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Bonapartist
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French monarchist ideology
Coat of arms of Napoleon I
Bonapartism is the political ideology supervening from Napoleon Bonaparte and his followers and successors. The term was later used to refer to people who hoped to restore the House of Bonaparte and its style of government. In this sense, a Bonapartiste was a person who either actively participated in or advocated for conservative, monarchist and imperial political factions in 19th-century France. After Napoleon, the term was applied to the French politicians who seized power in the Coup of 18 Brumaire, ruling in the French Consulate and subsequently in the First and Second French Empires. The Bonapartistes desired an empire under the House of Bonaparte, the Corsican family of Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I of France) and his nephew Louis (Napoleon III of France).[1]
The term has been used more generally for a political movement that advocated a dictatorship or an authoritarian centralized state, with a strongman charismatic leader based on anti-elitist rhetoric, army support, and conservatism.
Marxism and Leninism developed a vocabulary of political terms that included Bonapartism, derived from their analysis of the career of Napoleon Bonaparte. Karl Marx was a student of Jacobinism and the French Revolution, and was a contemporary critic of the Second Republic and the Second Empire. He used "Bonapartism" to refer to a situation in which counter-revolutionary military officers seize power from revolutionaries, and use selective reforms to co-opt the radicalism of the popular classes. Marx argued that in the process, Bonapartists preserve and mask the power of a narrower ruling class.
More generally, "Bonapartism" may be used to describe the replacement of civilian leadership by military leadership within revolutionary movements or governments. Many modern-day Trotskyists and other leftists use the phrase "left Bonapartist" to describe those, such as Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong, who controlled 20th-century bureaucratic socialist regimes. In addition, Leon Trotsky was accused of using his position as commander of the Red Army to gain top-level power after Lenin's death.
Noted political scientists and historians greatly differ on the definition and interpretation of Bonapartism. Sudhir Hazareesingh's book The Legend of Napoleon explores numerous interpretations of the term. He says that it refers to a "popular national leader confirmed by popular election, above party politics, promoting equality, progress, and social change, with a belief in religion as an adjunct to the State, a belief that the central authority can transform society and a belief in the 'nation' and its glory and a fundamental belief in national unity."[This quote needs a citation] Hazareesingh believes that although recent research shows Napoleon used forced conscription of French troops, some men must have fought believing in Napoleon's ideals. He says that to argue Bonapartism co-opted the masses is an example of the Marxist perspective of false consciousness: the idea that the masses can be manipulated by a few determined leaders in the pursuit of ends.
Philosophically, Bonapartism was Napoleon's adaptation of the principles of the French Revolution to suit his imperial form of rule. Desires for public order, national glory, and emulation of the Roman Empire had combined to create a Caesarist coup d'etat for General Bonaparte on 18 Brumaire. Though he espoused adherence to revolutionary precedents, he "styled his direct and personal rule on the Old Regime monarchs."[2] For Bonapartists, the most significant lesson of the Revolution was that unity of government and the governed was paramount.
The honey bee was a prominent political emblem for both the First and Second Empires.[3] It represented the Bonapartist ideal of devoted service, self-sacrifice and social loyalty.[4]
The defining characteristics of political Bonapartism were flexibility and adaptability. Napoleon III once commented on the diversity of opinions in his cabinet, united under the banner of Bonapartism. Referring to the leading figures in the government of the Second Empire, he remarked: "The Empress is a Legitimist, Morny is an Orléanist, Prince Napoleon is a Republican, and I myself am a Socialist. There is only one Bonapartist, Persigny - and he is mad!"[5]
During his exile to Elba from 1814-1815, Napoleon Bonaparte announced he would return in the spring. The violet became a symbol of this and of Bonapartism.[6]
Eugène Rouher (1814-1884), French politician and President of the Senate during the Second Empire, was the leader of the Bonapartiste faction after 1871.
Bonapartism developed after Napoleon I was exiled to the island of Elba. The Bonapartists helped him regain power, leading to a period known as the Hundred Days. Some of his acolytes could not accept his defeat in 1815 at Waterloo or the Congress of Vienna, and continued to promote the Bonaparte ideology. After Napoleon I's death in exile on Saint Helena in 1821, many of these people transferred their allegiance to other members of his family. After the death of Napoleon's son, the Duke of Reichstadt (known to Bonapartists as Napoleon II), Bonapartist hopes rested on several different members of the family.[7]
The disturbances of 1848 gave hope to the nascent political undercurrent. Bonapartism, as an ideology of politically neutral French peasants and workers (EJ Hobsbawm), was essential in the election of Napoleon I's nephew Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte as President of the Second Republic, and gave him the political support necessary for his 1852 discarding of the constitution and proclaiming the Second Empire. Louis-Napoleon assumed the title Napoleon III to acknowledge the brief reign of Napoleon II at the end of the Hundred Days in 1815 (see the abdication of Napoleon I in 1815).
In 1870, the French National Assembly forced Napoleon III to sign a declaration of war against Prussia; France suffered a disastrous defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. The emperor surrendered to the Prussians and their German allies to avoid further bloodshed at the Battle of Sedan. He went into exile after a parliamentary coup created the Third Republic.[8]
Bonapartists continued to agitate for another member of the family to be placed on the throne. From 1871 forward, they competed with monarchist groups that favoured the restoration of the family of Louis-Philippe I, King of the French (1830-1848) (the Orléanists), and also with those who favoured the restoration of the House of Bourbon, the traditional French royal family (Legitimists). The strength of these three factions combined was powerful, but they did not unite on the choice of the new French monarch. Monarchist fervor eventually waned, and the French Republic became more or less a permanent facet of French life. Bonapartism was slowly relegated to being the civic faith of a few romantics as more of a hobby than a practical political philosophy. The death knell for Bonapartism was probably sounded when Eugène Bonaparte, the only son of Napoleon III, was killed in action while serving as a British Army officer in Zululand in 1879. Thereafter, Bonapartism ceased to be a significant political force.
The current head of the Bonaparte family is the great-great-great-grandson of Napoleon I's brother Jérôme, Jean-Christophe Napoléon (born 1986). There are no remaining descendants in the male line from any other of Napoleon's brothers and there is no serious political movement that aims to restore any of these men to the imperial throne of France.
Bonapartist claimants
Bonapartiste
1815; 206 years ago (1815)
Bonapartism
Political position
Center-right
Blue (early)
Green (later)
Politics of France
Jérôme Bonaparte, founder of the legitimate line
After becoming emperor in 1804, Napoleon I established a Law of Succession, providing that the Bonapartist claim to the throne should pass firstly to Napoleon's own legitimate male descendants through the male line. At that time he had no legitimate sons, and it seemed unlikely he would have any due to the age of his wife Joséphine. He eventually achieved an annulment, without Papal approval, of his marriage to Josephine. He married the younger Marie Louise, with whom he had one son.
The law of succession provided that if Napoleon's own direct line died out, the claim passed first to his older brother Joseph and his legitimate male descendants through the male line, then to his younger brother Louis and his legitimate male descendants through the male line. His other brothers, Lucien and Jérôme, and their descendants, were omitted from the succession (even though Lucien was older than Louis) because they had either politically opposed the Emperor or made marriages of which he disapproved. Napoleon abdicated in favor of his son after his defeat in 1815. Although the Bonapartes were deposed and the old Bourbon monarchy restored, Bonapartists recognized Napoleon's son as Napoleon II. A sickly child, he was virtually imprisoned in Austria, and died young and unmarried, without any descendants. When the French Empire was restored to power in 1852, the emperor was Napoleon III, Louis Bonaparte's only living legitimate son (their brother Joseph having died in 1844 without having had a legitimate son, only daughters).
In 1852, Napoleon III enacted a new decree on the succession. The claim was given to his own male legitimate descendants in the male line (though at that time he had no son, Louis later had a legitimate son, Eugène, who was recognized by Bonapartists as "Napoleon IV" before dying young and unmarried). If Napoleon III's line died out, he decreed that the claim should pass to Jérôme, Napoleon's youngest brother (who had previously been excluded), and his male descendants by Princess Catharina of Württemberg in the male line. (Excluded were his descendants by his first marriage, to the American commoner Elizabeth Patterson, of which Napoleon I had greatly disapproved.) The Bonapartist claimants since 1879, have been the descendants of Jérôme and Catherine of Württemberg in the male line.
The Bonapartist laws of succession were far from traditional. The family members ignored primogeniture (by excluding Lucien Bonaparte and his descendants); they annulled marriages to achieve their goals; and they did not submit to the Pope's rights as final arbiter on the validity of marriages. The very claim of the Bonaparte family to rule France was far from traditional.
