MAY YOUR ROAD BE ROUGH by Tai Solarin(1922 - 1994)

Tai Solarin was an educationist and philosopher, whose interesting and sometimes controversial views often found heir way, like the passage below, onto pages of newspapers...

May your road be rough!

I am not cursing you; I am wishing you what I wish myself every year. I therefore repeat, may you have a hard time this year, may there be plenty of troubles for you this year! If you are not so sure what you should say back, why not just say, ‘Same to you’? I ask for no more.

Our successes are conditioned by the amount of risk we are ready to take. Earlier on today I visited a local farmer about three miles from where I live. He could not have been more than fifty-five, but he said he was already too old to farm vigorously. He still suffered, he said, from the physical energy he displayed as a farmer in his younger days. Around his hut were two pepper bushes. There were kokoyams growing round him. There were snail shells which had given him meat. There must have been more around the banana trees I saw. He hardly ever went to town to buy things. He was self-sufficient. The car or the bus, the television or the telephone, the newspaper, Vietnam or Red China were nothing to him. He had no ambitions whatsoever, he told me. I am not sure if you are already envious of him, but were we all to revert to such a life, we would be practically driven back to cave dwelling. On the other hand, try to put yourself into the position of the Russian or the America astronaut. Any moment now the count, 3, 2, 1, is going to go, and you are going to be shot into the atmosphere and soon you will be whirling round our earth at the speed of six miles per second. If you get so fired into the atmosphere and you forget what to do to ensure return to earth, one of the things that might happen to you is that you could become forever satellite, going round the earth until you die of starvation and even then your body would continue the gyration!

When, therefore, you are being dressed up and padded to be shot into the sky, you know only too well that you are going on the roughest road man had ever trodden. The Americans and Russians who have gone were armed with the great belief that they would come back. But I cannot believe that they did not have some slight foreboding on the contingency of their non-return. It is their courage for going in spite of these apprehensions that makes the world hail them so loudly today.

The big fish is never caught in shallow waters. You have to go into the open sea for it. The biggest businessmen make decisions with lighting speed and carry them out with equal celerity. They do not dare delay or dally. Time would pass them by if they did. The biggest successes are preceded by the greatest of heart-burnings. You should read the stories of the bomber pilots of World War II. The Russian pilot, the German pilot, the American or the British pilot suffered exactly the same physical and mental tension the night before a raid on enemy territory. There were no alternative routes for those who most genuinely believed in victory for their side.

You cannot make omelettes without breaking eggs, throughout the world, there is no paean without pain. Jawaharlal Nehru has put it so well. I am paraphrasing him. He wants to meet his troubles in a frontal attack. He wants to see himself tossed into the aperture between the two horns of the bull. Being there, he determines he is going to win and, therefore, such a fight requires all his faculties.

When my sisters and I were young and we slept on our small mats round our mother, she always woke up at 6a.m. for morning prayers. She always said prayers on our behalf but always ended with something like this: ‘May we not enter into any dangers or get into any difficulties this day.’ It took me almost thirty years to dislodge the canker-worm in our mother’s sentiments. I found, by hard experience, that all that is noble and laudable was to be achieved only through difficulties and trials and tears and dangers. There are no other roads.
If I was born into a royal family and should one day become a constitutional king, I am inclined to think I should go crazy. How could I, from day to day, go on smiling and nodding approval at somebody else’s successes for an entire lifetime? When Edward the Eighth (now Duke of Windsor) was a young, sprightly Prince of Wales, he went to Canada and shook so many hands that his right arm nearly got pulled out of its socket. It went into a sling and he shook hands thenceforth with his left hand. It would appear he was trying his utmost to make a serious job out of downright sinecurism.

Life, if it is going to be abundant, must have plenty of hills and vales. It must have plenty of sunshine and rough weather. It must be rich in obfuscation and perspicacity. It must be packed with days of danger and of apprehension.

