Educating & Entertaining Magazine

04/11/2023

Mike The Headless Chicken...

This chicken was Beheaded by the owner in 1945 but only died in 1947.

It lived without a head for almost 2 years and became the most famous bird of its time. It even went on tours and made a lot of money for the owner as more people wanted to see it.

Thousands of people believed it was a spiritual chicken despite the scientific explanations for its survival.

Here's the explanation:
The owner missed the jugular vein and a blood clot formed and prevented the chicken from bleeding to death.
Although its head was severed, most of its brain stem was left on the body. Basic functions like breathing, heart rate, etc as well as most of a chicken's reflex actions are controlled by the brain stem, so Mike The Headless Chicken was able to remain quite healthy for another 18 months without a Head.

Lesson: To The Scientific, Nothing is Terrific. When you understand the science of life, you will stop being superstitious.

Question: If you lived in the 1940s, would you be among those who believed that the chicken had spiritual powers or would you be among those who understood the science of its survival?

Think! 😂

10/08/2023

Do you have a suitable answer to this? Join the conversation to make valuable contributions.

The West struggles to scuttle good intentions in Africa while proposing to replace or introduce unpopular policies in the continent. Why is it so?

10/08/2023

YOUR ATTITUDE IS THE KEY TO YOUR SUCCESS OR FAILURE IN LIFE – FROM THE LITTLE THINGS TO THE BIG ONES
By Emeka Ugwuonye

I am forced by events around us to harmer on this topic for our members. Each of you have the key to your happiness and success or your misery or destruction. That key to either outcome is your attitude. As someone who constantly deal with many people facing stressful and challenging situations in their lives, I constantly see how your attitude to live influence events around you. To help you, I chose to write a post on the subject of attitude and the key to success or failure.

In his famous book, The Law of Human Nature, Robert Greene went to a great and lucid extent to explain the effect and role of our attitudes to our lives. He wrote as follows:

“Each of us has a particular way of looking at the world, of interpreting events and the actions of people around us. That is our attitude, and it determines much of what happens to us in life. … If we feel hostile and suspicious, we make others feel such emotions in our presence. We sabotage our career and relationships by unconsciously creating the circumstances we fear the most…

“What we must understand about the attitude is not only how it colors our perceptions but also how it actively determines what happens to us in life – our health, our relations with people, and our success. Our attitude has a self-fulfilling dynamic.

“The way we think about people tends to have a life effect upon them. If we feel hostile and critical, we tend to inspire critical emotions in other people in return. If we feel defensive, we make other feel defensive.”

To understand the importance of attitude, I will tell you a story. There was a story of two men walking on the same bush path at night in the dark. Something scratched the first man’s foot. He thought it was a toad. It was actually poisonous snake that bit him. But because he assumed it was a toad, he did not worry and nothing happened to him. A few minute later on the same spot, something scratched the foot of the second man. He thought it was a snake bite. In fact, it was a toad that scratched him. But because he thought it was a snake bite, he died the next morning. Your mental predisposition is your attitude. It locks on to the dynamics of your perception of reality and what you think becomes your reality. What you think eventually happens to you.

Another way for me to explain the meaning of attitude and how it affects you is to simply ask you: Why is it that no single thing really means exactly the same thing to two people? Even for two identical twins, no one thing affects them the same way. Everything always means slightly different things to any given two people. The philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer stated it thus: “This is why the same external events or circumstances affect no two people alike; even with perfectly similar surroundings every one lives in a world of his own”.

What makes your world unique is your attitude. The unique way you see the world is your attitude. It could be positive and it could be negative. However, attitude is manageable and controllable, even though it could be originally influenced by many factors including genetics, upbringing, and society around you. You can change it if you understand the role it plays in your life. To emphasis the fact that we can change our attitude, William James wrote: “The greatest discovery of my generation is the fact that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitude of mind.”

