ASUU strike to end soon as lawmakers get involved

Deputy Whip of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rotimi Abiru, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately meet with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), with a view to putting an end to the ongoing strike, which has lasted for about 79 days.

Abiru, who spoke in a telephone interview at the weekend, also appealed to ASUU to go into dialogue with the Federal Government in order for students to return to their various institutions of learning.

The lawmaker, who is representing Shomolu Constituency 2, wondered why ‘‘a man who has been causing crises in Rivers State‘‘, would be asked to take over “from a professor; it is so unfortunate that a former council chairman will be asked to take over from a professor.”

He maintained that the Federal Government needs to answer certain questions as to why the former Minister of Education was sacked, adding that “a man like Nyesom Wike, who has through his recent comments committed a lot of atrocities, taking over as Education Minister leaves a lot to be desired.

While lamenting that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government has failed Nigerians in several aspects of the economy, Abiru called on the Jonathan-led administration to wake up to its responsibilities.

“The Federal Government must wake up to its responsibilities and know that the future of our tomorrow’s leaders is at stake and more importantly is the effect this strike will have on our youth. Recently, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) threatened to shut down activities in private universities if nothing is done on time.

“So I want to appeal to the Federal Government to meet the requests of this people and allow the students to return to school,” he added.

Blacface reacts on Tuface's 'allegation'

Against the backdrop of the recent interview where 2face alleged he had invited Blackface to his wedding,Blackface has reacted in an interview with Abuja based radio station Hotfm stating that 2face keeps avoiding him for reasons best known to him.

He says he’s been trying to get across to 2face to talk about his song African queen that has been sang by a Jamaican artist in the US without the right to do so…’ if someone sings that song it means someone gave out the right ’he keeps avoiding me cos he doesn’t want to talk about these issues.

Blackface, Tuface

For the wedding ‘he would have put the blame on his management and called me or something’ but till today since he returned from his wedding in Dubai, he hasn’t called me, my uncle whose house we stayed throughout the days of our musical career passed away during the time of his traditional marriage, then the white wedding he never called to even ask about my uncle or to sympathize with me, so there must be something wrong somewhere …it must be about the music money.

In any case Blackface has a new single titled ‘see you move’ enjoying airplay on some radio stations across the country.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/09/blackface-reacts-to-tufaces-alledged-wedding-invitation/#sthash.a8yv5eRn.dpuf

FG agrees to meet poly lecturers’ demands will ASUU be the next????

Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike

The Federal Government on Monday met with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics behind closed doors and agreed to meet the demands of the union.

The Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, and the Labour Minister, Emeka Wogu co-chaired the meeting while ASUP President, Chibuzo Asomugha, led the union team.

None of the parties, however, spoke with journalists after the brief meeting held at the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja.

However, a source at the meeting, who confided in our correspondent, said the union obtained a strong commitment from the government.

He said, “The union tabled three key issues at the meeting. One is the need to constitute the governing councils of the remaining seven polytechnics. Wike was said to have informed the union that the Federal Government had agreed to constitute the remaining governing councils. He promised that the list would be out by this week and the union was happy about it.

“He also promised that the white paper on the visitation panel to the polytechnics was almost ready and would be released soon.

“On the CONTISS 15, Wike promised to work with the Minister of Labour to get the circular ready from the Head of Service having got commitment from the Presidency to work out the modality on the migration to CONTISS 15 for the polytechnic teachers.

No Nigerian university makes world’s most influential list

With its universities shut for months over lecturers’ strike, Nigeria predictably flopped in the latest global universities’ ranking released last Monday, with no Nigerian university listed anywhere close to less than 1,000; while three schools in South Africa and one in Egypt made the first 400.

In the first 700, South Africa had seven universities, led by University of Cape Town, while Egypt has six universities led by the American University, Cairo.

Not only was Nigeria not part of the top 1,000, its schools were completely left out even under search.

Strikes and decay

The ranking, released by one of the three most influential universities ranking organisations, Quacquarell Symonds (QS), came as all government owned Nigerian universities remain under a lockdown that began nearly three months ago over lecturers’ pay and funding for education.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has refused to stand downand end the strike with a negotiated offer from the government, insisting its demands, which was agreed with the government since 2009, be fully implemented.

Nigerian universities have been closed for months because of a strike by academic staff.

