₦airaland Forum

@ ada24 - yes it can take up to two weeks just to get an appointment with a GP.

Some of us do have to pay for our own eye tests, the only good thing is that you might find a good deal with one of the opticians. Last time I checked most of the major ones seem to be doing some kind of deal so you can get money off. Might not be a lot, but every little helps.

There was a better way of handling it, and Mrs Bourne handled it badly. She's like Mrs Bucket in "Keeping Up Appearances". Judging from her email she is marginally "better" than Heidi herself, though I think Heidi didn't leave a good impression.

The comments about her family contributing to the wedding was just mean - they were made redundant from their former jobs so naturally have limited means.

Good luck to them.

[quote author=steve_101 link=topic=705016.msg8642928#msg8642928 date=1309727550]Worry246 and claremont,u guys are simply wicked,so u prefer another person to spend the tax payers money than your sister,wait are u expecting the tax back from the Uk gov or what?do u know what it takes a woman to deliver 1 baby talk less of that much?the stingy ness is now mixed with your red  Blood cell,u need another fresh blood from elsewhere to digest the stingy blood you have,so u are telling me that if u meet that woman u can't buy her a tin of baby food?if both of were GOD,there will be no rain or sunshine .[/quote]I think you miss the point.  One of the things they do when applying for a visa is check you don't have "recourse to public funds".  In accepting a visa, it is on the premise that you won't use the NHS or benefits system as you are not legally entitled to. Anything else is an abuse of the system.  

If my family are entitled to free NHS treatment, fine.  If they are not, I would take out insurance to make sure they are covered here, rather than expect the UK taxpayers to foot the bill. I know people who have brought family over and paid for their NHS treatment, not because they are wealthy but they know the right thing to do, even though it meant personal sacrifice.

Tell me how many hospitals in Nigeria would treat a foreigner for free.  The only reason people abuse it in the UK is that they stick to the medical principle of treat first, ask questions after.  I bet if she went to the US she'd have to foot an even bigger hospital bill.

I would love to know what happened,

She takes too much of the fertility drug (the outcome could have been much worse)

She comes to the UK to have her babies.

So far, in a cash-strapped NHS, and with nothing more than a Visitor's Visa I'm sure, she has run up a bill of £200,000. How will she repay this?

She now wants to stay in the UK.  Where is her husband in all this and what does he think, or does his opinion not matter?


Miscarriage is not nice for anyone, she's had her babies but she should not be allowed to stay. There are no "extenuating circumstances" in this.  Next thing she will want to complain that there is no family to help out so has to bring her elderly mother and sisters. If she funded the whole thing, including hospital stay I wouldn't have a problem with this, but a flagrant abuse of the system I have no sympathy with.

[quote author=Omo_Tier1 link=topic=701464.msg8640932#msg8640932 date=1309702678]well fellas like me will stick to what we know.

my yahoo e-mail is over 11years old, my hotmail is over 10years old, didn't bother with gmail 'cos it didn't offer me anything new per say.

G+ maybe a game changer or a boredom!Again, it really has no effect on those of us who never bother with facebook on our d2d living.[/quote]I have a Yahoo email address for well over a decade, still use it but not as much as my Google account. I used to have a Hotmail address but stopped using that years ago because of too much spamming. Thing is, I hardly advertised the address, but after the same happened with a second Hotmail account, I gave up.

My Yahoo account gets more spam than my Google account. Plus there were loads more things I could do with my Google account that I can't with my Yahoo account. As the saying goes, different strokes for different folks.

I agree with you in part on Google +. It may work for those of us who use Google in a variety of ways and have lots of Google contacts.

I can see why the poster never bothered to respond.  The answer to the questions are already here.

@ poster, are you looking for a lawyer in a particular location or just want to speak to one?

[quote author=Ibo-made link=topic=701464.msg8639798#msg8639798 date=1309683712]@ Rich Fella when you come back from church read this
Google want the whole of the IT world and believe me, they will have it one way or the other. They have moved on from being a search engine years ago.

