Politics in Nigeria Essay

Is there any lesson to be learnt in the war on terror where the proponents vowed never to dialogue or negotiate with terrorists, only to now realize, after the demise of thousands and loss of billions of dollars, that dialogue is the only option left for a lasting peace in Iraq and Afghanistan? Do we see such favour and sensationalism by the press on these botched attempts as we witness when the culprits happen to be Muslims? What would have happened if those Christians had succeeded in carrying out the blast? In a nation where the press in mainly in the hands of people of a particular faith, it is hard to be neutral in their reportage of these kinds of events; especially if it reinforces a stereotype and serves a hot selling item of news. John Akpava was caught with weapons at a Ministerial Press Briefing held at Radio House, Abuja. What would the press have done with this story if John Akpava were a Muslim? A ‘suicide’ bomber was allowed into the premises of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN), Jos, by a fellow member of the church, who detonated explosives that led to the death of 8 persons; 38 others were seriously injured. The Sun Newspaper of Tuesday, March 6th, 2012 reported that the said Boko Haram suicide bomber was identified by The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), as Mr. Adams Joseph Ashaba, ‘who allegedly masterminded the bombing of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) in Jos, the Plateau State capital on February 26, disclosing, that he was actually a member of the Church.’ In another report on Daily Trust of Monday, February 27th, 2012, 8 members of the same (COCIN) were arrested this time in Bauchi with explosive devices desiring to set ablaze the church. Their arrest was almost thwarted by some Christians, but for the timely intervention of the Police. The above examples and that of the arrest of Augustine Effiong of Akwa Ibon origin who was reported by Thisday of May 21st, 2012, to have confessed his involvement in the BUK bombings, should make Muslim and Christian leaders realise that we are all in this together, and that we should work in harmony to bring about workable solution to the problem of insecurity in Nigeria. We have to do this. The problems of this country could only be solved by Nigerians. Yes, we can listen to good advice from abroad, and learn from other people’s experiences on similar matters. The ambivalence of the sacred is not to be seen as a bad thing. A polarised world is the one which should be strange. What we hold dear are not the same; our understanding of who God is and what His Laws are is also varied and diverse. The only thing we can firmly attest to as people is that we are brothers in humanity. The multiplicity of religions is a manifestation of our diverse backgrounds and reasoning. While some are content to worship the air and trees; others worship a fellow being as god. Look at Christianity and Islam for example: In either faith, we have hundreds of sects and variants. Each sect or variant in turn has its own idiosyncrasies and modes of worship and body of beliefs. The realisation that every time you are looking at the number 6 on a table, another sees the number 9 across that table helps to devise means to study and tolerate conflicting ideologies. While Muslims have been stereotypically dubbed as violent, Christians have had their share of stereotypes too. A typical uninformed Muslim thinks all Christians are Crusaders, trying to snuff out the light of Islam. He detests the Christians in his surroundings and distrusts them. When he meets the right Christian, he is confused and disorientated. He asks more and learns; he deepens his understanding and the shallowness of undue hate goes away. We also have stories of Christians referring to Muslims as idolaters and heathens who slaughter a ram every year to their god. One of such ignoramuses even wrote a book he titled â€Å"Who is This Allah?† He used that rare opportunity to show just how ignorant he is. The average uninformed Christian distrusts and despises the Muslims. The irresponsible journalism tactics employed by some media houses have also helped fuel the problem. The annual holidays connected to the Christian faith given by the Federal Government and most state governments are the Christian New Year, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Christmas and Boxing Day. We also have the weekly holidays of Saturday and Sunday to enable them go and worship. On the Muslim side we have the yearly holidays of Eidul Adha, Eidul Fitr and Mawlidun Nabiyy. The Osun state governor decided to give the Muslims their right by making 15th November, which corresponds to 1st Muharram a public holiday. Objectively, no one should have any issues with that; after all, are citizens are equal and what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander; but alas! That was not to be! The Christain owned Punch newspaper wrote an editorial condemning it and saying Nigeria is secular. How convenient! Muslims say he was sent by God as a messenger, bearer of glad tidings and warner against the impending doom of the end of time. They revere him and truly believe in him. They do not elevate him to a rank above prophethood. Any attack on his personality is an affront on their faith. The Muslims believe that Jesus (or ‘Eesa) the son of the Virgin Mary is alive, never died or resurrected, ascended to the heavens until his return, is a great prophet who was born in one of the four ways God perpetuates life. Any insult on him is an affront on the Muslim faith and any who disbelieves in him is not a Muslim. The Christians have two main beliefs about him. One says he is in fact God, Lord and Saviour; a part of a triune while the other contends that he was sent by God but lesser than God. These are clearly opposing views about the same people! Do we go out and persecute those who do not share the same sets of beliefs with us? Only a fool will answer in the affirmative! This madness must stop, and to stop it, we must know ourselves and what we hold dear better; that is no fool’s calling. We know and believe that if more of us know what you and I know today and if more are willing to practise our faiths to the letter, there will be little or no bloodshed. Over centuries Muslims and Christians and Jews have been murdered for the simple reason that they belong to a different faith; we can and must stop it.

