http://zonerator.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/327475
Then it struck me. Repeated exposure to the unpleasant experience had dulled my acerbic reaction to it and made it bearable, even laughable. Something else I discovered: this mood-reversal therapy is actually a mainstay of Nigerian society. It’s how we deal with the desperate squalor that assails and surrounds us. It’s how we pull the rug over the regular police brutality and impropriety meted out daily to unsuspecting citizens. It’s how we pat down with pride our wilted fabric of social morality, sewn through with the rotting thread of corruption. And for the present context, it’s how we’ve glossed over the recent spate of institutional upheavals that could in the long run threaten the oft-touted rule of law this administration seeks to espouse.

I speak of the compulsory dispatch of the EFCC boss for a one-year professional course by the IG of Police. This peremptory course of action, effected while EFCC boss Ribadu was in the middle of prosecuting an unscrupulous motley of very slippery and very influential former administrators, was instigated under circumspect circumstances and prompted a momentary public uproar of dissent. Still, that’s all it was, a momentary, flash-in-the-pan uproar. After media pundits steamed and stewed the subject for a week, it slipped off the front burner of critical commentary and became instant fodder for cartoonists and comedians. Then even the jokes grew stale, the guffaws lessened and gradually, it assimilated into society’s dregs of yesterday’s news, without any constructive remediation proffered or seen through. One big “poof!” and it was gone, just like that.

The EFCC boss has since been replaced, blockades installed to prevent his reinstatement, and while all appearances to the effect of continued prosecution are kept up, the wheels of crime-fighting seem to have stopped turning. Tomorrow, we’ll be saying “Ribadu, who?” You can never underestimate the convenience of a comatose public conscience…

I guess that’s why a global survey declared us the Happiest People on Earth.
]]> Sat, 26 Jan 2008 10:26:00 EST http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/327475 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/275365
The seductive ideology of marketization, or the use of market-based solutions to resolve socio-political or economic maladies, has captured the imagination of many a nation desperate to divest itself of under-development, motivated further by the advice of financial institutions like the World Bank and the IMF. That these bodies should endorse such a capital-oriented viewpoint is fairly obvious, but there is some scepticism as to the effectiveness of the various aspects of marketization practised, namely deregulation, liberalisation and privatisation. The concept itself has held sway in many econometric schools of thought from the ‘invisible hand’ of Adam Smith to the much-extolled Keynesian economics, finding credence even in realms of political philosophy where Hobbesian proselytes maintain that man is inherently and incurably selfish, less concerned with the common good except insofar as it serves his interests. It is quite the irony, though, that the solution reached by Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) to counteract the consequent conflict of individual interests would be absolute feudalism, especially since feudalism itself was on the decline and giving way to capitalist tendencies in the 16th century, the period during which he lived. As it turns out, the anarchy he had anticipated has never really actualised due to the now well-known dynamics of spontaneous order. First expounded by Bernard de Mandeville in his “Fable of the Bees” (1714)1, it theorises that when the personal pursuits of individuals make them prosper, society permits their activities and encourages their emulation. Just as equally, fruitless pursuits are discouraged, slowly building a pattern of collective behaviour, or social order, conveniently attained by allowing individuals to pursue their own ends and by so doing, meet the needs of others. Thus the ideological defence for ‘dealership economies’ was established, and has been fiercely advocated by Western democracies to the straggling sovereignties of the Third World ever since, particularly in recent times with the agency of globalisation.

Nonetheless, the verdant fields of idealism rarely withstand the scorching singes of reality very well, and such economic restructuring as the entrenchment of private enterprise requires has proved successful largely where the bureaucratic tools ensuring a transparent market system are available. This is evident in regions of macroeconomic cooperation like the OECD and the EU, where the absorption of the east-European countries of Poland and the Czech Republic immediately reflected positively on their GDP and general quality of life among the populace. Other countries who attempted such an economic overhaul have had to grapple with the marked expensiveness of such a convoluted process, which in turn diminishes the prospects of competition on a level playing field and has resulted in the emergence of corporate oligarchies, a trend discernible in Mexico, Brazil and countries in Africa like Nigeria. The telecommunications market in Nigeria, for instance, is split three ways between two multinational concerns and a substantially-backed indigenous enterprise, primarily because the need for profit prevented the Federal Government from proffering licences at rates other potential competitors can afford. Furthermore, to meet the tremendous capex sacrificed to secure their licences, these companies are offering their services at rates averaging 50 cents/min call-time, that in a country where people thrive under a dollar daily. Nor does this string of market inequities end in telecommunications. Further encouraged to drastically truncate on public spending, the Federal Government is relinquishing more public enterprises in the sectors of power and water supply, usually in notoriously obese conditions, into private hands, whose penchant for profit has entailed that several livelihoods daily face the chopping block of downsizing. The ones left are dispossessed of the accustomed job securities of gratuity and pension, and the hurdles to secure employment are now raised to Herculean standards. Ultimately, competition is stifled, profiteering bolstered and the gaping chasm between fending hands and famished mouths is further widened, defeating the purpose for which privatisation was originally intended. The practice of deregulation fares little better, as the process of removing statutory trade restrictions have, rather than increase the level of competitiveness, placed the market under the control of the stronger private corporations and spawned de facto market monopolies. It created the software giant Microsoft, and even when state intervention splintered its corporate mass to prevent its exclusive dominance of the software market, the effect was like a superficial sloughing exercise and it bounced right back. If these antecedents are to be presumed precedents, then the prospect of eradicating poverty by equitable distribution of wealth generated via the path of private enterprise is bleak indeed.

Proponents may argue that the Microsoft illustration in fact validates the flexibility in the practice of marketization within liberal economies like the United States, where the tactful use of state control curbs the potential abuse of a free market scenario, protecting the rights of consumers and weak competition. In other words, if bureaucratic intervention is shackled strictly to consumer security and regulating competition, forging a fair, impersonal economy system is possible. This thinking, postulated by Nobel Laureate and economist Douglass North2, however underestimates the overarching reach of the state in system control; indeed, its claim of the system’s ability to shackle state arbitrariness is discounted daily, even in so-called established free-market economies of the West. The constant tussle between the USA and China over cheap imports from the latter due to its undervalued Yuan (a squabble that delayed China’s entry into the WTO), or the steel stand-off between Europe and the US, to recall an earlier scenario, prompted some string-pulling and trade-throttling to protect the domestic industries in America and exemplifies the wishful bent of this idealistic position. The sobering knowledge garnered from this cursory overview is that private enterprise can veritably multiply the rate at which wealth is generated, but presently lacks a proven means of equitable allocation of resource; hence the material extremes of profligate opulence and pernicious penury remain the antithetical bedfellows of our economic reality. It may be posited that socialism and eventual communism sought to bridge this divide, albeit to deplorable effect, as historic annals recount. This paper explores however a methodology through which the avenue of private enterprise may negotiate this seemingly intractable quagmire, by means of a daring but doubtlessly effective move – acquiring the arena of academia.

More specifically, what is proposed herein is a major-scale investment in technical education. At first glance this may seem chartered grounds, as several privately owned institutions of learning already exist around the world. Furthermore, the third world is not exactly teeming with what would be the targeted demographic, i.e. wards of affluent patrons, so venturing their proliferated establishment in developing countries also appears an ill-advised incongruity. But this tier of learning, which focuses on specialization of technological skills by its students in various fields such as machinery workmanship, mobile telephony, business management, electrical/electronic engineering, food processing and the like, not only equips its graduates with the requisite expertise to be easefully assimilated into knowledge-specific companies or industries, but also enables them pursue entrepreneurship using their expertise in these disciplines. Thus by providing qualitative technical education in developing countries, private concerns are simultaneously ensuring a steady string of direly needed professional recruits into their staffed rank and file, hence saving on employee orientation and re-training courses, as well as enabling an early conversion of academic certificates into paying vocations.

