Credo World Media

No Madam Minister,It is a Fib...Part II

2012-01-04T22:04:00.001+01:00

CredoWriters:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen.

Transformation is more than wearing smuggled ankara and telling pauperized citizens white lies behind a TV camera, which is powered by generators with fuel procured from black markets. It should be about gilded in Made in Nigeria textile fabrics and speaking the truth on behalf of millions of voiceless Nigerians.

Transformation is not riding in foreign made jeeps to escape the impacts of our potholed embellished roads; it is about driving in Nigerian manufactured cabbies without feeling the fissures because the roads are themselves transformed, hence no pot holes.

Transformation is not having foreign construction firms building their own embassies in Nigeria and also building our own embassies in their countries, It is having Nigerian world class building and construction firms excelling anywhere in the world.

Transformation is not restricted to acquiring a foreign degree as a prerequisite for local jobs, transformation entails having a Nigerian degree that allows us international access to all job opportunities.

Transformation transcends deregulating the importation of petroleum products to convert a renowned cabal into a cartel who will collude againts the people, it is promoting local content drive to establish transparency and accountability. It is ensuring adequate local production and refining capacity to meet domestic need and achieve exportation of finished goods.

Transformation should not be about a brazen mother of foreign based family but being a gratified mother of humble if need be unemployed Nigerians men to diffuse the circular flow of national income.

Transformation is not the cowardice of placing responsibilities on the doors of Nigerians while giving flimsy excuses for the miscarriage of governance, it ought to be the remorse of a government woman who should be determined to right the ills of failures of government institutions as a first step towards making amends.

Transformation is not about being the agent of a western capitalist institutions, the price mechanism has failed Europe and America and has become a mathematics of random uncertainty.

Transformation is not disappointing the electorate who voted a patient luck only to be rewarded in such a terrible and inhuamn manner, it is about people's power.

We are patriotic even if untransformed Nigerians. We pay our taxes and we can show the world our pay slips. Madam ‘World bank’; can we please see your pay slip? We are so Nigerian that we have no International Passports since we do not envisage fleeing Nigeria after our ministerial tenures. Can you please drop your dual nationality? All we have are our National ID cards. But our National Identity has been transformed by hunger, excess fuel burden, potholes, strikes, insecurity and unemployment.

Madam Minister, nonetheless tell yourself the truth if not your employer or the tax payers. Do you still drink pipe borne water?

Do you eat local rice?

Do you pay for your fuel while it is still un-deregulated and now that you are deregulating?

Do you pay PHCN utility bills?

No! Madam Minister, it is a fib.

Remove those spectacles and stop fibbing

www.credoworld.blogspot.com

The gods are to blame.

2012-01-04T20:12:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen

When Ola Rotimi wrote his famous play "The gods are not to blame", it may have been premised on the fact that human beings were human and would take responsibility for their actions. In Nigeria today, some human beings are no longer human. When the serpent tempted Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, he told them that they would be like God if they ate. Nigerian government officials have greed as their apple and once they got corrupted with money and power, they become gods. Name them from the President to his ministers, his advisers to his apologists, they now play gods and as such they are to blame.

If they masses of this country get annihilated by this very unpopular fuel subsidy removal, if Nigerians get killed in the process of demonstrating and resisting this IMF script directed by World Bank’s Ngozi Okonjo Iwela and produced by Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan as narrated by Labaran Maku, we know where to place the blood of innocent Nigerians. A female god born with golden spoon who once cried(in pretext) without solving the road problem is now a god who expects us to trust her in deregulating fuel importation, what happens to local production which ought to have shielded us from the volatility of the international oil market? If OPEC is a cartel which colludes to influence world oil price, what stops this local cabal turned cartel from colluding to influence supply and prices in a deregulated market which doesn’t have alternatives? The developed West subsidize oil in their countries by spending billions of dollars to prosecute wars in oil producing countries to ensure cheap and secured supply of oil, those same Western imperialists are now directing our clueless officials from behind the scene.

How on earth will you explain government's ineffectiveness in tackling a so called cabal who constitute a minute fraction of the populace but that same government is bold and strong enough to take on the whole angry Nigerians. They have bullets and barrels of the gun to aim at us, but they lack the stamina to clean the corruption in the oil sector.

Hitherto thought of sane human beings who once opposed government/World Bank anti people policies have now been inducted into the hall of gods and once their prices were named, they turned around to sing like canaries in support of fuel deregulation. They hopelessly compare deregulation in the communication with that of fuel. Of course it is their right, they have the right to change their ideologies, and they have the right to support the cause they want. We too have our rights, we have the right to refuse what we know is a calculated attempt to enslave us and enrich the pocket of those who caused us to be in this quagmire in the first place. We have the right to tell these gods a big NO!

There is nothing wrong with deregulation, but there is everything wrong with deregulation that negatively affects the generality of Nigerians who are suffering and battling to survive the oddities of life. There is everything wrong with deregulating before fixing the problem, there is everything wrong with a few gods feeding fat on the common wealth of the people while expecting the people to make more sacrifices to guarantee the ostentatious life style of a few who have become gods.

Look at the government officials, their cronies and the number of cars in their entourages called convoy, all these are fuelled from the coffers of the government. The gods want the ordinary man dead, and as such they gods will stop at nothing to make life unbearable. While the people suffer, these gods budget hundreds of millions of naira for their food, billions of naira for foreign trips and trillions of naira for corruption.

The economics of deregulation is not as simple as the capitalists want us to believe. They preach free market economy on paper but they live on government subsidy in every aspect of their lives. They drive in government cars fuelled by government money, they live in government houses or houses paid by government, and they are flown to foreign hospitals on government bills while leaving our hospitals to decay. The gods send their “goddlins” to school abroad after wrecking our educational institutions with underfunding.

Suddenly, a man who was made by the people, whose cause to be made an acting president was championed by the people, a man who was the reason for the death of hundreds of Nigerians including serving corps members; that man has become a god. Propped by the female god from the World Bank and other gods who have always fed on the masses, these gods without successfully concluding their consultations or dialogue went ahead to unilaterally pursue the script that is aimed at finally crippling the masses. If the policy is such a good move, why is it a hard sell? And if the argument is that they usually borrow to subsidize fuel; which they can no longer sustain, where then will they raise money for the subsidy re-investment program? Will the gods also borrow to reinvest? Already they have set up a very bogus committee to administer the funds, another avenue to enrich the gods and rehabilitate the old ones. How independent are commissions or committees in Nigeria? Is the EFCC not independent; how were Ribadu and Waziri booted out of office?

These gods must not be allowed to make us fools, these gods will be blamed for any chaos that breaks out in the land, and the gods must be stopped before it is too late. Despite the people’s refusal of this obnoxious policy, we are hoodwinked by a ruling class who has consistently failed Nigerians since Structural adjustment program began in the mid 1980s. We rise to tell these gods that we cannot be taken for a ride. Whatever happens to us and our country these gods are to blame, and these gods will surely not escape the wrath of men and women of Nigeria.

www.credoworld.blogspot.com

04012012

The Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs owe Nigerian Christians an Apology

2011-12-26T10:10:00.000+01:00

I was doing a mental calculation on the number of churches that would ve been burnt in reprisal attacks by now,had it been that Christians claimed responsibility for bombing mosques.

This is a country where Christians are attacked because of Danish cartoons, or worse still because Israel is fighting Lebanon or Gaza,as if Israel is a Christian nation? It is in this country that Moslems kill scores in our churches on Christmas day.....and as usual....government can do nothing....life goes on....I feel this is unfair,unjust,inhuman and unacceptable.imagine if the tide is turned during Ramadan would it be taken lightly? The pan Islamic Daily trust news group with their sensational pro jihadists columns would have stopped short of calling on massive supports from international moslem fundamental groups to come and avenge the genocide against their brethren. On the whole face of the earth yesterday, Nigeria is the only country that churches where bombed and Christians killed in their church. The defense of NEMA that bomb was on the Madalla high way and not in the church was an insult to dead.

Me think the Nigerian supreme council of Islamic affairs owes us a huge apology and commitment to bring this menace to an end, after all BH or no BH, the murderers are not pagans or Hindi or bhudists are they? Until Moslems face the threat we face in going to pray in our churches, until they are scared of going to mosque as we are of going to church, then the solution may be far. It is wrong for us to go to church with police guarding us in secular Nigeria, while the aggressors conveniently and peacefully pray without any disturbance in some cases blocking the road. Of course 2 or 3 police men can do nothing to stop a bomber or a gang of blood sucking fundamentalists.

All those using poverty as excuse are not been sincere because poverty is not the exclusive right of Hausa Fulani,kanji Moslems. Those shouting about lack of development should ask how many times the core north ruled this country. While poor christians struggled to train their children from menial jobs like house keeping, town services, selling a kara, the lazy northerners let lose their children to beg on the streets and highways in the name of almajiri only to turn terrorists.

However we see this or judge me....I just said the truth and you know it.

Another Christmas is Come

2011-12-24T18:48:00.000+01:00

"Another Christmas is Come"

We are among the living by God's special grace to witness another Christmas. Merry Christmas, greetings to you in the name of God most high, ever living,ever faithful,ever merciful.

For those of us who believe in Christ, Jesus is not only the Reason for the Season, but the Very essence of our Being and Faith, therefore we must remain the salt of the earth,the light to all nations and be ready to carry our cross for the sake of our eternity.

For those who do not believe in Christ, humanity is in one of its most trying moments of religious disharmony, since the collapse of the communism and the end of cold war, the Ideological war has been replaced by a wave of religious acrimony especially in Africa, Asia and the middle east. Yet we know that God who is omnipotent to have created us will not be helpless to need man to fight for Him. Every man should therefore have the right to freedom of worship without discrimination.
For those who do not believe in God, man has fallaciously attained a state where science and technology seeks to make life so comfortable that God is seen absent. Few tribes and cultures remain pagans, but more people who were born in the faith especially in the developed world have replaced God with modernity.

Globalization has made the world a smaller village, yet humanity is more divided. If we had all put God at the centre of our existence, we would have been converging rather than diverging.
Jesus Christ whose birth we celebrate is a perfect example of the best of humanity. He gave up his glory to shed his blood as a price for mankind. The word became flesh and dwelled among us. He was the connector between the Law and Love, he is human ,yet divine.

At this Christmas like others in the past, we celebrate the birth of a child who came to reconcile man with God, but at this Christmas more than ever the world is bloodier, and our immediate environment is worse off. From the carnage caused by religious extremists and armed robbers, to economic deprivation facing many of our citizens, from denied access to quality and affordable health care to unpliable and accident prone roads, more Nigerians face the threat of extermination. The truth is that Nigeria may not be facing any external aggression but Nigeria is at war.The country is at war with itself, the citizens are killing themselves ,this is the return of investment in decades of corruption, maladministration,ignorance,docility and many other vices. We have more security agents but we are less secured. We have more schools but we are less enlightened, we have more money budgeted but we face infrastructural collapse. But worse of it, we live in an era when morality, charity, and respect for life are greatly eroded.

As we mark yet another Christmas amidst our greatest insecurity, we remember all our friends and relations in Jos, Bauchi, Maiduguri, Damaturu among many other places. Not that anywhere is security proof any more but these places have seen more bloody campaigns ,we turn to God the author and finisher of all for protection,safety,security and peace.

On behalf of Salvador, Cecy and myself, I am wishing you all in Credoworld a blessed and reassured Christmas. I pray to our Saviour to bless us all and keep us, to guard,guide and protect us and ours. May the love which the birth of the messiah brings never depart from us and our family. May God grant to us the wishes of our hearts. May He be merciful upon us and our country,restore peace and security;deliver us from any insensitive leadership and restore us back to the path of prosperity,progress, sustainable development and true reconciliation. May our children know the peace we knew as children without growing up in fear and a blood oozing society.

CredoChristmas,Merry Christmas!

Thank you.

Yours in Credo,
Sammy.

THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND AND REVOLUTION

2011-12-17T21:03:00.001+01:00

THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND AND REVOLUTION

CredoWriters:Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

The year Two Thousand and Eleven will go down as one of the richest years in history. Students of history and historians,military tacticians, strategists,politicians, statesmen, diplomats, rescue workers, journalists, religious, royalty, health workers, financial experts, academics, researchers, scientists, trade unionists, human and civil rights activist; in fact all of us will remember the events of this year 2011 whether for good or bad, and even mixed.

In no particular order, from the Jasmine revolution in Tunisia which outsed Ben Ali and heralded the Arab spring that quickly spread to Egypt and forced out Mubarak. The bloodbath in Libya which resulted in the NATO incursion which only ended with the death of the brotherly king of kings, Col. Gadhafi, to the continuos blood shed in Syria and Yemen, Bahrain . There is no year in history compared to this when the quantity and quality of people across countries took their destiny in their own hands and dared death by taking on and confronting the status quo. In sub Saharan Africa, the year begun with the drama of the December 2010 election in Cote d Ivore which led to killings of Ivorians and the eventual capture of the then President Gbago who has now been transported to the Hague for trial.

Post election violence in Nigeria claimed hundreds of lives in Northern Nigeria following the Victory of Goodluck Jonathan in the Presidential elections. The boko harram bombings in Maiduguri graduated into daring bomb attacks in the capital Abuja, and other cities and villages. The independence of South Sudan and the tension between the two Sudans The famine in East Africa, the disputed elections in Congo, the elections in Liberia.

The royal wedding of Prince William and Kate on April 30th , the killing of Osama Bin Ladin in Pakistan the next day after 10 years on the run, the 10 years anniversary of the September 11th attacks,the tension between USA and Pakistan over terrorists. The end of hostilities by the Basque separatists ETA in Spain. The phone hacking scandal in the U.K.

In Asia, the Japanese tsunami in March and the nuclear disaster that followed at Fukushima plant, the rising water in Thailand. The beatification of Pope John Paul the great, the attack on the Pro Canterbury Anglicans in Zimbabwe.

The latest Euro crisis, which originated from the financial crises in countries like Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal have exposed the failure of liberial economics and have led to massive demonstrations in western countries, the occupy wall street demonstrations, the London riots, the demonstrations in Russia after the December parliamentary elections. The Isreali-Hamas prisoner deal swap, the attack on British Embassy by Iranian students in Tehran.

The year 2011 is one not only full of history, but will greatly influence how the turn of events will be in the years to follow. From Economics to politics, security to environment, politics to diplomacy, 2011 is a major base year for actions and inaction.

What is key is that some fundamentals are non negotiable; freedom, economic prosperity, sensitive political decisions, pro people public policies, environmental preservation, security and protection. The lessons how ever is that the minority whether political,military or financial leaders; nationally or globally can not and should not continue to toy with the wishes of the people. No matter what it takes, the people are in real terms the sovereigns and they would demand for that which they gave their leaders to hold in trust for them.

Coming back home, we must not think that we are immuned from global happenings, the ruling class should not live in illusion for too long, they can choose to save the people the painful process of a revolution or continue to push their luck with unpopular policies that seek to continually improvish the millions of the already poor Nigerians. We live in fear of insecurity from terrorists and criminals, we live in fear of poor standard of living, we live in oppression by the people who were elected to serve us, squandering our resources to sustain their artificial lives, while expecting us to adjust to more bitter pills which have always failed .

How can a government which came to power promising to make Nigerians better be so bent on causing untold hardship? If the world bank and IMF are so good economic managers and advisers, why is Europe in crisis? If Goldman Sachs is so good, why did the sub prime lending crisis snowballed into a global economic meltdown. President Jonathan's romance with people from these institutions as his economic managers leaves bitter taste in the mouth of millions of our people who always bear the brunt of failed government policies. Ngozi is not a home grown economist but a mere agent of international capitalist order. Aganga is as downgraded as his Goldman Sachs which was just downgraded by Fitch. I have always argued that the price mechanism is a free radical that assumes any value , a magnified variable. However, if the President believes so much in it, let him deregulate the Aso Rock, raise internal revenue to run aso rock and withdraw public expenditure as a means of running the Presidential villa. They should collect tolls from visitors and entourages entering the villa. Make it a tourist attraction to generate revenue for the payment of workers in the villa.

Our lives as Nigerians ought to be more important than some meaningless neo liberial economic policies which hopes to save money from withdrawal of subsidies, money that will be wasted by corrupt politicians as always the case. We are more important than naira and kobo, when they spend billions to subsidize corruption, how comes it is the subsidy on fuel that is their major concern? Why didn't GEJ mention subsidy withdrawal as part of his electioneering promises earlier in the year? That makes it a fraud and deciet. How comes my former model Dr. Reuben Abati who had always written against this obnoxious government proposal ,finally comitted class suicide and joined the tiny click or cabal who have always held the nation by the throat? Why is Maku, the minister of information singing a different tune from what he sang during the anti-SAP riots? Is it because they all know as the case is, that they would never spend their money to pay for essentials and even luxuries? The government coffers is further plundered to cater for the expenses of serving and ex government officials and we all know that. Rather than sanitize the oil industry and prosecute the fat cats, the government is only window dressing, why can't our local refineries work? If the government can't take of a sector in their hands, is it by giving it up that they will be in control? To deregulate importation of fuel is not the same as deregulating the production or local refining of fuel. Is it not shamelessly shameful for Nigeria to import refined petroleum products from Ivory Coast, Senegal and even Niger in the making? What comparative advantages do these none oil producing countries have over Nigeria if not political will?

In 2011, the revolution may be far from us and only seen on our television screens and Internet, but unless the rulers make a clean break from their insensitivity, which I doubt any way, 2011 may just be the year in which the sleeping lion in the people is awaken into 2012. If the President feels he is a god who must have his way against public opinion and common sense, he should pause and see where gods before him like Mobutu, Ghadafi, Pinochet, and even Stalin ended. No man is bigger than his country, it was a mere unemployed Tunisian who set him blaze on the 17th of December 2010, to protest against his government's injustice and insensitivity. That singular move defined the greatest moments of 2011, let the pride of a regime which sees it's mandate as divine not drag us to a revolution which no one knows how it would end. The myth in Nigeria is that we can have a bloodless revolution, that is a fad. What ever happened to the maxim; vox populi, vox Dei?

Even Generals go on Retreat; why can’t we?

2011-10-20T12:19:00.001+01:00

CredoWriters:Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

We fight many battles in a war or fight one war on many fronts. We advance and attack, defend when we are attacked. We go into wars with or without reconnaissance and the enemy may be better equipped with more sophistication. Some of our wars are as old as we are or older in some cases than we are. Daily we go into one battle or the other, we win some and loose others, and we are still fighting some. For every time we dislodge the enemy and gain ground we celebrate, for the unfortunate times the enemy forces over run our positions we either withdraw or are caught and held captive; Prisoner of Wars!

We assault and attack, we defend, we withdraw and sometimes we surrender, but the crux is we hardly on our own go on retreats. We either are too confident in pushing our perimeter forward until we go into the desert or snow; or we are too scared by withdrawing from our S-line (positions) at H-hour. Some times we are forced to remain locked in battles with casualties without knowing when we should have retreated to re-launch, to retreat and re-strategize. Even when we are winning on one front, do we replicate our winning formula on all fronts? When our enemies advance against our positions we flee in fright or we are caught napping and unprepared. For the times we are engaged in endless battles , it may be difficult and dangerous to beat a retreat but if only we had earlier on taken a retreat to map out strategies on how to change tactics when the one we are using is not working; like cutting the enemy from the flanks if frontal assault is not effective. An earlier retreat would have helped us to decide when to use a spear head formation or a diamond head formation, when to go on caterpillar movement or leap frogging movement.

Simply put, to retreat is to go back to our trenches and take stock with the aim of improving. It can be a movement away from danger or a period of seclusion away from normal activities devoted to prayer and meditation. For this purpose it is a period of quiet rest and contemplation in a secluded place. Going on retreat enables us to consolidate on our gains and correct or errors. It helps us to eliminate our weaknesses and build on our strengths. When we retreat during life’s battle we will look at the formula making others to succeed and those hampering our own success. It allows us to look at our own superior fire power with the aim of innovating and improving even before we become obsolete. Retreat gives us a break from life’s vicissitudes with the aim of refreshing us mentally and physically to produce better formidable plans and actions.

Life is like war, we win, loose or remain in battle. It is best for us to win, worst for us to loose. As we win one battle we move to another battle until we win or loose the war. Some wars are won after fighting many battles, but some times one crucial battle determines the whole war. Whether we win or loose the war in our lives depends on how well we plan and execute the most significant battles in our life’s war. Most times though we are busy fighting the many battles of life without looking back to see if our methods are effective. A retreat today will assist us to change the course of our war; we may choose to earn salaries or advance to become entrepreneurs in our quest for financial emancipation. We may be loosing on emotional front due to pride or miscommunication and only a retreat will change our pride to humility and open up our communication line. Our spirituality may be a long range war with futile mortar when what we need is to propel a rocket or artillery; this we can only discover when we go on a retreat.

Living on earth with its complexities is like a soldier who though knows the danger of war can not but help to mobilize and meet his enemy at the battle field. He knows the danger of been attacked on his home front. When he meets the enemy at the battle field the best bet is to prepare his escape route even before the bugle is sounded and the worst is to blow his trumpet of victory far away from home; than to be crushed within his walls with no chance for his family to escape.

To know when to advance, attack, or withdraw; even when to surrender the soldier must have first gone on retreat. Retreat helps you avoid a surprise if you can’t win you will know when to withdraw. The best is for you to win, the worst is to reach a truce but not to be defeated out rightly. And that is the only way to make us rediscover ourselves.

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Do you see anything to smile about?

2011-10-18T15:03:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

Look at the violence in Jos, Bauchi and Maiduguri; do you see anything to smile about?
What about the spate of bombings, kidnapping and general insecurity in the country, is there anything to smile about?

Ask those who eat hunger and wear nakedness, do you think they will have anything to smile about?

Look at the increasing rate of graduate employment, imagine the non-graduates’ fate. Look at the numbers involved in child labour and slavery; do you see anything to smile about?

What about the incessant labour strike and fuel scarcity/price hike? Diesel and kerosene have soared beyond the reach of small scale businesses the masses, how can there be anything to smile about?

Look at the conditions of our refineries, textiles, agriculture and industries; what do you see to smile about?

Can you calculate the elasticity of corruption in Nigeria and truly tell the President we have news to smile about?

What about the murders, unresolved assassinations, robberies and frauds, mass illiteracy and wanton destruction of lives and properties?

How about the religious crises in the North, militancy in the South, Ritual killings in the East, Thuggery in the West and cut neck rents in Abuja. Is there anything to smile about?

Look at the plight of our citizenry and the living conditions of our people. Look at Benin-Ore-Lagos Express way, Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa road, and other roads in the country, the sorry state of our power sector draining billions of dollars with little result, the insensitive public holders, the unrepentant corrupt civil servants, and the porous nature of our land and sea borders, do you see anything to smile about?

How about the decay in our educational sector? The collapse of public education and the mercantilism in the private education. Tell me the condition of our health care facilities, the failure of an efficient transport system and the slums called homes, what is there to smile about?

Look at the subversion of the state, the monster called terrorism, the evil called nepotism and the menace of exploitation. Look at the condition of our police stations and the caliber of our security agencies, what is there to smile about?

Look at food security or is it insecurity, the bastardization of our budget implementation and the ineffectiveness of project implementations, do you see anything to smile about?

We can’t sleep peacefully at home, walk fearlessly on the streets, work without fear at our offices and travel safely on the road?

What really is our heritage if we can’t find anything to smile about?

THE DEAD ALSO SING

2011-10-18T14:20:00.001+01:00

CredoPoets:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen

THE DEAD ALSO SING

Blood in the community's eyes
this time again
why the wailing?
At the sound of the cathedral bells

Last night
the moon hid in shame
as humans were robbed
by "tiny" of their immunity.

How the priest will eulogize
at this requiem?
It's a shame that the sun had to run away
like a coward, never heard of that.

For man only to go and find succour
his wife couldn't provide
he swam between another's thighs,
and for himself won "tiny"

The lady, ever untired
of Adam's sons playing soccer in her pitch.
"tiny" refused going home after the league.

And so, Africa our beloved
this day is drained.
Strong sons cum daughters
reduced to vegetables
rotting little at a time
pending when the gardener weeds them away.

For "tiny" has sworn
'Am too strong to be killed'
rather man's immunity it kills

What an irony
back to the cathedral where once their heads were dipped at baptism in water
are brought back this time; for last rites.

The founders of this cathedral who we, they warned
to neither adulterate nor fornicate
exported to us, "tiny"
the very product of their immorality.

Where then our salvation lies Africa?
If only we were self sufficient, that everything from them we imported.
Not satisfied, we have imported "tiny de HIV"
Everlasting balance of trade deficit.

Who the soil would till?
who for us the woods pick?
of hunger our cattle would die?
the aged and the infants no one is spared?

From a distant land
a song
a land no one returns
not even with lion's majesty
no one returns from

This song is heard;
Let Africa with ears to the ground
Listen and again listen well or her map, away be wiped

Miss Brown

2011-10-18T12:04:00.000+01:00

CredoPoets: Wakdok,Samuel Stephen

For a quiver full of

Arrows

I bare my chest as a stone.

Pierce my heart
For life without your seductive love

Is sin without temptation.

You are now as rude as a bear,

Since I have turned as ugly as sin.

If I am as silly as a goose

I have made you more bitter than gall.

You, who was sweeter than honey,

Once supple as swan.

Now is like vinegar. Sour!

I beg for a beam of light

From once your graceful face.

Even a crust of bread

Holds more value to you.

Like a troop of lion will pounce on a lamb.

I stand unarmed at your anger,

For a quiver full of arrows

My heart as weak as water.

For life without you

Is a gust of wind

A hail of fire

Life without your love

Is sin without temptation.

Vain.

LOVE POEMS

2011-10-04T13:55:00.001+01:00

THE WOMEN IN MY LIFE

CredoPoets:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen.

I love you forever / that was the introductory postulation/in her essay to me

Words so softly spoken/ message deeply passed/ meaning which brings nostalgia

I love you forever/ when I walked through the door/ I expected her to run after me.

She is calm and calm she remained

You lied to me she yelped/ you said you loved me but you lied

Fight for me if you love me, I barked

No, I won't fight for you she echoed/ Because you will always be mine

I won't fight for you she retorted/ I will instead die for you she wrapped up

You Are my Best

CredoPoets:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen.

Dust and rust and even cobweb/ you brought your brush and sponge and broom/ and I am immaculate again

I am pristine and lively again

My crooked hands you straightened

my broken heart you darned

my trust you resuscitated

You reboot my heart

and make me whole again

you kick start my smiles and make me alive

you are my Best

The Poet's Heaven

CredoPoets:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen.

You give life to my passion and soul to my love.
Your manicured fingers travel the circumference of my body spreading flames only your tongue can quench.
You give waves to my emotion.
The sensation of your naive body taste like a supper of lamb.
Tender, sweet and undefiled.
What a crystal oasis of erotic magnet.
Draped in form so sensual and viscious.

You Sensualise my Being

CredoPoets:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen.

I long to sleep even when I wake at day
Because I want to be with you in my dreams
I want to play my guitar on your nipples and sing your love

At night when I ought to sleep I wake all night
Thinking of you and how you hold me captive
My brains and my heart and my loins think of you alone and your sweetness.

I see you in the surface of the water when I bath
I hear you in the sound of my car engine
I talk to you on my car stereo
I listen to you from the breeze the trees blow.

Love has come our away
Now that the love has rekindled
What are we going to do with our love?

You sensualise my being

TRADEMARK

CredoPoets:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen.

She wants a poem I offer passion to make her heart beat

She blows a kiss I send flowers to make her life more beautiful

She sends a smile I transport watts of funk to make her life joyful

Then her eyes looked me still and my lips found hers

I locked her eyes in mine and let my lips feel hers

I allow my hands to go from the crown of her hair to the sole of her feet

I explore the beauty she is and comb the paradise she always is

I savour the sensation of her body and dwell on the beauty of her mind

My lips take over from her my hands, and then the two work in tandem

My lips, my fingers, then my lips and my fingers.

I feel her softness then press into her sweetness

I peep into her softness and devour her sensuousness.

I see the beauty I always dream of; and also feel the love that is beautiful

I touch the bosom that makes me warm, and then warm the bosom I love.

In my ear the drums of her laughter sound so loud and near

She is happy and I want her happiness to grow

I make her come close to my body, and closer in my heart

I want to make her feel loved and loved till she bid the cosmos farewell

I will be on the other side loving her as I do now

She wants a poem but gets the sweetest love of her life

She blows a kiss and I kiss the breath off her lungs until she breathes me.

She is sensational and full of rage

The rage to love and be loved is her trademark

Sweet Fire
CredoPoets:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen.

I have soaked my self in fuel and drenched my feelings in coal.
My lips are on fire for you, come Mr. Fire Fighter and quench my fire.
You have to go beyond my toungue because the fire is spreading faster to my throat.
Oh Kiss me deeper and rescue me from this fire I have set myself on.
Let your extinguisher speed pass the walls of my throat and the cups of my breast.
Hurry up before the fire burns up the linen and eats me up.
I set myself on fire for you and you must not let me burn to ashes.
The fire is all over me, Mr. Fire fighter do you want me to die a girl?
Come right inside of me and put out this fire for the fire is deep inside of me.
This is no ordinary fire and not just anyone can put out this fire,
I set this fire for you
Hurry, come put out this fire.
Oh Sweet Fire!

I CALL YOUR NAME IN MY HEART

2011-10-04T13:51:00.001+01:00

CredoPoets:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen.

My lips still long to

Kiss the freshness of your breath

This draws its fountain from the sweetness of your soul

My lips find solace in you.

My eyes still quest for your

Seduction, which confines my liberty

Into a verve of your love

I am insatiable!

Starved of your desire

If I am your lover it is not become I am a poet

If I am a poet, it is because I am first your lover.

Your love makes temptation delightful

Your lust only makes infidelity gorgeous

I once sewed my heart to the gown of your bosomy

Your bosom is your heart to me

Your heart is your bosom to me

They both are my dwelling and glee

They are my abode and my contentment; one and same to me.

I chose the dangerous flame of infatuation to

Explore the fathomlessness of your love

I love; lust, then I love you again and again

Now that the thread which sews my heart and yearnings

To yours, is left hanging on the lintel of my lonely window

My lips still long to kiss your sweetness, presented in the

Freshness of your breath

If I loved another’s beloved

It is not because I am a philanderer

It is because that another’s beloved is you.

You make temptation delightful.

“51 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE; OF DRUMS OR FUNERALS?”

