Tuesday 20 October 2015

Buhari violating federal character in appointments – Ekweremadu

The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari has violated the provisions of the federal character as contained in Section 14 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the appointments the President had made.
Ekweremadu, who spoke in a lecture at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University on Monday, argued that Buhari violated that section of the constitution in his initial appointments, contending that such appointments ought to reflect the diversity of the country.

He said the appointments “made so far by the current administration are clearly lop-sided that it left the South-East totally empty-handed”.

He added, “I think in this country that is just recovering from a most divisive and bitter fought presidential election in its history; in a country where vicious civil war had been fought and scars are fresh; in a country where a presidential election, believed to have been won by (someone from) a part of the country was annulled; in a country which has deteriorated from one that citizens held high political and civil service offices outside their places of origin to one in which they hardly do so any more; and indeed in a country where there has been consistent outbreaks of militancy and restiveness by people who believe they have been shortchanged, maltreated, and, therefore, better off outside the Nigerian commonwealth, I firmly believe from the depth of my heart and conscience that you do not even need a soothsayer or compulsion of the constitution to know that you must necessarily carry every part of the country along.”

In his lecture entitled, ‘The Politics of Constitution Review in the Multi-Ethnic Society’, organised by the Faculty of Law, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Ekweremadu said it had become imperative to review the nation’s constitution on grounds of ambiguity and failure to make provisions for some critical matters of state.

He noted that difficulties in amending the constitution were caused by mutual suspicion of the elite as “mutual ethno-sectional and religious suspicions have become so ingrained in our body polity that even the most patriotic and altruistic intentions are almost always interpreted from myopic prisms of such sentiments and interests”.

Nigeria’s former Ambassador to the United States, Prof. George Obiozor, said it would amount to fallacy for anybody to say that Nigeria’s unity was not negotiable, noting that Nigeria had failed to learn the lessons of history.

Obiozor stated, “The reality over the years remains that in spite of the best efforts of all our leaders past or present, Nigerian unity is not guaranteed. It is simply at best, an aspiration and not yet an achievement.”

The ex-envoy advised that if the country would realise its potential, it must stop “the syndrome of self- delusion about Nigerian historical exceptionality”.

“Today, if the truth must be told, our diversity has turned into disorder, and our democracy is an invitation to incremental anarchy,” Obiozor said.

Nigerian students not happy with Buhari over economy-Research - See more at: http://thechronicleofeducation.com/2015/10/19/nigerian-students-not-happy-with-buhari-over-economy-research/#sthash.kbJfy2mq.dpuf

5, 000 pupils benefit from NBC’s ‘Back to School’ initiative

In an effort to boost learning in public primary schools across the country, the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Limited, through its “Back-To-School Initiative,” has donated school kits containing educational materials to pupils.

The initiative designed to support educational development in the country, particularly in the area of enrolment and retention of pupils in public schools, has seen over 5, 000 schoolchildren benefitting in Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Onitsha, Okigwe and Asejire.

Presenting the kits to pupils of Odu-Obure Primary School and Alaba Primary School both in Mushin, Lagos, Managing Director, NBC, Ben Langat, said the initiative was aimed at supporting parents and guardians, and relieving them of financial burden as their children and wards return to school for a fresh academic session.

Represented by the company’s Chief Security Officer, Van Wilberding, Langat stressed that “the programme would also encourage enrolment in public primary schools as well as reduce the number of out-of-school children at primary level.”

Other strategic educational investments by the company in primary education, according to him, include the provision and upgrade of infrastructure in public schools, capacity building for teachers and school support initiatives towards the learning and development of the Nigerian child.

Responding, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Education Mrs. Olabisi Ariyo, who was represented by Director, Administration and Human Resources, Mrs. Omolara Akin-Adekibigbe, commended the effort of NBC in developing the intellectual capacity of the Nigerian child.

