UNN COMPULSORY LAPTOP FEE FOR FRESHERS

When I heard of the rumor of the mandatory laptop for the freshers clause placed as a required for the completion of registration at Nigeria Nsukka freshers registration for this year, I had a tough time wrapping my head around it because it sounded like sometime a few friends joke about at the beer parlour after taking a few rounds of Star and Alomo.

I did some digging and I learnt that this is not something new, infact, it began two years ago with failed attempts and i guess this time, the school authority is armed and ready for business.

As mixed feeling continue to trail the imposition of N70, 000 compulsory laptop acquisition for all freshers of UNN, by the school management, as a new ICT Empowerment Program Initiative, to boost learning and also encourage students to be ICT-equipped, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba met with the Student Union Government, in an attempt to resolve the issue. 


According to Vanguard Newspaper, some of the old and new students had gone to the social media accusing the school management of not having the Student's welfare at heart. A protest was planned against the decision of the school management to impose laptop acquisition on freshers. Due to the statement released by the SUG President, Comrade Orji Ekene, to met the VC on the issue, the protest was put on hold.


After the deliberation involving the SUG and the school authority, the school management released a statement still insisting that the N70, 000 laptop fee is compulsory for all first years, but for those who cannot pay at once, they can be paid over three installments with a yearly payment of N25, 000 to be spread over three sections.


I think the installment plan is the best part of this idea, at least, it reduces the burden and difficulty of paying the chunk of more at once. Not everyone can pay at ease as some students are still struggling to complete their acceptance fee and school fee.

Gradually, Education is becoming more and more expensive. God help us.

CHARLIE SHEEN HAS CONFIRMED HE IS HIV POSITIVE

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former "Two and A Half Men" television star Charlie Sheen said on Tuesday he is HIV positive.

Sheen, 50, told NBC's "Today" show he was diagnosed about four years ago and said the reason he disclosed the information was because he was being blackmailed.

"I am here to admit that I am in fact HIV positive," Sheen said, saying he was "not entirely sure" how he acquired the virus. "It's a hard three letters to absorb," he added.

Sheen, who is three times divorced, played the womanizing bachelor Charlie Harper on top-rated U.S. comedy series "Two and A Half Men" for eight years before being fired in 2011 for bad behavior that included cocaine-fueled partying with porn stars and a conviction for assaulting his ex-wife.

At the time, he was the highest paid actor on U.S, television with a reported annual salary of some $1.8 million.

Asked whether he had transmitted HIV to anyone since his diagnosis, Sheen said on Tuesday, "Impossible." The actor said he had "always led with condoms and honesty when it came to my condition."

Sheen said one of the reasons he disclosed the news about his health was to stop others from extorting him. He would not disclose how many people he was paying for their silence, but said the payments reached into the millions of dollars to people he once considered in his inner circle.

"What people forget is this is money, money they are taking from my children," Sheen said, referring to his 5 kids and one grandchild.

"I thought they could be helpful. Instead, my trust turned into their treason," Sheen said, adding he will no longer pay those people. "I think I released myself from this prison today," he said.

After being fired from "Two and A Half Men," Sheen set up home with a number of porn stars he called "goddesses" and boasted on YouTube of having "tiger blood" in his veins.

Sheen, the son of "West Wing" TV actor Martin Sheen, also starred in the cable TV comedy "Anger Management," which was closely based on his life, from 2012-2014.

He has five children from his marriages to model Donna Peele, actresses Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller, and other relationships.

My Take: Truthfully, I saw this coming. Charlie's role in the two and the half men series was too perfect to be just a case of an actor playing a role, I remember telling a friend, "This is too real, he is just living his life with a camera rolling." I sincerely don't know if i feel sorry for him or just pity.  

SLUT-WALK HELD IN BRAZIL BY HUNDREDS OF TOPLESS WOMEN TO PROTEST AGAINST RAPE AND SEXUAL ABUSE

SlutWalk event, does that ring a bell. Well, that was the name given to a rather weird protest that took place in Rio de Janeiro's, Brazil. This event had hundreds of women stripping off to protest rape and all forms of sexual violence upon women.

