Another Christmas season gone. Most families and individuals have engaged in divers acts of giving. From donating cash and gifts to the less privileged, to supporting displaced persons, or providing free services to the indigent.

Generosity and selflessness are virtues that should be part of our daily life. Giving ought to be a lifestyle and not something we do on occasions. It’s also important to remember that giving doesn’t always feel great. The opposite could very well be true. Giving can make us feel depleted and taken advantage of. But, regardless of our feelings, we keep giving and serving others because that just might be the secret to living a life that is not only happier but also healthier, wealthier, more productive, and meaningful.

According to a Tara Parker-Pope in the New York Times, gift giving has long been a favourite subject for studies on human behaviour with psychologists, anthropologists, economists and marketers all weighing in. They have found that giving gifts is a surprisingly complex and important part of human interaction, helping to define relationships and strengthen bonds with family and friends. Indeed, psychologists say it is often the giver, rather than the recipient, who reaps the biggest psychological gains from a gift.

 For centuries, the greatest thinkers have suggested the same thing: Happiness is found in helping others. None of us would be where we are today were if not for the great circumstances in which we have grown up. Therefore, it is not just a good thing to give back, it is our duty to try and make the world a better place for those less fortunate than ourselves.

We have rounded up some inspiring musings on selflessness and generosity:

“If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.” Chinese saying.

“True leaders are selfless. They have always been servants of the people first.” Anonymous

“Only those who have learned the power of sincere and selfless contribution experience life’s deepest joy: true life’s deepest joy: true fulfilment.” Tony Robbins

“A hero is somebody who is selfless. Who is generous in spirit. Who just tries to give back as much as possible and help people. A hero to me is someone who saves people and who really deeply cares.” Debi Mazar

“Helping one person might not change the world, but it could change the world for one person.” Anonymous

“Selfless acts are a source of profound meaning for yourself and your life.” Ron Kaufman

“The happiest are the givers, not the takers.” Anonymous

“It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.” Dalai Lama

“You don’t need a reason to help people.” Anonymous

“It’s when you’re acting selflessly that you are at your bravest.” Veronica Roth

 “Practice being selfless. You end up getting more than you anticipate when your soul is giving.” Anonymous

“Learn to love without condition. Talk without bad intention. Give without any reason. And most of all, care for people without any exception.” Anonymous

“Give to the world the best you have. And the best will come back to you.” Madeline Bridges

“Real love is about being selfless, not selfish.” Anonymous

“A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.” James Keller

“For it is in giving that we receive.” Saint Francis of Assisi

“The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.” Leo Tolstoy

“We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill

Hon. Justice Suleiman Galadima has expressed concern over the poor reading culture among Nigerians.

Galadima in his remarks a recent book presentation noted with regret that the cultural readership we inherited in Nigeria is gradually waning. “The practice and its popularity have been on the wane for some time. We devote more time watching television and social network services exemplified by turgid glue to our handsets, Facebook, You-Tube, whatsapp and frequent tweets.” Reading is obviously one of the basic things a child begins to do in the early stages of formal education.The declining interest in reading exhibited by our children today is a cause for alarm and a challenge to all.

But children are not alone for even Nigerian adults are not exempt.

Parents’ and guardians’ inability to buy books for their wards and encourage reading from childhood have been identified as part of reasons why over 30 million Nigerian school leavers have poor reading culture.

Spending lengthy hours on social media as Justice Galadima perceived has a debilitating effect on the reading culture of students, and stakeholders contend that this development could lead to very dangerous learning outcomes.

Troubled about the imminent dreadful consequences, Dr. Chris Anyokwu, a teacher of African Poetry, African Literature and Literary Theory, at the Department of English, University of Lagos, in an interview, calls on the National Orientation Agency (NOA), to mount sustained campaigns on the need for students to develop a strong bond with their books, and also make conscious efforts to imbibe reading culture, while scaling down on the number of productive hours spent on social media.

“Internet poses a threat to our students, as they no longer read novels, playlets, and poems in the traditional media (the book form). They do not enjoy the synchrony of the page any more. They prefer to go online, not to read the e-copy of these books, but they are more interested in the snippets, summaries or spark notes than reading than whole book …”

Students are expected to read and keep abreast of what is happening around them. Unfortunately, that does not happen anymore with the arrival of the social media.

Also various studies have revealed that 40 per cent of Nigerian adults never finish reading a fiction book from cover to cover after leaving school. Other studies show that about 30 million Nigerians have graduated from secondary schools with poor reading skills, attributing it to the poor habit cultivated during their stay at school.

In many universities, most students do not read. The few who read occasionally, do so as a means of passing their examinations. The libraries that are meant for reading, have since been converted into browsing centres, places of reference and copying of notes as only few students are seen reading in the libraries.

