DO NOT MISS

Tuesday, September 29

Guard Flees After Defiling Two Sisters In Lagos

A 61 year old guard in Lagos simply identified as John is
wanted by the police for allegedly raping two sisters and
appeasing them with N200.

The Punch reports that the incident happened in Fidella
Street, Aladura Estate where the girls, Comfort and Precious
(real names withheld) aged 11 and 10 respectively were
usually given N200 by John each time he raped them. He also
threatened to kill them if they told anyone about it.
The street where the incident happened. Photo Credit: The
Punch
This was said to have continued for several weeks until their
mother, Rosemary Peter, a food seller discovered on Sunday,
August 30. The girls complained about back pain and
Rosemary also noticed that the private part of one of the
girls was slack.

She said John usually asked the girls to bring food in a take-
away pack to his work place and she would comply without
suspecting that he was using the opportunity to take advantage
of the girls. When the matter was reported to the police, John fled he area although the police are on his trail. Rosemary said: “I work as a food seller. John was one of my customers. He would say I should send a take-away pack to him at his workplace by afternoon. So, when the girls returned from school, I would send the two of them to take the food to him. I did not suspect that he was raping them.
“When they took the food to him, he would take them to a
place and rape both of them. After satisfying himself, he would give them N200, and warn them not to say anything at home. He would threaten that he would harm them if they spoke up.
     “Eventually, the two of them started to complain about headache and back pain. I was worried. On one occasion, I happened to be where the 11-year-old was taking her bath, and I observed that her private parts were slack as an adult’s. I was shocked, and I urged her to tell me what went wrong.
“That was when she opened up that it was John who had been
sleeping with her and her sister. I rushed to the police
station to make a report, but news had got to John that the girls had let out the matter, and he fled the area on the same
day.

“But the police have assured us that he would be arrested.
They told us to alert them anytime we set our eyes on him.”
Fatai Gafar, a resident in the area said John must be arrested
and noted that the children had not received adequate medical
attention.
“The whole estate is aware of the incident. It is very
unfortunate. The security man does not live here with his
family. He was the only person staying in the place he rented,
and he has fled.”
The rape of minors is fast becoming an alarming occurence
and unfortunately, few cases get reported. This is sometimes
due to the stigma that is attached to the incident. Some
victims also refuse to report it for fear of being accused of
immorality.

(The image below is the street where the incident happened)

Reasons why The Nigerian Economy is going down

Charles Onunaiju, the director of China Cultural Centre, has stated that Nigeria can diversify its economy by using the “China model”, which involves growth of local industries and
increasing their productivity.

He said that the Nigerian economy is hurting because economic
experts who served under various governments failed to
diversify the economy.
In Abuja at a “Roundtable on Nigeria-China Economic
Relations” the director stated that imported economic
experts, including the immediate past minister of economy,
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who promised to diversify the economy,
failed to do so.
Onunaiju also added that Nigeria could learn a lot from China,
which diversified its economy and has grown to become one of
the largest in the world. The CCC director said it was not enough for Nigerians to import finished products from China, But they should also export quality local products to the Asian
economic giant to earn foreign exchange and stimulate the nation’s economy.

Charles Onunaiju said: “Nigeria should share notes with China;
it is not enough to import goods and products from China.

Every administration had been talking about changing the economy from a mono-economy which is dependent on oil to a diversified economy, but nothing had been done so far.
     Even our super economic minister who was plucked from the World Bank and that was expected to diversify the economy did not do so. Though there are concerns about the global economy, but China economic potential is still strong.”
He stressed that China offered an opportunity to the world that should be seized by those who are ready, noting that Africa could gain from partnering with the Asian economic giant.

Scientifically proven: "Why woman love Funny Guys"

Look at any list of the qualities that women look for in a potential romantic partner, and "sense of humor" lands somewhere at the top. A study conducted at Stanford University School of Medicine found that biology may be to blame for women finding funny men irresistible.

The study, which involved 22 children aged six to 13, sought
to investigate the developmental origins of differences in the
way males and females respond to different stimuli. The
study participants were shown a series of clips, some funny
and some not so funny. As they watched the clips, the
children were hooked up to a functional magnetic resonance
imaging machine (fMRI) to measure their brain's responses.

After watching the clips, the children were given short
questionnaires about the clips and asked to answer them on
a number scale.
During the funny clips, girl's brains showed more heightened
activity than boys. According to the researchers , this meant
that the girls experienced more positive feelings in response
to the funny clips than boys did. Girls felt more of a sense of
reward in watching the funny clips than boys did.
"Our data for the first time disclose that sex differences in
humor appreciation already exist in young children,"

they wrote.

