₦airaland Forum

Dunno how to put it, I wouldnt lie. But I have been caught in a very delicate situation that I approached in a different manner. Here goes the story,

After losing my job, I rejoined my former law firm courtesy of a friend, as a temporary worker. Unfortunately, things were not working out so well there as the new office manager was not keen on rehiring me, though my friend, who brought me back as a temp wanted me to stay onboard. Then, all of a sudden, this guy got fired! I was perplexed and then blamed it on the woman's 'racist' attitude towards blacks. Eventually, rumors started circulating in the firm that this acquaintance who had hired me had sexually harrased another temporary worker in the firm. I dont really know the full gist of the story, but they may be an element of truth to it. Infact, another guy told me that our presence may be required in court should the girl file suit against my friend.

I left the firm and thought that was the end of the saga. But out of the blues, my friend's wife (I mean, we were not really friends though) called me from the blues and left a message. Upon returning her call, I inquired of her husband and she told me that he travelled to their home country. Then the woman quizzed me on why the husband was sacked. I told her that the office manager was a pain in the neck so, that may have led to his termination. And then his wife asked me questions about the other female temp (without mentioning the allegations of the sexual harrasment levelled against her husband) but my lips did not utter any rumor of the sexual harrasment allegations against the husband. I only blamed the incident on the office manager. I dont know if the firm was ever sued or not.

Now, coming to this story, I do have to ask myself, "Did I lie by not telling her about the allegations, or was I right in sealing my lips"?

What is your take on women preachers in Church? I am referring to those who head the pulpit in the Church. I know there are some branches of the Church that is headed by women, but they are under the direction of the Head Pastors, who is a male. Still, does this contravene the Word of God that requires women to "keep silent in the Church" (1 Corinthians 14:34).

Ancient handle with Hebrew text found in Jerusalem
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Delicious Digg Facebook Fark Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Bookmarks Print  AP – This image made available by Israel's Antiquities Authority Wednesday, May 20, 2009 shows an Iron Age … By JOSEPH MARKS, Associated Press Writer Joseph Marks, Associated Press Writer – 18 mins ago
JERUSALEM – Archaeologists digging on Jerusalem's Mount of Olives have discovered a nearly 3,000-year-old jar handle bearing ancient Hebrew script, a find significantly older than most inscribed artifacts unearthed in the ancient city, an archaeologist said. The Iron Age handle is inscribed with the Hebrew name Menachem, which was the name of an Israelite king and is still common among Jews.

The inscription also includes a partly intact letter, the Hebrew character "lamed," meaning "to." That suggests the jar was a gift to someone named Menachem, said Ron Beeri, who directed the excavation for the Israel Antiquities Authority. There is no indication the inscription refers to the king himself.

The name and similar variants have been found on Egyptian pottery dating back 3,500 years, and the Bible lists Menachem Ben Gadi as an ancient king of Israel. But this is the first time an artifact bearing the name has been unearthed in Jerusalem, Beeri said.

"It's important because it shows that they actually used the name Menachem during that period," Beeri said. "It's not just from the Bible, but it's also in the archaeological record."

Based on the style of the inscription, he dated the handle to around 900 B.C., the time of the first Jewish Temple in Jerusalem as recounted in the Bible.

The vessel the handle was attached to did not survive, so it is impossible to tell what it was used for, Beeri said. Similar vessels were known to have held products like oil or wheat.

Construction workers uncovered the archaeological site while digging the foundation for a girl's school being built in the area, Beeri said.

Excavators also uncovered storage vessels and implements from two earlier nomadic settlements, both dating to around 2,000 B.C., he said, as well as artifacts dating from the time of the Roman Empire around 2,000 years ago.

Archaeologists have completed their dig, and construction workers building the school are back on the job, Beeri said.

The Mount of Olives is just outside Jerusalem's Old City. The hill is important to Jews because of its proximity to the destroyed Temple and to Christians, who believe it is the site where Jesus ascended to heaven.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090520/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_ancient_inscription

Unemployment is not just peculiar in Nigeria, but also in the USA

AP IMPACT: Poll finds grads trying to stay afloat
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Delicious Digg Facebook Fark Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Bookmarks Print Featured Topics: Barack Obama AP – Newly graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in economics, Josh Donahue, 23, sits in a …
Play Video Economy Video:MPs pay freeze extended Australia 7 News Play Video Economy Video:Selling Summer Travel in a Recession FOXBusiness Play Video Economy Video:Author: Key To Beating Recession 'Not Money' CBS4 Denver By CALVIN WOODWARD and ANN SANNER, Associated Press Writers Calvin Woodward And Ann Sanner, Associated Press Writers – 2 hrs 4 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Students scattering for the summer are worried they'll be graduating from schools of higher learning only to find themselves snagged in the school of hard knocks.

