Ibadan-Lagos expressway 1978

This picture was from 1978... in Nigeria. This is the old expressway Ibadan-Lagos expressway.

This was a road that was plied by my dad and uncles and his friends in quest for education, trade and job. They call it the story of Ibadan and Lagos.

There is no check-point; there is no yeye police saying wia your papers, or oga roger  us naaa...?

There are no potholes? No traffic... No armed robbers,...

It was the 70s and there were no issues like these...

Happiness

You were born in a first class hospital, I was delivered at home, we both survived.

You went to a private primary school and I went to a public school, we both ended in the same high school.

You woke up from the bed and I woke from the floor, we both had a peaceful night rest.

Your outfits are all expensive, mine are all simple and cheap, we both still cover our nakedness.

You ate fried rice and roasted chicken, I ate local made food but we both still ate to our satisfaction.

You ride on Lexus jeep, Range Rover, G Wagon, Hummer Jeep and I use public transport but we still got to our various destination.

You may be reading this post from your Sony xperia, BB Z10, Q10, Samsung Galaxy 6edge, IPhone6+ and I typed it with my Touch one broken screen, we still see the message.

Lifestyle is not a competition and there are different ways to get a lot of things done, different lanes all leading to the same destination. Just because your neighbour is doing things faster does not mean you are failing.

Happiness doesn't come from having everything, but making the best out of what you have, it's all about how you see yourself.

Happiness is not having what you like. Happiness is liking what you have and being content

Money to a wife

Money given to a wife by her husband... what do we call it?

The two Kenyans... a Joke

Nigerian guy living in Sweden smartly married a Swedish lady, so as to be legally certified with resident permit, but the lady was not aware of this. He lied to the lady that he is from Kenya because of the bad reputation of Nigerians in that part of Sweden. 

After their wedding, the lady returned home one day and informed the guy that she met her friend, a Swedish lady also married to a Kenyan and will like them to have a dinner together. The Naija guy was disturbed and kept thinking how he will get out of this dark spot. He postponed and postponed the proposed dinner until he got tired of postponing. 

Finally the D-DAY came, they all sat down in a restaurant. Our Naija guy was quiet and was sweating profusely in spite of the cold atmosphere of Sweden (-8C). The ladies asked their husbands to communicate in their local dialect since they are both from same country(Kenya). 

The Naija guy being a man of great savvy decided he will just speak Igbo, if the other guy didn't understand, he will claim that he is from another tribe and region in Kenya. Then he started, "Nwanne a wum nwafo owerri, owerre nchi ise, I wu kwanu onye olee, daa? 

The other Kenyan looked up and replied "Ah Nwanne, ekele diri chineke, onyena asuru ndigbo uzo ha. E chekwe m na enwela m nsogbu taa. Abu m nwafo AHIAZU Mbaise . Nwanne birikwe o! They shook hands and embraced each other to the admiration of the ladies. Igbo's no dey carry last. Igbo kwenu! Don't laugh alone, share.

Do you know that?

1. The River Niger Bridge at Onitsha was constructed between 1964 and 1965 by Dumez- a French construction company and cost £5 million.

