₦airaland Forum

Tinubu is likely to pick Yakubu Dogara if he wants a nothern Christian.

He was a great man. His book on the war was quite captivating. RIP sir.

Damage control after PDP primaries. Why didn't they debunk it earlier. They waited for PDP to elect Atiku.

That was how Goliath boasted until he was disgraced by David.

Was he not aware ab initio of the rules of AfDB? After much criticism of his move he decided to pull out. Better late than never.

“Two things I ask of you, Lord;
do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God." - Proverbs 30:7 - 9

Ok seen

membranus:
The Interview

By Bayo Adeyinka

March 15, 2022

Each time I conduct interviews, I usually end up shaking my head and lamenting about the state of education in Nigeria. Our tertiary institutions are churning out graduates who are mainly unemployable. Earlier today, I interviewed almost 50 candidates and by the end of the whole session, the only conclusion I could arrive at was that we have a BIG problem.

In one particular instance, I was alarmed when I read the CV of a particular female graduate of one of the Universities in the South West. It was full of outlandish errors and so I asked her to spell a few words. She spelt the word 'redeemed' wrongly four times before she got it right the fifth time. On her CV, she described herself as one of the officials of the church fellowship when she was an undergraduate but she wrote the name of the church wrongly. She couldn't spell the word 'corper' despite trying more than five times. Yet, during her national service, she taught pupils at a school. I underlined about 10 grammatical errors on her CV and showed them to her. She couldn't even determine where to use apostrophe s.

A particular candidate couldn't speak a whole sentence without committing serious blunders. Even when I repeated those errors while thinking he would correct himself, he repeated the blunders again. Another candidate found it difficult explaining what he studied in school. Some have not developed themselves in any way since they graduated. I had to spend some time to talk to a lady who had her Ordinary National Diploma fifteen years ago but had not done anything to improve herself since then. When she mentioned the issue of paucity of funds, I pointed at her designer bag and her well braided hair as evidence that fund was not the problem.

I asked a female candidate what her aspirations were if money was not a restraining factor. Her answer left all of us on the interview panel with mouths wide open. "I want to live large and live big", she told us. One of the candidates told us he studied 'BSc Economics'. He made the mistake thrice until I corrected him that he studied Economics and not BSc Economics. A fellow was asked to introduce himself and he started with 'My names are...'. I asked him how many people he's introducing. Even when I tried to correct him, he insisted he was correct so I gave up on him.

On one occasion, I asked a female candidate what her husband does. She replied, 'I'm sorry but he's a driver'. I asked her why she was sorry about the legitimate job that her husband does. I told her that the job of her husband does not define who he is. His job is simply a job. I told her I also drove a cab before. I spent the longest time with her as I wanted her mind to be disinfected of the low self-esteem she seemed to carry. I played the video of Femi Ogedengbe, the Nollywood actor turned security guard in the United States and encouraged her to be proud of her husband. Interestingly, the husband is a graduate and I've asked her to give me her husband's CV. She almost broke down in tears when I told her I'd rather hire her husband than her. She knelt and apologized before she left my office.

A few guys had the labels of their suit on their sleeves- at least three of them that I recall. When I asked why the labels were not removed, they grinned sheepishly. One of them told me that is the current trend. When that same guy sat down, I observed that he wore ankle socks with a significant part of his legs showing bare skin. One candidate was particularly striking for his naivety. He came in shaking and stammered while introducing himself. He could barely string a sentence together. When I tried to make him comfortable by asking him to take a deep breath, he answered by saying, "I don't know why I'm like this today. This is actually my first interview". He just finished his national service and anxiety was written all over him.

I made two major observations during the interview session today:

1. Candidates who engaged in extracurricular activities while in school turned out better. There was a lady who was a member of SIFE- Students In Free Enterprise- while she was on campus and she was one of the bright spots. There was another fellow that represented his University at a competition outside Nigeria. He was also outstanding. Likewise, a lady who was Vice President of her Students Union while she was an undergraduate. She demonstrated so much confidence during the interview.

