The Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) is 60. The agency, which was set up to provide a nursery of ideas on what direction Nigeria should take on international affairs, is seeking more roles for youths in nation building, reports Assistant Editor BOLA OLAJUWON

The Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) last week hosted two key events on the same day in Lagos. It unveiled its 60th anniversary logo and also hosted the commemoration of International Youth Day 2021, in conjunction with the United Nations (UN) system in Nigeria.

The institute was established in 1961 to provide a nursery of ideas on what direction Nigeria should take on international affairs. It has since its inception organised conferences, roundtables and lectures addressing foreign policy issues.

As an intellectual base that decision-makers rely on for informed opinion and expert advice, last week’s programme discussed how youths can be empowered to participate in peace-building and conflict resolution.

Undergraduates, the academia, agricultural experts, diplomats and international affairs experts exchanged ideas with the representative of Minister for Youth & Sports Sunday Dare, the NIIA Director-General, Prof. Eghosa Osaghae, the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Head of UN Nigeria Country Team, Mr. Edward Kallon, and Oniru of Iruland Oba Abdul-Wasiu Lawal, among others. They brought to the fore issues that young people deal with, including lack of opportunities.

Youths make demands

Taking advantage of the event, youths, who were interns of the NIIA, presented key demands to the gathering. These included the need for NIIA to include youths’ courses in its summer programme on peace-building and conflict resolution and a call for more opportunities for youths employment in NIIA, a request for the UN System to assist youths to attend foreign conferences and events, and the need to name an auditorium in honour of Oba Lawal to bring more development to the institute

Osaghae, while responding to the interns’ requests, said the NIIA would include youths’ courses in its summer programme on peace-building and conflict resolution and would also give more opportunities for youths’ employment in NIIA. He also said the management had agreed to name an auditorium in honour of Oba Lawal.

Oba Lawal, who said he accepted the honour, underscored the need for youths to be at the centre of the country’s development.

“As a royal father, I have long come to the conclusion that no society or nation can transform or develop itself unless they placed the youth at the epicentre of their development agenda. The youths bring to the table lofty visions and dreams supported by an indomitable spirit and a can-do mindset.”

Kallon, while responding to a request for UN System to assist youths to attend foreign conferences and events, said the UN System would look into how two youths could be sponsored to an international engagement.

He advised the youth to be the drivers of the future they want.

Opportunities for youths

Young people at the event learnt how agriculture could be used as a tool for youth empowerment.

Kallon and the Oniru of Iruland urged the Federal Government to empower the youth in the area of agriculture.

The traditional ruler, who listed the programmes he implemented as Commissioner for Agriculture in Lagos State, noted that Nigerian youths were capable of revolutionising the agricultural sector due to their innovation and creativity.

Oba Lawal said unemployment and agricultural value chain would be improved upon if the Nigerian youths were empowered.

Minister of Youth and Sports, who was represented by his Special Assistant on Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Corporate Affairs, Mrs. Oluwakemi Areola, urged the youth to talk to the government about what they want, insisting that the government was ready to listen and empower them.

He advised the youth not to let others define them, but to tell the world how they want to be defined and what they wanted to be known for.

According to the minister, the youth must promote themselves, the country and stop sharing negative stories about the country and the government.

An admonition on nationalism and patriotism

While youths seek opportunities for leadership, the NIIA DG also reminded them of their responsibilities.  Osaghae told the youth that nationalism and patriotism were the foundations of youth development, urging them to love their country.

He said if they loved their country, they would not seek what the country can do for them, but what they can do for their country.  He said Nigeria would come first when the youth imbibe the spirit of nationalism.

Osaghae said: “I want to bring a message of hope to young people. That hope can only be actualised by you. I belong to a generation that was well taken care of by this country and I believe I owe the country everything. Today, you may say that in relation to my generation, the country has not provided all the things that you need. I want to assure you as I started saying that in a few years’ time as you become old people, you will remember and say to the people who will be young at that time how the country took care of you.

“You will say this country has always taken care of us and this country will continue to take care of us. When the country does not have the capacity to do all that it should do for us, it is time to say ‘our country what can we do for you’. That is the context in which J.F. Kennedy, whose quotation is so proverbial, say ‘what can you do for your country rather than what your country can do for you’.

“There is a lot that you can do for your country. When you do for your country, you do for yourselves because if the country looks up, you look up yourself.”

Referencing the climate change report just released by the UN, Kallon said youths had to take charge today and not wait for the future as climate change could wreak havoc on the food supplies.

