In Uyo on the 25th of June, 2012.

Arrived Uyo around 8:30am and just as usual, I was welcomed into the city by the exquisite roads, courtesy of the very high standards in road construction delivery as executed by the German construction giants; Julius Berger.

On getting done with my engagements in Uyo at around 10am, my intention was to travel back to my state that same day. However, I chose to spend some time in the city (Uyo) till 3pm before leaving and as it turned out, I met these friends of mine (youth corpers serving in Akwa Ibom State) who were like " you cannot leave today o, you must hang-out with us today ". It might surprise you that in as much as it was a simple decision to make, it took me a little over three hours to finally make up my mind to stay. Even at the point were we all got into a car and each of them took turns in getting to their respective houses to change into casual wears, I still had not yet decided if I was willing to spend a night there.

Well, after everyone was set in their casual wears, our first port of call happened to be the Sliverbird Cinema located inside the Tropicana Resort in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. Being my first time visiting the Sliverbird Cinema in Uyo, I expected so much, especially with the image of other Sliverbird Cinemas at other locations in the country still being very fresh in my memory. As we arrived the Tropicana Resort and stepped out of the car, the first thing that got my attention was the unkempt surroundings of the car-park that faces the entrance door into the Cinema. The parking-lot itself was well swept and neat but the grasses of which I am sure where planted for beautification, was rather what turned the beauty of the environment into ashes as the grasses were overgrown and sprouting at every corner. By the standards I have always come to expect from such leisure environments, I must say that the exterior environment of the Tropicana Resort of which houses the Sliverbird Cinema complex alongside other arenas, surely fell short of my expectation.

What Are You Doing With Negative People?

Yes, this question is for you; what are you doing with negative people? I bet you are having problems giving yourself an answer to this question. Anyway, I can help here and my advice to you is that you take a walk out of the presence of such people and never look back.

It is easier to be discouraged than to be encouraged. Therefore, it is easier for the negative to influence the positive, rather than the other way round. We are living in a world today where worldly ideologies seem to have a better part of the populace, so on this; I guess you now see why the chances of embracing negativity are higher and why you need to avoid such environments or people at all cost.

Negative people come in different forms; could be those who are just totally sinful and would never see any reason to be upright or responsible, could also be those who although are living responsible lives but somehow they never stop being pessimistic about every situation. The list is endless but the bottom-line is that, just as Water or Coca-Cola are still liquids, any type or format of negativity is still Negativity; stay away from it at all cost, including those it embodies, as well as its environs.  

Big Brother Stargame: #Bad-iDea? Or #GoodPlanGoneBad?

One cannot ignore the fact that this year’s (2012) Big Brother Edition tagged ‘Big Brother Stargame’ was meant to be the best and most thrilling ever in comparison to previous Big Brother Africa editions. However, with over a month to the end of the game, the Big Brother Stargame house has experienced eight (8) unforeseen evictions. Four of these being as a result of health / emotional issues of a partner and the other four resulting from the violation of the house rules, of which earned them an expulsion from the game.

Without missing anything, I think this is the first time the Big Brother Africa reality show would be experiencing such massive disruption to the show. The nearest to this was the disqualification of Mr. Hannington Kavuma of Uganda during the Big Brother 5: All Stars season due to same rule violation. Nonetheless, the case of Mr. Hannington was an isolated case and really didn’t or in fact, didn’t cause any disruption to the game.

Still on the Big Brother Africa Stargame; two weeks ago, the Sunday eviction(s) in the Up-Ville House (VIP) had to be cancelled due to the fact that two of the three nominated housemates were disqualified before the Sunday LIVE eviction show due to improper conduct and this resulted in the nullification of evictions for that Sunday, of which caused the Sunday LIVE show to appear dull and without glamour and was more like a hush-hush event of which am certain had caused the show to lose a chunk of their loyal viewers as well as create a whole of new bunch of dissatisfied viewers.

The names and countries of housemates who had to leave the Big Brother Stargame in circumstances other than the official Sunday eviction shows are;

Depend on GOD

I personally need no one to school me on the fact that humans would always fail you. Most times, this happens in situations where you believed that everything was within their jurisdiction to grant your request, either directly or indirectly. How many of you have experienced this? And how many of you are experiencing it now?

