₦airaland Forum

You can [I]meet[/I] your future partner in the toilet and live happily ever after. But I don't think you can prepare for marriage without the physical proximity. There is no way to build trust when there is no way to confirm what the person is saying. You may find out that one of you hates the domestic habits of the other!

Trish, thanks for the tip. Isn't this cute, we're ahead of the official news channels.

I hope we can find a way to move residents away from the flood zone, because I don't see how that flood will abate anytime soon - you know, the rain just started.

My personal opinion is that corporal punishment is a very primitive way to discipline a child. It is effective on the short term, which makes the parent blind to the need to use methods of discipline that work on the long term.

Many people think they are teching their children to be upright, but all they are teaching their children is that might is right. "I have the power, so if you do something I don't like I will inflict pain on you". Might is right, so if I make a mistake nothing happens, but if you make the same mistake and I catch you, you are in deep trouble. Might is right, and that is why when there is any problem our youths pick up cutlasses and start making bonfires and cutting heads. Because might is right.

Are you saying that Charles Taylor wasn't beaten as a little kid? What about Sanni Abacha? The soldiers working with him? Were the perpetrators of our civil war not beaten as children? What about those who are corrupt among our politicians?

Africans are fond of defending elements of their culture that clearly aren't working for them. With all the child-abuse that takes place in this country, we are more corrupt than "morally bankrupt" countries like the United State with their "evil" gay rights "heinous crimes" against unborn children.

Sorry, beating is not the way to train a child. It is a way to harden a child. We have a lot of hardened people in this country, and I am tired of it. I want us to have more people with tender, gentle hearts.

My position is that no female member of this forum is cursed with any curse. Thank you.

All the objections mentioned so far don't apply to relationships and families that are properly fuctioning. A family in which the relatives of the husband can still his chequebook is a dysfunctional family. A family in which the husband and wife cannot trust each other with money is a dysfunctional family.

If these things are normal in our country then so help us, oh God! People need to have some basic things in their relationship before talking about marriage, but these days it's all about the craving for children. People marry just to prevent their children from being labelled illegitimate.

Invitations are no more available - I'm just too busy!
Hi there,

One of the interesting trends in the Internet today is the launching of free web-based services available by invitation only. Three of them are particularly interesting:

1. GMail (free e-mail with 2GB space):
GMail is a free e-mail service that is very fast (faster than Yahoo Mail, since it doesn't load any graphic adverts), very reliable (your mail never gets lost when your session times out like yahoo!), very efficient (you can search your mailbox just like you search google, you can put an e-mail into [I]more than one[/I] folder if required), and so much more. And of course, it offers you a large mailbox you can never exhaust.

You just have to experience it to understand why I use it for my primary email address ()! Currently invitation-only.

2. Yahoo 360
If you want to maintain a personal blog or online journal (web-based diary), then Yahoo 360 is probably the best choice. It allows you to choose who can see your entries. For example you can write something for only your friends to see and save yourself a lot of embarassment; the whole world doesn't have to know what's going on in your private life. You can also use it to send messages to your friends or friends of friends.

If you own a Yahoo account, there is no reason for you not to try Yahoo 360! Currently invitation-only.
My Yahoo 360 Blog is at: http://blog.360.yahoo.com/seunosewa


3. Orkut:
Social networking service that helps you connect with your friends. Also contains lots of messageboards. Very popular in Brazil. Also invitation-only.

Well, I happen to use these 3 services and I will be happy to invite you to try them out. Just send your request as a reply to this post and I will send an invitation to your email address as soon as possible! Of course, you need to be registered first.

Seun.

Invitations are no more available - I'm just too busy!

What follows is the list of mobile phones (GSM phones) tested by the NCC and found to be compatible with the Nigerian GSM networks. GSM Phone models officially approved for use in Nigeria.