List of Bonapartist claimants to the French throne since 1814
Those who ruled are indicated with an asterisk.
Napoleon I*
1814-1815 15 August 1769, Ajaccio
Son of Carlo Buonaparte
and Letizia Ramolino Joséphine de Beauharnais
Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma
1 child 5 May 1821
Longwood, Saint Helena
Aged 51
Napoleon II*
1815-1832 20 March 1811, Paris
Son of Napoleon I
and Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma Never married 22 July 1832
Joseph Bonaparte
(Joseph I)
1832-1844 7 January 1768, Corte
and Letizia Ramolino Julie Clary
2 children 28 July 1844
Louis Bonaparte
(Louis I)
1844-1846 2 September 1778, Ajaccio
and Letizia Ramolino Hortense de Beauharnais
Napoleon III*
President of France (1848-1852)
Emperor of the French (1852-1870) 20 April 1808, Paris
Son of Louis Bonaparte
and Hortense de Beauharnais Eugénie de Montijo
1 child 9 January 1873
Napoléon, Prince Imperial
(Napoléon IV)
Son of Napoleon III
and Eugénie de Montijo Never married 1 June 1879
Victor, Prince Napoléon
(Napoléon V)
1879-1926 18 July 1862, Palais-Royal
Son of Prince Napoléon Bonaparte
and Princess Maria Clotilde of Savoy Princess Clémentine of Belgium
10/14 November 1910
2 children 3 May 1926
(Napoléon VI)
1926-1997 23 January 1914, Brussels
Son of Victor, Prince Napoléon
and Princess Clémentine of Belgium Alix, Princess Napoléon
(Napoléon VII)
(disputed) 19 October 1950, Boulogne-Billancourt
Son of Louis, Prince Napoléon
and Alix, Princess Napoléon Princess Béatrice of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Jeanne-Françoise Valliccioni
1 child (adopted)
(Napoléon VIII)
(disputed) 11 July 1986, Saint-Raphaël, Var
Son of Charles, Prince Napoléon
and Princess Béatrice of Bourbon-Two Sicilies Countess Olympia von und zu Arco-Zinneberg
The following are the list of Bonapartist claimants to the imperial throne.
Napoleon I of France ruled from 1804 to 1815, abdicated in 1815 and died 1821.
Napoleon, Duke of Reichstadt, son of Napoleon I, styled Napoleon II by Bonapartists. Briefly reigned as Emperor in France for a fortnight in June-July 1815 after his father's abdication following the defeat at Waterloo. After the deposition and exile of the Bonaparte family in July 1815, or at least from Napoleon I's death in 1821, he was Bonapartist claimant to the throne until 1832. He died in 1832 unmarried and with no children.
Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon I's oldest brother, former King of Spain and claimant from 1832 to 1844. He died in 1844 with two daughters, but no legitimate male children.
Louis Bonaparte, Napoleon I's second youngest brother, former King of Holland and claimant from 1844 to 1846. He died in 1846.
Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, the only living legitimate child of Louis Bonaparte (though some have questioned whether he was Louis' biological son--his mother Hortense was notorious for her infidelity). He was President of France from 1849 to 1852 and under the name Napoleon III ruled as emperor from 1852 to 1870. He was claimant from 1846 to 1873. when he died,
Napoléon, Prince Imperial, the only legitimate child of Napoleon III. He was claimant from 1873 to 1879. Styled Napoleon IV by his supporters, he died in 1879 unmarried and with no children.
Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte, nicknamed Plon-plon, the only male child of Jérôme Bonaparte, Napoleon I's youngest brother, with Catharina of Württemberg (though Jerome had had another son earlier with Elizabeth Patterson). He was claimant from 1879 to 1891, but Eugene Bonaparte's will excluded him from the succession in favour of his son Napoleon Victor, leading to fierce disputes among the increasingly irrelevant Bonapartist circle. He died in 1891.
Napoléon Victor Jérôme Frédéric Bonaparte, eldest son of Plon-plon and claimant from 1879 to 1926 (though many Bonapartists preferred his younger brother Louis). Until his father's death in 1891, he and his father both claimed the throne. He died in 1926.
Louis Jerome Victor Emmanuel Leopold Marie Bonaparte, son of Napoleon Victor and claimant from 1926 to 1997. He died in 1997.
Charles Marie Jérôme Victor Napoléon Bonaparte, the son of Napoleon Louis and claimant since 1997.
Electoral results
overall votes
% of
overall vote
overall seats won
Chamber of Representatives
Unknown (2nd) Unknown
Did not participate Did not participate
5,218,602 (1st) 86.5
253 Adolphe Billault
23 Charles de Morny
39 Émile Ollivier/Adolphe Vuitry
Unknown (5th) 3.1
1,056,517 (3rd) 14.3
76 Napoléon-Jérôme Bonaparte
1,617,464 (2nd) 20.0
28 Georges-Eugène Haussmann
610,422 (3rd) 8.7
888,104 (4th) 11.2
715,804 (5th) 9.0
Based on the career of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, Marxism and Leninism defined Bonapartism as a political expression.[9]Karl Marx was a student of Jacobinism and the French Revolution, as well as a contemporary critic of the Second Republic and Second Empire. He used the term Bonapartism to refer to a situation in which counterrevolutionary military officers seize power from revolutionaries, and use selective reformism to co-opt the radicalism of the masses. In the process, Marx argued, Bonapartists preserve and mask the power of a narrower ruling class. He believed that both Napoleon I and Napoleon III had corrupted revolutions in France in this way. Marx offered this definition of and analysis of Bonapartism in The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, written in 1852. In this document, he drew attention to what he calls the phenomenon's repetitive history with one of his most quoted lines, typically condensed aphoristically as: "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce."[10][11]
Marx believed that a Bonapartist regime could exert great power, because there was no class with enough confidence or power to firmly establish its authority in its own name. A leader who appeared to stand above the class struggle could take the mantle of power. He believed that this was an inherently unstable situation, as the apparently all-powerful leader would be swept aside when the class struggle in society was resolved.
Leon Trotsky described Joseph Stalin's regime as Bonapartist, as he believed it was balanced between the proletariat, victorious but shattered by war, and the bourgeoisie, broken by the revolution but struggling to re-emerge. The failure of Stalin's regime to disintegrate under the shock and disruption of the losses of the Second World War, and the success of its expansion into Eastern Europe, challenged this analysis. Many Trotskyists rejected the idea that Stalin's regime was Bonapartist. Tony Cliff described such regimes as state capitalist in type and not as deformed workers' states at all. In the last year of his life, Trotsky argued the example of Napoleon's expanding empire. He had achieved the abolition of serfdom in Poland and other French holdings, but his empire was still "Bonapartist."
Bonapartism may be used generally to describe the replacement of civilian leadership by military leadership within revolutionary movements or governments. Some modern-day Trotskyists and others on the left use the phrase left Bonapartist to describe leaders such as Stalin and Mao Zedong, who controlled left-wing or populist totalitarian regimes. Bonapartism was an example of the Marxist idea of false consciousness: the masses could be manipulated by a few determined leaders in the pursuit of ends.
In the French political spectrum
According to historian René Rémond's famous 1954 book, Les Droites en France, Bonapartism constitutes one of the three French right-wing families; the latest one after far-right Legitimism and center-right Orléanism. According to him, both Boulangisme and Gaullism are considered to be forms of Bonapartism. However, this has been consistently disputed by Bonapartists and by many other historians. Notable examples of the latter include Vincent Cronin, who referred to Napoleonic government as "middle-of-the-road",[12]André Castelot in his Bonaparte, for whom being above and outside of party struggles was the founding principle of Bonapartism[13] and Louis Madelin, who describes Napoleon's role in French history as being the great reconciler after the divides and wounds of the French Revolution (conclusion to Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire).
In their own time, both Napoleon I and Napoleon III refused to be classed as either leftist or rightist, arguing that to claim to govern a country in the name of a faction meant acting against the national interest and one day succumbing to its influence. In Des Idées Napoléoniennes (On Napoleonic Ideas), published in 1839, the future Napoleon III quoted his uncle's words to the Council of State on this subject, ending with the following explanation:
"You see, this is why I have composed my Council of State of constituants who were called Moderates or Feuillants, like Defermon, Roederer, Regnier, Regnault; of royalists like Devaines and Dufresnes ; lastly of jacobins like Brune, Réal and Berlier. I like honest people of all parties". Prompt to reward recent services, as to shed luster all the great memories, Napoleon has placed in the Hôtel des Invalides, next to the statues of Hoche, of Joubert, of Marceau, of Dugommier, of Dampierre, the statue of Condé, the ashes of Turenne, and the heart of Vauban. He revives, in Orleans, the memory of Joan of Arc, in Beauvais that of Jeanne Hachette [...] Always faithful to principles of conciliation, the Emperor, during the course of his reign, gives a pension to the sister of Robespierre, as he does to the mother of the Duke of Orleans.
