One Way to Remain Relevant Always

The country Nigeria and the world at large is going through a number of things now from various killings to floods etc. Close looks at these issues show the inherent ideologies and philosophies that guide individuals, communities and nations at large.

What would you do for your community? Instead of complaining, ask yourself – What can I do in my society to help this matter? There’s a problem with flooding in different areas. Ask yourself what little thing you can do to alleviate this situation. You never can tell you might just find a career path or job line to be passionate about. Having a career to follow takes thought and determination but most of all you should have a gap you want to fill or a problem you want to solve.

Today, a lot of people focus on getting a job so much that they forget why they want to get a job, why they want to get the job and the career placement that suits their interests. Forgetting these things make people lack the drive to go out and do the utmost with the energy that is inside them.

This is not a motivational pep talk on the fact that you can achieve great things, you can grow higher, and you can achieve your dreams. This is a reality check to put us in the light of the exact things that can be done to change little things in our immediate surroundings, the little things we do have ripple effects and in the long run make great impacts.

 

I’ve seen time and again what people around the world have done for their communities. A young man solved a problem associated with blood especially for people with Leaukemia; another group of people used the media creatively to raise awareness and huge fund to fund research for a deadly disease; yet another set of people used technology to make Japan a tourist attention site after the Tsunami.

These are mostly young people just trying to contribute their quota to their communities, individuals and people around them. The contributions may be tiny and inapplicable in our country but it gets us thinking. We can do much more for ourselves.

There is a glow and passion about trying to do something for the good of another; it gives you a sense of fulfillment and joy; it moves you beyond the stage of thinking only about what you can get to the level where you think about what you can give; it makes you less dependent on situations and people, giving your brain the super charge it needs.

As I write this, I ask myself the question- what can I do to change the tiny situation in my immediate community? The tiny and seemingly minute gestures can change the bleak things around. We need to stop looking for quick fixes, instant wins and get rich quick plans. Careers and jobs may not come the way you expect them to, but giving and building a solution is key for everybody and in everything we do. 

Think about it, what problem are you solving? If you aren’t solving a problem there’s no reason to be in a place. Even if changing the community is not so attractive to you and all you just want to do is get a job. Ask yourself, am I going to solve any problem in this organization I want to go into? What will I be adding to the organization? Will I and am I being a solution? What is my value proposition?

Jobberman

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Red Bull Stratos 2012: Finally Felix Baumgartner Pulls Off A Record Breaking Skydive

Last week I wrote about Felix Baumgartner and his record breaking jump. After a couple of cancels due to bad weather, the jump has been done now.

“Sometimes we have to get really high to see how small we are, Baumgartner is reported to have said shortly after completing the jump. I am so happy for him, and inspired.

 

Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner landed gracefully on Earth Sunday after a 38.6-kilometre jump from the stratosphere in a dramatic, record-breaking feat that may also have marked the world’s first supersonic skydive.

Baumgartner came down in the eastern New Mexico desert about nine minutes after jumping from his capsule 39,044 metres, or roughly 38.62 kilometres, above Earth. He lifted his arms in victory shortly after landing, setting off loud cheers from jubilant onlookers and friends inside the mission’s control centre in Roswell, New Mexico.

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20-Year-Old Girl Auctions Her Virginity To Raise Money To Build Homes For The Poor. N24m Already Raised

 

In order to assist poverty stricken families by helping them build better homes, Catarina Migliorini, a Brazilian student, is auctioning off her virginity to the highest bidder for cash.

The 20 year old physical education student is set to plough the money – currently standing at $155,000 (£95,400) – into a non-governmental organisation which will construct modern houses in her southern Brazilian home state of Santa Catarina. Already been labelled a prostitute, she rejected the toga as she said she still believed in love but saw the opportunity to make a positive difference to the world.

A Shantytown In Rio de Janeiro: Catarina hopes to help people that live in squalor in places such as this despite her explanations, her intention has sparked controversy because she will be followed every step of the way by an Australian film crew for a documentary film called “Virgins Wanted.”