Alcatel Phone Models:
505, OT 300, OT 302, OT 303, OT 320, OT 501, OT 701, OT 311, OT 511, OT 520, OT 535, OT 715

Amiosonic Phone Models:
A6, A8, A 10, A 8698

Bird Phone Models:
8288

Daewoo Phone Models:
DW 2500, 600

Eastcom Phone Models:
EL 600, EL 650, EL 720

Ericsson Phone Models:
T 20s, T 29s, R 380s, 2628s, F121s (Fixed Terminal), F151s (Fixed Terminal), A 3618, T 39, T 65, R320s, CMD-J70, T 66

LG Phone Models:
B 1300, W 3000, W 5000

Mitsubishi Trium Phone Models:
Neptune, Cosmo, Mars.

Approved Motorola Models:
C 550, C 200, MPX 200, E 365, T 250 (MT2-411A32), V 51/V 8088 (MC2-41E12), V 50 (MC2-41E14), T 2288 MC2-41H11), V 150, V 300, V 500, V 600, T 180 (MC2-41H21), A 008 (MC2-41J11), T 280 (MT3-41D11), V 66 (MT3-41C11), V 70, T 192 (MC3-41B11), V 2288E, T 191, M 8989.

Approved Nokia phone models:
1100, 2100, 3100, 3200, 3310, 3330, 3510 I, 3660, 5100, 5210, 6100, 6210, 6310, 6510, 6600, 6610, 6800, 7210, 7210 I, 7250, 8210, 8310, 8850, 8910, 8910 I, RAE 3N (9210), 9210 I, 7650, 6310 I, 3510, 3410

Approved Panabiz phone models:
DB-2009F

Approved Phillips phone models:
120, Fisio 121, Xenium

Approved Satcome phone models:
GAI-0-1200 GSM Card Payphone

Approved Sagem phone models:
MC 926, MW 3020, MW 3040, MC 920, MC 922, X-5 M2002, MYX-1, MYX-2, MYX-6

Approved Samsung phone models:
SGH-N400, SGH-R210, SGH-R220, SGH-A200, SGH-A100, SGH-N100, N 500, T 100

Approved Sendo phone models:
D 800, S 200

Approved Siemens phone models:
A35, C25, C30, C35 I, MC 60, M 30, M 35 I, S 40, SL 45, S 35 I, Xlibri

Approved Sony Ericcson phone models:
K 500i, K 700i, S 700i, T 68 I, T 105, T 100, T 200, T 300, T 230, T 600, T 610, T 630, R 600, P 900, P 910i, Z 200

Approved Soutec phone models:
S 690, S 690+, S 691, S 638, S 268

Approved Thuraya phone models:
Ascon 21 GSM/Satellite Phone, Hughes HNS-7100 GSM/Satellite Phone

Approved Tressor phone models:
T 101B

Approved World Phone models
WP 188

[color=#000077]Is your phone model [I]not[/I] included in that list? Let us know! Register and drop a reply![/color]

Source: NCC Official Website

"PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo has said emphatically that he would vacate office in May, 2007, and retire to his Ota Farm, Ogun State, even as he owned up to co-authoring the controversial draft constitution."
Allafrica - I won't run again for presidency, says Obasanjo

What else do you want to hear?

Yes ke!

"Abuja, Nigeria. May 1, 2005. The combined fixed and mobile phone in Nigeria grew to 11 million lines in January, this year, raising the country’s teledensity to 9.2, telecoms sector regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said." (TechTimesNews)

11 million telephone lines? Well that's nice, but we still want the cost of making a phone call to go down!

Here is the breakdown of this figure:
Mobile Phone Lines: 9,950,000 (mobile phone subscribers)
Private Telecom Operators: 568,925 ('fixed wireless' lines)
Fixed Telephone Lines: 525,000 (NITEL land lines)
Total Figure: 11,043,925

Please feel free to reply this post if you have new information or important comments. You will need to register first, though.

I thought the curse has been lifted in the new testament or something like that??

solo2 and allenpowered, thanks for the tip! That is what Nairaland is all about.

From the Punch:
"Nigeria’s bid for debt relief has received a major boost, with the influential The Guardian newspaper of London calling on the international creditors to write off the $34 billion debt."