This guys have invested so much into cloud computing .
They provide Google doc, gmail, calender, spread sheet, google map, (SaaS).
They provide the Platform as a Service (PaaS) for any developer via Google App Engine
They provide Infrastructure i.e. Storage (IaaS) and once you develop an App on Google App Engine they automatically lock you in.
They have bought a stake in Youtube. meaning they have the largest video library.
And now they have their own Social networking Google + after Google buzz didn't really take off.

They already have everything figured out because as things are today. You can start a business and run your company entirely on googles applications  
The level of collaboration you can enjoy from using their application is unbelievable especially their SaaS

Google I salute.  [/quote]Thank you for pointing this out Ibo-made.  Some of the thinking here is faulty. Maybe when Google first came out it was known primarily as a search engine, and at its basic level that is what Google has done very well for a long time.

But if someone were to ask me to name three web based email, Gmail would be amongst them.  Google Chrome is ok, not my favourite browser but I use it nonetheless (ANYTHING but Internet Explorer!). 

Add to that Gmail, Google Docs, Google Market, Google Maps on my phone and many others,   I'm sure at some point we have probably used at least one of them. So you see, Google isn't just a search engine any more.  In fact, it hasn't been "just" any one thing for some time.

As with everything else, I will watch and see how Google + develops.

naves:
illnesses like chicken pox can only affect you once in your life. so as a parent or guardian, would you let your child go outside to play if there is a spread of chicken pox or would you lock him or her in doors for their safety.

Not true @ bold.

@ poster - we didn't do the traditional thing.  None of my spouse's siblings ever did it and I don't see the relevance of it. We wanted to be legally married and we did just that.  And all the in-laws get along fine

If you don't want to do the traditional thing, better hope the person you're marrying is in agreement.

yamakuza:
Do  you know much about tourism in Japan?  The question you need to ask and answer is, how many countries in the world solely rely on the tourism "cashcow"?

@N1 : dont know. wanted to know hence the question. expect(ed) it to be better than 9ja, and wondered how u could equate the 2, unless u were just comparing and not equating ,

very few countries rely majorly on tourism for most of their income, but i assumed it wouldnt hurt for 9ja to add it to its


so, kindly educate me on whether Japan is doing ok with their line of tourism. thanks

Japanese tourism is a mix.  If you wanted to be a tourist in Japan, it's best to learn the language, and not just the language but the writing. It also depends on the type of tourism you want to do, whether an organised trip or individual.  The latter will be a bit trickier without the language backup.

The sad thing is that tourism would not be as big a money earner for Nigeria as other things.  We would do better with focussing on agriculture as we have the resources but little will, especially since the discovery of oil.  Any other business is dependent on improving the country's infrastructure, power being the major one. But that's my personal opinion.

zayhal:
^^^

Perhaps poster has realised that his wife is innocent that's why we no longer hear from him.

I still don't see any proof from him that she is cheating apart from his vicious imaginations. Finding a number from an ex is not enough evidence of cheating. Lack of trust maybe, but not cheating.

[quote author=alj_harem link=topic=700753.msg8632817#msg8632817 date=1309561646]op

it tourism and hospitality is quite a lurative business and also easy employment for your friend

1) u can open your business in travel and tourism

2) u can get employed in big hotels like eko hotel, hilton hotel etc

3.) u can start your business in hotels

4.) be an hotel manager

5.) get appointment from the government

etc[/quote]My friend, tourism goes well beyond hotels.  Hotels can be used to make money regardless of whether there is tourism or not (e.g. party functions, conferences etc).  Even then, it doesn't have to be a hotel.  Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are littered with very good guest houses which are less expensive and good value for money.