“The urgency of this moment means that we need youths to be the leaders of today, not tomorrow. And I know many young people are ready to lead – they simply need to be empowered. Their active involvement and leadership are critical as we enter the Decade of Action to implement the SDGs.

“As it happens, the theme of this year’s International Youth Day is ‘Transforming food systems: Youth innovation for human and planetary health.’”

“It is not just our energy systems that need to be transformed but our food systems, too. Young people in Nigeria can help revolutionise one of the nation’s largest employment sectors by bringing their innovation and creativity to bear on a system that needs to become sustainable and climate-friendly. Food system transformation is yet another way this generation can contribute to addressing the climate challenge…

“If harnessed effectively, the magnitude of the youth population offers a critical opportunity to lead Nigeria in its development aspirations, tackle the effects of a warming climate, and become Nigeria’s greatest asset as agents of change.”

Unveiling the 60th-anniversary logo

The anniversary logo and a massive poster bearing the photos of the founding fathers of NIIA, including the late Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, Sir Adetokumbo Ademola, Sir Louis Mbanefo, Dr. K.O. Dike, Hon. Shettima Kashim, Chief S.O. Adebo, and Dr. Aliyu Dikko, was unveiled at by the Oniru of Iruland.

 

 

Education and health experts at the 11th Guaranty Trust Holding Company Autism week have called on parents, guardians, caregivers and educators to practise an inclusive system of learning for children with autism and their typical counterparts.

Speaking at the conference last Wednesday, a consultant and speech-language pathologist, Dr. Grace Ojeamoren-Bamigboye, who works with autistic children, and those with speech defects and other development delays, said doing so was in line with global best practice.

She said: “Worldwide the advocacy for autism is mainly for inclusion – that kids, regardless of their developmental delays, should be educated within the same settings with their typically developing peers. This means that they will be in the same classroom with their peers but they will be managed based on their specific needs. So, for example, he or she has autism but the child is a child first before the autism, so let us stop defining the child by the disability or the difference; let us define the child and provide the support the child needs. So the child will need to be in an inclusive system and then get the support therapist to come in and provide that services; the special educator will come in, the psychiatrist, the psychologist and as the need be.”

She explained how an inclusive classroom could operate without slowing down learning for typically- developing children.

“People that practise inclusion will do it  in such a way that the learning content will not be slowed down for other children that are developing typically; rather the learning would be more defined for that child in that classroom and then you will provide professionals that can manage that child so that the child does not see himself being different,” she said.

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She further advised parents not to separate their wards because some have special needs.

“We have parents who will take the child because they practise inclusion but take their other typically developing child to another pedigree of school that they think fits their family. So we are also encouraging parents that inclusion is not you saying my child goes to an inclusive school, inclusion should still be from the home where both kids are; and riding in the same car to the same school together”, she said.

A special needs educator, Adelola Edema-George, said parents should join support groups.

“There are quite many private support groups for mothers of children with special need in general. Some are tailored down to autism and one of the things we learned during this programme is that even in finding these support groups, parents should decide what they want.  You can be in a group and their narrative is different from yours so maybe a group is just created to help parents vent and everything and that is not what you need.  You want a group that is speaking positively and helping you see the positive side of your child. Of course, the best kind of support group is not the one that vents but the one that has a positive narrative to say how do we effectively help these children to succeed. Government hospitals have support groups but if it does not pay you there are private support groups and I know they help the emotional well-being of the child,” she said.

However, Dr. Ojeamoren-Bamigboye added that there was a need for parents to understand their children’s needs so they know what works and what might not work.

“A parent might be talking from the angle of helping his or her child with cerebral palsy and because this other parent with autism does not know what that other parent is talking about and might say, ‘oh! The person is giving a success story.’ And the parent will do the same thing that the person did to his child which may not apply to his or her child”, said Dr Ojeamoren-Bamigboye.

Coordinator, EU-UN Spotlight Initiative in Nigeria, Hadiza Dorayi, has said only four per cent of girls in Kano and Jigawa states complete secondary education.

The development, which she described as “quite unfortunate”, is responsible for child marriages in the country.

Dorayi said this during a panel discussion at the Determined, Aspire, Re-Imagine and Express (#DARE2021) conference, organised by YouthHubAfrica, a civil society in Abuja.

The pan-African conference with the theme: “Expanding Margins” focused on sexual and gender – based violence (SGBV), education, early marriages and culture with regards to women and girls in society.

