General News
10 Tips toTurn Up Your Valentine’s Day Charm
This year, Valentine’s Day falls on a Sunday. Hopefully, this gives you ample time to prepare for it. It is all about romance and expressing your love to the one you cherish the most. It comes with high expectations and preparing for it can create a lot of anxiety and stress. To make your Valentine’s Day easy, here are ten tips that will ensure you create a day that is charming and memorable.
Set reminders and create calendar events
To start preparing for Valentine’s Day, remind yourself that the little things matter when expressing your love. Using your Google Assistant, set reminders and create calendar events to ensure that little details do not fall through the cracks. Schedule time to clean the house, get a babysitter (if you have a baby), buy ingredients for V-day’s food recipes and make reservations.
You can simply create new calendar events by telling Assistant, “add to my calendar” or “make an appointment” followed by the event’s name, and optionally even location. For instance, you could say: “Add to my calendar, buy red roses on February 12th at 10a.m,” Google Assistant is available on most current Android devices. You can access it by setting up “Hey, Google” voice activation.
Create a playlist of romantic songs
Love songs are perfect for stirring up a romantic mood. The songs you pick are a major part of showing how you feel. On YouTube, there are a variety of love songs fit for Valentine’s Day. You can create a playlist of romantic love songs, from timeless classics to brand-new tracks to share with your loved one before Val’s day.
On Valentine’s Day, you can stream the songs from your created playlist while you sing along with your loved one. The right love songs plus a candlelight dinner; candles and flowers, not forgetting slow dancing. will go a long way to spark up the Valentine’s Day charm.
Purchase a special gift
Google Maps’ nearby function can help you find gift stores close to you to purchase that special gift for Valentine’s Day. Simply open Google Maps, search for a place, press enter, then click “Nearby.” Enter the kind of place you want to search like, “Gift shops”, then press enter again to see the top results in red mini-pins and red dots. The results show you an array of gift shops you can purchase gifts from.
Share gifts that show your appreciation and not necessarily those that break the bank. For instance, you can choose between a favourite perfume or cologne, a bottle of wine, jewelry or a trip to the spa. Remember, with gifts, it is really the thought that matters, so make it count.
Find inspiration for the lounge
You can choose to break away from the norm of spending time in a fancy restaurant and hotel. Bring the love back home and spend quality time with your sweetheart. This will require some deliberate effort to create comfortable surroundings with romantic ambience.
The lounge is the perfect spot to get you and your partner in the mood for love. You can watch YouTube videos to get Valentine’s Day decor ideas to create a romantic mood in your lounge. Whether you decide to set up a Valentine’s Day tree or adorn the lounge with blush pink decor instead of red, you will definitely be inspired by the videos you watch on YouTube.
Opt for top-rated restaurants
Making plans for that Valentine’s Day romantic evening. Use the “Explore” feature on Google Maps to find the top-rated restaurants around you. See listings of the names and addresses of the restaurants, opening hours, directions, a price scale and even user reviews so you can see if it’s worth making a reservation. It is important to make sure that the menu can accommodate your dietary preferences and to check if it is within your budget.
It is imperative that you adhere to Covid-19 preventive measures if you must spend Valentine’s Day outdoors at a restaurant, so be sure to ensure that the restaurant is operating with Covid-19 guidelines for businesses in Nigeria.
Connect with your sweetheart over a distance
If you are in a long distance relationship or you have been separated due to the Covid-19 travel ban, never mind, lover’s day can still be memorable. Make use of Google Meet to connect with your sweetheart. Set up a video call to share the day together. You can have a romantic meal via the call, stream a movie together, listen to your favourite playlist online or just sincerely confess your love to each other among other planned activities.
Relieve your love by creating and sharing photo memories
With Google photos, you can relieve your love memories and share with your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day. You probably have photos with your partner saved up over the years. If you have Google Photos, those photos will have been saved up automatically. Simply select the photos that share intimate memories via a created folder with your loved one – this will definitely be nostalgic.
Also, you can make plans to have a romantic Valentine’s Day photoshoot using your device and save up the photos in a folder in Google photos and share later with your sweetheart.
Binge watch your favourite romantic movies on YouTube.
Valentine’s Day is a nice time to make plans to cuddle up and watch romantic movies. YouTube provides a list of romantic movies that can be streamed for free. Grab some wine and chocolate, with scented candles, while laying on the rug and binge watch love movies into the night.
Serenade your honey with a love song
A great way to show how much love you feel for that special person in your life on Valentine’s Day is to sing to him/her. Music connects with love emotions. If you are not sure of the lyrics of that favourite love song, you can simply search for it. By typing, ‘song name’ plus “lyrics” in the search bar on Google Search, you get the lyrics displayed at the top of the search results page.
Get inspiration for love words
There is no doubt that Valentine’s Day can make us anxious and not sure of the right ways to say, “I love you.” Take a peek into Google Arts and Culture portal to get inspiration from Beethoven. In his numerous letters, compositions and notes there are some declarations of love; beautiful passages, that have been compiled that you can draw inspiration from to get the right words to profess your undying love to the one you love.