When I walk into the dry but certainly cool morning air of every January 1st, I wish myself plenty of tears and of laughter, plenty of happiness and unhappiness, plenty of failures and successes. Plenty of abuse and praise. It is impossible to win ultimately without a rich measure of intermixture in such a menu. Life would be worthless without the lot. We do not achieve much in this country because we are all so scared of taking risks. We all want the smooth and well-paved roads. While the reason the Americans and others succeeded so well is that they took such great risks.

If, therefore, you are out in this New Year 1964, to win any target you have set for yourself, please accept my prayers and your elixir. May your road be rough!

Tai Solarin (1922-1994) was one of Nigeria’s foremost social activists his legacy includes the famous Mayflower School, Ikenne and Mollusi College Ijebu-Ode. This article was published in Daily Times Newspaper of January 1^st, 1964.

Young Entrepreneurs are Invited to LEAP Africa’s 9th CEOs Forum in Lagos

LEAP Africa is inviting young entrepreneurs to the 9th CEOs Forum which will hold on May 15, 2014 at the City Hall, Lagos Island.
The Forum initiated in 2005 brings together local and international speakers to share knowledge and insights to equip entrepreneurs to build sustainable local businesses that continue to yield value for generations. The Forum has come to be recongised as an annual event in the SME circle. This year’s Forum is themed “Leveraging Technology for SME Growth”.
The speakers & sub-themes

1. The Online Marketplace - Mr Abasiama Idaresit, MD, Wild Fusion
2. Managing Publicity through Social Media – Mr. Olusegun Martins Head, Technology, Insight Communication
3. Disruptive Innovation, A catalyst for Business Growth - Prof. Balvinder Powar, MD, Booster Industries
4. How Intelligent is Your Business? Mining Customer Information for Business Growth – Dr. Osa Emokpae, Chairman, Mindshare Advertising

If your interested please send a brief of what your business is about (1 paragraph) and your contact details to: email- aalaga@leapafrica.org

Call for Application: Advanced Diploma in English & Film Studies (ADEFS)

This is to invite suitably qualified candidates to obtain the admission form into the Advanced Diploma in English & Film Studies (ADEFS).
Objectives: The general aim of the Advanced Diploma in English and Film Studies (ADEFS) is to offer an intervention platform through which the standard of Nigerian films can be enhanced.
The specific objectives of the programme are as follows:

• To develop the competence of film practitioners in spoken English and oral delivery.
• To develop the skills of film practitioners in the art of storytelling.
• To train movie practitioners and sharpen their skills in the art of translation and film subtitling.
• To equip film practitioners with English language norms and an internationally acceptable standard of English usage.
• To acquaint film practitioners with the synergy between the English language and the socio-cultural norms of Nigerian languages, which are raw materials for film production.

Admission Requirements: Applicants for admission to the Advanced Diploma in English and Film Studies must possess a minimum of four credits including English Language in not more than two sittings. Candidates may be subjected to a selection interview.
Duration of Programme and Lecture Period: The programme duration is two semesters, i.e. one academic session. Lecture period is Saturday only from 9am to 5pm.
Application Fee and Method of Application:

• Applicants are expected to visit the HRDC portal http//:hrdc.unilag.edu.ng to fill the pre-application form. (Contents of the pre-application form include Surname, First name, Middle name, E-mail address and Mobile number.) Upon successful completion of the pre-application form, the applicant will be issued a “Payment Reference Number” which should be printed out.
• Applicants should take their printout containing the payment reference number to any of the HRDC application fee collecting banks (Ecobank, Access Bank, First Bank and Wema Bank) on the university campus to make payment.
• After payment, applicants should return to the payment portal, click the application form link, log in with the Payment Reference Number and the Surname (in lower case and strictly as provided in the pre-application form) as password to access the application form.

Kindly note the following:

• Only application payments that the bank has confirmed receipt of will have access to the application form. Applicants who experience challenges may return to the bank where payment was made to request that their payment be posted. (Notification of payment receipt shall be sent to applicants who have paid.)
• The password will be as provided in the Surmame field in lower case; errors in filling of surname must therefore be reflected in the password used.

