Criminal Silence

Deadly Silence
As we continue to receive reports of mayhem in the slum region of Kenya, one cannot help but ask who is silently motivating and arming those killers. Initially, they had to carry any bricks or pieces of logs they could find with which they dealt blows at their helpless victims until they were dead. Now they have started carrying machetes. Before long, they will start carrying more deadly weapons like rifles and explosives. And someone will argue that they are mere angry unemployed youths seeking to express their discontentment with the government "in a dramatic manner"; unleashing vegeance on a particular ethnic group. Is it not the same government that made two specific promises upon assumption of office in 2002, to wit, that it will try to jettison corruption at high places, and to improve on the economic relevance of the country? Both pledges, it had fulfilled. It beats me hollow to imagine that a man should go to pick up a deadly weapon like that, sit by the stone to sharpen it over a period of time and move from point A to point Z and fail to show any change of mind along the way; and goes ahead to hack down fellow human beings - big and small. Clearly this is a case of premeditated aggression. It is even more disheartening that the politicians whom one could hold responsible for encouraging these killings have preferred to keep silent; giving the impression that their hands are tied. The questions therefore arises as to how tight or tied their hands would be in terms of controlling the masses if they were given the mandate to rule. Who would want such a ruler? And the children that are being paraded as victims of Police high handedness. What responsible parent would allow his underaged child to join a gang of robbers being used by politicians to undermine the existence of their fellow citizens? Those parents do not have value for their children talk less of love and concern for their future. My deduction is that those children are being recruited without the consent of their parents, and are being used as human shield as well as a calculated ruse to intimidate the Pose and in turn give them a bad name before the international community. If the two elder statesmen from the depths of Ashanti town in Ghana could not resolve the political fiasco in Kenya, why would the international community fold their arms and watch innocent citizens perish? Let someone bell the cat.

Eye Witness Account

A Kenyan-based colleague of mine who happens to belong to the same Network as I do, has kindly reacted to my blog with the following revealing facts which I have reproduced in unabridged form. Read on.
"I just did not know how to move until Vincent Nana came online. Let me first congratulate this guy for his honest and objective approach to to the crisis in Kenya. Others such as John and his friend in South Africa were dishonest because they demonstrated a clear misunderstanding of the issue at hand. Probably I should clarify this; unlike Mbeki who wanted to extend his term of office beyond the two terms allowed in the constitution, Kibaki's was bidding for his second and final term as allowed in the constitution. No Kenyan, I repeat no Kenyan would allow him a third tirm however good he is.The issue was not illegal extension of one's term in office, it was whether, Kibaki won his second term fairly. On this one, i belief the most competent commentators would be kenyans who had lived with the process longer than any one else. Therefore It is dishonest and arrogance on any foreigner, be he a journalist of a foreign observer, to pretend to know our politics better than us.As for Yellow Journalism, i totally agree with Vincent that this time around, Journalists went overboard. The process did not begin with the election and the violence that accompanied it. Kenyan journalists, supposedly the freest in the world, lost it when they sold their services to the highest bidder. The process of lying began way back in 2006 when some began to produce copy for a price. At that time, they were attacking Equity bank, one of the most innovative and fast growing indigenously owned bank. That failed, so was the attack on a company calle East African Cables, owned principally by KIbaki's associates.According to a document dated November 9th, 2007,ODM set a side some Kshs 29.3 million (US$500,000) to bribe Journalists. Apart from Cash Hand outs, some were promised plum jobs at State House once ODM takes over the Government. That is why, I am told, ODM copy was handled by Managing Editors in our news rooms. We even saw some Managing Editors take the microphones and go to report in Kisumu, ODM's stronghold. With this kind of booty, and I cannot say that foreign correspondents did noot partake of the largesse, the death of the hated Kikuyu does not matter. To some journalists and their Editors in Kenya, the death of a kikuyu is not an issue, the oinly people who dies are ODM supporters. Even criiminal activies such as looting and plunder of Kikuyu owned assets by ODM goons is ignored for highlighting it drives their ambitions away. Those who read my copy earlier send would know the mess that the media made of the election results. The Media in Kenya let kenyan down. It actually betrayed their country.Having been bribed blind, most turned a blind eye to ODM's rigging practices. Rigging began long before observers came to the scene. ODM was the major culprit in rigging its candidates for Parliamentary seats. In Most cases the Party gave certificates to losers in the polls. Among these were one James Orengo who lost in the preliminary and still got the Party's nod stand the Ugenya seat which he won. Chances are, he was also rigged in this seat since the victor in the preliminaries was also standing on another party's ticket.Evidence emerging suggests that the attack on Policemen was an intimidation scheme as most kept away from the Polling station in Luo nyanza.This is an election offense which could costs ODM the election. It is because of its own involvement in tinkering with election results that ODM brands a legal matter a political one. LIke Vincent I do not see the benefits of mediation since no mediator has power to overturn the election results in Kenya except the High court. ODM cannot go to Court for that is where its own skeletons will be brought out.Ethnic hatred became the only campaign weapon since ODM's attempt to introduce other issues such as grand Corruption hit a cul de sac. The economy was growing and money was being put in the hands of rural economy, the famers, Livestock Keepers, etc through improved prices of their produce.Incindentally acording to a document allegedly from ODM and which the party has not denied to date, among the donors to its kitty were the the Kingpins of such massive looting scandals as: Goldenberg ( Kamlesh Pattni donated kshs 13.5 million), the Kamani Family which were the Kingpins of the Anglo leasing Scandal donated kshs 12.5 million). Others were Gun dealer Anura Pereira (Kshs 107 million) Joshua Kulei who led president Moi's gang of Robbers Donated kshs 45 million. One wonders how the party would have fought corruption in Kenya, while the corrupt put it in power.Dick Morriss and associates, an American Consultant specialsing in Plotting civillian Coups, Ksh 21.5 million; Republican Party of ther US Kshs 154 million, Friends of Barak Obama,a US presidential aspirant on a democratic Party ticket, Ksh 66 million. Other donors were: Landrover of UK and its Kenyan Franchise holder, CMC group, Kshs 75 million.Now you can see why EU and other foreigners are screaming murder as they see their ambitions on kenya go to waste. The relationship between President Kibaki and the so called donors was frosty during his first term. It was frosty because Kenya which boasts of the largest budget in East and Central Africa, it now stands at US$10 billion of which Kenyans finance 93 percent that is 9.3 billion. This has made Kenya a litte independent to the discomfort of the so-called donors. In fact the country has in the past 5 years been giving donors conditions instead of the other way round.Landrover must have been expecting to recover its lost market of supplying the Kenyan Police and Armed Forces with Landrovers.Others such as Germany must have been eteing the same market which has now been taken over by the Japanese vehicle makers. The Noise is basically pegged on self interest amon the so called "internationational community" Their investment in ODM has gone to waste and to salvage something, they are better off calling a legal affair political so that they can find some room to comment. What it will achieve, I cannot see. May we could discuss this. Will mediation resolve a legal Dispute issue in Kenya? Remember in my earlier copy I indicated that both parties were involved in tinkering with election results. ODM was simply outsmarted in its own game."

Musyoka wa KyendoNairobi, Kenya.
PS: Musyoka is a gentleman journalist. I have every reason to believe what he has written because he had in the past, through his write-ups, proved to be a trustworthy writer with indefatigable resolve to state the truth even when it hurts his person.

Media Bias on Kenya

Google Search

I have been mute on the Kenya saga because of the seeming 'yellow' journalism coverage of the issue by even highly respected media. Suppose at the end of the day, it is discovered that the incumbent did actually win, how can one remedy all the destruction of lives, character assassinations and wanton vandalisation of property that have been pepertruated by the so-called angered faction against fellow country-men?
Imagine the unguarded and provocative utterances of the opposition which have continued to infuriate rather than tame the hoodlums into killing their kinsmen in the style of Tutsi and their brothers of recent memory. The opposition has gone on air a million times to count the number of rioters who have been shot at by the Police. They have shown no remorse over the killing of scores of the Kikuyus and the destruction of their properties, looting, raping their women, maiming and traumatising innocent children by the opposition supporters. As far as I am concerned, this is the height of insensitivity at high places. The incumbent President has come on air only three times during all these turmoil, and has in no wise incited anybody into violence or revenge. What will the opposition gain by calling on the international communities to impose sanctions as if it had to do with strangling Kibaki as a person? If the unfortunate millions of Kenyans suffer or even die as a result of these stringent measures, who will the sadists rule when they come to the supposed distinguished or exalted seat? Politics is not a 'do or die affair' (apologies to ex-President Obasanjo of Nigeria). If one loses an opportunity to serve his people in one capacity at any given point in time, he could still show them love in so many other ways. In fact, his philanthropic gesture at a time like that will naturally endear him to their hearts, and would autamatically earn their votes next time around. Why must we be in such a hurry if the motive is not to serve self interest.

