Let's say you want to buy a new car. You could not go to the car dealer and say, "I have been dreaming about having a car for a long time. I know exactly what I want. Please give it to me."
Of course he would think you are a bit crazy, but he would also ask you a very important question: "What does your dream car look like?" You would need to describe it to the car dealer, or you simply wouldn't get the car you had been dreaming about. You would most likely get the automobile the dealer couldn't sell. That wouldn't be a dream car; it would be a nightmare!
Fortunately, you could use words to describe the car of your dreams. The words that describe things are called adjectives. Adjectives describe nouns (nouns are people, places, and things). Adjectives are a terrific way to make your writing a lot more interesting, too. Take a look at the following sentence:
I want to buy a car.
Is this an interesting sentence? Does it describe the kind of car you want to buy? The answers are NO and NO! The listener/reader doesn't know what kind of car you want. Do you want a big car or little car? Fast or slow? Red or blue? Old or new? It is quite unclear. It is also poor writing because it is very boring. Would you buy a book that was written like this? Probably not. Unfortunately, many students and writers write like this. It is a very common problem which is quite easy to fix.
So what kind of car do you want? Well, um, . . .
• I want a blue car
• I want to buy a new car
• I want to buy a European car
• I want to buy a beautiful car
Did you find the adjectives? They are the words that describe the car. The adjectives above are blue, new, European, and beautiful. The above 4 sentences are written as if the writer wants 4 different cars. However, if the writer just wants 1 car, how would he/she combine the sentences into 1 sentence? The writer needs to put all of the adjectives together. Therefore, we get:
I want to buy a blue, new, European beautiful car.
How's that? Are there any problems? YES, there are problems! The ORDER of adjectives is quite important in English. Adjectives cannot be written in any order. There are rules, so you should use the following order:
1. DETERMINER OR ARTICLE:
Determiners e.g. this, that, these, those, my, mine, your, yours, him, his, her, hers, they, their, Sam's etc
Articles - a, an, the
2. OPINION ADJECTIVE: e.g. polite, fun, cute, difficult, hard-working
3. SIZE, INCLUDING ADJECTIVES, COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES
o height; e.g. tall, short, high, low; taller, tallest
o width; e.g. wide, narrow, thin, slim; wider, widest
o length; e.g. long, short; longer, longest
o volume; e.g. fat, huge; fatter, fattest
4. SHAPE: e.g. circular, oval, triangular, square, 5-sided, hexagonal, irregular
5. AGE: e.g. new, young, adolescent, teenage, middle-aged, old, ancient
6. COLOUR: e.g. red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, grey, black, black and white, light blue, dark red, pale blue, reddish brown, off-white, bright green, warm yellow
7. NATIONALITY: e.g. Hong Kong, Chinese, English, American, Canadian, Japanese
8. RELIGION: e.g. Buddhist, Taoist, Christian, Moslem, pagan, atheist
9. MATERIAL: e.g. wood, plastic, metal, ceramic, paper, silk
10. NOUN USED AS AN ADJECTIVE: e.g. campus (as in 'campus activities')
11. THE NOUN THAT THE ADJECTIVES ARE DESCRIBING.
Using the above list, we can put all four adjectives together to get the following sentence:
• I want to buy a beautiful, new, blue European car.
Adding adjectives is very important if you want to make your writing more interesting. It helps the reader/listener form a picture in his/her mind.
PROMOTING POSITIVE CHANGES IN THE SOCIETY
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
BACK AND BETTER
We apologize for the silence all his while. We intend to keep you posted on opinions, views and events happening around the world. Remember if it does not promote positive change it is not for us.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
MEDIA AND SOCIETY: Of political and journalistic rascality
MEDIA AND SOCIETY: Of political and journalistic rascality
By Lanre Idowu
February 15, 2011 11:48PMT
The Nigerian media has no sense of humour. It does not recognise a joke when it sees one. It is too straitjacketed in its story selection and analysis. It needs a makeover if it is not to bore the nation to death.
At a time the country requires a healthy dose of laughter, the media riles us with inanities. Once upon a time a former head of state (as he then was) put up a sign on his farm that dogs and journalists were not welcome there. The media took it to heart, whining that the general was equating them with dogs. Who does not know journalists are dogs, after all they call themselves watchdogs of society? What does a dog do other than watch its owner’s interests? Why should the farmer open his barns to dogs that would not welcome his interests?
The other day when some northern elders decided to field a former vice president as their northern consensus candidate for the presidency of Nigeria without the consensus of other Nigerians, this former HOS and former president of Nigeria, indeed, the ex VP’s principal, owner of the naughty farm signpost, reacted humorously to the choice, uttering his famous lines: “I dey laugh o.”
