The Making of History

Some people take note of history, others watch history happen while very few make history.
CHAMS P.L.C has been a trailblazer in all spheres and ramifications of the ICT sector; being the first indigenous company to be given an award in technology by the venerable Guinness Book of Records in having the largest digital mall in the world.
History has been made again by the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with Five Star Travel agency to tackle the problems associated with air ticketing.
Speaking at the launch in Lagos, Managing Director of CHAMS P.L.C, Mr Demola Aladekomo said CHAMS started the process of creating a platform for online ticketing since 2006, owing to the enormous importance it would have in the aviation industry and the entire economy of the nation. "Air travelers can now heave a sigh of relief as the strategic intent of the portal is to avail potential users a user friendly platform via which access could be gained to details on flight schedules of over 400 airlines, compare prices and also offer highly cost effective air fares", he said.
This has been made possible owing to the partnership relationship which the company shares with Five Star Travels Limited and this has opened up potential users to a wide variety of airlines via its SABRE GDS (Global Distribution Systems).The portal also allows for multi card payment options of all payment cards in circulation and this would undoubtedly make travelling a lot easier for Nigerians especially during the rush hours.
A whole lot of efforts and hard work between CHAMS P.L.C and Five Star Travels has
culminated into an online platform that would radically change the way of life of Nigerians. Why don't you get online now and book for your flights on our travel portal- www.travel.naira.com/flights and experience an ethereal peace in the skies.
-Bon Voyage

Toddlers and crawlers

The most beautiful things in life are free.
The above is not just a paradoxical but also an immortal statement. No matter how hardhearted you are; if a baby smiles at you through its tears, you have to smile back. Such a smile is beautiful but more importantly, it is free.
Nothing is too much to give a kid whether they are yours or not; as long as you want them to look in the mirror and then see you staring back (even when you are not there).
The toddlers of yesterday are the adults of today and because time flies a period is reached when other people’s ideas, ideals and idiosyncrasies can no longer be imposed because they now have fully defined characteristics.
The kinds of nursing articles you use for your kids or those you buy as presents for other kids as insignificant as these might seem; all go a long way in affecting their psyche and their outlook to life.
Some day when the kids are grown they would leave to find their own bearing in the outside world, they would say to citizens of the older generation: I have my own life to live, old folks, so long…….too long, it is time to say goodbye. Before this happens, get the best of maternity and baby products on www.naira.com ; and if you are saying you don’t have kids or don’t want to have them- you sure would know someone who has and would appreciate a baby/maternity item from naira.com.

WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY

It has been said that if you want to conceal information from an African man, it should be kept in a book. It is sad but unfortunately, this notion might be true.
The rate at which our reading culture is plumetting is extremely alarming. Most Nigerians prefer watching movies extolling the virtues of witchcraft and wizardry,
to reading books. The excuse was that different genres were not redily available; then the internet came and everyone thought that our reading culture would receive a boost. Alas! the allure of chat rooms, pornographic sites and social portals proved overpowering especially to the minors and the youths.
According to statistics, it is not just sad but highly dolorous to know that most internet users never buy books on the internet, neither do they even read the free copies available. People who read are leaders and most of the world's notable icons were avid readers. Some of them were even authors. Examples are Alexander Solzenitsyn, Dostoevsky, Abraham Lincoln, Martin luther King Jr., Professor Wole Soyinka to mention just a few.
Our reading culture needs to be revived and we all have veritable roles to play in this regard. The first step in defeating an enemy is to know him- WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY OF OUR READING CULTURE AND HE IS US!
This is a clarion call to all and sundry to inculcate the reading habit. With just a click of your mouse, you can explore www.shopping.naira.com to view and buy any of our collection of books.

NIGERIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE(Realities and the vistas of ecommerce)

Clouds were breaking apart against the horizon of the sky; the sun was coming out sending golden rays of warmth across the land, everyone had smiles lighting up their faces, the Union Jack would be raised for the last time, it was about fifty years ago, it was the morning of the independence day.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge, coups de tat have been planned and executed, mistakes have been made and corrected in all of the fifty years of Nigeria’s independence, we have grown as a people and advancements have been made in technology albeit not at the desired pace but then something has come to stay and that is E-COMMERCE.

