Amebor » Opinion

AFRICAN MEN DECODED | #Humour

Jide Ladipo — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:05:45 +0000

If you are trying to decode African men, we have this short piece to help you on the way. Feel free to tell us what you think about our stereotypes. Its all humour, so don’t take it too hard

Nigerian Men = Eye openers, so brave they can even ask you out on a hospital bed or when you are pregnant with another man’s baby.

Ghana Men = educated men but no clue about romance.

The appalling dress sense of the Congolese man is carried with pride.

Zimbabwean Men= worst men to date, their accents only make them a “no go area” and they are into care (no ambition).

Malawian Men = they don’t understand fun at all, their friends pop champagne to have fun but they, they drink to DIE!!!

Congolese Men =I no understand their Swagga at all, bleach and tucking in their cardins but ***** **** is aiight

Somalian Men = They chew sticks to make themselves high…. Thank God no trees to climb wen dey high.

Zaire men = Their trouser waist sef dey reach their ampits. Everything about them is fake; so irritating that they wear those 1950 short fat ties chest warmers

What a Ghanaian man has in Education and good dress sense, he lacks in Romance! SMH!!!

PhotoOFtheWEEK #OCCUPYnigeria in Lagos

Amebor — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:38:55 +0000

This image captures the depth and strength of the occupyNigeria protest, as it grows into its second week. Click here for more on the OccupyNigeria movement.
Send us interesting occupyNigeria photos here and feel free to share your opinions in our forum here

source: unknown protester

THE FUEL SUBSIDY: How it is likely to affect Nigerians

Jide Ladipo — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:57:59 +0000

Nigeria is currently in a difficult phase, one that if not handled well, threatens the very existence of the Nation. Everyone is affected; even the little ones know something is definitely wrong somewhere because mom and dad keep complaining in the house. You and I know what I mean.

The fuel subsidy has caused a lot of national concern. Just yesterday, thousands of Nigerians across different states, marched in unity in protest against the federal government’s removal of the subsidy, which escalated the price from N65 to N140 (In some states, it even goes higher than that). That makes at least a whopping 115 percent increase – bad, bad news for the average Nigerian worker.

Let’s do a simple calculation. If Mr. A earns N80,000 and spends N10,000 per month on transport fare, with this development, the cost will now be at least N20,000, since almost the cost of everything has doubled (even the tomato seller tells you “Na fuel, no be me“). It will not be surprising to see less cars on the roads as many will now find it more economical to go with public transport. Of course, that does not mean there will be a corresponding increase in salaries as Organisations too will be working on cutting costs.

MIRACLE NEEDED: Since Water is not Petrol most Nigerians will find it hard to adjust to the sudden sharp rise in price

According to the federal government, the money realised will be used to improve public amenities, which will favour the majority poor, but Nigerians do not want to be fooled anymore, because of the unfulfilled promises of the past and it seems they are ready to fight this course to finish.

But, one thing keeps boggling my mind – “Are Nigerians united to win this?” Time will tell. If this happens, it will be the greatest revolution in recent Nigeria.

While we wait, share your experience of how the removal of fuel subsidy has affected your work and personal life. Opinions must be constructive and add value to the lives of other readers. Cheers!

Written by Arowolo Anuoluwapo SOURCE JOBBERMAN.COM

WOULD YOU CHANGE HOW YOU LIVED 2011?? | MY REFLECTIONS

OluwaSparkle — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 05:04:24 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, a twitter friend of mine asked if anyone would love to change or re-live any 2011 moment, if they were privileged to go back and do so. I guess that question really hit a lot of nerves because a lot of people responded, talking about how they were ready for the year to be over because it was the worst year ever! That question really made me think and one thing I realized was that – it’s just a number. That’s why I don’t understand why people make resolutions when they end up going back to the things they did before, on the 2^nd day of January! Now don’t get me wrong, hats off to those who made resolutions and stuck to them throughout the year… good job. I never make resolutions because I know the kind of person I am. Some might see it as being a “slacker”, childish or immature, but I love to live in the moment. I make a lot of mistakes, I learn from them, sometimes I don’t, and I just dust myself up and move on while waiting for the next thing that life has to offer.

