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Tag: Common

  • How to deal with common disorders occurring in pregnancy (1)

    How to deal with common disorders occurring in pregnancy (1)

    Pregnancy, by all measures, is a normal occurrence or shall we say, should be a normal event in the life of a pregnant woman and the family.  However, by all accounts, most pregnancies will pass without trouble. That said, a significant number of pregnant women may experience illnesses that are either caused directed by the pregnancy or simply occurring in association with the pregnancy.

    In the coming weeks, we will examine some of these disorders and how you and your family can deal with them. These articles will not address infertility as we had dealt with infertility disorders in the recent past. For today, let us consider Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy.  This condition is one that is caused by an ongoing pregnancy though in some occasions nausea and vomiting may be due to other disorder such as malaria that occurs during pregnancy.

    In traditional African culture and in particular in Nigeria at least, a young novice girl might appear to the outside world, as chaste.  Often to the surprise of her guardians or parents, she may start to vomit without the girl knowing the apparent cause in spite of the fact that she had secretly been sexually active.  On intense questioning, she will often deny being sexually active. But the ancient wisdom will often reveal her hidden activities.  Our grandparents, especially older women, would discern a novice girl who is in denial of being pregnant.  Experience mothers will often look at the palm of the vomiting girl or like a doctor would, experience mothers will take a look at the eyes especially the conjunctiva and come to the conclusion, following the examination, that that girl is “pregnant” because the girl looks pale in both her hand and eyes. Suddenly, the girl who had until now been in denial, becomes calm and resign to her fate. Thus, taking the vomiting and the pallor together, our mothers had relied on ancient wisdom to make a diagnosis of early pregnancy.

    Notwithstanding, either planned or unplanned pregnancy, nausea and vomiting is a common development in early pregnancy.

    From about 2 to 4 weeks of pregnancy, one of the earliest symptoms of pregnancy is that the woman suddenly feels the urge to vomit (nausea) and as the days go by, this urge to “throw up” may be accompanied with actual vomiting.  This very unpleasant feelings of nausea and vomiting often occurs in the morning hence the name “morning sickness” that is known to billions of our able and honourable women worldwide.  The morning sickness though gets better as the day goes by may however occur at any time during the day. Rarely does nausea and vomiting become troublesome at night.

    Following the experience and the knowledge that she may vomit her food and water that she ingests, the pregnant woman may start to avoid food. So, her appetite goes down as a result.

    The good news is that by the end of the third month or 12 weeks since she last saw her period, the nausea and vomiting may stop.  In some occasions, the morning sickness can continue until 16-20 weeks but rarely beyond.

    The frequent vomiting may give rise to irritation in the chest as a result of stomach acid coming from stomach, towards the throat.  Also, excessive salivation may accompany the nausea. The problem is how to dispose the excess saliva which cannot be swallowed.  Despite the trouble of nausea, vomiting and excess saliva, the pregnant women are often desiring to eat strange food which is not within her reach: a condition that doctors have termed pica!

    Treatment:  The knowledge that the vomiting will stop eventually may be reassuring.  However, eating small bits of food in spaced intervals may help. Avoiding acidic food such as citrus may also help. Spicy foods should also not be consumed at this time. The idea is to reduce stomach acid to as little as possible.  Further, antacids which is available over the counter in pharmacies may be purchased to help this condition.  Bed rest may also help.

     

    Hyperemesis Gravidarum

    In some situations, the nausea and vomiting may be so severe that, the pregnant woman may suffer liver damage, jaundice, weight loss, poor appetite and low level blood vitamins. Such development from the common and benign nausea and vomiting is a very serious medical illness in pregnancy. Hyperemesis gravidarum constitute a gynaecologic emergency and this should be taken very seriously.

    Attending a competent medical doctor is a top and urgent priority as this conditions threatens the life of the mother and the developing baby.

    The treatment is definitely at the hospital and admission is required to replace loss fluid and vitamins. The idea is to help the woman regain her strength, protect her growing baby and improve her liver function as well as bring the nausea and vomiting to a manageable level.

    At the hospital, the medical team is   likely to give medications that will control the vomiting. Admission and monitoring are likely to continue until such a time when the woman is sufficiently improved.

    As I mentioned earlier, the good news remains that the vomiting is likely to stop not later than 12-16weeks of pregnancy.

     

  • Common skin disorders: Ulcers and other illnesses

    In today’s article, we will conclude this series on common skin disorders. We will exploit diseases that are peculiar children and some that are common to adults and children alike.

