₦airaland Forum

The world certainly needs more love.

Only love can end domestic violence, inequality racial discriminations and global wars.

Love is the epitome of God's nature and care for humanity.

Little wonder St Paul dedicated a whole chapter on the virtue of love.

Read on and apply the love ointment.

It will certainly make this world a better place, if we all love instead of hate !!!

1 Corinthians 13

The Greatest Gift

13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.13:4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;13:5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;13:6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;13:7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.13:8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether thereis knowledge, it will vanish away.13:9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part.13:10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.13:11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.13:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

By Chike Ojukwu

Empowerment of Nigerian Youths for Political Leadership will top the agenda in Lagos at the 11th Annual Seminar of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Alumni Association (HHHFAA).
United States (US) Ambassador, W. Stuart Symington, will deliver the keynote address on the theme "The Youth and Transformational Leadership in Nigeria."

President of the Association Ms. Mojisola Onifade said the event which holds at the BWC Hotel in Victoria Island on November 15, will explore issues on youth leadership, particularly on policies for youth engagement and leadership development structures needed to groom young leaders.

This was contained in a statement signed by the group's Public Relations Officer(PRO) Mrs Adeze Ojukwu.

The iconic occasion will be attended by accomplished Humphrey fellows, including Mrs. Anna Darius Ishaku, the First Lady of Taraba State, Hon. Justice Eniola Fabamwo, a High Court Judge in Ogun State and Prof Bola Ola, a consultant Psychiatrist at the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM) and the Lagos State Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

"The Humphrey Fellowship is a Fulbright exchange program established by the United States Congress in 1978 in honour of the late Senator and 38th Vice President, Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. – a national leader dedicated to promoting civil rights and mutual, intercultural understanding. It provides ten months of non-degree, graduate-level study, leadership development, professional affiliations, and related opportunities for cultural exchange."

"Humphrey Fellows are selected based on their potential for leadership and commitment to public service in either the public or private sector. Nearly 5,000 men and women from 157 countries have been honoured as Humphrey Fellows since the Program was established in 1978."

"The Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Alumni Association in Nigeria was established as a platform for alumni of the Fellowship to synergise and galvanise resources for national development and societal progress."

Overpopulation remains a major challenge to Africa and it’s peoples due to poor policies and implementation of family planning programmes.

Dr. Leticia Adelaide Appiah, the Executive Director, National Population Council, Ghana stated this in a recent interview, with ADEZE OJUKWU, on the far-reaching consequences of escalating population in many African countries including Nigeria and Ghana. Excerpts:

Dr please what is your academic and professional background.
I completed medical training in June 1993 from Donetsk Medical School in Ukraine and came home immediately fired up to contribute my quota to national development. During my training in Donetsk, the maternity ward was the happiest of all the wards because; there was joy, flowers and smiles when babies were born. I therefore decided that I needed to specialise as an obstetrician gynaecologist because I wanted to be there to always welcome new precious citizens into our world. However, when I started practising medicine in Ghana, I realised to my dismay and sadness that not all babies in Ghana are received in the world with joy, laughter and smiles. Some parents are ill prepared to receive them whiles some are just not wanted and end up abandoned, malnourished or simply maltreated. I therefore decided to pursue a Master’s in Public Health to enable me get closer to the community since health or diseases are manufactured in homes which is the best place for health interventions for maximum effect. In 2003 I completed my Master’s in Public Health and completing my PhD in public health this year.
I was appointed as the Director of Health Services in 2008 at the Ledzokuku-Krowor Health Directorate in the greater Accra Region when the Municipality was newly established, a position I held until November 2016 when I was appointed the Executive Director of the National Population Council, the highest advisory body to the government of Ghana on population and related issues.

What is over population?
Over population is an undesirable condition where numbers of existing human population exceed the carrying capacity of the earth. This is because of reduced mortality rate, better medical facilities, industrialization and improved public health and high fertility levels. Currently, Africa’s problem is the extremely rapid population growth rate that makes it extremely difficult for governments to supply the needed social and economic programs to improve quality of life. For example, the total population in Nigeria was estimated at 191 million people in 2017 and a net increase of about 14, 000 people (21,000 births and 7,000 deaths) daily or about 5 million annually. In 1960, Nigeria had 45.1 million people. The United Kingdom on the other hand had a population of 52.2 million people in 1960 and was estimated at 66.2 million people in 2017, according to the latest census figures. Though UK had more people than Nigeria in 1960, Nigeria has about three times more people compared to UK in 2017.
Such high population growth rates lead to widespread food shortages, malnutrition, crowded and sub-standard schools, crowded hospitals, teeming slums, inadequate water supply, inadequate electricity supply, failing banks and security threats among others. Afterall, nation building is by the people and for the people. There is therefore the need to balance the reproduction and production capacities of the citizenry through effective policies and programs with the welfare of the people as the paramount goal. Healthy people are more productive while unhealthy, malnourished, stunted, poorly skilled people consume more than they produce.