2011-10-04T13:27:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

The boy's funeral has been arranged while he is still alive. The Girl's funeral is been deliberated before she gets the chance to consummate her wedding. The baby is just entering the world and no one is sure if its funeral will not outlive the few days of its existence. The men and women know that they must watch as their funeral is organized. No one knows when, it may be sooner than rumoured, it could be now and it can take a while but something is certain; there is a funeral in the offing. That is so sad! Ordinarily no one is happy at a funeral except witches and wizards but ironically in this situation the victims are not only helpless but some are culpable.

The funeral started when he went to school and could not pass his exams because the schools are either under funded or the teachers are not qualified. Money meant for education is diverted by selfish government officials and their assistants. Now the students have seen the futility in reading hard because hard work is tantamount to failure, it is easier to cheat and pass. Even when you read you will not pass, that is the curriculum we have these days. The government itself is not only confused but maliciously wicked. They toy from UPE to UBE; they do not know whether to use 6-3-3-4 or 9-3-4 and some cases they tinker with 6-5-4. They sold the government schools and paralyzed the Unity schools they couldn't sell. They starve the public universities with funds and establish their own private universities. No country in this world has an ex President as the owner of a private university. In Nigeria an Ex President whose tenure witnessed some of the most protracted industrial actions in the Ivory towers owns a private university; his vice owns an American University . All those who went to free government schools are the ones insisting students must pay tuition, those who studied on government scholarships have returned and removed the ladder so that others can’t climb. Rather they have acquired fraudulent wealth to send their children abroad and have reserved special employments for their offspring even unborn.

Her funeral started immediately she walked in to the medical centre that looked like a garage. Packed with dusts and outdated instruments, she can not even deliver safely in a tertiary hospital not to talk of a primary health care centre. Yet those who claim to serve her interest run abroad for head ache and even bottom ache. A sitting Vice President who was campaigning to become the President strained his leg and was rushed abroad for treatment. He came back on clutches and was received at the airport like a man who has won an Olympic gold medal.

Their funerals began when the security agents failed to curb the web of violence. Their houses were razed down in Jos and bombs thrown at them in Maiduguri , Suleja and Abuja . They were killed in Bauchi, kaduna , Katsina for an election that now holds no promise for the future; they died in vain while those who they died for live in vanity of opulence. They are kidnapped in the East and South and ransome demanded; some are used for rituals even in the West and North. The Police who should protect them had their headquarters bombed in broad day light, so they people may as well run to the gangs for help. The National security adviser said verbatim that they were not prepared to fight terrorism, if that was a true confession the shocker came when he said they couldn’t prepare for a situation they did not have. But couldn’t they have envisaged it? What is planning if not against the future whether good or bad? When in 2001 terrorism took a central stage in global affairs, Nigeria opted out of the world if not why will the security arm see no need in preparing for what was spreading like wild fire, despite of the vulnerability of our location, population and composition.

The economy has been on life support, we know that soonest unless by miracle we will march at our own funeral. They read out nominal growth figures while we count real decline. They read out politics of numbers while we see the sociology of underdevelopment. Poverty used to stare at us from a far, scared that she will be eradicated or even alleviated; suddenly poverty pokes at us in the eyes and even puts her dirty fingers in our nostrils. There are many funerals to go round and I am sure we have the need to hire more people to meet up the demand for our funerals.

For sure black out will not have a funeral despite all the billions spent in over hauling the power sector; instead darkness will be the special guest of honour at the funeral of a people who ordinarily should have sent power failure to its grave. They want to increase power tariff by 50-100%, which is paying more for darkness. Now they are proposing a 200% increase for the cost of fuel from N65 to N200 in the name of deregulation. They are tired of subsidizing the cost of fuel but never tired of subsidizing corruption, for it is corruption that has prevented our refineries from working or we building new ones. Therefore all of us, our funeral commenced when we adopted corruption as the official language of government. It is our bane and as Simon Kolawole succinctly puts it; “we have the whole sale and retail corruption”. Whole sale corruption is for the big boys and big wigs and mega politicians, which we the smaller fish buy in retail measures from. The Big man collects the money and doesn’t execute the job, the medium man smiles when his is greased by the big man and also demands returns from the small man; then the small man who is into the retail corruption expects favours from the big man who he knows is profiteering even when he has not done any work to deserve a reward.

Government money in Nigeria is not only tempting but alluring. When people leave their foreign jobs, or their professional fields to accept government posts, it is not always for selflessness but because government fund in Nigeria is a sinking fund that will never be audited nor accounted for. It is not out of the butcher’s benevolence that we eat meat for dinner; it is called harmony of interest. Corruption in the police is the omen for indiscipline and indiscipline is what reinvigorates corruption. So the two reinforce themselves and have led the police to its impending funeral. A corporal has the audacity to tell the ASP that he has eaten N2, 000 out of the money he was due to remit, money of course from extortion. The Sergeant negotiates with the DSP that he can only afford to return N15, 000 weekly when the former asks for N30, 000 and they arrive at N20, 000. How can such men take orders from their superiors? Is anyone therefore surprised that the police can not effectively tackle crime?

The civil servants are no more servants, they are “uncivil lords” they descend on public funds with such an impudence that will make any one shudder. They steal out rightly from the treasure, or demand instant bribes, or inflate contracts, or divert budget allocations, or sell government privilege. 50 years of budgeting has not prevented this imminent funeral, because monies meant for education are found at people’s homes, monies meant for roads and other infrastructure are routed to people’s pockets, monies meant for security are secured in offshore accounts, monies meant for development have only made the few cabal richer at the expense of the citizens.

Now we live with freedom from unpleasant consequences and may die because of insecurity. The jobs are gone, those working are poorer, and to be entrepreneurial is a very Herculean task. They have set up an early committee to drop a bundle on the country’s 100 years of nationhood, but it takes almost half of the year for our budget to be passed, and hardly any early preparation for sectoral projects in education, health, or social amenities. We should rename nationhood to “nationwood”, because now more than ever the nation is in a bed of nails. Is Nigeria really a nation or a country of nationalities? Do we have drums to beat or funerals to mourn? Do we celebrate mass murder, rape, economic mismanagement, political brigandage, or a nation which we were told is on the brink and we denied.

We claim to bring peace to war torn nations but our nation is in a dearth of peace. We are talking of independence, it is not just enough to be independent from colonial rule when we are not independent from the woes that sweep across our land like a flying vulture. If anything, the people have always bore the brunt of a lapse from grace on the part of our leadership and government. My friend said that in Nigeria they campaign in poetry and rule in prose and I concur. For when a politician promises to build a bridge where there is no river, that is poetry; and when the electorates can not have a bridge to cross a real river that is prose. While they loot in billions and jeopardize the lives of millions in poetry, people are suffering and dying in prose. 51 years of independence where are the drums to celebrate? They have stolen everything and even the drums, meaning they have stolen the people’s happiness too.

After 51 years of independence and 97 years of existence Nigeria ought to have a place in the sun unfortunately the country is just like a pig in a poke due to failure of leadership and crass irresponsibility from the citizens. They had no shoes; now they own not only shoes but shoe companies while we are in need of feet. The best thing we can do as a people is to avert the funeral of this nation by any means possible and recover our drums of jubilation.

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“HOW AFRICANS UNDER DEVELOP AFRICA ”

2011-09-16T12:05:00.000+01:00

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

THE PREVALENCE OF DOMESTIC CHILD LABOUR IN SSA-Proposing a Dynamic Economic Model.”

2011-09-03T16:46:00.000+01:00

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

2011-09-03T15:50:00.000+01:00

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.

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ETERNITY HAS NO GREY HAIR

2011-09-03T15:46:00.000+01:00

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

2011-09-03T15:44:00.000+01:00

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

2011-09-03T15:42:00.001+01:00

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.

I am the boss and now I have fired him

2011-07-20T12:54:00.003+01:00

CredoLadies with Sabella

I am the boss and now I have fired him.

“Who does he think he is? Does he think because he has got the height then he is bigger than everyone else in this office? Is he the first to graduate from a British university? Why does he think he can decline what I want? As long as I remain the boss here, I will be the one to call the shots and Sanders or what ever he calls himself should not dare to spite me” I could not take it any longer and I must address the issue once and for all. The fact that I am a woman doesn’t imply any one can toy with me. I know my worth, I always go for the best, I always achieve results and I will not fail in this.

I was quite fortunate to have started my career in telecoms at a very young age immediately after I graduated at an even younger age. With the advent of deregulation in the telecommunication sector in Nigeria , competition not only came with price war to attract and retain customer loyalty; staff poaching was very rampant too. I was a sales manager with ECONET who got poached by MTN and offered the post of AGM Corporate clients. I had a network of blue chips and their executives on my clientele. I was based in Lagos however Globacom needed someone with my records but with the caveat of moving up North to oversea the development of the North Central market. For that, at a tender age of 28 I was offered the position of a General Manager for that region. I also had an added responsibility of overseeing an inroad into French West Africa since I had a very good knowledge of French language. Life can never be better, the luxury of wealth I have but the luxury of time I lacked.

My social status also surged with various economic and political gladiators mostly older rich men falling over me. In my organization I was respected by all and obeyed by many, even my own bosses had to give it to me because I am a star performer. When Sanders came in as an intern I had my reservations when I was told he will be hired for my region and even work directly in my office. I had my reservations for these rich kids who think their parents can use their connections and open all doors for them. I became very demanding on Sanders. Though we didn’t get along very well the more I drove him the more he delivered on his given tasks, but always he had this mischievous smile on his face as if to scorn at my femininity or to tell me that I as a lady should not have got to where I was. The snag was that no matter how hard I pushed him, he never gets to the level of loosing his cool or talking back at me. He is always cool, calm and collected. He goes ahead to dare all norms and we got better results; this made it impossible for me to castigate him.

No matter my career drive, my corporate goals or my societal flair I remain a woman at heart. I am a woman who craves for, a woman who yearns for, a woman who feels and who wants to be felt. I remain strong in the board room and stronger in the market place where competition teaches you to be relentless but at heart I remain delicate. I am a woman who wants to give my all; but not just give because I need to be taken. The dilemma here is Sanders never sees me as a woman but a boss. He doesn’t see me as a lady but as a go getter who is only interested in driving her team to achieve and achieve more. I believe he must think I traded my heart for results. His looks gradually began to pierce my soul, his shoulders look exactly like the place I need to rest my fatigued body and his hands; I day dream of what those hands can do to a woman’s body. My challenge is making him look at me differently as a lady who could be his woman. I have to fire him up and make myself the only one available to quench that fire.

I sent the driver to get us two cups of ice cream as we drove out of a client’s office, behind the dark walls of the tinted glass in a flash I planted a deep kiss, and so deep my tongue felt the walls of his throat. I looked deeper into his cool eyes and moaned softly; “Sanders do not ever say No to me on this, this is not about being the boss; this is my heart, my life which we can make ours.” Before he could reply I squeezed him the hardest and he let out a soft moan and he kissed me back with so much energy I went out of breath. Now that I have fired him and the driver is back on the wheels, I asked him to drive us to my place and close for the day. Thankfully Sanders remained mute and I took his silence for consent. Finally I can’t wait to quench the fire I have ignited both in him and in me. I have fired him.

SamuelStephenWakdok 28062011

SHOOT THAT RAPIST OFF THE STAGE

2011-06-25T14:08:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen

CredoLadies with Sabella

SHOOT THAT RAPIST OFF THE STAGE

It was a bit difficult placing the face but I had a deep conviction and I was so certain I once had an encounter with this handsome gentleman who just climbed the stage. I raked my brains yet I couldn’t easily figure out where or when our even how? It was becoming a bit distracting; I had to excuse myself and headed for the ladies. As I was making my way to the left end where the conveniences are located, his strong voice echoed from the microphone.

Dennis is a very busy world class public speaker, according to my colleagues at the Events department; it took them months to get him booked for this day. My employer is a new consultancy firm with a focus on Life Coaching. Enough of HIV/AIDS prevention, Malaria control, fights against terrorism and even financial freedom. We believed that a lot of these issues can be addressed through personal development. Our goal therefore is to go beyond the immediate causes of various challenges bedeviling the ordinary Africans and look at some psychological/hitherto unthought-of issues. In life coaching we are aiming to build a total person from pre- conception to death.

Among the few Africans who are authorities in this field was Dennis who took an early dive to build a career and we believed that it will be easier to drive home the points if we brought in a black speaker of international repute rather than an expatriate. As I splash the water from the tap on my face, the memories came in a speed. That must be him, my rapist of six years ago. I went back years ago to that incident; my legs became so weak they started shaking and my blood pumped at a faster rate.

I was in my final year in secondary school when it happened. I attended an all girls’ school which legend had that the students were known for luring men into secret locations and taking turn to have sex with them. It was said that some victims died in the process, I can’t tell how true or if they were just exhausted from satisfying the lust of a queue of secondary school girls. This we were told happened a very long time ago, more than 20 years before we came in but the reputation has stuck with us.

On the day of the school’s inter house sport in our final year; many other schools as usual were invited. Dennis came from one of the boy’s school in a town away from where our school was located. They have heard about the tales of our school and came with the hope of meeting girls who raped boys. This set of boys jumped over the hostel wall into our dormitory. It was their expectation based on what they have heard that they would meet girls who will force them into intercourse and they came ready for us. Unfortunately for them we were not born when this took place and now we stood mercilessly threatened by a colony of sex adventurers. We didn’t know what to do and as I turned to shout for help I saw this tall boy with adorable eyes and full rounded lips. His eyes seemed to violate the deepest of my reach and my thighs parted without a word from him or a step. His masculinity stood at a meter away and raped me until my legs quivered .This all happened in less than sixty seconds and I saw myself subconsciously panting in his arms. Suddenly I recovered my voice and shouted as if anyone was near to come to my help, before I could finish shouting he had jumped across the fence as we all shouted and they ran away. Poor boys who never knew we were naïve and innocent girls who are a new generation of students.

Now after all these years, they feelings I imagined on that fateful day were resurrected as I stood there numb. I could hear loud voice over the microphone pouring into where I was. I found my way back to my seat to admire this handsome and grown man who as a teenager roused a mixture of fear and ecstasy in me six years ago, whose looks only raped me even without laying a finger on me. Now I have to play my cards and get to this rapist who is raping my heart and when I eventually do, oh what a sweet revenge! I will finally melt into his arms, kiss his sweet lips and beg him to love me. I can not wait to shoot that rapist off the stage into my life.

SamuelStephenWakdok 24062011

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I NEED A DIVORCE ;BEFORE HE KILLS ME---

2011-06-25T14:06:00.002+01:00

CredoWriters:WakdokSamuelStephen

CredoLadies with Sabella

I NEED A DIVORCE ;BEFORE HE KILLS ME---

I first saw Jude in my third year at the university; He was involved in the logistics planning for a beauty contest which I won. As the Miss Campus I had the attention of all the men within and outside the school. Jude of course only had a diploma, he couldn't further his education because of his family's economic condition.

His dad was a retiree who worked with the Nigerian Railway Corporation for 25 years before their were laid off, and pensions where owed these old people at time running beyond 6 months.

He was a nice looking guy, but I was so much enthralled by my euphoria of beauty and the fact that I was almost a graduate and will not want to date any one who is not a graduate or established. I dated a few guys in and out of school and all the guys I met spoilt me with cash. Was not particularly the wild type but once in a while I loved to catch my fun and I did that with distinctions.

I went on to win the Miss Camp during my NYSC orientation camp at Yenegoa and I was posted to serve with an oil servicing firm. I met some top guys who moved and shaked things, I frequently traveled with them on official assignments. It was during one of such trips that I met with Jude again after loosing contact way back. Jude apparently was now working with an airline as a marketing executive and I could see that he has taken good care of himself. I had a lot of proposals from my high fliers who saw me as a beauty queen and most of them had enough cash to throw at me. We exchanged cards with Jude and parted ways since I was in the company of one of my bosses. I did not hear from Jude again until after three months when I just got a message asking me if he could come and see me over the weekend.

I did not know what to do, I just replied him yes, at least not to sound repelling. Jude came but never asked to enter, he asked me to go in and change then he took me to a stadium to watch a local match. How could he think I was a football fan, and a local club for that matter. Yet the experience was so good that I wanted to come back again, it was such a refreshing time. He dropped me off after a casual drink and that was how once in a while we got to hook up for a club march or and drink.

He never bothered to ask me out until four months later, by then we had naturally become so attached to each other. After my service year I picked up an offer as a marketing officer with a new generation bank. I came to see a different world entirely. The pressure of the work makes the life so tough.

Jude proposed and I consented, the wedding was simple but with a class I can't define myself. Jude has become so much polished for someone of his academic background. My work took much of my time but he so understood. I imagined having a husband as demanding as my job, I would have collapsed. Jude does not mind if I am so tired to wake up and fix his bathing water in the morning. He does not mind fixing us dinner if he comes home before me. His family is so adorable and he is doing well in his career. We pooled some resources and set up a corporate outfit for Jude to manage. Since he has experience in logistics and marketing we agreed that I remain in my bank employment for a while so that we do not risk both sources of fixed income.

Jude has been so loving and patient with me, he trusts me despite several advances from men, once a between queen always a beauty queen I guess. He told me he is not suffering from insecurity and he knows I am also trustworthy. In bed, Jude is another thing entirely. He knows when I need it hot or cold, he knows when to be a lamb or when to be a lion. He can make me come over and over again; I had to ask him where he learnt his act of love making from. Love making with Jude is not just an act but an art, daily he comes up with something new and enticing. I am even scared of telling my female friends how royal my husband is in bed, for fear of any of them making moves to tempt him behind me.

Jude is presently pursuing an online MBA in Marketing from Oxford University, but he has a PhD in loving his wife, that is me. I just thank my stars I didn't loose Jude because of my stupidity that I was more educated. Now I need a divorce before Jude, my Husband kills me with love. I am enjoying every bit of it and I do not mind dying a thousand times if that is what his love is.

SamuelStephenWakdok21062011

WEEP NOT CHILD- For Beida Philip Ozovehe

2011-05-30T10:13:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen

Weep not Child
Weep not
No matter how long the river flows it must empty into the sea
No matter how high the mountain is, it can not touch the sky

Weep not child
Weep not
When we walk and wobble
we can run and reign too
when we stumble and fall
we can stand and jump too

Weep not child
Weep not
No one harvests the night since no one planted the day
They come and they go and meet us where we are
We move and leave the day behind because today will become yesterday by tomorrow
If tomorrow comes
When tomorrow comes
Thorns will give way to throne
Tears will give way to Triumph
Sorrow will give way to success.

Weep not Child
Weep not
Those who bring down the ladder will have more working holding it down
In the end like my friend will quote
Every onlooker is either a coward or a traitor
But I sometimes see the fallacy in that quote
Some onlookers will just be passing by
Sure I know we will not all be onlookers

Weep not Child
Weep not
There is surely light at the end of the tunnel
But even if there is not light at the end of their tunnels
We shall be carrying our own lights with us.

Weep not Child
Weep not.
It pays more to spend a minute of goodness than have an eternity of malice.

17052011

My Interview with Osama Bin Ladin’s Soul

2011-05-30T10:12:00.001+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

I was granted a sole interview of global urgency hours after The US Special Forces of Naval seals shot Osama Bin Ladin on the night of May 1st 2011 in Pakistan. The man on the world’s most wanted list for over 12 years and with a price of twenty five million US dollars. A Saudi man born in 1953 and graduated with a degree in Electrical engineering in 1979. He formed Al Qaeda in 1988 and was expelled by the Saudi authorities in 1991.

The next you will read are the words of the greatest terrorist of all times.

“As you can see I have outlived my live and it is unfortunate I had to die in the way I died. Now my soul has seen all the vain I have lived. I lived a life of terror and caused grief to the globe. But what do you expect from a person who has 51 other siblings? The family which is the nucleus of the society was missing for me from day one. If the optimum number of children to a man is pegged at 5, my family would have needed 10 fathers to effective take care of our needs. It takes more than financial resources to take care of a family. Money was not our father’s problem nor was it ours but the emotional connection was not there.”

“Though suicide bombers were our valuable assets, we only succeeded in brainwashing them that they would go to heaven. As you can see there is no heaven for them and that was why I never used my children for suicide attacks.”

“You asked why I chose to exchange my degree in civil engineering for terror engineering. I wish I had the perfect answer but I would only be a coward to blame the Americans or the Israelis for the occupation of Palestine. I would only be spineless to agree it was the devil who tricked me; the question is not why I allowed him to recruit my mind but why I became so gullible.”

“Of course the cold war contributed to all of these. If the Soviets had not invaded Afghanistan I would not have joined the resistance force there and the CIA will not have trained me if the west was not at war with communism. It was however cruel to have killed in God’s name or whosever’s name.”

“You think I feel any compunction after all the lives we took? What pains my soul the most is the souls we deceived. Innocent people we killed but more worrisome is the hitherto harmless people we turned into murders, suicide bombers and extremists. The world has known more hate than love and much blood has been spilled.”

“I have only come to realize that man can not fight for God. God is not handicapped so why would man fight in the name of God? The God who created all things definitely has the wherewithal to defend himself, but why and how will God even come under attack in the first place”

“My greatest regret is that it took so long to kill me, in these years before and after I became the most wanted man and the face of terror, I have manufactured and exported so much terror across the globe. Forming Al Qaeda in 1988 was one of the worst achievements the underworld ever had; having operations in over 60 countries is our greatest failure, because the world can never be the same again.”

“Of course poverty contributed in our successful recruitments of volunteers and turning millions around the world into fundamentalists. I appreciated wealth and affluence which is evident from my million dollar mansion that I was killed in. Education frees the mind and would have helped to dispel our influence over those innocent people we conscripted. That is why in many cases we made it inaccessible for them so we could maintain a hold on them through their ignorance.”

“Hitler was killed or disappeared on May 1st 1945; I was killed on May 1st 2011,I am sad because I was killed late, late enough to have caused so much global terror and to have trained other terrorists who will now struggle to take over me and create more havoc but better late than never. If I was not killed I won’t have seen the heaven I worked so hard to miss; now the gates of hell are opening and Lucifer is smiling because if the devil ever created a human it must have been me . I just wish for their good; my followers will see the futility of our actions and turn a new leaf”

I hope you enjoyed this very incisive interview; it took an Obama to kill an Osama. Shot in the head and buried at sea. Thank you.

WHO GAVE THE ORDERS?

2011-05-30T10:07:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

I want to know who gave the orders for Nigerians to be poor when their country is rich. Who gave the orders for corruption to be the official language of governance in Nigeria ? Who gave the orders for our pupils to sit on the floor or under trees while we graduate millions to starve on the streets? Tell me who gave the orders that our pipes should run dry making our throats to run thirsty. Who gave the orders for us to dwell in darkness as our industries shut down one after the other including our textiles while the smugglers have a field day? Who gave the orders for nepotism and ethnicity to replace nationalism, for religiousity and extremism to replace spirituality and humanitarianism?

Now that they gave orders turning our hospitals into death rows and our roads into death traps. They gave the orders sending our refineries into menopause making us to depend on oil importation as they engage in oil bunkering. The bombs in Eagle square, Jos and Mogadishu barracks who on earth gave those orders? As they gave the orders to pass a N4.9 trillion budget on paper only, poverty and unemployment will only skyrocket. Who gave the orders to steal our votes at a period when we need our votes to count?

Who gave the orders for infants to be born still born and mothers to die at child birth due to poor facilities? Who gave the orders for kidnappers and terrorists to become the new faces of the country when the Police hide on the roads extorting the citizenry?

Who gave the irrational orders to flare gas and destroy the eco system at the detriment of our power plants which function below capacity due to inadequate gas supply? Who gave that order to sell our state enterprises and privatize our heritage for the benefit of a selfish few? Who gave the orders for our take home pay not to take us home? Who gave the orders for the people to keep suffering and smiling?

They gave the orders to make life difficult for the majority of the people while an infinitesimal few belch on our commonwealth. Tell me who gave the orders and what do we do with them?

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WHY I DUMPED MY MBA!

2011-05-30T10:01:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

I am an ardent believer in education, at least my parents made sure I had the best I could get in terms of education from elementary through tertiary schools. Education can never be under rated, it was not in the past and it should not be in the present day because it holds the key to the future. More ever than not we live in a knowledge era where technology and science, art and culture, medicine and literature have come to redefine man’s existence. Primarily man looks ahead and hopes to be better than what he is. Education has proven to be the greatest source of white collar jobs. We grew up to know that our liberation from poverty lies in education. We were taught and told to read well and pass our exams to enable us to get good jobs and pay our way through life. That exactly is also where our educational system failed us. We were not taught to be independent but rather to depend on good jobs {created by others} which takes away our ability to be creative. We were not taught to create value but rather to become part of the value chain as employees. This made us to look down on blue collar jobs; this made us to become lazy in our minds even when we know that the jobs are not available or sufficiently available.

After going through three semesters of MBA class in Nigeria, I eventually realised I was only groomed along the traditional Nigerian educational system. More talks than action, more exams than knowledge. I sit pondering at my skills if at all I have any and none was honed out by my education. I take my shoes to the cobbler for a fee; get my hair cut by a barber, my clothes sewed by tailor and make my furniture from the carpenter. I get a mechanic to check and work on my car, a plumber to fix my water pipes and an electrician to work on my lights. I buy CDs of musicians and DVD plates of actors. I take my family to the studio for photo shots or to the pictures to watch movies. We pay the caterer for party rice or the baker for birthday cakes. We buy basket from the weavers and pay for knitted cardigans. The painter comes in to paint the stained walls while the bricklayer mends the fence. The technician works on the air conditioner and generator, the vulcanizer has to patch and pump the tyres while the DJ burns the song on a CD plate. All I do is to spend the income I earn from my white collar job as payment to others for their services. How then can I save; of course my income will always fall short of my expenditures. If I can not save how do I invest, if I do not invest how can I break the cycle? If only our education had taught us some bits of skills or vocation? If only they taught us how to create jobs and not just to get good paying jobs?

This is the time to re appraise our system of education and incorporate into our curricula the need to be self reliant, the need to depend less on white collar jobs, the need to be entrepreneurial and industrious. Students and our children must be encouraged to realise their skills and harmonise them. Specialists can help our children discover their hidden talents, most especially we as parents and guardians must help our children and wards to nourish and develop their skills maximally. We should not look at any skill as dirty or menial and therefore undeserving of our western education oriented children. The world is shifting and only those who can unlock their potentials discover their skills and develop their talents to create or add value would step into that rich future. These skills will help guarantee multiple income streams which is the anti dote for economic deprivation or stagnation.

This is not meant to discourage the pursuit of education in any way (so please do not dump your MBA, rather dump any kind of mental deceit that makes you believe education alone holds the key), but to make us realise that we need what I dub the “double strength strategy”. Skills without education limit our horizon, and education without skills makes us too dependent on paid employment. The two therefore should be pursued and attained, and if well harnessed it will be the secret to a life of wealth and comfort. Apart from the monetary value of exploiting our skills and creating commercial value, the satisfaction derived from seeing our skills/talents coming to life is exhilarating unimaginable. The art of selling is also a skill, music and sports are also talents. Painting and sculpture, comedy and acting, baking and decorations, production of hand made cards and knitting, photography and even writing are all very viable talents to tap from. Discover a skill or talent if you have not, rediscover yours if you have allowed yours to go dormant and encourage people around you to explore theirs.

As you pay others for their products let others pay to get yours too. Let our schools not only teach us to pass exams and get good jobs, let us teach and be taught how to understand, pass exams and create the jobs. We must not repeat the mistakes in our children where we were restricted to concentrate only on academics at the expense of other skills or vocations which has become the bane of our ingenuity.

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Our Dreams Can Still Come True.

2011-03-12T14:41:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

There goes a song with the title “Dreams can come true.” The difference between the title of the song and the title of this article lies in two words; our and still. The former to personalize it and take ownership of the dream; the later to illustrate that it is not time barred. This is not also to say our dreams should not be time bound.

We often look and marvel at the dreams of others that we fail to have our own dreams. And many times we fail to dream or believe in the veracity of our dreams because we feel time has run out.

Irrespective of what we feel or even believe, it is our responsibility to not only dream, but to believe that our dreams will come true. It is not just mere wishes but when we back our dreams with actions, then we are on track. We must first dream and then take ownership of our dreams. We must personalize our dreams to stop us from regretting when we see others living and fulfilling their dreams which may be the replica of ours.

Severally we have dreams which did not come true in the past that is not to say that they will not or can not come true. They still can come true and we can still make them come true. Dreams that we have while awake, whether consciously or sub-consciously. Dreams we have with our pens and papers on our desks or with our key boards and black berries. Dreams consciously pursued will be attained. Dreams we believe in can still come true.

It is never too late to start dreaming, neither is it too late for those dreams to come true. It is only too early to call it quit but never too late to succeed. It may be too early to declare that we have failed but it will not be too late to win. Our dreams may come true as slowly as a snail but is better than crashing on our hopes as fast as a jet.

What ever our dreams were, we can keep them going. What ever our dreams are we can push them on. What ever our dreams will be we can achieve them. Our dreams will still come true if we believe in ourselves and the dreams we have. No dream is too tall, even dreams which look like fantasies can be made realistic fantasies. Fantasy is the creative power of imagination and that is what dreams are all about. We create first in our minds and then we re create in reality exactly that which we created in our minds.

Mistakes are what seem to take us farther from realizing our dreams. Mistakes threaten the spokes of our dreams’ wheels. Yet, mistakes are not to destroy our dreams or stop them from coming true. Anyone who has never made a mistake has never dreamt. Any one who has never made a mistake has never dared, and no one wins without daring. Brooding over past mistakes only deprive us from dreaming. Mistakes should only serve as learning points rather than endpoints.

Our dreams are the seeds of hope which can grow into bamboo trees. The seeds may take long to sprout. The stem when the tree finally grows is the strongest hollow produced by a tree. Our dreams can still come true only if we do not kill the dreams we have and if we start dreaming again. God who has been so kind to give us this life will not be so cruel not to allow us achieve our dreams! Our dreams, the seeds of hope can still come true.

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THE CHAIRS OF THIS WORLD

2011-03-12T14:35:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

Many proud and arrogant people no doubt have succeeded greatly in different endeavours of life, but pride has also cost the world so much. Arrogance has led men and nations to wars, pride has killed generations and arrogance has destroyed families and homes. Humanity has found itself at the mercies of arrogant people at one point or the other.

The build up of arms and ammunition, the invasion of lands and countries and attacks on the inhabitants are all fall outs of pride. Pride is responsible for the greed to have all and thus exploitation. The pride of people who feel their ego rather than conscience must be obeyed has led the world to various misfortunes.

