Decision 2023: Nigeria at a crossroads as a known drug baron and his running mate, a chief sponsor of Islamic terrorists, seem poised to occupy Aso Rock

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By Boyejo A. Coker - Chief Editor

It was exactly eight years ago (to date) that a certain Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, former Senator as well as former Executive Governor of Lagos State, stepped onto the scene at a campaign rally in Southwest Nigeria. The candidate at that time was the current President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Rtd. General Muhammadu Buhari, a failed presidential candidate who had lost his bid for the presidency on three prior attempts to win the plum job of running the affairs of Africa's largest economy and democracy. 

Buhari's campaign was at best fledgling at the time, and needed some infusion of pizzazz, energy and inspiration. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu stepped to the plate and the rest, as they say, is history. 

It was the same Asiwaju Bola Tinubu that sold Buhari to us as a reformed dictator (more or less a tyrant in actuality). Yes, the same Buhari that eight years later has essentially taken Nigeria back to the Stone Age. 

Under Buhari and the current APC government, Nigeria overtook India in having the largest number of people in poverty, in the world. The certified disaster that has been the Buhari administration should in most political climates spell disaster for the ruling party, but in Nigerian politics, the ruling party always has the upper hand - as they use practically every instrument and organ of government at their disposal to hold on to power. 

That last line is actually quite instructive, as it speaks to the arrogance exhibited by the APC hierarchy in presenting a Muslim-Muslim ticket as its choice for President and Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. To understand the importance of this dynamic, Nigeria is a multi-religious nation with the two main religions, Christianity and Islam, roughly evenly split. 

That is why it has always been the unwritten rule to balance the leadership ticket evenly between those two prominent religions, for the sake of national unity and peaceful co-existence. 

Furthermore, the running mate to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the APC flag bearer, is a known sponsor of Boko Haram and other adjacent Islamic terrorist groups. Kashim Shettima, is a former governor of Borno State in the northern part of Nigeria, and it is a documented fact that a notorious terrorist, Kabiru Sokoto, years ago, was found and arrested in the home of the former Borno State governor turned vice presidential candidate.

The highly questionable background of Shettima fits right in with the equally questionable background of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate. Apart from Tinubu’s unverifiable education and birth records, he is also a well documented drug baron and money launderer. 

The APC had the glorious opportunity to present Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo as its flag bearer for the presidency of the nation, and then balance it out with a credible running mate of Islamic persuasion from the north. That they chose these two men of highly questionable backgrounds and character for the top two offices in the nation, speaks to an acerbic dysfunction within the ruling party, and typifies either a lack of requisite foresight, or downright arrogance that has come to embody the brazen insensitivity of the ruling party, to the yearnings and desires of well meaning Nigerians. 

A truly Democratic dispensation was bequeathed to President Muhammadu Buhari. Former President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat in 2015 to Buhari rather than shed a single drop of Nigerian blood. Under this APC government, the will of the people has been overturned repeatedly by kangaroo courts and tribunals, whose judges and officials have been compromised by the incendiary and inordinate ambitions of defeated APC candidates, with the acquiescence of the Buhari administration.

Things have undoubtedly fallen apart and it is clear that the center cannot hold. The die is indeed cast regarding the future of Nigeria’s corporate existence.

Further proof that Nasir El-Rufai is the devil……

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The pint-sized ethnic bigot and religious zealot refers to Northern Christians as belonging to the “Christian enclaves in the north”. El-Rufai, along with his now well documented ethnic cleansing campaign against the non-Fulani indigenes of Kaduna State, has always demonstrated his propensity for being unhinged when campaigning against his adversaries during elections. 

The image (above) in this short article by our political desk could not better represent how most well-meaning Nigerians view the vertically-challenged loose-canon. 

When you look at the number of likes (thumbs up) in the pictorial of another one of his media rants, you will see he has exactly 666 likes. 

As would be expected, Satan couldn’t agree more with his apostle of hate, disinformation and destruction. 

Irish MP Richard Boyd Barrett calls out the EU double standards on Ukraine and Palestine

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Perceptual Organization - Making sense while thinking

Editor's Corner

In a recent article, I had stressed the fact that the human brain, in addition to being the most extraordinary creation of the human anatomy was also the epicenter of thought, conviction, emotions, consciousness and purpose. In this particular article, the subject/topic of perceptual organization will be the focus of my discussion.

