Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Humanitarianism In Voltaires Candide - 1261 Words
Francois-Marie Arouet, better known by his pen name ââ¬Å"Voltaireâ⬠, once said ââ¬Å"Nothing is more dangerous than ignorance and intolerance armed with powerâ⬠. This quote criticizes the government and the Catholic Church - two institutions known for their lack of tolerance, respect, and value of the common personââ¬â¢s life. Voltaire was a French author, historian, and philosopher who was active during the age of enlightenment in the 18th century. It was a time characterized by the discussion of four new values: Humanitarianism, ending suffering; Progress, furthering society; Rationality, using logic and reason to improve the world; and Freedom of Thought, challenging traditional authority, blind obedience, and superstition. Voltaire is known forâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦Voltaire directs this example of the Church, as it was an officer of the Inquisition who was responsible for the sentencing. The inanity of the whole situation, as well as the completely unn ecessary drastic results that it had, makes the Church appear to be an authority that is unreliable to make sensible decisions, or rule over people. This irrationality is again portrayed through Pangloss and the Reverend Father. The Reverend Father bathed in front of a Musselman, unknowing ââ¬Å"that it was a major crime for a Christian to be found nakedâ⬠(105) with one, and ended up being tried for it. Pangloss was similarly tried, because he took too long to give a girl back the flowers that she had dropped. Both of these men, as a result of committing these simple wrongdoings, are beaten and forced into slavery, destined to spend the rest of their days as galley slaves. The crimes themselves were so small and nonsensical that the fact that they were punished at all, much less so harshly for them, is unjustifiable. Voltaire uses the unfairness and utter ludicrousness of the situation to challenge whether government should be trusted with the fate of its people. Voltaire ac centuates traditional authorityââ¬â¢s ignorance. Voltaire highlights that traditional authority is injurious to its people by emphasizing their inhumane ways. Voltaire frequently mentions the poor treatment of all women, and the common theme of
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Profitability of Company in Retail Sector
Question: Discuss about the Profitability of Company in Retail Sector. Answer: Introduction Brand equity is the phrase which is used in marketing industry and it defined as the advantage of having a well known name of the brand. Brand equity helps is increasing the business of the particular brand over other brands in the same industry (Chkanikova and Lehner 2015). Retail industry is one of the most popular industries in todays business world. They sell similar products of various companies and the consumers get ample choices to make during their purchase. In this assignment, the importance of brand equity on the profitability of a company in retail industry would be explored. Since retail industry houses various companies for same products, it is important to understand the impact of brand equity on the profitability of an organization in the retail industry. This assignment would give an idea about the methods that could be used to understand this impact of brand equity on the profitability of the organization in retail industry. Background Retail industry, being one of the dominant industries in the business world, has its own importance in the profitability in business. Retail industry houses various organizations who have similar products and thus, there arises severe competition among the brands of the same products (Huang and Sarigll 2014). Having a good brand image help the organizations to have a better business over other brands of same products. Thus, it is important to study the impact of the brand equity on the profitability of any organization. The problem statement of the assignment is to find the impact of brand equity on the profitability of an organization of the retail industry. The aim of the research is to find the impact of brand equity on the profitability of an organization of the retail industry. Research objective The objectives are as follows: To evaluate the importance of brand equity help the organizations in business To analyze the impact of brand equity in retail industry To understand the impact of brand equity on profit of any organization in retail industry Research questions The questions of the research are as follows: How does brand equity help the organizations in business? How is the impact of brand equity in retail industry? How is the impact of brand equity on the profit of any organization in retail industry? Literature review According to the viewpoint of ifci et al. (2016), it was seen that the movements and decisions taken by any organization is judged by the relationship of a brand with its customers. The decisions and movements are also judged by the satisfaction level of the customers and commitment of the customers towards the brand. Brand loyalty is an important aspect of the business of any