[url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,,1474590,00.html]Guardian Newspaper of London[/url]:
"Nigeria certainly deserves both aid and debt relief. The more help that Africa's largest country receives, the better off the whole continent will be as a result. A healthy, strong Nigeria could be the catalyst for the economic growth the region so badly needs to escape the clutch of poverty. Much of Nigeria's existing debt is odious - loans taken by an illegitimate regime, which is unfairly saddled onto the backs of future generations. It should be written off, and money saved to help meet Nigeria's development goals. To do so would send an important signal: that the international community is prepared to encourage and reward the fragile efforts at reform now taking place in Nigeria."

This headship issue, when it comes up, I think is one thing that makes young women very sad and I think it is what makes it difficult for some people to choose a husband. I mean some women are so intelligent and they have to look for a husband who is more intelligent than them (because they have to be his 'tail') but they find that there is no such man! And they are being told to 'submit' to some guy who is not up to their level.

I moved the thread here because i felt mamba's comment up there is too inflamatory. Do you guys think it's too inflammatory?

Trae, mamba's cousing was celebrating because he is 31 and the ban only affects Nigerians between 18 and 30!

Trae, I don't lick my wounds either. I prefer to apply Methylated Spirit!

And I think the 'one' analogy only applies to husband and wife. I don't think it is right to consider a girlfriend as 'one' with yourself when in a few months you're going to break up and find other partners. The boyfriend-girlfriend thing is over-rated by so many people!

I think Nigerians can be quite romantic. Some people's hearts have been hardened by 'life' and they refuse to allow themselves to appreciate romance.

Its all about the happiness of both parties at the end of the day.

The age thing is very serious among us, the yorubas in particular. If your sister is just one year older than you she can send you on errands and you have to 'obey'. If you don't 'obey' your parents will accuse you of being stubborn, insubordinate. Now you can imagine that same lady being your wife. There will definitely be a power struggle!

It is difficult to be happy when your wife and you are struggling for power!

Just Blaze, most people here wouldn't marry an older girl, which is what I was talking about in the post you quoted. Did you marry your ex-girlfriends?

If dating means going out to eat or watch a movie, I will date older girls.
If dating means sleeping together I will definitely not date older girls (or anybody else )
If dating means going on 'dates' with intention of eventual marriage, my answer is "no".

I think most people are confused about the various words used in love and dating.

Your leg-zus isn't working too well for you? no problem, I'll send you my [i]leg[/i]edez Benz!

Yes, but what about cost of shipping?

The service is IP Wholesale and it has been launched according to the following website:
http://www.nigeriafirst.org/article_3910.shtml

Yeah. I remember Frank Spencer. Those two belong to the same category of comedy, but I've forgotten what it's called.

Can you see what happens when you have 'committed' relationships without any promise of marriage? You are 'going out' with someone who has no intention of marrying you, and maybe even sleeping with him. And when he dumps you to marry someone else, you are surprised. I will say nothing more.

Here are more quotes from the news:
"As part of the government’s efforts at liberalising the downstream sector of the oil industry, indigenous firms working with foreign partners were also given the opportunity to establish and operate private refineries. 31 companies applied out of which 18 were successful." Source

"Government announced on Friday 12 March that it has approved the commencement of construction work on a private refinery to be undertaken by Orient Petroleum Resources Limited.

"The Presidential Adviser on Petroleum and Energy, Dr Edmund Daukoru, said in Abuja that the approval was given after the company submitted a basic design package and paid the mandatory $50,000 stipulated by government.

"A statement from the Ministry of Petroleum said however, that the company would still pay another sum of $100,000 on completion of construction work on the refinery before it begins production of refined petroleum products.

"The Department of Petroleum Resources in May 2002 short-listed 18 companies, including Orient Petroleum Resources Ltd, which were subsequently granted preliminary license to establish private refineries.