--  Chapter III, p. 31
Bonapartists have consistently disagreed with this classification, as one of the fundamentals of Bonapartism as an ideology is the refusal to adhere to the left-right divide, which they see as an obstacle to the welfare and unity of the nation. Martin S Alexander, in his book "French History since Napoleon" (London, Arnold, New York, Oxford University Press, 1999) notes that Bonapartism as an idea would not have made a significant impact if it had been classifiable as either left-wing or right-wing. The historian Jean Sagnes in "The roots of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte's Socialism" notes that the future Emperor of the French edited his political works through far-left publishers.[14] Today, the Bonapartist philosophy would fit into the space occupied by the Parti Socialiste, the Mouvement Démocrate, the Nouveau Centre and the left wing of the conservative Union pour un Mouvement Populaire, as these parties occupy the ideological space between parties advocating class struggle and race-based politics, both of which are anathema to Bonapartists, as contrary to the ideal of national unity and religious and ethnic tolerance. This is demonstrated by Napoleonic policy towards industrial disputes, one expression of which - as Frank McLynn writes - is that strikes were forbidden by Napoleon I but in exchange the police sometimes prevented wages from being lowered,[15] while another is the assimilation and protection of the Jews.
The Marxist theory of "Left" and "Right" Bonapartism can be considered an illustration of what McLynn refers to as Napoleon I's appeal in equal measure "to both the Right and the Left",[16] and what Vincent Cronin describes as "middle of the way", or "moderate" government.[17] Napoleon III situated Bonapartism (or the "Napoleonic Idea") between the radicals and conservatives (respectively the Left and the Right) in "Des Idées Napoléoniennes", published in 1839. He expounded on this point to explain that Bonapartism, as practiced by his uncle Napoleon the Great (and represented by himself) was in the middle of "two hostile parties, one of which looks only to the past, and the other only to the future" and combined "the old forms" of the one and the "new principles" of the other.
While some French political parties are shaded by Bonapartism's political stance of national unity, since World War II, no major parties have advocated for Bonapartism in the sense of a return to the rule of a descendant of the Bonaparte dynasty.
Modern Bonapartism
In contemporary times, the term "Bonapartism" has been used in a general sense to describe autocratic, highly centralized regimes dominated by the military.[18]
Other Bonapartists
In 1976, when Jean-Bédel Bokassa, a great admirer of Napoleon, made himself Emperor Bokassa I of Central Africa, he declared that the ideology of his regime was Bonapartism and added golden bees to his imperial standard.
Raymond Hinnebusch has characterized Hafez al-Assad's regime in Syria as Bonapartist.
conservatism portal
Napoleonist Syndrome
Poujadisme
Caesarism
^ Hanotaux, Gabriel (1907). Contemporary France. Books for Libraries Press. p. 460.
^ Truesdell, Matthew (1997). Spectacular Politics: Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte and the Fête impériale, 1849-1870. Oxford University Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-19-510689-3. Retrieved 2011.
^ "History of the Two Empires: The Symbols of Empire". Fondation Napoléon. 2008. Retrieved 2011.
^ Englund, Steven (2005). Napoleon: A Political Life. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-674-01803-7. Retrieved 2011.
^ Jerrold, Blanchard (1882). The Life of Napoleon III. London: Longmans, Green. p. 378. Retrieved 2011.
^ Lindsay, Suzanne G. (2012), Funerary Arts and Tomb Cult: Living with the Dead in France, 1750-1870, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., p. 172 (footnote 16), ISBN 978-1-4094-2261-7
^ Riff, Michael A. (1990). Dictionary of Modern Political Ideologies. Manchester University Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-7190-3289-9. Retrieved 2011.
^ Acton, Lord (1909). The Cambridge Modern History. New York: Macmillan Co. p. 495ff. Retrieved 2011.
^ [1], Marxists website
^ Marx, Karl (1973). David Fernbach (ed.). Surveys in Exile. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-14-021603-5. Hegel remarks somewhere that all great events and characters of world history occur, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.
^ Marx, Karl (1963). The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. New York: International Publishers. pp. 15. ISBN 0-7178-0056-3.
^ Croin, Vincent (1994 ed.). Napoleon. HarperCollins. ch. 15. p. 229.
^ Castelot, André (ed. 1967). Perrin. ch. VIII. p. 240.
^ Jean Sagnes (2006). Les racines du socialisme de Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte. Toulouse: Privat.
^ McLynn (1998), p. 482.
^ Vincent Cronin (1994). "Chapter 19". Napoleon. HarperCollins. p. 301.
^ Calhoun, Craig J. (2002). Dictionary of the Social Sciences. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-19-512371-5. Retrieved 2011.
Bluche, Frédéric (1980). Le bonapartisme: aux origines de la droite autoritaire (1800-1850). Nouvelles Editions Latines. ISBN 978-2-7233-0104-6.
Alexander, Robert S. Bonapartism and revolutionary Tradition in France: the Fédérés of 1815 (Cambridge University Press, 2002)
Baehr, Peter R., and Melvin Richter, eds. Dictatorship in history and theory: Bonapartism, Caesarism, and totalitarianism (Cambridge University Press, 2004)
Dulffer, Jost. "Bonapartism, Fascism and National Socialism." Journal of Contemporary History (1976): 109-128. In JSTOR
McLynn, Frank (1998). Napoleon. Pimlico.
Mitchell, Allan. "Bonapartism as a model for Bismarckian politics." Journal of Modern History (1977): 181-199. In JSTOR
Bluche, Frédéric, Le Bonapartisme, collection Que sais-je ?, Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1981.
Choisel, Francis, Bonapartisme et gaullisme, Paris, Albatros, 1987.
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Lookout! It's a Yarn Bomb!
A crocheted yarn bomb! It's been there for a few weeks now, and hope it stays forever. I think the subdivision looks much better with this yarnie addition!
I have some very big news to share. . . .
I am now under contract with Martingale and Company for a knitting pattern book!
Someone please pinch me, I cannot believe it! When I submitted my proposal back in March I didn't really think it would happen. I honestly thought, oh, this is never going to happen. At least I'll have a few patterns ready to go in my Ravelry shop when I get rejected.
I am delighted, my dear fiance, Alex is delighted (and willing to accept that the first three months of marriage I will be ignoring him and working on my book) and I hope all of my dear blog readers are delighted!


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Registered Psychologist: Jessica Reeve
Jessica Reeve
BSc(Hons) MClinNeuropsych MAPS CCN
Jessica is a Registered Psychologist, and a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and College of Clinical Neuropsychologists. She is also the current National Registrar Representative for the Clinical Neuropsychologists at the APS.
Jessica has completed a Bachelor of Science-Psychology (Honours) and a Master of Clinical Neuropsychology. She has been involved in research with children and adults with neurodevelopmental disorders for the past 10 years, and is in the final stages of completing her PhD at Macquarie University where she is investigating neuropsychological functioning in young children with William's syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Jessica has experience working in private practice and through NSW Health assessing children and adults who have a range of conditions, including specific learning disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Developmental Delay and Intellectual Disability, attentional difficulties, anxiety disorders, depression, and other neurological disorders. She currently divides her time between private practice and work at Macquarie University in the assessment of reading and spelling disorders. Jessica also teaches paediatric neuropsychology to undergraduate students at Macquarie University.
Jessica is committed to evidence based practice and providing a detailed, comprehensive service. She is passionate about working with children to gain a thorough understanding of where a child's cognitive strengths and weaknesses lie, and to provide appropriately tailored strategies and recommendations to be used both at home and school to assist them reach their potential.

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text:
Why Nigerians In the Diaspora Are Frustrated – Collins Nweke
July 28, 2017 UD Interview 28
Collins Nweke is the first Nigerian, nay African, to be elected into the Belgian Parliament, a considerable feat in a country where Africans had only previously been seen, not heard, in the polity. Nweke was also president of Nigerians in Diaspora Organization (NIDO), Europe, which champions the welfare of countrymen abroad and seeks to contribute to nation building in their home country.
He tells The Interview about his road to prominence in his country of sojourn and other pertinent Diaspora issues, including the desire of Nigerians abroad to participate in building up their home country.
You are said to be the first and so far the only non-Belgian-born person to be elected to political office in West Flanders, Belgium; how did you achieve that?