The year 2011 went by so fast, I could barely keep up! The year started off with me getting older. I didn’t celebrate my birthday. I just stayed home, scared of getting older. If I want to focus on the bad stuff, I cried most of my tears this year (in private of course) LOL, except the day my sister graduated and I was overwhelmed with joy. I remember buying ten shoes in a week because I was heart- broken and that was my own therapy. That was the first time I ever felt bad about myself. I started asking myself, Why? But I couldn’t find the answers within myself, so I sought them somewhere else. This year, I hit rock bottom! When you hit rock bottom, you can’t go any lower so you just pick yourself back up and start over. The first step was to stop crying. I almost lost my job twice this year. I live in Michigan. Finding a good job here is not a piece of cake, so even if you have the crappiest job now, you better hold on to it!

I could go on and on about how 2011 was very rough for me. But I also learned a lot this year. I found myself.

Once you find yourself, you feel this sense of satisfaction even if you haven’t achieved most of the things you set out to. It’s a very enlightening experience. I learned to love myself even more. If anyone can learn to do that, trust me – You will enjoy both life’s pain and pleasure! You become grateful for the simple things around you. You’re not so needy anymore. You do stuff because you want to do them, not because you expect something in return. Even though the year was mostly rough for me, I have to say it was one of the best years of my life. I will not change anything about this year. I did a lot of growing up this year and I am proud.

So, 2012 is around the corner. Big shout out to the people who already composed their chain messages, some of them will go like “New year, new me, new system. No time for fake people. I’m done with all the randomness…” and so on! Please put a sock in it! How many of you can proudly say they made resolutions and they followed through? Let’s be honest. There is no “new you”… The only thing new is the year! You are still the same person. Why don’t you just go into the year with a positive attitude, no resolutions, and no lists. And when the year ends, sit down and look back at yourself and what you’ve accomplished all year. Then you can talk!

But if you were asked to change anything this year, would you go back and change it?

I don’t make resolutions, but the only thing I plan on doing next year is to be better in everything I do.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE :)

“I AM A WINCH FOR JESUS” – BISHOP DAVID OYEDEPO SLAPS CRUSADE MEMBER

OluwaSparkle — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:22:32 +0000

It looks to me that the man of God, Bishop David Oyedepo, has gotten more than he bargained for. A youtube video has caused quite an uproar in the media. This video footage shows how the Man of God lost his temper on stage when a brave teenager uttered these words “I am not a witch, but I am witch for Jesus.” Not only did he slap the girl, he called her a “foul devil” and he told her to go to hell because she wasn’t ready to be delivered.

I’m still trying to figure out why he thinks he is fit to condemn anyone to hell, but if we take this matter back to the Bible, even Jesus did NOT show any act of violence. I don’t even need the Bible to show me how wrong everything went in this video. I was shocked when he said “Do you know who you are talking to?” REALLY? You are a human being, just like everyone else! You shouldn’t show an act of violence in the name of Jesus!

Another disturbing thing about this video was how the church members cheered him, supporting his actions. A lot of Nigerians seem to fear their pastors more than the God who made them. A UniLag student dropped out of school because he spent his school fees on a birthday gift for his pastor. It’s so bad that most of these Christians no longer live their lives the way they should. They have abandoned their value and integrity to make the pastors richer. We see these church members who would rather obey the laws of their pastors instead of what is written in the Bible.

People who live like this are only encouraging these “men of God” to steal from them, all in the name of GOD/JESUS. What’s the point of condemning our politicians if you still go to church and spend all your hard earned money on your pastor, hoping for a “better reward in heaven.” Some of these men of God even live larger than our politicians! Pastor Oyedepo is considered the richest Pastor in Nigeria according to a Forbes magazine article. He owns four jets (with #5 to come soon), schools and various investments across the African continent. It’s okay for us to condemn our politicians but we cannot say anything about these pastors because they are men of God. SMH

According to Sahara Reporters, a group started a petition campaign; you can check it out here and please sign the petition. I also found out that another group is working on a letter of complaint to request the US department to revoke the Bishop’s visa into the country. A group in the UK also promised to contact their government in prosecuting him for child abuse if he ever sets foot into the country. I’m not sure which of these things are true, but I really hope so. I am no judge, but this man needs to be punished!

