The Library as an Expansion of a Classroom

THE LIBRARY AS AN EXPANSION OF A CLASSROOM

By

Tim Cuttings AGBER

Psychospiritualist

TimeXperts, Abuja - NIGERIA

E-Mail: timcuttingss@gmail.com

Tel: +2347065 777 888 

And

Matthew A. ANKWA

Clinical Psychologist

Benue State University, Makurdi

E-Mail: ankwamatthew@gmail.com

Tel: +2348065646952

© Tim Cuttings AGBER & Matthew ANKWA, 2014

How to cite this article:

Agber, T.C. & Ankwa, M.A. (2014). The library as an expansion of a classroom. Retrieved from               http://timcuttings.wordpress.com

INTRODUCTION
It is a nobbling reason to ostensibly agreeable with the idea that the library is an expansion of a classroom. Essentially, in order to discuss this subject matter well, it will do us good to look into what is the library and classroom.
The Library
Aguolu and Aguolu (2002) observed that libraries are social institutions, created to conserve knowledge; preserve the cultural heritage; provide information; undergird and underpin education and research; and to serve as fountains of recreation.
Adelaja (1977) views a library as a media resource, information and cultural center. It constitutes a social institution which exists for the collection, preservation and transmission of human intellectual experience and culture. Libraries are information banks. The word “information” connotes different things to different people in different situations and at different times.
Wikipedia (2014) defines library as a collection of information, sources, resources, and services: it is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, or a private individual. In the more traditional sense, a library is a collection of books. Similarly, Britannica (2010) holds that library is a collection of information resources in print or in other forms that is organized and made accessible for reading or study. The word derives from the Latin liber "book".
In the eyes of vendors of literati of antiquity, the concept of library and librarians was seen as “a house of books” and “a man who keeps books in a house”; but apparently, libraries have strove in scenes and science to extend beyond the physical monastic walls of buildings and librarians who are mere caretakers of books.
Libraries have been identified as one of the key elements for open access to information, which is crucial to democratic information society development.

Essentially, in all societies, every human activity is organized through institutions. Particularly, every major social task whether economic performance or health care, education or research and business or industry are institutionalized. The protection of the environment or defense is today customarily assigned to institutions and organizations. Therefore, Libraries – and other similar types of institutions – are those that collect, stock, process, organize, disseminate and distribute information or knowledge recorded in documents. Moreover, knowledge and information are so vital for the entire human development in so much that libraries and other institutions that handle and manage knowledge and information are indeed irreplaceable.
Assoh (2012) observed that the more complex the society becomes in its bureaucratic and educational requirements, the greater its dependence upon library for information services.
Though, library plays a role in people’s lives as a source of information, it is observed that its important role appeared to be as a place for knowledge creation. People studied to create knowledge about their school subjects, and people created information documents to help them find employment. The library provided a quiet space to think and the tools, photocopier and computer, to make employment documents.
Libraries have been grouped into various types depending on the purpose for which they are built and to whom they should serve. There are therefore, five basic types of libraries and Ugbagir (2013) enumerates these as academic, school, public, national and special or research libraries.
The Classroom
Classroom may be viewed in the light of a place – whether in a building or any accepted location – where a body of students (learners) with their teacher meeting regularly to study the same regulated subjects or take lessons. In addition, lesson is a period of time in which school students are taught a particular subject for its knowledge. On the other hand, classroom may be defined as a room where people are taught or a room, especially in a school or college, where classes are held involving learners and teachers.
Barr & Tagg (1995) reported that for well over a decade, the focus of the classroom has steadily shifted from a teaching-centric approach to a learning-centric approach. Invariably, this shift calls for a rethinking of the traditional classroom, replacing the standard lecture with a blend of pedagogical approaches that more regularly involve the student in the learning process. Under a learning-centered approach, the instructor retains “control” of the classroom, but thought is regularly given to how well students will learn the material presented, and the variety of pedagogically sound methods that may be employed to help the students better understand the core information to be learned, which is accrued to classroom management.
Classroom management refers to all of the things that a teacher does to organize students, space, time, and materials so that learning can take place. This management includes fostering student involvement and cooperation in all classroom activities and establishing a productive working environment.
Dike (nd) examines that a central role for the library is inextricably tied to certain ideas of educational reform and that if classroom instruction is characterized by a teacher lecturing before a class, writing notes to be copied and memorized, requiring set answers from a single text, there will be a limited role for the school library. She further explained that if, on the other hand, learning takes place through interaction with a variety of resources, with individual or small groups carrying out inquiries or projects under the guidance of the teacher, then the role of the library will be central.

