Awful  that child kidnapping, baby factories and sale of infants are thriving in democratic Nigeria

Our recent essay dealing with the preponderance of quack drugs and merchants in Nigeria is garnering a large readership.

   

The instant essay focuses on another corruption that is mushrooming or rapidly gaining ground  in Nigeria, It is none other than the crime of selling infants under the pretext of overcoming poverty or assisting persons facing childlessness.  Consider the Biblical story told in first Chapter first Book of Samuel.

The purpose of this essay is to suggest that Nigeria ought to do away the crime of child kidnapping and sale of infants which  still persist in the country despite all attempts to stamp out the iniquities.

No family or marriage is considered whole or successful until a child is born. A woman without a child is a complainant, worse than a petitioner seeking a redress  in a court of law where she has hasn’t got jurisdiction.

 The childless woman is likened to a beggar on the street taken advantage of by a panhandler who sells her a baby for the price of a plate of jollof rice.  

This essay takes the position that a family afflicted with childlessness is the talk of the town where the infertile woman lives.

People point at the man and say “he’s without an issue” and of the woman they say “her’s is a body that cannot produce  ‘fruit of the womb’”. A childless person is an oddity.

Oddity is a peculiarity that turns into a laughing-stock in the community, A childless woman is worse than just a laughing stock; she is a caricature. A caricature is a laughter that occurs when a victim is subjected to general mockery or ridicule.

If you are childless, you are caricatured in that you are mimicked, satirized,  aped, parodied. The reason for being pointed out is that you are object of lampoon reserved for one who is destitute,  a person that has nothing, not even a  child.

 Childlessness has been a problem from time immemorial, from antiquity even before the birth of the Savior the Christ. Remember the story of Hannah married to a husband  named Elkananah?.

Like many Nigerian men, including this writer’s brother-in-law who has my sister and another woman as wives,  Elkananah was a Hebrew polygamist who was married to two wives named Hannah and Penninah.

Penninah had several children while Hannah had none. Penninah often tormented childless Hannah, calling her all sorts of names. Hannah often wept, refusing to eat or be comforted,

Though her husband had given the childless wife Hannah more belongings than he had given the child-bearing Penninah, things seemed to get worse rather than better. Elkananh did show partiality in order to create harmony in the family.

 “Give me a child or I die,” Hannah often cried to her husband’s  greatest annoyance. Invariably, Elkananh thought in his mind: Look-oo  na big trouble-oo.

“Am I God to give or withdraw babies?” The husband  protested at  his childless, weeping, sorrowful , inconsolable wife. A family where there are no children is a devil workshop that manufactures palaver (Nigerian word for problems).   

In my home Nigeria, many women are hard at work conceiving and producing  as many babies as they possibly can in order to feel  accomplished and be desired by their husbands..

Some unscrupulous citizens (men and women) are busy kidnapping other women’s children and selling them  for money in order to avoid pennilessness and to succor women afflicted with childlessness.    

In Nigeria, kidnapping and human trafficking of infants are crimes that seem thrive as a means to solve the problem of childlessness or hunger.

But the crimes  are becoming increasingly commonplace or conventional, as a result of poverty created by the Muslin-led government.

That child kidnapping  persists along with the selling is undeniable. The incontrovertibility, incontestability, or unquestionableness  is as obvious as the selling of Eba (garri) and osikapa (rice) in the open at Alaba Market .  

Although the Nigerians notice or should have noticed that the crime of buying and selling babies is unnatural,  yet they go about their businesses unperturbed,  pretending to not notice.

The story is told of a daughter who was pushed out of her family, excommunicated from her kindred and disinherited because she refused to sell her newborn in order to provide money to feed the rest of the clan.

Read » Baby selling factories are still a thing in Nigeria, yet we won’t embrace adoption on YNaija

from YNaija https://ynaija.com/baby-the-injustice-blog-while-many-are-trying-hard-to-conceive-others-are-selling-theirs/

Poverty is not and should not be sufficient excuse to drive out a child that refuses to engage in human trafficking,  namely the sale of her baby, just as having no money  does not ipso facto  justify prostitution.

 The human baby and body are sacred  and ought to be treated as such, despite the degree of hunger  or the number of childless women lining the gates of Aso Rock.

Although the Nigerian Government has established orphanages to facilitate the care and adoption of infants, many Nigerians still persist in frequenting baby factories under the guise of  trading or solving the problem created by childlessness.

As one cannot rob Paul to pay Peter, and as two wrongs do not make a right, you either make it all right or leave the wrong alone. Trading on babies is reprehensible  and subjects Nigeria  to general mockery and ridicule in the committee of civilized nations.

A crime is a crime and ought to be punished as such to the fullest extent of the law both for the sellers  and buyers of babies, and families which promote such illegal transactions.

  

According to a report by Punch, 4-year-old Elo Ogidi, who  went missing during a church service at the Christ Embassy, has been found in Benin, Edo state, in an orphanage after she was kidnapped on Sunday, July 8, 2018.Read more:  https://www.pulse.ng/gist/metro/missing-4-yr-old-girl-during-church-service-found-in-orphanage-id8770062.html.

In another case, the Nigerian Police as recently as Monday, October 8, 2018,arraigned 48-years-old Akwaja Adaeze, in Wuse Zone 6 Magistrates’ Court in Abuja, for allegedly kidnapping a minor and selling him off for N650,000. Read more: https://www.tori.ng/news/107858/woman-arrested-for-kidnapping-and-selling-another.html

Defendant Akwaja- Adaeze, who is a trader and resides in Imo, had pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge of criminal conspiracy and kidnapping leveled against her. She could be claiming that “the child is mine.”

The prosecutor, Mr Fedelix Egwube, told the court that the Police Command in Imo had arrested one Pricilia Egole with a child suspected to have been abducted.

Egwube said that during police investigations it was revealed that Adaeze kidnapped the minor along Zuba-Suleja Road in Abuja.

He added that Adaeze allegedly took the minor to Imo without the consent of his parents and sold him to Egole for N650,000 (1831 US Dollars).

The prosecutor, Mr Fedelix Egwube, told the court that the Police Command in Imo had arrested one Pricilia Egole with a child suspected to have been abducted.

 Prosecutor Egwube made several allegations. First, police investigations revealed that Adaeze kidnapped the minor along Zuba-Suleja Road in Abuja.

Secondly, Adaeze allegedly took the minor to Imo without the consent of his parents and sold him to Egole for N650,000.

Egwube also said that the police has released the kidnapped victim to the parents after appropriate investigation.

The prosecutor said that the offence contravened the provisions of Section 97 and 273 of the Penal Code.

Mr Jeojima Thompson, Counsel to the defendant, thereafter, filed an oral application seeking the court to admit his client to bail.

 Thompson said the alleged offences were bailable, adding that his client would always be available to stand justice. He said: “I assure the court that the defendant would not jump bail if admitted,’’ he said.

 The Magistrate, Ahmad Ndajiwo, granted bail to the defendant in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum, and ordered the sureties must reside within the court jurisdiction and he adjourned the case until Nov. 13 for hearing.

Th9s essay would not end without noticing that Edo State seems to be leading the nation is championing illegal trade in minor children.

This writer has had conversations with a 50-something-year-old aged  Nigerian childless woman who had travelled  to Edo to adopt a little girl.

