Tag: brain

  • ‘Better nutrition panacea for childhood brain disorder’

    ‘Better nutrition panacea for childhood brain disorder’

    Children, whose diets lack vital fatty acids, such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are at risk of hyperactivity disorder, uni-polar depression and aggressive resentment, experts have said.

    The experts, which include President, Paediatrics Association of Nigeria, Prof Adebiyi Olowu and Senior Scientist, Global Nutrition Development, FrieslandCampina Innovation Centre, the Netherlands, Dr Anne Schaafsma, said the problem could be tackled with appropriate fatty acids.

    They spoke at the FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc 10th Annual Nutrition Seminar in Lagos tagged: “Physical growth and brain development of the Nigerian child: The challenge of our time”.

    The solution, the experts said, is appropriate nutrition, adding that when infants are fed with appropriate essential food, they become smarter, faster and happier.

    Conversely, improved health and nutrition will lead to enhanced economic development.

    The speakers presented papers on the importance of nutrition in optimum brain development in a child.

    Brain development and mental health of a child, according to them, are vital and should not be neglected.

    Moreover, the first five years of development of a child is crucial and it represents the period the child needs essential nutrients that support overall brain development, especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid that is a primary structural component of the human brain, cerebral cortex, skin, sperm, testicles and retina.

    Wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, identified lack of awareness by mothers on what adequate nutrition should be as one major problem to be tackled because the significance of nutrition in the first five years of a child’s life cannot be over-emphasised.

    Mrs Ambode called on healthcare practitioners to “take opportunity of the Nutrition Seminar organised by FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria to dialogue on new strategies, and new perspectives alongside sharing of current knowledge on ways to improve the nutritional well-begin of the Nigerian child.”

    Managing Director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria PLC, Rahul Colaco, reiterated his company’s commitment to nourishing Nigeria with quality dairy nutrition; part of which includes providing adequate up to date researched information on child nutrition.

    According to Colaco, “FrieslandCampina has invested huge funds into research and development of quality and affordable products to cater for the needs of the consumer. So, we are confident of our support to healthcare practitioners in ensuring proper child nutrition.”

    The seminar, which had held in Ibadan, Abuja, Port Harcourt and, reinforced the importance of public-private partnership (PPP) in responding to key national issues, particularly in the nutritional development of the child.

    FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria said it will continue to partner key stakeholders to help reduce incidences of malnutrition among women and children.

  • BRAIN: YOU CAN’T IGNORE FEMALE FANS

    BRAIN: YOU CAN’T IGNORE FEMALE FANS

    YOUNG, talented and brazen are words that do not fully capture the essence of music artiste Adeleke Victor Matanmi, though they come close. The 24-year-old, a graduate of Industrial and Labour Relations from the Olabisi Onabanjo University, who goes by the stage-name Brain, recently released a new single, Ileke. Ileke means beads in Yoruba language.

    “The Ileke single is my own way of connecting to the ladies out there and appreciating their keen support all through the beginning of my sojourn into music,” he said.

    Signed on to Magikal Entertainment, Brain’s other singles include Gaara, So Crazy, The Bridge (tribute to Nelson Mandela), Salute and Lubadi.

    For Brain, the first son in family of four children, growing up in Ketu, Lagos, was fun.

    “I came from a very humble family, my dad and mum tried to give us the best life we could have. We had the best elementary education,” he said.

    “We went to the best schools around and presently we doing them proud in all ramifications.”

    However, Brain said his parents did not allow himself and his siblings to mix with other kids while growing up.

    “There was a time my brother and I had the chance to go out, our folks weren’t around, so we mixed with other kids and were rolling tyres on the street. Then on our way back home, we looked up the balcony and saw our grandmother, she was waiting and we knew we were in trouble instantly. So she signalled us to come up. We saw pepper soup that day because she flogged us. She flogged our hands and feet that we were using to roll the tyres and ever since then we dared not try it to go out without permission.”

    But how did Brain get into music?

    He said it all began in his household, especially through his father.

    “My dad plays music a lot. He is a music lover. Unconsciously, I started loving music and in my own spare time I look for the latest song. I listen to it and sing alone. After a while, I started singing in class to popular songs and people actually loved listening to me while singing. So they came around. So, I started loving it. After a while, I started writing my own songs. Then the love just grew from there.”

    While in school, he tagged team with some other guys, who rapped, to form a group.

    “From that moment,” he said, “I knew I was going to be a musician.”

    The artiste, however, realises that being a musician is not a walk-in-the-park. In fact, the rigorous process of creating music informed how he got his stage name.

    “I had earlier decided that whenever I was ready to take music fulltime, I would look for a name that is unique and that was how the name (Brain) was born,” he said.

    “I am also of the view point that if your brain defines the music and the music defines you, then the brain defines you automatically.”

    But having a cerebral name did not stop stage-fright.

    “My first experience on stage was very frightening,” he said.

