FG liberalises visa, immigration regime to boost economic revival (Read full details)

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The Federal Government has streamlined visa and immigration processes to spur inflow of foreign direct investments in a bid to hasten the recovery of the nation’s economy.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, said the measure was part of the action plan for ease of doing business in line with the current administration’s economic diversification agenda.

According to him, other measures that had been taken by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to facilitate tourism alike include harmonisation of airport arrival and departure forms/cards to save foreigners the stress of having to file several documents as well as the decentralisation of services to make state commands undertake some hitherto concentrated tasks.

His words: ‘’Re-issuance of passports for change of names due to marital reason or misplacement has been decentralised to save passport holders the additional costs and inconvenience of travelling to the service headquarters in Abuja. Also, additional 28 offices have been opened for issuance of residence permits in Nigeria, thus bringing the issuance of Combined Expatriate Residence Permit And Aliens Cards (CERPAC) closer to the doorstep of employers of expatriates in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.”

He said the reforms perfectly fit into the 60-day national roadmap approved recently by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).

Mohammed went on: “The NIS has reviewed the requirements for Nigerian visas to make them more customer-friendly and details of this review are available on the official website, http://ift.tt/1BAH5eR. Types of visas currently reviewed include Visa on Arrival (VoA) processes, business, tourist and transit visas.”

The minister clarified that business visas were available for foreigners who wish to travel to Nigeria for meetings, conferences, seminars, contracts, marketing, sales, purchase and distribution of locally made goods, trade fairs, job interviews, training, emergency/relief work among others.

Tourist visas, on the other hand, according to him, were handy for travellers who may want to tour or visit families and friends while the VoA, issued at the port of entry, is available to frequently travelled high-net-worth investors and intending visitors who may not be able to obtain visas at Nigeria’s missions in their countries of residence.

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South East governors mull uniform economic, security polices (Read full details)

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Efforts at repositioning the South-East geo political zone as a major economic backbone of the country may have started in earnest as the five governors from the region resolved to pursue a common economic blueprint that would boost its fortunes.

The governors, who were meeting for the first time since the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost the presidential election in 2015, said they would work together to develop the economic potentials of the zone, so as to raise revenues, cause development and create jobs for the teeming youths.

And apparently to put a stamp in their new desire, the governors who were physically present at the meeting, which held yesterday in Enugu, nominated Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State as their new chairman. He replaced former Abia governor, Theodore Orji.

Briefing newsmen shortly after the meeting, Umahi stated they also resolved to pursue a common security agenda so as to stem the tide of kidnapping and other security challenges that could affect the overall development of the zone.

To fortify the cause for economic integration of the region, the Ebonyi State chief executive disclosed that the economic commissioners of the five states had being mandated to meet at a later date for the purposes of articulating a joint economic agenda of development that will better the lot of the people.

His words: “We decided to have proper economic integration of the South East zone. And in this regard, we have instructed the economic commissioners ‎of the various states to come out with a blue print in that regard.

“I want to first of all accept the leadership position that my colleagues have imposed on me. Though I am not most qualified, but they decided that I should lead the South East Governors’ Forum at a time like this. So I want to thank them with all sense of humility and I accept with all my heart.”

Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2m0y3eC

Southern Kaduna killings: Osinbajo summons IGP to Aso Rock (Read full details)

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Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris

• Over 15,000 Policemen Now Deployed In The Area
• Police Establishing New Squadron In Kafanchan, Deploy Special Unit, 18 Apcs
• Army Chief Also Briefs On Northeast Situation

To frontally tackle the embarrassing killings in Southern Kaduna, additional security measures, including a total deployment of 15, 285 policemen are now being put in place by the Nigeria Police Force in the area, as the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo summoned the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris to Aso Rock, towards at weekend after a resurgence of violence in the area last week.

State Sources told The Guardian that the Ag. President wanted to know why despite the security measures put in place and with the level of attention drawn to the area, the recent resurgence of violence resulting in the deaths of 21 persons was still possible.

It was learnt that Acting President Yemi Osinbajo had summoned the IGP to the Presidential Villa to find out what the police was doing to arrest the situation and to also issue further directives on restoring law and order to the affected communities.

The immediate outcome of the IGP’s meeting with the Acting President was the intensification and adoption of a set of additional security measures that would help contain the situation.