Electronic Commerce was alien to the average Nigerian fifty years ago but now it is an integral part of the fabric of the nation. ATM cards are owned by every average Nigerian,; school fees are paid online through scratch cards;transactions are made online through blackberrys and PDA’s; flight bookings and hotel reservations are now done via the Internet. To crown it all, phone airtime can also be bought on line through designated portals. No matter what anyone thinks or says E-Commerce has come to stay in Nigeria and its advantages are gargantuan.

So I can say welcome to the E-COMMERCE AGE, no more queuing up for long hours in banks to withdraw cash. No more carrying huge amounts of cash about to make transactions. All that is needed is just the PIN number of a credit or a debit card. A lot has changed in E-COMMERCE since that beautiful morning of October 1st 1960 and it can only get better.

In the euphoria of Nigeria’s silver jubilee, think of a website in which airline bookings can be made, phone airtime can be bought, essentials and everyday equipments can be ordered for and virtually any online transaction can be done on a secure and enabling electronic portal fifty years after independence.

Your thoughts are real because everything is embodied in Naira.com, a business unit of CHAMS P.L.C. Log on to www.naira.com to enjoy the benefits of E-COMMERCE fifty years after independence.



God bless NIGERIA.

Win big in our Nigeria @ 50 trivia

Join Nigeria in celebrating its 50th anniversary, participate in our trivia and stand the chance to win various prizes. Visit Naira.com to participate.

Become a Merchant on Naira.com for FREE!!

As part of our drive to enhance businesses in Nigeria by providing sales opportunities on the internet, we offer you FREE sign-on to www.naira.com!
You can now sell your goods and services on Naira.com without paying a sign-on fee.
Welcome to the best online deal in town!!!
Don’t keep it to yourself... Inform your family, friends and every business owner around you about this wonderful opportunity.
Not only do we set you up as a merchant for free, we will also market your products across various media.
This offer goes out to all small, medium and large scale businesses. This is a limited time offer so hurry!
Get on Naira.com, and watch your business grow to greater heights!!!
Mail us via enquiries@naira.com, or call us on 07029071574

Naira.com... your one stop transactions portal.

e-voting, the time is now.

As the 2011 general elections approach, the question on everybody’s mind is how do we curb rigging in elections and guarantee free and fair elections.
The answer is e-voting.
Sceptics would naturally ask, is e-voting feasible in Nigeria? We can confidently affirm that e-voting is indeed very possible and feasible in Nigeria.
Polling place electronic voting or Internet voting examples have taken place in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Venezuela, and the Philippines. Why not Nigeria?
A senator representing Ekiti North, Mr. Ayo Arise, has said that electronic voting remains the antidote to election rigging in the country.
Arise stated this in an interview with journalists in Lagos.
“E-voting is not rocket science. People will get used to it. All they need is proper education on usage. When the Global System for Mobile Communications was introduced into the country, there was initial scepticism, but today, most Nigerians have known how to operate GSM. The advantages of e-voting far outweigh its disadvantages.
“The system is equipped with a lot of devices to check rigging. The machines are equipped with 12 hours of battery life in case of power outage.
“This is one solution that will guarantee free and fair elections,” he said.
An electoral voting machine forms a critical part of the fundamental process. All over the world, a well planned and executed election process allows the populace to choose their leader representatives thereby, expressing their franchise and preferences on how they will be governed.
It is therefore significant to emphasize that election e-voting system must be professionally planned, organized, transparently executed and indeed the operational framework must be sufficiently robust to withstand a variety of fraudulent activities. Also, the entire process must be sufficiently transparent and comprehensible to ensure that voters and candidates can accept the results of an election.
Plus they are implemented in such a way that they are much easier to operate than the normal paper ballot system.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM) has successfully used an electronic voting application developed by Naira.com, a business unit of Nigeria's leading ICT firm, Chams Plc.

Naira.com, developed the e-voting application to facilitate the conduct of a transparent, cost-effective and efficient voting exercise.

The application afforded the members of the Institute the chance to vote electronically at the April election of new council members during the Institute's annual general meeting held a few months ago in Lagos using the high-end all-in-one Mac Computers provided by Naira.com.

