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BANGERS AND FIRECRACKERS: The Sound of Christmas

Firecrackers originated in China from as early as 200 BC. But then, these firecrackers were merely bamboos. These bamboos produced the same loud bang we know now when placed near heat continuously. Soon afterwards, the invention of gunpowder changed everything. And right now, nothing beats the colourful sparkles and crackling sounds that fill the air every Yuletide season. Indeed, bangers and firecrackers make Christmas all the better and better.

But then, what’s a good sound without comfort? And what’s a good banger full Christmas without convenience? Get all the comfort and convenience you need this Yuletide period with VTpass. VTpass is comfort. Right from your comfort, you can pay for your daily services and settle your bills from your phones. So, just by logging in to vtpass.com, you can make payment for your electricity bills, data, tv subscriptions and airtime.

But come to think of it, are these blaring sounds of Christmas still heard today?

Unfortunately, nearly not. Somehow, back in the mid-90s, people began to condemn the use of bangers and firecrackers. Many saw them as noise pollutions, and threats to societal peace. In fact, some thought they posed dangers to the kids who took delights in throwing off these bangers.

Before then, right from December 1, it was not uncommon for kids to herald in the month with the loud sounds of these knockouts. While kids cherished the little bangers they threw on the floor, teenagers liked to deal more with firecrackers. They would throw these firecrackers to the sky and have them splash colours over people’s heads. As the days drew closer to its end, so did the sound increase. And the splashing colours too, they got brighter. Most times, it was hard to tell a street you knew earlier in the year. Because apart from the fact that there would be a lot of colourful adornments, loud banger noises usually blared from all corners.

Most adults couldn’t stand the jeering kids who waited in corners to scare them out of their wits. And the kids, they expended all their pocket money in buying these knockouts. In time, it became evident that no one wanted much to do with these explosives. This became even more evident when these explosives, one or the other, led to the jeopardy of some people’s lives. And now, we can only hear these sounds of Christmas in trickles here and there. But even though they may not sound as gallantly and highly as they used. It is apparent that they can never die so far as there are still kids out there.

VTpass wants to offer you comfort and ease this Yuletide period. Log on to vtpass.com to pay your electricity bills and DSTV, STARTIMES and GOTV subscriptions. Also, pay for your MTN, GLO, AIRTEL and 9MOBILE airtime and data subscriptions in three easy steps. It’s simple, safe and reliable.

BLACK NOVEMBER IS THE NEW BLACK FRIDAY

The end of every month brings with it a new hope for the things that are yet to be. But alongside this new found hope, there are lots of pending bills to pay. It can be frustrating enough trying to balance one’s account at the end of the month. But what is more frustrating is finding a way to settle our bills right on time and with ease. VTpass settles this problem with a reputable technical acumen. By logging on to vtpass.com, you get to pay for, not just your accumulated expenses, but your daily services. Through vtpass.com, you can pay your electricity bills, cable tv subscriptions, airtime, data and so on. So, November is drawing close to its end and it would be good to examine just the sheer significance of the month. And if there is anyone word to qualify November, it would be black. Black November.

Really, there was quite a lot of Black going on in November, the most notable of which is the Black Friday. But is this the reason for the name Black November? Not quite. We can bank the meaning more on a thrilling Nigerian 2012 action drama film. This film was called Black November and it did a lot to mirror the Niger Delta’s struggle against indiscriminate pollution of their environment.

But more than this, Black November has recently come to mean more than this. It now denotes the exhilarating, cheap offers and sales discount that comes with the month. Right from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday to Black Friday, there are always cheap sales and bonuses going all over. And now, even beyond Black Friday, goods go out at cheaper rates and people buy more in preparation for the incoming days of celebration.

In fact, you would want to know that Black Friday, as a one-day shopping spree is becoming extinct, giving way to the word Black November. “Analysts are proclaiming the death of Black Friday and the rise of Black November.” And although “Black Friday still remains one of the biggest shopping days of the year, but now it shares the spotlight with Thanksgiving, Cyber Monday, and the two weekend days in between. Thanksgiving is now the third-biggest shopping day of the year, behind Black Friday and Cyber Monday”. This was a report by Dennis Green. So, Black Friday is no longer just a day, it is now a whole month. Hence the word Black November.

