₦airaland Forum

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Can someone please post the market activity for today?

It is refusing to load up on my system.

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When I first realised I was pregnant, I laughed. It just didn’t seem real. I thought straight away about telling you but I didn’t want you to worry. You had enough stress. I was 21 and felt I could carry this burden by myself. You need never know. As you had told me several times, what you don’t know won’t hurt you.

A waiting room at an abortion clinic is as tense as it is silent. The room is full of people but the air is cold. Eye contact is minimal, and when it does occur it is stony and unsympathetic. I sat opposite a girl perhaps my age or slightly younger. I felt a pang of empathy watching her furiously tapping away at Candy Crush. I understood that any escape from this reality was inviting.

Her mother returned from the toilet and sat beside her, whispered a word of encouragement in her ear and put a hand on her leg. In that moment my compassion melted away like butter. I was so envious. My cheeks burned red and I could feel the tears behind my eyes. I thought of you, probably at home and oblivious. I wanted so much to be that girl. It didn’t matter who told me I would be OK because I knew it never would be OK without you. But I stayed stoic, for I thought the only way to get through it was to be detached and above it.

I told myself you had more pressing issues to worry about when, deep down, I knew that you would have been by my side in a heartbeat.

When I had my ultrasound I thought of you and how I’d pictured this moment so differently. I imagined how my first ultrasound should have been, perhaps with you holding my hand in a flurry of nervous excitement or on the other end of the phone awaiting an image with baited breath.

When the nurse accidentally showed me my scan photo, I thought of how exultant you must have felt when you saw your first scan of me.

The nurse hurriedly hid the photograph without so much as an apology, or a glance of acknowledgment of this colossal mistake. In that moment I felt so guilty. I was seven weeks conceived once too – why did I get the chance to be here? Why was I lucky enough to have you? Had I deserved you at all?

In the car, I broke down. I turned to my boyfriend streaming with tears and I told him how scared I was. I told him how much I wanted you and he told me I should call you. But I couldn’t worry you. I was independent and could do this alone. You didn’t need such insignificant worries, worries that were being dealt with.

A few weeks later, I had my termination. It is so different to how it seems on the television; it always looks so quick and easy. I changed into a blue paper gown and disposable slippers and all my belongings were stuffed into a hard plastic trolley case, like I was going on holiday. The backs of my legs were exposed and slapped harshly against the plastic chairs; my cold, clammy skin stuck unforgivingly to its surface. The tables were littered with safe-sex leaflets and glossy gossip magazines. I thought how patronising and quite frankly, unpunctual, these leaflets were, and that you might have made that same observation.

I was sitting opposite a woman around your age, but this time she wore the blue paper gown and had the hand luggage too. She reminded me of you. But there was no comfort in the comparison, for I would never have wanted you to feel the way I was feeling or to go through the turmoil that rattled through my head to my heart to my stomach. We sat in silence without so much as a knowing glance, though a part of me longed for her to cuddle me like a mother and tell me I would be OK, just like you would have.

Finally, when I was called to the anaesthetist, I truly felt regret, and a fear I had never even imagined before the very second I was laid out vulnerable on the surgical table. I was thinking of you, and how I wished I had told you. And I knew in my heart at that moment that you would have wished I’d told you too.

I imagined, irrationally, that I might die and how much I would miss you and Dad, and that you would miss me terribly too. I imagined how heartbroken you would be that I hadn’t thought to tell you. I felt anguish over how you would assume that I hadn’t trusted you enough and how you might wonder where you had gone wrong and punish yourself. I agonised that I would have no chance to explain and to tell you that you are the most wonderful mum in the world.

When I woke up I thought of you and just how lucky I am to have you.

https://dantewest./2016/07/16/a-letter-to-my-mother-who-doesnt-know-about-my-abortion/

Please say you can see the 'Divide and conquer'

Nigeria became a butt of international jokes when she banned importation of 41 items, one of which is tooth pick, considered non essential to warrant allocation of hard earned foreign exchange, FX from the Central Bank Of Nigeria, CBN for its importation.

Following the ban, an International media outfit, The Economist magazine published an article with the blistering headline “Nigerian Currency: Tooth Pick Alert” in parody of Nigeria’s new FX regime, to the chagrin of CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele.

The policy of exempting tooth pick importers from sourcing FX from the CBN is underscored by the fact that the country is basically forested with huge mangrove in the south and Savannah in the north.

As such, it was not only scandalous but preposterous that tooth picks which are basically pointed tiny sticks used for removing meat or food crumbs from human teeth, should be such an FX guzzler when it could be produced very easily, locally and much more cheaply for Nigeria to become self sufficient in it and even export to earn FX.

Until the recent slump in crude oil price and the consequential drop in FX flow into the CBN, resulting in inability of Nigeria to meet demand for FX to drive international trade- humongous amounts of FX had been allegedly applied in ‘importing’ mundane items like tooth picks, candle wax etc.

The truth is that without robust institutional safeguards against abuse and circumvention of rules and processes, unscrupulous businessmen are bound to game the system and this is not peculiar to Nigeria, hence some of the transactions in mundane items like tooth pick are mere smokescreen for the crime of round tripping of funds.

In the advanced economies, commercial laws such as anti trust, anti arbitrage, etc are enacted to protect vulnerable businesses from being hurt by malpractices of a few unscrupulous businessmen and women who cleverly bend, but don’t break the rules and thus escape punishment.

While tooth pick is not an essential part of the menu of an average Nigerian, because it has no gastronomic value, tomatoes are, which is why the scarcity of the commodity is now creating so much hue and cry in the polity not because it is banned, but for other extraneous reasons.

Who could have thought that tomato crop which flourished in the north eastern part of Nigeria would virtually vanish from the markets without extreme weathers of severe drought or over flowing of rivers resulting in floods being the cause?

Today, tomatoes have become so scarce that the price has been spiked by nearly five folds from N4,000 to N19,000 per basket and the initial simple reason is because farmers have been unable to grow the crop because the north eastern part of Nigeria which is the foremost tomatoes growing zone, has been under siege by Boko haram terrorists.

Yes, Boko haram atrocities have indirectly led to drastic reduction in the farming of tomatoes in Nigeria, leaving unpalatable taste in the mouth of most Nigerians, just like Taliban terrorist activities have resulted in a drop in opium production in Afghanistan, resulting in a fewer number of Afghans addicted to the drug.

As a result of further investigations carried out by the federal ministry of agriculture, we now know that terrorism induced disruption of farming activities is not the only culprit for the scarcity of tomato in the market.

A debilitating disease known as ‘tuta absoluta‘ is actually the real cause and terrorism is the secondary cause. According to the minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbe, the pest which entered Nigeria from Niger Republic was first identified in South America in 1912 before it spread to Europe, then east and west Africa. Unfortunately, ‘tuta absoluta‘ does not respond to ordinary pesticides hence it would cost N5 per tomato crop to be recovered from the disease.

