₦airaland Forum

Hi @ op. I attended Unijos (6 years) but frequently visited KD as I had family there. Both cities are great. KD is a bit more congested but has more commerce as mentioned earlier. in both cities you need to choose where you live carefully but then 'shift' can happen anywhere. If you want a break from the Lagos kind of pace, then Jos is it. Overall, personally, I'll choose Jos.

http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html

Many people feel as if they're adrift in the world. They work hard, but they don't seem to get anywhere worthwhile.
A key reason that they feel this way is that they haven't spent enough time thinking about what they want from life, and haven't set themselves formal goals. After all, would you set out on a major journey with no real idea of your destination? Probably not!


Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into reality.
The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know where you have to concentrate your efforts. You'll also quickly spot the distractions that can, so easily, lead you astray.
Why Set Goals?
Goal setting is used by top-level athletes, successful business-people and achievers in all fields. Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. It focuses your acquisition of knowledge, and helps you to organize your time and your resources so that you can make the very most of your life.
By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure and take pride in the achievement of those goals, and you'll see forward progress in what might previously have seemed a long pointless grind. You will also raise your self-confidence, as you recognize your own ability and competence in achieving the goals that you've set.
Starting to Set Personal Goals
You set your goals on a number of levels:
First you create your "big picture" of what you want to do with your life (or over, say, the next 10 years), and identify the large-scale goals that you want to achieve.
Then, you break these down into the smaller and smaller targets that you must hit to reach your lifetime goals.
Finally, once you have your plan, you start working on it to achieve these goals.
This is why we start the process of goal setting by looking at your lifetime goals. Then, we work down to the things that you can do in, say, the next five years, then next year, next month, next week, and today, to start moving towards them.
Step 1: Setting Lifetime Goals
The first step in setting personal goals is to consider what you want to achieve in your lifetime (or at least, by a significant and distant age in the future). Setting lifetime goals gives you the overall perspective that shapes all other aspects of your decision making.
To give a broad, balanced coverage of all important areas in your life, try to set goals in some of the following categories (or in other categories of your own, where these are important to you):
Career - What level do you want to reach in your career, or what do you want to achieve?
Financial - How much do you want to earn, by what stage? How is this related to your career goals?
Education - Is there any knowledge you want to acquire in particular? What information and skills will you need to have in order to achieve other goals?
Family - Do you want to be a parent? If so, how are you going to be a good parent? How do you want to be seen by a partner or by members of your extended family?
Artistic - Do you want to achieve any artistic goals?
Attitude - Is any part of your mindset holding you back? Is there any part of the way that you behave that upsets you? (If so, set a goal to improve your behavior or find a solution to the problem.)
Physical - Are there any athletic goals that you want to achieve, or do you want good health deep into old age? What steps are you going to take to achieve this?
Pleasure - How do you want to enjoy yourself? (You should ensure that some of your life is for you!)
Public Service - Do you want to make the world a better place? If so, how?
Spend some time brainstorming these things, and then select one or more goals in each category that best reflect what you want to do. Then consider trimming again so that you have a small number of really significant goals that you can focus on.
As you do this, make sure that the goals that you have set are ones that you genuinely want to achieve, not ones that your parents, family, or employers might want. (If you have a partner, you probably want to consider what he or she wants - however, make sure that you also remain true to yourself!)

Tip:
You may also want to read our article on Personal Mission Statements. Crafting a personal mission statement can help bring your most important goals into sharp focus.

Step 2: Setting Smaller Goals
Once you have set your lifetime goals, set a five-year plan of smaller goals that you need to complete if you are to reach your lifetime plan.
Then create a one-year plan, six-month plan, and a one-month plan of progressively smaller goals that you should reach to achieve your lifetime goals. Each of these should be based on the previous plan.
Then create a daily To-Do List of things that you should do today to work towards your lifetime goals.
At an early stage, your smaller goals might be to read books and gather information on the achievement of your higher level goals. This will help you to improve the quality and realism of your goal setting.
Finally review your plans, and make sure that they fit the way in which you want to live your life.