Even as November fades away, know that you just walked through one of the most exhilarating seasons of the year. But if you did miss some set moments in the month, do not worry. We at VTpass see every month as a celebration and are all out to make you see that too. Do you need to get good services at just the right convenient time? Then, you should partner with us. Through our stable, vtpass.com, you can get your daily services like MTN, GLO, 9MOBILE, AIRTEL airtime and data. You can also get your DSTV, GOTV and STARTIMES tv subscriptions and electricity bills. And what’s more, you get your money’s worth. VTpass is a simple and secure way to celebrate every season.

WAYBACK: History of Electricity in Nigeria

It is somewhat difficult to imagine a time without electricity in Nigeria. This is not to say we have a stable power hold. But, electricity is quite something that has found a place in nearly every home. And there have quite been a lot of changes in the power sector. These changes have in so many ways affected power supply in various capacities. Again, one thing that has changed over time is the payment method. Away from the manual methods of payment that characterised the yesteryears, there are now automatic ways of paying. So that, you can now pay your electricity bills from the comfort of your space and speedily too. One sure way to do this is by logging on to vtpass.com. VTpass lets you pay your electricity bills as well as for other daily services in just three easy steps.

So, what’s the history of electricity in Nigeria? Just how and when did we begin to have our lights shining?

We didn’t begin to generate electricity on our own. It was a development wrought at the hands of the British colonial rulers in 1896. The first power plant, was at their behest, set up in Lagos.But then, we weren’t at all ready to have them run the show just they were not ready to as well. So in 1929, electricity generation activities kicked off in full with the creation of the Nigeria Electricity Supply Company (NESCO). Alongside the Public Works Department, they had a mandate to build power plants across. This led to the construction of a hydroelectric power station at Kuru, Jos.

But then, only government officials and houses had access to electricity. However, this was to change when the newly formed Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN) gave the instruction that electricity should be provided for any and all Nigerians who could afford it. This was in 1952. This led to the construction of a 132KV line linking Ijora Power Station and Ibadan Power station. Furthermore, the Niger Dams Authority, established in 1962, went on to open our eyes to the possibility of deriving power from water (hydropower transmission). And this was the beginning of a golden period in Nigeria. But this golden era was not without the amalgamation of NDA and ECN to form the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA).

So, this golden period lasted all through the 1970s to the 1980s. We can say this was due to the fact that the rural areas saw no need for electricity and did not press for it. So, there were enough watts to go round. But this was set to change when the power sector started experiencing a decline in maintenance. And coupled with the fact that more people demanded electricity, the good days of good electricity faded. By 2000, power supply dropped to as low as 1,500 megawatts.

Olusegun Obasanjo, in his time, put in quite some effort to change this trend when he came up with the National Electric Power Policy in 2001. This was led to the creation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). This administration also came up with the Presidential Action Committee on Power. On and on, other administrations like the GEJ administration, have come up with several other corporations.

On the 1st of November 2013, the existing GENCOS and DISCOS were privatised and a bulk of the administration was handed over to private companies.

Really, it is evident that Nigeria has come a long way when it comes to electricity. And although we are not totally yet at that stage of total illumination, we can say we are getting there. Also, when it comes to paying your electricity bills, there is now an easier and more convenient way. And this is through VTpass. VTpass offers a convenient way of paying everyday services like airtime, data, electricity bills and tv subscriptions. Log on now to vtpass.com to make easy, fast payments for your electricity bills.

RIGHT INVESTMENTS THAT CANNOT GO WRONG

Ever put your money in a venture that didn’t go down well? Then, you might know a little about minding just where you put your investments. Or even worse, you might be very sardonic about investment, especially in a place like Nigeria. At VTpass, we do know how painful it can be to have one’s money go down the drain without meeting a purpose. So, we help you get your money’s worth anytime any day. You do not need to rely on getting services that will not deliver. From us, you can get all your everyday service just when you want it. To do this, log on to vtpass.com. On vtpass.com, you can pay and get your phone airtime, electricity bills, data and cable tv subscriptions.

