THE GOD OF MY LIFE

The lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places, the goodliness of my heritage shone so bright today.  I have all the reasons to say to Him: you are the God of my Life, my anchor, my hope, the lifter of my head, the one who showers me with mercy, love and kindness, the one who answers my prayers.

 

My second son, Onyedikachi - the second of my Generals - turned 8 today. I remember that beautiful Sunday morning on the 20th day of November, 2005 when he came. He seemed in such a hurry to come conquer or how do you explain it.  My wife - the ''Acharaugo'' went into labour about 3am, contraction started gradually, but steadily.  I called up the Gynaecologist and he asked us to hit the clinic at the first break of daylight.  I prepared her, cleaned her up and was ready.  Shortly before 7am, I got her into the car, drove into the clinic at about 7am or a little past.  Barely 15 minutes later, Onyedikachi came forth, beautiful, sweet as I carried him in my arms - my second grand victory, his elder brother had come some 2 years before.  I had yet another grand victory, as my third General, Ifechukwu - my professor - was to come a little over 3 years after.

 

While I was still celebrating my son, the glorious bombshell of blessing came in from Norway - that great and enviable country in Europe. My younger brother, the one that sucked my mothers breast after me, the one whom limiting situations in Nigeria forced to run away in the hope of finding a good future and actualising his dreams, has just been graciously granted full rights to live freely, work and find fulfilment in that great country.

 

I am a strong believer in the equality of all men and women created by the Living God.  I strongly believe in the liberty of all to choose to call anywhere in the world home and to be freely allowed to do so if he/she has shown enough will, love and committment to the values and aspirations of such society.  True, I love my country of birth today.  Truer still, I love a few other countries very much.  In these, leadership has not failed the people, true nationalists, statesmen and lovers of the common good still abound - has always abounded. In these, every citizen, from the day of conception, matters and is loved to the best of the states abilities.  In these, citizens are ever prepared to die for fatherland or motherland, whichever you choose.

I am proud that the generation of my bloodline is extending beyound the boundaries of our origin.  I salute again, with great love and worship, the creator himself, the essence of life and the one who knows the end from the beginning.  I salute countries and governments of countries (past and present) of the world, who still give hope to peoples from such countries as mine today. They make us still believe that there can be a true nation state, serving her people in all facets and delivering enduring dividends of a true nation state - freedom, justice, equity, equal opportunities, love and care, etc.

I salute my beloved son, Onyedikach at 8.  I salute my beloved brother, Uchenna on his new status in an enviable country.  I enjoin him to serve and love the country in the best way possible and then soar to whatever heights he wishes.  See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil and do no evil.  Fly the banner of our bloodline for we are noble.  Make mama proud, she is a woman of great honour, a mother hard to find.

To the GOD OF MY LIFE, than you so much faithful and loving father.

I DO SOLEMNY RESOLVE

I, EMMANUEL FRANCIS CHUKWUDI OBASI, DO SOLEMNY RESOLVE BEFORE GOD, TO TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR MYSELF, MY WIFE AND MY CHILDREN.

I WILL LOVE THEM, PROTECT THEM AND SERVE THEM AND TEACH THEM THE STATUES OF GOD AS THE SPIRITUAL LEADER OF MY HOME.

I WILL BE FAITHFUL TO MY WIFE, TO LOVE AND HONOUR HER; AND BE WILLING TO LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR HER AS CHRIST DID FOR ME.

I WILL TEACH MY SONS TO LOVE GOD WITH ALL OF THEIR HEART, ALL OF THEIR MIND AND ALL OF THEIR STRENGTH; AND I WILL TRAIN THEM TO HONOUR AUTHORITY AND LIVE RESPONSIBLY.

I WILL CONFRONT EVIL, PURSUE JUSTICE AND LOVE MERCY.  I WILL TREAT OTHERS WITH KINDNESS, RESPECT AND COMPASSION.

