10 Reasons Why Businesses Fail And How To Avoid Them

It is a matter of fact that significant percentage of new businesses do fail. When you are starting a new business, the last thing you want to focus on is failure. No matter what you do, there will always be a risk of a business failure or less-than-expected financial return. No one starts out thinking that it will happen to them, but inevitably it does. There are some common reasons that can lead to business failure and I am going to discuss these reasons and how you can deal with them on this page today. If you address the common reasons for failure up front, you will be much less likely to fall victim to them yourself. Failure 1: Lack of Knowledge and Planning (Expertise): It sounds simple, but the number one reason why businesses fail is because the business owner did not take the time to learn his business. Some 71 percent of businesses fail because of poor planning and a lack of specialized knowledge that the particular business requires. Keep in mind though, that just because a business owner does not have the knowledge, does not mean the knowledge does not exist. It simply means that the business owner failed to take the steps to find it. The first key to survival is to make sure you know what you are doing when it comes to the business you choose. Anyone who has ever been in charge of a successful major event such as marriage/wedding, funeral, political campaign etc knows that were it not for their careful, methodical, strategic planning, and hard work, success would not have achieved. The same could be said of most business successes. It is critical for all businesses to have a business plan. Many businesses fail because of fundamental shortcomings in their business planning. It must be realistic and based on accurate, current information and educated projections for the future. Things to consider may include description of the business, vision, goals, Work force needs, Potential problems and solutions. More so, most bankers request a business plan if you are seeking to secure addition capital in form of loan for your business. Tip - Get the best training you can find and write a solid business plan. The upfront investment in training will be well worth the money you will spend. You can do this on apprenticeship basis or attending business seminars/workshops. Failure 2: You start your business for the wrong reasons: Would the sole reason you would be starting your own business be that you would want to make a lot of money? Do you think that if you had your own business that you would have more time with your family? Or maybe that, you wouldn’t have to answer to anyone else? If so, you’d better think again On the other hand, if you start your business for the reasons below, you will have a better chance at success in your business: You have a passion and love for what you will be doing, and strongly believe, based on educated study and investigation that your product or service would fulfill a real need in the marketplace; you are physically fit and possess the needed mental stamina to withstand potential challenges. Often overlooked, less-than-robust health has been responsible for more than a few bankruptcies; you must have the drive, determination, patience and a positive attitude. When others throw in the towel, you are more determined than ever, failures do not defeat you. You learn from your mistakes, and use the lessons you learn to succeed the next time around. I have discovered from true life research that successful business owners attributed much of their success to “building on earlier failures;” on using failures as a “learning process”, you thrive on independence, and are skilled at taking charge when a creative or intelligent solution is needed. This is especially important when under strict time constraints. Failure 3: Insufficient Capital: A common fatal mistake for many failed businesses is having insufficient operating funds. Business owners underestimate how much money is needed and they are forced to close before they even have had a fair chance to succeed. You must first recognize the fact that your first and foremost goal should be business survival. And business survival means adequate startup cash and ongoing cash flow. It is essential to determine how much money your business will require; not only the costs of starting, but the costs of staying in business. This means you will need enough funds to cover all costs until sales can eventually pay for these costs. Tip - Choose a business that has very low startup costs and minimal ongoing costs. That way, it is easier to make the business profitable and successful. Also, if it does not work out, you have not hurt yourself too badly and you can move on to the next venture with good lessons learned. Failure 4: Poor Management: Management comes down to two things: competence and experience. New business owners frequently lack relevant business and management expertise in areas such as finance, purchasing, selling, production, hiring and managing employees. You also need to know how to manage your time. Tip: First, work with an experienced mentor or coach to learn specifically how to manage the business you are getting into. Second, do not start a business that immediately requires employees; learn to manage it yourself first. Failure 5: Location, Location, Location: Location is critical to the success of your business. Whereas a good location may enable a struggling business to ultimately survive and thrive, a bad location could spell disaster to even the best-managed business. If you open a business in the wrong location, you have lost the game. Some factors to consider are: Where your customers are, Traffic, accessibility, parking and lighting, Location of competitors, Condition and safety of building, community flavor and receptiveness to a new business at a prospective site among others. Failure 6: Overexpansion: Overexpansion often happens when business owners confuse success with how fast they can expand their business. This is one of the leading causes of business failure. A focus on slow and steady growth is optimum. Many a bankruptcy has been caused by rapidly expanding companies. Failure 7: Lack of Someone to Look Up To: There are always people who have succeeded in the kind of business you run. Not learning from them is ridiculous. Why not find out who they are and how they succeeded. Don’t be a star in your own mind, especially if you know you are not one. Heroes and go-to people are important, motivational and can help business people re-energize and avoid failure. Failure 8: Getting into Undesirable or Bad Business Partnership: You should get into business partnership only if you find that your ideas match with the probable partner, because business partnerships are even more difficult to maintain than marriages. Many partnerships fail because of lack of communication, proper documentation and conduct. A failed partnership can lead to bankruptcy and soured relations with the business partner. Tip: Avoid partnerships completely, if you possibly can. But if you must get into a business partnership, make sure the duties and responsibilities of the partners are detailed right from the start and the partnership deed along with commercial terms is clearly defined. Failure 9: Life distractions The best ideas do not always come between 9am and 5pm. A person might have a great idea while driving, or in the shower, or while working out. It is moments like these when an entrepreneur leaves behind the day-to-day tasks of running a business and gains a better perspective of the big picture. Sadly, there are a lot of things that can disrupt a person’s home life. Illness, death of a family member, divorce, relationship trouble, and problems with a child are just a few of the many issues that can affect a person’s mindset. When things like this occur, moments of clarity are replaced by stress and anxiety. Many entrepreneurial ventures depend heavily on new ideas and creative thinking, and when an entrepreneur’s head is not clear, business can suffer. Failure 10 Bad feedback & white lies People like spending time with friends and family. Unfortunately, when it comes to business, friends and family members do not always give the best advice. This is especially true at the birth of a business. No one wants to tell an entrepreneur their idea is bad, or their location stinks, or anything else negative. Most people are conditioned to be supportive of their friends and family regardless of the situation. Plus, nobody wants to be wrong. Imagine your friend has an idea that you think is terrible. You share your objections, but the friend goes ahead with the idea anyways, and it succeeds. Now you will always be the pessimist that never believed in them. Nobody wants to be that person. That is why you will rarely get honest, objective business advice from friends or family members. And yet, oftentimes friends and family are the first people entrepreneurs turn to for advice.

