₦airaland Forum

janefarms2015:
Why are some people like u like tribalism? What do u tend to gain by cursing someone old enough to be ur father or even grandfather? Its high time seun brings end to all these stupid nd childish comments or else Nairaland will soon fade out

I support the motion.

Barcelona has high-level support. From Google to referees.

Mynd44, Lalasticlala, let us encourage hardwork.

At least Emmanuel now knows God doesn’t eat the offerings, people do.

By Emmanuel Chiedu


When I was a little boy, I learnt that every food and offering brought to the alter during thanksgiving belonged to God, and this includes bags of rice, bunches of plantain, and money of which part were coins which was popular back then.

Eventually, I began to wonder how God will eat all of the food and money, so I did something stupid. I took a ladder and climbed the fence of the Reverend Father’s house where the food was always being taken to, I could hardly see God, but I saw a glimpse of a store where the food was being taken into. As I struggled to see further, I feel from the ladder.

Months later, I joined the alter boys association and discovered that the foods and beverages where eaten by the priests. Majority of us as adults know our thanksgivings to God go directly to the priests/pastors, but that does not in any way diminish the fact that they are to God.

How often do give to God? Is it only on Sundays, or monthly during tithes? How often do you give to the needy? Do you know that to give God is to give man?

I can quote tons of Bible verses I am sure you must have heard previously, but choose not to. All you need to know is that by giving we receive. When we give, we move one step forward, God in return gives us 99 more steps through Grace to continue marching on.

Thankfulness is a mental and verbal expression of one’s acknowledgement and appreciation of God’s person, his Grace, Blessing and sovereign work in one’s life and the world.

God’s greatest commandments were to love God and love your neighbour as yourself. Some people feel that only those who are rich should give. But in truth, no one is excluded. Don’t wait till Sunday to give, don’t wait till month end. When you give something and it doesn’t feel like something parted from you then that’s not giving.

Giving can be in church, your neighbours, your co-workers and even to give something to your boss. The word humanity is from the Latin humanitas for “human nature, kindness.” Pope John Paul II said, “Nobody is so poor he has nothing to give, and nobody is so rich he has nothing to receive,” for giving makes us human.

Source: http://www.opinions.ng/importance-thankful-god-charity/

Many thought it was over when FC Barcelona got hammered 4-0 in Paris in the 1st leg of their round of 16 match in the UEFA Champions league. However, some pundits did point out Barcelona’s 6-0 defeat of Celtic in the group stages as an indicator that the tie may not be finished yet. That turned out to be correct with Barcelona completing an astonishing comeback at Camp Nou with a stunning 6-1 win over PSG a few hours ago.

Luis Suarez opened scoring, Layvin Kurzawa scored an own goal to make it 2-0, Messi added a third from the penalty spot before Edinson Cavani made it 3-1, Neymar scored the 4th from a free kick and a fifth from the penalty spot before Sergi Roberto scored the deciding 6th goal with literary seconds left before the 5th minute of added time. Barcelona won the tie 6-5 on aggregate.

PSG will feel some of the decisions did not go their way especially with the 2 penalty kicks awarded Barcelona but they did themselves few favours with their first half comedy of errors against a team as lethal as FC Barcelona.

Watch the highlights of the game next…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gl8aXI0riY


In the other game of the night, Dortmund thrashed Benfica 4-0 with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring a hat-trick to go through 4-1 on aggregate.


source:www.opinions.ng/watch-fc-barcelona-completed-one-greatest-comebacks-european-football-psg-6-5/

President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo as he turns 6o today. In a post on his Facebook page the President wrote:

"60 hearty cheers for Professor Yemi Osinbajo, running mate turned partner in service to Nigeria; and friend. Happy Birthday, Professor!"

