Nigeria’s Hotels.ng Just Got Bigger!!

Hotels.ng founder Mark Essien

Hotels.ng, which claims to be the largest hotel booking site in Nigeria, has raised $1.2 million to expand across Africa. Investors include EchoVC Pan-Africa Fund and Omidyar Network, a venture capital firm launched by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.

The site will launch new operations in Ghana first, says founder Mark Essien, and then move on to all of West Africa before tackling the rest of the continent. It also plans to focus on its mobile platform, since many consumers in Africa access the Internet exclusively through their smartphones.

Users performed more than a million hotel searches on the site last year, while 70,000 new customers signed up. Hotels.ng’s growth in its home market hinges on two factors: Nigeria’sInternet penetration rate, which is the highest in Africa and still increasing rapidly, and the government’s investment in its tourism industry, which is expected to contribute 5.8 percent of its gross domestic product by 2024.

This means that other hotel booking companies have set their sights on the country, includingJovago, which was launched by Rocket Internet in 2013, as well as international platformsAgoda and Bookings.com.

Essien says that by focusing exclusively on Africa, Hotels.ng is able to offer more inventory than its competitors. The site is also able to adapt to the needs of consumers in regions where there are few stable Internet or phone connections, with phone-based and messaging-based reservations accounting for more than 30 percent of Hotels.ng’s entire bookings.

“The hotel booking space in particular—even though it was a big market abroad—did not exist in the entire Sub-Saharan African market. After looking into the market, I understood the operational challenges that prevented it from existing, and then set about to solve them,” says Essien.

“We were able to solve them, and the day the site went live, we were dealing with a 100 calls a day. Since then, the business has kept growing—down to us raising one of the biggest Nigerian tech rounds in recent times.”

New and Improved Lagos!

Under the government of Gov. Babatunde Fashola, Lagos has changed a whole lot, i didn't get to experience the harsh side owing to the fact that i just moved to Lagos almost a year ago,but back then we would hear stories of the almighty Lagos o ;). So it's with great joy i present to everyone the new LASGIDI!!

Revamping the transport system has been the focus of bringing an element of order to the chaotic city, and much of the credit lies with outgoing Lagos governor Babatunde Fashola.

These photos of Oshodi market show how the gridlocked traffic has been eased over the last seven years. Environment ministry officers showed no mercy...

They demolished all the illegal structures in just a few days in 2009. Roads have since been rebuilt and separate sections allocated for buses collecting passengers.

Providing fast lanes for buses has also been a priority, as crossing the city in rush hour can take three hours. Red buses, part of the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT), are now more common...

However, commuters are sometimes left stranded by nationwide fuel shortages. The new routes and bus stations are expected to have digital displays with up-to-date travel information.

With a population of 21m and growing, the vision is to have seven overground railway links. The first of these - the Blue Line - is expected to open this year...

But the project, which has sections of the track raised above ground, has been hit by financial problems and disputes with the federal government - as the state has been run by a rival party.

It is a brave cyclist who takes to the roads as dangerous driving in the city is often to blame for accidents and hold ups. This is the toll on the Lekki-Ikoyi bridge, which opened in 2013...

It links the booming suburb of Lekki with affluent Ikoyi but there have been disputes over the 250 naira ($1.25, £0.85) toll. Some residents feel the publicly funded bridge should be free.

Three bridges link the mainland to Lagos Island, the heart of the city. Makoko lagoon slum can be seen from Third Mainland Bridge. In recent years, some slums have been demolished...

But no provision is being made for new housing for the poor. This is the Eko Atlantic City project.

It is being built on reclaimed land and developers hope it will become the financial centre of Nigeria - and home to at least 400,000 residents.

The state government is building some housing and has launched a mortgage scheme aimed at the middle class. This estate will be made up of two- and three-bedroom apartments.

Part of the Lagos facelift has focused on removing rubbish from underneath flyovers and bridges and the gangs, known as "areas boys", who used to hang around there.