Case Study on QR Codes

Introduction of QR codes contributed significantly improvement of advertising and enhancing efficiency for an organization. The codes help an organization to offer customers a chance to obtain extra information about the product or the company itself. QR codes offer companies an excellent chance for advertising because the symbols used can be used be converted into video and thus helping to convey the message to the customer. The QR code works in such away a way that the company uses a QR code generator to design a readable and interesting message (Dacko, 2012). For the customer to see or read the message or the content of the QR code, they should have a smart phone which has QR reader application. One of the advantages of QR code over bar codes is that consumers will tend to spend more time on the company’s website which may influence their decision to buy. QR codes are capable of holding bulk information which makes it very convenient for companies using it. This report anal yzes how QR codes influences the decision making processes for individual consumers. It also analyzes the use of the codes in marketing and how efficient they are. 1. QR codes are used in several stages of consumer decision making process. The first stage in which QR codes are used by decision makers is the information searching stage. This is the stage where a customer gathers information about a particular product or line of product after identifying his/her needs. Searching of information helps the consumer to make informed purchase decisions. Since QR code offers quick access to a company’s information, the consumer can therefore obtain useful information from the website (Bryson & Daniels, 2015). The website may contain information on product offered, description, prices, after sale services offered and other useful information on the product that the consumer wants to buy. Therefore, by using QR codes, a company such as Gellerie can provide information on a product to the consumers easily. QR codes are also useful in evaluation of alternatives by the consumer. The consumer can scan the QR code and get access to the different types of products offered by a particular company. For example a McDonald’s customer can identify th e available flavors and varieties of Pizza by using QR codes (Haase, 2011). A customer can also compare different companies by accessing their QR codes. QR is also important in the post purchase evaluation. Consumers can compare what they bought with what was promised in the QR code. Consumers also obtain usage prescriptions and manual for machines and equipment to guide them in using the product. 2. There is huge marketing opportunity in the service sector. This is because, QR codes helps in making provision of services more efficient. This is therefore very important since the aim of every service provider is to offer efficient and reliable services to its customers. QR codes can be used in the retail business to check information on a product. An example is when a consumer wants to buy a product in a supermarket; he/she can scan the QR code to obtain information on the manufacturer of the product. A QR code can also be used in the financial services industry. Banks can place QR codes in their products such as cheques which customers can scan to get information on the state of their account and market the institution to its customers. The banks can include information on products offered and interest rates. QR codes can also be used in the health services sector. An example is an hospital issuing its patients QR codes to identify the period of time it will take them to be s erved and their number in the queue (Kotler, Armstrong, & Harris, 2017).This will help to eliminate physical queuing by patients. In the transport industry, QR codes can be used in place of paper tickets. Customers can book to travel online and then obtain a unique QR code which contains their identification details and all other relevant information. 3. The fact that use of QR codes help in bypassing multiple layers of distribution and support marketing. This not only applies in the goods market as well as in the service market. The advantages of bypassing multiple layers of distribution in the service sector include; Increasing efficiency in an organization by reducing the time taken to serve each customer. This happens by reducing the procedures that a customer should go through before getting the service they require. The use of QR codes are important in reducing layers of distribution by making it possible for customers to obtain some services online instead of physically. QR codes helps an organization to market the services it offers by giving customers QR through which they can access extra information about the company (Russell, 2010). By reducing support services, the organization will be able to reduce costs that it would have otherwise incurred and therefore its important in reducing costs which in turn increase profit margins. The level of customer satisfaction is   also increased when layers of distribution reduce. This is very important in maintaining existing customers by an organization. 4. QR codes affect perceived risks of a product through various ways. One of the ways in which the use of QR codes has affected the perceived risk in the service industry is that it has reduced the risk of delay in getting services. Time Is a very important factor especially in the service industry and therefore, there is always a risk not getting the services a consumer needed on time. Since use of QR codes helps in reducing distribution layers and reducing the time taken to serve each customer, the use of QR codes will reduce the perceived risk of delay in service delivery. QR codes also reduce the perceived risk of getting poor services from an organization (Woodall, 2007). By using the QR codes, customers are assured of good services from the service provider since the QR code offers important information on the services offered and the organization itself. The use of QR codes helps to reduce the perceived risk of loss of confidentiality. Since most consumers of services are ver y concerned about confidentiality, the use of QR code will help reduce the risk of unauthorized persons gaining access to their private information. 5. Use of QR codes has been very fundamental in improving service support and customer satisfaction both in the service industry and the product market. There are other forms of interactive content that can be developed to improve service delivery. One of this content is the development of a self service application that can be used by customers to obtain services online. This will help the customers to get the service they require very quickly and conveniently without having to visit the facility physically. Development of a machine that can be used to make deposits in the bank like an ATM is used for withdrawing would be important in improving services and customer satisfaction in the financial services industry. This will help in eliminating long queues in the banks. QR code should be used by companies more in promoting and advertising their products and services. This will help in reducing the costs incurred by organization in advertising. Organizations should be innovative and embrace the use of interactive technology in adding value to the services offered to consumers Bryson, J. R., & Daniels, P. W. (2015). Handbook of Service Business: Management, Marketing, Innovation and Internationalisation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. Dacko, S. (2012). Time?of?day services marketing. Journal Of Services Marketing, 26(5), 375-388. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/08876041211245290 Haase, M. (2011). Service-Dominant Logic for Marketing. Marketing ZFP, 33(2), 98-110. https://dx.doi.org/10.15358/0344-1369-2011-2-98 Information Resources Management Association. (2016). Web-based services: Concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications. Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., & Harris, L. (2017). Principles of marketing (1st ed.). New York: Pearson. Russell, E. (2010). The fundamentals of marketing (1st ed.). Lausanne: AVA Academia. Woodall, T. (2007). New marketing, improved marketing, apocryphal marketing. European Journal Of Marketing, 41(11/12), 1284-1296. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03090560710821170

