Welcome President Buhari

Dear President Buhari, welcome to Anambra - your state of campaign rallies

If everything happens as planned Mr. President, you will set your feet in Anambra - your state of campaign rallies - today.

Your Excellency, before you came back to become an elected president of the Federal Republic, there were dozens of events that offered you compelling reasons to pay visit to the Light of the Nation, but you found excuses to stay away.

Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu died and was buried. Leaders from all over the world poured in to Nnewi, Anambra State, to pay their last respect. You were nowhere to be found.

We lost our very own erudite Prof. Chinua Achebe, you couldn't care less, Your Excellency.

We made excuses for you Sir. We told ourselves that because of your role as an opposition candidate that you structured your movements in order not to clash or interfere with that of the then governing PDP.

It wouldn't be long before providence "changed" you from being an opposition candidate to being the Commander-in-Chief.

Mr. President, during your very first year in office, Anambra witnessed a very tragic fuel tanker explosion in Onitsha that claimed a lot of lives. You cocooned yourself in Aso Rock.

As president, you never bothered with a state visit or found any excuse whatsoever to come, but when it came to Anambra 2017 governorship election, you suddenly found time to come market your broom in Anambra, although you later swapped that broom with a fowl.

After the Anambra elections, Your Excellency, an elder statesman, Pa Alex Ekwueme died and was buried in Oko, Anambra State. You couldn't bring yourself to pay your respect, not even during the service of songs in Abuja. Even if you've not put the events of 1983 behind, we reckon that Gen. Yakubu Gowon attended Dim Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu's funeral.

Away from that, Your Excellency. Anambra and other states were ravaged by flood. Again, you cocooned yourself in Aso Rock.

Mr. President, make whatever you can of this information: All your visits to Anambra State in the last twenty years (a pitiful number of them anyway), save for one, are only for campaign rallies.

We have been told that besides the planned campaign rally, you are coming to “commission” a repainted grave Sir. No thanks to your 97:5 policy, there are no visible projects initiated or completed by your administration in Anambra after four years!

Even if we accept repainting of grave to be a federal project Sir, it is very ironical that you, dear President Buhari, the very exact opposite of the man the great Zik of Africa - a firm believer in one Nigeria - was, is coming to his resting place today probably with the intent to score cheap political points.

Even when we lost great Zik of Africa in 1994, you couldn't bring yourself to pay your respect. Just a few weeks to election, you suddenly found out what great a man Zik was. Today, you are now dancing around his grave. Your Excellency, this is the worst display of political expedience in recent history.

Your associates may not not tell you this, Your Excellency. Our people are very circumspect. Even if you reverse your previous decision and make Zik's birthday Nigeria's new democracy day, no political gain will accrue to you on great Zik's account. Except if you suddenly take your self to the "next level" and subscribe to the ethos and principles the great Zik of Africa lived and died for.

Mr. President, just in case you are already at the crowded campaign ground when this message gets to you, please be informed that you are just a stone throw away from DIG Peace Ibekwe-Abdallah's father's house. You will remember her Sir. As has been your character, you skipped her just a few weeks ago to appoint someone from the part of Nigeria “you trust” as Nigeria's IGP.

It's a pity that you couldn't trust her with a sensitive appointment but you are now close to her father's house asking her siblings to trust you with their votes.

Before you entered the campaign arena Sir, your convoy drove past the very place where many tragically lost their lives during that dance you sanctioned. Today you are asking their widows and the families they left behind to vote for you even while that provocative dance is still ongoing.

Several hundreds of youths laid off from factories that either shut down or scaled down operations due to your poorly articulated forex and economic policies are part of the “mammoth crowd” waiting to receive the two thousand Naira your mobilizers promised to share and entertain themselves with the superstar singer they also promised to bring.

Don't be deceived dear President Buhari, the five percenters have decided to take your 5% and give it to the people who already have 97%.

As you hurry to get back to your comfort zone before the sun sets on you in the land of the rising sun, we regret that we will never get to see you in Anambra again till the next campaign rally, if God permits. Fare thee well President Muhammadu Buhari.

Warm regards,
Chima Christian

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Exercise: a very important activity

Exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, including increasing growth and development, preventing aging, strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, improving athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, and also for enjoyment.

Exercise is key to good health. But we tend to limit ourselves to one or two types of activity. People do what they enjoy, or what feels the most effective, so some aspects of exercise and fitness are ignored. Let's focus on 4 main type of exercise.

