The Nation Newspaper

Category: Campus Life

  • Club trains officers

    The Junior Chamber International (JCI), Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye chapter, has held training for its officers with the theme The 360 degrees leader. The resource person, Mr Kayode Ayedogbin, Executive Vice President (Project) of Lagos chapter of JCI, spoke on leadership and how to be a successful entrepreneur.

    The OOU chapter President, Odunayo Adeneye, said the essence of the training was to show members ways to discover their talents and succeed as managing directors and owners of small and middle enterprises. He added that the club believed in training and re-training of its members to engender productivity.

    The Director of Publicity of the club, Oladimeji Odusi, said JCI was created by 30 young leaders with a mission to contribute to the advancement of the global community by providing opportunities for young people to develop their leadership skills and entrepreneurial ability to create a positive exchange.

    Participants in the seminar promised to use the knowledge acquired positively.

  • ‘Illegal’ structures go as varsity clears twin-campus

    ‘Illegal’ structures go as varsity clears twin-campus

    I attended the fifth edition of “The Bola Tinubu Colloquium” held as part of activities marking the former Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu 61st birthday of last Thursday. What a time it was! For once I was in an event where the guests were not in a hurry to leave because of the issue at stake: How does Nigeria move forward?. It was also an opportunity to see that we have youths that are ready to take the bull by the horn and cause a change in this country. The theme of the colloquium “Beyond mergers: A national movement for change. A new generation speaks” was quite apt and did they speak!

    Five of Nigeria’s highly-talented youths spoke that night. Mrs. Hafsat Abiola-Costello, a civil rights and democracy activist; Femi Edun runs an investment banking firm; Kolawole Oyeneyin is a business strategist; Myani Bukar is a lawyer while Olubankole Wellington, popularly known by his stage name Banky W is a rhythm and blues singer. Edun took the podium first to address the audience made up of governors, ex-governors, senators, members of the House of Representatives and Houses of Assembly and other distinguished ladies and gentlemen. I looked around before the colloquium kicked off to see if members of my target community – undergraduates – were present but I seem not to notice any. So I quickly did a mental check and the reporter in me said I should start taking notes so that I can “address” them today on the critical issues raised.

    Femi Edun, who was the lead speaker, spoke eloquently on the growing gulf between the rich and poor and the growing poverty rate in the country and the need for equity, justice and fairness. Quoting statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics and other sources and doing a comparative analysis of Nigeria and countries like Brazil which we were benchmarked with at independence, Edun stressed that we failed and proved the bookmakers who had placed their bet on us wrong. He called for a new era of change where the youths would play a role.

    In an emotion-laden and passionate voice that actually moved the crowd, Oyeneyin, who spoke on the topic, “Beyond Merger- Responsibility of Older generation to the younger generation said many youths were angry with the country our leaders left for us. To him, the situation is like a time bomb waiting to explode – if nothing is done to address it.

    “We are a generation that have never witness a good Nigeria and I speak for myself and people within my age bracket. We have kept so much in our heart as young people and I think time has come for us to speak out”. And speak out he did.

    With a youth population of 67 million, he said it is sad that the present political structure in the country is built in such a way that the youth have been cut off from governance. But he noted that change would come if young people are brought on board, considering that they have the intellectual and human capacity to understand the time we are in and they can make politics to look “sexy” which drew laughter from the audience and every speaker after him used the word one way or another. He charged the leaders to kill the mentality that youth are leaders of tomorrow. “Tomorrow is already here”. He said the youth must be part of the ideology, stressing that they must not be left out in decision making.

    Mrs. Abiola-Costello, who spoke on “Millennium Development Goals- where is Nigeria?” said the country was lagging behind in the implementation of the eight goals, but, in her view, the Southwestern states have done so well compared to their counterparts from other geo-political zones.

