The Nation - Benefits of shea butter

The Nation - Benefits of shea butter

New Naira Note From Central Bank of Nigeria

CBN redesigns Naira notes, introduces N5,000

on AUGUST 23, 2012 · in NEWS

10:18 pm

www.vanguardngr.com

By Emman Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief

ABUJA—The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Thursday, announced the introduction of a new currency series under which the existing denominations of N50, N100, N200, N500 and the N1,000 notes will be redesigned with added security features.

CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, told journalists in Abuja at a briefing that N5,000 note would also be introduced, while the lowest denominations of N5, N10 and N20 are to be coined.

N5,000 NOTE: Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN (right) and CBN Deputy Governor, Serah Alade, at a briefing on the introduction of N5,000 note, with image of three Nigerian women, to be introduced in 2013, in Abuja. PHOTO: Gbemiga Olamikan.

He said: “On November 28, 2011, the CBN Board considered and approved the new currency series. It subsequently sought and, on December 19, 2011, obtained the approval of President Goodluck Jonathan.

“Under the new structure, the existing denominations of N50, N100, N200, N500 and N1,000 will be redesigned with added new security features. It is also our pleasure to inform you that a new high currency denomination will also be introduced. It is the N5,000 note.”

According to him, the CBN plans to launch the redesigned N50 and new N5,000 notes in early March 2013.

He said the introduction of the new currency series “will be a gradual process, as the banknotes will circulate simultaneously with the old series until they are fully withdrawn from circulation.

“Therefore, there will be no urgent need for exchange of the old for the new banknotes by the general public for as long as the old notes are in circulation, they remain legal tender.”

Mallam Sanusi revealed that the N5,000 note will bear the pictures of three notable Nigerian women: Margaret Ekpo, Funmi Kuti and Gambo Sawaba, all deceased, as a way of recognising their contributions to the development of the nation.

The second side of the note, he added, will carry the picture of the National Assembly, which represents the symbol of democracy in Nigeria.

The governor declined to disclose the contractors that carried out the re-designing work and the overall cost of the project.

Reacting to concerns that introducing higher denominations at this period could push up inflation, Sanusi said: “Inflation in Nigeria is a monetary phenomenon. Secondly, in some countries such as Singapore, Germany and Japan, the highest denominations are 10,000 SGD, 500Euro and Yen 10,000, respectively.

“These denominations have relatively high dollar equivalent. The levels of inflation are, however, low at 2.8, 1.1 and -0.7, respectively as at 2010.

“We believe that the introduction of a higher bill would complement the bank’s cashless policy as it would substantially reduce the volume of currency in circulation, particularly in the long term.”

The search for the real killers continue as police defiles court order

Probe the Oyerinde murder arrests

on AUGUST 24, 2012 · in EDITORIAL

5:00 am

www.vanguardngr.com

THE search for the real killers of the late Principal Private Secretary to the Governor of Edo State, Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde, is rapidly turning into another show of shame amidst conflicting efforts by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Department of State Security Services (SSS).

Shortly after the dastardly murder took place on Thursday, May 4, 2012 in the deceased’s private residence in Benin City, the SSS, acting on Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s ultimatum on the security agencies to fish out the killers, paraded six suspects in Abuja.

Not to be outdone, the Police also paraded another group of six suspects in Benin City, alleging that they were the real culprits. The Benin suspects named one “David” as the person who sponsored them to do the job, and the Police promptly pulled in Reverend David Ugolor, a civil rights activist and close friend of Olaitan, who was also seen with Olaitan on the night he was murdered.

Since then, civil society and human rights groups commenced a massive campaign for the release of Ugolor from detention, saying the facts the Police proffered were not enough to warrant his continued detention without trial. Then on August 17, 2012, a Benin High Court presided over by Justice Esther Edigin, ordered the immediate and unconditional release of Ugolor, an order that the Police authorities were yet to comply with at the time this editorial was being written.

We are deeply perturbed by these developments. The conflicting actions by our law enforcement agencies only suggest that one of them is holding the wrong set of suspects.

It follows that unless the real suspects are immediately ascertained and put on trial while the innocent ones are let go, there will be a miscarriage of justice. There are also clear signs that some faceless individuals might be behind a possible scheme to derail the course of justice and shield the killers of Comrade Oyerinde from justice.

We call on the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN) as the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, to immediately wade into this issue and ensure that neither the plethora of human rights and civil society groups nor the unseen hands apparently manipulating one of the law enforcement agencies will succeed in putting undue pressures to derail the course of justice.

The National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) should go beyond merely making calls for the Police to obey the order of the courts.