Tip:
If you feel that you're not paying enough attention to certain areas of your life, you'll find our articles on The Wheel of Life and the Life/Career Rainbow useful.

Staying on Course
Once you've decided on your first set of goals, keep the process going by reviewing and updating your To-Do List on a daily basis.
Periodically review the longer term plans, and modify them to reflect your changing priorities and experience. (A good way of doing this is to schedule regular, repeating reviews using a computer-based diary.)
SMART Goals
A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants (some of which we've included in parenthesis), SMART usually stands for:
S - Specific (or Significant).
M - Measurable (or Meaningful).
A - Attainable (or Action-Oriented).
R - Relevant (or Rewarding).
T - Time-bound (or Trackable).
For example, instead of having "To sail around the world" as a goal, it's more powerful to say "To have completed my trip around the world by December 31, 2015." Obviously, this will only be attainable if a lot of preparation has been completed beforehand!
Further Goal Setting Tips
The following broad guidelines will help you to set effective, achievable goals:
State each goal as a positive statement - Express your goals positively – "Execute this technique well" is a much better goal than "Don't make this stupid mistake."
Be precise: Set precise goals, putting in dates, times and amounts so that you can measure achievement. If you do this, you'll know exactly when you have achieved the goal, and can take complete satisfaction from having achieved it.
Set priorities - When you have several goals, give each a priority. This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by having too many goals, and helps to direct your attention to the most important ones.
Write goals down - This crystallizes them and gives them more force.
Keep operational goals small - Keep the low-level goals that you're working towards small and achievable. If a goal is too large, then it can seem that you are not making progress towards it. Keeping goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward.
Set performance goals, not outcome goals - You should take care to set goals over which you have as much control as possible. It can be quite dispiriting to fail to achieve a personal goal for reasons beyond your control!
In business, these reasons could be bad business environments or unexpected effects of government policy. In sport, they could include poor judging, bad weather, injury, or just plain bad luck.
If you base your goals on personal performance, then you can keep control over the achievement of your goals, and draw satisfaction from them.
Set realistic goals - It's important to set goals that you can achieve. All sorts of people (for example, employers, parents, media, or society) can set unrealistic goals for you. They will often do this in ignorance of your own desires and ambitions.
It's also possible to set goals that are too difficult because you might not appreciate either the obstacles in the way, or understand quite how much skill you need to develop to achieve a particular level of performance.
Achieving Goals
Mind Tools on Goal Setting:
Goal Setting Main Page
Personal Goal Setting
Locke's Goal Setting Theory
Golden Rules of Goal Setting
Backward Goal Setting
Making New Year Resolutions
Using Well-Formed Outcomes in Goal Setting
When you've achieved a goal, take the time to enjoy the satisfaction of having done so. Absorb the implications of the goal achievement, and observe the progress that you've made towards other goals.
If the goal was a significant one, reward yourself appropriately. All of this helps you build the self-confidence you deserve.
With the experience of having achieved this goal, review the rest of your goal plans:
If you achieved the goal too easily, make your next goal harder.
If the goal took a dispiriting length of time to achieve, make the next goal a little easier.
If you learned something that would lead you to change other goals, do so.
If you noticed a deficit in your skills despite achieving the goal, decide whether to set goals to fix this.

Tip 1:
Our article, Golden Rules of Goal Setting, will show you how to set yourself up for success when it comes to your goals. If you're still having trouble, you might also want to try Backward Goal Setting.
Tip 2:
Remember that failing to meet goals does not matter much, just as long as you learn from the experience.

