“An average Nigerian calls a confident person “proud.” It is the reason we work hard to prevent such people from rising at work place.”

Selah: THE AVERAGE PETTY NIGERIAN: Today, being the 18 th of November, 2013, Japheth J Omojuwa the prolific “factivist” in Nigeria actually inspired me to write this p...

EXCUSES

We convince ourselves that life will   be better after we get married, have a  baby, and then another. Then we are  frustrated that the kids aren't old   enough and we believe that we'll be more   content when they are.

    After that, we're frustrated that we   have teenagers to deal with.  We will   certainly be happy when they are out of  that stage. We tell ourselves that our   life will be complete when our spouse   gets his or her act together, when we  get a nicer car, when we're able to go   on a nice vacation, or when we retire.

    The truth is there's no better time to   be happy than...

                  RIGHT NOW !!!

    If not now, when? Your life will  always be filled with challenges. It's   best to admit this to yourself and
  decide to be happy anyway. Happiness is   the way.

    So, treasure every moment that you   have, and treasure it more because you   shared it with someone special, (special   enough to spend your time with), and   remember that time waits for no one.

    So, stop waiting...

  ** until your car or home is paid off.

  ** until you get a new car or home.

  ** until your kids leave the house.

  ** until you go back to school.

  ** until you finish school.

  ** until you lose 10 lbs.

  ** until you gain 10 lbs.

  ** until you get married.

  ** until you get a divorce.

  ** until you have kids.

  ** until you retire.

  ** until summer.

  ** until spring.

  ** until winter.

  ** until fall.

  ** until you die.

    There is no better time than RIGHT NOW to be happy.

    Happiness is a journey, not a destination.



    So,

    Work like you don't need money.

    Love like you've never been hurt,

    And dance like no one's watching.

    ..............................

......................................

   Money can buy pleasure...     but not love;

   Money can buy a show...       but not joy;

   Money can buy a slave...      but not a friend;

   Money can buy a woman...      but not a wife;

   Money can buy a house...      but not a home;

   Money can buy food...         but not an appetite;

   Money can buy medicines...    but not health;

   Money can buy diplomas...     but not culture;

   Money can buy books...        but not intelligence;

   Money can buy tranquillizers. but not peace;

   Money can buy indulgences...  but not forgiveness;

   Money can buy the earth...    but not the sky.

  ....................................................................

     "It is not necessary to regret what   you cannot repair".      Samuel Johnson

       "Progress is impossible without   changes, and those who can never change   their opinion can  neither change the   world  nor change themselves".     George Bernard Shaw

‘My next target is to build an aeroplane’

Written by Abdulwasiu Hassan

Seventeen-year-old secondary school student, Ismaila Suraju, has built a planting machine and a locally-made power generator that uses water and batteries, among others. They young boy who says his next target is to build an aeroplane, also claims to have the knowhow to construct a gadget that can frustrate election riggers in Nigeria.