2. Candidates that went to private universities performed better generally. There must be something the private universities are getting right as their graduates communicated better. They demonstrated a far more superior level of intelligence. I was disappointed by the performance of most graduates of mainstream universities and polytechnics. One could almost guess whether a candidate attended a private university just by listening to them.

If you're preparing for an interview, it's in your best interest to do some research about the company you want to work with if you know the company. Google is your friend. Work on your communication skills. You should be able to talk about yourself very clearly and also describe what you have done before-if you're an experienced hire. Your body language is critical- no fidgeting and no show of anxiety. All of us have butterflies in our stomach when we face strange people on an interview panel but with a smile on your face, no one will ever know. A lady cracked her knuckles throughout the interview today. It's very irritating but also shows she was nervous. Your posture is important. Dont slouch on the chair. Sit straight with your back on the chair and your legs together.

Mind your language while being interviewed. It's better to be brief than to be unnecessarily verbose. By talking too much at times, you demonstrate that you know so little. Pronounce words well. It can take some practice but stand in front of a mirror and rehearse until you get better. Be ready to defend your certificate. Demonstrate that you actually earned your degree. Maintain eye contacts. That shows your level of confidence. Good grooming is key to your success. No matter the current fad, it's safer to be conservative in your dressing. Dark coloured suits are best for interviews. Stay with white or blue shirts for men. You can never go wrong with them. You must have a great sense of colour to want to try very bright colours. It's either it turns out so good or you turn out like a magician's apprentice. Ladies have the latitude to try out more colours but the simpler, the better. Pay attention to your hair and hand bag. Synchronize your colours properly. Avoid loud jewelleries. Look your best as the book is often judged by the cover during interviews. Your appearance is what we see first before we hear what you have to say.

We need to declare a state of emergency in our education sector and even start to teach intending graduates certain life skills. Nigerian graduates will not be able to compete with their African counterparts in a few years at this rate.

SOURCE

Thanks for the feedback. Your observations are in order. It's quite sad. Try to subject them to written exams you will be surprised with the level of decay. When you read the scripts of postgraduate students, you will be moved to tears. Unfortunately they end up having good grades.

A fair list!!! Though I'm beginning to moderate my expectations about his government. Only time will tell.

oilPUSSY:
https://dailypost.ng/2022/03/27/2023-presidency-amaechi-gets-extra-security-amid-rumour-of-buharis-endorsement/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1648361841

It's true. When we heard rumors 3 weeks ago that Abdullahi Adamu was Buhari's consensus candidate it was denied.

Consensus as recommended by the leader of the party is anti-democratic.

When the Chief Slapper is elected into the Senate, she will be the Chief Whip of the Senate. Nonsense!!!!!?!

Betterprospect:
Good day Nairalander. I'm single, 30 years old. I studied agriculture related course at University level, and I presently worked in that field and I earned about 120k monthly.

I feel unfulfilled and I'm lacking interest day after day. The unfulfillment brewed mostly from my bosses egoistic and narcissistic approach to his employee, the insane working hours, and the lack of liberty, and most importantly, I feel I could do better. Now I have a meagre 2 million naira saved up, small? I know. Buy I'd like to pursue my passion in tech albeit from ground zero.

Now my dilemma is:

1. Seeing that I'm old and already past my prime for a career change at 30 yrs old, does a pursue of another career make sense?

2. Knowing that 2 million is small and would not last long. Does is it make sense to just up and leave?

3. I have a small biz I ideal which I feel could give me close to 50k monthly, but thing is, this is Nigeria and I might be wrong.

4. Should I just suck it up and continue for another year or two? Everyone I asked seems to think I should.

P,S. I worked 12 hours a day and its impossible I merge the two together.

You are not old. Take life easy. Patience is still a virtue.

backbencher:
Because until 2014, we had high oil prices above 90 dollars for a continued 2-3 years, meanwhile, Buhari has had oil prices below $80 and sometimes as low as $30 until 4 weeks ago.