2. Pat...ience Jonathan is one of Nigeria’s most-educated First Ladies, with an NCE, a B.Ed, and a PhD from University of Port-Harcourt.
3. The highest peak in Nigeria is located in Taraba and is called Chappal Waddi which means “The Mountain of Death”.
4. There are 196 countries in the world and at least one Igbo person from Nigeria lives in every one of them.
5. The Pidgin word ‘Sabi’ came from ‘Saber’, Portuguese and Spanish for ‘to know’. Both country’s ships traded slaves from the Bight of Benin.
6. Katsina College (now Barewa College in Zaria) has produced 5 Nigerian Presidents/Heads of State since it was founded in 1921 in Katsina.
7. Ojukwu taught Murtala Mohammed and Ben Adekunle at Regular Officers Special Training School, Ghana. Both ‘fought’ their teacher during the civil war
8. At Nigeria’s independence in 1960, there were 41 Secondary Schools in the North and 842 Secondary Schools in the South.
9. In 1983, Senator Arthur Nzeribe spent $16.5 million to win a Senatorial seat in Orlu (in Imo State).
10. In 1973, the Federal Government of Nigeria considered officially changing the name of “Lagos” to “Eko”. Regarding “Lagos” as a colonial name.
11. The geographical area now referred to as Nigeria was once referred to as ‘Soudan’ and ‘Nigiritia’.
12. Offences punishable by death sentence after the 1966 coup included embezzlement, rape and homosexuality.
13. MKO Abiola was named Kashimawo (Let us wait and see) by his parents. He was his father’s twenty-third child, but the first to survive infancy.
14. Jaja Wachucku was the first person to refer to Lagos as a “no-man’s land” in 1947, provoking a national controversy.
15. Jollof rice, chicken breast, serve of ice cream, tea, coffee or Bournvita, with full cream milk and sugar: Meal Cost = 50Kobo- Unilag in the late 1970s
16. At the point death in 1989, Sam Okwaraji was a PhD candidate and qualified lawyer with an LL.M in International Law (University of Rome)
17. When British Bank of West Africa (now First Bank) opened a branch in Kano in 1929, Alhassan Dantata (Dangote’s Grandfather) opened an account depositing 20 camel-loads of silver coins.
18. Jaja Wachuku is reputed to have owned the biggest one-man library in West Africa. Balewa sometimes referred to him as “Most Bookish Minister
19. The colonization of Nigeria took more than 40 years to achieve and the territories were integrated by the use of force.
20. Yoruba is spoken as a ritual language the Santeria cult in Carribean and South-Central America.
21. Slavery existed in the Nigerian territory before the 15th century and was abolished in the 19th century- 1807 by the British.
22. At least 55 women were killed in South-East Nigeria, in 1929 when the women forced the Umuahia warrant chiefs to submit to their rule.
23. The coinage ‘Supreme Court’ was first used in 1863 by the colonial administration through the enactment of the Supreme Court Ordinance No. II.
24. MKO Abiola died suddenly on July 7, 1998, exactly one month after General Sani Abacha died mysteriously on June 8, 1998.
25. Agbani Darego was the only one to wear a maillot as opposed to a bikini during the Miss Universe contest in 2001.
26. The ‘Ankara’ material is not indigenous to Nigeria. Our indigenous textiles include the Akwete, Ukara, Aso-Oke and Adire.
27. Aloma Mukhtar is the first female lawyer from the North and went on to become the first female Chief Justice of Nigeria.
28. The area known as Makoro town in Lagos was first a swamp, later sand-filled by the colonial government and served as the first bridge to the Island.
29. Esie Museum is Nigeria’s first museum, established in 1945. Once reputed to have the largest collection of soapstone images in the world.
30. Aminu Kano formed the Northern Teachers’ Association (NTA) in 1948, the first successful regional organization in the history of the North.
31. George Goldie, who played a major role in founding Nigeria, placed a curse on anyone who attempts to write his biography.
32. In 1996, John Ogbu, a Nigerian Anthropologist firmly advocated for the use of African-American Vernacular to teach in the U.S
33. Hause Language indigenous to Northern Nigeria is spoken in 11 African States. Germany, French, U.S., and British International radio stations broadcast in Hausa.
34. The surgeon who ‘killed’ Stella Obasanjo was sentenced to 1 year in prison, disqualified for 3 years and fined €120,000.
35. The word ‘asiri’ means ‘secret’ in Hausa, Yoruba, Nupe and Igarra. It also means ‘gossip’ in Igbo.
36. Igbo-Ora in Oyo State, Kodinji in India and Candido Godoi in Brazil are the towns that produce the highest number of twin births in the world.
37. Bishop Ajayi Crowther, a Yoruba, in 1857 produced a reading book for the Igbo Language and a full grammar and vocabulary of NUPE in 1864.
38. The first TV broadcast in Nigeria and Tropical Africa was on October 31, 1959.
39. In 1978, a 50Kobo increase (from #1.50 to #2) in the cost of University Students’ meal per day caused the ‘Ali Must Go’ protests.
40. Albert E. Kitson discovered coal in Enugu in 1909. This discovery led to the building of Port-Harcourt town in 1912.
41. Today, only Nigeria has a larger black population than Brazil. More than 3.5 million Africans were captured, enslaved and transported to Brazil.
42. Groundnut pyramids were the invention of Alhaji Alhassan Dantata to stack bags before export.
43. In 1967, old traditional ruler, Oba Akran and A. Ademiluyi were jailed for 14 years (7 each) for stealing £504,750 (#2.5b).
44. Since 1960, Nigeria has been either ruled by an ex-lecturer/ex-teacher or military man. The only exceptions are Azikiwe and Shonekan.
45. If you visited Lagos in 1975, you could spend a day at the Presidential Suite of Federal Palace Hotel for #100, single room for #19.
46. The first aircraft to land in Nigeria landed in Kano in July 1925. A British fighter jet flew from Khartoum (present day Sudan).
47. In 1895, Koko of Nembe (now in Bayelsa) took 60 white men hostage. When the British refused his demands, more than 40 of those men were eaten.
48. The ‘Naira’ was coined by Chief Obafemi Awolowo when he was serving as the Federal Commissioner of Finance.
49. Koma Hill (settlement in Adamawa where people lived and practised the killing of twins) was discovered in 1986 by a NYSC corps member.
50. The pilot (Francis Osakwe) that flew Ojukwu away from Biafra (1970) was the same pilot that flew Gowon to Uganda (last flight as Head of State).
51. In 1986, Shehu Shagari was banned from participation in politics for life. The ban has still not been lifted.
52. As the wife of the deputy Head of State (Vice President of Nigeria) in 1984, Biodun Idiagbon personally ran a small ice cream shop in Ilorin..
53. Koma Hills (Adamawa State) inhabitants when discovered were observed to engage in the practise of borrowing wives among themselves.
54. Juju, Dashiki, Yam and Okra are words in the English dictionary that originated from ethnic groups located in present day Nigeria.
55. Nigeria has more English speakers than England, and more Muslims than Saudi Arabia and Syria.