What did the media do? They went to town, claiming the former president was mocking his former deputy. What did they expect him to do? Cry? If he had done so, they would have complained he didn’t wish his former deputy well.
Even the former VP’s minders didn’t catch the joke. They derided the old man that if he had died in jail where the dark goggled one sent him, there would have been nothing for him to laugh about. That sent the news hounds on a wild trail, celebrating the insipid utterance.
If they were steeped in the traditional mores of our people, they would have known that when a matter beggars belief laughter is the best antidote.
The latest fixation is with our man lucky enough to be running for the highest office in the land. They say he called the opposition rascals. They say his utterance was un-presidential. They say his prolonged struggle with the former vice president, the zoning evangelist anointed by the northern elders, had taken its toll on him and affected his speech, and he had started abusing people he could hardly look in the eye a few months ago.
One party even tried to drag the former president, the chicken farmer, into it. You see, he was on the campaign podium with the campaigning president and he was adjudged guilty of corrupting the campaigning president’s speech. Are they saying the campaigning president cannot pick his own words? A man who has just won his party’s nomination against grave opposition is an excited person, who can seek recourse in malapropism as he mistakes rascal for radical?
The man had simply said: “We (read PDP) must take over all the states in the South West. The zone is too important to be left in the hands of rascals”. Is the South West not important? Yes, it is. Does the PDP currently control the entire South West? No. Of the six states that make up the geopolitical zone, the Action Congress of Nigeria controls Lagos, Ekiti, and Osun, that is fifty percent. The Labour party controls one, Ondo State, leaving the president’s Peoples Democratic Party in charge of two, Oyo and Ogun; that is thirty three percent. Is the South West in the hands of rascals? What manner of rascals?
Two of my dictionaries describe a rascal as “a person who does things of which you disapprove, but whom you still like”. A rascal could also be “a dishonest or mischievous person”. So which one was the man who wants to be elected president talking about: the likeable one, who irritates now and then and is recognisable in every family and organisation or the dishonest/mischievous one?
You see, the man from the creeks, the one who became governor without being elected, and also became president without being elected, the one who is struggling to be elected into the highest political office for the first time, did not mention any name. So why is the opposition so eager to appropriate a name that may not be theirs?
The man, obviously, did not go there to unfold a grand vision of governance; his mission was to ruffle feathers, and serve notice the recent reverses in the law courts did not mean all was lost. It was to rouse the sleeping warriors to action and assure them that the federal might would be behind them in the battle to defend their turf in Oyo and Ogun and contain the expansion in Ondo, Ekiti and Osun States.
It was also to warn the darling of the media in Lagos not to sit pretty. The Peoples Deception Party wants Lagos badly. It is seen as Nigeria’s honey pot that finances those acts of radicalism, sorry, rascality, of upturning their hitherto carefully orchestrated plans to dominate the South West. That’s why the Assemblage of Confused Nigerians and their friends in the media are so angry with the president.
called from 234 Next Newspapper
By Lanre Idowu
February 15, 2011 11:48PMT
The Nigerian media has no sense of humour. It does not recognise a joke when it sees one. It is too straitjacketed in its story selection and analysis. It needs a makeover if it is not to bore the nation to death.
At a time the country requires a healthy dose of laughter, the media riles us with inanities. Once upon a time a former head of state (as he then was) put up a sign on his farm that dogs and journalists were not welcome there. The media took it to heart, whining that the general was equating them with dogs. Who does not know journalists are dogs, after all they call themselves watchdogs of society? What does a dog do other than watch its owner’s interests? Why should the farmer open his barns to dogs that would not welcome his interests?
The other day when some northern elders decided to field a former vice president as their northern consensus candidate for the presidency of Nigeria without the consensus of other Nigerians, this former HOS and former president of Nigeria, indeed, the ex VP’s principal, owner of the naughty farm signpost, reacted humorously to the choice, uttering his famous lines: “I dey laugh o.”
What did the media do? They went to town, claiming the former president was mocking his former deputy. What did they expect him to do? Cry? If he had done so, they would have complained he didn’t wish his former deputy well.
Even the former VP’s minders didn’t catch the joke. They derided the old man that if he had died in jail where the dark goggled one sent him, there would have been nothing for him to laugh about. That sent the news hounds on a wild trail, celebrating the insipid utterance.
If they were steeped in the traditional mores of our people, they would have known that when a matter beggars belief laughter is the best antidote.
The latest fixation is with our man lucky enough to be running for the highest office in the land. They say he called the opposition rascals. They say his utterance was un-presidential. They say his prolonged struggle with the former vice president, the zoning evangelist anointed by the northern elders, had taken its toll on him and affected his speech, and he had started abusing people he could hardly look in the eye a few months ago.