    Ringworm (Tinea): Ringworm often wrongly called “ezcema” is common to all: women, men, adult and children, but most especially seen in children. Unlike its name, ringworm is not a worm and it’s neither a ring. The disease is caused by fungus that takes opportunity into its hand to grow. Ringworm can be found often in the head and may become very obvious as a pale circular rash on dark skin. It may also appear in the body often on the chest, back, abdomen, groin, hands and feet.  Ringworm is infectious, meaning the infection can spread from one person to another.  Ringworm, except those affecting the nails that require a more prolonged and sustained treatment, ringwork can be easily treated once recognised by the doctor.

    Boils (Furunculosis). Boils occur where we can find hairs in any part of the body. Therefore, boil can occur on the head, eyes, ears, chest, neck, hands, groin and legs. For this reason, boils do not occur on our soles and palms. When the root of the hairs are infected by germs, boils can result. If the boil recurs more than three times in a year, it’s called recurrent furunculosis and if a big boil occurs it’s called carbunculosis. In both cases, germs such as bacteria is the cause.

    The treatment for both may be by use of antibiotics. For carbunculosis, the doctor may have to open the boil up so as to drain pus that is contained in the boil.

    Cellulitis: Infection of the skin in parts of the body such as hands, legs, chest, abdomen and face may give rise to a crawling and infection that spread to nearby skin. It may gradually spread to cover a large parts of the affected areas. The skin becomes warm, swollen, and painful and the person may become very ill with fever. This may become an emergency due to the ill feelings. This skin disorder may affect anyone including children. Boils may lead to cellulitits. Any small wound in affected parts may also lead to cellulitis.  The treatment is urgent as delay may worsen the illness. Complications such as septicemia (blood poisoning) may also develop if care is not taken.  Antibiotics is the main form of treatment.

    There are some conditions where frequent occurrence of boils, ringworm and cellulitis may indicate an underlying illness such as diabetes and depressed immunity (the body having low ability to defend itself against infection) such a HIV and cancers. What appears as a simple boil that refused to go away in spite of the best efforts of the sufferer be it a child or adult, may indeed not be so simple after all. That is to say, that you should take recurrent boils and cellulitis very seriously.

    Skin Ulcers (Open Wound of the Skin): A skin ulcer or “boil” that fails to heal in a normal well-nourished person calls for urgent attention. An ulcer that is recurrent or multiple recurrent skin ulcer is also an indication to see the doctor for attention without delay. Skin ulcer that fails to heal may be due to underlying infection such as STD (see last week’s article) such as syphilis and HIV. Skin ulcer may also indicate tuberculosis (TB) of the skin as well guineaworm. Still, skin ulcer may be an indication of cancer of the skin (melanoma and basal cell carcinoma), or cancer from other parts of the body that has spread to the skin. Yet, skin ulcer, like boils, cellulitis and ringworm may be telling us of other serious illnesses such as diabetes or depressed immunity, anaemia, heart failure brought upon the sufferers.  Strange skin ulcer in children or mentally unwell adults or dementia in and elderly or any vulnerable person is a form of abuse until proven otherwise.  Skin ulcer in a person that is physically or mentally disabled who stays too long on any part of the body may be pressure sores. In all these, vigilance and urgency are called for.  So skin ulcer may be a pointer to a killer disease that is lurking underneath.

    A Word on Skin Colour, Bleaching and Wrinkles: Our skin is primarily for protection and each skin of every one of us has been so programmed for the purpose of defense depending on the genes that we inherited from our parents and the environment that we live in. That is why we have different shades of human colour. Along with the genes influencing, the less the sunshine the paler and the more the sunshine the darker or brownish the person. This darkness/brown-ishness protects against the ultraviolent rays of the Sun, preventing cancer from forming. Bleaching the skin thus expose the skin to the violent effect of the Sun and likelihood of cancer forming. Wrinkles also develop due to bleaching which would have occurred as we age but is hastened by steroid use and bleaching. Wrinkles can be caused by prolonged illness of any form or malnutrition and anxiety.

    In concluding, I will advise and strongly too that, though skin illnesses are very frequently encountered by every one of us, our skin can also tell us a lot of stories about the state of our health. I have only covered a small part of skin illnesses in the last few weeks. Skin is not just an object meant for beauty and decoration but a vital organ that protects and defends our body against attack. In doing its job, our skin encounters various insults and assaults to its integrity.  It’s our job as skin owners to also take care of the skin that is so much dedicated to taking care of us. Any strange occurrence or feeling in our skin should be taken seriously by visiting our medical practitioner as soon as possible. A stich in time, the sage says, saves nine.

  • Common skin disorders. Body odour, excess sweating, STD

    Body Odour (Bromhidrosis)

    Every living thing is made of chemicals. Human beings are the same. We are made up of complex compounds of chemicals whose foundation were laid when we were conceived. These chemicals are building block of our lives. They remain active every second of our lives: they undergo regeneration and shedding. The product of such recycling are constantly being removed from our body as any factory product and wastes are removed in the world.