The conference was geared towards ending SGBV against women and girls in Nigeria and Africa.

Dorayi said: “I come from a region, the Northwest; specifically if you look at my state – Kano, Jigawa states, we have only four per cent of girls completing secondary education. It is very unfortunate, in fact I don’t know how many people in Abuja will even believe that there is such a statistics. Go and check it out.

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“It is quite unfortunate that we have this level of figure that has a direct linkage with child marriage. ‘’When girls are not in school they become a liability to their parents who most likely will marry them off so that they can transfer the liability of taking care of these children to somebody they call a husband.

“A girl that is fully educated at least at the basic level has a lot of advantages within the society.”

Dorayi, noted that girls who are not in school are vulnerable to early marriage because they become a “liability” to their parents who then marry them off.

“The key is getting girls to complete their education so that they can benefit themselves, their families, children, their communities, and society,” the EU – UN Spotlight Initiative national coordinator added.

Executive Director of YouthHubAfrica, Rotimi Olawale called for the continuation of programmes and initiatives designed to support young women in the country.

“One area is on education. We have heard today that in Northwest Nigeria four per cent of girls complete secondary school and that number needs to increase dramatically. In the same region over 50 per cent of boys complete secondary school,” he said.

 

Chairman, Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KSUBEB), Prof. AbdulRaheem Adaramaja has urged the 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state to pay attention to providing skills-based training for youths.

Adaramaja said equipping youths with skills was one way of eradicating poverty at the grassroots at the end of a week-long skills acquisition programme organised by the department of education, Ilorin South LGA.

No fewer than 150 youths graduated from the programme, which Adaramaja urged other councils to copy.

He said: “For the fact that the trainees went through the programme, endured and came out successfully is a thing of joy. I pray to Almighty God that you will all become employers.

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“I urge other 15 local councils in the state to emulate this gesture. Councils nowadays need to do more of this. Councils should train youths to be self-dependent rather than depending on government.

“We have a lot of jobless youths scattered across the 16 local government areas of the state.

“Handing over N10,000 or N5,000 as a form of empowerment is not the best. The best of the best is this type of training, so that the beneficiaries will stand on their own and in the future become.”

Council’s Transition Implementation Committee (TIC) chair Zubair Sulu-Gambari said the aim of the programme is to eradicate poverty in the council and reduce “if not eradicate anti-social vices, among our youths.”

The vaginal infection, also known as candidiasis, is a fungal infection that causes irritation, discharge and intense itchiness in the vaginal area around the vulva (the tissue at the vaginal opening).

About 90% of women at some point in their lifetime experience at least two episodes of the infection.

The vaginal yeast infection is not considered a sexually transmitted infection but there’s a huge possibility of getting it during the time of first regular sexual activity.

Vaginal candidiasis ranges from mild to moderate then to complicate. Although most vaginal infection is mild, some women can develop severe infection such as redness, swelling and cracks in the walls of the vagina.

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A healthy vagina contains bacteria and some yeast cells but when the balance of the bacteria and yeast changes, the yeast cells can multiply and cause other symptoms such as:

*Itchiness and irritation in the vagina and vulva.

*Pain and discomfort when urinating.

*Pain during intercourse.

*Abnormal vaginal discharge.

*Burning sensation, especially during intercourse or while urinating.

*Thick creamy discharge

*Vaginal rash.

*Vaginal soreness.

There are so many factors that can cause vaginal candidiasis. They include:

*Antibiotics.

*Pregnancy.

*Uncontrolled diabetes.

*Poor eating habit.

*Stress.

*Lack of sleep.

*Hormonal imbalance near your menstrual cycle.

How to prevent vaginal yeast infection

Though yeast infection can be really annoying and might seem difficult to combat but there are so many ways to prevent it from recurring. Below are some of the ways to prevent vaginal yeast infection:

✓Practice good hygiene: Bath 2-3 times daily and change your panties 3-4times daily.

✓Don’t douche. Douching is a method of washing inside a woman’s vagina using water or other mixtures of fluid.

✓Wear underwear made of cotton. This helps to keep the vagina dry and doesn’t hold in too much heat and moisture.

✓Avoid any tight underwear, pants or jeans.

✓Change tampons, pads and panty liners regularly.

✓Avoid the use of scented feminine products.

✓Avoid bringing sprays, lotion etc in contact with the vagina.

✓Don’t wash the vagina with soap or harsh chemicals but only clean water.

