₦airaland Forum

Uber Technology Inc is preparing to begin its boat sector in Lagos (Nigeria’s financial capital and largest city) to knock traffic gridlock.

The ride-hailing service organisation is in discussions with the Lagos state government and regulatory authorities to begin Uber boat services on its waterways, Uber’s Chief Business Officer Brooks Entwistle stated on Thursday in a conference.
“We know the traffic is a priority and we think we can help there,” Entwistle said. “We are having fruitful good discussions with the regulators right now, it is what we are doing this week, we are meeting with partners.” The executive did not give a timeline on when the service will begin.

Lagos, the sub-Saharan Africa biggest city with an estimated population of 22 million, is known for its traffic congestion leaving commuters spending hours in their cars. Public transport services are scarce and unreliable. Its vast waterways provide good transport options but they are hardly used. Uber, which faces competition from Estonian-ride hailing firm Bolt, said it would seek partnership with local players for the service.

“Our strategy is in every country we going into we want to find local partners to help us with our business,” Entwistle said. “Partnership is core to our business.”

San Francisco-based Uber launched a boat service in Egypt in 2017, with taxis zipping up the Nile River that dissects Cairo, to bypass clogged streets. The company has expanded the service to cities including Mumbai and along the Croatian coast.

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/2019/06/27/uber-technology-to-commence-its-boat-taxis-operation-in-lagos/

Bumi Thomas has been told she is illegal despite being born in Glasgow and spending most of her life in the UK

A musician born in the UK faces being kicked out of her home because of a little-known change to Home Office legislation. Bumi Thomas was given 14 days to leave after being told she is illegal despite living here most of her life. The rising jazz star grew up thinking she was British, attended university in the UK and has legally worked and paid taxes since graduation.

However because her parents are Nigerian, she now faces deportation and being separated from her family and friends. The situation bears a chilling resemblance to the Windrush scandal, which saw many people deported in error after decades of life in the UK. Ms Thomas was born in Glasgow in June 1983 to parents who came over from Africa in the early 1970s.

In January 1983, Margaret Thatcher’s Tory government changed the British Nationality Act that removed the automatic right of citizenship for children of parents from former colonies. The singer’s parents should have registered her but were unaware they needed to do so. In a twist of irony, Ms Thomas’ elder sister Kemi was born one year before the Act and has always had legal status.

The musician, 36, believes she is a victim of an increasingly hostile attitude by the Home Office to migrants in the UK. She told the Mail on Sunday: ‘My parents came here at the end of the Windrush era. I had a National Insurance number, I had my birth certificate, I’d got a driving licence, a bank account, I went to college. At no point during that process was there any indication I was doing anything incorrectly.’

Speaking to Metro.co.uk, she continued: ‘I have never had any question in my mind that I’m British and Scottish. And that’s something I’m proud of. But according to a piece of paper, suddenly what I think about myself isn’t valid. It’s an illusion.’

At the age of three-and-a-half, Ms Thomas and her family returned to Nigeria. She came back to the UK as a teenager, thinking she automatically had dual British-Nigerian nationality. After graduating with a degree in fine arts from Bath Spa University she began to work and moved to London, where she now lives with her sister. It was only at the age of 25 when she went to apply for her UK passport that she was told she was never registered as British.

The Home Office was told she had technically overstayed in an illegal capacity. Ms Thomas said her case was classed as ‘complex’ and she was told to use human rights legislation rather than immigration laws to fight it. That marked the start of an ‘exhausting and expensive’ decade-long legal battle.

Two weeks ago she received a letter from the Home Office saying her application for permanent residency had been unsuccessful. She was given 14 days to appeal or face detention without notice. Ms Thomas has since lodged an appeal and is awaiting a court hearing.

The musician, who has performed at the Royal Festival Hall and London Palladium, continued: ‘My parents had no idea of the law change. This was in an analogue age, where correspondence was written and there was no social media.’

She added: ‘When I was told I wasn’t British, I was shocked and devastated. My soul and my spirit were screaming. Nigeria is foreign to me and I am a foreigner there. I’ve been in the UK for 18 years.’

Ms Thomas’ grandfather came to the UK to study medicine and she said her parents were also given a warm welcome as part of the Windrush generation – when people from former colonies came to the UK to rebuild the country after the Second World War. She said their treatment was in stark contrast to the way the Home Office was now treating her and thousands of others who ‘fall through the cracks of the system.’

She added: ‘There is a stigma attached to being an immigrant these days. At no point did I ever think I was doing anything wrong. When my parents came over they were welcomed but now it is different. There are people who have lived in the UK for 30/40/50 years facing hostility.’

Ms Thomas continued: ‘The Home Office right now has a hostile environment policy, a set of administrative and legislative measures that are designed to make staying in the UK as difficult as possible for people like me.’

The musician should be making her US debut at the Ford Theatre in Los Angeles in October but the immigration issues mean that is now in doubt. She has launched a gofundme page to help towards legal costs, which are already at £7,000 and rising. Ms Thomas’s lawyer, Fahad Ahmed, said she missed out on automatic citizenship by a matter of months and added: ‘Courts take a less harsh view than the Home Office, and if someone can prove their life is here, the courts will use their discretion.’

The British Nationality Act 1948 gave citizens of British colonies the right to settle in the UK. Since they had the legal right to come to the UK, they never needed nor were given any documents upon entry. In what later became known as the Windrush scandal, many were wrongly detained, denied legal rights or deported in administrative blunders. The Home Office is set to pay up to £200 million in compensation to people whose lives were damaged by their mistaken classification as illegal immigrants.

The Home Office has been contacted by Metro.co.uk about Ms Thomas’ case.

SOURCE: https://metro.co.uk/2019/06/26/musician-born-uk-given-14-days-leave-country-10074909/

IT'S important to keep an eye on your blood pressure. If you want to keep track of how your blood's pumping... here's all you need to know.

WHAT IS THE AVERAGE BLOOD PRESSURE FOR MEN AND WOMEN?
The average blood pressure differs depending on your age:

1 - 12 months = 90/60
1 - 5 years = 95/65
6 - 13 years = 105/70
14 - 19 years 117/77
20 - 24 years = 120/79
25 - 29 years = 121/80
30 - 34 years = 122/81
35 - 39 years = 123/82
40 - 44 years = 125/83
45 - 49 years = 127/84
50 - 54 years = 129/85
55 - 59 years = 131/86
60 - 64 years = 134/87

WHAT IS A NORMAL BLOOD PRESSURE READING?
The ideal blood pressure should be below 120 and over 80 (120/80) and most adults have blood pressure in the range 120 over 80 (120/80) to 140 over 90 (140/90).

The higher number is the systolic pressure, which is the force at which your heart pumps blood around your body, and the lower number is the diastolic pressure, the resistance to the blood flow in the blood vessels. Blood pressure is measured with an instrument called a sphygmomanometer, where a a cuff is placed around your arm and inflated with a pump until the circulation is cut off. Then, a small valve slowly deflates the cuff, and the doctor measures blood pressure.

Symptoms of high blood pressure include severe headaches and fatigue.

HOW CAN I MONITOR MY BLOOD PRESSURE AT HOME?
If you want to measure your blood pressure at home, you will need to a buy a blood pressure monitor. It's particularly important if a doctor has told you to monitor your blood pressure regularly.

If you are about to check your levels, avoid smoking, exercise, caffeine and stress directly before checking, as these can affect your blood pressure. Roll up your sleeve and sit with your arm resting palm-up on the arm of the chair. Make sure you're relaxed, in a quiet space and you don't need to use the bathroom - as this can change the reading.

Then follow these simple steps:
-- Locate your pulse on the inside of your elbow with your index and middle finger
-- Secure the cuff of the monitor onto your arm using the fabric fastener to make sure it's in place
-- Inflate and deflate the cuff using the instructions on the monitor - machines can differ
-- Keep your arm straight for the most accurate reading
-- Record the reading from the machine, as well as any special circumstances at the time (meals, stress, exercise etc.)

WHAT ARE THE RISKS IF YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE IS TOO HIGH OR TOO LOW?
If your blood pressure is too high (known as hypertension), it puts extra strain on your arteries (and your heart) and this may lead to heart attacks and strokes. For the most part, the lower your blood pressure the better. However, if you experience symptoms of dizziness, nausea, fainting and dehydration, then low blood pressure may be a problem.

If you experience any of those symptoms, it's best to see your doctor.