In our context within DPA, how does attitude play in your dealings with others? I will give you just one illustration. Sometimes, we are not able to meet the timeframe we set for various activities. For instance, somebody may be owing you money and you call DPA for help, and I promise to write a letter to the person. I may forget because other urgent matters distracted me. Of course, you are disappointed that I did not send the letter. How do you react to this? Different people will react differently. Their reaction will depend on their attitudes. Now, I will show you how different attitude produce different results, as follows:

PERSON A:
Will send a message and say: “DD, please I am still expecting the letter. This is just to remind you. I know you are busy”.

PERSON B:
Will send a message and say: “I am disappointed that you did not send the letter you promised, even after I registered. I can’t believe that after registering you would abandon me and ignore me while attending to others. I wonder if DPA is a scam”.

Remember that the only thing that happened was just that I was overwhelmed by workload. How do you think I would react to these two people? I will feel sorry for not attending to PERSON A and I will do everything to attend to her. However, PERSON B has placed me on the defensive. I realized that the only mistake I made was to have promised to write the letter the next day. Perhaps, I would have been better off if I had told her I would write the letter next week instead of next day. In dealing with her next time, I will have to be very careful and very guarded. Besides, if I feel pressured to write that letter, I might not be so passionate about it. I am no longer writing to get back her money. I am writing just to make sure she would not say I did not write. (I am not just talking about myself. I am telling you how a normal person would react to that situation).

The difference between PERSON A and PERSON B is that A has a positive attitude to life. She is able to interpret what happened with an open mind knowing that indeed, there could be a good reason for me not keeping my promise. Yes, it is possible that I had a good reason for not doing the work or that I had no reason for not doing the work. Faced with the possibility of good and bad reason, A chose to assume the good reason, while B chose to assume the bad reason. To see how important attitude is, the reactions of A and B will result in totally different outcome and it will change my relationship with them in the future. When I am dealing A, I am free and I am optimistic and I will always give her my best estimate of time. But when I am dealing with B, I will actually avoid making any promises to her. I will start saying: “I am not sure when to write to them” or “I really don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to handle this situation. It is beyond me”. I am just avoid placing myself in a situation where B will judge and criticize me. Eventually, I will not want to do business with B.

Many of us are going through life, facing all manner of challenges and obstacles. We don’t know why things are not working well with us, why many people are disappointing us and betraying us, why we are not having customers in our business, why our landlords are all wicked, why men are always disappointing us, why we cannot find good lovers, etc. The fact is that we should look at our attitudes. We should adopt more positive attitude. We should learn that everything has more than one way to look at it – the positive way and the negative way. Looking at it the positive way boosts our morale and highs our spirts, and looking at it the negative way depresses us and brings out the beast in us. We need to be able to choose the positive way. The ability to control your choice (your reaction to a situation) is a matter of attitude.

Let me say it in a way you will always remember this: It is not what happens to you that will kill you, but rather, it is how you react to that thing. A man was in my office yesterday and he wanted to tell me what caused his marriage to break down. I kept trying to stop him. I told him not to bother to tell me what his wife did that caused him to file for divorce. I told him that I would have been interested in hearing it if he was still interested in reconciliation. But since he already filed for divorce, there was no need. I wasn’t really interested. But he went ahead to tell me. When he finished, I told him that the same or worse things had happened to other men and they are still in their marriages. So, what his wife did was not the true cause of the breakdown of their marriage. He was shocked. I had to calmly explain to him that he had a role in what happened. I said: “Yes, your wife misbehaved. That was her own role. But that was not enough to cause the marriage to break down. Something else happened in addition to what your wife did. That something else was the failure of forgiveness” (ie, his reaction to what his wife did). He was shocked. His wife’s behavior was what happened to him. His failure to forgive her was his reaction to his wife’s behavior. The way you respond to what happened to you depends on your attitude, and, in the end, that is what determines the outcome.

Learn to have great and positive attitude. That will give you tremendous power and control over your destiny. I wish I would have more time to teach on this subject.

25/06/2023

The West struggles to scuttle good intentions in Africa while proposing to replace or introduce unpopular policies in the continent. Why is it so?

