HOW TO SET UP A SCHOOL IN NIGERIA

EDUCATION

SCHOOL   SET UP FULL

PLAN AND OUT LAY

INTRODUCTION

1.     WHY SCHOOL?

Nursery and Primary school business in Nigeria has become more profitable these days than ever before due to the number of children that are born every day. With such increase in the number of children born yearly — comes the need for more Nursery and Primary schools that will cater for them, and the need for even more will continue over time.

In those days, a single government or missionary owned primary school in a community would be just enough to cater for the children of the entire community. Then, there was no need for private nursery and primary schools. Today, the story has changed — no single primary or nursery school would be able to take care of the entire kids in a community, especially in urban places like Lagos and Abuja.

2. WHAT IS THE OUT LOOK        (ROI)

It has also become the general perception that the standard of education in privately owned and managed schools are higher compared to that of the ill-equipped and badly maintained government owned schools.

Sending ones children to public schools is equally regarded as evidence of poverty. Therefore, every parent struggle to send their children to any available private school, doesn’t matter if that one is even worse than the public school as long as it is called ‘Private school’. These general trends has combine to make investment into nursery and primary school a worthwhile investment.

I’ve seen someone who only manages to feed few years ago become a millionaire through the small nursery and primary school he borrowed money to start.

Some of the lowest nursery and primary schools in area like Lagos charge nothing less than N7,000 as school fees, while good ones charge from N30,000 to as much as N500,000 school fees per term (I pay N75,000 for my 3years old daughter per term)just to learn A.B.C

If in your school you charge N10,000 per term and you have 200 pupil, the amount you’ll be getting from school fees is 10,000 x 200 = 2,000,000 Naira per term and it wouldn’t take you more than a million Naira to run such school every term. Its an investment no good entrepreneur will want to turn a blind eye

SITE ?

 This is the most important aspect of this plan, failure to adopt a qualitative yardstick in the determination of the Site of the school, will almost if not completely destroy the investment.

Therefore it is imperative to consider the following when looking for a good site for the school

1.     Population of an area

2.     Distance from the town

3.     Closeness of a competing institution especially established ones

4.     Regulatory hindrances that will prevent the school from been registered e.g closeness to factory of effluent discharge point

5.     Proximity to highway

6.     Proximity to offices and business district especially for day care and crèche

7.     Security

RECOMMENDATION:  POACH a good senior staff from a reputable private school in the locality to help with the badly needed intelligence so as to get the appropriate information about the location  to site the school. he/she will also serve as an asset as the school moves from idea to reality

REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Guidelines for the registration of schools differ from one state to another but the complex  ones are provided below:

1.     CAC (corporate affairs commission registration ) note some state require an educationist preferably a PhD holder in education to be on the board

2.     Three years tax clearance (evidence of tax payment )will be required when submitting the form

3.     In the event the construction of the school will involve large earth moving equipment some state will require an environmental impact assessment (EIA)

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OFPRIVATE SCHOOLS

  

1.The Proprietor/ Proprietress shall write a letter of intent.

   2 The Proprietor/ Proprietress shall attend an interview.

   3The Proprietor/ Proprietress shall obtain an application form

   4Facilities inspection shall be conducted on the proposed school

5.Based on the report of 4 above, interim approval shall be given.

6.The proprietor shall commence the process for the employment of teacher sand admitted students.

7.The registration form shall automatically lapse if not processed within one calendar year of purchase and therefore due for repurchase.

8.It shall be noted that an intending proprietor shall ascertain the proposed name of the school with the concerned (Local Inspector of Education) LIE before such name is finally accepted and submitted to the Ministry to avoid duplication..

The LIE shall ensure that the name is not duplicated within the same local Government Area or state as the case may be .

9.The intending proprietor is expected to fulfill all statutory revenue obligations to the government before approval is granted.

 

10 On no account shall any Proprietor relocate or duplicate the school without due approval from the ministry of education.