Today, I have very few words for you.

I can stake my life that GOD would never fail you. Whenever you need that job / favor / contract / scholarship / music deal or whatever, just take up your request to GOD Almighty, trust me, he would deliver to you that divine helper that would grant your earnest request without your ever needing to experience sleepless night or nights of tears.. Take this from me, if you depend on men(humans), that very person whom you think can help you by virtue of his/her high position in the society, is more likely to fail you ninety-nine (99) times out of a hundred (100).

I am a witness to this and I can speak with all authority, that when you take your request to GOD through prayer and supplication, he is sure able and would always grant your request in more ways than one, and mostly through a source or person you least expected or could ever comprehend.

I remember chatting with a young man sometime back and in the course of our discussion, I discovered that this young man was very familiar with many highly-placed men in the political circles. I remember saying to him "you must be very well to do, considering the fact that you know all these big men". He smiled and then gave this response "my brother, it's not as you see it" and then he continued " if people were being awarded a PhD for knowing big men, I would have had uncountable PhD's by now, but the truth is, these big men do not help as people think, many of them only offer little help when they need something from you". His answer struck me and I then said to myself, "why depend on man (humans), who would often seek to take before giving, why not depend on GOD, who is openly telling you that his wealth has no end and you should come in and have as much as you desire even to its overflowing".

My brother, sister, friends and all, this is my ministration from me to you. I have tasted both sides; GOD & Man, trust me, GOD's taste never gets sour.

You can follow me on twitter; @royaltyuso

How To Handle Insult And Maintain Compassion....A Short Story

One day a wise man was walking through a village. A very angry and rude young man came up and began insulting him. "You have no right teaching others, he shouted." You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a fake."

The wise man was not upset by these insults. Instead he asked the young man "Tell me, if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to whom does the gift belong?"

The man was surprised to be asked such a strange question and answered, "It would belong to me, because I bought the gift."

The wise man smiled and said, "That is correct. And it is exactly the same with your anger. If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger falls back on you. You are then the only one who becomes unhappy, not me. All you have done is hurt yourself."

"If you want to stop hurting yourself, you must get rid of your anger and become loving instead. When you hate others, you yourself become unhappy. But when you love others, everyone is happy."

The young man listened closely to these wise words of the Wise man. "You are right, "he said. "Please teach me the path of love. I wish to become your follower."

The Wise man answered kindly, "Of course. I teach anyone who truly wants to learn. Come with me."

*Culled From The Internet.

Don’t Worry

Why worry? I have come to a conclusion that worry does no good but rather rubs us of the next step that would have likely bailed us out of whatever predicament we are facing.

Most of the time, people easily succumb to worrying over issues while a solution is just a step away. When next you come across an obstacle whilst chasing your dream, rather than stop to worry, simply put in same effort into taking a bold step forward and you would be amazed with the magical effects this bold action would produce.

Aside the fact that worry doesn’t solve anything, too much of it also causes physical strain on the body, which of cause makes one look older than their mark. Your worries could only get worse when you have to contend with whatever you are worrying about, alongside having to worry about your strained physical appearance. Most especially, in our generation of today where the 50 year olds want to look like the 30 year olds, I bet you sure would not want to look older than what you really are as a consequence of worrying, of which does not help your situation.

Lies: Never Underestimate It’s Ability To Ruin All You Got

This is one issue which I had trouble in making up my mind to write on. I detest it so much that I would rather have nothing to do with it, not even write about it. Nonetheless, I got myself around into writing about it, so feel free to read on and see what I really feel about lies from a very personal perspective.

Here is a secret about me;

“If you want to turn me off like a switch, just lie to me” – Eta Uso, June, 2012

Lies have always been told for generations past; yes, but does that make me accustomed to hearing it? No.

You surely cannot comprehend how one’s reputation falls like a pack of cards whenever a lie finds its way out of one’s mouth. If you want to know how one feels when lied to, simply recall how you felt when someone thought he/she was smarter and therefore tried to play a fast-one on you with a lie.

I would prefer not to restate over and over again, the negative effects of lies, because trust me; there is sure no positive side to this.