16/06/2023

I think it's time National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) should be scrapped and replaced with another robust skill that can eradicate poverty and create jobs through entrepreneurship. I suggest to replace NYSC with a skill acquisition programme, after which at ...

29/01/2023

The trashy son-in-law was bullied for three years. then everybody got shocked when they knew his true

24/07/2022

A 16th-century painting showing the skinning alive of a corrupt judge, Sisamnes, in the year 500BC.
Sisamnes was a corrupt royal judge at the time of Cambyses ll in Persia.

It was discovered that he took a bribe in court and passed an unfair judgement. As a consequence, the king ordered that he be arrested for his corruption and ordered that he be skinned alive. Before passing judgement the king asked Sisamnes who he wished to nominate as his successor. Sisamnes, in his greed, chose his son, Otanes.

The king agreed and appointed Otanes to replace his father. He subsequently passed judgement and ordered that Sisamnes removed skin should be used to upholster the seat on which the new judge would sit in court to remind him of the potential consequences of corruption.

Otanes, in his deliberations, was forced to always remember that he was always sitting on the skin of his executed father. This helped to ensure fairness and equity in all his hearings, deliberations and sentences.

TheZambiai

08/03/2022

Learn to let go of the old to make room for the new. We are taught all our lives to hold on. Most of the time it's out of fear. But when you hold onto things that are no longer for you, you prevent the things that are actually supposed to show up from arriving. ⁠
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You stop yourself from receiving the gifts of life. ⁠
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The things in the past are gone. They’ve drifted off into the ether. You can’t go back and change them. You can’t redo them. Those moments cannot be touched. All you have is now, this moment...and what you do in this moment determines the story that exists in the future. ⁠
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It’s hard to let go. I know. It’s one of the greatest lessons I keep learning over and over again. But when you do, there’s so much room for possibility. ⁠
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You are free to create. ⁠
Free to be. ⁠
Free to choose.⁠ ⁠
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Free to write the story in any way you see fit. ⁠
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The most important part of all of this is that you can’t let the pains of the past prevent you from getting back out there in the world and trying your best again. ⁠
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You’re going to get hurt form time to time. It’s inevitable. But refusing to play at all because you’re scared delivers the greatest pain of all - regret. ⁠
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You have to be willing to lose...in order to win. In everything. You only learn and grow when you put your heart on the line. It’s not the end of the world if you lose. It’s just a moment in time. ⁠
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Get back out there and try again. ⁠
Give it your all. ⁠
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Learn from the past and move forward with a deeper wisdom. ⁠
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You can do this.

The Better Man Project

09/12/2021

Dear Parents,

We have Dowen colleges in our homes, in our environments, everywhere!

Yes, when you as a parent is beating the house help like an animal, that child of yours is watching and learning.

When you are bragging, "I will kill you and nothing will happen" your child's subconscious mind is recording these.

When you keep on defending and denying your child's misbehavior at home and elsewhere instead of scolding and beating the demon out of him or her early enough, you are rearing a potential monster.

When you boast in front of your children how you dealt with this person or that person, they are learning from you...

Meanwhile, always encourage your children to speak up and speak out no matter what. Don't always be in a haste to shout them down and assume you know what they wanted to say or why.

If a child in boarding school starts developing cold feet on the day he should be going back to school, please don't dismiss it with, "he or she is missing us already". There may be a more serious reason.

If a child suggests a change of school, please try and find out why. Create that atmosphere of freedom so that your children will be able to tell you things.

Remember, in that elite school you are sending your school to are also children of kidnappers, bandits, armed robbers, 'mkpulu mili' sellers and users, domestic violent men and women, touts, etc who have made money from their various illicit ways and can afford the fees.

To some parents, boarding schools are training grounds for future leaders. To others, it's a correctional centre for badly raised children. Know this and be on guard always.