And as for those investments that fail, it might be because you are looking in the wrong direction. Good investment prospects do not necessarily have to be something big. Most people put their money in shares and stocks and virtually other things that look promising but do not necessarily promise a win. Rather than investing your money in things that do not actually yield much, why not look at the possibility of investing in any of these:

AGRICULTURE: This might look a little unsuspecting. But the agricultural sector is one good place to trade. A good investment usually works around products and services that target consumers cannot do without. And if there is any one thing like that, then it must be food. Because of this, you can always invest in something that directly or indirectly connects you with agriculture.
TECHNOLOGY: Ok, this is something that is on the ebb, and virtually on the verge of exploding. There are various ways you can invest and make money from the technological realm. But then, you should look for technological opportunities that do not squeeze too much out of you. For one, through online platforms like VTpass, you can make a growing passive income that sustains you well enough. And this too for just a small investment. By being a terminal agent, an affiliate partner or trade partner, you can get commissions on the number of trades you refer or bring onto the platform. So, visit vtpass.com to find out more.
AFRICAN ARTS: Ok, you are shocked at this point. But then, you would want to know that past and contemporary artworks of African artisans are in high demand. Not just that, the various factors like distance and time that were once barriers to the importing and exporting of artworks are in redress. And what is more appealing is knowing that these highly demanded artworks are bought by Africans themselves. What this means is anyone who chooses to invest in African arts either as an art collector, a curator, exhibitioner and the likes will not be at a loss. Are you an art enthusiast? Then waste no time, join in the movement.
CRYPTOCURRENCY: Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Dogecoin etc. are opening new ways for people to make money. Although this is sometimes, you can invest in this and make quite a lot.

Investing in VTpass as a terminal agent, a business developer or trade partner puts you on par with anyone investing in any other field. This is because you not only stand to make quite a lot. But it also comes at a low risk. Visiting vtpass.com gives you more information about this. Also, you can buy and pay for your everyday services using vtpass.com. Settle your electricity bills, cable tv subscription, airtime and data easily and speedily using vtpass.com. Really, with VTpass, life can only get better.

2018 WORLD CUP: NEWSREEL

Every four years, several national teams unite together on several green fields across the world for one purpose. And that’s to bring home the glory and prize of the FIFA world cup. And every four years, Nigeria has participated in this memorable event. Most times, they have failed to impress a lot of Nigerians with their performance. But it seems the Nigerian football body is going all out this time to propel the Nigerian team into winning. So, you would want to get in tune with the preparations of the Super Eagles for the 2018 world cup. And you can conveniently do this by visiting vtpass.com for your data and airtime.

But in the meanwhile, the Nigerian Football Federation is showing quite as much support for the Super Eagles. For one, they intend to pay players and officials the sum of $2.4 million for the World cup in Russia. Not only that, the NFF has also agreed to remit the other benefits and due payments to the game players. So, this action is a retrospective of the 2014 world cup when issues regarding the pay row led to a poor performance on the part of the Nigerian team.

It looks like a lot is going on for the Super Eagles. This is not only in terms of the money doled out to them, but there is quite a lot going on for them on the field. On one hand, the team beat Zambia to qualify for the World cup just as they had a tie with Algeria in a recent friendly. And there is the recent victory against Argentina in an International friendly.

In appraising this match, Orji Kalu, the former governor of Abia State, had this to say:

“The well-deserved victory of the Super Eagles against the Argentine team is inspiring and worth celebrating. The Super Eagles’ players have demonstrated uncommon soccer sagacity.”

It is evident that more than all these, a whole lot is going to go down for the Super Eagles as well as other teams in the 2018 world cup. You wouldn’t want to miss any of the action that is bound to unfold. Log on to vtpass.com now to make quick and convenient payment for your airtime and data. Also, you can pay your electricity bills and DSTV, GOTV and STARTIMES subscriptions by simply coming on to vtpass.com.

