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January 31, 2006

President Obasanjo’s Diplomatic Finesse: Unheralded in Nigeria!

by Paul I. Adujie (New York, United States) --- President Obasanjo’s chairmanship of the African Union (AU) came to a close last week, after about two years of his stewardship of AU the new umbrella body for the continent of Africa, after the demise of its progenitor, the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

President Obasanjo’s leadership of the apex body for Africa witnessed remarkable improvements for our continent, as the AU doused many crises and it also engaged in new initiatives for the progress and development of African throughout our continent and even for Africans in the Diaspora.

AU under President Obasanjo’s leadership flowed with new ideas; Such new ideas or initiatives includes the New Economic Partnership or NEPAD, as well as dispute resolution that was robustly and vigorously pursued at the instance and direction of President Obasanjo, who frequently, at risk for his life, personal safety and convenience, pursued in resolute manner, all interests concerning Africa and Africans, be they political, economic, military or strategic.

Anyone who with eyes, ears and anyone who can read or reason must have seen, heard or read about the roles, played variously by President Obasanjo in the disparate crises that preceded his ascension to power in Nigeria, such as the crises of war and desolation that had ravaged Liberia for about 15 years, and the twin or sister brutal war and horrors that went on in Sierra Leone for about a decade as well.

During the period under consideration, President Obasanjo was saddled with dispute resolution in the quagmire left behind by the notorious tyrant Mobutu Sese Sekor in the Congo before Laurent Kabila and now, Joseph Kabila.

As these crises were being effectively managed, more seemed to have sprung up in rather very quick successions! There was the military coup in Sao Tome and Principe that was reversed solely due to the crisis management acumen of our president. There was the self-succession plot that fizzled in Eyaedema’s Togo and there is the intractable fractiousness of Ivory Coast, to which President Obasanjo had to personally intervene again, with a quick visit to Ivory Coast, just last week and only a few days before handing over the reins of AU to Nguesso Nguema

President Obasanjo has been super active in the demand for debt relief or debt cancellation for Africa and other developing countries of the entire world, and the said debts were cancelled or written off! These facts are not any less important, even though Nigeria did not directly benefit from the debt cancellation or debt relief efforts, as our creditors had obviously set different parameters in their determinations of what countries were able to repay such debt and what countries weren’t! Nigeria is solvent and awash with petrodollars said the London and Paris clubs of creditors and off we must go to pay our debts, they decreed!

Nevertheless, the achievement in the debt relief or debt forgiveness for Africa should be seen for what it is, a monumental feat, hitherto thought impossible! And the impossible became routine accomplishments during President Obasanjo’s stewardship at the African Union. President Obasanjo of Nigeria is respected and admired internationally

Correspondingly, however, our president is not popular in Nigeria! He continues to endure bad press, harshest of criticisms that best qualifies as destructive criticisms!
It is quite easy to discern the unmitigated hatreds that are directed at President Obasanjo by his political opponents, the bulk of those in the practice of journalism in Nigeria, and even some members of his political party, the PDP

The PDP has overwhelming majority in Nigeria’s current political arrangement and political fortunes; the PDP produced governors for 28 states out of 36 states in Nigeria? That ought to mean ease policy formulations and implementations, PDP is in majority and the other political parties are really not much of an opposition. They are in disarray!

The opposition parties in Nigeria at the present time are not vibrant and they have presented no meaningful opposition whatsoever! Our current opposition parties have presented no alternatives to current policies by government. The opposition do not have their house in order.

It was reasonable to expect therefore, in the circumstances, that the PDP would literally railroad and slam-dunk policies with little or no resistance, but the PDP have been bedeviled with intra party intra familial battles of the most useless types!

The PDP is in a position in Nigeria, or ought to be in a position to churn out policies and legislations etc, very easily, particularly in view of their super majority at all levels. The PDP controls the presidency, both houses Nigeria’s national assembly and an overwhelming majority of governors! So that if PDP had its house in order, it could literally make laws, rules, regulations and policies with practical effect of moving Nigeria to the direction that we all want, but that has not happen speedily

The PDP super-majority could effectively, metaphorically or even practically make rules that were capable of turning men into women in Nigeria, had the PDP had such manifestoes and focus!

But what do we have in Nigeria? The most corrupt governors are of the PDP, Alamiesegha, Dariye etc; the most corrupt federal ministers that have faced the law are PDP members! The disgraced former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun is a PDP member and all those who ensured the failure of the National Identity Card project were PDP henchmen, the most troubled states, Anambra, Oyo and Edo states are all presided over by PDP

In essence, those individuals who have embarrassed and betrayed the president are members of his own party the PDP.

Nigerians should demand accountability from governors and other local leaders, instead of the singular fixation at the presidency! Especially when the issues are purely local!

Some Nigerians have therefore argued that the buck stops with the president, especially if the individuals that he knew or thought he knew and trusted are the one making his sundry well intentioned policies ineffective or become outright failures! And when the president now demands absolute loyalty? He is heckled and booed by the same Nigerians who are demanding that he become more effective and successful policies wise!

When I think of President Obasanjo?s diplomatic finesse, Liberia comes to mind with the inauguration of President Sirleaf of Liberia, and I think of the peaceful resolution of the crises in Sierra Leone, and the stable situation that have come in the Congo, and the reversed coup in Sao Tome, the reversed attempt at self-succession in Togo, and the ongoing peaceful negotiations in Ivory Coast and Darfur in the Sudan, I also think of the gains of NEPAD and the debt relief efforts.

All these achievements and accomplishments were spearheaded by our indomitable President Obasanjo and yet, he does not get any respect, encomiums or accolades in Nigeria?

We should remember that he appointed Dr. Akinyuli, Professor Soludo, Mallam Ribadu, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, Mallam Rufai and all the other sundry overachievers in the current political stage in Nigeria. We will acknowledge all these, when President Obasanjo is 200 years old?

President Obasanjo has been a bulwark of success and the fulcrum of his drive is Nigeria and all of Africa, but he is most unfortunately under appreciated in Nigeria, hence he can be said to be the proverbial prophet without respect in his domain.

By Paul I. Adujie
Lawcareer@msn.com
New York, United States

Posted by Administrator at 08:29 AM | Comments (0)

Ohanaeze and the Igbo Leadership Question

by Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu (County Louth, Republic of Ireland) --- A friend of mine once asked me during the 2003 elections, “What does the Igbo want"? I answered by asking him, what he meant by that question? He retorted that the Igbo have been complaining of marginalisation,and have been championing the Igbo presidency project, but that the same Igbo remain the greatest obstacle to achieving a total de-marginalisation of Igbos,and achieving the much talked about Igbo presidency, because of what he called their lack of "fraternity, or unity of purpose".

This observation by a non Igbo rings true today as it did in 2003.In the aftermath of the Southern forum meeting in Enugu,the Igbo have been presented with an unprecedented opportunity to produce the President, or to largely determine who becomes the president come 2007, but once again what we are currently witnessing is a proliferation of Igbo organisations pursuing different agenda’s, and a crunching “second term” succession crisis in the Ohaeneze Ndigbo,the supposedly apex Igbo organisation .

The inescapable conclusion is that the Igbo elite, because of their greed and foolish opportunism, have still not come to terms with the reality of Nigeria.
Nigeria is a nation where ethnic or regional loyalty comes above everything else.But such a loyalty within any distinct group can only be achieved when the political class are united and demonstrate a sense of purpose. Agreed that in a democracy everybody cannot speak with one voice, but the nature and reality of Nigeria makes it imperative that any group that wants to be relevant or influential in Nigeria must to a large extent demonstrate a formidable cohesion and unity of purpose.

The North succeeded in dominating power for so long because of their unity and sense of purpose. The Southwest is known for their block votes and block support for one of their own, which even necessitated their not presenting a candidate in the 2003 elections in order to give block support to president Olusegun Obasanjo.
Even the South-South in spite of their glaring diversity, has become largely relevant in Nigeria today, because of their cohesion and unity of purpose, such that they are becoming increasingly more likely to clinch the 2007 Presidency slot.

Ironically the Igbo who are a largely homogenous group, unlike the North, and South-South are the most fragmented and disunited. The Igbo elite and political class must recognise the potentials and overwhelming advantage the Igbo have, because of their numerical strenght.They must play politics the Nigerian way. If the Igbo are united, there is no Nigerian president or power broker who can ignore them, because among other things they will need Igbo votes and Igbo support to access and remain in power, the process of negotiating for Igbo support will naturally lead to concessions, which will to a large extent resolve the marginalisation of the Igbo and guarantee a reciprocal gesture that will see the Igbo assuming the Presidency sooner or later. There is no magic about it, it is a natural law, that a united group or people will always influence, dominate, and or control the affairs in any given society. Those Igbo elites that are purportedly working for the North out of greed, are being stupid, because they stand to gain more in the Nigerian context from an Igbo president, than they would ever gain from a president of Northern extraction. The Yoruba’s have gained more today from a Yoruba presidency, than they would ever have gained from a Northern presidency.

Ohaeneze as a matter of urgency must convoque a meeting of stakeholders to resolve once and for all the succession crisis bedevilling it. rather than antagonise, they must liase with other Igbo organisations in a bid to assemble all of them under one umbrella to present a united front for the actualisation of the 2007 Presidency project. The Igbo parades a formidable array of highly qualified technocrats and achievers that can easily be sold to other Nigerians for the Presidency, among whom are Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala a former World bank vice President and current minister of finance, a world class incorruptible technocrat and achiever. Chief Emeka Anyaoku former commonwealth secretary general, world renowned diplomat, and statesman.Dr Dora Akunyili the incorruptible NAFDAC scribe who has waged an unprecedented and relentless war on fake drugs at personal risk to her life.Dr Oby Ezekwesili who has come to be known as “madam due process” because of a dogged and unrelenting struggle to whip-in due process into the Nigerian psyche.Dr Peter Odili the Rivers state Governor, medical doctor and technocrat, a high end achiever and unifier who has managed to bring peace to a multi-ethnic state.Dr Chimaraoke Nnamani the Enugu state Governor, a foetal surgeon, technocrat, and visionary, he achieved the singular and miraculous feat of being voted the best Governor by international development agencies, irrespective of the meagre resources available to Enugu state.

From the above list which unavoidably left out so many other Igbo wiz kids, it is obvious that the Igbo more than any other ethnic group, parade some of the best achievers in the current President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, it thereby follows that if the Igbo demonstrate a high level of unity, there is nothing that will stop an Igbo from mounting the presidency saddle come 2007.
Rather than a protracted power struggle between the South-East and South-South, there is the possibility of using one stone to kill two birds by presenting a consensus candidate between the South-South and South-East. Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,or Dr Peter Odili who are Igbos from the South-South will be perfect compromise canditates in that regards. Ohaeneze and other organisations can carry out opinion polls in the six geo-political zones on the above mentioned candidates and others,that will help them in determining who among them is the most electable,and make the job of a picking a single canditate easier.

All Igbo candidates whatever their personal ambitions or persuasion, must respect the choice of whoever gets nominated by the Ohaeneze and other allied Igbo organisations,so that the Igbo can for once present a single canditate that it can give 100% block support.This is the only way the Igbo, a majority group in Nigeria can reclaim their influence in the Nigerian project.The magic word is unity and cohesion.

Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu
County Louth, Ireland
lawrencenwobu@yahoo.com

Posted by Administrator at 08:15 AM | Comments (1)

Ozodi Osuji Weekly Lectures on African Countries #5 of 54: Burkina Faso

by Ozodi Thomas Osuji, Ph.D. (Seatle, Washington) --- 5. BURKINA FASO

Formal Name: Republic of Burkina Faso.

Term for Citizens: Burkinabes.

Capital: Ouagadougou. Population: 862,000.

Independence Achieved: August 5, 1960, from France.

Major Cities: Ouagadougou, Bobo Dioulasso.

Geography:

Burkina Faso is in West Africa. It is bordered by Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, and Togo. The area of the country is 105, 869 square miles. The country is a plateau, drained mostly in the south by the River Volta. The country has two seasons, wet and dry, with the dry being more pronounced.

Society:

The population is estimated to be 13,002,000.

Ethnic Groups: There are many ethnic groups: Senufo, Habe, Lobi, and Mande in the western part of the country; Mossi and Gourounsi, Nininsi peoples in the center. The Fulani, Taureg, and Songhai in the northeast. Hausa, Yarse, and Dioula traders are found everywhere. Zerma slave raiders that devastated whole villages before the French came live in the country.

Languages: each of these ethnic groups speaks its own language; Mossi and Dogon are the major ethnic groups and languages. French is the official language.

Religion: Most people in the country identify themselves as Muslims, with a pocket of Christians.

Education: There is free primary education. Literacy rate is estimated at 26.6%.

Economy: The economy is largely subsistence based on agriculture and livestock herding. The soil is mostly sterile laterite, and drought is a constant fact of life. Corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, millet, sorghum, peas, beans, fonio, rice, and yams are basic foodstuff. Cotton, groundnuts, and sesame seeds are exported. GDP estimate: $13.6 billion; Per Capita GDP: $360. Monetary Unit: CFA Franc BCEAO (XOF).

History and Government:

What used to be called Upper Volta was a French West African colony. Upon independence from France, the country inherited French type presidential government. However, a series of military governments soon ensued. A strong military man, President Blaise Campaore, currently rules the country. He governs through a prime minister who is in charge of the day-to-day affairs of the government. The country is divided into 13 regions and 45 provinces.


CONTEMPORARY POLITICS

Burkina Faso, formally known as Upper Volta, is one of those African countries with virtual one man rule and sham façade of democracy.

Upper Volta was part of the 16th century Songhai Empire. In 1886, the French conquered the Mossi Kingdom of Ouagadougou and made it a French Protectorate. Two years later, 1898, the surrounding regions were added to the Protectorate. In 1904, this enlarged region was integrated into French West Africa. French West Africa included what are now Mali, Senegal, and Niger, Chad, Dahomey, etc. In 1919, Upper Volta was separated from French West Africa and made a separate colony, a colony that nevertheless included Ivory Coast, Mali and Niger. In 1932, Upper Volta became a separate colony, essentially what it is today.

The country obtained its independence from France on August 5, 1960. Subsequently, there were a series of military coups, the first in 1966. The military returned power to civilians in 1978, but in 1980 there was another military coup. In 1983, there was a counter coup by Captain Thomas Sankara. Sankara changed the name of the country to Burkina Faso in 1984, meaning “the land of honest men”.

In 1987, Sankara’s assistant, Blaise Compaore, masterminded a palace coup and killed him and took over power. Mr. Campaore and his family are still in power in 2006.

In June 1991, Mr. Campaore wrote a constitution that established a semblance of democracy. He established two houses of legislature (National Assemble and House of Representatives). The President was to be elected for a 7 year term, as in France. Of course, Mr. Campaore managed to be elected unopposed. In 2000, Campaore changed the constitution and reduced the term of the presidency to five years. In 2005, he managed to be reelected in a landslide.

Mr. Campaore is an executive president. He selects the prime minister who, in theory, selects the ministers that work with him. The president can sack the Cabinet at any time he wishes. Indeed, he can dissolve the National Assembly. Essentially, Burkina Faso is a one man ruled country with external appearances of democratic institutions in place.

The country is divided into 13 regions and 45 provinces. The leaders of these units of governance are kept in leash by the president.

There seems some sort of freedom of speech in the country, as exhibited by the presence of private media outlets. However, it is reported that journalists who speak out against the president often go missing and, therefore, that the media self censors to be alive.

Burkina Faso is one of the poorest African countries. It relies mostly on agricultural produce for its revenue (Sorghum, millet, corn, groundnuts and cotton). The income per capita of the country is estimated at around $360, or about a dollar a day.

There are very few opportunities to be employed in the country; thus, many Burkinabes emigrate to other countries in search of employment. It is reported that over three million Burkinabes are in the Ivory Coast, alone. This massive presence of Burkinabes in the Ivory Coast, apparently, is creating tension between the two countries. It is reported that the current military rebellion going on in Northern Ivory Coast is supported by persons from Burkina Faso.

Ghana was at one time inundated by Burkinabes until it asked them to leave the country in 1967.

On paper, education is free in Burkina Faso and children are supposed to be in school until age 16. But only about 29% of elementary school age children actually go to school. There is one university, the University of Ouagadougou and one technical University, the Polytechnic University of Bobo-Dioulasso. Literacy rate is 27%. Burkina Faso is the most illiterate country in all of Africa.

Burkina Faso seems to have a beak future both economically and politically. Mr. Blaise Campaore, so far, has managed to keep the Mossi, the Dogon and other ethnic groups in a precarious peace, but given the personal rule of his government, no one can quiet predict what could happen in the future.

Democratic institutions have not taken hold in Burkina Faso; there is no political culture of successful transfer of power to other leaders. As long as the current strong man keeps opposition in check peace reigns, but if another strong man comes to the scene, who knows what could happen in Burkina Faso tomorrow?

Ozodi@africainstituteseattle.org

January 30, 2006

Posted by Administrator at 08:04 AM | Comments (0)

"Godfatherism" in Nigerian Politics

by Chibuzo Onubogu (Clayton, NC, USA) --- The issue of greedy godfathers in the Nigerian political scene has now reached epidemic proportions. Just like bribery, corruption, nepotism, tribalism and fraud, the perpetrators now want to make it a way of making a living. Why is it that social vices and ills easily flourish in Nigeria? Isn’t it time Nigerians woke up and reject these sick and degenerate ways and means that have robbed our country of genuine and real development?

The most discouraging part of the issue is that even the poor downtrodden masses have embraced these dastardly acts as being normal. In the case of “Godfatherism”, you hear people using making real asinine statements like, “why e no go settle the man, no be im put am there.” A real defeatist and compromising attitude towards a situation that is simply undemocratic and outright unacceptable. Settle him yes, but don’t open up the treasury to him. Appoint some of his people to your cabinet, but not the entire cabinet. Ask for gratuities and even contracts, but don’t give a bill for an ungodly amount for just sponsoring a guy.

In every society the existence of sponsors or godfathers is well accepted and is seen as part of the political fabric. In USA for example, in 1978 Bill Clinton of Arkansas was helped into office of governor by the Arkansas poultry farmers. The then young governor came into office and was at loggerheads with the same farmers who helped him get elected; the farmers didn’t form a kangaroo court and impeach the governor. They went home planned on the next election and made sure that Clinton was not reelected in 1980. Now here is the real show of political savvy and maturity, Clinton didn’t go about crying or looking for someone to kill, instead he went back to the same poultry farmers and struck a deal with them. He was reelected in 1982 and was the governor until he ran for President in 1992. The important issue here is that, godfathers need to work with their candidates not just to steal and plunder but for the development of society at large.

Why can’t the Nigerian Godfathers allow their candidates some breathing space instead of preferring that they become cronies or robots to be pushed at their whims and caprices? Anambra State was robbed and pillaged by the Mbadinuju administration just because he continued to pay homage to his Godfathers. Then there was the mess in Kwara where the Saraki family really showed us who owned the State. In Edo State Anenih and Igbinedion had their own infighting which I don’t know what their status is. Nwobodo and Nnamani had their turf wars in Enugu State which at some point could not even be settled by church leaders. In all these cases, the one who claims to have “made” the other would not let his product act on his own.

Again, in 2003 this phenomenon reared its ugly head in Anambra State, where another godfather by the name of Chris Uba was so desperate that he tried a kidnap/ coup and failed. He tried assassination and was unsuccessful. He then proceeded to destroy the state owned infrastructure just to spite the governor for not “settling” him. Even our President, a man whose morals belongs to the gutter, asked the Anambra governor to “settle” this would be plunderer of state owned funds. What other country could this happen in other than in Nigeria where corruption is king? Only in Nigeria, a country of immense human and natural resources where the same cabal has virtually misruled the country since independence.

Here we are in 2005 and the so called “majority” of retards and morons in Oyo State house of assembly unconstitutionally removed a sitting governor. Ladoja’s impeachment was nothing short of a slap in the face of the Oyo State people in particular, and Nigerians in general. Here, the godfather Adedibu, decided to remove the “father” part of his title and declared himself “god”. To hear that our President was bowing and prostrating to this jackass of a man is even more deploring. Yoruba tradition aside, who the heck is Adedibu? I guess he must be a very serious juju man for all these people including our President to be afraid of him. Now that the courts have ruled, will the “other governor” Alao Akala obey the law and step down? It remains to be seen. What with our outright disrespect and disdain for our judiciary.

What steps do we as Nigerians take to curtail the excesses of godfathers? What measures do we take to truly elect our leaders? There are really no true democracies anywhere on the face of the earth. It’s a fact that with the human factor involved lying, cheating, stealing and rigging always factors in. The major difference between our elections and those of the developed world is that they have measures to curtail their rigging. In Nigeria, its open season for the parties to see who will rig more than the other. The party in power manages to outdo their opponents by murder, mayhem and intimidation.

Posted by Administrator at 07:55 AM | Comments (1)

January 29, 2006

Ozodi Osuji Weekly Series on Psychology 2006, #6 of 52: The Benefits of Forgiveness

by Ozodi Thomas Osuji (Seatle, Washington) --- There is no doubt whatsoever that the teachings of Jesus Christ can be summarized as forgiveness for the wrongs done to one. Everything that the man taught had to do with forgiveness. His gospel is the gospel of forgiveness.

This is in contradistinction to the Old Testament teaching, which can be characterized as the Gospel of Punishment. Moses, the Old Testament, taught an eye for an eye, punishment for the wrongs done to one.

Jesus Christ taught forgiveness for all wrongs done to one. Thus, the Old and New Testaments are diametrically different from each other; the two cannot, therefore, mix. They should not even be contained in the same book, Bible, except in so far that the Old Testament gave some sort of historical perspective to the teachings of the New Testament; that is, the Old Testament describes the world and its laws that the New Testament came to replace, supercedes.

Let us briefly recapitulate what Jesus Christ taught his followers. He said that all the teachings of past teachers of God, prophets, could be summarized as: “Do unto others as one wants them to do to one”. How does one want others to do to one? One wants other people to love one. Therefore, one must do unto others how one wants them to do to one: love them. Jesus taught love for all people.

Loving other people, he said, includes forgiving them the wrongs they do to one. Whereas the world does not forgive those who wrong it, those who follow his teaching, Jesus said, are different from the rest of the world because they forgive those who wronged them.

In the only prayer Jesus taught his disciples, the “Our Lord’s Prayer”, he taught them to pray thus: “Our father, who is in heaven, forgive us our sins because we have first forgiven those who sinned against us”. That is to say that, as it were, we have a covenant, a contract with our father in heaven, God, to forgive us our sins only when we forgive each other our sins against each other.

In the story of a man going to worship God and remembered that his neighbor wronged him, Jesus said that the man must first go home and forgive his neighbor before he prays to, worships, God.

How many times should we forgive our neighbors wrongs, someone asked him? He said: seventy seven times seventy seven times; that is, infinitely.

Elsewhere, Jesus said that God does hear all our prayers to him. Indeed, that he has already answered all our prayers and granted all our requests before we ask for them, for he knows what our needs are before we ask for them. However, to receive the answers to our requests, prayers, that God has already given us, we must forgive one another.

He made it crystal clear that it is on forgiveness that hinges receiving the gifts of God: peace, happiness and abundance.
And to test him, to see if he really teaches a different gospel from the one taught by Moses, the Old Testament, hence violates the Mosaic Law that prevailed in the land, they brought a woman who had committed adultery and was caught red handed in the act.

Jesus was going about teaching forgiveness for sins, so here is a test case to see whether he would forgive the sinner, thereby publicly violating the laws of Moses. If he did, he would have become a lawbreaker, hence is arrested, tried and punished according to the laws of Moses.

Jesus knew why they brought the test case to him. The case was chosen to give him a public opportunity to declare his teaching, to point out the distinctions between his from Moses teaching. (Please do not see Jesus as a victim. He knew that he chose everything that happened to him. He knew that our lives on earth are like a script that he and all of us collectively wrote. Each of us is merely enacting out what is in our collective script, the play, the drama of the world. As such none of us is a victim. Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen before it happened. He knew that the Jews would test him, would bring the adulterous woman to test him. He knew what his response would be. He knew that it was necessary for him to use that episode to clarify his teachings.

Because he knew that he was going through a script all of us wrote he had no fear or anger at the consequences of the action he took. He knew that his teachings that superseded the Mosaic teaching would be rejected by the people and as a result that they would reject and kill him. He also knew that he would resurrect from death. That was part of his script, our collective script. The rest of us chose to forget that we collectively wrote the script. We forget it and then see ourselves as victims unto whom bad things are happening. We then feel fear and anger. It is part of our own script to choose and forget our role in so choosing so as to justify seeing the external environment as harming us to justify anger and fear, hatred of God and each other etc.)

For a while, he seemed to ignore the wily foxes of this world, but eventually outfoxed them. He said: let him who has not sinned cast the first stone at the sinful woman.

Since we are all sinners, we have no right to judge other people as sinners and should not punish sinners.

Thus the accusers left and did not punish the woman.
Jesus said to the woman: where are they that accused you of sin? She said that they are gone. He said that he, Jesus, did not accuse her of sin, either, but that she should go and sin no more. Sin is not to be encouraged but to be eliminated, yet that is no reason to judge and punish sinners.

Jesus walked his talk. He was arrested and his irascible apostle, Peter, tried to defend him by drawing his sward and attacking one of those who came to arrest him; that is, Peter tried to defend Jesus.

Jesus said to Peter: put away your swords for those who live by the sword, war, die by his sword, and die in war.
He said that if he had wanted to defend himself that he could have marshaled legions to defend him but that he came to show the world a different mode for dealing with conflict/attack:

defenselessness, which is forgiveness. He said that defenselessness/ forgiveness gives peace and joy, whereas defensiveness and attack results in conflict and war.

Finally, they subjected Jesus to a kangaroo court, accused him of doing what he did not do; he brought peace but they accused him of bringing war against the Roman overlords, tried him and found him guilty.

While being tried, Jesus did not defend himself. They sentenced him to death. Before he died on the Cross-he asked God to forgive those who were murdering, him for they do not know what they are doing.

There is no two ways of looking at it. Jesus taught the gospel of forgiveness. He told those slapped on one cheek to turn the other cheek to be slapped, rather than defend them selves; those whose clothes were stolen to give the rest of their properties to the thief, rather than fight and punish him.

Simply stated, Jesus taught forgiveness as the true meaning of love. To him, forgiveness gives peace and joy and is the only path to salvation.

You either accept what Jesus taught: forgiveness and love, or you do not; but you cannot make any mistake as to what he taught you.

That does not mean that what the man taught makes sense. Clearly, it does not make sense to our rational egos. Our rational egos tell us that if we permit those who attack us to do so, that they could harm and even kill us. The ego tells us that if we want to survive in the physical plane that we must not forgive our attackers, that we must defend ourselves and, if necessary, kill our attackers before they kill us.

The gospel of self-defense and punishment, the gospel of Moses, makes for adaptation to the exigencies of this world. If we did not defend ourselves, we could be killed, hence the gospel of forgiveness taught by Jesus, our earthly ego based reason tells us is the gospel of death, and escape from this world.

Nietzsche said it all: Jesus, the rational philosopher tells us, teaches a gospel of death, for if you do not defend yourself, if you forgive those bent on attacking and killing you, you will be killed and die. To Nietzsche, Jesus’ teaching is nihilistic, that is, it negates this world, negates the individual’s life, the ego, and is an escape from the realities of this world. Christianity, Nietzsche says, is a gospel of weak women cringing for life and he wants us to throw it away and embrace the gospel of power, attack and defense, the gospel of the pure human being, the ego, Zarathustra, the human animal, the blond beast. (Thus Spoke Zarathustra.)

In light of the empirical fact that forgiveness may lead to death and exit from this world, why should a rational person take Jesus and his gospel of forgiveness seriously? This really is the only question one must ask. The question is not what Jesus taught, for he taught love and forgiveness, but whether we should accept it, and why should we do so?

If we follow the logic of this world, which is to do whatever we could to survive as physical beings, we cannot accept the doctrine of forgiveness, we cannot accept Jesus’ teaching, and we cannot be Christians. For us to accept the teaching of forgiveness, defenselessness and love we must have a different frame of reference, one that transcends the frame of reference of this world.


The premise on which the concept of forgiveness is predicated is that the external world we see is not real is like a dream and that what is done in it is like activities in a dream.

What is done in a dream has not happened. The person you see attack, harm, even destroy your body did what he or she did to you in a dream; he did so in your and his mutual dream. In reality, what he did, and what you did, has not happened except as in a dream. (This is solipsism, idealism, as in George Berkeley’s Dialogues and Arthur Schopenhauer’s World as Will and Idea.)

In a dream, it is the dreamers that are responsible for projecting out their dream world. One projected out the person who hurt one.

The world is a mutual dream, therefore, the person who hurt one projected out the person he hurt in his own dream.

In effect, you, the dreamer, made the person who hurt you to do so; he made himself to do what he did, to hurt you. Both of you agreed to do to what you did to each other and for each other.

In reality, both of you did not, in fact, do anything hurtful to one another, for what is done in a dream has not been done in fact.

Therefore, you must forgive what you see other people do to you on earth, in the dream, and must forgive yourself what you did to you and to other people. (Whether other people, those you forgive, forgive you or not is for them to decide and is not your concern, what should concern you is whether you forgive other people.)

Forgiveness is for all things done on this earth, including what ordinarily we call heinous crimes, such as murder, discrimination, rape, slavery etc. Do you need example? What did Jesus do? He forgave those who murdered him, implying that if you accept his gospel that you, too, must forgive those who murder you.

It is only a dream. The person who seems to have killed you in the dream has not, in fact, killed you; the person you seem to have killed in a dream has not been killed. Neither of you did anything other than dream that killing each other is possible. This world is a dream where we dream that it is possible to hurt each other, and eventually kill each other.

Life extended its permanent self to us; God created us eternal; but we dream the opposite of how God created us, joyous and eternal, and dream that harm and death is possible.

Despite our dreams, we remain as God created us, formless spirit, unified with God and with one another, eternal and immortal and nothing can harm us. We are eternally safe in God. We are protected in God while dreaming that we can be hurt on earth.

In practical terms, this means that a sociopath who hurts other people should not feel guilty or remorseful. A sociopath does not feel remorseful, anyway. That is to say that the sociopath is actually more realistic, for he knows that he, in fact, did nothing to the persons he seems to have hurt. The seeming amoral criminal does not feel guilty for he knows that no matter what he does to other people that he did not do wrong. (And by the same token, if you shoot and kill criminals, you should not feel guilty, for you did not do anything wrong. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.)

To feel guilty and remorseful is to assume that what one does on earth is real and is not done in dream. But if what is done on earth is like actions in a dream, one should never feel guilty for anything one did wrong to other people. By the same token, other people should not feel guilty for anything wrong that you believe that they did to one.
You should not forgive any one for what he did to you or ask people to forgive you for what you think that you did wrong to them. Neither you nor they have done any wrong to each other (or good either, for what is done in a dream is neither good nor bad).

Do not ask other people to forgive you, for what you did to them; you did nothing to them. Do not ask those you murder to forgive you, for you did not murder any one. By the same token, do not expect other people to ask you for forgiveness even if they killed you, for they did nothing of that sort, they did not kill you, for in real life no one can kill you, you are always free and eternal; you are always as God created you.

THE ILLUSION OF FORGIVENESS

It is because you believe that you did wrong by hurting other people, and other people believe that they did wrong by hurting you, that forgiveness seems required.

In as much as you believe in wrong doing, then forgive it, that is, overlook it, and come to accept that no wrong and no good was done to you or by you to other people, for it was all a dream wrong and right, not real.

Overlook the dream, the world and what is done in it and you feel free, happy and peaceful.

INVITATION TO MUTUAL ATTACKS

If a person did something wrong to you, say, discriminated against you, you invited him to do so, and by the same token, he invited himself to do so, hence invited you to, if you choose, do something wrong to him. If you killed him, he invited it; he asked for it, he killed himself. (Ultimately, nothing was done.)

The oppressor wants to be oppressed. If you choose, you can go-ahead and oppress him in return, even kill him, for that is what he invited you to do.

If you killed the oppressor, you should not feel guilty from doing so, for you only did so in a dream and nothing was done. You just dreamed that you killed an oppressor; that is all there is to it.

By the same token, if the person you harmed decided to harm or even kill you, you invited him to do so by harming him and must accept what he does to you. Ultimately, he did nothing to you and you did nothing to him, both of you just had a not particularly pleasant dream in which you seem to harm, even kill each other.

(In reality both of you cannot be harmed and cannot die, so it was a mere dream of harm and death, not a factual one).

AMORAL PHILOSOPHY?

The philosophy propounded above would seem to make the world an amoral place. It would seem to suggest that folks should go ahead and do whatever they want to do, including stealing and killing people, and should not feel guilty or remorseful from their behaviors?

If that philosophy makes you feel self-righteous; may I ask you what type of world do you think that you already live in? We already live in an amoral world, don’t we? Is there morality in this world? Is there morality in a world where white Americans killed Indians and took their land and enslaved Africans? Is there morality in Nigeria where a band of thieves took over the government and do with the public treasury as they please, while the masses suffer?

Morality is make belief; morality is man made. Nature destroys people as it destroys rats and plants. Germs, virus, bacteria, fungi, diseases kill us as if we are nothing worthwhile. Earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, hurricanes, draughts etc destroy people as they destroy rats.

Human beings’ egos and bodies are completely worthless and valueless. They are dream selves and dream bodies and have no value whatsoever that pure reason can ascertain.

TAKING ONES SELF SERIOUSLY

Some human beings like to take themselves too seriously. Taking ones self seriously is an egoistic behavior. Taking ones self seriously is actually an effort to convince ones self that ones ego and the body that houses it has worth and is important.

The ego, that is, the separated self-concept, and the body that houses it, do not have worth and value. Therefore, let go of the nonsense of personal worth and value; do not take yourself seriously.

If you stop taking your ego and body seriously you feel light, and life becomes light and mirthful. You smile and laugh a lot; you appreciate that people are nothingness trying to seem like they are something important.


FEAR, ANGER, PRIDE, VANITY, NARCISSISM, DEPRESSION, PARANOIA ARE ALL PRODUCTS OF IDENTIFYING WITH FALSE SEPARATED SELF, THE EGO

No pride, vanity and narcissism mean total peace and happiness. To the extent that you retain your ego, pride and narcissism you disturb your peace.

Fear and anger are means of defending the separated self and feeling emotional upset. If you did not have an ego and did not defend it, you would not feel fear, anger, pride, shame, depression, paranoia and other emotional upsets; you would be perpetually calm, peaceful and happy.

As long as you identify with the ego, you must feel emotional upsets, and must be in this world. When you let go of the ego and no longer desire or defend it, you would no longer feel fear, anger, pride, shame, depression, and paranoia and other mental disorders.
The gift of peace and joy, bliss comes from not having a separated self, ego, self-concept, self-image, and no body to identify and defend.

DISCUSSION


Are there benefits, positive payoff from relinquishing the false separated self, and the ego? I think so. Peace and joy. The problem is that that gift requires one to exit this world.

Is this world so beautiful that one wants to stay in it?
Give up the ego now and exit the world now and return to the abode of undifferentiated self, which is the condition for peace and joy, bliss.

Or stay in this world, that is, retain a separated self, the ego, live in hell and mitigate it by mostly overlooking what is done in the world, forgiving your and other people’s mistakes. To the extent that you learn to love and forgive all people, you give yourself peace and give those you forgive some of your peace. Peace is not a shabby thing, wouldn’t you say?

I recommend that one stays in this world and live to however long ones body can last. I recommend forgiving most of the wrongs people do to one, loving people, realizing that total forgiveness entails permitting other people to harm one and even kill one while one does not defend ones self. If one chooses total forgiveness and defenselessness, as Jesus did, one could die, exit this world and return to undifferentiated oneness, spirit, eternal peace and happiness. I do not ask any one to hasten to bliss. I myself will defend myself if attacked, will attack and in fact kill the person who attacks me, for I still want to live in this world. I am not in a hurry to get out of this world. I want to be here and study the world scientifically and use technology to adapt to it.

Nevertheless, as a thinker, I am motivated to provide thinking on the implication of the gospel of forgiveness and love that brother Jesus taught to the world. That gospel leads to death and exit from this world and that is why it is mostly practiced in the breach, for very few want to leave this world yet. If you want to practice it, that is your choice. You know the consequences of your choice. It is true that you will experience peace and joy if you practice forgiveness but is that what you want? Do you want peace and joy badly enough to sacrifice your physical life for it? Just know what you are doing. I know what I am doing. I agree with Nietzsche that forgiveness is nihilistic but on the other hand, I also know that there is eternal life of peace after this world. I choose to be in this world and that requires defensiveness and me to be sometimes unforgiving.

Those who call themselves Christians talk about the gospel of love and forgiveness that their savior, Jesus Christ, brought to the world. Good. But very few of them practice that gospel. Thus, you conclude that they are hypocrites, those who say one thing and do another. In fact, you might even see them as dangerous since they urge naïve persons to forgive those who wronged them while they themselves do not forgive any one.

Christian Europe talked about love and forgiveness and killed Indians and enslaved Africans. How hypocritical can human beings be? In college, I told myself not to listen to these European criminals.

In this paper, I have taken the trouble to show you that Jesus Christ did, in fact, teach love and forgiveness and that those variables are necessary for peace and happiness. I have also taken the trouble to show you how unmitigated forgiveness and love would lead to exposing yourself to harm and death, to exiting from this world.

There is another world all right. I know that for a fact. God, unified spirit, is real. In fact, God is the only reality there is.

The choice is yours whether you want to return to your creator, God, by being totally loving and forgiving. But if you are not ready to return to your maker, please do not always forgive those who trespass against you, fight back. The decision is yours to make, I cannot make it for you, and no one else can make it for you.

The individual can only choose for himself, he cannot choose for other persons, though his choice affects all others. If he chooses defense (to attacks on him) he gives conflict to himself and to those around him; if he chooses defenselessness, forgiveness, he gives peace to himself and to those around him.

I have chosen peace and joy, which means love and forgiveness; but, then, again, I have chosen conflict and war, which is not to love and forgive at all times.

Please do not try to understand my and other people’s choices. You cannot understand them, even if you tried. Never mind my choice. I do not worry about your choices. Worry about your own choices. It is for you to save you, not other people. It is for other people to save themselves, not save you. Your primary function is to save you, not to save other people.

The secret of salvation is the realization that you, the individual, chose whatever happens to you/him while he is on earth. Jesus was saved because derecognized and accepted that he chose everything that happened to him while he was on earth. He chose to be killed, so that he would resurrect and teach himself and the rest of us that death is not real. He chose those who killed him and those who did any other thing to him for they had to do so for him to accomplish his mission. Because he knew that he chose everything that he experienced, he could not feel fear and anger at any one that did to him what he wanted to experience. He chose his accusers, he chose his murderers, he chose his disciples, (and the people he chose, chose him, for the world is a play we all coauthored).

Whereas Jesus knew that he chose everything that happened to him, hence not angry at the world that seemed to harm him, those who played roles in his drama did not know that they, too, chose to play roles in his play. They chose and forget that they so chose. Thus, they felt guilty for murdering him.(People today are still feeling guilty for killing the son of God, Jesus and all of us, for taking on a different identity, ego, and denying their true identity, Christ.)

Feeling guilty make people run from Christ and from his father, God, whose son they believe that they killed and that God is, therefore, out to punish them. This is a strategy to avoid God, to separate from God.

No human being could kill God’s son for he is immortal. We have done nothing; all we do is dream that we did anything.

We choose collectively; you and your parents choose each other; you and your immediate group, kindred, tribe, race etc, choose each other; and ultimately, you and the rest of the world choose each other.

There are no accidents in the world. You choose exactly whatever is happening to you at any moment, as those doing things to you choose to-do so in your and their drama of separation; both of you forget what you choose, so to justify anger and fear. You and they are not victims, although in your separated identity, ego, you believe that you are victims, for you see things happening to you and forget that you chose to have those things happen to you.

Because we choose to experience certain things and choose to forget that we chose them, we choose the Holy Spirit, the Wholly Spirit part of us, our higher selves, to remember for us what we choose to forget.