Catarina, who is of Italian descent said : ‘I saw this as a business. I have the opportunity to travel, to be part of a movie and get a bonus with it. If you only do it once in your life then you are not a prostitute, just like if you take one amazing photograph it does not automatically make you a photographer.”The auction is just business, I’m a romantic girl at heart and believe in love. But this will make a big difference to my area,’  she told Folha newspaper.

 

Catarina had signed up to the project two years ago when she saw an advert by Thomas William Productions looking for a virgin to film. Director Justin Sisely will record her emotions before and after her first sexual encounter. A male virgin called Alexander is also being followed.

She will receive $20,000 and 90 per cent of the final auction sale price, which ends on October 15.

 

The winner will be tested for sexually transmitted diseases prior to the encounter which will take place on an aeroplane, leaving from Australia to the US, in a bid to circumvent prostitution laws. A condom will be compulsory, with Catarina saying she was prepared to prove to any sceptics that she has not had sex before.

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Politics: Examplary Uruguayan President Donates 90% Of His Salary To Charity

The politicians we have here in Nigeria are looking to milk even beggar on the streets of their daily bread. They have no iota of human feelings in them. So selfishly selfish.

Usually presidents are not associated with poverty. Some, like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, are even linked to big spending and generous welfare programs. But the President of Uruguay, José Mujica, has earned the nickname of the “poorest,” or the “most generous,” president in the world — depending on how you see things— after revealing that he donates 90 percent of his earnings, to charitable causes.

In a recent interview, Mujica told Spain’s El Mundo that he earns a salary of $12,500 a month, but only keeps $1,250 for himself, donating the rest to charity. The president said that the only big item he owns is his Volks Wagen car, valued at $1,945 dollars. The farmhouse in which he lives in Montevideo is under his wife’s name, Lucía Topolansky, a Senator, who also donates part of her salary.

“I do fine with that amount; I have to do fine because there are many Uruguayans who live with much less,” the president told El Mundo.

The 77-year-old Mujica is a former guerilla leader, who fought against Uruguay’s military regimes in the 1970s. He was also Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries from 2005 to 2008 and afterwards, served as a senator. Later on, as presidential candidate for the Broad Front, the left-wing coalition, Mujica won the 2009 election becoming Uruguay’s president on March 1, 2010. Uruguay is the second smallest nation in South America by area, after Suriname. However it is one of the most developed countries on the continent, with a GDP per capita of $15,656. That’s less than half of United States’ GDP per capita, but it triples earnings in Honduras which has a GDP per capita of just $4,345.

QUESTION: HOW MANY NIGERIAN POLITICIANS CAN DONATE TISSUE PAPER TO ANOTHER HUMAN BEING?

Under Mujica’s stewardship, Uruguay has become known for low levels of corruption. The South American country ranks as the second least corrupt country in Latin America in Transparency International’s global corruption index. Uruguay also made it to the world cup 2010 semi-finals while Mujica was in office, and the country won the South American Soccer championships in 2011, stunning tournament hosts Argentina, in a memorable performance by striker Diego Forlan.

It seems therefore, that it’s a good time to be Jose Mujica. Without bank accounts, and with few debts, Mujica told El Mundo that he sleeps peacefully. When his term is over, the President hopes to rest even more peacefully in his farmhouse, along with his wife and his inseparable dog, Manuela.

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Religion: Davido's Billionaire Father Builds Mega Seventh Day Adventist Church

Davido and Dad

Davido's father, Adedeji Adeleke, just built a mega church behind his company, Pacific Holdings, in Ikeja, Lagos. The billionaire chairman of the defunct Pacific Bank is a devout Seventh Day Adventists. Thats a very charitable course. Though these days churches are serious money making business Raise up your child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it. This man is like this and Davido is like that? This apple fell very far from the tree.
Im sure Davido will be thinking of building a mega club, just kidding.

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Quote of the Day - Confucius

Word!