The Library as an Extension of a Classroom
As an extension of the classroom, library space needs to embody new pedagogies, including collaborative and interactive learning modalities. Significantly, the library must serve as the principal building on campus where one can truly experience and benefit from the centrality of an institution’s intellectual community, (Freeman, 2005).
Demas (2005) noted that student focus groups and anecdotal evidence portray individual study as both a private and a communal act. Students associate the library with the privilege of being part of a scholarly community; in this respect, it ranks second only to the classroom. The library is perceived as a comfortable, ecumenical, and welcoming place of serious academic purpose. Everyone is there primarily to do academic work; to enter the library is to be motivated to study. Most students identify a favorite place to study and develop a strong behavioral response of immediately getting to work when they go to that place. Dorms, by contrast, are messy, noisy, and full of distractions.
Teaching and learning spaces are at the heart of many academic libraries. Group study areas are collaborative environments that buzz with students working together; library classrooms afford a place for learning and experiential development of critical thinking; and public-service desks provide the opportunity for one-to-one teaching and learning. Public libraries share this commitment to teaching and learning by offering space for tutoring, literacy activities, training in Internet usage and resources, and homework help. King Library has four computer labs, where librarians offer information-competence education to students, the public, and colleagues, (Peterson, 2005).
The use of electronic databases, digitized formats, and interactive media has also fostered a major shift from the dominance of independent study to more collaborative and interactive learning. A student can go to this place called the “library” and see it as a logical extension of the classroom. It is a place to access and explore with fellow students information in a variety of formats, analyze the information in group discussion, and produce a publication or a presentation for the next day’s seminar.
Krolak (2006) presaged that if literacy is not placed within a functional framework of relevance and if newly acquired literacy skills are not constantly used and improved, there is a real danger that those who have acquired literacy skills will relapse into illiteracy and the huge investment in school education and adult literacy classes will be wasted.
Essentially, all over the world libraries are dedicated to providing free and equitable access to information for all, be it in written, electronic or audiovisual form. They play a key role in creating literate environments and promoting literacy by offering relevant and attractive reading material for all ages and all literacy levels and by offering adult and family literacy classes. They embrace the social responsibility to offer services that bridge social, political and economic barriers, and traditionally make a special effort to extend their services to marginalized people.
Professionals, schools or faculties see the library as an extension of the classroom, as a place in which students engage in a collaborative learning process, a place where they will, it is hoped, develop or refine their critical thinking.
Conclusion
The idea of library as an extension or expansion of a classroom is a connotation of the resource-based learning, which represents an attempt to expand learning materials beyond talk and chalk, teacher and textbook in this present dispensation of ICT-inevitable generation.
Essentially, the classroom is an embodiment of students and teachers or learners and educators and the library in turn has its users or clientele who are teachers and students therefore, it can so comfortably be noted and agreed that library is an extension of the classroom.

