History made! 20-yr old Nigerian emerges youngest pilot in the country

A 20-year-old Nigerian, Favour Odozor, has emerged the youngest pilot with the Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) in both Nigeria and South Africa.

Mr. Odozor who graduated alongside 15 other trained pilots at the Afrika Union Aviation Academy (AUAA), Mafikeng, South Africa on Saturday was described as the new hope of the African aviation industry.
Capt. Allan Roebuck, Director of AUAA said. “The academy is proud of this young Nigerian, with the award of licence and certificate to him. I cannot say now if he is the youngest African to attain that record, but I’m sure he is the youngest in South Africa and Nigeria,’’.

On his part, Mr. Odozor said he had always dreamt of becoming a pilot. “Flying a plane has been my childhood dream, and I am happy today that I’m a licensed commercial pilot at the age of 20. But I thank God that I have now made history, as a record licensed commercial pilot in both Nigeria and South Africa.”

TEENAGE PREGNANCY

I remember first first year in senior secondary school, it was rumored that a particular class mate was pregnant. It sounded like she was about to make her debut in to the school's book of records (good or bad, who cares) and everyone just wanted to see her for the sake of it or see what a pregnant girl looks like. I wonder what she went through while alone and what the end of the story was.

Remembering this particular drama and the stress the girl was subjected to, I found this particular piece by Action Health Incorporated informative and though it is worth sharing.

What are the causes of Teenage Pregnancy?
-Lack of factual information about sexuality, especially ignorance about puberty/growing up, body image, and how pregnancy occurs.
-Misinformation and myths about pregnancy. Young people usually circulate wrong information about pregnancy such as a girl can not get pregnant the first time she has sex. This is not correct !!
-Early initiation of sexual intercourse
-Sexual abuse such as Incest or rape
-Inability to refuse sex: many girls even boys do not know how to say 'No" and say it effectively. You can imagine saying 'No' and your body gesture is saying 'yes'!
-Lack of education on how to use contraceptives or even where to get them from (lack of access to youth-friendly centres)
-Failure of contraceptive method
-Use of alcohol or drug abuse: use of substance compromises your judgement and makes you do things you do not plan to do
-These are some, there are others such as early marriage. 

The consequences in young people range from health, socio-economic to emotional effects. Some of them include:
- Bleeding, anemia, sexually transmitted infections, death of the baby due to low birth weight, cervical cancer (long term effect) etc.
- The girl can die from unsafe abortion or even damage her reproductive organs such as the womb
- Young people who get pregnant while in school are always sent out of school. This affects academic performance and the ability of the boy/girl to be what he/she wants to be in future. This leads to poverty because the girl will not be educated to get a job to take care of herself and the baby!
- Depression, anger, anxiety, shame, stigma and discrimination, hatred even for the child.

How can teenage pregnancy be prevented? 

Prevention is better than cure. ABSTINENCE na the koko!!
Pregnancy can be prevented through:

 1) Abstinence- refraining from all forms of sexual activities. This is the best form of prevention and surest way to prevent getting pregnant. It is also the best options for young people
2) Condoms (male and female): it is important to use condoms correctly and consistently if one can not abstain
3) Use of other contraceptives like spermicidal foams, diaphragms, IUCDs- Intra Uterine Devices, Implants and injectables
4) Oral Contraceptives and Emergency contraceptives
5) Access sexuality education and services- Sexuality education aims to equip adolescents with the knowledge, skills and values to make responsible choices about their sexual and social relationships.

Avoid false information, be empowered, protect yourself, build your self esteem!!

Alcohol, hmn..............

                                                           

Growing up, I saw my dad and his friends take Gulder as their beer; when got into the university, most of the boys took Star as their beer, so I came to a conclusion that Gulder is for men, while Star is for boys. Bottles of wine were usually great gifts especially red wines that are older than my grand parents and  there was always a free flow of wine on special occasions. I remember my brother getting drunk on the night of my mum's 40th birthday party, he woke up in the middle of the night and peed in her wardrobe.

                                                    

Taking of alcohol by young people has lamely been made a standard for measuring "hardness". The more bottles of beer you drink, the more respect you are accorded; the more expensive your drink is, the bigger you are.

Having at the back of our minds that whatever we take into our body is we sowing a seed into our system and we will definitely reap the fruits of if. So, what are the effects of alcohol in our body system, are the effects really cool?

• Of importance is the fact that the developing adolescent brain is particularly vulnerable to the toxic effects of alcohol.
• Short term effects include: Difficulty walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times, impaired memory.
• High levels of alcohol consumption are associated with an increased risk of alcoholism, malnutrition, chronic pancreatitis, alcoholic liver disease, and cancer.
•  In addition damage to the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system can occur from chronic alcohol abuse.
•  Long-term use of alcohol in excessive quantities is capable of damaging nearly every organ and system in the body.

• According to Ohio State University, there is an evidence that drinking more than 1 drink per day in your 20s and 30s can increase your lifetime risk of breast cancer.

After reading all these long term effects of alcohol and comparing themwith the short term effects of being fly and cool, i decide to take a decision. I wont share my decision, you make yours.