What are the major causes and consequences of this challenge?
The population growth rate which is a function of birth rate, death rate and migration, acts as the supply of labor force for a country and the economic situation -the demand factor.
An imbalance between the supply of labour and demand gives rise to unemployment, underemployment and poverty. A vicious cycle generated by a high dependency burden associated with a young age structure leads to low savings and investment per capita by families and nations which in turn leads to low economic growth and a low standard of living.
The produce of high fertility rates in turn heightens the dependency burden perpetuating the cycle putting pressure on governments to spend more just to maintain quality of life. Some economists have stated that at 1 percent population growth rate, nations need between 6.5 percent and 7 percent of GDP to maintain the same quality of life. This is termed running to stand still. With Nigeria growing at over 2 percent growth rate, how much of GDP is needed just to maintain quality of life?

Dr What should be done to curb these negative trends?
This vicious cycle can be broken at only two points. First, at the high fertility stage primarily by introducing an effective family planning program and at the stage of low economic growth by adopting policies to accelerate economic growth. To be successful, both actions must be pursued simultaneously. Balancing reproduction and productivity is key to national development. Unfortunately, some of our leaders focus only on the productive part of education and job creation with little attention to the reproductive needs of their citizens thereby keeping a lot of women and girls under the bondage of involuntary reproduction and nations bearing the consequences thereof.

Please would you like to mention a few countries that have achieved success in population control especially Ghana?
Thailand within 15 years from 1971 halved it’s growth rate from 3.2 percent to 1.6 percent and increased use of contraceptives among married couples from 15 percent to 70 percent within the same period and number of births per woman reduced from 6 to 2 The population of Thailand in 1970 was about 37 million and increased gradually to about 68 million in 2016 with GDP per capita increasing from $570 in 1960 to $ 5901 in 2016. In effect, Thailand produced fewer, healthier, happier and more educated people for national development.
Rwanda is another country which places emphasis on the harmonization of population growth in its Economic Development and Poverty Reduction vision 2020. The reduction of the main causes of mortality, reducing total fertility rate, decreasing infant and maternal mortality and ultimately reducing population growth as the thrust of the vision. The vision identified high population growth rate as a major challenge and singled out Family Planning (FP) as a key intervention crucial for reducing birth rates and improving quality of life.
The program has so far been successful that the contraceptive prevalence rate among married women increased from 4 percent in 2000 to 10 percent in 2005 to 45 percent in 2010 ( RDHS, 2005 & 2010) and the total fertility rate decreased from 6.1 per woman in her lifetime in 2005 to 4.6. In 2010, maternal mortality ratio reduced from 750 per 100,000 live births in 2005 to 487 per 100,000 live births in 2010 underscoring the important role of FP in addressing population growth and improving quality of life. How many unintended births, miscarriages, abortions and other morbidities with detrimental health and economic consequences to women, children, families and communities were averted in Rwanda by repositioning family planning as key intervention? By how much has it reduced the cost of their social interventions in health, education, water, electricity, road infrastructure, LEAP, prison services, and police services) or improved services?

Dr What is the situation in Ghana and Nigeria in terms of public acceptability and use of contraceptive.
Contraceptive use and unmet need for family planning are key to effective fertility management, improving reproductive health and ultimately health of all citizens worldwide. Contraceptive use helps couples and individuals realize their basic right to decide freely and responsibly if, when and how many children to have and remain a sustainable family. The use of contraceptive methods not only results in improvements in health-related outcomes such as reduced maternal mortality and infant mortality but also educational, employment outcomes and in reaping demographic dividend.
According to the world trends in contraceptive 2015 report, globally, the contraceptive prevalence rate for modern methods is 57 percent. Within Africa, countries with contraceptive prevalence of 50 percent or more are mainly islands (Cabo Verde, Mauritius and Réunion), or located in the north of the continent along the Mediterranean coast including Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia as well as in Southern Africa such as Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.
Five countries in Eastern Africa including Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe also had contraceptive prevalence levels of 50 per cent or more in 2015. In contrast, 17 African countries including Nigeria had contraceptive prevalence levels below 20 per cent with high unmet need for family planning and corresponding high dependency ratio and pregnancy related morbidities and mortalities. Ghana is doing relatively better than Nigeria because the population is far less and the fertility rate is also lower. Nonetheless, the government of Ghana also needs to reposition family planning to reduce fertility and dependency ratio for accelerated socio-economic development.
Advocating for the acceptability of contraceptives in Sub-Saharan Africa should be a socio-economic empowerment agenda spearheaded by our political leadership enlisting the support of all stakeholders including the religious leaders, traditional leaders, health workers, teachers, civil society, private sector, the media, school children and the international community. Reducing fertility through increased contraceptive uptake reduces expenditure in all sectors and set the stage for accelerated economic development of families and ultimately nations. Focusing on family planning education and access in an enabling environment should therefore be an agenda for African leaders. Afterall, good politics improves human lives, reproductive health rights and responsibilities also improves human lives, therefore improving reproductive health and rights in a responsible way is good politics.

