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They let the ball drop and they are paying dearly for it. Now the fastest selling phones belong to Apple and Google, with the former moving 48.7 million units (6 per second) in the last quarter alone, compared to Nokia which managed to sell only 6.6 million units within the same time frame.
Still we fondly remember a time when Nokia was king. A time when if you didn't have a Nokia 3310 you hadn't arrived. Remember the Nokia 1100 and N95? Those phones were rock solid! Boasting impressive battery life and durability. O jabo, ko le fo lai lai. We fondly remember a time when Snake and Bounce were the most exciting games to play on a mobile phone.
Fast forward to 2013, Nokia is struggling and Apple is the reigning king. Nokia's stock is down to $4 from $40 in the space of two years. It made a loss of $1.5 billion in 2011 and only managed to post a profit of $585 million in Q4 of 2012.
However, Nokia is taking steps for a huge come back. It recently adopted Microsoft's Windows Phones OS as its primary OS and just announced that is abandoning its in-house OS, Symbian. They confirmed that their Pureview 808 will be the last release sporting the increasingly outdated Symbian OS.
Most of you will remember the Symbian OS as the most popular mobile phone OS between 2002 and 2006 before there was iOS or Android. The decision to abandon Symbian is certainly a good one. Symbian is outdated and simply cannot compete against the likes of iOS and Android.
The switch to Windows Phone OS is already paying off. Its recent line of Lumia devices sporting the OS have been enjoying pretty good sales, accounting for two-thirds of Nokia's total sales. Hopefully as they continue to release more phones with Windows OS they'll be able to reclaim a large share of the mobile phone market they once dominated.
Nokia also recently announced that it is scraping dividend payment for the first time in 20 years. This is good news because it will aid their net cash position allowing them invest more cash into business.
With Nokia now solely reliant on Windows phone OS and burgeoning Lumia sales, we hope to see a gradual turn around for the Finnish telecom company. Fingers crossed.
According to Premium Times, one Abu Mohamed Abdulazeez who claims to be the second in command in the sect's leadership hierarchy spoke to journalists in Maiduguri on behalf of the overall leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau, saying that they decided to end the crisis because they had come to a realization that Muslims suffer from the attacks and wanted Muslims to live peacefully. He said the announcement of the ceasefire followed a series of meetings it held with the government of Borno State where it got commitments from the government that its members in captivity will be released.
Although he agreed that there were factions within the group, he said the supreme power to order a ceasefire rested with the leadership of Imam Abubakar Shekau, who is the leader of the authentic group.
The statement made available to Punch reads:
"I, Sheikh Muhammed Abdulazeez Ibn Idris, is the 2nd Commander- in-charge of southern and northern Borno after Imam Abubakar Shekau of Jamaatul Ahjlil Sunna lidawati wal Jihad otherwise known as Boko Haram.
"For sometime now, we the members of Jamaatul ahlil Boko Haram sunna lidawati wal jihad otherwise known as Boko Haram have recently had a meeting and dialogue with the government of Borno State where we resolved that given the prevailing situation, there is the need for us to cease fire.
"We, on our own, in the top hierarchy of our movement under the leadership of Imam Abubakar Shekau, as well as some of our notable followers agreed that our brethren in Islam, both women and children are suffering unnecessarily; hence we resolved that we should bring this crisis to an end.
"We therefore call on all those that identify themselves with us and our cause, to from today(Monday) lay down their arms. Let every member who hears this announcement relay it to the next member who hasn't heard.
"We have met with the Borno State Government on two occasions and the fallout of the meeting was to cease fire. Presently, we are going to comply with the ceasefire order and by the time we are done with that, then security agencies could go ahead and arrest whoever they find carrying arms or killing under our name. We are very much aware of the fact that some criminals have infiltrated our movement and continued attacking and killing people using our name.
"Of course, there is a faction within us, but the larger faction of our movement is the one in support of this ceasefire move. Moreover, once top members of our group, including Imam Abubakar Shekau, are in support of the need for ceasefire, other smaller factions can be dealt with easily.