Hip-hop: The story and theory

Hip-hop is one genre of music that is generally the hype and glitz of any thriving urban city. Really, it is a unique blend of sounds that make the heart throb and makes the ear bounce. And if there is any one thing a music lover will tell you. It is that Hip-hop is life with a garnish of gyrational rhythms and beats. More so, Chuck-D, a prolific rapper, music producer, author and activist, made a profound revelation in an interview. He said, “Hip-hop is about being who you are”. Really, this statement inspires some inner thought and just about explains what Hip-hop is. And more than anything, it is on this axis that we have seen lots and lots of hip-hop releases that continue to blaze the trail.

In fact, most people live and breathe hip-hop. They listen to it for as long as they can and through any such medium available. For one, most people prefer physical contacts with hip-hop artists, paying just about any amount to watch them perform on stage. But recently, the large influx of hip-hop influences has come from the online platform. So that through YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify, Worldstarhiphop and other social networking sites, people get to download, listen to and share songs. Whatever the medium might be, VTpass, an online payment platform, grants easy and speedy access to the internet, hence, enabling you to connect to your favourite hip-hop jams. By logging on to vtpass.com, you get to buy your airtime and internet data in just three easy steps. Through vtpass.com, you can also make easy payment for your electricity bills, cable TV subscriptions and so on.

There is no need questioning the continuity of hip-hop or seeing an end to it. Because there is clearly no end. Hip-hop has seeped into our daily lives so that we might be nothing without the feverish and charismatic melodies. But then, it won’t be too out of place to find its beginning and give it a root? So then, what is the story of hip-hop, especially in Nigeria?

Generally, hip-hop started out as a culture in South Bronx, one of the five boroughs in New-york. Although it seems music is all there is to hip-hop, there are actually other facets of this culture. For one, deejaying, breakdancing, beatboxing, rapping and graffiti art are other aspects of HIP-HOP. As Ronald Savage, the son of Hip-hop movement would say,

Hip is the culture, Hop is the music.

This line of art and movement started with gangs and clubs like the Puerto Rican and the Ghetto Brothers. These groups organised street events to break the prejudices and boundaries amongst African-Americans. But then, it evolved over time into something beyond space and time. What has made hip-hop hippie and popular over the years is the successful combination of styles, techniques and expertise from all over the world? For one, DJ Kool Herc, in his time, developed the key DJ techniques presently used. In the early years, there was an equally rich blend of Jamaican and other African musical styles. Also, other genres of music like R&B, Jazz, funk and disco have all come together to form the unique sound of hip-hop.

Although at first, it seemed the whole gyrational culture was done by Africans for Africans, Hip-hop is now a revving artistry that belongs to the entire world.

THE NAME

Keith “Cowboy” Wiggins, a member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, has been credited with coining the term in 1978 while teasing a friend who had just joined the US Army by scat singing the made-up words “hip/hop/hip/hop” in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers. Cowboy later worked the “hip hop” cadence into his stage performance. The group frequently performed with disco artists who would refer to this new type of music by calling them “hip hoppers”. At first, people used it in derogatory ways but later, they associated it with the culture.

HIP HOP IN NIGERIA

In reaching the whole world, the hip-hop culture also spread its tentacles to Nigeria. How and when cannot be easily explained? But one thing is sure, Nigeria has always been an evolving site for music, culture and life. This is especially true in light of the music lovers and talented musicians that strive endlessly to make our indigenous tunes music in the ears of a global audience.

A research paper by Dr Yomi Olusegun Joseph does justice to the delineation of hip-hop as it goes down in Nigeria. He focuses primarily on the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria. Here is an excerpt:

The engagement of Yoruba youth in Nigerian hip hop (also known as Naija hip-hop or gbedu) may be seen as deconstructive, interrogating the normative drawing of sociality and citizenry in the adult-Nigerian space. But this deconstructive engagement also incorporates the primary desire of every hip-hop artist to construct individual ‘respect’ and relevance in the area of imaginative experimentations and entertainment, and ultimately to attain stardom.

