The International Community Talks Back - Impeach Jonathan

I complained the other day about EnoughisEnough Nigeria calling on the international community to sanction Nigeria [Read the Post] because of the misguided presidential pardons. Nigeria or Nigerians are not the ones to suffer for Goodluck Jonathan's ill thought out decision to pardon Alamieyesiagha, Bulama and Magaji, he should bear his load alone.

That is, if Nigerians themselves are up to the task. Impeach Jonathan, LA Times columnist Joel Brinkley calls in his recent article on the subject. Talking about Nigeria's opportunity to become a leading African country, he wonders how that will happen when all our leaders seem capable of thinking of is how to make themselves as stinkingly rich as possible.

Think about it: $81 billion a year just from the oil, while most every local government official still tells his people the nation just doesn't have enough money to fix the roads, schools or hospitals. (Roads are in such terrible shape that government officials generally travel any distance by helicopter.)

Immigrant wins $338M Powerball Jackpot in New Jersey

Maybe it's time to start playing the lottery, I can really do with some cool $millions. Who wouldn't?

A 44-year-old immigrant from the Dominican Republic is the winner of a $338 million Powerball lottery jackpot in the U.S., and he's telling reporters in Spanish that he's "very happy."

Several media outlets were at the New Jersey liquor store, where the ticket was sold, on Monday when Pedro Quezada entered. They report that the store owner validated Quezada's ticket as a winner. Reports also identified his home country. The New Jersey Lottery confirmed that the winning ticket was validated at the store.

A lump sum payout would be $221 million, or about $152 million after taxes. It's the fourth-largest jackpot in Powerball history. Quezada told reporters that his first priority will be helping his family. His wife, Ines Sanchez, told the Bergen Record that Quezada called her with the news Monday afternoon. "I still can't believe it," she said. "We never expected it but thank God." [MSN.com]

Building Entrepreneurs Today - Third Edition Applications

I just submitted my application for the YOUWIN program yesterday. It was gruelling, but I'm glad I stuck through with it, and I am really wishing I scale through. For others like me who are interested in starting small businesses and need initial startup capital, this is another opportunity.

BET is supported by Diamond Bank to encourage interest in entrepreneurship. 50 entrepreneurs from the numerous applicants will be selected to undergo a 30-day intensive Entrepreneurial Management Training out of which 15 Top breed entrepreneurs will be selected for Business Development Support. Five (5) outstanding applicants/entrepreneurs will qualify for the Next Level Award which is the sum of N3 million each as a capital boost in support of their respective businesses.

SELECTION CRITERIA.
1. Applicant must have a fully functional business (at least 3months in operations)
2. Applicant MUST not have attended any entrepreneurial Management program at EDC.
3. The business must have high growth potential.

HOW TO APPLY
Click here to download the BET 3 application form. Completed application forms should be submitted to bet@pau.edu.org. Interested applicants can also visit SMEToolkit or the EDC Website. Application to the program is open to the general public, and is from March 19 to April 5, 2013. Please spread the word to your family and friends.

Akwa Ibom Widows Demand Welfare From Governor

Surely, a welfare package should have been written into the state budget as well? According to Vanguard;

Hundreds of widows in Akwa Ibom on Monday trooped to the Government House, Uyo, urging Gov. Godswill Akpabio to empower them financially to enable them establish small-scale businesses.

The widows, who came in buses from the 31 Local Government Areas in the state, could however, not see the governor. This was because the governor had reportedly travelled out of the state for official engagements.

Speaking to journalists, the President of the Akwa Ibom Widows Association, Mrs Sylvia Effiong, said that they decided to bring their case to the governor as they were dying in pains and hunger without anybody to assist them.

Effiong said that they had been watching through the television how the governor had been empowering other less-privileged people and they wanted to benefit from such gesture.

Having a Wedding for the Sake of The Ancestors

Was I the only one who thought the reports of 8 years old Sanele Masilela's marriage to 61years old Helen Shabangu in Tshwane, South Africa, were, in the words of Twain, greatly exaggerated? I had seen the news several weeks before it went viral through the British tabloid media. Now they are sensationalising reports of the boy having dinner with his "wife".

What had made me read and flip the page was the part of the initial report that stated clearly that the wedding ceremony was not legally binding and was just a ritual prompted by the boy who said his dead grandfather whom he was named after wanted a white wedding.

