I use them too and they are unique, they just introduced one toll free number for banking transactions and reporting customer service issues. I call the number 24/7 and they don charge my credit a dime. The number is 0800482666328 (0800-GTCONNECT).Try it and see its 4 real. You can do most of your banking transactions on this number.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE NIGERIAN FINANCIAL SECTOR
The current buzz in the financial sector in Nigeria is a welcome development and is long overdue. The sack of these five Bank CEO's is a step in the right direction.

The activities of most banks in Nigeria is nauseating, and leads one to wonder if the wrongs of the past can ever be corrected.

The Ambition of some of these banks has lead them in the wrong direction and is one of their motivation for carrying out these unethical acts. Recently some Nigerian banks where ranked amongst the world's top 500 banks- I dont think this is worth celebrating, with the collapse of the private sector in Nigeria these banks should bury their heads in shame.

Some of these banks in their desperation for deposits give unimaginable bribes to Government officials thereby increasing the rot in the system of government in Nigeria. Public sector deposits are up for auction, the highest bidder gets it.

In these parsimonous times when people are struggling to make ends meet, these banks steal from unsuspecting customers in the name of bank charges in a bid to make profits and pay themselves outrageous bonuses. I know of a bank which charges customers as much as 3,500 naira to reactivate a dormant account.

These banks have neglected the private sector in Nigeria to die and give loans only to government officials whom they help to launder money. This has led to an increase in unemployment due to the inability of the private sector to thrive in the hostile jungle like environment called Nigeria. One question which I have not gotten any answer to yet is, how do you expect a government official whose salary is 2 million naira p.a to pay back a loan of 50 million naira in 3 years without stealing from government coffers? I know the capacity to pay back a loan is one of the considerations before giving a customer a loan, but this has been neglected by so many of these banks thereby increasing their exposure to bad loans.

The cliche in George Orwell's Animal farm all animals are equal but some are more equal, plays out because these banks have helped the rich ensure that the poor get poorer and the rich keep getting richer. A silent caste system exists which no one is talking about. The wealth of the nation keeps circulating within the same hands.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor is a man of integrity- at least with the information on ground now- this is evidenced in the way he ran First Bank of Nigeria when he was at the helm of affairs before his promotion to the Central Bank. We pray and believe that he wont be corrupted by the system on ground and wont join them in their get rich quick game.

(http://lifewaya..com/2009/08/recent-developments-in-nigerian.html)

Episcopal minister defrocked after becoming a Muslim

SEATTLE, Washington (CNN) -- Ann Holmes Redding has what could be called a crisis of faiths.

Ann Holmes Redding says she sees no contradiction in being both a Christian minister and a Muslim.

For nearly 30 years, Redding has been an ordained minister in the Episcopal Church. Her priesthood ended Wednesday when she was defrocked.
The reason? For the past three years Redding has been both a practicing Christian and a Muslim.

"Had anyone told me in February 2006 that I would be a Muslim before April rolled around, I would have shaken my head in concern for the person's mental health," Redding recently told a crowd at a signing for a book she co-authored on religion.

Redding said her conversion to Islam was sparked by an interfaith gathering she attended three years ago. During the meeting, an imam demonstrated Muslim chants and meditation to the group. Redding said the beauty of the moment and the imam's humbleness before God stuck with her.

"It was much more this overwhelming conviction that I needed to surrender to God and this was the form that my surrender needed to take," she recalled. "It wasn't just an episode but ,  was a step that I wasn't going to step back from."

Ten days later Redding was saying the shahada -- the Muslim declaration of belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Mohammad as his prophet.

But Redding said she felt her new Muslim faith did not pose a contradiction to her staying a Christian and minister.

"Both religions say there's only one God," Redding said, "and that God is the same God. It's very clear we are talking about the same God! So I haven't shifted my allegiance."  Watch Redding say, "Being a Muslim makes me a better Christian" »

The imam at the Islamic Center in Seattle, Washington, where Redding prays said she brings the best of both traditions to her beliefs.

"Coming from an example of wanting to be Christ-like and coming from the perspective of wanting to follow the best example -- the example of our prophet Mohammed -- it all makes sense then," Benjamin Shabazz said.

There are many contradictions between the two religions. While Islam recognizes Jesus as a prophet, Christianity worships him as the son of God.

James Wellman, who chairs the department of comparative religion at the University of Washington, said that while it is not unusual for people to "mix and match" beliefs, it is almost unheard of for a minister to claim two religions.
"When you take ordination as a Christian minister, you take an explicit vow of loyalty to Jesus. It's hard for me to understand how a Christian minister could have dual loyalties," Wellman said.

Redding said she sees the theological conflicts but that the two religions, at their core, "illuminate" each other.

"When I took my shahada, I said there's no God but God and that Mohammed is God's prophet or messenger. Neither of those statements, neither part of that confession or profession denies anything about Christianity," she said.

To her parishioners and family, though, Redding has turned her back on her faith and office. There was, she said, "universal puzzlement" at her decision to convert to Islam but still remain an Episcopal minister.

"I have people who love me very much who really don't want me to do this, and I love them very much. And I would love to be able to say, 'Because I love you I will renounce my orders' or 'I will renounce Islam' ,  I hate causing pain to people who love me, that's not my intention," Redding said.

The Episcopal Church also rejected Redding's religious choice.

"The church interprets my being a Muslim as 'abandoning the church,' " she said. "And that [there] comes an understanding that you have to be one or the other, and most people would say that. It simply hasn't been my experience that I have to make a choice between the two."

The Diocese of Rhode Island, where Redding was ordained, told her to leave either her new Muslim faith or the ministry. A diocese statement said Bishop Geralyn Wolf found Redding to be "a woman of utmost integrity. However, the Bishop believes that a priest of the Church cannot be both a Christian and a Muslim."

Even though she has been defrocked, Redding said she is not capable of turning her back on either faith. She said she wants to continue speaking about and teaching religion and perhaps even travel to the Hajj, a journey to Mecca that every Muslim is supposed to make in their lifetime.


Redding said she does not want her belief in two religions to diminish the value she holds for both Christianity and Islam. Each faith by itself is enough to fulfill a person spiritually, she said.

"It's all there. I am not saying you have to go somewhere else to be complete. Some people don't need glasses, some people need single lenses. I need bifocals."

(SOURCE CNN.COM:http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/04/02/muslim.minister.defrocked/index.html?iref=mpstoryview)

abussyaya:

No babes here, only guys! Except Jill and that's very occasional.

In fact, this thread had long been feeling like Bone thugs 'N' Harmony thread.

[color=#006600]Someone please get us more ladies that made it to the final 464! Please!! hi i made it to the finals too and i believe God to get the job. i work with gtbank at the moment and i am tired of the job big time. [/color]

@abussyaya

I am very disappointed in you , i use to hold u in high esteem but i am just seeing the heartbreaker in you. Did i hear you say you work with gtbank and u are tired of the job big time, why dont u resign and go and sit at home. i dont think you you know how lucky you are to be working in such an institution, do you know how many jobless graduates we have out there who will kill for your job at half what they pay you in a month. Retrace your steps and begin to thank God for blessing you with a good job in the bank that has the best working environment and staff policy. if i knew you in person i would have copied yoor thread and mailed it to Tayo. Learn to thank gOD FOR WHAT YOU HAVE AND HE WILL BLESS YOU WITH MORE. what if LNG dont employ you , what will you do? YOu have really spoilt my evening, i Sign out.