressed because you’re underprepared.

There’s nothing anyone can put you through that you haven’t already put yourself through that was worse.

And finally…

You only get one name, tell the world what you want it to mean by what you do with it.

****

Whenever I go through hard times I like to remember what he went through to make my life possible.

And somehow, everything always falls into focus.

PS - I get a lot credit for what I’ve done. But I often think what he accomplished was far harder than what I have. And - I don’t want his sacrifice to be in vain.

PPS - Whats the best piece of advice your father (or father figure) gave you?

[Linus ✦ Ekenstam @LinusEkenstam]

Trillion Dollar Club

[fast adopter @fastadopter]

2026

[OTL @onetime_line]

Dua collections for the day of Arafah

[Saudi Gazette @Saudi_Gazette]

#BREAKING: 3,441,600 worshippers and Umrah pilgrims gathered at the Grand Mosque on the 27th night of Ramadan.

[Elai @elaifresh]

Incredible

[Life in Saudi Arabia @LifeSaudiArabia]

Saudi Arabia has recorded its highest number of Umrah performers ever in a single day, with 500,000 pilgrims entering Masjid al-Haram 🕋 yesterday.

[Lady K @KemPatriot]

Dangote refinery… my view - SLS*

I honestly do not think it is a good idea for me to make comments on these issues, but some comments surprise me, and I just have to say something.

Aliko Dangote @AlikoDangote
did not fix the price at which the CBN sold dollars. Everyone who got dollars from the CBN got dollars at the same rate if they bought on the same day. So we can not blame him for buying dollars at a rate the CBN itself decided to sell to its customers.

So the question for me is this. Let us forget the man Dangote @DangoteGroup. If the Central Bank were to prioritize a single enterprise for forex allocation, how many enterprises can we think of that are worthier than a refinery like this one?

Consider the drain on our forex from importing petroleum products; the tens of billions of dollars of forex spent abroad; the huge losses due to theft in the name of subsidy.

By the way, how much forex did Dangote buy from the CBN at this subsidized rate? How much forex did NNPC take from the Federation account in the same year in the name of running and turning around its dead refineries? What are we benchmarking against?

If any Nigerian came to me as a Central Bank Governor with a project like this refinery, I would recognize immediately its potential impact on the economy and give it all the support needed.

Let our views on forex policies not becloud our sense of priorities. Once the CBN decided to sell dollars at the below market, it would be forced to ration the limited dollars available.

To my mind, giving dollars for the construction of a refinery is better than rice importers and, indeed, almost every other enterprise apart from education and health, given the impact on the macro.

As for the argument of NNPC that relying on one refinery is bad for our energy security. This is most laughable. On the contrary, relying on a local refinery is far more secure than these imports.

It is a very rich argument from an entity that had taken billions of dollars in the name of turn around maintenance and not produced a drop of product from four refineries becaus it is more profitable to continue extracting rent in the name of subsidy. If NNPC activated its refineries, there would be no monopoly. Then, we can see the sulphur content of its products and compare them to Dangote's.

Until then, keeping quiet is the honourable option for it.

NNPC and its spinoffs have lost any right to talk until they fix the mess they have thrown us into.

In any case, if the Dangote refinery is unable to meet local demand, the gap can be filled by imports.

These people in NNPC do not want to end their lucrative subsidy scam, and I dont think they will end it. But as a nation if we do not thank Dangote for what he has done as an African to deal a hammer blow to multi nationals and the rentier system and for structural change in this economy through value added in various sectors we should not condemn him.

Also, we tend to repeat stories without evidence. We hear about Dangote getting favourable taxation but no one has said what this tax is, if he got it alone or if it was offered to a sector or to pioneers, and if such a practice is in fact normal to encourage investment.

Instead of killing Dangote, we should try and make more like him! Nigeria always kills its heroes and its best because of envy and pettiness. SLS
@SanusiLamidoS

#KemKem

[Sen @ImranRapID]

God no be man!

[𝗦𝗶𝗿. 𝗘��𝗴𝗿. 𝗔.𝗬🇵🇸💔 @A_Y_Rafindadi]

The Kano State skit maker, UMAR BUSH, has been appointed as S.A. Entertainment at the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities.

Congratulations to him.

[Mohammed Idris, FNIPR @HMMohammedIdris]

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

FG, UAE Reach Agreement on Resumption of Travels for Nigerian Passport Holders

Following successful talks and extensive, mutually beneficial negotiations between the Government of the United Arab Emirates and the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria @NigeriaGov, an agreement was reached allowing for the resumption of travel to the UAE for Nigerian passport holders.

This agreement includes updated controls and conditions to facilitate obtaining a UAE visa.

The resumption of visas will be effective from July 15, 2024.

Nigerians wishing to learn more about the updated visa conditions from the UAE can visit https://t.co/HiCwWHnENm for any additional information.

#NigeriaUAE #RenewedHope #Diplomacy

Mohammed Idris
Minister of Information and National Orientation.
July 15, 2024

[Engr. Alkassim Fge @Engr_Alkasimfge]

Kasa ta rikice..🤣🤣

[Sen @ImranRapID]

Postcards From Rasulullah’s Mosque (Pbuh) Medina , MashaAllah.

[Troll Football @TrollFootball]

Arab commentator is back with Baby Calm Down

[غازِي @IAhmadGhazi]

‘ISRAELI SETTLERS, TRUE EDITION’

In this Thread🧵I’ll post Israeli Settlers assaults and violations against Peaceful Palestinians, All of these videos were Before Oct 7 and Were not in Gaza

Get ready to witness what’s HIDDEN

-IT’S TIME TO EXPOSE THE TRUTH-

[Andrew Tate @Cobratate]

I am being told by various sources I am making The Matrix extremely angry with my recent tweets on Palestine -

Ive been told that I will pay the price in the endless law-fare battles Im fighting in many different countries.

The matrix has attacked me everywhere, Im defending my freedom/fortune across continents.

“Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity.” (Quran, 2:286)

Take all my money.

Then take me to jail.

Anything is better than living as a coward.