References
Adelaja, O.E. (1977) Nigeria and the Internet. Lagos: Eket Brothers Publishing House.
Aguolu, C.C. and Aguolu, I.E. (2002) Libraries and information management in Nigeria. Maiduguri: Ed-Linform Services
Assoh, D. (2012). The library and its place in the educational process. In Ape (Ed) Modern library instruction for higher education (peer reviewed). Makurdi: Midan Enterprises
Barr, R. B., & Tagg, J. (1995). From teaching to learning: a new paradigm for undergraduate education. Change, 27(6), 12–25.
Demas, S. (2005). From the ashes of Alexandria: what’s happening in the college library? In CLRI (ed) Library as place: rethinking roles, rethinking space. Washington, DC: Council on Library and Information Resources
Dike, V.W. (nd). Library resources in education. Enugu: ABIC Publishers
Freeman, G.T. (2005). The library as place: changes in learning patterns, collections, technology, and use. In CLRI (ed) Library as place: rethinking roles, rethinking space. Washington, DC: Council on Library and Information Resources
History. (2010). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Student and Home Edition. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.
Krolak, L. (2006). The role of libraries in the creation of literate environments. Being a paper commissioned for the EFA global monitoring report, 2006 literacy for life. Hamburg: UNESCO Institute for Education
Peterson, C.A. (2005). Space design for lifelong learning: the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. joint-user library. In CLRI (ed) Library as place: rethinking roles, rethinking space. Washington, DC: Council on Library and Information Resources

Ugbagir, N.N. (2013). DLS 106 – Types of libraries (Definition of different types of libraries): Lecture 1. Makurdi: Benue State University.
Wikipedia, (2014). Library. 2014.02.22 pg1 retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/library

THE FEAR OF DEATH

Fear of Death

By

Agber Tim Cuttings

Essentially, the reality of death is so debilitating and vexing, but in actual fact it is supposed to make us to live our lives in a more meaningful way. Everybody is afraid to die and the reason for being afraid to die however varies based on personal concept of death or afterlife.

For instance, one of the greatest inventors of the 18^th Century, Thomas Edison (1847 – 1931) once in his later life had the fear of dying. Edison was not a religious man however; he believed in Supreme Intelligence. He once pointed out to a friend that although he was known around the world as a great inventor, he could not create the simplest form of life. This made him bother about what life is and how a man comes to existence. The question of life after death now spellbound Edison so greatly.

In his later years, he told newspaper reporters several times that he was working on a device, which will be very sensitive that if truly there is life after death, it would pick up the evidence. Actually, if any model of such a machine was ever developed, it was not found in Edison’s laboratories.

It doesn’t matter if you are rich, powerful or influential, you will still die⁵. This calls to mind the fact that even if you are Poor, Illiterate, Educated, President’s Wife, Minister’s Friend, Senator’s Son, Governor’s Daughter, Commissioner’s In-law, Professor’s Brother, Barrister’s Sister, Permanent Secretary’s Girl Friend, Farmer, Medical Doctor or whatever, you must simply die! What is difficult to guess about death however, is who next will die, when, where and how he will die.

The fact that we have to face death individually makes people to find it so terrifying. This philosophical view implies that even if you are surrounded by millions of people when you are dying, you must still pass through death by yourself alone.

It is most unfortunate that people are not given the mandate or opportunity to chose, decide and order when, where and how to die. This factor however accounts to the misfortune of a mortal man and more or less promiscuiting, the life we live has no timetable like school examinations and this is the zilch of a mortal man.

Death is surrounded by many encumbrances that make people fret with many questions such as:

·                    What will it feel like when you die?

·                    Where will I go to after I die?

·                    Will I still meet my enemies who have already died?

·                    Will the afterlife be as chaotic and painful as this life?

·                    Who will inherit my properties, and so on.

Well, I have never died before, you have never died before either and therefore, we don’t know what actually to expect. The fear of death is a universal phenomenon and for it to be harnessed, everybody needs to live his life to God who is the creator of it.

There once lived a man in the terrains of Ageva, who told of a story of Death to Mr. Wuhe Ikyambe Agbee in 1928. After 80 years Wuhe revealed the wonderful story and the man who told him this story in 1928 happened to be the grand father of the author of this book.

It was at noon when it dawned on the hearts of men, the issue of survival. Whether one would survive the day was something left to be understood however, the concept of death was firmly grounded in confirmable facts. One of which was made obvious through the scorching heat of the sun that overwhelmed men who were already weak with despair. This scorching heat of the sun was completely different from any other day ever experienced and it was so hot that human understanding could not explain, leaving people with a puzzling message of the uncalled visitation of death.

Hours of afternoon rolled bye and the evening came with the sun shimmering its magenta beams of terror, soon to give way to darkness of the night of doom to close in upon the terrains of Ageva and its inhabitants.

