How to arrange your first name, middle name and last name when filling out a form

Your first name is your personal, given or Christian name. It is the name chosen for a child, usually by the child's parents. It is also called forename. Your middle name is your name which comes between your first name and last name. Most persons don't have middle names; they only have their first names and last names. Your last name is your family name or surname. Maiden name is the previous name of a married woman before she took the name of her husband.

It is not enough bearing your name. It is also important you know how to arrange it when filling out a form, especially a form that does not provide columns for first name, middle name and last name but just name. Some persons have been denied scholarships, jobs, visas, and in most cases, had their certificates reprinted because their middle names were mistaken for their surnames, and vice versa. Those with just two names usually do not have this problem as compared to those with more than two names. With that said, let's look at the following full name and two ways the individual names can be arranged:

First name: Tammy

Middle name: Donald

Last name/Surname: Reuben

First order:  Tammy Donald Reuben

Second order: Reuben, Tammy Donald

The first order is straightforward and very common. In this order, you write your first name, followed by your middle name and last name/surname.

Unlike the first order, the second order is mostly used for citations although we can still write our names in this order. And this is why it deserves more attention. When writing your name in this order, your last name/surname comes first, and you must use a comma to separate it from the others. Then the first name follows; followed the middle name (as illustrated above).

Always ensure that your name is spelt correctly and arranged in the right order. A misspelt name, by law and logic, is not you.

The Nigeria Police Force: 12 Facts You Need to Know about the New F-SARS

The Nigeria Police Force has shared on its twitter page the 12 facts people need to know about the new Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS), formerly known as Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The facts comprise the responsibilities of the squad and numbers to call for complaints.

8 Unexpected Perks of Learning a Foreign Language

Once you begin mastering a new skill, it’s extremely important to motivate yourself. This gives the process of learning sense and reminds you of benefits you’ll get after learning the skill. Given that sometimes it takes a lot of time to learn it, you may have to struggle with moments of apathy. In studying a foreign language, there are a few more advantages. Here are the main ones – they’ll be your support in a difficult moment.

1. You become a better communicator

This is a great skill that will come in handy more than once. The ability to listen to a person without interrupting them is a great advantage. When you don’t know the language well enough, you have to listen to every single word, cope with their accent, and try not to lose the thread of the conversation. Apart from that, you just can’t interrupt your interlocutor, as you don’t have enough skills to do that yet. This also allows you to develop empathy.

2. It helps you master new skills faster

When you study a new tongue, your cognitive abilities increase. For example, when memorizing words, you train your memory. In addition, you begin understanding other languages indirectly, as you see the general concepts behind them.

3. You improve your native language skill

Needless to say, the knowledge of multiple languages allows you to look at your own native tongue and begin to notice the details you never thought of before. Intuitive understanding is a great thing, but it's not enough. Any linguist or writer will tell you that there are different levels of understanding and that the same text can be perceived in different ways.

4. You improve attention

Your chances of mastering a new language are slim to none if you can’t focus. In order to make any progress or figure out the meaning of the sentence, you need concentrate. You’ll see that even some minor distraction is able to put an end to the successes you have achieved in the last few minutes.

5. You become culturally aware

The main idea here is that the native speaker represents the culture of the nation which language you’re learning. A good movie won’t be able to tell you more about the cultural aspects than a simple dialogue with its resident. This opens new facets of your personality.

6. You become more creative

Learning a new tongue is like assembling all the pieces of a puzzle. In one sentence, you can understand half the words and guess the other half from the context. This greatly improves creativity.

7. This may help you find that special someone

If you’re lucky (depending on what you’re looking for) to find love in the country the language of which you’re studying, it will be much easier for you to get along with your partner’s parents. Although most Russian and Ukrainian brides, for example, speak decent English now, so you won’t have problems, anyway.

8. This opens new career perspectives

First, there was globalization, and then the Internet appeared. According to different statistics, the knowledge of two languages ​​adds from 10% to 15% to your salary. And if you know how to use this opportunity, it can turn your life around. It’s important not to close any door before yourself, as one of them can be a huge opportunity. There’s nothing worse than a new job offering with a promising salary increase that requires the high level of the language you don’t know.

