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I don't even understand what all these candidates are trying to do. I mean most of these politicians buying N100m form know they don't stand any chance of winning the primaries, talk more of the main election. So why buying forms?. I am trying hard to understand what they are all up to.

M

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msrcusgarvey6:
This is an interesting piece I never had time to go through.
I want to correct you that on account of the standards we saw US wars, truely the Ukrainian one is not yet a war. You could've watched Ukrainian villagers stopping A Russian military convoy from passing through, to tell you about the mission and the feeling the Russian soldiers had so much that one soldier had to come down and fire severally in the air. That's why you can't get these scenes on U tube.
The other aspect is that the slavian culture is one. West and East Germans still had sympathy for each other till the Wall in between was destroyed. I assure you that whatever daily hardship experienced in Russia because of this war, Ukraine is receiving it ten fold. Russians are running their daily lives even if a million rouble equals a dollar but Ukraine is suffering an air land and sea blockade as well. Putin knew he would be a lone and counted on Russian capability but Ukraine thought there will be the usual military coalition that fought against Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Syria.
In peace time, the eastern part of Ukraine alone feed the whole of Europe. The West is so sure of crippling Russia that diplomacy is ignored. The earlier negotiations start the better.

I totally agree with this your submission. But will the west agree to advise Zelensky to do the right thing? On the one hand the US and other western countries are gaining from the arms stocks going up and also the increasing price of Brent crude.. But on the other hand they are feeling the heat as well because pump prices of oil I going up. Its a two way thing. Majority of Europe depends on Russia's energy so they can't section Russia's oil. It is ego and pride that is making the west to keep pushing that comedian president, nothing else.

Understanding Russian Concerns and the Folly of Western Diplomacy


By Arthur G.O Mutambara

Developing the future of knowledge involves understanding the ‘relationship between what we know and what will happen, for the purpose of improving both, for everyone’.

This endeavour demands a questioning and contrarian mindset that challenges conventional wisdom. It requires a festival of ideas that cherishes the diversity of views, becoming a crucible for new knowledge and thought leadership.

What we have witnessed in the public discourse building up to the events in Ukraine does not augur well for creating intelligent and nuanced understanding of global affairs. The single, unsophisticated and wholly unbalanced narrative we have been receiving from Western leaders and the leading global news outlets such CNN, BBC and Sky News is not conducive to resolving global challenges. To the contrary, such brazen and self-serving intellectual ineptitude inflames conflicts.

We need to create and embrace new knowledge and innovative frameworks that prevent wars and human strife globally.

The future of diplomacy must be reimagined and reinvented.

For a start, the whole mainstream discourse on Ukraine is ahistorical. It is decontextualised. Ukraine was part of the USSR, the superpower at the centre of the Warsaw Pact – an Eastern military alliance established in opposition to NATO, a Western military alliance. This was the configuration that constituted the military arithmetic of the Cold War.

Between 1989 and 1992, the Warsaw Pact collapsed, and the USSR disintegrated with the Soviet republics becoming independent nations such as Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Estonia and Belarus. Russia remained a superpower, having inherited the bulk of the Soviet military and industrial strength, particularly a potent nuclear arsenal.

In 1999, former Warsaw Pact members Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined NATO, with vicious Russian opposition to the move. Another NATO expansion came with the accession of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Russia, a global superpower, felt encircled by its former NATO adversaries. Clearly, given the history of the Cold War, Russia's security concerns are understandable.

A particularly mischievous ambition of the Western alliance was to control the Black Sea fleet, thus completely undermining Russia. Putin stopped that adventure by annexing Crimea. It is instructive to note that the ill-conceived expansion of NATO into areas of previous Soviet influence was done in bad faith and in disgraceful violation of an understanding struck between NATO and the Russian Federation at the end of the Cold War; that NATO will welcome the independence of the former Soviet states and satellite states but not expand the military alliance into these territories.

In the context of the recent history of the Cold War, Russian demands that Ukraine must remain independent but should not join NATO are not entirely unreasonable. Ukraine has a nearly 2000km border with Russia, and its joining of NATO leads to the total encirclement of Russia by its current and historical opponents.

