I choose to pick the words of a great
man, the Dalai Lama as my headline for today for many reasons, but most
importantly because they are wise and true. It is a very Nigerian thing to pray
rather than act when confronted with a problem, and it is a mentality we need
to change.
When asked about the necessity of
praying for Paris in the wake of last Friday’s attacks, he said, "People want to lead peaceful lives.
The terrorists are short-sighted, and this is one of the causes of rampant
suicide bombings.
We cannot solve this problem only through prayers. I
am a Buddhist and I believe in praying. But humans have created this problem,
and now we are asking God to solve it. It is illogical. God would say, solve it
yourself because you created it in the first place.
We need a systematic approach to foster humanistic
values, of oneness and harmony. If we start doing it now, there is hope that
this century will be different from the previous one. It is in everybody's
interest.
So let us work for peace within our families and
society, and not expect help from God, Buddha or the governments".
Another set of people who need prayers
this morning is MTN, as Governors of Nigerian states have commended the NCC on
the record – breaking N1.04tn fine imposed on the telecommunications giant and
insisted that the South African company must pay for their disregard for the laid
out instructions.
International analysts think this will
scare off investors, but I doubt if most Nigerians care. Sometimes you find yourself
feeling bad for MTN, then you try to browse the internet and the network is as
slow as an injured snail, you feel like killing MTN, but you realize that murder
is bad but a fine is better.
Worse still for MTN, they have been
fined $622,000 by the Ugandan Government.
Moving on to other issues, morning
routines have now been altered; after your morning prayers (where I’m sure you
prayed for your country), the next thing to do is to go look for fuel. The prices
are rising; everybody at the station thinks they know who is to blame; you just
keep quiet and wait for your turn, panic – buy as much as you can afford; go
home, return to your routine.
More news, The United Nations High
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Thursday that the population of
Internally Displaced People (IDP) in the North East had risen to 2.2million due
to the activities of you – know – who (Boko Haram).
Facebook is in the news today, the
social networking giant has activated its famous “safety check” for Nigeria. This
feature helps users to know if their friends are family members are safe in the
event of an explosion.
Kogi state goes to the polls tomorrow to
elect a new governor, and while we pray for hitch – free, peaceful and fair
elections; Kogites however, must not pray for the result but go out and vote
for candidates of their choice.
This big aunty from FRSC on TV just said
ABS light on your car means your Airbag needs maintenance. I used to think this meant Antilock
Braking System and SRS for airbags – but I’m not the expert, am I?
Robbers reportedly killed six people in
Ibadan yesterday, among them a pregnant woman and two policemen. The police
have however confirmed the death of only one officer.
It is another morning bearing plenty bad
news; but it will get better and not just by praying, but by also making
efforts – good efforts.
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