SOURCE: https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/5767212/what-average-blood-pressure-normal-reading-men-women-monitor-home/

THESE ARE 20 QUESTIONS YOU NEED TO ANSWER HONESTLY BEFORE DECIDING TO GET MARRIED

Maybe you’ve been together a while and are considering taking a big step, or perhaps you just started seeing one another and aren’t sure if you should stay the course. Whatever your situation, a check-in is never a bad thing. Here are 20 questions to ask your boyfriend about your relationship before moving forward, especially if you’re considering marriage.

1. Is the relationship making me better or worse?
Does your partner encourage you to be your best self or does he/she get intimidated by any triumphs and feel more secure when you’re not putting your best foot forward? Does he or she make you feel secure and loved or do they create drama or leave you sitting in a sea of uncertainty?

Happy, healthy partners bring a sense of calm and excitement into our lives whereas toxic partners will deplete and demoralize us. If your co-pilot isn’t reliable and ready to go the long-haul, it’s best to fly solo.

2. Do we really accept one another?
There will always be things you want to change about the people in your life, but no one should be in a situation where they feel they aren’t allowed to be authentic and accepted as the unique, special (yet flawed) person they are.

3. Who am I?
How can you know if your partner is a good match if you have no idea who you are? Take some time and think about the person you are and want to become. Get to know your values, your non-negotiables and your short and long-term goals. It’s important to get a good understanding of what you hope to experience and achieve in life and what you truly like and don’t like before you bring someone else into your life.

4. Am I happy to be in this relationship?
The idea of sharing a life together is not to find someone to complete you or make you happy. But let’s face it: being unhappy at home can seep into other areas of your life… and fast. If you’re always fighting or just generally not feeling great about your twosome, it doesn’t mean you have to bail out (counseling might be a good option) but marrying someone in the hope that it changes things is a bad, bad idea.

5. Am I feeling trapped?
Do you really want to be in this relationship the majority of the time or do you find yourself wishing for a way out? Do you stay because you’ve invested time or are you really invested in your mate? Do you like them or are they “good on paper”?

6. What am I doing to hold us back?
Maybe you could be more attentive, more thoughtful, quicker to let things go, or the first to bring up going to counseling. Perhaps you are pushing them away for reasons that stem from your childhood or your friends are doing “what you always do”. Whatever it is, take this as your sign to step up.

7. Is this relationship balanced?
Do you feel you’re both on the same page in terms of compromise, care, support, effort, and sacrifice? Or is one of you doing most of the giving while the other just sits with their hand out?

8. Can we have fun together?
This one is important. Have you ever seen two people sit across from one another in silence at brunch as though they are being forced to walk through their day together? Not fun.

9. Can we have fun apart?
Co-dependency ain’t cute, y’all.

10. Why am I in this relationship?
Is it because you respect, love, trust, and value the person you are with? Or because you’re afraid of being alone, worried about finances, or have built a life you’re scared to leave?

11. Where is this going?
Living in the “now” is great, but eventually, the partnership will need a plan or someone will begin to feel anxious. Are you checking in with one another and aware of the other person’s expectations?

12. Do I really trust my partner?
For some, the immediate response to this can be devastating. If you’re one of them, it’s time to ask why and how you can begin to build or rebuild trust. Without it, there’s no chance.

13. Am I with a good person?
Knowing what you know about your partner today, would you vouch for them if they were a friend?

14. Am I physically attracted to my partner?
Physical attraction is hardly the most important component in a relationship, but forcing yourself to be in a relationship with someone who you’re not attracted to just because it’s comfortable or “perfect on paper” isn’t fair to anyone. You will feel resentful and they will feel rejected.

15. Am I a parent or a partner?

16. Does my partner have my back?
Do you feel like you’re a part of a loyal team who stands up for one another, supports one another, and shows a united front (even when the other is not around)? Or do you feel like you’re constantly being thrown under the bus by your mate?

17. Are we looking in the same direction?
Some couples avoid having the big talks (religion, marriage, babies) because they think that, somehow, these things will just “work themselves out.” By the time they realize they won’t, they’re in a complicated, painful situation that leaves one (or both) feeling a little bit duped. If you want kids and your partner thinks you’re both “living in the now” and fine with the status quo, you’re both doing yourselves and one another a disservice (and wasting time).

18. Are we growing together?
Being a human being living on this earth, we all have a right to grow and develop and create a full life for ourselves. Are you and your partner still indulging in your passions (individual and shared) and growing as individuals?

19. Am I still me?
Being in love with someone should not require changing our identity to fit someone else’s idea of who we should be, on any level.

20. What is my gut telling me?
Do you feel like this relationship is healthy and moving at a healthy pace in a positive direction? You have an intuition for a reason. Listen to yourself!

SOURCE: https://www.gist mania.com/talk/topic,392401.0.html

The most popular reason for the participation of millions of people in the monthly Holy Ghost Service of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) is the touch of God. People come from many other churches, making the services interdenominational. But despite the varied expectations of the congregants, they are unified in the belief of the presence of God.

That was the reason God approved the service. Pastor Adeboye’s account: “Some years ago (1986), I was in London preparing the Sunday School booklet for the mission when I heard from God. He said, “Son, what do you want for your birthday?” I was shocked. The reason I was shocked was that: I didn’t know God would be interested in my birthday. And secondly, I didn’t know He could ask me what I wanted as birthday present.

So I said, “Lord if that is you, please repeat the question.” He assured me it was Him and asked again what I wanted as a birthday present.

I replied, “What I want is that all my members will get miracles.” He asked, “Is that’s all?’ I replied “That’s all I want.”

Then He said, “In that case when you get home, call them together and I will give them whatever they ask for.” I needed to call the service a name, so I asked Him. And He said: “Holy Ghost Service.”

What happened at the first Holy Ghost Service was wonderful. And when we finished, my people came to me to request that I consulted God for the service to hold every year. God granted the request. But after some time, members of the church suggested that I should request for a monthly Holy Ghost Service.”

Hundreds of people gush out during altar calls by Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the church; and millions accept his prophecies announced as “words of knowledge,” with thunderous enthusiasm. They also believe in the efficacy of his prayers, which have birthed many miracles.

But don’t worry about the presence of the 77-year-old cleric who shows no signs of aging at work – prolonged fasting, traveling around the world for ministrations and standing for hours to preach. He has always attended the Holy Ghost Services since it started in 1986 anyway. In the language of his earlier career as a mathematician, he is a “constant,” at the services.

But long before he appears on the altar, the two expansive auditoriums at the Redemption Camp go into a joyous mood with people dancing ecstatically to praise and worship songs. Rendered with the latest of musical instruments and by gifted lead singers backed by a massive choir, aptly named the “Mass Choir,” the songs are rich and soul-stirring.

The sight of millions unified in singing and dancing would have been scary in another setting but in the Camp, it is jubilation time in the city Godpromised him years ago when he lived in Mushin, a suburb in Lagos as General Overseer of the church. Elders of the church believe the phenomenal growth of the church is a miracle in itself.

Like every big thing in God’s plan, growth took time. The church, which was founded in founded in 1952 by Pastor Josiah Akindayomi has had its difficult moments. Pastor Adeboye was living big as a lecturer at the University of Ilorin when he succeeded Pastor Akindayomi as General Overseer and had to move to Mushin.

He tells his story: “Prior to becoming the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, I was the Head of Department of Mathematics at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. I was living in a mansion with a two-bedroom guest quarters. I also had servants’ quarters with four bedrooms. All these were not part of the main house. But when I became the General Overseer, I had to live in a one-room apartment in Mushin (a relatively poor suburb in Lagos). I left my wife and children in Ilorin to be in Lagos to work in the church. Due to my difficult living conditions at that time, I had to tidy up things before my family could join me.

Before bringing them over, I went to God in prayers and explained the challenges I was facing. I told God to build a house for me. Left to me, I did not mind using the one-room apartment, but the thought of housing my entire family in one room posed a great challenge. God’s response to me was, “Son, don’t ask for a house because I have decided to build you a city.’’

That response was beyond what I could comprehend. After this encounter, I began to dream of a city where everybody would be a Christian; a city where there would be no molestation; a city where there would be no power failure or water shortage. God began to stretch my mind to see a city where His praises would fill every mouth.” The is the sprawling Redemption Camp.

From 40 parishes then, the church has spread to 198 countries and it is now the largest Pentecostal church in the United Kingdom. From all these countries, people share in the mood of the Holy Ghost Services beamed live to their parishes and homes. And despite the distance, many people have testified of miracles received from their participation in the services.