Suddenly, there saw Mr. Tortya a misty figure coming but one like gibbous not in the sky but on the road across River Be. Slowly but steadily he ascended a hill onto which Mr. Tortya’s house was situated with a cool breeze pleasantly blowing but horribly felt. Reminding the folk in the softest of tone and heard with fear, that Death has arrived and yet leaving no one with the hope of escape.

Tortya made it an obligation to welcome visitors and treat them well whether they are for good or bad mission. He cordially but grudgingly received Death and asked the wife to prepare a meal for Mr. Death to eat before proceeding with his journey.

Hanive, Tortya's wife was a woman with snubbed nose and ballooned cheeks but the best cook in that whole village. The woman prepared a delicious meal that Death would have been disappointed if his appetite did not justify him to eat. The most attractive pounded yam passionately pounded and chicken gracefully prepared in its most delicious splendor.

Usually, it was not common for Death to partake of such meals but in this case, the aroma of the stew compared him with the strongest of the meal’s spirit to eat a meal that was not intended to be a bribe but one of hospitality. When Mr. Death ate of this meal, the soul of slumber beckoned on him to sleep. When Mr. Death was asleep, Tortya came and opened the register that contained the names of those who were marked for death ranging from one to one hundred. He asked for a pen and canceled his name and cunningly wrote it on the last row.

Astonishingly enough, with the wagging of Mr. Death’s legs it became obvious, and no one needed to be told that he was about to wake up. Parakeets began to squeal, owls to howl with the moon spinning and behold, like a fiery lightening swung the eyes of Death widely opened. Death stoop up in a most graceful posture and the fear of dying saluted Mr. Tortya and he wished that the scene could be summarized into a mere dream.

Tortya’s good works attracted the attention of Mr. Death and he passed his judgment by saying that Tortya's name was first on the list of those he marked for destruction but that he is not going to die, hence his good works of hospitality. Death decided that only one person will he kill in a whole year and that as Tortya’s name is the first on the list, he will start killing from the last name to the first. Apparently, Tortya’s attempts to avoid death according to his mortal wisdom became a gallows for the hanging of his life.

Some die without having really lived, acting life instead of living it as though they were on a stage while others continue to live, in spite of the fact that they have died.

According to Burton’s quote, “The fear of death is worse than death”. What a man fears most is what besets him fast. Therefore, we do not need allow ourselves to be threatened by the appearing of the shadow of death comparing us to run into death itself.

Death has indwelled the things that mankind has so much love for but the shadow of Death appears on the things that mankind has abhorred most. More so, Death traps us in things we love most, the same things for which we are afraid to die.

Remember that death is coming for you someday and you haven’t been told when that will be. Before that day comes, be kind to your friends and be as generous as you can. Don’t deny yourself a single day’s happiness. When you are happy, you live longer and if death comes you will not fear. If there is something you want to do and it is lawful, go ahead and do it.

Human beings are like leaves on a spreading tree. New growth takes the place of the fallen leaves, while some of us die, others are being born. When the age of a leaf has, for the reason of long life decides to restrict supplies to the leaf, it makes it yellow; a color that proves it is ready to fall down. However, a yellow leaf does not fall, until wind blows and when a leaf becomes yellow, preparatory to falling it should remind the other freshly green leaves that they are also going to pass through that too.

More so, green leaves do not ordinarily fall off because of wind, unless they are weak with age and become yellow. All the same, yellow leaves do not ordinarily fall off because of weathering out unless wind blows across.

Consequently, death exposes the ultimate frivolity of a life devoted only to the pursuit of wealth and power⁶. Wherefore, living a life of good works unto God and humanity instead of pursuit of wealth and power can make us feel comfortable even if we see death.

