The Nation Newspaper

Category: Online Special

  • Can domestic servants be considered as security threats?

    Can domestic servants be considered as security threats?

    The increasing number of married women who engage in paid jobs in the last few decades has heightened the demand for domestic servants in several Nigerian homes.

    Research has shown that live-in domestic servants are found in over two-thirds Nigerian homes but the character of many of the house helps is often questionable.

    On a global level, a recent report of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) indicates that not less than 52 million people across the world work as domestic workers, while only 10 per cent of them are actually protected by extant labour laws.

    The report also states that in 2012, 72 per cent of the population of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa is engaged in vulnerable employment, which includes domestic service, mostly undertaken by minors and women.

    In major Nigerian cities, especially Lagos and Abuja, the demand for domestic servants such as house maids, cooks and security guards is quite high because of the long hours of work which keep most couples out late.

    Observers note that the compelling need for households to hire domestic servants has, in recent times, given many unscrupulous elements in the society the leeway to foment trouble in various homes.

    They argue that the upsurge of domestic servants with questionable character has somewhat worsened the insecurity pervading the country.

    The observers note that in some cases, the inability to secure the services of trustworthy house helps has forced several women to quit their white-collar jobs to take care of the family.

    On several occasions, media reports have cited some instances in which security guards would recommend housemaids or cooks for their bosses, as part of a calculated plot to carry out some heinous acts.

    For instance, Mrs Kike Anibaba, a civil servant in Abuja, recalled that her gardener introduced to her a teenage girl who, as he claimed, was his close relation.

    “But unfortunately within two months, the gardener connived with her, robbed my shop of expensive goods and ran away,’’ she said.

    Besides, there was a news report in January about a 20-year-old domestic servant, Akan Solomon, who was arrested in Lagos for conniving with robbers to steal a car belonging to his boss.

    Moreover, there was a recent case involving Freedom Maddy, a house help, who stole the jewellery of her boss in collaboration with some unscrupulous elements. The incident was widely reported in the media.

    The cases appear limitless but one particular case which elicits the concern of many people relates to one housemaid who was arrested along with an accomplice for killing her boss, a restaurateur, who lived alone.

    The maid reportedly killed the woman in her house and threw her into a nearby well with a generator, while giving neighbours an impression that the woman had travelled.

    In spite of the widespread public perception that domestic servants are often maltreated, analysts insist that hiring questionable characters as house helps could be extremely dangerous.

    Supporting such viewpoints, Mrs Toriola Ajimobi, a bank worker, recalled that she once had a housemaid who she treated as her own daughter.

    “However, within a few months, she stole my clothes and money and ran away,’’ she said.

    Also, Mr Yusuf Hassan, a trader, alleged that his house help, in spite of his generosity to her, once attempted to kidnap one of his triplets.

    “When she was arrested, she claimed that she was manipulated by the devil to commit the crime,’’ he said.

    Besides, Mrs Evelyn Anjorin, a mother of three, said that she had to leave her job and stay at home after her housemaid burgled her room.

    However, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, the Chairman, Federation of Informal Workers Union of Nigeria, stressed that the nefarious activities of some domestic servants could be one of the fallout of the house helps’ ill-treatment.

    “The maltreatment of some of the domestic servants may be the reason why they take revenge by perpetrating evil on their bosses,’’ he said.

    Nevertheless, he bemoaned the criminal acts of some domestic servants such as robbery or kidnapping, stressing that their ill-treatment could not be an excuse to commit a crime.

    Analysts, however, attribute the rising wave of misdemeanor among domestic servants to the faulty method of recruiting house helps without due regard for specific guidelines

    For instance, a Beninoise, Mrs Josephine Ayo, said that she could assist people to get trustworthy maids from Togo and Benin Republic for a fee.

    All the same, available records on human trafficking indicate that more than 60 per cent of domestic servants in the South-West geopolitical zone of the country are recruited from Togo or Benin Republic.

    A major question, therefore, centres around putting measures in place to forestall a situation in which domestic servants constitute major security threats to the households where they work.

    However, Mr Joseph Famakin, the Lagos Zonal Commander of National Agency for Prosecution of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP), advised the public to register their domestic servants with the police.

    He, nonetheless, underscored the need for such domestic servants, whose ages must be above 18 years, to have impeccable character.

    Famakin, who frowned at a situation where minors were engaged as domestic servants, reiterated that the registration of domestic workers would reduce the incidence of crime in homes, while making it easier for the authorities to apprehend child traffickers.

    All the same, Mrs Bisi Bright, the Coordinator of Live-Well Initiative, a non-governmental organisation, underscored the need for the government to intervene in the situation

    She urged the government at all levels to put in place a system where only registered employment agents would be involved in the domestic servants’ recruitment business.

    Bright also recommended that such registered agents should be saddled with responsibility of screening, interviewing and employing domestic servants, whose ages should be above 18 years, in collaboration with NAPTIP and the police.

    She said that the arrangement would also provide a channel for house helps to lodge complaints about their employers whenever the need arose.

    In spite of the proposals, Mrs Patricia Amadin, the Deputy Spokesperson for Lagos State Police Command, said that employers of domestic servants should, in the interim, strive to ascertain the background and credibility of persons they wanted to employ.

    Amadin stressed that while some of the house helps behaved well, records had shown that most of them aided and abetted criminals such as robbers and kidnappers.

    The police officer urged the public to always ascertain the identification and background of persons they wanted to hire as house helps so as to lessen the criminal activities of unscrupulous domestic servants. (NANFeatures)

    Oluwatoyin Olokun News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

     

  • ‘How to be a successful global entrepreneur’

    ‘How to be a successful global entrepreneur’

    Deepak Kuntawala, Founder of DVK,  was recently  awarded Global Entrepreneur of the Year by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg at the TiE UK Awards in London for the company’s rapid expansion in the Middle East and Africa.