The June Holy Ghost Service typified recent ones in mood and size. It was the sixth of the Swimming in Glory Series, with the theme “Born to Sing God’s Grace.” And the congregation did sing and dance! From four other zones of the church, choristers came to join the Mass Choir, forming a large dancing lake of people. The service started with congregational prayers, followed by a long praise and worship session, in which the congregation immersed themselves excitedly with dancing and singing.

Many people, even some elderly ones, were seen dancing vigorously, not just gentle swings. More songs came later from the choirs from the zones and a solo performance by a fourteen-year-old boy who was rewarded with the embrace and prayers by Pastor Adeboye and his wife. With so much energy on display during the praise and worship, it is obviously becoming one of the high points of the services.

Other highpoints are the prayers for nations, led by the wife of the General Overseer, Pastor Folu Adeboye; the altar call, which is another constant; and testimony time, when people testify to the touch of God. Many of the amazing testimonies are greeted with cries of joy and more praiseto God by the congregation.

There is always another round for the Mass Choir to sing at the end of which the mistral, ushers in Pastor Adeboye for his own sermon. The Congregation switches into prayer mode as wind instruments rent the air, and people go down on their knees when the Pastor kneels at the altar to pray in exaltation to God.

The sermon for June 2019 dwelt on the need to praise the Lord, which the church emphasizes. Reading from Psalm 34, he said man was created to sing God’s praise as was all His creations and that there are really songs for every situation.

“If you want God to draw near, sing His praise because He inhabits the praise of His people,” he said. He later highlighted other benefits of praising God as: Divine visitation; open doors; earth-shaking miracles; destruction of yokes; silencing enemies and even making them servants. Also, like in the case of Solomon, some level of praise could be rewarded with blank cheques.

The General Overseer explained the many ways through which God can be praised:

PRAISING HIM WITH THE MOUTH: We have to praise God at all times and in all situations. We have to sing His praise. It is not possible to be praising God and be complaining at the same time. When you are complaining, you are not praising. When you are murmuring, you are not praising God.

Some people feel too big and proud to praise God, but those who know where they are coming from, who know how far He has taken them, find it easy to sing joyful songs to Him.

PRAISING GOD WITH THE HANDS: When we lift our hands up (to the Lord) we are saying, “I surrender.” By surrendering, we show God that we have no strength of our own to face our challenges and He intervenes. The elders have a sayingthat when a child lifts up his or her hands, he or she is carried. When you lift your hands to the Almighty God, He will look down from Heaven; He will carry you in His mighty hands and no devil can touch you. We also clap while singing His praise. Psalms 47:1 says “O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. Clapping for Jesus also means you will cooperate with Him.

PRAISING WITH THE LEGS: It is done by bowing our knees or dancing.When we bow, we are admitting His superiority.
Praising God with the whole body: This is done by prostrating. By doing that, we are telling God, He made us and without Him we are nothing. I do that often when praying with the ministers because when I remember what God has done even here on this camp ground, which was a jungle when we came, I cannot but praise Him in every way possible; I prostrate.

Towards the end of the service pastors of the church laid hands on everybody in attendance. The congregation loved that too!

SOURCE: https://www.thecable.ng/the-charged-atmosphere-at-rccg-holy-ghost-services

Within the next 24 hours, over one million people will contract sexually transmitted infections (STIs), the World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics have revealed. The latest figures released by WHO reveals that more than one million people get one form of sexually transmitted infections or the other every day.

The UN health agency also revealed that every year, there are an estimated 357 million new infections with one of four STIs: chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and trichomoniasis. In 2016, diagnoses from around the world revealed that 127 million contracted chlamydia, while 87 million picked up gonorrhoea, syphilis had 6.3 million new patients and trichomoniasis led the pack with 156 million people infected.

Based on these numbers, on average, one in every 25 people globally has at least one of these STIs — chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and trichomoniasis. More than 500 million people are estimated to have genital infection with herpes simplex virus (HSV) with more than 290 million women with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.

Majority of STIs, also known as sexually transmitted disease (STDs) have no symptoms or only mild symptoms that may not be recognized as an STI.

STI CAN BE SPREAD VIA MouthAction
WHO adds that STDs or STIs are spread predominantly via unprotected sex, including vaginal, anal and MouthAction. However, some STIs can also be spread through non-sexual means such as via blood or blood products.

Many STIs — including, syphilis, hepatitis B, HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhoea, herpes, and HPV—can also be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy and childbirth.

WHO: 200,000 NEONATES DIED from STIs IN 2016
Sexually transmitted diseases claim lots of lives every year, including neonatal death to the tune of 200,000 neonates in 2016. Neonates are children one month or younger. It also leads to low-birth-weight and prematurity, sepsis, pneumonia, neonatal conjunctivitis, and congenital deformities.

Approximately 1 million pregnant women were estimated to have active syphilis in 2016, resulting in over 350 000 adverse birth outcomes of which 200,000 occurred as stillbirth or neonatal death.

CALM DOWN: STI CAN BE PREVENTED AND SOME TREATED
Prevention is better and cheaper than cure, the cliché goes. With STIs, prevention is not just better and cheaper, it could save 200,000 neonates and millions of adults around the world. WHO says counselling and behavioural interventions offer primary prevention against STIs (including HIV), as well as against unintended pregnancies. This includes “comprehensive sexuality education, STI and HIV pre- and post-test counselling”.

When used correctly and consistently, WHO says “condoms offer one of the most effective methods of protection against STIs, including HIV”. Female condoms are also said to be “effective and safe”.

Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and one parasitic STI (trichomoniasis) are generally curable with existing, effective single-dose regimens of antibiotics. For herpes and HIV, the most effective medications available are antivirals that can modulate the course of the disease, though they cannot cure the disease.

For hepatitis B, antiviral medications can help to fight the virus and slow damage to the liver.

SOURCE: https://www.thecable.ng/having-sex-today-here-are-the-stds-you-and-1m-people-may-get-in-24-hours-according-to-who

Researchers have found that people who spend as long as ten hours working are at higher risks of suffering from stroke than those who work for shorter hours. The study analysed data recorded in Constances, a French population-based study group conducted in 2012, to gather information such as gender, smoking, and work hours of adults between the ages of 18 and 69.

Published in the ‘Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association‘, the study found that 1,224 participants out of a total 143,592 persons, suffered a stroke. For the study, the researchers defined long hours as spending an average of ten hours working for at least 50 times per year. However, part-time workers and those who already suffered strokes before working long hours were excluded from the study.

Results of the study revealed that people working long hours had a 29 per cent greater risk of stroke, while those working long hours consistently for a period of ten years had a 45 per cent greater risk. The researchers also conclude that while there was no risk difference on the basis of gender, chances of risks was stronger for people engaged in white-collar jobs.

“Long working hours (LWHs) are a potential risk factor for stroke,”Marc Fadel, co-author for the study, wrote in the published paper.

“The association showed no differences between men and women but was stronger in white-collar workers under 50 years of age”.

The researchers conclude that the study will serve as reference material significant for both individual and global prevention of stroke amongst working-class adults.

SOURCE: https://lifestyle.thecable.ng/working-long-hours-increases-risks-of-stroke-study-says/

The National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it has placed a ban on the production of smaller packs of sniper. The agency also said it will soon ban the use of paraquat and atrazine products by farmers.

Sniper is an insecticide used to eliminate insects while paraquat and atrazine are chemicals used as herbicide for weed and grass control.

Husman Bukar, the director, veterinary medicine and allied products directorate, NAFDAC, made this known at the launch of Lifeline, an herbicide, at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Oyo state.

Lifeline is produced by United Phosphorous Limited (UPL).

Bukar said the decision was coming at a time when new herbicides that are safer and environmentally friendly were being registered in Nigeria. He said the agency would “mount evidence” that the products hurt applicators and the environment. He also announced stricter measures to curtail the use of snipper in homes to end the abuse of the pesticide which in recent times had been associated with suicide in Nigeria.

“A date for the ban has not been announced but it will happen very soon. Paraquat has been banned in several countries and we cannot continue to allow it to come into Nigeria,” he said.

“Recently, some suicide cases have been associated with people drinking sniper, henceforth, we call on the agro-chemical industry to enhance their distribution channels so that this product (sniper) gets to only accredited distributors and marketers. We have also placed a ban on the manufacture of smaller packs of snipper which are easily purchased for household use.

“On the use of glyphosate by farmers, NAFDAC has placed a ban on glyphosate-based formulations with tallow-amine (an emulsifier and wetting agent for agrochemical formulations). Agrochemical companies have been given the grace period of between now and December 2019 to withdraw all glyphosate formulations with tallow-amine from the Nigerian market.”

