Your television might be killing you....

“that’s definitely not possible, at least in this generation”! my friend was quick to respond when I declared it would do young people more good to stay away from television.

Did somebody just say really? Yes really and seriously! A lot of young people today have problems with their academics because of excessive viewing , a teacher once complained bitterly about the fallen standard of education.
I am not saying that television is entirely bad, there are times when you watch certain interesting and benefitting programs but for those who spend an abnormal amount of time in front of a T.V its definitely killing you gradually.

It diminishes your IQ because it reduces your ability to think critically since while watching T.V the brain activities switches from left to right and the right side tends not to critically analyze incoming information. You waste certain hours of your life watching other people making money.

Excessive television viewing can increase your risk of premature death, this is because it has been linked to degenerative brain disorders later in life such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. If you are over the age of 25 every hour spent in front of the T.V cuts 22minutes off your life span! That can equate to five years worth if you watch T.V six hours a day which some people actually do!
Have you ever wondered why you feel tired, empty, headache after watching T.V for long hours? Its because while watching your brain shuts off, energy is sapped since it has no work to do ,remember the saying its either you use it or lose it! this goes for the brain too. Watching T.V also puts you into a form of hypnotic state that is why people sleep while watching T.V.
Reading which we find difficult is a better option. This is because when you read your brain has to use its imagination to come up with feelings described in a book or an article. Although there are a few television programs that give room for imaginative thinking, reading still performs a better job. Reduce the amount of time you spend watching T.V. determine to read more this increases your brain’s longevity.

As baked as biscuit..

As I watched the biscuit shaped dough go into the oven, I began to analyse and examine the processes the dough undergoes. The moulding stage, the baking stage which involves heat at different stages at temperatures above 100 degrees before it finally comes out has “ready to eat” biscuit.

The biscuit oven has 3 zones, zone 1, zone 2 and zone 3. At each zone, different processes occur at different temperatures and heat level. At the first and second zone, the moisture in the dough is eliminated and proofing begins, the dough rises and forms at these stages, structure and texture is determined at this stages as well. While the third zone is responsible for the biscuit colour.


Dough is made to pass through thorough mixing, kneading ,proofing and baking just before it comes out as biscuit. All of the various processes and treatments the dough is made to go through is usually forgotten as soon as the biscuit is out of the oven and ready to eat.

My point exactly ? As ordinary dough has to go through all these before it becomes delicious and wanted, human beings on the face of the earth are made to go through likewise different unpalatable stages, sometimes the heat gets too much and unlike the dough we complain and try to get out.

When the heat gets too much for the semi

cooked dough and it seems the biscuit is about to come out burnt and useless, the oven man is quick to detect and adjust the temperature, he lets out some heat. . In the end the outcome is the reward . But we as humans usually forget that God, our own oven man is set and ever ready to help us if the heat becomes too much so that we can still come out fine and attractive.

The priceless look of satisfaction on the face of the mixer, the moulder, the checker and the oven man supercedes the processes and stress before the biscuit comes out.

All in all, we must always remember that nothing good comes easy, nothing worthwhile comes cheap, we must be ready to pass through the heat just as dough to come out refined, valuable, beneficial and useful.

This Niger Delta issue...

The conflict in the Niger Delta started in the early 1990s over tensions between foreign oil corporation and a number of the Niger Delta’s minority ethnic groups who feel they are being exploited particularly the Ogoni and the Ijaw people. Petroleum having being discovered in Ogoniland and Ijawland brought about competition for oil wealth and violence between many ethnic groups causing the militarization of nearly the entire region by ethnic militia groups as well as Nigerian military and police forces.

Several killings, brutality, unjust ill treatments , all manners of wicked punishments have been meted out on innocent people. Violence, destruction of lives and properties as well kept occurring all because the Nigerian government failed to protect and care for the people on whose land 85% of Nigeria’s wealth came from. The oil companies who kept benefiting at the expense of the lives and existence of the
Niger Delta people tried to help protect them from the consequences of oil spills, but either through bad governance or selfish acts, the people needing this help hardly got it. Negligible compensation was offered them and constant empty promises of benefits kept coming.

Truly some measures were taken in the year 2000 (NDDC) by president Obasanjo with the aim of developing the petroleum rich Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria, presidential amnesty programs all in a bid to compensate for the lost lives and properties. But chronic poverty, catastrophic oil pollution which have prevented aquatic life and some of the inhabitants of the Niger Delta from drinking their water and practicing farming remained unsettled and unfortunately it seems that the amnesty program ended along with the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2015.


