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Tag: expert

  • How to stop pneumonia, by expert

    How to stop pneumonia, by expert

    Children under five and those above 75 can easily catch pneumonia, a chest and respiratoty physician has said.

    Dr Cyril Chukwu of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) said the disease is common in the children and the elderly.

    According to him, pneumonia is caused by germs, which grow in the lungs.

    The disease, he said, may also be caused by germs, such as virus, bacteria and fungi.

    He said bacterial pneumonia is the commonest and the most important of all causes of the disease.

    Chukwu said pneumonia is common as a result of dirty environment and poor ventilation in homes.

    He continued: “In Lagos, there is almost no space. There are buildings everywhere, which make ventilation impossible.”

    He advised the people to live in ventilated environment to avoid being infected with pneumonia.

    “For example, there are many people with different health issues, at a bus stop. So, people must be cautious about those around them,” he said.

    He said people often erroneously take pneumonia to be tuberculosis (TB) because they have similar symptoms.

    Chest pain, chronic cough and sneezing as well as running nose are some of the symptoms of the disease, he added.

    He urged the Federal Government to enlighten Nigerians on cleanliness, adding: “The importance of living in well ventilated houses and offices should be articulated.”

    Chukwu said it is not everybody with cough, chest pain or sneezes that have pneumonia.

    Diagnosis, he said, should be left to the doctor who has the necessary qualifications to handle the disease.

    “So, it is the work of a doctor to if a patient is suffering from pneumonia or tuberculosis. The cough of pneumonia, TB or cancer patient can only be differentiated by a doctor,” Chukwu said.

    He called for more awareness on the disease, adding that many people still do not know anything about it.

    “We need our people to live in well ventilated houses. If they are aware that a well-ventilated environment is important to good health status, they would do something about it.

  • Expert advises NERC to retool power roadmap

    The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has been advised to retool the power sector roadmap such that the Distribution, Generation and the Transition Companies synergised and ensured that issues affecting adequate power generation in the country are given priority attention and resolved quickly.

    Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Power Systems (E&M) Services Limited, Bimbo Onafowokan, who gave this advice, said the roadmap would put all the problems in perspective and proffer solutions simultaneously

    He said if there is solution to those problems, they will be solving one problem and creating other problems elsewhere.

    He said the NERC as a regulatory body should put strong measures that would ensure that all the stakeholders performed by creating a platform for them to meet on regular basis, adding that they should be meeting at least once a month to share issues and set targets for themselves.

    Onafowokan, who spoke at the weekend in a telephone interview, said the distribution companies have board members that are equally responsive to the generation company’s board, stressing that in this vein they should in one way or the other share each other’s board so as to have seamless communication along the line.

    He said: “Each of those arms has different problems that are peculiar to it but at the same time you must solve the problems intact, if you don’t solve the distribution companies’ problem, generation companies still suffer, then there’s nothing for TCN, and if you solve the generation companies problem TCN has issues with expansion in transmitting, the distribution will not have anything to distribute,” he further explained.

    He said the roadmap does not address that, it does not create that seamless communication among the major players. “The regulatory body should look at the roadmap once again and all the agreements that was signed by privatised generation companies and see where they can create that seamless communications between the three chairs of the market such that they will be addressing problems simultaneously,”  he advised.

     

     

     

    He said the shortage of gas in the country is as a result of the fact that priority is being given to gas export. According to him, the major gas producing companies-the NLNG and the Brass LNG are majorly for export.

    He said though Nigeria flares about 75million cubic feet of gas per day and export about 35million cubic feet but for internal consumption the country is not making up to 6million cubic feet of gas per day due to vandalism.

    Chairman of NERC, Sam Amadi in a telephone call said there is what he called the Chief Executive Officers meeting which according to him holds every month

    He said the essence of the meeting is to bring all the Discos, Gencos and the TCN as well the Ministry of Power together to discuss issues and set agenda for the operating companies as way forward in the power sector.

  • Appoint technocrats, expert urges Buhari

    Group Managing Director, NANET Group, an hospitality firm,  Ini Akpabio, has urged the President-elect,  Muhammed Buhari to appoint professionals in key government positions.

    Akpabio, made the appeal in a chat with journalists in Lagos at the weekend.

    He said  the down-ward trends witnessed in most sectors of the Nigeria economy, are as a result of the absence of technocrats in government’s positions.