    Body odour becomes noticeable after puberty at a time when our hormones are increasingly active and we are more productive and energetic. In most people, body odour passes without significant concern. Please be aware that every one of us smell in different ways to different degrees.

    When body odour becomes a worry, becomes overpowering or interferes with the lives of the individuals, steps should be taken to address the problem. At the time of our birth, our bodies were invaded by bacteria present in the air. As we live on, depending on what we engage in and how we look after ourselves, these bacteria will remain or change as we all change with time.

    What causes body odour? We all sweat, for a fact. Anyone who sweats is subject to some kind of body odour. How we individually deal with our body or keep the smell to a minimum is what differentiates us all. When we are anxious or we excise or there is a lot of heat around us, we sweat more in such areas as face, armpit and chest areas. Our hands may be sweating as other parts of our body. This situation creates massive opportunity for the resident bacteria, mentioned above to become active and feed on our waste products of sweat with all the chemicals that is contained in it.  This interaction of human sweat and bacteria fundamentally creates our body odour. There is however more to it. Ingestion of some foods such as garlic, onion, curry, alcohol, certain medications (like penicillin, bromides), and toxins may also body odour. Lastly, body odour may result from underlying diseases such as diabetes, kidney diseases and liver failure. Also, in some individuals, there is a strong genetic link to their excess body odour. Such individuals also have excess ear wax. Perhaps, this genetic link may explain why some cultures such as Yoruba claims that a poor child’s first bath and eventual body odour are interrelated.

    How to deal with body odour:  Beyond issue of puberty and smell, body odour in otherwise health person will be investigated by the doctor and appropriate treatment should be offered accordingly.  Personal hygiene is a very important measure. Shaving of armpit hairs and washing of armpit as well as prompt removal or washing of sweats are useful steps to take. Regular, once daily showering or bath may help as well. Use of antiseptic soap may be beneficial too. Deodorant may help reduce the perception and intensity of the body smell.  In rare occasions, surgery may be required to deal with body odour (and excess sweating).

    Excessive Sweating (hyperhidrosis). As I mentioned earlier, excess sweating may be due to anxiety, heat in the environment, eating of hot food, and exertion. But it may also be due to overactive sweat glands in the armpit, face, chest and back. In some persons, over sweating may be due to genetic inheritance. It may also be caused by diseases such as overacting thyroid and other diseases. All these may make body odour worse. The Solution include use of antiperspirants. In some situations, medications may be used to reduce over sweating but you may need to see a physician for this. In extreme cases, surgical operation may be called for to deal with excessive sweating.

    Skin and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD): Sexually transmitted diseases is a common human affliction. Skin is often a part of the human body that STD may manifest itself in the victim. Common STD that shows up in the skin include viral diseases such as human papilloma virus(HPV) showing as small cauliflower-like growth, human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) showing up as rashes in different parts or all over the body, herpes simplex showing up as ulcers (see next week’s article for skin ulcers). Bacteria such as Chancroid, and syphilis also shows up as ulcers as well as swelling around the groin, penis in men and vagina in women. Gonorrhea may cause little swelling in groin and discharge in penis. In women, infection with gonorrheoa may not be so obvious until much damage had been done.

    The solution to STD is primarily prevention: for you to exercise discretion on whom you interact with. On the other hand, use of condom may help. Where oral sex has been practiced, these infections may affect the lips and throat. If infection is discovered, do go to your medical practitioner as soon as possible for thorough investigations and treatment. Prompt attendance at the doctor may save you from more body damage and death from sexually transmitted diseases.

    Next week, we shall conclude skin disorders and when we shall take a more look at common illnesses as pertaining to our environment.

  • Common skin diseases: Pimples

    Pimples (which is otherwise called acne vulgaris) are in general, results of increased hormone activities that begins or are seen in teen years. The main hormone in the development of male person is called testosterone (androgens) which is present in both male and female but several times more in quantity and action in the male than in the female gender. Because of the needs of puberty (changes that occur between 13-18 years) when the hormone becomes very active, large amount of the hormone is produced.  The increasing activity of this hormone in both genders results in fatty matter (sebum) being formed in the skin where there is sebaceous glands (hair bearing areas) of the body. However, production of sebum is highest on the face, central chest and back. As you reader can now see, these areas that I have mentioned are regions of the body where we have the highest concentration of pimples. These areas are the oily or greasy parts of the body especially so in teenage years.