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Paralympics: Another Nigerian Wins Gold Medal in Power Lifting

Nigerian Ivory Nwokorie today won gold in women's -44kg power lifting competition. Ivory lifted an incredible 109kg at the South Arena 3 at ExCel. Go Team Nigeria!

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Okonjo-Iweala Listed Among World’s Most Powerful Women

Nigerian Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was on Friday named among the most powerful women in the world by the influential American publication Forbes. 100 women from different parts of the globe were listed by the publication.She is one of the three women picked from Africa, the remaining two being President Joyce Banda of Malawi and President Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf of Liberia.

 

Dr.Okonjo-Iweala is no 81 on the list, just a step ahead of President Johnson- Sirleaf and 10 points behind President Banda. The wife of the American president, Michelle Obama is ranked only seventh. Michelle , who is arguably more popular than her President husband, creeps up from eighth place last year but is still outdone by United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who ranks second and Melinda Gates who commands fourth position. Republican politicians Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann drop off the list completely after failed bids to the White House.

 

The right-wing women came in at 22nd and 34th respectively last year. Ms. Obama's mission to end childhood obesity and commitment to military families teamed with her stylish frocks helped secure her top 10 place, Forbes said, adding that she was being used as a 'tool' in President Barack Obama's campaign to cling to power. “She's made more public appearances this year than usual -- not surprisingly the campaign is using the Mrs as a tool to widen the gender gap over Romney -- appearing as a judge on an episode of Bravo's Top Chef, chatting with the ladies of The View and joking with funny guys Jimmy Fallon and Jon Stewart,'’the magazine says.

 

Clinton, 64, was beaten only by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who tops the esteemed ranking for the second year running. She was cited as the “lead player in the eurozone economic crisis” and praised for embracing social media by answering citizens’ questions on YouTube. The U.S. Secretary of State, who has traveled to 42 countries this year alone, was praised for navigating treacherous territory when WikiLeaks released sensitive diplomatic cables in November and for urging Syrian President Bashar Assad to hand over power and leave his country.

 

Forbes also said her actions to warn North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to chart a different course than his militant father helped her retain her high ranking on the most powerful women list. The women on the list were ranked according to influence, the amount of money they control or earn, and media presence.

 

Moira Forbes, president and publisher of ForbesWoman, said: “These power women exert influence in very different ways and to very different ends, and all with very different impacts on the global community.” The average age of the 100 power brokers from 28 countries is 55. They have a combined 90 million Twitter followers.

 

Clinton and Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and wife of Microsoft Corporation co-founder Bill Gates, were joined in the top five by Jill Abramson, the first woman executive editor of The New York Times.

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Johnnie Walker Unveils Samson Siasia As Johny Walker Giant

The Johnnie Walker Keep Walking Nigeria event was a lot of entertainment. Samson Siasia, former coach of the Super Eagles was unveiled as Nigeria’s first Johnnie Walker Giant, and the new Keep Walking Nigeria campaign was launched. The highlight, aside from Yemi Sax, was at the end of the night, when Ali Baba did a toast to Siasia and his wife with the Johnnie Walker Blue Label. Walking by the way is a healthy lifestyle.

Siasia added another year two days ago. Wishing him a happy birthday. More photos after the cut...

Siasia and wife

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be inspired with Samson Siasia's story too. Watch the video below.

 

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Photo of the Day: Handless Man Builds Bionic Hand For Himself

Who says you cannot do it because of your handicap?

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Ten Young African Millionaires To Watch

Jason Njoku of Iroko TV

Written by Forbes writer - Mfonobong Nsehe

There’s no money like young money. While African millionaires and billionaires like Onsi Sawiris, Raymond Ackerman, and Aliko Dangote may have more money than most of us can ever dream of, there’s one thing they can never buy: Youth. Even money has its limits.

But there are a handful of young Africans in their 20s and 30s who have built businesses and amassed enviable million-dollar fortunes. Call them million-dollar babies.

See the top ten after the cut..