Lagos produces 12,000 tonnes of waste a day. Households pay for rubbish collections. One scheme is trying to encourage recycling by awarding points that can be exchanged for prizes.

A former colonial prison on Lagos Island has been turned into a leisure and arts centre. With many live performances at Freedom Park Lagos, it has become the cultural hub of the city.

But there are fears some of Lagos' old architecture - like the Brazilian quarter of Lagos Island - will be lost, as demolition is often preferred to make way for new buildings and shopping malls.

original work by: Ayo Bello

Newly Married:Reality Vs Expectation:

This Is The Reality Of Most Couples’ Wedding Night...Enjoy :)
Expectation: Crossing the threshold like in the movies.


Reality: Drunkenly forgetting any traditions and stumbling through the doors in a post-wedding daze.


Expectation: First magical conversation alone in the room.


Reality: Slurring mess about either love or hunger from not eating — impossible to tell which.


This is when 40% of couples will pass out.

Expectation: Making love immediately.


Reality: Ordering pizza immediately.

Expectation: Getting undressed.


Reality: The event of getting undressed.


Expectation: Consummating with ease.


Reality: Powering through drunkenness and pizza bloat to make it happen.


Must....Consummate. ....Marriage.
This is when the remaining 50% of couples will give up and pass out.


Expectation: Orgasming (only 10% of couples will make it this far).


Reality: Orgasming with some extra effort.


Expectation: Falling asleep in each other’s arms after one of the best days of your life.


Reality: Drunkenly passing out in each other’s arms after one of the best days of your life.

originally from Loryn Brantz 

Surviving The Clarion Call

First, I must say a big congratulations to you. It wasn't no easy step to reach this very stage of your life. By Tuesday, 5th of May, you would be entering the all famous NYSC Camp. For three weeks you would live, eat, sleep and even dream inside that camp. Now, these are the five top things I want you to know.

1). My brothers and sisters, please if you truly still love your life and that of your stomach too, I beg you with all the love I possess! Please do not, I repeat, DO NOT, eat the beans they will share during dining hours. Please do not try to eat it. Some of us that mistakenly ate it had some stories that touch to tell. Even if hunger is killing you, do not eat the camp beans. It was specially prepared to purge away the sins and sorrows inside your stomach.

2). Men and brethren, its no longer news that they steal even boxers inside NYSC camp. Truth is, someone's toothbrush was even stolen. Therefore, ensure that you sleep with your waist bag, also go to camp with an extra ghana must go bag that is empty. Use it and lock your buckets, soap, sponge, slippers etc. If not, you will end up buying uncountable number of buckets. When you are charging your phone, ensure that you STAY THERE. Don't beg another person to look after it for you... otherwise, you definitely love stories that touch.

3). I have already started pitying those posted to delta state lol. Truth is? That state has no toilet oo.. the early you prepare yourself physically on "advanced bush method," the better for you. Once you get to the camp ground, after your accreditation, please go and clear a land inside the bush as soon as possible. For the next 3 weeks, that is where you will be depositing manure. Most NYSC toilets are disastrous. For those that will be clearing their land in delta state, please don't match the manure some of us deposited years back lol.

4). My dear,while filling your registration form, there is a section where you will be 

asked to fill in your hobbies. During our time, the rumor was that if you fill 'drilling oil', they will post you to oil company. If you fill 'counting money,' they will post you to a bank. Men and brethren I filled 'drilling oil' and I was sent to the remotest village to probably discover oil. Truth is? that thing doesn't work one bit. Prepare your mind to teach. If you are finally sent to drill oil? Cool. If not? Teach Responsibly lol.

5). For the guys? If you are not careful, your first allawi will finish inside the camp! Any girl you say "hiii" to will reply "hello" without wasting much time. She will lead you graciously to the mami market, morning, afternoon and night! If your name is Mr. Charity? continue! If your name isn't, my bro run for your life. Moreover, harp, star, origin and other beer brands will not be happy seeing you leave that camp with 1naira. They will host promos like drink 2 and get 1 free... in all, just be wise. Drink, eat, and act responsibly. Cheers! Happy camping!

intellectual property of Mr. Chukwuebuka

The Robert Downey Effect: The Right Hire

How much is a great hire worth?