Beside the deployment of over 15000 cops to the area, it was also learnt that the Police High Command has now concluded arrangements for the establishment of a new Police Squadron in Kafanchan, Kaduna, as part of broad measures adopted to curb the violence.

It was gathered that 18 Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) and a unit of Belarus-trained police Special Forces have been deployed to Southern Kaduna.

The police, in addition, have now increased helicopter surveillance in the entire area to prevent a recurrence of violence in the communities.
Also, the police sais they have so far arrested 38 suspects linked to the violence, while 29 firearms have been recently recovered.The IGP, the source said, has further assured that there will now be stronger police presence and security in Southern Kaduna.

It would be recalled that at least 21 persons were killed in the latest attacks that has devastated several communities and displaced many people in Southern Kaduna.

The Army recently announced the formation of a new unit to be stationed in Southern Kaduna, all in a bid to contain the attacks.In a similar development, it was learnt that the Chief of Army Staff Lt. General T.Y. Buratai has briefed the Acting President on the situation in the Northeast, where the Nigerian military is said to now hold an effective control of the situation and mopping up remnants of the Boko Haram insurgents on a “regular and constant basis.”

Sources close to the Office of the National Security Adviser also disclosed that plans are underway for a major briefing on the overall security situation of the country for the benefit of the Nigerian public.

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‘CodeBus Africa’ arrives in Abuja

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PHOTO: TWITTER

Young computer coders tour the continent to celebrate 100 years of Finland
Leading education and technology organisations from Finland and Nigeria will come together this month to run creative coding workshops for local students, which takes off today in Abuja.

The collaboration is part of the CodeBus Africa project, a 100-day tour connecting Finnish and African innovators as part of Finland’s official Centenary anniversary celebrations.

The aim of the project is to boost grassroots level teaching of computer programming, and to contribute to long-term efforts to promote quality education, youth empowerment and employment.

CodeBus Africa is focused firmly on the young; this innovative activity will consist of creative coding workshops, and is organised in Nigeria by the Embassy of Finland in partnership with the Finnish Aalto University, and Abuja-based innovation hub, Ventures Platform.
The project, which is regionally sponsored by the Finnish global telecom leader Nokia, will place special emphasis on involving girls who still remain underrepresented among the users and creators of technology.

Students will pair up to learn coding and to produce their own song with the free open-source platform Sonic Pi. Peer support, creative self-expression and a tangible final product are all elements designed to make the learning experience positive and rewarding. At least half of the participants in the workshops will be girls.

The CodeBus Africa journey will span 10 countries in total – Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia – between February and May 2017. “I am delighted that we are able to bring this project to Nigeria as part of our anniversary celebrations,” said Pirjo Suomela-Chowdhury, Ambassador of Finland to Nigeria. “I find it particularly important to reach out to the young, focusing on education and employment – critical factors in successfully building the future of any country.”

“We are very lucky to have such a great local partner as Ventures Platform working with us. They have a critical role in planning and implementing the project, and have been absolutely invaluable. Without them this project simply would not have been possible. I am also extremely grateful for the partnership of Nokia. As a global leader in innovation and technology worldwide, they have the capacity to transform lives through shaping the future of technology. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to work together with them in putting this capacity into the use of the common good.”

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2ltf2P6

FG mulls single registry to exit Nigerians from poverty, urges trasparent selection process

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PHOTO: ANN GODWIN

Coordinator of the National Social Safety Net, Peter Papka, says the Federal Government is to build a single credible registry for the poor and vulnerable.

During training on community-based targeting for identification of the poor and the vulnerable in Enugu yesterday, Papka said the overarching motive was to reduce poverty nationwide.

The programme is part of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) of the government where beneficiaries are selected from the poorest local councils of participating states and trained on preferred trade with a monthly stipend of N5000.

Papka said government viewed as unacceptable the poverty level in the country and had identified some of the factors that made previous schemes failed.

Against this background, he stressed that the government needed to put in place a credible, transparent and single registry to avoid a repeat of the ugly past.

He noted that the training was to empower the officers who would directly anchor the selection process in the state.

His words: “You are going to be part of the people to eradicate poverty in the state and we expect the outcome to be robust and internationally acceptable.

“The Federal Government wants this social safety net to work and you have to follow a transparent system to choose the beneficiaries.”

Papka warned against compromising the entire exercise.

He went on: “A lot of people will be wondering why CCT is not as fast as the home-grown school feeding programme or N-POWER.