Fast forward 20 years and you have the reason why
attractive women sometimes go for not as physically
attractive, yet funny, men. According to the researchers, a
potential mate's humor is effective in captivating women
because "the female brain, particularly the reward circuit, is
biologically better prepared to respond accordingly."
Perhaps that's the reason why comedians with seemingly
unattractive characteristics tend to land very attractive
mates: Kevin Hart and girlfriend Emiko; Katy Perry and
Russell Brand; Eddie Murphy and ex-wife Nicole Murphy;
Jerry Seinfeld and wife Jessica... the list goes on and on.
But the researchers warn against jumping to any concrete
conclusions too quickly. They note that the study is relatively
small and a larger participant group would yield better
results.
For now though, revel in the fact that we're one step closer to
knowing why you just can't stop thinking about that guy who
told those hilarious knock, knock jokes at happy hour.

"I guess that's why the ladies can't resist biggie"

Arsenal must-win says Wenger

Arsene Wenger says Arsenal face a must-win fixture when they take
on Greek side Olympiakos in the Champions League at the Emirates
Stadium on Tuesday.
Wenger’s team slumped to a sloppy 2-1 defeat in their opening Group
F fixture at Dinamo Zagreb and with a double-header next against
Bayern Munich, the Arsenal manager knows there is now little margin
for further error.
“You have to win your home games if you want to qualify from the
group stage, it is simple as that,” Wenger said on Monday.
“We cannot afford to drop points now against anyone at home.”
Greek league leaders Olympiakos have won all five of their domestic
fixtures this season, although they have a terrible record playing away
to English clubs in Europe.
“They are a team with a big advantage – they dominate their league
easily, so they can prepare for these kinds of games,” Wenger added.
“They are well organised and have some players who know the Premier
League, like (Esteban) Cambiasso and (Pajtim) Kasami who both played
in England.”
It has been a poor start for English sides in Europe’s elite club
competition this season, with defeats for both Manchester clubs as well
as Arsenal.
Wenger, though, does not believe any conclusions can yet be drawn
about the chances of a Premier League team winning the tournament.
“The Premier League is very, very tough. Is that an influence or not?
I don’t know, but it’s a bit early to come to any conclusions. We have
to wait a little bit longer,” he said.
“A second year without us being successful and you could come to a
conclusion of, ‘yes, there is something we have to analyse deeply’, but
I don’t believe so at the moment.
“Are we far away? I don’t think so, but we have to show that with our
performance.”

President Buhari Delivers Powerful Speech At UN General Assembly

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, September 28,
addressed the international community at the 70th Session of
the United Nation Nations General Assembly in New York,
USA.
In his 15-minute speech the Nigerian leader outlined the
major objectives set by his administration so far. Buhari
spoke about Boko Haram insurgency which he insisted has
nothing to do with Islam; he noted that bringing peace to
Nigerians was number one goal for the new government adding
the joint task force had already recorded a series of
successful operations in the northeast.

The politician also reiterated his government’s commitment to
tackling the problems “inherited” from the previous
administration and referred to corruption as one of the major
challenges of the 21st century.
     The number one politician of Nigeria pledged to confront the
evils of public funds looting and illicit financial outflows.
Buhari urged the global community to “redouble efforts
towards strengthening the mechanisms for dismantling safe
havens for proceeds of corruption and ensuring the return of
stolen funds and assets to their countries of origin.”

See the speech in full below:

“I would like, Mr. President, on behalf of the Government
and people of Nigeria, to congratulate you and your country on
your election to preside over the 70th session of the U.N.
General Assembly.
“May I also express appreciation to your predecessor, Mr.
Sam Kahamba Kutesa and the Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-
moon both of whom worked tirelessly to ensure proper
articulation of the post-2015 Development Agenda and to
maintain the focus and commitment to the ideals of the
United Nations. I thank Mr. Ban Ki-moon for his recent visit
to Nigeria when we held very useful discussions.
“Mr. President,
“Fifty-five (55) years ago almost to the day, my great
predecessor, Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa, stood on this forum to declare Nigeria’s
desire to develop and maintain friendly relations with all
countries. He also assured the world of our country’s
commitment to uphold the principles upon which the United
Nations was founded.
“Mr. President, my country, Nigeria, has lived by this
conviction, even when judgement went against us in territorial
disputes with our neighbours. We respected those judgements
and abided by them as a mark of respect for the rule of law
and the charter of this organization. Nigeria’s record in the
U.N. peacekeeping is second to none. I myself as a young
officer in the Nigerian Army did tours of duty in Congo and
the Lebanon.

“Nigeria has contributed to U.N. peacekeeping efforts in
Ethiopia, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Darfur. Furthermore, we
are proud of our contributions to other activities of the U.N.
including the Peace Building Commission, the Human Rights Council and security sector reform.