The real sponsors of Oyerinde’s murder must be exposed no matter how highly placed or connected. President Goodluck Jonathan should seize this opportunity to make good his promise to end the spectre of unsolved murders.

Rev. David Ugolor: Open Letter to the Inspector General of Police

Rev. David Ugolor: Open Letter to the Inspector General of Police

Avoiding lies can boost you mentally

Avoiding lies can boost you mentally — Study

AUGUST 14, 2012 BY GBENGA ADENIJI 

GBENGA ADENIJI examines a research which suggests that avoiding lies can improve an individual’s mental health

Honesty, a maxim says, is the best policy. This may however account for the findings of a study which show that telling fewer lies or entirely imbibing honesty can contribute to the overall improvement of an individual’s health.

The study was presented to psychology professionals who discovered that telling fewer lies benefits people physically and mentally.

For the “honesty experiment,” 110 individuals aged between 18 and 71, participated over a 10-week period.  According to the study, each week, they came to a laboratory to complete health and relationship measures and to take a polygraph test assessing the number of major lies and white lies they had told that week.

A lead author of the study, Anita Kelly notes, “When they went up in their lies, their health went down. When their lies went down, their health improved.”

The psychology professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, further says the researchers instructed half the participants to refrain from telling lies for the 10 weeks that the study lasted.

She states that the instructions were, “Refrain from telling any lies for any reason to anyone. You may omit truths, refuse to answer questions, and keep secrets, but you cannot say anything that you know to be false.”

Also, the research indicates that the other half of the participants-who served as a control group — were not handed such instructions.

Kelly says, ‘‘The study found that over the study period, the link between less lying and improved health was significantly stronger for participants in the no-lie group. As an example, when participants in the no-lie group told three fewer white lies than they did in other weeks, they experienced, on the average, approximately four fewer mental-health complaints and about three fewer physical complaints.’’

According to Kelly, for the control group, when they told three fewer white lies, they experienced two fewer mental-health complaints and about one fewer physical complaint.

‘‘The pattern was similar for major lies. The no-lie group participants were down to one lie, on average, per week. A reduction in the lies of the participants across the 10 weeks of their participation was associated with better physical and mental health in those same weeks when those individuals had engaged in less lying,” she says.

She adds that encouraging some of the participants to lie less made them to see themselves as a more honest and responsible persons when compared to those who were not persuaded to stop lying.

Kelly further states that getting individuals to stop lying also fortifies the nexus between fewer lies and better health to be stronger.

But generally, Kelly reveals that participants in the more honest group told considerably fewer lies across the 10-week study.

The don says, ‘‘By the fifth week, they saw themselves as more honest. For both groups, when participants lied less in a given week, they reported their physical health and mental health to be significantly better that week. And for those in the more truthful group, telling fewer lies led them to report improvement in their close personal relationships. Overall, they reported that their social interactions had gone more smoothly that week.’’

The lecturer stresses that some of the participants, who were encouraged not to lie, gave an explanation on how they did it. She notes that their responses, among others, included discovering that they could just tell the truth instead of exaggerating and refraining from giving fake excuses bordering on why they were late or had failed to carry out certain tasks.

‘‘They gave others to include providing answer to answer puzzling question with another question; changed the topic or be vague; and laugh as if the questions were ridiculous.

People got really good and very proficient at thinking in advance of what they might say if presented with a direct, troubling question. They would think how they could circumvent or leave something out and still be honest without saying something hurtful.”

The study has been presented at the American Psychological Association.

An earlier research which focused on adult lying and conducted by Dr. Bella DePaulo of the University of California, Santa Barbara, had both college students and community members enter a private room equipped with an audiotape recorder.

The lecturer’s team assured them of complete confidentiality, while asking them to recall the worst lies they ever told—inclusive of their ‘scintillating’ details.

“I was fully expecting serious lies,” DePaulo says. “Stories of affairs kept from spouses, stories of squandering money, or being a salesperson and screwing money out of car buyers.”

DePaulo said then that she did not only hear that but also that of theft and even one murder.

According to her, to her surprise, a lot of the stories told were about when the subject was a mere child—and they were not, at first glance, lies of any great consequence.

 “One told of eating the icing off a cake, then telling her parents the cake came that way. Another told of stealing some coins from a sibling. As these stories first started trickling in, I scoffed, thinking, “C’mon, that’s the worst lie you’ve ever told?” But the stories of childhood kept coming, and I had to create a category in my analysis just for them. I had to reframe my understanding to consider what it must have been like as a child to have told this lie,” she recalled.