The government claims it has made some funds available for the upgrade of universities and part payment of lecturers’ allowances, but could not meet all demands due to revenue shortfalls.

The strike, which began end of June, has further crippled the standing of Nigerian universities which are already one of the world’s poorest in quality and academic clout.

The world’s three leading ranking organisations: QS, Times Higher Education and Academic Ranking of World Universities, also called the Shanghai ranking, hardly mention Nigerian schools in its recent grading as such universities and polytechnics go deep into several thousand, compared with schools from even other African countries.

The metrics

While QS and Times Higher Education (both worked together from 2004 to 2009) use varied academic parameters for their evaluation, Shanghai ranking, relatively new, focuses on science and technology research.

For the 2013 Shanghai ranking, only three African universities – all South African, made the first 500. The list is led by Harvard University and three other American schools.

Times Higher Education said it will release its 2013 ranking in October.

Lacking on the influential ranking, Nigerian schools have taken to celebrating the relatively new and less dependable Webometrics ranking of universities, which focuses strictly on a school’s output on the internet.

The ranking, published by the Cybermetrics Lab, a research group of the Spanish National Research Council in Madrid, is based on a composite indicator that takes into account both the volume of the number of web pages and files and the visibility and impact of these web publications according to the number of external links they receive.

In its 2013 release early August, Obafemi Awolowo University was rated on Webometrics as Nigeria’s best at 1,113th position, followed by Auchi Polytechnic at 2,106 and University of Ibadan at 2109.

While Nigerian schools scored far into a thousand, South Africa’s University of Kwazulu Natal was the 381th position, while University of Cape Town scored 390.

A spokesperson for OAU, Abiodun Olanrewaju, welcomed the grade as a confirmation of OAU’s “academic excellence and intellectual supremacy over and above other universities and institutions of higher learning”.

For the latest QS, the schools in the US and UK lead the top 20. The top UK University was Cambridge in third position, behind Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the top of the table and Harvard in second.

University College London (UCL) and Imperial occupied fourth and fifth places, with Oxford in sixth. Universities in the United States made up the rest of the top 10.

Illiteracy on the rise

The Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, at a ministerial briefing during the 2013 International Literacy Day, on September 8, said the number of illiterate Nigerian adults had increased from 25 million in 1997 to 35 million in 2013.

Illiteracy levels in the country are on the rise.

“Indeed, the embarrassing literacy statistics on Nigeria, justifies the need for all stakeholders to redouble their efforts,” he said.

“The current Education for All (EFA), Global Monitoring report ranks Nigeria as one of the countries with the highest level of illiteracy. The report on Nigeriastated that the number of illiterate adults has increased by 10 million over the past two decades, to reach 35 million.”

“I actually invited Blackface to my wedding in Dubai” – 2face Idibia opens up on Rubbin’ Minds

Today’s episode of Rubbin’ Minds had none other than ’2baba’, 2face himself, being interviewed by Chude Jideonwo, who was standing in for regular host Ebuka Obi-Uchendu.

The star opened up on a lot of issues but most of all laid to rest the controversy that arose after former band mate, Ahmedu Augustine Obiabo aka ‘Blackface’ claimed that he was absent from the Idibia-Macaulay wedding because he was not invited.

Blackface had been asked via Twitter why he was not in Dubai, where 2face’s wedding to Annie Macaulay took place, and he replied: “I no dey Go where I no dey Invited! but I wish dem all they wish themselves!”

2face however said during his Rubbin’ Minds interview that he did, in fact, invite Black Face to the wedding but the latter chose not to show up.

2face said, “I actually invited Blackface for my wedding”.

The relationship between the two has suffered a swift decline since the separation of their former group “Plantashun Boiz” with Black Face repeatedly throwing barbs at 2face, who has enjoyed massive success, and claiming that he owes him money.

The “Rainbow” crooner also answered some other pertinent questions:

On being added to the recently released Channel O/Forbes list of Africa’s most bankable artistes, he said “On the Forbes list, nobody asked me for any information, I don’t know their criteria” He also said “ I work really hard for my money and I won’t apologize for that.

When asked what being married was like, he said: I’ve known my wife for a long time so it is basically the same”

2face also spoke about his peace initiative and the need for reorientation of the Nigerian mindset.