Tim Cuttings

SIN: A Philosophical Approach
By
Tim Cuttings
Sin is not as simple as we merely understand it; and its load is not as heavy as we think but enslaving as we never expect. The mystery of sin lies in its ability to treat mankind with equal servitude. It doesn’t matter whether or not you are a rich man the shackles of sin are in constant grip on you. Ostensibly, one of the weakest points of a mortal man is in his inability to determine the most powerful phenomenon between death and sin.
The origin and outcomes of sin cannot be summarized so neatly, as some sects of the Christian religion may have it. It might be true however, that sin existed during post creature before the antediluvian period and the cunning aggressive entrance of sin on the earth brought about an unusual separation between God and man.
God, the creator of mankind endowed the biological parents of the human race not only with natural powers and talents but also with specific gifts such as immortality of body as well as of soul, extraordinary sagacity and flawless harmony between higher and lower appetites, and desires.
Above all, they were admitted through divine grace to the friendship of God, and it was in a way beyond the demands of nature. All these special and supernatural endowments were lost by their recalcitrance; just as it is, Jewish and Christian traditions find the first sin in the disobedience of Adam and Eve, the effect of which pass by way of generation to their descendants.
The worst that can happen to a mortal man is not death but the slavery that sin puts men into, and the worst mastership over man is not that of Idi’Amin of Uganda, Sani Abaccha of Nigeria or Adolf Hitler Alois of Germany but of sin.
When one’s spiritual life has gone down to the weakest point of mortal weariness; being entangled by sins of commission, omission, permission and emotion, he becomes a burden unto himself and a slave to sin. Man is laden with the responsibility to choose between righteousness and sin however; his inability to distinct righteousness from sin is what reduces him to an existing creature instead of a living being.
Lack of self control and mismanagement of mortal desires are the cardinal attributes of sin. Essentially, the possibility of living a sinless life is not so true to real life however; the possibility of living a sinful life is cogent to a mortal life but risky to the human soul.
Man may not fully understand why he is to live a supposedly sinless life, until he comes to the knowledge of where he comes from and why he is temporarily living on this planet.
It is not in the least likely that mankind is vulnerable to the attack of sin, whose origin might be an issue of contradiction among religious dogmas. Nevertheless, the most sensible thing man has to know is that there is no provision for divine security against the attack of sin and that explains why abstractly, the general overseer of the Christian Faith (Lord Jesus) once said to His disciples, “Watch and pray that you may not fall into temptation”, (Luke 21: 36).
Sin has no respect for anybody, Pope or Bishop, President of Governor and Rich or Poor man. It is never tamed or overcome by being careful but by leaning on God for allegiance. Carefulness or self control is only 10% to uprightness, and the divine origin of the scriptures or Holy Ghost given enablement is 90% to it.
Comparatively, it would not be of least relevance to realize that we live in generation and culture where the concept of sin has apparently become entangled in legalistic arguments over right and wrong. Moreover, when sin is mentioned, most people think of violations of the Ten Commandments, and even so some people tend to deem murder and adultery as major sins compared to lying or stealing.
Sin is a threat unto the harmony that exists between man and his Creator, and mankind will never stop sinning until he turns to the sensibility of the judgment of the first action to be considered as sinful and who undertook the action.
The embedment of bad in good or the association of bad with good might be the sole cause of sin in the world. This philosophy depicts that there is nothing new in the world, owing to the fact that God created everything as of the time of creation. By everything, it should down on our minds that both good and bad things were created to make the world complete however; God knows why He did everything.
In this life of mortal existence, the most essential possession man would ever acquire is Power. No matter what a man may be, as long as he lives without power, he is enormously nothing.
Conventionally, in this world of sin and shame, the necessity for man to be acquainted to God his creator is the cardinal aim of a mortal man but the gravity of sin, which is a hindrance to the bridge of amalgamation that exists between God and man has become a mountain so difficult to smash.
Avoid sin as if it were a snake. If you get too near, it will sink its teeth into your soul like a lion, and destroy you. Every lawless act leaves an incurable wound, like one left by a double-edged word. If a person is too poor to afford sin, he can rest without a guilty conscience.
The prodigal paradigm Satan has put in place to mar the grandeur of man is recalcitrance to the word of God. Not only recalcitrance to God’s word but also counterfeiting the divine law of liberty, which is putting anomalous permutations to the objectivity of Christianity and promoting churchgoing in interference with Christianity.

To be continued!