Some weeks ago, a group of people who recently arose calling themselves the Niger Delta avengers congratulated themselves for being able to shut down 50 percent of Nigeria’s crude oil production without taking innocent life. Three months ago when this group of people launched their attacks, the spokesperson declared " we are the Niger Delta Avengers: a group of educated and we'll travelled individuals that are poised to take the Niger Delta struggle to new heights that has never been seen in this nation before. We have well equipped human resources to meet this goal. These group of people have sworn to totally ruin the Nigerian oil production and the major source of growth of the Nigerian economy.

This they are already on the process of achieving as Nigeria’’s oil production which was budgeted to be 2.2millon barrels per day has been reduced to 1.65million per day.

This group of determined militants keep blowing up refineries and underwater pipelines thereby crippling the activities of oil companies in the zone. All of these having major effects on the economy of Nigeria and in general the oil industry.

Inasmuch as I do not support violence and crime, and destroying the nation’s economy as the answer, the Niger Delta Avengers whoever they are, from their name seem to be fighting a course. Some speculations believe they are a creation of the ex-president to thwart efforts made by President Buhari , some other people, ex militants and in general members of the ijaw people have disclaimed this group, claiming they have no knowledge of the course , they have also described them as criminals and political tools who should be dealt with. But have we sat down to think of what they mean by calling themselves avengers? Do we have an idea of what they claim to be avenging? Why do they want to have a republic of their own? Somebody might say this is just another terrorist group as the Boko Haram but I disagree. The situations surrounding the birth of this militant group are quite different from that of Boko haram. Do we remember how much sufferings the Niger Delta people and other oil regions have been made to undergo and are still undergoing without compensation? I know that we are not supposed to sit around and blame the government again, but do we not see that in a way Nigeria is paying for the sins of the past? What efforts have the governors and leaders of the Niger Delta states made to ensure peace and progress in their states and regions? What efforts have been made to alleviate the oil spills, lack of practicing agriculture in the region?

Eventually, either by dialogue , amnesty or prosecution these set of people will be stopped but we as a nation need to figure out, how to move forward from our mess, right our wrongs, make amends no matter the cost at the same time fill up loopholes from the past and present. We should as well take responsibilities for our actions, find out ways to help ourselves even if our government keep failing us..I believe we have leaders in this nation, to spearhead goals and solutions to our many problems...As for the Niger Delta Avengers, causing more oil spill and destruction of more properties isn't the way forward. Political tools or not, a son doesn't destroy his father's home because his father had refused to care for him.

Enough of groups or sects which are toxic to the environment, enough of instigating young people against their state and nation, enough of this selfishness, pain and hurt driven sects..
someone has to rise up and think differently, think from the other side and act wisely so that in some few years to come , we won't be dealing with some other rising militant groups.

DIary of an Ibadan corper 5

As he encouraged me to go on a bike, I realized he only kept quiet all through the car journey to allow Mr. slender have his time. He wasn’t as gentle as I had thought. But we got to the local government and thank God I wasn’t expecting much, I brought out my fare to pay the bike man and he brought out exactly his own fare too. He didn’t offer to pay at all, he just paid and walked on I was surprised. But more surprised and disappointed was I when I walked into the local government and saw about one thousand corpers or more pushing, shouting , screaming at each other. All trying to sign, this connoted that we had been counted. To crown it all it began to drizzle, I didn’t know whether to cry or scream! I walked closer and joined the struggle. It was bad, I mean really bad. Some corpers who still ha long distances to go even had to branch , they tried to see if they could participate in the headcount. Because they obviously knew they would never get to their stations that day.
I wish I had eaten before setting out that day. Infact I wish I had just left the rain and gone to seat somewhere till the rain stopped. Because later that day I realized that some people only had to send money to some officials to get signed. Some just came on the following Monday, despite threats of it closing on Sunday to sign with ease. Some even came later in the evening that same Sunday to sign can you imagine how angry I was when I learnt of this? All that struggle and suffering when I could have just taken courage and waited till later in the evening. My friend told me after that day, that has she washed her dirty tennis and corper uniform she made a vow never to rush, push or stress unnecessarily on NYSC queues again. But then it was a lie, is there anything you wont queue for in Ibadan north local government?

Parent-teen tips (Tips to parenting)

I know that I m yet to be a parent, I m also not a teenager but I can assure you that I believe in this article that I have put together and I hope that someone somewhere will read this and realise this is true.. this is how it goes...

A teenager is a young person whose age falls within the range 13-19. They are called teenagers because their age number ends with TEEN. This stage is also referred to as adolescence stage. The period of transition from childhood to adulthood. In the past teenagers used to be those sets of people who believe that nobody understands them.

