true2god:
Your response is a sign of irrationality in your level of reasoning. Make your point and stop throwing diatribe.

Nigeria is a secular state with muslims, christians, african traditional religion adherents, etc. If muslims start asking for 'special' right to accomodate the arabian superstitutions\religions, that will only lead to more chaos when the christians starts asking for their right too.

One can dress modestly without puttin on hijab, and hijab is an arabian cultural dressings and not even an african way of dressing.

Atimes I wonder why human beings are fast retrogressing in reasoning.

LordReed:
I schooled in FGC Sokoto and female Muslims were allowed to wear a scarf instead of a beret and a tunic/trouser combo instead of the standard dress. We never had anyone complain that they were not allowed to wear the hijab. If agreements on what is proper are to be reached then I believe dialogue is the proper course of action rather than confrontation. Now that the court upheld the state's position I hope the participants will consider a sit down rather than a fight.

EvilBrain1:
The way forward is for Muslim students to stop their whining and obey the school rules. Your religion does not entitle you to any special treatment or exempt you from any rules that are binding on others. Your religion is your problem and yours alone, nobody is required to do anything to accommodate your beliefs. This goes double when those beliefs are irrational and don't benefit anyone in any tangible way.

If one religion comes out and says they want to go to school nakëd, are we going to change the rules to accommodate them? What makes Muslim beliefs carry more weight that those of any other religion?

Nigeria is a secular country with secular laws which don't respect any religion whatsoever. If Muslims have a problem with that, they can either try and change the constitution to favour them (good luck with that), or move to a country that recognises their particular brand of superstition like Saudi Arabia, Iran or ISIS controlled Iraq.

LordReed:


I think the Catholic nun analogy doesn't fit because while nuns are mandated Catholics are not, unlike Muslims where every female is enjoined.

My main sticking point with this whole issue is this, the students know the rules governing uniform wearing. The injunction compelling hijab was not made "yesterday", why the sudden urge to defy the school uniform rule? And if as you say it is all our money why not seek for the permission to wear a modified uniform? Why this I must have it my way? Another ancillary sticking point is since there were Muslims present when these rules were crafted how come none thought to stand up for the right to wear hijab? I have been around Muslims in my childhood and I don't remember the females wearing hijab at least not the ones my age back then. Is this development a new thing or what?

LordReed:


I thought they were protesting the abridgment of their fundamental human rights and as someone on another thread said/implied it also makes it impossible for female Muslim students to go to school since they must wear hijab. Is the implication that the richer ones like having their rights abridged or that they can pay not to wear hijab? Are those female Muslims free to violate whatever Qur'anic injunction mandating hijab simply because their parents have money?

LordReed:


So then how come the Muslims are not protesting that? Are they not proscribing their religious freedom?

LordReed:


The reason isn't obvious to me. Can you elaborate?

Good day reader:

Recently, Justice Modupe Onyeabor of the Ikeja High Court dismissed the suit brought against the Lagos State Government by two Muslim pupils from Lagos State as it concerns the ban on wearing the hijab in public schools. She ruled that the ban does not violate the rights of Muslims as stated in the Nigerian constitution. Reason being, Nigeria is a secular country, etc. etc.

Granted, the ruling sounds fair enough (depending on your perspective) on paper. But it also ignores the blatant hypocrisy that is manifest in Nigerian governance when it comes to the government and religion. The same government that claims to be a secular one, sponsors yearly pilgrimages for faithfuls of Muslim and Christian faith. Then again, the uniform is meant to be, as the name implies, a uniform!

Clearly this is a thorny issue for Muslims, seeing as their rights (as they perceive) to freely worship is being tampered with. As is the responsibility of the government to maintain order where (as they perceive) it is required. So what then should be the way forward for the Muslims in Lagos State and Nigeria?

Let’s look at the options:

1. Appeal the ruling and get a favorable decision… and the ensuing lawsuits, as only one side is ever going to be favored.

2. Accept that the government has the right to determine the standards for dressing in its schools (that it funds)… and deal with the disgruntled reactions from the Muslim community.

3. Establish more Muslim schools where Muslim pupils can freely express and practice their faith without fear of discrimination.

