₦airaland Forum

Is it your thieving? Ntoor!

Is it your thieving?

Revolution is the way ! our leaders does not understand the language of peace.

Lateness,
Non chalant attitude,
Always going back to my pot of food to take one spoon more no matter how well-fed I might be; I think it's because I'm staying alone
Poor or simply lack of proper planning in anything.
And of course internet especially nairaland
I think I need to focus more attention on my "will power"

Pls add 08039701234

What nonsense!

wow, impressive! checking my nails.....

Buhari absent as Osinbajo leads FEC meeting
By Terhemba Daka, Abuja | 12 April 2017
| 12:29 pm
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is presiding over today’s weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the presidential villa, Abuja.
This is the first time he will be presiding over the meeting since President Muhammadu Buhari returned from his medical vacation in London, United Kingdom (UK) on March 10.
President Buhari returned to the country on March 10, after he had spent 49 days attending to his health.
The President was at the presidential villa as at 11 am Wednesday when the council meeting commenced. It is not clear why he stayed away from the meeting.
FEC, as constituted, is presided by the President and has the Vice President, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the National Security Adviser (NSA), Head of Service of the Federation (HoSF) and cabinet ministers as members.
http://m.guardian.ng/news/buhari-absent-as-osinbajo-leads-fec-meeting/?F

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee – in application of articles 77 a) and 108 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) – has reached a decision in relation to the case of Lionel Messi following an incident that occurred during the match between Argentina and Chile on 23 March 2017 as part of the qualifying competition for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™:
Lionel Messi has been found guilty of violating art. 57 of the FDC for having directed insulting words at an assistant referee.
As a result, Messi will be suspended for four official matches and sanctioned with a fine of CHF 10,000. The first match for which the sanction will apply is the next fixture in the preliminary competition of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ between Bolivia and Argentina, which will be played today, 28 March. The remainder of the sanction will be served over Argentina’s subsequent FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.
This decision is in line with the FIFA Disciplinary Committee’s previous rulings in similar cases.
Both the player and the Argentinian Football Association have been informed of the decision today.
http://thenationonlineng.net/messi-suspended-four-matches/

When dollar further drops in value I expect pump price to reduce too because one major reason they gave for hiking the price of petroleum products especially 'pms' is "exchange rate" claiming cost of landing has skyrocketed

This is a typical example of divine transformation, see what has changed in the life of Oyedepo's family since union

How an individual sperm swims, against all the odds, through fluid to reach the fallopian tubes has been revealed - and it's all about rhythm.
Researchers from the UK and Japan found that the head and tail movements of sperm made patterns similar to the fields that form around magnets.
And these help to propel sperm towards the female egg.
Knowing why some sperm succeed and others fail could help treat male infertility, the researchers said.
More than 50 million sperm embark on the journey to fertilise an egg when a man and woman have sex.
About 10 reach the finish line - but there can only be one winner.
The journey is treacherous, says study author Dr Hermes Gadelha.
"Every time someone tells me they are having a baby, I think it is one of the greatest miracles ever - but no-one realises," says Dr Gadelha, a lecturer in applied mathematics at the University of York.He and his team measured the beat of individual sperm cells' tails to try to understand the flow of fluid around the sperm.
It turns out that a "simple mathematical formula" explains the rhythmical patterns created, Dr Gadelha says.
And these movements help selected sperm cells move forward towards their holy grail - the female egg.
The study, published in the journal Physical Review Letters, says the next step is to use the model to predict how large numbers of sperm move.
Prof Allan Pacey, a sperm expert from the University of Sheffield, says a successful sperm is more than just about swimming prowess.
"The more we know about sperm the better. This might help infertility treatment in some small way but there are lots of other factors to consider too."
They include the number of sperm available, getting them to the right place at the right time and the DNA present in the head of the sperm.
Race to the egg - what sort of journey do sperm face?
When a man has ejaculated, 50 million to 150 million sperm are produced, and these cells immediately start swimming upstream towards a woman's fallopian tubes.
But it's not an easy journey - there are lots of hurdles to overcome for the male sex cells, which are just 0.065mm in length.
Only one sperm can penetrate the woman's egg and fertilise it, so the race is on.
First, they have to survive the vagina, where conditions mean most die. Then they have to avoid dead ends and being trapped before reaching the uterus.
On the way there are marauding white blood cells ready to kill them.
Finally, the remaining sperm arrive at the fallopian tubes, where they are fed and nourished.
But has an egg been released at exactly the right time to welcome the winning sperm? If not, the journey has all been in vain.