That's what happened to Josh Donahue, 23, who went on food stamps two weeks after leaving Oregon State University with an economics degree that he hoped to use for a job as a financial analyst. He's living with his aunt and uncle in Grants Pass, Ore., and looking for even a menial job.

"It feels like really, really bad, terrible timing," he says. "A degree in economics doesn't really prepare you to understand the economy very well."

Timing is much on the minds of students as they size up their opportunities in the worst economy their generation has known, an AP-mtvU poll at 40 college campuses finds. Young men and women are anxious not only about their finances and job prospects after graduation, but about the pressures facing parents, normally the rock of their existence.

Nearly one in five polled students reported that at least one parent had lost a job in the past year.

Many young people are taking refuge in graduate school, buying time until the economy improves even as they amass more debt from student loans. But others who hoped to go to grad school have had to defer it because of the expense.

At George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., systems engineering junior Adrian Solomon, 21, of Virginia Beach, Va., said his mother, who is single and raising his 16-year-old sister as well as a foster child, is "trying to support me sometimes, when I need it."

At other times Mom has asked him for money, and "I would do what I can to help her out."

Jake Lear, 21, of Warrenton, Va., a digital arts major at George Mason, worked three jobs at a time through the past semester and is doing one of them full-time this summer — a resident adviser helping to look after freshmen in dorms — because he gets free housing. His parents work for a federal contractor that shrank its work force and eliminated 401(k) matching contributions. The school is in suburban northern Virginia outside Washington.

"I'm pretty much independent as far as school goes," Lear said. "Where they would normally help me out with cash here and there they don't so much any more, just because money's so tight."

For all the apprehension, there's also a lot of determination and spirit. Students don't expect an easy ride through college and seem to believe their education will pay off — eventually.

Buchi Akpati is a sleep-deprived but irrepressible 18-year-old from Woodbridge, Va., who juggled three jobs at once through the past semester — one online, another at the gym and another as a beauty consultant. Her days have been unfolding like this, once she gets out of bed between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m.:

"I go to class, study in between class, go to work, study at work, go to my other job, Mary Kay, do some facials, sell some products, study in between, go back to my dorm, study and eat at the same time, work online at the same time, study afterward from like 2 to 6 a.m., then sleep, and then wake up and do the same thing."

She is majoring in "biology, pre-medicine, with a splash of Spanish" and adding two summer classes to her workload. "I never get any sleep," she said brightly. "That's the thing."

The poll explored matters of money and mind, surveying students on financial pressures, job possibilities, stress and depression. Among the findings on the economy:

_22 percent of students said they worry a lot about having enough cash to get through a typical week at school, and more — fully one-third — said they really worry about the finances of their parents.

_Nearly one in five changed plans this year and decided to attend graduate or professional school after college because an undergraduate degree might not be enough to get them a job.

_11 percent of those whose parents lost a job veered away from grad school because they could not afford it. They were twice as likely to avoid grad school as those whose parents did not lose a job. Job loss in the family also made twice as many students consider dropping out — 27 percent. Overall, nearly one in five considered quitting school.

_32 percent said financial worries have a lot of impact on the stress they're under, up from 27 percent last spring.

Nervousness is apparent on campuses, even in the midst of post-exam relief. So, however, is resilience.

Instead of being discouraged by the 29 applications for summer internships he sent off without response, Larry Robertson is pumped about the one that is landing him an interview.

"I HAVE to get a job," he said. Living at home in Washington, where he devotes Fridays and other times to looking after his grandmother, he's been commuting up to four hours a day to George Mason and scrimping at every turn as he prepares for law school. He'll graduate in December with a major in sociology and a minor in anthropology.

"I don't buy clothes," Robertson said. "I don't shop. I stay at home, I don't go out. I have a very strict academic life.

"I really try to prepare enough so that I'm not stressed out with money. That's the last thing you need to be stressed out by when you're in school."

Corwin Burton, a sophomore at the University of Maryland, also on the Washington outskirts, gave up his apartment and moved back home when the tips dropped off at the bar he tends. Studying nano-engineering, he's confident the economy will rebound by the time he gets out of grad school.

"It always does," he said. "It's nowhere near bad enough to think that the country's going to explode and fail. The economy naturally cycles. I've studied enough economics to know that. It goes up, it goes back down."

