@poster, the fact that you are having sleepless nights and having to debate over choosing one out of 2 men in your life suggests that neither are really up to the task. You have doubts about both of them and marriage is hard enough without entering into it with doubts and concerns.

If you were my kid sister, I will say dump both or wait a little longer to see how it pans out before rushing into marriage with either of them.

I do understand that at your age pressure will be mounting up from all angles to just pick one and settle down but please don't do it until you are 100% sure and have a peace & conviction in your spirit of the one you are about to choose.

P.s If I were forced to choose between the 2 men , based on what you have said, I will go for number 1 a guy you know inside out; including his strength's & weaknesses etc. I have nothing against number 2 but trust me on this, a phone & on-line relationship is no where near the real thing.

What is he like in the morning, is he tidy, does he have bad habits, where does he press the toothpaste, does he leave the toilet seat up or down, does he snore etc etc

Though this sounds funny, finding all this out on the wedding night may be the start of many problems to come & im sure there will be some things that you do that he will only find out after the marriage.

Urs 1st.

Lead By Example!

Staff of Bank PHB resumed work this morning to find that the bank's chief executive, Francis Atuche, has resigned his position. Mr. Atuche made his decision known in a farewell letter that was sent to the staff at about 7:00am.

In the letter, the former executive did not say why he is leaving the bank at this time but said, "As in all things however, there is a time to say GOOD BYE. As I bow out today from the Bank, I earnestly urge each and everyone of you to keep the PHB passion aflame so that the height, the mount everest which we envisioned shall not only be accomplished, but shall be surpassed and we would have created an institution that would outlive".

Mr. Atuche also attempted to justify his policies as the bank's head. "In the course of my stewardship we took decisions which affected all of us in different ways but they were in the best and overall interest of the Bank," he said.

Last night, sources told NEXT that the central bank had concluded plans to sack the bank chief today.

It is unclear, at this point, whether the bank's board will appoint a new executive or the CBN will make the appointment as it had concluded to do.

Four other banks, ETbank, Unity Bank, Wema Bank and Spring bank are reported to have also failed the CBN's stress audit. In all cases, it is expected that their chief executives will either resign or be relieved of their jobs by the CBN.

The sources also said the Central Bank will pump N200 billion into the banks to stabilise them. The Central Bank is shopping around for capable hands to run the banks during this emergency situation. It is not clear if the banks will be allowed to stand alone or be forced into the hands of more robust institutions.

NEXT investigations reveal that the problems of Bank PHB involve non-performing loans, as well as the attempted acquisition of Spring Bank. ETB on the other hand is in trouble not for lack of money but a total lack of corporate governance, according to our source. Spring Bank was described as a shell, while Unity Bank is believed to be broke.

Two weeks ago, the Central Bank in a communiqué confirmed that it had completed the audit of 11 more banks, and was continuing work on the audits of the last three. The communique said: "The CBN wishes to confirm that examiners have concluded their audit on 11 out of 14 banks not included in the first exercise. They have also made significant progress on the remaining three banks and these are Citibank, Stanbic IBTC and Standard Chartered."

The Nigerian banking sector has been in a state of flux since August when the then new CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, in one fell swoop, got rid of, the chief executives of five banks, namely Oceanic Bank, Union Bank, Afribank, Fin Bank and Intercontinental Bank.

When he announced the sacking, Mr. Sanusi said "these banks were unable to meet their maturing obligations as they fall due without resorting to the CBN or the inter-bank market. As a matter of fact, the outstanding balance on the Expanded Discount Window of the five banks amounted to N127.85 billion by the end of July 2009, representing 89.81% of the total industry exposure to the CBN on its discount window, while their net guaranteed inter-bank takings stood at N253.30 billion as at August 02, 2009. Their Liquidity Ratios ranged from 17.65% to 24% as at May 31, 2009. (Regulatory minimum is 25%)."

Once the dust settled, it became quickly clear that the banks had weak risk management frameworks and poor corporate governance, which resulted in the depletion of their capital and overexposure to marginal loans in the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry.

The five banks that were affected by the sackings have since seen a sharp drop in share price. Speculators believe their market value may drop to the nominal value of 50 kobo.

The CBN has so far injected N420 billion into the five banks for emergency capitalisation. The Central Bank also continued its cleansing action with the publishing of the over 200 debtors, owing more than N740 billion.

An epic bloody showdown opposing the army and the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and other militants who have rejected the amnesty offer by President Umaru Musa Yar’adua looms large as the deadline for militants to handover their weapons draws near.

Yar’adua offered an amnesty to the Niger Delta militants who want to lay down arms but only two MEND commanders have accepted the offer up till now. The others have vowed to continue fighting. The amnesty deadline expires at midnight on October 4th. President Yar’adua ordered the army into a state of high alert ahead of a planned pre-emptive military strike on the Niger Delta.

