₦airaland Forum

@Kobojunkie

I am not prescribing that we change the academic calendar. Depending on where you are North or South, Fridays are half days anyway. Teachers go to the mosque, staff meetings, egusi peeling etc. During this time students stay in school wasting their time, if I have to run a school, I would consider it and my promise to their parents is that students will turn out with excellent grades. At least till power improves.

The system is broken and I feel one of the problems is the schools have not sat down to ask, why?

[quote author=eku_bear link=topic=578787.msg7471039#msg7471039 date=1294277440]^-- How does this save in power costs?

I guess you save a bit in transportation costs, since it is only 4 trips to school in the week rather than 5. But I don't see how spending 10 hours @ school, 4 days a week is cheaper than 8 hrs, 5 days.

If 70% of the time the students are at school power goes out, you are still running the gen for the same 0.7*40 hours.

So I don't see the gain.

Or are you just saying drop the 5th day entirely, and the 8 hours of lecture given? You could do that, but it decreases the value of your product too (substantially, in my opinion.)[/quote]It saves power costs if I don't have to run a generator on a Friday or run my school bus on that day. Also the other days can be run 8/9 hrs a day. In primary school, not everything we did was necessary. That is why we always have names of noise makers written, if teachers were in class why have noisemakers? I feel we cut out the waste which is = or greater than 8 hrs and kids can still have enough time for extra curricular activities.

I don't know if this is the same thread anymore. Too much history lol. Well, I have a question since we are taking about creative entrepreneurship.

Lets look at existing business owners for example a private primary school. Why do they have to operate from Monday- Friday even with the power situation in the country? I would expect almost all of them to operate 4 days out of 5 and save costs. They are paid per terms not by the hour and they are paid for students to pass exams. If I want to run a school, I would consider that. It saves costs of maintenance, teachers salary and makes kids happy

@OP

How did your friend meet his wife? Is this an arranged marriage?
This happens every time but again there are success stories with people who have developed love for each other from day 1.


Reminds me of Sunny Neji's song titled "jagajaga" Woman wey good, e good o, woman wey bad, e bad o, e no matter whether na village abi na town e come from, I love that song

asha 80:
i wonder if all those luxury transport owners can be regarded as 'creative entrepeneurs'

They used to be. When they blossomed in the 90s. ABC transports had a good strategy but unfortunately lacked the necessary marketing skills to back it up. And then they started selling ads on the buses, which was not the case in the 80s with Osondu motors and the rest. They should consider wireless internet if possible.

^^^Since 2009. Am still waiting to see how successful it could get but its encouraging to me though.

Kobojunkie:
How much did Depearl start up with? A loan from Grameen bank?

I don't seem to understand your question. However, Depearl is most likely funded by private savings of its owner and family.

^^^Yeah, why I mentioned Grameen Bank is because they offer loans without collaterals and the country has no credit bureau to access creditworthiness but the creative part is to focus on productive women (94% customers) in the rural areas rather than the normal way the other banks do business.

For Depearl, it is a start, from one shirt it gets to containers. As she gets more customers, she will be able to gain more negotiating power either with her suppliers or with the freight companies. Even up till now Twitter is not making money to sustain itself but its building its base.

Same old same old
Fix corruption they will start EFCC
Fix the economy they will raise economic team
Now fix security they will set up anti-terrorism office (even if the Police has that all this while)

At the end, when the officers get too close to comfort, they will get fired. (Nuhu, Ngozi, this new guy). I love my country.

There is a problem of a lack of infrastructures and changing government policies which I consider a constraint rather than a problem. We have not had constant power in this country for the past 20 years. I expect business owners to create business models that would be wrapped around this infrastructural constraint. For example, you do not have to situate your business warehouse in Lagos if Kwara State has a better electricity production.

Funny thread

How is this an argument?

Am not even a doctor but anyone who deals with the human body is no joke. Have you considered the psychological and sociological aspects of medicine. I think you learn more about life through medicine. On the other hand, IT makes life easier and now its driven by money. Doctors are never on the forbes richest list.

Cos of its importance, medicine is highly regulated, you can't wing your grades in school.

To be effective, War against corruption must also go with
An independent and efficient judiciary
Independent media
Independent INEC
Independent central bank
An efficient civil service
and communal efforts

No matter how the war is fought without these institutional factors, it would be a lost war. Lets hope we ask electoral candidates what there plans are to strengthen this institutions.

