₦airaland Forum

Invitation sent 2 weeks earlier. Everyone looked forward to it. The came the Friday evening, checking in into Golden Tulip Hotel, Accra, Ghana are the following:

1, Jarus
2, Dayokanu
3, Maclatunji
4, Desola
5, OAM4J
6, Jaybee
7, Seun
8, Ifyalways
9, R231
10,Sagamite
11,Cooger

12, Musiwa

Friday evening - after checking in into individual rooms (some may decide to share), drop bags, take a shower and and meet for dinner. Regular gists at dinner. Travel experience, familiarization, banters etc

Everyone goes back to sleep.

Saturday morning - meet for sports,(lawn and table tennis), everyone teasing Seun, Coogar and Saga teasing DK on football; later back to rooms to freshen up and meet again at buffet for breakfast

Rest of Saturday - Goes on some sight-seeing. Musiwa joins. Shout of Alaafin of Canada rent air.

Saturday evening: - Converge again. Discussions and banters on Nairaland and Nairalanders. Desola making everyone laugh, DK throwing the ajasas, everyone 'interrogating' Musiwa, teasing him about Canada, Unilorin, Oodua etc. Fun evening together. Gists last till late night. Everyone goes to bed.

Sunday morning: meet again for breakfast. Few discussions on Nairaland. Seun asks for everyone's honest assessment of Nairaland. Everyone bares mind to him. Then everyone goes back to room to pick bags and head to the airport.

What an explosive weekend.

AND In a situation where a company pays VAT but intentionally does not charged charge to its customers due to obvious reasons,how do u go about,do u require any receipts from those suppliers who charges you VAT,knowing fully well that most companies dont remit VAT to the Govt,but keep on including it in the invoice.

I'm not sure I got this well.

VAT
General principle: Applicable in all transactions, except those listed by the VAT Act as exempt.

Those exempt include
Medical and pharmaceutical products and services (hospital bills, drugs etc)
Educational materials (books etc)
Basic food items
Oil exports
Agric transactions/equipment
Plant & equipment for a gas project
Exported services
Plays/performance for education
etc

NOTE: If a foreign vendor performs the service entirely outside the shore of Nigeria (i.e earned the income from abroad), it is not subject to Nigerian WHT or VAT.

Jarus,enlighten me more on WHT and VAT: On what invoices and transactions is WHT & VAT deducted?

General principle:
WHT - if an income is subject to Nigerian corporate tax (i.e the payment is to a Nigerian company or to a foreign company that performed the service in Nigeria), WHT is applicable. Otherwise, it is not applicable.

Exceptions:
-if the transaction is in the ordinary course of business
-if there is no contract or PO
-Over-the-counter transactions e.g you just walk into a shop and buy something, WHT is not applicable.
-if it is a reimbursement, provided there is 3rd party evidence to that effect
-From the above and other explanatory notes issued by FIRS, the following specifically are not subject to WHT (telephone bill, hotel invoices, you just walk into Megaplaza and purchase grocery etc)

nitrogen: You really did stick a pin in my ass here, cos my darling football club just had her own share of the karma thing yesterday, a real pain in the asss.

Meanwhile, nothing is wrong with networking/legging up/lobbying/connection/padi-padi things, so far it is not the unholy type, and the main is to do things that are morally accepted in the society no matter the circumstance or situation around. We shouldn't be a fan of egoism.

As for Nitrogen, it is like this:

1. Go to a top notch school if you want to get a pali outside the shores of Naija.

2. Network people, it is quite important because it will reduce the stress and time to get a nice job.

3. Those up there, do well to help others too so they can get to the top, it is necessary.

4. Lastly, be the best you can intelligently/intellectually, because normally, networking should only help recommend you, you will need to write tests, go through various processes (due process) so you can be the best for the job.

Nb: I think big guys and top notch guys are those in the thread, so they do not need those thrash up there (except number 3, which I believe they always do), it is for 'them' starters like us.

Good take-away from the thread. Good luck bro.