“We now have tracking, monitoring and evaluation system to know those people who are supposed to be recruited. That is why the whole process is slow.

“This is an instituted system that we want to put in place which is expected to outlive all of us. It has to be objective and with no political underpinning.”

The host governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, commended the Federal Government for showing political will to tackle the scourge headlong.

Represented by his deputy, Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo, the governor said two councils each had been rigorously picked from the three senatorial districts of the state to participate in the pilot project.

He named the benefitting council areas as Aninri, Awgu, Igboetiti, Igboeze South, Isi-Uzo and Nkanu East.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kK3euM

I am still open to playing for Eagles, says Martins

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Obafemi Martins

Obafemi Martins, who have not been selected by managers of the Super Eagles since Coach Sunday Oliseh picked him for the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifier against Swaziland in 2015, has declared his readiness to return to the team if recalled to the team, reports owngoalnigeria.com.

The former Inter-Milan, Newcastle United and Wolfsburg forward, who now plays for Chinese side, Shanghai Shenhua, believes at 32, he can still contribute his own quota to the Super Eagles if called up by coach Gernot Rohr, although he respects the fact that young players need to be given their chance in the team.

“I never am through with international football. If the new coach of Nigeria Gernot Rohr needs me, I will gladly honour his call. I am fitter than ever,” Martins said.

“You have to respect the quality of the young players, who are coming through with the national team, they deserve to be given their chance in the team.

“Playing in China is way higher than in the past, we now have top model professionals in the league, so it’s no longer a case of if you go to China, you are winding down your career,” he added.

Martins, who made his debut for the Super Eagles in 2005, has in recent times shown better desire to play for Nigeria than he did in the past. Many pundits believe Nigeria, instead of Angola, would have qualified for the 2006 World Cup if Martins and some other players had been committed to the qualifiers won by the Palancas Negras.

However, he is on record as one of the most lethal strikers every to have donned the green jersey.

Nicknamed ‘weapon of mass destruction’ or ‘Obagoal’ by journalists, Martins played for Nigeria at the Egypt 2006, Ghana 2008 and Angola 2010 African Nations Cup competitions, as well as the South Africa 2010 World Cup.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lti1qP

Muslim school proprietors adopt computer-based test for examinations

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Muslims student

The League of Muslim School Proprietors (LEAMPS) has adopted the Computer Based Test (CBT) and e-marking technology for improved performance in the conduct of examinations.

Addressing reporters at the 10th edition of the yearly training exercise of its Local Examination Council, (LEC) the Registrar, Yekeen Raji, said education is a means of empowerment and efforts must be made to prepare students for lifetime challenges.

He explained that the computer-based test is a channel for testing the preparedness of pupils for statutory examinations.

He stated that the LEC came up in 2005-2006 when the federal government stopped conducting entrance examination to primary school pupils.

“We decided to start testing our children to ensure that the teachers are getting it right and if they have problems we would be able to advice them accordingly.

Besides, the registrar noted hat the LEC is an avenue for students to write external examinations and also weigh the performance of teachers.

Raji who harped on qualitative education said this is the only avenue to address the myriad of problems confronting the society particularly insecurity and other social vices.

Raji said, to ensure better performance, analysis of candidates’

He then appealed to the federal government to assist private school owners with soft loans and land allocation in their quest to improve on the nation’s educational system.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kK6LJz

Absolutely untrue that Benin Obas were buried in Ile Ife – Chief Edebiri, Esogban Of Benin Kingdom

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Chief David Edebiri, The Esogban of Benin Kingdom

The Benin Kingdom has described as “absolute falsehood” the position of Oore of Mobaland, Oba James Adedapo Popoola, that until 1914, Benin Obas who joined their ancestors were buried in Ile-Ife.

Speaking to journalists in Benin City on some issues raised in the interview, the Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri said the position is not in anyway related to the Benin Kingdom and therefore should not be taken as true by the reading public. 
“It is absolute falsehood, that Benin Obas were taken to Ife for burial, it never happened in our history. The precursor of this present dynasty, Oronmiyan, who came from Ife as requested by the Benin people went back alive when he felt that he could not cope with the politics of Benin. He went back to Ife, maybe he would have been the one who died there and was buried and they now begin to say that is where Benin Obas were buried. I think that is where the notion came from; otherwise, the Oba that came after Orominyan, Eweka 1 died and was buried here according to Benin traditional rites within the palace environment.