    Deepak says “Global Thinking, Locally Connected” is the key to launching in the emerging markets.

    When looking to expand a business to an international level, the main issue for many is establishing a reliable, accountable and affordable supply chain network. The task of trading in international markets without the right financial support and contacts can be daunting, add into this various risks, the demand risk, the supply disruption risk, the exchange rate.

    My company, DVK, also experienced this same difficulty.  DVK traces its roots back to the 1900’s when my grandfather began supplying blankets, articles of daily use, clothing to the British Army, locals and people working in mines in Zambia. Quickly immersing himself in the textiles and clothing trade, he built a considerable business empire with his department store Kuntawala & Co, becoming one of Southern Africa’s major men’s department stores, importing goods from the UK, Germany and Europe.

    When we immigrated to the UK in the 1970s, inspired by my father, my brothers and I emulated his success by creating the London based Kayson’s trading. It was from there that I had my first taste of international trade and soon found myself working during school holidays etc. Then in 20000, as a fully-fledged member of the family business, it felt only proper to launch my own venture and DVK was launched.

     

    DVK is engaged in high-growth global expansion and we recently launched our office in Saudi Arabia. The Middle East market is ripe for global business and we are exploring business opportunities with several deals in hand across Banking, Commodity Trading, Aviation, Sharia Financing, Private Equity, Infrastructure, Real Estate, Mining and Exportation.

     

    Working abroad opens the door to far more networking possibilities and allows for different thinking and ways of working to interact. Working with different people and cultures around the world provides your business with an international flavour and ethos.

     

    From doing business in Africa, I have learnt that patience and endurance are very much needed. It’s who you know not what you know.  95% of my time in Africa has been establishing contacts and building my networks. Eventually the contacts that you make will help reap rewards.

     

    The only real disadvantage would be the logistics of working globally; accounting for different time zones and languages, full preparation can definitely overcome these. Talking from experience, the key to establishing globally is to ensure companies have the right financial support network.

     

    A successful entrepreneur is someone who relishes a challenge, I think many wrongly assume entrepreneurship is a quest to acquire money, it really isn’t. It is much more about entering into an adventure, challenging and pushing yourself to your limits.

    An entrepreneur needs to be confident, creative and have bags full of self-belief. My motto has always been “global thinking, locally connected”. To take a business global you must have a truly international mindset but always be wary of the cultural differences. All these traits are essential for breaking into the

    emerging markets successfully.

  • 12 shocking facts about Nigeria

    12 shocking facts about Nigeria

    Some years ago, a brilliant lecturer of mine (now late) said something about Nigeria that I waved aside as an exaggerated expression of patriotism. He told my class then that he had travelled to many places in the world and had finally come to the conclusion that Nigeria is the most blessed nation on the planet. I knew Nigeria was blessed but I couldn’t understand how he could boldly claim that top position for Nigeria: yes we have oil, gas, landmass–in fact, abundant natural and human resources, but was that enough?

    Fast-forward to September, 2011. By this time, my doubt had given rise to a burning desire to know the specific things that make us great as a nation–that make us the most blessed people on earth. I felt if I did find these specific facts, they would need to be shared with Nigerians and the world in spectacular ways. To achieve this aim, I discussed the idea with my friend, George Okewih, and our subsequent brainstorming led to the birth of The Green Heritage page on Facebook to promote our cultural and natural heritage to Nigerians and the world. It’s been eighteen months of rigorous research since, and now I am convinced that my late lecturer was right.

    Here are some facts from our common heritage that should make you proud to be called a Nigerian:

    1. Nigeria is home to seven percent (7%) of the total languages spoken on earth. Taraba state alone has more languages than 30 African countries. The importance of this fact is appreciated when one understands that language is the “soul of culture” (as Ngugi wa Thiongo famously said). It is language that births the proverbs, riddles, stories and other aspects of culture that give us identity. UNESCO puts forward that the world’s languages represents an extraordinary wealth of creativity. Linguistic diversity correlates with cultural diversity. This means Nigeria can look inwards and drive itself to become the greatest hub for cultural tourism on earth, and consequently empower its citizens tremendously in the process.

    2. The Walls of Benin (800-1400AD), in present day Edo State, are the longest ancient earthworks in the world, and probably the largest man-made structure on earth. They enclose 6500 square kilometers of community lands that connected about 500 communities. At over 16000km long, it was thought to be twice the length of the Great Wall of China, until it was announced in 2012 (after five years of meticulous measurement by Chinese surveyors) that the Great Wall is about 21,000km long.

    3. The Yoruba tribe has the highest rate of twin births in the world. Igbo-Ora, a little town in Oyo state, has been nicknamed Twin capital of the World because of its unusually high rate of twins that is put as high as 158 twins per 1000 births. In a video I watched last year on YouTube presented by Titi (a white lady who speaks Yoruba), and which was centred on twin births in Igbo-Ora, one of the locals boasted that every family in the town has at least one twin!

    4. Sarki Muhammad Kanta The Great of Kebbi, was the only ruler who resisted control by Songhai, West Africa’s greatest empire at that time. He founded and ruled the Hausa city-state of Kebbi around 1600 A.D and built Surame its capital, a planned city which was almost impossible to penetrate during war. In fact UNESCO describes Surame as “one of the wonders of human history, creativity and ingenuity”, and probably the most massive stone-walled constructions in West Africa. He is listed in Robin Walker’s 50 Greatest Africans.

