₦airaland Forum

I can confirm to you that were he to set the rendering to the highest quality, it will not take his computer less than a day...unless he uses a render farm...and that is how to get photorealistic renderings.....I score the work..56%...

The framers of the American constitution and other great statements and charters of liberty were such an elite. Not all were noble men , not all were of great learning, some broke laws, some cheated on their wives, some were outright outlaws, but all agreed on minimum conditions for efficient and just government and how these could be preserved. These documents which have endured centuries are some of the most eloquent testimonies to man’s ability for high thought and behaviour.

Over the years despite travails of every kind the core of the American elite defended their constitution and insisted on its central values.
But even earlier it was the Barons, the English elite at the time, sword in hand who forced King John, the then English monarch, to sign the Magna Carta Libertatum, The Great Charter Of Freedoms from which almost every other charter of freedom in the history of man has borrowed. From which also in later years the concepts of enforcement of rights such as the Petition of Rights, and the Writ of Habeas Corpus were birthed. Britain’s representative institutions and its modern judicial processes derive from that charter. This was the work of land owning barons in 1215AD.

Hear some of the great thoughts written by these men so many centuries ago:
39. No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or disseized, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way harmed--nor will we go upon or send upon him--save by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.
40. To none will we sell, to none deny or delay, right or justice.

Now these elites whose great works we have described so glowingly were men and not spirits. They still frequently fell short of the high standards they set, they fought brutal wars, and killed millions, they perpetrated slave trade, genocide and institutionalised racism but the gravity of the core values to which they subscribed, inexorably returned them or those after them to repair and restore, to make right what had gone wrong. And so slave trade, official racial discrimination, genocides and much later Apartheid were, challenged and defeated by the very same principles established by those elite groups so long ago. Again even the whole concept of orderly society, under law was the product of elite consensus in many societies.

The recognition of the primacy of order itself led to founding of governments and the donation of powers to them. By order, we mean security, law enforcement, and even such matters as landscaping, communal provision of water, power, control of traffic, mass transportation, and services that raise men and women from a brutish lifestyle.

The rule of law was a logical piece in setting the ‘order’ puzzle. Judges, juries, arbitrators who could be trusted with the responsibility of arbitrating disputes, imposing penalties and declaring laws without fear or favour were appointed. The rule of Law also ensured that the power of state through its agencies was governed by law as espoused or declared by judges. And laws were not arbitrary or ad hominem. Yes, there were corrupt judges even then, and perverse application of laws, but the elite kept the focus on the core values of society. The scholars, publicists, men of faith and politicians forcefully reminded, prodded and harassed all to towards the ‘core values’, so that corruption , arbitrariness, and impunity were not the norm. Why? The reasons were both self-serving and high- minded. The failure of order was dangerous for all, especially the elite themselves, all could be lost! Even all they had acquired.

Taxation was also the product an elite consensus. Taxation especially progressive, incremental taxation was a concession of the elite to the fact that the government to whom the responsibility for order had been given had to have the resources to do so. Without it, society was back to the chaos of might is right. The principle, that those who earn more should pay more, also had to be accepted, even if hurt them. Order is not merely an altruistic aspiration – it is self preservation.

So today, the reason a highly placed British citizen will balk at speaking to a judge or police about his case with a view to ‘seeking help’ is because he is part of an elite that has come to terms with the importance of judicial fairness, and integrity. He understands that his life and livelihood which may come up for adjudication someday are not worth much if the judge can be bought. But more importantly he realizes that if he can buy the judge someone else can. The reason why all over the world many trust the English judicial system is because it has consistently maintained its integrity and independence. So the choice of judges, again an elite consensus, is amongst the best legal minds in the profession, men of proven integrity, through a rigorous process of selection. Why do they not favour a nepotistic or quota system? It is clearly for the reason that the elite recognizes that justice upholds our system of order. Once the system is unreliable, society is at risk, everyone’s life and livelihood is potentially at risk.

I have taken the time of this distinguished audience to consider a few examples of the way in which the privileged, the elite in a society must attend to the obligations of their status. It is evident from the examples I have given, that if the “elite” in the societies considered, had not come together to act in the common good when they did, their civilisations would have either failed or been irreparably damaged.

It follows therefore, that the present state of our nation- the poverty and misery of the people, the failure of law and order, the corruption of the electoral system, the legitimization of corruption etc, are consequences of the failure of the privileged to discharge the obligations of their status. If the Nigerian elite were even sensitive enough to save itself as a collective not as individuals, that consensus will probably save the entire national project. Unfortunately coming together for the common good appears far too onerous a distraction from the chronic selfishness that defines those of us who constitute that elite.

But the self-centeredness of our elite is greatly compounded by a seeming lack of deep reflection. That ability to think deeply, not about self-alone, but about community.

In any event, self is endangered or at risk if community is disorganized or prone to arbitrariness. What best serves all is what makes sense, so that our lives may be lived in some measure of peace and happiness. Introspection helps us all, it helps to remove selfishness.

Take a simple issue, the availability of power. If power is so crucial to the livelihoods of all, if it affects livelihoods of the lowest, the carpenters, tailors, battery chargers, hairdressers and the highest, professionals, industry, services ,why is it not so high a priority that all effort is geared daily towards solving it? Why for example did the Obasanjo regime so vehemently oppose the Lagos private power initiative?