11.Proprietors cannot operate schools (Annex) without satisfying all the necessary condition for the establishment of such schools.

12.Clearance shall be obtained from the ministry of works and transport as regards the suitability of the building as well as ministry of Health / Local government on the environmental condition of the site.

13 The provisional Approval granted by the Honorable commissioner may be revoked if the school is no longer run in accordance with the laid down guidelines. In addition, the following photograph shall be provided

14 Photograph of the proprietor(2)

Photographs of the school building-whole. Left, right,& back view

Photograph of each of the classroom

Photographs of the pupil and teachers toilets (female/male).

Photographs of the source of water and electricity.

Photographs of recreational facilities.

Photographs of adjacent buildings showing front, left side, right side and back views.

 

ESTABLISHMENT OF NURSERY SCHOOL FACILITIES

·        It shall be free from any type of danger to lives of the children and staffs

·        It shall be free from heavy traffic, factory and deports where inflammable materials are kept.

·        It shall be securely fenced round for safety of the children.

·        9m x 15m space shall be provided for playground, recreational facilities and future expansion.

·        The school shall be at least 1km away from an existing private Nursery/ Primary school in the neighborhood.

·        The minimum dimension of the classroom shall be 7m x 4m x 3m. Also, approval shall be granted to any school occupying or that intends to occupy any uncompleted building or structure, well-constructed and adequately ventilated. The building shall not be shared with any other tenants.

·        The buildings shall be plastered and painted.

·        The floor covering shall be concrete.

·        Arrangement of classroom shall encourage free movement

SAMPLE OF THE FORM FOR REGITRATION IS ATTACHED

RECOMMENDATION

1.     Determine where the school should be located between Abuja and Niger

2.     Begin the process of registration by obtaining the handbook or brochure and filling the relevant documentation

3.     Purchase or rent a suitable building and or erect some set of classrooms and offices at a site if available.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

Advertisement and Awareness

As a way of marketing our services to the target market we should ensure that awareness is created all over the state. Local newspaper, radio jingles, bill boards and posters will be an excellent tool to advertise our services to our targeted clients.

COST

s/no	Media Platform	QUANTITY	COST	TOTAL
1	Internet school website	1	70,000	70,000
2	Radio jingles		15000	15,000
3	Posters	100	5000	5000
4	Billboards	3	25,000 each	75000
5	Pamphlets’	20000	3000	3000
	Grand Total			N 168,000

SCHOOL BUILDING

 

SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES

 The school building should be constructed based on the standard issued by ministry of work, land and or  Housing of the chosen state ,

The cost of building depends on the size and quality of the building you intends to construct. An Engineer will be able to put you through in this.
Insist on good structure because, your marketing starts from there. The classrooms should be spacious, at least 3.5m square per child under the age of two, at least 2.5m square per child aged two or at least 2.3m square per child aged three to seven.

Most Nursery and Primary school class rooms used to small and jam-packed. Yours shouldn’t be like that. Water is very essential and you need plenty of it in your school, get borehole that will supply you water at all time.

I will recommend the acquisition of 4 plots and above so as to have adequate space for recreation, playground and parking space.

Having a larger area will ensure that the library, Multipurpose laboratory, conference room, reception, and stores can be accommodated without much stress.

 The playing grounds should as much as possible be sited at the center in between opposite buildings while the reception should be located immediately after the entrance, administrative block is located on the two sides of the conference room.

COST

The cost here will vary greatly Depending on  Weather we intend to purchase a building , rent one or construct the school on an already available site, and the state where the building will be located.

Rent : vary between 350,000- 4million per annum depending on the state for a four bedroom apartment

Purchase: 9million to 100million depending on the state and the location

RECOMMENDATION:

1.Rent an accommodation in a very good location and simultaneously acquire good plots in  FCT , NIGER AND KOGI.

