₦airaland Forum

Strong independent black woman is an accronym quite common in the African American community, owing to the educational schism between black males (due to incarceration) and black women, who have forged ahead in the society, sometimes as a result of affirmative action. I was not aware of such a complex in the Nigerian community, but if there is, then I think, it could also be the woman's fault. Men are the head of the household, as dictated in the Holy Bible, and sometimes they may feel their status is threatened when they are outearned by their wife.

But come-o, I still maintain that one's paycheck does not dictate (someone disagreed with me though) the status of one's place in the household. Whether a man chooses to be a stay at home dad, while the wife earns millions at home, at the end of the day, her husband is the HEAD of the household!

Miss England Told to Fatten Up

Friday, October 26, 2007

 
(10-26) 17:41 PDT New York (AP) --


A British beauty queen says she was told to pack on pounds for the upcoming Miss World competition — an unexpected request, considering she's not rail-thin. "I was a little bit shocked," Miss England Georgia Horsley said Friday in an interview on NBC's "Today" show.


"I don't think I'm too thin. I'm happy with the way I am," said the 20-year-old, who is a size 4. She added: "I probably would have been more hurt if they told me to lose weight, I think."


Horsley said pageant organizers want "their girls to be more voluptuous and womanly and curvy, you know, rather than the stick-thin, size-0 models that you see around."


"I've just got quite more of an athletic, boyish-type figure rather than the hourglass figure that some women have," said the 5-foot-8 Horsley. "And they're just seeing if, you know, I could maybe put a bit of weight on and it might give me those curves."


The Miss World press office didn't immediately respond Friday to an e-mail from The Associated Press seeking comment.


Horsley has little more than a month to gain weight: the Miss World pageant will be held in China on Dec. 1.


"They've not given me a total (weight) to get to," she said. "But I'm going to eat, you know, healthy fats such as nuts and avocado, oily fish, things like that."


Horsley said the request was no big deal, comparing it to being asked to get a tan or let her hair grow.


"I don't think this is a major, major thing, you know," she said. "They just want me to put on a few pounds."


Sure, but what if she gains weight in all the wrong places?


"I'm trying to work out at the same time," she said. "It'll hopefully maybe level things out a bit. But, I mean, if I do start putting weight on, say, my stomach or somewhere on my thighs where I don't really want to put it on ,  I'll obviously scrap the idea and I'll just accept the fact that I'm a naturally athletic build and can't do the curves."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/10/26/entertainment/e132130D24.DTL&tsp=1&type=entertainment
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One recommendation, use an electric clipper instead of a razor blade. The downside is that you will be shaving almost daily if you want to maintain a clean cut look, but hey, it is a better alternative to the social embarrasement of spoting shaving bumps. There is a cream developed by Dr. Moore, a black demartologist which I used and recommended to a friend that also worked for him. Just google "Dr Moore shaving" to get a better idea on what to order.

I have experienced bountiful miracles in life, and I attribute them to the kindness of God for me. Though there are a lot that stand out in my life, like making it to Nigeria for mom's funeral in my hometown, despite being at the Murtala Muhammad Airport on her vigil night, there is another miracle that I'd like to share.

Man pickin just snagged an interview and heading out, I did not inform my bosses of my itinerary. Already, I had made plans to be back at work in an hour's time, and I drove out. On the freeway, my car had a flat tire, thereby immobolizing me. I was frantic and confused on what step I should take. I did not have a cell-phone at that time, so, calling my insurance company was a tall order. My fear would be not alerting my bosses at work, which could jeopardize my standing at the workplace. So, I walked to one of the phone booth at the sideway of the freeway and placed a call to my insurance company and informed them of my predicament. Help was on the way, they assured me, and I think I did call my boss to inform them that I would be arriving late.

When I got back to my car, another car came to a halt just behind me, and the occupant of the car stepped out. His predicament was that he ran out of gas, hence, he needed someone to take him to the gas station. I explained to him that I had a flat tire, and he willingly changed my tyre for me. From there I drove him to the nearest gas station and took him back to his car and departted. I was able to make it back to work, just on time.

If the parent feel they are 'losing their daughter', then dont give her up!.

Relationships between family members can get tested when money is involved, though it can also strengthen the bond between family members. The resulting repercussions of a crumbling business empire can descend into a family feud, hostilities and vendeta that can destory the familial bonds held dearly in our African society. Hence, some family members can be very reluctant to get involved in a business relationship. Even those who form a business venture with one another could choose to forsake the alluring effects of money for the sake of unity. With this in mind, some folks may choose to form a business venture with strangers or friends. But then again, the truth is that if a stranger dupes you, the pain/betrayal may not be as aggravating/severe as being betrayed by a family member. So, if you have an idea that is a potential hit in the market, would you form a business alliance with a family member, or with a trust worthy friend?

