The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Anger

  • Taming your anger, frustration and aggression (4)

    Taming your anger, frustration and aggression (4)

    What is the end product of anger?  Happiness comes upon us when our legitimate and valued desire becomes reality. Unhappiness results when our legitimate or illegitimate but valued desires are frustrated.  Therefore, when our desire is defeated, regardless of how many times we may try, it results in frustration. Despite concerted efforts to overcome the frustration, if the valued desire fails, it results in unhappiness.  It should, therefore, be noted that the end result of anger is unhappiness, whatever the cause of it.

    Anger becomes a problem and pathological either on a single occasion or in multiple times when anger is accompanied by hostility and or any form of destruction or aggression (violence, war, beatings, destruction of property etc). In short, anger becomes pathological if the verbal and physical expression of the angry person now causes psychological or physical harm. Ironically, this harm may be self-harm or harm to other individuals. It may also be physical harm to properties that belong to other persons. This is called uncontrollable anger. This should not be confused with defensive and legitimate anger which may also be in some ways similar to, but different from, pathological anger.  The latter type may be in response to a seriously threatening situation. If such a threat is not removed, it may cause greater damage. This is the main basis that most people will give good reason for their anger.

    They will say they are under threat and so they act in self defence. It is the same reason that nations justify their angry war reactions.

    In case of our personal relationship situations, it is the same reason that spouses and partners give for their reactions in domestic affairs: self-defence, which in most cases, is not even recognised in law.

    The bad news for the spouses is that such reactions often appear tenuous to the police and the law courts.

    Scientists have said that uncontrollable anger can be due to genetics and a person’s environment and so forth. These are not the issues here. The issues are that there is a connection between anger and your relationship to others.

    You cannot get angry except when human beings or inanimate object defeat your intention. It is that simple.

    The problem is that most people do not know how to constructively overcome their mental, human and non-living obstacles, and that is what causes frustration and anger.

    The chains of how anger develops are:  “A feeling of displeasure”. This means,  not being pleased. The question then arises as: “Displeasure with (or about) what?” The answer is displeased with frustrated intention and desires.  The result of this displeasure is a “belligerence” which means first unhappiness then hate follows, leading to violence and hostility, and many other features, and finally, if unresolved, the unhappiness continues.

    These outward behaviours of belligerence are in fact due to a “wrong” which is the intention that was defeated. What is a wrong then?

    A wrong arises when a given intention established by, say, Mrs B, the person causing the “wrong”, negatively influences or frustrates the desire and intention of another person, Mr B. The next thing is that Mr B will react in an angry manner to Mrs B. The event could then take a different life of its own from that point onward. Police could be involved. The couple, or one of them, may end up in hospital. This is exactly what happens in some spousal relationships.

     

    Another example:

    If Mr. X behaves such that his behaviour does not allow the intention of another person called Mr. B to be established, then Mr. B will be frustrated because of this. Then Mr B will get angry at Mr. X. Let us take a practical example: You are driving on a road, in a hurry to catch an important meeting.

    Then suddenly, another car, driven by Ms S, crosses your path so that you cannot move or be on time for your meeting. Your desire and intention has been curtailed and frustrated.

    You get out of the car and react in some way to and against Ms S. But you know that, usually, such behaviour is not accepted in normal human relationships or in society, or even under God’s laws.

    Now what has happened is that you are angry at Ms S for the frustration of your desire and intention.

    This is the “wrong” that you are reacting to. Your reaction is called “belligerence” against a given wrong.

    And your reaction is called anger. It’s pathological if you cause harm.

    Another example: assuming that you asked your 13 year old daughter not to go out at night and told her that she should do her homework.

    She refused to listen. Either you reacted or did not, and it caused some resentment in you and you are angry. Equally, because your daughter’s intention is also frustrated, she is angry against you too.

    Similarly, if you intended, regardless of your age, that you

    (a) should not fall ill but you did, or (b) that your family or parents should not divorce, or (c) that none of your parents should die and they did, you will become unhappy and angry with any of these situations.

  • Taming your anger, frustration and aggression (4)

    What is the end product of anger?  Happiness comes upon us when our legitimate and valued desire becomes reality. Unhappiness results when our legitimate or illegitimate but valued desires are frustrated.  Therefore, when our desire is defeated, regardless of how many times we may try, it results in frustration. Despite concerted efforts to overcome the frustration, if the valued desire fails, it results in unhappiness.  It should, therefore, be noted that the end result of anger is unhappiness, whatever the cause of it.

    Anger becomes a problem and pathological either on a single occasion or in multiple times when anger is accompanied by hostility and or any form of destruction or aggression (violence, war, beatings, destruction of property etc). In short, anger becomes pathological if the verbal and physical expression of the angry person now causes psychological or physical harm. Ironically, this harm may be self-harm or harm to other individuals. It may also be physical harm to properties that belong to other persons. This is called uncontrollable anger. This should not be confused with defensive and legitimate anger which may also be in some ways similar to, but different from, pathological anger.  The latter type may be in response to a seriously threatening situation. If such a threat is not removed, it may cause greater damage. This is the main basis that most people will give good reason for their anger.

    They will say they are under threat and so they act in self defence. It is the same reason that nations justify their angry war reactions.

    In case of our personal relationship situations, it is the same reason that spouses and partners give for their reactions in domestic affairs: self-defence, which in most cases, is not even recognised in law.

    The bad news for the spouses is that such reactions often appear tenuous to the police and the law courts.

    Scientists have said that uncontrollable anger can be due to genetics and a person’s environment and so forth. These are not the issues here. The issues are that there is a connection between anger and your relationship to others.

    You cannot get angry except when human beings or inanimate object defeat your intention. It is that simple.

    The problem is that most people do not know how to constructively overcome their mental, human and non-living obstacles, and that is what causes frustration and anger.

    The chains of how anger develops are:  “A feeling of displeasure”. This means,  not being pleased. The question then arises as: “Displeasure with (or about) what?” The answer is displeased with frustrated intention and desires.  The result of this displeasure is a “belligerence” which means first unhappiness then hate follows, leading to violence and hostility, and many other features, and finally, if unresolved, the unhappiness continues.

    These outward behaviours of belligerence are in fact due to a “wrong” which is the intention that was defeated. What is a wrong then?