Since poor reading habit is causative of the poor performance of most students in school assessments and examinations, what has government done to boost their interest in reading?

Chief Executive Officer, National Library of Nigeria (NLN), Professor Lenrie Aina has on his part remarked that joint interests and consistent campaigns by youth groups and Nigerians will ensure government prioritize the completion of the permanent national library in the nearest future.

Aina disclosed that: “In most countries, public libraries are a serious component of the education curricular based on the recognition that without such resources, it is practically impossible to improve on literacy. A functional library helps in providing information to the society in different formats in the bid to encourage and promote a good reading culture which is a sine-qua non to personal and indeed national development.

“But in Nigeria today, public libraries are kept unattractive and poorly maintained while in most cases, the infrastructural facilities are inadequate. Besides, the books in stock are out-dated just as it is a rarity to stumble on new and current journals. Indeed, reference materials, where they exist, are old and dusty.”

Following an alleged non-compliance with contractual obligations, an Arbitral Tribunal has granted an award of Thirty three million, nine hundred and eighty-eight naira, ninety-four kobo (N33, 913,988.94) to Host Integrated Services (a Facility Management Company) against Lekki Luxury Flats Property Owners and Residents Association over a terminated contract. The contract involves the facility management services of an estate with joint facilities for individual occupants in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. Chairman of the Lekki Luxury Flats Property Owners and Residents Association, Engineer Emem Udoh was also joined in the suit.

The Tribunal which granted the claim on September 18, 2018 made the final award concerning the clause in the agreement defining the mode of payment as inserted by the Lekki Luxury Flats Property Owners and Residents Association (LLFPORA) at the commencement of the agreement.

The agreement was sequel to an invitation bid from ExxonMobil Staff Cooperative Multipurpose Society Limited for the facility management services of the Lekki Luxury Flats.

After a successful bid, there was another invitation from the ExxonMobil Co-op Limited for commercial tender for the facility management services of the Luxury flats on March 1, 2013. The matter however resulted in arbitral proceedings between the parties when Host Integrated Services(the Claimant) was served a letter of contract termination on March 14 2014 to expire on April 15 2014.

Insisting that the facility management contract was not terminated in accordance with the laid down terms and with its workers denied access into the estate in violation of the 30-day notice as stipulated in clause 7.3 of the contract, the company took the matter to an arbitral tribunal for redress.

It claimed that as at the time the contract was terminated, there were some outstanding payments due and payable to it. Specifically, the Claimant said it was entitled to payments for work done under the maintenance contract and other jobs arising from the preparation and implementation of a snag report. It maintained that LLFPORA (the Respondents) were liable to pay for the outstanding invoices for the jobs done with interests and damages, even as the envisaged 2-year contract was terminated midstream.

The Respondents however denied liability in any form and justified the termination of the facility management contract on the alleged incompetence of the Claimant. While denying the monetary claims, the Respondents further justified the contract termination on the grounds that residents of the estate refused to pay their maintenance bill as a result of complaints of incompetence by staff of the Claimant.

The Arbitral Tribunal comprising Achike Umunna (Presiding), Hon Justice E. O. Sanyaolu (Rtd.) and Sophia Abiri-Franklin commenced proceedings and after listening the parties, deliberated extensively on crucial points of law in deciding the case while taking into consideration the terms of the contract in making its final award.

Having considered and ruled on claims and counter claims before deciding that the Claimant is entitled  to the sum of Thirty three million, nine hundred and eighty-eight naira, ninety-four kobo (N33,913,988.94) being outstanding unpaid bills, the Tribunal made its decision.

The Tribunal further stated that an additional 15% will accrue on the sum from June 30 2014 until final liquidation in line with clause 7.4 of the contract between the two parties.

From a Facebook post

“California is the 6th largest economy in the World. Its economy is larger than that of France and Brazil. The little problem is that California is not a Country. It is a State in the United States of America (USA).”

This is the reason we demand restructuring of Nigeria: California is the 6th largest economy in the World. Its economy is larger than that of France and Brazil. The little problem is that California is not a Country. It is a State in the United States of America (USA). It has little offshore oil, yet its economy is larger than States in the US that are famous for their oil reserves, like Texas.California generates much of its revenue from non-oil products. It found a way to absorb and domesticate much of the intellectual output from its premier university, Stanford University, into saleable products within its economy.

As a matter of fact, much of California’s economy is built around Stanford University. So with this, Silicon Valley developed… Now with Silicon Valley came Companies like Apple, eBay, Cisco, Lockheed, Hewlett Packard (HP), Google, Netflix, Facebook, Oracle, Tesla…and the list goes on and on ad infinitum.

