SOVERIGNTY: WE ARE, THEREFORE I AM.

Hello and welcome to the blog.

Today's discussion features a guest who discusses the impact of "Sovereignty in a globalist world order."

Should you have any questions, his details are at the end of the conversation.

 SOVEREIGNTY IN A GLOBALIST WORLD ORDER

There is no gainsaying that the world is slowly becoming a global village, the advent of technology such as social media which has taken its rightful place on almost every continent is slowly making the world a single world order.

With the emergence of international organisations such as the United Nations in the 20^th Century and the need for government structures like the European Union, the sovereignty of individual nations has slowly become a tale of what use to hold.

While appreciating the efforts of technology in making the world a better place to live in, the argument today is that through the need for change and the achievements for a one-world without bias, the concept of sovereignty which originally behoves on each nation-state is fast becoming non-existence.

To put the horse before the cart, let’s examine the definition of globalism or globalist foreign policy. In my opinion, It is essentially the belief in the singular existence of the world without component states, and a neoliberal belief in a singular global culture, lifestyle, political norms and free trade among countries without borders. It is the promotion of every person as a citizen of the world, rather than a citizen of a specific nation; hence the obligation of a person is to humanity rather than the country, where supranational institution trump national government norms. This is the policy of a national government that treats the whole world as a single sphere of influence.

While some may argue that this ideology is set to bring more good and rewards than harm, it would be expedient at this juncture to point out that a most basic feature of statehood, is sovereignty. Every nation in the world is a sovereign power that can make laws for the people who reside within its territory, without the interference from other nations, as having such laws become norms overtime. This sovereignty is ensured by the United Nations Charter, Article 2(1) (4).

 The erosion of the sovereign nature of a state is divided along three (3) lines, which are the issues on Migration and security, Human rights, and Global regime.

For the purpose of this discussion, we shall be focused on Migration and security, and Human rights. Let’s begin:

1.      Migration and Security

The basic crux of a global world order, is a world free of national borders or identity. That is to say, a world where people and capital; goods and service are easily moveable without the restrictions of states. (This is the underlying basis for bloc governments like the European Union, where member states can interact with each other without the restrictions of state policies on the issuance of visa for citizens, and tariffs for goods from other Member-State).

It is noteworthy that the free movement of nationals among the bloc states was all good until the migrant crisis of 2016, where economic migrants and refugees from war stricken countries of Northern Africa flooded the borders of the coastal bloc states thereby creating a conundrum for the bloc.

What seemed to be the way out at the time was for the bloc to seek to alleviate the crisis by redistributing the migrants among the bloc states. However, there were reservations from some states like Hungary, Italy, Poland, Austria amongst others. This objection was on the basis of the sovereignty of the State, to admit persons into and within the territorial borders of the state.

Could we then say that the basis of the objection was wrong? The ensuing questions remain: Upon the admission into the bloc government structure of the EU, does the admitted country yield its entire sovereign power over its nationals to the bloc? Should its major intention when promulgating or amending a law be to seeing the satisfaction of its own citizen or that of the bloc?

 Hence, the surrender of individual national sovereignty to the collective, I am who I am, because we are who are we. We are, therefore I am?

When would it be wise to call a meeting round the table to discuss the misuse of this once beautiful concept of sovereignty? As it is now, it is safe to say that an individual country may not make a rule which is unfavourable to the bloc government structure; also, it cannot defy the bloc to the benefit of its nationals. Advertently, this gives powerful nations within the bloc coalition an excuse for ‘legal interference’ over the national government of a coalition within the bloc. A practical example will be the European Parliament sanction under Article 7 of Hungary, over its decision to refuse migrants as a matter of internal policy reform. 

Conclusively, every Country has her unique legal and social culture, rules and guidelines which is peculiar to her people. A government of a sovereign Nation should be able to exercise its sovereign as it relates to its people giving them the best benefit. An unelected supranational institution is a bane on the national sovereignty of a nation, and should not be allowed to dictate the national policy of such a nation. 

The best interest of a people is best recognized by the legitimate government of such a nation, and hence the nature of democracy. Where representative government cannot represent the core values of the people who elected them, such as an impediment to democracy which invalidates the will of the people. 

The people are supreme in any democracy, not supranational organizations not now and not ever; such was the verdict of the British people in the vote to exit the European Union and reclaim their sovereignty. 