Annulled Presidential Mandate

Annulled Presidential Mandate

IN The first part of this serial on Abiola, I promised to comment on whether the renaming of Unilag after Abiola was proper. Well, i won’t do so again. The case on the subject is in court.

To comment on it, therefore, would be subjudicious.

In place of the issue, however I will write on Abiola’s annulled presidential mandate spotlighting how he was betrayed. No to brass tacks. The first person who stabbed Abiola at the back was Babangida, his supposed friend.

Both of them believe in the iron law of powerism: the rich few should always rule the majority through power batch succession. Invariably, Abiola was “promised” the 1993 presidency by Gen. Babangida while he was military president from 1985 – 1993. Trust, Abiola accepted the deal.

Remember, nevertheless Babangida told Nigerians that “ I know those whom we won’t succeed me even though we don’t know who would succeed us.” Yes unless a civilian president is endorsed by a military regime in the third world when soldiers want to leave power he can never win a presidential election put in place to anoint their successor.

That is the message of Fela’s track ‘soldier go, soldier come. In Nigeria’s peculiar case, Babangida only misinformed Abiola in words, deed and body language that he would hand over power to him. Babangida’s heart was with another candidate Bashir Tofa, his protégé. For this reason, Babangida had options A and B plans to undo Abiola’s election as president. Never, ignore a green snake!!

See Babangida secretly and initially deployed a lot of Nigeria’s commonwealth to ensure Abiola didn’t emerge as SDP’s presidential candidate in the June 13, 1993 election. Who – side. Abiola jumped and passed the obstacle option A plan failed.

No problem. Babangida dusted up option B plan. He annulled Abiola’s election claiming breaches and irregularities against the electoral laws of Nigeria. Ample evidence of them were captured by dedicated secret video cameras carried by secret service personnel planted by Babangida in SDP camp and, so, that is how Babangida’s script to prevent an Abiola’s presidency was choreographed with cinematographic artful flourish. A diabolic friend Babangida destroyed a trusting friend Abiola. Yes –o. If you no wan give person de food u chop remain, spit inside de food. Okpari – o. That is what Babangida did.

Also, the SDP betrayed Abiola viscerally. When the battle to consolidate his victory in the June 12 election was on from June 12, 1993 to July 22, 1994 when he was arrested and incarcerated the party never lived up to expectation. See all through this period, Abiola was left alone to lead the campaign to validate his mandate while the party stood a long distance behind him. Yet the party ought to be the arrowhead of the battle.

Had the SDP led the struggle, it would have been more difficult to crack the June 12 nut. For instance let’s assume Anenih, national chairman of the SDP, had assembled all the party’s 30 state chairmen and principal officer at Epetedo in Lagos to declare Abiola president. Government would have had its hands full arresting over 200 top party men including Abiola and trying them for treason. Indeed, it is hard to break a whole broom but easier to break a broom stick.

Matters would have been even worse off for the government if all the incarcerated SDP members decided to speak in one tongue, radical praxis of either “make Abiola president or kill all of us.

However, this scenario never played out. Abiola alone was left in the firing, front line of the titanic struggle for the SDP mandate. Come July 11, 1994 once more it was Abiola alone that took a ragbag, bruised retreating “army” of few SDP faithful and deceits to Epetedo where he declared himself president as if the mandate was not collectively owned by him and the SDP.

