CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.
Recalling our undergraduate days in the University of Jos , many of us in the department of Economics like others in Sociology, History, Political Science, Law etc were captivated by Walter Rodney’s book “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa”. The title was as inviting to those with Marxist philosophy/leanings as much as the content of the book. Dr. Rodney’s book is a clarion call for us to regret colonialism and chat down neo-colonialism. Of course the West has exploited and still exploits Africa ; her land, resources and people, but have they always done this alone? Has the West whether as explorers or colonialists, as investors or neo-colonialists, as Aid providers or Creditors succeeded in exploiting Africa without the active collaboration of Africans?
Without confining Walter Rodney’s book or title of his book to the recess of history, rather in trying to juxtapose his work on the reality that has revealed itself over time we must seek to elucidate “How Africans under develop Africa”. It is inundating and heart breaking to x-ray why Africa is underdeveloped and how Africans are still under developing Africa .
In pre-colonial Africa , it was Africans who raided villages and towns especially on the west coast, captured fellow Africans and sold them as slaves to the white slave drivers. Lagos thrived on this and king Kosoko was very comfortable with slave trade in his domain. No sooner had Spain pulled out of Western Sahara in 1976 than Morocco invaded and annexed the territory. In spite of all the international outcry and pressure, atrocities are still committed against the people of Western Sahara .
The capitalists assisted Mobuto Sese Seko to kill Patrice Lumumba in Congo renamed Zaire and now DR Congo. His remains was burnt to ashes, put in a plane and scattered over the country to prevent even his ghost from resurrecting. Mobuto went on to become one of the worst despots of all times and was richer than his country until the rebel forces of Laurent Kabila pushed him out in May 1997. Today after nearly two decades of wars and conflicts, DR Congo is among the most dangerous countries in the word. Despites having the largest contingent of UN Peace keepers in the world; it has been dubbed the rape capital of the world because of the mass velocity of rapes especially in its eastern region by both government and rebel forces.
When Idi Amin Dada took over power in Uganda in 1971 he taught the world a hybrid of what illiteracy, cruelty and power drunkenness can do. He did not spare any one be it his wife, Central Bank Governor, Archbishop or judges. Before he was ousted by Tanzania forces in 1979 he had turned Uganda ’s currency into toilet money and littered the streets of Uganda with blood of 300,000 Ugandans and Asians. Yoweri Museveni came to office in 1986 as a soldier and shouted to the world that the problem of Africa were despotic leaders. He just won another presidential term to rule Uganda despite opposition’s claims of rigging the elections. Joseph Koni’s the lord resistance Army rebel forces have been fighting a war in northern Uganda with atrocities like rape and limb cutting spreading into South Sudan, Central African Republic .
Robert Gabriel Mugabe became the white man’s nemesis in the then Southern Rhodesia after he successfully fought both the British colonialists and Ian Smith who had declared unilateral independence from Britain . A charismatic leader took Zimbabwe to independence in 1980 and it became one of the best economies in Africa . Today Mugabe is gunning for another term in 2012, and has helped the West to wreck Zimbabwe ’s economy with sanctions. Zimbabwe had the sole privilege of achieving what was called “run-away inflation” hitting millions in percent of inflation at the height of its economies and printing single currency of billion Zimbabwean dollars. One third of Zimbabweans live in exile or are seeking economic/political asylum.
The United States and Apartheid South African backed rebel forces UNITA led by Jonas Savimbi fought one of the bitterest civil wars Africa had ever seen in Angola against the Marxist regime of Dos Santos. It took the killing of Savimbi in February 2002 for the war to end. Today Angola is trying to rebuild but decades of war and Jose’ Eduardo Dos Santos 36 years in power have not improved the lot of average Angolans.
Master Sergeant Samuel Doe who shot himself into power in 1981 took Liberia to the brink until the civil war led by Charles Taylor broke out in 1989. The war destabilised the region of West Africa with many lives lost both citizens and peace keepers; and scattered Liberian refugees across West Africa for about 20 years. The war also spread to Sierra Leone because of the urge to control its diamond as a financing tool. Many citizens were brutally murdered and many others who survived were left limbless. Ivory Coast which was the model of political and economic stability and it once housed the headquarters of the African Development Bank had its serenity shattered after the 1999 coup of General Guei. The world’s number one producer of Cocoa experienced a bitter civil war between 2000 and 2003. The last presidential election stand off between Laurent Gbagbo and Allasan Quattara almost took Ivory Coast back to the precipice.
Togo, Gabon and Guinea all had despots who ruled for over 30 years with Togo and Gabon having the sons succeeding their fathers. Equatorial Guinea with its oil wealth has less than a million people. Yet the oil wealth has not improved the lot of the populace but only the family and cronies of President Teodore Obiang Nguema Mbasago who has spent over thirty years in power. He is also the current chairman of the African Union which boasts of a good number of sit tight leaders. Little wonder the African Peer Review Mechanism cannot add much value to Africa .
The wars between North and South Sudan which ended with the Comprehensive Pease Agreement of 2005 led to the independence of the South in July 2011 after more than a million deaths in one of Africa ’s longest wars. Western Sudan has also seen enough carnage since 2002 where the government back janjaweed have been attacking the people of Darfur creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Omar El Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of Genocide. Sudan was the first international headquarters of al qaeda which has seen the distribution of terrorism around Africa and the word. Somalia ’s case is seemingly hopeless, that country is the number one failed state in the world. After years of misrule by former leaders they have gone for twenty years without a functional government with tribal war lords, pirates and lately the Islamic extremist al shabash making the country lawless. About a million Somalis are now at the risk of death because of famine in the horn of Africa . Chad and Niger house the poorest regions of the world. The 2008 post election violence in Kenya left over a thousand people dead, closely replicated by the 2011 post election violence in Nigeria which killed over two hundred people. The story of Nigeria is a pathetic one. Once baptised the giant of Africa , a country with rich human and natural resources has been brought to the brink due to years of bad leadership. The mother of all carnages took place in Rwanda as the 1994 Rwandan genocide left an estimated one million people dead in 100 days. Sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch in the landlocked Swaziland only parades virgins on a yearly basis to choose a new wife from annually. He is mostly abroad and spends little or no time in his country.
