How to Transform

By Ituah Ighodalo

If one looks at the world’s ecosystem and the background of creation, one cannot but wonder in amazement at the perfection created by God. As far as I am concerned, the only imperfection in the world today is ironically the creation put in place to rule the earth. I am irrevocably convinced that the source of most of man’s suffering in the world today is man himself (his self centeredness) and his Godlessness. The inability to care about anything but himself alone. For the Black man, the situation is worse; it is very painful for anyone to suffer in a world of outstanding resources freely provided by the Almighty. There is nothing that man needs, that has not been provided; for the Black man it is an absurdity of “water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink”.

I want therefore to share with you a topic I consider important and hopefully life changing. As long as a man keeps limiting his thoughts to himself, as long as he keeps thinking only within himself, he cannot do better than himself, no matter how rich or wealthy he is; he cannot do better than himself and therefore he cannot make giant strides or make outstanding progress in life.

When we limit our lives to ourselves and our thinking doesn’t go beyond self, we literally destroy the lives of other people. No wonder our country Nigeria is going through very critical periods because we are surrounded by people on a daily basis who limit their thinking to themselves and therefore they destroy the lives of others.

About six or seven years ago, in the church, I suddenly got a phone call that one of our sisters was critically ill; so I left everything I was doing and ran to the hospital in Anthony where she was and she was already in a coma. At that time she was a senior member of our Teenage Church about 16 or 17 years old. We took her from that hospital around 8 or 9 pm and rushed her to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). We got there around 10 pm in the emergency ward only to find that there was only one doctor on duty. Initially they refused to accept this girl because of a certain process. However on my contacting a young man I know in LUTH; she was subsequently admitted. She was then dumped on a small table because there was no bed. There was this small doctor on duty running among the 8 – 10 accident cases, sweating profusely. He will run to one patient, fix something, run to the other one fix another thing. I had to call and draw his attention that this girl needed his attention as he did not pay her any attention since our arrival.

This is supposed to be the primary teaching hospital of this nation. This is the hospital we should call the pride of Nigeria and yet there is only one doctor on duty on emergency with no facilities whatsoever. I was wondering to myself about what happened to Nigeria that things went so bad.
When I was growing up in Ibadan, the University College Hospital, (UCH) Ibadan, was a leading hospital in West Africa, it was the 8th best hospital in the entire world and here we are in LUTH with no facilities and no doctors. The nurses were slow and indifferent. They couldn’t be bothered, and couldn’t care less if somebody was alive or sick. Then suddenly, the doctor announced that we needed blood. So we began looking for  blood, and went all over Surulere. We eventually found 2 pints which she used up immediately. Then there was no more blood from the blood bank, so they said: “who will donate blood? We got those who will donate but there was no blood bag. By now, the time was 2 am; we went looking for blood bags. Then one girl said she knows where we can get blood bags. We then drove that night crossing from one barrier in Mushin to another barrier in Mushin, because all the gates were locked for security purposes; we have become prisoners in our own homes. Finally we found the blood bags under one nurse’s bed in her home. We asked her: ‘what are you doing with the blood bags underneath your bed?’ She answered that that is how she makes her own money. We finally got the blood bags and then at 4:30 am the girl died. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life. Then I looked at myself; looked at Nigeria and asked how a nation that can be so blessed yet be so poor.

What is the problem with the Black man? It is the limits of his thinking. Hear what someone called Lord Fredrick Luggard said about the Black man when he became governor general of Nigeria around 1907 or thereabout.

“In character and temperament the typical African of all his race types is a happy, shiftless excitable person lacking in self control, lacking in discipline, lacking in foresight, full of personal vanity, with a little sense of veracity, fond of music, his thoughts are concentrated on the events of the moment and he suffers little of the apprehension of the future or grief of the past.”

A hundred years later and the African is still living in the same way and everybody is wondering: ‘what is happening to us? What is happening to Nigeria? What is happening to the average African person?’ If a man is poor in intellect, it would eventually reflect in his wellbeing and that’s why a lot of formerly rich Africans die extremely poor. The world is always predictable, there will always be good times and there will always be bad times. There would always be times of plenty and times of famine. But if you are in the right place, you discover that famine or not you will prosper.

How are you still thinking and what are you thinking about? What is the total summation and collection of your thoughts? Are you lacking in self control? Are you lacking in discipline? Are you lacking in foresight? Are you full of personal vanity? Do you have little sense for veracity? Are you fond of excessive music? Are your thoughts concentrated on the events and the feelings of the moment? Are you suffering from little apprehension of the future or grief of the past? Are you lacking in organization, deficient in management, deficient in the control of man and resources. Welcome to the world of the African.

I still cannot get over the way that Colonel Moummar Gaddafi died. It was typically African. Typically and traditionally a limited thought to himself, for 42 years he ruled in Libya and within six months everything had collapsed because the man really had neither depth nor substance. What surprises me is the capacity of the African to allow another African to dominate him for 42 years and that’s what frightens me about a lot of us; we have no thoughts, no depth, no thinking and we are willing to be led by the mouth by men not capable to polish our shoes. And we run to these places, run to these men, prostrate before them and allow them to dominate our lives because we are fearful, anxious, ignorant, limited, lazy, incompetent and unable to decide where our future is going. The Black man needs to change his thinking and character.

TIMELESS EDITORIAL - Nigeria’s Homosexuality Bill: Why it is Pro-norm and the West Hypocritical

Nothing in recent times has gripped the imagination, drawn the ire (both for and against) and stirred the soul (and pens and tongues) of a very wide cross section of the public as the Homosexuality Act recently passed by the National Assembly, to await the President’s ratification. With it has come surprising yet predictable threats by Western nations to cut off aid and the collective rejection of the threats by sections of the society. The bill prescribes a 14-year jail term for anyone entering into same-sex 'marriage' or civil union.

Those who abet or aid such unions could also be sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, as would “any person who registers, operates or participates in homosexual clubs, societies and organisations” - a provision that seems to target homosexuality advocacy groups as well. The bill also sets out a 10-year sentence for “any person who... directly or indirectly makes public show of same-sex amorous relationships”.

If as reliable sources hint that the Embassy of the United States in Nigeria is presently wooing local human rights groups with funding with which to jump into the fray to heckle the populace with well-orchestrated anti-norm harangue, it would amount to the Americans meddling in the internal affairs of another sovereign state.

The trumpeters of human rights are in this case the bold-faced hypocrites. It is widely known, for instance, that virtually every jurisdiction in the West does not permit polygamy in their laws. But virtually all African countries allow polygamy, which is against the law in European and American countries.

The question might arise as to why people who are freely consenting and believe it (not that we do) to be the right thing for them should not be allowed to marry more than one partner, particularly since the concept of marriage is being redefined to allow same sex partners anyway.

As for the twin ‘consenting adults’ and ‘nobody is harmed’ arguments, the poser in the preceding paragraph puts to test the worn out argument of two consenting adults being entitled to do with themselves what they like and that law should not regulate what goes on in the privacy of people’s homes.

Firstly, what goes on between two people in the privacy of their homes has always been regulated by law. Conspiracy is a crime in most jurisdictions never mind that the people may never carry out their plans, the mere expressed intention to commit certain crimes is in itself a crime in the law of many societies.

The idea of rendering actions legal because nobody is harmed (in reality, seen to be harmed) is even more tenuous. What constitutes harm is an amorphous subject amenable to various interpretations. While there is overwhelming damning evidence for instance that two adults who mutually consent to divorce happily (that’s hilarious) leave their children scarred for life, divorce remains a very popular and very legal means of handling problems in marriage.

In contrast, there are even amusing examples of harmless (if one were to use ‘their’ standards) activities like streaking, and euthanasia which are still illegal in many ‘advanced’ societies. At the risk of stretching the example, one must also ask how polygamy which is consented to is more harmful than the acrimonious divorces that we see on Jerry Springer and Judge Judy. Clearly, therefore, those preaching tolerance from the burnished but rotten rostrums should be warming a seat in the pew.

And now we come to the issue of Aid. Were it not for the ruling class that has plundered the land for decades, the country would not have been subjected to the unfortunate tragic-comedy of UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s rant as a spokesperson of sorts for the West. The charade of the well-oiled high-stakes Aid industry and its beneficiaries has been rather well documented, but will bear some consideration.

Pre-independence, the West did the stealing by itself, brazenly carting away resources and artefacts most of which are displayed proudly in their museums to date without remorse – imagine paying to go to your neighbour’s house to watch the TV he stole from your house.

Post-independence, they do the stealing through their stooges who have put hundreds of billions of dollars (one authority estimate $300 billion since independence) of our commonwealth in the safe keeping of Mr Cameron and his compatriots. Somehow in the warped logic of Mr Cameron, it is morally upright to rebuke your partners in crime on issues of homosexual legislation but have no problem receiving stolen goods the next day.