It therefore seemed appropriate to start this discussion with a reference once again to the human brain, as perceptual organization would ‘naturally’ be a part or component of the intricate but detailed functionality of the human brain.

Knowing fully well that learning may play a significant role in perception, there is the school of thought that perceptual organization does reflect innate properties of the human brain. 

More recent work in perception seems to infer that studying perception is basically studying the human brain. In particular, there seems to be more and more, an alignment of such school of thought with physiological observations of the human brain.

What is Perceptual Organization and even more importantly, how does one organize raw sensory stimuli into meaningful experiences that would ultimately make sense (at least to a recipient of the experience generated by the said stimuli)?

Furthermore, in the process of making sense of the ‘sensation’, is the thinking process an evolving one and subject to an individual’s perceptual organization of his or her experiences? Also, what set of mental activities are involved in this organizational process and how ’influential’ are they in the process? Perception involves organization and grouping as well as distinguishing objects from their surroundings.

I do believe and will state that the organization of raw (sensory) stimuli into experiences that make sense and are meaningful to an individual or larger society would normally involve some cognitive functionality. This cognitive functionality would comprise processes such as thinking, knowing, remembering and in some cases, forgetting. This would seem to be a logical sequence as it makes for an organizational process that would ultimately seek to incorporate that which is favorable while through the forgetting process, eliminate that which the senses deem unfavorable.

Throughout this process, the importance of knowledge and experience will ultimately be established as knowing as a result of thinking generates a learned experiential state which whether favorable or unfavorable would ultimately help develop a perceptive frame of reference for the individual concerned. Now, I am not sure if I am making that much sense here, but I am simply stating what I think is in essence the obvious, based on my own perceptual organization.

In asking some of the questions I asked in the second paragraph of this article, I did not do that with the aim of necessarily answering the said questions. I did that in the hopes of asking even more questions by creating a forum for intellectual conversations as to what perceptual organization really is all about; without seeking to necessarily narrow down its definition. What seems to be rather clear however is the realization that knowledge and experience are probably the most critical components of the perceptive process since those two factors may in fact help us better make sense of the input to our sensory systems.

According to Gestalt laws of grouping, there is the school of thought that the whole differs from the sum of its parts (Ehrenstein, W. 1930). The Gestalt theorists for the most part in the 20th century sought to single out the brain processes that would ultimately be responsible for the organization of perception. They argued that while simple sensations essentially consisted of organized percepts, the percepts themselves could be said to be basic to experience. There are also various arguments out there that seek to identify whether or not these experiences are for the most part private (Ehrenstein, W. 1930).

As I had stated earlier, perception, in addition to involving organization and grouping, also involves the process of distinguishing an object from its surroundings (Ehrenstein, W. 1930). There is the notion that the moment we perceive an object, the surrounding area around the said object is then the background. Gestalt psychologists are the biggest proponents of this school of thought. That would seem to suggest a concept of separating the figure from the ground and according to the Gestalt school of thought, this process is replicated throughout the various experiences of the percepts themselves (Ehrenstein, W. 1930).

There is no question this is probably one of the most difficult (if not the most difficult concepts - perceptual organization) for me to chew on, but I am of the school of thought that a thorough understanding of the subject itself is an evolving one in as much as the knowledge and experience of the percepts themselves, as part of the complex make-up of the human brain.

References:
Ehrenstein, W. (1930). Figure-Ground Segregation. Current Psychology of Cognition, 117, 339-412.

© 2023 2CG MEDIA. Coker Confidential™

Ten Ways to Improve Your Interpersonal Skills

Editor's Pick

Don't discount the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace. How you are perceived by your manager and coworkers plays a large role in things as minor as your day-to-day happiness at the office and as major as the future of your career.

No matter how hard you work or how many brilliant ideas you may have, if you can't connect with the people working around you, your professional life will suffer. The good news is that there are several concrete things you can do to improve your social skills and become closer to your colleagues, all of which will ultimately help you succeed in today's working world.

Here are 10 helpful tips for improving your interpersonal skills:

1. Smile. Few people want to be around someone who is always down in the dumps. Do your best to be friendly and upbeat with your coworkers. Maintain a positive, cheerful attitude about work and about life. Smile often. The positive energy you radiate will draw others to you.

