₦airaland Forum

You people fail to realize that they all move within the same circles, have the same or common friends, how known each other or about each other for a very long time, see each other outside the media, etc.

stpat1: I am so so disappointed to know that it is Seun of Nairaland that uttered such unintelligent remarks and to make matters worse he was first to respond. You said Bad economics which shows that you know nothing about economics. I am just beginning to understand that I might be overrating you. It is often said that its better to keep quiet and be termed a fool than to make utterances that will erase every doubt. ( No Offense Meant)

...

Guy, take am easy now! We've all jumped the gun at one time or another and came to an incorrect conclusion! We can't be subject matter expert in everything. It is only when people start arguing blindly or failing to reason that I think they deserve to be called out like you’ve done. He painted himself into a corner by assuming that "all" products with local substitute will be banned.

I don't blame people trying to argue that the policy will fail because such a conclusion is reasonable based on our track record.

The bottom line is, the policy needs to be targeted strategically to certain products/raw materials, otherwise the government will be encouraging inefficiency and the policy might fail. For example, they can’t just ban tire importation if there are no safe or useable locally available alternatives.

Freiburger: Here is my answer to your question, dont you know that if prices a driven down, firms are forced to do every thing that will enable them cut their production cost particularly in the manufacturing sector?

Yes by seeking to be more efficient! You can be more efficient by cutting overhead, buying better machinery, improving the skill of your workers, using novel manufacturing methods, using novel materials, managing your business better, incentivizing your employees, paying employees for performance, etc

ballabriggs: Another useless and hopeless import substitution strategy that won't stand the test of time. Yes we understand the infant industry argument for trade barriers, however, we also understand that with limited domestic capacity, such a policy only leads to trade distortions.

...

Trade policies and trade barriers are important for development, however, they need to be carefully and well thought before implementation.

Exactly!

Seun: This is bad Economics. …

If you were actually to ban all foreign goods with local substitutes, you'd be banning just about everything Nigerians need and love. Nigerians will be miserable. It's madness. It's not even politically feasible. If the government pursues such a policy, the end result is that the government will end up banning goods that are produced locally by the friends of the people in government. Political donors, basically. This short-sighted policy is a recipe for institutionalizing crony capitalism.

Here’s why you’re wrong.

1. Can any manufacturing company in Nigeria compete with their foreign counterpart on an equal footing? No, which means that if left to market forces, Nigerians will mostly buy foreign products even if there are local substitutes because the foreign product will probably be cheaper and better made.

2. Why can’t we manufacture better products? Well, it takes years or decades of expertise and we need time to get there. We also lack the requisite skill needed. Even Innoson only assembles cars/buses made in Asia. This is not a dig against Innoson but it is actually the very first step needed to manufacture a very complicated product locally! Before one knows it, Innoson or other local manufacturers will start manufacturing pieces of the cars/buses locally!

3. If no one buys the local product, the local manufacturing company will eventually fail and/or new local entrants will not venture into the same sector.

4. If there are no local manufacturing companies, unemployment will remain extremely high and we are essentially employing and enriching other manufacturing countries. Also, we will never gain the skills needed to be self sustainable and would always have to rely on foreign economies.

5. As of today, we are a consumer based society and whoever manufactures what we consume will be the only person better off.

6. Can they simply ban everything with a local substitute? No because the local substitute might not be good enough! What needs to be done is to increase the tariff on certain products with local substitute so that local manufacturing companies can see the market opportunity to delivery an alternative at a lower price point. Then it is up to the populace to choose between the expensive foreign product and the locally produced one.

7. Every country has some sort of market protection in place, which is why the World Trade Organization to arbitration any issue that arises.

8. China protects their economy by keeping their currency artificially low which means that their exported products will be cheaper in foreign markets and imports into their economy will be expensive. I mentioned China because they're somewhat low-tech like Nigeria and rely on mostly low-wage-labor-intensive jobs to employ their populace.

9. Other countries target subsidies to specific sectors so that their products will be cheaper in the global market place, examples include, Airbus aircraft manufacturer in Europe, solar panel manufacturers in China, farm subsidies (agricultural products) in US etc.