The Fear Of Being Killed By Somebody

Fear of Being Killed By Somebody

By

Agber TIM CUTTINGS

Death the absence of life in humans has being the most prominent thing that is undesirable to experience. Death is unavoidable, and it is not a respecter of persons; it is the greatest mystery of all and it has caused many people to fear its inescapable grip.

The number of graves in this nation is now gradually becoming more than the number of living houses. This is as a result of wars agitated by land disputes, HIV/AIDS and crimes – to say nothing of poverty and prevalent maladies – which result into the death of many people. Apparently, everyone is afraid to die, so but the fear of death itself is conversely not so great, as the fear of being killed by somebody.

The solemnity of this misconception has gone to a point that even when old persons die, it is not believed that it’s as a result of old age; arguments are made that there have been other people much older who are still living. In the same approach, it is believed that no one dies as the result of sickness, for there have certainly been other people who recovered from the same malady or never contracted it at all.

It has ever been a very serious issue; even in this modern age, that when a person dies, it is believed somebody killed him and for that very fact, the wheel of the fear of being killed by somebody is habitually gyrating. Sometimes past, villagers of Mamdapura, Aurad, in India were living in the fear of being killed by practitioners of “Banamati”, which they said was black magic.

The fear became an encumbrance of the highest order in the village, when three people suddenly died on October 11th 2005. Howbeit, some indigenous experts put forward that “Banamati” is a false belief that has not been proven. People claiming to be affected by “Banamati” may only be suffering from psychological disorders or may be trying to pretend being sick in order to gain sympathy.

I describe the fear of being killed by somebody as an antiprogress, antiunity, antilove and prohatred or projealousy factor that has bewildered nations especially the Tiv nation. It has become difficult for many people to give financial or any assistance to even their brother, provided that he comes from the village; they say that the person may become the sole cause of their death since he would use what is given to him to incantate against them.

In our villages, whoever is humiliated by poverty to become dirty and whoever is very old is deemed to be a wizard or witch and he or she becomes an object of suspicion.

For instance, in a village at Mbaduku, Vandeikya in Benue State, a young woman died and according to doctors’ report, she suffered HIV/AIDS and died. When she was to be buried – on June 26th, 1999 there was a serious argument that some elderly men killed the girl. The fallacy of the girl’s death caused a great deal of enmity between the people till date.

Again, in July 1989, a man – who oftentimes came to my father for counsel over certain issues and financial help – committed suicide in Ayati, Ukum in Benue State. The report of this unconventional event saturated the whole village in a short time, and according to the wife of the dead man, the husband was indebted to some people who daily perturbed him until he could not find a way to pay the debts; the he drank a draught of hemlock (Atapiapia) and died. When the villages converged, they argued that a magician performed some incantations against the man to make his heart a little worse than that of a mad man and that is why he drank poison and died.

The trite concerns of the natives were all about finding protective measures against the illusive wizard they claimed would kill them also. And to them (the villagers), it was a paradigm everyone was to imbibe in order to withstand the scourge of witches and survive, which seemed erroneous to me. That I deemed as an integral strategy to execute vengeance on individual enemies; and unfortunately, it was just a progress retarding permutation that brought the Tiv land at the threshold of total downfall.

Two anklets were found in the stomach of a crocodile shot by a European. The natives recognized the anklets as the property of two women who, sometime before had been devoured by a crocodile. At once the charge of witchcraft was raised, for this quite natural occurrence, which would never have aroused the suspicions of a European. It was given an unexpected interpretation in the light of one of those presuppositions. The native said that an unknown sorcerer had summoned the crocodile and had bidden it to bring him the two women. The crocodile had carried out the command; but what about the anklets in the beast’s stomach? The natives maintained that crocodiles never ate people unless bidden to do so. The crocodile had received the anklets from the sorcerer as a reward.

Death only took place, it was thought as the result of diabolical interventions. The concept of natural death has little or no place in the psychology of primitive man.

It is proper even to note that it’s not only with the primitive man but also with the modern man. The existence of witchcraft may not so flawlessly be discarded however; it is pitiful that even Christians are now stuck on the belief that when somebody dies, Satan or Demons must have killed him. Incidentally, the cardinal focus of prayers in churches now has swiveled from giving thanks to God and supplicating for repentance of infidels to binding and casting of devils; and at its best sloganning for prosperity.