Undertaking the setting up of qualitative technical schools is an expensive prospect, however, more so due to cost of installing workshop machinery, laboratory equipment, research modules, pilot stations and other training exigencies. It is thus advisable that only multinationals or cooperatives engage this proposition. Companies most preferred are multinationals with considerable product stake in the domestic markets of these countries that will thus serve as credible drivers of the venture and equally motivate associated banks to proffer their services. Examples may be drawn from the sectors of cellular technology, food, refreshment and household electronics, namely Nokia, Samsung, Sony, Phillip, Coca-Cola, Guinness and Nestle, companies with instantly recognisable trademarks whose products are used the world over. To generate requisite capital for the initiative, a Technical Training Trust Fund (TTTF) will be put in place and primarily financed by a float of company stock conducted every three years. This fund will also subsidize tuition when students enrol by a marginal requirement that will prevent fee values from exceeding the cost of normal secondary school tuition within the given area of establishment. Business management and economics will feature as compulsory courses in the school curriculum, commenced from the first year. Prior to graduation, students will be instructed to submit a final-year business bid detailing what entrepreneurial aspirations they envisage to pursue after graduation and how they intend to bring these aspirations to commercial fruition, citing practical merits and potential pitfalls of their proposals. Selecting submissions noted for the exhibition of foresight, feasibility and sound business acumen, the TTTF will make available loans to their authors upon graduation, enabling them set up small credit establishments that best realise their venture objectives and exploit the skills acquired from their technical training. On the other hand, promising graduates who opt to further should be offered scholarships to the tertiary level, appended with a 5-year staff enlistment caveat after studies are concluded.

The students involved in the loan scheme will be required to repay their loans within a stipulated timeframe, and where repayment is met within schedule, the students will be entitled to what will be referred to as a Post Study Share (PSS) Option, which offers them the opportunity to purchase a limited number of company stock at half unitary value. Half the repaid loan is reserved to support the TTTF. However, these shares shall be annotated as common stock, with only subsequent purchases if allowed varying between common and preferred stock. Preferred stock, sometimes called preference shares, have priority over common stock in the distribution of dividends and assets, and sometime have enhanced voting rights such as the ability to veto mergers or acquisitions or the right of first refusal when new shares are issued (i.e. the holder of the preferred stock can buy as much as they want before the stock is offered to others)3. Those who default on prompt repayment will forfeit the PSS Option and have their businesses repossessed and liquidated by the banks coordinating this loan initiative.

This loan strategy is a trendsetter on many levels, but it does have a precedent in the informal institution of layman apprenticeships already practised in most third-world countries. In this system, children who desire to pursue a trade pay to be apprentices and serve under their masters without remuneration for between 5 to15 years, at the end of which they are sent off with substantial venture capital. Layman apprenticeships usually are the only form by which the drive of private enterprise has been perpetuated in developing countries, and while the process has been for the most part successful, its relatively primitive nature and limitation in scope required the invention of a more progressive, result-oriented variant as described in the foregone paragraphs. This variant, which shall be termed the Support for Technical EntrepreneurshiPS (STEPS) programme, gives a boost to the private sector in a myriad of unique ways. It provides an agency for directly investing in the fostering of medium credit businesses without, for instance, risking the channelling of funds through the questionable conduits of government parastatals. It offers genuine opportunities for trade multinationals to contribute in fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of eradicating poverty and hunger by concurrently promoting the advancement of literacy and engendering domestic resource mobilization within developing countries. It encourages capacity building of their host economies and stimulates the drive for entrepreneurship, which is crucial to sustainable development. The STEPS programme also accrues a binge of benefits for the investors. Besides free advertising, it elevates the corporate image of these companies and procures possibilities for markedly enhancing their market credibility and stock valuation. It also offers an opportunity for significant capital base expansion through the PSS Option and increased patronage of company merchandise, a vogue that doubtlessly will motivate the competition to adopt the programme and ultimately assure its longevity. But perhaps more importantly, it enables these companies shed their excess resource to the benefit of the neediest places of the world.

STEPS is hardly risk-free, though, and among the questions which will be posed as to its feasibility include the issue of possible prohibitive state restrictions, coordination difficulties, candidate (country) selection for pilot studies, and, most importantly, the willingness of these companies to assume the onus of STEPS instigators. Beginning with the last-mentioned concern, it would serve the interests of the United Nations’ bureaus on education and development, namely UNESCO and UNDP, to arrange the mandatory solicitous liaisons with these potential financiers from the private sector, given that the targets of the programme dovetail with their stated objectives and the overall aims of the MDG. Placing them at the helms of programme coordination also conveniently mitigates other complications regarding candidate selection, as they already possess the necessary data to sort out and identify what countries qualify for pilot studies and the skilled manpower to conduct them. The impediment of undesirable state interventions however tend to be very arduous to remove, and immense international pressure must be brought to bear if this is to be surmounted. It is especially critical to involve an institution like the IMF in the advocacy endeavour as well as in monetary leveraging of the TTTF, since it already serves an authoritative advisory role on finance in most of the countries affected. It simply will not do for both parties to be at ideological loggerheads as has obtained in the past4. With a synergised approach, the host states will be better persuaded to embrace the initiative and soft-pedal on imposing opportunistic levies or demanding undue trade concessions which might discourage the financiers and scuttle the programme before it even begins. It must be realised though that some barriers may prove impossible to scale. Isolationist nations like Zimbabwe may be counted on to vigorously oppose such ‘foreign intrusions’ as is proposed. Another issue that might also prove a pickle concerns the sales of company stock to sustain the TTTF, whether to the enterprising school leavers or the public, a prospect some partners may find unsavoury to contemplate either due to the nature of their corporate framework or for fear of potentially devaluing their asset base or stock value. Append that to the condition of tuition subsidies and the fact that the loans are to be repaid sans interest, and one gets a whole cavalcade of unresolved complexities without ready answers. Research to fully surmise all the angles is by no means exhausted yet.

In the end, the range of success will depend on how well we cooperate, and it is ardently anticipated that whatever course of action taken shall attest to the triumph of the human spirit by the concerted annihilation of desultory deprivation in the Third World.

REFERENCES

1. Ashford, N., “Core Concepts: Spontaneous Order”, available at http://aworldconnected.org/article.php/870.html

2. Philips, L., “Core Concepts: Institutions Matter”, available at http://aworldconnected.org/article.php/932.html

3. “Stock”, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/stock

4. “Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals,” UN Millennium Project 2005. Overview. 2005. p.36, available at http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/reports/fullreport.htm.
]]> Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:48:00 EST http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/275365 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/275343
Secondly, I unreservedly regret offending Dr. Etokidem’s sensibilities over a difference in opinion concerning my recounting of the TIG conference, specifically the entry wherein he was referenced. There was absolutely no intent to misrepresent the gentleman doctor; in fact, I did confess to having thoroughly enjoyed his informative presentation in the contentious post in question (http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/269261), and consider the accuracy of his medical observations unimpeachable. I also regret whatever discomfiture was experienced by the TIG/CLCWA team as a result of this unfortunate misunderstanding.