organization as it provides competition in various forms, functions, sizes and features. Brand is found to be the vital capital in most of the trades. Crass et al. (2016) opines that brand equity is defined as the popularity of a brand among the customers. Brand equity is described as the value of having a good name of their brand. It is seen that the there are various brands that sell similar products in the retail industry. Customers usually prefer ample of choice when they buy their products. When different brands produce similar type of products, customers tend to try those new products in order to experience different brands. When the customers find that the products of other brands better than another brand, they tend to switch the brands. This decreases the customers loyalty of one brand thereby decreasing the brand equity of that brand. According to the viewpoint of Chkanikova and Lehner (2015), it is seen that brand equity helps the owner of the brand to increase the business by gaining the loyalty of the customers. When the brand equity of a brand increases, the owner of the brand can gain more money by selling the products. In retail industry, when the customers get ample of choice to select the best products for their use, there arises competition between multiple brands. As per the viewpoint of Kapferer (2012), it is seen that with the increase in population, there is an increase in demand of the customers for various products. This had resulted in establishing new brands of same products. These new brands use modern technologies to reach out to the customers and advertise their products in a innovative ways. The advertisements are attractive enough to draw more customers to buy their products. This is a threat to the old brands as they had the concept of brand equity to earn their profits. The brand equity have a pivotal role in influencing the profit of an organization. It is seen that the strong brand name plays an important role in determining the structure of the price of any product of the brand. Luo et al. (2015 opines that an effective brand name can be listed as a credible signal of the quality of the product. It also helps to generate price premiums in the form of return from the investments in branding. According to the viewpoint of Kumar et al. (2016), it is seen that brand equity is one of the most valuable asset of the company as it is the major factor that influences the financial values of the company and its owner. There are various factors that influence the brand equity of an organization. Changing in market share, recognition of the logos by the customers, margins of the profit and other visual elements help to increase the popularity of the brand and create a better image of the respective product. The knowledge of the customers regarding the brand is important to increase the popularity of the brand. This knowledge can be gained by the customers if the brand and its organization advertise about them and reach out to the customers. When the customers will come to know about a brand and its goodness, they will prefer to purchase that brand over other brands. This would increase the sale of the products of that company and it will increase the profit of the company. This would in turn lead to increase in profit margin of the company and help them to increase their business in the retail industry. As per the viewpoint of Das (2015), it is seen that brand equity provides an advantage to the owner of the company as most of the products of the company are sold due to their brand name. They do not have to invest in the advertisement of the products. However, the company can earn their revenue from their popularity among the customers and their image among the customers. Thus, brand eq uity would increase the sale of the products of a particular brand over other brands. Data would be collected for the purpose of the research. Primary and secondary data would be collected for the research. These data would undergo various statistical analysis in order to fulfill the objective of the research. Both primary and secondary data would be collected for the purpose of the research. Primary data would be collected in order to know the views and satisfaction level of the customers of a particular brand while secondary data would be collected from the records of the organizations about the change in their sales on introduction of similar products of different brands. 