Afam4eva: I think people's IQ should be used for placements into non-technical jobs. All these university certificates are rubbish imo. These days i don't see the difference between the so-called graduates and high school graduates.

Partly agreed, but I won't dismiss certificates just like that.

Question is, how do you measure the IQ, especially when you have a large pool of applicants? Definitely, 'testing the IQ' of all of them costs you a chunk of resources. So in a way, the way to prune down to cost-effective size is to look at past records, usually summarized in certificates and few other things. You then begin to subject them to your own test of intelligence/capability (tests, interviews etc) where they are expected to prove their worth/defend their certificates. You can see it is difficult to throw away certs just like that.


In most cases, your certs only get you shortlisted. If a first class or a Caltech grad doesn't perform well in test/interview, I'm not sure his certificate can help him.

coogar: i like that word - lobbying!
in a nutshell, jarus and ajanlekoko are lobbyists after telling us they got to their pinnacle of achievement through their hard work and end to end burning of candles. no wonder ajanlekoko is always visiting bars pretending to watch barcelona.

20% football talks, 80% legging up talks!



it's not wrong in principle.
however, it depends on the information you got while exploring deeper. the crux of the matter is you have an advantage over the bookworm who sat a home cramming or practising psychometrics.

Is sex- or bribe-for-job right in principle?

coogar: jarus, exploring google and linkedin is definitely legal and ethical!
however, it became questionable when it went further into meeting up to get vital information. like you said yourself, you got "vital" information. information that is not readily available on the internet. information that would be the difference between the successful applicants and the cast-aside.

think about it - is it an unfair advantage or not?

So research should end on what is available in public space? No need applying one's sense to put into use whatever one gets from the public space? That is what makes the difference. If A and B have same information (or can access same information) and B works further with his information to get better result, it is wrong?

nitrogen: Egbon, the end justifies the means, so far both na to achieve the same objective, should we care about the way Mr A and Mr B got to the same destination? Might it interest you that Mr A although used an informal means, got to that place ahead of Mr B. Then there will be a round of applause and a standing ovation for him.

Abi now.

But there is what is called for karma for one that gets there through unhloy means. I don't believe the end justifies the means. The means is equally important.

[quote author=~Bluetooth]What the heck is borokini ? Is that a yoruba word ?[/quote]Awa borokini eeyan loye

coogar: how so?
networking is meeting up people to share ideas and so on and so forth. would you say people who met via facebook or twitter to meet up and have sëx isn't networking? come on - jarus! of course, it's networking - the details of what is shared maybe different but the meeting itself is networking.

bad boi. Which kain network for bedroom

coogar: it might not necessarily mean sleëping around - say i work in company XYZ and your research took you to me asking for information and i tell you what to do, what to say and what your interviewers would be looking forward to see/hear.....,is that not an unfair advantage? is this not like networking to meet a lecturer who would then tell you to read chapter 4 and 6 of your ababio chemistry textbook?

!

If my competitor had been smart enough, he would have researched and got same information. It is competition and you go extra mile for edge. I started with Google, before it directed me to linkedin, explored further, added 2 and 2 together, got a valuable information. Isn't Google publicly available to my competitor with 'leg-down'?.

coogar: you are wicked!
so there's formal and informal networking? jarus, what do you have to say to this?

He is kidding. Bribery, sex or money-for-job are never networking, formal or informal.

nitrogen: Sincerely, I really get Mr Cooger's point, to call a spade a spade, networking is networking, whether you as a lady intend sleeping with an oga to get a job or have an edge over others in any job application, or you lobby to get information of interviewers and details of tests to be written, or you meet with an ED so he can recommend you and put you ahead of others, or whatever and whichever way, they are all to achieve an objective, earn an undue advantage, get an edge over others and get the much coveted job, after that, since there is always in-house training, and others, it may not be difficult to get to the top/progress within the shortest period. But wait! We are assuming that applicants/graduates/jobseekers here are all above average intellectually.
.

