Nolde’s careful study of Pound’s ‘China Cantos’ (see 52) contains frequent reference as well to sources related to Japan (see index).
Business: The first company in an industry that understands how modularity lets you approach the market in new ways and implements a modular strategy can rewrite the rules of competition.
This has stimulated some Morisco descendants of expelled Spanish Muslims to call for similar treatment.
Moriscos are Muslims, forced to convert to Catholicism rather than be killed or expelled from Spain in the early 1500s, who were then later expelled from Spain in 1609, because like Spain’s Jews who were forced to convert, they remained true to their religion in secret. They, like Sephardic Jews, were scattered across North Africa.
The Moriscos are cultural cousins of the Marranos. Like Sephardic Jews, the much larger number of Muslims were an integral part of Spain’s society for centuries before being forced to convert; and then later painfully uprooted by Spain’s Catholic rulers in 1609.
Just as was the case for Marrano Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 and from Portugal in 1497; large numbers of the Moriscos expelled in 1609, perished at sea.
Those Moriscos, who made it to a port of call. “were not well-received,” said Hassan Aourid, author of a popular historical novel, “Le Morisque,” or The Morisco, set in that period. “Many locals looked down on them for being bad Muslims, and indeed they were,” said Aourid. “They were neither good Christians nor Muslims; most drank wine but did not eat pork.”
Of course, then Spain would have to do the same for all the Jewish tourists who visit the famed Synagogue-Church in Toledo, originally a Jewish place of worship that was converted to a church; and the Turks would have to allow Christians to pray at the many Church-Mosques of Istanbul.
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It can be a time of profound reflection, looking back at your own family and how they’ve shaped you, and looking forward as you consider your own influence on your little ones as they grow.
It can be a time of great excitement and wonder — first kicks, first breath, first steps, first birthdays, first days of preschool. (How did that come so quickly?) As a parent you will also have your own growth and “firsts” too.
It can be a time of intense concern, worry, and seemingly constant decision-making, knowing that your choices now impact a little one, too. And, there is always that question of whether life will be “normal” again, when you can be your own person, and my gosh, go on a date sometime!
We get it–we’ve been there. And it’s nice to know that there’s a place with people who will meet you where you’re at.
As a center for Pregnancy, Lactation, and Early Parenting, we provide classes and groups, lactation support, and wellness services to help you take care of yourself, too.
As they say with parenting, “it takes a village.” At the helm of Then Comes Baby is a seasoned Prenatal + New Parent Educator and Lactation Consultant (who is also a proud mom of three young ones herself).
We have enjoyed the continued feedback and guidance from the multi-disciplinary blend of respected health care professionals, experts in pregnancy and early childhood, and local families (who help us keep it real). They share their thoughts on things big and small, review educational content, and serve as a gut-check for the services offered by Then Comes Baby.
We’re taking our mission — supporting strong families, empowering parents, and fostering community connections — a step further. We believe that all parents should have access to quality evidence-based information they need to make informed-decisions for their families. We believe in this so strongly that we provide a Fund (aiming to become a non-profit program in late 2016/ early 2017) to help MCAP-Eligible mid-income families access the care that they may not otherwise access — specifically for Childbirth Education, Lactation Support, and Support Groups (which are shown to help reduce the incidence of postpartum mood and anxiety disorders that are the #1 ‘complication’ to childbirth).
Though the founder of Then Comes Baby is doing her part to support this program, how wide of a reach we will have all depends on our Community: as a partially donor-run program, we can’t do this without you. We’re all in this community together, right?
At Then Comes Baby we are mindful that our actions can have impacts — big and small — on our environment and community. We act with our families and yours in mind, following the “7th generation” principle: in every decision, we must consider how it will affect our children, their children, and the generation two centuries from now. That’s why being “Green” has been part of our DNA from the get-go and why we went the extra mile to become a certified Bay Area Green Business.
About a year ago, residents of Iken-Ogbo-Ijebu in Odogbolu Local Govern-ment Area, Ogun State woke up to find out that the only bridge linking the town to other neighbouring towns had collapsed.
The collapse, which was caused by a heavy flood that ravaged the area, also affected movement of school children, market women, businessmen and women to neighbouring towns.