My pick would be #3, obviously. And here’s why…

The government is allegedly by the people, for the people, and to the people. Is it possible for the government make its policies in such a way that it caters to desires of all of its citizenry? Nope. If you clamor for freedom and you seek such from your government, you surely won’t get all the freedoms you request. Simply because it affects the freedoms of other people.

An example of a community creating an environment for themselves where they can freely express their religious beliefs without risking interference from the government or causing offense to other religions is the Catholic Church. They have their hospitals and schools and what not. They are free to engage in the activities you would find in government owned hospitals and schools, and at the same time, abide by the dictates of their religion as they deem fit. You do not go to a Catholic school and expect to be able to make the Adhaan (Muslim call to prayer) at the time of prayer. The same way you would not expect to precede Jum’ah (Communal Friday prayers) with a chapel session.

This solution might seem far-fetched, but it is (as I see it) the easy way around the current situation. There need not be a situation where Muslims or Christians impose themselves on the public school system, forgetting that there are other faiths (or lack thereof) that make use of the same schools.

Reinhold Niebhur wrote a prayer that many of you will recognize. It goes roughly: “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

What does this have to do with looking for a job?

Everything.

There's a ton of unfairness in the job search process. As a candidate, you can’t control whether a company requires a work visa, whether some executive’s kid has an inside track on your dream job, or whether your interviewer has some private or unconscious bias that will hurt your chances. I’ll write about some of these -- especially unconscious bias -- in the future.

For now, I want to focus on the most controllable element of a job search: your resume. The sole purpose of a resume is to get you past that first screen and into an interview. In my last post, “The Biggest Mistakes I See on Resumes, and How to Correct Them”, I covered the all-too-common mistakes that knock applicants out of consideration at many companies. Let’s assume you’ve read that post and scrubbed your resume so it’s concise, error-free, legible, and honest. You’re already better off than at least half the applicants out there.

But how do you make your accomplishments stand out? There’s a simple formula. Every one of your accomplishments should be presented as:

Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y] by doing [Z]

In other words, start with an active verb, numerically measure what you accomplished, provide a baseline for comparison, and detail what you did to achieve your goal. Consider the following two descriptions of the same work, and ask yourself which would look better on a resume:

Studied financial performance of companies and made investment recommendations

Improved portfolio performance by 12% ($1.2M) over one year by refining cost of capital calculations for information-poor markets and re-weighting portfolio based on resulting valuations

The addition of the “12% improvement” makes the statement more powerful. Adding “($1.2M)” anticipates the reviewer’s question about whether 12% is a big deal or not. If you improved investment results by 12%, but that meant going from $100 to $112, that’s not too impressive. But adding $1.2M to the starting portfolio value of $10 million is huge. Explaining how you did it adds credibility and gives insight into your strengths.

Several examples inspired by actual resumes will show you what I mean. The first bullet is typical: not bad, but certain not to stand out. The second is a much better version of a similar accomplishment from a different resume. My own suggestions are in italics.

College student who is a leader in her sorority

Managed sorority budget

Managed $31,000 Spring 2014 budget and invested idle funds in appropriate high-yielding capital notes

Managed $31,000 Spring 2014 budget and invested $10,000 in idle funds in appropriate high-yielding capital notes returning 5% over the year

College student participating in a leadership program

Member of Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT)

Selected as one of 230 for this 18-month professional development program for high-achieving diverse talent

Selected as one of 230 participants nationwide for this 18-month professional development program for high-achieving diverse talent based on leadership potential, ability to contribute to this MLT cohort, and academic success

Finance or consulting professional

Responsible for negotiating service contracts with XYZ

Negotiated 30% ($500k) reduction in costs with XYZ to perform post-delivery support

Negotiated 30% ($500k) reduction in costs with XYZ to perform post-delivery support by designing and using results from an online auction of multiple vendors

Sales support associate

Achieved annual business plan commitments for volumes, model mix, wholesale revenue, selling expenses and brand

As a team member, contributed to 21% increase in advertiser spend by achieving 158% of target number of customer contacts (80 contacts per week) and 192% of target interaction depth (20 minutes per customer)

Candidate with skill-based resume

Skills: Excellent customer service skills. Friendly and positive attitude

Skills: Excellent customer service skills and positive attitude as demonstrated by receiving employee of the month in four consecutive months in 2014