✓Change out of wet swimsuits and workout clothes as soon as you can.

✓Keep the vagina clean and dry.

✓Avoid very hot baths.

✓Wipe from front to back after using the bathroom.

✓Talk to your doctor or nurse before treating yourself for a vagina infection.

Also, once you get a yeast infection, you’re most likely to get another one so ensure to keep the vagina clean at all time and you’re on your way to getting a vagina free from bacteria and yeast infection.

No matter the season, keeping your lip soft is a constant struggle and as those with perennially dry lips know, a mere lip balm is not enough to prevent the chap.

Here are single expert tip for how to get soft lips:

1. Exfoliate.

Buffing away flakes can help alleviate a chapped pout and smooth out lip lines ( those grooves and cracks etched into your lips that cause even the creamiest of lipsticks to crease).

2. Hydrate.

Hydration works twofold: You’ll want to coat the lips with hydrating ingredients and make sure you get enough water (the first sign of dehydration is often dry lips, in case you’re unaware). Studies have even shown that adequate amounts of water can increase dermal thickness of the skin—including the lips.

3. Use a lip mask.

The skin is more permeable at night, so it’s best to seal in tons of moisture right before bed. The same rule applies to your lips: Just as you might opt for a thicker night cream to lock in moisture, apply a heavier lip mask to condition your lips all night long.

4. Don’t lick or pick at your lips.

Do your best to refrain from manually peeling especially those dry, dead flakes of skin. “This delicate skin won’t heal if the dry parts are continually picked off

Licking your lips is also not as harmless as you may think: Unless there’s an occlusive on top to trap in the water, it can dry out on the surface and lead to even worse conditions.

5. Layer your lip products.

This tip is for the parched lips among us (like, if your lips wither up seconds after swiping on a balm). To truly deliver moisture, you’ll want to layer your lip care.

Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN) has issued a 60-day ultimatum to unregistered veterinary outfits or face the consequences.

The Council urged them to register with their various state committees within the next 60 days.

VCN President, Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Dr. Aishatu Abubakar Baju, made this known while inaugurating the Veterinary Practice Premises Committee (VPPC), Lagos, Oyo and Ogun states.

Baju said the committees were empowered to register, profile and regulate veterinary premises across the state, adding that the Council is digitising and geo-mapping veterinary practices across the country.

She said one of the ways through which the Council carries out its regulatory function is by making sure veterinary practice premises are duly registered and maintain minimum standard of practice that would ensure delivery of quality services to the populace.

“It is expected that the Committee will be given all the support it needs to deliver on its mandate.

“Lagos State is very strategic in the livestock industry in Nigeria as it holds the highest number of private veterinary premises and related industries in Nigeria. As a result, the provision of veterinary services to these industries need to be properly regulated to ensure that they receive the best veterinary and other animal healthcare services.

“By law, each state should have an effective VPPC which is saddled with the responsibility of regulating the operations of the veterinary premises and the practitioners at the state level on behalf of the VCN. It is, therefore, imperative that the state government must support the committee for the benefit of the state and the entire country.

“I have been reliably informed of the massive support that livestock industry, including veterinary services has been receiving from the government of Lagos State over the years and this is very commendable.

“Having said that, it is also pertinent to observe some gaps that need to be addressed for better veterinary services delivery. These include, but not limited to; inadequate human resources in the state veterinary services. Lagos State has in its employ a total 25 veterinarians and 13 veterinary paraprofessionals and I have been reliably informed of the approval of the governor of the state for the employment of additional 20 veterinarians and 10 veterinary paraprofessionals,’’ she added.

 

The Lagos State government has activated 10 oxygen treatment and sample collection centres.

Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, in a statement, said 20 local government areas-based COVID-19 sample collection sites were also reactivated.

He said the centres, set up during the first and second waves of the pandemic, had been rejigged to provide swift oxygen therapy to residents who require it.

He said the centres were also to provide easy access to COVID-19 testing for residents.

According to him, the centres are strategically located in 10 local government areas with a high burden of COVID-19 infection.

“The reactivation of these centres and sites are part of the strategies adopted in response to the recent increase in COVID-19 infection occasioned by the third wave of new strains,” he said.

Also yesterday, the Federal Government says the ravaging third wave Delta variant can be defeated if all citizens play their part in the fight against the pandemic.

Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, who said spoke at the weekly ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team, urged everyone to help beat the dangerous third wave of the pandemic.