This will enable the school to become popular in a very short time and and provide the needed funds to enable the school cater for its need independently. Movement to a permanent site should be considered under the medium and long term goals.

Its important to note that moving to an unknown site for an unknown school will be very disastrous, Don’t buy in isolated area where people are not living, no parent would want to patronize you in such area.

Due the inherent risk involved in child’s movement, parent will prefer a school that is within their home, and for easy pick up of their children.
I will therefore advice against such. 

NB: I could leverage in Kogi using my good contacts in Lokoja and with your influence we could secure good hectares for the future Development of the school.

EQUIPMENT AND TEACHING AIDS

Apart from the normal chairs and tables (which you can get Carpenters to do for you at a very reduced price) you also need to equip your classrooms with computer and other learning aids, parents will be happier to pay when they see that your classes are properly equipped.

You need plenty of toys and other gadgets that is used for children’s education ,You need video and large screen TV in all the classrooms, not to play movies but for playing educational videos and sometimes, cartoon depending on the class and the children’s age.

Buy a school bus if you intend to offer pick and drop which almost compulsory for every school since most parents would demand for it. A nice Tokunbo bus goes for about N900,000-2 Million Depending on its capacity .

Get a decent bus that will speak well of your school, and avoid jam-packing children in a bus.

If one bus isn’t enough buy two, parents are paying you extra for the service, give them the best they deserve. Besides, it’s irritating seeing children packed up in a bus that is not fit for transporting animals let alone human being.

COST

Chair ,Desk, marker boards etc  = 500,000-1,000,000

Office equipment = 200,000- 200,000

Computers and other electronics = 200,000-300,000

School Bus =1,000,000

Multipurpose laboratory = 180,000

Swings =25,000

Merry –go- round =40,000

ACADEMIC AND NON ACADEMIC STAFF

Ass a proprietor of the nursery and primary school, you do not need any formal qualifications but the school manager must have a minimum of NCE and experience in educational administration.

All Teachers should have minimum of NCE and experience in childcare education or play-work. Teachers who are passionate about children are preferred.

NYSC Members will be great source of cheap and experience Labour force .

Note a good command of English language without any form of compromise is not negotiable teachers are a reflection of what to expect from a school bad PR is not good for any business.

 

HUMAN RESOURCES REQUIREMENTS

Academic staff 

Headmaster/Headmistress

Qualification: B.Ed. Education

Experience : 5-10 years working experience in a well-established private school

Responsibilities: She shall be responsible for the day to day management of the school and report directly to the proprietress.

Assistant Headmaster / Head mistress (optional)

Qualification: B.Ed. Education

Experience:3 years working Experience in managerial field.

Responsibilities: He or She shall assist the headmaster on academics and administrative issues and report directly to her.

Teaching staff 

Qualification: NCE/B.ED/B.

Experience: At least 2 years working Experience and registered with teachers’ registration council of Nigeria (TRCN).

Responsibilities: Coordinate and teach the students.

Non-Academic staffs

Non-academic staff 

Secretary/PRO (optional)

Bursar/Accountant

Librarian (optional)

 

Medical staff  (optional but not negotiable for a boarding school)

Technical team( can be out sourced )

Sport Coordinator (delegated to a teaching staff )

Auxiliary Staffs

Nursery Assistants ( very important )

Bus drivers ( non alcohol drinkers and smokers )

Security Men

Gardener

Cleaners (very important)

COST  ANALYSIS

Designation          No          MonthlySalary (N)                  Salary PerAnnum (N)

Head Mistress       1              60,000                                     720,000

Assistant               1              35,000                                             420,000

Teaching Staffs    7               30,000                                             2,520,000

Secretary/PRO      1              30,000                                             360,000

Bursar/ Acct          1              30,000                                             360,000

Nursery Asst         2              12,000                                             288,000

Bus Drivers           2              15,000                                             360,000

Security Men        2              10,000                                              240,000

Cleaners               4               7,000                                               336,000

TOTAL                                                                                                  5,964,000

The average monthly wage bill for a private school ranges from N 120,000-500,000 depending on the class on of staff qualification and grade of the school.

