Biggybrand is a multifunctional concepts for all ages, its deals on wide ranges of information, HSE tips, business management write ups, poems,social questions and christians journal, environmental issues as well as global politics
God is good and jesus is the key to living, our goal is a sound educational information to all
Developmental psychologists have a number of methods to study changes in individuals over time.
In a longitudinal study, a researcher observes many individuals born at or around the same time (a cohort) and carries out new observations as members of the cohort age. This method can be used to draw conclusions about which types of development are universal (or normative) and occur in most members of a cohort. Researchers may also observe ways in which development varies between individuals and hypothesize about the causes of variation observed in their data. Longitudinal studies often require large amounts of time and funding, making them unfeasible in some situations. Also, because members of a cohort all experience historical events unique to their generation, apparently normative developmental trends may in fact be universal only to their cohort.
In a cross-sectional study, a researcher observes differences between individuals of different ages at the same time. This generally requires less resources than the longitudinal method, and because the individuals come from different cohorts, shared historical events are not so much of a confounding factor. By the same token, however, cross-sectional research may not be the most effective way to study differences between participants, as these differences may result not from their different ages but from their exposure to different historical events.
An accelerated longitudinal design or cross-sequential study or cohort-sequential design combines both methodologies. Here, a researcher observes members of different birth cohorts at the same time, and then tracks all participants over time, charting changes in the groups. By comparing differences and similarities in development, one can more easily determine what changes can be attributed to individual or historical environment, and which are truly universal. Clearly such a study can be even more resource-consuming than a longitudinal study.
Additionally, these are all correlational, not experimental, designs, and so one cannot readily infer causation from the data they yield. Nonetheless, correlational research methods are common in the study of development, in part due to ethical concerns. In a study of the effects of poverty on development, for instance, one cannot easily randomly assign certain families to a poverty condition and others to an affluent one, and so observation alone has to suffice.
Stages of development
Pre-natal development
See also: Pre-natal development and Pre- and perinatal psychology
Pre-natal development is of interest to psychologists investigating the context of early psychological development. For example, some primitive reflexes arise before birth and are still present in newborns. One hypothesis is that these reflexes are vestigial and have limited use in early human life. Piaget's Theory of cognitive development suggested that some early reflexes are building blocks for infant sensorimotor development. For example the tonic neck reflex may help development by bringing objects into the infant's field of view. Other reflexes, such as the walking reflex disappear to be replaced by more sophisticated voluntary control later in infancy. This may be because the infant gains too much weight after birth to be strong enough to use the reflex, or because the reflex and subsequent development are functionally different. It has also been suggested that some reflexes (for example the moro and walking reflexes) are predominantly adaptations to life in the womb with little connection to early infant development Primitive reflexes reappear in adults under certain conditions, such as neurological conditions like dementia or traumatic lesions.
Ultrasound has shown that infants are capable of a range of movements in the womb, many of which appear to be more than simple reflexes By the time they are born, infants can recognise and have a preference for their mother's voice suggesting some pre-natal development of auditory perception[ Pre-natal development and birth complications may also be connected to neurodevelopmental disorders, for example in schizophrenia. With the advent of cognitive neuroscience, embryology and the neuroscience of pre-natal development is of increasing interest to developmental psychology research.
Infancy
Main articles: Infant and child psychology and Infant cognitive development
From birth until the onset of speech, the child is referred to as an infant. Developmental psychologists vary widely in their assessment of infant psychology, and the influence the outside world has upon it, but certain aspects are relatively clear.
The majority of a newborn infant's time is spent in sleep. At first this sleep is evenly spread throughout the day and night, but after a couple of months, infants generally become diurnal.
Infants can be seen to have 6 states, grouped into pairs:
quiet sleep and active sleep (dreaming, when REM occurs)
quiet waking, and active waking
fussing and crying
Infants respond to stimuli differently in these different states
Habituation (see above) has been used to discover the resolution of perceptual systems, suggesting that infants basic perceptual abilities develop before acquisition of object permanence.
Vision is significantly worse in infants than in older children. Infant sight, blurry in early stages, improves over time. Colour perception similar to that seen in adults has been demonstrated in infants as young as four months, using habituation methods
Hearing is well-developed prior to birth, however, and a preference for the mother's heartbeat is well established. Infants are fairly good at detecting the direction from which a sound comes, and by 18 months their hearing ability is approximately equal to that of adults.
Smell and taste are present, with infants showing different expressions of disgust or pleasure when presented with pleasant odors (honey, milk, etc) or unpleasant odors (rotten egg) and tastes (e.g. sour taste). There is good evidence for infants preferring the smell of their mother to that of others
Language : infants of around six months can differentiate between phonemes in their own language, but not between similar phonemes in another language. At this stage infants also start to babble, producing phonemes.
Touch is one of the better developed senses at birth, being one of the first to develop inside the womb. This is evidenced by the primitive reflexes described above, and the relatively advanced development of the somatosensory cortex
Pain : Infants feel pain similarly, if not more strongly than older children but pain-relief in infants has not received so much attention as an area of research
An early theory of infant development was the Sensorimotor stage of Piaget's Theory of cognitive development. Piaget suggested that an infant's perception and understanding of the world depended on their motor development, which was required for the infant to link visual, tactile and motor representations of objects. According to this view, it is through touching and handling objects that infants develop object permanence, the understanding that objects are solid, permanent, and continue to exist when out of sight
Special methods are used to study infant behavior.
