admin2020, Author at Loladeville

Sports

I'll fire Wenger if i buy Arsenal – Dangote

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has declared that the first thing he will do if his plans to takeover Arsenal is successful is to sack Arsene Wenger. The richest man in Africa made this known in an interview with Bloomberg Dangote and he affirmed his desire to invest in the English club once he completes a major oil refinery project in the Nigerian capital of Lagos.

“The first thing I would change is the coach, He has done a good job, but someone else should also try his luck.” The 60 year-old said.

Dangote intends to make an offer valued Arsenal at £2bn. “If they get the right offer, I’m sure they would walk away, Someone will give them an offer that will make them seriously consider walking away. And when we finish the refinery, I think we will be in a position to do that.” He added

admin2020August 17, 2017, 1:38 pmMarch 31, 2020 0 331

Arts, Features

Photos from Pastor EA Adeboye's surprise book launch

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Dignitaries thronged The RCCG Youth Centre, on August 15, 2017 for the launch of Pastor EA Adeboye’s new book titled: ‘Pastor EA Adeboye: His Life And Calling’. The distinguished man of God had no inkling of the project as his wife had hid information about the book from her husband for one year, saying that she planned it to coincide with his 75th birthday.

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The 40-page book offers a fresh insight into the life and calling of Pastor EA Adeboye, it documents his challenges and achievements through the years.

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Roll call of guests at the event include Presiding Bishop, Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel) Bishop David Oyedepo, Acting President of Nigeria, His Excellency Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and his wife, Dolapo, Former President, General Olusegun Obasanjo, Wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Her Excellency Bolanle Ambode, Chief Executive Officer of Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, Dr Stella Okoli and a host of others.

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In his remark, the revered cleric said, “The event of today, without any doubt, has been a great surprise to me. This is because my wife hid it from me, and we don’t normally hide anything from each other, because we have been married for 50 years and we are still on honeymoon. Why the event is a surprise to me is that God also hid it for me. I had no inkling at all from my Daddy that something like this is happening. If God hid it from me, it must mean that He approved of it. My wife knows that if I had any idea about what is happening today, it will never happen. I would have stopped it long ago because who am I without Jesus Christ? If there is anyone to be celebrated, it should be Him.
He continued, “People say I am humble, but people need to know where I am coming from. I cannot say I have any ability or wisdom. Everything has been the Lord Himself. When I was about 40 and I saw grey hairs on my head, I wondered why and God said I was carrying a burden that was not mine.
“God said, ‘I am just using you as camouflage. People need to see someone. So, I am putting you forward so that I can do the work from behind.’ So, everything that is happening in RCCG, nothing is of Adeboye at all; it is all about God. So, for you to say you are writing a book about somebody that is nothing, someone who has almost zero beginning, from a poor family and passed through secondary school by God’s grace. For God to allow today to happen without telling me, it can only be that He wants to draw your attention to Himself that if you allow Him, He will do great things, using you as camouflage.”

Eulogising his wife of 50 years, Daddy GO as fondly called said, “If you can find a woman that can stand by you with 40 days of prayer and fasting, first, second, third time and willing to go with you as long as possible, then I will classify your wife as second to mine. Without my wife, I cannot be doing what I am doing today,” he said.

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Photo Credit: Open Heavens International Centre

https://www.facebook.com/OpenHeavensIC

www.ohic.org

admin2020August 17, 2017, 10:16 amMarch 31, 2020 0 468

Sports

"This is persecution" Cristiano Ronaldo reacts to 5-match ban

Cristiano Ronaldo has labelled his recent ban by Spanish football, persecution, adding that it is exaggerated and ridiculous.

Recall that the Portuguese was handed a five-match ban for taking his shirt off and diving and pushing the referee following his dismissal in the Supercopa de Espana played against Barcelona few days ago.

The Real Madrid forward shared his thoughts on the punishment on his instagram page, “Impossible to be immune to this situation, 5 games !! It seems to me exaggerated and ridiculous, this is called persecution! Thanks to my teammates for the support and the fans !!!”

admin2020August 16, 2017, 7:58 pmMarch 31, 2020 0 375

Sports

Ogenyi Onazi denied work permit.

