₦airaland Forum

Pope Francis delivered an impassioned sermon yesterday, during which he quoted a passage from the bible that said some sinners deserve to be tied to a rock and cast into the sea.

The Argentinian religious leader said Christians who donated money to the church but stole from the state were leading a "double life" and were sinners who should be punished.

Quoting from the Gospel of St Luke in the New Testament, he said: “Jesus says 'It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea',” because "where there is deceit, the Spirit of God cannot be".

Without directly mentioning corruption within the Catholic Church, in his sermon he described those involved in corrupt practices as “whitewashed tombs”, explaining that “they appear beautiful from the outside, but inside they are full of dead bones and putrefaction.” He said: "A life based on corruption is varnished putrefaction.”

His sermon came during his daily morning Mass inside Casa Santa Marta, the guest house he has lived in since being elected pontiff in March.

On Friday, he also condemned corruption, asserting parents who earned through bribes or corrupt practices had "lost their dignity", and fed their children "unclean bread".

He said: "Some of you might say: 'But this man only did what everyone does!'. But no, not everyone! Some company administrators, some public administrators, some government administrators… perhaps there are not even very many. But it’s that attitude of the shortcut, of the most comfortable way to earn a living.

"These poor people who have lost their dignity in the habit of bribes take with them not the money they have earned, but only their lack of dignity!"

He compared receiving bribes as "like a drug" as people become "dependent" on the habit of bribes.

The Pope has made clear his intentions to tackle corruption within the Vatican and held a meeting with the Church's highest ranking whistleblower in October, after telling the Church in May that it “must go forward... with a heart of poverty, not a heart of investment or of a businessman” reminding it that "St Peter did not have a bank account”.

This one they included access bank which to me is another useless bank that charges my savings account with Birthday wishes,merry xmas,happy new year,happy easter,public holidays,advertorials etc like as if i send them message. If not for the mess intercontinental bank got themselves involved in which resulted to merging with access bank,nothing would have taken me to them.

Hello Fadelex,

Do you have a pic of the duplex you just finished building?

Fadelex: balustrade pix

Are you using fibre glass to build your own?

kzokul: A standard duplex wit d minimum cost will cost u notin less dan 30mils

Well you are making a point but i still feel some men will prefer it the other way round because of the amount they pay to get married mostly in the eastern part of the country and as such makes it very challenging for young guys to get married on time except those from the rich background.

flakky legend: It can never happen. even the indians are trying to abolish the thing cos they pay so much. they pay as much as $50,000 to get married to a man from a moderately rich background. Some girls never get married because of that and some poor parents kill their girl child at infancy cos of this.

Should Naija now go back to uncivilization after we have at least been a lil civilized in that aspect (marriage rites).

Don't be surprised brother. It sure will happen some day and i can't wait for that day

Hello Nairalanders,

In a country like India,women pays for the man's dowry and marital rites. If that should be practiced here in Nigeria will it be a welcome development or not. Your views about this please.

Mr man lets here word. what type of dignity and respect are you talking about? Because one person in igbo land is a saint and didn't get herself involved in it doesn't mean that the entire igbo women are saints. The only difference is that an igbo woman might do it in an expensive way but a yoruba woman may not and in my own conclusion don't use the word "our igbo women have dignity and respect" because that doesn't happen in most cases as am talking from experience

donchris9999: Hey mr man. Our Igbo women have dignity and respect the institution called marriage. That obasanjo slept with gbenga's wife moji, is not a guarantee that he will sleep with this lovely Igbo woman. we have dignity and respect marriage.

Why do Yoruba men see it as a trophy to always want to cling with Igbo women?

.

redsun: if she is got dignity will she be marrying into a cursed family? It os more like a german that marries a hitler.
You forgot our wise saying of eziafa ka ego.

It's ok my brother. Most times VIN doesn't lie so lets just await the arrival of your car because i did a VIN decoder from several other sites and it still stated C230. But i know from the picture that the engine wasn't a C230 because if i see one,i will know. But whether C230 or C180,you will still enjoy them both because the economy in it is almost same if not the same. So nothing to worry about just that the C230 is a supercharged engine while the C180 is not.

ziccoit: Eyah, sorry about that. It must be a spambot. Computer no get sense.