Although the tomato disease outbreak has been around at about same time that Ebola was spread into Nigeria from Liberia by one Mr Sawyer, the disease was not quickly identified and tackled like Ebola for two simple reasons:

First, unlike Ebola which affected human beings, and was easily and quickly noticeable, tuta absoluta affected only vegetable plants, especially tomatoes, which was only noticeable by local farmers in terrorism ridden north east Nigeria where security of lives took precedence over crops.

Secondly, Ebola was first contracted in Lagos, the heartbeat of Lagos and one of the largest cities in Africa, as such the virus disease was tackled immediately with the best medical facilities in Nigeria.

But tuta absoluta was ravaging crops in the remote north east, and the hotbed of Boko haram terrorists, where there was dearth of human and laboratory facilities to combat the disease as the priority for govt and civil society was geared more towards human security than on food security, especially since agricultural extension officers who could have tackled the disease were also trying to escape from Boko haram in protection of their own lives.

So without concerted efforts to halt the spread of the tomatoes disease in nearly two years, unlike the commendable coordination between the federal and Lagos state govt in quickly reining in Ebola, tuta absoluta disease was allowed to fester like an open and untreated sore and the consequence is the current tomato drought.

The tomatoes disease which could spread to other crops like potatoes etc, if not quickly managed reminds me of the rinderpest disease that killed cattle massively and resulted in meat shortage and spike in price sometime in the past in Nigeria.

Just like ‘tuta absoluta‘, rinderpest disease also came through Niger republic route into Nigeria which shows how porous our international borders are and speaks to why it has been so easy for Boko haram terrorists to creep into Nigeria from the lake Chad region with common boundaries with Borno state, north east Nigeria which has been the hot bed of the terrorist group.

With fresh tomatoes disappearing from the kitchen tables of most Nigerians, following the inability of farmers to grow the crop and the damage done by disease, the Chinese stepped in with their processed paste in sachets shipped into Nigeria to the consternation of local producers of tomato purée who allege that the Chinese imports are carcinogenic.

Before now, the likes of Erisco foods had been importing concentrates in drums which are repacked and retailed locally, but following president Buhari’s regimes push for diversification of the economy, Erisco embarked on local farming and processing of tomatoes.

However, due to the relatively cheaper price of the Chinese import being dumped in Nigeria , local producers such as Erisco foods are now being muscled out.

By so doing, the misfortune that befell the textile and vegetable oil industries which hitherto boosted the GDP of kaduna, katsina and Kano states by creating employment for the masses in that axis in the good old days, is about becoming the lot of tomatoes purée producers, due to dumping of cheap tomato pastes.

This is because anytime Nigerians import what could be produced locally, it amounts to exporting jobs abroad and destroying gross national product, GNP which is inimical to the economy.

So importation of cheap and perhaps sub standard tomatoes purée from China is more or less a crime of economic sabotage, more so because, the CBN specifically targeted the sector for financial support to the promoters of industries in the value chain, in order to drive home the point that Nigerians should embrace import substitution and backward integration to reduce pressure on the dwindling FX reserve.

President Buhari during a recent farewell audience with outgoing Iranian envoy, re emphasized his determination to pursue a policy of economic diversification when he told his audience “We are committed to economic diversification.

Most of the things on our import bills can be produced here.And we are determined to achieve that self dependency”. That’s cheering news.

Hopefully very soon, Mr President would also reveal his specific plans on how he would ramp up on electricity power supply and guaranty freer and easier means of moving funds & machines in and out of Nigeria to facilitate his diversification effort.

Currently, the richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote, who has increasingly been engaging in commercial activities focused on the specific needs of Nigerians (rice, sugarcane and wheat farming) as well as flour mills, has now joined Erisco food in the production of tomatoes purée.

With capacity for local production ramping up following Dangote’s entrance into the market, authorities have started considering a ban on import but the move is being resisted by importers who have launched a counter offensive by basically claiming that the local manufacturers lack the capacity to satisfy demand.

The cat fight has spilled into the streets-newspaper advertorials, with the opposing parties engaging in media war. Again, the current situation reminds me of the fight in the recent past, between Dangote cement and others who import bulk cement for re-bagging.

While Dangote contended that Nigeria can attain self sufficiency in cement production and would be able to subsequently export the commodity, advocates of continuous importation argued against ban on import of the essential building material for re bagging.

President Musa Yar’Adua of blessed memory, sided with Dangote resulting in massive investment in cement production and the current status of self sufficiency and net exporter.

A similar battle was recently pitched between those who were pushing for local assembly of vehicles create jobs and dealers who were determined to continue to import based on the the argument that Nigeria lacked the infrastructure (functional steel rolling mill, steady power supply).

Today, those in Favor have prevailed with at least fifteen, 15 European and Asian vehicle manufacturers setting up assembly plants in Nigeria.

If nothing else has been learnt, at least we know that both the cement factories and vehicle assembly plants are creating instead of losing jobs to foreigners in countries that Nigeria imports from so they are adding value to the economy.

The Association Of Agricultural Products &Equipment Manufacturers In Nigeria, APEMAN that are advocating for a ban has launched a blistering counter attack on the Association Of Stakeholders In Edible Consumer Products Into Nigeria who are pro importation and therefore insisting on maintaining the status quo.

In the counter submission, APEMAN allege that investigation by food and health administrators in Nigeria confirmed that the imported tomato paste contain harmful elements but National Food and Drug Administration, NAFDAC muzzled the report.

According to them “The officials also confirmed that the bulking agents (i.e starch) which the wicked importers put into tomato pastes will put the lives of diabetic patients in danger because if they (diabetic patients) take the substandard tomato pastes, they will indeed be taking starch which could trigger a crisis and ultimately lead to death”.

Continuing the allegation, APEMAN asked ” Are these importers saying they are not aware that more and more diabetic patients have been lost due to suddenly death caused by a sudden rise of their sugar levels which may have been triggered by ingestion of starch in the name of tomato paste more than their insulin can deal with”?

Thereafter they came in with the clincher “Also, because of the little or complete lack of lycopene in these offending tomato pastes, Nigerian children are denied a very vital mineral i.e lycopene which is necessary mineral and anti oxidant very necessary for the development of children’s intellect.

These importers strangely do not believe that Nigerian children deserve to receive the lycopene that children in other parts of the world take for granted”. Now, these are very grave allegations as they concern life and death, especially as it also involves the growth and development of our children who are leaders of tomorrow, so it requires National Assembly, NASS urgent intervention.