    5. Africa’s oldest known boat is The Dufuna canoe which was discovered in Dufuna village, Yobe state, by a Fulani Herdsman in May 1987, while he dug a well. Various radio-carbon tests conducted in laboratories of reputable universities in Europe and America indicate that the canoe is over 8,000 years old, thus making it the oldest in Africa and 3rd oldest in the world. The discovery of the canoe has completely changed accepted theories of the history and sophistication of marine technology in Africa.

    6. Sungbo’s Eredo, a 160 km rampart equipped with guard houses and moats, is reputed to be the largest single pre-colonial monument (or ancient fortification if you like) in Africa. It is located in present-day Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State and when it was built a millennium ago, it required more earth to be moved during construction than that used for building the Great Pyramid of Giza (one of the Seven Wonders of The Ancient World). The most astonishing thing is that Sungbo’s Eredo was the biggest city in the world (bigger than Rome and Cairo) during the Middle Ages when it was built!

    7. Sarki Abdullah Burja of Kano (ruled 1438-1452 AD), the 18th ruler of Ancient Kano, created the first Golden Age in Northern Nigeria and ushered in a period of great prosperity. During his reign, Hausa became the biggest indigenous language spoken in Africa after Swahili. He is on the list of 50

    Greatest Africans in Robin Walker’s wonderful book, “When We Ruled”.

    8. The Jos Plateau Indigobird, a small reddish-brown bird, is found nowhere else on the planet but Plateau state, Nigeria.

    9. The Anambra waxbill, a small bird of many beautiful colours, is found only in Southern Nigeria and nowhere else on earth.

    10. The Niger Delta (which is the second largest delta on the planet), has the highest concentration of monotypic fish families in the world, and is

    also home to sixty percent of Nigeria’s mangrove forests. You should know too that Nigeria’s mangrove forests are the largest in Africa and third largest on earth.

    11. According to the World Resources Institute, Nigeria is home to 4,715 different types of plant species, and over 550 species of breeding birds and mammals, making it one of the most ecologically vibrant places of the planet.

    12. Ile-Ife, in present day Osun State, was paved as early as 1000AD, with decorations that originated from Ancient America suggesting there might have been contact between the Yorubas and the Ancient Americans half a millenium before Columbus ‘discovered’ America.

    Now, what if we tell you seventy-five other amazing facts about Nigeria that The Green Heritage has discovered over the past eighteen months? Would you not be thrilled to watch a movie that resurrects and projects, in stunning visuals, the historical, cultural and natural heritage of Nigeria? This is the idea behind the movie project titled, “The Green Heritage 3D: 87 Marvels From Nigeria”. And the ball has begun rolling. A teaser that demonstrates some of the advanced 3D modelling and animation that would be partly employed to recreate parts of our heritage and project it to the world, has been uploaded on our YouTube channel. With a talented team of young Nigerian writers, programmers, artists, architects and producers, all given visual life to a massive amount of research about and for Nigeria, you can rest assured that this might just be the most important movie of our generation, from Nigeria.

    Samuel Okopi is the writer/director of The Green Heritage 3D: 87 Marvels, From Nigeria. He can be reached on 08066037453.

    Watch the teaser on YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheGreenHeritage

    Direct link to teaser: http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=plcp&v=UMzNjVE6aKU

    Join The Green Heritage on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheGreenHeritage

  • Chinua Achebe’s quotes

    Chinua Achebe’s quotes

    Chinua Achebe quotes

    “While we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary.”

    -Anthills of the Savannah

    “The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.”

    – Things Fall Apart

    “We cannot trample upon the humanity of others without devaluing our own. The Igbo, always practical, put it concretely in their proverb Onye ji onye n’ani ji onwe ya: “He who will hold another down in the mud must stay in the mud to keep him down.”

    -The Education of a British-Protected Child: Essays

    “Privilege, you see, is one of the great adversaries of the imagination; it spreads a thick layer of adipose tissue over our sensitivity.

    -Hopes and Impediments: Selected Essays

    “The impatient idealist says: ‘Give me a place to stand and I shall move the earth.’ But such a place does not exist. We all have to stand on the earth itself and go with her at her pace.”

    -No Longer at Ease

     

    “The price a world language must be prepared to pay is submission to many different kinds of use. The African writer should aim to use English in a way that brings out his message best without altering the language to the extent that its value as a medium of international exchange will be lost. He should aim at fashioning out an English which is at once universal and able to carry his peculiar experience.”

    -Morning yet on creation day: Essays

     

    “What I can say is that it was clear to many of us that an indigenous African literary renaissance was overdue. A major objective was to challenge stereotypes, myths, and the image of ourselves and our continent, and to recast them through stories- prose, poetry, essays, and books for our children. That was my overall goal.”

    -There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra

     

    “The triumph of the written word is often attained when the writer achieves union and trust with the reader, who then becomes ready to be drawn into unfamiliar territory, walking in borrowed literary shoes so to speak, toward a deeper understanding of self or society, or of foreign peoples, cultures, and situations.”

    -There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra

    “Every generation must recognize and embrace the task it is peculiarly designed by history and by providence to perform.”

    -There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra

     

     

    “There is a moral obligation, I think, not to ally oneself with power against the powerless.”

    -There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra

     

    “What kind of power was it if everybody knew that it would never be used? Better to say that it was not there, that it was no more than the power in the anus of the proud dog who tried to put out a furnace with his puny fart…. He turned the yam with a stick.”

    -Arrow of God

    Culled from Goodreads.com

  • 8 processed foods to beware of

    8 processed foods to beware of

    Over the past twenty years, a lot has changed, and the foods that we eat

    are creating a sicker generation of children. Even small changes will go a

    long way when significant percentages of the population take part, knowing

    or unknowingly. As a result, we now have epidemic increases in diabetes,

    heart disease, obesity and cancer.

