Weddings in Nigeria

Has any one observed how Nigerians have turned a solemn affair like weddings into jamborees and carnivals nowadays? Even if it is just "knocking on the door" which is just getting to know the family and asking for the Lady's hand in marriage, there is so much noise and merrymaking. Starting from the ceremonial clothes, to the decorations in the church and the reception, you wonder if it is too much money syndrome that is acting out

Sometimes, the couple may not want but the parents will not accept and will take it upon themselves to do everything from printing invitation cards, distributing and hosting. Like my GO will say, you are exposing yourselves to the envy of neighbours and other family members who are not happy with you when you are involved in loud and expensive celebrations.

 Some parents think they are giving out their children in style and celebrating their achievements in the process not knowing they are inviting attacks from unfriendly friends and evil ones.

Don't get me wrong. Celebrating your wedding or your children' wedding is okay. I mean who is not happy that you are wedding or your children are wedding but let it be moderate.

Dont go to borrow for it or mortgage your happiness and peace for a celebration that will last for an hour or two. Rather keep the money for the real marriage which comes with a lot of demands, financial, physical emotional and spiritual.

H

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I WISH ALL THE COUPLES IN THIS PHOTO SPREAD A VERY HAPPY AND BLISSFUL MARRIED LIFE.
I say congratulations to all the friends and family members. May they continually hear good news from them.
Good luck Everyone.I love you all.

POOR POWER SUPPLY

 When PHCN was privatised and unbundled into smaller  companies, we were very happy and very optimistic that electricity supply will improve and blackout will be a thing of the past in our Country. How wrong were we.

Even the President had a comment or two on the terrible electricity situation in the Country in his last media chat . On the poor electricity supply across the country:

“We are looking for funds for the gas sector. We want to see how we can get funds to invest in the sector.
“Though the private sector is interested, but in terms of these investments, the government should also play a key role.
“The major problem we have is the issue of gas. The power generating plants we have do not have enough gas, thereby, those that want to expand, can not expand because of gas limitation.
“The second one is in the issue of distribution. We are looking for money, through loan agreement to ensure that all houses are metered. But the private sector (companies) that bought these DISCOS are supposed to invest in metering these houses, but most of them borrowed money, even to buy these assets, to go and borrow another money is now becoming a problem.”
“We are now looking on how to get them meters, because people will pay back, since these meters ordinarily, are supposed to belong to the consumers.”
“How do we get the money? I think the World Bank, the African Development Bank or some other multinational agencies are willing to support us.”
“I can promise that it will get better, if it is not now, because of these challenges that we have, but we will surely improve on it, it will never get worse than this"

Very well said if you ask me but what do we as consumers do in the meantime while waiting for both the Government and the new investors to get their acts together for uninterrupted power supply?

The Federal Government, admitted that the privatisation exercise in the first instance was flawed and it had set up a committee called Power Investors’ Committee, to look at  the challenges and proffer immediate solutions on the power sector.
I don't know why this Government likes committee so much. Everything they do is setting up Committee, someone is dead, committee, girls are kidnapped, committee, building collapsed, Committee, bad roads, committee.

Unfortunately, the committees don't always solve the problems or even recommend workable solutions. I remember during Yar adua government, a committee was set up on this same power problem to go round the Country and to determine how much the former President Obasanjo spent on Power reforms. Till date nothing has been heard on the findings of the Committee. Even the one that Ndudi Elumelu and his colleagues in the House of Assembly and the Senate did only earn them jail terms.

All we want is for these committees to  guarantee effective performance of theses companies for the benefit of Nigerians. We are tired of Blackout, darkness or whatever this forever no electricity light is called.

The new owners of these electricity companies popularly called DISCO, should seek financial aid and get to work if they want Nigerians to take them seriously. 
I see no reason why we get high or crazy bills as we prefer to call the bills we get monthly from them and yet burn generators 247. Nigerians cannot continue like this. Financially we are drained and health-wise, the fumes from these generators are killing people.