After paying N400,000 ($1,600 at N250/$ at that time) and returning to Abuja with the adoptive , the adoption agency asked the adopting mother to return the child  with the excuse that the birth mother did not approve of the adoption .

The purpose of this essay is to state categorically that adoption is in shambles in Nigeria as there is no meeting of the minds of all concerned stakeholders.

The conclusion is a moral question. Isn’t it extremely anachronistic that baby factories  and sale of infants are thriving well in my democratic country? There is no way to ascertain how many of the kidnapped children are actually adopted by childless couples  and how many perish at the hands of evil cultists.

 The readers shall agree that producing babies in factories for the sole aim of selling to persons who want to avoid poverty or assisting childless couples to have children, is anachronistic, old-fashioned, outdated, obsolete, archaic, antiquated. It is primitive when education in the sciences ought to provide batter options than human trafficking.

Dr. James C. Agazie, jamesagazie@gmail.com; jamesagazies.blogspot.com

TOWARDS A PHILOSOPHY OF IGBO UNITY

This essay, first conceived in 2012, is arguing that, despite what they have been through and what has been dished out to them, the Igbo shall rise again and survive.  They have always survived and would continue to survive in present-day amalgamation.

 The Igbos have many lessons to learn as they go through the so-called 40-year trek through the desert to the promised land. They shall have many transformations to make. 

We Igbos are in a class of our own, unique, steadfast, resourceful, full of energy, and self-propelling. Yet, we Igbos are disunited.

We seem to be iPhone with tiny computer chips manufactured in China, Japan, and many other different countries that perform wonders when used simultaneously, an electrical whittle that is in-built, ingrained, integral, and intrinsic.

When one comes in contact with a group of Igbo men and women, one can’t help walking away with a bit of nostalgia, a feeling that these people are something else: their electrical impulse is magnetic and  springs forth as energy, power, force, and oomph (defined as vigor, livelihood, get-up-and-go).

This is not to say we Igbos are not without fault. What is true of Igbo men is just as true of the women. The Igbo woman is a glowing force in motion.

Someone once described the Igbos as the “essagasimotion”, meaning the air that is a gas in motion. Even the tiny Igbo child you saw dancing unashamedly behind the masquerade On U Tube programming at Afikpo last week  strikes you as surreal, weird. It is amazing.

A few years ago, this writer once cried and complained about the difficulties encountered in sailing through a doctoral degree until someone believed to be Igbo pulled him aside and asked a rhetorical question: ”Aren’t you Igbo?” The rest is history.

With all our smartness and stick-with-it-ness, why aren’t we Igbos where we ought to be? The answer can be encapsulated, compressed in just one word-unity.

A few years ago, a Kenyan woman flew into Atlanta from Lagos to deliver her fourth child which arrived earlier than expected because she fell down while buying goods she was loading  into someone’s container for shipment to Lagos.

”Who are you?” This writer asked when he finally tracked her down in Texas with a phone number her Igbo friend had provided . She said nothing; and stood there just thinking.

“Who are you?” I demanded again and again, amazed at how a Kenyan could work so hard. Her response was “I am a Kenyan married to a Nigerian.”

I then, I asked rather sarcastically: “And what type of Nigerian husband you’re talking about?”

This writer said in his mind Everyone who works hard is said to be a Nigerian.  He was surprised when this Kenyan said she was married to an Igbo husband surnamed Ugochukwu (real Igbo name) from somewhere in Anambra,  in Nnewi LGA.

We say all this to say this: anything the Igbo touches is bound to turn to gold, to be accomplished big time. That proves the point. A hardworking Igbo is dangerous  wherever he or she goes, whether dead or alive.

Is that why there is so much fuss about the Igbos in Nigeria, and why they are being killed, marginalized , and sent to the periphery of society?  

Even the woman the Igbo marries is equally as dangerous as a firecracker that is lit and tossed away during the America’s Independence Day celebration on July 4^th.

We ask readers: “Don’t you think the Igbo’s dangerousness is a result of hard work habit? Is that the reason Igbos appear to be hated, vilified, and chased from pillar to post?”

We want to ask Yorubas and their governors: “Why do you think you own Lagos and can you develop Lagos alone without the contributions of the Igbos? And if you answer in the affirmative, aren’t you then the biggest liar?”

The Igbos are victims of lies peddled across Nigerian and the world by envious mouths of the Yoruba and non-Igbos. The most pathetic fear of the Yoruba is Igboclasstrophobia (made-up word), meaning fear that Igbos may outclass the Yoruba in education and Onitsha dethrone Lagos as the center of commerce in West Africa.

This writer asks fellow Igbos: “Don’t you think we can perform  great wonders if we Igbos  learn to work amicably with Igbos and non-Igbos alike, and why can’t we  do greater wonders  if we can turn our  Biafra area into the wonderland it ought to be and call our new home the USI (United States of  Igboland) or the AIU (Ala Igbo United)?”  

The Igbos have met opposition in Northern Nigeria for decades; the Igbos are meeting opposition in Western Nigeria, especially in the no-man’s land called Lagos; and the Nigerian Igbos are experiencing opposition in South Africa. It seems the Igbos are experiencing difficulties everywhere they go.

The purpose of this essay is to grapple with the thorny question as to why a hardworking people often meet opposition. What is it that has been keeping the Igbos back, and how can the Igbos  move forward through, beneath, around, or beyond the opposition?

 Is it money that is keeping the Igbos back? Is it intelligence? Is it a curse? What is it? Perhaps it can only be unity or lack of political power.

 I can love you without being in unity with you, but I cannot be in unity with you without loving you. Political power ties whatever it takes to move things forward together.

By the same token, love alone cannot hold a marriage or a tribe permanently intact; you need commitment which is a stronger bond, more unbreakable and more unifying than mere love in action.

But it takes something greater than love and commitment to build something as simple as a beehive or anthill, or a viable Igbo Nation. The Igbos need the magic of unity.

Magic is enchantment, fairy-tale. Unity is agreement, harmony, accord, unison, unanimity, or Igwebuike (Igbo for unity is strength). Consider the tiny ants. Look at bees in a beehive. Look at hyenas hunting in a group.

The honey bees and ants are teachers of UNITY. What follows is a developing (not fully developed) philosophy of IGBO UNITY. It consists of purging poison out of our corporate body. To purge is to get rid of harmful substances.  We must get rid of certain Igbo habits, idiosyncrasies.

Pride: We must get rid of astounding titles: Just as Owambe is killing the Yorubas dead, and jihadhist violence is the Achilles heel  leading to the downfall  of the Hausas, jaw-breaking titles are rendering the Igbos disunited and obsolete.

 Titles I have a homeboy I once knew as Joachim. Then  one day, his name changed to Nze (Chief) Joachim. Next thing I knew was Sir Nze Joachim. Finally, I met Joachim at a party. He was introduced as Dr. Joachim,  PhD, EdD, MA, MSc, Med.

Ah ah, we got scared, not able to shake the Joachim’s hand any more for fear he might reject our handshake or thrust your right hand aside. And you want me to dance with the Joachim’s wife at a party?

I say I am afraid of the man, and you are asking me to risk my life, boogieing  owambeing in a dance with this man's wife who goes by the strange title Lolo Ogbuefi.  Am I crazy?

 What of the friend I used to know as Simon. Didn’t I develop migraine when I read the email from Dr. Simon. The email’s sender was Gburugburu.

