₦airaland Forum

Nostradamus:
I believe alaba might be saying the truth here. Asking for bribes is not beyond nigerians with their weird level of greed. A nairalander who made the cut to play for the eaglets made a post sometimes ago about his inability to pay the #2million bribe they slammed on him..

I only hope our greed and selfishness will not ruin us in this country.even the judiciary and religious institutions are not left out.

When Nigeria dies, greed killed her.

https://www.nairaland.com/4984617/when-nigeria-dies-greed-killed

Seun and the MODs, please nairaland needs stiffer penalties for those who are hung up on insulting one anothers' ethnic groups.

They are making nairaland look like a forum for immature minds. Serious minds may start finding this place uninteresting.

PearlStreet:
There are some civilians that make military men cry. Eg. DSS and ONSA.

Even this SARS, Boko boys reportedly fear them more than soldiers. Some of the SARS guys were drafted into the fight against BH. Whenever they catch terrorists, they use machetes to butcher such terrorists into pieces.

Even cultist butcher their victims so that makes them stronger than military?

SMH!

[quote author=Wisfem post=77535862][/quote]Thanks.

What is the time for the match pls?

What is the time pls?

By Olusola Aladejebi

If you want to hide something from the black man, keep it in a book. This saying is both disparaging and unfortunately descriptive of us Africans. Books are things that are open to everyone. Nothing is supposed to be hidden once written in a book. Thus is the irony of the opening statement of this piece. Books are like houses of treasures with unlocked doors. Some category of people will never benefit from those treasures— those who never open them.


When I was in 200L, the lecturer who took us social and political philosophy class was discussing about Fidel Castro. Probably because he perceived some blank stares from some of us, he decided to ask some (by pointing specifically at them)who Fidel Castro was. One or two didn’t know. He then proceeded to ask where Cuba is. A few didn’t know either! I was surprised they didn’t know. (Of course many of us in the class knew who and where Castro and Cuba is respectively.) It struck me that many undergraduates who are supposed to be among the intellectual class don’t read outside of prescribed text. If these, don’t ‘read’, where would those be, who have never seen a university?


If we examine the history of Africa, literacy was practically none existent. African cultures were founded on oral tradition. Laws and customs and worldviews were passed down from generation to generation primarily through word of mouth. Other ways were art—paintings, sculptures, etc. Our inability to develop literacy when others—Chinese, Koreans, Arabs, Europeans, Jews—had advanced in this art undoubtedly made us fall behind in knowledge development. This is not to say that African peoples didn’t produce spectacular achievements, but it is evident we could have gone much farther had we been able to write things down.


Could it be that we don’t read much today because our ancestors did not even read at all. In a survey of countries that read the most, out of first 29 countries only 2 African countries made the cut—Egypt and South Africa. The survey didn’t distinguish between online reading and reading a published book(e-copy or printed). While Any Reading is better than No Reading, just reading sensational newsblogs, political propaganda, gossips or sports news is not REAL READING. Again I recall when in the university. BusinessDay newspaper campus copy was sold for #50. It was highly subsidized. At the paper stand, a sports newspaper with only 2 sheets used to outsell the BusinessDay which sold for the same price! While the BusinessDay paper contained useful information on economy, finances and entrepreneurship the sports newspaper contained news that expire in less than a week. Yet the latter was more in demand by those who are supposed to be the intellectual class. The reason it was subsidized in the first place was to give the ‘scholars’ in the university opportunity to gain knowledge at an affordable cost. But alas! Just so that you know, I made it a point of duty to buy AND READ the BusinessDay paper once a week while in the university.


The internet has made books and publications available to much more people today than in the past. At that time , one either had to buy a book or borrow from a library to read. But now quite a number of texts can be downloaded free. Some come with a fee. It is however important to note that even before ubiquitous internet, the library system in Nigeria had collapsed. We didn’t stop building block and mortar libraries because of electronic book format and ICT. We did because we don’t regard reading as important.


The university educational system also didn’t help matters. Students were expected during exams to give back to their lecturers exactly what was contained in the mostly badly compiled handouts. If you do oversabi by answering questions from ideas gotten from extraneous materials, you might be given a lower score than your colleague who crammed the handout and regurgitated it with exactness. But no one provides solutions to societal problems by ‘cramming and pouring’. Neither does one make any contribution to technology by it.


So dear reader, look for a book to read next month. Be it an autobiography, a novel, a history of your society, or a health book. No society can develop faster than the knowledge and learning of its citizens. In the survey of countries that read the most referred to above, the top 3 countries are India, Thailand and China. It is not surprising to find China and India on the top of the list, but Thailand? All I can say is: Watch out for that country.

http://mouthpiece.com.ng/africans-and-books-still-dont-mix

anjigirl:
Funsho Williams and Harry Marshall were killed by PDP
Bola ige was also killed by PDP as a revenge for the PDP member (Odunayo Olagbaju) who was killed by AD in ile-ife
Odunayo Olagbaju actually removed Bola ige's cap during a brawl at Osogbo rally,he was killed a day later by AD members for disrespecting Bola ige,Bola ige was killed the following day for killing Odunayo Olagbaju
They believed Bola Ige sactioned his death

The 'following day', 'the following day', do you think killing a Minister of Justice is a thing that requires 20mins planning?

By Olusola Aladejebi

In 2016, the former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, while briefing the Queen of England on the visit of Nigeria’s president, Buhari, referred to the country as fantastically corrupt. Not corrupt. But fantastically corrupt. Incidentally, our president went for an anti-corruption summit. Cameron seemed to be saying Nigeria (alongside Afghanistan) belong to senior class. Now what does it mean to be fantastically corrupt? I’ll attempt an answer after a while.