N2.05b fraud: 4 undergraduates, bureau de change operators arrested by the EFCC (PICTURED)

Four persons have been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for perpetrating fraud to the tune of N2.05 billion.

Salihu Liman Mahmoud and Dan Asabe Ibrahim, both bureau de change operators and two University of Jos undergraduates, Isaiah Friday and Azzaior Samuel, were apprehended by agents of the anti-graft body over the alleged fraud.

The fraudsters, who reportedly specialize in breaking into the computer data base of financial institutions, in order to carry out dry posting of funds, were arrested in Lagos State and Jos, the Plateau State capital.

Meanwhile, the EFCC has so far been able to recover the sum of $2,129,900 and another N134,542,720 million from the fraudsters.

Other items recovered included furniture worth N10 million from Salihu Liman’s one bedroom apartment in Yaba, Lagos State, four vehicles, landed properties in Kano and Kaduna and a four bedroom duplex worth N45 million in Lagos.

‘Ibori has no strategic holdings in our company’ – Oando spokesperson

Oando Plc has, on Monday, refuted claims which circulated in the media that former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, has a significant stake in the company.

In a statement by the company, it was noted that the story which was circulated by Reuters, “is incorrect and misleading”.

Oando maintained that though the company’s shares are traded on the Nigerian and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges, it “does not and cannot control the trading in its securities on the floor of the respective exchanges.”

Besides, the report had also claimed that a British prosecutor told a court on Monday that Ibori “hid some of his assets in the oil firm Oando and money passed from the company’s accounts to Ibori’s Swiss accounts, ,” when a three-week confiscation hearing began at London’s Southwark Crown Court.

Oando stated thus; “Based on our current shareholding register, Mr. James Ibori’s shareholding stands at 443 shares out of a total issued and paid up share capital of 6.8 billion ordinary shares, which is clearly insignificant, and cannot be considered as ‘a large part of Oando’,” the statement added.

The company, however, admitted to selling some foreign exchange to Ibori “sometime in 2004″ in the normal course of business.

The statement explained, “At the time of the transaction, this information was unknown to Oando. The total amount was US$2.7 million made in three separate transactions over a period of about seven months.”

“Consequently, Oando cannot be described as a company where James Ibori has hidden assets as a result of these foreign exchange transactions, Oando insisted in the statement.

Although Oando also revealed that it is not a party to the case but only had its interest represented in court by a British lawyer, Andrew Baillie QC who was quoted to have said that “it is unfortunate that our client has been dragged into these proceedings.”

“There is no suggestion from the prosecution of any wrongdoing or involvement in wrongdoing on the part of Oando”, it said.

The integrated energy company accepted that sometime in 2004, in the normal course of its business, it sold some of its foreign exchange earnings for naira and the recipient of the US dollars was a company which has now turned out to be one controlled by James Ibori.

Burna Boy Snuggles Up To Toolz During Ndani TV Taping [Photos]

Burna Boy is lucky Captain Tunde Demuren is the cool type, otherwise all hell could potentially break loose at this public display of affection, albeit ‘professional’ that he showed Toolz during his taping at Ndani TV.

Looks like Toolz is either blushing or glowing. Well the jury is out…

Undergraduate on trial for hacking into bank account

The police, on Monday, arraigned Odafe Odivbri, an undergraduate who allegedly hacked into a man’s bank account and stole N84, 947, before a Yaba Chief Magistrate Court, Lagos.

The 30-year-old, who‪ is standing trial on a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The police prosecutor, Insp. Peter Nwangwu, told the court that the accused committed the offences on September 10, 2013 through an online shopping company, tracklist.com, located at Herbert Macaulay Way, Sabo, Yaba.

Nwangwu said Odivbri hacked into a First City Monument Bank account belonging to one Olasunkanmi Imran, and withdrew the sum of N84, 947 which he used for paying for the items he purchased online.

The prosecutor said the items include shoes and trousers.

Nwangwu informed the court that the offences contravened sections 285 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Chief Magistrate Y.O. Aje-Afunwa granted the accused bail in the sum of N100, 000 with two sureties in like sum, and adjourned the case to October 17, 2013 for hearing.

If convicted, the accused risks a three-year imprisonment.

iROKOtv branches into Nollywood DVD production

iRoko Tv has announced the production of DVDs for some Nigerian movies, starting with 17 top Nollywood titles in HD-quality.