I didn’t take Igbo language in the GCE or WASC examination, but I take gburugburu to mean something that  goes around or surrounds one completely,

Hasn’t General Emeka Ojukwu been described as Gburugburu? Does every Igbo want to be an Ojukwu? Pride and title are effective killers of Igbos.

Now, I am scared to pick up calls from Simon. He might be asking me to pay a fee for talking with him on the wireless. Some of the weird titles I have on my cellphone include Engineer Chief Ukwumango (mango tree) and Egozurumba  (Money Is Everywhere).

Consider  Architect Cardinal Nwachinemelum (God Does Things  For me),  and Accountant  O. Charlie whose title is Ome Mgbe Oji (Spender of money When He has It).

Each title holder acts superior to the others. How can their children come to play together or marry each other when bombastic titles are separating them?

Westernism: We must get rid of Westernism: We need to stop pretending that Igbo Nation would be a reality when we copy everything from the West and fail to recognize things from our culture that define who we are, or fail to get rid of the virus that causes our preference of individualism (separateness) from Njikoka ( umunna-ism or togetherness). Westernism  is the direct opposite of Umunna-ism.

We must throw away Westernism (European and American culture with emphasis on urban life, nuclear family and what’s -mine-is-mine-and-what’s-yours-is-yours mentality).

Collectivism: We should embrace Umunna-ism (which emphasizes the communal, extended family , village-ness, and inclusiveness). Am I not the keeper of every Igbo and doesn’t it take the whole village to raise a child?

Competitiveness: We must get rid of proneness to overpopulation and unhealthy competitiveness: Why push your village wife to have 13 children or your daughter to marry Awusa senator just to beat out your siblings and become the family champion? Then you spray Naira at parties called to confer on you the ubiquitous title of Igwe (paramount chief of your village).

Have you been to a traditional wedding where akata husband marries an Igbo girl and the girl's father introduced his son-in-law as Igwe? Akata is pejorative/derogatory for the Black American.

 Igbo elders invited to the occasion became offended that Igwe title reserved for an elderly, seasoned Igboman was being conferred upon a young non-Igbo .

Isn't  President Buhari been conferred chieftain titles in Igbo communities he has been to to gather votes?

In many families, there are two warring camps: Ndinwere-ego  (money people) and Ndiguru-akwukwo (educated people). The first group consists of cousins and uncles who have accumulated billions of Naira from importations and who have mansions and homes scattered everywhere and at Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu, in London, Aba, South Africa, and Asaba.

The other group has little money but several lawyers, teachers, and small-time traders. All through the year and at Christmas, life is like a soccer or ping pong match between Ndinwere-Ego v. Ndiguru-Akwukwo. There is no communication between groups, just benign neglect and excessive pride.

Love of money: We must get rid of inordinate love of money. To be inordinate, the love would be excessive, undue, unwarranted, immoderate, extravagant, unreasonable, disproportional , or too much.

This Igbo friend was alright until he opened a second used car dealership in downtown Macon. But when he announced the openings of a 3^rd and 4^th outside the city limit, his love of money began to change his personality. He’s no longer accessible for me. or his friends.

Relatives tell me of a wealthy Lagos family friend who was good until “money pass water”, prompting him to run over his wife with a vehicle in the heat of passion. He tells neighbors: “Even if I killed with motor, nothing can happen to me because I have money, and I can bribe the Judge.”

He dared anyone to challenge him. He even hired some policemen to run off in-laws who wanted to give the wife a befitting burial.

We lament the death of a favorite real doctor (Dr. Amobi of Ogidi trained in Britain) whom wicked men assassinated in front of Oyibo (white)  wife because the doctor sought  the village chieftaincy title that was due him but an over competitive opponent assassinated the good doctor .

Polygamy: We must get rid of polygamy: When a man marries several wives, children grow up hating each other. The competition to outclass, outshine, and out-monetize siblings is rampant even though they all come from the same polygamist’s genital.

 Mothers join in to out-dress, out-glamorize, out boyfriendize other wives, while the husband enjoys sampling the goodies of multiple wives. 

Animosity: We must get rid of animosity and learn to nurture each other and provide benevolence. To nurture is to cultivate, cherish, encourage, foster, develop, raise, rear. Benevolence is the state of providing kindness, generosity, munificence, goodwill, altruism, magnanimity, or obi oma (Igbo for kindheartedness).

We must get rid of separatism in the family. Your brother’s children in Mbano or California are totally estranged from your own children in Atlanta simply because you and your brother are busy giving your children don’t –mind-that –fool lessons; antagonizing your brother and creating dissension amongst spouses and cousins.

We must get rid of reprobate values and morals. Current Ndiigbo values and morals militate against fostering successful unity.

We praise wrong people when we throw parties for the thief that successfully stole government contract money or who sacrificed his mother at alusi (idol) for money.

We insult wrong people when  we ridiculed the truck-pusher who lost his wheel barrow which he sold in the attempt to pay off the debt he owes on rents to house his children.

Greed We enter wrong deals. Why have you and I gone into a joint venture, and you are bent on taking the whole profits and seeking to drop some poison in my cup of beer?

Why can’t you give me my fair share of profit we made and let us repeat the process until you get more than you would working alone after killing me?

We must not rid ourselves of the desire to get rid of these troublesome habits, including the habits of greed, pride, excessive individualism, and parroting. mimicking, or impersonation  of Western values.

Dr. James C. Agazie,  jamesagazie@gmail.com, jamesagazies.blogspot.com

N is for Nigeria in a Loving Relationship

The purpose of this essay is to add a little icing to the cake that sweetens our democracy. When we govern ourselves through our responsive representatives, we practice democracy.

 It is important that in our democracy we are concerned with solving problems that concern us  rather than beating about the bush, chasing the whirlwinds  and serving the non-essentials.

 

We are in a marching band and our song is a mantra by which we solemnly swear to uphold our nation at whatever cost even with tears and laughter:

We are Nigerians first and foremost, let’s make Nigeria nice and glorious

The emblem of steadfast stability, the devotion of every fiber in our being

Raise the triumphal shout high; let not the feet touch the ground

We’re the Alpha and Omega, First of all and Servant of all

Nigeria is a relationship, not just a piece of land or the expansive, sprawling. capacious forest ; it is an enduring  relationship.

A relationship is the connection, association, affiliation, rapport , bond, liaison, link, correlation, or bond that binds us and represents to our common goal.

This essay is devoted to the 5 healthy ingredients that Nigerian needs as we march toward the next Century. We need Self-Love.

In order to have a healthy, loving relationship with another human being, you must first learn to love yourself.

Self-love is not the self-absorption that robbers and kidnappers have as they partner in crime. It is the self-abnegation that neglects self, values connection,  and puts others first.

Every Hausa boy shall connect with a fellow child  of another tribe, meaning he shall have love in his heart for every Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba he endeavors to meet and trust.

Trust may seem obvious, but many of us have partners we do not trust. Trust is the faith, belief, hope, conviction, expectation we have that it is good and shall be well with Nigeria.

Trust is the confidence, expectation, reliance we repose in each other. It is the confidence Igbos have in that Western landscape that he shall be safe in the neighborhood as the day shuts its eye in darkness.

Do the Nigerians love other Nigerians and are willing to appreciate their common historical experiences, music, cuisine and religion and negate the differences that divide?