We wish the Acting President a Happy Birthday as well. You can read his profile here (http://www.statehouse.gov.ng/index.php/the-administration/presidency/vice-president).


source :http://www.opinions.ng/buhari-celebrates-osinbajo-60/

Lumos Mobile Electricity lights up Nigeria with modern solar electricity to power lights, mobile phones, fans, computers, TVs and more; for as low as N200 per day, conveniently paid with your airtime from your MTN line. The Lumos Mobile Electricity solution includes a large solar panel linked to an indoor storage unit that allows customers to access significant amounts of power on-demand, day or night. The service is provided on a lease to own basis, and the cost is spread over 5 years, so customers can choose a suitable plan from the plan options and pay for usage in small installments. Visit MTN Walk-In- Centres nationwide and plug into Lumos mobile electricity powered by MTN Nigeria.

This is a great innovation from MTN and we are sure other companies are developing similar schemes for the Nigerian market, micro, small businesses and individuals doing online business should especially find this useful.


source: http://www.opinions.ng/get-steady-power-mtn-mobile-electricity/

Dr. Ben Carson has just been appointed as the United States Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary and in his inaugural address to the employees of the department, he dropped a bombshell- slaves shipped from Africa according to him were ‘immigrants’. He said:
“That’s what America is about. A land of dreams and opportunity. There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder, for less.
But they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandsons, great-granddaughters might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.“

Many users on Twitter including star actor, Samuel L. Jackson condemned Carson for his perceived lack of understanding and appreciation of history.


Source: http://www.opinions.ng/outrage-ben-carson-describes-slaves-immigrants/

Ise L’ogun Ise one of the classic poems of African poetry in Yoruba language written by J.F. Odunjo. Read it next with English translation.

Ise l’ogun ise

(Work is the antidote for poverty)

Mura s’ise ore mi

(Work hard, my friend)

Ise la fi n’deni giga

(Work/Labour is the major tool for elevation)

Bi a ko ba reni feyin ti

(If we do not have anyone to lean on)

Bi ole la’nri

(We appear indolent)

Bi a ko ba reni gbekele

(If we do not have anyone to support us)

A tera mo’se eni

(We simply work harder)

Iya re le lowo lowo

(Your mother might be rich)

Baba re le lesin lekan

(Your father may have a stable full of horses)

Bi o ba gbo’ju lewon

(If you rely on them)

O te tan ni mo so fun o

(You are close to shame and disgrace, I tell you)

Ohun ti a ko ba ji’ya fun

(Whatever one does not work hard to earn)

Se kii le pe lowo

(Usually does not last)

Ohun ti a ba fara sise fun

(Whatever gain one seriously labours for)

Nii pe lowo eni

(Usually lasts with one)

Apa lara

(Your arm is kin)

Egunpa niyekan

(The elbow is a sibling)

B’aye ba n’fe o loni

(If the world loves you today)

Bi o ba lowo lowo

(If you have money)

Aye a ma fe o lola

(The world will still love you tomorrow)

Tabi ki o wa ni’po atata

(Or if you are in a prestigious position)

Aye a ma ye o si terinterin

(The world will celebrate you with smiles)

Je k’o de’ni tin rago

(Wait till you become poor)

Aye a ma yinmu si o

(The world will grimace at you)

Eko si’nso ni d’oga

(Education also elevates one to higher positions)

Mura ki o ko dara dara

(Ensure that you acquire it well)

Bi o si r’opo eniyan

(And if you see a lot of people)

Ti won f’eko s’erin rinrin

(Making mockery of education with laughter)

Dakun ma f’ara we won

(Please do not emulate or keep their company)

Iya n’bo fun’omo ti ko gbon

(Suffering beckons for the unwise child)

Ekun n’be fun’omo to nsa kiri

(Tears are due for the truant child)

Ma f’owuro sere ore mi

(Do not toy with your early years)

Mura si’se ojo’nlo

(Work hard; time waits for no one)






source: http://www.opinions.ng/read-ise-logun-ise-classic-yoruba-poem-j-f-odunjo-english-translation/

Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai has visited FC Barcelona during his stay in the city for Mobile World Congress (MWC) which is held there annually.