YK motors...My encounter with the issue of fake customs paper was the 1st and the last as it can never happen again. You can also testify that there are a lot of fake customs paper in both seme and idiroko depending from where you operate from and so many people have had similar issues too. I am not disputing the fact that with the help of an inside man you can get a customs duty price influenced. I did that too when i bought a 2002 Toyota Sienna and initially was told the customs duty will be #210,000 but i ended up doing it for #170,000 through my inside man. The same thing happened when i bought a 2007 Toyota Matrix and paid a reasonable amount for the duty as my own arguments are not based on duty but the price of some the cars you quoted.

I won't argue again with you about this but by the grace of God a transaction will proof all these points you are making. I believe in action and not words. Like i mentioned taste differs and if i am able to clarify that from you then all then i believe others won't have any issue. I rest my case.

ykmotors: Thanks.... All I know is that everybody has his/her own of price market, and I will still stand on my own word once you fail to call me when you were going to Cotonu so don't doubt my word and agree with what you seen in there.
Everything in dis life is a link, I bet you if you pay 10k for any car duty I will surely do it 8k, halve don duty of 2010 corolla for 220k why many ppls are doing it 300k also halve don 2005 Rav4 for 140k why others are doing it 220k. And about the fake duty you halved encounter maybe you don't what to open up for ppls here, am sure you already know that it's fake duty you pay for cause if truly you gave money to any agent to help you pay duty of a car and latter fall to that, I think u have right to arrest such agent and let others know such agent.
So mr Eyop, thanks for the info.

I also cannot wait to confirm same because someone banned me while trying to help with the VIN.

ziccoit: You are correct about your 2nd paragraph. There was a mixed up. The engine pix was actually for a 1995 C220 black ext colour. I couldn't get the engine pix of the car posted.

Although I am yet to see the car but I want to believe the vin belongs to the car and it is actually C230 not C180. Vin report revealed some specs that the agent did not mention which I later confirmed to be true. E.g sunroof, blue interior etc. I will update the house when the car land.

YK motors, Yes am aware about the way Cotonou market operates and it's not just to jump into the market. Yes i speak french and i have been coming to Cotonou market for several years now even though i am not a car dealer but only assist people on request. Yes i agree with you that several Lebanese are criminals but not withstanding you still find the good ones among the criminals. I specifically mentioned that i have 3 Lebanese that i have established personal relationship with and one out of the three of the Lebanese i knew him here in Lagos for many years before he joined the brother to transact cars so not everyone is bad. On cotonou immediately you enter the market you will see some boys (Demachel) coming out from no where to join you and if you make any attempt to price any vehicle when they are around,they will add the price to cover their settlement which am aware so i have several registered agents there that immediately they see me with them they don't attempt coming over.

You can still get the mileage immediately a vehicle is on except when you look at the car and feel that the mileage has been tampered with then you can confirm via the VIN which can be done immediately with the help of a black berry device or any phone that has an internet connection. Well i won't argue on the price you got the C300 because we all have thirst when purchasing an item be it a car or any other commodity but your thirst may not be my own. Just like the price you gave me for a 2001/2002 Toyota Sienna(#1,150,000 including customs duty) which i doubted your point and asked you to break down how you arrived at that price. You told me that the customs duty for that car is #140,000 and i confirmed from several agents have used in Idiroko and they told me that it's not possible get the customs duty for that price not to even mention the price of the car itself.

I bought a Toyota Corolla in the year 2008 and unfortunately i got the wrong customs duty paper for that car with the hope that everything was OK and i prepared and embarked on the journey but to my surprise i was stopped by Cutoms at Ofosu after Ore as i was travelling to Uyo and after they checked they told me that my papers are fake and i was shocked & couldn't even know what to say again. To cut the long story short,the car was seized and if not for the assistance of a high rank custom officer that i knew and he influenced and i paid #50,000 after spending 3days in the bush before the vehicle was released back to me and i vowed never to patronize any how person after purchasing my car and it is so rampant in either Seme or Idiroko border.

The Lebanese selling cars in Cotonou are not stupid so they would want to make profit for their business just like every other business man. When i contact agents to know the cost of getting a car i most times add an additional #150,000 to #200,000 to the quoted price because most times when you go it will definately not be your thirst and you won't be satisfied. Even some agents will just quote you the price after which you will be invited to come and buy only to get stucked after reaching the market and you will have no other option than to cough out an additional money.

