Monday 9 December 2013

IBADAN

Ibadan
The rust-red lake
Rivers snake around its banks
Scrap, debris, produce all hauled
With the pains of men
Ibadan
Where the sage erupts
He runs every year
And Akala fished in aplomb here
Then drowned at velvet's shores
And belched
From the choke of his blood

ABUJA (7)

Abuja, I need you now, more than ever; 
Where's your love?
I'm left alone amongst twains

ABUJA (6)

Abuja, I need a call to the heart; 
Touch me with thy whisper; 
Cringe my skin with thy touch

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Monday 2 December 2013

Monday 25 November 2013

ABUJA (2)

I define my life on the roads of Abuja
Where a hole is dug in my pocket; even bigger
As fast cars drive through at break-neck speed

Monday 7 October 2013

MARKETPLACE

There's a thriving marketplace
When insomnia comes to Owls, to Ravens
Aminu Kano, Adetokunbo Ademola, crescents of Ahmadu Bello

Wednesday 2 October 2013

THE OVERCAST

The overcast be reddened rooftops
Partial windbreaks
Walls of driedout generations of alga
The dominant color is abandoned gray
Years of colonization wins over every other
Blue, brown, white, even black
The heart of men be won over
That color of corruption be strong
The land, taken to ruins as such
Plenty be naught, fat now thin
Yet abandoned shelled out walls remains
And a few bloated pockets
Dotting the landscape that is Monrovia.

Saturday 21 September 2013

AREA

For area wey we dey, see enof crib for paddy
Ajebo wey hate us call am ghetto
Say na shacks and kpako so so full am
But na them papa no wan make e beta for us

When morning show tear rubber
Wey pale gas hustle and mama set for shade
Guys go come dey hail levels wey dry
E go even dey like say them hail visa for jand

Later, chikala go roll out from lungu
She go look for guy with End Of Discussion
With small knosh and beer for her belle
Na six rounds him go knack

Boys for area just sabi kposh
Them wey wise go play ball
Girls go only throway belle yakata
Bastards go come yanfu for area

When night come, light no go dey
Na chance for boys to go steal be that
Papa sef go still dey joint dey booze
With fear, na our Lord's prayer mama go hail

MY EARNEST PRAYER

O, Lord!

Despite a great many prayers to You, we are continually losing our wars. Tomorrow we shall again be fighting a battle that is truly great. With all our might, we need Your help and that is why I must tell You something: This battle tomorrow is going to be a serious affair. There will be no place in it for children. Therefore I must ask You not to send you Son to help us.
Come Yourself.

- The prayer of Koq, leader of the Griquas tribe, before a battle with the Afrikaners in 1876

Friday 20 September 2013

MY MALENESS

I look upon my maleness,
that little prick -
disenchanted from simple definition.
I detest the tale,
nor admire
its lack of depth -
The maleness
I dream of,
dominates.
Velvet valor aplenty,
loneliness cowed by fear -
The maleness of a man,
not of a boy.
One which ripens as the moon wane.

ABUJA (1)

Abuja's wet; 
But I'm sweating. 
While she just lay there, I plough.

Tuesday 17 September 2013

POISONED CHALICE

Poisoned chalice, scion of the
Family tree. Barren, devoid of good.
Ukamaka and Ugonna ate of it
Camwood and oil palm sold aplenty
After bouts of swollen stomachs
Left a desolate lair of imbeciles
For the curse rings forth still
Harbinger hung at the front porch

Monday 2 September 2013

A NOTE FROM JANET



Precisely on my table
She left for me a note
Written in decipherable codes
Of which I thought was a fable

The note had got a ‘Dear Kenneth’
Of which I thought to write was hard
But she concluded and said I was bad
All the night we were at the banquet

She accused me of being a fool
To think she never saw us
As we groaned and cursed
On the balcony at moon’s full

That was how it ended
A story I’ve got left
Of how am now bereft
With a love that can’t be mended.