Humility which is the opposite of pride is seldom always found, yet no humble man or woman has ever been known to regret his or her humility. True great people have always been humble; Gandi, Mandela, Lincoln, King, Mother Theresa, Princess Diana, Pope John Paul etc. Humility is a virtue many people would rather not want to court. We will not certainly allow the other party to carry the day. No; the world will call us weak when we allow our humility to chase away that ego that demands respect, that ego to covet all, that ego to oppress others.

I have seen humility in a few people which is highly commendable, but the greatest I have seen is in chairs. The chairs squat all their lives on earth to enable you and I sit. Can we beat that? Competition is good and it brings about choices and varieties. Pride however has led to unhealthy competitions and rivalries among individuals, groups, organizations, religions and even nations. Lacking the humility and simplicity of the chairs is what makes men to lie, steal and even kill to protect what they feel is theirs and in some cases; what is not even theirs. Pride and unhealthy competition make us to cheat even if just to show ourselves in a better light than what we truly are. Pride and ego is what make organizations to falsify their results and exaggerate their capabilities or achievements.

The chairs of this world have the patience none of us will be ready or pleased to have. Chairs squat for years to see students through schools, to sit us at homes, to sit visitors and researchers, to sit business men and politicians. As inanimate as these chairs are, what will be the fate of human beings in a world without chairs? From the dinning to the sitting rooms, from the church to the conference room, from the car to the aero plane. Do these chairs not deserve our commendation? Have we ever given these chairs the glory of passing an exam, of clinching a deal we negotiated on a round table, or the growth of our businesses etc?

Rather when we graduate from school we leave them behind, when we gain promotions we discard our old seats but the chairs do not get jealous that we left them behind or we would leave them behind when we succeed from point A to point B.

The chairs of this world should teach us to be humble, simple and selfless. Many at times we ought to be the chairs that will lead to success, lead to break-throughs, lead to inventions. We can not become furniture but metaphorically speaking we must be humble and patient like the chairs to enable us act as catalyst which will lead to greatness, harmony and development. And unlike the chairs made of furniture that are lifeless, we have the privilege of seeing the results of our virtues, which is transforming the world and leaving good legacies behind.

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The Strength to Love and Walk

2011-02-15T12:17:00.000+01:00

CredoFiction: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen

Eunice and I met during my last semester at the University. I had spent all my years in school playing and wondering what it would be like to get a woman of my dreams that can hold me down. I am not extra ordinarily handsome but I am good enough to get the ladies catch a glimpse of me when ever I passed. In the evenings when I would don my sports wears and head to the badminton court to play the game I love so much, the ladies turned and whispered among themselves. They talked about my broad shoulders, my hairy legs and my stamina.
On this fateful day on my way to the court I over heard one of the ladies asking her friend what it would be like to have this guy all to herself. That was a naughty comment to make about a stranger I said to my self, I just winked a smile at the ladies to let them know I heard their gossip. They giggled and as she turned to escape; our eyes locked. I saw in her shyness a kind of beauty only a goddess could possess, but the beauty is concealed by her bulgy eyes at the face value .Here was I, priding my self as one of the most admired guys in my hostel which sits adjacent the female hostel. All I could do was mutter some few words; “hi I am Fabian, I didn't hear what you girls were gossiping about if you don't mind can you repeat?” That was the beginning of a relationship that will blossom into a wonderful love affair. Eunice was as beautiful within as she was without, she was the flower any sane man would want to wake up with and walk around with. She was the flower who never lost her stigma and her beauty was as wild as it was soft.
I graduated and left Eunice to complete her final year in school without me. The time spent during my service year was lonely because I had come to appreciate her place in my life. She gave me love and fun, she gave me a purpose too. The friends I left behind in school who thought Eunice would fall in love with other guys on campus after my graduation couldn’t believe how she remained faithful to our relationship and rather decided to have my friends as her friends with none of them doubting her fidelity to me. I wish the same could be said about me, but I continued in my frenzy ways hitherto to when I met Eunice. My calls reduced but hers increased. Some times I purposely refused to pick her calls, rather than getting discouraged, she only became more resilient. Months became a year and I was through with my service year and she too became a graduate. I was once again lucky to get a good job with a consulting firm, as hectic as the work schedule was; I didn’t relent in my Casanova ways and that only broke her heart the more. The period between her graduation and service was spent transiting on the road between her parents’ home and mine, she was always the good lady who washed and cooked but I remained a guy whose ox never stayed in a place. Of course I was polite enough to be discrete each time she was around, but I couldn’t completely hide all the traces, she knows about my escapades. She would cry and tell me how much she loves me which I knew was true. She would go ahead to tell me she was not desperate, how she can get any man she liked. In fact, many men were on her prowl but she was just simply in love with me and she grew more beautiful by the day so I could imagine how many men would want to give her their cards and how many more would have been willing to throw money at her not to talk of if she decided to love any of them unconditionally as she loved me. Unfortunately I am not a one woman’s man and no matter how I try to appreciate Eunice and admit the fact that I love her, the spectrum was too wide that I saw all shades of beautiful and sexy ladies and I couldn’t help cheating on Eunice. I went to the extent of consoling myself that I was not cheating on Eunice since I had not married nor proposed to her. That was taking her love too far?
Eunice completed her service year and because she came from an influential family, she got an immediate appointment as a corporate affairs officer with the National Gas Company. Her pay check was good and she was always traveling in and around the country. Meanwhile I had become a chattered Consultant and set up my own consulting agency dealing in Power and Energy. The money was coming and I was also meeting the right people; the liberalization of the two sectors by the government was a blessing to people like me who are pioneer consultants in the fields. Of course Eunice proved to be very helpful by aiding me to meet the top shots at National Gas Company, the ministries of Energy and Power who were very instrumental to my agency getting a lot of contracts both for advisory and training purposes. With more money came more ladies, with more wealth came more urge to indulge but Eunice would only complain, yet she never walked away.
Interestingly she never caught me in the very act with another lady, either because I was good at my game or she never bothered to bait me or even both. The truth remained that she knew what I was up to and I never denied either. We remained a charming couple and we always caught fun to ease off the tension of our works. My family especially my parents were very happy with Eunice and my only sister was very comfortable in her company. My sister would prefer to spend the weekend in Eunice’s house but because Eunice will be in my house, my sister often found excuses to drop in anytime during the weekends. Her father is a politician and though he seems to be in one meeting or another; or travel to one location or the other, he would always ask of me and when ever we met, he would tell me to drop by more often. We discussed political events both locally and internationally and he is a good analyst like he said I am one too.
Years rolled by and I could see she was becoming ready to settle down, but now more than ever my passion to make more wealth and fame was getting into my head. I was not keen about talking of marriage either with her or any other lady I was dating. I had this faith that Eunice was not going to run away, she was going to remain and that gave me the excess drive to drag foot. Eunice was growing more beautiful and she was climbing her career ladder. She had the beauty, the money, the position, and the family connection, but she was waiting for Fabian to initiate a marriage proposal. As days went by I saw her impatience grow but not a bit of desperation, yet I was not having the courage to settle down. I saw the money I was making and the freedom of bachelorhood as a gold mine to keep enjoying. On some occasions she had threatened to leave me alone but she always returned- her love for me was unequivocal. “Fabian, why are you not ready to discuss this issue? Do you want me to grow old and then you will get a younger lady? Am I compelling you to do what you don’t want to do? This is five years since we started dating, five years of relationship and you have no excuses. The money is there, we love each other, and our families are familiar with us, what exactly is the problem? Talk to me Fabian”
This time I saw the despair in her eyes, the tears came rolling but quickly she regained her composure and took her car keys. She let herself through the door and reversed her car driving away as gently as she came. I did not notice my key that she slipped through the door as she went out, she had returned my key without my knowledge. She picked my calls whenever I called but she was not calling any longer. She stopped visiting too and it became more difficult to track her. She had a very tight schedule at work but she always created time for me, she had simply plugged me out of her schedules and was busy running her life as corporately as ever. She will come back as usual I said to myself. This time, it slowly began to dawn on me that she had moved on, but not until my mum asked me about the last time I saw Eunice did it occur to me that she got tired and had walked away.
I made frantic efforts to see Eunice and I was told she had traveled out for an International Conference of Global Gas and Clean Energy Summit in Doha. The conference was to last for 5 days and she would proceed on her annual leave to Tahiti. Eunice spent her previous vacations in Nigeria because of me, each time she asked me to plan my work so we could go on vacation outside the country I was always coming up with excuses, this time around she had freed herself from my yoke and was determined to give herself the treat she deserved after working so hard.
I became lovesick for the first time, and all the ladies I met did not seem to replace Eunice. Eunice had this beauty blended with humility. She was a good cook and not the lazy type. She was friendly to everyone and my mom had particularly told me it is not every day a man gets a lady with all those qualities in one person. Now I am beginning to see what I am going to miss. It won’t be until another three weeks before her expected return and it was too long a time to wait. I braved it and went to her mother for an international number to call her, I guess she must have discussed with her mother because I saw it in the woman’s eyes. The mom was not hostile but it was evident in her eyes that her daughter had been patient enough with me, hence I deserved what I got since I was not serious enough to know what I had in my hands until she slipped away.
“Fabian it is good to hear from you again, hope you are fine?’
“Eunice, how can I be fine when you bolted out on me?”
I could hear the laughter at the other end but it was not funny to my ears
“How did I bolt out, you were holding out against me and after five years I knew I couldn’t take it any more. I decided to leave you alone because as you know I am not a desperate lady. I have all it takes to get me a serious minded man for a husband, but love made me stick with you all these years. Since the love cannot be returned by you, I have made a clean break for myself. I had to come to terms with the fact that a relationship can not end in a relationship; it either ends up in marriage or it ends. Since I do not have the power to unilaterally make it end in marriage, I did the one that is in my power. A relationship is like a cheque; it is either good for payment and given value or it is not good for payment and returned. It cannot remain in transit for ever.”
“Eunice we can still talk about this, please when will you return to Nigeria?”
“Fabian I just got a job with OPEC in Geneva; I may not be coming back soon. I had severally refused to take this job offer because I did not want to live away from you, but as you can see I have made a break from the past and my relocation to Geneva is to allow me continue with my life. I have been patient, I have endured all your escapades, stomach all your secret girl friends, I have waited and prayed for the day your eyes will be opened to see what hurt you are causing me, time did not stop, it kept moving till five years without any seriousness on your part. You had me as a last card to run back to if and when you get tired, I was not in a hurry to leave but it was obvious you are not going to get tired and Fabian , unfortunately I have taken enough, my mind is made. I have walked away.”
That was when I finally realized that I gave Eunice a cheque that bounced severally until it went stale. Frantic attempts to get Eunice have a change of mind yielded nothing positive; the strength she used to love me is the same strength she is using to put my chapter behind her.

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MUBARAK’S DATES WITH HISTORY: THE PRESIDENT WHO BECAME A MONARCH.

2011-02-15T12:06:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak has dates with history. His 30years rule on the presidential throne faces the greatest challenge. How he comes out of this will determine how the final history about him will be written or how he will write his final history. Thirty years or three decades is a long time when you consider that six US Presidents have ruled within this period, four of which ruled for 2 terms of four years with only George Bush Snr. ruling for one term and Barrack Obama still in his first term. To identify the three decades of his rule we iterate three years of each decade on world history with particular impact to the Arab world/Middle east using a 3 by 4 matrix of years 1979,1980,1981; years 1989,1990,1991; years 1999,2000,2001 and years 2009,2010,2011 which is the year of the final show down.

Egypt is one of the world’s oldest civilizations with a long known history of its Pharaohs, Mummies and Pyramids. It is the only non-maghreb nation in North Africa

Egypt is the most populated Arab country in the world with 80million citizens. 90 percent are Moslems, 9 percent Coptic Christians and 1 percent other Christians. Its three principal cities are Cairo, Alexandria and Suez. Its strategic geographical location especially after the construction of the Suez Canal connecting the red sea with the Mediterranean Sea makes it the shortest route between the west and the east. The Mediterranean climate is a warm invitation to tourists from all over the world.

Cell One:

The Iranian Revolution of 11/2/1979 opened a new chapter in the history of Middle East. The Islamic revolution over threw the Shah of Iran (Formerly Persia) and Ayatollah Khomeini became the supreme leader of the Islamic republic of Iran. On 4/5/1979 Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. On 22/9/1980 the eight year Iraq-Iran war broke out. The United States would go on to back Iraq in the war against the Islamic Republic of Iran. President Ronald Reagan was sworn in for his first term as US President on 20/1/1981. Pope John Paul was shot in an attempted assassination on 13/5/1981 and Princess Charles of Wales married Dianna Spencer on 29/7/1981. Suddenly Anwar Sadat was assassinated on 6/10/1981 for signing a peace treaty with Israel by Khalid Islambouli an Islamic hardliner. Mubarak who was the Vice President became the President. This era marked the height of cold war between the West and Soviet Union, a bi polar world with two super powers the USA and the USSR; this period witness a stern competition between Capitalism and Marxism. Black and white TV was in vogue, analogue Telephone was the means of communication. There was a serious expansion of multi national corporations leading to internalization of capital. The Mafia in Italy and America were at their worst. Our age brackets were either toddlers or not born.

Cell Two:

The Tiananmen Square protest in China which led to the massacre of Chinese protesters took place on 4/6/1989; brave Chinese faced the tanks of the China’s red army. General Omar Al-Bashir came to power in an Islamist backed coup on 30/6/1989. He introduced Sharia law across Sudan which has Christians and animists in the south, this escalated the second civil war in Sudan; once again bringing the matter of political Islam to the fore. Sudan is Egypt’s neighbor to the south and the largest country in Africa in terms of land mass. The Berlin wall fell on 9/11/1989 signaling the collapse of the iron curtain. Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years in prison on 11/2/1990. (The CIA had earlier caused his arrest by the South African Apartheid regime in 1963)

On 2/8/1990 Saddam Hussein of Iraq invaded Kuwait. Margaret Thatcher resigns as British Prime Minister on 22/11/1990 after been forced out by her own Conservative party. The Invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein led to the outbreak of the Persian Gulf War 1 code named Operation Desert Storm on 17/1/1991. The US army (which supported Iraq during the Iraq-Iran war) led the invasion of Iraq and fighting on the same side with the Soviet army for the first time.

The Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party was thrown out on 26/1/1991 and Somali Dictator Siad Barre fled to Nigeria. That was the last time Somalia had a functional government and Islamist rebel groups have been battling the Fragile AU backed government; Somalia is the world’s number one failed state.

The final collapse of the USSR on 31/12/1991 led to a unipolar world with the USA as the single world super power. Iraq was the dominant Arab military power and the world witnessed increasing shift towards market economy with structural adjustments for developing economies. Digital Telephone followed coloured TV supported by Satellite TV. Our age brackets were either in primary or secondary schools.

Cell Three:

On 6/9/1999 Mubarak survived another assassination attempt. Ivory Coast the then most stable West African country witnessed its first military coup on 25/12/1999 when General Guei ousted President Henri Bedi, this will degenerate into a civil war between 2002 and 2004. Boris Yeltsin of Russian resigned on 31/12/1999 paving way for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to beome the Russian President on 1/1/2000. The Camp David Accord ii pushed by President Bill Clinton was signed on 11/7/2000 and this was meant to be the final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. George Bush Jnr became the US president on 20/1/2001.The terrorist attack on the WTO centre and Pentagon in USA took place on 11/9/2001 and this redefined the global war on terror. The CIA trained Osama Bin Laden becomes the most wanted man in the world. The United States believed Bin Laden was hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan and they invaded the country on 20/11/2001 to remove the Taliban government in response to the twin bombings of world trade centre in New York. This era raised the stake on international terrorism and globalization became the order of the day. Russia under Putin will rise from the ashes of the Soviet Union to be a major player. The introduction of email and GSM revolutionized communication, and cables overtook satellite TV. Our age brackets were between secondary and tertiary schools.

Cell Four:

Barrack Obama was sworn in as the first black President of the US on 19/1/2009. On 12/06/2009 Iran held an election which was disputed by the opposition sparking a mass protest which was quelled by the use of force. The Supreme Leader of Iran Ayotollah Khameni backs radical President Ahmadinejad. David Cameron of the conservative party became the youngest Prime Minister in Great Britain on 11/5/2010 and the first coalition in 70 years. In Ivory Coast two men each claiming the rights to be Presidents swore themselves in as Presidents on 4/12/2010. This was the aftermath of a disputed election held to reunite the Ivory Coast after a bitter civil war which tore the country into two; the rebel controlled Moslem north and the government controlled Christian south.

On 17/12/2010 Mohammed Bouazizi set himself ablaze in Tunisia sparking street protest on the high cost of living and high unemployment in Tunisia he died on 4/1/2011. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended the Sudanese civil war fixed 9/1/2011 to 15/1/2011 for a referendum to take place in the autonomous Southern Sudan and South Sudanese overwhelmingly voted for succession from the repressive Moslem North.

The Protest in Tunisia spread to Algeria and Tunisian ex-President Ben-Ali was ousted as he flees Tunisia on 15/1/2011 to Saudi Arabia. Dubbed the Jasmine revolution, the Tunisian revolution was a people’s revolt without a leader. The Domino effect of the Tunisian protest resonated in Jordan, Algeria, Yemin and Egypt. Irked by the dictatorial and corrupt regimes in the Arab world the people decided to take to the streets. Unlike the Islamic revolution of 1979 in Iran, this is a people’s protest, though it gives the banned Islamists parties an opportunity to come back to the political scene of their countries. The revolution in social media like face book and twitter helped to mobilize protesters and aggravate the demonstrations. The recent economic meltdown makes this era one of austerity and bail outs.

Mubarak Appointed former Intelligence chief Omar Suleyman on 29/1/2011 as his Vice President the first in his 30 years rule, this has knocked off his Son Gamel out of the succession line and may pave way for an Egyptian Transition. The rising profile of China is a big challenge to the western powers and Iran is the dominant Power in the Arab region. Our age brackets are either getting married or some have become parents.

Improbabilities:

Prince William son of Prince Charles and Diana who wedded in 1981 when Mubarak became president will marry Kate Middleton in West Minister Abbey (London) on 29/4/2011. Kate is presently wearing Princess Diana’s engagement ring, Prince William was not born when Mubarak became the Egyptian President. Will Mubarak defy all odds and still be the President of Egypt on the wedding day?

Pope John Paul II who survived an assassination attempt in 1981 the same year Mubarak became President will be beatified by the Roman Catholic Church, a step to sainthood on 1/5/2011

Will Mubarak the President who became a king still be on his throne to witness the beatification of Pope John Paul II?

South Sudan or any name it will be called will become the world’s newest country on 9/7/2011 splitting Egypt’s Southern neighbour into two.

What ever the outcome will be, whether Mubarak will remain the President or not, he has a place as the longest serving ruler of Egypt since Ismail and he has played a very vital role in stabilizing the turbulent Middle East by been an ally of Israel. Iran of course is spreading its influence in the region and as a sworn enemy of Israel, Iran will be happy to see Mubarak go, that is why despite quelling its own revolt in 2009 by force; Iran is urging Mubarak to listen to the voice of its people. The United States has always had Mubarak as an ally; the hypocrites that they are, U.S. now says it stands with the People of Egypt. With a Hezbollah led Government in Lebanon, Iran’s influence is growing in the region and Israel will loose another ally in the region if Mubarak is forced out. The Israeli Prime Minister fears Egypt may end up with a radical Islamic government like that of Iran. The banned opposition Moslem Brotherhood may win election in the nearest future if not now.

The outcome of 1/2/2011 one million man march in Tahrir square and the general strikes called by the April 6th Movement (a face book based protest movement started in 2008) will determine if the ex air force officer who became the President and eventually became a king will either make history or will be marred by history. Until then, Mubarak has a lot of dates with history. If only he left office before now, will he be on this brink?

Eplilogue

On the 11/02/2011 other wise written as 11/02/11 Mubarak steps down. He will not make the dates of the royal wedding, canonisation or independence of a new nation. However that was the same day as 11/02/1979 when the royal regime in Iran collapsed after guerrillas armed rebel troops loyal to the Islamists overwhelmed troops loyal to the Shah in armed street fighting. It is also celebrated yearly as Islamic Revolution’s Victory day with a national holiday in Iran.

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1/2/2011

The Splendour of Networking

2010-11-13T15:41:00.002+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

Building of lives, physical structures, enterprises and services are at the core of existence. Nothing existed which was not first built and nothing was built which was not first created or perceived. There are many more things that have been built and can still be built, but one which has taken a prominent role is building of relationships. Relationship building permeates family, physical, emotional, business and international relationships respectively.

Relationship may be defined as a significant connection or similarity between two or more people or things or groups; and especially as regards the way they behave toward and feel about one another. Relationship shows our affiliations, rapport, bond, correlation and association with one another or with other members or group in our society or different circles. No man is an island; this cliché has over the years defined the basis on which relationship must exist in all spheres of lives. And this relationship is what I prefer to look at as networking.

Networking simply is the process or practice of building up or maintaining informal relationships, especially with people whose friendship could bring advantages such as business/social opportunities. Take for instance when God decided to create man he entered into a relationship with man where man will serve and worship God and God will be man’s deity giving man life and blessings. When a man marries a woman or a man dates a lady it becomes a network where both parties stand to benefit from each other. Even in school we benefit by associating with serious or intelligent students who either spur us or teach us when we are lost. When business associates form groups such as mergers or cartels or even partnerships these kinds of relationships provide networking opportunities for them to benefit from economies of scale. Networking has taken a more central role now with revolution in both knowledge and information& communication technology (ICT). Taking a cue from broadcast networks it is easier and cheaper for a media outfit with a network of stations to reach many audiences at a time and hence maximize revenue from massive advertisements due to their wide coverage. Same for computer networking where the internet or central server provides a platform for many computers or processing units to interact with each other. Bringing this into human networking, we stand to benefit and maximize our potentials by building networks around us. We will gain in terms of knowledge and information, business and job opportunities; family and social activities, religious and spiritual growth. Building network is as important as maintaining these networks. No relationship is important if we go into them and just abandon them. They become more useful when we maintain them and even upgrade them.

Have you imagined what happens to you if you do not maintain contacts and someday you have an urgent need that any of them is in position to address? Let’s say you care less to keep in touch with your mechanic and someday, your car suddenly breaks down far away from town where you have no one to call for aid? Visualize you had established a rapport with your mechanic, will he not leave anything he is doing and come to attend to your car no matter how odd the time is? Or do you think money can solve all the problems all the time? Look at critical areas of human need today like health, law, security, banking, insurance, business, etc and see if you have any kind of relationship with a professional in each or some of these fields. Why not make friends with a doctor today so that you can call him /her when ever you have an emergency and you may just need medical information. Why not find and build a contact with security agents today to enable you make that urgent call when the need arise since 911 does not work in this country. You can even make friends with a lawyer who will advise you informally and for free in case you need a legal advice or you need to go into a contract. How about knowing that banker whose area of competence is more than yours or different from yours. Even in the office, we can build our networks with the people who work with us on the same desk or different floors because we need them.

As we need them, they will also need us or our services. As we see the need in others we must also make ourselves needful and useful by becoming experts in our professional and informal lives. We must be willing and able to place ourselves to be available when they need us. Networking is a wonderful opportunity which gives room for synergy. We must give as much as we take, we must learn as much as we teach, we must also improve the relationships by updating our capacities to be and remain relevant in the networking equation.

Networking in this present day makes it possible for us to tap from the pool of talents embodied in others; it enables us to tap our own potentials in the bid to remain active and relevant. Networking teaches us about the interdependency evident in the fact that we need each other and even businesses need each other whether as competitors or as holding companies; as linkages or as markets. Networking gives each of us a social value or economic value since we have the opportunity to develop our resources. We make money from networking and also save cost from this.

Building and maintaining contacts is the key to surviving in a highly competitive world. Information and communication technology has made it easier by compressing space and time, thus we can network across distance and beyond mere physical contacts. Let’s keep building if we have already started, let us start building if we have not started, most importantly, let us not only build but let us maintain our networks. As the world keeps moving from analogue to digital, from manual to automation from physical to fibre, we can not afford to shy away from upgrading our own networks. At the height of it, is when networks build networks between and among themselves to harness the boundless opportunities which integration affords all.

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WINDOW OF FORTUNE

2010-11-13T15:41:00.001+01:00

CredoWriters:Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

How many times have we out of anger, frustration, fatigue, fear, hatred, laziness and even sheer mediocrity lost other opportunities because we shut ourselves in or out by failing to leave a window open? We pass opportunities by shutting ourselves out and opportunities pass us by because we shut ourselves in.

We have lost the will to try other pastures because when we discovered the present pasture we threw all to the wind, locked ourselves in this and believed that we have attain the best. We have lost the faith in our ability to dare because we didn’t leave any window open for possibilities to believe in our selves. We are living on the dexterity of those who left their windows open and pushed their frontiers to build enterprises while we have limited our selves to their whims and caprices.

Even in love sometimes we fail to love again because the last time we did we got hurt or disappointed hence we said never again; and this came with shutting of the doors and windows to everyone and anyone including those who unknowingly to us are the right people we have been born for. Even plants can not survive if they are isolated and locked away in rooms without window, because they need air, light and sun to grow. What more of we humans and how much more for the human mind, heart and will?

No matter what we face now or we have faced, we need to leave at least a window if not a door, and we need to leave a pigeon hole if not a window. No matter how good life is, it can still be better and no matter how bad life is, it can still be worse. This window we leave makes it possible for our good lives to become better and makes it possible for the bad life to have an opportunity to become good else it can get worse; because there is always a motion in life, nothing is static.

The desirability for us to take charge of our emotions and decisions makes it imperative for us to allow a vent in and out of our lives. This vent gives us the advantage over those who live in a sealed world. Living in a sealed world whether in affluence or penury has already foreclosed our ability to gain more or change our fortune for good.

The golden opportunities of life come at different times and outlooks, they major way to benefit is to leave a lee way that we can use to tap into those opportunities. Leaving a window open no matter our circumstances in life makes it possible for us to smile again, love again, gain again, achieve again, excel again , fly above our inadequacies and discover our destiny.

The Agony of a Baking Powder

2010-11-13T15:38:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen.

Once upon a time, I was non-existent; I was happy where I was because I was no where.

I had nothing to fret and worry about. I could wake and sleep at will and travel everywhere at anytime.

I was really a free being because I was not even in being.

The baker and the flour had an affair and they decided to start baking.

Good, homemade bread tasted so sweet and people rushed to buy and eat.

The increase in demand led to a surge in production.

The profits were coming and so was the market expanding.

At the rate the flour was been used to bake the bread, the baker knew it would run out of fashion and it was going to cost him more to sustain the rapid purchase of flour to keep the bakery at optimal point.

They introduced the production possibility curve concept and baptized it as Isoquant. But something was missing. For the curve not to obey diminishing returns they needed more dough with less flour.

From my wilderness of freedom they cajoled me into the baking process and called me a baking powder.

Little amount of flour combined with Sammybest gives more dough for higher loaves of bread.

The market kept booming, the people ate enough and the baker smiled home with more silver.

I bear the mixing, endure the heat and undergo the transformation.

I see how my captivity aids a small portion of flour give birth to many loaves for the accomplished baker.

I am mostly locked in a tin or tied in nylon without light or air, when I am brought out it is not to get some fresh air but to be added to the dough and sent into the heat.

Like an animal fat I get heated and evaporated, at the end of the process everyone sees the bread and the coal but no one remembers me because I have gone

But since I am just some powder and I have no mouth to eat the bread, I must now wait for miracle.

Now I fret at my existence because I was happier when I did not exist.

Their avarice is my agony.

THE GOODLUCK-PATIENCE CO PRESIDENCY?

2010-10-18T16:20:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

Nigeria may have started with the West Minister or cabinetry system popular called parliamentary system of government in the first republic. The good thing about this system is that it is very cost effective as the members of parliament are also the cabinet ministers. It also allows for a vibrant opposition and shadow ministers who serve as checks to the ministers from the ruling party. It encourages debates and the principle of collective responsibility falls on the Prime Minister who like other parliamentarians is also present in the House to defend or convince the parliamentarians to vote for any policy or decisions to be taken. In the parliamentary system there is no tenure limit, as long as a party gets the majority seats in Parliament, that party continues to form a government and the leader of the party becomes the Prime Minister. The good thing is that even in less than a year, month or week in office, once a vote of no confidence (there is no impeachment) is passed on the Government or even any of the government sponsored debate, the party/ government is removed. It is cheaper to conduct a vote of confidence or vote of no confidence than to conduct impeachment proceedings.

Gbam! The military struck in 1966 and we summarily passed a Vote of NO Confidence on the first republic? After the coup and counter coup of 1966 and a 30 months bitter civil war between Nigeria and the former Eastern region known as The Republic of Biafra we had another attempt to return to civil rule but Uncle Jack (General Gowon) didn’t keep to his time and the ruthless Murtala came in 1975 promising to hand over. After his assassination his deputy General Obasanjo promised to complete the transition programme which he did. Rather than stick to the parliamentary system, he opted to return Nigeria to democratic rule in 1979 via the Capitol Hill model i.e. the American presidential system. Unlike the former, the argument is that the Presidential system is based on the principles of separation of powers because the Executive is different from the legislature. They snag with this system apart from been so expensive is the over concentration of power in the President. Unlike the parliamentary system of government where the Prime Minister is the head of Government and a president even albeit ceremonial is the Head of state, there is fusion of power in the Presidential system of Government where the Head of State and Head of Government is one and the same person. This is called the Executive President. The fusion of the executive and parliament (many people) of the 1960 gave way to the fusion of the head of state and government (one person) in 1979. We jettisoned check and balances for separation of powers which in essence was not the truth. The time bomb with this is that it gives room for a civilian dictatorship. Thank God the first Executive President of Nigeria Alhaji Shehu Shagari was either not a dictator; or Buhari didn’t allow him to rule long enough to translate into one, but unfortunately the Palace coup of August 1985 gave birth to a military dictator who saw the Presidential system as an opportunity to practice diarchy.

Babangida would not have used the title of a military prime minister because there can not be a Prime Minister without a parliament, but he found it perfect to use the title of a military president because as earlier stated, the fusion of the two offices into the executive presidency is already an almighty formula to dictatorship and what better dictatorship than to have a military dictator who was also a president? At the height of his diarchy he had a civilian Vice President, civilian state Governors and mockingly a legislature at not only the state levels but at the federal level. A military President, giving or withholding his assent to a bill by a National Assembly.

