Monday, 30 December 2013

That Osu Caste May Die A Natural Death By The Rt. Rev.C. A. S. C.Hukuka


By The Rt. Rev.C. A. S. C.Hukuka
It is on record that the gospel came to Igbo land more than one hundred and fifty years ago. Today we can boast of cardinals who are Igbos capable of standing for the office of a pope. The Anglicans have produced a primate and many denominations, have several Arch bishops, Bishops, whereas others have general Superintendents/Overseers and such high ecclesiastical offices.  In the academic world, we have world class professors and consultants; some are even advisers to the president of America. Legal Luminaries and medical practitioners of international repute abound. In the business world, our people have taken immeasurable strides.  All these are evidences of civilization.  Thatched buildings have disappeared so much so that some of our children do not know what they looked like.  
The abolition of slavery was in our favor. The "white man'' fought the abolition and enforcement of abolition on our behalf. They have since become history. Such vices like nudity and killing of twins have also been a historic event. But one idolatrous, barbaric and wicked practice still throws mud of shame to our faces - the Osu caste in Igbo land. Barbaric, because some people who are regarded as Osu don't even know what it is? They just inherited the stigma. Idolatrous, because its origin is from idol worship - the ancient belief of our ignorant forefathers. Wicked because, we castigate and outlaw people who committed no offence - legal offence is not hereditary or transferable.
WHAT IS OSU
This is a very important question - what is an Osu? A young man asked his father that question and the father could not explain. The young man retorted, “Are you advising me not to marry an Osu girl yet you do not know what it is. This is wicked.” The father softly told him that he grew up hearing that they do not marry from Osu family and so they took it as a norm. Hopefully many readers may understand the origin of Osu from this write up. A few books and seminar papers have been written on this subject. What you will read from this write up is my  personal research and extract from such books written by personalities like Chinua Achebe, Ezeala Jol, Ogbalu F C, Arinze Francis, Obi Sebastine, Okpala Favour, Okigbo and Marnesschs  Ekere to mention but a few.
1 ORIGIN:
From every point of view Osu emerged from traditional religion. Somebody can become an Osu by dedication willingly or unwillingly. Prisoners of war, slaves or kidnapped people may be dedicated to appease an angry god to remove calamity from the land while some are dedicated as punishment for an offense they may have committed in the community. Others, in order to escape maltreatment, including being turned into slaves from powerful relations, dedicated themselves willingly by running into the shrine for protection. Those people become agents of the gods with marks and their hair uncared for.  There are still others who committed crimes punishable by death from the community, such people run to the protection of the deity and so lose every right of the society and serve the deity instead.
Others became Osu by marrying or sleeping on beds or having sexual relationship with an Osu. In some societies when one uses the same razor for barbing or eating with an Osu or helping to carry the corpse of Osu or cross the leg of an Osu. There are still others who became an Osu through suspicions and gossips. For example, if two women are quarreling and one calls the other Osu or even Ozu (death) which sounds like Osu; at later death, people will begin to associate that person with the Osu, and that's it.
In some communities females born on Eke day (Mgbeke) or on Orie day (Mgborie) become Osu by traditional belief.
NATURE AND CHANLLENGES OF OSU CASTE
From what has been so far noted, generations who are ignorant of these cultural and idolatrous practices are today suffering from this stigma; whether their forefather willingly or unwillingly became Osu. It is wicked and very unfortunate. Moreover all those stories are antiquated and heathenish. In some parts of  Igbo land these people are not even today allowed to participate in government elections, much less town union elections. In other places, they don't intermarry with those who are not. The later appears to be general in Igbo land.
I  make  bold  to  say  with  deep  disappointment  that  this  practice  is  a challenge to the enlightened  in  the  society  - the educated,  the traveled,  the Church as a whole, our leaders in the governments, our chiefs, Obis and Ezes, our legal luminaries, our senators and House of Representative members. What are we standing for? What is the church preaching? The "white man'' fought against slavery and our fore fathers were liberated. Early Christians (still the whites) fought against the killing of twins.
Today many twins who would have been killed are making their marks in the society. The Americans have voted a black man to become their president, thereby removing the past obnoxious segregation  of blacks from whites. Why should we come back to our land to enslave our brothers and sisters? I call upon the church, the human right activists, the youth, the government and all that abhor victimization to rise in every quarter and act. Remember, that in some communities they are called Oru, Uchu, Ume. Whatever name, caste is caste and should be abrogated. In some communities it is an abomination for a wife/husband to see the corpse of his or her spouse. Our government abolished it officially since 1956 and put it into law. Let this law be enforced. I call on all those authors who had written against it to now join us to see the total eradication of Osu in our society through legal procedures and whatever possible way within the law and human right procedures. May I congratulate some town unions that have abolished it in their towns. Let the youth rise up, ignore wicked uncouth advices and marry whoever they love and ignore the societal pressure not to do so. When the youths do so Osu will become a thing of the past sooner than later. God will be glorified and our generation blessed.
We, the Igbos have come of age. We cannot continue to listen to fables. We cannot continue to dance to the wimps and caprices of the ignorant and barbaric cultures. We are known to be pragmatic, contributors of developments and advancements in diverse societies and enterprises. We cannot be associated with people who wash their outside cups whereas the inside is full of dirt. This is the time to show that we have fully come of age. Osu caste system and the like must go. Liberty, freedom and enfranchisement for all.
The Rt. Rev.C. A. S. C.Hukuka
(Bishop Emeritus, Anglican Diocese of Isuikwuato-Umunneochi)

