The hard facts about preventing teenage pregnancies

They do get pregnant

It is now a news story that you have a probably read about and I would not dwell too much on the exact event itself but the context in relation to society as a whole.

A young beautiful woman with a fascinating life in the executive leadership of her home state gets plucked from obscurity to join in a national ticket for a job that leaves her a heartbeat away from world leadership.

She has five children, one would be loved dearly through the personal situation of having Down’s Syndrome, one would tug at the heart strings as he get sent to a war zone to fight for his country and one is a parental dilemma, she is 5-months pregnant out of wedlock at 17.

Conservative or liberal, in America or anywhere else, I am sure we all have a story to tell about daughter, sister or niece who happens to have fallen pregnant by circumstance.

Did it jump on you?

I have been witness to at least one interrogation of a housemaid in our home where my mother had having noticed the spitting, the whites of the eyes and early morning discomforts asked questions that included if I was responsible for the housemaid's anatomical changes.

Oh! Mother! You surprise me, whilst, I might have been interfered with, I have never interfered with our staff, she should have known that even if opportunity and privilege presented itself, the maid would never be laid; I would hope I was brought up both well and discerning enough to behave appropriately.

The funniest question if it was not that serious came when the girl could not account for how she fell pregnant, so she sneered in Yoruba (O fo mo e ni), which translates to in context, if you do not know how you got pregnant, did the baby just jump on you and result in an unexplained conception?

Dealing with a rampaging dilemma

In one instance, I could well tell when it happened, my mother had gone to have her hair done on a day we were to travel to our home town, as the driver arrived to take us away, my cousin and I had gone to get mother, leaving the driver and the maid at home – when we returned, the maid’s hair was all messed up she looked dishevelled, I just suspected something had happened.

Two months after, I found out exactly what had happened, the driver had taken advantage of her, most definitely raped her and the result was this rampaging dilemma that resulted in the sacking of the driver, a termination and the return of the maid to her people.

The truth from the delusions

But this does not half represent the fact that no matter how devout, strict and disciplined our families are, there is little we can do to prevent or arrest teenage pregnancies if we are not open about the possibilities – boys and girls are experimenting with sex and suddenly finding out the potency of their sexual organs after the fact – the sperm of the boys can fertilise the eggs of the girls and result in a PREGNANCY! Shock Horror!!!

I have never in my early life been warned of the possibility that this could happen, rather I have heard threats of foreboding, the girls terrified into nothingness with the father bellowing from afar – If a girl brings a pregnancy to my house, I will ... unprintable and unspeakable.

Insurance brings some assurance

Now, having no kids puts me at a disadvantage, but I have seen other parents do the very pragmatic, they have put condoms in the bags of their kids realising that adolescents would be adolescents with the probability that what they have been warned against might well be what they would indulge in.

So, as an insurance despite their stern entreaties, the condom is not so much a license to be promiscuous but a warning that if the child does find themselves in a tight situation of frenzied excitement, there would be the possible or slight presence of mind to wrap it up before dipping it in.

Unfortunately, there are many parents who cannot countenance the reasonableness of this approach and have lived to rue the day they have not been more forth-coming about the realities of life that good sex education prevents in the long term.

The more religious have joined in cults of the ring [Source: Silver Ring Thing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia] saving themselves until marriage in sexual abstinence vows; a movement and discipline in numbers that I commend, but what if the ring is not a good enough contraceptive at a moment of unanticipated weakness?

The facts of life are

As the child falls pregnant, many parents despair at the longer term and wonder if the life of their child is about to be truncated with a responsibility the child is hardly ready for or complicated by a decision the child had no power to make – there have been extremes from having the baby to term, telling the child that it was a still-birth whilst put the baby up for adoption to the trauma of an abortion.

Can we not agree that kids do experiment and the best thing to do is provide material and knowledge to prevent unwanted pregnancies and through that we most definitely would not have to deal with the matter of abortion or other complicated life decisions?

It is time to throw away those pseudo-religious goggles and the hubris of supposed insulation of our children from societal ills because we have been such good parents, guardians or mentors and face the possibilities that could hit us in the face so hard we cannot fathom when and where it all went wrong.

Very few of those out-of-wedlock pregnancies results in the seeming fairy tale ending of the event I alluded to at the beginning of this blog – young secret lovers having stolen a moment of sexual excitement now planning on becoming man and wife; in all, I wish that couple the very best of good fortune.

Im-Palin-g McCain's picket

Cultivating relationships

I have made many acquaintances but have very few friends, in fact, the people I call my friends, I have known for at least 15 years, putting that in the time frame of my last long-term partner, beyond that, it goes back 24 years.

Some 22 years ago, when I was made the class representative and a good representative I was, we were a noisy class and when someone challenged me about being the ring-leader of the noise-makers, I had to say if I did not represent my class in noise-making I would not be representing them effectively.

The real context of this is I left that school with 3 good friends, one of whom I have lost contact with in Russia, one with whom I have little contact in Nigeria and the other with whom I talk to quite frequently in London.

These along with the other friends are people I can trust with a lot, talk to about much and expect to act in my behalf just as if I were there without any fear for their judgement and whilst being assured of the quality of their person and integrity.

I am proud to say that where I have recommended these people on my own recognisance they have been accepted in my person and proved to be just as recommended and better.

I have also entered into business dealings with people through having first known them, known their judgement, their values and realised how we can work together for a common good, I do not take these issues lightly at all.

My congratulations to Sarah Palin

It is on this note that I first congratulate Sarah Palin [1] on being selected by John McCain as his vice-Presidential running mate. Until she was selected, I did not know anything about this governor of a backwater state called Alaska [2] apart from the bridge to nowhere [3] which has since been abandoned [4] by her and the indictments [5] of Ted Stevens [6], the longest serving GOP Senator.

What we read about Sarah Palin is interesting, a mother of 5 children, the last being born only in April 2008 with Down’s Syndrome, she is a devout Christian, pro-life and pro-gun politician who seems to be working at cleaning up Alaskan politics.

She has been governor for less than 2 years and might be implicated [7] in trying to obtain the sacking of her ex-brother-in-law who was undergoing a messy divorce and child custody batter with her sister as a serious abuse of power.

Gay abortions of gun marriage

On the issues that excite the conservatives about her candidacy, I find myself more pragmatic than fundamentalist and agree more with Senator Obama’s views on abortion, gun-control and gay marriage as he articulated in his acceptance speech [8].

The need to work on preventing unwanted pregnancies than jostling with the issue of abortion could mean condoms and contraceptives have a place in society, if we are less emotive about presumed societal decay. People would always have sex, it is probably better we ensure they have it safely and avoid regrettable situations.

Being painted as an Annie, Get Your Gun figure does nothing for me, it fact that gun use in the country differs from what guns get used for in the inner cities; there is a need for balance in enacting laws with due respect to the 2^nd Amendment to protect rights as well as protect lives.

If people have a right to love regardless of gender pairing, that love-relationship constitutes their family unit for those concerned such that sharing, caring and privileges should by rights and fairness accrue to that relationship.

I still contend that it is only those whose heterosexual marriages and relationships are weak that think gay marriage would impact on marriage as an institution. If same-sex couples had basic rights conferred on their partnerships, there would be no need for the marriage debate, but the absence of such partnership rights makes many want to go the whole hog and I see nothing really wrong with that.

Time for the United States of Americans

America within itself needs conciliation through pragmatic analysis of social issues not the promotion of political figures that accentuate the wedge issues that divide the people, polarise the nation and try to make traitors of people who disagree about these things.

We need the vision of a new president who brings together the whole country in the unity of purpose looking to change and grasping unto the edifying message of hope than one who dwells on the divisions that has turned America into one of the most divided countries on social issues.

Conservatives and liberals alike have to recognise that they are all American first and the politics of being disagreeable because of the difference of opinion has to stop – I must contend the Obama offers the healing balm of reason that John McCain cannot deign to offer to his most beloved country.

This is no great thing

Nevertheless, I am not excited by any stretch of the imagination about McCain’s choice of vice-President. It is amazing that after so many years in Washington, his numbered years and the need to buttress areas where he is weak, he has chosen to lay such a responsibility on someone he has only met once before, with whom he has no particular affinity.

Nobody can convince me that this selection is borne of some deliberate and considered thinking that binds people who have developed a relationship of mutual aims, goals and vision.

The fellowship of minds

I have just started a new job today, the company has in the past employed the best consultants money could buy to solve intractable problems with solutions that sound amazing but yield none of the expected results.

The team has now regrouped into one that seeks shared experiences with others who they have worked with before to address the problems with the fellowship of minds that are geared to succeed rather than push a particular solution provider’s agenda which just accumulates hours of expensive waffle.

I find myself amongst people who I have worked with in different companies over the last 5 years, who I know, who I respect, who have a shared vision and acknowledging each others expertise and who have gathered together to be a winning team – we know we would crack those problems because we have developed a relationship of peers and expertise.

After an exemplary life

The choice that John McCain has made is the most cynical ploy to emotively use gender sympathies and religious adherence to befuddle voters into a false sense of thinking sameness brings comfort, it offers the opportunity for a complacency that imagines things would be done the way we believe we would do things. How further from the truth can we be about judgement and the assessment of character?

It is a presidency not a bishopric that is at stake, it is about human government not church government. I would be fearful of an ultra-religious person who dreams dreams, sees visions and reckons that God commands them to take some action without considering all the consequences for the basis of secular government.

America has been too divided along wedge issues to tolerate more of the same again for 4 more years.

I am surprised that no one sees that after 72 years of a rather distinguished and exemplary life John McCain could find no friend, colleague, confidant, mentor or protégé in his long political, social, business or military life and career to join him in the most important quest of his life but a stranger.

No judgment no story

This man has no judgment; he fails woefully at what should have been the culmination of relationships with other men and women he has met in all walks of life; this should have had a history and story that fills us with awe, but he picks someone he met only six months ago.

He is both a maverick and breathtakingly reckless; the levers of world government must never be within his grasp.

There is no greater poverty of spirit and goodwill than to share your greatest stage with strangers rather than with friends, with people you hardly know, in order to prove you are different.

This is exactly what makes John McCain unworthy of the calling to which he aspires, he has made vain a lifetime of experiences to hug the limelight alone and he has dangled a juicy bait that has everyone whooping too distractedly to realise that they are being patronised by a consummate denier of his legacy and his original platforms for the want of power.

A picket not a ticket

It has left the Economist asking Bring back the real McCain [9] in their leader this week, just as John Kerry compared and contrasted Senator McCain with Candidate McCain in his speech [10] at the Democratic National Convention last week.

The selection of Sarah Palin does not present us with a McCain-Palin ticket, rather it is an appalling McCain picket; it is not revolutionary but reactionary, it not inspired but desperate, it is not conciliatory but anarchist, it not cultured but vulgar, it is not considered but rash, it is maverick in its context and reckless to the extreme.

For a man of John McCain’s stature to impose on a nursing mother he hardly knows regardless of her abilities and suitability a responsibility so large as to create the most exacting pressures on her needs to satisfy motherhood and the call of office is in the least irresponsible and at the most heartless.

If the 3:00AM advertisement [11] would ever question the ability of anyone to meet the demands of a great crisis, just imagine accommodating that under the stress of nursing a child that most definitely needs that extra bit of care and having another child away in harm’s way in a war that should never have been started.

I am sorry, this selection is not gentlemanly at all and it proves once and for all that Senator John McCain is probably better a senator and definitely not material for a president by any stretch of the imagination.

The man is just not the man we used to know.

Sources

[1] Sarah Palin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[2] Alaska - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[3] The Bridge to Nowhere: A National Embarrassment

[4] 'Bridge to nowhere' abandoned - CNN.com

[5] Nation & World | Ted Stevens indicted, longest-serving GOP senator | Seattle Times Newspaper

[6] Ted Stevens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[7] Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[8] Obama: We are better than these last eight years - CNN.com

[9] The presidential race | Bring back the real McCain | Economist.com

[10] Transcript: Sen. John Kerry On Foreign Policy : NPR

[11] Hillary Clinton, 3am commercial White House Ad - Truveo Video Search

A millipede to the mille

From enthusiasm to consistency

When I wrote my first blog on the 8^th of December 2003, I thought I would write everyday and I did for the rest of that month and most of the month of January 2004.

But as the months went by, I missed out a few and when I wrote I probably got 5 blogs in.

I suppose I got more serious about blogging at the beginning of 2006 and the numbers began to add up.

Today, the number hits 1,000 at 4 years and 267 days according to my blog console; days because the programmers handling my blog site could not break the days down into months and days in a consistent way.

Keeping my own faith

I have tried to stay true to Akin playing on the English meaning of the word pertaining to likeness rather than the Yoruba meaning which is more like a heroic warrior, I don't do heroics just the occasional histrionics.

It is about things too concerning to ignore and it is still essentially similar to what is known, compatible to what is expected and related to the unexpected.

I write with thanks

Whilst I write what I have written and when it is written it is what I have decided to write, I thank my readers – friendly, unfriendly, complimentary and downright obnoxious – you all matter - your readership and commentary offers even that little bit of satisfaction, I look forward to the next 1,000 in probably a lot less time than it took the first.

Thanks and cheers.

The example of riches untold

It’s the Guardian angel of thought

I have tendency to fall into a stupor when I get on flight to anywhere, the time before take-off is literally interminable that I sometimes miss the choreography of aircraft safety and the offer of newspapers to read.

I had deliberately left the things I was reading in my bag as I took my window seat but halfway through the flight my mind was aching for input so I asked the lady next to me if I could read her paper.

It was the UK Guardian and I really would not read anything that wet but for the seemingly dire circumstances.

The bottom of the front-page of the Friday 29^th of August newspaper had the picture of a lady kneeling down fully and submissively bowed to the floor as if in deep supplication at a religious convention that majored on getting rich [1].

The Prosperity Gospel

I have seen that before and it took years to be weaned off the diet of milk and honey with a tub of unhealthy lard.

The prosperity gospel [2] has taken root in a branch of Christianity that has Pentecostal yearnings, the news feature contends that these ideas of interpretation of the Bible come from Oklahoma which has been the incubator to the wildest inspirations that defy the logic of getting successful.

Now, I have nothing against prosperity, in fact, I am all for prosperity which in essence could be good health, the presence of happiness, the ability to share, having sufficiency to meet ones requirements and something over whilst being content, I doubt if it is all about getting rich [3].

I like people to be ambitious and have good role models too that inspire them to great things, but it is covetous to desire to be like others for the sake of being able to say you have arrived.

Extensive studies [4] have been conducted on whether elements of the Prosperity Gospel do have a theological basis rather than a pseudo-heretical deviation.

Rick Warren [5] who pastors one of the largest congregations in American seems to stand alone from this deluge of “God make me as rich as Richie Rich [6]” syndrome and had a feature run in the Economist [7] about his teachings.

Ghetto churches with a different message

One thing the news feature noticed was most of the congregation seemed to be made of ethnic minorities from West Africa and the Caribbean – I do wonder how these churches integrate into or adapt to the communities they are in.

I remember when looking for a church, years ago, I went to 2 churches in The Hague and Amsterdam, I could have just walked down a street in Lagos, they were alien to the culture and their environment – it was all well to have the comfort of similarity in numbers but that is what the ghetto is made of.

These ghetto “churches” probably do have a message and have the power to inspire in a particular way, but when every message, intonation and supplication begins to read like dollar or pound signs, I worry for where the evil has taken root in the quest for or the love of money.

Between money and wisdom

There are many verses in scripture that suggest it is good to be rich but key to those verses lies the juxtaposition with wisdom because like the Proverbs say, money is of no use to a fool – Proverbs 17:15-17. As we all know, a fool and his money are soon parted too.

Wisdom is the key – Ecclesiastes 7:11-13; it brings prudence to the management of ones resources where the making of ones character can even be an exercise in money management.

The church featured in the news story which happens to be the largest church in the UK ran into some difficulty recently concerning its charitable status as well as financial irregularities with the way its funds seemed to have been diverted to means that were not above board.

Those matters got resolved with the minister in charge having to pay back GBP 200,000. It does not augur well for churches that taken voluntary contributions on the premise of faith and goodwill to end up under financial investigations - it is bad as an example of character and damages the reputation of the greater message - that is a glaring fact that cannot be subject to debate.

Example of riches

As one sits down to listen to the word as preached today, the anecdotes, analogies and allegories sound like the example of riches untold triggered by selfless tithing in the belief that the returns can be a thousand-fold - tendency to go out of context to pursue a particular belief system is rife.

It reminds of an episode years ago where an overdose of this kind of talk lead a friend to believe that God had promised him a large some of money, N17,000, and that was a lot of money; an equivalent of $20,000 or GBP 14,000 at the exchange rates then (1984) as we were all students.

He opened a bank account and waited for the day when the money would be deposited by God, the day finally arrived and he wrote the amount out to cash in a cheque, prayed over it and went to the bank.

He got done for fraud and it was a case that dragged on for a good while, the only saving grace for him was that he did not spend too long in a police cell; it was an eye-opener to all of us – God uses people most of the time and rarely exceptional circumstances, He does not do magic and many confuse the need for the miraculous with unexpected providence of good luck typifying a magical wave of the wand.

Riches of example

The riches of the example of Christian living cannot be just having the best car, the biggest house, the most vulgar bling and the swagger of a garrulous moneybag – it must be the ministering to ones community with whatever little one has got because sufficiency is what matters not excess leading to squander or wanton living 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 & 2 Corinthians 9:7-9.

I seek a gospel that espouses and ululates in the riches of example, it is time to find relevance in our communities which are more diverse than specific race churches or financial-driven thought philosophies; the gospel of the example of riches inspires no confidence in the quality of Christian devotion, dedication and living.

Chasing the cloud of success without the requisite dint of hard work, honesty, good character, reliability, dependability and service to ones community is as far removed from the gospel as the East is from the West.

As for the woman who was pictured kneeling on the front-page of the Guardian, if you are not asking a-miss – Amen.

Sources

[1] Religion: Pentecostalist gathering draws worshippers keen to get richer | World news | The Guardian

[2] Prosperity theology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[3] TIME.com - Does God Want You To Be Rich? - The Religion Pages - Sponsored by Unitarian Universalists

[4] ReligionLink - Is the 'prosperity gospel' prospering?

[5] Rick Warren - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[6] Richie Rich (comics) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[7] Rick Warren – Lexington | The next Billy Graham | Economist.com

Note about originality: The example of riches derives from a phrase used by Bill Clinton where power replaces my use of riches.

Power of Our Example

Awakening to vision and audio

I was up last night as I always sleep with my television on, my dreams of sound and imagination just eases into the reality of vision and audio with the hope I have not arrived from a terrifying Steven King saga.

I prefer to sleep with news channels on rather than music channels, I do however remember a time I had the gospels playing back during me sleep, it sometimes made those stories and events alive and vivid.

Anyway, I got up to CNN’s coverage of the Democratic National Convention when Bill Clinton was about to speak.

Taking time to accept Obama

So much had been made of Bill Clinton being sour about Hillary losing to Barack Obama, he has been one of the most ardent supporters of his wife’s bid for the nomination and who can blame him?

It also took time for me to realise that Obama was at the head of a movement whose time had come rather than a motivator for a campaign to fulfil an ambition.

As Bill Clinton came on stage, one could see that that he was still well liked, there was lots of adulation and the ovation went on for minutes that he had to entreat the people to stop and sit down for business to continue.

The talk that matters

He finally got to say his bit and it was vintage Bill, the Democratic Party today appears to be blessed with at least three very prominent people who have found the key to the use of words to inspire people, the other two being Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Bill Clinton successfully linked the relationship between a strong America at home and a secure America abroad as he forcefully backed the candidacy of Barack Obama for President.

I have the feeling the Hillary Clinton might not make another run for the White House if Barack Obama takes the Presidency in November.

Example of our Power

However, what I found the most striking about Bill Clinton’s speech was when he said “People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.” [1]

This subtle use of and juxtaposition of words speaks volumes, just as certain people would attempt to view the failings of Bill Clinton as a poor example of moral rectitude, the example of power he has portrayed has been for the good in many places.

The judgement call for Americans is the preparation for posterity and the beginning of history – it would ask if America would be viewed as projecting the power of example as to have become a civilisation in its own right or whether the example of power has made them no better than vandals, Barbarians and plunderers whose self-interest left the world in great turmoil as we have today.

Under siege or higher purpose

The weight of history need not fall on the shoulders of Americans today but the future that begins today provides a path that can make a whole difference towards the troubles America faces today – Where “the American dream is under siege at home, and America's leadership in the world has been weakened.”

Shall they and the American dream remain under siege with a continuation of the policies of the last 8 years or shall America’s leadership in the world be strengthened with the advent of a man who “has a remarkable ability to inspire people, to raise our hopes and rally us to high purpose?”

A place called hope

That man was Bill Clinton 16 years ago and he has passed the baton today to Barack Obama; the alternative, for all intents and purposes falls far short of that higher purpose because the passage of time seems to have vindicated the measured and insightful views of Barack Obama than the belligerent machismo of John McCain on the war in Iraq, the timetabled withdrawal of troops and talking with Iran.

Being the most powerful country in the world, the responsibility that comes with that position is self-evident – the example of power has won wars but we are still in battles and the power of example has saved lives and won victories in the most intractable situations.

We have Bill Clinton to thank for articulating in words the clear purpose of the day and the duty Americans have to assure and safeguard their future and that of those after them by electing a man that embodies our hopes rather than one that accentuates our fears.

Source

[1] Democratic Convention, Bill Clinton Speech Transcript - Democratic National Convention Speech Transcripts - Zimbio:

The end of Europe

Bought this, sold that

Sometimes I wonder about the what we have bought and what we are sold; whilst in Lisbon on one of my tourist jaunts I took a taxi to a prominent monument that meant using the 25^th of April suspension bridge.

Taxi fares are usually properly advertised with surcharges for heavy goods, extra passengers, out of town travel and so on.

The bridge has a toll charge system, but I do not think that applies to taxis, however, when I got to my destination, the driver gave me a figure quite different from that on the meter indicating he had to pay a toll.

I really had no time for an argument but I am sure I should have insisted on the meter price and stood my ground – you really do not want to visit a religious place feeling serious pissed off, so I lived and let live.

Filling in the time

Still on the matter of bought and sold, I returned to town without a bridge surcharge in a taxi and bought a tour to Sintra – to be covered in another blog.

We spent the best part of 90 minutes in the palace and then I realised they had to fill in about 2 to 3 hours to justify the cost of the tour.

We got onto the long and windy roads that reminded me of the trip into the Gran Canarian hinterland and finally ended up at Cabo da Roca [1] or Cape Roca which is supposed to be the westernmost point of both mainland Europe and mainland Portugal.

The end of Europe

It was quite windy and even through we are at height of just 140 metres above sea level we were above a good few low-lying clouds.

The clouds we could see above were moving at speed such that if people visited in the olden days they would be moved with awe and almost definitely have an apparition of something to confirm their dread of the supernatural.

Suffice it to say that I saw the end of Europe as we know it and was almost impressed though quite fascinated all the same.

The slideshow and details appear soonest as well as that of my visit to the fossil cliffs and beach of Costa Caparica.

Source

[1] Cabo da Roca - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nigeria: Gulags of learning

Suspended for rightful protest

Some areas where educational institutions do not seem to have improved in Nigeria are those of situation analysis, student discipline, leadership and fostering an atmosphere where ideas and opinions flourish.

I write this as I read in the papers that 5 students were suspended indefinitely [1] from the Olabisi Onabanjo University having been recorded on television protesting against the raising of school fees - nothing in the story suggests they were up to anything else.

I would not go into details of that, but I would relay my own experiences of this failing.

Summer School gets hot

In the summer of 1980, I returned to school for Summer School in preparation for secondary school final examinations, we were to spend 4 weeks and for me some of those lectures were quite enlightening and instructive, I probably gained a lot in the first two weeks than I did in a whole half-term of regular school.

One weekend night, some of the more adventurous, if not the more idiotic boys in my class, who had their hormones running wilder than their brains could control them to remain human, went out to the girl’s hostels to meet up and do more with the girls.

When the girls refused to come out to play, the boys went on a rampage, destroying property and harming a few of the girls in the process, I think a few needed hospital treatment.

Judge and jury without justice

In the morning, the teaching staff and the Board of Governors met to review the situation and decide on what to do. Without interviewing any of the boys and on the emotive situation of observing the girls, they decided to close the Summer School with immediate effect.

They also decided none of the boys would return to the boarding house for the rest of their final year, having been a boarder for four years I spent my last and most important year in secondary school as a day student.

Now, the Board of Governors might have thought they were offering the best disciplinary action in excluding us from boarding school, but they never considered that without the regimen of supervision in a boarding house a good few of the boys would go off the rails.

The damage and the harshness

I believe the set of 1976-1981 could have been one of the highest achieving sets with regards to the final examinations but that unfair punishment of everyone without the investigation of who really was involved and culpable probably destroyed what could have been a solid foundation for the future of many.

Much as I did get into polytechnic the next academic year, in the end, I lost a good few years before I finally got my education back on track.

In what was a very striking observation, the vice-principal came round to supervise us packing our things in readiness for leaving Summer School, she saw two of us and said ruefully, “I am sure you were never involved in the fracas but a few unruly boys have spoilt it for everyone, even with this fate, I wish that you still encounter good fortune.”

It remains one of the things I hold against Remo Secondary School, Sagamu, I was only 14 and they never once admitted they did us wrong and it would always be a black mark on every other good thing that that school brought to helping mould the person I am now.

A letter to the hounds

Another instance was after a students’ unrest at Yaba College of Technology in 1984, we were sent home and then on re-entry we had to sign an undertaking of conformance to rules that registered us into some sort of slave camp.

One student had written a letter to the Nigerian Guardian questioning a number of unsettling activities in the school which for the sake of objectivity was critical, truthful and balanced.

However, the authorities would have none of this, so every lecturer was trying to find out who A. Joseph was, and because my first name begins with an A, I was asked at least thrice if I was the A. Joseph.

Where they should have been working together to resolve the issues raised, they were baying for blood like hounds, they wanted a scapegoat and thankfully, they never got that particular person.

A good number of us rather vocal student activists just never managed to make it out of the college with a result.

Manufacturing drones

Schools are stripping out individuality, independence and initiative; people pass through school but the school does not pass through them, we end up with drones that have excelled in regurgitating information rather than expressing knowledge, their intelligence is stifled and intellect is mediocre because they have been through the educational mangling machine that produces clones not thinkers.

You cannot express yourself, you should subsume self to the commonality of sameness or you would be punished severely – our schools are mortgaging our future because teachers, lecturers, principals, professors and chancellors would not be challenged, they would brook no questions and condemn every alternative thought.

Gulags of learning

Debate is for the outcasts, people on the road to rustication because they upset the peace equilibrium that dictates that your freedoms are only the ones you enslave yourself to and your rights are theirs to dictate – they are the benevolent masters who know what is best for you, you can never think through any problem.

Our schools have become worse than prisons, they have become gulags of learning; learning to conform, learning to obey, learning to submit and learning to be silent – they have become a malignant cancers that need to be excised from our society forthwith – the 21^st Century cannot afford to have drones, people schooled for military style obedience, people whose brains have become so idle they can no more think.

The power of the school

Forget the concept of freedom of expression, the school can make or break your life and almost always get away with it even if you win your case; you bare the mark like Cain and would never be forgiven.

How schools acquired this malevolence escapes me except for the explanation that many teachers are not in their jobs for the love of the impartation of knowledge and the development of minds but are frustrated failures that have no goodwill or inspiration.

I am still thankful that I have had teachers, lecturers and professors who have promoted the thinking culture all for selfless and noble reasons; I commend them and hope they can take hold of their schools and turn them around for the greater good of society.

Sources

[1] THISDAY ONLINE / Nigeria news / Keyamo Flays Suspension of Ogun Varsity Students

NB: I have used school in the broadest possible sense to encompass all institutions of learning.