I guess that emerging as the first and so far the only non-Belgian person to be elected to political office in my constituency just happened. It's hardly the sort of thing that one can go planning for. I spent my first 10 years in Belgium studying the country, its systems and its marvelous but reserved people. I loved many things and saw other things that needed to change, particularly in the area of race relations and diversity management. Meanwhile, I had become a dad to two boys to whom Belgium is home and Nigeria a country where dad and mum were born. So, for us, Belgium gradually moved from just a passive country to a home in which we had a stake, an adopted country. I could choose to sit around, complain to high heavens about things I felt could be different and do nothing, or I could join forces with like-minds and do something about those things I felt needed to change. Somehow those before my time overlooked this important responsibility. And there are quite a number of talented and driven people amongst them, but perhaps less daring than I am. My initial tool in accomplishing the desired change was through community organizing on a non-partisan basis via the non-governmental organisation, The Global Village, which I founded in 1998. I was identified by a certain Herman Lodewyck, currently a state legislator for West Flanders, who introduced me to Wouter De Vriendt, a current three-term Member of the Belgian Federal Parliament for West Flanders. We met in autumn 2006 in the run-up to the municipal elections of October that year. They proposed to me to stand for a councillor seat as an independent candidate using the Green Party platform. I was sympathetic to the Green Party but was not a member at the time. I had sympathy also for other parties, especially those on the left side of the political divide, and I must say that, directly or indirectly, they all approached me to come on board. The Greens made the most sense and their ideologies struck a better cord with my beliefs and values. After some period of reflection, I accepted and, on a lighter mood, I told Herman and Wouter that I'm going in for a win, and when I win I'd serve. We all laughed. The election was successful. We had 39 candidates out of which I had the third largest personal votes, qualifying me for a mandate as Councillor for Social Welfare. I joined the party after the elections, was elected into its Board and appointed spokesperson on Social Policy for the legislative period 2006-2012
What kind of challenges did you have to overcome to achieve this?
There were – and still are – many odds against the participation of non-Belgians in the political process, especially first generation migrants like me. Language barrier was the most obvious. If you choose to wait until all odds were tackled, like having a perfect Dutch proficiency, you'd wait forever. But if you have no problems making mistakes, even embarrassing yourself sometimes, being ridiculed and blackmailed as the case may be, well then you are game. I guess I was game because gradually I developed the thick skin to absorb all of the odds. I also learnt along the way. Like I always told myself, it can only get better. And it did get better. I recall the battle and fierce agitation that preceded the approval by the Municipal Council for us as civil society members to carry out a Needs Analysis of ethnic minority groups in my constituency. As unpopular as the notion was then, I was convinced that the structural change needed had to be thoroughly researched so that, ultimately, no one would turn around and say, 'Well that was what Collins Nweke said.' No, Collins didn't say anything! It's about objective research conclusions. Before then, there was this cliché that there are no persons of ethnic minority background qualified to participate in the research and political processes. This was in 1995/1996 and I was less than two years old in the country. Add this to the fact that before my time, my Belgian colleagues were used to doing things for 'foreigners' and not with them. It was kind of odd even for the liberal-minded ones amongst them to figure out this huge, black, bold guy who refused to succumb to subtle intimidation and just wanted to get things done. It was a battle but my request to be receiving briefing documents of the meeting well ahead of time to enable me take the time to study them at my tempo was accepted. At the time it was an exception, but nowadays it's a standard practice.
Any particular reason you are so focused on social welfare and minority issues?
Through my civil society activism, I had made a name for myself prior to delving into party politics due to the issues I called to heart and these were naturally social justice issues, equality matters and so on. I had been instrumental in setting up the Municipal Advisory Council for Ethnic Minority and went ahead to be elected its first chairman, just as I worked with the Secretary of State for International Development and a renowned humanitarian doctor, Reginald Moreels, in setting up the first Refugee Reception Group in the City of Ostend and was again elected its founding chairman. Understandably, my party felt that having built up what you may call some field expertise in these policy areas, I'd be adding value to the party if I took them on as portfolio. Another element of the narrative is the fact that I came into the fold at a time in the party's history when they were shedding off the image of a 'one agenda ecology party'. I guess that some of us new faces who had equal belief in ecologic justice as well as in social justice were needed to help push the broader appeal that the party was set to achieve; I mean, an appeal beyond ecology. That said, it is worth adding that the economy, which includes labour market policies, employment and related matters are part of my portfolio. As a matter of fact, I serve on the Board of the House on the Economy which is a state-owned enterprise responsible for stimulating the local economy.
You were elected chairman of NIDO (Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation) Europe in 2011; what were the highlights of those years?
At the organisational side, it was important to instil some sense of focus and priority in the organisation through its Board if we were going to be successful in accomplishing the tasks we were elected for. There was, therefore, no alternative to a professional, strategic approach. Thus we started out with a system review. Questions like: what do we want, how do we achieve those and in which order, were very quickly tackled. So, we armed ourselves with a strategic plan and established our focus as well. Top in that plan was facilitating trade and investment, but from a devolved perspective. Abuja is the centre of power quite all right but the other federating units of the country, the states, are even more important when it comes to helping Nigeria to deepen access to global capital. It was this line of thought that birthed our trade missions to states of Nigeria. Osun State was our first port of call and there are reasons to be proud of that exercise. We assembled an army of 13 investable projects and 43 Diaspora professionals originating projects from Canada to China, Europe to Singapore, ranging from renewable energy to agriculture, mining, education, housing, tourism. We brought them in positive confrontation with the private and public partners in the state. Governor Rauf Aregbesola was a great host and the interaction was superb. Delta, Niger, Lagos and Anambra states were all lined up as next destinations. These were to run in 2012 and 2013 and we developed a banner pressing home the message: that oil is good but so, too, is the non-oil sector. We didn't manage to run all the states as projected before our term ran out, but the take-away was that we saw the decreasing relevance of oil in good enough time and jumped in with promoting non-oil sectors and manufacturing as the future revenue generating streams for the economy. We also hosted or facilitated numerous business summits in a good number of our 19 Regional Chapters debunking misconceptions about doing business in Nigeria. There was a failed attempt to review the constitution of the organisation, but the exercise, with time, exposed the menace posed by some individuals with undemocratic tendencies who were bent on exerting undue control over the organisation and would stop at nothing to resist any change that affects their interests.
There is this general belief that the Nigerian government hardly ever does enough for its Diaspora; do you also share this view and why?
Yes, to some extent I share the view that the Nigerian government hardly ever does enough for its Diaspora. But the Diaspora isn't the only constituency that the government is disappointing. The Nigerian government seems to be obsessed with doing things only for itself and not the people. That said, I must add that under normal circumstances, the Diaspora are meant to have been taken care of, partially at least, the moment a formal relationship was initiated with them by the government of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in the year 2000 with the establishment of Nigerians in Diaspora Organization (NIDO). There was a genuine sincerity of purpose on the part of Chief Obasanjo, if you ask me, but a combination of factors has meant that things didn't quite materialize as envisaged. You have government officials who have serious concerns about the danger that a formidable and organized Diaspora will pose to their personal agendas and would stop at nothing to work against the Diaspora using mainly the game of divide and rule. I don't know about you but I find it difficult to explain, for example, why a constituency that remitted over $30 billion to the economy in 2016 still has not got the right to vote in Nigerian elections. How can I explain to my children that about a decade after the idea of a Diaspora Commission (not even a ministry as is obtained in other countries) was mooted, it is still not a reality? How can anyone explain the fact that Nigerian Diaspora caught up in problems abroad can't confidently count on help from the embassies? The list of failures is legion, but it must be put on record that there are a few fine Foreign Service officers at some embassies but their significance and good work is overshadowed by the bad guys who are in the majority.
There are always stories of Nigerians being unduly maltreated in their host countries; what do you think is the best response to these situations?
I continue to take offence at the fact that the acts of a few bad guys are used to judge all Nigerians, especially those in Diaspora. Now, let's get one thing clear: bad guys are everywhere and you'd continue to have them. So, we are not going to deny the fact that some of us are bad apples that we can do without, but is that a reason for us to bury our faces in shame? Certainly not! There are enough good guys amongst us for those who are keen to know. I believe that we need a mix of education and persuasion, in the first instance, towards those countries and authorities that treat us with disdain. When needed, we must get very assertive because some of the practices towards Nigerians at embassies and airports are abhorrent, often crossing the line into abuse of our human rights. I think also that integrity and credibility go hand-in-hand. There is no doubt that the introduction of machine readable passports for Nigeria will boost international confidence in our travel documents. It also reduces the propensity for forgery and peddling of fake travel documents. I think that, over time, some of these anomalies will correct themselves because of these structural reforms. The embassies, in collaboration with NIDO, should facilitate Nigerian community and cultural organizations in organizing information sessions and town hall meetings to address the dangers of forgery and other ills such as human trafficking. Of course, civil society organizations and rights groups must also continue to stand up for Nigerians being unduly victimized anywhere, quite apart from soft sensitization of law enforcement officers out here in the Diaspora.
