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Igogoro, Enugu Ezike my Village… a nostalgia for my childhood days.

IZUNWAONU

The wind of Christmas blows and the memories of Childhood are stimulated. Every street by now in Igogoro is adorn with over grown elephant grasses with thorns marking the proximity of Ợkpa Uche prior to that of Christmas. This is the period when all eyes look up in anticipation of the relatives coming home. Everything can be killed in my mind except nostalgia for my village, I carry it in the color of my eyes, in every love affair, in everything that deeply torments and unties and tricks, I cannot forget that this is the time my parents procure my Christmas cloths with that of my siblings from Eke Ozzi(Ogrute). Most of us who grew up with activities done in the village, know that 20^th of every November (Ợkpa Uche festival) is a day we would want to be celebrated every day, and as time moves on, that line of nostalgia will keep moving forward even when the wind of life has taken some of us far from home. I am grateful for the home I have, knowing that at every moment at home, all I have is all I need. Gladys M. Hunt, in his work “Honey for a Child's Heart” answered it better -My favorite definition on Home is "a safe place," a place where one is free from attack, a place where one experiences secure relationships and affirmation. It's a place where people share and understand each other. Its relationships are nurturing. The people in it do not need to be perfect; instead, they need to be honest, loving, supportive, recognizing a common humanity that makes all of us open to each other.” If Home is people, then it was wherever the people who loved you were, whenever you were together and that is exactly what the people of Igogoro are to me because they make me feel at Home IGOGORO IS MY HOME.

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The World without God…

 

STOP IMMORALITY

Immorality has become a religion of its own in some parts of the world. In the United States, a church is encouraging members of its congregation to attend services in the nude. The congregants of a Southeastern Virginia church according to BMJ MURIITHI walk into the church fully dressed and immediately strip naked upon entry, what a world? America started with nudist resorts, porn and strip clubs and we (some) Nigerians call it civilization. I hope we don’t have strip clubs and porn nowadays made by Nigerians because we always seem to follow mostly their evil influence. In fashion and designing, I know we have learnt it but I pray you not to learn the immoral attitude from them.

Mr. Parker the pastor of the so called church said “Some of the biggest moments in Jesus’ life were when he was naked.” “When he was born, he was naked, when he was crucified he was naked and when he arose, he left his clothes in the tomb and he was naked. If God made us that way, how can that be wrong?” he wondered.

 “People are more open as far as hearing the word of God and speaking the word of God,” Mr. Church said, adding; “There are people that have great means, great wealth while others don't. But you wouldn't know, and everybody treats everyone equally here. We are very happy as a Church family."

Friedrich Nietzsche writes his famous declaration, God is dead several times throughout his works. He said, in The Gay Science (Section 125, The Madman):

“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”

IZUNWAONU

Nietzsche’s works express a fear that the decline of religion, the rise of atheism, and the absence of a higher moral authority would plunge the world into chaos. The western world had depended on the rule of God for thousands of years — it gave order to society and meaning to life. Without it, Nietzsche writes, society will move into an age of nihilism. He was critical of it and warned that accepting nihilism would be dangerous. We live our lives as though God does not exist and we have cemented our rationality and then refuse to accept our shortcomings.

I think we do all these things to write our own history, then why do we leave bad legacies in the name of writing history? Churches now in some countries are turned into hotels because we have lost the sense of sacred. The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah (Homosexualism and lesbianism) have now been canonized in our era. It is high time we started annoying God and God is not happy with us. When we remove God from the activities in our lives, God will as well leave us but the end will always justifies the means. Every human being has one thing in common and that is DEATH, we all shall be judged in accordance with the life we lived. Forewarned is forearmed… Let us fight against immorality, let morality prevail.

By; IZUNWAONU

…we still have a long distance to go, I am not a Nigerian, an American, an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world. . Thank God today I am philosopher (a lover of wisdom). If everybody should become a philosopher, the world would become better. Why? They are known for these;

1.     Humility; just imagine this great man Socrates saying “As for me, all I know is that I know nothing”.

2.    No discrimination; Eugene V. Debs said, "I have no country to fight for: my country is the earth, and I am a citizen of the world." Socrates also said, I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world. 

3.    They are not afraid of death; when Socrates was about to die, he stood in that which he though was the right and never feared those that were to kill him. He said, “The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways — I to die and you to live. Which is the better, only God knows.” He told the judges, “Wherefore, O judges, be of good cheer about death, and know that this is of a truth — that no evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death. ...For which reason also, I am not angry with my accusers, or my condemners; they have done me no harm, although neither of them meant to do me any good; and for this I may gently blame them.

Etc.

...the true disciple of philosophy is likely to be misunderstood by other men; Jesus Christ was a philosopher and He was misunderstood Hence Thank God I am a Philosopher.

IZUNWAONU: Onuh Justus Izuchukwu.

IZUNWAONU: Onuh Justus Izuchukwu.: DANGER IN GENETIC ENGINEERING Introduction; There has been much concern that organisms that have been modified with powerful recombinan...

Onuh Justus Izuchukwu.