Now to the topics of contention. The first I want to handle is a medical question where I intimated of the respectable doctor thus: “He denounces habitual egg-eating which induces obesity.” The assertion itself that the inveterate eating of eggs contributes to obesity is not incorrect. Japanese sumo wrestlers have been known to build up bulk in this manner. The gentleman doctor nevertheless maintains he was not the source of that fact. A closer look will reveal that the adjunct “…which induces obesity…” does not in the least ascribe him as the source, but is simply parenthetical. Perhaps I should have enclosed it for clarity, definitely an oversight on my part.

But where the ‘cauldron boils and bubbles’ is the Shakespeare question, where I labelled the doctor’s conviction that Shakespeare was indeed Francis Bacon as “utterly erroneous”. Now this, in retrospect, was a strongly worded opinion, and appropriate alterations have since been made to redress this. But it was never designed to be irreverent, and remains an opinion I still strongly hold to academically, even in the face of the “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt” undersigned by such notables as Mark Twain, Sir John Gielgud and Charlie Chaplin, which cited several reasons why they believed Shakespeare hadn’t written his plays, one of which was that very little was known about him, suggesting instead that better-recorded authors such as Francis Bacon must have written the plays and used ‘William Shakespeare’ as a ‘nom de plume’.

To my mind, however, these protestations are for the most part speculative, and there is extensive incontrovertible evidence to substantiate the true authorship of Shakespeare. Whereas there is little surviving correspondence by the playwright, William Shakespeare was regularly referred to by well-known contemporaries such as English writer and lexicographer, Ben Johnson, who remarked that he “loved the man” and complained of his wordiness, a self-evident reputation of his plays. He was even satirized by poet J. Marston in “The Scourge of Villainy” and several other works of his time give mention of one such playwright distinctly known as Shakespeare. He had a wife Ann and a daughter Judith, and the grave monument in his hometown Stratford clearly depicts his vocation. Furthermore, the individuals that doubting scholars assert to be the real Shakespeare change inconsistently with the prevailing times, from the eminent statesman and philosopher Francis Bacon in the 18th and 19th centuries, to a lesser known blue-blood Edward De Vere in the 20th century, until present. Their arguments are not helped either by the fact that the writing styles of these respective candidates are by stark contrast inferior to Shakespeare’s distinctly free-flowing, superlatively flamboyant compositions, however intersected their chronologies were with the playwright’s.

There is talk of anagrams, queries concerning his literacy and class, and several other shadows of doubt cast on his true origins, some creditably diligent, some curiously dubious. In the end, nonetheless, it is merely a question of opinion and counter-opinion, and purely from an academic standpoint, I find it untoward that anyone should infer fact from the hypothetical musings within a literary debate, however persuasive. Personally, I elect to disagree.

But that is what I think. To make up your own minds, check the following links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare_authorship_question, http://www.shakespeareauthorship.com, http://www.shakespeare-oxford.com, http://www.shakespearefellowship.org.

Again, these are merely my informed impressions, no more, no less, and I implore everyone, including the estimable doctor, to view them as such.]]> Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:55:00 EST http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/275343 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/269263 When I walk into the hall today, the air is electric with barely contained anticipation. Everyone is waiting for that magic word to be uttered that will usher all into the sightseer’s heaven promised by the organisers today. No, it’s not “tea break” – that’s not even a word – and while the served meat-pie and drinks do quell noisy tummies that have long rumbled through Jerry Nwigwe’s lengthy last words of exhortation and encouragement to cap an eventful three days, the curiosity of the participants is yet to be sated. Yes, everyone wants to see that tourist delight that has placed Cross River State on the world map, the place that keeps darting across our TV screens when adverts are aired in premier league games, that humongous shopping emporium-slash-gaming paradise: Tinapa…

…But first things first, there are certificates of participation to present. The mood remains boisterous though and several hours later at about 2.00pm or thereabout, we’re hauled in two buses towards the ultimate tourist resort this side of the continent…There’s a lot to be said about the lax scheduling and somewhat shoddy stage-managing of the trip itself, which riles quite a number of people, especially those intending to journey back to their bases that very day.

But all is momentarily forgotten when the picturesque vista of Tinapa reveals itself. Participants swarm into the grounds excitedly and start taking mental inventory of the breathtaking scenery (I’ve already got my trusty camera cocked and ready to roll!). There’s the famous Nollywood edifice, with a statuesque swan overlooking the entrance, its wings crafted cunningly to form the ceiling of the structure. Fabulous creatures bay under its blood-red beak, and further inwards, a spherical quarter of the structure is mounted by a gigantic gorilla holding up the gilded plaque that reads Nollywood. We’re not let in of course; the complex is still under construction in many parts. But the emporia are open- though stark empty, like prettified mausoleums. They’re beautifully situated near serene creeks, and for once the word ‘creek’ finds association with something better than militants and kidnappings here in the Niger Delta…

At long last curiosity is satisfied and all the photos taken. World-weary travellers board the buses and head for home. I guess one could truthfully at the end of it all echo the mantra made famous by Vanguard columnist Victor Gotevbe, “Oh my God! This is good!”

(For more views of the tantalising Tinapa visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/11844614@N02/ and seek pictures tagged 't' in the Day III collection. Enjoy!)
]]> Wed, 17 Oct 2007 01:16:00 EDT http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/269263 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/269261 12.27pm. I’m a little over an hour late, just in time for questions on the first keynote speaker’s presentation on ICT for Development. The APTECH panelist Tope Akinwunmi is responding to a question concerning the alluring success of ‘Yahoo boys’ (the name cyber-fraudsters are known by in Nigeria) and wants to know why they should not be emulated, illegality notwithstanding. The response is less than satisfactory. Another advocates the set-up of free or low-bill cybercafés, while someone else laments the lack of organisation in Internet control compared to countries like Niger (?). The keynote speaker Gbenga, in response to alternatives to cyber-crime, cites other instances of making money like Google Adsense and research consultations. He urges that listeners participate in sites like Facebook, Wikipedia, U-tube and Myspace, and decries the menace of cyber-crime and refers towww.cybercrime.org for further information. Other remarks by participants include the observation of a possible deviation from the drive of this discussion, the request for APTECH to set up centres in support of youth training, and criticism of APTECH’s website content on e-commerce. Meanwhile panelist Razep Echeng points out that while most of the discussion has revolved round the Internet, ICT concerns much more, and could be assisted tremendously by community mobilisation. The CRUTECH reps are peddling their low-cost CISCO training.

In all, everyone insists there are dozens of ways to harness capital from the Internet honestly, but no one is really speaking in concrete terms. The MC (Victor) thereafter apologizes for the delay in tea break and issues a roll of announcements to dwindle the time. The mob is distracted. The break is then called as promised…
Hobnobbing is a wonderful bonding process. Toluleke (Making Friends, Calabar) hands me a flyer showcasing his organisation- and I am offered a job proposition by another fellow activist! Is this networking thing a cinch or what! It’s a rowdy 45 minutes gone and we’ve still the rest of the day to go.

We’ve resumed the next forum (by this time someone has - perhaps inadvertently - made off with my program). The speaker, Oluwakorede Asuni, seems slightly on edge, an attack of nerves, but soon the motivational talk sails along easefully to the end. Question time. Drawbacks to creativity are identified, primarily funding and familial pressures as the culprits that snag creativity as a driver in pursuing youth initiatives. Panelists in order of response are Ikuru Berejit, Pamela Braide, Emmanuel Igbokwe and Maurice Henshaw. An interesting, edifying story is related in between of how a hawker previously unemployed was empowered with N3000 to commence a business selling fermented corn pap and bean cakes.