    The commercialization of food has forced food companies to find newer,

    cheaper mechanisms to increase the shelf life of food, improve color, taste

    and perceived nutritional value.  The result – a food system that is

    heavily laced with food preservatives, artificial food colorings and

    chemicals.

    Processed foods are one of the greatest dangers to one’s overall health as

    they provide little actual nutritional value.  These foods are commonly

    loaded with unhealthy sugars, salts and fats that create inflammation,

    spike blood sugar and elevate blood pressure.

     

    *Instant noodles topped with MSG*

    There are many brands of instant noodles but few will win any health food

    awards. The immediate danger is what is in the flavor packet that comes

    with the noodles.  This packet often contains monosodium glutamate or MSG

    and very high amounts of salt.

    One of the most common causes of high blood pressure and kidney disease is

    eating too much salt.  One can incorporate instant noodles into a healthy

    diet by simply leaving out the flavor packet.

     

    *Sweet addictions*

    There are many types of sweets and ways of making them but the vast

    majority are high in saturated fat and a large portion of the calories come

    from sugars. They are also a very poor source of vitamins and minerals.

    The sugar is not just bad for one’s teeth but is a leading cause of

    inflammation and weight gain as well.

    It was appalling to find a small sweet that was packed with over 234

    calories, 25 grams of sugar and 12 grams of fat.  Sugar is addictive as it

    manipulates one’s taste buds, metabolism and brain into seeking out more.

     

    *Soda affecting heart beats*

    People often drink soda as if it is water, some even instead of water. Soda

    has an alarming amount of sugar, calories and harmful additives that have

    absolutely no nutritional value. Studies have linked soda to osteoporosis,

    obesity, tooth decay and heart disease.

    The caffeine found in soda can cause jitters, insomnia, high blood

    pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood cholesterol levels, vitamin

    and mineral depletion, breast lumps and possibly even some forms of cancer.

    Soda also contains phosphoric acid that can interfere with the body’s

    ability to use calcium, which can lead to osteoporosis or softening of the

    bones and teeth. Phosphoric acid also neutralizes the acids in the stomach

    making it difficult to properly utilize nutrients.

     

    *Crisps ousting healthier snacks*

    Crisps are perceived to be inexpensive, tasty and a convenient snack, but

    the toll they take on our bodies may not be worth the risk. An occasional

    handful of crisps may not cause irreparable damage to someone consuming an

    otherwise healthy diet but the real dangers arise when one consumes crisps

    on a regular or daily basis.

    Crisps are typically low in vitamins and minerals, and they tend to oust

    things in the diet that have better nutrient values.  They are typically

    high in fat and energy, which can raise the risk of weight gain and

    obesity. As an example, one ounce or 15 to 20 crisps of a popular brand

    contained 10 grams of fat and 154 calories.

     

    *Sugary cereals no better than biscuits*

    Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It provides the energy for

    the day, nutrients needed to repair bodily tissues and activates one’s

    metabolism to maintain a healthy weight.  Junk food, also known as sugary

    cereals in the morning will provide no nutritional value and can do more

    harm than good.

    According to a recent study, children’s breakfast cereals should be in the

    chocolate biscuit aisle of supermarkets.  One cup of a popular brand of

    children’s cereal contained more sugar than three cookies.

    Researchers looked at 50 cereals overall and 32 were too high in sugar.

    Even brands advertising themselves as healthy options tipped the scales.

    ‘Healthy options’ usually indicates the fortification of vitamins or

    minerals.  Fortification is a process of artificially implanting nutrients

    to improve product sales.

     

    *Boxed juices or boxed sugar with colorings*

    Infants less than a year old should not drink any fruit juice, 1 to 6 years

    olds shouldn’t exceed 6 ounces of fruit juice per day and older children

    ages 7 to 18 shouldn’t consume more than 8 or 12 ounces per day, ideally

    divided into two servings according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

    Sensationalist claims on the box make it difficult to figure out if the

    juice is actually healthy or not. Numerous studies detail the dangers of

    drinking too many high-energy, high-sugar, low-nutrient beverages.

    Consumers should be urged to check the food label before purchasing any of

    their favorite juices.

     

    *Processed meats producing cancers*

    Many processed meats are made with unhealthy nitrates, nitrites, trans

    fats, saturated fats and large amounts of sodium and sugar. A recent study

    showed a 67 percent increase in pancreatic cancer for people consuming

    moderate amounts of processed meat. The high trans and saturated fat

    content can sabotage one’s heart and waistline as well.

    Sodium nitrite can be found in nearly every packaged meat product

    imaginable. It’s listed on the food label of products such as bacon,

    breakfast sausages, dried meats, pepperoni, sandwich meats, ham and even

    the meats found in canned soups.

     

    *Noodles, sauces and artificial colorings*

    Processed and unhealthy, just the thought of the powdered imitation sauce

    alone should make one cringe. These products contain excessive amounts of

    salts and preservatives to ensure the shelf life of the product.

    Artificial colorings, stabilizers and emulsifiers are chemicals used to

    make the food more attractive and palatable.

    Imitation powdered sauces often contain chemicals like artificial dye

    yellow #5 and #6. Yellow #5 is a water-soluble artificial dye that is also

    known as Tartrazine. Other foods that contain Tartrazine includes cake,

    pudding, biscuits, cookies, muffins, breads, pie crusts, frostings, sweets,

    gums, ice cream, beverages, cereals, instant waffles, yogurts, chips,

    crackers, salad dressing, pickles, cheeses, dips, takeaway foods, prepared

    dried and frozen entrees and sides.

    The problems do not stop there. Packaged sauces also contain a fattening

    secret known as partially hydrogenated oils. These oils are one of the

    reasons that heart disease is one of the fast growing health conditions.