Saharareporters

I worked on the US drone program. The public should know what really goes on


Few of the politicians who so brazenly proclaim the benefits of drones have a real clue how it actually works (and doesn't)
Hermes 450 drone
An Elbit Systems Hermes 450 drone. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Whenever I read comments by politicians defending the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Predator and Reaper program – aka drones – I wish I could ask them a few questions. I'd start with: "How many women and children have you seen incinerated by a Hellfire missile?" And: "How many men have you seen crawl across a field, trying to make it to the nearest compound for help while bleeding out from severed legs?" Or even more pointedly: "How many soldiers have you seen die on the side of a road in Afghanistan because our ever-so-accurate UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] were unable to detect an IED [improvised explosive device] that awaited their convoy?"
Few of these politicians who so brazenly proclaim the benefits of drones have a real clue of what actually goes on. I, on the other hand, have seen these awful sights first hand.
I knew the names of some of the young soldiers I saw bleed to death on the side of a road. I watched dozens of military-aged males die in Afghanistan, in empty fields, along riversides, and some right outside the compound where their family was waiting for them to return home from the mosque.
The US and British militaries insist claim that this is an expert program, but it's curious that they feel the need to deliver faulty informationfew or no statistics about civilian deaths and twisted technology reports on the capabilities of our UAVs. These specific incidents are not isolated, and the civilian casualty rate has not changed, despite what our defense representatives might like to tell us.
What the public needs to understand is that the video provided by a drone is not usually clear enough to detect someone carrying a weapon, even on a crystal-clear day with limited cloud and perfect light. This makes it incredibly difficult for the best analysts to identify if someone has weapons for sure. One example comes to mind: "The feed is so pixelated, what if it's a shovel, and not a weapon?" I felt this confusion constantly, as did my fellow UAV analysts. We always wonder if we killed the right people, if we endangered the wrong people, if we destroyed an innocent civilian's life all because of a bad image or angle.
It's also important for the public to grasp that there are human beings operating and analysing intelligence these UAVs. I know because I was one of them, and nothing can prepare you for an almost daily routine of flying combat aerial surveillance missions over a war zone. UAV proponents claim that troops who do this kind of work are not affected by observing this combat because they are never directly in danger physically.
But here's the thing: I may not have been on the ground in Afghanistan, but I watched parts of the conflict in great detail on a screen for days on end. I know the feeling you experience when you see someone die. Horrifying barely covers it. And when you are exposed to it over and over again it becomes like a small video, embedded in your head, forever on repeat, causing psychological pain and suffering that many people will hopefully never experience. UAV troops are victim to not only the haunting memories of this work that they carry with them, but also the guilt of always being a little unsure of how accurate their confirmations of weapons or identification of hostile individuals were.
Of course, we are trained to not experience these feelings, and we fight it, and become bitter. Some troops seek help in mental health clinics provided by the military, but we are limited on who we can talk to and where, because of the secrecy of our missions. I find it interesting that the suicide statistics in this career field aren't reported, nor are the data on how many troops working in UAV positions are heavily medicated for depression, sleep disorders and anxiety.
Recently, the Guardian ran a commentary by Britain's secretary of state for defence, Philip Hammond. I wish I could talk to him about the two friends and colleagues I lost, within a year of leaving the military, to suicide. I am sure he has not been notified of that little bit of the secret UAV program, or he would surely take a closer look at the full scope of the program before defending it again.
The UAVs in the Middle East are used as a weapon, not as protection, and as long as our public remains ignorant to this, this serious threat to the sanctity of human life – at home and abroad – will continue.

