₦airaland Forum

Abraham Lincoln: “My son starts school today. It is all going to be strange and new to him for a while and I wish you would treat him gently. It is an adventure that might take him across continents. All adventures that probably include wars, tragedy and sorrow. To live this life will require faith, love and courage.

So dear Teacher, will you please take him by his hand and teach him things he will have to know, teaching him - but gently, if you can. Teach him that for every enemy, there is a friend. He will have to know that all men are not just, that all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero, that for every crooked politician, there is a dedicated leader.

Teach him if you can that 10 cents earned is of far more value than a dollar found. In school, teacher, it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat. Teach him to learn how to gracefully lose, and enjoy winning when he does win.

Teach him to be gentle with people, tough with tough people. Steer him away from envy if you can and teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Teach him if you can - how to laugh when he is sad, teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him there can be glory in failure and despair in success. Teach him to scoff at cynics.

Teach him if you can the wonders of books, but also give time to ponder the extreme mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and flowers on a green hill. Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if every one tell him they are wrong.

Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone else is doing it. Teach him to listen to every one, but teach him also to filters all that he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through.

Teach him to sell his talents and brains to the highest bidder but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul. Let him have the courage to be impatient, let him have the patient to be brave. Teach him to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will always have sublime faith in mankind, in God.

This is the order, teacher but see what best you can do. He is such a nice little boy and he is my son.

ducramsey99: [color=#006600][/color]The way andriod phones are producing all kinds of andriods to the market this days........i want to use this opportunity to ask which andriod phone is toping the chat in Nigeria market today.

aburo7: [img]http://img1.nairaland.com/attachments/1120579_ngoooo_JPG383766ccf7350c9c3c6e381b183d7984[/img]

[img]http://img1.nairaland.com/attachments/1120580_nngo_JPGf943da5a6ad680125f1103b37765386b[/img]

On Wednesday May 22nd 2013,Forbes released its annual list of 100 most Powerful Women in the world and Nigeria's Minister of Finance and coordinating Minister of the Economy,Dr Okonjo Iweala has made the list again.She is ranked 83rd,moving from 81st position to 83rd.
According to Forbes,"Our annual snapshot of the 100 women with the most impact are top politicians and CEOs, activist billionaires and celebrities who matter. In roughly equal measure you’ll find next gen entrepreneurs and media mavens, technologists and leaders in philanthropy — all ranked by dollars, media momentum and impact ".
German Chancellor,Angela Merkel tops the list while Michelle Obama occupies the 4th position.


http://www.forbes.com/profile/ngozi-okonjo-iweala/
http://www.forbes.com/power-women/#page:9_sort:0_direction:asc_search:
http://www.toniaodili.com/2013/05/dr-ngozi-okonjo-iweala-drops-to-83rd.html?m=0

Abiyamọ: BLESSING LIMAN, Nigeria's First Female Military Pilot

In June 2010, Shamsudeen Usman, then the Nigerian Minister for National Planning dropped a bombshell during a presentation: Northern Nigeria has the highest level of illiteracy on earth. Although I wouldn't know how the World Bank came about its figures which the minister quoted, I will be deceiving myself to say that all is well with education in the north. That explains why it calls for celebration when a young lady from the same northern region becomes the first female combatant pilot not only in Nigeria, but in the entire West African subregion. I present to you the amazing story of Nigeria's winged eagle, BLESSING LIMAN.

MORE PICTURES HERE>>>::: http://.com/blessing-liman-nigerias-first-female-military-pilot/


Intelligent, witty and yeah, beautiful, Blessing Liman is the first female military pilot of the Nigerian Air Force. In other words, while some Banana Island girls will be shakaraing the entire neighborhood with their Infiniti FX 37, Blessing plays with jet fighters and bombers. Can you beat that? Try again.

BIRTH, EARLY DAYS & SCHOOLING

Born 29 years ago (13th March, 1984), Blessing Liman hails from Kaduna State (kai! Those KD gals! Lol!) and is an indigene of Zangon Kataf Local Government Area. She later attended the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Kaduna State. She was of the SP-24A set of pilots and they were referred to as the Knights of the Air. Cool nickname, I'd say!