Monday 26 August 2013

BUARI

Comets don your crests - dragon’s vomit!
Fists of Herod, fists of Xerxes.
You are yesterday’s May twenty-ninth, just before cun personified
Solitude consumed at will until they became Lagos.
Cairo, but I insist Lagos
Octopuses rained on the cells and drought cremated the grains
Sphinx of your doom parched the leeways to our bellies
When necessity became your first concubine

Hate of your communion begets doom
Franchise and King makers score in your court
But love visits them - the frog prince and the lair
They pluck chaos from glue, the white elephant
When Eze goes to school

DEAR GOODLUCK

Worshipful stars heard
Your reverence, your tongues
For you missed our boat
And you were not behind
When you left and became god

The deaf heard your prayer
Musketeers sang it vivid
Blunt crochets and lamp holders
To the tomb, away at sentry
When savannah caught up
And torched our welcome

Our boat had rocks
As it burned through
The long night to midgets
When Sango sent alien boys
His anger under the water hearth
After you became god

Friday 23 August 2013

BIDA

Bida the Fulani tent,
Dendo’s first test at cun -
Jewel in the trough

Fulani’s torch billows forth...
The Etsu of heaven.
Puppet from the west

Market place of Wuzhizhi
Land of fertile long grain rice
Of Ndaduma’s blessings at Manko

Ndadungurugi with fishes
At hide and seek, housed sparkles of
Luggard, Zik and Royal Niger to same fate

Your cousin, Gwandu
Of purple trinkets
Seeks to overthrow, birthright

Your in-law, the Minna
Shelters cun, reincarnate
The warrior of starred crests

Bida of three play houses
Where blood and sand is god
That glorified puppet’s stool

Wednesday 21 August 2013

HABIBI AND A DOZEN SMILES

He peeps from the hole between his seat and the window, smiles at me, and then automatically expects a response. I touch the cape of my hat, smile back and ask his name.

“Habibi.”

Habibi, four (as he said he were), is probably not flying for the first time (if you also factor in the number of times, he’s ran around the neighborhood, mimicking a bird in flight). I rambled around at him about what I was doing when I was four – playing ball, flying kites, 'riding tyres', learning Hausa, counting planes and swans that fly past above. “Your generation is quite blessed”, I murmured to Habibi; and he replies in Hausa.

“inna jin tsoro.”

He’s scared. The plane begins lift off. That's the part you feel your eye rolling, and pressure building in your ears. My friend, who’s buckled besides me, knows that feeling so much. She complains of not bringing her pair of earpiece along.

Habibi closes his eyes and smiles.

As the plane has stabilizes in flight, he opens his eyes and looks out the window. 1, 2, 3…10, 12; Habibi is counting the cars he can see down below. He smiles, and tells me in Hausa; “ga motochi.”  He points at cars he can see from nigh. When asked how many he could count, he smiles and replies:

“one hund-i-red.”

Habibi’s family is headed to Owerri. From appearance, you know they are of North-Eastern descent. I didn’t find time to count how many they were, as my attention was divided between my friend and the book I was attempting to read. I bumped into her, a little before I boarded the plane. She just won’t stop asking what I was going to Owerri to do, and my response of “I’m going to tweet” was not satisfactory.

I kept comparing a four year old me, and Habibi. His meekness spread a smile across my face, and told myself, my generation is blessed too.

Habibi keeps peering through the window, and each time he did, I followed suite, not out of curiosity, but for the fact that each time I have the luxury of flying, I learn again, the concepts of Geography.

An ardent student from primary school, it wasn’t any mistake when my Geography teacher in secondary school said in class, that I was going to study Geography at the university. What transpired between him and I in my fist of anger, is a story for another day.

Today, I’m a trained geographer, no professional certifications, no work experience in the field, but every time, I’m amazed by the depth of learning I get when I go high up in the skies –flying or mountaineering . Today, I was opportuned to peek out just when we were flying above Lokoja. I could see in the background, the slow winding River Niger, it’s ox-bow lakes and the small islands formed here and there within it.

