AFTERMATH OF THE CPC VIOLENCE 2011

Somehow, the groundswell of opposition against the ruling People's Democratic Party in the north seemed to have petered out. Although voting for the gubernatorial election did not take place in Kaduna, Bauchi, Sokoto, Adamawa and Kogi states, in most of the north where it did take place, the apathy was pervasive.


Of course, a major reason for this is fear--as many people, including two former leaders of this country, Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar, have noted.


"I believe people are very apprehensive and don't want to be caught up in any violence," said Mr Abubakar.
But less emphasised, though even more virulent, is a feeling of hopelessness that has permeated the region after the presidential poll. Despite all the indices showing that the elections were for the most part fair, the feeling persists that people's votes did not count, that the CPC candidate, Muhammadu Buhari was cheated and their dream is over.
The fight appeared to have gone out of the presumed game changers, youth who were tired of the corrupt regime that the People's Democratic Party and its retinue of beneficiaries--including previously revered traditional rulers--represented in the region.

Millions of hopes crumbled in the detritus of the retired General's valiant but ultimately futile challenge of the status quo. They had invested so much of their dreams in him, and his loss, without even the benefit of a run-off, destroyed their expectations.
Umar Bawa, a businessman and activist, explained, "People feel disenfranchised. There is the belief that the PDP has a willing partner in INEC and that nothing we do can change anything. The PDP always wins."
After an initial orgy of violence, revolting in the killing of innocent people by miscreants, there is a sense among large groups of northerners that Mr Buhari's loss proves that nothing has changed. A combination of fear and ambivalence towards the process finally tooks its toll in Saturday's elections.
In Kano, as in other major cities, these factors were largely responsible for most people failing to turn up and vote. The queues were so short that by 9am, accreditation had already ended in some places. In a polling unit in Zenegi, Gbatako ward, Niger State, voters reportedly finished casting their votes by 11am.
‘Let them rule forever'

In Suleja, where two separate bomb blasts in one month couldn't cow the voters, where young men and hijab-clad women trooped out during the presidential polls despite a morbid fear that every black polythene bag hid an explosive, the governorship election was underwhelming. Most people just stayed home, and others who saw their neighbours on the queues, taunted them for wasting their time.

Ibrahim Shuaibu, who said he voted for Mr Buhari in the presidential poll, said he had no intention of voting in the governorship election. "Let them continue to rule forever," he said. "I don't care anymore. One day Allah will give us the change we need."

Aminu Yusuf, who is the ruling party's secretary in the state, told newsmen that he found the turnout quite embarrassing.
"Last time the whole queues were filled up, but now despite our best efforts to mobilise people, they just are not willing to show up," he said on the eve of the election.
Adamu Saidu Bwari said many of his friends have lost faith in the process.
"I know some of them who burnt their cards. Some others tore their voter's card to shreds, and swore never to vote again," he said

Does this Communicate Anything?

This is supposed to be a signpost of a 'ministries' (not munistrys) somewhere in Nigeria. I welcome your comments

FOOD MATTERS: The Freezer Angst

There are many stories behind some people's hatred for the deep freezer, perhaps I should tell you the one told me by a lady:

'When I first married, I had a beautiful olive green deep freezer. It was one of those necessities on the giddy new bride’s list. Our first home was in Victoria Garden City and our electricity supply was close to perfect until one day when it went away and didn’t return for a month.

We had no generator. We couldn’t afford one, and if our electricity was relatively good, we didn’t need one; or so we thought until the days in that month rolled darkly and oppressively past. That lovely olive green freezer that I had stocked high with legs and arms and body parts of bush and farm animals, with left-overs and plastic containers and black cellophane bags and six month old puff-puffs and bags of egusi soup that my mother cooked for me... in a matter of days became an oozing stinking nightmare that broke my heart.

The experience made me reminisce about one year at Obafemi Awolowo University when a group of engineering students worked on building a freezer that ran on pig’s dung.

I remember the names of two friends who were involved: Aman Junaid and Lanre Oke. We thought it was hilarious then. As my defrosting freezer broke my heart, I realised how foolish I’d been not to recognise strains of genius when they were staring me in the face. A Pig’s dung freezer would have been perfect in my present situation. I would have built a shack in the backyard with a big padlock on the door, my bags of pig’s dung and my freezer safely ensconced, hidden from the disdain of urban snobbishness. Never mind the smell.'