One party even tried to drag the former president, the chicken farmer, into it. You see, he was on the campaign podium with the campaigning president and he was adjudged guilty of corrupting the campaigning president’s speech. Are they saying the campaigning president cannot pick his own words? A man who has just won his party’s nomination against grave opposition is an excited person, who can seek recourse in malapropism as he mistakes rascal for radical?
The man had simply said: “We (read PDP) must take over all the states in the South West. The zone is too important to be left in the hands of rascals”. Is the South West not important? Yes, it is. Does the PDP currently control the entire South West? No. Of the six states that make up the geopolitical zone, the Action Congress of Nigeria controls Lagos, Ekiti, and Osun, that is fifty percent. The Labour party controls one, Ondo State, leaving the president’s Peoples Democratic Party in charge of two, Oyo and Ogun; that is thirty three percent. Is the South West in the hands of rascals? What manner of rascals?
Two of my dictionaries describe a rascal as “a person who does things of which you disapprove, but whom you still like”. A rascal could also be “a dishonest or mischievous person”. So which one was the man who wants to be elected president talking about: the likeable one, who irritates now and then and is recognisable in every family and organisation or the dishonest/mischievous one?
You see, the man from the creeks, the one who became governor without being elected, and also became president without being elected, the one who is struggling to be elected into the highest political office for the first time, did not mention any name. So why is the opposition so eager to appropriate a name that may not be theirs?
The man, obviously, did not go there to unfold a grand vision of governance; his mission was to ruffle feathers, and serve notice the recent reverses in the law courts did not mean all was lost. It was to rouse the sleeping warriors to action and assure them that the federal might would be behind them in the battle to defend their turf in Oyo and Ogun and contain the expansion in Ondo, Ekiti and Osun States.
It was also to warn the darling of the media in Lagos not to sit pretty. The Peoples Deception Party wants Lagos badly. It is seen as Nigeria’s honey pot that finances those acts of radicalism, sorry, rascality, of upturning their hitherto carefully orchestrated plans to dominate the South West. That’s why the Assemblage of Confused Nigerians and their friends in the media are so angry with the president.
called from 234 Next Newspapper
Sunday, January 23, 2011
HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR CONFIDENCE IN PUBLIC SPEAKING
You are about to deliver a speech and as you step on the podium one thousand and one things run through you head at the same time : “ what am I doing here?, why are they all looking at me like this?, Do they think I am ugly?, would they like what I would want to say?.....”
Your vocal Cord suddenly becomes dry and no word would come out from it and then you run out of the stage saying to your friends at the back stage: “I can’t do it, I can’t face them, I am not meant to speak before an audience.”
Many people have a deep-rooted fear of making a speech in public. It is understandable that people have this fear, but it does not mean that you should give in to it and avoid public speaking at all cost.
Jerry Seinfeld made us understand that "According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two? Does that seem right? To the average person that means that if they have to go to a funeral, they'd be better off in the casket than giving the eulogy."
There are three solutions to help you reduce fear and make it work for rather than against you:
1. Accept it as nature’s way of helping you.
You don’t need to be terrified of fear when you accept it as nature’s way of protecting you and helping you. We all feel fear. Whether your fear stems from the thought of standing alone by yourself on stage before hundreds of people, or even from the thought of getting upstage to speak, keep in mind that you are responding normally. Seasoned speakers never get rid of apprehension before speaking, nor do they want to.
An experienced actor once said: “I used to have butterflies in my stomach every time I stand in front of an audience. Now that I know how to make them work for me, they fly in formation.”
Fear is nature’s way of preparing you for danger, real or fancied. Nature adds the adrenaline in your blood stream. It speeds up your pulse and your responses. It increases your blood pressure to make you more alert. It provides you with the extra energy you need for doing your best. Without the anxiety there would be no extra effort. Identify fear as a friend. Recognize it and use it well.
2. Analyze Your Fear.
Analyze your type of fear. In public speaking there are only three dangers to self-esteem:
Fear of yourself – fear of performing poorly or not pleasing your self-esteem.
Fear of your audience – fear they may tease or laugh at you
Fear of your material – fear you have nothing sensible to say or you are not well prepared.
Fear of yourself (a) and fear of your audience (b) are very much connected.
It is possible to be pleasing yourself while failing to satisfy your audience. Aiming for audience approval is often a better alternative because, if you succeed, you are in fact also pleasing yourself. But in aspiring to satisfy your audience you must never compromise your message.
Sometimes you may have to give a message to people you know are particularly opposed to it. This calls for courage. Don’t fear to disagree. Good speakers have done so and have proudly walked off the stage successfully. Honest beliefs equip a speaker and give force to the speech.
3. Make use of what you have learned.
You now know that fear, nature’s secret weapon, can actually help you succeed. You found you were not really afraid of fear but of yourself, your audience, and your material. Now, use your knowledge. Here’s how you can:
a. Hide your negative feelings from others.