Condolences to the family of Sylvester Oromoni
*copied*

08/12/2021

I want children to be s*xually educated not only for their awareness of the hows and whys of s*x but also the when. I think this is the most essential part of s*xual education. As much as kids and teenagers should understand the concept of reproductive systems and their s*xual functions and tendencies, they also have to understand that such sensual desires play a significant role in a particular stage of a person's life. Hence, they must know that s*xual in*******se will eventually take place, but it does not have to be so soon. There are times to be young and play, there are times to be adventurous and curious, and there are times to be submissive to hormonal cravings or s*x..

You see, being s*xually educated is also understanding the when of s*x and every child must realize that. Growing up is inevitable but staying young is impossible, thus, if you are a kid then choose to be a kid.

Dear Parents!
Let not the word "S*x is a sin" be the only thing you tell your children "Kids or Teenagers"
Teach them rightly, before the evil soul or internet do otherwise
From Dr. Nana Hauwa Page.

05/12/2021

Don't wait till someday, there is always something to be happy about today.

I can say this without a doubt, If you can look deeply at the present, you will always find something to be happy about.

Sadness needs time, it can not thrive when you live in the now. Fill every thought with something positive, appreciate every moment as they unfold and you will always live a happy life.

Birds have bills to pay but they keep on singing. Happiness is not absence of problems, but the presence of gratitude even in the midst of the problems.

That's the kind of attitude you must have to always be happy.

I know you want more, but be happy with what you have now, only then can you experience the abundance the present brings.

If you are not happy where you are, you won't be when you get to where you are going.

Life is short, You won't live forever, so be happy now or never.

20/11/2021

Test you quantitative reasoning? 😂

20/11/2021

How does kindness connect us with each other?

The very nature of humans is to be kind but in today’s world people are forgetting the very basis of their existence. Everyone is so involved in their own world that they don’t even look at those, who are in need of help.

The loss of kindness has led to loss of connection between people. The connection that is left between people, is just a kind of trade, mere give and take. The loss of soulful connection has left people feeling lonely, sad and depressed. Living your life is not only about you, it's about everyone who surrounds you.

Help the ones who need and be generous in whatever capacity you can. Be kind to every soul, let the connection be beautiful.

16/11/2021

Why doesn't true success need bragging?

The true meaning of success is not about achieving materialistic happiness but personal satisfaction. People who realise this, don’t go out and about telling everyone what they have achieved.

Success brings the feeling of attainment and when we attain something, we feel content. When you start bragging about what you have achieved, it means that your success still feels empty and you need validation from others to fill this emptiness. Real success makes you feel so complete that you want to share it by inspiring others. Inspiration doesn’t need a loud voice. It can be heard by others even silently.

Work hard, focus and go for your dreams and when you reach the top, stay grounded. You can inspire others more by staying humble than by making a loud noise.

14/11/2021

Do you understand your loved one's silence?

Silence is a way many people communicate their feelings. Sometimes it hides their anger but most of the times it hides people's pain.

Our loved ones are the people we rely for emotional communication. There are times when we feel like there is no one who can understand us. Although, we may have people around us but we are hesitant to share our feelings. This is because either we have experienced heart break or our voice has been ignored many times. This makes us feel unworthy and unvalued. So to avoid any confronting situation,we choose to become silent.

If you find your loved one has become quiet, speak to them. There might be something bothering them. Give attention to what they say, make them feel valued and help them heal.

13/11/2021

If you ever feel small to achieve a big dream, remind yourself that you are limitless.

Dreams are possibilities and with our inner strength we can turn any dream into a reality. When a dream is big, we face bigger challenges in life. These challenges may bring you at the verge of breaking and giving up but at that time you must remember that you wanted to achieve that goal for a reason and that reason will bring back your lost strength.

Never give up on a dream if it seems difficult. It may require more effort and patience but in the end what you will achieve is not just your dream but find your limitless strength.