Curriculum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Curriculum - Essay Example These include the â€Å"explosion of technology, recession, public sector innovation, and new commitment to attain standards† (23). In a gist, the authors foresee the growing demand for public schools to maximize funding and resources while attaining their goals at the same time. The three forms of schooling that Hill and Johnston have observed and foresee to be the new direction for public schools are virtual, hybrid and broker schools. Virtual schools are those that offer online courses where students get access to education through computer technology; hybrid schools are schools that combine fulltime, contractual and technology-driven instructors, whereas broker schools are schools that hire teachers on a contractual or pay-per-course basis. The implications of these different school forms to curriculum and instruction are tremendous. As the authors provide, there will be flexible hours of schooling, lesser tasks among school leaders and teachers, and a wider coverage of in struction. However, the authors overlook the point that the transformation may greatly impact the quality of instruction to be provided. Basically, individual monitoring may be less, thus assessment of individual needs and success will be inadequate. Moreover, the transformation might neglect students with special needs, thus making NCLB efforts in vain. Work Cited Hill, Paul and Johnston, Michael.

When henry the VIII became head of church of england was power Essay

When henry the VIII became head of church of england was power confered or confirmd on him by the parliament - Essay Example The Act in Restraint of Appeals partially accepted the Kings position as Supreme Head of both church and state, although it also upheld Cromwells idea that the king- through Parliament controlled the church. Supremacy was a formal recognition of a supremacy which already existed, whilst Cromwell believed that Parliament was needed to create a royal supremacy. Henry now showed his grand pretensions by stating that he was restoring his imperial rights that had been deprived from him and his predecessors by the Papacy itself.2 The nature and effect of the supremacy is of fundamental importance to obtain an understanding of how the English church was to develop. This was and would not be a Reformation from the bottom up or inspired by religious radicals. It was officially sanctioned Reformation from the top to the bottom. For anybody wishing to advance it further or halt it completely against official government policy was brave, devout or foolish. 3 With the Act of Supremacy Henry had gained the right for himself and his heirs to have political, social and religious control over the Church in England. The pace and direction of reforms thus came under the control of the state. The government therefore would only introduce reforms it considered politically expedient. An Act of Succession was also passed placing the children of the Boleyn marriage in the line of succession. Much to Henrys disappointment Anne had given birth to Elizabeth and not the son he wanted and changed so much to obtain. He was not to know that Elizabeth would reign longer than either Mary or Edward, and whilst maybe not as great as her reputation was certainly the most successful of his children. It became treason to deny the Supremacy, the order of Succession and Annes position as Queen, this legislation punished some devout Catholics both high ranking and low ranking.4 The passing of the Act of Supremacy in