Sometimes I wonder how this entity Nigeria has survived until now given the amazing levels of abuse meted out on the system by persons (and they are a vast multitude) driven by sheer desire to violate others as long as it results in some material acquisition. Maybe we have survived because we are a cat with 9 lives—but most likely we are on the 9th one! We may not be far from Resting in Pieces (RIP).

A person in the position of Prime Minister of UK knows a great deal about what goes on in Nigeria. We were colonized by the British and it is expected that they keep some tab on their former colony. They must have watched in incredulity how a country so endowed has remained decrepit, broken and a far cry from what she could have been. This talk with the queen was supposed to be a private session with no cameras but someone recorded the conversation. It is in such sessions that matter-of-fact views are expressed, not the diplomatic flattering of official functions. In my view to be fantastically corrupt means to be unthinking corrupt; to be possessed by a greed that is completely blinded to other considerations except to acquire what one has no legitimate right to.

True. It is bad to be ordinarily corrupt. But ordinary corruption wants to steal and enrich itself unjustly but stops short of some considerations. It would enrich itself but give some consideration to what becomes of the other person or society at large. Fantastic corruption is totally unthinking. It is absolutely blinded to the consequences of its avarice on fellow countrymen. Even if we contend that Nigeria has not yet attained nationhood and therefore a Nigerian nationalism has not been formed, what does one make of same callous inconsideration towards fellow ethnic brothers?

When I hear of bandits, kidnappers, dare devil armed robbers and other violent crimes that breach our national security, I sigh because I know they are inevitable. And they will continue until we have a police and justice system that is not founded on the infrastructure of greed—lustful wicked greed. Every day, personnel of the Nigeria Police extort money from citizens. But the corporals and constables on the streets are not the only enemies. (Some of them may not like that tag of enemy but if you forcefully take from me, you are not my friend; you are an enemy no matter how we look at it!). Some of the proceeds of the brazen extortion go to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO). The DPO makes deliveries upward. Who knows may be the returns go all the way to the top. So if there is a police system whose preoccupation is frequently money acquisition, there is no way such can successfully combat crime. It would be too easy to buy them over. The focus and hard work required to investigate and break criminal gangs just won’t be there.

I learnt that in the ‘foremost’ teaching hospital in Nigeria, resident doctors have to bribe some Ministry of health cabal to get arrears of their salaries. Meanwhile these amounts would have been released by the finance ministry but these leeches sit on the money. Until the ‘bribeprice’ is right, there is no salary in sight. It does not matter how long until the doctors get to gratify them, cabal would wait. Some ‘big people’ in the health sector may be called in to arbiter the negotiations of the ransom for the kidnapped money. In the meantime, the resident doctors would have gone on strikes many times. Many people would have died or lost vital organs due to the industrial action but cabal don’t give a hoot. For all they care you may all die, they just must get their share of something that doesn’t belong to them.

For any nation to develop, it is a universal consensus that they must invest in the health and education of their people. For any nation that does so consistently for a couple of years, development is certain. For us, our thoughtless senseless corruption makes us award marks—useless marks—for money in our higher institutions! Fewer things are more sardonic than that. The foolish men and women lecturers who are blinded by lustful greed don’t consider that they actively destroying their society. It is like throwing cyanide in the opposite part of large water reservoir thinking, or more appropriately, under the delusion the poison won’t get to their section. Of course it would. And their poison is hurting us all.

Malaria is killing us but those who don’t have mosquitoes in their countries are the ones rescuing us. We have abundance of sun but the technology for solar energy is being developed by people who don’t have half our sunshine. How would we presume to compete with other serious countries when educational institutions issue certificates for people who have no competence whatsoever relating to what is stated on them? We are jokers jare.

Deji Yesufu, a social commentator, is of the view that societies are destroyed primarily due to bad politicians and evil preachers. That can’t be far from the truth. This lust for money in religious houses seals the destiny of a country waiting to be killed by greed. The preachers cannot restrain the politicians in their evil because the preachers are almost beating them in this avariciousness.

Can Nigeria ever avert the looming national death? I mean there are many people in Nigeria who if they are aware of an approaching solution to one of our major problems, say unemployment, would rather actively sabotage the solution as long they can benefit from the continued misfortune of millions of fellow countrymen! The only hope I see to prevent this imminent self-destruction is just if somehow some way we can have a sub-unit of the country that refuses to subsidize corruption. Then hopefully this unit’s prudence can impact the country at large. However, from what I now see we are heading downhill fast!

https://mouthpiece.com.ng/when-nigeria-dies-greed-killed-her/

Seun, Mynd44, Lalasticlala

ajon1:
Good people of Nigeria, don't be deceived in thinking Atiku will win. The supporters here on NL knows that but they are trying to save face till the end.

Whenever I see comments like this, I go through the person's post. You prove me right again. You are the 5th person I am bursting today.

4+4=2023

Funny.

What's there to burst?

Grupo:
Apple is a U.S company. It will be hard for it to go out of business. America has the highest consumer market in the world and they love to patronize their own products. So, it is not possible for Apple to go the way of Blackberry.

Where are Ford and GM and Buick beside Toyota and Honda in market share? If they sit up anything is possible.

gloria34:
U took it out of my mouth. I fear marriage not because i come from a broken home but because i watched my mom sacrifice her life for a man who i Cant confidently say loves her. I know when i get married, i would not want to have a broken home but what if my husband turns out to be like my dad after marriage? It simply means i will live like my mom. endure beatings, working tirelessly to feed my kids and say school fees, watch my husband bring other women to our house etc. D thought of it makes me sick

I am not trying to scare you but statistics say those who come from broken homes have higher chances having broken families themselves. So you have to do the proper things to ensure you don't repeat it.

This is statistics. it is not bound to repeat itself.