10. What Nigeria needs is someone that understands the interplay between the strength in our local economy and how it relates to imported products we consume from foreign economies.

11. For the society to be prosperous, unemployment needs to be very low and manufacturing is about the only sector in Nigeria that can absorb a sizable number of the unemployed because the market demand is already there! We will always consume goods even if the sky is falling!

ifeci: Oga Abegi, even General dey die for war front, "one thing must kill a man" so no think say u can scare us with ur radiation theory, abi u wan live forever?

No but shey you wan die before your time?

Phones being manufactured by China are not the problem! The problem is with sub-standard phones manufactured by anyone, which in this case will most likely be China since they manufacture most phones.

Like someone correctly pointed out, China "assembles" iPhones based on Apple's design and spec. Frankly, most of the parts that goes into phones are manufactured by other companies in Asia like Samsung, LG etc and they will make or sell you different grades of their product.

For example, if I want to build a GSM phone, I’ll have to find a manufacturer that sells a GSM transceiver. A quick look at China suppliers show that RF transceivers range between $2-8. Which one do you think someone that does not care about quality or safety will buy? The cheapest one!

My point is China will sell you whatever you want. If you want dirt cheap stuff, they get am plenti plenti but they can also manufacture a very high end quality product!

Actually, the article is correct that substandard phones are dangerous to your health! Radiation levels are mandated on cellphone manufacturers but manufacturers in the black market do not have to meet the safety standards because they're in the black market. And I'm sure that it's no surprise to anyone that exposure to high levels of radiation can cause cancer?

For a phone to be sold in the US, its maximum [/b]SAR level must be 1.6 watts per kilogram but it is 2 watts per kilogram in Europe. [b]What is the SAR level of your China phones? Read more on the topic: http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phone-radiation-levels/?tag=



Here's a list of 20 highest-radiation cell phones in the US.

Rank Model SAR (digital)
1 Motorola Bravo 1.59
2 Motorola Droid 2 Global 1.58
3 Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro 1.55
4 Nokia Astound 1.53
5 Motorola Defy 1.52
5a Motorola Grasp 1.52
5b ZTE Salute 1.52
8 RIM BlackBerry Curve 9350 1.5
9 Motorola Droid 2 1.49
10 HTC Desire 1.48
10a HTC Trophy 1.48
12 Motorola Atrix 4G 1.47
12a RIM BlackBerry Curve 9360 1.47
14 ZTE Score 1.45
14a Motorola Droid Razr 1.45
14b Motorola Droid Razr Maxx 1.45
17 RIM BlackBerry Torch 9810 1.44
18 Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 1.43
18a RIM BlackBerry Bold 9650 1.43
20 RIM BlackBerry Bold 9930 1.38
http://reviews.cnet.com/2719-6602_7-291-2.html



20 lowest-radiation cell phones (United States)
Rank Model SAR (digital)
1 Samsung Infuse 4G 0.2
2 Pantech Breeze III 0.281
3 Samsung Acclaim 0.29
4 Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket 0.3
4a Samsung Replenish 0.3
6 Huawei Ideos X5 0.34
6a Huawei Impulse 4G 0.34
6b T-Mobile Sidekick 4G 0.34
9 LG Quantum 0.35
9a Samsung Focus Flash 0.35
9b Samsung Galaxy S II 0.35
12 Samsung Galaxy S II 0.36
13 Samsung Epic 4G Touch 0.4
14 Samsung Evergreen 0.41
14a Samsung Haven 0.41
16 LG Enlighten 0.42
16a Samsung Captivate 0.42
16b Samsung Conquer 4G 0.42
19 HTC Rezound 0.427
20 Samsung Epic 4G Touch 0.4

http://reviews.cnet.com/2719-6602_7-291-3.html?tag=

Ninilowo: see, this thing cant just work in Nigeria with our crazy drivers all around.. Imagine some1 wearing the stuff along LASU-IYANA IBA. Eh? abeg. Next topic.