Omar, NLC , Kriston Lally and the Punzee Scheme

Omar, NLC , Kriston Lally and the Punzee Scheme!

It was Warren Buffett who posited that "Honesty was a very expensive gift, and advised that no one should expect it from cheap people" expecting it from the present crop of labour leaders was perhaps the greatest mistake Nigerian workers ever made. 

When The Nigerian Labour congress was formed in 1978, the objective was to protect, defend and promote the rights, well-being and the interests of all workers and pensioners.

The multitudes who trooped into the Banking halls of Zenith and Guarantee Trust Bank to pay and apply for the NLC- Kriston lally EPC Housing project ,did so because of the reputation the seal of NLC carried, but unknown to many the glory had departed ! NLC previously seen as voice of the voiceless and defender of the oppressed have become a tool in the hands of those who seek to fleece the weak. 

One year after promising to deliver 5000 houses to subscribers in six months not even a single block has been laid on the imaginary site of the project. The initial 300 hecters of land allocated to the NLC and TUC for the project by the Federal Government has been cannibalized and shared to cronies by Omar and his gang.

   

 By choosing to plug the mouth of the National Administrative council members and others using the 10% down payment for homes deposited by hard-working Nigerian families, Omar has not only obtained a one way ticket to jail, he has also destroyed any remaining reputation the NLC has left.

     It is sad and shameful that leaders who should be struggling to protect the interest of workers have allowed themselves to be used against the same workers they swore to protect. Today, retirees who had earlier banked on the promises made by these leaders have seen their hopes of retiring into their own houses all but vanished. 

Unfortunately, Nigeria's housing deficit which presently stands at 24 million units have become a feeding bottle of sort for these Labor leaders who blame the government for everything including their own inefficiency and irresponsibility. 

 It is therefore imperative for the EFCC and other agencies of government saddled with the responsibility of tackling financial crimes and punzee schemes to rise up to the occasion and help Nigerian workers recover what the canker worms and Palmer worms have fleeced .

Oche Otorkpa (MTC)

Author of the Unseen Terrorist and Publisher of Tsuntsu Newspapers 

Seven Sincere Questions for Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and his Followers

These questions are not about bleaching or greasy hairstyles, they are sincere questions meant to provoke genuine and deep meditation
About life and style of the Christ Embassy leader and his followers ?

Question #1

1. Is it right for a Man of God or any man for that matter to leave apart from his wife for such a long time considering the position of the scripture below?


 1 Corinthians 7:3-5

3. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal
rights (goodwill, kindness, and what is due her as his
wife), and likewise the wife to her husband.

4. For the wife does not have [exclusive] authority and
control over her own body, but the husband [has his
rights]; likewise also the husband does not have
[exclusive] authority and control over his body, but
the wife [has her rights].
Do not refuse and deprive and defraud each other
[of your due marital rights], except perhaps by mutual
consent for a time, so that you may devote yourselves
unhindered to prayer. But afterwards resume marital
relations, lest Satan tempt you [to sin] through your
lack of restraint of sexual desire.

(Amplified Bible)


Question #2

 The free dictionary defines Asunder as setting "Apart from each other either in position or in direction"

Does your directives barring husbands and wives from worshiping in the same parish not a clear violation of the scripture below ?

Matthew 19:4-6 Amplified Bible (AMP)

4. He replied, Have you never read that He Who made
them from the beginning made them male and female,

5.And said, For this reason a man shall leave his father
and mother and shall be united firmly (joined
inseparably) to his wife, and the two shall become one
flesh?

6. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What
therefore God has joined together, let not man put
asunder (separate).

Question #3

Considering the advice in the scripture below ,do you think it is proper to Keep the "whites House " ladies whose actions have set a wedge between you and your wife ?