After this, government came after him. On July 22, 1994 they got him. The silver lining of his desperate, personal and lonely struggle for the SDP mandate began to peter away. A general has a cat’s invincible nine lives when he fights from the rear leading to war able – bodied, loyal troops. The SDP however ignored this fact. That is why it was so easy to steal Abiola’s mandate. On his part, too, Abiola’s SWOT analysis on the struggle was poor. It didn’t wash.

But this was the end of the matter. It turned out too that the 8,128, 720 Nigerians who voted for Abiola weren’t even prepared for the long war of the attrition to recover his mandate and, so counted votes didn’t count on SDP terms.

Enter the senate like today, its members did not provide moral leadership. Instead of standing up to be counted among SDP mandate warriors, they joined Babangida’s June 12 train. How? A majority of the senators, after collecting red envelopes and portfolio promises, removed Dr. Iyorehia Ayu, a pro- Abiola henchman, as senate president. He was replaced by Senator Albert Legogie a supporter of Babangida, who help also to dismantle Abiola’s mandate.

Some press men similarly worked for Babangida during the June 12 crisis. Fortunately, The NIGERIA OBSERVER in 1993 had a crop of fear less journalists which included Akido Shittu, Onaiwi Suleiman, Adekunbi Ero and my humble self who didn’t side with the Babangida forces. It is no wonder that, after considering the implications of our arrest and those of other principle journalists nation wide, Babangida settled for the closure of this newspaper in 1993 along with other ones defending Abiola’s mandate.

Can’t you see therefore The NIGERIA OBSERVER has what it takes to be a standard bearer of quintessential journalism? Not again. Today, the carpenter cannot get even a hammer and a nail for his work of roofing a housing estate.

No lamentation, please Dry bones shall rise, again God no day sleep. Dog no day chop kola but sleep no day catcham for night…

Remember again justices Bassey Ikpeme, Dahiru Saleh and Mohammed Saleh. They were all used to sabotage Abiola’s mandate. Also, most of Abiola’s kinsmen in the South West joined the group fighting him. Awoists in the group hated Abiola’s guts for disrespecting Awo. A highlight of Abiola’s “sin” was the rubbishing of Awo with his newspaper. The National Concord. Using as a point of entry what was termed Awo’s Maroko Scandal.

Much more of anti—Abiola’s South West posture. Late in 1993, Obasanjo screamed from Zimbabwe, where he went on a trip, that Abiola was not Nigeria’s expected messiah. Later, Chief Ernest Shonekan accepted to head the Babangida evil contraption called Interim National Government. Both Obasanjo and Shonekan are all from Abeokuta where Abiola comes from. A case of your own kinsman joining a “gambari” to flagellate you. A divided house can never stand the heat of an enemy.!!

Also, Sonny Okosuns, Shina Peter and other PMAN members abandoned Abiola for the Babangida and Abacha bandwagon working hard to destroy Abiola’s stolen mandate. Yet Abiola was their friend. Lateef Shofolahan, one of Abiola’s aid, betrayed Abiola also Shofolahan leaked out Kudirat Abiola’s itinerary which led to her assassination on June 4, 1996. How you are, says the Indian.

Finally, on July 7, 1998 Abdulsalami Abubakar government and an American team of “negotiators” led by a CIA agent Thomas Pickering gave Abiola an upper cut. During a meeting with them in ASO Villa, government offered Abiola a cup of tea. After drinking it, he died. End of script. His June 12, 1993 mandate was buried with that fatal stab on his back.

