Thursday, 15 September 2011
The Killer Number and Nigerians
Mobile phones have quickly become a useful companions. Family, friends and associates can communicate with us in a matter of minutes, ensuring that we are kept in the events loop. September 14, 2011 will go down in the unofficial event calender as the day "mediocrity" triumphed over common sense in many parts of Nigeria.The "killer numbers" broadcasts as absurd as it sounds spread like wild fire and even though it did not find its way into my phone, friends and colleagues made a huge joke of it. If any of my associates had sent me that forwarded message about a 09141 killer number I would have ended our relationship immediately. How anyone can believe that "killer numbers" exists is beyond my understanding.
This is not the first time our sometimes fragile reasoning has been subjected to rumour based scrutiny. The use of fragile reasoning here is not to insult anyone but to challenge us to think critically and make good judgement. In the past there were rumours of "killer beans", "killer noodles" and the big one "killer numbers".They are hardly supported by scientific facts except for our quickness to believe in misplaced spirituality. A visit to a popular Nigerian blog shows comments from people who live in perpetual fear despite religious beliefs. Upon further observation of the said blog, I discovered that the belief in killer numbers was not limited to illiterates. To be able to surf the web and make online contributions to blogs, you must have had some form of education. Yet people kept advising others to pray and watch out for the evil that these numbers may cause. The rumour is backed with unverifiable evidence that it has already killed eight unidentified people.
Whilst many including this blogger believes that our educational system is underfunded, even worse is the quality of graduates. A human being that is unable to critical evaluate issues and make judgement is better off not attending any formal school. Education should challenge traditional boundaries, promote tolerance, critical reasoning and create valuable human capital. Little wonder why people are easily deceived in the name of fear mongering religion. We have had reports of people who endure untold suffering in an attempt to cleanse themselves of spiritual problems, The shameful" child witches" accusations are sad examples of the extremes that arise as a result of lack of judgement. Solutions to problems are been sought from killing animals, paying money to fortune tellers and abusing innocent children. There is a huge " critical thinking" problem we must address as a nation. Little wonder how we manage to choose the worst of ourselves sometimes to represent us as our leaders.
We will not develop, if we continue to shun innovation and build on quality ideas. Nobody cares that we are one of the world's most religious nation yet so morally bankrupt. It does not make sense to deny our brains the opportunity to achieve its full potentials by putting it to good use. I am not going to argue spirituality with people who choose to believe the "unseen" but I will challenge everyone to employ their minds and join hands in developing our nation. The West thrives on innovation and critical evaluation on issues. Asia is catching up and becoming increasingly powerful in world affairs.
Nigeria, the world's largest black nation need to wake up and realize that we are spectators in the 21st century. Greatness is not in numbers (quantity) but in the quality of people. We cannot lead Africa or the world on a mentality that is too lazy to think. Pause for a minute and think about this!
Young Hip Naija.
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Laws of Attraction
I have read so many motivational books that I do not remember the authors of some, just the book titles. I enjoy reading as the right book would allow me critically evaluate certain aspects of my life and teach me something new and valuable. I also like to read controversial books like "the secret", "the act of seduction", "48 laws of power" and of course the best of the lot "the Bible".
I am sure many people will question by adding the Holy Bible to that list. For starters, not everyone is a Christian or a believer of the Bible's message. I have my questions but I like the way the book is a balancing act between spirituality and living. I have respect for other books that are faith based, helping to build good morals and character. I am not going to discuss the content of the Bible here, I just want to focus on lasting human attraction.
There is a book called "the laws of attraction" by Michael Losier which explains the science of meeting and connecting with people. I am not doing a review of the book, you may wish to read it if you desire. I do think however, that there are certain aspects of people that attract others to them. In a not too perfect society, money, power, beauty are strong attraction factors but I have observed that there are other qualities that can meet all of these of even last longer when those factors diminish.
People who have a high sense of self, are able to attract other people to them. They are self aware but not arrogant, somehow they manage to accept their weakness, thrive on their strengths and maintain loyal relationships within their circles. Most of these people have had long standing relationships with friends and family. They tend to have intergrity, character, drive, faith and a good dose of positivity.
I am not talking about crowd pleasers, but individuals who network with the sole aim of adding value and building mutually beneficial relationships. They are sometimes slow to fraternize but when they do, it is usually meaningful. They are analytical critical thinkers and are largely dependable.
The key for attraction here is not to mingle with people to be seen as been part of a group, but to join a group for the sole purpose of value addition. These people may not be the fastest and most noticeable, but once discovered people trust them and tend to stick with them for a long time. Physical attraction will open the communication door, but character ensures that relationships serve its purpose. In all your networking, build character and ensure that integrity, values and accountability are part of your character mix. The interesting thing most books won't tell you is that these traits are in short supply and can deliver long term value.