A year after, the bridge is yet to be repaired causing untold hardship to the people. The bridge, according to the residents, serves as the only gateway to other towns such as Okelamuren-Ogbo, Ibido-Ogbo, Isanya-Ogbo, Ijagun-Ogbo, to mention but a few.
The CDA Chairman of the Iken-Ogbo-Ijebu, Comrade Gabriel Adenrele Odulaja, the traditional ruler, Oba Lawrence Oguntayo and Baale of Iken-Ogbo-Ijebu, Otunba Olalekan Odunfejo, were said to have intimated the state Ministry of Works of the development, but nothing has been done so far to address the problem.
In the same vein, the people are also calling on the state government to provide electricity for the town, adding that the only transformer for the area had packed up since over a year ago.
The residents said they are now at the mercy of criminals who hide under the cover of darkness to perpetrate crime in the area.
he deadly attacks of the violent Islamist sect, Boko Haram in the Northeastern part of the country appear to be on an alarming increase from the period Nigeria accepted the offers of assistance from the international community towards rescuing the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by the sect on April 14, 2014 in Chibok, Borno State.
President Goodluck Jonathan had, while accepting the offer, expressed optimism that the rescue effort will be the beginning of the end of Boko Haram attacks in the country.
But the sect seems bent on letting all hell loose across the Northeastern part of Nigeria with its deadly attacks now taking place in quick succession and almost on a daily basis since the offer of foreign assistance.
On Saturday, May 17, the Boko Haram terrorists were said to have killed about 29 people in a market in Ngurosoye Village in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State and abducted 10 Chinese Construction workers in Gwoza.
Car bomb explosion in Sabon Gari, Kano State on Sunday, May 18 resulted in loss of lives while havoc was averted in the state the following day as a car bomb stationed at Tafawa Balewa Street in the state was defused.
The terrorists again struck on Tuesday, May 20, which resulted in sending many people to their early graves as twin bombs exploded in Jos, the Plateau State capital.
Another attack was also carried out by the insurgents the following day near Chibok, Borno State, where the over 200 secondary school girls were abducted by the insurgents.
The suspected Boko Haram gunmen were said to have shot dead about 29 farmers in Chukku Nguddoa Village in the state.
The question in the minds of many a Nigeria is whether these attacks were meant to punish the government and the people of the country for accepting foreign assistance? Or are they meant to put pressure on the government to consider exchange of its members in
government prisons with the school girls? Are the attacks really proving the recent threats by the sect’s leader, Abubakar Shekau that he was within the Abuja City and would cause more havoc in the country or are they desperate attacks of a drowning sect?
Whichever is the case, everything must now be done to stop the bloodbath across the country. Many Nigerians are now living in fear as they don’t know when and where the next bomb will explode.
fatal blasts etched in their minds from their memories as they hallucinate and wonder if it is safe to board a bus or a cab around the corner of their streets or
whether it is safe to go to nearby market for shopping. Nigerians must urgently be saved from this psychological trauma.
Based on the fact that so much money is being appropriated yearly for security which aims at fighting terrorism in the past few years and with the war appearing to be far from being won, some security experts want the government to re-assess the situation and go for the best options.
For a start, they believe that if it is going to be difficult to rescue the school girls and crush the sect with the foreign assistance Nigeria is getting, it may be wise now for the government to start thinking seriously of negotiation with the sect to ensure safe release of the girls and to stop the rampant bloodbath in the country.
Many of those pushing for the exchange or swap believe that the school girls should only be exchanged for the wives and children of the insurgents in detention.
There are still other Nigerians who believe that the government should, on no account, negotiate with the sect. Some also believe that there should be a way to use the ‘carrot and stick’ approach to quell the insurgency in the country.
This set of people also wants Nigeria to seriously begin to tackle the problem of its porous borders irrespective of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Borderless protocol.
To them, Nigeria should borrow a leaf from other countries that have built thick and high wall fence round their countries in combination with other high-tech security gadgets that will detect any illegal immigrant coming into the country.
The neighbouring countries have not only been used as launching pad to carry out fatal attacks in Nigeria but have also served as routes for illegal importation of arms, ammunition, war tanks and helicopters into Nigeria by the insurgents.
