Goodnight Legendary Mandela

Former South African president Nelson Mandela is died, aged 95.
 His death was announced by current president Jacob Zuma at a media conference a short while ago, saying, Mr Mandela had "departed" and was at peace.

 Late Nelson Mandela had been receiving intense home-based medical care for a lung infection after three months in hospital.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was one of the world's most revered statesmen after preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years.

 He was a great man and will be sorely missed. May his soul rest in perfect peace.

Nigeria to service debts with N2.08tn in three years

THE Federal Government plans to spend a whopping N2.08tn to service its debts in the next three years. This came just as findings also showed that the country’s debt profile under the current Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has risen by about N980bn from $42.23bn in 2011 to $48.36bn currently.

Nigeria’s debt profile under the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has risen by about N980bn from $42.23bn in 2011 to $48.36bn currently. The figure came just as findings also revealed that the Federal Government planned to spend a whopping N2.08tn to service the country’s debt in the next three years.

 The country’s total debt stock, according to figures obtained from the Debt Management Office, currently stands at $48.36bn, which is made up of external debt of $6.67bn and domestic debt of $41.69bn. Okonjo-Iweala was instrumental in helping the country to secure a debt relief of $18bn in 2005 during her first appointment as minister of finance under the former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

 Notwithstanding the country’s huge foreign reserves of about $46bn, analysts have expressed concern that the nation is gradually returning to the era of huge debt obligation. The figures for debt servicing as well as the county’s debt stock are contained in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper of the Federal Government, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent. They both fulfil a requirement of Section 11 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007, which stipulates that the minister of finance shall prepare the MTEF and FSP and get them approved by the Federal Executive Council and the National Assembly. The document stated that while N591.76bn was utilised in servicing the nation’s debt this year, the sum of N712bn, N684bn and N684bn would be used for the 2014, 2015 and 2016 fiscal periods, respectively. According to the document, fiscal deficit is projected to rise slightly to about 1.9 per cent of Gross Domestic Product in the 2014 budget, up from 1.85 per cent projected for 2013. This, the document stated, was as a result of declining revenue which the country had witnessed in recent times. It said, “The fiscal deficit is projected to rise slightly to about 1.9 per cent of GDP in the 2014 Budget, up from 1.85 per cent projected for 2013, as a direct consequence of the declining revenue but helped by the expenditure restraint.

 “As our concerted efforts to increase oil and non-oil revenue begin to yield benefits, government will redouble its efforts to reduce the fiscal deficit. “Government will continue to exercise fiscal prudence and limit its borrowing requirements in compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007. “In this regard, new borrowing in 2014 will be N572bn, slightly down from N577bn in 2013.”

 Okonjo-Iweala had in a report of the activities of the Ministry of Finance within the last two years said that $12bn (N1.92tn) funding agreements had been concretised by the Federal Government to finance the real sector of the economy. The amount was sourced from financial institutions such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, China Export-Import Bank and Islamic Development Bank at concessionary single digit interest rate and a moratorium of about 40 years.

 The affected sectors are agriculture (N202bn); environment (N91.2bn); transport (N640bn); water resources (N126.03bn); Niger Delta (N50bn) and health (N30.35bn). Others are power (N451.12bn); education (N39.97bn); Information and Communication Technology (N16bn) and job creation (N94.4bn).

"When shall we recover from all these GBESE" ??

Females outclass males at Ajayi Crowther convocation

The fifth convocation of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Oyo State held on Saturday with the highlight of the event being the elevation of female graduating students to the institution’s roll call of academic excellence.

The best of them all, Temitope Olayiwola, who graduated from the Department of Accounting and Finance, with a first class degree, started her academic journey in Ajegunle, a slum in Lagos State. Five hundred and fifty-two students obtained their degrees at the event.

Fourteen of them obtained first class degrees; 131, second class upper division and 300, Second Class Lower Division, while 104 graduated with Third Class. The list brought the total number of students that have graduated from the school since inception to 2,500. While Olayiwola emerged best from the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, another female, Eniola Adeoye, emerged the best from the Faculty of Humanities.