After completion of application form, printed copies (original printout and photocopy) should be submitted at the HRDC Secretariat with two (2) photocopies of the following documents:

1. Birth Certificate;
2. Reference Number printout;
3. N7, 500.00 teller; and
4. Credentials

Tuition and Course Materials Fees: Tuition for the programme is N75, 000.00 (Seventy-five Thousand Naira). Admitted students are required to pay N 5, 000.00 (Five Thousand Naira) for Course Materials.
Closing Date: Application closes eight weeks from the date of this publication.
Dr (Mrs.) Taiwo.F. Ipaye, MNIN
Registrar & Secretary to Council

Source: www.hrdc.unilag.edu.ng

The Green Challenge 2014 Annual Essay Competition for UNILAG Students: Call For Participation

Students in all faculties in the University of Lagos are encouraged to participate in the 2014 Annual Essay Competition of the Foundation For A Better Environment [FABE] Nigeria.

Prizes to be won

1st Prize: Galaxy Tab and employment opportunity with the Ministry of Environment, Lagos 2nd Prize: Mini lap top
3rd Prize: BlackBerry

Topic

Entries for the competition should cover the topic:

Man has contributed to global warming. Yes or No? Please substantiate on this topic.
Guidelines for Submission

• Entries must be original and must meet the standard for publication in both local and international journals.
• Typed in 1.5 line spacing (Times Roman with 12 points font size); 2000 words on A4 paper.
• Include citation of sources; in-text and work cited must appear at the end of the essay.
• The following documents must be attached to all entries:
  1. Reference letter from the HOD of the participant’s department; and
  2. One recent passport sized photograph, current mobile telephone number and e-mail address of the participant.

Deadline

Submission should be done on or before Friday, May 30, 2014.

Other Information

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
• Past winners are not eligible to participate.
• Plagiarism is prohibited and will attract disqualification of indicted entries.

For further information, please log on to the FABE Nigeria Website or call: 08076949597

Source: http://ibnamoo.wordpress.com/

LATEST NEWS ON UNILAG HOSTEL ALLOCATION 2013-2014 SESSION

A VERY CREDIBLE SOURCE from the UNILAG DSA's said balloting will begin in Two weeks time after those who were given yesterday 6th of March 2014, might have cleared their bed spaces before the deadline.

For those who didn't clear their space, it is automatic forfeiture. For the available space, you all will be expected to ballot again.


So, try get a new hostel card if you have exhausted the one you have before it becomes scarce again.

#Powered by: ASL EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANCY

CONTACT US :

BLOG: http://asleduconsultancy.blogspot.com
Email: asleduconsult@gmail.com
BBPIN: 282BA0A1   TWITTER:@asleduconsult
BBM CHANNEL: ASL EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANCY
BBM CHANNEL PIN: C003AED95
Phone: 08039200199, 07087887430, 08075393758.

BEA Award Application for 2014 (Undergraduate & Postgraduate Applicants)