When invariably the third republic was aborted and the military continued their adventure until 1998, another era of returning to democratic rule finally came. Since we used the Parliamentary in the first republic and presidential in the second republic, and the 3rd republic failed why didn’t we use the French system called the Hybrid system which is a combination of the Parliamentary and Presidential system? What do we love so much about the Americans that we stick so much to their Presidential system as expensive as it is. Yet we do not practice their accountability and transparency .The Presidential system concentrates so much power in one man and in developing countries like Nigeria, the President even exceeds his limits by dictating to state governors in a federation where the states are supposed to be autonomous?

If I was complaining about the Presidential system placing too much responsibilities and powers in the hands of one man, the Nigerian solution is been worked out. We are now drifting into our own model of Presidential system called a Co Presidency. This will enable the excess responsibilities and powers on the President be shared by his wife. This will then call for an amendment to the constitution. If we vote for the party in a parliamentary system, and vote for the candidate in a presidential system, will it be out of place to ask that we should amend the constitution to ask voters to vote for husband and wife in a co-presidential system? Patience Jonathan is becoming as strong as Goodluck Jonathan. The constitution recognises only the man or woman elected as President or who succeeds a President but we are faced with a scenario now where the wife has become a Co-President. Gradually but fiercely, she is consolidating her hold on power with her retinue of aides and its attendant cost to the economy. She is trying to outdo Maryam Babangida in glamour and has assumed the motherly role of Maryam Abacha. Patience is now blatantly addressed as the Mother of Nigeria. She will out pace Stella Obasanjo in travels and jewelleries. The impoverished tax payers’ money is used to sponsor her women for change initiative which is a decoy for her going round to campaign for her husband’s election .She is trying not to talk as fast as Turai Yar’adua but she talks rather too slow that before the end of her sentence one would have forgotten what she said at the beginning, she doesn’t bother to take a cue from the professional Fatie Abubakar. The constitution does not recognise the office of the first lady but here in Nigeria we have turned that office to that of an Executive First Lady. I have no grudges with that but it should be enshrined in our constitution if it must be.

I can not wait for us to have a female President so that I will see how the husband will be addressed. Will he be called the First Gentleman or the First Husband? Will he influence his wife to create the ministry of Men affairs and have the Minister of Men affairs who is a member of the federal executive council follow him like an orderly? Will he meet with state governors or husbands of state governors? Will he arrange a meeting with all male political appointees and go round states asking for affirmative action? It is high time we demanded for a constitutional amendment to include a clause insisting that people taking a shot at the presidency must have spouses who are professionals and gainfully employed to save us from wasting public funds. But until that is done, the Goodluck- Patience Co-Presidency may after all be the Nigerian home grown model of democracy we have all been praying for.

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Nigeria at Fifty

2010-09-28T11:50:00.000+01:00

CredoPoets; Wakdok, Samuel Stephen

Mama is fifty

The world is sending congratulatory messages

My elder siblings are dinning and wining

They are celebrating mama’s age,

They bought lipstick to adorn her lips

New clothes to wear on her

My sisters even sewed theirs

My uncles are busy popping champagne.

Mama is fifty

Everyone is happy for her

Even the sun seems to be smiling from afar

As the rains walk southwards to give us room

I look around and see everyone dancing and jubilating

Thanking God for her life.

When I stare into mama’s loving eyes what I see are misty clouds.

I know why mama is sad on her birthday.

Mama has attained the golden age but with wooden legs.

And my family members who took away the gold in her

Are the very ones dancing more than ever.

Mama is fifty

At fifty our mother is wooden not golden.

THE PRESIDENT’S FATHER

2010-09-28T11:43:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

Watching Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki on television reading his declaration to become the next President and Commander In Chief of the Armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I asked myself a question. Who shall we call our President; The father or the son?

Bukola Saraki did not convince me that he wrote the speech he read, I want to believe his father, the self styled god father of Kwara Politics wrote the son’s speech. He claimed Nigeria needs a younger generation to take charge of the affairs of our country. Agreed we need the new breed to come and salvage us, but someone should please tell Mr. Governor what we do not need are old breed masqueraded in their children as new breed. Each time I see Bukola Saraki I see Olusola Saraki’s shadow looming around, anytime hear Saraki Jnr. talking it is the voice of Saraki Snr. that is talking to me. How else would one explain a man who made his son governor of a state for 8 years and his daughter a senator from that state. How can I imagine that the godfather now wants his daughter to take over from the son as the governor as he promotes his son to the presidency of our nation? Will it not become the trinity of the father, the son and the daughter? If kwara state can be re-baptized to Saraki state and all people of kwara state made to adopt the surname of Saraki, will Nigeria become the Republic of Saraki too?

I dare say that if Bukola Saraki was the son of a commoner like many of us, he would not have become a governor, it was his father’s rather than his popularity that made him a governor. It is his father who months ago gathered political big wigs in kwara and told them to pray for his son who after two terms as governor was too young to go into retirement. The father has now found another employment opportunity for the son.

Bukola Saraki made mention of what he hopes to accomplish as the President of Nigeria based on his achievements in kwara, none of the politicians is shamed to be promising things we ought to have overcome by now. But must one be a President to serve or create a change? Can’t he as a senator, philanthropist, or as an adviser, still contribute in the development of this country? Can’t we have a Saraki Foundation that will create Jobs or provide scholarships to empower the youth? Can’t we have a Saraki NGO that will address infant and maternal mortalities? What of a Saraki Center that will train skilled and unskilled Nigerians to make them well equipped to face the challenges of a modern world? Why must it be a Saraki Presidency; will there be this urge to serve as the President if that office is divorced from having access to the billions of oil dollars at the president’s disposal to be spent or embezzled at selfish politicians’ whims and caprices?

In other civilized societies, great men who contributed to the development of their land and people were and are not politicians. Bill Gates is making impacts worldwide without a government portfolio. Michael Jackson pumped millions of dollars into Charity without seeking for political office. Oprah Winfrey is doing same without the patronage of public funds or power. Why can’t we take a cue?

I don’t want to be in doubt of who is my President come 2011, whether it is the son or the President’s father? I don’t want our country’s budget to be prepared from Ilorin or laws to be made by a father whose son is privileged to be the President. I don’t want my nation’s armed forces to be confused on who really there Commander in Chief is .I believe that the mystery of the Holy Trinity should end in the spiritual sphere of God the father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and not extend to the political of sphere in form of the selfish trinity of the father’s President, the Son and the daughter. It is only in a tortoise economy like ours where growth is so slow or non-existent that people personalize governance and economic resources to this magnitude.

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“THE (DIS) ECONOMICS OF PROSTITUTION IN NIGERIA.”

2010-09-18T12:23:00.000+01:00

“THE (DIS) ECONOMICS OF PROSTITUTION IN NIGERIA.”

CredoResearchers: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

Background:
The issue of prostitution is a complex one; it is so dynamic and hence its economics also. Prostitution exists with us and since we co-exist with it whether as participants, agents or onlookers; we as members of the society cannot afford to shy away from this phenomenon much as we try to. Prostitution is extremely wide spread, though the question of prostitution is a difficult and thorny subject that has received a little attention in Nigeria. Our reluctance to come to terms with the harm widespread of mass prostitution does to the entire society is highly hypocritical and comes with a lot of associated costs.

Economic reasons such as vicious circle of poverty have raised the tally of the women in crimes labeled among which is prostitution and women trafficking. The women’s involvement in prostitution though can be linked to poverty is not limited to it. Also most of the money generated from prostitution is expended on the sustenance of family, education, etc. Most women and children are not freely choosing to work in prostitution, “it is a choice based purely on economics of food and shelter”. According to a World Bank report 20 % of the world’s population possesses 86% of the world’s financial wealth. The assets of the three executives of Microsoft are more than the combined assets of the 43 poorest countries in the world – representing more than 600 million people. This has led to an increase in immiseration-the growing poverty of the mass of the population in the periphery.

Naanen (1991) writing on the history of prostitution in Nigeria’s upper Cross River Basin during the first half of the 20th century, traced the rise in commercial sex activities and blamed colonialism and even the sexual habits of the colonialists. Colonization led to an increasingly monetized economy where sex could be bought. This paper attempts to bring to the fore the problems posed by prostitution in a bid to attract attention to this menace with the view of finding solutions to this societal challenge.

The Dynamics of Prostitution:
Prostitution is said to be the world’s oldest profession. It is a complex and worldwide phenomenon. Kollantai 1921 sees prostitution as a phenomenon which is closely linked with unearned income. He further defines it as the act of selling one’s body for material benefit- for decent food, clothes and other advantages. It can then be said that for prostitution to take place; there must be an exchange at a cost-value, making prostitution an economic activity. It is however not limited to one sex alone but over the centuries, the females have been on the active side of providing the services with the males as the patrons.

The double standard and the depersonalization of sex combined, making sex a viable commodity in a society of consumers. The growing use of nudity and illicit sex scenes in the media, as an effective economic tool, and the focus on pleasure rather than work assisted the commercialization of sex. As it became defined in economic terms, society began to equate sex with success. Women derived their sexual success from desirability where as men’s success is measured by their ability to have or buy sex. With success as a goal, the demand for sex as a commodity increases, creating a broader market for pornography and prostitution. In this economic system, most often lower class women, recognizing the monetary worth of their bodies, sell it as a means of income. This relationship makes urban areas the centres of prostitution because “the city” provides more sufficient patrons to make prostitution a profitable occupation. Prostitution is thus defined as a socio-economic phenomenon, illustrating a free market where every participant sells themselves for money or goods, exploits and is exploited and where some make more profits than others. In that sense prostitution (including male prostitution) is an economic rather than a sexual phenomenon. On the other hand, prostitution illustrates clearly the gender difference which lies at the heart of the sexual system, and it is therefore not a by-product but at the very foundation of many economies.

The international labour organization for one has recognized prostitution as work. Whatever arguments, prostitution is one of the few ways in which women with no other skills and little education can earn a living. The United Nations believes that at least 10% of the world’s female population in urban areas earns all or part of their living working in prostitution. Prostitutes often argue that they are also therapists. Therapy now includes “sex surrogacy “- where substitute female partners help men who lack sexual experience or suffer feelings of inadequacy in bed. Sex surrogates would certainly not see themselves as prostitutes, and yet they perform sexual service for money.

Those who sell sex are as diverse as sex itself. Most are female, some are male. Most are heterosexual, many lesbian or gay. Some see prostitution as a personal tragedy; others have chosen it freely. Prostitution and sex tourism fall under a more general category of sexual exploitation. Sexual exploitation happens when one person (or persons) receive(s) sex or money through another person’s sexuality. For instance, prostitution entails a man receiving sex while a pimp may receive the money using a woman as a prostitute. In sex tourism, a foreigner may pay a sex travel agency for a trip to Nigeria which includes airfare, hotel, food and women for sex. Sex trafficking is defined by the European Union as the transportation of women with the goal of sexual exploitation with or without their consent. The concepts of prostitution are dynamic especially with the advancement of capitalism and the growth of globalization, yet they all centrally revolve around a pivot; sex is purchased through prostitution no matter the guise.

Causes of Prostitution:
As already stated poverty and the excuse of poverty drives the trading in prostitution and wealth increases the buying power of the patrons while at the same time raising the allure for more players. This means that inequitable distribution of income which is reinforced by corruption and high rate of unemployment are among the major drivers f prostitution. Towns grew where both goods and sex could be more easily bought. Discriminatory practices against women like widows or sterile women who are driven out of their homes; is another major cause of prostitution.

The demand for commercial sex in itself is another major cause for increase in prostitution. Long distance truck drivers and men with high sexual drive seem to push up this category of demand –induced prostitution. The revolution in Information and communication technology (ICT) has radically influenced the choice of women participants in prostitution. ICT enhances the recruitment and participation in prostitution through e-prostitution. Ladies keep their pictures and mobile numbers in hotels for clients and patrons to contact them. Modern technology has made them to now see what glamour is; and the crave for material wealth as evident in the society is driving more and more people to work in this industry.

The Market structure of the Industry:
Prostitution can be decomposed into four forms; institutional, freelance, corporate and international prostitution respectively. The first is mostly practiced in the hotels, brothels and bars while the second is a single sex operator. Corporate prostitution occurs when ladies are compelled into sleeping with their bosses to get jobs, promotions or even keep their jobs; or when female workers must sleep with clients to achieve their targets. The last one involves cross border prostitution which involves smuggling and human trafficking

Prostitution integrates most of the various market situations. It is often a monopolistic competition because the sex providers can be differentiated. High valued prostitutes can however become monopsonists when they attract and restrict individual clients to themselves alone. Also the supply of clients can be a monopsony or oligopoly when one or a few rich clients become the sole or few patrons of a sex worker(s). In other cases prostitutes form cartels to maximize the benefit s from the trade. Outsourcing is very rampant where madams or established prostitutes provide younger ladies or new entrants to men who will in turn pay them for acting as suppliers. Consequently the value chain moves in both directions from the clients to the sex providers or from the sex providers to the patrons through intermediaries.

Most of the women are below the age of 30 years, indeed many see prostitution as a stage in their life circles because men demand younger women. The women see this period as one when they can and must save for later investment back home. Unfortunately in the modern day, even ladies from comfortable backgrounds, students and some working class ladies have been attracted to the glamour which prostitution provides, and hence they have joined in the trade at the economic sphere of ostentatious living rather than necessity. Even Professional and other employed ladies engage in prostitution on a part time basis.

Benefits of Prostitution:
The benefits of commercial sex for the supplier is that prostitution even after food and clothing and the institutions cut are taken into account is lucrative. The average prostitute makes as much money as a senior civil servant. The flow of sophisticated young women into towns and cities like Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Kano, Jos, Benin and Ibadan among others is a product of modernization. Naanen (1991) showed that half a century ago, the remittances from prostitutes into Obubra of South East Nigeria amounted to more than double the public revenue, contributed to house building and family support.

Costs of Prostitution:
Commercial sex is an active source of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including HIV and AIDS. Prostitution is becoming more of a dangerous profession, with the increase in crime rates ladies working in prostitution stand a high chance of becoming victims of rape, kidnapping and rituals. Daily trust newspaper of May 18, 2010 on page 41 reported the story of a 22 year old female undergraduate who jumped from the third floor of a hotel in Abuja to escape ritualists. She broke her waist in the process; she had been picked the previous night to sleep with a client (who happened to be an agent of a ritualist) at the rate of N4, 000 only.

Prostitution discourages hard work because it gives the ladies the false impression that there is an alternative to success through selling their bodies for money or favour. This brings about moral decadence in the society and is a major reason for human trafficking which results to human degradation and also sex slavery.

Control Measures Against Prostitution:
The Family Based Approach: Should be the fundamental and primary control measure. Family values must be reintroduced and entrenched at the very tender age with close monitoring through the formative years into adulthood.

Community/Religious Based Approach: must be emphasized to save the society from the pollution caused by prostitution. It should be a participatory /collaborative method designed to expose the dangers of prostitution on the individuals and society while encouraging the populace on the merit of morality and hard work. Counseling and rehabilitation facilities should be made available both for preventive and corrective measures. The media must reduce its sensational portrayal of sex as a tool for exploitation and achievement.

The Government Approach: comes in the area of ensuring adequate living standard with qualitative human development indices to all citizens. Corruption must be minimized, poverty alleviated, infrastructure provided, education subsidized and employment generated or the opportunities enabled. Rural areas should be developed and urban poverty with high rate of population densities must be checked. People who exploit others sexuality for greed or money should be brought to book and border control should be enforced to check human trafficking.

The Radical Approach: like the current moves by the incumbent minister of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja to flush out prostitutes who have refused to leave the trade. However care must be taken to put in place adequate measures and incentives for the prostitutes to buy into scheme, else they will go under and this will distort the supply of commercial sex. This in turn will only create black markets and hike up the price of commercial sex. Again this will serve as a multiplier effect to motivate more prostitutes to find ways of circumventing the government since it will become more lucrative at a distorted supply rate.

Conclusion:
It is clear that economics more than any other factor propels prostitution. This could be economics of needs or economics of wants, economics of survival or economics of luxury. In the short run the boom is an incentive with attendant benefits but in the long run the doom to the individual or society is a collateral damage. The economics invariable becomes a diseconomy with the industry creating disequilibrium. The big challenge is to identify the major causes of prostitution like poverty, dislocation of the actors from their families, corruption, and the commercialization of sex among others. Adequate measures at both the governmental and nongovernmental levels must be taken to address these causes. Radical control measures taken must be careful not to criminalize the prostitutes. Rather they should be integrated. Prostitution should be taken out of the prostitutes and not just mere taking them out of prostitution.

In addition, because prostitution is deeply rooted in economics, making it illegal doesn’t reduce the persistence of male demand. Illegalization, however transforms prostitution into a subculture with a criminal status. Once a prostitute has a criminal status, she becomes trapped in an economic and criminal cycle that facilitates societal rejection. In the final analysis the economics of prostitution is a zero-sum gain; the disadvantages far outweigh any perceived advantages.

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HOW WE LOST OUR VIRGINITY

2010-07-31T16:41:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

Humanly speaking we were all born with our virginity intact, but honestly speaking most if not all of us have lost our virginity. How we lost our virginity, when we lost of virginity, and what or who we lost our virginity to is very key, but not the ultimate.

Virginity is defined by the dictionary as an unspoiled state. It is the state of being untouched, unexplored, or unspoiled. Many of us were virgins in our hearts, in our trust, in our finances, in our beliefs, in our academic pursuits, in our ambitions, in our careers and in a host of others. And as varying as these states of virginity are, so have we lost our virginity in various states; individually or combined.

Once we were innocent, once we were full of trust, once we were happy, once we were young at heart, once we were optimistic, once we were full of faith and not long ago we believed in hope, we had confidence in our selves. Today the young man has lost his self esteem, the boy has lost his confidence, the lady has lost her trust in love, the woman has lost her happiness, the parents have lost their sleep, and the citizens have lost faith. We have lost one or few or many of the various states of virginity. We gave our all and got none or so little in return. He loved with all his heart and got all the disappointments. We had gone to school with the hope to achieve our ambitions, some have achieved, some are still achieving but some have lost the drive to achieve. Many a young people grew up to seek and believe in love. Some are happily in love; others are sadly out of love. Most of us had plans to be financially emancipated, some are on their path, others have met with obstacles and some have met brick walls.

We were once naive; today we are suspicious, worldly and shrewd. We were once innocent today we are malicious and some times tainted. We were once full of hope; today we are skeptics and pessimists. We were once courageous today we live in despair. We were once happy today we are sad and full of grief. We were once buoyant; today we are glum and sullen. We no longer aspire, we no longer dream, we no longer plan, we no longer wish and we no longer desire. How then can we hope to achieve? How can we live if we do not anticipate? Should loosing our virginity kill our dreams and life?

We lost our hearts to heart break, should the heart break last for ever? We lost our love to failed relationships; must we deny ourselves the right to love again? We lost our wealth to the economic meltdown will the gloom remain till death? We lost our happiness to those who exploited us, should we remain in that state? We lost our trust to those who betrayed us must we doubt the whole world? We lost our childhood to wrong peers can't we become better adults?

We may have lost a lot but we can not afford to loose our head. We need to win our confidence and faith and trust and personality back. Loosing our virginity is not as tragic as not gaining the lessons that will help us regain our worth. Loosing our virginity may be painful but remaining in a state of perpetual lost is more painful, that will be a total lost.

That we have lost our virginity is no longer news, how we lost our virginity should not kill our morale but the question we should ask is: what did we gain when we lost our virginity? Did we gain the lessons? Did we gain the experience? Are we going to remain perpetual losers or can we bounce back?

If we lost our virginity we can not afford to loose ourselves.

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THE RHODESIAN CONNECTION

2010-07-31T16:38:00.000+01:00

CredoFiction: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

August 14th 2012

The Queen knows she has had a long life and has outlived all of her children except Charles, who is terminally ill, her grandsons William and Harry. Philip her husband died two years ago and her mum died a decade ago. Queen Elizabeth II, the longest serving, monarch in British history knows fully well that her sojourn on earth is about to end. After ruling for over a century, the House of Windsor has no heir to the throne. Eighty Percent of the population knows no monarch except her, Queen Elizabeth II: The sovereign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Queen of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

July 2nd 1979

Grace Mugabe was angry; she was screaming and cursing the idiot.

“Joan is only 15 years old “she cried

Robert Gabriel Mugabe who has finally come out of the trench after fighting the British and now Smith after his Unilateral Declaration of Independence of Rhodesia in November 1965. Mugabe is now set to head the new and independent government of Zimbabwe formerly known as Southern Rhodesia. He seemed undisturbed that his 15 year old teenage daughter was pregnant. Robert has always known the white racists colonialists to be thieves. They captured blacks and sold them into slavery to develop the new world in the Americas, stole the black people’s land and they can do worse.

Mugaba has always been a fox, he was not bothered at the cause of his wife’s anxiety he only smiled at his wife in the presence of his war cabinet members

Elizabeth Alexandria Mary was born in 1926 in London. The first child of the duke and duchess of York, later King George VI. On November 20, 1947 Elizabeth married Philip Mantabatten the former prince Philip of Greece at Westminster Abbey in London. He had become a British subject nine months earlier and was married under the title of Prince Philip, duke of Edinburgh. A year later Elizabeth gave birth to a son, Charles. In 1950 she gave birth to a daughter Annie. A second son was born in 1960 and a third son Edward in 1964. The sudden death of King George VI, her father cut short a trip to Kenya in 1952; she came to the throne on February 6th 1952 and was crowned at Westminster on June 2, 1953.

Queen Elizabeth described 1992 as a horrible year. Her daughter and two sons separated from their spouses. Prince Andrew separated from his wife Sarah in March. The marriage of Princess Annie and Mark Philips ended in April. The prince and princess of Wales (Charles and Diana) parted in December. The divorce of Prince Charles from Princess Diana in 1996 raised questions about Charles’ succession as the monarchy has no modern precedent for a divorced sovereign. The Queen marked her golden jubilee of her ascension to the throne in 2002. She lost her mother and sister in that same year. This is 2012, 60 years after she ascended the throne. Her reign is longer than any one ever imagined, at 86 she is not scared of dying but she frets about the continuity of her line on the throne. With Charles dying also, she has no heir to the revered throne.

Robert Mugabe’s government has brought sanctions and embargoes since 2003 on the country and people of Zimbabwe. The British government has led the US and EU to tighten economic sanctions and travel bans on the regime in Harare. After he was accused of rigging his elections is 2003 and confiscating land owned by white Zimbabwean farmers. This led to a near collapse of the economy with inflation running into millions of percentage. Mugabe has remained a faithful catholic even after the catholic bishops condemned his government. His children were all brought up in the catholic faith. Joan Mugabe has since married a Kenyan but her son born to her at the age of 15 was adopted by her parents and has always known Robert and Grace to be his parents even at his present age of 32 years. John Paul Mugabe was named after Pope John Paul I, the unknown pope who only spent 33 days as pope in 1978. The paternity of John Paul Mugabe was only known to four people on earth.

Prince Charles could barely speak but he would muster all the life in him to speak to the Queen. His mum came in as soon as he sent for her. She looked frail though full of courage at her age. Charles murmured some words into her ears and she saw her legs wobbling, she managed to sit beside him as confusion ran her brains. She doesn’t know whether to curse or bless her first son.

The Queen summoned the Prime Minister for an emergency private meeting. David William Donald Cameron was born on 9th of October 1966 and became the Prime Minister at a very young age of 43. David was born 21 years after the Second World War; he is a direct descendant of George I, George II, George III and King William IV with his mistress Dorothea Jordan. As an illegitimate descendant of King William (1765-1837) David Cameron is not in line of succession to the British throne.

When the Queen presented her demand to the young Prime Minister, Cameron froze. He couldn’t believe the Queen was asking for too much, more than any one on earth can offer. Elizabeth has nothing more to loose. She has seen it all in life and now that she can die anytime, she will either preserve her blood on the throne or bother less about the continuity of the British monarchy.

Robert Mugabe has been the Prime Minister and later President of Zimbabwe since 1980. He has watched his country suffered various sanctions from the west championed by his colonial masters the British since the tenure of Tony Blair. He kept his secret without malice and suddenly history is about changing; he will be part of that history changing event. He began to recite the Hail Mary full of Grace. His demands were said in a few words but their weight will be enormous, which ever option they chose he has lived enough to deal a big blow to the white supremacists.

David Cameron saw this as an opportunity to bargain with the Queen. This is his chance to get into the succession line of the throne since he was a descendant of King William even if illegitimately. He will use his coalition in the House of Commons to change the statutes while the Queen will impress upon the House of Lords to ratify it. Cameron was mistaken, the Queen is not just concerned about preserving the monarchy, but she is worried about her blood vanishing from the throne. She told him to his face and the fury could be seen on his face. He never thought a day will come that he will walk out on the Queen but the day has come. He adjusted his tie and was about to stand up when she softly told him to sit back.

“David”, she began” I have nothing more to fear because we all will loose. I, you, England, we all will loose”

“I have some classified documents from my father which of passed to the Americans will show how the British forces bombed the Pearl harbour in 1944 and blamed it on the Japanese to draw in the Americans into the second world war. You were not born then but I am sure you know the history the way it was written. That will be changed if I am forced to make this revelation. The Japanese will ask for trillions of compensations as a result of the nuclear bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima by the Americans in retaliation. Britain will go bankrupt, the pound will become worthless, I will be in my grave and you Mr Prime Minister will have no country to govern at just the age of 45 and your kids Nancy and Arthur will grow up to know a Europe without a Britain. France will be happy at last, Germany will be happier and the Russians will only chuckle”

The Rt.Hon. David Cameron was shivering as he stepped out of Buckingham Palace. The Queen knows she had played her last card and she hoped to God that her lies on Pearl Harbour woks.

The British Parliament convened late into the night as a matter of urgency. Some members will rather prefer the abolishment of the monarchy. Some citizens had complained about its huge cost on the British economy. However the monarchy is the last emblem of Imperial Britain. Canada, New Zealand, Australia will all become republics, the common wealth of nations will collapse, and Argentina will get the oil in Falkland Islands. The House voted in secret, when the outcome was transmitted that night to the Queen, she sighed knowing what Britain has suffered. Mugabe had demanded that all the sanctions against his country should be lifted and a compensation of 10 billion dollars should be paid over a period of 5 years. Only on those conditions will he accept to talk with the Queen or her Prime Minister. On the other hand the Catholics were once a persecuted people in England since the time of King Henry VIII in the 16th century, until the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 granted full political and civil liberties to the Roman Catholics in Great Britain and Ireland.

On August 31st 2012 Queen Elizabeth II like her uncle Edward once did announced her abdication from the British throne .She is to be succeeded by her grandson who she met only a few days ago. He is also the grandson of Robert Mugabe the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe once called Southern Rhodesia at the time of his (the new king) conception. The United Kingdom will have a catholic king after all the wars in Northern Ireland; the once colonial Britain will have an African blooded King.

In the evening of September 10, 2012 after the coronation of the new King, Elizabeth Alexandria Mary died in her sleep. Only two people knew the pills she had taken; her physician and the Prime Minister. She would be buried besides her father King George VI and her grandfather King George V. She has gone to her grave happy; knowing that the British monarchy will go on with her blood on the throne.

David William Donald Cameron will carry a heavy burden to his grave and he hopes he does not have to live long to suffer the misfortune for ever.

Robert Gabriel Mugabe called his grandson to condole him on the death of his grandmother and predecessor on the British throne. He too would finally allow the opposition or any young member of his party to take over the reigns of power in Zimbabwe; his colonial enemy has paid the supreme price. His own blood and name is now the sovereign of the United Kingdom, the King of Canada, Australia and New Zea land, the head of the common wealth of nations, the protector of the British Dominion overseas; King John Paul Mugabe.

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NIGERIA'S FOURTH RELIGION & FIFTH GOSPEL

2010-07-31T16:34:00.001+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok,Samuel Stephen.

We have a 4th religion in Nigeria, and is the fifth gospel after Matthew, Mark Luke and John It is evidently present though not officially recognised in our constitution, it is the most practised in our land. We have the African Tradition Religion , Christianity and Islam. This three we know though the last two have chased the first one. But this fourth religion is so unique. It allows for dual membership. You can be a member of any of these three religions and also be a member of the fourth. The religion called CORRUPTION. It is a gospel that has spread across the length and breadth of this land. It starts from the homes to workplaces and even to the places of worship. It is the official religion of government officials. Corruption is now the state Religion in Nigeria. Corruption is that which makes our budget to become like nursery rhymes. It is the empty drug stores in our hospitals. Corruption is the reason why those who fail get the job and those who pass get the knocks. Corruption will not allow prostitution to be banned in Abuja, it will only disrupt the supply and jerk up demand. That will result to black marketing and hike in the prices of commercial sex. Corruption is what makes our country to be lost in the woods at 50, and makes our leaders to make us their street urchins.
In this religion called Corruption , their reward is not in heaven , it is right here and that is why our taps are not running today and our schools have become fountain of failures.

Comfortably you can be a Christian or Moslem and still belong to this religion. No one will accuse you of serving other gods.

There are two aspects of this religion. The illegal and legal corruption. The illegal corruption is carried out by the poor and lowly. In fact when you are caught you are already found guilty even before you are tried. The legal corruption is that by the high and mighty. This legal corruption is in fact a holy communion, you have to belong. The incentive for corruption in Nigeria is very high and attractive. Ask the president, the senators , the governors and even the local government chairmen. A minister has a special adviser, the special adviser to the minister has a special adviser in turn. The President has special assistants, special advisers, senior special assistants, presidential assistants, domestic aides and personal assistants. That is a sure way of helping themselves with the national cake. The people bake the cake, the politicians eat the cake. The people hold the cows and the politicians milk the cows.

Unless we define the role of this forth religion, unless we evaluate the impacts and decide to all convert to it so we can all benefit or cast it out if it is not good for all; many will be called but just a few will remain chosen.

It may be a good religion to the wolves in power, but a very bad gospel.

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The Reincarnation of Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua

2010-06-07T16:39:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen.

The first President of Nigeria’s fourth republic lost his wife and went on to complete his term without a replacement to the office of the first lady. The second President of Nigeria’s fourth republic lost his life and his deputy who was in acting capacity has replaced him sending the immediate past first lady packing. This means that the office of the first lady is hinged on the husband’s position. There can be a president without a first lady but never will there be a first lady without a president. For those who turned the immediate past first lady into a demi god this is a lesson that the cult like status of the first lady must never be allowed to repeat it self . The funds raised by the immediate first lady for the International Cancer Centre should be handed over to a Joint Cancer Commission who should execute that project. Whether it was the so called cabal that enforced the former first lady or it was the first lady that reinforced the cabal to bring out one of the strongest conspiracy in the nation’s history, we demand an investigation into the manner the health of the late President was mismanaged and used to pursue inordinate ambitions at the expense of the generality of the populace. The disgraced attorney general who argued that the late President can rule from anywhere should defend if indeed the President can still rule from beyond. The way the hawks handled the issue of the man’s illness wiped out all the good deeds and intention of a man no one accused of corruption or other vices associated with Nigerian leaders.