    A wrong arises when a given intention established by, say, Mrs B, the person causing the “wrong”, negatively influences or frustrates the desire and intention of another person, Mr B. The next thing is that Mr B will react in an angry manner to Mrs B. The event could then take a different life of its own from that point onward. Police could be involved. The couple, or one of them, may end up in hospital. This is exactly what happens in some spousal relationships.

     

    Another example:

    If Mr. X behaves such that his behaviour does not allow the intention of another person called Mr. B to be established, then Mr. B will be frustrated because of this. Then Mr B will get angry at Mr. X. Let us take a practical example: You are driving on a road, in a hurry to catch an important meeting.

    Then suddenly, another car, driven by Ms S, crosses your path so that you cannot move or be on time for your meeting. Your desire and intention has been curtailed and frustrated.

    You get out of the car and react in some way to and against Ms S. But you know that, usually, such behaviour is not accepted in normal human relationships or in society, or even under God’s laws.

    Now what has happened is that you are angry at Ms S for the frustration of your desire and intention.

    This is the “wrong” that you are reacting to. Your reaction is called “belligerence” against a given wrong.

    And your reaction is called anger. It’s pathological if you cause harm.

    Another example: assuming that you asked your 13 year old daughter not to go out at night and told her that she should do her homework.

    She refused to listen. Either you reacted or did not, and it caused some resentment in you and you are angry. Equally, because your daughter’s intention is also frustrated, she is angry against you too.

    Similarly, if you intended, regardless of your age, that you

    (a) should not fall ill but you did, or (b) that your family or parents should not divorce, or (c) that none of your parents should die and they did, you will become unhappy and angry with any of these situations.

  • To avert youth anger

    •We need a radical redistribution of resources 

    It is perhaps the policy-makers’ worst nightmare:  What to do about the hundreds of thousands of young men and women graduating year after year from our universities, polytechnics and other institutions of further learning into a sluggish job market in a time of recession.

    As with other aspects of our national life, the actual numbers are hard to pin down, but if the 50 percent unemployment rate most frequently cited for university graduates is overstated, it cannot be by much. And the numbers are rising.

    It has long been an article of faith that higher education is the passport to the good life.

    In keeping with this belief, families consider no sacrifice too great to ensure that their children get a level of education that would best equip them to secure a foothold and thrive in the public service and the professions and in the larger economy.

    The belief endures, and so does the will to back it, but both are everyday challenged by the lived experience of most of our young men and women.

    Every Nigerian family today numbers in its ranks or knows or has heard of a university graduate or product of an institution of further learning who has never held down a job since graduating several years ago, or has had to settle for eking out a meagre existence from some form of work unrelated to his or her qualification and potential.

    The opportunities that graduates of an earlier era took for granted are no more there. Looking for meaningful work has become so unavailing that many graduates have given up altogether or headed to graduate school as a temporary refuge. The rising expectation yesteryears have been supplanted by deepening frustrations.

    That is a recipe for alienation and all that goes with it.

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo called attention to this danger last week while speaking at a Youth Governance Dialogue, at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

    “If we have youth anger or explosion because of lack of opportunity, it will consume us all,” he warned. The longer the “lack of opportunity” persists, the greater the prospect for such an explosion.

    We wish Obasanjo had come to this epiphany while he was president. For eight years, he presided over an economy that was in reasonably good shape, with a huge foreign reserve, and revenues so assured that his administration paid off in one fell swoop a foreign debt of $12.4 billion many years ahead of its maturity, with dubious benefit to the economy.s

    True, Obasanjo launched programmes to create jobs, alleviate poverty and provide start-off capital for young persons going into business. But their impact has been slight. It is even doubtful whether he really understood the nature of the problem.

    Graduate unemployment, already quite high during his first term, arose because, according to him, students chose to study sociology or mass communication when they should have focused on courses with greater practical application and utilitarian value. But at that time, there were hundreds of unemployed engineering graduates and teachers, to cite just two instances.

    In whatever case, Obasanjo did not live by his precept. When his own time came, he chose to study Theology, at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

    For the most part, his successors have sought to apply the same failed palliatives, — on a larger canvass in the case of President Muhammadu Buhari. This approach falls short of the bold, imaginative action required at the centre and in the states, to tackle what is nothing less than a national emergency.

    An attenuated job market is not the only potential source of youth anger, however. For even where the youth are employed in large numbers, their salaries and allowances go unpaid for as long as eight months. Federal allocations earmarked for salaries are spent for other purposes and oftentimes diverted into the pockets of political officials who live in scandalous opulence, untroubled by the general misery around them.

    As they pine for opportunity, the youth see these political officials appropriate unto themselves increasingly larger slices of the national patrimony with impunity. It is almost as if they have come to plunder, not to serve.

    What all this indicates is a radical distribution of resources that will pay greater attention to the needs of the youth. It calls in particular for massive investment in job-training and retraining and work-study programmes to keep pace with technological change.

    It calls for urgent reform of the school curriculum to provide for technical and vocational training   in masonry, carpentry, electrical installation, plumbing, air-conditioning and refrigeration, motor vehicle repairs and maintenance, and other skill sets in which demand far outstrips supply.

    Above all, it calls for an enabling environment. Epileptic power supply, fitful water supply and unreliable transportation system make it exceedingly hard to engage in any serious form of entrepreneurship.

    Immediate results are not guaranteed. But unless the nation embarks urgently and earnestly on the programmes outlined above, it will be inching inexorably toward Obasanjo’s grim prognosis.

  • Anger, praise over vigilance service

    Anger, praise over vigilance service

    Angry residents of Adiyan community applauded, when two members of the vigilante service, Ismaila Jimoh and Hassan Olatunde, were arrested by the police about a month ago, in connection with the alleged murder of a 28-year-old businessman, Tayo Olatunbosun.

    According to the residents, the two vigilantes had apprehended Olatunbosun for allegedly stealing a hair dryer. They took him to Agbado Police Station after allegedly beating him with charms. Although he was later released on bail at the police station, Olatunbosun died the following day.

    Trouble however started for the vigilantes when the youths in the community heard of Olatunbosun’s death. Enraged by the circumstances surrounding his demise, they protested and vandalised the Vigilante Service of Ogun State (VSO) office. According to an insider, the youths were pained by the death of the victim, who they said was not a thief as alleged, but a peace loving resident who was merely returning from a party when he was arrested. They therefore called on the state government to curtail what they described as the excesses of the vigilante group.