One of Nigeria ’ s remotest communities , Birni Amina and Acer of Niger State is just 276 kilometres south of the state capital , Minna . But for all the cultural disparity , which exists between these remote communities in north - central of Nigeria and the rest of the country, one could as well conclude that they exist on an entirely different continent .
As soon as a traveller takes a turn off the main road of Rijau Local Government Area towards these communities , little evidence remains as to whether people actually live on the other end of the eroded , bumpy and rocky path.The communities are so remote that they do not even appear on Google Maps.
But this is the home of the Kambari people of Niger State , a tribe forgotten by infrastructural development where donkeys provide the only means of transport for a largely agrarian and nomadic people.
To the outside world , these are a forgotten people but to the unclad people inhabiting Birni Amina and Acer communities , their reclusive nature gives them peace and happiness . The two communities hold tenaciously to their culture and tradition to an extent that they insist that nothing would change their ways of life .
The dome straw roof and round mud houses in which the Kambari people currently live have been their homes for decades since they started living in the area . While the rest of the country broils in the heat that sometimes characterises the desert region of the northern states , their homes provide a cool interior that is unrivalled.
For visitors who are not accustomed to the way of life of the Kambari people, the sight of young girls and women and men alike, walking around in the nude would be quite awkward . But not for people of these remote communities .
When our correspondent visited Birnin Amina and Acer , what makes these people so different became immediately obvious. What constitutes societal mores and laws are different in these communities .
It is entirely normal for a 60 - year- old man to marry an eighteen - year- old girl . But that is not the strangest. In these communities , cousins marry one another while they never marry outsiders due to the fact that many of their neighbours don ’ t even understand their cultures .
In Birnin Amina and Acer communities , rape cases are rare because rape is “punished by the gods ” with death .
“ It is unacceptable and unforgivable and our people are conscious of this , ” the Maiunguwa of one of the communities , Gandi Kamuna , said .
According to Maiunguwa , men and women mix freely unclad because their nudity does not elicit any sexual emotion .
“ Moving around naked or half - naked is our culture and we don ’ t care what people say about us . We are comfortable that way because we find it normal .
“ What attracts men is not nudity. Our men are attracted by how women plait their hair, good manners and the tattoos the young ladies have . ”
When the Kambari people go to the market to sell their farm produce , the women cover the bottom half of their bodies with wrappers while the men do the same.
In Kambari and Acer , marriage is celebrated by slaughtering goats and cows for food while the parents of the bride cook food for the groom . Once the food is eaten , the marriage is contracted .
The Maiugunwa , a 70 - year - old man , said since the Kambari people know nothing about what others may term civilised fashion and beautiful clothes hold no appeal for them.
“ Western civilisation is another man ’ s culture . Why must we embrace it, leaving our own that was handed over to us by our forefathers ?” he said .
Majority of the people of these communities cannot speak , read or write either Hausa , a language widely spoken in northern Nigeria , nor can they speak rudimentary English . The language is Kambari .
Our correspondent could only speak with the locals through an interpreter , which is necessary for one to conduct any form of business in the communities that require contact with the residents.
What sets the Kambari people apart from many other parts of the north is that the people are pagans. They worship a god called Magiro, while belief in curses , witchcraft and magic is rife among the people .
The locals explained that in the past, missionaries from all walks of life had made spirited efforts to change their belief , but have not been successful .
They maintain that it is a religion handed over to them by their forebears and have guarded it jealously ever since.
But in the midst of all these, something one cannot remove from the people of this area is their kindness. They find joy in helping one another and live in peace . In their world , there is no rancour.
The residents told Saturday PUNCH they have no need for education , primary health care , access to good roads and other social amenities . They prefer to use herbs in treating all their health issues . The only time they mix with outsiders is when they are in the market to sell their farm produce .
In Rijua local council area, Birnin Amina and Acer produce 70 per cent of the crops consumed by the entire people. The most popular crops produced are corn , millet , peanuts , beans , and rice. Nearly all of the locals keep chickens and goats for meat while the richer ones have cattle .
A resident of Rijau council area , Sulaiman Mohammed Kadukku , told
Saturday PUNCH that there is no evidence of government presence in Birnin Amina and Acer at all. But the people are not worried .
According to him , since the inception of Niger State , the government had shown no interest in the communities , and has never treated them as citizens of the state .
According to him , “ The two communities of the Kambaris tribe have lived here for over 50 years without knowing whether government exists or not and honestly , they are not perturbed because they have all it takes to care for themselves .
“ The government only remembers them during political campaigns to seek votes and once the election is over , they are abandoned until the next rounds of election, ” Kadukku said .
Kadukku also said that the Kambari people are the food producers of the local government and that without them, the people of the surrounding areas would die of hunger , adding that was why they remain in the bush for the benefit of farming and maintaining their culture and tradition as they got it from their forefathers .