Are Nigerians able to go to the mosque that is beside the United Methodist church that is a stone throw behind the Jehovah Witness  building in which the Jewish observe their Torah on the Sabbath?

Trust may seem obvious, but so many people are with citizens they don't trust. Church burnings and beheading are perpetrated by persons that have no trusting relationships.

In addition to self-love and trust, a Nigerian needs honesty which is the uprightness, morality; honesty is the trustworthiness, goodness, and decency.

Honesty is the goodness, the principles and scrupulousness that prevents involvement in corruption or the giving and taking of bribes.

Honesty  is the rectitude, righteousness that makes the governor easy when teachers’ salaries are held beyond the end of the month; that renders the President uneasy in foreign hospitals.

Honesty is the light that shines in every heart and drives the darkness far away . There can be no relationship without open communication and connection among Nigerians

Communication is the jabbering, the chattering, babbling, prattling, rambling, blathering in every tribal tongue that asks “What’s in the name Nigeria?”

N is our Native Nigeria while the first I is the Independence we shall forever cherish

G is our Generosity and E is the Energy that goes into serving our nation

R is our Reliability and Responsibility in the work of nation-building

The second I stands for the Indebtedness we feel we owe our nation

Finally, the A signifies the Awesomeness that is embodied in Nigeria

Posted Sat, Oct 6, 2o18 at 5:10am

Dr. James C. Agazie, jamesagazie@gmail.com

How many Nigerian lives are being lost to quackery and isn’t quackery taking its ugly toll?

The purpose of this essay is to report on a personal experience with quack medicine in Nigeria. On a recent visit to Nigeria, this writer ran into and had conversations with a “nurse” who practices her profession at a Nigerian maternity hospital under a “doctor” who says he graduated from a Nigerian medical school.

The writer had conversations with the so-called doctor/medical director of the maternity , but had no way to determine legitimacy or qualifications, but it was a large house built with cement blocks and shiny marbles.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

The nurse delivers female babies for 7,000 Naira. She delivers male babies for 8,000 Naira, and is charging extra 1,000 Naira for circumcision of boys.

The nurse says she practices nursing but has neither the training nor the required license. She makes  10,000 Naira (28 dollars)  monthly and lives in a two-rooms place for which she pays 2,000 Naira ( 6 dollars) a month.

Quack medicine  is endemic, widespread, prevalent, rampant, pervasive in Nigeria. The government is aware of the practice, and even persons engaged in medicine are aware of quackery. However, they ignore it or are unable to do something about it.

Quackery is a fast-money maker. Quackery cannot be stopped. Everyone is into quackery. It is quackery. Quackery is here. Quackery is there. Quackery is everywhere.  Quack! Quack!

Quackery is practiced in all parts of Nigerian among all tribes, including the Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, Yoruba. In fact, there are quack doctors all over my country.

Traders import tons of quack drugs from China, India, and local Nigerian quack producers. The fight against quackery is tough, tougher than the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier boxing match.

A Nigerian medical doctor, travelling from Nasarawa to Awka to attend a medical convention, was beaten to coma for opposing quackery, an unprofessional medical practice,  by owner of a pharmacy he  had stopped at to pick up over-the-counter medications for a travelling companion. Read more:  https://www.tori.ng/news/107814/shocking-lawmaker-beats-doctor-into-coma-for-oppos.html

Upon observing the employees of the pharmacy perform treatment the doctor considered to be dangerous and unprofessional , the doctor complained about quack.

Because the doctor was trained in Western medicine and opposed quack and its practitioners, the quack employees called the owner of the quack pharmacy to report what was happening.

The owner came, and after discovering the identity of the medical practitioner and being told about the unprofessional medical procedure being complained about, took the law into his hands

Pharmacy owner complained that the doctor was attempting to destroy his business and then descended upon the doctor whom he  beat up and sent to the hospital. with a broken vein in the brain as well as a crack in the spine as a result of battery by the pharmacy owner who is also a lawmaker.

What followed was unfortunate. The doctor, Dr. Umaru, chairman of the NMA (Nigerian Medical Association) called to report the pharmacy’s quackery.

The owner of the pharmacy,  Honorable Emenaka, House of Assembly member who was reported to have accused the doctor of trying to ruin his business, started to pull strings with higher ups and fellow politicians to keep the crime under rock carpets.

The incidence showed the total breakdown of the rule of law as well as a lack of respect for life of the average Nigerian. Why does a “licensed” pharmacy engage in unprofessional procedure that endangers life and isn’t it to make money?

Years ago, while the writer was teaching primary school in Benue State, he  observed quackery practiced at its most deplorable stage.

Local traders would purchase what looked like penicillin from Lagos, Nnewi, or Onitsha markets, then come to the villages to inject unsuspecting farmers.

Injection syringes were unwashed, environment unhygienic, and diseases transferred from one person to another . God must love Africans greatly; otherwise they would have been wiped out in a second. Wham!

The farmers were usually poor, uneducated, and easily fooled. They were too trusting. Illiterate. Illiteracy  can enslave one and usually does.

One farmer was injected with drugs meant to cattle. The drug was so powerful it knocked the farmer unconscious. Upon regaining consciousness, the farmer agreed that he had received the best treatment.  and was asked to pay top price.

The question to ask is:  How many Nigerian lives have been lost and continue to be lost as a result of quackery?

Sunday, October 7, 2018

Dr. James C, Agazie, jamesagazie@gmail.com; jamesagazies.blogspot.com

ZUMA’S FORCED RESIGNATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR AFRICAN LEADERS

After several years at the helm of the government of South Africa, President Zuma finally agreed to resign. While we applaud Zuma for getting out of the picture so that his nation would move forward, we am appalled, horror-struck that it took  this much  argument and prodding for the president to see the light and agree to step aside.

What was Zuma thinking about all along? Did he think South Africans are fools to let him run the nation aground like a pirate’s boat? Was he thinking he was accountable to no man but himself?  Was he aware  that South Africa is a democratic republic  rather than an autocratic regime? Did he know that thousands of South Africans  had struggled and bled to death for the nation to materialize?

 Has Zuma heard of Steve Biko?  Did he think he was above the laws governing  his nation and did he expect his citizens to obey the laws while he chose to flaunt them? Has he read Achebe’s Things Fall Apart or CryThe Beloved Country written by Alan Paton? We wonder.

First of all, Zuma is not South Africa, and South Africa does not belong to Zuma. So long as Zuma recognizes that Zuma and South Africa are two entirely separate entities, the better for all around . I find it unacceptable to imagine that an African president or governor of any country should feel that the nation he is elected or appointed to lead belongs to him and his family, or  that the country cannot exist without the president or governor.

 A nation outlives its citizens. A citizen or a leader may belong to a nation, but the nation cannot belong to a citizen or leader. The needs of a nation must supersede those of a leader, and not the other way around. Isn’t this the thinking of law-abiding citizenry?

The notion that a leader owns the nation is as wrong as wrongness becomes.  It is incorrect, mistaken, and erroneous,  A leader who feels he owns the nation is at a disadvantage in that he does not see the mistakes that are being made, he doesn’t have the opportunity or make serious efforts to correct his mistakes, and he does not have honest and loyal advisers to steer him right.

 All such a leader has is a bevy of ass kissers, ignoble sycophants, bribe takers who want to be in his graces for wrong reasons. African leaders ought to learn from  the mistakes made by Mugabe of Zimbabwe and South Africa’s Zuma.  

IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE  AFRICAN  LEADERS:

As a leader, you ought to realize that Africa is changing from a jungle ruled by lions to enlightened community of  thinking men and women. As such, you the leader  are nobody but a public servant; you have oga (master) over you, and your oga  are the people whose government you are leading. They all, including you, are citizens and stakeholders, not just those you voted for you, or just members of your political party. A leader leads all of his or her people.

The oga allows you to head the government, you did not come there by force or by any special talent you may think you have, and there are many citizens who have similar as you have  or better skills than you.

Conduct yourself humbly and circumspectly, meaning cautiously, vigilantly, warily, and suspiciously, knowing that one day you may be called upon to give an account.

Publish your doings carefully so others may notice and judge for themselves;  be open and transparent, and invite others to verify and correct. Avoid doing things in secrecy. Include private citizens in your administration and committees to provide transparency.

Develop a thick skin to listen to criticisms to gauge your progress ; however, do not allow reactions to criticisms, censures, disapprovals and reprimands from the press or individual citizen to cloud your head or to lead you to seek revenge and strike  out in anger. Encourage criticisms of your work, and invite criticizers to submit alternative plans.

Discourage others who wish to hero worship you. Remind yourself and others that you are but a public servant who does what everyone else can do for the nation.  Treat all and sundry with equal measure of love and care. Your motto shall be: “Ask not what Nigeria can do for you, but ask what you can do for Nigeria.”

Resist efforts by outsiders, agents of former colonial masters included, who might want to thwart gains made or to sell your nation’s soul or your country out on a platter of questionable and elusive promises. Be true to yourself.

Be careful how you handle public monies. State money does not belong to you. To dip hands into public bag is theft, pure and simple. It could lead to impeachment and earn you a vote of no confidence in you.

Do not be forced to resign. Call it quits when you’ve done all you can and conditions continue to deteriorate and you’ve held several consultative councils.  Explain the nation is bigger than an individual. Resign gracefully, and remain an elderly statesman helping younger leaders. 

Hand over all books and records at the end of your tenure. Be ready to be called upon to explain discrepancies. Be candid.

Your life and work should be a testimony after you,  a testament, evidence, witness, proof, demonstration, verification, authentication, or proof that modern Africa is advancing to take its place in the community of civilized nations. Good luck!

Written Saturday and posted  2/17/18

Dr. James C. Agazie; jamesagazie@gmail.com; jamesagazies.blodpot.com

ABOUT THE WRITER: Writer is a Nigerian residing in the USA, a retired college professor. He is not a politician, does not support any political party, and does not aspire for any advantage other than to serve as unpaid volunteer to advise and speak the truth. May be reached by text at 678-886-1613.

THE FIRST NIGERIAN QUEEN OF ENGLAND

This essay talks about a Nigerian woman who sits on throne as Queen of England, and how faith and change can work together to effect the manifestation of what was thought to be an impossibility. You can never say never to certain people. You can never say never to Nigerians. The British tried it and fell flat on their long noses   As the population of Nigerians in England swelled and England grew darker with children born of Nigerians, there was a hue and cry from America.

“Nigerians must be stopped or the world would be ruined”, the crowd roared. President Donald Trump went on rampage, in a wild offensive to save England . His backers, the World Anglo Saxon Nationalists, wanted Nigerians out of anything white. They say the Africans must be stopped by any means necessary, even if it means tricking President Mohammed Buhari to vacate, leave  Aso Rock for giant rodents and rule from an office nestled  in Newberry Castle outside Glasgow, UK.

The Congressional Black Caucus in America fought tooth and nail to defeat Bill 1942 before the House which would reverse the gains Blacks have made and perhaps derail Nigerians’ emigration to Great Britain. The Bill 1942 in essence provides for a repudiation of Loving v. Virginia.

 In America, things changed at the speed of lightning with Supreme Court 1967 decision in Loving v. Virginia which told Nigerians and other Black men: “You have a legal right to intermarry with white women of your choice.”  Spurred by the court’s decision, the number of interracial marriages in America exploded and, with it, the population of multiracial people has exploded. The population of Nigerians in UK followed similar trends.

 According to the 2000 Census,  6.8 million Americans identified as multiracial. By 2010, that number grew to 9 million people. Trump feared.  Determined to reverse everything President Obama did, including healthcare, Trump swore on his mother’s gravestone: “never in England at least not with shithole Nigerians in England”.

Trump ordered the English and  Norwegian governments to pass a law banning all emigration from shithole nations. England’s Nigerians fought back with enyi mba (elephant) dance. Some brave Nigerians,  including Harvard-educated historians and anthropologists, demanded that the position of the Queen of England be open for grabs by any commoner rather the exclusive property of the so-called blue blood Tudor.

To add to the Englishman’s confusion, Nigerian Theologian Professor Onovo  preached that God is a Nigerian. Things got out of hand nippily, very quickly. In the meantime, Nigerians poured into Britain, Some Nigerian women replaced pills with fertility capsules to fill England’s maternity wards with the newborn Nigerians.

In 2017, the pressure to replace octogenarian Queen mounted on the British Isle like a tidal tsunami as more Nigerians invaded Britain in the manner of a swarm of bees. The Nigerians claimed that, as members of the British Commonwealth nations, they were entitled to partake of all that Britain has to offer, including the Oxon (Oxford University degree in classics) and the Brew (British white women eager to marry Africans) .

The British teetered at first on the verge of collapse then settled on quiet acquiescence, submission to pressure from Nigerians. A few stubborn, proud dyed-in-the-wool  Britons refused to capitulate. The majority, with the aid of Donald Trump’s frequent tweaks, demanded that Queen Elizabeth abdicate the throne of England because she was weak on immigration. Insulted and humiliated, Elizabeth ordered the Parliament to erect a replica of the Buckingham palace in Norway to which she would retire. That suited  President Trump right as Norway is his Garden of Eden  and  Norwegians his incorruptible people.

A child was born in England of Nigerian parentage. Her name is Latifa Uche Moraso. No one paid attention when at age six, Latifa said in Kindergarten class , “I want one day to be the Queen of the Great Britain.” The child grew up in London and overheard the buzz of the abdication of Queen Elizabeth as the rumor overtook the universe as the Black Death, Hitler’s advancing armies.

 Latifa Ucheako (that was her maiden name) married a Scottish gentleman who suggested she attend Oxford and Harvard to prepare for public service. After a series of minor mayoral stints, Lady Latifa at 33 served as Home Secretary under the Conservative Party chairman Ian Smith an open homosexual whose father left South Africa when apartheid succumbed. Queen Elizabeth prepared to leave for Norway under Trump’s onslaught and impending loss of confidence in Parliament. Trump won.

At the beginning of the abdication of Queen Elizabeth, Parliament considered and passed Bill No. 1984, granting any British citizen the right to serve in any capacity, including that of Queen of Great Britain and Wales. The Queen Elizabeth met with Queen Omarosa  briefly to sign documents transferring  residence of the massive Buckingham palace to the new monarch.  The event rubbed Trump the wrong way and he swore to never attend.

The coronation of Queen Latifa  cameas fell on a Monday South African  Archbishop Desmond Tutu and prelates of the Ecumenical Church Movement met in London. Trump’s absence was not only inconspicuous, it was cheered by obstinate Nigerians . Trump was becoming unpopular among Nigerians. It’s payback.