Next forum: policy advocacy and poverty reduction with speaker Pamela Braide on board. She laughs easily and chats engagingly, desirous to involve her listeners in the conceptualization of the paper. Her efforts rob her of time however, and she finds she needs to cap her presentation abruptly, which details how policy reformation/development is driven, the advantage of networking to spur youth engagement in policy development, and challenges such as conflict of interest and sustainability issues. She recommends preview and reinforcement of policy documentation, citing the NEEDS program and its follow-up NEEDS 2, which she laments has no real hope of implementation. You get the impression that she is very sceptical of any youth-driven policy reforms overcoming present-day challenges of politicking and bureaucratic red-tape on the road to feasibility…Questions and comments dwell on cases of extortion of NGOs by government officials before their ideas are accepted, overlooking of health care, unsuccessful modalities of approach and the rash of mushroom Niger Delta NGOs complicating matters. The chairperson Okeziem Nwoko identifies another challenge: policy overlapping. Braide cautions on losing sight of monitoring budgetary expenditure in favour of consultative recruitment.. The issue of poverty reduction and business development is handled cursorily, with the usual advice being given, nothing new- wait up, did I hear someone say “lunch break”…?

After the break, the 4th speaker, a gentleman doctor by name Ani Etokidem urges everyone on their feet and takes them through the rites of self-affirming utterances of positivism. Surely he’s got their attention now! Topic: Youth Health and Wellbeing. The speaker is exciting, often spicing his presentation with vivid, often hilarious illustrations, although sometimes his voiced opinions are contentious, like when he says William Shakespeare was possibly the pen-name for 17th century philosopher Francis Bacon. The rest of his delivery is nonetheless quite appealing, error-free and mostly aimed at shock value. He denounces habitual egg-eating which induces obesity, vilifies smoking and launches a measured attack at junk food. He teaches the calculation of BMI (Body Mass Index) to enable listeners ascertain if they are obese or not and points out that 80% of youth health problems are attributed to stress, differentiating between long-term stress and short-term stress. His solution? A- Awareness of the stressor, B- Building up the physical reserve to counter stress, C- Changing unhealthy and stress-inducing habits. His speech is laced with catchy anecdotes – Genes hold the gun, lifestyles hold the trigger; any sweet thing is illegal, immoral or not good for health – and suggests the best safeguard against stress as patience. To imbibe this virtue, he recommends adoption of the cue and count techniques.
He fields questions on the hypocrisy of doctors who persist in unhealthy living while advising otherwise, the dearth of government policies on junk food restrictions and the subject of teenage pregnancy very skilfully and retires from the podium to resounding applause. The participants have been regaled by perhaps the most entertaining speaker yet. There’s still one more to go, but I won’t be waiting to find out. Once again the program’s been extended past schedule…
]]> Wed, 17 Oct 2007 01:08:00 EDT http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/269261 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/269257
Oct 12: DAY I
It’s 9.37 am and only a bare minimum of attendants present. I count eighteen, including a thinly clad, slightly unkempt and decidedly unwashed young man with flitting eyes and anxious fingers. His threadbare flowing attire and leather slippers make his origins doubtful, but the description fits any male in these parts going about his ablutions in the morning. There is a projector slide in place alongside the speaker system – obviously indicative of expected paper presentations – and generally the stage, as they say, is set, with 224 plastic seats positioned for the audience, some odd 40 spare at the side, CLCWA banners strung up, and ceremonial balloons festooned strategically to give an affectation of pomp…but 12 minutes later, only a smattering has joined the fold. Considering that I was invited to be at this ‘shindig’ by 8.00 am, I’d wager we’re off to a syrup-slow start – uh, modulate that a bit; let’s say “a less than lacklustre start…”
…Ah, the dubious-looking fellow just slunk away. Probably just another curious boarder from the host school who’s figured there’d be no fun in the offing after all…For some reason, individuals bedecked like movers ‘n shakers are aggregated to my right at the back and deep in discussion. Are we about to start…?

10.36 am. The music just got turned on. Faze crooning in his classic Mariah Carey-ish falsetto. Groovy, eh?

11.58 am. The master of ceremonies, Victor Gotevbe (Vanguard Newspaper), is entertaining, if aimless (but come to think of it, aren’t they all?). Just killing time, I imagine. Gbenga (Paradigm Initiative Nigeria) is presently giving an introductory speech of sorts, setting the tempo of the event. A look into my program tells me we’ve got quite a retinue of activists from within and outside the state expected to participate in the 3-day summit. Should be fun…
…There’s an intermission wherein we’re encouraged to ‘network’. I get acquainted with William (Friend Org, PH), Joan (Friends of Future, PH)... I realise we’ve got quite a representation of youths cutting a swathe across the Southern sub-geographic, even a few from the North, Bauchi, Rivers, Ogun, Lagos, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Enugu, Delta, Oyo. It’s making my head spin (chuckle).

Next intro’s from Excellence Uso, a dignified, soft-spoken chap with established brevity in words who speaks for just a couple of minutes, then resumes his seat as unobtrusively as he left it. Then Jerry Nwigwe steps forward and starts talking of youthful hunger. The more he speaks of hunger the more my tummy tumbles in flip-flops of ravenous desire. But he’s not speaking of nourishment, sadly. He’s theorising, almost in soliloquy, about the target audience of the project, viz. driven youths afire with hunger to aspire and achieve a change in present-day society as its emergent leaders. Pamela Braide is next; she bustles into her intro animatedly and keeps it short but engaging. The crowd however seem in a stupor and are almost druggy in response. Boredom is setting in. Let’s hope Victor the MC can whip up some excitement for the interim…

Victor has gone through a third of the audience in introductions when he truncates proceedings to insert a keynote address from the rep to the Commissioner for Youth Development, who is a bit miffed of being only recently contacted as regards the Youth Summit, submitting a dour opinion of the project’s organisation, and expressing the hope that the state of attendance will ‘look up’ before the close of the event. He proceeds to read his boss’ keynote address (yawn…ha ha, not that boring, but you know how it is). The MC directly afterwards obtains the rep’s contacts before everyone and makes an exaggerated fuss of how it illustrates “creating local connections” – a pun on CLCWA’s name – which cracks up the crowd. So far, so good. Introductions are resumed among participants (I meet Emmanuel Okon) and refreshments disseminated to the thankful motley of famished youths (ha ha, don’t ya just love tea break?). At this juncture Victor hands the mike to the Commissioner for Information for her keynote address; as expected, she intones all the right things and gives a commendable account of her office. Splendid speech. Moving on…

Gbenga takes centre-stage later on. “If everyone else lived like I did, where would Nigeria be in 15 years?” That’s a poignant question he poses to the audience. Prior to that he has a lot to say, but I’m lost somewhere between a trip to South Africa in 2001 and a reprimand from his teacher in primary school. Anyway, the thrust of his speech: If you want to be taken seriously as a youth leader, prove yourself. He then presents a video on youth-oriented ICT support program at Ajegunle, Lagos State, showcasing previously downtrodden youth who climbed from their pits of despondence via ICT training. Moving stories therein, including the inspirational turnaround in the life of a former sex worker. Gbenga then voices a challenge to his listeners, for them to think up a plan of action that would make a significant difference in their lives and around them within 5 years…
…It would seem the Commissioner for Information brought along a lieutenant who also has something to say. He is offered a podium opportunity and the short of it is that he urges youth to start early in order to secure success. By 3.11 pm, I’m totally out of it. A gentleman in a fedora and grey ceremonial shirt is vibrantly espousing on “Youth Participation in Governance” or something like that, and I’m thinking, here we go again. Yet another old-fashioned unidirectional summit with a deluge of indoctrinations and persuasions shoved down listeners’ throats. When are the touted work-groups going to take place, so youths will get to voice their own opinions, however minuscule or poorly conceived?