Financial Planning At Different Stages Of Life

Life is full of changes, and with each new set of circumstances come new financial needs. These transitions spark a need to look closely at your finances. A recent study reveals that investors’ households that regularly get professional advice before making major financial decisions fare significantly better than those that do not seek advice. Over 10 years, the bottom line for families with investable assets of at least N1,000,000 who always receive advice is N1,060,000 greater on average in inflation-adjusted Naira. That compares to N290,000 for families who navigate their own finances without help. Financial planning can be especially helpful at the different stages of life. You are young and you are broke, thanks to the harsh economic situation in our great country Nigeria. So when a financial planner preaches the topic of retirement, you may wonder if the planner lives on a different planet or the planner needs psychiatric attention. But now is the best time to start saving for that big event. Time is your biggest friend. The earlier you start, the better off you will be. At this stage, I will advise you to participate in your Government’s contributory pension scheme if you are a worker or have a dedicated bank account for that purpose where you will be saving part of your money on regularly without withdrawing from it except for investment opportunities. Married couples have a reputation for fighting mainly about one of two things. For newly weds, it’s likely to be money. With good financial planning, you are able to budget, set financial goals and determine who will pay for what. He or she can also help you study employee benefits and make sure you are not duplicating your efforts. Whatever your goals are, talking through them with a more knowledgeable person and getting a plan down on paper will help you and your partner work together to reach them. Tensions always rise because of money. Your beautiful children will surely be brilliant and want to pursue a higher education. The costs of college continue to rise, however, and it’s quite difficult for anybody to save the total amount needed for college these days. But the earlier you start saving for college, the better off you’ll be. There is need for you to set up college savings accounts and ensure funds in that account are used for college expenses only. The key is to get started saving because college costs are far and away exceeding inflation. Nobody plans to get divorced, but if you do, your financial situation can change dramatically. It is traumatic enough to go through a divorce. But afterward, most people need help putting themselves back together, mentally and financially. If you wait until years after your divorce to look at your investments, estate planning and asset protection, sometimes it is too late.” Post-divorce planning may involve re-establishing credit, especially if most of the marital assets were in your spouse’s name. You would have to do some rethinking on your budget and retirement plans, and change the beneficiary of your accounts so that your savings won’t revert to your ex-spouse. There’s really a lot of busywork that needs to be done, it is better to avoid divorce disaster at all cost. Whether or not you’ve started saving early for retirement, it’s crucial at this juncture to determine your retirement readiness. Statistically, the most critical time to meet with an adviser in this regard is in your late 40s and early 50s, when the average Nigerian is in his or her peak earning years and accumulating the most retirement assets. Those assets must be properly managed in order to meet retirement goals, which are typically 12 to 15 years out. A mistake at this stage of one’s life will make retirement very unpleasant. Do not forget the menace of global financial crisis. You must strive to eliminate risk in your portfolio and consider investment vehicles such as immediate annuities which offer a guaranteed income for the rest of your life. Some insurance products enable you to participate in the market’s upward moves, but avoid its declines. To determine the best strategy you should adopt, is not dependent on your age but on what you want to accomplish.

Ending Discrimination Against Women

THE violation of women’s rights both at the national and domestic strata have become burning and vexatious Issues. What we find happening in this country as regard the denial to women of certain privileges and rights, much more pervades other nations of the world to some varying degree and extent. In some countries .women are never heard but they are only seen and are not offered opportunities to make their contributions to national growth and development. THE refrain has always been that we are in a male dominated society and as such the dominance is carried over to other sectors of life, where it becomes very obvious that the male-folk are always in the position to wield power and control. However, the tendency to keep women at the background in most societies is derived from the tradition and custom of old in predominantly mediaeval communities where women are consigned to basic task of up-keeping of the home and the rearing and bearing of children. AGAIN, there is the perceived social and environmental factor that women are not endowed with equal natural abilities seen against the superiority and Innate physical attributes of man, which makes him the stronger sex while the women are regarded as the weaker sex. WHILE it is still in contention that women are spiritually more gifted than the men, there are however, certain religious practices in traditional religion, Christianity and Islam and many other faith-exercising beliefs where women are barred from priestly role for reasons peculiar to those faith. OVER the years however, women have risen to these challenges to combat and eliminate these practices and to elevate womanhood to the pedestal of dignity and to take their pride of place in society. THESE situations have also given rise to such concepts as women liberation and women empowerment to such extent it appears that there has been an attempt to rewrite the English language to make it reflect the sense of womanhood where such words as “Chairman” and “mankind” are facing the challenges of some etymologists and lexical experts to make them lose their male connotations. WHILE the war to Institute the female privilege and the sense of womanhood in the language sector is a continuing one, there are still other areas of human endeavour where our womenfolk are carrying on the battle. It is a matter of fact, that women more often than not now concern themselves with issues such as the problem of development, female health reproductive issues, prostitution, trafficking in women, wife-battering and the political participation of women in the affairs of state. FOR instance, a study by the population reference bureau, “conveying concerns: women write on Reproductive Health,” indicate that the global community is beginning to recognize a crucial, yet long overlooked piece of development puzzle. The study states that the Ideas and participation of women are essential for planning appropriate, comprehensive and effective development programs. A development effort of particular significance to women, it says is the design of reproductive health policies and programmes to meet the needs of all women, at different stages in their reproductive lives, from different socio economic setting, of different religious and cultural backgrounds. IT also noted that efforts in the past to provide women. reproductive health services seemed to have been Implanted without fully understanding the needs and sensitivities of the women they were to serve, following which many women and women’s group became disillusioned with the development process. HOWEVER, “the increasing problem that women face in our world is that of discrimination which is occasioned by traditional practices in all ramifications, even discrimination in office places and in appointments. In effect, no matter how highly placed a woman might be in respect of achievements and In office; her status is still low because of male chauvinism and its dominating characteristics not to regard a woman’s profile as worth anything not even by men who may have achieved less. WOMEN’S standing has risen dramatically in recent times due mainly to their efforts and that of the International community and many non-governmental organisations who insist on the rights and privileges which not only they should take from society but what the constitutions and codes of human freedom had also conferred on them. IN this regard, a number of international decisions which have helped to legitimize the rights and privileges of women include the 1952 convention on the political rights of women, the 1979 convention on the political rights of women, the 1979 convention on the elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the 1995 Beijing Conference, China, sponsored by the Untied Nations. It was the fourth world conference on women with 189 governments and 2,600 non-governmental groups in attendance. RESOLUTIONS at the conference agreed to a set of strategic objectives and action including efforts to advance the role of women in polities and environment stewardship. BESIDES, the Commonwealth has also been committed to the problem of gender inequality and presented plan of action at the Beijing Conferences as well as an update to it in 1997. It was geared towards acknowledging gender-related issues in democracy and good governance, highlighting women’s rights as human rights with emphasis on eliminating violence against women and differential impact of economic and social development. INTERESTINGLY, the Commonwealth in 1966 set a minimum target of no less than 30 percent representation of women in decision making by 2005. Already the country with the highest representation of women in parliament is South Africa with 30.3 percent while in 2000, Papua New Guinea elected two women to the legislature for the first time in 10 years. HOWEVER, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are yet to grant women political freedom and continue to bar theem from full political participation. Still, available records show that Finland and Sweden between 1945 and 1995 were consistently in the top 15 of a worldwide ranking of the number of women members in the lower chamber of National Assembly. Also out of the 35 women heads of state in the 20th century, 28 were elected in the 1990s and in June 1999 lawmakers in Latvia made Yalra Vike Frelbverga the first democratically elected woman president In Eastern Europe. IN Nigeria; while Sarah Jubril was the first woman ever to run for the presidential race, adequate representation for women in political life of the nation has persistently met with alleged sabotage to always confine the women to a few number. IN the national and state legislatures, the number of women are few and not up to the 30 percent representation prescribed by the Commonwealth. IN as much as all these changes are taking place, the women groups yearning for improvements in women conditions nationally and globally should pursue the course relentlessly and not give up. We urge the Nigerian government and other nations globally to address the socio-cultural factors that hinder women from the realization of their full potential.