India and China recorded huge successes in shrinking their demographics through giving incentives to families with one or two only children. Do you think that this approach can be adopted in this region?
Yes, China and India implemented population policies that worked for them though some aspects were unethical by forcing people or through coercion. Currently, China has a fertility level that is below replacement of 2.1 per woman and therefore has relaxed its policy to allow women to have at least 2 children. Population policies differ from country to country and at times within countries, like weight management. Just as people who are over weight should reduce their weight to within a normal BMI range, so should countries with high fertility rates have policies that gives incentives and encourages fertility reduction as most countries in SSA. Countries with fertility rates below replacement level fertility of 2.1 should have policies serving as incentives and encouraging women to increase their fertility to the replacement level and countries with fertility levels at the replacement level should maintain whatever they are doing.
Governments drive everything through the policies they implement. An example is Iran. In December 1989, the government of Iran introduced a family planning program with 3 major goals. First to encourage women to space their pregnancies between 3-4 years, discourage pregnancy among women younger than 18 years and older than 35 years and limiting pregnancies to three per woman. Iran therefore fashioned its policy around reducing high risk pregnancies through advocacy and free supply of contraceptives. In as much as citizens had the right to have as many children as they wish, the government made them responsible by making citizens bear the full cost of additional births after the third child. The total fertility rate declined from 5.2 births per woman in 1989 to 2.8 in 1996. There was reduction in maternal and infant morbidity and mortality, improvement in health care and educational outcomes among other advantages.

What roles should ECOWAS and AU play in strengthening member countries on adoption of more stringent policies and legislation in this campaign?
ECOWAS and AU member countries should support each other in breaking the poverty cycle by simultaneously implementing an effective family planning program in addition to all the economic activities. Afterall, the World Bank talks about GDP per capita. This means, nations should help their citizens reproduce themselves healthily and work effectively and efficiently to improve the GDP per capita. ECOWAS and AU must focus on reproductive health rights and responsibility as equally as they focus on economic interventions because one cannot afford to forget the per capita part of GDP per capita and meet the SDG goals or the Africa Agenda 2063. Nigeria being the most populous African country with a high population growth rate with massive population momentum, should be targeted for support by ECOWAS to reposition family planning as a critical socio economic intervention to improve human lives in this generation and set the stage for improved life for the next.

What is your advice to executives of population control agencies in Nigeria and other countries?
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country. It has over 40 percent of its population below 15 years and has a net annual increase of about 5 million people. That is about the population of Norway being added to Nigeria’s population annually. This is certainly not sustainable for sustainable socio-economic development.
Population growth dramatically increases the need for all services including job creation. Linden, writing in the New York Times in 2017, illustrates the burden of exploding population. He said per the population structure of the United States, on average 129,000 new jobs monthly were created in 2016 but an America-size Nigeria would have to produce 319,000 jobs monthly, without cease. How can we sustain this? Let us know that the might of a nation is not necessarily in its size but in the might of its people that is the human capital.

Dr What are your final thoughts on these issues?
I believe that every pregnancy should be wanted, and every child cherished and nurtured to be a productive and proud citizen of nations. That is the only way any nation can develop since quality human capital accumulation is key for manufacturing durable assets for common good. Adequate investment in children from infancy through adolescence till they become productive is expensive and time consuming but that is the only way to transform our human resource to human capital for development. Investing in reproductive health and rights have huge returns not just in terms of preventing high risk and unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions and complication, but also improves nutrition for women and children, reduces risk of anaemia for women and children, increases survival and better health for mothers and children and fewer orphaned children. Investing in reproductive health in addition to reducing heath bill, frees up money for quality education of the citizens, thereby improving the status of all including women to contribute to economic growth. Investing in reproductive health saves money and helps nations produce healthy productive citizens for sustainable socio-economic development. The Africa we want, where no one is left behind.
As the former President Olusegun Obasanjo said on TV once, “if you don’t see what you should see, and you don’t do what you should do, you will become a victim of what you don’t like”.
I totally agree with him and urge all of us to see the importance of reproductive health rights and responsibilities as a developmental agenda and focus on it to enable us get the results we so desire. Let us see what we should see and do what we should do to get the results we desire.
By Adeze Ojukwu, a Fellow of United States(US) sponsored Hubert H. Humphrey(HHH) Fellowship and journalist.

The swift dismissal of the Brookings report, that Nigeria has the highest number of poor persons globally, by Federal Government was not unexpected.
This verdict was not only damnatory, but a blow to the administration’s seeming achievements.

