SALUTATION: An Obligation Or A Voluntary Gesture?

SALUTATION: AN OBLIGATION OR A VOLUNTARY GESTURE?


Brethren, we could see for ourselves that this congregation is really improving and as well increasing on a daily basis. if I’m to comment on this, I would loudly and boldly say that such development wasn’t by our might, rather that of the supremacy.

Two nights ago, I was busy watching a certain melodrama on the humble television situated in my sitting room. The drama was all about a housewife who deeply lacks honesty, and she nags a lot even in the public; in other words, she also lacks respect. As a psycho/social analyst, I would say that the woman in question was in a severe social bondage.

Let me quickly remind you of one existing fact. There’re three very important words in life, which are love, honesty and respect; without these in your life, you’ve nothing.

Love, according to the context of the above clause, is the state in which you behave in a kind and caring way towards someone else because his/her happiness matters a lot to you. Also, ‘honesty’ is the state in which one does not cheat or break the law, and can be trusted with valuable things. Furthermore, honesty is that act your conscience tells you is right; thus, it has to do with one’s conscience. On the other hand, ‘respect’, in a nutshell, is one’s good and genuine opinion of someone or others.

Lest I forget; it’s high time we commenced. Salutation in a concise term, based on the context of this edition, is simply a greeting to someone. Greeting, on its own part, is something friendly that you say or do on meeting someone. This edition is trying to enquire if, salutation/greeting is supposed to be a statutory obligation or a mere voluntary gesture.

In an Igbo setting for instance, salutation is widely recognized by all and sundry as a mark or symbol of respect one owes his/her elder. In other words, everyone who hails from Igbo land expects a salutation or something similar from his younger ones each time they meet. Such ideology/norm is not unconnected to the type witnessed among the people of the Yoruba nation. Even, in an average or typical Yoruba community, salutation is being taken/considered more seriously than that of the Igbo nation; because in most cases, the person dishing out the greeting is expected to bow, or better still prostrate. Thus, on the average, an Igbo/Yoruba community takes salutation as a statutory obligation. Let’s ride on!

In a formal setting; for instance a corporate organization, every staff is expected to present his greeting to his senior in the establishment, regardless of their ages. Therefore, in such environment or community, it is statutory for any staff to send his greeting (salutation) to his superior or senior colleague. In this case, most times the junior staff wouldn’t wait until he/she meets his/her superior, rather, courtesy invariably demands that he seeks for the face of the affected or concerned superior by taking a walk to his/her office in order to extend his greeting. This aspect testifies the severity of the obligation in a formal setting.

Then, considering the military or paramilitary setting, you will bear me witness that, greeting or salutation is strictly obligatory; in the sense that, each officer must tender his/her salutation to his senior officer. This gesture is meant to take place when the officers involved, i.e. the junior and the senior officers, are in their formal uniform. But on the contrary, it’s often observed even when any of the officers or both of them is/are in mufti; this also signifies the severe nature of the obligation.

In my own singular view, there are certain factors that mustn’t be taken for granted whenever the issue of salutation or greeting is raised. In as much as it is mostly and widely noted that salutation is not a voluntary obligation, we are still bound to acknowledge some vital facts that accompany salutation.

From my perspective, salutation is meant to be reciprocal. Both in the formal or informal (native) settings, salutation or greeting is expected to be reciprocated whenever it is being dished out by the younger or junior person/staff as the case might be. Thus, one could describe salutation as an exchange of pleasantry irrespective of the ‘setting’ in question. Even, sometimes the elder person or the senior colleague could extend his/her greeting first in order to attract the attention of the younger or junior one. We really need to comprehend this fact to the fullness so we could put an end to the ongoing inconsequential bickering or pandemonium in respect to salutation (greetings).

Above all, I wish to remind you that ‘salutation is not love’. This simply means that salutation doesn’t signifies that the person presenting the pleasantry truly loves you. Suffice to say that, salutation could be deceptive or a sign of deceit. So we must endeavour not to fall prey to any deceptive salutation/greeting. Believe me, it is better for one to stay without receiving any respect in the name of salutation than to receive the ones that are fake or misleading. Of course, someone who often receive fake salutation from his younger/junior ones could be referred to as one in a ‘Social bondage’. Please, beware of insincere salutation at all times because it maims, and kills too.

Based on the aforementioned facts, I think it would be better for us to regard salutation as a voluntary gesture, rather than seeing it as what ought to be done compulsorily. After all, what would it benefit us to receive a deceptive salutation, at the expense of our happiness or lives? Think about it!



FRED NWAOZOR

frednwaozor@gmail.com

The Ongoing She Needs A Roof Project (SNARP)

THE NEED TO SUPPORT THE ONGOING ‘SHE NEEDS A ROOF PROJECT (SNARP)’


Brethren, a good friend of mine who bears ‘Izuawuba’ took his precious time penultimate week to give me the insight on the real meaning of the native name (Izuawuba). According to him, the name simply means, ‘Secrecy does not beget genuine wealth or riches’. In other words, one who does things in secret or who often hides himself will definitely finds it difficult to embrace any genuine thing in abundance.

