THE ACCIDENT

The day was 3rd November,2015. The going down of the sun had not been without leaving some traces of what was viewed by many as an unusual heat in this part of the world,despite the rain even still being experienced at intervals at this time. The day had been very hot in a weather only associated with the dry season (the winter if you like) as the rays reaching the earth from the sun had been blazingly hot ,making it almost impossible for one to work in the sun without being drenched in sweats within minutes.
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At some minutes past 5 o'clock in the evening, Emmanuel was seen leaving the house, the same house he had been all day, on a working day at that. It had been his practice since he took up this internship position at this organization to be leaving for work at very odd hours, leaving when others are returning or returning when others are leaving; a work situation he had quickly adapted to. If the people around him had not been the inquisitive type, he would have easily been branded a 'rogue', 'a night guard' or worst of all, 'a robber', but he was none of that. The nature of the job had been the type that allowed a rotating system. Today was his day to be on Night duty, the second day for this period.

He waived down a bike as his usual practice, and after the usual negotiations, he was conveyed to his waiting point where he would be joining the man who serves as his supervisor in whose company he would be making the 30-minute drive to Ore (arguably the commercial city of Ondo State), a nearby town where the organization is situated. In this story, we would be referring to this man as Mr Chi. Mr Chi was returning from a journey and was taking a lot of time already.
After waiting for some couple of minutes, as Emmanuel was about placing a call through to the number his phone had already added to the favourite list of the most dialed numbers in recent times now, Mr Chi emerged in his car. After the usual exchange of pleasantries, they took off on the journey at about 1835 hours. By this time, it was sure they would be getting to Ore under the cover of darkness.
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Travelling on this Ondo-Ore road that barely give room for oncoming vehicles to easily dash off the road without any fear of collision with any other thing by this time of the night had never been a good idea, and had always been avoided at all cost before now. Not too long ago, an 18-passenger bus was crushed with all passengers meeting their end in that bloody afternoon.
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At a point in the journey, a near-miss was experienced with a car overtaking car from the other end of the road. By this time it was really getting dark as one could barely see other  oncoming cars except with the help of their headlamps.
With barely 10 minutes to the end of the journey, the unexpected happened. As the car was descending a hill, it ran into a nearly stationary farm tractor with no headlamp, and no danger sign. Before Mr Chi, who was behind the wheel could make a swerve of the steering wheel, GBAAAAAAAAAA!!!! was the sound  that was heard next as the vehicle collided with the tire of the tractor via the side of the car where Emmanuel was seated. Emmanuel watched on not knowing what to expect as the car quickly swerved to the other side of the road which was inexplicably devoid of other vehicles at this time, before dashing into a cocoa plantation, clearing the way as it went as if it were a tractor.
Finally, the car came to a halt of its own volition having lost every form of control immediately after the collision. All that was on Emmanuel's mind as the chattered glasses dropped on him was what would his fate be when he would appear before His Creator,  as that seemed the next thing now. Next, his mind wandered to what his Facebook friend's would say when they get the news, remembering that he had posted something relating to been delivered from a near miss some weeks ago, that was the day a high profile accident had occurred on that same road just minutes after he passed through same. But all that was to remain an imagination as there would be no need for all that.
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Alighting from the car through the half-pulled door and broken side glass as the car was understandably locked by now, Mr Chi and Emmanuel watched in amazement as they tried without success to wrap their head around their mysterious escape from that accident that left the car badly battered and almost beyond repair, with no correlation in both. Every imagination of how his loved ones would take the news quickly gave way for rushing songs of praise to the Most High God as it was now glaring to him that He had actually preserved his life on purpose. Not forgetting to tell you that the tractor was left divided in three from the impact of the collision. That equally remains a mystery till date. Only God could have delivered this way, no doubt. Or how else do one explain this? A car collided with a tractor and the tractor was shattered in pieces with the occupants of the car emerging unhurt, and only with few bruises that had no effect on their general health!
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Now that serves as the story of how internship program would have led to the obituary of one of our own. As this year finally wraps up, and considering all that had happened in the course of the year, will you please join me as I sing this song to the Majesty:
I will praise Him from everlasting, everlasting to everlasting, I will praise Him from everlasting, Everlasting to everlasting!
Saying like the psalmist, I will say it is good to praise your Name, o Most High, and to sing praises into Your Holy Name!

