French To Be Part Of Utme As From 2014 – Ruqayyatu Rufa’i

The Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’I, said on Thursday in Abuja that French would be part of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) as from 2014 for interested candidates.

Rufa’I said this at farewell reception held in honour of the French Language Project Manager, Mr Jean-Phillipe Roy.

She said that being multi-lingual in the 21st Century was essential as it helps individuals to operate more effectively in the international community.

“For Nigeria, the study of French language is quite key, considering the fact that our neighbouring countries are French-speaking.

“Apart from the English Language, French Language is one of the major international languages, ‘’she said.

She said Roy came to Nigeria in 2009 under the 2nd Bilateral Agreement between Nigeria and French.

The minister noted that he had worked hard to ensure that various components of the project received due attention.

Rufa’I lauded his contributions to the reform of the UTME for 2014 in addition to the scholarships awarded to 16 teachers of French Language to study in France for one month.

She said the project manager’s contributions, included supply of books to schools, award of Masters Degree in French as a Foreign Language and supply of DVD and CD player to the project office, among others.

The minister lauded the support of the French Government to the Nigerian French Language Village, Badagry, Lagos, the Regional Network of French Language centres in Africa.

She also commended the Association of French Language Teachers, and noted s the proposed handing over of the project vehicle to the ministry for the monitoring of the teaching and learning of the Lanaguage.

“Nigeria and France have come a long way in their relationship. It is a relationship built on mutual respect, cooperation and interest.

“I wish to assure you that the ministry will continue to be committed to the teaching and learning of French Language in Nigeria and sustenance of the cordial relationship,’’ she said.

She called on the French Government to introduce similar programmes to complement, sustain and consolidate the achievements made so far.

Responding, Roy lauded the collaboration between the Federal Government and the French Government.

“Since I have been here, you have shown a lot of interest in what we have been trying to do in terms of decision-making in critical issues and, with your help, we have been able to keep the project on the right track.

He said that French Government had so far organised 160 training sessions in various parts of the country, adding that 4,290 people participated in the programme.

Roy called for continued collaboration between the Nigerian Government and the French Government.

In his remarks, the Counsellor of French Cultural Affairs, Mr Patrick Perez, stressed the need to sustain good relationship between the two countries.

“We will like to thank you for all your efforts to promote French Language in Nigeria and we hope that this collaboration will continue to grow from strength to strength, ‘’he said. (NAN)

The Awkward Truth About Nigerian Husbands..

*I didn't know where to post this at first, whether in the jokes section or in here.

I can't stop laughing, please laugh with me o abeg!...
This is the awkward Truth About Naija husbands..

There was a group of men gathered at a church conference on how to live in a loving relationship with your wife. The men were asked, "How many of you love your wife ?" All the men raised their hands. Then they were asked, "When was the last time you told your wife you loved her ?" Some men answered today, some yesterday, majority didn’t remember. The men were then told to take their cell phones and send the following text to their respective wife: I love you, sweetheart...

Then the men were told to exchange phones so one can read the other wife's reply to the love message..

Here are some of the replies:

1. Have you impregnated someone again
2. That was then,not now: 
3. You wan borrow money abi?? 
4. What did you do again, I won’t forgive you this time !!!
5. Meaning??
6. Is that a new song??
7. Am I dreaming?
8. If you don’t tell me who this message is actually for, you will die today!!!
9. U dis man!! I asked you to stop drinking!!! 
10. Abeg na who be this? 

Are Professional Courses Really Important

There is a quote that says “…a person who stops to grow will continue to decline…” this portraits the fact that any person who considers their states of accomplishment as sufficient will always find their self lacking a lot of things. In an ever competitive world that is fueled by the need to accomplish greater height,demands that anybody who wants to be great should always seek room for more improvement in their area of expertise.

The importance of taking a professional course to improve your performance in a given career cannot be over exaggerated because of its value. This is the number one point in the business world that is always demanded from everyone, to the point that managers and company owners take time to schedule training for their staff. The benefits are numerous that is why it is highly recommended for everyone to take a professional course.

