By Femi Kusa

 

In a new year, everyone expects everything about themselves to become new, even if they are not prepared to become “born again”. So, they literally cursed 2019 for the ” woes “on their paths as the old year took its bow at midnight on December 31.

So, in the quest for “what is new”, many people have been curious about what new plant medicines will adorn the shelves of health food stores this year.

As I suggested last week, we should expect to see more and talk more about CBD oil or hemp oil this year. We should, also, expect more showing by quantum energy gadgets.

We have heard about protective energy eye glasses , healing energy boxers, shoes and pendants. The skyline will parade more this year. But I expect CBD oil to top the chart.

The old brigade nutritional supplements will hold their grounds. New names, which would be like old wines in new skin, are already featuring.

By these I mean old single recipes in various combinations will present themselves in new packaging under alluring names to make over as new products.

We know that bilbery, Indian gooseberry, rutin, Alpha Lipoic acid, lutein, zeazanthin, asthazanthin and wolf berry for example, are good vision supplements. Some proprietary formulas may re arrange or reconfigure them in varying dosages and parade them as new discoveries or inventions under a new proprietary or brand name.

So, it would be important to check labels carefully. I have seen that with a popular vitamin c formula which the producers may have been trying to rescue from consumer fatigue.

The “new born” vitamin C, under a new name, is exactly the same formula as the old , which is still trudging along in the market against new comers brimming with the shine of “youth”

 

Oxygen medicine

An important  plant or food medicine which was scarce in Nigeria last year was oxygen. I remembered oxygen tablets and the liquid oxygen drink last week when I heard of the passage of an 83 years plus avid reader of this column for many years, and the serious condition in which a tuberculosis  challenged woman has found herself.

Their situations led me down memory lane to some people who benefitted from oxygen food supplements some years ago. One of these beneficiaries was a woman who would not get herself together in a crowd.

Such people are said to suffer from CLAUSTRAPHOBIA. That means they have a phobia for small spaces and for gatherings. No matter the amount of air in such spaces, they believe it is not enough and this belief makes them to want to faint or to actually pass out.

One of them who benefitted from energy tablets then selling in Nigeria hated bus rides. Instead, she would rather ride in taxis, however short the distance and expensive the cost. People around her who did not know the challenges she faced thought she was “raising shoulders”.

Her husband had to hire apartments with huge rooms and big kitchens.And when they built their own house, the kitchen was the size of three standard single rooms, the building was adorned with 23 windows and the head room was two coaches higher than normal, to increase the volume of air in the building.

As for another woman, she often slumped in church and had to abandon Sunday worship for months until a care giver suggested oxygen tablets to the husband.

The most prominent liquid oxygen formula that I can immediately recall reigned in the years of yore was the FOOD GRADE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE ( H2O 2).

Please note that this product is the food grade of hydrogen peroxide. We are familiar with some proprietary brands sold over the counter as a mouthwash.

This variant goes as well for acne, and some other skin diseases. Dr F Batmanghelidj, author of notable books on medicine, in his OBESITY, CANCER, DEPRESSION, his last work which he did not complete before his passage:

“Hydrogen peroxide and ozone act as local antiseptics against bacteria and the anaerobic cancer cells. Some free oxygen is also provided for the standard white cells in the middle of the inflamed and isolated area. This is how interferon normally acts as a natural and vital anti cancer chemical in a properly hydrated body”.

It is now established that oxygen is an enemy of cancer cells, and that the more oxygenated the human body is the more difficult is it for disease germs or cancer cells to have a foothold in it, let alone ravage it.

This is one of the reasons why sometime ago hydrogen peroxide became popular as a blood and tissue oxygenating food supplement.

Used in the plant kingdom to protect crops against their predators, hydrogen peroxide not only protected the roots of plants but also stimulated them to absorb more nutrients from the soil which made the plant to grow better.

Hydrogen peroxide comes in different grades and strengths such as…three percent for household use, six to 10 percent (hair bleaching), 35 percent (food grade) and 90 percent (industrial).