If there's anything interesting about the whole thing, I think it's that their whole community is very supersitious, which is their own look out. Or, the boy is probably spoilt, and gets his way whenever he wants something. Naming him after his dead grandfather may have something to do with it sha. Therefore, no Babatunde, Nnenna, or Nnanna names for me :)

#WeJustCantDate - Reasons You Just Can't Date Him or Her

‏Why can't you date one of those guys or ladies who has been on your case for the longest? Is it their kissing skills, their body hygiene, their spending habits, how they dress, or how social they are? Some of the reasons trending on Twitter are below. For more fun and games, leave your own in the comments :)

@MkpenimkeEkanem #wejustcantdate If Your Demand Culture Is Very High.
@TheEtnies_Jags: #WeJustcantDate if every guy on twitter is your boo, hunnie, baby..""
@lizzywindeck: #WeJustCantDate if u cant spend money on mi
@LarsShinyemba: #WeJustCantDate if you color block.
@mystiC_SLosH: #wejustcantdate if you snorelike a screen muncher tho
‏@mystiC_SLosH #wejustcantdate if gulder ultimate search takes place in ur armpit
‏‏@pweetylisa: If u pick ur nose wt ur finger  n still stick dt finger in2 ya mouf #WeJustCantDate
@Itz_ms_skittles: #WeJustCantDate if yhu re harsh"
@lchronicle: #WeJustCantDate if you are keeping ur body for ur future husband & am busy spending my future wife's money on you #lobatan"
@The_Awesome101: #WeJustCantDate if u kiss with your eyes open...

Nike Oshinowo on her Endometriosis Experience and Infertility

When we started discussing seeking medical opinion on not having children after we had been trying for long, I wondered if it could be endometriosis. Tests have shown my case is not that, but for a lot of women, Endometriosis has been recognised as the significant cause of their infertility. Even where a woman is able to have children or before she gets to that stage, endometriosis can cause chronic pelvic pain, and other gynecological problems.

Since she turned 40 and released her fitness DVD, Nike Oshinowo has been speaking out on her experience, and campaigning for more education for women and young girls on the reality of endometriosis. Nike Oshinowo spoke recently to Vanguard,

I have lived with endometriosis since the age of 13. I was sent to boarding school in England when I was seven. I went to prep school. It was during the first few days in secondary school that I began my periods (menstrual). They called the ambulance and I was hospitalized for 10 days because the pain started and wouldn’t stop.

Love and Marriage Can Mend Hearts at any Age

Ijaw Leader and former Information Minister, Chief Edwin Clark, who is 86, remarried last week to well known medical doctor, Dr Abisola Sodipe Akindeko. Some parts of the wedding ceremony took place at his home in Apapa and the others at the bride's home at Okupe Estate, Maryland.

It seems Dr. Akindeko had experienced some tragedy in the past. According to Lindaikeji,

Dr Abisola Akindeko is the former best friend of Iyabo Obasanjo who lost two of her children in an assassination attempt on Iyabo Obasanjo's life. Dr Abisola's children were riding in Iyabo's car when it was attacked by hired assassins in 2003. The gunmen, thinking Iyabo was in the car, shot into the car killing the two children instantly. Iyabo and Dr Abisola had been riding in the doctors car, while the children rode in Iyabo's car.

I read somewhere that Dr Akindeko is now 53, she looks great for her age BTW, and is ready to move on. Marriage when young and deliriously in love is amazing, but love and marriage when people are older can be a blessing too. I wish the couple more health, more life and more years together in their marriage.

Ford Adverts Showing Women Bound and Gagged is Offensive

The Kardashian sisters bound and gagged  with Paris Hilton driving. 

After online outcry, Ford and its Indian advertising agency have apologized for ads showing women bound and gagged in the back of a Ford Figo and admitted that they should never have been created at all.

One of the ads for the Ford Figo subcompact car is the one above showing caricatures Paris Hilton winking while the Kardashian sisters are gagged and bound in the back of the Figo. The other ad shows a different set of three scantily clad women gagged, bound, and crammed into the back of the Figo while Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi looks back from the front seat, smiling and giving the "peace sign."

The tag line at the bottom of both ads says, "Leave Your Worries Behind." IMO, the ads do not showcase this tagline at all. Instead they are offensive to women on so many levels. And to think this is happening in India barely weeks after tourists had been either raped or been victims of attempted rape. Let's not even forget the young lady that died last year after viciously being gang raped.

Dear Myne - I Don't Love My Fiance Like I Used To

I’m a huge fan of your blog and I really admire your approach to life. Ok, here's the gist... I was dating this guy since my first year in the university and I equally assisted him in getting entry into school the next academic session. I loved him but we had unending issues for all the years we dated and I broke it up when I graduated. I felt we weren’t close any more, there was little or no communication, and I’m igbo, he's not. Also he became verbally abusive and to crown it all, he's a Muslim while I’m from a strong catholic home.

Now after I called it off, we never communicated for over a year and only reconnected early this year. I am a corp member now while he's about rounding off with his final projects in school. He wanted us to continue from where we stopped and hopefully get married.

After much thought, I obliged because the other relationship I entered after him didn't even last up to six months. My supposed lover who promised to mend my heart practically jilted me and got married few months later. I was wrecked and made a firm decision to find true love that is indeed true to the word.