He lamented that efforts of some religious groups to convince them to change their life pattern proved abortive as they cannot compromise their belief; hence they hold it firmly as ever .
“ They cannot read and write and are not ready to be modernised . They don ’ t care what government and other people will do for them. Their tradition to them is the best thing that has happened to them and they cannot avoid it, no matter what. ”
Asked whether they are conscious of their unclothedness , he said it is part of their tradition . He said it was part of the things handed over to them by their forebears and would not likely change easily .
“ Missionaries and other organisations have been trying their best to reform them but could not succeed . They still stick to their belief. ”
Apart from Birnin Amina and Acer communities , there are other places in Rijua council that practise paganism like Aulo , Gulubaidu , Dugge , Agwanda , Buni and Arigida . Many non - governmental organisations that have tried to make contact with them and change their beliefs have met with the same disappointment .
The Kambaris are aware that the way of life outside their communities is much different but they seem to be comfortable in retaining their ancient way of life .
Another tradition that they value and cherish is the festival of their god , which is celebrated once in a year . Sacrifices are offered to the god to celebrate the bumper harvest of their crops.Early marriage for the Kambaris is a common tradition as parents believe marrying off their children at a young age is the best gift they could give them.
In Birnin Amina and Acre , young men who have saved up through their harvests use the money to get married .
Almost every parent regularly has one or two early marriage proposals for their female children whose ages range from six to 17 years .
Kambari men traditionally marry up to four wives and always ensure that their wives are well taken care of equally .
The Maiunguwa ( Kamuna ), who is also known as Babangida among the locals , confirmed that government has made no attempt to provide any infrastructure in his community in the last 60 years .
Kamuna said , “ We don ’ t need the government to live a wonderful life here . After all, we have been managing ourselves well for over 60 years . Currently , we are about 500 men and women along with about 150 children .
“ We don ’ t actually need the government because we have all it takes to take care of ourselves and that is why we don ’ t bother them for anything unlike people living in the city . ”
The Maiunguwa said , “ We are on our own . We believe strongly in our customs and tradition and we don ’ t need any religion or government to come here and change us . Since the god of our land , Migaro , is protecting us and taking care of all us , we lack nothing.
“ The borehole water we drink today is our personal effort . We even have a generator to charge our mobile phones . We have a rice mill and one of our people even has about 300 cows . So , you see , we lack nothing. ”
Kamuna explained that his people dress half naked as part of their culture and that nobody has a right to force them to change , since Christians and Muslims cannot be forced to change their religions .
According to him , some groups have tried to convert his people by bringing them gifts. He said it was a ploy to encourage the Kambari people to conform to how the rest of the country lives.
He said such overtures have created a suspicion among the people because they never tried to understand the Kambari culture.
Most parents are against sending their children to school , feeling that it is a waste of time when the children could be doing farm work.
He described the Kambari people as very friendly to strangers in their midst . The only time they do not take kindly to strangers is when such people deride their culture .
Kamuna said , “Social gatherings like weddings and markets draw huge crowds while social vices like drunkenness, sexual immorality and stealing are very rare in our communities . In fact , these things are taboos.
“ Due to non - existent health care , our witch doctors handle all the health -related issues while they also communicate with ancestral spirits for blessings , good harvests and other aspects of daily life . Even our wives put to bed through traditional method , ” he said .“ I have never been to hospital in my life , including my two wives and my children and we are strong and healthy. ”
The Chairman , Rijua Local Government Area , Bello Bako , said there is nothing any person can do to stop the way of life of the Kambari people.
“ It is their way of life and they must be accommodated . So many missionaries have tried their best to convert them to embrace Christianity, but they refused to be converted . They are holding their customs and traditions firmly and are surviving with it.
“ They are rich farmers and the communities are very peaceful . Even though they don ’ t depend on the government for anything , they obey the law of the land. ”
Asked whether he was aware that the community ( Acer) provided borehole water for themselves without government assistance, Bako said , “ I am aware that they contributed money for the borehole water and that ’ s why I said they live in the world of their own helping each other . ”
The Niger State Commissioner for Information , Culture and Tourism . Mr . Jonathan Vatsa , said the culture of the people of Birnin Amina and Acer communities must be respected provided they do not go against the law .
Vatsa said , “ There is nothing bad about people adhering to their culture and tradition provided it does not breach the peace of the state . ”
He advised people to learn how to live with their culture and tradition and do what is expected of them without fear for peace to reign.On why the communities are abandoned by the state government , Vatsa said the state government would set up an enlightenment committee in collaboration with the Rijau Local Government to educate the Kambari people on the need to embrace “civilisation so that they can participate in the activities of the government . ”
Though they are being neglected for years now , he assured that the present government would provide basic amenities that would improve their lives .