The posturing by NATO members that Ukraine is free to join since it is a sovereign nation is at best naïve if not an outright manifestation of primitive ignorance.

Sovereignty is not absolute. In October 1962, when the USSR placed nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from the United States, the Americans recoiled with anger leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Cuba was a sovereign country with the right to have whatever weapons they wanted on their territory.

Why was this sovereignty not respected?

There was a threat to US national security, and hence that part of Cuban sovereignty was not respected.

This is common sense.

In the end, Nikita Khrushchev backed down, and the Russian missiles were removed from Cuba.

If today France was to exercise its sovereign right, pull out of the EU and NATO, and join a military alliance with Russia or China, will the USA and NATO fold their arms and respect France's sovereignty? Will Western Europe accept a member of a hostile military alliance right at the centre of Europe?

Why not?

What is good for the goose is good for the gander.

It does not make geo-political-strategic and military sense, nor foster global peace and security to have Ukraine as a member of NATO. Such a scenario presents a patently obvious threat to Russian national security.

In fact, by invading Ukraine now, Putin is being preemptive. When Ukraine becomes a member of NATO, Russia will be totally encircled and thus vulnerable. More importantly, any attack on Ukraine then will invoke a swift NATO military response by operation of the NATO agreement. Hence Putin’s demand that Ukraine must never be a member of NATO is reasonable. Both NATO and the people of Ukraine must have accepted this position.

This analysis should be clear to all peace-loving people.

So, what should be done? What could have been done?

While asserting their sovereignty and remaining an independent nation, the people of Ukraine and their leaders must commit to NOT joining NATO. Realpolitik demands this. They will not be the first to follow this pragmatic posture.

Finland is an example of what Ukraine should do. Finland is fiercely unapologetic about its independence and works closely with Western countries. However, it is not a member of NATO and strategically avoids any confrontation or disagreeable conduct with the Russians.

The distinguished and revered former US Secretary of State, Dr. Henry Kissinger, eloquently supports this view: ‘Ukraine should have the right to choose freely its economic and political associations, including with Europe. [However] Ukraine should not join NATO … Ukraine should be free to create any government compatible with the expressed will of its people.’

It is also essential to note that Ukraine can never be just another foreign independent country to Russia, given the historical relationship between the two nations. It has been part of Russia for centuries, and their histories are inextricably linked with large pockets of Russian speaking folks in Ukraine in the year 2022.

This objective reality must inform Western intellectuals, pundits and leaders.

Now, what of Western diplomacy with respect to the crisis unfolding in Ukraine?

The stance of NATO and Western leaders has been that: ‘If Russia invades Ukraine, there will be no military response from us. We will impose ‘crippling’ sanctions against Russia.’ What a miserably pathetic position! In fact, it is encouragement or an invitation for an invasion!

For a start, what is the basis of the assumption that the sanctions will be crippling? The Russian economy is relatively robust and largely independent of the West, with the foundation of that independence in the Cold War, after which Russia inherited a vast military-industrial complex that is still ostensibly intact.

The so-called sanctions are to be imposed by only the United States and a few of its Western allies. Really?

There has been no effort to lobby for the involvement of the rest of the world, such as China (the world's second-biggest economy), the rest of Asia, the rest of Europe, Latina America and Africa. How can a country – Russia – still able to trade with all these economies (in fact 80% of the world) be crippled by sanctions from a paltry number of Western countries?

This is so presumptuous and pretentious on the part of the United and its allies.

It would be comical if it were not a war situation.

Surely, these measly NATO threats have not been thought through. How does one stop a leader, and his country, bent on invading a country by threatening to impose ineffectual sanctions? Are those measures not a small price to pay for the big prize?

This failure of diplomacy is not helped by global media outlets which do not question these foolish foreign policy pronouncements but act as echo chambers of the unintelligent posturing by Western leaders. In their analysis of the unfolding crisis, the key media outlets do not engage experts or scholars with different viewpoints.