    The Nation investigation shows that notwithstanding occasional cases of misuse of power, vigilante services have come to be appreciated in most states where they have been either given official recognition or are in the process of being incorporated as part of official security network.

    In Anambra State, for example, we gathered that their activities are recognised as they now work hand in hand with the police. The Anambra Vigilante Services (AVS) is in all the 177 communities in the state with operational vehicles donated to them by the state government. They have cordial relationship with the state police command and report to the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) in their zones.

    The official recognition notwithstanding, the residents in the state have also complained of their bullying method of operation. Some residents alleged that AVS operatives have not only become tools in settlement of quarrels between families, but go to the extent of detaining people in their different cells in the state.

    Birds of a feather

    Like the former governor of the State, Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju, said, “It takes a thief to catch a thief,” some of the vigilante men are also seen as people with questionable character in some of the communities where they operate.

    The AVS is under a committee headed by a retired Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba. According to the law establishing AVS, the committee is assigned to guide the operation of the committees.

    The services have three coordinators in Anambra North, Anambra South and Anambra Central senatorial zones, with the Special Adviser on Security to the state governor, Chief Chikodi Anarah, as the overall overseer.

    Speaking with The Nation in Awka, the former Deputy Governor, Chief Emeka Sibeudu, who is the Anambra South Coordinator, believes that AVS had done well in the state. But he said in every set up like this, there are bound to be challenges, which, according to him, has to do with funding.

    Another handicap of the vigilantes in the state, according to Sibeudu, is arresting suspects and handing them over to the police because, in the long run, the persons might be released to come back and they would start terrorising the people because of the faulty prosecution system.

    One other limitation, he said, is the fact that they were not allowed to operate outside their jurisdiction, adding that the measures put in place by the state government had worked wonders in the state through vigilantes.

    Sibeudu added that the group meets at least twice a month, while the state government pays the operatives stipends for sustenance, with the help of Anambra State Association of Town Unions (ASATU).

    According to him, “Government alone cannot fund vigilance and that is where we need corporate bodies and individual helps.”

    For Anarah, the AVS had been a complementary force to the police command in the state.

    He told The Nation that he rates them highly in Anambra State because, according to him, the groups in the communities had been wonderful. The reason, he said, Anambra is regarded as the safest state in the country.

    Anarah said they do not work in isolation; rather they liaise with the DPOs in the state to ensure law and order.

    The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Princess Nkeiruka Nwode, said the command had not been having any problems with the vigilante group, adding that their relationship had been cordial.

    She, however, debunked claims that they had created their cells where suspects or perceived enemies are being detained, adding that they work closely with the DPOs in the state.

    A woman, who pleaded anonymity, however told The Nation that some members of the vigilante groups in the state behave like animals, adding that they now delve into family quarrels and charge fees.

    She said in her community (name withheld), they do things with impunity, creating an environment of demigods and untouchables.

    In Umueri in Anambra East Local Government Area, our source said some of the vigilantes hide under such name to commit all manner of atrocities in the state.

    Pleading not to be named for fear of persecution, he alleged that most of the vigilante men in Anambra had been in one crime or the other, while most of them take all sorts of hard drugs with reckless abandon.

    In Abia State, the story is also that of praise and anger. It would be recalled that it was the repeated case of violent activities of hoodlums in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, which many said could not be curtailed by the regular police that gave rise to the formation of the dreaded “Bakassi Boys” and later Abia State Vigilante Services (AVS) in the state.

    Our investigation shows that the “Bakassi Boys” was made up mainly of traders and shoe makers of Ariaria International Market who rose to the occasion to curb the activities of the hoodlums who at the time operated boldly both day and night.

    The rise of the hoodlums

    By mid-1998, the matter had deteriorated so much that various mafia-like groups and armed robbery groups sprang up, freely robbing both residents and visitors of cash and other valuables. Members of such groups would walk unchallenged into examination halls with guns, demanding cash, jewelleries and other valuables from supervisors and students.

    Armed robbers would write to a particular street or building to keep a given amount of cash on a date they were to visit and equally warn that they would regret any act of disobedience. The markets were not spared.

    The commercial city was under such a siege then as businesses started going down with several amounts of money going into the hands of hoodlums. All these gave rise to the formation of the vigilante group called “Bakassi Boys.” Recalling what happened at the early days of the group; eyewitnesses told The Nation that the group rose to the occasion as its members bravely fought crime and its perpetrators headlong in Aba and other parts of Abia State, though through extra-judicial means.

    A respondent said the successes recorded by this group in crime fighting at that time endeared them to the hearts of many Aba and Abia residents and visitors alike that they were respected more than the conventional security apparatus in the state.

    But at the peak of its successes, some members of the group became demi-gods, issuing out instant jungle justice that many say were both brutish, bloody and sometimes unjust. So, by 2010, the powers of the group had whittled down, allegedly by the state, leading to another era of extreme insecurity where hoodlums, like the dreaded Osisikankwu group, operated. It would be recalled that the group, whose name still evokes a feeling of insecurity and fear amongst residents of Aba and environs, abducted, among others, some journalists coming back from Uyo and over 15 school children in their school bus.

    The public outrage that trailed such brazen criminal activities gave rise to the establishment of 144 Battalion Command off Aba-Port Harcourt Expressway, in Ukwa West Local Government Area and the 14 Brigade, Ohafia, respectively.

    The campaign by the then Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun (retd), around 2002 gave rise to various vigilante groups across the country with Abia State having a fair share of its own.

    Today, unconfirmed report said Abia State has about five different vigilante groups, including the state-recognised AVS.

    Augustine Okezie, the Commander of Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), Osisioma Local Government Area of the state, told The Nation that their role is to complement the activities of the police, army and other sister agencies in nipping crime in the bud since 2012 when they became operational in the state.

    According to Okezie, their work has been challenging, owing to the fact that they were not being paid and lack of mobility or operational vehicle unlike their counterparts in the northern part of the country.

    He said their work is mainly based on getting and analysing information which they would subsequently transmit to either the army or police, depending on the nature of the offence.

    For the love of humanity

    He lamented the risk which they faced in their various communities as they weren’t armed to protect themselves.

