Introduction

This article does not suggest complete in-activeness to or by any agency or government. The government has made some commendable efforts (little or much) thus far and we appreciate it but however the death toll resulting from recent waterway accidents indicate a huge gap on the side of the government, regulators and passengers.

They all own a share of the problem which we shall examine them in finding preventive measures going forward.

We are taking recent boat mishaps in Nigeria as a case study to analyze the spate of the issues, learn from it and share measures across African countries to prevent recurrence.

Furthermore, this article intends to improve existing efforts of the Nigerian government and responsible agencies/regulators in reducing boat mishaps to as low as is reasonably practicable.

Read the full detail below and freely subscribe to our blog below:

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-nigeria-africa-can-prevent-the-spate-of-water-transportation-accidents-the-introduction-spate-of-the-issues/

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-nigeria-africa-can-prevent-the-spate-of-water-transportation-accidents-the-causative-factors/

PRISTINEMUSCLES:
I very much understand you. Child obesity amongst africans is a reality. Go to primary and secondary schools, when you see how all these kids munch on junks, you would be amazed. And the same kids hardly exercise except playing video games and the likes.

I was at a fast food outlet recently(i was forced by my woman to give her a treat), the table opposite mine, was a man and his two kids. I felt pity for the kids, see how junk foods full table. And the kids were obesed and still eating like dragons. The funny thing is that their father would think he is doing his children some good not knowing he is killing them


When i have my edifice, i must make sure i include recreational facilities and not forgetting the "irons".

Thanks PRISTINEMUSCLES. Good to know that someone do understand that obesity do exist. Thumbs up bro!

There are like a million out there asking why do we currently as a nation have “no Meat Hygienic Act” to regulate the operations of abattoir/slaughterhouses in the country? Reports indicate that a measly number of states have laws to regulate abattoir operations in their states but why the challenges of effective implementation?

According to the ‘’Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN) ’’, there are only three(3) standard abattoirs certified by VCN in Nigeria. Next question comes up: why only three(3)? Why do some critics still disagree to the ‘’standard’’ status of these three(3) certified abattoirs in Nigeria by VCN? Could it be as a result of their personal and daily abattoir experiences in these states? We shall find out further in our discourse below.

Current reports indicate that the Federal Government is about passing into law a ‘’Meat Hygiene Bill” to regulate abattoir operations in the country. As a Group, we thank Mr. President and the ‘’Law Makers’’ for responding to the prolonged yearnings of the people and we consider this a very laudable action. However, we urge our beloved and honorable law makers to quickly pass this into law.

You might want to ask why the hurry to do so? This is primarily for the health and consumption safety of Nigerians who perhaps are consuming “likely unwholesome meat” from those substandard abattoirs somewhere in the country while reading this article now! According to a figure released by the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, in 2014 that "Nigerians consumed 360,000 tonnes of beef in a year, as of May 2014, with a projection that the figure would likely increase to 1.3 million tonnes by 2050". This alarmingly indicates how much Nigerians consume beef, and how fast the bill should be passed into law to promote thorough meat inspection and best hygiene standards across abattoirs in the country in line with international best abattoir hygiene practices.

The above should disturb anyone who loves this country and our people! Another important reason shows up next: in most states, there are inadequate legal backing for Veterinary Doctors to carry out their responsibility of enforcing hygiene standards in abattoir operations nationwide. This was learnt from the Registrar, Veterinary Council of Nigeria, Dr Marcus Avong.

Do we have adequate number of Veterinary Doctors in Nigeria to enforce hygiene standards in Nigerian abattoir? Unfortunately Nigeria has inadequate number of Veterinary Doctors in comparison with over 150 million population in the country! This was disclosed by the Chairman, Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association, Lagos State Chapter, Dr. Mobolaji Alao in a chat with a Punch Newspaper Correspondent.

Do we have strong abattoir accreditation process? Unfortunately, Nigeria urgently needs to fortify her process of accrediting or certifying abattoir/slaughterhouses in the country. In this light, there are reports that processes are ongoing to amend the Veterinary Surgeon Act. Though a welcome and commendable move but this has to be expedited to boost food (meat) safety across the country before major health incidents are recorded or deadly epidemic breaks out.