This factor emphasizes a major difference between the ideological origins of hip-hop in the United States and Nigeria, for while it commenced as a channel of social criticism with a racial bent in the United States, it took off primarily as an entertainment outlet in Nigeria. It later became a youth channel of social criticism and transcultural group expression. Thus, the Yoruba contributions to Nigerian hip-hop necessarily embraced the marriage of local and Western imaginative resources to breed what often alarms the adult world as Kayeefı `: a bewildering mystery.

This notionally becomes the case because traditional culture and its pillars are reduced to recycled commodities in which the sacrosanct becomes tabooed, the communal becomes eroded, the ethical becomes outlawed and the ethnic becomes ‘postponed’.

Being Nigerian, in this regard, becomes an identity that shifts towards a feeling of being global and being a citizen, since the postmodern cultural mediation of the NHHN introduces new socio-cultural values that imaginatively ‘free’ youth from the limiting socio-political boundaries of the Nigerian nation-state and mono-ethnicity. In this manifestation, the Yoruba intervention in Nigerian hip hop becomes an exercise in artful transgression. One of the ways in which this exercise is carried out is through the relocation of familiar native folk songs, pithy sayings and proverbs from their customary habitats of ethnic veneration to a playful, postmodern arena of identity in which the customary is artistically and ethically ruptured.

The elements of code-switching and code-mixing in this song (also common to songs by a number of Yoruba lead artists such as 9ice, D Banj, Olu Maintain, Lord of Ajasa, Weird MC, Sound Sultan, Jazzman Oloﬁn, (the late) Dagrin, Olamide, eLDee, Davido, Bouqui, Sasha, Ara and Tiwa Savage) are statements of postcolonial ambivalence, a site which memorizes the past but insists on a transcultural identity in order to subvert the twin grand narratives of nativism and postcolonial national afﬁliation.

It is instructive to note that the aesthetic and discursive experimentations of the Yoruba intervention in Nigerian hip-hop and the concentration of this activity in Lagos, the former capital city of Nigeria and Nigeria’s most cosmopolitan city, has evoked a youth culture with an amazing hybrid character. This hybridity negotiates a globalized reinvention of the Yoruba language and culture usable even by non-Yoruba hip-hop stars.

It must be noted that the mainstream language of Nigerian hip-hop is the Nigerian pidgin. However, since the Yoruba language enjoys the reputation of being largely de-ethnicized through an array of creative experimentations and transcultural social contraptions, Yoruba may well be seen as the indigenous-tongue ‘lingua franca’ of Nigerian hip-hop. This, however, does not mean that remarkable innovations do not occur in languages such as Igbo, Hausa, Eﬁk, Idoma, and so on. Neither does it mean that Yoruba youths do not consume songs that are code-mixed and/or code-switched in English and non-Yoruba indigenous languages.

The fact, however, that most hip-hop activities and stars are based in Lagos has informed a development in which Yoruba enjoys the status of being the next most widespread and available language, coming close to Nigerian Pidgin and English. This naturally opens it up to a globalized imaginative stream of usages, which also cements youth solidarity within the Nigerian hip-hop cultural experience. Some notable non-Yoruba stars who have been known to use Yoruba in one creative form or the other include Ruggedman, Tuface, P Square, DJ Zeez, Terry G and Jesse Jagz.

Thematically, Yoruba-oriented hip hop casts itself within a geography of illimitable possibilities, ranging from the personal to the communal, from the private to the public, from the ethnic to the (inter)national, from the religious to the secular, from the subjective to the objective. Aesthetically, it explores arresting avenues of language use, proposes a synthetic relation with non-Yoruba cultures, epistemic temperaments, worldviews. It accommodates non-Yoruba participants within an arguable commonwealth of the linguistic, folkloric and philosophical hemisphere.

So this is quite an academic paper, one that is theoretical in nature. It goes a long way to show the kind of vibe that reels around the hip-hop world. Always stay on to your favourite hippie songs with vtpass.com. VTpass allows you convenience in paying for all and any of your everyday services. You can pay your electricity bills, DSTV, GOTV and STARTIMES subscriptions through vtpass.com. And you can also pay for your MTN, AIRTEL, GLO and 9MOBILE airtimes and data subscriptions on this online payment platform.

