The Nation Newspaper

Category: Online Special

  • World stick your tongue out day

    Did you know today is world “Stick your tongue out day”? That’s right, there are funny international days and 19th July is one of them.

    Every 19th of July, the world celebrates together by sticking out tongues. The origin of this celebration is not really certain however, on thing is certain; it is fun to stick your tongue out just because you can.

    So, if you have been wanting to snap a picture with your tongue out, go ahead! Snap a picture and exhibit your tongue in all its glory.

    READ ALSO: Man ‘bites off Neighbourhood Watch officer’s lip, tongue’

    If a baby has been sticking his or her tongue out at you, make it a competition of who does it better.

    If you’ve been wanting to do an “ntoi” to your boss, go ahead! It is totally acceptable today. (Just do not mention my name).

    And if you see a snake sticking out its tongue, by all means, do run for your dear life. Let’s leave the sticking out of tongues to human beings alone.

    In any case, just let loose the child in you and get goofy today.

    Happy “stick your tongue out day”!!!

  • Top 10 fun places in Lagos you can visit this weekend

    The weekend is here and it’s time to relax, unwind, forget about the stressful week, meet new people, hang out and most importantly, spend time with family and friends.

    Sometimes, a weekend trip is all you need to have a fun, memorable, and rejuvenating experience. If you live in Lagos or you plan to visit for the weekend, here are 10 fun places in Lagos you can visit.

    1. Get Arena

    Located opposite Lagos Oriental Hotel, Get Arena offers the finest Go karts in Lagos. It’s an ideal location for a family outing or a group hangout. You can create your own racing league, enjoy corporate competitions or tournaments for the adults and the kids. After an exhilarating ride, you can feast on a salivating spread of fine dishes and most sumptuous cocktails.

    2. Omu Resort

    Omu Resort offers so many recreational activities to enable you to loosen up and erase, completely, the stress of the week. The resort comes with a package deal that includes – Zoo, Amusement park, Go kart, Quad biking, Archery, Wax Museum, Kayaking/Boating and lots more.

    3. Hi-Impact Planet Amusement Park

    Although not located in Lagos (10 minutes drive from Berger), Hi-Impact Planet Amusement Park is a place to hang out with your kids and give them a treat after a hectic school week. It has a world-class amusement park with exciting outdoor rides, amazing indoor games for kids, and the family to have an unforgettable fun experience.

    Hi Impact Planet

    4. Lekki Conservation Center

    Lekki Conservation Centre is a park that offers an escape from the everyday hustle life of Lagos and it is located on Lekki Peninsula. It prides on its canopy walk that happens to be the longest canopy walk in Africa.

    Lekki Conservation Centre

    5. Barracuda Beach Resort

    Located in Lekki, the beach resort is one of the best private beaches in Lagos. It is an ideal location for family gatherings, corporate retreats, and team bonding as well as time out with friends. Barracuda Beach offers a serene private getaway to locals and tourists alike.

    Barracuda Beach

     

    Read More: Kachins Fashions unveils products in Lagos, Abuja

    6. La Campagne Tropicana Resort

    One of Africa’s most visited beach resort, La Campagne Tropicana, is a tropical getaway situated on a piece of isolated nature along the Lekki Expressway. The resort lies on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, bordered by Ikegun Lake.

     

    La Campagne Tropicana

    La Campagne Tropicana offers comfortable accommodation with 29 well-equipped chalets, luxury tents, a private swimming pool and the perfect beach for picnics. Each en suite tent at the overlooks the beach and comes designed with a private bathroom, a flat-screen television, a minibar, a fully-equipped kitchen, tea/coffee making facilities and a private balcony.

    7. The Mall

    Lagos has several malls in different locations and most of these malls have cinemas like Filmhouse, Silverbird, Genesis Deluxe, and Ozone Cinemas. Also, you could grab something to eat and play games with your family and friends at the mall.

    palms-shopping-mall
    Some of the malls in Lagos are Maryland mall, Maryland, Ikeja City Mall, Ikeja, Leisure mall/Adeniran Ogunsanya mall, Surulere, The Palms, Lekki, Novare Lekki mall, Lekki, E center, Yaba, and Festival Mall, Amuwo Odofin

    8. Nike Art Gallery

    Nike Art Gallery is an art gallery in Lagos owned by Nike Davies-Okundaye. The gallery is arguably the largest of its kind in West Africa. Housed in a five-storey tall building, it boasts a collection of about 8,000 diverse artworks from various Nigerian artists.