How on earth do you compare sleeping for job with researching what's an interview is about?

Maybe you want to tell me practising past questions, asking your seniors about a course or what a lecturer likes, is the same as sleeping for grade.

Ola one: Your uncle teaches your class in your secondary school, he informs the class about his mid-term test. A day before this test, he calls you in at home; tells you to open your book; starts coaching you about his subject. He chooses 1 or 2 topics (say algebra); gives you questions to answer; marks them and corrects your mistakes.

You go in for the test, and, ooops, same or similar questions stare at you.

If this isn't a leg-up, Nairalanders, please, tell me, what is it?
#networking/legging up/backdooring and paddying tinz

I think this guy has provided you answer:

[quote author=_babyshaQ]if you didn't review some past questions before an exam or you never asked seniors what to expect in an exam or better still, you didn't use past questions to prepare for aptitude tests. If you did, by your analysis, you cheated and should have your certificate revoked. You should blame the gods or your villagers for your misfortune and not others for being inquisitive and smart. Networking isn't illegal and is practiced the world over. I think Jarus is just wasting his internet Kbs on responding to your recent posts. Also, NB: What you believe in goes a long way in determining an outcome and I would rather believe jobs are gotten on merit than otherwise till I get one than vice versa.[/quote]I never had contact with my interviewer BTW.

coogar: you finished secondary school in 2003 at the age of 21? no wonder - you probably repeated each class from ss1 to ss3. lol!



it's networking in plain english but it's "paddy know paddy" in pidgin english. the moment you network, you have the unfair advantage unless you put the information you get from such relationships to public use and give every applicant am equal chance.

jarus - you are hereby found guilty of networking/legging up/backdooring and paddying.

omo ita ni e

Nothing wrong with networking, it is acceptable, and for me, still within the purview of merit.

What is wrong is bribing, sex-for-job, test question leakage, bypassing all recruitment process to hand job to unqualified crony etc

coogar: and you don't think these points give you an unfair advantage over your counterparts seeking the same job? if this isn't a leg up, then what is it? you meet people who tell you this is what you should expect, this is what XYZ loves hearing in oral interviews and blah blah blah and you don't think this is like seeing "expo" before an exam? how many job applicants do you think have access to this kind of information? i can assure you they are less than 1%.

It is researching, it is not expo.
Every applicant should have done smart reasearch.

Other scenarios of acceptable use of network

1, You meet ED of XYZ in a flight or a social club and got interacting. You discuss politics, football, management etc. He feels you are intelligent. You leave exchanging cards. You check him up with calls once in a quarter. You become friends. He needs someone to fill a position and poaches you from your company. I know someone one of these top Nigerian billionaires whose initial is O.O and has substantial interest in First Bank, begs to come and head his stockbroking firm without him applying. That is poaching.

2, You have a network of friends from school and you pass information around anytime there is an opening anywhere. I faciliated a friend getting job in my company through this. I just overhead the HR officer talking to one of my managers that they needed Accountants. It was more or less an informal discussion, like joke sef. I stylishly listened and contacted the HR lady when she got back to her desk. I told her I have quality CVs from my Chartered Accountant friends. She answered, 'you can let me have them, provided they are not expensive o'. I immediately called 2 of my friends (one was working in GT, the other P&G) to forward their CVs to me immediately. I passed to HR. HR called them, alongside a couple of others. They scaled the tests and interview. One got teh job, the other rejected over negotiation. That is netowrking.

Networking is very helpful in job search. It is acceptable practice the world over. That is why there are alumni network of top universities.

Some employers just don't want to go through the rigour of throwing open a vacancy and having thousands apply. They ask for recommendations. Some even poach - go all the way to another organization to poach someone.