    Nonetheless, androgen effect as mentioned is not the only cause of pimples.  Clinicians and scientists have observed that some individuals may also suffer from pimples as a result of what they have inherited from their parents. Pimples may thus be genetic and in such persons, pimples can be very severe.  Obviously, pimples affect both girls and boys but men not surprisingly are more affected. Ironically, its girls who seem to be more concerned with their appearance and tend to purse the care for pimples more vigorously.

    Whilst there is no concrete evidence that pimples can be associated with foods, some persons do say that the consumption of say chocolate/cocoa or coffee based foods and pig fat increase their pimples. Please note that by itself, acne is not infectious and is not dependent on the food that you eat!  As I mentioned under environment last week, environment do have impact on skin diseases. Therefore excessive heat and humidity make pimples worse while exposure to wind and sun may diminish the darkening and formation of pimples. Stress, tension, fatigue may make pimples worse.

    Appearance of Pimples: It may be sudden as the person reaches teenage years and beyond.

    Treatment for Acne: In general, as the person with acne matures and the hormone settles down in both girls and boys, pimples will generally disappear. In women, once they start to have children at a time when their own hormone called oestrogen, is produced in considerable amount, the pimples also tend to disappear.  The presence and disappearance of pimples in our faces is therefore a matter of time. The following measures may help us to deal with our pimples:  A) You may simply ignore it. It will go away in a matter of time. B) Avoid picking and squeezing the acne heads. C) If you are a girl and you suffer from Polycystic ovarian syndrome, you may need anti-testosterone amongst other treatments that the medical doctor may so recommend, to help you control it. See your doctor.  D) Avoid moisturisers on the acne. It may become worse. E) If a girl, be careful with type of contraceptive pills that you use. F)Wash the acne area twice daily with gentle soap and keep it clean. Wash gently. You may apply some anti-acne creams (see below). G) If the acne is troublesome and or infected, you may need medications and antibiotics to control the infection and growth of the acne: Examples of medications that are available over the counter such as Clearasil.

    There are others that your doctor may need to prescribe: antibiotics such as tetracycline (must not be used in pregnant women or children) that may also help you. There are many other medications such as Isotretinoin (eg Roaccutane), Azelaic acid, Retinoids in creams and or tablet forms. These medications are to be used strictly under the directions of a competent medical doctor because of the danger that is associated with their side effects. H) Avoid steroids. I) Ask your doctor for some oral contraceptive pills. It may help you, if you are a girl. J) In case you are taking some medications for something else, such medications may cause acne. Ask your medical doctor to help you to check for the side effects of your medications.  While you should not stop such medication unless the doctor ask you to do so, but talk to your doctor about it. J) In some women, being pregnant may help growth of acne, but plan your family or pregnancy accordingly!  Finally, in the main, have confidence in your look. Acne will ultimately get resolved but if it’s becoming troublesome, don’t despair as there may be an underlying disease or conditions that is impacting on your acne.  Talk to a medical doctor.

  • Serena Williams pregnant with her first baby

    Serena Williams pregnant with her first baby

    International tennis superstar, Serena Williams, 35, says she is 20 weeks pregnant.

    The 22-time Grand Slam champion made the announcement on Wednesday on Snap-chat where she showed off her pregnant belly in a profile pic of herself holding up her phone to a mirror in a one-piece swimsuit captioned, “20 weeks.”

    The veteran athlete has been engaged to Alexis Ohanian,33, since December 2016

    “It feels good,’ she said of the engagement in January.

    “I really haven’t thought about it too much because I wasn’t even really gonna think about it until after the tournament.

    Williams, has been romantically linked in the past to Grigor Dimitrov, Patrick Mouratoglou, Amar’e Stoudemire, Hosea Chanchez, Jackie Long, Common, Colin Farrell, and Drake, among others.

     

  • What is it that, quite unbelievably, Trump and Buhari have in common as leaders?

    What is it that, quite unbelievably, Trump and Buhari have in common as leaders?

    In terms of personality, there cannot be two people who are as dissimilar as night is to day as our president, Muhammadu Buhari, and the American president, Donald Trump. But as rulers, the similarities between the two men are as uncanny as they are utterly surprising. Briefly stated, here is the bottom line in our profile of these similarities: a gift of masterful personal charisma that is almost completely neutralized by an unacknowledged proneness to weakness, confusion and obtuseness in running the affairs of the nation. There is nothing inherently antithetical between great personal charisma and the demands and responsibilities of governance. Indeed, some of the greatest statesmen and women in history have been endowed with large and equal doses of the two. But when charisma comes with either an innate or determinate propensity for weakness, confusion and coarsened sensibilities in exercising power over a nation and its populace, then the charisma becomes a liability, an alibi for mediocre, unjust and frightening political governance. This, I contend, is what we have in the unfolding scenario of the rule of our president and the incumbent American president.