04/11/2021

OBI CUBANA AND EFCC: THE INVESTIGATION FOR MONEY LAUNDERING IS JUSTIFIED
(By Emeka Ugwuonye, Esquire)

In my initial post on this subject, I merely highlighted the complex nature of the story of the arrest of Obi Cubana by the EFCC. I was working against the background of intuitive or cognitive challenges an average person in Nigeria might have when he hears that Obi Cubana was arrested and detained by the EFCC. Many see Obi Cubana just as a hardworking Igbo businessman who succeeded. And to that extent, they see him as a model Also, they will interpret anything the government does with him with some ethnic colorations. This perception of Obi Cubana was helped, ironically, by his recent event in his hometown, Oba. That is the event marking the burial of his mother.

The event in question was such a massive show and display of a theatrical dimension comparable to the Roman circuses organized by Julius Caesar. It was a display of who is who in the Nigerian entertainment and celerity community. It even featured controversial personalities such as Police Commissioner Abba Kyari strategically featured standing next to Obi Cubana and showering praises on him. The event involved an incredible display of cash in a countless and uncontrollable manner. And that was the problem for the government, which will be discussed here.

For an average person, (indeed, for any person that is not very sophisticated), what happened at Obi Cubana’s event was just fun and great entertainment. But for an educated mind, what happened was so troubling, it will threaten any government of the world and every government would move in to reign stop it. (In fact, Obi Cubana should have been investigated within 24 hours after the event). The purpose of this post is to draw the attention of the reader to some aspect of the Obi Cubana event that he might never have noticed. Let me develop my argument with simple easy-to-understand illustrations.

First, the control of the supply of money, the use of money, the circulation of money are key functions of every government in this world. Often, many think that it is just about respect to money itself or to avoid money being stained with dirt and drinks and food in the party that is in issue. Some people think that the government just doesn’t want people stepping on the notes with their dirty shoes. No, my friend. It is much more than that. The government is interested in controlling the sources of money and the value allocational implications of money in motion.

Second, the government has a duty to make sure that the laws are obeyed. We refer to this as the law-and-order function of the government. This function becomes a beat more nuanced when it comes to the duty of the government to identify loopholes in the laws and plugging such loopholes in a timely manner.

Third, of all crimes, one of the types that threatens government the most is organized crimes or crimes committed by powerful and well-connected people. Money laundering is the favorite and essential crime among powerful crime groups or crime personalities. And now the EFCC arrested Obi Cubana on the suspicion of money laundering.

Before we define the meaning of money laundering, remember again the three points above – First, government must control the supply and use of money. Second, government must identify and plug loopholes in the criminal laws. Third, government must watch out for organized crimes by powerful criminal groups and must certainly target money laundering, specifically.

Money laundering is defined as “the concealment of the origins of illegally obtained money, typically by means of transfers involving foreign banks or legitimate businesses”. A source from the Corporate Finance Institute defined it in a more encompassing manner to reveal the requisite motives, thus: “Money laundering is a process that criminals use in an attempt to hide the illegal source of their income. By passing money through complex transfers and transactions, or through a series of businesses, the money is “cleaned” of its illegitimate origin and made to appear as legitimate business profits.”

Don’t get me wrong. I am not here to suggest that Obi Cubana is a criminal or that he has committed any crimes. In fact, I do not have any information that would lead me to conclude affirmatively that there was any crime. However, the law says that the police must have a reasonable suspicion that a person has committed a crime before the police can arrest that person. For the purpose of this point, the EFCC is treated as the same as the police. I acknowledge that inn Nigeria, the police have flouted this basic requirement of the law and arrested people even without a reasonable suspicion. The EFCC arrested Obi Cubana. Obi Cubana has not yet formally challenged his arrest. So, we can presume that there was a reasonable suspicion that he committed the crime of money laundering. We can also safely assume that the EFCC sees the Obi Cubana event at Oba as part of the money laundering offenses Cubana is suspected of.

How could the Obi Cubana event in Oba be linked to money laundering? This question is very easy to answer. First, let us look at the what happened at that event in order to understand the argument. The event showed a scenario where countless amounts of money were paid to a person by unknown or countless number of people. The amount of money that exchanged hand could not be objectively verified. It is up to Obi Cubana to say how much was involved. If he says it was 50 million, nobody can challenge it with evidence. If he says that it was 50 billion, nobody can challenge it with evidence. (It could be a source of endless argument and dispute). So, Obi Cubana event created an opportunity for a man to claim that he received 50 million or 50 billion, and there will be no way to confirm the truth either way. That in itself is a problem for any government that has the duty to control the supply of money. (Are you getting my point?)