Introspection may help answer the question – so if I have all the money and I have all the facilities but I cannot prevent robbers from plundering my house (some of who are my purported bodyguards) or kidnapping me or my children, what then is the point? As I ride around in my jeep, it is not to the adulation but the resentment of my immediate neighbours in all the slums around me, all believing that they too can become like me, rich anyhow, selfish and uncaring about the rest.

Introspection might help move us from the childish one upmanship that manifests itself in more money, more jewellery, and more cars, so that I can show off to my neighbours and I oppress them with my wealth. In a society without power, water, healthcare, one which has the highest rates of malaria, tuberculosis and infant mortality, how can the conversation of our elite be : “”when are you going for mid-term? (Mid-term holidays of the children abroad) Or why do you prefer Virgin Atlantic when BA has the best first class seats? How can those of us who went to good schools here in this country now see how our schools now believe that they must have the token white headmaster or mistress regardless of real qualification, to answer our childish desire for the foreign.

Introspection might help us to reflect on the state of education. An open sore. What to do about cheating in exams, fake results, and the desperately poor quality of teaching and teachers. We know of course that knowledge will determine the place of any community in the coming years. Where is the big investment in education? Who are the educators and policy makers? Are they thinkers, planners who know what needs to be done? Are we engaging the best minds to plan and plot or most significant resource – human capital? If not, then how do we get out of this educational rot? What sort of teachers do we need? How long will it take? How much will it cost? Surely we cannot afford the proliferation of fake graduates in every discipline emerging from our campuses and especially the so called satellite campuses – themselves, victims of a failed school system.

Reflection will probably show why the insistence of our elite on “quotas” and ethnic balancing in public service appointments is usually not for altruistic or nationalistic reasons. Why would the advocates of ethnic balancing not apply the same principle in the choice of doctors who treat them when they are ill? I will not risk my life on a plane flown by a pilot from Ikenne, (my hometown) if I was told that the reason why he was hired pilot was not because he was the best but because the management of the airline was in search of an Ikenne man to fly the plane. But our public services, our vital government ministries have been known to be run by appointees whose main qualification for the particular assignment was “state of origin”.

Why would anyone insist as is the case in state universities across the country- that their vice chancellors and heads of departments must be indigenes? Yet the same decision makers- dispatch their own children to foreign universities built on principles of universalism of knowledge and where the smartest men and women are sought to head their institutions regardless of race, colour or creed.

“Some reflection might help the privileged to insist as other civilisations have done, on the sanctity of the orders of courts and the rule of law. Unfortunately ,our elite, like the motley crowd, gets carried away in their thirst for the blood of the next victim in their class , they look away and even hail, when an overzealous agency of government in the name of overriding public interest, ignore the orders of a court and violate the tenets of the rule of law.

But soon enough, the wheels turn full cycle to hurt those who cheered when their guarantee of liberty and fairness was contemptuously ignored. For example I do not have to be a great friend of a Bank MD in detention or approve of Lamido Sanusi, to object strenuously to the Central Bank Nigeria or EFCC refusing to obey the orders of a court!

Why are we innovative but unable to sustain innovation? Many of the countries even in Africa, are not nearly as creative as Nigerians can be but they outlast us in their capacity to keep what they have working. Maintenance. Thus what must be celebrated as a core principle is ‘sustaining innovation’ not necessarily innovation, the sheer number of abandoned projects clearly shows that innovation is not the problem.

Must we not establish integrity as a core principle? How does integrity become a national ethic? What will it cost to appropriate honesty to our national ethos and how? Integrity of course here refers to basic honesty, commitment to one’s word, trustworthiness. Can we develop a system that rewards transparency, honest service and sanctions misbehaviour, a society based on cheating is rotten at its heart and will ultimately self destruct.

An ‘elite’ consensus to destroy 419 before it ruined our image as a nation could have prevented or reduced the now phenomenal cost of winning back the confidence of the world. No nation in the world would watch itself destroyed without taking action, witness US and 9/11 and how nations react to threats against their livelihoods. Somehow we have not reacted in the same way to the 419 scourge or at least in the way that demonstrates our recognition of the fact that this vocation of obtaining by false pretences now defines us everywhere and threatens to ruin access to credit internationally and eligibility to do business with the rest of the world. An elite consensus could get everyone, including children, searching out 419ers and exposing them. At least making the enterprise extremely unattractive.

A failure of our criminal justice system to apprehend and punish offenders has legitimized stealing at every level. The pilfering in homes, offices, frauds in banks, stealing by drivers, to white collar criminality, all are hardly ever punished. Despite all the pilfering that goes on and on daily.

How many times in recent years has anyone been jailed for simple stealing? Despite the acknowledged high level of petty and grand criminality in our large population, Lagos alone, 16 -17 million, we have one of the lowest convicts per capita, in the world. The criminal justice system fails because we pretend not to know that it is not functioning right.

Policing is a joke. The desire to feather individual nests makes it impossible to review our policing options. Every IG dishonestly claims that he would reduce crimes and protect the public. But is soon reduced to helping the government harass its perceived enemies. It is obvious of course that you cannot run a federal system of the size of Nigeria without community police. Posting a policeman of Sokoto origin to Anambra where he does not speak or understand the language and certainly does not know the neighbourhood is at best a cynical approach to law enforcement. Effective policing must be local.