Hard things to achieve successful

Success does not come easy. Ask any one who has made it to the top of the ladder of success and he/she will tell you that it was not a bed of roses. Success can often be a result of a life of self denial.

How often do we hear the saying ‘You cannot eat your cake and have it’. This is so true about success. You have to be
willing to do or face those things that 80% of the people don’t want to do or face to be a success story. Please continue below to a write-up I came across a while ago. Unfortunately I cannot remember where or how I came across this article.

In order to achieve success in life, You have to do the hard things.

1. You have to make the call you’re afraid to make.
2. You have to get up earlier than you want to get up.
3. You have to give more than you get in return right away.
4. You have to care more about others than they care about you.
5. You have to fight when you are already injured, bloody, and sore.
6. You have to feel unsure and insecure when playing it safe seems smarter.
7. You have to lead when no one else is following you yet.
8. You have to invest in yourself even though no one else is.
9. You have to look like a fool while you’re looking for answers you don’t have.

10. You have to grind out the details when it’s easier to shrug them off.
11. You have to deliver results when making excuses is an option.
12. You have to search for your own explanations even when you’re told to accept the “facts.”
13. You have to make mistakes and look like an idiot.
14. You have to try and fail and try again.
15. You have to run faster even though you’re out of breath.
16. You have to be kind to people who have been cruel to you.
17. You have to meet deadlines that are unreasonable and deliver results that are unparalleled.
18. You have to be accountable for your actions even when things go wrong.
19. You have to keep moving towards where you want to be no matter what’s in front of you.

You have to do the hard things. The things that no one else is doing. The things that scare you. The things that make  you wonder how much longer you can hold on.

Those are the things that define you. Those are the things that make the difference between living a life of mediocrity or outrageous success.

The hard things are the easiest things to avoid. To excuse away. To pretend like they don’t apply to you. The simple truth about how ordinary people accomplish outrageous feats of success is that they do the hard things that smarter, wealthier, more qualified people don’t have the courage – or desperation – to do.

Do the hard things. You might be surprised at how amazing you really are.

Bill Gates: 5 Success Attitudes

If you’re looking for a role model of lifelong success, you can’t do much better than Bill Gates.
Microsoft, the company he founded, created a whole industry. At a net worth of nearly $80 billion, he’s one of the richest men in the world. His philanthropic activities have a far and wide reach and have actually made the world a better place. Lest we forget, he also achieved his dream of putting a personal computer on every desk.

What factors contributed to Bill Gates’s success?
He certainly was in the right place at the right time with the right concept for a product. But over the years, he himself has pointed to some of the attitudes he believes lead to continued success. They’re a good guide for anyone, in any field.

Here are some of the 5 most relevant attitudes he looks for–and which anyone can develop:

1. Knowing how to say no.

This is an advice Bill Gates got from Warren Buffett, and it’s extremely useful for everyone, whether you’re rich and successful or not. There will always be an unending supply of opportunities, things to do, causes you care about, and on and on. In this busy world, knowing when and how to say no to projects, social invitations, and other requests for your time may be the most important skill you need. It will allow you to figure out what’s truly important, and then focus your attention there.

2. Welcoming criticism.

“Embrace bad news to learn where you need the most improvement,” Gates advises in his book “Business @ the Speed of Thought”. While it’s never pleasant to hear someone tell you how you’ve screwed up, without that kind of feedback, your learning process and growth will be much slower. I find listening to criticism nearly always gives me perspective that I didn’t have, and that I need.

Of course, some criticism is not useful–so you have to use your judgment to tell the difference. With that in mind, next time someone wants to chew you out, don’t walk the other way. Stop, listen, thank them–and learn.

3. Optimism.

It can be hard to be optimistic in a world where so many things seem to be going wrong. But without optimism, no one would ever start a company, invest in a new idea, or try out a new product or market.

Gates appreciates the value of optimism, and since his work addresses some of the most disheartening problems on our planet, such as sex trafficking, hunger, and extreme poverty, he needs a lot of it. “Optimism is often dismissed as false hope,” he said in a Stanford commencement speech in 2013. “But there is also false hopelessness.”

4. Being willing to fail.

“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose,” he wrote in his book The Road Ahead. Today’s can’t-fail product could wind up obsolete tomorrow, he explains, which could be what’s happening to desktop personal computers and the Windows operating system that often runs them.

You may find successes more enjoyable than failures, but it’s the failures that will teach you the most and give you the best opportunities to grow. Keep that in mind next time you fall flat on your face.

5. The ability to focus on a goal and keep progressing toward it.

In an annual letter from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates drew some lessons from the history of the steam engine. “You can achieve amazing progress if you set a clear goal and find a measure that will drive progress toward that goal,” he wrote. He went on to say that finding the right goal and the right metric for tracking one’s progress is surprisingly difficult.

Then again, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.