Walmart strategy in China Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Walmart strategy in China - Research Paper Example These include cost controls, aiming at neglected niche, employees, suppliers, and distribution system among others (St-Maurice, Claudia, and Hsinhsin, 2008). In reference to Mr. Chan an economist in China, a greater number of businesses emphasis on fresh foods selection, thus visit a Walmart at most twice a day. He also argues that an upscale retailer in the country contrasts with the budget conscious reflection, thus developing at an exceptionally high rate. This is the strategy behind its success in USA (St-Maurice, Claudia, and Hsinhsin, 2008). On the other hand, Caffefour refers to international hyper chains located in Courcouronnes. This is in France. They are the largest hypermarkets in the world. The structure of these stores favors areas with high population than Walmart markets. This is an evident that China will suit the Carrefour strategy. In reference to the SWOT analysis, factors favoring the prosperity of Caffefour companies are more than those favoring Walmart. In reference to China’s politics, there is a sustainable environment, meaning that threats are minimal. However, the two strategies have different strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. China being the nation with the highest population favors hypermarket as consumers will get attendance under one roof (St-Maurice, Claudia, and Hsinhsin,

The Snows of Kilimanjaro Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Snows of Kilimanjaro - Research Paper Example "The Snows of Kilimanjaro† reveal that pursuing a life filled with materialism leads to regret, depression, obsession, and ultimately, death. It was also Hemingway who said that all fiction is autobiographical, in the sense that it is difficult for a writer to totally invent the materials for a story; it has to come from somewhere such as things that have actually happened, and the writer subconsciously utilizes the materials in his life experiences. Many of Hemingway's stories have a strong biographical background in them, because he had actually experienced all this in his frequent travels and adventures like big-game hunting, deep-sea fishing, and bullfighting. His prior training as a newspaper reporter and journalist also honed his writing style. It is not surprising this darker side of life may have influenced him to take his own life. But his suicide does not in any way detract from his iconic accomplishment as one of the most brilliant American writers. Discussion Mount Kilimanjaro is a mountain peak found in the African country of Tanzania. It is actually a dormant volcanic mountain that has three cones, namely Shira, Kibo, and Mawenzi. Tanzania is located on the eastern part of Africa, bordered by the countries of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Zambia, and Mozambique. The capital city of Dar es Salaam that faces the Indian Ocean to the east is the main commercial and political hub of this country. Its name was derived from the union of its two big states, Tanganyika and Zanzibar. But since 1996, the government moved its seat to the city of Dodoma, although Dar es Salaam is still its chief gateway to sea trade and also of its landlocked neighbors to the north, west, and south. A key attraction of Mt. Kilimanjaro is its being the highest mountain in the African continent. It rises to a height of 19,340 feet and offers scenic views for miles around, as the roof of Africa. Kilimanjaro has a temperate climate comprising five zones, and has uni que fauna and flora in huge rain forests, in addition to fantastic volcanic lava formations, and also glaciers. To climb to the top and sleep on the volcano's crater floor is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The sheer majesty of Mt. Kilimanjaro attracts tourists from all over the world, paying substantial fees for a unique climb on this unique mountain. Its lofty heights invite all sorts of feelings, emotions, thoughts, and even contemplation on the meaning of life itself. This is the same mountain that Hemingway had immortalized in the title of his novel, having climbed it himself at a time when Africa was still largely unexplored during the period of empire and in the heyday of colonialism. The white settlers, adventurers, explorers, and administrators were looked up to by the black natives. Western academics studied the local cultures of the various tribes before these will disappear forever, tainted and influenced by the fast influx of Western civilization and gradually mo lded into the Western way of life and by propagation of religion. It was

Discussion- CH5 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion- CH5 - Coursework Example Bank loans are not accompanied by any ownership condition. In addition, the bank personnel are not involved in the running of the business (Sloman and Sutcliffe, 104). The disadvantage of loan is that they are difficult to obtain and also the borrowers need to provide their personal guarantees. The pros of equity financing include no payment of interest. The investors are not paid interests though they will owe the entrepreneur some portion of profit. Equity financing has no liability. The entrepreneur is not liable and in case of failure, the investor takes the risk. No monthly payments are needed in equity financing. This allows for more money in the business to keep things running. Con associated to equity financing include giving up ownership. This is due to investors owning part of the business (Sloman and Sutcliffe, 303). Pros for stock include them being considered being having potential for higher returns as compared to other types of investments that are used by companies. Stock is considered to pay dividends. Extra income can be used to buy more shares for the company. Cons for stock include dramatically rise and fall that occur in stock price (Sloman and Sutcliffe, 167). Stack is seen also to have no guaranteed return. I agree with you that the most common types of financing for small entrepreneurs would be equity financing and debt financing. This is due to unavailability of ready finances. Debt financing allows using the finances and later pay to the lenders. Selling of shares is convenient to them as the money need not to be repaid. I equally agree with you that there are so many important skills that managers should have in order to drive success towards the company. The skills that are needed by the managers including ability to be a leader, positive relationship with employees, proper planning, proper delegation of duties, effective