    In making these opening observations in this piece, this much I must immediately admit: of all the thirteen executive heads of states that we have had in this country, Muhammadu Buhari is one of the two or three rulers who seem the least comparable to Donald Trump. Indeed, to speak quite candidly on this issue, the two Nigerian heads of states that I personally find the most comparable to Trump are Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. Obasanjo: like Trump, he is a supreme egomaniac whose first, second and third locus of ethico-political priority or investment is himself. Babangida: like Trump, he freely mixes amorality with immorality, so much so that he is as incapable of remorse as a recidivist rapist who is forever hoping to be given the chance to revisit and re-enact all his previous crimes. Buhari is not a saint, but he is not an Obasanjo or a Babangida. And as a matter of fact, either as a military dictator or an elected ruler, Buhari is not among my favouriteNigerian ruling class politicians. But I want him to succeed. I want him to succeed simply because his success will help to bring our country closer to the minimum of consolidation of a democratic order of the developing world that can meet the challenges of a global economic and political system that is overwhelming rigged against the interests and aspirations of the poor nations and regions of the world. If this is true, what then is the basis of my comparing Buhari with Trump?

    I promise: I will give a straightforward and unequivocal answer to this question at the end of this piece. Before then,it it is necessary to further expatiate on my claim that a similarity does indeed exist between Buhari and Trump with regard to the gift of an enormous personal charisma that is neutralized by an unacknowledged weakness, confusion and crassness. We must of course admit it: American democracy is much older and far more stable than our own fledgling, abiku democracy in Nigeria. Moreover, America is the most affluent country in the world while Nigeria is one of the poorest and most economically unjust. These significant facts notwithstanding, women and men are the same all over the world and the moral and political coordinates of governance are comparable everywhere in our common earth. Moreover, please think of this fact, compatriots: the Nigerian presidential system is closely, even apishly modeled on American presidentialism. Above all else is the fact that kleptocracy reigns supreme in both countries, though it is of course more rampant, more “unashamed” in Nigeria than in the United States. No, dear readers, there is nothing fanciful in comparing a Nigerian mode of questionable political charisma with an American one.

    And so: what are the expressions of charisma suffused by weakness, naivety and confusion in the respective vocations of the current presidents of the two countries? We can only be selective in our response to this question. Like Trump, Buhari came into office thinking that the sheer charismatic force of his personality would blow away corruption and bring “change” to the status quo andthe country. But corruption has not only fought back in the president’s chosen or preferred theatre of war (the law courts), it has invaded the inner chambers of his presidency, right up to office of the SGF, thereby making the Nigerian president look utterly feckless.

    Trump had a more colorful metaphor for the same thing: he was going to “drain the swamp” of corruption and inertia in Washington, DC, he shouted to the four corners of the land during the electoral campaigns right up to his inauguration as the new incumbent of the White House. But before he could settle down in the nation’s morally diseased capital, the “swamp” had claimed Trump and drawn him and many members of his administration into its murky embrace. Indeed, as I write these words on Friday, March 31, 2017 inside the US itself, it has just been revealed that the disgraced former National Security Adviser to Trump, General Michael Flynn (Rtd), was a secret foreign agent of Turkey and had also received large cash handouts from Russian parastatals close to Putin. Thus, in both cases in Abuja and Washington, DC, the question is loud and clear: why has the charisma of each president been so ineffectual, so naïve, so laughable in its utter lack of critical self-awareness?

    Charisma in Buhari and Trump has perhaps found its most effective limits in its confrontation with divisions and vested interests within each president’s own ruling party, respectively the APC (Nigeria) and the Republican Party (the US). This scenario seems worse in Buhari’s encounter with the political robber barons in the APC, but that may be because Trump has been in office for less than three months while the Nigerian president has been in office for about two years. Thus, while Buhari has now more or less completely given up all pretense to being in control of the political bosses of his party in the National Assembly and the states, Trump is still twitting and barking orders at rebellious operators in his party to fall in line and give his programs legislative backing. This is regardless of the fact that dissolute factions within his own party have just handed the American president a crushing defeat in the form of failure to repeal and replace the so-called “Obamacare”, a cornerstone of Trump’s campaign for the presidency.In both the Nigerian and American cases, the following questions are now being asked: can a president whose “charisma” cannot match the machinations of politicians and vested interests inside his own party be expected to carry out promises and programs intended to be beneficial to the whole country? Why is “charisma”, alone on its own and without much else to fortify and make it hardy and resilient, why is it so ineffectual?