ROLE model DEMOCRACY

If there is any one African country that deserves recognition more than others, it is Benin republic. Its democratic posture is worthy of emulation by any country that values the interest of its ctiizens.Benin had divested itself of Socialist apparatus by 1990 following a National Conference that gave it a Democratic dispensation which has continued to flourish day by day.The 2006 Presidential Election was the closest and hottest contest Benin ever witnessed. Yet is went without any disturbing incident,inspite of the fact that more than twenty-six aspirants from almost fifty political parties, associations and alliances were in the race। Surprisingly, a non-starter, running on ‘no party’ ticket emerged victorious। The 2007 Parliamentary elections was no less successful। There were more than two thousand (2000) candidates contesting for 83 seats.Since his assumption of office, the two-times doctorate degree holder in Economics, President Thomas Boni Yayi has proved that the peoples’ votes were not cast in vain. The country which had an economic index of 2.9% in 2005 was catapulted up to 5.3% by 2007 with a projection of hitting 7% plus by 2008.Some of the remarkable evidences of Dr. Boni Yayi’s good governance are his Micro-economic policy and free education package which have benefitted even the least petty traders, fishermen, farmers and craftsmen acorss the country. Needless to mention that members of the Fourth Estate of the realm have so far enjoyed relative cordial camaraderie, and the bliss is not likely to degenerate.The three major religious entities recognised by the government, to wit ; Christianity with an estimated 28% population, Muslim – 21%, Non-Religious – 6% and Voodou traditional religion with 35% ; all enjoy equal participation in national affairs. Ethnic rivalty and xenophobia which tended to portray the country in bad light have since been relegated to the back stage.High profile public officers including those from the Judiciary, the Police and the Military, who have in one way or another been indicted for crimes or abuse of office have been brought to justice like any other citizen. These stringent measures have resulted in the recovery of huge sums of financial loot and confiscation of assets by the government. The government’s Decentralisation policy has brought developmental infrastructure to the grassroots and is spreading up at a speedy rate. Finally, the combined efforts of the Media cannot fail of being commended. But for these selfless services, avian flu which is very much lurking around our backyard would have had a toll on the populace. Information, indeed is power.

THREE MAGIC WORDS THAT SAVED A LIFE

Arriving late at the Aflao border from Ghana to Benin republic, Mr. Koffi stopped to pass the night as it was not possible to continue the night journey following the official shut down of the frontiers after 9.00p.m. The scene at the border could be likened to a pilgrim camping or some refugee camp with people littered all over the place. The Bar-man in the one and only lodging at the border, seeing the desperate need for rooms, offered his room to Koffi and a girl he had been discussing with which offer they promptly jumped to in anticipation of snatching some wink if only for a few minutes.
Nancy quickly arched herself onto the one-passenger bed, leaving Koffi with the option of squeezing in with no space between them. The situation was desperate, and such compromising closeness did not matter any more. At first, they slept like two innocent boarding house room-mates. But the sensations of opposite sex metabolism soon beclouded their sense of reasoning as they both, like consenting adults, locked themselves in warm embrace with lips gummed together in what looked like an inseparable eternity. Koffi’s heart pounded heavily that it did not need a doctor’s stethoscope to hear it. Amidst groaning and whining, the lady managed to utter the words, “I AM POSITIVE”. Koffi’s spontaneous reaction to those words was like thunderbolt. He instantly jolted out of bed, slumping to the floor in his flight and temporarily paralyzed by that shocking disclosure from Nancy who was indeed HIV Positive.
After the devastating shock of Nancy’s confession had subsided, Koffi who is a secondary school teacher made a resolve to launch HIV/AIDS campaign at schools around the country. It became obvious to Koffi that in spite of all the human efforts aimed at arresting the spread of the one epidemic that has defied all known medical and unorthodox therapy, HIV/AIDS continues to sound to many people as some sort of alien from outer space. Most people especially in the rural areas of African environments are never able to differentiate between HIV/AIDS and other common sexually-transmitted diseases such as Syphilis or Gonorrhoea; and so attempt to treat them with the same approach. Among the academic class in the cities, the level of awareness is not appreciably higher than the urban scenario.
During the workshop which lasted over one month, the unexpected turnout forced the organizers to reduce the participation age and other criteria in order to accommodate the overwhelming demand. Parents were no less enthusiastic in encouraging their wards to get really involved.
According to the Co-ordinator of the program some of the topics discussed include Handling Teens, Sexually Transmitted Infection, HIV/AIDS, Teens pregnancy and Abortion, Teens and Sexuality, among others.
An estimated 22.4 million adults and children were living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa at the end of 2008. During that year, an estimated 1.4 million Africans died from AIDS. Around 14.1 million children have lost one or both parents to the epidemic. The following data shows HIV/AIDS prevalence in Benin Republic as at the period 2008:

People living with AIDS = 190,000; Percentage of Adults aged between 15 – 49 = 1.2%; Women = 37,000; Children = 5,400;
AIDS Deaths = 3,300; Orphans due to HIV/AIDS = 29,000. Source: GRADES-AFRICA® http://vinfish.blogspot.com

According to some of the participants, the workshop has opened their eyes to so many health and sex-related information that are not ordinarily taught in the school curriculum. They expressed the need to have more of such extra-curricular activities for the benefit of the teeming number of endangered youths both in schools and around the communities.

BIRD FLU MARS CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS

1. The Minister of Health has confirmed the long-feared presence of Birds Flu in Benin Republic. This pronouncement is sequel to an analysis result received from a Canadian-based Laboratory.
2. Following this report, inhabitants of Benin have been thrown into panic over what to eat during the Christmas and New Year festivities since most families had already penned down chicken as part of delicacy to garnish their tables during the Yuletide celebrations.
3. The Vice President of International Red Cross, Cotonou Chapter confirmed to me this morning, that his team have been placed on RED ALERT following this announcement. He confirmed that their members have been adequately trained to handle any cases of outbreak.
4. Meanwhile, Health officials have been coping with mass burial of affected birds so far detected.
5. Most families have resolved to make it a fishyish celebration rather than risk the chicken disease that has dified the medical profession.
6. Here is wishing all my fans and friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Naked Dancers

