Norms vs. Novelty

Norm vs. Novelty

The fact that globalization has shrunken the world to fist size is no news. We are now forced to be part of situations that we would rather not be for the life of us. It is unavoidable and needs not our permission before it lays itself in our nest; the one we have built over the years based on what seems to be the best practices shaped by our personal and cultural values. Globalization now poses itself a threat to what we know, what we choose to know and how we choose to know it. It brings new knowledge to our doorstep even without our going out to look for it.

The world today as a result of globalization is engaged in a constant battle, the battle between the old and the new, the known and the unknown, a battle between the norm and novelty.
We are engaged in situations that cut  across the globe, that call for a change in what we know, the ways we have chosen to live and the rules by which our lives are guided, to this extent we seem to have been thrown into perpetual confusion.



I will give examples of these constant battles, some cultures demand that you do not allow into your house a person whom you do not know but globalization tells you to adopt a refugee. Girls and boys should not be seen as equal in terms of capacity but globalization says no, by 2030, the goal on gender equality is to be reached in every part of the world, we are taught from childhood to mind our own businesses but globalization tells you that you have to step out of your business and mind that of those whom you do not know and may never come in contact with . We are advised to be global citizens but we were taught in elementary school that you owe allegiance to just your country and as such you are taught your national anthem and pledge and could care less about that of the neighboring country .

We must now take a global perspective on the rules that guide our lives, the cultural practices we choose to continue with, our actions and relationships generally.
Global consciousness is the key to sustainable development, However, certain norms clog our capacity as regards global consciousness.

This post intends to get you thinking about the things you do and the rules that guide your life while viewing them from a global perspective with the ultimate aim of getting us all to be forward thinkers and global citizens.

It is not intended that we drop all our cultural values, however, some practices, which are not sustainable or built on sustainable principles have to go in order to ensure that we have a better world for us and generations to come .

You are encouraged to think about norms that you hold on to so tight, and ask yourself, whether or not they are sustainable given the present age, if they aren't, it's high time you cut them loose.
Please share some of the existent norms in your surroundings (related to the topic) with us so we can learn and suggest ways to reform or abolish them.

Thank you for taking time to read this post, should you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask using the comment box!

What do I owe my environment?

What do I owe my environment?
…Responsible consumption and production.
Have you ever stopped to think or imagine… What would happen if the world where we live in today stopped growing food? What if it became so hot we we all have to pack our things and leave? Scary Huh?

One important reality that we mostly shove under the carpet is the fact we owe a huge part of our existence and success to our immediate environment. Our lives, jobs, families and universe cannot thrive without an environment especially one secured by the best practices geared towards sustainability.

Our world stands threatened if we continue to treat it badly and undermine its resources the way we do on a daily basis. The hidden beauty in our world lies in the fact that if we treat the universe and its resources the way we ought to, it would remain a sustainable environment for us and generations yet
unborn to thrive given the fact that there is more than enough for us to use if we act right. The big question,however, is what are the risks and how do we go about mitigating them?
The United Nations has as its 12th sustainable development goal; RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION.

The goal according to the UN,wants us to think twice what we use, the waste we create and how that impacts our planet. To this extent, I would be giving some advice;
It is important that we reduce wastes especially non bio degradable wastes. There are nine options available in terms of waste reduction all nine being self-explanatory;
• Refill​​​
• Reduce
• Reclaim
• Reuse
• Repair
• Refuse
• Recharge
• Recycle
• Rethink.

There is the need to reduce the use of plastic bags especially in low income countries. Go shopping with your reusable shopping bags, encourage the government to increase tariffs and ensure the increment of charges on use of plastic bags, drink from water dispensers instead of sachets or plastic bottles, purchase drinks in reusable bottles or move around with your own bottle to fill your drink with when you go out to purchase a drink so you do not have to opt for plastic bottles. Do not ask for straws; use reusable cups and eat out of reusable plates and not disposable ones.

We must pay attention to our consumption of food and water, do not leave taps running unattended or when not in use, cook and consume just enough food in order to reduce food waste; also, it is important that we encourage food and bottling companies to be ethical in their use of land resources and production. It is also important that waste is disposed responsibly especially non-biodegradable wastes by companies and private individuals alike.

Embrace the culture of walking, cycling or taking public transport in order to reduce the number of vehicles on the road. Cars are no longer luxuries given their grave effects on the environment. Every family should have at most two cars and road restrictions should be in place in order to reduce the number of cars on the road and get people to seek alternative means.

Switch off light bulbs and sockets when not in use.

Think and suggest ways to ensure best practices in the use of natural resources in place of artificial resources.


Spread the word, especially to persons without access to internet, volunteer to take up sanitation in your local community and take a pledge to ensure responsible consumption and production.
Every day, think about What you buy, what you use, what you eat, how much electricity you use, what you drink, how much waste you create, how you dispose or can avoid waste and most importantly, how you use earth’s resources.

I have outlined a few things we can do as citizens and I can assure you that if each person contributes their little, before the year 2030, we would have a sustainable environment for ourselves and generations to come.
Should you have any questions, addition or comments do not hesitate to use the comment box!
Thank you for taking your time to learn and ensure a better world.

About inequality and acceptance...

About Inequality and Acceptance...






It is no news that gender inequality is one global issue that has posed manifest difficulty to global efforts aimed at its reduction. Girls still face discrimination at all levels notwithstanding the fact that well concerted efforts have been taken to bring an end to the unfortunate situation.
It is important that we think about our efforts and how helpful they are, if they have been productive, are there new ways to push it forward? These are questions we must consider.
About Inequality and acceptance, could there be ways by which even the front liners of the campaign against inequality be unconsciously accepting the status quo?