In Grants Pass, Donahue wonders when it's going to go up.

He regrets stretching his bachelor of science in economics over five years, thinking he'd be in the financial sector by now if he'd finished school in four. Given the turmoil in that sector, however, it's questionable whether an entry job would still be there.

Sharing his $200 a month in food stamps with his aunt and uncle in lieu of rent, he's applying for work as a delivery man, a hotel clerk, a bank teller and a white-collar job in the insurance industry. He's planning on going to law school.

"Having a college degree and having to ask other people for help is not a funny thing," he said. "It's a little demoralizing."

Still, faith persists in the value of an education as a career builder, and a temporary shelter from the outside world.

Lear gets the occasional "panic-inducing thought" that capitalism itself is unraveling, a scary prospect with graduation ahead of him in December. "Right now, it's the only thing to do," he said of schooling. "There's always grad school and I'm not afraid of more education."

Then there's the laser focus of Robertson, on track to become a public advocacy lawyer.

"I've made up my mind about what I'm going to do and so I'm going to do it," he states. "If I have to endure some challenges and struggle a little bit, that's fine. If it's going to take me some extra time, I want those credentials, it's really important, so I'm going to do it."

The poll was conducted April 22 to May 4 by Edison Media Research and involved interviews with 2,240 undergraduate students aged 18-24 at four-year colleges. To protect privacy, the schools where the poll was conducted are not being identified, the students who responded were not asked for their names, and people interviewed for this story were not part of the survey. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The TV network mtvU is operated by the MTV Networks division of Viacom and available at many colleges. MtvU's sponsorship of the poll is related to its mental-health campaign "Half of Us," which it runs with the Jed Foundation, a nonprofit group that works to reduce suicide among young people.

___

AP Polling Director Trevor Tompson, AP Television Producer Faryl Ury and Multimedia Editor Kevin Vineys contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090519/ap_on_go_ot/us_college_poll_economy

Cant the man make his own choices? Seriously, what meaningful contribution would Obama's visit have on the lives of the ordinary Nigerian, or is just to blow hot air that Nigeria is the first black African nation to host the President of the USA?

davidt:
I do not see anything wrong with it. I'm curious though. Why do you want to build a house? If you are looking for things to spend money on, why don't you invest your money most likely in shares.

The benefits of owning your home certainly outweighs the economic advantage of investing in shares. But I am curious as to why the woman would want to build her own home though?

Part of the segment is fake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheaters

michelin89:
I still dey wonder how she manage take win Miss Nigeria!

According to journalists who covered the "Most beautiful girl in Nigeria" beauty pageant (1991), Nike Oshinowo's victory was biased, a sham and RIGGED. It is alleged that a former Miss Nigeria (I wont mention her name) played a role in securing her the crown. Nike who was a student in London had just flown in for the show. They were finer contestants and as one journalist put it, were it not for the maturity of the audience, the show would have descended into chaos, because their favorite contestants (one in particular was touted as the favorite by the press and the audience) did not make it to the finals. Funny thing, that favorite contestant later on competed in another pageant and won. She validated her victory succintly, "I had to prove a point." The other contestant, who was also heavily favored to win was more blunt, when asked about her future in pageants. She said something to this effect, "I hope a winner wont be chosen before the beginning of the contest."

Paul Boatening is one popular African in the United Kingdom and has been around before Chuka.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Boateng

nairafan:
This is a response to Tpia's request

I pay my housekeeper N54000   (fifty four K) per month plus medical insurance contributions, pension contributions, modern en suite bedroom in the guest wing with AC, kitchen equip ed with fridge and hotplate. I do not provide food

But what do I get from this lady.      ,  She barges into our conversations husband and I or my friends and I)'  she can"t cook plantain in little oil, according to her it must only be deepfried, (or else she burns them pitch black) she can't  pound yam, she can't iron, she talks back. And she lied during interview that she could cook and iron. I do all the cooking but once in a while I want to eat local food. (am not Nigerian)

I taught her all that she knows so far like cleaning, serving, ironing (she still struggles though)etc etc

You may ask why do I keep her,  she is the fourth in two years and she is with me for three weeks so far.  I think I pay well and derserved better service dont you think   

We are only three in my family.

Rather than complaining, you can simply send her packing.

So, Nigeria's future is dependent on Obama's visit? Opari!

You guys never know, the story might even be fabricated. Some journalists are known for that.