The next time you think that your attempt to learn a foreign language is pointless, remember these benefits. It’s always good for motivation to remind yourself why you do what you do. When you learn a tongue and understand that it develops your memory and makes you more creative at the same time, you kill three birds with one stone, and it helps you stay focused.

This is a sponsored post.

This is new! Enjoy Airtel's double data bonus using this code

This is the latest and easiest way to activate Airtel NG double data Bonus – another amazing offer from Airtel to its loyal customers. After successfully activating Airtel's double data bonus, you can enjoy 100% data bonus anytime every day for three months when you buy data bundle of N500 and above. Although an offer like this is usually SIM selective, this will surely work for a good number of Airtel customers.

This new Airtel double data bonus doesn't require you to tweak your IMEI unlike MTN's double data bonus. The most interesting part is that it can be activated on any phone regardless of its model or OS version. In other words, you can you the double data bonus on your android, iPhone, java or symbian phone. Let's quickly get to the crux of this post.


How to Activate Airtel Double Data Bonus

As earlier stated, not every Airtel SIM is eligible for this offer, but there's no harm in giving it a try. To activate Airtel double data bonus, kindly send Get to 141 via SMS. If you are eligible, you will receive a congratulatory message like the one below.

After receiving the congratulatory message, subscribe to any Airtel data plan of at least N500 and get double of the data volume of that plan. This simply means that if you subscribe for Airtel data bundle of N1000 (which gives you 1.5GB), you will be given an additional 1.5GB as bonus, making it 3GB. And you will keep enjoying this for 3 months. It's cool. Isn't it? It’s now time to give it a try. Don't hesitate to use the comment box should you have any question. 

The meanings of some contractions and interjections that are commonly used on social media

Most times, when we chat with our friends on Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter etc., they make use of contractions and interjections whose meanings we don't really know and won't bother to ask maybe because we don't want them to see us as people who are lagging behind. So, we play along and end the chat without knowing or learning the meanings of these contractions and interjections. Please, never you end a moment with your friends without learning a few things from them. If they refuse to teach you, devise means to make them do. What are friends for if not for inconveniences? Lol!

As my friend and wonderful reader, I have decided to discuss with you the meanings of some of these contractions and interjections in this article.

Some contractions commonly used on social media

1. Outta (Out of); e.g., Get outta here.

2. Gotta (Got to); e.g., You gotta trust me.

3. Hafta (have to); e.g., You hafta go now.

4. Gonna (going to); e.g., No problem. I'm gonna do what you said.

5. Gimme (give me); e.g., Gimme that book.

6. I'mma (I'm going to); e.g., I'mma take care of you, bro.

7. Ain't (am/is/are not); e.g., I ain't doing any shit.

8. Lotta (lot of); e.g., We had lotta of fun yesterday.

9. Kinda (kind of); e.g., You look kinda tired.

10. Wanna (want to); e.g., I wanna wash my clothes.

11. Dunno (doesn't/don't know); e.g., I dunno what you are taking about.

12. Lemme (let me), e.g., Lemme ask you a question. "Lemme" also means "leave me alone" in Nigerian Pidgin; e.g., Abeg lemme jor.

Some interjections commonly used on social media and their meanings

1. Aah (Exclamation of fear).

2. Hmph (This is used to indicate displeasure).

3. Aww (This is used to mean that something is cute or sweet).

4. Oops (It is used to indicate that something went wrong or you made a mistake).

5. Ouch (Exclamation of pain).

6. Bingo (Used to acknowledge something as right).

7. Eww (Unlike "Aww", this is used to show that something is disgusting).

8. Wow (Expressing surprise or admiration).

9. Yay (A congratulatory exclamation).

10. Oh (It means "I think/see").

11. Yeah (A variant of "yes").

12. Eh (It is used to question something).

13. Uh oh (Showing dismay).

14. Yippee (Exclamation of celebration).

15. Whew (Relief/Amazement).

16. Er (It is used to show that you don't know what to say on a given subject matter).

The reason why it is wrong to say: "This your child is cute."