Teenagers used to be those people who always have problems with their parents and the society at large, those set of people who live in a world of their own having ideas which seem crazy and unattainable to their parents. These set of people who know more than you think they know. Well that is what it still is today, if any change can be said to have occurred it is the fact that more evolutions have occurred and all of these characteristics teenagers possess has skyrocketed.

No more house rules or curfews because they never work, you are not even allowed to meet all of their friends or know about what is happening in school or their relationships with the opposite sexes. The complexity of our world today has also not helped matters at all. The influx of single parents, unwanted pregnancy situations, weekend parents, extremely strict parents in the society has been a contributing factor to all of the fact that teenagers today have become wilder and more vulnerable to vices. Lets discuss each category of teenagers based on this.
THE SINGLE PARENT RAISED TEEN
These are teenagers raised by a single parent. Either by just the father or just the mother. Single parenting is tough but single parents of teenagers have a lot more to deal with. Independence, trust and honesty are even greater challenges in a single parent - teen relationship.
Biola is fourteen, her mother died when she was ten. She has a younger sister who is nine, they have since been living with her father who seemed to prefer remaining single to another marriage. Biola has reasons to believe her father is sleeping with women but she chooses to ignore that fact, her father leaves home a awful lot of time he claims to have different business meetings. Most times Biola and her younger sister have to sleep in their neighbor’s home. Biola started her menstrual period and she had no one to run to but the neighbors, several other needs and that of her sister’s that should have been met by her parents was kept hidden from her father. Because the neighbors started complaining Biola started relying more on her friends in school, she started getting solace from friends. This left her father in the dark and kept him annoyed. To worsen the case, he would beat her up whenever he was angry at her or whenever she lied which she did often. Biola’s father is on the verge of losing his teenage daughter but he doesn’t know it yet…
Boye is fifteen; he lives alone with his mother. His father had never been around all his life, he only sent him clothes, shoes, random gifts and money once in a while. This was the only constant awareness of his father he had. He and his mother are never on good terms, to Boye she simply doesn’t understand him. To his mother, she would never leave him alone to turn out irresponsible , she didn’t want anyone to have any reason to say her son didn’t do well because he was raised only by his mother. But she unconsciously put pressure on her son, sending him to find solace in
the society and from peers rather than in her as his mother. She was also sowing the seed of pain, hostility and hard heartedness in him but she didn’t know it.
Single parents seem to have a lot on their hands more than any other. To deal rightly with your teenager as a single parent you have to be ready to ask for help.
Engage any support network, friends or family you may have, ask sisters, brothers and grandparents to call and check in on your child if he or she is home alone.
Talk to your child about the fact that you can’t be there all the time and let him/her know what you expect.
Give your child the opportunity to be free, to find his/her own way, to make money or earn favours, to go out with friends. More importantly know your child’s friends, listen and pay attention to your teenager, give independence but still talk to your teenager. Above all make time to talk to your child and do things together when you are home. Single parents have tendency to over parent or on the contrary under parent. This should be avoided, never grow away from the child at the same time never get in the child’s way.
To be continued...

No longer daddy's girl

Dad has always been my favorite,not because mum died leaving him to take up the responsibilities of both parents but I've always admired him and seen him as a wonderful person. Even when mum was alive I seemed to get along well with him more as mum and I were always arguing and disagreeing. A common phenomenon between teenage daughters and their mothers.
Dads seem to pamper and understand their daughters more.

But no one prepares the daughter for the time she will have to leave her father, for a time when she will have to go far away from home either to work or to study. No one prepares the daughter for a time she will need to find her source of livelihood on her own, no one tells her that a time will come when she will only be able to speak to her father on phone. No one reminds her that her father has his own life to live and is on a journey on this planet like every other person. That her father is just a caretaker who will eventually need care himself when he grows old. No one reminds her that he can't be with her wherever she goes forever. No one reminds her that her father will leave the world someday. No one tells her that she won't be daddy's girl forever.. the harsh realities of growing up.

Today we celebrate all the wonderful fathers in the world. Those men who regard women, those fathers who have given all it takes to care for their children, those fathers who have always been present at every stage of their children's life, those fathers who have laboured on their children, fed them, clothed them, educated them and above all set them up to stand on their own.

Even though the realities of adulthood has set in and i'm closer to becoming a parent myself..remembering all that my siblings and I have been through together with dad I will still send my dad hugs and kisses wishing him a happy father's day..

My KPMG test experience

The fear of being jobless is somewhat a common phenomenon especially in Nigeria, this is what prompted my constant job hunt discussions with one of my friends who was a guru when it came to job hunting. This is someone that can travel to the end of the world for job interviews or aptitude tests.

