Postal Worker Retires After 44 Years Without Sick Day

By Susanna Kim | ABC News Blogs
On Jan. 31, Deborah Ford will retire from the U.S. Postal Service after 44 years without using any of her sick days.
Though her colleagues and the local media, including the Detroit Free Press, applaud her level of commitment, Ford, 64, doesn't see what the big deal is.
Born and raised in Detroit, Ford will be retiring from her job in payroll and timekeeping management for the city's main post office.
"I was trying to do the best I could, and that just evolved into working all my scheduled days," Ford said.
Ford said when she was sick, she would simply "shake it off." For appointments, say, with the doctor, she would use vacation days.
"It's going to be tough to replace her - not only her attendance but her knowledge of the years she has done timekeeping," said Tony Carnagie, a financial programs compliance manager, who has worked with Ford for more than 15 years.
Most of Ford's co-workers knew about her track record, when the USPS awarded her for 30 years of service.
Ford said her father, who is 86 years old and never took a sick days in 30 years, also doesn't see what the fuss is about.
"It's just part of our work ethic," she said.
Ford said she is looking forward to retirement but doesn't have any specific plans, besides spending more time with her father.
"I'll rest up and see where life takes me. Do some volunteer work, take some enrichment classes - the usual stuff," she said.
For now, she is training someone to do her job, which she says, she won't particularly miss.
"You don't miss the brick and mortar," she said. "I'll miss the people, the lives you touched and the lives that touched your life."
Not taking a sick day won't be for naught.
Ford has a sick-leave balance of 4,508 hours, which will allow her a 5 percent increase in her pension.

FASHOLA SIGNS MOU ON COMPETITIVENESS PROJECT WITH LBS

Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, Dean of Lagos Business School (LBS), Dr Enase Okonedo and Commerce and Industry counterpart, Mrs. Olusola Oworu at the signing of MOU  between Lagos State Government and the Lagos Business School on the Competitiveness Project at the Lagos House, Ikeja on Monday, January 28, 2013.

...and Hip hop took a stand!

The re-launched edition of Str8 Up Hip-hop, a monthly urban networking event for Hip-hop heads and intellectuals, held last week was a success as stakeholders in the industry took a stand.
It focused on a critical breakdown of matters arising from 'There Was A Country' by renowned author, Chinua Achebe.

The panelists, MI Abaga, Obi Asika, DJ Jimmy Jatt, Elajoe and Pamela Braide, discussed, among other things, the challenges of distribution, scarcity and piracy of books, decline in reading culture, importance of ethnic identity to the Nigerian youth and the role of the Hip-hop community in nation building. 

EDI LAWANI: A GUSH OF GREATNESS

It was a long wait. And it wasn’t my first call. I had made repeated attempts to have a face-to-face chat with the “witch doctor” but it was instantly obvious it wasn’t going to come easy. Too many people, too many far more important people made these daily visits to the Mecca and the chances of a small time writer/ producer and minor league talent manager/ label exec were always going to be paper thin.

Eventually I got my chance to meet Edi Lawani – the Edi Lawani. It was a brief meeting. It had to be brief. Industry heavyweights too numerous to mention were waiting to see the go-to guy for all kinds of reasons and I felt a mix grill of relief, excitement and anxiety when the receptionist muttered “Oga will see you next”. Then the process began.

Edi Lawani apologized for the long wait and repeated fruitless visits I have had to endure. I was stunned by his humility. He was Edi Lawani, the industry guru and I was but a small fry with a big dream. This was in ’97 and I was fresh out of Unilag. Everyone I spoke to about my plan to grow a major league label and management outfit directed me to Edi Lawani, at Oremeji.