    Nike Art Gallery
    You can go there to learn about Nigeria’s history, try your hands on crafts, take loads of pictures, take a cup of coffee at the cafe and it’s totally free!

    9. Freedom Park

    Freedom Park is a memorial and leisure park area in the middle of downtown Lagos in Lagos Island, Nigeria which was formerly Her Majesty’s Broad Street Prison. It was designed by the Architect Theo Lawson. The Park was constructed to preserve the history and cultural heritage of Nigerians. Freedom Park will transport you to what life was like in Nigeria in the past through theater and drama events, old school live bands, prison setting with its popular amphitheater where you watch plays like a Greek.

     

    Freedom Park

    Fun Fact: The park used to be a prison but was remade to stand for something better, alive and peaceful.

    10. Terra Kulture

    Terra Kulture is a one-stop venue for the creatives. If you and your family/friends are interested in music, visual arts, culinary, film, fashion, design or dance, then this place is perfect for you!

    Terra Kulture
    The Terra Kulture building is home to a restaurant, a craft shop, a library, a language school and theatre, and its central feature; the art gallery. It is proud to have hosted readings by renowned Nigerian authors such as Wole Soyinka, Sefi Atta, Chimamanda Adichie, and others for book readings.

     

    Have a blissful weekend!

  • 4 ways to grow your business with technology

    In today’s world, technology has proven to be a leading factor in the growth of many giant economies. Technology has been an effective tool in the growth and advancement of many businesses.

    It has become very essential overtime due to its improvement of lives and livelihood. If you have a start-up business or you may be looking for ways to grow your business, here are ways to make optimal use of technology:

    * FOR COMMUNICATION

    Communication remains one of the most important factors in business. The need for business owners to communicate with their customers and publics has become of utmost importance in the world of business today.

    Technology however, has made it easy for organisations to communicate with their customers through the use of email, mobile phones, text messaging services and most especially social media.

    These tools would help you reach and communicate with your customers and prospective customers as well as make it easier for you to put your products and services out there, it would also help to introduce new products you have for your customers.

    This would in turn improve your business, communication technology has overtime proven to be a major factor in the growth of many businesses.

    Read Also: Ondo partners Facebook for business prospect

    * FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

    Use technology to have a competitive advantage over your competitors. Competition in business will eventually result in business growth. Technology helps businesses to have an edge over competitors.

    Technology has been made accessible to everyone unlike before where only the wealthy and big business owners could have access to advanced technology.

    You can use technology to best serve your customers by finding out their demands and finding ways to best serve those demands. Technology can be used to find out what your competitors are doing and what they have not done, this would give you an edge over your competitors because this way, you can do what they are not doing as well as do what they’re not doing right which would improve your business.

    * FOR EFFECTIVENESS & EFFICIENCY

    Technology helps to increase effectiveness and efficiency amongst employees, it helps employees to perform more than one task thereby making work easier and less stressful. This has produced good results ever the years for many businesses.

    You can use technology to improve the Interaction between employees, to make quick decisions that would benefit the company’s growth. Technology helps to provide more work accuracy as humans are prone to errors and mistakes. With internet, computer and telephone, a business is good to go.

    * FOR EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT

    Most times, it becomes difficult to keep track of employees especially when dealing with a big business with many staff. Technology will help you keep track of the performance of your employees so as to enhance more productivity.

    Observation has shown that humans perform better under supervision. This could be done with the use of CCTV and monitoring devices at work.

    Technology can be used to supervise the activities of employees and keep them on their feet so as to achieve better results for your business.

    You can also make use of technology to discover talented employees on job listing portals and job search platforms. Human resource managers can get talented employees with maximum qualifications through the use of technology that would help to grow their businesses

  • Five things you don’t know about Hippocratic Oath

    The Hippocratic Oath is one of the most revered documents of history. It is a powerful rite of passage that connects generations of medical professionals around the world. Laid out in the oath are principles that provide the framework for modern medical ethics.

    As the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) grants 412 foreign -trained doctors the nod to practice medicine in the country today, here are five facts you probably didn’t know about the Hippocratic Oath:

    *The Hippocratic Oath was composed over 2,000 years ago around the years 3-5 BC. The original text was written in Ionic Greek by Hippocrates, who is considered to be the father of modern medicine in most western cultures.

    *. The Oath is still held sacred by physicians: to treat the ill to the best of one’s ability, to preserve a patient’s privacy, to teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation and so on.