Well, in the case of Robert Downey, Jr. and Avengers: The Age of Ultron, about $596 million or so.

The movie starring the actor as Iron Man is set to open this Friday in the United States, and it will likely be one of the highest-grossing movies ever. After all, the first Avengers movie raked in $1.5 billion – making it the third-highest grossing movie ever – and Age of Ultron has already made $200 million in 44 overseas markets.

Some people mistakenly think that the success of comic book movies like Age of Ultron is inevitable, that they capitalize on a product – Marvel’s beloved characters – that have been in our lives since our childhood. And yet, when you really analyze the numbers, that isn’t the full story.

Yes, the name recognition of a Spider-Man or Captain America helps, but Marvel isn’t just capitalizing on its characters. It’s also capitalizing on the talents of the Downey, whose proven himself to be a revenue-generating superstar.

2008: A bleaker time for Marvel’s movies

At the start of 2008, movies starring Marvel’s characters had a much different reputation. The past seven major motion pictures featuring a character from the comic book company had an average Rotten Tomato score of 35 percent, meaning most critics didn’t like them.

And while they made money, they were making less money than what the company expected. Overall, those seven movies – which were released from 2004 to 2007 – brought back roughly $2.60 for $1 spent on them.

That sounds good, but the historical return for a movie featuring a Marvel character to that point was $3.02 in for every $1 out.

Then came Downey

That abruptly changed in 2008 with the release of Iron Man, starring Downey. The movie earned $585 million off of a $140 million budget and garnered a 93 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the second-highest score ever for a movie featuring a Marvel character (the first is Spider-Man 2 with a score of 94 percent, in case you were wondering).

The main reason Iron Man was so loved? Well, look at this quote from Rodger Ebert’s review of the film:

“At the end of the day it ‘s Robert Downey Jr. who powers the lift-off separating this from most other superhero movies,” Ebert wrote.

Since Downey’s first appearance, there have been 14 more major motion pictures featuring a Marvel character without him in it. While those movies were critically successful, averaging a Rotten Tomatoes score of 67 percent, they returned just $3.10 for every $1 spent on them, or about 3 percent higher than the company averaged before.

Meanwhile, the four Marvel movies starring Downey averaged a stellar Rotten Tomatoes score of 84 percent and made a total of $3.92 billion (almost $1 billion a movie!). Two of them – the first Avengers film and Iron Man 3 – are among the six highest-grossing movies of all time.

$596 million

Here’s the bottom line: there have been 31 major motion pictures featuring Marvel characters that didn’t have Downey in them. In those 31 movies, for every $1 spent on them, they’d bring back $3.06.

Compare that to the four Marvel movies Downey has been in. In those movies, for every $1 spent on them, they brought back $5.19 – a 70 percent higher return-on-investment than average.

Bringing it back to the beginning, we often ask how much hiring top talent matters. Most of the time we say it’s incalculable, it’s too hard to put a price on.

Well, with Downey, using trend data, we can make a pretty informed guess what he’s worth toAvengers: Age of Ultron, which has a $280 million budget:

Without Downey, the movie should expect to see a 306 percent return-on-investment: $280M X 3.06 = $857 million

With Downey, the movie should expect to see a 519 percent return-on-investment: 

$280M X 5.19 = $1.453 billion

When you subtract $857 million from $1.453 billion, you realize the “Downey effect” is worth $596 million. Not too shabby.

Guess hiring the right person really matters after all ;)

NYSC Survival Guide:The Clarion Call Obeyed

It’s about that time when you go and serve your country.The Batch A corp members for 2015 is out and with it ,the happiness of a good state ,sadness of a failed runs to an oil producing state and fear of a northern sate. This is an excerpt from an NYSC survival kit, enjoy.