Why can't it work? It is true that the sonar detector will get a lot of false positives but that's just one element of the invention. I see this working pretty well in conjunction with other means currently being used by blind people.

Do you know how blind people currently navigate their surroundings? They usually only go to familiar places alone and navigate by counting number of steps taken.

With this invention, blind people can now go to unfamiliar places without worrying about when to take a left or a right! All they have to do is to tell their smart phone where they’re going and the smart phone will give them the directions!

The only thing that makes this invention not so novel is the fact that you can currently do the same with most navigation software but they will give you voice prompts instead of buzzing your feet.

toluxe0075: Most of d athletes tested positive 4 drugs are not aware they are on drug, there are some food pple eat and after eating such food one is likely to b positive 4 drugs when tested for drugs, so athletes need to b becareful on wat they eat....i don't blame dose that were positive buh if they are truly on drug na dem sabi o

Very funny! What do you guys take the athletes or the guys doing the testing for? This is their livelihood. Do you think that they suddenly woke up and found themselves competing at an international level? Every single athlete is looking for a way to legally and illegally enhance their performance! Even at the local level! Period.

They know exactly what they're doing and there are always mad scientists in the lab somewhere around the world developing new concoctions that cannot be detected by the current tests. It is a cat and mouse game that the developer and testers play.

Why do you think that they keep every sample for 5 years (or is it 10) after each test? Right now, Lance Armstrong, 7 time Tour de France winner, is being charged with doping that occurred several years ago! The funny thing is that there were allegations back then but they just couldn't prove it. He was charged with using EPO, blood transfusions, testosterone, corticosteroids and masking agents.

The tests don’t simply test for the presence of substances that occur naturally in our foods. Take a look at this link to see how athletes dope their blood to increase their performance and endurance by increasing their red blood cells count with drugs! They then mask it by pumping their blood out and saving it, and replacing it with regular blood just before blood testing. After testing, they pump the regular blood out of their body and replace it with the enhanced blood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_doping#Detection_of_EPO_use

Scary how people are just so quick to blame the US for their dog eating poo instead of eba! Let’s try to recap the facts as it happened:

1. RUSAL and BFI Group sent bids to BPE over ALSCON;
2. RUSAL submitted a bid for $205 million;
3. BFI submitted a bid for $410 million;
4. RUSAL did not pay the required $1 million for participating in the bid process but not disqualified;
5. BFI declared winner on 14th April 2004 due to higher bid;
6. BPE disqualifies BFI because they claimed the 10% bid price was not paid within 15 working-days;
7. BFI takes BPE to court;
8. BFI wins in the Supreme Court.

Yet some conspiracy theorists are blaming the US? Isn’t clear that RUSAL was highly favored from the beginning and the privatization process was a scam? Have you guys seen the legislative report that ALSCON was really worth $3 billion? Let's even assume that the $3 billion figure is highly exaggerated and ALSCON is really worth half of that. Aren't you guys curious who made out with the remaining $1.295 billion?

shymmex: [s][/s]


Utter tosh! - post something more coherent when you finally grow a brain, simpleton...

I would like to believe that your rude response to my post was a mistake! Do you guys just get off raining insults on people? I do understand that the anonymity of this forum makes people feel invisible but do understand that what you feel and reality are two different things!

With regards to what I posted that generated your rude comment, the post I responded to implied that the US leaves every country worse off after intervention. I posted a list of countries the US intervened in and asked if the countries are worse off. How’s that incoherent? Or you don’t know what coherent means?

And your comment for me to grow a brain is laughable because I’ve already forgotten more stuff than you can ever come across in your lifetime, especially since the average life expectancy is about 47 years and you probably have the germ.

Next time, if you see my post and have nothing constructive to say just move along!

Paul John: My bro it's funny to me with the comments some ignorant people are giving here on NL. The best thing that the US can give you is what will be beneficial to them in the long run.
Here are the list of some countries that the US has intervened and their situation got worsen
-Libya
-Iraq
-vietnam
-Somalia
Etc. We all remember how strong and developed Iraq was before the invasion of the US. But it heat me hard when some people ignorantly pray for the intervention of the US in my beloved country. I'm not saying the situation presently is favorable, but we should come together and reason, identify our problems and find possible solutions to them. But the illiteracy in the North and the disunity between the Southern regions pose a great barrier.