According to BBC Sport, Nigeria international Ogenyi Onazi has been denied a work permit to play for Birmingham City. The central midfielder who recently quit Turkish club, Trabzonspor had his application rejected by the Football Association.
BBC learnt that Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the past two editions of the Nations Cup has affected his chances of securing the permit. An appeal made by the club was rejected on Wednesday despite Onazi featuring in over 80% of the national team games.
The 24 year-old has made 38 appearances times for the Super Eagles.

admin2020August 16, 2017, 7:26 pmMarch 31, 2020 0 369

Features

Bill Gates donates 5% of his fortune to charity.

World’s richest man, Bill Gates has donated $4.6billion worth of his Microsoft shares to charity, his biggest donation since he set up the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000. A report by a US Securities & Exchange Commission states that the Philanthropist’s donation comes in the form of 64 million Microsoft shares, valued at $4.6billion and representing about 5% of his current $90bn fortune. Gates now has his stake in Microsoft reduced to 1.3% from 24% in 1996.

admin2020August 16, 2017, 1:40 pmMarch 31, 2020 0 308

Sports

Kevin-Prince Boateng released by Las Palmas.

Kevin Prince Boateng and Las Palmas have reached an agreement to terminate his contract with the club. The German-born Ghanaian footballer cited “irreversible personal reasons” for leaving the club. The midfielder who scored 10 goals for Las Palmas in 2016/17, the most he’s even managed in a single campaign will formally say goodbye to Las Palmas in a press conference this afternoon. Kevin has been linked to a move to Eintracht Frankfurt.

admin2020August 16, 2017, 11:13 amMarch 31, 2020 0 336

Sports

#Supercopa: Ronaldo handed five-match ban for pushing referee

What’s an el-clasico without drama?
Cristiano Ronaldo has been handed a five-match ban for taking his shirt off and diving and pushing the referee following his dismissal in the Supercopa de Espana played against Barcelona last night. The Madrid forward who scored one of the three goals of the night was furious after he was shown a second yellow card for slipping easily into the Barcelona box.

admin2020August 14, 2017, 2:22 pmMarch 31, 2020 0 401

Features

The Agriculture Revolution in the Niger Delta: The story of a Farming General |By: Paul Boroh

As an officer in the Army, I took to farming believing that is the future of the country and that on a personal level, I could better sustain my family. Our lands are so fertile that I did not need much fertilizer; the inputs were minimal and the yields were much. Our climate, by God’s grace is predictable; it rains when it should rain and the sun shines when it should; so why not take advantage of what nature has freely given us as Nigerians.

When in July 2015, His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed me Special Adviser on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, I had the primary responsibilities of streamlining the Programme and transforming it back on track, working for peace in the Niger Delta and sustainably reintegrating some 30,000 Amnesty beneficiaries back into society. Although we have various integration programmes which include education, vocational training, professional training in Aviation and Maritime, automobile engineering, entrepreneurial training and tourism and hospitality; I had no doubt that the best way to integrate such a huge number of beneficiaries quickly and sustainably, is through aquaculture and agriculture.

However, I also realized that this requires a lot of planning and painstaking implementation; like other programmes, we had to conceptualize, plant, culture and water the ideas to the germination and harvest stages. We approached a number of agencies and embassies especially the Israeli Embassy. We have also gone into partnership with various Agricultural bodies. But as a basic step, we had to get the beneficiaries interested so they can buy into the Programme.

In keying into the Federal Government’s Agriculture Initiative, we presented our ideas and the facts on the ground. The facts are that agriculture creates mass sustainable jobs and empowerment; advanced technology and high yield varieties ensure good harvest, and costs can be drastically reduced by building locally fabricated integrated feed mills which rely entirely on local products. Also, our country of over 180 million people is a huge market in itself and additionally, the ECOWAS (West African Region) provides a market that is more or less limitless. On the national level, we know that in taking to agriculture, the country is moving towards food self- sufficiency and security.