Also speaking, Shanni Srivastava, UPL country manager, said his company was working towards ensuring that only safer and environmentally friendly herbicides are introduced in the Nigerian market. He said the launch of Lifeline was to offer a better and safer alternative to paraquat which, in several countries in Africa, had been banned.

Following the rampant cases of usage of sniper for suicide, a segment of Nigerians had taken to Twitter to call for the ban of the insecticide due to its affordability and the ease with which victims access the chemical.

“Federal government of Nigeria, Please, place a ban on Sniper now!!!!!!!!!!!!. Please lets retweet till those in authority take action,” a Twitter user had said.

“Parents should take note, chemists and pharmacies should take note, no more selling of Sniper, that shit is causing more harm than good. Say NO to suicide, say NO to Sniper,” another had tweeted.

Federal Government Of Nigeria , Please, Place A Ban On Sniper Now!!!!!!!!!!!! . Please Lets Retweet Till Those In Authority Take Action. pic.twitter.com/ehyIZTOiWR
— Oluwadurotimi Dawodu (@TimiBlaze) May 16, 2019

6 persons committed suicide using Sniper in the last 72 hours and no official statement from the company. And some people want us to leave sniper alone. No way! BAN SNIPER NOW!
— Sam Eba (@SamEba_) May 16, 2019

SOURCE: https://www.thecable.ng/suicide-nafdac-bans-production-of-smaller-packs-of-sniper

WhatsApp says it will take legal action against users who send bulk and “non-personal” messages through its platform starting from December 7. In an update to the Facebook-owned company’s FAQ section of its website, WhatsApp also said that those who help others to spam users and even companies that publicly claim to have been authorised to use its apps to send bulk messages wont be spared.

“This serves as notice that we will take legal action against companies for which we only have off-platform evidence of abuse if that abuse continues beyond December 7, 2019, or if those companies are linked to on-platform evidence of abuse before that date,” the company said.

In a white paper published in February, WhatsApp said its platform is available for use by businesses as well as individuals – but only if those businesses want to converse with one customer at a time, not for broadcast messages.

“WhatsApp was built for private messages: to help people chat with their loved ones, conduct business, or talk confidentially with a doctor. Instead of encouraging users to build an audience and share widely, WhatsApp is designed to help people share with others they know or get helpful information from a business,” it said.

This development is one of the many measures taken by the company in a bid to combat spam on its platform.

SOURCE: https://lifestyle.thecable.ng/whatsapp-sue-users-who-send-broadcast-message/

gratefulheart:
Multi choice doesn't have upto 1,000 employees

The article is not specific to Multichoice-Nigeria.

According to pre-listing documents submitted to the Johanesburg Stock Exchange, the Multichoice Group had 6,963 employees as at January 2019. See link below:

https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/294632/this-is-what-the-average-multichoice-employee-gets-paid/

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents have released Halima Umar, a corps member in Gwoza, Borno state, five months after her abduction. In a statement on Thursday, the state government said Umar was freed through collaborative efforts involving security agencies and an undisclosed journalist.

Abdulmalik Biu, general officer commanding (GOC) 7 division of the Nigerian army, and the state director of the Department of State Services (DSS) handed over the corps member to Kadafur, the deputy governor at the government house, Maiduguri, on Thursday.

“A serving corps member, kidnapped in January 2019 by one of the terror groups in the North East, Halima Uwani Umar has been freed,” the government said in a statement.

“Her freedom came as a result of a joint coordinated engagement involving key stakeholders. It is an outcome of a preliminary level negotiation involving the state government, the Kalthum Foundation for Peace, a non governmental organization with intermediatory negotiation with the leadership of the terror group handled by a prominent investigative journalist with critical access. The state government states that the step is in line with its desire to work with strategic partners to open lines of communication with the insurgents as a means of freeing several non combatant captives of the terror groups.

“The strategic interventionist team was empaneled to use every necessary tools and good spirited individuals to engage the insurgents in noncombatant ways as a means of de-escalation framework that will eventually result in freeing more captives and safe return of displaced persons in the state.

"The insurgents released Ms Umar as a sign of goodwill to commit to a new process of resolving the conflicts in the region. The state government, the military, the DSS played vital roles deploying professional field experience and strategic cover for the process. The state government shall continually bring the media up to speed as may be necessary.”

SOURCE: https://www.thecable.ng/female-corps-member-regains-freedom-after-five-months-in-boko-haram-custody

MultiChoice Africa, a multinational video entertainment company, has announced plans to restructure its customer service model, leading to the possible loss of over 2,000 jobs. The restructuring would create new opportunities for “multi-skilled employees with the expertise, skills and technological prowess to enhance the customer experience,” Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice group chief executive, said in a statement on Friday.

Mawela said the company would enter into a “consultation process with 2,194 of its employees within customer care (call centre) and the walk-in centres as part of the strategic realignment of its customer service delivery model. The realignment is a response to the changing behaviour of customers, who are increasingly moving away from traditional voice calls and visits to walk-in centres and adopting new self-service and digital technologies to engage with the company,” Mawela said.

“The video entertainment sector is seeing a rapid evolution with a growing number of players that have entered the industry. We have worked hard to minimise the impact of the business realignment on our people– those directly impacted by the process and their colleagues in the rest of the business. This has not been an easy decision to make but, in a business driven by advancing technologies, we must continue to drive efficiencies yet be agile enough to adapt to evolving customer needs to ensure that we remain relevant, competitive and sustainable.

“We must act decisively to align to the change in customer behaviour and competition from (over-the-top, or OTT) services (like Netflix) because if we don’t reposition now, we run the risk of being completely misaligned and we put everyone’s jobs at risk.”

In a statement on its website, the company said it has over 2,750 individuals working in 14 countries. In Nigeria, MultiChoice operates DSTV and GoTV, both pay-TV services, with over 1,000 directly employed by the media conglomerate and thousands more indirectly.

It is not clear if the job cut will affect MultiChoice staff in Nigeria, but the statement said consultation process with affected employees will take place over 60 days.

SOURCE: https://www.thecable.ng/multichoice-to-lay-off-thousands-of-workers

Only high net-worth individuals and institutional investors that have a minimum of $3 million in investable assets will be offered shares in the upcoming initial public offers (IPO) of Airtel Africa. According to the listing prospectus made available by the company, this $3 million investable asset will be outside the primary residence of the investors.

Airtel said it would offer between 501.125 million and 716.406 million shares to Nigerians through book building.

Book building is a process used by companies to raise capital through public offerings, both initial public offers (IPOs) or follow-on public offers (FPOs), to aid price and demand discovery. The offer price, which is currently estimated to be between N363 and N454 per share, will be determined after the bid closure based on the demand generated in the process.

The company hopes to raise $750 million thorough listings on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange. The offer price is determined after the bid closure based on the demand generated in the process.

Proceeds from the offer would principally be for debt reduction.

“An application for the Ordinary Shares of the Company to be listed on the official list will be done pursuant to the cross-border listing requirements of the NSE,” it said.

“It is expected that the Nigerian Admission will become effective on 4 July 2019 and that unconditional dealings in the Ordinary Shares will commence on The NSE on 4 July 2019. The Nigerian offer is subject to the satisfaction of conditions, which are customary for transactions of this type including Nigerian Admission becoming effective on 4 July 2019. There shall be no underwriting arrangement for this offering.”

The issuing houses for the offer are Barclays Securities Nigeria and Quantum Zenith Securities Investments Limited.

SOURCE: https://www.thecable.ng/you-shares-airtel-ipo-least-3m-investable-assets

Notorious Mavrodi Mundial Moneybox (MMM), the Ponzi scheme which dashed the hope of over three million Nigerians in 2017, is back. The new version known as MMM Cooperation promises as much as 50 percent return on any amount invested in it — 20 percent more than what the extinct version offered.

Just like the previous version, participants are to register, invest a particular amount in the form of “providing help” and “get help” with their investment and interest back after 30 days.

And some Nigerians are falling for it yet again!

The scheme had announced a shut down in April 2018 following the death of Sergei Mavrodi, its founder but in a surprising turn of events, the scheme announced it had re-launched globally since January “to make Mavrodi’s legacy worthwhile. Like sunrise in the morning, MMM Cooperation set the pace on the 22nd of January 2019 all over the world."

One of the coordinators who gave his name as Guider Tee on twitter, said the new MMM is now in over 170 countries.

SOURCE: https://www.gist mania.com/talk/topic,392109.0.html

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday 20th June 2019, engaged the National Economic Council (NEC) to begin the means of implementing free and mandatory basic education for children as included in Section 18(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as revised).