Therefore, I urge the senators representing my state, Delta, Senators (James Manager and Ovie Omo-Agege) and members of House of Representatives (Leo Ogor, Victor Nwaokolo, Amaechi Mkprakpor, Osai N Osai, Helen Oboro, and Solomon Awhinawhi) to take up the matter in the interest of members of their constituent and Nigerians in general.

They should call for public hearing on the matter to chart the way forward and in fact, professionals in food technology and safety, as well as intellectuals with bias for gastronomic matters, should weigh in with research and survey findings to settle the matter in the best interest of all the stake holders.

Such atmosphere of debates over how to safeguard our lives and move Nigeria forward are what democracy should be about, as opposed to the bickering between the legislative and executive arms of govt over ‘padding’ of 2016 appropriation bill.

Disappointingly, questions about whether or not, legislators are entitled to imported N30m SUVs instead of patronizing made in Nigeria Innoson vehicles and other locally assembled ones; why legislators should be earning jumbo salaries at a time Nigerians are literarily feeding from the dustbin after 70% hike in fuel price; and astronomical increase in electricity tariff and if the grandiose and opulent lifestyle of Aso Rock dwellers is not incongruous as well as contradictory to current reality of hardships being endured by long suffering Nigerians, should be agitating our minds, but they are largely ignored.

Much as we vilified British Prime Minister, David Cameron for labeling Nigeria as fantastically corrupt during the recent anti corruption conference, at least he recently demonstrated that he is leading by example when he purchased an ordinary $2,200 car for his wife for personal use.

The British PM could have opted for the state of the art Range Rover SUV or Jaguar saloon car, produced in Britain which could have been more befitting for his dear wife, but he preferred to live according to the dynamics of the prevailing economic situation in England, which happens to be one of the very few European countries that has so far bucked recession.

In conclusion, l would be gratified if it’s proven that local producers of tomato purée have developed enough capacity to satisfy domestic demand, so that importation of the commodity may be banned and registered as another victory for backward integration and import substitution policy of govt as well as relief on CBN for FX which would be in fulfillment of the much sought diversification of Nigerian economy.

If self sufficiency could be attained with respect to cement, it can be done with tomato purée, but in Nigeria where people often blame others for their misfortunes, it is already being alleged that the proposed ban is to serve the selfish interest of the new entrant in the tomatoes business, Dangote food. Where ever there is subsidy (that’s actually what CBN financial intervention is) there is bound to be schism in Nigeria, so l’m not phased by the allegations and counter attacks.

Riding on the wave of optimism in the cement, auto and probably tomatoes production success stories, given the CBN’s financial intervention in local rice value chain and the recent boost in production in Jigawa state, rice may be the next to be ticked off on the list of commodities hitherto imported into Nigeria but now locally produced.

This would not only reduce pressure on Nigeria’s scarce FX income, but it would also ensure availability of the most popular staple food (rice), which is a key component of President Buhari’s ultimate change agenda of lifting the poor masses out of poverty.

Written by Magnus Onyibe, a development strategist and futurologist is a former commissioner in Delta state and an alumnus of Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Medford Massachusetts, USA.

Continue reading at: http://thebusinessdispatch.com/nigeria-boko-haram-politics-economics-tomatoes/

With Libya suffering dire economic problems, a stash of golden and silver coins worth $184 million locked in a Gaddafi-era vault in the eastern city of Beyda could be worth its weight in gold.

The snag is, the local officials don’t have the code. As if the crash in the price of oil was not enough for energy-rich Libya, the country is also having to deal with two rival governments opposed to one another, as well as the threat posed by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), which has made gains in coastal areas.

Oil output is currently less than a quarter of the 1.6 million barrels per day, which were being produced in Libya under former leader Muammar Gaddafi. These financial problems have led to a catastrophic shortage of cash in Libya, so the $184 million locked in the central bank vault in Beyda would come in more than handy.

However, the local central bank governor doesn’t have the necessary five-digit code to unlock the vault, the Wall Street Journal reports. The rival government in Tripoli has the code but will not hand it over, fearing the cash could end up funding militias. Even if the authorities do manage to get to the coins, they will face another significant problem as they all bear Gaddafi’s face.

“I can’t sell them as they are,” Ali El Hibri, the central bank governor in eastern Libya told the Wall Street Journal. “I don’t want to cause any controversy in the street by advertising the face of Gaddafi.” El Hibri has even contemplated melting down the gold and silver coins in order to provide the much-needed funds.

However, the governor still has the task of trying to crack open the safe. El Hibri has a plan for this as well and has enlisted the help of a pair of safecrackers, who believe they are capable of forcing open the almost 50-year-old safe.

Khaled, one member of the duo, says the main task will be to get beyond the protective wall, which will need to be done by drilling a 50 centimeter by 50 centimeter hole, which will allow them to get through to the doors with the five-digit code.

This is where Khaled’s partner will come in, as the locksmith will attempt to break the code using “special techniques,” in a plan which would not look out of place in a Hollywood blockbuster.

Just three months ago, US Secretary of State John Kerry summed up just what a challenge Tripoli faces, saying that Libya risks becoming“a failed state” if the UN-brokered unity government flops. “We have been working really hard for the last months, particularly, to bring together the government in Tripoli,” Kerry told the House Appropriations Committee on Foreign Operations.

“We have a prime minister designate, we have a government now; we have a couple of outliers that are resisting that effort. If they cannot get themselves together, yes it will be a failed state.”

Since the 2011 ouster and killing of its long-term leader, Gaddafi, Libya has essentially been “torn apart” by two factions based at opposite ends of the country and they are simultaneously claiming power.

After an election in 2014, an Islamist-dominated body settled in Tripoli in the west, while an internationally recognized legislature is based in the eastern city of Tobruk.

Continue reading at: http://thebusinessdispatch.com/libyan-central-bank-struggles-open-gaddafi-golden-coins-vault-hires-safecrackers/

Nigeria’s central bank denied a report that it planned to devalue the naira, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reiterated that Nigeria would benefit from a more flexible exchange rate but said no request for funds had been made.

Talk of a devaluation has been rife since Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said on Wednesday the central bank needed to change its foreign currency policies to spur investment.

Hours earlier, Nigeria had cut petrol subsidies, lifting pump prices by up to 67 percent, a move the IMF usually insists on before releasing funding.

News website SaharaReporters.com said President Muhammad Buhari had agreed to devalue the naira in exchange for IMF funds to help offset a slump in oil revenues.

Quoting unnamed Buhari aides, the report said the naira rate to the dollar could fall to 290 from roughly 200. “The rumour that the naira is going to be devalued is false,” central bank spokesman, Isaac Okoroafor, said late on Saturday when asked about the report.

An IMF spokesperson said Nigeria had not approached the fund for funds but reiterated that a more flexible exchange rate would support “the competitiveness of the economy”.