The topless women used markers and paint to inscribe words and slogans , while some waved banners that expressed their irritation towards how men have objectified women.

The protesters pointed out that the major aim of the protest was to address claims that women provoke attacks by the way they dress. One of the female protesters , Indira Costa who is just 18 said that she joined the event because she wants a future where she will be able to do what she wants with her body without being molested or harassed. 

Personally, I get that a lot still needs to be done on the violence against women, I get that men who engage in rape and all forms of sexual abuse should be severely dealt with. I get that men should learn to practice more self control, but I sincerely don't think that going topless and stripping is a great way to say to men out there, "STOP OBJECTIFYING WOMEN". Infact, the act of using their bodies as a tool for protesting, the mere action to strip and then say, "I AM MUCH MORE THAN MY BODY", is a mockery, It seems more to me that they are promoting the very thing they are against.

I stand to be corrected but when women wanted to be taken more seriously, they got education, jobs, careers, etc. When a woman wants to be respected, she conceals her body so that other parts of her can shine. Within is great beauty, but the outside sometimes needs to be over-looked, before the beauty inside is revealed. 

My point is, they should have dressed properly, carry their banners with the beautifully inscribed words and protest as intelligent women do. I still repeat, not everything that seems like freedom is freedom. In Genesis, God saw that Adam and Eve had not covered properly, so He made proper clothing to cover them Himself.

Imagine a world were men walked around revealing the bulge in their pants, the curves and the packs on their body, though they are not as endowed as the woman, this will still be thought provoking. Our world cannot be a better place when we don't practice a little charity. Dress in a way that says "I AM BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL" and not in a way that says, "I AM DELICIOUS BUT DON'T EAT ME". I mean this for both sexes.

AFRICA! OH AFRICA! WAKE UP

129 died in the Paris attack, a very sad thing indeed, the world is mourning, over 4 million people took to the streets of Paris in a solidarity march, world leaders were calling in and flying in to express their distaste and displeasure towards such a barbaric act, and the aftermath of this event continues to dominate international headlines.

Nigeria was not left out in the solidarity march, a good example is the case of a lot of people changing their profile picture to French flag hue stripes backdrop profile pictures.

But thousands of miles away, another crisis went largely ignored. Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria committed a massacre of unbelievable proportions in Borno State. Over the period of a few days, the terrorist group killed more than 2,000 people in the town of Baga, as well as 16 neighboring towns and villages, burning entire communities to the ground. Amnesty International described it as the terror group's "deadliest massacre" to date, and the Guardian reports that local defense groups said they gave up counting the bodies left lying on the streets.

The saddest part of this all is, i don't see Nigerians changing their profile picture to Nigerian flag hue stripe background profile pictures. I don't see any protest on the street in solidarity to our death brothers. i don't see any presidents or world leader calling in or talking about it, not to talk of flying in. 

A very interesting interview on CNN that i just watched, a certain General, James Spider Marks said the most unbelievable thing, "What is happening in Nigeria is not a priority. BLACK WEST AFRICA IS NOT A PRIORITY". How long will Nigerians and indeed Africans continue to slumber? For how long do we continue to embody such graceful bodies and yet have the mind of a slave, like a world second class citizen? It is sad enough that the world doesn't care, but the disease to belong and identify ourselves with events that are in the words of Gen. James, "regionally not our concern", to the point that we carry other people's crosses and forget to carry ours. Don't get me wrong, my heart is sad for the beautiful people of France, why would I not be? But my heart bleeds for a people that have forgotten who they are.

Shame on the world, but more shame on us Nigeria. Weep not for others, but for yourselves and your Children.    

REFLECTIONS ……THE ABUSER AND THE ABUSED

A renowned psychologist and professor carried out a very strange experiment on two beautiful rose flowers. He put the flowers into separate pots, the best pot in the market, used the appropriate soil, changed water regularly and made sure to treat the water with sugar, apple cider and a small amount of bleach to control bacteria. He trimmed the end of the steam each day and culled the flower. He called them Flower A and B and whatever he did to A, he made sure to do to B. Now this is where it gets rather strange; for the flower A, he asked his students to pass every morning and give the flower lovely compliments that tells it how beautiful it is and to the flower B, they should rain abuses on it without restraint. After one week, an even stranger thing happened, flower A blossomed and had the best fragrance while flower B withered. When you think of this beautiful phenomenon, you can’t help but wonder how human the flowers were, how they came alive. I know it seems unbelievable, but I think the flowers had ears that listened and minds that hurt.