"I have taken the liberty to interview some of my friends to learn their camping experience; I have also scouted blogs, dairies, journals and other archives in a bid to get as much info as possible about the three weeks of camp.

For those of you that are scared because it’s the first time you are leaving your family for such a long time, don’t worry you are not alone.

It is that anxiety that lead me to this research; hearing people recount their camping experiences has put me a little bit at ease.

According to most people it is the best 3 weeks of their lives. “You wouldn’t want to leave”. Well, i will be the judge of that after my own experience. I decided to get a comprehensive list of the things we might need to make life at the camp a more palatable experience. Below is the list of things you will likely need:

Condom and Birth Control/After-Morning Pills

16 Photocopies of Statement of Result (Original and Photocopies)

16 Photocopies of School ID Card (Original and Photocopies)

16-24 copies of passport photo (take as many as possible)

Original & 16 Photocopies of Call-up Letter (This will be taken and not returned to you)

10 plain sheets of paper

A Pen

Stapler with your own pins (will save you a lot of begging)

Glue and Tipex (they say everything @ d camp is 4 sale, u want to save as much as possible)

NOTE: Make a lot of Photocopies before going to Camp. A copy can be as much as N20 at the Orientation Camp.

Please remember to also take the original documents, some camps will send you home if u don’t have originals.

+

A Cardigan

4 Round-necked white T-Shirts Throughout your stay at the orientation camp, you will only be allowed to wear your white top and shorts; you might not like the ones that will be handed to you at camp so you can get those fitted brands as long as they are white, With these duly pointed out, no need to pack a lot of clothes to the Camp. You should only take a few in case you need to go to Mosque on a Friday or Church on a Sunday.

2-3 extra pairs of white Shorts (All white)

A Pair Of Plain White Sneakers (NYSC will give u 1 but you’d be lucky if they fit plus it spoils quickly know Naija & low quality things)

2 pairs of white socks

A pair of slippers (These camps are very dirty according to my source, The bathrooms are filthy! The bedrooms are dirty! The corridors are icky! Just have something on your feet at all times)

DETTOL (very essential, BRING or BUY. It’s just to disinfect your bath water)

Towel (BRING from home. At least you know it’s clean. Anything you buy from Mami Market may or may not be secondhand.)

Bed-Sheets, Pillow Cases, and A Pillow. (BRING from home. Again, the peace of knowing what you’re sleeping on is clean. Mattresses will be provided by NYSC. It is best to “double up” with the mattresses, as they are about 1 to 2 inches thick

Handkerchief (BRING from home. There will be BUCKETS of sweating. Do yourself a favor)

Sleep clothes (BRING from home. *note that it is ridiculously hot at night, so a large t-shirt or long tank top and little shorts will suffice)

Underwear (Guard it jealously, I was told people steal panties SMH)

Detergent (BUY from market. Again, this reduces the amount of load you’re bringing into camp. Remember how I said camp offers no frills? You have to wash your clothes, underwear, and bed things. However, if you’re lucky the mami market will have vendors offering laundry services! The only caveats are: you run the risk of your stuff getting lost)

A Novel (very essential esp. if u read a lot, or if u get bored easily like me) u can also bring board/Electronic games if u like (Chess/Scrabble/PsP/Gameboy)

Money (About 10 to 15,000 Naira should see you through the camp period modestly. but if you have to drink and hang out at The Mammy market a lot, then you can take more money depending on how much you can finish, be wise though! Sha budget N1000 per day)

Toiletries/Sanitary Pad (If you are posted to the Up-North like Yobe and Maidugiri, pls do not spray perfumes/anything scented, or the flies won’t stop hugging you. For the ladies, u will be wearing white all through when it’s time for your menstruation, beware of stains. )

Bucket, soap dish (buy at the camp site, don’t stress yourself taking one to the place, they always sell in the camp)

Waist bag (Try to buy this before you get to the camp, very very essential, U’ve got to put all ur money in it and tie it round ur waist, cos some people won’t come to camp with money and will steal)

Torchlight and Batteries (BRING or BUY. Seeing as there’s hardly ever any electricity, and you might want to read at night, having the flashlight helps.