They just churn out the same unsophisticated narrative where one cannot distinguish the anchor/journalist from the subject expert.

There is total irrational jingoism in the main media outlets.

The journalists are emotionally attached to the positions of their national governments.

Shameful, indeed.

We need informed and innovative diplomacy enabled by vibrant, ethical, critical and professional journalism and scholarship.

Yes, the crisis in Ukraine could have been avoided if a different understanding of global affairs was at play and world leaders had a better understanding of history and geo-strategic considerations.

Journalists and scholars have a duty and an obligation to enrich the discourse around global challenges and not become cheerleaders of absurdities.

We do not want war. We should do all we can to avoid war.

Unfortunately, given the failure by Western leaders to understand and resolve Russia’s concerns and the pitiful folly of their empty and ineffectual threats, the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 was inevitable.

We must create a new body of knowledge that will determine the future of diplomacy – foreign policy positions that prevent or effectively manage conflict and not enable wars.

#Copied#

Just look at the headlines and see how the West is doing everything propaganda wise to keep the war going.
That Ukrainian president is a very foolish man. You allow your country to be destroyed because of unnecessary stubbornness.
I hate it when a friend tries to use me for their own selfish benefit. The west is just using this Ukraine president as a pawn in their game. Sooner or later Ukraine is going to submit to Russia and what will they have gained from this war .

And as for the kids in the house supporting Ukraine and calling them heros hope you will not cry foul when Russia increases her intensity of blows??

The only thing I see Russia doing is trying to prevent their neighbor from joining hands with their long term foes.
I so much detest the way the West try to spin everything in their favour just to discredit others... And make themselves saints..

Kpekpele

dini2001:
Try branch ,gives 20% interest on ur money either weekly, monthly ......

Which branch? Is it the app? What's the name on playstore? Abi how do I go about it?

What do you expect of a govt whose head cannot even provide a Waec certificate... Tell me a Peter Obi or even Prof Yemi Osinbajo led Govt will treat Education this bad!! After about one year strike that just ended... Federal govt is still reneging on its commitments and promises, even to colleges of Education. And yet the Fed Govt just sent a budget make up of N2.5T to the national assembly.
Who the hell plays with Education in 21st century for Christ sake

Hamachi:
3 Lessons About Building Wealth From an Investing Legend
building wealth
5 min read
In 1891, a fourteen-year-old boy from Acton, Massachusetts decided he wanted to escape country life. His father ordered him to quit school and work on the farm. But he didn’t want that.

He was a frail boy, good with numbers and equipped with a bright mind. He’d learned to read by age three and a half, and he devoured every reading material he could get his hands on. He couldn’t stand the thought of spending the rest of his life doing manual labor. He wanted to use his mind to earn a living.

Growing up, he read about Paine Webber, a Boston-based stockbroker. He read the old newspapers strewn around their house and learned that the financial world thrived in Boston. So he wanted to go there.

Eventually, the boy asked his mother for help and they forged a plan for him to escape to Boston.

His mother knew her husband wouldn’t budge and allow the boy to stay in school. It was painful for her, but she helped her son escape.

When his mother helped him escape in July of 1891, all he had was five dollars and an address of his mother’s friend where he could stay.

But the boy was dead-set on getting a job before getting a place to stay. So his first stop was Paine Webber, where he secured a job as a “board boy,” writing stock prices on a blackboard by hand.

The boy’s name was Jesse Livermore, who would become the greatest stock trader of all time. In 1907, he famously made $1 million dollars in a single day, a feat that no one had accomplished before. He went on to make (and lose) several fortunes.

Discipline, patience, and knowledge
I’m currently profiling Jesse Livermore for my next book, The Stoic Path to Wealth. He was a highly dedicated and disciplined person, who put all his energy into trading stocks.

He started at age fourteen and worked six days a week for a decade before he started consistently generating money from stocks. In a biography about Livermore, “Boy Plunger,” the author Tom Rubython shares a quote from Livermore that demonstrates his mindset:

“I had learned that I had to work for my money. I was no longer betting blindly or concerned with mastering the technique of the game, but with earning my successes by hard study and clear thinking.”