Can we not have state/community police and a federal police to deal with federal offenses, elections, etc as do other federal systems. Can we not set national minimum standards for police officers e.g. at least first degree or HND for entry level policemen?

Today, different state judiciaries can compete in justice delivery innovations and performance and best practices can be copied across jurisdictions. A national judiciary may have been attractive to some, but it certainly cannot beat a system where each state depending on its work load determines the number of its courts and judges such as is largely the case now. In the next few months the 2011 elections will come. All of us know that if there is no fundamental reform of the electoral process the robbery perpetrated in 2007 will seem like a Sunday school class. Faced with the horrible possibilities that ultimately will confront us, if the people are again denied the option of free choice of their leaders, one would expect that the ruling elite would make the sacrifice as others have done to reform the electoral process even at the risk of losing power. That is the responsibility of privilege.

Conclusion
The incredible life and times of Ben Enwonwu, master painter and sculptor, once described as Africa’s greatest artist, his prodigious talent and remarkable boldness in those pioneering years- reaffirms that bold, sometimes brash, but always optimistic Nigerian spirit. The resilience of his legacy- is evident across the nation, in his timeless sculptures and paintings. 15 years after his departure, new reviews, some complimentary, some critical continue. The inevitable aftermath of a life of significance.

The work of the artist is of course never finished. His studio on the day of death, still strewn with sketches, busts of planned sculptures, ideas, and thoughts, awaiting execution. A metaphor, if you like, for the far from finished work of nation building, which all of us, especially those of us who have the privilege of education and some talent, are obliged to complete. What will you do, before you go?

I leave you with a story. In 1994 (incidentally the year Ben Enwonwu died) I served as a United Nations justice sector expert in Mogadishu, Somalia. The country had failed then, after several years of misrule, corruption, neglect of social justice and disregard for the rule of law. The nation was now managed by war lords. (Area boys to use a more familiar expression) every part of the city and country had its own reigning war lord. There was hardly any food, chaos everywhere.

In one of the camps where hungry men, women and children queued up for food in a long line with their bowls. On the line were former university professors, former senior public servants, former Supreme Court justices, former journalists, all hungry, waiting in line with their little bowls for food from the World Food Programme.


Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN
November 18th 2009

donbrowser:
As a graduate who came very close to finishing with a first class in engineering, I can easily identify errors that cost students the prestigious first class degree. I made one or two of these mistakes. Over the span of five years that I spent in the university, I saw lots of people make the same mistakes outlined here. Many brilliant students start with the initial dream of graduating with a first class, only to end up struggling to even finish with a 2.1. Obtaining a first class takes a great deal of hardwork, consistency, intelligence but most importantly discipline. Commit these errors and your chances of getting a first class will be very slim if not nil.
1. Womanizing– This is not about having a committed girlfriend in school which can even be very distracting. This is referring to keeping strings of girlfriends while in school, or pursuing anything in skirt. I am not speaking for or against womanizing in school. But womanizing is the quickest way of ensuring that your dream of graduating with a first class vanishes into thin air as your attention towards your academic studies will be greatly divided.
2. Not starting well– Except UNIBEN which notably operates CGPA system that is based on percentage depending on undergraduate level, all other universities operate a cumulative system based on credit load of individual courses. Most first class graduates build a solid foundation in the first 2 years in school. Thereafter, they ensure they do not fall below the boundary. Not having a high CGPA in your first 2 years means that you will not have any buffer during tough academic times, as the going may get tougher as you progress and your CGPA may become progressively lower. Your academic standing after your first 2 years can make or mar your chances of graduating with a first class. In addition, having a high CGPA may help build you gain respect amongst students or even lecturers who may be careful when marking your scripts so as not to make mistakes.
3. Placing less significance on small unit courses– Yes, some courses may carry smaller credit units but they count. Such courses may be electives and general courses. Cumulate all those courses and you will surprised about how big the effect can be. Every ‘A’ grade matters especially if you just on the edge, and there may be moments when it is the smaller unit courses that keep you above the boundary. One of the critical moments that defined my final CGPA was a 2-unit course that dropped my CGPA from a potential 4.51 to a 4.47 in my penultimate semester.
4. Not studying hard enough– I need not say much about this. Studying hard does not necessarily mean spending long hours reading in classes. Studying hard involves studying with high level of intensity and depth within a study period. The difference between a first class student and others is the attention to detail when studying. I use myself as an example. I remember that eventhough I sometimes spent hours reading, I was always too lazy to solve sample problems. In many cases, I overestimated my level of assimilation. I sometimes got away with it in exams but it cost me a few important A’s which would have made significant differences in my final CGPA.
5. Not taking internship and project work seriously - SIWES (internship) is mainly for science and engineering students. Internship has a combined credit load of about 12 – 15 units depending on the course and the institution. Imagine what damage a ‘B’ can do a first class student! You don’t necessarily have to work for a top company as an intern. Sloppiness in filling log books, poorly written internship report, and inadequate preparation towards defense of industrial attachment are enough to cost you an ‘A’ grade.
Project and practical works also carry significant credit load as well. Practical work can be particularly tedious, and undisciplined students can be lax about it.
6. Allowing the opinion of mediocre students influence you– Average students will always be negative about their academic environment. They will talk about how tough it is to graduate with a 2.1 much less a first class. They will complain about how tough the courses or the lecturers are. They will remind you about the failure rate in the past. They will play the victim when they fail exams. They will congratulate themselves on how ‘lucky’ they are to escape a carryover with an E grade. They will continually demonize the school environment and their department. They will never say anything but positive things about the school. They will criticize everyone but themselves. Feed your mind with such thoughts from them and kiss goodbye to your dreams of graduating with a first class.
7. Not seeking help / information - Not seeking information can be harm your chances of finishing with a first. Information gathering is important in the pursuit of a first class. Having the right set of past questions, exam materials, handbooks, textbooks, etc. matters a lot. Most Nigerian lecturers have different handbooks, textbooks or online materials they are comfortable with. They often set exams from these handbooks and textbooks. First class students are aware of these and sought to get the necessary information.
Forget secondary school days when you can be completely independent and isolated. In the university, you will likely encounter academic challenges one way or the other, you matter how good you are. You will need the help of others who are equally good. Build high walls around you and it’s almost a certainty that you won’t graduate with a first class.
8. Helping others during exams - I have seen and read about how potential first class students make this mistake that can deprive them of not just their dream grade but their entire aspiration. A lot of people look up to first class students to help them during exams, not minding the distraction it may cost them. Some even make monetary requests for first class students to write exams on their behalf. Time after time, brilliant students keep falling for this trap without thinking of the consequence of being expelled or rusticated.
In many cases, first class students already have good reputations amongst their fellow students and lecturers, and being caught teaching in exams can soil that reputation.
9. Not attending classes - I have seen many that graduate with 2.1 that ‘stabbed’ classes on a regular basis. But I am yet to see or hear of a genuine first class student/graduate that deliberately missed classes frequently at least in their last 2 years of study. They attend classes because 1) They want to listen to the salient points made by the lecturers so that they can understand better and prepare well for tests and exams. Attending classes is one way of getting information 2) First class students are perceived to represent the department and generally have a good image. Not attending classes can damage their reputation 3) Many lecturers take attendance seriously and allocate marks to attendance 4) There can be impromptu tests and classworks during classes.
You want to graduate with a first class but you keep skipping classes? Then think twice.
10. Not taking care of your health- Some, in the bid to get a first class, spend almost all their time and energy reading. They are always in class reading or attending one tutorial or the other, and they often do overnight reading not minding the fact that their body needs to be catered for. Consequently, they experience frequent health breakdowns, and this can cause serious setbacks in their dream to achieve a first class. Nothing can be more frustrating that falling ill in an academic session. Wanting to have a first class does not mean that you cannot eat well, rest when necessary, relax, play games and manage stress. Nurture your health. Health is wealth

Source: http://jarushub.com/students-10-mistakes-that-can-cost-you-first-class-degree/

Nice write up. But let me correct a basic assumption. There are first class people, and there are First class people. Real First Class Graduates have had Consistent A level results since there Kindergaten days. They are the ones that had A's throughout their primary and secondary education. They have A's in their WAEC and score between 290 and 380 in their jamb. In other words, Real First class people have academic brilliance in their Blood, and personality..and they usually, without too much effort make Outstanding---not borderline, first class in the University. These are the guys you see having 4.7-5.0...or in some rare cases..4.6.

The other First class guys are the ones who studied extremely very very very hard in the University, just to enter into that First class range, their O level, Secondary and Primary Education results is not usually stellar....and their First class CGPA usually rarely exceeds 4.5-4.59.

The previous First class guys are the True First class people with very high IQs....They rarely fail aptitude tests. The Second class of First class guys, have to be prepared for every test, else they fail it. They are the types that will always be looking for past questions on aptitude tests...which is basically a measure of Intelligence.

One way to know a Real first class guy from a swotter-First class is to ask any of them to teach you fourier transforms years after they have studied it last. Without blinking, a real first class guy will start teaching you IMMEDIATELY...the swotter first class guy, has to go and revise , before he can teach you.

That is how you know First class people, therefore if you are truly a first class material, you do not need to become Jesus Christ before you graduate as a top of the class First Class graduate. So, for the truly brilliant folks out there, the OP's advice is somehow unnecessary.

Disclaimer: I studied an Engineering Course, and graduated with a second class LOWER.

ericessien24:
d one I used was molded and its advisable cos those bought ones are not strong.

a bag of cement produces up to 60 blocks ,but I asked them to mould 35 ,it dries up in minutes and hard to break.but I can't really tell the trip of sand.just buy sand and focus on the bags of cement.

So a bag of Cement molds 60 blocks..abi?...why not tell them to mold 100 blocks from 1 bag of cement..?..Nigerians...!!!!

Even, moulding 35 blocks from one bag is not best practice...that is why you start seeing cracks in your building after a year or two.

It is advised that you do not mould more than 28-30 blocks for a partition wall, and not more than 25 blocks per bag for a Load bearing wall.