    Food companies routinely manipulate oils to make them partially

    hydrogenated. This manipulation allows the oils to be more stable and have

    a longer shelf life. The entire process of partially hydrogenating an oil

    will produce unhealthy trans fats. Trans fatty acids are toxic to our

    systems, produce inflammation and allow diseases to develop.

    Partially hydrogenated oils also have a negative effect on cholesterol

    levels as they raise LDL (bad cholesterol) and lower HDL (good

    cholesterol). These oils have also been linked to the development of

    diabetes and a variety of cancers.

    Dr. Cory Couillard is an international healthcare speaker and columnist for

    numerous newspapers, magazines, websites and publications throughout the

    world. He works in collaboration with the World Health Organization’s goals

    of disease prevention and global healthcare education. Views do not

    necessarily reflect endorsement.

    Email: drcorycouillard@gmail.com

Facebook: Dr. Cory Couillard

Twitter: DrCoryCouillard
  • 12 things to know about New Pope Francis

    12 things to know about New Pope Francis

    There are many things unique about Argentina’s Jorge Mario Bergoglio who on Wednesday emerged as the new Pope.

    Here are 12 striking features about the new Pontiff.

    – He is the first man from South America to lead the 1.2 billion world’s catholic population.

    – Prior to his election, he served as an Argentine cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

    – He has served as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires since 1998. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2001.

    – Jorge Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires, one of the five children of an Italian railway worker.

    – After studying at the seminary in Villa Devoto, he entered the Society of Jesus on March 11, 1958. He obtained a licentiate in philosophy from the Colegio Máximo San José in San Miguel, and then taught literature and psychology at the Colegio de la Inmaculada in Santa Fe, and the Colegio del Salvador in Buenos Aires.

    – He was ordained to the priesthood on December 13, 1969, by Archbishop Ramón José Castellano.

    – Attended the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel, a seminary in San Miguel.

    – He attained the position of novice master there and became professor of theology.

    – As Cardinal, he became known for personal humility, doctrinal conservatism and a commitment to social justice.

    – He lives in a small apartment, rather than in the palatial bishop’s residence.

    – He gave up his chauffeured limousine in favor of public transportation, and he reportedly cooks his own meals.

    – The new Pope is an accomplished theologian who distanced himself from liberation theology early in his career.

     

     

  • Waiting for the new Pope

    Waiting for the new Pope

    As voting on who becomes new leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholic population continues, several candidates have been touted as possible replacement for Josef Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) who resigned from the position last month.

    The 85-year-old German stepped down, saying he was no longer strong enough to lead the Church, which is beset by problems ranging from a worldwide scandal over child sex abuse to allegations of corruption at the Vatican Bank.

    Four men – Italian Angelo Scola, Odilo Scherer from Brazil, Canadian Marc Ouellet and Sean O’Malley of the United States have been identified as key contenders for the position.

    There are two others with an outside chance to clinch the post.

    Each of them possessed unique qualities which stood them out from the chasing field. HAMED SHOBIYE, Assistant Editor, Online, examines the candidates’ chances  in the poll.

     

    Angelo Scola (Italy, 71)

    Scola is the oldest member of the contesting field.

    Scola is an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church, philosopher and theologian. He was appointed Archbishop of Milan by Pope Benedict XVI in June 2011. That position served as his springboard to the papacy.

    He had served as Patriarch of Venice from 2002 to 2011. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2003. He is considered a contender to succeed Benedict XVI.

    The Italian is very vocal in his rejection of abortion, genetic engineering and birth control.

    He is an expert in moral theology.

    Scola was long close to the conservative Italian Catholic group Communion and Liberation, which Benedict also favoured, but has kept his distance in recent years. He is familiar with Islam as head of a centre for Muslim-Christian understanding, with wide contacts abroad. His dense intellectual oratory could put off cardinals seeking a charismatic preacher.

     

    Odilo Scherer (Brazil, 63)

    Scherer is the leading candidate from Latin America, where 42 percent of the world’s Catholics live.

    He is the Archbishop of Sao Paulo, the biggest diocese in a country with world’s largest Catholic population.

    Scherer is a German- Brazilian and was born in Cerro Largo, Rio Grande do Sul to Edwino and Francisca (née Steffens) Scherer.

    In the international media, he has been mentioned as a possible successor to Benedict XVI.

    Scherer is considered to be theologically moderate. He is one of just a handful of cardinals that use modern social media routinely.

    He is also known for good sense of humour.

    His German family roots and stint working in the Vatican Curia give him important links to Europe, the largest voting bloc. Italian media said he enjoys support among Curia cardinals opposed to Scola.

    However, the rapid growth of Protestant churches in Brazil that woo away Catholics could count against him.

     

    Marc Ouellet (Canada, 68)

     

    Ouellet is a Canadian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the present prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and concurrently president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI in June 2010.

    Previously, he was archbishop of Quebec and primate of Canada. He was elevated to the cardinalate by Pope John Paul II in October 2003. Ouellet is considered a contender to succeed Pope Benedict XVI.

    An academic theologian of the Ratzinger School, he once said becoming pope “would be a nightmare.”

    Well-connected within the Curia, the Vatican bureaucracy. He also has ties to Latin America from teaching there and now heading a Vatican commission on the region. Factors against him include his rough time as archbishop of Quebec, where his conservative views clashed with the very secular society there and he left apologising for any hurt he had caused. His bland speaking style is another drawback.

     

    Sean O’Malley (United State, 68)

    Rumours have surfaced that O’Malley will opt for Francis 1 if elected as the next Pope.

    He is an American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as the Archbishop of Boston, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 2006. O’Malley is a member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, commonly known as the Capuchins. O’Malley is considered a contender to succeed Pope Benedict XVI.

