ALL HUMAN LIVES ARE IMPORTANT

                   

I was having a discussion with a friend the other day about Jungle justice and he tried to explain to me that some of these people are killers themselves so they deserve to die. He cited a particular case where there have been incessant robberies in an area and that the robbers sometimes kill people. So on this particular day, two of these robbers were caught and burnt to death and he ended it with, "they have killed so they deserve to die."
I tried to make him see reasons that it is not up to the people to decide who dies, it is a matter for the courts but he was adamant and believes that jungle justice is right.

This young man represents a whole lot of nigerian youth and their point of view as regards the subject matter. It is a notion that I believe should be changed. It is enough to make a citizens arrest and then hand over to law enforcement but deciding the fate of the criminal (or any other human for that matter) is just taking it too far.

This kinda brings to mind the issue of abortion that have been making rounds in the news. The question is if it should be banned or not. This debate about abortion shouldn't even take place in the first place if we are really empathetic as humans.I strongly feel there should be an outright ban as we shouldn't be the decider of the fate of a foetus. Why kill and claim to be prochoice? You have no right to take another life even yours.

Whether One week or 32weeks old, all human life is sacred and important. Forget religion for a second and try to imagine what it would take to put together a human being if we were to be assembled somewhere bearing in mind what it takes to create a robot. I am pro-life, have been and would always be. Call me too conversative all you want but I think a lot of "social madness" hides under the guise of a liberal world.

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A LESSON FOR AFRICA: THE HIROSHIMA EXAMPLE

                                                                   Image courtesy of http://www.tesfanews.net

Having visited Hiroshima in Japan and left in awe of the developments even after the 1945 atomic bomb attacks, Prof. Krydz Ikwuemesi wrote in his book - A Critical Travelogue

"...But I know that even human beings work miracles and that the miracle of growth and development is not the monopoly of any race. A people only need the right will and spirit to be able to attain their golden destiny. To this extent, African countries, caught in the web of under-development and neocolonialism, certainly have a lot to learn from the Japanese experience..."

Japan was saddled with the task of rebuilding its country post WWII and looking at the country and how far they've come along, you'd agree with me that the leaders and its people did a fine job. For a place that was said to not be able to grow grass again to move from barren to what it is today according to Prof. Krydz's description is a feat that is only achievable with a changed mindet and a people's strongwill.

We as a people need to see ourselves as fit first and then tackle underdevelopment head-on. Our leaders need to wake up, see leadership as not just national service but a platform to drive development and also stop the habit of borrowing from foreign nations in the guise of developing their countries but instead enriching themselves and their generations unborn. This is just plain stupidity because as they squander this money, the future generation who is supposed to drive its development with revenues generated spend years and these resources paying the debt incurred by these crop of ineffective leaders cum thieves in power.

We need to believe in ourselves as Africans first and not really rely on the western world for everything. If they really want to assist as they claim, they should first start with putting a stop to the idea of colonial tax.It would shock you to learn that about 14 African countries are still paying colonial tax to France and we are not talking little money here but billions of US dollars. How do you expect these countries to grow with these conditions?

This is article was borne out of the desire to see us sit up as a continent and emancipate ourselves from mental slavery or neocolonialism if you like. We need a total overhaul of our mindset and start seeing ourselves as a strong continent that can drive its development. We need assistance in certain areas no doubt but overdependence on the same set of people who raped and sold us for years is what gave meaning to the term neocolonialism in the first place.

Wake up Africa!

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A COLLECTION OF SOME OF MY RANDOM THOUGHTS

                                                           Image courtesy of http://www.viralnovelty.com

I decided to put down some of the things that just enter my mind at random with little or no editing and even though there is that option to turn some of these thoughts into longer articles, I decided to make them concise and straight to the point.

01: BEGINNING MEANS HALF-DONE

That you should be your first critic as regards the work you put out there is a salient fact in every artistic endeavor but the twist now is: in your head, there tend to be this struggle between putting pen to paper, brush to canvass etc and otherwise because that inner critic wants a quality output and anything short of that is better than not starting at all.

What do you do in this tricky situation? JUST START and be consistent. There is always room for editing but just make sure that you put something down no matter how little

What differentiates excellence from mediocre is learning from one's mistakes and turning those mistakes into masterpieces.

PS: This can be applied to every field of human endeavor.

02: ON RACISM AND TRIBALISM

Racism and tribalism are of the same family. These are social ills that have become normalized despite the number of campaigns against them. Nigerians for instance, practice tribalism openly while being closet racists.

Femke Van Zeijl describes our kind of racism in her article titled Oyibo Is Not A Compliment and a critical look at that article would open your eyes to the fact that we practice racism albeit subtly.

Tribalism on the other hand is our way of life in Naija. We eat, sleep, talk tribalism every day of our lives as Nigerians in our houses, schools, workplace and even sadly, religious places.

03: BRAIN DRAIN

There happens to be this mass exodus of skilled workers from the country to Europe and parts of America and some people are always poised to ask what could be responsible for the brain drain.

The answer is not far-fetched. People just want to experience a better life. How do you expect someone to stay in a place and earn peanuts when there is an option of earning and living comfortably somewhere else.

The average human craves comfort, little wonder why people go into crime just to either make ends meet or live like a king/queen.

A better country and a stable economy would lead to prosperity of citizens, better standard of living and even influx of investors amounting to ‘the good life’ and that is what is needed to put an end to this phenomenom that has seen us loose intelligent minds cum valuable assets.

04: AWAY FROM STATUS QUO

Write within the margin, they say. I just don’t think I can because it seems to me like writing within the margin is conforming to standards set by society. I mean, I am not some kid to be guided on what to do. If the writing is clear and legible, why worry about me not writing within the margin.