The Nigerian strongman Mohammad Buhari  grew weary and weaker and retired to a castle outside Glasgow which he had acquired during active military service, a move that was necessary, Aisha agreed, so he could be near the doctors caring for his chronic middle ear infection and forgetfulness.

Today, Queen Latifa Moraso  reigns, sitting on the throne of Kings of England, and she is Nigerian. 

The influx of Nigerians became an epidemic; they poured into Britain by the millions. When the Nigerians say “go”, no one can say stop ; they are like a juggernaut with nuts loose, a foot wedged between the gas and brake  pedals of unstoppable Mercedes 704 travelling erratically at 100mph. No group is as stubborn , unstoppable as Nigerians. They take no No for an answer. Everything is Yes.

When one says Nigerians are unstoppable, one means these people’s actions are irresistible, overwhelming, overpowering, persistent, unrelenting, persisting, persevering, inexorable, or ife a adighi agwu agwu (Igbo for “this thing does not have an end”).

Aisha Buhari called it quits amidst intolerable confusion. Aisha  Buhari divorced her husband and married  a younger Igbo army general  to whom she wanted to hand over what is left of Nigeria. No one knew what became of Nigeria, except  for a few  phone calls from Hassan, Fulani educated at Oxford.

Hassan had indicated the herdsmen had taken over , overrunning and crisscrossing the length and breadth of the land of Nigeria in search of luxuriant meadows to feed their long horned cattle. Hassan was later executed in the jackass dance of Sambissa Forest in a mercy purge; Hassan was disowned by his family because he had converted to Christianity and preached the Gospel.

Things got to change and change had been on the way, and the change was dramatic when it finally dawned on the scene that things had fallen apart in London and never to be put back together It is melodramatic,  theatrical, histrionic.  The Nigerian Queen of England is dramatic in many ways. She is a commoner, with no royal blue blood, and a Nigerian blood flows in her veins.

Since a Nigerian woman is calling the shots at Buckingham Palace, the experiment the Britons left in West Africa is now ancient history and must be rewritten in an indelible ink. The Queen of England is a Nigerian, and she would rewrite it with a stroke of the gold ballpoint

 When a thing is written indelibly, the information is permanent. It cannot be rubbed off with a pencil eraser. It is ineffaceable, as unalterable as the word of eternal life. A Nigerian lives in Buckingham Palace as the Queen of England and Wales. Her name is Queen Latifa, and she is Nigerian.

Didn’t the congregation nod in agreement as the vicar said things are made  anew and all things are possible to those who have the courage to believe, not just believe but have confidence in a thing without substantiation, proof, or evidence.

The purpose of this essay is to describe the evidence of strong belief in the materialization of the reign of the first Nigerian Queen of England who now sits on the throne once occupied by the likes as William the Conqueror, Henry v, henry VI, Henry VII, Richard I, Edward I, Queen Victoria, and Queen Elizabeth. It has taken long in coming, The throne is now occupied by Queen Latifa of Nigeria. Yea Yeaaaaaaa!

The news of the coronation of Her majesty Queen Latifa  Uche Omoraso, broke in England at the time Nigerians were flooding Great Britain. The first thing Queen Omoraso did was reverse the definition of citizenship.  A Nigerian born in any of the British colonies or protectorates is a citizen of England.

As usual, you cannot expect the Nigerians to accept a kindness and stay in their places. They cherish adventure and who doesn’t? To a Nigeria, anywhere is home and any job is for grabs, if the job would provide food that keeps body and soul alive and together.

   

The British imperialists gloried in giving sententious speeches at the Independence Day celebrations of their colonies, extolling the virtues of the Empire which they say would not fall into the hands of a foreign Negro. They boasted: “Never shall the sun set on the British Empire, and never will.”  

The boast was followed with demands that the colony collect taxes on behalf of the Crown and additionally pay a yearly fee of 150 billion pound sterling into the London branch of the Bank of England. 

To the British, it didn’t mean a thing to ask: “Isn’t this  taxation without representation of a Negro who until recently was considered one-quarter human and three-quarters beast?” It meant nothing, and  that explained why Nigerians poured into Britain relentlessly, unremittingly, uncompromisingly.

The Independence Day speech given by outgoing Nigeria’s Governor General Douglas McPherson was portentous in that it was threatening and pompous. Nigerians were told what was to take place in order to merit protection by the Royal Air Force and the invincible, indefatigable British Armada in case of a foreign attack. The speech was sententious as it was devoid of deep thought, interest, or content and it was given with excessive demand and pomposity.

The British, by  the very fact that they participated in the scramble for Africa and featured in the Atlantic Slave Trade, made no apologies but went on to secure Nigeria as a source of revenue. They inhumanely arm the boko haram and Fulani herdsmen with automatic weapons  to create havoc when the cost of oil goes up and to cease fighting when oil price is at rock bottom.

The British are brutish, meaning they ruled with cold-heartedness, cold-bloodedness.  They had dug the graves of many Nigerians and stolen from the country. Who would think that one day a former slave would enslave the master?  

What happens to Britain is a lesson for those colonialists given to self-indulgence, arrogance, pretentiousness, snobbishness, affectation, or pride. How more can the taste of the pudding of revenge be proved than in its eating? The Queen of England is Latifa Omoraso of Nigeria.  

Long Live Her majesty Latifa Uche Omorosa, Queen of England. The kings or queens of former colonial masters run the risk of being replaced by Nigerians. It is predicted that Germany, France, Norway, and the Netherland shall experience upheavals which will usher in heads of states that are Nigerians. 

One should never say never to some people, precisely the Nigerians. Nigerians had learned from Trump of America about the futility of racism and threats of deportations. These don’t work against Nigerians. Even steel walls built on top of the Atlantic can scarcely deter a determined  Nigerian who swears to swim from Lagos to London.

Denying Nigerians the conquest of Britain is impossible. To Nigerians bent on conquering  England; failure to do so is as impossible as catching with the wind with a trap, particularly as Queen  Latifa, a Nigerian,  sits on the throne of England.

Written Wednesday, January 14, 2018. Posted 2/15/18 @9:18pm

Dr. James C. Agazie; jamesagazie@gmail.com; jamesagazies.blogspot.com

NIGERIAN STUDENTS DON’T HAVE TO BE UNEMPLOYED AFTER GRADUATION FROM COLLEGE, THIS IS HOW

 Names are fictitious but facts are real about known persons.

Stories coming out of Nigeria nowadays concentrate on the high rate of unemployment, particularly among the youth.  Have you ever received a text or email from a relative complaining of hunger and asking for money to pay for a child’s education in the university?

Take heart. You are not alone. Many are  being asked to wire some money through the Western Union or those businesses that take your dollars and wire Naira into a Nigerian’s bank account, for someone’s school fees. You worry that the person you  are paying  the money for might graduate and not have a job.

Like this writer, you’ve been  sending money  for someone’s  education  only to find out later that either the student was not in school  or the money was used for purposes other than school fees.

What do you say to your friend’s daughter you has a degree in Food Technology and been unemployed two years in a row? How do you console your nephew who has not been employed after obtaining the BSc degree in mechanical engineering  and not been called for a job interview for dozens of positions he had applied for?