Nigeria has already overtaken India, as the country with the largest number of extreme poor in early 2018. Our trajectories suggest that Nigeria had about 87 million people in extreme poverty in May, compared with India’s 73 million.
Extreme poverty in Nigeria is growing by six people every minute,’ the report stated. By this status, Nigeria has surpassed India and other African countries in pauperism.

Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, queried the findings saying, ‘the indices used for the report might have been compiled, when Nigeria was in recession.’
Government reserves the right to dismiss any appraisal, however it is pertinent to pay close attention to the disturbing projections by the agency.
The institution has nothing to gain by posting a fallacious dossier on Nigeria, given its antecedents, in providing credible data on global issues.

It is doubtful if Nigeria can match the expertise of this institution, because since its inception, in 1916, Brookings has been involved, in credible research on development trends, with its coterie of over 300 leading world experts in government and academia.
The minister knows well that this country has been beleaguered by years of excruciating deprivation of basic amenities, but has reached a tipping point, according to Brookings, under this regime.

Indeed the nation’s current dismal demographic index is unprecedented in its annals, hence the hurried efforts to paper the unsavoury news that out of 190 million, over 85 million citizens are poor.
Obviously no responsible government exposes its country to ridicule, but strives to strengthen its ebbs, through effective policies.
Unfortunately, it is virtually impossible to mask Nigeria’s bourgeoning economic and social imbroglio, due to ineffective and reckless governance.

Economic experts and world leaders have expressed concern over the country’s degeneracy, amidst the opulent lifestyles of government officials.
Daily struggles for survival by the populace, despite fleeting resources, energy crises, bogus budgets and widespread violence are too glaring to hide or ignore.
Nigeria’s demographic score card, as the world’s topmost poor nation is devastating, despite reported gains in economic recovery, rice production and importation reduction.

The minister reeled out a string of statistics to justify success of government’s economic recovery plan, however, his explanations were dismissed, by critics as incongruous with society’s brazen realities.
His arguments were at odds with the precarious lives of ordinary citizens, as many go to bed hungry, with majority slaving on less than a dollar.

Clearly, the masses are tired of phony policies and programmes, with little or no bearing on their welfare. The international community is also not impressed by all the endless grandstanding, being paraded as achievements.

Drug abuse and suicide rates are increasing, due to lack of socio-economic safety nets.
Additionally the rising overpopulation burden, unemployment, educational deficiencies and low life expectancy are all reflections of extreme penury and leadership failure.
Yet experts predict worsening food crises, following the killing of farmers and destruction of farm lands by suspected pastoralists, particularly in the Middle Belt, as many agrarian communities flee their farms over the unrelenting carnage.

Federal Government recently admitted that life is cheap, following the Plateau state massacre and similar killings across the country.
Indeed, life in Nigeria is now, unquestionably cheap, essentially, due to irresponsible governance, security failure, income disparities, terrorism, infrastructural decay and graft by the ruling class.

Lack of fiscal federation and dependence on oil sales are also, major factors for ineffective governance, budgetary discrepancies and social malaise afflicting the country.
As a result, the nation is bereft of investments in vital sectors, crucial for job creation and infrastructural development.
These infractions have increased the calls for devolution of power and fiscal federalism, as the panacea for this political and economic sham.

The well-being of citizens, is often the barometer for judging government’s performance, hence the clamour for this regime to stop paying lip-service to poverty eradication, by embracing international best practices and standards in economic growth and human development to save the country from doldrums.
Until this is done the country and its administrators may continue to bear the brunt of global disdain for incompetence.

Computer magnate and philanthropist, Bill Gates spoke passionately about this disconnection recently in Abuja.
Gates advised his privileged audience to visit primary schools and hospitals in rural areas in order to see the enormity of the nation’s decrepit infrastructure.
‘I visited a health clinic in Bodinga LGA in Sokoto. It reminded me why I do this work. I’d like to ask all of you to spend one hour at a health centre. You’ll see how the system can be improved.’

The Nigerian primary health system is not adequately funded. But it also doesn’t get the most out of its current funding, due to lack of transparency and accountability. Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan identifies “investing in our people” as one of three “strategic objectives.” But the “execution priorities” don’t fully reflect people’s needs, prioritizing physical capital over human capital,’ he added.

To anchor the economy over the long term, investments in infrastructure must go hand in hand with investments in people. People without roads, ports, and factories can’t flourish. Roads, ports, and factories without skilled workers to build and manage them can’t sustain an economy.
Citing a ‘World Bank World Development Report,’ which identified education as vital to employment, productivity, and wages, Gates noted that ‘more than half of Nigerian rural children can’t read and write. The conclusion is inescapable: Nigeria’s economy tomorrow depends on improving its schools and primary care system.’