The state has gone so far that even medical doctors are now beginning to be afraid that somebody, not sickness will someday kill them.

It is most unfortunate that the fear of being killed by somebody is a heretical negative phenomenon that has been passed down to a modern day Tiv man.

If I may be right that the fear of being killed by somebody has been passed down to this generation by the forefathers, then it must have certainly been as a result of the family orientation they gave to their offspring.

Most Tiv people give their families a very negative orientation. They make their children and close relatives to feel that the world exists and everybody is living at the mercies of witches and wizards.

For instance, there once lived a sojourner in Ayati whose name was Paregh Adaga. He was fond of often telling his people stories of how somebody died and it was another person who mystically or magically killed the dead person.

One day Mr. Adaga attended the burial of the son of one Ukari Manor Nyua and on coming back he alleged that Mr. Ukari was previously sick and the only condition to survive the sickness – given to him by witches – was to kill his son in his place.

The wife questioned that every man loves hjs cgjldren and can any man truly kill any of the children he loves? Yes, Mr. Adaga answered. Be it as it may, Paregh was soon to be sick.

After few years, the man Paregh Adaga was sick to the point of death. Shimenenge, Adaga’s wife told everbody in the house that Paregh is sick and he could kill any of them to sacrifice for witches to allow him more days on earth. Everyone in the house traveled out, waiting to hear news of Paregh’s death before they come back.

It was only Shimenenge, the wife who was left home with Adaga. However, she tried her possible best to avoid going close to her husband for the fear of being killed by the husband to survive his sickness. After few days, Mr. Paregh Adaga, an influential personality in that community died.

Paregh Adaga had many more years to live, but died prematurely as a result of the bad orientation he gave his family. His untimely death was because he had no body to take proper care of him when he was struck down by fever, which was the commonest treatable ailment both by western and traditional medicine.

People are still telling their children such stories that give them the ideal that if somebody dies, it must have been the father, mother, brother or some witches that killed the person.

With probably single exception of Muslim Hausas, many tribes with all the level of civilization even in this contemporary Nigeria still recognize death as the result of sickle-cell as the only natural death. Yet, other tribes do not even view death as a result of sickle-cell, death in battle, shot by armed robbers or hired killers, suicide, accident and sickness to be natural; with regard to the view that if someone dies even in a battle, a sorcerer is said to be responsible for the man’s death.

It is unambiguous that ideas like such are not so curbed to only primitive people alone but also modern man as earlier stated; especially in Nigerian tribes and unfortunately, this phantom is not in consonance with survival and development. In actual fact, provided that the enormous mass of Tiv, Igbo and Yoruba continue to believe the idealism that life is harnessed by witches, wizards or magicians, a broad-spectrum fear of being killed by somebody and the unknown will abide as a steady issue of every day life in Nigeria.

This type of fear can be controlled only if we all accredit death to God. For whatever cause and in whichever way a man dies, Muslim Hausas simply admit that, it is Allah and that makes them to rule out the fear of being killed by somebody.

If it is true that when somebody dies, a sorcerer or another person is responsible for it; and incidentally, people who are said to be the witches or sorcerers are most afraid that they would be killed by somebody, then they should stop killing their fellow human beings, seeing that it is painful to be killed by somebody.

No one can unmistakably point at somebody and say, “this is a witch or wizard” and of course, people who are often said to be witches deny with all traces of seriousness that they are not. May I be bold to ask: “You saw someone and you were able to know he is a witch or wizard; you also met him killing somebody mystically by witchcraft, why didn’t you report him to the Police or call others to help you see such brutality or at least ask him (the witch) to stop?

This rude idea should not be ossified completely. Whether or not it is true that when someone dies, another is responsible for his dying, death has to be deemed like hunger. Everyone is hungry but not everyone hungry at the same time. Therefore, death can only come to anyone at any time and when it comes, it should be taken that no one is responsible for it, thence we can survive or live better lives with one another.