Elizabeth II, The Queen

Change has come today

Many tributes shall be written about the woman born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary who became Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other Commonwealth realms.

In a reign that spanned 7 decades and 7 months, many of us have known no other monarch, our anthem asked God to save the Queen, our coinage and postage stamps a side relief of her face through the times of her reign, our pound notes with her face beaming up at us, she represented constancy and stability that seemed would never end.

Records for the record

Her sense of duty continued to the very end even in her ever-increasing frailty, she did not flinch as other monarchs in continental Europe abdicated for their heirs in Spain, the Netherlands, and in Belgium. She represented an old-fashioned call to service and handling of responsibility that is rarely seen in leadership today.

It is with sadness that we mourn the passing of the longest-lived and longest reigning British monarch amongst other superlative records to list, the defining of the Second Elizabethan Age might well rival in consequence the First Elizabethan Age for how England changed and became a world power.

She becomes he

Maybe, there are times she should have intervened, but let history judge that, she lived above the fray of politics, asked 15 Prime Ministers to form a government and in her longevity gave perspective to the many who took office that their time was just a fraction in the consequential length of her reign.

Her death might well unite this divided nation in grief, but the machinations of her sometimes-calumnious governments has left the country in no greater shape than when she ascended the throne with the future looking quite bleak for citizenry and subjects, but things will turn, I believe.

As we usher in the reign of Charles III, we hope that it brings a new sense of hope and encouragement. The Queen has joined her ancestors and may she find eternal rest with the memory of her walk in life never fading.

Long Live the King. In an age where pronouns matter, she becomes he, her becomes his, and her becomes him, and the House of Windsor endures. May the reign of King Charles III and his Queen Consort, Camilla usher new prosperity in our nation. God Save the King.

Nigeria: Addressing sports corruption

They pulled it off

The Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi, India have finally come to an end as what had all the makings of a farce suddenly transmogrified into a miracle of possibilities we never thought India could pull off.

The very first gold medal of the games went to Nigeria and it almost persuaded me to get interested in the events, I watched the swimming qualifiers, some of the running, a little of the cycling.

It never occurred to me that the selected national anthem for England was interminably long; at least twice I thought we were at the end and we were just about halfway through.

Sometimes, it makes you wonder why the English should be singing “Jerusalem” instead of the more rousing “Land of Hope and Glory” or the more solemn “I vow to thee my country.”

Won, lost and disgraced

In any case it was not the winning of medals that captured the news but the losing of supposed wins, the 100m female final that had the winner adjudged a false-start after she had taken the lap of honour and the spoils going to the Nigerian, who after her own lap of honour lost it for the dishonourable conduct of drug doping [1].

The pain threshold of the Nigerian had been tested since she apparently had toothache and took a “remedy” for this condition which then happened to a banned substance.

The jury might be out between the inadvertent and the deliberate but one is left rather deflated after the elated victory by technical default turned into ignominy, infamy and shame for being caught out as a cheat.

The pain of stimulation

To all the protestations of the Nigerian officials as the lady was stripped of her medal and ready for the impending disgrace I could find no place where Methylhexanamine [2] is used as an analgesic and if needed for medication is used as a nasal decongestant, might well be used for hypertrophied (swelling) or hyperplasic (cell multiplication) oral tissues which could be as a result of toothache but is no indication this drug has that therapeutic property.

It is more generally used as a stimulant and hence can give the users undue advantage in sports competition. As that matter was being handled, another Nigerian tested positive and though he did not lose a medal having come sixth, he had compounded the ignominy that Nigeria had already been subjected to.

The doping and testing chase

The issue here is that people try to cut corners, gain advantage and short-cut their way to success without the hard graft with the hope that they do not get caught out.

Testing is getting more sophisticated just as doping is taking on a more scientific bent that leaves testers in a catch-up game.

Maybe the Nigerians were already behind the curve on the doping game and having been promised the possibility of getting past the testers for victories that could bring amazing rewards; they threw caution to the winds and dared to do the ignoble.

Helping the sportspersons

One would think sportspersons and their handlers were quite conversant of the requirements for sportsmanship and the stringent testing procedures that attend to professional athletes.