Feed lessons learned back into your goal setting. Remember too that your goals will change as time goes on. Adjust them regularly to reflect growth in your knowledge and experience, and if goals do not hold any attraction any longer, consider letting them go.
Goal Setting Example
For her New Year's Resolution, Susan has decided to think about what she really wants to do with her life.
Her lifetime goals are as follows:
Career - "To be managing editor of the magazine that I work for."
Artistic - "To keep working on my illustration skills. Ultimately I want to have my own show in our downtown gallery."
Physical - "To run a marathon."
Now that Susan has listed her lifetime goals, she then breaks down each one into smaller, more manageable goals.
Let's take a closer look at how she might break down her lifetime career goal - becoming managing editor of her magazine:
Five-year goal: "Become deputy editor."
One-year goal: "Volunteer for projects that the current Managing Editor is heading up."
Six-month goal: "Go back to school and finish my journalism degree."
One-month goal: "Talk to the current managing editor to determine what skills are needed to do the job."
One-week goal: "Book the meeting with the Managing Editor."
As you can see from this example, breaking big goals down into smaller, more manageable goals makes it far easier to see how the goal will get accomplished.

Tip:
A good way of getting going with this is to use the Mind Tools Life Plan Workbook. Supported by worksheets and advice, this guides you through a simple 5-step process for setting your life goals, and for organizing yourself for success.


Key Points
Goal setting is an important method of:
Deciding what you want to achieve in your life.
Separating what's important from what's irrelevant, or a distraction.
Motivating yourself.
Building your self-confidence, based on successful achievement of goals.
Set your lifetime goals first. Then, set a five-year plan of smaller goals that you need to complete if you are to reach your lifetime plan. Keep the process going by regularly reviewing and updating your goals. And remember to take time to enjoy the satisfaction of achieving your goals when you do so.
If you don't already set goals, do so, starting now. As you make this technique part of your life, you'll find your career accelerating, and you'll wonder how you did without it!

This is just one of hundreds of skill-building tools and resources on this site. Click here for more articles, subscribe to our free newsletter, or become a member for just US$1.

@op, underarm sweating is generally common in the tropics-hot weather. However if you feel yours is more than normal, you may have a condition called axillary hyperhydrosis. There are special antiperspirant to try. Perspirex is a good one. Other options may not be available in Nigeria but a surgical procedure called ETS will usually produce a cure. Botox helps too but you need to repeat it regularly.

Is this to scale?

The revamped federal skilled worker program is set to open on May 4, 2013, and the new eligible occupations list has just been released.

The skilled worker program selects immigrants based on the premise that they’ll be able to succeed economically in Canada, which is why Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is basing acceptance on this list of in-demand jobs.

The eligible occupations are as follows (with their corresponding 2011 National Occupation Classification code):

0211 Engineering managers
1112 Financial and investment analysts
2113 Geoscientists and oceanographers
2131 Civil engineers
2132 Mechanical engineers
2134 Chemical engineers
2143 Mining engineers
2144 Geological engineers
2145 Petroleum engineers
2146 Aerospace engineers
2147 Computer engineers (except software engineers/designers)
2154 Land surveyors
2174 Computer programmers and interactive media developers
2243 Industrial instrument technicians and mechanics
2263 Inspectors in public and environmental health and occupational health and safety
3141 Audiologists and speech-language pathologists
3142 Physiotherapists
3143 Occupational Therapists
3211 Medical laboratory technologists
3212 Medical laboratory technicians and pathologists’ assistants
3214 Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists
3215 Medical radiation technologists
3216 Medical sonographers
3217 Cardiology technicians and electrophysiological diagnostic technologists, n.e.c. (not elsewhere classified)
The eligible occupations stream will have an overall cap of 5,000 new applications and sub-caps of 300 applications in each of the 24 occupations on the list.

While CIC will not be accepting applications for the 24 eligible occupations until May 4, there are some new requirements that applicants can start preparing for, such as language tests and foreign educational credential assessments. The complete application process will be available on CIC’s website by May 4.