TheGuardian

5% of Nigerians Consume 40% of National Income

By Eromosele Abiodun

As the income disparity in Nigeria continues to widen, a report by BGL Limited has revealed that politicians, civil  servants, blue collar workers, directors in government parastatals, industrialists and top executives of companies, representing less than 5 per cent of the country's population, consume more than 40 per cent of the nation's total income.
The report indicated that over 70 per cent of Nigeria's working population are employed in agriculture, which remains largely subsistence and restricted mainly to rural areas whose earning capacity is low.
The Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala had recently warned that the Nigerian economy may be in danger if the private sector do not join hands with government to create jobs, and reduce the inequality in the country.
Okonjo Iweala, who accused the private sector of creating wealth for a few and not jobs, disclosed that the federal government created a total of 1.6 million jobs in 2012 and another 431 thousand jobs in the first quarter of 2013.
The earning capacity of majority of Nigerians, according to the report, is generally bound in a circle of subsistence, adding that economic interaction with the cities is highly tortuous, which creates large arbitrage opportunities for traders who take the risk of facilitating markets between the rural and urban areas.
"New sets of classes are created in the cities, made up of large poor urban immigrants with little or no skills who forcefully abandoned the villages to seek greener pastures. They form the large unemployed or underemployed population living in slums in cities like Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Kano, Enugu and Ibadan amongst others, barely earning more than the subsistence average income, earning barely $2 a day," BGL said.
On the reported growth in the nation's gross domestic products (GDP) per capita, BGL argued that using trends indicators like GDP hide the real economic situation of countries and could give misleading impression about the wellbeing of a nation.
"Focusing on other human development indicators (HDIs) such as the poverty level, access to drinkable water, unemployment rate, and health access indicators would help policy makers at targeting reforms. These measures do not only expand the inclusiveness of strong growth, they suggest sustainable capacity to keep growing while closing the gaps within the classes in the society, "BGL noted.
ThisDay

Scientists Have Discovered A Drug That Blocks AIDS


AIDS1-BLock
Scientist at the Gladstone Institutes have identified the precise chain of molecular events in the human body that drives the death of most of the immune system’s CD4 T cells as an HIV infection leads to AIDS.
“Gladstone has showed how the body’s own immune response to HIV causes CD4 T cell death via a pathway triggering inflammation, and secondly by identifying the host DNA sensor that detects the viral DNA and triggers this death response,” said Dr. Robert F.
Further, they have identified an existing anti-inflammatory drug that in laboratory tests blocks the death of these cells — and now are planning a Phase 2 clinical trial to determine if this drug or a similar drug can prevent HIV-infected people from developing AIDS.
Two separate journal articles, published simultaneously in Nature and Science, detail the research from the laboratory of Dr. Warner C. Greene, who directs virology and immunology research at Gladstone, an independent biomedical-research nonprofit.
His lab’s Science paper reveals how, during an HIV infection, a protein known as IFI16 senses fragments of HIV DNA in abortively infected immune cells. This triggers the activation of the human enzyme caspase-1 and leads to pyroptosis, a fiery and highly inflammatory form of cell death.
As revealed in Nature, this repetitive cycle of abortive infection, cell death, inflammation and recruitment of additional CD4 T cells to the infection “hot zone” ultimately destroys the immune system and causes AIDS.
Siliciano, a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. “This one-two punch of discoveries underscores the critical value of basic science — by uncovering the major cause of CD4 T cell depletion in AIDS, Dr. Greene’s lab has been able to identify a potential new therapy for blocking the disease’s progression and improving on current antiretroviral medications.”
InformationNigeria

The Most Healthy State in America Is ..