The three percent comes often in a brown bottle. The foam it produces on grazes and cuts or in the mouth when used as a rinsing agent is evidence that it is killing germs.

But, lately, evidence that it also kills healthy cells has led doctors to turn their backs against it. Even the 35 percent food grade hydrogen peroxide once recommended for oxygenation has to be carefully diluted to take away its potential deadly strings.

To be frank, I hate the taste at any dilution. It is so putrid, all I always think Iam drinking is a nuclear waste added to drinking water. Such is the feeling I also have about volcanic waste substances which are built into some brands of “energy cups”.

These cups are sold to be filled with water and said to alkalise and enhance the energy of its content into which it leaches. It is, therefore, not surprising that hydrogen peroxide did not hit the mountain tops in the Nigerian Alternative Medicine market.

Rearing its head, but not so sure it would fly, is ozone injections. Ozone continues to divide  doctors in the united states. It is given to the oxygen needing patient through injections by specially trained doctors, sometimes secretly.This is a therapy with three atoms of oxygen.

With it, trouble may burst if the doctor is not well trained to handle it. For single oxygen atoms may fly off, creating free radical issues.

To protect against this, the doctor would normally prescribe an antioxidant. But trust  Nigerian patients. They often argue that prescriptions are one or too many, believing that the doctor is trying to rip their purses.

So, they take out the anti oxidant and the ozone turns up as a rabid therapy.

As I said earlier, two recent cases which may have been well contained on dietary oxygen therapy reminded me of oxygen tablets and the liquid oxygen food supplement.

 

First case

This is the death of the 80 years plus gentleman. He looked good for his age but for a vision challenge which his children lovingly helped him to confront , sometimes at high financial cost at cutting edge eye clinics in Lagos.

One of them , in fact, devoted her life to the care, ensuring she personally administered eye drops right on the hour mark.

Then, about a month ago, he developed a cough which as usual, was well attended to, except that the cough turned out bigger than the punches thrown at it. In hospital, the doctors saw what the family did not but did not lay all the scripts on the table.

The cough had progressed beyond even bronchitis to pneumonia. The patient was admitted to the general ward and placed on oxygen. The gadget was inconvenient to him, and he often asked that it be removed.

The doctors advised that he be moved from the general ward to the intensive care unit(ICU) where special machines would be used to drive oxygen right down to the lungs.

The gadget in the general ward could not do this. But admission to the ICU required the deposit of one million naira. For a lower middle class family, this was a bill too huge to speedily raise within the short time they were informed and the time he passed.

I have not fully recovered from the shock of his passage. He read this column every week for as long as his vision permitted it, or asked someone to read to him. He loved to speak with me about every column.

Sometimes, he would appeal to me to pay him a visit at home, and I would oblige him. If I knew he had bronchitis and pneumonia, I would suggest that he try goldenseal root, oregano oil or tincture, astragalus, olive leaf extract, colloidal silver, vitamin c, zinc and shark liver oil or squalene.

Shark liver oil contains some squalene. Squalene is the chemical substance present in the body of the shark which enables it to live on the seabed, a depth at which oxygen is scarcely available.

Squalene permits such an efficient use of oxygen that very little oxygen rations may sustain life where more abundant oxygen rations may not in the absence of this substance.

Squalene is present in the skin of humans, but the amount diminishes with age. In the skin it protects against all kinds of troubles.

In the body, it is like vitamin E which also helps to maximise low oxygen supplies, especially at mountain tops as many mountain climbers have discovered at these oxygen deficient heights.

If the lungs were heavily infected and congested, mullein and CBD oil would be added to the list. CBD oil is an anti inflammatory, anti pain and a system balance.

Second case

This is another case of cough involving the elderly, this time a woman in her seventies. Her cough was attributed to tuberculosis of the lungs.

The disease was made substantial in roads into both lungs. For a woman who was treating high blood cholesterol with anti cholesterol pharmaceutical drugs, this was like a case of double jeopardy.

The doule jeopardy is that

1)The damaged lungs cannot bring in all the oxygen she needs to sustain her life, by liberating energy from the food she eats for the well being and protection of her cells.