• It helps to improve your knowledge for more effectiveness.

• It gives you an extra push in your performance level through advanced strategies.

• It keeps you in form which will make your employer to value you more.

• It set you apart from your colleagues because your output will double in result.

• It helps you to keep pace with the current standard of things at that season.

• It safe guards your credibility before your employers and makes you highly demanded.

• It helps you from being outdated in an ever developing society.

• You are able to meet customer/client demands in a more professional way that makes them come back for more.

• Most times it makes you the pacesetter in your career field.

• You are always able to contribute largely to the development of a job.

• It creates room for you to be exposed to new possibilities, skills and knowledge.

• It enhances your creativity to the amazement of your boss.

• It guarantees you a promotional spot in your work place due to your improve performance.

Knowing the right course/training to undergo has proven challenging to many and even the time /fund required to achieve this purpose have proven difficult. In a case of time constrain, attending crash courses, seminar, conferences which are done within a short period of time can help you achieve that purpose.

While in the case of fund, you can search the internet for valuable materials (which most times are given free) that can prove helpful in that aspect. Also building a community of professionals (group of friend with the same training) can help to promote you in achieving that goal.

The bottom line is that you must always strive to improve yourself through positive means that will make you relevant anywhere you go.

Study finds some fish are born to lead

Leadership is an innate quality, according to a fish study that predicted trouble in animal social groups, also human ones, when natural roles are reversed.

Groups tend to perform better with a combination of willing followers and strong leaders, which in most animal species are bolder, more extroverted individuals.

But incentives, like higher salaries for humans, can cause natural followers to become leaders, and scientists have long debated the desirability of such role reversal.

To probe whether natural followers can be turned into leaders and vice versa, a research team studied stickleback fish – a group foraging species known to have bold and shy individuals.

First, they studied the fish in large laboratory tanks for several weeks to separate the leaders from the followers.

Leaders were more prone to leave the deep, covered, ‘safe’ area of a tank and travel through ‘risky’, shallow waters to get to a feeding station.

The fish were then divided into pairs, each with one bold and one shy member, the team wrote in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

In one experiment, the fish were rewarded with food for displaying their natural behaviour – the leader for initiating a trip and the follower for trailing behind. In a second, they were rewarded for role reversal – the shy fish for each time it initiated a foraging trip and the bolder one for following.

‘Our prediction was that bold individuals would perform poorly when forced to adopt the role of follower, considering that they are less responsive to other individuals’ behaviour,’ study co-author Shinnosuke Nakayama of the University of Cambridge’s zoology department told AFP by email.

The opposite turned out to be true: leader fish were much quicker to adopt a follower role than the other way round.

‘Fish can learn to follow but struggle to learn to lead,’ said Nakayama of the findings.

‘We found that leaders are born, not made,’ added a study summary.

The role reversal also had an impact on group success.

When incentivised to act against their natural instincts, fewer foraging excursions resulted in both members of a pair being fed.

The team said their findings raised intriguing questions for the broader study of group behaviour.

‘Strong positive effects of personality variation are only likely to emerge when members of a group are free to establish their own roles, such that bolder (or, in the human case, more extroverted) individuals can assume leadership,’ the study suggested.

It would appear to ‘be better for us to adopt social roles of leader and follower in the way we feel natural’, added Nakayama.

Signs You Are Pursuing A Wrong Career.

Experts are of the view that people who devote their time and energy to a job they are not cut out for are likely to end up frustrated and unproductive. SIMON EJEMBI writes on the warning signs

There are many people battling to climb the wrong career ladder in the society today, according to experts.

Some blame it on the high rate of unemployment in the country, some say it is as a result of poor career advice or lack of it. One thing they agree on is that it is very tough if not impossible for an individual to succeed in a profession that is not meant for them. The reason is simple; square pegs won’t fit in round holes.

Experts say it takes years for some people to realise that they made a mistake in choosing a career. When that happens, some of them take steps to correct the mistake; others end up stuck, forced to settle for limited success.