You wonder why college students in Nigeria are often complaining of unemployment after graduating and receiving their diplomas when that shouldn’t be the case. Numerous opportunities exist for  graduating students to plan to increase chances of landing a job, if they would listen and follow directions.

Didn’t you wash dishes, mop the floor, and clean toilets while you were going to school in America?  And you think your brother’s son at Yaba College of Technology or Nnamdi Azikiwe University is too special  and can’t do what you did? Perhaps you are part of the problem.

Let’s not forget one Nigerian named Dr. Akinkuoye who was mopping the floor at Saint Elizabeth Hospital in Washington DC while attending medical school  and we ignorant, unemployed  Johnny-come-lately Nigerian  students were laughing , hooping, jeering at him.

We were asking: “How can a doctor be mopping dirty floor?” To hoop is to laugh uncontrollably. It is needless to say that Dr. Akinkuoye   is now a board certified cardiologist

Many college-educated Nigerians are unemployed many years after graduation for various reasons. Poor planning is a reason. When asked why they are not employed, reasons they given are interesting. A few say: “there are no jobs to get.”

Some will tell you that “there are millions of other people applying for the same position.”  A few seeking to get more money from you would say that prospective employers are asking for exorbitant bribes beyond the ability of candidates to pay.  

Our latest essay titled “True Nigerians Can Happily Learn To be happy” is closely tied to employment. The purpose of this essay is to discuss effective ways to overcome unemployment after graduation and to minimize its effects on the man or woman who  spent a number of years pursuing a course of study in college only to graduate without a job.

 Unemployment is a painful source of stress and unhappiness. An unemployed person tends to worry and to endure  penury, pennilessness, destitution, indigence, neediness, impecuniosity, impoverishment, or lack of money. Satan has plenty of work for idle hands.

That one is unemployed at the moment does not mean one would be unemployed forever.  Difficulties of life are not meant to make us bitter but better for a higher calling. Things will change for the unemployed if we do not grow weary or give up hope.  We must believe that change is on the way. But we need to change certain habits that might be militating against chances of landing employment.

 Procrastination has an effect on or works against employment in that we waste the valuable time we could have used preparing for a career.  Procrastination is defined as deferment, postponement, stalling, delay, adjournment, putting off, or failure to take action at the crucial time. Procrastination is a thief of time.

 As we waste time, life passes us by and never to be gotten back. And when time passes there’s no time to cry over spilled milk.  For example, if you miss a scheduled flight, you might have to wait for another airplane which may arrive the next day or days after.

I know a young Nigerian, a 35-year-old man named Joachin who had known unemployment for years because he wasted his youth at Lagos trying to make fast money. He followed a group of hooligans, ne’er do well, at Lagos motor parks to sell stolen stuffs. He called himself a used car dealer, and was not prepared for any profession.

Joachin had no secondary school education and no technical or business training. He was just there loafing around. To loaf is to loiter, laze, loll, be idle, be unoccupied, or lie around doing nothing useful. He was an eye sore.  Family was ashamed of him.  In American, a popular saying goes  that a mind is a terrible thing to waste, and it is.

Suddenly, age caught up with him and Joachin  (fictitious) had to marry as he is the oldest son in a family that had lost both father and mother. Luckily, Joachin met and married an elementary school teacher. Have things changed for Joachin?

No, he is still unemployed, begging around for money to pay rent for a N250,000 two bedroom flat in a run-down area of Lagos. He quarrels with wife over her teacher’s salary. “Give me money for cigarettes. Give me money for a bottle of beer.”

Readers should not misconstrue this writer’s statement to mean  the writer is insulting  or looking 

down on Joachin. This is just to drive a point home about the evils of procrastination or postponement. Time waits for no man.

Being unemployed is usually a function of the choices one makes. Therefore, one has to be careful to prepare for a career while there is still time by making wise choices. A Nigerian proverb says that daylight  is the best period to look for a black goat because nighttime blends with the goat’s color, making it impossible to catch the animal.

Another proverb says that the dry season is the best time to gather  the firewood one would cook with during the raining season because… Readers can complete this sentence.

Speaking of unemployed college graduates, the point is that we need to need to emphasize is to not wait till after we have graduated from college to begin thinking about employment. Thoughts about employment should begin the first week we enroll in college.

Begin talking with your parents and grown-ups in the family for suggestions, if you do not plan on going to college. Ask questions about family members in various careers. Contact the family members and seek advice. You may serve on apprenticeship programs under someone in the career that interests you. Ask for a mentor.

If you plan to go to college or are in college already, focus on your professors, department heads, research professors, counselors, and university Vice Chancellors. You say: “These people are too busy to talk with a peon like me.” No, you’re wrong.

You’re not a peon (made-up word used to describe a small, unimportant person). You’re bargoon (made-up word to refer to an important personality). Go to the professors and persons mentioned in this paragraph and state your case. Say to them you are seeking directions for a career. Be honest, up front.

These people are paid by the government and placed at the university to assist you the student. You are the focus of attraction, the star of the show, the epicenter of the universe, the center of gravity around which everything that constitutes the university revolves.  You are important. The university or college  was established specifically with you in mind. Use the opportunity.

There is a tremendous power in your hand. You must use it wisely.  Get to know these university personnel and let them know you as well. Useful  information to leave with these college officials should  include your full name, area of study, village, parents, phone number, and special skills you possess.

Begin to market yourself on campus. Run for a position in the student government. Contribute ideas in university governance. Do you type well,? Can you write good grammar and do you spell well? Perhaps, you cook well or can sing a song.

Do you have a driver’s license and can chauffeur the professor and his family around town?  You can run errands, can’t you? While knowing the university official, find out  if he or she has a relative in State government , trading, building construction, or marketing  of imported products.

Use your vacation time or periods the university is out on strikes, to work for the university official or persons he or she recommends. You must avoid gang activities at all costs. Do not be caught associating with gangs who engage in illegal activities such as armed robbery, kidnapping, or murder for hire.  Use time wisely. Study hard in libraries when not working for someone. Make good rades.

I know one Nigerian man named Isaac (fictiious) who obtained the Master of Science in Political Science while following the idea we have outlined here. His professors helped him through the undergraduate program on part-time employment.

They then sent him to a merchant  who was high-up-there in importations from China and England. Isaac used his numerical ability to keep books for the merchant and his persuasive language to collect debts  from people who owed the merchant. After Isaac graduated, the merchant and the university people galvanized, and used their money and man-know-man (influence) to get Isaac into a Commissioner’s position. Isaac is a success story.

CONCLUSIONS: Whether you have a job or not after college will depend upon the “homework” you did  in college before graduation rather than the paper-an-pen application process you endure after graduation. Begin now to plan.  Good luck.

Dr. James C. Agazie, jamesagazie@gmail.com; jamesagazie.blogspot.com

Written Thursday, 2/8/2018

HAPPINESS? WE NIGERIANS CAN HAPILY LEARN TO BE HAPPY

This essay is being written as a debt of gratitude to the little child that smiled and waved in the store. Oh! How I wished my Nigerian brethren and sisters could see and learn. The little child was happy in her mother’s arms as she smiled and waved. I waved back and smiled, then went home to write this essay.