Aman and Lanre’s pig’s dung freezer is of course now interred in the Nigerian museum of antiquities and quaint ideas. Nevertheless, I swore never to own another deep freezer, and I have kept that promise to myself till this day.

Who needs that humming receptacle of dead things anyway; that glorified morgue, that bottomless pit for food that we really really don’t want to eat; or shall I speak for myself? Who was it that said very astutely that the deep freezer is that place where good food goes to die!

If most people are like myself, the freezer gets stocked not out of necessity but out of some neurosis that comes on one when one buys a deep freezer. The freezer is there, so we stock it with more and more food and really what we want is something fresh to eat. There is something also about the typical Nigerian woman’s freezer; the cheap black cellophane twisted round defrosted ice; that ugly messy carnivorous collection of items made uglier by our, no–light- then- few- hours- of -grudging –light, Nigerian situation.

I am sure that I can only really love a vegetarian’s deep freezer.

An earlier story is about how my very first days in school coincided with my mother’s purchase of an impaled smoked bush rat; that most revered of delicacies. My mother said she noticed that I kept circumventing the freezer; going the long way round the furniture not to have to go anywhere near it.

I had of course seen the animal brought home and lovingly tucked into the freezer. My mother picked me up from school on one of those days and was queried by the teacher about whether we ate cats, and if so, if we had recently bought one and kept it in the deep freezer. I’m not sure that at that time, my mother put two and two together and understood that the cat being referred to was her delicacy being hoarded in the deep freeze for a very luxurious future meal.

Anyway, it soon all came together when one school day, my mother turned up in school and found I had disappeared into thin air. My poor brother who is only two years older than I am got his ears properly and viciously twisted but could only confess that I had entered the car with some other children, and ignoring all his pleadings and warnings gone home with them.

My distraught mother took my brother home and came back to wait in the school in the hope that I would turn up. I did turn up later that evening, returned by parents who came home after work and found some strange child sitting among their children eating gari and pretending to be one of them. My mother then realised that I had fled home on account of the cat (or rat) in the deep freezer.

The morbidity of it still makes sense to me. From a child’s point of view, here is this deep cold box kilometres taller than the child, sitting in the middle of the room, and in it there is a dead something stretched out on bits of wood. Even as an adult, I can deeply relate to the revulsion and fear it creates. I think I’ll keep my freezer small, at eye level; filled with beans, pasta and Oka baba.

culled from Yemisi Ogbe (2011), www.234next.com

February 2, 2011 11:56PMT 

ABSTRACTS OF 12 RESEARCH AND PAPERS (sent to journals and presented at conferences)

Perspectives in Biographies and Ghostwriting in Post-SAP Nigeria

Onagwa, Godfrey I. and Abdullahi Al’Almin A.

National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services,

Ahmadu Bello University,  Zaria, Nigeria

Abstract

A biography is a written account of a person’s life – a person currently living or historical, famous or unknown, accomplished or anonymous. It opens a reader’s eyes to new eras, new ideas and new perspectives on life, as he reads through the series of events that make up that person’s life. Questions answered in a biography include: What shaped personality of the biographee? Was there a personality trait that drove him to succeed or fail? What were the turning points in his life? What was his impact on history? And so on. These ingredients give the literary work its market value. Ghostwriting is when someone is paid to write for a client while the client gets the credit for writing it. A ghostwriter is a professional who is paid to write books, articles, stories, etc that are officially credited to another person. Often, celebrities, executives and politicians hire ghostwriters to write autobiographies, magazine articles or other written material. However, from the mid-1980s when the structural adjustment programme (SAP) was introduced in Nigeria, thereby ushering in certain harsh austerity measures, the nation’s publishing industry suddenly became inundated with politically and financially-motivated biographical/ autobiographical writings, which mostly have no real knowledge, inspiration/ motivational, entertainment, storytelling and, therefore, market values. Non-professional ghostwriting has also become the order of the day since the introduction of SAP. This paper shall thus examine the impact of SAP on the Nigerian publishing industry, especially with regard to biographical writing and ghostwriting.