Why do we celebrate women and girls for being the first to achieve a feat that has been reached by several men in the history of a particular thing? I believe that it's high time we started seeing this things as normal in order to gmain respect and show the world that progress is being made.
A girl child that achieves what a male child has achieved should not be celebrated because she is the first female to achieve it or because she is the only girl amidst the guys or other similar

circumstances.
A girl should be celebrated because of her achievements and capacity and not because she's the first of her gender to achieve what she did. That way, we show that there is no difference between the male and female capacity. It should no more be extraordinary that a girl child is the first to achieve what 100 male children have achieved ahead of her. We accept the status quo of inequality when we foster it through such actions.
Celebrate a girl child today because her achievements are results of her ability and not because she is the first female to achieve what several male children have.
The position taken in this post is not to berate the achievements of the girl child or global efforts at achieving gender equality, it only suggests that these achievements should only exalt the capacity of the girl child and not an exaltation which is a function of such achievement's novelty among the female gender.
Reducing gender inequality is a task meant for every one and we must not by any means foster existing inequalities through our actions aimed at reducing them.

This post is in commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child.

Should you have any questions or contributions, do not hesitate to leave a comment. Thank you for taking your time to read this post!

Of Refugees and Hands in Thighs

HELP! My sister is in Syria and my Brother is in South Sudan.

A refugee simply put is one who has been displaced from his home in order to seek succor in times of war, natural disaster, or to flee persecution. A plethora of life threatening situations exist in our world today giving birth to circumstances that compelpeople leave their homes forcefully. By leaving their homes with such inadvertence, they are left with no plans as to shelter and not enough to survive or live a good life. These families are spread across different countries and majorly six emergency locations in the world today according to the UN Refugee Agency. These emergencies include, the Central African Republic (CAR), Europe, Iraq, South Sudan and Syrian emergencies. These situations get worse by the day, its intensity is made evident in the recent situation in Aleppo, Syria where aid workers were attacked and killed and aid materials destroyed. The effect of which being the perpetration of a war crime on the part of the perpetrators and the subjection of persons in this area to even a worse condition of living as the United Nations has suspended aid to the area till further notice. The above highlighted scenario is one out of thousands that plague our world and its continued existence today.

The continued subjection of refugees to deplorable conditions of living poses a huge threat to peaceful coexistence even in the smallest part of the world (though not experiencing an emergency). You would remember that it was highlighted in the previous post that. Globalization has now made the world into a smaller milieu where we all have no choice but to interact with other parts of the world living no room for even deliberate attempts to avoid the ensuing interaction. The truth in the above made assertion is made evident in the words of Dame Anstee, former UN under Secretary General, while speaking onSustainable Development Goals, she said “…they (the SDGs) are very important because, although there are all sorts of political reasons for conflicts, most of the tragedies start off because there are people who are marginalized- who are poor, people who don’t have enough to live on…” The highlighted texts to a large extent define the lives of most refugees in the world. 

It is rather disheartening that many develop a NIMBY (Not in my Backyard) attitude towards refugees and their state of living. Many of us are caught up in our “little” world which we have carved out for ourselves thereby creating no room for others. The quick forgotten truth is the fact that that little boy in South Sudan who lost his family to a conflict and now lives in a refugee camp is also your brother not just one bestowed on you by biological circumstances.

We must now expand the limits we set for ourselves in terms of concern to include persons whom we may never meet, who may never pay us back for acts of kindness done to them, who may never stand before you to thank you for your gratuitous gifts. We must now put a few blocks the other to create more space while breaking already built ones that block our lives out of those of others especially people whom we do not know. We must expand our dreams for a better life to accommodate persons living in war torn areas and peaceful zones. We must remind ourselves that brotherhood and sisterhood is a compulsory relationship we have with everyone in the world regardless of race, religion, creed, nationality or status and transcends the myopic realm of Biology. We must remember that if we truly intend to be successful, we must put the success of the Sustainable Development Goals before ours thus giving us the consciousness of the fact that these goals cannot be met until every single person on the face of the earth is included in the measurement of the success of the goals with refugees being no exception.

Having said all that lengthy stuff, it is time for you to make a pledge to brotherhood and sisterhood to refugees, take action no  matter how little and speak up for refugees and for the world. Remember the world Nineteen is the world that exists right in your backyard and whatever stays there is definitely your business so pay RAPT attention to it.

Thank you for taking your time to read this post, please share your comments to air your views as it is part of the action we speak of and stay tuned for more exciting posts

About Nineteen

This initiative seeks to guarantee a better world for the coming generation by ensuring that every one yes! Everyone is properly educated on the best practices towards ensuring that we and the coming generation thrive in a better world. Through this platform you would see through the lenses of our posts, what a better world should look like.

Nineteen and the World

Our world is shrunken by the globe. The term globalization has transcended its etymology and is now a phenomena that reduces the size of our world by the tick of the clock. The question hence is; how does this affect me in my tiny corner? Our world today stands in a place where we all have no control over even our activities most especially the outcomes ensuing therefrom. To this extent we must live each day with the consciousness of one thing; every action by taken by me is more likely to affect people I do not have in contemplation and as such I must act right so as to ensure that I play my role in the sustenance of our world.

Essentially, world Nineteen is that world we seek to achieve by virtue of this blog.

This blog will serve as a platform for discussion of contemporary issues and ways in which we can make the world a better place through calculated steps towards ensuring sustainable development.