I WILL WORK DILIGENTLT TO PROVIDE FOR THE NEEDS OF MY FAMILY

I WILL FORGIVE THOSE WHO HAVE WRONGED ME AND RECONCILE WITH THOSE I HAVE WRONGED.  I WILL WALK IN INTEGRITY AS A MAN ANSWERABLE TO GOD.  I WILL SEEK TO HONOUR GOD, OBEY HIS WORD AND DO HIS WILL.

AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.

29/10/2012

(Culled from the movie “Courageous” by Alex Kendrick, 2011)

YORUBA-IGBO-HAUSA: TOGETHER BY DESIGN, LET'S WORK IT OUT

I have been greatly jolted by the vicious hate exchanges of the last two weeks, between brothers and sisters of the south-east and south-west of Nigeria.  Forget whatever the cause is; it does not really matter to me.  It got to a point that I stopped reading altogether; main writings and comments alike. I was jolted because it finally dawned on me that I may have been living in a fool’s paradise, thinking that we were actually brothers and sisters; people who no doubt were brought together, not by deliberate choice but by design – God’s design I dare say.  Somebody may say that I must be a poor student of history – lacking in the history of colonial and independent Nigeria, and the past existence between the brothers and sisters of these geographies of Nigeria –to think of brotherliness, design, and all that.  I am not I must say. It is just that my upbringing, my childhood and my relationships in the last 3 decades of my life (by the way, I belong to the post war era), has virtually made it difficult to think otherwise, in spite of all the history that I have packed into my brain.

A few days ago, I was on the phone with a bosom childhood friend of mine, from the south-west; one that I am proud of till tomorrow.  We were short of weeping over the phone discussing recent events in Nigeria – we never cease to do so each time we talk. We recounted our growing up days in south-south Nigeria, where design first brought us together.  In our little society then were children from all the geographies in Nigeria that you can think of.  We did things together – good, bad, ugly.  We competed, fought, settled, forgave one another quickly and moved on, schemed, dreamed together-all in very healthy circumstances.  When necessary, as you will expect with children/teenagers/young people, we formed our small groups based on attraction/content of character as we saw at the time; not recognising which region the other came from.  The others’ idiosyncrasies were interpreted as being of the individual in question and had nothing to do with his race or tribe or ethnicity or colour or parentage, etc. – there were no such in our dictionaries at the time.  We influenced each other in our different ways.  Of course you will expect some to have certain character trait that was stronger/more positive and which naturally stood out, influencing more. This cut across all the children in my little community – we still talk of these with some fondness today, and appreciate each other for the influences we had on each other which have contributed immensely to our lives today.

I was glad that I had this contact/orientation before I read much of our chequered history and listened to stories.  My father and subsequent guardians for one never told me any tales of hate (my father was a teacher and great story teller).  My father’s war stories were more about display of valour and fortitude in the face of daunting difficulties than that of a hate combat. I was later to read on my own of the real and remote/underlying causes of the war.  Was I sad about the things I read about? Yes I was and still am.  To think that the generations before me could not live in the atmosphere I did in my growing up days and possibly carried on same into adulthood was and still is saddening.  To think that our tolerance for one another could so easily decay, allowing us to betray, kill, counter-kill  and then take up arms to destroy/kill same persons that a week before, were our immediate neighbours – persons we ate and drank together - were unthinkable to me.  All I read could not completely change my opinion of my childhood friends from ethnic nationalities different from mine, hard as such tried.  My experiences as a growing child were the most real and objective to me; what I read were before I came on the scene – they were the accounts of others.

