BOXING DAY

December 26 every year is observed as boxing day in parts of the world.
In today's news analysis correspondent underscores the significance  of boxing day to the Christian community and the Nigerian society at large.
Boxing day which comes every December 26 is a celebration that follows Christmas day.
In the liturgical calendar of Western christianity, boxing day is also observed as St. Stephen's day where nations declares public holiday to enable its citizens observe the day but if the day falls on the weekend, the following Monday is designated as official public holiday.
Some European countries, notably German, Poland, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries, 26 December is celebrated as a second Christmas Day.
According to some Historians, the term boxing day also known as christmas box, dates back to the 17th Century where presents or gratuities are given to those who during the year have rendered one service or the other.
However other Historians traced boxing day to the victorian era where churches often displayed boxes into which their parishioners put donations to be used for charity and other help projects.
Also in this day, in the ancient Britain and other Western World, servants of the wealthy are given time off to visit their families and love ones after serving their master the day earlier which was  xmas day and such servants are usually given boxes, containing gifts, bonuses and sometimes left over goods to take home.
An account of the Holy Bible has it that Jesus Christ, after His birth was presented with three boxes containing Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, which can be liken  to the boxing day practice of today.
Indeed boxing day no doubt emphasizes on giving.
In the years past, shops and shopping malls had always recorded high sales and patronage of gifts, hampers but with the current reality of the economy, one would wonder how many Nigerians still engage in the act of giving on boxing day.
The economy reality not withstanding, faith based institutions, corporate bodies, politicians and well to do Nigerians are expected to use the day to give to the less privilege, small, orphanage, old people's homes, widows and others who are in need, no matter how small.
It is worth knowing that the act of giving, to a very large extent engenders, the spirit of brotherhood, which Nigerians as a people need to drive our great nation forward on the path of progress and sustainable growth.
W/UP/EO/GOO

MADE IN NIGERIA

Nigeria's over dependence on imported goods and expatriates has been described as the main problem confronting local industries as well as the reason for the rising wave of unemployment in the country.
 This form the basis of today's news analysis written by correspondent on the importance of patronizing Made in Nigeria, in order to boost the Nigerians' economic and strengthen the Nigerian naira.
Made in Nigeria simply refers to locally made goods produces by indigenous manufacturers in the Country.
Nigeria as a country has various indigenous firms, where goods ranging from electronics, wears, cooking utensils, drinks, perfumes, bags, belts,shoes,building materials, among others are being made.
These Made in Nigeria do not get the desire patronage from Nigerians, probably due to failure of government inability to champion locally made goods, by utilizing them.
Some economy experts believed that Nigerians refusal to purchase Made in Nigeria, was as a result of poor quality or substandard products.
Investigation reveals that many indigenous small scale industries have closed down while the big ones are retrenching workers as a result of low sales.
These challenges have been blamed for the downward trend in the Nation's Gross Domestic Product, GDP as well as socio  economic activities in the country.
It is strongly believe by some economists, that proper implementation of government policies in this regard is key on this issue, as government needs to demonstrate its willingness and commitment to patronize Made in Nigeria, so as to shore up local sales.
Furthermore, government needs to address the issue of incessant power outages, to help indigenous industries to stay in business and also to retain their workers.
Local manufactures on their parts, should increase the quality of their products, to enable them compete favorably with imported goods.
That way there will be a paradigm shift towards patronizing locally made products.
This is due to the fact that consumers look out for quality, hence their preference for foreign made goods.
Moreover, Nigeria indigenous manufacturers must follow the trends in the international markets and be more innovative and creative.
Nigeria banks should grant local manufacturers soft loans, so that they can compete with their foreign counterparts and even export quality made in Nigeria products, in line with global best practices.
This will not only help rank Nigeria among the world's industrialized nations but it will also help to strengthen the Nigerian currencies against the dollars and pounds.
If Nigeria must stand out like China, Italy, USA and other countries in terms of goods and products, than the issues raised in this discourse must be taken seriously and addressed urgently.
   
 

AFRICAN MAN TIME

The concept of Africa Man Time has been a major challenge to effective time management in both public and private sectors in the Nigerian society.
In today's news analysis Correspondent underscores the benefits of effective time management at all levels of the Nigerian society.
Punctuality they said is the soul of business, whether personal or corporate business.
In Nigeria and most other Africa countries, the Africa Man Time syndrome is gradually killing the spirit of punctuality in virtually all aspects of both the public or the private sectors, thereby affecting productivity.
The reverse is however the case in most developed countries of the World like England, The United State of America USA, China among others, where time consciousness is a culture.
It is a known fact that the time lost can never be regained no matter what but many Nigerians seems to be oblivious of this fact, thereby hindering their progress in life, as a result of wasting precious time in doing nothing worthwhile.
According to our local parlance in pidgin "Time na money", means that judicious use of time brings about wealth.
Moreso, for one to be time conscious such a one need to refrain from procrastination.
Furthermore, a situation where invited guests and organizers of events turn out late on event day, goes to show are poorly most Nigerians are in time management.
Well to avoid this, Nigerians must cultivate the habit and culture of attending occasions or programs on time and also close on time.
Nigeria politicians, religion leaders, traditional rulers, parents and guardians should set the pace by practicing effective time management for others to follow.
Civil servants and other employees should also strive to resume to work on time and the clock in and clock out initiative of Government should be strengthened in such a way to ensure strict compliance of resumption time and closing time.
It is also imperative that employees should endeavor to maximize their time at workplaces, in working rather than engaging in gossip or loitering.
Children on their parts, needs to place time on their daily activities , in the form of time table, which they should strictly follow, in order to enable them achieve maximum performance both at home and in school.
Time they said wait for no one, therefore the earlier Nigerians start taking time seriously by dropping the culture of Africa Man Time, the better for us as a people and as a Nation.          