BECOMING NAF'S FIRST FEMALE COMBATANT PILOT

She was commissioned as a Combat Flying Officer alongside 126 others who finished the Direct Short Service Course 2010/2011 Cadets of the 325 Ground Training Group at the Nigerian Air Force Base, Kaduna. Present at the winging ceremony (badge decoration) was the then Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Mohammad Dikko Umar who described her training as a 'very laudable achievement'. I very much agree with the former CAS.

Before her winging on Friday, 27th of April, 2012, she and other pilot officers (she was the only female) went for 12 months intensive flight training in various nations of the world -United States, Greece, Belarus, United Kingdom, Pakistan and Egypt. The Federal Government spent billions of naira on the training as $650,000 was spent on each trainee. The team came up with 14, well-trained fighter jet pilots. She enlisted into the Nigerian Air Force in July 2011 and was commissioned on the 9th of December, 2011. After her commissioning, she was nominated for the 2012 THISDAY Award for Excellence.

HER WORDS
She was quite excited and proud to have made history and said: "It is very uplifting and I feel very proud of myself though it has been very challenging. Coming from the civil war and the civil mentality, the Air Force has done a great job because it has changed our orientation. I believe that all females have equal opportunity to dignify their rights in whatever adventure they choose they can do."

“I am going to work, with prayers, dedication and hard work, I know I will succeed.”

'As a first female pilot I would want to make a mark that would encourage other females to join the military because I believe that all females have equal opportunity to exercise their rights in whatever they choose to do, I believe that all female Nigerians who choose to become pilots can do it since I have done it.'

Go, Girl!

Abdullateef129: Can tecno phone company get symbian phone for consumers in NigerIan

bayooooooo: By ABEL DANIEL

The OMBATSE traditional prayer group of Eggon people of Nasarawa state has been described by other ethnic groups in the state as a militia group which is being linked with the crisis that has bedeviled the state in recent times. In this interview with Zachary Zamani Allumaga, our correspondent in Lafia, ABEL DANIEL seeks to unravel the secret behind the OMBATSE group and their activities.

The ombatse group has been linked by many to a militia group in Nasarawa state, how would you react to that?
When you find such violence involving Eggon people in the state particularly the southern senatorial zone of Nasarawa state, it means their population is very much. I want you to understand that violence is one of those things that is not acceptable to azhili.But putting azhili aside, all Eggon indigenes are not members of ombatse group .

As it is normal to find Christians and muslims in any society in Nigeria, the same applies to Eggon people in Nasarawa state who might be members of azhili. I don’t think if a Christian or a muslim is caught in any crime, then such Christian or muslim was sent or represents the church or the mosque? The same thing is what is happening. According to the Police, they have arrested over 19 suspects in connection with the recent Agharagu feud. Let them carefully carry out their investigation and tell us if any Eggon person who is involved will claim he is from ombatse or whether ombatse sent them to go and fight.

The reason why there is serious animosity against the ombatse group is simply because they are aware that we went to azhili and prayed for the political landscape of Nasarawa state to change for good, and indeed it changed. Our prayer is working. As 2015 is approaching, we are aware that some people are planning to ensure the Eggon nation is dislodged from the political landscape of the state, so they call us all kinds of names so that they can hang us. But I can assure you, we are prepared to pray to azhili with all legitimacy. Sooner or later, everything will come out clear.

What happened at Nasarawa Eggon leading to road blockage was also connected to the azhili as an attempt to cause crisis that would cause bloodshed…?

It was the German war General Joseph Govle of the German Nazi who said and I quote ”if you tell a lie and wants people to believe it as truth, all you will do is tell it several times”. These people who do not want us in the state have said so many things against us, that we are the ones fueling the entire crisis in Nasarawa state. Infact, right now, it is difficult for anyone to believe that we are not responsible for any of such things. What we keep telling people is that it is not possible for ombatse to engage in all that.