NAKED DANCERS

I had boasted to my friends about my royal background in order to acquire for myself some measure of respectability on campus. To buttress my claim to royalty, I would show them a photo album of my parents’ marriage anniversary, which supposedly attracted very huge crowd. Almost every member of the community was at that party. That was during the boring war years in Biafra.
People had grown weary of having to spend most of their time hiding from air bombardments. Some couple had taken advantage of this forced isolation of an entire community, and been trying to overcome the effects of malnutrition that was so widespread among the populace. They had resorted to having chicken served at almost every of their meals. Not that they had a poultry farm of their own, neither could they afford to buy even a single chicken; yet they shared a whole chicken between them every day.
People in the neighbourhood had been unable to untangle the wrangle of endless disappearance of one-chick-a-day from families. More mystifying was the fact that almost every one in the community, except this couple, looked half-well-fed or half-malnourished on account of the global hunger imposed by the war.
Cat was let out of the bag one moonlit night. A man who had eaten half-cooked cassava for lunch had developed a runny stomach that kept him awake all night. The food poisoning had ballooned up his stomach to the size of a triplet pregnancy. His wife whose fault it was to have fed him with half-cooked cassava had offered to play the midnight midwife in order to save herself from the wrath of the villagers should anything worse happen to her husband. She had posited that she could not collect enough firewood to have the food properly cooked, owing to prevalent desertification.
As she was escorting her husband to one of the bout of visitations to the public latrine some metres away from the living enclave, they had accosted another couple in the cold lonely night. At first they thought it was another victim of runny stomach that had gone to answer the call of nature. They halted to exchange commiserations. The pregnant man was impatient to halt for such distractions that would impede the urgency that lay behind his heels. He had to incline his feeble frame on his wife’s shoulder. This other nocturnal couple tried to copy their example, but could not immediately decide who was to lean on the other’s shoulder.
In the faintly lighted night, it could be detected that this other woman had a larger stomach size than she used to be. She was neither pregnant nor had eaten raw cassava during the course of the day.
The cause of her artificial pregnancy came to the open when the object behind her wrapper tried to struggle for breath? It had let out some embarrassing shriek of a cry as the woman tried unsuccessfully to snuff out its life. The hidden object turned out to be a cock they had just stolen from another unsuspecting family in the neighbourhood
“What!” queried the sick man. This was quickly followed by a high-pitched alarm raised by his one-night midwife. “E-wo-o,” A-lu-o,” echoed the couple in unison as they ran back to the village centre, leaving a trail of watery human faeces apparently dropping from the bewildered sick man. Such embarrassing display did not matter anymore in the face of the overbearing discovery. This alarm startled people from their sleep. Men emerged from their huts armed with machetes; not very sure what was the matter. Women came out, clutching their children protectively as if that was the only object they cherished. Vigilante groups quickly mounted post at the various entrances to the village to hold back any intrusion. With this type of barricade, the thieves knew that it would be fatal to attempt to escape. They simply had to present themselves at the court of the traditional Prime Minister. Bad news spreads fast. Rumour spreads even faster. Soon it was peddled even across to the neighbouring villages that a couple had been caught with a pack of chickens. Some other versions claimed that it was a goat. Some later related how they thought that enemy soldiers had invaded the village.
People could not wait for the break of day before thronging to the residence of the Prime Minister to catch a glimpse of the thieving couple;
As tradition demanded, the thieves would dance naked round the village starting from the Prime Minister'’ court-yard and terminating at the village square from where a verdict of banishment would be pronounced on them. It was in the hall adjoining the village square that my parents’ marriage anniversary was being held.
The youths angered by the fact of having to mount unnecessary guard at the boundaries at unholy hours of the night, had opted to lead the carnival. They had also adorned the couple in all manner of fetish-like objects, with the stolen chicken dangling just above the lady’s groin. The lady seemed to feel comfortable on her newly acquired outfit, which allowed her some forward inclination so that the dangling chicken would cover her confusion most of the time.
By virtue of the restrictions imposed by the war, it was not often that people were treated to some fun like this. Some ban had been placed on various traditional ceremonies such as the annual New Yam festival, which usually attracted a gathering of all sons and daughters of the land from home and abroad. But this incident bordered on morality, which the people held in religious esteem. Besides, it is not often that one sees a naked adult in full view. So, both curiosity and the call for justice and respect of moral values had prompted the large crowd from within and abroad that accompanied the train.
The duo danced frenzily to the drumbeat rendered by the angry youths who had just been deprived of a good night’s sleep. As for the youths, this dance was more of a vendetta than the usual carnival we all had missed for so long.
It was generally acknowledged that the woman had danced more hysterically judging by the flexibility of her bulky stature, and the way she resonated rhythmically to the deafening rattlers, cymbals and every manner of noise-producing object that constituted the orchestra. It did not really matter whether a culprit danced well or not. Afteral, this was supposed to be a parting token, indeed the last dance that would in no way turn the course of events around. Getting rid of a criminal was like avoiding an epidemic. There was no going back.
The camera-man that covered my parents’ marriage anniversary had inadvertently captured most part of this intruding carnival, which portrayed the mammoth crowd as being part of the marriage anniversary thereby infusing some air of importance to it.
It was this feeling of greatness that I had sought to impress on my college mates at the campus. And it almost worked, except that I was in a dilemma with having to explain the presence of those naked couple garbed in tatters and some dead chicken.
Could I have said that they were mad guests that had wandered into the crowd uninvited, or that it was part of side attractions that attended the culture of my people?

REWARD

REWARD - by Vincent NNANNA

For a reward to be truly rewarding, it has to be manifold in its manifestations. It has to impact lives apart from that of the beneficiary alone. Its end result ought to be to magnify or bear testimony to the grace and glory of God. This multifarious expression of a single act of gratitude coincides with the picture as conveyed in the first Epistle of Peter, chapter 4, verse 10, which says: "As every man received the gift even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." I have highlighted four key phrases which clearly define what should be our attitude in the giving and receiving process.

Webster dictionary defines manifold as a whole that consists of many diverse elements. That is to say, a reward, like the single word it is, consists of one whole attitude that contains diverse elements. Bearing that in mind, it is important to look beyond what we would receive as reward and try to discern its component parts.

Not long ago, a surgeon friend of mine says that what gratifies him most is not the fees paid by his patients. In the save vein, he has never felt any regret by the inability of some of his clients to pay their medical bills. In each case he does maintain an equilibrate state of mind. His attitude lies in the understanding that he is only a tool in God's hand, that the manifold blessings he receives do not always come from payment of medical bills. He went further to say that the fact that most of his patients do open their mouth to outpour their feelings of gratitude to God, is always a great reward that money cannot buy. He is always elated by such simple expression like: "The Lord has done it;" "I thank God for your life, doctor;" or still, "I don't know how to thank you for what you have done to my life." To him, the honest acknowledgment of wellness humbles him beyond expression and constantly reminds him of the faithfulness of God who says: "I am the Lord that healeth thee." (Exodus 15:26b). I am persuaded by this gentleman's attitude to believe that giving does not impoverish us, neither does withholding make us richer.

In trying to comprehend the import of reward, it might be rewarding to take a cursory look at its opposite, denial. Denial has to do with withholding something that one had looked forward to receiving knowing well that he had laboured enough to deserve it in return. I do not know of any normal human being who would pretend to be cheerful in the face of apparent denial. It is natural to express anger and disappointment. These feelings only serve as escape valve for some emotional combustion that denial could build in us; they do not make amends for the denial. Often times, the reaction would vary according to the magnitude of the object or the degree of attachment, nay the premium on the reward. It is usually difficult, if not impossible to look the other party in the face and say: God bless you! Neither do men walk up to the pulpit to testify before the body of Christ as to how kindly they have been treated by someone who denied them of a reward. Like its opposite, denial also could give rise to various emotional, mental or physical, but nonetheless unpalatable reactions. It is an ill wind that blows no one good - both the perpetrator or the offended person. Rather than cement or solidify the bridge of friendship between persons, denial creates a gulf that separates even the best of friends or blood relations. It therefore, beats me hollow to understand why some outwardly serious-looking Christians would fall prey to the temptation to deliberately prefer to deny others their legitimate rewards. In so doing, they inadvertently deny God of the opportunity to receive the glory due to His holy name. When God blessed man and gave him power to subdue, as contained in the Book of Genesis, chapter one, verse 28, does that mandate include the authority to subdue and dominate or deny our fellow human beings? Maybe, we need to seek a better interpretation and understanding of our bounds and limits with regard to that command.

Without risking overflogging the issue, it might be of immense help to appreciate some of the adverse consequences that might result from denial. It can and does give rise to a feeling of discontentment; a feeling of an unexpected vacuum begging to be filled. It leads to loss of confidence. A measure of trust that took many years to cultivate, could crumble in a twinkle of an eye. Disillusionment would make someone who had held another in high esteem to begin to doubt his integrity or moral rectitude. It could make one to wonder just how much of a hypocrite a professing Christian could be.

History is replete with violent reactions resulting from denial of one sort of another. Strong empires have fallen with huge loss of lives. Micro family units and business relationships have been torn apart. The list is inexhaustive and so are the consequences. In most cases the effects have been disproportionate to the original cause.

My system always runs riot and I tremble much at the prospect of struggling daily to live up to the spirit of the Golden Rule in a positive way. I however, obtain my consolation from the Messiah's admonition immediately following the Beatitudes; Luke 6:38: "Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." From the foregoing, it is clear that the reward phenomenon is preemptive. That is to say, we must first engage ourselves in some noble deed before expecting to be rewarded. This sounds like another injunction of Jesus regarding where we should store our treasures. Alas, how much we resist being meted with the same measure we have doled out to others, let alone having it shaken, pressed down and overflowing. One would have taken pitched tent on the loophole if this text had only stopped at "measuring unto you." But it categorically states that "shall men give into your bosom." This, to me, implies that what we will receive as reward will have great impact in our innermost part, the heart which is the vital organ of every human being. It goes beyond scratching on the surface. How often do we hear some aggrieved person remark that the wrong someone did had touched their heart? Were it possible that men could borrow even one phrase from the Epistle of Peter earlier referred to, such as "ministering as good stewards" in our relationship with other, there would be a world of men with manifold blessings pressed down and running over. A world where there would be no room for lack or want. Who says we cannot have absolute satisfaction in life? This is attainable because it had been our original state from creation. It is only by implicit obedience to the Scriptures can a sure return to the promised land be made possible.

Let us give impersonally and impartially. Let us act as good stewards of Him who is faithful. The Scripture says that our left hand should not know what our right hand is doing. My understanding of this passage is that we should not behave like the Pharisees who stand by the road side to sing their own praises. We ought to give without expecting anything in return, especially from our benefactors. According to one celebrated American author and religious leader, "The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father, and blessed is the man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good." (Science & Health with key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy). This appears to sum up the attitude of my surgeon friend, and is supposed to be the attitude of every man made in the image and likeness of God.