Piaget's Sensorimotor Stage comprised six sub-stages (see sensorimotor stages for more detail). In the early stages, development arises out of movements caused by primitive reflexes. Discovery of new behaviours results from classical and operant conditioning, and the formation of habits. From eight months the infant is able to uncover a hidden object but will persevere when the object is moved. Piaget's evidence for a complete understanding of object permanence before 18 months was the infant's failure to look for an object where it was last seen. Instead infants continue to look for an object where it was first seen, committing the "A-not-B error".
Later researchers have developed a number of other tests which suggest that younger infants understand more about objects than first thought. These experiments usually involve a toy, and a crude barrier which is placed in front of the toy, and then removed, repeatedly. Before the age of eight to nine months, infants inability to understand object permanence extends to people, which explains why infants at this age do not cry when their mothers are gone ("Out of sight, out of mind.").
There are critical periods in infancy and childhood during which development of certain perceptual, sensorimotor, social and language systems depends crucially on environmental stimulation. Feral children such as Genie, deprived of adequate stimulation, fail to acquire important skills which they are then unable to learn in later childhood. The concept of critical periods is also well established in neurophysiology, from the work of Hubel and Wiesel among others. Some feel that classical music, particularly Mozart is good for an infant's mind. While some tentative research has shown it to be helpful to older children, no conclusive evidence is available involving infants.
Babyhood
Intelligence is demonstrated through the use of symbols, language use matures, and memory and imagination are developed. Thinking is done in a nonlogical, nonreversible manner. Egocentric thinking predominates.
Socially, toddlers are little people attempting to become independent at this stage, which they are commonly called the " terrible twos". They walk, talk, use the toilet, and get food for themselves. Self-control begins to develop. If taking the initiative to explore, experiment, risk mistakes in trying new things, and test their limits is encouraged by the caretaker(s) the child will become autonomous, self-reliant, and confident. If the caretaker is overprotective or disapproving of independent actions, the toddler may begin to doubt their abilities and feel ashamed for the desire for independence. The child's autonomic development will be inhibited, and be less prepared to successfully deal with the world in the future.
Early childhood
Also called as "Pre-school age", "Pre-gang age", "Exploratory age" and "Toy age".
When children attend preschool, they broaden their social horizons and become more engaged with those around them. Impulses are channeled into fantasies, which leaves the task of the caretaker to balance eagerness for pursuing adventure, creativity and self expression with the development of responsibility. If caretakers are properly encouraging and consistently disciplinary, children are more likely to develop positive self-esteem while becoming more responsible, and will follow through on assigned activities. If not allowed to decide which activities to perform, children may begin to feel guilt upon contemplating taking initiative. This negative association with independence will lead them to let others make decisions in place of them.
Late Childhood
In middle childhood, intelligence is demonstrated through logical and systematic manipulation of symbols related to concrete objects. Operational thinking develops, which means actions are reversible, and egocentric thought diminishes.
Children go through the transition from the world at home to that of school and peers. Children learn to make things, use tools, and acquire the skills to be a worker and a potential provider. Children can now receive feedback from outsiders about their accomplishments. If children can discover pleasure in intellectual stimulation, being productive, seeking success, they will develop a sense of competence. If they are not successful or cannot discover pleasure in the process, they may develop a sense of inferiority and feelings of inadequacy that may haunt them throughout life. This is when children think of them selves as industrious or as inferior.
Adolescence
Main article: Adolescent psychology
Adolescence is the period of life between the onset of puberty and the full commitment to an adult social role, such as worker, parent, and/or citizen. It is the period known for the formation of personal and social identity (see Erik Erikson) and the discovery of moral purpose (see William Damon). Intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts and formal reasoning. A return to egocentric thought often occurs early in the period. Only 35% develop the capacity to reason formally during adolescence or adulthood. (Huitt, W. and Hummel, J. January 1998)
It is divided into two parts namely:
1. Early Adolescence: 13 to 17 years and
2. Late Adolescence: 17 to 18 years
The adolescent unconsciously explores questions such as "Who am I? Who do I want to be?" Like toddlers, adolescents must explore, test limits, become autonomous, and commit to an identity, or sense of self. Different roles, behaviors and ideologies must be tried out to select an identity. Role confusion and inability to choose vocation can result from a failure to achieve a sense of identity.
Early adulthood
The person must learn how to form intimate relationships, both in friendship and love. The development of this skill relies on the resolution of other stages. It may be hard to establish intimacy if one has not developed trust or a sense of identity. If this skill is not learned the alternative is alienation, isolation, a fear of commitment, and the inability to depend on others.
A related framework for studying this part of the life span is that of Emerging adulthood, introduced in 2000 by Jeffrey Arnett. Scholars of emerging adulthood are interested not only in relationship development (focusing on the role of dating in helping individuals settle on a long-term spouse/partner), but also the development of sociopolitical views and occupational choice.
Middle age
Middle adulthood generally refers to the period between ages 40 to 60. During this period, the middle-aged experience a conflict between generativity and stagnation. They may either feel a sense of contributing to the next generation and their community or a sense of purposelessness.
Physically, the middle-aged experience a decline in muscular strength, reaction time, sensory keenness, and cardiac output. Also, women experience menopause and a sharp drop in the hormone estrogen. Men do have an equivalent to menopause, it is called "Andropause," which is a hormone fluctuation with physical and psychological effects similar to menopause. Lowered testosterone levels result in mood swings and a decline in sperm count and speed of ejaculation and erection. Most men and women remain capable of sexual satisfaction after middle age.
Old age
This stage generally refers to those over 60-80 years. During old age, people experience a conflict between integrity vs. despair. When reflecting on their life, they either feel a sense of accomplishment or failure.