I thought I was going to write a lot on this topic, however, few paragraphs into this and I am just feeling the need to stop here. I know you have either lost out of love, friendship, job, favour, etc, as a result of telling a lie.

Feel free to share your stories by posting in the comment section below.

You can follow me on twitter; @royaltyuso

Aviation in Nigeria - The Disdain For Human Lives: Way Forward

The Aviation Sector in Nigeria has faced very trying times in the past and with so many years gone by, we all thought that such an era was now long behind us.

Unfortunately, the event of yesterday, 3rd June 2012, involving Dana Airways Flight 9J-997 from Abuja, goes to show the porous nature of aviation in our country (Nigeria), with emphasis on the followup revelations which revealed the outright neglect for safety and best practices by the management of Dana Airways.

This country has been through alot lately, therefore I am certain without doubt that Nigerians do not need anymore of such calamities, more-so in cases where such calamities as caused by conscious human errors could have been avoided.

Based on this background, I therefore say, Enough is Enough. No more should such air-mishaps end with the suspension/dismissal of staff. I want to see people serve long jail-terms with hard labour for their total disregard to safety of human lives. I want to see a Nigeria (all sectors inclusive) where people are decisively punished for misfortunes that occur under their jurisdiction as a result of their neglect. The 'pack your bag and go' system must stop!. People need to be put down for putting others down, this is the only way we can drastically improve our service industry here in Nigeria.

Lord may your will be done on Nigeria.

I rest my case.

You can follow me on twitter @royaltyuso

Why I Prefer Android Devices

This article is supposed to detail my preference of android devices over other operating system devices.

However, I think what you are likely to read below would be focused on my preference for an Android device over an Apple iPad.

You can't blame me. I think there are some things that are just meant to be. My loving of anything android is one of those things that was just meant to be.

Apple was the first to introduce tab-computing via their ingenious product, the Apple iPad. However, in as much as they were the first in this feat, for some reason, I wasn't impressed by the Apple iPad. Literally, I felt and perceived the iPad as a glorified iPhone. It might interest you to know that I never laid hands on an iPad until a year after its first release. My meeting / getting a physical feel of an iPad was more of a coincidence as I happened to run into one at a friend's place. Nonetheless, this coincidence didn't change anything as I didn't fancy the iPad on tv and neither did I appreciate it any better even after my physical touch / use of the device.

Going forward, the Android OS (Operating System) had become a commercial success. Demands grew for the Android OS on more mobile devices and just as quick as the iPad was launched, their market dominance was soon almost halved by the brave Android family. It was at this point my desire for tablet computing suddenly came to life and as a result, gave birth to my Samsung Galaxy Tab (it is actually what I used in typing this article). From here on, the Android OS continued to blossom as more mobile-device manufacturers started adapting the Android operating system on their mobile devices.

One Blogpost Per Day

Running a blog goes beyond registering a blog address and posting articles only during your seasonal vacations or when your favorite sports team loses a game and you need a space to rant.

Running a 'successful' blog requires consistency. It doesn't matter whatever niche you choose to focus on, one thing is certain, to be successful in blogging, you have to keep updating your blog frequently. At most (for those who are occupied with other daily jobs / responsibilities), you should ensure to post at least one new story per day. A day should never go by without you having at least one new content on your blog. Your readers would surely not visit often if they are not sure of seeing new quality contents as often as well. Sustaining a dedicated and increasingly readership base requires such consistency as mentioned above.

You might want to give yourself the excuse that you are too busy to make out time to write a minimum of one blog-post for your blog daily. If you fall into the category that gives such excuse, then I can boldly say that blogging is not for you. To be a blogger in the real sense of the word, you will have to be passionate about it. Trust me, human beings always know how to make out time for their passions no matter how busy they may seem. Lest we forget, you must not be in that comfortable mode behind your laptop with a juice by your side before you can write a post for your blog. You can do it anywhere using your phone, iPad, Tab etc. You can write while on break, while in the car to that meeting, while waiting at the airport lounge for that trip, while waiting for that business meeting to start, the possibilities are endless. As you can type anywhere, you can as well publish your content from anywhere, thanks to new blog-publishing applications for mobile devices as well as the very convenient mobile option of publishing via email. Therefore with your mobile device in your hands, you can type and publish on the go, just as easy as sending an email.