Before buying any car,review them on websites like eBay,cars.com,etc to know the current market price of that car before proceeding to the market atleast with that you will be able to have an idea about your budgeted amount though i understand it will be cheaper than the Cotonou price but even on those websites you cannot get it for the amount you quoted here except for the accidented types so what are we talking about?? In the past Cotonou was not noted for tampering with mileage,body work repairs after which they place on stand for sale,working on engine before re-selling etc but these days you see it happen there life and direct because some of our Nigerian guys have sold those ideas to the Lebanese and their agents so if you do not check very well,you end up getting a junk.

ykmotors: Mr Eyop thanks, Cotonu market is not just a market you can just jump into to buy market, try to follow trust world person that is in the business not just someone that he doesn't know anything about the market. I get some little question for you pls, Do you speak Frensh? How long have you be dealing with cotonu cars? Do you search alone? In all once you fail to speak frensh you are out of the game, dis so call Lebanese that you price cars from him they are also thief, once they see you that you can't speak frensh or seen you with those area boys in cotonu so call (Demachel) 10 to 15% of the car you want to buy dey will just dey give fake prices, the price I gave above is to buy and clearing in cotonu down to border. And about the mileage the only wey you can know the real mileage of a car in cotonu now is to check the VIN,
Dis C300 2008 I price it yesterday. I will even post the picture of the one I price.

Muyesk, congratulations. So what it means is that with #7million i cannot build a 4 or 5Bedroom duplex?

I just can't help but LOL

Ayoolla: Where are the ladies on this thread?None can make any meaningful contribution now but when it comes to brazilian hair,Latest phones, PSquare etc they will comment and contribute like no tomorow...Chao SMH seriously

How much Dollar today inspired. Welcome back

VIN number WDB2020231A514477
Region Germany
Factory / Manufacturer Sindelfingen
Mark Mercedes-benz
Model C 230
Version W202
Body limousine
Engine 111.974 12 032130 - M 111 E23 Usa; Gasoline Engine With Injection System
110 Kw (150 Ps / Din) From Model Year 97
Gearbox W 5 A 330; AUTOMATIC FIVE-SPEED TRANSMISSION WITH CONVERTER
Wheel Drive rear-wheel drive
Serial Number 514477

ziccoit: VIN:- WDB2020231A514477

Who can kindly look up this car for me.

It is supposed to be 1997 C180 classic. The pix I got shown the rear of the car without a badge. I just need to know whether it is truly C180 or C230.

I don't want to take gamble with fuel economy.

See pix below
It is 5SP Auto, auto climate control

Brother i won't be derailing YK motors thread but one thing you should know is that vehicle mileage and the title will contribute to the high price. You cannot expect a vehicle that has up to 120,000 mileage to have the same price with a vehicle that has like 65,000 mileage. I was in Cotonou to purchase a car some months ago and i saw a 2004 Toyota Corolla with 69,000 mileage Clean title for 4,100,000CFA last price and the Lebanese man was even doing shakara for me but i also saw another 2004(Salvage title with some rust) with 188,000 mileage for 3,220,000CFA i.e buying excluding the 500,000 standard clearing price to either Idiroko or Seme Border. But if you try to explain about the price to someone they will think you want to play gimmicks with them. You should also know that in Cotonou you will find more of high mileages and those are the ones the agent will quote for you. I just contacted the Lebanese now and he's telling me that the buying alone of that car is 10,000,000CFA clean title with mileage less than 80,000 while Clearing is 500,000CFA plus additional #400,000 Nigerian Customs duty.

tchayma: [color=#000099][/color]
@Eyop>really? Can u den give us an idea of how much a clean tiltle vehicle costs? Thanx.

As far as i know,as a girl you don't have a church until after you are married out of your parents house or church. So the most important thing is knowing God and not the church so let your parents do the needful which is investigating the guy in question and his family to know if the place you are going will be safe for you to enter and not about whether he's a Catholic or apostolic because that is never the main area of concentration except it's your own personal decision not to marry a catholic.