Physically, older people experience a decline in muscular strength, reaction time, stamina, hearing, distance perception, and the sense of smell. They also are more susceptible to severe diseases such as cancer and pneumonia due to a weakened immune system. Mental disintegration may also occur, leading to Dementia or Alzheimer's Disease. However, partially due to a lifetime's accumulation of antibodies, the elderly are less likely to suffer from common diseases such as the cold.
Whether or not intellectual powers increase or decrease with age remains controversial. Longitudinal studies have suggested that intellect declines, while cross-sectional studies suggest that intellect is stable. It is generally believed that crystallized intelligence increases up to old age, while fluid intelligence decreases with age.
In Western developed societies, mothers (and women generally) were emphasized to the exclusion of other caregivers, particularly as the traditional role of the father was more the breadwinner, and less the direct caregiver of an infant, he has been traditionally viewed as impacting an infant indirectly through interactions with the mother of the child.
The emphasis of study has shifted to the primary caregiver (regardless of gender or biological relation), as well as all persons directly or indirectly influencing the child (the family system). The roles of the mother and father are more significant than first thought as we moved into the concept of primary caregiver.
Affirming a role for fathers, studies have shown that children as young as 15 months benefit significantly from substantial engagement with their father. In particular, a study in the U.S.A. and New Zealand found the presence of the natural father was the most significant factor in reducing rates of early sexual activity and rates of teenage pregnancy in girls. Covariate factors used included early conduct problems, maternal age at first childbirth, race, maternal education, father's occupational status, family living standards, family life stress, early mother-child interaction, measures of psychosocial adjustment and educational achievement, school qualifications, mood disorder, anxiety disorder, suicide attempts, violent offending, and conduct disorder. Further research has found fathers have an impact on child academic performance, including involved nonresident fathers. However, father absence is associated with a range of negative outcomes for children, including child and later criminal behavior.
Historical antecedents
The modern form of developmental psychology has its roots in the rich psychological tradition represented by Aristotle, Tabari,Rhazes, and Descartes. William Shakespeare had his melancholy character Jacques (in As You Like It) articulate the seven ages of man: these included three stages of childhood and four of adulthood. In the mid-eighteenth century Jean Jacques Rousseau described three stages of childhood: infans (infancy), puer (childhood) and adolescence in Emile: Or, On Education. Rousseau's ideas were taken up strongly by educators at the time.
In the late nineteenth century, psychologists familiar with the evolutionary theory of Darwin began seeking an evolutionary description of psychological development; prominent here was G. Stanley Hall, who attempted to correlate ages of childhood with previous ages of mankind.
A more scientific approach was initiated by James Mark Baldwin, who wrote essays on topics that included Imitation: A Chapter in the Natural History of Consciousness and Mental Development in the Child and the Race: Methods and Processes. In 1905, Sigmund Freud articulated five psychosexual stages. Later, Rudolf Steiner articulated stages of psychological development throughout human lif By the early to mid-twentieth century, the work of Vygotsky and Piaget, mentioned above, had established a strong empirical tradition in the field.
Children Develop Their Parents By Anne Hansen
Developmental psychology offers numerous theories about human development. The perception is that the science concentrates on the stages of childhood when, in fact, it advances many theories on stages of parent development. However, the textbook examples are never quite as colorful as the examples parents live from day to day.
Textbooks explain how children begin their search for independence around the age of two or three. The books advise parents to start giving children simple choices at this age. They cite choices such as breakfast foods or colors of socks or shirts. They offer little about the pre-school girl who fancies herself to be a runway model and chooses to change her clothes five times a day. They completely overlook the “all I do is laundry” stage the parent is experiencing.
The viewpoints, personality and family history of a parent influence how the parent interacts with the child as much as the personality and behavior of the child influences
how the parent chooses to raise the child. It is a dynamic interaction, or in simpler terms, a two way street. Our children adapt to us as we adapt to them, although in my opinion, there is more adaptation on the part of the parent.
For example, parents determine bedtime. While 8:30 PM seems reasonable for a ten-year-old, what happens if the child is unable to fall asleep? The parent adapts and allows quiet reading in bed.
A strong-willed child requires more creative discipline techniques then his mild-mannered brother or sister. A slow learner will try the patience of a tired parent at homework time more than the child who excels in school will. A fussy eater can make a creative cook out of any mom or dad. The child, by the way he or she behaves, determines how the parent will behave.
When my friend called the other day to lament the stage of life she is in with her oldest daughter – teaching her to drive, I smiled and listened. First, she need not worry. Her daughter is intelligent, responsible, and considerate. She will not prove to be a reckless driver. But who can deny that it takes great faith to sit in the passenger seat of a car with a 15 or 16 year old behind the wheel as they begin to maneuver the streets of Southern California? Danger looms at every stop sign and left turn.
My friend was curious about how I survived teaching four children to drive. It was a simple method: let Daddy do it. She had already figured this out and we agreed it is one way of getting through this stage of parenting.
She went on to explain her realization that this was a major step toward independence for her daughter. As soon as the girl secures a driver’s license, she will not need her mom as much. The trips back and forth to school and sports and music lessons could be taken off mom’s calendar and put on the daughter’s.
My friend’s life is changing. As her teenage daughter moves quickly towards total independence, the mom is moving to a stage of less control and responsibility.
She is aware that when her daughter finally earns a driver’s license college will be right around the corner and then life as her family has known it for 18 years will be over. Their “cocoon”, as she called it, would not be the same and she was feeling those first pangs of detachment that come when a parent faces the emerging adulthood of their oldest child.