The president said any governor who declined to provide schools, teachers and necessary teaching materials for the entrenchment of basic education would be supporting and encouraging the crime of having children away from school.

Buhari addressed this in Abuja at the inauguration of NEC for the second term of his presidency. He said another part of Section 18 mandated every government to “provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age.” Membership of NEC, which is chaired by the vice-president, comprises governors and top government officials in charge of the country’s economic affairs.

According to the president, when governors provide the basic requirements for basic education as stipulated in the constitution, it will be a criminal act for any parent to deprive their children of the opportunity to be in school during the period. He challenged governors to rise from yesterday’s meeting to mobilise their local government chairmen to provide the minimum level of education, with a view to ensure children are prevented from roaming the streets within their first nine years.

He said when this was done, children would be shielded from evil influences, adding that the minimum basic education acquired will help such children to make good decisions for their lives and simultaneously acknowledge their roles in the society.

“On education, I want to stress in particular the need to take very seriously and enforce very rigorously the statutory provisions on free and compulsory basic education. Section 18(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, places on all of us here an obligation to eradicate illiteracy and provide free and compulsory education.

“Section 2 of the Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act provides that every government in Nigeria shall provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age. It is indeed a crime for any parent to keep his child out of school for this period. In my view, when a government fails to provide the schools, teachers and teaching materials necessary for basic education, it is actually aiding and abetting that crime.

“This is, therefore, a call to action. I would like to see every governor rise from this meeting and rally his local government chairmen towards ensuring that our schools offer the right opportunities and provide the needed materials and teachers for basic education, at the minimum. If we are able to do this, the benefits will surely manifest themselves.
Read: Interswitch, Microsoft, Partner to Pioneer Blockchain Technology in Nigeria

“Ensuring proper education during the first nine years of schooling means that our children start off their lives with some discipline and education. They will be safeguarded from roaming the streets and protected from all the evil influences that assail idle hands and idle minds.

“Whatever they choose to do thereafter, children with basic education will be better prepared to learn and to appreciate their own role in society. This will also go a long way in solving our security and other anti-social problems, which are often the manifestations of early delinquency. I, therefore, think every governor here should make a firm commitment to be personally involved in ensuring that every child of school age actually goes to school throughout the crucial nine years of basic education,” Buhari said.

The federal government on its part, the president added, would extend the school feeding programme, which will encourage school enrolment and enhance the health and learning abilities of pupils. He also said the federal government would assist states to access the counterpart funding provided by Universal Basic Education (UBEC) for the development of basic education.

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/2019/06/21/president-buhari-asks-nec-to-begin-the-implementation-of-free-and-mandatory-basic-education-for-children/

A new majority shareholder may have taken shelter in Wema Bank Plc, going by the recently-recorded spike in the company’s sales volume.

The Strategic Investor Revealed: According to some stockbroker with insights into the transactions that happened on the bank’s stocks between Monday and Tuesday, the large transaction volumes point to the fact that a strong strategic investor is taking a controlling stake in the company. This strong investor was specifically identified as Nigerian billionaire Adebutu Kesington.

“There were large volumes on Wema shares transaction on Monday and Tuesday. A strategic investor suspected to be Adebutu Kesington is taking controlling ownership of Wema Bank.” -Anonymous

Shareholders are okay with this: According to Patrick Ajudua, the President of New Dimension Shareholders Association, any measure that is taken to keep the bank competitive is a welcome development.

“Whatever it will take to reposition the bank in order to compete with its peers is a welcome development for minority shareholders. You will recall that there is a movement in trading of the bank shares in last three days, which is an indication of possible boardroom changes. Also, it is just recently that the bank is able to declare dividend after 14 years. So I welcome the new development.”

Meanwhile, the President of the Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria said Boniface Okezie, said-

“If the man has the capacity to run the place as a core investor he is welcome on board, but I must also warn that the management must be allowed to operate with free hands with less interference.”

Note that between Monday and Tuesday, there was an unusual upsurge in the volumes of transaction in the bank’s shares, with 2,695,950,744 and 2,399,041,825 shares traded respectively. The value of Wema Bank’s shares traded on Monday was N1.71 billion, representing 43.6% of the total value of shares which is N3.93 billion. The value of the bank’s shares traded on Tuesday was N1.48 billion.

Between Monday and Tuesday, the bank’s share gained 3 kobo to close at 63 kobo. The company topped the activity chart of the Exchange on the two days after a total of 5.095 billion shares changed hands in the period.

Note that Wema Bank has not confirmed this development, even as no written statement has been issued to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on this matter.

SOURCE: https://nairametrics.com/2019/06/20/a-majority-investor-is-reportedly-buying-out-wema-banks-majority-shares/

Popular Ponzi scheme, Loom Money Nigeria has crashed, and in a bid to retrieve their money, some angry customers have stormed to their office. On arrival to the said Loom’s headquarters in Lagos, they discovered the office has been deserted.

Lagosians storms LOOM headquarters in their numbers as they claim, no staff has been on ground since last week. pic.twitter.com/ZO8A1PkrEO
— Sam Eba (@SamEba_) June 18, 2019

Before the crash of the Ponzi scheme, some Nigerians had already foreseen that something like this is bound to happen, many made references to the great Ponzi scheme of 2017 called MMM and how it left many broke and bankrupt.

Loom has proved that Ponzi’s are not a good way of investing. At the early stage of Loom, Nairametrics had in a report, warned Nigerians of the imminent danger of investing in the fast money making Ponzi scheme.

The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) also issued a warning to the public, deterring them from putting their money in the scheme. According to Mary Uduk, SEC’s Acting Director General, the Ponzi had no tangible business model as she described the digital venture as a scheme that uses people’s returns to pay for people’s invested funds.

The peer-to-peer pyramid scheme which is patterned similarly as the collapsed MMM is designed in a rotative form in which when a new person is recruited, others are pushed closer to the centre of the circle where they’re promised a payout. Just like every Ponzi, you pay to get involved; the scheme relies on you to recruit other people, and to part with their money just as you did. It is a cycle, the more people come in, the greater the chances of one cashing out.

Unfortunately, this cycle only benefits the early users as new entrants begin to reduce and sometimes people tend to slow down payment when things begin to go slow, leaving the latter investors to carry the burden of a failed Ponzi scheme.

SOURCE: https://nairametrics.com/2019/06/20/angry-nigerians-storm-loom-office-as-ponzi-scheme-crashes/

Arrangements are in top gear to kick-start exploration of the large deposits of Bitumen in Ondo State by an indigenous company, South West Bitumen (SWB) which has secured a 25-Year renewable operational mining license across a land mass of about14,800 Hectares in the Southern part of the Sunshine State.

Speaking during a working visit to the Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN; the Managing Director of South West Bitumen Company, Engineer Akin Odumakinde, disclosed that construction of a befitting operational base for the company would be completed within the next three months.

Engineer Odumakinde who told the governor that the SWB was ready to commence mining operation of bitumen in the state very soon having taken delivery of needed equipment and paid the agreed compensation to the families of landowners whose landed properties were within the landmass acquired for the project. He said on completion, several persons would be employed from the host communities across Odigbo, Irele and Okitipupa Local Government Areas.

He categorically stated that a Bitumen Research and Development Centre has been established at the Federal University of Technology in Akure and its affiliate to be at the state’s University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa.

At the inception of his administration, the governor had stated that the bitumen project was close to his heart adding that the product which the state has in large abundance would not only be harnessed but also bring about the desired change to the economic fortunes of the state.

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/2019/06/18/bitumen-exploration-set-to-begin-in-ondo-state/

WOMEN'S WORLD CUP
Australia battled back from 2-0 down to beat Brazil 3-2 in an extraordinary five-goal thriller and inflicted a first group-stage defeat on the South Americans in 24 years. The Matildas suffered a surprise loss to Italy in their opening game and their campaign looked in serious trouble when they trailed to a Marta penalty and Cristiane’s fourth strike in two matches.

But the Matildas levelled through Caitlin Foord’s poked finish and Chloe Logarzo’s cross-shot either side of half-time, with Marta needing to be withdrawn with a knock at the interval, having earlier extended her record tally to 16 World Cup goals. Defender Monica’s unfortunate own goal – which was eventually awarded by VAR, with an offside Sam Kerr controversially judged not to have been interfering – completed Australia’s remarkable comeback.

The Australians, who are ranked sixth in the world, are now level with Brazil and the Italians on three points in Group C, before Jamaica and Italy meet in their second match in Reims on Friday, in the most evenly poised group at the tournament.