Do we have adequate abattoir equipment, facilities and infrastructure? Do we have minimum sanitary and hygiene standards in abattoirs across the country? There are a million burning questions and we shall find answers as we progress further.

The above facts and burning questions are very disturbing and worrisome! They do require urgent action and answers in the best interest of the consuming public!

However as a lover of this country, our people and the government, we shall further discuss these issues constructively: addressing the unhygienic practices & conditions, the effects, the causes, and drawing solutions/recommendations on “How to Improve Hygiene Standards in abattoirs/Slaughterhouses across Nigeria’’.

To learn more, follow links below:

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-improve-nigerias-abattoir-hygiene-standards-the-introduction/

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-improve-nigerias-abattoir-hygiene-standards-the-unhygienic-practices-conditions/

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-improve-nigerias-abattoir-hygiene-standards-the-effects-of-very-poor-hygiene-practices-conditions/

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-improve-nigerias-abattoir-hygiene-standards-the-causes-of-poor-hygiene-practices/

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-improve-nigerias-abattoir-hygiene-standards-our-recommended-solutions/


There are other interesting articles on blog.africahsegroup.com. Please visit and learn more.

We're referring to obese children!!! We're neither referring to hungry children nor pot-belly adults which isn't the case here but obese children. Get this straight up. The post addresses obese children and not hungry children. Let's comment based on the subject of a post.

We're offering solutions to obese children not for hungry children. let's stick to the issues of a post!

That you cant find an obese child doesn't mean they don't exist within your location or around Africa. Travel around and find startling cases like you can also find hungry cases too. Hunger issue is a whole different ball game and that's not what we're talking here. let's respond to articles about hunger if we find one. About hunger, your elected leaders should be questioned about it to find solution.

That doesn't suggest the entire African children are obese. Let's get infos straight. However, there are obese cases in Africa if you travel beyond this country and even within this nation. Most of us consider obese as a sign of good living, good life or perhaps living big but its medically a health concern which has some health complications. We know some can't eat three square meals a day but in the same hardship, there are some who have so much more to eat and perhaps will barely share. Africa's case is so ironic where you find some who cant afford a square meal while some have much more they can afford to thrash. Thats the shades of life we see everyday. So obesity is real and amongst us.

First off, this article specifically addresses how we can improve the poor and unhygienic pure water production practices. We're quite aware and commend the considerable efforts by relevant agencies in some African countries like Nigeria and Ghana. However the gaps leading to public health risks is the focus of our discourse and recommending ways to help improve it. This doesn't suggest that the government has practically done nothing at all but still have a lot more to do towards improvement.
Sachet water ought to be safe and clean drinking water contained in mass-produced sachets to meet safe drinking water demand for the poor, low and middle income earners. Pure water has turned over time to be more popular than bottled water which was an exclusive preserve for the rich and mighty. Some believe pure water is seemingly safer to drink than tap water.

Within developing countries particularly in Nigeria, it’s popularly nicknamed “Pure Water”.

Why the nickname? They call it pure water considering that it’s been seemingly and supposedly filtered and hygienically processed for safe drinking which is not always the case on ground. Some dissatisfied consumers nickname it “gutter water’’ following dirty processing seen firsthand with various taste and smell in some instance: some are reported and some are not, some compromised and some destroyed by relevant authorities. Very complicated situation!

According to “The Water Project”, “Exposure to unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene is a leading cause of cholera and a variety of infectious and tropical diseases in the African Region”

“319 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are without access to improved reliable drinking water sources”

“In developing countries, as much as 80% of illnesses are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions”.

There are further reports that “more than 300 million people in the region are still drinking bad water”.

According to UNICEF, “at least 1.8 billion people worldwide drink water that is fecally contaminated and 663 million people rely on unimproved water sources. It is not therefore not surprising that almost 1,000 children die every day from diseases caused by drinking unsafe water, and a lack of proper sanitation and hygiene, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)”.

The pure water consumers barely have an idea of the hygienic source and barely know how it was filtered, processed and pouched in sachets. They only see some delivery guy/vehicles roam from shops to shops delivering them down retail lines for consumption.

The only basis for trusting the pure water products is by the regulator’s label and approval number. This label and number oftentimes have been printed/forged and sold in mass. There are two popular and fascinating cases we gathered from the streets amongst the consumers. We’d love to talk about it briefly.