Pathetic.

prittigrrr:
Ummmm, nowhere in the post did the OP say she was in Nigeria. In the US you can see all kinds of people working as maids. It can be very lucrative. I had a client with a daughter who was pusuing a master's degree. They were very wealthy but for some reason the girl deceided to work and started her own maid company. She hired herself out to clean houses and I am sure her house was nicer than any she cleaned. My great grandmother was a college professor in Mississippi in the 1930s but when the family moved, she could only work as a maid. Maids should be treated as you would want to be treated. A househoold can only benefit from a well treated, well educated workforce. I dont have a maid but hire ppl when needed. I pay $50-$75 for 4 or 5 hours of work. I feed them and help them do the work. If they are kids, I may take them to a movie and pay a lower rate.

Why would you pay them a lower rate? In lieu of a movie ticket? Is that what they want? Stick to your advice and pay those kids what you would be paying adults.

AjanleKoko:
Unprecedented? better 'leader'?

Am I wrong? Few Governors in Cross River State and Lagos have surpassed the achievements of Fashola and Duke, or dont you think so?

Advertise on NYTimes.comSwitched at Birth, Women Find New Identity
E.J. Harris/East Oregonian, via Associated Press
Kay Rene Qualls, left, and DeeAnn Shafer recently learned they had been switched shortly after their births in Oregon.

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LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalinkBy WILLIAM YARDLEY
Published: May 13, 2009
PASCO, Wash. — They are calling themselves “twisters.” After all, the standard terms of family and relationships seem insufficient to describe the recently discovered connection between Kay Rene Qualls and DeeAnn Shafer.

Both women were born on May 3, 1953, the only births that day in tiny Pioneer Memorial Hospital in rural Heppner, Ore. Both grew up happily, got married, raised children and now have grandchildren.

Then, last summer, say friends and family members, an elderly woman who knew the families of both women long ago made a call to Mrs. Qualls’s brother. The woman, who has not been identified, had news she felt she had to share as her life neared its end and the younger women’s parents had already died.

“It’s shocking, totally shocking,” said Mrs. Shafer’s husband, Rick. “But both families have opened up their arms.”

The woman said that Kay Rene and DeeAnn were supposed to be vice versa. She said they had been switched at birth in the hospital, apparently accidentally, and taken home by the other’s mother. Floored and skeptical but also curious, Mrs. Qualls and Mrs. Shafer tracked each other down earlier this year and agreed to a DNA test. Then they went out to lunch.

Both shared stories of the rumors, long ago dismissed, that their mothers had brought home the wrong baby. That moment in the nursery in 1953 apparently had been the only time they had crossed paths.

When the DNA test came back, it confirmed what the elderly woman had said. With their identities upended, they cried and they laughed. They had a party, too.

“They had a birthday family reunion together, when they met all of each other’s siblings,” said Florene Robinson, Mrs. Qualls’s best friend and a colleague at the Bank of Eastern Oregon in Heppner.

The new extended family took pictures. There was Kay Rene standing beside DeeAnn’s sisters, her long-lost mirror images. There was DeeAnn alongside her biological family members, her blue eyes and blond hair suddenly making more sense.

Their story appeared in the East Oregonian newspaper this week and quickly shot across the Internet. Television producers tracked Mrs. Qualls to the ranch outside Heppner where she has long lived with her husband, Lyndale Qualls. They reached Mrs. Shafer here in Pasco, where she has just moved from Spokane, Wash., with her husband of 35 years, Rick, who helps run his brother’s used-car dealership.

“Good Morning America” is flying three generations of both families to New York for an appearance this week. Until then, both women said in brief telephone conversations, they are keeping more of their story to themselves. Already, they have tired of the news media’s inquiries, they said.

And then there are the questions they ask themselves.

“She has her highs and lows,” Mr. Shafer said of his wife. “One minute she’s happy, the next she’s sad because she never got to meet her real mom and dad, or her grandparents.”

“It eats at her,” Mr. Shafer said. “And I know it eats at Kay Rene, too. I mean, DeeAnn’s supposed to be Kay Rene

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/us/14switched.html?hpw

Jerry Springer!

Those two have transformed their states to an unprecedented level. Based on their accomplishments, who would you say has been a better leader, Fashola or Donald Duke?

Asaba: House girl gives birth to baby boy, buries him in shallow grave
Written by Austin Ogwuda
Thursday, May 14, 2009
WHAT a shocker! A teenage girl serving as a househelp in Asaba Delta state buried a baby boy in a shallow grave shortly after delivering the baby. The sad incident occurred few days ago behind Direct Labour Agency (DLA) road in Asaba.