Maybe sportspersons can no longer use over-the-counter medication for the fear of being caught doping and maybe certain foods need to be reviewed for doping content but the sports officials should be in close supervision of their wards and ensure they are not endangered by either ignorance or temptation.

It would unfortunate if sportspersons are not allowed to use medication for pain relief, common colds or flu just because they might gain undue competitive advantage.

In fact, along with the list of banned substances, there should be a list of commonly accepted medication for ailments that require self-medicated relief without the compromise of cleanliness in sport.

The aftermath

Much as other nationals were also caught doping, the third Nigerian caught probably did the greatest damage to our reputation because that disgraceful act cost us 2 silver medals, the one she won as an individual and that as part of a relay team.

In this case, this was an outright doping case of using testosterone prohormone and in the case of the second and third culprits they waived the option to have their B samples tested – they had been caught out, fair and square.

Probably the rewards for sporting success are great from the accolades of adulation to monetary gain and honours but at what cost?

Some have said maybe doping should be allowed to see exactly to what limits the body can be exerted in the pursuit of glory and the breaking of heretofore unbroken records but do we want to see people or drugged up constructs of flesh, blood and bones masquerading as human doing the impossible?

Retribution

Whichever way the people decide to vote, the battering Nigeria continues to suffer by reason of its representatives in international competitions or on the political stage has to stop; there is no reason for our sportspersons to imitate the kleptomaniacs, cheats and corrupt people who have saddled Nigeria with disrepute.

For change should come from all of us, especially sportspersons who are exposed and are role models whose positive image would in some ways inspire others to excellence through hard work rather than through cheating.

We probably need a sporting crimes body to manage that part of human endeavour in Nigeria as we have for financial crimes, a body to investigate and adjudicate on these matters with regards to Nigerians.

They would have a docket full of corruption investigations into our football management, sports doping, and the matters of selection, participation, loyalty and patriotism in service to Nigeria. These people are supposed to be the standard bearers of the National Pledge inspiring others to national duty.

Culprits should know that there is a lot more at stake than losing medals and facing bans – this is another part of the rebranding Nigerian exercise that needs looking into.

Sources

[1] BBC Sport - Commonwealth Games: Damola Osayemi loses gold medal

[2] Methylhexanamine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[3] BBC Sport - Commonwealth Games 2010: Third Nigerian tests positive

The National Anthem of England

I vow to thee, my country

Cellophane skinned lion hearts

Historical inferiority complexes

The prominent international news from Zambian concerns the abuse of both opportunity and privilege by all concerned leading to the proffered deportation of a white journalist.

Country Profile: Zambia

The Zambian Bookmark - Zambia by Zambian intellectuals

After 40 years of independence, at least on the surface, independence is supposed to mean no dependence on the colonialists for the governance and destiny of the land and leaders of people who have sought this freedom.

The 1960s heralded the collapse of the original British Empire where the Queen was sovereign over lands that reached over up to 25% of global land mass, typifying an empire on which the sun never set.

However, the collapse of the empire heralded the advent of the Commonwealth of Nations; a grouping of nations who have the common history of having been or still are members of the "British Empire". Mozambique is the only member without this historical tie.

The independence struggles increased in violent intensity as you moved from Sub-Saharan West Africa northwards or southwards.

Northwards it was the French and Italian struggles of Morocco, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. Southwards the British handled the upheavals in Kenya, Uganda, the Rhodesia and finally South Africa.

Nigeria and Ghana were in comparison very peaceful transitions. Unfortunately, Africa the land of potential and promise of the 1960s is hardly what it offered then.

Most especially the Southern African states which struggled through more uncivilised actions of Western émigrés who introduced positively racist segregation policies very much like the publicised civil rights wrongs of America.

Web Compendium of Africa

Those years etched indelible marks in the psyche of the majority of racial inequality, superiority, abuse and lack of opportunity.

These colonials had free rein such that they were literally above the law for offences that drew the full force of the law and sanctions in the home country.

How else would the longest served senator in the United States who ran on a segregationist ticket in 1948 have secretly fathered a child from a liaison with a black maid of which we all had no knowledge until after his death?

Strom Thurmond's love child

The censorious press and foreign journalists

Well, so many years after independence that division of black and white still exists, in the South African sub-continent with examples of Zimbabwe with respect to the botched land reform and seizing of farms and Zambia where press criticism by other races is frowned upon.

In fact, it is any criticism, no matter how constructive. This time a journalist had compared the president of Zambia to a foolish elephant and two other ministers to baboons.

Zambia has had a coterie of defamed, insulted, slighted, slandered and libelled leaders.

However, it is a moot point to suggest that the Home, Foreign or Information ministers have any other function than to promote security and international prestige.

They usually are pre-occupied mostly with the sensibilities and biorhythms of the president rather than the country and people they represent.

The use of onomatopoeia, allegory, analogy, and simile or even in this case, animal metaphor exemplifies the richness of language and expression.

However, perception of the metaphorical object and the accompanying adjectives can create adverse reactions.

Figures of Speech

Biblical Figures of Speech

An elephant typifies size and strength, but a white elephant is something that involves lots of expense yielding little value.

A foolish elephant might in one refer to the President's size [I have no stand against natural obesity] and how his size or prestige has suffered due to some unwise act on his part.

The President had visited a game park, and that presented the opportunity for satire, it is no surprise that the ministers having lost their sense of humour and irony have played the gallery allowing for what was inconsequential to become an international news story.

Now we have expository focus on the presidency, the rule of law and the indolence that characterises their pre-occupation with image over policies that help the Zambian people.

More so, it would appear that the circulation of the besieged "The Post" newspaper is wider than is accepted if so many are going to read the slur on the president and think less of him.

One wonders if the reaction from the ministers would have been salutary if the president were compared to a wise lion, agile tiger or wily snake.

The speed at which African democracies censor, proscribe or ban the press in their countries only highlights weaknesses in legitimacy of the governments and the absence of adherence to the rule of law and process.

Media Institute of Southern Africa

Zambian court blocks deportation

Fortunately, the courts are speaking up for the journalist's rights, this time.

Egalitarianism is a pipe-dream

When the Queen speaks

The Commonwealth represents the extent to which the British Empire grew in the 19th Century which then diminished in the first half of the 20th Century.

Mozambique is the only country that has no historical ties to the Commonwealth, but has joined this community on the realisation that it is surrounded by other countries including the rogue Zimbabwean state.

On gaining independence, a number of countries became republics and had the complete mantle of government vested in the local citizenry. The Queen’s representative in those countries then becomes a British government representative with the title of Ambassador.

Where the countries have not adopted a republican status, the figure-head head of government as the Queen’s representative in that country is the Governor-General. Canada and Australia are not republics.

Many of those former British Empire states started off as democracies and descended into governmental chaos when certain groups grabbed the reins of government as a right rather than elective privilege.

This was worsened by other factions, feeling marginalised and resorting to arms and plunging their countries into civil war and complete anarchy.

Others either had years of military misrule or populist governments that abused the rule of law and all due process.

The Commonwealth is more peaceful now, though the last meeting of governments did threaten to undo the relationship. Zimbabwe and Pakistan remain outsiders for misrule and military dictatorship respectively.

Anyway, every Christmas day at 15:00 hrs GMT the Queen’s Christmas message is relayed to the Commonwealth. The message is supposed to cover issues of the year, the hopes, the fears, the thanks and the regrets.

However, this traditional atmosphere is continually getting a touch of modernisation, one expects the speeches of the near future to be the Queen rapping her message on Top of the Pops. God forbid!

The Queen represents a documented and traceable heritage of history, circumstance and development of the British identity. Though the class structures of feudal servitude have all but disappeared, these have evolved creating new battle lines.

The moneyed, the celebrity, the politician, the fan, the deprived, the refugee now make up the obvious classes. However, the class struggles along the erstwhile lines still continue without specific appellation.

The equality of democracy as we know it does not produce the liberality of a government of the people, by the people for the people. No modern democracy can boast of that lofty definition in practice.

Rather the government of the day seeks to impose a set of class values on majority society, where they are mostly in government with less than 35% of the total enfranchised population.

On Christmas day, the Queen reminds us of history, how society has evolved and gives a time frame to the era we live in. The Second Elizabethan era of the late 20th Century which now includes the early 21st Century?

Long live the Queen - by the which we know our identity as members of the Commonwealth.

An Englishman abroad.