If we want a strong currency, we have to diversify our economy and become a strong producer of exportable finished stuff...which is where Buhari has failed.

But Buhari is selling oils at over $120 per litre. What has he done with ones he has sold so far?? He promised to rehabilitate our refineries for 7 years now no solution. Don't defend the indefensible!!!?!!

Tobedated:
i'm planning on studying computer science in unilorin but it seems the public consensus is that computer science taught in nigeria university is outdated so is it worth the money and time to still study it.
I love computer science but i'm mainly doing it for the money and i'm currently learning python so is it worth going to study it in the university to get the certificate or being self-taught is better

A thousand and one people have studied computer science in Nigerian Universities and excelled in their chosen vocation. A lot depends on you and not the institution.

He may not win given how our politics is played but that doesn't make him a very bad candidate as portrayed. I know is he neither the best candidate available. But he is a lesser devil than the front runners in both parties.

We shouldn't get into the trap of voting those who make empty promises that they can never fulfill. In Nigeria, good candidates hardly win elections. Packaging, branding, money politics, media hypes, voting along tribal lines, rigging are the things that win election Nigeria. It will still take sometime, maybe 8 or 16 years from now to get a leader that Nigeria truly needs. Definitely not 2023.

CoolAmbience:
Hahahahahaha....

Which president's vision did he work hard to actualize? They couldn't fix East-West Road; the International Airport Yar'dua started in Bayelsa; Abuja-Kaduna rail; Boko Haram was ravaging the NE and Abuja; Akanu Ibiam International Airport runway was a deathtrap; scam Cassava Bread; scam Abuja CCTV project etc.

Anyim stabilized the Senate indeed...and could get reelected again. What a stabilizer!

The truth is this my brother, Anyim stands no chance. He can't win even a single state. Why? He has nothing to show for all his stewardships. He can't even win his party's ticket. He can't even come fifth in any party primary...I mean any political party at all.

He became senate president at a time there was so much crises in the senate and 3 senate presidents had been changed. He brought stability to the senate. It was not an executive position.

As SGF he worked very hard to actualise the visions of the president. The SGF is not expected to have a vision different from that of his boss. During his time as SGF there wasn't much controversies like that of others that held same position.

We are not looking for a perfect man but someone who can bring some form of stability, peace and progress to the country. Progress cannot be achieved in a crises ridden environment.

CoolAmbience:
You guys are just crass gullible!

With all the positions Anyim has occupied in the past, can you name five key national or regional initiatives that he drove / drives and how those programs have impacted the masses?

What is GCON? Even the clueless Nemadi Sambo has it. To what extent has he solved the problems that you claim he understands? What has he exceptionally done for Ebonyi?

What has being a lawyer, or former federal legislator, or SGF got to do with being President? I was hoping that you would outline key initiatives / projects attracted or executed by Anyim, alongside number of beneficiaries.

As for Tinubu, that one is just wasting his time, in a positive way though... because people need to cash out somehow. My own is, let all of them come out: Anyim, Kalu, Obi, Atiku, Saraki, Tinubu etc, we need some of the money returned somehow.

Buhari is the benchmark for the Nigerian presidency. Nothing less. The rails are back. Lagos-Ibadan, Warri-Itakpe are up and running. Port Harcourt-Maidugiri and Ibadan-Kano are in the works.

Two massive bridges: 2nd Niger and Bonny-Bodo are racing to completion. Agricultural revolution with over 6MMT of local rice production per anumm and at least 50 fertilizer blending plants.

We can't go for any less. Solid, verifiable track records are what we want. Not mere paper certifications, worthless past portfolios and meaningless awards.

Obinoscopy:
Just state your answer. Don't show the working please.

Y -6=3!
but 3!=3x2x1=6

Y -6=6

Y=6 +6
Y = 12

ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS

It will be suicidal for APC to remove fuel subsidy before general elections. The government is likely to do it immediately after the 2023 elections before handing over to whoever wins the election.

The same Bakare that villified Tinubu 2 or 3 years ago. How unstable he has become. Just as he said "The Best if men are still men".