Logistics expert

Reduce cost of goods sold strategy: Five years of line and supply chain management experience at XYZ distribution centers and managing outsourced third-party logistics providers

Achieved 30% logistics cost savings by reducing returns, use of overtime, excess and obsolete inventory and targeted outsourcing

Achieved 30% logistics cost savings ($900k) over five years by reducing returns (-8%), use of overtime (-7%), and excess and obsolete inventory (-5%), and through targeted outsourcing (-10%)

Marketing manager

Studied the branding and marketing strategies of XYZ. Analyzed the pricing strategies of XYZ in comparison to competitors

Led cross-functional 10-member team to develop and implement global advertising strategy for $X million XYZ brand

Led cross-functional 10-member team to develop and implement global advertising strategy for $X million XYZ brand resulting in 25-point increase in brand recall, 12% improvement in net promoter score, and contributing to 18% year-over-year sales improvement ($XM)

Veteran transitioning to the civilian sector

Worked as a trainer with deploying units to ready their medical personnel for combat action and trauma medicine

One of three officers selected to lead comprehensive redesign of the XYZ training program for X,000 Marines and sailors, increasing measured unit proficiency by 20% [This one is great -- I wouldn’t change a thing!]

You might feel like it’s hard to measure your work, but there is almost always something you can point to that differentiates you from others. Back when I was a waiting tables at the Olive Garden, I would have written, “Exhibited the spirit of Hospitaliano by achieving 120% of dessert sales targets (compared to an average of 98%) and averaging 26% in tips per night.”

Well, maybe I wouldn’t have mentioned the Hospitaliano....

And even if your accomplishments don’t seem that impressive to you, recruiters will nevertheless love the specificity. “Served 85 customers per day with 100% accuracy” sounds good, even if the customers are people you rang up at a grocery store. It’s even more impressive if you can add, “…compared to an average of 70 customers at 90% accuracy for my peers.” Providing data helps. Making it meaningful with a comparison helps even more.

Niebhur said to change the things you can control. I agree. You can’t control the biases and attention span of whomever reviews your resume. You do control what’s on the page in front of him or her. Use the formula “accomplished [X] as measured by [Y] by doing [Z]” and recruiters will take notice.

ChrisOD:


Many have been kidnapped in Ogun, Oyo and Lagos for 1 kobo.

By Daniella Silva, NBC News
Widespread snowfall and freezing winds left icy roads and power outages stretching from Texas to the Rockies on Saturday as another powerful winter storm hit the West Coast. Much of the nation was expected to feel the advancing freeze by Monday.
The storm is set to affect a wide swathe of the nation over the weekend, including areas already pummeled by ice and freezing rain over last week. Winter storm warnings were in effect for parts of California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado with winter storm advisories in Wyoming, New Mexico and Arizona.
“Over the last 24 hours we’ve already seen snow fall amounts from 2 to 10 inches,” said Kelsey Angle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The Weather Channel predicted widespread snow from central California and into the Southern Rockies on Saturday and subzero temperatures in Montana and North Dakota.
“It’s very bitter cold air, we’ve had lows in the minus 30s in Montana this morning,” said Chris Dolce, a meteorologist at the Weather Channel. “One place was even down to minus 41.” Dolce said the cold air led to power outages in the Great Falls, Mont., area.
Record low temperatures were expected in many locations across California and into the Rockies and Plains this weekend, with North Dakota already hitting its record low of minus 24 degrees. Las Vegas was expecting temperatures near 27.
The cold has posed challenges for citrus growers in California, with freezing temperatures threatening crops, according to a statement from California Citrus Mutual. With low temperatures expected to continue in the region, the extent of the storms damage has yet to be determined.
The snow is already affecting road conditions, with the Interstate Highway 5 in California shut down over the Tejon Pass due to snow and ice on Saturday afternoon until further notice.