The northern part of Africa which seemed to be better off economically was in the firm grip of despots. Revolutions in that part have left thousands dead, scattered the economies and disrupted tourism which was their mainstay. Libya ’s Gaddafi has given the west an excuse to seek to re-colonise that country.
From North to South, East to West except for a few countries and leaders, the story of Africa is the same. Economic woes, insecurity, civil wars, internal strives and conflicts, ethnic and religious cleansing, looting of public wealth, capital flight, lack of infrastructure and capacity development have become the hallmarks of Africa’s underdevelopment. With the vast presence of arable lands, ironically Africa is heavily dependent on food imports and food aids. With cheap and abundant labour, Africa cannot generate employment to transform her economy and empower her people.
The elasticity of corruption in Africa is like an unchained spirit. Trillions of dollars meant for the development of the continent have been stolen and stashed in foreign lands by African leaders both dead and living, past and present. The penchant for misuse of public goods and massive show of shamelessness are so high.
Everything the developed West have ever done is first to secure the future of their citizens, but the reverse is the case in Africa . The military dictatorships in Latin America and Indonesia laid solid foundations for those regions economic success stories of today, where as the military juntas in Africa regrettably were the very ones who institutionalised corruption. The Greeks gave the world democracy, The Romans gave the world the Senate, the British gave the world a Parliament, and the United States gave the world the Presidency. In all these we see a commitment by both the leaders and the led to develop a system which will drive the transformation of their polity, economy and people. Democratic regimes have not done much to expedite the cause of Africa’s transformation; rather countries like Nigeria operate the most expensive yet wasteful democracies in the world. Africans have the highest impudence at breaking laws and over the years the rule of law does not hold any significance in the lives of the people especially those who have access to the tools of power. No African country is likely to the Millennium Development Goals by the target year of 2015, as basic as these goals are like poverty reduction, water and sanitation, reduction in infant and maternal mortality among the others. While people and leaders in other parts of the world are making progress to improve their nations and people, Africans are deliberately making efforts to under develop Africa . Africa has been underdeveloped with the blood of Africans on the streets of Africa more by fellow Africans than anyone else. Shame!
www.credoworld.blogspot.com
15092011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
THE PREVALENCE OF DOMESTIC CHILD LABOUR IN SSA-Proposing a Dynamic Economic Model.”
THE PREVALENCE OF DOMESTIC CHILD LABOUR IN SSA-Proposing a Dynamic Economic Model.”
By Samuel Stephen Wakdok*
Preamble:
Poverty, cultural and religious inhibitions, ineffective government policies, widening income gap as a result of inequitable distribution of income, corruption, inefficient allocation of scarce resources, high rate of unemployment, de-industrialization, HIV/AIDS induced mortality among various factors have conspired to recruit and retain a growing number of Sub Saharan African children in child labour. The statistics are alarming. Eleonore Meyer writing on Child Labour Flourishing in Fast Growing Economies in the Global Geopolitics and Political Economy( August 19,2010) revealed that nearly 160 million kids aged between five and fourteen are trapped in child labour world wide. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), around one in three children – 69 million are engaged in child labour.
These minors are practically everywhere as domestic helps in homes, as farm hands, engaged in sex labour, conscripted into the army as child-soldiers in war worn countries/regions and used in various ethno- religious conflicts. The inability of successive African Governments south of the Sahara to ensure decent standards of living and also as a result of high unemployment rate; have caused many families to send their children to work on the streets or at other people’s homes. They are either hawking on the streets, roads and highways thereby exposing them to various forms of dangers such as crimes and exploitation or they are hired as domestic helps also exposing them to maltreatments, molestations and exploitations.
Theoretical framework:
The focus of this model is restricted to domestic child labour with the hope that it will open a wider discourse on the whole subject .The minors engaged as domestic child labourers at such tender ages ought to be in the comfort of their parents’ protection and guidance but are rather exposed to harsh environments and practices. This not only put physical pressure on them but also emotional, psychological, and biological pressures. Their rights to go through the complete child development processes are tempered with. They are prematurely initiated into the adults’ world to work, earn and cater for themselves and their relations. At an age they are supposed to be dependents; they now have dependents.
These innocent children most times are exposed to different forms of maltreatment. They are prone to crimes and abuses by adults. Some are beaten, drugged, starved, underpaid and in some cases abused sexually. Their future is often truncated when they are denied access to education, even free government education. Only a few number of children employed in child labour are enrolled in schools since the very essence of hiring them was to cater for the children of the working class/business women in most cases.
As the economic and social rights of women to work improved coupled with the demand to meet economic needs of their families, the past three decades have witnessed a paradigm shift from house wives to corporate wives. Even the self employed women spend less time at home and more at their businesses or trips to meet with clients and suppliers. The implication is a surge in the demand for domestic child labour to cater for the home front left vacant by the absentee wives/mothers.
To this end, the positive improvement in the economic and social rights of women has led to a negative effect on the rights of children-those employed in child labour. Unfortunately since the demand for child labour comes with an explicit increase in the income they earn, thus seen as addressing their economic poverty and their families, no notice is taken of the increase in other forms of poverty as social, emotional, and psychological which are implicit.
Model Specification:
Expressing the above statement in a dynamic economic model as below;
I (ESW) =I (DCL) ---- 1
Where
I = increase,
ESW= Economic and social rights of women and
DCL= Demand for domestic child labour.
Decomposing the Right hand side-RHS of equation 1 will give
I (DCL) = I (MB) + d (NMB) --- 2
Where:
MB= Monetary benefits
NMB= Non monetary benefits.
If we denote I an increase with the positive sign (+) and d a decrease with the negative sign (-) and replace the coefficients I and d with their respective signs we now have;
+ DCL = + MB + (-NMB) ---- 3 which is the same as
DCL= MB –NMB --- 4
Substituting equation 4 into the initial equation 1 above we have;
ESW= MB-NMB--- 5
Where NMB <0.
Where NMB = 0 we have
ESW= MB --- 6
Where NMB>0 we have
ESW =MB+NMB --- 7
Discussions:
Most times emphases are placed on the increase in the monetary benefits of domestic child labour as a result of the increase in the economic and social rights of women. Often the decrease in or negative non-monetary benefits such as different forms of abuses, truncated childhood development, stress and trauma, lack of access to education are overlooked. Focusing only on the monetary benefits leads to “commodification” of these children especially since they are engaged in child labour at a tender age when they do not have the ability or capacity to make their own decisions. Even when they do make such decisions to go into child labour, their decisions are not unbiased of their emotional preconditions subject to the economic conditions of their families. This is further compounded if they are orphans or their mothers are widows or when their bread winners are incapacitated in any form. This is a gross abuse of their social rights.