By this time I’m sick of speeches, but the droning doesn’t end. The apparently soft-spoken Excellence is unexpectedly vitriolic with regard to the police, and vents his distaste for them with uncharacteristic passion in his presentation. One story about an arrest of a lady at the airport under the ludicrous charge of owning luggage that looked similar to a criminal’s that was apprehended there the previous day has the audience holding their sides in fear that they’ll split from boisterous laughter. His final exhortation is for listeners to insist on their rights when accosted and resist manhandling by unruly law enforcement. After him is young Miss Blessing Francis, a 14-year-old TIG firecracker who reenergised the audience with her infectious vitality and daring…though she fizzled somewhat toward the end. At 14, she’s already got 84 of her peers organised into three cooperatives dealing with health, unemployment and…what was the other one? I can’t for the life of me remember...

At long last, the work group sessions swing into place, and participants are herded into 5 groups to discuss pressing youth challenges. I’m conscripted into Group II: Rural Youth, ICT Barriers and Challenges. Owing to the stretch of speeches, it’s a hurried session that lasts only 30 minutes, interspersed by a lunch break. It is remarkable but in the end, five tangible, thought-provoking reports are distilled from the respective deliberations. By the time my group’s report is concluded, though, I’ve had enough and pull out expeditiously…

]]> Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:07:00 EDT http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/269257 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/264559
The euphoria was markedly palpable, and why not? Nigeria has been getting good rep lately in the international media, no less for an uncanny coincidence of noteworthy exploits by its nationals. First you’ve got the Super Eaglets carting away the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in impressive style, then Samuel Peters the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ (or is it ‘Pride of Africa’?) snags a version of the World Boxing Heavyweight Championship belt from Oleg Maskaev in a walk-over and defends it admirably against McCline, albeit for the interim, then former Finance Minister Okonjo-Iweala is installed as one of only two Managing Directors at the World Bank. Even more significant is the heralding of Nigerian diplomats into the world arena with the statements and actions of UN representative to former Burma Ibrahim Gambari being updated to-the-minute by global networks in tandem with the harrowing civil rights crisis there, which he has been mandated to resolve. By all means, it felt quite in order to pop the champagne, belt the National Anthem and coo susurrations to loved ones in the dead of night, all in the name of patriotism.

It’s been 7 days since, though. The confetti’s been swept away and, most unfortunately, we’re back to business per usual, with our attendant hydra-head of problems not even showing signs of a half-decent haircut. The usual candidates of corruption, unemployment, ethnic conflict, ill-advised state policy and human rights violations are daily reflecting the unusually adaptive and resourceful mind of the unscrupulous Nigerian, assuming more cumbrous forms of late. In fact, these hot-zones of societal crisis have begun networking in true Web 2.0 style. To illustrate, statistics today indicate that 8 out of 10 varsity graduates that hit the employment market turn up empty-handed. In time this has only served to swell a teeming academy of literate criminals gagging to showcase their expertise in advanced free fraud, armed robbery and cyber crime, with reports of these felonies skyrocketing nationwide. These highly-trained idlers have also played into the hands of dodgy politicians, who employ them to rig elections, intimidate voters and erase opponents, leaving a laundry-list of unsolved assassinations in their bloodthirsty wake. But more recently, they’ve spawned the abduction lottery in the name of armed activism, extorting expatriates and other wealthy victims of millions, to the lurid delight of their greasy gaffers and the undisguised envy of late starters looking to cash in. The spate of clashes between rival gangs in the Niger Delta has been the macabre result, and because militarization of the region only appears to be biting barely, the state government is attempting an ungainly reclaim of its dropped trousers by announcing the planned demolition of riverside settlements, which they assert to be a “haven for criminals,” unwittingly victimizing a swarm of innocent and underprivileged creek-bed dwellers as a result. Meanwhile, a quartet of individuals (2 Germans, 1 American, 1 Nigerian) evidentially conducting a journalistic investigation into the matter are being unjustly detained under charges of espionage. Did I miss anything? Oh and there’s the reason the Eleme gas flares are the only lights visible in space from the heart of the Dark Continent - perennial and protracted power cuts.

If in spite of all these seemingly intractable problems, Nigerians were giving each other high-fives on the morning of October 1, I’m afraid we’re decades yet from Uhuru. Maybe by another 47 years…
]]> Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:55:00 EDT http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/264559 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/248009
Mich
-It’s nice to have friends. Nicer still is to go through the thicket of trial, then look back and see how many are left.

Dr Thomas Fuller
-With foxes, we must play the fox.

Joseph Conrad
-The belief in the supernatural source of evil is not necessary. Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.

Harriet Beecham Stowe
-The bitterest tears shed over graves are for the words left unsaid and the deeds left undone.

Emerson
-All is riddle and the key to the riddle, another riddle.

Samuel Beckett
-Try again, fail again, fail better.

Yoda
-Try not. Do, or do not.

Mich
-You can’t dig your own grave and expect not to pay for the coffin.

Winston Churchill
-The further backward you can look, the farther forward you will see.

Nietzsche
-When you look long into the abyss, the abyss looks into you.

James Reese
-There are certain clues at a crime scene which by their very nature do not lend themselves to be collected or examined.

Einstein
-Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

Faulkner
-Don’t bother to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.

Samuel Johnson
-Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those we cannot resemble.

Nietzsche
-The irrationality of a thing is not an argument against its existence, rather, a condition of it.

Shakespeare
-Nothing is so common as the wish to be remarkable.

Mich
-Living is certain death.

Sherlock Holmes
-When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, is the truth.

Robert Bolton
-Belief is not just an idea the mind possesses; it’s an idea that possesses the mind.

Peter Ustinov
-Unfortunately, a superabundance of dreams is paid for by a growing potential for nightmares.


Eugene Inesco
-Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together.

Mich
Whatever a man deludes his mind to think he is, the same is he]]> Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:36:00 EDT http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/248009 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/243305
Last week Tuesday he unveiled his plan, which was essentially a fixed exchange rate policy. He announced that by January 1, 2009, two zeros would be knocked off the naira, placing it at ballpark parity with the dollar (N 1.25 per US$1.00, more precisely), a move that would simultaneously raise its currency value and effectively staunch the mint ‘bleed’, as it were. This is something the Chinese have already done (with resounding success, I might add), and I hear the Ghanaians executed the same play last month, but Soludo’s strategy implementation comes with a twist. He stated in addition that, effective from said date, federal and state government extra-budgetary allocations would be paid out by the CBN to respective parties in dollars. Now that even more drastically diminishes the need for minting vast sums of the naira, being that government is the country’s biggest spender, inducing scarcity of the local currency and fortifying its revaluation. One consequence is that as money is expended at the federal and state levels of government, it is the dollar that gets dissipated, not the naira; this reduces the economy’s monetary base, which has what economists call a ‘contractionary’ effect and lowers inflation, without having to raise interest rates or adversely affecting the spending habits of the capital market. Another positive impact is the attraction of foreign investors, who will reckon the added value of the local currency as a sign of growing market stability, encouraging them to ‘pitch their tents’ more permanently, if you will. Already, the robust fiscal structuring of Nigeria’s banks is well-known by now, a feat made possible by the forward-thinking CBN Governor.