Human Right Violations in your neighbourhood

If we look back to what were considered traditional values, and the violations they imposed on certain individuals, it would not seem inappropriate to call for truth and reconciliation panels to seek redress for the victims. Obviously, some of those practices were instituted on misconceived or selfish premises. It has since become common knowledge that some of the so-called oracles that had to be consulted for pronouncement of certain impositions were themselves mere conspiracies of charlatans and criminal-minded rulers. Most of the laws were designed to keep enemies and/or suspected competitors at bay. Was it not ignorance, suspicion and fear of the unknown that prompted the oracle in Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" to decree the cold blooded murder of the white missionary and to bind his 'iron horse' to the tree lest it ran away to tell?
My mother was 12 when she had to be betrothed to a 40-year-old king from a neighbouring clan, just because she was a princess and the two kings wanted to consolidate their political treaty, using the innocent girl as a token. The cruelty she had to suffer from both sides was better imagined. On the one community, it was forbidden to accept back a female child once she had been married out. On the other, it was a taboo to keep a woman that delivered of twins. My mother was trapped between the two barbaric traditional practices, for no sooner had she settled into premature motherhood than she delivered of a set of twins. Because she was the King's wife, they did not have to carry out the prescribed custom to the letter. Otherwise, both mother and the twins would have been killed immediately. The oracle had to be consulted. The charlatan who had been eating my mother's food by virtue of his being the King's personal physician and fortune-teller had the audacity to pronounce that the twins must be killed. My mother, who had endeared herself to the King's heart, proved very stubbord for once. She had insisted on keeping her twins or die with them, knowing very well that her husband would not want to loose her either. While the controversy lasted, another consultation had to be made to see if there was a way of pacifying the gods. Unfortunately, precedents had already been set with previous elimination of many sets of twins and their mothers; and the law is no respecter of persons. This particular case proved very knotty because there was another custom that forbade any son of the land from shedding blood of any member of the royal household. Any violation of this law attracted death by sacrificing the culprit to the shrine. This impasse re-echoed the question of "who will bell the cat?" After protracted consultations amidst murmuring by impatient members of the community, the oracle reluctantly came up with a verdict of banishment of mother and the twins into the evil forest. This was a piece of land that had not been explored or exploited since time immemorial. It was there that unwanted property of dead people had to be deposited in case they would need them. People who had had to pass through that forest at noon or by night claim to have heard sound of clattering of utensils or pounding of mortar, which reinforced the notion that dead people actually carried on their activities there. Paws of wild animals like hyenas and wolves had been identified by hunters along the foot track. Only very powerful native doctors did venture into the inner parts of the forest in search of rare herbs and barks of medicinal trees. They, too, had testified to the existence of ghosts in the forest. Some even talked about a pond of fresh water which could pass for a lake. Water drawn from that lake was believed to cure stubborn diseases. But drawing from that source was not easy because all those wild animals and pythons did go there occasionally to bathe and drink from. It was into this evil forest that a teenage mother and her twins had to be banished, wearing only a piece of wrapper and nothing else.
The fact that she survived four days and nights in that jungle cast a shadow of doubt over the authenticity of the stories surrounding its evilness. She had found shelter within the cavity of a tree trunk. Her food consisted of palm-nuts, wild manioc tubers and fresh familiar leaves. She recalls that at one time during her incarceration, a pregnant antelope had ventured onto her abode and layed by her side as if to comfort her and her twins. She had felt really comforted because that was the only time she could manage to take a nap during which the neighbourly antelope had wandered away. By her third day in the forest, she had woken up to find the uncovered twins stone dead as a result of exposure to cold and insect bites. She had dug a shallow grave as far as her strength and bare hands could go and buried them. Tears and sweat from that task and the sorrow it entailed had soaked her cloth so much that she could squeeze out enough to douche up herself later. By this time, she had decided that she had no reason to remain in that god-forsaken solitude any more. Going back to her parents was out of the question because of that obnoxious custom that forbade the return of a daughter once married out. She had to risk wandering along the path to see where fate would lead her. It was at that juncture that she encountered one young man who was returning late from farm. The sorry sight of an unkempt lady who wore the distinguishing royal bead on her neck and wrist aroused the young man's curiosity. This farmer was not in the habit of passing through that road, but on that particular night, he had to because in spite of the mystery surrounding it, it was closer home, and he needed to get home fast. As they entered into conversation, it had become clear to him that she was not yet another ghost that had assumed human form to entice an unfortunate and unsuspecting victim. Her story evoked so much compassion that the young man could not resist the urge to offer her shelter even for some temporary period of time. It had been decided between them that she concealed of her regal paraphernalia in order not to attract attention and to save the young man's head. Days ran into weeks, and weeks into months, until I was born. Today, my modest bungalow is standing on the very spot where the tree that housed my mother and her twins had been. There are a dozen of other houses within the one-time evil forest. The rest are very fertile farms. One would wonder where those ghosts had moved on to. Or was it only a myth?
Now that some of those belief systems and practices are on the verge of being dismantled - thanks to religion and civilisation, what manner of restitution can adequately compensate for the wrongs they had inflicted? I do not expect an answer except to open our eyes to the fact that more heinous practices than my mother's unfortunate ordeal still abound all around us in the likeness of child slavery, forced marriages, dedication to deities, debt bondage, sex rituals purported to cure epidemics, perpetual female confinements, female genital mutilations, and a number of human right abuses; all in the name of upholding traditional values. In all these scenarios, women are the most vulnerable. I am therefore, inclined to quote a nineteenth century American writer and human rights activist, Mary Baker Eddy: "In olden times it was the Amazons who conquered the invincibles, and we must join hands with their daughters to overcome our allied enemies of evil and to save us from ourselves." (Pulpit & Press, 1925) Italics mine.

Periscoping Benin (3): Legislative Elections

The 5th in the series of legislative elections since Benin adopted a Democratic-based Constitution in 1990 was held last Saturday. The results, as demanded by the Constitution, were supposed to be announced within 48 hours after the voting exercise. But the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA) needed some extension of time to enable her tidy up some knotty issues.
With the results now officially announced, four parties have emerged tops with the Force Cauris Pour un Benin Emergent (FCBE) of President Boni Yayi leading with 33 or 633.241 votes out of the total 83 seats. Others are Alliance pour une Dynamique Democratique (ADD) with 21 seats or 476.338 votes; Parti du Renouveau Democratique (PRD) 10 seats or 276.348 votes; and Union Pour la Releve (UPR) with 03 seats or 127.834 votes.
A total of 3.891.536 voters were registered for the election, out of which only 2.812.048 was accredited representing 93.53% of total votes cast.
The voting pattern is truly a test of the support the regime of President Boni Yayi is receiving from the populace. It will be recalled that he had emerged into the political arena as an independent. Soon after it became clear that he was the most popular choice, some group of political parties then known as the ‘Wolougede Alliance’, formed a coalition to support him. This is the Alliance that has metamorphosed into FCBE. The ADD party is made up of Antoin Kolawole Idji the outgoing President of the National Assembly in alliance with former President Nicephore Soglo and Bruno Amousou, who both, contested the presidential elections of last year. The PRD belongs to Adrien Houngbedji who was one time National Assembly president, who also was unsuccessful during the last year’s presidential elections. The URP is a popular party embraced by people of the North. It belongs to Issa Salifou, a frontline businessman with substantial investment in the Media. He is said to have opted to lend his votes to the support of President Boni Yayi, who by the way, is from the north as well. This does not give the FCBE party a comfortable majority in the House, but it is enough to cushion the ground for a smooth lobbying and to instil in the President some sense of the need to be cautious in his conduct of the affairs of governance.

CELEBRATING THE ABOLISION OF SLAVERY

If there be anyone to whom much credit should be given regarding her role in abolishing slavery, it is the American author and religious leader, Mary Baker Eddy, whose name is boldly written on the American Women’s Hall of Fame. She was married to the famous Colonel Glover of Charleston, South Carolina, who was considered wealthy, but much of his property was in slaves. Upon being deceased in 1844, Mrs Glover Eddy (as she was then known), refused to inherit her husband’s wealth of slaves. As she later wrote in a letter to The Mother Church in 1902, page 15, “I could never believe that a human being was my property.” She had taken this stand in spite of the abject poverty and political persecution she was facing at that time, coupled with her publisher’s refusal to pay her royalty on her first published work, Science & Health with key to the Scriptures. As she later wrote in that book, “Legally to abolish unpaid servitude in the United States was hard, but the abolision of mental slavery is a more difficult task. Men and women of all climes and races are still in bondage to material sense, ignorant how to obtain their freedom. The rights of men were vindicated in a single section and on the lowest plane of human life, when African slavery was abolished on our land. That was only prophetic of further steps towards the banishment of a world-wide slavery, found on higher planes of existence and under more subtle and depraving forms. Slavery is not the legitimate state of man. God made man free.” Paul said, “I was free born.” “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Love and Truth make man free, but evil and error lead into captivity.” (ibid. 225). As the world celebrates the abolision of slavery, it will only be fair and just to remember the pioneers such as Mary Baker Eddy, who vehemently resisted the urge to sacrifice her woes on the altar of human slavery.