Sundar has admitted to being a Barcelona fan and a statement on the club’s website states:

“Pichai was welcomed by President Bartomeu at the Ciutat Esportiva de Sant Joan Despí near to the city of Barcelona where he visited La Masia and attended a first team training session led by coach Luis Enrique. The Google CEO also took the opportunity to meet the first team players and received a signed Barça jersey bearing his name from captain Andrés Iniesta.

Bartomeu and Pichai also visited the facilities at Camp Nou to take a tour of the most famous areas of the stadium, the pitch, the dugouts, the first team dressing rooms and the Club Museum, all in the company of FC Barcelona CEO, Òscar Grau.”

Quite a reception for the Google CEO, we wonder which club Mark Zuckerberg supports if any, Real Madrid?


source: http://www.opinions.ng/googles-ceo-visits-fc-barcelona/

SalamRushdie:
Op if you don't stop this nonsense and lies it's you father that would be impeached ..America is growing rapidly under Trump and a closet gay like you is still pained your demon Hillary lost ate the polls ..Keep dreaming

Funny.

If given the opportunity, quite a number of parents will not fly with their babies. This is because it can be very stressful, hectic, and nerve-wracking. A baby can start crying on board and this may be embarrassing for the parents. Regardless, you have no choice than to fly with your baby. If you are worried about flying with your baby, Jumia Travel, the online travel agency identifies ways to make flying with your baby less stressful.

Pack smart

Packing smart can seriously help you to reduce stress when travelling with your baby. You should ensure that you pack your baby’s things in an exclusive bag for easy access. This will make it easier to get your preserved bottled breast milk and change diapers.

Bring a travel mate

You can also book a cheap flight ticket for a travel mate on Jumia Travel. Your travel mate or companion will either carry your luggage or take care of your baby. It is better than going alone.

Get the right plane seat

Getting the right seat is essential for you to travel with your baby. The best seat is a window seat. It offers you privacy to nurse your baby. Some people may frown at you breastfeeding your baby openly. So try as much as possible to get a window seat. You can talk to the attendants at the ticket counter.

Leave the big luggage behind

If you can, you should leave your big luggage at home especially if you are vacationing for a few days. With this, you don’t need to pay more for luggage, and you can focus on taking care of your baby on board. But if you need your luggage, you can ask your partner to send it to you. This will only cost a little extra.

Don’t forget baby toys

Babies love being engaged on board. One of the fun ways to do this is by giving them toys. This will keep them distracted and you can worry less about flying with your baby.

Source: http://www.opinions.ng/make-flying-baby-less-stressful/

With all the stressful situations we face in our day to day lives, it’s good to have knowledge of relaxation responses to these stressors. This will help you avoid negative effects of stress like insomnia, high blood pressure, headaches, fatigue etc. Jumia Travel shares 7 relaxation techniques to help you achieve this. You can sample several of them to see the one(s) that work(s) best for you.

Breathing Exercises

In this exercise, you take long, slow, deep breaths (also known as abdominal or belly breathing). As you breathe, disengage your mind from distracting and troubling thoughts and sensations, says Julie Corliss, Executive Editor of Harvard Heart Letter. You should let your breath flow as deep down into your belly as possible (without forcing it), and breathe out without pausing or holding your breath, just let it flow out gently.

Breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth. Breathe in gently and regularly, and try counting from one to five in the process. It’s ok if you can’t; if counting is distracting you just focus on the exercise without counting. Try doing it for three to five minutes. However, this technique might not be appropriate for those with respiratory ailments or heart failure.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

After a few minutes of breathing exercises, you follow up with progressive muscle relaxation. Here, you focus on one part of your body or a group of muscles per time, and mentally release any physical tension you feel there. Basically, you scan your body to identify physically tense areas, and consciously relax those areas (one after the other) to help ease tension. You can lie on your back or sit with your feet to the floor while doing this, start the body scan from your toes to your scalp, noticing how your body feels and relaxing at every point.

