THE EDITOR, Sir:

It has become rather evident that some leaders have taken to the practice of my all-time favourite book by Richard Carlson, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and It's All Small Stuff. In particular, as it relates to the alleged comments made by President Mugabe, it is all well and good to not give credence to all things, to empower your ministers to speak on matters, and to not take the limelight away from your team members.

However, protecting the sovereignty of the Jamaican people is a sine qua non to the very goals that we now celebrate in our 50th anniversary.

I wish not to progress on the weak remarks made by President Mugabe. Albert Einstein once said, "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

In so far as the structure and culture of a nation go, the minority of a community cannot be a true depiction of the entire population. The idea of segregating the ideological notion of success as a ratio of our sex has long been a fallacy that blurs the actual truth.

More and more of our people are enrolling in universities to further their education. Let it be known that at the start of the decade, enrolment at the University of the West Indies was approximately 23,000 students. Today, enrolment has grown more than 100 per cent to approximately 51,000 students.

The growth and development of our human capital continues to be the underlying factor that helps us to grow as a nation, regardless of the sex distribution.

From as early as prep school, you will find that there are more females than males. Internationally, the vast majority of educational institutions have a greater percentage of females than males. These statistics do not give us the right to act querulously towards any sex or group of society. In 2010, the labour force consisted of 685,800 males and 563,900 females. (PIOJ, Economic and Social Survey Jamaica)

There will be some, if not many, who actually think that Mr Mugabe's utterance is a reflection of the facts. The statements must be publicly rejected immediately and it is to be made emphatically clear of the success and achievements of our people.

We are blessed to have one of the 'top 100 influential persons' as our prime minister: that is a good start to mitigate the inevitable damage.

RICHARD LONGMORE

richardlongmore@yahoo.com