o wa OK

Not less than 20 thousand naira including analysis

I do dt very well and it exposed dt she was cheating on me although no proof dt he bleeped her thou. She begged to continue wt me whc I agreed bt I won't lie to u since then d trust has bn seriously shaking. In fact we are presently having issues

Hmmm

Informative

In hausa it means "New"

I don't think so

happy birthday to the king of music

President Muhammadu Buhari made a terrible
mistake last Thursday. He plagiarized President
Barack Obama’s speech to launch “change begins
with me.”
So you didn’t notice that our president lifted from
Obama’s 2008 victory speech and passed it off as
if the words were his own? The argument will rage, but the moral problem of
plagiarism on a day Mr. President launched a
campaign to demand honesty and integrity from
the people is what we should concern ourselves
with.
I’m not a wailing wailer and I don’t like the
downfall of any man but I also don’t like to be
deceived.
The very last thing you should do when you’re
launching a campaign like this is to be dishonest
with the people.
As Buhari talked down on Nigerians during the
launch of the campaign spearheaded by no other
person, other than the Minister of Information,
Alhaji Lai Muhammed, known for his trash-talk,
particularly for the opposition, I started following
the speech line-by-line.
I was alarmed to make the discovery. It was a
scandal that escaped the attention of our
newspapers. It is one of two things: either people
don’t pay particular attention to Buhari’s words or
we are a nation of anything goes.
Only in July, Melania Trump, the wife of the
Republican White House hopeful, Donald Trump,
was caught in the web of plagiarism after she
spoke at the Republican National Convention. She
plagiarized Michelle Obama’s speech. It was a big
headline on television screen and national
newspapers. Indeed it was a “global” headline.
Yes, a prime part of Buhari’s speech to the nation
last Thursday to launch a campaign encouraging
new culture of transparency, attitudinal change
and hard work among Nigerians was plagiarized
from America’s President Barack Obama’s 2008
victory speech.
Buhari’s speech during the launch of the “change
begins with me”, a new national orientation
campaign, contained largely the same sentiment
and arrangement of words that President Obama
used in his 2008 victory speech after he was
elected the first American black president.
The president lifted a whole paragraph from
Obama’s speech and passed it off as his own
when he said: “We must resist the temptation to
fall back on the same partisanship, pettiness and
immaturity that have poisoned our country for so
long. Let us summon a new spirit of responsibility,
spirit of service, of patriotism and sacrifice, Let us
all resolve to pitch in and work hard and look
after, not only ourselves but one another, What
the current problem has taught us is that we
cannot have a thriving army of rent seekers and
vested interests, while the majority suffers.”
President Obama used the precise words at a
rally in Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois, United
States, after winning the race for the White House
in November 2008.
Eight years ago, Obama said: “In this country, we
rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let’s
resist the temptation to fall back on the same
partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that
has poisoned our politics for so long.
“So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of
responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch
in and work harder and look after not only
ourselves but each other.
“Let us remember that, if this financial crisis
taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a
thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.”
It is immoral to plagiarize other people’s work,
but even worse to use dishonesty to launch a
campaign about honesty.
When you use another person’s work without
acknowledgement, you have plagiarized. You
simply pretend as if it is your own. It is unethical.
It makes a mess of the campaign from the start.
That is what Buhari has done, nobody will believe
in the ‘change begins with me’ campaign, because
it was built on lies.
Now, this is what I think must have happened, an
incompetent speech writer handed the speech to
Buhari with no fact checking method by the
president’s men that should have saved the
president from this embarrassment.
I know this that with the vast opportunity
provided by the internet, it’s so tempting to
plagiarize, but the same internet provides
opportunity to discover plagiarists.
It’s particularly troubling that the president has
no inspiring words of his own other than to steal
from someone.
And this, it is pathetic that this “change”
conversation is taking new dimension from what
we expected.
In the midst of its failure, the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC) is asking Nigerians to
change their ways, blaming everything why the
country is not working on Nigerians’ attitudes.
The blame game is moving away from Goodluck
Jonathan years, the only defense for failure that
APC has so far used.
Interestingly, the world is watching Buhari and the
story of his plagiarism may have crossed the
Atlantic without him knowing. Americans don’t
joke with such issue. They name and shame
plagiarists.
Next week, when Buhari take his turn to address
the 71st regular session of the United Nations
General Assembly in New York, the Americans will
scrutinize his words and check his facts.
Before that time, it is my submission that Buhari
needs to apologize to Nigerians for plagiarizing on
a day he launched “change begins with me.” Will
Buhari apologize?
Follow me on Twitter:@adeolaakinremi1. www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/09/16/buharis-plagiarized-speech-in-change-begins-with-me/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

