Will she marry rich or poor? Wealthy women seeking sexual partners see no difference!

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It is not difficult to see a woman riding her Limousine, having a chauffeur driven Mercedes Benz or driving the streets on a Hummer Jeep in our modern times. Time and economic development have helped to narrow the gap between men and women in terms of financial strength and political voices. Have they also been helped in terms of seeking sexual partners?

I believe so.

Ticket officePhoto credit: Flickr.com, Loungerie

I grew up to believe, and I think that I am not the only one, that women agree to marriage when the man is rich and has several investments to his kitty, while men usually tend towards women who appear to have the ability to raise up their children, submissive and can arouse them sexually. These days, women are getting financially independent and are bearing the same financial responsibilities as men; some are the breadwinners in their homes. This independence has changed the age long belief that they will marry rich. Women see no difference again. They now marry for something higher than material wealth.

Success and the ability to survive between generations have always been determined by tradition and society. Women were made to believe that raising healthy offspring depended on material wellbeing. The men were made to believe that success depended on having a fertile woman, a woman with alluring physical form, who would raise him boys that will inherit his property. These are what society and tradition have fed to us for years. We have passed on these beliefs to our children.

GenerationsPhoto credit: flickr.com

Times are changing. It has been proved that where the gap between men and women have been narrowed, in terms of education and finance, the gap between the mental abilities of men and women have also narrowed. Would that be the same for choosing a marriage partner? Marcel Zentner and Klaudia Mitura of the University of York, UK, seem to be saying “yes.” They found that when women are given more power in the society, they tend not to rely on the wealth of a man when agreeing to marriage. They depend on something other than wealth. Their choices too do not fall far from that of men.

Does it mean a woman who has climbed the corporate ladder, is wealthy financially, has all it takes to be independent, will marry a man less wealthy than herself without balking, would make herself approachable to a man without material ideas at the back of her mind? It takes a lot for societal biases to disappear. It takes a lot for a man to approach a multimillionaire at 40 and propose to her for marriage when her bank account is far higher than his own.

The onus also falls on the men. They tend to believe that women have lost interest in marriage and have substituted it for fame and wealth. They wonder whether the woman would agree to their societally accepted concept that she should be submissive? A wealthy woman scares most men away.

Courage, courage, folks!

If the study by the UK scientists is to be believed, then men should throw these fears aside. Approach them, please, and do propose. You could end up marrying a rich woman by putting on your courage hats!

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Men might think that women who have chosen to follow a successful career path are reluctant to commit themselves. But realize that the chosen careers might be time and attention consuming that a sensible, passionate and loving man can draw up the natural inclination in them to think of marriage again. Do not be overwhelmed by their strong personalities. Women desire the good things of life like everyone else does. I refuse to believe that no woman wants to remain childless; they simply do not know how to balance between a career and a home. With increasing financial power in their hands, the decision becomes more difficult.

A discerning man can help his woman. Do not let societal expectations hold you back when you love a woman.

Source: Stepping Out of the Caveman's Shadow: Nations' Gender Gap Predicts Degree of Sex Differentiation in Mate Preferences.

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Is virginity important? Mothers, help your partner speak to the kids about sex!

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Sex! The word means several things to several people. In some cultures, it is a taboo word for children. It might mean facts about male and female bodies and how these work. It could also refer to human development, like the stages when the penis becomes important, or when the breasts start to develop. It could refer to reproduction, types of relationships that we make and what makes a relationship healthy or unhealthy. Sex can also refer to sexual behavior, how to prevent pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (STD).

When children have questions about sex who will they turn to? Parents should make sure their children should turn to them and not to their playground friends. In this regard, mothers are known to be doing well. They are more likely to talk to their children about sensitive topics such as sexual behaviors. Generally, the fathers are lagging behind. Despite this, all hope is not lost. Mothers should help their mates speak up more to the children about sex. By much persuasion and repetition, fathers can also join in teaching their children to respect sex for what it is before adulthood.

Fathers need help.

Research has found that when fathers are exposed to campaign messages, they demonstrated a consistent and increasing pattern of father-child communication over an 18-month period compared to fathers who were not exposed to these campaign messages. Because mothers have placed it upon themselves to talk about sensitive issues to their children, they do not need to be reminded or prodded about it. What this means is that fathers are not living up to their duties to help their children face the challenges of growing up. They need help. Mothers, take note!

father and sonPhoto credit: Flickr.com, dke72

Raising children comes with much responsibility. Mothers cannot do it alone. Statistics has it that by the time they are 19, seven out of 10 teens have had sex. Teens have very high rates of sexually transmitted infections. If you don’t live up to your responsibility, your kids will learn about sex from somewhere else, either from uninformed young people like themselves or from the t.v. Your role as parents is to make sure your children have the right information.

Keeping silent about approaching this sensitive topic can affect your their feelings and behavior about sex for the rest of their lives. They may grow up thinking that sex is something scary or embarrassing. Where they are curious enough, they will give in to peer pressure. If your children are hesitant about talking to you, make sure you make yourselves approachable. Respect their privacy of views and the chance to make their own decisions, but that you will always be there for them when they need help. It is wise to start early with your children. Doing so makes it easier for them to turn to you when the sensitive issues come up. Your kids will grow up with healthy sex lives, are more likely to delay sexual activity, have fewer partners and respect health warnings about sex.

Practical ways fathers can approach the topic of Sex

How, a father might ask, do I start helping my children with sex? It depends on the relationship you have built with your children. It is better though to use everyday life and scene, like when both of you are watching TV shows that has puberty as a theme, or going out on a date; sometimes when both of you are watching an ad that could inspire thoughts about body acceptance. One practical way also is showing your children pictures of pregnant women. Your conversation with them turns out to take a natural and easy bent this way.

Fathers too should attempt to start early and make the frequency of the discussion high. This implies spending more time with your children. You can even start today.

When questions come up

When questions come up, you could follow these practical steps while answering their questions about sex and sexuality.

• Try to find out what is really being asked.

Use viewpoint questions, like: “What have you heard about that”? or “Can you tell me what you already know about that”? Understand what is really being asked before offering an answer.

• Don’t answer too much information.

Give only truthful, short and simple information.

• If you don’t know the answer, say so.

It is better you postpone giving the answer than make your children think other persons are more capable than you are.

• Check their understanding.

After answering a question, you could ask: “Does that answer your question.”?

Fathers can make a difference in the life of their children by buying out time to talk with them. Doing so will help father and son to build strong relationships as well help these young ones stay clear of pursuing unhealthy and regrettable sexual lives. So, fathers, start talking to them today.

By the way, to all the mothers who are setting the example, help your man to do so where he is lacking. It is for the sake of your children.