“No Benin man can claim to know where the kings are buried. Then two successive Obas, the children of Eweka 1, both of them ruled within a space of two years, they died and they were buried here. So, I pity the Kabiyesi because in the first place, according to him, he is 17 years on the throne, maybe he wanted relevance and then to be able to do that he said what he said. But what surprises me is why do they drag Benin into their problems? If he wanted relevance in his area, he should not bring Benin into it. These two Obas in quick succession ruled in Benin and they were not taken to Ife.

“If one imagines what it will mean at that time to carry a corpse from Benin to go and bury in Ife, what was the method of preservation, what was the method of transportation of the remains being carried to Ife and that was done each time an Oba here joins his ancestors. It is not true at all, absolutely untrue and what I want to advise these people, in the history of a people, you have history and you have fable, you have folklore. It is possible this is one of their fables there, which has no sanctity of historical facts so ever. To bring what I am saying vividly, the most prominent Benin King that everybody knows about is Ewuare I. I will tell you what the doyen of Benin history Late Dr. Jacob Egharevba recorded about his death and burial that was in 1440.

In the short history of Benin by Dr. J.U Egharevba: page 17; “Ewuare died after a long reign and was buried at Esi, near Udo.” Udo is in Ovia West Local Government Area “as commanded before his death.” This is the Oba who commanded that if he died because he was sick, they should not bury him in Benin City, they should take him to Esi, which is his own mother’s village to bury. Up till this time we are talking, the burial place is preserved. Every Oba who wants to ascend the throne in Benin must go there to perform certain ceremonies. The ascension of Oba Ewuare II was not exempted from this, so that tells you that there is no iota of truth in the issue, it is a mere figment of their own imagination, it is not true. Many of the Yoruba kings today are products from the royal family of Benin. Benin people from here started the stools, but we have never said they should bring their corpses to us.

“In Benin, it is a taboo to bring the corpse of your son to you, if it is true that as claimed by the Ooni of Ife who is the father of Oronmiyan, which we do not dispute, and Oronmiyan did not stay here in Benin till his death, he went back to Ife, why should he wait for his grand children’s corpses to be brought to him each time any of them passes on here? There is no sense in it that you just sit down somewhere in Ife waiting for the corpses of your grand children to be brought to you, what do you do with it? So you can see that there is no sense in that.”

On the position by the Oore of Mobaland that Oba of Benin is number four in hierarchy, while he is number five, Edebiri said: “This is an Oba I am hearing of for the first time and I am sure many people who read that story, would have come across that news for the first time. All the cork and bull stories that he told in that interview, that he is the announcer of the passage of Ooni of Ife, well that suits him if his duty is to announce the passage of another king. He cannot claim to be number five in Yoruba land because that is in direct conflict with what the Alake of Egbaland was saying a few months ago. People now just get up and classify themselves, but they should not bring us into their reckoning, we don’t belong there. The political connection we had with them, we successfully severed the connection in 1963 when we had the plebiscite that created Midwest Region. So we have nothing to do with their classification, they can go on with whatever they think they are, the Oba of Benin cannot be classified with any of them. Maybe it is not generally known that some of the most progressive kingdoms in the Yoruba West have kings who have direct connection with the royal family of Benin, maybe they don’t even know.

“I pity the Kabiyesi because according to him, he said he has been disappointed by politicians severally, they have used him and dumped him, so he wants a place of relevance but it should not be done with Benin being dragged into their classification issue.”

In his response, the Oore of Mobaland said: “I don’t have anything new to say, I have told you my source. The statement I made about the burial of Benin Obas in Ile-Ife up till 1914, I quoted the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade, and it was the late Ooni who made that statement in my presence. For emphasis sake, the late Ooni said; “Prior to 1914 anytime an Oba dies in Benin they would cut his head, and come and bury it in Ile-Ife. It is actually the head of the Obas not the whole body, and Yoruba have a saying; “Ori ade kii sun ta” meaning the head that wears the crown does not sleep outside. So that was what I said in my interview with you. Anybody is free to issue any rejoinder, it does not matter. Having said that, it is okay! But if they say it is not so, the rest is left for posterity.”

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2jNpXWm

The grand unveiling – Part 3

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When I got to the main gate, I almost didn’t recognize Chigozie. He looked… unkempt.

I wasn’t sure how to react. The security guards who had been trying to keep him out of the house, immediately stepped aside when they spotted me.