    Read Also: Stop! Fuku elegusi causes tuberculosis (TB)

    * The content of the traditional Hippocratic Oath can be divided into 12 items: Covenant with the Greek god Apollo, Covenant with teachers, Commitment to students, Covenant with patients, Appropriate means & ends (the good of the patient not the physician), Limits on means & ends, Justice, Chastity, Confidentiality, and Accountability.

    * Most medical schools today have their students swear upon modernised version of the translation of the original Greek text, rather than the traditional version.

    * Many modern institutions have modified the content of the Hippocratic Oath to be more applicable to the time period. The most common changes to the modernized Oath include removing the prescription of sexual contact with patients, the ban against using abortive agents, the ban against euthanasia, and the agreement to be accountable for keeping the Oath.

    Read the medical definition of the Hippocratic Oath here

  • 20 memorable quotes of Nelson Mandela

    Nelson Mandela was born to the Thembu royal family in Mvezo, British South Africa, on July 18, 1918.

    He was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1963 for conspiring to overthrow the state, and served 27 years in prison.

    In 1990, Nelson Mandela was finally released by the then President amid growing domestic and international pressure.

    Mandela passed away in 2013, aged 95 but his fight for freedom and human rights continue to be a guiding light to the world.

    Today, which should have been his 101 birthday celebration, we remember 20 memorable quotes of his that will never fail to motivate:

    · “I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended.”

    · “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

    · “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”

    · “When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.”

    · “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

    · “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

    · “I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”

    · “A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.”

    · “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

    · “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”

    · “I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”

    · “There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”

    · “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

    · “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language that goes to his heart.”

    · “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”

    · “As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself… Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.”

    Read Also: Soyinka compares Leah with Mandela

    · “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.”

    · “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.”

    · “A leader. . .is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.”

    · “We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?”

  • 10 things you should do to build your daughter’s confidence

    Most daughters start off life at full steam. They are the early talkers and want to be loved all the time. They are also open to pretty things, always want to look beautiful in the eyes of many.

    It is never easy to raise a female child. While some parents would say they rather have a male child than a female child is because the male is easier to train.

    As a parent, you should be able to accept a female child is also like a male child and they should be treated equally.

    Below are what you should do to build your daughter’s confidence:

    * Encourage Her

    Teaching your daughter to express her needs to adults and stand her ground with her peers should be your number one priority. If another child is being mean to her, encourage her to say “I don’t like the way you’re talking to me.”

    Most times the way we relate with our daughters they feel scared to share their problems with us. Don’t make your daughter freer with strangers than you.

    Let your daughter understand as her parents, you can also share her problems and help her overcome any challenges in life.

    * Be sincere in your compliments

    You should always tell your daughter how smart or how beautiful she is. Don’t allow her to get such compliments outside especially from the opposite sex and when you do you should be sincere about it and let her see the seriousness on your face.

    * Constant Conversation

    You should create a room for conversation between you and your daughter. If she is lonely and she can’t chat with her father or the mother freely, then you are telling her to find a chatting mate outside and that may result in bad influence.

    *Help her understand why she sometimes gets left out

    Let your daughter know that if she is not invited to every event or game she should not feel bad or think nobody loves her. Let her understand that when her fellow kid says “we can’t be friends,” it probably has more to do with that child’s bad mood so she can leave at that moment and try to talk to the kid later.

    READ ALSO: Rape, paedophilia, incest: The ugly trends of 2015

    Try to teach her to be contented with every little thing she has, tell her claiming something that is not hers is a crime that she should be honest with people around her. Tell her not to be stingy she should find it easy to share with friends especially those who are in need.

    *Encourage competence

    You should not be too quick to help your daughter with homework or chores. If she asks you for assistance tell her to work through it for a couple minutes. If you noticed she can’t finish the work on her own then you can give her a helping hand and tell her next time you won’t or may not be there to assists her.

    *Encourage her to participate in school games or debate

    You can tell your daughter that when playing with kids is always fun but let her understand that some games or play are not meant for kids and if her fellow kids are drawing her into it, she should be bold to resist such. Give your daughter the free hand to test her wisdom with other kids by participating in school debate.

    *Career choice

    Don’t decide for your daughter on what to do in life whatever a career she picks, you should give her the guideline and see her perfect it by supporting her academically, mentally and otherwise.

    Sometimes you don’t have to help her with ideas, allow her to be creative and able to create ideas for herself that will help in building her mentally and make her become a genius.