WHY ARE TOKENS NOT SENT IMMEDIATELY?

At VTpass, our ultimate priority is making sure our customers get the services they pay for when they need it. Our online payment platform, vtpass.com, is right on hand to do just this. By logging on to vtpass.com, customers get to conveniently pay for everyday services. And these services range from electricity bills, cable tv subscriptions to airtime and data subscriptions. So, many go on to pay for electricity bills in their comfort and also get to receive their tokens immediately via email and SMS. But then, some tokens don’t come in as fast as they should. Hence, it would be good we get to know why tokens do not come in immediately in these rare cases.

Well, it should be known firsthand that vtpass.com as an online payment platform is not in anyway responsible for the generation of tokens. The electricity distribution companies are, at the most, responsible for the token generation. And so, vtpass.com is hardly responsible for the delay in token generations. The delay in a token generation is mostly due to two factors.

SERVICE BREAKDOWN

Once a while, the service operations of the electricity DISCOS might experience a slight, temporary breakdown which might delay the generation of tokens to customers. What this inadvertently means is that any sort of transaction with the affected DISCO through offline channels will also be virtually suspended for the period of breakdown.

However, when this occasional breakdown occurs, VTpass always does make sure it gets a fix as soon as possible. Through our several correspondences with the DISCOS, our customers get to receive their tokens as soon as the DISCO’s issues are resolved.

Also, we keep constant conversations with our customers through the various support channels. Hence, you can reach us through our contact, email and live chat. And you can simply follow us on Twitter @vtpass.

BAD NETWORK

So, this is yet another reason why tokens generation might come with a delay. As these tokens come in through email and SMS, the availability of the network come to bear on its transmission. So that a bad, fluctuating network might cause a delay in a token generation.

Any which way, VTpass has proven over time to be a simple and sure way of settling bills quickly. Just by logging on to vtpass.com, you can pay your electricity bills, DSTV, STARTIMES AND GOTV subscriptions in record time. Also, you get to buy your MTN, GLO, AIRTEL and 9MOBILE airtime and data on this platform. This is apart from the many ways you can share and earn money on VTpass.

VTpass is a reverent planet on its own. But then, it’s still part of an entire cosmos, an entire world. Away from the many irregularities in the world, we have made our planet as comfortable and convenient as possible. Why don’t you come in to have an experience of a lifetime?

NIGERIA VERSUS ARGENTINA FACE-OFF: HIGHLIGHTS

On the fourteenth of November, 2017, Nigeria played an international friendly against Argentina. Beating Argentina to a four-two, it was one unanticipated victory and a sweet one for Nigerians all over. Although many insisted that the absence of Leo Messi on the Argentinean side had a telling impact on the match, it was nonetheless a glorious day for the massive Nigerian supporters. Of course, for those who did not renew their cable TV subscription, it might be quite difficult to get the very best of this match. You can conveniently and quickly renew your TV subscriptions by logging on to vtpass.com. VTpass gives you easy online access to the payment of your everyday bills.

To relatively measure the victory of this past international friendly, it would be good to shed light on the past face-offs between Nigeria and Argentina. So, these are the highlights of the face-off between Nigeria and Argentina.

Ever Banega and Sergio Aguero scored two-goals for Argentina after 36 minutes.

Then, Kelechi Iheanacho struck back with a goal for Nigeria.

It was 2-2 after the first half. But seven minutes into the second-half, Alex Iwobi gave Nigeria two more goals. So, this brought it to a 4-2 victory.

Also, you would want to know that prior to this time, Nigeria has lost most matches to Argentina. Here is a throwback to our previous face-offs:

25 Jun 1994	Argentina v Nigeria	L	2-1	FIFA World Cup
10 Jan 1995	Nigeria v Argentina	D	0-0	FIFA Confederations Cup
02 Jun 2002	Argentina v Nigeria	L	1-0	FIFA World Cup
12 Jun 2010	Argentina v Nigeria	L	1-0	FIFA World Cup
01 Jun 2011	Nigeria v Argentina	W	4-1	International Friendly
06 Sep 2011	Argentina v Nigeria	L	3-1	International Friendly
25 Jun 2014	Nigeria v Argentina	L	2-3	FIFA World Cup
14 Nov 2017	Argentina v Nigeria	W	2-4	International Friendly