    The Osisioma VGN leader, who said they have been attending various seminars and trainings with their own money, however, appealed to the National Assembly and the executive arm of government to hasten the process of formalising their establishment to enable them work and promote safety of lives and properties in the rural areas.

    In Borno State, vigilantes popularly called the Civilian Joint Task Force have played a great role in combating crime in different communities, especially in areas targeted by the Boko Haram insurgents. A youth vigilante group in Lahou village actually killed 17 persons alleged to be members of the terrorist group. At that point, Agagu Bitrus, the leader of the group disclosed that the suspected members of the sect attacked the village but they were overpowered. Eight other insurgents were killed by members of a local vigilante in Kwarangilam village, situated about 15 kilometres to Chibok when they attacked the village. Spokesman of the vigilantes in Borno State, Muhammed Gava, said one of the ambushing insurgents was also arrested by the vigilantes and handed over to security operatives. “The attackers retreated when they realised that it will not be an easy ride for them,” he said.

    For the vigilantes in this area, there are also a number of bad days. One of such was when some soldiers killed five vigilante youths in Maiduguri while they tried to check a lorry carrying arms to the barracks.

    In Ondo State, the Commandant, Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), Pastor Gideon Akinwumi, a United States trained security expert, ‘highlighted the various activities and challenges of the organisation in the state.

    According to him, men of the Vigilante group, numbering 2,000 across the 18 local government areas of the state, are assisting other security agencies, especially the Police, Army and Civil Defence Corps in providing security in the state.

    The State Commandant said his men are mostly visible during monthly environmental sanitation for the enforcement of environmental laws, in the state Ministry of Transport to assist in traffic control and in the Ministry of Education to instil discipline on the pupils by apprehending those who are always roaming the streets without going to their respective schools for learning.

    He also hinted that vigilante officers are always on patrol with men of the Nigerian Police/Army to check criminal tendencies, particularly robberies.

    Akinwumi adds that membership of the organisation is for those above 18 years with no criminal records. “In the past, we arrested student cultists, robbers, especially those stealing motorcycles (Okada) in Igbara-Oke, Ore and many other towns and villages.”

    He noted that while the conventional policemen are at their best in the day time, the vigilante men served both day and night without any incentive and motivation but for their love in serving humanity.

    The VGN State Commandant, who listed various challenges militating against the organisation in the state said, “We are sacrificing ourselves for this job, we contribute individually to run our office, we have no salaries, we pay for BEDC bill, office accommodation and other facilities.”

    The security expert lamented that the VGN is self-sponsored, stressing that the only assistance from the state government was the 18 sitter-bus donated by former Governor Olusegun Mimiko in 2011 which has been grounded. His words: “We want to dialogue with the governor and inform him about our findings and the strategies we want to apply before they put the state in disarray.”

    Akinwumi added that his men had been trained on effective vigilance, adding that all unruly acts in schools and other public places would be curtailed if government approves the deployment of vigilante officers to the areas to maintain decorum.

    How to curb their excesses

    The big question, however, is how can we curb the excesses of the vigilance groups across the country. Yemi Adebiyi Toluwani, a lawyer, believes that their activities must be regulated by the constitution if they must operate as a national body. “Some of them are members of OPC and they form the bulk of security for estates to give protection. Even in the eastern parts of the country or South-South, you find such people helping to protect their communities. Gone are the days when you just have anybody; there are unified groups doing this.”

    He goes on to explain that “the excesses of vigilance groups can be curtailed if their activities are well regulated. It is because their activities are not properly regulated that you see them going out of their boundary or taking alcohol on duty. The police can moderate what they do. The community leaders who employ them can also help to regulate and moderate their activities.”

    Toluwani states further: “There are procedures but some of them are illiterates or half educated. The good thing is that some estates have rules and regulations that guide their operations. For instance, Dolphin Estate has bye-laws to guide their operations. My advice is that there should be continuous enlightenment and training to improve their conduct and effectiveness.”

    Another lawyer, Yemi Omodele, strongly believes that when it comes to security and vigilante, all hands must be on deck. “I believe that we can only get the best with communal effort. Lagos State, for example, has empowered them with vehicles and other gadgets needed to do their work effectively. If other state governments do the same thing, things would get better and the society would be better for it.”

    Omodele adds: “They do not have powers to prosecute and once they catch a suspect, they should hand the person over to the police. The bulk of the work, however, lies with the citizen. If we hear or get any information about ongoing crime, we should tell the police and they would apprehend the person. It is not easy to curb crime; the criminals are within the society. They mingle with us. It is therefore important for everyone to be vigilant and alert law enforcement agencies.”

    In order to empower vigilante group, Omodele stressed the need for their activities to be backed by legislation. “This is very important; so that they would not go out of their boundary to, for example, carry arms and ammunition. I also believe that the necessary laws should be made to recognise such a body, so that they do not go out of the way. You also have some miscreants who disguise as vigilantes to perform crime; so they also need training from time to time. There should also be an independent body that would recruit them and there must be a minimum level of qualification. Their emolument should also be taken care of in the laws and that would also make them effective.”

    Controversy over its relevance

    Since vigilante groups first became registered in the country as para-military organisations to protect lives and properties of the citizenry, and since they became popular in some states where they reportedly made great impacts, there has been controversy over the relevance of such organisation, which some dismiss as unnecessary duplication of regular security agencies.  There has also been the debate over having a national body that would monitor and regulate the activities of vigilante groups all over the country. Already, promoters of the formalisation of vigilante groups in Nigeria have taken the matter to the National Assembly.

    Last year, a bill for an act to establish the Vigilante Group of Nigeria scaled the second reading in the House of Representatives. The bill is seeking that the group will, among others, be charged with the responsibility of providing community services, including security. Sponsored by Abass Tajudeen from Kogi State, it seeks to make the Vigilante Group a creation of law and to provide varying services for communities in the country.

    Members are however divided on the bill as some feel it will be a further duplication of the jobs of the police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other security agencies. To buttress their argument, those who are against it opined that rather than create such a group, government should beef up the existing security outfit for optimal performance.

    On their part, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, the Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr. Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu and other stakeholders however expressed support for the recognition of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) as a security arm of the federal government.

    The VGN, they said, has strong presence at the grassroots levels and would complement the efforts of security agencies in securing lives and property.