I for one think that we don’t have to stick to every dictate of the society while making decisions or life’s choices. As a creative, I am an advocate of painting outside the lines sometimes because that way, you stretch your imagination and not be held within a box.

Most of the discoveries and inventions the world over, stemmed from someone somewhere doing things a little different from that which is as they say, is the normal way of doing things.

05: FULFILLMENT

Try to look up the meaning of fulfillment and you wont go any further than this: “ A feeling of happiness and satisfaction.” That being said, fulfillment is experienced in diverse ways. For some, they get fulfilled after gulping several bottles of alcohol, some get theirs in between the thighs of their significant other. Babies get theirs from their mothers' bossom while for others, it could be from reading a book, seeing a TV show or movie but the piece de resistance is that fulfillment in itself is a state of mind and all you just have to do is key into that state and life becomes easy and fun.

06: POWER

Humans have a great affinity for power. Even some who claim not to would seize the opportunity to be in a position of power. The typical human just want to be in control, be it in a social gathering, religious gathering, school environment, workplace, etc people just want to have that god-like aura around them.

A good number of the supposedly ‘normal’ humans have Narcissistic Personality Disorder and this can only be diagnosed clinically, it could be likened to someone with a type of STI but who doesn’t know because of invisible symptoms.

Humans generally love to be in a position of POWER!

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A NUCLEAR NIGERIA: ARE WE READY?

                                                    Image courtesy of www.theecologist.org

It is no longer news that the country is looking at generating power from Nuclear energy and it is on that basis that this article stems forth.

Nuclear energy being one the fastest means of power generation is not only expensive but unsafe and unstable. In developed countries where its usage is employed, there are established means of containment in the event of a nuclear disaster. Having said that, what comes to one’s mind is the Chernobyl, Three mile Island and Fukushima disasters which shook the countries they were situated and the world at large.

It is no longer news that there are moves to build nuclear plants in the country and this I believe should be a thing of concern giving our poor maintenance culture. We had problems maintaining our refineries here in the country which saw us importing refined products, something we have been doing for years and would continue for God-knows-how-long. Now come to think of it, how would a country that had issues maintaining refineries fare when it comes to maintaining nuclear power plants.

Let me take us on a little scientific journey on the workings of a nuclear power plant so we would at least know what we could be dealing with. Nuclear reactors are based on a scientific process known as nuclear fission which sees atoms of larger element disintegrate to yield smaller elements, of course with the emission of energy.

Nuclear power plants are powered by uranium (a type of radioactive element) which functions by heating up a turbine which produces electric power. South Africa is one African country where its usage is employed.

What could go wrong with nuclear power?

Radioactive wastes

This I believe should be our main concern as nuclear wastes could take a lot to contain. This extremely dangerous waste must be looked after for thousands of years. A little accident could spell doom for a future generation if it isn’t handled properly. Our maintenance culture again becomes a thing of worry.

Nuclear radiation

During this process of fission which powers reactors like breeders, there is usually a chain reaction which is of a cascade nature and this could sometimes give rise to Plutonium, an unnatural element which when released into nature could pose serious hazardous problems.

Preferred targets for terrorist attacks

 Movies and books have taught us that nuclear plants are hot targets for militants and terrorist organizations.

Nuclear accidents

Accidents do happen and in the event of a nuclear accident, there could be serious threat to the environment (Fukushima) and also human life (Chernobyl).

Nuclear experts have been contributing to the discourse and one of them , Wole Olaoye, who has been covering Nigeria’s nuclear aspiration for decades warned: “We have security problems in Nigeria right now. And I don’t want to think of a situation where we will manage the fallout of a nuclear leakage. With the level of incompetence with which we have treated our hydro-power stations. I don’t see us managing nuclear power competently and efficiently.”

Even as sustainable as nuclear energy may appear (although it is not in its entirety), I am still of the opinion that Nigeria is not yet ready.  Think the textile industries, power generation and distribution, Ajaokuta steel mill and others in the solid mineral industry, the car assembly plants, etc. Nuclear energy cannot just be handled the same way.  

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FOR BUDDING WRITERS: 3 SIMPLE STEPS TO GETTING AN IDEAGASM

                                                                      Image courtesy of www.7ideas.net

This article came up after I had an ideagasm while reading the transcription of Chip Kidd’s TED talk (The Art of First Impressions in Design and Life) video in which the word was mentioned.

For a while now, the blog has been idle due to inactivity or what my good friend have referred to as not just a ‘block’ but a ‘writer’s idea block’. He may be correct because it has actually been months since my last upload. Although there should be no excuse for the little community of readers; there actually is. I have been sent on the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme here in Zamfara state and my routine have been slightly skewed, hence little or no time to write.

Back to the article, The term “ideagasm” is a merger of two words ‘idea’ and ‘orgasm’ which simply stands for the orgasmic feeling when one’s mind becomes impregnated with ideas or better still, the feeling that comes with an “Eureka” moment (Ikeji, 2015). For a writer, this is one of those times we cherish as we just go ahead and put pen to paper; letting it flow.

Writer’s block is a phenomenon which many writers like me detest. You just want to pen something down but have no idea on how to go about it. My longest block was for over 4 months after which I stumbled and fell on an inspiration which made me experience one of my memorable ideagasm as a budding writer. The product of that idea, later led to an article which made the content editor for the Jobberman blog then, contact and had me submit articles which were published on a weekly basis some time ago. I may not be an expert on idea generation for writers but these few generators I am about to share have worked for me and could be helpful to budding writers lacking ideas or suffering from ‘the block’. Thank me later!

Other people’s material: I would like to place a disclaimer here that this is in no way supporting or advocating for plagiarism. What I simply mean by this is that by reading other people’s material, you may experience an ideagasm maybe from a new word or from how a sentence is constructed and from there; you could be typing over a thousand words. The Forbes website, Ted.com and a plethora of news stories have been helpful to me in the past and still are. Remember: If you are not reading, you are not writing.