2. Be appreciative. Find one positive thing about everyone you work with and let them hear it. Be generous with praise and kind words of encouragement. Say thanks when someone helps you. Make colleagues feel welcome when they call or stop by your office. If you let others know that they are appreciated, they'll want to give you their best.

3. Pay attention to others. Observe what's going on in other people's lives. Acknowledge their happy milestones and express concern and sympathy for difficult situations such as an illness or death. Make eye contact and address people by their first names. Ask others for their opinions.

4. Practice active listening. Actively listening is a way of demonstrating that you intend to hear and understand another's point of view. It means restating, in your own words, what the other person has said. Your coworkers will appreciate knowing you really do listen to what they have to say.

5. Bring people together. Create an environment that encourages others to work together. Treat everyone equally and don't play favorites. Avoid talking about others behind their backs. Follow up on other people's suggestions or requests. When you make a statement or announcement, check to see that you have been understood. If folks see you as someone solid and fair, they will grow to trust you.

6. Resolve conflicts. Take a step beyond simply bringing people together and become someone who resolves conflicts when they arise. Learn how to be an effective mediator. If coworkers are bickering over personal or professional disagreements, arrange to sit down with both parties and help sort out their differences. By taking on such a leadership role, you will garner respect and admiration from those around you.

7. Communicate clearly. Pay close attention to both what you say and how you say it. Being a clear and effective communicator helps you avoid misunderstandings with coworkers. Verbal eloquence projects an image of intelligence and maturity, no matter what your age. If you tend to blurt out anything that comes to mind, people won't put much weight on your words or opinions.

8. Humor them. Don't be afraid to be funny or clever. Most people are drawn to a person that can make them laugh. Use your sense of humor as an effective tool to lower barriers and gain people's affection.

9. See it from their side. Empathy means being able to put yourself in someone else's shoes and understand how they feel. Try to see things from another person's perspective. You can help yourself with this by staying in touch with your own emotions, since those who are cut off from their feelings are often unable to empathize with others.

10. Don't complain. There is nothing worse than a chronic complainer or whiner. If you simply have to vent about something, save it for your diary. But spare those around you, or else you'll get a bad reputation.

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Putin orders strippers, dancers to entertain Russian soldiers

CC™ Global News

By Dayo Adegoke

In a bid to cheer up and boost the morale of Russian soldiers, President Vladimir Putin has ordered that strippers and pole dancers be sent to the front line to entertain the troops.

The move followed the announcement of Kremlin to honour the Russian soldiers with a medal after the deployment he called the “special military operation.”

The senior commanders have been issued directive to organise the entertainment as Putin’s forces approach the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, ABC News said.

More than 100 girls will be ferried to the front in a fleet of helicopters for a series of “concert shows” at supply bases across the Donbas where troops are given five days of rest and recuperation.

Crates of beer and Russian sausages will be shipped in for the troops and a ceremonial parade is expected on the 24th to mark the start of Russia’s operation and remember the fallen.

News of the ‘raunchy stripping sessions’ was revealed on social media by a Russian officer who announced that troops would be getting a special surprise.

In his post, the tank Colonel, codenamed ‘Armoured Death said, “Our heroes will be given special parties with pole dancing ladies, beer and food as a thank you for their service.

“Events will be held as part of the soldiers’ rest period and aimed to raise the morale of troops who have been fighting in the front line.”  

Wealthy Entrepreneur 'Reversed' His Biological Age with a $2 Million Treatment Program - Ethical concerns here?

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By Alexa Mikhail 

"Bryan Johnson, 45, has a team of more than 30 physicians working to keep him young by trying out the latest treatments Wealthy software entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, 45, has one goal: To have the brain, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, tendons, teeth, skin, hair, bladder, penis and rectum of an 18 year old...."

Bryan Johnson, a wealthy entrepreneur based in Venice California, who is 45 going on 18—is enamored with the idea of being biologically young again. So much so that he is on the path to spending over $2 million this year alone on a host of medical interventions and tests aimed at helping him be younger. They range from electromagnetic pulses to improve the muscles in his pelvic floor to a device calculating the number of erections he has per night, according to a recent profile of the software businessman in Bloomberg. Johnson also routinely has MRIs, and has his body fat, heart rate variability, and blood and stool samples examined. 

