Wednesday, November 20, 2013

“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...

Sunday, November 17, 2013

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

Sunday, November 10, 2013

‘My next target is to build an aeroplane’


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