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LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS: A WASTING RESOURCES IN NIGERIA

With a view into the amount of natural resources in the world today, many nations of the world, like Nigeria, would have fared better than they currently do had there been proper management of this unequalled earthly gift.

The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) are flammable mixtures of hydrocarbon gases are made from natural gas liquids (NGL), which are in turn recovered from associated petroleum gas (APG). The LPG are naturally occurring 60% byproduct of natural gas extraction and 40% crude oil refining. It is a combination of propane and butane molecule, along with trace amounts of other compounds. However, the LPG can be converted to a lot of useful issues or wasted through 'flaring' as has been the case in Nigeria for many years.
The Liquefied petroleum gas is colourless and odourless with an addition of strong stenching agent for easy detection of any leak however tiny. When subjected to modest pressure or cooling, it transforms into a liquid but remains gas at a normal temperature. As its boiling point is below room temperature (25°C), LPG evaporates quickly at normal temperature and pressures and usually supplied in pressurized steel vessels- vessels that stores pressure below the atmospheric pressure. These vessels are usually filled to 80-85% of the capacity to allow for thermal expansion of the contained liquid. It is a clean, versatile fuel with wide range of other uses in household, commercial and industrial energy applications. LPG finds uses in aerosol propellant and a refrigerant, replacing Chlorofluorocarbons in an attempt to reduce damage to the ozone layer and global warming effects.

The Many Applications of LPG

® COOKING: As a cooking gas, LPG serves as an alternative to the traditional cooking fuels (such as firewood, charcoal,sawdust,dung,etc) thereby liberating people from suffering and the enormous time spent in fetching firewood, and by so doing, enabling them to pursue personal education or other value-added economic activities within the community.
LPG is used for cooking in many countries either for economic reasons, for convenience or because it is the preferred fuel source.
According to the 2011 census of India, 33.6 million (28.5%) Indian households used LPG as cooking fuel in 2011, as supplied to their homes in pressurized cylinders. It is subsidized by the government of India. LPG was also once a popular cooking fuel in Hong Kong, however,the continued expansion of town gas to buildings has reduced its usage to barely 24% of residential homes. LPG is the most common cooking fuel in Brazilian urban areas, being used in virtually all households with the exception of the city of Rio de Janeiro.
® RURAL HEATING: LPG is can provide an alternative to electricity and heating oil(the usual DPK- Dual Purpose Kerosene). It can be used as a source of power for combined heat and power (CHP) technologies. CHP is the process of generating both electrical power and useful heat from the same fuel source. This technology has allowed LPG to be used not just as fuel for heating and cooking, but for decentralized generation of electricity.
LPG is also used as a source of fuel for centralized heating of the house during winter as well as recreational purposes. LPG has a lower greenhouse gas emissions than the usual PMS- Premium Motor Spirit. As a cost-effective energy source, LPG can be up to five times more efficient than traditional fuels, resulting in less energy wastage and better use of our planet's resources.
® MOTOR FUEL: When used in this way, it is referred to as auto gas. LPG is also used to fuel internal combustion engines. In most cases, there are additives in the liquid that helps extend engine life and the ratio of propane to butane is kept quite precise in LPG. Its advantage in this is that it is non-toxic, non-corrosive and free of tetraethyllead or any additives, and has a high octane rating (102-108 RON). It burns more cleanly than petrol or fuel-oil and is especially free of the particulates present in the latter.
® REFRIGERATION: In a bid to find a lasting replacement for the ever ozone-depleting Chlorofluorocarbons with its global warming effect, LPG is instrumental to providing off-the-grid refrigeration, usually by means of a gas absorption refrigerator. Blended of pure, dry propane (refrigerant designator R-290) and isobutane (R-600a), the blend 'R-290a' has negligible ozone depletion potential and very low global warming effect and can serve as a functional replacement for R-12, R-22, R-13a and other chlorofluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons refrigerants in conventional stationary refrigeration and air-conditioning systems.