Periscoping Benin (2)

With a couple of days before the 5th legislative elections in Benin is held, candidates have resorted to grassroots close-door strategy. The fanfare and motorized carnival that characterised the first week of the campaigns have completely disappeared. Though president Boni Yayi came onboard as an independent, some group of political parties have formed a coalition to carry his banner of 'change' which has since become a household slogan in the country.
This campaign of proximity has seen every available hotel and restaurant within the city fully booked. The most catchment targets are the youths, market women and housewives. This has to be the case because business activities seem to have grinded to a halt owing mainly to diversion of attention to politicking to the detriment of business preoccupations. This situation is compounded by the incessant power outages which ironically appears to many to be the only visible evidence of the regime of 'change'.
With the election of a new National Electoral Commission Chairman in the person of Eugene Capa CHICHI , there is renewed hope of conducting the election of the 83 Deputies as scheduled, because he has pledged to ensure that the voters' lists which had been confiscated by some Commission representatives will promptly be retrieved to facilitate planning.
One factor which is most likely to fool the candidates concerning the huge turnout at their campaign meetings is that success at the polls cannot be measured by these numbers because most of them come not to listen to manifestos but for the stipend and snacks that are distributed during such gatherings.
Preponderant majority of the contestants come from the old brigade of politicians who had contested during the 2006 presidential elections and failed, but have found it not derogatory to condescend to vying for a seat within the 83-member Parliament. The desperation to stay within the corridors of power is apparent among this group judging from the amount of resources they seem to pull together against the meagre input of the greener candidates. Needless to say, generally the campaign has been peaceful and orderly, typical of Benin culture of modesty and decency.

Periscoping Benin republic

Benin republic (république du Bénin), originally known as DAHOMEY, is a country of about six million inhabitants. It is lying between Togo/Ghana on one side and Nigeria on the other side – all in West Africa. Its chief export product is cotton. Its official language is french, having been a colony of France. After gaining her independence in August 1960, the country came under Marxist-socialist rule for a long uncomfortable period of time. By 1990, democracy was installed after a national constitutional conference. This transition was embraced with mixed feelings because it was the once-feared military dictator who succeeded himself after he had personally undergone some spiritual transformation to become a true Christian. In order to perpetuate himself in office beyond the constitutional mandate, this born-again Christian sought to amend the constitution which attempt was vigorously opposed by the Parliament. By March 2006, presidential elections was held. Former Economist and Regional Bank Director who had contested as an independent candidate emerged victorious. A few months before the end of tenure of the Parliament, clandestine overtures were initiated to elongate their life by one year. This effort was quashed by the Executive. On the 15th day of March 2007, some unidentified gunmen shot at the presidential convoy as he was returning from a campaign rally for Legislative election at which he had given support to some loyal contestants sympathetic to his administrative. By 20th March, some six suspects had been taken into custody by the Police in connection with the attack on the presidential entourage. This same day, the president of the republic held crucial meeting with members of the Autonomous Electoral Commission at the end of which the Chairperson was sacked for administrative irregularities. Legislative elections are to be held on Sunday March 25. Meanwhile, some Electoral Commission agents have confiscated some voters’ list from some constituencies alleging that some allowances are being owed them.

Metaphysical Healing

More than twelve (12) months ago, I had noted some revelation on the blank page of my personal study Bible. The message had come to me as clearly as one would hear his own voice. It says to me: “The seeds are scattered abroad, the harvester has to stoop down to gather them to see how many basketfuls will result.” I did not understand the import of the message at that time, because I could not relate it to anything in particular that had occupied my mind. But I managed to underscore the words ‘abroad’, ‘stoop down’, and ‘basketfuls’. Then on the eve of 2006 Christmas Day celebration, after listening to some news concerning one Spannish medical expert that was being dispatched to Cuba to carry out some surgical operation on President Fidel Castro, my mind proptly and vehemently opposed that arrangement as if it concerned me personally. Not that I had been an admirer of Mr. Castro, but the compassion at this moment was so overwhelming that I had to recall the message contained in that ‘voice’ of more than 12 months past. I immediately went on my knees and started praying for President Fidel Castro. I argued on the side of perfect health which he already enjoys. I denied seeing him as some ‘vegetable’ that has to be experimented upon to give him what he already has – Life abundant.
It did not surprise me when the next day December 26, the surgeon flew into Cuba from Spain and after examining the person of Fidel Castro, pronounced him very healthy, and added that he did not afteral need any further treatment as his health had improved appreciably. The news added that Fidel was already hoping to go back to work.
This is definitely victory for Christian Healing as opposed to materia medica. Let God take the glory.

SECURITY and Moped taxi-men responsibility

Cue in: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to CAPP FM 99.6MhZ and onto the programme “BACK TO LIFE”. My name is Vincent NNANNA.

INTRO: Tonight, we want to talk about the ZEMIDJAN, that is the Moped riders, the motor-bike taxi. There is some disturbing insecurity in the country. Whose duty is it to provide security? The government on its own has security outfits in place to protect us. But what is happening of recent has shown that security can no longer be guaranteed. Today, there is a combined patrol of three arms of the security enforcement, yet if we do not play our own part......... Ladies and gentlemen, we have the telephone like 21-33-52-25. Or you can send text messages to my mobile - 9744 4619. You’re free to call and chat with us.

I have 3 discussants here in the studio who will be x-raying the situation vis-à-vis the responsibility of Zemidjans towards the security and themselves as well. It is them that know the type of people they carry, where they drop them off, and how the environment looks like.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have in the Studio Osondu who has come all the way from England. We have also Ef-em, and we also have Louis Amedokpo a french teacher in town. The question is: Do you agree or not, with my submission?

Ef-em: Uncle Vin, I agree that the Zemidjans have a role to play in the security of the people.

Osondu: Hundred per-cent okay.

Louis: Yes, I agree that they have important role to play.

Moderator: What role should the Zemidjans play in guaranteeing our security?

Louis: They can help some of the security people like the Police or the Army. Although they are not part of the Army, but they can help by informing them any time they suspect somebody, because they carry most of the people doing business around the city.

Osondu: Like we know, that coin has two faces. Even so is this issue of the Zemidjans. There are some of them who actually themselves are the criminals we are talking of.

Moderator: No. We cannot say so, until we catch them.

Osondu: Let me give some instances. Remember that we campaigned on this station sometime ago that some people are using motorbykes and wearing the Zemidjan’s uniform to rob people during the early hours of the day, until some of them were caught. One of the people I interviewed tells me that a Zemidjan that was carrying him on the day he was robbed had told him that the Zemidja-man coming behind them was a thief. So, they know the criminals among them. Let them identify them and report to the authorities.

Ef-em: Not all the men putting on that yellow shirt are Zemidjans. I remember sometime when I went to Lagos to buy some stereo sets. On arriving at Tokpa (international market), I dropped the set with the Zemidjan-man and said let me go inside and take something. Before I could come back he carried the set away. So the Zemidjans know the bad ones among themselves. If they want to assist the security situation they have to fish out all those ones who are not really Zemidjans. If they really want to secure us and secure their own life, they have to stop drinking alcohol.

Moderator: You’ve made a point that they are those of them instead of being the cat that chase away the rat, have become the rat. But I believe that there are some that can still be trusted. Do you think there is anything the government can do to give them a sense of belonging, a sense of responsibility?

Osondu: They have been organising seminars for the Zemidjans on the issue of HIV/AIDS. They should also sensitize them in terms of security. But the government themselves, like the Police are not innocent. One of my friends was searched and nothing incriminating was found on him, but the Police went ahead and collected something from him.

Moderator: So, extortions by some law enforcement agents are not helping matters. There will be some level of vendetta; that is: ‘If you do me bad, I will shirk my responsibilities and not help the society in being a safe place;’ Do we have any idea of the numbers to call?

Osondu: Just dial 19 or 18, or if it is the wrong number you will be properly redirected.

Moderator: I will like to inform our listeners that these lines are free. The important thing is to give accurate information so that they know the location and what to expect there. You can also report to us in the Radio station and we will take over from where you stop. We will trace the officer on duty and find out why no action is being taken on your information.

Moderator: Ladies and gentlemen, here is where we draw the curtain for today, remember to join us next week Sunday at the same time and on the same frequency. Bye-bye.