    “Most of the people appointed into leadership positions are not professionals or expert in such sectors given to them to manage.

    “Politicians appoint people based on relationship not on experience and professionalism. If such  is not corrected, no sector of the economy will work because the right people are not in the right positions,” he said.

    The Managing Director also advised the incoming government to revitalised  abandoned historical monuments, government built hotels and tourism sites across the country.

    He said there were lots of abandoned government hotels, monuments and tourism sites that are not in good condition.

    “The incoming government should focus on the abandoned historical sites, hotels and monuments to boost the sector.

    “The country is blessed with enormous tourism and hospitality assets that can be used  to raise revenue for the government .

    According to him, the incoming government need not spend much in establishing tourism sites or monument but to reawaken  abandoned ones, “ he said.

    Akpabio advised the Buhari led administration to exploit hospitality and tourism sector as alternative means to oil sector.

    “Government should diversify the economy through the tourism and hospitality industry as it poses less hazard to the environment unlike the oil sector.

    “Hospitality and tourism sector is the third employer of labour after agric sector and government offices, “ he said.

    He further stated that the industry is capable of employing over one million citizens annually, thereby, reducing employment challenges in the country.

    “The industry will help to increase the nation gross domestic earnings by 50 per cent and also help in poverty alleviation,” Akpabio said.

    Akpabio appealed to the Federal Government to create good road networks to tourism sites across the country and also provide infrastructure to aid the sector.

  • How to avoid kidney damage, by expert

    Diabetes, hypertension, smoking and self-medication have been listed as major factors responsible for kidney or renal damage in Nigeria.

    A senior consultant nephrologist at Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, India, Dr Devendra Agarwal, who spoke in Abuja, said they are the contributory factors why people’s kidneys fail.

    To prevent kidney damage, he advised that people should abstain from poor lifestyle, adding: “People should go out, or do morning walks. They should watch what they eat and be active instead of sitting all day watching television and eating fatty foods,” he said.

    Agarwal said diabetes cases are increasing by the day across the world, adding that half of transplantation carried out on Nigerian patients by his hospital was due to diabetes.

    “Smoking, which people say affects the heart and lungs have been found to be injurious to kidneys too. Pain killers’ use over a long time can predispose people kidney damage. My advice is that pain killers should be taken only when they required. If we take care of these things, we can cut down the numbers of patients with kidney failure,” he said.

    The nephrologist said transplantation and dialysis are the two options often explored to restore a damaged kidney. Dialysis, he said, continues throughout the lifetime of a kidney patient, adding that a patient only gets one kidney in transplant.

    “Many patients from Nigeria have undergone kidney transplantation and they are doing fine. Most transplant patients do normal jobs and get back to routine life. But, things can be different in the event of donor for transplant. We often advise the patient to continue with dialysis, which is the cleaning of the blood by a machine for four hours. This is required for two or three times a week and it is life-long,” he said.

    He said non-compliance of patients to drug prescriptions, especially the dosage, is the main reason for poor outcome of kidney transplant.

    “Many patients have reduced the dose or stop it completely because they were okay after their transplant. They forgot that the bodies are different, so the kidneys. Therefore, rejection can happen and in most cases, the solution is a second transplant or dialysis,” he said.

    He assured that transplant patients can live an absolutely normal life, adding that it is not devoid of medication.

    A kidney patient, he noted, would need a donor, adding that most patients in Nigeria get their family to donate for them.

    “Some patients, who are brain dead may authorise their relations to donate their kidneys. But this is no so common,” Agarwal said.

    He further said: “A family donated the kidneys of their relation, who was cadavers or brain-dead. The heart of somebody that is brain-dead still works. We put one kidney into an 18-year old girl and the other into a 55-year-old woman. Both are doing well. But the number of cadaver transplantation is less because families do not give consent for cadaver transplants.”

    Agarwal said experts should test for tissue matching to increase the chances of compatibility before the transplant. “The second thing we do is give drugs known as immunosuppressant to the patients to be taking regularly. It usually starts with a high dose. But later dose reduces,” he said.

    The body, he said, can reject a kidney if it is not compatibility or when the blood group does not match that of the patient.