Her question was, “ How do you handle it?”
I advise my friend to slow down and spend as much time as possible with her daughter. Celebrate the emerging adulthood and independence. Understand this is a special stage, just as learning to walk was a special stage. Praise her as she successfully takes
the necessary steps toward going out into the world on her own and recognize that you have given her the best care and nurturing possible.
While doing all of this I sincerely hope that my friend does some celebrating of her own.
Welcome to Stages in Pregnancy your resource from before the very early pregnancy signs all the way through the signs of labor.
Stages in Pregnancy will guide you through your fertility years, with the pregnancy first weeks and the three trimesters through post partum.
In the beginning stages learn how to effectively chart your fertility signs to pinpoint ovulation and identify possible infertility. We even offer a free fertility chart - the link is in the Fertility Charting page.
My Qualifications for Stages in Pregnancy
I have been through the throes of trying to conceive, battling and winning over minor infertility and ultimately giving birth to five healthy beautiful babies Over the past 15 years I have gone through gestational diabetes during pregnancy twice, preterm labor 3 times, premature birth twice. I've suffered through two miscarriages, fought and won the battle against minor infertility.
It was my passion in learning all I could about the human fertility cycle that led down a path of research. I read many books on fertility and pregnancy, interviewed OB/GYN doctors, nurses and midwives. Most importantly through the years I have conversed with women just like you - on this path to motherhood.
I've written extensively of my own journey to motherhood. I've had two books published on the subject of fertility and pregnancy.
My passion is to help other women who want to become pregnant. or already are pregnant with my gentle tips and advice.
Start with our Fertility Charting Basics
Our SiP Calculator can be used to calculate ovulation and be used as a Pregnancy Conception Calculator to determine the pregnancy due date.
Learn effective fertility tracking with fertility charts. By charting all your fertility signs you can know where you are in your cycle and possibly even detect pregnancy before a home pregnancy test can!
Help With Pregnancy
Be aware of the signs of a pregnancy complication and find out why progesterone cream and pregnancy go hand in hand in combating preterm labor and early miscarriages.
A comprehensive expose on how elections are rigged in the country has been unveiled by one of the insiders in the political process and former Cross River State Governor, Mr. Donald Duke. Last Wednesday at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Duke gave a blow by blow account to a gathering of pro-democracy advocates, including the Save Nigeria Group (SNG), of the modus operandi of State Chief Executives and Resident Electoral Commissioners to thwart the mandate of the electorate, not just in states controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but all the others.
In his opinion, it is not just a question of replacing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, but getting a critical mass to come out to vote and ensuring that votes count.
The Guardian today delivers excerpts of his extempore speech:
“LET me start this way. Professor Maurice Iwu is truly an enigma; he enjoyed the limelight. He enjoyed all the attacks, thrown and meted at him, he remained undaunted. I think, he belongs to the school of thought that believes that bad publicity is better than no publicity. So, even though he was being attacked and scolded and all sorts of things were said about him, he didn’t shy away from even going to the United States and talking to Nigerians in the Diaspora about his work, he didn’t shy away from it. I was told he organized a rally to ensure that he will come back to do the work he was appointed to.
Why do I call him an enigma? The truth is, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission has little or no bearing on the success of elections, that’s the truth. To me, it’s actually immaterial because he is head of the administration he takes the brunt. The best he can do is perhaps, draw up a blueprint but the implementation of that blueprint is outside his control. So, if elections are rigged in say -Taraba State- we don’t do that stuff in Cross Rivers State (laughter),
Every one looks at Iwu and he proudly says we did this or that. Hogwash!
Let me now take you through the process of an election. We have a hundred and twenty thousand booths in Nigeria. At the hierarchy, you have the Chairman of INEC, then you have the zonal Commissioners, then you have the Resident Electoral Commissioners and they are the heads in every state the zone as the name implies; we have six zones in Nigeria, so you have six of them. Then you have the Resident Electoral Commissioners and there are 36 of them of course, and Abuja. Then for each local government, you have an electoral officer. Beyond that you have a hundred and twenty thousand polling booths, headed by presiding officers. The people think that at the end of the elections, the PDP would just decide who wins and who doesn’t and announces the results. I think the process is a bit more sophisticated than that.
This is what happens; the Resident Electoral Commissioner is usually from another state. The electoral officers, they move around. They are usually from that state, but for the conduct of elections itself, you would probably move from Cross River to Akwa Ibom or to Abia, but these musical chairs don’t mean nothing.
When the Resident Electoral Commissioner comes before the elections are conducted- of course when he comes to the state, usually, he has no accommodation; monies have not been released for the running or conduct of the elections and all that because we always start late. He pays a courtesy call on the governor. It’s usually a televised event you know, and of course he says all the right things. ‘Your Excellency, I am here to ensure that we have free and fair elections and I will require your support.’
Now, at that courtesy call, most governors, at least I did, will invite the Commissioner of Police because he is part of the action and he sits there.
After the courtesy call, the Resident Electoral Commissioner now moves in for a one-on-one with the governor the says, “Your Excellency, since I came, I’ve been staying in this hotel, there is no accommodation for me and even my vehicle is broken down and the last Commissioner didn’t leave the vehicle, so if you could help me settle down quickly;’ and the governor says, ‘Chief of Staff, where is the Chief of Staff here?’ And the Chief of Staff appears. Governor says: ‘Please ensure that the REC is accommodated–put him in the Presidential lodge, allot two cars to him, I give you seven days to get this done. Then the relationship has started; I am going to share some of these things with you so that we don’t leave here with any illusions. A lot of us, folks who have gone through an election or have been elected for one thing or another, see groups like Save Nigeria Group (SNG), the CLP as woolly-eye dreamers, you have to come down to the backsides, since I am now a hybrid between both. I want to bring you both down to backsides. Let me take you down to what happens so that you can change it because if you don’t change it, we here won’t suffer but I think of our children will.
