Relationships and Money

I once stumbled upon a joke and it went like this; 'a lady was asked what made her marry her husband-money or love. She replied it was love. When asked what she loved most about her husband, she said she loves the way he makes money'.
Maybe the joke goes more than just a mere laugh, but the question comes into play; should money be a factor in relationships? My late dad once told me that money plays a vital role in every relationship, but money should never be allowed to be the domineering factor in a relationship. Sounds confusing, but looking at it from a technical point of view, money does have a lot to play in relationships; at least the recharge cards we buy to call our loved ones, the simple dates we go on, the little gifts we buy.......and so on. I really don't know if anyone shares this same view with me, but whatever your views are, feel free to comment.

Yar'Adua, a true patriot

In in my final year at The Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, I was invited to attend a ceremony in kaduna. As a Cross Riverian, I always thought Donald Duke was the best performing governor when it came to providing social and infrastructural amenities to the people. On getting to Bauchi, Governor Mu'azu let me know I was living in a concealed world, because his efforts in roads beat Donald Duke hands down. Now, at Kaduna, my guest (who was a student at Katsina Polytechnic) told me that both Donald and Mu'azu were nowhere in comparison to the governor of Katsina. And who was this man? Yes, a certain Umaru Musa Yar'adua. And a visit to Katsina proved so.
I was therefore glad (even though he wasn't the person I supported), when PDP- or is it Obasanjo, gave him their presidential ticket in 2006. As expected, Yar'adua won the elections, was sworn in...but never really got to work. From the little he did and tried to do, it was obvious that this man had the unity and greatness of Nigeria at heart. As a person from the south-south niger delta, his amnesty programme was super. But, he finally lost the battle to ill health.
I sympathize with his family, and all Nigerians on his death and pray Almighty Allah grant him eternal rest, and to wish my brother Goodluck Jonathan the power, the will and the wisdom to carry this country to where it rightfully belongs.

Salary Increse... Inflation hyper-Increase!

Learned that the Federal Govt of Nigeria recently increased salaries of its civil (or is it public) servants. Good as the news may sound, it is bound to come with a lot of negative effects. From past events, whenever there is an increase in salaries of civil servants, there is an accompanied rise in the prices of goods and commodities. This time around, the salaries have been increased by more than 100%, from minimum wage of 7,500 naira to 18,000 naira!!
Considering the fact that only 22% of Nigeria's work force is in the civil service sector, and all Nigerians buy from the same market, I'm of the opinion that necessary steps should be taken to curb inflation in the country whenever such increase in salaries are made. And this can be done by government paying more attention to the agric/agro-allied based sectors, the manufacturing sector and most efficiently, the power sector. Because when there is enough food for all, then the cnsumer truely becomes king.
Kudos to the Jonathan(?) led government (if state governments will be able to do the same- which I doubt) for measures it is taking to alleviate the sufferings of its workers, but it should not be a trojan horse- where the gift will cause more suffering for the entire Nigerian public