    These questions find their most pertinent application in the framework of the much larger question of the survival of the nation itself.  Here I must perhaps make a confession: I have just arrived in the US after a long stay in Nigeria and I find that this same politically existential question of the survival of the nation is on nearly every thinking person’s mind in each country. Please note the qualification of “existential” here with the adverb, “politically”. This is because it is not so much the literal survival of each respective country that is in question; rather, it is what will be left of the country, after the “charisma” of Buhari or of Trump might have been finally contained by forces that neither man can grasp, let alone master? Put differently, here is the same question: what will be left of the country, its unity, the moral, psychological and cultural resources in its patrimony, after the president’s “charisma” has finally caved in to the nation-wrecking interests tearing away the last remnants of vitality, justice, solidarity and honour across the length and breadth of the land?

    At this point in the discussion, it is time for me to now return to the question that I earlier promised I would answer unequivocally at the end of this essay. Here is the question, slightly rephrased from the form in which I first posed it: if Nigeria and the US are so different in the age and the nature of their democratic dispensationsand in the wealth and power of each nation, and if Buhari is one of the least comparable of Nigerian rulers to the current American president, Donald Trump, why then have I thought it necessary, perhaps even instructive to compare the two men? I shall be very direct and concrete in my response to the question.

    Unlike what obtains in Buhari’s Nigeria, Americans have not (yet) started killing one another in bloodbaths based on ethnicity, religion, regionalism and settler-indigene identities backed by destructive, rampaging violence. But this is no comfort to most decent, humane, thinking Americans since everyone recognizes that the present period is more filled with hatreds and phobias based on race, gender, sexuality and religion than any other period in at least the last half century if not longer. In plain terms, American society is more riven by these divisions now than anyone can remember in living memory. Both Buhari and Trump are products of this deeply troubling history, Trump far more culpably so than the Nigerian president. Indeed, one could go so far as to say that Trump is as much an instigator, a catalyst of this development as he is also its product. Buhari is not completely innocent of being a fomenter, an instigator of violently irredentist identity, but for the most part, this belongs to his past. His “present”, so to speak, is shrouded in mystery and irresoluteness. The nation and the world expect far more of him than he has either been willing or able to give and this is the main or real issue: his charisma is wearing thin and becoming jaded, torn.

    Speaking only for myself, I found it deeply disturbing that throughout all the killings in Southern Kaduna, Buhari hardly uttered a squeak. The cries of the dead and their grieving families hardly reached or touched him, it seemed. More portentously, his administration seems totally lacking in the will and the understanding needed to bring justice, restitution and peace to all the aggrieved communities in the country in all parts of the country, east and west, north and south. Justice is indivisible, restitution and peace are due to all communities without discrimination. But Buhari’s administration is dithering. And meanwhile, as a baleful background to the violent inter-communal bloodletting in the land, the looting is still going on, the heavens help us!

     

    • Biodun Jeyifo

    bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

  • Fighting a ‘common enemy’

    Fighting a ‘common enemy’

    For banks, frauds and forgeries are a big challenge. No matter what banks do to avoid these problems, they still rear their heads. Does that mean there is no way out? Stakeholders believe there is. At the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) conference in Lagos last week, they proffered the way out of the quagmire, writes COLLINS NWEZE.

     Many view banks with suspicion and the reason is obvious. It is believed that banks are the citadel of frauds, forgeries, among others. This is why some people do not put their money in banks. But are banks that bad? They may not be that bad, but their reputation is not helping matters.

    Banks too know that they are held in low esteem. This is what may have prompted them to take steps to curb fraud in the sector.

    Data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that in 2012, banks received and processed 6,274 complaints, via e-mails on various financial crimes, particularly advanced fee fraud.  There were 4,527 cases of fraud and forgery involving N14.8 billion and $1.6 million.

    The CBN also received and investigated four complaints against commercial banks. The cases were reported to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation. Globally, estimated credit card fraud stood at $11 billion in 2012, making it one of the most significant criminal developments in modern times.

    These fraud statistics prompted the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) to take steps to stem the practice.

    Last weekend, the NeFF which comprises banks, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System, the Police and EFCC met in Lagos to discuss the way forward.

    Piqued by the rising electronic fraud (e-fraud), the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Bank Limited, Mallam Ahmed Kuru, called on banks to establish anti-fraud departments to curb the menace.

    Delivering a keynote address titled: “When all goes wrong: Mediation and arbitration best practices,” Kuru, represented by Head, Strategy & Corporate Transformation, Chuks Ekpunobi, said it was time for banks to collaborate to eradicate e-fraud, which he described as a “common enemy.”