Twinmama:
OP, I love your write up, I read it this morning on your facebook page, where someone asked you to paste in on Nairaland.
It's a must read.

Our society is becoming more immoral as the day goes by, but one thing stands sure "we are the architect of our fortune/misfortune"
We all have the power to make our family work, we just need to make the right choice, sustained with right attitude and Godly backing.
As more family morals are erroding, there are still beautiful family out there and people who have determined to make family work.
I just hope YOU reading this will choose to make it work irrespective of YOUR antecedent.

I am a firm believer in having great families despite the decadence.

Oluwaseunsodiq:
I believe it's because the society has laid way too much emphasis on marriage. You don't have to be married to live a fulfilled life.

I believe you are thinking of the present only. Who would raise the children of the future if there are no proper families for them to grow up in?

By Olusola Aladejebi

One of the exam questions for a 3 year old nursery 1 boy is: Who pays your school fees? Now, in the social awareness class, the pupils had been taught the family and the ‘roles’ of each member. Daddy’s role is to pay school fees. But there is a problem. This boy’s father is a not a responsible man. The boy’s education (and that of his older one) has been the responsibility of the mother. To his exam question, at first, the boy replied that father pays his school fees (according to what he had been taught). After a moment, he corrected himself, and said mother pays school fees. His teacher pondered his response and marked him correct anyway!

Although in most urban families, school fees come from both parents, teaching that father pays fees is meant to introduce his role as provider to little children. Some may criticize such social awareness curriculum as parochial and not updated enough to reflect ‘modern day reality’. They ask, ‘what if the child is a raised by a single parent—mother?’ But we must recall that for little children we must keep it simple; no complications and complexities. It is this ‘modern day reality’ that is the concern.

If a phenomenon occurs only very rarely, it can be discounted and we can safely generalize the vast majority. We teach children that humans have 5 fingers per hand. But we also know that some babies were born with 6 fingers in one or both hands. We don’t bother to teach this because such happens so rarely. The ‘problem’ with teaching little children that, “father pays school fees”, is that the contrary is becoming common—Irresponsible husbands, baby mama phenomenon, divorcee, and worst of all, LGBT. On the whole, homes are becoming broken and more broken. The forces fragmenting families are remorseless—they won’t abate as far as I can see. To have a working love-filled family is becoming an exception rather than the rule.

There is no way we can wish away the crisis in family life. The implications of this crisis affects us every day. Children must be born. If they are unfortunate to be brought up in a dysfunctional setting, the world has added to the number of potential mischief-makers. Potential money ritualist. Potential terrorist. Potential child rapist. Potential treasury looter.

The cases of irresponsible husbands/fathers are now alarming. They are comfortable that the woman is the breadwinner and are not eager to end the imbalance. Some of them even maltreat the poor woman sweating to provide for the household. In some cases the wife comes to a point where she can no longer put up with his irresponsible behaviour and off she goes—separation or divorce.

Irresponsibility in a man is not first a financial fact. It is primarily a state of mind. Refusal to provide for the family is the outshoot. At the same time, a man could be able to provide for his ‘dependencies’ and yet be irresponsible. Many young music stars have about 4 baby mamas—4 children from 4 women and married to none! Since they are millionaires sending money to these children’s mothers is no big deal. But money won’t provide internal security to the children; it won’t be a source of guidance; it won’t give that heart-felt love that emanates from a father to his children.

Several research has shown that children who are raised by 2 parents, who are both responsible and dedicated, usually perform well in school. Not only that, the risk for emotional and behavioural problems are lower among children in 2-parent households on average. Crime statistics show that people from stable families are much less likely to be involved in crime than those from fragmented homes.

As much as it indeed better for a child to be raised in a 2-parent family, there is a caveat. They must both be responsible and dedicated. In some cases it is much better to be raised by a single parent than some 2-parent households. A household that has an abusive husband/father is damaging to the psyche of any child. Spouse violence, either mutual or one-sided, could lead to depression and low self-esteem in children.

The good old traditional family is one in which the father takes responsibility for his family. He looks out for the wife and children. In short, he is the head of the family. Now, does that mean he must out earn his wife? No, not necessarily. If husband is a teacher and wife is a medical doctor, all things being equal, wife would earn more than her man; or a situation in which the man is (temporarily) unemployed while the wife has a job. But this financial fact should not prevent him from taking responsibility for his wife and children. This awkward situation in which the man is not a contributor to the family upkeep can be very trying. This has led to many marital breakups. Some women believe that once they earn more than their husbands they get ‘promoted’ to headship of the family. But if managed wisely this situation could result in greater mutual respect for each other. The man may use this period to discover others way of showing love to his wife apart from providing money. And hopefully when he starts to earn again, he still continues in his hard times discoveries.

There is no need to discuss homosexual unions. Children raised in such places are denied an essential component of our common humanity. It would never result in a good outcome.

http://mouthpiece.com.ng/families-to-the-frying-pan-and-to-the-fire/

duni04:
Those of you waiting for "people with facts" to counter Wendell Simlin are some of the most stupid Nigerians ever! They are the ones that will take everything their pastors tell them hook line and sinker without research.
Everything Reno has posted there is blatant rubbish! Meant for deluded minds but the "people with facts" gang have already been mesmerized with the audacity with which Wendell Simlin dishes out his "facts" that they're already bought over, without checking or researching to verify!
I will never take that criminal bastard, Wendell Simlin (Reno omokri) serious until he comes back to Nigeria and faces his corruption trial like FFK, Abati and Okupe. He was part of Jonathan's media gang that sprayed out money meant for soldiers in the North East, to Linda ikeji, punch and Thisday for PDP and Jonathan adverts. That's why he hasn't stepped foot in Nigeria since 2015. He has every reason to want Buhari out!