I’m always left amazed by the power of nature every time, whether it’s the desert formations in Niger, Mali, Libya or Tunisia; the River Sasandra or San Pedro in Cote d'Ivoire, the River Niger or the thick forests of central West Africa; I’m more than amazed by the power of nature, the creation of God, and by the level of learning I get when I behold.

Flashes of classroom instruction overcome me, and then I see myself going through my Gho, Cho &; Leong textbook, which formed the foundation upon which all of my understanding of geography is built.

As the cumulus clouds thicken and our view is obstructed, Habibi shuts his window, and returns to life in the plane. My ears are giving way to the pressure in the cabin, and I quickly dive in to my pocket for my earpiece, archiving that experience for another day in a bid to try and enjoy the flight to Owerri.

We got to Owerri in time, and Habibi remained my companion as we approached the arrival lobby. Habibi was dragging his luggage on wheels, and offered to carry my strap-on bag, which weighed almost double his weight. He said it in a way that humored me, and I erupted in laughter. His guardian looked our way, and smiled. Habibi must be the Sanguine of the lot, and his guardian must have thought, “Habibi has met his type.”

Fates had to separate us as he had to wait for the rest of the family to get their luggage, and I had to catch my taxi taking me to Owerri.

I murmured to him a prayer, “God bless thee child”, and he just characteristically smiled on!

Wednesday 3 July 2013

INSECURITY IN NIGERIA AND HOW I ALMOST BECAME A MILITANT!

My life as a recent graduate, done with my national youth service year, and now waiting to get that dream job, can be tasking a bit. I’m young and savvy; I like to move around a lot, not bogged down at one point for too long. There’s this volatility about this phase of life for most young people. The irony is, security is the most pressing issue for my country at this given time, and I have to be cautious of where I go, and when I’m on the move. I have heard of stories of young men, full of life, gunned down by militant fire, or by the Nigerian military, mistaken for the “enemy”.
 
It got to its height, when I went clubbing one fateful Friday evening. At a checkpoint, the policemen asked for my ID. My only valid one was my International Passport, which I do not carry around often, and didn’t have on me that night; and that was the beginning of a long night for me, which ended in me not leaving that post, till around 2:30am. I was angst, spoke all the English I knew, but they were not going to let me move an inch, without confirming my identity, else, they threatened that they will call in the SARS, and have me whisked away for interrogation as a suspected militant.

In the end, I got away with it, albeit late in the night, because I ended up begging them and parting with some money (against my will), but the next day, I went to the NIMC office in Jos to get registered for my National Identity Card.

Well, this could happen to you as regards identity or any other records someday, and to stop it from happening means you should get registered for your National Identification Number (NIN). This is issued by the National Identity Management Commission under the Ministry of Interior. The NIN collates your vital records and stores it up in one unified database which can then be used subsequently by federal authorities.

The National Identification Number (NIN) is a set of numbers assigned to an individual upon successful enrollment. Enrollment consists of the recording of an individual’s demographic data and capture of the ten (10) fingerprints, head-to-shoulder facial picture and digital signature, which are all used to cross-check existing data in the National Identity Database to confirm that there is no previous entry of the same data. Once this (de-duplication) process is completed the data is then stored with a unique NIN that was assigned to it. The NIN once issued to a person cannot be used again, (that is, it cannot be issued to another person even if the previous person is dead). It is the NIN that helps to tie all records about a person in the database and is used to check the identity verified.

Its importance can’t be overemphasized in this age of identity theft and fraud. It is to this light that the NIMC has rolled out a nationwide campaign for citizens to get registered. To encourage this, Nigerians especially the young and upwardly mobile folks would be earning gifts over the course of one month, for registering and showing evidence that they have truly registered. This would be ongoing on Facebook and twitter, where citizens would also be engaged in sensitization and educating campaigns, to stimulate civil indulgence and participation in the exercise.

Click on www.nimc.gov.ng for all you need to know about the National Identification Number (NIN) issued by National Identity Management Commission.