She said, “The initiative is in line with efforts at delivering qualitative education to our children, the future of our country and a manifestation of government’s call for private sector involvement in developing key sectors of the economy, particularly education. The gesture, no doubt, will go a long way in supporting and motivating pupils to be serious with their studies and be glad as they come to school, since children generally derive joy from receiving gift items.”

She urged other corporate organisations to partner government in fighting for the course for the wellbeing of the Nigerian child, as government alone cannot sponsor education.

FUTA VC urges students to acquire extra skills

The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Prof. Adebiyi Daramola, has urged students to acquire extra skills in order to have a unique selling point.

According to him, having good knowledge in foreign language, software skills or a higher degree in an uncommon course will give them added advantage in the labour market.

Daramola said this during an interaction with the student union officials of the university.

Daramola, who said Information and Communication Technology had made learning broader, urged the students to access diverse information and opportunities that would broaden their horizon.

The VC also challenged them to endeavour to engage in dialogue, saying that it is key to reaching mutual understanding with university authorities, government, communities and other stakeholders.

According to him, protests by students cause setback and destroy the system.

“The university is a civilised place where ideas can be cross-fertilised to achieve the best result,” he said.

He urged the student leaders to always embrace peace and curtail militancy among their members.

Daramola said he was optimistic that before the end of his tenure, FUTA would rank as one of the first five universities in Nigeria.

He said, “The process of building a world-class institution is a long process but FUTA is steadily becoming a first-class university globally. We have overtaken some of the old generation universities, but we can still do better.”

The student union team, which included Mr. Tesleem Okunlola and Miss Oyewunmi Balogun, thanked the VC for his advice, assuring him that they would continue to engage in constructive engagement with the authorities and other stakeholders.

Rethinking Nigeria’s well being

FIVE months into his tenure, President Muhammadu Buhari has no more time to waste before fixing the economy. Thus the government must recognise the urgency of articulating a blueprint and setting the machinery in motion to put the economy on the path of recovery.

Rescuing the nation from the brink of economic recession demands the implementation of new economic models as the existing models would seem to have failed to generate lasting development for the country. Fortunately, the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, who has responsibility for the economy as Chairman of the National Economic Council (NEC) is well aware of the nation’s challenges and the need to fix things quickly.
At the 21st Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Osinbajo rightly acknowledged that the implementation of strategies that would pave the way for the recovery of the economy would involve tough choices. However, such tough choices must not involve what has not worked for the country. The government must avoid embracing models that only end up satisfying the Paris Club, London Club, International Monetary Fund (IMF), among other global institutions, while impoverishing Nigerian citizens.
Rather, tough choices for the recovery of the economy should begin with planning and with the appropriate data too. The nation must have short-term, medium and long-term developmental goals. Many successful countries have laid-out plans that span 50-100 years and Nigeria must emulate these countries in order to succeed.
To be sure, the nation has had some long-term developmental objectives but not much was ever achieved as a result. Because the country has over the years been saddled with leaders who were short sighted, those long-term developmental objectives were never pursued or were pursued haphazardly.
Thus it is necessary for the Buhari government to break away from this pattern and embrace a culture of productivity and prudence that it should in turn inculcate in the citizens. For no matter how effective the models, their gains cannot be sustained as long as the nation is not productive and prudent in the management of its resources.
The enthronement of a culture of productivity and prudence should, of course, be followed by a weaning of the nation off its dependence on oil revenue. The government should foster an environment that would pave the way to a competitive, diversified and self-reliant economy.
Such an economy that would be all-inclusive must have especially agriculture and manufacturing as major planks. Nigeria must therefore return to the land, to an era when the sustenance of the economy was driven by cocoa, cotton, rubber, among other farm produce. Such goods would therefore constitute a buffer for the nation against the volatility of the international prices of oil. And a truly federal structure must be allowed if Nigeria would ever thrive.
Solid minerals, an abundance of which is available in all states and corners of Nigeria, should be free for exploitation and utilization by all in a federal system that allows resources in each state’s domain to belong and be exploited there while such states pay an agreed royalty to the centre. A true diversification of the revenue base should be predicated on freeing the nation’s full capacity in a true federation.
Thus there is the need for the government to place the focus of its governance on the citizens with a view to ensuring massive inclusive empowerment. The government must also intervene in the regime of high interest rates to enable the citizens meet the financial needs of their involvement in agricultural production, solid minerals and manufacturing. Also, the government must pay attention to critical infrastructure such as electricity, roads, communications and ports. Agriculture and manufacturing cannot take place when these infrastructure like roads and communications systems, railway system, sea and airports needed to transport goods to where they are needed are lacking.
Above all, for the people to meet the demands of the new world economy, they must be educated to the extent that their creative energies can be released and unleashed. Education must be seen as a pillar of democracy in which all the people can have a voice not only in their governance but also in the market. This kind of education can only be attained when the curricula in the nation’s schools are reviewed at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education to reflect the needs and values of Nigeria even in science and technology.
Rethinking the well being of Nigeria, of course, goes beyond just repudiating Western models. But raising a team of highly knowledgeable experts who would develop solutions to impediments to the development of the nation through local economic models is an imperative.
The Nigerian economy is big and the potentials are limitless. The challenge for the current government is to galvanise the citizens into seeing and realising that potential. The Buhari government should lead by getting the nation’s priorities right and creating the right environment for all. Muhammadu Buhari could not have come as President at a better time than now when the economic well being of Nigeria is assured if the entire nation is mobilised behind a honest and purposeful leader.