Use of Apps: Sounds funny right? But it is serious business as app developers have come up with apps that can help you generate titles for your work when you put in key words. Some of these apps suggest titles for your work and proffer additional information that you may find helpful. One of these apps which I just came across and got to like is named Portent. A little keyword search on Google would redirect you to their site for download. Others are Hubspot, Buzzsumo, etc.

Knowledgeable discussions: Being observant while certain discussions are ongoing is one of a budding writer’s biggest tools. There are a thousand and one stories and articles from “knowledgeable” discussions with friends, in a formal/informal setting or even in a meeting. I started writing an article on Nigeria and the nuclear energy issue after seeing one news story on SouthAfrica’s new nuclear plants just yesterday. That story spurned a discussion amongst the people in that room with me and an argument ensued on whether the country is ripe for nuclear energy or not. I spoke when the need be, put pen to paper and then jotted down salient points for my next article.

Every writer’s nightmare -the block- could arise from a lack of ideas but incorporating simple rituals as the ones stated above could see you having a long lasting writing life.

Keep writing!

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LEARNING IS GOOD; PRACTICE IS BETTER.

                                                               Image courtesy of www.dreamstime.com

Recently, I was on one of Abuja’s numerous highways when my eyes caught an MTN ad on a billboard with the inscription learning is good, practice is better. I picked up a pen, wrote that down and the rest of this article is what happened next.

Some years ago, I took driving lessons from a friend. I learnt the basics and felt like I have arrived. A couple of weeks later, I would end up bashing the car against a gate when I was asked to drop some people off. I learnt the skill quite alright but never took time to practice. Each time I look back at that incident, I always think to myself learning to drive was good but practicing it would have been better. This same thing was going to repeat itself sometime in 2008 when I represented my school’s local government area in a Spelling Bee competition. I picked up the dictionary, learnt most of the words but didn’t make out time to vigorously practice them because I felt I knew them already. I lost out of the competition that could have seen me clinching the 250,000 naira prize money and becoming the governor of Lagos State for one day. Again, if only I had practiced.

The art of writing could be learned, one could get books on writing to teach oneself. You could also decide to take writing lessons from professionals in the field or even seasoned writers and then do some fine writings. It takes constant practice to either stick to or up your game, if not; all that is learned would be meaningless. Learning the art is one thing and constant practice is just the way to go as you keep tasking your brain, becoming more productive and dishing out some fine stories, write-ups or articles as the case may be. There are a lot of people who never sat in a class to take formal writing lessons but learnt the art on their own, wrote consistently and today they have the sign writer boldly written on their chest just like the Superman ‘S’sign. And just like Superman, could save the world when the need arises, these people could defend the sign on their chest when called upon or tasked with writing.

90 if not 95% of the reasons why students fail exams or don’t perform to the best of their ability is solely because of lack of practice. (The other 5 or 10% could be left for the other factors giving the Nigerian education system.) Even assignments and class works are designed to foster the act of practicing in the students so as to have or show in-depth knowledge of what they are being taught. I am yet to see a student who opens their books constantly, practice every single thing that was written in there and not at least pass their exams in a normal condition. That is, putting certain factors aside.

Ever wondered what the political arena and leadership in general would look like if a good number of those who ‘studied’ political science as a course and/or have a good knowledge of public administration or even took leadership courses are at the helm of affairs in the country’s government. (Studied was enclosed in inverted commas because every single person who finds themselves within the four walls of any higher institution in this country carries the tag ‘student’ wherever they go, the reference therein doesn’t really include every political science students.) For the purpose of this article, you’d agree that if these same people put all that have been learnt into practice, there would be an array of workable policies and progress would be recorded in some if not all sectors of the economy. But then again, politics in this country is based on ‘experience’, godfathers and all what’s not.

Learning is one thing but practice is another and of course better. It takes practice to attain that near-perfect state in whatever it is one is doing or getting oneself involved in. Indeed, just like that MTN advert said: learning is good, practice is better.


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ISSUES OF RACE IN THE BODY OF CHRIST

                                                                                

                                                        Image courtesy of Stjohnchurch.net

Disclaimer: This article is not an attempt to speak ill of the church or mar its image and shouldn’t be treated as such.  It is strictly an “imperfect” observation and opinion of the writer.

Some topic seems to be so sacred that nobody wants to talk about or discuss it even when some have given it serious thought. We stopped existing in the medieval times a long time ago and nobody would cut off your head or hang you on a tree for speaking your mind even if it is not in favour of the church. Last time I checked, the era of the Spanish inquisition is no more. I refuse to be one of those that would put religion before God. The subject of this article is with reference to the Roman Catholic Church.

Let me state emphatically that I was born and bred a catholic before those thoroughbred-soldiers-of-Christ set of Catholics would start hurling stones/arrows of criticism at me. Silence or shying away from issues has never been proven to be a solution to problems. And although this may not be a problem to millions of Catholics around the world, it is to me. 

When you take a look at all the popes in the Catholic Church from Saint Peter to Pope Francis, there is no single black man amongst the 266 men that have become pope till date and it leaves one wondering if black men don’t serve God too or if they are not good enough to be popes. I may be ignorant of the procedures or criteria for selecting a pope but I believe that all things being equal a black man should have been made pope at one time or the other since the church came into existence, if it is to be fair. There have been black cardinals if I am not mistaken and I have been privileged to have the understanding that two of them presently are Nigerians. It was said that one was among the preferatti /papabile to succeed Pope John Paul II and I guess that is the only level that a man of colour would attain in trying to become pope.