They all appeared 100% certain he was the one guy that can point me in the right direction. I had heard quite a bit about him and was convinced I was pursuing an aging guru who had come to cut the image of mythical Atlas in my head. It was the first shocker when I first saw him, a good number of visits before I got my 5-minute talk time. He looked way too young for his “showbiz age”. Now here he was, apologizing to me. OK! What’s next? He asked me a couple of random questions, busied himself with some other stuff like he wasn’t quite paying attention and asked me to pick up a form from the receptionist. I did. I was required to fill out the form and pay a registration fee for consultancy services. I filled out the form in a flash but struggled terribly to raise the balance payment for the fee. On one of my knowledge- tapping sessions, I tried to apologize for the delay in the payment. He simply smiled and said “Efe, I didn’t forget there was payment outstanding. I have left an instruction that no one should accept payment from you here. The fee was just something to scare away unserious time wasters because I am of the opinion that the value one places on anything is directly proportional with what one is willing to sacrifice for it”. Poignant, those words and they stuck. I have found a more succinct version and it has stayed a personal mantra – “pursuit is the proof of desire.”

Sixteen years down the road, Edi Lawani remains my ultimate go –to guide for all things showbiz. He is to a lot of us, a role model, mentor and the most dependable of friends. Edi Lawani has taught me so many amazing things by just sticking with ole fashioned principles of hard work, professionalism, integrity and selflessness.

Let me recount just one episode here. A few years ago, I got a production brief from an agency client. The money was good (for my level then) but the notice was short. Worse than that, the production was tricky. I did the natural, call Edi Lawani and he offered to guide me through the drill and gave me an appointment. A while later, I got wind of some pretty disturbing gist. The job was originally Edi’s. The guys at an agency seemed hell bent on pushing him a raw deal. He had offered them first class technical solutions on numerous productions for their major client for years and felt they were acting too greedy. He had insisted on being paid right for the job and their response was to call up another production consultant, me. Once I found out, I pulled out and asked my agency friends to negotiate with the boss.

Eventually he rejected the brief and “ordered” me to do it. Edi Lawani went ahead and gave me the prepping session. He was the last person I spoke before the production and the first once we wrapped. It was my first stage management brief of a nationally televised live show and Edi Lawani practically executed the brief in absentia for “the alternative” stage manager.

Over the years I have leaned on his priceless counsel. He has stayed in the background, guiding, steadying the ship through our pursuits at Now Muzik and my personal forays through Music Business Forum and AM.B-Pro activities unto the birth of COSON and more, never hesitant to lend a hand, to come out of pocket to finance a move, to tell us the TRUTH, however unpleasant in any situation and never demanding or jostling for praise or recognition.

My boss, my mentor Edi Lawani. I have navigated my biggest productions yet with you. I have listened to some of the best music and talked about the most fascinating back stories with you. I have encountered the most thought-provoking books in your library. My flyest pair of sneakers ever, I got from you. I’ve been so blessed to know you and I’m certain there are many like me out there who are in a better place today because they got a little nudge from you at some point. Our commitment to the greater good for industry and country has been inspired and significantly strengthened by you.

As we get ready to celebrate and party with you at Playa’s Ball on January 31, 2013 at Club Rumors, I take a second to reflect and all I can do is smile. It’s amazing how much value a 10K part payment for a quarterly consultancy service has delivered sixteen years down the road. It’s just it is difficult to measure but I have a sneaky feeling that if the Guinness Book of World Records guys can find an empirical way to ascertain it, that may well be the most rewarding 10k investment ever.

 May God bless you and yours abundantly!

This piece was written by Efe Omorogbe, CEO, Now Muzik, ahead of Playa's Ball to celebrate Edi Lawani.

 

Oluseyi drops Bamijo, resumes Art café with Oluseyi.

 

Oluseyi Solagbade

Oluseyi  Solagbade, known for his unique brand of futuristic music, has finally dropped his much awaited album, Bamijo (Dance With Me). The Afro Gospel album, released after his USA tour in December 2012, is a 12 tracker with heavy percussive idioms presented under free style wind and string instrumentation.

According to the leader of the Black Face band, “The new album is a result of God’s intervention in my life. It is simply an invitation for people to come rejoice with me because I was once blind and now can see.”