DETROIT — Ford Motor said Wednesday it is
shifting all of its U.S. small car production to
Mexico, a development that drew fresh criticism
from Republican presidential nominee Donald
Trump.
Ford's declaration came as CEO Mark Fields
sought to appeal to investors.
"Over the next two to three years, we will have
migrated all of our small car production to
Mexico and out of the United States," Fields
told a meeting in Dearborn, Mich., where the
company is based.
But the new development played perfectly for
Trump, who was campaigning in Michigan, the
traditional home to the nation's auto industry.
As recently as April, he blasted Ford's plans to
move production to Mexico as an "absolute
disgrace." And on Wednesday, he picked up the
beat again as he visited Flint, which has been
hard hit by the loss of auto worker jobs.
"We shouldn’t allow it to happen. They’ll make
their cars, they’ll employ thousands of people,
not from this country, and they’ll sell their car
across the border," Trump said. "When we send
our jobs out of Michigan, we’re also sending our
tax base."
In Michigan, Ford's announcement didn't come
as a great surprise. Ford has said it continues to
invest heavily in its U.S. plants and isn't cutting
jobs here. Last fall, the automaker made a
commitment to invest $9 billion in U.S. plants,
with about half going to 11 facilities in Michigan.
The deal created or retained more than 8,500
jobs as part of a new four-year contract with the
United Auto Workers union, a net increase in
the U.S.
Still, UAW President Dennis Williams has
repeatedly blasted Ford and other automakers
for investing so much money in Mexico.
"There is no reason, mathematically, to go
ahead and run to countries like Mexico,
Thailand and Taiwan," Williams said earlier this
year. "We all recognize there is a huge problem
in Mexico. So we have to address it as a nation.
The UAW cannot do it alone. We are not naive." With average auto worker wages set at
a fraction of their U.S. counterparts, Mexico
allows automakers to reduce their costs enough
that they can still make a profit on smaller cars
sold in the U.S. Ford isn't alone. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said
earlier this year it will end production of all cars
in the U.S. by the end of 2016 as it discontinues
production of the Dodge Dart in Belvidere,
Ill, and the Chrysler 200 in Sterling Heights,
Mich.
In recent years, automakers that include
General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan,
Mazda, Toyota and Volkswagen have all
announced plans to either expand existing
plants or build new ones in Mexico. Fiat Chrysler
also has said it is considering an expansion of its
production there.
Mexico has seen a 40% increase in auto jobs
since 2008 to 675,000 last year while the U.S.
saw only a 15% increase in the same period to
more than 900,000, according to the Center for
Automotive Research in Ann Arbor.
Low gas prices have Americans prefering larger
vehicles, especially pickups and higher-riding
SUVs and crossover vehicles for their personal
use. And those vehicles carry much higher profit
margins than for small vehicles. www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2016/09/14/ford-moving-all-production-small-cars-mexico/90354334/

D M X

My brother, u just said my mind . That's stress o

Venezuela is facing the worst economic and humanitarian crisis in its history. Venezuela has been hit by the 24 months collapse in oil prices. Its economy is expected to shrink 10 percent at the end of 2016, the biggest contraction in the last 13 years, while inflation has reached more than 700 percent according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Other analysts say that inflation has already reach 1,000 percent. Venezuelans are living day-by-day facing a very complicated situation with rising crime and corruption rates, daily electricity blackout, medicines and food shortage (more than 80 percent). Venezuelans can’t get even the most basic lifesaving medical supplies as antibiotics. On Monday 22th August 2016 Brent oil traded around $49 a barrel, but two