All individuals who are considering applying on or after May 4 should be aware that if their application does not meet the new criteria, it will not be processed. A prospective applicant should ensure they meet at least one of the following requirements:

They have at least one year of continuous work experience in one of the 24 eligible occupations.
They have a qualifying offer of arranged employment (most now needing a labour market opinion).
They are eligible to apply through the PhD stream.
If prospective applicants are confident that they meet at least one of the above requirements, they must also meet the minimum language threshold and obtain an educational credential assessment (if submitting a foreign educational credential).
http://canadianimmigrant.ca/news-and-views/24-eligible-occupations-for-fsw-program-announced

This can be due to a number of causes. You need to SEE a doctor. Meanwhile do a stool microscopy in a reputable lab. You may also need to do blood tests in addition. Please don't ignore this symptom.

@op, nothing to worry about, fibroids (medical term -leiomyoma uteri) is particularly common among black women especially when having children is delayed. Old saying in med school if the uterus doesn't bear a foetus it will fibroids. The best 'cure' is to have kids but if you are not ready then various modalities available. Abroad they can do ablation but I don't know if that is available in Nigeria yet. If you do proceed with surgery, I will advise a teaching hospital. All the best!

Try bump patrol, don't know if available in Nigeria but I buy mine in the UK. About £4 a bottle but will last 2-3months.

mamaxxx: I've got an extreme phobia for needles, however, diabetes runs in my family and recently I've been expiriencing some symptoms: constant thirst, fatigue, weight loss, hunger, waking up weak and tired.

Any alternatives to blood tests for diabetes?

You need to get tested ASAP. Those symptoms are significant. You can get topical anaesthetic cream to make needles painless.

@Reuters: Developing: series of explosions at bus park in Kano, Nigeria kills at least 25: witness

I appreciate the argument Europe was 100s of years ahead. That is why I cited the Singapore example. They were colonised like us. They had severe inter-ethnic and inter-religious issues after the British left. When the British left, (as usual) they were so decimated they were merely a desert Island. In fact bigger neighbours like Malaysia and Indonesia wanted to annex them but thought it was not worth while as Singapore had nothing. Step in Lee Kuan Yew and in 30 years Singapore became a 1st world nation. The title of his book is: From Third World to First: The Singapore Story: 1965-2000. I strongly recommend this book to any Nigrian interested in the future of this country Nigeria.

It looks like there is a pseudo-dichotomy on this thread, I don't think my brothers and sisters at home should pick issues with those who have been privileged to travel to lands yonder. The truth is sometimes it takes seeing the other side to appreciate a need for change. I remember once I took my car to a mechanic in a city in S/West , and while chit chatting with the car electrician, I told of my sojourn to the lands beyond the seas. I mentioned how power supply was so constant to which he replied 'ha ha oga, NEPA no dey there?' To this my dear friend it was inconceivable that there will be no black out! So naturally he doesn't expect his govt to provide it.

@OP- very well said. Very well said. It is difficult to fathom where we start from to fix this nation of ours. Some say fix it from top down. If we have a saint for president, what about the other arms of government? Will they not hound him? What about the ministers and directors who will simply saboteur his/her good intentions? If we say to fix it from bottom up, go back to primary schools to establish proper educational foundations, where are the hands to ensure this? We are quick to blame leadership, but followership is just as much in dire need of reform.
The average Nigerian is generally not a keen reader. Someone had said if you want to hide a thing from the African, put it in a book! Changing the mindset requires reading. Reading about change. Reading about how people who achieved change did it. I have read the Singapore story (Lee Kuan Yew), I don't know how many Nigerians have. But he successfully transformed his country, today one of the few debt free countries on earth.

Years of degradation now means many of our people now accept mediocrity for excellence. Someone mentioned the Stockholm syndrome. It still boils downtown how we can change the mindset. It will not be easy but it is possible. When malignancy has taken such foothold, curing it requires great care and delicate handling otherwise the host will perish with the disease. The Nigerian question will require a multidimensional approach. A good man at the top (like Lee Kuan Yew), a mindset change emphasis from the religious polity, same from traditional rulers(why are they not called traditional leaders?), schools, especially from bottom up.