    “When the blood group does not match there will be rejection. The antibodies also increase and that triggers rejection. When the donor match is positive, we still cannot do a transplant otherwise the body will reject the kidney. What we often do is plasma exchange to take out the antibodies, and when the cross-match is negative, and then we do the transplant. Now it is different blood group renal transplant are possible with the help of plasma exchange and Rituximab, among others,” Agarwal said.

  • Expert seeks review of bilateral agreements in agric

    Expert seeks review of bilateral agreements in agric

    World Bank Consultant, Prof Abel Ogunwale, has urged the Federal  Government to review  its bilateral and regional trade agreements to ensure they create jobs and opportunities for Nigerians  in the agric sector.

    In an interview, Ogunwale of  Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomosho, Oyo State, said  bilateral and regional trade agreements are meant for development and so  that the  government should  negotiate trade agreements at the multilateral, regional and, bilateral and domestic levels, that will best promote longer term sustainable and inclusive development objectives across the agric sector.

    He said the incoming regime should pursue international agreements that will with domestic policy to foster increased productivity, decent job creation and higher standards of living for all, in a sustainable and equitable manner.

    While preserving regional integrity has been a key challenge in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Ogunwale said there is need  to  promote  items  support integration processes and boost the possibility of building regional value chains.

    He  said efforts  should be  directed at boosting  intra-Africa trade and  that  particular attention should also be paid to new mega trade deals, which will have a significant impact on  agriculture, trade flows and investment.

    He stressed the key role that private sector,  would play in bringing such  agreements into life, by  translating new trade opportunities into effective business relations.

    While acknowledging that addressing  challenges in a multilateral trade round requires time, Ogunwale urged the government to take urgent actions to address barriers, using all available trade and agricultural policy vehicles to improve regional and international markets for food.

    In addition, he advocated  capacity building and technical assistance programmes to facilitate removal of agricultural trade barriers, improve supply chains and increase farmers’ access to markets, including complying with trade rules and regulations,  complex sanitary and phytosanitary standards.

    With a new regime coming in place, he said there should an aggressive free trade agenda in agriculture where the government   will ensure the United States, European Union  and South Africa  to  open their markets up to Nigerian  agric produce and the right to define its own agricultural policies  to meet its domestic needs.

  • Expert advises Buhari on environment, others

    Expert advises Buhari on environment, others

    AN appeal has gone to the President-elect Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) to make environmental issues part of the focus of his administration.

    A member of the Nigeria Environmental Society (NES), Mr Valentine Opone, who made the appeal in Lagos, said Buhari should put environmental management in his draft policy.

    He said: “As we know, human anthropological activity is tremendously causing global warming and the environment must be cared for for sustainability.”

    Opone, also member of the Drafting Committee, Federal/states Regulatory Dialogue on the Implementation of regulations of the National Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), said the government must hire experts to handle its ministry and departments of environment, adding that putting round pegs in round holes should  be    discouraged by the incoming government.

    The government, he said, should ensure that its interest for the green and brown environment should not conflict with that of overall development of the ecosystem.

    He said following the insurgency in the Northeast, there was need for a clean-up to eradicate the effects of the deposits which emanated from the deployment of arms and ammunition of both the security agents and the Boko Haram members, saying that most of these could lead to the deaths of some of our water bodies, such as rivers and streams.

    “It may sound strange that rivers could die. It was the importance environmentalists attach to the issue that they made it the theme of the last Annual General Meeting (AGM) of NES in Warri, Delta State, chaired by the Minister of Environment Mrs Laurentila Laraba Mallam. It was aptly titled: Sustainable use of Rivers in Nigeria.

    “Similarly, a sustained environment will reduce the outbreak of diseases for men and animals. This is because a balanced environment will accommodate enough oxygen and greens for healthy living. However, a polluted soil cannot but produce contaminated plants, which are injurious to man.

    “These contaminations are the fallout of toxics into the leaching water body, which are eventually taken in by the plants. The morphology of some certain species of organisms can also be altered or made to go into extinction,” he said, urging the incoming government to plan robustly for the environment.

    Another area Opone wants the government to focus at is urban renewal. He said because the migration of people from the rural areas to the urban areas is massive,and it is causing over utilisation or undue pressure on the available amenities,there was the need to build rural development projects to arrest the situation and balance the ecosystem.