Rather than give Africa Aid, the West should repatriate all the money they daily collude with African leaders to steal from their people; return the money to its rightful owners instead of giving us a tiny part of the interest on the stolen money and cheekily calling it Aid. In addition, the West should focus on fair trade rather than Aid. Till date, several Western countries subsidize their economy but instruct our clueless leaders to remove subsidy of every kind.

It would have been comical if it were not tragic to threaten us with the withdrawal of Aid when Nigerians in Diaspora repatriated $10 billion last year alone.

It is crucially important to understand that righteousness cannot be legislated. Laws – those of God and Man – do not on their own make people good. The purpose of the law is to regulate behaviour by suppressing (not eradicating) evil desires and thereby sustain society and ensure its healthy continuance in perpetuity.

With contribution from Wole Olabanji, who works full-time raising a godly family and part-time as an architect in real estate development advisory. He also devotes considerable time to providing Biblical perspective to tackling contemporary challenges in business and governance.

EDITORIAL: 'Sanusi: fanning into flame embers of national discord'

With the controversy over the proposed introduction of Islamic banking still raging, we consider it grossly irresponsible of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to drag the country into yet another decidedly Islamic organisation.
The controversial CBN boss must have taken his cue from erstwhile military ruler Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida who in 1986 took a similar unilateral decision that constituted an act of impunity to the people of the Federal Republic.

Without the approval of the governing organs of the Federal Military Government, Mr Babangida put together a mission led by a private citizen, the then Sultan of Sokoto, Ibrahim Dasuki, to enlist Nigeria formally into the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now Organisation of Islamic Cooperation), OIC.

Rubbing salt in the wound, the military honcho of the day set up an obnoxious diversionary 20-member panel to “examine the implications of the country’s full membership of the organisation”.
When Mr Babangida’s deputy, Chief of General Staff Commodore Ubitu Ukiwe, objected to the outrageous back-door move by Mr Babangida, saying he could not recall the matter coming before the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC), the highest organ of government in the land at the moment, he was in effect shown the way out on account of it.

Mr Babangida was not done. Two years later, he again unilaterally made Nigeria a shareholder in the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), whose “basic condition for membership is that the prospective member country should be a member of the (OIC), pay its contribution to the capital of the Bank and be willing to accept such terms and conditions as may be decided upon by the IsDB Board of Governors.” Both commitments remain unrevoked.

The OIC, headquartered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is in its own words, “an inter-governmental organization ... which has membership of 57 states spread over four continents. The Organization is the collective voice of the Muslim world and ensuring to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world.”

According to media reports, Mr Sanusi has gone ahead to pay the sum of about $US5 million to the nascent Islamic body as Nigeria’s contribution to the International Islamic Liquidity Management (IILM) Corporation. His is an act tantamount to burning the bridge back to shore when casting out to sea, declaring, in effect, ‘The die is cast.’

Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that Islamic body’s mission is: “Enabling a future global Islamic finance industry with greater connectivity, stability and sophistication”.

The corporation, which was established in October 2010 by the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) is endowed with the mandate “to create and issue short-term Shari’ah-compliant financial instruments to facilitate effective cross-border Islamic liquidity management. By creating more liquid Islamic financial markets for institutions offering Islamic financial services (IIFS), IILM aims to enhance cross-border investment flows, international linkages and financial stability.”

We consider it an act of gross impunity for Mr Sanusi to have bypassed the National Assembly – in effect the people – as well as the Presidency to unwarrantedly invest the nation’s US$5Million in a self-advertised Islamic body, thus violating the essential character of the federation. Not to see this development as fundamentally wrong is to be blinded by religious prejudice.

While we concede the fact that Muslims have a right to set up Islamic banks should they so wish, we have to state in the strongest terms that government funds may not be commingled with or put to any religious purpose. What is expected of government is the setting up of guidelines and oversight functions as apply to and other commercial banks, whether through the CBN or some other such body. You should put your money only where your mouth is. Nigerians did NOT have a say in this matter.

What Mr Sanusi has done is unconstitutional and highly illegal. His present action (discounting previous ones) seems to suggest that religious (and other) zealots in positions of authority in Nigeria would not be bothered by the sensibilities of the overall populace and hence do not care if the nation disintegrates along religious and similar fault lines.

With the back-breaking brouhaha over Boko Haram ongoing and tearing at the very fabric of the national polity, Mr Sanusi has foisted yet another unnecessary controversy on the nation. His is an example of callous officialdom. The people simply do not need this peppery addition to their plate to chew ahead of an already ominous 2012.

The rights of non-Muslim Nigerian citizens have been infringed upon by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s brazen and crass action clearly borne out of his religious persuasion and personal aggrandisement. (“H.E. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor Central Bank of Nigeria” is listed as a member of the Governing Board, “the strategy and policy making body of IILM”. His deputy, Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, is a member of the body’s Board Executive Committee.)

The share of non-Muslim members of the Nigerian commonwealth has been “invested” in an Islamic Corporation though they are not Muslim and had been guaranteed freedom of religion by the Constitution.

Mr Sanusi, however, seems to be unrelenting as he appears to be a law unto himself. According to him, his plan is for Nigeria to sell its first Shariah-compliant bonds within 18 months as sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest economy. He is reported to have boasted that his aim is for Nigeria to become “a hub of Islamic finance”.

VACANCY FOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

JOB SPECIFICATION/DESCRIPTION FOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Vacancy exists for this position in a media/publishing firm involved in the production of books, magazines and newspapers. A first degree in any field. Fresh graduate or maximum of two years work experience. Female candidates only.

Desired Skills Set:- An excellent command of written & spoken English.
- Must have drive and ability to work without supervision
- Ability to stay calm under pressure.
- A great attention to detail
- Ability to manage time effectively.
- Self motivation and ability to use own initiative.
- Must have flair for reading and writing across several genres.
- Good knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite is compulsory
- Knowledge of any of Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat Reader, CorelDraw, Adobe Indesign will be an added advantage.

Job Functions: support senior editorial staff including acting as a personal assistant to editors
 liaise with writers, reporters, photographers, printers, designers and production staff to negotiate and monitor time frames for stages in the publishing process
 organise and research story, article, book or magazine projects to tight deadlines
 amend and correct articles and manuscripts; summarise written material; update and rewrite material;
 assess articles/manuscripts and make recommendations on their publication to senior editorial staff
 routine and general administrative tasks/duties; including front office duties and facility management/maintenance
 conduct interviews
 writing of own articles and reports
 using your own specialist knowledge to contribute ideas
 source for freelancers or other writers/authors to produce new materials
 assist with the art direction and design of publications
 assist with sales, marketing and advertising of company products and services and deliver sales/marketing targets 
 assist with and help in maintaining and updating company's Facebook Page, Blog and website

Interested applicants should send their CV and a Cover Letter as ONE attachment stating the advertised position as their subject to timelesscourage@yahoo.co.uk. The Cover Letter should be no more than one page in Ms-Word and should be the first page of the CV. Applications not in this format will not be entertained. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Applications closes on Friday December 16, 2011

Enjoy a TIMELESS Christmas

Win a Mona Matthews Sandals!!!

Subscribe for 10 copies of Timeless for 3 months at the subscription rate of N250 per copy to total N7,500, pay and confirm your subscription latest by Friday Dec 17. The first 4 people to do so
automatically win these sandals. No raffle draws. Simply pay into TIMELESS COURAGE PUBLISHING LIMITED Oceanic Bank Account No 0351101005381 and once you do, send your name, phone number, and teller details by email to timelesscourage@yahoo.co.uk or SMS
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What does Christmas mean to you?

We write to invite you to partake in the upcoming December Christmas Issue of our magazine - Timeless. We would love if you can share with our readers what Christmas means to you - in not more than 300-500 words -

Kindly send your contributions to our email - timelesscourage@yahoo.co.uk or reply on our Facebook page.

Enjoy a TIMELESS Christmas

Win a Mona Matthews Sandals by doing the following:

Subscribe for 10 copies of Timeless for 3 months at the subscription rate of N250 per copy to total N7,500, pay and confirm your subscription latest by Friday Dec 3. The first 4 people to do so automatically win these sandals. No raffle draws. Simply pay into TIMELESS COURAGE PUBLISHING LIMITED Oceanic Bank Account No 0351101005381 and once you do, send your name, phone number, and teller details by email to timelesscourage@yahoo.co.uk or SMS 08026861642. 

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Mai Nasara wins Nigeria Prize for Literature

On Monday, October 10, 2011 at a world press conference held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos, Nigeria, Mai Nasara, was declared the winner of the 2011 Nigerian Prize for Literature.

According to the judges, “After an exhaustive discussion of each of the three finalists, Eno’s Story by Ayodele Olofintuade, Chinyere Obi-Obasi’s The Great Fall and The Missing Clock by Mai Nasara, we decided that The Missing Clock by Mai Nasara is the winner.” Earlier on September 6, the Advisory Board for the prize, headed by Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo, had approved and announced to the literary community a final shortlist of three books out of the initial shortlist of six.