He concluded his discourse with the words of world-acclaimed novelist and activist, Chimamanda Adichie:
‘Nigerians are known around the world for their big dreams and big ambitions.”

Government bears much of the responsibility for these dreams to become reality.

http://adezeoj..com/2018/07/the-albatross-of-nigerias-escalating.html?m=1

The gravity of kidney disease and its colossal financial demands, can be described as a revolving nightmare, particularly in Nigeria with scant attention to public health.
Amidst the horrendous battle for survival and desperate cries for help, most sufferers reel with anxiety and anguish, as the debilitating disease gulps their health, strength and wealth.
About 20 percent of Nigerians are reportedly affected by kidney-related ailments, hence requiring urgent government response with special funding for renal treatment and research.
As Nigeria marks this year’s World Kidney Day (WKD) today, Federal Government should review its policies to ameliorate the plight of patients, especially children, women, the aged and those in dire need of dialysis and transplants.
The global and national burden of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is huge and a major health concern, due to high mortality rates. ‘CKD affects approximately 195 million women worldwide and it is currently the eight leading cause of death in women, with close to 600,000 deaths each year.’ Apex global coalition on kidney health, the International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF) said it is higher in low income countries as Nigeria.
With special focus on women, this year’s programme is unique as it is jointly marked with International Women’s Day(IWD) 2018.
The collaboration provides a special opportunity to reflect on the importance of women’s health and specifically their kidney health. The group, which leads the campaign for prevention and treatment of kidney disease with 60 organisational members across over 40 countries, said this year’s edition is promoting access to affordable and equitable healthcare and prevention of kidney diseases for all women and girls in the world.’ With the theme “Women and Kidney Disease, the body along with International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and other health agencies are galvanizing global resources to decimate the disease.
Dr Abdulwasiu Busari, Consultant Nephrologist, Gbagada General Hospital lamented the high rate of the disease saying this year’s focus on women was apt, due to gender related complexities. ‘Pregnancy makes women vulnerable to kidney disease, because of complications such as Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH) and eclampsia. Prevalence of autoimmune disease including lupus nephropathy and chronic kidney infections are also major causes of End Stage Renal Disease(ESRD).’
‘Nephrology Units of Gbagada General Hospital and Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) have organized activities such as awareness campaign walk, health talk and medical screening for risk factors of kidney disease among women,’ Dr Busari added.
A consultant nephrologist at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital(LASUTH), Dr Theophilus Umeizudike confirmed IFKF position that ‘the risk of developing CKD is as high in women as in men.’ According to him, some studies show that CKD is more likely to develop in women compared with men, with an average 14 percent prevalence in women and 12 percent in men.
Sadly the number of women on dialysis is lower than the number of men, even in Nigeria. ‘CKD progression is slower in women compared to men, psycho-socio-economic barriers such as lower disease awareness lead to late dialysis among women and uneven access to care is a major issue in many countries. Kidney transplantation is also unequally spread, mostly due to social, cultural and psychological factors. Women tend more often to donate kidneys and are less likely to receive them.’ Policy makers, according to experts, must address these inequities and discriminatory practices against women folk. In Nigeria, a CKD patient requires about N150,000 weekly for three sessions of dialysis.
Those who are fortunate enough to get a willing donor will require about N10 million to get kidney transplants in India, at least. The post transplant drugs and routine tests revolve around N3 million yearly. How many ordinary citizens can afford these humongous expenses?
Sadly, government seems nonchalant about the plight of the citizens. Successive governments have failed in their responsibilities to mitigate the suffering of patients of kidney diseases, as well as cancer, diabetes, hypertension among others.
The parlous state of the nation’s tertiary health facilities including Aso Rock Clinic, is a reflection of government’s lack-lustre commitment to the health of the citizenry. It requires no rocket science to aver that the nation’s decrepit health sector impacts adversely on the economy and productivity.
How can a country thrive with an unhealthy and impoverished population? What a shame that the current administration promised to stop medical tourism, yet its executives and their cronies patronize top flight hospitals abroad, at the expense of tax payers.
Majority of citizens, according to development indices, are impoverished. Federal Government must find the goodwill to support treatment of ESKF, as the kidney function falls to critical levels with life-threatening complications and prohibitive cost of surgery, regular dialysis or home- based peritoneal dialysis.
Sadly peritoneal option for adults is not readily accessible in the country according to Dr Umeizudike.
‘It is not routinely done in adults in Nigeria, due to high infection rates and cost of importing the materials, however some teaching hospitals offer peritoneal dialysis to children,’ he explained
Belgian nephrologists, Dr David W. Johnson and Dr Isaac Teitelbaum urged developing countries to embrace this alternative because of its positive outcomes on patients, costs and burden on care givers. ‘Vast majority of countries trying to address the burgeoning problem of ESKF have done so by establishing haemodialysis units, which use artificial kidneys to filter patients’ blood, typically based in hospitals and healthcare facilities, and are both labour- and cost-intensive. However, in resource-poor countries with limited human, financial resources and geographic barriers, it is generally more appropriate to opt for peritoneal dialysis, where dialysis fluid is instilled by a catheter into the abdomen and changed regularly. This home-based form of dialysis treatment costs less, gives greater patient independence, greater treatment simplicity, excellent patient outcomes, decreased need for electricity and technical support, reduced need for trained medical staff, greater feasibility for remotely living patients, and easier management in the setting of natural disasters.
‘As a result, several key countries, including China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines and the USA, have enacted public healthcare policies that promote and financially aid the use of peritoneal dialysis over haemodialysis,’ they noted.
It would be good if the Federal Government would consider this option as well as the comprehensive document submitted to the presidency two years ago by Nigerian nephrologists, as part of a national response strategy on renal disease.
In Israel, America, Britain, India, Tanzania, Ivory Coast and other African countries renal care is free or subsidized substantially.
Nigeria should do same and save its citizens from unwarranted sufferings.
It is delightful that Israel, America and few others are leading global research and investments in stem cell technologies, which essentially hold the ace for regeneration of distressed kidneys and other organs.