Get the best of FIFA World Cup 2018 as it unfolds in Russia. Stealthily follow the progress of the Nigerian Super Eagles as they move through several stages and offer us sizzling suspenseful plays. So, to do this, you have to constantly, regularly and quickly renew your DSTV, GOTV and STARTIMES subscriptions. And this you can successfully do with vtpass.com. VTpass is an online payment platform that affords you the opportunity to make payment for your daily services. And this too in three steps. You can pay your electricity bills, cable TV subscriptions, MTN, AIRTEL, GLO and 9MOBILE airtime and data services in these three steps:

Log on

Select

Pay.

So, go on to enjoy Russia 2018 in style, for VTpass is right behind you.

THINGS USED AS CURRENCY BEFORE THERE WAS MONEY OR VTPASS

Ask any brilliant, economic mind out there what money or currency is. And they will go all out to say something like this:

Money is a current medium of exchange in form of coins and banknotes. Also, it refers to the assets, resources or wealth owned by something or someone.

One word that catches one’s eyes in this scholarly definition is the use of the word ‘current’. Somehow, this presupposes the idea that money as a medium of exchange evolves from time to time. Although we now employ coins and banknotes as our current currency. This might yet get to change in times to come.

Or has the change come already?

Well, steadily and surely, the currency/money change is happening. In fact, it is so in the air. First, there was the cashless policy. And now, there are online wallets from where you can save, withdraw and even spend money. Invariably, at the forefront of this cashless currency is VTpass.

VTpass is an online payment platform where anyone can pay for their everyday services. With vtpass.com, you can buy your MTN, GLO, AIRTEL and 9MOBILE airtime and data subscription. And also, you can also pay your electricity bills, DSTV, STARTIMES and GOTV cable tv subscriptions as well as perform other transactions.

And yes, as a registered user, VTpass also serves as an online wallet. Not only can you save any amount of money in a safe and secure wallet that belongs solely to you. You can also pay for services right from this wallet. What this means is that without having to withdraw from the bank and the likes, you can settle your everyday expenses. Right from your VTpass wallet, you can pay your electricity bills, tv subscriptions, data and airtime.

Evidently, the next medium of exchange is already on your doorstep with vtpass.com.

But then, it would be good if we took a time travel to the older generations to know just what they spent. If anything else, the coins and banknotes that seem to pervade everywhere were not in anyway what the Amazons and traditional people of the past spent.

So, here are the forms of money that were spent back in the days.

Let’s start with the most familiar of things:

Gold: Now this is very familiar but rare. When gold was very abundant in African countries like Gold Coast (Ghana) and non-African countries like America’s California, it was of rare currency value. Just like people would do anything for a lot of banknotes, it was not unusual to see people becoming slave miners just to get the feel of gold.
Silver: Along this line, refined silver was also a valuable means to buy and sell.
Beads: Now going way back in time, beads were also of very weighty value.
Stones: Now it is getting to sound ludicrous, right? Well, wait till you see others.
cowry: This is quite familiar and precious. It was especially known with African countries like Nigeria. Now cowries are merely used as adornments, can you imagine?
Shell: Don’t be put off. Using shell as a medium of exchange is actually the same as using cowries. Maybe even more precious. These shells, mostly clam and conch shells, are usually beautiful and exotic. Something you would want to keep with you, even. Now, you can simply find them at the beach. But this does not reduce their value anyway.
Copper: It’s a wonder if the people in the past ever knew that copper would count for something in the electrical world. Well, whether they knew or not, they thought of it as a valuable money medium.
Salt: It was quite a luxury getting to have your food sweetened with salt. So yes, it served as a medium of exchange in the past. This might be due to its manner of discovery and the very fact that it was hard to refine and all.
Paper: The discovery of paper from trees created a very mad rush for it. It was a marvel. Well, not like this is any different from what we have. What we have now are faces printed on paper.
Animals: Now this has nothing to do with the buying and selling of animals for festivities. This actually involves using animals as cows and sheeps as currencies. Not only that, even fishes and animal dungs were means of trade by barter. The dungs of bats, in particular, were very expensive currencies.
Plants: The people of the past hadn’t a care in the world so they could afford to trade barley for tea plants. Just as they could mess around with using peppercorns and rice as money values. Now rice was quite something then.
Blood: Don’t puke at this one. Because any day, anytime, the human blood will always be valuable and a viable currency. Blood is life itself; it restores life to a dying person. It’s no wonder we have a blood bank. And if kidneys, lungs, hearts, hair and the likes are now donated, why couldn’t the people of the past sell blood.

