top10nigeria: The good thing about nairaland is you’ll never know me so I can write everything and not worry about my identity.
I work offshore and my Wife works offshore(Sub-sea Engineer). I work 2weeks tour while she works 4weeks tour.
The surest way of working offshore is to graduate first Class Engineering/Geo Sciences. My Wife had a first Class Chemical Engineering and Mine is Electronics. Production Oil companies won’t even invite you for Aptitude test if you do not have a 2-1 that is 4.0 and above. And now we have a lot of Nigerians with masters from UK, so its becoming harder for them to employ people with first degree. Now I am assuming you don’t have connections and your Parents are as broke as mine were when they were sending me to school. So that is one path to working offshore and I will call these people employed directly by the Oil companies as Level 1.
Another path is to be a Technical Non-Pro, eg. Cook, Secretary, medical, laundry, welder, painter, deck hands, etc… To make it easier, I will label this Level 2. Most of these people are on contract so they don’t get same level of compensation.
Eg. The average cook/laundry staff earns 840,000/yr
Average Technical Support eg. Pipe fitter/secretary/Welder etc will earn 4-8million a year
But the level 1 guys earn more.
Eg. Personally I earned a total remuneration of 32million last year and my wife Earned 23million last year. (I work for the majors while my Wife works for a Drilling Company – the majors(Exxonmobil / Total/ Shell / Chevron / Agip) always pay more than the drilling (Schlumberger / Transocean / Halliburton)
So the first thing I want those who want to work offshore to do is decide what type of job they want to do offshore. Do you want to be Level 1 or Level 2?
Personally, I have 15yrs of experience and I work in a production company so I am high paying. I don’t think there is anybody within my team including the 2year olds who earns a TR of less than 20million.
So I will encourage you guys to go back to your books and read them so hard.
For me the best part of working offshore is the 2weeks off. I will not transfer to the office for a 200% increase in wages and maybe its because I started working offshore when I was 18. Plus I work on measurement and control systems, so I don’t do any physical work like my folks in mechanical who have to work on pumps, so I am on the best job in the world right now. Also, the Time off allows me to spend time on my other endeavors and For me that is the best part of working offshore. Note: My Wife hates it, but because I am away half of the time, she is managing the job until she can go back to school for her masters.
I hope this adds a different perspective to the conversation.

EMEKA1MILLION: Working offshore is more of an art which is developed through experience rather than knowledge..
When both experience and knowledge are merged in the best manner, you can definitely master the techniques...

ifyalways: Nothing wrong with weed as long as you know and are able to handle its effect on your body and soul without taking leave of your senses.

Nri priest,so iwu onye oku?

Slonge2: reppin here..
a proud weed lover... leave of the elders.. leave of the wise... leave of the gods....king of all leaves... all hail cannabis sativa as the botanist calls it... was made in africa for africa by the gods of africa...solves all spiritual, physical, metaphysical, psychological, physiological, medical problems...weed the solution of the gods to mans problems.... i love weed

Danrizzle: Reminds me of the movie *hell boy*.

trop bon quoi

stanogb: [size=13pt]WOW!!! So LIBERIA is VISA Free...

...Dusts traveling bag...[/size]

fabiano09: This greenlight stuff is overrated,personally i dont like it when girls show me the greenlight. There was this one time i was goin to ikotun from ikeja,i didnt know my way around,so i was askn questions,i asked dis guy dt was walking with a girl,luckily we were goin to same direction. The girl was fine as hell sha,but i wasnt in the mood cuz i was stressed out from the chaotic scenes i saw in ghetto lagos,she sat near me,she had her ear phone on,and was singing the whole time,i didnt like the songs sha,mostly romantic stuffs,she sang John legend's all of me,usher,chris brown,o boy i was tired,weneva i looked at the rearview mirror she will looking at me,mehn i felt shy,i go just troway my face pretend say i no see her,she was almost sad,her voice was sad,i was tinking maybe she just went thru a breakup or sometin. I got to my destination,came down jejely n took off,i no fit for wahala

Olutola88: This piece is for those undergraduates that will like to seek for jobs after school but do not have solid connection. A 1st class or 2.1 will help you AVOID or ALLEVIATE the labour market frustration. Nevertheless, the ones that have influential parents, uncles and aunts can also take a cue from it because it is easier to help someone with a good result.

I am a recent graduate from a Nigerian Federal University. I finished with a strong 2.1 but I wish I made a 1st class. I would have made that First class if I were very hard working. I know many people are like me, they would have had better grades if they were more serious. What I'm saying in essence is that most of us are powerful beyond measures but we do not realize how powerful we could be.