Did you ever have to deal with such issues when you were the NIDO Europe chairman?
Issues of maltreatment of Nigerians abroad naturally would take a prominent place in feedback sessions with the 19 chapter chairpersons that constitute the entire NIDO Europe. At Board level, we attempt to develop a common approach or policy, rather than dealing with individual cases. Of course the policies we put together are informed by individual cases. We have had to issue statements, for example, on the issue of deportation of Nigerians who commit crimes and have served their prison terms abroad. My Board took the view then that such deportation amounts to double punishment for a crime. Incarceration should be seen also from a transformative, correctional perspective. When one is doing time in jail, efforts must be expended in nurturing the individual to become a better citizen than the pre-jail time. There is also an element of discrimination here. If the individual was a European citizen, where would you be deporting him or her to? Through interactions with host country authorities, we advance these arguments, which are also rooted in the rule of law, but indirectly we are subtly passing on the message that we won't hesitate to defend the rights of the people. Unfortunate thing though is that some corrupt African country leaders go into secret deals with Western countries to receive the deportees on arrival. Of course we spoke out against such unholy practices.
A while ago, the senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, advised Nigerians to avoid travelling to the U.S. for now, unless they have very compelling reasons to do so, but the minister for foreign affairs asked that her advice be ignored. What do you think?
Abike Dabiri-Erewa most probably meant well. Indeed she may have been driven by concern for the welfare of Nigerians when she made her statement to the effect of Nigerians avoiding travel to the USA temporarily. What she certainly overlooked was the fact that such advice amounted to negative travel advice against the United States, which is a serious matter. It is a matter beyond the mandate of a senior special assistant. Not even the minister of foreign affairs could issue such a statement or advisory without due consultations; which is why the minister's intervention was apt, measured and highly professional. I think that if Foreign Affairs Minister Onyeama hadn't intervene in the manner that he did – urging people to ignore the statements of Dabiri-Erewa, the matter could very easily have degenerated to diplomatic wrangling between Nigeria and the United States.
Do you think Nigerians in the Diaspora have fared better under the present administration?
There is no evidence to support the assertion that the Nigerian Diaspora have fared better under either the current administration or indeed the administration before it. Just by way of a single example to illustrate either lack of respect for the Diaspora or total misplacement of priorities by government officials or pure incompetence: Nigerians converge annually for the National Diaspora Day Conference in Abuja with the purpose of sharing ideas, projects and programmes brought in from abroad with government to consider their implementation in Nigeria. What we get ultimately is that government officials attend the plenary sessions, give a talk and whisk off before the Diaspora could unfold their projects and programmes. It becomes a question of the Diaspora finally addressing fellow Diaspora. For some of us, this is a pure huge waste of national resources for hosting the events and also a considerable waste for the individual Diaspora in terms of paying for the ticket to attend the event. This isn't something that started with this administration but has endured over the years, save for the President Obasanjo era.
Political climate and lack of infrastructure are two major reasons many Nigerians in the Diaspora are not eager to come back home; do you see that changing any time soon?
A Nigerian Diaspora who is not eager to come back home probably isn't ready yet for reasons best known to him or her, and it may not have much to do with politics and infrastructure. This is not to say that the poor political climate and lack of infrastructure are not major worries and impediments. They are, and need to be tackled urgently, but like other foreign investors, there are a number of start-ups powered by the Diaspora. And, indeed, the list of Diaspora returnees in Nigeria playing key roles in Nigeria's public and private sectors gets longer by the day. I am aware that with all of its potentialities and the opportunities which Nigeria offers investors, including its Diaspora, the country is still regarded as a high-risk investment destination by foreign financial institutions and private investors. Political risk and instability is high on the complaint list. If you ask me, I think that the menace of corruption is much more worrying for the Diaspora intending to visit or invest at home than infrastructure. The peaceful political transition of presidential powers from Goodluck Jonathan to Muhammadu Buhari did positively influence the perception of a stabilizing political climate. INEC can do more to curtail electoral malpractices and the tensions that come with elections through voter education. There are definitely no doubts that an improved political climate and better infrastructure will do the country well, but I have my doubts that the lack of these are deterrents for a serious Diaspora intending to come back home.
Other countries seem to do a great job of connecting their people in the Diaspora to their home countries. For instance, in India a person from the Diaspora sits in parliament. The Chinese have groups in the Diaspora that actually have influence in Chinese affairs. Liberia, an African country, allows Diaspora voting during elections; why can't we have similar situations in Nigeria?
Law making is tedious just as passing of Bills can be painfully slow, but when the Nigerian Diaspora Commission Bill takes more than eight years to pass, spanning the tenures of two presidents, you begin to question the motives and, perhaps, the competence of the stakeholders handling the matter. There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel if a recent news report is correct: that the current chair, House Committee on Diaspora, working with her counterpart in the Senate, has managed to have the Bill passed a second time after it expired while awaiting the assent or signature of President Muhammadu Buhari. I am focusing on the Bill because it appears that all other instruments meant to effectively empower the Diaspora to play its rightful role in nation building would gain traction from it. You have very succinctly captured the frustrations of the Diaspora over the state of affairs and I won't be adding or subtracting from it. My hope is that, once established, the Diaspora Commission will move in quickly to restructure the Diaspora landscape, roll out a smart National Diaspora Policy, and work with INEC to put all structures in place to enable, at least, some pilot programme for out-of-country voting for the Diaspora in the 2019 elections. In my view, preparatory work had already been poured into these areas, and so we could consider them low-hanging fruits but ones that have the propensity to energize the Diaspora, boost confidence and create the momentum required to expand the asset base and drive projects like the Diaspora Bond. Thinking ahead, the Diaspora Commission should lay the foundation for a full Ministry of Diaspora Affairs preceded by a Diaspora Desk in all ministries, departments and agencies. There is hardly any country of the world where a Nigerian Diaspora is not playing key governance or economic role. These sons and daughters of Nigeria are willing and able to legitimately take advantage of their positions to impact positively on Nigeria. The only missing link is the right structure. The formation of Nigerians in Diaspora Organization, while an important first step, is limited in its possibilities and would be boosted by the Diaspora Commission.
Whatever happened to the Diaspora National Development Strategy whose launch you spear-headed in Berlin, Germany, sometime in 2011?
The Diaspora National Development Strategy did not see the light of day exactly as we envisaged in terms of its adoption by government as a national policy. We, therefore, had to activate Plan B, which was to convert the proposed Diaspora National Development Strategy into NIDO Europe Strategic Plan 2012 – 2014, thereby anchoring our policy direction as a Board on the document. Indeed Berlin it was where we announced the strategy at a business dinner in December 2011 and unfolded more details in February 2012 at the first summit of the Board and our 19 regional chapter representatives under my chairmanship. The strategy document was borne out of impatience to give more seriousness to the whole Nigerian Diaspora business beyond the grand-standing and the talk shops. When I got elected chairman of the European arm of Nigerians in Diaspora Organization in November 2011, it was on the platform of professionalizing our operations and injecting some impetus and sense of purpose into the whole business of impacting on the accelerated development of Nigeria from the Diaspora vantage point. I got down to business immediately with my team and we approved our core policy direction. The Berlin outing was my first official engagement as chairman and, therefore, a unique opportunity to unfold our direction. You must recall that, at that moment, NIDO had existed for about a decade and there was no policy document. Could you imagine that the organisation was operating reactively, both from Abuja and from the Diaspora? All previous attempts to have government initiate a Diaspora Policy hit a brick wall. We were determined to raise the bar. Our hands remained outstretched but were not grabbed by government in the true spirit of partnership.
Any plans to come back to Nigeria and join politics?
I joined Nigerian politics nearly two decades ago. I am not sure that I have to identify with a particular political party or group and run for elective office to effectively be regarded as having joined politics in Nigeria. One couldn't possibly chair the European arm of Nigeria's official Diaspora body and in that period lead a global Diaspora delegation to Abuja or serve on the Presidential Strategic Committee on Vision 2020, or play other policy advisory roles for Nigeria, both formally and informally as I continue to do, among other things, and still pretend not to be involved in Nigerian politics. One thing or the other brings me home pretty frequently to the point that though officially I am permanently resident abroad, I get to visit Ibusa, my hometown, more frequently than some of my kinsmen based in Lagos and Abuja (laughs). Above all, the social media, be it a WhatsApp forum, a Facebook group or whatever, has broken down so many barriers that we now live in a global village irrespective of our geographical locations. In any case, the fair answer to your question is that, at present, I am a Belgian left-leaning politician with Nigerian roots and a Nigerian non-state actor. And that works for me for now. If there is a need for that to change in the near future, of course I will give it due consideration.