1. Aerobic exercise.
Aerobic exercise, which speeds up your heart rate and breathing, is important for many body functions. It gives your heart and lungs a workout and increases endurance. Aim for 150 minutes per week of moderate-intense activity like brisk walking, running, swimming, jogging, cycling or dancing. This type of exercise can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, and may even lower the risk of cancer.

2. Strength training.
As we age, we lose muscle mass. Strength training builds it back. Regular strength training will help you feel more confident and capable of daily tasks like carrying groceries, gardening, and lifting heavier objects around the house. Strength training will also help you stand up from a chair, get off the floor, and climb the stairs.
Strengthening your muscles not only makes you stronger, but also stimulates bone growth, lowers blood sugar, assists with weight control, improves balance and posture, and reduces stress and pain in the lower back and joints.
It will likely include body weight exercises like squats, push-ups and crunches. Balance exercises improve your ability to control and stabilize your body's position.

3. Stretching.
Stretching helps maintain flexibility. We often overlook that in youth, when our muscles are healthier. But aging leads to a loss of flexibility in the muscles and tendons. Muscles shorten and don't function properly. That increases the risk of muscle cramps and pain, muscle damage, strains, joint pain, and falling, and it also makes it tough to get through daily activities, such as bending down to tie your shoes.
Likewise, stretching the muscles routinely makes them longer and more flexible, which increases your range of motion and reduces pain and the risk of injury.
Perform static stretches (holding a stretch position for up to 60 seconds) for the calves, the hamstrings, hip flexors, quadriceps, and the muscles of the shoulders, neck, and lower back.
However, don't push a stretch into the painful range. That tightens the muscle and is counterproductive.

4. Balance exercises
Improving your balance makes you feel steadier on your feet and helps prevent falls. It's especially important as we get older, when the systems that help us maintain balance, our vision, our inner ear, and our leg muscles and joints, tend to break down. The good news is that training your balance can help prevent and reverse these losses.
Yoga is a good example of balance exercise. It's never too early to start this type of exercise, even if you feel you don't have balance problems.

Benefits of exercise can never be overemphasized.

1. Exercise improves physical health.
Physically active individuals have a much better health outlook than their sedentary peers. Even modest regular physical activity has a positive influence on people's health and vitality. A minimum of 20 to 30 minutes of moderate activity a day most days of the week will benefit health and assist with weight loss.

2. Exercise reduces risks of serious illness.
Exercise reduces people's chances of developing and dying of illnesses such as heart disease, obesity etc. It does this by lowering illness risk factors such as triglyceride and overall cholesterol levels, while improving the level of HDL (the "good" cholesterol which is thought to reduce the risk of heart disease).
Weight-bearing exercise and strength training activities help to maintain or increase bone mass, reducing a person's risk for osteoarthritis and associated bone fractures. Regular exercise also lowers resting blood pressure rates for hours after an exercise session is over. In addition, moderate exercise may significantly reduce the risk of developing type II diabetes. Regular walking of over a mile a day has been shown to reduce the risk of arthritis and stroke significantly.
Exercise even appears to reduce the risk of developing some cancers, especially cancers of the breast and colon.

3. Exercise also improves people's capacity for work. People who exercise on a regular basis actually have more energy and greater strength and endurance for daily activities than do their sedentary peers. The feeling of increased energy, and vitality is one of the first things people tend to notice a few weeks after beginning to working out on a regular basis.

4. Exercise helps people perform activities of daily life more easily.
Physically fit people are stronger, healthier and more energetic than sedentary people. They are able to solve problems more readily, deal with stress more effectively, think faster and remember things more efficiently. Overall, activities of daily life become less of a chore for active people.

5. Exercise helps people to lose and maintain weight. An exercise session burns calories and elevates metabolic rate both during exercise and then for hours after exercise is completed. It helps to preserve and build lean muscle mass. All of these benefits work together to make exercise vital for maintaining weight loss.

6. Exercise improves mood.
Exercise helps people to relax, improves sleep and reduces muscular tension. That glow of relaxation after a workout is restorative. Research shows that one of the best things a person can do when depressed is to force themselves to exercise. The mood elevation effect is immediate.