Brazil, who beat Jamaica last time out through a memorable Cristiane hat-trick, had not lost a group stage match at the finals since 1995. And the 2007 runners-up appeared to be in full control of Thursday’s thriller in Montpellier upon entering first-half stoppage time, before Foord’s close-range finish gave Australia hope.

Marta, who missed Brazil’s first game through injury, arrived in France with a one-goal lead in the Women’s World Cup goal standings over former Germany star Birgit Prinz and ex-USA forward Abby Wambach, who both retired with 14 goals at the finals. And the Orlando Pride star’s 16th saw her become Brazil’s record scorer at senior World Cups as she surpassed iconic former Real Madrid forward Ronaldo’s 15, while moving level with Germany’s Miroslav Klose at the top of the standings.

She coolly converted from the spot after Australia’s Elise Kellond-Knight had dragged back Leticia Santos in the box, before Cristiane’s fine leap and header into the corner made it 2-0.

At that stage, the Brazilians were almost unrecognisable from the disappointing team that finished bottom of this year’s invitational SheBelieves Cup in the United States in March.

SOURCE: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/06/14/australia-fight-back-as-brazil-suffers-first-group-stage-defeat-in-24-years/amp/

Eight persons, including an infant, were confirmed dead, while 12 persons sustained varying degrees of injuries in accidents involving many vehicles, which occurred at the Sagamu interchange area of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Ogun State on Wednesday. The accidents, which occurred around 7.56pm, reportedly involved 43 persons made up of 38 males and five females.

The Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, Ogun State, Clement Oladele, and the Public Relations Officer of the state Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed the crashes in separate statements in Abeokuta on Thursday. Both agencies stated that the injured persons were made up of six male adults, five female adults and a male infant.

According to Oladele and Akinbiyi, the vehicles involved in the crashes were seven, including two white Toyota Hummer buses with number plates LSR 560 XJ and XD 792 EZA; a white DAR truck with number plate LND 04 XX; and an ash Toyota Corolla with number plate APP196BQ. Others are a red tanker with number plate DED 776 XA; a white tanker with number plate APP 248 XT; and an ash Toyota Siena with number plate ABC 512 ZV.

Both the FRSC and TRACE said while the corpses of the dead victims had been deposited in the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital mortuary, the injured victims were also taken to the OOUTH and the Famobis Hospital, Mowe. Oladele, while commiserating with the families of the victims, advised members of the public, whose relatives travelled during the period, to contact the FRSC commands in Sagamu and Mowe, or approach the two hospitals where the victims were taken to.

“The FRSC has commenced crash investigation into the unfortunate incident, as preliminary investigation suggested that the accidents might have been caused by excessive speeding and recklessness, which led to a container falling on two commuter buses and the drivers of the other vehicles losing control and ramming into one another,” Oladele stated.

He advised motorists to bear in mind that the entire stretch of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was still under construction and enjoined them to observe the maximum speed of 50km per hour in compliance with the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2004.

The TRACE PRO said 46 persons were involved in the multiple crashes. According to Akinbiyi, the fatal crashes were caused by excessive speeding, reckless driving and loss of control on the part of one of the drivers of the vehicles involved. He said the development led to a container to fall off from its hook and smashed the two buses. According to him, in the process, other vehicles rammed into one another while attempting to escape from the scene.

“Members of the general public are advised to check the Olabisi Onabanjo Teaching Hospital for their loved ones,” Akinbiyi added.

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/infant-seven-others-die-12-injured-in-ogun-crashes/

Men are usually seen as breadwinners, especially in Africa, and as such, men are expected to have a stable source of income before getting married due to responsibilities that come with marriage. Saturday PUNCH asked a cross-section of Nigerians how much they think a man should earn monthly before considering marriage and here are their responses:

N50, 000-N100, 000 – OLAYEMI SEGUN AJIKU
In my opinion, a man should earn nothing lower than between N50,000 and N100,000. With this amount, I believe he will survive as long as he lives within his budget and sets his priorities right. Although with this amount, his state of residence has to be considered. We cannot compare someone who resides in Lagos to a man that lives in Ibadan.

Secondly, when a woman knows what a man earns; it is easy for her to decide if she wants to spend the rest of her life with him or not. Also, she will know how much support the man will require from her. Thirdly, a responsible man without a steady income shouldn’t think of marriage. He won’t have the capability to shoulder his responsibilities as a husband and a father, especially when children come into the picture. Ideally, a man should cater for everything in the home but if he is lucky to marry a good wife, she won’t hesitate to support him whenever it is necessary.

I’LL RECOMMEND N50,000 – ISHAYA MUNGOPARK MAISHARA
Here in Abuja, I’ll recommend N50,000 because of the situation of the economy. Marriage is like a journey to the point of no return; one has to be very careful before taking the decision to get married. First, there should be an understanding between the man and the woman. To create this form of understanding, financial matters need to be discussed.

It is important for a lady to know how much a man earns before marrying him. It matters a lot because this is a lifetime agreement and the individuals involved should know where they stand before getting into it.

N20,000 to N50,000 IS OKAY – RICHARD IDIGBOGU
I don’t believe there’s a statutory amount a man should earn before considering marriage. If I am to mention an income range, I’ll say between N20,000 and N50,000. This issue has made a lot of young men to choose to remain single for too long. The question is: “What kind of marriage do you want?” You may be earning an amount as small as N20,000 monthly and still get married; although, the marriage will not be as glamorous as that of a man who takes home a huge sum of money every month. Ladies, on the other hand, are not helping matters. I know a lady who said if a guy doesn’t earn at least N150,000, he should not consider coming close to her for marriage. Six years down the line, she’s still single and frustrated.

FROM N50, 000 UPWARD IS FINE – ABODUNRIN OLATUNDE OYENIRAN
A man that earns N50, 000 monthly is financially ready for marriage. A woman should consider how much a man earns before accepting his marriage proposal. A man should have a stable income before thinking of marriage; money is important in marriage. A man should cater for rent, food, school fees of the children, and other family obligations. A Yoruba adage says, “There’s no half man, its either you’re a man or not.”

NO SPECIFIC LEVEL OF INCOME SHOULD BE CONSIDERED – GAZA DANLADI
We all have choices to make. Deciding to build a life with someone isn’t something everyone can handle. Marriage is a team work but still we all have standards. However, understanding prospects is important. There aren’t enough eligible bachelors to go round, so if a woman finds one with prospects, it won’t be a bad idea to consider him. Fela Durotoye (motivational speaker) once said when he got married, the bathroom of the house he lived in was so bad that most times, his wife had to go shower at her parents’ place. Look at where they are today. Finance is important in marriage and whether you can put up with what will be available to you in marriage is something to give thought to.

Personally I do not think there is an amount a man should earn from his 9-5 job or business venture before getting married. The reason is that if we set a yardstick, there are many in the society who will never meet up, and it will be absurd or unfair to say such people should never get married.

N100, 000-N150, 000 – AFOLAKUNMI AWOYEMI
A man who has a paid employment should earn at least N150, 000 before considering marriage. If he runs his own business, he should earn at least 100,000 monthly before considering marriage. The amount a man earns is very important because no woman wants to suffer. When children are involved, they need to attend good schools and live a stress-free life. Things are not easy but everyone wants a comfortable life. A man who doesn’t have a steady income shouldn’t even think of getting married at all because the couple needs to consider how they will survive. A woman can support her husband if his income is unstable for some time. However, I won’t advise any man to go into marriage without a steady income.

CONSIDERING THE BILLS, N800, 000 – ADUKE GOLD
It is difficult to mention a figure, especially in an unstable and unpredictable economy like ours. However, before a man considers marriage, he should have multiple streams of income. Giving an amount or figure may not equate to the responsibilities that will later surface in the future but if a man has multiple streams of income, he may use one to balance the other. Before accepting a marriage proposal, what a man earns should be considered by the woman. Marriage is reality, not abstract. You need to open the box and check before you go into it.

As a single lady, I spend close to N100, 000 monthly on myself and I am not even living large. If a man wants to perform his full responsibilities in this economy, considering house rent and other bills, he should be earning at least N800, 000. I am not saying I am waiting for that type of man, but considering the bad economy, I need to set the records straight.

CONSIDERING THE ECONOMY, HE MUST HAVE A STABLE INCOME – UKEH NGOZI ANITA
Marriage comes with responsibilities; a man should have a stable income before considering marriage. I do not mean he must earn N100,000 or N1m monthly, no; I’m not saying he must have a car or a house in his name, no. All I am saying is that the man must have something he is doing that brings in money for him regularly. A man should know that the responsibility of the house is on him, and the woman will support him. Most ladies, including me, have set a standard that we want for marriage and we have our reasons for that but our reasons should not be coated with greed or selfishness. A man that is lazy or doesn’t have any source of livelihood should not get married because the children might suffer.