You can latch on other occupations to tourism - for example, a place of interest (think of any one)

[list]
[li]Making postcards, keyrings, notebooks, carvings, mats[/li]

[li]Writing and printing guides/programmes to places/events, maps and brochures[/li]

[li]Sell these items at the place itself - you can either be mobile or stationary[/li]

[li]Be a guide/compere for places/events. Also man the entrance points and provide security at events[/li]

[li]Maintaining the place[/li]

[/list]

Those are just a few.  Now can you see how many more people can be employed - even family and friends - beyond simply running a hotel?

yamakuza:
@n1
how much of a cashcow is it for Japan as described?

End.

Methinks spiritual tourism sells in naija. Synagogue, osunfest, eyofest.

Would have suggested sports tourism as a niche attraction, but someone recently asked on NL what happened to Glo half marathon?

Was looking at the likes of tennis, golf, cycling or F1 but for a country that couldnt afford to host FIFA U17 without state govts, maybe boxing might be a cheaper alternative?

Most of these sports have gambling and bookmaking undercurrents sha, so all join.

At the end of the day, it might be achievable on a state by state level sha, as a form of IGR vs national spearheading or policies.

Do  you know much about tourism in Japan?  The question you need to ask and answer is, how many countries in the world solely rely on the tourism "cashcow"?  End.

Spiritual tourism still only caters to few, mostly local/national, and a few outsiders.

As for sports tourism, please tell me which kind of sports in a country that is landlocked only into football.  A marathon would make little difference as many countries do the same, even better. 

The real question is what can Nigeria do successfully to attract tourists?  It definitely comes down to diversity, and it can work at a cultural/state level.   What really needs to be done is focussing on doing few things very well rather than many mediocre things.

Upendo 98 my sister, you are doing a sterling job!

@ Frank 3.16 - Let me just throw this out there.  Out of these three examples below, let me know which - in your opinion - is best identified by which word and why:

An iPhone or BlackBerry - love, lust or infatuation?
A niece or nephew - love, lust or infatuation?
A friend of the same gender - love lust or infatuation?

Excluding the limitations of the English language, if one says they "love" one, most people will have an idea of what they mean even if we only have that one word to describe it (for the purposes of this exercise, "like" is not allowed!)

bi ilw wu:
A Tree cannot make a bush, in the western world their culture doesn't believe in extended family ,but in Africa once you marry a person you become part of the whole family ,when there is an occasion you buy the same cloths together, they can even contribute money to support you, interference, but if you what me and my husband syndrome they will avoid you, but in the day of trouble be ready to go through it alone,but i will say it is good to have people around you.

Since when were you are an authority on all things in the Western world? Are you talking from experience or what you've seen on tv?

coogar:
she will hang in there. her mother will remind her constantly that marriage isn't a bed of roses and she must stick with what she's got. the parents will even go as far as telling their daughter not to drag the family name in the mud.

She may let her mother tell her whatever she likes and still make contingency plans.  The "shame" of divorce nowadays is not as much of a stigma as it used to be.  Unless you live in the village.

The thing that you forget is that those of us who have seen these things will do our best to avoid them, especially if you are a good observer of people.  Which is why I refuse to believe that everyone from a broken home will break their own home. I've seen loads of relationships to the contrary.

dayokanu:
A girl whose parents never divorced, if she says she want to divorce, who would she go and meet? She would first ask herself how she would tell her parents that she wants to move out

A girl whose parents never divorced but argue and fight all the time and are rarely/barely happy.  If she told them she wanted to divorce they have no moral position to tell her she is wrong.  

Just because they stayed unhappily together she should be grateful for their "example"? smh

flakkygirl:
common guys, most you classify every body? Broken home, outside wedlock, name it does not determine who you are though it could contribute to it. Ask yourself how many marriages work these days? even if both couples are from prefect homes, its no guaranty dat it will work. We all go into marriage hoping for the best. Good luck to the singles n to d married hows it going?

