Microsoft Nigeria yesterday in Abuja, launched the language interface pack for Windows Vista in three major Nigerian languages, Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo.

President Umaru Yar’Adua, represented on the occasion by Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Alhassan Zaku, described the development as a milestone in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) He said indeed it is a turning point in the history of technology in our beloved country. Courtesy of Microsoft, Windows Vista, an operating system of Microsoft has been localised in Nigerian languages.”

Dr Alhassan Zaku explain, the initiative as a long-awaited vehicle to take benefits of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to the grassroots in every nook and cranny of the country. “We believe that this will make IT solutions more accessible to the Nigerian local communities. It also represents a breakthrough in Nigerian linguistic and literary studies. By this innovation, most users would have the opportunity to customise leading Microsoft software applications with the local language capabilities.” He then urged Nigerians to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the development of Window Vista in Nigeria Language to preserve and promote there mother languages while benefiting from IT advancement.
The General Manager, Microsoft Anglophone West Africa, Mr Emmanuel Onyeje,  said the launch was part of Microsoft Local Language Programmes (LLP) for Nigeria,  according to him, LLP strives to provide people of all regions, communities and languages with access to IT in a familiar language.

Moreover News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Language interface pack for Windows Vista in the three Nigeria languages was developed by Nigerians locally.

Takwa bay beach which is one of the most popular tourist island in Lagos state to under go a short term and long development. The island is a tourist attraction for both local and international tourist, in recent time tourists have come to dread the beach because of security concern and lack of maintenance by the government.

The state ministry of Tourism discovered that, if the beach is well managed can place the state in the nation’s and world tourism map and have started working on a long term plan to bring stronger government presence to the Island, improve on the quality of life of the people of the community and give them access to the economic wealth that tourism activities going on in their vicinity ought to offer them.

Speaking at a press briefing on the plans of the state to develop the Takwa Bay beach as a destination of choice for local and foreign tourist alike, the commissioner for Tourism, Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi said the beach carnival that is being plan and powered by a number of private sector in the state.

He said “it is an experimental marketing initiative to enable more Lagosians feel the exotic character of the Takwa Bay beach, and begin to enjoy and appreciate the enormous tourism potential of our state. On our part as a government agency, it is also a gesture of thanks and appreciation to the wonderful citizens of Lagos state who continuously give their full support to this government.”

Speaking on the plan development of the island, Senator Afikuyomi said “We were conscious of the methodology of wealth creation that simple activities as the production and sales of arts and crafts, fresh fruits, traditional attires, vegetables, variety of sea foods etc. can help to reduce poverty and bring economic prosperity into the hands of the people of the community if they are well organized and harnessed.

Following many enquiries both locally and internationally, the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism and Inter_Governmental Relations, on behalf of the State Government hereby assures all of improved safety, better environment and continued access to one of the most beautiful tropical Island on the Coast of the Atlantic the Takwa Bay Island.

While promising government presence , he said the Ministry will open up necessary communication with the relevant security agencies to provide support for a team of Merchant Navy and Coast Guards now in the service of the Ministry to provide adequate cover for the Beach.

“To also ensure the sustainability of this and similar initiatives, we have commenced efforts at engaging the local community and aligning them with our global vision for the Island. We have also received cooperation and support from the Chairman of the Local Government Coouncil Development Area.”

Senator Afikuyomi said for the successful hosting of the carnival a number of leading and upcoming Nigerian artistes have volunteered to freely perform at the BEACH CARNIVAL while leading business organizations in the water transportation business are partnering with them to help transport Lagosians to the TAKWA BAY Island for what is set to be an unforgettable experience in the warm embrace of nature.

“There would be lots of activities, fun, entertainment and music to enjoy. There will also be star appearances of some of Nigerian most celebrated entertainment stars. It will also be an opportunity for musical and artistic talent hunting as there would be competitions in various areas with encouraging cash and product prizes.”

Some of the artists billed to perform at the carnival includes Zaki, Idris Abdul Karim, Kenny St. Brown, Shotgun, Lanre Atorise, Jazzman Olofin and DJ Jimmy as well as notable comedians like Princess, Omobaba, and MC Basket mouth.

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The Nigeria organised labour and the civil society groups begin a peaceful protest nationwide rally yesterday in Lagos to protest against some government policies, which they describe as anti-people and inimical to the welfare of workers and Nigerians.

Among the issues in contention are: the National minimum wage, the propose deregulation of the petroleum products prices and the refusal of Federal Government to adopt, the full report of the Justice Muhammed Uwais Electoral Reform Committee.

Despite the several appeals by the Federal Government to labour to shelve the planned protest, labour, with its civil society group vowed yesterday that it would commence the rally in Lagos as planned and the peaceful protest rally was hold as planned.

The organised labour and the civil society groups also plan to held the rallies in other major state capital across the country, which include Asaba, Ibadan, Kano, Enugu, Maiduguri, Makurdi and the federal capital Abuja in June. President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, insisted that the NLC could not shelve the rallies at this stage because it was a resolution of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, and any decision to shelve it must be taken by the same NEC.

He also threatened that labour would commence a series of rallies to put pressure on government to reverse its planned deregulation of the oil sector, and demand a National Minimum Wage which had been put at N52,200 per month by organised labour to be implement by the Federal Government as soon as possible.