Celebrated around the world for bringing Nollywood onto the internet, this move was made by the company because it seeks to step up the production of top quality DVDs for those who do not have access to the Internet or who prefer to watch their favourite movies on disc.

The movies released first include: ‘Baby Oku in America’, ‘Mrs. Somebody’, ‘Somewhere in Africa’, ‘Single and Married’ and ‘Oga On Top’. They are currently being sold on Nigerian e-commerce platform, Jumia.

The Head of Business for iROKOtv, Adibeli Nduka-Agwu, commenting on the launch, said: “With the launch of our DVD business in Nigeria, we feel that we’re coming home and providing awesome Nollywood movies, beautifully boxed and published in HD, to the world’s biggest Nollywood fanbase, Nigeria.

“Not all Nigerians have access to broadband internet connectivity, but we didn’t want our Nigerian Nollywood fans to miss out on getting access to the top movies, hence we’ve moved into DVDs as well as our websitewww.irokotv.com.

“With the launch of iROKOtv DVD, we are making  Nollywood superstars like Uche Jombo, Mercy Johnson, Majid Michel,  Mr. Ibu and Ramsey Nouah available online and offline 24 hours a day, however people want to access their favourite movies.”

The DVDs will also be available in the Ikeja, Anthony Village, Festac and the Island areas of Lagos.

Naeto C goes back to school

Naetochukwu Chikwe known by his stage name, Naeto C, has gone back to a London school for further study.

The ‘Kini Big Deal’ singer is in London at the Oxford University taking a course in Energy Economics. He is there with his wife and baby.

Some years back, Naeto C took some break from the media when he went for his Masters and made a comeback with the song ‘Ten Over Ten’ which dominated the airways at the time.

Mary J.Blige to storm Lagos for concert

American singer and rapper, Mary J. Blige is set to perform in  Lagos on September 27 in an all female concert scheduled to hold at the Eko Hotel on Victoria Island.

The show is tagged “Sisters with Soul”.

Other Nigerian entertainers to grace the concert include, Seyi Shay, Jodie, Zaina, Emma Nyra, Ms. Jaie, Nikki Laoye, Eva, Lola Rae and DJ Cuppy who would be manning the wheel of steel.

The show, organized by Kilimanjaro Entertainment Production, and major support is coming from one of Nigeria’s top communication’s giants Etisalat.

Mary J. Blige, born Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional rapper and actress. Starting her career as a background singer on Uptown Records in 1990, Blige released her first album, What’s the 411? in 1992 and has since made over 150 guest appearances on other albums and soundtracks, arguably earning Blige the most diverse female vocalist in music, and has released ten studio albums.

A recipient of nine Grammy Awards, eight of Blige’s albums have reached multi-platinum status in the United States. My Life, in particular, is considered among the greatest albums ever recorded according to Rolling Stone, Time, and Vibe.

Ibori hid assets in Oando – British Prosecutor

British Prosecutor, Sasha Wass, told London’s Southwark Crown Court on Monday that the former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, hid some of his assets in the oil firm Oando and money passed from the company’s accounts to his Swiss accounts.

Ibori governed the oil rich state from 1999 to 2007, and was jailed for 13 years in Britain after pleading guilty in February 2012 to 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering to the tune of N12.8 billion ($79 million).

In a three-week confiscation hearing which began at the Crown Court on Monday, Wass told the court she would be presenting evidence that Ibori had “asserted ownership of a large part” of Oando but gave no further details.

“The Crown will assert that Oando is a company where James Ibori has hidden assets,” Wass said.

The matter was raised briefly as part of an initial discussion of various aspects of the confiscation hearing. Details are expected to be disclosed later in the proceedings.

Oando is not a party to the case, although a British lawyer was in court representing the company’s interests.

At his sentencing in April 2012, Judge Anthony Pitts said the N12.8 billion that he had admitted to stealing may be a “ludicrously low” fraction of his total booty, which could be more than N51.6 billion.

The confiscation hearing will shed further light on the scale of Ibori’s wealth and determine whether he emerges from jail impoverished or still in possession of a large enough fortune to regain a position of influence in Nigeria.

Ibori could be released as early as 2016 because he spent two years in custody before his sentencing and because he will be eligible for parole halfway through his prison term.

Oando is listed in Lagos, Johannesburg and Toronto.

