Outside the box?

It's more than cliche when someone yells at you continuously, ''think outside the box''.
What do you do when your creativity has been stretched thin? you've looked at things from every angle and nothing seems out of the ordinary?

In trying to think out of the box, people most often forget to exhaust all options within the box. In trying to get people creatively thinking, we most times succeed in getting to ignore salient opportunities hidden just under your nose.

I get tired of hearing; ''this is how we do it here'' or ''it's always been done this way'' (hey, that's why you've got the same results.)

The idea is not to get conformed to the norm but breakout to be a difference. A barrier breaker I learnt recently, is one who seeks to be different and do things differently, one who will spare head new things and break the bounds of every limitation. Let it be said that you did things another way not necessarily new maybe new to your environment or cycle.. How great a victory dance you'd have when you can gladly sing ''I told you so'' to the nay sayers (no mater how quietly lol..)But, within the limitation of our sight is great opportunity...we can find great ideas even from the seeming un-productive box....Have a box first before even thinking outside it. It's easy to say I'm thinking outside the box and not have a slight incline what the box ought to be. 

As you struggle to think beyond the box, just pause, look around, be sure you've exhausted every creative juice possible. 

Be your best critic, (that I've learnt the hard way after having to re-do a creative piece four times cos the gate keeper as I came to discover, didn't have the necessary prowess.) you'll do yourself and others a lot of good.
Set goals, achieve them and move on...mantra!

Seasons change..

Today the weather is harsh the nape of my neck is the driest I've had in years, the soles of my feet could bruise a baby's soft skin even de-thread a blanket. hmmmm harmattan!
With every effort at protective styling, moisturizing and staying hydrated, nothing seemed to be working, my hair was in disarray,my heels  and my skin, the topic of an epic novel.


 My hair dry as bristles of an old brush, I wrap a scarf securely around my head covering up the messy bunch; then she pulls the scarf without the slightest warning; ''when are you making your hair sef? abi you don't have money? can't you relax it? (as if I wasn't having a bad hair day already).

Reluctant to answer the questions and cause a scene I spoke from my RENEWED mind; ''My decision to go natural was totally mine, I don't harass you when you attach synthetics to your head'' (not so renewed but...) your guess as good as mine; total silence.

Then the taunting image of work floods my mind, where the fan blows overhead like the northern desert winds I mean it was bad enough that the air was coarse and dusty, I have to put up with a cranky ceiling fan blowing hot air like pursed lips blowing air.

Recovering from the scald on my tongue, (an ugly reminder never to drink a boiling cup of tea) The day went by at snail pace. As I sat at my desk staring at the bright computer screen, in my mind I was prancing the office space screaming my best rock tune all in a bid to get the tempo up.
It was in all this that I noticed the wrinkly fingers that moved around the keyboard, was I getting old?...hahahahahaha no of course not it was the harmattan my skin was drying out, what were you expecting? I had almost emptied a tube of hand cream in a bid to get it velvety smooth..all that one na for advert.

Just then at the corner of my eye I caught the image of my colleague recklessly picking his nose, you'd think he lost a pen in there...harmattan he'd say..yuk...to be fair to him, your nose gets dry and tingly from breathing in all that dusty air. O boy! ever heard of a handkerchief? maybe not.

happy thoughts, happy thoughts I sang to myself as the clock struck 5 you could almost hear my sigh of relief from the room across..it was then end of another day I continue to battle the weather, more protective styling, moisturizing and hydrating for my hair, and a lot of water and moisturizer for my skin as well.Maybe the weather will be kind enough...see you lovely skin and hair at the end of the season.(harmattan is no excuse to look scruffy!!! I don't intend to).

COP18 making strides

As talk on gender equality continue across the world, the role of women in the struggle to save the earth has been at the fore in the last couple of years. Several adaptation and mitigation measures in tackling climate change have involved women.

The  ongoing United Nations Framework on Climate Change Conference UNFCCC COP18 celebrated it's maiden edition Gender day. The theme of the first ever gender day  ''moving beyond the rhetoric'' revealed women (and children) as most vulnerable in the effects of the changing Climate.

The panel saw women as major partners in the fight against Climate Change because of the roles they play in the home as care givers. 

This session featured several NGO's run by women that are causing a stir in their communities. 

Among notable projects involving women is the Solar mamas, a documentary filmed in India, this project saw illiterate grandmothers become solar engineers, with knowledge and resources gotten from the barefoot college and friends of the environment.

The gender day has been adopted as an annual event at the conference.

Also, the benefits of using traditional techniques to tackle climate change were discussed at the second 'Hikma' session. Hikma is the arabic word for wisdom.

The Hikam sessiona are a series of talks that showcase the work of Arab and middle eastern civil society organizations and bring to the fore the local knowledge accumulated by the middle Eastern communities.