I was talking to an acquaintance who happens to be a writer about this subject and he mentioned that Papacy could be coming to the blacks soon since it has moved from Europe where it was situated to a third world country as seen in the current Pope emerging from Argentina. His tone could be perceived as saying: All we have to do as coloured people is hope that it would come down to us someday. Truth is: As long as internal politics are at play in the church, I doubt if we would be seeing a black pope soon.  Some people would say, “why not serve God and forget about who becomes pope or not?” And my reply would be that I have always been an advocate of justice and equality and would not shy away from asking necessary questions.  The only proof to ascertain equality as humans is by making a position of power open or available to qualified persons no matter their race or colour. This was at play when a black man became the president of the USA for the first time.

Another area where I think racial profiling could be found in the church is in canonization or the art of making someone a Saint. You can count the number of black men that are Saints (in the church’s standards) but when it comes to those on the other side of the divide, the number is overwhelming. Growing up in a catholic family, I attended the block rosary crusade which was almost mandatory for young Catholics and in several of our meetings, we read the Lives of The Saints. Several saints were mentioned in the book and their life and works chronicled. If memory permits, the only black saint I could recall coming across is Charles Lwanga and his companions from Uganda. To be on the safe side, I tried searching for black saints on Google and the only result of note took me the site of a catholic diocese where eight saints were mentioned, just eight.  Although, I may be ignorant again of the criteria for someone attaining Sainthood but I know that if the church is being fair, there should be more black saints in the church. The late Iwene Tansi has been called “Blessed” ever since I learnt how to read and Late Pope John Paul II who died in 2005 was beautified last year. I don’t know what the church’s reasons are for not Canonizing Fr. Tansi but I would state that apart from whatever reasons there are, his skin colour and the part of the world where he is from could not be far away from it.

I may not have read the Canon Law of The Church from cover to cover but that should not stop me from saying what I believe is obvious and should be looked into. The Roman Catholic Church may not appear to be liberal and I am not suggesting that it should be but some things have to be readdressed and of course with divine guidance. Conservatism have worked for the church over the years but little changes like equality, I believe would not collapse the structure of the body of Christ.

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BASTARDIZATION OF CHARITIES IN NIGERIA

Image courtesy of sufenwang.com

If you take a look as the amount of Nigerians seeking to ’blow’ just from owning and starting up charitable organizations and NGOs in Nigeria, you would be amazed at how degraded the term charitable organizations has become in the country.

Businessdictionary.com defines a charitable organization as an incorporated or non-incorporated tax exempt body which (1) is created and operated for charitable purposes, (2) employs all its resources to those charitable activities that are under its direct control, (3) does not distribute any part of the income generated for the benefit of any trustee, trustor, member, or other private individual, and (4) does not contribute to or associates with political organizations.

The above definition shows that the aim of charities is mainly philanthropy and every other form of giving back to society but down here, the reverse is the case – taking from the society in the guise of NGO, foundations and those other fancy names they give to these money making ventures nonprofit organizations. A critical look on some of these supposed charities or NGOs would reveal that they are not different from most for-profit organizations; they appear on the surface as a group established for humanitarian, religious or philanthropic causes but underneath, the ‘business’ goes on.

In a January 2012 article on Thisday newspaper titled Sustaining NGOs for Effective Service Delivery, Amaka Eze wrote, “As good as the concept of NGOs seems to be, some individuals however see the platform as a meal ticket and way out of poverty, thus use funds and grants from donor agencies to build personal houses, buy exotic cars, while those for whom the monies were donated are allowed to wallow in abject poverty.”

Someone was talking to me about trying to “help” a female friend (he was also interested in dating her) and he used these words, “Imagine the girl I was trying to help better her life. I was talking to her about looking for a name, starting up an NGO after which I’d introduce her to one or two people and from there, things would be better but she is misbehaving.” From every indication, “things would be better” as used by this young man could pass for: she’d make money, fame etc . There are a lot of Nigerians who are like this young man, they see starting up charities as a form of business venture – an escape from being broke or a source of income. From politicians who start or own them just to garner votes during elections, as objects of campaign, as tools to harness theft and misappropriation of public funds to celebrities who own them just to stay in the news, sometimes without even being concerned with the activities of the organizations for instance, every year, new queens emerge (as either Miss Nigeria or one of the other Misses in the numerous pageantries available today) and part of their projects is establishing charities that would cater a particular humanitarian need in the society but the twist is this: most of these charities either ceases to exist or become non-operational after a while or would only exist for the duration of the supposed queen’s reign. Why start it in the first place?!

Charitable organizations has been toyed with, misused and abused in Nigeria. In other parts of the world, there are charity regulators ie a group that sees that these charities are managed effectively and operated within their legal framework but I doubt if there is any like that here in the country because I’m yet to see or hear of any.

To ensure proper practice and regulation in the Third sector, a body should be created solely for seeing to the establishment and regulations of these charities (if none is in existence already)and if there is a regulating body, I think they are not just doing their job as it should be done because if handled properly, they (Charities or NGO’s) contribute to the nation’s economy and therefore shouldn’t be left for those who have decided to make money from any possible means or who see every single venture as a tool for their political antics.

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CANCER IS CURABLE BUT THE BUSINESS WOULD DIE

                                                                Image coutesy of www.giveforward.com

This article was born out of curiosity after seeing the 2014 movie The Cure (which I'd advise that you try to see anyway). It could be easily dismissed as fantasy or fiction but it should be viewed objectively.  

The movie is about this Fortune 500 CEO of a pharmaceutical company who came up with a cure for cancer but had to keep it secret because if it is released, the billions generated from the sales of drugs used in chemotherapy would be lost. Also because money generated from chemo would surpass that of the cure. He hoarded the cure for 11years. Fortunately, two biochemists working in the company uncovered this secret and he contracted assassins to kill them so as to keep his secret that could save millions of people if released. 