We can deepen the #NIMCnin conversation on Facebook. Click www.facebook.com/nimc.ng
We can deepen the #NIMCnin conversation on Twitter. Click www.twitter.com/nimc_ng

Click www.ninenrol.gov.ng to be welcomed to the National Identification Number (NIN) pre-registration portal of National Identity Management Commission.

At a glance, click www.nimc.gov.ng/reports/enrolment_process.pdf to view the National Identity Number enrolment process workflow.

You can join my conversation on facebook regards #NIMCnin. Click www.facebook.com/KoloKennethK and like
You  can join my conversation on twitter regards #NIMCnin. Click www.twitter.com/KoloKennethK and follow

Friday 28 June 2013

A PENNY FOR AN EYE



It’s a wet, cold Friday afternoon for me in Abuja, but no matter what the weather is in Lagos, it won’t matter to young Samuel Adedigba. He feels nothing, but pains, hurt and discomfort. This is because someone, a representative of the underworld, tried to pluck Samuel’s eye, with his mouthful of teeth.

Sometime in February, Samuel was the only pupil in his school bus, about to drop him off at home in Ikorodu. However, his bus was hijacked by kidnappers (working for a ritualist ring), who then tried to make away with him on a bike. While being trailed, they tried to remove their priced item from Samuel – his left eye. This, they tried to do with their mouth, as the bike was still on the move.

This short movie scene, as it seems on your mind, is true, and has left Samuel in this state:

After surgery at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, the wound got infected, and doctors are scared of touching the eye, so as not to lose it. Now, he has to get plastic surgery to fix the lid, and correct some nerves that has stop working.

Samuel Adedigba just turned 6 in June, and as at 10:25am when I called his uncle, the eye was already secreting fluid, and they couldn’t access specialists, as doctors were reportedly on strike.

Samuel needs N5,000,000 (5 million naira only) for plastic surgery in the United States of America. The parents have been able to offset the bills for his initial surgery at LUTH via extended family. However, they are out of sorts regards raising the money for the plastic surgery.

 Please find below, the doctor's report:
The family and I thus, pleading on well-meaning Nigerians to support Samuel to save his eye, by donating your widow’s mite to cover for the cost of his surgery. Kindly pay your few hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands to his mother’s (current) account:


Adedigba, Adeyinka Modupe, Guaranty Trust Bank - 0130159185

If you will like to speak with the mother, and offer moral support too:

08178101276 | 08055354578 | 07092277438

He’s not been able to see doctors at LUTH today and the mother is a bundle of tears already. While they try to get attention to get the eye cleaned, and fluid removed, kindly put him in your prayers too, even as you dip in to your little and plenty, to support the family in saving Samuel’s eye.

Samuel cannot thank you well enough. The parents are too emotional to say anything, and I’m too angst at the ritualists, to be able to thank you well. But our deepest prayers, are that God in his infinite mercies, would continue to bless you, and replenish you bountifully.

Sunday 16 June 2013

A Letter To My Father

Dear Dad,

I know you are doing very well.

Lois Kolo loves the fact that she sees you more often now, not like those days when work took you away from us for longer.

Sadly, it's not husband's day today, but Father's Day. To compound issues, I'm not home, so we can't play FIFA 2012 on my laptop, watch FIFA Confederations Cup together, or throw banters at our football teams (I hate it that you left Liverpool for Arsenal).

You've tried to be a very good father in our lives, but all we ever wanted was a father. A figure who's life reflects upon our paths as we grow. How can I forget the forced siestas, and the 10pm curfew, so that we don't stay out late, even though I was the only one breaking the rule.

You made our house Kolo, Kolo & Co., like a drama/comedy ensemble. Don't worry, even though I feel you gagged me in some of my poetry, you did a good job, and I love you all the way.

I couldn't have asked for more of a father, except that I turned out an Oliver Twist. Thus, like you always TOLD us to be our best always, I'd arrogantly throw the challenge back at you daddy, to be the best father you can be, to us. We dissipate a lot of energy loving you, and all we want back, is your love. Nothing more.