HIV/AIDS in Benin

INTRODUCTION
Contrary to public opinion that HIV/AIDS is far from reaching the inhabitants of Benin republic, one single Health clinic has recorded more than three thousand new infections during the period January 1 to November 30, as can be seen from this radio interview I conducted this morning to mark the occasion of the World HIV/AIDS Day celebration. The interview was aired on CAPP FM Radio 99.60MHz Cotonou. Dr. Frank Alapini is the Medical Director of Arc-en-ciel HV/AIDS Hospital based in Cotonou – Benin republique.

Vincent/CAPP Fm: Dr. Alapini, how come your practice is in the field of HIV/AIDS?

Dr. Alapini: HIV/AIDS is a new disease and it needs special hanbdling. I have followed special courses on HIV/AIDS treatment.

Vincent/CAPP Fm: HIV/AIDS are acronyms. Could you give us their full meanings.

Dr. Alapini: When you hear AIDS, understand – Acquired Immuno-deficiency Syndrome. When you hear HIV, understand – Human Immuno-deficiency Virus.

Vincent/CAPP Fm: So, when there is a deficiency in the human system to a certain degree, somebody becomes vulnerable to manifesting HIV/AIDS sickness?

Dr. Alapini: Somebody can have HIV without developing into AIDS. It depends on the body defence immunity level.

Vincent/CAPP Fm: Could you trace the origin of this epidemic, bearing in mind that it has been said that it originally was detected from the Ape or the Gorilla.

Dr. Alapini: HIV/AiDS has no scientifically traceable origin. All that story is mere gossip. But sexual relation is one means of its transmission. It is not a curse from God as some people seem to believe also. It is a result of the sexual behaviour of people.

Vincent/CAPP Fm: Could you describe the symptoms to our listeners, please.

Dr. Alapini: There are 3 categories of symptoms associated with this disease – the digestive system, the skin and the pulmonary system. The main symptoms of the apparatus of the body is continuous diarrhea lasting over a period of three weeks. Another symptom is protracted coughing or skin rashes of unusual nature.

Vincent/CAPP Fm: Some men do have discharges from their urinary tract in cases of ghonorhea infection. Does HIV/AIDS infection come with this symptom also?

Dr. Alapini: No. But a ghonorhea carrier can be vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection faster than a normal person.

Vincent/CAPP Fm: Where can people go for tests to discover their status?

Dr. Alapini: We do conduct free tests at the Arc-en-ciel medical centre; and it can be done in just 30 minutes.

Vincent/CAPP Fm: What is involved in the actual treatment (or management) of the infection?

Dr. Alapini: The treatment is the business of specialkists. It largely depends on the level of the CD-4 count. That is the soldier in the human system. If it is too low (that is 200 microbits) we can start treatment. But if is is more than 500 microbits, we cannot yet start treatment.

Vincent/CAPP Fm: It is sometimes said that a person can test negative at one time and test positive at some other time in future. How does that happen?

Dr. Alapini: What we detect during the test is your antibody. So, it takes time for the anti-body to come to the surface. That accounts for testing negative at one time and positive at a future time.

Vincent/CAPP Fm: What preventive measures would you recommend for non-infected people?

Dr. Alapini: According to me, as I am also a religious person, I pefer Abstinence and Faithfulness. I can only recommend condoms to those who are already infected so that they do not contaminate others.

Vincent/CAPP Fm: A friend of mine says he slept with a carrier. He quickly took a shower. He had a test a few weeks after and tested negative. Could that be right?

Dr. Alapini: Yes. It is not all sexual relationships that can result to HIV infection.

Phone Call: One caller asks whether there is anything like HIV/AIDS in Benin republic. His question arises from the flagrant manner with which the womenfolk yield to sexual advances in this country.

Dr. Alapini: Concerning the way girls use their thing in this country, I want to say that in one year, we have recorded 3,000 new cases of HIV infection. There are more than 1,000 victims on admission at the moment at our Health Centre alone. There are many more at the Teaching Hospital and a lot more at other clinics apart from those who just come for treatment and disappear for fear of being identified.

Vincent/CAPP Fm: Dr. Alapini, could you tell us the method of treatment and how effective it has been.

Dr. Alapini: At the moment, we administer Anti-Retroviro Therapy. It helps to aleviate the pains. Any person who is placed on this drug is to remain on it for life. There is no known cure as of now. But prevention is, and has always been the best remedy.

A call from United Kingdom :
Vincent: Hello, Osondu, We have a Doctor in the house today and we are talking about HIV/AIDS. Any contributions?

Osondu: Even here in the UK, there is a way of handling it. The anti-retroviro. But to me one thing I would recommend is total abstinence. I do not even encourage the use of condom.

Vincent: Dr. Alapini, I visited your hospital three years ago and there were 6 patients. But when I called on you last week, the number has heightened astronomically. I thought it had been turned into a general hospital.

Dr. Alapini: Okay, let me tell you that in one year, since January till this month I have 300 new cases. If somebody does not believe that HIV exists, a short visit at Arc-en-ciel will show you that it does.

Vincent:About incubation period, how long does it take before somebody who contracts HIV begins to manifest the disease?

Dr. Alapini: Maximum incubation period is 6 months. Let me make myself clear: incubation period is the time you have the anti-body. To have the disease depends on individual immunity system. So, somebody can develop the disease in two years. It can take some up to10 years.

Phone Call: Is that the doctor? Somebody was talking to me that HIV can be contacted through kissing. Is that true?

Dr. Alapini: No. My answer is ‘No’. Your saliva does not contain the serum that contains HI-virus.

Ef-em: Some people argue that one can get HIV through mosquitoe bite.

Dr. Alapini: No. If it is possible, all of the humankind would have gotten HIV. When mosquitoes bite somebody, it keeps the blood it takes from you inside its stomach. When mosquitoes bite you it injects you its saliva. My word of advise is “Abstinence before marriage. Faithfulness after marriage. That is my word.

Vincent: Thank you Dr. Alapini, thank you everyone. Here is where we draw the curtain for tonight. Meet you again next week Sunday. Good nite.

Vincent/CAPP Fm: That is the much we can take for now, Dr. Alapini. Thank you for accepting to be my guest on CAPP FM Radio 99.6

Dr. Alapini: Thank you for hosting me, Vincent. Bye listeners.

WHERE ARE THE GHOSTS?

Are Ghosts and Ghost Tales Real?
My childhood was spent in an environment where superstition and fetish practices were the norm rather than the exception. Adults used to gather the children on a moonlit night and tell tales of frightening monsters and dinosaurs that lived in the neighbourhood in times not far gone.
The fact that these stories were told by elders of the family in whom the younger ones placed so much confidence, trust and respect, made it easier to regard fables and fictions as facts. Thus, children treaded very cautiously, believing that such monstrous creatures still lurked around. These situations only helped in producing crooked boys and timid girls.
Sometimes children became so obsessed with imagining phantoms to a point of convulsing as if they had been grabbed or seized by some real monster. In most of these instances a fetish doctor would be invited to try to exorcise the supposed evil spirit.
Now, when I look back to that experience and put it side by side my experience in Christian Science, I wonder just how many people are still grappling in ignorance about such phantoms. It’s deplorable that superstitious beliefs continue to be peddled over generations only to become hard-held landmarks in the peoples’ culture. Parents should feed their offspring with truth and peace, rather than with the false belief in ghostly beings. Children should not have to wait, like me, for some opportunity to unfold later in their lives before they are told the truth. It only takes each one of us to put forth the effort to enlighten and to share the truth with the less informed in our society.
It has become clear to me that it is the mortal mind which conjures up impressions and creates images of non-existent ‘evil spirits’ that would seize an unsuspecting lad and throw him into a fit. God created man and "gave him dominion over every other creature." (Genesis 1:28). How then could a lesser being be capable of frightening or causing harm to man? If God is every where and fills all space, and “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28), where else could the evil being come from and what space is there for it to occupy?
Growing up with a belief in things that are not real sometimes shapes one’s life and character. It is important to replace superstitious beliefs with the truth that God and man, the infinite Principle and His idea alone constitute the only Truth about life and existence. It’s also important to understand that "the supposition that corporeal beings are spirits or that there are good or evil spirits, is a mistake." (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, page 70:9-11). Eddy, the discoverer and founder of Christian Science, also cautioned that, "children should be told not to believe in ghosts because there are no such things." (ibid. 352:26).
Let us therefore replace our primitive belief and suchlike practices with the great fact that God is the sole Cause, the Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent. Beside Him there is no other power.