Are there existing structures to help Nigerians in the Diaspora invest back into the country?
Yes there are quite a number of both public and private investment instruments or vehicles through which Nigerians in Diaspora could invest back in Nigeria. The latest of such instruments is the Diaspora Bond and I'd limit my example to only the bond for obvious reasons. You'd recall that the Nigerian Export Promotion Council was established to promote non-oil exports as the key driver of the Nigerian economy; to re-position the export market as the growth opportunity of choice for private sector earnings and sustainable economic development. Doesn't it make all the sense in the world that the Diaspora should be the natural bed-fellows of that agency? But that is not the case. From time to time, you hear some grand, aspirational statements from one big shot or the other about plans to launch this or that, but that's where it stops. Some of us have long been advocates of a proactive approach captured in a well thought-through strategic plan for synergy between these bodies. Either those in charge simply don't have any clue or they are personally benefitting from the current disarray. But as an eternal optimist, I am hopeful that the Diaspora Commission, when – or should I say if – it becomes operational, would help to create the required interface to streamline the huge potentialities inherent in the Diaspora for investment in Nigeria
Having experienced politics first-hand in Europe, what would you say are the three major factors hampering the development of Nigeria's brand of politics as we seem to keep moving in circles?
Moving in circles is perhaps an understatement; sometimes it feels like taking one step forward and two steps backwards. For a start, I think the architecture of Nigerian politics is such that it attracts the wrong sort of people. Nigeria needs to reconstruct its politics so that it attracts individuals who are disposed to serving and not being served. Politics should be used by politicians as a means to making a difference in people's life and the society in a structural, sustainable way. It should, therefore, be made less financially attractive. Secondly, the absence of clear, ideological lines separating the different political parties makes a mockery of party political democracy. That must change if Nigeria wants to move forward politically. Lastly, I believe that political education is an imperative of our time and it should be seen as a national emergency. Recently, I was addressing a conference of youth activists in Owerri and one of the bright young chaps asked me if it was right to accept financial incentives and other material gifts from political office seekers? In response I joked that, amongst the Igbos, it may be bad manners to turn down a gift. So to that extent, the needy, unemployed or underemployed youth should be wise to accept the financial incentives or gifts, but the cardinal question is, should such handout influence the way he votes? No. As a matter of fact, the politician that bribes him or her is the one that should not be voted for. This and other tips regarding shunning collaboration to rig elections, upholding the integrity of votes, et cetera, must be captured in a voter education package for the electorate. Won't it be great if, from 2019, Nigerians see politics as people-centred business where those who do not feel the calling must consider other career paths? Politics is a tool to bring about changes and to impact on lives and not a self-serving venture.
Do you sometimes wish you were back home and not living in Europe?
The opportunity to experience ways of life different from ours back home and learn from them is a valuable asset to me and I try to bring it to bear on how I raise my boys and as a husband. Now, you must bear in mind that I did not, and could not, just assimilate every aspect of the European life, but I think I managed to create a cocktail of what I consider good about Europe and the valuable things in the African ways of life. Dr Christopher Kolade did tell me once that those of us who were either forced out of the shores of Nigeria by the brutality of the military era or were lucky to be resident abroad during that dark era in our history have reasons to be thankful to God. When I asked him why, he smiled and said that because we are unencumbered by the emotional scares of that period in Nigeria's history, we are able to see things a bit more objectively. When I feel I have figured out what the sage meant, other fresh thoughts override the previous one.
What are those things, if any, you miss about Nigeria?
I would have said Jollof rice but Tonia, my wife, cooks it so well that it's no longer an issue. I am luckier than poor Lai Mohammed because when I am in the mood for the Senegalese version of jollof rice, we'd always find a Senegalese friend to call rather than having to choose between the two. On a more serious note, I guess what I miss most is the extended family, communal living, with people caring for one another, you know, being your brother's keeper. At least that used to be the case in Nigeria from my mind's eyes as a post-independent Biafra war-child, growing up in rural Ibusa at the time. I'm not sure how things have evolved. If they have evolved to an individualistic society, then we have a problem. Out here in Europe, governments are doing all they can to re-create their society of yesteryears where people cared for one another; where an old, single woman will no longer have to die in her apartment undetected until the corpse begins to disintegrate. On the other hand, as councillor whose portfolio includes social policy, I am also preoccupied daily with how government could be organized such that the vast majority of the population, in fact in principle everybody in the society, is cared for by government one way or the other in keeping with respect for human dignity. Even at that, you can easily notice that lack of human contact in the society here. You see, that's where family and community come in. It is exactly that family and communal living that we sometimes take for granted in Nigeria. Some of us out here only begin to appreciate its value when we begin to miss it.
What kind of relationship do your children have with Nigeria?
I guess it's safe to describe the relationship of my children with Nigeria in the words of the classic American Western movie, 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly'. Raising our two boys, it was important to my wife and me that they have a good understanding of their Nigerian roots and Igbo heritage. We shared as much information with them as possible about the country, its peoples and huge cultural diversity. We remained accessible to them to objectively answer their numerous questions about one culturally conflicting issue or the other. As they grew older, they were able to say things like, 'That's the general information, but can you tell me your personal opinion? What do you think?' That's when you know that they are developing to logical reasoning beings ready to take their own independent views. Of course, they have visited Nigeria on numerous occasions, which is good because it gave them opportunity to experience things for themselves. You still hear them sometimes say, 'I wish all major Nigerian cities are like Abuja' or 'The cinema screens at Silverbird, Lagos, are better than those in Europe'. In contrast, driving through the slums of Oshodi one of the boys wondered out loud years ago (he was perhaps 13 at the time) how the president of Nigeria could afford to sleep at night with this level of poverty. Now 20 and 22 years old, they seem to love and are proud of Nigeria. Yes the country is a bunch of contradictions that sometimes gets on their nerves just like any other person, but they are able to put those in the right perspective, essentially because we taught them how to think critically and not what to think.
When you were leaving Nigeria to Europe, did you have any inkling that you would be playing the roles you have played so far?
Not at all, although public service, social justice and social activism have always interested me. I grew up with the notion that it was a normal way of life to give, rather than receiving. I understood early in life that you share not just because you have surplus, but because it feels good for resources to go round. We must learn to endure necessary inconveniences so that others don't suffer. These were the early influences from home that formed or shaped me. The things I saw happening around me when I got here in Europe, and having had the fundamentals imbibed in me from home, made me take on issues of social justice and fairness head-on. That I currently do so from a political party platform sometimes surprises me, I must confess, as I had only thought of myself as an activist, not a politician. My father embodied the saying that the day you fight injustice against someone else is the day you fight injustice against yourself. It hung with me and over the years I have given it a broader application.
Do you see Nigeria ever catching up with the rest of the developed world?
Yes the future looks very bright for Nigeria and, by extension, the rest of the sub-Sahara African region, not exactly because that is the preference of the West or the developed world, but because it is inevitable. According to a recent World Bank report, the population in Africa, Nigeria being a focal point, is rapidly expanding, and by 2060 the region will hold an estimated 2.8 billion people, 70 per cent of whom will be under 30 years. With the right policies and actions, Nigeria should lead countries in sub-Sahara Africa in reaping a tremendous demographic dividend from this growth to propel an economic take-off. Production would move more and more to places that offer competitive advantages, especially in consideration of three factors: the Western economy is at a saturation point; Nigeria and Africa still has vast development potential, and distribution/logistics network has become more sophisticated. Now, will all of these happen automatically? Certainly not! It must be driven by deliberate strategic plans of action and in the hands of purposeful leaders whose motivation is the public good as opposed to the personal gains that pervade the polity currently.
All that I do is driven by an inner urge to bequeath to the generation after ours a better world than the one we inherited.
What's your plan for the next five years?
To achieve a win-win arrangement: what I described earlier in response to your question on Nigeria ever catching up with the rest of the developed world requires several stakeholders both in the public sector and the private sector rolling up their sleeves. I wish to continue to be one of those stakeholders. The ambition for the next five years is to play a key role in trade itself or achieving equitable trade relations between Nigeria within the Africa sub-region and Belgium/Europe within the group of today's advanced economies. Would this mean a public sector, private sector or non-state actor role? I don't know precisely, but I do know for certain that the determination is sufficiently there; the capacity won't be in question either. I will continue to work and hope that the wind of righteousness will propel me to the destination, maybe sooner than five years, who knows?