You can see my pain, when the volcanoes of these past weeks started erupting.  To think that such deep seated hate exists in the hearts of a people who have co-existed this many years was unbelievable.  To also think that many of the dramatis personae of the past years of hate have passed on – meaning that the agents of the present are mostly those of my near or immediate generation - and yet this hate persists is even more worrying.  Could it be the case that they did not have the opportunity to experience the atmosphere of my growing up days?  But I have also heard others, who grew up in other regions of the country; recount their experiences similar to mine.   Is it that they have simply been overtaken by the accounts in history/story books – the books I have refused the opportunity to overtake me? Or that they do not see any design/divinity in our co-existence? Or they have been made lesser men/women by the forces of hate, prejudice, impure jealousy and all such despicable vices that so easily enslave men and women?

I have had seasons to doubt our co-existence, but my reasons have never been strong enough to truly convince me; the experience of my growing up days is always one big factor that fights my doubts to a standstill.  Above all else, I am convinced that this is by divine design.  All continents, regions, countries, races, ethnicities, tribes, etc., need each other; if not today, certainly tomorrow.  Just like the master today, may someday need his or her servant of today and vice versa.  This is Gods design and it is forever.

Our past leaders have (as in many other areas), failed us in not promoting strong mutual co-existence.  Their recorded utterances, decisions and conducts at various times negated the fact that we have been brought together by divine design and so must seek to outdo each other in deep/whole hearted tolerance, trust, respect, forgiveness and love.  They have not sought to harness the great benefits of our peculiar diversity, even at great pains.  I saw the beauty and strength of this diversity in my growing up days.  I looked through the year book of my children’s school recently and discovered to my joy that my last son’s best friend was from the south-west.  I also looked up another child who chose my son as his best friend and again discovered he was from the south-west.  This was the atmosphere during my growing up days and it made me very happy. I must confess that I would have been greatly disappointed if all of my sons’ best friends were from their geographic divide; it would have saddened me the more in the light of recent happenings in the country and my reminiscences.

In discussing with my bosom friend of nearly three decades recently, we agreed that our generation must rise up and win where our past leaders failed – pursuing strong bonds as a people brought together by divine design.  This goes beyond lofty speeches and claims in write-ups, although out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  The convictions in our speeches and write-ups must be demonstrated by our daily utterances, decisions and conduct, in every place and situation.  We must seek to harness the positives in our brashness, cockiness, flamboyance, tact, suaveness, loquaciousness, etc. for our common good and in building a solid and prosperous country.  Truth again is that we are here for the long-haul, in whatever arrangement – regional, federal (fiscal, etc.).  Even if we chose tomorrow to exist as smaller independent units, we will still co-exist in some unique respect – there still will be elements of divine design in our cross border relationships.

I ask every member of my generation to henceforth cease engaging in these unpleasant hostilities.  Let’s direct our writing energies in articulating the way forward as we prepare ourselves for taking over the mantle of leadership; some have already done so – in business, industry, academia, politics and governance, etc.  Those who have been dragged into these murky waters of ethnic hate and bigotry must retrace their steps immediately. We must engage our intellects again in searching out the very principles and dynamics of human co-existence.  All of us are wanderers; we were at different places at different times.  This may certainly not be our last places while still here, you never know.

PREVENTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES: A CASE FOR DECENT WORK IN NIGERIA

The International Labour organisation (ILO), marks today, April 28 as the World Day for Safety and Health at Work with the theme ‘‘The Prevention of Occupational Diseases’’.  In its document to support this years’ observation, the organisation defines an occupational disease as ‘‘a disease contracted as a result of an exposure to risk factors arising from work’’.  To buttress, the Wikipedia free encyclopaedia describe an occupational disease as ‘‘any chronic ailment that occurs as a result of work or occupational activity……typically identified when it is shown that it is more prevalent in a given body of workers than in the general population, or in other worker populations’’.

The 2013 ILO document on this years’ day declares that ‘‘occupational diseases cause huge suffering and loss in the world of work.  Yet, occupational or work-related diseases remain largely invisible in comparison to industrial accidents, even though they kill six times as many people each year’’.  It is against this backdrop that the organisation has aptly chosen this years’ theme. 