7. Exercise improves self-confidence.
One of the reasons many individuals do not attempt an exercise program is because they feel they are not very athletic or coordinated. Once an exercise program is begun, these individuals discover that they are indeed able to work out successfully: gaining muscle tone and strength, improving their stamina, and improving how they feel emotionally. These revelations are very empowering. It is this increased sense of self confidence and improved sense of well-being that eventually becomes the sustaining force that helps people to continue their exercise program.

8. Exercise provides socialization opportunities. Exercising outside the home, whether in the great outdoors, at a gym or recreation center, in an exercise class, sport group, walking or running club, etc., all lead to encounters with other people who also enjoy working out. New acquaintances and friendships develop readily in such contexts. Over time, having the pleasure of one's exercise group's company becomes another reason to exercise.
Family relationships can benefit from exercise too. On days when the weather is nice the entire family may enjoy a walk together, thereby strengthening their relationship.

Make it a point of duty to exercise your body, because Your health, is Your wealth.

AVOID EMBARRASSMENT AND UNNECESSARY PRESSURE IN 2019

1. Put your kids in schools you can afford because expensive schools don't guarantee good results. Just ensure they attend a good affordable school.

2. Rent apartments you can pay for conveniently. Don’t live in a house you struggle to pay yearly.

3. A man whose wife is pregnant has good 9 months to prepare, same as the pregnant woman in question. They should even plan for the unexpected and only seek help when they can’t meet up.

4. Some problems in our lives don’t just pop up, if we don't own a home, we knew we would pay rents...So its not an emergency.

5. Let’s plan our lives and live within our means.
If you drink 3-4 bottles of beer in a day that's 1500*365days=547,500 naira per year.
Hmmm be wise.  Save more and spend less.

6. Some women buy food for their children every morning before going to school or even for the whole family. Do you know it’s cheaper to cook at home?

7. Some people don’t earn much, but have DSTV at home, go for GOTV and upgrade when your income upgrades. It’s still the same CNN, BBC, Channels and Al jazeera anyway!

8. Eat healthy meals and protect your family from mosquitoes to avoid going to the hospital always.

9. Take advantage of food and fruits in season, its cheaper and you can be creative to create amazing meals.

10.Don’t copy your neighbor’s lifestyle, especially if she earns well and her husband is a ‘big man’.

11. Don’t follow trends, wear clean well-ironed clothes and keep your hair neat. You would still look good.

12. Keep your circle small, keep only friends that have senses!

13. Above all things, have the fear of God, have integrity, don’t be lazy, and be prayerful.

14. Planning is the key, if you fail to plan, you plan to FAIL.

15. Don't spend more than your budget this new year, there is no award given to best family that wore the most expensive cloth for the year.

16.Don't be in competition with anyone. The purpose of shoes and clothes are to make us smart and look good.

God bless us all and provide all our needs.

- Unknown.

Depression

Depression has become a menace in our present day society. You wake up every day to news of suicide and suicide attempts and you wonder why.

What is depression?
Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. It affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. You may have trouble doing normal day to day activities, and sometimes you may feel as if life isn’t worth living (Mayo Clinic).

It’s not a weakness and you can’t simply snap out of it just like that. It may require treatment, and most people with depression get better with medication, psychotherapy or both. One thing about depression is that it may come and go like most symptoms which some may refer to as episodes.

It is very important to know the causes and symptoms of depression even though sometimes it goes undiagnosed and untreated especially in adults.

How do you know you’re depressed? You know you are depressed when:
1.You feel sad, fearful, empty or hopeless.
2.Most of the times you are angry, irritable and frustrated over small matters.
3.You lose interest in things you usually engaged in and enjoyed, like sex, sports and hobbies.
4.You have sleep disorders; insomnia or too much sleep.
5.You feel tired and lack energy to do physical work.
6.You lose appetite, lose weight or eat too much and gain weight. Some people crave some unusual foods.
7.You are anxious, agitated and restless
8.You feel worthless, and guilty of past mistakes/self-blame.
9.You have trouble thinking, concentrating, remembering things and even making decisions.
10.You have physical issues like back pain or headaches.
11.You think of death, suicide and may even attempt suicide and these thoughts reoccur if nothing is done about the situation.

Causes
Depression is usually caused by a combination of biological, economic, environmental, genetic and psychological factors and can happen at any age. It can also be related to certain illnesses and in cases of helplessness.