Essentials Of Spices In Culture

ESSENTIALS of spices in culture are the necessary uses in the highest degrees of spice. Spice is a substance of exotic origin, aromatic, hot, piquant taste, use to enhance the flavour of foods, so as to add to the food the stimulant ingredients contained in the spice. Spices helped to improve the taste of most of the food that people ate before food preservation methods were discovered. There are spice plants and the flavouring made from spice plants are usually ground into powder. They are used either single or in combination to give special flavour to foods. Curries are made by using various mixtures of spices when cooking meat, vegetables or rice. The uses of spices started from the ancient. Pre-historic people used the leaves of certain plants to enhance the flavour of foods which they ate. However as the state of knowledge advanced by the experiences of the first great explorers, more and more people learned about spices and wanted to take advantage of the lucrative trade, by passing the traditional routes. Spices were sought after by the people of the Middle Ages and the spice trade was very important to them. Traditional medicine practitioners make use of spices for their medicinal properties. It has been revealed that spices have various capacities among which are antioxidant capacity — a property of spices in aqueous emulsions. Preserving capacity — is the property due to the spices in habiting the growth of micro-organisms. It is caused by the presence of essential compounds which have a preserving action specific to the spices. They breakdown the resistance of micro-organisms to heat. In traditional medicine, spices are used in varying proportions; in preparations such as to improve gastric tone and to facilitate digestion; promoting sneezing and clearing the air ways. The ground black pepper — Oziza powder, for instance, was sprinkled on bruises, wounds to promote healing. This practice clearly shows that the antiseptic action of the pepper has been recognized intuitively for a long time. There has been growing interest in aroma therapy of treating diseases with extracts from aromatic plants. The essential of pepper oil contains piperine which after a variety of simple processes gives piperonal which is artificial heliotropin. Pepper is a spice. The pepper plant belongs to a genus with many spices in the same way as piper nigrum. These other species have much more limited distribution. They are rarely consumed outside the areas in which they are cultivated. They can be used to adulterate ground black pepper. These other peppers include, long pepper (Piper longum, tailed pepper, Guinea pepper. The pungency of the dried berry is comparable with that of piper nigrum, but the flavour is not the same. Edo pepper-Ehien-Edo (Aligator pepper) known as melegueta pepper (Aframomum malegueta) is a herbaceous perennial plant with short rhizomes, scaly with surface roots, lilac pink; trumpet shaped flower, fruit ovoid, then tapering to a point surrounded by the permanent calyx, red, containing white pulp surrounding the seeds. The seeds of alligator pepper are aromatic with grainy tasting white kernel. Other spice plants are Black pepper-Oziza (Piper nigrum) Ighere; Turmeric-Agio (Curcuma domestica), cardamom-Orhiema (Elettaha Cardamomum) All spice tree-Unien and nut meg-Ikposa are trees growing wild in the forest. Spices being vegetable products contain protein, Lipids, carbohydrates including starch, cellulose and various mineral compounds, also contain fractions which are not present in all other vegetable products, that give them their specific characteristics as spices. Many of these compounds are included under the term essential oils. They give the spices their flavour, aroma and smell. Other chemical substances in the spice plants are also responsible for the flavour, is piperine, which impacts the piquant flavour. A spice owes its flavour to complex mix of simultaneous stimulations of the sensitive nerve endings of the nose and tongue. The best known use of spices is in food preparation and cooking. The essential oil or oleoresin is used almost exclusively by the food industry. Pepper is one of the oldest known spices and has been widely used in the preparation of meats, venison and is well known in many types of cuisine. Tumeric is one of the ingredients of curry powder to which it gives its attractive orange yellow colour. Cardamom is used to enhance the flavour of hot alcoholic drinks. It is also used traditionally as piquant flavour. All spice-unien and nut meg-Ikposa, (Myristica sp) are popular in traditional cooking. Melegueta pepper-Ehien-edo is used to enhance the flavour of hot alcoholic drinks. It is used in most traditional rites. Other spice plants of numerous uses are available in food industries with similar techniques to those used in domestic cooking. Onions and Garlic contain lecithin found in every living thing’s cells. The highest concentration is found in the vital organs, the brain, the liver, the heart and kidney. Lecithin performs astonishing range of vital functions, directly affecting human health and well-being, while ginger stands for the stimulating effect on appetite, especially important for people convalescing from illness. Essential of spices in culture are numerous but it is easier to keep, more convenient to use and can be added in very precise measures and mixed in a homogeneous manner.