These are multibillion-dollar companies. The yearly budget of any one of these companies might be larger than the entire yearly budget of, say for example, Akwa Ibom State.

I’m taking about companies that are richer than countries. They are all in California. But that is just in the technology industry where the technologies and inventions spewing out of Stanford are caught mid-air and converted to money spinning enterprises.

But there is also the entertainment industry in California. Yes, Hollywood is in California. The US movies industry contributes about $504 billion to USA’s GDP. Hollywood, as you know, contributes over 70% of that figure.

Most iconic movie studios are in Hollywood. As a matter of fact, the “Big Eight” consisting of 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), Paramount Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures, United Artists, Universal Studios and Warner Bros are, or were, all in Hollywood. These again, are multi-billion dollar companies generating revenue for California.

Despite the above, California also thrives on agriculture. As at 2014, California had nothing less than 77,000 farms and ranches raking in about $55 billion in revenue yearly. It produces over 400 agricultural commodities, a large chunk of which it exports. It is the leader in producing exotic fruits in America. Its wine industry is unique. California wine is drunk with relish the world over…

This is just one State in America. You see, California actually had a choice of sitting back and striving to get a piece of the revenue generated from Texas’ oil. It could have depended solely on Federal allocation to survive so that every month end, it will send its Commissioner of Finance to Washington DC to receive monthly allocation so that it can barely pay salaries of its workers and nothing more.

Then San Francisco would resemble Ajegunle in Lagos. And there certainly would not be those beautiful sights and sounds that make California what it is today.   California gives to the centre and, because of its wealth, despises the idea of depending on it for survival.

That is America. The local government, the government closest to the grassroots, is deliberately made the strongest level of government. Items like variances (adaptation of state law to local conditions,) public works (yes, public works!!), contracts for public works, licensing of public accommodations, assessable improvements, basic public services are all left for local county governments to handle.

The State handles weightier matters like Property Law, Education, Commerce Laws of Ownership and Exchange, Banking and Credit Laws, Labour Law and Professional Licensure, Insurance Laws, and Electoral Laws, including Parties and Civil Service Laws. Items that the Federal Government, the centre, handles affecting the States are actually very negligible.

Nigeria on the contrary will never do well unless we restructure. We pretend to have a Federal system but we are actually operating a unique form of unitary government, and it is weighing the polity down. Can you imagine a country where the school curriculum is regulated by a national central body and states have no powers to vary or amend their curriculum?

You would think this is not a problem until you understand that Nigerians spend over ONE TRILLION NAIRA every year to study abroad. You see, the reason why you have Cambridge, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Oxford, etc. is not only for academic excellence of the citizens of the countries which have these schools. No. They invest in their institutions so that they can earn revenue from foreign students from countries like Nigeria which has destroyed its educational system.

How many car manufacturing companies would we have in Owerri near the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) where students are constantly doing and selling their research products to burgeoning engineering and manufacturing companies?

“As you are reading this, do not forget that without Harvard University, there would not have been Facebook, and this our interface would have been impossible.”

Do your research, most of the World-class products we buy today off the shelf, at great cost, were invented by University Students. As you are reading this, do not forget that without Harvard University, there would not have been Facebook, and this our interface would have been impossible.

But our Students in Nigeria are not entirely without inventions. We invented the Pyrates Confraternity, the Black Axe, the Eiye, the Vikings and what not!! Students resume school with guns and bullets, rather than books and scholastic ideas, as though academic institutions were a War College. Lecturers fly colours as do students. And when the turf war begins, people die in droves.

So every year, all sorts of characters are vomited from Nigerian Universities to take their place in Nigerian Society. So you have Judges, Lawyers, Engineers, Doctors and so forth, whose first and primary allegiance is to their cult group, before the country. The multiplier effect of this is a treatise for another day.

But suffice to say that as long as this problem persist, let’s forget about Silicon Valley in Nigeria, because there will never be a Stanford University here to provide an infinite supply of ideas and prodigies to feed the invention value-chain!

Nigeria cannot wake up from its slumber today because it cannot lift its head. The entire weight of its existence is concentrated in its head. From the viewpoint of government, the weight is in Abuja. From the viewpoint of revenue source, the weight is in the Niger-Delta. We need to urgently restructure and evenly distribute this pressure points and weights to diffuse tension in Nigeria.

We need to revisit the exclusive legislative list in the Constitution and systematically reduce the responsibilities of the Federal Government vis-a-vis the States. 

Resources have to be handed back to the States that generated them, but place an obligation on each State to contribute an agreed percentage to the common federal purse to service obligations of the Federal Government. L&S