Friday 30 January 2015

PDP steals N100 from every litre of kerosene – Oshiomhole

The Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on Thursday accused the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government of duping Nigerians by selling kerosene N150 per litre instead of N50.

Oshiomhole, who said this while receiving defectors from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress in Benin, the Edo State capital, also said that Nigerians had been suffering since the PDP assumed power 16 years ago.

This, he said, was because of the PDP’s dedication “to preserve the privileges of the few.”

Oshiomhole said the Federal Government had been doing this by not allowing the masses to enjoy the benefits of the natural resources bestowed on the country by God through shady subsidy deals on petroleum products.

The governor said, “The man who has a shop must close by 6 pm. If he operates beyond 6pm, he must put on a generator, and buy petrol or diesel. For 16 years, the PDP can’t give us light. But if they leave us in peace even in the dark, it will be bad enough but for them, that is not bad enough.”

“From Otuoke to Benin City, to Lagos, to Ekpoma, to Iyahmo, to Sokoto, kerosene is now between N150 and N160 per litre. For every N150 you spend in buying a litre of kerosene, the PDP steals N100 because in the books of the NNPC, they have it on records that kerosene is N50 per litre.”

Oshiomhole also commended the quality of the defectors, who he described as knowledgeable.

He said, “Today is not just the fact of the huge number in this hall but it is also about the quality of the brains that have now join us; and in a world that is knowledge-driven, it is only the party that can parade the best brains that can drive the sustainable change that Nigeria is currently battling with in order to bail our country from its present political quagmire.”

The governor also likened the ruling party to “an impotent man.”

Sunday 25 January 2015

Friendship Categories and Classifications: What's Your Friend's Type?

Parents typically discuss the importance of being careful with the selection of friends with their children. Some parents go even further to warn their children that some 'so-called friends' aren't really who they claim to be. This last guidance is something that's often learned too late after expecting a friend to be available (e.g., physically, emotionally, spiritually) in a time of need. It's at this point that individuals can be faced with the reality that their expectation(s) won't be met.

Individuals within someone's social circle(s) aren't always friends, but are usually an:

Acquaintance or Associate -- there is familiarity with someone, but there isn't a personal relationship.

