Inspiration

Believe in yourself!

My Venture Into Football Prediction and How I launched the Best Prediction Site

Betloy.com which was the second football prediction website I have developed was born out of unfortunate circumstances. This was a result of usual founder - co founder split that occurs when some degree of funds come in and greed & selfishness sets in. I'd do my best to narrate the story and highlight the lessons you can learn from my experience.

My venture into the football prediction and tips business came in 2014 shortly after I began my youth service in a federal institute - It was a dead place and I had plenty of time. At that time, I had just recently failed at one of my Start - up businesses, computervillage.trade, which was supposed to be an online market place for buying, selling and the repairs of computer gadgets and accessories. It was successful to a great extent. I had orders coming in from different parts of Nigeria in a very short time. It was beautiful and I felt I had built the next great thing in Nigeria. I also built Latest Jobs in Nigeria i was a serial Entrepreneur

It wasn't long after, that I started experiencing some serious challenges. The orders increased beyond my expectations and logistics became a huge problem. To cut the long story short, after the domain name expired I had no interest in continuing the business. I was too young to die.

Few weeks after this experience, I was still nursing my wounds when I received a call from a friend who had another friend that wanted to develop a betloy.com (This is Betloy. My newest prediction site. You thought i'd link to the former? ) This other friend of his had spent time looking for a developer to help build this brilliant idea which many other developers had turned down. I scheduled a meeting with him and I listened to his idea. He wanted a football prediction site that would grow so popular and pull bookmakers to advertise on it. This bookie adverts was going to be the only source of income for this. I told him this can work but let us make it a Netflix subscription model. Let us offer amazing content and reduce the price people pay monthly when compared to other paid football prediction services.

The Philosopher's Muse...

Who am I?
Where did I come from?
And where am I going?
These kind of existential questions belie the root of all philosophical thinking. The answers to each one however is not always simple and is unique to every individual who must arrive at his answer through deep reflection and profound thought.
William Thackeray, a noted literary and intellectual of his time wrote of the smoking pipe, “the pipe draws wisdom from the lips of the philosopher and shuts up the mouth of the foolish, it generates a style of conversation, contemplative, thoughtful, benevolent and unaffected.”
And Even Albert Einstein resonated the thought saying "I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgment in all human affairs,"
What both were implying was the pipe man is the reflective and thinking man. There is no doubt in my mind that the general consensus would agree with this imagery and when we conjure up the
image of a smoking pipe, your mind is instantly flooded with images of a scholar in his 50’s brooding in his study, contemplating the complexities of existentialism, drawing on wisdom from his pipe, Sherlock Holmes, or grandfather.
The question as to whether this imagery is factual and if sucking on a smoking pipe implies the user to be a rugged man of idyllic epoch is unimportant. At least not to Morountodun Obaigbo, the new age African Contemporary creative aesthetic product Designer who recently pre-launched her creative design platform. Her debut project explores the art of pipe making, using materials such as brass, gold, briar wood and acrylic.
She reveals that after studying some African aesthetic smoking pipes at the popular Jakande market, she began to consider the endless possibilities in making a smoking pipe and despite the prevalent anti-smoking sentiment, the smoking pipe making remains as a form of art.
Her smoking pipe collection is designed, looking at Contemporary African motif with stunning visual appeal. She believes there is a gentle charisma associated with a pipe smoker and there is little
difference in tobacco use and marijuana use as it relates to the smoking pipe. The smoking pipe is multi-functional and transcends beyond recreational drug use to a personal accessory which for both the connoisseur and the beginner might be a reflection of the eclectic tastes of the owner himself.
As an art enthusiast or lover of alternate or Afrocentrism, news of this exhibition should appeal to you. The launch of www.morountodunobaigbo.com is set for the beginning of 2016. It launches as an open exhibition, and welcomes other African Alternative Contemporary artists, poets, creative
designers, indie musicians, instrumentalists or photographers who would like to be part of the exhibition to contact uyi and someone else to be a part with other alternate artists and promises to be an evening of intellectual stimulation. You may subscribe to the newsletter or follow on social media to be part of the countdown. Follow on twitter...

Phenomenal, Phenomenal Woman.

I am not future Mrs. Something...
I am not made of curves and shapes and edges,
I am not a hash tag,
I am not a tweet or a like.
I am not measured by 1's and 0's.
I am a person.
I am a woman, phenomenal, phenomenal woman.