    Appointed in 2003 to Boston, the third diocese in a row where he was called in to clean up after sexual abuse crises, he sold off Church properties to pay damages. He also shut down little-used churches despite strong protests, a sign of management mettle despite his humble appearance in the brown habit of his Capuchian Franciscan order. Conclaves have long been wary of picking a “superpower pope” from the United States but his calm authority and Franciscan humility have eased many of these concerns.

     

    Outsiders

     

    – Timothy Dolan (United States, 63)

     

    Dolan is an American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Appointed by Pope Benedict XVI, he is the tenth and current Archbishop of New York. Dolan also currently serves as the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and was granted the titular position as Cardinal Priest of Nostra Signora di Guadalupe a Monte Mario (English: Our Lady of Guadalupe of Mount Mario) in Rome.

    He is widely known for his conservative values and charismatic media personality. He previously served as Archbishop of Milwaukee from 2002 to 2009, preceded by service as an Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis from 2001 to 2002. Time Magazine named Dolan one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World” for 2012.

    Dolan has been named in the press as a likely papabile (a possible or likely successor) for election to the Papacy after Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation due to ill health.

    However, his detractors find him too informal, “too American,” and fear he might use too stiff a broom to clean out the Curia.

     

    – Leonardo Sandri (Argentina, 69)

    Sandri is an Argentine Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the current Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in the Roman Curia, having previously served as Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela (1997–2000), Apostolic Nuncio to Mexico (2000) and Substitute for General Affairs (2000–2007). He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007.

    A “safe pair of hands”, he is often seen as an ideal Secretary of State, or deputy to the pope, rather than pontiff. He has no pastoral experience and his Curia job overseeing Eastern Rite churches is not a power position in Rome. He recently said women should be given more leadership positions in the Church. One drawback could be that he is identified with John Paul’s papacy.

     

  • Can we now cure HIV in newborns?

    Can we now cure HIV in newborns?

    Doctors are reporting that a child born with HIV that was put on an unusually aggressive treatment regimen has been functionally cured of the infection. Using the most sensitive HIV testing available, they were able to find only trace amounts of HIV “particles” but no virus capable of replicating, the research team reported.

    “If there is a trial that shows this can happen again, then this will be very important,” said Dr. Karin Nielsen, a pediatrician who specializes in infectious diseases at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. “You’ll be able to treat people very intensively and reverse the disease.”

    The news provides no answers for adults living with HIV but it can be a landmark victory in the health of future generations. Every year, 300,000 to 400,000 babies are born infected with HIV according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases.

    The treatment consisted of giving the newborn a three-drug regimen instead of just one antiretroviral drug. The more extensive treatment was first administered when the girl was just 30 hours old. A month of continued treatment allowed the child’s viral load to become undetectable with standard HIV testing.

    The girl received treatments over 15 months and due to unknown circumstances the treatment ceased as the mother stopped bringing her to the doctor. The virus should have returned without ongoing treatment under normal circumstances.

    The next step is to attempt to replicate the results in other HIV-positive infants said Dr. Deborah Persaud, a virologist at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. If the triple-drug treatment regimen can replicated it could prove life saving for millions of children.

    Preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV

    HIV-positive pregnant mothers should go on a regimen of three antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) as soon as possible — and stay on these drugs until their infant is born and breastfeeding has concluded according to 2010 World Health Organization guidelines.

    As soon as the infant is born, the baby should take a very inexpensive drug — daily for six weeks. As HIV can be transmitted through breast milk, the infant should be formula-fed rather than breastfed if possible. However, health officials do recognize that formula feeding is both expensive and difficult to do safely in resource-limited areas. In financial hardships, mothers are recommended to breastfeed exclusively for six months while continuing to take ARVs.

    The transmission of HIV from an HIV-positive mother to her child can occur during the pregnancy, labor, delivery or breastfeeding of the child. The transmission rates can be as high as 45 percent according to the World Health Organization. This rate can be significantly reduced to below 5 percent with effective interventions.

    UNAIDS advocates four key strategies to achieve this goal. Improving reproductive health and HIV prevention services that will help keep women of reproductive age and their partners HIV-negative. This will help promote safe sex practices and family planning strategies that will avoid unwanted pregnancies among HIV-infected women.

    HIV-positive women must be informed of HIV care, treatment and support during pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding. Globally, there are approximately 1.4 million pregnant women living with HIV and only 26 percent have received HIV testing according to UNICEF. In sub-Saharan Africa only half of pregnant women have been tested for HIV. Of the tested, only 68 percent of HIV-positive women received ARV treatment.

    How is HIV transmitted?

    A person who has HIV carries the virus in bodily fluids such as blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breast milk. The virus can be transmitted only if HIV-infected fluids enter the bloodstream of another person.

    HIV can be transmitted in three ways:

    -Sexual transmission-Exposure to infected blood

    -Mother to child transmission

    The most common form of transmission is from unprotected sexual intercourse. There are fewer cases of transmission from oral sex but the risk significantly increases if either partner has oral cuts or sores. Sharing one’s toothbrush, canker sores or bleeding gums can increase one’s risk as well.

    The use of needles has significantly increased over recent years. Lifestyle factors such as poor diet and lack of physical activity has increased rates of obesity, heart disease and diabetes. It is very common for a diabetic to use needles to inject insulin. This can significantly increase the risk of transmission of HIV.

    Tattoos and piercings can also increase the risk of transmission. Studies have shown that HIV can survive in used needles for a month or more.

    How is HIV not transmitted?

    HIV is not transmitted through food, air or general contact. A person cannot get HIV through re-using washed eating utensils, toilet seats, bathroom sinks, shaking hands or even close contact such as hugging.

    Sweat, tears, vomit, feces and urine can contain HIV but are the least likely mechanisms of transmission. Insects and mosquitoes are not able to transmit HIV.