According to the Registrar of the Institute, Mallam Musa Rabiu, the decision to adopt an e-Voting application is in line with the Institute's vision to be the foremost people management Institute in Africa, respected across the world. He said he was very convinced that application of Information Technology could simplify a lot of things that are currently done manually. “I am a convert of electronic voting and wish that it is deployed in other elections in the country. It has really made things easier and transparent for all to see,” he said.
Of course there would be a lot of challenges involved if this is done in a large scale (nationwide elections) but if it is brought into the system gradually through various organizations, associations then local government and national assembly polls. Who says we cannot have a fully electronic voting process in the 2015 general elections.

In this thought-provoking book, Basil Davidson, a prolific, longtime writer of African history and politics, discusses not only Africa and its overwhelming problems but also draws comparisons of the conditions and the causes of Africa's malaise with those of Central and Eastern Europe both in 1918 and today. He details the legacy of imperialism and the failures of the nation-states of Africa after independence. In a surprising conclusion, Davidson sees the ground for hope "in one or another mode of the politics of participation." He points to the Economic Community for West African States and the Southern African Development Coordination Conference as proposing projects that have "supposed a gradual dismantlement of the nation-statist legacy derived from imperialism, and the introduction of participatory structures within a wide regionalist framework." He reminds us finally that "even those most nationalist of peoples, the English and the French, might before long find themselves without sacred and sovereign frontiers between them." Recommended as a thought-provoking purchase. This insightful book can be purchased at Naira.com.

Watch "The Lion and The Jewel Stage Play".

The Lion and the Jewel, one of the earliest efforts of Wole Soyinka as a playwright, is a fine piece of drama that subverts existing perceptions of love or romance as something meant for the ideal couple, usually a young man and a woman who triumph at the end after a tortuous attempt by a wealthier and older male character to win over the love of the lady in contention. In this play, however, the “civilised teacher”, Lakunle, fails to convince the village beauty, Sidi, to abandon her tradition. He insists that the tradition of paying bride price is “outdated, savage, and primitive”. Sidi, he suggests, should abandon such antiquated custom and marry him so that they will live their lives like white people who drink “tea with milk and sugar” instead of the “primitive palm-wine” associated with African peoples of Ilujinle extraction.
Sidi finds his proposal derisive, and scorns him with reckless abandon. On the other hand, the old traditional ruler, Baroka or the Bale, known in the community as the Village “Lion” deploys native wisdom, traditional etiquette, charm, and verbal vigour to trick the village beauty into taking a trip to his royal bedroom. At the end, he succeeds in deflowering the village jewel while the deluded “modern” teacher continues to fantasize his ideal marriage to her.
Stage plays are a very educational and entertaining form of relaxation for the whole family, (more educational than most of the movies we take our children to see in the cinemas), endearing us with our culture and taking us back to the mindset of people at the time the book was written. The Lion and the Jewel stage play is a classic once in a lifetime experience, you would not want to miss.
This Stage play, directed by Wole Oguntokun promises to be one that would keep the audience spell bound, and leave them yearning for more, two plays come up every Sunday in the month of August at Terra Kulture, visit Naira.com for more information and online ticket purchase.

You may be a victim of software counterfeiting...

People who see the dreaded "you may be a victim of software counterfeiting, ask for genuine Microsoft software" message on the screen of their computer and do nothing, are similar to parents who see their child losing weight and having a temperature rise and ignore it.
This type of negligence is unacceptable, and a lot of us are guilty of 'maltreating' our computer systems by using counterfeited or pirated software and antivirus.
Why should you care that your computer is running on a counterfeit Operating system or software?
Nowadays, you rely on your computer to work for you and to run your business. You store thousands of important documents, photos and music; plus you make purchases entering your paying card information, also entering personal information, such as passwords, and you regularly search the Web.
Imagine what it would be like to lose all these information to hackers or thieves, and have your financial data stolen as a result of malicious or unwanted software running on your computer.
Market research firm IDC reported in a recent study (English only) that obtaining and using pirated/counterfeit software can pose a serious security threat to organizations and individuals. Often, counterfeit software is bundled with malicious and unwanted software that can lead to a corrupted system, a loss of data, and even identity theft. THE RISK OF RUNNING COUNTERFEIT SOFTWARE IS REAL.
Windows is the operating system and the brain behind everything you do on your computer; you can help protect your data by installing only GENUINE Windows Microsoft software on your computer systems.
And we should also not forget Software piracy is an industry-wide problem that has significant impact on the global economy, and affects legitimate businesses that have to compete with those selling counterfeit software. The Global Software Piracy Study (English only) stated that software piracy contributed to nearly $40 billion in global losses.
We should not let another $40 billion go to pirates while risking the safety of our computers and vital information therein while watching legitimate software companies go out of business.
Naira.com is highly in support of curbing piracy and identity theft,
You can purchase a wide range of GENUINE Windows Microsoft Software on Naira.com ranging from win vista home premium, visual studio professional 2008, office ultimate 2007, office professional, office home and student, exchange server 2007 and lots more