“And so, there are no negotiations going on,” the spokesperson said. “However, as we have said before, the Fund continues to have a productive dialogue with the authorities and we stand ready to help should the country make a request.”

Nigeria has held talks with China, the World Bank and African Development Bank for loans to help fund its record $30 billion budget for 2016 but Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said in January the oil producer was not seeking any emergency loans.

Buhari has resisted calls by the IMF for a devaluation. But British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond said Nigeria had de-facto partially devalued the naira by allowing fuel importers to buy dollars on the black market last week.

The naira trades at about 40 percent below the official rate on the black market. “The exchange rate applicable to oil imports effectively recognises that there is an imbalance in the official rate,” he said. “Maybe they’ll take the logic of how this goes and move further,” Hammond told reporters before meeting Buhari in Abuja late on Saturday, without elaborating.

On Wednesday, Osinbajo said Nigeria needed a “substantial” review of its exchange policies and would see very soon a more flexible approach. Asked whether the naira should be devalued, he said that “there is an ongoing debate”.

The central bank has imposed hard currency curbs and frozen the naira rate to the dollar, which has hit investment as foreign firms expect Nigeria to devalue the currency anyway at some point due to a slump in oil revenues.

“Exchange restrictions are costly and distortionary; at best, they could be temporary, but should be removed,” the IMF spokesperson said in an emailed in response to questions.

Continue reading at: http://thebusinessdispatch.com/central-bank-nigeria-denies-report-devalue-naira/

The federal government would be directly impacting the lives of more than eight million Nigerians in different social investment 2016 budget spending that would provide succour and be a ready-made palliative to ordinary Nigerians.

This disclosure was made on Saturday night by the Senior Special Assistant for Media and Publicity to the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande, in an interaction with the press in Abuja.

He gave new details and a breakdown of the interventions and palliatives, some of which he said would be starting in a matter of weeks thus: The direct payment of N5,000 monthly to one million extremely poor Nigerians for 12 months as provided for in the 2016 budget for which N68.7B has been appropriated.

The direct provision of very soft loan -cash for market women, men and traders, including artisans and Agric workers.

This would be for a total of 1.76m Nigerians, without the requirement for conventional collateral.

Some of the traders will likely get about N60,000. A total sum of N140.3B has already been appropriated for this in the budget Payment of between N23,000 to N30,000 per month to 500,000 unemployed graduates who would be trained, paid and deployed to work as volunteer teachers, public health officers and extension service workers among other responsibilities.

They would also be given electronic devices to empower them technologically both for their assignments and beyond. Similarly, 100,000 artisans would also be trained and paid. N191.5B has been set aside for this in the passed budget.

At least 5.5 million Nigerian primary school children -ie starting first in 18 states – three per geopolitical zone, would be fed for 200 school days under the free Homegrown School Feeding Programme.

N93.1B has been appropriated for this in the 2016 budget. 100,000 tertiary students in Science Technology Engineering & Maths – STEM, plus Education will partake in the N5.8B already provided for this education grant in the budget.

This payment would also be paid directly to the students. When added together this year alone, more than 8 million Nigerians would be benefiting from the Social Investment budget. Akande, who works from the Office of the Vice President, said that the 500billion Naira social investment programmes of the Buhari administration is a ready-made palliative to lift Nigerians from poverty and economic hardship. “Long before now the Presidency has made adequate arrangements in the 2016 budget to ensure that Nigerians are lifted from poverty and hardship,” the spokesperson stated.

This will not only assuage the current pains arising from the new fuel pricing regime, but will provide ongoing social safety nets for over 8 million Nigerians this year alone, according to Akande.

He added that this is beside the jobs that would be created by the infrastructural projects that would be restored and the new ones that would soon be taking off. “The Buhari presidency is keen to ensure that Nigerians are lifted and that if necessary on an ongoing basis, palliatives measures would always been considered to address the conditions of the people.”

Continue reading at: http://thebusinessdispatch.com/fg-targets-8-million-people-2016-social-intervention-spending/

Millions of barrels of oil have been spilled in Nigeria’s Delta region. Tired of the abuse, Nigerians just blew up a pipeline and a platform in an attempt to rectify what politicians and courts have been slow to do.

As a result of the deteriorating security situation, the Nigeria oil union announced that Shell and Chevron workers have been evacuated.

On a strip of cork that I have attached to the wall in my home office hangs a yellowing postcard that reads, “What makes Shell Oil think it can get away with murder? . . . Because it already has.” And, then, below the fold, the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa and what became known as the Ogoni Nine is described in excruciating detail.

Was Shell Oil guilty of murder? In 2009, while not admitting guilt, Shell Oil settled the case brought by the family members of the Ogoni Nine just before going to trial under the Alien Tort Claims Act, which allows foreigners to sue others in U.S. Courts for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture, and other violations of international law.

Saro-Wiwa was the president of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), an organization that fought against the spoliation of indigenous land by the Nigerian Federal Government and foreign oil companies. Activists were reportedly killed because of their demands for a clean environment, as well as allowing for farming and revenue sharing from the Niger Delta area.

Shell Oil isn’t the only company that needs to come clean about its dirty dealings in Nigeria. Chevron has been engaged in the same dirty practices, including allegedly supplying the Nigerian government with armaments to kill peaceful protestors. Unfortunately, the Nigerian victims lost their legal case against Chevron, filed in the U.S.

Thereafter, the US Supreme Court whittled away at the principle of universal jurisdiction that the ATCA represented. The Supreme Court ruled that the Alien Tort Claims Act could not be used to sue corporations in the event of human rights violations.

Thus, an acknowledgement that justice against oil companies is “slippery” at best.

Despite a 2011 United Nations Environment Program investigation finding serious environmental and public healthconcerns, little has been done to rectify the situation.

Friends of the Earth estimates that some 400,000 tons of oil have been spilled in the Niger Delta by these oil companies, largely with impunity. Human Rights Watch has also documented the devastation and the abuse.

In December 2015, a Netherlands court ruled that four Nigerian farmers and Friends of the Earth can sue Shell for its repeated oil spills. On March 1, 2016, two lawsuits were filed in London on behalf of Delta communities.

Amnesty International even issued a press release warning Shell investors that these two lawsuits were coming. At this point, I am reminded of President John Kennedy’s admonition, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

And so, last week, Chevron was besieged by Nigerians who want the dirty practices of oil companies in their country to cease. Funny, the media labeled these Nigerians “militants,” but attached no such label to the practices of oil companies devastating the area ever since their arrival in the 1950s.

These companies have ruined the area,stolen resources, and engaged in bribery and corruption in their refusal to pay a fair price for Nigerian oil. Currently, Shell and Italy’s Eni are under investigation for corruption.

This is exactly the kind of behavior that is rewarded in high capitalist circles.