Bros. No single fact to counter. Only insults! Why na?

Ufedolove:
An oyinbo child will see his dad and say "f**k you dad" but watch it, that same oyinbo child will grow up and become a better person later than most African children that don't say f**k you dad.

These white men have a saner society than us. Better politicians, better everything.

Maybe, we don't need home training but societal training

Sometimes because the harvest of the seeds we are sowing now is not visible, we conclude there are no harvests. Europe and US are 'saner' because of the seeds their ancestors sowed. If they continue with the f**k you dad culture, we will see where it will take them. In fact we are already seeing it. Trumps of this world.


Same as ours too. Proper home training is not just greeting. It is being considerate of others. Hypocritical greeting without genuine respect for others IS NOT HOME TRAINING. Lack of home training is what is messing up our society.

mrsfavour:
by God's grace am bringing my kids up very well, I try as much as I can to inculcate morals into them, BC I can't trade them for anything, if I don't teach them morals I will not be happy with myself and am doing that 100% ,they are growing up with it.

Well done Ma.

Yemisi87:
It all start from the parents. I notice that most parents also lack home training while some dropped it as soon as they became independent. Their result is what we are witnessing today. Home training is still a blessing to those that have it till tomorrow in the presence of man and God.

Right on point.

One can steal billions and build a business empire but lack of home training would make everything come crashing down. You would disrespect who you shouldn't; good suppliers would replace you the moment they have an alternative; etc.

If the CEO lacks home training, that deficiency has a way of bleeding into the whole organization; also because like attracts like.

By Olusola Aladejebi

‘Mummy, don’t be silly’, the teenage boy told his mum. The Nigerian guest in their home gasped audibly. When she protested the kind of language, the boy’s mother explained the he didn’t really mean it that way; and that in UK it was considered normal. After witnessing that the Nigerian woman vowed never migrate to UK while her children were still young.

When I was growing up, you dared not ask if your elder ones were silly, let alone your mother! Even if you were high on drugs, there were some boundaries that were uncrossable. But these days, the lack of manners is settling down in our African society too. Many children are not taught to say thank you when given something. They don’t see the need to greet elders. They enter people’s houses without knocking. Children now don’t see it as any big deal to tell their parents if someone gifted them money. If they are offered drink as guest in another’s house, they presumptuously ask for their preferred drink rather than asking politely or even thankfully enjoying the offer nevertheless. Finally, they don’t know how to read mothers’ eyes. We were able to read almost a paragraph of instructions from those eyes! But maybe today’s mothers rarely send messages with their eyes anymore. Home training is fading.

Home training is the set of instructions children receive at home on basic politeness, courtesy, respect and good behaviour. For children (who will surely grow into adults) who are unfortunate not to receive this kind of training, no amount of schooling can adequately compensate for it.

In the past, (I am talking 30 years ago or earlier) instruction on home training was given by fathers and mothers and grandparents. Mothers didn’t work as much and as long. Some of them were teachers who closed by 2:30 pm. Even for those who ended work as late as 4pm there were relatives who resided with them and who filled in, to a large extent, adequately while the parents were away till late afternoon. Since these relatives themselves were raised in households where home training were a given, they could impart same to the children. But that was many years ago.

Today, both parents are out of the home early and come back when children are asleep and so ‘outsource’ their responsibility of guidance to the house helps. Businesses outsource non-core functions. They retain core functions. Banks can outsource their cleaning or parking/security. They won’t outsource customer management. That is core. Banks absolutely want to have under their control how customers’ problems are being resolved. A brewery can outsource procurement of grain. It won’t outsource the actual brewing. The quality of the final beer is core. For a family, instructing the children on home training is core.

Home training is actually what it is—training. Trainings are not always palatable. The trainer exerts himself. The trainees sometimes dislike the process. But nothing good ever comes easy. A child is born selfish, egoistic, foolish and without manners. Somebody has to train the child to know how to live in a social environment. If somehow he misses such instruction, he goes about carelessly (but unknowingly) behaving shamefully in relationship with others. This continues into his adulthood. She runs into issues with her boss at work due to deficiency in home training. Needless in-law ‘enemies’ are bred unwittingly.

If a grown woman receives a package from another person with the left hand while the right hand is obviously free, the gesture is offensive but most likely no one offers to correct her. Certainly not the person selling to her if she were making a purchase. A young man sees the friend of his mother carrying something a little heavy into their home and continues to chat away on his phone without offering to assist. He barely even greets her. It is a sorry sight.

It is becoming very common for people to keep chatting and scrolling on devices while someone is communicating with them. It is simple courtesy to ask a little time from the person speaking to you to conclude whatever one is doing on the phone so you can properly listen. Except the communication is a simple information or question, it is disrespectful to keep doing stuff on the phone while the other person is explaining something. Parents need to teach children to give proper attention while speaking to them and demand same from them. It could be as serious as seizing the device of a recalcitrant child for a few days.

Proper upbringing is not done in virtual reality. Real worthwhile relationships are built face to face. For me I am even learning to have a no phone/tab period of time while with my family. When the chips are down, those we rely on are our family and close friends. They are not the likers of our IG photos or those who comment on our fb post. Building meaningful deep relationship with family and close friends requires that we sometimes give them undivided, unfettered attention.

‘Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it’, says the Holy Book.

http://mouthpiece.com.ng/home-training-a-disappearing-art/

Jonathan:
These Said NGOs are funding terrorists ogbeni

Is there any proof?

Will closing their office stop the alleged funding? Abi na Amnesty Office dem dey come collect money?

Nigerian military should tell the sponsors of BH, 3½ since PMB they cannot. Just guess work.

Biscuits:
Lol, evidence that neither the creator of this thread nor you read the full article, Kloop never said those words in the way the Op coined it to sound, headlines never tell the true story, bloggers twist words to sell stories.