    He said electronic fraud has been in an upward swinng since 2010 and needed to be checked. He said this was worrisome because the increase is in terms of the number, volume and sophistication driven by high powered technology. Unfortunately, however, he argued that bankers, auditors and internal control officials of financial institutions may not be as knowledgeable as the fraudsters.

    “Therefore, if we are to make progress in this direction, banks need to, as a matter of urgency, establish anti-fraud departments with staff that would always be ahead of the fraudsters in every sense of the word.

    “Every financial institution should take the issue seriously because this year alone, the industry has lost about N2 billion to electronic fraud from the first and second quarters. Should this trend continue, about N5 billion would be the estimated loss by the end of 2014. If this is not checked, the trend will lead to unbearable levels of capital erosion in the system,” he said.

    The establishment of anti-fraud units, he said, will provide continuous improvement initiatives in fraud control and present a platform for the implementation of viable fraud management solution to highlight deviations of fraudulent transactions from normal transactions; ensure compliance to Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS) initiatives of the CBN as well as guarantee the implementation of other Fraud Control measures and Security initiatives both on the network, and applications of the bank. It will also ensure the implementation of a Database Access Monitory (DAM) and Account Access Monitory (AAM) solutions, among others.

    While commending the organisers for choosing to deliberate on this trend that is plaguing the industry, Kuru said he sees the establishment of the NeFF as a collective step in the right direction in the attempt to eradicate e-Fraud in the financial sector because NeFF provides the opportunity for practitioners to share knowledge about global trend in e-Faud, industry trend as well as new methods of perpetrating fraud among other issues that affect every bank. He argued that this was the only way banks can protect their funds from relentless fraudsters.

    Interswitch, an electronic transaction switching and payment processing company called for an upgrade in the technology, processes and systems to proactively detect suspicious activities in place.

    In response to emailed questions, the firm said cardholders also need to be constantly educated on keeping their banking details fully protected.

    The firm said this has become important because fraudsters keep developing new fraud mechanisms to circumvent new security measures. The firm claimed it has adopted and holds certifications in the highest standards available in the payment card industry. “In terms of card standards, we are EMV 4.0 certified and in terms of security, we are Card Industry Data Security Standard certification (PCIDSS) V3 certified. We have also attained ISO 9001:2000 for our processing services,” it said.

    Continuing, it said aside such certifications, its Verve product, has a unique feature for card-not-present transactions.

    “A card-not-present transaction is a payment card transaction made where the cardholder is not physically present with the card at the time that the payment is affected. In order to safe guard cardholders when conducting card-not-present, we have introduced SafeToken. SafeToken is an online security technology that protects customers against unauthorised use of their cards via the web through the generation of One-time passwords (OTPs),” it said.

    Interswitch also said as a second layer of defence, it has also introduced Scorebridge which is a fraud management system that enables Electronic Financial Transaction (EFT) messages to be processed through predefined Artificial Intelligence in order to determine the transaction’s risk and probability of a fraud. This enables the monitoring of card patterns and declines suspicious transactions.

    “Banking security has got so many banks thinking about safety and reliability of their networks. What steps do you think that lenders need to take to guarantee customers’ transaction security and trust? Over the years, the banks have invested a lot in different security measures to guarantee customer transactions, but as a minimum, all banks should have the following measures in place: Defining a baseline security standard (such as PCIDSS) Educating customers on safe security practices when using their cards Investing in a fraud management system,” it said.

    On the cash-less policy instituted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), it said the direct cost of handling, processing and managing cash across the nation as at 2009, stood at N114 billion and could have increased if the cashless policy had not been introduced.

    “The good thing we have also done as stakeholders in the e-payment industry are to also introduce solutions that would drive adoption of the cash-less policy. These solutions have been designed to address the specific needs of the ordinary Nigerian towards the adoption of e-payment,” it said.

    Founder and Managing Director, DataPro Limited Abimbola Adeseyoju said criminals know that there are compliance procedures, such as Know Your Customer (KYC). They, therefore, come prepared, hence the need for lenders to go the extra mile in verifying their customers’ identities.

    He said fraudsters either modify their identity slightly, or create a synthetic identity which can be detected through a Link Analysis Solution. This applies advanced analysis to determine the risk level for both the network and every individual associated with the network, he said.

    Examples of attributes that could be shared and linked are Personal Identity Information, Account Information and Transactional Information.

    “Once the entities are linked together, advanced analytics are applied to determine the level of risk and create a risk score. The i2 Notebook used by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIUs), among others, enables them to search multiple data sources simultaneously, find hidden links and entities and visualise transactions and timelines,” he said.

    Adeseyoju advised financial institutions to pay special attention to all complex, unusually large transactions, or unusual patterns of transactions that have no visible economic or lawful purpose. Continuing, he said the lenders should investigate suspicious transaction and report its findings to the NFIU immediately.