One thing is certain if the break up eventually happen, the recognition of each formed republic(from the broken Nigeria)in Africa not to talk of the world would not be different from the ones countries like Mozambique, Namibia etc has. But lot of us are ignorant of this.
I pray we realize this before it's too late

I think that you left out quite a few other countries! Are the countries all worse off?

NICARAGUA l981-90 Command operation, naval CIA directs exile (Contra) invasions, plants harbor mines against revolution.
LEBANON l982-84 Naval, bombing, troops Marines expel PLO and back Phalangists, Navy bombs and shells Muslim positions. 241 Marines killed when Shi'a rebel bombs barracks.
GRENADA l983-84 Troops, bombing Invasion four years after revolution.
HONDURAS l983-89 Troops Maneuvers help build bases near borders.
IRAN l984 Jets Two Iranian jets shot down over Persian Gulf.
LIBYA l986 Bombing, naval Air strikes to topple Qaddafi gov't.
BOLIVIA 1986 Troops Army assists raids on cocaine region.
IRAN l987-88 Naval, bombing US intervenes on side of Iraq in war, defending reflagged tankers and shooting down civilian jet.
LIBYA 1989 Naval jets Two Libyan jets shot down.
VIRGIN ISLANDS 1989 Troops St. Croix Black unrest after storm.
PHILIPPINES 1989 Jets Air cover provided for government against coup.
PANAMA 1989 (-?) Troops, bombing Nationalist government ousted by 27,000 soldiers, leaders arrested, 2000+ killed.
LIBERIA 1990 Troops Foreigners evacuated during civil war.
SAUDI ARABIA 1990-91 Troops, jets Iraq countered after invading Kuwait. 540,000 troops also stationed in Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Israel.
IRAQ 1990-91 Bombing, troops, naval Blockade of Iraqi and Jordanian ports, air strikes; 200,000+ killed in invasion of Iraq and Kuwait; large-scale destruction of Iraqi military.
KUWAIT 1991 Naval, bombing, troops Kuwait royal family returned to throne.
IRAQ 1991-2003 Bombing, naval No-fly zone over Kurdish north, Shiite south; constant air strikes and naval-enforced economic sanctions
LOS ANGELES 1992 Troops Army, Marines deployed against anti-police uprising.
SOMALIA 1992-94 Troops, naval, bombing U.S.-led United Nations occupation during civil war; raids against one Mogadishu faction.
YUGOSLAVIA 1992-94 Naval NATO blockade of Serbia and Montenegro.
BOSNIA 1993-? Jets, bombing No-fly zone patrolled in civil war; downed jets, bombed Serbs.
HAITI 1994 Troops, naval Blockade against military government; troops restore President Aristide to office three years after coup.
ZAIRE (CONGO) 1996-97 Troops Troops at Rwandan Hutu refugee camps, in area where Congo revolution begins.
LIBERIA 1997 Troops Soldiers under fire during evacuation of foreigners.
ALBANIA 1997 Troops Soldiers under fire during evacuation of foreigners.
SUDAN 1998 Missiles Attack on pharmaceutical plant alleged to be "terrorist" nerve gas plant.
AFGHANISTAN 1998 Missiles Attack on former CIA training camps used by Islamic fundamentalist groups alleged to have attacked embassies.
IRAQ 1998 Bombing, Missiles Four days of intensive air strikes after weapons inspectors allege Iraqi obstructions.
YUGOSLAVIA 1999 Bombing, Missiles Heavy NATO air strikes after Serbia declines to withdraw from Kosovo. NATO occupation of Kosovo.
YEMEN 2000 Naval USS Cole, docked in Aden, bombed.
MACEDONIA 2001 Troops NATO forces deployed to move and disarm Albanian rebels.
UNITED STATES 2001 Jets, naval Reaction to hijacker attacks on New York, DC
AFGHANISTAN 2001-? Troops, bombing, missiles Massive U.S. mobilization to overthrow Taliban, hunt Al Qaeda fighters, install Karzai regime, and battle Taliban insurgency. More than 30,000 U.S. troops and numerous private security contractors carry our occupation.
YEMEN 2002 Missiles Predator drone missile attack on Al Qaeda, including a US citizen.
PHILIPPINES 2002-? Troops, naval Training mission for Philippine military fighting Abu Sayyaf rebels evolves into combat missions in Sulu Archipelago, west of Mindanao.
COLOMBIA 2003-? Troops US special forces sent to rebel zone to back up Colombian military protecting oil pipeline.
IRAQ 2003-? Troops, naval, bombing, missiles Saddam regime toppled in Baghdad. More than 250,000 U.S. personnel participate in invasion. US and UK forces occupy country and battle Sunni and Shi'ite insurgencies. More than 160,000 troops and numerous private contractors carry out occupation and build large permanent bases.
LIBERIA 2003 Troops Brief involvement in peacekeeping force as rebels drove out leader.
HAITI 2004-05 Troops, naval Marines & Army land after right-wing rebels oust elected President Aristide, who was advised to leave by Washington.
PAKISTAN 2005-? Missiles, bombing, covert operation CIA missile and air strikes and Special Forces raids on alleged Al Qaeda and Taliban refuge villages kill multiple civilians. Drone attacks also on Pakistani Mehsud network.
SOMALIA 2006-? Missiles, naval, troops, command operation Special Forces advise Ethiopian invasion that topples Islamist government; AC-130 strikes, Cruise missile attacks and helicopter raids against Islamist rebels; naval blockade against "pirates" and insurgents.
SYRIA 2008 Troops Special Forces in helicopter raid 5 miles from Iraq kill 8 Syrian civilians
YEMEN 2009-? Missiles, command operation Cruise missile attack on Al Qaeda kills 49 civilians; Yemeni military assaults on rebels
LIBYA 2011-? Bombing, missiles, command operation NATO coordinates air strikes and missile attacks against Qaddafi government during uprising by rebel army.