30 customers would be chosen for the collection of primary data and they would be surveyed in order to collect the data. Close ended questions would be asked to the respondents and Likerts scale would be used in the research. The collected data would be analyzed using various statistical techniques. Methods of frequency distribution, descriptive statistics, correlation and regression would be used to analyze the collected data. Graphs and tables will also be provided to support the analysis. Ethical consideration Various ethical issues would be considered while performing the survey of the research. The respondents would not be forced to participate in the research. The respondents would be mentioned clearly about the objectives of the research. The responses of the respondents will not be tampered and it will be used in its original form. The researcher will not use any arms and threaten the respondents of the survey. The researcher will also keep the identity of the respondents confidential. Expected outcome It is expected that brand equity would be influenced by the preferences of the customers of that brand over other brands. This would increase the revenue of the organization and its owner. It is expected that the margin of the profit would be increased on increasing the brand equity of the organization. Thus, the influence of the brand equity of a brand in the retail industry is expected to be strong for the profit of that organization. References Chkanikova, O. and Lehner, M., 2015. Private eco-brands and green market development: towards new forms of sustainability governance in the food retailing.Journal of Cleaner Production,107, pp.74-84. ifci, S., Ekinci, Y., Whyatt, G., Japutra, A., Molinillo, S. and Siala, H., 2016. A cross validation of Consumer-Based Brand Equity models: Driving customer equity in retail brands.Journal of Business Research,69(9), pp.3740-3747. Crass, D., Czarnitzki, D. and Toole, A.A., 2016. TheDynamic Relationship between Investments in Brand Equity and Firm Profitability: Evidence using Trademark Registrations. Das, G., 2015. Impact of store attributes on consumer-based retailer equity: An exploratory study of department retail stores.Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management,19(2), pp.188-204. Huang, R. and Sarigll, E., 2014. How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand equity, and the marketing mix. InFashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors(pp. 113-132). Springer New York. Kapferer, J.N., 2012.The new strategic brand management: Advanced insights and strategic thinking. Kogan page publishers. Kumar, V., Anand, A. and Song, H., 2016. Future of Retailer Profitability: An Organizing Framework.Journal of Retailing. Luo, A., Lehmann, D.R. and Neslin, S.A., 2015. 15. Co-managing brand equity and customer equity.Handbook of Research on Customer Equity in Marketing, p.363.
Monday, April 13, 2020
Inspiration free essay sample
Inspiration, thatââ¬â¢s what I see my dad as. I have seen him get hurt and not being able to work. What he always tells me is, ââ¬Å"Todo lo que hago es para que tu y tu hermana tengan una vida major. I have never heard him say, ââ¬Å"I canââ¬â¢t do this.â⬠He always works harder to accomplish something that may seem difficult or even impossible. His father died when he was only 10 years old. He didnââ¬â¢t have an example to guide him to teach him how to work or how to become a man. He tells me how he really wanted to continue going to school. He wanted to be someone in life. But, he didnââ¬â¢t have enough money to continue going to school, so he dropped out and began to work. He later saw that it was hard to earn enough money in Mexico to support my grandma and aunt. We will write a custom essay sample on Inspiration or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He decided to cross the border and come to America when he was only 17 years old. He tells me all this so I can see how easy it is in this country and to stay in school and graduate. My dad pushes me to not give up and just keep working hard. He wants me to be better than him to finish high school and go to college and graduate. My dad has taught me when you work hard good things happen. I want to make him proud by actually becoming something in life. I want to show him that all the hard times he went through. I will repay him by finishing school and becoming better than him. I will begin to repay him by being the first one to graduate from high school. Go to college and just become a successful and respectful person. I want my dad to proudly say, ââ¬Å"That man is my son.â⬠Inspiration free essay sample ââ¬Å"I have a dream.â⬠One of the most inspirational speeches ever presented. It not only enabled us to evolve as a society but to grow and mature individually. Some of us would go so far as to say that this speech is equal to that of which made us who we are today. As we all unfold and develop we learn to reminisce on not only the mistakes weââ¬â¢ve made but to look at the success we have accomplished. We all have that one prominent moment that we feel significantly altered our future, that one moment that allowed us to distinguish a sense of individuality and understand our character as a whole. My experience, although less of a moment and more of a tragedy, led me to become what many would consider admirable. Growing up, I was the cliche ââ¬Å"daddyââ¬â¢s girl.