I am happy at the level of enthusiasm for agriculture amongst Amnesty Beneficiaries and to harvest this, we had turned to the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) with an agreement to train an initial one thousand beneficiaries and youths at its Bio-Resource Centre in Odi, Bayelsa State. Unfortunately, budget delays have not allowed us to take full advantage of this agency which uses technology and the principles of science to produce high yields in farming. However, the Presidential Amnesty Office has trained and began to empower Amnesty Beneficiaries in crop farming, fishery and poultry. As at June, 2017, 1,000 Amnesty beneficiaries across the nine Oil-Producing States are being trained in agriculture and will be empowered to establish their own farms. These include 105 Beneficiaries undergoing training in Agro-Business with the Songhai Rivers Initiative at the Songhai Farms, Rivers State, and 100 Beneficiaries training in fish farming under kabocastle Services at its Perecastle Fish Farm, Patani, Delta State. Also, an average of 25 Beneficiaries each are being trained in fish farming in six centres including the Delta State University by Gedisco Energy solutions, Infinite Farms in Ozoro, Delta State and Orus Resources Farm, Aluu, Rivers State.

At the Institute of Oceanography, University of Calabar, Cross Rivers State, 96 Beneficiaries are undergoing training in fish farming. The Ma-Atari Farms, Port Harcourt are training some Amnesty Beneficiaries in agriculture and poultry farming, the Ogbebor Leadership Institute, Ologbo, Edo State is training some in rubber processing, TSC Services is training 24 in General Agri-Business at the Edo State College of Education, Iguoriakhi, Edo State while Eunirusk Investment is training 18 in Cassava, Corn and Oil Palm at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State. Forty eight Amnesty beneficiaries are being trained in crop farming by the Faculty of Agriculture, Imo State University. The training in agriculture is designed as a full value chain ; from farming, production, processing, packaging, marketing to Agri-Business Management.

By our planning, each farm will require the services of at least four farmers. This has the prospect of creating 4,000 farm workers in the Region under this phase. Also, some leaders of the Amnesty Beneficiaries have bought our argument that building houses is not sustainable as they have to be serviced and maintained, but in contrast, taking to agriculture is a money-yielding venture.

So many of them have bought into the agriculture revolution. One of them is into large scale rice farming in Bayelsa State while another which has taken to plantain cultivation, is emerging as the biggest farmer in Bomadi, Delta State. It is not only the consciousness of the Amnesty Beneficiaries that need to be transformed but also that of the Niger Delta and country as a whole; oil is a wasting asset, it may dry up in the foreseeable future. In contrast what the future foresee is that agriculture would enrich us all. So let us start with the basic policy of eating only what we grow, and growing what we eat. Change should begin with each of us.

*Brigadier General Paul Boroh (Rtd) is the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme. A professional peace practitioner and now a farmer.

admin2020August 14, 2017, 12:07 pmMarch 31, 2020 0 350

Entertainment

No regrets leaving banking for blogging – Laila Ijeoma

I’ld like use this medium to extend my warm wishes to this beautiful colleague, Laila Ijeoma of lailasblog.com who is a year older today. God bless you real good. Below is her interview in Vanguard Newspapers.

In a chat with Saturday Woman, she says she has no regrets a year after taking this huge leap of faith as she now has all the time to focus on her family and continue to grow her blog even bigger.

Why did you dump your bank job for full-time blogging?

I started blogging as a joke in 2012; I wasn’t looking for money because I was already gainfully employed at that time. All I wanted was an outlet to share my life with Nigerians, inspire them with my stories. So I started a Facebook group called, ‘True love for my man’- that should be around 2010. That was the first social media account I used to gather people together and we chatted about love and heartbreak. My big dream had always been to have a top Nigerian talk show, so I later started a show on radio. I eventually had to put it on hold because it was so demanding. Being married, a mum to 3 boys, working at the bank, there was a lot to do in just 24 hours every day and the whole schedule nearly ‘killed’ me, so I had to drop the radio show. Along the line, I discovered blogging through a colleague at the bank where I worked; he owned a blog, after he introduced me to it that fateful day, I got hooked. I realized I could reach out to people through it with much less stress compared to a radio show. I told him I would love to have mine and he helped me set it up. I didn’t even take it serious then. But as I kept on sharing stories, and I read comments from my audience, I knew this was what I was born to do. I have always been a science student in school, I knew nothing about blogging, and I had zero celebrity friends, zero celebrity sources for my stories but I didn’t let that stop me.