We the elite, I am one of them, we send our kids to the best schools around the World, when they come back they are misfits, they cannot fit in and so ultimately we are designing a system that would destroy us in the end.
Let me take our minds back to Somalia. Somalia is mono-religious, mono-ethnic; they only have clans (but) they have one tribe. What has happened there? It’s a failed state because the elite in Somalia were so disconnected from the people that once they had some money, they buy houses in England, Washington and all those places; they were not investing, putting their best foot forward and I think that was what Pastor Bakare was talking about. If you want to be in a contest, you put your best foot forward; at the end of the day, there was such a disconnect that even till today, they cannot bridge it. Let me tell you, the last recognized President of Somalia is buried in Lagos- Siad Barre.
We are multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-problematic. The reason why most people worry about us is if we explode, who will contain us? Let me also say this, I know what I am saying now is an aside, I will go back to the elections. When we conducted the census in 2006 or so, the raw figures said we were over two hundred million; when they went and processed the figures it came down to 140million.
When you look at those figures and compare to those we had in 1991 at a growth rate of 2.1 or something like that, it is really just an extrapolation, because we were too embarrassed to admit our true numbers. If we get it wrong, we will fail like Somalia; in Somalia, half of them are in Kenya, Ethiopia, and a few are in Europe here and there; who will contain us in all of West Africa and Central Africa and for that it is imperative not just for ourselves but for the rest of the continent that we get it right.
Now, back to the elections, once that relationship has been established between the governor and the REC, if you are a governor who is ‘A Governor’, maybe two nights after you just pop by at the governors lodge and see the REC and say ah, ‘ah REC how are you doing? Are you OK?’ He says, ‘ah! Your Chief of Staff has been wonderful. He has been very nice to me; he supplied me the vehicles and everything is Ok’.
A few weeks to the elections, the REC sees the governor; you probably have on the average about three thousand five hundred, four thousand depending on the polling booths in every state. So, REC goes to the governor and says, ‘Your Excellency, could you please give us the names of about four, five thousand people so that we can hurriedly train them, we need them as Presiding Officers.’ You need experience. A good coach is one who has played and has lost matches in the past?
The REC now goes down and says, ‘we need to conduct a training programme for the presiding officers and em, headquarters hasn’t sent us any money yet, you know.’
And the governor is like: ‘How much would that cost?’
REC replies: ‘N25million for the first batch, we may have about three batches.’ Governor: ‘Ok, the Chief of Staff will see you.’
Now, the Chief of Staff, you call him: ‘Make sure, that we arrange N25 million this week and in two weeks time another N25 million and Seventy-Five million in all.’
Chief of Staff: ‘Your Excellency, how do we do it?’
Governor: ‘Put it under Security Vote.’
In other words, its cash, ok, now, cash in huge Ghana Must Go bags – some of my colleagues will shoot me- (turns to the audience) is any former governor here? (Crowd replies no!)
Good. Cash is lodged in huge Ghana Must Go Bags for the REC and of course, to be fair to them, they call their electoral officers and say the governor has been very benevolent; he has given us this and that. I say three batches because they have them in Senatorial districts. So, you have one in Calabar, you have One in Ikom and Ogoja, those are the headquarters of the Senatorial districts. Each one costs twenty-five million. Of course, the sums are not properly retired. I don’t know how much of this twenty-five million worked. But, there is a rapport this is going on.
The governor now turns round and says: ‘call me the party chairman.’ The party chairman appears and the governor says: ‘INEC requires 50 thousand people for conducting the elections. See to it that we meet their needs.’ The chairman goes and you hear in the evening on radio and television: There will be an urgent meeting of all chairmen and secretaries of XYZ party at the headquarters. They should report promptly at 10am (because) matters of urgent interest will be discussed. End of announcement. Now we have texts messages, so its easier, in no time everyone is here.
It’s a very short meeting, please go back and within 48 hours submit from each local government two hundred and fifty names of trusted party members. So in a week the deed is done. The names, sometimes even passport photographs if required are sent to INEC.
And the training programme is carried out. Let me pause a bit, this is at party level. They are usually civil servants. They may be teachers, whatever, but they are party members. The remuneration, for each of them for the elections from Abuja is 10,000 Naira for the day’s work. But the state in its benevolence gives 50 to 100,000 Naira to each of these folks right before this election.
This is even where it gets even more interesting. So, you have each of the three or four thousand polling booths; they are manned by party stalwarts. They are usually party stalwarts. You don’t send any peripheral member. The remuneration from Abuja has not arrived but that of the state was received 48 hours prior.
On the day of elections, each polling booth has no more than five hundred ballot papers, that is standard.
There is not a polling booth that is more than five hundred. So only two hundred people appear here, three hundred there, one hundred there, fifty there, four hundred there, at the end of election what happens. The Presiding Officer sits down and calls a few guys and says, ‘hey, there are a few hundred papers here, let’s thumbprint. This is the real election. Well, this is not a PDP thing. I am not here to castigate the PDP; it’s a Nigerian thing. This process may sound comical and jovial, it happens throughout the country, whether its Action Congress or APGA it’s the same thing. We are all the same. They start thumb-printing, some are overzealous. So at the end of the day you find some voting more than the number of people that were registered to vote.