    How can I reduce my risk?

    If you are sexually active, protect yourself against HIV by practicing safer sex. Whenever you have sex, use a condom. When used properly and consistently, condoms are extremely effective. It’s important to use latex condoms and use them each and every time you have sex. If necessary, consult a nurse, doctor or health educator for guidance on the proper use of latex barriers.

    Abstinence is choosing not to have any kind of sexual play with a partner. Being abstinent is 100 percent effective in preventing sexually transmitted infections such as HIV as well as pregnancy. Additional advantages include cost-effectiveness, safe and convenient.

    Special Advantages for Teens

    Sexual relationships present risks. Abstinence is a very good way to postpone taking those risks until you are better able to handle them. It creates lasting, meaningful relationships that are not centered on sexual behavior.

    Women who abstain until their 20s — and who have fewer partners in their lifetimes — may have certain health advantages over women who do not.

    Teenagers are less likely to get STDs that could affect their ability to have children or even worse develop a harsh form of cancer called cervical cancer. Cervical cancer rates skyrocket in direct proportion to the number of sexual partners one has.

    The healthcare professions and ongoing medical research are allowing people to live longer, have a better quality of life and empower people to take preventative and corrective lifestyle modifications. Taking these steps will significantly reduce one’s risk of contracting and transmitting HIV. The prevention and treatment of HIV has finally given our children and us a glimpse of hope in a previous hopeless condition.

    Dr. Cory Couillard is an international healthcare speaker and columnist for numerous newspapers, magazines, websites and publications throughout the world. He works in collaboration with the World Health Organization’s goals of disease prevention and global healthcare education. Views do not necessarily reflect endorsement.

     

     

  • World’s youngest billionaires

    World’s youngest billionaires

    There are 1,426 billionaires in the world this year. They are the wealthiest of the wealthy. But only 29 members of this elite list are under 40 years old, with that exciting combination of money and youth.

    Those 29 have a total of $119 billion between them. 10 of them come from the technology sector, including four from social networking giant Facebook.

    11 come from the United States, the rest from other parts of the world. Five are newcomers to the billionaire ranks.

    Read the list of the first ten “under 40” billionaires:

     

    Dustin Moskovitz

    Age: 28

    Net Worth: $3.8 billion

    Country: United States

     

    Mark Zuckerberg’s former roommate and Facebook co-founder, Dustin Moskovitz may no longer be with the Menlo Park, Calif.-based social networking giant, but he still holds a significant financial stake in the company. That stake got a little smaller over the summer as he proceeded to sell 7.5 million Facebook shares. Still, as of February, he still owns more than five per cent of the company’s outstanding stock.

    Facebook’s third employee, he dropped out Harvard with Zuckerberg and moved to California to work for the social-networking firm full-time. He left in 2008 to start Asana, a software company that aims to improve how people work with project collaboration tools.

    Engaged to former journalist Cari Tuna, Moskovitz and his fiancee founded Good Ventures and plan to publish their grants and conversations with charities with the goal of rewarding results over crafty fundraising techniques.

    He is also a signee of Bill Gates’ and Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge. Moskovitz bikes to work, flies commercial, and pitches his own tent at Burning Man.

     

     

    Mark Zuckerberg

    Age: 28

    Net Worth: $13.3 billion

    Country: United States

     

    Few Chief Executive Officers of any age are under more media scrutiny than 28-year-old Mark Zuckerberg. Since taking Facebook public in May 2012, the hoodie-wearing founder has seen his net worth rise and fall with every fluctuation of the stock price, which fell under $20 in August 2012. The stock has since rebounded more than 30 per cent as of February on confidence that Facebook may end up figuring out how to make money on mobile ads.

    Zuckerberg, a signatory of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge, showed his generosity during the holiday season, gifting 18 million Facebook shares to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in December for education initiatives.

    Based on share prices at the time, that gift was worth nearly $500 million and was one of the largest gifts to education in 2012.

    He has also expressed his willingness to become more involved in the political sphere, hosting a re-election fundraiser with his wife Priscilla Chan for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in February. His big early 2013 exploit was the launch of Facebook’s Graph Search, which will allow users to comb their friend network based on shared interests and experiences.

     

    Albert von Thurn und Taxis

    Age: 29

    Net Worth: $1.5 billion

    Country: Germany

     

    Albert von Thurn und Taxis first appeared in Forbes’ billionaire rankings at age eight but officially inherited his fortune in 2001 on his 18th birthday. In June 2008, he received an M.A. in economics and theology from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. His assets include real estate, art and 36,000 hectares of woodland in Germany, one of the largest forest holdings in Europe. His plan to build one of the world’s largest solar energy installations in Bavaria, southern Germany, was put on hold after government subsidies were cancelled.

    He lives in the family castle, Schloss Emmeram. The eligible bachelor is also a race car driver and tours with a German auto-racing league.

     

     

    Scott Duncan

    Age: 30

    Net Worth: $5.1 billion

    Country: United States

    Scott Duncan is the youngest of the four children who inherited the massive fortune of late energy-pipeline entrepreneur Dan Duncan, founder of Enterprise Products Partners. Thanks to Enterprise’s impressive rise on the New York Stock Exchange, Scott and his siblings each find themselves $900 million dollars richer than a year ago thanks to the rising value of Enterprise shares and the partnership’s large payout plan. Dan Duncan, formerly the richest man in Houston, died in 2010 at age 77. He grew up poor and formed Enterprise Products with two trucks in 1968, selling door to door. Today Enterprise owns more than 50,000 miles of natural gas, oil, and petrochemical pipelines.