Source: Repeated Exposure to Media Messages Encouraging Parent-Child Communication About Sex: Differential Trajectories for Mothers and Fathers

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Speak up when you have premarital anxiety since love might not be enough when cold feet is at your door step

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Love - that four letter word. We all confuse lust for love and vice versa. One of the real test of our love, when love stops being blind, is when marriage is proposed. You see, when marriage comes into play, the blindness of love disappears.

Premarital blissCredit: Flickr.com, N08

This is because when we are young, we can throw away the serious nature of commitment keeping and concentrate on having fun. As for marriage, marriage is what we view as something more permanent, a lifetime commitment. When marriage is approached, the little faults and problems we used to ignore come into light.

Some of the doubts we could be blind to during the stage of love are doubts about compatibility. The pressures of finding the “perfect match”, along with the fact that we all have our individual differences. When we have experienced emotional or physical abuse, betrayal, dishonesty, addiction, differences in sexual orientation and drastic disagreement about crucial issues, doubts can also come up when marriage is approached. If you want your marriage to turn out to be a success, you must have to speak up.

Cold feet towards a marriage proposal should not be ignored, especially when a woman develops one. A University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) study has demonstrated that pre-wedding uncertainty, especially among women, predicts higher divorce rates and less marital satisfaction years later. Never ignore those warning signs.

If there was no love, then there’d be no marriage. Despite that, do not take love as an excuse that marriage will turn out fine when and if you have cold feet. Love is and has always been so easy and free. Sometimes, you are wont to think that there are no responsibilities attached to love. Without love, a marriage will not work. Love, though, is not enough.

Days after marriage has been proposed, it is natural for anyone to have to worry about whether he/she is fit for marriage. We all have our anxiety symptoms when it comes to marriage. When you are experiencing one, take time to understand what the reasons for the anxiety are. It is a dangerous thing to ignore those anxieties and risk losing your marriage less than four years later. Analyze them and consider whether they are central to your happiness. Is he abusive? Does he like to control you? Is she overly obsessive? These questions when breached can help you detect the likely future source(s) of trouble in your marriage.

You have to deal with that anxiety. If you wish that it will just go away, then it will likely escalate. Have a conversation with your future partner about it. Be honest about your feelings. Be open to him or to her. The big issues that concern your future as a couple must be addressed. But, it will not be easy to share your doubts. It will discomfort your partner when you point them out to him. When the conversation is handled in a loving way, there will be understanding and the problem will be approached. You never might know; your partner might have doubts himself he’d like to share.

Always remember that no matter how perfectly matched two partners are, they will always have differences between them. If those differences result in anxiety symptoms when marriage is proposed, never ignore them. Work out success strategies that will ensure your marital success.

No matter why you want to get married, whether for political, economic or for reasons best known to you, love should be the foundation for a healthy marriage. Yet, love is not enough if a partner has cold feet. Do not think that the fun of love and youth will translate into a happy marriage; that you can just ignore your fears. Never start a marriage that might end up at the rocks some years later. Build your home on the rock of Gibraltar; as if on unshaken foundations.

Source: Do Cold Feet Warn of Trouble Ahead? Premarital Uncertainty and Four-Year Marital Outcomes

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Review: Phonak hearing aids at your service even in noisy environments

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A Phonak hearing aidCredit: Phonak.com

Hearing aids are digital equipment for sound collection, amplification and direction, into the ear. A basic hearing aid must include a microphone, amplifiers, receivers and batteries. It is traditionally expected that hearing aids should help one to hear better in a quiet environment. When it comes to a noisy environment, making a good choice can be a challenge. Audiologist and clinicians can help you if your lifestyle involves being in noisy environments, like a stadium or a restaurant.

According to a study conducted four years ago, hearing aids can meet the challenges of noisy environments. The studies showed that some hearing aids can work well there.

It was found that a new hearing aid technology, open-fit hearing aids, a type of behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids, when equipped with directional microphones, can perform well in noisy environments. Open-fit technology allows ambient sounds into the ear canal. This is more attractive than the traditional hearing aids which can create canal blockage. Directional microphones, on the other hand, help its user to distinguish conversation from background noise by partially cancelling out low frequency sounds coming from the sides and from behind. It was proved conclusively that open-fit hearing aids with directional microphones on average gave wearers a 20 percent improvement in speech intelligibility in a noisy environment, particularly a restaurant setting, compared to not having a hearing aid or wearing an open-fit aid without a directional microphone. This study was the first to show that this combination showed an improved performance in hearing sound. Open-fit hearing aids, a type of BTE hearing aids, have been in the market for a long time, but with the results of this research, audiologists and clinicians will readily recommend the technology with a directional microphone for a challenging noisy environment.

Phonak Hearing Aids

Phonak hearing aid brands have been ranked number three worldwide in the market. Phonak hearing aids come equipped with the basic features like microphones, amplifiers, receivers and long lasting batteries. Its brands have different styles like in-the-canal (ITC), in-the-ear (ITE), completely-in-the-canal (CIC) and behind-the-ear (BTE). Phonak’s BTE hearing aids come equipped with directional microphones. So, you can be sure that whether in a quiet environment or a challenging noisy environment, Phonak hearing aids can serve you well. You can visit the website for Phonak hearing aids for an overview of its product line.

Always remember to consult an expert for your lifestyles and needs before choosing any hearing aid. Remember also that hearing aids are costly. So, avoid falling into the trap of buying one that you’ll later regret doing so. Get yourself checked by an audiologist before a recommendation before taking a decision on hearing aids.

Source: Unaided and aided performance with a directional open-fit hearing aid.

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To get healed after a relationship post break-up, de-friend that ex- on Facebook or you’ll get caught stalking.

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After you have called it quits, you continue to establish contact with your former partner. This is not because you desire to return to the relationship status quo, rather because you do not want to perceive yourself as feeling hurt, or harboring grudges. On the other hand, it is wise that after a relationship post break up, you call it quits, stop having frequent and close contact, whether offline or online, with your former partner. If you do not do so, you are giving yourself greater sadness and inhibiting your options for recovery.

Post-breakup. Sun, sun, sun, here he comes.Photo credit: Flickr.com, dingesmijn

Would you not feel anger, disappointment, confusion, hatred, frustration or even betrayal if you found your former partner talking with a handsome man or beautiful woman on the street? Would your adrenaline not get a rush? Maintaining close contact with that ex- online, most especially by reading his Facebook updates and being friends with him/her on Facebook can illicit unwanted sexual arousal, lust and a negative desire to do something wrong.

The sooner you make all contacts with that ex- infrequent, particularly when both of you were former friends on Facebook, the better for you so that you can heal your broken heart after a relationship break-up.

The effects of remaining Facebook friends with an ex-lover or even just following their activities online can disrupt your ability to heal emotionally and move on with your life. Due to jealousy and unwanted desires, you could end up doing Facebook surveillance on his or her posts. Researchers have found that this negative outcome is demonstrated both online and offline. This is termed relational intrusion and can lead to stalking.