How difficult was it juggling being a banker, blogger, wife and mother of three boys?

It was a crazy, hectic schedule! On a daily basis, I woke up 4am; go to bed sometimes 12 midnight. And the next day, I still have to go to work. No excuses. I was able to run my life like that for four years because I was purely fuelled by passion. I just love blogging, there’s this irreplaceable, beautiful joy it brings me. As with every new venture, the beginning is usually slow.

How long did it take for your traffic to skyrocket?

It took about 6 months after I made the first post on my blog for my traffic to start skyrocketing.

Did the traffic immediately translate to money for you?

No it didn’t. My traffic didn’t translate to so much money till 2014. That was the year this particular company contacted me and ran an advert with me that lasted for a full year and changed my life.

Would you say blogging is lucrative in Nigeria?

As long as you are a passionate blogger, as long as you are in blogging because you enjoy what you are doing, as long as your blog, its concept, its contents are original, not a rip off of another blogger’s website; blogging is the best thing that can ever happen to you. The rewards will blow your mind! It’s already an open secret that blogging can make you a billionaire. You get lots of free stuff from brands too. People just call you up. They want to advertise on your website and they are handing out their products and services to you for free so you can review them and share with your readers. Then you have the best reward; you are recognised as a voice that can start a change. You are respected. People want to read what you have to say about a situation. Readers are so addicted to your blog that they wake up in the morning and can’t wait to read what is on Laila’s Blog today. As a blogger, you can comfortably work from home in your pyjamas.

So you prefer blogging to banking?

I did banking for 10 years in one of the best banks in Nigeria and I enjoyed it. But I wasn’t self-fulfilled, I wanted more. Again, I was already blogging for over 3 years alongside my day job. Truth is as time went on, it became harder running my blog, bank job, family and taking care of myself efficiently. I wanted to wake up in the morning to the joy of knowing that all I had to do for that day was write about the trending stories in Nigeria and not miss any story just because it happened while I was offline. I also wanted to spend more time with my very supportive husband and children every day.

How would you compare your income now to when you were a banker?

It has been tremendously rewarding, spiritually, family-wise, and financially. You know with a steady day job, you don’t have to worry about getting your paycheck at the end of the month. There are days I worry- what if I don’t make money this month? That was why before I quit my bank job, I made sure I saved up my salary and had at least 6 months’ salary set aside. I actually had a full year salary saved up before I made the leap and resigned. If you don’t plan properly, things can actually go wrong and your dreams won’t come out the way you planned them; you will fail and life will become miserable. I’m so glad I conquered my fears of what if something goes wrong and took the leap. My friends, family, parents thought I was crazy when I first mentioned it. But after they saw I wasn’t going to quit blogging and that I had prepared for the worst; they rallied round and supported my decision to leave banking. Having them behind me made me stronger and I left.

Any regrets so far?

None whatsoever; my income tripled. My kids wake up in the morning they see mummy. Mummy takes them to school, mum brings them back, mum tucks them into bed every night, mummy helps them with their school assignments, things I couldn’t do before. I love what I do now and it gives me so much joy. I just miss my former colleagues once in a while.

What are the challenges you face as a blogger, especially those peculiar to the Nigerian blogosphere?

My biggest challenge is internet network; there are times I wake up to blog and I discover my internet isn’t as fast as I need it to be. Sometimes, it’s entirely down so I can’t even blog. Second challenge is power; a laptop is to a blogger what the Bible is to a Pastor. Laptops can only work if they are charged. Because I am online at least 18 hours daily, I spend a lot on fuel for generators.

What stands you out from other bloggers?

You can be very sure that out of the over 50 stories you read on Laila’s blog in a day, at least 50% are our original stories. Again, we deliver stories as they are happening. You will read breaking news, trending stories first on Laila’s blog before they appear on other websites.

In your estimation, what’s the future of blogging in Nigeria in the next five years? With a computer today, anybody can build a global business from his/her bedroom, with a bit of creativity and sheer determination. Every day, we have over a hundred new bloggers coming online. Vlogging is now a huge thing! Five years from now, I see more younger people doing big things, conquering boundaries, becoming millionaires through blogging in Nigeria. I also see blogging in Nigeria becoming more professional. I am a registered member of this CAC registered bloggers’ association called The Guild of Professional Bloggers in Nigeria.

