Tuesday 14 April 2015

The World Leaders with the Highest Salaries

There is a huge variation in salary levels among world leaders across the globe. Nobody earns as much as Singapore’s prime minister, though. In office since 2004, Lee Hsien Loong earned an astonishing $2,856,930 from 2008 to 2012 before taking a 28 percent paycut amid public unhappiness. Today his salary still amounts to $1.7 million U.S. dollars. That’s enough to pay the combined annual wage of the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom combined.

U.S. President Barack Obama follows a considerable distance behind – his annual salary amounts to $400,000. By international standards, that is still quite high. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper get paid $260,000 every year, just ahead of German leader Angela Merkel who earns an annual wage of $234,400. For the analysis click:Entrepreneur News Online.

6 Leadership Failures that Put your Company at Competitive Risk

1. The Glass Is Always Half Empty Be concerned if your senior leadership team is slow or not receptive enough to new ways of doing things. You might be winning now, but the marketplace can catch you by surprise at any time and you will begin to lose momentum quickly when it does. Competitors are always ready to beat you at your own game if you don’t stay on your toes. The fiercely competitive landscape requires constant forward thinking and the adoption of a survival mentality. Create a sense of urgency – not out of fear – but as a means to stretch the organization’s thinking. Always seeing the glass as half full will stimulate an environment of competition. When I walk into a leader’s office, the first thing I do is glance at their desk and book shelves to determine their state of mind. What are they reading and who is influencing their thinking? My goal is to identify their mindset, how they manage their time and what steps they are taking to identify the next big opportunity.

2. Without Preparation, Often Blindsided

Your senior leadership team should be optimistic about the company’s future and prepare itself to avoid being blindsided. When leaders are not receptive to change, and reflect negativity in their tone, body language and attitude, it’s a crisis waiting to happen. Senior leadership must embrace the mentality of change agent, constantly anticipating the unexpected with a healthy dose of skepticism. Every leader must be a change agent or soon they will face extinction – blindsided without preparation to competitive strategies and the evolution of the marketplace. For example, are your leaders prepared for the cultural demographic shift? Hispanics, Asians and African Americans will represent $4.2 trillion in purchasing power in the United States by 2019. In just four short years, they will represent nearly 27% of the U.S. total, according to the Selig Centre for Economic Growth at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia. Unfortunately, the majority of organizations are not anticipating and preparing themselves for this cultural shift in their business models – and what it means to their talent pipeline and the positioning of their brands. This puts their organizations, their brands and their retention of top talent at risk as the demographics of the marketplace change and they lack the preparation to change with it.

3. Not Courageous Enough With Their Thinking

Today’s unpredictable market demands courageous thinking from its leaders. If your senior leadership team is not passionate enough to explore endless possibilities for your company, then its ability to grow and compete is limited. Senior leadership must have the belief in its people and clients to become potent pioneers in the organization and trailblazers in the industry they serve. It’s their responsibility to build high performance teams and push the boundaries to see and seize opportunities previously unseen in the marketplace to elevate consumer trust and loyalty. As Steve Jobs said, “You have to have a lot of passion for what you are doing because it is so hard. If you don’t, any rational person would give up.” In other words, if your leadership doesn’t give it everything they’ve got, your company’s value proposition will quickly become irrelevant. Read more on Entrepreneur News Online

Meet Africa's Most Successful Woman: Mo Abudu

Mo Abudu, a 50 year-old Nigerian media entrepreneur and talk show host, is the founder of Ebony Life TV, a fast-growing black African multi-broadcast entertainment network, which showcases informative and entertaining programmes that portray Africa at its best. Abudu, who has been described by international news outlets as ‘Africa’s Africa’, is keen in her resolve to rewrite Africa’s story. And it’s time you took notice. In a recent email interview, she recounts her entrepreneurial journey and reflects on the lessons she has learned along the way.