    However, to 46- year old, Nnamdi Gabriel, the disadvantages of the group outweighs the benefits. According to him, “Most times it is difficult to track them when something goes wrong. Last year, I travelled to see my mother in the village and our bus had problems. That night, I got to my neighbourhood after midnight and I was really scared. Then I saw two men and they interrogated me about where, I was coming from and at that point, I thought I was in safe hands.”

    Unfortunately for Gabriel, they pounced on him and took everything that he had away. “They also gave me the beating of a lifetime. The following day, my family went around to make enquiries and we later discovered that they were fake vigilante men.”

    Even though Jumoke Ibiwunni, a Lagos based business woman has not had any personal experience with vigilante, she is disturbed by the stories from friends and family members. “Maybe, it is because I hardly stay out late in the night but I have heard about so many cases of people who have been beaten and harassed by vigilante men who are drunk or OPC members who have this over bearing attitude.”

    On his part,  Lanre Olaseni, a banker believes that the role vigilante groups play is very important. “They are very useful and I strongly believe that without them in the different communities where they operate, crime would be so much and many would have had to pay with their lives and properties.”

    He adds that: “I have been living in my neighbourhood for about six years and the area has been very safe. I remember that about two years ago, when some of the residents refused to pay the token we were giving to them, they left and life became unbearable because of crime. Some people came together and tried to step into their shoes but they realised it was a tough job. At the end of the day, we had to recall the vigilante team and things got better after that.”

    Like Olaseni, Cynthia Akpan opines that vigilantes have helped to bring sanity to some neighbourhoods. “I have lived in different parts of the country and I must say that vigilantes are very useful, they have helped to curb crime and they can do better with better tools, motivation and training.”

    So, what happens to the group?

  • Taming your anger, frustration and aggression (4)

    In marriage, you are expecting (“expect” means a manifestation that follows desire and intention) to have a happy marriage and that your spouse should behave in a certain way. If this expectation is defeated by any of the means stated above (see last week), you will become deeply unhappy and angry. One can also be angry against the government for “failing to meet certain expectations”. In a similar manner, many people are “angry” against God for apparently “failing” to do certain things for them. Some are even angry that God did not provide their ideal spouse for them. The thing to remember is God is not the decision maker here. You are. You saw your spouse and/or partner and decided that he or she is the person you want to be with. You are in charge here.

    Who can be angry or frustrated? Anger can occur in anyone (note also that dogs, sheep, hippos etc, could all display anger when frustrated!) who is capable of forming a desire or intention. This includes children and teens who sometimes desire their own way in order to change society. They can become angry if they don’t achieve this. This is the reason for the rebellion in them when they are frustrated. Other people who can be angry are married couples, in-laws or anyone in any form of relationship-formal, informal, private, public, sexual, non-sexual, business etc. The root and dynamics of frustration is the same. The bottom line: disappointment leads to anger. Anger leads to destruction and aggression.

    Nevertheless, the angriest person is a person who is so unwise that he or she knows very little about what he or she ought to do, legally or morally, to bring about happiness without causing offence (harm), verbal or physical. Such a person will be very frustrated indeed, as well as very angry. Anger, you remember, is a sign of discontent.

     

    Manifestations of Anger and Frustration

    With these explanations, one can come to a profound conclusion that anger is the clearest manifestation of a frustrated intention. As I have said in the book, The Road and the Key to Happiness, a frustrated or defeated intention leads to unhappiness. Also, an intention, good or bad, that goes unhindered, gives happiness. And like depression, anxiety, bullying, threats, vengeance, selfishness, blaming, unpredictable behaviour and evasive action, they are all signs of unhappiness. Anger is one of the octopus-like manifestations of sadness.

     

    How do you prevent anger?

    The most important prevention tool is wisdom. You must have strategic foresight to forestall any attempt to disappoint your intentions. It is that simple.

     

    What fuels and influences anger?

    Decision making processes are and should remain under our conscious control. The decision making process is central to happiness. Anger is also subject to decision making processes. However, except for when this process is removed from the individual, such as when one is under the rule of certain laws, as in military orders for example, or during, say, anaesthesia, the decision process is subject to our control.

    Thus, drugs, illicit substances, alcohol and outside emotions such as humiliation by anyone either in public or private, may fuel anger. Ironically, if anger cannot be controlled voluntarily, medication may be called for to subdue the hostility, but not the failed intentions. The main issue here is that drugs (cannabis, cocaine, alcohol etc) can fuel anger, even to criminal levels. Once again, I am conscious of the fact that all divorces or family conflicts cannot be blamed on drugs or alcohol misuse. There are also people who may simply have other reasons for being angry. However, the influence of substances on human behaviour and criminality has been proven beyond reasonable doubt.

     

    Anger management

    Whilst it is important to prevent an event before it causes harm, what happens if the event has taken root? The short and long answers to this question are that anger must, in one way or another, be subdued or resolved/expressed. There is no running away from it, anger, to make it go away; it must be resolved.  One way is to deal with the root of the problem. Other means include, counselling (see later) which operates through the power of expressed words, as explained in my other book: The Secret and Supremacy of the Expressed Word. Another means of dealing with anger is forgiveness; if this method has not already taken place then it should be advocated. I cannot see any other means by which irretrievable wrong can be resolved other than by means of forgiveness. Amongst many, other means include honest tolerance, listening, poetry, music and writing—all are forms of expressions of intentions. In general, all forms of anger must be expressed, one way or the other, in keeping with the principles in the book, The Secret and Supremacy of the Expressed Word.

    The outcome of anger: Except when you deal with or express the anger or obtain the result of the original desire that was frustrated, anger, if it was either subdued or not, will lead to offence. The first offence that anger will lead to is hate.  Secondly, hate will lead to offences against humans or man-made law. Hate or malice can lead to threats, conspiracy, and destruction of properties, self-harm, suicide, and homicide. At least, hate can cause the pulling out and use of the most severe weapon of all: bad words. Try it, make your spouse annoyed, and then experience the power in words as a result! I hope those in relationships are paying attention. Does this sound familiar? You are not alone after all. In most cases, anyone who actually commits any of these offences listed in the preceding paragraph, is likely to either end up in the hands of the police, get harmed (self harm or being harmed via others), killed or disgraced and be disregarded. If there are children in the vicinity, children may learn and be induced into a vicious cycle which may become established later in life.