Linkedin was helpful to me in securing my current job. When I was to go for interview, I did internet search about the company and got directed to linkedin page of some people that work in the company, surfed their profiles, dug further and realized that one of them was a former staff of one of my then company's subsidiaries, got in touch with my friend in that our subsidiary and enquired about XYZ - who, being an HR person, I guessed was likely going among my interviewers, asked about her temperament, worldview, etc. All these aided my preparation/template for the interview - knowing something about your interviewer beforehand. That's a legitimate way of putting networking to use. (the illegitimate way was to go to her house - which can be dug out by further research - and go with sack of Naira - which wont work anyway).

coogar: that's the twist about this whole thing.....

there's no job i have done that i wouldn't have coped with as a secondary school graduate - what i am trying to say is it would take the dumbest of a dimwit not to cope with any job regardless of his grade in the university. they make you go through all those hoops and when that dream job lands on your lap, you are basically checking the pressure and the temperature of a pump every 1 hour and you are getting paid £500 per day for it. tell a junior secondary school student to do that and he would certainly do it without stress.

that line of argument is a bit lame to claim no organisation would hire a dullard. every graduate who can read and write would cope in most organisations. 90% of the tasks are common sense. a bit of in-house training is included too so it's impossible for any graduate of any discipline not to cope with the tasks required. under the cover of this, applicants of all kinds slip through the system.

Good.

But it sometimes goes beyond that, especially as one progresses in career, from operational activities to tactical level.

For operational routines, yes, every Joe may be able to do that. But at a stage the job will go beyond that. Some decisions are tactical and unstructured, and you may not have a template for them. That is when the 'dullard' begins to fall apart. I'm not saying this also corresponds to school degree (a 2.2 may even edge out a First when it gets to this stage and even have a career progress, but a mechanical dullard will find it difficult when it gets to this level. This supports why a company will not want to hire a dullard in the first place - even at that operational level a seondary school pupil can do, because of long run.

Ola one: Sorry, I meant govt-owned school. I thought you're an ajepako like me who attended public school.

Lol. If you had used secondary school, yes

nitrogen: Btw, the new PITA has got something unclear to many, maybe 'una' can help out.
Here we go:

'CRA (Consolidated Relief Allowance), which replaces personal relief is to be computed as the higher of #200k or 1% of gross income, plus 20% of gross income'

Meanwhile gross income isn't defined by the act (as amended), but gross emoluments, does that automatically replace our gross income?

Yes, it does. Gross income = gross emoluments.

So which work or aspect of accounting is not monotonous?

Ola one: It isn't 90% in the UK, I'm sure. But, I can't vouch for Nigeria.

I have never said it doesn't exist. That would be denying the obvious. But I have decided to see the cup as half-full. I don't believe it is 90% in Nigeria, even in public sector. Rotten and nepotic as NNPC is, a friend got a job there ( which he rejected for his current Oando). This is a friend that lived under same roof with me. Definitely, not one one that can bribe because he doesn't have the resources, at least when the NNPC recruitment started. But he is a brilliant dude.

I have seen too many cases of people that got good jobs without any connection or man-know-man for me to believe merit is still not up to 50% in Nigeria. I just can't believe. Too many examples I know.

But, in Nigeria, you need to bribe one way or the other to get hired at any level. Even in your primary school in Offa, I'm sure most teachers there lobbied one way or the other to get in.

I'm just imagining who they bribed. Definitely not the school proprietress (a multi-millionaire) for a N20,000 per month teaching job, recruitment for which she supervised herself. Just wondering if the entire lifetime salaries of the teacher will be enough to bribe my toughie primary school owner.

Look at it this way, Jarus, you spent about 3 years at Oando, yet you were powerful enough to get a friend in. Now, assuming you sticked with the same company for 20 years, I'm sure you would be powerful enough to recruit your beloved "great Ife" (you dont miss any thread about OAU on NL ) graduates without any tests. .

What is the main essence of LinkedIn? What actually does "networking" mean? Why do we say Oxbridge, Harvard graduates get the best jobs through alumni this or that.
They don't have to write the tests for you. Shortlisting you alone represents a leg-up, trust me.