There was also applause for Aderonke Fashiku, who came top in the Faculty of Natural Sciences. The three girls graduated with first class degrees. Beyond emerging best at the faculty level, the trio also led the pack in the departmental prize award. Interestingly, Adetoun Olajumoke, Rainat Adepoju, Oluwatoyin Adeleye and Salimot Olaifa – all females – also picked the departmental prize awards.

 Even as the ladies took the shine of the day, there were glimpses of brilliance from Charles Sanusi, Olaitan Olukowade, Chimezie Uguzo and Adedamola Adenuga, who gave the menfolk a cause for celebration. Olayiwola, a product of Dorcas Memorial Nursery and Primary School, Ajegunle, and Lagos State Model College in Ikorodu, who also won Bolanle Awe Prize for the Best Female Student, said she drew inspiration after attending the university’s third convocation.

 “I feel so excited and happy. I give glory to God for this success. It was not easy in any way because there were distractions. But I thank God I came out with success despite all the challenges.

www.punchng.com 

Am like "Seriously???"

This damn too funny.

The Parable of the Talents - The Importance of Personal Effectiveness and Growth

There are many lessons that can be learnt from the Parable of the Talents as recorded in Matthew 25: 14- 30.

Now a Parable is a compound Greek word consisting of "para" which means "beside", and "ballein" which means "to throw." It literally means "to throw beside," thus to make comparison. And a Parable can have different interpretations, depending on who is reading it.

One of the interpretations that I like is the fact every human being is born with talents. A talent in this case can be said to be a natural aptitude or a skill. Some people are born with many skills (5 Talents), while some are born with one skill. But everyone has a skill. What matters isn’t what we’re naturally endowed with — it’s what we do with it that matters.

 So Jesus acknowledges the imbalance in the distribution of skills in life, but he also suggests that our starting conditions and environment are irrelevant.

One person earns five talents, another earns only two, but both are congratulated equally because both achieved a 100% gain. These persons have identified and effectively utilised their skills and aptitudes to produce 100% results. These people did not go around comparing themselves with others and moaning about the fact that some people had more than them. They were grateful and they delivered. However there is this servant who had one talent and buried it without achieving an increase. This is typical of some people who moan and groan about the fact that they were not blessed with a lot of talents or skills and therefore that is a reason for not reproducing 100%.

These people blame God for not getting enough and not achieving a lot in Life. They blame the environment, their parents, the government and even their looks. The Bible says that even those that did not reproduce had their talents taken off them and given to those that already had 10 talents. The one that did not reproduce ended up worse in life.

An effective lesson from this parable is to identify your God-given talents and seek to reproduce 100%. If you have only one talent, it means that God believes that only one talent is needed for you to achieve your dream or conquer the world. Take a look at musicians who rule the world with their voices and the athletes that astound the world with their feats.

 Remain blessed and grateful. -
http://www.covenantrelationships.org/2013/10/the-parable-of-talents-importance-of.html

Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man -Book Review

You've seen the movie but have you read the book? I figured the movie had some good points so the book would give more details. Being the opinionated person that I am, I don’t agree with all his points but I still feel he made so much sense.

Excellent advice. I recommend it for any woman struggling with relationships with men. It brings a lot of clarity to what many women are going through and will help you to realize what to look for in men. The first part of this book reads like a relationship manual but it does get better. I love the part on encouraging women to "get some standards." It's sad that people need to be told that but, obviously, they do. I'm glad to hear a man say it.

The sad but honest truth is that there are people who will try to get away with whatever you're willing to let them get away with. Surely there are some men out there who have standards of their own and don't need you to dictate yours in order to act accordingly. I take it, like any other "self help" book, with a pinch of salt. - See more at: http://www.covenantrelationships.org/2013/09/act-like-lady-think-like-man-review.html#sthash.q7bhMTWb.dpuf

Guess who this is.....

Do you have an idea?