    If any of these do not occur, hate and anger can lead to a diagnosis of poor mental health, even though the person may not be dangerously unwell, as in what we call personality disorders. However, this will depend on the culture, the law and the society in which such angry individuals reside. The outcome may include admission to a mental health hospital directly or through the prison system. The label following the diagnosis of mental health disorders is clear for everyone, with eyes, to see.

  • Obasanjo warns of looming youth anger

    Obasanjo warns of looming youth anger

    •Ex-president: don’t wish us dead because you still need us

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is worried about the anger and frustration of youths.

    He said if the youth’s anger is not well-managed, it could lead to an “explosion”.

    Obasanjo spoke yesterday at the Youth Governance Dialogue organised by the Youth Development Centre, an arm of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    He lamented that youths were not getting the required help.

    The former president noted that while his generation had “limitless opportunities but no facilities” in their time, the youth of today “have facilities but little or no opportunities”.

    He cited the insurgency in the Northeast, the separatist agitators in the Southeast and militancy in the Niger Delta region as manifestations of anger and frustrations from disillusioned youths.Obasanjo warned that should anger of youths erupt, there might be no limit to the extent it could spread.

    He appealed to the youth to work hard to help themselves and be ready to pay the price for the right cause they believe.

    But he said despite all odds, the youth still remained his greatest hope for Nigeria.

    Obasanjo noted that when he left secondary school, he received letters of appointments from five establishments and wondered whether any Nigerian university graduate could have such opportunities today.

    He pleaded with the nation’s youth  not to wish  the  elders dead, saying they need the elders as mentors and advisers in their journey of life.

    “Don’t wish us dead; don’t wish us to disappear because you will need us. You need us as mentors and advisers to mentor and prepare you for the future. You need the experience and assistance of some of us to guide you through life.

    “You should not lose hope, you should not feel frustrated. Whenever I go, they always ask me what is my fear about Nigeria and Africa. And I said my greatest fear is youth anger, frustrations and youth explosion, which have no bound.

    “We have the Boko Haram in the North, the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the Southeast, the militants in the Niger Delta and the Oodua Peoples Congress in the Southwest. All of these are expression of anger and frustrations.

    “We have what it takes to be great as a nation and we can’t transform this country without the youth. My greatest hope in this country is also the youth. You the youth should work to help yourselves. You must be ready to pay the price for what you stand for,” Obasanjo said.

    The lead speaker and former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka who  spoke on the theme: “Towards a Guiding Political Philosophy for a Democratic Nigeria,” advised that the nation’s leaders should  build a society that harness human and material resources effectively, provide equal opportunities and develop capacity for innovation.

    Chidoka proposed a new charter for the country, saying the charter should contain reasons for the country’s unity, and which guarantees the basic rights, privileges and obligations of citizens.

    “Our national aspirations should inspire the next generation and provide them with the existential meaning of Nigeria; a meaning that transcends geography, natural resources and ethnicity. To grow Nigeria, we must build a society that harness human resources, provides equal opportunities and develop capacity for innovation.

    Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, who spoke on the topic:”Preparing Successor Generation for Effective Participation in Governance”, urged leaders to put structure in place for the youth to advance to position of leadership.

    “We cannot keep calling them the leaders of tomorrow without ensuring that we put in place deliberate measures that will aid their quest for public service.

    “Sometimes candour and youthful excitement can cause as much harm as the most venal form of corruption.

    “We have to find the means to reduce unemployment. There is no doubt that the current diversification policy of President Buhari government will eventually provide broader opportunities for self-employment,” Tambuwal said.

     

  • Taming your anger, frustration and aggression (4)

    What is the end product of anger?  Happiness comes upon us when our legitimate and valued desire becomes reality. Unhappiness results when our legitimate or illegitimate but valued desires are frustrated.  Therefore, when our desire is defeated, regardless of how many times we may try, it results in frustration. Despite concerted efforts to overcome the frustration, if the valued desire fails, it results in unhappiness.  It should, therefore, be noted that the end result of anger is unhappiness, whatever the cause of it.

    Anger becomes a problem and pathological either on a single occasion or in multiple times when anger is accompanied by hostility and or any form of destruction or aggression (violence, war, beatings, destruction of property etc). In short, anger becomes pathological if the verbal and physical expression of the angry person now causes psychological or physical harm. Ironically, this harm may be self-harm or harm to other individuals. It may also be physical harm to properties that belong to other persons. This is called uncontrollable anger. This should not be confused with defensive and legitimate anger which may also be in some ways similar to, but different from, pathological anger.  The latter type may be in response to a seriously threatening situation. If such a threat is not removed, it may cause greater damage. This is the main basis that most people will give good reason for their anger.

    They will say they are under threat and so they act in self defence. It is the same reason that nations justify their angry war reactions. In case of our personal relationship situations, it is the same reason that spouses and partners give for their reactions in domestic affairs: self-defence, which in most cases, is not even recognised in law.

    The bad news for the spouses is that such reactions often appear tenuous to the police and the law courts.

    Scientists have said that uncontrollable anger can be due to genetics and a person’s environment and so forth. These are not the issues here. The issues are that there is a connection between anger and your relationship to others.

    You cannot get angry except when human beings or inanimate object defeat your intention. It is that simple.

    The problem is that most people do not know how to constructively overcome their mental, human and non-living obstacles, and that is what causes frustration and anger.

    The chains of how anger develops are:  “A feeling of displeasure”. This means,  not being pleased. The question then arises as: “Displeasure with (or about) what?” The answer is displeased with frustrated intention and desires.  The result of this displeasure is a “belligerence” which means first unhappiness then hate follows, leading to violence and hostility, and many other features, and finally, if unresolved, the unhappiness continues.

    These outward behaviours of belligerence are in fact due to a “wrong” which is the intention that was defeated. What is a wrong then?

    A wrong arises when a given intention established by, say, Mrs B, the person causing the “wrong”, negatively influences or frustrates the desire and intention of another person, Mr B. The next thing is that Mr B will react in an angry manner to Mrs B. The event could then take a different life of its own from that point onward. Police could be involved. The couple, or one of them, may end up in hospital. This is exactly what happens in some spousal relationships.

     

    Another example:

    If Mr. X behaves such that his behaviour does not allow the intention of another person called Mr. B to be established, then Mr. B will be frustrated because of this. Then Mr B will get angry at Mr. X. Let us take a practical example: You are driving on a road, in a hurry to catch an important meeting.