If you lack self-confidence, hide it. Letting the audience know it won’t help you in any way. Never discuss it. This will just make you feel worse. Act confidently. It will rub off on you. You will look the way you feel. Don’t give in to fear. Stay calm and relaxed. Enjoy your talk and your audience.
b. Assess your condition reasonably.
Think of the reasons why you were called to speak. Among other possible speakers, you were chosen. Whoever asked you had confidence in you, or you would not have been chosen. You are thought of as a competent, good speaker. And you know your topic. You know more about it than your listeners do. Your assessment reveals that you are prepared to do well and that you have the benefit over your listeners. When you accept this, your confidence will show to your audience. It will make them believe in you and in your speech.
c. Assess your audience reasonably.
They want you to do well. Listeners suffer along with a speaker who is having difficulty delivering, and they do not enjoy suffering. They would much rather react and criticize; that would give them a good time. So consider your audience rather than yourself. Win their interest, and you will be more confident, and everybody will be happy.
d. Assess your material reasonably.
Fear of speech material is the easiest to conquer since the solution is simple: Knowledge and preparation.
Knowledge and preparation dispel fear, but by themselves they do not automatically assure the delivery of a successful speech. A good start is when you recognize you don’t need to be afraid – of yourself, your audience, or your material. And as you succeed in making speeches, you will soon say, “I can do it because I have done it often.”
Your vocal Cord suddenly becomes dry and no word would come out from it and then you run out of the stage saying to your friends at the back stage: “I can’t do it, I can’t face them, I am not meant to speak before an audience.”
Many people have a deep-rooted fear of making a speech in public. It is understandable that people have this fear, but it does not mean that you should give in to it and avoid public speaking at all cost.
Jerry Seinfeld made us understand that "According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two? Does that seem right? To the average person that means that if they have to go to a funeral, they'd be better off in the casket than giving the eulogy."
There are three solutions to help you reduce fear and make it work for rather than against you:
1. Accept it as nature’s way of helping you.
You don’t need to be terrified of fear when you accept it as nature’s way of protecting you and helping you. We all feel fear. Whether your fear stems from the thought of standing alone by yourself on stage before hundreds of people, or even from the thought of getting upstage to speak, keep in mind that you are responding normally. Seasoned speakers never get rid of apprehension before speaking, nor do they want to.
An experienced actor once said: “I used to have butterflies in my stomach every time I stand in front of an audience. Now that I know how to make them work for me, they fly in formation.”
Fear is nature’s way of preparing you for danger, real or fancied. Nature adds the adrenaline in your blood stream. It speeds up your pulse and your responses. It increases your blood pressure to make you more alert. It provides you with the extra energy you need for doing your best. Without the anxiety there would be no extra effort. Identify fear as a friend. Recognize it and use it well.
2. Analyze Your Fear.
Analyze your type of fear. In public speaking there are only three dangers to self-esteem:
Fear of yourself – fear of performing poorly or not pleasing your self-esteem.
Fear of your audience – fear they may tease or laugh at you
Fear of your material – fear you have nothing sensible to say or you are not well prepared.
Fear of yourself (a) and fear of your audience (b) are very much connected.
It is possible to be pleasing yourself while failing to satisfy your audience. Aiming for audience approval is often a better alternative because, if you succeed, you are in fact also pleasing yourself. But in aspiring to satisfy your audience you must never compromise your message.
Sometimes you may have to give a message to people you know are particularly opposed to it. This calls for courage. Don’t fear to disagree. Good speakers have done so and have proudly walked off the stage successfully. Honest beliefs equip a speaker and give force to the speech.
3. Make use of what you have learned.
You now know that fear, nature’s secret weapon, can actually help you succeed. You found you were not really afraid of fear but of yourself, your audience, and your material. Now, use your knowledge. Here’s how you can:
a. Hide your negative feelings from others.
If you lack self-confidence, hide it. Letting the audience know it won’t help you in any way. Never discuss it. This will just make you feel worse. Act confidently. It will rub off on you. You will look the way you feel. Don’t give in to fear. Stay calm and relaxed. Enjoy your talk and your audience.
b. Assess your condition reasonably.
Think of the reasons why you were called to speak. Among other possible speakers, you were chosen. Whoever asked you had confidence in you, or you would not have been chosen. You are thought of as a competent, good speaker. And you know your topic. You know more about it than your listeners do. Your assessment reveals that you are prepared to do well and that you have the benefit over your listeners. When you accept this, your confidence will show to your audience. It will make them believe in you and in your speech.
c. Assess your audience reasonably.