ICTs and Changing Consumer Behaviour in Nigerian Rural Households:

Implications for Agricultural Extension Service Provision

Onagwa G.I., Onu R.O., Okwori E and Aregbe B.E

Agricultural Media Programme; Food Technology and Rural Home Economics Programme, Web and ICT Unit, National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services,

 Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Abstract

In Nigeria or other African setting, rurality is often simply denoted by the atmosphere of a ‘village’ or an area mostly inhabited by farmers and petty traders. However, whether in developed or developing country, rural families have, until recently, continued to function in predominantly conservative styles. Widespread use of information and communication technologies has led to a new definition of rural household, in which lifestyles and economic conditions are emphasized. A technology is the application of scientific knowledge to the practical aims of human life, to change and manipulate human activities and the human environment. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have to do with the processing and distribution of data using computer-related hardware and software. ICTs greatly influence matters of personal lifestyles and tastes, consumer behaviour and the dispositions of a people, even among those in geographically remote areas. Rural households in Nigeria more often use farmlands for much of their income and resources, an area that is the focus of agricultural extension service provision. So with the changes in consumer behaviour of rural households, how is the agricultural extension service provider supposed to adjust its service provision parameters to enable it to guide the rural farmer aright towards achieving improved farm productivity, efficiency and, therefore, higher purchasing power and enhanced standard of living? These and many more issues are what this paper considers.

CREATIVITY AT THE CROSSROADS: Assessment of the Uneasy Relationship between the Upcoming Creative Author and the Editor

Onagwa Godfrey Ife and Abdullahi Al’Amin A.

Agricultural Media Programme, National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services/ Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria

  Abstract

The process and business of book publishing are arduous tasks for any upcoming author or professional editor. Many more books are written than ever make it into print. Whether one is planning to self-publish or send his manuscript to a standard publishing house, one needs to be sure that the manuscript is well edited and proofed. The editor assesses every manuscript from the perspective of the audience (reader), market (viability, competing titles, saleability, financial profit, etc) and grammar/style/expression. Book editing is a very demanding skill that requires the editor to read every single word individually while also considering each sentence, paragraph, topic and idea, both individually and in relation to the entire book. In other words, while the author focuses on literary techniques, that is, the five elements of fiction – style, character, plot, setting and theme, the editor looks at the work holistically, considering such questions as: Has the book any major structural problem? Has the author missed any key ingredient? Are the points clear, crisp, and convincing? Does the book demonstrate the elements and balance of ethos, logos, and pathos, which are essential to successful rhetorical writing? And so on. In the process of editing and consultation with the upcoming author, an uneasy tension often brew between the two –the author feeling that his style and creative ability are being undermined, and the latter feeling that the former is inexperienced, unduly proud or simply stubborn. This paper takes a cursory assessment of this necessary tension that exists between the upcoming creative author and his editor, considering how this positively or negatively impacts on the Nigerian literary and publishing development.

 

Rural Dairy Enterprise Development: Case Study of the Federation of Milk

Co-operative Associations Limited (MILCOPAL) in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Annatte, I.; Gana, M. A.; Nyam, L.Y.; Ogundipe, G. A. T.; Onagwa, G.I.; Maidugu, U. S.; Umar, K.B.

Abstract

The Nigerian dairy sub-sector has been undergoing structural reforms since 1971. During this period more than 65 dairy projects were implemented but most failed. This failure is traceable to several factors, which include technical and economic issues. Therefore the technical and economic efficiencies of an ongoing dairy project which was registered in 1989 were studied. The objective of the study was to evaluate the operations, extension service delivery, resource mobilization and utilization in the project. Simulated determinants of the necessary reforms and relational models of development typology based on Nigeria’s dairy objective were developed. The project’s strategies were analyzed from the relational model perspectives, with emphasis on the operations and extension service delivery, milk handling procedures, benefit and cost profiles, internal rate of return (IRR), market performance and impact. Data were obtained with the aid of checklist, questionnaire survey, interviews and archival records, while linear regression analysis was carried out to establish relationships between milk yield and cooperative services, technical support services, skill training and farm credit functions. The results showed that the dairy project registered a total of 2000 pastoral farm family holdings in 36 cooperative associations scattered over a milkshed range of 150-200 kilometres. None of the 2000 farmers had any formal vocational education, while more than 76% of them had Quranic education. All the associations were managed from one operational centre for routine milk collection, ambulatory services and disease surveillance using the top-down management approach. Long term unstable but devolvable cost factors were production 33.9%, management 18.5% and extension delivery 23.1%. The average milk production of cattle was 0.7 litres per day. The quality control analyses such as organoleptic tests, visual observation, sedimentation and frank milk contamination, temperature reading, the lactometer reading, pH reading and Clot-on-boiling were strictly adhered to. Milk losses were associated with farm level contamination and long transit. Faulty public allocative attributes, rather than group productivity factors, were more significant as determinants of economic impact (p<0.05). These faults were traceable to ineffective project development strategy, with regard to farm credit support, technical support services, skill training and cooperative services. It was recommended, among others, therefore, that the federal government should uphold the concept of cooperative rural dairy development in Nigeria and should expand the scope of activities of rural dairy federations.