Deadly weather has gripped the U.S., cancelling flights and causing deaths. The cold weather is expected to continue, with snow and ice in the forecast. NBC's Mark Potter and TODAY's Dylan Dreyer report.
Through early Sunday, snowfall was expected across Nevada, Utah, southern Idaho, northern and central Arizona, northern New Mexico and Colorado, according to the Weather Channel. The mountain regions of Utah and Colorado were expected to see over a foot of snow. Parts of Texas, Oregon and Salt Lake City were also forecast to receive snow.
The storm was expected to then spread “quickly” over the Midwest to the Mid-South and eventually as far as the Northeast by Monday. Almost the entire country will see below average temperatures by next week, according to the Weather Channel.
The Mid-Atlantic could see snow followed by sleet and freezing rain creating “slick travel conditions and the possibility of power outages,” Dolce said.
“Travel delays are probably the biggest human impact,” Dolce said. “If you are in an affected area, stay indoors. Don’t risk traveling if you don’t have to. Wait until the roads get treated and taken care of.”
Baltimore and Philadelphia could also see a few inches of snow, followed by freezing rain and sleet beginning Sunday. By Monday, the wintry mess will extend as far as New York, parts of Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maine, forecasters said.
The winter weather is expected to linger, with continued snow and lower than normal temperatures persisting in states through the middle of the week, Angle said.
This storm follows a cold blast that killed 11 people and left hundreds of thousands without power. In North Texas, roughly 165,000 people were left without power Friday night.
“The first winter storm that was affecting parts of the south yesterday is gone, now it’s dealing with the icy conditions left behind,” Dolce said.
With ice and sleet creating slick roads, Dallas Police reported 70 road accidents over Friday night and into Saturday morning.
But Angle said the worry with the new storm isn’t ice.
“With this one that’s unfolding right now it will be more snow than sleet,” he said.
The Santa Clara County, Calif., Sheriff's Office said hypothermia — an extremely low body temperature — had killed three people since frigid conditions descended late Wednesday, NBC Bay Area reported. The storm was blamed for deaths stretching from California, Montana and as far east as Indiana and as far South as Arkansas.
Dolce added that 752 flights were cancelled Saturday in and out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, creating a three-day total of 2,691 cancelled flights.
“The first seven days of the month have been extreme; it’s a very nasty start to December in many parts of the country,” Dolce said.

A press conference was held in Costa do Sauipe, Bahia (Brazil) on 3 December at 12.30 local time (16.30 CET), following the meeting of the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup™.

At this meeting, the allocation of pots for the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 Final Draw, as well as the prize money for the tournament was determined.

The press conference was attended by FIFA President Blatter, Jose Maria Marin, the LOC chairman, Jérôme Valcke, FIFA Secretary General and Luis Fernandes, Deputy Sports Minister.

tensor777:
Another dumb argument which exhibits both your shocking level of intellectual shallowness on the one hand and lack of discipline on the other hand as you keep going from one unrelated topic to another. If you want to talk about the Federal roads network go and open another thread for that.
Before you carry out any public investment you need to do a thorough investment appraisal.Proper costs and benefits must clearly be stated. It is not just a case of going for the"CHEAPEST" as you glibly put it
And who told you that with the state of rail infrastructure in Nigeria that rail travel is the cheapest. Do you know how many years and how many tens of billions of dollars it would take for Nigeria to develop a modern train network.Think HS2 in UK for example And even at that who says it would even be profitable. Even developed countries heavily subsidize rolling stock operators. Are you being serious?
And yes the rapid economic growth in Nigeria in recent years has called for modernization and refurbishment of the existing domestic and international terminals. That includes expansion of car parks and the installation of modern air conditioning solutions.

LRNZH:

I believe you will agree that common sense is not common. The double poster ROSSIKE / Tensor777 doesn't understand the importance of functional roads and railways. He thinks airports are the solution to all transportation issues.

tensor777:
Don't mind this guy . He is just coming up with such scurrilous nonsense it beggars belief.
22 airports servicing a country of 150 million people is no big deal. Moreso when the rail system is not developed and the roads are congested with cargo traffic.
Imagine also using that positive fact that these airports are being modernized as an argument that they were not well-maintained in the past. Every airport in the world has to undergo periodic renovation,expansion and modernization.
Its just plain jealousy on his part.

tumababa: so none of you can use a spy camera to video the airport and immigration officers asking for bribe? as for me, you are all lying......