http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/interventions.html

I’m waiting to see if the suit gets thrown out due to lack of standing (locus standi). It seems Dangote is saying that the government is not following its own directive in dealing with a third party but a person cannot force the FG to enforce its own laws.

Don't know how you guys came to the conclusion that Otedola does not have any video on the bribe. All he said was that he did not leak the video or info on the video to anybody. He didn't disaffirm the existence of the video.

@Ileke-IdI

It is almost always a good idea to get a graduate degree but if one has the opportunity of getting a job in his field or continuing to grad school, I would say that you're better of getting a job. In engineering, experience comes before education because what you're being taught in school are mostly fundamentals that you have to build on. If two candidates, one with a master's degree and the other with 3 years of experience, are applying for an engineering job, it is highly probably that the guy with the experience will get it.

Here's a search on Career Builder.com for Electrical engineering, try finding how many requires more than a BS degree.
http://www.careerbuilder.com/Jobseeker/Jobs/JobResults.aspx?IPath=QH&ch=&rs=&_ctl0%3ANavBar1%3AucQuickBar%3As_rawwords=electrical+engineer&_ctl0%3ANavBar1%3AucQuickBar%3As_freeloc=&_ctl0%3ANavBar1%3AucQuickBar%3As_jobtypes=ALL&qsbButton=Find+Jobs

Wahala dey! The only person left without a seat is UC Rusal and they have themselves to blame. The corrupt politicians don collect and spent their shares!

I wonder what's going on with Ajaokuta Steel Company.

You are focusing on a good quality but that quality shouldn’t be anywhere near the top! If I may, this should be the order of the qualities that you should be looking for:

1. Mutual physical attraction
2. Good and kind man with values
3. A responsible and committed man
4. God fearing man if you believe in God
5. Someone at your financial level
6. A Yoruba man

I think qualities 3-6 are just icing on the cake and 1-3 is all you really need to be happy in life. I know Nigerians will say that God should come first and my response will be for them to explain how God-fearing Nigeria is so corrupt and reminiscent of Sodom and Gomorrah era!