Is Marriage A Cure For Promiscuity?

Is Marriage A Cure For Promiscuity?

PROMISCUITY is fast becoming prevalent in our society. It has become a way of having fun especially in the male species. According to the men, it is a way of testing water and surfing grounds. The African man sees promiscuity as tasting different kinds of soup and knowing which one appeals most to his stomach. Some say it is the changing of shirts to the most suitable one. Many men out there believe that at the time they say their vows, they are automatically curbed of promiscuity. This is due to the fact that they are married and must be faithful to their wives.

Is marriage a cure for promiscuity is a question that demands an answer. Seriously, is that really possible when we all know that promiscuity is a habit. Getting married is not a cure rather, promiscuity is given a new name “Adultery”. Promiscuity is a habit which cannot disappear with just vows; it is a consistent desire to stop that destroys the habit.

Have you ever wondered why married men go out of their matrimonial bed for single ladies or the preference for married man by single ladies. Marriage is an institution and also a process of learning how to live with people of different characters, attitudes, personality usually a male and a female. Marriage reveals flaws of both partners and hereby is no cure for promiscuity as ascertained by some men.

One thing men fail to realize in marriage is that it opens you up to flaws, tests, and difficulties except if it is resolved amicably. Promiscuity only gets worse when flaws in marriages are revealed. It is a sexual addiction common amongst men. The main drive for promiscuity to me is that men see women as just a tool for satisfying their sexual urge rather than as an intelligent being they can learn from.

What then is the cure? Knowing now that promiscuity is a habit that needs to be dealt with. The first step is admitting you are and that the desire to stop has been decided. After that, self control over your sexual urge has to be learnt. The Bible condemns promiscuity in that it sees it as an aberration of marriage and also a spiritual problem. The only way out of promiscuity is through avoiding materials that increase your urge and having self-control.

To those who still think marriage is a cure for promiscuity is deceiving themselves. I leave this question for them to answer. What happens when your wife gives you a silence treat and is asking for space. Do you as a man wait patiently or you jump into the next available bed.

For ladies whose men are promiscuous and saying “honey, when we say our vows, I will remain faithful to you is a big LIE. You cannot change what you are or as my friend puts it “You are, what you are”. Let him deal with his habits before standing at the altar.

To all you guys who are deceiving themselves, it’s time to wake up from your slumber and deal with promiscuity. If you cannot stick to one girl, how sure are you that you will remain faithful to your wife after being married?

Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence

THE rate of violence in the world today is alarming that attention must be given to it. Violence is a problem that destroys a home or a society. It is a behaviour intended to hurt or kill somebody. Violence is an extreme form of aggression, such as assault, rape or murder. It is a kind of abuse to hurt individuals physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Violence can also be regarded as a crime which can be as a result of crisis or wars in countries or states. Every year there are cases of people loosing their lives to violence.

Violence is of different types but the most important one to be discussed here is the domestic violence which takes place every day in the world as a result of isunderstanding between two individuals that are engaged in a kind of relationship. It is an issue that people talk about everyday but no solution has been proffered to it.

Domestic violence is as old as man. As mentioned above, the key thing is that the perpetrators or the victims are in a kind of family relationship. It could be marriage or birth relationship. Whenever violence occurs in the family, women are usually blamed and accused of not being submissive to their husband or being too impatient.