The lack of merit being talked of in this thread is that of bribing, senator writing notes, exams leaking, sex-for-job etc. I don't have any problem with networking. Networking is fair part of the game to me. I have recommended friends for 'shortlist' in organizations and they got called up for test (because they have good CVs, not because they were my friends. If they didn't have good CVs or didn't meet the employers' criteria, my recommendation wouldn't have helped. Some got the jobs, some didn't, because they couldn't scale the selection process (tests and interviews). That to me, is fair. They went through the standard selection process.

Ability to network (without any unholy means) and keep good friends is itself part of being smart. Good network gives you access to helpful information. For resource-saving reasons, some organizations may not advertise some positions (and it is not a crime not to advertise) and may rely on internal recommendations. For my friend that got Oando job, I only sent his CV to HR (you don't expect an Oando to advertise NYSC position) and they found his CV good enough, called him for test alongside other guys whose CVs they got and he was among the 4 0r 5 taken at the end, because of his performance in test. That was his first contact with the company, but later got permanent position after NYSC because he scaled another round of interviews for permanent position.

I don't have any problem with networking. Linkedin was helpful to me too in getting my current job. That is networking. Networking crosses the line of merit when shady practices begin to come in. If I announce on this thread that my company needs a qualified accountant and drop an email address for guys to drop CV to, or even specifically PM one person I have observed from discussions here as likely capable of doing the job, that is networking (we all got to know one another through this thread).

And with or without network, you can still get job in Nigeria.

Ola one: it is a common practice worldwide, even in sane societies let alone Nigeria. Keep telling us you didn't get a legup

Even in the UK, it is rife:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1126498/RYAN-SHORTHOUSE-Heres-liberal-elite-help-poor-climb-social-ladder--stop-giving-plum-jobs-friends-children.html

So it is common practice worldwide that 90% of jobs are on man-know-man?

Willgates: 'pictures of UR CAR' nt ur parent's...pls note

You are gracious at least, someone says it's my master's (as a driver).

r231:

Oh, you used a personalized number. I like that, but coming from a conservative family, my people go wan advise against such. Wanna pull off 'Jarus' for my next car too, by God's grace.

[quote author=x-fire]I will keep saying this: IT IS BLATANT FALSEHOOD that 90% of jobs in Nigeria is on man-know-man basis. It is callous to say so just because of his unfortunate experience.
I am a witness. I have seen hundreds of people get jobs on merit in both private and public organizations. I'm not ruling out getting a job through networking in Nigeria. I'm only saying it is highly exaggerated.
Jobs are few in Nigeria. Thus, only the very best and favoured get to have employment in Nigeria. I was once involved in a major recruitment involving thousands of applicants and they finally took only six of us. We never knew anybody. But it will be very difficult to convince the remaining thousands of unsuccessful candidates that we never knew anybody in the organization.
I'm not against any other info in the write-up (didn't bother reading everything)[/quote]That is the mentality I also try to make reason beyond.

Did some googling and this is looking true

"My husband hardly fell ill. He loved his family and his people until he died mysteriously. We don’t know the cause of his death. Governor Mimiko took him to the hospital without informing his family, including me his wife.

This was a 2012 news. Why would a governor take a man to the hospital without letting his wife know?

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news/how-mimiko-betrayed-my-family-widow-alleges/

phlame: History is characterized by tragic irony. Mr. Ademuyiwa Adeyeye, a former aide of Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, must have thought the steps he allegedly took to ensure the victory of the governor in 2007 governorship election in the state would change his life for better. But tragically, the steps led him and members of his family to sorrow, tears, blood and death.

In his shocking revelation in an interview programme on the only private radio station [ADABA FM] in the state last Friday, claimed they took several lives in different parts of Ondo state to ensure Mimiko’s victory in 2007 election.

Ademuyiwa revealed that Governor Mimiko sent him, the late Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Oye Alademehin, the late Senator Iwakun and one other person to India to consult marabouts.

According to him, they also went to a town in Ijebu land where they were told to go and be killing goats in different towns and villages in the state.