Some days ago, I posted on my Facebook wall that it is wrong to say "This your child is cute." without giving any reason to back up my claim. In this article, I will be validating such claim with a reason. In English language, it is an error when a demonstrative adjective and a possessive adjective/determiner are used at the same time to modify a particular noun. To understand this, it is important to explain, with examples, the meanings of possessive adjective/determiner and demonstrative adjective.

A possessive adjective/determiner is used to show ownership. Examples of possessive adjectives/determiners are: my, your, their our, his, their, her, its. As an adjective, it precedes (or comes before) a noun in a sentence.

Examples

1. Your phone is nice.

2. My pen is missing.

3. Their properties have been seized.

In the examples above, you can see the adjectives (in bold) coming before the nouns (phone, pen and properties).

Unlike possessive adjectives, demonstrative adjectives are used to show whether the noun it modifies is singular or plural and whether the position of the noun is near or far from the person who is speaking. Examples of demonstrative adjectives are: this, that, these and those. "This" and "that" are used to modify singular nouns which are near and far from the speaker respectively whereas "these" and "those" are used to modify plural nouns which are near and far from the speaker respectively.

Examples

1. This/That phone is nice.

2. These/Those phones are nice.

As earlier stated, it is wrong to use a demonstrative adjective and a possessive adjective at the same time to modify a particular noun in a sentence. Therefore, expressions such as the ones below would be considered as wrong usages:

1. This your child is cute.

2. That her bag is fine.

3. These their watches are expensive.

To correct these expressions, one can use only the possessive adjective/determiner to show ownership, or the demonstrative adjective to point at a particular noun, or use the "of phrase" option to lay emphasis. In example one, the sentence could read: “Your/This child is cute.” However, if there is the need to lay emphasis, you would write: “This child of yours is cute." In this sense, "of yours" is the "of phrase".

Having said that, let's correct the other expressions:

1. That bag is fine. (Demonstrative adjective).

2. That bag of hers is fine. (The "of phrase").

3. Her bag is fine. (Possessive adjective).

4. These watches her expensive. (Demonstrative adjective).

5. These watches of theirs are expensive. (The "of phrase"). 

6. Their watches are expensive. (Possessive adjective).

In a nutshell, never use a possessive adjective and a demonstrative adjective at the same time to modify a particular noun in a sentence.

"The blast of the trumpet of election has become resonant. Would you choose a crocodile to replace a shark or a shark to replace a crocodile?" – Charles Feghabo

This concise but educative article is connotative in meaning. It is a piece of advice to every Nigerian who is qualified to vote in the forthcoming election. He who has ears, let him hear. Read the article after the photo.

Blinded by the beautiful looks of shark, especially when his mouth is closed, the kingdom of fishes elected him to be their king. Before the election, a simple fish that had never escaped the teeth of shark had warned the other fishes of the peril in voting shark to be their king. They disregarded his warning, interpreting as sheer hatred for shark. The simple fish was however proven right when the king they elected become a nightmare to all of them. 

If you think, with such knifing  lesson, they would  vote for a gentle fish in the subsequent election. No, you are wrong ! They once again felt crocodile, with her ugly looks capable of sending fears down the spine of their enemies - human beings, would be better than their reigning king - shark. They forgot that shark and crocodile have the same frighteningly zigzag dentition. Their focus was on crocodile being a threat to their enemies - humans. They also forgot that they spend all their lives in water and so are more at the mercy of either of shark or crocodile, than they are in danger of their human enemies who visit the water only for few hours. The blast of the  trumpet of election has become resonant. Would you choose a crocodile to replace a shark or shark to replace a crocodile? I just want to make a common sense( my apology to the Common Sense Senator).