You are the host of ‘Moments with Mo’, one of the most successful syndicated talk shows on African regional television. And now you run an African television network. Walk me through your journey as a media entrepreneur

Image result for mo abudu imagesImage result for mo abudu imagesMy passion to help change the narrative about Africa began to grow as far back as when I was a teenager living in the UK, schooling in Tunbridge Wells in Kent, a town that had just a few blacks at the time. As I have said many times in the past, here, I had to learn to stand up for myself, to defend my identity and my race in an environment where you continually got asked the most ridiculous and mind-boggling questions like “Do you guys live in trees and holes in Africa?” “Do you guys dance around fires?” “What do you eat for breakfast?” Very ignorant questions. Those sort of questions could either make or break your spirit but I was very determined that I was going to stay strong. This kind of afro-pessimism simply fuelled a burning, deep-seated desire in my subconscious to one day help to rewrite the African story; to get people to talk about the issues that affect our society and to tell the African narrative in a contemporary and interesting way; to change the perception the world had of us; to let the world know that in spite of our challenges as a developing continent, Africans are not a bunch of savages but mostly a breed of gifted and remarkable people. So, after my education and a flourishing modelling career in the UK, I returned to Nigeria in my late twenties. My children had reached their teens; I had begun enjoying a successful career as Head of Human Resources and Administration for oil giant, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (ExxonMobil). I always say that this experience at ExxonMobil was the best thing that happened to me at that time because the job gave me an invaluable understanding of corporate structure and business discipline, which would eventually prove very useful in my future business endeavours, to include the Protea Hotel Oakwood Park, of which I remain a shareholder and director; Vic Lawrence & Associates, now one of Nigeria’s leading outsourcing firms, where I also remain founder, and so on. For more interview click Nigerian Entrepreneur News.

The 30 Year-Old Nigerian Mobile Phone Entrepreneur who is Challenging Apple in Africa

Michael Akindele, a 30 year-old Nigerian, is a director and a co-founder of SOLO Phone, an experience-driven digital content and smartphone company focused on delivering the best content and services on the mobile platform to African consumers.

SOLO Phone, which was established in Nigeria in 2012, is an experience-driven mobile device manufacturer which aims to provide the best content and services to the African consumer at an affordable price. The company manufactures smartphones priced at $150, bundled with free music of up to 20 million songs licensed from Sony, Universal and Warner. SOLO also recently launched a Video-On-Demand App available to all Android devices in Nigeria which offers the latest Nollywood and Hollywood movies from global movie studios.

In a forbes recent chat with Akindele where he recounted his entrepreneurial journey and explained why he feels SOLO phones will give other smartphones a run for their money.

What’s your personal and professional background?

I was born August 29, 1984 in Washington D.C., to Nigerian parents. At the age of 2 years old, my family moved to Nigeria and spent the next 10 years in Ibadan. At the age of 12, my family returned to the US where I continued my education in Alexandria, Virginia. After graduating from T.C. Williams High School, I attended George Mason University in Fairfax, VA where I received a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree from the Volgneau School of Engineering with a focus on Computer Science and Information Technology. I also received a minor in Business Administration from George Mason’s School of Management. While at George Mason I was a member of the Track & Field Team and competed in the hurdles and middle distance running events. Being an athlete on a Division I Track & Field team gave me the confidence I needed to take on events outside of sports and a chance to win. Two days after graduating from George Mason I began my career as a Technology Consultant with Accenture. I gained valuable professional experience from being a Technology Analyst with Accenture. While at Accenture, I started working on a project, which quickly progressed and birthed The Apprentice: Africa. A business partner and myself successfully licensed an American reality game show from Mark Burnett Productions for the Sub-Saharan media market, which featured real estate magnate, businessman and television personality Donald Trump. I returned to Nigeria January 2007 and was part of a team that developed, produced and distributed the African edition of an 18 week reality show titled The Apprentice: Africa that had a strong following in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. For more click Nigerian Entrepreneur News:

Sunday 30 November 2014

The future technology in our car

The year is 2020. It’s cold outside, so before you leave the office you turn on your car’s heater with your smartphone. As soon as you enter your car, the intelligent infotainment centre automatically selects your favourite music to play during the drive home, and the car pulls away without you needing to do anything.
The good thing to know is there’s no need to stop for petrol as the car has been drawing power from the building while it was parked, and is now fully charged. Soon it joins the motorway and drives safely in a close proximity with other cars – almost bumper-to-bumper, and close enough to alarm a driver from the year 2014. But you’re not alarmed: you know your car is constantly communicating with other vehicles, the road, traffic monitoring systems and its own sensors, and will respond faster than any human if another vehicle brakes or swerves.
This world of intelligent, self-driving cars is closer to reality than you might think. Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, recently said: "By 2020, aided by wireless and cloud-based technologies, Nissan will offer our customers enhanced safety and a wide variety of new conveniences like accident-avoiding driving intervention technologies, electric vehicle charging reservations, or a music player that adapts to the listener's moods."
You need only look at Nissan’s current line-up of cars to get a glimpse of how some of these technologies might work in practice. The Note, Qashqai and X-Trail and several other vehicles all come with innovative Nissan Safety Shield features – the building blocks of the car of the future.
The Lane Departure Warning System, for example, sounds alerts to sleepy or distracted drivers if they’re creeping outside their lane. Like the Blind Spot Warning and Moving Object Detection systems, which are designed to prevent collisions with other vehicles and anything darting behind the car as you’re reversing, it makes use of a single, intelligent self-cleaning camera on the rear of the car.
“If you look at the level of technology in our cars compared to our competitors, we are offering an amount of premium technology in terms of navigation or connected cars from all entry points,” says Guillaume Masurel, Marketing Director at Nissan Motor GB. “We’re always trying to push boundaries and making them accessible.”
These technologies also include Forward Emergency Braking and Emergency Steering systems, which can take control of a car in moments of crisis. Nissan has also demonstrated a car that can drive through a junction without hitting traffic, as well as a prototype autonomous LEAF that can automatically change lanes, overtake slower or stopped vehicles, stop at red lines, and more. An array or lasers, radar and cameras allows it to detect objects from 650ft away, and provides it with a 360 degree awareness of its surroundings – an ability known as ‘computer vision’.
Autonomous cars will eventually be able to connect with roads, traffic lights, junctions and smart transport systems throughout the course of a journey. Information about driving conditions, closures, queues and even landmarks could be relayed to the driver by an augmented reality windscreen, with the car able to suggest and select alternative routes.
In the near-term, all new cars in Europe will be required to alert the emergency services if their on-board sensors detect that a crash has occurred, and more people are likely to install event data recorders (EDRs) that monitor their driving habits, allowing them to benefit from reduced insurance premiums. Nissan has also announced a smartwatch for drivers of Nissan Nismo cars, which can capture biometric data via a heart rate monitor and other such features which one day could vastly change how we interact with our cars.
Touchscreen dashboard ‘infotainment’ systems are bound to become more advanced in the future, as autonomous cars free us from the need to operate the car’s controls. NissanConnect is already one of the smartest systems available, bringing apps to the dash and allowing you to stay connected to the outside world from inside your car. Nissan have even made it possible for LEAF owners to communicate with their car remotely by using a phone app which can check the status of the battery, activating the heater prior to getting in, finding local charging stations, and more.
Smartphone apps that let you instruct your car to park itself are also in development, along with wireless charging parking spaces for electric vehicles and ‘Vehicle-To-Building’ energy transfer systems. If there’s a fault with your vehicle you might even be able to fix it by downloading software over the internet rather than taking it to a garage. That might seem futuristic now, but one day it will be the norm for millions of drivers – including you, perhaps.

Culled from MSN News.

Friday 28 November 2014

Ladies Breast Sucking is very good for you

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The female oranges, also known as “the twins” or “the girls”, have remained the most conspicuous and attractive of all the features of the female. Perhaps, its strategic positioning and function adds to its importance in the life of every woman.

Besides the age long biological function of the bre’asts as a source of food and nourishment for babies, the bre’ast is also a major source of séxual attraction for the male specie, just as it is also a key séxual organ for the woman, highly sensitive to stimulation. The fact that they come in various shapes and sizes, further add to their uniqueness and endearing place in our hearts as humans.