Too many cooks spoil a soup. My concern is the ability of these heavy weights to diverse political parties to work harmoniously without rancour and clash of interests.

Subtle campaign. Though I prefer him to other candidates in his party.

Professional politicians. They have no occupation but politics. They make so much and leave the rest of us impoverished no matter how hard we work.

Lukgaf:
Without doubts, you'd agree with me that many students preparing for STEM subjects at O'level and undergrad really found it challenging. One of the reasons is the way mathematics some of this topics are being taught. Another challenge is the use of complex terms to explain the concept. I still recall my experiences at High School

I think I agree with this FUTA Professor, I think all science subjects we ran away from should be taught and explained in our mother's tongue.

What do you think guys?



https://tribuneonlineng.com/futa-don-recommends-use-of-nigerian-languages-in-teaching-of-mathematics/

This will create unnecessary confusion. What happens to a child who is being taught mathematics in Yoruba and has to relocate to Akwa Ibom where mathematics is taught in Efik?

richmote:
Please also analyse the cost of living in both countries and quality of living based on cost.
I don’t know if I make sense

Nigerians are suffering and managing

I don’t know why you people will compare USA and Nigeria

Both cost of living and quality of life is higher in USA than in Nigeria. Things are very expensive over there. However, they earn a living wage quite higher than what we earn in Nigeria.

IPIGSRSHALLOW:
Most major cities the US have major homelessness wahala. Homelessness, begging for money and major crimes makes Nigeria looks like heaven.

A Nigerian was just killed 4 days ago for absolutely nothing. I feel at peace whenever I'm in Nigeria.

While America is far ahead of Nigeria, many Nigerians think its El dorado.I'm not sure there are more homeless people in America than Nigeria as it has not been validated by research. Accommodation is very expensive over there. I was shocked to see beggars in America when I visited. I remember giving a beggar some money in USA.

dichvu:
Please i need advise

I have been dating my girlfriend for some years now. She became an orphan recently, so I decided to open a shop for her so she can start earning something for her not to turn herself into something else since no family support.

Though she also invested all her savings into the business and I supported her also with the little i can. I thank God her business has been doing well and developing gradually.

But her behaviour has really changed seriously towards me. She hardly dail my number to check on me, she also goes out with any guy or men, she also password her phone, i cant even touch her phone, she will flare up. She will say it's nothing that she is just catching fun. I do overlook all this just to make peace rain.

Something happened yesterday that make me feel so bad. I told her I'm coming to visit her in her shop that if any food seller pass her shop, she should help me order food. So when I reached her side she told me to bring money that she can't use her money to buy food for me. I felt somehow inside with her response. I had to give her the money to get it because hunger dey wire me seriously.

So after I'm done eating, I was gisting with her but she is not responding, she was pressing phone, then a call entered and he told the man she is in her shop, that the man should stay at the junction that she is coming to meet him, she stood up and told me to be looking after her shop till she comes back. I was really dumbfounded and shocked, I coundn't utter any word as i don't want to talk or do anything silly as people are plenty around her shop. She left me there, I stood up also and left the shop. I really felt bad and sad. This is a person i have really tried my best for since she lost her parents. I'm planning to send her packing from the shop first, but my bro said i shouldnt try it that it's childish for me. He said I should chill for now. please I need your advice on how to go about this.

NOTE; I rent the shop for my MUM just to use it as her second shop to store her goods. Though the shop is too big, so i told her to let us split it into two, my gf can use the other half.

Sorry ooooooo. In the first place why invest in a woman that you are not yet married to? That's a big mistake. Forget about her and all the investment and count it as part of your losses and move on. A broken relationship is always better than a broken marriage.

Phillipsburg:
It's a long read because I had to pour out my mind wholeheartedly. Please endeavor to read through.



I so much hate my dad right now. And even my mom for supporting him. I can always remember how unfortunate it is for me to find myself in this family in the first place. Infact, not having a family is better than this living hell I found myself because these people are bent on ruining my future with their own life.