Dele Charley's The Blood of a Stranger: Background, Plot Summary, Setting, Language,Themes, Style and Characters

About the playwright

Dele Charley (whose real name is Raymond Caleb Ayodele) was born on March 27, 1948. He was a Sierra Leonean writer and playwright, writing in English and Krio Language. He studied in Freetown and London and worked for the Ministry of Education, Sierra Leone, before he died. He was also appointed lecturer in Dramatic Arts at Milton Margal Teacher Training College, Sierra Leone. The play, The Blood of a Stranger was performed in Nigeria during the African Festival of Arts (FESTAC) held in Lagos in 1977. The Blood of a Stranger is the late dramatist's best play and is probably the most dramatized play in the last half century in Freetown.

Background of the play

Arguably, there are two types of citizens in any country: those who are patriotic and those who can easily trade their countries for petty gifts. Dele Charley's The Blood of a Stranger projects these two kinds of people as it successfully demonstrates the evils of the African colonial encounter with the West, without presenting the colonized as mere victims.

Plot Summary

The play opens with Maligu, the King's advisor, receiving a letter from town that a white man is coming to the village to do tobacco farming. Knowing fully well that the village of Mando forbids the entrance of strangers and with the greedy intent of making huge amount of money from the white man's stay in the village, Maligu seeks and finds the cooperation of Soko, the priest of the village shrine, to prophesy that the land should welcome the stranger. As earlier stated, Maligu is aware that this manipulated prophecy is against the existing spiritual ordinance of the community not to accept visitors, which has been observed since the war in the land. To them, strangers represent illness, disease and aggression. However, Maligu is also aware that the narrative can easily be changed if he passes through Soko since Soko is the ordained priest of the village that has always interceded between them and their forefathers. He believes that the people will have no reason to question or doubt Soko's divination, so he conspired with Soko to act against the will of the gods. Soko agrees and calls the people together at the cave and passes the manipulated message across to the people. The King and the villagers accept everything Soko says, but the Chief of the warriors, Kindo, who is also the King's son, rejects Soko's prophecy with valid arguments. But the King insists on accepting the white man as Soko says.

The white man, symbolically called Whitehead, arrives with his attendant and shows little or no respect for the culture and traditions of the land. Kindo gets infuriated and forces him to order. The white man's aide, Parker, is brought to the palace and flogged by the village warriors for disobeying the King's order. The white man is forced to kiss the ground before the king as a show of respect before they are allowed to stay. This sows a seed of discord between Kindo and Whitehead. Whitehead soon takes Maligu into confidence that his true motive of coming to the village of Mando is get the diamonds on their land though he has given the king the false impression that he is in their land to cultivate a tobacco farm, build a school and help the village from the proceeds of the tobacco farm.

Mr Whitehead orders for gin and hard drugs and gives them to the people. The people start misbehaving after taking the hard drugs. This angers Kindo again and makes him to confront Whitehead and accuse him of evil doing. But Whitehead explains that he has no evil intention; he only wants to make the people happy. Then, Whitehead and Parker go to the King to express their gratitude and review their promises to the people, stating how difficult it will be to accomplish these promises without the people's compliance. The King, while smoking the tobacco Whitehead gives to him, tells the people to work hard for Whitehead so as to reap the blessings that follow.

As directed by Whitehead, Parker kills Soko on the day for the false virgin sacrifice. Kindo finds out and kills Parker in return. Maligu then puts on the priest's mask to continue with the false virgin sacrifice. While continuing with the sacrifice, Kindo comes in and exposes all the evil plans of Whitehead and Maligu. In what can be best described as retaliation, Whitehead and Maligu request that Kindo should be banished from the village of Mando for killing a man (Parker) in a peace period. The King, known as King Santigi, agrees and passes a sentence on Kindo. Before Kindo leaves the village, he tells the people about the evil plans of Whitehead and Maligu and the impending problems on the village. Kindo goes over to Whitehead and kills him, then, leaves the village with his warriors.

Setting

As regards place, the play, The Blood of a Stranger, is set in a fictional village (Mando) in Sierra Leone. It is set at a time when the white man, under religious disguise, came to Africa with the main intent of exploiting the black man's resources.