2.      Human Rights

This is the basic right of every person of the world, irrespective of country, race or creed. It is another tenet of globalist foreign policy that seems to have permeated every corner of the world. With remarkable charters such as the Universal Declarations on Human Rights 1948, Magna carter which seeks to promote and protect our inalienable rights.

 The emergence of human right and its subsequent campaign is a subject that supersedes the sovereignty of a nation to treat its citizens as it deems fit. Such documents and charters are yardsticks or better put moral compasses, by which ‘right and wrong’ is measured. 

A basic feature of human rights is the duty of all in the international community to defend and uphold them, irrespective of the sovereignty of the nation over its own people. It is a protected duty. Hence, human rights are the inalienable rights of all people irrespective of government, or country. 
 

This was the mantra that led to the invasion of Libya by the international coalition of N.A.T.O, and the U.S, to free the people of Libya from the vile dictatorship and oppression of the Libyan regime of Qaddafi. 

It is redundant to say that the intervention in Libya violated international norms of non-aggression against state parties, but the protection of human right is an exception to such peremptory norm. The sovereignty of a nation over its national affairs is limited to, and by its level of protection of basic human rights. Where and if a country violates the basic rights of a group or a section of its people, the international community has a duty to protect such people from such violation and in some cases move to end such violating practices. Examples include Serbia, Kosovo. Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda, Congo, Myanmar e.t.c. 

Conclusively, the rights of a State to defend its borders, and the integrity of its people should be supreme. It should be non-negotiable. We are all citizens of the world but belong first to our kin, family, state nation and then the international community.

 The emergence of large global institutions that are slowly replacing or undermining the effectiveness of the national government is alarming. The requirement of ratifying and domesticating treaties into laws, before they become binding on any nation should still be guaranteed as contained in S.12 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 The core principle of democracy is a representative government which is to be elected by the people, the surrender of the people’s mandate to an unelected group of persons. The European Parliament is a betrayal of the franchise of the people in electing their national governments within a sovereign state. 

The world is becoming ‘smaller’ with the advent of technology, but the governmental structures are becoming bigger. The E.U is the biggest bloc government in the world, with such increments the continual erosion of state sovereignty. The situation in Syria is another example of increasing erosion of sovereignty, where foreign governments can conduct airstrikes within the state of Syria without the permission of the national government.

The world must come together to protect our franchise, and democracy, through the re-imagination of international organizations and blocs so as to protect the national interest of a nation as well as foster a global relationship amongst the international community.  

MEET THE AUTHOR:
Drawn from his desire to cause change in his immediate environment, comes this piece on finding and redeeming the concept of sovereignty. Aweh Precious, a lawyer and enthusiast of world peace, believer of the concept of 'united we stand', has decided to arouse the change stimuli in us. Take a seat back, relax as you feed your intellectual hunger.

If you would like to reach out to the author, he is available on precious_aweh@yahoo.com. you can also leave your comments, suggestions or questions in the comment box below. Thank you for taking the time out to read and share this post.

Please follow my discussions on my LinkedIn account at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayomide-a-jide-omole-062633112

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FOOD FOR THE WIN!

Hello and welcome to the blog!

Last week, I attended a seminar on "the impact of food pollution on our planet" and I thought it necessary to share my thoughts on the contribution of the aviation economy on this challenge.

So today, we shall be discussing the possible mitigation of food waste in air travel.

Before going into the discussion, I am going to share a personal story.


It was the summer of 2006, my family and I had decided to take a trip to London in the United Kingdom. I was very happy, maybe because it was my first time on board an Airplane, but I would say that it was the excitement from taking part in an age-long culture of dining in an aircraft. About 3 hours to the flight time, my mother had gone to a restaurant in the airport to purchase consumable items for me and my siblings, because she had anticipated my reluctance to eat out of an unknown culinary.

I had refused to take anything because I was saving myself for the three-course meal promised on my itinerary. To my greatest dismay, when the food serving eventually came, I couldn’t recognize a single portion on the plate. I was stunned! I could only go about the tray, settling for the bread and butter that were on it.

The issue was not with the airplane or the catering vendor, who I am sure had crossed all the ‘t’s and dotted all the ‘I’s in ensuring that the food met all standards possible. 