MOD self no read am, just take am go FP.

SMH!

Let me say upfront that this piece is not just about a footballer or even football; it is really about life.

C Ronaldo, as he is most popularly called, is certainly one of the greatest footballers of all time. Even his ‘enemies’ in the region of Catalonia in Spain cannot say otherwise. I do not attempt to weigh in on the unending argument on who is the better player between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

I took interest in watching foreign football leagues sometime in 2005. I was then fascinated by the swift tip toe running and dribbling style of the Manchester United right winger. He looked like a player with quite a potential but there was no obvious sign that this dude was going to upturn dozens of records set before his time. C Ronaldo has broken records everywhere he has been—Portugal, England, Spain, and recently Italy.

His has been a story of a passionate commitment to improvement and excellence. In my view, which not a few people may disagree with, Cristiano Ronaldo is a less gifted player than Lionel Messi. However, his is a clear example that some deficit of gifting need not be an obstacle to excellence. By 2012, Messi had bagged the Ballon d’Or awards (FIFA best player of the year) a record 4 times!, while Ronaldo had won it just once. But today, the award score between the duo is 5-5. By any standard that is a remarkable comeback!

Here are some of C Ronaldo’s achievements in football: Ronaldo is the first player to win four European Golden Shoes. He is the only player to have won FIFA best player of the year as an English Premier League player. He has won 26 trophies in his career, including five league titles, five UEFA Champions League titles and one UEFA European Championship. A prolific goal scorer, Ronaldo holds the records for most official goals scored in Europe’s top-five leagues (402) and the UEFA Champions League (120). He has scored over 680 senior career goals for club and country. He is Real Madrid’s all-time top goal scorer. He is the only player that has won the UEFA champions League 5 times. For his country Portugal, he is the most capped player and the all-time top goal scorer. And he is not even stopping!

The organization health expert, Patrick Lencioni, identifies the 3 most important attributes of a team player. Every person alive is in one team or the other (except maybe the prisoner in permanent solitary confinement). Lencioni is not a football coach; he teaches that these attributes apply to all teams—families, businesses, organizations, and so on. These attributes are Hungry, Humble and Smart.

All these key attributes of a team player are present in Cristiano Ronaldo. Of the 3, Hunger is by far the most dominant in him. Hungry persons always seek improvement. They believe that no matter the achievement of the past, they can surpass it. Ronaldo has broken many records but he still wants to set new ones! His intense drive to achieve is underscored by how many hat-tricks (3 goals in a match) he has scored—34 in Spain. Most players, after scoring 2 goals in a match, would be content but not Ronaldo.

How C Ronaldo has managed to keep a ruthless goal-scoring-machine body over these years has been an open mystery. A mystery because his kind of consistency is very rare! A player that scores more than 50 goals per season for 6 years consecutively is stuff of legends. Nevertheless, how he has done it is not something hidden. There are no secret potions. He achieves it by relentless training. Carlos Tevez, Ronaldo’s team mate at Manchester United has this to say of him. ‘When the training was set for 9 in the morning I arrived 8 and he was already there. Even if I arrived at 7:30 he was already there.’ Responding to questions on how he has been able to maintain such high performance physique, Ronaldo himself has this to say: ‘Be disciplined. Keep yourself motivated and sticking to your routine is key. For me, there is no room for easing off so I have to be strict (with myself).

Humble. This is the 2nd attribute of the ideal team player. Humility in a team member shows up as a lack of excessive ego, or concerns about status. They are quick to share credit, praise others freely, and sometimes even forego credit due to them in the interest of celebrating the team’s collective win. Those of you who know Ronaldo may be doubting if he fits this description. True, humility is not one of his strong points however it is impossible for him to have attained such heights without some good dose of humility. Every footballer has a coach under whose supervision and guidance the player grows in the game. Ronaldo undoubtedly would have been corrected severally by his coaches. His great ability in football is proof that he has taken to correction over the years. It takes some humility to do this.

Being smart is the number 3. Patrick Lencioni describes ‘smart’ in the context of the ideal player. It is having emotional intelligence and interpersonal awareness. It is capability to conduct oneself in a group situation and deal with others in the most effective way. From Manchester United to Real Madrid and Juventus football clubs, Ronaldo has shown he is smart with people. As noted earlier, every single person has one team or the other. In football, especially, the dynamics of teamwork is so evident. One’s success is the team’s success and the team’s success is one’s success.

By moving to Juventus FC, Ronaldo realizes that he would have to deal with a lot of experienced players in the squad. Despite his status as the biggest boy in the team, to be successful in the new club he would have to be people smart. And after 4 months in Turin, it is so far so good. It is important to note that Ronaldo’s success is not just at club level. For the past 10 years he has provided leadership for Portugal’s national team as captain. During this time Portugal won the first European trophy.

Cristiano Ronaldo will always have his place as one of the greatest players in football. In his own words, ‘I am not a perfectionist, but I like to feel that things are done well. More important than that, I feel an endless need to learn, to improve, to evolve.’ We wish Ronaldo more success!


http://mouthpiece.com.ng/3813-2/

By Olusola Aladejebi

‘I am withdrawing my child from that school. My child has been there for 2 terms and he cannot write 1-10.’ Above is the view expressed by a mother for changing her son’s school. Ask me the age of the child. He is just over 2 years! Why would a mother be concerned that her son who is yet to have his third birthday is unable to write 1-10? And that concern strong enough to warrant a change of school!

Just this week the father and mother of a 2 year old, after his first day at school, asked the Headmistress why the son was not given home work. The poor boy just began enduring a baptism of being separated from the mother, on that same day they are talking of home work! Who would blame them? They don’t know better.