Pneumoconioses is a deadly and globally well-known occupational diseases; this is a chronic lung disease resulting from widespread exposures to silica, coal, asbestos and various mineral dusts in mining, quarrying, construction and other manufacturing processes.  Others of concern include skin diseases (eczema, urticaria, sunburn and skin cancer); mental and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) - conditions affecting the body’s muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments and nerves.  The ILO notes that while Pneumoconioses is well known/reported and widespread, mental and MSDs are relatively new and on the rise across occupations in countries of the world.  Other emerging risks include poor ergonomic conditions (poorly designed workplaces/workstations, bereft of basic tools and comfort); exposure to electromagnetic radiation and psychosocial risks.  These conditions among others are being exacerbated by technological and social changes as well as global economic conditions.

In 2012, under the theme ‘‘Promoting Safety and Health in a Green Economy’’, the ILO made a case for closely linking safer and healthier work places and ‘‘decent’’ work for all to the worlds shift towards a greener and more sustainable economy.  In other words, green economies should produce green (decent) jobs – jobs that not only empowers financially, but assures wellbeing, preservation of life and longevity.

This years’ theme focuses on prevention, which would mean tackling the root causes of occupational diseases.  Most importantly, emphasis is again placed on the ‘’decent work’’ paradigm.  In the words of the ILO ‘’prevention is key since it not only protects the lives and livelihoods of workers and their families but also contributes to ensuring economic and social development.  Continuing, the organisation maintains that ‘’concerted efforts are needed at international and national levels to raise awareness about occupational diseases and to tackle once and for all the Decent Work deficits that are their root causes’’.

‘’Decent Work’’ is at the heart of the ‘‘prevention paradigm’’ being advocated by the ILO.  It is about good jobs which apart from offering adequate wages, job security, reasonable career prospects, and worker rights; is carried out under safe working conditions – conditions that guarantees that the worker will live long enough to savor in retirement, his/her days of active and honest labor.  The fact of the matter is that occupational diseases/illnesses develop over time and are caused either by the work itself or by the employees’ working environment.  In Nigeria today, the majority of available jobs – in both public and private sectors – are carried out under conditions that are very far from decent.  The conditions in most offices/work locations in the country are so un-dignifying, short of saying horrifying. This is true (with limited exceptions though) for the private and public sectors - educational institutions, manufacturing, construction, quarrying, the media, transportation, etc.  The armed forces and police as well as private security and paramilitary organisations/agencies are not left out.  The absence of data will not allow us to appreciate the enormity of occupational afflictions that workers in Nigeria have suffered and are still suffering. The ILO notes that ‘‘globally, more than half of all countries still do not collect adequate statistics for occupational diseases’’.  Where available, the data ‘‘concern mainly injuries and fatalities’’.

In  a study on the ‘‘Epidemiology of occupational disease among bricklayers in Nigeria’’, Soyinka, F. (1977), reported that ‘‘clinical and epidemiological investigations on 240 bricklayers in Nigeria show an incidence of 2,3% of cement-eczema, 2,0% of wear and tear dermatosis, and 2,8% of sensitivity against chrome’’.   Continuing, the report noted that ‘‘the workers with longest professional contact with cement showed the highest incidence of cement-eczema, and sensitivity against chrome’’.  In another study on the ‘‘Pulmonary functions of wheat flour mill workers and controls in Ibadan, Nigeria’’, Ijadunola and others (2005), concluded that ‘‘wheat flour-mill workers in Nigeria are at an increased risk of developing abnormalities of lung functions…..., and the dominant pattern of respiratory disease among them is airway obstruction.  Ijadunola and his team had noted in their abstract that ‘’the impact of grain dust exposure on lung functions of grain handlers in Nigeria has remained largely undocumented’’.  This lack of documentation as the ILO had noted, may not have changed much today.

