₦airaland Forum

Be the judge.
Though i do not support the activities of the Niger DELTA YOUTHS but they are have a strong and genuine struggle.

What in your opinions are the best possible ways to stop the unrest in the region.

Be the judge.
Though i do not support the activities of the Niger DELTA YOUTHS but they are have a strong and genuine struggle.

What in your opinions are the best possible ways to stop the unrest in the region.

The fact that the Niger Delta region that produces this revenue is one of the poorest regions in the world may be news especially to Nigerians, majority of whom, outside the Niger Delta do not know the situation on the ground. The Niger Deltans out of frustration have resolved to control their own resources (and rightly so) and they are called militants. If demanding what is rightly yours makes you a militant, then should it not be so? Imagine if this crude oil was in Northern Nigeria, will ‘Derivation’ (Resource Control) not be a major factor in revenue sharing in Nigeria.

I have decided, wherever possible, to pictorially present my opinions on the Nigerian situation, for a picture represents a thousand words, it graphically brings home to readers the real situation, as it is, on the ground. The real deal.

Dear readers below are pictorial representation of the situation in Niger Delta today (Courtesy of BBC Online and www.unitedijawstates.com), the goose that lay the Nigerian golden eggs that are squandered hundreds of miles away from where the goose lays. This is what the Niger Deltans are fighting against and in demanding’ rightly’ for what is rightly theirs, they are called ‘militants’.

There is no magic silver bullet that will end hunger. Persistent hunger is directly related to conditions of poverty and the issues that keep both in place are complex and tenacious. Ending hunger is not simply a matter of feeding enough people. The conditions that keep more than a quarter of the world population in absolute poverty — living on less than the equivalent buying power of one U.S. dollar a day — must be tackled

What are the issues that confront us in bringing an end to hunger and the worst aspects of poverty and what are we doing about them?

The project named, OLPC (One Laptop per Child), is gaining rapid popularity in developing as well as developed countries. This project was initially conceptualized by Nicholas Negroponte, founder chairman of MITs’ (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Media Lab and was announced in The World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland on January 2005. The project aims to provide laptops worth $100 to each and every school age child of underdeveloped and developing countries so that children do not have to be deprived of basic education. That means children don’t need to go to school, buy textbooks and other accessories to gain an education. The idea is conceptualized referencing the fact that most of the parents in underdeveloped and developing countries don’t even have enough money to buy textbook and pencils for their children.

Though at first it seems that this project is charming and has strong appeal for poor countries and its poor children, it is not as it seems to be. There are lots of questions to be answered and problems to be solved before the real implementation and success of this project can be felt. Can developing countries afford these laptops? Do they have any estimates about how much $100 means to developing countries? The per capita income of Bangladesh, one of the poorest and developing countries and where OLPC is willing to sell its laptop is $300 i.e. 20, 557 TAKA. Can the people of Bangladesh afford this laptop? OLPC is saying it will be selling these laptops to the government of the poor countries and they will have to distribute laptops to their poor children. Have they gone out of their minds to sell this $100 laptop which may seem very cheap here in USA and other developed countries, but is actually really expensive for underdeveloped and developing countries? I don’t think the governments of these countries who even don’t have money to provide basic needs of its people have ability to buy this so-called $100 laptop. And also who cares about this laptop if they don’t have anything to eat and wear? I don’t believe that educational needs comes before the basic needs like food, shelter and clothes.

Let’s assume that government of poor countries will buy these laptops for their poor children. It will be their first time investment. They will spend optimum of their nominal budget for buying these laptops. It’s ok that they spend money for this noble cause. But for how long will these laptops operate smoothly and without problems? One year? Two year? What about after then? It’s possible to make first time investment but it’s more costly to maintain this laptop and who will pay for that? Anyone can see in these poor countries that once some infrastructures like road, building, water supply etc. is built with the help of some donor, there’s no one to take care of it. Government is responsible for this but ironically these governments don’t have enough money to maintain it. Hospitals, roads, schools etc. are constructed once but after two or three years it’s common to see it ruined because of lack of care and management. So I don’t believe that these governments have enough financial capacity to repair these laptops after some time if they get into problems.