Seeing that she is bitter about the disrespectful manner you treat her in the presence of these women !


1 Peter 3 vs 7

  "In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she
is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.

(NLT)


Question #4

It was God himself who said in Genesis 2:18 that “ It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”

Do you think it is proper to stay Alone as a man?


Question #5

For the 16 years Rev Anita has stayed alone raising your two lovely kids.
Please how did you expect her to stay warm according to the scripture below !

Ecclesiastes 4:11-12 “Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be
overpowered, two can defend themselves. A
cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

Question #6

In a Full year calendar your Family does not future in your travel Plans ! So how do we classify you according to the scripture below ?

Seeing that the emotional and matrimonial need of your children and wife have been differed!

1 Timothy 5:8 (King James Version)

"But if any provide not for his own, and specially for
those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and
is worse than an infidel.

Question # 7

Do you really Love your wife ?


If the answer to this final question is Yes!
 Then

A. Throw away the garment of arrogance and put on the coat of humility

B. Accept the fact that you have made certain errors and draft other ministers to take over any impending Crusade you might have planned

C. Reschedule whatever preaching engagements you have in your schedule

D. Prayerfully Redeploy all the Home breakers in the "white house" and replace them with senior women or men of God .

E . Book a one way ticket to the UK

F. Meet, reconcile and fellowship with your family, they are your first church. Charity must begin at home.

G. Mistakes might have been made, but show me one person who does not make mistakes and I will point my hands to heaven ! Take sincere measures to right all the wrongs inflicted on your family over the years

May Jehovah Shalom the God of peace himself envelop your family with his perfect Peace !!!

Best wishes

Pastor Oche Otorkpa
RCCG

7 Outdated Technologies That had great impact on the lives of Nigerian's

1. Floppy disk : at a point in time it was our only source of storing data , as a university undergraduate you must have one to store either project or materials at a Business Center, it was very useful and very vulnerable.
But show it to an undergraduate today and he/she will tell you what the heck I'd this ?



3 GSM Antenna : its very easy to forget how time flies , when the global system for Mobile telecommunication was introduced in Nigeria only major cities had access to the Network , in some areas people had to climb trees or mountains with their Nokia 3310 or Samsung R220 to get network.

Those days call centers had GSM antenna attached to a phones to enable acquire signal,all that is history now !


3.Cellophane water: Before the advent of pure water or what others choose to Call packaged water , Nigerian's had long been in the business.
It was simple
A. Buy a pack white nylons.

B.Fill each with tap water

C. Tie up with sack rope

D. Refrigerate

E. Start selling


Thanks to pure water this technology has been archived


4,Nintendo, Sega and Un branded Games

Yes this Names still exist as games today but many have forgotten how computer games were the exclusive preserve of rich kids , as a poor kid or a child from a middle income home computer games are things you see in school with that dude whose father owns the tallest building in the city. today with= N= 100 you can get any game software its that easy !

5.VCR: Do you remember watching any Indian movie through the window of your neighbors house because your family could not afford one , you are not alone:

Movies like MAD , Distinambari 10 10 10, Mother India, Snake in the monkey shadow were all available

Towards the end of the 90s Video cassettes where everywhere but today most kids would not know what a VCR or VCP is used for, even CD and DVDs are been phased out thanks to technology

Remember Toshiba ,Sharp !
How time Flies

6. Black and white TV

At a time in our history Lucozade cellophane is the only thing that can confer color on your Black and white TV, it was a technology that lasted for a long time , you watch voltron, Super Ted every on the black and white screen every Saturday and eat white rice and stew which only come on sundays !

If you try that with your child today you won't like what the kid will tell you !

7. ___________? I will leave the Seventh Blank and allow you decide which other outdated technology made great impact on the lives of nigeria

10 "foolish" Ways to loose your Money in Nigeria

1. Unnecessary Parties

It is estimated that Lagosian's spend close to 40 billion naira annually on parties alone .