Other wise they do it, you have 95 percent turnout. You start wondering where were the voters, I didn’t see so many people. And the election results are announced; XYZ party wins and it takes a week for this paltry ten thousand Naira for each presiding officer to arrive.
Listen to this before you ask your question: Who is the most important person in an election? – The presiding officer. And if there are a hundred and twenty thousand of them (booths) there are a hundred and twenty thousand presiding officers, they are the most important people in the elections, not the Chairman.
So, as long as we keep applying that same method, you will get the same results. Its crazy to think that because you substitute Iwu for Jega all will change. In other words, Iwu is a crook, Jega is a saint. Jega is great, he has an impeccable reputation. Iwu was great, now he seems not so great. Ok, they are both professors, they have reached the peak of whatever discipline that they profess. The point is that it is the system and the personnel and the chairman has little or no control over that.
Where are we now, we don’t even know when the elections will be. The Constitution amendment seems to be stalling somewhere. So it’s either in January or in April. Sometimes, we behave as if we invented democracy. We always want to draw new rules. We should know the day of elections. It should be fixed. We should know that on so and so date I think, America is the 4th of November or so and if it falls on a Sunday it doesn’t make a difference. The point I am making here is that date is fixed, you know; because in a democracy, election should be a norm, not an event. In our democracy, election is an event. Its like, we are going to spring on to you with fire works, hey, we are going to have an election, we are all running around- I know most politicians are broke right now, so we are all running around the field.
Secondly, if you have your ears to the ground there, are whispers that may be, we need to postpone this thing. The whispers are there. In a democracy, you postpone an election? You postpone things you didn’t plan for, not things that are there in the Constitution, that says you must do this, that and that, you can’t but –you know two ways of moving forward. This is where I like what SNG and CNP are doing.
We need a critical mass of Nigerians to get out and vote. It is important because the more ballot papers that are legitimately used on election day, the fewer available to be used to rig the vote, that’s the truth. Don’t keep to yourself and think that they will announce results. They are more sophisticated than that. And that’s why the aspirants who felt cheated and had the resources to employ forensic personnel, like those elections had the elections upturned in Edo and Ondo, because they could establish multiple voting by thumbprint.
So, if it’s an AC state the procedure is the same. I remember a state, that state will remain nameless. I hear the story that the then President was so determined that he must change the leadership of this state and he called the IG and said, ‘look, that Governor is a security breach. Let's have elections and flush the governor out, and the governor knows he is under siege. A week before the elections, a new police Commissioner arrives. And you know if you are a governor and a new Police Commissioner arrives before elections, you know something is wrong somewhere and he spends two, three days without going to see the governor, which is again a breach of protocol. The day he decides to see the governor, the governor says, I won’t be at the office. However, if he gives him a particular address they may discuss. Then the chap goes there and smartly salutes and it’s in a highbrow neighborhood of the city. (Shouts of Ikoyi rent the air.) ‘No! It’s Yobe!’ (The hall explodes in loud laughter).
The Commissioner of Police walks up to the governor and smartly salutes and says: ‘Your Excellency, I just came to introduce myself. My name is Mr. So, so and so. And the governor goes: ‘Ah, you are welcome. I heard you were here two or three days ago and I was wondering whether I won’t see you. Anyway, you are welcome. Have you settled down?’ ‘Yes I’ve been given accommodation and all that. And the governor asks, ‘where was your last posting?’ He tells him, he says fine.
Governor: ‘That car over there, this is the key and this is your house.
The Commissioner of Police now says: ‘Your Excellency, this Obasanjo is a very bad man. He is a very, very bad man. If you see all the things he has planned for you eh Olorun maje.’
How do we move on? How do we get out of here? What I have done is I’ve tried graphically to paint a picture of a process. How do we change this process?
One, I think, since we cannot change attitudes as quickly, we must ensure mass participation. In an election where there is a very high turnout, the results are usually genuine. The most celebrated election in Nigeria, June 12, 1993 what happened? People came out. The more people who come out to vote the fewer–there may be mago, mago here and there but there wouldn’t be much in such a critical manner to upset the will of the people. Beyond that, if you don’t vote in an election, you have no reason to criticize the government and I tell folks everywhere that guys, I would say, I have lived my life. You guys have not and you are all criticizing Nigeria but did you vote in the last election? Most of them say no then I say, you’ve lost the moral right to criticize what the government does because you were not part of the process.
Is there a way out? I think there is. I think we need to employ technology. It's just a suggestion and I want to share with you. I have said this in one or two fora and I’ve heard people say it has not been done in America or the West why should we do it here? I say they don’t have the attitude we have here. Necessity is the mother of invention. It is not necessary for us to do what I’m about to suggest.
For the purposes of this, 3455, this number is for a phone and that number is unique to you and valid for that election or the set of elections. And each party has a numerical equivalent. AC could be 1, the PDP could be 5, the Labour Party could be 3, whatever. And on the date of elections you decide that your number even if you don’t have a phone, you can go to a centre where they have a bank of phones and once you put in your number 3455 it recognizes you, it cannot be duplicated. Its only you that has that number and for that election on that date, once its used it cannot be used by anyone else. Then you can do this one from your house or anywhere, and any time between the hours of 9-12. When it says which party, you say 3 or 4 whatever the number, they ask you, ‘are you sure you say Yes’. You press it then you’ve voted. With that, I think we can conduct election but people say ah, it’s to technological and I say, why do you always underestimate the people in the rural areas? If you send them money this way, won’t they be able to cash it? Why is it that when it is to conduct their civic responsibilities it becomes high tech? I know this country, I ran a state for eight years, I know the nooks and crannies of my state. We are not the most enlightened of states in the country, but you see, I had a deal with MTN and Glo to ensure that every community in Cross River State has a base station; for that I gave them sites free of charge; so, virtually every nook and cranny of Cross River has a base station. Even the most rural of places; even in Bakassi when we still had control of it. And they all use it. They still use it to call their folks in the urban centres to say send us money. Why is that when it comes to civic responsibility it is high tech? Because the politicians don’t want to use it, that’s the truth.