    “I had so many things popping up in my brain. I was going to face a huge audience, and would they like my music and stuff like that keeps ringing in my head.  When I eventually got on stage, I almost lost my voice because I was totally blank for some moments. But after some minutes, I gained my courage back and the faces I saw was not the angry ones. They loved my performance and I was so much fulfilled that night.”

    For the musician, it has not been smooth sailing all through. Initially, his folks did not know he was into music. He was already into it before they noticed. Even then, they didn’t grant their wholehearted blessings.

    “They weren’t in objection like that, though there was no support in any way for my music. They didn’t say I shouldn’t do it. It gradually came to their notice. I am a very quiet person, so they usually don’t know what I am doing aside schooling. But after a while, they started noticing me writing in a book; they started noticing me singing to myself and a couple of other people. They knew I was singing but they didn’t object. They didn’t support me financially. As far as I was going to school, there was no objection.”

    Brain said his parents have, however, become more supportive since they’ve seen him making progress in his music venture.

    Though Brain is still griping with the challenges associated with many up and coming artistes, he describes the reception of his music as ‘wonderful.’

    “Everywhere I go and people see me do my thing, the acceptance is always awesome. I know that people love it, so I just keep doing my thing.”

    Though he has a degree in Industrial and Labour Relations, Brain believes so much in the talents God has given him – doing music. A talent he does not intend giving up.

    “I don’t see myself doing anything else besides music and I am ready to go all the way to touch lives with my music. Life is not a bed of roses and tears of thorns; it is simply a mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly. You can’t eat your cake and have it.”

    Brain who eyes beyond the country for his music believes his voice texture and his rap style stand him out from other artistes.

    “The way I rap brings out the uniqueness in me,” he said. “I am diversified in the sense that I can do a blend of reggae, RNB and hip-hop and still make a whole lot of sense.”

    Becoming popular surely attracts female fans, a fact that Brain appreciates so well. But how does he cope with his female fans?

    “I try as much as possible to be nice to everyone,” he said, “because as you know, it’s the female folks that constitute most of male artiste’s fan base, so you can’t ignore them. I only know where and when to draw the lines.”

  • The only thing that can limit you is your brain -Olasimbo Sojinrin

    The only thing that can limit you is your brain -Olasimbo Sojinrin

    Olasimbo Sojinrin is at the helm of affairs at an organisation called Solar Sisters Nigeria. She is a community organiser, an advocate for climate change progress and women’s rights in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
    The bespectacled lady began her work in climate change when she joined the British Council in 2004 and managed several partnership projects with secondary school students, including Connecting Classrooms and Green Clubs.
    She later worked as a Capacity Development Manager for a UNDP-assisted project called ‘Access to Renewable Energy’ where she pushed for climate change legislation with policy makers at federal and state levels and supported capacity building programmes for renewable energy service providers and financial institutions. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, she talks about her passion for youth empowerment and women-focused renewable energy access.

    What are you interested in empowering women with renewable energy skills and facilities?

    We understand that women are the managers of energy in their homes. They are the people who need to go and fetch firewood or buy kerosene for cooking or whatever means of lighting that they use in their homes. We recognised women need these products so we can introduce to them which would give them a chance to eliminate all the dangers and ills caused by kerosene. Also, over time, they will be able to save money.

    How do you reach out to these women?

    Solar system actually started in 2009 in Uganda and we are still expanding to Tanzania and now Nigeria. Over the last years that we have been in Nigeria, we have been able to have a presence in Nigeria in ten states and the federal capital. What we do is to have staff in each of the state who provide support and help women entrepreneurs. Here, our targets are assisted, trained and supported on how they can be successful entrepreneurs using and selling solar energy products.

    What is this solar system all about?

    Our tag is light and opportunities and we have a range of products.

    Is it free?

    No, we believe in sustainability. We use the strength of our numbers to acquire products at the lowest price and we also have a lot of partnership with suppliers. This gives us a competitive advantage over others.

    Who are your targets and do you work with youths because a lot of them are unemployed?

    We target women, and more recently we are targeting youths.

    We have started going into recruiting youths entrepreneurs. But our focus is women because we believe whatever women are involved in will trickle down to the entire household.

    Are you targeting women in specific locations and is there an age limit for these women?

    We have no age limit. Any woman who is interested in making additional income for her family is welcome.

    What were you doing before you ventured into this?

    I used to work with the Bank of Industry on UNDP projects and during the two years, I was able to interact with a lot of people and this gave me the foundation for this work I am doing. I studied Urban and Regional Planning at the  University Of Lagos as first degree. In addition, I have a Masters Degree in International Affairs from the University of Lagos, Nigeria.

    Are women entrepreneurs where they should be?

    They are not and one of the things we are doing is to see how we can promote access to finance for women entrepreneurs. Women, traditionally and historically, have been marginalised and it has caused us a lot of setback.

    What advice do you have for women?

    The only thing that can limit you is your brain. I used to see positivity in whatever I do. I strongly believe that so many women can make a way for themselves. We have the opportunity to be who we can be.

    What is the focus of your organisation?