Fashola and tobacco companies

The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, has advised tobacco companies operating in the country to adhere strictly to regulatory standards and think of the country’s future.

The governor gave the advice when he received Keith Gretton, the Managing Director of British American Tobacco (BAT), Nigeria, who paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, on Monday, in Ikeja.

Fashola, who noted that tobacco products posed great risks to consumers, urged the companies to operate in line with prescribed standards to mitigate the risks.

“I think as we do business today, we must think about the future because without people there really cannot be business,” he said.

“Therefore, I think tobacco companies like yours should begin to focus on doing things that will prolong the lives of the people from whom they make profits.

“A good number of diseases that we have today are caused by the lifestyle and choices that people make and these diseases are becoming more and more complex as a result of substance dependency and so on. So I strongly urge companies that produce all these things to adhere strictly to regulations, especially those laws that seek to mitigate all of these risks.”

Fashola commended BAT for developing the economy of the country through employment opportunities since 2003 when it began operation.

He reiterated his government’s determination to embark on aggressive investment in a bid to improve the state’s business climate.

Segun Agbaje has been named banker of the year

Segun Agbaje, Managing Director/CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank plc, has just been announced the 2013 Banker of the Year – Africa by the World Finance Banking Awards.

The prestigious Africa Award is conferred on outstanding bankers, who have achieved the most with regards to innovation, profitability and sustainability of their organisation. The award, called The World Finance Banker of the Year, also takes into recognition an individual that has been an influential and inspirational leader, has overseen strong financial performance for his organisation and has successfully guided his institution to new heights in its industry.

According to World Finance, Segun Agbaje has won the coveted “Banker of the Year – Africa 2013. This category was one of the most sought after categories in the 2013 Banking Awards and the judging panel confirmed that Mr. Agbaje, is at the vanguard of African Banking and has deservedly earned the reputation and recognition as a truly accomplished and highly respected banker, locally and internationally. “Under his leadership, GTBank Plc has successfully gained impressive year on year market share and confirmed its position as the most profitable bank in Nigeria consecutively for the last 3 years.”

Segun Agbaje’s first class commitment to leading an efficient institution has ensured that GTBank maintains higher margins and the lowest cost to income ratio amongst its peers, despite a relatively smaller branch network when compared to its peers in the country.

According to World Finance, “Our judging panel boasts over 230 years of financial and business journalism, supported by a research team that works round the clock to ensure our award winners are the most deserving in their sector.”

Commenting on his award, MD/CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Segun Agbaje said that the award he received was in recognition of the hard work and dedication of the Management and Staff of the Bank. He also thanked the Bank’s customers for their trust and continued support and promised to continue to strive to deliver beyond their expectation. Agbaje further said that the recognition is a challenge and a call to do more in order to promote the global relevance of the African Banking industry.

Angelo to visit naija

Can this be continuation????

Controversial lovebirds at the just concluded Big Brother Africa: The Chase, Angelo Collins and Beverly Osu, are likely to reunite in Nigeria soon.

Angelo, in a tweet to Beverly, said he will be in Nigeria in a matter of days and the two will embark on a press tour.

His tweet Angello Collins, “@ANGELOAFRIKAANS: catching up on sleep maaaaan, its being a hectic but hectic weekend, next stop Ghana the Nigeria…thanks to everyone who came out last night.”

Say goodbye to painkillers, embrace natural remedies.

Drugs can help with pain, no doubt, but they are by no means a complete solution. Most studies find that medications offer only a 20 to 30 per cent reduction in pain.

Natural remedies for relief

Lower back:  Back pain can interfere with everything from your job to your sex life. Getting it under control can improve your productivity as well as your relationships. Research shows that massage therapy may be more effective than commonly used treatments such as drugs. A recent study showed that massage is not only helpful in relieving lower-back pain, but you can get the same benefits with the more commonly available relaxing massage as you can with a more targeted massage.

Knees: While there are many reasons for knee pain, a common trigger is plain old wear and tear from arthritis. To ease the aches, keep moving. Though it may seem counter-intuitive, doing regular exercise such as walking can actually help soothe the pain because it strengthens muscles and tendons that support the joint and improves blood flow to the area for faster healing. Try using a heating pad on your knees for 10 minutes before walking to help muscles relax. If you find walking too uncomfortable, another good option is swimming because it doesn’t put as much pressure on your knees.