Guided Imagery

Here, you remember soothing scenes, memories, places or experiences to help you relax and ease tension. If you have intrusive thoughts or find it difficult to conjure up mental images, you can find and download free apps or online videos of calming and soothing scenes and imagery. You only have to ensure you personally find these scenes calming and soothing.

Talk to Someone

Talk to your loved ones, as reaching out to those in your social circle is one of the best ways to handle stress and tension. Share your burdens with them, and in the process get fresh and helpful perspectives on the things weighing you down.

Listen to Soothing Music

Research shows that listening to soothing music can actually lower your blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety. Create a playlist of calm and soothing music (consider adding some classical music to that playlist), listen to them and allow your mind focus on the different melodies, instruments or even on the singer’s voice.

Move Around

Exercise helps the brain release feel-good chemicals and this gives the body a chance to deal with stress and ease tension. Quick walks around short distances, leisurely walks around your area or environment, walking up and down a flight of stairs, or doing some stretching exercises are enough to help you deal with stress and ease tension.

Repetitive Prayer

Yes prayer, especially for those who find religion and spirituality meaningful. Harvard Health Letter advises the use of this technique as a relaxation response to potential stressors. Here, you silently repeat a short prayer or a phrase from a prayer while practicing breathing exercises.

source: http://www.opinions.ng/7-relaxation-techniques-help-ease-tension/

Every new President in the United States spends his first month in office getting to know and thank the people who elected him into office, talking (politely) to fellow world leaders, selecting his executive team, using the media to get his message out and starts to implement his election campaign policies.

But not President Trump…

In less than 30 days as the President he’s managed to upset nearly everyone in the world – the Chinese, Russians, Mexicans, Iranians, Muslims – he even put the phone down on the Australian Prime Minister!

Unique and unlike any other American President before him he’s an egomaniac, bully and misogynist and not to talk of him being crass; he makes ex-President bush look clever. He sees himself as an Emperor and if care isn’t taken to curb him he has all the makings of a wannabe dictator. I mean what kind of President demeans himself by acting like a juvenile delinquent, on steroids, tweeting his every dissatisfaction on Twitter and having spats with people? Hasn’t he heard of a thing(s) called decency, conduct and protocol? Obviously not!

Breaking with protocol and in a rare display of nepotism, never before seen in American politics, Mr Trump has populated his inner circle with family and cronies – with his daughter, Ivanka, standing in as First Lady In Waiting( – is the real First Lady, Melania, on vacation?)

His election promise to get Muslims from seven countries banned from entering the United States has been overturned by judges who have deemed it unconstitutional and discriminating. He’s still going to build his Mexican wall but now realises America will have to pay for it. He is even reported to be considering the use of more than a force of 100, 000 national guards to hunt down illegal immigrants.

His erratic behaviour is causing a major concern amongst world leaders who are not sure what he’s going to next. This is the man who has got his finger firmly on the nuclear button forcing Russia to step up its game in readiness for an all-out nuclear war should Trump flip.

Already he’s fired all foreign US ambassadors, fired sally Yates, acting US attorney-general, for opposing his US-ban on Muslims policy. He’s fired six of his White House staff after they failed FBI background checks. Michael Flynn, his top national security official, quit in the wake of secret contacts with Russian spies during his election campaign and the White House is in total disarray.

He’s constantly battling the press, singling out CNN and The Post as his arch-enemies claiming they only publish ‘fake news’ all the time ( – especially when things don’t go his way!).

His reluctant First lady ,Melania, is holed up in Trump Tower in New York most of the time and doesn’t want to seem to come out and leading politicians reckon he needs a psychiatrist on stand-by 24/7 as he’s mentally unstable and could suffer a meltdown.