There is no gainsaying that when it comes to airplane food, we would agree that the quality and quantity varies on the section of the plane you are seated in, and the length of your flight. Depending on the airline you are travelling with, and the seat in which you purchased, the number of meals served may vary. Those sitting in first class may receive multiple meals, while those sitting in the back may only get one.

So.....when you hear food waste, what comes to mind? 

According to Green America, each airline passenger generates around one kilogram of waste per flight. Although this might not seem like a concern at first, when you multiply this average by the total number of airline passengers travelling around the world each day, the amount of food wasted within the aviation industry per year is astounding. In 2013 alone, over 6.3 billion passengers travelled by air, producing more than 3.15 million tons of waste. lets not even get into the estimate of 2018.

Airline passengers generated 5.2m tonnes of waste in 2016, most of which went to landfill or incineration- and it cost them £400m, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates. That’s the weight of about 2.6m cars. And it’s a figure set to double over the next 15 years. Also included are the waste of miniature wine bottles, half-eaten lunch trays, unused toothbrushes and other hallmarks of air travel. 

SEGUE: Did you know that it takes an average plastic bottle, 100 years to decay completely (you can read on this on the nineteenintiative.blogspot.com)

Arguments have been canvassed back and forth on what happens to all the unused foods and snacks on flights upon arrival. Do airlines reuse it on another flight, donate it to some charity, or simply toss it in the trash?

Upon arrival, catering companies begin offloading all the food carts and garbage from the plane. Some would assume that the unused meals that are still considered “fresh” are simply distributed to passengers on the next flight. 


The reality is, any food that is left-over from a flight is considered “contaminated” and is therefore disposed of immediately upon arrival. This includes meals that passengers didn’t finish as well as entire carts full of food that were never used. These strict regulations exist on all international flights arriving into the US and are enforced so that no food-borne illnesses can spread from country to country.

It would interest you to know, that airlines have to provide double the figure of passengers expected on board so as to satisfy the demands for food and snacks. So let’s imagine the average long haul flight leaves with enough food to serve one main meal and one arrival snack per passenger. The probability that each passenger will consume both meals entirely is unlikely, so it can be assumed that food will be leftover.

Unfortunately, airplane food waste is unavoidable, but we can proffer some recommendations airlines can take to reduce waste and save our Planet: (At least before we move to Mars)

1. By only loading 80% of the required meals on each flight with the expectation that some passengers will opt not to eat.
2. If meals are charged around N1,500 or its equivalent in foreign currency, less food would be consumed when meals are only available for purchase rather than complimentary. Hence, food vendors are required to prepare less.
3.  Passengers can be encouraged to make food requests upon securing tickets. Hence, airlines are better advised as to the quota of people to prepare complimentary food.
4. Designing cabin products with waste minimization in mind can also help.

Airlines like British Airways are also helping to lead the way in waste management solutions. According to Envirosolutions, the airline now recycles food waste from its inbound flights with a waste drier. “This technology removes all moisture from the waste, reducing it to a dry powder that can be mixed into compost or burned for fuel. British Airways has delivered zero waste to landfill over the last two months”

As more airlines jump onboard, these small changes will begin to have a lasting impact on our environment and hopefully start to reduce the amounts of waste being sent to landfills each year. There is a lot that still needs to be done, but with the continuing development of new technology and information, perhaps the future of aviation will no longer be buried deep in food waste.

A decade later, I am still selective about choosing my cuisines onboard and I continue to be part of a bigger problem that is beyond the airlines and the airport services.

A friend once told me that I may feel like I am not responsible for feeding the world, but at least, I should not contribute to global hunger by wasting food.

What about you? Are you guilty as charged?

Should you have more suggestions as to how airlines can reduce food waste, please do not hesitate to leave a comment in the comment box. Also, questions and comments would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking out time out to read and share this post.

This post is dedicated to the Nigerian Airforce Pilot, SQDN LDR Mohamed Baba Ari, who lost his life in the air mishap that occurred during the independence day rehearsal on the 28th of September 2018 and also to the entire Airforce Fleet who sacrifice their lives to assure us of a safer Nigeria.

Please follow my discussions on my LinkedIn account at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayomide-a-jide-omole-062633112

THIS BLOG claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it to appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to the said picture and it will be promptly removed.