Ojukwu, a journalist and Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow, writes via adezeo@yahoo.com.

http://sunnewsonline.com/fg-should-tackle-kidney-disease/

Thanks

By ADEZE OJUKWU
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
– Edmund Burke

Nigeria is often denigrated as a land of oddities. This is rightly so, due to its numerous social, ethnic and religious conflagrations. Few days back, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) took on the Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom over grazing bill.
The State House of Assembly recently passed the bill entitled, “Open grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law,” which criminalizes open Grazing and rearing of livestock in the state. Ortom has severally said that such legislation would promote the economy and protect lives and property of people, especially in Agatu and several communities occupied by suspected Fulani cattlemen.
He also vowed to ensure proper implementation of the bill, when signed into law, while urging security agencies and stakeholders to co-operate with the government and people of the state. However, in a swift reaction, the group, largely comprising Fulani herders, asked the governor not to sign the law, citing security reasons and ethnic hostilities. North Central Chairman of MACBAN, Alhaji Danladi Chiroma, accused the state government of plans to use the bill to sack all Fulani herders including those indigenous to the state.
His words: ‘Now the House of Assembly is telling them to leave the state, when the Nigerian constitution gives every individual the right to live and practise his occupation in any part of this country.’

He further argued that the bill when signed into law will escalate tension between herdsmen and their Tiv brothers, resident in Makurdi and neighbouring states. Recall that the group and their allies made similar threats last year when Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, signed a similar law tagged: “A Bill for A Law to Regulate and Control Cattle and Other Ruminants Grazing in Ekiti State and Other Matters Connected Therewith, 2016.”
Of course Fayose ignored their threats, and signed the law warning that: ‘anyone caught grazing with arms or any weapon in Ekiti would now be charged with terrorism and be made to face the law according to certain sections of it.’
The Fulani herdsmen have allegedly continued to cause mayhem and wreck havoc in several communities and farms across the country, due to the uncanny peculiarities of the Nigerian nation, where justice is stood on its head, as every issue is suffused with religious, ethnic and geo-political hues.
The stakes are very high, but the issues are equally very glaring. Evidently, desert encroachment, drought, water scarcity, insurgency and declining vegetation in parts of Northern Nigeria, have among other factors, forced the indigenous people of the region including Fulani pastoralists to migrate to the South in search of greener pastures, often resulting in violent clashes between the herders and host communities.
In verity, there is absolutely no justification for the wanton killings of innocent Nigerians due to forage.
Sadly, the Federal Government as presently constituted, under President Muhammadu Buhari, has failed to disarm these herdsmen, which many have advocated as critical to ending this human butchery.
This failure is obviously a recipe for escalating ethno-religious tensions and anarchy across the society.
Many have argued that the inability to objectively and equitably address this armed conflict could inevitably trigger a social inferno comparable to the ‘Arab Spring’ that engulfed some Middle East countries including Tunisia, Egypt and Syria, which has since been embroiled in a six-year civil war.
It is, therefore, gratuitous that some state governments have taken bold steps to stem the disastrous activities of nomadic herders in their states. In hailing these legislations, many Nigerians expect that most states, particularly Enugu, Anambra, Delta, Ebonyi, Abia as well as other states in the South and Middle Belt regions will take similar measures.
The brazen and wanton killings associated with herdsmen in Nigeria, as well as Central African Republic and other neighbouring countries have continued to provoke national, regional and global concerns.
Apart from the criminal activities associated with these armed herders, experts, especially agriculturalists and environmentalists have severally warned about the negative impact of uncontrolled and open grazing.
Such adverse consequences include depletion of land and aquatic resources as well as pollution, crop failure and food deficiency.
Others are deforestation, desertification, erosion and mudslides. It is, therefore, not surprising that Governor Ortom, whose state remains the epicentre of these conflicts has thrown his weight behind abolition of open grazing. According to him, the bill represents the yearnings and aspirations of Benue people who for several years have borne the brunt of violent attacks by nomadic cattle rearers.
His words: ‘What you see in that bill is a decision not just of the governor, or the speaker or members of the Benue State House of Assembly, but the decision of Benue State because the bill was subjected to public hearing and the people were unanimous.’
While southerners are seeking measures to checkmate the menace of rampaging herdsmen, many core northerners are rooting for more grazing rights and routes for cattle, in addition to intensifying efforts to curtail rustling. Thousands of unarmed citizens have died and hectares of farmlands destroyed, while several communities were razed down in most barbaric manners, due to clashes between cattle rearers and farmers.
The Constitution guarantees freedom of movement to all citizens, but this does not in any way justify the unprovoked and unwarranted attacks of hundreds of villages and towns at night and unholy hours, hardly sparing women, children and even worship centres.
The lackadaisical attitude by Federal Government and security forces over this contentious issue has continued to generate public indignation, as many critics accuse the administration of insensitivity and partisanship, despite the human toll occasioned by these conflicts. It is obviously a festering sore as well as a litmus test for this administration and the ruling party.
Reports are rife that many farming communities live in fear, due to sporadic attacks by herdsmen, especially at nights.
This anomaly is not only evil but atrocious. Many Nigerians have said so. Farmers cannot continue to be sacrificed at the altar of cow business.
This is an indefensible infraction that must be addressed and urgently too to avoid a conflagration that may undermine the Nigerian union. Unfortunately, the security agencies have often been accused of supporting the cattle rearers. When it comes to cattle rustling security operatives are said to be up and doing.