Omar also demanded for jobs creation, stimulus package and salary increase in response to the global economic crisis, end to privatisation and liberalisation, credible anti-corruption agenda, as well as fixing of the Nigerian refineries and the rail transport system in the country.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) President General, Comrade Peter Esele said the National Minimum Wage should be treated with the urgency it deserved, adding, “the new national minimum wage of N52, 200 is a sure way of bailing out the economy as it would put more money into the economy, which would, no doubt, increase the purchasing power and demand for products and also give flip to the economy and generate a lot of activities.”

The IMF or was it world bank grossly misrepresented the economic forecast for UK a few weeks ago. Apparently things are not as gloomy as IMF forecast for Britain, the UK government protested and the IMF did their sums again and come up with a less gloomy prediction but it was still doom and gloom. The government did its own sum, came up with gloomy figures and predictions for the future but it say some green shoots of recovery in the horizon sometime in 2010.

All major financial institution have been coming up with forecast along the same like as the one made by the treasury in UK and the IMF, the latest organisation to weigh in is the European Commission. The commission predicted that the economy in Europe will contract by 4%, twice what it forested earlier this year. The worsening of the global financial crisis, dropping levels of world trade and continuing house value falls had prompted the downward revision of the fortunes of the citizens of EU.

Fingers crossed, lets hope there will be not more reviews later this year saying things are going to be even worst than the 4% contraction in economy.

One of the most worrying aspect of the predictions is the job lose implication. Unemployment in UK hit 2 million recently, additional one million people are expected to lose their job in the next 12 months taking the unemployement figure to 3 million.

How many Bellos can you count in iLorin?

I have never been a big genealogy fan, recent events, mainly the revelation that there is an awful lot more Odurindes out there than I imagine aroused my interest in the origin of the name Odurinde and possible ancestral connection of all the Odurindes to one origin.  I used to think the name is fairly unique to the part of Yorubaland my father comes from (Irepodun local government of Osun state).

After searches for the keyword “Odurinde” on the Internet and Facebook and other social networking sites I was quite surprised to find so many Odurindes.

Using my not so good Yoruba language skills to break the name down to its component words, I hypothesis that  Odurinde was derived from two words; Odu (Odu Ifa)  rinde (arrived) hence the name is probably taken on by family of Ifa priests who did not go out to actively seek Odu Ifa but  Odu ifa walked into their lives and appointed them as ifa priests.  If my hypothesis is correct, then the chances of all Odurindes being linked to one original source is slim, the only connections will be the fact that they all acquire ifa priesthood through the same method.

If would be fantastic if someone with a better understanding of the origin of the name Odurinde or Youruba surenames in general puts me right.

I will also like to hear from Odurindes out there and what part of Yorubaland they come from.  Perhaps instead of the joke/saying I used to hear in Lagos about the lack of scarcity of Bellos in iLorin, I can start saying “there is no scarcity of Odurindes in  Osun/Oyo state?.

Joomla Content Management System (CMS ) which had its origin in Mambo CMS is one of the most popular open source content management systems. How does it compare with other open source CMS in the market?

Open Source software and commercial software are different in various aspects. Cost being the primary differentiator may play a vital role in your choice of a CMS. Open source CMS comes at no or marginal cost while Commercial Software are relatively higher priced.

It is generally believed that the commercial CMS provide better post-installation assistance in documentation, training, stability, security issues etc. as their support staff may be available when needed. This may not be possible in open source CMS which primarily runs on the support of volunteers and not regular staff. However, Joomla! is a pleasant exception!. With thousands of developers on the project, it has built a reputation for its prompt and effective customer service. Moreover, with a strong volunteer-base, Joomla! can boast of continual development resulting in timely upgrades and new releases.

You may look at your specific CMS requirements, business conditions, available resources and client requirements while choosing a CMS. Factors like price; implementation; documentation, training and support services and customization opportunities should not be overlooked.

Some of the Free and Open Source CMS include – Joomla!, Mambo, Drupal, PHPNuke, Post Nuke, Plone, TYPO3, e107, Open CMS, MODx CMS, WordPress, XOOPS and Zope.

Some of the Commercial Software include – Vignette, Alfresco, RedDot CMS, Interwoven Teamsite, Tridion, Microsoft CMS, Oracle portal, Immediacy CMS, GOSS iCM, Hot Banana and Fatwire Content Server.

Comparing Joomla! with other open source CMS

Joomla! is comparable to most leading CMS systems in terms of its features. Joomla! and Mambo provide an in-built contact management application and captcha (for challenge-response test) while Drupal, Plone and TYPO3 offer the same as a free add-on. There are features which they all provide as a free add-on – like job posting, guest book, chat etc.

All open source CMS are distributed under GNU GPL and may gel well with any of the operating systems. What sets Joomla! apart from the others is a strong developer community. This reflects in its highly efficient and consistent development program. The following chart compares leading open source CMS.

As compared to open source CMS like Joomla!, commercial CMS are distributed under commercial or proprietary licenses. They may use diverse databases but Oracle and Microsoft SQL server are common. Also the programming language they use varies a lot. This includes PHP, Java, Java Script, .NET, XML, XSL, JSP, Perl, etc. Unlike open source CMS like Joomla!, commercial CMS may require specific operating systems for implementation. Vignette prefers Windows XP/2000/2003 while Oracle supports Windows, UNIX and LINUX. Like Joomla!, the web servers Apache and IIS are common in commercial CMS also.

Other than these technical specifications, there are many other factors for comparison. Features, built-in applications, support, commerce, flexibility, interoperability, management, performance, ease of use, security, etc are just some of them. Joomla! scores high on all of those parameters. Its growing popularity just underlines this fact.