    Solar Sisters is building a network of Solar Sister entrepreneurs across Sub-Saharan Africa to bring light, hope and opportunity to their families and their communities. The organisation focuses on eradicating energy poverty by empowering women with economic opportunity. We combine the breakthrough potential of solar and clean cooking technology with a deliberately woman-centred direct sales network to bring light, hope and opportunity to even the most remote communities in rural Africa.

    Investing in women is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do.  Solar Sister creates sustainable businesses, powered by smart investment in women entrepreneurs. When you invest in a woman, you invest in the future.

    It is a social enterprise that provides women with training and support to create solar micro-businesses, providing much needed household income for the women, and much needed light for their communities.

    Solar Sister provides women with education and training to better equip them to operate and maintain the solar technology and to help them achieve success as independent business women. We believe in the value of long-term relationships to create an atmosphere of trust and understanding that enables the sharing of knowledge and technology.

    1.6 billion people on the planet don’t have access to reliable electricity. That’s one quarter of the world’s population. 70% are women and girls living in developing countries. They rely on kerosene lanterns and candles for light. They spend hours each day collecting wood to burn for cooking and heat. They spend up to 30% of their family income on energy that is insufficient, hazardous and unhealthy; unhealthy for the people and unhealthy for the planet. Lack of access to electricity is both a cause and an effect of unremitting poverty.

    The most important step to ending poverty is to create employment and income opportunities. Solar Sister does just that by empowering women with economic opportunities. Leveraging the power of the market place, a one-time investment in a Solar Sister entrepreneur creates a chain reaction of social impact as the Solar Sister entrepreneur turns over her inventory again and again. Solar lamps replace the toxic kerosene lanterns and solar cell phone chargers provide connectivity in even the most energy poor communities.

    Access to clean energy technology enhances education, improves health and safety and provides economic opportunity. Through economic opportunity and the transforming benefits of solar technology, women are able to lift themselves, their families and their communities out of poverty.

     

  • Beauty and brain

    Beauty and brain

    Oge Nwokoye, a 300-Level Medicine and Surgery student, has won the beauty pageant organised by the University of Benin Medical Students’ Association (UBEMSA). EDDY UWOGHIREN (300-Level Medicine and Surgery) reports.

    In measured steps, they marched to the stages, amid catcalls by the audience. They looked athletic in the glittering gowns as they filed out, waving to the crowd. No sooner did they make their first appearance on stage than members of the audience started to predict a tough contest.

    Who would win among the seven contestants in the beauty pageant organised by the University of Benin Medical Students’ Association (UBEMSA)? For those who have eyes for beauty, the winner should be beautiful. But, others wanted intelligence and wisdom to be used as parameters for selecting the winner.

    Many at the Multipurpose Hall of the Women’s Health and Action Research Centre (WHARC) in Benin City were on edge as the contest progressed last Saturday.

    Welcoming participants,  UBEMSA president, Samuel Nwaobi said the event was part of activities marking the association’s 28th Health Week. He said the pageant was organised to dismiss the notion that medical students do not socialise.

    Samuel said: “Many people consider medical students to be too preoccupied with books and do not have time for fun. We deemed it fit to create time out of our busy schedule to hold this social event. We included a beauty pageant to harness the beauty and intelligence in our colleagues and show to the world that beyond the big textbooks we read, we are multi-talented.”

    The contestants appeared in traditional attires to showcase the richness of Nigerian culture. They held a parade in Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa-Fulani  and Niger-Delta attires.

    They later appeared in casual wears and dinner gowns. The contestants were assessed based on their dressing, sense of history, current affair and academic excellence. The event moved into question and answer session, where the contestants’ intelligence was assessed. This resulted in the elimination of some of them.

    After the judges’ assessment, Natalie Obadan, UBEMSA vice president, announced the winners. Contestant Number 1 Oge Nwokoye, emerged winner for her brilliance and sense of culture.

    Oge, 19, a 300-Level Medicine and Surgery student, broke down in tears following the announcement. She moved from one side of the hall to another. It took a few minutes before she could pull herself together and acknowledge cheers from the crowd.

    Oge was presented with a LG Flat Screen Television for her efforts. She will represent the College of Medicine at the coming University of Benin (UNIBEN) pageant and the Nigerian Medical Students’ Association (NiMSA) beauty contest.

    Contestant No 7 Ifueko Uhunwango emerged first runner up, winning a Blackberry Q10 smartphone, and Agatha Odamen, second runner up, got a microwave.

    Oge, in an interview with  CAMPUSLIFE, said her confidence made her to win, noting that she  desired to make a point with her appearance.

    She said: “Buying the pageant form showed I am ready to become the next Miss UBEMSA. I always believe that I would be a beauty queen one day. Years back, the password to all of my account was ‘beautyqueen’ because of my desire to be one.

    “But being in the competition with six other colleagues was a great experience for me. We had to do things together and the girls became my sisters. We had so many great moments together and I also believe they deserved to win because of their intelligence.”

    What would be her pet project? Oge said: “I will raise awareness on female participation in campus politics and organise tutorials for female medical students preparing for any of the profession medical exams in medical schools. I also plan to hold motivation seminar and mentoring programme for fresh students in the medical school. I will organise health outreach with the aim to enlighten female students on prevailing health challenges and ways to avoid them.”