Aside blogging, any future plans?

I have this huge passion for taking care of orphans and vulnerable children, kids under the age of 18 years who are at high risk of lacking adequate care and protection. Right now I have 10 under my care, children my husband and I take care of. We have plans of taking that number up a notch.

Any tips for upcoming bloggers who look up to you?

One Mr. Mohammed Mustafa Ahmedzai once said ‘The easiest job on earth is starting a blog but the toughest job is maintaining it.” And this is simply because patience matters in blogging, and most upcoming bloggers don’t have that! Experienced bloggers will tell you that you should only start to think about making money from your blog at least after 6 months of blogging. But every day, I get emails from new bloggers with 1-2 month old blogs asking you how to apply for Adsense. These new bloggers apply for AdSense and most times, they are rejected and you see them quit blogging. From the day anybody starts blogging till the day he/she ends her blogging career, there are lots of problems you’ll face. Solving these problems and moving ahead is not easy as it sounds! And that’s another reason upcoming bloggers quit blogging easily. So my first tip for them will be to have patience. Without it, their eyes shall not see the billions blogging can drop in their bank accounts. If your main reason for blogging is money and you have no patience for earning it, then you’re not going to earn from blogging at all!

What’s your biggest wish in life?

I wish to make the world a better place by saving abused and vulnerable children and making sure their oppressors get severely punished for their wickedness

admin2020August 12, 2017, 12:59 pmMarch 31, 2020 0 387

Opinion

Opinion: The Mindless Worship of Gadgets | By: Tony Ogunlowo

We have a new addiction in our lives and it’s called the mindless worship of gadgets.

We can’t do without our gadgets and the main culprits are smartphones and tablets.

Our popular gadgets are simply inanimate electronic devices that are designed to serve a purpose. For instance the primary function of a cellphone, regardless of its make, is to make and receive calls. Anything else after this is secondary: but people tend to spend their every waking moment glued to them, switching from one app to another, texting, streaming videos and checking Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates. To them the outside world becomes a nonentity as they continue to worship, devoutly, the electronic device in their hands. Take away anybody’s smartphone and they’ll become suicidal!

And there’s the gadgets themselves: the pricier, apparently, the better. How many of us still worship the God of Apple? We can’t wait for the next iPhone, iPad, iWatch or i-whatever to hit the stores before we rush out to buy it, whether we need it or not: in turn we’ve turned our God, the Apple Corporation, into one of the richest companies on Earth.

Any gadget bought, today, is not worth what you pay for it. Being slaves to consumerism the big corporations prey on our insatiable appetite for more and sell us useless upgrades, often for more money. Can anyone tell me what is the main discerning difference between an iPhone 4 and iPhone 6? None really, just a few added features and you’re prepared to pay through the nose for it!

Whilst these devices are handy, a necessity in the 21st century, alarming new statistics suggest we are allowing them to take over lives.

Our physical community structure is breaking down as more and more people are shunning physical contact with others in favour of virtual online relationships: we date online, socialize online and talk to each other online. Apps are being developed almost on a daily basis to enslave us more to our smartphones; you don’t even need to go out on to the street and hail a taxi anymore – just uber-it!

The inherent danger we expose ourselves too is that these devices we entrust our lives to are not safe: they can easily be taken over by hackers with evil or criminal intent. What happens to you when a hacker takes over your Facebook, Twitter or bank accounts? You’ll be in trouble! With no back up or means to access your accounts you stand to lose a huge chunk of your life.

And there’s also the health risks: repetitive strain injury from endless pressing away with your fingers and eye strain from staring at the screen for too long. Psychologically you become more and more isolated from the community and the world around you as your entire life is conducted through the touchscreen of your smartphone.

People should learn to rely less on their electronic gadgets and use them primarily for what they were designed for. They are designed to complement our lives and not take them over. A cell phone is designed to receive and make calls and not to be stared at every five minutes checking for social media updates!

Tony blogs at http://www.archangel641.blogspot.co.uk

admin2020August 12, 2017, 11:11 amMarch 31, 2020 0 365