Domestic violence can happen to anyone of any race, age, sexual orientation, religion or gender. It can happen to couples who are married, living together or who are dating. It affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and educational levels. It differs from country to country, and era to era.

Domestic violence can be defined as a pattern of behaviour in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. This means that most people engaged in a relationship wants to use it to gain control over their counterparts either for respects or fear. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary definition, domestic violence is: “the inflicting of physical injury by one family or household member on another; also: a repeated/habitual pattern of such behaviour”. Violence is a broader definition often used to include child abuse, elder abuse, and other violent acts between family members, wife abuse, wife beating, and battering. Domestic violence can also mean endangerment, criminal coercion, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, trespassing, harassment, and stalking.

Whenever marital/domestic violence is mentioned, people’s mind just race off to physical violence but that is not the only issue. It also includes psychological bettering of the wife by the husband. Marital violence is worse in our society where women’s rights are seen as something evil. Women generally in our society are supposed to be seen and not heard.

Domestic violence can take many forms but there is acknowledgement that many victims are not actually married to the abuser, but rather cohabiting or in other arrangements. Other forms of abuse may be constantly occurring, while physical abuse happens occasionally. Male, and females are victims of domestic violence but, most times females are victimized.

Women who are victims of domestic violence most times want to keep quiet to the good and bad things happening in their homes in order for peace to reign, but this is not the issue because it is better for you to tell your partner the truth about an issue in a respectful manner, not being abusive and harsh in your tone. Many women are dead, some are carrying internal injuries and have resigned to fate, saying: ‘that is how life is; who do I go and complain to? Who is going to take me in?; These are the things the women face to avoid divorce and other issues concerning break-ups in their relationships.

Causes Of Domestic Violence

There are certain things in the society that causes domestic violence and they include;

*cultural values: Culture is the way of life of the people, a belief that the Africans value so much. The African culture believes that when a woman is married, she is not supposed to come back to her father’s house and that her husband is in full control of her welfare or well-being. The Africa culture believes that a woman must respect her husband and be submissive to him. These beliefs make most men to behave in certain ways and say, ‘After all I have paid her bride price and she is under may control, no matter what happens she cannot go back to her family because, they will bring her back to me; This African culture that does not believe in divorce poses a problem to the women who are victims because they will be confused on what to do about the issue.

*Economic issues: The economic situation of the society is one of the causes of domestic violence in the sense that, the state of unemployment in the society has reduced the standard of living of the people. When a man is unemployed and need finances to take care of his family and those things are not forthcoming, this becomes a burden to the man and he begins to behave abnormal sometimes. When a man is in this situation, he is ready to beat his wife whenever she talks to him any how.

Another reason on this economic issue is that, there is no law governing the issue of domestic violence and this makes people to do it anytime without the fear of going to jail.

*Childlessness: Marriage without an issue most times causes domestic violence such that, when the man thinks of the gain in the marriage and there is nothing to show for it, the man gets angry with the woman even if it is not her fault. A marriage without the fruit of the womb, is a marriage of crisis because, there is nobody to look up to whenever issues arise.

* Sex: This is a physical activity that involves a woman and a man to take place. It is an emotional drive that is so terrible that when it occurs, it becomes difficult for the man or woman to control. A married man and woman staying together are supposed to satisfy each other in terms of sex to prevent the man or woman from misbehaving outside. Most times when men have this sexual drive and the woman seems to reject it in an aggressive way, it makes the man to be angry and this causes a problem between both of them.

* Jealousy: This is a state of being angry or unhappy because somebody you like or love is showing interest in somebody else. When a man or woman is having the feeling that his/her partner is interested or is cheating on him/her, this becomes a big problems in the house and it brings about domestic violence which could be verbal abuse/beating/emotional disorder.

Effects Of Domestic Violence

*Effects on children: Children who are exposed to domestic violence or domestic abuse during their childhood suffer from developmental and psychological problems. Due to domestic violence that some children face, emotionally, socially, behaviorally as well as cognitively. Some emotional and behavioral problems that can result due to domestic violence include; increased aggressiveness, anxiety and changes in how a child socializes with friends, family and authorities. It can be said that exposing children to family violence is child abuse.

*Physical effects: Bruises, broken bones, head injuries and internal bleeding requires medical attention and hospitalization. Some chronic health conditions that have been linked to victims of domestic violence are arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic pain, pelvic pain, ulcers and migraines. Pregnant women during domestic violence experience miscarriages, pre-term labour, and injury to or death of foetus.

*Psychological effects: Victims are made to feel guilty for generating the abuse and are frequently subjected to intense criticism. Victims of domestic violence experience long-term anxiety and panic, and are likely to meet the diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder.