POLICE AND BRIBES

One major type of corruptions, denting the image of the Nigerian Police Force is the collection of bribes.
In today news analysis, correspondent x-rays the activities of some policemen and women as well as proffer ways at ensuring effective policing and  effective crime control in the Nigerian society.
The Nigerian Police Force as an official organization, is one that is saddled with the task of maintaining laws and orders in the society as well as help in preventing crimes in the society.
It is also the duty of the police to protect lives and property.
Over the years some of these policemen and women have been able to discharged their civil responsibilities to the best of their abilities without collecting bribes or being corrupt.
However the operations of some policemen and women in recent times have brought disrepute to the Nigerian Police Force and indeed the entire nation.
These bad eggs in the force cut across the rank and file.
Several efforts by past and present administrations to restructure and sanitize the police force has not yielded positive results.
The most recent of such effort is the Federal Government's Campaign of change begins with me, that was flagged off in almost all the thirty six states of the Federation.
But this change is yet to be noticed in the Nigerian Police Force, as we still see many of them collecting bribes even on the road.
Some of these policemen collect bribes from commercial and private vehicles' owners on the roads, thereby allowing criminals to travel without being checked.
In most developed nations of the world, such as America, The United Kingdom, China and even in some Africa countries like Ghana, Egypt, South Africa among others, the police force is highly respected, because of the way they discharged their duties.
But the reverse is the case in Nigeria.
To some security analysts, the way forward is for the Nigerian Police Force to be well funded as well as well paid, so as to enable them function effectively.
There is the need for high sense of self and corporate discipline and dignity among the rank and file of the police force.
Furthermore, policemen and women in the thirty six states of the federation including the FCT, should be exposed to periodic training on the need to comport themselves while discharging their duties, in order to earn respect and effectively combat crime.
Government at all levels, should take crime control seriously by budgeting adequately for the police force.
High ranking security officers should ensure that funds released to them are judiciously used to positively impact on the lives of junior policemen and women.
Police on the roads and in their police stations should strive to respect themselves by exhibiting a high sense of maturity in dealing with motorists and other members of the society.
Transporters on their parts, should also put their drivers and vehicles particulars in order, instead of bribing policemen, which is an offense against the law.
More so, they should be a police disciplinary committee, that has a legal power to prosecute erring policemen and women collecting bribes.
Members of the public should also try to learn how to appreciate the police when necessary.
That way bribery and corruption will be eradicated from among the Nigerian Police force.
 

HIV/AIDS DAY

The first day of December every year is set aside as World AIDS Day worldwide to raise awareness about the AIDS pandemic, caused by HIV infection and to mourn those who were killed by the disease.
In today 's News Analysis,Correspondent underscores the significance of the World AIDS Day towards achieving a HIV free Nigeria Society
Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome AIDS are health conditions caused by infection.
Initially an infected person may not notice any symptoms or may experience a brief period of influenza, but this is followed by a prolonged period of no symptoms.
As the infection progresses, it interferes more with the immune system, increasing the risk of common infections like tuberculosis as well as tumors which rarely affect people whose immune systems are still in tact.
These late symptoms are referred to as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome AIDS which includes experiences such as weight loss that leads to death.
In order to prevent or reduce this death caused by HIV/AIDS, was what made world leaders in 1988, came up with the decision to set aside December 1, to celebrate World AIDS Day and to acknowledge the progress made in HIV prevention and treatment around the world as well as a renewed commitment towards ensuring a society free of HIV/AIDS.
Statistics shows that about thirty six point seven million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS, while more than one million people each year die of AIDS related cases and two point one million people are infected by HIV.
Research findings show that two thirds of the new HIV infections worldwide occur in sub - Saharan Africa.
It is worthy to note that HIV is spread primarily by unprotected sex,which includes anal and oral sex, contaminated blood transfusion, the use of not sterilized sharp objects, infections from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery or breastfeeding.
Luckily enough, some bodily fluids, such as saliva and tears do not transmit HIV.
According to medical reports, the methods of prevention are safe sex and avoiding the sharing of sharp objects.
Furthermore disease in a baby can be prevented by giving both the mother and child antiretroviral medication.
Some medical experts have emphasized that there is no cure for HIV/AIDS but however opined that antiretroviral treatment can slow the disease and may lead to a near normal life expectancy.
The treatment of HIV/AIDS patients, is recommended as soon as the diagnosis is made but without treatment, the average survival time after infection is eleven years.
Many have warned against stigmatization, adding that an HIV/AIDS patient is a normal human that needs love and regular medication to live long.
AIDS is real, know your status by testing and protecting yourself.
A word is enough for the wise