Most analyst have argued that most of these parties are completely unnecessary and most times do not add value to either the host or the guests.



2. Insisting on Designers, Labels, and Brands

 From groceries to clothing to prescription drugs, you can save money by choosing an off-brand over a fancy label. And in many cases, you won't sacrifice much in quality. Clever advertising and fancy packaging don't make brand-name products better than lesser-known brands.

For example, generic drugs can cost as much as 80% less than their brand-name alternatives.

3. Shopping at the wrong store
If you are Particular about price then don't just walk into any store , a Bottle of drink at MM2 will cost you almost thrice the amount you buy it at your neighborhood fast food outlet , a supermarket in victoria Island will not sell Gala at the price you get it in Oshodi


4. Paying for "ashoebi" you may Never wear again,

Today, almost all weddings, burials,Birthdays and even naming ceremonies now have a uniforms which organizers use in adding color and or liquidating their guests ! This is one of the Biggest drain pipes in most low income Families who can hardly afford three square meals but are willing to mortgage their 5 months salary for a 2 hours programme!

5. Maintaining a Fleet of Cars
Most people keep a fleet of car to show the world they have arrived , However they fail to realize that their cars start diminishing in value the moment they drove out of the show room . The Insurance ,licensing , and maintenance is an unnecessary expense for a vehicle you drive once in a month!


  6. Multiple Girlfriends or Sugar Boys.

Women are wonderful creatures, history is replete with men who died because of women only to have those women become concubines of the men who killed their lovers .
A Man with a retinue of girlfriends will have to Buy Credit for Shade , change wardrobe for Ngozi and pay house rent for Fatima all these add up to keep the young mans account in perpetual red !

In the same vein women are reinventing slavery but this time on a different dimension, they have mastered the act of keeping "Bingos" whose only duty is allegiance to the Bosom of a woman old enough to be their mothers .

One peculiar thing about these "bingos" is the Fact that they have taste as such keeping many "Bingos" sometimes leave a tsunami effect on the bank account !



7. Leaving Your Money in a Low-Interest Account


If you're stashing your cash in a traditional savings account earning next to nothing, you're wasting it. Make sure you're getting the best return on your money. Fix any money you don't need and earn good returns from your bank instead of paying account management fees to a bank which charges you for using your money.


8. Not Pulling the Plug on Electronics

If you use a prepaid meter this is one of the reasons your credits develop wings.
   Electronics that have a clock or operate by remote are typical culprits. The obvious way to pull the plug on your energy vampires is to do just that -- pull the plug. Or buy a device to do it for you, such as a Smart Strip Power Strip which will stop drawing electricity when the gadgets are turned off and pay for itself within a few months.

9.Buying at the Wrong time !

This mistake could some times have devastating effect Its is dangerous to Buy a Land or House during dry season because the area might be prune to floods or the Land could be waterlogged .

Building during raining season on the other hand also has some advantages

1. Cost of Building materials especially cement falls

2.Molding Blocks and water supply for concretes works could be made easier especially for those in arid areas


 10. Borrower !

Pls Borrow me =N= 500,000 I have a business deal I must close tonight?

Many people have lost millions and made great and wicked enemies just because they choosed to help.

The wisdom here is never lend out a money you are not willing to forget!

Any business that is too good to be true is too Good to be legal!

2015: The Hypocrisy of the Northern "Elders"

It was Hillary Mantel who said that "History offers us vicarious experience. It allows the youngest student to possess the ground equally with his elders;
without a knowledge of history to give him a context for present events, he is at the mercy of every social misdiagnosis handed to him"

Over the years the Nigerian political landscape has been shaped by various characters masquerading as patriots,these class of people were individually and collectively responsible for the decay in our national infrastructure and the total lack of progress in the past, to these set of people any policy or government that does not have input from them must be sabotaged or pulled down at all cost.

