I cannot say I am one to be overtaken by food scares
that fill our headlines from day to day but I do worry when the way our food is
derived departs from as it were standard procedures to concoctions that make
Frankenstein plasticine play.
In all honesty, I should be unconcerned with the
uproar about “pink slime”
because I never use minced beef in my cooking and rarely ever eat meals that
have minced beef as part of the ingredients.
“Pink Slime” or to give its it more fanciful name - Lean
Finely Textured Beef – plumbs the depths of sick-making yuck that could have
you filling sick-bags with more than the contents of your stomach.
Taking
science beyond food
As the story goes, some food industry genius thought
after beef was cut off the bone there was still too much being discarded and he
came up with the process of heating the beef trimmings in centrifuges to
separate the fat from the meat, the exposing the product to ammonium gas to
kill bacteria and this is mixed with ground beef in what Beef Products Inc. (hardly
reminiscent of your dear grandma’s kitchen in name or purpose) might have
called the triumph of economics and science over waste.
Reading this is stomach churning enough for my
somewhat rigid constitution but what makes it alarming is the way the food
industry has subsumed the regulators who trot out the idea that this whole
thing is safe.
I will however contend that just because the
processing of food is safe does not mean it is fit for purpose; the safety of
processing must not just be demonstrated but it must be seen to not to take the
Yuck Factor to the point of chronic emesis.
These
unnatural things
Indeed, one must commend Jamie
Oliver [1] for exposing this atrocious travesty that takes the nutritious
and edible out of food leaving it just barely amenable to mastication with our
digestive systems struggling to derive any nutrients before the muck is passed
out our bodies made more susceptible to unknown attacks having not evolved to
the chemistry necessary to process this stuff.
There is no reason to touch the topic of Mechanically Recovered Meat [6] if you have not
filled three sick bags already, but when you realise that sausages and chicken
nuggets from conveyor-belt mass-market and cheap outlets do not lend themselves
to traditional methods your begin to wonder what else is sacred about our food.
This is not to say that there is no need to find ways
to improve quality and yield for food products be they plant or animal derived
but the tampering with natural processes to do with colour, texture, taste and
unnatural derivations has to be more tightly regulated and probably stopped,
besides, with the certificates of food-worthiness given by food agencies we are
left to better trust our instincts than allow for these compromised agencies in
cahoots with the Food Industrial Complex to certify products stray dogs might
well sniff at.
Debunking
Myths
According to Snopes.com
[7], McDonald’s stopped using mechanically recovered meat in Chicken McNuggets
in 2003. When I feel better, I might be tempted to try it again.
The story of the robbery and rape of young secondary
school girls on a journey from Enugu to Lagos in Nigeria had me seriously upset
that when I was asked to comment on the need for justice I could only lament
the circumstances that allowed for such heinous crimes to take place without prospect
of punishment or justice.
I am almost becoming inured to tales of apparently marauding;
sex-starved savages whose sighting of damsels automatically sets in motion the impunity
and ferocity of rape without consequence, in our universities or now on our
roads and any other place when women might find themselves vulnerable to the
uncontrolled lusts of evil men.
There are too many issues related to this matter that
needs addressing but I will concentrate on more general points with the view to
preventing the recurrence of such tragedies.
Excuses and
many
Ekene Dili Chukwu Transport Company Limited, has been
in this business for the better part of four decades or more, I cannot
understand how having been chartered by a school to convey vulnerable girls
they allowed for this journey to commence without adequate support that the
poor girls were left exposed and open to prey in the middle of nowhere at
almost midnight.
Whilst, I read that the transport company suggests
that they were under duress [Vanguard
Nigeria] to deliver the kids that night, there are many other aspects to
the tale that show that the company, its staff and arrangements are
lackadaisical, irresponsible and without due preparation and concern.
They had completed more than 80% of the journey before
the bus broke down in another version of the saga [Punch
Nigeria] which has one question the road-worthiness of a bus that could not
complete a journey of less than 600 kilometres and I hope that features in
charges of neglect, recklessness and lack of care and attention to minors that
should be preferred against the company, first exacted in the arrest of the
driver of the bus.
Convoys are
a solution
Considering the security situation of Nigeria and the
notoriety of highwaymen on those roads, I am surprised that a company with that
length of experience had not adopted the use of mass convoys in travelling
between the East and West of Nigeria.
It would have been an easy arrangement to have a
convoy of probably 10 buses leave at set times of the day, all in radio contact
with each other with contingency. By which I mean, if any of the buses ran into
difficulty, the others can be quickly alerted and vulnerable passengers
immediately taken to safety.
The other usefulness of convoys means that scale can
allow for escorts either by licensed security agents or the police, ensuring
that passengers do not fall easy prey to opportunistic attacks.
Camping
stops at dusk
I was also told these buses rarely travel at night and
whilst this might have been an exception due to all sorts of extenuating
circumstances, it is not beyond Ekene Dili Chukwu Transport Company Limited to
have setup camping stops to accommodate passengers, especially vulnerable ones
as dusk sets in, with information of the progress of the journey relayed to the
destination to allay the fears of parents, guardians and relations.
In my view, none of this is rocket science, there is
nothing unique about convoys and Nigeria presents the conditions, situation and
setting for using convoys, security and camping stop motels to avoid the daring
and reckless exposure of vulnerable passengers to menace.
Processing
rape
One of the victims of this sad tale offered in rather
graphic detail information of how she avoided getting raped as the police
vehemently deny that any of the girls were sexually harassed apart from being
robbed.
I can well understand that societal stigma of rape but
the girls are twice abused if they are not provided psychological and
counselling support after their trauma as parents hope the passage of time
might heal the scars.
We need to realise that there are benefits to therapy
and need to begin to avail ourselves of that professional service. Denial is no
medicine for trauma, just as we need to be better educated about the need for
extended support systems that do not castigate, judge or condemn victims for
situations they could not have avoided.
Justice must
matter
Basically, nobody is helped by obfuscating the truth
because it means the criminals will not be adequately charged for their crimes
and the girls will hardly have obtained the required and needed justice that
appears to elude many rape victims in Nigeria.
Difficult as the subject of rape might seem, it needs
to be addressed without scruples and dealt with sympathetically on the part of
the victim and without mercy on the part of proven rapists and accomplices who
could have prevented the situation but tolerated and condoned it.
The least that can be done to restore the honour and
dignity of these girls is to prosecute their assailants to the fullest extent
of the law whilst ensuring that Ekene Dili Chukwu Transport Company Limited is
no way exculpated for allowing such vulnerable passengers to fall prey to such
unforgivably atrocious circumstances.
On Sunday, just as
I was about to step out of church I was co-opted into a prayer meeting of the
Outreach Team; a group of quite highly exuberant people with infectious
enthusiasm for proselytising and inviting people to church events.
The event this time
was called Heart
of Worship, a gathering of youths and young adults with ages ranging from
11 to 29 years old.
I did not plan on
proselytising and after the meeting just as I rode my bicycle home, I took a
detour to the South-East of Amsterdam with the hope that one of those African
shops will not have kept the Sabbath – I never expected to find one open but I
surprisingly did and with that got a few choice items for my nostalgic palate.
An unusual venue
Heart of Worship
was to start at 18:00 and though it uses a venue just 3 minutes by bicycle from
my home, I have never attended the event, but this time I just dared.
As I arrived at Pakhuis
de Zwijger, a warehouse that had been converted into a multi-purpose venue with
part of it hollowed out in the middle to offer access to a detachable vehicular
bridge, I could already hear the sound of loud music.
The hall was dimly
lit, the music loud and the performance of the band a lot different from the conventional
antics at church. The music was also quite unfamiliar but full of meaning and
feeling as I realised how stuffy, groan up and grown up I had become amongst
that many who were closer to nephews, nieces and children if I had ever been a
parent than siblings.
Adjusting to difference
In any case, I did
still try to soak in the atmosphere even though I did not find myself gesticulating
as if I were at a hip-hop concert at the instigation of the singers. I need to
loosen up a bit for all this jumping, revelling and high-fives, but I have
apparently been slaughter at the altar of respectability.
To my observation,
I noticed how much talent is reposed in the youth of our church much of which
finds no expression in the main church services in their musicality and absence
of inhibition which appears to be curtailed by the formal settings of organised
programmes and groan ups like me.
They all gained my
respect with the way they used their voices as they switched between
instruments with ease and one performance had a new solo singer, a worship
singer take the keyboard, a keyboardist take the guitar and the drummer
squatting on what I later found out was an Afro-Peruvian cajón –
genius!
After the singing,
dancing and clapping, there was some teaching based on the story of Hannah, the
mother of Samuel who later became the prophet who anointed David for the
position of king of the Israelites, taken from the 1st Chapter of
the First
book of Samuel.
The message showed
how people can be frustrated by the successes of others who can use their good
fortune to denigrate those who have not been as fortunate. How desperation and
desire can concentrate the mind on a goal, how the dedication of that desire to
service can bring needed help and the wonderful testimony that can come out of
having not just answers to particular prayers but much beyond that too.
Suddenly, it dawned
on me that a message from the pulpit can be of great significance to all, from
the fully liberated to the reserved – the heart beats to a rhythm of life
seeking solutions, respite, succour and peace regardless of who embodies that
heart.
I was truly
blessed, but will I ditch the cravat and brogues for a less demure and more
casual appearance at the next Heart of Worship? Time will tell.
Every waking day, for over two years you have in
gratitude and newness of life proved to yourself that there is life, hope and
expectation beyond what at one time looked like a diagnosis that was terminal.
However, as strength and recovery seemed to take
greater hold so has been the difficulty of proving to others that one is a
prospect, one is able and one can do.
Each time, each encounter has acknowledged, praised
and commended but it was always short of perfect, never the ideal or just not
the right fit.
When will it
end?
It is as if what one has personally left behind is
constantly dogging your progress with the results sapping confidence, draining
resolve and extricating bit by bit everything one has built up for decades.
You wonder how much longer can you continue to believe
yourself if not one else will dare to believe or reach out to you when you are
no more in that position of great strength and opportunity that once was part
of the ideal expression of your personality.
Need more than
talk
Yet, you are told to be encouraged in the face of
privation, to be strong in the midst of disgrace, to be hopeful as everything
is carted away that even it is a struggle to hold on to one’s dignity.
You then have to decide as you review the sum total of
your existence, will you allow the concept of having failed to overwhelm you or
that of having tried to egg you on to new heights? A man by himself can only
find so much inner strength before he is exhausted.
There comes a time when all you have is really those
who can give succour, respite and time for recuperation and recovery – do you
have a friend to fill that space?
All you need is a chance to show that you are living
and have a life worth living.
A
prominent traditional ruler had been accused of the rape of a 23-year old lady
who was in youth service within the domain of the ruler.
The
lady must have been caught in circumstances beyond her control when the
lecherous ruler first attempted to gain carnal knowledge of her through the belittlement
of throwing money at her which she rejected before he allegedly forced himself
on her raping her.
Seeking justice
When
she made a case of it, he offered her money not to make a scandal of it and
considering the high thresholds of credibility needed to bring rape cases to
court against quite influential members of the public, it must have been an
ordeal to have gotten this far.
The
story does not say when she was raped and the time that had elapsed between the
alleged incident and when the case was heard in court but that is beside the
point.
Beyond belief
What
is quite shocking and brazen in its effrontery and insensitivity as the news
story portends is that it says the monarch himself asked the victim to show her
allegedly bruised private parts to confirm to the court that she had been
raped.
It
goes on to say the counsel for the respondent did on cross-examination of the
witness demand, NOT ask, but demand that she expose her privates for the
scrutiny of the judge, the present counsel and prosecution to ascertain the
veracity of her claim.
Now,
even if the court doubled as a gynaecological unit and the all the learned
purveyors of the ways and means of the law were certified consultant
gynaecologists, this request would have been utterly improper at best.
This
direction of questioning after being overruled should have had the counsel
sanctioned with the risk of contempt by reason of deliberately outraging public
decency.
If
the monarch had also spoken out in initiating this line of questioning, he
should have been sternly cautioned but the news story offers no such detail.
Bad handling of a sensitive situation
In
my opinion, the purpose of that line of questioning was no doubt geared towards
first embarrassing the victim, then humiliating her in her quest for justice
before seriously upsetting her that she might lose all her composure to the
advantage of the defence.
I
am concerned that the judge appeared to be a tad lackadaisical in dealing
firmly with this affront to polite proceedings where the counsel should have
for bringing the legal profession into disrepute risked disbarment.
However,
the sadder picture exemplified in this case is the lack of courtesy and
sensitivity to victims of rape in open court and the effrontery and brazenness
of patriarchy at the plight of victimised women.
What victims face
Men
of power and influence behave as if they have right and authority to demand and
obtain sexual favours whilst being unable handle rejection or negation of their desires.
They
believe if they have the physical means to overpower the woman, then they can
have their way without consequence.
They
expect that the shock and shame of being raped presents a barrier to
prosecution as the victim has to wade through hurdles of location, situation, opportunity,
motive, circumstance, believability and influence to start off the process of
justice.
As
society will probably first find fault with the victim before it considers the
egregious criminality of the perpetrator.
What to do
There
is every need to have stronger support networks for rape victims regardless of
the probable cause and the availability of evidence necessary to prosecute to
the fullest extent of the law, all those accused of rape.
As
another human-being and sadly of the male species, I have the fullest sympathy
for the victim and I hope that those involved in this contemptible show of chauvinism
too vile for expression are visited with opprobrium, shame, disgrace and
obloquy as a deterrent to any other counsel who might think sailing close to
the wind in rude discourse can be done with impunity and without dire
consequences.
I rarely have
long stretches of time between blogs because the fact is there is a lot to
write about in terms of personal issues and other events of concerns.
Yes, there
are times when one suffers the dreaded “Writer’s Block”, a state of having much
to write but being unable to start, a psychological feeling overwhelms you into
thinking the tasks you have performed with ease are almost impossible.
You can agonise
or just leave it be until when you can do what you normally do. However, there
is the other issue of life’s turmoil that works to sap every will and
inclination to be creative that you clam up completely.
Being just
human, that is an experience I am also quite familiar with, I completely clam
up – writing nothing, chatting to no one and avoiding places where I have to
interact with people who might know me.
Find that old spark
It can go for
a long length of time or just for short periods as one tries to find new
equilibrium and hopefully some purpose before one is snuffed away having lost
every inkling of resilience.
The battle
still rages regardless and you can only stay in the tent so long before you
have to return to fight those battles and win the war that wrests against all
that you hold dear.
One cannot
tire, even if it looks like you are about to expire, there is a something
inside – a fire, if you have life, maybe you can still aspire.
Where the
long writes are not forthcoming, the short ones on Twitter may not be as
prolific, God forbid the suffering of “Writer’s Block” on Twitter.
This is the stuff great people are made of,
fearlessness in the face of persecution and boldness to speak truth to power.
I have many a time been perturbed by the cost of our
democracy and the stranglehold corruption seems to have on every facet of life
in Nigeria.
Yesterday brought in a number of interesting
revelations, whilst many sanctimoniously concentrated on the sensational, the
bigger issue was the insight into the workings of our legislature, the
committee system and the bottom-feeding frenzy of rent-seeking legislators steeped
in despicable malfeasance playing to the gallery pretending to unimpeachable
conduct.
Sensational
allegations
The Director General of the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), Ms. Arunma
Oteh was appearing before the House Committee on Capital Markets chaired by
“Honourable” Herman Hembe – the title must be in quotes until it is regained by
a fair assessment of the allegations made and the man is proven completely
innocent of the claims.
During the day we were regaled with tales of the
profligate excesses of the Ms. Oteh, that she had stayed in 5-star hotel accommodation for 8 months
instead of the regulatory one month, that she has spent NGN 850,000 ($5,391) on
dinner and everyone ran to town with it. There some dispute as to whether it
was NGN 850,000 or NGN 85,000 ($539.10), in either case, this was piffle,
almost of no consequence in the scheme of things, the way the country is bilked
and milked by all those in political office.
She stoops
to conquer
Nigerian politicians are given to bluster and
grandiloquence arrogating to themselves privileges, emoluments and untrammelled
fiat to bludgeon people who appear before their committees without due
courtesies and respect to the attendees.
Ms. Oteh ran the gauntlet of being questioned about
her qualifications to fill her position and her ability to perform, it was an
inquisition so disgraceful and unbecoming of anyone who deigns to be recognised
in polite society but that was Day One.
When Ms. Oteh appeared on Day Two, she was battle-axe
ready, fuming, agitated and shooting all guns with deathly accuracy in what
might become the biggest political earthquake of our democratic experiment, I
should expect aftershocks of similar magnitude to follow.
Explosive
political bombshells
She alleged with dates that the Committee Chairman had
received moneys to attend a conference that he eventually did not attend and
did not refund the expense. She also alleged that he had asked the SEC to fund
the activities of the committee to the tune of NGN 39,000,000 ($247,376) and
then another demand was made for NGN 5,000,000 ($31,714.80).
She questioned the integrity of the chairman and his
credibility to sit in judgement with unclean hands and his maturity in
commenting on issues related to the SEC without first verifying the facts
possibly with the view to undermine, discredit and contemn Ms. Oteh.
More importantly, she pointedly accused the chairman
of corruption and in the court of public opinion challenged the chairman to
defend himself against the claims whilst making the case for fairness and
better adherence to democratic principles. The raw emotion was palpable as she
trembled and her voice quavered with each forceful statement, the discomfiture
of the committee was quite evident.
Noisy body
talk
The body language of the chairman was like an open book
screaming out the words as he swivelled in his chair in pendulumic consonance
squirming with embarrassment as he tried to fend off the allegations, twisting
Ms. Oteh’s words and playfully making light of the situation but before the
whole world, this was a most uncomfortable moment.
In a display of braggadocio he mandated the
anti-corruption agencies to investigate the claims, but we Nigerians have very
little confidence in the ability of these institutions to follow through to
conclusion any allegations, charges or indictments made on senior politicians
in Nigeria – it was both a dare and a moot point, if anything comes of it, we
will be in for an unusual surprise.
He was obviously rattled that he forgot his manners
when he told and not asked Ms. Oteh to turn off her microphone. In a society
where character, reputation and integrity matters, where a senior official is besmirched
with allegations of corruption, one would expect him to recuse himself and not
bring the activities of the committee and the House of Representatives into
disrepute, but impunity without consequence is the name of the game in Nigeria,
he reasserted his questionable authority and banged the gavel – the seal of
authoritative corruption and obvious indifference.
Ms. Oteh –
the big spender?
So many things stand out from the events of that day
which I will attempt to address one at a time.
Could Ms. Oteh have spent $539 on dinner? Very likely,
it would probably have covered a meal with friends and considering the cost of
living in Nigeria especially in luxury settings, the prices are unbelievably steep
for what we would get at a reasonable cost in Europe. It is quite doubtful that
she spent $5,391 at one sitting, it reads like a very tall tale exposed to
ridicule and embarrass her – The SEC has asserted the lower figure but why let
the truth get in the way of a sensational exposé?
That Ms. Oteh stayed in 5-star accommodation for a
whole 8 months is quite beyond the pale but then one can understand that
enjoying luxury at the expense of others can be a difficult and herculean task
to wean yourself of off, in some ways she was being both a chancer and human –
people have done worse, she has been in her position for over two years now,
which means alternative lodgings have been arranged for at least 16 months.
Report or
proclaim?
Certain people have wondered why Ms. Oteh did not take
her allegations of corruption to the anti-corruption agencies. For reasons I
have stated before, they have not excelled in their briefs, literally everyone
of political clout in Nigerian has gummed up the system and deftly used the
judiciary to extricate themselves from the clutches of due process of
investigation and administration of justice.
In my view, that public forum was the best place to
make those allegations and with it in the open, force many more voices to demand
action be taken. If the chairman feels he has been besmirched and libelled he
can easily seek redress in the courts but I doubt he has the courage to be
exposed to the scrutiny of his cupboard of rampaging skeletons. Compromised
legislators grandstanding in public will from now on have to thread carefully.
Estacode
abuse
One area of patronage and source of corruption that
needs to be reviewed reformed and better regulated is the use and abuse of estacode
- funds intended to cover traveling costs by public servants and politicians.
Politicians, especially in Nigeria are quite handsomely remunerated; they
should not be receiving hand-outs before they have completed whatever missions
they embark on.
In the private sector, a modicum of control is
exercised on spending because the money first comes out of the pocket and the
person is later reimbursed on the presentation of receipts and audited review
of the expenses.
Though that process can also be abused, with the
presentation of false documents or through collusion, it will not result in
profligacy and excessive pre-compensation and the person will be more
accountable for their spend. That the chairman received moneys and did not use
it for the intended purpose is at best dishonest, if not fraudulent.
Conflicts of
interest
The operation of committees needs to be reviewed, the
independence of a committee will always be compromised and the perception of
its ability to function transparently and fairly will be suspect if the committee
and its members receive favours from the institutions they have oversight of. It
is befuddling that the concept of conflict of interest has not become part of the
framework of the fabric of our democracy.
The legislature has its budget and it must operate
within its means without seeking emoluments and sponsorship of external organisations
that can exact influence on the probity, transparency and integrity of the
committees in some quid pro quo arrangement – this must be deemed illegal,
corrupt and outlawed. Perceptions matter, always.
A new breed
of public servant
One other interesting point is that Ms. Oteh appeared
to be quite combative and it is interesting that on Day One the proceedings
were not given a public hearing and then the damaging allegations of living
large seemed to set the stage for the committee to embarrass the lady for not
playing ball with a live and televised hearing which now seems to have
back-fired on the legislators.
If you are called to public service in Nigeria - Do
not be assimilated and do not be intimidated. Arunma Oteh is a class act.
There is no doubt that our legislature would prefer
Nigerians were not privy to the machinations of corruption, pay-for-play,
bribery and other despicable practices that have been rumoured about but never
verified. With Ms. Oteh’s very public assailing of these rent-seekers there is
very little damage limitation that can be done to restore the public’s
confidence in our democracy.
We need to put the feet of these people to the fire
and apply more pressure on the system to change, to reform and to root out the
atrocious wolves in sheep’s clothing who are selfish, self-conceited and
greedily feeding on the system with ravenously gluttonous appetites.
If we are to learn anything from Ms. Oteh, our
democracy is in need of an urgent reset.
