2015 World Water Day (Aired News Commentary)

THE NEED FOR REGULAR CONSUMPTION OF CLEAN WATER AS THE 2015 WORLD WATER DAY IS COMMEMORATED TODAY, SUNDAY MARCH 22

     

Water is a clear, colourless and transparent liquid that has no taste or smell, and that is required for the survival of all plant and animal lives. In the same vein, a large amount or area of either natural or manmade water such as lake, pond, pool, river, sea, ocean, and so on, can be referred to as water or waters.

Like the human body, water which is usually addressed as a ‘Universal liquid’, is made up of a skeleton of water molecules. The said molecules make up the water we make use of. Not unlike any other chemical compound in existence, a water molecule comprises one molecule of Hydrogen and one molecule of Oxygen. Thus, water as a substance is made up of two major elements; namely, hydrogen and oxygen.

Water, which is as old as the world, is consumed as food by both animals and human beings, and it is also required in various fields of endeavour or human activities including, farming, cooking, manufacturing, sports, bath, hand washing, brushing of teeth, laundry, sanitation cum other forms of domestic and environmental activities, just to mention but a few.

The functions of water in the body ranging from cell life, to chemical and metabolic reactions, transport of nutrients, body temperature regulation, elimination of waste or toxic substances, among others, are numerous and innumerable. Water is a carrier that distributes essential nutrients such as minerals, vitamins and glucose, to cells. Furthermore, it removes waste products including toxins rejected by the cells through urines, sweats and faeces. It also participates in the biochemical breakdown of whatever we consume.

Inter alia, water has a large heat capacity which helps to limit changes in body temperature in a warm or a cold environment. It allows the body to release heat when ambient temperature is higher than body temperature. Most importantly, water is an effective lubricant around joints; it also acts as a shock absorber for eyes, brain, spinal cord, and even for the foetus through amniotic fluid.

Water is indeed at the centre of life. This is why nobody can live more than three to five days without any water intake. Suffice to say that, its role in the body is not just important, but inevitable. It has succeeded in proving to mankind that it is the most important form of food among the six classes of food in existence.

Considering the agricultural sector; the absence of water would simply cripple the entire activity in the aforementioned area thereby terminating the lives of crops or livestocks, as the case may be. Same is obtainable in the manufacturing industry, like the pharmaceutical firms, bakery and breweries, that requires water as one of the basic raw-materials for its day-to-day activities.

The positive impact of water on cooking and other household cum industrial works, is another factor that cannot be taken for granted whenever the societal importance of water is discussed. It is noteworthy that without water, most other forms of food or diet would not be prepared or provided. On the other hand; swimming, which is one of the most lucrative kinds of sporting activities in recent times, wouldn’t have been founded if water is not obtainable.

 
Of course, the overall importance of water in man’s daily thrive, was what prompted one of the popular songs entitled ‘Water no get enemy’ sang by the late legendary Nigerian musician, Fela Anikulapokuti. In reference to the said song, the late Afro-beat artiste extensively told his fans that water is required in virtually everything we do on earth.

As it is widely noted that the significance of water to mankind cannot be overemphasized, it is also worthy to note that intake of dirty or impure water remains one of the primary causes of several diseases or infections such as, typhoid, diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, staphylococcus and other sexually transmitted diseases, experienced across the globe.

Without mincing words, statistics show that over sixty percent (60%) of death rate recently is attributed to consumption of unclean water as well as residing in an unsafe environment. We shouldn’t forget that accommodating dirty stagnant water such as gutter, pool et cetera, in our environments or vicinities attracts mosquito which remains the sole cause of a killer disease known as malaria. According to the United Nations (UN) findings; 768 million people worldwide lack access to improved water sources while 2.5 billion persons have no improved sanitation.

Today Sunday March 22, the world over is marking the 2015 World Water Day. The international World Water Day is held annually across the globe on the 22^nd of March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. Each year, the World Water Day is targeted to highlight a specific aspect of freshwater.

The international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended on December 22, 1992 during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which took place in Riode Janeiro, Brazil. The UN General Assembly adopted the recommendation, therefore designated 22^nd March 1993 as the first celebration of World Water Day.

As the global community commemorates the World Water Day, I call on all stakeholders and the civil society to pledge to develop the policies needed to ensure that sustainable water and energy are secured for the many and not just the few as it is presently the case. In this regard, we should ensure that our respective communities are provided with adequate and safe water sources.