“Mr. President,
“We are gratified to note that most countries have pledged
commitment to the post-2015 Development Agenda and the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with their means of
implementation. The successor frameworks of the MDGs have
come, Mr. President, with lofty aspirations and if I may say
so, heroic assumptions! Nonetheless, they target development
cooperation by the international community up to the year
2020. And they deserve universal support.
“This is because the SDGs mirror the hopes and aspirations
of much of the world. I should stress that for the newly
adopted SDGs to be truly global, they must be practical. In
this regard, the SDGs’ core objectives of poverty eradication
and reducing inequalities must be met within the framework of
a revitalized global partnership support by concrete policies and
actions as outlined in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.
9. Luckily, these two core objectives of the SDGs are
precisely at the centre of Nigeria’s new administration’s
agenda. It must be emphasized, Mr. President, that Foreign
Direct Investment supplemented where suitable by Official
Development Assistance as outlined in the Addis Ababa
Agenda are necessary, though not sufficient, conditions for
accelerated development in countries that are trying to catch
up.
“In this connection, I would like to appeal to industrialized
countries to redeem their pledge of earmarking 0.7%
(nought point seven percent) of their GDP to development
assistance. With the sole exception of the UK, all concerned
countries have, I am told to meet the UN requirement.
But,
Mr. President, with SDGs we have the opportunity to improve
the lives of people not just in the developing world but in all
nations.

“The Secretary General himself has grouped the SDGs into what he calls six “essential elements” namely:

• Dignity
• Prosperity
• Justice
• Partnership
• Planet
• People

“As a prerequisite to these and as we look at history and
remember the terrible events that gave rise to the birth of
the United Nations in 1945, I would like to propose a seventh:
PEACE
“Peace, Mr. President, is close to the hearts of Nigerians, as
we are in the front line in the war on terror. Boko Haram’s
war against the people of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon
may not attract as much worldwide attention as the wars in
the Middle East but the suffering is just as great and the
human cost is equally high.

“This is a war about values between progress and chaos;
between democracy and the rule of law. Boko Haram
celebrates violence against the weak and the innocent and
deplorably, they hide behind their perverted interpretation of
Islam. Boko Haram is as far away from Islam as any one can
think of.
“Many of my colleagues attending this forum would want to
know how our new government intends to tackle the huge
problems the government has inherited. Friends of Nigeria
and foreign investor partners will be encouraged to know that
the new government is attacking the problems we inherited
head-on.

“We intend to tackle inequalities arising from massive
unemployment and previous government policies favouring a
few people to the detriment of the many. We intend to
emphasize quality technological education for development and
lay foundation for comprehensive care of the aged, the
disadvantaged and the infirm. But for now terrorism is the
immediate problem.

“Accordingly, Mr. President, Members of the General
Assembly, the new Nigerian Government which I have the
honour to head, moved with dispatch to put in a bold and
robust strategy to defeat Boko Haram. Nigeria and her
neighbours Cameroon, Chad and Niger plus Benin are working
together to face this common threat within the regional
framework of the Lake Chad Basin Commission. We have
established a multinational joint task force to confront,
degrade and defeat Boko Haram.
Muhammadu BUhari and United Nations Secretary General
Ban ki Moon

“We have driven them away from many of their strongholds,
killed or captured many of their operatives or commanders
and freed several hundreds of hostages.

“Mr. President, one of our major aims is to rescue the
Chibok girls alive and unharmed. We are working round the
clock to ensure their safety and eventual reunion with their
families. Chibok girls are constantly on our minds and in our
plans.

“Mr. President, terrorism is by no means the major or the
only evil threatening and undermining the wellbeing of
societies around the world.

• Corruption
• Cross border financial crimes
• Cyber crimes
• Human trafficking
• Spread of communicable diseases
• Climate change
• Proliferation of weapons

are all major challenges of the 21st century which the
international community must tackle collectively. Let me
reaffirm Nigerian government’s unwavering commitment to
fight corruption and illicit financial flows. By any
consideration, corruption and cross border financial crimes are
impediments to development, economic growth, and the
realization of the wellbeing of citizens across the globe.
“Nigeria is ready and willing to partner with international
agencies and individual countries on a bilateral basis to
confront crimes and corruption. In particular, I call upon the
global community to urgently redouble efforts towards
strengthening the mechanisms for dismantling safe havens for
proceeds of corruption and ensuring the return of stolen
funds and assets to their countries of origin.

“Mr. President, the world is now facing a big new challenge:
human trafficking. This is an old evil taking an altogether new
and dangerous dimension threatening to upset international
relationships. We in Africa are grieved to see on international
networks how hundreds of thousands of our able bodied men
and women fleeing to Europe and in the process thousands
dying in the desert or drowning in the Mediterranean.

“We condemn in the strongest terms these people traffickers
and will support any measures to apprehend and bring them to
justice. At the same time, we are very appreciative of
European governments notably Italy and Germany, for their
understanding and humane treatment of these refugees.