    Bukar argued that most internal conflicts, where citizens kill one another, often arise from countries’ inability to effectively define who a citizen is. Buttressing his point, he recounted personal experience in the conflict flashpoint of Jos. He praised the effort of the National Assembly to replace state of origin with residency in the Constitution. “Indigineship should be replaced with residency; Federal Character principle should be done away with. Land ownership should be revisited,” Bukar said. He urged the youths to be interested in, and involved in the task of nation building. He praised the attempt by the opposition to form a formidable party, but warned that they should be interested in the country’s growth, failing which the youths will cease to collaborate with them.

    Wellington urged the youth to be involved in the political process, by first, registering to vote, and actually voting for the right candidates. It is either they do that, he said, or they sit back and let someone else “steal your voice”. He said the youth should continue to protest peacefully against misrule, using social media as a tool. “Become fully involved in the political process. Use whatever voice or platform you have constructively,” Wellington said.

    It wasn’t an entirely youth show as Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka, who was chairman of the occasion is faulted the way President Goodluck Jonathan treating the threat posed by the Boko Haram insurgency. “Let’s face it. This nation is on the brink. There are those who don’t understand this, who won’t accept this. I feel very sorry that they will wake up and find out that we have fallen over the brink. It is not what we envisaged during our struggle for independence.

    “It is not what we envisaged when we struggled to overthrow dictatorship and install the rights and dignity of human beings and citizens in the society. But, whether we like it or not, it has come upon us. My problem with the government right now, especially the President of this nation, is that he doesn’t seem to realise it. He has not taken the people of this nation into confidence. By now, it is my belief that the President should be addressing the nation – and in great details – explaining why, if he agrees, that this nation is at war and that certain things have to be done to ensure that we pull back from this second round of what is moving towards a civil war. That, of course, is if he and his government accept this,” the eminent scholar said.

    There was a softer side to the colloquium as well, especially when Tinubu mounted the rostrum. In his view, Nigeria is drifting apart because “we have leadership that is dividing us more and more every day”. He called for value reorientation among the leadership and suggested a reversal to the old national anthem that de-emphasises differences. “We must question ourselves in Nigeria. I disagree with my brother and friend Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who says youth may form your own party. Politics is not economic policy where you can change a bank note. “If only to merge, some people are already forging names, and trying to prevent the creation of APC. You can imagine what you will go through”, he said.

    Being the master political strategist that he is, he invited the youth to “come and join us. You see, with a wife like this (pulling Senator Oluremi his wife closer), is politics not sexy? Join us, its sexy here on our side”. This drew a prolonged laughter from the audience.

    He hammered on the point that the issue is not so much about age as having the capacity to perform. “On your side, it is a challenge that you have to face. It’s not a question about age. We have seen example of age. The present President is a young man, but he has been appointing an 83-year-old man to be chairman, not just of board of trustees, but of Ports Authority where high decisions, articulated, modern, 21st century information technology are needed. How do you modernise? So, youth belong here.

    “We can see the live tweets of this event (the event was being tweeted live and beamed on the screens). So, it’s not about age. There are a lot of educated relics. I have not seen anything higher than Ph.D. in the academic curriculum of universities. So, we have a Ph.D. man (holder) there now. What will do it for you are strong determination, perseverance, courage and boldness. If we fail to join the movement, we’ll fail to continue to interrogate our leaders, and fail to do what you did during the oil subsidy removal.”

    And what is the conclusion? The youth have the numbers and the strength, but not the deft political strategy needed in a clime like ours; that is where a synergy of the old and new becomes imperative. And with what I saw that night I think it is more “sexy” on this side.

  • Rector clarifies hike rumour

    There is no fees hike at the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO), the Rector, Prof Igbekele Ajibefun, has said. He said the management only increased the cost of some services for freshers.

    Ajibefun cleared the air on the fees hike controversy while responding to our correspondent’s question in an online interview. He said: “The fee for all categories of students remains the same, but costs of some services for fresh students have gone up.”

    He said students would have to pay for identity cards, internet band for e-registration, among others, adding that nobody should expect the costs of the service to remain the same.

    Ajibefun said the increment affected only freshers, confirming that the action was not unilateral, but was duly deliberated on and approved by the Governing Council of the institution in one of its sittings.