In as much as government policies and inefficient resources allocations will always make available a high supply of child labour on one hand, with the increase in working class or entrepreneurial woman on the other hand (including affirmative actions for women to participate in politics and other social ventures); it will be unrealistic to eliminate either the supply of or the demand for domestic child labour especially in Africa.
Recommendation:
Therefore the thrust of this model is to provide an alternative to the dehumanization or/and ‘commodification’ of domestic child labour. “Humanifying” child labour will minimize and even eliminate the negative non monetary benefits of domestic labour. Governments must compensate for their inability to provide decent standards of living to their various citizens by providing adequate machineries to check mate the exploitation of those involved in child labour especially as it concerns non-monetary benefits. Government and non-governmental agencies must come up with monitoring channels to drive down and eliminate the negativity in the non monetary benefits. More emphasis and efforts must be made to compel those employing domestic child labourers not to only concentrate on payments of wages and salaries which form the monetary benefits on the right hand side of the equation, but also to eliminate all forms of physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuses. Then push further to the provision of education and other skill enhancing opportunities. Emergency telephone lines should be made available for calls at no charge to report abuses or exploitations. The more the negative non- monetary benefits of domestic child labour tend towards zero and even cross to the positive side, the greater will be the benefits of domestic child labour. But as long as the right hand side fails to achieve that positive sign, the left hand side which is an increase in the economic and social rights of women harbours some externalities which are unquantifiable.
Illustrations:
Assuming the economic and social rights of women increase by 5 and non monetary benefit is estimated at 3, obtain the amount of monetary benefit that will achieve equilibrium when NBM is less than zero, zero and more than zero respectively.
Scenario One- When Non Monetary Benefits <0
Recall equation 5
Where NMB <0 we have;
ESW= MB-NMB
Making MB the subject of the formula
MB= ESW +NMB
MB= 5+3
MB= 8
{5=8-3 =5}
Interpretation:
MB of 8 must be paid to compensate for negative NMB of 3 at an ESW of 5.This equilibrium is not attainable because it is not feasible and rational for an employer of child labour to pay a higher monetary benefit than what the working class wife earns in order to make up for the degrading human conditions like abuses, low self esteem inherent in the negative NMB. This is a level of dehumanization.
Scenario Two- When Non Monetary Benefits = 0
Recall equation 6
Where NMB = 0 we have
ESW= MB
{5=5}
Interpretation:
MB of 5 must be paid to achieve equilibrium at an ESW of 5 when NMB is nil. This happens when non monetary benefits is neither dysfunctional nor available and the whole increase in economic and social rights of women must be paid to the child labourer as a compensation for the absence of non monetary benefits like access to education among others. However, this equilibrium is not always attainable because it will be irrational to pay all one earns to the domestic help except in an extreme situation. This scenario if achieved will merely be commodifying the child labourer.
Scenario Three- When Non Monetary Benefits > 0
Recall equation 7
Where NMB>0 we have
If ESW =MB+NMB
MB= ESW - NMB
MB= 5-3
MB= 2.
Interpretation:
MB of 2 would be paid to compliment the positive NMB of 3 at an ESW of 5.This is therefore the feasible equilibrium. It is both practicable and rational to pay out a fraction (2/5) of what the working woman earns as monetary benefits to domestic child labour rather than paying higher as in scenario one or paying out the total earned as in scenario two. This will be complimented by provision of non monetary benefits like self esteem, educational opportunities etc.
Conclusion:
Monetary benefits alone can not liberate those engaged in child labour from the poverty circle. Consistent increase in the non monetary benefits such as access to education, more humane living conditions, self esteem, and developmental opportunities like skill acquisition will be the realistic approach to breaking the poverty circle which traps those engaged in child labour. Domestic child labour is bad enough as it is, but making the conditions in which they work sub-human is worse. Until the problems of poverty and under development are addressed in Sub Saharan Africa, the best we can do is to maximize the equilibrium level of the domestic child labour by striving to increase the non monetary benefits which give dignity to human life. By maximizing the non-monetary benefits of domestic child labour, the society will move towards a healthy balance. This will cause the domestic child labourers to have the status of surrogate children and they in turn will act as surrogate parents to the wards they are catering for. This means that the increase in economic and social rights of women will make it possible for their children left in the hands of domestic helps to grow in the right hands and right minds. On the contrary failure to achieve this dynamic model will be exposing the children, the family and the society to the risks of our improbity.
THE UNITED WAR AGAINST GADDAFI
THE UNITED WAR AGAINST GADDAFI: THE BUOAZIZI NEMESIS!
CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.
The tyrant could not get his fantasy of a United States of African which the self anointed kings of kings wanted to be the sovereign ironically gets a United War on Libya. Not since the gulf war 1 of 1991 after Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait has the entire world been united in tackling a tyrant, despot, dictator and a power drunk. The 2003 invasion of Iraq saw a divided West but in 2011 even the Arab league joins other international partners (The UN, EU, USA, and AU) to enforce the U.N resolution 1973 on Libya. The U.N No-Fly zone may be coming late especially for the innocent Libyan civilians killed by Gaddafi’s forces but it is better late than never considering the millions of others at the threat of extermination from a leader who has threatened to show no mercy to his own people, to cleanse Libya house by house. The enforcement of the UN No-Fly zone code named Operation Odyssey Dawn was launched on the 19th of March 2011 to destroy Libya’s air defence system and make it impossible for his war planes to bomb civilians and their cities. It also gave the coalition forces the legitimacy to destroy Gaddafi’s tanks marching on the so called rebelled cities. The French forces fired first in the NATO international operation.
