The General Manager of Newmont Ahafo North project, Mr Charles Bissue, has reaffirmed Newmont’s commitment to en­vironmental stewardship with the urgent need to ending plas­tic pollution so as to protect and safeguard planet earth.

According to him plastic wastes pose significant threats to the environment indicating “it chokes water channels, breeds mosquitoes and causes damage to farm lands”.

Mr Bissue was speaking during a durbar to mark this year’s World Environment Day celebration held at Afrispak­rom, one of its host commu­nities in the Ahafo Region.

The event was on the Theme Ending Plastic Pol­lution with the hastag #Beat Plastic Pollution.

As part of the activities to mark the day, staff of Newmont collaborated with Afrispakrom community and some selected schools and the traditional authority to under­take a cleanup exercises in the Afrispakrom.

They picked sachet wa­ter bags and polythene bags littered along the main streets of Afrispakrom to drum home the message of the need to keep the environment clean and from plastic wastes.

The chief of Afrispak­rom, Nana Oboni Nkawiri, in a short message called on the people to ensure a clean environment devoid of plastic wastes to safeguard the community from diseases and promote the health of the people.

Later Newmont presented 20 dust bins to the selected schools in the area.

It is of utmost importance that everybody knows his or level of intelligence or the height of his or her stupidity. If you have such knowl­edge about your-self, you will be in no doubt as to where you belong-the fraternity of the smart guys or the union of fools.

The question, however, is this: How do you test your intelligence? In other words, how do you determine your Intelligence Quotient (IQ)?

Psychologists have designed stan­dard tests to evaluate the intelli­gence of people. It is calculated in relation to age. So a child of six who has the intelligence of an average 25-year-old man can be said to be a genius.

In similar manner, when a 25-year-old man has the intelligence of a six-year-old girl, then we can safely categorise him as a very stupid fellow. He may not be able to make any head-way in life.

The white man has tested the intelligence of people belonging to various cultures and races and come to the curious conclusion that Cauca­sians and Anglo-Saxons are more in­telligent than those of African origin. I don’t know how you can use models based on one environment to test intelligence in another environment.

AMBITION

Conclusions on intelligence are varied, some amusing! The Chinese and Asians in general are said to be bright; Caucasians and Anglo-Saxons intelligent; blacks (Africans) are the least ambitious and fun-loving.

Based on analysis on intelligence tests, Caucasians are said to excel in intellectual pursuits, tennis (which requires intelligence) and are am­bitious in life generally. Blacks are said to excel in physically challenging tasks like athletics and boxing, and since they are fun-loving, they also do well in music.

Curious observers have, however, found flaws in some of the analyses. For instance, Asians are on the aver­age, more intelligent than Caucasians and Anglo-Saxons, according to other research findings.

Taking isolated cases, let’s com­pare William James Sidis, a Jewish Russian who entered Harvard Uni­versity at age 11 (the university had previously refused to let him apply at age eight), with Marilyn vos Savant, the person acknowledged as having the highest IQ in the Western world.

Sidis could read at 18 months, taught himself Latin at age 2, Greek at 3; written a treatise on anatomy at 4; knew eight languages (English, Latin, Greek, Russian, Hebrew, French, German and Vendergood, his own invention) at age 8.

LECTURE

His intelligence quotient was estimated at between 250 and 300 by psychometrician Abraham Sterling. At Harvard, he gave a lecture on the four dimensional bodies to an -audi­torium of mathematicians.

Marilyn vos Savant is an Ameri­can and has general IQs attributed to her-167+, 186, 218, 228 and 230 (the average IQ of humans is about 100). She was listed in the 1986 to 1989 editions of the Guinness Book of Records under “Highest IQ.”

Now, there are more child prod­igies among Jewish and Asian popu­lations than there are in Caucasian societies.

But the question is, if this is the case, why isn’t the Chinese society for instance more developed than America. The answer lies in the long years China had to bear communist or pseudo-communist rule, which stifled talents and repressed creative genius.

Today, Chinese society is a more liberal one (thanks to Deng Xiaoping) and the rapid developments taking place shows the explosion of genius which is not likely to stall in the near future.

Now zeroing on black intelligence, there is no doubt that on the aver­age, the black man is not stupid. The Blackman. (typical African) might have some negative attitudinal traits, but for sure, the Blackman is intel­ligent. There are many black ge­niuses doing wonderful things in the Whiteman’s land, things that nobody gives any credit to because of racial prejudice.

The problem with African na­tions is that they aren’t restricting all those brilliant citizens from the continent from leaving to once again become the white man’s slave. The slave trade has been abolished, but it is now more in existence than ever before.

Where are all the doctors Ghana has produced? They are all in the Whiteman’s land, using their creativ­ity and intelligence to better the lot of the Whiteman, while their own countrymen are dying because in some places the doctor-patient ratio is 1: 10,000.

In the field of development re­search, you’ll find geniuses that are Ghanaians, Nigerians and South Afri­cans, engaged in all kinds of research not in tropical medicine or buruli ul­cer, but in aspects of the white man’s diseases. How can Africa develop with this level of brain drain?

I have taken three intelligence tests online and have been compared with Bill Gates. Quite flattering! I don’t know whether I should write to the man to share his wealth.

After all, what is the need to compare me with the man if I cannot have a piece of the cake? Just a joke there!

This article was first published on Saturday, December 10, 2005

 The First Lady and Founder of the Lordina Foundation, Lordina Mahama, celebrated this year’s Mother’s Day with new and expectant mothers at the Maternity Block of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital on Sunday.

During the visit, Mrs Mahama donat­ed hampers to more than 250 mothers on all five floors of the block.

The hampers contained items such as diapers, wipes, baby clothes, creams, and food items such as rice, oil, mackerel, sardines, milk and canned tomatoes.

She also covered the medical bills of all the mothers, as well as those who had been in the hospital for weeks because they could not pay their bills.

Mrs Mahama said her visit was spe­cial and nostalgic as it brought back fond memories of her motherhood journey, which she said goes beyond childbirth, and highlighted the love, sleepless nights, and resilience that define the experience.

At the time of the visit, some ex­pectant mothers were experiencing labour pains, and she supported and encouraged them to remain strong and focused on the joy that follows child delivery.

“Motherhood is indeed a beautiful experience,” the First Lady said and extended warm wishes to all who play motherly roles in society.

She also reiterated the shared vision she holds with her husband, President John Mahama, to build a nation where every family can thrive.

“The President is dedicated to positioning the country as a preferred destination for local and international investment and business to ultimately improve the living conditions of citi­zens and also ensure a brighter future for our children,” Mrs Mahama added.

The Head of Midwifery at Korle Bu, Barbara Adu, expressed gratitude to the First Lady for her generous donation, saying that the items would significantly alleviate the burdens faced by the majority of mothers who visited the hospital.

She, however, lamented the poor condition of elevators on the facility, which she said made it difficult for both pregnant and new mothers to use.

The beneficiaries were also full of praise and appreciation for the ges­ture, which they said would alleviate their suffering.

 By Spectator Reporter