“Yar’adua was a good man.” That is the verdict of most if not all Nigerians but the verdict went on to say he was surrounded by bad people. Can good wine in a dirty cup still remain hygienic for drinking? If we have to pour away the sweet but contaminated wine, we ought to go further and wash the cup or dispose it and get a clean cup; else any other wine poured will still get contaminated by the dirty cup. The Mamluks had strong power in Eygpt, in 1805 when Muhammed Ali seized power in Egypt, he saw the mamluks who once were slaves but had steadily gained control of Egypt as a major threat to his rule. He invited them to his palace for discussions over luncheon and had all of them slaughtered. The Nigerian mamluks who we know as the cabal must be slaughtered politically so that the nation will move forward.

Karol Wojtyla was 58 years old when he became the Pope John Paul ii and he went on to become one of the longest serving pontiffs in his about 26 years papacy. Yar”Adua died at just 58 years old. When Pope John Paul was sick, we all knew his illness and he was seen around the world. He changed in our very eyes from the skiing Pope to a man who walked with stick and finally on wheel chair. It got so bad that he could hardly bring his hands together while celebrating the Holy mass at the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. Yet we saw our pope and the world shared in his pains while he suffered and grieved when he died. Nigerians were not privileged to see their Presidents when he was terminally ill. The cabal held our President as a prisoner, a pun to be used in a game of chess. When Maradona was suffering from his drug induced sickness only a few years back, thousands of Argentines kept vigil in the hospital lawn praying with their lit candles, today Maradona is on his way to South Africa as the Coach of his world cup squad. Fidel Castro who led the Cuban revolution in 1959 took seriously ill and at the eve of the revolution’s 50th anniversary in 2008, he relinquished power to his brother Raul, yet Cubans see their ailing hero on national TV who has been indisposed since 2008 and read his speeches on the internet.

My faith does not allow me to believe in reincarnation even if I wanted to, but if I have a wish, it would be that the man UMY or Umaru Musa Yar’Adua reincarnates to learn all that happened in his last months on earth. How in his semi-conscious and unconscious state; his wife leading a cabal or a cabal led by his wife held him as a toy cat to call the mice to order. They played a game where a toy cat with electronic sound was used to chase the wandering mice. Each time the rats get close the sound is triggered and the rats run back only to discover the cat didn’t chase after them. That is because the cat is not real, it was just a decoy.

Nigeria does not cease to beat my fancy and Nigerians do not cease to amaze me. The late President, who got a score card of below average, nick named Mr. Go Slow, suddenly becomes a national hero. I dare say he was a good man, but as far as governance is concerned we did not see or feel the dividends. Out of the seven points agenda only Niger Delta is said to have been a success, not that it was concluded. That will be like getting half over seven; to me is a fail. The promise of 6,000 mega watts of electricity was a sham and a fraud at that. Land reforms saw Aleiro transforming from Kebbi to becoming the mayor of Abuja where choice lands were allocated to cronies. The electoral reforms committee he promised was so delayed and ultimately when the Uwais panel submitted its report; his government set up a committee under Aondoaka to tinker with the report. Little or nothing was heard about the human capital development. The dredging of the Niger was only flagged off before he was flown to Jeddah on the eve of Nigeria’s 49th Independence just to have an achievement to state during the Independence Day broadcast. The funniest was the spate of policy reversals and speeches by the man and even his aides. If we have to be sincere to ourselves, Yar’Adua did not deliver on his promises, there was no guarantee that he would have won a second term except in Nigeria where elections are not free and fair. Four years were all he had on his hands to make the impact and he had spent close to three years, about 65% of his tenure without any tangible impact. Intention to pass exam is not the same as passing the exam, he meant well but my question is; did he do well?

Now that Yar’Adua’s death has forced him into Glory, and a choir has emerged in the land singing his achievements or rather good intentions, will it be out of place to pray he reincarnates and listens to the sweet song of all the good deeds he did which have only come to limelight after his demise? In the event this is impossible; his death, his burial in a simple grave and the vanity of power should warn all the living Yar’Aduas (People in power and authority) that they only have one life to live and serve their country men and women. Their wealth and power in the final analysis do not and will not count, only their good deeds will immortalize them in the people’s hearts and give them a place in the people’s hall of fame.

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IS JONATHAN JESUS?

2010-06-07T16:38:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

We live in perilous times and as a country we are psychedelically funny. We want Jonathan to leave office in 2011; we also want Jonathan to achieve in one year what our eleven years of uninterrupted democratic rule have been unable to achieve. We want Jonathan to achieve in one year what Obasanjo could not achieve in eighth years and Yar'Adua in three years. We are celebrating eleven years of democracy but we can not boast of eleven hours of uninterrupted power supply, we can't count eleven Nigerians who can take us to the Promised Land out of a population of 140million. We are celebrating eleven years of democracy and we can not boast of eleven states who can survive independent of oil revenue despite all the abundant non oil resources in Nigeria. We are celebrating eleven years of uninterrupted democracy and we can not tame our inflation to eleven percent or below.

Here is a man who never dreamt of becoming a President, by accident rather than by design he became the man at the helm of the affairs, do we expect he will address the problems of this country by accident also? If Obasanjo and Yar'Adua both members of PDP could not salvage the situation even though they sought to be elected or imposed, do we honestly expect Jonathan who did not seek election to salvage us? Are we expecting anything different or better from this Jonathan who is also a member of PDP? If the party had the country at heart, are we not supposed to have achieved more as a nation in these eleven years of PDP rule? This goes to tell that we do not have serious political parties in Nigeria, because if we do and they have their party manifestoes we wont be expecting anything radically different from Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

It took Obasanjo eight years to mess up our educational system with incessant strikes from the tertiary down to primary levels and we think Jonathan can spring up miracles in a year? It took Obasanjo eight years to toy with the power and oil sectors reforms and we seriously expect Jonathan to perform magic in one year? It took Yar’Adua three years to rigmarole with his electoral reforms and now we believe Jonathan must ensure credible elections based on electoral reforms in one year; Is Jonathan Jesus? It took Jesus three years to complete his public ministry on earth.

Jonathan's one year is more of an interim or transit rule; unless he decides to stand for President in 2011, which many of us are not disposed to. However every Nigerian above 18 years has the right to vote and be voted; it therefore is his sole decision to contest or not. But if we as a people think Jonathan can fix our problems in one year then we are flippant in our thoughts as a nation. Jonathan is not Jesus and we can not expect much from him in this one year. All we expect of him is to keep the ship of this nation on steady waters and not throw our nation into more confusion by attempting to do everything to please everybody especially the elites. He should be prudent in the management of our dwindling resources and accountable to the ordinary men and women especially at a time when the oil wealth is depleting at an astronomically rate.

The best gift we can give ourselves as a people is to stand for change, make our votes count and make sure only credible Nigerians are voted into power come 2011. Whoever we truly give our mandate to rule in the next four years, we can now expect them to deliver on the promises made to the electorate. Until then Jonathan is not Jesus and we can’t expect him to perform magic either. Even Jesus is a miracle worker and not a magician. We would be expecting magic from Jonathan if we hope to have all our problems fixed in one year by one man who hitherto did not have a national plan to rescue Nigeria.Even with his penchant for architects (Vice President, Minister of Mines and Steel, Minister of State for Power) can he build Rome in a day? Remember the elites and not the electorate made Jonathan the President and that is evident in his romance with the ex generals and political gladiators.

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THE ENDANGERED SPECIE

2010-06-07T16:34:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen

I am the endangered specie, billions of naira is spent trying to conserve wild life and forestry but little is set aside to conserve me. I am writing this letter with urgency because I may have become extinct by this time next year. I am the endangered specie, in an era where my equals in other parts of the world are getting better attention and quality treatment. Now more than ever I am a target of pedophiles, an object of rape, an item of domestic violence, an article of less national value.

I am the endangered specie, I eat hunger for dinner and drink thirst at lunch, malaria is the only companion I have ;though billions is spent to roll back malaria, the only person who gets rolled is me. Daily I am rolled into life of starvation, deprivation and violence. I am privileged to go to a health centre manned by quacks and I got enrolled some years back into a ghetto called school. In my school the teachers were never students or they were students who didn’t pass their exams; however they are all that could be hired since my situation is a pitiable one.

I want to read but hunger blobs my sight only for me to fail and the blame is put on the standard of education. I have looked every where for standard of education to ask it why it makes me fail but the more I search for it the more I see the faces of the government officials who sent their children to schools abroad with the budget meant for our local education.

I am the endangered specie, I would have loved to send in an entry for this years Children’s day celebration but I suddenly realized that I have failed my exams in advance because our curriculum is either not convenient for the kind of children in my country or my country is not committed to the curriculum. I suddenly realized that our leaders prefer a set of hungry, sick and uneducated children because they hate the idea that we may grow up to step into their big shoes. They prefer we do not grow healthily so that our legs will remain small and unable to fit into their shoes. They are happy when we keep failing exams, a justification of their teething hold on the jaws of our common wealth.

I just wrote an essay meant to be read at this year’s children’s’ day but I have a filling that my legislators are only interested in sharing constituency projects money for their avarice and the civil servants have become the civil gods. The judges are heating my small head with their gavels while the big thieves get patted for introducing dynamism to looting.

I am the endangered specie, our blackboards are so white that we can no more see what the chalk writes, I hawk on the streets and I am being hawked. Those who once lived their childhood to the fullest now deny me the innocence of childhood. I am raped, I am orphaned, I am exploited, I am denied basic amenities, and I am the endangered specie. I am the Nigerian child. Happy children’s day indeed!

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WRITING ON MY WALL

2010-06-07T16:29:00.001+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

Ø It has been eleven years since I started cleaning the dirt on my wall. I am cleaning my wall to erase all the old writings that dotted the wall over a period of thirty nine years. Hard as I clean, I am not making the desired progress I ought to. Could it be that the old writings on my wall have so stuck that no amount of cleaning will wipe them away, or is it that I clean slower than the writings that keep cropping?

Ø I need to have a clean wall; I need space on my wall to write quality health, affordable and decent accommodation, controlled inflation, optimal employment level, macro economic stability, good and motor able roads, and security. I need more space to write child care and protection, credible electoral process, stable power supply, adequate water supply, alternative revenue generation, refined petroleum products, religious harmony, youth and women empowerment.

Ø If I can clean all the previous rusty and dirty writings I will be able to write more of qualitative education, transparency and accountability, civil liberties, rule of law, dignity of human hood, national pride, agricultural revolution, balance of payments equilibrium, sound judicial and legal system. If I do not wipe my wall fast and clean enough how can I guarantee constitutional reforms and fundamental human rights? I need enough space to write on my wall. But the old writings clean slower and the most antagonizing is the little I clean, the more the old writings spring up. I still see rape after cleaning for eleven years, someone wrote poverty after all my efforts of cleaning this long. An enemy wrote religious crisis and genocide, robbery and rituals, women and child trafficking. How fast can I clean my wall when as I clean the fifth columnists write the old ways faster than I?

Ø It has been eleven years of cleaning my wall, do not write on my wall to enable me finish. If you must write, please do not write drug abuse, cultism, child marriage, exponential inflation of contracts. Please do not write exam malpractices, election rigging, advance fee fraud, money laundering. Help save my wall by not writing kidnapping, oil spillage, gas flaring, fuel scarcity . Do not bring the word discrimination on my wall neither should you bring hunger again to my wall nor bribery and corruption. I have been cleaning my wall for the past eleven years after it was messed up in the previous thirty nine years. I am about spending fifty years with a wall that I can not be proud of .Kindly spare me the troubles and pains of abortion, infant and mother mortality, mass illiteracy exam failure, prostitution, violence against women and children or slavery.

Ø I am so exhausted from eleven years of cleaning and writing on my wall. Give me some water and food, I need light to work all night and meet my target. Give me space to clean and write on my wall. If you must write on my wall do not write any of those words I am cleaning. Write prosperity, write self sufficiency, write development, write peace, write hope, write genuine DEMOCRACY! Eleven years of writing on my wall; I want the world to see the results and not excuses.

LETTER TO HEAVEN

2010-05-06T12:05:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters- Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

Our father in heaven I want to pray but I am not a Pentecostal prayer warrior, I want to sing like the psalmist but my vocal cords are not good for singing. All I can do is to pray in writing and write as if I am singing. There is no telephone to heaven so how do I dial your number and no post office box either. But I know you are ever present and ever living, my prayer or song when written will get to you and my prayers will be answered.

Our Father in heaven; you told us your kingdom will come, but the evil men keep chasing us away from that kingdom or keep diverting that kingdom to their pockets and offshore accounts. Is it just that millions should be denied your kingdom because some selected brigands have laid siege on our inheritance?

Our father in heaven; you taught us to ask for this day and with faith in you we only seek for this day. We live for this day and want to fend for our families for this day, but daily we lack for this day because the greedy ones have since days gone by appropriated the days ahead for themselves upfront. They took our day and are even taking all the days yet to come leaving us helpless and hopeless. Our daily bread they have accumulated to their ever bread. We toil and get more impoverished; they belched on the fruits of our labour while we keep praying for this day which they have already stolen.

Our father in heaven, how can we forgive them their trespasses when they are not working towards emancipating us from economic slavery? We ask you to forgive us the sins we commit to ensure we survive their wickedness. Punish them since they are the real brains behind our sins and father, for us to be sinless the evil men must be purged.

Our father in heaven; they have more than led us into temptation. They are pushing us to steal our own porridge because it is not made available to all. They have led us to tell lies proclaiming their lordships to get crumbs from their tables. We scramble for crumbs from the bread they steal daily from us.

Our father; kindly delivers us from evil and we know who they are. We can not be delivered from evil when the outlive us. We can only be delivered from evil if you kill them for us father. Father, I do not imply you are a murderer because to kill an evil man is not murder. Ten good men have never caused misery to one bad man, but one bad man can cause miseries to million men. Should a few evil men live for millions to suffer?

Our father in heaven I am not a Pharisee, neither am I a tax collector. I am worse than the hybrid of these two. I am a Nigerian at the brink of extinction. Save us lord from the smiling evil men and the frowning evil men alike. Protect us from the wicked people who play chess with our destiny as a nation and a people. Those who wasted our today must not waste again our tomorrow.

In your most Holy name I pray. Amen.

14042010

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“MADE FOR NIGERIAN ROADS”

2010-05-06T11:51:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters- Wakdok,Samuel Stephen.

If we looked back at the history of advertisements in Nigeria, can we still remember the Peugeot advert of about 22- 25 years ago? “Made for Nigerian Roads.”
Peugeot was definitely one of the best brands you could find then in Nigeria among the likes of Volvo, Benz, Fiat, Passat, Land Rover etc. Toyota was still relatively alien and Honda had barely graduated from manufacturing motorcycles and generators.

The advert looked great on TV especially with all the GLs, GRs, SRs, brands of Peugeot 405,504,505 and the ultimate 505 Peugeot Evolution. I recalled seeing brand new Peugeots cruising in the adverts on TV and Newspapers while they sold for as low as N79, 000.00 as recent as 1989. The advert then made a lot of sense and it was a selling point for PAN that their cars were strong and rugged enough for our roads. In retrospect I want to interpret that advert as either an insult on the Nigerian nation that we needed such rugged cars for our bad roads, or I rather euphemistically say the advert should have been a wake up call for the various agencies of government saddled with providing roads and other critical infrastructure to have read in between the lines. Funny enough this was a period when we had DFRRI (Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure) under the Babangida regime running concurrently with the Federal ministry of works and housing on one hand and the various states ministries of works and housing on the other.

Today, we have FERMA (Federal Road Maintenance Agency) and the works ministries but that Peugeot advert is gone. I would have been happy if that advert was obliterated on the ground that Nigerian roads do not need an advert for rugged cars. I would have been happier if as Honda and Toyota were taking over the Nigerian and world automobile markets, Nigerian roads were gradually been transformed. I would have been happiest if Peugeot which way back found the winning formula to be the king of Nigerian roads had no need of improving their brand since our roads not only became deadlier but unable to be fixed; even with all the gulf war oil windfalls of 1991 and the N300 billion naira of Mr. ‘Fix It’. Paradoxically, Peugeot went into Research and Development to come up with 406, 306,206,307,407 and 607.Where as Peugeot like other automobile manufacturers saw the need for innovation and transformation, Nigeria saw no need to improve upon her roads or other infrastructure.

If we walked and drove on rugged roads during the Peugeot advert, we now drive on death traps a quarter of a century after. If we walked on untarred roads to schools during DFRRI and the famous Peugeot advert, we now hop on refuse dumps and pot holes in the era of FERMA and exotic cars. The pitiable news is this, if Peugeot saw the need to use steel and durable spare parts during the life span of their “built for Nigerian roads” adverts because there was care for standard and safety, they are now driven by competition, innovation and efficiency of factors of production to use fibre. If cost went down, then standards also went down. If our roads went from bad to worse, then the quality of cars on the road nose dived too. But they cared less because very few Nigerians asides government agencies can afford the brand new Peugeot automobiles as we have become a Tokunbo Nation, a pack of Cotonou Drivers, and a proud set of Belgium car owners. The unvarnished truth is that Peugeot does not care to run adverts on papers and TV anymore, because they can no longer describe the state of the Nigerian roads either in print or graphics. If they now attempt to measure their comparative advantage by the level of Nigerian roads as a competitive edge; their international certification may be withdrawn because our roads have attained a negative status.

Major General A. A. Adisa (RTD) a former works Minister died in a motor accident as a result of bad roads; you may call that the law of retributive Justice. But what about the countless Nigerians prominent and classless who have died per minute on our roads? Innocent school children have been killed by reckless drivers who are products of a notorious road regime in Nigeria. The condition of Nigerian roads have become so terrible that we no longer go through driving schools to obtain our driver’s licenses, there are as many unqualified drivers as the unsafe un-motor able roads that dot all corners and cross all highways in Nigeria. Last week the Chairman of FERMA asserts that one trillion naira is needed to fix Nigerian roads. All the hundreds of billions of naira hitherto earmarked for the roads have worsened (but bulged pockets and accounts) rather than alleviate the situation. And the most recent casualty of the Nigerian road is Hajiya Fatima Ibrahim, the former Minster of Energy in charge of Power at the commencement of Yar’adua’s regime.

I can’t tell which of these will be harder for Peugeot to achieve. Get another slogan for a new advert that will surpass the old one which boasts: “Built for Nigerian Roads” or really manufacture cars that will withstand the oddities of the present state of Nigerian roads which they were able to achieve in the time past? Funny enough Nigerians are now born and like the Peugeot cars of yore made for Nigerian roads and that is why many more Nigerians are dying on Nigerian roads.

07042010
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THE DIARY OF A CREDO KID

2010-05-06T11:31:00.000+01:00

CredoWritersBy: Wakdok,Samuel Stephen

My dad does not keep a diary but I am not my dad. I can only want to be like him in ways I can; yet I am myself, a different person even if just a baby and so in my less than three months on earth I keep a diary; my own diary.

I was surprised to be born in a private or call it catholic hospital when I came to find out that my uncle works in a teaching hospital. Since a teaching hospital is a tertiary health provider I expected to get the best but I was more surprised to hear that Uncle Besto as he is fondly called warned my dad against having me delivered in their teaching hospital. Why? I asked; my uncle does not trust the facilities in government hospitals where he works. They may have the best brains but the facilities and services may not be able to match his confidence level and he wants the best for me as his nephew.

Shortly after my mum was delivered of me, just less than fourteen hours later to be specific, Jos caught fire and the scene where it all started was just less than 2 kilometers from my hospital bed and my mum had not even fully recovered from the anesthesia. The tanks rolled beside my wall and though I was less than a day old, I was not expected to hear or make sounds, I heard the sounds of war and the war is taking a heavy toll on humanity. I will love to skip the horrors of March 7, 2010 where children and women were made to face the inhumanity of man to man at a genocidal proportion. Funny enough my mum took me on a flight as if to Egypt when Herod wanted to kill the baby Jesus. She has refused to go back to the city my dad loves most in the world because the world has become unsafe even for harmless and innocent children and women, perhaps I now know that the innocents are the most vulnerable.

I am a baby, but the power situation has taught me how to sweat like an iron smith. I stare at the bulbs so much when PHCN manage to supply electricity or when daddy puts on the generator. I hear noise but the light which illuminates from the noise making machine over shadows the noise, unfortunately my dad spends money buying fuel to just give us few hours light at night. For the very few times the power comes on, I skip my sleep to stare at that beautiful but evading brightness and the breeze from the fan can be so soothing, I only wish we can have power always.

Sadly, my maternal grand father died after a brief illness in a government hospital, they were proud to inform my mourning family as they must have been doing to others that the mortuary is not working. A doctor class mate of my uncle was bold to tell my dad that since she came to that hospital; the mortuary has never worked that she knows of. Alas; I now understand uncle Besto’s fear about my mum giving birth to me in their teaching hospital which is government owned. In Nigeria there is either no effective government or there is a government cartel run along family and business lines and the rest outside this alliance are left to fend for themselves in anyway and every way even if to the point of death. When we traveled for the interment I saw the state of roads and I will need to grow older to be able to describe the condition of these roads in my diary, for now I will keep the pictures of what I saw in the fatigue my small body and bones went through.

My aunties and mum told my dad how I watch TV with keen interest even at my tender age; my dad dismissed them as exaggerating the scenario. Last night when the generator powered TV was on, I saw the only ex-military President concurring to speculations that he would contest the 2011 presidential election on the platform of the PDP. My dad was furious because he believes Nigeria got its descent into abyss during the evil reign of IBB and he is so mad that people are even considering IBB for presidency in 2011. IBB was the man who looted the treasury like no one before him ever did and he opened the gateway to Nigeria’s hell. If IBB had used his executive military power, the abundant oil wealth and his 8 years of tenaciously holding to power to build roads, refineries and power plants, the level of infrastructural decay witnessed now will never have happened. IBB politicized the military by giving political appointments to junior officers who were called IBB boys at the expense of their superiors. These same junior officers would later return to the barracks with millions and exotic cars and were expected to take orders from their superiors? He stirred the hornet’s nest by sneaking a secular Nigeria into the organization of Islamic countries. So much time was wasted on debating the IMF conditionalities while the citizens vehemently rejected it, IBB went behind their back to introduce the structural adjustment programme. He undid the best election and called it annulment, my dad is really mad that IBB could even dare to think of coming back. But in Nigeria the evil minded have always held the country to ransom.

I was born at a time that Nigeria had no resident President, the hullabaloo of making the then Vice President to act was tearing the nation apart, eventually when the pressure became unbearable the National Assembly introduced the doctrine of necessity into the polity and proclaimed the VP as AP( Acting President). The controversial Attorney General was promptly relegated to the delight of most Nigerians. After the Executive council of the federation was dissolved hopes were high that a new council would comprise of dynamic visionaries and experts, hopes seemed dashed when most of the new members are either recycled or come from families with ties to those who have milked this nation dry.

I love my Spanish name even though I wonder why my dad gave me the name Salvador which reminds people of the Mexican soap opera titled Second Chance. However he argues that he had that name in mind years before he got married or even came across the soap opera. My name can be translated to mean saviour or rescuer. Apparently Nigeria needs a second chance and Nigerians need to become the saviours and rescuers of themselves. This can only be done when we all stand for the right cause and sacrifice our inordinate ambitions for the glory of truth and country. Babies like me must grow to know what is right and not just anything. Above all the country must be given a new lease of life by allowing the new breeds an opportunity to enter the arena. Enough of the same old names of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. Let us take a cue from the Tony Blairs, Gordon Browns and David Camerons of the Britain, the Bill Clintons and Barrack Obamas of United States. Yesterday, the youths were the leaders of tomorrow. The youths of yesterday should be the leaders of today so that the youth of today may be the leaders tomorrow.

I am a credo kid and I believe that we will make it. But the nation will make it only when our elders set their priorities rights and leave the stage for the new breed to continue. Continuity does not have to remain with the individual; continuity is only guaranteed if the system has the capacity to regenerate irrespective of individuals. What is needed is for the institutional capacities to be strengthened and guaranteed and not for power to keep rotating among old hands and fagged brains .No individual should be too powerful to hold the system captive and no system should be so inefficient to make millions of people suffer in a nation blessed with abundant resources both natural and human.

The candle I am using to write is almost burning out and I am sweating profusely, I would have loved to have a cold bath but my mum says it must be with hot water since I am still a baby. The water is almost boiling she needs to fix it with some cold water but the tap is not running. I guess she has gone out to look for water vendors or mai-ruwa as they call them. Here I sit writing in my diary and my dad is held up in the traffic after a hard day at work. Things must change for the better before I grow up so that life may be more meaningful for us in this nation.

FOREVER AND A DAY

2010-03-06T19:04:00.001+01:00

FOREVER AND A DAY

(1)

CredoFiction- Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

She is sexy, voluptuous, and dangerously beautiful. Exactly as I have always wished my lady to be. She brings all the passion and fantasy of my teenage years to life. I have always wanted to meet and fall in love with the most beautiful woman who will make heads turn on the street and even in the church. I have loved to have a woman that will make any man jealous. And also to have a lady who is hospitable and friendly to all.

I had a very busy schedule for the day; the appointment with the consultants was finally scheduled to hold today after about three postponements. As the lead partner in my architectural firm, this was the kind of contract I have always dreamed of. Once we successfully execute this contract and the sum is paid, I am sure of making triple digits which will launch me and the firm to unimaginable heights. The beauty of the design alone will earn us more business and I am very sure that this is just the beginning of our ----

Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Tyres screeching

I was so buried in my thoughts that I didn’t see the other car coming from left side of the road; before I could turn to see the car I had quickly maneuvered my car to avoid hitting the other car. I couldn’t imagining getting involved in any accident today of all days when I am about sealing this life changing deal and clinching the contract. As I swerved my steering to avoid hitting the other car, there was no way I would know that I had left the road and had hit my car against a broken down vehicle. Before I could rescue myself out of my car the other driver who caused all these quickly drove away.

I assessed my car to see the extent of the damage, luckily no injury to me or any other person, but this would surely delay me as my radiator was already empty, it gave way when I hit the stationary vehicle. I have just an option – take a cab to the meeting because I cannot afford to miss it at any cost.

“Oh no I am sorry, it is a pity you got involved in this but can we be grateful to God for your life?” Came one of the sweetest voice I have ever heard. As I turned to look at the owner of the voice I saw a face more beautiful. She was dressed in a casual but decent top and jean. Yet from her clothe I could see her feminity peeping out. I was still looking for my voice to respond to her concern when she moved closer and asked me if I was okay.

“I am Suzanna. How do we get you and your car out of this situation?”

My name is Felix was all I could stutter as her breathe enveloped the atmosphere.

I looked at my wrist watch and saw that I only had 15 minutes to the meeting. How long with it take my mechanic to get to the scene? Unless I decide to leave the car on the road since going late for that meeting was not thinkable.

She seemed to have read my thoughts and asked me what I was going to do.

“Suzanna, I have this urgent and very important meeting to attend and I have less than 15 minutes …

She cut me short before I could finish and asked for the venue of the meeting. Apparently she lives not far away from the scene of the accident. She put a call through to her driver and when he came she offered to drive me to the venue of my meeting. Her driver would wait until my mechanic comes to take my car to his workshop.

We talked less as we drove to the venue, she guessed rightly that I needed to calm down and regain my composure and I was grateful to her for both the ride and the silence. I travelled back to my thoughts and was oscillating between the beauty beside me who came to my rescue and the project I was looking for to clinch. We got to the venue on schedule and as I was alighting from her car, I bent down to pick my laptop; she reached out and touched one of my shoulders asking me when I would be through with the meeting.

All I could tell her “it is a business meeting and I can’t determine how long it would take. But immediately we are through I will take a taxi to my mechanic’s since I hope he would have been through with my car by that time.”

I was so happy that I made it to the meeting on time and I lacked words to express my appreciation. I quickly put my hand into my pocket and fished out my card and passed it to her. I thanked her for saving my day rushed away before I realized I didn’t collect her card. I ran back to her car and asked for her card which she didn’t have in the car but promised to text me her number since I was in a hurry.

I clinched the project deal and I was elated. That was when I realized that her text had not come in and all the euphoria of hundreds of millions in naira fizzled because I want to see Suzanna again. She made it possible for me to be punctual at the meeting and the money gave way for the quest of seeing her eyes again and listen to that sweet voice of hers.

So much has happened in one day and it seems it will take me a life time to forget the money I will make and the lady who came to my aid.

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FOREVER AND A DAY

(2)

CredoFiction- Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

Luckily when I got to the mechanic’s garage he had fixed the car. I was hoping if the Suzanna’s driver dropped his GSM number with my mechanic but he answered in the negative. I paid for the job and zoomed off. Already my office colleagues were calling to congratulate me on this quantum leap and we were billed to celebrate this big feet at the Zest; one of the newest joints in town. I drove home to have a quick shower and change into something casual. Much as I was overjoyed from the success of our contract and was so enthusiastic to share the pleasurable moment with my partners and colleagues, I notice that I was thinking more of Suzanna than the jack pot we just hit. Life! Is this how it is that we crave for something and when we get it we crave for something more? In the afternoon of this day until the sudden car crash and my meeting with Suzanna; all I longed for was to clinch the deal which we just did, but now there is this feeling of wanting something intangible. Every sms that hits my cell phone gives me hope of her number coming in only to be dashed when I see a client or a friend’s text.

In the heat of that accident and the rush to make the meeting, I didn’t realize that the phone in my hand is the new one I bought with a new SIM and this new number is not on my card. I must have left the other phone on my table when I dashed out this afternoon. I hurriedly changed and drove to the office, on my way I tried calling my secretary severally but her line was not connecting. When I got to my office I saw her text and several missed calls from that line. As I was trying to call her back another text of hers came in

Felix, I came back to pick you but I was told the meeting was over. I called many times but you were not picking. I hope your meeting went as planned. Try fixing your car and get some rest. Sue.”

I stood there transfixed, undecided; should I call her and get her address or go ahead to the Zest where my colleagues and I will be celebrating?