Ojukwu, a journalist and fellow of Hubert H. Humphrey, writes via adezeo@yahoo.com

http://sunnewsonline.com/much-ado-about-grazing-rights/

Any hope for the Nigerian child
By ADEZE OJUKWU



"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."
— Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa



The life of the Nigerian child still remains the worst reflection of Nigeria's dismal peculiarities.

The anguish and suffering of many children across the country are horrifying.

More than else, the very despicable circumstances that have pushed these young ones to the precipice reflect the nation’s spiralling failings.

The challenges facing them are, to say the least, most haunting and daunting.

Right from the nation’s capital of Abuja to the commercial hub in Lagos and oil nave of Port Harcourt the gaunt faces of hungry and beggarly looking children confront one with endless queries about Nigeria’s commitment to its children. The situation is worse in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina and other Northern states, due to poor access to modern education, health and social amenities.

Who will rescue the Nigerian child? This question has bedevilled the nation, for many years, despite decades of national and international interventions to secure the lives of these young ones.
Most people blame it on poor governance, corruption, extreme religious and cultural practices that promote gross violations of rights of children and women too.

Remember the case of Ese Oruru. The 14 year-old lad was cruelly frittered away from her secure home in
Bayelsa State to Kano State and converted to Islam by Yunusa Dahiru, who defiled and impregnated her.

Though justice has been meted to her abductor, Ese’s life remains severely affected by the traumatic experience, sexual abuse, early pregnancy and unplanned motherhood.

Just like the kidnap of Chibok girls, Ese will remain a sore point in the conscience of the nation, as many children particularly girls continue to fall victims of terrorism, rape, kidnap and death, according to police and media reports.

Without doubt Ese represents the huge percentage of Nigerian kids, whose lives chronicle the bestiality of the nation's failed political, economic and social system.

It is simply difficult to forget Ese. She is the girl next door.
She is the child rummaging through dirty dump site for bread.
She is the child criss-crossing major roads across cities and towns selling items to augment the family income,
She is also the child-bride forced into a mix-matched marriage of oddities.
She is also among the tribe of beggars and almajiris dotting street corners and markets, due to obnoxious religious and economic reasons.
The list is endless.

Her story still rings an uncanny bell about this country and its absurdities of poor governance, economic failures, religious extremism and socio-cultural inequities.

Ese is the face of the Nigerian child marked by the savagery of the nation’s failed system and obnoxious cultural practices that tend to subjugate women and children.
She represents the millions of out-of-school girls and boys, who provide fodder for Boko Haram terrorists and other criminal bandits.

Sadly this mirrors the lives of countless numbers of children and young adults across the country.

Apart from a few privileged ones, most children across the length and breadth of the land live in despicable circumstances that defy reason and logic.

Many are trapped in sex slavery and child marriages; others are living on the precipice of poverty, illiteracy and economic exploitation.


Nigerian kids are among the most vilified children globally according to reports from United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and sister agencies.

It is no longer news that Nigeria has over 10 million
out-of-school children accounting for one of the highest rates globally.