    *Try not to make assumptions about her strengths and weakness

    Just because your child is a girl doesn’t mean she will struggle to make things work for herself. If she is finding difficulty in handling issues by herself or trying other new things in life you should always tell her “You can do it” that alone will give her the courage to pick up such a challenge.

    Make your daughter understand that if she is scared to try new things or face challenges she will fail in life. She should be comfortable facing other kids and partake in giving out new ideas that it will build her confidence and ability to handle issues anywhere she finds herself.

    If your girl child is slow in making things down tell her that weakness is the key to backwardness and if she continues with that, she will miss opportunities in the future and will be left out while her mate will be making it in life.

    *Encourage her body image

    When your daughter asks the inevitable “Daddy, Mummy am I pretty?” you should answer her with an enthusiastic yes. When you praise your girl child appearance try to highlight her actions. “You looked so graceful today.”

    Don’t allow her to ask someone else outside because she might meet the wrong person and get a negative response that can change her mood of dressing and thinking.

    You can show her helpful models’ magazines that are properly dressed with that she can know what dress can go with her shoe or bag.

    *Prepare her for sexism

    Most parents feel ashamed to teach their female child about sex, if you can’t teach your daughter about sex then you are telling her to learn it from the outside world.

    Some girls when they get raped by older men they get scared to tell their guardian because of the distance relationship they are having with the girl child.

    If you teach her about sex at an early age if she hears it outside it won’t be new to her, tell her if she allows any man to touch her insensitive parts she will get unwanted pregnancy and that will bring shame to the family.

    If you allow her to get the answers she wants to get about sex outside then she may one day want to try it.

  • Expert says green tea reduces blood sugar in diabetics

    A Nutritionist and Biochemist, Dr Ochuko Erikainure, said on Wednesday that Green Tea has great health benefits and components that reduce blood glucose in diabetics.

    Erukainure, who is a Senior Research Officer at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research (FIIRO), Oshodi, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    According to him, the catechins present in green tea have been reported to be epicatechin (EC), epicatechin gallate (ECG) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), with EGCG being the most active and predominant.

    “These catechins synergetically bring about those health benefits associated with consumption of green tea.

    READ ASLO:Between black and green teas, which is healthier?

    “Their potency in the mopping of free radicals make them strong antioxidants.

    “Green tea has been reported to bring in the reduction of blood glucose in diabetics.

    “This they do by increasing the antioxidant capacity of the pancreatic tissues, increasing the secretion of insulin by the beta cells and promoting muscle glucose uptake,’’ he said.

    Erukainure also said that green tea is anti-cancerogenic, which are substances that counteract the effects of a carcinogen or inhibit the development of cancer.

    “This they bring about by arresting DNA fragmentation, telomerase activity, cell cycle progression and promotion of cancer apoptosis.

    “Unlike black tea, green tea consumption has also been correlated with reduced cardiovascular diseases.

    “They also possess potent anti-inflammatory activity, which involves the progression of most diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and neuropathology.

    Its ability to increase HDL-cholesterol makes them a good choice in maintaining good cholesterol levels, as well as protect against cardiovascular diseases,’’ he said.

    (NAN)

  • Seven ways to beat, survive Lagos traffic

    Lagos is notorious for its traffic gridlock. There are so many cars on the roads from private cars, commercial buses (Danfo), taxis, the Keke NAPEP (tricycles) and motorcycles (Okada).

    The traffic would have been more bearable but for the addition of impatient drivers and riders, impatient pedestrians. A combination of all these factors really makes the heavy Lagos traffic unbearable.

    Sadly, a brief journey which shouldn’t last for long might end up taking you longer time to travel to and fro a destination within the city.

    But one thing about traffic in Lagos is that it occurs especially at specific times of the day and it can be unpredictable.

    So therefore, by observing the day-to-day flow of traffic, you can get to understand the best times to leave your location and get to your destination faster.

    Here are few tips on how to survive the traffic in Lagos:

    * Make sure to leave home early: This is how the traffic has defined the life of many Lagosians. The routine is leave early and arrive late to avoid and survive the gridlock.

    * Always listen to traffic radio/programmes: The Lagos State Government on May 29, 2012 launched the Lagos Traffic Radio 96.1FM to give Lagosians situation report on traffic. It offers information on alternative routes and locations where the gridlock is worse. They work in conjunction with the Lagos State Road Maintenance Agency (LASMA) and it is a reliable platform to get traffic information.