Interestingly, there are other implications drawn from Soludo’s statements which may have stirred quite the hornet’s nest. One inference is that in order to avert the dangers of over-dollarisation of the money market, the CBN may be compelled to regulate both budgetary and extra-budgetary cash flow issued to the federal and state governments. This has raised a few eyebrows in these circles, and there are concerns that, while the government maintains that the autonomy of the CBN is not in question, calls by the economic advisers of the FEC to ‘fine-tune’ the plans might conceal concerted measures to reverse it. At any rate, implementation will require a delicate balancing act, and it is my hope that the need for clarification is the only reason the FEC summoned Soludo to its fortnightly session. But I strongly doubt that yesterday’s courtesy call by the IMF and World Bank emissaries on the CBN Governor were equally innocent. In their statement, they are also here for ‘clarification’, but “methinks more ominous business is afoot”. Here’s why. If my inferences from Soludo’s press statement are accurate, another goal of naira redenomination is to raise its value as a reserve currency in the West African sub-region and across the Sub-Sahara, entailing that countries in these areas will increasingly find it more convenient to compose their currency reserves in naira, alongside the US dollar and the euro. As momentum ramps up in this direction, the naira could fulfil AU visions of a single African currency, at least in contest with regions where the South African rand holds sway, and the hegemony of the dollar could be gravely at risk. Evidently, the IMF and World Bank, minions of the G7, have also been looking into their crystal balls like Soludo, and are here to see if they could not persuade our Nostradamus in other less …‘baleful’ directions, as it were. Hmm…I wonder if such hurried meetings were scheduled when Ghana toed the fixed rate line.

Now the FEC has been advised by its Economic Team, a state brain-trust, to review the date of implementation, i.e August 1 next year, and to reconsider the gradual phasing out the old currency, citing concerns of cost incurred in the process, which admittedly is sound logic but tantamount to a ploy of dilatory tactics. Naysayers like Comrade Abiodun Aremu of the UAD party (never mind what that means), are equating Soludo’s plan with the infamous Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), forecasting doomsday if executed. My opinion? The FEC’d be better off not to meddle with the autonomous affairs of the CBN. And might I respectfully suggest that the Comrade shut his pie-hole? Much obliged.]]> Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:25:00 EDT http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/243305 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/242967
Until the current Sunni-led attack, Kurdish settlements were for the most part unaffected by Iraqi insurgencies. This observation gave the slightest of hopes to proponents of the American invasion for containment of the vitriolic Sunni-Shiite ethnic conflict within the greater Baghdad geography. That was until general outrage was sparked off by the public stoning of a Yazidi girl who had married a Muslim and converted to Islam. This barbaric ‘honour-killing’ especially incensed Muslims in Iraq, who view the Yazidi as devil-worshippers or devotees of Shaytan, the Qur’anic variant for Satan. For their part, the Yazidi refer to him as Melek Taus ((Tawûsê Melek in Kurdish), or the Peacock Angel, leader of a Heptad of angels who govern the earth. They adhere to a strict code of religious purity, evident in their caste system and intra-marriage customs, which meant that the girl’s apostasy could only be visited with summary ruthlessness. Consider the irony that another faith noted, if infamously, for inviolate compliance with religious purity, Islam, should find this pious display of fundamentalism so palpably odious! In true fundamentalist style, the retaliation was equally unadulterated. In April, Al-Qaeda gunmen shot dead 23 Yazidi factory workers in Mosul. The 3-way bombing detailed above was an assuredly bloody follow-up, claiming more lifes in a single concerted attack than ever witnessed since 2003, according to The Guardian (You've gotta admire their sense of dedication, these extremists!).

And so, with this most recent of blitzes, the vicious arc of extremist violence turns full circle. In the meantime the extremists continue their mass butchery gleefully, their bloodlust yet unsated. Bush may have been decried vehemently for opening the Pandora’s Box, but for the extremists, he is their Prometheus, bearing the benevolent gift of purging fire. And Iraq smoulders still within its unslaked flames.]]> Tue, 21 Aug 2007 13:37:00 EDT http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/242967 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/241771
Another industry suffering a serious setback due to the Great Garden City ‘Blackout’ is the infamous abduction racket. Practitioners who just joined the kidnapping business have been sorely distraught to discover that there are no oil expatriates left for easy picking. The result has been a resorting to desperate measures. No longer interested to operate under the guise of ‘freedom-fighting militants’, these man-hunting malefactors are now snatching any human that even remotely reeks of value, grabbing mulatto kids on their way to school, indigenous company managers heading home from church and foreign construction engineers at building sites (I wonder when they’ll start plucking off albinos). The latter scenarios recently involved an Elf company manager, Mr Paul Ugwuma, abducted on his way home from Sunday service, and a Pakistani engineer, who was nabbed while at a construction site in Ogoniland. With options fast thinning out, even relatives of government officials have been targeted. Two weeks ago, armed men beached commando-style on an island in Yenogoa, Bayelsa state, where the Deputy Speaker’s mother was abducted and a message left behind requesting substantial ransom money. The following week the ordeal was repeated, this time involving the Rivers State Governor’s mother. There are political connotations however to these latest events – and haven’t there always been, if one may ask? The crows, it would seem, are coming home to roost.

Needless to say, robbed of steady ransom income, Garden City criminals have resumed their day-job on the streets. Street stick-ups and burglaries have soared – but with a slight elevation in style, it would seem. Recently, a gentleman exited a shopping mall to find his recently purchased Peugeot 206 coupe missing. Expectantly, the fella was devastated, prancing about in panic without a clue what to do. It so happens he’d forgotten his cellphone in the passenger seat, so he hustled to a pay-phone booth and rang it. Starting off with a nervous “Hello,” he waited with bated breath for a response – and was pleasantly surprised. The carjackers calmly acknowledged that they were the robbers that took his car, but that it had only served as a get-away for another operation entirely. It would be parked at So-and-so Street, they said, with the car keys deposited under it, as they weren’t interested in keeping the admittedly low-priced car. Apparently, robbers have taste, too…

PS: On a sad note, it has been reported that the father of the first mulatto child abductee, Margaret, recently died of kidney complications. It is said that he was to travel overseas for medical check-up on his condition before his daughter was kidnapped and the trip had to be delayed, with funds intended for the impending operation diverted to pay the ransom. Meanwhile, it’s become a dog-eat-dog situation on the streets of Port Harcourt with rival militant gangs gunning down each other - to ratchet down the competition, it would seem. Government media is however calling these gunfights the handiwork of varsity cultists. Now, someone enlighten me: why, if these are cult clashes, have no shoot-outs been witnessed on college campuses? Is it just me, or do I smell cover up?
]]> Tue, 14 Aug 2007 12:44:00 EDT http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/241771 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/220715
INTRODUCTION
Morality is, and has always been, a burning historical issue. Contemporary times have witnessed a disturbing escalation in disagreement on moral grounds, especially due to man’s increased capabilities in the fields of technology and eugenics, giving rise to protracted public debate on the justification of differing controversies like abortion, the birth control pill, paedophilia, homosexuality, cloning and euthanasia, or simply primary preoccupations with war, natural catastrophe or the question of self-defence.
It is the aim of this discourse to contemplate critically the religious views as concern morality as far as possible and terminate thereat. This will necessitate segmenting the body of work in three parts, namely the concept of morality, the religious standpoint, and counteracting viewpoints, endeavouring to draw in the end a dispassionate conclusion therefrom.