Through my interactions with teachers and parents, it is clear that such expectations are very common. Ability to write early (or shall I say too early?) is considered as very valuable.

Let us pause a little to consider some facts and views around the world:

Renu Kishore, An Indian University don: A child is not psychologically ready to read or write before age five years, but there are large individual differences. Forcing a child who is not ready can lead to problems.

‘Writing’ for 3-4year olds in some countries consists of scribbling, pretence writing and real alphabet writing.

Children start school in Germany not earlier than 6. And they generally start learning to write after they start school.

Here is a comment from an Indian migrant to Europe:

Kids start nursery (we just call it kindergarten) even at ages 1 or less not because parents want trophy collectors. They simply need to work and government needs to take care of the kids of working parents – so public kindergartens. We also believe in socialization which starts with little tots solving their problems together. They don’t write letters, they are learning to recognise them at the age of 4. 2 or 3 year olds practice essential stuff: stacking, pencil and brush holding. Drawing straight lines, circles, zigzags, drawing from left to right from up to down. That’s the basics of graphomotorics and how it should be. If your child can’t hold a pencil properly, why forcing him to write at all?

The reason many Nigerian parents of toddlers want their little child of 2 years to be able to write is because they are running a rat race—an unreasonable, emotional, passionate race to nowhere! Every race should have a prize at the end of it but the rat race has as its ‘prize’ more rat race.

It never ends. You never win.

Some others want to use their children to get social mileage. These parents use their children to compete. They want to brag about what their kids can do at the tender age, giving no thought to whether it would benefit the child in the long run. (Long run—we will talk about that in a little while). The intention is show off. We parents love to show off but it should be secondary. The primary concern ought to be what is advantageous to the child.

Some others believe quick (although narrow) academic attainment is all there is to life. So they assume that if he can write ABC and 123…50 at 2 years, an Einstein or a Shakespeare is in the making. How wrong they are! So they rush the child to do things he or she is not yet ripe for. They ignore every idea of learning readiness and force the little ones to ‘work’. Certainly when it comes to learning to write, earlier doesn’t mean better. On the contrary earlier might even put a child at disadvantage. Unfortunately, the rat race parents find accomplices in schools who provide whatever schooling regime (not necessarily education) the parents want, since their focus is only on the fees. For any school worth its name, their first concern ought to be what is good for the child’s educational development.

The crazy rat race naturally doesn’t end at rushing the toddler to write, it goes on to higher education. Parents pride themselves that their children become university graduates at 18 years. After that, then what? While I don’t advocate unnecessary delays in a child’s education, racing to finish at record time is effectively useless. It is like getting to a stadium 4 hours before football kick off time. The match still starts at the scheduled time. Getting there too early doesn’t change anything.

Educating a child is a long term project. If my child is 3 years in nursery 1, then for the next 8 years, I would be investing in his/her education just to get her to finish middle basic school (primary 6). This is not even considering the 6 years of upper basic school (junior secondary) and senior secondary. So it’s obvious this term fees is not a standalone investment. I keep paying it term after term until, let’s say, he or she gets to basic 6. At that time the child should have attained some skills in literacy, numeracy, societal and scientific knowledge among others.

Although parents want to see what they are working hard to pay for, it wouldn’t be helpful to demand immediate ‘fruits’, especially from under 5 children. If the school can show you a clear process towards the acquisition of the skills your child should have before end of basic 6, then that should satisfy you. But if you want your little child to produce results ‘quick quick’, then you may in your haste do more harm than good.

I end on this final note. Consider the societies that have made super contributions to the world in terms of economy, technology, healthcare, etc. Which of these countries do their children write numbers and alphabets just right out of the womb? Absolutely none. Conversely, what contributions have we who put an abnormal emphasis on early literacy made? The main point is not really about the age that children are taught to write. It is about a correct view of the content and emphasis of a proper education. You can be sure that in my child’s school, they understand this content and emphasis, and don’t compel them to write too early. There are many more years ahead to do that.

If only you know the number of security personnel who would have combed that room to ensure he is safe.

By Olusola Aladejebi


Governments—federal, state and local—in Nigeria have disappointed people too many times that citizens rarely trust them that they would come through with stated programmes. It is said, ‘Once beaten, twice shy’. Nigerians have been beaten thousands of times, and are now chronically cynical. Who would blame us?


Nigerians have registered many times for National Identity card but with no cards. One can still recall the national Identity card programme under Olusegun Obasanjo. It was completely bungled. Very few people got the national Identity card. The few that were issued were abolished and a new scheme inaugurated. Under the new arrangement I registered 4 years ago. As at today my card is not ready. People who registered before me have not received their cards. The Federal Government through its electricity regulatory agency (NERC) gave November 2016 as deadline for electricity distribution companies to supply prepaid meters to all its customers. Till date, in many communities possession of prepaid meters are an exception rather than rule. In 2009 The Federal Road Safefy Commission threatened a total clampdown on riders of motorcycle without crash helmets. Almost 10 years after, look around you, how many of them use it? It is assumed that any programme of government won’t work as promised.


So when in 2016 the Oyo State government launched its health insurance scheme, I was sceptical. It appeared too good to be true. For those registered under the scheme, it is promises free treatment for children under 5 years, free antenatal and delivery for pregnant women. For other persons, registration per year begins with #7800 for the standard plan.