"Dr Daukoru said that three other companies out the 18 have qualified to have their papers processed for presidential approval." Source

The petrol scarcity issues we face in Nigeria are due to our limited refinery capacity. Previous government-sponsored refinery projects have all failed due to corruption in the system. The obvious solution is for people in the the [I]private sector[/I] to finance and run refineries.

You know what? 18 private refineries have been apprived for construction! They are represented by the Association of Private Petroleum Refinery Owners of Nigeria, some of whose officials are:[list][li]Justice Omotunde Ilori, Chairman[/li][li]Mr Isaac Boro, Secretary[/li][/list]Those 2 officers of the association, along with Professor Anya O Anya, (Chairman, NSP Refineries and Oil Services Ltd, one of the approved refinery owners), recently prsented a status report to President Olusegun Obasanjo at the State House in Abuja. [MORE INFO]

If you know something else about this issue of private refineries, please feel free to update this thread. I think it's a positive development. However, for fuel prices to come down, Government needs to license so many private refineries that demand will exceed supply, forcing prices down and making the exportation of petrol and other petroleum products by Nigeria a real income earner.

AYA, I don't feel inclined to complain about how other websites are a joke. How will we create a presence on the Internet if large companies start investing millions into the training of their web developers?

No, I don't feel inclined to complain. However, if I must contribute all I can say is that the money is not going to the right people. That is all I would say. And there are some good, high profile Nigerian websites out there. MTN Online is good. ShopForLess.com is good, though of Indian roots.

Hello Yimika,

Well, i would advice you to do something related to the Internet or Mobile Phones.

You can teach people how to configure their phones or do various things with their phones. You can feature Nigerian WAP sites like Nairaland ( http://wap.nairaland.com or http://wap2.nairaland.com ).

For the Internet, which is less interesting than mobile phones, you can show people how to use various types of websites.

So make sure your programme covers mobile phones and the Internet.

The official website of Silverbird Cinemas, which (I think) is part of Silverbird Galleria, is:
http://silverbirdcinemas.com/silverbirdcinema/

Remember Computer Chronicles, that interesting computer programme shown by NTA? That was before the Internet. For people like me, it was our only way of finding out what was happening in the outside world, the world of technology! I shake my head when I think about my level of ignorance about the world of computing in those days. Thank God for the Internet.

Anyway, every single episode of Computer Chronicles is now available online, legally and for free, at the following site:
http://www.archive.org/movies/computerchronicles.php

The reason given, from the above BBC News article, is that:
"First-time visitors, particularly within that age group [18 to 30], are particularly time-consuming, each has to be interviewed and obviously an intention to return has to be verified."

Wow! 80% of Nigerians feel that the arrest of Inspector General Tafa Balogun is a genuine act against corruption by the EFCC, and not:[list][li]Personal vendetta by Nuhu Ribadu[/li][li]Motivated by an ethnic agenda, or[/li][li]Motivated by a political agenda[/li][/list]You can add your vote to this poll.

"Britain has imposed a ban on entry visas for young Nigerians aged between 18 and 30 who intend to visit the UK for the first time." (BBC News)

"However, the move has been condemned by officials within the Nigerian presidential office. 'It is very unfair,' said Femi Fani-Kayode, special assistant to the Nigerian President on public affairs. "We enjoy a close relationship with the United Kingdom and I don't think this is the way to strengthen ties between the two countries." (Black Mag)

How about we reciprocate by denying visas to their young men and women?

There are many fast-growing economies out there in Asia and elsewhere to travel to. The UK will be the [I]last place[/I] I will want to travel out to unless there's an important conference or something.

"Those studying in the UK, or members of Business Express - a scheme for large companies with strong UK links will not be affected." (Black Mag) At least, this means it will be [I]easier[/I] for those who are unaffected to gain visas.

My older female friends are generally intelligent and ambitious people. You can learn a lot by hanging out with intelligent and ambitious people. Going out to eat can be a very enjoyable way to relax, whether you are married or single, seventy years old or just eighteen! Watching movies with friends makes it much more enjoyable.