    “Industrialisation must be encouraged with modern technology to reduce pollution of any kind. Policy makers must work with the policies and the White Papers of the incoming administrations where it favours the citizens and avoid throwing away every document produced by the outgoing government, ” he added.

    He praised the Jonathan government for assisting to make NES a chartered body, its recognition of the group, and support for industries in ensuring that environmental matters were not swept under the carpet.

    Specifically, he gave kudos to the Jonathan administration for its afforestation policy and fencing of coastal lines to avoid the negative effects of ocean surges.

    He urged Buhari to ban import of fairly used cooling systems, such as air conditioners, fridges because they are not oxone friendly as they emit Chorofloro Carbon (CFC) and Carbon Monoxide (Co2).

    He said these systems and used vehicles emit polluting toxic gases. He wants the Buhari government to encourage the recycling of used or abandoned metallic vehicles and machinery.

    Opone, member of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), asked the government to assist auto makers to produce cheap and affordable products to reduce the importation of tokunbo( used) cars.

  • Expert seeks more attention to security

    A SECURITY expert Thomas Fakile has urged players in both the public and private sectors to pay more attention to security matters in their organisations.

    He spoke at the just concluded security exhibition titled: SECUREX West Africa organised by Montgomery West Africa at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Fakile, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dartwood, said many business executives do not see security issues as vital to the survival of their businesses. He cited banks and some organisations were installations of security gadgets are improperly done or fake materials are deployed to save costs. He said even where business executives spend millions of Naira on putting projects in place, the security technology utilisation is between 15 per cent and 20 per cent.

    He warned that as long as firms treat security issues with kid gloves so long would their organisations be under threat.  He traced the problems in the subsector to quacks.

    On the ongoing elections, he canvassed the use of drones. “Let’s have drones in polling booths. They are cheap. Ten drones are enough. But wherever they are should not be disclosed to people,’’ he said. Praising the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Fakile said: “When people know that when they commit crime they will be caught, they will be careful.

    General Manager Hallogen Security Mrs Gbemisola Adejumo, who praised the exhibition, emphasised its importance. She, however, said only one third of those who originally shown interest, actually came. She hoped that next year, more participants would attend.

    Managing Director Montgomery West Africa Tori Abiola, said her firm held the event to sensitise the public on the evils of insecurity to business and display the latest materials and skills in the subsector.

    She was sure visitors to the exhibition gained tremendously from it, despite the reduction in attendance as result of the postponement of the Presidential election from February 14 to March 28. She promisied that a better event awaits participants next year.

     

  • Expert urges govt to stop malt extract import

    The Managing Director, Food Agro & Allied Industries Limited, Mr. Sudhansu Sinha, has urged the Federal Government to stop the importation of malt syrup into the country, adding that the development constituted huge drain on scarce foreign exchange.

    He said farmers from countries, such as China, India and Turkey, where the raw material is imported from, enjoy government subsidies in addition to other waivers that make their products cheaper for importers and consumers.

    Speaking at the weekend, Sinha lamented that food, beverage and drinks manufacturers in the country prefer to buy the raw material from foreign countries at the detriment of the growth of the nation’s economy.

    He advised the government to implement the policy it started in the 1980’s under which it banned the importation of barley and the by-product of malt extract, which led to research by the Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC) that discovered sorghum, a tropical plant found in abundance in the Northeast, especially in Gombe State.

    According to him, the implementation of the policy will not only empower farmers, it will also create employment as there will be capacity utilisation of local industries to grow the economy.

    He noted that the market runs into billions of naira, but adding that the government needs to protect the local industries from the overwhelming influence of foreign interest that insist on buying raw materials from their factories abroad rather than patronising local firms with the requisite technology and competitive production process.

    Sinha said: “The production of sorghum is going down as the farmers are not empowered and there is no subsidy on agriculture unlike the European countries that protect their farmers. The insecurity problem is a major issue as most of our supplies come from the varieties found in the Northeast.”

    Lagos State Coordinator of RMRDC, Mr. Tokunbo Habeeb, said the agency was set up to ensure that industries are fed with raw materials that have local substitutes so that importation of locally available raw materials will be discouraged.

    He decried the huge foreign exchange spent on the importation of malt extract, adding that  food and beverage manufacturing companies should be encouraged to patronise local companies such that apply the highest level of production skill that is globally competitive.