years before Brent was $102 a barrel, and even then Venezuela was already having economic problems. Even with a recovery in crude, higher prices are unlikely to solve the economic, humanitarian and political crisis. In Venezuela 96 percent of foreign currency earnings come from oil industry and with the collapse of the oil prices the income has fallen more 50 percent. But in addition to declining revenues, oil production has also dropped, doubling the pain for Venezuela. The problems could grow worse. Several oil service companies suspended or slowed operations in Venezuela this year due to difficulties in obtaining payment from the state- run oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). Contractors have cut back on drilling in Venezuela amid rising unpaid debt, which threatens to take Venezuela’s output down even further. On June 28th 2016, Baker Hughes reported that the number of oil rigs in Venezuela dropped from 69 to 59 in May of this year. The CEO of the Italian oil and gas contractor Saipem SpA said that in April the company had suspended 89 percent of its operation rigs in Venezuela ( 25 of its 28 rigs). Other companies as Schlumberger or Halliburton Co are reducing their activities in Venezuela because of unpaid services bills. Venezuela’s active rig count, a good indication of future production, fell from 71 to 49 in July according to Baker Hughes, the lowest since the end of 2011. Since 1998, oil production in Venezuela has been reduced by 750,000 barrels per day, with output falling by 250,000 barrels per day in the first half of 2016 alone, according to Dr. Francisco Monaldi, a fellow in Latin American Energy Policy at the Baker Institute at Rice University in Houston. Luisa Palacios, a senior managing director at Medley Global Advisors LLC, said that exports in Venezuelan crude has fallen by more than 300,000 barrels per day in June 2016, compared with 2015 average. PDVSA is in talks with oil services companies to turn unpaid services into financial instruments, a process known as securitization. Venezuela’s oil minister Eulogio Del Pino last month said that PDVSA had signed financing agreements with Weatherford International Plc and Halliburton and was close to a deal that would allow Schlumberger to boost its presence in the OPEC nation. “This mechanism enables to trade commercial debt for financial debt, improving cash flow holding instruments with financial return, in order to manage the low oil price environment” said Del Pino. These mechanisms allow the contractors to continue local operations. The statement describes these operations as a “plan in development” that was supported by “important drilling and services companies,” without naming which ones were involved in the discussions. In recent years PDVSA’s debt has increased from $3 billion to more than $43 billion, Dr. Monaldi said on César Miguel Rondón’s radio program from Union Radio, Caracas Venezuela in August 16th this year. Even if oil prices increase, the situation is very complicated for Venezuela’s economy. PDVSA has no cash, it is struggling to pay its debts and the oil industry needs huge investments to keep oil production from falling, leaving aside investments in new operations. For the moment the Venezuelan government has prioritized meeting debt payments even if that means deteriorating conditions for its populace. It seems like an odd choice, but for a country that depends on oil exports for 95 percent of its revenue, the government is certainly concerned about exposing itself to legal actions by bondholders in international courts. Also, the cost of default could be higher than the payment of his obligations. Furthermore, the non-payment will add a more negative image for the government bonds, which puts it in uncomfortable position to renegotiate any new lines of credit. Venezuela, so far, is still solvent. However, this issue is badly managed by the government with the erroneous policies. Venezuela must learn from past mistakes and needs massive reforms to put the country in the right direction.
Source: oilprice.com