Whether you are mature enough to handle the distress associated with the break up or not, it is better to let sleeping dog lie. Your split might be amicable. You find nothing wrong in remaining friends on Facebook. You have no negative feelings, no sexual desire or longing for that ex-. Both of you might share the same passions offline and online. So, you find nothing wrong in your having constant contact on Facebook, even offline.

It is better to keep that ex- at a distance. It is best not to read his or her Facebook status updates, or even Facebook profile wall messages and photos. Because Facebook information is easy, free and anonymous, you could end up falling prey to the trap of monitoring the behavior of the ex- online. You could end up stalking that individual on Facebook. It has been shown that this happens online as well as offline.

People who engage in it tend to perceive it as harmless. It is relational intrusion and dangerous. Many persons have found themselves guilty of writing a status update just to make the ex-partner feel jealous. Do not go that way. Your action could turn out to be obsessive because it costs you nothing to do so, and by the way, no one saw you doing it. Much more so, the desire for that former partner could be renewed and how upsetting you would be to find that ex- has found another smashing handsome man? Mounting electronic surveillance on people without permission is a dangerous thing.

If you found that you are obsessively monitoring your ex-partner’s online behavior, better de-friend that person immediately. That is the best you can do for yourself. It is the best remedy you can give yourself when you are broken-hearted over your break up with an ex-partner. You have to allow yourself the time and opportunity to heal emotionally well from the break up. Your personal growth can be at risk also if you do not take this course.

Source: Can Post-Breakup Facebook Surveillance Delay Emotional Recovery?

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Where you need to have dentures fitted, go for removable traditional dentures

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Many adults and teens go to the dentist when they lose their teeth. Losing one’s teeth could arise from an accident or from microbial infection to the teeth due to improper dental hygiene. Whatever the case, full or partial dentures have helped so many people restore their esteem and ability to chew again after they have lost their teeth.

Teeth decay from eating sugar is not because one eats too much sugar. This arises because the amount of sugar that has contact with the teeth for extended period of time is high. Teens obtain about 40 percent of their carbohydrate intake from soft drinks and this constant beverage use increases the risk of tooth decay. If one suffers tooth decay because he is taking too much sugar and has to have dentures fitted, he should consult a dentist and make sure the dentures fit well otherwise, he would fall into the same trap that caused the problem in the first place: eating of foods that are easy to chew and low in nutritional quality such as cakes or pastries.

It is better to be safe than sorry. It is better to maintain a high standard of oral hygiene than having to lose your tooth and have to replace them with devices that will help you to chew, speak and make you retain your self-esteem.

What if you needed a denture?

Caring for a false teeth. Photo credit: Flickr.com, burnside-denture-clinic

When looking for a denture, make sure you have one that is secured because if they are not, food could get in-between and make your mouth sore. Try the one you like, but not without consulting your dentists. Make sure you chose one that helps you to talk better because it could be embarrassing to have them fall when you are trying to talk.

Traditional dentures are viable replacement for your tooth. They are prosthetic devices that partially serve as false teeth. Traditional dentures could be partial or complete. The partial dentures are removable and can be inserted without much help, while the complete dentures are fixed, sometimes called dental bridges, and you need to have a dentist with you when being inserted.

Partial dentures might be your choice, if you were poor and cannot afford to pay the high cost of seeing the dentist often and on. They can be removed and reinserted without the help of a dental professional. They attach to the remaining natural teeth, with an ability to be removed for easy maintenance and cleaning. One other advantage removable partial dentures have is that one requires minimal tooth preparation for the device to be accommodated in the mouth.

It is good to get yourself a denture that is well secured, has good support and is well retained so that they do not have to fall out even when you are talking.

Nothing replaces taking care of the teeth

Nothing can replace taking care of your teeth. Sugar-free carbonated drinks and acidic beverages such as lemonade should be preferred over sugared beverages because they can contribute to de-mineralization of tooth enamel if consumed regularly.

Brush and floss your teeth regularly. When brushing, make sure you brush your tongue very well. Try to eat much of calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin A and proteins to ensure that the foundation of the teeth is strong because even with good brushing and flossing, a weak foundation would have made all that effort useless. Try to brush right after you eat very sweet food like chocolate and pastries.

I wish you do not have to get dentures. I wish that you can reverse the effects of your teeth decaying. But if on the other hand you cannot do without a denture, make sure that your dentures are fitted properly. If you are having difficulty chewing or have mouth discomfort, eat nutritious foods by having cooked vegetable instead of raw, canned fruits.

Although having a denture, whether a removable, fixed or complete, know that dentures do not come cheap. You can ask your dentist to give you a payment plan if possible. After all is said, the best you can do for yourself is to stop your teeth from decaying.

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Even with braces, you can still look your best!

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Your teeth needs alignment. Your dentist has recommended braces. Suddenly, there is a rush of blood to your face. How would you look to your friends with braces on? You don’t want to appear like a grumpy old woman because your teeth has to be straightened so you can chew properly, or speak clearly. Take heart! You are not the only one for whom braces has been recommended and you’ll never have to hide your teeth while speaking because you can wear braces and still look cute. Read my lips!

A decorated dental brace Photo credit: Flickr.com

Braces are dental devices used to fasten teeth that have problems with alignment. They might be giving you problems with chewing, speaking or they are not perfectly straight and you want that defect corrected. Braces whether metallic, ceramic or the invisible lingual braces have been demonstrated to have helped many adolescents and adults to regain their confidence and self-esteem while still looking cute and attractive even though they have something stuck up on their tooth.

It takes some time to get used to wearing an appliance on your mouth. To beginner users, they can really be bothersome and make you self-conscious. Not only that, taking care of them after a meal can be a chore. If you don’t, food might get in between the wires and can result in microbial infection.

Braces come in different prices. Some are cheap while others are expensive. Ask your dentist to recommend one that is fitting for your budget. If you cannot pay for them and your dentist says you really need to have them, you can apply for insurance from an insurance company.

What is invisalign?

According to a survey, one in four persons who are fitted with braces, are adults. These users have testified to the fact that wearing braces that are invisible makes one more attractive than wearing metallic or stainless steel braces. Because they are conscious of how they look, many adolescents have resorted to putting on braces with colorings or having stars painted on them.

If you want invisible attractive braces, or you’d like braces that do not use wires but plastic, there is a new innovative technology of non-traditional braces called invisalign. These braces make you believe that you don’t have any appliance on. Furthermore, they make you more attractive and have been attested to by many persons to be more favored over metallic or ceramic braces. What these all means is that with invisalign line of braces, you do not have to worry about your looks, you do not have to spend more money to enhance your braces, and your gums will not be irritated by any wires or steel. Invisalign braces use plastic aligners to align your teeth in a more comfortable and aesthetic manner.