The Holy Spirit knows that we choose our script and enact it out and that, as such, we are not victims. He knows our past, present and future. He does not pity us for experiencing what we experience, for we want to do so. He merely wants us to remember that we choose what we experience and do so without fear and anger, do so with forgiveness and love. Jesus listened to the Holy Spirit and remembered that he chose his world’s experience hence went through this world without fear and anger at any one playing roles in his script. The Holy Spirit’s mission is to enable all of us do what Jesus did, remember that we chose our life and experiences on earth, hence go through our sojourn on earth peacefully and happily, have a happy dream while at it dreaming.

I chose to have everything that happens to me to happen to me. I chose to live in America so as to experience racism first hand. Initially, I forgot that I so chose and felt angry at whites. Then I realized that I chose to experience racism and chose the whites that discriminated against me. As such, my discriminators were merely playing a role I desired for them to play for me, a role they wanted to play for me. Thus, I stopped being angry at whites. I forgave them; I overlooked their role in my dance of victim hood, and death.

I know where the dance is leading. The goal is for me to play my chosen role of rearticulating the perennial wisdom of mankind in my own language, as I am doing here. I am not doing anything new. Other folks have articulated that wisdom in their own language; Buddha and Jesus did. But I must do it in my own voice, so that those who can learn it from the way I put it can learn it; those who chose to learn it from me can do so; those whose script calls for me to be the one who wrote it in a manner they want to learn it to learn it from me, from themselves, since they are part of me as I am part of them.

When a person knows that the world is a script that he helped write and enact his part in it without fear and anger he gets out of the play, he does not return to this world upon death. He is now a world teacher of God, teaching us all that we are not victims unto whom bad things are happening; he teaches us that we mutually choose what is happening to us. Such a person has overcome the dream of forgetfulness and is now fully awake.

If you are wake and not sleeping and dreaming, why return to the abode of forgetfulness and dreaming, our world? You are out of here. You do not come back to the world; you have broken the wheel of rebirth; you no longer reincarnate in the world, you are no longer dreaming.

But until you accept responsibility for your dreaming, for the script you enact out in this world, for whatever you experience in this world, as long as you see yourself as a victim unto whom what you do not wish happens to, you must keep coming back to this world until you accept responsibility for separation and the dance of the opposite of heaven, opposite of oneness.

I have accepted responsibility for my role in the fragmentation of God’s unified son; I have also accepted return to union, I am saved. Therefore, do not worry about me, worry about your own salvation.

The individual, you, cannot change the world’s script, play. But you can remember that it is only a play and play your part in it calmly. You chose to play your part and all of us, the entire world, chose that part for you, as you helped choose other people’s parts.
Each person must play his part in the show, for it is in each playing his part that the whole show is completed.

Future generations will come to play their part and it is on your playing your part that they will play their parts. Every part is necessary for the salvation of God’s unified son, just as we all played parts in his condemnation, in separation.

There is no meaning to the play we are involved in, for the world is a meaningless, purposeless show; yet each of us must do his part in.

The ultimate goal is for all of us to remember that the world is meaningless and stop trying to play a role in it. When the individual recognizes the silliness of the show, plays his part in it, he, as the world judges it, dies and is seen no more by those still in the show, those still in the world. He exits the play and henceforth lives in formless unified spirit.

From there, he helps those on earth who choose to consult him, to learn that the world’s drama is meaningless and purposeless and that the only meaning to it is to awaken from it, and become enlightened to the unified light we are, and be illuminated to our light which is life.

No one can change the show or stop it, but every one must return to the show over and over and play his part until he gets it right, until he understands that it is he who chose it and that no body chose it for him. When that recognition is made, one smiles at those children of God who still believe that the impossible, separation, is possible. He laughs at a silly world, as I am laughing, yet does his part in its salvation.

Cheers.

Ozodi@africainstituteseattle.org

Posted by Administrator at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)

When did Nigerian University Fraternities Become Cults?

by Chibuzo Onubogu (Clayton, NC, USA) --- I read the attack by Frank Nweke Jr. “alias Information Minister” on Professor Wole Soyinka on the issue of the so called “Cults” on our University Campuses. First, I would love to ask my dear Frank which of the Nigerian Universities he attended, and what his social life was like.

To blame Soyinka for the so called “Cultism” on our Campuses borders on nothing but the same shoot from the hip reaction that we get from Femi Fani- Kayode. Please Frank tell the people of Nigeria that you didn’t mean to say it. Just say you were misquoted, and you will not be considered a pea brain of the Fani Kayode ilk.

Let me expound on Professor Soyinka’s reply to Frank Nweke Jr., by first giving the dictionary definition of a Fraternity:

1. a body of people associated for a common purpose or interest, such as a guild.
2. a group of people joined by similar backgrounds, occupations, interests, or tastes: the fraternity of bird watchers.
3. a chiefly social organization of men students at a college or university, usually designated by Greek letters.
4. Roman Catholic Church: A sodality.
5. The quality or condition of being brothers; brotherliness.
Contrast this with the following definition of cult and tell me where the similarity lies:
Definition of a Cult

Every cult can be defined as a group having all of the following 5 characteristics:
1. It uses psychological coercion to recruit, indoctrinate and retain its members
2. It forms an elitist totalitarian society
3. Its founder leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not accountable and has charisma
4. It believes 'the end justifies the means' in order to solicit funds
recruit people
5. Its wealth does not benefit its members or society
In essence, the reference being made to Fraternities as Cults is a misnomer.

If they had changed from Fraternities to Cults then we cannot blame Soyinka who formed the Pirates/Pyrates/Seadogs/Aborigines many years ago. I would also like to add to Professor Soyinka’s statement on how fraternities in civilized and advanced societies have produced prominent leaders and presidents. Yale University in Connecticut USA has the famous Skull and Bones Fraternity which has produced numerous American leaders including present President George W Bush and his last challenger John Kerry. So it is not lost on any person with half a sense that Soyinka’s idea of a Fraternity has been bastardized into cultism by how our Nigerian Society in general has changed.

As a 2nd year student at the University of Calabar in 1982, I was approached by three very good friends to start an organization. I do believe that all others were invited exclusively too. We were in turn asked to invite other people, and I vividly remember rejections. Cults don’t recruit exclusively and they don’t reject. If present day groups are recruiting and indoctrinating by coercion it’s a shame. What irks me more are the meaningless and cowardly killings being carried out in the name of these Fraternities. Back then in 1982 my friends told me the organization was being formed to check the excesses of the Pyrates who at that time were the only Fraternity on Campus. You would laugh at what these so called excesses were in 1982.

Remember that back then we had not had the misfortune of being introduced to Babangida and Abacha. Pirates or Pyrates back then, chose not to be called a Fraternity; instead they were referred to as a Confraternity. I think these guys forming these organizations thought it was more rugged to be known as Confraternities without knowing what the word actually meant. The definition of a Confraternity is just similar to that of a Fraternity, with the exception of where it made mention of Christianity. For reference purposes, here is a definition Confraternity; a group of people united in common profession or for a purpose, often a group of Christians who have joined together to perform charitable acts. I agreed to help form the organization for two reasons; I trusted my friends and I hated the Pyrates. Sorry, I failed to mention that they were not even called Pyrates back then because they were banned, they were called Seadogs and in some Universities they went by Aborigines. I thought it would be fun to join a group that opposed the Seadogs, thus I found myself an original founding member of the Buccaneers Confraternity. At the onset it was fun, really fun, but after a short while it began to look just like the Pyrates, so I quit.

A year a later as a 3rd year student I was once again approached to help form the Black Axe Confraternity or Fraternity, this time I had a much more powerful role. I was to recruit, train and fashion the group and get it ready for approval from the parent organization which was based at The University of Benin. As a die hard idealist I thought I could mold these guys to be anything but Pyrates or Buccaneers, but I had serious opposition. Once again I packed up and left. I told them it made no sense having another group doing the same thing that the Pyrates and Bucs were doing.

I would emphatically say that having been an active participant in the formation of these two groups; I am more inclined to believe that Wole Soyinka was not trying to leave “Cultism” as a legacy. He started a Fraternity which morphed into a Confraternity and now they are referred to as Cults. My contention is still that based on the dictionary definition of the word Cult, these organizations are still misrepresented. To support Soyinka, I do believe that the cleansing of our society would in turn make these organizations more meaningful in our University system. When we live in a very corrupt country, corruption does not tend to be exclusive; it permeates all facets of the society including clubs and organizations in Universities.
Chibuzo Onubogu writes from the USA

Posted by Administrator at 11:00 AM | Comments (7)

Ozodi Osuji Weekly Series on Psychology 2006, #5 of 52: People Generally Receive what they Ask for

by Ozodi Thomas Osuji (Seatle, Washington) --- A man generally receives from life what his mind constantly asks for and he works for. However, the manner in which what is asked for is received may not be satisfying.

If a person is realistic and accepts the empirical self and the empirical universe, body and matter, and works within their parameters, that is, science and technology, he generally gets what he wants in the empirical world. If you ask for material wealth and work for it, that is, your behavior is objective and within the parameters of science, you tend to become materially wealthy.

The majority of mankind is objective and realistic and think thoughts that are congruent with empirical reality, work hard and receive what they ask for, material wealth.

There are a small percentage of people, perhaps no more than five percent of the population, who are dreamers and idealists. They hate and reject the real world, as it is, and yearn for an idealized version of it. They hate and reject their bodies, hate and reject other people’s bodies, hate and reject everything related to matter and social institutions and desire an idealized version of them. They hate governments and other social institutions and use their minds to figure out how they could be different and better and make people and the world become like them. They use their minds to construct ideal selves and ideal everything and find it difficult to operate in the world as it is.

These idealists do not want to accept the imperfect real world. Thus, they avoid the real world, avoid real world people, avoid real world work situations, avoid real world social institutions, and escape into the world of dreams. In their imaginary dreams, they visualize an ideal everything. They live in that perfect world of dreams.

Avoidance of the real self and real world is a means for inventing an imaginary ideal self and ideal world and living in that fantasy world, a neurotic world. The neurotic thinks that he could become the ideal perfect self and world he imagines and wants to become and feels angry when other people do not treat him as if he is that ideal, godlike fantasy person; he also feels angry at other people for not becoming the imagined ideal selves he made for them.

Neurotic fantasy self and world, imagination, is an attempt to make the self, other selves and the world, as perfect as the real self is in spirit; to make earth heaven like, to make an imperfect earth as perfect as heaven is. But the earthly self, the separated self, the ego housed in body cannot be made perfect, so it is futile trying to make the earthly self and world as perfect as the heavenly spirit self. The neurotic and or psychotic is trying very hard to make the separated self he invented to replace the unified self God created him as, the separated world he invented to replace the unified world God gave him, perfect.

The ego is trying to make its separated kingdom on earth as perfect as the unified kingdom of God. Its efforts are understandable, for we love what we made, they are our idols, and want to perfect them (ego selves, social institutions), except that we cannot succeed in doing so for if our succeeded our new world would permanently replace the world of God; separated self would replace unified self, an impossibility since only unified self can be permanent.


The earthly self and the earth must be forgotten, overlooked and ignored, that is, forgiven, for one to experience the already existing perfect self and perfect world created by God.

The ideal world is a pure mental construct and is unlimited by the external realities of space, time and matter. Therefore, the ideal self and ideal world is not going to come into being, for they are mere products of imagination. Imagination is not reality.

The person who dwells on fantasy and idealism gets what he wants, ideal mental constructs but nothing real in the world of reality. He generally is poor and dies poor. He dies poor still wishing for an ideal, perfect self and perfect world and rich life.

Yet the idealist must be an idealist, for, as it were, he was destined to be so and consequently to be poor and a loser. His unacceptable sensitive body makes him hate and reject it and seek an alternative ideal form of it and he generalizes that to seeking ideals for everything else in life. He is a neurotic ala Karen Horney (Neurosis and Human Growth).

CHANGED THINKING: FROM IDEALISTIC TO REALISTIC THINKING, HEALING OF NEUROSIS

So what to do? What to do is to transform idealism to realism, fantasy to reality. Much as one hates the real and yearns for ideals, ideals are not going to come into being; fantasy is not going to replace reality. So, one must use ones thinking to deal with the real world.

The real world that pays off is the world of science and technology. Escaping into ego idealism, or religious idealism, both of which are mentally constructed, not real in the empirical world, is neurosis. There is secular neurosis and religious neurosis. In neurosis, secular or religious, the ego deceives one into thinking that ideal selves and world can be invented to replace spirit’s perfect self and world.

Both secular and religious neuroses lead to poverty, of spirit and material things. There is God all right, but he is not the idealistic fantasies found in the religions of this world, be it in Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christian Science, Unity, Religious Science etc. Religions are social institutions constructed by the human mind, by ego based thinking. They are models of reality, mental constructs hence not real.

Yes, you can change your thinking pattern, change your mind, and go from idealistic to realistic thinking and make it in this world. You can then become an existentialist and accept the world, as it is, even though it is purposeless and meaningless and make the most of it via science and technology, without fleeing into religious fantasies.

We are part of undifferentiated life and continue to live in it forever and ever. From undifferentiated life we become differentiated and live in separated ego self and in matter. Matter is composed of particles of atoms and must decompose; in body we must die. As long as we still wish to experience separation, body, we re-manifest in matter again and again until we give up the wish for separation and return to union.

This is an impersonal process. What matters is how we live in matter, the here and now, realistically or not.

If you want to be successful in this world, accept yourself as you are and make the most of it. If you have a sensitive body hence hates and rejects it and seeks an alternative ideal body and self, learn that you cannot escape that body. Accept it, study it on scientific terms and adapt to it.

Study science and technology and stop yearning for ideal states that would never come into being.

In terms of making a living in this world, seek a realistic profession that produces what people actually desire and sell it to them. You should not seek a profession to make you become an ideal, perfect, all important, all powerful, grandiose self, but one through which you understand an aspect of phenomena and use that knowledge to sell to people what they desire and make a living from doing so.

Understanding the differences between idealistic and realistic thinking (real psychology), for example, is useful. People need to understand their real selves and their false selves. People demand such knowledge. If one markets that knowledge, people will buy it. They buy it for it helps them change their patterns of thinking and heal their neurosis and psychosis. One can make decent living selling information on the different types of self: empirical real self (body based self and its world); Ideal self (as in neurotic yearning for ideal self) and ultimate real self, unified spirit self).

Neurotic escape from reality and its extreme form, psychotic negation of reality and escape into fantasy is unproductive. We can understand why folks have a desire to negate empirical reality and escape from it into unrealistic mental constructs, it is rooted in their bodies over sensitivity, and helps them to accept their bodies without using their minds to negate them and escape into fantasy land.

RELIGIOUS IDEALISM, NEW AGE RELIGIONS, NEUROSIS

Nineteenth century RELIGIOUS idealists rejected their bodies and used their minds to construct ideal selves. They centered their ideal selves on their religion and its chief dramatic personae, Jesus Christ. They called their new religion New Thought (today, it is called New Age) religion.

These religious idealists emphasized changing their thinking and believed that positive thinking led to healing their minds and bodies. They believed that if somehow they got rid of negative thinking that their physical diseases would dissipate.

They called their practices mental healing, mental science, metaphysics etc. It is true that thinking in a realistic manner produces peace and happiness in the individual’s mind. But it is not the case that one does not need medications or that one can use thinking alone to heal one’s sick body. One needs nutrition and medication to make ones body healthy.

You cannot use your thinking, prayer, to regenerate your body’s cells, as the apparently racist founders of Unity Church believed. (See Neal Vahle, The Unity Movement, particularly chapter 13.)

On earth, human beings are scheduled to live and die. Perhaps, they can live to be 120 years before they die. They are not going to keep their bodies alive forever.


(Actually human beings already have other bodies, ones constructed of pure light photons, the bodies we see in dreams. That body, too, would dissolve and die. Ultimately, people live in formless, spirit self, the real self God created them as.)

Much of our human ego fantasies, religious idealism or secular idealism, are really an attempt to recapture the real self, formless, spirit, in form, in matter.

It is impossible to make spirit become matter and matter become spirit. Only spirit can be perfect; matter cannot be perfect. The ego and its material world cannot be made perfect, as spirit is.
The idealist wants to make his empirical self, body and ego, as perfect as his real self, his spirit, and cannot succeed, for matter corrupts whatever it is made of.

Matter was formed in the spirit of opposition, in rebellion against ones reality, unified spirit and desire to be its opposite. Matter is used to make separation seem real in our awareness. That which came into being in opposition to unified reality cannot replace reality; body cannot be made perfect, for if it becomes perfect, it would then replace the reality of spirit.


AVOIDANCE OF THE REAL SELF/AVOIDANCE OF UNIFIED SELF

The neurotic person avoids being his real self, avoids other people’s real selves and avoids real social institutions. In close quarters with his real self, other peoples real selves and real social institutions, he appreciates their imperfections and avoids them, and attempts to construct ideal selves, ideal social institutions, all in his mind.

Avoidant personality and its avoidance behavior is a means of separation; it is rooted in the desire to go construct ideal, perfect self and perfect everything on ones own terms. We desired special selves, a self of our making and avoided heaven’s union.
In the world we made, we inevitably see imperfections and seek to perfect them hence the ongoing avoidance of our empirical world, a world that came into being in opposition to unified reality must be in opposition to whatever it made. We live in a world of opposition and must oppose whatever we made as we opposed what God made. We must oppose our own constructed ego self concept and social institutions and attempt to make them perfect.

This is a forever struggle until opposition is given up and one returns to the world of union, the formless, spirit self where real perfection exist, not in this world of separation, space, time and matter.

Our reality is perfect union. Union is love. Union, love, peace, joy, happiness, sameness, equality, oneness, God are synonyms. Love, Union is all there is. God is love, God is peace, God is happiness, God is sameness, God is equality, and God is oneness, that God is unified self and unified state. Nothing real exists outside from union, God, love.

What seems to exist outside union, love, God, that is, separation, is not real, is fantasy, a dream, an illusion. We desired to create ourselves, create each other and create God and could not accomplish that fantasy in eternity and seem to have separated and come into a dream world, earth, where we dream that we have accomplished our wishes.

Forgiveness, that is, overlooking the separated world we invented, ignoring it, not defending it, being defenseless to attack…attack brought the world into being and the world is maintained by attacks and defenses and when it is not defend, when it is forgive, disappears from existing in the forgiving person’s awareness.

All that exists is love, union. Separation, attack, makes us not experience that love. Forgiveness is a means of over looking the world of separation we made to replace the world of Love that God created. Forgiveness is not love but is a path to recovery of the awareness of love that is always there but we do not see it.

Forgiveness is salvation in the sense that it brings us to the gate of oneness but does not make us one for in forgiveness we are still on earth, are still in forms, albeit light forms.

Forgiveness gives us some of the peace and joy and union of heaven in a lesser form. Forgiveness is a precondition for re entering heaven, for it removes the veil with which we hide the face of Christ, love in us. Forgiveness banishes the darkness that is this world and brings us to light, union, and heaven. When we are tired of living in separation, we all join hands and reenter heaven as one self, the unified son of God who is one with his father.
God is one side of the coin and we, his son are the other side. Both sides, God and his one Son, who are infinite sons, exist forever and ever.

THE POWER OF THE EGO MIND

Just because the empirical world is an illusion does not mean that in the here and now it does not seem real. Dreams seem real to dreamers.

The son of God is all power. He used his all powerful thinking, mind, to invent the world we seem to live in. A mind that dreams an unreal world and makes it seem real is indeed powerful.

Though the world is a dream, a non-reality produced by magical thinking, it is still a powerful world. It is not easily gotten rid of.

In dreams, we see mountains and those mountains prevent our movement. The mountains, though not real, seem real in our dreams. It is only when we awaken from dreams and realize that there were no mountains where we thought that we had seen mountains that those mountains no longer constitute barriers to our freedom of movement. On earth, space, time and matter are real barriers to our movements. But when we awaken from the earth’s dream of separation and enter the unified world where there are no space, time and matter, we no longer have the barriers of the world limiting us.

Enlightened persons like Jesus Christ, while still on earth, knew that the earth is a dream hence did not believe it as an obstacle to their movements. Jesus knew that the mountain he saw on earth is a dream mountain and that the water he saw was dream water. Hence he could walk on water, for he knew that there was no water where he was walking on, so could not sink. But you who believe that the dream, the earth, is real, that there are waters and mountains, you would sink into the water if you tried to walk on it and would bang your head and get hurt on a wall if you tried to walk through it. Jesus knew that there are no walls and could walk through seeming walls.

Do not minimize the power of your thinking, mind, for it produced your world and whatever you see in it and whatever happens to you. The world is an out picturing of your and our collective thinking. You are very powerful.

Think only forgiving and loving thoughts, for those bring peace and joy to all people. If you decide to misuse your thinking, mind, and think destructive thoughts, you will produce destructive effects in your world, for your thought is very powerful. Do this: tell a person that you are going to punish him, even kill him and see what happens. His ego knows that you can harm or even kill it. He therefore engages the affect the ego made, fears, and becomes fearful. He may panic and run away from you.

The ego is an illusion but in its illusory world it is powerful. You, the ego, can hire or fire some one from his job; you can harm or destroy human bodies, as in wars. You can kill those who believe that they live in bodies. In a word, the ego, your present self concept is very powerful, and along with other people’s egos produces the effects you see in our world. Therefore, do not misuse your ego’s power; use it constructively, to love all people.

I once told a man who was boasting about what he was going to do to me that I would get him jailed, for I knew that he engages in shady activities. This bragging egotist fled town. I aroused tremendous fear in him and he panicked and fled to go seek safety. My ego, your ego, our egos are very powerful in the world of illusions we live in, so do not threaten any one, so as not to generate anxiety in him.

If you make others feel anxious, you must feel anxious, for what produces that effect on others must also produce that effect in you; you must believe that others can harm you in other to believe that you can harm others. Hence you must feel anxious when other persons threaten you. If you stop believing in your ability to harm other people, you also stop believing that other people can harm you hence you stop feeling anxious when other people threaten you.

AVOIDANCE OF WORKING IN GROUPS

The idealist avoids working with other people, working in groups, for he wants to be alone and in his aloneness dreams of perfect self and perfect group activities. He must learn to work in groups, with other people and within organizations and stop yearning for separated self where he is free to use his mind to construct ideals that can never come into being.

This does not mean subjugating ones self to the stifling organizations that characterize extant work organizations. It may mean starting new work organizations where optimal freedom is given to members to be their productive real selves, not their unproductive imaginary ideal selves. (Defense of the ideal important self via vanity, pride, narcissism, leads to unproductivity in the work place.)

MYSTICS ESCAPE FROM THE EMPIRICAL WORLD

The mystic chooses to negate the immanent, temporal world and concentrate on the transcendental world. He escapes from the material world and does not bother with science and technology that study and adapt to the empirical world. He does not make efforts to adapt to this world’s reality.

Generally, the mystic does not do things to prolong his physical survival in this world. Jesus, a Gnostic mystic, saw life in body as not good enough and did not defend his body when it was attacked; he died young, reportedly at page 33. (The wisdom attributed to the man is seldom found in folks under age fifty.)

I am not interested in negating this world and escaping from its realities. I am not interested in doing what the mystic does. I want to be here and understand how the world works, study science and technology to enable me adapt to this world and live for however long I can live on earth. I am not an escapist and I do not negate the empirical world, though I understand that it is illusory.

While on earth, it is possible to change ones patterns of thinking. Hitherto, one thought in an unrealistic, neurotic pattern, which is, hating and rejecting the bodily self and pursuing an idealized mental self. One can desist from doing so and, accept the bodily self and its world of space, time and matter.

One can redirect ones thinking to science and technology, so as to cope with the exigencies of this world. If one thinks of realistic ways to adapt to this world, one will do them and make a useful living in this world hence get what one thinks about.

One does not need to do what psychotics do, ignore the realities of this world and live in the world of imagination and ideals and merely wish for how things ought to be. Things are not going to become ideal. One must live with the imperfect world, as it is, and make the most of it. One must work hard to earn a living to support ones self and ones family. The material universe has enough resources to feed several billion human beings.

A healed mind is a changed pattern of thinking, from ego based to Christ based thinking. From thinking of vengeance to thinking of forgiveness, overlooking what other people did to harm you in the past, with the understanding that they could not harm you and that you could not harm other people’ real selves. (We can only harm our false self, the ego and its body. What can be harmed and or destroyed, ego and body, is not important and ought not to be defended. It is actually only defense that makes the ego and body to seem important).

When the past is forgiven, you live only in the present, lovingly. You must overlook the past, forgive it, to become aware of the only reality there is, love, union in the present…forgiveness is necessary to see the love that is always there.

A mental healer is a person who has learned to think forgiving and loving thoughts hence has peace and happiness in his life and teaches other people to do the same. When we forgive, overlook the past, live in the present now, we live in the awareness of love, union, and hence feel peaceful and happy.
HEALED MINDHEALS BODY


A healed mind, a mind that thinks only forgiving and loving thoughts, a mind that prefers union heals its physical illnesses.

Physical illness is produced by unforgiving thinking, by desire to make ones self a body so as to experience separation and specialness and avoid love, avoid other people, avoid God, avoid union.

A healed mind must produce a healed body. Where the body is sick the mind is sick (prefers separation and specialness to union and love). Love, that is, union heals the body but love requires forgiveness to produce healed body.

When forgiveness is practiced, one often experiences ones self in light form, photons and when one ultimately loves, one experiences ones self in formless unified spirit. (This is called Holy Instant, mystical union etc.).

The light body is already there, for God, as the Holy Spirit, created it at the moment we invented our dense body forms. The light body is waiting for one to forgive ones physical body and the ego to see it.

But as long one focuses on the ego and its body one cannot experience light body. It is an either or situation; you experience one at a time but not both. If you focus on spirit you experience light body, spirit, and do not know that body, ego exists; conversely, when you focus on body and ego, you do not know that spirit exists.

Light body gives joy but not as much joy as unified formless self.


FORGIVENESS IS NOT THE END BUT THE MEANS TO THE END, LOVE, UNION IS THE END

Love and forgiveness is not the same thing, although forgiveness is a means to getting to love hence, in a manner of speaking, approximates love. Forgiveness gives some of the gifts of love: peace and happiness but not to the extent of love. Love is total peace and joy, bliss, whereas forgiveness gives attenuated peace, brings one to the gate of heaven, love, union, and gives one the lesser peace, for one is still in form, albeit light form, but not the total peace of formless heaven.

Forgiveness is a means to attaining love. Love, union, God, peace, joy, sameness, and equality is all there is. Nothing that is not love/union//peace exists.

We wished for separated existence, in pursuit of specialness. Our wish led us to our mutual attack on union, love, peace, sameness, equality, God and in doing so, we no longer experience union, love.

One cannot identify with separation and experience union; one cannot be the opposite of love and experience love. Separation is love’s opposite; specialness is equality’s opposite.

To separate from union, God, we collectively attacked union, love and seem to have shattered it and each of us identifies with a fragment of it.

To be on earth, in form, in ego and the body that houses it, I attacked union, I attacked love, I attacked peace, I attacked joy, all of which means that I attacked God. You did the same thing. Thus, we see ourselves in a world of separation.

Now, if I overlook the world of separation which I made by forgiving what keeps it going, grievance and counter attack, if I forgive others attacks on me, I simultaneously forgive my own attacks on others and on myself. In forgiveness, I overlook what maintains separation and thereafter experiences the union, love that is always there.

We live in union, love, while seeing hate, separation. The prerequisite for returning to the peace, joy, love and God that is always there is for one to forgive what maintains separation and the world of mutual attack, grievance and punishment (that presupposes that attack is real and that separation is real).

Forgiveness is not love but a means to love. To forgive is to do something, to undo what we did to maintain separation.
To love is to do nothing, for we did not create love, union; God did. We merely undo what we did; we made separation and when we undo it we experience union.

We must remove what we did to mask love, union; we must remove the veil that hides the face of Christ in us. To see the face of Christ, light form, in each other we must forgive each other.
From a forgiven world, Christ vision, spiritual seeing, we return to experiencing formless unified spirit, aka heaven, which is peace and happiness, which is bliss.

Ozodi@africainstituteseattle.org

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January 27, 2006

Forgive our Violence to Women our Creators

by Farouk Martins, Omo Aresa --- Africa values relatives or community support system throughout the onerous miraculous period of child birth in recognition of women unique reproductive power.

The same may be true in Asia or old European countries. The more industrialized the country is, the less the support system at the perinatal period of our makers. Western European countries and Canada make up for this African hospitality by providing working mothers paid-time off during this awe inspiring function they render us.

In spite of all the laws and protection available to women in the Western countries, many of us are surprised that American women do not enjoy the benefits provided to Western European women. I was surprised that a judge waiting to be confirmed for United States Supreme Court claimed that he did not realize the intention of Family and Medical Life Act is to provide women with more required time at home from work. A subtle but important point made by Senator Joseph Bidden. Yet more Americans champion women’s right outside United States.

There is no doubt that we have to channel our strength to more productive endeavors. If we trace the origin of raw power that alienates us from our lifelong partners, we will find out that women have always been able to neutralize it by superior prowess or maturity. Even the Abraham religions taught us about how Eve was able to get Adamu to taste an agbalumo, the spices of life we live today. Delilah betrayed Sampson by disclosing the source of his power. It is not clear if we got any smarter since then. We do not know whether to do with or without women. Once we get to the stage of doing without one another, it is the end of procreation. Yet, there is much more to our relationships.

It is this incredible prowess of women that makes it difficult to understand how the sheer brute force of men have kept our makers at the background for so long or if this is a new phenomenon developed in the last few centuries. Dr. Spencer, one of the researchers on X and Y chromosomes told us that the Y for men came much later than the X for women. Some cultures have blamed power on the environment that permits polyandry (a woman with more than one man) in some cases or polygamy in many cases, resulting in power reversal between men and women. I do not want to go deep into animal behavior: asexual amoeba, bisexual worm or black widow spider that devours its male partner after mating.

A friend of mine landed at Murtala Muhamed Airport in Lagos after many years abroad and kissed the floor. He exclaimed – welcome to Nigeria where men are men and women are women! Most Nigerian girls were married in the seventies and he fought hard to keep his, sent from home. Many of us had some disagreement with our non-Nigerian partners at that time but never had to fight in public or in front of anyone. In my case, it happened with only one woman. You see, no woman put her finger at the face of an African man. I slapped the finger and whatever was nearby. As I recalled, I recoiled in embarrassment. These days, there is no cause for fight or any set up used to throw our young men in jail. Before that stage, seek elderly help. If you can not settle it, take a walk on the good side.

I had a principal once who would come to school with fat lips. We all knew whenever he got a beating from his wife. When I told my Dad, he said they used to rescue him when they were working under the old Western Region. That was even a bigger joke amongst the students, than a shameless boy fighting a girl.

The fact is in any society where a man controls the economic resources, most women prefer a good provider to a loafer. It has been suggested that some women do not mind fighting a good provider because making up is sweeter. I had a girlfriend once who wondered why I never fought her. How could I?

Abuse of women can be subtle as in emotional pain where both partners suffer in silence. Some claim that this is worse than physical abuse. One may even lead to another. Luckily women and the society are better sensitized to these signs than ever. One has to be careful about underlying causes that can be treated, like an alcoholic. In a few cases, some men would come home and take out their job frustration on their partners. The other extreme are those who encourage women of color to leave home for any little problem while they stayed with their own husbands until they get killed. They leave children without fathers in the home leading to multiple of social problems.

Obviously, men are built stronger than women. I do not think the purpose of this strength over women is to bully them to comply with the norms dictated by, of course men. It is to provide for the family and protect them from home invaders. Aliens invaders from space?

There are too many shootings in American cities and women are no exception to this violence at home. I nearly claimed that Africans do not kill our women but for a few cases where Nigerians have done so outside Africa, that would make me a hypocrite. I just could not understand the link between sex and violence then. It was strange to me.

Why this animalistic rage against our makers? Can it be based on Freud sex theory, jealousies, retaliation message, crime cover up, or lost investment? Some African (American) women use these as reasons to marry men from other races, ethnic groups or travel to Caribbean or Africa to find their grove. The same is true of some white men who think that American women are too liberated. They travel to their old countries too to find a mate. In Nigeria, you find all kinds of imported suzies from as far away as Australia, China and India. After the novelty wears off, these men and women find out that people are people adapting to an environment. Any man can leave you pregnant and barefooted.

Some women also complained that some African men in Diasporas are not the marrying type. Why? They are too domineering, some are gay, or with criminal records, and the rest of them are married. So there are more of them in jail than in the universities. Is that the fault of African men or the oppressed society they live in?

Some years ago a friend at work took me into confidence after asking me if he was prejudice. He was not because he hung around Africans? He told me about this African who always got the best blonde girls in town. He was jealous and hated him for that. This reminded me of Vicky when we were in college, who preached to those who went for white girls. One of us, like the guy complained about had an excuse. He was doing to white girls what their great grandfathers did to our great grandmother during slave trade.
Vicky would not buy that excuse: unlike your grandmother, these girls were having fun.

Growing up in Nigeria, I heard stories of boys’ fantasies with Fulani, Calabar, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa girls etc. As a Yoruba, I also know how disgusting some people feel when a Yoruba girl marries outside her ethnic group. I later became familiar with how disgusting other ethnic groups feel when a girl marries an outsider. I read some ranting, and laughed at serious complaints of guys about “our” women dating other men. This feeling about preservation of culture, including the use of brute force by men, is universal.

While it might be easier for the oppressors, usually men to break the norm, how do we explain the African mating with the mistress realizing that the punishment for allegation of looking at white woman was hanging by the tree during slavery? The King of Monaco has assured his Kingdom that his African son will never be king. They must be reminded about the history of their African rulers from Sudan and Egypt including Roman Emperor Septinus Severus, Irish King Gormund, African Popes Victor, Gelasius and Mechiades. Europeans still have drops of blood from African Moors’ melanin visible on their skin.

It does not stop there; we also have the class system within our ethnic groups forbidding marriage. The real owners of Africa, the ORU, ERU or OSU depending on where; are like the American Indians or the untouchables of India that are relegated to the bottom of the social class after their lands have been taken over and treated as captured slaves.

A lady once said that when she was growing up, she prayed for a man who could buy her a house and a car so that her children could be happy. Alas, she can now buy her own house and her own car. So what does she need a man for? With better education and jobs than ever, women can provide for themselves, do they still need us? As for kids, the extremist are now saying they can replace us with sperm banks. Ouch!

Africans in diasporas are only too happy if their children can marry one another and do settle for any responsible boy or girl. After all the parties and gathering so that they can meet one another, they end up marrying who they want. One boy refused to date a beautiful girl that just came from Nigeria because she had an accent - like his parents!
Actually with the divorce rate in Western countries about fifty percent and even more amongst Africans there, Africa still looks like a safe environment for marriage.

The Igbo and Yoruba culture are very familiar with Moremi’s beauty and the wonders that came out of it. The Yoruba throughout their history have powerful women that have
been Queens. Apart from Bilikisu Sungbo, the Queen of Sheba, Africans have warriors that fought and captured men. Queen Nzingha of Angola fought against slave trade. Indeed many lines of Kings and Queens all over the world chose the line of their mother to ascend the throne for obvious reason that a bastard will never gain the kingdoms.

Even Zsar Zsar Gabor could teach us a thing or two, that a smart woman never let a man know she is smarter. She leads him on to belief he is the best. That culture of women entered the nursing profession where experienced nurses know how to nudge on the fresh doctors just out of school but not contradict them.

Women have made some progress everywhere. We have women head of state with executive powers in some countries including our own Helen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, Eva Morales of Chile and the powerful African US Secretary of State Condo Rice. They convey the message of do not fool around me because I am a woman. They have to work twice as hard to prove that they can just be as strong as men or as super mum. We had Golda Meir who was just as willing to wage war or Indira Gandhi or Iron Lady Thatcher.

Nigeria with all its faults has a great deal of respect for women. While some men may abuse their wives in the house, the same men will not tolerate it in a public place. Call them hypocrites, but they follow the general norm of the majority in the society. We had cases where some unruly man would slap a woman in public. Most passersby would give immediate discipline to that man as it is forbidden in our culture. No respect for them.

Since Nigerian leadership went to the dogs, we noticed another new phenomenon in our midst. Many Nigerians up to today can not understand why the wife of Abiola had been murdered in cold blood. Another happened recently, wife of Abubakar Rimi. Even hired mad killers reject women assignments in our culture. The militarization of our polity has reached a stage that has bastardized our culture - wiping women on our street, attacking women demonstrators and bundling them into cars while their family fear disappearance.

I noted the fight between soldiers and female police officers, in Effurun, Delta State over traffic offence. The female traffic officers were dragged, beaten and bloodied by soldiers. Whose children are these soldiers and who raised them? Could they have been cloned or products of text tubes, amoeba, worms or spiders? It seems to me that they could not have been children of our makers because if they were, they would have mothers and sisters.

Violence begat violence and Nigerians can only take so much before we apply mob discipline. Since the police are now in charge of collecting twenty naira, soldiers have been jealous that they are cut out of the show. So they take it out on police at any time they feel like. But these are female traffic police! Don’t provoke naked demonstration!

The treatment of women in any society reflects the civility of that culture adapting to times. Africans have a great deal of respect for women which provide a healthy environment for our dignified children, seeking progress and success. Any society where a man has lost his ability to function as the protector and provider of the family sees an aberration in the behavior of women and children. A man is a man who respects the aspiration of women towards the furtherance of the good of community.

Farouk Martins, Omo Aresa
faroukomartins@netscape.net

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January 25, 2006

The Ngige Transparency

by Chibuzo Onubogu (Clayton, NC, USA) --- I just returned from Nigeria on the 20th of January 2006. I did not go for the annual Christmas rush, but I went for my mother’s 81st birthday celebration. It is quite unfortunate that due to certain logistical errors on my part I missed most of the event. I caught the end part of the celebration, and in other to make up for my lateness I decided to make my stay in my hometown Ogidi longer than usual. This yielded some unplanned but very fruitful results.

I witnessed the Ngige phenomenon. I never met Dr. Ngige in person, but somehow I felt like I did. The local news in the state was filled with Ngige has done this and has done that. He was simply the topic of most conversations I heard amongst majority of Anambra indigenes. In fact I don’t believe that in my lifetime that I had ever come across such an overwhelming support for a Nigerian politician. I am not talking about lip service and crony support, but I mean genuine, heartfelt, grassroots, real people support. I heard many mothers and fathers talk about the Anambra governor as if he were their own son. This type of populist fame had never been seen or heard in a state that had in the past produced a load of fakes and duds as governors. The popular view especially amongst the older generation was that not since M.I.Okpara had they witnessed a man of such genuine disposition. All I have to say Mr. Governor is, “Carry go”! The only thing I hope and wish for is that the forces of darkness and enemies of progress in Anambra state do not stop this phenomenon.

My belief has always been that if the people are provided with basic infrastructure the sky will always be the limit to their effort to become productive members of the society. Anambra State seemed very safe calm and peaceful. I actually spent 2 of my 3 weeks in Ogidi something I was afraid of doing when I visited in 2002. I’m sure you are beginning to wonder what my ranting is all about, well here it is; Governor Ngige has done the unthinkable! He has reconstructed roads that had been totally neglected by preceding administrations. People now get around in Anambra State like they have never been used to. Ngige actually has a plan that includes the welfare of the people that is why I believe that he will not be satisfied with road construction and rehabilitation alone. Teachers, Government employees, and pensioners have not been owed. Such is the manner of man now sitting at the helm affairs in Anambra. Ngige not only makes promises but he delivers too. I pray that your good governance which is solidly people oriented continue to flourish without any more issues from detractors. Amen!

I scanned the Nigerian news on the internet just before I began this article and saw where the entire markets in Anambra state closed so as to allow traders accompany Ngige to Enugu where his appeal case on election issues is going on. As a believer in the notion of allowing people to freely elect and not select their leaders I do not support all the Shenanigans that went on in the 2003 elections, but since Obasanjo is being allowed to stay on I don’t see why anybody wants Ngige to go. Who knows if Peter Obi would have done anything if he was chosen? I do strongly believe that Ngige’s coming was divinely inspired. Had he not stood up to fight against the initial attempted coup in Anambra, and all the other attempts at destabilizing his government it would have been business as usual, that would have allowed Chris Uba and friends to plunder and steal Anambra State blind. The call now is for the people of Anambra state to make sure that Chris Ngige is returned to the government house in 2007.