“Last year, our continent faced the dreadful occurrence of
Ebola . We sincerely thank the international community for the
collective efforts to contain this deadly disease. We are not
out of the woods yet but we would like to record our
appreciation to the United States, United Kingdom, France and
China for their outstanding assistance in arresting the spread
of Ebola and care of those infected in collaboration with host
countries.
Mr. President,

“Nigeria fully subscribes to and fully endorses Goals 13, 14
and 15 of the SDGs regarding Climate Change. In Nigeria,
desertification and land erosion and degradation leading to
biodiversity loss are real threats to our environment and we
shall propose under the auspices of the Lake Chad Basin
Commission a regional approach to combat these
environmental challenges.

“We look forward to the UN Summit on climate change in
Paris in December 2015. This summit should provide
optimism to humanity on addressing the looming threat faced
by many communities around the world.
“Mr. President,
“We are witnessing a dreadful increase in conflicts fuelled by
availability of small arms and light weapons. I call upon all
member countries to demonstrate the political will needed to
uphold the UN charter. For a start, a robust implementation of
the Arms Trade Treaty will guarantee that small arms and
light weapons are only legally transferred. Arms traffickers
and human traffickers are two evil species which the world
community should eradicate.

“Mr. President,
“As we engage in these annual debates, we need remind
ourselves of the principles that led to the founding of the
United Nations. Among those are peaceful coexistence and
self-determination of peoples. In this context, Mr.
President, the unresolved question of self-determination for
the Palestinian people and those of Western Sahara, both
nations having been adjusted by the United Nations as qualifying
for this inalienable right must now be assured and fulfilled
without any further delay or obstacle.
“The international community has come to pin its hopes on
resolving the Palestinian issue through the two – states
solution which recognises the legitimate right of each state to
exist in peace and security. The world has no more excuses or
reasons to delay the implementation of the long list of
Security Council resolutions on this question. Neither do we
have the moral right to deny any people their freedom or
condemn them indefinitely to occupation and blockade
Mr. President, delegates of member countries,
“UN is 70 years old. It can count many more than 70 major
achievements as the world’s forum and family reunion. It is
my hope that in the next 70 years, it will achieve control of
climate, help to eliminate communicable diseases, eliminate
major and local conflicts and therefore eliminate the problem
of refugees, take major steps towards reducing harmful
inequalities between nations and within nations and above all,
eliminate nuclear weapons.
“Mr. President, as this is my first address in this Assembly,
I thank you and the delegates for listening so patiently.

Monday, September 28

A new strength in profit- Dangote Cement

Dangote Cement Company has rebuilt strength in profit
performance in the current year after a profit drop
last year. Against a drop of 21% in profit in the
preceding year, the cement manufacturing company
may raise after tax by over 40% in 2015 based on the
current growth rate.
The drop in profit in 2014 was due to inability to grow
sales revenue – which was only 1.7% up at N391.64
billion. This year sales revenue is accelerating and this
has spurred profit performance as well. Three
favourable developments explain the improved profit
outlook for the company this year- accelerating sales
revenue, a moderation in cost of sales and a shift from
a net interest expenses to a net interest income.
     The company closed second quarter operations in June
with a sales revenue of N242.21 billion, which is an
increase of 20.7% year-on-year. It is expected to
close the 2015 operations with a turnover in the region
of N450 billion. This will be an accelerated growth
compared with a flat growth of 1.7% in the preceding
year.
    After tax profit amounted to N121.81 billion for
Dangote Cement at the end of the second quarter, an
increase of 27.6% year-on-year. Full year projection
indicates an increase of over 40% in net profit for the
company in 2015. It posted a net profit of N159.5 billion
at the end of 2014. A new peak in profit is therefore
expected from the company this year. Its peak profit so
far is the N201.20 billion it reported in 2013.
      Compared with last year when cost of sales grew ahead
of sales revenue, cost of sales has moderated as at the
end of June. Cost of sales grew by 14.9% compared with
the growth of 20.7% in sales revenue, which has
improved gross profit margin from 63.5% at the end of
2014 to 65.1% at the end of June.