It will do you a lot of good to wear braces if your dentist recommends one. You do not have to worry about how your face will turn out. Whether you have a natural beautiful teeth or one that has been aligned with braces, you can still look your best. If your teeth are not well aligned, they become unstable and that is what will call for worry.

Using invisalign will not replace the fact that you must still have to go for regular checkups. Only that, your visits to the dentist will be less. Ensure that your follow your dentist’s instructions to the letter, especially to the cleaning of your braces after meals, so bacteria do not grow on them. No brace, no matter how state of the art, can replace your dentist.

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Encouraging abuse could prove harmful in the future

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If your man abuses you and you keep it to yourself, you might be encouraging him to do violence on you in the future?

Do you know that?

Whatever relationship one keeps, one has to be careful. This problem does not only affect married couples – it also affects teens. While adults might report only one abusive partner, teens have been known to hide the abuse they receive from their boyfriends and partners until it becomes the second or third partner that is following the trend.

The message is clear: hiding psychological or sexual abuse because you love your boyfriend and do not want the relationship to break up could be harmful to you. Sometimes, it starts with his yelling at you or insulting you for very little or minor offenses. When such becomes frequent, particularly when the man is trying to control you through such behavior, then you have to tread cautiously. It is imperative that you start doing something about it. Why not talk with him about how you feel? If you desire to keep a relationship, communication is one of the keys to a lasting relationship. Talk with him about your feelings. Tell him what he is doing that is hurting you. Communicating your fears and feelings openly shows that you want the relationship to work. If you don’t trust him again, tell him. Do not sneak on him, reading his emails or Facebook messages behind his back. If he finds out, he could end up abusing you more. You could end up blaming yourself for the abuse when he should have realized that he has a problem.

If you want to know the signs to look out for that your boyfriend or girlfriend seeks to control you, then this article should be for you.

Does he demand for sex when both of you are not ready for it? If that is the reason for his yelling at you, calling you names, explain why both of you should stay clear of sex. Don’t make the mistake of making excuses for him whenever he hits you because you refused to give in. He could employ other means, like accusing you of talking to other men and using him as an emotional buffer. He is only looking for your weaknesses, so that he can be able to control you and get his way.

Your body is precious. Do not hurt yourself because you want to please your boyfriend or girlfriend. If you have tried to be patient and trusting but the abuse still continues, it might be time for you to move on. Sometimes, it might be appropriate to report the abuse. This will help both of you. Speak to your parents about it if you love him.

Learn to say no to an abusive relationship before you hurt yourself. You could damage your health, both emotionally and physically, trying to make up for an abusive relationships.

Take control of your life, even if you are young!

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Be careful. That joke could send you to troubled waters

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How would you feel if someone joked about the victims of the January Boko Haram killings at Adamawa? If you were a southerner, you would have felt distraught, or sent the comedian a harshly worded email.

And so would I have.

Jokes were meant to expose the frailty of the human condition. Comedians who are not careful with their trade know they can land in murky waters if they approach a topic that irritates or angers the audience. So, they tend to stick to harmless subjects, which some psychologist has termed benign violations theory.

According to the benign violations theory, a wrongdoing can be placed in a humorous situation when it becomes harmless or okay to the listeners. According to Peter McGraw, who runs the Humor Research Lab at the University of Colorado, Boulder, two criteria that can make a wrong okay or seemingly harmless are: it should have some psychological distance from the hearers and the distance it has to the listener should be equal to the severity of the wrongdoing.

I was going through my Facebook updates recently and I saw a caricature strip of our former president, Obasanjo. The strip made you wonder what sort of children he wanted to be godfather to: intelligent children or barbaric children? The message was surreptitious. I did not like it. So would I not if that strip was also a joke. Many Nigerians would have felt insulted.

A good comedian who does not want to annoy his listeners, could take the following advice while crafting his jokes:

Let us say the subject is a Nigerian president and a violation that was committed by this president.

First, instead of a Nigerian president whom we associate with and can relate to easily, like Obasanjo, he’d have made puns on that president through his butler, or a staff of his household whom we do not know or cannot easily associate with, thereby creating that psychological distance. Point number one: a good comedian respects the distance in relationship.

Secondly, instead of a president whom we all love and want to emulate, he would have targeted his jokes on the butler or driver of a president whom we have either forgotten (e.g Shagari) or do not like and want to rubbish easily (e.g Abacha). Point number two: a good comedian respects the distance in time of his subjects.

Thirdly, instead of a president whom the public have direct information about, let it be the butler or driver of a president whom the public would prefer not have direct contact with. Point number three: a good comedian creates a distance in space in his choice of subjects.

Lastly, instead of using a topic that is real to his listeners, not to irritate their sensibilities, he would use a topic that is imaginary or hypothetical. That is the last point good comedians use to achieve their aim.

Scenario: To illustrate the lasciviousness of Abacha while in office, a good comedian could create something thus: (mind you, I’m no comedian)

Abacha’s driver: Oga, this one wey your face dey ugly like this, wetin happen?

Abacha: My brother, I have killed all my enemies and there is no one to kill again. Soyinka has run away. Saro Wiwa is dead. Tinubu has escaped. Diya…Life is boring.

Abacha’s driver: Oga, you never start at all!. You don go Afghanistan? There are beautiful babes, black babes, white babes; you can kill whenever and however. After that, you fit hang the head inside your eyeglass.

Did the joke make you laugh?

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Have you noticed how spontaneous advertising is? Would you have been enticed if they wanted you to stop and think? I doubt so.

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Spend a day to watch several commercials. You’d notice that the commercials entice you with a call to action; most of them aim to draw out the spontaneous spark in you. How many commercials have you watched highlighting the pros and cons of a product? Any advertiser would be doomed if he wanted you to think, reflect and consider other competing products, before making a choice.

But that is what advertising is all about. Advertising is always designed so you have to “make” an on-the-spot decision, on the subjective value of some enticing display of graphics, sound and facial expressions, that the product was “right” for you and only that product was what you wanted. Advertisers, as some may say, depend on your acting on intuition and not on reflection.

A recent study by some scientists at Harvard, entitled spontaneous giving and calculated greed suggests that the more intuitive people are, the more cooperative they would be rather than being selfish; and vice versa if they became more reflective.

If advertisers tend to draw out the intuitive deviously, does it mean that in a sense they are factors for human cooperation?

I’ll digress a little by highlighting some of the factors that might make intuition possible.