The governor’s spokesperson confirmed the death.
The Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Haruna Tsokwa, is dead.
Mr. Tsokwa’s age is unknown at this time.
He died of an undisclosed ailment this morning at the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo, the Taraba state capital.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Mr. Tsokwa took ill last Thursday and was rushed to hospital.
Kefas Sule, spokesperson Acting Governor Garba Umar confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Tsokwa had passed on.
“He died this morning, after just a brief illness,” he said.
Mr. Sule however declined to provide further details, saying the government would await the outcome of reports from the speakers’ doctors before making any further pronouncement on the matter.
There were speculations by some of the late speaker’s supporters that Mr. Tsokwa was poisoned, but they could not substantiate the claim. PREMIUM TIMES could also not independently verify the claim.
The late speaker had been a staunch supporter of Acting Governor Garba in the ongoing battle for the control of the state.
Mr. Tsokwa had escaped death by the whiskers on September 19 when suspected gunmen attacked his convoy along the Jos – Abuja road.
He escaped unhurt but some policemen in his convoy sustained various degrees of gunshot wounds during an exchange of fire between them and their attackers.
Mr. Tsokwa attended Federal University of Technology, Yola, and Government Secondary School, Ibbi, for his university and secondary education respectively.
He is survived by a wife and four children.

No offence YK motors. Sincerely i really doubt the prices you are quoting here because i don't think you can for instance get a clean title Mercedes Benz C300 for that amount. Even if you do,it won't be a reasonable mileage or may have been involved in an accident. I enquired about the 2008 C300 last week and the prices i got from several agents in Cotonou is quite different from what you quoting here. These are agents have tried and they delivered. Apart from that,i have direct contacts with about 3 Lebanese that i know personally and we have established a relationship together and they told me i cannot get it for that amount. So where are you getting yours?

more pics

The oil firm said the protest may have been caused by misinformation.
ExxonMobil operations in its Qua Iboe Terminal, QIT, base in Eket , Akwa Ibom State, were brought to a halt on Thursday, as youth and indigenes of the oil communities took to the streets to protest the non-settlement of the N26.5 billion oil spill compensation.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the protest, which was staged simultaneously around the company’s airstrip in Eket, Mobil Terminal in Ibeno, and Mobil Housing Estate in Eket, saw placard wielding indigenes of Eket Federal Constituency registering their displeasure over the alleged refusal of the company to fully settle the four oil producing local governments over the oil spill as previously proposed.
Some youth leaders under the aegis of Eket Federal Constituency Vanguard led by Isaiah Abia and William Mkpa, accused the management of ExxonMobil of being insensitive to the plight of the host communities, by refusing to pay the compensation for the 2012 oil spill incident that they claimed negatively impacted aquatic life and environment in the four communities in the area.
They claimed the incident had rendered several members of the communities jobless, apart from the deplorable condition of social infrastructure in the area and other hazards resulting from the extractive activities of the oil firm.
They threatened to completely cripple the operations of the company if its management failed to take steps to redress the problem, demanding the immediate redeployment of the Managing Director of Exxon Mobil, Mark Ward, over his alleged rejection of the overtures from the communities for dialogue.
At the Mobil airstrip in Eket, plantain suckers where planted at the entrances, while the youth locked the gate with padlocks, as a detachment of policemen deployed to prevent protest from degenerating watched from a distance.
Mr. Abia, who addressed the protesters at the Mobil Terminal, Ibeno, said there was no going back on their demand on the ExxonMobil management, saying the protest march came at the expiration of the seven days ultimatum issued earlier to the authorities of Mobil last week.
He said the people of the areas where totally against a suggestion that ExxonMobil wanted to use the oil spill compensation fund to execute projects in the communities, maintaining that such a notion was an attestation to the nonchalant attitude of the ExxonMobil management.
The Eket communities had asked the oil firm to fulfil its agreement of N26.5 billion compensation for the damage caused by the November 2012 oil spill.
They blamed the oil company for the recent abduction of the traditional ruler of Esit Eket, Ubong Peter Assam, which led to the issuance of an ultimatum for the monarch to be produced or risk the wrath of the communities.
Thursday’s protest followed a statement by the traditional rulers of the four local governments on September 25 rejecting the offer of N2.6 billion compensation offered by ExxonMobil management, which they described as grossly inadequate for the quantum of losses the communities suffered.
Another communique on October 16, signed by representatives from the four oil producing communities, also condemned the company for disregarding the agreements reached during the intervention meetings convened by the state governor, Godswill Akpabio, last year and on July 26 to resolve the oil spill saga.
But, ExxonMobil management in a statement in response to PREMIUM TIMES enquiry said the protest by the communities appear to have been instigated by misinformation about its activities, assuring that it was working towards an amicable resolution of the crisis.
“Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), operator of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)/MPN Joint Venture, confirms demonstrations near some of the Joint Venture’s facilities in Akwa Ibom State. We respect the right of people to protest peacefully.
“Regrettably, the demonstrations appear due to inaccurate information concerning the Joint Venture’s recently announced plans for multi-year, multi-billion social investments, across the state.
“We are working with all key stakeholders including our neighbouring communities and Akwa Ibom State government, to address the misinformation,” the statement from the company’s Public Affairs department said on Thursday.