So when he mentioned KPMG, a part of me wanted to apply, a part of me wanted to decline but after much persuasions and encouragement, I decided to take a cue from him and try, I started the application process. It was tedious, the tedious nature of the application got me wondering “on top wetin?’’. But then I just continued giving the benefit of doubt.

After some days I was able to submit my application in a manner which was to me haphazardly but who cared? after all I wasn’t banking on it. Lo and behold I got invited for the test surprisingly but my joy turned to worry and despair when I saw the venue. A place I totally didn’t know in Lagos. To go or not to go?

Eventually the D-day came and I went. I woke up very early in the morning and I set out, a part of me was eager , another had feelings of uncertainty at the same time my stomach was rumbling, I had used the toilet twice that morning and felt I was ok. I had eaten vegetable soup the night before but I never imagined it could affect me. Having used the toilet twice I felt nothing would make me feel the urge again at least for the few hours I was going to be out. So I got in the bus to Lagos.
Hours after, stepping into Oshodi Lagos, I don’t know whether it was the anxiety of the exam I was going to write or the fact that I had walked around in circles before locating where the venue was situated, I started feeling a desperate urge to use the toilet. The urge was so intense that if not for the fact that I had an examination to write for a stated time I would have found a toilet nearby to use. But I kept holding it, managing my condition as time wasn’t on my side.
I got to the venue and saw thousands of young job seekers, all with either a first class or a second class upper. I even saw friends I knew from my former university, we greeted each other well. I began to lose the remaining hope I had concerning the job seeing the population. We got on queue and I almost cried, I had to endure this queue and the serious rumbling in my stomach and in my bumbum. By the time I was checked in and sat set at the computer about to start the e-exam, the excreta was set to come out of my buttocks.
I half listened to the instructions, I couldn’t hear a thing. All that kept going through my mind was how to get to a toilet and use. I half read the questions before choosing answers, as I clicked on the answers I knew I had no hope in that examination except a miracle happened. I couldn’t take it any longer on getting to question number 27, I raised up my hand and called the attention of one of the examiners. I told her I had to use the toilet, I understood the implications of doing that, I had to submit and walk out of the examination room when I had barely started. I thought to myself better to fail this examination than become public ridicule so I insisted on leaving. The examiner looked at me with pity on her face, she saw the sense of urgency in which I was in then she took my slip from me and led me to the female toilet. So as I let out the waste that had threatened to disgrace me earlier, I began to blame myself for all that had happened. As relieved as I was having used the toilet I felt disappointed, thinking I had messed up my opportunity.
As I made my way out of the building and straight to the car park to start my journey back home, several ‘’what ifs’’ kept coming . What if I had done this, what if I had done that. In the end I concluded that was the way God wanted it. Some minutes after in the bus on my way back home, I got pings from some of my friends whom I had run into at the examination venue. They gave me reports of how they had failed the examination honorably, who knew what the cut off mark was. It all boils down to the fact that job seeking in Nigeria is hard and these companies will try all sorts of discrepancies and cunningness to cut off job seekers and chose who they want. So in the end I hadn’t really messed up per say, what if I had finished the exam truly and still failed, besides I had taken bold steps, registering, going for the examination and submitting when I did. Truly I had learnt my lesson and I also hail myself for being smart about choices.

WAR ROOM

Genre : Drama film
Director : Alex Kendrick
Year : 2015


From the producers of GOD’S NOT DEAD, FIREPROOF AND CONQUEROR comes another inspiring movie WAR ROOM. War room is an American christian based movie, a fusion of film techniques , action and style with many scenes and locations. One can say this movie is a wake up call to all Christians far and wide, a re-awakening call on the importance of prayer , discipline and faith in the race of life. Elizabeth (Priscilla Shirer)and

Tony Jordan (T.C Stallings) are examples of the average Christian society couple, who keep patching things up in their failing marriage, leaving God out of the equation. Educative and informative, this movie exposes the cause of one of the major ills of our society, broken marriages.

The movie further explains how continuous quests for money drives lots of individuals including so called Christians to the extreme, doing the unimaginable for money. Elizabeth and Tony’s daughter Danielle (Alena pitts), a bright young child also portrays the life of an average child who isn’t given much attention by parents. The unconsciously neglected child. Miss Clara (Karen Abercrombie) appears as the savior, who provides solutions to the couple’s hidden problems. She teaches Elizabeth from experience to fight and win her battles in prayer. Explaining that one’s prayer corner is one’s war room. This movie exposes how a great relationship between a father and his child can strengthen the child’s resolve to be successful. Such is the case as Tony joins his daughter and the other kids in the double dutch competition.