She added that for young kids, their lies challenged their self-righteous concept that they were a good child, who did the right thing.

 “We had some who said, ‘I told this lie, I got caught, and I felt so badly I vowed to never do it again.’ Others said, ‘Wow, I never realised I would be so good at deceiving my father, I can do this all the time. The lies they tell early on are meaningful. The way parents react can really affect lying,” she stressed.

DePaulo, however, said many of them spoke on how that momentous lie early in life established a pattern that affected them thereafter.

The Most Outstanding Graduating Student In Engineering From University Of Kent

21 Year-Old Nigerian Student, Nana Skari Graduates From University Of Kent As The Most Outstanding Graduating Student In Engineering(Photo)

15 August, 2012
Education

 
 

A 21 year-old Nigerian recently graduated from the University of Kent, UK with a First Class degree and an outstanding award in Engineering.

At her graduation, Nana recieved an award as the most outstanding graduating student on an IET accredited course in the University.

IET (Institute of Engineering and Technology) is a body that accredits all Engineering, Computing, Multimedia, and IT undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the UK.

Her field of study was Computer Systems Engineering (BEng). In an exclusive chat with BN after her graduation, Nana who was born in Borno state recalled growing up in Nigeria and attending Primary and Secondary schools in Kaduna.

“I attended Tender Care in Kaduna where I did my Kindergarten, Nursery and Primary. Then I went to Danbo Int’l College in Kaduna as well for secondary education.

After that I attended David Game College London for my A-levels; then University of Kent where I just graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer Systems Engineering.“

She intially wanted to study paediatric neurosurgery “but the years were just too much“.

So she decided to study something she enjoys doing. “I love maths. It’s the best thing in the world. So I chose to study engineering.“

Speaking on her social life and relationship with her course mates at the University, Nana said many people underestimated her abilities because of her playful side. ”I’m not your typical geek. I’m often late for lectures, I sit at the back of the class, and I never answer questions asked in class voluntarily unless it’s directed at me.

Many people underestimate my abilities because of my playful side. But God has blessed me to be a focused, optimistic, autonomous, and enthusiastic person. I’m the most serious person when it’s time to work and I play hard when it’s time to play. If I want something, I work hard to get it. Settling for less is not even an option.“

Looking ahead, she is preparing to start an MSc in International Oil and Gas Management.

“I don’t want to limit myself to the engineering field. I want to broaden my horizon,” she says about her preferred course.

Her dream is to make a fortune, build an empire, and impact as many people’s lives as possible, in any positive way she can.

Although Nana has been in the UK for five years now, she says she speaks Hausa fluently and comes back to Abuja every now and then. She would love to return back upon completion of her Masters.

“I believe Nigeria is a blessed nation. We are going through a lot at the moment but I believe in redemption. I do hope our parents and grandparents can rest, and give we the future leaders a chance to restore hope to our nation.

Yes I’ll move back home at the completion of my masters. Get married, gain some work experience, learn how to apply my knowledge to the real world, and continue my journey to being the Oprah Winfrey of my generation.“

Her first class degree and most outstanding student award means a whole lot to her, she says, and makes her more motivated to further her studies. “And guys find it attractive so it’s cool.” she adds with a smile.

The promo for "I Wish You Would"

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian has landed a quick cameo in her rapper boyfriend Kanye West's new video with DJ Khaled and Rick Ross.

 The promo for "I Wish You Would" incorporates part of West's track "Way Too Cold," in which he declares his love for Kardashian and pokes fun at her estranged husband, basketball player Kris Humphries.

  Also making reference to his pal Jay-Z, the co-owner of Humphries' basketball team, the newly named Brooklyn Nets, West raps, "And I admit I fell in love with Kim ... 'Round the same time she fell in love with him (Humphries) ... That's cool, baby girl, do your thing ... Lucky I ain't had Jay drop him from the team."

  It appears the "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" star has no problem with West's lyrics about her ex after filming a brief feature for the video. Kardashian is seen for a split second in a dark underground tunnel scene, wearing a hooded outfit and smiling while her boyfriend's arm is draped around her neck.

"Way Too Cold" is one of two songs West has written about Kardashian. He recently confirmed speculation that his new tune "Perfect Bitch" was also inspired by his new love.

Reckitt Benckiser Mortein empower 32,000 mothers on malaria

Firm to empower 32,000 mothers on malaria prevention

AUGUST 15, 2012 BY BUKOLA ADEBAYO LEAVE A COMMENT

The Brand Manager, Mortein Insecticide, Reckitt Benckiser, Mrs. Toyin Yusuf, has said as part of initiatives to reduce the scourge of malaria infections, the company would be empowering 32,000 mothers with preventive measures across the country.