The lot fell on Ademuyiwa to kill the goats. But without knowing, he was killing human beings. After the killing, Ademuyiwa, who said he was well known among members of the drivers’ union [NURTW], said he met his wife on his way back and hugged her, but immediately his wife developed swelling breasts.

He said he spent all his fortunes on his wife’s health. Doctor eventually told him the wife had cancer of the breast and had to remove the pair of breasts. At the end of the day, he lost the wife. He also told listeners that he lost one of his children.

Revealing this, Ademuyiwa said “We went to India to make rituals. When we got to Ondo State, the governor and late Alademehin [a.k.a Dead Body] said we had to kill goats in different parts of the state for peace to reign. Of course, I was the one that killed the goats without knowing that I was killing human beings. On my way back, my wife met and hugged me. Her breasts began to swell. I took her to different traditional healing homes.

“When I did not get good result, I took her to the hospital. It was at this point that the doctor said it was cancer of the breast. They removed the two breasts, yet I lost her. I also lost my son. It was at this point that I was advised to go to a church in Lagos. It was there I met T.B Joshua who is from Akoko, he said I should go and confess my sins to the people of Ondo State”.

While narrating how they started the spiritual’s trip, Ademuyiwa explained that “When we were coming from Ijebu where will were giving a python snake which would bbe an instrument for the governor, some people laid spiritual ambush for us. Alademehin told me to drive on, because I was the one that drove the car, I told him no.

“He now called the Ijebu herbalist who told us that he already saw it. He then removed the embargo; we brought the snake and dropped it very close to the governor’s pond in Ondo. It is still there as I speak with you. If you doubt my story, go there. You will see the snake. You can also tune your TV to the Emmanuel TV and you will see my deliverance there.

“Everybody in the drivers’ union knows me very well. The governor came to me with N3million after losing my wife and a child. I told him I don’t want blood money again. I want peace in my family, not blood money”.

“When I visited the T.B Joshua’s church, [Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos ]the man of God told him to go and confess his sin, saying that he was the only precondition for him not to lose other children.

“I want you to forgive me. I don’t want to lose any of my children again. I have lost one of them as well as my wife. The man of God that comes from Akoko land with a big and popular Church in Lagos told me that until I confess and ask for your forgiveness, I will lose more people in my family. Every members of the drivers’ union knows me very well. The man of God gave me anointed water. I want you to tune to his TV channel if you are in doubt. You will see the day I was delivered” He said.

According to him, a python was given to them by one of the herbalists in Ijebu land. The dangerous snake, he said, is currently around Mimiko’s fish pond in Ondo town.

Speaking on the ordeal of his wife, Ademuyiwa said, the late Hon. Alademehin came to his aid by giving him money. He said among the people that went for that ritual, he was the only one that is alive and not afflicted by any disease, but not without losing his wife and one of his children,

His words, “I am the only one who is still alive and not afflicted by any serious ailment among the four of us who perform the rituals for Mimiko. After seeing the snake, I asked late Senator Iwakun if there would not be any repercussion. Iwakun said he did not mind whatever repercussion that might arise from killings and the python charm. Four days later, Iwakun gave up the ghost.

“Before the death of Iwakun, Hon. Oye Alademehin had an intractable ailment that led to his premature death. Governor Mimiko visited him on his sick bed in one of the Lagos hospital and promised him that he would take care of his family since he laid down his life for him to become the governor of the state. The last person that was privy to the devilish act is at Alagbaka in Akure, currently battling with paralysis.

“When the man suffered the killer ailment, Governor Mimiko gave him N6million. But that money could not cure his infirmity”.


http://dailypost.com.ng/2012/09/06/true-confession-man-lost-wife-son-governor-mimokos-election-rituals-t-b-joshua-connection/

rotflmao @ the bolded

mariannlove: jst want to knw if its compulsory for one to wear suit to an interview/apptiude test. Pls ur contributions wil be highly appreciated as am preparin for an interview.

What role? What sector (if you can name company, better)?