What Do you think??

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

BEING NIGERIAN HAS ITS PRIVILEGES | Opinion

Jide Ladipo — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:00:00 +0000

A trip to Nigeria has its privileges, it’s bound to produce dramatic moments, some melodramatic, some just pure drama waiting to happen. So I hopped on a train to Heathrow airport for a scheduled night flight to Lagos courtesy of Arik Air and before I arrived at the Arik Air Check in Area, I kind of knew what it would look like when I got there.

Why is that Naija people always have to repack their bags despite the fact that they know that the minimum baggage allowance is two 30Kg bag pieces?

A long line of people awaits any man wanting to check the weight of his bag at the baggage weighing area of any flight to Lagos. As Nigerians, we love to buy things o! Tell me why this man removed forty packets of Candles from his luggage as he tried to readjust the weight so he could meet the 30kg standard set by Arik?

But for the fear of getting slapped, I was tempted to ask: “Bros, U get franchise with Celestial Church of Christ?” O_o

“Abeg Oga shift, I wan use scale”

“Ahn Ahn Take am easy now, you wan make I fall?

These are the kind of phrases I heard as people struggled to put their luggage on the scale. No pun intended, but you will be excused if you thought you were at a bend down market in Oshodi. Shuffling and pushing was the order of the day as people struggled to get past the sea of luggages that littered the floor.

LAGOS SKIVING: Its that time of the year again. You have to love Lagos.

When we finally board, there was this obnoxious man that started an argument about space in the overhead luggage compartment.

“It’s my seat and It’s my space, I deserve to use that space” ranted the man in a thick Igbo accent

“What do you mean; do you know who I am?” asked the Yoruba man with a chieftaincy title attitude

I still do not understand what the argument was all about; I mean these dudes were on a war of words about space when it’s obvious that there was space in other overhead compartments a few seats away.

The flight to Lagos was smooth and thanks to my new Nigerian Passport, I whizzed past immigration in no time (safe for the obnixious man who started another small talk about someone jumping the queue). Having a Nigerian passport has its own privileges ( Have you noticed that I have used the word privilege and Nigeria twice in the same line in this write up? )

“Oga, where is the receipt for all this stuff?” asked the Custom Official.

“Receipt ke? For where? Bros, these items are my personal stuff”

My Oyinbo accent quickly changed to raw Lagos boy accent within seconds. After a couple of minutes they let me go. After all, I have been in this situation loads of times and I know how to handle these hustlers who try and hustle a hustler.

As we drove out of the airport, reality finally kicked in, I was in Nigeria and it was time to start adjusting to life in the grimey streets of Lagos.

First visit was to the Bereau de change to exchange my Pounds for Naira. As we drove into the hotel through the gates, I noticed a security man using bomb scanners to scan the car. It seems these Lagos peeps are taking this Boko-Haram threat seriously.

SERIOUS THREAT: Security agencies are taking the threat of terrorism seriously

“What is this about?” I enquired

“It’s due protocol sir, as directed from Aso Rock. Security is an important issue these days” replied the security guard

I couldn’t agree more. Since my arrival, virtually every political discussion on the TV has been about Security and Terrorism.

Finally, I head out to register my GLO line. Apparently, the Nigerian Communication Commission has made it mandatory for every simcard owner to register their line before they can use it in Nigeria. I had to scan four fingers, supply my name, date of birth, local government and smile at the mini web cam attached to a laptop.