Olodostein: With your first post, i see that you have a deep knowledge about the American labour market.

Yea. A lot of people like that. Some didn't have the passion for it but due to parents and peer pressure, wanted to belong in the league. Furthermore, it was reported that the fundamentals of America's education system is on steady decline.

South Korea, Israel, India, China, Brazil, Germany have high % of engineers per capital as compared to other parts of the world because they have passion for engineering and sciences. They are also on the fore front of new emerging engineering disciplines like Mechatronics, Biomedical, nano engineering, building energytics etc that are bound to replace traditional enginnering disciplines because of their synergistic nature .

That is why you hear Obama always shouting that "we need to invest in education and future technology". He knows what is at stake. LOL

Here's an article that speaks to what we're both saying...

Not enough American students are showing interest in studying for degrees in science, technology, engineering and math, [/b]but what experts are more shocked by is the fact that colleges are throwing out the students who are interested.

[b]Nearly half of all students who begin studying for a STEM degree switch majors, according to several studies. "Weed-out" classes, curve grading and a lack of faculty involvement are to blame, experts said at a Bayer Corporation forum on STEM in higher education in Washington Wednesday.

"We need to wash out the 'weed-them-out orientation' in the classroom," says Mary Fox, co-director at the Center for Study of Women, Science and Technology at Georgia Tech. "That is not a hospitable climate for students, we have to teach students to move along rather than have them sink or swim."

Many veteran STEM professors believe science should be hard, and the course work isn't something every student can do. For them, difficult freshman-year classes separate the cream of the crop.

But in a country where more scientists are desperately needed, that culture needs to change, says Freeman Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Hrabowski was named as one of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people earlier this week for the University's success in graduating minority students in STEM.

[STEM Associate's Degree Pays More Than Liberal Arts Bachelor]

"Some people believe only a couple people should make it in science and engineering," he says. "The question is—will an institution say there's something wrong with us if we're admitting these students and they're not making it? We have a moral responsibility—if we admit these students in [STEM], we have a responsibility to do much more."

Many higher education faculty members will blame K-12 education for not correctly preparing students for college—more than a third of college freshmen need to take remedial classes—but that's the wrong approach to take.

"A lot of people will say [unprepared freshmen] is the problem of the high schools," says David Seybert, dean of the Bayer School for Natural and Environmental Sciences as Duquesne University. "But we have to be part of that solution."

Hrabowski says that beyond being more nurturing, the tradition of grading science classes on a curve makes them more contentious. Those classes, especially freshman-level classes, should be more collaborative and have more group projects.

"When you grave by the curve, what happens is people don't work together collaboratively," he says. "It stops people from working together and it's making science much more cutthroat."

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/stem-education/2012/04/19/experts-weed-out-classes-are-killing-stem-achievement

dayokanu: My own take is this.

As an immigrant there are some courses you should gravitate towards Go towards STEM courses and Healthcare.

The Management world is filled with American natives.

Some of these positions involve client interfacing and this is better done by the natives of the country.

Imagine you are in Nigeria and the Public relations officer of a company is a Togolese Speaking English with Togo accent. many customers and clients might be put off.

Thats what Asians do to succeed, You see them in all the Hard courses like Sciences, Engineering, Maths, Finance, and healthcare

leave management for the natives.

NB If you want to go for Masters you better diversify from business management unless you can get yourself into an Ivy league MBA.

Try mix some IT into it. Learn Oracle, SAP, Windows Exchange server, Networking (CCNA,CCNP etc) or something

+100

With STEM (science, technology, engineering & math) type degrees, the fields are less crowded and you have an opportunity to make real money.

With regards to accent, you’re 100% correct because very few companies will put you in a position that requires direct interface with their clients except maybe engineering because they will have very little choice if you’re the go to guy. But if your employer has a choice between employees, even in engineering, you'll be playing second fiddle!

For the same exact reason, I avoided litigation practice because it will be next to impossible to find a firm that will hire you to represent their client in court, especially in my field where millions of dollars ride on each case - and I only have a very slight accent!