    Akhere Musa, a medical student, praised the association for using the event to boost social activities in the medical college. He said the event was an opportunity to relax.

    The event also featured presentation of awards to lecturers and students with outstanding performance in the college. Dr V. Adams of Community Medicine Department, Dr C. Annoye of Medical Biochemistry and Prof Ray Ozolua of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics departments were honoured with Best Lecturer award.

    Pius Ojemolon was awarded the Most Outstanding Medical Student for his ground-breaking distinction in the third professional Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in Pathology and Clinical Pharmacology held earlier this year in the college.

  • Beauty and brain

    Beauty and brain

    The Students’ Week of the Federal College of Education (Technical) in Akoka, Lagos ended with a beauty pageant, where the most handsome boy and most beautiful girl were picked. OMOLARA OGUNWALE (ND II Journalism, Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Ogba) reports.

    The girls looked gorgeous in their colourful dresses, which either modest or skimpy. The men looked cute in well-tailored suits. Their gait attracted applause from their colleagues as they walked one after the other on the run way. All of them aspired to win the beauty pageant held to mark the Students’ Week at the Federal College of Education (Technical) in Akoka, Lagos.

    The event was organised by the Social Director of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), Damilola Adeniji, a 300-Level Computer and Inter Science student.

    The weeklong event, sponsored by Sulcata Entertainment and Google Student-Ambassadors, featured freshers’ orientation, career talk and a beauty pageant, where models were chosen in categories, such as Mr and Miss FCE, Mr and Miss Jambite, Mr and Miss Photogenic, Mr and Miss Tourism, Miss Bright Future and Miss Model.

    The campus was agog throughout, with management declaring free-lecture week. Students had the opportunity to meet their lecturers to discuss their challenges.

    The pageant started with the Jambites’ Night, where freshers rubbed minds with their senior colleagues. Upcoming artistes on campus spiced the event with their dancehall beats.

    During the contest for Mr and Miss Jambite, contestants appeared in casual wears. The ladies were on skimpy dresses, which exposed their bellies; the guys were clad in jeans with polo.

    They entertained audience with different steps as they danced to the song titled Shake Body by Skales, a hip-hop artiste. Each contestant performed song, dance and rap.

    Afterwards, the contestants appeared in traditional attires, showcasing the rich culture of their states. The judges assessed the participants’ sense of dress and asked questions when necessary.

    At the end, Oluwatosin Fagbaide, a student of Primary Education Studies, was crowned as Miss Jambite while Donatus Nwanko a Computer and Chemistry student became Mr Jambite.

    Zainab, a student of Agricultural Science, was chosen by the judges to be Miss Model, while Damilola Ajibade, a student of Primary Education, became Miss Bright Future.

    Donatus thanked his colleagues for considered him worthy of the honour, saying he would use the opportunity to acquire new experience and knowledge, which he said would help to live up to the billing. He said he would meet people with shared values to step up awareness against cancer through entertainment.

    Oluwatosin said she intended to educate her colleagues about skin care and hold campaign against skin diseases. She said she was happy when the judges declared her as the winner of the freshers’ category.

    The outgoing Mr and Miss Jambite, Babatunde Kukoyi and Zainab Sodeinde crowed their successors amidst applause by the audience.

    The following night, the students held another pageant to choose Mr and Miss FCE, where 14 female and contestants jostled for the position. The participants’ intelligent quotient and knowledge in different fields were tested before winners were declared.

    Tayo Lucky, a 100-Level Primary Education student, who lost during the contest for Mr Jambite, won the male category of the Mr FCE contest.

    Hannah Inino, a 100-Level Integrated Science Biology student, emerged Miss FCE, while Richard Friday, a Computer and Integrated Science student, won Mr Tourism and Chibueze Nkwocha, an Integrated Science and Physics student, Mr Photogenic.

    Lucky, in his speech, described the feat as uneasy. “I feel happy about winning the contest because there was a notion that a fresher could not win. With this, I believe some modeling deals are coming and I thank God for this feat.”

  • Brain health and mass failure in Maths, English (1)

    If I am the Minister of Health, I would prescribe that Nigerians take Ginkgo biloba tea, capsules or tincture two times a day, to save them from memory loss. This herb, from the world’s oldest tree which is billions of years old, according to carbon dating, has been shown to promote micro blood circulation in the brain and improve memory even among old people who tend to forget almost everything, including their own names.