I would rather prefer we treated everyday with the same antipation of a new year. It would be nice to start a day with prayers, great expectation and a to-do list for the day. It all adds up to make a year super productive and effective.

Thankfulness and gratitude is for everyday, people die everyday as well, its just that we don't know them.

what a thread!lol

My two cents

Education- More women are educated. They don't take the rubbish they used to, which can be managed. Problem is, some men still operate in the past.

Television- Exposure, it could be right or wrong

Economic dynamics- In the past, men worked while women stayed home, not the same anymore. Money is the main cause of divorce.

Society- When are you getting married? society. At the end, people are pushed to marry all to please parents and society.

Marriage counselling- I feel churches need to update pre-marital counseling to include the unique problems of today.

ACN dumping Ribadu! hmmm no news to me but I think Nuhu would have a Plan B. One of those smaller parties could adopt him which makes winning difficult and less likely.
This goes back to my theory that the modern progressives (Nuhu, El Rufai, Utomi) needs a laid down plan in order to change the political situation in this country. Why are they not coming together to form one party plan for the next 4 years to come out strong in 2015, if they had done that in 2007 things could have being different today.

Like I mentioned before there is a difference between Love and Respect, for those who say if you love someone, then you respect them. I think that is overly simplistic because you can love people without respecting them by the way you treat them and vice versa.

I would suggest a wonderful book that deals with this topic, it is called " Love and Respect" by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs very helpful for singles and couples.

As much as am against stubborn Gbagbo, I really think ECOMOG invading IVC is a bit too quick. The nations closer to IVC should contribute Armies at least less than Nigeria. Personally, I think its time for Nigeria to rethink this "Africa as a centerpiece of our foreign policy" strategy since we are never appreciated. Come on Ghana, show some muscle

[quote author=Ochi_Agha link=topic=575377.msg7417732#msg7417732 date=1293479604]Hello country number 193
Introducing South Sudan

The president of South Sudan will be Salva Kiir—a Dinka and civil-war stalwart but no visionary. His vice-president will be Riek Machar, an opportunist warlord from the next-biggest tribe, the Nuer. [/b]Both have spent the past couple of years securing the interests of their own kinsmen, and frightening off international investors.


[b]No road to happiness
Meanwhile the cash flowing into the south since 2005 has evaporated. A best guess is that $7 billion has come and gone. The government of South Sudan says correctly that there are more schools and clinics. But where is the infrastructure to support the economy? Half a decade after the oil money began to flow, this remains a land of rutted tracks and kerosene lamps.

Other countries with competing tribes manage to carve up economic interests and keep rivalries in check. But first there must be something to carve up. South Sudan has no skills and virtually no economy beyond oil. That oil will produce another $1 billion in 2011. Like the billions before it, it will be squandered, generating popular disappointment, distrust and dissent.

http://www.economist.com/node/17493375[/quote]Congratulations to the new country. Now the real journey begins.
@Bolded part, no comments. We shall wait and see.

monkeyleg:
@KcJazz,

PU has been laying the foundation for well over 2yrs. most other candidates have only just declared as well.

See, what i often say, is that we as Nigerians always look for excuses why the best man should not win. why are we so scared of trying something different, especially as the different shows good promise.

Same thing has been said about, Wole Soyinka, Ribadu, Donald Duke. So who do Nigerians really want. I just dont get it

What foundations has he been laying? I respect Mr. Utomi but like I said the planning should include the media and letting people know what he is up to. Are you saying if I go to the streets of Kano, the youths/adults would know who Utomi is?
When I talk about planning it includes different things from meeting with interest groups, opinion leaders, volunteering and the most important campaign funding. I feel the political field is not level for the smaller candidates in terms of finance and we need legislations that would help with that.
How many offices does his party have?
It is a lot of work, I know but sadly that is how he can by-pass the problem of winning an election when you are the under-dog. I admire Ribadu tactic but even with him I felt he started late but he has built some momentum, which is key for opinion leader and king maker support.

Mr. Utomi can't win an election even on a level playing field. You do not decide to run for President, 4 months to elections. This is in a country of 150 million people. For the progressives that want to win an election, they need a careful laid out plan that would take 2-4 years in order to reach out to the voters. Good intentions alone don't win elections. Why he has not figured this out, baffles me.