The story gets more distressing. While the Nigerians eke out a living as best they can on contaminated land, the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell reportedly was paid more than Euros 24 million in 2014. Tensions are now at the boiling point. Last week, a group calling itself The Niger Delta Avengers blew up a Chevron platform last week, totally destroying it.

This follows an attack on a Shell pipeline in February. Why? Shell admits to having neglectfully committed over 1,500 oil spills in the Niger Delta, amounting to over 55 million liters just since 2007! Amnesty International claims that the actual number is much higher.

Nigerians ask, how can we lead normal lives when our land is so polluted and despoiled? Nigerians are not alone in their struggles against oil companies: Chevron settled a case in Burma and recently abandoned its last argument in an attempt to evade justice for Ecuador. The company faces a $10 billion judgment against its toxic waste discharged onto indigenous lands, resulting in adverse health effects including cancer and death.

The game is rigged against communities and for corporations; there is no such thing as a level playing field. It is abundantly clear that these oil companies have committed what ought to be a crime of ecocide.

Moreover, Nigerians who are trying to fight corruption blame the United Kingdom for serving as a safe harbor for ill-gotten gains.

Calling London the “capital of money laundering,” Nigeria’s anti-corruption chief estimated that Nigeria had lost $37 billion to London as a destination for money that the country desperately needs, especially with the drop in the price of oil. Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, tacitly acknowledged London’s role in Nigeria’s corruption problem and said of U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, “What I am demanding is a return of assets.”

I agree that this would be a good place to start, but I won’t hold my breath on that.

Compare what these companies are accused of doing in Nigeria to the situation in the U.S. faced by Baltimore’s Ronald Hammond who was sentenced to prison for 20 years for $40 worth of cocaine and less than $5 worth of marijuana.

Or the New Orleans case of Bernard Noble, stopped while riding his bicycle, and found to have two marijuana cigarettes in his possession. Noble was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Neither President Obama nor the U.S. Congress has taken to task U.S. corporations that are committing crimes in Nigeria or elsewhere. And I suspect that the U.S. wargaming an occupation of Nigeria is for just in case Nigerians’ demands for justice get out of hand and “threaten U.S. interests.” American voters must not remain willfully blind to the huge crimes being committed by corporations that, at the same time, receive huge U.S. tax breaks. (Yes, Shell Oil receives huge tax breaks from U.S. taxpayers).

In a way, these crimes are being committed in the name of every U.S. taxpayer, who, in the end, also bears some responsibility for ending them.

Article written by Cynthia McKinney. After serving in the Georgia Legislature, in 1992, Cynthia McKinney won a seat in the US House of Representatives. She was the first African-American woman from Georgia in the US Congress. In 2005, McKinney was a vocal critic of the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina and was the first member of Congress to file articles of impeachment against George W. Bush. In 2008, Cynthia McKinney won the Green Party nomination for the US presidency.

Continue reading at: http://thebusinessdispatch.com/shame-shell-ecocide-oil-extraction-niger-delta/

Doctor says...

This means that these special 500 are also going to be superior in rank when the federal government is ready to take in the fabled 5,0000.

Are you getting my drift?

Which 2016 budget is she talking about? The one laced with corruption or there's a new one in circulation

protegesol:
Mr dantewest what does LGBT mean?
You mean she's gay?

Personally, her sexual preference isn't my business...

We regret to announce (According to news reaching us at The Coffee Hub) the demise of Easy Taxi Nigeria, a victim of bad management and an evidence that when you leave a budding company with massive potentials to a no experience CEO, a crash is inevitable.

A couple of months ago, we published an article concerning Easy Taxi Nigeria, but some of our readers felt we were aggrieved or just a natural hater of the Former MD, Adaora Asala, but contrary to their opinion, we just love tech at budding stage and follow through to maturity.

Easy Taxi Nigeria started suffering a massive blow right from the resignation of the former and pioneer MD, Mr Bankole Cardoso, who we believe will be biting his fingers right now by employing the hand of the Former MD Adaora Asala, who by the way has no form of management whatsoever before her appointment as MD of Easy Taxi.


Here we explore Top 5 reasons why Easy Taxi Collapsed in Nigeria

Top 5 reasons Easy Taxi Went Under

1. Resignation of Founder and CEO Bankole Cardoso: The CEO left his position after he was hit by the sudden demise of his Mum, the woman that is globally celebrated as the defender of Nigeria from Ebola, Mrs Stella Adadevoh. This incident we believe made him resign his position for a period of sober reflection and recounting his blessing and focus.

2. Appointment of New MD Adaora Asala: This, according to some staff of the company was the biggest mistake in the history of employment. Coming from an MIT background, she found a way to maneuver through the gullible employment panel, even despite not having the requirement of an MD, she was appointed. Information reaching us said that she didn’t add any value to the company but was us in the company to develop her personal Image and PR which was bastardized because of her renowned LGBT Activities.

3. Disengagement of Key Member of Staff: On her to do list was to eradicate the former and pioneer members of staff that worked Under Bankole. It was like a political situation. A startup company like Easy Taxi was already a force to be reckon with in the E-commerce Taxi Hailing Business in Nigeria, a feat achieved b y the pioneer staff who happens to be the foundation of the company. How can you get rid of the foundation and expect to stand?

4. UBER: UBER is a business killer for Easy Taxi, although Easy Taxi was the first in Nigeria, UBER understudied them and like a Lion waiting to jump on the antelope, they struck when no one expected. UBER easily captured the market by introducing themselves as a reputable company with reference to their strength aboard.

5. POOR SERVICE DELIVERY: This was the major issue with EASY TAXI, very poor service delivery was a key factor in their demise, as customer will easily switch to competition when they don’t enjoy top notch service. We wish to condole with all the member of staff that have lost their Job due to this situation they find themselves.

Meanwhile….Dollar is N400…..

https://dantewest./2016/02/19/rip-easy-taxi-nigeria-2013-2016/

cyprus000:
[size=13pt][b]

Hey, you narcissistic, maliciously malodorous manifestation of contraceptive persona.

You never fail to show the world the incalculably repulsive idiot that you're anytime you open the faecial-odour filled hole you call mouth to douse all doubt on you being a brain-damaged butt-holed simulated m0r0n, a glorified woman wrapper at that

I'm allergic to imbecilic man-bitchs lyk you who asslick for some sort of sexual gratification, neither will I tolerate side bitchh talk on my person from a disgusting, all-befouling offense to sanity.

I remember i unequivocally warned you to stay off my lane and ignored your stupidity on the other thread, cos you're nothing but a boorish contemptible swine, but it is evident that my attention gives you hard-on and you won't rest until you court it.