So around November 2017 we registered our little child (under 5 years) in the Oyo State Health Insurance Scheme (OYSHIS) for free at a participating private hospital. (Some private hospitals have been approved for the scheme). For several months, there was no notification of successful registration. I was not really disappointed. This is Nigeria. But in June 2018, I got an SMS notification of our subscription activation. In July our child became sick so we took her to the hospital where we had registered her for OYSHIS. My wife came home with drugs for our child without paying a kobo. Interesting. Later she had to be admitted. This hospital is a standard private hospital. Their services were top class; environment neat. So on the 3rd day when our child was to be discharged I made sure I was present to get our bill. I thought, if drugs and treatment were free, surely we would pay for admission. As my wife was receiving the final discharged instructions I was waiting for her to tell me how much we were to pay. She came back to tell me that we were now free to go. I couldn’t believe it. So as we were exiting I was still expecting someone to call us back. No one did.


Later on I went on the Oyo State Health Insurance Agency website to learn of the limits of the insurance. It turns out that all treatment our child got was still within the limit.


Everything of value that is gotten free has been paid for in some other way. There is no something for nothing anywhere. Even if it does not cost you personally, it is being paid for somehow. Being a practitioner of systems thinking I began to examine the whole OYSHIS architecture. The scheme can offer free treatment to under 5 children because of the various premiums paid by other participants. The scheme runs on the principle of collective burden sharing.


Two things immediately come to mind: The first is that for the scheme to be sustainable the premiums paid ‘cannot’ be misappropriated. If the participating private hospitals don’t get paid for their services rendered and the drugs dispensed, they will just quit. Secondly, the paying subscribers must be large enough to bear the cost for the care of pregnant women and children under 5.


The Oyo State Health Insurance Scheme is something that must be continued. All developed societies leverage on the advantage of the collective. For instance it is clearly much more economical and sensible for a people to set up a city wide water supply scheme than for everybody to dig wells and boreholes for water. It will cost much less for DISCOs to supply power than for people to have little generators here and there. However, the collective effort thrives on TRUST. People have trust in a system that continues to deliver. Otherwise people decide to go solo—even though this is less effective.


The current administration Abiola Ajimobi that initiated the health insurance scheme will end in May 2019. Whoever becomes governor next year must as matter of priority strengthen the scheme to capture even more people.


As impressive as the scheme is, awareness is still low. After I experienced that the scheme is actually working, some people I discussed with were not even aware it. I am wondering if this is deliberate on the part of the agency in order not to overburden the system. If it is, I can only hope that there are mechanisms in place to strategically increase capacity and that there is real-time feedback so that more people will be brought in. However, if it not, awareness needs to be increased so that the scheme can achieve its purpose. Their mission as stated on their site is ‘…ensuring universal health coverage and access to affordable and quality health care…’


The leaders of the people at every level should show commitment and integrity and thereby build trust so that widespread cynicism among the citizens can start to be cured. Cynicism built over decades cannot be cured by just 6 months of good work. No. The good work must continue.

By Olusola Aladejebi


Whatever feminism is today has a baggage of history to it. There was a time, not too long ago, that women could not vote in elections, let alone stand to be elected. They could not own land or build houses in their names. And these restrictions on women were not limited to Africa and Middle East or Asia. Even in Europe and America women had no right to vote until the 20th Century. Specifically, in Britain all women were granted suffrage in 1928. In the United States it was 1919. Today, almost all countries grant women the right to vote.


Women have since broken many of the restrictions society placed on them. Women are heads of state in 10 countries. They are also heads of government in another 10 countries. Even Africa has had a female president in the person of Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia who was a two-term president. A female professor used to be addressed as ‘Professor Mrs’. Now that professorship has long ceased to be the preserve of the male folk, female professors are now addressed ‘Professor’ as their male folk. The same change of appellation has taken place in the judiciary and medical profession. The saying, ‘what a man can do a woman can do’, attests to how far feminist ideas have come.


The idea of feminism doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Men are glaringly in the picture. The earliest manifestation of feminist ideas was the quest to be free from the domination of men. Women were (or even still) treated like properties. In many cultures, man could marry a woman and send her packing for just any reason. There was almost no emotional security for her. With women having little economic rights, her literal survival was at the mercy of another man who grants her the privilege of marrying her. Education was denied the female child for many years. She was (and is still) blamed for bearing only female children. Even though science has shown that the man determines the sex of the baby, some men or women still refuse to believe it.


Some feminists say that apart from the physical, economic and political subjugation of women, there is also the masculine domination of the intellectual space. They claim the theory and practice of discipline such as science, law, and philosophy do not reflect the feminine worldview.


Although very few men would say they support oppression and subjugation of the women folk, the talk about feminism makes many men uncomfortable. This discomfort has diverse causes. Some are worried that the traditional roles they have always played are being contested for by women. Some view that only ‘irresponsible women’ who would not settle down talk about feminist ideas. Some consider it as outright abomination.


It is hardly contestable that when things (or people) operate in their proper position there is peace and valuable contribution. The reverse brings chaos. Most of my readers believe in the idea of a Creator. The Creator then should have reasons for the things He has created. The concept of headship by man of woman in the home is supported by many world religions. It is not surprising then that the upswing in feminism corresponds to rise in humanistic thought. (Humanism generally dismisses the idea of a Divine purpose).


In the context of the home, many modern women find endearing the idea of man’s headship. Part of the reason for this is the common human trait—oppression. Men have used the position of (family) headship to subjugate the women folk. This is just as we see the rich oppress the poor; the strong oppress the weak; one race oppresses the other; the experienced oppress the novice, and so on. However, the position of authority has only one purpose—Service.


Many women earn as much as their husbands. Many women are as schooled as the men. With this continuous erosion of the artificial paraphernalia of male authority, women are finding it unnecessary to recognize male headship in the home. But wouldn’t this be an error?


Headship doesn’t mean superiority, hence the male is not superior to female. Headship has to do with role and not essence. The architects have a maxim: Form follows Function. Isn’t it that men have some natural endowment that enables them to lead, especially in the home?