ICT INTERVENTIONS IN RURAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME AND SPENDING IN NIGERIA: IMPLICATION FOR EXTENSION EDUCATION

Onagwa G.I., Abdullahi A.A., Onu R.O., Okwori E. and Iyiola T.

National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services,

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

Abstract

In Nigeria and, indeed, other developing countries, rural household income and spending are experiencing drastic changes due largely to such ICT innovations as automation, wireless communication, mobile banking, instantaneous electronic money transfer, and wide-area and local area networking. Widespread use of information and communication technologies has led to new definitions of rural households, in which lifestyles and economic conditions are being emphasized rather than locality and occupation. ICTs, in this case, encompass all technologies for processing and distributing data using computer-related hardware and software, to change and manipulate human activities and the human environment. Traditionally, rural households in Nigeria get their income from farming and cottage activities, areas that are the focus of extension education. But the recent changes in household income and spending due to ICT interventions are to the extent that extension education must adjust its delivery approaches and parameters to guide rural households aright towards overall improvement in standard of living. This is the main thrust of the paper.

PUBLISHING AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH FINDINGS IN NIGERIAN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES: CHALLENGES AND POLICY ISSUES

Onagwa G.I., Onyibe J.E., Abdullahi A.A., Onu R.O., Okwori E. and Annatte I.

National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services,

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

Abstract

This paper takes the position that Nigerian language pedagogy should go beyond classroom and street activities and the space should be enlarged to include the publication of agricultural research findings as a means of communicating issues in national economic development. The paper reiterates that affective communication is a vehicle for national integration and development. The globalization and liberalization of world economy and the increasing accessibility to the information superhighway via the various instruments of ICT have made accessibility to up-to-date information a necessity for the economic empowerment of all. Moreover, the convergence of mass media channels, the Internet, global system of mobile communication, electronic book, etc are also making it practically mandatory for all and sundry to ‘know and be known’ in today’s global village. But accessibility to agricultural research and scientific terminologies is being made difficult to a majority of Nigerians, especially those in the grassroots, because they are published in English. Thus, Nigerian languages are currently being threatened out of economic relevance by English, a European language foisted on us through colonialism. The paper therefore concludes that to achieve the onerous MDGs, especially regarding food security, poverty eradication and mass literacy, publishing agric research findings in indigenous languages must be encouraged and sustained; and that to make this possible, policy makers at all levels of government, non-government organisations, research institutes, tertiary institutions, and individual scholars must collaborate.

ASSESSMENT OF BARRIERS TO WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION EDUCATION IN ZARIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, KADUNA STATE

Onu R.O., Okwori E., Tunji Iyiola, Onagwa G.I., Yunisa A. and Dikko H.

National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services,

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

Abstract

The third goal of the MDGs concerns gender equality and women empowerment. However, a lot of hindrances have been identified in the literature with regard to the attainment of this commendable goal in Nigeria. This study assessed the barriers to women empowerment in relation to agricultural extension education in Zaria LGA, Kaduna State. A total of 195 women from 13 wards of Zaria LGA were randomly selected and interviewed using structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics of frequency and percentage were used to analyse the data collected. The socioeconomic distribution of the respondents showed that a majority (74.2%) were within the age of 20-50 years, married (66.7%), have at least primary education (64.2%), and have no stable source of income (83.1%). Also, most of them (87.2%) lack access to basic information on loan/credit facilities, while 73.5% and 87.0% of them did not own any piece of land for farming activities or other usage and did not participate in decision making in the home, respectively. The conclusion from the findings was that women in the study area were not sufficiently empowered in agricultural extension education. It was, therefore, recommended, among others, that government and non-government organizations should look more critically at all issues involving women empowerment if the overall goal of the third MDG must be realised.