DANGER IN GENETIC ENGINEERING

Introduction;

There has been much concern that organisms that have been modified with powerful recombinant DNA techniques might sometimes be dangerous. Could i

t be unsafe to eat a particular 'genetically engineered' fruit or grain? Does the genetic engineering limit children’s autonomy to shape their own destinies. This is the danger facing the world today. Human beings have altered the genomes of species for thousands of years through selective breeding, or artificial selection as contrasted with natural selection, and more recently through mutagenesis. Genetic engineering as the direct manipulation of DNA by humans outside breeding and mutations has only existed since the 1970s. The term "genetic engineering" was first coined by Jack Williamson in his science fiction novel Dragon's Island, published in 1951, one year before DNA's role in heredity was confirmed by Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase and two years before James Watson and Francis Crick showed that the DNA molecule has a double-helix structure. This process of “genetic engineering” refers to the practice of adding new DNA to living things in order to create traits that would have not naturally existed. This process can hinder the moral issues particularly in religion. The question now is, can man possess the ability and right to influence the course and law of nature? Looking at both sides, the genetic engineering argument does raise questions that should be answered, not shouted down. Like all major scientific advances, it probably has some negative effects, and steps must be taken to improve these outcomes.  There has been more or less a consensus among some scientists who have published analyses of ecological risks that most genetically engineered organisms (GEOs) should be ecologically safe, though a minority could cause great problems. Yet after years of analysis and discussion, the scientific community is still divided over what this generality should suggest for regulatory oversight.

Genetic engineering a serous treat to human society.

 Sometimes, we do our best to satisfy our immediate needs, as well as forgetting the future generations.  Time shall come when those in the distant future will look back on this period of history and they will likely see their present era as when the natural environment was poor, because the then present time will be full of artificial. Mark Zuckerberg made some mind-bending predictions about the future at a Q&A he hosted on his Facebook page on 30^th June 2015, from the answers he gave, one can aver that the world is becoming full of artificial. This power of allowing genetic engineers to build new artificial genomes instead of having modified naturally existing genomes and it applications, is unpredictable and dangerous, and broadening the application of genetic engineering only furthers the risks because, most if not all engineered organisms pose lethal and economic risks to human society. The most frightening scenario is the destructive use of genetic engineering by the Terrorist groups or armies who could develop more powerful biological weaponry. These weapons could be resistant to medicines, or even targeted at people who carry certain genes. Genetically engineered organisms used for biological weapons might also reproduce faster, which would create larger quantities in shorter periods of time, increasing the level of devastation. Likewise the availability of genomic information and the genetic engineering technology create a poisonous threat to humanity because; when the terrorists or armies use both the information and technology to recreate deadly pathogens, such as the poliovirus and the naturally occurring poliovirus which can kill and paralyze millions of people in couple of years. Many chemical companies as well want to use genetically engineered organisms to produce chemicals because it is cheaper than normal manufacturing methods. If chemical companies begin to rely on genetically engineered organisms to produce food and medical chemicals, the public could be at risk for another dangerous outbreak of lethal chemicals which will do more harm than good to the lives of the society.

Way out…

  Like many other things, genetic engineering is a two-edged sword, using genetic engineering would eventually give a free rein to all of its effects, both positive and negative. After genetic engineering starts being used, our society will not simply be able to "put it back", "turn it off", or otherwise remove it. Once it becomes reality, it will always be with us. It is true it has been of assistance to man in many case like;

1. With genetic engineering, most of the diseases and illnesses can easily be prevented through isolating the exact gene that causes them.

 2. There are also infectious diseases that can be treated with the use of genetic engineering. This is done by implanting the genes that are associated with antigen and antiviral proteins.

 3. The most desirable traits of certain organisms can be pin pointed and integrated into other organism’s DNA.

4. Genetic engineering has the ability to increase the genetic diversity as well as produce variant alleles that can be implanted to other species and other.

 It is also possible to change the heredity of the wheat plants and grow insulin. But a critical study of all of the effects of genetic engineering can lead to responsible use of the technology when it is fully developed. Right now, however, there are no specific limits that are on genetic engineering. We, as a society, are technologically ready to carry out genetic engineering, but we may not be ready for the responsibility it brings. Writer Dinesh D’Souza articulates his position on this in a 2001 National Review Online article: “If parents are able to remake a child’s genetic makeup, they are in a sense writing the genetic instructions that shape his entire life. If my parents give me blue eyes instead of brown eyes, if they make me tall instead of medium height, if they choose a passive over an aggressive personality, their choices will have a direct, lifelong effect on me.” In other words, genetic enhancement is immoral because it artificially molds people’s lives, often pointing their destinies in directions that they themselves would not freely choose. Therefore, it represents a fundamental violation of their rights as human beings. The process of genetic engineering is quite tricky and risky process and we need to gather a wide variety of information before attempting to engage in the process of genetic engineering. Keeping ourselves educated about all aspects of genetic engineering can help us a lot because it will make us to understand that the genetic engineering process involves gene and chromosome that has the ability to control the body characteristics.

Conclusion.

Genetic engineering will ultimately arise many concerns, and these concerns range from ethical issues to a lack of knowledge on the effects genetic engineering may have. One major concern is that once an altered gene is placed in an organism, the process cannot be reversed. God was not wrong when he created us as we are, but we have insisted in changing the nature. Instead of attempting to bury our heads in the sand, we should seek to harness genetic engineering for its positive benefits, even as we take careful steps to ameliorate its potential downsides. We should know that the world is made up of warring opposite (cold verses heat, night verses day) as Anaximander stated. If we should consider the merit, let us as well consider the side effect and never transfer artificiality to the next couple of generation to come. Considering what we are witnessing now, time shall come when many natural things would have gone to extinction.  It was Albert Einstein who said “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better”. I vehemently believe David Attenborough who said that it seems to him that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living. Scientists tend to build a reputation on refuting the theories of those who have gone before. Yet, whatever we hypothesize, observe, measure or record about the natural world, it leaves more unanswered questions (Robert Winston). Hence, let us leave the world natural.

   By Onuh Justus Izuchukwu.