Ok! from now on, I'll make it a duty to curtail your lunacy, since it is evident that you're some sort of soul-draining,mental-pillaging,life-sucking viciously programmed zombie, developed to infuriate and alter human sanity from one corner of cyber space to another.


You've been trying shitt with other peeps, but you just met your waterloo, cos ama decimate,cremate and sacrifice your pathetic existance on the altar of my infinitesimal tolerance, then spray your ashe to appease my temper for desecrating the sanctuary of my civility with consummate stupidity . You flaccid dolt

I heard you hate my font. guess what? I have a solution to your problem on that.
[img]http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSsqu0oKCTjzWtNOstjZqhE6W31ipY0tebejNrnqoITcSGE-UuN[/img]
I personally recommend this to stop the nightmare mankind have been experiencing for letting an oaf lyk you wallow among sapiens.
[img]http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTui98uCfztQmqbqSo0a2gLt9_CTQR3a77o-veBqaBkBgnWhkqzzg[/img]

What a brain dead lummox

*spit on your existance*

[/b][/size]

Good Lord!

Kenzico:
You gat it Bro!!

Thanks!

So, a typical valentine’s day in Naija is a day of love for couples, family, friends and church members…lol, especially as this year’s valentine falls on a Sunday. Few days to the 14th of February of any year, you’ll hear, “love in the air” virtually from every corners of Naija, from radio to TV stations, from adverts on radio, TV, newspapers, billboards and magazines to boutiques selling only red outfits and from MTN, GLO, Airtel, Etisalat inviting you to send love messages to spouse or friends to valentine events and promos from virtually every organization…(I can keep up with all the activities, you know).

Basically, as fun loving people, we tend to see every day as a wonderful day and February 14th as one of those days that we must show love to someone/people we care about. A day gifts are exchanged, a day where people “must” wear red and white and a day a guy “must” take out his girlfriend or his crush, either to an eatery, sharwama joint or a good restaurant, the Beach, a musical concert, the cinemas, a comedy show and more, just to name a few for the list is a long one. Did you just mention a suya joint? Oh yes, suya joint inclusive..lol.

Anyways, some couples just want to have fun at home by themselves during the day, make up for those busy days, and hang out later in the day, you know like an environment for two. You do need a playlist. Have you arranged one? Well, while you have some songs in mind already, we have an all-readymade playlist for every Nigerian lover consisting of 10 Nigerian songs and 10 foreign ones.


Here are 10 Nigerian love songs for that perfect valentine playlist:

“Good Morning” – Brymo
“Ololufe” – Flavour ft. Chidinma
“My Woman, My Everything” – Patoranking ft. Wande Coal
“Be My Man” – Asa
“Orente” – Adekunle Gold
“Obianuju” – Duncan Mighty
“One Naira” – M.I ft. Waje
“African Queen” – TuFace
“Forever” – Paul Play Dairo
“Comforter” – Asa ft. Jeremiah Gyang
An extra, in honor of Valentine, “Am I still that special man” - Psquare


And 10 foreign love songs for completeness of your perfect valentine playlist:

“You’re The First, The Last, My Everything” – Barry White
“I Will Always Love You” – Whitney Houston
“I Swear” – All-4-One
“I Will Follow You Into The Dark” – Ben Gibbard
“We Found Love” – Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris
“Use Somebody” – Kings of Leon
“Love Story” – Taylor Swift
“I’ll Make Love To You” – Boyz II Men
“Hands Down” – Dashboard Confessional
“Part-time Lover” – Steve Wonder
And an extra, in honor of Valentine, “The Power of Love” – Celine Dion

As the gifts and shows/events keep rolling in, do not forget to spread your love to others. Love, share, enjoy and stay safe.


Written by Joy, Content Manager at NgEX

https://dantewest./2016/02/12/2016-valentine-hottest-playlist-for-every-nigerian

lol, na so we dey see am

I would hate for the coldness of the world to turn you into a cynical person, but it is healthy and essential for everyone to set boundaries! There are a lot of sleazetastic people around who will try to get you to work for them for free.

Some of them are employers who will give you lengthy and complicated ‘assignments’ to complete during your interview process. Be suspicious! Sometimes there is no job available. The employer just wants to get free consulting work. I sat in a meeting with a not-for-profit executive who blithely told the group of us in the meeting that she interviews candidates for non-existent jobs a couple of times per year “to get ideas.” Even principled people don’t always think about the ethics of their actions.

When you’re interviewing for a job, don’t create a presentation or a marketing plan for free. You can say “It sounds like you’re interested in having me perform some consulting work for you. Shall we talk about fees?” If there is a written component of the interview process and you want to participate in it, go ahead and donate one hour of work — no more — to your possible future employer.

Don’t accept an invitation to go the their office and present your work. Our client Natalie did that and found that the room was full of team members who had no say in the hiring process. Her own manager, the one who had assigned Natalie to create a plan and present it, didn’t even have the courtesy to show up. Natalie had never been in that situation before. She gamely gave her presentation and then, since no one was there to talk with her after the presentation, started packing up her things to go.

One of the employees told Natalie “Please leave your flash drive with the presentation on the table.” That was Natalie’s cue to get out of the building and take her flash drive with her!

Not everybody deserves your talents. People who want you to work for free before they’ve even hired you are not people who will respect your talents or your time once they’ve hired you.

Sometimes our own ‘friends’ can misuse our time and attention, too. Every consultant has heard from at least one slight acquaintance who says “Since we’re friends, you’ll do this project for me for free, right?”

https://dantewest./2016/02/10/dont-get-suckered-into-working-for-free/

Lol, una no go kill person with laughter!

The smell of flatulence has secret health benefits – and could help stave off cancer, strokes, heart attacks and dementia, scientists have revealed.

Hydrogen sulfide is one of a number of potent smelly gases produced by bacteria as it breaks down food in the gut.

It is toxic in large doses but in tiny amounts it helps protect cells and fight illness, according to boffins at Exeter University.

When cells become stressed by disease they try to draw in enzymes to generate their own minute quantities of hydrogen sulfide.

This is not a hoax, folks. Scientists out of the University of Exeter believe that smelling farts actually prevents cancer, among other diseases.

“Although hydrogen sulfide gas”—produced when bacteria breaks down food—”is well known as a pungent, foul-smelling gas in rotten eggs and flatulence, it is naturally produced in the body and could in fact be a healthcare hero with significant implications for future therapies for a variety of diseases,” Dr. Mark Wood said in a university release.

Although the stinky gas can be noxious in large doses, scientists believe that a whiff here and there has the power to reduce risks of cancer, strokes, heart attacks, arthritis, and dementia by preserving mitochondria.

Researchers are even coming up with their own compound to emulate the smell’s health benefits.