the, most, healthy, state, in, america, is, ...,
The Most Healthy State in America Is ...
Image Credit: motherliving
We know which American states are the hardest working — but which states have the most sloths and couch potatoes?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Americans in the South and in the Midwest get the least amount of exercise in the country.
On the flip side, Colorado is the most active state in America, far surpassing most other states with the amount of exercise its residents regularly do.  
The study, published earlier this year, asked nearly half a million respondents how much time they regularly spent on aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities outside of work. Then it calculated how many respondents met the CDC exercise guidelines (75-150 minutes of aerobics and at least two sessions of muscle-strengthening exercises per week).
Without further ado, here are the 10 least active U.S. states (according to what percent of the population met the CDC guidelines):
1. Tennessee (12.7%) — tied
1. West Virginia (12.7%) — tied
3. Mississippi (14.2%)
4. Alabama (15.0%)
5. Louisiana (15.5%)
6. South Dakota (16.0%)
7. Oklahoma (16.2%)
8. Kansas (16.5%)
9. Arkansas (16.7%)
10. Iowa (17.2%)
And here is a map illustrating the breakdown by state:
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Another survey by the CDC last year found similar results (seven of the states from the list above can also be found below). The survey asked, "During the past month, did you participate in any physical activities?"
Here are the 10 states with the lowest number of people who exercised:
1. Arkansas (68.5%)
2. West Virginia (69.0%)
3. Mississippi (69.2%)
4. Louisiana (70.1%)
5. Kentucky (70.3%)
6. Tennessee (71.4%)
7. Oklahoma (71.7%)
8. Alabama (72.8%) — tied
8. Texas (72.8%) — tied
10. Indiana (74.1%)
The data from these two surveys is in line with the CDC's assessment that "Americans living in the South are more likely to be less physically active than Americans living in the West, Northeast and Midwest regions of the country."
However, it's important to keep in mind that physical exercise is also closely tied to socioeconomic factors: those with financial security and leisure time are more likely to be able to eat healthy and pursue fitness.
As the CDC noted, non-Hispanic white adults, adults with more education, and adults whose income is above the poverty level are more likely to be physically active. Many of the Southern and Midwestern states listed here have historically poor black populations and low figures for high school graduationcollege graduation, and income.
But the correlations between exercise and health are real. A Gallup-Wellbeing Index from the same time period "found West Virginia had the fattest residents in the country with more than 33% of its population obese, while Colorado had the lowest obesity rate in the country at 18.7% of residents." It's no surprise then that Colorado had the highest number of people who met the CDC exercise guidelines (27.3%).
While it may seem like common sense, these figures indicate that regular exercise does lead to healthier living.
But what can we do to make sure that we all live healthier lives? While "half the adults in the United States are meeting the aerobic guidelines and a third are meeting the muscle-strengthening recommendations," only 20% are meeting both, according to the CDC. "This is a great foundation to build upon, but there is still much work to do," a CDC spokesperson added in a statement.
If you want to check if you are getting enough exercise, or if you want to learn how to incorporate more exercise in your daily routine, check out the CDC's website on Physical Activity. Here's to a healthier and happier new year for all of us.

11 Famous Billionaires Who Never Graduated From College

Eileen Shim's avatar image By Eileen Shim  


With rising tuition costs and mounting student debt, college is becoming a tougher choice for many young people. The competition for admission is getting more fierce every year, and there is no guarantee that a college diploma will translate to a well-paying job after graduation.
Yet, some people have earned success without securing a college degree. Through a combination of entrepreneurship, ambition, and luck, these 11 highly-successful businessmen have built empires from scratch. 

1. Bill Gates

Net worth: $72 billion
College: Dropped out of Harvard University
Nicknamed "Harvard's most successful dropout," Bill Gates is officially the richest man in the world. The Microsoft founder decided after two years of college that his time was better spent starting his own company, which he founded with his friend Paul Allen, another dropout billionaire. Microsoft eventually became the biggest tech company in the world (a title that Apple stole in 2010). Through his nonprofit Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he has also donated billions to charitable causes. What else is there to say?

2. Amancio Ortega

Via: Celebrity Net Worth
Net worth: $57 billion
College: Did not attend
Kate Middleton is among the millions of people who shop at Zara every year. But few customers know that its owner, Amancio Ortega, is the third richest man in the world. The son of a railway worker and a housemaid, Ortega decided at an early age to get a job rather than matriculate in school. After working for a local shirt maker, he started his own manufacturing company and organized thousands of local Galician women into sewing cooperatives. Since then, the "fast fashion" brand has taken over the world.

3. Michele Ferrero

Via: Celebrity Net Worth
Net worth: $20.4 billion
College: Did not attend
Who knew there was so much money in Italian chocolate? Michele Ferrero, along with his family, built a bakery business after World War II. He created his signature chocolate treat in his laboratory, which helped the family business become a chocolate empire. Now he's known as a real-life Willy Wonka, and with Ferrero Rochers, Tic Tacs, Kinder Eggs, and Nutella in his portfolio, he certainly deserves the title.

4. Mark Zuckerberg

Net worth: $19 billion
College: Dropped out of Harvard University
While the film The Social Network did not present him favorably, Mark Zuckerberg still deserves credit for founding the biggest social media website in the world. The Facebook CEO showed prodigious talent with computers, and had created many programs even before he enrolled at Harvard. Facebook remains his signature achievement, and the controversy surrounding the company's early stages has been immortalized on film.

5. Michael Dell

Net worth$15.9 billion
College: Dropped out of University of Texas
As a teenager, Michael Dell often took apart and rebuilt computers. In high school, he developed a targeted marketing system to sell newspaper subscriptions, which made him $18,000 in one year. By the time he was in college, he combined his interests in tech and business to start his own company, which allowed him to build and sell computers directly to customers. It was so successful that he left college to focus on it full time, and Dell is now one of the biggest PC makers in the world.