    The management announced the new fee last December. With the new fee regime, ND students of Ondo State origin studying Social Sciences courses will pay N48,500. Science students pay N51,500 as against less than N30,000, which they were initially paying. Non-indigene students taking Science courses will pay N61,500 while their Social Science counterparts will pay N58,500.

    HND students of Ondo State origin studying Science courses will pay N63,500. Their Social Science counterparts pay N55,500. Non-indigene HND students pay N75,500 to study Science courses. Their colleagues in Social Science pay N68,500.

    The acceptance fee, which was initially fixed at N7,500, is now N15,000. Part-time students are not exempted from the hike.

    Students of the institution have berated the management for the hike. Some returning students, who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE, described the hike as a new height of insensitivity by the management.

    They said the hike was a deliberate attempt to make life unbearable for them, adding that it may force many students to drop out of school. Freshers, who are directly affected by the hike, said, though they were happy to have been offered admission, the hike in fee was giving them worries.

     

  • Fellowship gets leaders

    The Joint Christian Campus Fellowship (JCCF), University of Calabar (UNICAL), has held its hand-over service to usher in a new set of leaders that will pilot its affairs for a year.

    The programme, which was held at the International Conference Centre, UNICAL, was graced by members of the fellowship from various faculties.

    During the programme, Daniel’s Generation, an arm of the fellowship, held a leadership training with the theme: The change of academy. This was followed by drama presentations by The Reconciliation Theatre, and song ministration among others.

    The guest minister, Pastor Kelechi Chibuzor, in his sermon taken from Psalm 48 tagged The city of our God, said many Christians were travelling on terrible road, an indication that they had deviated from the word of God.

    He said some of the evidence of human sins against their creator included the Bill on same-sex marriage, which he said was gradually being adopted by some churches. He further advised members of the fellowship to follow Christianity with holiness, saying the “city of God is not for anyone without holiness.”

    Highpoint of the event was the presentation and inauguration of the new leaders. The JCCF is the apex and regulatory body of all Christian fellowships on campus.

     

  • ‘Illegal’ structures go as varsity clears twin-campus

    ‘Illegal’ structures go as varsity clears twin-campus

    For one week, bulldozers rumbled through the Owerri and Orlu campuses of the Imo State University (IMSU), demolishing structures which the authorities described as illegal. Many business centres were affected.

    Traders and shop owners watched helplessly as their structures were demolished during the exercise supervised by officials of the university’s Works Department.

    Students also had a taste of the demolition. The cafeterias where they get cheap food were pulled down.

    On the Owerri campus, Indomie Spot, a students’ restaurant close to the school’s indoor games centre, was flattened. The students’ cafeteria at the back of the Faculty of Engineering was not spared.

    IMSU’s Mr. Bigg’s, a regular joint for medical students in Orlu, suffered the same fate. Desolate buildings and abandoned lecture rooms were also pulled down.

    CAMPUSLIFE learnt that the demolition order came from the government. It is to create spaces for new structures. Before the exercise, the management gave the shop owners two weeks to leave. Our correspondents learnt that the traders complained that the notice was “too short”.

    When the Works Department officials embarked on the exercise, it was learnt that students prevented them from pulling down a row of computer centres, complaining that their demolition would hurt them. The students also prevented the demolition of the cafeterias.

    The officials reported to the management and returned the following week with some security men to demolish the cafeterias. The exercise was carried out when customers were having their meals and many students rushed out in order not to be trapped inside.

    A female trader, who was in tears as her shop was being pulled down, said she paid about N350,000 to the management to open her computer centre three months ago. “Since they knew that they are coming to demolish the building, why did they ask me to pay that huge money? Now, they have ruined my business in a day,” she said.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof Ukachukwu Awuzie, ordered the demolition after consulting the Senate. The demolition was followed by the clearing of sites for the erection of structures for new departments and existing ones.

    Faculties that will get new buildings include Law, which lost its accreditation because of the old facilities in which students were being taught.