“We have exploited this natural process by making a compound, called AP39, which slowly delivers very small amounts of this gas specifically to the mitochondria,” Professor Matt Whiteman, of the University of Exeter Medical School said. “Our results indicate that if stressed cells are treated with AP39, mitochondria are protected and cells stay alive.”

So instead of getting upset the next time you catch a whiff… be thankful.
https://dantewest./2016/02/07/scientists-say-smelling-farts-prevents-cancer/

Economic terrorism

There are a lot of theories about the cause of depression in existence today, the primary one being biochemical imbalances in the brain, at least according to mainstream medicine. However, mainstream medicine hasn’t proven whether these imbalances are the true cause or simply an effect of being depressed. What we do know is that depression appears to result in changes in the brain structure and chemistry; however, these changes are also known to be related to lifestyle, emotions, trauma, activities you do (or don’t do), and in general, how fulfilled you are in your life.

5 Things You Can Do To Overcome Depression Using Your Mind – Without Medication

What science shows us is that your brain is constantly rewiring itself in response to how you perceive your environment. It’s an adaptive function to ensure the brain is effective at performing the task it’s most asked to perform. A tennis player’s brain will look completely different from the brain of a musician. The depressed person’s brain will look much different from that of someone who isn’t depressed. So is depression just a malfunction of evolution, or is it possible it’s an adaptation to a series of persistent thought processes and actions? And if that is true, isn’t it possible that if we change those thought processes and actions, we could then rewire the brain, restore chemical balance, and change the effect of depression?

In my experience, both personally and professionally, depression isn’t a random ‘biochemical imbalance’ as so many people believe. I expect people who want to fight for that belief, to fight me in the comments. You’re free to do so and I embrace your criticism. I will, however, say to you that the same person who told you that depression is a biochemical imbalance in the brain is the same person who doesn’t really know what causes the biochemical imbalance, nor do they know how to cure it. So I ask for your consideration if you’re going to read this.

With that explained, let’s move on to the 10 things you MUST DO to overcome depression:
Determine your values and what is truly most important to you.

The biggest challenge with everyone, not just people who have depression, is that they have no idea what their true values are, and as a result they often attempt to live according to values that are not their own. This is actually the ‘root psychological cause’ of depression, as whenever you attempt to live according to values that are not your own, you subordinate and minimize your true wants and desires, repressing who you really are in a futile attempt to try to be someone you’re not. This attempt cannot go on forever and quite often the ‘depression’ effect is a biological attempt to get you to stop doing what isn’t for your authentic person.

Whenever you suppress your natural values in an attempt to live someone else’s, you’ll breed the internal ABCD’s of negativity towards yourself: Anger and aggression towards yourself. Feelings of betrayal and blame towards yourself. Self-criticism and unsolvable challenges. Inner despair, despondency, and depression. These ‘symptoms’ are not afflictions that need medication for life. They are feedback to let you know when and where you are ignoring your true values and attempting to do something that you think is important to you, but truly isn’t.

People who live according to their values, both in thought and in action, are less capable of experiencing depression or negativity, as they are solely focused on fulfilling their wants and desires for life. They don’t suffer from ‘compare and despair’ syndrome, as they compare themselves and their accomplishments to no one but themselves. By focusing on your own life and what’s truly most important to you, you increase your chances for achievement, fulfillment, and mental stability, as you are the only one who has to live with you 100% of the time. Why spend your time thinking about the lives of others when you have yours to live, right now?
Write down all your fantasies and crush them.

We will define a fantasy as an expectation or imagination that is only positive, not negative. Whenever you have this fantasy of more positives than negatives, you run the risk of experiencing depression as a feedback to help you create a more realistic expectation and imagination, or at least break your imagination down into small enough tasks that it becomes achievable.

Fantasies can emerge in a number of ways. Some examples could be: I could have a fantasy that my ex-girlfriend shouldn’t have broken up with me. I could have a fantasy that I should have more money than I do right now. I could have a fantasy that my parents should have stayed together. I could have a fantasy that my mom shouldn’t have died. I could have a fantasy that my girlfriend should be nicer and kinder to me. I could have a fantasy that says my boss shouldn’t be so critical of me. These are all examples of fantasies.

Fantasies are also not attached to time. You can have a fantasy about your past, perhaps about something you think should or shouldn’t have happened. You can have a fantasy about your future, perhaps about something you desire to happen or not happen. And you can have a fantasy about your present in the same way. Technically, you can have a number of primary fantasies or expectations:

1. An unrealistic expectation that the world should be more peaceful / positive / happy than warful, negative, sad.
2. An unrealistic expectation that people should be nice without mean, kind without cruel, happy without sad, healthy without disease, more positive than negative.
3. An unrealistic expectation that You or I should be positive without negative, happy without sad, kind without cruel.
4. An unrealistic expectation upon You or I to live outside our core values. (Ie: I should have a relationship even though I place no value on having one.)
5. An unrealistic expectation that other people should live within my or your values. (Ie: Everyone should think like me because the world would be a better place.)

These are some of the primary expectations that lead to depressed thinking, feeling, and depressed ‘brain structure’ and chemistry over time, as the brain is adapting to your thinking process. You’ll notice that these expectations are primarily an expectation for positivity. This is why most people never solve their depression. They spent the healing processes attempting to get out of the depression, never understanding that depression is a by-product of elated fantasies. In fact, the most depressed people are the people seeking happiness all the time. The more you search for what isn’t possible, the more impossibility you will see.
Depression exists to balance manic elations.

The way to heal these fantasies is to ask, “If my expectation, imagination, or fantasy were true, what would be the drawbacks?” And write down as many as it takes for you to break the fantasy and realize that if it happened, it would have just as many downsides as upsides. Likewise, it’s important to write down a list of benefits to the fantasy not coming true (and things continuing as they are). By balancing the fantasy back into a more realistic goal that includes pleasure and pain, challenge and support, difficulty and ease, you will be able to tell if the goal is actually possible. You’ll also be able to tell if it’s something you truly want, and if it is, you’ll be able to embrace the challenge that comes with it. Also, by learning how to appreciate the way things are, you ease your physiology out of a stress response to your life, into a relaxation response, allowing you to operate with greater ease throughout your day.

The general rule is: a fantasy with no downsides equals a reality with no benefits. Whenever you find yourself in a reality with no benefits to you, you’ll feel unfulfilled with your life, you run the risk of creating fantasies and disassociating from your self-awareness, you’ll experience low-dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain as a result, and will imbalance your brain chemistry. As I said before, these ‘chemical imbalances’ may be resulting from a trauma that you imagine ‘shouldn’t have happened,’ thirty years ago, that you haven’t cleared. This is 30 years of stress response in the background of your thinking process. This is why many people who get depression say ‘it just happened one day.’ The reality is, no it didn’t. It’s been a longterm buildup of emotional repression that finally exploded.
If you argue with reality as it happened, you’ll lose.