N300, 000, IF THEY WANT TO LIVE IN LAGOS – ADEOLA DOSUNMU
Marriage is desirable to many, not all. While some people believe in patching things up with the hope that better days are ahead, some will never settle for any form of ‘management’. Before getting married, a man should consider these factors: If he wants to share the burden of household expenses with his wife or not, the kind of apartment he wants to live in and if the rent will still be affordable after they start having children.

Using Lagos as an example, a man that wants to start a family should earn at least N300,000 monthly. And even with this, he won’t be able to afford an apartment in some areas in Lagos.

IT SHOULD BE N150, 000 – OKETOLA DEBORAH
What a man earns depends on the nature of his job. A man should be able to get a decent accommodation and put good food on the table. So talking about how much a man should earn, I will say at least N150,000. The amount of money a man earns is important; no woman wants to suffer. If a woman knows how much her husband earns, she would know the limits of her demands and trust him more.


SOURCE: https://punchng.com/how-much-should-a-man-earn-monthly-before-considering-marriage/

*New genetic weapons fix mutations that causes ailment, boost protective foetal haemoglobin

Help for patients with sickle cell disease may soon come from gene editing to fix the mutation that causes the disease and boost the patient’s own protective foetal haemoglobin.New research shows that using CRISPR-Cas9 (gene editing) and a corrective short Deoxy ribonucleic Acid (DNA)/genetic material template to repair the sickle cell mutation in a patient’s hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) could be efficient and safe.

Bioengineer Gang Bao of Rice University’s Brown School of Engineering conducted the research in collaboration with Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine and Stanford University. The revelation is one of several in a new study led by Bao and Vivien Sheehan, an assistant professor at Baylor and a member of the sickle cell program at Texas Children’s Hematology Center.

The open-access study appears in the Oxford Academic journal Nucleic Acids Research.Sickle cell disease, which affects millions worldwide, is a painful and often fatal inherited condition. A single mutation in haemoglobin subunit beta (aka beta-globin) forces normal, disc-shaped red blood cells, to stiffen and take characteristic “sickle” shapes. These cells can damage vessel walls and clot small blood vessels, stopping the delivery of oxygen to tissues.

Today, some people afflicted with the disease are treated with stem cells from a matched, related donor, an option researchers says is available to fewer than 15 per cent of patients. A better strategy would be modifying the patient’s own hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), an option theoretically available to every patient because there would be no risk of rejection.

Ideally, stem cells isolated from the patient’s bone marrow would be gene-edited and tested, and chemotherapy would be used to reduce the patient’s stem cells to make room for the edited cells. Bao said the corrected cells would then be implanted back into the patient, where they could proliferate and spawn healthy blood cells.

For the new study, and for the first time, Bao and his team tested patient HSPCs in rodents and demonstrated that a fraction of the gene-edited cells from patients could survive and function for about four months.These stem cells were from the peripheral blood of five patients and the bone marrow of two patients with the disease, all obtained by Sheehan. The Sheehan lab characterized the type of hemoglobin made by the edited cells and showed that gene editing can provide enough protective and normal hemoglobin to prevent sickling; even under the severe hypoxia that promotes sickling.

Early tests using wild-type Cas9 protein — the “scissors” that target and cut specific sections of DNA — from Streptococcus pyogenes led to stem cells with high levels of unintended DNA edits. These off-target edits included large chromosomal deletions and inversions that could cause disease.

In a second round of tests, the Rice lab adopted a more recent “high-fidelity” version of Cas9 developed by Integrated DNA Technologies. That led to significantly reduced off-target edits, Bao said.Not all the stem cells isolated from a patient with the sickle mutation are fixed by gene editing. At best, according to experiments by the Bao lab, it fixed up to 40 per cent of them. In another 50 per cent of cells, DNA was cut and not repaired by the corrective DNA template, but that appeared to boost the stem cells’ expression of fetal hemoglobin (HbF), a type made by a different gene that does not carry the sickle mutation and is normally turned off a few months after birth.

Fetal hemoglobin is known to mute the effects of sickle cell disease. Bao suspects that if the expression of fetal hemoglobin in edited cells persists, 90 per cent of the stem cells from patients will either have the sickle mutation fixed, or have sickling prevented by foetal haemoglobin.

“Our hope is that if we take out a fraction of HSPCs from a patient’s bone marrow and damage the remaining ones, then edit the HSPCs and deliver them back, the combination of gene-corrected and HbF-expressing cells will be enough to cure the disease,” Bao said.

That 10 per cent of stem cells continued to produce sickle cells should not be a big concern, he said. “The good news is that normal red blood cells have a lifespan about nine times that of the sickle cells,” Bao said. “That means over time, the majority of the red blood cells would be normal cells. That’s the scenario we would like to see.”

The researchers don’t yet know if cutting beta-globin to boost fetal hemoglobin levels would provide a long-lasting benefit or whether it risks inducing beta thalassemia, a blood disorder that reduces the production of hemoglobin. “There is a risk, and we need to understand it better,” Bao said.

It is also unclear how many stem cells must be edited to provide long-term relief to a patient. “We don’t know what percentage of the HSCs with gene correction could effectively treat sickle cell disease,” he said. “Some people say just a few percent, and some say 5-10 per cent. My guess is around 5 per cent would be sufficient, but the exact percentage could only be established through clinical trials.”

The road to human trials may still take some time, Bao said. “Technology-wise, we are ready to do a clinical trial,” he said. “But just getting approval for a trial will require a lot of resources. We need to compile the data and do additional experiments to address the safety issues.”

SOURCE: https://t.guardian.ng/features/health/hope-for-patients-with-sickle-cell-disease/

Entry for the 2019 Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) yearly film essay competition opened on Monday, June 10, 2019. Qualified and interested participants for the competition are required to forward their entries to the Corporation. Topic of the 2019 competition is Everyview, Everywhere, When Content is Key.

According to the terms and conditions of the competition, participants must be Nigerian nationals and above 18 years and below 25 years of age as at December 2019.

The corporation, in a statement issued in Jos, Plateau State and signed by Brian Etuk, Head of Public & Intergovernmental Affairs, said interested participants are to forward their entries in the following format — Arial font, 14 point size, type written in double line space and should not be more than 15 pages on A4 size paper. Entries are to be submitted either in hardcopy, addressed to the Managing Director/Chief Executive, Nigerian Film Corporation, 218T Liberty Dam Road, Jos, Plateau State and clearly marked 2019 NFC Annual Film Essay Competition and or through the e-mail nfcessaycomp2019@gmail.com.

The statement added that the competition has been reviewed with provisions for only first and second positions, and cash prizes of N250,000 and N100,000 respectively. This is an addition to rights of publishing the winning essays in journals as may be deemed necessary.

Meanwhile, the new template of the film essay competition provides opportunities for corporate Nigeria and or individuals to sponsor the writing contest, which has grown in terms of participation and scope since its debut in 2005. NFC, Etuk said, decided to invite corporate Nigeria and individuals to throw in their weight, sponsor and take advantage of several benefits thereof, including publicity for their products and services.

Prize presentation to winners of the film essay competition will be at the ZUMA Film Festival Closing Ceremony and Awards Night. Participation, sponsorship and other details on the NFC Annual Film Essay Competition is available on the corporation’s website: www.nfc.gov.ng.

SOURCE: https://t.guardian.ng/art/entry-opens-for-2019-nigerian-film-corporation-yearly-film-essay-contest/

The Federal Government may relax the ban on importation of vehicles through the land border. The government had in January 2017 ordered a ban on importation of vehicles through the land borders. The restriction on the importation of vehicles followed that of rice, whose imports through the land borders had been banned since April 2016.

But the government may reconsider its decision after the successful implementation of a new initiative by the Nigeria Customs Service and the Customs Service of the Republic of Benin to automate and network all electronic information about incoming cargoes through the border.

The Comptroller General, NCS, Col Hameed Ali (retd.), who was represented by the Assistant Comptroller, Information and Communication Technology, Benjamin Aber, at a stakeholders’ meeting on the new initiative, expressed confidence that with a successful implementation of the bilateral electronic connectivity programme between Nigeria and Republic of Benin, the Federal Government might lift the ban on items coming through the land border.