Many of the leadership in the neighbouring countries seem, over the years, to be waiting for the downfall of the ‘Giant of Africa’ through the actions of the terrorists.
The leaders of Cameroon, Niger, Republic of Benin, Chad and Nigeria, however, in the region’s security meeting held in France on May 17, have resolved to end terrorism in the region and to contribute one battalion of troops for joint border patrols each.
While most Nigerians who have been struggling to make ends meet are waiting anxiously on government to guarantee their safety, it is hoped that the new strategies will end the rising bloodbath in the country.
It was largely the activism of the Southwest that made his ascension to the throne in 2010 possible, and he could not have won as fluidly as he did in 2011 without either the Southwest’s indifference to the Buhari presidential campaign of that year or their tacit cooperation. Yet more than five years after that momentous poll success, President Goodluck Jonathan has exhibited nothing but contempt for the Southwest, passing them over for top appointments. In-between, during the 2012 fuel price hike protests largely inspired by the politically conscious Southwest, Dr Jonathan again showed nothing but scathing disdain for the highly critical region, describing the Lagos elite as enervated and pampered, and their children spoilt brats who wastefully rode two or three cars, guzzling a disproportionately huge portion of the country’s oil resources. And in Ibadan, while campaigning at Mapo Hall in 2011, he described the Southwest progressive leaders as rascals from whom the region must be delivered. In particular, at the 52nd Independence anniversary lecture in Abuja, Dr Jonathan made shockingly ignorant remarks on the fuel subsidy protests, which in distorted logic he said were sponsored.
Dr Jonathan has never been at ease with Lagos, though he now courts them. During his 2011 campaigns, he tried to rouse ethnic hatred by suggesting openly to non-natives that if they banded together they could defeat the candidate of the ruling party in the state. The campaign failed, but it has not stopped him from pursuing that same horrifying tactics, nor discouraged him from again reaching out to ethnic groups within the state as well as wowing Lagosians themselves with promises of future projects. Perhaps he is even secretly appalled by how easily members of the Southwest elite can be compromised by contract largesse and other forms of inducements.
Throughout his first term, he never did anything major or strategic for Lagos, but he is back expecting the state to vote for him in March. Worse, other than fixing a few roads, he has done nothing concrete for the Southwest, but he has spent nearly the whole six weeks extension of the electoral timetable appealing to the region to support his reelection. Indeed, it was only a few months to the elections that he appointed a Yoruba official as his chief of staff. Otherwise, citing his displeasure with the region’s critical view of his government and the rebuff of PDP’s Mulikat Adeola-Akande as Speaker of the House of Representatives, he ensured no Yoruba appointee was among the top 15 positions in his government. After all, the region is a den of opposition, and its pungent media, with their fumigant tentacles spread all over the country with sanctimonious lack of grace, too unfriendly, too imperious, too acerbic.
If he had appointed Yoruba men and women into key government positions on his own volition, and had cited key projects in the region, he could justifiably campaign on the bases of these friendly and statesmanlike gestures to wow the region for votes. With no achievements to hawk, and with beggarly outstretched hands, he has embarked on a furious electoral drive targetted at the region’s grovelling traditional elite using the false face of Yoruba leadership and cashing in on the divisions and power struggles going on in the region. He has reportedly seduced Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) leaders who, in exchange for pipeline protection contracts, have promised him support, as if the region could be sold and bought so cavalierly in transactions masterminded by half-wit and unprincipled traders masquerading as politicians and cultural icons. And those whom he cannot seduce, he has unleashed defamatory attacks on their persons in the hope that he can alienate them from their supporters and party support base.
Dr Jonathan’s Southwest converts have thus deliberately refused to focus on his weaknesses, which are legion and alarming, and on his absolute lack of finesse, diplomacy, intellectual depth, and sound judgement, not to say his abiding suspicion and even hatred for the Southwest elite and their many organs such as the media and democratic structures that define their essence, persons and history. The converts are not discomfited by the unsavoury fact that Dr Jonathan is unreasonably promoting militant groups and other ethnic militias to usurp the functions of military and paramilitary organisations.