Speaking up for the black continent, the African negotiators at the conference say, they will ensure the developed nations do not let the kyoto protocol die as it's commitment period comes to an end.

 

You would recall that in 1997, the Kyoto protocol was signed and later ratified in 2005, the first commitment will expire Dec 31st this year unless discussions at the ongoing COP18 can make provisions for a new life when the second commitment commences Jan 2013.  The Kyoto protocol is the only existing commitment binding industrialized nations to cut Green house gas GHG emission levels.

Meantime, discussions are underway as developing nations hope for a good outcome.

COP 18

It's already here?!
Today, over 7000 delegates from 194 countries converged for a two weeks at the magnificent Qatar National conference centre in Doha for the 2012 United Nations framework on Climate Change Conference UNFCCC or COP18.

The 18th session of these meetings began amidst warnings of calamity, experts warned that existing mitigation pledges are not nearly enough to limit warnings to a manageable 2 degrees celsius. UN climate chief Christiana Figueres speaking days ago says, ''a faster response to climate change is necessary and possible''.

In similar developments, the International Institute for Environment  and Development IIED reveals that, the rich nations have failed to fulfill 8 pledges made towards providing poorer ones with funds.

 The wealthier nations in 2009 promised to provide poorer nations with 30 billion US dollars by the end of 2012 , the finances were meant to  serve as new and additional finance balance between support for adaptation and mitigation activities

The report futher states that only 23.6 billion dolars of the said amount has been given and only 20% of the amount allocated to projects in these poor nations.

Less than half of the fast start fund is in grants while the other half is given as loans meaning the poor countries are expected to repay with interest.

Major concerns include the fact that wealthy nations have failed to prove that their contributions are new and not derived from existing grants.

Experts are saying when rich nations are not transparent about when and how they would meet their financial pledges developing countries are unable to plan adequate responses to climate change and make it difficult for developing nations to take serious what the richer ones will say at the UN climate change talks.

Further reports say, only two of the donors are remitting their fair share of the fund. Norway has been ajudged the best , providing five times their share of the fund; while the United States and Iceland have contributed less than half their share.

The conclusion of several expert opinions is that, COP18 will test how much pressure developing countries can exert on the richer nations.

Thanks giving vs Thanksliving

I woke up yesterday thinking, I have alot to be thankful for... it was Thanksgiving after all.

The 3rd Thursday every November is a federal holiday in the USA. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 but became official in 1863 by then President Abraham Lincoln. He said it was a national day of ''thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent father who dwelleth in the heavens''.

As the years after the civil war went by so did the traditions that came with Thanksgiving. The holiday became a time for family and friends to gather and enjoy each others company as well as good meals. Talking of meals, Turkey became a traditional course during Thanksgiving dinner. The wild turkey is a native American diet that was introduced to early pilgrims around 1620.

But, do we have to wait till a day in the year to give thanks?
As I pondered on then wrote down my ''thankful'' list, I was shocked to realize the several things, people and moments we take for granted daily. The very act of waking and going to sleep, walking and talking, even the fact that I can move my fingers unassisted is a miracle.
 

A wise man once said, Thanksgiving is a life style hence it should be ''thanks living''. Every day and every waking moment is worth giving thanks.  The word translated as ''thanksgiving'' or ''gratitude'' in Greek is ''eucharistos'' from the root word ''charis'' embeded in eucharist which means GRACE. This means ''thankgiving'' is a recognition of God's favor towards us and acknowledging it by a life of gratitude (thanksliving).


                                                                                   As the millions of family and friends gathered
for this special holiday and each share their reason for being thankful, the lesson to us all is to be appreciative of one another and thankful for the gift of each other.  

Nigeria we hail

Nigeria we hail thee..
These are first few words of Nigeria's old anthem. This was used between 1960 - 1978 I bet many Nigerians born in the early 80's and early 90's are not aware. It was shelved just like the second stanza of the present anthem, until recently. The three stanza song spoke of brotherhood, justice, peace and unity.

In recent times Nigeria's Federal Government has taken measures to 'find use' for the second stanza of the national anthem, this move was effected August this year.

'The Federal Executive Council has adopted the second stanza of the National Anthem as the official prayer at all public functions.'..Punch newspaper Aug 2, 2012

In another daily, the reporter in a frenzy of excitement on the said subject matter says; 

'ironically I have always thought that the lyrics of the second stanza are very rich'... dailytimesng May 12, 2012

many more people have said they prefer the second stanza to the first, is it because we have grown so accustomed to it?

Earlier in the week, the batch C' 2012 corps members resumed orientation activities at the designated camps across Nigeria. The NYSC anthem is one that reminds me of both the old anthem and stanza 2 of the current anthem.