They want you to do well. Listeners suffer along with a speaker who is having difficulty delivering, and they do not enjoy suffering. They would much rather react and criticize; that would give them a good time. So consider your audience rather than yourself. Win their interest, and you will be more confident, and everybody will be happy.
d. Assess your material reasonably.
Fear of speech material is the easiest to conquer since the solution is simple: Knowledge and preparation.
Knowledge and preparation dispel fear, but by themselves they do not automatically assure the delivery of a successful speech. A good start is when you recognize you don’t need to be afraid – of yourself, your audience, or your material. And as you succeed in making speeches, you will soon say, “I can do it because I have done it often.”
THE 2011 ELECTION
A poem Corruption
CORRUPTION
Corruption is an option
That starts with temptation
Born out of need
That leads to greed.
It’s no longer regarded as immorality
Neither is it termed as iniquity
It’s now cultural
That still doesn’t make it moral.
It’s imbibed in our society
That brings anxiety
We need to come together and
Find a solution at hand .
Saturday, January 22, 2011
OBUDU MOUNTAIN RESORT: PARADISE IN THE CLOUDS by Ibi David Iorhide
The history of the ranch dates back to the late 1930’s when expatriates managed the cattle ranch; as it was called at that time. Their departure in the early 1970s gave allowed for indigenous management. Donald Duke, the quintessential former governor of Cross River State revived and remodelled it under Protea’s management, to a world-class tourist site that now compares favourably to any other of its kind anywhere in the world. The influx of tourists of all races, year in year out, to the ranch speaks volumes of the pride of place it now occupy in the hearts of many. The distance from Obudu town to the ranch is about 60kms. The beautiful scenery of thick vegetation that interfaces between the dense tropical rain forest in the southern part of the state, up to the Cameroon, and the Guinea Savannah that extends through the southern fringes of Benue State up to Nasarawa State will be an added experience for tourists. The road to the ranch is narrow but well maintained and will make the ride more pleasurable. The proximity of Obudu to Benue means they share close historical and cultural ties with their Tiv neighbours. This can be seen in their traditional settlements which bear architectural similarities.
The hooting of the bus called me out of my reverie, I had arrived at my home town Vandeikya where I was expected to lodge for the night and prepare for the D – day. The distance from my home town to the ranch is about one hour thirty minutes. Although I have lived there for over two decades, the proximity with my home town didn’t confer on me special privileges of a frequent visit to Obudu cattle ranch.
When morning broke, I took on the journey. The voice of the wonderland beckoned.
As we rode past the villages situated within thick forests, I felt lost to a world concealed from the hustle and bustle of city life. The peace and serenity of this environment called to my soul, I felt the connection, an intercourse between my mind and the tranquillity the pervaded the atmosphere. Goose pimple caught my skin as the chilling breeze caressed my body; “this is out of naija!”, I exclaimed. On the way to the ranch is the Bebi airstrip constructed by the administration of Donald Duke for packaged tour groups or individuals who are buoyant enough to fly in and are picked by the hotel’s tour bus for another 45 minutes drive to the main place. From this point, you begin to make a calm descent down as if to a place of no return, until you arrive at the ox-head gate house located at the foot of the ranch resort. As the welcome sign signified my arrival, the real climb then began with a mixture of fear, curiosity and pleasure. For me as a first timer it was so frightening at the mere sight of the “intestine” road, l almost wanted to make a detour. Really, climbing up the steep slope to the crest is not for the faint-hearted, whether with one’s automobile or with the recently introduced cable car. An acrophobic will dread the cable car; nevertheless any kind of fear can be overcome like it happened to me on this first visit.
As I close in on the resort, each kilometre is boldly inscribed on the paved asphalted road. As a first timer, a lot of questions cropped my mind; how was it possible to survey and construct this road; how do they maintain the steep ‘intestine’ road to the standard it is now? In the midst of my curiosity, I turned either side of the road to behold the extra-ordinary topography and scenery that prompts reverence for the creator. Each kilometer up got me more apprehensive. I suddenly shouted ‘Here at last!’ as I saw the bold Protea signpost and other buildings in the foreground. The beautiful environment gave a telling story of painstaking efforts that have been put into the development of this wonderland.
The weather was so clement, hardly going above 20 degrees Celsius. At this height, it is like an ascension to the heavens where celestial beings are on hand to sing a specially composed song on the bliss and warmth of these undulating plains. The air is so clean and fresh, so much that there are no air conditioners. Instead, what you see is fire places in the chalets.
“The resort is at an elevation of about 1,576 meters (3,200 feet) above sea level, and enjoys a cool, temperate climate. It is an area of idyllic tranquillity, beautiful scenery and breathtaking views”, so states the fact sheet. It has 76 stone-walled chalets in seven categories managed by Protea: 4 categories are single rooms of standard and executive suites with different facilities to match and the other 3 are 2 bedroom apartments each specifically built and furnished to taste. The room rates range from N16, 000 per night to a maximum of N45, 000 depending on the class.