Although the film climaxed with the cure being released, in the real world we are yet to come up with a cure for cancer, which is why I think questions should be asked and the issue looked into critically.

Millions if not billions are spent annually on drugs used in chemotherapy alone. Even with several researches we are made to believe is ongoing in oncology, there is yet to be a final cure for the disease. This movie could be easily discarded as a work of fiction but before we do that, we should really take time to look at this prediction (which is what I prefer to refer to it as) because there could be some iota of truth embedded within. It addressed an important issue which is the possibility of there being a cure already but is kept secret just to satisfy some people's selfish desires. 

We live in a world governed by the filthy rich and powerful, a number of who makes money either from legitimate or illegitimate and sometimes unnoticed means. If that is the case, the possibility of there being a conspiracy to keep the purported cure a secret shouldn't be waved off. There could be this grand conspiracy to keep the cure secret, who knows. Even conspiracy theorists would tell you that the true rulers or those responsible for formulation of policies in the world are not the ones that appears as presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, CEO's etc but a particular group of people lurking in the shadows. Everybody wants to get or remain rich hence the quest to make millions or sustain the in-flow of billions at all cost so if there is a final cure, money is lost and that is bad business so they could assume that it better for people to die so that there could still be a lot of money in their pockets in circulation. The same could be applied to a number of terminal illnesses that we are made to believe have no cure yet.

One may be forced to ask, researches to find a cure could cost billions of dollars. How do you think such money could be spent and the resulting cure hoarded? My answer would be this: In our world, are billionaires and multi-millionaires who are keen on sustaining that status and hence would invest in any venture that seem profitable. More like, let's make all the money we can from chemo and then leave the cure as 'treasure' for our heirs and heiress'.

While discussing with a friend about this same subject, she asked, "But thousands of lives are lost annually, do you think they would prefer to have people die because of their quest for riches?" The sad truth is, it won't be first and probably not the last time that money is made at the expense of human lives in the world that we live in. Some of the pharmaceutical companies around carry out untimely human trials indiscriminately just to beat their competitors to that "pioneer status"-- we produced that drug before others. Also, most wars are fought solely for financial reasons but we are made to believe otherwise. The perpetrators of these wars have a picture of profits that would be made as against the number of lives that would be lost.
Bottom line is: They don't care as long as there is money to be made.

I'm not of the opinion that there is already a cure for cancer but just as the movie suggests, the possibility shouldn't be erased entirely. It is something that is worth thinking about.

PS: If you are in or around Lagos, there is a free breast and cervical cancer screening going on @ 118 Bode Thomas, Surulere courtesy of Dr. Femi Olaleye, Optimal Cancer care and Go PINK Nigeria.

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WHY I WRITE

Writers they say are gods who with the aid of their pen and paper, creates characters that come alive, brings scenarios into existence and then try to reconcile art with life. Sometime last year, I wanted to join a writing club and was asked to submit an article with the title 'Why I write'. Some friends have also asked this question severally - "why do you write?"

Below are some reasons why I put pen to paper. 

Writing to me is a form of expression. Rather than speaking those words that could easily be forgotten, I prefer to pen down my thoughts so that they could be referenced later. Some people would argue that when you get to speak of certain things bothering you, you feel good about yourself but for me; when I write about them, it produces the same effect.

I write because there is this feeling of contentment that comes with every article or write-up, a feeling that could be said to make one feel like a god - bringing things into existence. Imagine picking up a blank paper and then penning down your thoughts, stringing words together and at the same time bringing up stories, articles and write-ups that people could reconcile with. 

I write because it gives me joy, it makes me happy when someone tells me that they read my article somewhere and it really made sense. For example, a friend stopped me on the road and used these words: "Vic, how are you? Saw your Article on Nairaland, it had over 30,000 views." Imagine the kind of joy in my heart as a budding writer. The fact that people get to understand my write-up(s), could reconcile with and even feel good about it makes me feel good myself.

Writing puts me in a position to air my views on certain issues as I usually do on my blog, advise and even caution people whom I wouldn't dream of speaking to on a normal day without being interrupted. LOL. I'd admit that the fact that some people can't see you but can hear you from you write-ups makes me happy. That feeling for me is 'très bon'. 

I write because I just have to. It is more like a personal obligation for me, I just have to pick up a pen or my computer and try to string words together because it makes me whole. Those thoughts just have to leave my head and either make someone's day, get another laughing or be a source of information to a third.

Writing for me is a form of relaxation - my yoga, pilates, tai chi, meditation and any other relaxation technique you could think of. I write nice poems when I'm depressed sometimes. Penning down a piece leads to more writing as I become more relaxed and productive.

I write because I just have to write, can't really imagine what not writing feels like, I just have to do it because I can't just help but write.


Why do you write? Feel free to leave your answer on the comment box below.

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Follow me on Twitter: @victorikeji

WE ARE ONLINE; OUR BRAINS ARE OFFLINE

The internet (Social media precisely) have revolutionised the art of relationships, mainly the way we meet and interact with people. It has reshaped the way in which businesses are conducted and impacted lives both positively and otherwise. Nowadays a Facebook 'like', a single shared picture on Instagram or a Retweet on Twitter could lead to marriage, crash one's marriage, land you that dream job or make you loose that job. It is no more news that recruiters and employers scrutinize the prospective applicant or employee's social media account for 'additional info'.

With Facebook's over 1billion users and Twitter's over 500million subscribers mainly made up of young people, it is not uncommon to find status updates, tweets or pictures that would make your jaw drop in awe. 

More younger people (and even older individuals) are going online or have got that 'online presence' since the advent of technology and the epiphany of smart phones but the irony is that they log on most times without their brains and this could be noticed in the type of pictures, posts, updates on some of their social media accounts. While some of them have foolishness written all over them, others are just outright insane.