Yusuf, who spoke at a two-day training workshop for Lagos State Government Roll Back Malaria officers and health educators in Lagos, said there was need to educate and empower mothers especially at the grassroots on preventive measures that could protect their children and families from the disease.

She noted that the programme, which would be initiated in partnership with the state government officials over two months in about 75 primary health care centres across the country, is targeted at vulnerable groups which include pregnant women and nursing mothers on the need for a mosquito-free environment throughout the use of insecticide treated nets.

Yusuf said,”There is need for an aggressive anti-malaria campaign especially in the rural areas across the country. Reports from the National Demographic Health Survey has shown that 300,000 children die from malaria in Nigeria annually.Therefore, vigorous awareness about the danger of malaria especially at the grass roots is important. These new mothers would also be given free mortein insecticides to help keep their homes mosquito free and prevent malaria,”

Also, the Scientific Service Group Coordinator for Research and Development, Reckitt Benckiser, Mr. Uchenna Nwakam, said mothers would also be educated on proper use of the insecticides and mosquito-treated nets in such a way that it would not pose unnecessary harm to their families.

He noted that some insecticides contained some toxic substances which affect the respiratory system, causes nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, loss of appetite, muscle weakness and even cancer with prolonged use.

Nwakanma urged mothers and other end users to only use insecticides that were made according to the World Health Organisation’s recommendations.

He said, “These women therefore, need to know how important it is to use the right insecticide and know how to spray to keep from harm. They should also know which is good for use or not. Some insecticides have adverse effects on our health when inhaled because the mothers misused them .”

6.2% rise in Rail fares

Rail fares to rise by 6.2% in January

AUGUST 15, 2012 

Some rail fares in England will rise by 6.2 per cent in January — about double the rate of inflation — although other price rises may be higher.

The Retail Prices Index  measure of inflation in July — which stood at 3.2 per cent — is used to calculate the rises.

Some English fares will rise by RPI plus three per cent, while in Scotland they will go up by RPI plus one per cent. Wales has yet to set a figure for its increase.

The extra money is helping to fund huge investment across the network.

There are no fare increases currently planned in Northern Ireland , where fares are not linked to RPI, after a three per cent rise in April.

The decision to have different formulas for fare rises is a political one. In Scotland , 75 per cent  of the cost of the railways comes from a government subsidy — higher than in England .

The figures for planned rises in England and Scotland are an average across regulated tickets, which make up half of all fares. These regulated fares include season tickets and off-peak intercity journeys. In Scotland, this does not include the busy shuttle service between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Some passengers could see their journey prices rising by more than the average, as train companies are allowed to increase them by up to five percentage points more, as long as they cut ticket prices elsewhere.

Passengers will not be told yet how prices will change on their specific route. The latest figure sets the template for this rise.

Those who travel across a border, such as from Scotland to England, will be subject to the higher English fare rises.

Mike Hewitson, of watchdog Passenger Focus, said, “This is another inflation-busting increase.

“There is only so much you can squeeze passengers. The government needs to think again about the plus  three per cent [formula].”

BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott says passengers and taxpayers used to split the cost of running the railways, with both sides paying about half each, but successive ministers have cut the amount of government funding and that has resulted in regular fare rises.

The latest rise means fares in England will have gone up by more than inflation for 10 successive years, resulting in some of the most expensive train journeys in Europe although some tickets booked well in advance can be cheap, our correspondent adds.

Craig Anderson-Jones, from Salisbury, says, “I earn an average wage. Not great, but not minimal, yet I pay 8.5 per cent of my pre-tax wage on train travel alone. That is £1,784 a year.

“Put on top of that the cost of childcare — nearly £600 per month — and my bills are nearly £1,600 per month. To some, not much — to me, a lot. I can’t even afford to get on the property ladder, so I have to rent.

“I don’t actually think I could afford to get to work if this keeps going on

“Ultimately I will be forced to move to a closer location. The cost of driving to work and parking all day makes it even more expensive to get to work.

WHAT NEXT

WHAT NEXT

by Olewuike Daniel Naijarep·

   Lets look at the various stages in this spherical orb..

After a baby is born...WHAT NEXT
He/She goes through the various stages of socialization...WHAT NEXT
The child starts schooling from pre-kg into kg..WHAT NEXT
Moves into primary & then secondary school..WHAT NEXT
Go into a Tetiary institution...
WHAT NEXT
Come out as an educated man/woman with a compulsory 1year of.......WHAT NEXT
Get lucky & secure a job & probably get married..WHAT NEXT
Start again with the same process of getting children & also they begin the same process we did..WHAT NEXT
Our life is a gift from God how we live it is a gift to ensuing generations...when we live our life evryday lets remember this question "WHAT NEXT" because we have a very long summer & don't know how winter is going to be...