The six works made the final cut from the 126 books submitted for the 2011 edition awarded for children's literature.

Mai Nasara is the pen name of Adeleke Adeyemi, a journalist and science communicator with interests as varied as girl-child education, television/film, tennis, poetry, biking, bird-watching, languages, and leadership studies.

Based on his belief that “the stories people tell have a way of taking care of them” (Barry L. Lopez), he is at work to set up a network of children’s libraries across Africa, starting from his native Nigeria.

Set to come after his critically acclaimed first children’s book, “The Missing Clock”, winner of the Nigeria Prize for Literature 2011, is another Reversal-Of-Fortune (ROF) story titled “Danfo Boy”. On his inclination to writing children's books, he says “It boils down to a desire to draw attention to the difference children can make. And thus make a difference for the child. Children have an astounding problem-solving slant in their thinking that adults have been taking for granted and thus untapped. I’ve been involved in their lives in various capacities: Sunday school, summer school literary/environmental awareness campaigns, etc.” 

Maddened by the toll it takes on children, ‘Leke, as he is also fondly known, is active in the anti-malaria media campaign in Africa; from Nigeria to Ghana and Tanzania, with articles in specialised journals like “Eyes on Malaria” (Ghana); he has also written and produced songs in aid of the fight against malaria, like “One Little Mosquito” and “To Keep Malaria On the Run, Keep Our Gutters Running”.

He was one of a select crop of young journalists from Africa sponsored by the department for International development (DfID) of the British Government to Kenya, in 2009, for “Better Science Reporting” Workshop, after an earlier one at the International Institute of Agricultural Research (IITA) Ibadan. He came back from Kenya to set up Science Café Nigeria, which organised the 2010 AMMREN World Malaria Day Forum in Lagos.

For his 40th birthday (October 31, 2011), he plans to plant 40 trees in every town, from his childhood Katsina, to Akure, Ife, Owo, Kano, Kaduna, Zaria, Jos and Lagos, every place he has lived in up to 40 days, over the course of his life till date – as a way of offsetting (i.e. erasing) his carbon footprint!
Mai Nasara has been a staff and editorial writer with Timeless since 2006 and a copy editor with Next Newspaper since early 2011. He was educated at Government College, Katsina, the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife and the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he earned his first degree in Geology. He is married to Wosilat Abolore. They have a daughter, Semiloré.

TIMELESS EDITORIAL: Post-Gaddafi Libya: The Road Ahead

It was a death foretold, even by the strongman himself. He had a death-wish that quite simply wouldn’t be cured. The events of the last few weeks have been epoch-making, to say the least. The death of the Libyan strongman once described with characteristic candour by US President Ronald Reagan, as “the mad dog of the Middle East” came as an anti-climax. It is now a past that isn’t quite past.

In the wake of the nationwide civil intolerance by the populace, both armed and otherwise, starting in February and culminating in the collapse of the Gaddafi regime which had been in power for some 42 years, Libya is currently administrated by a caretaker government, known as the National Transitional Council.

A country in the Maghreb region of North Africa, Libya is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west.

With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometres, Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa by area. The largest city, Tripoli, is home to 1.7 million of Libya’s 6.4 million people. The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica.

In the wake of the death of its ‘Brother Leader’, as Gaddafi fancied himself, outpourings of predictions about the future of Libya have been torrential. While degrees of expertise vary, the simple reality is that nobody knows what happens next.

The most obvious question to ask is who will now control the Libyan state. The National Transitional Council, with Mustafa Abdel Jalil as chairman, enjoys unstinted recognition from Western governments and pockets of allied nations around the world. Yet, that is not the same thing as recognition on the streets of Libya.

Reports from the country suggest that there are other political forces on the ground, including city-based groupings come from Benghazi, Misrata, Zentan and Tripoli. There are also a number of minor militias.

Pro-Gaddafi elements still exist, especially within the cluster of clans around his hometown of Sirte, where he was killed in action, or probably executed. These are likely to demand a place in any future government. There are also the traditional tensions between Arabs and Berbers and between Islamists and secularists to factor into these equations.

It is not for nothing that the United Nations said it wanted a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding Colonel Gaddafi’s death before his burial. Even his tucking-away, in a secret location deep in the Sahara Desert, something reminiscent of the treatment meted out to the remains of Osama bin Laden, is not enough guarantee that the ghost of Gaddafi will be kept at bay.

However, in the overall interest of nation-building and fence-mending, the UN would also have to call attention to the fate of Black African members of Libyan society for it to maintain its credibility as a force for good for resolving the lingering logjam on Libya’s path to a rebirth as a nation and a democratic and peaceful society.

All the ingredients are there for a protracted insurgency along the lines of what has been witnessed in Iraq. One can only hope that commentators who argue that Libya’s terrain is not suited to guerrilla struggles, and insist that the country’s ethnic and ideological fissures are not sufficient to spark conflagration turn out to be right.

It is slippery and it is unprecedented. The road ahead for Libya is as tough as nails as it is nebulous and uncharted. As one commentator has said: “There is no political heritage, no political culture, no political institutions. In theory they existed under Gaddafi but in practice they didn’t, so the biggest challenge is building a political culture. No one has been able to vote on anything for 40 years.”

October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Breast cancer kills too many Nigerian women every year because most patients present at advanced stages where cure is not feasible. We can have more breast cancer survivors if we detect breast cancer at early stages. Let's Stamp Out Breast Cancer by doing a Breast Self Examination once a month, if you are above 50 years have a mammogram done once a year and if you notice any abnormal changes in your breast, report to your doctor immediately. Your breast health is your responsibility.

Hurray! 1st-31st of October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Sebeccly is running two help lines throughout the month to attend to all breast health and cancer enquiries from all over Nigeria: 08103258755, 08103258756. Stamp out Breast Cancer by calling in to ask questions on breast health, refer someone, spread the word. www.sebecclycancercare.org,
info@sebecclycancercare.org
 

Trinity House holds Honours Awards Ceremony and Trinity Nigeria Lecture to commemorate Nigeria’s 51st Independence

As part of its activities to commemorate Nigeria’s 51st independence celebrations, Trinity House, a non-denominational, free flow Christian worship centre established in 2010 and powered with a vision to build leaders, professionals and leaders to be, will be holding two events, the Honours Nigeria Awards and the Trinity Nigeria series respectively.

The Honours Awards ceremony will take place during the church’s special Independence celebration service on Sunday 2nd October 2011 at 10am at the church premises, Landmark Village, Water Corporation Road, Off Ligali Ayorinde, Victoria Island, Lagos while the Trinity Nigeria Lecture will hold at the Metropolitan Club, 15, Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island on Friday October 7, 2011 by 4 pm and will be delivered by Mr. Atedo Peterside, Chairman of StanbicIBTC Bank Nigeria.

The Honours Awards ceremony, which is an annual event is a day set aside a day to honour outstanding Nigerians/Africans of high integrity who have exemplified themselves in different areas of life. The objective of the Honours Awards is to recognize those who have contributed to Nigeria’s national development and acknowledge them as role models for this present and future generation. The awards are in the areas of leadership, professionalism, industry, and philanthropy and will be awarded this year to General T.Y. Danjuma for Philanthropy; Chief Chris Ogunbanjo for Industry; Mr. Akintola Williams for Professionalism; Chief Emeka Anyaoku for Leadership, and Mr. Kenneth Kaunda for the Africa Prize.

The Trinity Nigeria Series is a faith based, independent, non-governmental, non-partisan forum established to provide a platform for eminent leaders from different spheres of life, to discuss and share without any limitations, their views, ideas and knowledge on how to transform the Nigerian society, economically, politically and socially such as to provide an embodiment of knowledge that will serve as a guiding principle or reference point for future Nigerian leaders. The forum has been designed to be highly interactive and it is hoped that the format and the series in general will engineer new thoughts and bring to light ideas that will spur true leadership, abolish corruption and ensure the proper use of the nations human and capital resources.

Both events will attract eminent Nigerians from different strata of life. While the Honours Awards is open to the general public, the Trinity Nigeria Lecture is by invitation only. Both events are the church’s own way of contributing to the development of the Nigerian nation. Trinity House is a church that goes beyond the walls of church to reach society to change lives and transform nations.

Interview with Joshua Awesome

At 35, he is a young dynamic and energetically passionate man, not just about his career and life but also the Nigerian nation. He wanted to be the first successful Nigerian to climb African's highest mountain, mountain Kilimanjaro!!! His name is Joshua Awesome. Joshua though started out as motivational writer and peak performance coach today shines at the Nigerian and African stage. After his return from his expedition, Victoria Praise Abraham had a chat with him. Find below the excerpts.

What inspired you to want to climb at all?It’s not what, but who? Sir Edmund Hilary. First man to summit Everest greatly inspired me. Also Ronnie Muhl the first South African to summit Kilimanjaro, who by the way is also my professional colleague both greatly, inspired me to want to summit Kilimanjaro!!!

