₦airaland Forum

[quote author=ekt_bear]This woman should cry out to her god. If her god is not strong enough to save her from penury, then perhaps she had better listen very well to her brother's advice, and consider choosing the God of her brother.

Or of what use is this god she serves if she remains in poverty?

Or does she want to benefit from Oyedepo's God while also serving another?[/quote]I'm highly surprised you believe worldly wealth is a measure of ability or otherwise of a God.
In any case, the cousin that converted to Christianity is the poorest in our own family, with her husband. Yet, we didn't abandon her. And in all modesty, just 2 days ago, she sent me an sms for financial assistance and, as usual, I offered.

The biggest trick people fall for in this part of the world is this 'serve my God and become rich' preachment. I wonder how people fall this kind of things when an average common sense is enough to know that there are poor Muslims, just as there are Christians and ditto for financial success. After all, Abiola, richest man in Nigeria until his death was a Muslim, same for his successor, Aliko Dangote.

I remember when we were in the university, our Christian and fellowship-going friends made it look as if academic success is a function of their spirituality. Every semester, they wondered how those of us that were not just Muslims, but practising ones, trounced them in exams. I even remember one room mate that, when Adeboye visited our campus and prayer rains fell in the capacity-filled venue, all Christians that attended the event will make 5 point that semester. How lowly can a university student think!

My point is, it is no brainer that anybody can succeed in this world, in terms of material possession or some other possessions, irrespective of religious affiliation.

All this my God cannot make you poor is arrant BS to me. If you want to preach to me, go to the root of my belief, compare the basis, the foundations, the scriptures, the fundamental beliefs and let's compare notes on that. Not some tale by moonlight that I am poor because I don't worship your God.

Nice one.

olawalebabs: This man has a way of making comparison. Good write up. Mallam

Yeah, I like the way MM compares things/events.

Some do, to some its just some theory.

Many of them have integrity as one of their key core values, but they fail in it.

Nothing to apologize for. I mentioned she and Funmi fight anytime they meet. It's a fact, just as everyone knows Beaf and Gbawe don't see eye to eye.

So what's the big deal? More so, I can't count the number of direct, intentional insults she hurled at me anytime we meet in neutral threads, from calling me a religious bigot to fulani ass-licking dude. And this is the person you're asking me to apologize to, for a statement of fact for that matter.

Let's settle for 'Boko Haram and the rest of us'. I will invite an external ustaz within the estate to deliver the brief 20-minute talk. I've listened to him talk on BH in mosque couple of times in the past.

Mahatma Ghandi: This is one of africa's problems,how can an institution bring a one time military dictator with lots of moral questions on his character to give a lecture,this is why other continents don't take africa seriously,IBB giving them a lecture is an endorsement on all IBB did as military head of state and also a vote of confidence on his person,until we learn as a nation to distance ourselves from criminality and criminal behaviours we will continue to get it wrong.

Best critique of the plan, not some baseless criticisms and comments like coup.

Weretivity.

maclatunji: When I saw that your thread on NL rivalries (I would have been second or third to respond on it). I thought it was ill-advised but kept silent.

I think you should just apologize to tpia for any unintentional offence caused and let us move on.

Apologize ke.

The thread is not offensive. I do such profiling/chronological threads from time to time to time, since at least 2008. The now widely accepted and forum-wide 'sectional poster of the year' award is my brainchild and product of these historical chronologies I do. No big deal, rivalry is not an insult. Whoever takes offence in it, that's his/her business. Why is it only Tpia that will take offence in it.

I will NEVER apologize.

Who's going to deliver the lecture? Which of the two topics up there are we settling for?

stillwater: Wow, I don't think I'll place the Beafs or the Gbawes as top 10 when it comes to rivalries on NL, no offense. These ones don't even get personal.
I think people were really trusting when they newly joined NL. Posting on forums was kinda new, so it was like people were babies on the net.
The first dirty fight I saw on NL was between David and Pataki. . .shame even catch me for them to be honest. As a new member then, I was so shocked.
How did Seun even manage? He didn't even have moderators then, lol. I remember seeing a thread where he was asking if Jackal should be banned or not, buhaha. Pele Seun.

I have to agree with you. In the early years of NL, 2005-2008, there were some forum-shaking fights that were capable of shutting down the whole forum. Those were my early years on Nairaland. Politics section wasn't so popular then like Romance, Religion and Sports.

Anyone remembers Davidylan Vs Spikedcylinder?

Mac,
Michelin is actually correct. It's an historical, carried-over beef. That was the thread that sparked her beef with me, although before then I remember she used to call me 'fulani ass-licking'

I think there was ceasfire for about 1 year before my thread on rivalry reactivated the beef.

If you're in Ikorodu and wish to come, it's 10 minutes by Ferry, interestingly. So if you don't mind, you can save traffic time by ferry.