I once heard President Obasanjo make a claim about being one of the founders of Transparency International. If this is true, then it is sad that the Nigerian government which he presides over have continued to have abysmal ratings by the same organization he helped found. We have not climbed out of the bottom of the poorest country in the world and neither have we left the top of the most corrupt. All we have done is play musical chairs with countries like Haiti, Rwanda, and Pakistan in both categories. I have even read where Obasanjo’s shameless image makers have criticized Transparency International as being biased. Wow! Reality must be a very strange word around Aso Rock. Despite all the diabolical attempts to remove Ngige and destabilize Anambra State which we know was backed by the Presidency, Transparency has found a home in Anambra.

Governor Ngige, your detractors say that had you not undergone the baptism of fire like you did, you would have been like others before you. Whether this is true or not I do not know, but the old saying about when the going gets tough really applies to you. You could have succumbed to the demands of the crooks who wanted to handicap your good intentions, but you didn’t. You could have chosen the part of least resistance and imbibed the” you chop I chop philosophy”, but you didn’t. That is why in my heart I believe that your character is as solid as a rock. I don’t believe you working to please anyone or any group, but that you are doing what comes natural to you. Like my old principal at DMGS Onitsha late Mr. C.C Agunwa of AGULU used say “Reward for a job well done is, more work” So Dr. Ngige, carry on with your good work and know that what you are doing is transparently obvious to all believers in service to the people.

Chibuzo Onubogu writes from the USA

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The Yoruba Nation: What's Up?

by Peter C. Eze --- As a child growing up, I was made to understand that the Yoruba is the most educated, most organized, most intelligent, most united, most sophisticated, best politicians and most everything under the sun. The same was said of the north minus the most educated. In my adult life I am beginning to question whether that notion is a fact or a myth. Whatever it is, Obasanjo and the drama going on in Ibadan have shown that all those notions are a myth.

It has also been said that Awolowo could have been the best leader Nigeria would have ever produced, but given the Obasanjo phenomenon and Yoruba leaders political antecedents, I don’t know how many people that still hold to that fallacy. I cannot decipher the difference between the late chief Awolowo and chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Both have history of treasonable felony, both are ex-convicts, both are tribal zealots, both are igbo haters, both are opportunists, both are introverts, both are corrupt, both have no human conscience.

Well people will argue that the late chief died before he could actualize his three attempts, but he left an imprint that leaves no one in doubt as to what kind of prime minister or president he would have been. After the northern military mutiny in the summer of 1966, General Ojukwu released Awolowo from Calabar prison. By 1967, the late chief had become Gowon’s finance minister and vice chairman of the federal executive council. Between then, while chief Anthony Enahoro was junketing the world denouncing Ojukwu and 50% resource control which Ojukwu had successfully secured for the south at Aburi Ghana, Awolowo was advocating and implementing starvation against Ndigbo as a weapon of war, never minding the young, the pregnant women and the elderly. Never mind that he had advised and supported that there was no basis for Nigerian unity. Such that east would go, west would go, mid-west would go and north would go. Never mind that in 1952, he injected tribalism into the nation’s political horizon by undermining Dr.Nnamdi Azikiwe’s opportunity to become premier of the west Nigeria, through his tribal bigotry.

As for Aremu, I wonder if he could have still been in power if it hadn’t been for Ndigbo. What happened to his first term, 1999 through 2003 when there were no Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwuala, Prof. Charles Soludo or Dr. Oby Ezekwsili? Yet this man would stop at nothing to undermine Ndigbo and what they stand for. Supposing there were no Ngozi Iwuala, no Soludo, no Akunyiri, no Ernest Ndukwu and no Oby Ezekwesili, what would have Nigeria been like under Obasanjo? Yet if this opportunist was not in Akwa Ibom desecrating Ojukwu, and Ndigbo and how he single handedly defeated Biafra, he would be at Amichi reminding Ndigbo how he averted their massacre at the end of the civil war in which Britain and Russia as well as US inaction fought for them.

During his first term, a period of yorubaniztion of Nigeria and her resources, he spent the whole four years creating political and economic empire for the yoruba. He had ‘Prof’ Borishade in the ministry of education, who refused to up grade Alvan Ikoku college of education to a university, but in partnership with Dr. Peter Okebukola of the NUC, they flooded Yoruba land with mediocre universities in the name of private universities, while other states or tribes were denied their applications for more universities. He had one Olujmni in the ministry of justice as A-G, whose legacy was injustice and misinterpretation of Nigeria’s constitution. He has Martin Kuye as the de-facto minister of finance, who in alliance with Joseph Sanusi in the central bank making sure the oil money was being dumped in the west, hitherto Obasanjo was and is still the oil minister. In the police establishment, first he had Alhaji Muslin K. Smith, whose legacy was intrusion and humiliation of the nation’s senate president, the late Dr. Okadigbo. Perhaps he was too slow in his application of police to terrorize Nigerians, he booted him out and brought in one the most notorious hypocrite Africa has known in police uniform named Alhaji Mustafa Balogun. With Tafa Balogun in the police hierarchy, the rest is history. At NNPC, when perhaps chief Gaius Obaseki was not remitting enough money to the coffer of the west, he booted him out and replaced him with Kukpolokun, PPRA has Gbadamosi, and DPR has another Yoruba, the yorubanization of Nigeria’s oil resources was complete. In the financial and administration department, it was wholesome with Joseph Sanusi in the central bank, Naijeyu in the general accounting, Joseph Ajiboye was and is still is in the general auditing. The security department was not left out in the Yoruba factor. Perhaps what the late chief Awolowo could not complete in his life time, Obasanjo completed it in four years. He was not done yet. With the help of corruption, he sent Nigeria’s oil money to the gullible Nigerians in the nation’s parliament and like starving dogs unleashed from the barn and saw a heap of fried meat outside the barn, your guess is as good as mine. That was the end of Nigeria’s NASS. Today what we continue to hear is, Obasanjo building university in Badagary, Cargo international airport in Abeokuta, Ogun state, giant oil refinery in Ogun state, typical of the then northern military and political war lords that suffocated Kaduna with industries and federal establishments on the absence of non in other geo-political Nigeria.

If you think Obasanjo has exposed the Yoruba unity, administrative and intellectual fallacy, wait until you hear this. During the late chief MKO Abiola presidential row, while he was being locked up by that ‘sariki yanka’(killer-in-chief) called Sani Abacha, many prominent yorubas, about 20 in number under the chairmanship of the crying and prostrating ‘General’ Donaldson Oladipo Diya, were converged in Kaduna soliciting for Abiola’s indefinite detention in exchange for contracts and political appointments. The trade-off in long detention of the late chief and robbery of his presidential mandate saw the yorubas flooding Abacha junta with more ministers than any other ethnic group in Nigeria. As if that was not enough tribal tragedy and humiliation, the man who annulled Abiola’s presidential victory was whole heartedly received and embraced by the same Abiola’s brother in Yoruba land, and the echo of Babangida’s presidential ambition is loudest in the Yoruba territory. In 2003, Obasanjo carried the most sophisticated political 419 against the Yoruba nation. They fell for it, again in exchange for the same familiar terms- contracts and political positions. Like a raging fire, the west was over run by the PDP. The same west was given a new year gift in January 13, 2006 in Ibadan from Obasanjo through Alhaji Adedibu. The most educated people on Africa soil could not fathom the mathematical 2/3 of a given number. In 1979, the same west had problem figuring out 2/3 of 19. Hey! Brothers and sisters from the west what’s up? May be you have to go back and learn buying and selling like Nigbo according to one sister named Modupe Adelalaja. If the Yoruba nation allowed the façade in Ibadan to stand, their claim of unity, intellectual and political wisdom are punctured forever.

It does not matter any longer if Dr. Nwabueze Ngige was removed by Obasanjo today or tomorrow through the instrument of his personified judiciary, Ndigbo have shown and demonstrated to Obasanjo that they are the most united and were no pushovers. Never mind the likes of Ubas, Maduekwes, Nzeribes and Mbadiwes. He used the late AIG Rafael Ige to over throw Ngige, Ndigbo resisted him. He employed the service of justice Egbo-Egbo, Ndigbo showed him that they are educated in the legal field as well. He employed the service of justice Stanley Nnaji, again that blew in his face. He employed the service of Tafa Balogun. Balogun true to his nature, withdrew the police security service of governor Ngige, Ndigbo supplied him security personnel. Today Ngige is still the governor of Anambra State, while Tafa Balogun is in prison, Egbo-Egbo is out of judicial service and Stanley Nnaji is dismissed from the judicial service. In November of 2004, he armed pervert Chris Uba and his hoodlums, with his police supervision, these hoodlums unleashed mayhem in Anambra State, hoping that Ndigbo would retaliate which would play into his hands to employ the state of emergency, but Ndigbo showed him the road to advancement and wisdom. The state assembly members remained steady fast and ignored all his entreaties. In Ibadan it did not take the acting chief judge and 18 members in the 32 member house of assembly more than 48 hrs to remove governor Rashid Ladoje and install a less than high school pervert as deputy governor.

Today Afenifere is calling for impeachment of Obasanjo, alleging constitutional infringements. Haba! Was it not the same Afenifere in 2003, that threatened fire and brimstone should Obasanjo be impeached and even went as far as declaring Arthur Nzeribe, the author of Obasanjo’s twenty-one constitutional violations a persona non-graecia in Lagos. Among all the ministers in Obasnjo’s cabinet I can not think of any Yoruba minister or ministers making any headline in excellence in national development. Mr. Ojo his A-G and minister of justice has proved that all what Yoruba stand for in national political service is salary and spoil of the office. Mr. Ojo as we know was the president of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA for short, during which he was very vocal in calling Obasanjo regime to respect the rule of law and Nigeria’s judicial pronouncements. Today as the A-G and minister of justice, he has fallen in the same class of Olujimni of Obasanjo first term and Dr. Olu Onagoruwa under Abacha. Same lip service and yes type A-Gs.

Dr. Onagoruwa was known for his legal strength and was critical of military regimes. But once appointed attorney-general by Abacha, he subverted the press freedom by closing media houses viz, Guardian News paper and co. Mr. Ojo would never see any illegality in Obasanjo’s political actions, so long he would be allowed to draw salary and enjoy the spoil of the office. Mr. Ojo is presiding the plat form by which Obasanjo violates the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria. From the scheming and all tricks going on in an effort to actualize Obasanjo’s third term, is anyone still in doubt as to why he handed over very quickly to Alhaji Shehu Shagari in 1979? Several people had attributed his 1979 hand over as statesmanship, but it is clear now that his action was purely on personal safety based on military and political exigency then as opposed to statesmanship. The military then was dominated by the northern Moslems and would not relinquish power to any other tribe. The north then saw the southern Nigerians and Christians as subservient and 2nd class citizens. Any challenge to the power from any other tribe was unacceptable. Remember Atiku Abubakar great quote: “The north determines the direction of Nigeria’s politics and her political temperature. When the north sneezes the rest of the country catches cold”. That was vintage Atiku Abubakar.

By Chidi P Eze
email: pceze@academicplanet.com

Posted by Administrator at 12:40 AM | Comments (5)

January 24, 2006

Pax-Americana and the African Worldview

by Henry Chukwuemeka Onyeama (Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria) --- You may not like MacDonald’s or Coca-Cola. You may believe that Hollywood spreads illusions, gun-toting and sexual promiscuity faster than Asian chicken spreads bird flu.

Quite a few people may see President George Bush as a leader who shoots first and apologizes latter, and he and his people are busy spreading ideas that have little to do with the way of life of other folks elsewhere. What do those elegant words penned by Thomas Jefferson in the American Declaration of Independence mean to a Hausa-Fulani weaned on a diet of Islamic aristocracy?

But we have to hand it to the Americans. Like or loathe them the American worldview rules the world. Maybe the raging wind of political Islam, as represented by Osama bin-Laden and Al-Quaeda, may yet succeed in dimming Uncle Sam’s sun, but I do not see that happening, at least for a while. However, while the clash of civilizations takes place on the global stage, the American empire remains supreme. It has been so ever since late Ronald Reagan and George Bush Snr. oversaw the death of Soviet Communism.

My concern here is what Pax-Americana has done to the African worldview. American popular culture rules the hearts and minds of Africans. Young and old, urban-dweller and parish pump champion, lettered or unlettered; for most Africans, the world is now seen through the American, nay, Western lens. This stance could be conscious or unconscious. In an era of globalization, where the click of a button has transformed the world from a global village to a global compound, Pax-Americana is the head of the household.

The subtle seizure of our minds by American civilization did not really begin with the Yankees. The Yankees were never really at the forefront of the socio-economic, political and cultural conquest of Africa. At least overtly. That was the business of the Europeans. With the three ultra powerful weapons of commerce, Christianity and colonialism they did a perfect job of, to paraphrase the great Chinua Achebe, putting ‘ a knife on the things that held us together and we fell apart’. It only got worse as the centuries swept by. Compelled by a combination of external factors and internal contradictions the Europeans withdrew from Africa. The void was filled by the Americans who, fresh from their glorious victory in World War II, were seeking for a place in the sun. Of course they had to contend with Communism but they had a cultural headstart in Africa. The reason was simple: Africa had lost her soul. We did not know who we were.

More than three centuries of forced and unplanned intercourse with a world we could not figure out had left us disfigured. Worsening matters is the kind of leadership we have been cursed with since independence.

I do not hate Uncle Sam, nay the West, for taking over our hearts and minds. Every empire must stamp its civilization on the human soil if it must survive. The ancient Romans did it, and for years Pax-Romana swept the ends of the earth, from the Mediterranean to the River Nile. Besides, despite the justified accusations of neocolonialism, exploitation, racism, and the superimposition of an alien way of life thus fostering societal disequilibrium, the Americans (and to a great extent, their British brethren), are doing a lot of good in Africa. The aid they give is inadequate and a political tool but it saves many lives. Maybe, Uncle Sam should not tell Ethiopia’s Menezenawi how to run his country’s democratic charade, but undoubtedly her stance will compel the Ethiopian strongman to think again before sending his forces into the streets with orders to grind the opposition into stockfish powder.

Maybe the best African brains look towards the U.S. for succour but without the wide embrace of the Statue of Liberty (who, it must be admitted, wants much more than it gives), how many people would be walking the streets of African cities, burning with the fire of unfulfilled aspirations? Maybe 50 cents and Snoop Dog spew rot in the name of rap and Toni Braxton and Janet Jackson strut sex as music but without them who would have influenced the rising, and often impoverished, generation of African musicians to fuse what our ancestors had with what the new world offers to create a uniquely African sound? Maybe Billy Graham and Oral Roberts are slick practitioners who somersault the Bible to back up a uniquely American brand of the gospel, but only the Lord knows how many folks here heard them and realized that that their words contained the rainbows they had been searching for all their lives.

The Americans are not saints. In fact, they are occasionally plain gold-plated devils. While it is true they are promoting and protecting their interests, including monetary ones – Microsoft is richer than Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt combined – Africa is yet to realize the challenge in front of her. We have not yet gotten back our identity which folks like Cecil Rhodes, Fredrick Lugard and Bishop Shanahan captured. We may have produced Achebe and Ngugi Wa Thiongo, even hosted FESTAC in 1977, but the matter is far more complex. Cultural idealism is only going to go so far. Africa’s political and economic capital is zero on the world map, and till we begin to build it up we will remain in the wilderness. The so-called traditional values will remain a cover for oppression, xenophobia and maltreatment of women. Till we start working for the capital Africa so badly needs, let Pax-Americana reign. Period.

Henry Chukwuemeka Onyeama is a teacher and writer.

Posted by Administrator at 01:12 AM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2006

Mr. Obasanjo: You had a Chance at Greatness.... Even Immortality

by Chibuzo Onubogu (USA) --- I was greatly overjoyed even to the point of euphoria when it was announced that our former Head of State, one of our revered elder statesmen, had won the 1999 election. Obasanjo we heard made it back, this time as our civilian leader. Nigeria, I thought couldn’t have elected a better person than the man who led the forces that ended the war that almost divided the nation. Nigeria was ready for a true nationalist and patriot to forge a new unity for a better country. Our own George Washington!

After the war of Independence, Americans chose George, the General who had led their forces to liberate them from British rule to be their president. He not only became America’s first president, but became the father/midwife of the nation regarded as the most democratic of all times. The steps of nation building taken by George Washington earned him immortality. Today, the greatness and immortality of Jefferson, Adams, Lincoln, FDR and Kennedy cannot be overstated. America has had 42 presidents before the present G.W Bush, but we only hear about a handful of them. Included in the list of greatness are Jackson, Eisenhower, Truman, Nixon, Reagan and Clinton. These men took extraordinary steps and achieved a lot in their tenures in office. Obasanjo, Nigeria was begging for an extraordinary leader to take extraordinary steps to correct a major mess but you blew your chance. Now you think you can do right if you asked for a third term? Come on if you had it in you, you could have hit the ground running in 1999. What with the support you had. You could have tackled corruption at the onset of your administration; you could have taken steps to reform our education system, the police, NEPA and all the other problem organizations in Nigeria. No one expects you to cure Nigeria of all its ills for you are not a magician, but we could have gone a long way if you started when you should have. If you did this, you could have a consensus of Nigerians asking or even begging you to come back like Americans did Washington (though the latter refused). It was because of extraordinary leadership that Franklin Delano Roosevelt (although wheelchair bound and had myriad of health problems) was elected to a record four terms on office. What Mr.Obasanjo have you done to deserve a third term in office? Only sycophants and hangers on will give you a pass mark at your lackluster effort at leadership.

I definitely cringed at the foolish comparison people tried to make between you and Nelson Mandela, a truly great leader, one who has achieved immortality. I think one of your image makers may have had one too many and decided to make a childish attempt at comparing you with perhaps the only true great leader that Africa has ever produced. Mentioning your 2 year sojourn in the country club as if it has any resemblance to almost 27 years in prison under apartheid rule that Mandela had to undergo. The majesty with which Nelson Mandela accepted his presidency and the extraordinary things he did that made the black South Africans proud about their selves again. Like a master, he knew when to quit the stage to allow a new generation to take over the leadership of a nation he had practically brought into existence with his resistance and freedom fighting.

How can we forget Gorbachev? He could have tried to hang on to the Soviet Union like his predecessors did? Reagan apologists can continue to claim how they ended the Soviet empire; the truth is that if Gorbachev wanted he could have hung on longer. His decision to tear the wall down and open up for dialogue led to the end of the soviet empire and the independence of a lot nations. With this Mikhail Gorbachev earned greatness and I believe eventual immortality.

F.W. De Klerk will forever be remembered as the man who ended apartheid. Sure apartheid was crumbling, dying a natural death, but I believe it took an extraordinary man to make that decision. He was president, and knew he could never attain that high position again if he agreed to end apartheid. Like all the other leaders mentioned above he chose greatness over mediocrity, and thus ensured himself of immortality.

Mr. President Obasanjo, Nigeria needed a leader who would bring its various people together, one who would fight a real fight against corruption and hence reduce poverty. Nigeria needed to be healed and cleansed from the madness and incompetence of Babangida and Abacha. You pride yourself with a warped fight against corruption, a privatization process that has turned your buddies into millionaires and billionaires. What exactly have we gained with the proliferation of GSMs? We have an improved communication network? Hardly!! NITEL is still a problem organization that cannot provide the real backbone needed for effective communication. GSMs or not the land lines are still the true backbone of effective communication. Check out the developed countries.

I am not an expert on Economics or Economic theories, but I do believe that real economic reforms should have some sort of impact on the average or common people of the particular society doing the reform. Someone tried to convince me that all the globe trotting done by our president yielded some result. Debt relief or whatever they called it! What type of relief is it that makes us cough up 12 billion dollars? I really don’t know what economic sense it made when we could have used the money towards real reforms. Like helping add some life to NEPA or could our schools have been better equipped? How about roads? Did we do this because if we didn’t some of our pilfering experts would find away to steal it? Here is typical African scenario; those who use leaky buckets to fetch water never fill their holding tanks on time. Yes, a leaky bucket eventually fills it, but how about those attempting to do it with baskets? A reform where we still have a ton of stolen money lodged in foreign banks? A reform where we have no checks ad balances in government? A reform where our money is still being stolen and embezzled as I am writing this? What successful reforms? Despite the near heroic acts of Okonjo-Iweala and Soludo and their team members we don’t have any real tangible economic reforms because of the unchecked waste, abuse and outright stealing of funds going on at all levels of government. Come on enough of the lip service to reforms and let’s start a real reform that curtails and slows down corruption.

Much has been said about how the American president is the most powerful man on earth; sure I would say yes on purely military matters. If we would start talking about raw unchecked powers of a president in a so called democracy, then no president can come close to the Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo. He has been totally unchecked by a very corrupt senate, house, and a laughing stock judiciary. The president would not allow his advisers/ ministers any original ideas, for they all have to be an extension of his myopia. He has continuously meddled in affairs of States and even local chieftaincies. He virtually controls a ton of the wealth of the nation. Yeah, a whopping 53%! He could have chosen Nigerians of honesty and integrity as his advisers, ministers and heads of parastatals. It is obvious that despite the good performances of some his ministers and heads of parastatals some have been boneheads and yet he keeps them around. He could have done a lot of real good things to promote Nigeria’s image and reputation but lacked the will to tackle such issues. In his time as President, the country has become as polarized and divided as it has ever been

The chance was there, and definitely the opportunity for true, unadulterated, and hard reforms but you chose the low road to infamy instead of one that would have elevated you to greatness and yes, even immortality.

Chibuzo Onubogu writes from the USA.

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Obasanjo's Historic Visit to Amichi

by Oyibo E. Odinamadu (Mrs.) (Raleigh, North Carolina) --- Must Ndi Igbo be sycophantic towards those in positions of power, no matter how much they have contributed towards the genocidal activities against Ndi Igbo? Must Ndi Igbo be sycophantic towards the people who have, by their continued negative and oppressive stance in their performances while in the office, have underscored those attitudes directly against Ndi Igbo? These people towards whom Ndi Igbo cower, may actually be inwardly scared stiff and trembling at the mere mention or sight of Ndi Igbo.

What has President Olusegun Obasanjo actually done for Ndi Igbo to warrant or merit the kind of reception and adulation he received at Amichi at the celebration of the 70th birthday of Chief Simon Okeke? Is it because Obasanjo's Minister for Internal Affairs appointed Chief Simon Okeke the Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC)? What did he appoint him there to do? Is it to manage the Nigeria Police, which is corrupt from head to toe, and in which people have lost confidence for the security of their lives and property?

I bet you that the Governor of Anambra State rushed around to pave and clear the roads for Mr. President to ride on to Amichi; and that the people of Amichi also rushed around to clean and clear up the internal roads of the town. This is what Ndi Igbo usually do, whenever such a person is coming to town. They do this so as to present a deceptive face-lift and facade of the town, and to give a smiling-face to their woes and misery. They cover up for the very person to whom they should show the full nakedness of the town in its lack of the basic infrastructure and how they live. Of course, no sooner than the "august" visitor leaves do they sink back and deeper into their multifarious miseries and woes.

This face-lifting is happening in Igbo land because they have forgotten that the icons of Igbo land rode on those dilapidated, broken-down roads, and were jolted in those deep gullies, pot-holes and detours all the way to their homes, in life and death. What about the Economics luminary like Dr. Pius Okigbo who was tossed up and down on those roads back and forth to Ojoto? What about the Honourable Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the singular one of Africa? In what state of repairs was the Federal Nsukka- Enugu-Onitsha Expressway the day his body was driven from Nsukka to Enugu to Awka to Onitsha? Isn't it for the same devilishness that they fixed Honourable Nnamdi Azikiwe's funeral on the same date as his birthday - 16th November? Oh! one will say, but that was on Sani Abacha's watch! Shouldn't such disrespect to the first President of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, be enough for Ndi Igbo?

Is there any difference from one Military Head of State and Administration to the other in their treatment of Ndi Igbo? Need I mention the state of repairs of the roads from Enugu to Abakaliki to Afikpo to Unwana, on which His Excellency, Dr. Sir Akanu Ibiam, used to drive to his home in Unwana; and on which his body was driven to his final resting place? Was that not on Olusegun Obasanjo's watch? Yes, it was indeed! But it was alright for the people assembled at Amichi because anything goes for Ndi Igbo!

Was President Obasanjo not the one who told the former Nigerian Military Oficers who served in the Biafran Army to articulate and submit their losses during the pogrom and the Nigeria-Biafra War? That was during his term of office, 1999 to 2003, which people mistakenly call his first term, when it was actually his second term. The officers submitted all he asked for, thinking that, at last, he was going to implement the much vaunted: NO VICTOR! NO VANQUISHED! slogan and THE THREE R'S policy of the PEACE CONFERENCE at the end of the War, which are: RECONCILIATION; REHABILITATION; and RECONSTRUCTION.

But nothing came of it. It turned out to be THE THREE SSS, which are: STARVATION; STRANGULATION and SARCASM - a hoax; another wild-goose chase, on which the leaders of the Nigerian Federal Government choose to take Ndi Igbo and Biafrans from time to time; a pass-time of Mr. President Obasanjo fiddling while Nigeria burned like Emperor Nero of Ancient Rome; a session to have a good laugh for himself while the people languished in false hopes that relief was on the way. He only made that mock proposal of: LET'S BURY CIVIL WAR BITTERNESS at Amichi as a way of reminding Ndi Igbo that: THERE WAS A VICTOR and A VANQUISHED in case they were forgetting it. He did it to drive his sword deeper into the open wounds of the people while rubbing salt into it and cajoling them. What a saddist!

He is going to set up another WAR MEMORIAL in Igbo land to compliment the one set up by Gowon at Umuahia. I bet he will set up his statue receiving the papers from Major-General Philip Effiong. Not to worry! What has happened to the statues of President Saddam Hussien all over Iraq?

This is the callousness of a man who claims to be a Born-Again Christian, and who has set up a Chapel in his Aso Rock Residence. Of course, the practice of religion of all kinds - Christian, Moslem, and what-have-you - has become a facade with which these people in authority in Nigeria, sadistically, cover up "their manifold sins and wickednesses".
Since President Obasanjo made the people dig up and renew their annoyances and griefs over their losses, they have been dying one after the other, UNRECONCILED and UNREHABILITATED. He did not even acknowledge the receipt of their submissions. Therefore, his request for the people to: "LET'S BURY CIVIL WAR BITTERNESS" AFTER THIRTY-SIX YEARS is the greatest joke of the century. It is another one of his callous ways of telling it to the Marines and to the Winds.

But by that very pretentious appeal, he bought his way into the open arms and hearts of the gullible Igbo people who assembled at Amichi, who poured enconmiums and adulations on him. This is because, for the ilk of Ndi Igbo who assembled there, anything goes, especially with those who are chronically sick with colonial and civil-service mentally among them.

How could any Igbo person, in his right senses, say that Obasanjo is the FIGURE OF RECONCILIATION? What has he reconciled amomg Ndi Igbo and in Igbo land? Is this not the man who has removed Igbo language from being one of the three major Nigerian languages for use in the National Assembly? Is this not the man who is going to take the Census of Nigeria without Ndi Igbo because he does not want it to be known how many Ndi Igbo there are in Nigeria wherever they are, or how many Christians there are in Nigeria?

The news said that that birthday celebration visit was his second in 36 years, the first of course, was when he received the instruments of surrender from Major-General Philip EfFiong. But why was the instrument of surrender received by him at Amichi? Was it because the Rt. Honourable Nwafor Orizu, the former President of Senate, who handed over power to General T.Y.Aguiyi-Ironsi, lived at Amichi?

I need not emphasize it too much that one should read the whole submission of Oha Na Eze Ndi Igbo, entitled: VIOLATIONS OF THE HUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS OF NDI IGBO IN THE FEDERATION OF NIGERIA 1966 - 1999. This is within a space of thirty-three years, out of which President Olusegun Obasanjo was in the saddle for nine years - more than one-quarter of the time. Please also read the Speech by Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, entitled: NDI IGBO - THE WAY FORWARD, also attached. President Obasanjo set up the Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Commission of Enquiry to let Nigerian's know who his sacred cows are; and also to show up to teach the people how to embrace, kiss and shed away their grievances and crimes against humanity in tears. The Report of the Commission of Enquiry has not been published by him till date.

But I have news for Mr. President Obasanjo, and that is that: DO WHAT HE MAY, HE CANNOT EXTERMINATE NDI IGBO OR DAUNT THEIR SPIRIT; RATHER THEY WILL CONTINUE TO WAX STRONGER AND MORE RESILIENT; THAT NDI IGBO WILL EVENTUALLY TAKE THEIR RIGHTFUL PLACE IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS! AMEN!

But just let me highlight some paragraphs of the Violations of the Human and Civil Rights of Ndi Igbi in the Federation of Nigeria 1966 - 1999 here, the events in which President Olusegun Obasanjo was stated, specifically, as being responsible:

"5.3.6 Excision of Igbo Mineral-Rich Areas from Igboland and Neglect of Mineral Finds in Igbo Areas. Through boundary adjustment, some mineral - rich areas of Igbo land were transferred to Rivers and former Cross Rivers State (now Akwa Ibom area). As the TSM (October 4, 1993) reported, the Obasanjo regime in its boundary adjustment exercise in 1976, pushed the Ndoni/Egbema area and parts of Ndoki South of the Imo River, which harbour the highest petroleum deposits in Nigeria, into Rivers State.

"Besides this, the Federal Government ignored, as a non-issue, mineral finds within Igboland (probably because the sites could not be merged with non-Igbo areas). Oil find in Nsukka area by SAFRAP (a Federal Oil Company) was sealed up with the expulsion of the Company during the war, and to date the Federal Government has not ordered resumption of activities. Natural Gas find in Ugwuoba, the largest deposit in Nigeria, has been sealed up as strategic reserve.

"5.4 Political Strangulation 5.4.1 Exclusion from Political Apex With the exception of the Administrator of East Central State, Mr. Ukpabi Asika (1967-1975) Ndi Igbo had no representation in all the political and security organs which constituted the apex of political authority - Supreme Military Council and Security Council. Igbo ¡§citizens¡¨ were to be seen, not heard.

"6.2.3 New Heights in Marginalisation (Obasanjo regime): If the history of skewed appointments since independence leaves any one in doubt about the emergence of a pattern, the Obasanjo regime has cleared such doubts. No regime has betrayed so much disdain for the rights of Ndi Igbo in its appointments as the Obasanjo regime. We review the appointment so far:

i National Security Council: - South West (Yoruba) 4 (including the President) North Central 3 North East 2 (including Vice-President) North West 2 South South 1 South East (Igbo)

"The absence of any person from the South-East zone contravenes section 14(3) of the 1999 constitution, especially as paragraph (1) of section 25 of part 1.1 3rl schedule of the 1999 constitution dealing with the composition of the National Security Council provides that two additional members may be appointed to the National Security Council at the President¡¦s discretion.

"ii. Armed Forces: The South East does not presently have any Major-General or the ranks above it in the Nigerian Army, or the equivalent rank in the Nigerian Air Force and the Nigerian Navy and therefore, cannot produce any of the Service Chiefs. Moreover, the number of officers of South-east zone is far short of the one sixth of the total as required by Section 14(3) of the 1999 constitution.

"iii. Nigeria Police: Out of 16 top Police officers, viz, IG, DIGS & AIGS, there is only one AIG of South-East origin, contrary to the Constitutional requirements in Section 14(3). Also, the South-East Zone under the present structure of the Nigeria Police Force, would appear to be a colonised territory because: ♦ƒnAnambra State Command reports to the AIG based in Benin (South-south zone). ♦ƒnEnugu State Command reports to the AIG based in Makurdi (North- central zone). Ebonyi and Imo States Commands report to the AIG in Calabar (South-south zone).

There is need for the zonal structure of the Nigeria Police Force to be changed so that the Police State Commands in the South East Zone constitute its own zone with its zonal office based in the South-East zone, to which all the state commands of the 5 South Eastern States will report, as is the arrangement in other geopolitical zones".

References:
______________________________________

1. The Violations of Human and Civil rights of Ndi Igbo in the Federation of Nigeria (1966 - 1999): A Call for Reparations and Appropriate Restitution, A Petition to the Human Rights Violations Investigating Committee, by Oha-na-Eze (The Apex Organization of the Entire Igbo People of Nigeria) for and on Behalf of the Entire Ndi Igbo, October 1999.

2. Ndigbo: The Way Forward, by Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, Vanguard Newspaper, Friday, December 26, 2003.

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January 22, 2006

Ozodi Osuji Weekly Lectures on African Countries #4 of 54: Botswana

by Ozodi Thomas Osuji (Seatle, Washington) --- 4. BOTSWANA

Formal Name: Republic of Botswana.

Term for Citizens: Tswana.

Capital: Gaborone.

Population: 225,000

Independence Achieved: September 30, 1966, from Britain.

Major Cities: Gaborone.

Geography:

Botswana encompasses an area of 231, 804 square miles. Botswana is in South Africa. It is bounded by Namibia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The Okavango River creates the Okavango swamps. The river often floods and forms shallow lake over the swamp area. In the east of the country, Chobe, Shasti, and Limpopo rivers and their tributaries provide adequate water supple for the country. 80% of the people live along these rivers. The southern part of the country is mostly desert, Kalahari, and semi desert grassland. The Khoi people generally live in and around the desert areas of Botswana.

Society:

The population of Botswana is estimated at 1, 785,000.

Ethnic Groups: Tswana, Khoi and others.

Languages: Tswana, Khoisan. English is the official language.

Religion: Christianity and indigenous African beliefs.

Education: Primary education is available to all pupils of school age. Literacy rate is estimated at 79.8%.

Economy: There is some mining of coal, copper, and gold. The majority of the people raise cattle and goats and plant crops for food. Many Tswana men seek employment in South Africa. Tourism is a strong industry. Excellent hotels and resorts have been built and attract people from all over the world to them. GDP estimate: $15.1 billion; Per Capita GDP: $4, 340. Monetary Unit: Pula (BWP)

History and Government:

The British established the colony of Bechuanaland in 1884. When South Africa attained union Status in 1910 it made attempts to absorb Bechuanaland but the later resisted and remained part of the British Empire. It gained its independence in 1966. The country is made of eight semi-independent kingdoms whose people speak dialects of the same language. Government tends to be a compromise between the eight groups. However, the country appears a stable polity. It is attracting international capital and has developed an internationally known tourism industry. The country is divided into nine districts, and five town councils.


CONTEMPORARY POLITICS

Botswana, compared to other African countries, has had stable politics and sustained economic growth. When the country received its independence from Britain in 1966, a real election that was not marred by rigging brought to power Mr. Seretse Khama and his party, Botswana Democratic Party. Mr. Khama was reelected to office until 1980 when he died in office. His Vice President, Ketumile Masire, became the President and subsequently was elected on his own rights. He retired from office in 1998 and his Vice President, Festus Mogae, became the president and was subsequently reelected. Mr. Mogae was reelected in 2004 and his five-year term in office ends in 2009.
All these seeming musical chairs apparently were, in fact, legitimate elections that happened to see one party and its leaders continually get elected to office without rigging elections.
Botswana’s success in the practice of democracy, apparently, is attributable to its population make up. One group, the Setswana, make up half of the population. That group, apparently, had historical democratic antecedents. Every indication suggests that the Setswana ruled themselves democratically before the Europeans descended on them. Apparently, they transferred their well-developed sense of democracy to post independent Botswana. The other ethnic groups in Botswana are individually numerically too small to exercise negative influence on this Setswana’s democratic tendencies.

Botswana is 70 deserts, Kalahari Desert, and is sparsely populated (total population is estimated at 1.8 million). Other than the Setswana the other groups are very small, some only a few thousands. (The San, Bushmen, were the earliest people to live in the region; the Setswanas migrated into the region as a result of Zulu pushes in the 1820s.)

In the nineteenth century, the Boer farmers from South Africa began migrating into what is now called Botswana. The local Setswana population pleaded with the British for protection. Britain declared the area the protectorate of Bechuanaland. Prior to independence, in 1965, Southern Bechuanaland merged with South Africa and is now part of the Northwest province of South Africa, whereas Northern Bechuanaland became today’s Botswana. The majority of Setswana people live in South Africa rather than in Botswana. The former capital of Bechuanaland, Mafikeng, is now in South Africa. Gaborone, the current capital of Botswana, was selected during independence.

There seems real democracy with multi parties competing for political office in Botswana. The Botswana government permits freedom of press. The government operates Botswana Television, BTV and two Radios, Radio Botswana, 1 and 2, (2 is for the capital area) and one daily newspaper. Private and other interests operate newspapers, such as the Botswana Guardian, Botswana Gazette, Mmegi/The Reporter and the Midweek Sun and private radio stations such as Ya Rona FM and Gabz FM.

The key political parties in Botswana are Botswana Democratic Party, BDP, Botswana National Front, BNF and Botswana Congress Party, BCP. In the last general election, in 2004, elections are held every five years, BDP won 44 of the 57 contested seats of the National Assembly (4 seats are appointed by the majority party); BNF won 12 seats and BCP won 1 seat.

The National Assembly elects the President of Botswana for a term of five years. He now has two terms limit (the first two presidents did not have term limits.) The president has executive powers and selects his vice president and ministers from the National Assembly.
In addition to the National Assembly is the Council of Chiefs. The Council of Chiefs comprises of the traditional chiefs of the various ethnic groups that make up Botswana. The council of Chiefs has advisory functions rather than legislative ones. The National Assembly gives Bills, particularly those relating to chieftaincy issues, to the Council of Chiefs for advice.
The traditional chiefs operate local authority courts in their area of jurisdiction although any citizen can ask to be tried in the imported British legal system that prevails in Botswana.

For administrative purposes, Botswana is divided into nine districts: Central, Ghanzi, Kgalagadi, Kgatleg, Kweneng, Northeast, Northwest, Southwest and Southern, and five town councils. The Central government appoints a District commissioner for each of the districts; the commissioners have executive powers; locally elected district councils and district development committees assist them.
Each of the districts has a magistrate court as court of first instance; cases are appealed to Court of Appeals, High Court, at the national capital.

Botswana’s economy is heavily tied to South Africa’s economy. This means that if there is a hiccup in the South African economy, Botswana has fever. This situation was even more so before South Africa became freed from Afrikaans control. South African politicians had the ability to destroy Botswana’s economy and could have wrought havoc on it when in the 1970s and 1980s Botswana became a haven for anti apartheid workers.
Botswana’s economy is largely dependent on Diamond…Botswana is the world’s largest exporter of Diamonds. Other minerals exist in minor proportion. Cattle raising exist. Tourism is the second largest source of revenue for the country.
For an African country, Botswana has a well-developed tourism industry, world-class hotels and resorts etc. The government, in cooperation with the private sector, has well managed game preserves. The Okavango Delta, the world’s largest inland delta, is a well developed tourist attraction in Northwest Botswana.
Botswana’s economy is the fasted growing one in Africa. Her income per capita, $4,340, is one of the highest in black Africa. As a result of her good economic performance, those trying to escape from Zimbabwe’s poverty flood Botswana. Botswana had to build an electric fence at its border with Zimbabwe to check the deluge of economic refugees flowing from Zimbabwe into its territory.
Despite its excellent economic growth, in recent years, 9% annually, Botswana remains a poor country. Moreover HIV-AIDS is ravaging the country. Botswana has the highest HIV-AIDS infected population in the world, 37% of the population (more than one in every three persons is infected). This means that the future of Botswana is not very bright given the coming demise of nearly half of its population from the AIDS plague. However, unlike poorer African countries, Botswana is making AIDS treatment drugs freely available to those with the disease.

All said Botswana is a thriving democracy in the South African region; its economy, though dependent on diamond and tourism, is doing well. However, since only one political party, Botswana Democratic Party, a party dominated by the majority Setswanas, has ruled the country since independence, it remains to be seen if a different party can win the national election, and, if so, whether power can be successfully transferred to it. Thus, the last test of democracy, transfer of political power to different parties, has not been met yet in Botswana.