Sadly these dismal demographics have worsened by the emergence of Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, religious violence and political upheavals.

UNICEF confirmed this in its 2017 report saying
‘the humanitarian crisis in Nigeria has significantly increased in scale, due to the on-going conflict in the North-East. In the three most directly affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, 8.5 million people require humanitarian assistance, including 1.68 million internally displaced persons, more than half of whom are children.’


In line with the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan, UNICEF said its focus remains on these three states, where 93 per cent of the internally displaced reside. The nutrition situation is of great concern, with some areas experiencing rates of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) (10–20 per cent) that far exceed emergency thresholds.’

The apex children agency lamented that social services are still severely disrupted, with 40 per cent of health facilities and 1,200 schools damaged or destroyed due to the conflict. Similarly, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) has become a growing concern, with an estimated 3.9 million people needing assistance.

‘Presently, three million children have lost access to learning; more than 2.7 million conflict-affected children need psychosocial support; 20,000 children are unaccompanied and separated and 8,000 children are associated with armed forces and groups,’ it revealed.

UNICEF warned that failure to reintegrate and separation from families is increasing children’s risk of abuse and exploitation.
In 2017, UNICEF said it needed ‘US$ 146.9 million to reach more than four million people, including 2.1 million children due to 69 per cent funding gap, especially for children and their families. It noted that donor support is critical to continue scaling up the response in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.’

On several occasions wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari has tasked political religious and traditional leaders to promote the rights of children through investments in health and educational programmes, especially for the girl-child.

Speaking during a side event at the 50th Session of United Nations Commission on Population and Development, in New York, United States (US), Buhari called for more investments in out-of-school teenage girls, as ‘a substantial number of these girls have either not completed their education or have never attended school, and that this portends unpleasant consequences for humanity.’


The event had as theme: ‘Investing in out of school teenage girls: a priority for achieving demographic dividends, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa.’

She made a similar call in her message to mark this year’s International Women’s Day urging governments at all levels to rise to the global challenge of ensuring gender equality and empowerment of women and girls.

She also challenged relevant organizations and stakeholders to rise to the global challenge of ensuring the achievement of the goals in line with the objective of SDPs.

Lamenting over the intractable violations of women and children, she charged women to remain courageous despite the social and economic challenges in several communities in Nigeria and other developing nations.
“As you may be aware, records have shown that women are the most vulnerable and poorest group globally.

Said she: “In Nigeria, this gap exists as a result of socio-economic and other factors. Despite these challenges that women face in their journey, however, they must not be deterred as they are the fountain of wisdom and endurance.’

This year’s theme, “Be Bold for Change”, was enunciated towards taking effective action to support women rights, accelerating gender equality and improving access to economic opportunities, especially to girls.
Obviously this will have a direct impact on the lives of children in most affected countries across the world.

Research has shown that there is a strong correlation between women and children. Hence children fare better in societies, where women’s rights and empowerment are promoted.

The need to tackle the underlying social and cultural factors that compromise and threaten the lives of children in the country must be tackled with all the seriousness it deserves, as part of a comprehensive approach to end all forms of discriminations against children.

.OJUKWU a journalist and Fellow of USA-sponsored Hubert H Humphrey (HHH) Fellowship wrote via
adezeo@yahoo.com.

DDeliverer:
Jesus...why did I see this picture ?
Jesus...

its unfortunate

A student of the University of Nigeria Nsukka comitted suicide in the early hours of today, he hung himself in his room in the odenigwe area of Nsukka. According to a close source he had he incurred a huge amount of debt overtime due to his penchant for gambling, which led to this unfortunate incident. May him rest in peace.
This should serve as a warning to youths of nowadays to abstain from gambling as this is one of the dangers that comes with it.
Photos Below:

Mods pls do the needful.

A student of the University of Nigeria Nsukka comitted suicide in the early hours of today in his room by hanging himself. According to a close source the deceased who lives off campus in odenigwe area of Nsukka, had incurred huge amounts of debt which led to the unfortunate incident as he had a penchant for gambling, rip.
This should warn our young fellas to stay clear of gambling as this is 1 of its hazards. pics below:

Hi guys, i was taught that driving a car (automatic) with both feet is bad, as your left foot is used only in manual cars for clutching while your right is for alternating the throttle and the brake. After driving inconsistently for abt 2yrs nw, I discovered that i use both feet to drive automatic and it's really more comfortable and easier for me than using only my right foot. Pls i need your opinion on this because i'm really troubled and people have been telling me its not good to drive with both feet. Thanks
Mods please do the needful.

[s][/s] ;DFestac boys again....dem n scam be lyk 5 n 6 ;DFestac boys again....dem n scam be lyk 5 n 6

Konji na bastid sha...

Wetin concern me sef.....

Hu cares......sipping my alomo nd gala