     

    Eduardo Saverin

    Age: 30

    Net Worth: $2.2 billion

    Country: Brazil

     

    Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin renounced his United States citizenship in 2011, news of which broke days before the company’s IPO and drew accusations of tax evasion.

    His response: “My decision to expatriate was based solely on my interest in working and living in Singapore, where I have been since 2009.”

    Saverin, immortalized in The Social Network as Mark Zuckerberg’s onetime best friend, provided Facebook with early seed money, earning him a one-third stake. This fell to 30 per cent when Zuckerberg’s roommate, Dustin Moskovitz, joined. When the others dropped out of Harvard to relocate to California, Saverin stayed behind.

    Facebook later sued him for allegedly interfering with business and insisting on keeping a 30 per cent stake; Saverin countersued. The parties settled, with Saverin apparently receiving a five per cent stake and a co-founder bio on Facebook’s site. He has since sold more than half his stake in Facebook and has started to invest in startups including Qwiki and Jumio, which created the online payment Netswipe.

     

     

    Huiyan Yang

    Age: 31

    Net Worth: $5.7 billion

    Country: China

     

    Huiyan Yang, the daughter of the co-founder of real estate developer Country Garden Holdings, is once again China’s richest woman with shares of her company up by 46 per cent since September. Yang Huiyan’s father Yeung Kwok Keung transferred his stake to her before the company’s IPO in 2007. Revenue in the first nine months of 2012 was up by 22 per cent to $3.7 billion. Profit rose by 34 per cent to $617 million. The company in January sold $750 million of 10-year bonds to help fund its vibrant portfolio of some 110 projects underway as of mid-2012, many in its home base of Guangdong province. Country Garden is also adding 17 hotels to the 29 it already owns or operates, mostly under the Phoenix brand, and is buying up land in Malaysia. The previous holder of the title of China’s richest woman, Wu Yajun, had her fortune splintered in a divorce last year. Yang has a degree from Ohio State University.

     

     

    Fahd Hariri

    Age: 32

    Net Worth: $1.35 billion

    Country: Lebanon

     

    Fahd Hariri is the youngest son of slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. He graduated from the Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture de Paris in 2004. While still a student, he ran an interior design studio on the outskirts of the city and sold furniture to clients in Saudi Arabia. While he reportedly hasn’t set foot in Beirut since his father’s assassination in 2005, he develops residential buildings in there, and credits his father for his love of real estate development.

     

     

    Marie Besnier Beauvalot

    Age: 32

    Net Worth: $1.5 billion

    Country: France

     

    Marie, 32, along with siblings Emmanuel, 42, and Jean-Michel, 45, inherited French dairy giant Lactalis, producers of popular Président brie among hundreds of other cheese, milk and yogurt brands. Between them, they own 100 per cent of the company their grandfather founded in the 1930s. Lactalis’ once fairly opaque financials were brought to light when the Besnier family, through another holding company, acquired a majority stake in publicly traded Italian milk manufacturer Parmalat in 2011, rescuing it from bankruptcy after the infamous 2003 collapse that landed its founder in jail.

     

    Sean Parker

    Age: 33

    Net Worth: $2 billion

    Country: United States

     

    Sean Parker is turning his big vision and huge Rolodex to fighting cancer–in December he joined “Stand Up To Cancer” to help build an immunology dream team. Parker, 33, is also revamping his much hyped start-up, Airtime, with the hopes that the video chat site will have the impact of his other Web companies–Napster and Facebook. Facebook’s stock comeback helped add $700 million to his fortune since last August. At 19, Parker skipped college to disrupt the recording industry with music swapping site Napster and later advanced viral marketing with his Web address book Plaxo.

    He served as Facebook’s first president at age 24, helping streamline the product and organizing the company to ensure his pal Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and CEO, maintained control. He’s fixing the same music industry he helped dismantle a decade ago as director and cheerleader for hot–and legal–music platform Spotify.

     

    Ayman Hariri

    Age: 34

    Net Worth: $1.35 billion

    Country: Lebanon

     

    Ayman Hariri is the son of slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. He’s involved in running Saudi Oger, one of Saudi Arabia’s biggest construction companies and the source of the Hariri family fortune. Oger was part of a venture that won a $653 million contract in January 2013 to build a local branch of the Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi, due to open in 2015. His other interests include telecommunications; Oger has a major stake in Turk Telekom. It also owns shares in Middle Eastern banks, such as Jordan’s Arab Bank, which hasn’t fared so well. Saudi Oger had to take out a $1 billion loan in February 2013 to refinance debt related to its investment in Arab Bank.

     

    Culled from Forbes.com

     

  • Indecent dressing: A fashionable trend or cultural somersault?

    Indecent dressing: A fashionable trend or cultural somersault?

    I keep wondering why indecent dressing has become a common habit among youths of today.

    However, many have expressed divergent views on this development, which obviously is alien to our culture.

    Here are some of the views:

    Christiana Johnson, a student of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, said, “We would lose noting by ‘toeing’ this new dress code. Rather, we become sync with what is obtainable in the global village with this.”

    To an Islamic cleric, Ustaz Adul –Azeez Kilani, religious leaders must come together to preach against indecent dressing in the country.

    His words, “Whether we realize it or not, our daily decisions as to what we wear are shaped at least to a larger extent by fashion ultimately, the force of fashion largely determines what is available to buy. Even items of clothing that we take for granted were once the latest style. The man’s dress shirt and necktie, for instance, became the fashion rage over a century ago. And the women’s sweater became an established style back in the 1930s.

    For Sanni Yusufu Omobamidele , a fashion designer,” fashion is a good thing because it makes an individual unique and classy. But it has been abused by the way youth especially the student s of today chose to dress on campus or to public outings.”

    Another student, Jolaosho Aminat, said stricter laws should be put in place to deter youths from indecent dressing.