Bill and Melinda Gates are Looking for a Better Condom

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, that is. They have put out a call to geeks and inventors interested in sexual health and AIDS prevention to think up ideas to improve the current condom used by virtually everyone. The details have been posted on their Grand Challenges website as follows;

We are looking for a Next Generation Condom that significantly preserves or enhances pleasure, in order to improve uptake and regular use. Additional concepts that might increase uptake include attributes that increase ease-of-use for male and female condoms, for example better packaging or designs that are easier to properly apply. In addition, attributes that address and overcome cultural barriers are also desired.

Basically, the Gates Foundation is saying they see the point of those who do not like the condom for reducing their pleasure, so they are offering a $100,000 startup grant to the person who will design this "next generation condom". The start-up grant could lead to $1 million in further funding if your idea is found to have merit.

Now let me go on put on my thinking hat, sexual and public health education used to be my first love. Any other takers? LOL...

Did Kim K Call Nigerian Women Names on Twitter?

I think it is quite a stretch for a celebrity based on PR like Kim to make such a faux pas, but some people really believed she tweeted this, and fired back at her. Finally turned out to be photo-shop done by twitter handle @chuckicheese.

Tonto Dike Releases Video For Hi

Nollywood actress turned singer, Tonto Dike adds a "Techno" feel to her second track titled "Hi", but I still think the video is better than the song.

15 Things I Love About My Nigerian Wife

Myne told me she was writing a post about what some of the features she thought women wanted in their husbands, or at least, what they looked for. I was pleasantly surprised when I caught up with her blog and she had made the post more specifically about what she loved about me [15 Things I Love about my Nigerian Husband]. Of course, I was blushing with modesty, and then the self ego massaging quickly took over. But there is time for everything, and this is time for retaliation. Here are 15 things I love about Myne.

1. She’s intelligent. One of the things I liked about Myne from the get go when we were interacting online was how she would articulate her well-reasoned out views on topics. Even now, there are many times I’ll come up with a proposal on how we should do something, and she’ll point out aspects that I not thought about. Being exposed to her views on issues has really helped me grow as a person.

2. She’s considerate. She doesn't always want to have or get her own way, sometimes she's very willing and maybe even happy to compromise, and let me have my way. I still ride my bike to work, yay! Everybody is still shocked, but on a serious note, why should I stop what I love doing only because I'm married? I do try to be less of a daredevil coming downhill.

Real Love Story - Jimi Odukoya Weds Kemi Banjoko

Jimmy Odukoya is the first son of Pastor Taiwo and late Pastor Bimbo Odukoya. He is also an ordained pastor,as well as a rap/musical artiste. He married Oluwakemi Sade Banjoko a few weeks ago in London. They actually met for the first time in 2011, in a parking lot in Lagos, and spoke to Thisday on how their romance progressed, even as he is a pastor;

Was it love at first sight.
Jimmy: Actually no, I talked more to her cousin, Kike, catching up, updating each other. I hardly spoke to her. We were talking of relationships and she said she has been single for four years and she hasn’t seen what she is looking for. I said this is Lagos, this is your first time in a long time, before you know it you will have lots of offers, people will probably offer to chat you up, and her cousin suggested that we exchange contacts since we were both single and I said okay. That was the first day.

Kemi: The next day was my cousin’s introduction and that was when we started talking. He asked my cousin’s permission to talk to me.

Your cousin is male, I presume?
Jimmy: He is male, we went to school together. When I got there I asked if I could talk to her cousin and he is one of my very good friends and I said why is everybody not talking to her. They said he told everyone not to talk to her, so I said let me go and talk to her and we really had a very good conversation and I asked her to marry me jokingly because my sister had just gotten engaged and I found out that my brother in-law, Olumide’s younger brother had just gotten engaged.

Dear Myne - Should I Ask a Mutual Friend to Connect Us?

Hmm... so there is this guy i followed online, he is just my type. i am already sprung. i followed him but he didn't follow me back. my friend was like it's cause i didn't have a picture of myself up. anyways i found out that a friend of a friend is very close to him, i really do want to meet this guy but I'm scared of being called desperate and thirsty. should i go ahead and ask my friend to make the connect?

Myne says - Don't get sprung so quickly, but by all means try to get your friend to connect you without being too obvious. But be aware that the guy may be doubled up already, and that's why he didn't follow back..

Let's hear what the readers have to say.

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.