Yes, women have to be classified.  It plays into justifying someone's small mindedness about women. 

coogar:
but the fact this woman saw her parents sticking it through thick and thin is a plus. she won't be too hasty to pack out of the house when she eventually marries because she was not brought up that way. a woman raised from a broken home has more tendency to be impatient and the moment the storm comes, she runs for her dear life because that was what she saw her mum doing when she was young.

ladies from broken homes mostly have issues especially trust issues when their partner is concerned. it has been indoctrinated in their mentality that the men folk can never be trusted. they mostly get extra defensive in relationships, they are mostly self-centred and it's like they always half-expect their male partners to screw up to prove the myth that "all men are dogs".

Wrong at bold, take it from me.  She's less likely to hang in there BECAUSE of what she saw her parents go through.  No one would want to repeat that kind of unhappiness when they've seen it first hand.

"Me and my wife/husband" should always be priority over other relationships.  I remember when we were getting married one of the things we were told repeatedly is "never get anyone else involved in your relationship if you have a disagreement".   As much as I love my brothers and sister and my in-laws, they have no place in my family business.  I will not stop my spouse helping one of the family, but that doesn't mean they have to live inside our house and know our business.

If I wanna talk to somebody I'll talk to Jesus 

I'm a very out-and-about person, I love visiting and going out with friends, but I'm married to someone who is happy with their own company.  I do  not impose my will on them and insist they must come visiting with me.  We don't live near family but that doesn't mean we don't have a support network outside of immediate family. 

I have friends who have in-laws that try to butt into their business.  A family itself is a new and separate unit, created out of another family unit.  There's nothing wrong with husband, wife and children knowing both families, but don't dictate to someone else's family what they should and shouldn't do.  Let them build their own life and learn from their own mistakes.  Advise them when they ask for it but don't make their business your own.

How about those from dysfunctional homes - there are a lot more of those than those from "broken" homes.

Is it true that ladies from dysfunctional homes are not good wife material?

@ portage -  you've  hit the nail on the head.  We can't compete with East African tourism, much less Ghanaian and Gambian tourism on our doorstep.

After all the touting about tourism I heard last year, I concluded that tourism in Nigeria is what it is in Japan - designed for locals and outsiders are incidental.  For example, I remember all the propaganda I heard about the Lagos carnival and Rivers carnival.  Ask the question, how many tourists visited these places?  They don't know.   Ask how much they spend and how much they made?  They can't tell you.  One journalist said (forgotten if it was on Channels or TVC)  that if any offical can quote figures to you they are lying because no such figures exist.

Yet these events were designed for "tourists" and to encourage "tourism".   We have a Ministry of Tourism and if you check their website, it's nothing to write home about.  I cannot tell you what they do, it probably consists of about 5 people making a lot of money doing nothing in particular.

Your best bet if you want to be a tourist in Nigeria is to get a guide book (most likely written by Oyinbos) which tend to tell you a lot more.  I laughed when in one book the author said they went to visit x place, and were given leaflets written in the 70s.  Sadly tourism is stuck in the 1970s rut.

Some people are prepared to do without the mod cons if it will allow them to experience the country.  Problem is in this country, apart from decaying and poorly maintained infrastructure, we are rarely well organised.  Nigeria may want the money that comes from tourism but we are far from ready for it.  Those who do choose to travel to Nigeria do so on their own steam, or through family and/or friends.

@ popekay, if you want to learn about tourism and are genuinely interested in it rather than just seeing it as a money making venture, I suggest you go spend some time in countries that cater for it - you will learn a lot.  When you come back to Nigeria you can adapt to suit the local market.

rabzy:
Tombs and houses of Kings can be maintained because the court has the resources to do so and because they are were lived in most of the time, if the capital moves elsewhere due to war or other factors they turn to ruins, so what determines whether we would still find them standing would be the material they were made from, do you think the tombs of pharoah and their pyramids were maintained all thru those thousands of years, the colloseum, the lighthouse of pharos, the temples in the orients? No, most of these structures stood the test of time because of the stuff they were made of. People maintain their houses if they still live in it or if it serves a cultural or spiritual significance for the community, otherwise it is left to rot.