Did you get any inspiration to climb so as to be the first Nigerian to climb?It does not matter if I am the first Nigerian to climb or not. I actually set three goals for myself for the project. Firstly, I wanted to take the Nigerian flag unto the top of Kilimanjaro, give back to a non-profit organization, the Sanford Health Foundation, a global health initiative with its headquarter in the United States of America. The foundation presently sets up health centers all over the world but the caveat is that someone like me has to raise and create awareness and raise funds for the foundation which the organization would back up with a 400m dollar grant. I wanted to do this for children in need of special care and for Africa and specifically for Nigeria. And finally I wanted to use the whole experience to revamp my career - a new story, a new experience. Kilimanjaro has helped me achieve this newness. Three and a half months to prepare, “content is king”!!! I have gleaned so much and learnt so much within the whole period, not to forget all the new relationships I have had to form along the way. The journey is as important as the destination!!!

Tell us about the Kilimanjaro experienceIt is so far the most unforgettable experience of my life and it completely transformed my life and being. It was 3½ months of grueling training and 7 days experience; every day I spent 6 hours hiking from one level to another. Statistics show that 22,000 try to climb Kili every year and 40% never make it to the top, out of the 60% that make it – 2 out of 4 does not make it down alive.

Can you tell me factors that helped you achieve this uncommon feat?I would say God Almighty would be the number one factor. I needed His help and guidance at every step of the way. I recall at some point during my training when I thought I could not go another mile, but I was reminded that quitters never win and winners never quit and also during my final climb, I fell and I thought my legs were going to give way on me but God who saw me every step of the way finally gave me success. You also need patience, passion, perseverance and principles. Finally People!! I am grateful to a lot of people for making the entire experience memorable and successful, special thanks goes to my guide and so many other people who helped in one way or the other.

You recently got married.  Do you think being married helped you succeed at all?Definitely I would say a big Yes! My wife though very conservative is very supportive and was especially so during the whole expedition. I have an extremely loving and supportive family.  My entire family both nucleus and extended were rooting for me during the entire expedition.

In one sentence describe Joshua Awesome?In one sentence, Joshua’s life mission is also Joshua’s passion and it defines who Joshua is which is, simply to “inspire and inform individuals so they can get involved in life.” In one word “I am ‘An Inspiration’.

Can you name 5 people that greatly inspire you?In no order of importance they will be: Dr. Myles Munroe; Dr. Mike Murdock; Oprah Winfrey; Prof. Pat Utomi; My Parents

What is your life goal?It is tied around my life mission, which is “to inform and inspire people to get involved in life!!
         
Mr. Awesome, can you tell me what angers you, or what you hate?Abuse, of every kind; a life without passion; promiscuity and poverty

Tell me what makes you happiest? Or simply put what do you love?Life; Energy and Water

After Kilimanjaro what next?My next expedition would be Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe. I should hit that target soon. I am also looking forward to raising funds for Sanford Health Foundation. I want them to bring the whole Sanford experience down to Africa.

Would you do it again?Yes in 2012 I intend to go up Kilimanjaro again but this time around I will take inspiring Nigerians who want to climb with me, that should be interesting!!

For the sake of our audience who would like to know where exactly is Kilimanjaro located?Tanzania (East Africa)

Were you able to pick up the local language while in Tanzania?Oh yes, I had to learn phrases like “Ha kuna matata” – which means no worries; “Pole pole”, which means slowly! slowly!, an attribute you need to successfully summit Kili; “Asante sanna” which means thanks a lot and “Jambo”, which means “Welcome”!!!

Did you like their food in Tanzania?I have to say I enjoyed their soups mostly

Last words MR. AWESOME!!!Start something, stay with it until it produces results, and never ever give up!! It’s beautiful at the top.

Goethe Institute Celebrates World Music Day at Freedom Park

Goethe-Institut Nigeria, together with the Alliance Française recently organised their second Art Slam event at Freedom Park (Broad Street, Lagos Island). The event took place within the context of the World Music Day. Several artists were invited to perform live on stage. Since May 2011, Goethe-Institut Nigeria has been organizing monthly events at the Freedom Park. These “art slams” are centred on a specific topic and combine artistic performances with a friendly competition. It is a new way of creating exposure for talented artists by giving them an opportunity to showcase their creative gifts to the public. A jury made up from the public chooses the winner. The monthly event showcases the finest in Nigerian contemporary music in an exciting show at Freedom Park.

Timeless Editorial - Could ‘9/11’ have been prevented?

Of course, hindsight is 20/20 clear, as far as vision goes: U.S. President Bill Clinton could very well have nipped the plot in the bud. There is an important, almost urgent point to carrying out postmortems. It is so that we do not needlessly repeat history.

The attacks of September 11th 2001, when the United States of America suffered its worst calamity ever in peace time and on its own shores, were an organised terrorist act carried out by 19 hijackers, organised by numerous members of al-Qaeda.

Reasons for the attacks were stated before and after the attacks in several sources. These include the fatwā, videos and interviews of its recently deceased financier and face and leader, Osama bin Laden, as well as videos of his successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Motivations pinpointed for the attacks include U.S. support for Israel, the presence of the U.S. military in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (hosts to Islam’s two holiest shrines at Mecca and Medina); also cited is the U.S. enforcement of U.N. sanctions against Iraq.

Indeed, the watershed now simply albeit ominously referred to as ‘9/11’ has come but has most definitely not gone.

One decade after, the most visible manifestation (in modern times) of the ‘Grudge War’ against Western civilisation (with roots in the Judeo-Christian worldview that though ignored by it are nonetheless held against it), which was taken to the gates of its bastion by the disgruntled high-profile elements of the Islamist establishment, has continued on not a few fronts.

To understand all these, our alphabet must start with ‘A’ for ‘Afghanistan’; the last, certainly from the point of view of the begrudging, has to be ‘Zionism’, whatever that means.

In his prescient groundbreaking 1996 book (first published as an article in the journal Foreign Affairs in 1993), “The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order”, an insightful and powerful analysis of the forces driving global politics from the last into the present century, Samuel Huntington put forward a rather simple thesis:

The international system, formerly based on major Soviet, American, and Third World power blocs, is in transition to a new system composed of eight major civilizations. These are the Western, Japanese, Confucian, Hindu, Islamic, Slavic-Orthodox, Latin American and – “possibly”, says the theorist – African “civilisation”.

If only pre-9/11 America had listened to Mr. Huntington. In his stunning dare of a book, he explained how the population explosion in Muslim countries and the economic rise of East Asia are changing global geopolitics, developments that challenge Western dominance, promote opposition to supposedly “universal” Western ideals, and intensify inter-civilisation conflict over issues like nuclear proliferation, immigration, human rights, and democracy.

As noted by Mr. Huntington, the Muslim population surge has led to many small wars throughout Eurasia, and the rise of China could lead to a global war of civilizations. Mr. Huntington sets forth a strategy for the West to preserve its unique culture while emphasizing the need for people everywhere to learn to coexist in a complex, multi-polar, multi-civilisational world.

To understand the mind of al-Qaeda, the story must be told of the origins of the madrassa schools in Afghanistan. That was the land that terrorist body found room large enough to grow a body around its flaming heart.

Afghanistan had been invaded by the Soviet Union in 1979. The United States, fearful of a further expansion of Soviet influence, provided weapons and large amounts of cash to the Afghan resistance fighters.

After tens of thousands of deaths and years of warfare, the Soviets realised that they were not going to win control of this fiercely independent country. It marked the end of decades of Soviet expansion – and the beginning of the implosion of an empire that had reached too far and stretched itself too thin.

The United States watched the withdrawal and decided that with the Soviets vanquished, American’s job was done. The U.S. could pull out immediately and leave the Afghani people, amongst the poorest in the world, to live amongst their piles of bombed rubble. The American government did not lend a helping hand, as someone has said, “so much as buy them some brooms to help start the cleaning.”

It would prove a major strategic error. There was the need to rebuild the destroyed buildings, including the hospitals and the schools. The Soviets had been merciless in their attempts to intimidate the Afghan people by bombing them back to the Stone Age.

The U.S. did not stick around long enough to help in the rebuilding; its reason for intervention was anti-Soviet, not pro-Afghani. The Afghan government needed help in rebuilding; neighbours Iran and Saudi Arabia were only too eager to help.

Both countries also wanted to fill the vacuum that had been left by the departure of the two superpowers. They each made a big commitment to constructing schools. The only problem is that these were not secular schools. They were madrassas, or religious schools, that taught a very hate-filled version of Islam.

The Saudi schools taught their own anti-Western Wahhabi version and the Iranians built schools that taught their students to curse ‘the Great Satan’, America. The only difference between the Saudi schools and the Iranian ones was the degree of anti- Westernism in their curriculum.