    In Nigeria, the memory tends to be short. Not many people remember today that, only a few years ago, some people in high places pocketed money voted for children’s drugs in hospitals. Have we not easily forgotten, also, the petrol scandal in which billions of Naira was paid by the government to petrol hawkers who did not supply it a drop of petrol? What about the pension money of poor workers which has ended up in private bank accounts? It is ridiculous that no one remembers this, and the press does not remind us of it when stories are published of old pensioners who slump and die in blazing African sun while protesting unpaid pensions! We wouldn’t be Nigerians if we easily remember that only a few weeks ago we were bemoaning to high heavens the 69 percent failure in the last “O” Level examinations! It was the first time so many boys and girls would be unable to score at worst an “O” Level “Pass” in Maths and English Language. These are a sort of “life or death” subjects in Nigerian’s ‘O’ Level education. Employers regard candidates without a credit pass in both, no better than semi-literate persons. And the universities would not touch them with long poles. This boys and girls would, therefore, appear stuck in life, useless to self and country.

    On a more serious note, I would prescribe Ginkgo biloba along with other brain health food supplements which may help to “open” up the brains of schoolboys and girls. But the matter goes beyond this, as we may soon discover.

    Mass “O” Level failure in Mathematics and English Language is not peculiar to Nigeria. It happens in England as well. Prince Charles, future king of England if he survives his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, has been lamenting in public that the average English boy and girl cannot write or speak Queen’s English any more. They hate mathematics as well. Worse still, they hate school and homework. It would appear an upcoming generation is redefining society and overturning the foundations of society. Someday, if the trend persists, Britain would become a slack country and may go under.

    Unlike in Nigeria, however, hardly is anything forgotten in Britain. Researchers went to work. Why are dull students dull despite healthy parenting, which is often lacking here, teacher and child support, they wanted to know. The investigations led them to check if brain nutrition was adequate. In one of the experiments designed to test this guess, omega-3 fish oil, an essential fatty acid thought to be deficient in the diet of many school children, was supplied free by the government to some groups of dull students during a long vacation. One of the guinea pigs was a boy named BEST. He hated school and homework, had short attention spans, fidgeted in the classroom and disturbed his colleagues. As was to be expected, he was a dreg in his class. During that long vacation, he had plenty of Omega-3 oils in his diet. No one thought much of the experiment or gave it any chance until, back in school, BEST clinched a digit position in the first examination. In their headlines, the newspapers roared: ‘BEST IS BEST’. Many dreg students like him also swung up in examinations.

     

     Language

    Sociologists teach us language summarises a people’s culture. Spiritually we know culture is the nature of human essence or ego, the so-called overself, the human spirit. I still do not know how, as a child, I learned the language of my parents, and speak it. But I know

    • The spoken language is derived from sounds put together to form words which give meaning to existence.

    What we call the Universe is a work in Creation filled with sounds and colours, from top to bottom. These sounds and colours derive from the radiations or vibrations of the activities of Nature beings who brought the Universe about upon the Creators command. We cannot see them easily nowadays because our vision has become too dense. But we cannot on this account deny their existence. In any case, do we see the air we breathe or the heat of sunlight? We see colours because they fall within the spectrum of light the eyes can see. These colours are waves. Waves produce sounds. Sounds, too, produce colours. Clairvoyants tell us our thoughts, invisible to us as they are, solidify into forms, also unseen, and emit sounds and colours. When we immune cells see and fight germs, how do they do it? Do they have eyes? No. every cell of the body of about 100 trillion cells in the average adult human emits waves of energy or vibrations. And because they all originated from a single fertilise egg, the zygote, they broadcast their existence or where about on a common frequency. Different germs do the same but on different frequencies. So, immune cells are able, through this signaling, to differentiate the body from its enemies, except a mishap occurs as in auto immune diseases. What occurs in the microscopic cells occur in the gigantic universe. The planets and other heavenly bodies, including the stars, maintain their unique pathways in so-called space through gravitational forces of mutual attraction and repulsion which maintain sanity. There forces are waves, waves make sounds, and sounds express as colours!

    This is an interesting field Dr Alex Thomopolous, Chief Executive Officer of The Guardian Newspapers Limited (GNL) may spend a whole day talking about it. In the universe, there are many spheres of existence. Each one, from the bottom to the top, is a different force field, which means it is of a different sound and colours. Higher spheres have richer sounds and colours than lower spheres, because their motion is stronger. The higher we go, the stronger this colours and sounds. The lower we descend the more sluggish and dull they are. Some animals hear these sounds and see the colours. The cock, for example, crows at specific time of the day, say 4 p.m and at dawn, giving us an indication of time. Didn’t many animals migrate before the tsunami? The Old Testament of the Bible reports an incident in which the horse on which a man named Baalam declined to heed his command to hop on. The horse was stationary despite his command to the contrary. Its eyes were seeing astral ethereal events which the restricted physical eyes of Baalam could not behold. Suddenly, says the report, the inner or ethereal eyes of Baalam were permitted to open. He saw some beings in an activity in which fire was erupting from inside the earth. In error, he called them Angels. We now know they were Nature Beings, who were trying to prepare that portion of land for the future use of a people who would be led there. The astral form of that event was taking shape. Maybe it would express as an earthquake someday. Maybe there were trying to alchemically transmute the soil to some mineral resources. The horse saw them and Baalam did not. Had he lived in this part of the earth, he may have called them witches out to harm him. For many of us know no better than this.