Today, we Evelyn Fatima Kolo, Kolo Kenneth Kadiri, Jesse Kolo and Rachel Kolo celebrate you. And lest you forget, Kolo Gloria is the extra you asked for. We love you, and pray that you stay around for longer and see all your grandchildren.

Happy Father's Day!

Monday 20 May 2013

MY FIRST

I had him between my legs
It was my first, and it ached
I laid helpless in throbbing pains
At his mercy while he raged
Gruesome and terrifying, relief was afar
We tussled and he seemed the winner
If he could, my bowels in shreds
Then he came with a loud thud
And yelled his first in this sinful world.

Saturday 18 May 2013

SOCIAL WANTS AND THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES



“As every individual, therefore, endeavour as much as he can both to employ his capital in the support of domestic industry, and so to direct that its produce may be of the greatest value; every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of other society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor know how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it” (see footnote 1).

On the 10th of November 2006, mid-term elections in America confirmed a majority victory for the Democratic Party, a result that gave them power again after twelve years, and left a limp Republican President. If for anything that caused this shift, most important on the minds of Americans was the military presence of the U.S. in Iraq.  Donald Rumsfield, the Defense Secretary lost his job, and President Bush was left in office without a voice as unexpected effects of the Republican Party’s policies began to unfold.

In a bid to satisfy “public interest”, the Republicans I guess never did make anything of Alexis de Tocqueville when in 1831 he said, “no sooner do you set foot upon American ground than you are stunned by a kind of tumult; a confused clamor is heard on every side and a thousand simultaneous voices demand the satisfaction of their social wants”. Certainly, politicians and policy makers propose new legislations designed to make society a better place and make us better people. But, all policies have consequences, which they are hoped to achieve. However, in many cases, legislation brings other consequences that were neither intended nor desired by those who supported the law. And sometimes, laws don’t even achieve the goals they were meant to bring about.

For example, everyday, global consumers receive offers that just sound too good to be true. In the past, these offers came through the mail, or by telephone. Now, the con artists and swindler have found a new avenue to pitch their frauds – the internet. The on-line scams know no national borders or boundaries; they respect no investigative jurisdictions. But, as with all scammers, they have one objective – to separate you from your money! In several cases, even your life. Legislators are crying “there oughta be a law!” Laws to protect public interest from these thieves and fraudsters. But, how do these enacted laws affect our behaviour in both predictable and unexpected ways in a society where order is existent in human affairs.

In what many are calling America’s (or rather the world’s) fastest growing type of robbery, crooks are working without the usual tools of the trade. Forget sawn-off shot guns and ski masks: your name and Pension Number (see footnote 2) will do the trick, or that blank, pre-approved credit application you tossed out with the coffee grounds. Even talking on your phone or surfing the internet can allow someone you may never meet to rob you of the one thing you may have though safe from attack: your identity.

Identity theft is a criminal offense. It occurs when a person knowingly transfers or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit or to aid or abet any unlawful activity that constitutes violation of federal law or that constitutes a felony under any applicable state or law. Identify fraud is digging into a consumer's pockets – around $221 billion by the end of 200, tripling to an incredible $2 trillion by the end of 2005 (see footnote 3). The British economy alone, suffers a loss of £1.3 billion per year. The knock-on effects are not limited to financial loss – it can take victims up to 300 hours of effort to regain their credibility with banks and credit reference agencies. Terrorist attacks could also be on the offing.

The number of identity theft victims and their total losses are probably much higher than reported. It’s hard to pin down, because law enforcement agencies may classify identity theft differently – it can involve credit card fraud, internet fraud or mail fraud, among other crimes. The perpetrator may use a variety of tactics to obtain your personal information and drain your finances: posing as a loan officer and ordering you credit report (which lists lines of credit); “shoulder surfing” at the ATM or phone booth to get your PIN code, “dumpster diving” in trash bins behind businesses or apartments for unshredded credit applications, cancelled checks, bank records or any documents containing personal information; or, stealing mail right out of your own mailbox.

An interesting point about theft is that it is a crime in which you decide whether to participate. Hanging up the phone or not responding to shady mailings or e-mails makes it difficult for the scammer to commit theft. But con artists are very persuasive using all types of excuses, explanations, and offers to lead you – and your money – away from common sense.