As Nigeria grapples with the numerous socio-economic and political challenges confronting her as a developing economy, and with vision 20-2020 in focus, it is expedient that she does not neglect to the background the serious issue of occupational diseases and the push to address its root causes which is linked to ‘‘decent work’’. The ILO reports that ‘‘many governments and employers’ and workers’ organisations are placing now greater emphasis on the prevention of occupational diseases’’ albeit, ‘’prevention is not receiving the priority warranted by the scale and severity of the occupational disease epidemic’’.  As is the case  in several instances and sadly too, the developed economies are far ahead in this push, leaving countries like Nigeria at the stage of either having not given this the serious consideration it deserves or are yet to have an articulated policy document with clear road map for implementation.

True, job creation is top on the agenda of our government at all levels and this is good – part of the fundamental responsibilities of the state to her citizenry.  We have read about hundreds and thousands of jobs that have either been created or are being created at both federal and state levels.  The questions will be what are the nature of these jobs, under what environments are (or will) employees (be) fulfilling their job roles and responsibilities, what minimum improvements will these jobs bring to their lives.  It may not be so much about big remuneration, equitable remuneration as I will love to call it, but rather about the other elements of a ’’decent work’’ – ergonomics, safety, health and general wellbeing.  These minimum elements bring real value and dignity into any job and in a way compensates for small pay package of today.  They assure that the worker does not pass away through occupational disease/illness before he or she has the opportunity to enjoy his or her first pay cheque.

Nigeria must join the ‘prevention paradigm’’ move, at the heart of which is tackling the ‘‘Decent Work deficits’’ – the chief root causes of occupational diseases/illnesses. I strongly believe that a strong ‘‘Decent Work’’ culture will help reduce and may be eliminate corruption, engender patriotism, diligence, hard-work, commitment and patriotism as well as strengthen the value of ‘‘dignity in labour’’.

PORT HARCOURT – ENUGU EXPRESSWAY: A Beauty to Travel

Roads-good roads-are no doubt a critical infrastructure for national development and prosperity; call it transformation and you are correct.  To buttress, great roads, connects cities, towns, villages and hamlets. By so doing, cross border trade and commerce of all imaginable dimension thrives; movement of men, women, children and goods are safer, prompter and better cost effective.  What more, the risks of unnecessarily loosing skilled Nigerians- potential administrative messiahs of tomorrow- are either eliminated or greatly reduced.  When such occur, it will only be because of individual disregard to basic tenets of road usage, defensive driving if you like.

The Port Harcourt - Enugu federal expressway is one of such numerous excellent roads in the south-east/south-south Nigeria.  I had the honor of traveling this road few days ago- I have not in a very long while- and it was great joy of a travel that I had.  Built in the late seventies and recently reconstructed by the federal government of Nigeria, this important precursor of movement, trade, commerce and integration for the people of south-east and south-south Nigeria, is a perfect example of what roads- transformation associated roads- should be in the region specifically and the country in general.

The recent reconstruction was as a result of the deft political and administrative moves of governors of the south-east states, supported all the way by those of the south-south. Realizing the importance of this road to the economies and peoples of the region, the governors had engaged and pressured the central government endlessly.  It got to the point where they resorted to carrying placards to Aso Rock Villa, demanding not just the reconstruction of the road in question, but other economically critical roads in the region.  While they were on this, senators and legislators of the region also joined suit, literally carrying placards in the upper and lower chambers of the national assemby. Their fights paid off and today, we have the beauty of a road, the Port Harcourt- Enugu Expressway. 

My recent travel on this road commenced somewhere on east-west road, very near to Eleme junction in Port Harcourt.  The east west road itself was another beauty of a road to behold, at least the little I saw from where my journey commenced.  From here, we navigated to Eleme junction, then to Oyigbo (Obigbo?), then to Aba, Umuahia, Okigwe and then the Enugu stretch, a few kilometers to Awgu/Mgbowoh junction, popularly called “aki n  ukwa junction” in reference to a local food delicacy commonly sold in this area.  By the time we got to this junction, we had done four hours.  Back in the days (before the recent reconstruction), this would normally take between one hour forty five minutes and two hours.  The remaining stretch is just about thirty minutes before you hit Enugu. All this would be at national permitted speed limits on such roads.