Another major positive development on the income
statement this year is a change from a net interest
expenses position last year to a net interest income at
the end of the second quarter. A shift from a net
interest cost of N2.41 billion at the end of 2014 to a
net interest income of N6.32 billion in the second
quarter has boosted the bottom line significantly in the
current year.
These developments have provided a new strength for
the company this year in terms of ability to convert
revenue into profit. Net profit margin has improved
from 45.7% in the same period last year and from
40.7% at the end of 2014 to 50.3% at the end of the
second quarter. Accelerating revenue and moderating
cost are the summary of the operating story of
Dangote Cement so far this year.
The company’s short-term debts grew by almost 60% to
N176.44 billion within the six months of the year, which
caused a tripling of finance costs to N24.38 billion
year-on-year at the end of the second quarter.
      However a robust increase in cash resources enabled
the company to grow interest income ahead of interest
expenses.
Cash and bank balances rose by 151% over the closing
figure last year to N51.63 billion at the end of June.
This follows a rise of 23.7% in net cash flow generated
from operating activities to N179.8 billion against
declines in net cash used for both investing and
financing activities during the review period.
       The company earned N7.22 per share at the end of the
second quarter, up from N5.63 in the same period last
year. The full year earnings per share expectation is
above N13 for Dangote Cement in 2015 against N9.42 in
2014.
FBN Holdings: rising cost constrains profit capacity
FBN Holdings raised gross earnings by 28% year-on-
year at the end of June but could not convert the
increased earnings into profit. Two major cost
increases accounted for this – loan loss charges and
interest expenses. Profit grew by just 7.7%, which
leaves the company with full year prospects of a profit
decline.
       Non-interest income spurred revenue growth during
the period with exceptional growth in income from
investments and net gains on foreign exchange trading
as well as other operating income. The bank requires a
step up in revenue growth in the second half without
which earnings growth will most likely slow down
considerably this year.
     The bank posted an after tax profit of N40.06 billion at
the end of June, an increase of 7.7% year-on-year.
Profit growth is expected to slow down in the second
half and the full year prospects indicate a likely drop in
profit for FBN Holdings in 2015. The company had grown
after tax profit by 13.7% in 2014 to N82.84 billion. A
decline in profit in the current year will mean a rise and
fall pattern for FBN Holdings since 2013 when the
bank’s profit went down by 6.7%.
Gross earnings amounted to N271.82 billion at the end
of the second quarter, an increase of 28% in year-on-
year. Based on the growth rate in the second quarter,
gross income is expected to stand in the region of 547
billion for FBN Holdings at the end of 2015. Revenue
growth is expected to slow down from the growth rate
of 21.3% in the preceding year.
      The moderate increase in profit against a strong
growth in revenue is explained by rising cost. All the
bank’s three main expense lines are on the rise but loan
loss expenses and interest cost appear to be out of the
control of management.
Loan loss provisions grew by 239% year-on-year in the
second quarter to N22.58 billion, which is already quite
close to the N25.94 billion impairment charge the bank
made in all of last year. The proportion of gross
earnings claimed by impairment charge rose sharply
from 3.1% to 8.3% over the review period. Up to 11% of
interest income was applied as impairment charges for
credit losses against 4% in the same period last year.
Interest expenses also rose by 47.1% to N73.10 billion
in the second quarter, far ahead of the 24.8% growth
in interest income. Interest cost therefore claimed an
increased share of gross earnings of the bank from
23.4% in the same period last year to 26.9% at the end
of June this year. Interest expenses and impairment
charges claimed virtually all the increase in interest
income during the period.
The contribution of fee-based earnings to gross
earnings increased from 22.4% in the same period last
year to 24.3% this year. This provided the strength for
the moderate improvement in profit. Customer deposits
increased marginally by 2.5% to N3,126.16 billion
compared with the growth of 47.1% in interest
expenses. This means the average cost of deposits
increased during the review period.
The third major cost element – operating expenses
moderated relative to gross earnings at an increase of
15.1% to N118.40 billion at the end of the second
quarter. With a more rapid growth in gross income, the
bank was able to reduce operating cost margin from
48.4% to 43.6%. This provided the little cost saving
that permitted the moderate increase in profit.
The bank lost profit margin, as costs grew generally
faster than revenue during the period. Net profit
margin declined from 17.5% in June last year to 14.7%
this year. This is equally below the 17.2% net profit
margin the bank generated at the end of 2014. Loss of
profit margin follows the rapid growths in loan loss
provisions and interest expenses.
FBN Holdings closed the second quarter operations with
a net loan portfolio of over N2.08 trillion, which is a
decline from the closing figure of N2.19 trillion for
2014. Its investment portfolio amounted to over N795
billion at the end of the second quarter.
The bank earned N1.10 per share at the end of the
second quarter, which is a decline from N1.14 in the
same period last year. Earnings per share is likely to
decline from the N2.55 the bank recorded at the end of
2014.

NNPC 'may sell refineries' that don’t meet rehabilitation ultimatum – GMD

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
says it may sell refineries that fail to work optimally by
the expiration of the 90-day ultimatum for their rehabilitation. Dr Ibe
Kachikwu, the NNPC Group Managing Director, disclosed this at an interactive session with news men in Lagos. Kachikwu said “by the end of
December when the 90-day ultimatum will expire, Any refinery that does not work optimally will be sold.

“I am determined to make a difference during my
tenure. We are losing N2.2 trillion monthly to refinery
inefficiency. As at today, the average refining
performance is 30 per cent.