My father is the person who will be fighting with my mom in a brutally physical manner where they'd be running after themselves in the street after almost stripping themselves naked. He's the one who doesn't know how to reprimand his children except by using curses. He's the one who would go out and come back drunk and turn everywhere upside down. All these I've endured for almost every part of my life and my mom has refused to leave him saying because she has kids for him.
I know some of you people will start saying all manner of things about how you would have cherished your parents if you had one blah blah blah but this is hell. It's choking me I feel like dying.

I just met a girl who happened to be my girlfriend and we've been together for some time now and my father is help bent on separating us because he doesn't want me to marry close to him so that there wouldn't be clashes between him and the mother of the girl because he feels the woman is a violent person.
As they've turned the house into a place of sorrow, i couldn't think of spending even a minute inside the house. I usually spend the evening with this girl at her place and return when everyone at home must have slept. The next thing was for him to start cursing at the girl and even threatening to go to her house and throw tantrums.
I just want to get out of all these because it's choking me. I can't breathe. I feel like I'm losing my mind because of everything. The emotional torture I feel whenever they start fighting. How angry I feel when he starts cursing everyone and shouting at us in front of the house and disgracing everyone of us throughout the whole neighborhood. The way he go about gossiping and talking bad about his own children and wife to outsiders and the whole neighborhood. I'm sick of everything.

I just wish I was born without a family because I'm even afraid of imbibing his behaviors and acting like him when I later settle down. I will never forgive him for making me become who I don't want to be.

Before talking about marriage you need to rent an apartment outside that environment. Also, based on your father's experience despite his shortcomings he may have seen some traits in your fiance & her mother which may not be good for your marriage.

Cognitivereason:
If u join Any paramilitary as a graduate.. The least pay for a start is 100k..
It waec holders DAT start from constable earning 40k

100k is nothing in today's Nigeria if you have wife and children with responsibilities such as house rent. School fees. extended family. etc. It's only about 200 dollars.

brandsoncharlie:
For junior staffs due to the minimal pay at a start your salary and position will limit certain earnings from your employer but as time goes by you will have a great access to these opportunities I mentioned.
When a family member of mine started working in nnpc he was virtually limited to access to even housing, thrift benefits due to his years of service but as he scaled to the senior staff ranks there were lots of full benefits.

It's not exactly what you think. I'm not a junior staff. Apart from NNPC some parastatals most other FG staff do not depend on their salaries. The salaries are peanuts compared to what some good private firms pay. And it is only a very small fraction rise to positions like Permanent secretaries, directors. Vice Chancellors etc.

brandsoncharlie:
I agree with you on that, but with FG jobs there are so many advantages when compared to others.
Access to huge loans especially senior staffs, few private firms only with high paying jobs has access when compared to FG jobs.
Access to free health care and your family depending on the FG jobs. you just need your ID you can have access to it for free in some FG JOB or almost free in some.
There are bonuses, like housing bonuses, thrift, for staffs in each year.
Institutions like pengassan and others for the petroleum jobs has a benefit for you that's if you are a member and make staff contributions, they serve as mouth piece to their staffs in terms of increment in salaries and other allowances.
These things you can't get it for free if you're not doing FG job.

There's no direct answer to the post. It all depends on the person involved, his long term career goals, his age and several other factors. If he is less than 30 he still has time to explore opportunities in the private sector but if he's above 35 The thing with FG job is that if you are in it's difficult to leave I'll advise him to take the FG job if he physically fit to do paramilitary work. I just wanted to disabuse some myths about FG jobs. For instance, you talked about free medical services. Not totally true. Yes FG workers who are registered with NHIS get some treatment free but NHIS does not cover major ailments and drugs. The pharmacy rarely have some of the drugs
. Also, for those in major cities like Lagos the housing allowance is too small compared to the actual cost of rent in the big cities like Lagos. In fact with IPPIS there's nothing like housing allowance as everything has been consolidated. Also. you are to contribute a percentage to National Housing Fund(NHF).