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FOREVER AND A DAY

(3)

CredoFiction- Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

I have always stood by my principles of not mixing business with pleasure and since the outing at the Zest is a continuation of our business victory, I owe my colleagues the duty of been there. Calling Suzanna will tempt me to want to meet her tonight and I wouldn’t want to risk standing up my colleagues.

When I got to the Zest, the enthusiasm of my partners was high, I was glad I didn’t keep them waiting any longer. We had drinks, ate enough meat and talked about our fortune and the fame that will come with it. We agreed that this is just the beginning and we must put more efforts to surpass our client’s expectation as that will open more doors for us all. Thankfully today is Friday and as such we can all rest tomorrow being Saturday. I needed the rest more than any one can imagine.

It was a long night for me, I tried severally but Sue’s line was switched off. I wanted to thank her on voice call apart from the text I sent when I was at the Zest. I was so exasperated that I should have slept like a log but this night sleep was not forthcoming. I couldn’t imagine how beautiful and sweet she was, I was grateful for her saving grace but most of it my heart began to travel and I want to meet her tomorrow, no tonight, no; right now. I wish she was here with me. I want to stare into those eyes and listen again to that voice. All the money I will make will not make any sense, not any more. I have suddenly found out that my fantasy has a face, my passion has a name, and my dream is real.

I struggled to sleep that night and since I was so fagged out, sleep came at about 3 am and I did not know when it was day break. I dragged myself to the bathroom and had a cold bath to clear off the fatigue. I could hear the beep of my cell phone and I was happy when her text came in. She turned in early for the night and she usually switches her phone. I called her and thanked her for the previous day’s kindness. She agreed to see me later in the day and I was so excited, I could only hold myself from screaming on the phone and wait for the time. Since my car was now in order, I offered to pick her but she declined and we agreed on meeting at La Ayisha, a cool spot not far from where we met the previous day. If she was beautiful yesterday, she is stunningly beautiful today. If she was sexy yesterday she is unethically tempting today. She smelled so sweet I felt like devouring her. I stood mesmerized at the sight of such a beauty that I did not even open my mouth to greet her.

“Felix, it is good to see you again. How are you today?”

I was jolted back to life when I heard my name.

We talked about a lot of things and by the end of that lunch, it was obvious that a friendship has been struck, but deep in my heart I knew that a day alone with this exquisite lady will not calm my nerves. I have always prided myself as a guy with self control, ladies do not accelerate my heart beat.I know that I am goodlooking, full of brains and sweet words and always in charge when it comes to matters of the heart; but here I am staring at my heart slipping away and should I be glad to let it go?

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FOREVER AND A DAY

(4)

CredoFiction- Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

“Felix, you know it has been wonderful knowing you. I just do not go about throwing my self at men. With you it was different, the first day I saw you I couldn’t pretend to myself, it was obvious I liked you and I showed it.”

“But I can not jump into another relationship now,I have not healed from the past relationship. Tony is a nice man, he did not break my heart;though I was hurt by his decision, I perfectly understand his reason.”

I have spoken all the words I can,yet she remained adamant. She is not ready to dare more than been friends. How can I tell what Tony did to her unless she tells me?

“Darling you know I love you, but I am sorry this thing can not work.It is not your fault and neither is it mine. The only blame I take is not bringing this up earlier, and that was because I was so consumed by our love and your sweetness that I did not think anything could come between us but sweet heart this is beyond us and you know it”

“Tony, where do you want me to start from? How do you want me to go on living , I love you and with you all that I am is in your heart.”

“Suzanna, yes I know all these;I love you and that is why I am asking you to let go. All that is not love ,that does not begin with love and end with love.”

“Tony is it my fault that both of us are carriers?”

“I didn’t say it was yours and I will be devastated too, but I know so much than to let us get into this. The future is longer than today, I want to save us all the problems that may arise which you know will not be in our control.”

“You have always confessed your love for me, remember how difficult it was for me to accept your overtures because I hate risking my heart. Eventually when you persisted and I saw how serious you were , I gave in and ever since I have loved you like I do to my soul.”

“It is because I love you that I am risking my life’s happiness to give us an opportunity to live happily. Loving you today will be useless if we can not remain in love forever.”

“What will stop us from loving always? If we love and love the way we do now, we can always stand what ever comes our way.Please Tony do not do this to me.”

I could see the mist in her eyes, I wanted to tell her to stop but I needed to know what she had suffered and why she is not forthcoming in opening her heart to another man.

“Suzanna, it takes a man that really loves you to give you up. If I am selfsih now, we all will suffer later. You, the kids and I.Take this as a sacrifice and evidence of my love. You will be hurt but that is because you are naïve now .”

FOREVER AND A DAY

(5)

CredoFiction- Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

“I loved him, I felt like dying but life has to gone on. I withdrew into my shell. My dad was the Defense Attache to Mexico, I resigned my job at MTN and went to Mexico for a while to get over Tony. There I read and learnt more about Tony’s fear.

Hitherto, I took it for granted. Apart from treating it in a topic in senior school biology I didn’t bother much about sickle cell anemia. I went back to dig some books about this subject that has caused me the greatest pain of my life. I was born into an aristocratic home, I am beautiful and they also said I have a stunning figure; men hardly give me a break even when Tony was all over me.

Sickle cell anemia is a genetic life-long blood disorder which is occurs mostly in the tropics where malaria is common. It is characterized by the red blood cells assuming an abnormal rigid sickle shape. Tissues that do not have a normal blood flow become damaged. Sickle cell anemia is inherited. If one parent has Sickle Cell Anemia (AS) and the other is Normal (AA), all of the children will have sickle cell trait.

If one parent has Sickle Cell Anemia (SS) and the other has Sickle Cell Trait (AS), there is a 50% chance (or 1 out of 2) of having a baby with either sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait with each pregnancy.

When both parents have Sickle Cell Trait, they have a 25% chance (1 of 4) of having a baby with sickle cell disease with each pregnancy.

“Tony and I happened to have the traits meaning we both are AS and that was the waterloo of our love relationship. Because I didn’t bother to know my genotype earlier, we never talked about it until almost three years into our relationship when Tony brought it up. He had a friend whose kids were suffering from the disease and the parents watched helpless as two of their children died. They made frantic efforts to save the kids through blood transfusion and other means, but there is no universal cure for sickle cell anemia.”

As she spoke I was astonished. I do not even know my own genotype. I have never cared all I know is that my blood group is A+.

My world stopped for a moment as I try to think what next to do. Rush to have a test of course; but my fear grew. After her experience with Tony and what she now knows about the disease, she swore that she is so grateful to Tony for saving her and their unborn kids from the risk of sickle cell and she will not even go into any relationship if the man has the trait or where he is ignorant of his genotype.

I was under so much pressure that I could not imagine what the result of my test will be. If I was a carrier like her will I live a normal life again without this lady full of life and sweetness? She is sexy, voluptuous, and dangerously beautiful. Exactly as I have always wished my lady to be and now I am loosing her to one senseless biological trait the way she lost Tony? We both waited in silence as the laboratory technologist walked out with my result, my eyes closed themselves and all the laughter in this world seem to evaporate right before me.

Epilogue

Suzanna and Felix have never stopped talking about the way they met and how they narrowly missed falling in love because of sickle cell anemia. Interestingly they both concur that it was so helpful they found out about their genotype before getting committed and thank heavens Felix’s genotype happened to be AA after the test results came out. They did two more tests to be very sure and Suzanna has never been this happy. She lost Tony but was glad she met Felix. Their wedding bells are already ringing and they have set up an NGO to educate people about the importance of knowing their Genotype and the help they will be doing themselves and their would- be children if they took informed decisions of not marrying themselves if they suffer or carry the traits. They are also opening access to therapies that will limit the pains and sufferings of those suffering from it.

Love is beautiful but sickle cell anemia in children may shatter that love when we marry blindly.

“I love you Felix and I will never let go of you my King.”

“Sue, you are my Pearl, my heart beat and my all; I am dangerously in love with you my Queen”

She is exquisitely beautiful and I am grateful to have her, to live with her for a day is to live forever.

Dedication:

To Jordan and all the products of love whose parents were ignorant of their Genotype status or the love was so strong when they found to let go.

AA + AA= AA,AA, AA,AA=Excellent

AA+AS=AA,AA,AA,AS= Good

AS+AS= AA,AS,AS,SS= Not Good

Note- The probability is the chances of occurrence in every pregnancy and not in the total number of children.

AS+SS= No

SS+SS= Not at all

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Just Like Yesterday -One Year Wedding Anniversary

2010-03-06T18:59:00.001+01:00

CredoWriters:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen

Just Like Yesterday

It was like a dream, can you believe that I just woke up yesterday-02-2010 to find out it was one year since I lost my bachelors and my wife got her masters, one year since we got married? One year of frustration or happiness? One year of regrets or accomplishment. It was one year and the second year has begun counting again.

I recall those years when we were single. We belonged to different schools. As a single I was sure in the luv skool but I was also in the OBB gang (Original Bad Boys) and been in these two schools at a go made it mandatory for me to be in the Heart Break Academy. We knew then that heart break was the sweetest thing to do but the worst thing when you are on the receiving end. I remember one of my female friends telling me that She knows I was not ready to surrender my independence to any woman. So marriage is all about surrendering one's independence huh?hahahahahaha

But sometimes what do we need that independence for? We mostly need it for our freedom. Yet Freedom without responsibility is anarchy. So if marriage means placing responsibility on us to make us better people then it is worth it. That is the truth, Marriage is an eternal union; we go into it never to come out of it and that's what makes us responsible. To know the task ahead, to go into it and stick to it like the stamp.

I know people who were almost ten years my senior when I was in primary school, today I am one year in the institution but they are still single. It takes courage to take the bold step, and maturity to acknowledge the challenges, but it takes commitment to make it work. We can possess the three; courage, maturity and commitment.

One year is so short for me to teach others the lessons so I allow people like Precious,Ayo,Stella and Gabriel to do that. But for the singles who are not ready, please do not rush, and for those who are dragging, please procrastination is the thief of time.

I can't answer the question of what should you consider in choosing a life partner. I have come to understand that no reason is parochial as long as you can live with your decision. If you want to marry a beautiful sexy woman, please go ahead, if your desire is a rich handsome man, please feel free to get one. If you want a friend or a lover or a friend and a lover; that is beautiful. If you want a man to play a fatherly role in your life, look for one and if you want the President's daughter please do no hesitate. The major thing that matters is this ;go for your heart desire and live with it.

Marriage is a cross and a cross we must carry with joy, because without a cross there will be no crown. All I can tell you is do not carry a cross bigger than you or more than your strength will allow you. This is applicable to physical size, emotional worries, psychological stress and even financial liabilities. If you are slim and she is big, it is okay as long as you are strong. What I am talking about here not your spouse's proportion but your own capacity.

Marriage is not for the saints alone if not, only people in heaven will marry, and it is not for the sinners alone if not, only those in hell will marry. It is for saints and sinners which is what makes us human. We fall and we rise. There must be room for compassion and forgiveness in marriage. The best solution to your marital issues lie in your home, lies within the two of you and no more. She may not be the best, he may not be the best but you two can be your world. The best advice of all I got when I married was from an uncle. he said to me that anytime my wife annoys me, I should just go out and take a walk , I must not respond to my wife in anger. To me he said the best of them all. It is better to be patient, tolerant and if need be play the fool than to be the man and apply damage control later. The damage may be beyond control.

Marriage is sweet where love is served, but sometimes love is like the invisible forces of demand and supply which may tend towards perfect elasticity or inelasticity. In such circumstances we need the currency of friendship to bail it out and ensure stabilization.

For those of us who used to be in the OBB gang and Heart Academy, it is time we accepted the fact that we are no more boys and it is also a fortune for the girls that the bad boys have been taken out even if it is just me or two or three of us. I must warn the guys though that there are also the-girls out there who are razors to the pockets, they are few when we compare to the erasers who will clean off our blunders.

To all my brothers and sisters in the game, I say a big well-done and more grease because the elbow will not find it easy, for those discouraged who think it is hard, we can not be cowards, we must face our challenges and we will come out tops.

For those disappointed by their partners, do not loose faith, God has a better spouse for you. For those suffering from indecision, calm down, cool down and take charge. I am more concerned about all those who fear marriage because they can not trust or they are not trustworthy. All those who are scared because their hearts are too fragile. All those who are too beautiful to obey a man or too proud to respect their women.

When I wake up and stare at my son, I feel so great that if this is all I have achieved in my life time, then I can not be a failure. Do not get me wrong, marriage is not all about having children. For those who are still seeking the fruit of the womb God will make everything beautiful in his time, for now enjoy other fruits of marriage like love, happiness, companionship etc.

All I can say is :Thank you Lord for what you have done to us and what you are doing. It was just like yesterday but more than a year gone by

So long !!!

Freedom-Yes-Freedom!

2010-03-06T18:53:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.
18-02-2010

“I will not be a slave to another man, and no man will be a slave to me”-Abraham Lincoln.

Freedom! One word that I have never bothered myself to write about, yet the very idea that we live for and will die for if need be. I know that freedom is a word said and used by billions across the world. Freedom is that which we seek and many have died for, yet we fight for freedom because we can’t live without it. I once asked if we preferred to live as hungry free men or live as wed fed slaves. What stops us from living as just free men because for me to live as a hungry free man is the same thing as been a slave. There is no freedom in hunger just as there is no freedom in been a well fed slave.

Freedom covers all the length and breadth of our lives as individuals and as a people. We seek freedom, but freedom from what and freedom to do what? Children want freedom to play, teenagers want freedom to explore, and adults want freedom to misbehave. Families want freedom to grow, religions need freedom of practice and to convert, companies need freedom to make more profits and even to expand, employees want freedom to earn more ,men want freedom to cheat and women want freedom to experiment. Serious nations want freedom to develop and in many cases to exploit the resources of more endowed but less developed states.

There are many types of freedom. Physical freedom, personal freedom, emotional freedom, spiritual freedom, political freedom, economic freedom, financial freedom, academic freedom, mental freedom and many others like abstract freedom .Even nations have freedom and that is what we call sovereignty

We may have some combination of these freedoms but lack others. It is desirable to have all the various types of freedoms but not always tenable. Yet it is advisable to possess a combination of the key types of freedom in the absence of all. What matters most is that we appreciate the freedom we have and use it to achieve more freedom. So while you may want economic freedom to gain financial and personal freedom, I many desire academic freedom to gain intellectual and physical freedom. While you may need emotional freedom to gain personal and financial freedom, I may pursue spiritual freedom to gain emotional and eternal freedom. He may need religious freedom to get spiritual and personal freedom and she may need physical freedom to get intellectual and emotional freedom. It is a matrix, while some may be brilliant to solve a two by two matrix, others may be sharp to solve a three by three matrix. The most important thing is that we get our iteration table correctly.

Freedom is liberty, and I cannot claim to be a free man if I enslave others by my actions or inaction. There is always room for freedom and more freedom, but just like freedom has a prize to be won, there is always the price of liberty to be paid. Costly as this price of liberty is, it is better to pay the price of liberty than to remain without freedom no matter the kind of freedom you think of. We paid heavy prices by losing sleep to pass exams and achieve our goals. People gave up their families and wealth to gain their national independence, sometimes we must give up smaller freedoms to get a bigger one. People have given up their personal liberties for the quest of greater freedoms. All the prisoners of conscience had a choice to hold on to their personal liberty to fight for a bigger kind of freedom.

In as much as everyone has the right to his or her own freedom, there are always limits to our vision of freedom. Such limitations could either be placed by God, the society, our faith or creed, the organizations we belong to; or even ourselves. Your freedom must not encroach on the freedom of others be it religion, monetary, or even ideology. God has placed the limits on man’s freedom by giving us his commandments, the country has laws, societies and families have rules etc. For an armed robber to expect the freedom to rob and kill in the name of physical freedom is not freedom, for a corrupt government official to claim freedom to loot and under develop the country in the name of personal freedom is not freedom. For gay people to expect that homosexuality and lesbianism should be legalized in the name of freedom of expression or association when it contradicts God’s plan of creation is not freedom. For people to take the lives of others in the name of freedom of religion when it is against the law of God and the land is not freedom either. For drug dealers to import fake drugs or sell expired drugs to the detriment of other humans who have the freedom to live is not freedom.

Freedom is universal; irrespective of our race, language, creed, hereditary or sex. We all have that urge to possess our freedom, internal or external. Selfish as man is, we want to be free but we deny others their freedom by accident or by design. A teacher who wants his salary paid but will not teach well is guilty of this, an employer who wants profits but denies his employees their dues is guilty, a government that demands taxes to be paid but cannot provide the amenities to its citizens is guilty, a preacher who wants tithes to be paid but will not lead the flock to the truth is guilty, a god who wants to be worshipped but does not guarantee freedom to its worshippers is guilty, a parent who wants respect but cannot provide for his or her dependents is guilty and children who want to be catered for but will not obey are also guilty.

If we want freedom we must guarantee the freedom of others, if we demand freedom we must allow others the right to their freedom. It is only when we allow others access to their own freedom and they too allow us access to our own freedom that we can be said to have freedom in its true sense. We may be constraint to choose just one or a few types of freedom. For me I know I may not have all the types of freedom. I do not seek for personal or physical freedom, I do not weep for economic or financial freedom, I will not die for emotional or religious freedom, yet I need all these types of freedom. All I ask to be given is the FREEDOM TO BE FREE. With this single freedom I will get all the types of freedom I need and want and desire and deserve. The freedom to be free-Yes!

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WHO OWNS THIS LUCK; NIGERIANS OR JONATHAN?

2010-03-06T18:48:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

Where is the luck in taking over as acting President of a Nigeria at a time when the country is known more for the plethora of complications than stability? I can not imagine why Nigerians are celebrating Dr. Jonathan’s luck. Aside from the fact that Nigerians deserve to have the vacancy in Aso Rock filled for effective governance, any form of Jubilation is suspicious and dubious. Are we celebrating the fact that Good luck Jonathan now has unfettered access to our national treasury or are we celebrating the ouster of a Turai Yar’adua?

Goodluck Jonathan I must confess played down all attempts to showcase a power grab on his part which helped in diffusing the tension in the polity, but the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians must remain paramount. Celebrating the luck of a Goodluck is only personalizing and trivializing the matter, what we ought to celebrate is the stability of our nation which is what we need for growth and development to take place. Goodluck Jonathan is definitely a lucky man, to have risen to the position of a number one citizen in his state, and now his country without printing poster or campaigning. But that also makes it dangerous because it goes to show that like the occupants of that office before him, he also does not have any manifesto. Meaning he has no direction and purpose, unless he is quickly able to put his house in order and take charge of the nation’s destiny. The question I would love to ask is not how lucky Goodluck is to act as President but how lucky Nigerians are to have Goodluck as their acting President?

Will the luck end with him as an individual who has suddenly risen to be the number one citizen or will the luck be distributed across Nigeria through provision of visionary and transformational leadership at a time when many things seem to have gone terribly wrong? Can Jonathan be the man who will give the ordinary man food or will he be another man who through anti-people policies force more hardship down the throats of already hyper-hungry Nigerians. Can Goodluck tackle the various cabals holding the nation’s power and petroleum sectors to ransom an effect an era of positive change that will eliminate the problems of these sectors or will he too be held captive by these cabals? Will Jonathan be a National President or will he decide to be a Niger-Delta President as some of his kinsmen are already thanking God for seeing a Niger Delta President in their life time even if in acting capacity for now?

The focus must shift from the individual of the acting President which is only parochial to the transformational leadership he can and will offer. He has the listing of Nigeria as a terrorist nation on his hands, the most recent Jos crisis, and the impeding strikes by civil servants. Let it be said that the Doctors’ have not received their reviewed packages which prevented them from going on their last strike. The power situation has also nosedived after the government failed to deliver on the 6,000 megawatts by December 31st 2009; and the perennial fuel queues are back. The post-amnesty programme has not achieved much progress since Yar’adua left the country and it will be more delicate for Goodluck to independently address the issue without been accused of bias since he comes from that region.

The luck must not lie and end with the man Goodluck Jonathan but it must be an opportunity for him to see the hands of God in preparing him to perform a divine role of salvaging this nation. Public servants and politicians must not be allowed to become sycophants and use our public wealth to place congratulatory messages in the media. If any group deserves an accolade for this triumph it is the ever vibrant civil society groups who from day one have insisted that due process must be followed. Unfortunately political dark horses who have argued that Yar’adua can preside from any where will be the people who may now switch allegiance for their selfish and mundane motives.

Nigeria must not remain a sliding state not to talk of a failing state and Goodluck must be bold in flushing out all anti-democratic elements within the ranks of the ruling clique. He must wither the storm and steer the ship of the Nigerian nation safely to dock at the port of rule of law, constitutionality and people oriented development programmes. He has a choice to write his name in Gold and be remembered like the Jerry Rawlings of this world or seek to go the selfish way which is typical of African leaders and become a present day Mobuto Sese Seko. He can decide to be like the Thabo Mbeki of this world whose intellectual capacity gave him a launching board to become a charismatic leader or choose to go the way of the highly educated Robert Mugabe who has decided to live and will die a Power drunk autocrat at the peril of his nation.

Only when we see a vibrant Goodluck acting as the People’s President can we now talk of a good luck which is national in colour; and not the luck of one man to have at his beck and call the wealth of our suffering citizens for his personal aggrandizement and that of the few but ever greedy ruling elites.

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Hypocrisy and the Balkanization of Jos.

2010-02-09T19:19:00.000+01:00

CredoWritres Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

The story of the various crises in Jos is one of hypocrisy and biasness. The government has been biased and unfortunately the media have been hypocritical. The issue of Jos is simple and clear, the Hausa/Fulani have been on the offensive. There has never been one crisis which started without them premeditating or escalating it. Their agenda has been to take over a land they know fully well is not theirs, even if ten generations of their forebears were born in Jos that is not enough to give them liberty to declare war on the city and people. The most appropriate thing to do is to coexist peacefully with their host and other residents. Rather it is their over ambitious and violent expansionist tendencies that have led the indigenes who until now freely gave them their lands to be alarmed. Nigeria is a federal state and every body is free to live and work peacefully in any part of the country, but when a group of people either ethnic or religious fail to harmoniously live with others, then they have lost that freedom. When a group of people continuously kill and maim others, they should be told point blank that their freedom stops where those of others start.

The largely Christian media has been so scared to report that facts as they are, while their Moslem counterparts are so biased to even fabricate facts in order to continue the war by propaganda. The Moslem media practitioners are as guilty of senseless murders as the religious bigots on the streets. They use their pens and Islamic media like Al-Jezeera to fan and promote hatred by distorting the facts and giving the world this misrepresentation. There have been reports in the media of fake soldiers been arrested or mercenaries imported, but they are not bold to tell us the group these evil people belong too. Everyone knows that no fake soldier or mercenary ever caught happened to be a Christian. How many corps members killed were Moslems? The government has never prosecuted any perpetrator or sponsor of these senseless waves of reoccurring violence. We keep shouting that no religion preaches violence; I agree. But when a certain proportion of a particular religion keeps becoming the vanguard of violence then we must say it as it is. If we must expunge the world Indigene from our national vocabulary why must it start from Jos? Let us start from kano, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Bauchi, Minna and even Katsina. Unfortunately Christians who come from Kano, Bauchi, Kebbi, Sokoto and katsina among others are not even treated as stakeholders in their own states, but the world expects Jos and the people of Jos to be the guinea pigs. Why should it be that the indigenes of Jos are required to give up their ancestral heritage to settlers who very well know their origin?

It is very barbaric to say this last crisis which by all accounts started as a dispute between two people or among a group of people will lead to this monumental loss of lives and property, except to buttress the point that it was well rehearsed and planned out. People argue or disagree every day, why will disagreement over a boundary of land or football game lead to attacking and killing Christians on Sunday morning inside the church? Those of us who come from other local government of Plateau state other than Jos have never lay claims over Jos, there are thousands of southerners and middle belters whose generations too were born and bred in Jos, yet they chose to live peacefully rather than take up arms against their host communities. If the Hausa /Fulani Moslems claim to be at war with the indigenes of Jos why then are other Christians and churches always their first targets? If we claim these crises are political what has the Christian who doesn’t belong to any party got to do with the November 2008 crisis over a disputed election which result had not even been announced? Are they saying there are no Christians in ANPP or no Moslems in PDP? If the media cannot report the fact as they are, can they shut up? If the government can not prosecute the master minds they should spare us all these panels of enquiry.

The Story of Jos is so sad because the people innocently sought to dwell in peace with people from other parts of the country irrespective of ethnicity and religion; only to be rewarded with violence from the Hausa/Fulani who see conquering of Jos as a continuation of the 1804 Jihad. The Federal government is also culpable; in fact the Federal Military Government of Babangida which created Jos North in 1991 had the sole intention of establishing an Islamic Republic of Jos and promoting the interest of the Hausa/Fulani settlers above other residents of the place. This fact accounts for why the vehicle plate number for Jos North is represented by JJN. JJN stands for Jasawan Jos North; Jasawa is the identity of the Hausas in Jos. No other local government in Nigeria has its plate number represented by the identity of a segment of the people albeit settlers. It is easy to remove the Christian governor of Plateau and still call for the removal of another while the Moslem governors of Bauchi and Borno; and other Moslem dominated states which have similar histories of skirmishes remain in office. It is easier to call for a state out of the present plateau state to meet the selfish demand of a minority Hausa population but impossible to give the predominantly Christian population of southern Kaduna their own state ,despite their inability to produce a governor in their own state.

As much as we desire peace in Jos, hypocrisy must give way to the truth. Peace without Justice is only but an illusion. Equity rather than equality is the bedrock of Justice. You can’t be talking of equal right which will only please a minority but against the right of the majority and owners of Jos and you say Justice will be done? Justice is defending the citizens irrespective of religion but it is also saying the truth. We can’t have justice when we are biased, hypocrites or cowards. Justice for the Jos indigenes means that we respect them and accept the fact that whether we come from other parts of plateau state or from outside the state, Jos belongs to the indigenes and we must live peacefully with them or leave peacefully without endangering the lives of others.

Lack of sincerity on the part of our leaders has lead to the balkanization of Jos into the Christian Jos and the Moslem Jos. We all have our towns and villages to go back to but the indigenes of Jos have only Jos and this same Jos has been destroyed. The indigenes have been killed and maimed in their own villages and this time around; as far as Bukuru and Anguldi and the world still accuses them of genocide against the very Hausas who are the war mongers? Hypocrisy is condemning Israel for occupying the lands of the Palestinians but encouraging the Hausa settlers in Jos to become the overlords of the owners of the land. Shame on hypocrites and cowards!

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A TALE OF TWO AFRICAN CITIES: JOS (NIGERIA) AND CAPE COAST (GHANA).

2010-02-09T19:17:00.000+01:00

*By Wakdok, Samuel Stephen 1 and Nana Amma Twum-Baah 2

Amma, you can really cuddle the rocks and kiss them. When you climb the hills you will actually touch the clouds because you will not help but imagine how the mountains are locked in an embrace with the sky. The sweetest thing for me is the smell of its harmattan. It will give you a crown of white hair on your head. The rains can stay with you all day and escort you to bed, and even when you wake at dawn, like a faithful dog the rains will be waiting on you. This is the Jos they may never know. Jos the capital city of Plateau state, in North Central Nigeria, Africa.

Jos is one of the coolest cities to live on earth. Naturally blessed and humanly dressed. The tourism of this town is breath taking, the weather is seducing, the atmosphere superb, the people are wonderful. The main indigenes of Jos are the Beroms, Afizire (Jarawa) and Anagutas. The Hausa settlers are the next in contention. As the capital of Plateau state, other tribes from all over the state live and work in Jos; Ngas, Gommai, Mughuavul, Mupun, Quan, Pan,Taroh, Bassa etc. It is a pot mixed with different grills. Prior to the debut of home video in Nigeria which midwife the birth of Nollywood; Jos was the theatre and drama capital of Nigeria. The National Film Institute, The Nigerian Institute of Journalism and the Nigerian Television Authority College all sit in Jos. The Headquarters of Industrial Training Funds is also in Jos. The theater arts department of the University of Jos has produced the best acts and talents in Nigeria.

Talking about the University of Jos; Jos is like a weeping mother without her university. The University ofJos gives soul to the town. It influences the economic and social life of the city. In UJ or U-Jay as the school is known, gentlemen and ladies mingle freely; Amma, the fact that a guy could show up on your door step at any moment makes it germane for cleanliness and personal hygiene. We also had pots to run to when we were hungry in these female hostels. The phrase” kaduna Mafia” which was dominant in the political equation of Nigeria representing the powerful Northern power brokers was coined by the present Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Sonny Tyoden. Professor Ali Mazrui, the renowned international African scholar is a professor at large of the university.

When you take a trip to the Wildlife Park or visit the Ray field resort. Oh my --- The museum of African Arts boast of the largest congregation of people on the 26th of December every year. Shere Hills is one sweet place to visit in Jos, the combination of its mountains and waters exudes so much beauty and splendor. At Shere Hills nature is in communion with the city.

The comedy of bloody rivalry between the two main football teams, Plateau United and Mighty Jets will make you laugh and cry simultaneously at the Jos township stadium. For those who love to give themselves a treat; West of Mines is that place where meat and drinks respect the kingship of man. This Tin city called Jos, earned Nigeria foreign exchange during the colonial era. You will still see the tin mines as legacy of colonial exploitation of the people’s land and wealth. Jos is the home of Irish potatoes. Our ladies love Pringles, we the men are at home with chips. The cold weather makes it attractive to keep poultry and fish ponds.

The city is tops in education and social activities. Some of the best schools are located in and around Jos. Kent Academy Miango, a primary school with boarding facilities. Hillcrest, a first generation foreign tailored secondary school. Air force Military School, St. Louis College, St. Augustine’s major seminary until recently was the only catholic major seminary in the Northern part of Nigeria. The institution with the highest honours in the country: National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies is in Kuru near Jos. The University of Jos Teaching Hospital, ECWA Evangel Hospital, Our lady of Apostles Hospitals; are among the best health facilities in the country. Various churches both orthodox and Pentecostals have their headquarters in Jos.

Jos may not be the cradle of civilization, it is not the best town on earth, but surely it is a place to be. J-Town as the charming town is called, Josites as we of Jos are referred to, the town allures, she seduces and captivates. Jos holds those it calls and calls those it loves. In Jos; Life is serendipity, life is simple, life is fulfilling. When you dare Jos, you will be consumed; when you date Jos you will be dazzled. Jos has what it takes to hold you captive. It ceases your breathe and makes you exhale at same time.