Skin and flesh,
Feelings and talent,
I am not made of metaphors,
I am not a muse,
I am not a temporary solution to your insatiable inadequacies,
I am not an object,
I am not a female dog.
I am a person.
I am a woman, phenomenal, phenomenal woman.

I am a doctor,
I am an engineer,
I am an athlete,
I am a lawyer,
I am not a property,
I am a person.
I am a woman, phenomenal, phenomenal woman.

I am full of wisdom,
I am capable of reason,
I am not an aphrodisiac,
I am not your damsel in distress.
I am not a prize to be attained.
I am not the light at the end of the tunnel.
I am the entire rail system.
I am not knives and forks,
I am a person.
I am a woman, phenomenal, phenomenal woman.


I am a caregiver,

I am your mother,
I am your sister,
I am your aunt,
I am your niece,
I am not an ornament,
I am not your wallpaper,
I am a person.
I am a woman, phenomenal, phenomenal woman.

I am not a waste of time,
I am not to stroke your ego,
I am not a door mat,
I am not a hobby,
I am not a pastime,
I am a person.
I am a woman,
Phenomenal, Phenomenal Woman.
            Inspired by Maya Angelou's Phenomenal Woman

Have a lovely Sunday y'all!!!!!

We Have All Been Raped!

Sad truth..
I am sure 9 out of 10 of you who clicked this link are wishing to read some sad emotional story about a girl who ‘asked for it’ and was brutally assaulted and violated by a bunch of savages because her skirt was a little above her knees. So that we can all feel bad for a second and then blame the girl in our minds for not ‘dressing well’ instead of the mentally derailed dogs for seeking pleasure in someone screaming and scratching in pain.

Yes, we have all been raped, maybe not physically. We have been raped over and over again anytime we make a rape joke. Anytime we find amusing, the fact that someone was forcefully stripped of his or her dignity.

We now live in a society where songs like Robin Thicke’s ‘we want it’ receive awards and top billboard charts and an artiste is not done singing until he makes a degrading comment about women and their bodies.

We live in a world were women are now spoils of war and celebrities who commit atrocities such as domestic and sexual violence against women are given a pat on the hand and rewarded Oscars.

We have all been raped, every single time we tweet, retweet, sub, like or comment on ‘nudes leak’ of women. Yet I wonder why no one ever leaks nudes of men.

Where literary fantasies have now become innocent girls, made to do things beyond their imagination, and the guy is forgiven because he has a ‘broken past’. Everyone has a broken past; it doesn’t give you the right to ignore the consent of others.

I was appalled when a classmate was accused of rape and he said”This is the hottest gist I’ve heard of myself”. I am pretty sure that if he was accused of theft he would have found that much more insulting. We live in this shallow degraded world where a woman has more chances of being raped than of earning a college degree.

Personally, I hate the sentence “I was raped”. It excludes the fact that it was committed by somebody. Like “the book was misplaced”, it doesn’t indicate the fact that someone is responsible for the act. “Someone raped me”... That is a sentence you hardly hear in the news, the misogyny and patriarchy have blindly covered even those who claim to be heralds of the truth.

I once saw a poster that said, “Rape!, now that I have got your attention, enjoy the best cuisines from XYX Hotels”. It was disgusting!. There are numerous advertising strategies to employ but for a society like ours to be extremely comfortable with such billboards on our streets, We then have all been raped.

There are a million topics to use to get people’s attention; sports, religion, politics, entertainment even food itself. But a bunch of college-certificate-wielding PR experts with NBA’s and Ph.Ds. found it thoughtful that the only way to gain the attention of people is to use the word rape.

Let me explain in all intensity, what rape is as defined by feminist Author, Roxane Gay in her book, Bad Feminist.

“...rape is a difficult experience to survive physically and emotionally, there is the exposure to unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, vaginal and anal tearing, fistulae and vaginal scar tissue. The reproductive system is often irreparably damaged. Victims of rape have a higher chance of miscarrying a pregnancy. Psychologically, there are many effects, including PTSD, anxiety, fear, coping with the social stigma and coping with shame and on and on. The aftermath can be far-reaching and more devastating than the rape itself”

So the next time someone uses your social network without your permission, If your account hasn't suffered any of the above, please do not say, ‘My account has been raped’. It hasn't and it will never be.

If you are sexualizing 15 year old girls and getting turned on by the length of sleeves, you are the problem.

If you judge a woman by her appearance, it doesn’t define her; It defines the sick bastard you might be.

