My prayer for those seeking admission into UNILAG

1. May you suffer the annoying heat that DLI has to offer
2. May you strain your ears to hear the unwanted stories theat your lecturers would have to say
3. May you have to stand for lectures even when you get there by 7:30 am cos your colleagues would have to keep seats
4. May you get into brawls with your colleagues when they keep seats
5. May you have to do assignments that will not matter
6. May you walk under the hot sun to your faculties everyday
7. May the distance between your faculty and hostel be long
8. May you enjoy the companiy of the friendly giant mosquitoes in AKT
9. May you have to shout porter pump water cos he won't until you do
10. Against all odds may you come out with a first class

RED ALERT - AS EXAMS DRAW NEARER

Exam time is probably the most dreadful moment in unilag as all kinds of austerity measures come into play. Students now burn the midnight candle at three ends - middle inclusive. Those who neither attended lectures nor knew the lecturers now throng to the libraries to occupy space.

The age old formula of LACRAMME LA POUR LA FORGET now comes into use. Students read only to pour in the exam hall and forget immediately all is over.

Funny enough some students are yet to buckle down even at this point in time, I for one have no atom of pits for them but I pity those who sent them to school.

Whatmore the holidays are near and we can't just wait to start flexing.

AS BBs WON’T STAY PUT

AS BBs WON’T STAY PUT
Nowadays, BBs no longer stay where they are supposed to be, as girls in their generosity flaunt them for the world to see and die of jealousy, (just in case you do not have one)

Girls now say hello by waving their BB’s right in your face so you’ll notice them even if you‘re blind. Some even go as far as dressing up their BB’s in suits or jackets that match their colour code for that day, for instance a girl in a purple top, shoe and purse may decide to wear her BB purple and pink the next day when she wears pink.

As girls battle for supremacy with their BB’s, we, the proverbial grass that suffers when the elephants go to war, can do nothing but watch and admire the BBs they acquired with money gotten from our kind.

Wait a minute! Before you go running off saying Chike wrote BB, BOBBY, Jiggly stuff. BB stands for Blackberry! I even put up a picture of it above. See?

Internet Cake - Make Your Website Work

INTRODUCTION

“It’s your man from UNILAG, The Akokite. Heh! Hail, Akokites! Consider Internet Cake a set of lessons on building a relevant website. There are over a million websites online. How do you ensure that when joining this highly competitive market, you keep your head above water?

 

How do you make sure that your site stands out among the millions? Well, sit up, put on your reading glasses, take out your popcorn, we’re about to go on a voyage to find the relevant website that you want and the website that your visitors need and want. It’s going to be fun working all the way… Akokite Ladies and Akokite Gentlemen, drumrolls please, introducing ‘Internet Cake’…

 

INTERNET CAKE I

GETTING A RELEVANT WEBSITE

Welcome, Akokites, to ‘Internet Cake I’. Want to take your chunk out of the “Internet cake”, so to speak. Want to own your own website and make some money out of it? Well, normally, you should start with providing a service and then, thinking of how to make money through it. But, no harm done - Money can be a great motivator to think big and in an innovative way.

In order to own a website that sells, you will need to know what sells. What need is there on the Internet that you can fill? Is it the hunger for information, free downloads, free internet browsing, social networking?

Identify the hunger that you can fill and your first steps towards wealth have been taken. Anyone who’s making his/her money is doing so because they identified a need that they could satisfy, a problem that they could solve, entertainment that they could provide. Any website that earns revenue does so because it draws traffic and it draws traffic because it has something to offer that traffic. You feel me?

1.       Play to your strengths: what online services can you offer? Is it entertainment, infotainment, social networking? Never do something you don’t believe in or know (this is law on the Internet).

 

2.       Check out the market and find out if there is demand for your skills/services – Are there other sites that offer the services you want to offer? If you will be the pioneer, then make sure you ask questions. Quiz your friends, neighbours, classmates. Find out if they want/need such services.

 

 

3.       Examine existing websites: odds are that websites that offer the services you want to offer exist. In order to compete with these existing sites for their traffic, you must come out with uniqueness, better ideas, improved services.

 

4.       Write out the proposed services of your site: write down the services you intend to offer. You must give what others are giving that the people want. You must identify flaws with the services of existing websites and solve them (better ideas).

 

5.       Now, you have the first stage. Hear this, the internet is huge. There are millions of websites. If you want a social networking site, there is Facebook. This alone is enough to leave with you just 5 members of your network. Specialization works when there are power stations on ground.

 

This is getting too long already. Check ‘Internet Cake II’

Education Vs Talent - Which'll Grant Me Success In Life?

I’ve been hearing a lot of people discuss the above, wondering which brings success, happiness and money.

Every human that ever walked this earth was gifted. Everyone has a talent, everyone has a gift. Normally, our passion points towards our talents. 

Now, it isn’t unheard of that many do not realize their talent or reach their full potential during their sojourn on earth. A man once wisely said that the grave is the richest place as it holds the unrealized dreams of millions of human beings.

Whether we define success in terms of money amassed or in terms of the level of positive impact one has on the society, whatever your definition of success, there have been eternal debates concerning the key to success. There’s a school of thought that opines that one who concentrates on their education and excels, will step out successful in the world. 

The second school of thought posits that for one to be successful, one must discover one’s talents. They hold that every human is given a talent, and that the journey through this earth is for one to discover one’s talent, improve/develop it into a skill and use it to affect the world or part of it.

I once read an episode in Mafalda (Argentinian comic) and a girl was going around talking about her father’s wealth. She happened upon a rather smart boy, and after boasting about her father’s wealth (a businessman), she enquired of him the figure his father earned. The boy’s reply was “It doesn’t matter what our fathers earn. Compared with footballers, basketball players… they earn pittances”.

I’ve been listening to people debate this issue of ‘education vs talent’ for so long that it’s got me thinking too. Is that even the right question?

Well, I’d like to put in my two cents worth. I agree with the first school of thought that education is important. It could be one of the ways to hone our talents. I agree totally with the second school of thought that discovering one’s talent, developing it and using it to affect the world is the way to success and fulfillment in this world. 

King of Pop

Shall we consider Michael Jackson, whose talents for singing, dancing and choreography, led him to unimaginable heights. He is considered one of the greatest artistes of all time.

Let’s take one of our own, Fela. He didn’t attend school, yet he discovered his talent for singing relevantly and used that to affect Nigeria. The discovery of his talents spurred him to great heights.

Do we talk of Aliko Dangote? He was a school dropout. Discovering his talent, he dove into it and went on to make himself an important contributor to the Nigerian economy and the tummies of millions of Nigerians. 

Fela Durotoye

Cobhams

The list runs long with Fela Durotoye, our very own motivational speaker, who led the 'Mushin Makeover' 

Dare we forget Cobhams? It wasn’t his education in school that spurred him to fame, but the use of his talent in music.

This isn’t an article to dissuade you from pursuing your education. This article seeks to have you sit back, think about what you love to do. Go on a mission to discover your talent, if you haven’t. What do you enjoy doing? What comes very easy to you? What is it that death and only death can stop you from doing?  

It would be awful to spend these grueling hours in UNILAG, chasing after the wrong thing. If you are already in the wrong direction, have the bravery to stop and switch. Your happiness should be secondary to nothing! 

Education as opposed to talent, I hold that this matter should not be one of contention. Just as a lion is born with teeth for affecting his environment, we are born with talents with which to change our world. 

Education vs. talent? The real question is, ‘will you be among the men who used their talents, or will you be the one who kept his talent safely locked away throughout his days on Earth?’