The hotel offers other extras that suit individual, family or groups like companies. There is a tennis court, a swimming pool and other sports like Squash, horse riding, organized hiking and bird watching. The swimming pool flows to a point called, the Grotto. There is also a 9-hole golf course that takes advantage of the beautiful landscape to give golfers a worthwhile challenge.
Everything here, including the meals is of international standard. It is advisable to bring along a pair of shoes, binoculars as well as warm clothes and other sundry aids that will make your stay truly memorable. With the binoculars, you can enjoy the pleasure of viewing the hills as far as Cameroon, as the ranch is just 6km from the Cameroon.
By the time I checked my wrist watch it I discovered how fast the day had flown by. It was time to say goodbye to Obudu. The experience has been worth it anyway. I wasn’t disappointed in any way. I had visited, seen and conquered the great Obudu. As the bus took me back to my place of lodgement (my home town), I felt fulfilled. Just as I thought I had it all, my unquenchable desire to conquer yet another tourist site arose. Another place beckons. Maybe it will be the Olumo Rock next or even the Yankari games reserve I can’t tell but right now I just want to bask in the euphoria of this experience
Friday, January 21, 2011
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT BY ZAINAB QUADRI
Dear President,
I write to you today my dear President as a youth who dreams of a Nigeria where equity and justice reigns and corruption, money laundering and all evil vices has been thrown into the waste basket. I also dream of a Nigeria which can boast of 24hours non-interrupted power supply and also provide basic amenities to its citizens.
However it’s no longer news that the once giant of Africa (Nigeria) has been lost deep in the wilderness of underdevelopment and insecurity due to effects of corruption and tribal scheming but despite all these I still believe we can return back to those days when we were still the envy of other countries across the world.
In order for this to be achieved we need to begin to put the progress of our country first before our own selfish desires. This is why I believe that of all the uncountable needs of the country, your primary focus should be on energy, security and education.
By energy I mean electricity; if you solve the power problem, foreign direct investment will come in and Nigerians will be able to function. The amount of money wasted on diesel would be cut down. According to Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, “Solving the power problem will create what in leadership principle is called the corridor principle. If you want to go through a corridor, once you open the first major door, other doors will begin to open.” If the power problem is solved, industries will reopen, factories will start to work, prices will go down, other problems will be resolved, and there will be less unemployment in the country.
The second major area is security. The nation is insecure; people are just too afraid; armed robbers have a field day, and they kill at random. Kidnapping is now becoming the order of the day, citizen do not have confidence in the Nigerian police anymore; you can't drive on Nigerian motorway during the day, not even at night, without being afraid that there will be armed robbers on the way. When the country lacks security, there will be no foreign investment; even the citizens will be scared to take the next required step for their business to grow further for fear of armed robbers or kidnappers attacking them.
John F. Kennedy once said “Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.” His words sums up the need for an enabling learning environment for we the younger generation because we are the hope of the future and with the right education, we can take the country to the next level.
My father would always say that “All men will be remembered either for the problem they caused or the ones they solved”. I believe it’s high time you removed personal sentiments and ask yourself this one big question: What do I want to be remembered for?
Oh! Mr President, this is the tears of many Nigerians inked on this letter. This is a letter from the many ailing souls who carry the green Nigerian blood in their veins. This is the cry of our land on the pages of paper. I do sincerely hope that the mail man of time gets this letter to your desk. I do prayerfully hope that our Nigeria will breathe a new air of development. I do sincerely hope that our Nigeria will become a source of pride and once again the giant of Africa.
I write to you today my dear President as a youth who dreams of a Nigeria where equity and justice reigns and corruption, money laundering and all evil vices has been thrown into the waste basket. I also dream of a Nigeria which can boast of 24hours non-interrupted power supply and also provide basic amenities to its citizens.
However it’s no longer news that the once giant of Africa (Nigeria) has been lost deep in the wilderness of underdevelopment and insecurity due to effects of corruption and tribal scheming but despite all these I still believe we can return back to those days when we were still the envy of other countries across the world.
In order for this to be achieved we need to begin to put the progress of our country first before our own selfish desires. This is why I believe that of all the uncountable needs of the country, your primary focus should be on energy, security and education.
By energy I mean electricity; if you solve the power problem, foreign direct investment will come in and Nigerians will be able to function. The amount of money wasted on diesel would be cut down. According to Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, “Solving the power problem will create what in leadership principle is called the corridor principle. If you want to go through a corridor, once you open the first major door, other doors will begin to open.” If the power problem is solved, industries will reopen, factories will start to work, prices will go down, other problems will be resolved, and there will be less unemployment in the country.