DIARY OF A FRESH BRIDE - WHY THEY CHASE US TO THE KITCHEN

I remember the first time I made eba for myself, I was nine years old and somehow, the water was not boiled before I used it, mehn………….. you know what came out J.  The diary of the bride below is good enough a reason to go through such experiments. Enjoy it…………

Monday: We are back from honeymoon and settled in our new home. It's fun to cook for Chuka . Today I made moin moin and the recipe said, 'Beat 12 eggs separately '. Well, I didn't have enough bowls to do that, so I had to borrow 12 bowls to beat the eggs in. D moin moin turned out fine though.

Tuesday: We wanted a fruit salad for supper. The recipe said, 'Serve without dressing'. So I didn't dress. But Chuka happened to bring a friend home for supper that night. They both looked so startled when I served them. I think it was the salad.  

Wednesday: I decided to serve rice and found a recipe, which said, 'Wash thoroughly before steaming d rice'. So I heated some water and took a bath before steaming the rice. Sounded kind of silly in the middle of the day. I can't say it improved d rice anyhow. 

Thursday: Today Chuka asked for salad again. I tried a new recipe. It said, prepare ingredients, and then toss on a bed of lettuce one hour before serving.' I hunted all over the place for a garden with a bed of lettuce and when I got one, I tossed my salad into the bed of lettuce and stood over there for over one hour so the dog would not take it. CHUKA came over and asked if I felt all right. I wonder why? He must be stressed at work; I'll try and be supportive.

Friday: Today I found an easy recipe for cookies. It said, 'Put all ingredients in a bowl and beat it'. Beat it I did, to my mother's place. There must have been something wrong with the recipe, because when I came back home again; it looked the same as when I left it.

Saturday: Chuka went shoppin today and brought home a chicken. He asked me to dress it for Sunday. I'm sure I don't know how hens dress for Sunday. I never noticed back on the farm, but I found an old doll dress and its little cute shoes. I thought the hen looked really cute. When Chuka saw it, he started counting to ten. Either he was really stressed because of his work, or he wanted the chicken to dance. When I asked him what was wrong he started crying and shouting out 'Why me? Why me?'

Royal Tribe: BEAUTIFUL/SEXY???

Royal Tribe: BEAUTIFUL/SEXY???:   Rihana(left)   The way beautiful and sexy are being used interchangeably these days is really confusing and got me scared that some ...

BEAUTIFUL/SEXY???

 

Rihana(left)

 

The way beautiful and sexy are being used interchangeably these days is really confusing and got me scared that some day, someone would see and beautiful baby and describe him/her as sexy. I decided to look up the dictionary for the definition of beautiful and got these two definitions from dictionary.com: Pleasing the senses or mind aesthetically; Of a very high standard; excellent.  
Synonyms:  handsome - lovely - pretty - fine - fair - nice.

Then I checked the same dictionary for sexy and got the definition as: Sexually attractive or exciting.

This tells me these two words are actually are actually different. To buttress this fact is a story of the advice given by the legendary boxer, Mohammed Ali to his daughter.

An incident transpired when his daughters arrived at his home wearing clothes that were quite revealing. Here's the story told by his daughters.
"When we finally arrived, the Chauffeur escorted my younger sister, Laila and me up to my father's suite. As usual, he was hiding behind the door waiting to scare us. We exchanged hugs and kisses as we could possibly give in one day. My father took a good look at us, then he sat me down on his lap and said something that I will never forget. He looked me straight in the eyes and said; 'Hanna, everything that God made Valuable and Precious in the world is covered and hard to get to. Where do you find Diamonds? Deep down in the ground, covered and protected. Where do you find Pearls? Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, covered and protected in a beautiful shell. Where do you find Gold? Way down in the mine, covered over and protected by layers and layers of rock. You've got to work hard to get them.' "He looked at me with seriousness in his eyes. 'Your body is Sacred. You are far more Precious and Valuable than GOLD, DIAMONDS and PEARLS, and you should be covered too.' Satan is preaching the message of NUDITY today because he knows that if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has had sex with her. Be careful how you dress.

Fihanna(right) and a fan(left)

With this I say, the choice is your to either be beautiful or sexy, having at the back of your mind that one is precious and valuable as against the other. 

COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON

Ibrahim Adekunle, Inventor of Nigeria’s First Limousine Tricycle defies his Limitations & Dreams BIG

http://www.bellanaija.com/2012/11/29/they-call-me-mr-make-people-happy-ibrahim-adekunle-inventor-of-nigerias-first-limousine-tricycle-defies-his-limitations-dreams-big/

26 year-old Ibrahim Adekunle never went to Secondary School. Attending a University is not one of his plans. After dropping out of Primary school due to financial constraints, he trained as a Blacksmith and Welder. But his knack for reconstructing and remodelling transport vehicles has ensured that despite his little formal education, his name is known across the world for good.

Some weeks ago, his “Limousine Tricycle” was one of the five selected inventions on the BBC’s coverage of the Maker Faire Africa, an exhibition for inventors which took place in Lagos. The picture of a regular tricycle popularly called Keke Marwa, but stretched to contain more seats than usual earned the admiration of many but also raised a lot of questions.