Unfavorable friends can be classified as a/an:

Appendage -- friendly because there's a possibility that an individual's success will help them;

Conditional -- a requirement placed on a relationship that's dependent on a certain need being met;

Counterfeit -- gives the impression of being a friend, but isn't someone who can be trusted;

Evaluative -- determines the significance of a relationship based on the last thing(s) provided or done;

Fair-Weather -- disappears during a time of need, but will return once a bad time or situation passes;

Leech -- drains an individual of their energy, essence, or desire to move forward;

Occasional -- friendly during certain times, but suddenly stops being friendly without any reason or notice. At a later time, the person will be friendly (again) on their terms;

Negative -- considers themselves to be a friend, but is always pessimistic about things related to the friendship or the things that their friend does;

Noncommittal -- goes back-and-forth on their belief(s), support, assistance, etc.;

Situational -- an individual suddenly becomes friendly once a certain event occurs that there might be a personal benefit;

Spiteful -- jealous of someone's efforts to achieve or actual success;

Toxic - gives an impression of providing support, but actively works to undermine their efforts.

Favorable friends can be categorized as a:

Cheerleader -- provides direct moral support for someone's work and activities;

Good-Time Charlie -- hangs out with an intent to have a good time or for stress relief;

Kindred Spirit -- provides emotional, spiritual, or moral support;

Strategist -- assists with helping to develop, think through, and achieve a goal.

These categories and classifications are important to understand; however, the type of friend that's preferred is a:

True Friend -- someone who doesn't place a classification, condition, value, or limitation on a relationship; someone who will provide emotional support and will also remain friends during good and bad times without exceptions.

The categories and classifications provided are partial lists of the various types of good and questionable friends, respectively.

Anyone who reviews this information will hopefully not have to examine it closely to determine the categories which describe their friendships. If so, then there might be a need to review the classifications carefully as a guide to reevaluate a relationship.

A friendship should be based on mutual beliefs, attitudes, desires, and sometimes future goals that won't easily be impacted by certain moments, situations, or conditions.

After reviewing these categories and classifications:

Are you okay with the types of friends in your environment? If not, then it might be time for replacements.

Make your relationship last

For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, what is it that makes a marriage last (and last)? To answer this age-old question, family sociologist Karl Pillemer, launched the largest in-depth survey of long-married couples ever conducted, interviewing 700 people who had been hitched an average of 43 years. Their sage advice is collected in his new book, 30 Lessons for Loving
Here, a few of our favorite practical relationship tips from husbands and wives who’ve discovered the true meaning of commitment.
Start the day with a small kindness
“When you wake up in the morning, think, What can I do to make his or her day just a little happier? The idea is you need to turn toward each other and focus on the other person, even just for that five minutes when you first wake up.”
—Antoinette Watkins*, 81
Remember that being close doesn’t mean you’re the same
“You have to be able to try—and sometimes this is very, very difficult—you have to try to understand what the other person is thinking in any given situation. The main thing is that everybody—including your partner—has their own ideas about their world. Even though you’re in a very intimate relationship, the other person is still another person.”
—Reuben Elliot, 72