Joints in the body: To ease the ache, take vitamins. Pills can offer some relief, but it is best to go for the natural kind. To ease aches naturally, experts suggest trying a combination of two cartilage-building nutrients known as glucosamine sulfate and methylsulfonylmethane.

Shoulder: To ease the pain, stretch yourself. If your shoulder is aching from overuse, some mild stretching may help relax the tightness in those muscles to relieve some of the soreness. The easiest way to stretch your shoulders is to stand two to three feet from the corner of a room, and raise your arms out next to you shoulder height, one palm pressing against each wall. Lean into the corner with your head dropped so that your shoulders get stretched back behind you. Hold the stretch for a count of five, relax for a count of five, and repeat five times.

Head and Neck:  To ease aches, just breathe. Stress can signal the body to release adrenaline, which can cause shallow breathing and those neck muscles to tighten that result in headache. Putting a hot compress on your neck muscles relaxes them to help relieve your headache. Practising relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing, can also help signal your body to release less adrenaline and alleviate tense muscles.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/09/how-to-ease-pain-naturally-without-drugs/#sthash.dpskXMOW.d

35 most important questions that will change your life

“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.” – Voltaire

“We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers.” – Carl Sagan

“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” – Ayn Rand

These are the 35 questions that will make the biggest impact in your life.

Self-Awareness

What are you pretending not to know? This was perhaps the most powerful question I was ever asked.  All possibilities open up when we stop deceiving ourselves.

Why don’t you do the things you know you should be doing? Life isn’t about figuring out what to do.  The real challenge is simply doing the things we know we should be doing.

What are your values, and are you being true to them? Write down the 3 most important aspects of each of these areas: family, romantic relationships, friends, work, health, sex and spirituality.  These are your values.  When we don’t act congruently with what we value, symptoms of discomfort arise.

In what ways are you being perceived, that you’re not aware of? ­Perception is reality.  Make sure, for better or worse, you know what people really think of you. 

What don’t you know, that you don’t know?It’s always the obstacles that we don’t even see coming that are the biggest challenges in life.  Get in the habit of asking people that have been there and done it before for guidance.

Happiness / Peace of Mind

Are your “shoulds” getting in the way of your happiness? The desires of our ego are often in conflict with the emotions of our heart.  You’ll always have what you want, if you want what you have.

If you achieved all of your life’s goals how would you feel? How can you feel that along the way? The discipline of delayed gratification is one of the most powerful habits of successful individuals. But most actions we take are meant to elicit an emotion in the now.  We’re happier striving for our goals when we let ourselves feel that which we want to feel when our outcome is achieved.

What did I learn today? Who did I love? What made me laugh? I try and ask myself these 3 questions at the end of each day.  Regardless of anything else that happens, if you learned something new, loved a good person and got to laugh heartily, it was a day worth having and remembering.

Perspective

If you weren’t scared what would you do?Use the rocking chair test.  What would your 90-year-old self, looking back on your own life, advise you to do in the moment?  

If you were dying, would you worry about this?  We so easily lose perspective on what takes up our energy and focus.  We’re all dying.  Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of this to enjoy living. 

Should you be focused on today or tomorrow? Savour the present but don’t forget your future.  Life is a balance of knowing when to enjoy the moment vs. when to plant seeds for tomorrow’s harvest.

Influence / Achievement

Why not?  What would happen if…? Don’t accept that things just are the way they are.  Question why something can’t be done.  And when you get pushback to these questions, reframe the negative answers with possibilities. 

What/Who did you make better today? The way to measure your worth may just be to give more than you take.  Asking what/who you made better each day is a simple litmus test we can all measure ourselves by.

What do you want your life to be in 5 years? If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never get there – Lewis Carroll.  Write down 5-year goals.  They’re close enough to grasp for, yet far off enough to achieve almost anything.

What can you do today to improve? Consistent, incremental improvement is the secret to achieving the greatest of feats.

Business / Entrepreneurship

What’s your WHY? If you have a big enough WHY you’ll always figure out the What and the How.  If you don’t have a BIG WHY, you’ll always use the What and the How as an excuse for not doing that thing you said you were going to do.  

What’s the one most important thing to get done today/ this week/month? Write this down on a Post-it note at the beginning of each day/week, and hold yourself accountable for completing this above all other Stuff To Do.