The inspirational Bamijo is the fourth album from the easy going artiste who believes in originality and creativity. It came after Matuwo, Black face and No King As God.

Oluseyi revealed that he is working diligently on the video for the title track, Bamijo even as had shot some of it in his just concluded USA tour and it would be produced by Seyi Amuwa.

The video of ‘Ire’ and ‘Orin’, produced by Gbenga Salu, is already enjoying airplay especially on cable stations.

Oluseyi on stage during his USA tour.

Oluseyi has, in the past 20 years; succeed in creating a brand of afro inspirational beat that is different from Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

He explains further: “My music is a fusion of different genre of music in Africa. I can conveniently say it is what we call pandiatonism, a combination of chords. So am just using that idea to create new kind of music style. To me, originality is a basic phenomenal; when your music is original your art will definitely be a futuristic one.”

In the same vein, his monthly gig, ‘Art Café with Oluseyi’, is billed to resume very soon in collaboration the French Cultural Centre.

The inspirational groove that will serve as ‘hypnotherapy’ to everyone is a platform to promote authentic music in all artistic forms.

“My fans should expect Afro Gospel instead of Afro Palongo that they are used to. I am stepping up with another trend of music so as to get across to everyone especially the youth,” Oluseyi explained.

 

Str8 Up, Hip-Hop to host State of the Union Forum

Str8 Up, Hip-Hop a niche urban monthly networking event for hip hop heads and intellectuals is back with a new edition tagged ‘State of the Union Forum: A critical Breakdown of Issues Arising from Chinua Achebe’s There Was a Country’.
The forum is scheduled to hold on January 23rd, 2013 at Pop on Saka Tinubu Street from 7 PM and boasts of industry big wigs such as Obi Asika, DJ Jimmy Jatt, Kwame and MI as panelists. Other panelists are Elajoe and femcee Blaise. Andre Blaze will hold down the Mic as host.
Str8 Up, Hip-Hop is an event property of Now Muzik En.Core (an event affiliate of Now Muzik) in partnership with Beat 99.9 FM and Pop with Support from thenetng.com and Mrshustle.com.
According to Efe Omorogbe of Now Muzik, ” Attendees of the event are guaranteed an exciting and insightful time. He continues: The Hip-hop community cannot afford to stand aloof. These issues are real and the consequences of doing nothing to promote constructive and open dialogue can be dire. Our hustle, concerts, parties and bull all depend on the existence of a conducive social and economic backdrop so we have a responsibility to engage one another, take a stand and contribute our quota to nation building as a group – the Hip-hop community. And I can’t ask for a better way to relaunch Str& Up, Hip-hop.”
The first edition, Grand Hustle, was a celebration of the iconic Hip-hop entrepreneur Ayo Animashaun for his contribution to the growth of the Hip-hop movement  in Nigeria. There was a second edition- Love Lockdown: The Valentine edition and a third one tagged Vote or Vote: Election edition which was designed to support a campaign for youths to get involved, get registered,  go out and vote for the right candidate during the election. The fourth edition was Know-the-ledge – a Hip-hop revue for the promotion and celebration of conventional and street knowledge.

Your Ringtone

I don't want to believe you have not listened to the melodious afro pop song, Ringtone from the sensational Crystals group.  It is the second single after Gbe Sun Mo Mi and is off their forth coming debut album titled ‘Elevated’.
The group has been described as fun, cool and exciting.
This is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_AMFz_LyvQ

Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson has given a dramatic account of how his administration grew a paltry N4,451 it inherited from his predecessor in February 2012, to over N16 billion. The Governor also spoke of the challenge posed by the N50 billion Bond secured by his predecessor, which he said was set to hit N104 billion in 2017.

http://www.africanexaminer.com/bayelsa0109Bayelsa Shocker: I inherited just N4,451 from Sylva -Gov. Dickson

Can olive oil prevent skin aging? | Yahoo! Health

Can olive oil prevent skin aging? | Yahoo! Health