Music (Ipod, MP3, Phone, , just take your music, )

ATM card (u may need 2 run out and get dough)

Painkillers, Malaria Medicine, Allergy Medicine, etc. (BRING from home. You do not want to make the mistake of getting ill in camp. The camp clinic is a BIG JOKE!)

Padlock (BRING or BUY. Well, you might not need it if u have a hard suitcase – no padlocks required. And anyways, thieves apparently can tear people’s bags with scissors or knives to get to their things)

Sun Glasses/Face Cap: (It can get really sunny, especially in the north, but I’ll advice all to take sun glasses since you’ll be standing on the parade ground for long hours. unless it’s rainy season)

MOSQUITO NET (My friend said the camp is Mosquito’s headquarters)

If you have a camera you can take it along because you will want to snap a lot of scenes. If you have a Blackberry phone, that’s good for you because you can easily and share on social networks. If you don’t have any of those, you will have to pay some guys on camp who do that as business to follow you around and snap you wherever you go. They might charge up to N2000 for the duration of the camping. They should give you all your photos and videos in CDs at the end of Camping.

You will be fed three times a day in camp but I must not lie to you, the food there is nothing to write home about. If you are someone like me who loves to eat good food, make provisions for your own food. You should get some fast foods along, some breakfast cereals and beverages. You should also hold extra cash to eat at the Mami market. You will get good foods there

THINGS U DON’T NEED

Don’t take materials like pressing iron, knife, fork, tin cutter to the camp. They will be seized and returned to you only on the last day of camping. I was told this is a security measure.

Food Flask (if you’ll eat camp food, I only stood in line for camp food once, and almost got a slap from d lady serving cos I didn’t understand the food, so Mammy Market was my savior, and might be yours too, in the end my food flask was gathering dust under my bed)

Don’t pack loads of unnecessary stuff. As for day clothes (mufti) pack one or two cos you’ll only be allowed to go on mufti on Sundays and you have 3 Sundays, so why pack all your clothes? On the 1st day of registration, try to see that after you do your registration where u declare your call-up letter, you endeavor to register for accommodation as early as possible, if not you’ll not have a place to sleep on ur 1st night in camp, and that’s not funny.

The forms that will be handed to you and attach your passport are very easy to fill. Fill them correctly. After your registration, you will be issued with your State Code Number. This will be like your PIN throughout your Service Year.

After you have been given your State Code, you should proceed straight to collect your mattress and your NYSC Kit. During my own time, I went straight to my hostel (you will be directed), put my mattress in place before going for my kit. Go for your kit on time so that you can get your size.

The Camp Commandant (the soldier in charge) and the other soldiers may tell you that if you participate in parade, play volleyball, and do all they want you to do, you will end up being posted to a favorable place for you Primary Assignment – LIES! Soldiers ain’t got that power at all, maybe the Camp director and some NYSC officials can help, but not all of them have the powers they claim.

Have fun but never agree to be manipulated or coerced into anything by anyone. I wish everybody good luck and I hope to see you in my camp."

hope you enjoyed it

culled: www.cruisenigeria.com

Awesome Shoes For Impoverished Kids That Grow With The Children

If you’ve ever had kids or even remember what it was like to be a kid, you probably know just how fast kids grow out of their clothes and shoes. Kenton Lee recognized this problem when he set out to make inexpensive shoes for children living in poverty around the world. His solution?

Make shoes that grow with the children.

Lee started an organized called The Shoe That Grows to help kids living in poverty never have to worry about not having shoes again. Some 300 million kids walk through their young lives completely barefoot because shoes are too expensive for families to buy for their kids. They don’t have the financial means and the kids grow out of them so fast anyway.

Lee’s shoe design is one that grows and expands and, unlike other inexpensive shoe options, are incredibly durable. 

The shoe grows and expands in three primary places to allow for maximum use for the growing young person.