6. Francois Pinault

Net worth: $15 billion
College: Did not attend
If success is the best revenge, then Francois Pinault certainly is getting the last laugh. He dropped out of high school to work at his father's lumber mill. Now, he is the CEO and majority shareholder of the fashion conglomerate Kering, and owns powerful brands like Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent, as well as Christie's auction house.

7. Ralph Lauren

Net worth: $7.7 billion
College: Dropped out of Baruch College
The son of Jewish immigrants from Poland, Ralph Lauren developed an early penchant for fashion while selling ties to his schoolmates. After briefly serving in the U.S. Army, he worked for Brooks Brothers and eventually started his own company at 26, selling his necktie designs. Now his Polo Ralph Lauren brand, and the iconic polo shirt, are known around the world.

8. Richard Branson

Net worth: $4.6 billion
College: Did not attend
This real-life Tony Stark dropped out of school at 16, and went on to found the Virgin Group, which includes Virgin Mobile phones, Virgin Atlantic Airlines, and now, the Virgin Galacticspace tourism agency. While Richard Branson has enjoyed his "billionaire playboy" image, he has also pursued many charity causes through his nonprofit foundation. It seems like for Branson, not even the sky is the limit.

9. Ingvar Kamprad

Net worth: $3.3 billion
College: Did not attend
Ingvar Kamprad demonstrated his entrepreneurial spirit from an early age. He would buy matches in bulk from Stockholm and sell them individually to make a profit. When he was 17, he decided to start a company with cash his father gave him. Now, IKEA is the largest furniture retailer in the world. You can thank Kamprad for furnishing the dorm rooms and apartments of everyone you know.

10. Oprah Winfrey

Net worth: $2.9 billion
College: Dropped out of Tennessee State University (but eventually earned a diploma in 1987).
Oprah Winfrey is not just a person — she is an institution. Despite her difficult childhood, she found her talent as an engaging media personality. She left college to co-anchor an evening news program in Baltimore, just one credit shy of graduation. Now she has her own TV channel, radio program, magazine, book club, and most importantly, her image brand.

11. Steve Jobs

Net worth at the time of death: $7 billion
College: Dropped out of Reed College
It would be remiss to talk about Gates without bringing up his main competitor, Steve Jobs. Though the Apple founder died in 2011, his impact on technology remains strong today. Just one semester at Reed convinced him that the tuition was too much of a financial burden on his parents, and he dropped out. After working at Atari, he went on to found Apple with his partner Steve Wozniak. Apple is now one of the biggest tech companies in history
.PolicyMic

7 Photos Of a Man You Wouldn't Believe is a World President

Matt Essert's avatar image By Matt Essert  

7, photos, of, a, man, you, wouldn't, believe, is, a, world, president,
7 Photos Of a Man You Wouldn't Believe is a World President
Image Credit: Taringa
José Mujica is the president of Uruguay, but you wouldn't know it from looking at him. Sometimes called the world's poorest president, Mujica, who took office March 1, 2010, has donated about 90% of his $12,000 monthly salary to charities benefiting the poor and entrepreneurs.
Unlike other heads-of-state who don discreet butlersfleets of yachts, and wine cellars with vintage Champagnes, Mujica lives a simple life in the home he's occupied for years. 
Take a look for yourself.

1. President José Mujica

Mujica sits between his Vice President Danilo Astori and newly-appointed Finance Minister Mario Bergara. An atheist, Mujica has led Uruguay to legalize marijuana and same-sex marriage while enacting one of the region's most sweeping abortion rights laws. 

2. A certified guerilla badass

Via: Imgur
As a guerrilla fighter for Tupamaros (a "Robin hood" organization that stole from the rich and gave to the poor) he was imprisoned twice, escaped once, and was only apprehended after being shot six times by the police. He was released 14 years later when a constitutional democracy was restored in Uruguay. 

3. A presidential "palace"

Via: Imgur
This is Mujica's home. Instead of living in the Uruguayan presidential palace, he chose to stay in the place where he and his wife have lived for years. On their property, they grow chrysanthemums that they sell in local markets.

4. His motorcade


Mujica chooses to drive himself around in his 1987 Volkswagen Beetle which, until he added half of his wife's assets (land, tractors, and a house), accounted for the entire value of his declared wealth: $1,800. 

5. José and Luciá

Mujica shortly after his election win in 2009 with his wife Luciá Topolansky, who is now also a Uruguayan senator. 

6. A real sweet dude

And here he is with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith because ... well why not?

7. Keep it real, José


PolicyMic