â⬠I was spoiled with gifts and surrounded by happiness and love. We will write a custom essay sample on Inspiration or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But that lifestyle was no longer mine for the taking. On Motherââ¬â¢s Day of 2004, my house had been destroyed by flames and taken over by clouds of smoke. Everything I owned was now destroyed and ruined. From my favorite skirt to my award winning uniforms, my prized possessions were nothing more but piles of ash. Not only did I lose such materialistic belongings, I lost my hero, my motivation, my dad. And although my mom made it out okay, with little harm, losing one of such meaning left me to be nothing more than a helpless mess. It was late into my eighth grade year, when this had all taken place. I allowed this tragedy to take control of every aspect of my life. By the time I had returned to school, after missing many weeks, the year was already over. Summer was spent replacing my life. I had to start brand new and buy everything, from my toothbrush and toothpaste down to my shoes and socks. When 9th grade rolled around, I had changed, but it was only for the worst. I lost w ill power and lacked effort. I felt as if there was no reason to continue with such ambition when my dad was no longer there to smile at my every moment. I had made it through ninth grade but my grades never met my full potential. During the completion of tenth grade, my attitude towards life remained the same. I held back my abilities and talents only to go against everybody else, as though it was their own fault. When I reached my junior year of high school, I was able to confront myself. I was able to look back and realize that rather than ââ¬Å"going against the grainâ⬠as many would say; I should have used this tragedy to provide me with motivation. Motivation that would allow me to put forth my expertise day after day and achieve goals I had set my whole life. So I set aside my prior experiences and filled my self with aspiration. As the year went by I maintained a grade point average of 4.0 quarter after quarter. I watched as not only my teachers, but my friends, were impressed with my academic achievements. It was my mom though, that gave me a sense of acknowledgement. The look on her face could tell me with out words that she grew more and more proud of me every day. Moments like these let me know I was on the right path. Itââ¬â¢s now my senior year and as I look back at myself, and at who I have become, I look at how Iââ¬â¢ve grown into one with more maturity and independence. I apply myself now in ways that I never knew I could. I can say now with much self confidence that I will be able to overcome any given obstacle with not only courage and determination but with pride and dignity.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Lady Macbeth Essays - Characters In Macbeth, English-language Films
Lady Macbeth Essays - Characters In Macbeth, English-language Films Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth Amongst the most essential of characters in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare is Lady Macbeth. Upon the introduction of Act 1 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth is brought into the plot of the play. In this soliloquy, Lady Macbeth comments on her thoughts after having read a letter from her husband, Macbeth, informing her about the witches prophecies on the possibility of Kingship. A variety of well-known topics are explored, including the revelation of the true traits of characters such as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promised; yet do I fear thy nature, It is too full othmilk of human kindness To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly, That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, And yet wouldst strongly win. Thoudst have, great Glamis, That which cries, Thus who must do if thou have it; And that which rather thou dost fear to do. Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear And chastise with the valour of my tongue All that impedes thee from the golden round, Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem To have crowned thee withal. -Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Sc5, Lines 13 28 Her first thoughts are based on the reaction of the realism of Macbeth being Thane of Glamis, and possibly Cawdor as the witches predicted. This is expressed through the words What thou art promised. The idea of having soliloquy interacting with the witches predictions creates a sense of spirituality. This being Lady Macbeths first appearance in the play is effective as it allows the reader to associate this sense of spirituality and evil with her character, that has yet to have any substance to allow the reader to interpret her role by. She continues by expressing her fear over not being able to catch the nearest way due to Macbeths overly kind character. This is demonstrated through a variety of techniques. For example, Lady Macbeth explains how her husband would not play false nor would he wrongly win. This suggests a fair person with a kindness too powerful for him to be a false king, through murder. The extent of Macbeths kind character is described as too full othmilk of human kindness. This is extremely significant as milk, similar to a mothers breast milk, is filled with the vital pureness and nutrition that a baby needs in order to grow. This can be used to mirror Macbeths kind character to the importance of a mothers breast milk in the eyes of a newly born baby. In addition, Lady Macbeths envy for her husband is shown through the compilation of words such as great, highly and holiliy. These words create imagery of religion and heavens to support her feelings towards Macbeth. The presence