WHEN GOD SPEAKS

HEARING THE VOICE OF GOD:
Suspicion and apprehension: these are the words that rightly described my attitude when people would claim of ‘hearing the voice of God.’
Very often I would hear people (especially religious preachers) make claims of having been spoken to by God. My apprehensive reaction stemmed from my childhood understanding that the Biblical accounts of verbal encounters with the Almighty only involved people like Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Abraham, et cetera.
Moses was to lead the Hebrews/Israelites out of captivity. God needed to use him especially for that purpose and had to manifest himself to him in an extraordinary manner. Elijah was a radical priest who demonstrated the omnipotent power of God in very unique and distinguishing circumstances. Abraham was an icon of faith. For him to have waited over a hundred years before bearing a child so much outweighs the promise of ‘a piece of land. Their faith and deeds surely afforded them the singular privilege of communicating with the Almighty on a one-to-one basis.
When one compares these patriarchs of old with today’s Christians, the personality gap seems very disproportionate to imagine that God would choose to interact with any of us in the same manner. However, God spoke to me not long ago and though there was this childhood feeling of inadequacy in me; the unfolding events in my life opened my heart to understand differently and to know that the human measurement of personality which looks at physical appearances or status, has nothing to do with God’s assessment of people.
I have never considered myself fit to be God’s oracle, at least, by human standards, but then I elected to enlist as a full-time public practitioner of Christian Science healing which involved having to abandon my paid employment as a military officer and as an international journalist. And although I must confess that I have a track record of job turnover, I have never enjoyed the job security and satisfaction that I do with being a Christian Science Practitioner. There were young ones to tend through primary education and an elderly mother whose only son is me. There were house rent and utility bills to pay. And I was little known in the foreign land where God’s voice had led me to relocate. Above all, I had cultivated a culture of not accepting any fees for my services. Therefore, for God to speak to me a promise of unceasing sustenance is, to say the least, like a voice that needed scrutinizing. When I opened my Bible the following morning to behold involuntarily the same promise clearly delineated in Psalm 37:3 “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so that thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shall be fed;” there was no telling that this truly was the voice of God. What I immediately heard was, in the words of the Psalmist, “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this;”…. Psalm 62:11.
Since then, it has dawned on me that God can speak to anybody, not on account of our human assessment of standards, but by reason of the needs of our time and environment and our personal relationship with God.
When God speaks to people, it is always for a divine purpose that will serve the overall interest of a greater majority. Jonah’s mission to be an evangelist - to the people of Nineveh started with a voice from God. An escape bid that resulted in his being thrown into the sea brought him face to face with God again. The flavor of this second encounter is the fact that his concealment within the safe repository of a fish’s belly could not hide the evangelist from the presence of God. His encounter with the mariners also serves to establish the fact that God’s command cannot be thwarted for too long.
God also provides the wherewithal to facilitate the mission. The children of Israel were to travel through a desert land to the land of promise. They had no ship to sail through the sea, but God charted a course across the great sea. He gave them manna when they seemed to have run out of ration. He stayed the pestilence when there was an epidemic outbreak. The Israelites developed an attitude of trustiness borne out of the multiple demonstration of God’s ability to supply their needs - even in dire circumstances.
A senior friend of mine demonstrated a similar sense of trusting God in turbulent times. We were on an eight-hour flight to South Africa in December 2004. About five minutes before landing, the pilot’s voice announced that the landing would be delayed because of approaching stormy weather in Johannesburg. Less than a minute thereafter, the voice came again, this time audibly shaky. It warned that he was going to drop the aircraft some meters below to avoid a head-on collision with the fierce storm. If the pilot and the crew were expressing such panic, might it be expected that the passengers would also then panic? As I looked down the aisle, I could see the hostesses curled into their seats like frightened puppies and the atmosphere had changed from one of anxiety to that of serenity. One could see the different religious blends depicted by the postures of supplication exhibited by the passengers. Prompted by the inhibited and consoling voice of the pilot, some of us could look out of the window to behold some trees and a building aflame with the lightning. However, amidst the raging flame were the fascinating evening lights which gave Johannesburg the look of Manhattan at night. Once we had landed and were queued in the arrival hall for immigration formalities, the hitherto charged atmospheric weather had assumed a serene and tranquil feeling. A passenger asked my friend why he had remained calm during the tempestuous weather. His spontaneous and emphatic response was, “I was trusty.” That statement jolted me into further inquiry. My friend said that just before the cockpit alert came on stream, he had heard the voice of God saying to him, “Be still!” And he had followed that command.
Although there were appearances that could make one relapse into doubting, I was confident that the voice of God had spoken to us, as clearly as a human voice, because there was not one sick among my close acquaintances. But my trustiness stems from a statement by the author of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, that “Divine Love has met and will always meet every human need.”
I could have naturally questioned why God would choose to communicate with me or my friend, but when I had opened my Bible and the first passage that greeted me, carried a repetition of the same promise God had spoken into my ear when I first entered the public practice of Christian Science healing, I was left with no option than to accept the obvious fact; “God has spoken once, twice have I heard it…….” Not only do I know, but now I understand that anybody can hear the voice of God. Whom God chooses for his communication is entirely God’s business. But we need to be on our guard in obedience to Jesus’ command to his disciples; “What I say unto others, I say unto all, Watch.” Mark 13:37

USING YOUR RESOURCES

USE WHAT YOU HAVE:
The wise counsel to use what one has, may sound ambiguous to many who consider themselves as belonging to the category of have-nots. The ambiguity lies in the fact that people always look outside for happiness or sadness. But if we can pause for a moment and look inside of ourselves by way of introspection, we would be astonished at how much potentialities are buried within our treasure vaults.
A twentieth century philosopher says that every child comes to earth with its own supplies. This axiom, much as it is not some argument in favour of what is considered by many as the principle of predestination, points to the fact that each human being possesses in equal measure the same spiritual elements derived from our Creator. This is supported by the fact in the first Book of the Bible which says that God made man (and woman) in His image, after His likeness. (Genesis chapter 1 verse 26). A grain of rice if sowed in the soil cannot sprout forth to yield mango fruits any more than the image and likeness of God can be anything less than its Creator. God being omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresence, man and woman made in his likeness must of necessity, possess all power, be all-knowing and can be ever-present. In essence, man coexists with the Creator. The image before the mirror cannot be different from who or what it reflects. This is the fact which prophet Elisha sought to establish when a widow who had lost her husband in a battle tended to believe that the end had come for her and her two sons who were about to be whisked away by creditors on account of some huge debt she had inherited from her late husband. While she looked up to her creditors for debt reschedulement or conditions other than taking away her two sons into slavery, Prophet Elisha turned her attention inward to the realization of her true worth. Obviously, a debt that would warrant the confiscation of a widow’s two male children should be worth more than the value of a mere pot of oil. But this widow had between her and the creditors a pot of oil and her two sons.
To get a clearer picture of the situation, let us look at the Hebrew meaning of pot. This word is rendered sir, a vessel made of various sizes, and of different materials, earthenware and metal; and used for manifold purposes, such as boiling flesh, reforming metals and storing water for domestic use or oil. Tracing African history back to our Jewish ancestry, one could compare the pot of oil to our ancient earthen water pots or calabash with capacity ranging from 10 to 15 litres. My mother has one.
Doesn’t it sound bizarre to ask a widow who has inherited a debt she did not incur, to go a borrowing? The average person will consider this command as a suicide bid. But that looks like what the radical prophet asked the woman to embark upon. After he had assessed the woman’s agonizing condition, and seeking to help her out of her delusion, he had inquired of her what she had left in store. That is to say, how much is she worth? Many people in responding to this type of inquiry would be inclined to answering in the negative considering the insignificant quantity of the pot of oil vis-à-vis the huge debt burden hanging on her neck like an albatross. Many a times we consider what we have as too little in proportion to our liabilities, and we end up declaring that we don’t have anything at all.
It is an established law of nature that gratitude for benefits already received engenders the opportunity for more blessings. The widow’s recognition of what resources she had, no matter how little, turned out to be the catalyst for abundant blessings that attended her confession. It didn’t matter to the prophet how little oil the woman had. It didn’t matter that she was already a celebrated debtor. It didn’t bother him that society would naturally turn down an appeal for loan from a chronic debtor. All he cared for was that this outwardly poor widow had some hidden treasure which she recognized and had acknowledged. He then says to her, "Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours’ even empty vessels; borrow not a few" (II Kings 4:3). Hard word, you think. But the first approach to obtaining our miracle is gratitude for benefits already received. This involves recognition of spiritual endowments which take various forms with various people. The second step is in humble and implicit obedience to the voice of wisdom. This can come in the form of a good counsel from an expert, a suggestion from a not-too important person by human assessment, or the still small voice. The widow’s response to those rules is most exemplary, for she promptly dispatched her two sons to the task of borrowing empty vessels of all shapes and sizes from apprehensive neighbours. She did not fear that her creditors might lay hands on the boys and kidnap them on account of the debt. She disobeyed traffic rules. She did not question what to do with empty vessels from neighbours, some of whom she had not interacted with for some time since she retired into self solitude. She simply followed orders like a soldier in the infantry division of the army. According to the Scripture, she did not go about gossiping her situation with neighbours or trying to consult other women regarding the prophet’s queer counsel. She simply locked up herself and started filling the empty vessels from the meager supply without any iota of doubt whatsoever. It appears to me that oil was in short supply at that season of the year hence she couldn’t afford more than one small pot, and there were many empty containers in the city.
Having exhausted all the empty vessels in the city, the man of God who had stood guard between the woman and the God of abundance now came down from the figurative mountain, gave thanks to the almighty and ordered the ever-grateful widow, "Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest (II Kings 4:7(b).
Looking at external exigencies of life denies us of the opportunity of recognizing the seed of God implanted in our very bosom. Comparing ourselves with others makes us loose sight of our own capabilities. It is only in recognizing our heaven-endowed treasures can we be truly grateful, which in turn, begets multiple blessings. On the other hand, constantly resorting to our inward part will link us to the voice of silence and make us aware of whatever steps or direction the almighty intends for us to follow. As the Scripture say, "thine ear shall hear a word behind thee saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left." (Isaiah 30: 21). A song I learned in early childhood says, "Count your blessings, and name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done."
There is no limit to what God can do except the limitations in your thinking as to what God cannot do.

REFORMATION AND PARDON

Reformation and Pardon:
In my native African village, there are ancient landmarks which are meant to benefit all members of the community without discrimination. As such, any unnecessary desecration or exploitation of any of those objects or utilities by any single member or group of persons to the exclusion of others usually attracts open disapproval by the rest of the society. I need to mention that we used to run a well organized Police state with unwritten code of conduct and prescribed penalties attached to the breaking of any of those laws. That was before the emergence of the colonial masters. Environmental sanitation exercises were monitored by the youths. If they would have cause to help any family clean their compound or their surroundings, the offending occupants were required to pay penalties ranging from some measure of meal or palm kernel or maize to tubers of yam as the case may be. Any man who failed to join in bush clearing campaign for the communal farm ran the risk of not getting a portion of farmland for that season. These stringent measures compelled a life of strict obedience and civility on my people at that time. Moral rectitude remained the norm rather than the exception.
We had just returned home from the city for a Christmas holiday. A century-old fruit-bearing tree stood at the centre of my village square. Adults consisting mainly of nursing mothers and children would sit in clusters under the shade of its extended branches. Birds and squirrels that had made their nests within the branches and hollows would occasionally lose grip of ripen fruits that will come tumbling down to the ground to incite a scramble among the women and children within the precincts of the fallen fruit, to the delight of the men who sat at the nearby thatched hut playing games and telling or listening to tales.
I could not afford the indefinite dependence on mere birds or squirrels to help me with a share of the fruits which hung generously and invitingly on the distant branches of the old tree. Up went my catapult. I aimed and brought down no less than five ripe fruits clustered together at one shot. I intended to excite the traditional scramble among the shade-dwelling fellows, but to my surprise, not one of them moved to grab my fruits. I thought they were being modest with me, so I quietly gathered my harvest and offered to share with some of my peers, but none would accept my kindness. It then dawned on me that something was amiss. My excitement suddenly waned as one old man approached and inquired after my identity. After gathering all the information as to my name and who my father was, he promptly returned to the hut and I could see him conferring with the other elders who were waiting in anticipation. There was deafening silence around me as the women and children discussed in whispers. I never felt such loneliness in all my life in the midst of a crowd. I managed to scurry home. Before I could settle down to share my experience with my mother there was an approaching long line of old men backed by half a dozen of drumming youths following my trail. They ended up in my father’s compound. They outnumbered the chairs in our house and it would be an offence to keep some of them standing. So my mother and my elder sisters expressly skipped off to borrow any seats that could be reached within the neighbourhood. After some preliminary introductory rituals it became clear to me that those men had come to penalize my father for the fruits I forced down from the community tree. As I hid behind a window blind to observe the proceedings, I could guess that the penalty far outweighed my offence. I could hear one of the elders jokingly say to my father that since he doesn’t live in the village, it was a pleasure to share of his wealth this one time. I had thought to protest but had been restrained by my mother who warned that any interruption of the proceedings would amount to contempt of court and would attract further penalties.
When I look back to that embarrassment, extortion, humiliation and disappointment suffered by my father for my sake and for a mess of porridge, so to say, I feel terribly humbled to think of the arraignment, trial and subsequent crucifixion of Jesus Christ in the hands of His own people. He, who had no sin, was made to die a sinner’s death, which the Westminster’s dictionary of the Bible says “was literally a judicial murder.” (ibid. 308). After abducting Him to the house of Annas the father-in-law of Caiaphas for preliminary examination, he was hastened before Pontius Pilate to seek to obtain the governor’s approval as the lower court lacked jurisdiction to handle such a case. Seeing no basis for granting the leave of court, Governor Pilate had to order for the Messiah to be transported to President Herod Antipas who also was reluctant to exercise jurisdiction but for the pressure mounted on him by the fraudulent crowd. (Luke 22: 66-71; 23:7-11). The Holy Scriptures say that Jesus died for no crime and without any real legal process. His execution was carried out by 4 soldiers under the supervision of a centurion. With him also 2 common robbers were led to death. (John 19:23). Eye-witness account of St. John, who was not very far from the scene of crucifixion, saw blood and water issue from the wound that had been inflicted upon Jesus Christ. That goes to prove that there was apparent external bleeding. But it does appear that his eventual death was occasioned not by the outward injuries but by the broken heart exhibited by the utterances he had voiced as he hung on the accursed tree, such as “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34).
In the present dispensation, a lawyer would have offered to plead my case and cause the judge to enter a verdict of ‘first offender’ and acquit me as a minor. But ignorance, they say, is no excuse. The contemplation of my inability to denounce or challenge what I considered to be undue exploitation of my father and the lack of defence on my trial left a sour taste on my tongue. I had resolved not to return home ever again for another Christmas holidays if that was how to treat an innocent fruit-loving boy. I had also resolved never again to taste that genre of fruit for all I care. But my father could not be deterred by that unfriendly attitude of his kindred.
Mary Baker Eddy, the founder and Discoverer of Christian Science movement, in her book Science and Health with key to the Scriptures, writes that “the atonement of Christ reconciled man to God, not God to man, for the divine Principle of Christ is God……” (ibid 18:17). God had not at any point in time separated Himself from His creation. The Bible says that we are his image and likeness (reflection) (Genesis 1:26-27). But man sought to hide from the presence of his Creator by consequence of the sin we commit. Jesus was aware of this disposition of his false accusers hence he presently begged the Father to “forgive then, for they know not what they do.” Thus he paved the way for reconciliation between man and God. Mary Baker Eddy writes further that ‘The design of Love is to reform the sinner. If the sinner’s punishment here has been insufficient to reform him, the good man’s heaven would be a hell to the sinner. (Science & Health page 33:30-1). But if the sinner would rely on the plea made on his behalf by Jesus Christ and continue to sin and expect to be pardoned by the all-merciful Father, should this not be a mockery of the suffering that Christ bore on the cross? The purpose of that manner of death was not to erase man’s sin and license him to commit sin with reckless abandon, but to show that sin occasions punishment and that only by the destruction of sin and by true reformation can man hope of attaining eternal forgiveness. For this cause are we being admonished to “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13). A pastor friend of mine once argued that the Scriptures say, “…. For we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God….” As far as I am concerned, he sounded defeatist. I had said to him, “so what?” Many people seem to share the same view that having once fallen; we should just lay there and pray for our salvation to come from the cross. I am inclined to refer once again to Mary Baker Eddy’s argument that though the principle of mathematics has already been established, but we cannot stand before the blackboard and invoke the problem of maths to solve itself. It has to be worked out by the student in accordance with the established principle; else we get the wrong answer. So is the principle of individual salvation. Jesus has mapped out the way for us to follow, and only those who tread that path can expect to get to the destination point. He had said in substance, “I am the Life, the Truth and the Way.” Therefore, if we are seeking to live our life to the fullest, we must truthfully follow along the right Way. This is the only guarantee for life eternal.
If I fail to return to my village on account of what I had considered an unjust customary practice, that would not change my status as a bona-fide citizen, neither would my dislike for apple stop the tree from bearing fruits. Man is not annihilated, nor does he lose his identity, by passing through the belief called death. We cannot continue in sin because someone has paid the penalty. Our only guarantee for peace is the abolition of any occasion of sin in our individual lives. God has given us the ability to overcome all evil and nothing can deprive us of that authority.