If the time frame that you were given to make your mind about the product is very short, you’d depend on your intuition, and not your reflective aspect. The average time for an advert is about one minute thirty seconds. Advertising definitely falls into this category. An advert would be a droll if it lasted more than thirty (30) seconds. Your innate skills are also a factor for drawing out your intuitive side. If you tend to think in terms of “we” rather than “me”, then you have been hard-wired to cooperate rather than be selfish and withdraw into your greed. Advertising serves then as a buffer against greed? On the contrary. Experience has also shown that people who self-motivate themselves tend to be generally cooperative, always want to believe the good in others, than people who dwell on the negative. Finally, when we are faced with various choices on “the spur of the moment,” our reflective side is called on to act spontaneously, overshadowing the intuitive side.

Consider the above points and ask yourself: “On which does advertising hang?”

It usually hangs on the last – advertising attempts to overshadow your intuitive side and force you to make “spur of the moment” choices based on a craftily and artistically manufactured publicly consumable deliverable called adverts. It makes you to think in terms of “this” versus “that”. This is anti-intuitive and anti-cooperative. “We” versus “them” is another way of putting it. Where advertising wants to play on the “wisdom of the crowd”, the question arises: “What crowd?” A crowd or “we” that was defined by the advertiser himself.

So you better stop and think when you find yourself humming that jingle for some popular brand that you heard on the television…or whatever media.

But that is what makes advertising enticing. They have developed the art of asking you to make reflective choices (act selfishly) within the space of intuitive choices (act cooperatively). You know what – they have succeeded.

Welcome to the age of greed.

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I have been exploring opportunities for working online.

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I have been exploring opportunities for working online. I have been learning new words like Get Paid To (GPT), Paid To Post (PTP) and Paid To Click (PTC). There is a whole world of opportunities to earn little amounts of money gradually and supplement your income. Note: Do not lose your day job because of online PTP, GTP or PTC jobs. They are only to supplement your income. You also have to be careful out there. I have been doing lots of research and have learned how to steer clear of doubtful sites. You too can and should. Glitches: Paypal, one of the most trusted paying methods online does not support Nigerians. This can be a challenge when you have to open a paypal account in another country and ask someone to withdraw the money for you. Trust, confidence...these are words that are difficult to explain when practical issues come up. So if you seeking PTP, GTP or PTC jobs, you need someone overseas who can withdraw or transfer your paypal currency for you. Who will it be? Trust and confidence. :) Some sites I can recommend: Pointdollars.com Pointdollars.com

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THE EXCHANGE, PRINCIPLES OF LIFE AS WE KNOW IT ON PLANET EARTH.

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A man and a lady are purportedly in love. The lady visits the man, cooks for him and spends the weekend with his family. After a month or two, where both persons have not seen themselves, the man did not make the effort and sacrifice to call her or go himself to her house. The lady feels cheated and betrayed.

A housewife goes to the market. She haggles with a shoe seller for some sandals. After some minutes, she pays the seller the agreed amount. He wraps the sandal on a nylon bag and puts the nylon into her basket. When she gets home, she discovers that the seller placed the wrong sandal into her basket. She is angry and feels defrauded.

A farmer works hard on his farm. He tills, waters and finally, when the planting season arrives he plants some okra seeds on his farm. Half-way to the harvesting season, he goes to the farm and finds out that the seeds are sprouting with much offshoots. He has begun counting this season's profits. When harvesting time comes, the okra plant did not produce any fruit. All his hopes are dashed to the four winds.

The three scenarios above illustrate dashed hopes and aspirations: something hoped for did not materialize, the material benefit was forthcoming but on the way was cut short or even when the material benefits arrive, it was not what one expected.

They are examples of what I have come to call the exchange principle.

I have come to appreciate the exchange as a basic principle of life; an action begetting a reaction. But the scenarios above are exchanges that turned criminal or which exchange was not completed.

Everywhere around you, you see an exchange going on. A secret to enjoying and living life to the full is to understand life's principles, not only what you were taught or have read, but what you discover yourself. One of mine is the exchange principle. It is like the “no free lunch” dirge. For everything you get in this life, wittingly or unwittingly, you have to give something back. I have never found one case where this has failed except:

Whenever there is an agreement or contract between persons, which implies an exchange, when the exchange is not completed, something criminal has taken place. Either one of the parties of the exchange stole the thing gotten, i.e was really a criminal, or one of the parties is a powerful figure such that he can subdue other parties and take something from them without giving anything back.

I have never found a case where the exchange principle has failed without a crime being committed.

If you continually take things from people without giving something back, whether agreed upon or not, then you are unknowingly committing a crime.

The issue is this: Could you really be accused of committing a crime? At what point are you guilty, or be declared innocent, even when the exchange principle is not completed?

It would take me time and lots of years of observation to answer the above questions, but one day, that issue will be solved.

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LEARNING A NEW PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE; DOES IT HAVE THE SAME ONE-TO-ONE MAPPING AS LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE?

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I was reading a blog article recently, (forgotten the link), and a Manager remarked that soon most employees would have to learn reading code without even knowing how to program. It isn't a prophetic remark; I have seen that coming. I remember, years ago in secondary school, when we were taught Business courses, even if we intended taking science courses.

I was walking to the market when I overheard some conversation, in French, between two immigrants who came to work in Lagos. While English is the official language in Nigeria , where they were coming from, most probably Benin Republic or Togo, French is the official language.

Before the coming of our colonial masters, English or French were languages no one had ever heard of. Today, more than 80% of every African living in any country can speak these languages and some can write very well in it.

Professor Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate.

At the 60's, just when Nigeria became Independent, how many persons can boast of being able to speak The Queen's English? Mastering how to write in it was another Tale of two Cities . Today, after about three generations, Nigerians have won prizes for writing the English Language, even the highest of them all, the Noble Prize in Literature won by Wole Soyinka .

How does it work? Granted, education is at work, and so is acculturation, experience and I believe inheritance.

Would it work the same way with Programming languages?

I really didn't know if it would work the same way with programming languages. There is no one-to-one mapping between both fields, but they both serve as media for communication and soonest, I believe, there should be at least a smart phone that has as much power as a computer, if not a PC, in most homes in Nigeria. Would this have a pulling effect in making us learn programming languages as a medium of communication?

I know that it would involve much education, acculturation, experience and also, inheritance; but the basic problem is, do we take programming languages to be as important as foreign languages that they have to be learned?

I doubt so. Then, do we have to continue importing (or maybe downloading) most of the software we use, software which might not be fitted for our culture and educational needs?

Only time will tell.

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WHY I SPENT THREE THOUSAND NAIRA DOWNLOADING A LINUX OS AND NEVER REGRETTED IT

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Three months after I installed a Windows 7 operating system (OS), bought from Ikeja, (the only place to buy an Operating System when you live in Lagos), I got a nasty message on my desktop: “This copy of Windows is not genuine.” Thanks to Microsoft Corporation, I was using its operating system to do so much work like surf the Net, log onto Facebook and check my email, so I owe them a duty to use a genuine Windows. But like most of you, I didn't have the money to procure a genuine Windows, and even if I had the money, I have never seen anyone who used a genuine Windows.