He smiled at me. A tired smile. I didn’t know what to do, I just stood there frozen on the spot. The next thing I heard was my mother calling out my name. Her voice was getting closer, and I knew she was headed for where we were. It was obviously going to be a very dramatic showdown. Chigozie sensing what was coming, retreated to his car and quickly opened the door on the passenger side. He looked at me from the corner of his eye. I got the message and before anyone could stop me, I made a dash for his car and hopped in.

As we pulled away, I looked in the rear view mirror and saw my mother holding Tunji back as he threw punches at the gate in obvious anger.

“I knew you’d come with me. Thank you”. Chigozie said as we headed for the Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge.

“Shut up! Just shut up!” I screamed at him

“Why are you mad at me? If anything, I should be the one yelling at you.” He said also raising his voice.

“So you had a conversation with Tunji about me and you kept it from me. You stayed away from me afterwards and left me twisted in the wind wondering what in the world I had done to deserve such cold treatment from you! You were engaged and yet you kept leading me on, then in your arrogance, you just show up after causing so much trouble and tell me you knew I would come with you”.

I was really yelling at him because I was angry. Not only at him, but also at myself for once again falling as he had expected me to.

He veered off the road and parked the car. He took a couple of deep breaths obviously trying to calm himself down and then he spoke.

“Oh so you think you are the only one who has had it rough huh? I lost my job because of you. Adesewa, I pay my parent’s rent, I pay my younger brother’s tuition. How am I to tell them I cannot afford to do that anymore because I lost my job…and for what? For not being able to stay away from my employer’s fiancée? I put everything on the line for you, but you were not even sure what you wanted and when Tunji came to me, I saw reason with him and I decided to back down and let you go….”

I interrupted him.

“What do you mean you saw reason and backed down? Did you not tell him you had been spending time with me only because you thought it was what he wanted and that you had a fiancée”? I asked. It was one thing for him to lie to me but lying about lying to me was more than I was willing to tolerate.

“I don’t know what your man told you. I only told him I had a fiancée because I wanted him to truly believe nothing had happened between us. Tunji came to me and asked what exactly I wanted with you. I told him that I had fallen in love with you and I knew that even though you were too honourable to call off the wedding, it was best everyone gave you time to decide what exactly you wanted. He laughed in my face and told me about his family and yours.

About the business alliances between your families, about how with both your family backgrounds and influences he could be anything he wanted to be…even president! He asked me what I had to offer you. Asked me how I thought it was ever possible for your father to bless a marriage between us. He told me that even if you were a hopeless romantic and you decided to defy your father and be with me, you would eventually begin to resent me when you realised how much you missed your old life. He said your friends would cut you off, that you would never fit into my world and I would never fit into yours. His prediction was that eventually, you would go back to your father to beg and the ultimatum would be to leave me and that is exactly what you would do”.

I could hear pain and defeat in his voice and I couldn’t believe Tunji had left this out in his earlier narration of their encounter.

“And what do you think about all he said”? I asked.

He reached out for my hand and squeezed it tightly.

“Adesewa, he voiced out all my fears. He validated all the things that had scared me about being with you from the first day I realised I was falling for you. He is right my love, this thing with us ended before it even started and I think you know it too, that’s why you never called off your wedding”.

“So, if I had called off the wedding earlier, would you have tried? Is that why you came back today”? I asked.

He smiled and then said the words that really ripped my heart apart.

“Adesewa I came back to say goodbye”.

@bourdillonnights

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2k5Tjvi

Group warns Police against disrupting peaceful protest

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Nigeria police. PHOTO: GOOGLE

A civil society group, Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), has warned the Nigerian Police against obstructing the peaceful protest and threatening of arrest of participants.

The group was reacting to the statement credited to the Lagos State Commissioner, against the organisers of the rally scheduled for Monday, 6th of February in Abuja and Lagos to stop the rally or face arrest.

CSJ said if he really had security reports, his task now is to ready the requisite policing skills to prevent such hijack from happening.

The Lead Director of CSJ, Eze Onyekpere, who made the charge said the Constitution of Nigeria as amended, guarantees the rights to personal liberty, freedoms of movement, of expression and the right to hold and disseminate opinions.