Language/Diction

The language of the play is simple. It is a mixture of Modern English and street language. The language used also reflects the characters' societal statuses. As a King, King Santigi's language is elevated and laced with wisdom and sometimes proverbs.

Themes in The Blood of a Stranger

i. Patriotism and resistance to oppression

Kindo's patriotic zeal saves the village of Mando from the vicious hands of Whitehead. When Whitehead refuses to accord King Santigi the respect he deserves, it is Kindo who restores it by putting Whitehead and his aide, Parker, where they truly belong --- beneath the King's feet.

ii. Greed

The marketers of this theme are Whitehead, Maligu and Soko. The sole aim of these characters is to get rich at all costs. While Whitehead comes to the village of Mando with dubious intent to cart the people's diamond away and become very rich, Maligu and Soko connive with Whitehead to carry out his intention and also get rich in the process. The theme of greed becomes evident when they begin to distrust one another and deplore strategies to eliminate each other to have a bigger part (if not all the parts) of the diamond wealth.

iii. The arrogance of the colonial masters

This is projected through the character of Whitehead. The claim that Whitehead is arrogant is an obvious fact. And this is why he refuses to pay homage to King Santigi until Kindo forces him to do so. This is reflective of colonial arrogance in history. The colonial masters did not only exploit the African soil but also engage Africans in service labour. This is portrayed in the play with Whitehead engaging the people to pick the diamond pebbles for him for pittance. It is also a show of arrogance that makes Whitehead introduce gin spirit drink in place of the people's local drink, mampama. Symbolically, Whitehead tries to impose his culture on the people instead of embracing the people's culture.

Other themes in the play are:

iv. Deceit and trickery

v. The role of African leaders in aiding colonialism. This is projected through the characters of Maligu and Soko.

vi. Justice always prevails over oppression. Of course this is seen in the end of the play.

Style

The Blood of a Stranger has linear plot structure and is very straightforward. It is simple and easy to follow and understand. The play is full of literary expressions such as personification (e.g., "the night grows old), metaphor (e.g., " Maligu is drunk in his books"), simile (e.g., Kindo is as willy as a monkey) etc.

Characters in The Blood of a Stranger

1. Maligu

He is the King's advisor and refers to as 'the wise one" by the King because he is well read and educated. He has lust for riches, and that is why he connives with Soko to work against the spiritual ordinance of Mandoland.

2. Soko

He is the priest of the village shrine and in league with Maligu to deceive the King and villagers with the false prophecy. He is full of deceit and a sincere liar.

3. Wara

Wara is Kindo's girlfriend. She believes so much in the customs of the people. No wonder she warns Kindo not to offend the gods by calling Soko and the spirits fake. She escapes rape in the hands of Mr. Whitehead when Soko and Maligu kidnap her to Mr. Whitehead's compound. Wara later runs out of the village in order not to be used for the peace sacrifice because when Soko prophesies that the gods demand the blood of a virgin as peace sacrifice, his intention is to use Wara for the sacrifice.

4. Kindo

He is the son of King Santigi and head of warriors of Mandoland. He is very young and only a boy when he fought in his first war. This shows that Kindo is brave. He has very sensitive instincts, and this helps him to detect the crooked plans of Maligu, Soko and Whitehead from the beginning. He is ambitious, stubborn and impatient. He loves and protects the custom of his people.

5. Santigi Mando V

He is the King of Mandoland. Santigi is an upright man and a rigid observer of traditional laws and cultural norms. His attitude towards Soko's false prophecy validates this claim though he is manipulated into admitting a stranger into his domain. He is gullible.

6. Parker

Andrew Samuel Stevenson Thomson-Parker (esq.) is an African who is the Secretary, Assistant, Interpreter, Adviser and the right hand man of Whitehead. He hates Maligu and does not trust him. Kindo flogs him thoroughly for encouraging the white man to undermine African traditional values and cultural practices.

7. Whitehead

Whitehead is the white man. He is a selfish manipulator. He manipulates Maligu's quest for riches and makes him to do his biddings. He uses hard drugs, tobacco and gin on the people to make them succumb to him. To achieve his evil plans, he plans to destroy Kindo, whom he sees as an obstacle.