2)Anti cholesterol drugs block the pathways through which the body produces co enzyme Q 10 or, better still, ubiquinol, the most bio available form of co Q 10. In the cells, co Q 10 is needed to produce that much talked about energy  inside energy “factories” known as mitochondria.

It is now well established by scientific research that the number of mitochondria in a cell depends on the amount of co Q 10 available to the cell.

Thus, to produce the right amount of energy everyday, the cells must have the right number of mitochondria. The heart, as the organ which hardly rests day and night from conception in the womb to the grave is endowed with the largest number of mitochondria for its work.

We must thank medical researchers such as Dr Karl Folkers who devoted more than 50 years of his life to the study of co Q 10 to findings such as that heart disease and failure becomes inevitable when the heart’s need for co Q 10 is undersupplied by about 25 percent.

If dietary anomalies undersupply co Q 10 to the body and drug therapy of high blood cholesterol block attempts by the liver to produce co Q 10, it is evident that a pattern of energy deficiency may be established throughout the system as a rationing of scarce co Q 10 ensues and the heart is undoubtedly well affected.

It was not surprising, therefore, that in addition to her inability to obtain adequate amounts of oxygen from breathing, inadequate dietary supply of co q 10 and co Q 10 production by the liver have combined to make her extremely weak.

The admission of this woman into the general ward and not into an intensive care unit is no doubt connected to the availability of funds and raises another social problem in Lagos State and in Nigeria generally.

In Lagos State, both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Information have done a wonderful job of educating the public about the existence of both national and state health insurance policies which offer medical care at little or zero expense.

The trouble besetting these offers are public skepticism or the habit of not wishing to expend money today to prevent or to solve tomorrow’s problems whenever it pops up.

The woman we speak about will be under pharmaceutical drug therapy for six months to free the rest of her body of tuberculosis.

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

 

Six months on, these drugs will impoverish her friendly bacteria population and cause fungi and yeast overgrowth which may intensify toxemia, energy depletion,  inflammation and pain, to mention only a few health discomfeitures, as these drugs would wipe out friendly and unfriendly bacteria alike.

Thus, while it may be suggested that she undergo the hospital treatment with food supplements mentioned earlier in the case of the gentleman who just passed, anti-bacterials such as Amazon C-F and mango seed extract may be added. Mango seed extract is so powerful it even kills sperm.

Indian women use it as a natural spermicide for contraceptive purposes. They lather it into the secret place before any engagement.

Sure enough, as it kills foreign substances either as topical applications on the skin or when used orally, it kills candida in vaginal candidiasis and bacteria throughout the body. In the “war” against tuberculosis, the population of other disease germs must be controlled as well.

This will reduce the number of “enemy” germs the immune system has to deal with. There are tuberculosis germs in the bodies of many people .

They are probably not active because their bacterial and viral loads are not huge enough to overwhelm the immune system. In this regard, it is wise to reinforce the body’s natural anti oxidant defences such as immune GLUTHATHIONE and SUPER OXIDE DISMUTASE (SOD) using food supplements such as cell gevity, N-acetyl cysteine(NAC) and, perhaps, stem cell therapy in the form of Stemgevity e.t.c.

When the battle is “won and lost”, courtesy of William Shakespeare in MACBETH, and “the hurly burly is over”, it would be time to rebalance the friendly bacteria population with PROBIOTICS, to avert another health crisis.

Meanwhile, in the absence of credible oxygen therapy as already discussed, I recall the admonition of my wife always to our children who in those days detested beans at meal times…”You should accept whatever your mummy gives you”.

The “mummy” of all of us is…MOTHER NATURE. What does she offer us all for dietary oxygen? It is chlorophyll. This is the green pigment of plants which gives them the power to unite forces of the air and those of the soil to make all sort of fruits, vegetables, herbs, cash and subsistent crops, timber and even …HEMP (CBD)oil which is surfacing as plant medicine of the decade.