    However, Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) have continued to promote and support the CBN KYC initiative. The lenders, analysts said, are omitting huge funds into the KYC project because of its immense benefits in fighting fraud.

     

    CBN’s actions

    Aware of these dangers, the CBN decided to set up a five-year Information Technology (IT) Standards for banks. John Ayoh, CBN Director, Information Technology, said the exercise would help banks identify and adopt global IT Standards that address industry problems. He said banks are expected to implement the plan on continuous basis and in accordance with set timelines.

    CBN said the introduction of chip and pin payment cards have led to drastic drop in ATM card fraud.  It said the CBN and other relevant institutions have been able to reduce card frauds considerably by instituting ATM Fraud Prevention Group and the NeFF. The groups are to enable banks to collaboratively share data on fraud attempts and proactively tackle them to reduce losses.

    The CBN also instructed banks to set and implement mandatory daily limits for ATM cash withdrawal, while other related transactions, including POS and Web purchases should be subjected to stringent limit as agreed and documented between the banks and customers. It said it is the responsibility of the banks to ensure that a trigger is automatically initiated when limits are exceeded.

    Speaking at the Committee of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria (CCCOBIN) in Lagos, Emefiele said Nigeria has adequate legal and regulatory measures that should address breaches to the KYC, Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and Enhanced Customer Due Diligence (EDD) provisions.

    “It is the application of these KYC provisions that are meant to reveal illegitimate sources of funds and trigger investigation by relevant stakeholders that matters. Like in many developing countries, compliance has been a major regulatory challenge in Nigeria,” he said.

     

  • The Common Man takes on India’s elite

    The Common Man takes on India’s elite

    A general election in India, the world’s largest democracy, is always remarkable to behold – and this year more than ever. This is not just because India now has nearly 800m eligible voters, an electorate more than double the entire population of the US. It is also because India is heading for one of its most uncertain national polls in decades, one set to be dominated by public anger over cronyism in government and the country’s appalling public services.

    For the past 10 years, India has been ruled by the Congress party, the centrist reference point of India’s democracy. But under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress has become mired in corruption scandals and lacklustre economic management. For months, the assumption has been that the man to beat in poll, which must take place by May, will be Narendra Modi, prime ministerial candidate for the Bharatiya Janata party, India’s Hindu nationalist opposition. He presents himself as a new strongman of Indian politics, one who would run India as effectively as he has run his home state of Gujarat.

    However, victory for “the Lion of Gujarat” is not completely guaranteed. In recent weeks there has been an unexpectedly strong showing by the Aam Aadmi – or Common Man – party, an anti corruption movement. Its stunning performance in state assembly elections in New Delhi has led pollsters to wonder whether the AAP might ultimately block Mr Modi’s chances of forming a government. It is too early to know for sure. But the sudden emergence centre stage of a political party formed just one year ago signals how much the Indian middle class wants the status quo to change.

    If India’s voters are angry, much of this is directed at Congress and the out-of-touch Gandhi dynasty. Manmohan Singh is an erudite and morally upright figure. But in recent years he has been appallingly passive in the face of rampant corruption inside his government. Rahul Gandhi, now the most likely prime minister candidate for Congress, is nowhere near demonstrating the political energy needed for the job.

    India’s voters are also incensed about the state of the economy. India’s once vibrant growth rate has fallen by half in recent years to 5 per cent per annum. Some 10m Indians enter the workforce each year with little hope of a job. Widespread fury over the dire state of infrastructure and services is one of the main reasons why the Common Man party is surging.

    But despite that success, the big question at this election is whether Mr Modi will be the man to capitalise on public dissatisfaction. He remains the central figure in Indian politics, the one dominating the national conversation. His appeal has much to do with his economic success in Gujarat, which has seen GDP growth of about 10 per cent a year since he came to office in 2001 (higher than India as a whole). His supporters say that record of success can now be exported across India.

    Yet huge questions hang over Mr Modi. First and foremost is the pogrom against Muslims in Gujarat that happened on his watch in 2002. He has not been found guilty of any crime but has rarely shown any remorse for it. There are, moreover, real doubts about whether he can be an effective leader at a national level, given his reputation as an autocratic loner who rarely delegates.

    India needs a leader who will give the country a new direction, build public confidence and sweep out corruption. But it is a complex and heterogeneous country of 28 states and needs a prime minister who can also unify the nation. Indians may be tired of the passive figure of Mr Singh and have an unclear picture of what Congress now stands for. But Mr Modi must prove in the coming campaign that he has a vision for India beyond aggressive Hindu nationalism.

    – Financial Times