Huhuonline.com has learnt from impeccable Presidential sources that a joint amphibious attack involving the army, the navy and the air force will be launched to decapitate and dislodge the militants from their hideouts.

Sources told Huhuonline.com that the President wants to assert his authority and is hell-bent on restoring order in the strife-torn Niger Delta “at all cost” to halt the economic sabotage that has cut into the country’s oil output, forcing Royal Dutch/Shell and Chevron to declare force majeure on several oil fields and cutting oil production by as much as 580,000 bpd.

Israeli Gunboats
While waiting for the cease fire with MEND to run out, the President has given the go-ahead for the army to procure two Israeli Shaldag MK-2 patrol boats to patrol the Niger Delta and prevent attacks on oil platforms on the high seas. Huhuonline.com learnt from Nigerian Defense Intelligence sources that the first armed corvette vessel has already been delivered to the Joint Task Force (JTF) and the second is on the way. About 80 Nigerian seamen are presently being trained on terrorism and counter-insurgency operations at the northern Israeli port city of Haifa.

Huhuonline.com previously reported that the Nigerian Navy bought six Manta-class offshore patrol vessels from Malaysia and Singapore last year. The Navy requested and procured 35 new machine-gun equipped fast patrol boats, which, on the instructions of the Presidency, were paid for by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The first consignment of two 38 meter Manta-class patrol boats built by the Nautica Nova Shipbuilding yard in Malaysia and fully financed by NNPC have already been delivered to the Navy. Defense ministry sources told Huhuonline.com that another four 17 meter Manta-class patrol boats from Singapore Technologies Marine have also been delivered while talks are currently underway with French and British shipyards.

Huhuonline.com understands that France’s DCNS (Direction des Constructions Navales Services) - a naval defence company and one of Europe's leading shipbuilders - had long hoped to sell Nigeria several of its small Gowind-class corvettes for a total cost of $800 million. In its bid the French shipyard was backed by France’s procurement agency, Délégation Générale pour l'Armement(DGA), which sent several lobbyists to Abuja last year.

But the proactive Israeli lobby in Aso Rock prevailed on the President and Israeli Shipyards were chosen to supply the patrol vessels, which are reportedly less costly but also considerably smaller (24.8m) and hence easier to operate in the Delta creeks than the French patrol boats.

Since the early 2000s Israel has drawn closer to Nigeria. Before he was named head of Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, in 2002, Meir Dagan visited Nigeria prospecting on behalf of several Israeli defense companies. Huhuonline.com checks reveal that in 2006, Israel’s Aeronautics Defense Systems (ADS) signed an agreement with then-president Olusegun Obasanjo to install a surveillance system for the Delta and Nigeria’s territorial waters with Aerostar unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned Seastar vessels.

The Israeli daily Haaretz’s revelation of the contract negotiated without the authorization of Israel’s defense ministry resulted in its cancellation, and the Nigerian defense ministry lost money that had been advanced to ADS. In addition to Shaldag patrol boats, the Nigerian Navy has acquired 20 troop-carrying catamarans from the Dutch yard TP Marine. To conduct effective operations in the Delta, the armed forces will need to quickly dispatch soldiers up creeks and rivers in the area. The catamarans are aimed at measuring up to MEND’s outboard vessels. They will be operated by the Joint Task Force, an inter-service unit in charge of operations in the Niger Delta.

Russian Helicopters.
One strategic advantage of the JTF over the Niger Delta militants is air superiority. The Air Force has indeed ordered four Agusta A109E helicopters as well as Russian MI-24 and MI-34 helicopters. The Italian Agustas haven’t yet arrived, but sources told Huhuonline.com that the Russian aircraft were delivered just before Russian president Dimitri Medvedev’s visit last June.

However, an Air Force source told Huhuonline.com that Nigerian pilots are having trouble getting used to the large and highly sophisticated helicopters and only Russian instructors sent to Nigeria are able to fly them at present; raising the grim prospects that Russian pilots might be called upon to take part in the planned attack.

The rest of the Nigerian military’s helicopter fleet, consisting mainly of Super Pumas made by Eurocopter; Super Lynx’s (AgustaWestland) and Russian MI-35s, are not in flying condition at present. President Yar’adua has directed the Air Force to call on its Western partners to recondition them with new rotor blades. Once renovated they will be able to intervene in the Niger Delta in tandem with the new Nigerian patrol boats.

Whether this latest show of force by the Yar’adua government will end the long-running militancy in the Niger Delta remains to be seen. But this latest effort at rearmament by the army only goes to vindicate hard line elements within MEND who have vowed never to renounce their militancy.

Source: http://www.huhuonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=378:nigerian-army-prepare-for-bloody-showdown-in-niger-delta&catid=103:more-news&Itemid=333