of the thought of h eavens being the place of good after death can be used to mirror the extent of Macbeths kind character. Lady Macbeth describes the action of murdering King Duncan through the words to catch the nearest way. The use of this euphemism to describe the action of killing Duncan can be seen as though she is trying to hide the harsh imagery of blood and violence in the action of murder. This is an example of Lady Macbeths diminishing sense of honesty. Throughout the course of the soliloquy, the developing theme of evilness continues to show through words such as spirits and metaphysical which produce an authoritative feeling of negativity. This form of negativity is extremely effective as it relates to the topic of the supernatural and unknown that causes for greater intrigue amongst the audience as a result. Also, these words being said through Lady Macbeth gives the audience an opportunity to further build their personal folio of her character. The idea of having to call upon the spirits and gods, the most divine of beings also can be interpreted to suggest multiple meanings. The fact that Lady Macbeth has to call upon the most powerful of beings suggests the extent of Macbeths kindness, that only the most commanding of beings has the dominance to sway Macbeths conscience. Alternatively, the act of Lady Macbeth calling upon the most
Monday, February 24, 2020
Managing in Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words
Managing in Organizations - Essay Example In such context, Yukl (2009) defined management as the systematic combination of control, system and procedures. Yukl (2009) argued that leadership is the combination of intuition, creativity, agility, optimism and adaptive mentality. Ironically, it is believed that excellent managers are capable of correcting a flawed procedure and making it perfect whereas excellent leaders are capable of performing correct actions to achieve the goal. Careful analysis of the research work of modern management scholars reveals the fact that over managing is a key characteristic of failing organizations because managers of these organizations manage unethical or flawed procedure in efficient manner in order to climb the wrong wall. For example, corporate & financial scandal of Nortel, Enron, Lehman Brothers etc are example of wrongly managed organizational procedures. Any discussion about management and leadership is incomplete without shedding light on role of motivation among organizational member s to improve overall organizational productivity. Rurchgott and Furchgott (1999) defined motivation as the combination matrix of values, actions and attitude which can help an individual to perform in goal directed manner in order to achieve specific objective. Maslow (1943 and 1954) identified five types of human needs such as safety need, psychological need, satisfaction of the ego, social need and self-actualization which are required to be fulfilled in order to motivate an individual. It is evident from the argument of various research scholars that organizational leadership is a multidimensional context; therefore, it is difficult to understand the concept without establishing a standardized viewpoint. To understand the concept of organizational leadership in better manner, the researcher has decided to analyze and evaluate the growth of organizational ââ¬Å"Leadershipâ⬠over the course of time. Analyzing the leadership and role of organizational motivation by using vario us management theories will also be a key purpose of this essay. The researcher has previously worked in Ministry of Regional Municipality & Water Resources (MRMWR) hence MRMWR has been selected as sample organization in this paper. Throughout the essay, the researcher will evaluate how MRMWR uses leadership concept and motivational techniques in order to manage its employees. The researcher will also try to shed light on how the relationship between leadership and motivation works in synergistic manner to improve productivity and performance in MRMWR. Ministry of Regional Municipality & Water Resources Background Ministry of Regional Municipality & Water Resources (2013) has stated its functional responsibilities as guided by ââ¬Å"Royal Decree No. 55/2006â⬠and functional responsibility of MRMWR can be briefed in the following manner; 1. Formulating policies or process plan and designing programs
Friday, February 7, 2020
The Complicated roots of modernity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