PUBLISHING AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH FINDINGS IN NIGERIAN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES:

Prospects and Challenges

Onagwa, Godfrey Ife

National Agricultural Extension Research and Liaison Services

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

Abstract

This paper takes the position that Nigerian language pedagogy should go beyond classroom and street activities and the space should be enlarged to include the publication of agric research findings as a means of communicating issues in national economic development. The paper reiterates that affective communication is a vehicle for national integration and development. The globalization and liberalization of world economy and the increasing accessibility to the information superhighway via the various instruments of ICT both in the developed and developing worlds have made accessibility to up-to-date information a necessity for the economic empowerment of all. The convergence of mass media channels, the Internet, global system of mobile communication (GSM), electronic book (or e-book), etc are also making it practically mandatory for all and sundry to ‘know and be known’, in relation to what happens next door in today’s global village. But accessibility to agric research findings and scientific terminologies, which are said to be veritable tools of development, is being made difficult to a majority of the Nigerian population (whose illiteracy rate is very high), especially those in the grassroots, because these are published in English. Thus, Nigerian languages are currently being threatened out of economic relevance by English, a European language foisted on us through colonialism. The paper also observed that apart from the so-called three major Nigerian languages (Hausa, Yoruba and Ibo), indigenous languages are not generally used in the print media, and that even the existing indigenous language newspapers (Hausa, Yoruba and Ibo) do not enjoy favourable disposition from the people. The paper therefore concludes that to achieve the onerous task of becoming a world superpower, in accordance with the vision of the current federal government (of becoming one of the 20^th most developed nations by the year 2020), publishing agric research findings in indigenous languages must be encouraged and sustained; and that to make this possible, the various levels of government, non-government organisations, research institutes, tertiary institutions, and individual scholars must pay adequate attention to this medium of mass communication while also encouraging their acceptance by the general public.

MITIGATING THE SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS ON RURAL NIGERIAN HOUSEHOLDS: IMPLICATIONS FOR EXTENSION COMMUNICATION

Onagwa G.I., Abdullahi A.A., Okwori E. and Onu R.O.

NAERLS, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.

Abstract

It is evident today that HIV/AIDS causes a range of problems which, given its systemic impact, is capable of attacking all levels of society. The focus is mainly on activities and programmes that can help mitigate the impact of AIDS at rural household level, the justification being that this is where the epidemic has the most devastating impact. The paper presents activities to undertake in HIV/AIDS prevalence rural areas at helping to alleviate the impact of HIV/AIDS on such households, community well-being and people’s livelihoods, and reducing the hardships affected individuals, households and/or communities are confronted with. Finally, it provides preliminary guidelines for extension specialists to ‘intensify’ their actions in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation in Nigeria. The mitigation approach proposed was thus research-based, multi-sectoral, multi-dimensional, gender-sensitive, participatory, culturally and socially appropriate and rights-based. It combined both the development and health approaches. But the proposed approach was neither exclusive nor definite in that it is entirely open to discussion and modification.

BENEFITS OF GARLIC AS A FUNCTIONAL FOOD IN HEALTH AND DISEASES

Okwori, E., Onu R.O. and Onagwa G.I.

NAERLS, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.

Abstract

The term functional food is on the increase because of higher health care cost, including the expended category of dietary supplement. This (functional food) was coined in the mid-1980 with the belief and interest that some selected foods might promote health or everyday foods that provides health benefits beyond basic nutrition. While diet supplement is a product that is taken to complement the usual diet or to make up for what is lost daily directly or indirectly. Research from human, animal and clinical trials shows that plant-based diet can reduce the risk of some terrible diseases, particularly heart disease. It was in that search that Garlic was identify as one of the pytochemicals groups that have active component in the prevention and control of different disease.

THE MIND AND GRAMMAR: AN EXPLORATION OF CHILDREN’S DEVELOPMENT AND REASONING IN APHASIA

Abdullahi A.A. and Onagwa G.I.

NAERLS, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria

Abstract

There are several studies in human mental processes and their contribution to thinking, sensation and behaviour. Albeit, some of the postulations by these studies are tenable, others are outrageous. For example, some studies argued that the mind was unknowable; they insisted that the only scientific source of data for psychology was human behaviour, which was observable in a way that mental processes were not. Aphasia is a disorder in the ability to produce or to understand spoken language. This research examined the relation between language and cognition in the light of recent evidence for reasoning without mediation by grammatical knowledge. This is because research on propositional reasoning (involving ‘theory of mind’ understanding) in adult patients with aphasia revealed that reasoning can proceed in the absence of explicit grammatical knowledge. Conversely, evidence from deaf children showed that the presence of such knowledge is not sufficient to account for reasoning. These findings are in keeping with recent research on the development of naming, categorization, and imitation, indicating that children’s reasoning about objects and actions is guided by inferences about others’ communicative intentions. The paper discussed the extent to which reasoning is supported by, and tied to, language in the form of conversational awareness and experience rather than grammar. This was achieved by drawing heavily from experiments with the ‘theory of mind’.