The Federal Ministry of Education is inviting interested and qualified Nigerians to participate in the 2014/2015 Nomination Interview for Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) Scholarship Awards for:
i) Undergraduate (UG) studies tenable in Cuba, Morocco, Russia, Algeria, Ukraine, Romania, Turkey, Egypt, Serbia, Macedonia, Japan.
ii) Postgraduate (PG) studies tenable in Russia, China, Japan, Turkey, Serbia, Mexico, e.t.c
All qualified candidates are advised to complete the application form online.
Ensure to print the completed Application form. Candidates must submit two copies at the venue of the Interview scheduled for 24th – 28th March 2014.
NB: Double entries are not allowed!
APPROVED FIELDS OF STUDY:
a. Undergraduate level – Medicine, Geology, Engineering, Agriculture, Sciences, Languages, Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Sports, Law, Social Sciences, etc
b. Postgraduate level – (Masters Degree and Ph.D) in all fields.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
A. UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS: All undergraduate degree applicants must possess a minimum qualification of Five (5) Distinctions (As & Bs) in the Senior Secondary School Certificate, WAEC or NECO (May/June) only in the subjects relevant to their fields of study including English Language and
Mathematics.
NB: Certificates should not be more than Two (2) years old (2012 or 2013). Age limit is 22 years.
B. POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS: All applicants must hold a First Degree with at least 2nd Class Upper Division. Applicants who are previous recipients of Foreign Awards must have completed at least two (2) years post qualification or employment practice in Nigeria. A knowledge of Russian language is desired particularly for those applying for Russian Award. All applicants must have completed N.Y.S.C. Age limit is 35 years for Masters and 40 years for Ph.D.
NOTE (For all Applicants): Knowledge of the language of the country of choice is an added advantage.
INTERVIEW: All eligible applicants are expected to report for interview at the venues scheduled for their respective zones of origin.
NB: Two sets of completed application forms must be submitted at the various interview centres with the following enclosures:
i. Two authenticated photocopies of educational certificates and testimonial
ii. You MUST provide either WAEC or NECO ( May/June) only. No result combination is allowed!
iii. Statement of results must be confirmed by WAEC or NECO and forwarded to the Director/ Secretary, Federal Scholarship Board, Abuja.
iv. Two copies of Birth certificate.
v. State of origin certificate duly signed, stamped and dated.
vi. Eight (8) passport sized coloured photographs on white background
vii. Data page of current International Passport. and
viii. Academic transcripts and NYSC certificates will be required from applicants for postgraduate studies
Ensure you go with your original documents as they will be sighted.
For online application, visit: http://fsb.gov.ng/appcentre/?page_id=15
For the interview venues, visit: http://fsb.gov.ng/archives/531

NB: Nominated candidates who are finally selected by the awarding BEA countries will be required to submit to Federal Scholarship Board the following:
i) Authenticated copies of academic certificates
ii) Medical certificate of Fitness including HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B free certificates and chest x-ray from a Teaching Hospital, General Hospital or National Hospital, Abuja.
OR, any Hospital as designated by the awarding country.
iii) Police clearance certificate with finger prints ( on request).

Goodluck!

SOURCE: http://fsb.gov.ng/

UNILAG HOSTEL APPLICATIONS FOR 2014/2015 ACADEMIC SESSION

How to Apply

1. Visit: www.unilaghalls.com
2. Enter your Matriculation number(Stale Student) or your Jamb Registration Number(Fresher) as username.
3. Followed by 16 digits pin Number from the scratch card as your password. You can get the hostel card at ECO  for #300
4. Click on the button Login to have access to your account
5. Click on the button Allocation Link
6. Click on the button GET A SPACE NOW to apply for bed space (You will be notified if your application was successful) If successful proceed to the next step
7. Update your profile with a recent passport photograph
8. Click on button PRINT SLIP to print your Bank Payment Slip
9. Proceed to the designated bank to make payment
10. Login to the system and click on the button CONFIRM to confirm your payment with the confirmation No and the Receipt No given to you from the bank after payment.
11. After confirmation click on the Button CLICK HERE to Print your final Slip which contains your passport photograph

Timetable

The allocation has been scheduled to hold on different date depending on the student category. It is therefore mandatory for every student to adhere strictly to the instructions guiding the hostel allocation. Below is the time table for different category of student, kindly check the timetable to know your student category and when to go online to apply for bed space.

Student Category Date Final Year Students and Scholars Monday 20th January, 2014 Biological children of Staff Monday 3rd March, 2014 Fresh Students Tuesday 4th March, 2014 Health cases and Sportsmen Wednesday 5th March, 2014 Ballot Request Thursday 6th March, 2014

Congratulations!!! 

source: www.unilaghalls.com

EXAMINATION TUTORIAL FOR 200 LEVEL UNILAG MASS COMMUNICATION STUDENTS

Greatest Communicators, hope you are all getting ready for the upcoming examination? I bet you all are ready! All the same,
I've got good news for you all...
ASL EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANCY is organizing EXAMINATION TUTORIAL FOR 200 LEVEL MASS COMMUNICATION STUDENT which will start by Next Week Wednesday at FSS...
It's not free, its just for a token fee of #5000 per student... (Only 20 candidates are needed but others might be considered too)

Benefits

- Qualified teachers
- Asking & Answering of ?s
- Solving of past questions
- Discussion Forum
- Fasting & Prayer :)  !!!!