So we are now past all these old currencies and money medium. And we are even walking into a new era of online exchanges. Indeed, change is the one constant thing in life. Vtpass forewords this new line of movement with the VTpass wallet. By being a registered member of vtpass.com, you can save, withdraw and transfer money from your VTpass wallet. Not only that, you can also make payment for your everyday services in three easy steps through your VTpass wallet. Hence, you can pay your electricity bills, Mtn, Airtel, Glo and 9mobile airtime and data subscriptions. You can as well as renew your Dstv, Gotv and Startimes subscriptions through vtpass.com.

The future is already here with vtpass.com and you can’t afford to be left behind.

TRADITIONAL WAYS OF COMMUNICATION

Tuesday always has a traditional feel to its turned up rhythm. Blaring music, plugged in conversations and social media gags take a higher volume. And this is all in the hope of getting the right flavour to spice up the week. So, in more ways than one, modern communication has made Tuesdays and every other day so much fun. Anyway, communication gets even better with VTpass. You can easily get enough data or airtime for your numerous social media activities by just logging on to vtpass.com. The way it goes these days, it seems that besides the modern days of communicating, there has never been any other way of communicating.

But we all know that this is not the case, really. There have always been various ways of communicating in what we can call the traditional days. But not only that, these traditional methods synergise with the very modern means of communication.

Here is how:

So, traditional communication has to do with those communication routes that used to be and still exist in rural regions. It usually involves verbal media more than any other medium. Of course, modern communication is more concerned with the use of machines and technology to affect communication.

To share ideas, the people of the past would usually do engage in

conflict resolutions, cultural festivities and didactic artistry like oral literature that incorporates mystical rituals, folktales, drama, dance and the likes.

Through the intertwining of these methods, a message receives amplification in the clearest form possible.

You would agree that this, in a way, bears similarity with the methods through which the modern people communicate. To pass an information, people take to the social media platforms with posts that give information as well as entertain. In fact, everybody goes to these platforms for various reasons. While some just want to have fun, others take to telling people about what to do. But hey, one thing stands certain- creativity and entertainment drive an information to the fore.

just like we have in the modern communication arena, there were also various platforms through which messages were passed traditionally.

The market square: Apart from the original purport of buying and selling, the market square serves well as a communication arena. Women who have picked information from various places spread it around with the word of mouth. Just like the rural arena, VTpass serves as a platform through which you can pay for your everyday services like airtime, data, electricity bills and tv subscriptions. And of course, this helps you connect to the various other communicative platforms.

Town criers: This has always been a veritable way of communicating in the past.

Social Functions: Through social functions, information is easily passed around.

There are also non-verbal ways of passing information traditionally. For example, we have the idiophones which have to do with high sounding instruments that produce their own messages just by beating. The Yoruba talking drum, the Igbo Ikoro, Ogene and Ekwe are examples of these. Symbolic displays and gestures are also traditional non-verbal ways of communication.

It’s good to reminisce about how the past traditional ways of communication. But it is evident that the world has since moved from these methods to a modern means. VTpass offers you quick access to your favourite communication platforms, be it the cable TV or internet. And that too in a convenient way. Just by logging on to vtpass.com, you can pay for your everyday services. You can pay your electricity bills, DSTV, STARTIMES, GOTV subscriptions in a jiffy. You can also pay for your MTN, AIRTEL, GLO, 9MOBILE airtime and data and get that fast connection to the world out there.