Those who love Jos can never love another; those who have never known Jos do not know what they are missing. Jos is a lovers’ town. The ladies are beautifully created as the city; the guys are as solid as its rocks. The people may not all be from Jos but they are all of Jos.The city you may never know is one city, where nature was made to please man and man was created to exhaust the pleasure of nature. In harmony both man and nature continue to thrill themselves.
Amma, life must not begin or end in Jos, but in Jos; life is beautiful.
Sammy, I am trying to write my part for the “Tale of Two African Cities. I chose the city of Cape Coast because it is the birthplace of my mother and I have some very fond memories of the place. I lived the majority of my live in Ghana in the capital city of Accra; but the memorable trips to Cape Coast were my greatest joy.
Cape Coast is the capital city of the Central region of Ghana. It sits beautifully and majestically along the central coastal shore of Ghana; and once was the trading center of the Gold Coast. Cape Coast was the first capital city of Ghana until the capital was moved to its current post in Accra. Fante is the major language of the people of Cape Coast; and, much like the people who speak it, the fante language possesses a sensuality all its own.
The city houses some of the most historic memories linked to the pain of its past. The city is one of many attractions of foreigners eager for a taste of Ghana’s past. Matter of fact, one has not experienced Ghana until they have had a taste of the hospitality of the people of this majestic city. The recent trip of America’s first African American first family bears witness to this fact!
Sam, the story of Cape Coast swims in murky waters. Cape Coast derived its name from the Portuguese word cabo corso which means “short cape.” The Portuguese were the first foreigners to arrive on this coastal city – they came around the 15th century. Deep in the pride of the fante people lies a sorrow of the past. The city was once the port of the slave trade and currently houses remnants and monuments of that past. The Cape Coast castle is one such monument that bears witness to the past.
A walk along the coast is a sight to see: fishermen dragging in their nets full of the days catch, women haggling over the price of what the fishermen have just dragged in, children running up and down the coast, some doing summersaults without a care in the world.
For peace and quiet, the many beach resorts that line the coastal shore afford you just that. From the whistle of the palm trees to the chirping of birds and calls of frogs and toads, nature never afforded such a sense of serenity than along the coast of this beautifully blessed city. Here you would find tourists and locals basking in the afternoon sun, some sipping on drinks of immense pleasure and satisfaction; while others abandon the shore to take a dip in the ocean’s caressing waves.
Cape Coast boasts of some of Ghana’s most elite secondary schools – Holy Child School, Wesley Girls High School and Mfantsipim Boy’s Secondary School; as well as one of the country’s major Universities, the University of Cape Coast.
Tourism has fast taken over as the main attraction of this friendly city. Besides its many coastal attractions Cape Coast boasts of two other major tourist attractions: Kakum National Park and Akatekyir Crocodile pond. Kakum National Park is home to the first canopy walkway which sits above the forest floor and hangs high up above the forest trees. A trip across the canopy is one to savor for years. The crocodile pond is another adventure worth taking. Try standing in the hut located in the middle of the pond surrounded by fierce looking crocodiles who respond to the summons of a fetish priest – it is a sight worth beholding. Samuel;Ghana beckons on you and the world. Come!

1 Wakdok, Samuel Stephen; a Nigerian is the brain that powers CredoWorld Media: www.credoworldmedia.wordpress.com www.credoworld.blogspot
2 N. Amma Twum-Baah; a Ghanaian based in the United States is the Founder/Managing Editor of Afrikan Goddess: www.afrikangoddess.com

OUTSHINE THE SUN WITH YOUR TORCH; THE PURPOSE OF OUR BEING.

2010-02-09T19:13:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: WAKDOK, SAMUEL STEPHEN

Do you have a Personal Mission Statement?
In 2007 after reading some books among them the richest man in Babylon; I decided to have a personal mission statement and I came up with the one below:

“To remain relevant in an ever-dynamic world by being highly adaptable to change thereby bringing my wealth of experience to bear in all I do.”

The question I do not want you to ask me is how consistent I have been in the attainment of my goals? Anyhow you look at it; you need a personal mission statement.
It is the road map to our future; it is the compass we need as we navigate through life. It is our torchlight at night and even at day. We may not have achieved everything, but having a personal mission statement gives us a barometer to measure the pressure and change in our lives and the world. Keep it simple and practicable. Not having one already sets a parameter on us, it restricts our circumstances.

I have made so many mistakes in life. Painfully I still make mistakes after I sat down to think and write my personal mission statement which ought to have launched me to greater heights. Ironically though I accept the fact that I am liable for all my shortcomings, they have been very instrumental in molding me and grooming me for the challenges ahead. I have accepted the fact that perfection only exist in the books of two people. God and a liar, I am not God and I will be a fool to tell myself lies. Although I set perfection as a bench mark for my achievements, if I must truly achieve it will be very illusionary to think or feel I can never get some things wrong. What spurs me is that I must quickly learn from the mistakes that I couldn't prevent and prevent those I can.

In trying to decipher my mission statement anew, I have decided to see problems as challenges which will be part of this world. The day I stop facing problems or challenges is the day I am no longer alive. Years ago our problem was how to finish primary school, it became how to pass WAEC, and then how to get University admissions, and it grew to going for Youth service. We thought it would terminate when we got good jobs. Then we realized that we couldn't get the best of ladies or men to marry. We are faced with the choice of cars to buy or the kind of houses to live in. These tell us that life's challenges only end with life.

The greatest achievement in life is to achieve what we set out to achieve no matter how little. Having millions or billions of Naira though may solve our financial needs; is not always the sufficient solution to all our problems. The key responsibility in life is to know our strengths and use them to improve our existence. It is to know our weaknesses and minimize if not eliminate them. We can only set out to achieve our goals when we pause and reflect on the things around us. The preliminary way to go about this is to set a mission for ourselves. It is only when we know our mission that we can achieve our purpose in life.

Many of us do not have a purpose for living or we do not know the purpose for our being. Our purpose on earth is not only to make money, it is not only to live in affluence, it is not only to have power, and it is not only beauty or fashion. Prince (King) Edward Viii of England abdicated his throne in 1936 to marry the woman he loved but was rejected by the British Empire and Dominions and the Church of England. Edward chose love over royalty; he knew what he wanted in life and went for it at the expense of his throne. What are the obstacles that deny us the chance of achieving our different purposes in life? We alone must discover our own purpose as individuals.

I can not tell you your purpose, but I can help you discover your purpose.
I can help you by asking you to develop your own mission statement today.
Ask yourself the things that please you and the things that displease you.
Tell yourself the things you excel at and those you fumble at.
Ask yourself what you regret doing and those things you enjoy doing.
Tell yourself what you left undone and those you did which you ought not to have done.
Do you have talents? Are these talents buried, or are you exploring them?
What are your hobbies and how can you tap the potentials your hobbies offer?
If you lived to be hundred years on earth; what will you have achieved?
If you are to mentor a child, what legacies will you pass on to that child?
If your family, friends, colleagues and even neighbours should write and advertorial in the newspaper on your 30th, 50th or 80th birthday, what do you think would be written about you?
If as a result of you having lived on earth, the world has changed; tell me your contribution to the world and your influence on the people and environment around.

Can you read my personal mission statement above again and write yours too.
Define the purpose of your existence. If writing this has made any impact on the person reading this, then I have achieved one of the very little purposes why I was created. If each of us can achieve a little of our individually purposes, then collectively we would have achieved a lot and that will make a difference as much as outshining the sun.

I hope I didn’t bore you? If I did I am sorry, remember I am not perfect, but I just tried to achieve something and I hope to try better next time so that I will achieve the desired effect and not bore you. Start by having your personal mission today. Dare mine, be dynamic, remain relevant and do not look back.

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MUTAL-ALQAEDA: Their Responsibility; Our Liability.

2010-02-09T19:09:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

I do not have a problem with a Nigerian in particular blowing himself up and others in the air, at sea or on land. Neither do I care if the person is a Moslem, Christian or even an atheist. But I generally have a problem with anybody at all doing that. It is not a crime because the bomber is a Nigerian; it is a crime against God and humanity irrespective of the person’s nationality or religion, background or ideology.

Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the attempted suicide bombing of a U.S. airliner by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on the 25th of December 2009; leaving Nigeria with the liability. All the world now knows, especially the imperialistic capitalist West, is that Nigerians are terrorists or to put it mildly; potential terrorists. Consequently, the United States has included Nigeria on their list of terrorist countries. For the crime of one man out of a population of one hundred and fifty million, is this not infinitesimal? Yet they have failed to close their embassy in Nigeria. They only found it imminent to intensify the dehumanization of innocent Nigerians seeking to travel for legitimate businesses.

They can not close their embassy because of the interest they have in our oil and Nigeria provides a big market for them to dump their goods. Globalization has helped to reinforce terrorism in many ways. The three major approaches to Globalization are Capital flow (goods and money) Migration (people) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The developed world always finds excuses to restrict the free movement of people across their borders especially from the southern hemisphere. Paradoxically they want an uninhibited flow of their goods into our market and a free flow of our money and resources to their countries which has encouraged large scale corruption resulting to capital flight. ICT however has been the most helpful resource for the 21st century terrorist as all terrorist attack have element of the use of ICT in planning and execution.

It is shamefully not only Al-Qaeda that takes responsibility and leaves us with liabilities. The Western world takes responsibility for giving us grants and aids leaving us with fallen capacity utilization and hunger. The oil companies mostly multi-national companies (MNCs) and Trans-national companies (TNCs) pollute our environment and flair our gas. They do not deny responsibilities but leave our people with the liability of a degraded ecosystem. Our political class rig elections as even President Yar’adua accepted the responsibility that a flawed electoral process brought his government to power in 2007.We are now more than ever left with the liability of a lame duck government in power with the resultant catastrophe. Government and university negotiators accepted responsibilities for deadlocks in negotiations during last year’s university strikes saddling the country with the liability of a prolonged closure of the universities.

Al-Qaeda knew the responsibility they had, and they also knew the liability on us will be unlimited. Before now an average terrorist or suicide bomber was an Arab. Thanks to Nigeria’ spoilt brat Farouk; the world now sees the black face of intra planetary terrorism. After all no one will be surprised if the black terrorist was a Sudanese or a Somali. We have seen the Janjaweeds in Darfur and the Al-shabab in Somalia. Recruiting and indoctrinating a Nigerian terrorist gives the probability that a quarter of the total blacks in the world are terrorists which is so significantly high. This is the responsibility they accepted. They glory of a people who feel they must fight their causes by killing innocent people leaving families and countries with liabilities. The annoying thing is that Farouk like all the people responsible for the misdirection of Nigeria belong to the privileged cult of a few who have belched on the wealth of the country at the expense of the generality of the citizens. Their excesses have always left us with no small snags.

The failed educational system in Nigeria is an example. Government officials, politicians and even lecturers are in high competition to send their kids and wards to school abroad .I can comprehend Nigerians in American, European or even Asian schools. I can also forgive Nigerians in South African, Ghanaian, Kenyan and North African Schools. But when Nigerians enroll in Togolese, Chadian and even Sudanese schools for mere secondary education at that, then the Nigerian picture becomes forlorn.

Unfortunately Farouk rather than becoming a martyr has turned his dad into a living martyr. He has killed his father while the man is alive. For to be the father of a terrorist is bad enough, but to be the father of a black albeit Nigerian terrorist is unimaginable as Mutallab senior would have known by now. In the same vein, our rulers have turned Nigerians into living martyrs. When Nigerians start spending Christmas in the petrol stations, when able bodied women not just men are begging on the streets and in the churches; when our elementary schools are so inept to educate our children, when we drive our cars jumping like grasshoppers on the highways to dodge potholes, when unemployment and inflation rise like Abel’s smoke, when the quality of living is dismal. Then sadly we are only alive but their responsibilities and irresponsibility have made our liabilities to kill us a very long time ago.

This is the start of a new decade; it is high time we dropped our docility as a people and champion our own liberation. We must change the misfortune that beclouds us as a people even if it means us engaging in affirmative actions. We can not continue to leave them with the responsibility of giving us liabilities. This is a clarion call for us to take responsibility for our lives and destiny; and eliminate the plethora of liabilities festered on us ad infinitum.

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WE WERE BANKERS!

2010-02-09T19:05:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: WAKDOK, SAMUEL STEPHEN

September 10, 2013
New York- U.S.A
Studio lights come on

Good evening viewers, my name is Jane Washington of CWM International broadcasting from our New York studios. You are welcome to this week's edition of Global Finance Focus on Africa. Today we are discussing the Rate of Recovery in African Economies. With me in the studio is Dr. Aloye Sanchez, a consultant from Goldman Sachs, and joining us via broad band is Ms. Vera Philips of the University of West Indies.

"Ms. Phillips, the developed world has recovered from the economic crisis of 2007-2009, how will you rate the recovery of African Economies?"

"I will not say with certainty that the recovery rate of African Economies is high, but you will agree with me that comparing the level of systemic damage done to these economies, there seems to be encouraging results from the tremendous efforts to pull these economies from the brink. I can see some positive results."

"Dr. Sanchez, do you share the same opinion?"

Dr.Sanchez: "I will like to agree in principle with Ms. Philips, but I will go further by saying the nominal growth has steadily picked up in some of the African economies. Taking some key financial indicators like banks liquidity ratios, capital adequacy ratios, non deficit components of annual budgets, there have been improvement. But real term human development indices like employment growth rate, exchange rate flexibility, and domestic currencies convertibility have not matched up with forecasts."

Anchor: "When we use a five years moving average, what pattern of growth will we see in the African economies?"

Ms. Phillips: “It will not be easy getting a definite pattern; one of the reasons is the unavailability of a central data collection for these economies. African economies have a lot of distortions in their multivariate functions. The seasonal variations make it more complicated to ascertain an analysis of trend in their growth rate.

Dr. Sanchez: "In as much as we have scattered seasonal variations, available statistics show positive movements in trade, broad money M2 though broader money M3 is still low. These distortions in the African economy though not excusable, originate mostly from the western world. The level of capitalism has become so inhuman. The major issue is having the foreign reserves and trades in the US dollars. This creates destabilizations in the foreign exchange convertibility of the African economies. It also distorts their domestic currencies convergence. That is why we at Goldman Sachs agree with the Fund (IMF) that the reserve currency be changed to a basket of world currencies using the SDR (Special Drawing Rights) as the new unit of measurement."

Ms. Philips: "Yes, the international payment system of the present economic world order which determines the liquidity of countries cannot protect the transition of weak economies like the African Economies towards a vibrant liberalized market. These economies have not achieved desired growth because they cannot be insulated from the vagaries of the US dollar...

November 19, 2009.
Kaduna - Nigeria

"Aloye, Aloye, wake up. Time is gone; you are running late already"

"Good morning baby. I must have been dreaming, I was in New York"

Emily: "There is no gas and PHCN has struck as usual, I am afraid you will have to bath with cold water. I hope we will not manage to death?"

Aloye: "Sweetie, the car has refused to start again. I will take a bus to the office; the mechanic will come and look at the car later."

October 16, 2004.
Lagos - Nigeria.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I am here to take you on communication skills. I will love to congratulate you all on your induction. Welcome to the Royal Bank of Nigeria. You made the right choice by working with us. Here, we pride ourselves as the best bank in Nigeria and our staff can testify to the excellent working conditions. You are bankers now and you must think, talk, act, work and live as bankers. From your offer letters I hope you all know that you are millionaires now. Your salaries are twice or even more those of directors in ministries and parastatals. You are the bank and people must see this bank in you..."

November 19, 2009
Kaduna-Nigeria

Throwing the gate open "Oga Aloye good morning"

"Frank, good morning, how is the cold?"

"Oga we dey fine, how man go do for cold, na the work now"

user name aloye sanchez
password **********

"Janice good morning, have they not paid?"

"Aloye, good morning. How is madam?"

"We thank God my sister; at least we are still alive. I am getting exasperated. Things are getting tougher and one can't even understand any more. This melt down has dealt with me seriously and we are bankers"

Janice: "This year has been a rough time for everyone, it is so traumatic. Did I hear you say we are bankers? I think the right thing to say is that we were bankers. The shine is gone, when I came to this bank 3 years ago I was sure that poverty was out of my life for good. See our plights now, even journalists and comedians have found bankers as the hottest selling topic..."

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TEMPTRESS

2010-01-03T19:00:00.001+01:00

CredoPoets: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen

I am set to divorce her--- no matter how succulent her breasts are;
Irrespective of how soft her seductive lips have been,
Not minding the sweetness of her kisses, or how full her bosom is.
I care less about her beauty or her sexy figure 8...For all I know I am set to wed my new and beautiful bride.
Come join us in the celebration of this matrimony...

Sammy weds 2010 hahahahahahaha

If you care to know my new wife is a Virgin...
My new wife’s curves are dangerously lovely,
Her legs are stainless and spotless
Her face is beauty extravaganza
She has a larger heart and warmer bosomy-
She will not close shop on me-
She is infact sweeter than sweet -her touch is electrifying,
She drips wet honey and her beauteous breasts are firm like the Kilimanjaro yet soft like the flesh of a lamb
Her eyes are sexier than the gazelle, her love unending----
She is greater and more generous.
She is gentle and humble
My new wife is a temptress, but I have fallen even before she tempted me.
Come 2010--- your groom is dying to wear you his ring.

CredoPoets: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen --- 31122009

THE CHRONOLOGY OF A BARBER'S SHOP

2009-12-20T17:51:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

"You don't believe me, do you?"
"Why should I believe you? When you called this whole country; as big as it is a barber's shop."
"Then what is this country?"
"Are you an alien? Even a baby knows this country is called Nigeria."
"Called you said, but what really is this country?
It is one thing to be called; it is another thing to be."
"What are you driving at?"
"I am not driving, even if I wanted to; where is the fuel? The best is to ride in a cart. pata pata pata …
The other day, I saw a filling station been used as a reception venue."
"Tell me something..."
"In the absence of fuel and cars to be refueled business must go on.
The fuel-less station was hired out for “owambe”.
Rather than cars I saw plastic chairs arranged neatly for the guests."
"The Mc and live band must have been imported
May be the petrol attendants were the ushers."

"How long have you been patronizing the barber's shop?"
"When we were kids, it was ordinary scissors they used to cut our hair and in the absence of the small scissors, they used the tailor's big scissors."
"Are you serious?"
"That was when Buhari was fighting war against indiscipline.
We heaved a sigh of relief when Babangida came with MAMSER, the mass mobilization thing. Jerry the talking Gana advised them;if you are a barber, barb well and they came with manual clippers chuku chuku chuku... hahahahahah. It tickled our spines each time it touched the back of our necks”
“I am sure Babangida meant ‘if you are a thief, steal well.”
“IBB as a double edged sword, they introduced comb and razor to barb us and officially HIV/AIDS was launched into the Nigerian mainstream."

"Quietly, the electric clipper set in, though it was a luxury.
With the drive for everything foreign, electric clippers took over the industry and before we could spell NEPA, low shedding was introduced.
In those days, barbers kept face caps as emergency bail out. Your hair could be half cut and NEPA will just strike. When we can't wait anymore we wore the caps to escape cynical looks on the way home."
"Abacha was held captive in Aso Rock by AL-Mustapha and Frank Omenka; he was never briefed about the decaying power situation."

"The barbers went a step further to become one of the highest generator patronizing groups in Nigeria. We heaved a sigh of relief as we could now go to the barber's shop without thinking of leaving with half barbed hair and face caps that were not out ours."

"But Obasanjo made them to pay exorbitantly for fuel and barbers charged us higher for it. We didn't mind though, all we wanted was to cut our hair and look smart for the girls or for interviews and subsequently for our customers."

"Now, there are no more caps in the barber's shop and Yar'adua is on sick leave."
“Here I sit, as PHCN has struck again, this time even with high cost of fuel; the barber's generator lies empty. The barber could not see fuel anywhere to buy at any rate. The barber leaves me with my half barbed hair and murmurs to himself as if that will save the situation. I am left in a barber's shop to worry about my fate."

"Talking about passengers without a driver on the wheels of a cart; pulled by two bulls to save fuel."
"Yes, Nigeria is truly a barber’s shop. As I sit wondering to myself how long it will take this barber to get fuel, if at all he will return with fuel or if he will come back with only an empty gallon."

"This barber's shop called Nigeria, and they said no going back on deregulation? When there is no fuel except scarcity and corruption to deregulate."

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BEFORE I DIE---

2009-12-10T20:08:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

Before I die, can you be kind enough to stop killing me on the pages of the newspapers, and on the streets of your mouths?
Before I die allow me to pick my own successor in the manner Obasanjo hand picked me.
Before I die allow me to declare a state of emergency in the power sector and deregulate the petroleum sector.
Before I die, I need your patience to complete my electoral reforms and go on with the dredging of the River Niger.
Before I die, please excuse me to marry my daughters to more governors.
Before I die please grant amnesty to my ill-health as I did to the militants in the creeks.

What is the price I will not pay for patriotism? I will die for my fatherland. But I am not just dying of ill health. I am dying more of heart break. My two chambers in the National Assembly could not sit for me to present a budget proposal to drive home my seven points agenda. My promise to generate six thousand mega watts of electricity is reclining.
Before I die permit me to transfigure at Aso Rock and build three houses. One for Goodluck Jonathan, another for David Bonaventure Mark and the third for Hajia Turai.
Before I die, kindly forgive me for not been much of a Resident President. I know you hate me more for being a long distance President.

Before I die let me read my citation to you.
I am the only Nigerian President whose father was a Minister of the Federal Republic.
I am the only President whose brother was a Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters, a former Presidential hopeful and a Martyr for Democracy.
I am the only President who was a two time Executive Governor.
I am the first President to have Governors as my sons-in-law.

Before I die, let it be known to you all that I am not scared of dying. I am only scared of living as an ex-President.
Before I die allow my devil's advocate to seek for an injunction restraining the NBA from calling for my resignation.
Before I die allow me to finish my first term in office and possibly run for my second term which is permitted by the constitution of our great country.
Before I die---

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EL-SALVADOR!

2009-12-08T19:56:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

Christmas has never been my favourite season, not because I believe less in the Nativity but due to the gust it comes with which makes little sense to me. The peak of Christmas is 24th of December when all the rush and hush reach a climax. Sure, that goes with a lot of financial implications. Savings are depleted, debts are escalated. The rich show off and the poor become more miserable. Of course in a country like ours prices of commodities soar. Food, meat, clothing and many other things. The worse one is the cost of transportation. Fuel queues become a nightmare as the oil industry is notorious at this time.

It becomes more difficult to live a normal life because of the hype of Christmas. The roads become busier and more risky. Drivers are more reckless and do not give a hoot about safety. Crime rates of all magnitude multiply. From fraud to ritual killings to armed robbery and of course kidnapping the newest in town, in a bid to measure up to the merriment of a day or just hours. By mid day of 25th December all these will start fading.

As such I have always wished for a quick and quiet Christmas so that life will return to normalcy. Once it is past Christmas, the prices of goods will stabilize, the rush and queues will reduce, crime rates will fall and people like me who do not succumb to the madness of Christmas will regain our sanity once again.

Ironically, Christmas is a wonderful time. It is the peak of promise when God redeemed His pledge to His people. It is the symbol of a renewed hope for us because a fallen humanity is sent a child who will raise us up again. Unto us a son is born and the government shall be upon his shoulders. Not the kind of corrupt, tyrannical and selfish governments found around the world. He came to redeem a condemned people; he brings forth good news always.

In contrast it means we no longer have one Christmas but two. Over the years we have skewed towards the first Christmas which is our own creation. We have created an “Economic Christmas” to show our extravagance typical of our human weakness. We have mostly relegated the second Christmas, “the Spiritual Christmas” to the confines of the church.

This year however reminds me of that first Christmas and the nativity story. The simplicity of Jesus’ birth in that manger. It is this guilelessness that has been wiped away by the “economic Christmas” over the years. The Roman authorities who were colonialists of the Jewish people had compelled them to return to their villages for census. This year, the economic authorities who have also colonized our lives have returned us to our economic villages to take stock. Many of us will be in the manger like Baby- Jesus and his parents. This will for once take away the hullabaloo of the “economic Christmas” which has over the years eroded the serenity of the “spiritual Christmas.”

The meltdown will enable us to revisit the true meaning of Christmas and acknowledge him, who truly left all His riches and glory in Heaven to come down and live among us, and will eventually shed His blood, give up his life for us. He is truly our Saviour, the Saviour. El-Salvador! The Messiah, our Messiah.

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THE TRAIL OF LORD LUGARD

2009-12-08T19:55:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen

The trial of Lord Lugard is a substantive suit brought before the sovereign people’s court of Nigeria by the sovereign people of Nigeria against the colonial agent. Sir Fredrick was a captain in the British Royal Army who would not have been qualified enough to lead a battalion of soldiers. He could at best lead only a company of soldiers, consisting of about 33 men only. Here was a man who at the peak of his royal colonial duty; became the first Governor General of Nigeria after the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates in 1914 to form the present day Nigeria. The name Nigeria funnily was suggested by his girlfriend who eventually became his wife; Lady Shaw.

Prior to the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates, Lagos was a separate colony, the southern protectorate had its capital in Calabar until 1906 when the colony of Lagos and the southern protectorate were merged and Lagos became the capital. The Northern protectorate had its first capital in Lokoja, present day Kogi and later relocated to Zungeru modern day Niger State before it was moved to Kaduna in 1913. This was without prejudice to the different empires, kingdoms, emirates, and loosed federations which predated the arrival of the colonialists.

Sir Fredrick who later became Lord Lugard knew very well from his sojourns across the different lands in the Niger area that the people were each a distinct nationality, with their separate cultures, values and beliefs. Yet, for the sake of personal drive to impress the crown of England, the greed of the colonialists and ease of administration, Lord Lugard went ahead to amalgamate the Northern and the Southern Protectorates to bring forth Nigeria. One of the main reasons for the amalgamation was the success of indirect rule in the north. The Othman Dan Fodio Jihad of 1804 had earlier established a theocracy in some parts of the North with a caliphate in Sokoto which was the western capital of the Caliphate. The eastern capital had its headquarters in Gwandu, present day Kebbi state. Emirates were set up in Kano, Zaria, Adamawa, and Wase up to Ilorin. The Kanem-Bornu Empire with its headquarters in Maiduguri had long existed. Except for the independent states of the once strong Kwararafa kingdom, the north was ruled by the emirs, and this made it easier for the Lord Lugard to implement his indirect rule which he had earlier experimented in Eastern Africa. It gave the emirs the impression that they were still relevant even after the fall of the Sokoto caliphate to the British forces in 1903. This was the first real attempt of the divide and rule tactics of the British.

Impressed by the success of the indirect rule in the Northern part and determine to push this divide and rule tactics further, Lord Lugard amalgamated the North and the South in 1914. He attempted to rule the west through their chiefs and since the East was more of a republic, he had to create warrant chiefs to provide a structure for his indirect rule; however that didn’t succeed because the easterners revolted against these warrant chiefs. The amalgamation was never intended to unite the people but just the geography for economic and political purposes. This explains why at a time the South was pushing for Independence of the country, the north was not comfortable with the date.

More evident is the fact that after the Richard’s constitution of 1946 regionalized the country and the McPherson Constitution of 1954 gave Autonomy to these regions; the South opted for self rule in 1956 but not until 1959 before the North did on the eve of independence.

Ninety five years after Lord Lugard united a country without uniting her people, it is still ever glaring that the nation is confronted with a Herculean task of uniting her people.

When the Igbos were called to the witness box, they testified against Lord Lugard for the casualties and pains he caused them during the Biafran war .

The Tiv grieving in the witness box testified against a Lord Lugard who made it feasible for an Obasanjo to massacre their kinsmen in Zaki Biam.

The endangered Ogoni resentfully testified against Sir Fredrick who made it inevitable for General Abacha to hang their sons.

In a united voice, the Niger Delta people have testified against Lord Lugard for initiating the mismanagement of their resources and environment by the other parts of the country.

The West also stood in the witness stand to give evidence that Lord Lugard is the brain behind the annulment of June 12 election won by MKO Abiola.

The North are not left behind in bearing witness against Lord Lugard for exposing them to westernization from the coastal states of the south which is fast eroding their conservative values.

The Presiding Judge of the Sovereign people’s court having listened to the various arguments of the opposing counsels (examination and cross examination of witnesses) and the evidence before the court have found Lord Lugard guilty.

Interesting, the Trial Judges, the prosecuting and defense counsels all agree that Lord Lugard is long dead. The real Lord Lugard on this trial is the tiny clique which is holding the larger Nigeria to ransom. The cabal who has refused to allow this country to develop, the cult hindering our progress and the Mafia which is destroying us daily.

The Lord Lugard before this court is the cult that rigs election and robs Nigerians of their votes and hence voices. The gang who pockets contract sums dotting the place with abandoned contracts. The Lord Lugard who was found guilty is the mechanism which favours rent seeking,nepotism,tribalism,ethnicity,corruption,violence,crime,godfatherism, election gerrymandering all at the expense of merit, peace, transparency, development, good governance, respect for the rule of law and patriotism.

The Lord Lugard on trial is the system which turns our people’s hope into fallacy, the rot which twirls our Police into Thief. It is the law which transfigures our Prophets into Parasites and the structure which makes the world to jeer rather than cheer at us. The people reject the practice that gives corruption and failure parking spaces in our national life; and the DNA which inhibits our nation’s growth.

The Sovereign People ‘s court of Nigeria hereby pronounce this Lord Lugard and the agents of neo colonialism guilty on all counts; and sentenced to be banished entirely from our national sphere without option of fine or parole.

Any objection has already been overruled.

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THERE IS NO BOOK IN FACE BOOK-THE MISEDUCATION OF NIGERIAN STUDENTS

2009-12-08T19:54:00.000+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

The good news is this: students no longer need to sacrifice their time and leisure to learn and pass exams. The bad news is: parents will keep wasting their scarce resources for their children and wards to re-write exams. The worse news is: government has blamed the students for the catastrophe. The worst news therefore is that education is now an illiterate in Nigeria. The miscarriage of our educational system is the craft of a nation deficient in sensitive leadership.

Only 25.99% of students who sat for the 2009 West African Examination Council SSCE passed the minimum requirements of credits in five subjects including English language and mathematics. This is said to be an improvement over the 13% performance of last year, 2008. Alarmed by this dismal performance, the government has set up a probe panel. Ironically, the government is responsible for the educational bankruptcy in the land. The government over the years is the chief failure. While United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) prescribe that a minimum of 26 % of nations’ budget be dedicated to the educational sector, Nigeria rarely achieves a double digit budget for education. The little that is budgeted is leaked out through inefficiency of resource allocation and other corrupt practices.