I think it is in this mistaken belief that the security agents heard and without proper investigation, just came and invaded the azhili shrine for the purposes of arresting one person according to them. Over forty security agents just invaded the shrine on that fateful day and shot sporadically for hours. Unfortunately for them, the god of azhili was there and no member of ombatse was hurt. It was the security agents themselves that secured the injuries and fled .

If we are a problem group or militia group as they tag us, those security agents who invaded our shrine would not have survived. But none of them was hurt or beaten by us. I assure you that we are a peaceful group. The security agents while trying to run away when they discovered they could not achieve their aims, left one of their operation vehicles and we did nothing to their van after all they did in our shrine. If any one was hurt by us, let them come out and tell the world. So how do you then link us to a militia group?

We on the other hand are giving God thanks for making it very safe for them to leave the shrine unhurt because it would have been difficult to explain to anybody. If it was in us to do harm as they accuse us, look at the distance from Alogani village to the express way, it is about eight km, and from Alogani village to the bottom of the mountain where the shrine is located is another two km. You can see how far they went into the interior. It would have been easy for us to ambush them if we are really a militia group.

The crowd you saw that day blocking the road at Nasarawa Eggon did not use even a single tyre or wood or any metal to block the road. The members just came out and stood on the road, and that was enough to block the road for four hours demanding the governor who is the chief security officer of the state to explain to us why our shrine should be invaded by armed security operatives.

What happened that day at the azhili shrine when the security operatives invaded us was reminiscent of what terrorists would do by using a suicide bomber to bomb a church. I can’t still imagine how armed security agents numbering forty invaded a shrine, shooting sporadically to kill. It brings doubt to our minds whether or not the security agents are the Boko Haram we hear about. And when they got to the shrine, what did they see to show that we are a militia group? When they got there, they ordered all of us to kneel down and we all obeyed as law abiding people. They even went ahead to use our microphones to make announcement. What did they see that makes us look like we are militia?


But why did you choose to return to the shrine after a very long time, don’t you think that might be the reason behind people linking your group to all crises in the state?

Well, something has to start at any time and now is the material time, and now is the time. Let me take you a little back to history. The invasion of the Europeans, Christianity and the Islamic jihad, all these influx changed the status quo. Our forefathers had their own way of worship which is the traditional way of worship before the influx. The coming of these foreigners infiltrated the place and consequently affected their style of worship. My father who is still alive practiced both the traditional religion and Christianity and he is still alive. I also have an uncle who is a muslim and at the same time practices the traditional religion. These have all tested the two divides. I am a confirmed communicant catholic and at the same time too, a traditional worshiper.

Now, what led to us bringing back this traditional worship to our people is because of the complaints we receive every now and then from our people about the evil and vices that have pervaded our society and our state. These things were not there according to what our fathers told us. The society used to be serene and orderly till the advent of the foreigners. Some of those societal ills include murder, theft, rumour mongering, secret society and witchcraft. Some of these evil were not there before now and even where they existed, there are quick ways of punishing people who were involved which was based on the azhili occult who through intercession, mediate between the people and the god of azhili.

One thing you need to know about this cult is that it has no form of moderation unlike what the Christians or muslim will tell you that God will punish anyone who commit atrocity and may be forgiven if they ask God for forgiveness or that God can allow them live until the judgment day, thereby allowing the offender to move about freely. Like other religions ,azhili was a place where people go to pray for prosperity, progress, success, good health and every good thing. Some elders from Eggon land have received instructions by one form of inspiration or the other to resort to azhili who can bring back sanity to the land again.

We also discovered that some politicians from Eggon nation, the likes of Solomon Ewuga, now a serving Senator, who aspired to be governor of the state, was rigged out by Alh. Abdullahi Adamu, the first civilian governor during the PDP governorship primary election. As I am talking to you now the result of that primary election has not been declared apart from simply saying Abdullahi Adamu won it. Nobody has told anybody what margin he won with. As if that was the end, when his government got to power, he conspired with other tribes in the state and brought up a policy he called the DEPLOYMENT POLICY.