"This message, by the Grace of Allah, comes directly from the office of Imam Abubakar Shekau, the supreme leader of Jamaatul ahlil Sunna lidawati wal Jihad."
When Channels TV tried to contact the Borno State Government, the Special Adviser to the state governor on Media, Isa Gusau, in a telephone interview said he could not confirm the meeting between the Borno State government and the Boko Haram sect.
We sincerely hope this brings an end to the killings and bloodshed by members of the sect and pray for continued peace in Nigeria.
Traffic officials said he was overspeeding which could have been the cause of the accident. However, Olusola Oladimeji, the driver and owner of the Toyota Sienna said he wasn't.
The father of three who is a minister of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church, said he was on his way home from work when the incident occurred. He narrated his experience to Punch:
"I work on the island and I left home for a meeting in the early hours of Saturday. After the monthly environmental sanitation, I started driving back home. I was driving at the speed of 60km/hr and was on the fast lane because the road was free. At Ebute Meta bypass, I saw two vehicles that had been involved in an accident but I kept on driving. Suddenly, everything went blank, I couldn't see anything again, and I just found myself in the water."
He did not lose consciousness in the water and as such, he unfastened the seat belt and swam towards a ray of light.
"I was not on high speed. When the car hit the railing of the bridge, the airbag was not released. After falling into the water, I unfastened the seat belt and noticed that one of the doors of my car had broken off, so I swam out of the vehicle to the surface of the water even though I don't know how to swim. It was while I was waving my hand that fishermen saw me and quickly came to my aid. They took me away from the scene and took me to a clinic located on the water where they administered the first aid."
Oladimeji was later taken to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital where an X-ray scan was conducted on him. Although his leg was not fractured, it was cast with Plaster of Paris because he had a sprain.
When Punch visited his home, members of his church were seen coming to felicitate with him. One of them, Praise Onanuga, a pastor at MFM, Berkeley Parish, said the victim had just bought the car eight days before the accident.
"He bought the car just eight days before the accident and we were supposed to do the dedication today (Sunday) but we thank God that we were not put to shame. We will hold a thanksgiving for him soon because this is a miracle."
It is indeed a miracle and we are so glad he's alive.
Photo Credit: Punch
The Catholic Church of Nigeria yesterday temporarily withdrew its membership from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). Their reason? That CAN under Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor has been compromised. Also because of some uncouth statements by some Christian leaders, and the use of money in CAN elections and several court cases involving state chapters of CAN.
Spokesperson of the Church, Rev. Fr. Dr. Cornelius Omonokhua, said:
"You just can't save people who are drowning, if you are drowning with them. CAN is being dragged into partisan politics thereby compromising the ability to play its true role as conscience of the nation and the voice of the voiceless. We will be happy if CAN leadership can show moderation. Common sense dictates that they do that."
The Catholic church said they would review their withdrawal from CAN after the annual meeting of the Conference of Bishops in February. See more after the cut...
Meanwhile CAN has reacted to CCN's withdrawal, calling it good riddance. A rep accused the Christian denomination of arrogance, saying they were merely angry because the presidency of the association had moved to another bloc of the group.
Spokesperson for the 19 Northern chapters of CAN, Sunny Oibe, told Punch:
"There are some certain elements in the leadership of CAN led by Cardinal John Onaiyekan because he lost CAN Presidency to Oritsejafor who has a lot of achievements. There is no need for anybody to lose sleep over the threat by Catholics to pull out of CAN because without them CAN will still continue. The constitution of CAN makes provision that membership can be terminated by any group that is misbehaving or any group can also terminate their membership.
"Why is it that when Catholics were in the leadership of CAN, every bloc supported them, but now because power has changed hands, they are threatening to pull out and causing confusion?
"They have been agitating that the Presidency of CAN must come from the South. They are appendage of PDP and PDP themselves. They are known for double standards. A man of God should not be double speaking."
Msg. Kevin Wallin, 61, resigned as spiritual leader of St. Augustine's Parish in Bridgeport in 2011, but he continued to receive a stipend from the Roman Catholic Diocese until his Jan. 3 arrest on drug charges.
Wallin, nicknamed "monsignor meth," might have been laundering his drug profits at a Westbury porn store he owned called the Land of Oz, investigators told the Connecticut Post.