    An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “The demolition is a directive from the school management, acting on the order of the state government that wants space for more structures to be erected for lecture halls and classrooms. So, I can tell you that the VC or any member of the management does not hate the people affected. It is for the progress of the school.”

    Students, who spoke with our correspondents, complained that the exercise would bring difficulties to them because the demolished businesses offered cheap services.

    Okechukwu Nwaigwe, 300-Level Religion, said: “I am not happy because of this demolition. It will affect students badly because those were the places we get food cheap.”

    Clara Ezeagu, 100-Level Optometry, said: “It is sad. What is making me angry with the school is that the demolition of IMSU Mr Bigg’s was carried out when students were still eating in the building. Here, in Orlu campus, before one can buy anything, one must go out of the school. It is very painful.”

  • A student’s rage against the West

    A student’s rage against the West

    Emillia Uupindi, a Namibian undergraduate, won the maiden Africa Regional Inter-Collegiate and Inter-University Debate on Human Security held at the Obasanjo Presidential Library at Oke-Mosan in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

    The event was held to mark former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s 76th birthday. It drew participants from 32 universities in Africa.

    To Emillia, a Computer Science student of the University of Science and Technology, Namibia, the topic of the debate: Threats to human security in Africa are self inflicted and not induced by the West, which she argued against was in a way connected to the situation in her country.

    Perhaps, this explains why she spoke with a tinge of vehemence while making her points drawing endless applause from the guests and participants.

    “The first argument is propaganda,” said Emillia as she argued against the motion. “I refer to the propaganda the Western media is using on Africa. Basically, everything affecting Africa, including our problems and the solutions are defined by the West. But the question is: Is it for our own benefit or theirs? The other is that Africa’s economy has a good potential in terms of resources, but we don’t have the skills and infrastructure. We don’t have the machines to process the minerals that will give us those products that will boost our economy. So, we are actually dependent on the West and through that, they control us and control our leaders.”

    Emillia continued: “Now in Africa, the grants are being given to our universities by European Union without stringent process. That on the surface is deemed to be help, but on closer look, it is another colonisation. Then, we are also looking at the issue of foreign aids which are not given to us on a platter of gold. There are a lot of laws of contracts in Africa, including Namibia guiding these aids. Sadly, many of our leaders didn’t read or understand some of the clauses inserted in the contracts when negotiations were being made. Unfortunately, our leaders realised this rather too late and now, they cannot get out of the trap, which will make their people subservient to the imperial moneybags.”

    She said if the West had not induced African leaders with the conditional aids, the continent would not have been embroiled in the security and economic quagmire it found itself presently.

    Insisting that African leaders are gullible, Emillia said: “Like in Namibia, chunk of the country’s land mass does not belong to native people. We are a people struggling; we don’t have a little land to live, not even a farm. Owning a small residential land is even a risk. We have a lot of white people owning the land. Secondly, if you look at the economy of Namibia, all businesses belong to the white. The white people own the firms; not even the government owns up to 50 per cent. If you look at the agricultural sector, Namibia is very rich in fish which used to be the preserve of the natives. But then, the white are now penetrating into the market. We are not only competing against the whites, we are also competing against the Chinese because they also now own land owners more than the Namibians.

    “The construction industry in Namibia is powered by the Chinese. They are the ones that get government tenders. And because China gives loans to the government to carry out its programmes, Chinese people are able to control our leaders. So how do I, as a native, survive in my continent of birth when contracts are given to outsiders? In all these, the West cannot be exonerated. They have seen that everything is in Africa, but in their countries, they don’t really have many resources.”

    Emillia became more agitated when she said the West cornered Africa’s natural resources and converted them into finished products and sold to Africans at unaffordable prices.

    “They are selling jewelry to us; where did they get the gold? They are bringing cell phones to Africa, where did they get the materials? We are buying their processed fishes and beefs, where did all those come from? Africa has it all. Uranium is a material that is vital in the manufacturing of weapons. Africa does not make weapons, the West does. But the 97 per cent of uranium deposit is in Africa. So the West has realised that in order for them to stay in control, they have to get our key resources,” she argued.