In other words, according him, all Eggons should leave wherever they are settled in the state to Nasarawa Eggon. A decision that was challenged and we went as far to the Supreme Court and the judgment was delivered April this year in our favour, declaring such directive as illegal. It was an infringement on the fundamental right of the Eggon people. They all know that the Eggons were on ground before whoever arrived in Nasarawa state did. And now, you are the one telling us today that we should go to Nasarawa Eggon. That was one big dead slap we have ever received and the consequence was bad. I can assure you that not less than twenty of our people died as a result of resisting that policy and the hardship it created. Yet no one is ready to apologize to anybody.

Again less I forget, in 2007, these same people in their conspiracy still rigged out Solomon Ewuga in the governorship election, this time around in ANPP. That again was not an easy one. Al these put together made us put heads together to resolve to pray to azhili.

But do you think as a retired magistrate that your spiritual prayer group has any constitutional backing?
I don’t seem to understand what you mean by legal backing. As a lawyer, I know that the constitution gives right to assembly. Freedom of assembly you may call it, though the constitution did not specify how long the assembly. Infact we are in the process of registration of members for the purpose of complying with what the constitution says about who to register. We equally have our constitution too.

Don’t you think that this cultural group you are part of could eventually emerge to be another militia group like the MOSSOB, OPC?

The leaders of those groups you mentioned did not in their wildest imaginations plan to use the group for killing; but some people hijacked the group to perpetrate all kinds of evil. But one thing I will also want you to understand is that the leaders of those groups are still very much on ground. The azhili is quite different in formations and purpose. Azhili is purely a prayer group and not for any selfish or ill motive. People are seeing the results of our prayers in the political landscape of the state and are not comfortable with the outcome because the Eggons are taking the rightful place in political leadership.

It is believed that governor Al-makura is romancing with ombatse group, don’t you think so?
Ignorance is a bad disease. I told you from the beginning that the membership of ombatse is only meant for Eggon sons alone. Women are not even allowed. Is governor Al-makur an Eggon indigene and son? The answer is no, so how come they are saying he is romancing with ombatse.

What happened that day at Nasarawa Eggon that led to our blocking the road was because we as law abiding people felt violated and we resolved to block the road, calling on the governor who is the chief security officer of the state to come and explain to us why some armed security agents will come and invade our shrine for just no cause. When the governor eventually came, he insisted he wanted to go and see the shrine but we said no because he is not a member and therefore he is not in the position to visit azhili shrine. That was why the governor was led to the chief’s palace to address the people. That was not the first time the governor would respond to an angered group.

When the Polytechnic students demonstrated the other day, the governor went and addressed them in person. The same was the case when NURTW blocked Makurdi road the other day, the governor was there to address them. Now that Eggon people did it because our right was trampled upon and the governor came to calm us down. It is now interpreted to mean the he is romancing with us. It goes well to tell you how some people are out to frustrate the Eggon nation but they have failed already.

Now that things are the way they are,what is your advice to government?
I don’t want to pretend to hold brief for the government. I strongly believe they know what to do. When the governor came to talk to us when we stopped movement of vehicles at Nasarawa Eggon, we told him what we want.

We are not hiding, we are out, we are not faceless; we are the leaders of ombatse, the azhili traditional prayer group. We have visited the state director of SSS, we are still talking. We shall also meet with police and the commandant of the Army and other security agents to let them know who we are and what we are out for so that people will not go about peddling false story against ombatse group.

Secondly if we place our cards before them and they want us to partner with them to preach and install peace among our people across the length and and breathe of Nasarawa state, we are ready. If we can be allowed to go round to inform and sanitize our people especially some of the places where this provocation is high,we will do so because we the ombatse have nothing to do with blood.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/we-are-not-militias-we-are-a-prayer-group-ombatse-cult/

berem: Yoruba May Determine Who Wins 2015 Presidency

The voting pattern of the Yoruba people of South-West geopolitical zone in the 2015 presidential election may determine who wins and who loses.


In 2011, even though the zone voted the Action Congress of Nigeria in all the elections, they voted more for the Peoples Democratic Party's candidate in the presidential election. That helped in no small way to swing victory for President Goodluck Jonathan.