Before he stepped down from the altar at St. Augustine's, the priest's behavior had become erratic, and he would disappear for days at a time, sources told the Post.
Church staff also saw him cross-dressing and he would entertain "odd looking men" in the rectory, where they engaged in "sex acts," the sources said.
Staff at St. Augustine also found what they called "bizarre" sex toys in Wallin's residence when they went to check on the priest.
The staff reportedly informed the Diocese about the un-priestly behavior.
Church officials maintain they had no idea Wallin had been selling or using meth, either before or after he left his duties at St. Augustine.
"We had no indication he had a drug problem and never had complaints regarding him and drugs," said Diocese Spokesman Brian Wallace.
After his resignation, the priest dropped out of sight, Wallace said.
His arrest shocked his former flock, who remembered an affable man who loved Broadway musicals.
"There is an evil invading our world and it has come to our church," longtime St. Augustine parishioner Maria Spencer-Fonseca told the Post. "This was a work of evil — and I am praying for the monsignor."
Wallin is due to be arraigned next week on charges that he was part of a cross-country drug ring that shipped meth between Connecticut and California.
He is accused of selling the drugs to an undercover officer six times between September 2012 and January 2013.
Source - NY Daily News
www.sisidammie.blogspot.com
It was at the Peak Island Bank stand that I saw him. I was asking the lady at the stand if they would employ a Law Graduate with an MBA but no BL (Nigerian Law School degree) when he stood beside me eagerly waiting for their response. I looked up at him and could not but smile. I've always had a problem with fine guys, they were my Achilles Heel. He was no exception. Tall, slim built, yet muscular, fine facial structure. He was very clean looking. The lady had started responding but there I was, still admiring God's work of art. Quickly, I slipped out of my reverie in time to catch the last few sentences. Then I promptly moved on to the next stand, embarrassed at myself.
'You didn't get what she said, did you?', a deep voice said behind me. Lo and behold, it was Mr. Hotstuff again.
'Erm, some of it', I mumbled.
'I noticed you were a bit distracted and given her open ended, non-specific response, I would have expected some sort of questions to follow from you'.
He then went on to explain the lady's response to my question. To be honest, I really didn't care for what he was saying as much as how he was saying it. He was really hot.
I found out he was doing his Masters at Jesus College, Cambridge after having finished with a First Class and also second best in his year in Ife. It took a while to become friends because I had to first of all get over my infatuation with him. That took a few weeks of totally ignoring his calls and refusing his self invite to Manchester to see me and also refusing to go to Cambridge to see him. I don't know when exactly or how exactly it happened, but I stopped being so 'star struck' and started seeing him in a normal light.
The next time we saw was during the Festival of Life programme in London two months after we first met. He had come with his church bus and my friends and I had driven from Manchester because we could not make the timing of our church bus. We planned to meet up during the Testimony Time and we did. We strolled to the very back to get water and I realised I was nice and easy around him this time. We talked for a few minutes and went back to our different seats.
When he offered to come see me the following weekend. We went to see a movie and then had dinner at a lovely Asian restaurant. On Sunday, he met up with me and we went to church together, had lunch afterwards.
As I waited for a bus back to my house, I was reeling with excitement. I could not believe what great time I had had. You see, as someone who likes fine guys, I know very well that most of them are either cocky, stuck up, stupid, unintelligent, proud, taken or all of the above. So you can imagine my feeling of good fortune when I found out that Adeniran Ola-Baker possessed not one of those vices. He was so humble, respectful, kind, intelligent and fun to be with. I also found out he comes from a family of geniuses. His father is an alumnus of Oxford and currently a dean at Unilag. His mom has 2 Bachelors and 2 Masters degrees. His younger sister was in the final year of her PhD programme at Nottingham at just 26! I felt a bit intimidated but he was quick to credit it all not to their hard work or natural gift but to God's grace.
We carried on with our friendship for another 3 months till he asked me to be his girlfriend with the hope of one day becoming his wife. I was so excited. I said a fast yes. I had prayed about him and felt so much peace in the relationship. It was as if God had come to wipe away my tears because I had kissed a few frogs in my 25 years on earth.