Safety is better than waking up one day to see the house crash down on your family...because you were trying to be cheap...

kopell:
@lawyer for almost 4 years now that you have being writing about scams like
These people are still paying those omonile
to marry new wife's and buy new range rover, na waoooo. So the brother can not pay 50k for your service but he can afford 5m for the land
I hope the guy they Naija sha no bi one of us in diaspora, because that loan he toke he will be paying big intrest on it for years to come.

As a Professionally registered Civil Engineer, and speaking from experience, I personally have no Pity for such Cheapskate clients when they eventually run into trouble. Ordinary 50k to pay for a transaction valued at 5 million..The guy still refuse.

It is this sort of people that will buy a 6 million Naira car, and refuse to track it.

It is this kind of people that will want to economise on every aspect of the Building construction, even structurally risky aspects, attempt to pay professionals very poorly, and even employ quacks on their projects.

I am sorry, but it serves him right.

ajayiopy:
Am reading the soft copy already, tell fisherman to stop this myopic way of thinking ,Guys don wise up ,no monkey for idanre again

hello, pls I need the soft copy...how can you help me on this?

hahn:
Hmmm. See future leaders of tomorrow.

All I can see here is a business opportunity. Why can't some students go into transportation business. Its obvious there's a demand for it. Nigerian students will rather join secret cults, party, f*ck and form big boy/girl instead of looking critically at challenges around them and offering solutions thereby creating wealth and employment for themselves and others.

Keep queueing up till una get sense

God bless you my brother...I have been looking for the problem, i no see am...all I see is a vast business opportunity that I am begining to want to tap into..

If anybody is on ground in that school and has an idea on solving the transport issue..let me know...I can arrange finance for it...we ll then scale it up if it booms..

Listen well, and good.

You are 18.

LEGALLY YOU CAN GO TO JAIL.

Therefore, try to become independent. Totally ignore him. Move out of the house.

Do not be intimidated. Never ever ever allow him raise his hand at you again, ever.

More importantly, make sure you are focused.

Do not lead a disgraceful life.

Become somebody.

Be focused .

Be successful.

In Academics, bethere.

In Business, Start Hustling.

In politics, Join the SUG..

In Church..be a strong member/worker.

Join a Club like the Jaycees or Rotary club.

Do not compare yourself to your peers, remember that they are not experiencing what you are facing.

Minimise clubbing and all sorts of activities that might lead you astray.

You can do it.

Achieve and become great.

He will come, and beg.

More importantly, try not to hate him, or become envious or jealous of your siblings.

Believe me, I know.

So amazing. the Name of Jesus is greater than every name that is named not only in this world but also in the world to come, Ebola or HIV or AIDS or Death. Name them ! Jesus is d answer! Waoooo!!! Accept Jesus Christ the only way so that thy soul shall live my frnds.

McWhillion: Hypothetically I will wake up from my dream

Funny...but true for you...

Now seriously,.....If you were asked in an Interview...what will be your response?

Hello folks,

I just read about Sule Lamido's Laundering scandals,and I wonder how supposedly smart people could get caught using such an idiotic method to launder money....

..it got me thinking, and I have to ask, Imagine you are a Corrupt State governor...How will you Launder 10 Billion naira in sych a way that The EFCC , FATF, or SSS will not be able to get you..........hypothetically...

Hello,

To the people blaming Mr Robin for Killing himself, know that not all believes in God, or the Reverse Karma of going to hell if you commit Suicide.

Also, most people who seem happy or are funny are usually so because of the need to console themselves, they are usually very sad folk...you never know how sensitive some people are, or what can push them into depression. depression is dark, terrible, a bottomless hopeless abyss..you don't want to be depressed.

Therefore it is Myopic to blame depressed people for taking their own life...at the least , you should empathize with them...which is what makes you a sane human being...

Well, for me its simple. If I could prefer sleeping on the couch instead of a Proper bed Like all normal people do, I think I may have a bit of a hard time adjusting to sharing a bed ....on a continual basis...with a female.

While with the parent, I slept on the couch, I have slept in my room just 7 times in like 12 years..

Though I live alone now that I am working, and sleep on a Normal bed like everybody else..I am positive that when I finally settle down...a Couch will still be preferable to a bed.

This certainly complicates things for the wife....Not to even talk of sleeping in separate rooms.

My problem may be due to privacy issues..some people are like that...they want people around but get pissed off after a while if these people overstay..especially if private space is invaded, some people need very little space to themselves, which they do not feel comfortable sharing in the long run...this might be a complex or something...

In short, Sleeping in the same room, or in separate rooms does not solve privacy issues...in my own case, sleeping in separate rooms seems better..because I may likely be sleeping on the couch in any-case...

To prevent marital problems, I think Guys should just create their own man caves, where they can retreat to at any point in time, and then share the same bedroom with their wife....i.e if you are not an addicted couch sleeper like me...in which case any of the options make no difference.

I tend to ramble, but do you catch the drift of my gist?

I never add tomatoes to my stews, or sauces. It is just pure pepper and onions.....ata rodo, not tatashe.

sogodihno: Do these people tink everybody dt is doing pharmacy,nursing and physiotherapy first apply for medicine or intentionally want to go for medicine? in OAU if u dont beat d cut off of medicine, even if u beat dt of pharmacy u cant enter, because u didnt choose pharmacy.