If producing, smuggling and peddling drugs were the crime of the 20th century, identity theft is the crime of the 21st century. While fighting the trade is now high on the agenda of most governments, identity theft is still to get the importance it deserves. In many countries around the world, it is yet to become even a cognizable offense. In some, the laws that exist to fight identity theft are hardly adequate. Even in the U.S., identity theft remains low on the agenda of lawmakers although the FBI has identified it as number 3 among its top 10 priorities. But, what is really galling is that while the internet is today teeming with criminals of various sizes, shapes and colors only a mere 5% of these co artists are caught and prosecuted. While the U.S. remains the country with the highest incidence of identity theft, - quite likely given that internet usage is highest in this country – Europe is not left behind. Despite such low legislative action, the laws in place and those in the process of gaining ground are continuing to push for prevention, by enhancing the penalties for any individual who steal an identity and uses that false identity to commit any one of a number of serious crimes. Furthermore, laws such as the Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA) move for stricter security measures to protect consumer information; and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT) make room for consumes to order free credit report (consumer pull). However, the Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2001 and Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2002, does not only help victims of identity theft correct their records but increase penalties by as much as five years for identity theft for the purpose of committing a terrorist act.

This became clearer when Nigerian born Jide Komolafe, 31, became one of the first people in the U.S. to be convicted under the Identity Theft Prevention Enhancement Act of 2004, which created the new offense of aggravated identity theft and added to years to the normal sentence. Justice caught up with him when he was sentenced February 2, 2006 to five and half years of prison (see footnote 4).

On the contrary, the “imperious immediacy of interest” (see footnote 5) attached to thee laws result to profiling, unexpected protests against these legislations, strain to hi-tech security and further injury to, and complication of victims’ and would-be victims’ plight. While terrorists like Ahmed Ressam are caught because like him, they would be ‘hinky’ (see footnote 6), others like the alleged “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh and British “shoe bomber” Richard Reid would have committed their intended crime before being caught. This is because profiling fails. To profile, is to generalize. It is taking the characteristics of a population and applying them to an individual. Profiling works better if the characteristics profiled are accurate. But ethics aside, profiling fails because most real fraudsters are overlooked. Active failures will be much more common than passive failures. Timothy McVeigh eluded arrest while law enforcement searched for Arab suspects, and DC snipers John Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo continued on a killing spree while officials looked for “a white man in a white van.” The greater majority of people who fit the profiles will be innocent. Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes, killed by the British police on July 22, 2005 was no more armed than the police officers themselves (see footnote 7). At the same time, some real fraudsters are going to deliberately try to sneak past the profile.

Although “consumer pull” from credit bureaux has no effect on credit, and consumers entitled to “freezing” their credits and fraud “alerts”, these measures deal with identify theft only after it has happened and not before – a case of bolting the stable door after the horse has been stolen. Freezers can interfere with the credit-issuing process, can be technically difficult to implement and can carry a cost that may be passed on to consumers. And although these credit monitoring options are available at no-out-of-pocket expenses (some customers could still see it. As another way for the bureaux to enrich themselves more), it can’t prevent identify theft but can reduce only the impact.

Strains in hi-tech used for the latest encryption, consumers screening and data security technologies, is more likely certain than expected. This is because however the hi-tech security measure, humans will still beat computers at ‘hinkiness-detection’ for many decades to come. Even institutionalized profiling is bound to fail – these fraudsters would have done their homework in identity faking.

Taxpayers also face a risk of identity theft, in legislations that allow tax preparers sell personal information of taxpayers with permission (see footnote 8) making room for tax preparers to produce a separate piece of paper of webpage requesting permission to describe personal information, is only going to make room for identity theft under the nose of identify owners and credit bureaux. Protesters are also going to stand on the fact that some legislations would fail to correct possible privacy and technical loop holes in attempts to save would-be victims from theft.