I didn't want to commit another crime of uninstalling and installing the OS all over again, so I allowed the message to hunt me for several days. One day, I decided to switch to Linux.

I have not been disappointed with the switch to Linux ever since. It made my conscience easier and my load lighter that, even if by using a dual-OS laptop I could claim I do not deserve a guilty conscience before Microsoft Corp., I also deserve an OS that I can understand.

Now I know why getting a Linux distro is so much difficult at Ikeja. I spent sixty hours (60 hours) downloading the 3.6Gb Fedora 17 distribution and about three thousand naira (N3, 000) for that OS. I think the money and time was worth it.

I have felt freer and even when sometimes I use the Windows 7 system to surf the Net, I do not get that nasty feeling down my nerves whenever I see that message again: “This copy of Windows is not genuine.” This time, I wonder if I was guilty as charged, or even innocent and wrongly charged.

We have much to be thankful to the open source community.

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BEEN PLAYING AROUND WITH LINUX. ENJOY MY FIRST BASH SCRIPT

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I have been playing around with Linux, partly the reason why I have not posted on this blog for a long time. While playing with this script, my first bash script, I fell in love with it and decided to share it with you.

I am calling the script bells, because at the end of the script the system alerts you or calls for your attention. See the download links below.

For those who are not familiar with Linux, too bad!. Well, one day I will port it to Windows. One day!

What the script does is that when you initially call it, it asks you for the number of minutes you intend spending on your system.

I wrote it to keep a track of my computer time usage. I am sure most of you do read my other blog, the engagementink blog; the cartoon there of a similar thought-process must have been the trigger for this script. So, when you input the time in minutes, (fractions, negatives or alphabets are not allowed, only whole numbers), the system then starts a counter that begins counting the minutes until when it elapses, ringing bells to alert you.

On elapse, it then asks you if you want to exit the script or to continue running it. You'd usually continue if you intend spending more time on your system, but if not, the script exits and possibly, you have to shutdown your system and go on to do something else.

Now, what if you need to spend more time? Then, the script would ask if you want the counter to run for the same number of minutes as before, if you want to change the time duration, because you think rather than spend like thirty (30) minutes, you want just ten (10) minutes more to finish off a word processing file, it gives you the opportunity to change the duration for another run of the script.

At the end of it all, you might chose to exit, as I usually want to do after every hour.

Well, that is my first script written on a Linux system.

By the way, the script also listens for events or traps, such as when there is a call for all programs to terminate or when you decide that you do not want to wait for the initial number of minutes to expire; call of nature pending.

trap exitProg SIGINT ;
trap exitProg SIGTERM ;
trap exitProg SIGSTOP ;

If you use Linux, enjoy my first bash script.

I intend writing more; and telling you about them.

Nice weekend.

Download links:

Download bells.sh

Download update: bells-0.2.sh.

Just me solving problems and wondering why I was meant to be the poorest Lagosian on earth. :)

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HARMONIZING FEEDBURNER ACCOUNTS FOR MY BLOGS

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I am harmonizing the feedburner account for my two blogs, Engagement Ink , and this one to a single account.

To those who are subscribed to this feed, please note that this is the new feed url; you should change it accordingly in your feed reader. Otherwise you have to resubscribe again to this feed so that your reader will change the feed url automatically. Again, this is the new feed url. Thanks. Happy blogging; happy reading.

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EVEN IF THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT IS TEMPTING, THE STICK LOOKS MORE STIFF THAN TEMPTING

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Have you heard – that the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government are all out to clean up our roads? I was reading a piece concerning the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway and thought, waoh, this is a master stroke.

It is highly tempting we agree for our truck drivers to park on these roads because they have easy access to the ports and other destinations. The cost though of these actions can tell insidiously on businesses. So both arms of government decided recently to start tidying up the roads in Lagos.

The first act they have done is to give the truckers ultimatum to vacate those roads. These will not stop roadblocks at all but at least will go a long way in limiting the causes of go-slows, as we call it here in Lagos, and road congestion. The casual reader would ask – how long will that vacating last? Not for long. They will be back. It happens all the time. So, in her wisdom, the Federal Government decided to deal these truckers a master stroke.

SIGN AN UNDERTAKING OF GOOD BEHAVIOR

Ask them to sign an undertaking that the act will not be repeated.

Although one doubts the constitutionality of such an undertaking, but it is still legal if both parties agree to it. What it does is place a charge on committing the act of parking on those roads ‘in the future’, like a sword of Damocles. Even if the truckers think they can resume the status quo when the government turns the other eye, the threat of a charge from an undertaking is too strong to disregard. It gives the government the right to carry out punitive measures against them arbitrarily – because they have agreed to it.

Because this charge is placed ‘in the future’, the truckers for the meantime will act as if they impute these charge into the cost of their business and since every business wants to make profit, they’d rather obey the law than break it. In a country where breaking the law is the norm, it is not the norm that you can be asked to pay for breaking the law unconstitutionally.

That is the risk of an undertaking. It gives the government the right to even carry out vendetta actions on these truckers who are usually carrying goods for oil companies.

That is why I call it a master stroke.

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THIS MIGHT BE THE REAL IITA WARNING

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I believe you must have read the IITA warning to Nigeria concerning the exportation of cassava. It was reported, virtually verbatim, online by many newspapers covering business news on Nigeria. In that report, the IITA station manager, Mr. Olusegun Adunoye reiterated that rather than exporting cassava, Nigeria should invest in refining it internally for production of derivatives like bread, confectioneries and pastries.

His foreboding brings up questions such as: “If Nigeria is more efficient and effective in producing cassava, why should she not be exporting it even if she builds industries for refining derivatives from cassava?” His warning makes one believe that there should be a real fear lurking behind the warning.

THE BASIS FOR ADUNOYE’S ARGUMENTS

Refining cassava internally for revenue generation and creating employment for the millions of unemployment youths is laudable. Everyone should be all out for it. Exporting and refining abroad, then importing these cassava derivatives, true, will make us pay more than we will earn because the process of refining adds value to cassava as a raw material for the production process which makes the value of equivalent imports higher than the value of exporting these cassava. No one likes spending more than he earns.

But I do not think that Adunoye realizes that we are already an import dependent country. So whether we export our cassava or not, it will never change the fact that Nigerians will still be importing refined cassava derivatives. Our exporting cassava does not depend in any way on the importation of cassava derivatives. So spending on cassava and its derivatives will always be a fact of life. Why should we not be exporting so as to earn money that can mop up the country’s reserves or prevent us from running into debt?

His warning raises lots of questions on the reader’s mind. I believe there is an underlying untold story to that warning.