The Effect Of LPG on The Environment
Commercially available LPG currently has its source mainly from fossil fuels. Burning of LPG, as with any other organic compounds, releases carbon dioxide,a greenhouse gas. The reaction also produced some carbon monoxide. However, LPG does release less carbon dioxide per unit of energy than does coal or oil. As a result, it contributes positively to the improvement of air quality than other commonly used fuels.

As a clean, lower carbon, efficient and innovative energy, it offers benefits to consumers, industry and the environment. LPG helps reduce Black Carbon and Matter emissions which not only compromises both indoor a d outdoor air quality but can also cause serious health problem. LPG is nontoxic and has no impact on soil, water and underground aquifers.

Possible Dangers

Liquefied Petroleum Gas, unlike natural gas, is heavier than air, and will thus flow along floors and tend to settle in low spots, such as basements. Two main dangers are attached to this: the first is a possible explosion if the mixture of LPG and air is within the explosive limits and there is an ignition source.
The second is suffocation due to LPG displacing air, causing a decrease in oxygen concentration.
In view of these, LPG must be stored in pressure vessels as already mentioned above. LPG containers have pressure relief valves with which they vent the LPGs to the atmosphere or flare stack when subjected to exterior heating sources.

A Wakeup Call to The Government

There is a need for us to all arise and put this divine gift to us into maximum usage rather than using it to cause more harm to our environment through avoidable flaring and what is programmed to be a blessing for us. The ozone layer remains only but a tiny layer, and if we must protect it, we must stop constituting more harm to the atmosphere through the release of greenhouse gases.
The government at all levels and all corporate bodies concerned should wakeup in a bid to save our environment and to help save people who could have had their life expectancy reduced due to excess inhaling of the toxic gases from traditional cooking fuels to:
1. Bring LPG nearer to the citizens at affordable cost;
2. Minimize flaring of LPG at the domestic refineries during optimum production levels and re-importation at shutdown;
3. The same precedence applied on the distribution of petroleum products be equally followed up in the supply and distribution of LPG to liberate the consumers from constant scarcity as well as encourage gradual switch through enlightenment campaign from the use of kerosene and firewood to LPG for cooking.
4. Appropriate and right legislation be put in place to encourage investors in the distribution and also provide the necessary facilities that will enable proper handling of LPG at the hand of the private investors.

©Freewealth

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References:

1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquefied_petroleum_gas
2. Pipeliners: An In-house Quarterly Newsletter of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Co. Ltd. ISSN: 2141-0453

GOOD AND EVIL

Good and Evil, virtue and vice, these are two unforseen forces that has contended wit each other overtime to determine the fate of our universe since the inception of man. Questionswhich arises to justify and ascertain how theseforces has affected the life of man would be, ofthese two forces which is more prevalent?. Which has seemingly overwhelmed the conditions in which our modern society is built on?.which has always had a foremost position in shaping the precepts of different stages of Civilization?.
It is no surprise to see that a greater result would emerge in place for Evil if a vote was casted respectively for these two forces. To the greater denizens of our society, Evil is seen as a malignant force that has visibly shaken the life and Existence of Mankind.

This greater attestation to evil has been made manifest in the unseemingly events that has pillaged and ravaged the habitat
of Man. Evil breed such elements as wickedness, hatred, revenge, despair, malice in the heart of Men. For example, a constant agitation of war between nations has led to outcomes that even the human mind cannot comprehend. Life are lost unnecessarily between the warring factions,Men are butchered as if in abbatoir, Women and young girls are subjected to the most inhuman treatment that one can conceive not to mention the emotional and physchological tussle that they have to suffer,children are thorn away from their families,some of them are sold into slavery or subjected to abuses of all manners,the seed of Hatred and Revenge is sown in the heart of those in the receiving end of the War.