It happened to your friend and not you so don't conclude that the same thing your friend passed through will happen to this man. You don't know the circumstances that surrounded that of your friend. Why on earth will they interrogate him like a criminal? If they decide to block the account after the whole investigation,good and fine but let him do the right thing.

marvis5077: if he reports to the bank, they would make him go through terrifying investigations. A similar situation happened to my friend. She wanted to be a good nigerian so she reported to the bank. She was interogated like a criminal suspect and her account was blocked. She was made to be coming to the bank every three days for a month to give reports and fill countless of forms. After the whole experience, she regretted ever reporting to the stupid bank. She didnt even get a 'THANK YOU'

OK then. Thanks bro.

calculusx: I experienced the same thing this morning around 6:30am but later got fuel by 7am. I can tell you there is no fuel scarcity whatsoever,I guess they didn't open ontime been a Sunday

We agree that some of the bankers are corporate thieves but why advice the guy the wrong way? If he complains at the bank about the money in his account it will be better for him because he has made it officially known to them. I am not talking of discussing it with the customer care unit but rather with the Branch manager that handles the affairs of the branch. Advising him to invest that money is bad because business is unpredictable and what if he invest the money and something goes bad along the line and the owner comes back for his money will you now be providing money for him to repay back?

marvis5077: my brother.....if i were u, i would wait for a while. If it was really a mistake and error in posting, the person who paid it would have cried to the bank and the bank would have contacted you without delay. Take my advise. Wait for a whille perhaps throughout this nov and dec. Dont ever make the mistake of contacting your bank because some of these bank staffs are coperate theives. By january, if you didnt hear anything from your bank, just withdraw the money and invest it in a good business. If the owner later show up after many years, you can easily pay him back his money out of this business earnings and you will be left with your flourishing business to enjoy.

Your response is imbecilic. Do you know the number of filling stations(Over 6 stations) that i passed before getting to the airport? Even when returning back from the airport around past 7am the same thing was noticed and i felt i should share on nairaland so that people won't have hopes only to get frustrated as a result of not getting fuel to buy. my tank level is below reserve because on my way back i tried several fuel stations and some of the workers there told me they told them not to sell. What will you do if you were in my shoes?

eaglechild: So because two filling stations along a road did not sell petrol to you by 6am on Sunday morning, you come up with this alarmist heading.
OP you deserve a good beating, your narration sounds imbecilic sorry to say.

Brother we don't need such flying cars in Nigeria oh. Have you imagined what it will be like if such cars are brought to Nigeria? Disaster bro

mohammad11: So we'll be seeing cars flying like butterflies. Wow!
Air traffic soon.

Do you know how many filling stations i met on my way to the airport that refused to sell fuel? I stay in Gbagada and from Gbagada all the way to Airport about 6 different stations refused to sell fuel. May be information has not reach the filling stations you mentioned because that's how it starts. So don't tell me i am spreading false information. I am still observing to know the outcome because i cannot risk driving out only to get a shocker.

Gabbysky: OP, if you live close to Ikeja, come to Cornoil and buy petrol, others selling much quantities include Mobil 1 and 2 Ogba, Total on Mobolaji Bank Anthony, Ascon in Ogba, Mobil Agidingbi, Forte in Agege at the rest.
So please stop spreading false info else u get banned for life.

Fresh Air to all Nigerians and whoever doesn't want fresh air, may only your curtain of fresh air close.

There was no information at all and thank God i had some fuel in the car and this is happening on a Sunday morning. I know so many people will be affected or stranded as a result of this.