When he was younger, 17-year-old Ismaila Suraju was forced to make a pair of slippers out of a cardboard to shield his feet from the scorching soil of the farm path. The necessity of protecting his face from the sun also compelled him to produce a baseball cap, then cars, train, grinding machines, all with the same cardboard.
Weekly Trust gathered that half way through his secondary education, Suraju graduated into using aluminum sheets in making not only miniature automobiles, such as fire extinguishing vans, excavators, but  a large  size planting machine that can be used for planting, as well.
“Anything I see, I will like to do. We went for competition. I saw some people do a motorcycle they were riding. I said I would do a planting machine in a form of a vehicle that a person can drive. I thought in our country we don’t have planting machines. Farmers are suffering. Then I took iron and aluminum sheets. I first did a small one that a small boy can enter. Then I did a bigger one. I used wheelbarrow tyres, iron from metal bed, electric motor and motorcycle gearbox to make it,” the boy said.
Suraju, who was raised by his maternal grandfather, also fabricated a miniature boat with aluminum sheets and radio motors that enable it to move forward or backward when powered by dry cell batteries. He said with better training and access to materials, he can do more.
But his problem-solving creative moves are not limited to automobiles. He fabricated a power generator that is powered by dry battery cells and water. He demonstrated how to use the generator to charge a cell phone battery as well as the standing fan he fabricated himself. But he explained that the voltage generated by the generator is not high enough to shock a human being.
According to him, he also has the solution to Nigeria’s electoral malpractices. The solution, he said, is a laptop-like device he fabricated which he calls “electronic voting system”. He showed how voting is recorded on a pair of screens that look like those of small calculators.
The “electronic voting system” has a central screen made of a translucent plastic with voting approval and disapproval written on either halves of it. When he inserts a card that has voted into the voting box, the half that disapproves of voting will be lighted from within. If the one that has not voted, but registered is inserted, the half that approves of voting will be lighted.
The young engineer, who also sees earthmovers around road construction sites near his village of Rubochi in Kwali Area Council, ended up fabricating its miniature replicas with aluminum sheets and other materials available. He used dry cell batteries to move the miniature earthmovers. But the dry cell batteries do not last long.
Asked how he is going to cope with the dry transient nature of the dry cell batteries that power most of his fabrications, Suraju showed the small turbine-like wheel he fabricated with aluminum sheets and sticks in such a way that moving water can propel it to generate power. He said he is working on how to make a small hydro-power device that can generate power for his devices.
“I want to be a mechanical engineer. I want technology to go forward in our country, Nigeria. We need to develop technology,” he said.
The boy who wants to go to a technical school for his senior secondary educations said: “I want to make a bigger excavator that human beings can enter, and it will be working. The last time we went to Brazil different countries came for the competition. We were 22 from Nigeria. Among those that went to Brazil my project was the best.”
Though he has made a miniature airplane, Suraju believes he can manufacture a big one that will carry people. He said this with the confidence of someone with absolute belief in his dream. Asked how sure his is, he replied: “If the white men can do it, why can’t we?”
Suraju’s maternal grandfather Malam Isa  feels happy that his grandson has the ability to do so many thing, and always helps him with money to buy some of the things he needs.

From Weekly Trust 

Full Text of Malala Yousafzai’s Speech To UN

 “In the name of God, the most beneficent, the most merciful.

Honorable UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon, respected president of the General Assembly Vuk Jeremic, honorable UN envoy for global education Mr. Gordon Brown, respected elders and my dear brothers and sisters: Assalamu alaikum.

Today is it an honor for me to be speaking again after a long time. Being here with such honorable people is a great moment in my life and it is an honor for me that today I am wearing a shawl of the late Benazir Bhutto. I don't know where to begin my speech. I don't know what people would be expecting me to say, but first of all thank you to God for whom we all are equal and thank you to every person who has prayed for my fast recovery and new life.

I cannot believe how much love people have shown me. I have received thousands of good wish cards and gifts from all over the world. Thank you to all of them. Thank you to the children whose innocent words encouraged me. Thank you to my elders whose prayers strengthened me. I would like to thank my nurses, doctors and the staff of the hospitals in Pakistan and the UK and the UAE government who have helped me to get better and recover my strength.

I fully support UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his Global Education First Initiative and the work of UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown and the respectful president of the UN General Assembly Vuk Jeremic. I thank them for the leadership they continue to give. They continue to inspire all of us to action. Dear brothers and sisters, do remember one thing: Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights.

There are hundreds of human rights activists and social workers who are not only speaking for their rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goal of peace, education and equality. Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured. I am just one of them. So here I stand. So here I stand, one girl, among many. I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights. Their right to live in peace. Their right to be treated with dignity. Their right to equality of opportunity. Their right to be educated.

Dear friends, on 9 October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends, too. They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage were born.

I am the same Malala. My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same. And my dreams are the same. Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone. Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorist group. I am here to speak for the right of education for every child. I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists. I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the compassion I have learned from Mohammed, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my father and from my mother. This is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone.

Dear sisters and brothers, we realize the importance of light when we see darkness. We realize the importance of our voice when we are silenced. In the same way, when we were in Swat, the north of Pakistan, we realized the importance of pens and books when we saw the guns. The wise saying, "The pen is mightier than the sword." It is true. The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them. This is why they killed 14 innocent students in the recent attack in Quetta. And that is why they kill female teachers. That is why they are blasting schools every day because they were and they are afraid of change and equality that we will bring to our society. And I remember that there was a boy in our school who was asked by a journalist why are the Taliban against education? He answered very simply by pointing to his book, he said, "a Talib doesn't know what is written inside this book."