What about language problem? Are they going to build these laptops for English speaking children only? I don’t think so. Most of the developing countries' children don’t even understand English, then how are they going to use this laptop? Most of the underprivileged children of the underdeveloped and developing nations go to schools where they are taught in local language rather than English and more priority is given to those languages as its convenient to learn and gain knowledge in the language that are known in prior. So it’s obvious that they are not good in English. The majority of them even don’t understand English. Then how are they supposed to learn the content from this $100 laptop which obviously will be in English. Let’s give an example from Nepal itself. There are two categories of schools of Nepal. One that is established and operated by government and the other one which is established and operated by the private sector. In government schools the medium of teaching is the Nepali language whereas in private schools more priority is given to the English language. And $100 is should be for government school children as they are more poor and underprivileged than the children studying in private schools.
So it’s now crystal clear about the unfeasibility of OLPC project. I am sure that OLPC people are well aware of this problem and are trying their best to overcome this problem. I heard that they are thinking to localize the software for this Laptop that means all the necessary applications will be developed in a customized manner. Again the problem is who is going to fund for this. Thus what we can see is that $100 is not actually $100. We are well aware that software development cost is often more greater than hardware development and they are just talking about hardware. So what can be the real cost of this laptop after we add software cost as well, may be $200 or $300 or even more.

The One laptop per child is yet to be implemented here in Nigeria, i implore the relevant authorities to look into it and help alleviate poverty in the year 2008.

Tense Pakistan set to bury Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto said her life was at risk when she attended the rally
The body of the assassinated former Pakistani PM, Benazir Bhutto, has been flown to her home village in Sindh for burial amid fears of further violence.
President Pervez Musharraf appealed for calm after she was killed at a rally in Rawalpindi on Thursday, but deadly riots later erupted in several cities.

At least 11 deaths were reported as her angry supporters took to the streets.

The killing was condemned worldwide, with the UN Security Council describing it as a reprehensible act of terrorism.

US officials called for the parliamentary election scheduled for 8 January to go ahead as planned, but correspondents say the assassination has raised a huge question mark over the poll.

We have the pleasure to send you the call for applications for the European Master's Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation (E.MA) 2008/2009 organised by the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC).

We would be very grateful if you could please disseminate this information as widely as possible.

Candidates for application will find all useful information to apply on the E.MA website at
http://www.emahumanrights.org and on the EIUC website at http://www.eiuc.org.

The deadline for application is 14 March 2008 (date of the receipt in Venice of the application materials).

Thank you for your collaboration.

EIUC Secretariat
Monastery of San Nicolò
Riviera San Nicolò 26
IT- 30126 Venice - Lido
Tel. +39 041 2720911
Fax +39 041 2720914

call this number for more info on printing wedding cards 01-7246367

wow, what a match. Experienced vs the amateurs (no insult intended, just in the Champion LEAGUEl world). Milan are a great side as are arsenal but i just dont see Arsenal knocking Milan out of the Champion LEAGUE. Milan only have the Champions LEAGUEl to fight for, while Arsenal are in 3 other competitions (EPL, FA, Carling

Join an Otesha Cycling and Performing Tour!


The Otesha Project has announced the routes for the 2008 Otesha Cycling and Performing Tours (http://www.otesha.ca/bike+tours/index.en.html). Applications are now being accepted for seven regional tours throughout Canada that will take more than 120 inspiring young change-makers on the journey of a lifetime. You could be one of them!

Tour members will share an incredible experience as they live as a mobile and sustainable community for two months. They will cycle from performance to performance, braving the elements, connecting with communities along the route, and exploring all the ups and downs of directly addressing environmental and social injustices through their own every day actions.

Tours will start in May, July, and September, departing from Ottawa, Vancouver, and Halifax. These are the tour routes:

Algonquin Tour
May 1 to June 25
Spin from Ottawa through Algonquin Provincial Park, follow the sunny shores of Georgian Bay along the Bruce Peninsula, over to the sandy beaches of Manitoulin Island and onward to Sudbury. Car-free.

Great Lakes Tour
May 1 to June 25
The Great Lakes are calling! Cycle the rocky shores of three of North America's largest fresh water lakes – Huron, Erie and Ontario. Venture from Ottawa through rugged terrain and bustling towns. Destination: Niagara Falls! Car-free.

Northern Appalachian Tour
May 1 to June 25
Cycle from Ottawa through the Eastern Townships, across the border and through the ancient Mountains of Vermont and Maine. Destination: New Brunswick and the red sand shores of the Bay of Fundy. NB: A passport is required, as the team will be traveling through the USA.

Sunshine Coast Tour
July 2 to August 26
Tackle Vancouver Island from tip to tip. Starting in Vancouver, cycle up the Inside Passage, across to the Island, north to Port Hardy and then south again to funky Victoria. Car-free.

Kootenay Mountain Tour
July 2 to August 26
From Vancouver to Calgary, start at the ocean edge, spin through coastal forests, on to the sunny Okanagan, and up and down the silver peaks of southern British Columbia.

Rising Tide Tour
Sept. 2 to Oct. 27
Feel your spirits rise with the highest tides in the world. Starting in Halifax, cycle along the Atlantic Ocean around southern Nova Scotia and the red sand shores of the Bay of Fundy.