*Financial effect:” Due to economic abuse and isolation, the victims usually has very little money of their own and few people on whom they can rely when seeking help are not there for them. In addition to lacking financial resources, victims of domestic violence often lack specialized skills, education, and training that are necessary to find gainful employment. The victims of this domestic violence most times, do not have a reasonable job they are doing to satisfy their need thereby relying on other persons.

Solutions to domestic violence

There is no problem without a solution provided the parties involved are committed to finding a solution. The most important thing is that, there should be serious law made by the government about the issue of domestic violence so that, when a person goes against the law he/she will be penalised according to what is contained in the law.

Another solution is that groups of persons like NGOs should be out to preach against domestic violence by telling the truth about the issue than taking sides and the government should budget for such things.

The Oba And His Handkerchief

The Oba And His Handkerchief My early knowledge of the royal palace of Benin and its occupant dates to when the revered Oba, late Akenzua II, reigned till 1979. He was royalty personified, a leader, peace lover and father of all. The present Oba and members of the royal family have carried on in the footsteps of their ancestors. But I used to think that the Oba of Benin does not talk, especially in public. This thinking was informed by the fact that I never saw or heard the late Akenzua II talk or laugh. He always had a white handkerchief in his hand which he put to his mouth almost all the time whether in the palace or outside of it. I grew up believing that the Oba did this because he did not wish the public to see his teeth or that he did not want an unguarded word to slip from his mouth. Whichever it was, it no doubt added to the awe in which the monarch was held, not only among the Bini people but all over the country and beyond. It may well be the tradition or part of the royal dressing, but the present Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa does handle the white handkerchief but rarely puts it to his mouth like his father did. The handling of the handkerchief may not be the only difference between late Akenzua II and Oba Erediauwa which has become clear to me. While both rulers may be considered insulated from partisanship by virtue of the position, Oba Erediauwa has a ‘’handkerchief language’’ which is reflected in the way he waves the object when he makes a speech during courtesy calls on him. The Oba’s handkerchief has been waving lately, but not many may have even noticed or deciphered the direction or meaning of it. A palace chief, Chief David Edebiri, the Esogban of Benin, perhaps, understands this and, therefore, describes the Oba as ‘’the embodiment of politics’’. This Oba is not a politician, but is, indeed, surrounded by politicians. This perhaps explains why I think he likes to speak for himself most of the time. Each time his chiefs have had to speak on his behalf, they have tended to leave no one in doubt as to what they really mean. Take for instance an occasion in which the Iyase of Benin, Chief Sam Igbe or the Esogban of Benin, Chief David Edebiri or the Obasogie of Benin, Chief Eduwu Ekhator or Chief Amos Osunbor addresses visitors on behalf of the Oba, particularly if such visitors are politicians. What manner of speech would we expect if Comrade Adams Oshiomhole or Gen. Charles Airhiavbere were to visit the palace of the Oba of Benin today? The Iyase would tell Oshiomhole: One good term deserves another term. The people of Edo South will show appreciation to the Comrade Governor for what he is doing by voting him back to office. We will not reward good with evil. God will give you strength. The only way to thank you for what you have done is through our votes. Whoever wants to contest this election should come and say what he has done’’. The Esogban would say: As the Odionwere of Benin Kingdom, and with the authority of the Oba, I say we will vote for Oshiomhole. Oshiomhole is the Bini candidate. He knows the problems of the Binis and he is solving them. We have seen many Mr. Fix It here but they could not fix anything. Today, Oshiomhole is fixing everywhere. We want to appreciate Oshiomhole by voting him back to government house. The oracle has spoken. Anybody who wants to go against the decision of the oracle should wait for the battle’’. He would also add: ‘’I was coming to the palace one day and I met a multitude of people and I asked what was happening. They said the governorship candidate of the PDP is inside. I quickly told my driver to reverse the car because I did not see the Iyase’s car and if I came to the palace, it would be my lot to pray for him and I did not want to pray for a candidate who will not pass’’. Last week Saturday, President Goodluck Jonathan, his vice, Namadi Sambo, PDP National chairman, Bamanga Tukur, Chief Tony Anenih and Gen. Charles Airhiavbere as well as scores of top party chieftains were in Benin City to attend a campaign rally and took time off to pay a visit to the palace of the Oba of Benin. The Oba could not receive the team publicly so he opted to grant audience to the president in the inner chambers of the palace. This kind gesture of the Oba should be seen for what it is, a show of deep love and appreciation of the person of Mr. President, as only loved and cherished persons are usually entertained in the inner recesses of our homes. This has been variously interpreted as shunning the president and his group or that the group was too large. Whichever way the palace debacle is seen, I posit that what the palace did was in the best interest of the visitors. The Oba knows the mindset of the palace chiefs, who, I dare say, would not look back in telling the president he had come to Edo state for a futile exercise. The Oba, not being a politician but a loving father to all, saved everybody that embarrassment. My only regret is that all those who came with President Jonathan failed to see the Oba and his handkerchief.