Ozodi@africainstituteseattle.org

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Nigerians in Exile

by Chibuzo Onubogu (USA) --- There was a time (for Nigerians) when going abroad (later overseas) was just for studies. Most of these Nigerians ran back as fast as they could to help in the building of their nation. There were those who went on scholarship, those who couldn’t pass Nigeria’s local entrance exams, and those who went because their rich folks could afford it.

There was also another group though very small, that went for higher degrees. If you met these proud folks today they would tell you how it was that they didn’t feel there was any need to remain after their studies. Could you imagine a Nigeria without Zik, Awo, Ojike, and Mbadiwe? These are just a few of the names that could have been lost in exile if they had decided to stay back where they studied. Ojukwu? What would we be today without him? What we have today is more of a voluntary migration/mass exodus by Nigerians. It is a sad commentary that we continue to lose people and yet the reasons they are leaving could be easily addressed. Nigerians are now found living in countries where they never even considered visiting. This is just what continues to dwarf Africa’s giant.

The question to the ruling elite is this, “do you really care enough about the Nigerian people and its welfare? Despite tribal and religious differences can any of you work for true nationalism having patriotism as your driving force?” The Nigerians living in exile (both forced and voluntary) are gradually having children many of who will never have anything to do with the country of their parents’ origin. What a very sad situation! Further brain drain isn’t it? I may sound like an alarmist, but I don’t think I am an extremist. At least, I have not found myself using words like “lost generation” which is what prompted me to write this piece. I would be remiss in my duty as one who has deep love for my country of birth if I just let it be.

In my observation and opinion, there are many reasons why many Nigerians chose to remain in exile even when they know that they no longer want to live in foreign lands where they find themselves. Yes I know that many more are trying to escape, but I can say with some authority that conservatively speaking, about 70 to 80 percent of those in exile want to come home. Yes, that high of a percentage! I don’t know if most Nigerians ever realized that despite all the mess we have, it is still very unique to be a Nigerian. It’s not only because of our very universe within a universe of multiple languages and tribal differences. How about our several different religious expressions? I don’t think it’s just our numerous cultural and traditional and differences. To me, the uniqueness of a Nigerian is, our flair for the dramatic, our flowery ever growing coinage and connotation for every event, moment, and occasion that presents itself to us. How we make up nicknames for cars, telephones, flashlights and all other necessities. Where else could a Nigerian feel more in his/her element than at home? It’s quite unfortunate that for many of us in exile, coming home will continue to be a case of a dream deferred.

The most troublesome factor/reason why Nigerians choose to stay in their exile locations I believe is lack of security and the feeling of hopelessness and helplessness that accompanies it. It begins almost immediately after one arrives at any of our airports. The unnecessary grandstanding being put up by the government functionaries at the airport; the searches, the open demand for bribes, the harassment meted out to folks who don’t to part with their money. Just the feeling of general malaise that is associated with being in a facility run by government employees. After going through all these hassles, and your relatives are not picking you up, the safety issue involved when you have to take a taxi which may end up being your last trip. Then you embark on your final destination, which may involve several stoppages by the police. I have heard people express the opinion that sometimes they cannot differentiate between the police and the men of underworld. Finally when you arrive home you worry about wherever it is you are staying whether you will be there and truly enjoy your stay with your folks. Could you really close your eyes and sleep without worrying about home invasion? Could you drive out on visits without worrying about being accosted by the men of the underworld? There is crime in every country, but in most developed countries most people don’t often experience the crimes of home invasion and being waylaid by armed robbers, which are both deadly and humiliating. Either way it occurs you are either lose your life or you come out afraid and scarred for the rest of your life. I have heard this loony argument being put up by a lot of misguided Nigerians citizens about how unsafe it is in many major cities in the United States. Now here is the poser… Truthfully and honestly for those of you who have lived in both Nigeria and the United States: On which streets and time of day would you feel safer, any major Nigerian city at 6pm or any major US city at 2am? I am by no means an apologist for any thing that involves the US, but facts are facts and love country cannot make me blind to the truth.

The other major reason for most Nigerians in exile is the lack of what most regard as the most basic infrastructure that makes it easy on life, which leads to the enjoyment of liberty, and ultimately the pursuit of happiness. If you don’t agree with the US Constitution that these ought to be our goals, then The Dalai Lama cannot be wrong too because for him (a world renowned guru) “ our sole purpose In life as human beings is the pursuit of happiness”. I’m not going to give this dead horse another thorough beating. I will just reiterate these basic infrastructures, and they are; creation of jobs and job opportunities, access to housing and shelter, adequate supply of water, good and accessible roads, access to basic education, and services. I have not listed these infrastructures and amenities in any particular order, but I believe that however you list it the above listed are the pertinent ones.

For personal reasons I decided not to list power generation under basic amenities, for it would be an unjustified and inexcusable action. The major reason being that “NO NATION BOASTS OF ANY MEANINGFUL DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT POWER GENERATION” Imagine if you can the 19th century industrial revolution in Europe without power, or of more recent memory the ones in South Korea, Taiwan etc. We will continue to fool ourselves if we think that the current anaemic rate of power generation in Nigeria will take us anywhere. I have heard tales upon tales of how Kainji and Shiroro can provide all we need , well if that is the case we should now categorise it as a bonafide fairy tale because it is just that. I am 42 years old, and in my lifetime the diseased power supply system has been a constant feature in our national psyche. If you have a dog and its name is Bingo, you cannot remove the shame it brings to you by changing its name to Lucky. You have to either put it to death, or train it. So, from NEPA to PHCN what is the difference? Now here is my solution, please decentralize power generation. We have so many rivers in this country don’t we? Dam them all. I don’t care if one dammed river provides power to just one state. We still have the Oji river power station don’t we? Raise it from the dead. How about Afam power station? We can learn from countries that use coal on the know how of doing it without too much pollution. How about windmills? We can employ Dutch coaches to train our boys in football, why not an age-old technology, which they have mastered? How about learning the solar power generation from the Israelis? Sunlight is one thing we have an over abundance of.

Instead of all the tribal and religious idiocy going on in this country why don’t we try for meaningful development? I am willing to bet my life on it that if we have some of these pertinent issues alleviated people will not have time think of who is Yoruba, Hausa or Efik and what their differences are. Its obvious Mosques and Churches are different in looks. Islam and Christianity may never agree on how to reach the almighty, but a well-fed stomach with a job or a job prospect and opportunity may not want to start a stupid and useless strife against hi/her fellow Nigerian for some dumb and trivial reason.

Yet another reason is the continued belief and use of juju, voodoo, and all other sorts of magic and fetishes. Here is a parallel story to what I am talking about. In European History, we learnt about the dark ages, the period of inquisition, and all the other negative events of their past. The practice of witchcraft, magic and alchemy was frowned upon. It was not a good thing that many people were put to death for both real and trumped up reasons, but the eventual cleansing and revising of these acts and practices gave birth to science and today technology. I am not saying that these practices have completely ceased to exist in Europe, but its now on the minimal and used in most cases fro the betterment of society. Could we as a people in the entire continent of Africa stop using juju to kill each other? Could we stop using it in trying to prolong our lives? Could we stop using it to stay in power? Could a majority if not all the medicine men in Africa decide to join forces and turn their medicine into science instead of the so-called “dark arts”. Come together and refuse to help people who have come to kill their brothers and, those who want to use their wives and children to get rich quick. The people of Amazon are using their medicine to help mankind by giving them to drug companies to make medicine that will treat many illnesses and diseases. Why can’t we do the same? Truly spiritual people of all Religions should help in this endeavour. Whether these jujus are effective is still a subject of open debate, but I know that many Africans strongly believe in it. Africa will continue to lag behind in development and progress if the black magic of toady is not turned into science, and then technology.

Finally, the last reason is shame. Yes shame! The same shame, that has over the years prevented people from going home from Lagos after fruitless and unsuccessful attempts at making it there. Some eventually brave the cajoling, the insults and the derision that come from vitriolic and venomous mouths of losers in the village and go home. Some chose to stay and die in the cities where they are just regarded visitors. Some of the insults even come from parents and immediate family, some of whom have front seats in the church pew and read about the prodigal son every Sunday. Yet they choose to be so spiteful to their fellow humans just because they had not made or stolen baskets of money wherever they were coming home from. I have listened to the agonizing tales of these who are Nigerians living abroad that want to come back with the little they have garnered over the years but are afraid of being deemed as failures. These gossips running their mouths should look in the mirror and realize that not everyone makes it rich in life.

Government cannot provide all the services on its own, but as President Clinton proved, good Government will only facilitate meaningful development in any society that it is applied in. Much of what goes on the in the United States is so because it’s a Constitutional Republic where much is decentralized and the Constitutions of the Federal and State government guide most if not all they do. In contrast we have a juggernaut behemoth of a Federal government, which doles out as it wishes to the state and the local governments, hence all roads of criticisms and admonishment will always run through there. Rome was not built in one day, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Let’s take the step towards making our country a batter place for all. I do believe that an example set by Nigeria towards a patriotic nation building will only be a model to be copied by other African nations.

Everything I have pointed out is a call to duty and action. I don’t believe that anyone should feel his or her ox is gored. I will always believe that to whom much is given much is also expected. A country of such immense resources cannot continue to lose its citizenry to other nations and keeps wondering why it cannot move forward.

Chibuzo Onubogu writes from the USA.

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Ozodi Osuji Weekly Series on Psychology 2006, #4 of 52: The Alienating Nature of Criticalness

by Ozodi Thomas Osuji (Seatle, Washington) --- I grew up with a father who forever was criticizing all those around him. Nothing any one did was ever good enough for the man. He judged everything we did as not good enough and found us imperfect. His criticisms and judgmentalness was so much that our house was literally tense and one could cut the tension with a knife.

No one likes to live in a tense environment. Therefore, we sought every opportunity to leave our house, to escape from father’s critical and judgmental behaviors. We looked forward to returning to schools (boarding) to avoid father’s presence. Indeed, during inter quarter recess, we would either go to friends homes or, if we came home, we would seek every opportunity to avoid father’s critical mouth. Instead of just welcoming us home from school, father would make much ado about our poor grades at school. God forgive you if you did not make excellent grades. Anything other than perfect grades brought out the man’s wrath. I do not remember the man praising me, not once; it was always finding fault with me, my brothers, our mother and every person around him.

Because of father’s criticalness and judgmentalness, I was alienated from him and so were his other children and, indeed, his wife. Nevertheless, he sacrificed to train us and we respected him for doing that.

My goal in this paper is not so much to focus on father but to use him as a jumping off point to talk about why people are critical and what it does to those criticized and to the criticizer. My goal is not to blame any one, but to understand the phenomenon and seek a solution to it.

CAUSAL FACTORS IN THE ETIOLOGY OF CRITICALNESS

It is very easy to observe who is critical and judgmental, what is difficult is to understand why he is so and to find a solution for his problematic behavior.
I believe that father and his fellow critical and judgmental persons hated and rejected their real selves; they hated their bodily selves, and juxtaposed ideal selves as replacement selves. They rejected the real self and replaced it with an ideal, perfect self. They then strive to become the substitute perfect self that they want to be but clearly are not.
There must be a reason why an individual hates his body. There are probably numerous reasons why different folks hate and reject their bodies. In the case of father, I think that it has something to do with his over excitable body. He had physical and chemical allergies. Heat made his body feel itchy and irritable. Paint and the smell of food being cooked made him feel very uncomfortable. Father inherited an over sensitive body. His nervous system was extremely excitable, too quick to stimulation. He was almost always feeling somatically over aroused. His problematic body contributed to his obvious hatred of his body. Any one who inherited his overly excitable nervous system probably would hate and reject and seek a calmer somatic constitution. I certainly would not like to have Johnson, that is, father’s body; although I do not mind inheriting his obvious superior intelligence (his IQ is over 140). When father was not busy criticizing people, he could be a joy to be around. Some evenings, he would give us lectures on astronomy, the origin of the universe, the nature of stars etc. At other times, he would talk about philosophy better any college professor I have ever encountered. He liked to debate with me on whether God existed or not. He would say: “Tom, do you really believe in God?” There we go. We could debate the existence of God for the next several hours, with him trying to prove to me hat God cannot possibly be what is written in the Bible. He would bring out his bible and use its contradictions to make his obvious agnostic case. He would say, referring to our parish priest: “Father owu onye okpere?” Is a Catholic Priest a Church person? To him, the Catholic priest seldom knows a damn thing about theology. He saw them as mere bureaucrats, functionaries performing a necessary function in society. As he sees it, human beings are born anti social and need belief in a punitive God that punishes them to make them somewhat prosocial. Without belief in a punitive God, he said that most people would be criminal in their behavior. If you are of the intellectual type, father would satisfy most your curiosity about the nature of phenomena, but be prepared to accept his negative side, his devastating critical nature.

Whatever are the reasons folks hate their bodies; they posit ideal, perfect selves and identify with them.
(This is not a technical paper, if you are interested in the literature on the origin of neurosis, aka anxiety disorder, father is clearly neurotic, see Karen Horney, Neurosis and Human Growth; Alfred Adler, The Neurotic Constitution. Also see the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Father meets most of the diagnostic categories for Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder, just as I meet the criteria for avoidant personality, both neuroses.)
The ideal ego self is not real; it is a mental construct, the person the individual wants to become, but is not the person he is in fact. No matter what the individual does, he is never going to become an ideal self, for the ideal is mentalistic, is a mental construct and is devoid of the limitations imposed by the realities of matter, space and time. In our thinking and imagination, aka mind, we can be perfect, but in the real world we cannot be perfect, for our external world limits what we can do or not do. You can wish all you want; the fact is that you cannot fly unless you have wings.
The ideal self concept and its image form, the ideal self image has its ideal standards, perfect standards.
The neurotic identifies with the ideal ego’s perfect standards and uses them to judge himself and other people. The neurotic denies his real self and its real body and identifies with an imaginary ideal ego.
Such persons, which are all human beings, in degrees, stand apart from their real selves and put on the hat of their desired ideal selves. From the standpoint of their ideal, perfect selves, they judge the behavior of real human beings. Naturally, real human beings are never going to measure up to the ideal standards of the ideal self. Thus, neurotics find real people imperfect and reject them.

Father constructed an ideal self concept and ideal self image with ideal, perfect standards and identifies with those pure mental constructs. He, in effect, rejected the real, self and the world, and sought to become the imaginary ideal. He used his ideal perfect self to judge his real self and other people’s real selves and found them not good enough.
Nobody likes to be subjected to perpetual criticism and judgment and found imperfect. All human beings seem to want to be accepted as they are in what Carl Rogers called unconditional positive manner. When we are accepted in an unconditionally positive manner, we tend to relax and enjoy ourselves. But when we feel judged, found wanting and rejected, we tend to feel tense and unhappy.
Nobody likes to be anxious, tense and unhappy. Thus, people tend to avoid the presence of those who criticize and judge them and make them anxious and tense.
As noted, father’s children avoided his company. Thus, he was largely abandoned by his offspring. The critical and judgmental person tends to be avoided by other people hence tends to be alone.
Nobody likes to be abandoned and feel alone. The critical person, who is socially abandoned, obviously does not like to be socially rejected. He, in fact, struggles to be accepted by other people, but, alas, he does not seem to recognize that his criticalness is correlated with his social abandonment and he keeps criticizing people hence keeps pushing them away from him. Indeed, since he judges people with the standards of a perfect self, in his mind, he wants people to be perfect and naturally thinks that he has their best interests at heart. Father must have first that he has our best interests at heart by expecting us to be “A” students. Indeed, he worked two jobs to send all his children to universities and in his mind that made him a good person. What he did not realize is the tension he put into our lives by always expecting us to excel in whatever we do. It is that tension that made us abandon his presence. We left him to go seek folks who accepted us as we are, imperfect, not as we could become, perfect.

The judgmental and critical person tends to do what he does rather obsessively and compulsively and tends to feel like he is doing it for the good of those he is judging; after all, he wants them to be better. Father would tell us that he wants us to become better students and attend the right schools. Unfortunately, his favor is a very painful one. He wanted us to approximate perfect states and no human being can be perfect, so, in effect, he was really not doing us a favor.
In fact, father was attacking our real selves. To hold people to ideal standards is literally to ask them to reject their real selves and to insist that they become ideal selves. It is like the critical and judgmental person is trying to kill people’s real, imperfect selves and replace them with his mentally construct ideal selves for them.
The criticizer and the judge is not a nice human being; he is at war with real people and wants to replace them with imaginary ideal people of his making.
The criticizer and judger are at war with reality; he wants to destroy people’s present reality, for he does not like it, and replace it with his mentally constructed abstract ideal reality. As it were, he is playing God. He wants to replace the self that God created us as with a self his imagination invented for us.
To criticize and judge is not to accept and love people as they are; it is to want to love them only when they approximate an ego ideal one invented for them and since they are not going to attain the imaginary self the criticizer ends up not loving any one.
Those subjected to intense criticism actually know that the criticizer and judger do not love them, that he wants to kill them and replace them with imaginary ideal selves. They feel attacked by him hence resent him. We resented father, even though, materially speaking, he was probably one of the most caring fathers on earth. A man with scant education whose children went to graduate schools must have done something right. Nevertheless, we resented his refusal to accept our real selves. He did not love our real selves but wanted to love our imaginary ideal selves, this is impossibility, for only the real can be loved.
If you expect people to be ideal before you love them, they would put on a mask of being perfect, become phony for you to love that pretentious self. Love, real love, accepts the imperfect real self.
Love does not criticize, love does not judge, love does not condemn; love accepts people as they are, not as they could become.

To love is to unify with the person one loves. To not love is to not unify with the person one did not love. Thus, not loving people, the criticizer and judger ends up not joining people; he feels cut off from people and feels all alone in this universe.
Those around the judger and criticizer do not feel joined to him. His wife and children particularly do not feel joined to him. They do not feel joined to him at several levels. At the physical and ego level they do not feel joined to him. At the spiritual level they do not feel joined to him. In effect, he gives to people around him what he has given to himself: aloneness. He feels alone and those around him feel alone. All of them feel alone and pained. (Because I was subjected to intense criticisms, I tend to expect those around me to criticize me. To avoid being criticized and rejected, I tend to stay away from other people. When I relate to people, I do not do so intimately. Deep down, I suspect that they could judge and find me not good enough and reject me. To avoid such judgment and rejection, I emotionally put a distance between me and other people. I may physically be with people, but I have a defensive wall around my psyche. I developed avoidant personality lifestyle.)

ANALYSIS AND CRITICISM ARE THE SAME

I am very cerebral. I would rather live in the world of thinking, philosophy, psychology, the world of ideas than deal with real people. I tend to be very analytical. I tend to analyze people’s behaviors. What does this mean in real life?

To analyze is to posit an ideal standard and use its methodology to analyze real people’s behaviors. To analyze is very much the same thing as to criticize and judge. To analyze is to point out how people are not ideal. In effect, I am doing what my father did, albeit in a different mode.

As a teenager, I wanted to understand why father was always critical. I generalized that pattern of behavior to wanting to understand why people do what they do. Instead of relating intimately with folks, I stand apart from them and subject them to intense psychoanalysis. (All analysis of other people is done with ones own ego and its yardsticks hence is seldom objective; one mostly projects to other people.)

Like the criticizer and judger, the analyzer is inflicting pain on people. He is, therefore, almost always left alone by other people. People are, in effect, telling him to stop his silly analysis of them, his comparing them to ideal states and to simply accept them as they are in the here and now world: imperfect.

I hated my father for always judging and criticizing me. I recognized that his judgmental nature meant that he did not accept and love me as I am. But here I am doing the same thing he did in a different manner, via analysis. In effect, I, too, am inflicting pain and tension to those I analyze. I, too, am creating tension for those around me.

My wife and children feel that I created a tense household where every person was expected to be perfect or he or she is considered not good enough, this time via analysis. My wife once told me to “quit your god damned analysis of why I do what I do and simply love me as I am”. I thought that she had lost her mind. How could I accept her imperfect self? I wanted her to be perfect, a saint, before I accepted her. Since neither her nor any other person is about to become a saint, it followed that I could never accept her.

For our present purposes, my father, in pursuit of the ego ideal, inflicted pain on his family; I replicated the same phenomenon and inflicted psychological pain on my family via my pursuit of ego ideal.

My immediate family and anteceding families have the same problem I have. We all invent tense and anxious households where failure is unacceptable. (We have several PhDs in the kindred.) Therefore, those around us tend to feel attacked by us and resent us. They tend to abandon us and leave us.

People tend to do what their parents did, albeit in different forms. Therefore, this phenomenon must be understood and changed (that is, healed). Moralization, talking about how bad it is will not change it; what will change it is cool headed understanding of it, how it works and effort to change it. Religious precepts are as good as useless, so we cannot take recourse to religion in trying to understand this aspect of the human condition, only science of thinking, aka psychology, can help us.

(Religion is primitive man’s psychology; psychology is civilized man’s religion; the high priest of yesterday’s religion is today’s psychotherapist; my ancestors were their people’s Amadioha high priests and I am the people’s psychotherapist; it figures, I am performing my family’s existential function.)

To change a pattern of behavior is to heal it. My family’s pattern of thinking, that is, expecting people to become ideal selves, is literally an attack on people and inflicts pain on them. We must change this pattern of thinking and behaving, that is, we must heal our neurosis.

To heal is to change the mind, to change ones pattern of thinking and behaving, from pursuing ego ideal to accepting the real self in all people and over looking their empirical imperfect selves, their obvious problematic personalities, self concepts, and self images.

GIVING UP THE ILLUSION OF TRANSFORMING PEOPLE TO IDEAL SELVES

One cannot change other people. People are like trees and leaves and other things in phenomena. They are what they are and will behave as they do just as trees and leaves will be trees and leaves. You cannot change a tree or a leaf; all you can do is accepting it as it is. People cannot be changed, all you have to do is accept them as they are, not as your ego ideal wants them to become. (People’s personalities are actually largely produced by their inherited body types and early childhood experiences; by adolescence it is virtually impossible to change any human being.)

The only thing that you can do is change how you look at people. See their inner Christ self, loving selves, and accept that and over look their empirical external, imperfect selves.

Accept your and other people’s personalities as they are, you cannot change them. Over look people’s imperfect personalities and bodies and accept the perfect, loving Christ in people. That is all you can do.

To over look the imperfect self and its world and accept the perfect loving Christ self in ones self and in other people is what is meant by being forgiving.

In forgiveness one over looks the apparent self, the human personality and its behaviors and accept the hidden Son of God in people.


THE EGO IDEAL AND WORK

Father was an intellectually gifted man but he wound up doing jobs that were not exactly intellectually challenging. I have pondered this situation. I think that it has to do with his pursuit of ego ideal and the colonial environment he found himself in. In the colonial world, pre 1960 Africa, Africans were relegated to certain types of jobs; they could not just go do whatever type of job they wanted to.

Nevertheless, it was not the colonial situation alone that determined father’s job choices or lack of it. His personality played a key role in it. He looked at the empirical self and empirical world and found them not perfect, not good enough and hated and rejected them. He looked at the work world and found all of them not good enough, not perfect. No one particular profession was good enough for him. He could not reconcile himself to one vocation and channel his considerable mental energy to it. Instead, he looked for an ideal profession to suit his idea ego self concept and ideal self image.

Of course, there is no ideal profession out there. Thus, he ended up not in any meaningful profession. He, therefore, did whatever he could, trading and odds jobs, to make a living.

Once his children were out of universities, since he did not find any line of work interesting and satisfying enough, since none of them was perfect, he chose not to work any more. He retired.

Unfortunately, he still needed money to subsist on. So how was he supposed to get the money given his lack of income, savings and pension? He expected his children and wife to support him. He literally expected us to take care of his material needs.

But we had our own ideas of what life ought to be. My idea of the good life was not to sacrifice for my father. I was into understanding human behavior and could care less for money.

Father’s children could not support him. His wife kept working and literally supported him from about age sixty-five onwards. On my part, I tried to coerce him to return to work to no avail.

Apparently, the man preferred to be doing nothing productive and instead sat around nursing his ego ideal. In idleness, he fancied himself his ego ideal, a perfect self. Poor chap. If I had the power, I would prevent retirement for all men until they die, at least until they are eighty years old.

It is all too easy to say that one would force people to work until they drop dead. The fact is that until a person finds a line of work that he has interest and aptitude in, he tends not to want to work very hard, and if compelled to do so would only do so half-heartedly. Father did not find any extant line of work interesting. As I have pointed out, he was seeking for ideal work to suit his ideal self concept and no extant work was ideal enough for him.

Given what I know about him, what line of work would have suited father? Clearly, there are no ideal professions out there. Idealism is a neurotic proposition, is a mental construct of how one, other people and reality ought to be but are not, in fact. There is simply no ideal line of work that I know of. What is realistic is for one to resign ones self to a line of work that approximates ones idea of ideal but is within realism.

Total idealism is actually grandiosity; it is trying to have the power of God and recreate ones self, recreate other people and recreate the world and make them as one likes them to be. This is an impossible wish. It is a psychotic wish that can only be satisfied in imagination, not in reality.

Father could have resigned himself to being a realistic psychologist, not an idealistic psychologist. An idealistic psychologist is out to change people, to make them become what his ego wants them to become, perfect. A realistic psychologist knows that people cannot really be changed. The most that you can do is study people as they are and accept them as they are.

You can understand people but you cannot change them. You cannot even change you. Certainly, you cannot change your body and since your body influenced the formation of your personality, you cannot change your personality. All you can do is over look your personality and other people’s bodies and personalities and their behaviors and do not fret about them.

Overlook the world and accept the loving self in people, the Christ self in people, but do not expect their empirical selves to be loving selves. This is not cynicism and skepticism but realism.

PEOPLE’S BAD BEHAVIORS ARE ACTUALLY GOOD IN DISGUISE

We often focus on the bad that people do to us, but the fact is that if we reinterpret those bad differently, we see that good come out of them. Bad is good and good is bad.

Let us say that somebody did something bad to you. You can choose to be upset and angry with him or her. If you do so, you get bogged down in emotional upset. On the other hand, you can choose to over look what other people did to you. If you over look what another person did to you, that is, forgive it, you experience peace and joy.
The very bad that some one did that could have irritated you, if forgiven gives you peace and happiness.

If you forgive and overlook the wrongs of others and obtain peace and joy, you are now a beneficiary from their apparent bad behaviors. Their wrong has benefited you, instead of hurt you.

It all depends on how you choose to look at what people do; look at it one way and you feel upset and another way, you feel peaceful and happy. The choice is up to you how you look at the events in your life.

The events that could destroy you could also save you. Whatever gives you peace and happiness serves you well, would you not say that? Forgiveness of the wrong that other people did to one gives one peace and happiness and therefore serves one well.


PEOPLE CHOOSE THEIR BEHAVIOR AND WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM

Another way of looking at what people do is to see it as chosen behavior. People are thinking agents and choose their behaviors. Not only do they choose their behaviors they choose whatever they experience in their lives. This is one way of looking at phenomena, the religious alternative.

The other alternative, the scientific one, is to say that whatever happens to people are accidental, making the world an accidental, random and chancy place. Science is neat and simple; it sees everything happening to one as a product of chance. William Shakespeare wrote his great plays as a product of biological and social chances. This is an Interesting biosocial reductionism.

The alternative, metaphysical reductionism is to say that people choose their experiences and what happens to them.

I talked about my father’s critical and judgmental nature. If we adopt the metaphysical methodological approach to phenomena, which I tend to adopt, without negating science, of course, it can be said that father chose to be who he is, hyper critical. Why did he choose that painful life style? In being critical and judgmental he vicariously attained his cherished desire to be godlike and be the creator of his self, other people and the world.

You must be the creator of what you judge/criticize with your ideal standards, for you are, in effect, saying that what you judge ought to be as you want it to be, and ought to be according to your ego ideal standards.

Criticism and judgmentalness is playing neurotic god (and if you believe in your ego ideals, playing psychotic god).

Going along with my metaphysical take on reality, I would say that I chose to have a father who is critical and judgmental. Exposure to him enabled me to understand what judgmentalness and criticalness is all about, to understand the psychodynamics of it.

In as much as I am motivated to understand human behavior, I chose a father that did something that created tension and anxiety in those around him, so as to learn about his apparent neurotic behavior.

Father and I chose each other. I wanted to learn about problematic behaviors and he volunteered to play a role of a problematic person for me to learn from it.

Of course, he, too, learned from it and learned from my own behaviors. (I leave it to him to decide what he learned from my avoiding his presence…could he have learned the silliness of being critical and judgmental hence gave them up, let him decide.)

People choose their physical illnesses. Geoffrey, my brother, (he had a serious physical illness) chose his illness. He did so, to feel like is a body and deny his spirit self, his Christhood.

In physical sickness body is made real. Body houses the separated ego self, so he chose it to make his ego and its body seem real in his awareness. Initially, he denied that he chose it and felt that it was something that happened to him against his wishes hence felt angry with God (and his parents and society for allowing that to happen to him). He felt like a victim.

The real lesson to be learned from the illness is that it taught him that he is not a separated self housed in body, but is Christ spirit having physical experience. He learned that it does not matter what happens to ones body, that body can be made sick and die. The ultimate lesson for all of us to learn is that our real self is unified spirit.

Unified spirit is eternal and what harms or destroys the body cannot touch it. Thus, Geoffrey’s sickness taught him that he is an immortal spirit, a Christ self.

Christ is love, so his sickness taught him love. Geoffrey, despite his physical issues, is a very loving person. He exists to work for the welfare of his wife and children. What a great guy.

METAPHYSICS AS NEGATION OF THE REAL WORLD

Generally, metaphysics negates this imperfect world of ours and posits an ideal alternative to it. It then urges people to escape into the better world it conceptualizes and for them to ignore the exigencies of this empirical world. If the persons told to so, does so, do nothing related to adapting to the realities of this world and concentrate on meeting the conditions of God and his heaven, he ends up poor.

Because they are focused on other worldly affairs, those who embrace metaphysics tend to ignore the affairs of this world; indeed, they tend to die from diseases. India is a good example of this phenomenon.

Indians are, perhaps, one of the world’s smartest people. They ignored empiricism and focused on metaphysics and philosophy. For three thousand years, they filled the world with writings on metaphysics, writings unequaled by any other group on earth. Think of the Veda, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Upanishad, Patanjali’s Yogas, the philosophies of Shankara, Ramanuja, the insightful views of Guru Nanak, the avatar Ramakrishna and his foremost disciple, Vivekananda and others and you see the outpouring of Indian religious thinking. I do not believe that any other human group rivaled Indians in philosophical thinking. In the meantime, Indians ignored scientific, that is, empirical thinking, and the result is that despite possessing the best minds in the world they remained poor.

I say these things because my frequent incursion into religion can give the reader the impression that only religion matters. That is not so. While religion is certainly important, folks must do what they have to do to adapt to the exigencies of this material world. Adaptation to this world requires science and technology, dealing with this world on its own terms.

EGO, NARCISSISM, PRIDE, FEAR, ANGER, DEPRESSION, PARANOIA ETC ARE INEVITABLE IN THIS WORLD

Metaphysics tends to take an either or approach to human affairs. This is correct, but in this world, we must combine things. This is a world of opposites, good and bad, light and darkness, life and death, not either or. Heaven may be all good and light, but in this world we cannot have just good and light for that would mean returning to heaven. On earth, there must be bad, as well as good.

Metaphysics, for example, suggests that to have an ego and seek narcissistic goals is not good for one. It rails against vanity, pride and other neurotic goals and urges people to give them up. But the fact is that whereas the less vanity and ego people have the happier and more peaceful they are, if they were to give up all vanity, pride and narcissism, they would cease existing in this world.

If human beings were not vain, that is, were not in hell, for to be vain is to be in hell, they would not be in this world; they would escape from this world and return to bliss, peace and joy, to oneness, to heaven. As long as human beings are in this world, they need to be egotistical, vain and narcissistic, for those adapt to the exigencies of this world. Yes those mental states do cause pain, but if they are given up, the individual escapes from this world, from pain to a painless world, to heaven; he leaves the empirical world and returns to the formless spirit world.

The same applies to fear and anxiety. Clearly, fear is a noxious affect and very few people consciously like to be in a state of fear. Yet to be on earth, to be human, the individual must experience fear and anxiety, that is, must lives in psychological pain and suffers. Why so?

Fear is used to protect the individual’s separated self, his ego and its chosen home, the human body. Fear is the primary defense mechanism of the separated self, the ego. Fear alerts the individual to threats to his physical existence. He takes measures to protect him hence exist as a separated being. Without fear, the individual would not do what it takes to survive on planet earth hence would be harmed and die and exit from the realm of separation.

Children who were born without capacity to feel pain and fear tend not to take precautionary measures to protect themselves hence tend to die from physical injuries and die young. Fear and pain protects people and keeps them in ego existence. Without fear and pain people cannot live on planet earth.

Yet to live in fear is to live in pain, to live in hell. To live fearlessly is to live in heaven. But to live fearlessly, the individual must not be concerned with defending his separated ego self and its body.

To live fearlessly, the individual must extinguish his separated self and return to unified spirit self. But in as much as the individual wants to live in separated self, on earth, he must live in fear, hence live in hell.

To be on earth, what Carl Jung called individuation, is to be in hell, a hell of ones choosing. It is in undifferentiated unified state that pure joy and happiness lies.

We came to earth to experience the opposite of union, opposite of God, opposite of heaven and to experience hell, the opposite of heaven. We came here to experience pain, the opposite of heaven’s joy.

To be separated, to be individuated from the whole is to be in pain and in hell, period. In as much as the individual seeks to be on earth, in the abode of egotism and separation and body that defends it, he must live in fear, pain and hell.

Metaphysics urges him to give those up, so as to attain heaven, peace and joy. Well, is the individual willing to negate this world, to die out from it? If not, then he must not give up fear, shame, vanity, pride, fear and pain, depression, paranoia; he must choose to live in his hell.


DO NOT RY TO CHANGE PEOPLE

On earth, people play by the rules of the game. In the game, they live in flesh, are born and must die; they are limited by space, time and matter. They cannot do many things due to those limitations. It takes courage to do things in the world of limitations.

In this world, folks must do certain something despite awareness of the end game, death, and in the present, possible harm to their bodies.

The individual may opt out of this game and choose to live only in his imagination. He merely dreams about how things ought to become. In wishes he has godlike powers to change reality, but in the real world he cannot change reality given the limitations set by space, time and matter.

Living in the world of wishes and idealism is actually a wish not to play by the rules of this world and to play by a set of rules one made up, rules that are not shared with other people. (When something is shared it is realistic, if it is not shared by other people, it is fantasy, in the imagination only.)

Some persons latch unto their definition of God and hope that that God would intervene in this world and use his magical wand to change the limitations of this world. These persons are also living in fantasy land, for God does not intervene in the world’s affairs. You can pray all you want to win the Lotto and become rich; you will not win it, for the Lotto is a game of statistical chance, it is not controlled by God. You are better served to get a job and earn your living the old fashioned way, work for it.

Idealism, be it ego idealism or religious idealism, really means that the individual does not want to do what it takes to adapt to the exigencies of this world; it means that he wants to escape from this world to a never, never land of perfection that would never come into being. Such a person lacks animal courage to do what it takes to adapt to this world and merely flees into an imaginary world.

A world where things and people are whatever the idealist dreamer makes of them is a fantasy world. Indeed, the idealist lacks the courage to persuade other people to help him realize that imaginary world of his, for in reality nothing is ever accomplished without working with other people.

No dream is ever realized, in dream or reality, on earth and in heaven, without working in conjunction with other people. Ideal goals generally end up only in the imagination of their neurotic and or psychotic dreamers. Idealists live in fantasy, feeling vicarious power from it but in fact are powerless.

What I am saying is that whereas metaphysics clearly states the truth in an either or manner, that to meet its conditions, one must voluntarily choose to negate ones ego and the egos world; one must give up separation and return to unified state.

One does not have to do so. One has the freedom to live in separation for however long one wants to. Indeed, when one lives the optimal 120 years on earth and dies, one can choose to return to earth, and do so many times. There is no hurry to exit this world.

Living on earth, in separation, is a choice. Because it is a choice, one should never work to change other people, one cannot change other people, any way. Other people are who they are by choice. People choose to be who they are. They choose whatever condition they seem to be in. They choose their happiness and or suffering. They choose their wealth and or poverty. When they are sick, they choose their physical illness. They choose these conditions and want to experience them and learn from them. They do not want to change and experience something else; otherwise they would choose something else.

Even when people are mentally ill, they choose to be so, and if you try to make them mentally healthy, they would resist you. I should know, for I worked in the mental health field and initially had the illusion that I could change people. I learned from bitter experience that you cannot change the mentally ill. Only they can change them selves…and since to change is to heal; only they can heal themselves.

The mentally ill choose extreme individuation, extreme separation, extreme egotism and that is what they want to experience. They choose bodies to make their choices possible, for there is always a biological aspect to mental disorders.

When they have had enough of that, they would choose differently, but you cannot make them give up their choice.
The garden variety neurotic chose his anxiety. He is the one who insists on being egoistic and defending his idealized self concept and self image and in so doing feels anxiety. All he has to do to escape from anxiety and fear is give up defending his separated self, his ego, and convince himself that he has no separated self housed in body and see his ego and body as dream self, as illusion and stop defending it and he would no longer experience anxiety. He experiences anxiety, fear and tension because he wants to have a separated self; he wants to be an illusion and by definition must experience anxiety, for illusions are maintained with fear and other defenses.

Slaves chose to be slaves. If you try to change their status, you run into problems, for they want to be slaves and do not want freedom. They prefer to experience themselves as victims of their brother’s oppression and abuse and being slaves optimizes that experience.

But the moment a slave no longer wants to be a slave, no one can enslave him. All he has to do is take a gun and kill his slave master. It is as simple as that to end slavery. Kill the sadistic person who wants to enslave you and he would no longer enslave you. At the societal level, rises up against your social oppressors. Destroy the oppressor or he destroys you, in which case there will be no you for him to oppress.

Consider the dance of blacks and whites in America. Any one with eyes knows that blacks are physically stronger than whites and can easily destroy whites any time they so desire. So why did blacks tolerate slavery in the hands of physically inferior persons? Is it because whites are smarter than them? Whites are not even intelligent; for if they were intelligent they would not enslave or discriminate against any one…their civilization will eventually be overthrown by those they maltreated.

The point is that though blacks had the capacity to not give in to slavery and discrimination, they chose to experience those negative states. It was their choice not to be freemen.

If you doubt this fact try to enable black Americans gain their liberty and you realize how much they like their second class status in America; they like their slavery; it is their choice.

Slavery is a choice and as such only the slave can choose to regain his or her liberty, you cannot choose for him.

On a larger scale, we are all slaves of the ego and choose it and only we can choose freedom from the ego, other people cannot choose union for us.

Nobody can compel you to give up your separated self and live as your unified self. Even God can not choose for his son, you, for, like him, you have perfect freedom to choose what you want to experience.

For God to take away your freedom is for him to take away his own freedom, for, after all, you a part of him and what he does to you he effectively does to himself.

God is perfect freedom and his children are perfect freedom, so God cannot take away his children’s freedom without destroying his own freedom. For God not to be freedom is for God to die and since that is impossible, for God is everlasting, he cannot take away his freedom and cannot take away his sons freedom.

Thus, you are left free to dream that you are separated from God, from other people and from your real self. It is your choice to dream and you can dream for however long you desire.

God knows that dream is not reality. Your dream of separation does not alter the reality of union, for, in reality, you are always in union with God and all creation, while dreaming that you are separated from them.

God wills union and we are all in unified state. To separate from God is to die; to defy the will of God is to die. No one can separate from God/union, hence no one can die and, therefore, in reality we all obey the will of God, are unified and always love one another.

On earth, our acts that do not love others if seen from the Holy Spirit’s perspective are really acts of loving. Slavery, racism discrimination are really acts of love, for they enable blacks to give up their identification with separated self, egos and embrace unified spirit self hence regain peace and joy and return to heaven and its bliss.

Do not try to change other people, that is, do not try to heal other people, do not try to save other people, do not try to redeem other people, and do not try to deliver other people.