Ali said the decision of the government to shut down importation of vehicles through the border was because the government did not have a reliable system that would assist in controlling importation. With declarations made for imports transiting from either of the countries electronically shared, the process of import and export would be done in a transparent manner and the government seeing such transparency would be convinced to relax its stance on land border importation.

He said “Vehicles were formerly being imported through the Seme border, but suddenly it was banned because the pressure of enforcement of anti-smuggling for vehicles and claiming of lives and revenue were becoming too alarming, so the government had to restrict the importation through Nigerian ports. When vehicles came through the land border, we did not have a record of how the imported cars came here and fake documentation became a common phenomenon. The ban was just a control measure against the practice.”

He added, “By the time we successfully deploy this reliable, transparent and predictable programme that would assist government agencies, not only Customs, to control and regulate the importation of vehicles, the government may decide to relax such restrictions.” Ali said the establishment of the automated platform and bilateral connectivity meant that any truck that left the Republic of Benin, the information would already be remotely sent in English to Nigeria Customs Service system.

He also gave the assurance that illegal checkpoints mounted by Customs officers and other security agencies along the border corridors would disappear automatically. “The roads also have to be fixed, because we cannot automate clearing of goods between the Customs and at the end, the stakeholders would be complaining,” he pointed out.

He said the new platform would be deployed by June 20.

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/fg-may-lift-land-border-vehicle-importation-ban-customs-boss/

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board Tuesday approved 160 as the minimum cut off mark for 2019 admission into public universities. The decision was reached at the 19th policy meeting on admissions to tertiary institutions, which held at the Bola Babalakin Auditorium, Gbongan, Osun State.

The board also approved 140 as minimum UTME score for admission into private universities while 120 was set for public polytechnic and 110 scores were approved as the least score for admission into private polytechnic.

About 1,886,508 candidates registered for the exams in and outside of Nigeria. “Out of this number, which excludes the Direct Entry candidates, 59,667 were absent. A total of 1,826,839 sat the UTME,” JAMB registrar Ishaq Oloyede said in Abuja in May.

1,792,719 candidates result were released while 34,120 results were withheld including the results of 15,145 candidates being further clarified as identical twins and siblings.

SOURCE: https://t.guardian.ng/news/nigeria/national/jamb-releases-2019-admission-cut-off-mark/

Youth Advocates Nigeria (YAN) has begun an aggressive move towards revolutionising agriculture in the country by removing the stigma of poverty associated with it. The visionary group of young professionals led by Aina Tolulope, an Agricultural Economics graduate of the University of Ibadan, converged in Ibadan, Oyo State, at the weekend, for a seminar on how to collaborate, synergise and harness the available resources in the agriculture sector, locally, nationally and internationally, to take the youth away from the dense labour market.

YAN comprises enterprising farmers on fish, maize, lettuce, cassava among others. Entrepreneurs who gave motivational talks at the seminar include Olayinka Ayowole, an agronomist and CEO of Viyola Foods; Yinka Adesola, a practical organic farming entrepreneur; Abayomi Egbemode, CEO of Dipo Integrated Farms; Sam Ogbone, a bio-technologist and expert in modern soil-less farming; Oluwafemi Aliu, Babatunde Oladimeji, among others.

The youth group aims “to connect, equip and empower the next generation of agricultural change-makers to take collaborative and innovative action towards feeding the nation and the world.”

Tolulope revealed that the group’s vision “is that of a world where young dynamic youths can take centre stage in creating a world without hunger." Over the years, there have been a lot of challenges in the agric space. A lot of people who come into it see it as unattractive.

“Now, we have a generation of young farmers who are passionate about this sector. But a lot of things do not work, and we need to make it work by coming together and having a strong voice that can harness opportunities within our space, and push a movement that can make things work and affect us.

“We don’t want to be a generation of farmers that will be poor because we are not poor; we cannot be poor. We are sophisticated and changing the face of agric tech through improved agri-business practices.” Aside the challenge of finance to agricultural production, majority of the speakers at the seminar blamed epileptic power supply, leading to compulsory purchase of fuel for production and processing.“This results in non-productivity among stakeholders in the sector,” they submitted.

SOURCE: https://t.guardian.ng/news/youths-move-to-revolutionise-agric-in-nigeria/

A 41-year-old man, Mr. Sunday Ngwu, has allegedly beaten his wife to death over an unresolved marital issue. Ngwu, who hails from Nkanu Local Government Area of Enugu State, had reportedly engaged his wife in a fight after an undisclosed issue erupted in their home on Monday night.

According to a source, Ngwu and the deceased, Amara, had been living peacefully in an apartment at Ikwo Street, Ibollo, in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, but on Sunday after a heated argument with his wife, a fight ensued between the couple, leading to the woman’s death.

The source said: “You know he is a man, so he had upper hand in the fight. But what he did, which everybody disapproved of was that despite having beaten her very well, he proceeded to use a heavy metal to smash her head, and almost immediately, she lost consciousness. We do not know what the problem between them was, and for now, the man has been arrested by policemen from Awada Police Division.”

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of Anambra Police Command, SP Haruna Mohammed, has confirmed the incident, saying that the matter has been transferred to Awka with the deceased’s body deposited in a morgue.He said: “On June 10, at about 8:00p.m. police detectives attached to Awada Division arrested one Sunday Ngwu ‘m’ aged 41 from Nkanu LGA of Enugu State but resides at Ikwo Street Ibollo in Idemili North LGA of Anambra State. Suspect allegedly beat his wife, one Amara Ngwu ‘f’ aged 39 of the same address to pulp and then used a heavy metal object to hit her on the head leaving her unconscious.

“Scene was visited by police detectives attached to Awada Division and victim rushed to Bex hospital where she was confirmed dead on arrival by a medical doctor and corpse deposited at the mortuary for autopsy. The Commissioner of Police, CP Mustapha Dandaura, has ordered for the immediate transfer of the case to State Criminal Investigation Department Awka to conduct a discreet investigation in order to ascertain circumstances surrounding the incident after which suspect would be charged to court for prosecution.”


SOURCE: https://t.guardian.ng/news/man-beats-wife-to-death-in-anambra/

Dear Nairalanders,

what is your opinion about this feminist's post?

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An official of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) was on Thursday night allegedly strangled to death by two of his colleagues in Onitsha, Anambra state. The deceased, identified as Emeka Ojei, a Senior Road Marshal Assistant, was reportedly killed for attempting to expose certain corrupt practices against one of his assailants in the office.

The Nation gathered that the deceased was armed with damaging corruption allegation he intended to report at the Corps headquarters in Benin before he was killed. A staff of the road safety commission, who spoke to The Nation in confidence, said the prime suspect had fruitlessly appealed to the deceased not to go ahead with his plans.

He said the deceased officer was struggling with his handset when the other colleague joined and held him on the neck until he gave up. He said: “Emeka is one of the officers privileged to be working on a report on a corruption case to be sent to the headquarters in Benin. As he was about going to deliver the report, his oga(boss) called him back, insisting he shouldn’t go. But he refused.

“His oga (boss) dragged him with his phone while another officer joined him. He was struggling with them over the phone when they strangled him to death.”

The Nation further learnt that the case had been lodged at the Police Area Command, while the Unit Commander of FRSC and his accomplice had been arrested. The FRSC Public Relations Officer in the state, Pascal Anigbo, confirmed the incident. “The incident happened around 7pm in the office. I don’t have the full details of the incident now,” he said.

Contacted, the Commissioner of Police, Mustapha Dandaura, said he was just coming back from a trip and was yet to be briefed on the matter. “I’ll get back to you as soon as I get the details from the Area commander,” he said.

SOURCE: https://thenationonlineng.net/colleagues-strangle-frsc-officer-to-death/

An armed robber was killed and three others wounded, yesterday, when men of the Imo State police command engaged them in a shootout at Orji, Owerri.

The four-member gang had trailed one Pastor G.E Nsofor of Holiness Evangelist Church Amankuta Mbieri, who had gone to a bank. However, on noticing he was being trailed, the pastor ran to a nearby police station, but the robbers were undeterred.

They, however got more than they bargained for, as men of the Orji police station opened fire on them. One of the robbers was gunned down while others escaped with gunshot wounds.

SOURCE: https://www.gist mania.com/talk/topic,390761.0.html

Some women might have been married for "donkey years" but still have that element of insecurity about them, and they display their insecurity in different ways.

A woman was agitated when her husband got invited to a Bachelor's party; she couldn't stand it, so she came up with a list of things her man cannot do at the party.

It is a pretty exhaustive list. Here are her rules - what do you think?



SOURCE: https://www.gist mania.com/talk/topic,390769.0.html