Many had fingered the ACN leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for that massive vote for Jonathan because of the last-minute discussions he reportedly had with the latter. But that would be saying that the South-West people are sheep that don't have their own mind. Weeks before the 2011 presidential election, even while talks were on between the Congress for Progressive Change and the ACN, many South-West people had made it clear that they would vote for Jonathan for the Presidency, even though they would vote the ACN in all other elections. The appreciable population of other non-Yoruba residents in the South-West also helped to increase the number of votes Jonathan garnered in the zone.

President Jonathan has not stated clearly whether he will contest the 2015 election. But his unspoken words seem to point more to the fact that he will contest than the other way. Even though he completed the remaining term of his former boss, the late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, after he died in office on May 5, 2010, and won an election in 2011, he is constitutionally qualified to run for office in 2015.

Ethnicity and religion play a great role in Nigerian politics, and they will play a role in the 2015 election. The North, especially the North-East and the North-West zones, has never hidden its sadness and anger over the loss of presidential power as a result of the illness and death of Yar'Adua. The North feels that it was cheated out of power. Some even alleged that the cheating was pre-planned by former President Olusegun Obasanjo with his choice of Yar'Adua, who was known to have a health condition. Supporters of power rotation felt that Jonathan should have completed Yar'Adua's term and allowed a Northerner to contest the presidency, so that the North could complete its eight years just like the South. There was some sense of justice in that viewpoint.

But Jonathan and many of his South-South people and some other Nigerians who opposed power rotation felt that given that the South-South or the entire Niger Delta region, the producer of Nigerian oil wealth, had not produced an elected president in Nigeria, even though the North had produced same many times, he should run for office for the sake of justice and fairness. There was also some sense of justice in that point of view. In addition, many wondered if Jonathan were not to contest for the presidency, would the Northerner that would take over from him do only a term and leave office, since Yar'Adua had done about three years of his four-year tenure?

There are those who believe that the rise in violence of the Boko Haram sect after the 2011 elections had direct links with that feeling of loss and cheating that the North had. Even though Boko Haram started as a religious sect, there is no denying that it has had political influence in recent times. Some people have even said that if Jonathan were to drop his political ambition for 2015, Boko Haram would fizzle out.

Before the run-up to the 2011 elections, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) and his Congress for Progressive Change, the major challenger to President Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party then, handled the merger talks with the Action Congress of Nigeria with some presumptuousness. They presumed that Jonathan would not win the election on the first ballot, since the South-South, South-East and some North-Central voters would vote for him, while the North-West (with its perceived high population) and the North-East would vote for Buhari, with the South-West voting for Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of the ACN, thereby making the election go into a second ballot. Even though the South-West vote was split between Jonathan and Ribadu, but with more going to Jonathan, that made it easier for him to win on the first ballot. That seemed to have taught Buhari and the CPC a lesson that working with the Yoruba and ACN was not just necessary but critical, if the PDP would ever be beaten. But it is true that the South-West vote did not come from only the Yoruba, given the high population of other-Southerners in the South-West, especially in Lagos.

And so, rather than wait till 2015 to commence merger talks, the CPC, ACN, ANPP and a part of the All Progressive Grand Allaince began early, which is a great plus. And rather than the hard lines that characterised the 2011 merger talks, the talks for the merger are being treated with more respect for each other as well as without any pre-conditions. Anybody who says that the PDP is not rattled by the merger talks of the All Progressives Congress is economical with the truth. The reason the PDP has ruled for 14 unbroken years is because the opposition parties had displayed disunity, pride and greed. Having a united opposition against the PDP is the first step towards thwarting the fulfilment of the prediction of Chief Vincent Ogbulafor in 2008 that the ruling party would rule Nigeria for 60 years!

For the 2015 elections, however, many scenarios exist. First, Jonathan may decide not to run, which is most unlikely. He may present himself for the primaries and lose to another candidate, given that some governors and former President Olusegun Obasanjo are working against his ambition. Even though this scenario will further show our democracy as exemplary, it is also far-fetched, as no Nigerian President has lost his party's primaries.