I am not saying this is a perfect system, it can be fine-tuned, that will ensure that within an hour or two every one has voted and the results are near perfect.
Of course, once you design a system, there are those whose work is to un-design the system. There are people like that and they work backwards. Once you have that we also think the same way. How do we work backwards, where can this be faulted? It can be faulted in many ways. The service companies if you are able to break-through the integrity of the system, you know, here and there; but I think we are going to think outside the norm.
The point I’m trying to make is we have to think outside the box. I want to commend the federal government, each time the government talks about elections, it keeps on talking about credible elections with brilliant sound bite. But it must go beyond the sound bite and lets not kid ourselves, by thinking that by putting a Jega there that all is well. With Jega there, all will be well if he is able to design along with his team a system that is virtually fool proof. In other words, he himself must understand the system of elections, he needs to know how it works and how its been holding.
As I speak to you, we’ve not started voters’ registration. That exercise will take any where from three to four months. It will take at least, ninety days to run through its course, another six weeks to tidy up before it is published; lets not kid ourselves. You can have elections anytime, but you can’t have credible elections in January. So, for those thinking we can have elections in January, I think we have to rethink the process; we cannot have credible elections in January. We may have elections but it may not be credible. Where are we? We need to get out of these holes; we need to traverse the length and breath of this country. We need to recruit an army of people may be 5, 000 in each state, two hundred young men and women who will reach our (people), give each of them a task to ensure that he registers at least a hundred person. That alone, will bring twenty million people into the fold. This is what they did in the Obama election.
Fortunately, I was monitoring the Obama election, whether you attain voting age or not, you are able to send text and move around and get people to vote. It's one thing to register, some folk tell me, ‘how can I go to line up for hours to vote for this person’. This is again what pastor Bakare was talking about, if people are not excited about the candidates they will not come out. ‘Look at the four people running, they are all clowns. I’ m going to watch television; I’m not going to vote because either way a clown is going to win’.
So, we have to get involved in the process. We can’t all run for offices, we all can’t. ...”
Stephen Covey is founder and chairman of the covey Leadership Center – now part of Franklin Covey – and the institute for principle-Centered Leadership in Utta. Born in 1932, he receives an MBA from Harvard Business School and a doctorate from Brigham Young University, where he was subsequently professor of organizational Behavior and Business Management.
At the covey Leadership Center, through his writing – chiefly thee seven Habits of Highly Effected people (he was sold over five million copies) – and through consultancy ( he was invited to Camp David by President Clinton), his message has reached millions of individuals in business, government, and education.
CONTRIBUTION
The Seven Habits of Effective People
The seven habits is addressed to readers not only in their capacity as managers, but also as members of a family, and as social, spiritual, sporting, and thinking individuals. It offers a life-transforming prescription’, which calls for a rethink of many fundamental assumptions and attitudes (paradigms), and builds on the fundamental concept of interdependence. Covey traces a personal development outline from;
·Dependence in childhood (many people never grow out of a dependency culture), through…
·Independence in adolescence-self-assurance, a developing personality, and a positive mental attitude, to…
·Interdependence-recognition that the optimum outcome results from everyone giving of their best, each aiming for a common goal, sharing the same mission and vision, but having the freedom to use their best judgment as to go about achieving that common goal.
Habit 1 Be proactive.
Covey distinguishes between proactive people- those who focus their efforts on things which they can do something about – and reactive people, who blame, accuse, behave like victims, picks on other people’s weaknesses, and complain about external factors over which they have no control (for example, the weather).
Proactive people are responsible for their own lives. Convey breaks down the word responsibility into ‘response’ and ‘ability’. Proactive people recognize their responsibility to make things happen. Those who allow their feelings to control their actions have abdicated responsibility and empowered their feelings. When proactive people make a mistake, they not only recognize it as such and acknowledge it, they also correct it if possible and, most importantly, learn from it.
Habit 2 Begin with the end in mind.
Leadership is about effectiveness-the vision or what is to be accomplished. It calls for direction ( in every sense of the word), purpose, and sensitivity. Management on the other hand, is about efficiency-how best to accomplish the vision. It depends on control, guidance, and rules.
To identify the end, and to formulate one’s route or strategy to achieving that end, Convey maintains the need for a ‘principle-centered’ basis to all aspects of their life-spouse, family, money, church, pleasure, friends (and, in a perverse way, enemies), sports, etc. of course all of these have some influence over the life of every individual. However, only by clearly establishing one’s own principles, in the form of personal mission, does one have a solid foundation.
Habit 3 Put first things first.
Covey’s first major work, first things first, sets out his views on time management. It argues that the important things is not managing oneself, focusing on results rather than on methods when prioritizing within each compartment of work and life.
He breaks down life’s activities into four quadrants:
Quadrant 1:Urgent and important- for example, crises, deadlines, unexpected opportunities.
Quadrant 2: Not urgent, but important-for example, planning, recreation, relationship-
building, doing, learning.
Quadrant 3: Urgent, but not important-for example, interruptions, meetings.
Quadrant 4: Not urgent and not important-for example, trivia, time wasters, gossips.