This movie also encourages restitution and confession of sin as Tony had to seek the forgiveness from all those he offended including his wife and daughter as well as return all he ever took from the company. War room is a must watch for all young women about to get married or already in marriage.

It is a guide to winning the unexpected battles and challenges usually faced in marriage.

My drug overuse experience

I got back from work very tired as usual but particularly very tired and weak that day. All through the week I kept noticing symptoms of malaria but I ignored it. This particular day I realized I needed to do something fast about my health. I was feeling body pains, headache, sore throat, cold and stomach upset all at the same time.so I spoke to my guardian who advised that I use malaria tablets and septrin. My sister told me earlier to treat typhoid, she told me to get amoxillin tablets but I did not then. so I decided to get all of these drugs now and use at intervals that night because of the way I was feeling. So I used all of these drugs within the space of an hour. Then I used piriton along with it to enable me sleep. So stupid of me right? I don’t know what I was thinking…

After 30mins, I started feeling uncomfortable. I was feeling whozy, dizzy, terrible at the same time. By now it was night and every other person in the house had slept but I couldn’t . I kept turning and tossing. I kept trying to sleep all to no avail. I began to regret using all those drugs at short intervals I kept blaming myself. I started thinking of so many terrible things, my mind flashed back to the various stories I have heard about using drug overdose, have I not signed death warrant by this? Was this going to damage any part of body? My head kept turning, as if I was moving in circular motions on the bed. I began to pray, I didn’t want to be rushed to the hospital, I tried to stand up but I felt like I was going to fall. I was like this for over an hour, then a thought came to mind, what if I managed to get up, get a bottle of water and drink, hopefully this will flush away some of the drugs from my system and the effects will die down gradually.

So I struggled to my feet and went into the kitchen, I drank lots of water, I also washed my face. I went back to the room and sat down waiting for what I done to have magical effects.  Well it did. After another hour I was able to sleep. In the morning , I shared my experience.  All who heard were alarmed and still advised that I do a medical check up. As for me I knew

I was lucky and favored you may say. I had learnt my lesson though.

10 nollywood actors that live in Ibadan

Some of them have lived, while some are currently living in Ibadan. These are great actors and actresses who have in a way contributed to the yoruba movie industry especially.
Some of them have shot great movies in Ibadan too. I have always encouraged nollywood in some of my write ups and unlike most Nigerian youths I believe that the whole of Nollywood in general, the Yoruba movies, english movies, ibo movies and Hausa movies are improving daily.

1. Femi Adebayo

2. Dele Odule

 3. Laide Bakare

 4. Rose Odika

 5. Bimbo Oshin

 6.   Toyin Aimakhu

 7. Adebayo Faleti

8. Kola Oyewo

 9. Peju Ogunmola

10. Muyiwa Ademola

A big house

I walked to the giant gate, I didn’t know whether to press the bell or knock on the gate. I eventually did both, silly you would think but logically I pressed the bell at first  for what seemed like ages and got no response so I had to knock.

After what seemed like eternity she walked up to the gate and opened up for me.Tall and fat, her face was expressionless I didn’t know whether she was happy to see me or not. Her low cut revealed some grey hair, this was my second time seeing her but I still saw new features in her. she led me into the giant house after walking through the massive compound she told me to feel at home while she disappeared into the house.

As I wandered through the sitting room, I wondered why just one person will live in such a big house. She reappeared minutes later and told me she was going out. She showed me the kitchen which was like miles away from the sitting room, I discovered there were three other sitting rooms , one was even bigger than what I thought was the main sitting room.

As she left, a rain so heavy began. I started getting an eerie feeling, that creepy feeling you get when you are in a strange house all alone. I encouraged myself and as my stomach rumbled I found my way to the kitchen holding the noodles I had in my bag. I started to cook, I went to my room to get my phone and I returned to the kitchen in what seemed like a journey.

Back inside the kitchen I felt like I heard voices, I looked around, saw nothing then concluded it was my imagination. I continued again and heard another echo. Voices, was I hallucinating?  I began to panic just as I walked past the entrance I saw wet footsteps. Someone had come in. I was scared and immediately panicked. Who was in this house with me. The raindrops kept falling heavily.

As I rushed upstairs, entering the pathway leading to the ironing room. I ran into two young girls, it was sudden and shocking. They screamed! I was in between screaming and fleeing but then on realizing that I was the new visitor they were expecting , we all burst into laughter. They were the maids, they had been told about me but went to the market and had been caught in the rain. I was never told about them.