Medicine was reserved for the best brains?
In OAU 2011/2012 PD, d highest score was 91. and dz boy dt got dz score chose pharmacy and cut off for medicine den was 82, like wise some of my friend wth scores like 83, 84 etc dt chose pharmacy.
u said 'best brains' make me remember a guy we called best brain, and u know wat? dz guy is in pharmacy not medicine. 60% of students in OAU bliv dt OAU PHARMACY is tougher than OAU MEDICINE; and dt's d truth.
Dz country na wa o, because u A a doctor u tink u A more intelligent than everybody else. Dia A some of my friend currently in Medicine dt score as low as 220,240 wen d cut off was 295. Dis A d best brains too? u call urself d head and u A preventing other part of d body from growing. let's see if d head will survive too.

LASTLY, All we A doing in dz country, let's all know that diaris God o

If the Guy was truly Intelligent, he would have gone to study the Pure Sciences Like Mathematics, Physics, or at the very least Engineering.

Leave them to dey make mouth in their arrogance....

diamondpaul: I guess d op's view on this...is also thesame on my part.some ppeo say d more u chase thing's,the more valuable it become when u get it. mine is d more time it took me to get it, the more d value depreciate's.

My sentiments exactly.

@ the OP, I understand what you may be going through. You are torn between staying true to your BELIEFS/CONVICTIONS and making your mother happy at the same time.

It can be very frustrating.

But @OP, you have to know that while there is nothing wrong in having personal convictions, especially beliefs that according to the subject's perception do not lead tany Hellish kind of destination in the afterlife/death, then it follows that asserting your personal convictions in an insensitive manner as you have portrayed will only lead to sorrow for those who care about you, ultimately affecting the quality of your own social existence.

This is where lies the difference between Wisdom and Intelligence. An Intelligent man is not necessarrily a wise one, and he will always want to assert and show the brilliance of his intelligence, to the immediate detriment of his social acquaintances, and long term detriment to himself.

A wise man is necessarilly an intelligent man, he knows when to display his intelligence, and when to act like a fool, you may call it politics, but there is wisdom in delibrate folly.

Our elders say the fact that you prostrate for a dwarf, does not mean he is taller than you, for the sake of peaceful coexistence, it is sometimes advisable to act contrary to your beliefs. It makes no difference to you if you shout it to the whole world that you are an atheist, but it affects those who care about you, and since atheism is not a religion, what is the point in evangelizing it like a religion?

A proverb says, too much brilliance, too much knowledge, is the reason why Ajao, the rightful heir was denied the throne of his fathers by the kingmakers. Temper your Assertive atheism with wisdom, and make your mother happy by following her religion, you dont have to believe it, just imagine it as a cultural thing, the same way you eat with your right hand, even when you might as well rightly eat with your left.



On atheism: It is very easy to believe there is no God, any school boy with basic common sense will come to that conclusion. Existing religious systems are also to blame for this, and the increasing rate of disbelief among the ''intelligentsia'' or clueless pseudointellectuals seeking to bask in the adoration of people at being so strange. Our religious systems do not usually encourage analystical questioning, or even superficial reasoning, every slight question has to be supported with answers from ''Scriptures'' we are told to believe, without any form of tangible evidence, hook ,line and sinker.

The perceptions of world systems also, and the seemingly contradictory nature of the God entity vis-a-vis actuall occurences in the world also do not aid the belief in a God. People cannot process how as upposed mercifully kind God will permit suffreings that they, even as insignificantly powerful humans will want to prevent.

The ''reasoning'' youth most like weighs all this religious chaos, and analytically throws out the baby, with the bath water.


It is not wrong to question, but it is wrong to conclude, when we do not, and cannot possibly have all the infrmation neccessary to process the validity or otherwise of the God concept. This is the classic mistake pronounced atheists make, they feel they have seen it all, and religious fanatics and fanatiscm do not even help matters.


Whether you understand me or not, have an open mind, reason, analyse, but know that light can exist as a particle, and as a wave, at the same time.

I personally do not believe in religions, funnily , I belive in God.

The obvious question folks ask is how did i arrive at the above conclusion without a religious scripture to serve as the basis to accept and worship God, it is their belief that you must compulsorily have a religion, before you can believe in, or worship or pray to God. which God?........

Do not let your mind be trapped in the same staid streotype, liberate your mind, think outside the box.

In conclusion most atheists think the are atheist because they do not belive in religious systems, practices or concepts, but they raely pause to consider the driving force behind their quest to unravel the truth of their existential belief in God, or the spiritual.

I do not have the answers, It is personal to every individual, like dreams. You dtram, but you cannot play out the dream to your audience, they ask for proof, they ask for evidence, you cannot present this, you cannot prove it beyond reasonable doubt the graphical details of your dreams, but you are convinced beyond any doubt, that you dream. That, there, is the God Concept for you.

A word is adequate for the wise.

And to think that as an Hungry student back then in my university days, Reuben Abati was actually the reason I buy the Guardian newspaper.....what a dissapointment!!!

Onlytruth: The only thing this letter tells me is that Jonathan should remember the country he is leading - a place where gentleness is seen as weakness.
He needs to show his fangs fast, else I see a plot thickening against him.
Every rogue is crawling out of the woodwork to insult him and the rest of Nigerians with all types of sanctimonious CRAP.