It is modern men that sees those ruins after they have stood the test of time and then turn it into world heritage sites so that they can last longer and be appreciated.

My friend,  I think you miss the point, and maybe you need to understand a bit of Ugandan history - what "courts are we talking about to maintain what in Uganda?  The ones that were outlawed by past Ugandan governments and only allowed to function again in the late 80s/90s?  A lot of mud huts live alongside modern buildings in Uganda, and have been maintained by families - how do you explain that?

It isn't just so-called modern man that sees the importance of these buildings. "Modern man" saw the importance of the pyramids, fossils and dinosaurs for generations, it could simply be that the concept is new to Nigerians who probably don't think past their own existence.  The buildings themselves are a people's story - you don't have to worship them or worship in them for them to be significant.

I know of a building (not in Nigeria) where a former premier from eons ago was born.  If you look at the building today it's still the same style and design as it was back when the said premier was born. The structure is a wooden one, with some modern elements added but not enough to detract from the original facade.  The family themselves saw the importance of the building and worked to maintain it through at least 4 generations.  And the family still live in it.

PhysicsQED:
smh

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53911892@N00/4440216889/

http://ekitibwakyabuganda./2010/03/21/museveni-burned-tombs-7-points-why-he-is-the-chief-suspect/

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/713151

http://www.modernghana.com/news/269996/1/six-suspects-who-could-have-burned-down-bugandas-r.html

wtf is going on in Uganda?

I should have added "while it was still standing" lol.  I'm sure they will rebuild them, but it was a sad happening indeed.  Btw I take what Ekiti Bwakya Buganda say regarding responsibility for the fire with a pinch of salt.  It could easily have been caused by an electrical fault.  I'm no fan of the President but he wouldn't be so foolish to alienate the largest ethic group by doing something which many would see as tantamount to sacrilege.

Having said that, the mud houses are absolutely fascinating.  I can appreciate them, they are quite cool inside.  The real up country mud huts smell of milk and cow dung.  Personally it never bothered me, in fact I found it quite comforting.  The only problem I had with them is with the creatures living in the thatching!

Seriously though, there are loads of historic buildings like those in Uganda.  The interesting thing is that each ethnic group builds theirs slightly different e.g. different thatch for roof.

As for the insurgency in Uganda, that is nothing new, it's been going on for years.  It was limited to the North and West before, now it is moved South - remember the World Cup bombing that took place in the heart of Kampala last year?  Nigeria take note.

rabzy:
How many mud houses would last 200 years? Before the renaissance in Europe and even after that the general population were not building to inspire anyone, they just wanted a place to stay. In africa too our kings built inspiring local houses, many of them were destroyed by invading Colonial forces.

When you save moey over the years in building a modest apartment, the last thing on your mind would be to inspire anyone, when you build a block of flats with hard earned money and you know people would jostle to rent it, you would think little about inspiring anyone.

And for those living in the city especially lagos, mud/laterite is not even cheap.

My friend, you need to travel a bit more - it is called MAINTENANCE.  That is how a 200 year-old mud house lasts!!!

Go to Uganda and look at the tombs of the Buganda kings in Kasubi, which is now a World Heritage Site.  Go to the North and look at some of the edifices there.  Do you think someone built a mud building and just abandoned it?   Did they know it was going to inspire anyone?  Did they do it for the money?  No,  people took the time to maintain those places because it is part of their history.  Now they are seeing the value of the work of generations being appreciated beyond their boundaries.   

This seems to be lost on a lot of Nigerians who only think short-term. Your statement in bold only reinforces that.

lookmangiw: I think the poster of this thread got it all wrong, i wont agree to that statement,If you say nigerian architecture in uninspiring,the first question i will throw at you is that those structures in lekki,are they not in nigeria or do you categories them too as uninspiring,if you answer in affirmative then i wont have any choice than to conclude that you are ignorant of the issue at hand.Let me add this to my post,Nigeria has great architect and they have done great designs in the past and are still doing it.The problem is that of the situation the country is currently facing.Poverty is the cause of all these.It is poverty makes people prefer to do things without following the laid down rules and standard, I'm a professional builder and i'm well learned in the construction industry and i know that problems are.