Also, because he’s a billionaire his business interests conflict with his official duties as President. He claims he has signed over all his business interests over to his sons, who now run his empire, but everybody knows he’s still the power behind the throne. Where will he find the time to run the country?

There have been widespread demonstrations, worldwide, protesting against his stand on Muslim immigrants and travel and his treatment of women.

Finally on the 16th of February he gave a surprise 90 minute press conference claiming he had achieved more in his first few weeks than any of his predecessors saying ‘the White House is running like a fine-tuned machine’, while at the same time taking a swipe at the New York Times and CNN (again!) over his campaign aides links with Russia.

Running a country, the size of America, is not the same as running a business empire or a TV reality programme and the incumbent will have to learn to follow protocol and listen to the wishes of the people who elected him in the first place. At a time when there is a lot of turmoil in the world, America needs a clear headed President to head the world’s most powerful nation something Donald Trump clearly isn’t.

If in the space of less than a month he has managed to alienate himself from the people he’s supposed to lead there’s no saying what he’ll do if he’s allowed to complete his four year tenure. Knowing the Americans they’ll probably impeach him before then or…

source: http://www.opinions.ng/donald-trump-may-impeached/

cc: Seun, Lalasticlala, Mynd44

Nollywood, the Nigerian movie industry is now the second-largest in the world after India in terms of number of movies released per year and contributes a relatively small percentage to Nigeria’s GDP. It provides a template through which Nigeria can get out of its current serious economic difficulties and begin to fulfill its potential to be a global economic power.

We Nigerians have always had a flair for acting and drama with most cultures in our country having some sort of local drama. This got transferred into Cinema and later on to TV and eventually into the Home Video business where the industry really made its mark.

The movie Living in Bondage, released in 1992 is seen as the first production to successfully use the home video format of distribution to great success in Nigeria and Nollywood never stopped from there. For close to 3 decades Hundreds of thousands of movies have been produced with a large number not being comparable with their foreign counterparts in terms of quality. However, what they lack in quality they make-up for in terms of creativity. You have producers, directors, actors as well as other industry professionals transforming very little to get stories, that people from Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world can relate with. Stars have been born from the likes of Richard Mofe Damijo, Ramsey Nouah, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, the great couple Olu and Joke Silva, Pete Edochie, the list is very long.

Nollywood has created a brand new industry where there was almost none, it has made places like Nnamdi Azikwe street, 11 Ebinpejo lane and 1/3 Pound road Aba, world-famous. An IMF report from 2016 indicates Nollywood has created jobs for over a million Nigerians with many doing above average in terms of income and standard of living. The same report states: ‘the industry currently accounts for N 853.9 billion ($7.2 billion), or 1.42 percent of Nigeria’s GDP (see http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2016/06/omanufeme.htm). It has made Nigerian culture popular in Africa and beyond as well as being a foreign-exchange earner.

Perhaps, the greatest indication that the rest of Nigeria needs to learn from Nollywood is the record-breaking performance at the box-office of Nigerian films in recent years with The Wedding Party breaking several records in 2016 when Nigeria was in the grip of a strong recession with many industries suffering record decline. The movie according to Wikipedia has grossed N45,0000,000. so far. A feat unparalleled by any movie before it and none after it at the moment.

How could this happen? Very easy, a lot of local capacity already exists in Nollywood and there is less need to rely on foreign input be-it human or material. Also, there is a local demand and appetite for Nigerian films, so while Nigerians watch a lot of foreign movies and programmes, there is still a large demand for local movies, this needs to be reflected in other industries as well from oil and gas where we refine very little crude oil to our food where we import about $2 billion dollars worth of rice per year for example according to Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

We need to begin to produce a lot more of what we consume just like we do not exclusively watch foreign movies, we should not be too over-reliant on imports in other areas of our life. Nollywood has many challenges too like lack of proper structure for distribution which allows piracy to thrive unchecked and lack of government support and incentives to produce higher quality movies which are very expensive to make. Despite these challenges, Nollywood has thrived and by extension other sectors of the economy should find ways of growing and thriving.