Across the Rock Tour
Sept. 2 to Oct. 27
Starting in Halifax, north to Cape Breton, ferry over to Newfoundland and across the Rock to North America's most easterly point. Lots of hills (and possibly snow)!

Apply now! More information available at www.otesha.ca.

Spread the word! Spread the hope!

Peace and bicycle grease,
The Otesha Project

As an immigrant you will need a Nigeria drivers license accompanied with international drivers license to drive anywhere in the world.

The cost of obtaining one is far far less than 5k.

Get all your documents ready , your school documents, admission letter , sponsorship letter and bank statement.

But i got a mail from some body of recent telling me that , for Swedish student visa the bank statement must be in the name of the applicant.

I don't know how true it is.
But whatever the case you can contact me if you need any support documents to apply for your student visa.

Thanks
vikiviko2002@yahoo.com

I can secure Dubai visa and an hotel for 2weeks in the emirate city of dubai.
For further info,contact me on vikiviko2002@yahoo.com

While Steven Gerrard was leading Liverpool to the second round of the Champions League on Tuesday, four burglars broke into his house, confronted his wife and stole some jewelry.

Merseyside Police said Wednesday it was investigating the incident, which occurred around 9:30 p.m. local time the previous night at the house north of Liverpool.

"Four men, wearing dark clothing, hoods and balaclavas, entered the property and stole items of jewelry," Merseyside Police said. "We cannot confirm the nature of the confrontation.

"The female resident, and another woman who was in the house at the time, were left shaken but uninjured."

Liverpool won its match 4-0 in Marseille, France.

Gerrard is reportedly the sixth Liverpool soccer player to have been robbed in the past 18 months, often while they have been away for soccer matches played outside Britain.

Former goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, current goalkeeper Pepe Reina, defender Daniel Agger and strikers Peter Crouch and Dirk Kuyt have also been burgled.

Third Major arrest of the E FCC after Alams and Tafa.

I await the eventual conviction and confiscation of his loots.

All hail Ribadu

bEST - AY
WORST- Abagana

Good to know you achieved this online with the fforts of the Nigerian Immigration.

We will be expecting to hear from you when you finally arrive Naija

Compliments of the SEASON

Its pretty difficult to achieve, but be on time 10am Mondays, Abuja every other day and at any time

Members of the House please i want to ask the types of visas an artist say a musician would need to apply for when visiting Nigeria.

Because just recently , the Musicians that performed at the THE EXPERIENCE LAGOS 2007 as i was informed entered Nigeria with a visiting visa and PMAN cried foul about the whole process in allowing them into the country.

Actually i visited Aro chukwu with some international Voluntourist.

We explored the historical place called Aro, met the Eze Aro in his place, visited the other Eze's, visited the ujari museum and utani
I will loved to visit the place again if not for the bad road during the last yam festival to which i had a special invitation from the Eze Aro.I saw the graveside of Alvan ikoku too at the College of Education
Tell me more about Arochukwu.

Don't Miss THE EXPERIENCE LAGOS 2007, TODAY AT THE TBS ONIKAN, 8PM

Come 1 come all

Thank God your case.
All the best.

I love flowery shirts, they are nice and special

If you have all the documents but the invitee's house documents , go ahead.
It is an oral interview so you should be able to convince them.
Niormally once an appeal is allowed there is no basis for cross examination or re-checking of documents again.
The tribunal has allowed the appeal, i guess they are just trying to test you if you would bring all the documents
All the best

Its the Preliminaries, Nigeria will scale through, thereafter is the challenge.

Poor England, pretty tight group to qualify from.

Ukraine is my favourite come second behind Croatia/England
All the best England

"Appeal allow Determination" are confusing words.
Lets have a better knowledge of the contant of the letter sent to you so we proffer solutions.
If they have asked for documents, i think they might be asking you to support the proofs and evidence for your appeal.

All the best.

The most effective player is Cesc fabregas.

With his postiion from the midfiled he's the top scorer for Arsenal.
his passes are perfect and timely.
Lionel messi is a Barca success, he dribbles with such dexterity and cleverness,
he scores crucial goals too.

At the moment, Arsenal tops the English Premiership courtesy's of Fabergas effectiveness and overall teamplay of Arsenal.
Barcelona are second fiddle to Real Madrid so far, messi is overall contribution to the team is 70% compared to cesc 80%

Super EAGLES are wingless, uninspiring in the midfield.

Who do you think is needed to be in the Midfield of the Eagles.

Also name your Eagles XL to the nations cup.

This is mine

Golakeeper- Vincent Enyeama
Defenders- Joseph YOBO , SHITTU, ODIAH AND TAYE TAIWO

MIDFIELDERS- UTAKA, OSAZE, OBODO , NSOFOR

ATTACKERS- MARTINS, KANU

Contact vikiviko2002@yahoo.com for all your travel documents including appeal cases.