“These officers of state are paid to protect the rights and liberties of citizens as their servants; not their masters. He should therefore, deploy his men to follow the rally from a respectable distance and provide security for attendees of the rally to express their fundamental rights.“

He added that the courts have held that no one needs a police permit to organise such a rally or demonstration as in the case of Inspector-General of Police versus All Nigeria Peoples’ Party (2008) WRN 65.

“The Federal Government should reconsider and think through its records on human rights and fundamentals freedoms as it graduates from disobedience of court orders to stopping lawful and legitimate citizens’ protests. This is not the democracy we voted for,” he added.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2jIQeFr

Pollution: The enemy within

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Your home may not be a total sanctuary from health hazards. You keep it as clean as possible and take pride that it comes to up-to-date in maintenance; you spare no expenses in terms of cleaning products. But you may not know that in your home’s keep well habit, you may be exposing the family to serious diseases through the use of those products that keep the home clean and sparkling.

So, what chemicals do your cleaning agents contain? What about the house paint itself which are known to be manufactured sometimes with harmful chemicals that may be terrible enough to cause cancer and other serious diseases.

There are your household appliances, which, if not used with care, might turn out to be enemies of the family. Appliances like television sets, for example. Computers and microwave ovens are no longer conveniences when you breathe in the Electromagnetic Field Radiation (EMF) released by them.

Your nice and smiling neighbours may be a long-term threat because of the smoke from their generating set that they consciously remove away from their compound, but which unknowingly is directed into your home because it is presumed to be far away. It nonetheless feeds you with smoke and makes you feel uncomfortable.

To avoid your young ones and yourself inhaling harmful chemicals, read labels to know what your cleaning product is made of. Manufacturers do advise or give caution of how they are used; read and adhere to instructions. Some homes still prefer the old methods of cleaning instead of exposing the home to harmful chemicals. I like this one that advises the use of vinegar and warm water to clean windows and natural beeswax for furniture.

And maybe you are one of those who cannot tolerate air fresheners, but feel that they are better than unpleasant smells in the home. You can consider the use of essential oils at home and to remove unwanted odour in the bathroom, strike a match-stick.

Dry-cleaning clothes is so convenient, but do so with caution for the dry-cleaning liquid, perchloroethylene, is a known carcinogen and is thought to be toxic enough to cause a miscarriage. For more care, do not store dry cleaned clothes in a car or in the bedroom when they have just been cleaned. Remove them from the wrap and hang outside to make the chemical weak or impotent.

To protect all from the radiation from the television, position yourself so that you sit some 200 cm away from the screen; if you sit far, there is little chance of breathing in EMF. Back them to the wall and do not place a cot at a wall that backs a television set. You may also consider using battery operated clocks or other appliances instead of the electronic one near the bed.

Use plants to purify the air, as some species are known to remove chemicals from the air. Ask your landscape agent or consult our garden expert Sereba Agiobu-Kemmer to guide you.

Open the windows for about one hour every day, first thing in the morning; the air inside is likely to be worse than what you want to avoid outside because of pesticides, cleaning products and airfreshners.

Do not burn plastic containers or magazines, as burning release the poisonous component, toluene. Even the use of disposable napkins should be done with caution or you can choose cotton ones.

Pollution Everywhere
Protect your young ones from pollution due to emissions from vehicles, burning, and industrial waste as these can cause lung cancer, pulmonary and respiratory diseases like asthma and bronchitis. When you take a walk outside, do not walk too close to the road to reduce the level of inhalation.

Water is becoming scarce; keep the home safe from water borne diseases. Now more than ever we need to remind you that drinking water can contain chemicals like nitrates which may react to cause circulatory diseases and cancer; pesticides which may cause testicular and breast cancer and endometriosis. Your water may contain aluminum sulphate and toxic algae that causes diarrhea and skin rashes. To bring water pollution to a minimum level, use tap-filtered water.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2k5R5Mn

Nigerians’ life expectancy drops as recession bites (Read full details)

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Study shows how low socio-economic status reduces quality, length of life

More implications of recession and harsh economic conditions on the life of Nigerians have emerged as a new study has associated low socio-economic status with significant reductions in life expectancy.

The study of 1.7 million people published by The Lancet recommended that low socio-economic status, which is an implication of recession and poor earning, should be considered a major risk factor for ill-health and early death in national and global health policies.

The Lancet study, using data from the United Kingdom (UK), France, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, United States (U.S.) and Australia, is the first to compare the impact of low socio-economic status with other major risk factors on health, such as physical inactivity, smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and high alcohol intake.