    * Always wind up your car windows: This is a safety tip to ward-off ‘snatch and run’ thieves. Traffic jams are the perfect cover for a lot of pickpockets who pretend to be beggars, or street hawkers.

    * You don’t always need to drive: For those who have the luxury of BRT buses around where they reside, it is advisable that you take public transport as an option. You actually don’t have to drive every day of the week.

    * Have an insight on when and where traffic builds up: It is very important to have a little knowledge of the times of day and week when traffic is at its peak this would go a long way.

    * Monitor the traffic situation on social media: There are some Twitter handles that provide authentic traffic updates daily, follow them and monitor their tweets religiously. With these updates, you can map your routes.

    * Shake your head to the melodious tune of your music player: When you’re stuck in traffic, staring in space while waiting for the line of vehicles in front of you move forward, you can occupy your mind with music while you wait. Great music will soothe you and reduce the mental stress you go through in traffic.

    In case you are stuck in the traffic, just relax. You’ll get home sooner or later. Anxiety or impatience won’t clear the roads or accelerate the vehicle.

  • Fact check: Claims of 80,000 poisoned cows from north false

    Claim – Are there 80,000 cows from the North with the virus of cow pox?

    Conclusion – No

    Full text

    A recent WhatsApp message circulated in groups claim there are currently 80,000 cows from the north with virus of cow pox.

    The broadcast reads: “Poison 80,000 cows from the north with the virus of cow pox. Please call all your family, tell them not to buy or eat cow meat from tomorrow by Nigeria government. There is virus of cow pox now. Send to people you know, you might save life. Please make sure you inform your loved ones.”

    This message may have been making rounds due to the current agitations against Ruga settlements, which many states and individuals have rejected, leading to its suspension by the federal government.

    Verification of claim

    Cow pox is an infectious disease caused by cowpox virus. The virus is zoonotic, meaning it is transferable between species such as from animal to human.

    The transferal of the disease was first observed in dairymaids who touched the udders of infected cows and consequently developed the signature pustules on their hands.

    Cowpox is more commonly found in animals other than bovines, such as rodents. Cowpox is similar to, but much milder than, the highly contagious and often deadly smallpox disease.

    The Nation and Dubawa check revealed a similar message was released in October 17, 2017 in a Facebook page titled “Never Give Up”.

    A google reversed image search revealed the picture attached to the 2019 claim making round is the picture of small pox vaccine blister popped while the first possible post that showed the picture was in August 10, 2011.

    Contacts were made to the various groups this was posted but no one seemed to know where it originated from. Everyone simply said they spread the news to educate others.

    Read Also: Fact Check analysis: Why Niger Governor’s May Day claims may not be true!

    Emails to the Federal Ministry of Health and Federal Ministry of Agriculture through their official email on the issue were not replied as at the time of filing this report.

    Boko Haram is a deadly Islamic sect operating in North East Nigeria, Cameroon and some neighboring countries. Its usual methods, namely bombings, shooting, destruction of properties and kidnap is well known but in saying the sect could have poisoned 80,000 cows with the “Cow Pox” virus would mean that Boko Haram may have added bioterrorism to its method.

    However, truth is it is nothing but a hoax.

    The message on WhatsApp and Facebook platforms is not based on any information from competent authorities.

    A nutritionist in the Niger Ministry of Health, Dietitian Asmau Abubakar Muhammad said cooking meat in high temperature can kill bacteria and virus, except for some that have been said to withstand high temperature which she said cow pox is does not belong to.

    “High temperature can kill bacteria and virus but there are some bacterial that can withstand high temperature but a micro-biologist can classify these bacteria.

    “But I can tell you that cooking to the right temperature can kill any virus or bacteria in meat.”

    Conclusion

    The claim that there are 80,000 poisoned cows from the north with the virus of cow pox and its picture is false and misleading. It is meant to create fear and panic among Nigerians.

    • This fact-check was done by a Dubawa Fact-checking Fellow in collaboration with The Nation.

  • Six surprising downsides of being extremely intelligent

    You might think life would be easier, happier, and infinitely more fulfilling if only you could rack up some extra IQ points.

    But that’s hardly the case. Below are six surprising downsides of being extremely intelligent:

    1. You often think instead of feel

    2. People frequently expect you to be a top performer

    3. You might not learn the value of hard work

    4. People may get annoyed that you keep correcting them in casual conversation

    5. You tend to overthink things

    6. You understand how much you don’t know.

    (www.newsnow.co.uk)

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