If you make a rule where boys are not disturbed for wearing brief length shorts out but girls are harassed for wearing free flowing gowns, you give an impression that boys are absolutely not responsible for the irrational decisions they make. Your dress code is SEXIST and promotes rape culture.

If you firmly believe that the value of a woman is reduced by the touch of your hands, you are the problem.

My body isn’t a temple. It is a castle with a moat and crocodiles and a dragon that will set you on fire if you touch me.

I am not written in braille, you do not have to touch me to know me.

Rape is much more serious than it would always seem and once we keep quiet about this cankerworm eating our society, we would find ourselves accepting such horrendous violations as a ‘rite of passage’.

“Qui tacet consentire videtur” – Silence gives consent.

Who Are The Rich and Poor in Nigeria? - Social Class Better Explained

The past few weeks has seen me cross the Third Mainland bridge severally and I have come to the grand conclusion that two very different worlds exist at the opposite ends of Third Mainland bridge.

From the supercharged angry atmosphere soaked with sweat and impatience characteristic of the mainland to the tranquility and oyinboishness experienced at the Island, one can only be baffled at the disparity that exists.

After salivating at the structures and automobiles I have seen, I think it would be a great disservice if I don't properly classify our social class and enable people find out where they belong.

1. The Rich

     Examples: Dangote, Otedola, Oniru, Elegushi

This are the class of people allowed to call a Private Jet, a Toy. They are permitted to have hectares of land at Banana island and Eko Atlantic city. They have breakfast at Oriental Hotel, Lunch at Federal Palace Hotel and dinner at Eko Hotel. They are the worthy mentors of the youths. God specifically told me that this is where i'd be.

2. The Rich Middle Class

     Example: Oil Workers

This type of people are my best kind of people. They think they are Dangote. You see them with nice cars, starched white shirts and an air of importance. One good thing though is, when they are sacked or retired they have just enough to setup a business to rescue them from disaster.  (Continue Reading)

People Change

People change, But don't be afraid to be sweet. Don't be afraid to do good to all men.

People change, But don't be afraid to keep your tongue bridled. Don't be afraid to speak life.

people change, But don't be afraid to care. Don't be afraid to be emphatic. 

people change, But don't be afraid to trust. Don't be afraid to accomodate.

people change, But dont. be afraid to laugh. Don't be afraid to cry.

people change, But don't be afraid to love. Don't be afraid to be loved.

People change, But don't be afraid to remain you!


*image Source

We are gods...

I hope you had a wonderful week. Just a little something to spice up your weekend. Do Enjoy!!

We are gods...

Whenever you go out-of-doors,

Draw the chin in,

Carry the crown of the head high,

And fill the lungs to the utmost;

Drink in the sunshine;

Greet your friends with a smile,

And put soul in every handclasp.

Do not fear being misunderstood

And do not waste a minute thinking about your enemies.

Try to fix firmly in your mind what you would like to do;

And then, without veering off direction,

You will move straight to the goal.

Keep in mind on the great and splendid things you would like to do,

And then, as the days go gliding away,

You will find yourself unconsciously seizing opportunities

That is required for the fulfillment of your desire,

Just as the coral insect takes from the running tide the element it needs.

Picture in your mind the able, earnest, useful person you desire to be,

And the thought you hold is hourly transforming you into that particular individual.

... Thought is supreme.

Preserve a right mental attitude -

The attitude of courage, frankness and good cheer.

To think rightly is to create.

All things come through desire and every sincere prayer is answered.

We become like that on which our hearts are fixed.

Carry your chin in and the crown of your head high.

We are gods in the chrysalis.

-Elbert Hubbard

Essayist and Publisher

THE PH.D vs. THE DISCIPLINED

It wouldn’t be courteous if I do not apologize for having not posted for a long while. I won’t be giving any excuses to my ardent readers and all who hung around.  I am truly sorry indeed.

Happy New Year!!!!!!, yeah, it is coming a little late, but better late than ever. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. Just in case you think you did not, remember we weren’t greeted with Nigeria’s usual New Year’s gift of fuel price hike and/or scarcity. So you should reconsider. =)

On to the next one! Its election season and we have a choice to make. The Ph.D. vs. The Disciplined. I am well informed that we have a few other boxers in the ring, even a female. Now I believe my Further mathematics teacher in high school who used to say, ”You can’t afford to be comfortable with mediocrity, In this quiz, It’s the best versus others”. I am not saying they are the best, I’m saying if the others weren’t mediocre in campaigning and letting their voice out, we would have at least known their names like the back of our hands. So, I blame them for making us choose between Beans and Akara. (Continue Reading)

God Doesn't Have a P*nis

We as humans have the natural tendency to blame something, some place, an event, our background whatever it is for our current situations. Not realising that our life is what we make of it. 