Also, nobody knew who exactly those people that gave money to Cubana or how much each person gave. Now, this is the problem. Let us assume (just for the sake of argument) that Obi Cubana were a drug dealer or that he has a secrete money minting machine somewhere. Let us assume (also for the sake of argument) that Obi Cubana has minted or received 50 billion naira from such illegal operation and has that money in boxes of cash hidden somewhere. His problem would be how to move that money into circulation and into the banking system without anyone knowing that he got the money from illegal operations (That is: how to launder the money). This is actually what money laundering law is there to prevent.

(Worldwide, there are many ways to move this sort of illegal cash into the system. That is: there are many ways to launder such illegally obtained cash. Let me mention two ways. One, you have a night-club. Every night, you mix some of the illegal cash with the money into the money you received from the sale of drinks at the night club. You take the whole money and walk into to the bank with a bag of cash the next day and deposit the cash and record it as sales from the club. Another way is through having a church. Every Monday morning, the pastor takes bags of cash to the bank as church offerings. So, a criminal can actually launder money through the churches. But one problem is that the church will have to find a way to move the money back to the criminal. This makes the church option less attractive. But where the criminal happens to own the clubs, he will easily move the money as he pleases).

Okay, but what if the clubs cannot move all the money fast enough? You cannot tell the bank that you collected 1 billion last night from a night club. They will suspect you because the figure is too much. So, what if you device another way to do it. You just distribute 10 million among 40 of your best friends and arrange a party where they will each “spray” you with 10 million. (And to make sure that none of those friends will cheat you, you make sure they see you and Abba Kyari as friends: that sends a message to them that if they don’t do as agreed, you will have Abba Kyari to arrest them and frame them up for kidnapping). And you take the 2 billion to the bank and enter it as gifts received from well-wishers and friends at your party event. Smart, isn’t it! Can you see that? And you can always find a justification to organize more and more such party events. This year, it is your mother’s burial. Next year, it would be your birthday party or your wedding anniversary. More parties and more of the same money movements.

And because the money was never countable, you can keep taking any figure you like to the bank. It is still part of the gifts you received. You can argue that it was so much that you could not bring all of them in at once, for fear of robbers. So, you take them to the bank in batches of 10 billion every week. Once the bank is allowed to receive money from you under the tag “money received as gifts from friends and well-wishers” there is no limit to what they can receive.

Okay, let us say that Obi Cubana is purely a legitimate businessman, that he just was loved by many friends and they came out and gave him gifts on their own free will, let us assume that. But can you see that powerful criminals will see in what happened an opportunity to use it to launder money? So, there is the loophole. Obi Cubana’s party event has established a loophole in the system that criminals (not Obi Cubana) will like to exploit. Can you see that? Therefore, any serious government should have more than enough reasons to go after Obi Cubana and investigate his business operations contently.

I have severally criticized EFCC for political entanglement, internal corruption and incompetence. But on this Obi Cubana’s arrest and investigation, I give them A+. They are doing the right thing and I wish they would continue. Obi Cubana’s activities met all the essential requirement for him to be viewed with suspicion. All the factors came together to make him a suspect. The government must send a message across to all that if you engage in certain activities or create certain loopholes that could cause government to lose the ability to control the supply of currency, the government will come after you.

I hope this analysis will help you understand what is at stake in the Obi Cubana investigation. Do not always allow sentiments and emotions to overwhelm your judgment. Have an open mind that can probe ideas and issues. Everything is not about our tribal differences. Everything is not about our religious differences. Understand the trends and ideas first, before you delve into the tribal and religious possibilities.

NOTE: If you like the analysis in this post, invite your friends to join the forum this forum. And share the post on your wall and groups.

Emeka Ugwuonye, Esquire