According to CIA estimates, between them the governments of Iran and Saudi Arabia sponsored the opening of over ten thousand madrassas in Afghanistan. A large percentage of the terrorists at large today were trained in these schools.

How different the world would have been today if those students had been taught one-two-threes and ABCs instead of being groomed to chant ‘Death to America’?

In Asne Seierstad’s stunning portrait of Afghan life, The Bookseller of Kabul, there is a chilling passage where the book’s protagonist muses on “how first-year schoolchildren learn the alphabet: ‘J is for Jihad, our aim in life; I is for Israel, our enemy; K is for Kalashnikov, we will overcome; M is for Mujahedeen our heroes; T is for Taliban…’ War was the central theme in math books too…: ‘Little Omar has a Kalashnikov with three magazines. There are twenty bullets in each magazine. He uses two-thirds of the bullets to kill sixty infidels. How many infidels does he kill with each bullet?’”
How does all these relate to yet another question, ‘Can another ‘9/11’ be avoided?’ And, how does all these relate to Nigeria’s homegrown Islamic terrorist enfant terrible, Boko Haram? Surely, the similarity in the streak of disdain for ‘Western education’, so-called, in both cannot be missed.
Terrorists in both climes (the American CIA has identified an affiliation between the two) have simply moved in to fill the vacuum where proper education was lacking.

This disdain for education that replaces an empty mind with an open one has come to serve as a crutch but also a weapon in the ‘Grudge War’, something to limp along with but also take out to whack the rest of the world on the head with from time to time.

While it is true that most Muslims are not terrorists, most terrorists in the world have been and still are Muslims, often folks heroes for hordes of the faithful all over the world. The fact is that Muslim leadership has done far from enough to change the profile.

This needs to change. Desirable education for grappling with New World realities for equipping the individual to make a contribution to society is neither Western nor Islamic; it quite simply is. For example, the numeral system in universal use today was a contribution from the Arabs, most of whom have been Muslim.

Hence the mal fide moment when leading Muslims, using the system against the system, sought to rub in the vanquishing point of ‘9/11’ by clamouring to have it as a site for a shrine (interfaith, so-called; a blatant canard) must be recounted and recanted by Muslims.

The children are watching – and waiting to be properly educated. As Mohandas Gandhi said, “If we are to reach real peace in this world and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children.”

10th Anniversary of September 11, 2001 Attacks

For 102 minutes on September 11, 2001, the world looked on in horror as terrorists flew hijacked passenger planes into New York City's mighty twin towers, destroying the iconic buildings and killing more than 2,700 people. As the world commemorates the 10th year anniversary of the world's deadliest terrorist attacks, Timeless will like to hear your story. Where were you when it happened? What were you doing? What were your thoughts after? How did you feel about attacks? Send your comments to timelesscourage@yahoo.co.uk or post on our Facebook page  

TIMELESS EDITORIAL - Can Nigeria cure its Boko Haram disease?

The events of Tuesday June 16, 2011, when the Boko Haram sect of insurgents out of Borno State carried their war of attrition against the Nigerian state right inside the headquarters of the nation’s police force, have erased any doubt on the intractable nature of the security problem the band of Boko Haram guerrilla fighters poses.

Unless the matter gets the clinical attention it demands from the authorities, the disease may prove debilitating, rendering the state unable to attend to other even more pressing matters. In the end, it may eat so much into the fabric of state to unravel it.

Boko Haram is a security quandary for leadership at all levels; it highlights its abject failure. Whatever “concrete measures” have so far been taken “to nip it in the bud”, these must now be seen to have failed woefully; this calls for their thorough review.

The security challenges occasioned by the endless attacks by the group are bound to make the provenance state from where the disease broke out ungovernable; the whole Northeast region (particularly Borno, Bauchi, Kano and Gombe states) appears to be tottering on the brink of lawlessness.

Maiduguri is fast becoming another Somalia, where outlaw groups have taken over and where no government exists. So far, the impact and presence of government can only be felt on the streets of the capital city where armed soldiers who have failed to contain the killings and terror have allegedly made a hobby out of terrorising innocent residents in the name of perfunctory searches for members of the sect.

Sometimes, there are cases of alleged extortion perpetrated on the residents, where the economy has all but collapsed from the persistent onslaught by Boko Haram and resultant curfew imposition by government in response.

In the beginning, it was possible to keep count of the number of people killed; now, the heightened frequency of the killings has so shot up that accurate tally is being kept anymore.

The Boko Haram sect, who engaged security forces in a fire-fight in 2009 following sundry earlier skirmishes on the streets of Maiduguri, would probably have been successfully routed by now were it not for the extra-judicial killing of its leader, Mohammed Yusuf, along with dozens of his followers. Perhaps part of the cure, if it is not too late to be effective, is the ongoing arraignment for their murder of two assistant commissioners of police along with 15 other police officers.

In line with this, the family of the 70-year-old Baba Fugu, the father in-law of the late Boko Haram leader, Muhammed Yusuf, ought to be treated with fairness in the matter of their suit in court challenging the old man’s murder by the police.

Whatever happened to the judgement of the court in their favour? Baba Fugu had reportedly presented himself to the state Police commissioner on being told that he was a wanted man. Instead of taking down his statement, the police took his life even though he was not known to have any relationship with the Boko Haram other than being Mr Yusuf’s father-in-law.

The history of Boko Haram is a testament to government’s inability to put in place effective measures for ensuring justice and egalitarianism. In the beginning, Muhammed Yusuf was reportedly encouraged and bankrolled by former Borno State governor Ali Modu Sheriff, who wanted to use the group’s numerical leverage for political gains. To this end, we are calling for Mr Sheriff to be compelled to appear for interrogation by the newly constituted commission of inquiry set up by the Federal Government.

It has been alleged that Boko Haram financier, the late Buji Foi (also summarily executed by the police), as Mr Sheriff’s commissioner of religious affairs, was possibly his stooge within the sect. Indeed, the extra-judicial killings have led to allegations that, given the haste with which they were carried out, certain persons along the corridors of power had something to hide.

The commission of inquiry set up by the federal government to investigate the uprising was said to have returned a verdict of guilty on former Governor Ali Sheriff and the then Commissioner of police. Why has government not made its content public? Can the Freedom of Information Act be invoked to make this happen?

Therefore, there is an urgent and compelling need to prosecute Mr Sheriff if indeed he is found guilty. In fact, his appearance and possible subsequent prosecution will go a long way in assuaging the truly hurt feelings of the Boko Haram sect. The question must be asked: Could there have been a pact between Mr Sheri ff and the group, which the former reneged on, which has left the sect enraged?
The security approach adopted by security agencies, notably the police, is not only faulty but dastardly. As a retired policeman in Maiduguri once told reporters, ‘’The moment a shooting takes place in any neighbourhood, Operation Flush operatives rush to the scene and round up young men and claim that they have arrested the culprits. How can any gunman who committed an act hang around the scene of the crime to be arrested just like that?”

As a result, many young men made scapegoats for the failure of the security agents to apprehend the real perpetrators of the killings end up radicalised. And so the Boko Haram cancer cells continue to ravage the body polity.

World marks Third Sickle Cell Day

41 years old TBoz, American singer and actress was a member of the popular and succesful 90s female music group TLC and is living with Sickle Cell Disorder. Initially withholding details of her ailment from others, TBoz (Tionne Tenese Watkins) went public with the disease in 1996 and is now a spokesperson for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. She has stated that her faith in God and her optimism has helped her stay free from the more serious effects of sickle cell disease.



On 22nd December, 2008, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution A/63/L63 that recognises sickle cell disease as a public health problem. Among the objectives of the resolution is the celebration on 19th June of each year as a World-Day of Sickle Cell Disease. On June 19 2009, the first sickle cell disease awareness day was held at the UN headquarters organised by the International Organization for the Fight against Sickle Cell Disease (OILD/SCDIO) in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations (UN). Activities included a video report on sickle cell anaemia, testimonies stand, exhibition by patients' associations and international NGOs, an art exhibition on the disease, panels of discussion and round table, a First Ladies meeting and a gala dinner.

The World Sickle Cell day is celebrated across the globe with special emphasis in African nations and Asia. The celebrations include a press, media campaigns, music shows, cultural activities, and talk shows. Since no known cure exists for sickle cell disease, the main goal is to prevent further complications due to sickle cell disease. The main emphasis is hence on educating medical professionals, care givers, and associated personnel about prevention, research, and resources to minimize the complications due to sickle cell disease. Hence June 19th is devoted mainly to spread awareness, through talks, seminars, pamphlets, literature and consultations. Sunday June 19, 2011 marks the Third World Sickle Cell Day.

What is Sickle Cell Disease?Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that mostly affects people of African ancestry, but also occurs in other ethnic groups, including people who are of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern descent.