For a young person, you can say your parents forced you to choose a particular career. Fine that happens but there's always going to be a point where you have to take responsibility for your actions and inactions and at that point you cant keep saying my parents caused this. You have the power to make or mar your beautiful future.

I remember a quote I heard during a mentoring session  it goes;

"When we are young we look like our parents, when we grow old we look like our choices"

God cannot screw you. He can't screw your marvellous future. But he has given in us the ultimate power in the world; CHOICE
Make the most out of your time on Earth, it's Limited.

The Grass is NOT Greener On The Other Side....

"Someborry" lied you see... The next level you deserve, the success you so much crave for, the money you hope to make, the network you hope to build won't come to you because you believe that If you were lucky enough to just get that extra cash or If you could just go to the networking event or maybe still, If you were born into a richer family perhaps your life will be different.

Truth is, your life is not what you wish of it, it's what you make of it. The grass is not greener on the other side, the grass is greener where you water it.

OUR BLAND UNINSPIRING NATIONAL ANTHEM

Very bland and uninspiring was the choice of words a columnists in a prestigious newspaper used to describe our notable national anthem after hearing a proposal by the delegates of the National Conference to revert to our old anthem. I quite agree with him considering the fact that I've sang it numerous times in my lifetime and I've watched other citizens sing it too with no colour at all.... just take a look at our national team when our anthem is sung.

For my generation of kids who have little or no idea at all of what our old anthem looked like, this post is for you. Look at the rich words used to describe a multi cultural nation filled with proud and patriotic citizens who are aware of our numerous challenges but are willing to build our motherland despite this shortcomings.  NIGERIA WE HAIL THEE!

NIGERIA WE HAIL THEE

Nigeria we hail thee, Our own dear native land, Though tribes and tongues may differ, In brotherhood we stand, Nigerians all are proud to serve, Our sovereign Motherland.

Our flag shall be a symbol, That truth and justice reign, In peace or battle honour’d, And this we count as gain, To hand on to our children, A banner without stain.

O God of all creation, Grant this our one request, Help us to build a nation, Where no man is oppressed, And so with peace and plenty, Nigeria may be blessed.

Youth And Nation Building Conference

Clear your schedule and make time to attend this youth conference hosted by SUCCESS WITHIN INTERNATIONAL on the occasion of it's Second Anniversary.

Come with a mindset of an Agent of change.. See you there! 

A marvelous clutter of Scriptures, with a messed up story

Once there was a man traveling from jericho to Jerusalem and he fell among thorns and it choked him; as he went on, he dint have money, and he met the queen of Sheba, and she gave him a thousand talents of gold and a hundred changes of raiment; he got into a chariot and drove off furiously; when he was driving under a juniper tree, his hair caught on the branch and he hung there many days and night and the ravens brought him food and. Water.

 He ate 5000 loaves of bread and 2 fishes, one night he was hanging there asleep and his wife Delilah came along and cut off his hair, and he dropped and fell on stony ground; but Got up and went on, then it began to rain, and it rained 40days and 40 nights; and he hid himself in a cave and lived on locust and wild honey. Then he met a servant who said, come take supper at my home; but he made an excuse saying 'am sorry I just married, and cant go' but the servant compelled him and he went. 

After supper he went on, and came down to Jericho. When he got there, he looked up and saw queen Jezebel sitting up the window and she laughed at him, and he said 'throw her down' and they threw her down. And he said 'throw her down again'. And they threw her down seventy times seven times. And of the fragments that remained they picked twelve baskets full, beside women and children. And they said blessed are the 'piece makers '. Now whose wife do you think she'll be on the judgement day?''. So much for Bible twisting in Our churches today.

Source: Ravi Zacharias

INFILTRATION EP Review by JayChordz (@iRapChrist)

INTRO

LYRICS

The intro beat takes you back to Json's growing pains. 4Runner started with sharing his rap story, started with wack lines, humility there, great one.

"And some told me you are meant to be a pastor or something Because your grandfather and father picked up the call so receive it Like you are God to be choosing Who should preach on the pulpit?"