From scientific and medical studies, we now believe that chlorophyll, the plant’s blood and power, is the foundation and structural framework for human blood. The chemical structure of chlorophyll, the square of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen is held together by magnesium.

Haemoglobin, the oxygen carrying aspect of human blood, has the same structure held together by iron. Thus when we eat greens or drink greens, we recharge human blood and infuse it especially with…OXYGEN.

Thus, this column always calls out… LET’S DRINK GREEN, THE EARTH IS NOT GREEN FOR THE FUN OF IT. We can find oxygen in the juice of wheatgrass, barley grass, spirulina, chlorella, bitter leaf, pawpaw(papaya leaf).One or two decades ago, we sold in Nigeria a product called ALKALIVE GREEN.

The name came from the alkalinising power of greens. About 45 plant green leaves were assembled in alkalive green in powder form.

There was, also, alkalive red, in which all the berries were assembled for antioxidant force. Then, there was alkalive blue, for all the blues and calming forces. The liquid chlorophyll is a good bet for small oxygen in today’s Nigeria’s economy.

 

CBD oil

As far back as 1893-1894, the Indian hemp drugs commission in India taught the world that native Indians effectively used hemp to treat tuberculosis and other health conditions.

Even the Zulus of South Africa used hemp to treat respiratory diseases such as asthma, the common cold and tuberculosis. The Mexicans, too, used hemp to treat tuberculosis. Argentina’s folk medicine speaks of it as well.

Abandonment of folklore for pharmaceutical drugs has led to multi drug resistant tuberculosis and “excessively” drug resistant variants which have perplexed doctors and medical researchers.

But now that hemp oil is finding its way back to central medicine, and ways have been found to eliminate the psychoactive tetra hydro cannabinol(THC), the coast is clear for CBD oil to finally take its rightful place in the modern treatment of all respiratory diseases, especially tuberculosis.

By Segun Omolayo

 

We are not sure we could get a better introduction to this week’s edition than the kind words of Friday Jarikre, Esq. about the last edition of this column and about the column itself. He says via e-mail:

“Hello Uncle Segun,

“Your education column – Writers Beware – makes The Nation newspaper of Thursday is very exciting for me. Sir, you discussed idioms and pointed out some errors vis-à-vis their usage in our day-to-day communication.

The topic is captivating and very apt. English speakers in Nigeria are guilty of misusing idioms to suit themselves without recourse to the fact that  creative liberty is not applicable when one uses idioms.

May I please request that you deal with the following idiom that I consider to be misused by Nigerians than every other idiom – eat your cake and have it (wrong) and … have your cake and eat it (correct).

The majority of Nigerians say the former which is wrong compared to the latter which is correct. I will be most grateful if you deal with this in your next edition as it will be very beneficial to many Nigerians, especially your readers. Happy New Year, sir.”

Many thanks to you, too, Mr. Jarikre. And do have a wonderful 2020 (A calendar year was never so sweet-sounding!) Certainly, we will deal with quite a few English idioms in the editions to follow.

But first, we join you immediately to accentuate correct usage. As asserted in your missive, the correct idiom is: Have your cake and eat it, meaning “to have or do two good things at the same time that are impossible to have or do at the same time” (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary).

The dictionary illustrates thus: “You can’t have your cake and eat it – if you want more local services, you can’t expect to pay less tax.” So, never again should we say, you can’t eat your cake and have it.

Though idioms are not strictly matters of logic by definition, it can help us all to abolish the arrant adulteration of an otherwise elegant English standard idiom. Truly, can you have something you have already eaten?

And the next one is perhaps one of the most abused of the idioms:

What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Not so for labour, rights and revolution activists of sundry hues or anyone who is staking a claim to equality or equity.

Hear them in their stock bombast: “Something tells me that what is good for the goose is good for the gander.” To be sure, this kind of rhetoric always draws loud applause, especially on public rostrums – even when it is a sheer effusion of pure idiomatic garbage.

Correct usage is: what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, and it is used to mean “what is appropriate in one case is also appropriate in the other case in question” or “what one person is allowed to do, another person must be allowed to do in a similar situation” (“Pop” Errors).