All that you can do is try to change you, to change your identity from separated self to unify self, from ego to Christ, from body to spirit, from belief in death to acceptance of immortality. The sole function of the atonement worker, Sister Helen Schucman reminds us, is to atone for his own sins.

To sin is to separate from the whole. To atone for ones sins is to give up separation and return to unified state, to God. When one relinquishes ones ego and embraces the truth of unified spirit, one is healed; one is a changed person, one is now living from Christ self, from love. One becomes an example of a changed person, so that those who wish to change, to be healed, can emulate one. One lives in peace and those who want to live in peace can emulate one.

CONCLUSION

One does not have to go about trying to change people, all that one needs to do is change ones self and one becomes an example of a changed human being for the rest of the world to emulate, if they so desire.
One does not have to criticize people, urging them to live as ego ideal selves. The pursuit of ego ideal self, which is the pursuit of fantasy, is really an attempt to replicate the perfect self of God’s unified real self on earth. Alas, God’s real son is spirit and is perfect in spirit, in unified spirit and is always so and cannot be perfect in body, in separation, so one must stop criticizing him and asking him to be ideal, for he cannot be ideal in separation, in body.

The son of God, your real self, is already ideal and perfect in unified spirit, in heaven. All he has to do is let go of his desire for separation, an ego housed in body and he recognizes that he is always in perfect state, while dreaming that he is imperfect in body and ego.

Instead of criticizing and judging people, recognize your union with them and live it via love and forgiveness for all creation. Leave other people to choose when to live out of their unified self, when to love and forgive all hence live in peace and joy.

* Africans, generally, do not pay much attention to their personalities and behaviors. When you examine them, you see lots of psychopathologies, but they do not know that they have these disorders. It is the case of ignorance is bliss! If you attempt to point out their screwed up life styles, they may think that you do not like them. Some may even think that by talking about my father’s issues publicly that I hate him. They could not be further from the truth. I love him more than I love any man on earth. I just want to understand his problem. Now that I have, more or less, understood it, I can stand his presence. He is now my greatest friend, but as a child I sought every opportunity to avoid his presence. Try, my dear reader, to understand your and your family’s behavior patterns, your personalities, and improve on the problematic aspects to them. There are too many warped and stunted Africans running around. Much of the misgovernance of Africa is attributable to many Africans problematic personalities and behaviors.

Ozodi@africainstituteseattle.org

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January 20, 2006

The Achebe Colloquium: In Celebration of Nigerian Excellence

by The Chinua Achebe Foundation (New York, USA) --- Our Elder Statesmen are speaking, and we are listening. In response to their thought provoking insights, we turn now to a younger generation of leaders within Nigeria and the Diaspora, whose life work offer diverse solutions to the worthy prescriptions of our elders for our beloved Nigeria.

The Achebe Colloquium, in collaboration with various Nigerian professional groups, is launching a project that will focus on a younger generation of Nigerians in different works of life whose careers are deemed synonymous with excellence, in order to continue the very consuming conversation of how to move our potentially great country forward.

The project aims to bring to the fore selfless leadership qualities in the younger generation that will help Nigeria transcend her multiple political, social and economic difficulties.

The Colloquium will showcase profiles and round table discussions of exceptional professionals in a myriad of fields. The Colloquium will be published in several media formats, beginning in May, 2006. At the project’s conclusion, they will be archived for posterity. The entire project will be conducted in a manner accessible to the majority of Nigerians and other interested persons in the world.

We invite our brilliant youth to join us as we ponder our collective future together.

Sincerely,

Professor Chinua Achebe
Founder & Chairman, Board of Directors
Chinua Achebe Foundation

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January 19, 2006

Three Stories of Iranian Mysticism

by Paulo Coelho, the Alchemist (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) ---

Nasrudin’s Turban

Nasrudin appeared at court wearing a magnificent turban and asking for money for charity.

- you come here asking for money, but wear such an expensive ornament upon your head. How much was that extraordinary piece? – asked the sovereign.
- Five hundred gold coins – replied the wise Sufi.

The minister whispered: “That is a lie. No turban costs such a fortune.”
Nasrudin insisted:

- I have not come here only to ask for money, I am also here to negotiate. I paid that much money for the turban, for I knew that in the whole world only one king would be capable of buying it for six hundred coins, so that I can give the profit to the poor.
This sultan was flattered and paid the sum Nasrudin ask. On his way out, the wise man said to the minister:

- You may know the value of turbans, but I know how far vanity can lead a man.

Just like marriage

Nasrudin spent the entire autumn working his garden. The flowers had blossomed in the spring – and Nasrudin noticed a few dandelions appearing, which he hadn’t planted.

Nasrudin tore them up. But the pollen had already spread and others began to grow. He tried to find a weed killer which only killed dandelions. A specialist told him any type of poison would end up killing all the other flowers. In despair, he went to ask a gardener for help.

- It is like a marriage – said the gardener. – Along with the good things, a few little inconveniences always appear.
- What can I do? – insisted Nasrudin.
- Nothing. Although they are flowers you did not count on, they are still part of the garden.

Accepting Compassion

- How do we purify the world?- asked a disciple.
Ibn al-Husayn replied:
- There was once a sheik in Damascus called Abu Musa al-Qumasi. Everyone honored him for his great wisdom, but no one knew whether he was a good man.

“One afternoon, a construction fault caused the house where the sheik lived with his wife, to collapse. The desperate neighbors began to dig the ruins; eventually, they managed to locate the sheik’s wife.

"She said: "Don’t worry about me. First save my husband, who was sitting somewhere over there."

"The neighbors removed the rubble from the area she indicated, and found the sheik. He said: "Don’t worry about me. First save my wife, who was lying somewhere over there."

"When someone acts as this couple did, he is purifying the whole world."

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Ozodi Osuji Weekly Lectures on African Countries #3 of 54: Benin

by Ozodi Thomas Osuji (Seatle, Washington) --- 3. BENIN
Formal Name: Republic of Benin.

Terms for Citizens: Béninoise (or Bininese).

Capital: Porto-Novo. Population: 225,000.

Independence Achieved: August 1, 1960, from France.

Major Cities: Cotonou, Porto-Novo.

Geography:

Benin is estimated to be 43,483 square miles. Benin, once called Dahomey, is located in West Africa and is bounded by Nigeria, Togo and Niger. Benin is bisected by Oueme River, which empties into the Gulf of Guinea. The coastal region is swampy and immediately after it is rainforest, giving way to savannah. In the north, the land rises to 200-500 feet. In the far north a low mountain range crosses Benin and its neighbor, Togo. The land is tropical with two seasons, wet and dry. Rainfall is heavy in the coastal regions and tapers off inland.

Society:

The population of Benin is estimated at 6,736, 000.

Ethnic Groups: The major ethnic groups are the Fon, Adja, Aizo, Bariba, Somba, Yoruba and Fulani.

Languages: Each of the ethnic groups speaks its own language. French is the official language.

Religion: Christian south, Muslim North and varieties of indigenous beliefs.

Education: Access to primary education is readily available. Literacy is estimated at 37%.

Economy: Benin is primarily a subsistence agricultural economy. Benin is heavily reliant on trade with Nigeria and when in the 1980s Nigeria closed its borders with Benin to reduce smuggling, Benin practically went bankrupt. The Benin government currently attempts to attract western capital to help develop the country. GDP estimate: $7.3 billion; Per Capita GDP: $1200.

Monetary Unit: CFA Franc BCEAO (XOF).

History and Government:

Benin or as it was called Dahomey was ruled by France. Upon independence from France, Benin inherited French type government structure. However, its democracy is weak and the president has a lot of powers. In the 1970s, President Mathieu Kerekou attempted to turn Benin into a socialist country but failed, and Benin turned towards the West for economic aid. Benin is divided into 12 Departments/counties---Alibori, Atakora, Atlantique, Borgou, Collines, Donga, Kouffo, Littoral, Mono, Oueme, Plateau, Zou.


CONTEMPORARY BENIN POLITICS

Benin was colonized by France in 1872. Prior to that, the area was inhabited by a conglomeration of many groups, the most powerful of which was Dahomey.
The origin of the Kingdom of Dahomey is not well understood, but what is known is that by the sixteenth century it had a powerful army and, unfortunately, used that army to capture slaves from its neighbors and sold them to the Americas.
The coast of what is now called Benin was called the Slave Coast. In 1704, France built a slave Port at Ouidah and in 1752 Portugal built another at Porto Novo. Dahomey was a slave state until France put a stop to that heinous practice when France incorporated it into its orbit of influence.
In 1894, the French named the area the Colony of Dahomey and its dependencies. It granted the territory some sort of autonomy, which it retained until 1904 when the territory became part of French West Africa. France replaced the trading in slaves with trading in palm oil and cotton. Palm oil and cotton remain critical products of Benin today.
Benin was part of the French empire until 1960 when she was given her independence from France on August 1, 1960. As is the case in many African countries that were put together by colonial powers, the various ethnic groups could not get along with each other. It would seem that the country was disintegrating, falling apart. Many governments were formed only to fall. The first military coup took place in 1963 and thereafter many coups and counter coups took place until 1972 when Mathew Kerekou took over.
In 1972, Mathew Kerekou, a major in the army, intervened in a military coup and took over the governing of the country. He changed the name of the country from Dahomey to Benin. In 1975, Mr. Kerekou embraced Marxist-Leninist political and economic ideology and proclaimed Benin a Marxist state.
From there on the economy of Benin went downhill. For one thing, Western powers that hitherto bought Benin’s produce were capitalist and did not kowtow to any third world country’s attempt to separate from it. Benin is an exporter of Palm oil and Cotton and the West was its primary market. The West simply refused to buy Benin’s products and strangulated the economy.
In 1979, Mr. Kerekou resigned from the army and ruled Benin as a civilian president. He began to make some changes to the economy, liberalizing aspects of it. Nevertheless, Benin remains one of the poorest countries in the world with an income per capita of $1200. Benin’s economy relies heavily on the smuggling trade that goes on between it and its neighbor, Nigeria.
In the late 1980s, there was a wind of change blowing through Africa. African countries were increasingly embracing democracy. Mr. Kerekou called for a constitutional conference at which a constitution was written for Benin in 1990. The conference, among other things, abolished Marxism-Leninism as the official state ideology, embraced multi-party system, abolished the prevailing ruling single party structures, released all political prisoners, stipulated respect for human rights and adopted a national flag.
A presidential election was held in 1991. Mr. Kerekou was not elected president and, for the first time in Benin, an African dictator peacefully handed power to a different person.

The new constitution called for an 83 seat National Assembly, for which elections are held every four years.
The constitution called for a President to be elected for five years and stipulated two term limit for the president. The president is empowered to appoint a council of ministers. The constitution set age 70 as the limit at which an individual may compete for the presidency.
The constitution established a constitutional court with the powers of judicial review and a supreme court as the last appellate court in the country.

Benin, like many African countries, is bedeviled by the problem of ethnicity and politicians tend to be voted for by the members from their ethnic groups. (There are about 40 ethnic groups in Benin, the largest being the Fon, 49% of Benin’s population, followed by the Adja, Yoruba, Somba and Bariba).

In April of 1996, Mr. Kerekou returned to power, elected this time, sort of (there were allegations of electoral irregularities). He is both the chief of state and the head of government. His term ends in March of 2006 when another differential presidential election is scheduled.

Benin appears to tolerate the existence of many political parties, some of whom are African Movement for Democracy and Progress or MADEP, Alliance of the Social Democratic Party or PSD, Coalition of Democratic Forces, Democratic Renewal Party or PRD and many others.

The Legislative branch of government is unicameral and witnesses spirited election campaigns by the various political parties for its control. The result of the March 2003 election gave parties in alliance with the president 52 members in the National Assembly and opposition parties’ 31 members, meaning that the president tends to have the support of the legislative branch of government behind his policies.

To the president’s credit, he has not suppressed opposition movements. Indeed, Benin seems to have a thieving freedom of Press and interest group politics activities. There are several independent news papers, radio stations and a National Television outfit. On the whole, there seems freedom of press and basic human rights.
What remains to be seen is how the 2006 presidential election would be conducted, whether the now reclusive, claiming Born Again Christian, Mathew Kerekou, would hand over government to a freely elected successor, retire and not meddle in subsequent Benin politics. If that happens, Benin would have made successful transition from a third world dictatorship to a thriving democracy. So far, the history and politics of post independence Benin is largely the documentation of the activities of one man, Matthew Kerekou.

AIS: African Countries, Benin
Ozodi Osuji
Ozodi@africainstituteseattle.org

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January 18, 2006

Adieu Nigeria!

by Peter C. Eze --- In 1998, the Nigerian military peopled by intellectually delinquent, morally deficient, diplomatically decadent, ethically bankrupt, religious bigots and economic parasites in collaboration with their political sycophants released Olusegun Obasanjo from Yola prison and handed the post of Nigerian president to him on the platter of gold.

Little did they know that they were building marbles to entomb Nigeria's political horizon. Little did they know that by that deed, they were saying "Adieu" to Nigeria. Soon after the swearing ceremony on May 29, 1999, a journey that would terminate the nation's peaceful co-existence had been embarked upon. After the national disasters called Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha, Nigerians yawned for a leader that would help them heal the religious, economic, political, social, security and psychological wounds inflicted on them by these barbarians. They yawned for a patriotic Nigerian who has interest of Nigeria and Nigerians at heart. They yawned for a God fearing Nigerian that will serve Nigerians' interest. They yawned for a leader not a dealer. They yawned for a true Nigerian. On February 27, 1999, an opportunity came to the Nigeria's political space and Nigerians went to the poll to elect a president.

What did they get? A president? Not at all. A patriot? Not at all. A God fearing man? No sir.

A bridge builder? Far from that. What then did they get?

They got a despot, a tyrant, ex-convict, a heartless man, a tribal zealot, an enemy of peace, a man who replaced normalcy with abnormal behavior. His name is Olusegun Obasanjo.

From May 29, 1999, Nigeria's peaceful co-existence was replaced with divisiveness. The face of the nation's political horizon became bruised with blood all over. The temperature of Nigeria's political process rose to more than 1000 degree centigrade. A simple process of political democracy jolted to a full scale lethal war. National police became terrorists. Election become terrorism against Nigerian people. Politicians and governors became arms importers. State government houses became armories. In Nigeria, there is no right to bear arms, but right to arm the 'bears'. Election was replaced with selection.

Criminals became policy makers and administrators, while God fearing Nigerians turned to beggars and paupers. Police against the citizens. Army against the citizens. Suppression took over freedom of speech. Human rights became animal rights. Fear and anxiety became a norm in Nigeria.

Unemployment, poverty, disease and lawlessness took over Nigeria's space. Corruption became the biggest industry that employed Obasanjo, his wives, children, Nigerian police, the army and his political sycophants. Armed robbery become police and military industry Ltd. Police training colleges and military training institutions train more bank robbers, assassins and bus hijackers more than professional security personnel. Nigeria's legislatives houses became bureau de change. Nigeria's tertiary institutions become training hubs for prostitutions, cultism, lesbianism, armed robbers, drug addicts and drug peddlers, 419ners, examination cheaters, fraud and all other social evils.

Obasanjo spends his presidential time and national resources empowering criminals to create violence and subvert states for political gains. A whole state could be subverted simply because he does not like the face of its elected state governor, as in Anambra State with an economic and criminal pervert, Chris Uba as the commander, Oyo state with religious and criminal pervert, Alhaji adedibu as the Commander, and Plateau State with corruption laden criminal, Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu as chief of staff. It is violence every where in Nigeria with Obasanjo as the instigator and sponsor. It is an undeniable facts that the Nigerian governors are corrupt beyond any one’s imagination. It is equally truism that their impeachments without due process is criminal as the corruption itself. Simple local government election is subject to police terrorism. Every election must be rigged in Nigeria. Election to appoint institution heads is subject to rigging. Governors turned directors of thugs and real estate brokers in the United States and Great Britain and other western countries. Media houses and independent TV stations are hounded every day for telling the truth to the nation. Hospitals in Nigeria are nothing but functional morgues. Roads are death traps. Electricity is a luxury only for Nigerian execu-thieves. Taps in the cities run perhaps 30 minutes a day every once in a while. Politics is a full scale lethal war. Assassinations are now state political campaign. Obasanjo has elevated political positions to personal political property whose challenger must be assassinated by all means. Obasanjo determines who lives and who dies in Nigeria.

EFCC was established to help Nigerians fight the monster called corruption and economic crimes, but Obasanjo has personalized it to fight and intimidate whoever he considers critic and potential encroacher into his political industry. He has personalized the security apparatus for political witch hunt.

If he is not hounding and intimidating you with Nuhu Ribadu, he is violating your civil liberty with Kayode Are. If he cannot win you over his constitutional violation, he is sending his police and Ahmadu Ali to intimidate and destabilize you.

Nigeria's democracy has become one man’s industry with Obasanjo as the only managing director, who has created Bill Gate of Nigeria in the names of Mike Adenuga and Alhaji Dangote. PDP that used to be known as People Democratic Party is now 'PDP'-Power to Divide People. Judgments of the nation's courts are nothing more than individual opinions. Obasanjo’s government is well above court order, police disregard court order, army cannot obey court order, ministers cannot not obey court order, INEC disregards court order. He has made a huge joke of the nation’s judiciary. Police as law enforcement agents are nothing but law breaking and terrorists protection agents and agents of political victimization. Under Obasanjo, perverts and hoodlums are empowered to destroy state properties and kill innocent citizens and their governors in the full watch of the police force. Under Obasnjo a common criminal would have hundreds of police guards for personal protection, while the citizens are left defenseless against men of the underworld and assassins. Under Obasanjo the only flourishing corporation in Nigeria is politics and its product is corruption. Obasanjo exports oil and import corruption, violence and divisiveness. Under Obasanjo, Nigerian police regimented 20 naira extortion from the motorists and public and it became official. Obasanjo concept of policing is intimidation, police terrorism and brutality against Nigerian citizens. Obasanjo has made it impossible for normal election to hold in Nigeria any more since he has officially endorsed rigging, terrorism and assassination. Official terrorism, brutality, intimidation, humiliation, selective probe, lawlessness, fear, starvation, mass sack, fraud and corruption are now elevated to state craft and become the only democratic dividend he has given to Nigerians .

Ordinary political misunderstanding is elevated to state sponsored terrorism. Divergent political ideology is not acceptable to Obasanjo and elicit political and economic retribution and even assassination.

Nigeria’s leadership stinks. Obasanjo's concept of political development, is tribe against tribe, state against state, city against city, Moslem against Christian, wife against husband, father against son, mother against daughter, political party against political party, police against citizens, army against police, above all Obasanjo against Nigerians.

This man has done collateral damage to Nigeria. Whether he hands over in 2007, or not, Nigeria will never be the same again. Politics will never be plaid in Nigeria peacefully. Election will never hold in Nigerian soil devoid of fatality. In advance democracy, they say politics is local, but under Obasanjo politics is personal. Nigerians pray. Pray that there will be a revolution that will sweep away Obasanjo, his sycophants and their diabolism over Nigeria and Nigerians. Pray that the year 2006 will filter away, the evils of that man and bring about changes that will reverse the misfortune of Nigeria. Please God Almighty save Nigeria and Nigerians from that murderous hypocrite and corruption czar. May You Almighty forbids his third term. Nigerians are sick of his military, police, political, economic, social, religious and psychological torture.

By Chidi P Eze
email: pceze@academicplanet.com

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January 16, 2006

Don't Give Corruption a Good Name: Emulate the People of Anambra

by Farouk Martins, Omo Aresa --- This fight against corruption is now taking a new turn that must be guided against before we throw out the baby with the bath water. The people of Anambra have demonstrated to us that they can tell the difference between goats and sheep. Most Nigerians are very decent people even though we are sometimes misled by the unscrupulous leaders.

There are differences between the fight against corruption going on in Anambra, Oyo, Bayelsa and Plateau States. If the writing on the wall is right, we expect more State Governors to fall by the way side this year. In the process, the Federal Government may truncate democracy by shooting itself in the foot. Whatever PDP does, the buck stops with Obasanjo. He has to give account to Nigerians why his ruling house is not in order.

Corruption is an endemic disease in our community and most Nigerians are looking for solutions. So when the Government asks us to join the fight against corruption, we breath a sigh of relief hoping salvation is gradually creeping up. The good people of Anambra begin to smell something rotting when Chris Uba wanted Ngige out because the Governor would not mortgage Anambra to him. Since it is now known that the election was a ruse, it became imperative to choose the less of two evils. If Ngige was corrupt and stole local government money, the sympathy he got would not be there because it would have been easy to nail him.

It has now come round to Oyo and Ladoja. It could not have been that difficult to impeach Ladoja according to laid down rules of the game. It is unfair to take 18 members out of 32 to impeach an alleged rogue when the game called for two third. Most Nigerians had reservations but support the process when Alamco was removed because he stole the treasury blind as confirmed by the British money laundering law. So was Dariye, the Governor of Plateau State going by the same law. However, the process in our Country is intentionally crude and daring, favoring those who are uncultured.

This is why it baffles me why the Federal might, find it difficult to prove Ladoja’s guilt instead of using Kangaroo court or dubious rules to remove him. The fact that Ladoja denied the legislators their “five life” in the amount of half a million naira each until they reinstated their five suspended colleagues did not make it right. His treatment turns the stomach of decent Nigerians and bolsters the argument of disrespect for the Judiciary. Unfortunately those against the removal of Alamco or Dariye will now point to the crude manipulation of rules without due process in Ibadan. I find it hard to believe that the Government is in such a hurry and within a day or two to humiliate the Judicial system, not Ladoja. The Governor was given less than two hours to submit his response.

People will of course point to a similar pattern seen in Bayelsa and express fear of its repetition. It was well planned with the help of the police and a public holiday declared by whom? If the Chief of Police knew nothing about it as they claimed in Anambra, he should be fired. And who does the Chief report to?

Yoruba say a pe e lole, o ngbe omo eran jo. (Demonstrating evidence of alleged theft). This Government has decided to obey only the court orders they wanted and ignore others. I do not understand how the hatchet disfiguring of the rule of law in Ibadan has supported the process. It is true that impeachment process is a political matter not a legal one but we are still guided by the same rule of law.

There is no form of government we have not practiced in Nigeria. We need to admit that the problem is not in the form of government but in ourselves. Those who practice these forms of governments are not better than us. This notion of our young democracy is patronizing to say the least. Incidentally, the old Oyo Empire practiced cabinet form of government while the parishioners of our borrowed democracy were still in their political infancy. We must accept that as clever and smart as Nigerians are, we also apply our intelligence to beating any system. So no amount of amendment will cure our appetite for mischief in pursuit of greed and power.

My fear is that this Government may give the fight against corruption a bad name. Instead of people praising this Government in its fight against corruption, it is giving ammunition to those who claim the fight is selective. Even though Nuhu Ribadu is dedicated in this fight, there are those who are trying to derail him from within. He has to distance himself to retain credibility. His office has claimed that, so far they have nothing to do with Ladoja. Ribadu is in the mist of big time thugs and he must dissociate himself from their influence. Do not soil our young patriotic Nigerians.

The people of Anambra, like other Nigerians stood with the Government to fight corruption, only to be disappointed when the same government could not distinguish between the hero and the villain. Just to prove them right, Chris Uba has just been rehabilitated by the PDP. Who were the crooks who rehabilitated Uba when he should be in jail? We have to learn from the people of Anambra.

This leads to the god fathers who are so desperate for influence and money that they are ready to run down the State unless they get their pound of flesh. They turn State Governors into errand boy boy. Chris Uba and Adedibu in spite of the wide age difference between them graduated from the University of PDP. That party has been called all kinds of names including “nest of killers”. Those who have benevolent stake in that party need to rescue it from destroying itself and our dear Country.

If Ladoja has any sense, he better starts singing now about what he stole if he did, how he became Governor and how the election was manipulated, if indeed it was. Learn from Ngige. When he told us how much Chris Uba wanted from him, Anambra people faced their enemy head on and not even Obasanjo could do anything about it. But never count him out though. There was no way the Government of Anambra could have paid Uba and still function. The only reason Ngige is still the Governor today, I do not about tomorrow, is the support the people of Anambra gave him in spite of Federal might.

Those who sleep with elephants or ride on the back of a lion, end up as victims. Akala, your time will come if you can not remember the naked fighters who stripped you at the convection.

Ibadan people rightly feel that they never had the opportunity to finish their term in office. This time they have to thank Adedibu, Arisekola’s partner that wanted to know if receipt was exchanged when it was time to vomit their loot from Abacha. This has nothing to do with Ibadan or Ogbomosho. Do not be used against one another. It has to do with god fathers’ greed and influence. Man pass man, position pass power.

Unfortunately, we have turned the law of our courts into political game. We have respectable judges ignoring order of their superior courts. There is no judicial discipline among out honorable men. Granted that there may be conflicting judgment sometimes, the principle of stare decisis among the courts is important and that is why we have higher court to resolve differences. Shopping for judges, like candies, to give desirable order demean the credibility of our judiciary.

The way we are going by disobeying our court of law, politicians bragging about fighting naked and the President claiming ignorance, Nigeria must not crash. Obasanjo is arming those who do not wish him well. He has a big task but I think at his age and stage in life the best he can do is to be honest with himself and Nigerians. The role of a god father is now beneath him at this point in his life or in 2007.

Farouk Martins, Omo Aresa

Faroukomartins@netscape.net

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January 15, 2006

Ozodi Osuji Weekly Psychological Series 2006, #3 of 52: Forgiveness as the True Meaning of Salvation, Peace, and Happiness

by Ozodi Thomas Osuji (Seatle, Washington) --- If you were brought up a Christian, as I was, you probably have had a lot of talk about salvation. I was raised a Catholic and was told that we are born in sin, live in sin and need to be saved. We are told that a Jewish rabbi that lived in Palestine two thousand years ago is our savior and that if we believe in him that we would be saved. We are told that God has only one son and that this man, Jesus Christ, is that one Son of God and that whoever believes in him shall be saved.

These teachings by traditional Christianity seem cute and quaint. Few intelligent fourteen-year old youngsters find them believable. Generally, adolescents dismiss these teachings as fairy tales. Some leave the Church and others find ways to reconcile themselves to what seems to them mythologies. I left Catholic Christianity at fourteen and thought whoever believes in the myths described in the Bible ought to have his head examined by psychiatrists and treated for psychosis.
However, this does not mean that there is no saliency to the teachings attributed to the Jewish carpenter called Emmanuel Ben Joseph, whom the Greeks called Jesus Christ. I believe that if properly understood it is correct to say that we all live in sin and need salvation from sin. Specifically, I believe that I live in sin and need salvation from my sins. How so?
I tend to bear grudges and grievances against those I see as having done me wrong. I do not easily forgive any one for the wrong they did to me. I have not forgiven white folks for enslaving black folks. I tend to study history, the past, and dredge past injustices done to those I identify with, blacks, and seek vengeance. If you push me, I will tell you that I want white folks to be punished for enslaving and discriminating against black folks. I want them to burn in hell fire for degrading Africans. Closer to home, I have not forgiven extended family members who did not financially help me when I was in college. I was so angry with them for leaving only my poor parents to support me when they could have helped, that I never wrote any of them and did not care, one way or another, when I heard that some of them died. As far as I was concerned, they were evil and I swore them off and wanted nothing to do with them. I distanced myself from these folks to the point of not even wanting to see them physically. When I completed graduated education and felt that white controlled universities discriminated against me, I swore to have nothing to do with them. In fact, I refused to step into a campus that I felt discriminated against me.
You get my point. I am capable of great anger and hatred; I tend to bear grudges and grievances and seek vengeance and punishment for those I see as having wronged me.
As long as I bear grievances and seek vengeance for my presumed enemies, I tend to be angry, fearful, tense, and unhappy. In fact, as long as I bear grievances and seek punishment for my supposed detractors nothing tends to work out well for me.
Bearing grievances and seeking punishment for others, I believe, is what living in sin means. The unforgiving person lives in metaphoric hell: in pain and tension.
Forgiveness for the wrong others did to one, on the other hand, tends to give the forgiving person the gift of peace and joy. If you look those who wronged you in the eyes and truly forgive them, you benefit from that action: you feel freed from anger, fear, hatred and tension; you feel like a heavy weight has been lifted from your head.
To forgive and love people is metaphorically to live in heaven, while still here on planet earth.
To forgive is to see an apparent injustice which ones ego sees as real and overlook it. Forgiveness is an act of choice. It is looking at what has occurred in the empirical universe and overlooking it as if it has not happened. It is a choice not to look at the past as a guide for the present.
To truly forgive is to overlook the world and what is done in it, good or bad, and love the people in the world. To forgive is to see a man who has enslaved blacks, a racist, a murderer, a rapist, and any one who, to ones thinking, has done something egregiously wrong and overlook what they did and still love them.
To love other people is to join with them and become one with them. To forgive, that is, to love and join people, gives one a sense of oneness with people.
In the state of oneness one feels peaceful and happy. In separation from other people (we separate from those we do not genuinely forgive) one feels unconnected, tense, anxious and unhappy.
I believe, in fact, I know, that to forgive those who have done one wrong, to forgive the world, all of it, is to join the world in love. Forgiveness gives one a sense of belonging to those one has forgiven and in that sense of oneness one feels peace and joy. Forgiveness, therefore, gives one the gift of peace and joy.

I believe that forgiveness and its gifts of peace and joy is what salvation is. To be saved is to forgive all people their hurtful activities on this earth. To forgive is to truly love all people, and to love all people is to join with them, to become one with them hence to be peaceful and happy.
The forgiving person is a saved person (and he lives in peace and joy and material abundance).
The unforgiving person is not a saved person; he lives in anger, fear, hatred and tension, all of which are hellish. The unforgiving person is in hell, a hell of his own making.

We tend to think that there are certain sins that are unforgivable. I, for example, believed that slavery and racial discrimination are unforgivable. My whole life was dedicated to a time when black folks would seek vengeance for the wrong done to them by white folks. I wanted blacks to acquire nuclear weapons and reduce whites to slavery, so that they experience the pain they inflicted on black folks.
What I am saying is that it is difficult to truly forgive those who wronged one. However, forgiveness is possible if one reinterprets the wrong done to one. There are essentially two modes of interpreting the events of this world, the ego’s mode and the mode of love, aka the Holy Spirit. The ego is self centered and urges one to punish those who hurt ones interests; the Holy Spirit, aka love, urges one to forgive them.
According to the Holy Spirit’s (where I employ the word Holy Spirit, you can replace it with love, for both terms stand for union, which is what God is) mode of thinking, those who wronged one were merely acting out ones script. As it were, one wrote a play, a script and placed people into it and had them act out its parts. Those who did one good or bad were mere volunteers acting out roles that ones play, drama, called for people to act for one. One, therefore, ought to be grateful to them for acting out the roles they acted in ones play.
In effect, one asked those who did right or wrong to one to do so and they merely obliged ones request.
Those who did not help one financially when one was young did so because one asked them not to help one. One wanted to go it alone and suffer and feel like one is responsible for ones education. Those who discriminated against one did so because one asked them to do so. One did not want to work for them. One wanted to be independent so as to be free to do ones own thing. To operate within the box is to be a conformist, which, more or less, is to live a stunted and warped life.
If one is fired from ones job, one asked the person who did so to do so, so that one might be out of the work place and go find out what one likes doing and have the courage to do it. Simply stated, one asked all those who did what the world calls good or bad to one.
One asked people to do these things to one with certain objectives in mind. The first objective is ego. Here, one feels wronged, feels like a victim and feels angry with those who did one wrong. (As a young man in my twenties, I was furious at white folks for discriminating against blacks and wanted them destroyed.)
This initial response to perceived injustice is later reinterpreted with a more adult response. One gradually realized that one asked the people to do what they did to one, so that one would learn ones true identity as not a separated self, not an ego housed in body.
We came to this world identifying as separated self, the ego, but later want to learn that our true identity is unified spirit, a self that is outside matter, space and time and cannot be hurt by what hurts ones body.
Ones body is a dream figure, not ones real self. The whole point to other persons attack is for one to learn that one is not a body that can be hurt, that one is spirit and that nobody can hurt spirit.
This is the lesson of Jesus. He was attacked by people and was physically hurt; he forgave those who hurt and eventually destroyed his body. He did not feel angry with them. He forgave them, that is, he overlooked what they did to him. In overlooking what they did to his body and ego, he remembered his real self, unified spirit, Christ self. He identified with Christ, unified self and detached from ego and its body, so that what was done to his body did not concern him. Of course, to the extent that he identified with body and thought himself his body, he felt pain when his body was attacked, but when he recognized that he is not body and did not defend his body when it was attacked, he no longer felt pain. He overcame the ego and its chosen home, the human body and awakened to the awareness of unified spirit world.
Jesus wrote a script in which he had some of his friends seems to betray him and others crucify him. They did what they did for him to seem to die and from death resurrect. In resurrecting from death, he proved to himself and to the world that death is not final, that our tendency to fear death is misguided. He wanted to teach us that there is life after death, hence teach us to stop fearing death.
We tend to be unforgiving and punitive primarily because we feel that this world is all there is to human existence. But if we accepted that there is a world other than our empirical world, we would be forgiving and less punitive. In fact, if we knew that there is life after death, we would be totally forgiving of those who wronged us.
Jesus taught us that there is life after death hence that we must forgive those who made a mistake in wronging us. His lesson is that we must totally forgive whoever seemed to have wronged us. Jesus taught us total love for all people.
To be a Christian is be totally forgiving and loving. If you were totally forgiving, hence loving, you would live in peace and happiness, whereas if you were unforgiving you would live in pain and tension, in hell. To forgive, love, is therefore to live in heaven, for heaven is peace and happiness; and to not forgive is to live in hell.

Considering the blessing of forgiveness, peace and joy, to forgive other people is thus to bless ones self; to give yourself peace and joy, to put yourself in heaven.
Considering the consequences of not forgiving other people, lack of somatic and psychological peace and happiness, to bear grievances and not forgive other people is to give ones self pain and conflict, to put ones self in hell.
I was an unforgiving man. I bore grudges and grievances. I wanted punishment for those who wronged me. All you had to do is not acknowledge my presence, ignore me, and I felt humiliated by you and wanted to punish you.
(Objectively, no one can ignore one, no one can humiliate one, no one can belittle one, no one can disgrace one, and no one can say anything to detract from ones worth, for ones worth is not given to one by other people. The individual’s worth was given to him by God. It is not up to other people to give or withdraw worth and dignity from the individual. Of course, if one thinks that other people can detract from ones value, they can do so. They will seem to do so, for one has given them the power to do so, and one would feel degraded by them. But if one knows that no other human being can degrade one, just as one cannot degrade another human being, then no one can degrade one. People do to one as one wants done to one.)
Do you want to be saved? Do you want to live in peace, joy and happiness? Do you want to live in material abundance? If your answer to all these questions is affirmative, then you must do what they require; you must forgive all people, not a little bit, you must forgive them all the time. You must have one hundred percent love for all people; you must forgive the wrongs that you believe that people have done to you, all of it.
You cannot have a bit of unforgiveness in your life if you want to be peaceful, happy and live life more abundantly. If there is any human being you have not forgiven, you have kept him or her in hell and you are there with him.
The person you have not forgiven is in hell and you are in hell with him. If you do not forgive a person who wronged you, he fears your vengeance and is; therefore, always defensive, trying to protect himself from your anticipated vengeance, attack on him. A defensive person is an anxious and unhappy person and, therefore, is in hell. You placed him in hell by not forgiving him. Forgiveness makes him less defensive; forgiveness makes the forgiven person relaxed and happy, hence in metaphoric heaven. To forgive people is to give the forgiven the gifts of peace and joy, which is to give them heaven.
What you give to others you give to you. If you forgive others, you forgive you; if you love other people, you love you. If you hate other people, you hate you. Giving is receiving; what you give to the world is what the world gives back to you.

Do I want peace, happiness and abundance in my life? If the answer is affirmative, then I must forgive all those who I believed wronged me. I must forgive all of them. I must forgive my relatives who did not support me financially; I must forgive whites for enslaving blacks, I must forgive Africans for selling blacks. (I hated my ancestors, the Osuji-Njokus for selling their own people into slavery.) I must forgive the world the evil I see it do.
Each act of evil is perpetrated for a purpose; the purpose is for those it is done to, to forgive and love its perpetrators. The abused asked the abuser to abuse him. The enslaved asked the slaver to enslave him. Why? So as to feel angry and abandoned by God, and to learn forgiveness and love and live in heaven.
The person who undertakes to abuse other people learns his own lessons; he, too, is in hell…look at white Americans, who is living in more hell than them?
I must forgive all people. I must forgive my parents whom I perceived as caring more for my brothers than for me.
(I used to think that my mother, Teresa, loved my senior brother, Eugene, more than she loved me. When Eugene went off to boarding school, Hussey College, Warri, mother cried for weeks. When I went off to boarding school, Anglican Grammar School, Port Harcourt, it seemed to me that mother did not miss me for a second. I certainly did not receive the type of pocket money that “Boy” my senior brother’s family name, received. The same mother I thought did not like me sold all her belongings to send me to America. She did not even want me to work in Nigeria and sent me off a few months from taking my secondary school exams. At any rate, to the extent that attention was not lavished on me, I believe that folks did so in compliance with my request for them to leave me alone. I wanted to feel not loved hence feel angry and subsequently learn love via forgiveness. There can be no island of un-forgiveness in my life if I want to be peaceful and happy.)

Forgiveness does not mean condoning evil. The best-lived life is a life of love and giving. If you, therefore, see a person abusing another person, you must speak out against it. You must tell the abuser and the abused that their dance is foolish, you must tell them that the abuser is in hell and the abused is in hell with him; both can live in heaven only when they love and work for the welfare of each other.
The abused and abuser choose their dance, but they chose it out of foolishness (ego dance of victim and victimizer), they chose it to learn from it. But there are better ways to live. You tell them what they want to learn, love and forgiveness and ask them to practice it right now and stop inflicting unnecessary pain on each other.

Consider Christians and Moslems. They fought during the crusades and that war is resumed with the Arab terrorist attack on New York on September 11, 2001. Actually, the war between Christians and Moslems never ceased, it was fought in other forms and has now resumed in overt forms.
Question: are Westerners Christians? If Christians are those who love and forgive those who wronged them, as Jesus Christ made crystal clear in his teachings….see what he told the man going to worship God and remembered that a neighbor had done him wrong; he told him to first go home and forgive the neighbor before he prayed to God, see the implication of the adulterous woman: let him who has not sinned judge her a sinner and since we are all sinners we have no right to judge her a sinner or stone her; see the “Our Lord’s prayer…God, forgive us our sins for we have first forgiven those who sinned against us”…and Jesus walked his talk by forgiving those who destroyed his body: “father forgive them for they know not what they are doing”…simply stated, Jesus taught the gospel of forgiveness of sins as path to salvation…can any one describe Americans as forgiving people, hence as Christians? They are not Christians; in fact, they do not even know what Christianity is. How can those who enslaved blacks be called Christians? At best you call them criminals.
Are Arabs Moslems? Didn’t Arabs, too, enslave Africans? Those who enslaved their fellow human beings obviously cannot be practicing love. God is love and only loving persons are exhibiting the characteristic of their father, God.
There are no real Christians in the West and no real Moslems in the Middle East. What we have here are two sociopathic people attacking and counter attacking one another. What we are witnessing are two sets of aggressive egotists fighting one another for the control of the world. Neither is right.

So what to do? Teach both sides and all humanity the true meaning of Christianity: love and forgiveness. This teaching is best done through individual example, not just by talking about it. Jesus taught his gospel of love and forgiveness by loving and forgiving people. The followers of Jesus must, therefore, teach by example, by totally loving and forgiving those who wronged them.
With regard to political policy, Americans, obviously, need to stay in the Moslem world and teach them democratic principles. Arabs need to learn democracy. America and the West will be in the Arab world for a long, long time performing that historic duty. While helping to establish democratic institutions, Americans must forgive and love Arabs, as Arabs must forgive and love Americans, for their mutual hurtful pasts.
At the individual level, each American and each Arab must learn forgiveness and love as a means of attaining salvation, that is, as a means of attaining peace and happiness.