    We must quickly return to how all these are involved in the evolution of language and of how unfolding generations world-wide are failing massively in language education as evidenced in the 69 percent failure in Nigeria’s 2014 “O” Level English Language examination. The earth is a spiritual school in one part of our universe. The level of the inner or spiritual development of individuals or a people connects them to that sphere of the universe which corresponds to the degree of their maturity. We get a faint picture of this from what happens during the refinement of crude petroleum. (is Mr Wale Ajila Listening?)

    At different degrees of heat or pressure or friction, different products emerge… aviation fuel, regular motor oil, diesel, kerosene, grease, engine oil, petroleum jelly etc. As individuals and whole people or generations differentiate in this earth school, they become automatically connected to the spheres of the universe homogeneous with their kinds. There spheres, they become acquainted with sounds and colours prevenient there. From these vibrations words were formed. Often, helpers were sent (incarnated) to help them develop the language. The work of Martin Luther in respect of the German Language has been recongnised in this regard. The Germans recognise fears as high as Olympus and Valhalla. When, today, I read the Yoruba Bible, and match its language with the Yoruba many Yorubas speak now, I wonder if Bishop Ajayi Crowther didn’t belong to the order of people such as Martin Luther and if his captivity as a slave boy was not to support his work. It would, therefore, require a lot of effort over many generations to keep developing a language to its loftiest heights. But as we learned in the 1920s, more than half of the population of this earth was not meant to be here, they were to still be in the nether regions of the Universe, maturing. But through irreverence with the procreative act, they have, inadvertently, been prematurely inducted up. The sexual irreverence has led to a largely irreverent population which is turning upside down everything that was painstakingly built up. Look at politics and governance. Turn to the economy. Where is trust and the good family name today? Our nutrition fares no better; it has been ruined! And the language? Just pay attention to the language of the motor boys or the street traders. In terms of inner development and inner worth, the incoming generation cannot sustain the culture of their forebears, which included the spoken language. They desecrate everything. Their music, suffused with sex, tells you where they are coming from and where they are heading. They know nothing but sex, showing they have fallen to the level of the animal. On Facebook, the language is bastardised, vulgarised and denigrated. I used to correct my ‘friends’ every morning, but I gave up on that when they wouldn’t budge. They cannot see that sphere of the universe they are not matured for.

    We cannot blame them without blaming ourselves. Many of us took the procreation act for granted. Hardly do we remember or know that when a man and a woman engage in it, they set vibrations which echo into the universe. These vibrations provide a channel or bridge through which souls waiting to incarnate approach the couple, the woman in particular. If lustfulness is what has enveloped them, what kind of soul would they attract in The Law of Attraction of Homogeneous species? Purity of thought is demanded of both parties. When the act is over, the attracted souls hardly disperse. They wait for a body to start to form in the womb and jostle to incarnate in it. It is far, far, better in my view, to seriously will for the souls one desires as children to come home and surround one, even when no procreative act is going on. Women who should take the lead in this do not know about it or, if they do, approach this talk lukewarmly yet our grandmothers would tell us how pregnant women in particular should conduct themselves lest of wrong soul incarnate through them.

    In summary, we have on our hands an incoming generation that is sinking down the sphere, in tune with the Law of Spiritual Gravity, and defining us own world with nether region values. In English Language examinations, we assess them on the basis of a standard they have no capacity to grasp. I have seen Master’s Degree University graduates who cannot write a correct sentence of English. As Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian, I would bring in about 25 university graduates job seeker every month for assessment for reportorial work, all I would ask  them do was write an essay on wither MY MOTHER or A BICYCLE or RAIN DROPS OR my BEST MEAL. Stuff like that. It was amazing that many of them could not write more than a page of A4 paper on the woman who brought them to this earth, breastfed them, changed their nappies, kept the vigil with them, and sold their headgears and wrapper to send them to school! I am therefore, not surprised when I met doctors, lawyers or engineer who do not speak good English. They may be sound professionals. The language, as the summation of culture, tells a lot about all of us.

     

    Mathematics  

    Back in high school, I had no head for maths. I was later to discover in my late twenties it was probably not an ability I needed not in fulsome measure to get around in this earth-life. Spiritual (not religious) life gave me a beautiful inkling into the origins and some depths or dimensions of mathematics. One evening, Dr. Thomopoulus and I were discussing life. We know God is life, the starting-point of everything which exists. He and I show serious  interest in the Bible and other accounts of about LIFE now distorted and formed into religions. It seemed to have done a lot of study about the pyramid. The pyramid is a four-sided figure. Jewish slaves helped the Egyptians build stupendous pyramids. Pyramid specialists teach us that when the angles of the triangle are well inclined, a pyramid connects or plugs into certain forces in this creation. That means certain powers from the universe flow into the pyramid. This is an explanation, for example of why anything kept in the Egyptian pyramids does not despoil. It is like they are frozen in time without actually freezing. Corpses of kings (Pharaohs) known as mummies have been preserved in these Egyptian pyramids for hundreds of years without anything happening to them. Armed with this knowledge, some people have tried to build household pyramids which could serve as refrigerators for preserving food. It has been suggested, also, that huge pyramids can be constructed to store foodcrops in their seasons which can then be release in their, off season, for consumption. This would prevent food wastages, high food prices, hunger and poverty. Who knows, if it wasn’t in pyramids that the Egyptians stored food in the seven years of plenty which were later overtaken by seven years of famine? Remember pharaoh’s dream of seven lean cows swallowing seven fat cows which slave boy Joseph ably interpreted as famine overtaking food surplus.