The bre’asts have been known to give immense pleasure to both men and women during rough play…

In fact, some women have reportedly disclosed that they are capable of achieving org-asm even when thoroughly stimulated through sucking and caressing of the bre’asts alone. Though, because of this highly sensitive nature, some women find it very uncomfortable or even painful to submit their twin girls to constant séxual manipulation of any kind.
Interestingly, men are constantly drawn to the bre’asts. A lot of this attraction has been attributed to psychological composition, perception and beliefs. For, pray, why would a full grown man be obsessed with su’cking some mounds of milkless bre’asts? I don’t often get logical answers to this question when I ask. The function of the bre’asts in se’xual behaviour has been attributed to human Face-to-Face copulation that is unusual among other mammals. Since the bre’ast already serves the function of mother-infant bonding, then it is also excellent for male/female bonding, says an argument. After all, it is just within reach.
For those familiar with some of the social media platforms, you would have come across a particular message that has been making the rounds for a couple of years now. Purportedly attributed to the BBC as source, this message usually springs out during the cancer awareness months and in support of cancer prevention campaign. As expected, it elicits a wide range of controversies from both men and women, from humour to disdain and se’xual innuendoes, while some others believe the content hook, line and sinker. The purported message is claimed to have been issued by the Ministry of Health in the fight against breast cancer.
One of the versions I have received read thus:
Very soon, women will be paying men to have their brea’sts su’cked! According to a report on BBC website, Doctors recommend that women reduce the risk of getting bre’ast cancer by having their brea’sts su’cked thoroughly and vigorously. It is said that regular sucking of the bre’ast lowers the risk level that tends to build up lumps leading to bre’ast cancer. The breast must be su’cked as often as possible. Help women fight bre’ast cancer today. Men, please do your part and su’ck a bre’ast now! And women, please endeavour to make it available regularly…… This message is from the Ministry of Health in the fight against bre’ast cancer.
I have tried several times without success to get a confirmation for this story on the mentioned websites including cancer.org and some others in related fields. But perhaps, someone out there knows the original and authentic source of this message? Please share it with us!
As interesting as this message may be, as well as the different responses it receives anytime it is being passed around, depending on which side of the divide you find yourself, I am more worried about the health implications attached. Cancer is not something to make jokes out of as it claims millions of lives across the world every year. Again, some frightened lady who hitherto was not in favour of bre’ast su’cking may easily submit herself to torture with the belief that she is suffering for a good reason. Please, let us not confuse issues. Bre’ast fe’eding is not the same as breast sucking. Breast feeding is the process of feeding new born and infants with bre’ast milk. It is this that has been medically proven to be of immense benefit to both mother and child and can prevent bre’ast cancer. There are no scientifically proven studies indicating that bre’ast su’cking is of any medical benefit to the the woman whose bre’ast is being sucked or the person doing the sucking.
However, what has been scientifically proven is the fact that bre’ast su’cking when properly performed is of immense pleasure to the woman and may sometime on its own lead to orgasm or when combined with some other forms of séxual stimulation will help a woman to achieve orgasm quicker. Again, neither has any research shown that bre’ast su’cking can give a woman cancer.
So ladies, please relax and allow your guys do the job for you. if you are not enjoying the way he is doing it, tell him. I can assure you, it’s a win-win situation
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Culled from News in Nigeria.

Why I showed my boobs instead of bra



Controversial actress cum singer, Cossy Orjiakor, who seems to derive pleasure from flaunting her God-given gifts in the open, is at it again. This time, she is in the news as a result of her daring presence in the just concluded Halloween held in Lagos recently.

CossyThe sexy actress, who went to the event bra less, told Matinee why she chose not to wear bra to the event. Hear her, “Actually, a friend of mine and her husband invited me to the event and I decided to go with one of my craziest costumes which I have not worn for a long time.The top has a very tiny hock in the chest and if I should wear bra, my bra will be exposed. So, I decided to show my boobs instead of my bra. I think people would prefer to see the boobs instead of bra. You, which one will you prefer to see?” she asked our reporter.“The funny thing is that, the very first time I stepped out bra less, I got pips freaking out. Everybody wanted to have pictures with me. Then I got bitten by the Egyptian vampire, these boobs are simply amazing, bra less in Halloween” she added.

Culled from Vanguard Nigeria.