Minor Characters

1. Sima

Another warrior of Mandoland.

2. Boko

Boko is a warrior of Mandoland. He is very loyal to Kindo. He and Sima lead the arrest of Whitehead and bring him before Kindo.

3. 1st Man

1st Man eulogises the white man when his people are under the influence of hard drug and gin.

Get 350MB for N50 and 1.2GB for N150 on MTN mPulse plan. See how to subscribe

MTN has launched another data plan known as MTN mPulse. MTN mPulse is a new prepaid service specially designed to equip young students in Nigerian schools with relevant life and digital skills for success in a constantly evolving world, helping them to Learn, Play and Shine. It allows customers aged between 9 and 15 to enjoy special data bundles, special birthday reward, national calls at 15k/sec and lots of other exciting offers. However, adults can take advantage of it.

The mPulse website provides resources for primary, junior and senior secondary school students to develop their strengths and passions. It features certified preparation materials and past questions for Common Entrance, JSCE, WAEC, JAMB, Post UME, intellectual games and a wide array of skill development tutorial videos.

Benefits of the MTN mPulse tariff 

1. MTN Customers on this plan will be rewarded with a birthday gift of N200 on their birthdays as long as the details of their birthdays are captured before their birthdays.

2. Customers will enjoy free WhatsApp access for 7 days upon their first recharge of N100 and above in a month.

3. You will also get a weekly bonus of 10MB and 20MB if you recharge N100 and N200 respectively.

4. For ease and convenience, a parent will be able to link a child’s number to her/his number and automatically share a set amount of airtime/data on a weekly/monthly basis.

MTN mPulse tariff provides students with two special data plans:

1. 350MB for N50 (Weekly plan)

2. 1.2GB for N150 (Monthly plan)

How to Migrate to MTN mPulse plan

Simply dial *344*1# from a new or existing MTN SIM.

How to subscribe to mPulse Data Plans

i. For Weekly bundle of 350MB, send 350 to 344

ii. For Monthly bundle of 1.2GB, send 351 to 344

iii. Alternatively, dial *344# and select the data bundle of your choice.

How to check your data balance on MTN mPulse

Dial *344*2*2# to check data balance.

How to sign up on mPulse website

1. Visit www.mtnonline.com/mpulse

2. In the Login/Sign Up section, Click the "I’m a Student" icon or "I’m a Parent" icon and enter all the information required to register.

NYSC orientation course: How to print your call up letter online

This is to inform all the 2018 Batch B (Stream II) prospective corps members that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has opened the portal for the printing of call up letters. Prospective Corps members are expected to log on the NYSC Portal to commence printing of their call up letters.

Also, prospective corps members who didn't make the online payment for the collection of call up letters are to collect their call up letters from their respective institutions of graduation. Please, note that the date for the commencement of the 2018 Batch B (Stream II) orientation course is stated in the call up letter.

How to print NYSC call up letter

1. Visit the NYSC portal @ https://portal.nysc.org.ng

2. Log in with your registered email and password.

3. Click the “Print Call Up Letter” link to access and print your call up letter.

ALSO READ:

1. Things every corps member should do in order to be posted to the State's capital

2. Things you need for NYSC camp, and my candid advice to you

Below are a few things every prospective corps member should note while preparing for the 2018 Batch B (Stream II) orientation course:

i. Persons who studied in Nigeria should bring to camp: Degree/HND Certificates or Statement of Results, Personal Identity Card from Institution of graduation.

ii. Foreign graduates should bring for verification, original copies of ALL their uploaded credentials and travel documents including International passport.

iii. Foreign graduates are to ensure that academic paper(s) in Languages other than English must be translated into English accordingly; both versions must be presented for verification at the camp.

iv. Medical/veterinary Doctors, Dentists, Pharmacists, Optometrists, Physiotherapists Nurses and Public Environmental Health graduates should bring their professional licenses or certificates of full registration issued by their professional bodies.