    Emillia described Africans as sheep, who hardly resisted oppression. She said from time to time, concerned Namibians team up and hold conferences to brainstorm on the nation’s challenges. She quickly added that such forums usually ended up in fiasco.

    “Namibians are people who take things as they are. For them, life continues. We still have that colonial mindset when you have to take whatever is given to you by your rulers,” she lamented.

    Though it’s her first visit to Nigeria, but Emillia said she learned a lot from the programme, including her renewed passion for African unity. “One lesson I am taking back home is to promote unity in Africa,” she said excitedly.

  • Liberty group inaugurates exco

    Liberty group inaugurates exco

    The African Liberty Students Organisation (ALSO), a students’ body that seeks to promote capitalism and free trade, has been established at the University of Benin (UNIBEN). The organisation also inducted its pioneer executive members during the event.

    The programme took place at Blue Meadows in Ugbowo campus of the institution. The event was graced by the university librarian, who was represented by Mr David Ofili and students.

    The new executive is led by Gilbert Alasa. Others members include Emmanuel Otega, Vice-President (Planning and Execution), Ikeme Saidu, Vice-President (Strategy and Outreach), Valor Iduh, Secretary-General, Elizabeth Annam, Assistant Secretary-General, Brenda Okonkwo, Financial Secretary, Phatai Shittu, Director of Welfare, Daniel Opiti, Director of Publicity and Verra Alozie, Provost.

    In his address, Gilbert said the guiding principle of the association centered on the promotion of free enterprise and the necessity to achieve prosperity through free markets. “As libertarians, we believe Africa needs an economic system that is based on private ownership that owns the means of production and distribution of goods characterised by a free competitive market motivated by profit,” he said.

    Delivering a lecture entitled: Building today for a prosperous Africa, the Director of Outreach and Coordinator of the organisation in Nigeria, Mr Adedayo Thomas, noted that statism (centralised control of economy) had been a clog in the wheel of Nigeria’s economic progress, adding that free enterprise remained the best economic system to engender human empowerment, prosperity and liberation.

    He posited that Africa’s economic system was historically linked to free enterprise where traders travelled long distances for exchange of goods without restriction.

    Also, there was an interactive session where answers were provided to participants’ questions. While the ceremony lasted, books on various aspects of human endeavors were donated to the university library. Ofili praised the gesture of the organisation and urged members to continue to be leading lights of economic and social freedom.

  • Will there ever be justice?

    Nigeria is at war. The war is between the forces of light and darkness; the intellect and the retrogressive. The force of hatred against humanism. – Prof Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate and foremost human rights activist.

    I have had cause to ponder on the value placed on human life in Nigeria and I find it hard to come to terms with all the inhuman activities that are unblushingly perpetrated in a nation, which is, undoubtedly, religious, given the places of worship in every nook and cranny.

    Crimes being committed against humanity include kidnapping, sexual molestation, child theft, human trafficking, torture, terrorism and armed robbery to mention a few. In recent times, all these vices have flourished even as the nation continues to display helplessness.

    However, there were times when Nigeria knew peace. Recalling such days with nostalgia; era, which the late writer, Prof Chinua Achebe, termed the “lucky generation”. Achebe wrote in his last work There was a country that “we were standing figuratively and literally at the dawn of a new era…things were simpler and safer in those days, and there was never a story of child abductions or any unsavory incidents that I recall.”

    So much has been said about insecurity and mass murder in Nigeria, particularly in the Northern region, and so little has been done to combat it. Our worst fears and nightmares are now with us. The authorities in whose hands powers lies to take preemptive measures have ostensibly taken an oath of silence; an oath to do nothing in the face of clear danger; while the plunderers loot our barns disturbing impunity.