It affects haemoglobin, the protein found in red blood cells (RBCs) that help carry oxygen throughout the body. It occurs when a person inherits two abnormal genes (one from each parent) that cause their RBCs to change shape. Instead of being flexible and disc-shaped, these cells are more stiff and curved in the shape of the old farm tool known as a sickle — which is where the disease gets its name. The shape is similar to a crescent moon.

Common variants of the disease include SC, SD, SE, CE, Sβ thalassemia and SS. SS and SC are the most common in Nigeria.

Red blood cells with normal haemoglobin (haemoglobin A, or HbA) move easily through the bloodstream, delivering oxygen to all of the cells of the body. These are shaped like discs or doughnuts with the centres partially "scooped out" and are soft and flexible. They can easily "squeeze" through even very small blood vessels.

HbS molecules on the other hand tend to clump together, making red blood cells sticky, stiff, and more fragile, and causing them to form into a curved, sickle shape. Red blood cells containing HbS can go back and forth between being shaped normally and being sickle shaped until they eventually become sickle shaped permanently. Instead of moving through the bloodstream easily, these sickle cells can clog blood vessels and deprive the body's tissues and organs of the oxygen they need to stay healthy. Unlike normal RBCs that last about 4 months in the bloodstream, fragile sickle cells break down after only about 10 to 20 days, which usually causes anaemia. Anaemia is what happens when the body's number of red blood cells (or amount of haemoglobin) falls below normal. People who are anaemic often feel weak, tire more easily, and may appear "run down."

Signs and SymptomsThe symptoms of SCD follow a general pattern, which includes predominantly jaundice and anaemia characterized by erythroid hyperplasia. Other very common symptoms of sickle cell anaemia based on organ damage are characterized by: painful crises, stroke, paralysis, avascular necrosis of the femoral head, loss of splenic function and pulmonary hypertension. Painful crisis can occur in the chest, stomach, arms, legs, or other parts of the body. This is caused by sickle cells blocking blood flow through the blood vessels in those areas.

People with sickle cell anaemia can also experience complications from impaired blood circulation and infection-fighting problems. These include a higher risk of certain infections as well as a condition called acute chest syndrome, which is caused by inflammation or trapped RBCs in the lungs. Sickle cell anaemia is not contagious, so you can't catch it from someone else or pass it to another person like a cold or an infection.

A child who has inherited the sickle cell gene from only one parent will not develop the disease, but will have sickle cell trait (these are people with the AS or AC genotypes.) People who have sickle cell trait don't have sickle cell anaemia or symptoms of the disease, but they can pass the sickle cell gene on to their own children. Because people with sickle cell trait don't have the disease, they may never discover that they carry the gene. That's why it's recommended that people who are unsure of their genotype status ask their doctors about testing.

The periods of pain commonly referred to as pain crises, vary in their severity, how often they happen, and how long they last. Whereas one person may have only one sickle cell pain crisis a year, another may experience them more often. Crises may be brief, or may last hours, days, or even weeks.

What Can Doctors Do?To diagnose sickle cell anaemia, doctors use a special blood test called haemoglobin electrophoresis to look for HbS in a person's blood. There is no cure for sickle cell anaemia, and it is possible for some people to be ill enough to die from the disease. Doctors can provide treatments that help prevent complications from the disease, though. Folic acid, a vitamin that helps the body produce new red blood cells, is often prescribed for people with sickle cell anaemia. Pain medications help relieve the symptoms of crises.

Some crises can be managed at home with pain medicines, rest, and extra fluids. But if a crisis is especially intense, one may need to go to the hospital for intravenous (IV) fluids and stronger pain medications. People with sickle cell anaemia may also use oxygen to help ease symptoms during a crisis or an episode of acute chest syndrome. People with sickle cell anaemia may need to get transfusions of healthy red blood cells to help carry oxygen to the tissues of their bodies more effectively, and some may need many transfusions on a regular basis. Several new treatments have helped reduce painful crises and episodes of acute chest syndrome in adults with the condition. These drugs have also decreased the need for hospitalisation.

What Can Patients Do?With the right precautions, people with sickle cell disease can do most of the stuff other people do. To stay as healthy as possible, they should take these steps:
• Eat a balanced, healthy diet.
• Take vitamins, including folic acid supplements, as prescribed. They should however
avoid iron supplements. 
• Drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration.
• Avoid extreme cold or heat.
• Exercise regularly, but in moderation. Exercise is important for staying healthy, but
overdoing it can trigger a crisis in some people, particularly if they become dehydrated,
overheated, or exhausted.
• Get plenty of rest.
• Avoid alcohol, drugs, and smoking, which can aggravate sickle cell disease and its
symptoms. Some people with sickle cell disease are prone to lung problems, so smoking
is particularly risky and must be avoided.
• Avoid places low in oxygen. (For example, it's not a good idea to go hiking at high
altitudes or spend lots of time swimming under water or in the air in planes.)
• Prevent serious infections by contacting your doctor as soon as illness symptoms start. Be
sure to get any immunisations (such as pneumonia and flu vaccines) that the doctor recommends, and always call your doctor if you have a high fever (over 101° Fahrenheit).
• Learn as much as you can about the disease and see your doctor regularly to help prevent
complications.

People with sickle cell disease may need to put some limits on their lives, but with the help of doctors, friends, and family, they can manage the condition and live their lives to the fullest.

Over 5 million people are known to be afflicted by the Sickle Cell Disease in Nigeria. Sickle-cell anaemia contributes the equivalent of 5% of under-five deaths on the African continent, and up to 16% of under-five deaths in individual West African countries (WHO, 2006). The statistic in Nigeria though revealing may be even more due to unavailability of adequate statistics in a nation like ours. While an average of 150,000 babies are born annually with the disorder, only 25% of them might make it to their 5th birthday. It’s important to note that Nigeria being the most populous country in Africa accounts for three quarters of the populations living with SCD. It is therefore imperative, that we consider the alarming rate at which the population of those living with SCD is increasing.
People living with SCD, apart from the painful crises may experience depression, low self esteem and stigmatisation. Parents abandon children, marriages are destroyed, relationships are broken, those employable are stigmatised all as a result of SCD. Statistics predicts that by the year 2015, if care is not taken, the population of people living with SCD would have hit 40 million. It is not uncommon to have people tag the disease ignorantly as a death sentence.

Nigeria being a vast country and as a result of inadequate health information, basic elements of knowledge and information have been reduced to a minute percentage of the populace, thereby rendering the majority of the population ignorant. Counselling, research and management of the disease is also severely limited. The deficiency of genotype awareness and testing, inadequate understanding of basic management needs; poor health care and treatment in our hospitals has further created an abyss in solving the problems associated with SCD.

In Nigeria, the medical management of the sickle cell anaemia is achieved by the administration of some routine drugs which have been shown to be able to improve the quality of life of the patients. Apart from Folic Acid as mentioned above, other commonly prescribed drugs for sickle cell anaemia in Nigeria include anti-sickling agents like: Niprisan, Ciklavit and pain medications, which could include but not limited to; Paracetamol, Aspirin, Feldene, to stronger medications like Morphine, Fortrin, Buscopan depending on the physicians prescription. Several Nigerian families and caretakers of SCD patients have resorted to untested herbal and unreliable drug options to get by which are much cheaper than medically clinically tested drug solutions.  

More specifically, people in the lower strata of the society do not have easy access or funding towards proper treatment. In Nigeria the poverty rate stands at about 50-60% (World Bank report 2006). However, the average cost of medication on a monthly basis for the effective management in a person living with SCD is about $60. This places most Nigerian families at a disadvantage in being able to purchase the basic drugs. There is therefore an urgent need to facilitate proper medical care through drug provisions at subsidised rates to provide a healthy and enabling environment for their survival. Continuous awareness must also be maintained through the mass media, the various Sickle Cell Clubs across the country, NGOs and religious organisations. Funding for research into viable treatment procedures and drugs must be made available for our research institutes, teaching hospitals and universities. Regular seminars should also be organised for General Medical practitioners to update their knowledge on the disease.    

Movie Review - “KJB - The Book that Changed the World”

Title: “KJB - The Book that Changed the World”

Genre: Culture & Society

Release Date: April, 2011

Studio: Lionsgate

Format: DVD

Ages: 12+

Review by Mainasara

“KJB - The Book that Changed the World” is a 90-minute Drama Documentary about the translation of the King James Bible. Narrator John Rhys-Davies leads us back, through landmarks and relics, into a darker time to discover and savour a tale of saints and sinners, power and passion. The greatest translation of the Bible ever, it burst onto the stage to upstage things in a world and culture that would never remain the same again.

According to Christiancinema.com, “This fantastic DVD features great cinematography, shots inside beautiful churches and in the country, re-enactments of events of the sixteenth century, a remarkable host in John Rhys-Davies with his booming voice, and the scholarly mini-lectures of expert scholars. This intriguing documentary will inform and educate and each viewer will have a whole new appreciation of the King James Bible after viewing it.”