Jason Njoku, Nigerian
Age: 31
Founder & CEO Iroko TV
The maverick Nigerian Internet entrepreneur is founder of Iroko TV, the world’s largest digital distributor of African movies. Iroko TV has been dubbed the ‘Netflix of Africa’. Earlier this year, Iroko TV raised $8 million in venture capital from Tiger Global Management, a New York-based private equity and hedge fund run by billionaire Chase Coleman. IrokoTV enjoys lucrative content distribution deals with Dailymotion, iTunes, Amazon and Vimeo. Njoku is unwilling to divulge figures, but analysts believe IrokoTV could be worth as much as $30 million. Njoku is the company’s largest individual shareholder.

Mark Shuttleworth, South African
Age: 38
Founder, Knife Capital
When Shuttleworth was 22, he founded Thawte, a digital certificate and internet security company which he sold to VeriSign for $575 million in 1999, when he was 26. Shuttleworth used a fraction of his proceeds to start HBD Capital (now called Knife Capital), a Cape Town-based emerging markets investment fund. HBD has made a series of successful exits including Fundamo, a mobile financial services company which was acquired byVisa for $110 million in 2011; and csense, which was acquired by GE Intelligent Platforms the same year.  Shuttleworth also founded and funds Ubuntu, a computer operating system which he distributes as free open source software. Shuttleworth has a net worth north of $500 million.

Ashish Thakkar, Ugandan
Age: 29
Co-Founder and CEO, Mara Group
Thakkar, 29 is a co-founder and CEO of Mara Group – a Ugandan conglomerate with tentacles in financial services, hotels, renewable energy, technology and manufacturing. Annual revenues are approximately $100 million and the group has an active presence in 16 countries on four continents. Devoted philanthropist: Through his Mara Foundation, Thakkar provides mentorship and seed funding to young East African entrepreneurs. Also funds Next Generation Schools, an independent charity focused on improving education quality in disadvantaged secondary schools in Uganda. The Mara Group recently signed a $300 million deal with the Tanzanian government to develop a 3.5 million square foot state of the art mini-city.

Ladi Delano, Nigerian
Age: 30
Founder and CEO, Bakrie Delano Africa
The jet-setting Nigerian serial entrepreneur made his first millions as a liquor entrepreneur while living in China. In 2004, at age 22, he founded Solidarnosc Asia, a Chinese alcoholic beverage company that made Solid XS, a premium brand of vodka. Solid XS went on to achieve over 50% market share in China and was distributed across over 30 cities in China, and pulled in $20 million in annual revenue. Delano subsequently sold the company to a rival liquor company for over $15 million and ploughed his funds into his next venture-The Delano Reid Group, a real estate investment holding company focused on mainland China.  Today, Delano is the co-founder
and Chief Executive Officer of Bakrie Delano Africa(BDA) – a $1 billion joint venture with the $15 billion (market cap) Bakrie Group of Indonesia. Bakrie Delano Africa serves as the investment partner of the Bakrie Group in Nigeria. The Indonesian conglomerate has provided over $900 million worth of funds to invest in Nigeria and Bakrie Delano Africa is responsible for identifying investment opportunities in mining, agriculture and oil & gas and executing them.

Justin Stanford, South African
Age: 28
Founder & CEO, 4Di Group
South African-born Stanford is a software entrepreneur and venture capitalist. After dropping out off high school, Stanford set out to launch an internet security company which flopped.  When he came across ESET, a Slovakian anti-virus software package, he negotiated with its manufacturers and cornered the exclusive, lucrative Southern African distribution for the product. Today, Stanford’s ESET Southern Africa operates the ESET brand in the region and sells ESET’s range of internet security products in about 20 sub-Saharan countries, leveraging on an extremely successful internet business platform and digital distribution model for online software sales and service. Today, Stanford’s ESET brand records over $10 million in annual turnover and controls 5% of the anti-virus market in Southern Africa. Stanford is also the founding partner of 4Di Capital, a Cape Town-based venture capital fund. Stanford is also a co-founder of the Silicon Cape Initiative, a non-profit movement that aims to turn the Cape into Africa’s own Silicon Valley.