    Back in school, I did not understand the pyramid. It was an aspect of geometry we learned under the heading “constructions”. But it made a lot of sense to me that evening that Dr. Thomopolous and I shared experiences in his house. He reminded me of

    •The starting point, God, and

    •The four animal beings at the foot of God’s throne.

    This imagery is in the Bible’s Book of Revelations. Elsewhere, I have shared experiences I gathered from revelaed knowledge of creation on the face of the earth today about the nature and importance of these Animal Beings, or beings in Animal forms.

    Today, I will speak only of their relationship with the pyramid, one of the subjects of mathematics I hated in school. The Book of revelations report that these Animal Beings, the Lion, the Ram, the eagle and the Lamb, are equidistant from one another and from the starting point above them. If you join together the equidistant points of the Beings at points A,B,C and D, what results from that is a perfect Square. If your project points A,B,C and D in the square to the dot of the starting point, a Pyramid emerges with a Square base.

    It should be clear from this that mathematics is a royal subject which may lend its secret to any-one. It is, in my view, knowledge of transcendental reality passed down to earth dwellers in a special language which can be easily understood by only the initiated or people who are meant to work with it.

    Architect Lekan Adams, of Lagos, educated me in one of his articles on the Egyptian pyramids published in the comet newspaper. That article showed that the partitioning in the pyramids were based on knowledge received about the timing and duration of cosmic events. One of the explanations which touched me most concerned a comet which was to visit the earth. Lay minds would enter the pyramid and visit its closet without the architecture making any impact on their souls. It is probable that it is from the square that the Foursquare church derived its name. The Yoruba, too, believe that creation has “four pillars” and that four elders man these pillars. In the series of this column on Easter and Lucifer, I referred to the fact that there were four Wise Men, not three, who were to find their way to Jesus in the manger.

  • How being sociable can boost your brain

    How being sociable can boost your brain

    A study has shown that bits of the brain are bigger and better connected in people who have lots of friends.

    And the more sociable they are, the bigger the brain boost.

    The finding comes from Oxford University scientists who asked 18 men and women how many friends they had met, spoken to on the phone or emailed in the past month.

    The average number of friends contacted was around 20 but some were in touch with more than 40 people. Others only made contact with ten pals.

    Scans showed that around half a dozen brain regions were bigger in those who were more sociable – and the more friends someone had, the larger the areas were.

    One of the sociability regions was the anterior cingulate cortex, an area we use to keep track of what other people are doing.

    The scans showed that connections between this area and another that we use to work out how others are thinking and feeling were particularly strong in sociable types.

    The Society for Neuroscience’s annual conference also heard that there were strong connections between the various areas involved in sociability.

    Researcher MaryAnn Noonan said: ‘In more sociable humans, perhaps these communication pathways are more like motorways than windy country roads, making information processing more efficient and better.’

    With earlier work in monkeys producing similar results, the researchers think it is not the case that sociable people are simply born with brains that are better wired for friendship.

    Instead, they believe that people with lots of friends use certain brain regions more often, leading to them growing to keep up with the social demands.

    Dr Noonan said: ‘If I hedged my bets, I’d say the brain is changing in response to social network size.

    ‘But that is not to say that there isn’t a genetic influence, so that if you come from a sociable family, your brain is predisposed to that.’

    It is hoped that learning more about how the brain reacts in social situations could lead to new treatments for autism, schizophrenia and other conditions in which people struggle to interact with others.

    However, sociable types should note that the finding doesn’t mean that they have bigger brains overall.

    It is thought that other brain regions, which aren’t used when they are out socialising, shrink in compensation.

     

    Called from Daily Mail

  • ‘He was a first-class brain’

    ‘He was a first-class brain’

    Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba yesterday described the death of former Ondo State Governor Dr. Olusegun Agagu as a shock and a loss to the Nigerian intelligentsia.

    Ndoma-Egba, in a condolence message, noted that “the late Agagu was a first-class brain, who was an asset to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”

    He said Agagu used his wealth of experience in running the party at the local and national levels.

    Said he: “As a former governor of Ondo State, Agagu tried his best for his people; his contributions would not be forgotten in a hurry.”

    The Senate Leader enjoined the Agagu family to take consolation that “your father served his people to the best of his ability when he had the opportunity.”

    He added that the family should “please not be heart-broken over his sudden demise.”

  • Brain drain

    Brain drain

    •Our many medical doctors practising abroad will not return because we wish it

    Amidst the myriad of crises confronting Nigeria’s health sector today, including chronic shortage of manpower, the revelation that there are 3,936 medical doctors practising in the United Kingdom is, to say the least, shocking. We agree with the President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr OsahonEnabulele, that this situation is absolutely unacceptable.