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi overthrew the monarchy of King Idris in 1969 came on board as a 27 year old revolutionary blending religious fundamentalism with Arab nationalism .After 41 years in power he has over stayed his welcome and is indeed the world’s longest reactionary. Gaddafi was the sponsor of the Palestine Liberation Organization (The PLO) while the former was a terrorist organization;(Kidnappings of Israeli athletes during the 1972 Berlin Olympics, the Entebbe hostage of 1977 in Uganda, etc) which is responsible for modern day terrorism. From sponsoring rebel causes across Africa to the IRA in Northern Ireland and Moslem rebels in far away Philippines, to the Lockerbie Bombing of 1988 Gaddafi is the most consistent age long exporter of terrorism across the globe even before the advent of al qaeda. He uses religion to whip up sentiments when it suits his inordinate ambition. He has on more than one occasion called for the disintegration of Nigeria across religious lines because he saw a united Nigeria as a threat to his dream of leading a United States of Africa. The same Gaddafi now accuses al qaeda and Islamists for the chaos in his country when in fact it is a popular uprising by the people of Libya for genuine liberation from a despot and his family’s hold on their national life.
For Gaddafi to go to the extent of arming mercenaries to massacre his own people, use his air force for aerial bombardment of his own citizens, call his people ants, cockroaches and drug addicts; once again in Gaddafi; African leaders have shown that Africa is the square root of power maniacs. From Burkina Faso to Cameroun, Cote d’ Ivore to Congo Brazzaville; Equatorial Guinea to Gambia, Sudan to Uganda and far away Zimbabwe; corrupt, autocratic and despotic African regimes have turned their people to pawns and their countries’ wealth to personal estates. (This is not exclusive of the dead despots in Nigeria, Gabon, Zaire, Togo etc) The European Union evolved but the African Union was merely proclaimed without the conditions for integration attained. How on earth did a Gaddafi whose records of criminality are unbeatable play a pivotal role in the AU?
The coward that he is like all the tyrants before him claimed to have called a cease fire immediately the No-Fly zone resolution was passed though it was just a fad because his forces went ahead to assault Benghazi and other cities. Now he is calling the coalition forces crusader invaders to raise religious sentiments when in essence he was killing his own Moslem citizens? He has gone ahead to gather human shields in his compound in the event of an allied bombs against him all in the name of pro-supporters. This is coming a month to the 25th anniversary of the USA bombing of Tripoli in April 1986 which narrowly missed Gaddafi and killed his daughter. He is fighting a propagandist war and has released arms to over 1 million Libyans (pro Gaddafi or mercenaries) to turn Libya into a sea of red hell as he earlier promised.
Gaddafi belongs to the E5 (Evil Five) of Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein and should be quickly consigned to the dustbin of history to make the world if not safer, at least one evil less. However the Buoazizi nemesis should not only stop in North Africa but tyrants and despots like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe who have for too long held their countries and people to ransom should take the exit door before sand runs out of their glasses.
Epilogue;
The war in Libya has entered its seventh month now, today is 1st of September 2011 and Gaddafi would have been celebrating 42 years in power if not for the rebels’ assault on Tripoli. The self proclaimed king of kings is now a fugitive with 1.6 million dollars tag on his head by the rebels. An estimated 50,000 people have been killed in the conflict according to the NTC. The sad thing is that the AU has refused to recognize the National Transitional Council making it possible for other tyrants to believe they will always have a field day. Gaddafi who was sponsored rebels across the world has been chased out of his palace by rebels. We call that the law of karma. Unfortunately, the NTC has raised an alarm that a fugitive Gaddafi is a threat to world security and I concur with them. The world has seen more blood because people like the Khalifa have always used human beings as pawn in the game of power of selfishness. This is evident in what is going on in Nigeria because no matter what we believe, their are people who stand to gain from every terror activity.
Written 07/04/2011
Updated 01/09/2011.
Powered By CredoWorld Media
CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.
The tyrant could not get his fantasy of a United States of African which the self anointed kings of kings wanted to be the sovereign ironically gets a United War on Libya. Not since the gulf war 1 of 1991 after Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait has the entire world been united in tackling a tyrant, despot, dictator and a power drunk. The 2003 invasion of Iraq saw a divided West but in 2011 even the Arab league joins other international partners (The UN, EU, USA, and AU) to enforce the U.N resolution 1973 on Libya. The U.N No-Fly zone may be coming late especially for the innocent Libyan civilians killed by Gaddafi’s forces but it is better late than never considering the millions of others at the threat of extermination from a leader who has threatened to show no mercy to his own people, to cleanse Libya house by house. The enforcement of the UN No-Fly zone code named Operation Odyssey Dawn was launched on the 19th of March 2011 to destroy Libya’s air defence system and make it impossible for his war planes to bomb civilians and their cities. It also gave the coalition forces the legitimacy to destroy Gaddafi’s tanks marching on the so called rebelled cities. The French forces fired first in the NATO international operation.
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi overthrew the monarchy of King Idris in 1969 came on board as a 27 year old revolutionary blending religious fundamentalism with Arab nationalism .After 41 years in power he has over stayed his welcome and is indeed the world’s longest reactionary. Gaddafi was the sponsor of the Palestine Liberation Organization (The PLO) while the former was a terrorist organization;(Kidnappings of Israeli athletes during the 1972 Berlin Olympics, the Entebbe hostage of 1977 in Uganda, etc) which is responsible for modern day terrorism. From sponsoring rebel causes across Africa to the IRA in Northern Ireland and Moslem rebels in far away Philippines, to the Lockerbie Bombing of 1988 Gaddafi is the most consistent age long exporter of terrorism across the globe even before the advent of al qaeda. He uses religion to whip up sentiments when it suits his inordinate ambition. He has on more than one occasion called for the disintegration of Nigeria across religious lines because he saw a united Nigeria as a threat to his dream of leading a United States of Africa. The same Gaddafi now accuses al qaeda and Islamists for the chaos in his country when in fact it is a popular uprising by the people of Libya for genuine liberation from a despot and his family’s hold on their national life.
For Gaddafi to go to the extent of arming mercenaries to massacre his own people, use his air force for aerial bombardment of his own citizens, call his people ants, cockroaches and drug addicts; once again in Gaddafi; African leaders have shown that Africa is the square root of power maniacs. From Burkina Faso to Cameroun, Cote d’ Ivore to Congo Brazzaville; Equatorial Guinea to Gambia, Sudan to Uganda and far away Zimbabwe; corrupt, autocratic and despotic African regimes have turned their people to pawns and their countries’ wealth to personal estates. (This is not exclusive of the dead despots in Nigeria, Gabon, Zaire, Togo etc) The European Union evolved but the African Union was merely proclaimed without the conditions for integration attained. How on earth did a Gaddafi whose records of criminality are unbeatable play a pivotal role in the AU?