In 2011, several factors coalesced to unleash the unprecedented post election tragedy witnessed in several parts of Northern Nigeria , a critical analysis of these factors has shown that the activities of the northern elders prior to the 2011 general elections was largely responsible for the carnage witnessed during the period. Fast forward to 2015 and the same set of people have returned with the same sectional and divisive politics, this time choosing to exploit the misfortune of the grieving Chibok families and the insurgency they have midwived into maturity.

It is important to note that these disgruntled self imposed Northern "elders" have never proffered any reasonable suggestion on how to end the current insurgency, neither have they sat for one day to appraise the impact of the 12 brand new Universities 9 of which were located in Northern Nigeria which should have been a norm if they really cared about the education of the Northern youth.

We expected these "Elders" who have served several governments in the past and are familiar with the problems facing millions of almajiri children to conduct an impact assessment of the effect of the over 200 amajiri schools built by current administration in northern Nigeria but these "elders" don't really care about education.

 Elders who have the interest of their people at heart would have set up a machinery that will expose business men and women within the region on how best to position themselves so as to take advantage of Nigeria's first speed train service which will connect Kaduna the heart of northern Nigeria to Abuja the nations capital city, but these elders will rather do politics than help Northerners reduce haulage cost by helping them take advantage of the new rail links that now transverse the region .

As at today, the economy of northern Nigeria is largely driven by agriculture, it is regrettable to note that no meeting of the Northern elders in the past 4 years had agriculture on its agenda . The Farmers e- wallet which has revolutionalized the distribution of subsidized farming inputs and fertilizers but which the northern farmer has been finding very difficult to key into, is not an important issue to these "elders".

On a visit to one Nigeria's oldest Museums with some colleagues few years ago we came across several photographs that captured the British royal Merchant ships discharging finished products and loading agricultural produce bound for the west from inland ports in Northern Nigeria ,one had expected that with the dredging of the Niger river completed and the Inland dry Ports nearing completion the elders would channel their energies towards ensuring that our people not only take full advantage of the project but also position themselves as key players in the sector.Sadly, that also will never happen because these "elders" are more interested in politics than development .

As Northerners, our greatest mistake will be to think that the ''pretro'' dollars from the Niger delta will last forever, because when the oil finally dries up we will have nothing to fall back on, as such we must look beyond oil ,we must extricate ourselves from the desire to grab power at all cost and channel our energies towards raising strong entrepreneurs and economically sound communities by encouraging young people to start businesses rather than take up arms .

Until we create the enabling environment that will encourage investors to explore mineral deposits and invest in our region our economy will continue to suffer.
To date we have ruled this nation far longer than any other region, with little or nothing to show for it. Its time to stop blaming others for our woes and start taking responsibility for our future


Oche Joseph Otorkpa

Publisher :Tsuntsu (Hausa Newspaper)
Tweets from @ochejoseph

MAN IS THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY (A REJOINDER TO A NAIRALAND THREAD)

When I opened that thread like Many other Nairalander’s I expected to see cogent points that Points to the Fact that despite the Bible say we as Men are still subordinates to our Beautiful wives in many ways, now before you start throwing stones read this carefully

Hitting a woman is the strongest sign of a Man's weakness , forget the Fact that some women can turn the Pope into Mike Tyson , it is completely Unacceptable for any man to hit his wife or vice versa its simply crossing the red line.