According to “Pop” Errors, “It is used to challenge a situation where different standards are used for different persons or things, or where there is discrimination between persons or things. But let it be stated correctly at all times like this:

“Something tells me that what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.”

You would appreciate the inherent force of this commonplace saying a lot better if you would note that a gander is a male goose!

Read Also: IDIOMS I

 

A far cry

In the following sentence, someone has slightly tweaked this idiom. He says:

This is far cry from the time when the near-violent contention threatened the peace of the area.

No matter how adept you are at taking creative liberty, this idiom, like all other idioms, should not be altered mindlessly. The original idiom is: be a far cry from something, from which the misusage in the defective sentence has been adapted.

To many, the drop-off of the article a from the faulty adaptation of the idiom may not mean much. But if you care about euphony and elegance, it should matter greatly to you.

Remember, euphony is the pleasantness of a sound in your ears. If this is far cry sounds primitive in your ears, no one can accuse you of being too finicky.

To toe the line

Some simply choose to use this idiom the way they like, thereby altering the meaning irredeemably, as in:

Disciplinary measures should be taken to prevent others from towing the same path.

The mutilation of the standard idiom concerned here is almost three-sixty degrees. Two key words in it, namely, toe and line, have been wrongly replaced, thereby inventing an untenable idiom of the writer’s fancy.

The expression so abused is: toeing the line – a derivative of the idiom to toe the line, meaning “to do what you are ordered or expected to do” (Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, cited in “Pop” Errors).

According to the book, ‘Another form of the idiom is toe the mark, with a similar meaning, namely: “to do or say what somebody in authority tells you to say or do, even if you do not share the same opinion” (here citing Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary).’

To make matters clearer, we stretch out the highly-nuanced expression in the correct usage below:

Disciplinary measures should be taken to prevent others from toeing the line.

 

 

By Busola Odugbesan

 

No doubt, education is the most powerful catalyst for social transformation. It was a good day for the pupils of Anglican Primary School, Muslim Primary School and other schools at Abigi, Ijebu Waterside, Ogun State when Oba Olusegun Oludolapo Ogunye, and Rotary Club of Gowon Estate visited to donate learning materials to them.

The donations, which included writing materials, bags, note books and text books  are for both  the pupils and teachers of the schools.

Speaking at Anglican School, Abigi, Oba Ogunye, during a presentation of some materials to  one of the  head teachers of the schools, said life is about sharing and giving.

He said  the foundation was  committed to providing adequate resources to fight illiteracy in the state and the country.

He also said it was not the first time Rotary would be doing great things to communities all over the world, adding that it was the turn of his community Abigi Ijebu water side,  to feel the organisation’s impact.

He laid emphasis on the need to educate young people, saying that it would help secure a  bright future, not just for the children but for the society at large.

Read Also: Rotary Club donates N5m Chemistry Lab

 

Oba Ogunye thanked Rotary Club  for coming to his community to touch lives. He prayed that God would continue to lift them up.

Presenting the items to the pupils President of the club, Olua Oscar, said: ‘’Kabiyesi is our father, it is an honour to be welcomed by him. It is in his honour we are here today.

Rotary is all about reaching out/touching lives, which includes education, health and so many things to the community and all over the world’’.

He further said: ’’Our gesture for providing learning materials to all pupils of the school is one step and many more of such assistance will come’’. The Club president urged parents and teachers to take charge of their wards’ education seriously because they are tomorrow’s leaders.

Assistant Head Teacher of Muslims Primary School, Abigi, Mrs Yaya Kehinde Adenike, said: “We appreciate the effort of the Rotary Club, for their presence and donations to the primary schools in Abigi community, what they give the teachers and pupils will help us, most, especially the pupils. I am sure the beneficiaries would be very happy for this effort.

‘’Also, we appreciate Oba Ogunye for his contributions. We say thank you and Almighty God will reward you all.’’

A happy pupil of Muslim Primary School, Abigi,Abdulrazak Jelilat, said:’’I was very happy when I saw the king and some people. I knew that something good was  coming my way and I was really anxious for the good tidings.’’