The coward that he is like all the tyrants before him claimed to have called a cease fire immediately the No-Fly zone resolution was passed though it was just a fad because his forces went ahead to assault Benghazi and other cities. Now he is calling the coalition forces crusader invaders to raise religious sentiments when in essence he was killing his own Moslem citizens? He has gone ahead to gather human shields in his compound in the event of an allied bombs against him all in the name of pro-supporters. This is coming a month to the 25th anniversary of the USA bombing of Tripoli in April 1986 which narrowly missed Gaddafi and killed his daughter. He is fighting a propagandist war and has released arms to over 1 million Libyans (pro Gaddafi or mercenaries) to turn Libya into a sea of red hell as he earlier promised.
Gaddafi belongs to the E5 (Evil Five) of Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein and should be quickly consigned to the dustbin of history to make the world if not safer, at least one evil less. However the Buoazizi nemesis should not only stop in North Africa but tyrants and despots like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe who have for too long held their countries and people to ransom should take the exit door before sand runs out of their glasses.
Epilogue;
The war in Libya has entered its seventh month now, today is 1st of September 2011 and Gaddafi would have been celebrating 42 years in power if not for the rebels’ assault on Tripoli. The self proclaimed king of kings is now a fugitive with 1.6 million dollars tag on his head by the rebels. An estimated 50,000 people have been killed in the conflict according to the NTC. The sad thing is that the AU has refused to recognize the National Transitional Council making it possible for other tyrants to believe they will always have a field day. Gaddafi who was sponsored rebels across the world has been chased out of his palace by rebels. We call that the law of karma. Unfortunately, the NTC has raised an alarm that a fugitive Gaddafi is a threat to world security and I concur with them. The world has seen more blood because people like the Khalifa have always used human beings as pawn in the game of power of selfishness. This is evident in what is going on in Nigeria because no matter what we believe, their are people who stand to gain from every terror activity.
Written 07/04/2011
Updated 01/09/2011.
Powered By CredoWorld Media
ETERNITY HAS NO GREY HAIR
ETERNITY HAS NO GREY HAIR
TRIBUTE TO EMILY OBADA {REST IN PEACE MY DEAR ONE}
As Eternity has no grey hair
You will never fade from our memories.
As beautiful as God’s kingdom;
You were to us.
The flower you were.
The river of smiles you were.
The magnificence of your being.
The intelligence of your emotions.
The pleasure of your speech.
The wisdom of your decisions.
The dreams of your future.
All gone?
Yet the spirituality of your soul lives with and for eternity
Eternity has no grey hair.
No matter the sweetness of temptations
The allure of sin
The selfishness of sin
The evil of this world
We must make heaven
To see you again, and join the church triumphant
In singing Our New Song
For Eternity has no grey hair
You will never fade from our thoughts
I wished you will live longer
But like magic you are gone.
Pacem Emilia Pacem!
emili_obada@heavenlybliss.eternity
Your bigboy; Sammy.260811
THE GREATER FOOL THEORY
CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen and Gabriel Ikese.
Bros yeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Na you author the note?
Me ke?
I no be idiot
Had it been you were in your 70s I would have called you a” fool”
Hahahahahahahaa. I am not even 40 so you can only call me an idiot. I am still growing though. One day I may grow old enough to be a fool.
So for now you are idiotic.
Yes
Anticipating being a fool in the future
So far I will blossom into a fool with a big farm; or with the windfall of 36 billion dollars.
I know your wayo ooooooooooooo
In Nigeria fools are very wealthy. They are the ones who rule or still rule?
The only thing is that their wealths are illgotten.
The fools are the ones who managed our affairs or still manage. The fools are the ones who executed coup plotters.
So these fools are the juicy type.
The fools are the ones who live in hill top mansions. These fools are no fools believe me. Let us not suffer fools gladly because a fool doesn’t know the value of anything but these fools know and that is why they spent 18 years between themselves plundering our wealth directly and many more years indirectly .
I hear say na your senator be the chairman senate committee on EFCC.
Are you serious? He is one of the small fools then. He is learning so fast I must confess. Just that he wasn’t a fool who once wore Khaki.
Laugh wan kill me die! Senate committee on EFCC, his case file will just disappear. He may even end up probing Ribadu.
It really pays to be a fool in Nigeria and loot your share then retire to a hill top mansion.
After all there is no law calling foolishness a crime in Nigeria. You will never get prosecuted or jailed.The constitution is either ignorant of foolishness or just silent about it.
If the constitution is ignorant, need you be told that ignorance is not an excuse before the law? If it is silent then it is aiding and abetting you may say. We should sue the constitution for criminal negligence.
No lawyer will represent you at the Supreme Court. The Nigerian Bar Association has sanctioned the National Judicial Council for 6 months after the unconstitutional removal of the President of the court of Appeal by the NJC.
Then I think rather than amending the constitution for a single term of six years, we should ask they amend it to make foolishness a capital crime.
Hmmmmmmmmmm.
I thought the government has shelved away that single term bill.
No. Didn’t you hear what the government whistle said? It is on course.
Haaaaaaaaaa, government’s whistle?
If he was still writing, he would have written a very beautiful expose’ on these matters especially on the fools theory and the single term gate.
Has he stopped writing? Only that he too has joined the wise fools.
In Nigeria the fools are very wise.
He has discovered what it means to be with the popular side and now has moved to the VIF- Very important fools.
I am sure he is regretting quietly now.
Regretting for joining late. Yes.
It is better late than never. The future started yesterday, but the future can also start today.
Did you hear that two soldiers were involved in the kidnap of Mikel’s father, Pa Michael Obi in Jos? Soldiers sent on peace mission.
No wonder, the state government and the locals have always been complaining about the complicity of some soldiers in the massacres of their people.
Those two soldiers are big fools, wallai.
Do you blame them? When two old men who looted our national treasury or put us in this development of underdevelopment confessed to the world that they are fools, why will anyone not want to be a fool?
But I told you there is no crime called Folly in our law books, now these two foolish soldiers will be court-martialed and charged for Kidnapping and extortion of ransom.