What questions must you consider before starting a business? 

What’s the potential upside? What’s the effort involved? What’s the likelihood of success? What’s the strategic value?   Whenever there is an opportunity cost, I ask myself these questions.

What are we talking about? What problem are we solving? I try to start off every meeting by putting this on the whiteboard.  In group settings we too often we find ourselves having completely different conversations.  Sometimes when answers are difficult to come by, it’s helpful to question if we’re solving for the right problem.

Can you get it done now? If something is important or urgent and you can get it done now, do it. 

What do you need to make it happen? This is one of my favourite questions to ask as a manager.  It creates ownership to make sure the goals will be achieved.  And it creates a shared responsibility to provide the resources required (time, money, talent, etc.) to achieve those goals.

If we could wave a magic wand and do anything together, what would that look like?  I use this question all the time with potential business partners.  By removing the perceived constraints that bind us and focusing on mutually desired outcomes, we often discover new pathways of possibility.

How would your role models act and carry themselves? Act as if.  Act as if you have the experience, wisdom and swagger of your role model, and you’ll often find even the most unchartered of situations more navigable.

When can we meet? We’re often this one question away from engaging with someone who can open up limitless avenues of possibility.   The most important aspect of business is still to always get it done in person.  

Will you be my mentor? It’s one question that, when asked in earnest, almost nobody will turn down.  Reach out to a person in a position and industry you admire, and ask them if you can take them to coffee and hear about how they got there.

What will I only know about you after we’ve worked together for a year? This interview question comes from the awesome Wendy Lea (CEO,GetSatisfaction).  This may be the best interview question I’ve ever heard. 

What would get you interested in our product/service? Selling is the art of asking good questions, listening, and matching your value to people’s needs.  Sales is very easy when others explain what they want and need from you.

Catch-All

What else? Such a simple but powerful question with so may applications.

Fasting and prayer declared on ASUU

Don't abandon ASUU o
Because news reaching us is that fasting and prayer has been declared on ASUU, and below is the excerpt:

The National Chairman of the new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP), Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, has requested all members of PDP worldwide to embark on seven days fasting and prayers commencing from Monday, 16th of September, 2013.

The call for fasting prayer was contained in copy of news release to The African Opinion signed by the new PDP spokesperson, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka. According the release, “this spiritual intervention is as a result of the concern of the Baraje-led PDP for the plight of parents and our children due to the continued closure of public universities following the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to protest the Federal Government’s failure to keep the agreement it signed with the Union in 2009”.
It stated that muslims should end their fasting on friday while christians on sunday. From our point of view we advise students to engage in creative activities other making fun of the ongoing strike.

Usain Bolt rejected sex ban given by his coach.

Sprint superstar Usain Bolt has revealed how he snubbed his coach’s strict instructions to give up sex and partying if he wanted to achieve track stardom, give up sex? Who does that!!!

The fastest man on the planet claims he would have gone mad if he had followed the advice from Glen Mills who feared free spirit Bolt was bound to “get himself into trouble”.

In extracts from his new autobiography in The Times, Bolt writes,  “One time he even told me to avoid sex.”

Mills said, “I don’t worry about you when you’re unfit.

“It’s when you’re strong that I stress because your testosterone goes high – through the roof. You have the potential to get yourself into trouble.”

But the six-time Olympic gold medal winner decided not to listen as he needed to blow off steam to stay sane.

He said, “If I had followed coach’s advice though, I would have driven myself insane. I knew that every now and then I had to live fast.

“It was the only way for me to stay focused.”

The 27-year-old Jamaican explains in his book – Faster than Lightning: My autobiography – how he coped with the pressure that comes from being a global brand.

“Going out occasionally, dancing and chilling with friends was a release valve from the pressures of living in the spotlight,” he said.

Hmmmm, guys!!! As for me I think that 'everything is fine' provided you're willing to stay focus. Enjoyment no be sin na...

A former Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has said that thieves worse than convicted former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, are walking free in the country

“There are worse people than James Ibori in Nigeria. Probably, he was not the smartest one among them, but there are some crooks worse than James and I still see them. Some of them are even being celebrated right now in our country,” 

After all, it's been rightly said by someone that "don't steal because the government don't like competition". LOLZ!!!