Major risk factors include;
•Personal or family history of depression.
•Certain physical illnesses and medications.
•Major life changes, trauma or stress.
•Economic downturn and hardship.
•Loss of loved one/heartbreak.
• Marital and relationship conflicts.

What to do when you have any of the above symptoms:
If you feel any of the above symptoms, first step is to book appointment with your doctor or mental health professional as soon as possible. You can be placed on antidepressants and treatments usually take some time.
Secondly, you can talk to a friend or family member or a loved one.
If you have a close spiritual leader, either in church, at work or anybody else you trust, talk to them without hiding anything.
You can also engage in some social activities that will help to take your mind off any problems at hand.

Depression, like any other health issue, can be cured. Get help fast!

RIP DJ XGEE

It is no longer news that Nigeria lost one of the most talented young men in this country at the time when everyone was celebrating the new year. DJ Xgee! It was a disturbing news.
But more disturbing is the story surrounding his death - suicide. The question on everybody's lips is, what will make a young man in his prime take his life?

One may think or assume that he has everything going well for him given maybe where he lives, the kind of car he uses, his lifestyle etc.

Truth is, there is more to life than what we think or assume. Most of the time we measure happiness by achievements, physical possessions and what we see on the outside but it is not always like that.
Someone may live in a mansion, drive the best cars, travel to choice countries at the snap of the fingers but living in misery.
A lot of couples appear happy on the outside but miserable on the inside etc.

What's the point, you may ask? The point is, when you get to the point where you start having funny ideas about death, when it seems you are going crazy, seek help, get counselling.
If your relationship has become toxic and life threatening, please don't feel bad or ashamed to ask for help so you can save your life.
If it means going away for sometime, please do.

If your loved one behaves in an unusual way, please feel concerned, ask questions and if you cannot help, get assistance for him or her.

If a lively and jovial person suddenly becomes withdrawn and unnecessarily quiet, please find out what he or she is going through.
Let us always check up on our loved ones from time to time.
Don't always assume that all is well with them, some of them might be going through bad times.

With the current situation of things economically, a lot of us are under so much pressure from even our families, and a lot of people you see on the streets are walking corpses.

Learn to take things easy, do not take your frustrations out on anybody; be it family, friends or strangers. You may not know how it will end.
Learn to walk away from anything that threatens your life and/or your peace of mind please.
Learn to talk to God about any situation you may find yourself and trust him at all times to help you out. You don't need to sleep in church, speak to him anywhere and anytime.
Listen to any music you like when you feel stressed, it helps.

Settle any dispute you have with anybody, especially your spouse. Do not let it get out of hand, and be careful what you say to each other in the heat of argument or anger.
Learn to forgive people when they offend you; even if they don't apologise. Do it for your peace of mind.

Make your doctor your friend this year; if you can hide things from everybody, do not hide from your doctor or your trusted friend.

Learn to consider how your loved ones will feel before you take any decision.

May God help us!
Rest in peace DJ Xgee!

Welcome to year 2019

The beginning of each year is always associated and welcomed with high hopes, goodwills, high and positive expectations, mixed feelings, celebrations and the likes. A lot of us look forward to crossover funfares, prayers, prophecies, and predictions that would chart the course of their lives for the year.
Some people make new year resolutions which they may or may not be able to uphold; some are broken before the end of the first day.

Whatever be the case however, the truth is that the only thing that changed is the year, in this case the figures, but all other things remain the same; our lives, families, jobs or businesses etc.
No matter the prayers, prophecies etc, our destinies still lies in our hands. The only person who can stop us from achieving our goals, plans and aspirations is "OURSELVES".

I came across a post on social media, I do not know the author or the source but I found it interesting and different from the usual wishes.

I found it a better wish for anybody, edited some part of it.
Here it is:
"I am not wishing anybody anything for 2019:
For HEALTH, see the doctor, eat well and exercise.
For MONEY/FINANCES, reduce the amount of time you sleep, not more than 6 hours per day, work; work like your life depends on it, and of course it does. Have a budget for every expenditure, save and invest.
For LOVE, be honest and sincere in your relationships.
For SUCCESS, work hard, be patient, and persevere.
For HAPPINESS, make your family and neighbours happy.
For SALVATION, trust God and do His will.

Bottomline is, Take more responsibility for your life and fate in 2019, ask God to help you, guide you and direct your path.
I wish us all a very good year.