“I like your smile” said the female GLO attendant who was registering my details

“Thank you” I replied

“Aren’t you going to buy credit for your BlackBerry Internet Service?” she asked

“I will, once you activate my line tomorrow” I said

“OK, I will be expecting you then” she said, winking at me

O_O Hmmmnnh…………, being Nigerian has its privileges ;)

MANDATORY: To use a line in Nigeria these days involves giving up your personal details

Where’s Wolly? | The Report on the Missing Minister of Aviation | OPINION

sonja — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:52:29 +0000

Please someone who is the Minister of Aviation in Nigeria?? Please has anyone seen him, does such a position exist?? If the answer is ‘YES’, followed by, “he is my uncle or my brother“, then please do Nigeria a favor and give him my contact details because, I am sorry but, that monstrosity excuse of an airport needs to be RECTIFIED!

But for real though, what kin life is this?

I am off to Nigeria for Christmas in a few weeks and like everyone else, the thing I dread most about the trip is landing in that (I don’t even know what to call it) THING.

So last year, Uncle Adebayo Ogunlesi bought the London Gatwick for $1.4 BILLION (For his Company Global Infrastructure Partners_ Owned by Credit Suisse/General Electric)- Not Naira o, and at that time he paid in pounds, anyone that has flown through Gatwick knows that compared to Heathrow it’s a prison. Compared to LOS (Murtala International Airport- LOS ) it’s damn heaven, at this point any individual with a drop of Nigerian Blood should allow that blood get hot small.
Anyway back to MIA, my cousin’s Oyinbo friend is leaving Canada for the first time and landing in Naija to come stay with us. I feel bad for the babe small and at the same time very embarrassed for myself; the upside is it will be an experience for her, the downside is she might think all airports are hell, which they are but LOS in the D.

Back to the Minister of Aviation, I want to know what airport he uses cause he can’t be passing through LOS, he probably has a private jet that leaves through his garden, or even better he probably has a private jet that leaves through the airport in his air station in his estate. Lets be honest having to pass through LOS in such a condition knowing you are responsible for it has to be shameful.
We are leaving 2011 and joining 2012 and LOS is in worst condition than it was when I was 2. How can a country as rich and loud mouthed as Nigeria be moving backwards? One building burnt down 100 years ago and we moved to a more crappy one, which at this point I won’t mind getting my luggage in from the burnt down building as it will be less stressful. The government wants Multinationals and private investors to invest, when you can’t even invest in a building worthy enough to be called an air station in your own country… Who the eff is gonna come and invest?? Come on people, lets put aside our fancy acronyms, the BA’s and the PHD ‘s and use common sense.

Case Study

Mr Hedger from Sweden wants to invest in a local company in Nigeria (keep in mind he might have been conned and lied to so dude is already shaking) so he lands in LOS. Here are the basic necessities, MR Minister of Aviation, that your airport is missing that would make Mr Hedger, the investor from Sweden, never come back to Nigeria.
• Cooling system; its 30 degrees Celsius outside and 45 Inside the airport, for real tho, and our JJC’s rocking UGGS in the airport don’t help the situation.
• Sponsors; Thank you UBA for providing the blue chairs if not, thou shall be sitting on the floor. Thank you MTN for providing the yellow information boards if not we won’t know what gate our AIRplanes are at the AIRport. Thank you Glo for providing the 3 green kiosk stands, for our duty free shopping before our flights. Thank you Zenith Bank for providing cleaners with the red overalls, if not the airport would be a rubbish dump. And also thank you Econet or whoever the current owner is for maintaining the conveyor belt, if not we would not have luggage. With all this nonsense colour riot going on in the airport its no wander the headache lasts longer.

• Basic maintenance; this is common sense.
• Immigration check: Seriously, I am just coming from abroad do you think I want to be an illegal immigrant in Nigeria?? And where is the camera for Biometric scanner? Oga this your immigration box is just obstructing the free flow of traffic from airplane to luggage… we can do without. OSE
• Bribery; Why is it that one must leave with a minimum of 5 grand untop paying for ticket and excess luggage? Just so the workers will allow you make your flight?
• Again I can’t stress how vital a cooling system is for an airport, that how one gets Malaria, from -20 to 40 degrees in 24 hours, there should be an inbetween.