In spite of all these depressing manoeuvres, the real Southwest is likely to see through the Jonathan shenanigans. They will recognise that voting for Dr Jonathan is endorsing incompetence, and that voting for, say, Jimi Agbaje, no matter their unhappiness with the progressive leaders of the region, is in fact enthroning the likes of Bode George and Adeseye Ogunlewe and other scoundrels. The region is likely to recognise that should Dr Jonathan be reelected, he would enact the worst economic policies ever seen in these parts, for his government has already crippled the economy and is barely struggling to cover the mess until the elections are over. Wiser counsel is likely to prevail, for the prohibitive and burdensome cost of reelecting Dr Jonathan far outweighs the discomforts of voting Gen Buhari with all his chequered history.
It would be a tragedy of monumental proportions if senile, illiterate certificate forger, perjurer and coup plotter Buhari were to become President of Nigeria. It is a shame that people like you, Idowu Akinlotan, who ought to know better as a consequence of having been to school, are the ones driving the Buhari project. Buhari, a serial loser will lose yet again, while Jimi Agbaje will stop Tinubu’s reign as Governor of Lagos in its 16th year, come April. By the way, bros. Idowu, did you see that AIT documentary which catalogued your oga’s primitive accumulation tendencies? If you have, when will you comment on it? If you haven’t, type “lion of Bourdillon” or “The real Tinubu Unveiled” into your search engine to view the scandalous recording on Youtube. With people like you who refuse to deprecate fraud and crime, Nigeria will never make progress.
You PDP goons are so short-sighted and you think that everybody is just as shallow-minded as you are. When you single out an individual who is not vying for any office and you choose to do a hatchet job on him to tarnish his reputation and integrity, you only succeed in making him more popular and loved because the people see through your inglorious action and will therefore rally round the person you are trying to crucify. That is the case with TINUBU. It is so ridiculous that you paint the guy as having committed economic sabotage against the Nation, yet you have not managed to secure a SINGLE conviction in a Court of Law to buttress your allegations and assertions. Besides this, yours is a case of a COW THIEF who wants to sit in judgement over a GOAT THIEF which is not acceptable. As the saying goes: He who comes to Equity, must come with clean hands!
As for the forthcoming elections, you can conscript all your master RIGGERS like Obanikoro, Fayose, Adesiyan, Omisore, Andy Ubah, General Momoh, etc, for your “CAPTURE LAGOS PROJECT” but all of you will fail woefully on March 28/April 11 as long as the Almighty sitteth on His Throne. The Fire of the ALMIGHTY will consume you all because you are all minions of the DARKNESS!
It is a pity that fani kayode was able to recruit people like you to deceive people thwart their future. Senseless human.
jonathan has never sat down to read and analyse the people of SW because of his low intelligence. The people of SW are intelligent, articulate, well educated, industrious, hardworking, independent and can hardly be swayed by all the trash jonathan is coming to sell. To show how dumb he is, he went to court fools like gani adams, fasheun, expired afenirere members who are walking corpse and have no relevance to SW politics and business communities. This is not the kind of a clueless man called jonathan I will vote for come March 28th.
Over the years, women and activists have helped to refocus the vision of women through political , social and economic empowerment campaigns. In their quest for survival and charting a better future they have found issues revolving around discrimination, suppression, oppression and harmful traditional practices as some of the challenges to contend with.
To address some of the difficulties women are faced with in their families and communities, Barrister Nneamaka Moudline Mojekwe Chikozie put her findings on the way forward for women in a book which was launched recently in Lagos.
“All this years we have been making progress in some areas. Don’t forget that less than 60 years ago education was a big deal. Things have changed, there is still a long way to go especially when it comes to science education,” she said.
In the book you would, therefore, find a number of case studies and these issues are no longer in the realm of the abstract. She backs her stories with facts and statistics.
“What I discovered is that tradition has done a lot of harm to African Women and that is why I titled the book African women sentenced by tradition.”
Now you ask if Chikozie was ever a victim. “Not really. I came into this through the information I got about property rights as a woman in Igbo land. When I did some comparative studies, I made a number of discoveries that were unpleasant. Women were going through this in different forms and I found that some traditions were more severe in dealing with women than others.”