Stop worrying about your wrinkles
“Somehow as you get older you kind of get blind to the infirmities that affect the other party. And you always see them the way they were. You don’t see aging. It’s a wonderful thing. I don’t know if the brain is wired for that, but that’s the way it is.”
—Alfredo Doyle, 77
Find your “fight number 17”
“This may sound like a flip thing, but it works for us. We came up with it at some point along the way: We call it jokingly ‘fight number 17.’ … It means we’ve had this one at least 16 times before. We’ve decided we don’t even bother to have it anymore. We see it coming and we just shut up and don’t even start with it. Because it’s not going to go anywhere. My theory is that in every marriage there is one of those issues.”
—Ralph Perkins
Nurture the friendship
“I think it’s hard when you’re young and hot on one another to back off and say, ‘Do I like what is behind these hands and these body parts?’ But that is the piece that doesn’t wear out, that grows and deepens. The sexual aspect deepens, too, in its own way, but it becomes less important and the friendship becomes more important as the years go by. It will be challenged by kids and hardships and losses of parents and changing interests and patterns, but an abiding friendship is at the base of a solid marriage.”
—Lydia Wade, 73
Surround yourself with happy couples
“If you’re hanging around with negative people, find some positive people and hang around with them instead. You know, success imitates success. So if you see people who seem to have a very successful happy marriage, well, you hang around with those types of people. It does rub off. Avoid the ones with a defeatist attitude—get out of there before they drag you down.”
—Jeremy Bennett, 80
Repeat back to each other
“We realized early on that disagreements often came about when we weren’t really understanding where the other person was coming from. So I will say, ‘Are you saying….?’ Or ‘Do you mean…?’ Because sometimes we really are in the moment and we say things that we really don’t believe. So I always repeat back to him what I think he’s saying and then he’ll either say yes or he’ll say, ‘No, where’d you get that idea?’”
—Lucia Waters, 75
Divvy up chores based on your strengths
“You just need to share at home…It needs to be cooperative. And here’s the way to do it: Whatever needs to be done, the person who can do it best is the one who should do it.”
—Dixie Becker, 84
Take breaks
“If conflict occurs, well, there is the Chinese saying, ‘Take a step back, and you can see the whole sky.’ Just step away, a little bit. Just step back and then you see other things.”
—Chen Xiu
Know that there’s always more to learn
“It seems to me that marriage is a process. You never get there; you’re always in process. It’s always more work than you can possibly imagine. In my case, it was worth it.”
—Samantha Jones, 80

Escape the friend zone

Developing romantic feelings for someone who only sees the relationship as just being friends can be frustrating. These tips will help you escape the friend zone

Ask for a date

Asking to go out on a date will suggest you do not just want to remain in the friend zone. This could take a lot of convincing as the person may not be used to going on a romantic date with you. Be patient and look for ways to convince the person. Also, do not expect things to drastically turn out the way you want after the first date. Be consistent and keep at it. Also, keep an open mind and do not feel bad if things do not work out.

Improve yourself

Increase your chances of leaving the friend zone by improving yourself or looking attractive. For a lady, it might be losing some weight or wearing slight or more make-up. Guys could consider toning and firming up their muscles. Attraction plays a huge role and one way to get what you want is to look attractive for that potential partner.

Make a move

Action they say, speaks louder than words. Except one practices what is being said, one will still remain in the friend zone. Make a move to get out of the friend zone if you want to enjoy a romantic relationship. Make plans and put things into action and proper perspective. Also bear in mind that not all friendships will lead to a romantic relationship, so do not be disappointed when things do not work out to your taste.

Value the person

Some people get stuck in the friend zone because they value the relationship more than the other person. Valuing the other person gives you a guide to the relationship and lets you appreciate the strengths of your potential partner. The individual has to come before the relationship. If there is no person to crush on, there will be no relationship to build.

Start early enough

The best way to avoid being in the friend zone is to make your intentions known from the outset. Make it known to your friend that you are interested in him/her. This may be difficult especially for a lady because of societal values. Pay attention to things around them and compliment them when necessary. They will get that clue of interest and follow suit.

Take some time off

People may prefer to keep others in the friend zone because they are used to having them around or tending to their needs. There is a popular saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Take some time off, but engage in meaningful activities. Chances are that a friend who keeps you in the friend zone may want to step things up when they start having you around again because they miss you.

Create competition

Your friend may value you more if he or she thinks he/she could lose you to someone else. Go out, make other friends and do not restrict yourself to the person. People usually sit up when they know they have competition. But be careful with this as competition could spark up some jealousy. It is natural for partners to get jealous of someone they love and too much of it is not healthy.

Reciprocate gestures

You may not be the right choice for someone who wants to take a friendship to the next level if you always take and never give back. Be grateful for gifts you receive, and when you have the opportunity, give back. Don’t stop at that; be attentive and affectionate. This encourages them to spot the qualities they would want in a potential partner.

Alonge blog!