(Culled from The Interview)


Having served as an elementary school teacher for four years, Dave H. Cho found that teachers in public school systems are not equipped with the best content to educate students or adequate tools and resources to evaluate them. Besides, they are burdened with added responsibilities which limit them from fulfilling even their basic task. Realizing this problem, Cho decided to quit his job and initiate an educational service that led to the birth of Classting. The EdTech startup develops a learning management system (LMS), Classting Learning that can enhance the learning management and experience for both students and teachers. On top of that, Classting builds an educational, social networking site (SNS) to facilitate communication among teachers, students, and parents.
To empower teachers with top-notch tools and content, Classting partners with 25 of the country's leading content providers. Through Classting Learning, teachers can easily find high-quality content online and get students to learn at their own pace. Once students are done with learning, their performance statistics appear on an analytics dashboard that teachers can review. Based on the statistics, teachers can then provide feedback to students individually via the social networking platform while also recommending suitable content according to each student's caliber. By reviewing the active learning data generated within the service using AI, Classting provides the most accurate and satisfying adaptive learning. "With the expansion of our service, students and parents can easily and objectively check the current level of learning so that they can plan more effective learning methods in the future," says Dave H. Cho, founder & CEO at Classting.
On the technology front, Classting is at the leading-edge bringing advanced technologies such as AI, machine learning, and IoT into education via its solution. At the core of its LMS is machine learning that analyzes students' learning curve and selects content that will help them improve their performance on their own.
With the recent upgrade of the analysis report function, students and parents can check their personal analysis data in real time on mobile and PC, so that they can further work on their drawbacks at home. By applying 'Deep Learning' technology, students are able to do more efficient personalized learning based on each vulnerable part.
Moreover, Classting fulfills both functions of LMS and SNS. "We have created an environment where big data related to education can accumulate and modify technology to enable individual learning," Cho notes. However, Classting is different from other SNS, in that unlike other SNSs, which are open to many unspecified students, Classting shares contents, distinctly related to learning, with closed service created for school use.
At present, Classting has more than 10,000 contents developed by more than 20 major education companies in Korea and abroad. With the insights gained from Korea, the team at Classting plans to expand to other public schools in Asia, such as Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan. Having successfully conducted pilots in Taiwan and Japan, the team is currently in negotiation with a distribution partner in Singapore. "Top investors including Softbank and Samsung today believe in Classting's vision to improve the education environment through technology," extols Cho.
The company has taken quite a big leap, from its inception in 2012 to solidify its brand recognition with Classting Learning in 2017, and resolves to continue its support and contribution to public education. Classting's near-term goals include focusing its capabilities on platform development and intensifying content recommendation and curation services by cooperating with carefully selected contents.


Elegant 4 BR, 2.5 BA. 2-story brick home with formal dining room, wonderful kitchen with a view to the two story Great Room and fireplace. Winding stairs lead up to 4 bedrooms and Master with trey ceilings, double vanity and separate tub and shower. Lawn maintenance included with rent. No Pets. Brookwood Schools.
Directions:Directions: Ronald Regan Parkway, North to Left on Five Forks Trickum, Left on Dogwood, Right on Holly Brook, Right on Apple Orchard Trail, Left on Apple Orchard Lane.
Property courtesy of Sylvan Realty, LLC.


With the right tactics, you can elevate your business's profit schemes.
The role of promotional marketing for a business, or even a small business, is a crucial aspect that generates leads and, furthermore, profit. A successful marketing campaign lies on the shoulders of the team responsible for the outreach portion. If one can't successfully promote their product or create a unique identity for themselves, they'll eventually become lost in all the noise.
If your customers are aware of your product but just aren't interested, there needs to be a motivating factor that influences their overall decision. It's important to recognize the customer's purchasing behavior along with their interests to really pinpoint what would make them actually go through with the purchase.
If your sales are suffering, it's time to re-target some of your old buyers to reengage interest. Additionally, there are certain times of the year where sales can be increased dramatically, such as the end of the year, or around holidays. Include promotional deals, sales, and even free trial periods of your product to get your brand out in the public. One positive experience can resonate throughout the crowd.
Turn a one-time buyer into a loyal supporter. Don't settle for less when there are loads of potential out there in the market. Remember, a happy buyer can advocate your product which could generate some solid leads.
Steve Doctrow, of Rogers & Cowan, has worked as a promotional marketing strategist for numerous years. His overall success is attributed to using strategies, just like these, to increase public awareness for the clients that he works with. By incorporating a devised strategy that not only targets your clients, but gives them incentive as well, you'll begin generating interest. It is then up to you to retain that momentum to further establish your brand.


Government Tax (14%) not included. Resort Fee (USD 34.20 per room per night) not included.
Child 2 to 15 years in extra bed: USD 75/night.
Adult or Child 16+ years in extra bed: USD 75/night.
Outstanding balance is to be paid directly to COMO Metropolitan Miami Beach in local currency at the time of stay.
Rate is only available when booked 90+ days prior to arrival. Full non-refundable prepayment required.
Outstanding balance is to be paid directly to COMO Metropolitan Miami Beach in local currency upon reservation.
Fully non-refundable - all modifications or cancellations will forfeit the full amount.


text:
CT Dems hold watch party at Hartford baseball stadium
Electric vehicles steal the spotlight at 2022 Houston Auto Show
Aug. 20, 2020 Updated: Aug. 20, 2020 11:59 p.m.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro speaks to the media during the virtual Democratic Convention for the nomination of Joe Biden for president at Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford in August.
Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut MediaShow MoreShow Less
Sen. Richard Blumenthal speaks to the media during the virtual Democratic convention for the nomination of Joe Biden for president at Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford on Aug. 20.
Christian Abraham / Hearst CT MediaShow MoreShow Less
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, left, chats with Senator Chris Murphy as they attend the virtual democratic convention for the nomination of Joe Biden for president at Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford on Thursday.
US Senator Richard Blumenthal speaks to the media during the virtual democratic convention for the nomination of Joe Biden for president at Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford, Conn., on Thursday Aug. 20, 2020.
Democratic Party Chairman Nancy DiNardo speaks to the media while attending the virtual democratic convention for the nomination of Joe Biden for president at Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford, Conn., on Thursday Aug. 20, 2020.
Delegate Audrey Blondin, of Goshen, attends the virtual democratic convention for the nomination of Joe Biden for president at Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford, Conn., on Thursday Aug. 20, 2020.
Dunkin' Donuts Park is the site for the state's virtual democratic convention for the nomination of Joe Biden for president in Hartford, Conn., on Thursday Aug. 20, 2020.
Senator Chris Murphy, right, chats with Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro as the attend the virtual democratic convention for the nomination of Joe Biden for president at Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford, Conn., on Thursday Aug. 20, 2020.
Nancy DiNardo, chairman of the Connecticut Democratic Party
Tyler Sizemore / Tyler SizemoreShow MoreShow Less
In a 2019 file photo, Nancy Wyman, then-Democratic state chairwoman, left, joined Speaker of the U.S. House Nancy Pelosi, center, and Nancy DiNardo, right, who has since returned to the head the Democratic State Central Committee.
Dan Haar /Hearst Connecticut Media /Show MoreShow Less
Democratic Party Chairman Nancy DiNardo
US Senator Chris Murphy speaks to the media during the virtual democratic convention for the nomination of Joe Biden for president at Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford, Conn., on Thursday Aug. 20, 2020.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin speaks to the media during the virtual democratic convention for the nomination of Joe Biden for president at Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford, Conn., on Thursday Aug. 20, 2020.
Participants sit on the field during the virtual democratic convention awaiting the nomination of Joe Biden for president at Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford, Conn., on Thursday Aug. 20, 2020.
Governor Ned Lamont attends the democratic convention for the nomination of Joe Biden for US President at Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford, Conn., on Thursday Aug. 20, 2020.
Former Vice-president Joe Biden accepts the nomination for US President during the virtual democratic convention for Connecticut Democrats at Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford, Conn., on Thursday Aug. 20, 2020.
HARTFORD — State Democrats turned a minor-league baseball stadium into a political rally Thursday to celebrate the nomination of former Vice President Joe Biden in a virtual Democratic National Convention watch party that is the prelude to a historic November showdown for the White House.
By the time of the broadcast of Biden's acceptance speech on the big screen in left field, only about half of the state's 100 delegtes were left at the tables spred around the infield. And their applause when Biden declared that if elected president, he would "restore the promise of America," was nothing close to the roar of a Yard Goats crowd.
But the coronavirus pandemic cancelled the AA baseball season, and the convention in Milwaukee, for that matter, but the state party wanted to do something to bring people together and to give delegates a perk to energize them into the fall campaign.