THE MEANING OF BEING BORN AGAIN, REDEMEED, SAVED, DELIVERED, RESURRECTED FROM DEATH, THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST TO THE WORLD ETC

Traditional Christianity is chockfull of metaphors like virgin birth, immaculate conception, being born again, redeemed, delivered, saved, healed, resurrected from death, the second coming of Christ and the last judgment. If you were raised a Christian, you probably heard these metaphors and if you are like me, as an oppositional defiant teenager, you probably thought them a whole load of nonsense and threw them to the garbage dump and went on to study what seemed to you realistic adaptation to the exigencies of this world, science and technology. But in retrospection, those terms actually stand for psychological truths that are empirically observable in people’s lives. Let me; therefore, try to explain their true meaning.
To make the ensuing explanation understandable, let me address some background noise. We, human beings, tend to believe that we are born in sin and live in sin. I think that this belief originated in how we came to be in this world.

A MYTHOLOGY

Here is a story of creation for you to ponder. It is not the truth but it approximates the truth.
Originally, all of us were unified as one spirit self. In that one unified self, we are infinite in numbers but are united, we are all the same and are equal; we are eternal and all knowing.
Somehow, we desired the opposite of our true self, our unified self. We desired to be separated from each other. Separation offered us an opportunity to seem to create ourselves, as opposed to the fact that the whole created the part and if the whole is called God, and the part is called Son of God, God created the Son of God.
The Son of God, the part, cannot create himself or create his brothers and their father; the part cannot create the whole for the whole produced the part; the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. God created his children and though the father and his children are the same, the father is greater than the children.

The part wanted to create itself, create other parts and create the whole. The Son of God wanted to create himself, create his brothers and create their father. In effect, the son wanted to kill his father and become the father, become the author of reality.
In reality, the part cannot displace the whole; the Son of God cannot create his father and create himself and his brothers. But he still wished to do so. Unable to do so in reality, he forgot his truth and dreamed a different truth. We sleep and dream that the truth is not the truth; we replace the truth with our desired truth. The truth is union; we replaced it with separation.
The world is our dream of special ness and separation; the world is a place where what is eternally unified is seen as divided and separated from each other.
On earth, each of us invents a separated special self-concept for himself and for other people and use those to substitute for the unified self-God created us as. On earth, the dream of real self-forgetfulness, we assume ego separated personalities and defend them to make them seem real in our awareness.
Defense makes what is defended seem real even if it is not real. The separated self-housed in body and defended seem real but it is not real, it is a dream self.
The act of separation, in pursuit of special self, the act of splitting oneness into fragments and identifying with fragments, amounts to attack on unified reality. In truth, we cannot divide unified reality.
God’s will is union and we cannot really disobey his will, for to do so is to die and for God to die.
For the part to exist, the whole must exist, for God to exist, his son must exist, and for the Son of God to exist his father must exist.
God and his son desire to exist and do exist; they can only exist under one condition, union, so they are still unified.
The children of God merely dream that they are separated from their father and from each other, but in truth they are always unified.

THE ORIGIN OF A SENSE OF SIN

The dream of special ness (self creation) and separation makes people feel like they did something wrong. As long as people wish to be separated from their real self, they feel like they live in sin.
Separation from God, the unified self, is what Christians mean by the concept of Original sin. Since we came to this world through separation, we, as it were, committed an original sin. To be on earth is to have committed an original sin and to live in sin.

SINLESSNESS

But, in fact, we did not separate from God, our real self; we merely pretend that we are separated from the whole; the whole, even in physics is always unified. In as much as we have not separated from God and all of us, we are still as God created us, unified. To be unified is to be innocent, sinless and guiltless. The children of God are always as their father created them, innocent (lamb) and guiltless. To the extent that we see them as guilty, we made a mistake and must correct our misperception of the children of innocence.
Though still innocent and sinless, though still in union, if we believe that we are separated from each other and from God we feel sinful. Thus, those on earth, the realm of separation (space, time and matter) feel sinful. To be a human being, which is to believe in separation, is to be sinful, not in reality but in dreams.
To pursue self-interests at the expense of other people’s interests is to feel sinful. To seek social interests, to serve common good, is to feel sinless. To serve the whole is to feel sinless.
(But whether one knows it or not, whatever one does, good or bad, seen correctly, serves the interests of the whole, hence one is always serving social interests and, as such, is always sinless, innocent and guiltless. Consider the Second World War. Hitler killed people and destroyed Europe; in the process of committing evil, he weakened almighty Europe; because of his weakening of Europe, Third World countries were able to emancipate themselves from European control. Thus, Hitler’s bad produced well for Africans and Asians; he was, therefore, in spirit as sinless as any other human being.)

In the temporal universe, each of us feels separated from the whole, God, and from other parts, other people, and from his spirit self; he, therefore, feels sinful.
In pursuit of his separated interests, each of us does hurtful things to other people and that reinforces his sense of guilt. To be on earth is to feel sinful and guilty.
Feeling guilty and sinful, each of us needs to be redeemed, delivered and saved from our sin. How is this done?

A person is redeemed from sin by recognizing that he has not done what produced a sense of sin. A sense of separation produced a sense of sin. But in truth one cannot separate from union, for reality, the universe, even at the material level, is always unified. Separation is an illusion, union is the eternal truth. Thus, one has not separated from union. One is always unified, while dreaming that one is separated. Since one is always unified, therefore, one is always sinless, innocent and guiltless.
God has only one Son, one Son that is simultaneously infinite in numbers; all God’s sons are the same to him; where one son of God ends and another begins is no where and where the Son of God ends and God begins is no where; there is no space and gap between God and his children; God is in his children, as they are in him and in each other.
The Son of God is always as God created him, unified with his father and brothers, he has not separated from God and his brothers and sisters and is therefore always innocent.
Forgive the belief in separation; overlook the things done in the world of separation and you experience the world of union. Forgiveness is the path to the awareness of union.
Forgiveness is not an ego moral statement; it simply means recognizing that what is done on earth is done in a dream and is not real; hence despite what we do here, we have not done them and are still as God created us, hence we are still unified, innocent, sinless and guiltless. No matter what you have done on earth, no matter what other people have done earth, we are still innocent. Even those who do what some of us consider horrible, such as homosexuals, pedophiles, rapists, murderers, racists, enslavers, criminals etc are still innocent, for they have not done those things. They did them only in dreams, not in reality; they remain as our God created them holy, unified with all, hence innocent, guiltless and sinless.
To be saved, healed, redeemed and delivered from our sins is to recognize that despite what one and other people do on earth that one has not done those things and is not separated from ones real self, is not separated from other people, is not separated from God and is always unified with all people. This awareness of eternal union is what is meant by salvation, redemption and deliverance from sin/separation.

FIRST CREATION, CHRIST

God extended his one self to each of us. God gave all of himself to each of us and remains himself and is in us. This is the first creation. God created us unified with him. The creation of each of us is the first birth of Christ. Christ is the Son of God who is unified with his creator and his brothers.

CHRIST DIED

Christ died means that the Son of God forgot union and believes himself separated from God and his brothers. In separated state, in ego, self-concept, self image, human personality, one is metaphorically dead. To be in the dream of specialness and separation, to be on earth is to be metaphorically dead.

RESURRECTION

When one recognizes that one is forever unified with God and all people, and lives as such, one has resurrected from death. Ego is death; Christ is resurrection; separation is death, union is rebirth.
Jesus was the man who first voluntarily died to his ego self conception and resurrected to the awareness of his Christ self. He recognized that he is not a separated self but a unified self. While seeing himself as separated, he knew that separation is impossible and that he is always unified with God and creation.

BEING BORN AGAIN

The act of accepting that one is always unified with God and all creation is what is meant by the term being born again. One was born first as unified spirit and one rejected it and sees ones self as separated ego self housed in body, now one is born-again as unified, that is, accepts unified self as ones true identity. One has resurrected from ego death and now lives as Christ unified self.

THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST TO THE WORLD

The second coming of Christ to the world is the day one relinquished identification with the ego and embraced the Christ as ones true identity.
The seconding of Christ is not some fanciful thing like Jesus coming from the sky to rescue his followers (see Christian concept of tribulation and eruption). It simply means that one has changed ones identity, from separated, ego, to unified Christ. One, of course, still sees ones self as separated but now knows that separation is an illusion.

THE LAST JUDGMENT

The act of judging separation as false and union as real is what is meant by the last judgment. The individual performs the last judgment on the ego and its world, and decides that the ego is false and Christ is real and lives accordingly, lovingly and forgivingly.
The last judgment is not going to happen in a future time for all people, it happens when each individual changes his mind/thinking and rejects the ego self (which is what Christians call Satan, and his ways, the world), and accepts Christ and his ways, union. When we accept union and its requirement, that we love and forgive all people, we now obey the will of God, for the will of God is that we love him and love each other.

LIVING IN THE GRACE OF GOD

When we obey the will of God, that is, love and forgive each other, we live in the grace of God. In grace, this world becomes a comfortable place to live in. Ones life is now like one is being carried along by cool breezes on a cool summer evening. One lives a life of material abundance and whatever one wants that is in accord with the will of God, love and forgiveness, is given to one. Doors open for one, for those one loves in an unconditionally positive manner tend to bend over backwards to help one obtain what one wants from them. Those who love and forgive God’s children obtain peace, happiness and, yes, material abundance. They live in God’s grace, guided by the Holy Spirit.

HOLY SPIRIT

When we separated from God and dream that we are in this world, God entered our world, our minds as the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the immanent God, whereas God the father is the transcendental God. Thus, there seem three persons in one God: the so-called Holy Trinity, God the father, God the Son (you and I) and God the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit urges us to love and forgive one another, whereas God the Son is sleeping and identifies with the ego and enjoys seeking only self interests and not forgiving other people.
The Holy Spirit is the correction principle; it corrects the mistake of separation; it takes us home and, as such, is our guide to our real home, unified state, aka heaven; he is our comforter in the distresses of this world; he is the link, the bridge between heaven and earth; he is part of God and brings God’s will into our sleeping minds and takes our wishes back to God, where they are reinterpreted to suit the will of God; he reconciles heaven’s will and earth’s wishes, via forgiveness; Jesus identified completely with the mission of the Holy Spirit and taught that gospel of forgiveness as the true meaning of love.


VIRGIN BIRTH, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Jesus was born of virgin birth does not mean that his mother Mary did not have sex. She had sex all right and, in fact, lots of it. You got to have lots of sex to have the many children she had. Thomas was one of her children.
Virgin birth means that God crated one as unified with him and all people hence innocent.
This is the same meaning of the concept of Immaculate Conception. Immaculate means pure, sinless and guiltless. Each of us was conceived by Immaculate Conception means that we were created sinless; each of us was given birth to by a virgin, meaning that we were created sinless. We were created by love and in our true self love. Whatever loves is purified for love purifies whatever it touches. Love is purity and immaculate.

CHRISTMAS

(Jesus), Christ, unified self, was born on Christ-mass day. That is, God created his son unified. This is done whenever each of us is created.
Christmas is not any specific day in the year; it is whenever the individual’s real self, the unified self, is born, that is, is remembered by him. So, December 25 or January 28 makes no difference.

GOOD FRIDAY, EASTER

Jesus died to his ego identification on Good Friday (it is good when we forget the ego and do not defend it) and resurrected to his Christ self on Easter day. Ones Easter day is the day that one gave up identification with the ego separated self and now identifies with Christ unified self and does what that requires, loves and forgives all people.

THE PRODIGAL SON AND HOME COMING

The prodigal son is all of us who left the state of union and see ourselves in the state of separation. We came here to seem separated from each other and from God. We think that we can be independent of God and of each other.
In separation, while on earth, we suffer. The prodigal son eventually recognizes his mistakes and learns that union is reality and that separation is impossible and goes home. This means that he now lives in the awareness that he is always unified with his father and brothers.
He did not have to make a journey, for there is nowhere to go. God is everywhere and where you see the Son of God, you see all his brothers and his father, for all of them are one person, one self in infinite persons. Where you are, where I am, God is. Our stay on earth is a journey without distance, a journey to nowhere, for wherever we think that we are is in God.

You are here on earth. You see yourself as in a world of space, time and matter. You believe yourself as separated from other people. These beliefs constitute what folks call sin. All you have to do is recognize that you are right now in union, in God, in all people; that there is no space and gap between God and his children and his children and each other; that you are always in union while dreaming that you are separated from it.
Accept that truth and behave accordingly, love and forgive all creation, and you are now sinless, guiltless, and innocent. Despite every thing you have done in this world, things done in the illusory world of separation, you remain as God created you, unified.
You are right now in union, hence saved from the sin of separation. To know this truth, however, you must love all people, for love is union. Love does not judge and love does not condemn any one; love only forgives all.
To love is to forgive all people the wrongs you see them do to you; I mean all wrongs for to not forgive one wrong is to say that separation is real, that illusion is real. You must forgive all wrongs; this means that you must overlook the world of dreams.
If you forgive all, now, you experience oneness, holy instant, mystical union, call it what you like, for in truth, it has no name. This is experienced now, not tomorrow. In this experience you feel joined to all things, know that union is truth, know that in our true state we are formless, spirit and are eternal.

All the so-called evil you believe that you did on earth actually was necessary for some one to experience whatever he wanted to experience, what is part of his script. Let me expatiate a bit how this works.
I had girlfriend. I had to leave her and that, apparently, broke her heart. I felt evil. But I knew that I had to leave her. She wanted to experience separation. She wanted to be a special, separated self and did not want any man to destroy her cherished independence, to swallow her. She found intimacy, physical and psychological, threatening. She found it difficulty to attach to any one. Though I was not really interested in sex but it seemed odd to me that she was not interested in sex. On earth, people tend to use sex as a means of joining each other. (That is pseudo joining, true joining is done at the mind level, via love.)
I eventually recognized that the lady psychologist came to this world to experience optimal independence and gave her space to experience what she came to experience. I left her. Her ego, like all egos, felt like a victim wronged by me. But at a deep level, she wanted me to leave, so that she would experience her ego cherished feminist independence. That is what she came here to experience and set it up to happen so.
When she gets over her anger and sense of being maltreated by evil men, she will eventually learn that union is reality and give up her illusion of independence. She might do so in this lifetime or in other life times, in other dreams.
Did I do wrong by leaving her, by breaking her heart? No. I did what she wanted me to do, to offer her the opportunity to experience what she wanted to experience. Am I evil? No at all.
By the same token, all the people that have done what my ego mind believes is evil to me did what I asked them to do for me, so as to forgive them and from forgiveness, overlooking of the past (see a purified present, stop coloring the present with the past), come to the awareness that I am always a unified self despite the appearance of separated self.
I should not bear grudges and grievances against anybody that did something wrong to me, for, in fact, they did what I asked them to do to me, so as to learn the reality of union, hence become enlightened to my true self, unified self.
I asked folks to do seeming bad things to me, thus, offering me an opportunity to choose again, to choose love and forgiveness, to choose union, over anger and attack and defensiveness; to choose union over separation. When I overlook the evil done to me and choose forgiveness, I have chosen salvation and I experience peace and happiness. In this sense, the person who did seeming bad things to me, hence offered me the opportunity to forgive him is my savior.
I tell you what, I was so furious at white folks that I wanted to destroy all of them. As a twenty eight year old PhD floundering about in America, I saw all whites as devil incarnate. The day I finally forgave them the sin of enslaving my people was the happiest day in my life. I felt peaceful and happy. I felt like a heavy load had been uplifted from me. I felt in metaphoric heaven. When I was an unforgiving person, I lived with tremendous tension and conflict; I was filled with fear, anger and hatred and was unhappy. My tension dissipated with the simply act of forgiving those I was angry at. (Choose the person that you believe did the worst imaginable wrong to you and forgive him and see how you feel. If, in fact, you forgave him or she, that is, loved him, you would feel unified with that person and feel peaceful and happy, blissful, in heaven.)
From that episode, I learned that I ought to be grateful to all the people that did me well and bad. I am grateful to whites that discriminated against blacks and me, for I asked them to do so, to offer me the opportunity to forgive them, to over look their apparent evil, so as to see the Christ in them and in doing so experience the Christ in me. Without them and their seeming bad and or good, I would not have recognized my eternal unity with all being, hence becomes saved.
It is when you look at a person who came to hurt you with love and forgiveness that you experience Christ vision; this is also called spiritual sight. This is literal, not figurative. Suddenly, that person becomes indescribably beautiful in your sight. He looks like he is made of pure light particles.
(When we invented our bodies, the Holy Spirit reinvented them in light bodies…bodies made of pure photons of light. The light body is still an illusion, still a dream self, albeit a better one, for it approximates heaven’s self more than the gross, dense self we currently identify with; the light body does not last long. Whatever is temporary is a dream self. What is real is a formless and changeless, the unified self that God created us as. Nevertheless, if you love and forgive all people, you will see you and other people in light forms. This is factual, not speculative. If you could understand these matters, I would explain them to you. For now, enough said for you.)

Separation has not occurred. What people are doing on earth are done in a dream state, therefore, people have not done what you see them do.
People are right now innocent, sinless and guiltless, for they have not done what you see them do in your and their dreams of separation, dreams of the opposite of union, dreams of the opposite of eternity, dreams of death. Love them no matter what you see them do. Even if they do dreadful things like engage in racism still love them. They do those dreadful things to see whether despite doing them you would still love them, hence love yourself despite whatever dreadful things you yourself do on earth.
Despite seeing separation, accept the fact of union; accept that you and all people, right now, are unified as one self, the Holy Son of God, the eternal Christ who has lived forever with his father.
Union is not going to happen tomorrow, it is already here, now. We live in union and dream separation; we live in the presence of love and dream that wee are hated by God and all our brothers and sisters.
(If you are into philosophy, my first love, some of the ideas propounded here fall under the categories of solipsism and idealism. Solipsism teaches that the world is in our minds. See George Berkeley’s Dialogues. You also might want to see Arthur Schopenhauer’s World as Will and Idea, Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit and William James Varieties of Religious experience. You could also study Hinduism, particularly Vedanta and Buddhism. I am not, however, writing philosophy. I am writing what I accept as truth, not some academic exercise to impress my “colleagues” so that they would give me tenure at some university. I do not need their damned tenure if I must tell lies to secure it.)

YOU CAN ONLY SAVE YOU, NOT OTHER PEOPLE

You are having your own self chosen dream and other people are having their own self-chosen dreams.
You cannot prevent other people from having their type of dreams, for they chose them before they were born on earth.
Those who will go to war and die there chose it before they were born. Those who will die of cancer will die of cancer for that is what they chose. Ramakrishna chose cancer and died of cancer. Among other things, he wanted to show that he could still be a man of God, identify with spirit despite the cancer ravaging his body. (See M. The Gospel of Ramakrishna)
Helen Schulman chose cancer and died of cancer, so Jesus could not heal her of her cancer. But she did not take ownership of her choice and felt like she was an innocent person unto whom bad was visited; she felt like she did work for Jesus by writing his book, A Course in Miracles, her book actually, and was not helped by Jesus and hence angry with him for using and dumping her. She identified with her ego to the end and did not see that nothing could happen to her without her choosing it. She was still an ego who blamed others. She did not learn that she chose her cancer to prove that she is spirit and that what could destroy her body could not destroy her spirit, just as destroying Jesus’ body did not destroy his spirit.

The lesson is that one must identify with spirit and love and forgive despite diseases that afflict ones body. One cannot wish away the diseases of ones body, for one chose them before coming to this world, but what one can do is overlook the diseases of the body and still see ones self as unified self hence be peaceful and happy despite the afflictions of the body. (We must, of course, study science and technology, and use knowledge garnered from them to heal the sicknesses of the body. I eschew Christian Science’s antipathy to medical intervention. We were given minds to think with, to study material phenomenon. Without choosing material monism, we can understand matter and device technologies to manipulate it.)
People die from the diseases they chose and will either interpret it from ego or spirit perspective. If from ego perspective, they see themselves as victims and are angry; they are not enlightened hence will come back to the dream world to dream some more, until they get it right, that they chose what happens to them, to learn that they are not bodies and not egos but unified spirit hence remain calm and happy despite it all.


CONCLUSION

In this paper, I have reinterpreted some familiar Christian concepts. I have given them the only meaning that could possibly make them acceptable to a mind bent on knowledge, Gnosis. I have, in effect, given the Bible Gnostic interpretation. I am a Gnostic Christian.
If you are interested in Gnosis, begin your studies by reading the Gospel according to Thomas, Platonus, my writings and Helen Schucman’s writings.
But be warned, the Catholic Church and, now, the Protestant Churches, would not like you to be a Gnostic Christian. The Church stamped out Gnostic Christianity during the fourth century, AD. The Church, that great egotistical institution (Elaine White, the founder of Seventh Day Adventist Church, called it the great Satan) likes people to remain in darkness and hides the unifying light of God from them.
As long as the Church keeps people in darkness, prevents them from awareness of the truth of our oneness, it controls, oppresses and abuses them, even subjects their six year old boy children to sexual abuse.
The narcissistic institution called the Christian Church, and for that matter, other religions, will probably persecute you if you try to think for yourself, if you choose Gnosis over the nonsense propagated as Christianity by the moribund church. Please be aware of what you are getting into if you choose truth over falsity.
The material world, Gnosticism teaches, was not created by a benevolent God, as the Bible seem to teach. (Actually the Old Testament God qualifies as a pathological narcissist, a psychopathic God that belongs in a psychiatric hospital for treatment, to heal his narcissistic rages and senseless punishment of those who did not gratify his narcissism by paying him unmitigated admiration and attention.)
As Gnosticism sees it, and I agree, the world was created by a malevolent God, which the Greek Gnostics call Demiurge. (In the Christian tradition, he is also called Lucifer, the proud angel that rebelled against God, and was chased out of heaven by obedient angels led by the archangel Michael, and came to the world to form his own kingdom in opposition to the will of God.)
The Greek Gnostics were mistaken, for they gave the creation of the world to an external force. I believe that we, in the collectivity, called the Son of God, invented this world. We did so in sleep, in our dreams, not in reality.
To me and to Gnostics, this world is a mistake that needs to be corrected and, indeed, has already been corrected by the Holy Spirit of God.
All we need to do is forgive the world, over look what is done in the world and we experience the corrected world. The corrected world has been called by many metaphoric names: purgatory, gate of heaven, happy dream, (the Iranian prophet, Bahaullah called it the lesser peace). Call it what you like, it is not heaven for in it people are still in still in forms, albeit light forms. Whatever is in forms is not real for it is transitory and ephemeral. Heaven, what I have called unified spirit state, is formless and is unified. Heaven is not a place; it is a state of thinking, a state of mind that accepts our eternal oneness and loves all creation. In that state, there is no you and I, no seer and seen, no subject and object, all is one. In that state of oneness is eternal peace and joy, bliss. This is not conjecture but fact. I speak from personal experience.
I am not interested in deceiving any one. I am a bringer of light into a dark world, a bringer of peace and happiness into a conflicted and unhappy place called planet earth. I cannot save you, only you can save you. My function is to explain the path of salvation and leave it to you to do what you must do to attain salvation: love and forgive all God’s children. Cheers, for there is good news; there is hope for mankind. There is light (union) in this sea of darkness (separation).

Ozodi@africainstituteseatttle.org

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January 14, 2006

A Season’s Toast for Bola Tinubu

by Sam Kargbo --- Lagos, the crowded and sleepless city in the West Coast of Africa, made up of Islands and an exhausted mainland is the former capital of the Federal Republic of Nigeria-the most populous country of the black race. Of course, it has long lost that enviable position to Abuja, but it remains the commercial nerve-centre of Nigeria.

What this means is that anything that does not sell in Lagos would hardly sell in any other part of Nigeria: anything including intelligence and stupidity that cannot find relevance in Lagos may be irrelevant in any other part in Nigeria; any issue that does not originate in Lagos might not be discussed by the nation’s philosophers; anyone that is not crowned in Lagos would find it difficult to find a national kingdom in Nigeria. Lagos is Nigeria’s dictionary and encyclopedia. Lagos is Lagos and it is a wine that makes those who drink it to believe that Nigeria is Lagos and Lagos is Nigeria.

By all standards and tools of assessment, Lagos is the busiest city in Africa. It might not have the size of a Cairo or the beauty of a Johannesburg or a Pretoria but it is compensated with a volume of human energy than any other city on the continent. Lagos is host to some of the most energetic and creative but unemployed individuals in the world. Every Nigerian dreams of Lagos first before heaven. The average Nigerian believes Lagos to be the minting press for the illusive naira. With the exception of the politicians in Abuja and the coterie of civil and public servants across the country that have direct access to the till of the nation, the average Nigerian believes the seed of his or her riches is planted in Lagos. Lagos has accordingly acceded to a Babel of anxious, disappointed, frustrated, desperate, cunning individuals with wild survival instincts. Keeping Lagos fit for the modern disciplined and rule-oriented man is therefore an exercise that would task the best of men. If not for the fear of blasphemy and the rebuke of the holy ones, I would have been tempted to say that the job of shepherding Lagos is as difficult as the job of returning man to God. Whereas the saints are leaving man to his freedom of choice (the choice to follow the path of righteousness or wickedness), the Devil does not gamble with Lagos: it ties the city to its apron and walks about with it twenty-four hours of the day. This is the reason why you see crime and immorality tattooed on the forehead of the typical Lagos resident-that specie of the human race that nature has wickedly abandoned to the elements.

But my worry of the day is not about the jobless and hungry Lagosian. It is not about the plague or menace of prostitution that is killing the night life of a married Lagosian. It is not about the smuggler and the conniving customs official who cheat the nation by the minute. It is not about the fraudster or 419er who is disparaging the country to get riches that he would waste on luxury cars, exotic women and fantastic houses. It is not about the thief, the armed robber or those who make their living from dispossessing the properties and lives of others. It is not about the drug barons and peddlers. It is not about the teenage girls that have made prostitution the most patronized and lucrative business in this part of the world. It is not about that animal-specie hoping against hope that the heavens would establish a conglomerate that would absorb him and millions of others that have left their more secured environments across the country for the sea- threatened city of Lagos. It is not about the unforgivable sins continually committed against man and God by the rich Lagosian. My story is about that average-sized man with the heart of a lion and the deeds of Samson called Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu who is playing the yeoman’s job of selling modernity to good old Lagos and setting it firmly on the path of global glory and esteem.

Before going any further, I would have to make a solemn declaration that this article is not sponsored or motivated by anything other than the need to cheer those who are justifying democratic rule and are restoring hope to a nation that is abstracted to failure and misrule. Eulogizing a topnotch politician in this political make or mar year has its inherent hazards. But I am willing to follow my heart on this matter. Lagos was up to 1999 considered to be an ‘undevelopable’ city. Its chaotic population and obscure growth pattern scared even addicted optimists. First time visitors wonder whether a zoo can ever be worse off than Lagos. The world’s record books talk about a dirty, unplanned and bizarre city with men of high and active libidos that are capable of turning it into one of the most populated cities of the 21st Century.

Although Tinubu elicited high political expectations, not many looked into the direction of his embarking on modernizing Lagos. But like the shock of a parent who is just hit by the fact that little Johnny has grown into a full-grown man, so has the realization of Lagos’ hit me. Perhaps the long Christmas holidays that dovetailed into the Muslim holidays opened my eyes to what Tinubu has been doing in Lagos. The holidays obviously reduced the human and vehicular traffic and afforded one the opportunity to see Tinubu’s efforts in the reconstruction and beautification of Lagos State. It could also be that the holidays gave one ample time to walk round many places in Lagos. The fact that between 1999 and to date the SilverBird Galleria, the City Mall and the Palm have joined Cash N’ Carry`, Rocky Plaza, Park N’ Shop and Mega Plaza in providing modern shopping malls for Lagosians hit me in a very pleasant way. Driving on the streets of Victoria Island, seeing how streets like Adeola Odeku and almost all major other streets on Victoria Island are wearing distinctive modern looks, brought home the edifying fact that someone somewhere is working earnestly to make Lagos have a feel of modernity. It became unmistakable that someone is almost defying the laws of nature by bringing sanity and decorum to good old Lagos.

To cynics who may be reluctant to give Tinubu his due, he has no choice but to work overtime to enable him and perhaps the (erstwhile?) AD to keep Lagos. They would say that not even a politically naïve person will allow Lagos and its huge economy, which could equal the combined economic strength of several other states, to slip away to the hands of the rapacious People’s Democratic Party. From this perspective therefore, what Tinubu is doing is a political lifesaver. It is in his interest and in some respect, in the interest of what is left of AD to manage the extensive resources of the state prudently. With Ogunlewe (PDP’s arrowhead in Lagos) lurking around the corner and squalling about every little misdeed of Tinubu, it is imperative that Tinubu goes the extra kilometre to please Lagosians who in the main constitute the most sensitive electorate in the country.

Reducing the exemplary efforts of Tinubu to such mundane survivalist instincts is to say least an unkind cut on democracy. In the first place anybody that lived or had visited Lagos before Tinubu’s tenure would realize that the progressive modernization of Lagos is a result of hard and well reasoned work. It is an indication that all is not lost and that very soon the privileged young men adorning the political cloaks of the nation would realize that the destiny of the most populous black nation in the world is in their hands and therefore must brace up to face history with pride and dignity.
From what Tinubu is doing with Lagos it is certain that he is a good manager, user, protector and projector of power. He exemplifies the generation of politicians that realize that Nigeria has a lot of catching up to do. He is himself a political dividend impacting the polity with a dynamic and revolutionary vision. Tinubu (I am told) believes in and works with knowledgeable experts who are themselves anxious to secure a space in tomorrow’s politics. I am also told that he empowers these young women and men adequately and that it is the combined output of his team that is making the wonders in Lagos. If the Tinubu metaphor survives 2007 and stays around with us for a handful of years, Lagos and indeed hardworking Lagosians would board the global train of sustained development and growth. It is because of this that I wish Tinubu and his team of technocrats a prosperous and revitalized 2006.

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Obasanjo, Nigerian Execu-thieves, and PDP

by Peter C. Eze --- Hausa name was Sani Abacha and his process to transmute himself into life president, there were many Nigerian execu-thieves who were chorusing the process. The choristers were litany which included 5 political parties. The choir masters were the notorious Tony Anenih from the south-south, the confused and boot licking Ojo Maduekwe from the southeast, the violent Adidebu from the southwest, the brukutu (bkt) chauvinistic burr Gemades, the Audu Ogbes and the Gowons, the Jerry Ganas from the north and the list is long and all of them members of AGIP (Any Government In Power).

There were also anti-transmutation of the sariki into life president. Hence the birth of G-18, then G-34 among others which later fused to become PDP. The acronym PDP was defined to Nigerians as People Democratic Party. Hitherto, it was accepted by Nigerians as defined, because it truly reflected and represented Nigerianism. The northern dominated military led by Alhaji Babangida hijacked the party with the money obtained through their rape of the national treasury. With billions of naira they looted at their disposal, manipulation and dealings by the military and Nigerian execu-thieves became a norm. The resultant effect of military dealing and manipulation was the selection of an ex-convict chief Olusegun Obasanjo as president to shelter them from their loots. He was a member of OLN (Operation Loot Nigeria) His selection and his presidency have no bearing whatsoever with redeeming Nigeria. Far from that.

After he was formally sworn in May 29, 1999, he hijacked the PDP, flushed out the founders and pioneers of PDP, sought for and brought all Abacha choristers and their choir masters, corrupted and financially empowered them. He must have loved and enjoyed their political songs while he was in the gulag.

On assumption of office, he encountered one major problem when his choristers reminded him of the meaning of democracy and the virtue of democratic governance--the power of National Assembly, checks and balances. Manipulation and dealings began. Nigerian factor was put in motion. G-M-G(Ghana Must Go) bags were readily available. Evan Ewerem was appointed senate president by Obasanjo in place of the senators electing the late Okadigbo as their senate president. A house without solid foundation never withstand multiple bricks, so Ewerem could not withstand the senate president’s operational virtues, so he capitulated.

Obasanjo had been in this game before. He knows Nigerian execu-thieves inside-out. He knows how gullible they are. He knows how to deploy the Nigerian naira. He knows the language of naira in Nigeria. And the ‘nairas’ were available for him. On the eventual election of the late Okadigbo as senate president, the Nigerian senate showed some flashes of checks and balances and in many occasions demonstrated senatorial independent.

To the chagrin of president Obasanjo, Okadigbo must be removed dead or alive. What would it take? G-M-G. He deployed them to the sin-ators with an arrow head his deputy the late senator Haruna led by that noisy and flimsy sin-ator called Idris Kuta. With millions of naira in the hands of the sin-ators, Okadigbo was removed and the senatorial independent was also abolished on the altar of corruption. Having successfully removed all obstacles on his way to dictatorship, Obasanjo took over People Democratic Party and rechristened it PDP- Poverty, Deceit & Power, changed its constitution, relegated Nigeria’s constitution to waste basket. Having successfully thrown out the foundation members, he brought into his PDP all manners of people of dishonorable credentials and characters, people who do not care of honor and integrity, people who would mortgage their conscience, integrity, wives and children to get what they want- money, even though they would loose what they need. When he discovered that there was still skeleton of opposition to his despotism in his PDP, he came up with re-registration to finally remove real Nigerians and re-peopled it with fraudulent criminals and corrupt choristers.

Chief among his third term choir masters besides Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu, is the current chairman of his PDP Ahmadu Ali. Ali would say and do anything to see Obasanjo stay in power perpetually as long as he can be chairman of his PDP, and use that office to appoint his wife, son and relatives to federal boards fraudulently and escape the sniffing nose of Alhaji Ribadu and his EFCC team A probe into their bank accounts before and after they were inducted in the PDP hall of shame would reveal why their call for Obasanjo's third term is imminent. These discredited execu-thieves have devised several methods to either concretize their plan for the third term or provide Obasanjo with plausible deniability should the opposition overwhelmed them. Among their efforts is the recent article that the originators of the third term are former heads of state except unnamed one, who were overwhelmed by Obasanjo's success What a fallacy! What is the definition of Obasanjo's success? Is that;

1. The establishment of EFCC and the plantation of Alhaji Ribadu as chairman, whose selective activities are centered on Obasanjo's political opponents and low level public servants. In the cases where a member of his political choristers are involved by accident, a deal would be struck. Mr. Nwude 419ned a Brazilian to tune of about $230 million and was imprisoned for 25 years. Tafa Balogun was entrusted with the Nigerian police force, and by extension, Nigeria’s internal security, he used his position to defraud Nigeria and Nigerians over 17 billion naira, all he got was 24 weeks in jail, but he got to keep his loots. His cousin Dr. Christopher Makanjuola embezzled over 400 million naira as permanent secretary ministry of defense, why was he not subjected to EFCC interrogation? Look at the rot and corruption in the ministry of petroleum under him, with every day discovery of financial scandal in billions of naira. Where is EFCC? ICPC? and all that?

The only credit to EFCC is that the Nigerian state governors are now staying at home to hide their loots instead of going to Britain and USA the countries who have the temerity, courage, morality and effrontery to have them arrested.

2.The 300 billion naira made available to a discredited ex-police officer Tony Anenih to build and repair Nigeria's obsolete roads which was never be. Where was EFCC?

3.The production and sale of 2.5 million barrel of oil daily whose financial return is visible only in the corruption chambers of national assembly, the police and military hierarchy, the hierarchy in other national security outfits, his Otta farm, the financial empowerment of criminals and mules in every Nigerian tribes, societies, cultural groups and affiliations.

4. His denigration of Nigeria's tertiary institutions whose academic contents and institutional management have been rendered senile.

5. His abrogation and corruption of Nigeria's democratic and political space through bribery.

6. The rushing of the only two survivors from the sosoliso air disaster of December 10, 2005 to South African hospital from a nation where there are too many chiefs ,but no Indians.

7. Success in an uninterrupted electricity in Abuja and Lagos the two cities known only to be Nigeria?

8. Success in the availability of water in Nigeria including 'international' airports of which the excess the fire fighters could not use to rescue the burning children in the sosoliso crash?

9. His debasement of Nigerians and lack of democratic dividends which have reduced Nigerians' life span to 43years?

10. His polarization of Nigerians through his mules, intoxication and arrogant of power?

Please can someone tell me Obasanjo's enviable success that will make Nigerians allow him for another terms into their political arena. I am sure if years are like clock, Nigerians would fast forward their hands to Y2K7. The flaw in Obasanjo’s political behavior began with the constitution drawn for Nigerians by the then northern military with the northern hegemony in their mind, and further edited by Abdul Salami Abubakar with additions and subtractions, concentrating Nigeria’s oil money and power in the hands of one man who uses them the way he knows how. No matter what reforms Dr. Iweala, Dr. Ezekwesili, Dr. Akunyiri, Prof. Soludo and co. would institute in Nigeria, they will never materialize as long as Nigeria has Obasanjo as president, corruption remains the level it is in Nigeria, and she still maintain her position in the global corruption ladder, and still have people like Ibrahim Mantu, Idris Kuta, Arthur Nzeribe and Ifeanyi Ararume in her senate, and Dr. Maurice Iwu as the INEC chairman and Andy Uba as his mule from igboland, plagurized Borishade, am sorry, ‘prof’ Borishade, thrice rejected by the Nigerian sin-ators, in his cabinet regardless of which ministry, be it “power and steal” the so-called reform will amount to nothing more than a paper trail. In spite of the efforts of his economic team, which are parallel with his political behavior, one can see why this reform has not yielded any democratic fruit.

Chidi P Eze pceze@academicplanet.com

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Ozodi Osuji Weekly Psychological Series 2006, #2 of 52: The External World Mirrors our Thinking

by Ozodi Thomas Osuji (Seatle, Washington) --- (1) There are basically two modes of approaching this world: one that the world is a product of accidental events and, as such, whatever happens to the individual is an accident and not his making; that the individual is a victim of random working of events. The other approach to phenomena is that the individual has effect on his world, that he does make choices that affect what happens to him and that what happens to him is not a function of accident and randomness but a function of his thinking and behaviors.

This is an either or proposition; you cannot mix them, for the two have different philosophical ramifications. If random events shape human beings, then there is no God and justice in the universe. It is only a matter of luck who gets what and who does not get what. On the other hand, if there is God in the universe, it follows that the universe is not a random place and what happens to the individual is a product of his choices.
Some persons would like to embrace both propositions, mix them, but that is not philosophically tenable given the implication of each side of the proposition. One must accept one or the other, but never both. Any attempt to accept both leads to wishy-washy-ness and fuzzy thinking. In the end, it is impossible to mix both approaches to phenomena for compromise is impossible.
It is either the universe is ruled by choice (hence is lawful) or it is ruled by chance (chaos).
Science operates on the premise that the universe is ruled by chance. Metaphysics and religion operate on the assumption that the universe is ruled by choice. So which is true?
One must figure out which proposition is true and predicate ones behavior on that decision and take the ensuing consequences. Any attempt to vacillate, to fence sit and not make up ones mind is rewarded with unproductive and unfulfilled living.
The immature, neurotic attempts not to make this existential choice, to avoid the consequences of choosing one or the other.
Science has chosen chance and religion has chosen determinism; which side of the equation do you fall? Where do I stand, what is my choice, what is my methodological approach to phenomena?


I will answer this question by drawing from my life experiences. My experience teaches me that the external world reflects my thinking. I generalize to say that all people’s individual and collective thinking affect our world. I see the external world as the out picturing of what is in the individual’s mind and the minds of all people. The seeming external world reflects back to each of us what we think about reality and ourselves in general.
If the individual has doubts in his mind, is uncommitted to anything he finds worthy of living and dying for, his world would mirrors that vacillation to him. Conversely, if the individual believes in himself and believes in certain things as right and behaves accordingly, his decisiveness would be reflected back to him by his external world.
I believe that whatever happens to me is a response to my thinking and behavior, if you like, to my personality and character.
The individual is not always conscious of his thinking yet their products affect him. Thinking is both conscious and unconscious; thinking goes on all the time, even when we are sleeping, and are not aware of thinking.
Whatever I think about who I think that I am, behave as such, produces results for me in the external world.
If I have negative thoughts about me, they produce negative happenings to me. If I have positive thoughts towards me those produce positive experiences for me.
When my negative thinking produces negative experiences for me, I am meant to learn from that experience and change my thinking patterns, so as to produce different happenings to me. I am meant to learn from my mistakes, learn from my bad choices and become a better person.