On their part; the various ministries of Water Resources and their Environment counterparts, ought to ensure that adequate boreholes are sunk in every community that is related to them and also endeavour to sponsor series of radio/television jingles to sensitize the populace on the unavoidable role of clean water as well as safe environment.

The federal and states Water Corporations are also expected to monitor this proposed measure. More so, they should from time-to-time conscientize the public on the need to regularly sanitize their gutters and other damps surrounding their places of residence. 

Among all, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) ought to, from time to time, endeavour to checkmate the activities of the various registered water companies. Also, it should not hesitate to sanction or closedown any one that is set up illicitly or without its consent.

Also, on our individual capacities, we ought to endeavour to properly boil any water we intend to drink, and also adequately sanitize any stagnant pool of water within our surroundings as well as fumigate the said environments when necessary, in order to guarantee purity and thorough sanitary thereby boasting the safety and well-being of our bodies.

Thus, we are expected to continually note that the basic measure, which is costless and reliable, required to ensure that pure or safe water is found on our tables or surroundings at all times lies in our hands. Think about it!

 

COMR FRED D.N NWAOZOR

(The Media Ambassador)
_____________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com
+2348028608056

 

  

              

                                 

2015 World Poetry Day (Aired News Analysis)

ACKNOWLEDGING THE UNIQUE ESSENCE OF POEMS IN LITERATURE AS THE 2015 WORLD POETRY DAY IS MARKED TODAY, SATURDAY MARCH 21

        

Poetry – a genre of literature, which is a collection of series of poems, can be defined as a literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm.

Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre, to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning.

Poetry has a long history or lineage, dating back to the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh. Early poems evolved from folk songs such as the Chinese Shijing, or from a need to retell oral epics. Ancient attempts to define Poetry focused on the uses of speech in rhetoric, drama, song and comedy. Later attempts concentrated mainly on features not unlike repetition, verse form and rhyme, as well as emphasized the aesthetics which distinguish poetry from more objectively informative, prosaic forms of writing.

From the middle of twentieth (20^th) century, poetry has sometimes been more generally regarded as a fundamental creative act that employs language. Poetry uses forms and conventions to suggest differential interpretation to words, or to evoke emotive responses.

In poetic presentation, devices including assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve musical or incantatory effects. The use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony or sarcasm, and other stylistic elements of poetic diction invariably leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations. Similarly, figures of speech to include metaphor, simile and metonym create a resonance between otherwise disparate images – a layering of meanings, forming connections previously not perceived.

Some poetry types are not unconnected to particular cultures and genres, and respond to features of the language in which the poet writes. Most modern poetry reflect a critique of poetic tradition, playing with and testing among other things, the principle of euphony, sometimes altogether forgoing rhyme or set rhythm. Perhaps, in today’s increasingly globalized world, poets often adapt forms, styles and techniques from diverse cultures and languages.

Because of its nature of emphasizing linguistic form rather than using language purely for its content, poetry is notoriously difficult to translate from one language into another. A possible example of this is the Hebrew Psalms, where the beauty is found more in the balance of ideas than in specific vocabulary.

In most poetry, it is the connotations and the weight of words that are majorly important. Such attribute can be difficult to interpret thereby causing different readers to hear or understand a particular piece of poetry differently. While there are logical interpretations, the truth of the matter is that, there can never be a definitive or specific interpretation attached to a particular poem.

So far, by painstakingly considering the use of poetry in various artistic areas or fictional works such as folk tales, advertisement, music, short stories, children’s literature, drama or play, prose, and what have you, anyone can easily assert that its significance in both human and societal development cannot be overemphasized. Poetry has indeed created an enormous positive impact on literature, and has contributed immensely in the promotion of languages, cultures and education in general.

No doubt, poetry has succeeded in awakening man’s quest for learning or discovery as well as his interest to educate, entertain or inform his immediate society through the use of any language within his reach. Apparently, the use of sarcasm or irony in poetic presentations is one of the yardsticks that signify how far poetry can go while conveying messages irrespective of its content.

Today Saturday March 21, the world over is commemorating the 2015 World Poetry Day. A decision to proclaim 21^st of March as an annual World Poetry Day was adopted during the 30^th session of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) conference, held in Paris, France in the year 1999.