Discrimination and the many frustrations that women passed through made her take a keen interest. The fact that discrimination was inherent in other communities and clime also made her ask some pertinent questions as well as seek for solutions to the myriad of problems affecting these women.” What also spurred me was the passion of the former First Lady, Maryam Babangida, during the better life days. That was when I got the inspiration to write the book and I liked her ideas and the zeal to carry every woman along in the development process.”
You also want to know the role Chikozie played at this time and she replied this way: “I was a student reading law at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). At the moment, I am a lawyer with Damak Chambers in Lagos. When I am not practicing, then you can be sure that I am working on my research, and it has taken me about two decades to churn out this particular book.”
Did it have to take so long to write the book or was she slowed down by marriage and other family pressures, you asked? “I don’t think that marriage would disturb anyone who has a strong dream or vision. If you are focused and you know what you want, then you would plan to achieve it,” Chikozie tells you matter of factly.
She adds that: “The volume of the book explains it all, it was something I was passionate about and I took my time to get all the information I wanted. I had the voice of the different people I targeted in it and they provided answers to some of the problems women experience.”
Happily Chikozie goes down memory lane to recall some of the issues raised in the 90’s and how they gave flesh to the issues portrayed. “One of such is the case of child marriage in the north, where you had the Hauwa must die case. Also the issue of property rights and women is x-rayed and likely solutions are proffered.”
Now, you tell her women are working and they should have their own assets and not rely on inheriting from men, and Chikozie replies this way: “Are men not working too. Why must they be the only beneficiary when it comes to inheritance law in some parts of the country? If your father has property and he dies, he is your father and your brother’s father.”
The issue of inheritance had been discussed in the past and you almost thought it had been trashed out in these communities but she says this is not the case everywhere. “Well, it actually depends on the families involved. A lot of communities are still not as liberal as they should be. Personally, I would say that my family was normal, not the liberal setting everyone is imagining.”
Asked challenges, she replied: “It was mainly finance and research. The person who helped to edit the book, Adikankwu was with the Newswatch. I started with women generally and she asked me to narrow the scope down to Igbo women to have a better focus. We also looked out for how they deal with women in ten different Igbo tribe.” Chikozie informed.
Should there really be a problem now that we are in the jet age? She was asked: “I strongly believe that no matter the age, if you are not empowered, you would not get anywhere. You have to make yourself relevant in whatever you are doing.”
What next? “I am writing another book but it is not on women. It’s an x-ray of certain things about the Igbo people. My role model is the late Maryam Babangida’. You would have thought that she would have an Igbo role model but she answers this way: “It is the understanding and not the tribe that matters. I am not actively involved in politics.”
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You only have to look at the changes at the top of our stock indexes – including Apple’s recent trillion-dollar market valuation – to see there’s been a seismic shift in the reasons why one company is worth more than others.
In less than two decades, technology firms now dominate the top 10 as intangible assets such as intellectual property (IP) have replaced tangible ones as the major source of corporate value. Today more than 84 percent – $19 trillion – of the S&P 500’s market cap is represented by intangible assets.
Yet most businesses have a difficult time quantifying the value of their IP or that of potential mergers and acquisitions (M&A) targets.
The implications of not fully understanding the value of IP are significant. Among other things, it’s difficult for companies to protect value they know is on their balance sheets but can’t properly identify.
Theft of IP is a very real threat to businesses, whether it’s as the result of industrial espionage, hackers or a company’s own employees. The theft of data is constant and the volume staggering. Yet Aon and the Ponemon Institute’s 2017 Global Cyber Risk Transfer Report highlights a serious gap between companies’ efforts to insure cyber assets vs. physical ones – companies surveyed devoted four times as much budget to insuring physical assets as they did to cyber ones.
That insurance gap is particularly striking given the average potential loss to information assets exceeded that to property, plant and equipment (PP&E) $979 million to $770 million, according to the report. At the same time, companies surveyed indicated they felt it was more likely they’d experience a loss to information assets than to their physical ones.
On top of that, companies that have failed to properly value their IP face serious and punitive difficulties when they are confronted with a patent or trademark lawsuit or embark on a takeover deal.
Companies’ struggles to understand the value of their IP make it difficult for them to protect it adequately.