Not only helpless but useless as well. You swore by the bible to protect this people and now you are talking rubbish. You should resign.

@OP
Both men and women perceive things differently.
In a relationship, love and respect go hand in hand. A woman is naturally loving more than a man. The way to communicate with a man that you love him is by respecting him. For a woman, respect is not fear or having no opinion, it is about recognizing the man's role in the family/relationship. A man is to love his wife unconditionally.

Pharoh:
The main problems is these ecowas and AU puppets that will not do the right thing but support on side after consulting with their white masters.
How will the president of a sovereign nation ask the un to leave and they will say no, only to go and protect the opposition hiding in the hotel.

Quattara is from burkinafaso and sorry to burst your bubble, the country has been divided into north and south since 2002. gbagbo only has control of the south while the new forces represented by the prime minister controls the north. Allowing quattara to be president means the new forces both have the president and prime minister which is already the case as quattara has already retained the current prime minister since he is also from the muslim north.  A civil war is inevitable in this situation even if quattara becomes president because the christian south will never allow that all government powers goes to the new forces which is a rebel forces and mostly consists of foreigners.

Election in ivory coast is by absolute majority and no provision for you to have a certain percentage in the south or north. This same scenario is being played across Africa, the north allows their brothers to flow into the country during election and dumb southerners will not do the same thing.

For Ouatarra, the Ivorian courts cleared him to contest the election and by the way he was a past PM. The issue is an election was won and lost, let the winner person lead the country. We will wait to see if a civil war will break out. Don't make Gbagbo a victim.

Even on a thread that supports splitting, we can't even reach conclusions on how the split should go. That to me shows why we must sit down as a nation and explore our options before we consider this issue.
Have we created employment for this youths that cause violence? In an election year, no candidate has a plan to reduce our unemployment rate to at least 20% in a well laid out blueprint.
How has Kaduna and Kano become relatively "peaceful" even as Christians still live among them while Jos, a once peaceful state has become totally restless?

We talk of splitting the country as if it entails moving to another continent, truth is, we will share boundaries with this people, and in no time the same people will infiltrate the new states to create chaos. We need to explore all options and that includes providing the right environment for development for our people, until then we will continue to suffer from this issue and sadly breaking up is not a long term plan.

@OP
Please separate the problem from the consequence.

If we have to split the country as you mentioned, then it should be into 36 states or by tribes which I think is not possible. We need a strong leader at the center. I do not support violence in any form, but we need to sit down as a country to ask ourselves questions and find solutions.

African leaders and conspiracy theorists are quick to blame Western influence when they lose an election, a leader needs to take responsibility for his actions or inactions and serve the people.
Alassane Ouattara is a Muslim and a citizen of the Ivory Coast (even though that has being disputed in the past). I find it hard to believe that a sitting African leader like Gbagbo can be out rigged in an election, when an African leader starts talking about unity government after electoral disputes it is highly suspicious. The maths does not add up.
By the way, I doubt you need only one side of the divide to win an election, hence a percentage of both regions ought to be met for a winner. If Gbagbo loves his country, he should step aside and obey the will of the people. By the way he has being there since 2000.

I am even surprised that Udenwa has the guts to head to the Senate after his tenure as Governor Nigerian political parties are vehicles for power, no ideologies but if ACN or any other party are indeed for change, maybe they should start screening candidates.

Kai Minister!

Also thank GEJ for bringing sunlight to Nigeria. I am on a mission to bring Twitter and MySpace to Nigeria

You pursue what you appreciate, sadly we don't appreciate the arts by the way we handle things in this country, hence I would support it stays in London. And yes I agree we privatize museums as well.

eldee:
@Elrazur

Come on, yo know what's more annoying, this thing has been in one man's house for a century.
Like, it wasn't owned by the British Government or the British Museum, it's going to some stuck-up upper class landowners and their trustfund babies.
I think I'd rather have it burnt. . . maybe it's just emotions talking.

In my own opinion though, the Museums in Nigeria should be privatized, then people who make money off it will be force to do things like TV ads and organize paid exhibitions, less likely for things to run down.

I respect Samuel Eto'o for his strong and persistent work ethic, he deserves his record breaking award. I wish other African athletes could learn from him. Congrats to him.