There are numerous warning signs an individual can look out for in order to determine if they have erred when they decided what profession or job they would spend their time doing.

The Senior Partner, Smart Work Network Incorporated, a firm which provides companies with solutions for their talent management lifecycle, Mr. Douglas Garner, says he has seen many people who would have been millionaires if they had channelled their energies into pursuing the right career but are battling to survive on the wrong job.


Lack of pride in your career

Some of the signs that an individual is walking the wrong career path are:

When your friends ask you for career advice and the only thing you can honestly tell them is to stay clear from the one you are in; when commuting to your job, your mind is already busy planning your schedule for the moment you clock out; when you wake up on Monday wishing it were Friday, again; when you receive a ‘Needs Improvement’ on your performance review; when your employer decides to transfer you to another functional department to ‘see if things might improve;’ when you get on an elevator and somebody asks, ‘how’s it going?’ and you answer, ‘It’s going;’ when you find yourself fantasising about a ‘lost time injury;’ when you are more excited about the food in the cafeteria than any new client or business announcements; and when you have calculated and have a running tally of the number of days you have to ‘survive’ to be ‘fully vested’ in your company’s retirement system.

Lack of passion or commitment

Forbes Magazine contributor, Erika Anderson, writes in an article that by reviewing the surroundings, job satisfaction and the connection with the profession, an individual can deduce whether the career or job is the right one.

On surroundings, she says the realities of the job and the company matter. According to her, it matters whether the work space is comfortable and it makes it easier to do good work. She adds that it also matters if you have the tools and resources you need, and if you like the people around you and consider the processes and policies reasonably efficient.

When it comes to what you do, she explains that questions regarding whether your day-to-day job “consists of things you like to do (for the most part) and find engaging and challenging.” It also matters if “your job generally plays to your strengths – that is, is your success at work primarily dependent on doing stuff you’re good at doing?”

Connection

Here, Anderson writes, “Are you passionate about the company’s mission? Are you proud to be associated with it? Do you feel reasonably content and grateful to be working for this company, this department, this boss? Do you feel acknowledged and supported to succeed? If somebody asked you whether you’re planning on building a career here, would you say yes?”

Experts at allwomenstalk.com say the following signs also indicate that you are in the wrong profession:

You drag yourself to work everyday

If you find yourself dragging yourself to work today, looking forward to your dentist’s appointment and hoping you are sick every morning, then you are not enjoying your work. It is a sign that this career is probably not giving you what you are looking for in life.

You aren’t good at your work

One of the reasons people enjoy their job is because they are good at it. Knowing that you excel at what you do makes you instantly happier about your job. Conversely, if you just can’t get your head around what is expected of you, you will be unhappy. It’s time to consider another career.

You hate talking about what you do

When you go for a party or a date, if the last thing you want to talk about is your job, then you aren’t happy about what you’re doing and probably need to consider a different line of work.

You constantly complain about your job

Constantly cribbing and bitching about your job means only one thing – you need to get another one. Then consider if it is the workplace, your colleagues or your boss that you can’t tolerate or if it is the work itself. If it’s the latter, look out for a new career.

You go in late and leave early

Lack of motivation manifested in going in late and leaving early is a sure sign that you don’t enjoy what you are doing and should probably consider a different line of work. Regularly shirking your work means you just don’t like your job.

You spend most of your time on the social media

At work, if all you seem to be doing is browsing on Facebook, then either you have very little work or you don’t care to complete your work. Both are definite warning signs that you are in the wrong career.

You don’t feel challenged

Some people get extremely de-motivated when they find themselves in a role that does not challenge them. They will drag themselves to work, bunk whenever possible and generally perform badly. If you are not challenged about your work, consider a different career.

You look for ways to keep busy

If you keep finding yourself looking for ways to keep yourself busy at work, it means you are not challenged and you don’t have enough things to do. Both are certain recipes for disaster so reconsider your career right away.

It is a big decision to change your career particularly if you have major responsibilities, however, if you find a job you love, you will not have to work a day in your life. So, if you are experiencing any of the signs above, bite the bullet and change your career.