CHAMS plc signs Concession Agreement with NIMC

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has flagged off the earlier agreed mandate of ensuring that over 100 million Nigerians are captured in the next chrome://foxytunes-public/content/signatures/signature-button.pngNational Identity enrolment exercise in the next two and a half years with the signing of a concession agreement with Front End Partners, the Chams Consortium and Iris One Secure Card Consortium.
Signing the agreement in July 28 in Abuja, the Chairman, Board of Directors of the NIMC, Prince Uche Secondus, stated that the action marked the beginning of the process to delivery of the National Identity Database of 100 million enrolments over the next 30 months from the date registration commenced at the proposed model registration centres to be established across the country by the partners.
This giant stride, he noted, was a necessary commitment that signified governments' resolve to partner with the private sector in order to supply important social infrastructure that would enable government to deliver on its responsibilities: security of lives and properties, and access to consumer credit.
This, he said, would enhance sound economic development through contributing to growth in Gross Domestic Product GDP), creating new economic and employment opportunities, revenue collection and generation among other services that would touch the lives of the poor and improve the image of the nation.
Prince Secondus observed that the task ahead was challenging, from sourcing for funds to financing the roll-out plan, and instituting the necessary security controls and protocols as well as the need for technology transfer.
He assured that there would be no job losses for those who had integrity and the right mindset for the operation of a National Identity Management system in Nigeria and promised the support and cooperation of the board at all times.
In their response, Mr. Demola Aladekomo, Chams Managing Director, and Mr. Mitchell Elegbe, Managing Director of Interswitch and head of IRIS consortium, observed that the task ahead was huge and promised to deliver an effective, efficient, secure and transparent identity management system for the country.
They requested the cooperation of the Federal Government, noting that the project was a sensitive and important for both the government and the concessionaire.

Naira.com is a business Unit within CHAMS plc.

'Arugba' The movie

The film “Arugba” written and directed by Tunde Kelani from the stables of Mainframe Film & Television Productions premiered at major cinemas and film festivals around the world in 2009.
The story potrays a king who brays against corruption while rigorously prosecuting economic reform and handily welcoming foreign investors, (there's no mistaking the spoof of former President Obasanjo here) the leadership portrait and political undertone emerges as the key sub plot in an ornate romance featuring the Arugba - the virgin who carries the sacrificial calabash during the Osun Osogbo festival - and a young dancer intent on winning her. Set against the backdrop of a corrupt society seeking cleansing, rebirth and nationhood, with all the attendant intrigues

Synopsis:
Adetutu is on the threshold of responsibility. She must juggle her role as Arugba in the annual community festival with her studies in the university, she must care for an ailing and grieving friend, contend with a demanding king, a blossoming musical career and her growing fondness for Makinwa- himself a gifted performing artiste - which places a strain on her relationship with other members of her all female musical group. Set against the backdrop of a corrupt society seeking cleansing and rebirth with all the attendant intrigues, Arugba achieves a rare blend of traditional values with urbane sensibilities in a beautiful motion picture that will be talked about for a long time to come.

It is a must watch for the movie-lover, it is sold by Dada store and can be purchased on Naira.com.