This is a common theme that I’ve noticed in Livermore’s life. The man was incredibly lucky on some of his investments. But he also worked incredibly hard. Here are three lessons I’ve learned from Livermore.

1. Discipline is key
In life, there’s often a lot of room for making mistakes. When you make a typo in your writing, the reader still understands you. And you can easily fix a typo. When you play sports, you can make multiple mistakes in a game and still win.

But when you invest, making several mistakes in a row can wipe out all your money. Discipline will help you to stick to your investing strategy, which is more important than what your strategy actually is.

Remember: A disciplined investor with a mediocre strategy builds more wealth than an undisciplined investor with an extraordinary strategy.

When you put your money on the line, you always feel fear and greed at many different moments. An undisciplined investor might pull out all its money on the first sign of a stock market correction.

But if you’re disciplined and you’re investing for the long-term, you will stay put. And doing nothing is one of the most difficult things when your money is in the stock market.

2. Building wealth takes time, so be patient
In behavioral economics, there’s a concept called “present bias.” It refers to our tendency of giving more importance to payoffs that are closer to the present time than considering a trade-off between two future moments.

Waiting for a pay-off goes against our nature. On top of that, we’re generally really bad at placing value on rewards at different points in time.

What’s better? $100 in a year from now? Or $120 in thirteen months from now? Most people pick the latter. Waiting an extra month for more money isn’t a big deal when you already waited a year. But when we change the time-frames, things change.

What if you can choose between $100 now or $120 in a year? Most people will go for the $100 now.

But a successful investor usually takes the option that has a high probability of giving you a good return. It doesn’t matter what the dollar value is. What matters is that there’s a 20% return in that example.

When you train yourself to go for the highest rate of return, you learn you always have to wait for the best return. Hence, you automatically become patient.

3. Having basic knowledge about the financial world makes you more confident
While most people know Jesse Livermore as a proponent of technical analysis, he had an excellent knack for the fundamentals of business and economy. From an early age, he was a student of the financial world.

Livermore learned to read and write by age three and a half, and he read everything he could get his hands on. His mother brought him old newspapers, where the young Livermore first learned about stocks on the financial pages.

When you learn more about the economy, business, and finance, you feel more confident about investing. You will learn that the stock market is hundreds of years old and that investors are getting more professional every decade.

Our financial system is a true machine that most people only view from the outside. Take a look under the hood by reading books, articles, and newspapers to learn more. It will not only improve your returns, but it will make you confident enough in the economy to put your money on the line.

If building wealth was easy, everybody would be rich
The main lesson I learned is that building serious wealth requires serious decisions. This is something most people don’t stress enough.

As Livermore often remarked, you need discipline, patience, and knowledge.

Whether you’re a short-term speculator or a long-term investor, you need to do hard things to become wealthy. It starts with earning money and making your way through your life and career.

Livermore worked as a board boy for years and saved almost every penny he earned. After several years, he started buying and selling stocks. Before making money with stocks, he solely saved money and learned more about how the financial world worked.

Building wealth takes time. When you try to chase get-rich-quick opportunities, you often learn the hard way that money doesn’t come for free.

But when you adopt a long-term view and keep learning, keep investing, and keep making progress, you’ll likely end up with way more money than you ever thought possible.

This is an amazing write up.. Thanks

Is Maguire playing

Very true talk. . . No shame and values again. Immorality is now a norm.
Some in the name of catching cruise.. Deride values

H

nzeobi:
This are the types of game changing projects that governors should be embarking on and it will be celebrated and not roads and flyovers.


The structure of this country is faulty

One has to start from somewhere na!

FreeStuffsNG:
This is for B.SC Nurses, still not all Nurses
Here's free book on business ideas & money sources directory for you,it's 100% free! https://www.nairaland.com/6666800/looking-business-ideas-money-fund. Cheers.

You want all Nurses to be placed on grade level 10?

This is good. I've always wondered why Nurses take lesser pay compared to their allied health counterparts.

E dey connect with heaven?

O