By Sampson Unamka and Saliman Munirat

 

Executive Director, Step Up Nigeria, Oyinye Ough, has urged youths to shun corrupt practices, which will have  far-reaching consequences for them.

Speaking at the unveiling of her  book  entitled:  Tosin’s Story,  at the Westview College, Lagos, she noted that the  book is a modern parable about the impact of corruption in the society  adding that it was written  to  enlighten young ones on the evils of corruption in media practice.

“I hope to create a generation of young people that will speak up for truth, that will prioritise integrity over corruption, that will understand the negative impact that corruption has in the society,”she said.

Speaking further, she said: “Tosin’s Story is my third anti-corruption book. It  is in series, the first one was on corruption,it was entitled Emeka’s Money, the second one was Halimah’s Vote which talked about vote buying in elections , the third one talks about corruption in the media .

Usually, my books are written as parables. I am not focusing on one, I am looking at different aspects of corruption, so that children will understand how corruption occurs in different ways that will enable them to be conscious  and understand the consequences.”

Read Also: Interior Minister advises staff to shun corruption

 

She said initially her books were published for kids between  six and 10 in primary school, but now this new book is for junior secondary school pupils between 10 and 14, adding that her next book still on anti-corruption is in the works and will be out soon.

She said:  “The Step Up Nigeria creative team is trying to build bridges between government and citizens with the Catch Them Young Initiative  aimed at  educating young people on dangers of corruption.

Proprietor of Westview College, Bukayo Osememe  while praising the author, said: “Of course it is going to educate our kids because most of them are  unaware of  what corruption is all about.

When they read the book they will know  that corruption is something everybody needs to  fight.The  result of corruption in Nigeria as a whole is something devastating and for us to tackle it ,it  should start from the kids.’’

 

Our reporter

 

THE Fifth Nigerian Child Information Communication Technology (ICT) Awards has held in Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos.

The event, which held at Excellence Hotel, attracted no fewer than 100 people, including 10 schools, with their owners, teachers and pupils, from Lagos and Ogun states.

The award organisers, Talent Hunt Expression’s Project Coordinator Kingsley Kalu, said over 2000 pupils drawn from several schools took part in the exercise.

He noted: ”ICT is the bedrock on which the economy is being driven.” He said the questions on which the pupils were tested were 80 per cent practicals and the balance theory, adding that the contest was built on the tripod of consistency, transparency and excellence.

He urged school owners to accept the results, saying: ”We don’t do selection, we do merit. Don’t hold grudges, if your school does not win.” He said for the first time, the organisers introduced the secondary school category.

He thanked the sponsors of the awards. They included Fidelity Bank, MI Phone, Dominion Pizza, Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship (FGBMF) and Adrion Homes. Specifically, he praised Faith Academy, Gowon Estate, and Access International, Adeoye International School, Sango for their support.

Read Also: Mane, Oshoala really deserve their CAF awards, football enthusiasts say

 

On the turnout, Kalu said: ”I am overwhelmed by the turnout. We know we have just started. With your support, the sky is the limit.”

Five winners each emerged in the two categories. While Damilola Marvellous of Hampsons International School, Ota, Ogun State took first position in the primary category, carting a N100,000 and a laptop prize, Kayode Iretomiwa of Ambassadors School was number one in the secondary category. He grabbed N150,000 and a desktop. For the first time, the 150 top scorers were also rewarded.

A National Director of FGBMF in Ogba Ikponmwosa Obazee praised the event. ‘He said: ‘It’s exciting in the sense that the young ones were contesting. ICT is the way to go in the world. This event is about awareness and sensitisation. It tells us about the future of ICT.”

Jonathan Kalu, FGBMF chapter president, lauded the event. He said there was room for opening up the awards. Being an individual initiative, he urged the government and more corporate organisations to support the awards to boost the Nigerian child capacity in the sector.