Young Hip Naija
I am sure many people will question by adding the Holy Bible to that list. For starters, not everyone is a Christian or a believer of the Bible's message. I have my questions but I like the way the book is a balancing act between spirituality and living. I have respect for other books that are faith based, helping to build good morals and character. I am not going to discuss the content of the Bible here, I just want to focus on lasting human attraction.
There is a book called "the laws of attraction" by Michael Losier which explains the science of meeting and connecting with people. I am not doing a review of the book, you may wish to read it if you desire. I do think however, that there are certain aspects of people that attract others to them. In a not too perfect society, money, power, beauty are strong attraction factors but I have observed that there are other qualities that can meet all of these of even last longer when those factors diminish.
People who have a high sense of self, are able to attract other people to them. They are self aware but not arrogant, somehow they manage to accept their weakness, thrive on their strengths and maintain loyal relationships within their circles. Most of these people have had long standing relationships with friends and family. They tend to have intergrity, character, drive, faith and a good dose of positivity.
I am not talking about crowd pleasers, but individuals who network with the sole aim of adding value and building mutually beneficial relationships. They are sometimes slow to fraternize but when they do, it is usually meaningful. They are analytical critical thinkers and are largely dependable.
The key for attraction here is not to mingle with people to be seen as been part of a group, but to join a group for the sole purpose of value addition. These people may not be the fastest and most noticeable, but once discovered people trust them and tend to stick with them for a long time. Physical attraction will open the communication door, but character ensures that relationships serve its purpose. In all your networking, build character and ensure that integrity, values and accountability are part of your character mix. The interesting thing most books won't tell you is that these traits are in short supply and can deliver long term value.
Young Hip Naija
Excuse me Madam?
I have had a very busy last few months, working on a lot of projects that I find interesting. I contribute to a news site, carry out my day job, try to work on my professional exams and manage to meet up with the social scene. I know this should not count as work but somehow, Church has weekly meetings that are also very edifying and when I can I attend. I have wanted to write on this blog for a while, to be honest I missed it. I started it as a safe way to let the many thoughts on my mind run wild and I did not expect to go beyond my first post. Many thanks to the people who bothered to glance through and most importantly post comments. I even gained another follower, now I am really excited about that.
Okay, I have noticed that everywhere I go these days people say things that end with "Madam". Excuse me Madam, Madam abeg can you help me? Thank you Madam, Madam can I speak to you for a minute? All the "madam" centered language. Maybe I should not be writing about this but I would love to know if there is another woman who finds this a tad bit annoying. Don't get me wrong, I understand that respect is part of our culture but the 'madam" calling makes me feel old(seriously). No woman wants to feel old especially if she is not even 30 yet.
I have attributed this new madam title to the few pounds I gained over the past few months. Somehow I just feel in love with a particular brand of chocolate ice cream and it is so hard to let go. One week without it has been quite difficult as I find myself wishing I had my black companion with me. I have managed to start exercising as well, in the bid to give the Kim Kardashians of this world a run for their money. Hopefully when I drop two dress sizes, I will go back to been a girl again!
Back to madam calling, I have noticed that most of the security details at restaurants, offices, schools use "madam" as a means of extracting a Naira and Kobo from women. I am sure the same goes for "oga" as well. Maybe "Ogas" have it worse than we do, who knows.I cannot count how many times I feel guilty for not tipping after all the praise and name calling these people throw my way.
In conclusion, if I do not succeed in getting rid of the "madam" title, I will just keep on enjoying life (smiles). Maybe someday soon I would even like the title, but that I doubt so much. My name no titles, just my name works best all the time.
Okay, I have noticed that everywhere I go these days people say things that end with "Madam". Excuse me Madam, Madam abeg can you help me? Thank you Madam, Madam can I speak to you for a minute? All the "madam" centered language. Maybe I should not be writing about this but I would love to know if there is another woman who finds this a tad bit annoying. Don't get me wrong, I understand that respect is part of our culture but the 'madam" calling makes me feel old(seriously). No woman wants to feel old especially if she is not even 30 yet.
I have attributed this new madam title to the few pounds I gained over the past few months. Somehow I just feel in love with a particular brand of chocolate ice cream and it is so hard to let go. One week without it has been quite difficult as I find myself wishing I had my black companion with me. I have managed to start exercising as well, in the bid to give the Kim Kardashians of this world a run for their money. Hopefully when I drop two dress sizes, I will go back to been a girl again!
Back to madam calling, I have noticed that most of the security details at restaurants, offices, schools use "madam" as a means of extracting a Naira and Kobo from women. I am sure the same goes for "oga" as well. Maybe "Ogas" have it worse than we do, who knows.I cannot count how many times I feel guilty for not tipping after all the praise and name calling these people throw my way.
In conclusion, if I do not succeed in getting rid of the "madam" title, I will just keep on enjoying life (smiles). Maybe someday soon I would even like the title, but that I doubt so much. My name no titles, just my name works best all the time.
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