VENUE:

CONVERGENCE
Sheikh's Mosque, Harmony Estate, Langbasa, Ajah, Lagos


Description:
By Public Transport: Oshodi/Obalende/CMS/Anywhere to Ajah - drop @ last bus stop/Ajah market - cross to the left side and join join bus going to Langbasa - drop @ Langbasa junction bus stop and take bike to Harmony Estate(Sheikh's Mosque). That's the convergence point.

Driving: Ajah - turn left to Langbasa - connect Addo-Badore-Langbasa road and drive straight down to Addo roundabout - make a 180 degree turn at the roundabout and drive down to Langbasa junction - turn right and enter Harmony estate and ask of Sheikh's mosque

IFTAR PROPER: Just around the mosque side. We will proceed after monghrib.

You may call 07036442913 if you need help.

Deedee49: Funny how u who is the most hated could start a thread on others! There's just one name dat makes dat list: TPIA@!!!

Tell her o

Odunnu: She's not really interested in being a MOD anymore.
She's getting married to Jarus

Olohun m'aje
I reject it. Who go marry that lonely over-40

Can we put this in poll as and see who's actually the most hated Nairalander?
If it doesnt turn out to be Tpia, I will resign as a Nairaland Mod and quit NL?

Wizeboy: Seconded
Jarus - lets hear from you on-time please...

I will do later today, insha Allah.

HORSE OF CALIGULA
By Mahmud Jega

There is nothing in the Constitution that says Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson should not appoint the First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan to the position of a permanent secretary in her husband’s home state. But that was because the Constitution did not envisage that a state governor here would use his power to appoint key government officials the way the Roman emperor Caligula exercised his absolute powers.


At the swearing in of Mrs. Jonathan and 17 other new permanent secretaries in Yenagoa last week, Governor Dickson said there was nothing wrong or illegal about her appointment and that it was done on merit. The men and women he appointed were the most senior civil servants from the various local governments in the state, he said.


That is all very good, except that certain things Mrs. Jonathan said soon after her swearing in as a perm sec tended to undermine the governor’s claims on her behalf. Speaking to reporters soon after the ceremony, the First Lady said as a civil servant in Bayelsa State, she had not been promoted for 13 years!

The question is, if she had not been promoted for 13 years, how did she become the most senior civil servant from any local government, as the governor said? Thirteen years is nearly half the maximum 35 years that anyone can legally put into the service of a Nigerian state. A civil servant who goes for half the length of his entire career without promotion can hardly be described as meritorious, such as the governor now painted. Ideally, an officer who was not promoted for 13 years should be shown the way out of service.

Remarks made in Abuja last week by the First Lady’s spokesman Ayo Osinlu also set me wondering whether the new permanent secretary knows her service onions. Osinlu said, among other things, that Mrs. Jonathan will not receive a salary as a permanent secretary. That shows fundamental unfamiliarity with the General Order [GO], the bible of the old civil service.

In 1977, when I was doing a student temporary job at the Public Service Commission [PSC] in Sokoto, I overheard a conversation between the Principal Assistant Secretary [PAS] Alhaji Abdullahi Abarshi and the Staff Officer, Mr. B. A. Kolade-Jah. It was about some temporary staff who offered to continue working for free because the budgetary vote for temporary staff was exhausted. The PAS however said, “You cannot work for the government free of charge. Section 130 [I think that’s what he cited] of the General Order says there shall be no unpaid labour.” It was a revealing statement for me because when we were growing up in the village, we often heard teachers and other small civil servants say “bature ya hana aikin banza.” That is, “the Whiteman [synonymous in those days with ‘officer’] has banned working for free.”

If Madam is not familiar with such fundamental provisions of the General Order, how effective could she be as a perm sec? t The rule about no unpaid labour operates in the United States too, which was why during the two World Wars, many wealthy businessmen who opted to work for the US Government as their contribution to the war effort but who had little need for the salary were put on a pay of $1 a year. They were called “a dollar a year men.” Among such men was Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy, father of President John Kennedy. So as a seasoned civil servant, I expected the First Lady to at least propose to receive N1 a year salary as a perm sec.

If she is not very familiar with the General Order, is she familiar with the Financial Regulations, “FR” as the old timers called it? Don’t forget, a perm sec is the accounting officer of his ministry, a very serious matter because he is responsible to the Public Accounts Committee of the State Assembly for every kobo spent by his or her ministry.

This matter became the subject of an interesting exchange at the very top back in 1988, when the Babangida military regime embarked on civil service reforms. As part of those reforms, directors-general replaced permanent secretaries as the administrative heads of ministries. Another aspect of the Babangida reforms proposed to make ministers, instead of the DGs as accounting officers of their ministries. This proposal was strenuously opposed by the then Head of the Federal Service Alhaji Adamu, Wazirin Fika. In the course of a frosty exchange, IBB retorted that civil servants were not the only Nigerians who were patriot enough to safeguard public funds. The HOS however said it was not a matter of patriotism but of training, because “any civil servant who rises in the service to the position of permanent secretary would have internalised the Financial Regulations” which were at the heart of being the accounting officer.