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However as destiny will have it, the boy did not die as a Good Samaritan living within the neighbourhoold on discovery dug out the baby from the the grave and took the baby to St. Joseph’s Catholic Hospital Asaba where he is presently receiving treatment. The baby was in coma when brought out from the gave while the identity of man responsible for the pregnancy has not been ascertained at the time of this report.


State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Charles Muka, an Assistant Superintended of Police (ASP) confirmed the incident and told VANGUARD on phone yesterday that “the Police ‘A’ Division is handling the matter. The mother and child are in that hospital. But I want to make it clear the mother is under police custody even at that hospital because we are going to prosecute her for the criminal act", he stated.

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/may/14/303.html

I think Corporate Nigeria is better when you consider fringe benefits like live in servant, paid accomodation, chauffeur, . . .

mukina2:
NO this is not the best, there are much more. Not every tailor can get their stuff on the internet, so not unless you go there and see for yourself.
Do you know the amount of time and patient taken to do those up there . .can you do them? 

No, I cant, but honestly, from I have heard about Senegales/Gambian Fashions, you would think that they are the best in West Africa. But in my opinion, they are simply overhyped and no less different from other fashions in Nigeria. Not bragging or anything, but I'd like to think that Nigeria's fashions are also edgy.

michelin89:
Imagine. Those who are saying "Maids should be treated as human" are still the same people asking how come she is educated and has access to a computer. Perhaps you guys think maids for real are subhuman. Stop trying to paint others bad when you aren't good yourself.

I think the respondents are curious as to why she is complaining of being treated cruelly by her bosses at home, yet has access to a computer terminal. Those two certainly dont go hand in hand.

I just want to see what the famous boubou looks like. Senegal and Gambia are noted for their designs on their traditional garb, but if this is really the best that those countries have to offer, then I have to say that there is nothing special about their designs.

Arnold, is this a joke about the aerial view of VI?

What an insult. I try not to be an advocate of violence, but tell your friend to send the boy packing.

International scientific journal will be your best bet.

Best wishes.

Beauty is not subjective.

Not a big deal! Dont make a mountain out of a molehill.

promise72:
since?

Have lived in the bay area since the mid 90's.

eldee:
@Sagamite
You don't seem to get my point, I'm not against being bilingual, I'm all for it
What I'm against here is having Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa as your first and basic language, it's just not the way forward.

You can scream 'patriotism' all you can but we cannot use our kids to correct the mistakes of our founding fathers.
If you really want me to put Yoruba as a priority over English in my home, start from making this Yoruba a language to reckon with in 'Formal Nigeria'
Why raise my kid with a language he can't use once he puts on a suit?? Kids with English as their basic language have an understandably clear advantage in Nigerian schools . . . heck even the proceedings in MOST business circles in Lagos are done in English.
English is Nigeria's first language. You have to accept that, and I'll rather my child had that as his basic language too.
Five years old above, then I can add Yoruba (I'd rather he picked up Spanish though) as his next.

You lot act like Globalisation is such a weird concept, it's simple, fifty years ago, the Nigerian Challenge Cup was the only thing my granddad cared about, now every Ade, Obi and Ahmed has a Fly Emirates replica kit. What do we blame??
In the early 1900s, British food was 'British', the average Brit restaurant is more French that what you'll see in Paris . . . Globalisation
The spread of this Anglais, is too fast for us to ignore, my cousin studies in Ukraine, they teach him in English. We're lucky to have the world's widest spread language as our official lingo, let's embrace it.

German kids, Arab kids, Greek kids, Italian kids, Spanish kids, Urdu kids, Hindi kids, Chinese kids?? Stop listing countries that have these languages as their official language . . . this logic is so flawed
At the end of the day, if Yoruba were to be my country's official language,I will most definitely not be here speaking English.

You're talking about Welsh and Gaelic, some schools and universities teach a few courses in Welsh, this is how to get your kids speaking in these languages, not sitting at home telling me to raise my kids up with Yoruba as a first language in a country were non-English speakers are considered illiterate.

Sad, Sad, Sad!. Cant you teach your kids both your native dialect along with English Language? The black man can scream globalization at the top of their voice to 'justify' their disdain/reasons for abandoning their native dialect, but please tell me, are we more globalized that the Chinese who are so proud of their culture that they speak Mandarin Chinese impeccably, while their command of English Language is not as fluent, in some cases as the black man?

Are things really that hard in Nigeria that 450k isnt enough for a wedding? I'd think that's a nice sum of money to spend on a wedding.