THE UNTOLD STORY OR THE REAL WARNING

One of the untold stories is what some writers call the farming problem. Due to the nature of market demand for agricultural products, increasing output of these at a rapid rate might end up reducing the total revenue for the industry or farmers as a whole. This is a fact of the industry and there is nothing anyone can do about it. If our cassava is sought for abroad, we have no option but to increase output and wish these problem does not befall our farmers. On the other hand, I have come to realize that when people kick against a process that should be natural, then they are acting out of experience based on what might have happened in the past or from fear of a past event.

We have lots of experience from the past that should make IITA or Adunoye afraid of opening up the cassava industry to the prying eyes of experts from abroad (e.g biotechnology). One of them is the Oil industry. Because the country was afraid foreigners would take over Nigerian Oil, government embarked on a lame indigenization program. Yet, the major players in the industry are still multinationals and our indigenous companies are still struggling along. We can also draw an example from the fate of southern African countries. In a bid to inexorably expand output, they opened up their land to foreign investment and ended up losing it.

I think that should be the fear that might be lurking at the back of Adunoye’s head. Exporting our cassava would mean increasing output in that sector and if the demand is very high, we might have to depend on science and technology for improved and mechanized farming methods, including investment from abroad. Nigerians are not adept in biotechnology but western companies or multinationals are. Opening up the cassava industry to them might result in our going the way of the oil industry or of Southern African countries who are forced to go on GM (genetically modified) foods and food aids.

That might be the real fear behind Adunoye’s warning.

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NAFDAC MIGHT HAVE EARNED ROUND ONE BUT THE FIGHT MIGHT NOT EVEN END.

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The consistent and dogged bad press through the public awareness efforts of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is paying off. Drug counterfeiters have risen their hands in defeat and moved to the rural areas. Fine and good, but unfortunately, this is just round one. Remember that the dynamics of the urban and rural areas are of two opposite divides.

HARD WON FIGHT

What would one expect with the likes of Dr. Akunyili standing behind NAFDAC for many years before she left? NAFDAC’s consistent campaign has clothed drug counterfeiting and buying of fake drugs with such bad press that people have started opting for legal, over-the-counter drugs and this movement to rural areas is not only because the people are acting positively to NAFDAC’s efforts, these campaigns have also made the cost of selling fake drugs higher than recognized drugs. NAFDAC has achieved a laudable success over the years. Yet, one should realize that by moving to the rural areas, these drug counterfeiters can still come back to the cities because at the cities you can find people who are more receptive to NAFDAC’s message than at the rural areas because they are more enlightened, educated and have access to better health facilities and information.

These factors could weaken NAFDAC’s fight as she shifts the fight to the rural areas.

SUPERSTITION AND FEAR VS EDUCATION AND ENLIGHTENMENT

images like this are the stuff rural areas feed upon. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Two factors might work against NAFDAC if she thinks she can fight with the same way as she has won at the rural areas.

One of them is that the rural areas are less educated than the urban areas and they still are the custodians of our traditions and customs which traditions and customs will always be against western education and enlightenment. NAFDAC will be spreading its message to a whole new set of ears who do not understand cityspeak.

Another mitigating factor is that whereas there is a standard to how one can broadcast and deliver messages to educated people as a body, there is no known documented and workable way in which NAFDAC can deliver its messages to the rural areas as one body. Each village or clan have accepted customs and traditions that one should say unfortunately is laden with superstitions that were created by the support and encouragement of herbal doctors. These are to the benefit of fake drug sellers who promise all sorts of cure for even a simple drug as paracetamol. The dynamics of the rural areas makes her work harder.

Only time will tell how the fight will end, but surely, if they are not defeated, these drug counterfeiters will bid their time to return to the cities when NAFDAC loses steam or loses sense of direction. On these latter, I can place my bets.

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NOTABLE EXPOSITIONS AND FAIRS IN JUNE

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These three expositions and fairs are important for small businesses. If you are interested in attending all or any, mark them on your calendar.

Turkish Products Exhibition in Nigeria.

The first Turkish products exhibition and fair, in collaboration with the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, will be taking place in June between the 12th and 14th. The venue will be the Eko Hotel Exhibition Center, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The entrance is free and open to all members of the public.

For enquiries, contact Lekan Ayotebi, or Akin Adesodin on 08023010894, 08023183880. Or email: billoptionslimited@yahoo.com.

Cards, ATM and Mobile Exposition.

Although the first of its kind as Nigerians await the complete and full implementation of the planned cashless economy, this is the 12th International Exhibition of the Cards, ATM and Mobile Exposition, and it will be holding between 12th to 14th of June, 2012. Expect to see new products and offerings that are geared towards the cashless economy at the exhibition ground. The venue is the Civic Center, Ozumba Mbadiwe Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Entrance is free to all members of the public. There will be free buses to attendees from specific points in Lagos. Check the website below for bus locations.

Website: www.cardexpoafrica.com. Facebook page: www.facebook.com/cardexpoafrica

Contact: ann@intermarc_ng.com, 08023243412.

International Furniture, Home Textile, Home supplies and Houseware Fair.

For small businesses who import or deal in these products, pay a visit to this fair which will be holding between the 27th and 30th of June, 2012 at the Federal Palace Hotel, Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Entrance is free to all members of the public.

Contact: 01 – 8160198.

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IS NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA BECOMING CANONICAL?

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The MInister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Credit: wikipedia.

While reading some news articles I have noticed that some writers have taken to replacing the names of the Minister of Finance, Ngozi OKonjo-Iweala, with the abbreviations, NOI. The uniqueness of this practice is that it is not usually done for every public figure, but for those who have created a niche or mark for themselves in ways the media is unable to unravel?

SOME EXAMPLES

I believe you all know what the abbreviations IBB and OBJ stands for in this country? Those two are also canonical. The same as Zik, Pa Awo etc. Read my lips, I am not saying NOI has risen to the stature or maturity, but the future is often written with little snippets of a careless ink here or there, or maybe not some careless ink, but some telling psychological nuances and bends in writings.

RECORDS ANY?

Although she lost the fight for the top seat of the World Bank to Jim Yong Kim, she lost honorably. If you are used to reading the stats, you should realize that Nigeria has been making some gains in the economic front, especially when it comes to an area that our importers are very sensitive to, the exchange rate, although the unemployment rate is very disappointing.

I wonder if that abbreviation will continue for a long time? If it does, then she will have become canonical, or an establishment in the likes of IBB, OBJ, Dangote etc. Only history can tell.

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SOMETIMES ONE BELIEVES OUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS SHOULD BE TAKING COURSES IN PUBLIC SPEAKING AND COMMUNICATION

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Sometimes, when you read the speeches of our public officials, you wish they should be taking courses or lectures in public speaking and communication. While reading some articles on the online edition of The Daily Times of Nigeria, I thought the words of Folorunso Oginni, the Chairman of The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), does not augur well for millions of Nigerians who desire to portray a positive image of the country.