JOINED MINDS

I believe that at a higher level, all our minds are joined, that all our thinking is joined. Since all minds are joined, it follows that each of us, at a higher level, not conscious level, knows what each of us is thinking.
Each of us responds to other people based on awareness of what they are thinking. For example, if a person thinks that the world is a terrible place that people are hostile and are out to get him (this is paranoid thinking pattern), other people will tune in to his thinking and know what he is thinking. They undertake to enable him experience the world he seems to think is real, a world he actually wants to experience.
Thinking that other people are not trustworthy means that one does not trust other people (and does not trust ones self, either). Other people know this. They respond by treating him in an untrusting manner. He is hostile to people and people respond to him by being hostile to him.
The individual then forgets his own side of the equation and sees other people’s behavior. He sees other people as hostile towards him. True. What he does not see is that he is also hostile towards other people.
It is an act of hostility to believe that other people are hostile towards one. The person, who believes that other people are hostile towards him, hence is defensive and guarded around them, ignores his hostility and attack on people and sees only their hostility and attack on him. In doing so, he ignores the role he plays in his life’s circumstances and manages to see himself as a victim, a good person unto whom bad things happen, when. in fact, he is not a victim. He is a victimizer who does bad things to other people and they reciprocate in kind.
I believe that at a higher level, we all know what each other is thinking. Of course, at a lower level, the conscious level of the here and now world, we do not know what other people are thinking. Even if one tries, one cannot consciously know what other people are thinking.
(Psychotics tend to believe that they can read other people’s minds and that other people can read their minds or put thoughts into their minds; this is called thought broadcasting and thought insertion. We are not dealing with psychosis here.)
For our present purposes, the point is that at the consciously level, none of us knows what other persons are thinking; but we do know what each other is thinking at a higher, unconscious level…unconscious to the day to day mind but conscious to the spirit level of living.

Other people tune in to our higher-level mind, thinking, and respond to us accordingly, as we do to them. For example, if a person is in a state of fear, people around him tend to know that he is in fear. He sends out signals (fear vibrations) to the environment that he is fearful and people pick them up. In fact, he sends out signals that he wants to experience what he fears (to learn that there is nothing to fear).
Other people do those things that would make the fearful person experience fear. Let us say that a worker fears that his boss would fire him. What is really going on is that he wants to be fired by his boss. He wants to experience being fired by his boss, so as to learn that there is nothing to fear from losing his job. Losing his job is not the end of the world, as his conscious mind, ego, thinks. His boss picks up his fear of being fired, which is really his desire to be fired, and he is obliged and is fired.
Now that he has been fired from his job, he feels angry with his boss for firing him. He sees himself as an innocent victim unto whom his bad boss did something wrong. He feels poorly treated and is angry.
This is the typical ego response. The ego always sees the individual as an innocent victim unto whom other people, seen by the ego as evil, do bad things to. Feeling unjustly treated and angry, the ego in the individual fights back. This may mean going to court or in some circumstances, verbally and or physically attacking the boss. There are cases where fired employees actually take the law into their hands and kill those who fired them. This behavior is called going postal, for many fired postal workers have gone back to kill their ex bosses.

The person fired from his job wants to be fired. He wants to be fired for a number of reasons. He probably does not like his job and is enduring it, perhaps to make enough money to pay his bills. Apparently, he does not have the courage to figure out what he likes doing and has aptitude in doing, training for it and working in that line of work.
If a person is doing what he likes doing, nobody would fire him from his job, unless he is laid off due to lack of work.
Being fired is a choice the person made. The lesson is for him to pause and find out what he really likes doing and develop the courage to go do it and do it to the best of his ability.
Once a person figures out what he likes doing and does it cheerfully, he tends to feel like life is worth living and tends to be peaceful and happy.
The lesson of being fired, the lesson the fired person wants to learn, is to go be his real self, including doing work that reflects his real self, his real aptitude and interests ala Abraham Maslow.
The healthy person tries to actualize his real self and real interests and as a result tends to enjoy his work and is productive. The neurotic, as Karen Horney tells us, hates and rejects his real self and wants to become an alternative, idealized mentally constructed self. He wants to actualize his mentally constructed ideal self-concept and self-image, this is impossibility.
The imaginary ideal self cannot be realized in the real world hence the neurotic is fighting a futile war. He can never attain the goals of his neurotic ego ideal. He is bound to be disappointed and frustrated and become angry and sad.
The ego ideal is a fantasy self, a dream self, a wished for self but not a real self. All the wishes of the ego ideal are mere wishes that cannot be attained in the real world of space, time and matter.
Matter limits what real people can do. The ego imagines all sorts of things, such as flying, and making the world an ideal, perfect place. You cannot make people perfect, given the fact that they live in body and are limited by their bodies. Wishes, dreams, fantasies are of the idle ego; they are not possible in the real world.
The desire to actualize the imaginary leads to failure. Success lies in striving to realize the real, that which conforms to space, time and matter.

Human beings and animals in general think in concepts and images. The world is our collective picturing and imagining. As it were, there is an empty space out there and each of us projects his thoughts (which are in images) into that empty space. Our collective images constitute the world we all see. The world is our individual and collective picturing of our thinking.
(Of course there are objects like buildings, trees, mountains etc but what we know about them is conceptual and imagery. We approach them according to what we think that they are. I am working with empiricism that says that the external world is independent of our wishes. Solipsism says that the external world is in our minds. Ultimately, however, materialism and idealism are ideas; what is real we do not really know.)
The world we see reflects thinking in our minds. If we think differently, we see a different world. (Different persons, depending on their thinking about it see the same tree or building differently.)
If what the individual experiences are not to his liking, he must first accept that the world reflected his pattern of thinking. If he wants to change the world he experiences, without changing that world he must change his thinking about it. When his thinking pattern changes, he sees and experiences a different type of world.


Consider Nigerians. When you hear them talk, they talk about having a corruption free country. But when you deal with them at the individual level, you find out that they got to be the world’s most self-centered persons. Each of them thinks mostly of him. He seeks ways to gratify his interests, often at the expense of other people. He seldom thinks in terms of what serves the collective social good. Given his self-centered thinking, he is willing to use and exploit other people to get what he wants.
When Nigerians come to America, they often behave like classic users of other people; they use American women to obtain Green Cards and discard them. They have no feelings of guilt and remorse. They are sociopaths in their approach to other people.
Given their self-centered pattern of thinking, what type of world do you think that they are producing in Nigeria? They are producing a self-centered world.
Nigeria is hell on earth, literally. No one cares for other people. In fact, if you care for other people, Nigerians may think that you are crazy. They do not even care for their sick. See, the world gives them money to care for their AIDS afflicted brothers and they steal that money and put it to personal use. They do not have the slightest urge to care for those with AIDs and other sicknesses. These people are, if truth were said, animals and subhuman beings. They are totally lacking in principled moral behavior. No wonder they sold their brothers into slavery, they do not care for each other.
Their corrupt world reflects their self centered thinking. If you can get these anti social persons to change their patterns of thinking and start caring for other people, start working for what Alfred Adler called Social interest, and to always ask: how is my behavior going to affect other people and to only engage in those behaviors that serve the common good; if they make this shift in thinking, their country would become a well governed place. But until they change their pattern of thinking, they can wish all they want for a corruption free society, the fact is that they cannot get it.
They are corrupt, in fact they wish to be corrupt and see a corrupt society. The Nigeria that Nigerians see, reflect their self centered thinking; their country is an out picturing of their selfish mode of thinking and behaving.
Like all those identified with the ego, Nigerians see themselves as victims. They fancy themselves good people unto whom bad things happen. They point two accusatory fingers at others, while three fingers point right back at them, reminding them that though others contribute to their problems that they are mostly the cause of their hellish country.
Other people do contribute to our problems…the two fingers pointing at others are correct in identifying that others contribute to ones problems, but the three fingers pointing straight back at one tells one that one contributes more than others to one problems.
We live in a system and what every person does affects every other person, as well as himself.

Science teaches that human bodies are the product of evolution and chance. The environment changes and people adapt to it and that adaptation is reflected in changes in their bodies. This would seem to suggest that people are merely victims adapting to changes in a capricious environment.
It is not true that people are victims of a capricious environment. People do adapt to changes in their environment all right but the real question is how did those changes come about?
The environment is produced by our collecting thoughts. Our collective thinking changes the environment.
When our bodies adapt to changed environments, they are really adapting to changes produced by our thinking. Thinking changes the environment and bodies adapt to the changes produced by thinking.
We are not conscious of how our thinking produces changes in our environment. This subject will take us too far a field to explain than the ten pages maximum I want to limit this paper to. I have addressed it in Real Self Psychology.
It is true that we do adapt to changes in our environments, as evolution biologists teach us. What we need to add to their teaching is that our thinking, at the unconscious and conscious level, brings about the changes we see in our environment, changes that our bodies respond to.
The environment is a dream world; it does not, in fact, exist independent of our thinking. The external world is a dream and we are collective dreamers projecting our individual and collective thinking to the collective dream world and experiencing the dream as if it is something happening to us against our wishes. The world is our wish, our wish gratified in a dream world.

In eternity we are unified spirit. We wished to experience the opposite of union, separation and invented a dream world were every thing seems separated from each other. Space, time and matter were all invented to enable us experience separation and special ness. Our world is a dream where we dream that we are the opposite of our real self.
Our real self is unified self, same and equal self; our world, the dream, shows us as separated, different and unequal selves housed in bodies.
Our real self is immortal but our empirical world shows us a mortal world. Our real world is the world of knowing but our dream world is the world of perception, of not knowing anything for sure.
In the spirit world there is no you and I, no seer and seen, no subject and object, all are literally one self; one self that is simultaneously infinite selves.
In our temporal world we see ourselves and see other people, there is you and I, subject and object, differences and inequality, birth and death.

Science is correct in stating that the environment is changing and that our bodies are adapting to it via gradual evolution. What science does not say, however, is that our thinking produced the changes in the environment that our bodies adapt to. If we change our thinking, we produce a different environment and adapt differently to it.
If we consistently love and forgive all people, we produce a loving and peaceful environment and our bodies adapt to it in a peaceful and joyful manner. In fact, if we consistently love and forgive, we produce bodies that are healthy at all times.
Ultimately, when we tire of wishing to live in separated self, we stop dreaming and end the dream and return to the awareness that we are unified spirit.
We are always unified spirit while dreaming that we are separated persons living in bodies, space and time.
When we change our thinking, change our mind, from wishing separation to wishing union, working for union via love and forgiveness we first see a harmonious but still separated world and ultimately we will, not merely wish, for perfect union. When we will love, that is, union; when we give up all wishes for separation and let go of separation, we reawaken in unified spirit self.


CHARACTER IS FATE


Every thing one does in this world is in accord with ones character and personality. Ones behavior, in turn, yields certain outcomes for one. Thus character is fate.
Character, personality is largely due to the individual’s inherited body and early childhood experiences. If he is not responsible for choosing his body, genes and social experiences then he is a victim and is not responsible for the fate that his character produced for him.
If it can be shown that the individual chose his body and social experiences, then he is not a victim of his world.
None of us is consciously aware of choosing his body, his parents, his genes and social experiences. That choice was made at a different level, what I have called unconscious level. (What is unconscious to our level of being is conscious to spirit level of being.)
Before birth on earth, people have different consciousness. At that level, they choose their parents, and their parents choose them, before they come to this world. They write a script that they want to play out and come to the world to enact it out. They choose every situation they find themselves in, not consciously but unconsciously.
It is because at a higher level human beings choose their experiences on earth that it can be said that justice exists in the world. If what the individual did not want to experience could happen to him then there is no justice in this world, the universe is amoral and hostile to him. If there is no justice and morality in the world then there is no God in this world.
It is only if people chose their circumstances, albeit unconsciously that justice and God exist in this world.


BEING IN CONSTANT MEDITATIVE STATE

This paper has posited that the external world we see is colored by our thoughts, that we do not see things as they are and that our perception is colored by our thinking, our state of mind.
In the immediate world, there is what is generally referred to as the objective and empirical world. That world seems immovable and implacable. However, our perception of it is a function of the concepts and ideas we have in our minds. Those concepts shape how we see the apparent objective world. The world, as it were, remains the same but how we see it determines how we respond to it. If we change our thinking, our minds, about the nature of the world, we see a different world.
If we are in a certain frame of mind, we see other people in a certain manner and if we change our thinking, minds, we see people differently. We tend to relate to other people, indeed, to ourselves in accordance with our operating concepts, our cognitive frame of reference. We seldom see any thing as it is, in fact, but see them as our perceptual lenses predispose us to see them. If we change our perceptual lenses, we change our perceptions; when we change our perceptions we change our relationship with other people.
Our thinking, good or bad, affects how we see and relate to the objective world. At any point in time, our thinking is based on the information we have. Generally, we have insufficient information in our brains and, in fact, do not know much about the nature of anything we see. Whatever the individual says about things, people included, is limited by the insufficient information in his brain. He cannot say something that is totally correct about anything he sees.
Whatever one says about phenomena is an opinion based on limited information available to one. Know about things or not, the individual behaves one way or another towards them. His behavior towards them influences what he gets out of the world. The individual experiences the world his thinking, mind ideates and conceptualizes, but not necessarily the world as it is.
I see you, I have notions of which you are, which, in all likelihood, are incorrect. I relate to you based on my perception of you and you respond to me according to my behavior towards you. In effect, how you relate to me is dependent on how I related to you and vice versa.
The individual behaves in accordance with his understanding of the phenomena he perceives. Since he always perceives phenomena incorrectly, what should he do?

Meditation is an approach to phenomena that recognizes that the individual does not know about anything for certain. He does not know who he is; he does not know who other people are and does not know about anything for certain. The individual does not know what the world is and what the world is for.
Since the individual does not know anything for certain and whatever he thinks about anything amounts to an opinion based on incomplete information (and his thinking affects how he relates to the things he thinks about and the consequent effects he has on them and their response to him), the best thing to do is to keep quiet.
That is correct, one does not understand the nature and meaning of anything one sees in the perceptual universe and ought to keep quiet and say nothing.
In meditation, the individual consciously tells himself that he does not know who he is, who other people are and what anything is or means, other than entertain incomplete opinions about them. He consciously strives to keep quiet. Instead of rushing in with an opinion about who one is, who other people are and what any thing is, one simply pleads not knowing and keeps quiet. One strives to not think at all, at least to not use ones familiar conceptual categories to conceptualize what one sees.
In the real world, when I see you, my ego self would like to know who you are and generally uses its past learning to try to understand you. We all do this.
We use our past to color our present perception, hence distort it. Instead of doing this, one now consciously attempts to not use ones past learned ego intellectual categories to understand the present.
I see you and my perception shows me a man, woman, black, or white, tall or short, fat or thin, good or ugly looking etc. This perception of you is colored by my past, my learned perceptual instruments. If I accept the evidence that my past learning shows me, I will see you in a certain manner and relate to you in a certain manner.
This is what most people do. They use their past to interpret the present and distort it and relate to their distortions. They are not relating to other people, to reality as it is, but as their past has made it to seem. Even so, they receive consequences based on their perception and behavior.
If your past disposed you to be distrusting and you do not trust people, they, in turn, will not trust you, so you generate a distrusting world.
In meditation, the individual consciously rejects his past, his learned perceptual schema, and his instrument of interpreting the world. He sees another person or thing and instead of telling himself that he saw this or that kind of person, he simply does not exercise any judgment about what he sees. In fact, he tells himself that he doesn’t know the nature of what he sees.
What the individual thinks that he sees is largely influenced by his past. I see a person, man or woman. It is my past that says that what I see is a woman or a man. Suppose I reject what my past disposed me to see and tell myself that I do not know what I see, now what?
This is exactly the point. You do not know what you see; you just think that you know what you see (and relate to it according to your misperception of it). Now be honest and accept that you do not know what you see. If you truly do this, accept that you do not know what you see and keep quiet; you have emptied your thinking, mind, of its presuppositions and preconceptions. Your thinking, that is, your mind, will be blank, void. You will feel your mind empty. You would feel light, like you have no weight. In fact, at a certain point you would feel like you do not exist.
Indeed, you do not exist in the temporal world. You merely think that you exist in the temporal world and your belief makes it seem real to you. If you negate all your thinking, perception and your past learned ways of interpreting the world, you would feel like you are empty, a void and you would feel very peaceful and happy. You would be so peaceful and happy that you would wonder how come you had not known that so much joy and peace could be found in this world.
What prevented you from knowing peace and happiness was your thinking; your thinking colors the present with the past.
If you see things and keep quiet and say nothing about their nature, and ask the universe, if it makes you feel good, call the universe God, to tell you the nature of what you see, but do not tell yourself about the nature of what you see.
Let us see how it works. I see you; my past tells me that I see an Igbo person, a brash, intemperate and egotistical person. That is my past experience of who the Igbos are. That perception is generally in accord with most people’s perception of the Igbos. (If you are a normal person, your perception of phenomena tends to be congruent with the perception of people in your society. “Reality” is a social construct; social reality is what people in a group have a consensus that it is. What actual reality is we do not know? Abnormal persons, that is, psychotics, tend to have their own unique perceptions; perceptions not shared by other person; that is why they are said to be insane, they live in an unshared world, whereas sane persons live in a shared world, shared perception of reality.).
Now, instead of accepting the perception that my past told me, instead of relating to you as my past disposed me to do, I keep quiet and tell myself that I really do not perceive you correctly and certainly do not know who you are, apart from my past colored perception of you.
If I honestly keep quiet and say nothing about you, do you know what will happen? You think that you know it all, eh? You know exactly nothing. Where I see you, if I remove all my preconceptions and presuppositions that my past told me that you are, is another person, a person in light form.
That is correct, if you extinguish all your past, the same individual that your past had shown you as living in dense body, is seen in pure light form, a light being, a beautiful, peaceful and happy person. The person that had seemed to you an ugly, arrogant Igbo person would suddenly take on the form of light, and is so beautiful that you are almost compelled to fall down and worship him.
If you continue with this pattern of being, saying nothing about what you see, and add love and forgiveness to your life style, at some point, you would escape from the empirical world and enter a world that is beyond concepts, ideas and images, the world of knowledge. You escape from our conceptual and perceptual world and enter the world of unified spirit self, a world where there are infinite selves, all of whom are one self, are the same; a world of no you and I, no seer and seen, no subject and object, a world of perfect oneness. That world is ineffable and cannot be explained in ego intellectual categories. One does not need to even talk about it, for it is beyond talking and even if it could be talked about those living in ego-body states, normal persons, would not understand what one is talking about.

The salient point is that the world we see and experience is colored by our thinking, thinking based on our past experiences in space, time and matter. We color our world with our past.
It is possible to live in a perpetual state of meditation by consciously relinquishing ones usual perceptual instruments and choosing not to color the present, what one sees, with ones past intellectual categories.
If one is in this constant mode of mediation, ones world tends to become peaceful and happy. One tends to be so peaceful that those around one feel peaceful. One is so happy that those around one feel happy. Ones peace and joy are so infectious that one gives them to other people without doing so consciously. In fact, merely thinking about one gives those who think about one some peace of body and mind. One is now a bringer of peace to the world.
One is now the son of God who has awakened to his real self, unified self; one is enlightened to ones true self, light self; one is illuminated to the self that God created one as, unified light self. One is now an avatar, a Buddha; one lives from ones Chi self. One has reclaimed the self that God created one as, and given up the false, separated, special self one had made for ones self. One has given up the replacement self, the substitute self that human beings live as on earth and returned to being the unified self that God created one as.
Our true self is a holy self, a unified self, and an innocent, sinless, guiltless, immortal, self. That self is not the self we are currently aware of. The self we are conscious of is the opposite of our real self.
To know our real self, one must consciously give up the present ego self one thinks that one is. One must relinquish and let go the ego separated self-concept and its conceptual world to know the unified self and its unified world.
This is an either or choice, you cannot mix both selves and both worlds; you must let go of one to experience the other. At present, we have let go of the unified world and experience the separated world; we must let go of the separated self and its world to experience the unified self and its unified world.
Our temporal world is a make belief world we mutually constructed and defend. Our empirical world is a dream world. We made it up and like it. It is our idol. We are proud of our invention, the separated world and defend it.
The self that adapts to this world, the separated, special self, the ego, the self-concept, the self-image, the personality, is a made up self. It is not real but is defended to seem real. Each of us has a separated ego self housed in body and defends it and in defending it makes it seem real to him.

What is the empirical world for? The world is designed as a means for making separated selves seem real. Separation, which means, space, time and matter are all means of making the ego separated self seem real in our awareness.
I see me as a separated self-living in space and time and defend it; you do the same. In separating from my real unified self, from other people and from God and defending my seeming separated self, that self seems real to me. Thus, in my past, as an avoidant personality, I avoided most people. In avoiding them, I managed to make my separated self seem real to me.
The avoidant personality avoids people to make his separated important self seem real to him. Each person uses his personality to avoid, that is, separate from other people and make his separated self seem real in his imagination.

In meditation, one consciously stops defending the separated special self and lets it go. It does not die, for it has never existed. What has never existed cannot die.
Birth and death are variables that take place in a dream state, not in the real world. In meditation, one consciously relinquishes the separated self, the self-concept, the self-image, the personality one knows ones self as and asks God to show one who one is, in fact.
First one is shown a self in light form. The purified light self, still looks like one is in dense matter.
When we invented the ego self in body, God remade it into a light self. Each of us has his present self in body and another self in light form.
The dense and light bodies are all illusions, both are not real. However, the light body approximates reality more than the dense body. Ultimately, if one loves and forgives all people and continues with mediation and prayer one experiences oneness with all being; one reawakens to unified state and experiences the peace and joy of God that the ego cannot understand.
After that experience, one reenters the egos world to become a teacher of unified spirit, teacher of union, teacher of love and forgiveness, teacher of God. No one stays permanently in unified state, in peace and happiness, while his brothers still live in the world of separation; one must return to his brothers’ separated hell to teach them that there is an alternative world, one of union, peace and joy. The awakened child of God teaches the perennial wisdom of mankind that we are eternally unified and ought to love one another, in his own manner for those able to learn from his particular manner of teaching to learn from him. One is doing such teaching here.

CONCLUSION

The empirical world shows us a world that seems apart from us. It shows us a world that seems to be doing things we do not like to us. Each of us tends to see himself as a victim that a bad world does evil things to. This is the general state of mankind.
At some point, some of us become aware that the seeming external world actually responds to our thinking and behaviors. Other people do to us as we wish that they did to us. If we do not love and forgive and are always seeking vengeance for wrongs done to us, other people will seek punishment for our own apparent wrongs. We receive from the word what we put out to it. We are not the victims we tend to think that we are. We are active participants in inventing the world we see.
It is very difficult for our empirical selves, the ego self, the self-concept, the self-image, the human personality to accept that one is a co-inventor of ones world. What is immediately apparent to one is that one is a victim of the world one lives in for it seems that what one does not like does happen to one.
It takes wisdom to know that we make the world we experience. You and I co-invent the world we see and experience.
If you are unable to accept this view, don’t force yourself to accept it; you cannot do so any way. Be where you are at in space and time; you cannot force your spiritual evolution.
In eternity, we are all the same and equal, but in time we are different and not equal; we are at different spaces in our evolution.
When you are ready to accept our co-invention of the world, you will do so; no one can force you to do so.
My goal in this paper is to present the thesis that we are co-inventors of our world, and that our world reflects our thinking. My aim is not to convince you of the truth of this thesis. I just want you to think about it and if it does not make sense to you, reject it. If you are ready for it to be sensible, you will embrace it and turn your life around by taking total responsibility for your thinking and behaviors and stop blaming others for your life.
The individual, you, is responsible for his life on earth. And on that note, we end this week’s discourse.


Ozodi@africainstituteseatle.org

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January 10, 2006

Ozodi Osuji Weekly Lectures on African Countries #2 of 54: Angola

by Ozodi Thomas Osuji (Seatle, Washington) --- 2. ANGOLA Formal Name: People’s Republic of Angola.

Term for Citizens: Angolans.

Capital: Luanda. Population: 2,819,000.

Date of independence: November 11, 1975, from Portugal.

Major Cities: Luanda, Cabinda.

Geography:

Angola is located in South West Africa. Congo-Kinshasa, Congo-Brazzaville, Zambia, and Namibia border it. Angola is approximately 487, 353 square miles, including the enclave of Cabinda. The coastal area is lowland, ending at the Namib Desert South of Benguela. Hills and Mountains parallel the coast, divided by many rivers. Hot along the coast than in the mountains. Two seasons: wet and dry, rainy season from September to April and dry season from May to September. Coolest months July and August, Warm and wet in Cabinda.

Society: The population is estimated at 13, 625, 000, most of which are concentrated in the Western part of the country.

Ethnic Groups: Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, and Bakongo 13%. Other groups are Lunda-Chokwe, Nganguela, Nyaneka-Humbe, Ovambo, and Mestico and Europeans.

Languages: Portuguese is the official language, with indigenous people speaking their various Bantu languages.

Religion: Christians 90%, the remainder practices African religions.

Education: Free and compulsory elementary education. Literacy rate is estimated at 42%.

Economy: Extractive oil industry and agriculture play dominant role in the economy. GDP estimated: $16.9 billion; Per Capita: $1, 030. Monetary unit: New Kwanza.

History and Government:

Various African groups lived in what is now Angola. The Portuguese came around 1483 and eventually took over. The Portuguese considered Angola part of Portugal and did not want it independent. A large Portuguese population settled in the country and essentially transformed Africans into slaves working in their plantations. In 1961 a guerrilla war against the Portuguese colonialist began. Different African factions formed armies to fight their colonial masters. Portugal gave Angola independence in 1975, and thereafter a protracted civil war by the African factions ensued. The protracted civil war between MPLA, FNLA and UNITAS devastated the country. The end of that war has led to attempts at democratic elections but MPLA still exercises dominant role in politics with little opposition tolerated. An elected president who governs through a prime minister rules Angola. The country is divided into 18 provinces.


ANGOLAN POLITICS

Angola is an interesting African country. It had extended colonization by a European people to the extent that two thirds of Angolans speak Portuguese as their primary language. The Portuguese settled in Angola in 1483. They named the country, apparently, from the Ngola tribe. The Portuguese has more or less lived in Luanda since that time, except for a brief interregnum, 1641-1648, when the Dutch drove them out and controlled Angola.
Portugal used Angola as its main slaving source for its South American colonies, particularly Brazil.
Portugal considered Angola part of Portugal itself, an overseas province called Portuguese West Africa).
During the post Second World War, a wind of changing blew across European colonized Africa. Portugal refused to acknowledge the wind and considered its African territories (Mozambique, Angola, Guinea Bissau etc) as part of itself. It felt that these territories were not foreign lands and, as such, not to be given independence, pretty much as France felt towards Algeria. However, the wind of change was not containable and Angola was no exception.
Angolan groups formed political parties to fight for their country’s independence. Unfortunately, as in many African countries the political parties were formed along ethnic lines.
The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (Movemento Popular de Libertacao de Angola) was organized around the capital of Luanda by the Mestico (mixed, white and black) and Kimbundu peoples. This party embraced socialism and had affiliations with European socialist parties. In the North was the National Liberation Front of Angola (Frente Nacional de Libertacao of Angola) FNLA; this party comprised mostly of the Bakongo peoples that exist both in the Congo and Angola, and was supported by Zaire’s Mobutu and his American Ally. In the south was the Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Uniao Nacional para a Independencia Total de Angola) UNITA; this party comprised mainly of the Ovimbundu peoples.
With Portugal’s refusal to entertain the possibility of independence these three parties quickly became guerilla militias, each based in its ethnic area and a fourteen year war of independence ensued. In 1975, there was a military coup in Portugal and the Salazar dictatorship was overthrown. Portugal began negotiations with the three Angolan parties for independence and eventually gave Angola independence.
The three parties could not agree on a unity government and became armed camps fighting one another for the control of Angola. MPLA in the capital area declared itself the national government and a civil war between it and its two rivals ensued, a war that did not end until 2002 when finally Jonas Savimbi, the leader of UNITA was killed.
The Angolan civil war occasioned foreign powers jostling for control of Africa taking sides. The United States supported FNLA, the USSR and the communist block supported MPLA and South Africa supported UNITA.
In 1976, FNLA was quickly disposed of by MPLA. But the war between MPLA and UNITA became an internationalized war with Cuba sending in troops to support MPLA and South Africa, acting as USA proxy, sending in troops to support UNITA.
Each group depended on the resources in the area under its control to wage the war. MPLA had access to off shore (near the costal Luanda area it controlled) oil mining and UNITA controlled diamond mines in the Ovimbundu heartland, the center of the country.
Several efforts were made at reconciling these parties to no avail. It was the end of the cold war that eventually brought about change in Angola. With end to the cold war, Russia and America had no use for proxy wars to control the rest of the world. Russia was dead and America became the sole superpower in the world. As the sole superpower, America essentially could care less for the welfare of Africans, so it no longer supported UNITA militarily. Mr. Savimbi was forced to negotiate, particularly when South Africa, his main arms supplier, negotiated for the African National Congress under Nelson Mandela to rule South Africa. Mr. Savimbi was left in the lurch and sued for peace. In 1994, a peace accord was reached by the warring parties at Lusaka. The Lusaka protocol called for a shared government between UNITA and MPLA and integration of their forces into one Angolan military.
The two parties began negotiating for a national government. In 1992, an election of sorts was held and the result was contested. The official result claimed that Mr. Dos Santos narrowly beat Mr. Savimbi. Mr. Savimbi rejected the results. The negotiations to form a national government failed and fighting resumed between them in 1998, a fighting that did not end until Savimbi was killed in 2002.
With the death of Savimbi, UNITA ceased fighting and essentially MPLA emerged victorious. Whereas what remains of UNITA and FNLA serve as opposition parties of sorts, essentially, Angola is ruled by MPLA in an unchallenged manner. A national election is scheduled for 2006. If this election is, in fact, held and a party wins it and transition is made to democratic government, Angola would have become a democratic polity.
MPLA has essentially ruled Angola from 1975 to the present. When the first leader of MPLA, Agostinho Neto, died in 1979, Mr. Dos Santos took over the leadership of MPLA and nominally became the president of Angola. Mr. Dos Santos is still the president of Angola.
The twenty seven years war between the three groups contesting for leadership of Angola led to tremendous devastation of Angola. Four million of the country’s estimated fourteen million persons were internally displaced persons (refugees). The land was so heavily mined that people are still having their limbs blown up by exploding mines. Indeed, farmers are hesitant returning to farming, so that little farming is done in the country.
Angola depends heavily on food importation. Much of the wealth it generates from oil (which is mainly in the enclave of Cabinda, a land almost surrounded by Congo) is either wasted or used to feed the people.
Corruption is so rife in the country that in 2005 alone four billion dollars from oil revenue suddenly vanished from Angola’s foreign accounts.
In Cabinda the native population, who are Congolese, are fighting a guerrilla war to separate from Angola.
Angola’s current government is essentially government by MPLA and its leader Dos Santos.
Mr. Santos is the nominal president of Angola. He is assisted by a prime minister, Mr. Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos. The prime minister supposedly heads a council of ministers and runs the day to day affairs of the country, but, in fact, the president is the unchallenged ruler of Angola.
On paper, the usual institutions of democracy are in place but they are seldom used. There is a unicameral legislature that supposedly makes laws. The country is divided into 18 provinces. But the president appoints the governors of the provinces and they are beholden to him and there is no pretense of independent leadership by them.
The country is divided into 140 municipalities, only 12 of which have operational courts.
At the national level, there is a supreme court that acts as the appellate court of last resort. Its judges are appointed by the president and can hardly be said to be independent in their adjudication of law (what there is of it).
Angola is the second largest oil producer in sub Saharan Africa. With a small population and rich mineral wealth, Angola ought to be one of the richest countries in the world. Instead, Angola is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a per capital income of US $1, 030 and life expectancy of 39 years for men and 42 years for women. Diseases are rampant and medical institutions, what there is, have little or no medicines and equipments to treat the sick. Schools are either closed and if functioning have little books. Government offices lack in equipments and supplies to do their work properly.
Angola is another mismanaged Africa country. Much of the country’s problems could be attributed to its prolonged war of independence and civil war. It remains to be seen if the country can make a transition to modern democracy and efficient management or whether it will continue to suffer the scourge of Africa, poor management of its resources and endemic corruption in all walks of her life.

Ozodi@africainstituteseattle.org

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January 09, 2006

Ozodi Osuji Weekly Psychological Series 2006, #1 of 52

by Ozodi Thomas Osuji (Seatle, Washington) --- (1) HOW I FOUND PEACE IN A WARRING WORLD Are you living in tension and want to experience peace? If so, consider doing what I did to find peace. I have found freedom from tension and would like to share with you the gift of tension free living.

Some background information is necessary before we explore my methodology for reducing tension.
I lived in tension. In fact, I was so tense that if you touched my body, it felt hot. This was a very uncomfortable pattern of living, so I sought explanation for it and elimination of it.
I was born in Alaigbo. Alaigbo must be the most neurotic society on planet earth. See Victor Uchendu. (I) In Alaigbo, children are not accepted in an unconditional positive manner ala Carl Rogers. (2) Children are accepted conditionally, mostly only when they do what society expects of them to do.
In no uncertain terms, Igbo society tells its children that, as they are, they are not good enough until they do certain things that are expected of them. Those who perform as expected are positively reinforced with social approval and acceptance.
Those socially approved generally turn out as normal adults. The normal adult is a person who has adjusted to his society as it is, even if that society is pathological.
Igbo conditional approval of its people probably accounts for the amazing achievement of the Igbos. Igbos essentially came into contact with Western civilization in the twentieth century; they now have families whose children routinely attend universities, a feat not even achieved in the United States of America. Igbo society drives its people to achieve greatness or they are perceived as nothing. It pays a heavy price for its neurotic basis of social acceptance. Many Igbos live with inordinate fear of failure, anxiety and tension.

In all human societies, Igbo society included, some children, the physically sensitive ones, usually find it difficult to do what their conditionally accepting society expects of them to do to be accepted. I was one such sensitive child. I could not do what my conditionally accepting Igbo society expected of children and, therefore, was largely not positively rewarded.
All children are motivated to be accepted by what Harry Stack Sullivan (3) called their “Significant others” (parents, siblings, peers, teachers, authority figures).
Children know that they are very vulnerable and left alone that they are unable to do what it takes for them to survive physically. Children need adults support to survive. Fearing death, children seek ways to please those whose support they must have for them to physically survive, adults. Thus, children struggle to be accepted by the adults in their world, particularly the significant ones.
By and large, the majority of children seem able to do what their significant others require of them for acceptance. Thus, every where in the world, about 90% of children tend to turn out normal.
Some children are unable to do what their significant others require of them for positive acceptance. As Karen Horney (4) sees it, some of those children who are unable to do what their society rewards exaggerate known human tendencies. She called these children neurotic children. I was a neurotic child. The neurotic child is unable to do what his society expects of him before he is accepted, so he uses his imagination and thinking to construct an ideal self that he thinks is the type of person that his society would approve and accept, and attempts to become that idealized person. He experiences an obsessive compulsive desire to become the ideal ego self that he wishes he were, but that, in fact, he is not. He feels fine to the extent that he seems to approximate the ideal mirage he wants to become and feels anxious when he feels that he is not that ideal person. As it were, his very life depends on him becoming the ideal self, for he thinks that it is only if he were that person would his society accept him and that failure to become him would lead to social rejection hence death.
Most children under age twelve would die if not accepted and cared for by adults, since they cannot fend and shift for themselves yet. The fear of social rejection is thus rooted in social realism, for social rejection is often tantamount to death. We protect what we value and destroy what we do not value. Unvalued children fear destruction by society.
The desire to become an ideal self, a self that society would accept, is, in effect, the desire to live, given the conditional terms of social acceptance. Thus, to Horney, our conditionally accepting societies cause the sensitive child to become afraid of death and to construct an idealized false (neurotic) self and cling to it as if he is that fictional self.
In the process of trying to become their idealized selves, some persons become psychotic. These persons are not our present concern, for they are the purview of psychiatrists. See The American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. (5)

THE SELF CONCEPT/SELF IMAGE/EGO/PERSONALITY

Every human being thinks in concepts. By age six or so each child has posited a self concept, an idea of the person he or she thinks that he is.
Since human beings also think in imagery, the self concept is translated into a self image, a picture of who the child thinks that he or she is. Thus, children have self concepts and self images.
George Kelly (6) tells us how the self concept is reached. As he sees it, the human child uses his biological constitution and social experiences as building blocks and combines them to construct a self concept and self image. By age thirteen, adolescence, each human being has constructed a fixed self concept and self image and behaves accordingly.
Alfred Adler (7) conjectures that children who were born with problematic bodies, who subsequently feel inordinately weak and inferior Vis a Vis their physical and social environment tend to construct problematic self concepts and self images. They pursue superiority. They construct superior self concepts and self images and desire to become them. To Adler, the construction and pursuit of the superior self is what constitutes neurosis.
Karen Horney defines neurosis as pursuit of the idealized self image and fear of being the real self. The neurotic child associates his real self with a failed self that society would reject and desires to be an imaginary ideal self that society would accept.
As Horney sees it, society accepts children conditionally. Those children who were unable to meet the conditions for social acceptance and who therefore were not socially accepted still struggle to meet the conditions of social acceptance. They posit idealized self concepts and idealized self images, usually a very perfect self, and strive to become it. They hope that if they attain the idealized perfect self that their society would accept them. Since they fear social rejection, they fear not meeting the conditions of social acceptance, the idealized self.
The struggle to become the idealized self concept and self image produces what Horney called basic anxiety (what psychoanalysis, in general, calls neurotic anxiety disorder). The neurotic person at all times has free floating anxiety, from his fear of not living up to his cherished idealized self image, a self he believes that if he attains it that society would approve him. Sometimes, he pretends that he is his imaginary idealized self image, and acts in what Adler called “As If” he is the superior self he wants to become but is not.
The neurotic is a person who acts in an obsessive compulsive manner to become an idealized self concept/image and lives with anxiety and tension.