There is also a need to empower the people. The various human rights organisations can strengthen their vanguard function by guiding foreign NGOs to support programmes that will genuinely empower the people. So, graduated mechanised farming for instance, not necessarily high tech, but beyond hoe and cutlass. Home building and construction using locally available resources. Various aspects of craftsman ships. Things that will genuinely empower the people so they don't hero worship their leaders that much. There are other ideas but I've go to keep this short.

It's called postprandial sedation. One explanation is relative shunting of blood to the splanchnic circulation to allow/ effect digestion. Africans are prone as our meals tend to be heavy. And we talk of 3 square meals. Ideally it should be about six meals a day, but small meals, for example like the English do.

If this works, these girls could become stinking rich, literally. Four teenage girls have in Lagos Nigeria have invented a urine powered generator at this year’s Maker Faire Africa.


The event shows off innovations, inventions, and initiatives that solve immediate challenges and problems, and then works to support and propagate them. The teenagers, Duro-Aina Adebola ,14, Akindele Abiola, 14, Faleke Oluwatoyin ,14 and Bello Eniola, 15, had one of the most interesting inventions at the fair which took place from Monday November , 5 to Tuesday November, 6 in Lagos.

Here’s how it works:

•Urine is put into an electrolytic cell, which cracks the urea into nitrogen, water, and hydrogen.

•The hydrogen goes into a water filter for purification, which then gets pushed into the gas cylinder.

•The gas cylinder pushes hydrogen into a cylinder of liquid borax, which is used to remove the moisture from the hydrogen gas.

•This purified hydrogen gas is pushed into the generator.

•1 Liter of urine gives you 6 hours of electricity

http://www.ynaija.com/4-nigerian-teenage-girls-invent-urine-powered-generator-that-works/

There is a possibility she was 'invited for a friendly chat' if she had a large amount of declared cash on her. That is not the same thing as being arrested. It is also possible the Mets may have wanted to investigate further but subsequently deciding against this if they thought case was 'not in the public interest'. Overall, I suspect may have travelled with a large amount of declared cash. In the interest of probity, I would opine her excellency declared her UK assets, including bank balances with appropriate explanation of how these were acquired. That way the political detractors will be genuinely silenced as they will have to do same to match the pedestal.

No.

@op, I'm surprised you're rather blasé about this. Please listen to you wife on this one. Good luck.

After 5 years?! Emotions, particularly for a man do no constitute enough reasons to marry or not to. In any case, true love is a decision, not a feeling. Ok, it may be a feeling initially but subsequently and ultimately it is a decision. You have to decide to love who you marry. You have not mentioned other qualities in yourself and your fiancée to help determine long term compatibility. My gut feeling is that you should marry her... All the best!

looks like amniotic banding to me

The longest reigning monarch. 56 years on the throne. RIP
http://www.channelstv.com/home/2012/07/16/attah-of-igala-dies-aged-102/

Happy Birthday CC. More life to your years and years to your life! May you never grow old. May you see your children's children and their own children many generations ahead. Egba odun, odun kan!

@Poster- please take heart and be not discouraged. Often when pregnancy is lost its nature's way of indicating something may have been badly wrong (for example congenital anomaly). So please do not worry much, as long as there is life, there is hope. Just a brief advice- as this is a 2nd trimester loss, do see a gynaecologist next time you are pregnant especially to exclude cervical incompetence.

hi 1stklass

Yes, if you don't nurture it.

Overall, to tell what a woman will become eventually, look at her mother.

^^^@siena- i take it donkey is now a man!

@nike4luv, thank you, info noted. Long, long time ago- is that like when the tortoise had a smooth shell?

@Hardunnii-hi. Its a pity this discussion is happening about Nigeria. The issues have lingered for so long I wonder if there will be an answer in my lifetime. I was at Uni with Labaran Maku although he was my senior. He was such an 'aluta' person as SUG leader. And so on and so forth.

^^^ Thanks Missy_B. Are you the same Missy_B on onlinenigeria? Thanks again.