Someone says that we Nigerians are a very unhappy people, and that might explain why our present predicaments persist ?  We take the enviable position that teaching Nigerians to be happy is not an impossible task. You ask, “What has happiness got to do with bad roads, 24-hour darkness, and joblessness?” We  ask: “Do you think it is possible to be happy in the midst of hell?  Why not?”  Satan is there happily going about his business. And  we think the negative conversations going on Nigeria right now are concentrated in only one word-unhappiness?

When Imo Governor Okorocha  created the Ministry of happiness and named his sister as the Minister, everyone, including this writer hooped and  nicknamed  Okorocha  Governor Akula (crazy Governor) of Imo State. If one pays closer attention , one cannot help but discover that our happiness is at the top of human needs at least in Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. One who has  happiness is said to have contentment, pleasure, gladness, cheerfulness, joy, glee, peace, delight, or good time. Are you happy?

The purpose of this essay is to ask questions and suggest how happiness can be gotten. It is not impossible to bring happiness to pour as showers of blessings on the Nigerians.  Can happiness be taught? The answer is “Yes, happiness can be taught.”  This essay argues that anything  under the sun can be taught so long as the learner is willing to learn. Have you ever heard of  Psychologist  Dr. Arthur Whimbey? He is the author  of  Intelligence Can Be Taught, an extensive study on improving thinking skills. If how to think can be taught, it follows that people can be shown ways to improve their level of happiness.

At Yale University in New Haven,  Connecticut, college students are being taught to be happy and increase levels of their happiness. The Yale University has the most popular course  which has about 1,200 students each semester, or nearly one-fourth  (25%) of Yale undergraduates,. Students are  going ga-ga with excitement over the course. The course is named Happiness is gaiing popularity. The course requires students to change certain habits and ways of approaching life.

We Nigerians need and want to change , to go from one uncomfortable extreme to a more comfortable point, The Nigerians want  to  be happier themselves, and to change the culture  of the country, the culture of tribalism, the culture of poverty, the culture of youth and women powerlessness, and of unemployment. Why not?

From a recent trip to Nigeria this writer has taken and daily conversations with folks back home and interviews with recent returnees from Nigeria, this writer is convinced that things can turn around in our country.  For a fact, a good number of us Nigerians are anxious, stressed, unhappy, numb, and we have a number of mixed emotions both positive and negative thoughts bottled up inside us.  We are torn inside between staying in Nigeria we love and forsaking Nigeria that hates us. Hence our willingness to endure disgraceful slavery in Libya  What follows is a list of suggestions a true Nigeria can explore in order to improve personal happiness. This list is not exhaustive: more factors  can be added.

EXERCISE: Exercise daily for at least 30 minutes, not by long distance running or strenuous activities, such as wrestling or boxing. Brisk walking, golf, swimming, lawn tennis, dancing, or ping-pong is a good way to start.

SLEEP: Getting adequate sleep  for 8 hours each night is essential.  Sleep helps our bodies to recover from the injuries and pent-up  and stressful feelings of the previous day. Sleep  repairs our bodies in the process, and it also helps  us focus and be more productive in the morning.  The importance of sleep  to overall happiness cannot be overemphasized or underestimated.

FAMILY : Living closer to your school or place of work makes a lot of sense. Moving around in Nigeria is nerve-wracking, bone-breaking and full of headaches, especially when one does not have a reliable mode of transportation. Traffic in Lagos, Abuja or any of the major Nigerian cities can be perplexing, expensive and takes all day to negotiate. Having large expensive mansions in the villages is useless since most mansions are unoccupied, and nobody wants to stay in villages as opposed to  being in the cities where the action is.

FRIENDS:  Spend time with good friends and family; avoid being a rolling stone that gathers no moss, wandering around Nigeria with an unknown address. You might be found dead and nobody is there to bury you, Choose your friends carefully, avoiding the 419 experts, the gang members, and those who are caught up in illegal activities, including armed robbery, kidnapping, and human trafficking.

GO OUTSIDE: Mix with people from different tribes  and not just your own tribe. Chat with persons your age and educational  background  from your tribe and other tribes wherever you are in Nigeria. Learn to speak a language other than just your mother tongue, plus pidgin English.

SMILES: Practice good smiles.  Nobody likes a face that is unsmiling, sour, stern, severe, dour, grim-faced, disapproving, death-like, or just ugly. Practice smiling before the mirror to make the best pose. Let your face be amused,   mused, laughing, pleased, tickled, entertained, beaming, grinning, or pleasant. Beauty begins from the inside, not necessarily on the exterior. A  smile is worth a thousand words  Don’t you eat food that first looks good in your eyes?

 TRIPS: Plan interesting trips even if you are stuck in Lagos or Akure.  Visit other parts of the country to get a feel of what a wonderful place Nigeria  is. As you travel, form a habit of meeting and interacting with interesting persons you can invite for a return visit. Strike lasting relationships. Remember you cannot marry your mother or sister, and your mother does not make the only sweep pot of soup in your neck of wood. And now this. 

Remember that Nigeria is made up of not just Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba but almost other 371 ethnicities. Spread your wings. Fly. The more languages you can converse in the better a Nigerian you are and the greater your chances of finding employment, happiness, and love.

MEDITATE: Recharge and rewire your brain as an automobile needs a battery to recharge its engine. To meditate is to  deliberate, ponder, contemplate, cogitate,  consider, contemplate, reflect, ruminate, muse, or to think clearly. Praying and attending church services and reading the Bible are ways to meditate.

GRATITUDE: Practice gratitude, defined  as thankfulness.  Remember  people  who have helped you along the way in your struggles. Keep  in touch with your helpers. Send thank-you cards or a little money to your helpers. Don’t make promises you cannot keep.  Don’t be just a receiver. Be a giver too. 

Bless other people. Sharing yourself with others would allow God’s blessings to follow  you, overtake you in such a mighty way you wouldn’t have enough room to store the blessings. Nothing is worse than an ungrateful spirit. You owe a debt of gratitude to countless people, including this writer.

HELPFULNESS: Helping others  is fundamental to our happiness. Helping other people is good for them as well as good for us.  It makes us happy to be able to  improve our nation, it creates better connections  by giving to others ,and it creates the spirit of One Nigeria. Everything is not always about money for our pockets.  Share. Sharing yourself with others would allow God’s blessings to  flow through you, follow  you, overtake you in such a mighty way you wouldn’t have enough room to store the blessings. Nothing is worse than an ungrateful spirit.

We can give our time, our ideas, and talents. We can reach out to help someone struggling to buy food or pay rent, someone needing help to pay hospital bill or to care for an elderly parents or the handicapped. Do some acts of kindness today. Offer to help, give away your change, pay a compliment, or make someone smile. Donate your unused clothing, shoes, or old vehicles.

MONEY: You have heard it said that the love of money is the root of all evils. Money is a good servant but a bad master. Love of money leads one to steal, kill, become a prostitute, or to go into witchcraft or secret societies. Make do with your wages and manage your money well  without  living above your means. You’ve heard it said: “One who goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing.” It means a borrower would regret being a debtor. Make do with what you have. Economize and live below your means,

TRAINING: Get as much education and training as you can. Today’s job opportunities are in the sciences, mathematics, engineering, and technology. Observe where the trends are and follow. You need an education to do whatever you want to do, even if it is trading. Uneducated traders do not have the calculation to buy and sell and make profits without help.

Dr. James C. Agazie, jamesagazie@gmail.com; jamesagazies.blogspot.com

Written  1/29/2018 at 1:27pm

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