There are several reasons why I strongly believe women are technically stronger than men.
Here is a scenario from  typical Nigerian Village:


Scene 1 : Husband and wife wake up and Both head to the Farm ,husband on Bicycle ,wife on Foot

Scene 2 : Wife arrives late Husband starts complaining , wife explains she had to breast feed the child before leaving her with Grand Ma ,quarrel is resolved and  they Both carry out the Farm work together


Scene 3 : Husband Complains he is tired, wife says she Needs time to gather more fire wood , Husband takes some rest under the Mango tree in the Farm while wife gathers more fire wood and picks some fruits for the Kids

Scene 4:
Farm work over, they both get set to head Home , husband mounts his bicycle and Pedal home with little or no Load , wife carrying a heap of farm produce, fruits and fire wood heads Home on foot


Scene 5: Wife on arrival Hope sees husband drinking palm wine under the tree with his friends, greets them and head straight for the fire place to make Brunch

Scene 6: she finishes and serves the family food , Bath the children and wash their clothes but before she could clean up the kids and herself the sun was already setting

Scene : 7 as the sun sets , the Powerful woman already has her dinner on fire , before darkness falls she set the lamp and set dinner before the family, they eat and are all happy

Scene 8. As Night falls they all go to Bed, but while she was about to enjoy her sweet deep and well deserved sleep Oga ( "Head of the Home ") taps her to complain about the ''konjititis'' and the Need to placate the one eyed Snake , again she rises up to the occasion and delivers:

It takes less than 3 minutes for head of the home to fall into slumber after discharging the white paint , but the woman takes more time to sleep because of the earlier interruption to her sleep .

When morning come the whole scenario is repeated


In Urban areas the scenario is not different

Scene 1 : Both wake up and Go to work , return by 5pm all stressed up ,

Scene: 2 on arrival wife moves straight into the kitchen while we the ''head of the home'' start changing channels from BBC to NTA  , from CNN to Aljezeera flipping through newspapers and our phones in the process.

Scene 3: food is served we eat and go to Bed for some rest, she cleans up, and clear out all the rubbish in the house, But immediately she hits the Bed without even allowing her take a breath we pounce on Her, as loving as she is , she looks straight into your eyes and say ''OK but let me change "   

On a lighter Note

1. You work for 30 days you collect your 10,000 Salary you carry 4,000 give woman to buy her cream!

Who is the head = the woman

2. You fought over a woman and you got beaten mercilessly and left unconscious by the road side !
  Who is the head = the women 

3. You feed your family Indomie, while you drink garri. But you buy fried rice and chicken + salad  for that woman !
Who is the head = the woman

4. You Buy Okirika for your children, bend down select for yourself and Gucci for the Babe

Who is the head = the Babe

5. You send =N= 200 credit to your Mum, =N= 100 to your Dad and your own phone only has credit for flashing but you buy =N 3000 credit for the woman !

Who is the Head= the woman

6. Your Fathers Peugeot 504 is grounded, you just bought your babe a Rav 4!

Who is the head= the Babe 

7. Your younger sister Needs 100'K for surgery you deny her, but paid 300''K for that woman  to attend her best friends 30th Birthday in the Dubai !

Who is the head = the woman

Finally
 
God took extra time to make women ,to say they are beautiful is an understatement , he gave them extraordinary grace to cope with situations that could make a man commit suicide ,without women our homes will be in shambles !
However, God can never be wrong, He is just too Intelligent, How can the one who suspended  the ball called earth Without strings be wrong , The Kabiyesi who uses the mouth of Fish as ATM Never fails !

He said Man is the head of the Home

Ephesians 5 Vs 22 -25 AMPLIFIED

5:22 Wives, be subject (be submissive
and adapt yourselves) to your own
husbands as [a service] to the Lord.
5:23 For the husband is head of the wife
as Christ is the Head of the church,
Himself the Savior of [His] body.
5:24 As the church is subject to Christ,
so let wives also be subject in
everything to their husbands.
5:25 Husbands, love your wives, as
Christ loved the church and gave
Himself up for her

Peter 3:1 - Likewise, ye wives, [be] in subjection to
your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word,
they also may without the word be won by the
conversation of the wives;

Lets stop destroying homes by promoting articles that divide the family and destroy society, if we respect our wives, and treat them as Queens , they will make us the Kings we  truly are

ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAYS