GRADUATE, GO BEYOND LOGIC 1

Logic will take you from point A to point B. Imagination will take you anywhere"
-Albert Einstein

Logic is a tool of critical thinking. It is used to evaluate the soundness or otherwise of arguments. By argument I do not mean confrontations. Arguments are claims we make about things supported by premises and conclusions which in themselves are claims.
It is worthy to note that in a world where claims and counter claims are made (spurious, bogus, logical, illogical and so on) on various fronts by forces contending for our attention and patronage e.g. advertisers, politicians and religious super salesmen, the place of logical reasoning cannot be discounted to sort the facts from fiction. Most of the decisions we make daily on alternative courses of action are based on logical deductions.
As a graduate, there is no greater period when your sense of judgment is called on than when you leave school and are ready to "face the world". It is logical as a graduate to think this way:
I've finished from the University,
Everybody who finishes from the University must look for a job,
Therefore, I must look for a job.
The argument above can't beat Logic but it has been beaten by time and circumstances. We live in a time when so many things do not make sense anymore. It used to be that you have a plethora of jobs waiting for you as a proud University graduate. It used to be that the returns on a university education or any other higher education was higher than the investment. It used to be that a university graduate commanded dignity, respect and honour from the demanders of his skills.
Graduate, time has changed. To survive and stay afloat in periods such as this, you've got to go beyond Logic and start using your imagination. Imagination breaks the limiting rules of logic especially in a world of limitless uncertainties.
It's simple. Open your eyes to the problems around you and position yourself to solving them and being paid as you solve them. Start thinking of how to go beyond your degree(s) or you'll keep begging for food, shelter and clothing. But how do you recognize these needs around you and what can you do to solve them? Let's discuss that in the next issue.

"Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic"
-Frank Herbert


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“I Got Ebola from My Dying Mum and Survived”- Alhassan Kemokai

My mum died on the 19^th of July so I was observing myself…19^th…20^th… I moved to another room after the infection. On the 28^th, I started feeling a fever. I told my wife and children not to come near me please. When I discovered I was infected with the disease, I had to abandon my room and moved into another room where I was sleeping.

It is a single bed with a foam mattress. These bedding and clothing have now been discarded by my wife. They are now preparing for burning. She has burned most of the things that were in my room.

I have been admitted for the past 11 to 12 days in the Ebola ward. And I’m very excited that I’m out today. I see myself as a free man.

When I was walking (to the hospital) everyone was looking at me. I was very sad as I was going. I was shivering. Every 10, 15, or 20 minutes, I had to go to the toilet. I used the pathway to get to the hospital, the bush route. I trekked three miles to Kenema Hospital.

I felt like I was in another world (at the isolation ward of the hospital), that the nurses were indeed angels that the two books, the Bible and the Qu’ran, describe when you die, people will come and judge you. That the angels will come and judge you.

When we saw nurses we could hardly identify them. Each time I saw them I thought they were angels coming to question me.

I walked among corpses. It is terrible. I’ve seen today one, two, three corpses come out, I am very excited. I am very happy. I am out in the world today.

Now I play with my son. Now that I’m out of the hospital I play with my entire family. I play with Miza. We are now playing together. We do things together. We eat together. We do everything together.

Story of an Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) survivor in Sierra Leone.

Spread the message of hope coming from the body’s ability to fight not FEAR.

Kemokai was able to defeat Ebola because he had a solid immune system. Are you thinking of how to boost yours today?

Culled from: The Guardian, Tuesday, August 26, 2014.

Picture Credit: google.com

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EBOLA, FACTS minus FICTION

The first case of Ebola virus appeared in 1976, the disease is caused by infection with Ebola virus, named after a river in Democratic Republic of Congo where it was first recognized.
Reported countries ever with Ebola
Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Republic of Congo and now Nigeria.
Method of Contraction
● Close contact with the body of infected person.
● Contact with secretion of infected person.
● Contact with organs or other bodily fluids of infected person (stool, urine, saliva, semen, tears, sweat)
Signs and Symptoms
Fever, Intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat which is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, internal and external bleeding.
Incubation period is 2-21days and patient can only become contagious once he/she begins to show symptoms.
Cure
There is no known cure for Ebola virus and it would be right if we discard and ignore rumors going about that kola-nut and salt water can cure Ebola. This is because there has not been any clinical trial to validate these claims. However, trial drugs for its treatment are now available in the West African countries where outbreaks have been reported; and worthy of note is the NANO SILVER drug that has been donated by a Nigerian scientist in the diaspora.
Prevention
● Regular hand washing with soap and water
● Avoid eating bush meat
● Avoid crowded areas
● Avoid illicit sex
General facts about viruses
● They’re the smallest of all micro-organisms
● They live in the cell of their host and might not hurt them (like the Ebola virus in fruit bats)
● They’re the easiest of all micro-organisms to kill when outside its host
● Vaccines are the only drugs workable against viruses
● There isn’t any cure for viruses (HIV, EBOLA) yet.
Kindly report any case of anyone showing any of the mentioned symptoms to the nearest medical center for proper care or you call these toll free numbers for help (08037879701, 08037154575)
Let’s work together to keep our community Free from Ebola!!!!!!!!!



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Acknowledgement:
This piece was developed (with slight adjustments by me) by my two youngest brothers, Chinedu Akpa (an OAU Pharmacist in training) and Chigozie Akpa (an intending OAU trained Lawyer and blogger at www.akpachigozie.blogspot.com)

UKAZI is UKAZI!

I marvelled at this girl's brilliance and sense of cultural identity that day i met her. She's just like any other teenage girl in Nigeria but she exudes a lot of unusual and contagious confidence that caught my attention.
Her name is Ngozi and she's between 11 and 14 years old. She lives with her aunty and helps out at her shop; that was where i met her.
My conversation that day with her started by my explaining what Ebola virus was before i picked up a leafy vegetable common to those from the eastern part of the country called "UKAZI". I teased her by asking for the English name of the vegetable (thinking she would be a bit let down by not knowing it owing to her low level of grammatical sophistication). To my chagrin however, and with some air of incredulity, she simply told me "ukazi is ukazi, i don't want to know what the English name is".
After her submission, i simply kept quiet and thought about the stand this girl had just taken and i wondered, in how many areas of our personal and national lives have we not looked for English substitutes to what we have.
We seek these substitutes because in our estimation, they sound better, but worse and perharps more fearful is the unspoken reason of the inferiority complex we feel when we compare the names we give to things or people to foreign or English ones.
We think it wouldn't be exactly right if we allowed "eba", "fufu", "akara", "amala" and so on to be just what they are.
South Africans never sought an English equivalent to the Vuvuzela (even when these English people were contesting if it was proper to use it in the stadium) but it has made its way to the English dictionary.
I wish as a people we could adopt this stance as it concerns our cultural identity. I wish we could appreciate what we have and even promote them.
The greatest countries in the world today don't just have bulging GDPs, they also appreciate and aggressively spread their culture.
In the end however, Ukazi remains Ukazi.

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BEYOND ATTENTION-The Malala example

Don’t ask me why I am so obsessed by this Malala of a girl, she’s an epitome of everything I value, stand for and strife to espouse. This 17 year old who commands the attention of the highest and mightiest all over the world dos so neither by shaking her bum-bum nor cladding herself in skimpy, tattered pieces of clothing (in the name of fashion) that evoke sensual feelings because they barely perform the function of clothes. Watch this girl closely and you’ll find no “decoration” (paint or ornamental) on her – all of which has become, howbeit and unfortunately, the bait dangled by ladies, ignorantly or otherwise, to draw attention to themselves – yet she is able to command and commend attention wherever she goes.

 Haven made the above point, I do not in any way posit that women (and men likewise) who use beauty enhancements are progressing in error or have nothing to contribute to life. But it must be stressed however that you will never find in them or in any other external fittings we have crafted as humans, the SUB-STANCE of your being.

Examined closely, the prefix “sub” (that I have created from the word “substance”) connotes a state of being beyond the external (which is what “stance” stands for). Talk about the anterior of a thing or person and you can’t but make reference to the posterior which holds it up. Put simply, the “sub” is the platform upon which you stand to make a statement. The statement is what the world sees which emanates from a source, your “sub”.

Malala has shown that she has a very rich “sub” nay essence and meaning. Her clothes are not just hanging on flesh and bone but on purpose, drive, value, vision, mission and dream.

You cannot compensate for a devalued interior, essence and meaning by way of “cosmetic surgery”. To command attention and be listened to, you must have a rich essence. That is, you must be held up on your feet by the strength of your character, convictions and values that ultimately advance the cause of humanity. That is why I agree with Carl Jung who said that “…the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being”. Malala has devoted her life to just that, casting out the darkness of girl child ignorance wherever she finds one.

You cannot kindle the light of meaning in the darkness of others if your own life has no meaning.

Therefore, beyond the glitz and flashiness of the exterior which fades like vapour, there must be a strong, enduring and value driven interior because in the end, the attention you draw will end up being a façade if not drawn and sustained by a powerful “substructure”.

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COMMAND ATTENTION- the #Malala example

When I wrote about The Bravado of a 15 Year Old about two years ago, little did I know that that 15 year old, now 17 years old, Malala Yousafzai would one day find a reason to be in Nigeria.

What was this reason that brought her to my country? The reason is simply the reason for her existence. This Pakistani “school girl” as she has come to be known, has dedicated her life to campaign for the right to education for the girl child. She saw this right being threatened in Nigeria by the mindless crusade of Boko Haram; especially in North-East where those who have not been kidnapped or killed (boys and girls alike) live in fear and apprehension, conditions that inhibit learning.

One will not, but be captivated by this young girl as she goes about fulfilling her mission. Her speeches at various fora, canvassing for the girl child-with no less a forum than the United Nations General Assembly-is filled with conviction, passion, duty, dedication, purpose and a high level of responsibility.

If you hope to command attention with what you do, you must do it with a strong believe, enthusiasm and excitement, commitment, high level devotion and determination.

With the afore mentioned qualities that she has nurtured over the years, Malala Yousafzai has been able to command the attention of the leader of the biggest black nation on earth, President Jonathan of Nigeria.

She even got him to make promises concerning the kidnapped school girls that no pressure at home made him do.

Pack these qualities and you’ll command the attention of people in your sphere of influence and beyond.

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Push-Up

“Fight and push harder for what you believe in, you’d be surprised, you’re stronger than you think” Anonymous

I remember waking up that morning and going through my regular push-ups, sit-ups and stretches. When I finished and had rested, something just pushed me to challenge my friend, Seyi (who hitherto does not exercise) to do 30 proper push-ups with the promise of parting with #1,000 if he could.

Seyi simply burst out laughing at my proposal- not at how little the amount I was offering him was, nor how ridiculously easy the task was- he actually laughed at his perceived inadequacy at meeting the challenge, judging from the fact that he wasn’t a regular at exercises.

Well, he shoved the challenge aside. But I was not going to give up. I teamed up with another friend of ours, Ayo, to urge him to take up the challenge, though in a somewhat sarcastic manner. He finally capitulated.

He heaved a very high sigh of anxiety before going down on all four. Seyi was about to push himself up 30 times; a task he hadn’t done before. He was about to prove himself wrong, to prove me wrong and win the #1,000 prize, against expectations.

So the counting began, 1, 2, 3…7, 8, 9…13, 14…17, 18, 19, 20. At this point he was already showing signs of immense exhaustion; but he needed to finish, he had a point to prove, so he continued, pulling strength from anywhere he could. I saw the veins in his hands, chest, face and legs pop out like they were going to run way from this torture, yet he continued.

Against my expectation, I found myself counting up to 28, 29 and finally, 30. He did it! Yes, without cutting corners he got there. I gave him the #1,000 prize money and he simply collapsed on the spot where the unthinkable had just happened to regain lost strength.

What have you been told you can’t do? Where have you been told you can’t get to? Why have you resigned to defeat without even trying? Stretch yourself, push-up. “One of the greatest discoveries a person makes, one of their great surprises is to find they can do what they were afraid they couldn’t do”- Henry Ford.

Don’t underestimate your capacity to conquer; you only need to push yourself up. So my friend, “…without effort, you cannot be prosperous. Though the land be good, you cannot have an abundant crop without cultivation”. Plato

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Emotional Intelligence-Relationship Management

“One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody”- Mother Theresa

Human beings are relational beings. In his lifetime, a human being would have formed relationships and connections at home, work, school, worship centers and just about any other place where he comes into contact with other human beings as he strives to make something of his life.

While some of these relationships bring happiness and a sense of belonging, others are a source of anguish and pain that result, sometimes, in hatred for fellow human beings.

How do you manage relationships such as will bring you mutual benefits with others while minimizing frictions?

1.   You must develop the earlier discussed core competencies of emotional intelligence i.e. self-awareness, self-management and other awareness.

2.   You need to trust others to work effectively and exist with them. In doing this, you must strike the right balance between trusting too much and not trusting at all.

3.   You must be in control of your own emotions to work effectively with other people. You must learn to be in charge of your emotions and not the other way so you can choose when and how you express them.

4.   Be prepared to manage conflicts. Your goal in any relationship is not to avoid conflicts, but to deal with them in a calm and respectful way when they arise. However, before conflicts emerge, recognize your hot buttons-things that can set you off emotionally-also recognize the hot buttons of the people around you.

5.   Recognize that as human beings we need some measure of interdependence to maximize our potentials. Nonetheless, there comes a time when it is necessary for us to work independently. It is worth knowing when to strike the balance.

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References

Sparrow, T. and Knight, A. (2006) Applied Emotional Intelligence- The Importance of Attitudes in Developing Emotional Intelligence, John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Stein, J.S (2009) Emotional Intelligence for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Canada.