ROSSIKE:

How am I a jester? I've never seen a group of unreasonable people like this. How can you have an airport undergoing comprehensive remodelling, yet you're still complaining about the same airport? I mean, so they think improvement happens by clicking one's fingers? Shouting corruption this corruption that. The previous administrations that did NOTHING AT ALL, was corruption worse or better in their time compared to today when 22 airports are being remodelled simultaneously across the country before our very eyes? Maybe these moaners are the people that used to CHOP ALL THE MONEY BEFORE, and now they're disgruntled because finally the money is being put to use.

22 airports!

ROSSIKE:

If you cannot wait till the airport is remodelled and commissioned before moaning, then you have a serious problem!! Again, stay OUT of Nigeria if you can't handle it!!!

callmenow: If truth be told, Nigeria deserves better than the indigenous contractors who collect their mobilisations and disappear into the distance. It is a fact that successive Governments misguidedly award contracts to these contractors, who are ill-equipped to build a mud house on MAIN Street Nigeria, who 'freestyles' the job until the next Nigerian administration. The job has started. They should tell the passengers in a timely fashion when the renovations will be concluded, like they do elsewhere in the world. I believe the exterior structures are almost complete. The interior fittings are about to commence. Hopefully, I will be traveling all over the country through an 'accessible' airports. However, in a free world, everyone should complain if they feel 'insulted' by the service or the facilities at any airport. By the way, I was almost arrested once by the Gendarmes at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, because I complained that their 'escalator' has damaged the wheels of my luggage. Complete misunderstanding of course. Racist gendarmes methinks.

LRNZH:

What happened to room temperature? At 25 deg Celsius everyone mobile or inactive will function well except theyre ill or something. D guy just dey yarn.

callmenow: The OP does a disservice to the intelligence of the readers who use the airport. I have been traveling through the aforesaid airport for the past thirty years. There is definitely an improvement. The present administration has not taken away the 'good' amenities. Reason being that there has never been any amenities. Time was when we used to arrive in utter darkness after a six hour flight. Last time I ate at this airport, I nearly died from Montezumas revenge. There has been instances when the tarmac light doesn't work either, we will end up leaving Lagos to Europe around three AM instead of ten-thirty PM the previous day. Lagos airport smells because of the environment, the staff at the airport, (security agencies), airline staff and the trolly dollies. These people often sleep at the airport and maintain poor hygiene. Normally when airports are renovated, they are closed until the renovation finishes. This is the case with Heathrow Terminal Two in the UK. The FED could have commandeered MMA2 for the duration of the renovation to MMIA. I understand the operators refused to negotiate with FAAN. We should be grateful that 'some' work is actually being done. Nigeria human content needs to improve it's hygiene, etc. It is not the job of Stella or Goodluck to bathe the Nigerian personnel at the airports. Equally they must not be blamed for the bribery at the airports. I have been paying this for the past thirty odd years with pleasure. The trick is to take some of the on-board liquor and 'dash' it to the immigration and customs, and wish them well. It works all the time.

game_rod: what attitude? You are one of those who thinks the immigi officials should worship you because you just arrived from abroad? Give them your passport, get it stamped, move on, get your bag, face customs, simple. Which attitude?

By SaharaReporters, New York

SaharaReporters wishes to retract a story republished earlier from PM News claiming that the cooling system of a Delta Airline plane into Lagos had failed, forcing passengers coming out of Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) to take off their clothes, some of them appearing in semi-nude condition.

This retraction follows the retraction of the story by PM News, and SaharaReporters wishes to do same.

Several passengers who were on the flight told SaharaReporters that it was the heat in the arrival hall of the airport, not the aircraft air conditioning system, that made them to take off their clothes and.

They said the heat in the luggage reclaim area as they awaited their luggage was unbearable, forcing them to depart the Customs Hall in ways that shocked relatives and other airport users.

Similarly PM News reporter Simon Ateba who penned the original story told SaharaReporters his newspaper has since found out that the initial reporting was erroneous, and that it will be corrected as early as possible.

SaharaReporters regrets the erroneous report.

The embattled Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, has spent several billions on airport renovation across the country, but little improvement has been noticed. The customary epileptic power supply and breakdown of infrastructure continues, with MMA retaining its poor reputation as the most hostile airport in the country through which to travel.