Below are innovative and more productive ways to spend time online rather than just letting the clock tick away while being 'busy but idle and foolish' in every sense of it. Hope you find the tips useful.

When you are not feeling like, don't. 
You must not post an update, tweet or share something. When you are not feeling like putting something up, you could just go online, read other people's updates, tweets, shared links and log off.

Get your timers running as soon as you log on
Limit the time spent online because there is a tendency to talk gibberish when you are perpetually online and had run out of good or reasonable things to say.

You are your social media account 
Always put this at the back of your mind: Your online personality cum social media account(s) is still seen as you in person because it has your identity so every single action taken on your account would be seen as what you'd do in person.

Ask these questions before posting.
What is to be learnt from my tweet, post or update? 
What if my prospective employer, wife, folks or pastor is reading this?
What if this resurfaces a couple of years from now, what impact would it have on my image?

Moderation and good reasoning shouldn't be limited to just our personal lives but also to what we do or how we act or speak online so as not to wish we could take back those words or actions just when it too late. 

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You can follow me on Twitter: @victorikeji

IS THE MEDIA REALLY TRUSTWORTHY?

      Image courtesy of isthisusdotnet.wordpress.com

It feeds us with information- whether true/false, right/wrong. It has lead to many deaths as well as saved so many lives. It has even been used to start wars. With a click of a button, you can experience Europe from Africa. Religions, tribes, countries rise against each other because of it. Agree to it or not, the media is and remains one of the tools shaping our world today both positively and otherwise. 

Negative or sometimes titivated information sells and spreads like wildfire and the media has numerous applications of this because according to some, it is where the bulk of the money lies. For instance, In one day, I turned on the TV for a News bulletin and was greeted with a story and pictures on a gruesome murder. I sought for solace on my Facebook wall only to be slapped with another slightly skewed version of a story I read earlier. I felt Twitter would be any better but as usual, some biased political activists were having a field day, dishing out articles upon articles to mar a prospective governor's chances of winning an election. This got me thinking: Is there still an iota of truth in the world? In their song 'Where is the love', The Black Eye Peas sang: " ...Wrong information always shown by the media, negative images is the main criteria. Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria, just wanna act like what they see..." Younger Nigerians who are keen on subscribing to the herd mentality picks up this stories, adds their own touch of "creativity" to it and we get more confused. 

In this age of Technology, Blackberry, iPhones, iPads etc, everything seem to have gone online, it is not uncommon for an individual to get information of the happenings around them from the internet i.e Blogs, Online magazines and even News websites and all these complements the numerous newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations we have in our world today.

The question remains: How accurate and honest are the information we digest from the media? The nature and type of these information could be based on certain factors. For example, most of the information and news we get from the media has to do with the people and the affairs of government. The government might want to convince people to support their policies and this could lead to its liaison with journalists or even media outlets thereby suppressing certain kinds of information while pushing forward those that could sound or seem pleasing to the citizens and portray them(the government) in good light. 

In our world today, there are a thousand and one media outlets but they are owned and controlled by a small but powerful number of corporations which exerts a strong influence on the type of stories to be covered, nature of stories covered and how stories are covered, all tailored to suit the corporation's objectives. In such case, there is nothing like freedom of the press and as A.J Liebling asserts "Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one." Also, advertising seems to be the primary source of revenue generation for most media outlet and even the sole source for others. Understandably, these media outlets are tasked with promoting the business and style of management of their advertisers while suppressing news stories that cast a negative light on the sponsors. 

I won't forget to add that due to competition, most media outlets end up putting up images, videos or audio's that are selected just to shock or titillate their audience or viewers sometimes shoving the relevant information aside.

To answer that aforementioned question - Is the media really trustworthy? The answer is YES & NO depending on you - the audience, the listener, the viewer.

Yes because it is one major source of information and you just can't help but pay heed to it unless you prefer to remain uninformed and not current.

And No on the other hand because we in one way or the other form part of what we put up there or what we refer to as the media. So as rational beings, we should weigh this information, some of them could be false but only a critical look at them would reveal this falsehood.

Even why I still maintain that not every information gotten from even the so-called reputable news or information sources are true, objectivity is still key.

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Follow me on Twitter: @victorikeji

THE POWER OF A WOMAN

                                                                           Image courtesy of http://www.ekaterinawalter.com/

The above mentioned phrase have been clichéd with a good number of people not having the slightest knowledge of what it stands for or represents. I did a little research in my 'mind's lab', observed and came up with the following definitions for the power of a woman.

-It leaves a man confused about whom to choose amongst several women. (A lot of men would agree that their judgements get clouded sometimes)

-It makes a student forget that he has got loads of books to read. (Undergraduatenna anyi's knows better or could explain)

-It makes a grown man behave childishly putting aside the fact that he is an adult. (I mean, many a man have found themselves in this position)

-It is that which the advertising industry have taken advantage of in order to sell products ranging from cars, houses, services down to groceries and household items.

-It makes a man walk under the sun even when he would have preferred a shade.

-It turns great men into objects of ridicule. (The former US president who had a problem with his fly could tell you more)

-It makes 5 hours spent with a woman seem like 5 seconds. (Especially when it is a 'just married' situation or when a relationship is still very much new)

-It creates great enmity between supposed inseparable best friends. (Yours truly could attest to this one)

-Sadly, it is that which makes sanity leave a man and then makes him a killer, serial killer or rather go on a shooting spree.

- Also, it is that which could get a man a top job or make him descend from that position.

-It makes men who have taken a vow of celibacy to sometimes think otherwise. (Trust me, e dey hold them sometimes but thank God for grace)

-It makes a man talk gibberish and thinks he is making sense. (Based on toasting level)

-It is that which makes a man spend the last of his money and tells himself "as long as there is life there is hope."