Mind you, ‘wealth’ does not only represent abundance of money. Thus, it could be abundance of good health, knowledge, wisdom, power, fame, or what have you. Yes, one may be rich in any area of life. Needless to say; we must reach out to people if we are blessed with anything, in order to embrace the abundance of it. Because, anything done in secret can never yield something genuine, talk less of its abundance.

So if you’re blessed with wealth/riches in respect to money, endeavour to touch people’s lives with it, so that, the riches would be surplus to your greatest delight. Well, that’s by the way; it’s high time we faced the theme of today’s crusade squarely. And it’s no longer news that our theme for today remains ‘She Needs A Roof Project’.

Due to her extreme love for humanitarianism and as a mother par excellence, as soon as she assumed office as the Imo First Lady, Her Excellency Nneoma Nkechi Rochas Okorocha through a divine inspiration assured the good people of Imo State that she would stride relentlessly to ensure that poverty is drastically alleviated among Imo indigenes in line with the Rescue Mission Agenda of her darling husband – Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha.

In view of this, Her Excellency went ahead to institute a remarkable programme known as She Needs A Roof Project (SNARP) under the aegis of a Non Governmental Organization – the Women Divine Destiny Initiative (WODDI), solely founded by her. The inauguration of the aforementioned project attracted dignitaries and well-spirited individuals from all walks of life across the federation.

This programme instituted by the Imo First Lady, Nneoma Nkechi Okorocha is driven by her intense passion to ensure thorough eradication of shanty huts through the construction of befitting bungalows for the poorest of the poor and the downtrodden in Imo State, most especially the indigent widows and orphans.

With all sincerity, in the history of Imo State and beyond, this would be the first time we would witness such capital-intensive project being spearheaded by a First Lady. In the past, we only saw the First Ladies share bags of food stuffs and other valuable items among the indigent women. But the present First Lady, Nneoma Nkechi Okorocha has proven to us that one can still thrive beyond his/her strength if he/she is truly willing and determined, having introduced and as well implemented the ongoing life touching programme (SNARP). Let’s ride on!

The astonishing and most amazing aspect of SNARP is that, it is being carried out simultaneously in all the existing twenty-seven (27) Local Government Areas in the state. Most importantly, the consistency and the ebullience constantly showcased by the Imo First Lady while carrying-out the projects, is not in doubt. This was why the entire Imo women unanimously crowned her with an impeccable and memorable title “Eji Ulo eme ogo”.

At the moment, the Phase I, II and III of the She Needs A Roof Project (SNARP) have respectively taken place in all the LGAs in Imo State, and the commissioning of the Phase III which was recently rounded-off by Her Excellency is ongoing in all the LGAs.

Another impressive part of SNARP is that, during the commissioning of the furnished ultra modern two-bedroom apartments built for the indigent women or orphans, the beneficiaries would be provided with other fascinating living facilities; and among these, a certain trade would be established for each of them afterwards. Above all, all the affected orphans stands a chance of being adopted by Her Excellency for the rest of their lives.

Suffice to say; the benevolent Imo First Lady otherwise known as the hope of the hopeless, is not just beautifying our indigent women and orphans with enticing houses, but also extracting them from the zone of poverty for eternity.

Truly, the SNAR Project solely instituted and oversees by Her Excellency, Nneoma Nkechi Rochas Okorocha, is worth supporting by all and sundry because it is genuinely a philanthropic programme that is aiming at waving goodbye to abject poverty in the whole of Imo State in spite of the arduous nature of the initiative. On this note, I urge all the Imo State stakeholders both home and in the diaspora to join hands in uplifting this historic magnanimous gesture by contributing their respective quotas. We can also emulate the project by instituting other similar programmes across the state.

No doubt, considering the unprecedented achievements so far, it is obvious that the She Needs A Roof Project (SNARP) has surely come to stay in Imo State; but all hands must be on deck for its object to be totally actualized.

So we must come out and support this genuine love being shown to those that has none. We shouldn’t do it in secret because secrecy doesn’t beget genuine wealth or riches. After all, nothing good is hidden. Think about it!


FRED NWAOZOR

frednwaozor@gmail.com

The Ongoing Cyber Crimes

REVIEWING THE ONGOING GLOBAL CYBER CRIMES


Brethren, surely it’s needless to ask you how was your night; because apparently, going by your respective facial countenances, I can boldly see for myself that you had a very fantastic night. I most sincerely welcome you all to this special edition of our ongoing social crusade.

“It’s a completely new game now”, says a commander involved in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which was heading from Malaysia to Ukraine with 239 people on board that vanished into thin air from radar. Furthermore, he (the commander) reportedly said, “We went from a chess board to a football field”.