One of the main objectives of the Day is to support linguistic diversity through poetic expressions, and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their respective communities. In celebrating World Poetry Day, UNESCO recognizes the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind.

As the global community marks the World Poetry Day, I enjoin every individual across the globe, especially Nigerians, to acknowledge the unique essence of poems in literature by understanding the fact that poetry reaffirms our common humanity by revealing to us that individuals, anywhere in the world, share the same questions and feelings. Thus, we ought to comprehend that poetry is the mainstay of oral tradition; and over centuries, can communicate or convey the innermost values of diverse cultures. Above all, we should always note that poetry is the only genre of literature that saves time, space as well as energy.

On this background, I urge every concerned sector and stakeholder such as the parents, guardians, counsellors, teachers and various citadels of learning, to vigorously contribute their respective quotas to ensure that the unique art of poetry will no longer be considered as an outdated form of literature, but one which enables any society to regain and assert its real identity. It is better late than never, considering the anticipated impact of this crusade. Think about it!

 

FDN NWAOZOR

(The Media Ambassador)
______________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com
+2348028608056

 

The New Face of JAMB

THE NEW FACE OF JAMB: LET’S TALK ABOUT IT!

Brethren, of course we know that Rome was never built in a day or within twenty-four (24) hours, and that, there is nothing good that comes easily. Thus, if we sincerely anticipate something great, we must be ready to work hard and tirelessly too. On this background, let’s go straightly to the gospel of the day.

For decades now, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has been conducting examinations for prospective students of the existing tertiary citadels of learning in Nigeria. And so far, their modus operandi has been satisfactory to the best of the knowledge of the education stakeholders in the country.

Frankly, there is no gain reiterating the fact that JAMB has succeeded in equipping the intellectual and mental know-how of the teeming Nigerian admission seekers. No doubt, it has helped tremendously to uplift credibility and fairness as regards admission issues affecting our young ones.

Recently, the said examination umpire introduced the Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode for their prospective candidates. The mode in question was introduced in 2013 and was partly utilized during the last examination of the 2014/2015 academic session conducted by the board. And currently, it is obvious that the CBT mode was totally utilized during the just concluded examination of the proactive board. Unlike that of the penultimate session which only a few candidates were involved and it had to do with their choices, this time, every candidate is statutorily meant to make use of it.

Indeed, the CBT routine would go a long way to sanitize the academic prowess of our dear children/wards as well as introduce a scene filled with no iota of examination malpractice or impersonation, which currently remains the major cankerworm our educational sector is ravaged by. Inter alia, it would help to ensure that any of our young one, who intends to further his/her education, is computer literate. Let’s ride on!

However, it is noteworthy for JAMB to realize that so many factors need to be put in place to guarantee accuracy as well as ease congestion in its subsequent examinations. It is no longer news that most of the candidates in the ongoing examination have expressed disappointment while many others cried foul for having missed their exams. These and many more lamentations are not unconnected to database mishandling. Nevertheless, I never expected 100% accuracy knowing fully that, the CBT pattern is relatively new.

First; more examination centres ought to be approved in order to accommodate as many computer systems as possible so that candidates will not be asked to wait for a long time before they would be ushered into their respective exam halls due to lack of space or insufficient computer systems. This measure would also enable JAMB to conduct the examination only in one day thereby curtailing the ongoing over-labour experienced by their staff.

Secondly, more ICT experts are equally expected to be employed to help boast the network challenges presently faced by candidates and the examiners; in addition, the management should endeavour to continually purchase standard and world class softwares for their networking activities, so that the ICT staff won’t experience any form of hacking in future.

The above suggested measure, among others, is the only avenue the JAMB’s new face would embrace its anticipated success. Yes the initiative is a worthwhile and commendable one, but the education umpire must also acknowledge that ‘Second to none’ is expected of them, rather than ‘Second best’. 

I can see JAMB ushering Nigeria - the Giant of Africa, into that scene we have longed to embrace. On this note, every right thinking Nigerian who thinks good of this country is expected to do everything humanly possible to contribute his or her quota towards sensitizing the public on the significance of the scheme in question. Think about it!  

 

FRED D.N NWAOZOR

(Media Ambassador)
_______________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com
+2348028608056