The second major area is security. The nation is insecure; people are just too afraid; armed robbers have a field day, and they kill at random. Kidnapping is now becoming the order of the day, citizen do not have confidence in the Nigerian police anymore; you can't drive on Nigerian motorway during the day, not even at night, without being afraid that there will be armed robbers on the way. When the country lacks security, there will be no foreign investment; even the citizens will be scared to take the next required step for their business to grow further for fear of armed robbers or kidnappers attacking them.
John F. Kennedy once said “Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.” His words sums up the need for an enabling learning environment for we the younger generation because we are the hope of the future and with the right education, we can take the country to the next level.
My father would always say that “All men will be remembered either for the problem they caused or the ones they solved”. I believe it’s high time you removed personal sentiments and ask yourself this one big question: What do I want to be remembered for?
Oh! Mr President, this is the tears of many Nigerians inked on this letter. This is a letter from the many ailing souls who carry the green Nigerian blood in their veins. This is the cry of our land on the pages of paper. I do sincerely hope that the mail man of time gets this letter to your desk. I do prayerfully hope that our Nigeria will breathe a new air of development. I do sincerely hope that our Nigeria will become a source of pride and once again the giant of Africa.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Malaria: A dreadful killer by Olajubu Micheal
Every second, a child dies of malaria and it is no more news that it increases the rate of mortality faster than the most notorious Transmitted Virus, HIV/AIDS (Human Immune` Deficiency Virus/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).
According to the research carried out by our correspondent, it was discovered that most Nigerians pay little or no attention to their health status instead, their thought and reasoning is being engulfed by the other secondary matters, such as the acquisition of fame and wealth, employment, etc. presented to them by the country or their inability to do the right things at the right time.
With all the effort invested in the orientation on hygiene by different health institutes in Nigeria and around the world like World Health Organization (W.H.O), MAMA, etc disseminated through various media channels on daily basis, it is heart rendering to know that the whole aim and objective is like “a chase after the whirlwind”, because expected and aspired change really never occurred in the community.
Research reveals that malaria protozoa are a human pathogen since the birth Of the species. The earliest records of the malaria epidemic date back to 2700BC, in China. The disease got its name from the medieval Italian term “Malaria”, which translates to “bad air”. Throughout history, it has been referred to as “ague” and “marsh fever”.
In 1820, Pierre Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Bienaime Caventou commercialized the isolated ‘quinine rich bark of the Cinchoma tree as a remedy for malaria infection. Even with that, the infection still claims over a million lives each year.
Malaria usually affects children under the age of 5, pregnant women and those with weak immune systems. The disease is commonly associated with poverty, unhealthy living condition and economically backward regions of the world.
The current mortality rate for malaria is on record at 2.2%. In Nigeria, malaria causes the death of an estimate 250,000 children under the age of 5 every year. It is said that children contracted with acute malaria dies within 24 hours, if prompt access to effective treatment is not prescribed.
Dr. Shola, a pediatrician in the Specialist Hospital, Bauchi State said “sixty per cent of the deaths in this hospital, especially those of children, are caused by malaria. He also said, out of 525 deaths resulting from malaria at the Specialist Hospital, 65 have been children under age 5”. Malaria is responsible for about 66 per cent of all clinic visits in Nigeria.
Cold and rigor continue to be the most classical symptoms of malaria. The condition is characterized by hemoglobinuria, retinal damage and convulsions in serious cases. Cerebral malaria is known to cause neurologic damage, retinal whitening and even death, if untreated. The infection manifests in form of hypoglycemia, an enlarged liver and enlarged spleen (splenomegaly).
30 April, 2010, “PM News Publication” reported that Commissioner for Health, ‘Dr. Jide Idris said “malaria had remained a major public health challenge in Nigeria that had been responsible for 30 per cent childhood morbidity; 25 per cent mortality among pregnant women; constitute more than 70 per cent of outpatient attendance in the public health facilities in Lagos, while about 400,000 cases of the illness were reported annually”.
Dr. Jide also said “malaria has plagued humanity since ancient times and continues to haunt over 40% of the world population. The incidence of malaria worldwide is estimated to be between 300 and 500 million clinical cases every year and about 90% of these cases are found in sub-Saharan Africa”.
Research reveals that the malaria parasite is associated with gene mutations responsible for the onslaught of sickle cell disease, thalassemia and increased production of Duffy antigens and Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase enzyme.
An important part of UNICEF’s malaria prevention work is to empower families and communities through participation while improving their knowledge about how to prevent, recognize and treat malaria. Community workers try to sensitize the local population about preventing malaria through the use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) or treating it with Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT).
The Lagos State Government says, it has concluded arrangement to distribute 4.5 million chemically treated mosquito nets to households in the state. The proposed distribution of the Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLIN), with each household expected to have two, was part of the activities scheduled for this year’s World Malaria Day.