A man once told his son, “My son, don’t ever beat your woman, the wound on her body is nothing to be compared to the pain in her heart”. My point is, a man who beats his wife is a complete animal and prison is a weekend gateway compared to the zoo I think he should be locked in, but physical abuse is like a scratch from your pet cat compared to the tiger claw indelible mark that psychological abuse leaves on the mind.

I guess my question is, WHO ARE THE VICTIMS OF ABUSE? In most cases, women are the victims of physical abuse and like I said in my previous posts, offenders should not be dealt with lightly. Hmm! I know the hearts of the female folks reading this is post is pumping more blood in a fit of mild irritation and if a mirror was turned to their face, I am most certain to find a displeasing look that comes from a sour taste, and yes, I can hear the said and unsaid words echoing out of my speaker saying, “TELL THE ANIMALS”.  I think, with a complete reservation of opinion and perception, not in a sexiest or anti-feminist manner, that though men are physically abusive, many women are psychologically abusive.  

Now before you crucify my unworthy mortal body to the cross, please empty your cups and hear me out. Cage in the raging bull and listen to my simple words. Women are psychologically abusive but for most women, IT IS UNINTENTIONAL. Yes! You heard me right, they don’t even know they are doing it. Men too can be psychologically abusive, but the percentage is very low, physical abuse is more of a man’s vice and as much as I want to talk about this, for this article, I would be focusing on the woman’s vice.

A man who was abused as a child spoke out in this exact words, “As a child receiving both physical and emotional abuse, if given the choice between the two, my preference would be physical by far.” You see, a child’s spirit is broken long before the bone splinters. Sharon Jaynes in her book titled “The power of a woman’s words” spilled some glorious words in her rather remarkable book and I would like to share this with you not just because she is an awesome writer but because she is a woman and this serves as validation. Sharon said “While our words cannot bring into existence things that are not, they do have the power to build courage into a husband’s life”. There is a king in every man, a queen knows how to SPEAK TO THE KING WITHIN.

The renowned speaker Ann Wilson once asked women at one of her conferences, if we love our husbands, why do we often tear them down with our words? You see? Forgive them father, for they know not what they are doing. Lol. A female friend, very wise one I must add once said these beautiful words “SPEAK LIFE INTO YOUR MAN”. She told me how she highlights the goods he is doing, how she tells him that he is a king and treats him like one, how she validates him and when he faults, how she speaks to him like the man he is and not like a fellow woman. She said with a reassuring smile, “My man listens to me, he doesn’t just hear, he listens”. Women crave attention, men crave approval. A man that is with a woman that treats him like a king is ready to go to war for her, he is ready to deny his family for her, and he would work hard to give her the world. Unless he is a psychopath.

Truth is, I have heard a few men say “My wife doesn’t need me, she is a man”. This is extremely sad because it contradicts the mind of God and the most importantly, His words that made man the head of the family and demands that a woman submits and respects her husband. Many successful men attribute their success to their wife, you know what they say, “Behind a successful man is a woman”, I would want to add that “Behind an unsuccessful man is a psychologically abusive wife”.

Finally, men fight for dominance, so when you start trying to captain the ship under his watch, he forgets that you are a woman and he tightens his fist and treats you like one of the guys. This is the reason for some physical abuse that women face. A woman who disrespects her husband will have boys who will act like women and girls who will act like men.

I know some wives are probably flashing the screens of their phones or laptops, asking their poor helpless husband who is desperately trying to avoid any disputes, if what I said is true. Guys! We know how it is “Happy wife, happy life”, I expect you to be a sweetheart and say, “Hell No, It is absolute nonsense”, so to help your poor unfortunate souls comment, you can post with anonymous, but for me, this is an opportunity from the universe to be man. Grab those BALLS on your mouse, scroll down and leave your comment. For women, I am sure you are already saying more than you are typing. Gbam! That was the bell, LET THE DEBATE BEGIN.