They think that God is a tiny, little conservative being who would point guns at people's heads just for going to school. These terrorists are misusing the name of Islam for their own personal benefit. Pakistan is a peace loving, democratic country. Pashtuns want education for their daughters and sons. Islam is a religion of peace, humanity and brotherhood. It is the duty and responsibility to get education for each child, that is what it says. Peace is a necessity for education. In many parts of the world, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan, terrorism, war and conflicts stop children from going to schools. We are really tired of these wars. Women and children are suffering in many ways in many parts of the world.

In India, innocent and poor children are victims of child labor. Many schools have been destroyed in Nigeria. People in Afghanistan have been affected by extremism. Young girls have to do domestic child labor and are forced to get married at an early age. Poverty, ignorance, injustice, racism and the deprivation of basic rights are the main problems, faced by both men and women.

Today I am focusing on women's rights and girls' education because they are suffering the most. There was a time when women activists asked men to stand up for their rights. But this time we will do it by ourselves. I am not telling men to step away from speaking for women's rights, but I am focusing on women to be independent and fight for themselves. So dear sisters and brothers, now it's time to speak up. So today, we call upon the world leaders to change their strategic policies in favor of peace and prosperity. We call upon the world leaders that all of these deals must protect women and children's rights. A deal that goes against the rights of women is unacceptable.

We call upon all governments to ensure free, compulsory education all over the world for every child. We call upon all the governments to fight against terrorism and violence. To protect children from brutality and harm. We call upon the developed nations to support the expansion of education opportunities for girls in the developing world. We call upon all communities to be tolerant, to reject prejudice based on caste, creed, sect, color, religion or agenda to ensure freedom and equality for women so they can flourish. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back. We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave, to embrace the strength within themselves and realize their full potential.

Dear brothers and sisters, we want schools and education for every child's bright future. We will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education. No one can stop us. We will speak up for our rights and we will bring change to our voice. We believe in the power and the strength of our words. Our words can change the whole world because we are all together, united for the cause of education. And if we want to achieve our goal, then let us empower ourselves with the weapon of knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness.

Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty and injustice and ignorance. We must not forget that millions of children are out of their schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright, peaceful future.

So let us wage, so let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism, let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first. Thank you.”

 Let me tell you a story...

A story about a group of friends all with a common passion; mountain climbing.

On a beautiful summer day, they threw themselves a big challenge: A 5 hour long ascension on an extremely steep and highly technicalrock wall.

The group embarked on their adventure in the early morning. They were eight.
The climb was going very well and the top was near.

Suddenly, a black cloud appeared, hidding the beautifull landscape: a strom was approaching.

Fortunately the rain was brief. However, within a few minutes the rock got completely soaked.

The leading climber turned down to warn his companions the wall was slippery, and that the end of the ascention would become very difficult.

While he had barely finished his sentence, his foot slipped and he fell several meters down braking his leg and getting himself seriously wounded to the head.

Too concerned about the safety of his friends, he had neglected his own concentration.

After getting themselves all gathered up in a safe place with their injured
friend, they decided that half the group was to go back down and fetch for
help.

The injured climber suffered terribly and only remained conscient thanks to
the reasuring words of his friends.

"Don't worry... We're here... the others went to get help, everything will be fine... Hold on tight!"

Hours had passed... no signs of rescue to be seen or heard.

Night fell bringing strong winds with it. The injured climber continued to fight agains the pain, and now, also against nature.

Yet, the four friends held on tightly against each other, harnessed securely against the steep mountain wall.

Despair won them over, but they would not let it show, continuing to support
their wounded comrade.

After long hours of endless waiting, they suddenly heard the sound of a helicopter.

When it appeared before them in a blinding light, they had trouble believing it.

A few months after this terrible adventure, the injured climber finally started to walk again.

His injuries were a lot more serious than expected and following what the doctors explained, his friends saved his life by fighting for him to remain conscious.

They saved him by forcing him to keep hope.

They saved him by uniting their courage and supporting each other no matter what.

Why am I telling you this?

Well, this is just to show you that even in the most difficult moments, even when a battle seems lost in advance...... together, we never lose hope. We always find the strength to move forward.

Friendship, support and courage are the most powerful weapons that we have
to overcome obstacles.

John Lennon said: "A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream
together is reality."

And he was so right!

A dream builds, grows and becomes a reality only if we live it together and
we work hand in hand to achieve it.

Thanks to you and with you, my dream is becoming reality and I want to thank
you Moha, the bottom of my heart for your support and patience.

You are the reason we are still "alive".

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