There is simply so much history to learn here: the events leading up to the crowning of King James; various events of the time (rendered by expert scholars such as Dr. William Storrar, Professor Carl Trueman, Dr. Ashley Null, Professor William G. Naphy and others); about King James, the man who believed God guided him and who was born a Catholic but became a Protestant; the background of the making and printing of the Bible, as well as the story of a schism which nearly resulted in the loss of lives.

The screenplay was written by Norman Stone (who is also director and producer) and Murray Watts. The film premiered in November 2010. John Rhys-Davies (known best for his role as Gimli the Dwarf in the “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy and in “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark”) is the narrator of the docudrama. King James was played by Andrew Rothney, outstanding in a play adaptation of one of the oldest pieces of literature in known existence, the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, a 4,000-year old Sumerian tale.

“KJB - The Book that Changed the World” is a fantastically beautiful and excellent film which demonstrates, in vivid Technicolor, the credibility and integrity of the Bible as the record of the veritable word of the God of the Judeo-Christian revelation.

EDITORIAL - Our debt to King James Bible at 400

Indeed, it is as British politician, historian, and writer, Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800 - 59), said: “[This] English Bible [is] a book which, if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power.”

Owing to a mix of factors, King James I convened a conference at Hampton Court in 1604, where the decision was made to commission an entirely new translation, to take into account more available manuscripts and increased scholarship over the years. Since it derived its authority from the king, it would be known as the Authorised Version.

The king approved a body of 54 scholars (seven did not make it to the end), divided into six committees. The work took off fully in 1607, with a first draft out by 1609. Redrafted the following year, it was finally completed for publication on May 2, 1611.

Ever since, no translation has commanded attention as the King James Version (popularly known as the KJV) Bible. Further, no other has enjoyed patronage as much as the King James Bible.

Not many people know that the KJV is 400 years old this year; even fewer of the 1.5 billion speakers and users of English worldwide care to ever acknowledge its impact on the language. It stands to ponder that not a few English translations of other holy books, although done much after it, have a propensity to get rendered in the old-fashioned phraseology of the King James Bible.

To quote the Encyclopaedia Encarta, “The outstanding prose works of the Renaissance are not so numerous as those of later ages, but the great translation of the Bible, called the King James Bible, or Authorized Version...is significant because it was the culmination of two centuries of effort to produce the best English translation of the original texts, and also because its vocabulary, imagery, and rhythms have influenced writers of English in all lands ever since.

“The KJV of 1611 became an enduring work in an age when religion mattered to almost everyone in a way that is difficult to appreciate today. It influenced their lives, their attitudes, their actions – from the highest in the land to the lowliest man or woman.

“It had an enormous effect on peoples’ lives. Its language and terminology may seem archaic today but it was the everyday parlance of ordinary people and its language became entwined into English literature over many generations, not just in England but wherever the Bible was carried into what has become the English-speaking world today.”

There is no gainsaying the fact that the King James Bible has shaped the English language like nothing else before or after it. Its passages have been the portions (and sometimes even potions) that have kept political and religious fervour going.

From the adulatory addiction of the ‘KJV-only’ reactionary movement within Christendom, to the nonetheless appreciative avant-garde preachers and teachers of the Bible who are also open to the slew of new successor translations of the Good Book, the King James Bible evokes something close to reverence.

It has come down imbued with a larger-than-life image – a mirror that pans back-and-forth between our origins in the misty past and our moorings in the clamorous present.

Much of the phraseology that undergirds the English language has come down to us from the first day of the King James Bible. Examples abound: ‘A thorn in the flesh’; ‘Labour of love’; ‘Physician, heal thyself’; ‘The apple of my eye’; ‘Widow’s mite’; ‘A thorn in the flesh’; ‘In the twinkling of an eye’; ‘New wine in old wineskin’, and ‘Thy brother’s keeper’.

We can relate to the words of US President Ronald Reagan: “It is my understanding that the Bible...has been the bestselling book in the entire history of printing.” Yet activities to make an important milestone as the 400^th anniversary of the watershed event of the issuing of the KJV remain scant and far in between, particularly in Africa.

It would not be out of place to stage many such events as one planned but not much publicised: the series of commemorative events planned by the West African Theological Seminary (WATS) and the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN), as conferences and exhibitions, across Nigeria in June and November, and in select capitals in West Africa in September.

In an era of phenomenal mass failure in English examinations in Nigeria, at all levels really, a throwback to the roots of the language as codified in the King James Bible, as lessons drawn out of the rigour of its development, should prove worthwhile as a radical solution to the malaise. 

Generation Y - and how they are changing the world

By Ayodeji Jeremiah


Most of us have probably heard of the term ‘Baby Boomers’. Some of us will probably also have heard of the term ‘Generation X’ and ‘Generation Y’. These terms refer to cultural generations – groups of people born in the same date range who share similar cultural experiences. Auguste Comte, a French philosopher was the first person to make a serious attempt at studying generations in this context. He suggested that social change is determined by generational change. Karl Mannheim, a Jewish Hungarian sociologist also did seminal work in the study of generations. Mannheim emphasised that the rapidity of social change in youth was crucial to the formation of generations, and that not every generation would come to see itself as distinct. In periods of rapid social change a generation would be much more likely to develop a cohesive character, he concluded. He also believed that a number of distinct sub-generations could exist. Jose Ortega Gassett, a Spanish philosopher was another influential generational theorist of the 20th century. These along with American authors William Strauss and Neil Howe have been very influential in defining the concept of generations. Strauss and Howe’s book, ‘Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069’ is frequently cited in books and articles on the subject. While this concept of generations as we know it is very common and more popular amongst Americans; the study of its influence and importance cannot be overemphasised as it permeates to other societies overwhelmingly albeit with different outcomes and consequences.   

Since the advent of the ‘Baby Boomers’, (probably the most influential and largest generational group to date) no other generation has had as much impact on social, political, economic and religious change as much as the focus of this article, ‘the Gen Yers’ as they are also called. Before we look at their influence however, it is important we know who they are. Doing that entails we know those before them.

Experiences that occur during the formative childhood and teenage years create and define differences between the generations. These social markers create the paradigms through which the world is viewed and decisions are made. Baby Boomers were influenced by the advent of the TV, Rock and Roll, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the threat of nuclear war, and the decimal currency. Gen Xers saw in the Personal Computer, AIDS, single parent families, the growth in multiculturalism, and the downsizing of companies. Generation Y’s have lived through the age of the internet, cable television, globalisation, September 11, and environmentalism. Such shared experiences during one’s youth unite and shape a generation. There is an ancient saying that bears much truth: “People resemble their times more than they resemble their parents”.

The Baby Boomers refers to the generation of children born between 1946 after World War 2 and the early 1960s. Across the world, it was the largest demographic group (now being replaced presently as the largest by Generation Y). The name stems from the increase in birth rates seen across the world after the war due to increasing peace and prosperity. This group that grew up in a time of affluence came to define the 60s and 70s (just like the Gen Yers are now defining the 2000s).

Generation X refers to those who were born between 1965 and mid to late 70s (1976-1979.) Many grew up as "latch key" kids, home alone after school while both of their parents worked, and/or they were raised by a single parent. They saw their parents married to the workplace, often devoting long hours to factories, the office or on the road. Their parents sacrificed time at home with their families. This group is often perceived as the most ignored, underappreciated and overlooked of the more recent generations. It is also the smallest in number of all the generations. Their contributions were largely in the development of Internet and communications platforms, which the Gen Yers are now putting to use massively.  

Generation Y, the subject of our piece (also called Millennials, Generation Next or Echo Boomers) refers to those roughly born between 1980 and 2000 (the offspring of the famous baby boomers.) Characteristics of the generation vary by region, depending on social and economic conditions. However, it is generally marked by an increased use and familiarity with communications, media, and digital technologies. In most parts of the world its upbringing was marked by an increase in a neoliberal approach to politics and economics. Members of the group expect entertaining and fast-paced information and are assumed to be self-centred, demanding, and hard to integrate into teams. They are also more environmentally aware taking the initiative to go green as they now say at every opportunity. They are awash with choices, from buying an individual song on iTunes instead of a whole prepackaged album to not three major TV networks but 200-plus cable channels, covering a spectrum of interests. Rather than buying Wall Street Journal or New York Times (in the US) or the Guardian or Times (in the UK) or Thisday or Guardian (in Nigeria); they have access to hundreds of blogs and websites where they can get their news from. These set of people don’t have to memorise anything as all they have to do is ‘Google it’. How this will influence learning and knowledge remain subjects of various theses in colleges across the world.    