If I were him, I would quickly have a chat with my TOP security personnel (military,intelligence, etc).
What he faces is not political opposition; what he faces is a SECURITY THREAT.
If I were him, I would IMMEDIATELY declare marshal law, first send those thieves in the national assembly home. They would be lucky if I don't jail some of them for grand theft using a military tribunal!

Next I would convene an internationally supervised conference on Nigeria's future.

Some people feel that they own Nigeria, and that only they can determine Nigeria's future. They see themselves as the gods of Nigeria, while others are hewers of wood and drawers of water. It started with Tambuwal, next CBN governor, next this never-do-well that sold Nigeria to the highest bigger during his two terms, and even schemed for a third term.

Jonathan should not pussyfoot around anymore, else Ironsi would be better than him.

The Above are the reasons why You are not likely to ever become the president of this Nation.

And By the way, I have never seen a First Class Graduate that cannot defend his/her result. 90 percent of the 2:1 graduates I Know can defend their results. Stop Beefing.

Until Nigerian Graduates start placing themselves in the shoes potential employers, I think the frustration will not end. the ultimate aim of any organisation( private) is to make money at the lowest possible cost for its shareholders. trying to hire the best of the best is oneof the steps in that direction, it is easier and cheaper to mandate that minimum requirement for a job is 2:1, then select the right candidate from this crop of individuals. at the end of the day, management is looking at the cost-benefit ratio, the HR process should not be needlessly expensive, and implementing minimum grade requirements for applicants is one of the cost management strategies.

Also, Nigerian graduates have this pull-him-down complex about people with better academic results. You find the average 2:2 graduate saying those who graduated with 2:1 cheated, bought the result, bleeped the lecturer etc. the fact that they were unable to make such result has created that particular envious attitude to graduates with better grades.

See, Your grade does not actually get you a job- yes it might get you noticed, but it is the perceived benefit the employer feels he can get from epmploying you that prompts him to do so. the skills you have that can add instant value to your potential epmloyer's business is the reason why you get the job, not necessarily because of your grade. Graduates need to start imagining themselves as employers of labor, if you build up a company, what sort of workers do you want to employ? if you do not see yourself hiring the person you are now with the skills you have now, then dont blame the Employers, work on yourself.

Finally, I had a 2:2 IN Engineering ( I was very Lazy in School), but I have very mad Engineering Software and Design Skills, Once I realized it was too late to make a 2:1, I started buying all the engineering softwares i could lay my hands on, ( Very Cheap in Computer Village), with their tutorials, Printed business cards, and started playing around with the softwares, By my service year the average price I charge for eg An architectural animation project is in the range of the upper hundreds of thousands. Putting all this on a Cv, the right thinking employer will be begging you to come work for them. So Skills are extremely very important, But It would have been easier If i had a better grade, So Grades are also extremely very important. A balance between mad skills and excellent grades plus Luck(God) is what determines where you get to in life.

My one Kobo.

Please send me a Comprehensive breakdown of all details at alpontif@gmail.com

750K

Very Intelligent and informative discussions by the Numerous posters. This is indeed commendable.

Actually, and culturally, there are ways of identifying if some class of people are Yoruba or not.

Yoruba are divided into several dialectical tribes, all under a single Ethnic group.

These dialects are similar, but starkly different, though they are mostly intelligible and understood by most Yoruba s.

In dialectical terms, We have The Oyo dialect(central Yoruba), Egba, Ijebu, Ife, Ijesa, Awori, Ekiti, Ibarapa, Okun, Igbomina dialects. there are also some that I can't recall now, some forms of the dialectical Yoruba are so complicated to the non native ear that an Oyo man might only understand core Yoruba spoken from an Okun man with great difficulty. This does not mean they are not all Yoruba. They are from One Yoruba nation, but different dialectical States. Every Yoruba person must belong to a dialectical group. That is the first mark of the Yoruba.

Another mark that people have forgotten to state is that every Yoruba person comes from an ancestral Compound, that is usually unique to a particular town or region in yorubaland, which cannot be found elsewhere, and if found elsewhere, it is 90 percent certain that it is the same family, This is apart from Normal Chieftaincy familiy names like Akogun, Balogun etc. My family name, Lashigun as an example is found only in Oshogbo and Our ancestral estates in a town called Okinni some kilometers from Oshogbo, That is the Only family with that name in Yorubaland. It is a very excellent ,method of tracing origins and identifying geneologies. That is mark 2.


Mark 3 is the fact that every Yoruba indigene has a family Oriki, Cognomen which describes who they are, what they are, what they are known for...right from their ancestors.


Mark 4 is the fact that Yoruba also belong to ancestral classes, or Irans......Thus we have the Ikoyis, ( ikoyi echo, omo adiile dogun, omo agbojo Ogun besoara), The olofas, etc.that depict what their ancestors were known for......


These are the four basic criterias to know if someone is Yoruba, or not.

Applying these to the Ilorins, and your conclusions are as good as mine.

Atouke: grow up little man and stop throwing tantrums like a 3yr old.

Really....?....I give up......

jazzydee: SMH is this the expert/technical opinion that you were holding out on.cant help but LOL. It is true that empty vessels do make the loudest noise.!
As i already suspected you are just a pretender.