Finishing with a 2.1 is just about having 3.5 out of total 5.0 CGPA. One can achieve this by mixing Bs with Cs in your courses. I had many friends that didn't have solid academic background, weren't very quick at learning but struggled to finish with 3.5, 3.6 after a lot of hard work. Not to talk of many of you that are sharp, it's just that you are too lazy. I was also a lazy brat but that's bygone because I've learnt my lessons.

As a result of the very high rate of unemployment in Nigeria, employers use all possible strategies to pre screen as many as possible applicants and the most popular is the class of degree.

9 out of every 10 Graduate Trainee adverts ask for a minimum of 2.1. The other thing they use in pre screening is age and many also require to have a minimum of 5 credits including maths and english @ one sitting for O'level.


Now let's analyze it: By the time KPMG, Ernst & Young, PWC, Akintola Deloitte, Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Total, Schlumberger, Diamond Bank, GTB, Zenith, First Bank, Nigerian Stock Exchange, P&G, Unilever, Honey well, Nestle, Cadbury, Guiness, Nigerian Breweries, Consolidated Breweries, PZ Cussons, etc all advertise graduate trainee positions and they all ask for a minimum of 2.1. How do you think someone that finished with a 2.2 will feel?

I'm currently observing NYSC and I've been applying for jobs. Many of my fellow corps members always ask me to share latest job openings with them but many of them have not been able to apply for any because they finished with below 2.1. I hope we all have an idea how frustrating this could be, for you not to have the privilege to prove yourself even when you might be better and more employable than some of us that finished with 2.1 and 1st class.

As I'm writing this piece, I have two friends that just got job offers from a reputable multinational company in Nigeria. Guess what? They are both still serving and will resume immediately after NYSC in October. You know what? One of them finished with a 1st class and the other with a strong 2.1.

I know some of you will ask about me, I'm also at the last stage of interview and I have reached some recruitment stages in other good companies. All I need is Almighty God's favour and your prayers can also help land a job offer in some days time *lol*.

Many of us have been misled. We've been made to believe that even if you finish with good grades, you still won't get a good job in Nigeria if you don't have connection. For those that will listen, I can confidently tell you that we still have Firms that act with INTEGRITY in Nigeria, Organizations that will hire you based on your abilities, Companies that will not compromise standards, Employers that will give you an offer without knowing even a gate man. Many Multinationals in Nigeria fall in that category. At least, I know of Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG) and Procter & Gamble(P&G). We have many others but those are the two I've had comprehensive experience with.

Finishing with a 2.1 is very easy only if one can put in the required effort and above all pray to God. For the atheists, just keep working hard, working smart and always have a destination. I know you will believe in God someday*lmao*

In Conclusion, one of the commonest things in life is seeing talented people that are unsuccessful. Many of us are gifted but we are just too lazy to make the best use of our potential. If Talent sleeps, Hard work will outshine Talent.

Onegai: Craziest story from a danfo coming up now!

On a sunday, decided to go pick up my hard-drive from my brother (he's on the island, I was then in S/lere). I got to Shitta and instead of taking a cab, decided to do alaroro and enter bus to the island.
At CMS, I boarded a bus going to Lekki. The woman beside me was smacking her lips on a sachet of pure water and was dressed like a "busstop geh" (not ashi, but like someone who hangs out with area boys). As soon as the bus was full and the conductor started taking fares, she calmly and loudly began to ask each person to pay her fare (with no shame and no begging). She argued with the conductor until out of "let this noise end", another customer paid. Me, I jejely brought out my phone to keep busy (and not make eye contact).

She made a point of helping me announce my b/stop (I didn't ask her o!). I dropped off at the stop and she got off too. Me, I walked quickly into the estate. Like 20 mins later, I was home and decided to get some chicken from the fridge. Our flats have windows facing out the kitchen in front (Lord knows why 1004 is designed with no privacy in mind). Suddenly someone started ringing and banging our neighbour's door, it was made. I tried to look out and that was when THAT SAME LADY FROM THE BUS spotted me! Immediately she came to our door and started doing the same. I told my bro (he got angry) and he answered the door. Same brazen, cocky manner from this lady: she said she knew me, we were friends, she had business with me, they should tell me to come outside to meet her! She refused to leave till we called security and even then she sat by the crescent gate, waiting for me to come out. My brother ended up driving me home.

Trust my mama to have sharp Nigerian mama tongue: "you'll be carrying natural hair up and down, wearing ankara with oily face, she thought you were poor and at her level!"

MsNas: 11. The dirty mechanic that will wear his oily, grease-stained and filthy workshop clothes. Enters the bus and sits beside you like that. God help you if you're putting on white clothing, you will nearly enter the body of the next person beside you in a bid to avoid contact with them. The most annoying part is that they will feign ignorance and sit as comfortable as ever.