I was indeed in a very happy place.
Our Masters programmes ended and it was time to go home. I had met his sister, 'Lope. She was not the geek I expected her to be. In fact, she was exceptionally fashion conscious and an 'it' girl for a PhD student. I just assumed all PhDers were geek glasses wearing and braces wearing. We became good friends during the period I was in the UK.
Niran and I were on the same flight back home. My mom and 2 sisters came to pick me up whilst his mom and dad both came to pick him. That was the first introduction of our families and it was short and sweet. Two weeks after arriving Nigeria, he invited me to his parents' to meet them properly. It was such an ordeal deciding what to wear. My mom had said 'no English outfit' but my big sister was the other voice saying, 'be yourself and wear what you're comfortable in'. In the end, my mom won and I wore a really nice yet simple Ankara dress and kitten heeled pumps. I had my hair in a bun and wore my favourite earrings.
His mom was extremely welcoming. She apologised that her husband was on a call upstairs and would be joining us shortly. It was a very relaxed meeting and it went well. If Niran's mom is described as friendly. His dad would be described as funny. He told one joke after the other and had me in stitches all afternoon. It was also interesting to watch his mom laugh so hard at his jokes after 32 years of marriage. It was a good afternoon.
On our drive back as Niran dropped me off, I asked,
'Niran, I saw another girl featuring a lot in your older family albums. I thought 'Lope was your only sister'. He went quiet for a while and I felt bad thinking maybe she had died and I was scraping at healing wounds.
'Yes I do. We are three kids. She's older than I am. She's 31 this year'.
'Oh wow! What's her name? Where does she live? Is she also a genius like you guys?', I asked smiling, relieved she was alive.
'Her name is is 'Lade, Omolade. She lives here in Lagos. She has some problems', he said dismissively.
'Oh, what kind of problems', I probed.
'She was committed to the mental institution two weeks to her Bar Finals when she was just 20. Last year was her 10th year in the Psychiatric Home. She graduated with a First Class from Ife at 19 but never got called to the Bar'. He said this as a matter-of-factly with zero emotion. I was literally open-mouthed for 5 minutes or so.
'I'm so sorry', I gushed, not knowing the appropriate words to speak. He dismissed it and apologised for not telling me all along. We had already gotten to my house by then. He dropped me off and left.
As soon as I got home, my sisters and my mom were in the living room excitedly waiting for news of how the day went.
'It went so well. His parents are so cool. I had a great time. I found out he has an older sister who's not well', I said of the meeting at Niran's.
'Eh yah, what's wrong with her?' Bisodun asked.
'Erm, she's ill', I mumbled. How does one say it? I thought to myself.
'What kind of illness?' Impatient Lara quipped.
'She's insane. She went mad during her Bar Finals 11 years ago', I blurted. To hell with the political correctness.
'Oh my God', 'What?', 'Damn!', the three of them said at the same time. We all bemoaned the poor girl's fate for a while and then changed the topic.
At about 1:30am, my dad and mom strolled into my room, interrupting my Dexter.
My dad was fumbling with his fingers. My mom on the other hand, sat down on my bed and began,
'My dear, your dad and I have discussed things long and hard and there's no way we are going to sit back and watch insects crawl into our eyes. You are a young girl and you have your whole life ahead of you. You can't marry into a family where madness runs. It is hereditary and I won't have a mad man for a son-in-law nor have mad grandkids. You need to break it off with him and fast too.' My mom was emotionless. She spoke as if she was a newscaster speaking about some remote girl's fate and not like she had just shattered my very being.
I sat there mute, looking at my dad as if he should help me and save me from my mom's unreasonableness. 'Dad', I began.
My dad cut me off saying, 'We spoke with Aunty Biola whose husband is a psychiatrist at John Hopkins as you know. He told us unequivocally that madness induced by studying is hereditary. I'm sorry dear but I withdraw my blessings on your relationship'.
I was devastated as I watched my dad speak. My mom is known to make decrees and still change her mind. But my dad is soft and so hardly speaks BUT when he does, we all know no Jupiter can make him change his mind.