Before Books Become Dinosaurs

What caused the extinction of Dinosaurs? Drastic climatic change, Asteroid shower, or they just ate each other up??? Nobody really cares. But immediate actions need to be taken before books and the reading culture in Nigeria, follows the way of the dinosaur and is being referred to in past tense.
Nigerians are discarding the culture of reading at an alarming rate, especially in schools where this is supposed to be the norm, the libraries are always empty until the exam approaches, with lecturers making it ‘easier’ by offering the students handouts which they can breeze through a few weeks before the exams, reading for the sake of research and intellectual stimulation is virtually non-existent these days.
Even after Degree programs, everybody seems to be ‘relieved’ that they do not need to read anymore, wrong! The sole basis for education is to develop the mind; not to obtain papers. When the mind of the people is well developed the society has a chance of being developed too.
Nigeria will significantly develop as a people and a nation if structures are put in place to cement the reading culture, especially among children.
The major inhibiting factor that keeps our young folk away from books I feel is the computer and the internet; they know when Apple would release its next gadget with all its full features and they think Chinua Achebe was a former Head of State.
Another major drawback is Accessibility; usually in Africa, the government is the biggest purchaser of books, especially textbooks for schools. But children do not always respond favourably to textbooks and they may not be good at reading them, especially if textbooks are the first materials they read.
Plus everyone wants to read a good story. But with the lack of good reading materials, standards of literacy are decelerating, and skills of PlayStation 3 are improving.
We sure do have a couple of bookstores in Nigeria, but where do I get a Wole Soyinka book written in 1975? Or a book such as The Untold Story of the Nigeria-Biafra war by Dr Aneke?? How do we get these books across to the prospective readers??
There is an online bookstore on www.naira.com containing thousands of books from established merchants such as Evans, Dada Books and Glendora books; the online store consists of a wide variety of books including novels historical, political, children, religious, educational, motivational, classical books, biographies and even books in our local dialects (our local dialects are in a Survival of the Fittest fight with the English language), books written as far back as before independence to books written a couple of months ago. Payments for these books are straight forward and easy, and they will be delivered to your doorstep.
By so doing lots of Nigerian graduates including professors remain enlightened in the evolving world of new ideas.
When the resolve or enthusiasm to improve oneself dies, life as a whole begins to die. To maintain a highly developed and greatly improving society, we need to maintain a high level of intellectualization via the reading culture.
Education for the progressive mind is far beyond schooling. Regular update through reading should be a way of life, hence the term reading ‘culture’. To stop reading is to stop updating. And to stop updating in an ever changing world is to start decaying.
So before books start eating each other up, or climate change leads to the extinction of books, we should act fast and save the books, buy more books for yourself and your kids, and instill a reading attitude on the upcoming generation.

Flair Magazine: The 1st Annual Talent Seminar

Having a talent is not equivalent to being successful; you need to know how to make the most of your God given talent in this modern era. Get the best information and training available as Flair magazine West Africa, presents its 1st annual Talent Seminar, tagged; THE BUSINESS SIDE OF TALENT. Topics to be discussed include sustaining revenue, contracts, work and production ethics, discovering windows of opportunities and lots more.
Speakers include: Oluchi of Face of Africa, Dayo Adeneye, Lolu Akinwunmi, Kunle Afolayan, Wale Sodade, and other influential Speakers.
For more information and bookings, visit www.naira.com, your one stop transactions portal.
Limited seats available.

Is Nigeria Really Ready for a Cashless Society?

This definitely is a rhetorical question. Though Nigeria, like most African countries, is usually at the rear of technological advances worldwide, we are not (and should not be) too far behind. To answer this question, let’s review some historical statistics.
In the year 2000, there were about 200,000 internet users nationwide representing about 0.1% of the population, and in 2006 - the number has increased to about 5,000,000 users representing about 3.1 % of the population. Currently, about 11% of Nigerians have access to the internet. This infers that we are indeed ready to embrace new technological advances.
Presently, almost all banks offer online banking services to their customers, from the convenience of their homes or offices. Also, the use of ATM and POS has been well embraced among the Nigerian populace.
Thanks to e-payment solution companies like MasterCard, InterSwitch, ValuCard, VisaCard and e-Tranzact, Nigerians can make a whole lot of transactions online. The web portal www.naira.com is a one-stop-payment and transactions portal catering for all e-commerce needs in the Nigerian market, from shopping for a variety of electronics , house hold appliances, payment of bills and school fees, cable subscription, purchase of tickets for shows and events, down to purchase of recharge cards and loads more of our everyday needs. It accepts all the major payment cards in circulation, numerous consumers have tested the portal and purchased various items with their ATM cards. Within just a few months since operations commenced, subscribers have been impressed with the great strides taken by www.naira.com to make Nigeria a truly cashless society.
However, the question still lingers; ‘IS NIGERIA REALLY READY FOR A CASHLESS SOCIETY?’