For those who don't know what the then Biafra currency looks like this is Bbiafran one pound

Road side recharge card sellers are self employed too.

After days of political tumult in Westminster, a single image of calm suddenly emerged on Wednesday evening from the inner sanctum of royal authority: The Queen granting private audience to a genuflecting Theresa May, who has succeeded David Cameron as prime minister of the United Kingdom. Easily dismissed as nothing more than a shiny scrap of pageantry, the photograph of the newly selected leader of the governing Conservative Party and the monarch who invited her to form a new government is, in truth, a fascinating cultural document. On its surface, the image reaffirms that democracy in Britain, at least symbolically, is still subservient to inherited power. Though the photo may be accented with smiles and the glamour of designer fashions, a stony silence entombs this week’s image. It divulges nothing of what was actually discussed between the queen and the new PM. The mute postures of the two women – one deferential, the other munificent – are reminiscent of those depicted on a strange 16th- Century memorial in Bacton Church, Herefordshire: a sculpture that reminds us how secretive the pantomime of power has long been. Like the photo released by Buckingham Palace on Wednesday evening, the marble and alabaster work portrays a figure kneeling before royalty – in this case, the courtier Blanche Parry prostrating herself to Queen Elizabeth I. Assigned to Elizabeth since the future monarch’s infancy (Blanche is said to have ‘rockte’ her ‘cradell’), Blanche would become a close royal confidante. In time, Elizabeth would entrust Blanche with responsibilities that far exceeded her initial remit as lady-in-waiting, giving her sole charge of the royal jewellery, wardrobe, and books. Before long, Blanche was enjoying, for private pleasure, the lease of crown lands across Britain, while wielding profound political influence in state affairs. What earned Blanche such astonishing prerogatives? Was it her acumen or judgment? Her learning or intelligence? What Elizabeth valued above all was loyalty of service – the kind of quality you demonstrate not with your mind, but with your knees. Today, the Queen has far fewer political gifts at her disposal than her Renaissance predecessor once dangled. Theresa May’s courteous curtsy, therefore, in no serious sense echoes the obeisance shown by Blanche Parry to her Sovereign over four centuries ago. In stooping low, she reaches high.