If I may ask; how does the above utterance sounds to your hearing? So funny, right? Nevertheless, the bone of contention is that any phenomenon or occurrence can take a different dimension as time goes on. But sometime, the subsequent dimension(s) we encounter might not just sound funny, but as well seem unfounded or deadly as the case may be.

A good friend of mine residing in Asia, precisely Japan, called me on phone penultimate Monday to ascertain how Nigerians were coping with the hurdles as regards internet hacking. The friend and colleague in question is my fellow ICT consultant. I responded unequivocally that Nigeria as a society was growing equally with western (civilized) nations such as U.S.A and England in respect to internet/cyber connectivity, but the major plight being faced by the said country was that, hackers were coming up with various advanced hacking softwares or techniques beyond the knowledge of most ICT personnel in the country.

Frankly, internet/computer hacking which constitutes the most recent cyber crimes, is real and really eating deep in the global internet connectivity. ‘Computer Hacking’, in a concise term, is the act of breaking into someone else’s computer systems, especially in order to acquire secret information that is stored there. In the same vein, a computer hacker is someone who tries to break into computer systems belonging to others for the purpose of getting secret or confidential information stored in them.

Apart from internet hacking which is widely in circulation and “lucrative”, there are other many internet/cyber criminal acts taking place globally on a daily basis. Such acts include the ones occurring on the numerous existing social media.

Prior to the invention of the Internet, criminals had to dig through people’s trash or intercept their mails to steal their personal information. Now that all of these information are available online, criminals presently use the Internet to steal people’s identities, hack into their accounts, trick them into revealing the information, or infect their devices with malware. A malware is a “computer threat”, which includes the famous computer virus. Let’s ride on!

Most cyber crimes are committed by individuals or small groups. Though large organized criminal groups also take advantage of the Internet. These so-called professional criminals find new ways to commit old (ancient) crimes. They treat cyber crimes like a business and form global criminal communities. Criminal communities share strategies and tools and can combine forces to launch coordinated attacks. They even have an underground marketplace where cyber criminals can purchase and sell stolen information or identities.

It’s very difficult to track cyber criminals down, because the Internet makes it easier for people to do things anonymously and from any location on the globe. So many computers used in various destinations have actually been hacked and are being controlled by someone far away.

For hackers who want to come clean and turn away from crime out of pretence, one option is to work for the people they used to torment by becoming their security consultants or employees. These set of hackers are referred to as “Grey Hat Hackers”. In the past, they were addressed as “Black Hat Hackers” who used their computer expertise to break into systems and steal information illegally while posing as a friend or dedicated employee/consultant. But presently, some of them are acting as “White Hat Hackers” who specialize in testing the security strength of their clients’ information systems.

If the interest of the aforementioned set of hackers (White Hat Hackers) is to be paid, they will attempt to hack into a company’s network and then present the affected company with a report detailing the existing security loopholes of the company and how those anomalies can be tackled. The advantage of this is that, they can use their skills for a good cause and help stop other cyber criminals, since keeping up with security and cyber criminals is a fulltime job and many companies can’t afford financially to have someone totally dedicated to it.

Another recent devastating aspect of internet hacking is the “Social Engineering” routine. Social engineering is a tactic used by cyber criminals that use lies and manipulations to trick people into revealing their personal information. Social engineering attacks frequently involve very convincing fake stories to lure victims into their trap. Some of these tricks include sending victims an email that claims there’s problem with their account and has a link to a fake website, trying to convince victims to open email attachments that contain malware, pretending to be a network/account administrator and asking for the victim’s password to perform maintenance activity, claiming that the victim has won a prize but must give their credit card information in order to receive it, promising the victims that they will receive millions of dollars if only they will help out the sender by giving them money or disclosing their bank account details, just to mention but a few.

The recent dimensions of cyber crimes, which is becoming funny, barbaric and deadly, have called for constant and consistent update of advanced anti-hacking computer softwares by software producers, and the adequate dissemination of the said softwares to the apt quarters. Presently most developing countries are less-privileged in regard to advanced anti-hacking or anti-malware softwares.

On the other hand, a strict and grievous law regarding cyber crime ought to be implemented by all the countries in the world. Such law mustn’t bear anything less than capital punishment if anyone is found guilty. Also, thoroughly equipped Internet Communication Agencies comprising well experienced experts are expected to be established by the respective countries.

And, those involved in these criminal acts with the sole aim of bankrupting their victims should as a matter of urgency, endeavour to turn a new leaf to distance themselves from the dangers that will surely befall them.

Above all, the potential victims either individuals or corporate organizations, must also take precautions of the above mentioned internet/computer scams in order not to exclaim ‘Had I known’. Truly, “A word is enough for the wise”. Think about it!
FRED NWAOZOR

frednwaozor@gmail.com