Pastor, might not mean those who preach on the pulpit alone,

As long as we Christians obey what Matthew 28:19 says, we are indirectly telling all to preach on the pulpit, when you share the good news, and the content says preach the gospel, everywhere including pulpits? You preaching on stages, it’s also part of obeying the great commission

4Runner also emphasizes the drive to always go hard irrespective of anything, he also said he's working on he's grind, that's great, May YHWH help you Bro

He defines infiltration laying emphasis on being unashamed to infiltrate everywhere with the gospel!! (Continue )

WHAT LAGOS ROADS TAUGHT ME

Above is a picture of me walking in a flooded street and if perhaps you've lived in  lagos you know this is not an unusual sight. The skill employed in navigating such roads cannot be transferred either by laying of hands or otherwise but by experience.

This roads taught me that even in seemingly overbearing situations and conditions that dont suit us or that are to our disaevantage, know that there is always a way. I found the way to cross that flood by tightroping along a gutter.

4Runner- Infiltration (official music video)

4runner, the artist who released songs like grateful, No one greater featuring Henrisoul, Infiltration and the take over remix featuring Samnem and Provabs releases a music video for the song Infiltration. This is the official music video for the single off the Infiltration EP which would be released this month.

4runner started enjoying rap music at the age of ten and started composing his own rap songs at the age of fourteen. He is from Delta state and was raised mostly on Lagos state. He got introduced to music from rappers like T-bone and Lecrae while in secondary school. On his graduation day he released a demo titled "stand up" which had five songs.

He continued making music and released grateful which enjoyed a great feedback from listeners and he later worked on other songs. Now he is set to release the EP titled Infiltration which he says was a suggestion from fans and friends. The EP is to be released later in may. watch out for more information.

DOWNLOAD LINK: Here

SINGER 4RUNNER SET TO DO SOMETHING... GUESS WHAT??

4runner is set to release the long awaited infiltration EP on the 27th of may. The EP features Henrisoul, Provabs, Encore (f.k.a Don John), Skweird, Gabri and more.

4runner started enjoying rap music at the age of ten and started composing his own rap songs at the age of fourteen. He is from Delta state and was raised mostly on Lagos state. He got introduced to music from rappers like T-bone and Lecrae while in secondary school. On his graduation day he released a demo titled "stand up" which had five songs.

He continued making music and released grateful which enjoyed a great feedback from listeners and he later worked on other songs. Now he is set to release the EP titled Infiltration which he says was a suggestion from fans and friends.

Even if Our Government is Inept, at Least......

Even if our government is inept at handling this issue of terrorism and so many other vices currently taking place in Nigeria, at least let them instigate hope and dreams in the people. We know for sure that this issues can't be handled by the government alone there has to be cooperation by we civilians but at least the government should be able to communicate effectively with the Nigerian public. as Mr. minabere ibelema rightly said, When there is a tragedy or insecurity, leaders face a delicate balance between assuring the people and conveying the magnitude of the challenge. Jonathan’s greatest shortfall with regard to Boko Haram is in failing in the latter. But personally I believe the government fails in both ; we are definitely not assured that this menace will end and we really aren't told the magnitude of the issues all we observe is an attempt to downplay the situation on ground until there is media scrutiny. (Continue reading)

Nigerian Religious Junk (Part 2)

In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. 2 Peter 2:3

This article was originally written (here), the truth in it is so deep I decided to share here. Please read it with understanding.

The result of this phenomenon of personal-to-holder churches has been the selective nature of church discipline. You do not discipline a Sangoma (i.e. witchdoctor)—or a chief! It is a known fact, even among the church members, that a number of these pastors have serious moral problems. However, “you do not touch the Lord’s anointed” and so they are not disciplined, even when they have impregnated girls in the church. One such anointed one in Zambia changed wives three times through divorce in less than six months and still remains the apostle of his church. To be fair, this man is a Zambian, but he has imbibed this personal-to-holder phenomenon from Nigeria. There must be accountability from everyone in the church—including the church pastor.

Yet another characteristic of this phenomenon which is particularly African is the craze for titles. We Africans love titles! Once upon a time, evangelical pastors were content to simply be called pastors. Terms like “bishop” were left to those who had an Episcopalian system of church government, which was a formal structure that rose to national and global level. Alas, that has now changed! With the advent of this Nigerian religious junk, it is titles galore! You now have bishops, arch-bishops, prophets, apostles, chief apostles, etc. Some are not even content with that and so have combinations like, “chief apostle prophet doctor so-and-so.” This is certainly very different from the teaching and personal lifestyle of the Lord Jesus Christ whom they claim to serve. (Continue reading).....