Assuming this site is still around in the next decade, what is the probability that you will be an active poster? I have noticed that as the days have gone by, my interest on the site is waning, and I just cant keep up with the plethora of topics, some relevant, others not on this board. However, there are some folks here on the board, who are for some part, glued to this board, in addition to other myriad of activities. How una dey do am?

Tall dreams indeed!

Sorry, there are some fathers who are extremely overprotective of their daughter, particularly in the uppercrust strata, to the point that even guys are intimidated of dating their daughters.

Denex, maybe he had an intuition that he was going to die during his tenure as President of Burkina Faso, hence that statement. And pardon me, wasnt that statement made like days prior to his assasination?

I think Sankara was one of the best preidents to preside on the African continent. He really tried to empower women in his country. I did not know too much about him, until much later when he had passed away.


https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-5371.0.html

Quite amazing that women are the ones who are quick to tear their contemporaries in pieces. And I ask again, why cant the same be said of "Daddy's girl"? Why does society bat an eyelid when a guy is a 'mummy's boy', but wholeheartedly approves of a girl being a 'daddy's girl'?

I just dont get it, if a guy is a mommy's boy, some women frown upon it and possibly see the mother of the guy as a threat. The term connotates a negative feeling of being tied to your mom's apron strings. While strictly not a mother's boy, I know that my mom and I had a very close relationship that at one point, that I used to plan on taking care of her in her old age. When I broached the discussion to my cousin, he asked me what my reaction would be if my significant other were to oppose it?

On the other hand, almost all girls in America, particularly those from the upper crust strata wear the term "Daddy's girl" with a badge of honor. And while some men may be threatened by the thoughts of their teenage daughters going on dates, or even offering to escort them (ok, I have never heard of that), society, I would think would applaud the concept of a woman being doted on by her father, while frowning on a man being catered to by his mother.

Why is that?

Nature of satan? I dont think so!

I think the story is a figment of your imagination.

Real 419 medals. When her ex-husband tattled on her, I thought it was the antics of a scorned man, and was even happy for her when she was exonerated the 2nd time her test came out negative. I was surprised when she finally confessed that she took drugs prior to the olympics. Why did she come out now to confess after she had basked in the public adulation of her questionable and unmerited medals. Now, we know better. I also blame the extremely competitive nature of America, which in their bid to assume a dominant place in the globe, pressure kids to excel beyond their capability. Hence, some cave into such demands by taking alternative routes.

NYSC, NEPA, Public Waterworks (if that is the name), Nitel, all of them fall under the same league of mismanagement, collosal waste and public ridicule/apathy. How can Nigeria move forward when the public institutions have consistently failed us, and the private ones are perhaps, interested in our pockets.

How do you know the guy's age@the poster?

@toksdam, you are funny.

Is this an indirect way of touting the Yorubas as proponent/lovers of education?

God's Word will always prosper, no matter the plans of the devil.

Water over light, any time.

Whiteroses, you raised some valid points which resonates with my previous discourse. My question is this, why should the poor always be the scapegoat in the Nigerian society? Someone was arguing that Nigeria does not have the money to provide social services to her citizens, and I pointed out that the illgotten wealth of some of our leaders can be put in place to alleviate the conditions of the masses. As for street trading, this is a dire situation, this calls for the implementation of action, and one way would be by building stalls for the traders. While I don't approve of the high handed tactics employed by the military in beating up market women (I have witnessed it), at the same time, let a town hall meeting be convened in Lagos so that the ills of street trading would be discussed and remedies offered to alleviate the situation. Surely, you don't want an 8 year old girl hit by a molue, while attempting to cross the road.

Officials say drug caused Nigeria polio By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer
Fri Oct 5, 3:55 PM ET



LONDON - A polio outbreak in Nigeria was caused by the vaccine designed to stop it, international health officials say, leaving at least 69 children paralyzed.

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It is a frightening paradox in a part of the world that already distrusts western vaccines, making it even tougher to stamp out age-old diseases.

The outbreak was caused by the live polio virus that is used in vaccines given orally — the preferred method in developing countries because it is cheaper and doesn't require medical training to dispense.

"This vaccine is the most effective tool we have against the virus, but it's like fighting fire with fire," said Olen Kew, a virologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC and the World Health Organization announced the cause of the polio outbreak last week, even though they knew about it last year.

Outbreaks caused by the oral vaccine's live virus have happened before. But the continuing Nigerian outbreak is the biggest ever caused by the vaccine. It also follows a nearly yearlong boycott of the vaccine in Africa's most populous country because of unfounded fears the vaccine was a Western plot to sterilize Muslims.

Officials now worry that the latest vaccine-caused Nigerian outbreak could trigger another vaccine scare.

Experts say such outbreaks only happen when too few children are vaccinated. In northern Nigeria, only about 39 percent of children are fully protected against polio.