Infact Minister of Aviation just break the whole thing down and start afresh, I am sure the money you have been saving since the day the colonialists built that airport over 50 years ago is enough to build a spanking new 21st century bad ass.

THANK YOU,

YOUR GIRL,

SONYA

DEAD MAN RESURRECTS AFTER THREE DAYS IN THE MORTUARY

OluwaSparkle — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 19:52:03 +0000

Quote:

“Badagry residents of Oremeji in Aradagun near Badagry, Lagos, were on Sunday thrown into shock when a man presumed dead suddenly resurrected after three days in the mortuary. It was learnt that the man, simply identified as Mr Agosu, died of an undisclosed illness on Friday in a hospital and his remains were deposited at the morgue of the Badagry General Hospital.

News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that the news of his resurrection, however, broke out on Sunday evening as members of his Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries, MFM, were preparing tents for his wake keep. NAN learnt that a worker at the morgue suddenly heard that a dead man was coughing from inside the morgue and contacted the hospital management who ordered a doctor to carry out a test on the man.

On examination, it was discovered that the man was still breathing and thereafter directed that he should be admitted for treatment.

Deputy Medical Director, Badagry General Hospital, Dr Tunji Olabuntu, confirmed the incident, saying: “It is true that the man resurrected after three days in the mortuary, but he was not originally admitted in our hospital.” He said the body of the man was brought to the hospital morgue from outside and not a patient of Badagry General Hospital.”

I was pissed off when I saw this news on Vanguard newspaper. Nigeria’s healthcare system is nothing to write home about! Obviously, this man wasn’t even dead to begin with, because if he really died, his intestines and other parts of him would have been taken out when he got to the mortuary, and his body would have been frozen, so there’s no way he would’ve resurrected unless he is the new Jesus Christ.

Maybe he was just in a state of coma and the incompetent doctors decided to leave him in the mortuary for three days! The deputy medical director quickly denied him being admitted to their hospital because he knows that it’s a bad look on them. What if the guy was a muslim? He would’ve been buried the next day after he was announced dead… buried alive! They are lucky this guy isn’t suing them.

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS: For Or Against? | #OP-ED

OluwaSparkle — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:30:23 +0000

MissBee and I decided to tackle this issue that is very common in our society today. We’ve both decided to write from different angles, she is for it and I’m against it.

YEA:

There is this notion flying around that us women are the weaker sex, enslaved and limited by our emotions. Whoever still believes that probably spent their growing years living in a cave and only just made their first contact with civilisation. I’m not about to embark on a feminist raving mission but it has to be said that a woman is perfectly capable of taking a leading role in a relationship or as dictated by this topic, the lack of it.

Friends with Benefit, encouraged or recipe for disaster? I say go for it. It’s not always a woman wants a figure there to ‘answer to’ for lack of a better phrase. Sometimes, we just want to get our freak on without clauses and conditions. There’s no blame or shame in that, and there shouldn’t be. Society…well our society, now in the 21st century still maintains that a woman’s sex life is a huge determinant of her pride. It can’t understand why a woman would want to explore her sexuality without reins, rules and archaic expectations. I fail to understand this backward mentality.

Now let’s talk about emotions. It is general belief that a woman will start falling for the man after one or two ‘meetings’. Feelings settle in and sentiments make an unwelcome appearance. But it is not necessary that a woman gets attached to her sex partner, well, not always. The key to this, as a woman, is initiating the ‘relationship’. Your time, your terms. You have no business with his feelings in this instance, he’s entitled to his emotions. This is strictly business, hence, should be viewed as such. Sadly, most men believe that if they slept with a girl without the eventuality or promise of a relationship, they got the better end of the deal because we women believe they‘d eventually fall in love *Sigh* We resent the presumption that we are thick. Love’s got no case here. You just make your dick available, and it’d be all gravy!