Johnson sees a team of 30 doctors for regular, and sometimes invasive, tests for what they have named Project Blueprint, according to Bloomberg. 

The 29-year-old lead doctor and “regenerative medicine physician” on the project Oliver Zolman is dedicated “to help reverse the aging process in every one of Johnson’s organs” and charges up to $1,000 an hour for patients interested in the vast testing that Johnson participates in, Bloomberg reports. 

While the data is preliminary, Johnson has the heart of a 37-year-old, the skin of a 28-year-old, and the lung capacity of an 18-year-old, according to tests his doctors performed. His overall biological age is at least five years younger, per the report. 

“We have not achieved any remarkable results,” Zolman tells Bloomberg. “In Bryan, we have achieved small, reasonable results, and it’s to be expected.”

Johnson, who has a medical facility in his own home, also adheres to a hyper-strict exercise and eating ritual, taking two dozen supplements/other medicines at 5 a.m. each day, consuming 1,977 “vegan calories a day,” exercising for an hour, and hitting the hay at the same time after using blue light evasive glasses. 

“What I do may sound extreme, but I’m trying to prove that self-harm and decay are not inevitable,” he told Bloomberg. Since beginning to see results, he’s continued the project, despite criticism that it’s all a step too far in a way that impedes on the spontaneity that can define living a happy life. 

When Bloomberg reporter Ashlee Vance visited Johnson’s home, he writes, “He could have been mistaken for a big, swollen porcelain doll.” (He had recently undergone a fat injecting face procedure, which he says will help him accumulate more youthful cells, though it produced an allergic reaction.) 

Johnson has made it clear—whether due to a dream of staying fit and young, outliving his own generation, or to simply explore the untapped potential of emerging longevity technology—he is not stopping anytime soon. 

“The whole longevity field is transitioning into a much more rigorous, clinical place,” George Church, a geneticist at Harvard University, tells Bloomberg.

For the majority of people who don’t have the resources to have a medical facility in their home or access a team of doctors and regularly undergo medical tests, there are a myriad of questions—namely, what will this mean for the rest of us? What is the result of this kind of healthcare that allows the ultra-rich to literally descend in age?

For Johnson, though, it’s all fun for now. “If you say that you want to live forever or defeat aging, that’s bad—it’s a rich person thing,” Johnson says to Bloomberg. “If it’s more akin to a professional sport, it’s entertainment. It has the virtues of establishing standards and protocols. It benefits everyone in a systemic way.”

Source: Fortune Well

Don’t vote politicians who’ll drag Nigeria back to dark ages, Buhari tells Nigerians

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“Ironic, considering that is exactly what he (Buhari) basically did…..”

As activities geared towards the 2023 general elections gathers momentum, President Muhammadu Buhari has advised Nigerians against voting politicians who would drag the country back to ‘dark ages.’

He stated this during an event organised by the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, with the theme: “Fighting corruption in Nigeria: The past, the present and the future.”

Buhari said he made sure to leave behind a legacy of ‘zero tolerance,’ for corruption, adding that he expects the next administration to follow the same light.

He said, “I strongly believe that our anti-corruption agencies need to concentrate more on asset forfeiture regimes in addition to prosecution to deny looters the gains from the proceeds of their crime. All looted assets within and outside Nigeria must be recovered and used for the wellbeing of our citizens while the looters will be prosecuted and convicted if found culpable.

“In a matter of weeks, Nigerians will need to go to the polls again to elect their leaders in the general elections. I beseech Nigerians to reject politicians who would drag our country back to the dark ages in which corruption was made the order of the day.

“As I leave office in a matter of months, I have left behind a legacy of zero-tolerance for corruption for our teaming youths and to every citizen. For me, corruption is Evil and must be vehemently rejected in all ramifications by all Nigerians anywhere, anytime. 

“It is by integrity, respect for rule of law, due process and genuine patriotism that we will make Nigeria the nation of our dream.”

In the same vein, Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, Professor Itse Sagay, SAN, lamented that the judiciary has not shown true commitment to the war against corruption.

The Jim Crow Era and the vestige of white supremacy

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Marilyn York: What representing men in divorce taught me about fatherhood

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