With a little effort and some planning, you will not only create a very special day, but you will create a Valentine’s Day that will be memorable. Remember, little romantic touches make a big difference. You really do not have to over do it. Pay attention to little romantic details to ensure your Valentine’s Day is an enjoyable, special day to remember.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) celebrated its 75th anniversary during its 65th Annual General Meeting, highlighting decades of resilience, innovation, and commitment to service.
Mr. Tony Elumelu, Group Chairman, reflected on the bank’s journey, emphasizing its ability to adapt and transform over three-quarters of a century.
He announced UBA’s impressive financial performance for 2024, including a gross revenue of ₦3.2 trillion and profit after tax of ₦767 billion.
The bank’s total deposits grew by 42% to ₦24.6 trillion, while its loan book expanded by 35% to ₦7.5 trillion.
Mr. Elumelu also addressed UBA’s efforts to meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s directive to increase the minimum capital requirement for international commercial banks.
Following a successful rights issue, UBA’s capital now stands at ₦355.2 billion, with plans to raise the remaining ₦144.8 billion later this year.
GMD/CEO, Mr. Oliver Alawuba, reiterated UBA’s commitment to enhancing customer experience through digital banking.
He highlighted the bank’s focus on leveraging artificial intelligence and advanced technology to serve its 45 million customers across 24 countries more effectively.
UBA’s dedication to environmental stewardship and social progress was evident in its 2024 initiatives, including planting 4,550 seedlings to offset carbon emissions and distributing over 13,000 books through the Read Africa Initiative.
The bank’s efforts were recognized with multiple awards, including “Bank of the Year” in five African countries.
As UBA continues its journey, Mr. Elumelu and Mr. Alawuba expressed gratitude to shareholders, customers, staff, and regulators for their unwavering support.
The bank remains committed to innovation, financial inclusion, and driving economic growth across Africa and the globe.
Sextortion scams have become so widespread that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is sending agents to Nigeria to help track down the perpetrators.
The agency’s “Operation Artemis” has led to the arrest of 22 Nigerians, half of whom are “directly linked” to sextortion incidents in which victims died by suicide.
Sextortion scams often begin on social media, where perpetrators pose as attractive young women to lure victims—typically unsuspecting teenage boys—into sending nude photos or explicit videos.
Once the images are obtained, the scammers turn to blackmail, threatening to leak the content unless the victim pays up.
In some cases, the sextortion results in teenage victims taking their own lives over fear of the nudes leaking.
In Thursday’s announcement, the FBI noted it’s been “observing a significant increase over the last three years in financially motivated sextortion schemes targeting young males ages 14-17, resulting in more than 20 minor victims dying by suicide.”
The agency is also facing a 30% year-over-year increase in sextortion-related tips.
“According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center or IC3, there were over 54,000 [extortion-related] victims in 2024, up from 34,000 in 2023,” it said.
“Over the last two years there have been nearly $65 million dollars in financial losses due to this crime.”
In response, the FBI says 55 agency field offices came together to identify “nearly 3,000 victims of financially motivated sextortion,” which led investigators to track down the culprits in Nigeria.
The US has since extradited at least three suspects from Nigeria.
“These subjects will now be held accountable in the American justice system, with more subjects still awaiting extraditions in Nigeria,” the FBI added.
FBNQuest Trustees Limited, a subsidiary of First HoldCo Plc, provider of trust solutions to individuals, corporate and government institutions, recently hosted its inaugural Estate Planning Summit in Port Harcourt.
The maiden event, themed: Wealth Preservation and Transfer without Hassle, was organised to strategically enlighten and empower the participants with the necessary knowledge required to seamlessly manage and successfully transfer their assets and legacies to their beneficiaries.
Speaking at the event, the Acting Managing Director, FBNQuest Trustees, Babajide Fetuga, stressed the critical importance of seeking professional guidance on estate planning, preservation and transfer of wealth to successive generations and other beneficiaries. He stated that a professionally drafted estate plan gives no room for any form of ambiguity; hence, it provides clear directives on what to do at any time.
‘’The potential consequences of not having an estate plan include perennial family disputes and protracted court cases, which may result in a huge financial burden and foster long-lasting resentments among loved ones if proactive steps are not undertaken to protect individuals, families and loved ones from avoidable stress.
‘’Understanding the values of wealth preservation is crucial. It is vital to recognize the importance of having a strategic estate planning blueprint, and we are determined to educate you with knowledge that not only informs but inspires you to take the necessary actions as you move forward,” he added.
FBNQuest Trustees is dedicated to promoting effective estate planning solutions. The company has a track record of successfully hosting estate planning summits in Abuja, Lagos, Minna and Ibadan and continues to emphasize the importance of thoughtful planning through initiatives like the Legacy Series Campaign and the Legacy Room podcast.
The summit featured industry experts who delivered valuable insights on the significance of wealth preservation and transfer, addressing the residents of Port Harcourt and its environs. The discussions focused on practical approaches and proactive measures attendees can adopt to manage their estates effectively and minimize potential future challenges.
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