“If by December, the refineries don’t work, I will
export crude allocation and import refined petroleum
products until we fix the refineries. Right now, the
Port Harcourt refinery is showing signs that it will
meet the December deadline.
      However, I am not saying Warri and Kaduna refineries
will not meet the deadline, but I hope they all make it,
so that we can continue to utilise our crude allocation
to boost domestic refining.”
Kachikwu expressed the hope that the NNPC cash call
arrears, which stood at N1.1 trillion, would be settled
by the end of December 2015.
“By December, I hope to settle all the cash call arrears
and grow Nigerian Petroleum Development Corporation
(NPDC) to where it is supposed to be,” he said.

Congo is no match for the Falconets

Nigeria’s Women under-20 team, the Falconets, on
Sunday defeated DR Congo 2-1 away in the Africa leg
first leg, second round qualifiers for the 2016 Fifa
Under-20 Women World Cup.

Two quick goals in the first half from Chinaza Uchendu
in the sixth minute and Chiwendu Ihezou in the 12th
minute gave Nigeria a comfortable lead as the Falconets
took control of the game.
DR Congo were able to pull a goal back just before half
time as the second period failed to produce any goals in
an entertaining game.

Nigeria had eliminated Liberia 14-1 on aggregate in the
first round and will look to complete the job against DR
Congo in the return leg in Nigeria.
Coach Peter Dedevbo will hope to get his girls into the
main qualifying round, which is yet to be decided by the
Confederation of African Football (CAF).

The Falconets were silver medalists at the last edition
in Canada in 2014 where an Asisat Oshoala inspired side
reached the final but were beaten 1-0 by Germany.

The 2016 event will be hosted by Papua New Guinea.

Common Grammatical Mistakes You Are Always Making

All it takes is a single tweet or text for some people to
reveal their poor grasp of the English language,
infamously due to the common grammatical mistakes they
make almost all the time, and the worst of it is that they
hardly know it’s a mistake.

Homophones — words that sound alike but are spelled
differently — can be particularly annoying.
Regardless, you should never choose incorrectly in these
nine situations:

1. “Your” vs. “You’re”.
“Your” is a possessive pronoun, while “you’re” is a
contraction of “you are.”

Example 1: You’re pretty.

Example 2: Give me some of your whiskey.

2. “It’s” vs. “Its”.
Normally, an apostrophe symbolizes possession, as in, “I
took the dog’s bone.” But because apostrophes also
replace omitted letters — as in “don’t” — the “it’s” vs.
“its” decision gets complicated.
Use “its” as the possessive pronoun and “it’s” for the
shortened version of “it is.”

Example 1: The dog chewed on its bone.

Example 2: It’s raining.

3. “Then” vs. “Than”.
“Then” conveys time, while “than” is used for comparison.

Example 1: We left the party and then went home.

Example 2: We would rather go home than stay at the
party.

4. “There” vs. “They’re” vs. “Their”.
“There” is a location. “Their” is a possessive pronoun. And
“they’re” is a contraction of “they are.”
Use them wisely.

5. “We’re” vs. “Were”.
“We’re” is a contraction of “we are” and “were” is the
past tense of “are.”

6. “Affect” vs. “Effect”.
“Affect” is a verb and “effect” is a noun.
There are, however, rare exceptions. For example,
someone can “effect change” and “affect” can be a
psychological symptom.

Example: How did that affect you?

Example: What effect did that have on you?

7. “Two” vs. “Too” vs. “To”.
“Two” is a number.
“To” is a preposition. It’s used to express motion,
although often not literally, toward a person, place, or
thing.
And “too” is a synonym for “also.”

8. “Into” vs. “In To”.
“Into” is a preposition that indicates movement or
transformation, while “in to,” as two separate words,
does not.

Example: We drove the car into the lake.

Example: I turned my test in to the teacher.
In the latter example, if you wrote “into,” you’re
implying you literally changed your test into your teacher.

9. “Alot”.
“Alot” isn’t a word. This phrase is always two separate
words: a lot.

I hope you have learned something new today...do well to share with friends bad family..

Sunday, September 27

5 Proofs that he was a regular hommie - Albert Einstein

Life isn’t always easy, even when you’re a genius. But
what else do you have in common with Albert Einstein?

A free archive of the famed physicist’s writings released
on Friday might help you find out. Transcribed,
translated, and annotated with historical insight, the
“Digital Einstein” project at the Princeton University
Press dives deep into Einstein’s early years.
“This is Einstein before he was famous,” says California
Institute of Technology historian Diana Kormos-Buchwald ,
director of the Einstein Papers Project that created the
new archive, a collaboration of Princeton, Caltech, and
Hebrew University. “This material has been carefully
selected and annotated over the last 25 years.”
The archived letters, lectures, and other papers take
readers from Einstein’s 1879 birth certificate to letters
he wrote on his 44th birthday in 1923, fresh off the
triumph of the 1921 Nobel Prize in physics . Perusing the
documents reveals that the 20th century’s greatest
genius was, at least in some ways, a lot like the rest of
us:

1. He was passed over for his dream job..
In 1902, Einstein was appointed to the Swiss Patent Office
as an examiner with some help from a friend, after he was
disappointed in his hopes for a gig as a university
professor. “Largely that was his own fault-he wasn’t a
great student,” says historian Matt Stanley of New York
University. “He was disrespectful to his professors and
skipped classes because he knew he could pass anyway. So,
when he asked for recommendations, he didn’t get them.”
Sound familiar? Take heart from this: A backwater job
didn’t stop Einstein from pursuing his dreams. “Einstein’s
family was involved in electronics, and the patent office
was a world very familiar to him,” says Massachusetts
Institute of Technology historian David Kaiser, author of
How the Hippies Saved Physics. Tasked with determining
the soundness of principles behind new inventions, Einstein
played to his talents and translated those skills to the
scientific work that culminated in his 1905 “Miracle Year”
that led to his Nobel Prize, alongside papers on light’s
speed, atomic behavior and the famous E = mc² equation

2. He liked to kick back..
“Both of us, alas, dead drunk under the table,” Einstein
wrote, referring to himself and his wife Mileva Maric, in a
1915 postcard sent to his pal Conrad Habicht .
Habicht was a co-founder of the Olympia Academy in Bern,
Switzerland, a drinking club where friends debated
philosophy and science.
“The young Einstein was a Bohemian, not the sage we
think of now,” Stanley says. Much like a dorm-room bull
session, “that’s what young people did then; they hung
out in beer halls and argued about the nature of space and
time.”
Einstein later said the club had a great effect on his
career.

3. He had romantic troubles and a messy divorce..
Einstein married Maric, a fellow physicist, in 1903. She had
already borne him a daughter named Lieserl the year
before. Historians are unclear whether the couple gave up
the child for adoption or if she died in infancy.
The couple was estranged starting around 1912 and
divorced, finally, in 1919. As part of the divorce decree ,
which you can read in the archive, Einstein agreed that he
would give his ex-wife most of the proceeds from a still
un-awarded Nobel Prize, to care for the children and live
off the interest.
“In the letters we see the young Einstein was a lot like
the later one, uninterested in convention and set on
having his own way, a bit of a rebel, irresistible to
women,” Stanley says. “He dove into a few relationships
that turned sour, although I think he learned some lessons
later in life.”
Don’t we all.
Einstein married his cousin, Elsa, in 1919, the same year
as his divorce

4. His kids were rascals.
That’s what he calls them in a 1922 letter to his two sons,
Hans Albert and Eduard, asking them to write him in Spain
when he was on the way back from a trip to Japan.
Einstein was obviously fond of his sons, writing to them
from his travels and throughout their lives, inquiring
about their schoolwork. Eduard’s life famously took a
tragic turn when he was diagnosed with schizophrenia at
age 20.
The scientist also enlisted his older son, Hans Albert, in
looking after his finances, asking him in 1922 to inquire at
a Zurich bank about an unexpected sum of money in his
account there.
Kids and money-some problems never change.
Einstein wrote in German his entire life, as seen in this
letter to his son, Hans Albert Einstein. Photograph by
Profiles in History, Corbis

5. Road trip!...
Einstein skipped the Nobel Prize ceremonies to take a trip
to the Far East.
“I have decided definitely not to ride around the world so
much anymore; but am I going to be able to pull that off,
too?” he wrote his sons after his 1922 trip to Japan.
Unlike most of us, for Einstein travel was more than an
escape from the mundane: In other notes in the archive,
the physicist acknowledges that the assassination that
year of Germany’s foreign minister Walther Rathenau by
right-wing extremists helped persuade him to leave
Germany for a while.
Those same dark forces led to his eventual emigration to
the United States from Europe, to escape Hitler’s
spreading destruction of Germany’s Jews.
Those adventures are covered in more volumes of archives
that Kormos-Buchwald and her colleagues hope to release
next year, ones which will mark the centennial of
Einstein’s seminal 1915 theory of gravity.
So just as for you, there are more adventures ahead for
Einstein, ones waiting to be revealed. Even six decades
after his death, more discoveries await for historians
tracing the marks he left on our times.
“You might think scholars have already picked over all
these volumes, but there is so much more,” says Kormos-
Buchwald.
The Digital Einstein team hopes to see more historians
explore Einstein’s world as the archives roll out, and for
more everyday folks to see the human side of a man who
forever wrestled with his world, despite genius, fortune,
and fame

This article first appeared on
National Geographic ©2014

Etisalat Unlimited Browsing With Tweakware

A friend of mine just told me about a VPN application for
Android called "Tweakware" ,this is another Application
that is One of The Best Known VPN that rocks with
ETISALAT CHAT PACK.
It is very simple. Let me quickly go straight to the Point.

HOW TO USE ETISALAT CHATPACK TO BROWSE FASTER VIA
TWEAKWARE

Note:- you must have activate your Etisalat with with The
chat Pack or Click Here . The you can proceed to the next
step.