Here’s something funny: even I would not want to talk to someone with a heavy accent that I can’t understand. If I call a customer service rep and a person picks up with a very heavy Indian accent, I’m hanging up. I have nothing against Indians; I just don’t want to waste my time repeating myself or struggling to understand what they’re saying.

My first car had a flat tire while parked in my driveway collecting dust because I didn't have money to register it! I remember washing and waxing that car even though it was just sitting there!

Olodostein: You make sense. But I believe strongly that everyone has the mental capability to take on any subject, withstanding that he/she is Passionate about that subject.

A lot of people went into and are still going into nursing just because of the money and demands for now. With too many people in that field, there could be a bust in that sector just like there was in finance when everyone wanted to work in wall street or some financial firm before the crisis.

Anyways, the OP just have to take the bull by the horn.

That's the type of stuff I say to people to encourage them but it's far from the truth! Do you know how many people that loved engineering but are weeded out during the first couple of years with calculus? I have friends that turned psych and poly sci majors! Some people just can’t scale through the prerequisites needed to get to the subjects that they love. Here's an article about 22% of students dropping out before graduation.


http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/17/education.stem.graduation/index.html

davidylan: Nah your post is the joke.

Many of my friends here are engineering graduates with no masters degrees.

Engineering is a completely different breed of animal when it comes to getting graduate degrees. Very few technical companies will specifically look for engineering graduates with advanced degrees except those involved in research and maybe chemical engineering. Your experience is what really counts.

As an engineering graduate not involved in research, you know absolutely NOTHING except fundamentals that MAY be required to do your job. Most of your knowledge will come from on-the-job-training to do a specific job. This is especially true in electrical engineering.

Actually, I would advise an engineering graduate to hold off on getting a graduate degree until they get a job so as not to limit their choices down the line. Why would I want to hire someone with a MS in hardware-type concentration for a job that requires coding skills? I would rather find someone that took a relevant course as an undergraduate that I can mold into that position. The person can then opt for a graduate degree down the line to further his/her career.

However, in almost any other field except law and engineering, a graduate degree will help! A master's in law in any concentration except taxation is a complete waste of time and money except if you have a foreign law degree.

mammz: Europe, US and Canada!!! the common destination for most africans .
the common career path seems to be a masters degree, research work and very recently a rush for nursing (gbo gbo no feli feli )
But my question now is what next? I am a Business Management graduate and it has been difficult to secure a job with my qualification... do I go for a masters degree or try nursing because the jobs just ain't available...

Is it the system, my qualification or me...

Going for a master's degree won't hurt but it also won't guarantee you a job. Generally speaking, times are tough and you might have to wait out this downturn in the economy but what better way to wait than “improving” yourself?

What gets you a job is the ability to get noticed/standout, fit into their organization and impress the interviewer.

1. Squats
2. Squats
3. Squats
4. Treadmill - after getting off, I feel like I'm about to lose my balance.

I'm one of those very competitive guys. About 10 years ago, I went to the gym with a bunch of friends with the goal of stretching each other out. I sized the guys up and figured that there’s no way I would let them out-lift me in anything, even the bigger guys. Everything was fine and dandy until we started working on our legs. I rarely work on my legs but I knew I was strong enough to lift with anybody my size. Big mistake!

Back then, I typically squat about 275 lbs about once in every 4 months when the stars align but on this particular day, these guys where going up to 315 lbs (3 plates on each side of the barbell). Long story short, I held my breath for way too long during the squats and I built up enough pressure inside me that I got very dizzy and couldn’t hear anything for about a minute. I had to play it off like nothing happened and had to go for a very long walk!

avicky: The answer is very simple, yet u couldn't say it. Be explicit! Give a straight forward answer.

See post #35, which I'm quoting below:

Wallie: Nice post! Here's my response to the number of golf balls that you can fit into a school bus: assuming a golf ball occupies 1 cm^3 of space and a school bus has an empty volume of 2 million cubic centimeters, you will be able to fit 2 million golf balls in the bus. Simple

I see that some people tried to also answer the last question. The answer is very simple because you don't have any facts to work with, which means that you can just create a series of assumptions to arrive at the answer. Since you're creating your own assumptions, you might as well make them really simple with numbers you can easily work with. Outrageous questions like that will usually have a very simple answer that just requires you to look at the question differently.