Now, some people like to argue that their fantasy would have no drawbacks. People ‘should be healthy without sick’ or ‘happy without sad’ or ‘nice with mean’ or whatever delusion they’re stuck on. The truth is, people should be sad when they feel their values are being challenged. People should be mean when their values are being challenged and people should be sick according to the lifestyle choices they make, their genetic makeup, and a variety of other factors. To assume otherwise is delusional and leads us into depression faster than anything else. This is just default human behavior. If I write something that directly challenges your values, you’ll have a different response to me than if I wrote something that supports your values.

As an example, I had a new client call me on the phone a few years ago. She was in the middle of a suicide attempt and found my phone number on a newspaper, upon which she was placing her drugs. I asked her why she called. She was crying, upset, and obviously emotionally traumatized. I asked her why she wanted to kill herself. As with many cases of this type, for years, she has been overwhelmed with grief and other emotions that were running her with stress and anxiety. I asked her when it all started. She spoke of her ‘soulmate’ who cheated on her with her best friend, married her, and took custody of the two children they had.

This person had a high level of fantasy she was placing upon her husband or ‘soulmate’ at the time. As a result, she couldn’t embrace the reality of what happened, thus creating a perfect scenario for longterm emotional stress and depression, resulting from the gap between her reality and her fantasy. Her fantasy about him was so strong that it was more powerful than the pain of what he did, in her perception.

I asked her to describe how her ‘soulmate’ in fact wasn’t a soul mate. This line of questioning isn’t something she had thought about before, but after just 15 minutes, I had her soulmate turned into a normal human being with emotional challenges just like her. Once she got to that point, she was able to start appreciating that there were major benefits to being away from him. Within 15 minutes this person went from suicidal to loving her life as it is, simply by clearing the illusion that she ‘lost’ a ‘soulmate’ and he should still be with her. And as a result of our short session, she decided to go back to school and start empowering herself instead of living under the depression of fantasies.
Start planning and acting on goals that inspire you (and say no to those that don’t)

Unless we intentionally do things with our life that inspire us, our time, money, energy, and focus will be taken up by things that don’t. Besides dealing with traumatic experiences, the second most depressing experience is living a life in which you’re not being fulfilled by what you’re doing every day. If you’re not waking up thinking ‘I can’t wait to get started on today,’ you’re not really waking up.

Start paying attention to what is actually important to you. This isn’t what you think should be important to you, or what others think should be important to you, it’s what is actually important to you. To determine this (and also to help determine your values), ask yourself how you truly love to spend your time? What do you truly love to talk about? What are the things you plan for, that are truly meaningful to you? Ask yourself, “What are the things that are still important to me, when I’m away from all my friends, families, and responsibilities?” Use these answers to guide your life. Say yes to opportunities that inspire you and align with your unique values. Say no to those that you feel would be a sacrifice to what’s important to you. This isn’t to say you should never engage in new activities, but the most successful people I’ve ever met only really do what inspires them. If you can see a new activity as helping you achieve what’s already inspiring to you, you’ll have a greater level of engagement in anything new instead of reluctantly doing things you don’t love.
Meditate (or do something that gets you present)

If you’re not present in your life, you’re less capable of being self-aware and making decisions that are good for you. Meditation is one way of getting you there, but it can also get in the way. Meditation is not an escape from your problems, but rather a reminder of what you really feel like — what you really think like, beyond all the illusions and judgments, infatuations and resentments.

For some people, meditation comes in the form of yoga. For others, it comes in the form of making a model airplane. Whatever form of meditation you do, it’s important to keep doing it. It can help solidify a place in your life where you can practice being you. It’s easy to get caught up in everything going on, but getting caught up isn’t equal to empowering your life. Use your meditative time to help you solve the lingering challenges that are piling up. The more challenges you solve during your day, the less carried over challenges you’ll have tomorrow, which can help you be more inspired to keep going.

I recommend during your meditations to ask yourself what is getting in the way of you being fully alive and present in your life. Write down what comes up and start brainstorming how to solve these challenges. Ask your friends for advice. Use your resources to discover the solutions. The more ‘in time’ you are with your present reality, the more you are capable of doing in it. When you are constantly dreaming about how your reality was or should be, you’re less capable of taking action in your life and the more you’ll withdraw from it, leading you to emotional depression over time.
Stabilize your wins and your downs

The majority of adult depressions, in my experience, don’t make sense to the person experiencing it. They often say, “I was out the night before. It was the best night ever. I went to bed and woke up with depression.” This is a very much misunderstood function of intention. If you say you just had the best day ever, you have set up a belief system that makes every day from now on, terrible. Many people aren’t willing to admit that the beliefs they make up are so tuned in this way, but they are.

For example, I was finished my clinic work day, driving home with my friend, and we had just completed a series of incredible transformations with clients. We were riding so high in our elations that we literally said, at the same time, today was the best day ever. In that exact moment of supreme elation, our phones rang with an automatic voice saying that the clinic security alarm was going off. We were literally being robbed at that same instant we celebrated our gain.
The law of balance doesn’t discriminate.

If you don’t balance yourself, the world will, or your body and mind will, to ensure you aren’t looking back on wins but instead focusing on continuing to serve the world for now and the future. I often take clients, who have recently had this ‘elating’ and next morning ‘depressed for two weeks’ phenomenon, through a series of questions that helps them identify the downsides in the ‘up’ experience, which, when done, the client can no longer identify with the depressed feelings. It’s gone, simply, because the elation has been balanced.

Of course, not everyone is wired to experience this form of depression, but with pre-existing memories, especially childhood traumas that haven’t been emotionally balanced, a person becomes highly susceptible to experiencing elations and depressions because their nervous system is still wounded by the earlier traumas. When this occurs, the person is often stuck in a fight or flight mode, with their defenses up, literally, in a state of anxiety in the background for years. The nervous system was never designed to hold on to an emotional pain for so long and eventually, when that pain is escaped by an elating experience, withdrawing from that elation can slam a person back into their pre-existing trauma, psychologically and physiologically.

Imagine running a nervousness in your body for 30 years, behind the scenes, covering it up with eating ice cream or some other addiction. When you get slammed back into those traumatic feelings, you’ll really experience them, to the extent that you are stuck in bed for two weeks. This is what depression really is and it’s why it’s very important to balance our emotions in our traumatic past. By doing this, you shut off your fight or flight response and become more able to function normally, without triggers, and without the super-highs and inevitable lows.

With these 5 tips, you’ll be better equipped to handle depression than 99% of people in the world who have it. It’s not easy, but it’s not supposed to be. However, the rewards are worth a lifetime.

https://dantewest./2016/02/06/5-things-you-can-do-to-overcome-depression-using-your-mind-without-medication/