What is new, how many kidnappers have been convicted in Nigeria? How much is the ransom they asked of?
I can’t say it out oh. They asked for billions of dollars from Mikel and said it was a chicken change for Mikel and Chelsea.
What? Billions of dollars? Were they going to do a pick up at a rendezvous or they were going to ask for a wire transfer? Interpol would have arrested them.
And you said one is a sergeant? They are big fools.
The real fools are we, who sit here complaining.
The wise fools have taken enough to last their generations unborn.
So we may all be fools? But the greater fool is the one who knows what to gain from being a fool.
Yes
And that is what I call the Greater Fool Theory.
Whether IBB is a fool and OBJ is the most fool as posited by IBB’s spokesman is not the issue. The issue is that the bigger fools are the docile citizens who keep suffering and smiling while the greater fools smile to the banks or their underground vaults at home.
Make I dey go
Take care.
Be careful because you don the near the age of fools.
You are nearer that age than me.
Which of the ages? The fool at 40 for life or the fool at 70 for eternity?
Fool for eternity? You forgot that even fools die?
Just be a wise fool at 70 and you will not die a fool.
Bye you fool.
I am not even near 40 yet.
So for now you are idiotic.
Yes.
Bye all the same. Don’t be a fool.
A DECADE OF DEATH ON THE PLATEAU
A DECADE OF DEATH ON THE PLATEAU
{SEPTEMBER 7th 2001 TO SEPTEMBER 7th 2011.}
By Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.
If democracy’s mortal sin is the endless and senseless orgy of violence and dance of death on the plateau since 2001, the original sin was committed from the time of the military when the gap toothed general balkanized the old Jos Local government into three entities of Jos North, Jos East and Jos South Local Government Areas respectively. If the old Jos Local Government Area was big enough to warrant splitting, it should have been split into Jos North and South. However, the creation of Jos East was a gerrymander with the sole and mischievous objective of making the minority Hausa settlers in Jos who were centred on the present day Jos North the majority in Jos North.
Since areas in Jos north formed most of the nucleus of the Jos city, the long run effect was to impose the people, religion and culture of the Hausa on the generality of the indigenes and residents of Jos. This has been responsible for the ever flowing of blood on the plateau. Of course the Beroms are the major indigenous ethnic group in Jos, and they view this development as an affront to their heritage both in terms of land and survival and have been the major protagonist in the conflict. There are other ethnic settlers in Jos as old as the Hausas if not older; the Ibos, the Urhobos, the Yoruba and other tribes from different parts of the defunct o ld Benue Plateau state like the Idoma, Tiv, Mada etc. None has claimed to be the owners of Jos or demanded to be the rulers of Jos despite having similar religious and cultural backgrounds.
The Hausa on the other hand have always used the twin evil of ethnicity and religion when it suits them either alternatively or concurrently. When they want to gain the sympathy of the secular world or even the liberal Christian world, they paint the conflict as purely ethnic but when they want to gain the sympathy of their fellow Muslims both local and foreign they paint the conflict as religious. These has made the people of Plateau come under double attack as seen when a Christian President declared a state of emergency in 2004 at the behest of Muslim leaders and when a Moslem President Yar’Adua clearly took sides with his Hausa Fulani kindred after the local government elections of November 2008 snowballed into a conflict. It was so glaring because the ruling party at both the federal and state governments was the PDP.
The military sowed the seed of discord when in 1994 they appointed a Hausa Fulani as the local government administrator to the chagrin of the indigenous ethnic groups. That resulted in the first conflict in Jos though many people are unaware of it.The major crisis of reference is the one of September 7th 2001 which has become a wound that is refusing to heal. Between 2001 and 2011, thousands have lost their lives in various crises and Jos once called Home of peace and tourism is now referred to as Home of pieces and terrorism in many quarters.
The once serene city has witnessed so much violence to the extent that many people have relocated away and are still relocating, new entrants are refusing to come and some indigenes have stayed away from home. Today in Jos, there are certain areas that Christians cannot go and some that Muslims cannot go. Some areas sit on border lines which make them the boiling points at the renewal of conflicts. Economic and social activities have suffered many setbacks leaving the people poorer and disillusioned.
Propaganda has played a major role in fanning the embers of discord in this prolonged crisis. The Hausa Fulani have exploited their access to international broadcast media like the Al jazeera, BBC Hausa service and even local media like the Daily trust. It is on record that the Hausa Fulani are the antagonists in this feud, but these media play down all the attacks by the Hausa/Fulani and amplify the ones by the others even when acting in self defense. Their advertorials, commentaries, opinions, columns and contribution are pro Moslem and pan Islamic. They would have been happier if the endangered people on the plateau surrender without resistance to the senseless slaughter carried out by the jihadists who see nothing wrong in turning against their host communities. For people who cherish their cattle more than other people’s lives, one is not surprised at the havoc they can create on the lives of others. But this is not the first time that hospitality is rewarded with hatred. When the Prophet Muhammed took flight from Mecca during his Hijra in the seventh century, his followers were granted asylum by the Christian king of Ethiopia . One of the Arabs killed an Ethiopian right inside the church before fleeing back to Arabia . Now in the twenty first century we see how settlers have turned against not only their hosts but all others who do not share their faith. The Jos crisis is not just a Hausa-Berom conflict, if it were I can’t fathom how churches have become the shrines of the Berom people. Yet the first target of the Hausa/Fulani is always a church. Each time there is resumption in conflict we see the active participation, collaboration, and cooperation of Moslems from other states and even outside the country in terms of human, material and financial resources. Fighters have been trained and imported to come and create havoc on innocent residents of Jos. At no point has any Christian state or country aided the people of Jos in this war, but we know the roles Moslem dominated states have played in inciting and providing support for the jihadists.