***
I confided in Lara about it. She's a non-conformist and I chose her because I knew she would support me. She did but also blamed me for telling them, accusing me of never learning from my past experiences of how badly they handle sensitive information.
I eventually spoke with Bisodun. Bisodun has always been the family oracle, very intelligent and also extremely rational and pragmatic. She is also a lover of God so I knew I would hear the truth from her, even if painful. Here were her words,
'Sis, this is indeed a toughie. Whilst I believe in the power of prayers regarding these issues of hereditary diseases, the truth is our parents' faith is not on that level. And you must get parental consent. You absolutely must. I don't support you going ahead not because of the disease of the mind of his sister but because of dad and mom's resolve. Hold it off for now and begin to pray hard. I'll join you and we can even start fasting from tomorrow. Now Sis, our prayer is not for mom and dad to change their minds, no. Instead, it is for God's will to prevail.
I love Niran and you together and when I place him besides the losers you have been with, I am personally pained at the thought of you guys not being together. However, sometimes, the devil brings a counterfeit of God's plan for our lives. There still will be but guess what, God's work cannot be hindered. So if it indeed is God's plan for you, we need to call on God and tell Him, Oh God, you gave me this and the world wants to destroy your gift and take it from me.
You need to quit this starvation you've put yourself on and all this weeping.This is our period of inquiring. Let's first of all seek God's will, the rest will follow. The heart of the king is in the hands of the Lord and like a river of water, He can turn it as he so wishes. So babes, forget mom and dad for now, they are not the real matter at issue. When God says yes, they dare not say no so let us hear God say his yes first.
***
As great as Bisodun's words were, I'm still torn. There's no way God can say no to a love so true. Why give me someone that brings me so much joy only to snatch him away? Why should I leave Niran because of fear, not even mine, my unbelieving parents'? He is not mad and can never be mad and I know I can not have a mad child.
According to Bisodun, I'm to tell Niran I want to seek God's face for something for a while and during that period, I'm not to communicate with him. She says I need a severance from him in order to hear God speak clearly. That is easy to say and I know myself, it is just impossible to pull it off. Plus, our relationship has never been that way. We discuss all our problems and pray for each other so this 'problem' I have that requires solitary confinement would definitely have him raising an eye brow.
So many questions running through my head: my parents are not such strong believers. Is it not praying parents you obey implicitly? Is his sister's illness really hereditary? Why did I open my big mouth to tell my mom? Why did I not make my parents find out after the wedding? Should I go crazy and get married without their approval? Should I open up to Niran about my predicament? Would that not make him judge my family? Should I go ahead and have a clean break from him whilst I pray?
Narrating the tragic incident, the mother of the dead children told Sunday Sun at Ekwulumili Health Centre where she was recuperating from the shock, that she was also attacked by the suspect.
According to her, the suspect allegedly hit the eldest of her children, Chukwuebuka, on his forehead with a hard object and dumped the lifeless body inside an underground tank in the compound before strangling his siblings. There were marks of human nails on their necks that showed that they were strangled.
The report stated that her husband had been having an affair with the suspect and was also arrested along with her. Here is an excerpt of her account below:
"I was to go for a burial ceremony with my husband at Ukpor on that fateful day and the children went to school. We initially left with the youngest one, Chinenyenwa but the vehicle we boarded was jam-packed with passengers and the baby started crying. Consequently, my husband said we should disembark and use our motorcycle but people around said the road was too dusty to ride with a baby on a bike.
I decided to go home and wait for our other children who went to school so that they would take care of the baby and enable my husband and I to make the trip with our motorcycle. But long after school hours, the children didn't come home. We went to the school and other pupils told us that our children had gone home. I looked for them along the roads they usually take to the house but I did not see them.
Thereafter, I urged my husband to go on his own and look for them, but he returned soon after, saying he had seen them coming home. Before my husband and I left for the burial, I gave them food and told them to go and stay with an old woman in the neighbourhood because we are the only occupants of that building, and I don't like them staying alone in the compound. We had stayed barely one hour at the burial ceremony when my husband said we should go home.