But however the consequences of legislations, the law is still one key institution that makes the co-ordination of a (free) society possible. It is a code that has evolved not at the hands of politicians but in the decision of judges. According to Tocqueville, “the spirit of the law which is produced in the schools and courts of justice gradually penetrates beyond their walls into the bosom of society, where it descends to the lowest classes, so that at least the whole people contract the habits and tastes of the judicial magistrate”. The law is respected because it is based on rules that have been tested in real life, and because the values and the spirit of the law are closely connected to the moral values of civilization.

The moral framework for human society is not set in stone neither is it in the self-interest of legislators, which have become a “basic value” for the enactment of these laws, but rather is constantly changing as new rules are discovered that allow the social order to function better. Life can be hard because it forces individuals to adjust to the needs of others. The society works because it coordinates conflicting desires by creating incentives for people to satisfy their own wants by satisfying those of others. And the hum of commerce eases the path of social cooperation, in part because it offers man opportunities that are simply not available when acting alone. Incentives allow us to cooperate with others even though our views on political issues or our religions beliefs may differ.

“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from regard to their own self-interest”.

FOOTNOTES
1.                   A quote from notable economist Adam Smith in his book, The Wealth of Nations. In an article entitled “Unintended Consequences”, Rob Norton makes reference, to Smith’s understanding of unintended consequences in economic reality that people do act in their own self-interest and not public interest; while he did not argue that self-interest is always good, he has beneficial effects on the community.

2.                   Known as Social Security Number in the U.S. , Sweden and some countries; National Insurance in the U.K. or just Pension Number in some other countries, a pension is a steady income given to a person, made in the form of a guaranteed annuity to a retired or disabled employee. The program name could differ and vary but, it still focuses on the same aim.

3.                   According to the Analyst house, Aberdeen Group, this is only an estimate of loss, in global terms. This shows that possible financial loss greater than reported, is being suffered by victims to identity thieves.

4.                   Komolafe opened accounts at both Citizens and Charter One banks in the name of other people, made fake deposits and then withdrew money with a debit card. He was also convicted of bank fraud and identity theft. When he was arrested on 2nd August, 2004, Komolafe had his possession, identifying information including social security numbers of 68 people.

5.                   According to Rob Norton in his “Unintended Consequences”, Robert K. Merton referred to instances in which an individual wants the intended consequence of an action so much that he purposefully chooses of ignore any unintended effects. That type of willful ignorance is very different from true ignorance.

6.                   On 14th December, 1999, Ahmed Ressam tried to enter the U.S. by ferryboat from Victoria Island, British Columbia. In the trunk of his car, he had a suitcase bombs. His plans were to drive, to Los Angeles International Airport, put his suitcase on a luggage cart in the terminal, set the timer, and then leave. The plan would have worked had someone not been vigilant. Ressam had to clear customs before boarding the ferry. He had take ID, in the name of Benni Antoine Norris, and the computer cleared him based on this ID. He was wanted by the Canadian Police, on the other side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, at Port Angeles, Washington. Ressam was approached by U.S. Customs agent Diana Dean, who asked some, routine questions and then decided that he looked suspicious. He was fidgeting, sweaty and jittery. He avoided eye contact. In Dean’s own words, he was acting ‘hinky’. More questioning ensued then there was no one else crossing the border, so two other agents got involved and more hinky behavior. Ressam’s car was eventually searched, and he was finally discovered and arrested.

7.                   Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was a Brazilian electrician living in Tulse Hill, in South London. Menezes was shot and killed a Stockwell Tube Station on the London Underground by unnamed Metropolitan Police officers. Police later issued an apology, saying that they had mistaken him for a suspect in the previous day’s failed bombings and explosions, and was unconnected with the attempted bombings.



8.                   In December 2005, proposed changes on tax laws were announced in the U.S. The plan proposes to allow tax preparers to sell personal information of taxpayers with permission. While lawyers, consumer advocacy groups, and a few members of congress are raising a live and cry about the proposal, arguing that it will amount to identify theft. Proponents of the plan including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are defending it saying that it is part of larger process aimed at updating tax rules for the internet and electronic files.