Words coated with much innuendos.

A snippet: “Nigeria has not recorded much investment in the oil sector because there is no law governing operations of the country’s petroleum industry.” In other words, what he means is that, if there is a law governing operations of the country’s petroleum industry, then Nigeria will record much investment in the oil sector.

Some of the consequences of those words are that: The operations of the country’s petroleum industry are carried out within an illegal framework. An illegal framework signifies lawlessness and with lawlessness, the Government would be raising dust because power has been taken from her.

What he must have meant.

No one likes to be a foreteller but I believe I understand what he wanted to say. What Folorunso Oginni must have meant is that the laws in force in the Oil industry possess so many loopholes that it encourages illegality which would scare foreign investors. Therefore, what he needs or wants are reforms of those laws.

Do failing oil companies cause crime?

The second snippet: “Most of the oil servicing companies we have here are not working and because they are not working, they have laid off their staff and this has increased the crime rate in the country.” Even though the casual reader would be interested in issues such as this, why are those companies not working? Is it because they cannot compete or they cannot break even? Also, do they need subsidies from the Government to survive or do we allow them to die? What are the consequences? Let’s stick to what I didn’t like about those statements.

Folorunso is insinuating here, and distastefully, that when workers are laid off from work, the only option left is to take to crime. I am unemployed for several years, but criminality has never been considered as an option for a source of revenue. Has it been for you? It tends to breach the limits of taste and careful speech.

What he does not realize.

Folorunso Oginni should realize, as I must believe he does, that although the unemployment rate in the country is very high (about 23%) but there are so many law abiding Nigerians walking the streets. That even if indigenous companies in the country cannot compete in the industry, the system has a way of absorbing these staff that have been laid off into other industries. Point of correction!

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Since the introduction of the new Facebook timeline, I have seen a proliferation of cover pages. I looked at my profile page and decided I needed a cover page myself. That set the muse flowing. So I decided to, from time to time, build cover pages for whomever so wishes to have one, from me, for a little fee. Just one thousand, five hundred naira (N1,500.00). The price is negotiable though, as is every item in a Nigerian market.

Go through the list below. I added just six. But you can see an extensive list at one of the albums on my profile named cover page samples. I will keep adding to the gallery from time to time, so if you are interested in having a cover page from me, you can download one, try it on your timeline and if you like it, just message me on Facebook or email: nnaemeka.david@gmail.com, or phone: +234-081-56366920 (mobile communication is preferable though) and just give me your specifications and I’ll arrange one for you.

Go through the six below, or visit the gallery on Facebook.

Odimegwu David

Odimegwu David: I built this for myself, splattering ink all over the canvas. Must have been influenced by the idea I had while building it, engagement ink, another business that is still being nurtured.

Rosemary Creche

Rosemary crèche: Was influenced by the picture of the little child on my desktop and also the fact that there are so many crèches and daycare center in my neighborhood in satellite town. I thought one or two might be interested in something for advertising their business.

The Satellite Herald

Satellite Herald: The canvas is colored red and with power lines because I believe newspapers possess a hidden power to influence the masses. You can see how the red resonates through the cover page with another sea of red towards the bottom where there are pictures of public figures.

Turaya 1

Turaya 1: The typical cover page for a profile. Similar to mine above, only that this was meant for a man with a family.

Turaya 2

Turaya 2: Same idea as Turaya 1 only that I decided to change the outline of the text and then color of the canvas. Little changes in color here and there and in placement of images are 360 degrees significant.

Green Lawn Restaurant

Green Lawn Restaurant: Restaurants and eateries are one of the faces of Lagos streets, so how can I start with cover pages for both profiles and pages and not think of a restaurant? The regular meals on the menu are above the semi-circle. I thought the lawn was better at the bottom, where the logo will be when the cover page is uploaded on Facebook.

You can see an extensive list at one of the albums on my profile named Facebook cover page samples. I will keep adding to the gallery from time to time, so if you are interested in having a cover page from me, you can download one, try it on your timeline and if you like it, just message me on Facebook or email: nnaemeka.david@gmail.com, or phone: +234-081-56366920 (mobile communication is preferable though) and just give me your specifications and I’ll arrange one for you.

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THERE ARE STILL HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF ADMISSIONS INTO TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS THAT WILL NOT BE COUNTED

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Children who will be asking for tertiary education tomorrow. Their journey just started. Credit: Ben Fash/Commons.wikimedia.org

Last month, as UTME was being written by more than one million Nigerian youths, a news article reported that the tertiary institutions in the country can only admit about five hundred thousand (500,000) of the more than one million five hundred thousand (1,500,000) that were registered for the exams. These does not mean that the remaining one million are still left without any hope of getting a tertiary education.

Where demand overshoots supply, provided the price is right, the educational system will always find a way to make it up.

Clearly, our youths make every sacrifice to be admitted into our Universities. Irrespective of family background or economic status, millions of youths seek tertiary education at any cost. That is why it is with missed feelings one reads the news that millions of youths who will not make it into tertiary institutions through the Unified Tertiary Institutions and Polytechnics Matriculation Examination (UTME) will be denied such a privilege.

Because the demand is so high, tertiary institutions have devised several ways of accepting the teeming number of students who lurk at their gates. Direct entry programs, distance learning and outreach programs are quite some brilliant innovative ways. Although the cost of acquiring a university education might increase, the concomitant effect of admitting a large number of students along with the cost effective use of technology like the Nigerian Open University of Nigeria, part-time tertiary education and satellite campuses have an opposite effect of mopping up the expected increase in the cost of acquiring such an education.

The proliferation of private universities, some obscure at best, some offering quality education, but all responding to the demands of the educational marketplace for increased access to university education, even something remotely resembling one, reinforce the mopping up operation for those students who the primary UTME examination will not admit.

Motivated students and well-adjusted adults also take advantage of the numerous opportunities to learn while working, without ever seeing the four walls of a university. On my Facebook wall is a well- loved satellite channel that teaches interesting courses that could be comparable to GCE A-levels. MIT opencourseware although rigorous at best, is a very good alternative when UTME seems farfetched.

The effect of all these alternatives is to increase the number of students who are able to have the privilege of a quality university education while keeping the costs equal or nearly so, to what is obtained at our Federal Universities and Polytechnics.

So even if our universities, polytechnics and monotechnics can only admit about five hundred thousand (500,000) of the more than one million five hundred thousand students who sat for UTME this year, that does not mean about a million youths will be sitting in front of their television screens awaiting 2013. The education market knows how to absorb and make them part of the fold of educated learned members of the society, provided they are well motivated.

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