NAY:

I believe at some point in our lives, some of us have sworn not to engage in this kind of relationship. Yes, it is a relationship – A one-sided relationship. But we end up eating our words back. I’ll just go straight to the point and say it’s a very bad idea. Bad! Wrong! A No-No! The way I see it is, it’s not the sex that makes it bad, it’s the lack of investment of attention from him. As a female, you get more emotionally attached to the guy you’re having sex with but most of the time, the equal emotional involvement that you want from the guy is lacking. You don’t want him to be affectionate with other girls because you already feel attached to him, so you want that same attention, so everything gets confusing at that point.

Sometimes we females are the ones who set the boundaries. We make it clear to the guy that it’s all sex and nothing more but we find ourselves “falling in love.” Women are bad at being friends with benefits and some men are just as bad, if not even worse than the ladies! Yes, this is true! But I’ll write from a female’s perspective. At the end of the day you will realize that only one person is getting the benefits – Him. So you decided to stop sleeping with him, hoping that would get his attention. That usually works, and sometimes it does not. Since he doesn’t want more from you anyway, he’ll just move on to the next girl, and you’ll be distressed.

How many times have you tried to end the relationship? And each time you do, you always find yourself in his bed again. Sometimes you even break it off just for the fun of having more steamy sex sessions with him and you keep going back and forth. Honestly, that NEVER ends well. Life would be a lot easier if we all reserved our sexual intimacy for real relationships – Relationships with real signs of affection BOTH WAYS.

A collaborative Write-Up by MissBee & Oluwasparkle

MR. NIGERIA 2011 CONTESTANTS – THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

OluwaSparkle — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:40:12 +0000

I couldn’t help but write about this issue that has been bothering me for a couple of weeks. To say I’m disappointed would be the biggest understatement of the century! As we all know, this event created a lot of buzz a couple of weeks ago, but it turned out to be an absolute fail!

According to a source, there were only 50 seats available, at least 60% of the crowd had to stand while watching show. As if that wasn’t enough, in the event’s brochure, the pageant was meant to field four judges – Joseph Benjamin, Nadaya Letova, Kelechi Amadi-Obi and Ms Ladi Ene-Garba. But neither actor/show host Benjamin nor photographer Amadi-Obi showed up. Shame on Silverbird!

I know a lot of people were just as surprised as I was when I saw the contestants. All I could think was – What the hell? Where are the good looking guys? are these guys really Nigerians? These men are supposed to be “the most desirable men in Nigeria” but the things I saw in the pictures were nothing to write home about. Half of the contestants were so not attractive! I thought Mr. Nigeria was supposed to be flawless but they all looked dirty, they had stretch marks, some of them looked like they were on expired steroids, some of them need to shave, some even had muscles on bones … I could go on and on but WOW!

If you think I’m exaggerating, take a look at some of the pictures below.

Contest Winner - Deji Bakare. O_O Lay off the cheap steroids bro!

When did the rosary become a fashion accessory?? And the face??? :/

Help me out here guys... Jesus take the wheel! X_X

EWWWWWWW! REALLY?!

Silverbird couldn’t even get a professional to take their pictures. One of the contestants even started a fight in the dressing room because he didn’t win. Better luck next time! Nigeria really needs to up their game next year! At least photo shop the picture and make the guys look good… Here’s a better idea though – GET BETTER LOOKING GUYS NEXT YEAR!!! This is ridiculous. Did you guys see the winner? He will be representing Nigeria in other contests.. This is why we never make it far. SMH!

7 WaYs To ProMoTe YouR MuSiC oNLiNe | PART 2

Jamiu Adisa — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Hello music fans, I am humbled by the amount of love I received since posting my first opinion article on amebor.com and this has inspired me to come up with more tips on ways to promote your music online.

Promoting music online, like most things in life is an art. Below are some of more tips for getting recognised in the world of online music. If you missed the first part, click HERE

KEEP YOUR WEBSITE CURRENT: In my first write up, I talked about having a website. I will add to that by saying keep the website you create for yourself as an artiste current. Add latest music, pictures, stories and Documentaries. Use current trends to establish relationships and engage brands.