So, if Jonathan is running in 2015, the APC will be concerned about the team that can beat him. Buhari, Ribadu and Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau - all former presidential candidates of the merging parties - are possible candidates. Even a PDP member - the incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal - has been mentioned as a possible candidate of the APC. In the South, there are Governors Babatunde Raji Fashola, Adams Oshiomhole, Rochas Okorocha, Tinubu and Senator Chris Ngige.

The combination that will likely attract the highest number of votes from the North and South-West may be that of Buhari-Fashola or Buhari-Tinubu. If Indeed Tambuwal is an option, combining with these two men from the South-West would also attract votes for the party. But there is a snag in that. The key figures from the North are all Muslims and the two key figures from the South-West are also Muslims. In the South-West, religion does not matter in politics. But in other parts of Nigeria, it does. Presenting a Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2015 will not go down well with the North-Central, South-East, and South-South. Even though it worked in 1993 for the Abiola-Kingibe ticket, it will attract deep suspicion now. In 1993, even though there had been religious crises in Nigeria, there had not been anything on the scale of the current Boko Haram carnage. This is a serious point that the PDP will use - albeit surreptitiously - to campaign against the APC.

There is also the possibility of using an Igbo or South-Southerner as presidential or vice-presidential candidate to blunt the influence of Jonathan in those two regions. But the minus is that the North is so much focused on the Presidency now that any arrangement that does not have a Northerner as the presidential candidate in 2015 may not attract deep interest. A North-Central Christian presidential candidate with a Southern Muslim running mate is also an option. But it is no longer a secret that the one-North stance of the North died around 1975 when Gen. Yakubu Gowon was overthrown. The destiny of the North-Central or Middle Belt, as they are better known, and the rest of the North is not inextricably linked together anymore. The bloodletting in Plateau State since 2001 has worsened the situation. A Middle Belt Christian candidate will not sound to the North-East and North-West - which are most times referred to as the "core North" to further underscore that division - as a candidate that has come to assuage the feeling of cheating that the "core North" suffered by the loss of the presidency due to Yar'Adua's death.

The voting pattern of the South-East, South-South and North-Central may not change much if Jonathan contests in 2015. He may not garner as many votes as he did in 2011, depending on his performance and perception between now and 2015. If he is perceived as "improved" in his performance between now and 2015, his chances will be brighter. But if the APC makes a strategic choice of presidential candidate and running mate, the APC will be a major threat. Whatever happens, whoever the Yoruba vote for en masse may have an advantage. And it is obvious that the PDP and APC are aware of this and are consequently courting the Yoruba.

The Yoruba have another advantage. They are the only group in Nigeria that has been happy being in the opposition. Other ethnic groups usually feel like a fish out of water whenever out of power. So they will take their time to decide on whom to support. Gradually, the Yoruba are moving to the centre of Nigerian politics on their own terms. Even if they fail to rule in 2015 because of the unwritten agreement of rotation of power between the North and the South, they will have a strong hand in determining who occupies Aso Rock come 2015.


http://m.naij.com/news/33334.html

dramendra: Education is dead in Nigeria, the post says who's the sexiest in (N

Samelfisha: Tonto seun dike

Up nairaland

sexkillz: [color=#000030]Sexiest in nollywood?

I cannot categorically state who now, because I'm still looking for my needle that fell into the haystack in my backyard. I don't want to state one name now and have to change my mind later.

Make I find my needle first. [/color]

toluxa1: Please how can I be a member of the new nairaland? Please help!

fasa2020: HELLO NAIRALAND !!

Being long i visited this forum. . . Nairaland launched back in 2005 eventually turns to daily routine for over 1million users. Now i believe the China saying "The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is today"

fasa2020: HELLO NAIRALAND !!

Being long i visited this forum. . . Nairaland launched back in 2005 eventually turns to daily routine for over 1million users. Now i believe the China saying "The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is today"

Godvilla: huh
SONY XPERIA S arc is 40K with better specs............

tunde1200: And what make you think Buari was a leader?
Give us evidence pls.