Unfortunately the military sent to keep peace and maintain internal security have at one time or the other been accused of biasness. Unarmed, innocent Christians have been shot at and killed in some cases. Innocent Christians have been killed under the watch of some security personnel without much ado. The case of 40 Ibos slaughtered along Bauchi road in 2010 is an unfortunate incident that can’t be forgotten in a hurry. The various attacks by armed Fulani marauders on innocent villagers around Jos since 2010 has cast a lot of doubts on the efficacy of the security arrangement which make it possible for the attackers to kill and escape. Most times innocent youths who rally to protect their communities or disarm these attackers are the ones arrested and paraded as armed hoodlums. The Hausa man never conquered Jos, and even if it is argued that every one settled in Jos as it is the case all over the world, it has been consistent that people who settled before the arrival of others have always been called the indigenes. After all Usman Dan Fodio was not from Sokoto but Gobir and only ruled Sokoto after his conquest. It is surprising that while the Jihad of Dan Fodio in 1804 did not conquer Jos during a primitive era, we are been confronted with a modern day Jihad in the era of civilized statehood and nation with government.
Economic indices have played a major role in this crisis. While the Christians and others have looked at the irrationality of breeding excess children due to economic realities, without prejudice to their religious beliefs, the Hausa Muslims have continued to explode their population irrespective of their inability to cater for their off springs materially and socially. This has led to a glut in the population of the Hausa Fulani households with the attendant problem of the almajiris who are readily used in conflicts. On the other hand it has led to a stabilization and outright fall in the population of the indigenes and other Christians in the city. This coupled with sponsors from within and without has made the Hausa Fulani Muslims bolder and more daring over the years.
The rise in Islamic extremism and the increased activities of terrorists in the country and Jos in particular gives one serious concern. The 2010 Christmas eve twin bombings which left not less than 80 Christians dead has not been investigated further and no culprit has been brought to book. The role of boko harram and al qaeda in perpetrating violence in Nigeria and around the world cannot be overemphasized.
For those familiar with history, the Jos Crisis is a semblance of the Kosovo war in the 90s. It therefore makes it imperative to demand for an international assessment and international arbitrators since the federal government has not done enough to stop this wanton destruction of lives and property. The activities of some security men who have clearly taken sides with their kinsmen or religion when they are supposed to be neutral makes it inevitable to call for the intervention of an International peace keeping or enforcement force to be garrisoned in and around Jos like that of Kosovo.
Until then, the Federal government must stop playing politics with the Jos conundrum to halt further death after a decade of senseless killings. It is highly hypocritical that a people who will not allow their own indigenous Christian tribes in Bauchi. Kano, Sokoto, Kebbi, Borno,Niger, Yobe, Gombe to rule or have access to political offices want to lord it over others in their own state. I will always affirm that the issue of indigene ship is a Nigerian phenomenon and as such if it must be abrogated it should start from the Hausa states with a long history of settlers who have also contributed to the development of those states. The Hausa Fulani Muslim should either live at peace with the other residents or leave others in peace.
It was Martin Luther king Jnr. who said “we either live together as brothers or perish as fools”. If we must be brothers we should respect those who have been hospitable enough to allow us live and breed in their land. But if we choose to be fools then we all stand the risk of perishing as fools. But before then truth must be told. Why no other tribe has lay claim to Jos though they settled as far as the Hausas did, if not longer? Who arms the Hausas with guns and who pays for the importation of mercenaries from other states and countries?
Peace is priceless and sometimes we may pay the ultimate price as many of our martyrs have in the quest for peace on the Plateau. But now more than ever we must discern between cowardice and hatred. We cannot afford to be cowards, therefore we must stand firm and defend our people, faith and children yet we should not allow vengeance to cause us to hate. Our God is a living God and does not thrive on the blood of the innocents .Brethren do not be afraid for the Bible says “the thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy”. Based on those responsible for the destruction of lives and property, we can tell who the owners of Jos are or are not. Jesus said that he will send us the Holy Spirit who will lead us to the truth. For every logarithm there is an anti logarithm .But He also promised us that they gate of hell will never prevail against his church. Finally Christ told us to fear Him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. All things shall pass away, even this too shall pass.
For all our faithful who have died in this decade of death on the Plateau, we pray for God’s compassion and mercy. May eternal rest shine upon them and may they rest in your Peace Perfect Peace O’ Lord. Amen.
{SEPTEMBER 7th 2001 TO SEPTEMBER 7th 2011.}
By Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.
If democracy’s mortal sin is the endless and senseless orgy of violence and dance of death on the plateau since 2001, the original sin was committed from the time of the military when the gap toothed general balkanized the old Jos Local government into three entities of Jos North, Jos East and Jos South Local Government Areas respectively. If the old Jos Local Government Area was big enough to warrant splitting, it should have been split into Jos North and South. However, the creation of Jos East was a gerrymander with the sole and mischievous objective of making the minority Hausa settlers in Jos who were centred on the present day Jos North the majority in Jos North.
Since areas in Jos north formed most of the nucleus of the Jos city, the long run effect was to impose the people, religion and culture of the Hausa on the generality of the indigenes and residents of Jos. This has been responsible for the ever flowing of blood on the plateau. Of course the Beroms are the major indigenous ethnic group in Jos, and they view this development as an affront to their heritage both in terms of land and survival and have been the major protagonist in the conflict. There are other ethnic settlers in Jos as old as the Hausas if not older; the Ibos, the Urhobos, the Yoruba and other tribes from different parts of the defunct o ld Benue Plateau state like the Idoma, Tiv, Mada etc. None has claimed to be the owners of Jos or demanded to be the rulers of Jos despite having similar religious and cultural backgrounds.
The Hausa on the other hand have always used the twin evil of ethnicity and religion when it suits them either alternatively or concurrently. When they want to gain the sympathy of the secular world or even the liberal Christian world, they paint the conflict as purely ethnic but when they want to gain the sympathy of their fellow Muslims both local and foreign they paint the conflict as religious. These has made the people of Plateau come under double attack as seen when a Christian President declared a state of emergency in 2004 at the behest of Muslim leaders and when a Moslem President Yar’Adua clearly took sides with his Hausa Fulani kindred after the local government elections of November 2008 snowballed into a conflict. It was so glaring because the ruling party at both the federal and state governments was the PDP.
The military sowed the seed of discord when in 1994 they appointed a Hausa Fulani as the local government administrator to the chagrin of the indigenous ethnic groups. That resulted in the first conflict in Jos though many people are unaware of it.The major crisis of reference is the one of September 7th 2001 which has become a wound that is refusing to heal. Between 2001 and 2011, thousands have lost their lives in various crises and Jos once called Home of peace and tourism is now referred to as Home of pieces and terrorism in many quarters.