Magatte Wade, Senegalese
Age: 36
Founder, Adina World Beat Beverages & Tiossan
In 2004 Magatte Wade founded Adina World Beat Beverages, a San Franciscobeverage company that manufactures coffee, tea and fruit juices using traditional beverage recipes across Africa and organic ingredients sourced from smallholder farmers in Africa and Asia. Within five years of launching, Adina raised over $30 million in venture capital from institutional investors and the products began being sold by Whole Foods and United Natural Foods. Magatte stepped down from her position as CEO to grow her second company,Tiossan, a manufacturer of luxury skin care products based on indigenous Senegalese recipes.

Mike Macharia, Kenyan
Age: 36
Founder & CEO, Seven Seas Technologies
When he was 25, Macharia, a Kenyan national, founded Seven Seas Technology, now easily East Africa’s most reputable IT services firm.  The $50 million (annual sales) company is a leading provider of integrated business and technology solutions across Africa in the telecom, financial, Real Estate, service industry and government. Seven Seas is gearing up to get listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange next year.


Vinny Lingham, South African
Age: 33
Founder, Yola Inc
Lingham, a South African national, is the founder ofYola Inc, a San Francisco-based Web 2.0 outfit that provides free website building, publishing and hosting services to over 3 million active users across the globe. Yola has attracted over $30 million in venture capital financing from institutional investors such asColumbus Venture Capital, a subsidiary of South African billionaire Johann Rupert’s Richemont Group. Prior to Yola, Lingham foundedClick2Customers, a hugely successful search engine marketing company with offices in London, Cape Town, and Los Angeles.  Click2Customers rakes in about $100 million in annual revenues. Lingham is a co-founder of the Silicon Cape Initiative along with fellow South African entrepreneur Justin Stanford.

Kamal Budhabatti, Kenyan
Age: 36
CEO, Craft Silicon
Kamal is the founder and CEO of Craft Silicon, a $50 million (market value) Kenyan software company which provides software in core banking, microfinance, mobile, switch solutions and electronic payments for over 200 institutional clients in 40 countries spread across four continents.

Yolanda Cuba, South African
Age: 35
Executive Director, South African Breweries
When Yolanda Cuba was 29 she was appointed CEO of Mvelaphanda Holdings, a Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed investment holding company. She was awarded stock options worth over $10 million which she exercised before stepping down as CEO last year. She subsequently took up a job as an Executive Director at South African Breweries.  Cuba still serves on the boards of South African blue chips such as Steinhoff International Holdings and Absa Group.


Source Forbes

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My Heart Bleeds For Dana Victims. May God Comfort Us

Written by  NWABUKING IKEMBA

On Sunday 3^rd June 2012, the Dana 150+ were gruesomely expunged from the face of the earth. Like a bad makeup it was an ugly sight to face. A terrible nightmare that many people like myself are yet to awake from. What a tragedy! Another air disaster opening wounds of Sosoliso, Bellview and ADC crashes. Dana Air’s monumental loss eclipsed that of other crashes. Bizarre fact is that, all the crashes occurred only on Sundays.

I can’t unwrap my mind from the crash. Any little thing takes me literally to the crash scene, instantly a 3D clip of the horror and woes plays in my head and it won’t stop. I had a similar experience when I first watched the movie Titanic some years ago. I kept wondering what a horrible death those people died. It was more than a movie to me. I had to imagine deeply what they went through before their last breath. That experience is a miniscule fraction of how I feel now. It’s like I can picture clearly every horrific detail of the crash, especially the part that no one saw. I see a mother screaming her smoke-filled lungs out in the inferno to the point she’s choked and can’t yell again still, she desperately tries to protect her children. What could be going on through her mind? Is it regrets or accomplishments? I can imagine she made the children one promise or the other to fulfill in the Lagos. They were her cherished little angels sacrificed unnecessarily.