    Then suddenly, another car, driven by Ms S, crosses your path so that you cannot move or be on time for your meeting. Your desire and intention has been curtailed and frustrated.

    You get out of the car and react in some way to and against Ms S. But you know that, usually, such behaviour is not accepted in normal human relationships or in society, or even under God’s laws.

    Now what has happened is that you are angry at Ms S for the frustration of your desire and intention.

    This is the “wrong” that you are reacting to. Your reaction is called “belligerence” against a given wrong. And your reaction is called anger. It’s pathological if you cause harm.

    Another example: assuming that you asked your 13 year old daughter not to go out at night and told her that she should do her homework.

    She refused to listen. Either you reacted or did not, and it caused some resentment in you and you are angry. Equally, because your daughter’s intention is also frustrated, she is angry against you too.

    Similarly, if you intended, regardless of your age, that you

    (a) should not fall ill but you did, or (b) that your family or parents should not divorce, or (c) that none of your parents should die and they did, you will become unhappy and angry with any of these situations.

  • Six ways to respond to anger

    Six ways to respond to anger

    We live in increasingly stressful times with people flaring up over little and trivial things. At this point, it’s fair to say that the knowledge of how to handle anger or angry responses is essential. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 6 ways to respond to anger.

    Listen

    When a person is angry all they really want is to vent their feelings out to someone, howbeit violently. Unfortunately, this zeal to vent falls on those who are at closest proximity to them. One great thing to do is to simply listen to the person express their anger until they calm down or wear themselves out. Simply hear them out.

    Do Not Analyse

    Avoid analyzing all you have listened to and avoid responding at the moment. Don’t worry yourself about if you agree or disagree with all that’s being said. Anger is a largely irrational emotion, therefore your thoughts and feelings about the situation are best kept to yourself when one is angry, especially if you’re the subject of their anger or you’re personally involved.

    Avoid Apologizing

    You would think apologizing will calm an angry person down but most times it isn’t so. Many times, apologizing aggravates the person’s anger. Most times, a person is angry because they are not able to get their way with you or with a situation. The key to calming an angry person is to either remain quiet (which can be taken for compliance) or gently acknowledging the person’s anger and assuring the person of your compliance.

    Try to Reason with the Person

    Later on, when the person is calmer you can address irrational aspect of their outburst and try to reason with them. They are more likely to listen, if they haven’t already realized their own irrationality. If they don’t reason with you and you’re not ready to actually comply, you can opt out of or distance yourself from the situation or person. You can also be patient and give the person time to prove themselves right or wrong.

    Try To Relate

    It’s okay to question yourself a little. It’s the healthy and humble thing to do. Question your fault in the situation; try to see things from another perspective to confirm the certainty of your views. Be sure you’re on the right track, if you are, then you can either decide to opt out or if you can afford it, give the person time to prove themselves right or wrong. Also, try to relate with the person and understand where the person is coming from. This can help you solve the problem or misunderstanding easily.

    Protect Yourself

    Keep a safe distance from someone who is angry. It’s a well-known fact that people tend to get physical, threatening and abusive when angry. This is mainly because anger is a largely violent and dangerous emotion. You need to trust your instincts and properly assess the situation. If at any point, you feel threatened or in danger, leave the area immediately without hesitation and without saying anything else to the person (run if you have to, you’re not being coward, you’re being smart.)

  • Taming your anger, frustration and aggression (3)

    Take another example: You just came back from work and you intended to have a short sleep–a kind of rest. You lay in your bed at about 6pm on a hot day. The teenage boys in your neighbourhood would not allow you to rest. They were screaming and running whilst playing football.  Unable to sleep, you got up and called their attention to the fact they were disturbing you. They did not heed your request. You failed and they continued. You went back to bed. The noise became louder and louder. At last, the football was kicked violently. It broke through your windows and it landed on your belly in your bedroom with some of the broken window glass. You were enraged. Not only that, your intention had been frustrated miserably. Your sleep and peace were badly shattered. Your expectation to be in relative calm within the walls of your own home was terribly disturbed. You got angry.

    These kind of scenarios call on the individual (or couple, society, state, company or even nation) to take protective action to preserve the person from irrational response. This type of irritation, on a larger scale, calls on a nation, as the case may be, to refrain from violently reacting to the frustrated intention. On the other hand, the person who is angry may take measures to protect himself/herself, or take measures to ensure that his or her desire and intention are realised.  That is a biological reaction towards self-preservation. You simply take action to reduce your dissatisfaction.

    Frustrated intention or defeated desire is of the same kind of feeling to having a sense of rejection. You want something you could not get because “you were not good enough” for some individuals or “authority” that had blocked you. It represents a failure of desire and this is why it is so painful to the person concerned, who is now angry. Often, the individual feels threatened. This is because his/her desire to enjoy life or derive certain benefits from the desire has been despondently defeated or thwarted.

    In the majority of occasions and probably in the majority of people, anger passes without further action/manifestation on the part of the irate person. He may just take the disappointment in his stride, so to speak. An example of this is seen in many homes and in public places.  It is also seen in many marriages and other relationships regardless of their form. Your spouse could annoy you tens of times in a day. Yet, you cannot afford to be angry on all those occasions. You will have to allow a lot of them to pass. If you don’t, you run the risk of mental illness or being labelled as such.  Anger is seen amongst bosses in many businesses and it passes without destructive impact, in most cases. Imagine if your boss at work reacts angrily to all forms of dissatisfaction that his subordinates bring to him! Who on earth would be able to work with such a boss?

    People don’t react to every situation they are displeased about. They simply allow the feeling to pass. This is a type of anger that is called controlled anger. It is a protective and normal biological anger. Such a person (or people) is often not under serious threat and so may not react to remove the threat. Even if they do, they have a credible way out of it.  If they are under serious threat, there would be a strategic way to overcome the frustration. Picture a situation in which you left the bathroom tap in your office on, and water from it filled your office, destroying confidential and security papers in the process. Just consider how irate the boss will be, yet he cannot afford to be seen to be manically angry. That is biological anger.