The Complicated roots of modernity - Essay Example It is also critical to note that with rapid modernization, cultures became fluid and mass migration to urban areas created an atmosphere where people were ready to leave their old cultural values and practices to adapt to the new ways of living. Thus, modernism started to emerge out of the economic and social necessities of the individuals. The fastest growth of the urban areas as well as the rapid industrial progress gave economic power to the nations too. Thus, nationalism emerged as a result of the better economic power and a strong sense of association with the new cultural identity developed as a result of the economic progress. Nationalism, therefore, is another form of a concept which relates people with the origin. Similarly, liberalism as well as socialism also depicts a particular form of philosophical forms which are based upon modern thinking and a perception of the progressive development of the human societies. This paper will discuss and argue that nationalism, liberal ism, and socialism have roots in modern thinking, their connection to the French Revolution and how they expose the dark side of morality. Liberalism, Nationalism, and Socialism The French Revolution proved as a starting point for much of the later development of the modern thinking. ... idered as a step towards nationalism because it clearly made an attempt to reduce the influence of Church on the modern society and gave rise to a new concept of the collective identity to be developed under the banner of nationalism. What is also critical to note that the French Revolution was also a result of the failure of the monarchs to develop a modern and liberal society with the freedom of thought and expression. Liberalism as a philosophy actually opposes any form of oppression, be it from the state or some other entities. It advocates human freedom and suggests that humans and human societies should be free from any oppression or external force which can restrict the freedom. Liberal thought, though is relatively older than the French Revolution, however, culminated into a practical reality with the French Revolution. It is also critical to note that the French revolution brought to an end a restrictive economic system which was run under the control of the government which decided different aspects of economic life of masses. The emergence of nationalism, however, provided a uniform platform for the masses to develop their collective identity based upon different aspects of life. One of the key variables on the basis of which nationalism started to take its roots was the economic power. Nations, however, did not rely upon the economic power as the military power was considered as necessary too. Nations which became successful in amassing economic capital as well as the modern military forces, however, started to develop colonies and, hence, became an oppressive force. The wars between England and France, the occupation of various colonies across the whole globe exposed the darker side of the morality of the nationalism and nationalist thoughts. As Cortes
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
How Boko Haram Developed And Under Developed Nigeria Essay Example for Free
How Boko Haram Developed And Under Developed Nigeria Essay 1.0 INTRODUCTION The stability of any society depends largely on the ability of its citizens to live together in harmony and peace. However, history has provided us with many instances of occasional uprisings in Nigeria which might have occurred as a result of a political, religious, cultural or tribal misunderstanding. Such squabbles, many a time, have ended up in bloodletting. Presently, Nigeria has not ceased to experience some misguided and misled fellowship in the name of religion. This is because, for some years now, many Nigerians especially in the Northern part of the country have lived in a perpetual fear of the unknown as a result Boko Haram insurgence. Thus, since 2009 till date, the activities of an Islamic sect called ââ¬Å"BOKO HARAMâ⬠have bedevilled the Nigerian society and threatened the very foundation of her unity and peace. What baffles me is that these insurgents even claim to be fighting for justice in Nigeria. Also, it is pertinent to remark that while Nigeria is endowed with abundant resources, numerous challenges of insecurity orchestrated by Boko Haram insurgency nowadays within the polity appears to have created porous security condition that engenders violence and retards development. The basic question many Nigerians and foreigners ask is: How has Boko Haram developed or underdeveloped Nigeria? This paper is thus an attempt to address this question posed above. But this paper argues that boko haram activities have not been of any good help to Nigeria; hence, it has contributed to Nigerian underdevelopment especially the Northern part of the country. Before we proceed, it is of utmost necessity to clarify certain terms that will appear within this intellectual exposition. 2.0 CLARIFICATION OF TERMS According to Aristotle, ab initio disputandis, definitio nominis, (definition of terms is the beginning of any discussion.) hence, it is of paramount importance for us to clarify some of our key words that will frequently occur within the fabrics of this intellectual study. 