To learn more, follow links below:

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-improve-sachet-water-production-hygiene-in-africa-the-introduction-scale-of-the-problem/

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-improve-sachet-water-production-hygiene-in-africa-challenges-causes-consequences-and-preventive-measures/

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-improve-sachet-water-production-hygiene-in-africa-benefits-reactive-measures-and-conclusion/

There are other interesting articles on blog.africahsegroup.com. Please visit and learn more.

Any death caused by taking one’s life deliberately amounts to suicide. Psychological Experts have attributed it to mental disorders, such as depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and alcohol and other substance abuse.
WHO has reported that suicide is the second leading cause of death among those between the ages of 15 and 29. A suicide occurs every 40 seconds and an attempt is made every 3 seconds (WHO).

Walking back time, suicide has always been a rare or rather unpopular incident admitted by Africans. Till date with the number of suicide cases headlined around Africa, they are still relatively lower than those in the western world.

We have observed that so much care, attention and urgent first aid treatment are normally given to people with sprained ankles, bleeding from sharp cuts etc. This is not the case with a suicide survivor or a suicide victim.
They are most times stigmatised and their problem a fall out of personal weakness instead of a serious health concern.

To justify the above views, we hit the street to poll different views on the subject of suicide. Some considered suicide as alien to our people and culture. They cited how resilient we are to endure tough times and rather die trying to make ends meet either by hook or by crook!

A different view disclosed that we may have had more suicide or suicidal attempt than we thought never happened. They further explained that most suicide or suicidal attempts may not have been reported but hidden due to societal stigma and religious backlash. Large number of Africans still consider suicide or its attempt to be “Un-African” even in the face of growing rate headline in all news and media platforms!

Another school of thought holding spiritual views described suicide attempts as witchcraft manipulation. They believe no normal person should commit suicide but influenced by African black magic!

We respect all views above but deem it necessary to examine the prevailing cases to shed more light. Currently the weird hands of suicide is fast sweeping through the continent growing the number of suicides and attempted suicide cases. Following the growing trend lately, we had to examine how worse suicide/suicidal attempt spate has thrived: to get a better sense of the current situation to analyse further.

To learn more, follow links below:

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-prevent-suicide-in-africa-the-introduction-the-issues-the-indicators/

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-prevent-suicide-in-africa-the-effects-the-causes-the-prevention/

There are other interesting articles on blog.africahsegroup.com. Please visit and learn more.

Africa has so much problems in her hands to deal with – it can be best described with a popular Nigerian local slang called “Double Wahala”. That simply means “double trouble” regarding “under and over- nutrition” taking place simultaneously across different parts of Africa. That simply means that “so many African children have little or nothing to feed (under-nutrition) while so many equally have so much more but the wrong food to feed (over-nutrition)”. That’s pretty much a very weird 2-sided shades of life in Africa!

According to WHO facts,

“In 2010, 43 million children (35 million in developing countries) were estimated to be overweight and obese; 92 million were at risk of overweight. The worldwide prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity increased from 4.2% (95% CI: 3.2%, 5.2%) in 1990 to 6.7% (95% CI: 5.6%, 7.7%) in 2010. This trend is expected to reach 9.1% (95% CI: 7.3%, 10.9%), or ’60 million, in 2020. The estimated prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in Africa in 2010 was 8.5% (95% CI: 7.4%, 9.5%) and is expected to reach 12.7% (95% CI: 10.6%, 14.8%) in 2020. The prevalence is lower in Asia than in Africa (4.9% in 2010), but the number of affected children (18 million) is higher in Asia”.

To learn more about child obesity, not about adult pot-belly, not about hungry children in Africa, pls follow links below:

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-control-child-obesity-in-africa-the-introduction-scale-of-the-problem-effects-challenges-key-causes/

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-control-child-obesity-in-africa-our-prevention-mitigation-benefits-conclusion/

There are other interesting articles on blog.africahsegroup.com. Please visit and learn more.