The oral polio vaccine contains a weakened version of polio virus. Children who have been vaccinated excrete the virus, and in unsanitary conditions it can end up in the water supply, spreading to unvaccinated children.

In rare instances, as the virus passes through unimmunized children, it can mutate into a form that is dangerous enough to spark new outbreaks.

In 2001, officials reported that 22 children were paralyzed from polio in the Dominican Republic and Haiti in this way. Subsequent vaccine-caused polio outbreaks have occurred in the Philippines, Madagascar, China and Indonesia.

In the West, the polio vaccine is given as a shot and uses an inactivated virus, but that method is more expensive and requires training.

In Nigeria, the outbreak comes "in the wake of all the other problems they've had in," said Dr. Donald A. Henderson, who led WHO's smallpox eradication campaign in the 1970s.

In 2003, politicians in northern Nigeria canceled vaccination campaigns for nearly a year, claiming the vaccine was a Western plot to sterilize Muslims. That led to an explosion of polio, and the virus jumped to about two dozen countries.

Now, health officials' decision to keep quiet about the cause of the outbreak for so long may look suspicious.

Dr. David Heymann, WHO's top polio official, said that because the organization considered the outbreak to be a problem for scientists and not something that would change global vaccination practices, they thought it was was unnecessary to immediately share publicly.

CDC's Kew added: "The people who are against immunization may seize on anything that could strengthen their position, even if it's scientifically untenable."

Rumors are still rife among Nigerians that the vaccine is unsafe, and several religious leaders continue to lecture on its dangers. Another mass vaccine boycott could lead to further polio spread, derailing long-standing eradication efforts for good.

Nigerian health officials contacted by The Associated Press declined to comment on the situation.

"Convincing the Nigerians to take even more of this vaccine will be a tough sell," said Dr. Samuel Katz, an infectious diseases specialist at Duke University and co-inventor of the measles vaccine.

More than 10 billion polio doses have been given to children worldwide, and the vaccine has been credited with cutting polio incidence by more than 99 percent since 1988. Far more children are paralyzed by the wild polio virus than the virus spread by the oral vaccine. But no vaccine is risk-free.

WHO said that changing the vaccination strategy is unnecessary. "It would be nice if we had a more stable oral polio vaccine, but that's not the way it is today," Heymann said. "We will continue working the way we have been working because we don't want children to be paralyzed anywhere."



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071005/ap_on_he_me/nigeria_polio_paradox;_ylt=AvyDRXCI1J2kBnhv9eZ5_RGs0NUE

I have a question, why is it that listening to secular music is considered a sin by some in Christendom, whereas watching Television is not condemned? Can anybody tell me why?

Very pitiable!.

The poor keeps getting blamed for their misfortune. Try advicing a hungry man to eat slowly when a plate of a hot steaming eba with egusi soup is placed in front of them. Please lets put ourselves in their shoes. I am not an advocate of indiscipline, but the suffering is way too much back home. It is very discouraging. At times, when you think of relocating back home, pictures like this reinforces the belief that Nigeria, irrespective of the stride made in economic status has not equally distributed their wealth. It is a shame.

Ok, I have changed my mind on this subject. It is a very sore topic, because the banning of street trading and demolishing of stalls, erected illegally is bound to affect one's income. If the government is willing to provide shopping malls, and rent them out at a reasonable price to these traders, so be it. It will cut down on traffic and moreso reduce the chaotic atmosphere in the Lagos arena. I have also read some of the view points offered by some of the respondents. It appears they are fans of this present governor. I dont know who he is, nor familiar with his policies to ascertain if they are legitimate or not. But having been in Lagos in 1991, and witnessing the physical assault on Market women on the sideways by members of the armed forces was a disturbing experience.


For those who are arguing against it on grounds that it is a herculean task, remember that Rome was not built in a day. However, if the likes of one particular governor, who demolished Maroko to beautify the environment is the same tactic employed by the present regime, I cant endorse it at all. Sha, na my 2 cents be that.

@dcdal, you claim Nigeria is not a rich country to provide for the poor, but then the same country has been plundered by its leaders of billions of dollars by some of its leaders. Now, those money could be earmarked in providing social services for the poor, wouldnt it?

@Nwando, I disagree with the saying, "Live well below your means". What is the essence of working if you can't reap the fruits of your labor. I don't live an extravagant life, but I wont deprive myself of buying nice things for myself, or going out to eat, simply because I want to stash some funds for a 'rainy day'. Set aside some money for a rainy day, invest in the stock market, mutual funds, and at the same time, live comfortably with your resources.

Happy Birthday to my dearly beloved country, Nigeria.

Hip Hip Hip!

Horray!!!

Much love, Nigeria

Nice city, but the weather is not as sunny as Nigeria, and if I have my way, I dont like living in places with dreary weather.

Compatability is the right word, no perfect relationship in the human realm. We are humans now