I remember with nostalgia the day we had to sing ''under the sun or in the rain'' in an actual down pour, that day it became real that whoever wrote the NYSC anthem meant it.

With several debate on wether to save the scheme or not, the Nigerian youth still has something to look forward to on graduation. To think since inception in 1973 to date, the National Youth Service  Corps is the only program that has enjoyed continuity.

While the debate goes on, the call to serve our father land is on...

Water, water, every where...

''I heard floods are preventable'' ''really?''

Imagine my shock when I overheard this conversation between two well dressed young men at the lobby of a News organization...I didn't make conversation but was curious enough to continue to the end (eavesdropping you might say). At the end of it, no proper information was dispensed, just complaints of selfish politicians not doing what 'we' elected them to do. It was ironic though cos, as they talked, the sachets of water (pure water) and shells of the groundnuts they had eaten littered the once clean floor and as they left I only could wonder how many of us play such ignorance.

once a highway...

        ''Flooding means there's and excess of water on dry land.'' 

When we hear that floods are preventable, we quickly begin to think of that government project that isn't completed, that additional drainage that could have been built or how that the masses are suffering. We hardly stop to ponder the damage we do to the environment; the sachet of water, polytene bags in the gutter, heaps of industrial and household waste, constructing on water ways and so on...

In September, the city of Lokoja, in Kogi State Nigeria which is a major passage way from Nigeria's north to the south experienced what the local media termed ''the worst in the last 30 years''. Many see it as a rude awakening to every individual agency or government within sight.

overhead photo of community in Lokoja

 With homes and businesses submerged Lokoja became the 'town under water'. The relief agency in Nigeria NEMA (national emergency management agency) says the flood resulted from the absence of buffer dams. who is responsible for building or even pointing out the need for such dams?

Nigerians, making a way

It's sad this could only be pointed out after damage to lives and property had been done.

This isn't a blame-game but a call to responsibility and being proactive.

deserted homes

Research show that, unclogging drains and building away from water ways can reduce risks of flooding in flood prone communities and could also be prevented  by proper planning and preparation for the wet season.

when trucks weren't good enough

The flood occurred when the Niger River overflowed its banks  leaving residents wondering what happened and commuters in a deep end.

Such environmental hazards cause huge losses. loss if lives, property and even revenue.
In the period the Lokoja flood lasted, all economic activities from north to south grinded to a slow pace making trips that took several hours to span into days as well as several reported missing and dead.

What lessons did we learn from the floods across Nigeria? some say, travel light (cos of countless hours spent commuting incase u are caught in such situation) others say, proper town planning; I beg to add; care for our environment.

Waste management experts say, floods can also be stopped by adapting mitigation measures especially in flood prone areas.

so the next time you dispose of a tin,bottle,polytene bag/pure water sachet  and any other form of waste remember it adds up.
one quick tip that helps keep me in check is ''never dispose anything in the absence of a bin''. So locate a bin, then dispose.

Back again!!

It's amazing how long I've been away.
I have so much to say but that will come subsequently. Today, I hope to push those of you who like me have procrastinated or shifted things for later..

Having a blog wasn't the easiest thing in the world. I thought I could google how to run a blog and my troubles would all be over. Don't get me wrong, I did find some helpful tips, but I wasn't prepared for this long time away.(in writing parlance it would be a writers block!)

Ok! The first main tip was; decide what you want to blog about; hmmmm guess I had that covered?!?!! Find a domain name and a web host..I had those covered but......
Some even advised documenting your daily activities or interesting encounters. Well, being between Jobs at the time and constantly home editing videos, I thought I didn't have much to go with. Then I saw this;

''Writing a blog isn’t as time consuming as you may think and so long as you put in the ground work at the beginning and come up with regular content ideas,the website will do a lot of the work for you.'' 
Imagine how bad I must have felt...well my ordeal over, I decided to read the three pager. He went on to talk about content being king and how carving a niche for yourself was good.
If I have wood I sure would carve..
Anyway, I continued to miss blogging and soon I started hearing News of how blog owners were turning-in millions...(I'm yet to fully understand how, but will keep you updated!)
Then another site said, tell stories....as if that was easier. Then the other information I was gathering got blurry, I got really tired from all the reading on how to run a successful blog that I forgot to Blog.

Recently, infact just 3 days ago I finished reading an amazing book ''How stupidity changed my life'' by Okechukwu Ofili. I read lots of Nigerian authors, but none stuck to me like he did. The two words that got me thinking and back into this were: JUST WRITE!! This was Ofili's answer to the question, how do you write? After months of wondering how to run a blog and spending countless moments online reading up how to, all I needed were two words that sounded stupid to the first hearer, Just write.
For me, i'd paraphrase, I'm sure Mr Ofili wont mind my saying JUST BLOG!!!