Road transport accident has taken so many lives across the world and in Africa specifically. So many dreams have been cut short, fragile hearts shattered over irreparable loss of loved ones, glorious destinies practically shed along road ways, heart-wrenching tears rage families and trauma reside in many African homes. Many wish they could have done anything to recover lost souls to road traffic accident. Wish money was all it takes to recover their priceless losses, they will gladly offer or rather borrow to save them from the callous hands of road traffic accident.

We have lost potential change agents, lost turn-key opportunities, lost someone who could have touched the lives of many ranging from widows to orphans. In our quest to love and care for African orphans, widows, widowers, the poor and the needy, road traffic accidents has rather created more of them than we can handle: from orphans, widows to the needy.

Should they have died? What could have been done differently to save lives? Were death and injuries caused by road traffic accidents preventable? You’ll be hurt to know that those deaths and injuries are largely preventable if measures we shall discuss further were followed and put in place by the government and the road users.

To learn more, follow the links below:

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-prevent-road-traffic-accidents-across-africa-the-introduction-the-scale-of-the-accident-rates/

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-prevent-road-traffic-accidents-across-africa-the-consequences-challenges/

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-prevent-road-traffic-accidents-across-africa-at-risk-users-key-causative-factors/

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-prevent-road-traffic-accidents-across-africa-our-recommended-prevention-measures/

http://blog.africahsegroup.com/how-to-prevent-road-traffic-accidents-across-africa-our-mitigation-measures-benefits-conclusions/

The above links addresses the introduction, scale of the problem, key causal factors, challenges, prevention, mitigation, benefits and the conclusion.

Which of these Africa problems (specifically Health, Safety & Environment) need to be addressed urgently with a solution Could it be Road Traffic Accidents as seen lately hitting news headlines? Could it be the spate of environmental pollutions(from air, land to sea)? Could it be Cooking Gas Cylinder Accidents? Could it be Fire outbreaks in homes as recently heard in the news? Poor Fire fighting Equipment & Response? Could it be the untold water transport accidents by commercial boats? Could it be leadership negligence in curbing these Health, Safety & Environment problems? Could it be Poor funding and investment for responsible agencies to enforce policies? Is it about Africa's attitude to reactive instead of proactive measures to these problems? What else do you think is most urgent for us as Africans must address urgently?

Which of these Africa problems (specifically Health, Safety & Environment) need to be addressed urgently with a solution Could it be Road Traffic Accidents as seen lately hitting news headlines? Could it be the spate of environmental pollutions(from air, land to sea)? Could it be Cooking Gas Cylinder Accidents? Could it be Fire outbreaks in homes as recently heard in the news? Poor Fire fighting Equipment & Response? Could it be the untold water transport accidents by commercial boats? Could it be leadership negligence in curbing these Health, Safety & Environment problems? Could it be Poor funding and investment for responsible agencies to enforce policies? Is it about Africa's attitude to reactive instead of proactive measures to these problems? What else do you think is most urgent for us as Africans must address urgently?

Which of these Africa problems (specifically Health, Safety & Environment) need to be addressed urgently with a solution Could it be Road Traffic Accidents as seen lately hitting news headlines? Could it be the spate of environmental pollutions(from air, land to sea)? Could it be Cooking Gas Cylinder Accidents? Could it be Fire outbreaks in homes as recently heard in the news? Poor Fire fighting Equipment & Response? Could it be the untold water transport accidents by commercial boats? Could it be leadership negligence in curbing these Health, Safety & Environment problems? Could it be Poor funding and investment for responsible agencies to enforce policies? Is it about Africa's attitude to reactive instead of proactive measures to these problems? What else do you think is most urgent for us as Africans to address urgently?

[b]Which of these Africa problems (specifically Health, Safety & Environment) need to be addressed urgently with a solution Could it be Road Traffic Accidents as seen lately hitting news headlines? Could it be the spate of environmental pollutions(from air, land to sea)? Could it be Cooking Gas Cylinder Accidents? Could it be Fire outbreaks in homes as recently heard in the news? Poor Fire fighting Equipment & Response? Could it be the untold water transport accidents by commercial boats? Could it be leadership negligence in curbing these Health, Safety & Environment problems? Could it be Poor funding and investment for responsible agencies to enforce policies? Is it about Africa's attitude to reactive instead of proactive measures to these problems? What else do you think is most urgent for us Africans must address urgently? [size=8pt][/size]