Nice post! Here's my response to the number of golf balls that you can fit into a school bus: assuming a golf ball occupies 1 cm^3 of space and a school bus has an empty volume of 2 million cubic centimeters, you will be able to fit 2 million golf balls in the bus. Simple

4llerbuntu: and btw, that u wrote about obama nominating judges to the supreme court, pls confirm properly. your wrong in some respects

I didn't specifically mention Obama or any other president but I could have and the facts will still remain the same. Obama nominated Justice Sotomayo to the Supreme Court. But since we are talking about Chief Justices, I was referring to Chief Justice Roberts nominated by President G. W. Bush.

4llerbuntu: well in nigeria, the president is NOT entitled to nominate whosoever he damn well pleases to be chief judge, neither the governors for the states.

the basis for appointment is TO NOMINATE THE PERSON RECOMMENDED BY THE NATIONAL JUDICIAL COUNCIL AS THE PERSON MOST QUALIFIED FOR THE POST AT THE TIME.

I’m assuming you’re a learned-colleague, as you say in Nigeria, and as such, I’m sure you can argue without sentiments and with citations to support arguments.

231. (1) The appointment of a person to the office of Chief Justice of Nigeria shall be made by the President on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council subject to confirmation of such appointment by the Senate.

(2) The appointment of a person to the office of a Justice of the Supreme Court shall be made by the President on the National Judicial Council subject to confirmation of such appointment by the senate.

(3) A person shall not be qualified to hold the office of Chief Justice of Nigeria or a Justice of the Supreme Court, unless he is qualified to practice as a legal practitioner in Nigeria and has been so qualified for a period of not less than fifteen years.

(4) If the office of Chief Justice of Nigeria is vacant or if the person holding the office is for any reason unable to perform the functions of the office, then until a person has been appointed to and has assumed the functions of that office, or until the person holding has resumed those functions, the President shall appoint the most senior Justice of the Supreme Court to perform those functions.

(5) Except on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council, an appointment pursuant to the provisions of subsection (4) of this section shall cease to have effect after the expiration of three months from the date of such appointment, and the President shall not re-appointment a person whose appointment has lapsed.

I had a disclaimer in my original conclusion because I wasn’t certain that changes had not been made to the relevant portion of Nigeria’s constitution and I didn’t feel like looking it up; however, I just did and you’re only partially right.

You are right about the National Judicial Counsel recommending the CJN to the president but I’m not seeing any references to “the most qualified candidate” or “the most senior candidate” as a basis for the recommendation.

Let me ask you a rhetorical question. What happens if the President does not accept the National Judicial Counsel’s “recommendation” as stipulated by 231(1)? Then Section 231(4) kicks in and the “most senior Justice” becomes the CJN until the President accepts the recommendation. I think this is where you got the “most senior” / “most qualified” limitation from.

Here’s a link to Nigeria’s constitution
http://www.nigeria-law.org/ConstitutionOfTheFederalRepublicOfNigeria.htm#Chapter_7

I didn’t read all the responses but based on the first page, some people are mistaken when they say that GEJ shouldn’t take credit for nominating a woman as the CJN.

The President is responsible for nominating ALL the Justices to the Supreme Court and he’s free to choose whoever he likes. PERIOD. However, as a means of balancing Executive power, the congress has to confirm such a candidate and they have the final say. In other words, if the President nominates a person that the congress does not like, the person won’t become a justice.

A specific reference to only one gender (“he” or “she”) in the constitution or the law does not preclude inclusion of the other gender.

Also, the President does not have to nominate the most senior member of the justices to the position of CJN. For example, he could have nominated Fetus Keyamo who is not even a justice in the Supreme Court as the CJN.* The current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in the US, John Roberts, was a judge in the Federal Circuit courts before being nominated.

*Disclaimer: The conclusion is based on the US constitution which formed the basis of the Nigerian constitution.