However, with all the programmes of various health institutes to curb the inflating rate of malaria, poverty often stops individuals and contracted victims from seeking treatment. Most can’t afford the Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT), even if the Insecticide-Treated Nets (ITNs) is being given for free by some state governments and health institutes.
Malaria disease is deadly and I would implore various countries and health institutes to device means of eradicating the causes and effects of this disease for good. As a result of malaria being related to poverty and unhealthy living condition, the government should proffer solutions to poverty alleviations and implement laws that will enforce proper environmental sanitation.
According to MAMA, “No let malaria thief your pikin”, so, the struggle and fight against malaria begins with you.
According to the research carried out by our correspondent, it was discovered that most Nigerians pay little or no attention to their health status instead, their thought and reasoning is being engulfed by the other secondary matters, such as the acquisition of fame and wealth, employment, etc. presented to them by the country or their inability to do the right things at the right time.
With all the effort invested in the orientation on hygiene by different health institutes in Nigeria and around the world like World Health Organization (W.H.O), MAMA, etc disseminated through various media channels on daily basis, it is heart rendering to know that the whole aim and objective is like “a chase after the whirlwind”, because expected and aspired change really never occurred in the community.
Research reveals that malaria protozoa are a human pathogen since the birth Of the species. The earliest records of the malaria epidemic date back to 2700BC, in China. The disease got its name from the medieval Italian term “Malaria”, which translates to “bad air”. Throughout history, it has been referred to as “ague” and “marsh fever”.
In 1820, Pierre Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Bienaime Caventou commercialized the isolated ‘quinine rich bark of the Cinchoma tree as a remedy for malaria infection. Even with that, the infection still claims over a million lives each year.
Malaria usually affects children under the age of 5, pregnant women and those with weak immune systems. The disease is commonly associated with poverty, unhealthy living condition and economically backward regions of the world.
The current mortality rate for malaria is on record at 2.2%. In Nigeria, malaria causes the death of an estimate 250,000 children under the age of 5 every year. It is said that children contracted with acute malaria dies within 24 hours, if prompt access to effective treatment is not prescribed.
Dr. Shola, a pediatrician in the Specialist Hospital, Bauchi State said “sixty per cent of the deaths in this hospital, especially those of children, are caused by malaria. He also said, out of 525 deaths resulting from malaria at the Specialist Hospital, 65 have been children under age 5”. Malaria is responsible for about 66 per cent of all clinic visits in Nigeria.
Cold and rigor continue to be the most classical symptoms of malaria. The condition is characterized by hemoglobinuria, retinal damage and convulsions in serious cases. Cerebral malaria is known to cause neurologic damage, retinal whitening and even death, if untreated. The infection manifests in form of hypoglycemia, an enlarged liver and enlarged spleen (splenomegaly).
30 April, 2010, “PM News Publication” reported that Commissioner for Health, ‘Dr. Jide Idris said “malaria had remained a major public health challenge in Nigeria that had been responsible for 30 per cent childhood morbidity; 25 per cent mortality among pregnant women; constitute more than 70 per cent of outpatient attendance in the public health facilities in Lagos, while about 400,000 cases of the illness were reported annually”.
Dr. Jide also said “malaria has plagued humanity since ancient times and continues to haunt over 40% of the world population. The incidence of malaria worldwide is estimated to be between 300 and 500 million clinical cases every year and about 90% of these cases are found in sub-Saharan Africa”.
Research reveals that the malaria parasite is associated with gene mutations responsible for the onslaught of sickle cell disease, thalassemia and increased production of Duffy antigens and Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase enzyme.
An important part of UNICEF’s malaria prevention work is to empower families and communities through participation while improving their knowledge about how to prevent, recognize and treat malaria. Community workers try to sensitize the local population about preventing malaria through the use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) or treating it with Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT).
The Lagos State Government says, it has concluded arrangement to distribute 4.5 million chemically treated mosquito nets to households in the state. The proposed distribution of the Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLIN), with each household expected to have two, was part of the activities scheduled for this year’s World Malaria Day.
However, with all the programmes of various health institutes to curb the inflating rate of malaria, poverty often stops individuals and contracted victims from seeking treatment. Most can’t afford the Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT), even if the Insecticide-Treated Nets (ITNs) is being given for free by some state governments and health institutes.
Malaria disease is deadly and I would implore various countries and health institutes to device means of eradicating the causes and effects of this disease for good. As a result of malaria being related to poverty and unhealthy living condition, the government should proffer solutions to poverty alleviations and implement laws that will enforce proper environmental sanitation.
According to MAMA, “No let malaria thief your pikin”, so, the struggle and fight against malaria begins with you.
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