THE CONCEPT OF MORALITY
Of the various humanly initiated actions, which could be classified under moral grounds? A citation from The New Standard Encyclopaedia Dictionary (1984:421) defines the word “moral” as “conduct or behaviour from the point of right or wrong,” thus inferring morality to be a “doctrine or system of moral principles or conduct.” The etymological derivative, the Latin words mos and moris, mean ‘custom’, synonymous with the Greek ethos, which means ‘manners’ and conceives ‘ethics’. This proffers the reason for their interchangeable use, as will occur in the course of this exercise.
Another system of corrective rules which is most times confused with morality is the concept of law. The normative nature of both sciences attributes the observed similarity which often renders them almost indistinguishable. As Esikot’s citation of Omeregbe puts it, “The relationship between law and morality is so close that the lines of demarcation between them is (sic) not always easy to draw, because they often overlap” (Etuk (ed.), 2000:66).
Functional philosophy classifies moral theories by virtue of purpose or consequence of action, to comprise the teleological and deontological aspects. Teleologists believe human action to be morally justified if the end-result is worthwhile, regardless of the action’s intrinsic valency for good or evil. Offshoots of this viewpoint include ethical egoism, ethical altruism and utilitarianism. On the other hand, thinkers who utilise the rule of obligation as the moral yardstick are known as the deontologists.

THE RELIGIOUS STANDPOINT
Majority of ethical postulates in the sphere of religion reflect a symbiosis of deontology and ethical altruism or, in some cases, ethical egoism. This is due to recognition of the inevitability of cause and effect; thus moral actions, though primarily motivated by duty, nevertheless evoke permeative consequences, which may be immediate (hence the egoistic variant) or mediate (hence the altruistic variant).
Religions upholding belief in a transcendental deity see man as morally obliged to his maker and as such, attains supreme purpose in life only by ‘towing the lines’, so to speak, of divine promulgations, these being in the forms of the Bible, the Qur’an, the Vedas or other inspired inscriptions. The Islamic order also permits communal consensus, under the conviction that “…Allah would never mislead the Faithful” (McNeill, Waldman (eds.): 1973, 135). These doctrines vehemently oppose outright selfish indulgence or ‘sin’, which the Hindus term the ‘māyā’ (illusion). This however is not deemed a mismanner in Buddhism, where it is equated with duty to the self. It is interesting to note that the pagan religion of Ancient Egypt had no concept of sin. To be moral, according to Egyptian ethics, was to live by maat, which counterbalanced evil. When one defaulted, his misdeeds were not viewed as sins, but as ‘aberrations’. For, as Frankfort (1961:73) reveals, “he who errs is not a sinner but a fool, and his conversion to a better way of life does not require repentance but a better understanding.” Doubtlessly, such actions inflicted unhappiness, because they disturbed the defaulter’s harmonious integration with the existing world; they might even have been explicitly disapproved by one or another of the gods, but these were always ready to welcome his better insight.
However, no such casual reprieves abound elsewhere. Notions of the Christian Hell and Islam’s Gehenna (‘the chastisement of fire’) are familiar. For followers of the Grail Movement, no one is exempt from judgement by the ‘Rays of Divine power’, through which punishment and reward are simultaneously resolved: “At the exact hour appointed by God, mankind will be inexorably but justly struck by them” (Abd-ru-shin, 1990:172). Errant Hindu and Buddhist believers progressively descend the reincarnation cycle. Other doctrines mirror suchlike vindictive repercussions.
In like fashion, devout adherence has its benefits. In Christianity and Islam, it is a reunification with the Munificent Father, in a pleasant and perpetual ethereal existence. In Hinduism, the ideology is similar, but reincarnation is endless, the heights attainable being infinite, like the asymptotes of a hyperbola in mathematical analogy. The Buddhist Nirvana marks man’s moral zenith, i.e. the attainment of anatta (impersonality) and the end of reincarnation.

THE COUNTERPOSITION
The profound theologies summarily detailed above have come under attack primarily because they profess the existence of an Infallible Moral Adjudicator who enforces ethical standards and is Himself beyond approach, a profession which many philosophers, atheists especially, dismiss as baseless and thus unverifiable. They buttress their stand with compelling and relatively rational arguments, as are delineated below.
For one thing, the empiricists say no statutory evidence confirms God’s existence. The Hindu proposition of his manifestation in nature is deemed immaterial because God is not quintessential in the understanding of nature’s origin – Darwin’s evolutionary theory resolved that. Others like Hume (Etim, 2000:58) and Satre (Etim:61) contend that the creation of a morally upright God, in consistence with the principle of cause and effect, should of necessity be morally upright as well. The annals of history so far documented are a far cry from reasoned expectations. Occurrences of murder, rape, child abuse amongst other vices are fast becoming regularity. Even the earth seems infected with the rising mania of mayhem, breaking out with earthquakes, hurricanes, and hailstorms, while volcanoes dot its surface like a spreading hive of blisters. If such an Epitome of Justice did exist, Nietzsche theorises, then He appears to have expired (Etim:61).
In further support of their abjurations, they cite instances where God supposedly endorses plunder by the Israelites of other communities (The New International Version, Gen. 15:18), an act they view as pellucid partiality. The profuse Christian utilisation of symbolism however plunges into murky waters the contextual methodology employed by its critics, which prompts John Smith’s word of caution as quoted by Francis Etim (Etuk (ed), 2000:87), “The Word is not to be taken literally or contextually...” One may also at this juncture ask: why should Krishna’s flirtatious romps with cowherd girls or gopis (Bhaktivedanta, 1978:32) or his murder of Hiranyaka Sipu (Bhaktivedanta:65) not be construed as anything other than gross recidivism? The reply is strident, if not potent: “any activities that are spiritual are all-good, and any actions that are material are all-bad” (Bhaktivedanta:64). Closer scrutiny in fact reveals an intrinsically immoral and hypocritical undercurrent in the proffered maxim.
Analysis of the Buddhist version yields more contradictions: if it is assumed that morality implies duty to the self, for example, how does the eventual anatta phase of selflessness establish coherence? In answer, the Hinayana sect of Buddhists “affirm that anatta, while meaning ‘no separated self’, implies no self permanently separated from the Higher self – the Buddha essence” (Encyclopaedia International, 1982:357). Unfortunately, this pronouncement nullifies their paramount denunciation of a transcendental Being, placing Buddhist ethic in an awkward state of limbo.

CONCLUSION
Like all human interpretations, it is evident that religious grounds for justifying morality are inexorably weakened by the inevitability of human error. Buffets of criticism however seem ineffectual; as yet these ancient theologies face relentless opposition with stoic equanimity till date.