ANTHROPOMETRIC ASSESSMENT OF SELECTED CHILDREN’S NUTRITIONAL STATUS IN KADUNA STATE

E. Okwori, Onu R.O. and Onagwa G.I.

NAERLS, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria

Abstract

This study assess the nutritional status of children, 0-5years in Kamachi village in Kaduna State. Study sample consists of a 100 children, made up of thirty boys and seventy girls selected randomly. The variables considered were weight for age (WAZ), height for age (HAZ), weight for height (WHZ). Results shows weight for age, 53% underweight, height for weight shows 70% were stunted and weight for height, shows 84 % of the children wasting. Finding reveals that there is malnutrition in the children .The study recommends further study focussing on small segmented community which are sometimes neglected. Secondly more study on the nutritional status of the children since stunting can also be as a result of hereditary and also public health intervention with emphasis on using available foods within the locality. These measures should include emphasis on Nutrition education programmes focussing on good nutrition for the children and efforts made by the local government to introduce good meals or balanced nutritious meals at the local health centre as an example for mothers to emulate. The local government should also consider or look into the possibilities of the introduction of school meal.

Lagos Vehicle’s Double Registration Palava

In a society of men with commonsense, the trend is that you are deemed innocent until proven guilty. In a Chinese twist, the same argument is rephrased ‘you are deemed guilty until proven innocent’. But in our country, it is not so. Here, even the unwholesomely insane delinquent knows that you are always deemed shamefacedly culpable until you are proven guilty. Ask the Nigerian police and you would be charged ‘for’ contempt of force or obstruction of justice.
         In 2006, my friend bought a Primera saloon car and went through the rigour of registering it legally, according to all the country’s lay down rules. Oyo State licence plate number was about 18,000, Abuja’s was 22,000 while Lagos’ was 27,000. Even though he was neither from any of these states, he preferred that of Lagos, because he considered it the most ‘universal’ in the country. The licence plate of his home state sold for about 17,500. But he chose Lagos’. He paid to the bank as directed and was given documents and receipts at the Ikeja licensing office. When it was due a year after, he went to Lagos to renew this. But two years after, Lagos State’s vehicle registration processes went hi-tech, and so was the accompanying madness. When my friend went to the Oyo State vehicle licensing office to renew his car particulars through the novel means, he was told that his car ‘has the problem of double registration’. What this means (for those who do not know) is that the particular licence plate that he paid for and was issued has been ‘sold’ to two vehicles concurrently. How come, you may ask. He was told by the all-knowing licensing officer that ‘by my experience, you better go and re-register, and pay another money, so that they give you another new number...’
      ‘What! What do you mean’ he queried.
       ‘Bros, you would have to go to Lagos and report your case there, so that your problem can be solved.’
       ‘My problem? Now you call that my problem! Didn’t I pay for the plate? Yes, I paid for the licence plate and have genuine receipts,’ he replied, cautiously emphasising the word, ‘genuine’, and pointing daringly at the opening on the window pane through which they conversed.
       ‘Na wetin! Oga, me I just dey try advise you,’ the officer sighed and made to leave the cubicle. Then my friend suddenly realised how squashed up he was in the mess, so he begged to know more.
       ‘ But... but I have engraved the number on all of the car, from the windscreen to the wiper; and also my new alloy wheels. Even if I save enough money to secure another plate number, how do I change the engravings?’
       ‘You can’t change the engraving. That is why you must report yourself first to the police. That is, after you have sworn to an affidavit at the court that you are the real owner of the car and that so and so happened... simple!’
       Simple indeed! How can one deliberately walk on live coals and his feet not burn? In this country, we all know that going to the police to report yourself is akin to committing a suicide because your lover ran away with another man. At least some suicide cases are arguably justifiable, not a few are products of sheer human stupidity, though. Perhaps not even the devil himself would forgive your premature report at hell’s gate on the mere excuse that you were so dumb as to have reported yourself to the Nigerian Police. How many of us have been told to ‘park!’ off the expressway and ‘follow us to the station’ because there is an ‘S’ digit in your papers instead of the digit ‘5' in your chassis number? Now this impervious licensing officer wants you to report to the police that the entire 44 types of engraving on your car and the fact that your old registered papers are not in consonance with your licence plate number are entirely the fault of the Lagos State licensing office; and that you should be completely absorbed of the crime of inconsistency. Hmm. Food for thought.
        The bigger dilemma, however, involves certain burning questions: Whose fault is it that the licence plate is double-registered? Who, therefore, should be held responsible for the illegality: my friend, the other buyer, FRSC or Lagos State Government? What is Lagos government and FRSC doing about this? And for goodness’ sake, why should my friend be held responsible? That would mean that there is no significant difference between our highly equipped government agencies and the omo-onile practice in Ibadan who simultaneously sell the same plot of land to 5 buyers.
        Now my friend and all others who fell victim of this state-sponsored subversion go through the backdoor to renew their vehicle licences, thereby depriving government the revenue accruable from such registration. How long shall we use illegalities to combat illegalities? What is government’s take on such a going concern? Or is the problem perceived only by this writer? I think our action governor and government in Lagos should rise up to this challenge and address the ills. Such a situation is not healthy for anyone, and definitely not for our developing economy.
       Finally, while the entire nation gears up for the coming elections and everyone in Nigeria, particularly in the southwest, expects a complete change of government orientation (a la mass movement from PDP to ACN and other parties), the government of Lagos State, through the efforts of Babatunde Fashola, should immediately seek to end this subversion by calling on all aggrieved parties to come forward for a free re-registration exercise (at presentation of evidence of earlier registration). This is the path of a progressive government; the path of justice and fairness; the path never threaded by non-performing states of Oyo and Ogun, among others. This is the best way out of the predicament. Long live Lagos State. Long live Nigeria.