"It was very moving," said delegate Lydia Martinez of Bridgeport as she walked toward the exit at about 11:30.
Delegates would have otherwise been whooping it up in Milwaukee, but rather than watch the virtual event at home, they accepted the limits of political spectacles in the age of the coronavirus and, as they have all week, watched from afar a big screen TV package of music, platform videos and high-profile pols, including the roster of presidential hopefuls tht Biden overcame on his way to the nomination.
The evening was divided into two parts: a cocktail party for Connecticut's highest elected officils, and the watch party for the rank-and-file delegates in a balancing act of masks, limited attendance and restrictions on reporter access.
"The days of cozying up to foreign dictators are over," Biden said as the political operatives clapped and cheered from their infield tables. "This is our moment to make hope and history rhyme."
After the cocktil event, and early enough for most TV and newspaper deadlines, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, of Greenwich, said the week's virtual convention has been "electrifying" and underscores the differences between Biden and President Donald Trump, while being entirely different from noisy halls and long speeches.
"This one has been so relatable and moving," Blumenthal told reporters. "Donald Trump has killed Americans through his negligence, his contempt for the rule of law and science, and that is coming across so powerfully and convincingly. The only way Donald Trump wins this election is to steal it. To sabotage the election machinery, to diminishing and degrading the Post Office, but also inviting the Russians to continue interfering."
Blumenthal said that the top-secret documents on Russians interference indicates that the mischief is continuing.
Gov. Ned Lamont, an early Biden supporter, said the candidate appreciates the help from state residents. "Everybody trusts the man, understands the man," Lamont told reporters. "He's been around for a long time. This is a guy everybody knows well, and he knows them. I'm 66 years old, I have never seen such a consequential election in my life. Another four years of Donald Trump? That might be irreversible."
Attorney General William Tong of Stamford, who sponsored the cocktail reception before the evening's viewing, charged that Trump's overt attempt to slow down the U.S. Postal Service, with his postmaster general ripping out huge mail-processing machines in mail distribution centers throughout the country, is upsetting.
3rd District U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of New Haven said the fundamental issue in the upcoming presidential will be "trust." But the Trump administration has split the country while "hollowing out" federal service agencies, she said.
"What they did, deliberately in my view, with this pandemic and the coronavirus, is to further erode that trust in government," she said. "When people's health is at grave risk, their economic security is at grave risk, their social justice is at grave risk, and that we know in these areas and what this pandemic exposed was the racial inequities in all these areas."
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, who earlier in the week participated in a panel discussion on the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, said Kamala Harris's choice as a running mate is something she will cherish forever.
"Knowing that this is the week we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage, to have Kamala Harris chosen to be the vice presidential candidate for a major party is historic, and I've just been enjoying this moment all week," she said.
"We don't have a human being in the White House today," said U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy. "We don't have somebody that cares at all about what families are going through. We don't have somebody in the White House who grieves when 170,000 Americans have died and 70 million have lost their jobs."
The night culminated with the high-stakes, prime time acceptance speech of Biden, who faces the challenge of framing himself to uncommitted voters as an alternative to the Republican president, whom he attacked as unprepared for a job he hasn't grown into, with his only success dividing the country.
For State Party Chairman Nancy DiNardo of Trumbull, the virtual convention marked a 48-year association with national Democratic politics, going back to 1972, when U.S. Sen. George McGovern, who was crushed in a landslide by then-President Richard Nixon. That year, in New York's Madison Square Garden, DiNardo checked credentials at one of the building's entrances.
DiNardo's first stint as state party leader stretched from 2005 to 2015. After the 2018 election, Nancy Wyman, the former lieutenant governor, became the public face of the party for a couple years. Then after Wyman retired earlier in 2020, Lamont asked DiNardo to return.
"The governor knew I have experience with both state and national conventions, not that that matters this year," DiNardo quipped on Thursday. "The staff did a great job putting this together."
The four-day schedule has included daily virtual "breakfasts," with guests such as Lamont, members of the congressional delegation and former presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke. The ball park was rented for $18,000.
As of Thursday, state Republicans, whose national convention to nominate the president for a second term, hve not decided on a spot for a watch party.
Thursday's breakfast speaker was Chris Dodd, the former longtime U.S. senator who co-authored massive changes to the oversight of the nation's financial industry after the real estate bubble burst in 2008, sparking the Great Recession.
In the afternoon, state Democrats released a video that featured Connecticut actors James Naughton, Harvey Fierstein and musician Javier Colon, along with others who — in six words, say why they support Biden and running mate Harris.
"We weren't sure what we'd get with the six-word challenge, but what people shared was just great," DiNardo said.
Others participating in the home-video project were television producer Jody Hamilton, daughter of Carol Burnett, Bysiewicz, U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, Mashantucket Pequot Chairman Rodney Butler, state Sen. Saud Anwar; former Bloomfield Mayor Joseph Suggs, Connecticut Public producer Harriet Unger, student Izzie Schackner, actress and dancer Carolyn Paine; dancer Alex Zarlengo; registered nurse Madeline Appleton, Deputy Consumer Protection Commissioner Arunan Arulampalam and his family, and South Windsor Mayor Andrew Paterna.


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2010 Trend Watch Update: Three Strikes: Truth and Consequences
News Roundup by Gwen Hinze
At the beginning of this year EFF identified a dozen important trends in law, technology and business that we thought would play a significant role in shaping digital rights in 2010, with a promise to revisit our predictions at the end of the year. Now, as 2010 comes to a close, we're going through each of our predictions one by one to see how accurate we were in our trend-spotting. Today, we're looking back on Trend #10, Three Strikes: Truth and Consequences, where we predicted:
In countries across the globe, the entertainment industry has been pushing for laws requiring ISPs to terminate their users' connection at the whim of the entertainment industry. In 2009, they got their wish — in France and South Korea, at least. This year will see the spin battle over what is actually happening in those countries.
Expect media industry reports describing amazing local declines in filesharing, aimed at policymakers in other nations considering the same. And look out for local press reports from these three strikes ground zeroes, documenting the calamitous consequences of disconnections, the lack of financial return to working artists, and the political blowback for the politicians who championed these unjust laws.
Although IP rightsholders' groups such as IFPI continue to push for Three Strikes laws across the world, fewer countries that have adopted these laws in 2010 than we had feared. So far, Three Strikes laws have only been adopted in South Korea and France, although a draft law is pending in New Zealand, and proposed in India. This year saw Ireland's major ISP, Eircom, adopt a Three Strikes policy in a court-approved lawsuit settlement agreement with the recorded music industry. Meanwhile, the UK Parliament rejected the proposal to force ISPs to terminate subscribers upon repeat allegations of copyright infringement; the Digital Economy Act enacted in 2010 requires ISPs to forward notices of alleged copyright infringement to subscribers but puts the burden on IP rightsholders to bring targeted lawsuits against repeat infringers. Finally, following much criticism of previously leaked draft texts, all references to Three Strikes Internet disconnection obligations for ISPs were removed from the final version of the Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement finally released in December.
As we also expected, IP rightsholders and global policy-makers have realized that Three Strikes automatic disconnection laws and policies are a short-term measure, and are now focusing their efforts on Internet intermediary obligations to block webpages. Recognizing that Three Strikes policies are ineffective against the ways that many Internet users now obtain unauthorized content – through one-click file hosting sites and cyberlockers such as Rapidshare -- IP rightsholders have been pushing for laws requiring Internet intermediaries to block websites alleged to be engaged in copyright infringement. We saw this in 2010 with the US COICA Bill and the reserved powers in the UK Digital Economy Act. Expect to see more pressure on this front in 2011.


Posted by Alberta Goat Association.
Temple Grandin is noted animal expert who has penned the books Animals in Translation and Animals Make Us Human. Born on August 29, 1947, in Boston, Massachusetts, Temple Grandin was diagnosed with autism as a child and her parents pursued every avenue of care for their child.
9:30 am On Farm Food Safety Workshop – Dr. Kathy Parker, D.V.M.
1:30 pm National Bio-security Standards Workshop -- Dr. Kathy Parker, D.V.M.
March 6, 2017 - Armstrong, B.C. - The Canadian National Goat Federation (CNGF) is pleased to announce the finalizing of an agreement with the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA). The agreement means that the CCIA will be the official database administrator for goat traceability.
HIGH RIVER, AB — The rising momentum toward a new era of teamwork, success and tackling tough issues in livestock care and welfare will take centre stage at the Livestock Care Conference, March 21-22 in Leduc, Alta., hosted by Alberta Farm Animal Care (AFAC).
Alberta's Chief Provincial Veterinarian would like to again remind producers about changes to the Animal Health Act and regulations, which came into effect on June 30, 2014.