The trend toward IP becoming the primary source of business value began in the mid-1970s, accelerating after the financial crisis of 2007–08 with the rise of mobility, cloud computing, social media and other technologies.
According to Lewis Lee, CEO of Aon’s Intellectual Property Solutions Group, markets first started to recognize IP as an asset class in 2006 when BlackBerry maker Research in Motion reached a $612.5 million settlement with patent holding company NTP over the technology used to push emails to BlackBerry phones. Still a disconnect remained in the business community between the existence of the IP asset class and how to value it.
IP is difficult to quantify, yet it’s increasingly valuable. The need to protect those intangible assets’ ever-growing value is significant. Consider the issue of “patent trolls” – companies whose sole purpose is to obtain the rights to patents and profit by means of licensing or litigation. More than 10,000 companies have been sued at least once by a patent troll, and over the past 10 years patent troll lawsuits have grown 500 percent.
Understanding the value of IP is also critical when it comes to M&A. A classic IP horror story is that of a major car maker that acquired a well-known luxury auto maker. After closing the deal, the acquiring car maker learned that while it had acquired everything needed to produce the luxury vehicles, the one thing it failed to acquire was the luxury brand’s trademark, which sold to a rival firm.
“Very few companies recognize the value of their IP, nor have they secured an IP strategy that mirrors their long-term corporate strategy in order to maximize this value,” said Brian Hinman, Chief Innovation Officer and Head of EMEA for Aon’s Intellectual Property Solutions. “The C-suite often has no visibility into their IP portfolio, let alone those of competitors. They usually leave that to the general counsel who usually leaves that to the IP counsel, if one exists.”
Very few companies recognize the value of their IP, nor have they secured an IP strategy that mirrors their long-term corporate strategy in order to maximize this value.
Failure to align IP strategy and business strategy:While many firms do a good job focusing on the legal aspects of their IP, such as whether a patent is filed, they fall short in recognizing and maximizing the value of their IP portfolio. If a business uses the number of its patents, rather than the growth in its IP value, as a metric for its innovation that company will not only fail to maximize the value of its IP but it won’t be able to align its IP strategy with its overall business strategy.
Failure to understand IP value:A new company has suddenly appeared in an established firm’s market. The start-up, it turns out, was founded by a disgruntled former employee who took IP with them when they left. Just how much is that IP worth? What value should the company attach to it in litigation?
Inability to value IP in M&A:A technology company might be looking to make an acquisition in the network security space, but with dozens of potential targets how does it make the best choice? The ability to value the IP of each of the targets would contribute significantly to a deal’s success. Not only would the company likely select the best target but possessing a deeper understanding of the acquired company’s IP would allow it to better integrate those intangible assets with the overall business strategy going forward.
Not properly protecting IP:Perhaps a company does recognize the significance of its IP enough to want to insure it. If the company is unable to quantify the value of its IP, it might not find a satisfactory solution in the insurance markets. “Limited data and analytics available to the underwriting community has meant higher retentions, deductibles and co-insurance requirements for potential policyholders, limiting the value insurance can bring to the world of IPs,” said Eric Boyum, Managing Director, Technology & Communications Industry – National Practice Leader, at Aon. Still, Boyum noted, “The importance of managing the value and risk of IP has never been higher.”
Limited data and analytics available to the underwriting community has meant higher retentions, deductibles and co-insurance requirements for potential policyholders, limiting the value insurance can bring to the world of IPs.
As the value of intangible assets continues to grow versus that of companies’ physical assets, it becomes ever more important that companies take advantage of them.
While many companies find it confusing putting a price tag on their IP, there are tools available that can help.
Companies that measure the value of their IP portfolios accurately will be better positioned to protect those assets and to connect them to the overall business strategy. “Not only is an understanding of assets essential to the business – but necessary if firms are looking toward mergers and acquisitions,” states Lee. Measuring IP value well could also provide a source of competitive advantage and will allow companies to realize the maximum return from their innovation efforts. “If we look at today’s top companies, it’s clear – you can place a premium on innovation, and the challenge is how to best value it.”
If we look at today’s top companies, it’s clear – you can place a premium on innovation, and the challenge is how to best value it.