Submitted to Guardian Newspaper, 8 December 2010 to youreport, by me

You Have to Learn to Communicate

The Basics of Communicating with Others

Some key questions to get you started in understanding interpersonal communication skills:

What are interpersonal communication skills?
Interpersonal communication skills are the tools we use to let others know what we think, feel, need and want. And they are how we let others know that we understand what they think, feel, need and want.
What are the benefits of improving interpersonal communication skills?
Even those who are individual contributors in the workplace need to be able to communicate effectively with bosses and customers. Most people have colleagues with whom they need to communicate in order to be successful at their job. Every one of us has her/his own preferred style of communicating with others. In addition, given our unique histories, we have different strategies for communicating in different types of situations. As a result, there is a very real possibility that when two of us get together there are certain circumstances in which we are less effective at communicating with each other than we would like. By increasing your repertoire of interpersonal communication skills, you can increase your overall effectiveness and perhaps your job satisfaction.
Are there specific interpersonal communication skills? Yes. Active listening or assertive communications are two examples of interpersonal communication skills. In addition, there are techniques for certain circumstances, such as communicating in difficult situations or communicating upwards, that can be useful. See OED's course offerings on these skills.

How do I know if I need to improve my interpersonal skills and, if so, which ones?
Every one of us can benefit from improving our interpersonal skills. We each have certain situations that are more difficult for us and/or have particular communications skills that we would like to improve. You can assess your own interpersonal communications skill level and/or you can ask for feedback from others.

One approach is to think about three or four situations where an interaction with someone else did not go as well as you would have liked. The Two-Column Case Model might help you organize your recollection and identify patterns to help you see areas where you could improve.

How can I actually improve my interpersonal communication skills?
As with any skills development, once you have identified the need and feel motivated to make a change, you need to be introduced to new strategies and tools, and seek out opportunities to practice and to receive feedback. Try approaching this as a project plan. Identify your goal. Pick two or three approaches to getting there. Maybe register for two workshops and read one book.
Identify explicit opportunities to practice and ask a trusted colleague to give you feedback. The Gourmet's Guide to Giving Feedback article might be helpful if you are working on how to give someone constructive feedback. The article When Emotions Get in the Way can help you follow through with an important and difficult conversation.
Don't forget: Interpersonal skills development is a life-long challenge. Pick something specific to learn, practice, expect some awkward moments, learn from them and celebrate your progress.