    Just recently, after a lull in security breaches and inaction on the part of government, the murderous group struck again; this time, in Sabon Gari, Kano. Twin bomb explosions in a garage ripped the intestines of travellers apart as they prepared to leave Kaduna State to their southern destination. Innocent people were dispatched to the great beyond.

    Accusing fingers have been pointed in the direction of Boko Haram sect. The reasons behind their despicable act remained unclear but one thing is sure: members of the group forces of darkness, who have lost all vestige of humanity in them. In a nation like Nigeria, which is famous for mass amnesia, given our legendary resolve to always consign such unforgivable crime to oblivion, after the public outrage, nothing will be done to apprehend the perpetrators of this heinous crime. Of course, it is needless to say justice will never be done to pacify the souls of the innocent victims.

    Not long ago, a gory incident, which attracted public outcry and sent shivers down the spine of the nation, happened a few kilometers away from my university. Residents of the Amansea community woke up to a disturbing sight: dozens of decomposing bodies were floating on their river. Who killed the people? Who are their families? How did they die? All these and more are questions have not been answered.

    However, we are all dead sure that those bodies did not fall from the skies. Nothing was done to unravel the killers of the victims. What is shocking is that accusing fingers were pointed at security agencies – Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and Anambra State’s anti-kidnap squad, which ironically are agencies saddled with the task of protecting and preserving human lives and property.

    What happened to the perpetrators of the dastard Mubi massacre of 40 students? After long years of investigation, what happened to the murderous gang behind the infamous Apo-six incident? What about the devils behind the barbaric Aluu-four killing? And the most recent, gruesome murder of Damilola Olaniyan, an upcoming music artiste butchered at Lagos State University gate?

    Truth be told, we recover from the shock easily. We have learnt to weep, to lament, and to forget with haste. However fast we forget and discard such scandalous events to the bin of history, however hard we pretend that all is well, one thing is certain: there is fire on the mountain to use the phrase of the soul singer Asa.

    Justice, in the words of a Roman philosopher, Alpine, is “a constant and perpetual will to render to everyone, that which he is entitled”. Justice in a case of murder among other things includes bringing the perpetrators to book, and preventing future occurrence. If justice exists, must we tarry until the vengeful dead come and obtain it themselves? Or are they not entitled to justice?

    Injustice anywhere, said Martin Luther King Jr., is a threat to justice everywhere. Life is precious; it is sacred. Yet, past events have shown the kind of value government and criminals place on human life. Enough is enough! This is time for government and citizens to stop marauding criminals that mock the sacredness of life. If justice exists, then we must stand up against extrajudicial killing, security breaches, mass murder and other atrocities. If justice exists, then we must insist that the evil hands and minds behind these atrocities, whether lowly or mighty, are urgently investigated, and, if found guilty, are subjected to the heavy hands of the law.

    Truly, Nigeria is at war; but this war can only be won if the people and government stand and maintain that justice be done regardless of status of the culprits, time and cost.

     

  • Lagos Corps members donate blood

    Lagos Corps members donate blood

    Members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Lagos have donated blood in a voluntary blood donation programme organised by the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Committee (LSBTC) in the Orientation Camp, Ipaja, Lagos.

    During the two-day exercise, the Corps members were told how they could contribute their quotas to national development and be responsible citizens during their service year.

    The blood donation drive was to get the youths involved in saving patients, who may be in need of blood at any point in time, thus make blood readily available in the blood bank of hospitals.

    The donors used the opportunity to undergo medical test such as HIV, Hepatitis and Syphilis. Their blood pressure, sugar level and height were also tested.

    Ayo Onalapo, one of the donors, said the government should make blood donation lively, saying many volunteers were unable to donate blood because they could not stand the stress of going to the hospital to queue for hours.

    Henry Ugezene, another donor, said he felt good parting with a pint, adding that people should not be afraid but rather make it a culture.

    Imo Uzoma, Corps member, said the exercise should be voluntary because “it is to save the lives of others”. He urged government not to sell donated blood to patients in need of it.