By Elo Edremoda, Warri

 

To effectively tackle security challenges in Nigeria, newly graduating officers of the Nigerian Naval Engineering College (NNEC), Sapele in Delta State, have been charged to improve on other skills, beyond the technical training gained in the college.

The Flag Officer Commanding Naval Training Command, Rear Admiral Stanford Enoch, gave the charge, during the graduation ceremony of 196 officers, including nine Army personnel at the NNEC.

The graduands comprise 196  trainees of the Artificer Course (A30B and A32A), Automobile Mechanic Course 20, Basic Mechanic Course 31, 3rd Rate Driving Qualifying Course, 2nd Rate and 3rd Rate Firemen Courses.

According to the FOC, the ability of the officers to deliver on tasks outside of their technical trainings, will go a long way in adding value to the military.

He expressed gratitude to the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, for investments in infrastructure, teaching aids and other resources made available to the college.

Enoch, who was special guest of honour, noted that the training standard of the college has continued to improve and it is reflected in the results of the graduands.

“They have spent about four years and have been given the  best. This programme was interspersed with training attachment which also helped to enhance their skills.

Read Also: Navy impounds seven vessels for bunkering

 

“However, when they go into the field, they are going to meet their superiors who have been on ground, so on the job training is very key. A few of them may have some other skills to exploit, to further improve themselves beyond what they have been taught.

“They should also exploit personal abilities to add value to the Navy, so that overall, we will be able to have Nigerian content to maintain our ships and reduce our expenditure through importation .

“They should realise that they have been in the training environment for a long period and going into the field, they should avoid temptations. They should also know that they could be deployed to perform duties order than just technical duties because they are military personnel first of all.

“And so, they must be disciplined, keep themselves away from trouble, from drugs and other vice that may reduce their work and value,” Enoch advised.

He further remarked on the partnership between the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Navy in the training of personnel, adding that it has “helped to foster inter-agency corporation while also developing technical manpower capacity for the services”.

Our Reporter

 

The Lagos Inter-schools Cup Football category semi-final is slated for January 22, 2020.

In the girls category, Renics College, Gowon Estate will face neighbours  Roshallom School; while Elibel College, Abesan Estate,  will lock horns with Mila Schools of Ayobo.

To reach this stage, Elibel beat TTVM 4-1,  while Mila managed a lone goal win over Brighthope High School, Agege.

Roshallom defeated D and D of Agege while Renics walked over Latmos College which did not show up.

In the boys category, Elibel saw off  Effortswill 2–1.

Muhammed Adegoke’s lone strike was enough for Soundhope Private Academy Ipaja to beat Brighthope.

Roshallom saw off D&D  while TTVM Schools Ikotun  edged out Renics 5–4 through penalty shoot out .

Read Also: Grange School Football Academy for official launch July 4

 

Meanwhile, organisers have revealed that schools can still register for the Table Tennis and Athletics event.

The Table tennis event which is scheduled for the magnificent sports hall of Ostra Schools Okota  on February 8 will feature singles, doubles and  mixed doubles.

Athletics, which  is scheduled for Ifako stadium ,will feature Long jump, High jump

Sack race, Tug of war, 200 metres, 100 metres, 50 metres, 400 metres, javelin, discus and  shot put throw as each school is to register two athletes for each event.

By Sampson Unamka

 

A book aimed at addressing the poor level of English Language performance in secondary schools was launched recently at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry Building,Victoria Island,Lagos. The  book entitled ‘English Without Teacher’ was written. by Dr. Biodun Adeneye-Marcus.

According to the author, the book was written specifically for all levels of Nigerian education, beginning with primary and junior secondary schools.

He described the book as a self-teaching, home study material for students and  parents whose search for qualitative education for their children knows no bounds.

“With the displacement challenges facing the country, the book will be a ready help for continuous self drive towards learning by those who are concentrated in camps all over Nigerian states.

‘English  without teacher’ contains 68 chapters. It is  divided into three parts of creative essays, descriptive essays, career essays among others” said Adeneye-Marcus.

Read Also: Why Fed Govt launched new digital identity ecosystem

 

He said the book has been in the Lagos state curriculum for about 19 years adding though this is the third revised edition.

