OF FAULTS, CORRECTIONS, ESCAPISMS AND CONSEQUENCES

' Hey Sammie, why were you late to church today?'
 Abegi.... what about those who didn t come at all? Are they not human beings as well?'
  This kind of discourse has become very common place among a lot of people, so much so that it has become very acceptable and even fashionable as the latest means of watering down the import of their wrongdoings, by comparing it to the next worse possible level. At such times, the interrogator who is mostly also guilty of such at one point or the other in the rememberable past, become tongue-tied and the issue is mostly laughed over or the topic substituted almost immediately. The only exception to this postulation will be if the interrogator is someone of higher authority, and even that is subject to some degree of probability.

  The truth of the matter remains that, for every inaction or action, there is a ready and waiting consequence. That one is as true and sure as the midday sun. The Scripture and Mother Nature are sisters on this one- it is the way the cosmos has been fashioned. The timing and placing of the consequence is immaterial.
  Now, correction has basic components which include content, which is the real substance of the wrongdoing, what makes it wrong and why it is wrong, giving practical reasons. Another component of correction is the sternness of it. A correction qualifies as an effective one if it carries enough deterrent in it. this can come in form of harsh words, punishment, declarations, insults whether veiled or open.  Most times, the correction intended for the defaulter is stripped of content and bite, by this method of negative comparison which in turn gives leverage to that next worse level.

  Man is bad by default. That is why no effort ought to be spared in the bid to make a good person out of someone, and mindsets such as this are usually bad for business. With this kind of approach, corrections become ineffective and devoid of steam, the defaulter tends to carry on unabashed and unquestioned, because there is usually a next worse level of offence to compare the present to, absolve oneself, and keep sliding down the steep incline to doom. Needless to say, the grave consequences waiting somewhere down the line blooms and blossoms enough to adequately reward and repay.

   A lot of good will be achieved if we do away with this escapist theory of receiving corrections. It is bad enough that the offence was committed, it will only be wise to take every form of correction in your stride and learn from it.

 
 

Valentine: Vibes from a Vanishing World

So its approaching February 14. There is love in the air. the radio, television, the internet and mass media are all awash with adverts and promos and the slogan is always 'in the spirit of the Valentine season'. Opportunistic ladies put on their best garb of behaviour, ostensibly to hook a partner down to 'be their Val'. Guys with the same labelling perfect their baits  and charm and wit for a nice good hunting and happy landing. The period is usually an interesting piece of entertainment, there being no end to the drama that is wont to unfold.

   I do not want to believe that the lion share of the enlightened population have not cared to inquire after the origin of this commemoration. One can easily understand with those who are only content with general proclamation of February 14 as Valentine's day as the only cue they need to indulge. Afterall, the information on almost anything one needs is there for the asking- at the touch of a button.

   In the Nigerian parlance, I  will not be wrong to say that the population is equally skewed between Christians and Muslims, which are the principal religions that make up our demography. but the hue and hype of the Valentine produces mostly Christian vibes... at least to the best of my knowledge.

  In all the accounts that chronicle the origin of Valentine's day, there has been one constant feature: sexual deviance and debauchery, or at best inordinate sexual relations outside of marriage, which is the Biblically prescribed visa into the foray of sexual adventure. While it is still debatable the veracity and truth of any of these accounts, that is a lesser evil compared to the glaring fact that a commemoration stuffed to the throat with such maverick show

A CASE FOR VIRGINITY

                                                                

Nature has a subliminal way of communicating to man its point of view regarding anything, particularly when its course has been altered, tampered with or even out rightly violated. It has its own fight-back mechanism, its exclusive alarm system that does not fail in communicating effectively how it feels. Conversely, when its argument is accepted wholeheartedly, there is a kind of peace, balance and cohesion that cannot be rivalled by any other solution other than going back to the drawing board, Nature’s drawing board.

  It is true that the concept of virginity today is one that is deemed overrated, trodden down and somewhat regarded as a Stone-Age phenomenon. At best, the exclamation one would get on hearing the status of the other would be a wow, and very few wows are that of admiration and respect, as opposed to the gamut of wows that are borne out of the feeling that the virgin is outlandish and not in tune with the trends and times. Some people actually go ahead to postulate obnoxious and spurious medical theories of health repercussions that would arise when a man or woman attains a certain age without doing the do. To crown the moral rot, most people run to town with these hypotheses, and actually act on the aegis of its fear, without a certain proof of its tenability.

  It is also as real as the midday sun, that virginity is a virtue which terms of reference has been unfairly restricted to the female folk. The woman is expected to be chaste and pure while waiting for Mr Right, while it is deemed societally okay for the man to go on a sexual philandering, exploring and conquering, for as long as he desires. While the society has handed the world wholesale to the man, it does not in any way negate the fact that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Again, because of the perversion and the level of moral depravity that is the order of the day, even the concept of virginity has become departmentalized and technicalized. There are the primary, secondary and tertiary virgins, their definitions and terms of classifications as sparse as the Sahara.

  The definition of the term virgin is as simple as it gets-anything that begins to demand copious and repeated explanation to drive home a single point is a shady one, as i recently learned. For avoidance of ambiguity, a virgin is one who has not had sexual experience of any kind, requested or accidental. Experience here precludes everything that is not the fusion of the male and female reproductive organs-books, movies, fantasies, chancing on other people in the act, and everything else  in that bracket. As it would seem, the ones which fall in the accidental column would be the ones which the sin-charged atmosphere currently holding sway has forced on us, but the truth remains that an image, and opinion has been engraved on the mind of the receiver, which are most times unwholesome, and would take enormous mental and spiritual effort to erase.

  The consummation and height of the sexual experience would be the actual union of both coital equipment, and like the opening statement, nature has made it so that both sexes ought to stay innocent of conjugal experience until the marriage act is consummated. And like the stars, the advantages and blessings are legion. Even what is termed a disadvantage is often seen as such through defiled spectacles, and cannot possibly count where nature has already put a stamp of approval. If the man and his wife married as virgins, the issue of cheating and inordinate bedroom demands and desires are practically non-existent. Very few people know that since sex brought about human life, any slip in anything concerning it will automatically spell wrong for both the person and the larger society. The issue of low libido and lack of sexual prowess cannot arise, since there has been no prior experience to compare it with. The bond between the couple is second to none. There can be no boredom whatsoever. The procreation of God-fearing, sane and high-flying children is sure-banker. And i dare say, the route to heaven is straighter and easier.

It is because virginity has become utopic that the world spiritual and marital has been turned to an amphitheatre of drama, rot and riot. And Nature keeps watching, chin in hand, waiting for those who can retrace their steps and come crawling back to her.

Ogbonna Nnaemeka Henry.