1. Go to google play store and search for Tweakware , Then
Download and Install it.

2. Go and create a new APN
Name - Etisalat Chat pack
APN - etisalat
The save it.

3. Open your TweakWare App Press the Menu button on
your android and Click Settings.

4. The click on Bundled Setting and tick "Use Bundled
setting"

Then click on Select Bundled setting and Choose ETI CHAT
PACK.

Dats all and you are Done.

Then go back and Tap #CONNECT .
And start Flexing Unlimitedly, it far more Better that
Simple server, Psiphon, JWP, Open Vpn Connect
No Need to Use Autoproxy because it will Power all Your
Applications!!
Enjoy!

Drop your comments below...

President Buhari Is Not A Nigerian...

By Prof Soremekun

As I contemplate the Nigerian condition or non-
condition, I continue to marvel at contemporary
happenings. The nirvana is certainly not here yet.
Still, it is possible to discern new ozone in public
life.
Suddenly, public officials are more responsive. The
refineries appear to be working. Petrol queues, for
now at least, are gone. Electricity supply seems to
have improved. And therefore one is tempted to
ask: What has happened? Have we really had any
novel policy thrusts since Muhammadu Buhari
assumed the Presidency of the country? As a
student of public affairs, it is possible to answer
this question in the negative. Yet, there is a new
ozone in public life. It does not take much to
appreciate that, what has happened so far is that
the President’s reputation and sheer force of
personal example have probably struck the fear of
God in people who run our institutions. The upshot
is that a novel and positive lease of life seems to
pervade the land
One striking instance here is President Muhammadu
Buhari’s recent public declaration of his assets. As
we all know by now, these assets are now in the
public space. And if those details are true, then
what has been declared should sear the conscience
of all past and present public officers, particularly
at the highest of levels. Here is a man, who has
been in control of vast resources as a military
governor, minister of petroleum and a former Head
of State. Yet, all that he could claim to own are
houses and lands in places like Port Harcourt,
Kaduna and Abuja as well as N30n in his bank
account. To be sure, by the general Nigerian
standards, Buhari is not a poor man. But by the
jaded and conscienceless standards of his peers, he
certainly comes up short-at least in materialistic
terms. Some people with warped values are even
likely to snigger and ask: Is this the entire worth
of this man? Probably yes. But on the platform of
morality, very few of his peers can really hold up
the candle to him. And this is partly why, I have
dared to state here that, Buhari is not a Nigerian.
If he was the typical Nigerian in public life, he
would be in possession of trillions, cash wise and
non-cash equivalents in other areas like properties
and jets ownership.
Even then, the declaration in itself has sparked off
implicit and explicit comparisons, which seem to
indicate that this man stands out. Indeed, some
people with a dark sense of humour or out of sheer
wonder and concern have pointed out that the
average local government chairman in Nigeria
(where else?) is richer than Buhari. And of course
and as we all know, this may well be true. But,
what is perhaps much more revealing especially in
these times is that other public officials are
refusing to be drawn into the ring of public asset
declaration. Take our elected governors for
instance. Either out of ignorance or mischief, they
are saying that there are no statutory provisions
which require them to do so. Very much the same
bankrupt postures can be observed on the part of
the senators and members of the House of
Representatives who, by the way, are supposed to
be distinguished and honourable.
Meanwhile, and as revealed in newspaper reports,
Buhari appears to be exasperated by the fact that,
despite his attempts to come clean with what he
owns, he appears to have opened up another round
of controversy on this issue. In a sense, this is
only to be expected. Vultures as they are wont,
have to feed on something. Which is why, the
General’s contentions are very instructive.
According to him, in the course of his public life, he
has declared his assets four times since 1974. At
the risk of being contradicted, I do not think that
any Head of State or public official has come forth
in this way.
However, for the records, as well as balance, it is
relevant to state here that in the recent past,
former President Umaru Yar’Adua, and his then
deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, respectively declared
their assets. But when the latter mounted the
saddle as the point-man of our system, and the
self-same issue came up, he pointedly and
memorably remarked: I do not give a damn! Which is
just as well. For in a rather Freudian and self-
indicting way, Jonathan was known to declare in
another context that some of our leaders behave
like motor park touts!
But even then, before I am done, since Buhari has
bitten the bullet, it may be useful for other public
officials to do the same. I am referring here to
governors, ministers, and the invisible army of
invincible permanent secretaries. And to President
Buhari, he should take heart. After all, my
ancestral folk, in their eternal wisdom, have
always said that if you indict someone for cooking
a bad soup, what will you do to the person who has
cooked none?
Last line: I am sure that the hidden dimensions of
Buhari’s assets would have been exposed by now if
such information was available.

Soremekun is a Professor of Political Science at
the National Open University of Nigeria.

 
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