Adeneye-Marcus noted that he has been invited this month by the Lagos state government to come back for a re-review so it will be in the curriculum for another three years.

Also, wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu,represented by Dr. Mrs Grace Ibokwe, said the role of English language cannot be over emphasized for it is an important tool for national development.

“The book was approved by the Lagos state government for JSS1-3 and SS1-3 since the year 2000. The author remains the only author in Nigeria whose book the Lagos state government through the Ministry of Education organised a one day workshop on its use in 2001, the author has done  a great job,” she said.

 

By Alao Abiodun

Despite female genital mutilation (FGM) being outlawed in May 2015, the advocacy to end female genital cutting in Nigeria appears not to be gaining much attention, ALAO ABIODUN writes

Teniola Jacobs (not real name) was just 10 when she was mutilated. During this sad phase, she was cut, she bled profusely and experienced pain and till today, she’s still experiencing this severe pain. This sad tale recounted by Teni shows that Female genital mutilation (FGM) is still a menace ravaging some states in Nigeria.

In the south-west region of Nigeria, despite the high level of education and awareness rate, the mutilation prevalence is on the high rise in this region. Teniola is not alone. At least 200 million girls and women across the Africa and the world at large today have had their genitals mutilated – suffering one of the most inhumane acts of gender-based violence in the world.

After a girl is mutilated or cut, the family marries her off at a tender age, often between the ages of 10-16 years old. At this age, she drops out of school to spend more time with trying to nurture a family and their dreams of achieving great feat as a successful career woman fades away right before their eyes.

When girls are cut in unsanitary conditions, with unsterilised equipment, immediate problems that could arise from the mutilation process include excessive bleeding, severe pain, shock, infections, difficulty in passing urine, injury to surrounding genital tissue, fever, septicemia and death due to excess bleeding and infection.

Read Also: Over three million girls at risk of genital mutilation, says WHO

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Female genital mutilation (FGM) is defined as all procedures which involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia and/or injury to the female genital organs, whether for cultural or any other nontherapeutic reasons.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is widespread in Nigeria. Some socio-cultural determinants have been identified as supporting this avoidable practice. Ending FGM practice is more complex than just passing a law to criminalize the act. It has to do with proper implementation of the law and prosecution of the offenders, coupled with mental re-orientation of the public with aggressive community mobilization and advocacy.

According to UNICEF, Nigeria is said to have the highest absolute number of cases of FGM in the world, accounting for about one-quarter of the estimated 115–130 million circumcised women worldwide.

The subjection of girls and women to obscure traditional practices is quite frightening. It is such an unhealthy traditional practice inflicted on girls and women worldwide. It is widely recognized as a violation of human rights, which is deeply rooted in cultural beliefs and perceptions over decades and generations with no easy task for change.

The origin and significance of FGM is quite shrouded in secrecy, uncertainty, and confusion. The origin of FGM is fraught with controversy either as an initiation ceremony of young girls into womanhood or to ensure virginity and curb promiscuity, or to protect female modesty and chastity.

In May 2015 Nigeria’s outgoing president Goodluck Jonathan banned Female genital mutilation (FGM), but there remains an inconsistency between the passing and enforcement of laws across the country. The corrective measures aimed at curbing the practice openly is yet yield landslide significance.

Here are five harms of Female genital mutilation (FGM);

1. It can lead to excessive bleeding and death of mother during child birth
2. It can cause damage to the woman’s private part making her lack sexual sensation during sex
3. High risk of contracting infections
4. It causes menstrual pain as the normal passage for blood flow could have been narrowed
5. Cervical evaluation during labour may be impeded and labour prolonged or obstructed.

FGM has serious implications for the sexual and reproductive health of girls and women, when one tool is used to cut several girls, as is often the case in communities where large groups of girls are cut on the same day during a socio-cultural rite, there is a risk of HIV transmission. This act can apparently create a pathway for infectious diseases to thrive into the female genitalia as well as other parts of the body, thereby resulting into a serious health complication.