I conclude with a recent post I came across on Facebook: When a woman is treated right, submission comes naturally. About 96% of the women who commented agreed! So with all the talk of feminist ideas many women still resonate with the notion of submission. Or could it be that the poster’s Facebook friends were hypo-feminist like herself, hence the overwhelming agreement? Be that as it may, it is a No, No to oppression of women. Women all over the world must be supported to make their unique contribution to the world


Olusola Aladejebi works to build effective people systems in organizations. He also writes on Leadership and Organization architecture.

http://mouthpiece.com.ng/another-look-at-feminism/

By Olusola Aladejebi

The ripples generated by VP Yemi Osinbajo’s comments on restructuring while in the United States are still reverberating across our polity. Few days ago, erstwhile Vice President Atiku Abubakar criticized Osinbajo for his stance on restructuring calling it ‘unprogressive’ for the country. (Last week I also wrote disapprovingly of Yemi Osinbajo’s view of restructuring http://mouthpiece.com.ng/why-osinbajo-is-wrong-on-restructuring/ ) The Vice President, not to be misunderstood (or outdone) replied the former VP by clarifying his comments on restructuring made earlier.


Atiku Abubakar further went to Afenifere (a Yoruba social cultural group) to express his commitment to restructuring the country if elected as president. The Afenifere having been a major, if not the foremost, voice for restructuring the Nigeria received Atiku with hands open wide! I hope Afenifere is not too enamoured by the idea of restructuring that it has lost the view of the big picture. To these elders I say: t’a ba n su’kun, a maa ri ran (even while crying we can (should) still see).


Osinbajo said emphatically that what he was against ‘geographical restructuring’. However, the restructuring he proposes will take the form of deeper fiscal federalism. He went further to state some of his previous contests for fiscal federalism as against Atiku’s recent conversion. As attorney general of Lagos State during Tinubu administration (1999-2007), he fought the federal government up to Supreme Court to contest the withholding of Lagos State Local Government allocation for daring to create more local councils. Osinbajo also referred to his recent call for state police as indicative of his support for granting more authority to the federating units which is what restructuring is mostly about. So what is his qualms about ‘geographical restructuring’?


For Vice President Osinbajo, geographical restructuring implies tinkering with the current structure of 36 States. He is firmly against this. But what does it mean to deepen fiscal federalism (which he subscribes to) if geography is a no go area?


Geographical restructuring in some minds, especially political oligarchs, is reminiscent of the pre-1966 federation. Then, federating units were Northern Region, Western Region and Eastern Region with Lagos as Federal Capital. Then the Regions had great autonomy. They controlled their resources and paid 50% of their derivation to the central government. Now get ready for this one: The Western Region had so much financial control that it lent money to the federal government! Fast-forward 50years, fragments of the then Western region receive bail outs from the Federal government to pay salaries. Oh! How times have changed.


This proper federal system came to an end when the military seized power and instituted a deeply centralized polity. As we have existed as an independent country longer under the deeply centralized structure than under a truly federal system, forces of inertia want it as it is.


If Osinbajo wants to deepen fiscal federalism without factoring geographical adjustments as A POSSIBILTY, it is like wanting an omelette without cracking the egg. The Vice President himself alluded to the fact that without oil money, the regions used taxes and revenues from agriculture and mining to do the fantastic things they did. Can agriculture and mining be separated from geography? Of course not. As many states are not viable today and depend excessively on resources shared in Abuja, if we want to deepen fiscal federalism, a sensible way to go may be to collapse some current states into some other(s) to make them viable. Mr Osinbajo, I am afraid we can’t regard geographical restructuring as taboo and at the same time talk about true fiscal federalism.


Should we trust Atiku Abubakar’s claim to restructuring Nigeria? Is he singing a song we love to hear just to get the votes? Buhari’s pre 2015 claim that there was nothing called petroleum subsidy is still fresh in our ears. He and his party even told us price of petrol would fall. President Buhari now knows better. In fact we the masses now also know better. Won’t Atiku Abubakar ‘know better’ when he becomes president? Something tells me he would.


Whatever the sizes of the federating units (whether they remain 36 states as it is today or they are much less) of a restructured Nigeria, the autonomy of these units makes them more able to do away completely with Nigeria. In other words, a quest for secession has greater chances of success. This fear, I dare say, above every other thing, is the big albatross on the way to Restructuring. This will be the consideration in my third and final piece on restructuring.


Olusola Aladejebi works to build effective people systems in organizations. He also writes on Leadership and Organization architecture.

http://mouthpiece.com.ng/atikus-restructuring-vs-osinbajos-fiscal-federalism/

Kobomax:
So funny. Sowore lost and pulled out. Moghalu lost and pulled out. What happened to standing united? I'll never vote for you sore losers. Ordinary gateman for aso rock you will not smell it not to talk of being president. African man and his stupid ego.

Waiting for something similar to happen after PDP primaries.

If Buhari lost APC primaries, he would not have remained in APC. Quote me anywhere.

Job Vacancies in Abimbola Private School

Suitably qualified candidates to apply for the following positions:

Primary School Class Teachers
• Must possess NCE or B.Ed Qualification
• Be able to facilitate learning for children.

Nursery and Preparatory Class Teachers
• Must possess NCE or B.Ed Qualification
• Be able teach through informal learning

Cleaner
• Must possess SSCE

Administrative Assistant
• Must have a minimum of OND
• Must be IT proficient


Applicants can bring their CVs and application letters on or before 30th August, 2018 to:

ABIMBOLA PRIVATE SCHOOL
17 Akinloye Layout, Bode Wasimi, Basorun, Ibadan
Or
forward them to abimbolaschool@yahoo.com

Happy birthday Seun. How would it be if there was no Nairaland?
Maybe some other blog would take this space. May be.

But if it is not Nairaland, it cannot be like Nairaland!

Happy birthday again.