2.0.1 Definition of Development and Underdevelopment According to Agbakoba, ââ¬Å"development denotes a type of change, a purposeful or goal-oriented changeâ⬠. While in the words of Walter Rodney, development ââ¬Å"implies increased skill and capacity, greater freedom, creativity,à self-discipline, responsibility and material well-beingâ⬠¦.more often than not, the term development is used in an exclusive economic sense-the justification being that the type of economy is itself an index of other social featuresâ⬠. Hence, our definition of development here is from economic perspective. Development therefore, could be defined as the process of empowering people to maximise their potentials and their ability to explore nature in order to meet daily human needs. It is a process by which the quality of human lives and capacity to surmount daily needs are considerably improved. However, according to Rodney, ââ¬Å"underdevelopment is not absence of development, because every people have developed in one way or another and to a greater or lesser extent. Underdevelopment makes sense only as a means of comparing levels of developmentâ⬠. So, underdevelopment implies inadequate development, low levels of economic productivity as compared to other developed countries or regions. 2.0.2 BOKO HARAM Etymologically, the term Boko Haram is made up of two different words namely; Boko and Haram. Boko is the Hausa word meaning western education while Haram is the Arabic word figuratively meaning sin and literally meaning forbidden or impermissibleâ⬠. Thus, the term when loosely translated means western education is forbidden. Boko Haram group propagates that western education is forbidden because it sees western education as corrupting the Muslims. However, Boko Haram group seems to me as a destructive political tool with a cosmetic pretension of being religious. Because Boko Haram group attempts not only to sow panic but also to undermine confidence in the government and political leadership of Nigeria, it could also be called a Terrorist Group. Little wonder the US government though belatedly has confirmed Boko Haram as one the Terrorist groups in the world. (cf. Punch Newspaper on Dec; 1, 2013) 3.0 Nigeria and Boko Haram Insurgence: An Exposition Since independence, Nigeria appears to have been bedevilled with ethno-religious conflicts. With over 400 ethnic groups, belonging to several religious sects, Nigeria since independence has been grappling and trying to cope with the problem of ethnicity and ethno-religious conflicts. Needless to say that, in May 1999, Nigeria returned to civil rule which wasà accompanied with fresh hopes and latent optimism Regrettably, the worst seems to have occurred due to current rise in Boko Haram uprising. Boko Haram insurgency is a destructive political tool with a cosmetic pretension of being religious. Nigeria does not seem to have suffered only from the economic setbacks caused by Boko Haram bombings but also suffers from the battered image and humanitarian disaster the group inflicted on her. For instance, between July 27, 2009 and February 17, 2012, Boko Haram has launched fifty three (53) attacks in which 1157 people were killed and hundreds of people injured in the Northern Nigeria. T his indiscriminate and sporadic bombing seem to make Northern Nigeria increasingly unsafe and has compelled most non-indigenes of the region to relocate especially the Igbos. I therefore set out in this paper to argue with the following points, how the despicable activities of Boko Haram group have underdeveloped Nigeria. 4.0 How Boko Haram Underdeveloped Nigeria: A Critical Analysis The lethal activities of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, are crippling the economy of Nigeria especially the North and has stultified the developmental strategies of the country thereby leaving us in the abysmal state of economic backwardness and underdevelopment. Although some may say that Boko Haram has some developmental characters because it has revealed the ineffectiveness of our force men, ensured checks and balances in government and has increased the rate development in the Southern part of the country. But I stand here to refute such claims saying that Boko Haram (Terrorism) has been of no benefit to Nigeria, rather it has led to the underdevelopment of Nigeria with these points: 4.0.1 Insecurity No meaningful development will thrive in any environment where people are in constant fear of the unknown due to insecurity. This is the dismal state in which Boko Haram activities in the Northern Nigeria have left us. Needless to say that, the security situation in Nigeria has become so alarming, disturbing, and upsetting nowadays because of the recurrent attacks of these Boko Haram insurgents. The spate of insecurity in the Northern Nigeria has impacted negatively on both the private and public sectors of the economy as many business men and traders have relocated their businesses from the region. This, though pathetically, has led to a massive underdevelopment of the North. This has warranted channelling of the money which would have beenà used for other developmental strides to security in Nigeria annual budget. Little wonder the federal government spent 950 billion naira in 2013 only to combat insecurity caused by Boko Haram insurgence. Depopulation of the North and Overpopulation of the South Since current attack by Boko Haram group has become the order of the day in most Northern states, it has led to many Southerners and even some Northerners to relocate to the South for the sake of their life. This has led to the depopulation of the North and Overpopulation of the South; hence decreasing the Internal Revenue (1GR) of most Northern states thereby leaving the government with little or no money to carry out some developmental projects. In the other hand; due to large influx of people to the South, it has led to environmental problems like overpopulation, dilapidation of existing infrastructures, deforestation, cultural breakdown etc. These make life in both regions unbearable; hence pointing out that Boko Haram activities have succeeded in under developing both Northern and Southern part of the country. 