No bids in Moroccan tender for US wheat

AUGUST 14, 2012 BY AGENCY REPORTER LEAVE A COMMENT

RABAT: The Moroccan state grains agency ONICL said on Monday it had not received any offers for its tender to buy up to 300,000 tonnes of United States-origin soft wheat under a preferential tariff agreement.

ONICL gave no reasons for the absence of bids in its first tender for foreign wheat in the current import campaign, set to be Morocco’s biggest in 30 years, but two local importers said high international prices meant margins on the transaction were too low, accroding to Reuters.

The authority maintained a December 31 deadline for completion of the transaction.

Officials at ONICL could not be reached for comment.

The announcement precedes another tender on Wednesday for 300,000 tonnes of EU-origin soft wheat — also part of a preferential tariff agreement — which local and foreign traders expect will meet the same fate.

The failure of the tender for the US soft wheat to attract interest did not surprise traders because international prices are currently above the reference price the Moroccan state pays local suppliers for domestic wheat.

“It does not come as a surprise. These (preferential trade agreement) tenders are a waste of time, a necessary step before measures are taken (by Rabat authorities) to allow Morocco to import for real”, a European exporter said.

“The only choice for the government is to freeze import tariffs on soft wheat imports,” the trader said. Morocco imposes a 17 per cent import duty on soft wheat, which is considered low compared to the 100-plus import duty regime it imposes in years of good domestic harvest.

A government official said the country currently holds 1.9 million tonnes of soft wheat in stocks.

  

Google cut Motorola's mobility jobs

Google to cut 4,000 Motorola Mobility jobs

AUGUST 14, 2012 BY AGENCY REPORTER LEAVE A COMMENT

Google Incorporated said it would cut 20 per cent of the workforce of Motorola Mobility, the money-losing cellphone maker it bought for $12.5bn last year, and shut nearly a third of Motorola’s offices worldwide, Reuters reported on Monday.

The news sent Google’s shares up as much as 1.5 per cent and Morgan Stanley also upgraded the company to “overweight”.

Motorola Mobility has lost money in fourteen of the last sixteen quarters and in its latest quarter reported an operating loss of $233m on revenue of $1.25bn.

“These changes are designed to return Motorola’s mobile devices unit to profitability,” Google said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Google had evaded questions about its plans for Motorola Mobility when it reported quarterly results last month, saying it was yet to complete its homework on the various businesses.

“While lower expenses are likely to lag the immediate negative impact to revenue, Google sees these actions as a key step for Motorola to achieve sustainable profitability,” Google said on Monday.

Morgan Stanley said Google may bring more discipline to Motorola Mobility than was assumed.

“We see management becoming somewhat more communicative, having recently enumerated key strategic growth areas, and cancelling underperforming projects,” analysts at the brokerage wrote in a client note.

“We believe that Google is planning to reduce Motorola Mobility’s smartphone portfolio to a few reference Android devices, and perhaps a couple of tablet devices.”

Google expects to take a severance-related charge of up to $275m mostly in the third quarter, it said in the filing.

Google, which expects to record the remaining severance-related costs by the end of 2012, said it could also incur other related restructuring charges mainly in the third quarter.

The Internet search company said it could not currently predict the amount of these other charges but added that they could be significant.

“Motorola is committed to helping them (the employees) through this difficult transition and will be providing generous severance packages, as well as outplacement services to help people find new jobs,” a Google spokeswoman said.

Google shares were trading up 1.27 per cent at $650.20 on Monday morning on the Nasdaq. They touched a high of $651.58 earlier.

The world’s number one search engine agreed to buy Motorola Mobility last year, aiming to use Motorola Mobility’s patents to fend off legal attacks on its Android mobile platform and expand beyond its software business.

One-third of the jobs lost will be in the United States, but the company has not specified where or what facilities would be affected.

Earlier the New York Times reported Google’s plan and said it was looking to shrink operations in Asia and India, by not just exiting unprofitable markets but also stopping making low-end devices and focusing on a few cellphones instead of dozens.

Motorola Mobility, which has 94 offices throughout the world, will center research and development in Chicago, Sunnyvale, California and Beijing.

   www.punchng.com

PHOTOS: Identical Twin Sisters Give Birth One Hour Apart

PHOTOS: Identical Twin Sisters Give Birth One Hour Apart