Essentially all activity of effective people should focus on the second quadrant, apart from the genuinely unpredictable quadrant 1 events. However, effective planning and doing in quadrant 2 should minimize the number of occasions on when crises occur.
The outcomes of a quadrant 2 focus include: vision, perspective, balance, discipline, and control. On the hand, the results of placing one’s main focus on the other quadrants are:
Quadrant 1: stress, burn-out, inability to manage time(and thus loss of control of one’s own life).
Quadrant 3: short-termism, loss of control, shallowness, feelings of being victim of circumstances.
Quadrant 4: irresponsibility, dependency, unsuitability for employment.
Habit 3 is therefore about managing oneself effectively, prioritizing according to the principles adopted in habit 2. This approach transcends the office diary or day-planner, embracing all roles in life-as manager, mentor, administrator, strategist, and also parent, spouse, member of social groups, and as an individual with needs and aspirations.
Habit 1-3 are grouped under the banner ‘Private Victory’. They are about the development of the personal attributes that provides the foundation for independence. Habit 4-6 are described by covey as the ‘Public Victory’, as they are the basic paradigms of interdependence.
Habit 4 Think win\win.
Interdependence occurs when there is co-operation, not competition, in the work place (or at home). Covey holds that competition belongs in the market place.
Covey points out that, from childhood, many people are conditioned to a win\lose mentality by school examinations, by parental approval being rationed to ‘success’, a belief that there is only a finite cake to be shared: a ‘scarcity mentality’ is evident in people who have difficulty in sharing recognition or credit, power or profit. It restrict their ability to celebrate other people’s success, and even brings about a perverse satisfaction at others’ misfortune.
By contrast covey advocates an ‘abundance mentality’ that:
. recognizes unlimited possibilities for positive growth and development
. celebrates success, recognizing that one person’s success is not achieved at the expense or the exclusion, of others
. understands and seeks a win\win solution
Covey argues that, to be true to your ideals, it is sometimes necessary to walk away, if the other party is interested only in a win\lose outcome: covey describes this as ‘win\win or no ideal’.
Habit 5 Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
‘I just can’t understand my son… he won’t listen to me’. The absurdity of this statement is highlighted by covey in emphasizing the importance of listening in order to understand. Clearly, the parent needs to stop and listen to the son if he or she truly wants to understand him.
However, most people want to make their point first, or are so busy looking for their opportunity to butt into the conversation that they fail to hear and understand the other party. Covey defines the different levels of listening as:
. hearing but ignoring
. pretending to listen(‘Yes’, ‘Oh’, ‘I see…’)
. selective listening (choosing to hear only what we want to hear)
. attentive listening, without evaluation (e.g., taking notes at a lecture)
. empathic listening (with intent to understand the other party)
True empathic listening requires a great deal of personal security, as one is vulnerable to being influenced, to having one’s opinions changed. The more deeply you understand other people, ‘covey says, ‘the more you appreciate them, the more reverent you feel about them.’
Likewise, when you feel that someone is genuinely seeking to understand your point of view, you recognize and share heir openness and willingness to negotiate and to reach a win\win situation.
Habit 6 Synergize.
The essence of synergise is where two parties, each with a different agenda, value each other’s differences. Everything in nature is synergistic, with every creature and plant being interdependent with others.
We also have personal effectiveness where there is synergy at an individual level – where both sides of the brain are working in tandem on a problem or situation, the intuitive, creative, visual right aside and the analytical, logical, verbal left side combining to achieve the optimum outcome.
Synergy is lacking in insecure people: they either clone others, or else try to stereotype them. Of such insecurity is born prejudice-racism, bigotry, nationalism, and any other form of prejudging others.
Habit 7 Sharpen the saw.
The seventh and final habit relates to renewal. Just as a motor car or any other sophisticated tool needs regular care and maintenance, so too do the human body and mind.
Covey uses the metaphor of a woodcutter ho is laboring painfully to saw down tree. The saw is obviously in need of sharpening, but when asked why he doesn’t stop and sharpen the saw, the woodcutter replies, ‘I can’t stop-I’m too busy sawing down the tree.’
The warning is quite clear. Everyone can become so engrossed in the task in hand that the basic tools are neglected:
. the physical self-which requires exercise, a sensible and balanced diet, and management
of stress
. the social\emotional self-which connects with others through service, empathy, and synergy,
and which is the source of intrinsic security
. the spiritual self-which through meditation, reflection, prayer, and study helps to clarify
and refine our own values and strengths, and our commitment to them
. the mental self-building on to our formal education through reading, visualizing, planning,
Writing and maintaining a coherent programme of continuing personal development.
CONTEXT AND CONCLUSIONS
Commentators have both attacked and applauded covey’s approach for mixing the self-help message, which can be traced back to Samuel Smiles, with the positive self-drive of winning friends and influencing people (Dale Carnegie), current management theories, and religious fervour.
In times of change and confusion, however, when failure, redundancy, and unemployment dominate individual thinking and lead to stress, Covey’s message offers the individual something to hang on to. First, coauthored with Roger and Rebecca Merrill, has achieved twice the sales of The seven Habits over the same period.
He is undoubtedly a philosopher for our times; highlight the significance of changing industrial and human relations in this post-confrontational era, and recognizing the potential of the untapped resources within each individual.
THE BEST SOURCES OF HELP
Books:
Covey, Stephen. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Simon & Schuster, 1989.
Covey, Stephen. Principle-centered Leadership. London: Simon & Schuster, 1999.
Covey, Stephen, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill. First Things first. London:
Posts