As they grow up, leave school and enter the workforce, they are becoming a force to be reckoned with. Also, as they become politically aware, they are leveraging their use of digital technology and the new social networks to force political changes as witnessed recently across North Africa and the Middle East. In a recent Newsweek survey, members of this group account for between 35% (and in some countries) as much as 60% of the population especially in Africa, the Middle East, India, and South America. These regions are political and economic hotbeds that are just experiencing an awakening. Economic growth in these regions are growing at an astonishing pace (between 4 and 10%) leaving the US, Western Europe and Japan in the dust but with only few of the populace enjoying the fruits of such growth. Even Nigeria is experiencing GDP growth of 7-8% compared with 2-4% for the US and most European countries. With access (sometimes restricted) to Facebook, Twitter, Google and YouTube, the Gen Yers in these regions are seeing their counterparts experience economic prosperity, being able to change their governments every four or five years, having unrestricted access to digital media and technologies and wondering why they too can’t experience the same. Not unlike most of their parents who took part in the political tumult of the 60s, they too are partaking directly and indirectly in changing political destinies across the world.

While due to cultural differences across regions, a Gen Y in the US might not necessarily behave the same way as a Gen Y in Nigeria or the one in Nigeria might not necessarily behave the same way as one in China; most Gen Yers across the world however share similar traits and characteristics that are forcing changes in the way we conduct business, the way we market products, the way we advertise, the way we employ people, the way we conduct elections and even forcing legislations in some societies to favour erstwhile socially awkward and unacceptable behaviours. This same generation is also forcing changes even in the way we worship God.

While most Gen Yers believe in ‘a God’, they view organised religion as a source of intolerance and a nuisance. While most pray and read religious manuals or books, they do not attend regular religious services and tend not to identify themselves with a particular religious group. Most will even describe themselves as ‘spiritual’ and not ‘religious’ to emphasize their stand as far as God is concerned. While churches in Europe are closing down, unable to cope with these changes, those in the US and Africa are using music, drama, the ‘mega church’ concept and community organising/work to keep members of this generation in church. Members of this group do not want to worship in your small town church, they like unconventional music and drama to go along with the sermon and they want their church to get involved in social mobilization and community work. 

Gen Yers also tend to be more liberal on issues of sex. Even in conservative societies like Africa’s, members of this group tend to frown less on homosexuality seeing sexual orientation not as a choice but more like age and sex, (things you don’t have a choice over). This has led to seismic shifts in the way homosexuality is viewed by society with laws now being made to legalise, cater for and protect so called same sex marriages. They also tend to have sex earlier being earlier exposed to the technicalities of sex and being also better informed. Despite their sexual awareness, they are also acutely aware of the dangers of AIDs and other STDs and take precautions concerning these.

This group tends to be more peer oriented. The rise of instant communication technologies such as email, texting, and IM and new media through websites like YouTube and social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, explains the Gen Yers reputation for being somewhat peer-oriented due to easier facilitation of communication through technology. This has also changed the face of advertising as advertisers now use targeted advertising to get across to members of this group. Most members of this group are more likely to make a purchase (of a product or service) if their peers have done so and are also likely to not to make a purchase if their peers makes a negative review about such. 7-9 of every 10 amongst this group owns a cell phone (probably a Blackberry or another smartphone) and a computer. Even in low income societies and amongst low income groups, acquisition of a cell phone or a computer is not seen as a luxury but a necessity. This has led to financial institutions and schools partnering together to offer schemes that make it easier for members of this group to acquire such. Cell phone makers are cashing in on this churning out smartphones (phones with Internet and Social Networking capabilities) at an alarming rate. The rise of mobile social networking and instant messaging and email is also placing a demand on the attention spans and tasking abilities of this group. There is that urge to check every Facebook post, every chat, every IM and every mail as they come in and also reply immediately. 70% of all text messages are sent by members of this group. Members of this group view themselves as being excellent multi-taskers but recent research suggests that from being far from the truth. Research from Temple University’s Centre for Neural Decision Making suggests that this addiction to information and addiction to incoming tweets and texts leads to objectively poorer decision making. The research showed that people faced with a plethora of information are apt to be poor at making choices and poor ones at that.      
Politically, members of this group want change and results fast. They get quickly disillusioned if things don’t go their way and if their anointed candidate doesn’t deliver on time. Members of this group vaulted Barack Obama into office in the US in the 2008 elections but were nowhere to be found during the 2010 US midterm elections when the Republicans won over the Congress. They have also been responsible for the fall of the governments in Egypt and Tunisia and forced changes in Yemen, Morocco and Saudi Arabia, but after forcing these changes will they be available to provide support and ideas for the new leadership in these places. Again, as with other areas of their lives, they want microwave solutions – fast, ready and instant. The patience to work things out long term is usually absent and politicians will do well to learn these facts and know how to harness them in cultivating this group of people. 

In the business world and workplace, managing Gen Yer has become one of the hottest topics among HR consultants and business managers. Across the workplace, they are seen as being lazy not willing to work long hours. They have learnt the importance of balancing work and life from their overworked ‘Baby Boomer’ parents. They want to work, but they don't want work to be their life. They aim to work faster and better than other workers and are not prone to meetings. They want to hold only ‘productive’ meetings. They want to make an important impact on their first day at work and want to be given direct ownership of tasks and responsibilities with less hierarchical organisational structure. They believe in their own self-worth and are high maintenance workers. They change careers faster than college students change their majors, creating frustration for employers struggling to retain and recruit talented high-performers. "Generation Y is much less likely to respond to the traditional command-and-control type of management still popular in much of today's workforce," says Jordan Kaplan, an associate managerial science professor at Long Island University-Brooklyn in New York, US. "They've grown up questioning their parents, and now they're questioning their employers. They don't know how to shut up, which is great, but that's aggravating to the 50-year-old manager who says, 'Do it and do it now.'" They are very independent and place a great deal of demand on their employers. They want jobs with flexibility, telecommuting or work from home options and the ability to go part time or leave the workforce temporarily when children are in the picture. Generation Yers don't expect to stay in a job, or even a career, for too long, they're sceptical when it comes to such concepts as employee loyalty. In the workplace, conflict and resentment can arise over a host of issues, even seemingly innocuous subjects such as appearance, as a generation used to casual fare such as flip-flops, tattoos and capri pants finds more traditional attire is required at the office. Conflict can also flare up over management style. Unlike previous generations who've in large part grown accustomed to the annual review, Gen Yers have grown up getting constant feedback and recognition from teachers, parents and coaches and can resent it or feel lost if communication from bosses isn't more regular.   

By understanding what today’s youth most value, we can determine how to most effectively engage them. Even if many chose to reject these values however they are still culturally dominant. The values in vogue today are as follows:

Relational Connection
Gen Y is seeking after more than just friendships. They want community: to be understood, accepted, respected, and included. Research from the Australian Leadership Foundation shows that while they spend most of their spare time with their peers, they often fail to experience real unconditional love, and connection when with them. Above all else, they wish for “a happy relationship” and “a loving family”. A stereotype is that this generation has no loyalty however they do demonstrate strong loyalty to their friends. They work hard to live up to what their peers expect of them, and their self-esteem often rests on how well regarded they are in their group or sub-culture.

Bigger Meaning
This generation has observed their parents get the rewards of hard work: houses, cars, and material wealth. Gen Y has benefited from this being the most materially endowed, and entertained generation of teenagers ever. Yet they have seen the costs of their parents’ success in terms of broken marriages, absentee parenting, and an epidemic of stress related illnesses. For their part Gen Y have been left disillusioned with the materialism they have enjoyed and boredom remains a big problem for them (57% state that “never being bored” is of highest importance to them). Therefore they are looking for more than just continuing the consumerism experiment. Indeed when deciding to accept a job, salary ranks sixth in order of importance after training, management style, work flexibility, staff activities, and non-financial rewards. For the young people of this generation, a job merely provides the income to do what they want to do. They are on a search for fun, for quality friendships, and for a fulfilling purpose. There are more voices than ever trying to win over a cause-seeking generation. Whether it is environmentalism, social issues, human rights, or volunteering, they are getting increasingly involved.

Trusted Guidance
Research again shows that the one of the strongest felt need amongst Gen Y is for guidance or direction in their life that is trustworthy. There is much advice on offer but not much of it is believed by this sceptical generation, and rightly so. By the age of 18, the average young person has viewed over 500,000 TV commercials, in addition to countless Internet, radio, and outdoor ads, much of which is pure hype. This generation is hammered with hype and has the hype radar up screening out most messages. This generation wants guidance in the form of a navigator, not a street directory. Our society is full of proverbial street directories, which show the way to financial, relationship, or life success. However most Gen Y’s are unsure of where they are now, let alone where they are going, and so they are seeking specific direction from someone who knows them, their situation, and has even travelled that way themselves. They are looking for real life role models and mentors who not only know the way, but also go the way, and can show the way.

Understanding Generation Y is important for all of us whether we are involved in educating youth, or in a leadership role in the workplace or a spiritual based organisation. A quality outcome is dependent on our understanding of them. Once we have a foundational grasp of their characteristics, communication styles, and social attitudes, we will be well equipped to effectively impact this enormous and emerging generation. Before too long they will be the bosses and will be taking over the world.