We should continue to put pressure on government at all levels to encourage local production and consumption with policies, laws and strategies that work. However, like Nollywood has shown, it is a lot more important for us as Nigerians to look inwards and begin to derive and extract value from our immediate environment. This is the best way to ensure we have sustainable growth and development across different sectors of our economy and make Nigeria truly great as an economically healthy and viable country.

Source: http://www.opinions.ng/using-nollywood-model-revive-nigerian-economy/

Congratulations Roger, truly a great champ and fairplay to Nadal for a great tournament.

So Roger Federer at 35 won his 18th Grand Slam at the Australian Open today beating his arch rival Rafael Nadal in a thrilling match that ended 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3.

For me, the greatest point to pick from this record-breaking triumph is that being the best at what you do requires not just talent and skills but passion and hardwork. Passion to see you through the lonely spell of underachievement which Federer went through in the last 5 years since he won his first 17th Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2012. He could have hung-up is racket and retired gracefully as the greatest tennis player ever (or at least one of the greatest) at the point when Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray started their own exciting rivalry at the top while Nadal was also falling into decline as injuries set-in.

Passion by itself will not get you far without hardwork to develop your game (whatever it is you do) to the highest level. Roger definitely put-in the shifts especially with the process of coming out of injury, the Australian Open was his first Grand Slam after about 6 months out with injury. Like anybody who is observant knows, it takes time and some effort to get to your normal energy levels after a period of illness or injury, this is even more so for elite sportsmen.

The things I write for Roger Federer are also true for Rafael Nadal whose physically demanding game, has led to a long spell of injury-laced disappointment. However, he seems to be reaching a level close to his best this season with a ATP tour win already and his run to today’s final will see him rise to No.6 when the new rankings are released on Monday.

It will be very interesting to see how the likes of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray react to the resurgence of these 2 legends of the game with a couple of new contenders seeking to break into the top echelon of tennis as well. But for today, we celebrate 2 great masters of a great game, tennis!

Source: http://www.opinions.ng/great-lessons-roger-federers-18th-grand-slam-win/

41lady:
Reference to your allegations that Boko haram started killing Muslim clerics, we need date. When it start my cousin neighbour wife was happy... Telling her brother inlaw let them be eliminated, thinking GOD is a man, who is sleeping.

The facts are independent of your story go and research how Boko Haram became violent and the first set of people they were attacking.

That's the problem we have- ignorant Christians and Muslims fuelling the cycle of violence and hatred and then claiming to be victims of it.

This is really sad, weather conditions globally are tough at the moment

'Youths give conditions for peace"? No, do not try to be peaceful you hear. You can continue to destroy your environment.

Lady39:
I am African-American..people are gonna get tired of me saying this...lol. My dad's Igbo..my late mom was black American. Unfortunately, we weren't taught how to speak Igbo...or Pidgin English.

No problem at all, welcome to Nigeria and its culture. We can be annoying and frustrating at times but you will be glad to know you are part of an awesome people through your dad.

DickTator1:
R. I. P to the professor.
When Boko Haram started they were applauded for bombing churches and schools. They then graduated to bombing mosques like this example.


Moral of the story: Never support injustice, you might come to regret it.

More like learn to stop spreading falsehood. Liars do not prosper.

Boko Haram started killing Muslim clerics that preached against the sect first.

Lady39:
Please forgive my ignorance...but what does "abi" mean?

You are not Nigerian? It is the equivalent of 'you know' in English. A means of supporting your point of view.

pointblank247:
attention seeking and confused human being.

When you don't have counter-arguments backed with facts, you attack abi.

Abeg Seun, let us have a wider Opinion on this. I tire for people commenting here from this section for the most part on this thread so far.

Nixiepie:
Who is Mr Eazi here in Chicago we dnt knw him

No be only Chicago you dey, na Toronto.