The researchers said although socio-economic status is one of the strongest predictors of illness and early death worldwide; it is often overlooked in health policies.

Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of their birth, their current age and other demographic factors, including sex. Simply put, life expectancy is the number of years lived in good health.

According to the World Health Statistics 2016 published in May 2016 by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Nigeria is among the seven countries with the lowest scores with average of 54.5 years for both men and women.

The other countries in decreasing order are: Lesotho at 53.7 years; Cote d’Ivoire at 53.3 years; Chad 53.1 years; Central African Republic 52.5 years; Angola at 52.4 years and Sierra Leone at 50.1 years.

Lead author and researcher at the Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland, Dr. Silvia Stringhini, said: “Given the huge impact of socio-economic status on health, it’s vital that governments accept it as a major risk factor and stop excluding it from health policy.

In the study, researchers compared socio-economic status against six of the main risk factors defined by the WHO in its global action plan for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. The plan aims to reduce non-communicable diseases by 25 per cent by 2025, but omits socio-economic status as a risk factor for these diseases.

The study included data from 48 studies comprising more than 1.7 million people. It used a person’s job title to estimate their socioeconomic status and looked at whether they died early.

When compared with their wealthier counterparts, people with low socio-economic status were almost 1.5 times (46 per cent) more likely to die before they were 85 years old.

Among people with low socio-economic status, 55,600 (15.2 per cent of men and 9.4 per cent of women) died before the age of 85, compared with 25,452 (11.5 per cent of men and 6.8 per cent of women) of people with high socio-economic status.

The study also estimated that that 41 per cent of men and 27 per cent of women had low socio-economic status and that this was associated with reduced life expectancy of 2.1 years, similar to being inactive (2.4 years). The greatest reductions were for smoking and diabetes (4.8 and 3.9 years, respectively). Comparatively, high blood pressure, obesity and high alcohol consumption were associated with smaller reduction in life expectancy (1.6, 0.7 and 0.5 years, respectively) than low socio-economic status.

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WATCH FULL MOVIE TRAILER: Raees (2017) Full Movie Trailer & Cast 720p HD – Wiki

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Raees is a 2017 Indian action crime thriller film directed by Rahul Dholakia and produced by Gauri Khan, Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar under their banners Red Chillies Entertainment and Excel Entertainment. It stars Shah Rukh Khan, Mahira Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

UZOMEDIA presents the official movie trailer and cast, watch and enjoy below….

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Betting big on ourselves, for a better world…Read full details

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Tolu Ogunlesi

Every year since 2009 Bill and Melinda Gates have written a “Letter” to the world, outlining their thinking about the state of the world, and vision for the year ahead. The 2015 edition, themed to coincide with the transition from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), was titled: ‘Our Big Bet for the Future’. That “Big Bet” was that “[t]he lives of people in poor countries will improve faster in the next 15 years than at any other time in history. And their lives will improve more than anyone else’s.” The Gates’ broke down that Big Bet into 4 strands: Health, Education, Banking and Agriculture. I did interview Mr. Gates shortly after that Letter was published, gleaning insights that enabled me to place the Big Bet within an African and Nigerian context. It is therefore a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to encounter a similar ‘Betting’ venture – this time an assortment of seventeen ‘Big Bets’ on a better and happier world, put forward by a range of highly accomplished individuals from around the world. The ‘17 Big Bets’ Collection, published in 2016, is an initiative of the global consultancy, Dalberg, with the support of the United Nations (UN). Like the Gates’ Bets, the 17 Big Bets are inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals, and should be assessed and received within this context.

The 17 essays that make up the collection touch on various themes; each one fulfilling the Dalberg definitions of a Big Bet – “the chances we take to breed transformative shifts; the creative ideas with which we push our thinking; the investments made in solutions to current and future challenges.”
I will go on to present my thoughts about the Big Bets collection as five underlying principles, which in my opinion sum up and highlight its most important and most essential messages:

One. No digital, no development: One big takeaway is that the future of 21st century Africa lies in harnessing the nearly-infinite potential of ‘Data’ and ‘Digital’, to achieve true and lasting development. And let me say that I’m immensely excited to see flowerings of this harnessing all around me every day. Just days ago I attended a ‘Demo Day’ organized by Ventures Platform, a technology hub in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, at which six young technology companies showcased their work. All of them bound by the same underlying proposition: using the power of digital technology to ‘disrupt’ one or more status quos. In her Big Bet, Ms. Amina Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, and Deputy Secretary-General Designate for the United Nations, calls for “Integration” within countries (between the public and private sectors), between countries, and, very importantly BETWEEN WORLDS – the real world and the VIRTUAL world. The real strength of Digital Technologies lies in their ability and capacity to create this transformative seamlessness between the physical and the virtual. As her essay points out, by 2015, 95 percent of the world’s population lived within range of a mobile phone signal. The question that arises is a simple one: what are we doing with all of that potential?