REFERENCES

Abd-ru-shin (1990), In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message, Stiftung Gralsbotschaft Publishing Company, Stuttgart

Allen, G. E. (1982), Buddhism, in “Encyclopaedia International,” Lexicon Publications Inc., Manila

Bhakivedanta, S. (1978), Teachings of Queen Kunti, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, Los Angeles

Etim, Francis (2000), Issues in Philosophy of Religion, Samuf International, Uyo

Etuk, Udo (ed., 2000), “Fundamentals of Philosophy and Logic,” Minder International, Uyo

Frankfort, H. (1961), Ancient Egyptian Religion: An Interpretation, Harper Torch Books, New York

Landau, S. I. (ed., 1984), New Standard Encyclopaedia Dictionary, Standard Educational System, Chicago

___________ (1984), The Holy Bible, International Bible Society, Colorado
]]> Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:41:00 EDT http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/220715 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/188565 Mon, 23 Apr 2007 14:49:00 EDT http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/188565 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/184823
It’s a manic frenzy that’s gripping our global village in a spit-spewing seizure, from the Americas to Africa, via Europe. Once again the power to arrogate power is in the hands of society’s dregs, and politicians are bending over backwards to blend in with the populace and elicit as much ‘grass-roots’ support they can squeeze out of the sordid bunch, God bless them, rifling deep into their wardrobes for their faded jeans trousers, lumberjack shirts, and dog-bitten baseball caps. Doubtless, some in America (and Australia perhaps, don’t know diddly about the state of oral hygiene Down Under) have had repeated dentist appointments to make their most winsome of smiles sparkle like diamante, adding orthodontic P.A.s to their campaign entourage just in case, not forgetting coiffure specialists, couture impresarios and the ever-indispensable speech smiths. There are high hopes this year in these countries, talk about women and black men on the verge of seizing top office, and smothered snarls and snaps between opponents in the naked bid to blemish reputations, from their choice of running mates to their choice of underwear. All’s fair in love and politics.

So how’s the show back home, you say? Hmm, lemme see…seeing that Nigerians haven’t got qualms over image much (we hold our advanced free fraud supremacy with pride, and the outgoing president looks like a llama’s distant cousin), I guess dentist visits are out of the question. Very little is known about any but the most prominent parties or candidates, and the gazillion-page manifesto compendium for Nigeria’s over 30 parties would drowse you to sleep, if you can avoid a coma. The old mud-slinging routine’s a tradition we’ve honed to perfection here, though – a dominant candidate (a.k.a. ‘Tiku’) has been successfully disqualified as a result, in a maelstrom of audacious and inauspicious (also, sometimes valid) allegations, lawsuits and federal indictments. Something else election run-ups worldwide share is the race to rake in and shell out titanic sums of money, and in Nigeria, this serves more than just the purpose of oiling the campaign machine. No, money is used in this part of the woods to seek out and retain the services of the worst form of political ‘animals’ – thugs.

Formerly preoccupied with felonies from petty crime, burglary to armed robbery, these deviant hoodlums are now enlisted to brandish their machetes and semi-automatics for a better cause, the push for the absolute, all-corrupting power. They commence their murderous itinerary tomorrow with lower-tier elections, which should involve inspiring the fear of God in voters, especially rival party supporters, stealing and making away with ballot boxes, as well as general rabble-rousing at polling stations far removed from the prying eyes of international observers, y’know, the standard stuff. Of course, they could go ‘covert’ and serial-vote, but that’s old-school, and word on the street is the rigging’s now done in secluded 5-star hotel-rooms weeks earlier. And if you can’t read between the lines, it means the elections’ have already been undertaken by the ‘powers-that-be’ (which isn’t necessarily the government). The winners have already been predetermined; tomorrow and subsequent voting days are whitewash. I may even venture saying that apart from June 12, 2002, no real elections have ever taken place in this country, never mind a census.

So while unsuspecting law-abiding citizens and politicians alike act out the charade, a swarm of hired malefactors are unleashed to antagonize and terrorize with abandon. Indeed, these fastidious rascals have already begun, with reports from a Northern state of buses waylaid by cutlass-wielding youths to demand which way the party allegiances of their passengers leaned. Ah, the sweet air of democratic carte-blanche…]]> Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:47:00 EDT http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/184823 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/86233 Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:10:00 EST http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/86233 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/83061
P.S: Season’s Greetings, everyone! Celebrate the Reason for the Season – then dig into the venison!
]]> Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:55:00 EST http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/83061 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/76935
Perhaps the overbearing reason is that, unlike those who pioneered the abolition of slavery, the rest opted to accept it, not to eradicate an injustice, but merely to save face, and would otherwise have voted to jolly well continue reaping the cushy conveniences that black servitude offered. And while the shame has been forgotten, this demeaning mindset has persisted and can still be perceived when races interrelate. Africans are still prejudicially associated with all brawns and no brains, supremacist political parties are allowed legitimacy in European states, and western-sourced loans are stringed with quartets of caveats, each structured to perpetuate rather than truncate dependency. Meanwhile, these governments who are especially swift to slam sanctions on nations that flout fundamental human rights maintain excellent diplomatic ties with Arab emirates and sultanates where traffic in forced labour is still being practised. Even more worrisome is that the bile of this trend has permeated injuriously into black societies in these countries, where products of biracial relationships, or mulattos, are maligned and systematically ostracised.

This is not to deny Africa’s share in the blame, nor does it turn a blind eye to genuine efforts by the West to ‘do the right thing’. But the question remains what is the right thing, and what it certainly ISN’T is brushing the "blighted bugger" under the carpet with a blanket apology every half century or so. Something more concrete than verbal contrition is required, more dignified than a donation is necessary to repose such recollections of history more comfortably in the Western consciousness. Maybe a Mea Culpa Park of sculpted monuments should be dedicated in the capitals of affected African countries by the Western nations that participated, jointly funded between themselves. Maybe a return of pilfered African artefacts should be included in the symbolic reparation. Maybe Tony Blair should marry Condoleezza Rice - after getting divorced first, of course. This floor is open to suggestions...]]> Fri, 08 Dec 2006 14:08:00 EST http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/76935 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/74847 Sun, 03 Dec 2006 12:06:00 EST http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/74847 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667 http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/74843
While for the most part I find this mind-set misinformed and myopic, given that the present status-quo is unprecedented (wherein as a result mitigating contingencies have been largely on-the-spur) unprovoked, and one for which the US government is therefore not responsible for triggering, the eventual war against terror was initiated by the US and how that has been handled has unfortunately been inadequate and wholly unsatisfactory. What is especially worrisome is the recent turn of events in Africa as a spill-over of the terror war, particularly in Somalia. The Islamic Courts hold sway there now, and while they have evident religious leanings, their incumbency has been noted for bringing political stability and social security to the conflict-beleaguered state. Nevertheless, the US government has found it pertinent to criticise its administration and regard its intentions with marked suspicion, although the reality on ground shows that their take-over from the legitimate government have thus far only yielded positive results.

Now, in an apparent attempt to undermine the authority of the Islamic Courts, America has terminated the arms trade moratorium on the country, ostensibly to ease the process of arms purchase for all and sundry. This explanation is however devious, for the fact is it will only serve to strengthen the forces of the legitimate government, thus emboldening them to confront Islamic Courts militia in townships they presently oversee, fomenting an escalation of violent skirmishes across Somalia. Another side-effect this action will unwittingly touch off is a deepening attitude of antagonism by the Islamic Courts leadership towards the United States, and it won’t be long before the terror wolves will come howling at Somalian doorsteps, requesting their help as they bay for the blood of what is now known as the ‘Big Bully’, America.
]]> Sun, 03 Dec 2006 11:59:00 EST http://zonerator.tigblog.org/post/74843 4.95 8.31666674.958.3166667