Yes I am a pretender, and i made a mistake by answering, it is useless to adorn a pig with diamonds , and i made another mistake of attempting to reason with fools, you can never beat them at their own game. I AM not only an emty vessel , i be colllection of emty vesssels.Hop your ego is boosted now?...

This is the link for the wiki article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_concrete

From an engineering and soil aspect. The concrete road is better than the asphalt road.

This here is an example of what I call misinformation from half baked ''experts''

The concrete road has a life span of 40years unlike the asphalt road whose life span is 10years, so no need for immediate maintenance.

Wrong. There is nothing like that, you can design any road to be 1 year or 100 years. That is why we call it Civil engineering, what are you engineering if you cannot define the life span you want for your infrastructure?...........a layman might as well go do it if it is like that.

Concrete roads are not pollutants and they help save our ozone layer unlike asphalt, when melting the bitumen, it releases awful smell.

Wrong again. Quoting verbatim from wikipedia "The cement industry is one of the primary producers of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas.'' and cement is a major component of concrete, so following your line of thinking, the more Rigid pavements we have, the further we contribute to global warming. It is actually laughable when you say they help save our Ozone layer. Of course, asphalt is also a pollutant, so in that regard, one is not better than the other.

Concrete roads help to save fuel because of its low traction force, unlike asphalt roads, it has high traction/frictional force. So we lose more fuel using asphalt roads dan concrete roads. Moreso, with the high frictional force, it tends to release more carbonmonoxide to the atmosphere, thereby polluting the environment.

This line of thinking is so pseudointellectual that I wonder if the poster actually studied engineering at all.

Concrete roads are durable during high rainfall, but asphalt roads get weak during high rainfall.

Really...? Which School you attend?

During oil spillage, the asphalt is dissolved by the organic content of the petroleum oil. But cements will not dissolve in it.

You can all see the results of simplistic thinking that is not backed by any technical data.

The only problem of the concrete road is that it takes time and more money. It also has very low friction during the raining season, more cars on high speed have high tendency of skidding.

Honestly i dont know what to say again...I am wondering if to slap you or pity you.

We can solve the problem of low friction by making the surface alittle bit rough with some gravels, cement and tar.

...with Cement and tar.....? Sombody help this guy.

You can all see the implication of pokenosing in technical matters, you might mean well, but you just look silly at the end of the day.

Civil engineering is beyond common sense, if it was common sense only, we wont have need for civil engineers. It is the likes of this poster that misinforms people, what you dont know anything about, stop trying to conjecturize your way to opinions.

My 2 cents.

manny4life: Oya, you're relaxed right? Ok we've heard you, this is why you don't see me in topics concerning engineering. We who did not study engineering like to ask dumb questions, but there's nothing wrong in answering either. Ok... Sorry o if anyone pinched your skin, ok PLEASE explain more on the issue to the NL community, we'd love to hear it, half baked or full baked, or even expert and advanced baked, it doesn't matter.

I will ignore your attempt at sarcasm, and answer your questions.

Apart from the deleted post, I was composing a reply on a mobile deveice until it went off, so its back to square one.

The topic (Nigeria Begins Use Of Cement For Road Construction Against Asphalt.) is misleading, This is beacuse Cement has always been in use in in Nigeria in the construction of unpaved roads in the country. Cement, beaues of its binding properties has always been used as a stabilzer in these unpaved roads, In Civil Engineering terms, we call such Cement Stabilized Roads.

But I believe the OP meant Rigid pavements( Concrete). That again is misleading because Rigid pavements have always been common in this country, at least as far back as before independence, an example is the access road network within the IITA Ibadan, instances can also be found all over the country.

In terms of merits or demerits, you cannot say in black and white that it is better than asphalt. This is because any Civil engineering solution is based on several factors including the scope of the proposed road, intended life span, geotechnical conditions, topographical conditions, climatic conditions, economy, construction methodology, and sevral other factors.

As an illustration , you will observe that most of the roads in bayelsa, especially the one leading to Rivers state is constructed as a rigid pavement. This, among several other factors may be because of the geotechnical conditions( sedimentary complex, low soil bearing capacities, high ground water level, etc.) , Climatic conditions( wet humid conditions ) and other factors.

The opposite is the case in Northern states. Though you will find Rigid pavements there, flexible pavements far outweigh them.

In other words, it is the project conditions and constraints that determine the best engineering solution between Rigid pavement, Flexible pavement, and Composite pavement. There is no one solution for every condition because Civil engineering aims to balance safety, durability and economy. So if you apply Rigid pavement in a context where flexible pavements will be better, you have just wasted money, and otherwise.

Civil engineering solutions must satisfy Limit State enineering philosophies.

In Highway design or construction, there are basically 3 elements. The horizontal alignment, the vertical alignment, and the pavement design. In pavement design, the Cbr value, Spt, Dcpt, plasticity and liquidity limits plus other intrinsic design factors dictate the pavement thickness and other outputs. the proposed traffic usage in MsA is also an important factor, in other words, it is not smart to just say because rigid pavements is common in western countries, we should also adopt it en masse in Nigeria, that view is myopic. Conditions are different, and that is what determines the design.

The construction is another matter entirely.