 

#BringBackOurGirls

Thank God that the video showed some of the girls and the parents were able to identify them. This has rekindled Hopes that the girls will be rescued after almost a month of being abducted from their school, Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok,  Borno State.

When the President had that media chat and announced to the nation that the capacity of the Nigerian military was eroded by more than 20 years of under funding prior to the outbreak of the Boko Haram insurgency, and it cannot fight the terrorists, my heart skipped a beat and worry sets in. Worry because, the military was the last and only hope then to bring back those innocent girls. And when he said the military does not have the capacity to fight the insurgents, we lost hopes of any rescue. Read below what he said.

President Goodluck Jonathan

The session opened with a question on the abduction of girls and the President responded with the challenges we face as a nation:

As a nation, we are having our fair share of these challenges. But let me use this unique opportunity to thank and appreciate Nigerians for their concern and their commitment to, as a nation, get over these challenges. I promise that we will get over our challenges.”

He called on the parents and guardians of the abducted school girls then to provide useful information that will assist security personnel find the girls, he said:

On the school girls that were kidnapped, it is getting up to three weeks now, one thing that we know is that from April 24, the security personnel have been searching everywhere. They know that this thing happened in Borno State, and Borno State is where we have the highest number of the terrorists called Boko Haram. If this thing had happened in another state and security personnel were moved, the whole world would have seen a lot of mobilization. Security personnel are already on ground. All the information given to us, we have searched the places, we have used helicopter to search the surfaces.
 “We promise that wherever these girls are, we will surely get them out. The good thing is that there is no story that any of the girls have been hurt, injured or dead. I really sympathize with the parents and guardians of these girls. We are all fathers and mothers. Let us reassure them that we will get their daughters. I recently held a security meeting with the service chiefs and I also sent for the governor of Borno State, who came with the Commissioner for Education and the principal of the school and we had some useful discussion with them.
“We believe that wherever these girls are, we will get them out. What we request is maximum cooperation from the parents and the guardians of these girls. Up till this time, they have not been able to come out clearly to give the police the identity of the girls that are to return. The police have records of 44 of them, while the principal mentioned to me on Saturday night that 53 have returned but the police have record of 44. I recently set up a committee to go to Borno State, we will provide the security.
“We are pleading that the parents should cooperate with government, we will need the identities, including their photographs. We are also talking to neighboring countries so that wherever they take those girls to, we will surely get them back if we get the maximum cooperation from the parents and guardians. Let me reassure Nigerians that we will get the girls out, we appreciate the concern shown by Nigerians and globally. We see what they are doing in terms of protest, which is quite healthy.”

When he said they have searched everywhere with planes and cannot locate the girls, we lost hope. It was as if the bokpo haram insurgents were invincible and very powerful. Left  for our President and his security personnel, the insurgents would have not become jittery and started showing videos and making demands for the exchange of the abducted girls. Now they know that with the sophisticated weapons of the international collaborators, they don't stand a chance in hell, so there are making demands.

Mrs Asaba Kwabura Principal of Girls Secondary School Chibok

One of the Northern Leaders said recently that  Boko Haram was an ideology built on falsehood which cannot stand the test of time. But the issue here is that they have not done anything to terminate this ideology. I keep wondering if the Northern elders are scared of the sponsors of this religious killer squad. Why haven't they come out boldly to challenge this group?.

Unfortunately we have been having these jihadists in the north. Its just that they keep changing their names but their mode of operations is the same - kill, maim, burn, destroy etc. Although the Governor described the the abduction of the students as a national tragedy, what has he desperately done as the Chief Security officer of the State to stop this tragedy from occurring  again.?

 Thank God once again that the girls are alive as shown on the video and for the help of Countries like the US, Britain, France and Israel. I am very hopeful now that the girls will be rescued by the Grace of God and the help of the military mights of these Countries. I thank God for prayers being offered daily by Christians all over the world for the rescue of the girls in particular and Nigeria in General.