12. The one that will buy boiled eggs, gala, Lacasera, pure water and so on eat all through the journey. They will chew like locomotive engines when they eat their bounty and if you're lucky they might even throw grenades (Farts)

13. The fat woman that is supposed to pay for two seats but will pay for one and you will be squeezed like tuna in a can.

14. The newspaper borrower

Oh, I could go on and on!! Lagos is in a class of its own mehn. I don miss

softsparkyy:

Exactly, nobody knows what you are going through, even when you tell them they still won't understand but thank God my dad was there for me in my own case.
I wonder who told the doctors/therapists that it's only boyfriends issues that can make one depressed.

The Hate is between Igbos and Yorubas, to be honest.

Same thing should be asked of the Igbos . . . .why do they hate Yorubas so much?

This continues to be a mystery to me. I came on NL looking to learn about a NIGERIAN culture, but was disappointing by the numerous hate-filled posts made by Igbos about the Yorubas. It makes no sense at all that even tho the Yorubas are very lenient and peaceful people, they acculturate easily and allow millions of Igbos in their land without violence (unless forced to), yet the Igbos still despise Yorubas.

Numerous threads discussing the unimportant issues lsuch as "Why do Yorubas wear Scarf" or "Why are the Yorubas dark-skinned" continues to litter the Racism adn Tribalism section. Igbos cannot continue to make "Igbo" topics threads  filled with hateful replies in context of the Yorubas  and expects the Yorubas to not reply. It's simply not done. There has never been a thread where the topics circulates around Igbos where Yorubas were not discussed.

Why so much hate towards the Yorubas? Anytime this section calms down. . . . another Igbo tries to "accentuate" the hate that the "Yorubas have for Igbos" by creating anti-Yoruba threads. . . . yet, he/she (with multiple IDs) expects the Yorubas not to defend themselves. Simply not done.



Please what can the Yorubas do to stop this hate? We're peace-loving people that tries so often to focus on our goals and success. This generation of Yorubas want to move forward, but the Igbos (because of their lost in the Nigerian-Civil war) continues to perpetuate their resentments towards the Yorubas.

Let's live and thrive.

JuanDeDios: Well, my own wondering - why did God create something, only to realise his error and demand a surgery immediately the child is born to correct things?

RayMcBlue:

I agree that energy is a constant, and undergo all sorts of transformations, but imbibing it in your delusions of afterlife is a no-no. "Consciousness" is not a form of energy. It's a byproduct of the human psyche as a result of chemical reactions. Don't complicate the issue.

RayMcBlue:

The "miracle of life" is no miracle -- it is a big chemical reaction. When those reactions stop, the cell is dead.

The human body is nothing but a set of chemical reactions. The chemical reactions powering a human life are no different from the reactions powering the life of a bacterium, a mosquito, a mouse, a dog or a chimp. When a human being dies, the chemical reactions stop. Finis.

There is no "energy" or "soul" mixed in with the chemicals, just like there is no soul in a bacterium, a mosquito, a mouse, a dog or a chimp. Why would there be an afterlife for the chemicals that make up a human body?

The whole notion of your energy transforming when you die is completely imaginary. The concept of a "soul" has been invented by religion because many people have trouble facing their own mortality. It makes people feel better, but the concept is a complete fabrication. Don't mix science with delusions, please, both have absolutely nothing in common.

onila:
Lake Nyasa , Mozambique.

MANGAM: Day 4: @ day four stil no rain but the morning and nite dews ve done the needed miracle. Our seeds ve sprouted out. Here are the pics

Ihuomadinihu:
Lol,who is this one? Can you make a reasonable contribution to this thread without being rude?

Ihuomadinihu:
Tell them! I am Igbo,i don't understand what they speak in Nsukka and Ebonyi state. Daft confused people!

ibdeals1: really ...keep it coming,beautiful bride by the way

*update..ftc.

Yungwizzzy: A guy who smoke weed

ProphetUdeme: the people of the world might not be facing this challenges.. The devil doesnt need them cos he already has them.. It is we the believers that he tackles.. The reason we fall into lust grip is cos of laziness.. The more we pray daily the more we fellowship daily and worship Him.. Quiet time is vital and neccessary, why because it is at that moment that we pour out our whole weaknesses to Him, it is trhu it that we go to the corss and the throne of grace to obtain mercy and receive grace to help in our weaknesses(hebrew 4 vs16) and also thru it that the Lord Speaks to us and delivers us and His Spirit will win the battle for us to cast down this imaginations that exalt itself against God (2 corinth 19 vs 4#6). Be strong and God bless u