Education has never been the priority of any Nigerian government. There is paucity of funds, the standards have been abused and re-abused. Investment in education and its facilities are absent or very minimal to achieve positive effects. The quality of learning is further dampened by the level of poverty and the problems of insecurity and instability. Libraries and laboratories are either extinct or exist on life support programmes. Hostels, classrooms, furniture, dinning and sport/ recreational facilities are very inadequate. Students learn in over crowded classrooms, many sit on the floor or windows during teaching hours. Strikes have permeated the sector to the extent that secondary and primary schools remain shut for several months due to the inability of governments at various levels to meet up with teachers’ demands.

Finland has a 100% literacy rate. About 50% of Finland’s annual budget is spent on education. An educated nation is a developed nation, as it is said; the heart of education is the education of the heart. Nigerian Government can not be yelping over the failure rate of the students when the same government has debased education in the country through acts of commission and omission. The quality of teaching and teachers in Nigeria is unsatisfactory. The students are taught by teachers who either couldn’t pass their own exams or couldn’t get admission to other preferred tertiary institutions. We no longer have teachers by choice but by chance. The country churns out sub standard and disillusioned teachers. How can they produce an excellent or average crop of students?

To illustrate the importance of education in our nation, SSCE is the minimum requirement for contesting election in Nigeria. It is more rewarding to be a kidnapper these days than to be a serious minded student. It is more honourable to be a political thug than to be a committed student. Graduates roam and saunter the streets without employment, making years of study an exercise in futility.

Our government must urgently arrest this ugly descent into abyss by probing its own role in the mis-education of our students. Adequate funds and lasting investments must be provided to rescue the sector from ultimate collapse. The learning environment must be rescued from sliding further. Efforts should be made to reintroduce teachers colleges which will attract and enthuse our young generation to the teaching profession and grow them to become experienced and qualified teachers. The condition of service for teachers and those associated with teaching must be enhanced. Numerical and scientific based curricula should be upgraded and integrated into our national appetite.

A minimum of Diploma / NCE with credits in five subjects including mathematics or English language or both should be made the minimum requirements for contesting elections in Nigeria for a start. Rather than exporting scarce teaching skills through the Technical Aid Corps and other bilateral or multi lateral arrangements, Nigeria should flood our schools with adequate teaching manpower. The Parents Teachers Association (PTAs) must become watch dogs. They should not only stop at the provision of chairs and building of fences in the schools, but must actively superintend over the quality of academic and extra curricular contents taught in these schools. Teachers should be trained and re-trained, equipped with modern teaching aids and kits.

Nigerians as a whole must take more than a passing interest in the state of our educational system. It is high time corporate organizations adopted schools to nurture and wealthy individuals can donate teaching and learning materials. A teachers’ welfare insurance scheme should be designed and implemented. Internet based networking programmes should be developed and schools can be categorized and graded based on performance. Each school will have a vertical linkage to allow for interactions and exchange of information and ideas. There should also be a horizontal peer review to enable competition among schools of equal categories.

Above all, the government must stop playing politics with education in Nigeria. Qualified administrators and not non-challant politicians should be appointed to steer the educational system in Nigeria. Unfortunately, if we allow the level of mass failure to continue at such terrifying rate, then I dare say there is no book in face book and our children will only continue to browse and hit million clicks on the internet. This will not be for research or academic purposes but for cyber crimes, chats and pornography. The developers of face book and other internet sites will continue to rake in millions of dollars from online traffic and advertisements while our nation keeps collapsing from the excess luggage of a failed educational system.

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NO! MADAM MINISTER;IT IS FIB

2009-11-08T18:26:00.002+01:00

CredoWriters:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen

Rebranding is more than wearing smuggled ankara and telling pauperized citizens white lies behind a TV camera, which is powered by generators with fuel procured from black markets. It should be about gilded in Made in Nigeria textile fabrics and speaking the truth on behalf of millions of voiceless Nigerians.

Rebranding is not riding in foreign made jeeps to escape the impacts of our potholed embellished roads; it is about driving in Nigerian manufactured cabbies without feeling the fissures because the roads are themselves rebranded, hence no pot holes.

Rebranding is not having foreign construction firms building their own embassies in Nigeria and also building our own embassies in their countries, It is having Nigerian world class building and construction firms excelling anywhere in the world.

Rebranding is not restricted to acquiring a foreign degree as a prerequisite for local jobs, rebranding entails having a Nigerian degree that allows us international access to all job opportunities.

Rebranding transcends deregulating the importation of petroleum products to shoot a renowned cabal out of business; it is promoting local content drive to establish transparency and accountability. It is ensuring adequate local production and refining capacity to meet domestic need and achieve exportation of finished goods.

Rebranding should not be about a brazen mother-in-law of foreign men but being a gratified mother-in-law of humble if need be unemployed Nigerian men to diffuse the circular flow of national income.

Rebranding is beyond destroying fake drugs and running abroad to treat mere headache or food poison. Rebranding is having first class Nigerian hospitals to treat general and sophisticated ailments, coupled with magnificent indigenous drug manufacturing companies

Rebranding is not the cowardice of placing responsibilities on the doors of Nigerians while giving flimsy excuses for the miscarriage of governance, it ought to be the remorse of a government spokeswoman who is determined to right the ills of failures of government institutions as a first step towards making amends.

Rebranding is not the mouthpiece of a few parasites in power, propaganda failed woefully to win Hitler the Second World War. Rebranding is standing up as a patriot on the side of country and truth.

Rebranding is not the sanctimonious rigging of elections with imported electoral materials; it should be the reverence of conducting people driven elections where winners are elected not selected or imposed.

We are patriotic even if unbranded Nigerians. We pay our taxes and we can show the world our pay slips. Madam ‘Rebrandress’; can we please see your pay slip? We are so Nigerian that we have no International Passports since we do not envisage fleeing Nigeria after our ministerial tenures like El-Rufai et al. Can you please drop your dual nationality? All we have are our National ID cards. But our National Identity has been rebranded by hunger, fuel queues, potholes, strikes, insecurity and unemployment.

Madam Minister, nonetheless tell yourself the truth if not your employer or the tax payers. Do you still drink pipe borne water?

Do you eat local rice?

Do you pay for your fuel while it is still un-deregulated?

Do you pay PHCN utility bills?

No! Madam Minister, it is a fib.

Remove those spectacles and stop fibbing.

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THE FECKLESSNESS OF AFRICA AND THE WIDER WORLD

2009-11-08T18:20:00.002+01:00

CredoWriters:Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.

They wandered off our coastlines, disguising first as traders to the amazement of a so called primitive population. We were carried away by the charms of their goods. Common mirror, now we could see ourselves starring at us, unlike when we depended on the blurred images of our shadows or when we had to look into a bowl of water to see the imagery of our faces. When they saw our elation they brought religion and we were told to let go of the gods we knew, gods we were born into and worshipped. They came with their almighty God, who was hitherto unknown to us. While the Christians came from the south, the Moslems came from the north, and our gods were caught in the middle of crossfire. Suddenly our gods became idols and with all our sense of religion we became idolaters. We dropped the sword for the bible and Koran; we jettisoned life on earth for a life in heaven. With all our intelligence they called us illiterates. We had our languages they brought theirs; literacy was now measured only in their own language.

If we could solve all the geometry in this world and use herbs to cure all the ailments, as long as it was not in their language, for all they cared we were illiterates. Hence they took us under the trees, on the hills, inside a room anywhere they deemed fit and called it school, western education, Islamic education, and abolished home training. We were taught to read and write in their languages and to know their histories; we became an extinct people because we did not remember our history. We only know the history they wrote for us. They opined that Mungo Park discovered the River Niger, and we agreed, writing it as the answer to pass our exams. They wrote that Dr. David Livingstone and Sir Henry Morton Stanley were great explorers who came to the Dark Continent, we concurred although it was the black man who first struck fire to cook his meals, and light up his environment.

With trade and religion as the precursors, all they wanted they got in us. They chained us and sailed us as cargoes to their lands and their new world in the Americas. We became slaves, enslaved by those who stood on the pulpit preaching that God created us in his own image and thus equal. Yes, but the black man was not a man, so how dare we claim equality with the white? Though we were sub-human our men were able enough to plough their lands and mend their fences. They found our sub-women sexy and seductive enough to cohabit with, and the half caste came into being. After they had taken enough of our populace to produce more than what they could consume, when by the stroke of ingenuity the industrial revolution was born, they were faced with the bitter reality. They now converted the source of labour to become their market. The Blackman will be better as an everlasting consumer than a slave. It is still market slavery anyway.

They pushed the likes of William Wilberforce to fight for the abolishment of slavery; winning double honours. Get the glory for ending slave trade and prepare a market of heavy consumers. Long before now, they had found out that the Dark Continent after all is not so dark; they had placed their feet on a fertile soil with a ludicrous people and their hands on our resources. Therefore they decided to hold power in trust for us since we were barbarians and ushered in colonialism. In 1884 they went to Berlin to scramble for and partition Africa, what a great favour they did for us! The British, the French, the Portuguese, the Spaniards, the Germans, the Italians, the Dutch the Belgians, all had a bite and a lot to chew. Lord Lugard consolidated for the British through this method of indirect rule as the French introduced the principle of assimilation. We a people, unfit to rule ourselves.

Africa and the wider world; the beauty or the beast? Africa is that beauty which has attracted the world to her lands with her resources and people. From the destruction of Carthage to the invasion by slave traders, and the onslaught of colonial imperialists, all have laid siege on Africa. The wider world has raped, starved, bruised and exported the best of Africa. Yet Africa too is her own beast. When you see the starving children of the wars in the horn of Africa, if you ever saw the genocide in Rwanda, the amputees from Sierra Leone, the victims of Liberia’s war, the aftermath of the Janjaweeds in Darfur, the Guinean massacres of September 28th 2009. The beauty and the beast, the beauty is also the beast. Come home to Nigeria, corruption walks proudly at day and shake hands with poverty, co-habiting with unemployment and hunger.

When the foreigners came, they stayed at the coast; they didn’t enter the hinterland to arrest or steal us into slavery. We raided villages and towns, captured ourselves and brought us to the coast where the white man was waiting. We sold ourselves into slavery. Africa has been her beast; we are again selling our selves into economic mismanagement, political destabilization, social disharmony, religious fundamentalism.

What is happening to the African Peer Review Mechanism? The African Union {AU} must avoid the pitfalls of the Organization of African Union which preceded it. How many custom unions or common markets exist in Africa? The West African Monetary Zone has severally failed to take off due to the inability of member states to meet the conditions. The recent happenings in Niger and Guinea which have led to economic sanctions and arm embargoes will further strain the ECOWAS.

North Africa is more loyal to the Arab league than the African cause. Morocco bluntly is the only country which does not belong to the African Union. This is attributed to the AU recognizing the sovereignty of Western Sahara, a country occupied by Moroccan forces since the exist of Spain in 1975.The Southern African Development Commission (SADC) which ought to be more stable is now faced with the nemesis of a Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe and the quagmire in Madagascar.

The horn of Africa is highly volatile, with Somalia as the world’s numero uno failed state. Eritrea and Ethiopia once the same country are now locked in bitter rivalry and have not recovered from their border war. Rwanda is trying to heal the wounds of its 1994 Genocide. This leaves Kenya and Uganda as the stable members of the East African Economic Community who themselves are not immune from internal rancor. Congo D.R. in Central Africa has the largest number of peace keepers in the world; Burundi and Central African Republic are still nursing the wounds of their civil wars.

While other economies of the world have long reached the fifth stage of Rostow’s growth theory; the state of High Mass Consumption, many African states are still at the first level of Traditional Society. Some have barely attained the second stage of Pre-Take Off and just a few may have reached the Take Off stage which is the third. May be South Africa can be said to have reached the fourth level of the Drive to Maturity.

Africa must rise up to the challenge, we must claim this 21st century which was earlier proclaimed the African Century at the turn of the last century. We should take a cue from the Latin American and Asian countries who themselves where colonized. Today many of them are a success story. We can not continue to bask in the euphoria of colonialism and pretend that we can escape with its curses as excuses. Africa must chart a development oriented course built on viable institutional frame works. Our African leaders must see themselves more as statesmen who think of the next generation rather than mere politicians who only think of the next election.

For Africa especially Sub-Saharan Africa to move out of the doldrums, we must replicate the experiences and determinations of South Africa, Ghana, Mozambique and Botswana. We must realize that our development will be attained endogenously. Exogenous dependent developments will only further re-enforce our dependence on the outside world which has always placed us at their mercy making us feckless before the wider world.

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WATER running dry IN NIGERIA

2009-11-01T18:58:00.001+01:00

CredoWriters: Wakdok,Samuel Stephen.

The fact that we have more water system than pit toilets today doesn’t mean that we have an improved water supply. Rather we have succeeded in having more empty pipes without water running in them. We have only derived a better means of digging wells exclusively for the rich called boreholes. With the streams and the rivers drying up, with the water table going further down, with pipe borne water disappearing, with the dams functioning at an all time low, with the lakes drying up, Nigeria has gradually become a nation of “Thirsty People”. Water a free gift of nature, abundantly present every where is now a luxury, this is a paradox.

“About two-thirds of Nigeria lies in the watershed of the Niger River, which empties in to the Atlantic at the Niger Delta, and its major tributaries: the Benue in the northeast, the Kaduna in the west, the Sokoto in the northwest, and the Anambra in the southeast. The Niger is Africa’s third longest river and fifth largest in terms of discharge. Several rivers of the watershed flow directly to the Atlantic, notably the Cross in southeastern Nigeria and the Ogun, Oshun, and Osse in the southwest. Several rivers of northeastern Nigeria, including the Komadugu Gana and its tributaries, flow into Lake Chad. The lake rests in the center of a major drainage basin at the point where Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon meet. Kainji Lake, created in the late 1960s by the construction of the Kainji Dam on the Niger River, is Nigeria’s only other large lake”. Microsoft Encarta 2009.

The rivers, lakes and dams we have are enough to make Nigeria not only produce enough water for the needs of the people but also to make us a net exporter of water. Water is gold in its liquid form that is used for human and animal consumption, for domestic and industrial use, for private and commercial use. The prospecting, production, processing and distribution of water are worthwhile ventures that both the public and private firms can tap, tame and channel into profitable ventures. Unfortunately over the years we have not only wasted water but we have allowed water and sources of water to run wild and they are fast running dry.

Population explosion, immigration, global warming, desertification and deforestations, lack of adequate investment in water and associated infrastructure have all combined to endanger water and the millions of people who depend on water for drinking and as a means of livelihood. The rate at which the provision of water is declining, I am afraid we have more blood running across the country than water. Yet we have a federal ministry of water resources with the 36 states each having a state ministry of water not to mention the various water boards. These ministries and boards just read out mere statistics without improvement in the actual volume of water. With the debut of sachet and bottled water for drinking , “mai-ruwa” for household use and tankers for commercial and industrial use or digging of bore holes, the citizens have relieved the government of the responsibility of providing water, why then do we still have budgets running into billions of Naira for a lame duck ministry? Why not liberalize the production and distribution of water and set up a National Water Commission to regulate the sector?

The dynamics of water and its recycling will not only provide water for drinking, it can also feed, employ and earn foreign exchange for the country. The water boards can give up their rusty pipes to Independent Water Producers; and create water districts for competent water providers to bid for. These Independent Water Producers can dam their water or drill massive boreholes to generate enough water for processing and distribution in their various water districts. Smaller companies may concentrate on distribution only while bigger ones may focus on drilling and dams according to their economies of scale. Above all researches must be carried out to get the best possible way of producing sustainable and safe water at affordable rates. These will help in meeting the rising need and demand for water, this will go a long way in sustaining life by making safe water available, affordable and accessible to our people.

If countries like the Gulf States and Israel who sit on deserts can adequately provide water for all year use why will a country like Nigeria which sits on massive water bodies be running dry? It is only a fool who thirsts in the abundance of water.

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Credo World Media: MISSIVE FROM MY UNBORN CHILD

2009-10-31T17:27:00.000+01:00

Credo World Media: MISSIVE FROM MY UNBORN CHILD

CredoWriters

MISSIVE FROM MY UNBORN CHILD

2009-10-29T08:45:00.000+01:00

MISSIVE FROM MY UNBORN CHILD

WakdokSamuelStephen.

I was excited reading your epistle, though it was written in English language I was able to read it here for in our world were God prepares us for earth; we speak the language of love which is universal. I will be bringing a billion watts of love along because from the pitch of your letter, your world will do better with more love. We live here as a community of souls but we have already been assigned our countries of birth since our God is omniscient. When I got your letter, I informed my fellow Nigerians-in-formation about the state of the nation in Nigeria. Many of us were not surprised about the events in Nigeria because we have heard some ex-Nigerians lamenting especially the great Gani, who just transited. Though the news of our would-be-country is not so cheering we have resolved not to be discouraged.

While the unborn babies going to other countries are learning how to drive cars and fly planes, we were advised to learn how to paddle bicycles because of the deplorable condition of Nigerian roads and the fatality our nations air space. The planned deregulation of the petroleum sector we learned will also make the products dearer and out of reach. Our mates going to Brazil are cultivating more sugarcane to boost the drive for the development of their bio fuel industry. Those going to Japan have been lectured in efficient management of scarce resources and those going to China are being drilled in construction engineering. Even the brothers going to the Middle East are undergoing courses in peace and conflict resolution. I met a sister going to Ghana, she is happy with her courses in Petroleum optimization and environmental protection because her would be country was worried that their newly discovered oil would be wasted like Nigeria's. My friends going to Indonesia are experimenting on the various techniques of managing earthquakes and minimizing the effects on their environment and people while all those going to America, Germany, France and Britain have undergone elective courses in the economic recovery and reconstruction. However those of us coming to Nigeria are still trying to grasp the effects of the recent teachers' strike, however we managed to organize ourselves to train in tactics. We got a specialist in camouflaging and concealment who is teaching us how to evade kidnappers and ritualists. We are also worried about the high infant mortality rates in Nigeria therefore we have arranged to borrow torch lights manufactured by our South Korean Friends to provide alternative light for the midwives in the eventuality of a black out in the labour room on our delivery dates.

As a family of proud Nigerians to be, we had an audience with God and asked him why the Nigeria condition is this deplorable. He was kind to explain to us how much He loves Nigeria and Nigerians which made him to cause the highest concentration of quality resources both natural and human in Nigeria. Unfortunately the people chose to mismanage these resources he placed at their disposal. Nigeria has been imprisoned by the mafia of greed he lamented, leaving the general populace to wallow in squalor. We understand the predicament faced by your generation. We asked God to have a little more patience with our country of destination and also begged him to give the people a change of heart and attitude. We asked for a genuine breed of leaders to steer the country through this turbulence and transform the land to an El Dorado.

I felt your pulse while reading your letter and I can tell how bitter most Nigerians have become. The religious and ethnic gulf is growing daily and I was even told how people now look for accommodation according to religious divide. There are Christian areas and Muslim areas especially in kaduna and Jos, not to talk of the core North. Does it mean I can not live in the same neighbourhood and play with my Muslim friends Abdallah and Zuwera when we come to Nigeria? Here we are of different races, cultures, religions and tribes and I will be hurt to if I am denied the choice of my friends due to such segregations.

We are interceding on behalf of our country of destination and we know God is ever faithful. It may take a while but definitely the storm will be over. We can't wait to come and join hands with you to build a thriving nation because we know that the grace of God will surely be possible but with the co-operation of men. We cannot afford to allow things to keep falling apart, we really need the centre to hold but until we come please keep holding the forte.

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THE YOUNG SHOULD GROW

2009-10-23T19:18:00.000+01:00

WakdokSamuelStephen.

I had to change school in my Primary 2 because the proprietress of the school was relocating abroad. When I got to my new school, its motto was:” The Young Shall Grow". That was 24 years ago, funny how time flies. Looking back at all the years gone by, comparing the kids we were and who we have grown to become, that motto makes sense. There have been various transitions through life stages from biological to education, to family, exposure, relationship, career and many others. In 1985 Nigeria was 25 years as an independent nation and we are 49 years today with our jubilee march to the golden age of 50. When I think again on the past and present I am tempted to review the motto to "The Young Should Grow".

When we were young we looked forward to the future with pride, a bright future at that. We were made to believe that if we worked hard, read well, passed our exams etc we will get to be the future of the nation. We will have good life and all that comes with a qualitative life for deserving nationals of a naturally endowed country. This was very true. At twenty five, Nigeria as a nation was young and talking about the maxim; the young shall grow we ought to have grown now beyond where we are. But when we look back and see the level of realization or failure ,one would ask; is it enough to just wish that the Young Shall Grow? Can’t we rather assert that the Young Should Grow? If we had four refineries way back, they are now shadows. If we have more cars on our roads now, after spending billions of naira we have the worse roads ever. If we have more hospital buildings and churn out more doctors today, we have always caused the doctors to migrate and looking at the population explosion with the decay in health facilities we are an unhealthy nation. Checking out the exponential growth in universities and schools but observing the standard of education, the quality of teaching and incessant strikes, we should answer if we have really grown. We had several textiles in Nigeria years ago, today all the textiles in Kaduna and most elsewhere are wiped out and with them thousands of jobs and linkages gone. This is definitely not a plus for industrial growth. If we hosted COJA in 2004 and U-17 world cup and at various times hosted various tournaments, we have found it extremely difficult to host the U-17 world cup in 2009 without FIFA threatening to withdraw the hosting right.

The dramatic irony of it all is that the average Nigerian wants us to grow. I stand on the hills as an average Nigerian to lend my unheard voice: The Young Should Grow. I want us to redefine our destiny, we should rediscover our prosperity, and reclaim our lost glory. It is excruciating to see smaller African countries with little or no resources out smarting us in various ways. Look at sports, education, health, stability, unity and even Leadership. It is so upsetting that no Nigerian has won the M O Ibrahim Award for African Leadership which comes with a Five million dollars cash prize and subsequent annual grants. The award committee can not even find a suitable candidate for this year's award which is a big indictment on Nigerians; four out of every five black men in the world are Nigerians. Our sheer size, resources, clout in the international political system and the role we play in the global stage need make us perpetual winners of this award. If only we had transformational leadership in this nation this kind of award should not elude Nigeria. The most striking thing is that M.O. Ibrahim the founder or Celtel is a Sudanese. Sudan has been at war for close to 30 Years either between North and Southern Sudan and most recent the Darfur region of Western Sudan. After establishing Celtel and taking it to the peak of telecommunications he sold the company to Zain and part of the proceeds is used to promote leadership and good governance in Africa. That is lesson in corporate leadership for us in Nigeria.

The young should grow. Nigeria should have grown more by now. We can only grow when and if we break the jinx of "Pharaohic ruler ship" in Nigeria. Why must we keep running abroad when we have more than what it takes to make Nigeria better than those countries? At a point Dubai was a desert but look at what they have transformed that desert into today. Singapore was so tiny to survive on its own that they begged to join Malaysia as a federation and they were even expelled. Singapore depended on neighbouring countries for land to be used for military trainings, they imported sand at a point because they sit on water, and Singapore has a land area of 685 sq km only with a population of about 5million people. Today Singapore has transformed from a third to a first world country. Years ago Brazil was only known for its samba dance, football and sugarcane. With a land area of 8.5million square metres and a population of above 192 million people, Brazil is second to Nigeria with the highest number of black population in the world. Today Brazil has catapulted itself to become a technological and economic giant. Rio de Janeiro just won the right to host the 2016 Olympics and the country aims to invest 356 billion dollars in infrastructure alone over the next 30 years that is about 11.8 billion dollars yearly. Nigeria with a land mass of 923,768 and an estimated population of 140 million people ought to have become a power house by now when we imagine that almost all the mineral resources found on earth have deposits in Nigeria. Our capital investment has fallen over the years. Singapore is smaller than Nigeria in population and land mass, it has grown. Brazil which is bigger than Nigeria in terms of land mass and population too is growing at an increasing rate. So size whether big or small is not the cause for failure, ditto for population.

We have all the resources and brains to transform our nation into a comfortable and wonderful land for every citizen and resident to live peacefully with dignity. We have people and ideas that can make the system work for us. Why then are we second class citizens in our land? We can destroy hunger, erase power outages, eliminate bad roads, eradicate poverty, stop further de-industrialization, arrest unemployment, kidnap crime and assassinate corruption. We can grow, the young should grow. Nigeria must grow. We should make it grow.

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WHO IS AFRAID OF DEREGULATION?

2009-10-17T18:54:00.000+01:00

WakdokSamuelStephen

Who is afraid of deregulation? If anyone should be afraid of deregulation I believe it is the government and not the people. The crux of the matter is that government is not deregulating the petroleum sector, but they are about to deregulate the IMPORTATION of petroleum products. Deregulation is the removal of government regulation and control thereby easing rigid structures, but what we are about to witness is only the removal of subsidy because Government is not in control of the petroleum sector. If The Nigerian Government was in control of the sector, they will not be complaining of a powerful cabal. Will the government have found it this difficult to stamp out corruption in the sector if they were in control? By the way who are the players in this sector if not fronts and cronies of the Government? I believe that the sector has long been deregulated; the sector has since been outside the control of the government officially. What has been going on in that sector is that the government has been using their fronts and cronies to import juicy oil products. This does not speak of a regulated sector. The regulation has only been a burden on the average citizens, but for the parasitic power brokers; it does not exist.

Subsidy is a form of subvention paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or to prevent an increase in price of a product. The problem with Nigeria's subsidy on petroleum products is two fold. Firstly, our successive governments have been paying subsidies to selfish middle men and importers because we do not have producers in the downstream sector, we only have rent seekers. Secondly in truth it is only the ordinary Nigerians that have been subsidizing the petroleum sector in real terms. The masses have been going without the necessities of life for government to pay subsidy to shylocks. I have always opined that the only thing government really subsidizes is corruption. Why then is government who is powerless to sanitize the rot in the petroleum sector so bent on withdrawing subsidy paid by the people if the people do not want it withdrawn? The present structure of the Nigerian Economy makes it inevitable for the petroleum sector to be subsidized to avoid a crowding out effect on the poor. The prices of petroleum products have far reaching implications on all the facets of our national lives.

Ordinarily since petroleum is a natural resources found in Nigeria, we are supposed to have a three sector economy when dealing with local consumption of the product
Y= C+I+G. Where Y= National Income, C= Consumption, I= Investment and G= Government Expenditure.
Since our various governments over the years have failed to invest effectively and efficiently, we have been forced to operate a four sector economy of
Y=C+I+G+(X-M) where X-M is the net of exports over imports.
Unfortunately since we depend on imported refined petroleum products for almost all our consumption of oil products, we are faced with a different model unique to only Nigeria among Oil exporting countries of
Y= C+I+G+ (M-X).
To this end the removal of subsidy on importation of petroleum products will further result in a fall in the already fallen standard of living of our people. The primary economic function of any serious minded government is to ensure a macroeconomic stability through controlled inflation, equitable distribution of income, ensuring a stable price regime, provide employment opportunities or the enabling environment and at least a balance of payment equilibrium. For a country like Nigeria with over 70% of the people living below the poverty line, removing subsidy on a critical commodity like Oil without analyzing the purchasing power parity and the par capita income of the people is very obnoxious.

The Global economic crisis brought to fore the shortcomings of the free market economic system propounded by Adam Smith the Father of Classical Economics. In his work, The Wealth of Nation published in 1776, Smith argued that collective prosperity will follow when individuals seek profits for themselves with minimal interference from government. But we have seen where greed and irrational economic decisions have led the global economy to a near collapse. The question however is what collective prosperity will follow when our government deregulates and allow selfish individuals seek excess profits at the detriment of a generality of the populace. Is it at this sensitive period of economic melt down where even government of capitalist countries are pumping in more funds to support their economies that the government of a starving nation will be withdrawing subsidy?

The demand for petroleum products by Nigerians is perfectly inelastic, meaning no matter how much the price goes up, demand will not reduce because our lives depend on petroleum products and the marketers know it. Consequently once government withdraws subsidy, the prices will keep going up because it is proven economically that prices are rigid upwards in underdeveloped economies. All the petroleum marketers need to do is to continually induce artificially scarcity. The first law of demand and supply states that when demand exceeds supply, the price of that commodity rises. The proponents of deregulation will argue further that the second law states that when price goes up demand will fall or supply will rise resulting in a glut which will further reduce prices. But perfect competition does not exist in Nigeria and the market is not adequately developed due to lack of information and the infrastructure needed to guide us towards a pure economy. Knowing these imperfections and the dynamics of distribution of products in Nigeria coupled with the evil activities of middle men, we will not attain equilibrium. The case of deficit supply is further exacerbated by lack of local refining capacity. We can further decompose consumption to
C= α+by. Where α is the autonomous consumption and b is the consumption dependent on income.
Based on the infinite inelasticity of the demand of petroleum products by Nigerians, the product will be consumed irrespective of whether income is earned or not, we assume that α= 100.

Therefore: α =C. Meaning the whole consumption may be independent of income.

As such the consumption of petroleum products (CPP) will tend towards infinity: ∞
And holding the purchasing power parity (PPP) constant
We have:
CPP/PPP = ∞/1 = ∞, where infinity =∞
CPP/PPP is reduced by government subsidy to have
∞+ G S = CC
(CPP/PPP) = ∞
Where G S = Government subsidy, CC = controlled cost.

Withdrawing subsidy will give us a model of
∞+ G S – G S= U C where U C = Uncontrolled cost
Therefore: CPP= U C= ∞
So with deregulation of the sector the cost of petroleum products will always rise and tend towards infinity and it will cause a spiral rise in inflation

Based on the above model, when we factor in the deflated income which is DY/I
Where DY= disposable income (Income – Tax)
And I= inflationary rate
The higher the levels of taxation and inflation, the lower the disposable income left for individuals and households to spend. When this limited deflated income is now spent on petroleum products and their derived demands, nothing or just a little will be left to save or invest in other spheres of life like education, housing, health etc.

If the government really wants to deregulate the petroleum sector, they must be strong enough to sanitize the oil sector, invest in the local petroleum industry, and build more refineries in all the six geo political zones. They must provide adequate transportation network and ensure we have stable sources of power to reduce dependence on oil as alternative sources of generating domestic and industrial energy. It is appalling for a government to be talking of a cabal in the oil sector or corruption. That is a confession of failure. As a producer of crude oil we ought to benefit from the comparative advantage but only a few have benefited all along, what the majority is faced with is a comparative disadvantage. The fundamentals of the petroleum sector are too delicate an issue for government to toy with. We are not afraid of deregulation; I am only ashamed of the excuses government is offering as the justification for full deregulation of the petroleum sector.

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