The once serene city has witnessed so much violence to the extent that many people have relocated away and are still relocating, new entrants are refusing to come and some indigenes have stayed away from home. Today in Jos, there are certain areas that Christians cannot go and some that Muslims cannot go. Some areas sit on border lines which make them the boiling points at the renewal of conflicts. Economic and social activities have suffered many setbacks leaving the people poorer and disillusioned.
Propaganda has played a major role in fanning the embers of discord in this prolonged crisis. The Hausa Fulani have exploited their access to international broadcast media like the Al jazeera, BBC Hausa service and even local media like the Daily trust. It is on record that the Hausa Fulani are the antagonists in this feud, but these media play down all the attacks by the Hausa/Fulani and amplify the ones by the others even when acting in self defense. Their advertorials, commentaries, opinions, columns and contribution are pro Moslem and pan Islamic. They would have been happier if the endangered people on the plateau surrender without resistance to the senseless slaughter carried out by the jihadists who see nothing wrong in turning against their host communities. For people who cherish their cattle more than other people’s lives, one is not surprised at the havoc they can create on the lives of others. But this is not the first time that hospitality is rewarded with hatred. When the Prophet Muhammed took flight from Mecca during his Hijra in the seventh century, his followers were granted asylum by the Christian king of Ethiopia . One of the Arabs killed an Ethiopian right inside the church before fleeing back to Arabia . Now in the twenty first century we see how settlers have turned against not only their hosts but all others who do not share their faith. The Jos crisis is not just a Hausa-Berom conflict, if it were I can’t fathom how churches have become the shrines of the Berom people. Yet the first target of the Hausa/Fulani is always a church. Each time there is resumption in conflict we see the active participation, collaboration, and cooperation of Moslems from other states and even outside the country in terms of human, material and financial resources. Fighters have been trained and imported to come and create havoc on innocent residents of Jos. At no point has any Christian state or country aided the people of Jos in this war, but we know the roles Moslem dominated states have played in inciting and providing support for the jihadists.
Unfortunately the military sent to keep peace and maintain internal security have at one time or the other been accused of biasness. Unarmed, innocent Christians have been shot at and killed in some cases. Innocent Christians have been killed under the watch of some security personnel without much ado. The case of 40 Ibos slaughtered along Bauchi road in 2010 is an unfortunate incident that can’t be forgotten in a hurry. The various attacks by armed Fulani marauders on innocent villagers around Jos since 2010 has cast a lot of doubts on the efficacy of the security arrangement which make it possible for the attackers to kill and escape. Most times innocent youths who rally to protect their communities or disarm these attackers are the ones arrested and paraded as armed hoodlums. The Hausa man never conquered Jos, and even if it is argued that every one settled in Jos as it is the case all over the world, it has been consistent that people who settled before the arrival of others have always been called the indigenes. After all Usman Dan Fodio was not from Sokoto but Gobir and only ruled Sokoto after his conquest. It is surprising that while the Jihad of Dan Fodio in 1804 did not conquer Jos during a primitive era, we are been confronted with a modern day Jihad in the era of civilized statehood and nation with government.
Economic indices have played a major role in this crisis. While the Christians and others have looked at the irrationality of breeding excess children due to economic realities, without prejudice to their religious beliefs, the Hausa Muslims have continued to explode their population irrespective of their inability to cater for their off springs materially and socially. This has led to a glut in the population of the Hausa Fulani households with the attendant problem of the almajiris who are readily used in conflicts. On the other hand it has led to a stabilization and outright fall in the population of the indigenes and other Christians in the city. This coupled with sponsors from within and without has made the Hausa Fulani Muslims bolder and more daring over the years.
The rise in Islamic extremism and the increased activities of terrorists in the country and Jos in particular gives one serious concern. The 2010 Christmas eve twin bombings which left not less than 80 Christians dead has not been investigated further and no culprit has been brought to book. The role of boko harram and al qaeda in perpetrating violence in Nigeria and around the world cannot be overemphasized.
For those familiar with history, the Jos Crisis is a semblance of the Kosovo war in the 90s. It therefore makes it imperative to demand for an international assessment and international arbitrators since the federal government has not done enough to stop this wanton destruction of lives and property. The activities of some security men who have clearly taken sides with their kinsmen or religion when they are supposed to be neutral makes it inevitable to call for the intervention of an International peace keeping or enforcement force to be garrisoned in and around Jos like that of Kosovo.
Until then, the Federal government must stop playing politics with the Jos conundrum to halt further death after a decade of senseless killings. It is highly hypocritical that a people who will not allow their own indigenous Christian tribes in Bauchi. Kano, Sokoto, Kebbi, Borno,Niger, Yobe, Gombe to rule or have access to political offices want to lord it over others in their own state. I will always affirm that the issue of indigene ship is a Nigerian phenomenon and as such if it must be abrogated it should start from the Hausa states with a long history of settlers who have also contributed to the development of those states. The Hausa Fulani Muslim should either live at peace with the other residents or leave others in peace.
It was Martin Luther king Jnr. who said “we either live together as brothers or perish as fools”. If we must be brothers we should respect those who have been hospitable enough to allow us live and breed in their land. But if we choose to be fools then we all stand the risk of perishing as fools. But before then truth must be told. Why no other tribe has lay claim to Jos though they settled as far as the Hausas did, if not longer? Who arms the Hausas with guns and who pays for the importation of mercenaries from other states and countries?
Peace is priceless and sometimes we may pay the ultimate price as many of our martyrs have in the quest for peace on the Plateau. But now more than ever we must discern between cowardice and hatred. We cannot afford to be cowards, therefore we must stand firm and defend our people, faith and children yet we should not allow vengeance to cause us to hate. Our God is a living God and does not thrive on the blood of the innocents .Brethren do not be afraid for the Bible says “the thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy”. Based on those responsible for the destruction of lives and property, we can tell who the owners of Jos are or are not. Jesus said that he will send us the Holy Spirit who will lead us to the truth. For every logarithm there is an anti logarithm .But He also promised us that they gate of hell will never prevail against his church. Finally Christ told us to fear Him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. All things shall pass away, even this too shall pass.
For all our faithful who have died in this decade of death on the Plateau, we pray for God’s compassion and mercy. May eternal rest shine upon them and may they rest in your Peace Perfect Peace O’ Lord. Amen.
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