The air hostess who has searched entire eternity for a job and was finally overjoyed when she received a Dana air job offer letter. The businessman on a business trip which may or may not have been successful, I’m sure someone on that plane was told not to travel but the person refused so as to meet a deadline. The unfaithful spouse on a getaway with a secret lover, or the runs girl coming back from her business of giving sexual pleasure, the scenario is endless. Maybe someone went in place of the boss.

A boko haram supporter could’ve been amongst them. Digressing a bit, had Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab been on that flight with the intention of bringing it down but failed without anyone noticing, but the plane still crashed anyway, nobody would’ve known he’s a terrorist. You’ll be surprised the manner of people that shared their flight and gruesome death. The pastor prayed fervently for a miracle I believe. These unfortunate ones all had intentions and planned ahead unfortunately they didn’t see ahead.

Obviously everyone prayed to their God or gods to save them. I’m sure that, that mother taught her children that God is a merciful God. Such a bad time for God or gods to be swamped attending to needs of those not on that ill-fated plane you may say. Why will God allow such a calamity to befall them? Oh well we cannot question God or can we? He has our good intentions at heart no doubt.

I remember one man from my village that has this legendary ‘K-Leg’ that, without being high or drunk you may easily mistake it for the letter ‘X’. His wife loved him so unconditionally. I admire them a lot. They had no child but they’ve lived together till date. There was a time he broke his K-leg, somebody sympathizing with him said;

Sympathizer:   Oh God, why will he let such thing happen to you?

The Man         :   If it didn’t happen to me would you let it happen to you?

These sorts of accidents will always be among us like the poor just like the bible said but that doesn’t mean God is not watching us. God is watching. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says we should give thanks in all situation. Give thanks you weren’t among them at least. Give thanks that the number of victims weren’t a lot more than recorded.  However this is a lot easier said than done. I can understand the pain is too much to bear. I deeply grieve with you. I’m a victim too. Not because I lost someone, but by virtue of being a patriotic Nigerian, I lost everyone on that plane.

“Where There Is Death, There Will Always Be Death”. I heard that in Men In Black 3. Comparable to that quote is this one, “When It’s Your Time To Go, It’s Your Time To Go”

Applying the last quote, it’s safe to say all the Dana victims  would’ve died on that day one way or another even if they didn’t step foot on that plane. It may or may not be horrific. As a kid I stopped fearing death. The fear kills you several times before your actual death. Also I stopped shedding tears but deep inside me, I always cry an ocean. Something I express as ‘calm on the surface, tsunami underneath’. I lost a beloved younger sister a couple years ago, it was terrible. I know what it’s like to lose a loved one. Believe me I know.

But beyond death itself, which is inevitable is the question of how death was served. Was it quietly, peacefully or painfully?  The major issue devouring me is the manner they perished in such unimaginable anguish, plus those cute little angels whose bright future was nipped in the bud. That is driving me insane with sympathy. I really wished their souls were harvested peaceful.

I always say if I’m given the option to choose how I’ll relocate from the surface of the earth to six feet under the surface, it’ll be this; ‘At a ripe age, I go to bed in the night and never get up in the morning with a sleepy smile on my face implying mission accomplished. And everybody will celebrate instead of mourn. Who am I to say? It might just happen like I want it. I can’t imagine what the relatives and loves of the Dana victims are going through now. I feel deeply saddened. I feel tormented at the thought of the torture they passed through in the plane turned furnace. Even those little cute kids got roasted like that…… it’s so unfair. My heart is so heavy. I identify completely and sympathize with both the victims and those mourning them especially the Anyene family who lost 9 members. It’s only homo sapiens without a shred of humanity in them that won’t feel a profound sense of loss whether you know any of the victim or not.

Since death was certain, it would’ve been of utmost humanitarian service to bury a bullet in the brain of the Dana Air crash victims rather than let them go through that agonizing and torturous path to the grave.

I wonder the last words they said to their loved ones? Did they leave unsettled quarrel? On that plane was the good, the bad, the ugly and the evil but let’s leave judgment to God. I sincerely pray that their soul rest in absolutely perfect peace. And may God completely comfort those mourning them. As the nightmare preys on me, I also pray for my own peace of mind.

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