-Funny enough, it makes some men cry when they didn't mean to.

The definitions are inexhaustible and the list could even make up a book if I decide to continue, indeed God works extra hard each time he assembles a woman and so those set of people should be treated with utmost care and respect.

Cheers!

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Twitter: @victorikeji

IMO WOMEN ARE PROMISCUOUS AND OTHER LIES...

The statement 'Imo women are promiscuous' is one of those lies that have been told severally that it begin to seem true and cool to say or use. That one girl/woman is doesn't mean all of them is or that it runs in their blood like some people had suggested. It is just like saying 'yoruba women are party-freaks' when I know of some that would not attend the periodical 'owambe' for a whole year.

This brings to mind other clichès like "Nigerians are 419ners and cyber criminals" "Calabar people are sex freaks" "Benin is the hub of witchcraft in Nigeria" etc

What these lies does is, it takes charge of our perceptions consciously or subconsciously and then forms our judgment of the said people, race or country and when this happens, it affects how these people are being related or interacted with.

Some very quick examples, businesses or transactions that have Nigeria on it or are operated by Nigerians are always suspected to be fraudulent even if they are genuine. Most websites are inaccessible to Nigerians for fear of breaching its security or swindling its users. Each time a Calabar person (a word commonly use to refer to people from Akwa Ibom and Cross-river states in Nigeria) is spotted, it is assumed that he/she would be a pro or love to do it not minding the fact that a good number of them don't even have an inkling for sex. We always hear words like ‘benin witch’ and other stereotypical words that tends to associate Benin city or its people with the practice of witchcraft even when a good number of these people has never had anything to do with such practices.

Back to the statement "Imo women are promiscuous", this has stereotype written all over it because anybody can be; only that people always seem to notice it when an imo person is involved. At one particular time, the statement almost took its toll on me as I joined the bandwagon and the bandwagon effect was almost shaping my perception of all imo people especially the women until I met more of them, got to interact with and even stayed a long while with them.

The statement remains a fallacy of hasty generalization and should best be discontinued so that the younger generation whose minds are very receptive wouldn't have a one sided cum biased mindset about this group of people which would in turn affect the way they relate with or perceive imo people. The long term effect of this stereotype could be a comformation of the affected people to that which they are been identified with. There could also be problems in relationships involving the said people as they sometimes would lack the trust of the person they are in a relationship with because of a belief that they are promiscuous.

Just a few questions to clear the air on this one, is promiscuity hereditary or carried in the gene? If my father and two other friends that happen to be from Anambra supports Barcelona, does it automatically make me a Barca fan? If there are a few headless matchstick in a matchbox, does it mean that all the matchsticks in the box are headless?

Let’s put on our thinking caps and stop these unnecessary stereotypes!

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Twitter: @victorikeji

8 Types of People You May Likely Find In Nigerian Universities

Throughout the 4 years spent in the University or what my American friends would call college, I met, got acquainted to, made friends with and observed several individuals. I kind of classified them into ten and below is an attempt to describe these people. Mind you, the names used are not real but fictional. 

JACK THE BOOKWORM: This guy or type of people reads everything that has to do with his or their academic work to the extent that they use them in everyday conversation sometimes even knowing some concepts more than their lecturers. Their favourite 'fun spot' is usually the library, stadium or one of those other isolated places. They usually have that nickname - 'First Class' although many of them end up not graduating with a First class degree. They are usually ignorant of happenings around them or even some occurrences around school because of their sometimes 'withdrawn' nature. Ask them something like 'who were the people protesting on campus the other day?' And you get a reply along the lines of, 'I don't know, how does that add to my GP?'

JULIE THE MARKETER: Julie has the hustling spirit and this is how she likes to describe it but in the real sense, she is a 'runz gal'. Marketing in this contest refers to 'showcasing' her 'wares' and getting paid for them. The nature of her job(s) makes travelling a compulsory hobby sometimes as she is always on the go. She is hardly found on campus or in class because of the demanding nature of this job. She is classy and would appear in expensive wears, jewelries and phones, all thanks to her wealthy clientele. Some individuals in this class are smart and could write and speak legibly, others are outright dumb, couldn't even spell their names but only know one thing - money.

ALEXANDER THE TERRIBLE: He was probably 'blended' in his first or second year on campus and is then termed a 'strong man'. He is rarely found in class except during certain practical classes or on exams day. He appears innocent sometimes and is unnecessarily humble as it is common for him to refer to you as 'Boss' or 'Sir'. People who know him treats him with respect just to avoid getting themselves into trouble with him and he always have his way with 'Jew men'. He could be seen sometimes with a bag hanging across his shoulder - a bag you dare not touch or try to open. Alexander may not be caught smoking in public but he sure is a smoker and spends a lot of time hanging out with the boys at the bar, exchanging banters in between bottles or discussing 'business' in hushed tones.

MATERIALISTIC NONSO: He/she is that boy or girl that would rocks the latest fashion or uses that phone that is in vogue. This 'shiny' individual would spend money trying to look like those models on some music videos or even the celebrity themselves all thanks to the plethora of uncles, aunties, brothers, sisters, cousins etc that they would 'tax' before returning to school even after their parents must have given them their allowances. He/she is probably from a 'humble' home but when you get to see this person in school, you'd think that the father owns an oil bloc due to their flashy appearance. Nonso would lie about everything starting from what his/her father does for a living down to why they are not attending a university abroad or a private university.

KALU THE ENTREPRENEUR: This guy has 'business' written over him, from the way he talks, reasons, down to his views about life. You shouldn't be surprised if rumours starts flying around about him owning a space at that market close to the school. Kalu, who maybe one of those people whose parents would rather starve to ensure that he remains in school sees making-money-while-in-school as the perfect getaway from frustration and inadequate funding. He sometimes drops out of school in pursuit of happiness or finishes and then faces business squarely.