Two. We have to prioritize children – and women: In Bet after Big Bet the spotlight focuses on Children and Girls/Women. The message, for me, is an unambiguous one: The world needs to learn to talk to women, and to children, to understand their issues and perspectives from their points of view. Never assume you know what the problems – and solutions – are. The best and most sustainable solutions to the challenges facing them are the ones to which they lead us. Take this much-needed piece of advice from Craig Silverstein & Mary Obelnicki, in their piece, Thought Girls’ Education Was Big 154 Before? It’s Bigger Now. Here’s How. Count, Consult And Connect: A Path to Transformation: If you want to design a programme that works for young school-age girls, start by forgetting all your fancy theories and learning, and consulting them and listening to them. Because, “women and girls are geniuses in meeting their own challenges.” Indeed, the greatest investment any country can make is in the lives and wellbeing – and, very importantly, the self-confidence – of its women and children. And it is to this critical work that many of the contributors to this collection have devoted their lives. (Kailash Satyarthi, for example, was awarded the 2014 Nobel peace Prize, for his lifelong advocacy and action against discrimination and violence targeted at children).

Three. Money, money, money: Angel Gurría’s Big Bet is on the establishment of a financial ‘Global Positioning System’ (GPS) “that not only captures the immediate status quo of development resources, but also highlights pathways and direction for future action.” As Secretary General of the OECD, he is well placed to understand the power of the global financial system to shape the world for good or ill. To succeed at implementing the Goals, ever-increasing levels of funding are needed, to fight poverty, illiteracy, hunger and disease. And this is especially critical in a world of growing inequality, where a handful of people – men, mostly – control most of the wealth of the world. While a forceful redistribution of wealth is not an option, we need to do all we can to ensure the creation of channels and mechanisms – ‘inclusive Business Models’ is how banker James Mwangi describes it in his Big Bet – that allow the bottom billions to get a much better deal for themselves.

Four. Organise, don’t agonise: This was the mantra that drove the life and work of the highly-respected late Nigerian pan—Africanist, Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem. And it is a recurring message throughout this collection. Movements are necessary, and powerful, and doubly powerful when they are properly organized and focused. We know that nations and businesses and individuals thrive by competing off one another, and that it is by this unending competition that ever-increasing value is served to shareholders, clients, and citizens. But that is only one side of the story. Equally important is collaboration, and this is a narrative that ought to be pushed just as actively. To stand a real chance of achieving the SDGs, the world needs to work harder at collaboration. There is no value in duplicating efforts, or reinventing wheels, or trying to go it alone. Jamie Drummond’s Big Bet is a “mother and daughter of all movements” that will “provoke debate” around the SDGs. Drummond understands the power of movements, having co-founded ONE, one of the biggest advocacy movements the world has ever seen. Mogens Lykketoft reinforces this point, when he writes: “Success in the very short term should not be measured in goals and targets met, but new alliances being forged, initiatives launched, action kick-started, and stakeholders included.”

Five. We are all leaders: The mobile phones in our hands have made that truer than ever – depending on how smartly and boldly we are able to harness the potential. It is left for each one of us to decide – and I will paraphrase Jamie Drummond’s all-important challenge here – whether we want to be passive observers of events, or passionate players on the field, where it really matters. As Annie Leonard & Daniel Mittler write in their essay: “Unless we shift the balance so that our political and business leaders are accountable to all citizens instead of the 1%, we are stymied in our ability to advance real solutions. Our big bet is that this can be done.” Jamie Drummond agrees wholeheartedly, positing: “Ultimately world leaders aren’t really those people running countries. We must all be world leaders. Every citizen taking action locally is a leader.”
The lesson is as clear as it is profound: Big Bets mean nothing if we’re not all Betting Big on ourselves, and on our individual and collective potential to make real change happen, across the world!

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