4.0.3 Stifling of Economic and Social Development Boko Haram activities have led to dislocation of people from their business base, hence leading to disruption of economic activities. In Nigeria presently, the fear of Boko Haram is everywhere. Financial and business activities have been paralysed as everyone live in fear. Banks and their customers are also operating under difficult situation and have reduced their business hours to guard against being attacked by members of the sect. In most states in the North, the devastating socio-economic effects of the sectââ¬â¢s sequential killings and bombings, especially in Borno, Yobe, Niger, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Bauchi, Sokoto etc., have destroyed economic and commercial activities with many people relocating to other places. It should then be noted that Boko Haram have not only led to closure and/or abandonment of peopleââ¬â¢s business activities within affected region but also led to migration of people from the affected Region. It has also led to reduction of peopleââ¬â¢s patron age of product from the Northern Region. Also, the Boko Haram insurgence has reduced drastically; government derivation from the affected region (IGR) due to restiveness in those places as well as reduced investment and growth of business in the affected places without excluding government executed project. Little wonder why the 2011 Worldà Investment Report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development reported that stillness in business activities caused by insecurity in Kano State alone has cost the Nigerian economy N1.3trillion. Furthermore, Boko Haram activities have stifled social developmental programmes like; youth employment, housing, health schemes, education, welfare services etc. in the Northern part of the country. In fact, almost all the states under Boko Haram rampage have been completely isolated economically, socially and politically. The resultant effect of these is underdevelopment of the country, especially the affected region. 4.0.4 Scaring Away of Foreign and Local Investors The inimical uprising of Boko Haram has negatively affected the relationship between Nigeria and other Nations of the world. Incessant bombing coupled with kidnapping and hostage taking with or without demand for ransom by the members of Boko Haram has scared away both foreign and local investors from Nigeria, especially the Northern part of the country. In fact, this terrorist group has paralyzed the diplomatic relation between Nigeria and many countries of the world. The concomitant result of all these are poverty, low per capita income and underdevelopment. 4.0.5 Reduction of Human resources The crisis occasioned by Boko Haram has led to the death of many ebullient Nigerians thereby reducing the skilled and unskilled labour force of the country. The United Nation affirmed this assertion by saying that about 1,200 people have been killed since May 2013 when a state of emergency was declared in three North Eastern states (Cf. Punch Newspaper Dec; 16, 2013 or Daily Sun of Dec; 17, 2013. Aljazeera TV on September 30, 2013 reports that since 2009, an estimated 3,600 people have been killed through Boko Haramââ¬â¢s disastrous activities. We can even talk of brutal Bama attack, 22 people killed in Catholic Church at Waga Chakawa village in Adamawa just last Sunday and myriads of other attacks perpetuated by Boko Haram insurgents at the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014. All these lead to reduction of lives and properties worth over billions of naira and live our nation in the miserable state of underdevelopment. 5.0 EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION From the above analysis, we can affirm without any fear of equivocation that Boko Haram has really underdeveloped Nigeria especially the Northern part of the country that is why socio-economic activities in the North have drastically been reduced. The implication is that the crisis is rather under-developing Northern region and threatens Nigeriaââ¬â¢s prospect of joining the league of highly developed countries come the year 2020. Personally speaking, the impact of the activities of the Boko Haram group in Nigeria cannot be overemphasised. It retards economic growth and distorts socio-cultural equilibrium and leads to environmental deterioration. At the same time, it resurrects the issue of suspicion which led to the Nigerian civil war of 1967-1970 among three major ethic groups in Nigeria. Regrettably, the activities of Boko Haram in Nigeria have paralysed almost all sectors of the countrys life and have distorted peace and stultified progressive development of Nigeria. Boko Hara m has really underdeveloped Nigeria.
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