UCHE THE APOSTLE: Uche could be a boy or girl or to be more specific, that brother or  sister. If you happen to be his/her roommate, be ready to get to know Jesus personally. If there is something you feel he needs to know ASAP and his number seem not to be available or his cell is turned off, just try to locate him first at the school's Gethsamane (usually a place , not necessarily a church where students gather to pray sometimes) or in any other place(s) where brethren meet. Uche eats, reads and sleeps the bible sometimes even forgetting about his/her coursework till exams day. Uche stays in the hostel or have an apartment offcampus but a greater part of his/her day is spent attending one fellowship meeting or the other. Although he may not be in your faculty but don't be surprised to find him in front of your class one early morning just before lecture commences trying to tell the whole class a thing or two about Jesus Christ.

JOHN THE CLASS CLOWN: Every class in every department in every faculty in the University has this particular guy. He cracks everybody up with either his speech, body movement or the way he answers question in class. Most people see him as unserious but he could be one of those people that exams haven't really favoured and so they sought solace in making others smile.

PATRICK THE RANDOM GUY: He is what some people call the unusual everyday guy. He attends class just like every other person, submits assignments and writes exams just like every other student. He is usually not involved in things like politics or sports in the department but he could be found among the observing crowd. He appears simple and does not court attention. He is the best person to ask for any information concerning the department or faculty because he can be found everywhere as long as there are people there and it has to do with the department or faculty.

Bottom line is: God creates people with different characters and personalities and then have them placed at different parts of the country/world but the university brings them together. The university affords you with the opportunity to learn from this vast array of individuals.

Seize the opportunity!

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Twitter: @victorikeji

THE 2ND ANAMBRA BOOK & CREATIVITY FESTIVAL: A CANDID LOOK

The Tourism industry could be said to be one of the trusted revenue generators of a state or country if handled properly. The role of tourism in the development of a state cannot be overemphasized as it could be a strategy used to maintain the flow of cash into a state, for instance the Dubai example. But on the other hand, tourism development could be threatened when Tourists are not ensured of their safety. A state that have had several cases of kidnapping, armed robbery, etc could be said not to be the perfect tourist destination but Anambra could still be transformed despite all those sad tales coming out of the state and that is what literary events and their likes tend to achieve – bringing like minds in the creative industry together not just to discuss creativity but also issues pertaining to nation building.

The 2^nd Anambra Book and Creativity Festival (ANBUKRAFT) held between the 26^th of February and the 1^st of march 2014 at King David hotel, Awka. The event which was ran with the theme “Reinvigorating the Literary, Creative and Cultural Enterprise in the Realities of the Millennium Turn” featured various activities and presentations from seasoned and young artists, educationists, writers, publishers, literary and art critics, art lovers, film makers, craft makers, actors, poets and musicians from different parts of Nigeria and beyond in addition to several roundtable discussions and a five-day exhibition of books and crafts. On display were several paintings on the Nigeria-Biafra war, Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and a host of other paintings and crafts, some of them with Uli markings. The theme of the event which was further dissected into various presentations, saw speakers cum artists like Prof. Ben Obumselum, Rev. Fr. Ositadinma Amakaeze, Prof. Damian U. Opata, Prof. Ayo Oloidi, Mr Lasse Lau and a host of others speak to and engaged the participants in series of discussions while the programme lasted. The event which had renowned poet and literary critique Prof. Chimalum Nwankwo, The Chief Judge of Anambra state Justice Peter Umeadi and the Vice Chancellor of Madonna University Prof. C.E Ezedum in attendance climaxed with an award ceremony which saw a number of artists and other participators in the industry rewarded for their contribution to the creative industry.

This interesting and highly educating programme was almost marred by a low participation as chairs were looking for people to sit on them but resilience and dedication was at play as the organizers of the event led by one of Nigeria’s foremost visual artist Prof. Chuu Kryd Ikwuemesi held on till the last day. It is rather appalling to have resource persons come from other parts of the country and the world to share information and disseminate ideas only to be greeted by empty seats for an event that was greatly publicized. If people from other states and countries, knowing how impactful the program would be could travel long distances just to attend the event, I wonder why Anambrarians in whose domain the event is being held would snub it. It is about time that we put a stop to the generalization that Anambra people and the Ibos in particular only understand the language of money or business and this stereotype is part of the reason why literary events like this don’t seem to be common in Anambra. We shouldn’t forget in a hurry that the state also produced the likes of world acclaimed novelists Professor Chinua Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi, Chimamanda Adichie, one of the foremost Nigerian fine artist Prof. Uche Okeke, Prof. Kenneth Dike, the first Nigerian sculptor Prof. Ben Enwuonwu and a host of others currently making wave in the creative industry. 

Literary events like ANBUKRAFT would not just boost Tourism in Anambra state but would export the people’s culture to other parts of the country and the world. It would also serve as an avenue for young artists, art lovers, writers, academics, and craftsmen etc to meet themselves and with some of the people they look up. With that in mind, the government, institutions, agencies, corporate bodies and individuals have both participatory and sponsorship role to play in other to ensure the continuity of ANBUKRAFT and other events of the same nature. Away from the success recorded in terms of commerce in the state, there is need to place the state in the world map of creativity just like some other states in Nigeria have done with their various literary events and festivals and this is part of what ANBUKRAFT aims to achieve.

There is a need for more events and workshops of this nature in the state so as to awaken the creative spirit in the younger generation, mould budding talents as well as provide them with skills that would help them earn income, contribute to nation building and hence, make Anambra the true light of the nation as is being carried by its slogan.

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Twitter: @Victorikeji