What the poster is pointing out is simply what most of us probably see or pass by on a regular basis.

I will have to go with comments by iupe, redsun and Siena on this one. I personally know of a so-called architect who drew the worse plans I've ever seen for a building with no scale measurements and wanted to charge and exhorbitant price for it - I could've done the same plans by hand for less!

I really do get tired when people say "poverty" is the problem - which kind of poverty, poverty of mind or poverty of pocket?  I don't have the privilege of spending a whole day to drive across Lagos to see some nice buildings in Lekki or on whatever estate or enclave.  The poor maintenance culture, poor building work is the real problem, otherwise how can you explain that inspiring buildings and architecture aren't dotted all over the place apart from a few enclaves?  That shouldn't be the case.  Even where there are "nice" buildings they have been tackily decorated.  Sorry but there are too many people out there with bad taste - I'm sure against better advice.

Even in the UK " inspired design" doesn't mean good taste.  Buildings in the UK have gone through a number of phases, even materials and  building methods have changed over the years.  The good thing is that today we can see buildings dating back to the Victorian and Georgian period, and there are lots of them.  There are few places in the UK where you go that you won't find a period building, if you know what you are looking for.  How many 18th or 19th century buildings can you find in good condition in Lagos much less throughout Nigeria?  Those that exist are few.

I don't want or expect to see totally Western-style buildings, but at least give me something inspiring between the two mediums, African and European or American.  It is very possible, it happens in other places, why not Nigeria?  I'm not in favour of Odiaero's beach front property - personally speaking, I wouldn't go there because that has problems of its own.

Setting aside poor design, grills and mosquito netting - those things don't bother me as they reflect the society in which we live.  My biggest problem is that too many houses in Nigeria are built badly, like a three-year old's drawing.  The architecture/drafters work may not be anything to write home about, but the carpenters and builders themselves are equally bad.

I'm sure people who do these buildings don't own a spirit-level, much less a plumbline.  I have seen uneven window sills, door frames, doors that haven't been sanded properly with paint dashed on any how, bad flooring, huge gaps in roofs and panels, the list goes on.  So inasmuch as you can look as the "design", I tend to look at the smaller things as part of the whole.

With regards to building materials, anyone ever considered limestone or clay bricks?  I have been in a clay brick building and it was interesting.  Limestone buildings are not only beautiful but far better than cement bricks, but then I have a bias towards limestone.  Limestone and volcanic rock wears better over time.

@ poster - I'm going to be blunt. The fact that you can log on to this site means you should be able to type in a search engine "fibroid" and find the answer to your question. Or you could easily go ask a qualified medical doctor or nurse.

If you don't want to marry her it's not because of the fibroid or fibroid operation.

Emysandy:
Choose an online job. At least you will stay indoor to work online.

That only works if you have a reliable internet connection. Or if you don't need to be online regularly.

Internet reception can be a bit dicey during the rainy season, depending on location.

Airtel is always slow, either dropping the signal or hanging.  Personally I think it's their poor infrastructure - the only place I have ever got a 3G signal was at Murtala Mohammed Airport.

Not sure what your location is, but I find that it's always worse during the rainy season and December/January.

The only hindrance to having an iPhone is the cost and constant costs. Also, you are really locked into the Apple brand; don't have the privilege to download music or use other software other than via Apple or iTunes. If you don't have a problem with that, you should be fine.

BlackBerrys are good for BBM if you've got a lot of friends you can chat to there. Add to that it's very user friendly (many people prefer having a keyboard than a touchscreen). The BlackBerry Torch probably encompasses the best of both worlds.

If you have friends with either, try them out for a bit and see how they feel in your hands. That way you can see which one you feel more at home with (or might be even more torn! )