Evil seems to spread its deadly fangs far beyond what one could envisage, for even our day to day activities is shrouded and gloried in Evil. Our eyes and ears has become accustomed of news front he smaller activities of a pilferer and a pick-pocket to the greater nefarious ones perpetrated by hired-killers, assassins, armed robbers, kidnappers, militants, rebels and even the activities of the government of a nation for which those seated in power has decided to rob the people filling their pockets with the wealth of the nation thereby reducing its citizens to a state of abject penury. All these put together has made Evil seem the prevalent Force.

One may argue,even when evil seem to have all curried to its domain,does it then put good out of the question or out of consideration? Even when
Evil seems to come with overwhelming force that hits hard on the face of Society does it mean that good has been totally obliterated?. Certainly not for unlike Evil,Good is an Enigmatic force that put the Vices of Evil into check. One may say that good moves with the pace of a tortoise nevertheless, like the same tortoise it moves steadily always sure to arrive at its destination. Good has a beauty that is indescribable as it comes with such elements as happiness, Love, joy, hope and relief putting serenity and smile in the heart of Men in the face of Evil. Evil tries to be Evil because it wants to prove to be Evil. The same cannot be said of Good as it does not seek to prove itself rather its aim is to subject and suppress Evil to the Lowest degrading order. Evil may Glory in its Tyranny but good will always come to snatch it at the end.

Deep down in our heart we always wish to see good outshine the elements of Evil,this is the Untainted beauty of Good for which Evil is Jealous of,it knows it will never be like good. A rather Compelling Truth about these two forces is that both will always contend which other for how long we may never Know. To you reading this now, what is your thought of Evil and of good? Which do you see standing out in their endless battle?.

Is it GOOD or is it EVIL?

THE MIND OF A CHILD

THE MIND OF A CHILD....

I flagged down a bike,he stopped. After arriving at a reasonable price comfortable for both of us,an agreement was reached and I boarded the bike. Arriving at the park, I handed him the money which I had earlier told him I have on me,which he now rejected after sizing the money with his eyes and noticed I was having another currency of the same value but of a neater appearance on me. Being not ready to create a scene with that, I agreed to give him the other one and he handed me my change and left with his bike. After a while,I was seated in the vehicle and beside me was a heavily built woman with a 6-year old girl.

As we set off on our journey, some minutes into the journey, I heard this woman mutter to herself. 'Hoooooho! I eventually forgot the money I planned to use to buy this thing.' The little girl answered almost immediately, 'How much is what you want to buy maybe I can add mine to the money with you to complete it?'

The woman's response depicted that her thinking was clearly in apposition to her daughter's. She said 'How much do you think you have that you want to add?' 'N20' was her quick response. I did an invisible giggling, because I knew it was way of what the woman was thinking. The woman simply hissed.

As we progressed in the journey, I replayed the whole scenario in my head, and a thought came to me, 'if I were to be in the little girl's shoes,would I even offer to help even with such a meagre sum?' That's how a child thinks different from the grown up folks, children think freely,without any intention of hurting anyone's ego.
How many of us would be ready to offer help. Do you see how that little girl reasoned? That little amount she offered to help her mother with might seem little, but do you know that if she'd had more, she'd have equally raised that amount! Now,many people want to do something today,but they feel the idea is too small to do anything about, and as such,many great ideas had been buried,and remained as what they were- ideas. Many have opportunity of rendering a helping hand to someone today,but they feel,I'm not any better,maybe he should move a little bit further where he'd find someone else that may help. If you're in such a position today, change your mindset. Think deeper and do great things from humble beginnings.
Do something today,no matter how little, that your future self will be proud of. Start that small business today and watch it grow into a big one,and when you turn back in the nearest future, you'll smile to yourself and say 'I remember when we started, very small'.

Exclusively # fromthegoldenmind