    He said the country will be saving over $25 million annually from malt extract from sorghum. “Patronage of local content is crucial to our economy. What the company produces meets world class standards. Sorghum has a higher shelf life than barley extracts and is more nutritious as it is gluten free, which makes it healthier and more acceptable in the advanced economies,” he said.

    Habeed said the high maltose syrup extract is used in alcoholic and non alcoholic beverage production and is a healthy replacement for sugar and syrups in production of quality beers and malt drinks, soft drinks, milk and malt preparations.

    In the food industry the RMDC boss said it is used in leavening and conditioning of dough, moisture retention and softening of bakery crumb. He urged food and drinks manufacturers to patronize locally made products certified by RMRDC for best quality and competitive production process.

  • Expert alerts on African swine fever outbreak

    The Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin, ProfAbiodun Adeloye, has  warned  feed manufacturers and pork producers of the possible outbreak of African swine fever.

    He said the precarious  weather condition is creating an environment for deadly diseases to  invade the industry, calling for quick action and monitoring for possible traces of strange and common  animal diseases, after  the  recent  attack of  bird  flu  on some  poultry farms inthe country.

    With African swine fever  recorded on pig farms  in  some  parts  of Europe,  the expert called on  health  authorities, especially  those  at the  borders, to take  steps to keep  deadly diseases from crossing into the country.

    According to him, national-level health staff should be charged with supervising and coordinating efforts to contain the disease.

    Given the ease with which transmission between animals occur, he urged the government to implement safeguards to ensure that wild boars, the source of African swine fever, donot come into contact with pigs slaughtered for meat.

    He also suggested double fencing to keep wild animals out, proper disposal of food and pig feed and contacting a local veterinarian in case a dead boar is discovered in the wild.

    In addition, he said facilities that cannot secure the observance of veterinary and sanitary rules cannot be used for rearing pigs.

    He called on the  government  to adopt additional measures to contain and prevent the spread of African swine fever and other animal diseases.

    He pointed out the need to raise the awareness among Nigerians about African swine fever and other dangerous animal diseases.

    Last  year, Adeloye alerted on the need for poultry producers and feed manufacturers  to  prepare  for  possible  outbreak on bird  flu.

    Subsequently, the industry was attacked, as smany birds contracted the virus. As a  result of the  highly contagious and dangerous pathogen, the poultry  was  in a state of flux.

    Since then, scientists and researchers have been working to try and understand bird flu and develop a solution that will protect poultry flocks. However, that still seems to be a long way off and new cases seem to be occurring.

    To better manage the issue, he said health authorities should  take the necessary steps to prevent occurrence  of the disease.

  • Expert advises Fed Govt on Ebola

    The Chairman of Records and Information Management Foundation (RIMA) Lagos, Dr. Oyedokun Oyewole has advised the Federal Ministry of Information to continue the aggressive sensitisation of the public on the deadly Ebola virus disease.

    He also urged the Federal Government not to relent on the awareness campaign against the deadly virus until there is remedy for it.

    Oyewole, who spoke at a press conference to mark the 10th anniversary of RIMA Foundation in Lagos, said the Federal Government should not stop sensitising Nigerian on healthy lifestyle so as to avoid contracting the virus.

    He said information is key in fighting such deadly virus, even as he added that he has written many proposals to Federal Ministry of Information on how to sensitise Nigerians about the dreaded disease. Dr Oyewole maintained that information plays key role in ensuring development in the economic, health and other sectors.

    “We need information management in our society. Unfortunately, no institution is offering that course in any of Nigerian universities, but we are ready to partner with the Federal Ministry of Information in order to sensitise the public on the policies of government.

    “We have organised a conference to discuss the impact of information management on the Ebola epidemic in Nigeria as part of our efforts to sensitise the public on the disease. Many people, especially in the rural areas, are still in doubt of the deadly virus. The reality of the disease we can communicate to them in their respective languages.

    Speaking on lack of proper information in the society, Oyewole said many people still believe the Freedom of Information Bill was meant for the press alone, adding that there is a need to make them understand why it is important for every Nigerians.

    “Another area where we want the Federal Ministry of Information to partner with us is the general information management. Some people have still not understood the benefit of the Freedom of Information Bill which is very important for every Nigerians.

    “We must manage our information machinery effectively. We need to understand the implications of lack of information and ensure our people rise against ignorance,” he said.