    Common causes of anger and frustration: Specifically, anger can arise from just about anything, including but not exclusive to financial issues, children matters, career, sexual frustration, failure in investment and property, general life concerns, health-related issues, general sense of inadequacy or persistent failures, persistent domestic opposition from spouses or lack of support from supposed loved ones (parents, spouses etc).  The list goes on and on. A person who is readily coming into conflict with the law may be an angry person too, as his intended desire is frequently blocked by the law. These felons become hardened against the law and work hard against it in a way that is best described as a hard rock meeting an irresistible object. In the end though, in most cases, the law wins.

    A death or disease in the family or the death of a friend may lead to anger in those who are bereaved, by reason of the loss for which they could not do a thing about.  Therefore in general, any intention or expectation about anything that fails may lead to anger. In the public domain, anger may come due to perceived political problems. It may be due to a dislike for a government course of action or government economic policies. Some people just don’t like the treatment they receive in life. They loathe life as a result. As we shall see later, hate is a result of anger. Some come to loathe the world and living—for its challenges. Some hate the world and they just can’t figure out why there are so many difficulties and apparent anarchy in the world.  Clinically, sleep deprivation and poor quality of sleep can also cause a person to be angry because the intention to have good sleep is frustrated.  Remember, anger is always due to frustration: a failed intention.

  • Workers’ anger on May Day

    Workers’ anger on May Day

    A workers’protest marred the May Day celebration at the Eagle Square, Abuja on Monday. Their grouse was what they described as the government’s insensitivity to their plight, TOBA AGBOOLA and TONY AKOWE report.

    With the large turnout, last Monday’s Workers’ Day rally at the Eagle Square in Abuja was supposed to be the biggest and the best, but it turned out to be the worst May Day celebration in recent times.

    As early as 8:am, all the seats at the venue were filled with many people hanging on the wall and looking for where to stand.

    No doubt,  the workers came with high expectations to hear from President Muhammadu Buhari what has become of  the minimum wage proposal, which was tabled before his administration even before the 2016 May Day celebration. Also on the demand list was the issue of pensioners, among others.

    Apparently, a few workers came with the sole aim of ensuring that the event did not record the huge success it was set to achieve. Unlike some political rallies where huge iron barricades are always provided to protect dignitaries from people, movement around the square was free. Although it was difficult to gain access to the venue because of the huge security presence and the number of check points, nevertheless, everyone was free to move around inside the venue.

    From the outside of the venue, there were indications that a high government functionary would address the workers, considering the security presence around the venue. A physically-challenged worker bitterly complained that even when former President Olusegun Obasanjo was in power, people were never made to pass through such horrible security check and cordon. Workers were made to walk long distances before accessing the venue. From 9.00am to about 11.am, it was non-stop traffic for workers. They sat quietly waiting for the event to commence.

    By the time the celebration started, some workers, who had no place to seat inside the square, began to gradually make their way towards the podium. They came so close to the extent that their voice could drown the voice of any speaker even with the microphone. This was the situation when the Acting Permanent Secretary, who dressed more like a businesswoman, was called to address the workers on behalf of the Minister of Labour and Employment, who was also seated.

    The workers felt slighted and as she stepped forward, a shout of no, no, rent the air and this went on for almost 20 minutes before the minister stepped forward. Not even the  style adopted by Senator Ngige could persuade the workers as his shout of great Nigerian workers was greeted with a loud no!.

    The event was disrupted for more than one hour by workers, who barred officials of the Federal Government.

    Interestingly, while some of the workers were just expressing genuine anger, it soon became evident that a script may have been prepared and was being executed by a handful of workers, who defied directives from their leaders to return to their seats. Of course, they had no seat and as the Minister told  newsmen later, the rally may have been infiltrated by those determined to sabotage it. He said intelligence reports available to him indicated that some people “who are not workers” and a handful of workers that did not belong to the faction of labour infiltrated the rally.

    Ngige said the workers had no reason to be angry with the present administration because it had been very friendly with them.

    His words: “The Federal Government has been friendly to workers to the extent that it even went ahead and initiated the bailout fund. No government has done that before and that was because we did not want to lay off any worker.

    “So what happened today is that some people, who are not really workers, infiltrated this arena and started causing some problems. Be that as it may, we are going to address the issue of minimum wage, we are also going to address the issue of backlog of promotion areas and allowances of all sorts.

    “We captured them in the 2016 budget, but for some reasons the releases are not forthcoming but the president of the Senate has assured us now.

    “So, we are going to capture them in the 2017 budget appropriation and once it’s captured in the appropriation, the Minister of Finance will handle the rest.”

    Ngige insisted that the venue was infiltrated by non workers due to some fractionalisation within the labour federation, adding that the conclusion was reached based on intelligent report.

    But the question is, at what stage did the Minister get this information? The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, later attributed the incident to the growing workers’ anger over the current economic hardship in the country.

    More than 90 per cent of the workers had left the Eagles Square by the time riot policemen, civil defence personnel and soldiers were being drafted in.

    Although the event continued with the parade by a few workers remaining, this happened after the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara and other dignitaries,  including the Head of Service of the Federation had sneaked out of the venue through the security at the state box. The Minister of Labour stayed back for a while before leaving also through the security exit.

    Speaking with reporters on the incidence, Comrade Wabba said the workers have today expressed their sadness, challenges, as many of them have not earned their salaries, so it is a demonstration of anger on the situation in the country.

    “The challenges workers are passing through are enormous, workers have expected that either the President or the Vice President would have been present to respond to workers’ yearning and aspiration.

    “Workers’ attitude today have shown that it is an accumulation of anger, and that the economic situation is biting very hard on them as many of them cannot pay their bills,” Wabba said.

    Some workers, who spoke with The Nation, believed that there was no infiltration of the venue by non workers as claimed by the minister. To them, what played out was an accumulation of grievances against the government.

    Mrs Asaba Lydia, a unionist of the Nigeria Civil Service Union, said the workers were taken for granted by the government, hence the reason for sending representatives rather than coming themselves.

    Lydia said the issue began with the minister’s act of sending the permanent secretary to represent him while he represented the President, adding that it was not fair to the workers.

    “On a  day such as this, the government could not even honour workers by attending the event themselves. If the president is not available what about the Vice President?

    “We have tried to follow the norm as workers and it has not worked, so now we are saying we are tired of failed promises, enough is enough,‘’ she said.

    Mr Dassey Heblom, a civil servant, said they (workers) refused to listen to the speeches of the government officials because it has always been stories every year without action or implementation.