Schedule

Evening (exact time would be announced later)

For suggestions & enquiries, kindly contact ASL EDU CONSULT Via
PHONE: 08039200199, 07087887430, 08183121742. FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/asleducationalconsultancy
BBPIN:282BA0A1  TWITTER:@asleduconsult
EMAIL: asleduconsult@gmail.com
BLOG: http://asleduconsultancy.blogspot.com

May God Crown our Efforts.

Stay Blessed!

+ help spread the good news.

Why You Need to Create an Online Portfolio

Why You Need to Create an Online Portfolio

10 Silly Mistakes Job seekers Make During Application Or When Submitting Their CVs For Job Openings.

1. Sending mail without attachment: We sometimes make this mistake during our correspondences by sending mail and forgetting to attach the required documents, until the recipient of the mail call our attention to it. Unfortunately, Job seekers don’t enjoy such luxury. No matter the number of applications you send without attaching your CV, be rest assured of not being shortlisted for interview.

2. Sending mail without content: This may look harmless but trust me, a recruiter won’t find it funny if he opens an application and the only message in the mail reads: “Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN” with the subject “my CV or my application”. This is exactly what some applicants do, yet they expect to be invited for interview.

3. Sending mail without cover letter: Most job seekers send out applications without cover letter. I personally don’t give too much weight to cover letters (especially if it is online application) because I hardly read them, and many HR professionals don’t either. You are however sending signal of an unserious job applicant if I open your mail and there is no form of introduction at least about yourself and what you are applying for (even if I did not read the content). I must quickly say most of us don’t read the cover letters because we want to access as many CV as possible and the time spent reading one cover letter is enough to read another CV. God help you if I have limited CVs and I am interested in reading your cover letter and you have none or you send hard copy of your CV without cover letter.


4. Group application: I have received applications from multiple candidates through a single source at once and I have also received applications that have been forwarded to many other companies before I received them and I kept asking myself if those applicants really wanted the job or they were just testing their skills on the usage of the internet. Yet they wanted me to invite them (as unserious as they were) for interview.


5. Not following instructions: Due to the volume of applications we receive, HR professionals device means of separating each of the advertised positions. In doing this, we either formulate code for each job or give each of the job a particular ‘subject of the mail’. But funny enough most jobseekers just ignore these instructions and follow their own regular way of applying for jobs. Little did they know that the complex application instructions are sometimes used to test their willingness to follow instruction and attend to details if employed.

6. Sending scanned CVs: Sometimes I find it hard to understand why applicants go the extra mile of scanning their CVs before attaching and sending it when no instruction told them to do so. And in most cases those scanned CVs were never well scanned; what I still do not understand is whether they were actually scanned or snapped with phones, and of course sent to a friend to help them apply for a job they know next to nothing about.

7. Inaccessible CVs: I sometimes wonder why, despite all the software on my system, I still cannot open some CV’s. I have not met any hiring manager who will go out of his way just to open a CV to enable him invite the candidate for interview. Simple MS word is enough, except otherwise instructed. I wonder where the complication is coming from.

8. Being Too eager for the job: There is no crime in contacting the hiring manager if you have his contact, but when your calls begin to distract/disturb him, he begins to have a rethink about you, if hiring you will not be a problem to the company. Except you have a personal relationship with him and that should not be abused either.

9. Not applying early: This is an aspect many jobseekers take for granted. By practice all advert should have at least a week window for application, but in reality, the CV’s of the first set of people who applied for the job are considered, except where the job attracts limited applications or CV’s sorted electronically. We can imagine how many cases of the exceptions abound.

10. Handing it to God in prayers.

Posted by Fozzy for www.ynaija.com