He calls it a “Limousine Tricycle” and said he built it after cutting a normal tricycle into two and adding more seats and parts in between. At his little space under the Oregun-Opebi link bridge in Ikeja, Lagos where he operates from, Ibrahim sat with BellaNaija’s Adeola Adeyemo inside his Limousine Tricycle and with  sense of well deserved pride, he shared his inspiring story.

What is your educational background?
I did not even go to school at all.

You mean you’ve never been in a classroom?
I went to school small, but I left school when I was in Primary Four. My parents told me there was no money again to take me to school, so my father took me somewhere to learn Blacksmith and Welder work. I did that for six years before I got my own place at Opebi Under Bridge here.

What kind of services do you offer to your customers here?
I’m doing my handiwork – radiator, shaft and welding work.

The picture of your “Limousine Tricycle” has been circulated online and it has gotten a lot of people curious. Where did you come up with the idea?
There was a day I was just thinking about what I can do to make people happy. So I bought a motorbike and I started changing it this way and that way. I changed it to my own taste and put more seats so that it looked like a car. After that, I was still thinking of what I can do to make people happy that is why I went to buy a Marwa (tricycle). I first thought of doing it like a Double Decker and putting more seats on top but since Marwa has only three tyres, I thought it wasn’t strong and it would fall down so I decided to use it to do Limousine that is why I call it “Limousine Tricycle”.

I’d like to see the motorbike. Where is it now?
I had to dismantle the bike and use some of the parts to build this one because I didn’t have enough money to buy all the parts I needed.

How much did it cost you to build the Limousine Tricycle?
I bought the Marwa fairly used from someone at N180,000. When I bought it, I cut it into two and bought a lot of parts from the market to construct this. All the parts I bought cost about N150,000.

From the time you bought the Tricycle, how long did it take you to convert it into this?
Because I didn’t have enough money, I did it small small. If I see N2,000 today, I’d work on it. If I see another money tomorrow, I’d go and buy more parts. It took me almost six months. But right now, if I have all the money I need and I want to do it for someone, I can finish it within two days.

Adding up all you’ve spent on the Tricycle, it’s over N300,000. Have you made up to the amount you invested on it?
I’ve used it to make money but I don’t think I’ve made up to N300,000 yet. I just finished it about three months ago and I’ve had just four jobs with it. I’ve taken it to some Church Rallies and they rent it for about N20,000 to N30,000. Somebody has used it to do a wedding before and I can still use it for carnival. In a rally, the pastor will sit inside, preach and share flyers.

If you were to make this for someone, how much would it cost?
I’d collect about N700,000. In that case, I’d go and buy a new Marwa which is about N350,000.

The Limousine Tricycle is quite long. How many passengers can it carry and do you find it easy turning it around on our narrow roads?
This limousine carries about 10 to 13 people. It is very easy to turn. I live at Sango and I drive it from Ikeja to Sango about two times in a month and I have no problem with it. Even when we use it for Church Rallies, it doesn’t give any problem on the road.

While putting this together, did you have any discouragement from people around you who tried to stop you?
When I bought the Marwa, I took it to Ojota to go and cut it and they said I should not cut it. Infact, we almost fought there. Some people came and said why do I want to cut the Marwa but I told them I am the one that used my money to buy it and I know what I’m cutting it for. They said if I cut it I will spoil it but I just told them to leave me alone. When I started building the Limousine, all the people that said I should not cut it were now admiring it. If I had listened to them, I won’t have even done this thing at all. Even my father told me not to do it but I told him not to worry.

Have you ever nursed the idea of travelling abroad with the skills that you have or are you very comfortable with the opportunities you have in Nigeria?
People are advising me to find money and go out of this country but I tell them my time has not reached. When God says yes, nobody can say no. But the thing is, if I travel to London or anywhere, I may not have this opportunity I have here. But I will just like to go abroad to learn how they build their engine so that when I come back to Nigeria, I will build my own full car. If I build anything now, I will have to go to market to buy the engine and put inside and that is very expensive. But if I can build the engine myself, there is nothing I cannot do. To build a car should be a very easy for us in Nigeria but we don’t know how to do it.

Do you have any training or experience with the mechanical aspects of a vehicle?
No, but if my Marwa or Okada has any fault, I repair it myself. I don’t have any money to pay a Mechanic so if anything is wrong with it, I will loose it and fix it by myself.

You have a very inspiring story, Ibrahim, and I wish you the very best. But before I leave, what do you want to tell people out there? What is your message to the world?
My message is that they should help me out. I still have a lot of ideas that will make people surprised and everybody will open their mouth and say this is very fantastic. Everywhere I go, I usually have a problem which is that people will be calling me and saying “guy, how do you do this, how do you do that?” Anywhere I go, people get attracted to my work. That is why I they call me “Mr. make people happy”. If I am going on my own with any of my inventions, once you see me, you will forget any sad thing you are thinking about and you will just be smiling.

Story credit to Bella Naija.