ADJUSTED AND MALADJUSTED PERSONS

The term neurosis applies to all people, in degrees. All human beings have idealized self concepts and corresponding idealized self images; all human beings have a desire to attain their idealized self images and all human beings feel some anxiety and tension from the desire to become their imaginary ideal selves.
The normal person is a person who, more or less, is not conscious of the neurotic anxiety in him, whereas the neurotic person is conscious of his neurotic anxiety. The neurotic person is conscious of the fact that he has an idealized self image and that he is afraid of not attaining it, hence is anxious.
What the full fledged neurotic does consciously, the normal person does unconsciously.
Consider the normal Igbo person. He must fit into his conditionally accepting society. He knows that his society accepts him mostly when he achieves something significant and ignores him when he fails. Thus, he seeks to become an important person (importance as defined by his neurotic society, not importance as it, in fact, is). He sees going to school and attaining higher education as an instrument that would make him seem important in his society’s eyes. The moment he obtains a doctorate degree he insists that every person in his world call him Dr Njoku (a typical Igbo name). Being called doctor makes him feel important in people’s eyes.
If he does not have access to higher education, he may, in fact, buy the term doctor, for he thinks that it makes him seem very important.
Generally, the term doctor of knowledge indicates a person who dedicates his life to the pursuit of knowledge. But the Igbos have perverted that term to mean a very important person. In the West, many academic doctors actually make less money than plumbers, showing how the term is not meant to reflect wealth but designation for a person who loves philosophy and science.
If the Igbo cannot buy doctorate degrees from degree mills, he buys chieftaincy titles from his village. He gives people in his village money and they invent a non-existent chieftaincy title and confer it on him. Suddenly, he masquerades about as Chief Njoku. Being called chief makes him feel important in other people’s perception.
If he happens to secure a job at a university, without even bothering to publish prolifically, he insists that the public refer to him as Professor Njoku. This makes him feel very important in society’s eyes.
If he is an engineer, he appends the term engineer to his name; if an architect, he appends the term architect before his name, if he is an attorney, he appends the term lawyer before his name, such as being called “lawyer Njoku”.
All these apparent ridiculous behaviors are undertaken by the Igbos wish to seem superior, powerful and important.
(You can substitute your own ethnic group’s name for Igbo, if you feel that they behave as I am describing; I am limiting my analysis to the people I know most, my people, myself, the Igbos. Please remember that what a person sees in others is very likely what he sees in himself. What I see in Igbos I see in me. I am, therefore, projecting what I see in me to them; this is positive use of the ego defense of projection; one is not denying what one sees in ones self by attributing it to other people.)
These behaviors are neurotic. But at the conscious level, the normal person does not know that he is being neurotic in engaging in his title crazy behavior.
The normal person is an unconscious neurotic person, whereas the neurotic person is a conscious neurotic person. In a manner of speaking, the neurotic is a more conscious human being.
In metaphysical categories, the neurotic is at the verge of awakening from the dream of (spirit) self forgetfulness and is struggling to cling to his dream separated self, whereas the normal person is fast asleep and takes his dream self as his real self. See Helen Schucman, A Course in Miracles for an elaboration of these ideas. (8)

NORMAL AND ABNORMAL NARCISSISM

The Igbo person who appends ridiculous titles to himself is gratifying his desire for specialness; he is gratifying his infantile narcissism. Whereas all human beings have aspects of narcissism, some exaggerate it and have narcissistic personality disorder. Such persons have a compulsive desire to get other persons attention and to be admired by people; they often do not hesitate using people to enable them attain positions in society that they believe would garner them the attention they think that they need; they show no remorse or guilt feeling in exploiting and using people for their ends and discarding them when they are no longer useful to them. The narcissist feels inordinately inadequate and does whatever he does to enable him seem adequate in his and society’s eyes. Generally, he tends to be hard working and is successful, as human beings consider these things. As long as he is succeeding, he feels like he is a social somebody. But when he meets with failure, he tends to feel depressed, even suicidal.
The human child desires to seem like he is important and special and matter to a world that clearly does not treat him as if he matters. Natural workings like earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, draughts, tsunamis, plagues, diseases, virus, bacteria, and fungi sweep people to untimely death, as they sweep animals and trees to death.
To nature, human beings are no more important than animals and trees. But human beings want to seem special and important despite nature’s judgment that they are nothing significant; they want to seem special, so they give themselves useless titles that seem to make them important when, in fact, their bodies are mere food being prepared for worms. Human beings are nothingness pretending to be somethingness.

HATRED AND REJECTION OF THE REAL SELF IN NEUROSIS

For our present purposes, the salient point is that whereas all human beings desire importance, certain human beings exaggerate what all human beings do; aspire to becoming very important persons. These persons live in tremendous anxiety and tension. They know no somatic and psychological peace.
The neurotic lives a life of internal conflict, the conflict between his real self and his ideal self.
The real self is the bodily self and the ideal self is the mental self. The ideal self is exactly that, ideal, and not real. The ideal self is a mental construct, an abstraction, a fictional and mythical perfect self.
The ideal self is non existent but the constructor of it, the human person wants it to become real.
Human beings are animals that hate and reject their real selves (animal selves) and construct mental ideal selves and aspire to making these imaginary ideal selves come true.
The real is that which adapts to the world of matter, energy, space and time. The real must be imperfect for it is limited by the exigencies of the world it lives in and has no control over. You cannot stop the rain from falling.
The ideal self is merely a mental reconstruction of our imperfect selves and made perfect. In our thinking, in our minds, we invent ideal, perfect selves, but in the real world we are all imperfect selves, for our lives are restricted by the reality of space and time.
No matter how much you wish that you were godlike in your powers, the fact is that you are living in a body, body which is composed of matter, elements, atoms and particles hence not powerful. Your body is just a variety of biological organisms; you are an animal and a tree in a different form. Simply stated, your body is nothing important. You may delude yourself into thinking that you are very important; the president of the world, the fact is that you are food for worms. You will die, decay and smell to high heaven.
Human beings do not like to accept their real selves, their bodily selves; they hate what their bodies do, such as defecate and engage in filthy sex. (They hide those physical activities for they are ashamed of them.)
They reject the real bodily selves and invent imaginary mental ideal selves and attempt to become them.
As long as they quest after their idealized selves, they must live in conflict and tension.

MENTAL HEALTH LIES IN THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE REAL SELF

To live a tension free existence, one must give up the desire to live as an idealized self. One must embrace the bodily self. One must not be ashamed of the activities of the bodily self, such as eating food, defecating and having sex. One must let go of ones prideful ideal self. (Horney pointed out that pride is a neurotic property; it is the ideal self that feels proud; the real self, an animal self just is, it is neither good nor bad.)
The bodily self still has some tension; tension free existence is not an absolute proposition. Animals do not want to die. They fear death and protect themselves. If you come into a room where there are cockroaches and rats, they run away and go hide for they desire to live and do not want you to squash them to death. Their running away is motivated by their desire to live and their fear of harm and death. This biological fear means that they experience some somatic tension and do not have total peace.

If a human being accepted his bodily real self and gave up his idealized self concept and self image, he would experience the level of fear and tension found in animals, minimal fear and tension, the neurotically maximal fear and tension.
To not experience any fear and tension at all, to have perfect peace, the individual must die. I guess that is why they say RIP for the dead, Rest in Peace, for it is only when we die and no longer live in body, that we no longer defend our vulnerable bodies that we experience total peace.
As long as we live in this world and are in bodies, bodies threatened by microorganisms and other natural forces, we must have some fear and tension and not have perfect peace. But we can reduce our neurotic anxiety and tension and increase our peace by not aspiring after idealized self concepts and self images, and by accepting our real selves, our physical self.
I found peace by jettisoning my earlier quest for an idealized self concept and self image and by accepting my real self, my animal bodily self.
Now, I see myself as an animal and not more than that. I do not imagine myself anything other than an animal. Like all animals, I experience animal fear of harm and death of my body hence is a bit defensive. But I no longer have neurotic desire for an idealized self and do not have neurotic defense of that idealized self concept and self image. I tend to be relatively tension free and at peace with the world.

I live in relative peace but I see my brothers, particularly Igbo brothers living in neurotic tension and anxiety. I see them with their idealized self concepts and images and seeking to realize those fantasy selves. I see them wanting to be called professor, chief, and doctor Njoku, all in a neurotic effort to seem like they are very important persons. Their behaviors are efforts to negate the obvious, that they are food being prepared for worms.
I see them dance normal neurotic dances for worth and know that like me they are worthless and valueless.
I am totally worthless and valueless. The same goes for you. I have no illusion and or delusion of my worth. I do not see you as better than me, for I know that you, even if you are the president of the world are food for worms. I am not deceived by your crazy attempt to give you imaginary worth.

If a human being accepts his real self, his body and its worthlessness and valuelessness, he tends to give up defense of imaginary important self and only defend like animals do, hence tends to be only mildly fearful and tense.

SECULAR AND SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY

Nothing said in this paper negates the possibility of a spiritual dimension to us. In fact, I think that we are spiritual beings having physical experience. In other papers, I described my spiritual psychology.
I believe that we are part of one unified life, one life force that can be anthropomorphized as one unified self. That one self is simultaneously infinite selves.
One life, one self manifests in infinite lives/selves. In its real state, which is outside of matter, space and time, it is spirit. But in matter, space and time, it constructs the self concept and self image for each of us.
Each of us is an individualized aspect of one life, one self. As part of that unified life, unified self we are permanent, changeless and eternal. But in body, we are changeable and mortal. In unified spirit we have total worth and value. In body we have no apparent value and worth.
Spirit is all importance, body is nothing; unified self is grandeur, separated self is grandiosity. See Osuji, Real Self Psychology. (9)
In this paper, I am focusing on the temporal man, the man in body, space and time. That self is temporal, is born, grows old and dies and his body decomposes and returns to the elements, atoms and particles that constituted it. As body, I see no value to people, other than the imaginary values they give to themselves.
Imaginary values are no values. To prove that people have no value, if you, the reader, choose, you can kill me and, if I choose, I can kill you. This means that we are nothing important to nature.
Our physical importance is imaginary and pretended importance. (I used to amuse myself by watching people bedecked in fine clothes and jewelries; I would visualize them as dead and rotten bodies. I would, like Arthur Schopenhauer (10) ask: why take all that trouble to wear; why adorn the body with trinkets if it is food for worms? Human beings seemed absurd.)

For pour present purposes, the salient point is that the pursuit of the idealized important self, an imaginary self, exacerbates human fear, anxiety and tension. That pursuit contributes to people’s tendency to feel emotional upsets. In fact, the pursuit of an idealized self is implicated in most mental disorders, such as paranoia, schizophrenia, mania, depression, anxiety disorder etc.
If a person wants to live in relative peace, for absolute peace is impossible while we live in bodies, he must give up his imaginary important self and simply accept himself as unimportant self.
Accepting the self as unimportant does not mean that other people are more important than one. I do not consider any human being alive as better than other human beings. I do not care whether he lives at the American president’s house, the “Black House”, the Pope’s house at the Vatican, the Dibia House, he is still an animal.
When I visited those two places, I felt inordinately superior to the “children” living in them. I felt that they were no more than children pretending to be adults, animals pretending to be mighty human beings.

RELINQUISHMENT OF THE SEPARATED SELF CONCEPT

To live in peace and be tension free, the individual must give up his self concept and self image, all of it. Unfortunately, to live in body, to be on earth, the individual must have a self concept and self image, a personality. The most he seems able to do is ascertain that his self concept/self image/personality is flexible and not too rigid. (See David Shapiro, Neurotic Styles. (11))
In as much as the individual must have some sort of self concept, self image and personality, he must have a certain degree of fear, anxiety, anger, sadness; he must live in some somatic and psychological tension. As long as human beings live on earth, they must have tension and lack peace but they can reduce their tension and increase their peace by remaking their self concepts.
If the individual reinvents his self concept and makes it a loving and forgiving one, and uses it to serve social interests, he tends to be relatively less tense; he tends to be relatively peaceful and happy.
Jesus Christ said: I give you my peace. Indeed, his followers refer to him as the prince of peace. What that means is that whoever dedicates his life to loving; forgiving and serving all people tend to live in peace and is a bringer of peace to a world at war with itself.

REALISTIC AND IDEALISTIC JUDGMENTS

If it were possible to not judge ones self or other people, one would be in perfect peace. Judgment disturbs peace. But that is an ideal statement, not a realistic one. In real world, human beings must judge themselves and other people. They judge themselves with either real self standards or ideal self standards. Real self standards are the standard of animals in bodies, while ideal self standards are the standards of disembodied selves, abstract and unrealistic. Judging the self and other people with false ideal neurotic standards gives them tension.
It is feasible to judge with realistic standards and give up judging with ego idealistic perfect standards. Judge people as they are, not as you think that they should be, according to your perfect standards. People are animals living in body; therefore, judge them as you would judge an animal and you would not generate tension in them.
An animal eats, sleeps, and seeks survival and mates to reproduce it. There is no particular reason why it should reproduce itself except that it simply has a desire to do so.
Human beings are like animals; they do the same things that animals do: eat, sleep, have sex, reproduce and there is no particular reason why they should do so. They have no reason to live in body except that they have a desire to do so.
(You may say that they separated from their unified self to go seem to live as special separated selves, to dream that they are separated selves in bodies etc and that the dream is an illusion, since the individual cannot separate from the whole unified self; he is always unified while dreaming that he is separated; the most he can do is have a happy dream where he loves and forgives himself and his fellow dreamers but he cannot make his dream, separation real)
In the temporal universe, there is no particular reason to live or not to live. People simply live because they have an inner compulsion to live; they experience a drive to survive for as long as it is possible to do so in body (which is, perhaps, 120 years?).
In the meantime, if the individual loves and forgives all people and does something he truly likes doing and has an aptitude for doing and serves social interest, he will be relatively peaceful and happy.


THE CONCEPTUALIZER AND HIS CONCEPTS, THE DREAMER AND HIS DREAMS

Human beings have self concepts and self images, aka personalities and egos. There is no doubt that each of them, building on his biological and social experiences constructs his self concept and self image.
The individual is responsible for inventing his self concept and self image. He got a little help from other people in inventing his self concept and self image; just as he helps other people in conceptualizing themselves and their world.
The self concept and the self image were constructed by some force. Who is the conceptualizer, the image maker?
Obviously, the conceptualizer is not his concept; the image maker is not his image. The concept builder is different from his constructs. The various religions of mankind call the concept maker, the image maker spirit.
Spirit is not amenable to intellectual understanding. Spirit knows but does not understand. Understanding is for our world, the world of space, time and matter.
Ours is a perceptual world, not a knowing world. We do not know anything for certain. Our world is always changing, you cannot step into the same river twice; where things are always changing there can be no certainty of knowledge.
To perceive, to see there must be a self and not self, a you and I, a world of separation, space and time. To perceive there must be a world of things, a world of objects, bodies and forms. We live in the world of perception, the world of objects and perceiver of objects. This is the temporal world.
Unified spirit is not in the world of space, time and objects hence does not perceive things. The world of spirit is the world of oneness, sameness, and equality. Our temporal world is the opposite of the unified spirit world, for it is the world of separation, differences and inequality, whereas the unified world is the world of union. Our world is a world of change, time and mortality; unified spirit world is the world of changelessness and permanence.
Unified spirit knows itself as unified and has no sense of you and I, seer and seen, subject and object. The world of unified self, the world from which the conceptualizer, the image maker came from, is totally different from our world and cannot be understood with the categories of our world.
We leave the spirit world, for now, and concentrate on the empirical world, the world of the here and now, the world that science (which psychology is a part of).


CONCLUSION

The path to tension free living lies in understanding of the self concept, self image and personality. We must reconceptualize and rethink our self concepts and self images; we must accept the real self, the animal self and desisting from pursuit of neurotic, or psychotic, false ideal self.
If it were possible to have no self concept, no self image and no human personality, to extinguish the separated, special self and return to the unified self, folks would live in total peace. But that prospect is for after death existence in bodiless, that is, spirit mode.
In the here and now world, we can experience relative peace and happiness by shrinking our self concepts to realistic proportions.
I found peace in a world at war with itself by reconceptualizing who I think that I am; from idealistic to realistic; from hating and rejecting what is peculiar to human beings, animal behavior, to embracing them.
I no longer feel ashamed to eat, defecate, and even have sex, as I used to feel. Like Nietzsche, (12) I accept all that it means to be a human being, without pride and its opposite, shame. I just accept what is, as what is, without wishing that it be different to suit my idealistic wishes. In doing so, I found some peace in this warring world, a world where we declare war on our real selves, our animal, bodily selves by wishing to be purely mentally constructed selves, a world where we are at war with our unified spirit self by wishing to be separated special selves.


Ozodi Thomas Osuji, PhD



* These weekly series of articles can also be found at: www.africanpsychology.org

(Africa Psychology welcomes contributions by psychologists and other mental health professionals. Articles must be useful to actual people’s efforts to adapt to their world. These articles are also published in the journal: African Psychology. Contact: Ozodi@africainstituteseattle.org for further information.)



FURTHER READING

Alfred Adler, The Neurotic Constitution
American Psychiatric Association, DSM
Karen Horney, Neurosis and Human Growth
George Kelly, Psychology of Personal Constructs
Frederick Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Ozodi Thomas Osuji, Real Self Psychology
Carl Rogers, Client Centered Therapy
Arthur Schopenhauer, World as Will and Idea
Helen Schucman, A Course in Miracles
David Shapiro, Neurotic Styles
Harry Stark Sullivan, The Interpersonal Psychiatry of Harry Stack Sullivan
Victor Uchendu, The Igbos of South East Nigeria

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Nigerians are a Lot of Things, But Failure we are Not

by D. Akinsanya Juliuson (Great Britain) --- Many believe in the saying that “perception is reality.” People might end up saying if President Obasanjo’s administration is perceived as a failure, then Nigeria is perceived as a failure. And if Nigeria is perceived as a failure, then President Obasanjo himself is perceived as a failure. Nigeria and we (Nigerians) are a lot of things to a lot of people, but one thing we are not is a failure. Great leaders can take mediocre institutions and make them great.

Poor leaders can denigrate the quality of a great institution. I
believe there are three interrelated components of leadership. The first is strategic leadership; the second, operational leadership and the third human leadership. To ensure our government take the right strategic path, our government must develop a statement of its vision, values and goals. Nigerian government’s vision should be to enrich its citizen’s lives and to be the African Union’s most sort after nation. Our government’s vision should identify what businesses they are in and why they are in them. They should be able to stand up and say that “We enrich our citizen’s lives; that should be the privilege of the government they are in. Our government should be very clear about whom they are – A government of the people. They should be very clear about what they want to be – African Leader. It’s obvious that President Obasanjo does not want to be second, but first. Our government’s statement of values should define our culture. It should look for team players; look for people who are citizen – focused, look for practitioners, experts, dedicated Nigerians, and look for people who embody its style and
people who will go extra mile to enhance its reputation. Being a responsible government shouldn’t be a luxury for our government. At every opportunity, our leaders i.e. government should communicate their worthy goals to the citizens of Nigeria. Nigerian government’s vision, values and goals statements should ensure our government has the right big picture. Without an operational leadership getting the big picture right counts for little, and that’s the bottom line.

WE MUST NOT BE AFRAID IN TIMES OF DANGER

It’s been said that, if we have the power to change nothing else, we can change our mind. By change, I don’t mean waffle around; rather, I mean to adapt to necessity, to learn quickly and to go from a less creative state to a more creative one. We are learning. One of the things we are learning is that our learning process is without an end. Always, there is going to be more to understand. This, presumably, is why some people retreat into the world of academia, never to emerge. We can spend a lifetime studying just one topic, yet still never safely say we know all there is to know. That’s clearly not an option in our current situation. But we can (and should) study just a little more before we jump to any conclusion. When imbecility
and folly are laid low a powerful people will regard the liberty they have lost. The Lord says; don’t be upset when someone becomes rich, when his wealth grows even greater; he can not take it with him when he dies; his wealth will not go with him to the grave. Even if he is satisfied with this life and is praised because he is successful, he will surely join all his ancestors in death, where the darkness lasts for ever. His greatness, power, authority, arrogance, selfishness, evil mind can not save him from death; he will still die like a dog. This is a year that evil mobs (not the innocent Nigerians), will face the wrath of God. I believe in what my heart is telling me that, that same river that brings joy to the City of God, to the sacred house of the Most High, will by God bring peace, joy, happiness and harmony to our beloved country Nigeria. No country in the world has the right to appoint a leader over us. The Lord will surely appoint His chosen
leader for Nigeria. A leader the Most High has prepared his way. The Lord has stirred His chosen leader to action to fulfil His purpose and put things right. No one will hire him or bribe him to rebuild Nigeria. God will not reprimand or punish the poor, but agents of oppression, destruction and death in our midst. What needs to be said? Plenty! What needs to be done? Not a lot….yet. Let’s place the emphasis on discussion not decision. Let’s wait to see who says what to us. Let’s expect positive developments to unfold naturally. Let’s consider ourselves protected by the sincerity, integrity and honesty in our hearts. I am inviting Nigerians to give peace and magic a chance. If things seem to be going wrong, let’s ask why, and
look for easy ways to put them right. The mountains and hills may crumble, but the Lord’s love for Nigeria will never end. For this generation’s sake, He will forever keep His promise of justice and peace amongst His own children.

LET’S NOT BE AFRAID OF CHANGING SLOWLY BUT….OF STANDING STILL

According to Sirach; “A wise ruler will educate his people and his
government will be orderly. All the officials and all the citizens will be like their ruler. An uneducated king will surely ruin his people, but a government will grow strong if its rulers are wise. The Lord sees to the government of the world and brings the right person to power at the right time. The success of that person is in the Lord’s hands. The Lord is the source of the honour given to any official. A king may be alive today and dead tomorrow. When a person dies, all he then possesses is worms, flies and maggots. Pride has its beginning when a person abandons the Lord, his maker. Pride is like a fountain pouring out sin, and whoever persists in it will be
filled with wickedness. That is why the Lord brought terrible punishments on some people and completely destroyed them. The Lord has overthrown kings and puts humbler people in their place. The Lord has overthrown empires and completely devastated their lands. He destroyed some so completely that they are not even remembered any more. The Creator never intended human beings to be arrogant and violent. Arrogance and injustice are hated by both the Lord and man. Injustice, arrogance and wealth cause nations to fall from power, and others then rise to take their place”. Let’s ask ourselves some
questions; If you make something so difficult look so simple; If you have this internal fire, and internal intensity; If you let your work, intelligence, ideas, visions and wisdom speak for you; If you are a genius in your field and you have sacrificed a lot to be where and whom you are today; If you are too humble to see how great you are and you let your dreams, executions and convictions speak for you; If you are the epitome of modern day Nigerian and you want to be remembered as the nations most valuable and loyal ambassador; If you want to be remembered as a leader who rid your nation of evil mobs, character assassins, blackmailers, nepotism and tribalism. Are you a true citizen? Are you a leader? Are you a servant of the Most High? For every Nigerian with a heart, the moment has come for us to either PERISH or ADVANCE. I hope we chose the latter. We have no time to waste and right now, the only way forward is to attack corruption,
tribalism, nepotism, oppression, child prostitution and character
assassination with full force wherever it may be found. We have been given the opportunity to lift ourselves up and to change the face of our world especially, our continent Africa. However, our government must rid Nigeria of the mainspring of evil. Nigerians and our government need to question some desperate people’s political integrity, political honesty, personal honesty and loyalty to both Nigeria and Nigerians. Let’s be extremely careful not to place our confidence so much in a desperate politician, as to put a weapon in his hand which he might, in future turn upon us. We must be
grateful to God for his love for Nigeria. We must fight against every deadly disease that’s destroying our economy, our country’s image, our generation and our country’s future. We must learn to be civil to everyman as we know not who might prove our friend. We must find a way to offer support without letting the whole world know and without being disloyal to our country and our leaders. Let’s be philosophical and try to support rather than apportion blame. Let’s chose our moment and words very carefully. Let’s appreciate the fact that mutual respect (especially for our leaders), partnership, and
understanding between men and women are the best and only way. Let’s not be afraid of changing slowly; but let’s be afraid of standing still.

D. Akinsanya Juliuson
Cultural Diplomacy Practitioner and Specialist Investigator

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January 05, 2006

Ozodi Osuji Weekly Lectures on African Countries #1 of 54: Algeria

by Ozodi Thomas Osuji (Seatle, Washington) --- These 54 introductory lectures, each an hour long, offered by Ozodi Thomas Osuji, PhD (UCLA), are meant to give students freshman level acquaintance with African countries. Thereafter, students are encouraged to take the 200 level courses (West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, South Africa, North Africa, five courses).

Interested students are further encouraged to take the 300 level courses on specific African countries politics, history and economy.
The 400 level courses are deemed professional courses for advanced students. For the 400 level courses, students are expected to write a thesis of no less than one hundred pages on an African country or aspect thereof.
In all courses, to obtain grades, students are required to take an in class mid-term and final examination and to write a take home 20 pages (or more) paper. Of course, students can take the courses for interests only; such students are not given grades and, as such, are not required to take examinations.
(Grades are: 90-100= A; 80-90= B; 70-80= C; 60-70= D and 59 and under =Fail; Grade Point Averages: A= 4, B=3, C=2, D=1 and F= Fail.) This course lasts thirteen weeks, that is, one quarter. Credits: 4 credits
The lectures are in this order: 1. Algeria; 2.Angola; 3.Benin; 4.Botswana; 5. Burkina Faso; 6. Burundi; 7. Cameron; 8.Cape Verde; 9. Central African Republic; 10.Chad; 11.Comoros; 12.Congo; 13.Congo Democratic Republic; 14. Djibouti; 15.Egypt; 16.Equitorial Guinea; 17.Eriteria; 18.Ethiopia; 19.Gabon; 20. Gambia; 21.Ghana; 22. Guinea; 23.Guinea Bissau; 24. Ivory Coast; 25.Kenya; 26.Lesotho; 27.Liberia; 28.Libya; 29.Madagascar; 30.Malawi; 31. Mali; 32. Mauritania; 33. Mauritius; 34.Morocco; 35. Mozambique; 36.Namibia; 37.Niger; 38.Nigeria; 39.Rwanda; 40.Sao Tome and Principe; 41. Senegal; 42. Seychelles; 43. Sierra Leon; 44. Somalia; 45.South Africa; 46.Sudan; 47.Swaziland; 48.Tanzania; 49. Togo; 50.Tunisia; 51. Uganda; 52. Western Sahara; 53. Zambia; 54. Zimbabwe.
Each country’s vital statistics will be offered, followed with a brief introduction to its contemporary politics.
Each lecture notes is about five pages long; the fifty four lectures are about three hundred pages long. (Students can purchase the compiled lecture notes.)
The examinations will be based on the lecture notes and the assigned Textbook, Thomas Pakenham, The Scramble for Africa, 1870-1912. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1990.
Dr Osuji can be reached at (206) 464-9004; Ozodi@africainstituteseattle.org






1. ALGERIA



Formal Name: Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria.

Term for Citizens: Algerians.

Capital: Algiers. Population: 2,861,000.

Date of Independence: July 5, 1962, from France.

Major Cities: Oran, El Djazair (Algiers).

Geography:

Algeria is located in North Africa. It is bordered by Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya and Tunisia. Algeria encompasses a total area of 919,594 square miles, more than four fifth of it is desert. The Mediterranean cost is mountainous and relatively fertile and is the area of most of the population centers of Algeria. The Mid and Southern section of the country is mostly deserting. The coastal regions experience mild Mediterranean climate and mild winters and some rainfall. The desert is hot and arid.

Society:

Algeria’s current population is estimated at 31, 800,000; most Algerians live in the urban coastal lowlands.

Ethnic Groups:

Algeria has a mix of Arabs and Berbers. Arabs constitute about 80% of the population.

Languages: Arabic is the official language, with pockets of Berber language. Most educated Algerians, however, also speak French.

Religion: 99% of Algerians are Sunni Muslims. Christians constitute less than 1% of the population.

Education: Education is free at all levels, including compulsory free elementary education. Literacy rate is estimated at 70%.

Economy:

The economy is mixed with the state playing a greater role in it. Agriculture accounts for less than 10% of the GDP. GDP estimate: $167 billion; Per Capita: $5, 300. Monetary unit: Dinar.

History and Government:

During the 19th century, France occupied what is now called Algeria and encouraged French persons to settle in it and displace local Arab and Berber population. Thus, a substantial French population settled in Algeria. The French took over Algeria’s choice real estate and pushed the locals to the country’s arid regions. Algeria was considered a department (administrative district) of France itself and ruled as if it was part of France. The local population resented been controlled by foreigners and the result was a war of independence against France. That war led to the toppling of the French government in Paris in 1958, and the return to power of Charles De Gaul and the formation of the fifth French Constitution/Republic. The victorious Arabs achieved their independence in 1962, and formed a government. The government is based on the French model, a strong presidential system, many political parties and separation of religion from state activities. However, fundamentalist Islamic elements strive for theocracy and law based on Sharia (Islamic law). This produces a situation where the secular government is afraid of democratic elections least the Islamic majority wins and imposes its theocracy on society. Indeed, the government has had to annul an election reportedly won by fundamentalist Muslims. There is tension between the religious and secular elements in society and this tends to lead to repression of extreme religious activities, out of fear of dragging the country to fundamentalist lines. Algeria is currently divided into 48 regions for administrative purposes. The elected president governs through a prime minister, who is in charge of the day-to-day affairs of government.



CONTEMPORARY ALGERIAN POLITICS


In 1834, France annexed Algeria and encouraged its citizens to emigrate and settle in Algeria. These immigrants displaced native Arabs and Berbers. As would be expected, this colonization policy did not sit well with the native population hence skirmishes ensued between them and the French occupiers. In 1945, pro independence demonstrations erupted throughout Algeria. Several thousand Algerians were killed. As a result, Algerians in exile formed the Front de Liberation Nationale, FLN and subsequently initiated a pro independence war. The Algerian nationalist, Ben Bella, led this war. In 1958, Charles de Gaulle came to power in France and promised to end the war in Algeria. In 1959 president De Gaulle released Ben Bella from prison. In 1962 Algeria was given independence by France. It is reported that over 100, 000 Frenchmen and 1,000,000 Algerians lost their lives during the Algerian war for independence.
In 1962 Ben Bella became the first native president of Algeria. In 1965 Houari Boumedienne sized power and placed Ben Bella under house arrest for fifteen years. In 1978, Boumedienne died in office and was replaced by Benjedid Chadly as President of Algeria.
Algeria is composed of Arabs and Berbers. Arabs are the majority and rule the country. The Berbers erupted in protestation of Arab rule in 1980. This revolt is still going on, as sporadic anti government rallies.
FLN has consistently ruled Algeria from independence to the present. Although it fought with France for independence, the FLN has tilted towards France and is secular in its orientation. The Arab population is mainly Sunni Moslem.
Aware that a free democratic election might result in victory for Islamic parties, the secular FLN resisted free and fair elections. In 1990, the ruling FLN tolerated a free election and the Front Islamique du Salut, FIS, apparently won the election. Afraid of Islamic theocracy, the Algerian Army cancelled the result of that election. This resulted in the Islamic elements forming an armed band, Group Islamique Arme, GIA, and resorting to armed struggle. A civil war ensued in Algeria. That civil war is still, in one form or another, going on. Over 150, 000 persons reportedly have been killed, so far in that civil war.
In 1994, the Algerian Army tried to extricate itself from government by appointing Liamine Zeroual as the president. In 1996, Zeroual outlawed religious parties from future elections and in 1999 held an election, an election where religious parties were barred from participating. Abdelaziz Bouteflika was elected the president. Election improprieties were alleged. Bouteflika won reelection in 2002, an election boycotted by opposition parties.
One party, FLN has essentially ruled Algeria since its independence from France in 1962. This party is secular and fears free democratic elections for it believes that in such elections fundamentalist Islamicists would win and proceed to transform the country into an Islamic theocracy. To avoid this happenstance, FLN is said to have either rigged elections or out rightly prevented religious parties from contesting elections.
On paper, Algeria has many political parties and, as such, would seem a democracy. There is Algeria National Front, Democratic National Rally, Islamic Salvation Front, and Society for Peace Movement, and many other political parties. Many pressure groups seem to exist, particularly religious interest groups, such as the FIS.
The political parties and interest groups exercise influence on Algeria’s bicameral Parliament (National People’s Assembly or Al- Majilis 389 members, and the Senate, 144 members; members of the Al Majilis serve five years and members of the Senate serve six years. The Senate is partly elected and partly appointed by the President.)
Law making seems democratic, that is, Bills are introduced, debated and voted on and must pass the two Houses and go to the President for approval or vetoing. In reality, it seems that Bills that make it to the President are those that serve the secular goals of the ruling party and its military supporters.
The struggle between the secular rulers and the Islamicists appear inevitable in Algeria and other Arab countries. It would seem that free and fair election would favor Islamicists since they appear to be in the majority in the population. Democrats would seem to like such free elections. On the other hand, given the theocratic nature of fundamentalist Islam, it follows that it could impose Sharia and other non-democratic ideas of governance on the country and thus eliminating the very democratic process that brought it to power. In this prickly situation, it seems that the West tacitly permits the secular rulers of Algeria to stay in power through antidemocratic means.
The Algerian economy is heavily dependent on hydrocarbon; hydrocarbon accounting for over 60% of the national budget, 30% GDP and over 95% of export revenues. Algeria has the seventh largest Gas reserve in the world and ranks second in exporting Gas. It ranks 14th in oil reserves.
Given the recent (2005) sky rocking of oil prices, Algeria is making substantial revenue from oil and is running trade surpluses. But despite this substantial revenue from oil, Algeria has a large population of poor persons. Many of these poor Algerian find their way to France and constitute a large percentage of the Moslem population in France.
Algeria’s international politics is generally limited to Arab issues. It supports the exiled Sahrawi Polisario Front in its struggle with Morocco. Morocco claims right to Western Sahara and the Polisario fights for independence of that country.
Over 165, 000 Western Saharans, Sahrawi Arabs, who have chosen not to live in Morocco administered Western Sahara, live in Southern Algeria towns like Tindouf, as refugees.
Algeria and Morocco have border claim issues. Algeria also has border disputes with Libya; the disputed lands with Libya contain substantial oil.
Armed robbers operating in the Sahara Desert sometimes make incursions into Southern Algeria and destabilize its towns. The Algerian Army is kept busy chasing these bandits out of Algerian Sahel territories.
It is clear that the rulers of Algeria have democratic impulse but is afraid of the consequences of a free and fair election, Islamicists control of the country. The rulers, mostly Arabs, are also afraid of the demands of the minority Berber population for that could lead to the bifurcation of the country. These fears appear to leave them little choice but to resort to undemocratic means in trying to be democratic and preserve their territorial integrity. There seem no easy and apparent solution to this dilemma at this time. Uneasy peace seems to exist in Algeria, peace that is likely to be disturbed at any time.

Ozodi Thomas Osuji, PhD
AFRICA INSTITUTE SEATTLE
Weekly Lectures on African Countries

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January 03, 2006

The Sad and Pathetic End of Obasanjo

by Aonduna Tondu (New york, USA) --- Today, only the most cynical or brazenly sycophantic in our society will deny the fact that Nigeria is witnessing a nadir in the welfare of its people. The gloom that one sees everywhere is to a large extent directly attributable to the criminal conduct of perhaps the most callous despot in the history of our nation. It is worth reiterating that Obasanjo’s corrupt and dangerous ways have brought the country to the brink. There is death and destruction everywhere. The catalogue of the Obasanjo regime’s atrocities just keeps expanding : Odi, Zaki-Biam, the 2003 electoral heist, Anambra, Bayelsa, etc.

Other assaults on Nigeria and its putative democracy as illustrated by the dictator’s illegal take-over of the structures of the PDP and the imposition of some of the more despicable characters in the Nigerian political firmament as its officers have also immensely contributed toward the sordid legacy of one of Africa’s most enduring political disasters in living memory. All this implies a sad and pathetic end for Obasanjo, for history has never been kind to any soi-disant leader who has so ignominously treated his fellow humans the way Obasanjo has trampled on Nigerians in the last six years of a most primitive kleptocracy masquerading as a national government.

It is amazing that confronted with his disastrous track record, this punchinello of African statesmanship and his sinister henchmen take refuge in the tired and nauseating argument that the tyrant needs more time in order to «consolidate» his anti-people policies so abusively referred to as reforms. So, even as the average Nigerian sinks deeper in the pit of despair that has been his lot since 1999, the dictator from Otta has refused to change course. As a matter of fact, there has been an escalation of the political rascality Nigerians have come to associate with an individual who seems incapable of self-redemption. As I write, Nigerian democracy is once again being brutally assaulted, this time in Oyo with the despot apparently offering tacit support to the perpetrators of that transgression. The single-minded obsession to illegally hang on to power beyond 2007 would seem to be the only thing that matters to the Nigerian Caligula and the like-minded bunch around him. As I have argued elsewhere, Obasanjo has committed so many atrocities and human rights abuses against Nigerians that he is afraid of the inevitable consequences to him should a truly democratic government emerge after his scandalous imposition. The desperation to sit tight has taken the form of a multi-pronged attack on civil society : the hounding of political enemies, real or imagined, the divide-and-conquer strategy as evidenced by the crude use of region-based outfits, the corrupt use of state resources like the EFCC under the spineless puppet called Nuhu Ribadu. Nuhu Ribadu and his EFCC constitute an eloquent example of all that is wrong with the Obasanjo regime, namely, the corrupt and immoral use of state structures in the promotion of a perverse personal ambition .

As a willing tool of the Obasanjo authoritarianism, Ribadu cannot exempt himself from involvement in the regime’s excesses. His shameful role in the recent military occupation of Bayelsa state prior to the forceful removal of the governor speaks volumes as to Ribadu’s identity as an agent of dictatorship and repression. Ribadu and his EFCC have become an integral part of the despot’s reckless, immoral and undemocratic deployment of the nation’s resources in the pursuit of a sinister personal agenda with sectarian overtones. In the so-called anti-corruption scheme of the regime, Ribadu has consistently demonstrated his readiness to sumbit to the very forces of evil that continue to trample on Nigerians and their collective aspirations.The people of Nigeria must reject the likes of Ribadu for the latter aid and abet the enemies of the nation in their nefarious activities. In a decent society, a post-Obasanjo period should necessarily see Ribadu and his type answering for their many sins against the nation.

The pertinent question Nigerians should be asking themselves at this critical moment is how to robustly and effectively respond to the moral perversions of a despot who has shown that he has no qualms whatsoever resorting to the most shameful of tactics in the pursuit of selfish or unpatriotic aims. History has taught us that there are options available to Nigerians in their desire to rid themselves of profligate, sit-tight tyrants in the mould of Obasanjo.

But first, Nigerians should remind themselves that one critical factor of the full-blown dictatorship Nigerians are living under today is the role of the Nigerian media and especially that of the so-called Kabiyesi press in Lagos. As early as 1999 when it was obvious to much of Nigeria that Obasanjo had no interest in seeing genuine democracy take root in our country, not to mention his numerous crimes against fellow Nigerians, prominent actors of the Lagos axis of the national press chose to behave as if they were imbued with a moral duty to defend the regime of Obasanjo against imaginary undemocratic forces. They were joined in this unbecoming role by leaders of so-called pro-democracy outfits like the NLC leader. Nigerians still remember vividly how Oshiomhole of the NLC and several newspaper columnists resorted to intimidation and blackmail tactics in order to silence those calling for public protest against the 2003 electoral brigandage called 419. Prior to 2003, leading voices in the media even went as far as mentioning what a prominent columnist with the Guardian (Lagos) called the « religious rationalization at the heart of the Obasanjo presidency »! By that, it was meant that Christian values formed the basis of Obasanjo’s political conduct! Of course, the uncritical, knee-jerk support offered the Obasanjo regime by the media and some sections of the human rights and pro-democracy establishment up to 2003 in particular did contribute in no small measure in providing a dubious legitimacy to a rogue regime that had already shown that it deserved only derision and disdain from citizens. Even nowadays, some media people continue to incredibly talk of giving «the benefit of doubt » to the Abuja dictator as far as his policies and political conduct are concerned. These days, some self-proclaimed pro-democracy cum human rights activists like Beko Kuti would seem to have discarded their duplicitous masks in favour of open support for the dictator as can be attested by Kuti’s suspected pro-regime infiltration of PRONACO. So, human rights and pro-democracy activists as well as national media practitioners cannot in good conscience exonerate themselves regarding the current mess in the land. It is simply not enough for our media men and women to express anguish or dismay regarding the apparent emasculation of Nigeria’s political class in the face of the danger called Obasanjo. Individually and collectively, the national media and other strategic sections of the Nigerian society should seek to atone for their respective roles in the sustenance of the current murderous dictatorship with pretensions to leadership.What this means is that Nigerians must shed their indecision and clannish mindset in favour of a more robust and concerted approach in dealing with a blood-thirsty despot. They must be prepared to return fire for through the use of democratic and popular means. They should borrow a leaf from the actions of those genuine pro-democracy activists who not long ago, did fight another despot, Abacha, to a standstill. Obasanjo and his horde of hangers-on must be made to understand that they do not own Nigeria and that the choice of the next president, like that of other elected representatives, is for Nigerians to make in a transparent and democratic fashion and as such cannot be the prerogative of a backward cabal represented by Kabiyesi and his predatory gang.

Faced with a Bokassa-like tin-god, the nation’s democratic forces must discard their penchant for sectarian involvement and suggestion. Obasanjo has sought so far to use ethno-religious differences within the Nigerian society in order to maintain his ghastly grip on the nation. The abiding lesson of history that should guide Nigerians as they come out in a concerted effort to once and for all confront Obasanjo and his backers – alien or local - and take back their country is that ultimately, what matters most is that no dictator be allowed to hold the nation to ransom without a purposeful challenge. Abacha’s sad and pathetic end is living proof of that.

Aonduna Tondu.

New York
E-mail : tondua@yahoo.com

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