Why did we choose to do this stretch in four hours when we could have done so in two or a little less?  Answer, we were busy admiring the beauty of the road; stopping severally to closely admire the construction and accompanying embellishments at specific areas on the road.  We saw a number of haulage vehicles (trailers) parked on the road at numerous points, and the drivers/passengers admiring the road.  In several instances, goods and materials- bags of garri, flour, cement, food items, raw materials, name it- where seen offloaded by the road sides, and in some places in the middle of the road. Why?.  The people so loved the road that they did not want to complete their journeys quickly. They wanted to waste as much time as possible on the road, possibly sleep over so they can fully savour its beauty and have enough stories to tell others who have not been opportuned to travel on this great and beautiful road.

In some instances, vehicle drivers were so lost in admiration that they did not know when their vehicles skipped the road limit and toppled over, causing loss of lives and heavy damage to goods.  However, the people concerned expressed happiness at the occurrences, insisting that the beauty of the road far outweighed their losses-neither the government nor the road were to blame.  It was as interesting as it was intriguing- I still wonder.  One other wonder on this road was a particular segment, in a community (cannot recall now) situated between Okigwe and the junction leading to Ishiagu-the home to Crushed Rock Industries, an important quarry industry.  This community is home to a cattle garage (popularly referred to as Gariki), which used to be located within the Okigwe area.  Here, scores of haulage vehicles have almost taken over this great dual carriage way. Why? They have all parked to admire the wonder and beauty of a road, especially the exquisite mini-resort, built to enable travelers stop and refresh before continuing their journey.  We had to also stop and park as there was no way we could continue unless the other folks moved their vehicles.  We had to take it easy before somebody snapped on us, possibly wondering why we could not appreciate the wonder they had stopped/parked to admire for only a while?  Finally, we got into Enugu after nearly five hours of travelling (should have been under two and a half back in the days), on the great and beautiful Port Harcourt-Enugu Expressway, recently reconstructed by the federal government of Nigeria.

On getting home, we refreshed and got down to talking, discussing, sharing/comparing notes.  We praised first, the peoples governors/governments in the states of the south-east.  We also praised the south-south governors for their love and support. We did not forget the state assemblies and their leaderships; they were the ones that kept the governors on the edges of their seats until justice was achieved in regard to this great road.  Then we stood up for the federal lawmakers of south-east extraction, they are true sons and daughters of the region-selfless, committed, just and upright, thinking day and night of the wellbeing and happiness of their people.  We did not forget the support of governors and legislatos from other political and economic zones of the country. They are also spearheading such transformations in their regions.  Posterity will not forget their labours for the genuine transformation of the regions of Nigeria?  And then the biggest one, we praised and praised and praised the government at the centre.  Ofcourse, we recognized the untiring and sacrificial efforts of successive ministers under whose supervision, the region witnessed such amazing transformation in road infrastructure. Next we hear is that a committee has been set up to map out strategy for sustaining and improving on the success achieved. The committee will be headed by an elder statesman?, an achiever of no mean status.

The reconstruction of this road has no doubt opened up fresh vista for the south-east region and her neighbors.  The gains associated with such first class infrastructure are unimaginable and the region will be the better for it.  The larger Nigeria will benefit too.

Wait a minute, is this real?  I mean is this true of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway or any other of its magnitude in the south-east?  Have you travelled this road recently or do you know of any friend from the region you could ask?  Better still, go find out first hand.  I bet you, the opposite, stark opposite of what has been described will stare you in the face.  Do not venture into this nightmare of a road, such an important one at that.

 

God bless, help and keep Nigeria at 52