Obviously, Wazirin Fika was referring to the situation where a person joins the civil service as an Administrative Officer Grade II of Grade Level 08 and steadily rises over a minimum 27 year period to become a perm sec. Don’t forget, that’s the same premise for the Oronsaye reforms of 2008 that a person should not be a perm sec for more than 8 years, because if he became a perm sec after a minimum of 27 years in service, he has only 8 more years to serve anyway.

It was in the Wazirin Fika’s private library in Kaduna that I first saw a copy of the FR in 1992. It was an old grey copy from the 1950s, neatly packed together in a shelf alongside annual budget estimates and civil service circulars dating back to colonial times and the First Republic. I wanted to ask to borrow a copy so I could go home and read it, but the way I saw Waziri handling the books like so many fragile eggs, I decided against asking.

Now, I am not saying that the Nigerian civil service has not changed since those days [mostly for the worse]. Still, I cannot help but wonder if a teacher and community bank marketing officer who has been on a leave of absence for 13 years knows enough about FR to be made the accounting officer of a ministry, perhaps one drenched in derivation money. Quite alright, the new perm sec has probably seen more money than there is in the Excess Crude Account, but the operating financial rules of the First Lady’s office, a mixture of politics, philanthropy, grandiosity, pompousity and personal generousity are not the same as those of the civil service.

Then there are other small matters of service etiquette. At the swearing in ceremony last week, Governor Dickson told the new perm secs not to involve themselves in politics. This rule was immediately violated by Mrs. Jonathan. Speaking to reporters just outside the reception hall, she chided critics including the Governor of Lagos State for saying that the First Lady’s office is not in the Constitution.

She also called on the National Assembly, which is currently reviewing the Constitution, to insert her office into it. She said, “We the wives of political office holders, if our name is not in the constitution and our husbands will retire with full benefits then they should find a role for us when they are amending the constitution. They should look into our own affairs.” That makes her the only civil servant in Nigeria who has the authority to lecture the National Assembly on a hotly political topic.

You see, Governor Seriake Dickson was probably right that in making this appointment, he was exercising powers conferred upon him by the Constitution. The Roman emperor Caligula was also exercising [absolute] powers conferred on him when he had his favourite horse Incitatus attended to by many servants. Incitatus had a stable of marble with an ivory manger, purple blankets and a collar of precious stones. It was fed with oats mixed with gold flakes. One day, in a fit of exercising power, Caligula appointed Incitatus a consul.

http://dailytrust.com.ng/index.php/daily-columns/172370-horse-of-caligula

OlaAjia: Clearly, the young chap is more conversant with the urgent need to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle that most of our educated elite. I'm proud of him!

I'm sure your Health Education teacher in primary school will not be proud of you for this comment.

[quote author=~Bluetooth]Jarus - Bus conductor[/quote]I noo get shenji o. Obalende/Mushin straight

. Just seeing this.
This old woman don pursue me reach here. Na wa o

"He's in good shape. We thank God for his mercies. Thanks" - Femi Adesina(Kulikulii), Sun Deputy MD, in response to my enquiries now.


Soothing to hear. May God see him through.

Beretta92: Terrible! Am an ardent reader of his column.Love d sarcastic n funny way he outlines his points n arguements.Hope he recovers n gets back on his feet pretty soon.

Yes, he is very funny and sarcastic. I remember his article titled 'I also want to go umrah'. Very funny, narrating how, when he went to Abuja for something, all the public officers had gone to Mecca for umrah.

OMG, I hope Steve is not dead o.
I still sent him an email(article for publication in his paper) recently.

OMG, let me call Femi Adesina(their DMD) straight away

Ajanlekoko's points are very helpful. I especially realize what wonders his no 6 on synergizing. I realize sending formal emails and memos slow down work sometimes. So I try to build informal friendship with colleagues, especially from other units. So when I need something from them to get my work done, I will just give a phone call or walk up to their desk "Hey, Wale, abeg wey that schedule? Send it to me asap. Trust you're performer(psyche)" and when he delivers, I show some appreciation "Great job. Thanks." Sometimes coopying his boss. That method works wonders, especially on my HR guys

The book 'Eat that frog' was helpful to me in this regard.

Mine goes like this:
1, Get a note, first thing on taking my seat every morning is to write down tasks I want to achieve for the day. I tick as I complete one and feel a sense of accomplishment.

2, Prioritize: rank the tasks in order of importance
3, Try to think on paper. Jot down every single thing. As new issues come up, take a note.
4, Look up to someone. Know that there is no two ways to getting to the top than being diligent and hardworking. This will motivate you.

Maximus17: Are u serious? Make sense i tink AAT ACA are beta recognizd than those who exemptd it 4 p.e stages

No. ACA is ACA, no matter the route.