    Shedding further light on the crisis in the sector, Dr Enabulele said the country has 71,740 medical and dental practitioners listed on the register of the Medical and Dental Health Council of Nigeria, with about 27,000 currently in Nigeria. The implication is that the country has a doctor-population ratio of 1: 6,187, given a population base of 167, 000,000. There is certainly no way effective and efficient health care can be delivered to the vast majority of Nigerians with this kind of depressing scenario.

    Again, Dr Enabulele is spot on when he avers that Nigeria has become a manufacturing plant for the production of medical doctors and dentists for the health care systems of developed countries such as the United Kingdom, USA, Australia and Canada where there is a high demand for medical practitioners from developing countries. This observation is certainly no exaggeration. It is estimated that over 15,000 Nigerian-trained medical doctors are practising abroad in the countries listed above, as well as South Africa, Botswana and Ghana, among others. The country is thus akin to the physician who is busy trying to cure others when he has refused to heal himself.

    At least 40,000 Nigerian medical doctors are reportedly practising in the United States today. At a recent meeting with officials of the Federal Ministry of Health, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, reiterated the seriousness of the problem and sought collaboration between the ministry and her committee to address it. Citing the examples of China and India, she called for measures to encourage Nigerian medical professionals abroad to come back home to contribute their quota to the country’s health care delivery.

    Doctors who have migrated to other climes are not motivated by lack of patriotism or selfish pecuniary considerations. The massive brain drain of Nigerians abroad actually started in the 1980s, following the acute economic crisis caused largely by the profligacy of parasitic and corrupt ruling elite. Faced with poor remuneration, lack of a satisfactory working environment and the absence of the necessary equipment to function optimally, doctors and other professionals, including nurses, left the country in droves to countries where they could get adequate remuneration and fulfilment.

    The loser was the country’s health care system. It is instructive, for instance, that some states, particularly in the North have had cause to engage the services of Pakistani doctors! Thus, while we are employing foreign medical personnel, thousands of highly qualified Nigerian doctors are contributing to the development of the health care system of other countries. It simply makes no sense.

    The General Ibrahim Babangida regime in the 1980s set up a committee to address and find solutions to the brain drain challenge. It is not surprising that nothing came of it. The problem needs no committee. This country is undoubtedly sufficiently endowed to have well-equipped public health facilities manned by well-remunerated and motivated staff. That is the best way to woo Nigerian medical doctors, nurses and other professionals back to the country.

    Equally critical is the need to decisively address the security challenges confronting the country. The daily news of kidnapping, armed robbery, assassinations, wanton murder, communal clashes and religious conflicts emanating from Nigeria can only discourage any professional who has an alternative from returning.

     

  • Portable brain stimulator

    Brain stimulation with an electric device is being used to try to treat insomnia (lack of sleep), anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and bipolar disorder which are common modern day medical conditions. Depression may be more common than we can imagine. Many people sink into depression for reasons such as:traumatic childhood; life threatening or chronic disease;abusive relationship; childlessness; death of a beloved; difficult environment; economic misery; emotional or mental stress;  failure, lack of personality, or inferiority complex; heartbreak or divorce; hormonal imbalance; loss of job or business or livelihood; post-traumatic stress disorder; social, cultural, religious, or political trapping, bondage, or addiction. When such experiences weigh you down and impair your experience of good life, you need to help yourself.

    Brain stimulation is a last resort. Try other means first. Talk and offload and share your pain with a party that understands and supports; do not cover it up with continuous work or sleep but find appropriate social support and outlets; do not abandon normal work and duties such as cleaning and tidying as bad environment adds to depression; do positive things such as a productive hobby, service, or pleasurable engagement; avoid alcohol and drugs; have a healthy diet (cheap or expensive) and try to get regular sleep; keep your mind off depressive thoughts through prayer, meditation, and good entertainment; keep away from toxic persons, environments, and conditions if you can; face your problems and try to solve them. If you do have to live with a problem, make sure you live the best you can. For some unmanageable mental conditions, a new device is available.

    From the manufacturers: “Depression and anxiety can now be treated with a gentle, portable medical device that is cleared by the FDA and endorsed by the nation’s top doctors. Unlike electroshock therapy for bipolar depression, the Fisher Wallace Stimulator® causes no serious side effects and comes with a 60-Day Effectiveness Guarantee.Depression and anxiety can now be treated with a gentle, portable medical device that is cleared by the FDA and endorsed by the nation’s top doctors. Unlike electroshock therapy for bipolar depression, the Fisher Wallace Stimulator® causes no serious side effects…”

    They will only ship a device if they receive faxed or emailed purchase authorization from a licensed healthcare practitioner. The device package costs $695. A version that includes a chronic pain treatment kit costs $715. The package includes: 1 Fisher Wallace Stimulator®, 1 Headset, 1 Headband, 8 Sponges (the sponges need to be replaced every two weeks), 2 AA batteries and an Instruction manual.