DO SOMETHING THAT WILL GET YOU NOTICED: A lot of artistes are getting online these days. How do I separate yourself from the crowd? should be the question you should be asking yourself. Do something different e.g Give-aways, Quizzes, Gimmicks

GET A SHORT AND EASY TO REMEMBER URL: When registering a domain name for yourself, always use one that is easy to remember, rather than a long-winded one. www.findmymusiconlineplease.com does not cut it, keep it easy and simple.

The secret to great online music promotion is learning to do it properly

KEEP YOUR SOCIAL PROFILES CONCISE: While playing around with funky designs on social networks might seem attractive, overcrowding your pages might get fans confused. Don’t overcrowd your social profile, choose to use only useful tools and stick to it.

PROMOTE YOUR ONLINE CONTENT WITH OFFLINE MATERIAL AND PROMOTION: Add your social media and online addresses on your business cards, flyers and other offline promotional material.

GET YOUR SONGS ON ITUNES OR CDBABY: Your fans will be all over the world if you push your music to the limits. Gone are the days when access to musical material used to be the expertise of records shops. These days having your song on iTunes and CDBaby can boost your music sales and provide a healthy financial reward.

INTERACT WITH OTHER ARTISTES: Create online relationships with other artistes, getting their edification can help you build a reputation of some sort online.

I am Jarmeu. I am a musical artiste and a Musical Producer as well. For more tips, you can Follow me on twitter @Jarmeu and you can like facebook page HERE. Appreciate your support

Engagement Rings And Their Prices – What’s Love Got To Do With It?

OluwaSparkle — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:00:58 +0000

This post was inspired by a discussion on Twitter. Someone brought up the engagement ring issue and how much a guy should spend and I was really impressed by some of the comments I saw, and for some others, I just shook my head in pity. They say the rule of thumb is three months salary. Personally, I think that’s ridiculous! It’s not even a “rule”; it’s more of a marketing scheme.

It's the thought that counts ... No?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying a man should go to the store and buy you a $200 ring with a little note that says “It’s the thought that counts!” and a smiley face – I will stone the guy with that ring! Come on, you can’t be that cheap! But I think the money can be used for something better – invest in a car or a house after you guys get married. If you make a lot of money and you want to go ahead with the “three month rule”, that’s fine, to each his ow, but please do that ONLY if you can afford it. I’m sure you don’t want to get married then have to start paying off your debt, or even have your new wife pay it off for you.

A lot of women will not admit being superficial or gullible, but they talk about how huge they want their engagement rings to be. Someone even said the ring cannot be less than $20,000 (knowing her man cannot afford it). Here’s a million dollar question – When your boyfriend gets on one knee & asks for your hand in marriage, will you ask him for the price of the ring before saying yes? It’s a different story if your boyfriend is a big spender. If he goes to the club with his guys & he spends thousands of dollars on drinks or clothing, I don’t see why he shouldn’t splurge on your engagement ring. After all, he wants you to be there for him in entirety, bear his children, love him forever. He is telling you that you mean everything to him and there’s nothing more important, so he should show his love and appreciation by getting you an expensive ring right?

I know some guys hold off on proposing because they can’t afford the ring she wants. That’s understandable to some extent. Some guys propose without rings because they can’t afford it and they want what the girl wants, so they get the ring when they can afford it. Some guys go ahead and buy the expensive ring on credit, then pay it off later. I know it’s all about keeping the woman happy, but if you know you can’t afford it, please don’t push it! Her expecting more than what you can afford is a terrible prediction of what’s to come in your future with her. This is supposed to be a sign of your love and commitment. There is a fine line between cautious and cheap. There is also a fine line between showing her how much you care for her, and insulting her. It’s nice if you guys have the same financial priorities because that will affect your future wealth.

With all that being said, men, what do you think of the three month salary rule? Would you spend that percentage on an engagement ring? How much did you/would you spend on an engagement ring? Women, what do you think your guy should spend? Would you let him go into debt to get a bigger ring?