But before we left, my husband's phone rang and I heard him say, 'I'm in a burial'. So, as we got close to our home, his phone rang again and he told the caller that we were not back yet. I didn't ask him who the caller was as we rode straight to the house.
When we got to the elderly neighbour's house, we were told that she had gone for prayers and that my children were not seen there. We got to the house and I opened the gate from behind believing that the children were inside the house. As we parked our motorcycle inside the compound, my husband pointed to the underground tank that was open. I became apprehensive because we don't keep it open. But I said maybe the eldest might have drawn water from the well and had forgotten to close it.
I called Ebuka but there was no response. I ran into the sitting room and saw the three younger ones lying on the floor as if they were asleep. I ran out again believing that those three were sleeping. I continued to call Ebuka and looked into the tank and I didn't see anything. Later, I decided to wake up Ebuka's immediate younger brother to ascertain the whereabouts of his brother. I called him but he didn't wake up; I tried to rouse him but he was motionless and so were the other two. I cried to my husband that the children were dead and I concluded that since the three were dead, Ebuka might be inside the well.
There were marks of human nails on their necks that showed that they were strangled. One of them had faeces in his anus. It was when my husband started crying and moved towards our bedroom, that the lady (suspect) emerged from the bedroom and asked him why he was shouting. Then, I advanced towards her and demanded from her, where she kept Ebuka's body because I had seen the others she killed. I held her and she gripped me. When I freed myself from her grip, I rushed to lock one of the two gates and raised the alarm until neighbours came."
This is really sad… May the souls of the innocent children rest in peace and may God grant the parents the fortitude to bear the loss.
Going head-to-head in the last stage of the channel's search for a new MTV Base VJ, are 26 year old Ada Ogunkeya (@Folustorms), 25 year old Ehizojia Okoeguale (@SpecialSlim) and 22 year old Kemi Owatemi (@SsmallzZ).
The ultimate victor will win a contract with MTV Base worth 10million Naira plus a brand new car and other exciting prizes.
Lagos born Ada is an on-air personality at 92.3 Inspiration radio. A self-confessed "life enthusiast", Ada's Twitter page describes her as an "opinionated, impulsive giggle-bot, knowledge fiend, natural hair lover, dancer, and all round dude". According to Ada, 'I feel like I've been preparing for this moment my whole life – it feels right!"
Smart and witty Kemi (Dahlia to her friends) loves dancehall music and Rihanna in equal measure. The personal motto of this young novel-loving Capricorn is "Happiness is Key", and she describes her personal style as "more denim than silk".
Happy-go-lucky jobseeker and computer electronics graduate Ehiz, a.k.a "Special Slim", is always the life and soul of the party. With a personal mantra that states "Be the best you can be because at the end of the day you can only answer for yourself", old-skool funk fan Ehiz numbers Fela Kuti, Born Jamericans and LL Cool J among his favourite artists – and loves the colour red because it represents both love and danger!
Ada, Ehiz and Kemi were hand-picked by judges Banky W (@BankyW), Toolz (@ToolzO), Funke Akindele (@funkeakindele) and Tim Horwood (@timohorwood) after competing against thousands of applicants in the MTV Base VJ Search – Nigeria auditions in December. The winner will join Sizwe Dhlomo and Nomuzi Mabena on MTV Base's in-house talent roster, presenting their own chart show on MTV Base (DStv Channel 322, STV & AIT).
The winner in the MTV Base VJ Search – Nigeria competition will be selected by the judges during the Grand Final in Lagos, on 25 January and revealed on MTV Base on Tuesday 29 January. MTV Base VJ Cynthia C-Von Okpala and MTV's newest South Africa VJ, Nomuzi Mabena, will share emcee-ing duties at the gig, while celebrity artists Iyanya, Ice Prince and Burna Boy will be helping the 3 finalists to complete their final challenges.
You'll be able to see Ada, Ehiz and Kemi showing off their stuff in the next two episodes of the MTV Base VJ Search – Nigeria, on MTV Base, DStv Channel 322 at 18:30 WAT on 22 & 29 January and on STV at 18:00 WAT on 24 & 31 January.