     

  • The flipside of love

    I thought deeply about it and concluded that everything the human race seeks to achieve with love is after all vanity. I believe love is a curse that runs through all human generation without discrimination. Love is truly a curse.

    In the scripture, 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 says: “Love suffers long, and is kind; love envies not; love vaunts not itself, is not puffed up. It does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, it thinks no evil; it rejoices not in iniquity, but in the truth; it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all thing, endures all thing.”

    The above-quoted expression from the Holy Writ is pleasant to the ear but it will be hypocritical to think about love in that sense when it comes to relationship. Readers should not be in haste to judge my piece by first paragraph; let me state here, that I am not against love but averse to its application.

    Love, as typified in the Biblical passage aforementioned, is seen as a virtue. But, today, it is a vicious weapon in the hands of the inexperienced, overzealous and unscrupulous.

    I am forced to wonder why everybody must fall in love. Even celibates cannot pretend that they do not have the thought. Love, as virtuous as it seems, is not the exclusive preserve of the wise, humble and good but a shared heritage with the fools, arrogant and wicked. Love is a raging disease – an incurable pandemic. How more can I describe it? An evil spirit that cannot be exorcised.

    Love has conveyed irrationality rather than reason; it promotes divorce rather than marriage; it encourages homosexuality and other forms of immorality; it has watered the flower of deceit, distrust and violence.

    That which has been commanded by God is now being fully utilised by the devil and its impish agents.

    If love is not irrational, how did words such as infatuation, incest, Oedipus complex, lesbianism, heartbreak, divorce, gay marriage, obsession, promiscuity, bestiality and suchlike come into existence?

    Many say love is blind. What a delusional expression! Love personified is never blind. If we take love as a human being, then the term “blind” is hypothetical to describe her state. Love only shuts her eyes so as to overlook certain mishaps but to address them at a later time where no fault is spared. If love is truly blind, what miracle restored her sight? Aaron Neville is certainly right when he says: “Everybody plays the fool when it comes to the game of love.”

    “Money cannot buy love” is popular expression commonly say by people. Nowadays, money dictates the footpath of this helpless love, which people in which people entangle themselves. This means that love will soon be a monopoly of the wealthy class. What an imbalance of life!

    If a damsel is falling head over heels for a guy and tells him she wants to spend the rest of her life with him, one will not be wrong to say she is a victim of inexperience and her words are mere products of immaturity. Wishes are not horses. If she suffers heartbreak, then she will fully understand that love hurts.

    Still in my wonders, I try to figure out why some will advertise in the media that they are seeking for a relationship or spouse. They will even specify their choice. Does it mean that they are obsessed with strangers? Or maybe they look inferior to those they see around? Is it that they prefer love created virtually than the real? Love seems dynamic and incomprehensible. But I consider that most people are just seeking for adventure. Really, the menace that emanates from love will not be easily resolved through it.

    If anybody feels I am not making a point here, let us ask a guy that keeps over 50 girlfriends, a lady that people called aristo and let us ask guys or girls, who do not want to fall in love again. Maybe we will understand that love devours victims every second. Should I blame a friend who told me she would only believe that she is in love on the day she gives birth to her first child?

    I wonder why one should fall in love when it really hurts. Through love, women no more see dignity in virginity but those who keep theirs are scorned and mock as inexperienced. Do not mistaken my message, love is good and I have nothing against it. I am only irritated the way people treat themselves in the name of love.

    Love is no more used to the benefit of others. Love has been abused. Why? This is because everybody falls in love. It grips the heart and controls the emotions. It comes naturally without requesting for it.

    But when unscrupulous ones insult and usurp it, one is forced to think that he is being cursed by such affection. Never mind! Never relinquish. Continue searching and keep on searching until you find true love. Let your brain, and not your heart do the work. True love takes time. It demands courage, perseverance, maturity and experience. True love can be worked out. Just take your time.

    I believe in love. I want to be loved. I am in love. My love is beyond the ordinary. It is divine. Even if love is a curse, I key myself into her blessings. There is nothing like it. I mean there is nothing like love.