The Nation Newspaper

Tag: failure

  • Failure to model

    By Oyinkan Medubi

    There are many students in courses they are not equipped to take either by interest or ability… There are also many students who are in tertiary institutions they are not intellectually equipped to sustain but are there because of parental influence and insistence.

    Once again, it is that time of the year when we celebrate our teachers because, no matter what we do, we must not forget them. They are the pivot of the nation, the fulcrum on which the weight of the nation stays, the shoulders unfailingly carrying the load of our collective will and conscience, the biceps forcing knowledge into our young and the interrogator of the old, valuable question: where in the world can one locate the mind of a Nigerian man?

    Truly, we can never celebrate our teachers enough because they are everything to their charges and hence to the nation. Say what you will, they have worked assiduously over the past 59+ years to educate you and me, have patiently (though not always) pointed our way skywards, lifted our drooping shoulders and given us the tools of life to expand our minds – chisels, hammer, stethoscope, briefcase, wig, chalk and a mind to question everything within and without our grasp intelligently. For example, what is the meaning of existence? How many grains of sand are there on earth? I tell you, teachers are great.

    In this role, the teacher is supposed to wake up the minds of his/her charges to make them interrogate the multiverses they live in and their very own existence too. Their models take them to high levels of inspiration not common to ordinary men and women. In this task, the teacher is not supposed to see the learner in binary sexes but rather as minds to be nurtured into fullness. Most of my teachers were males who saw me mostly as one mind from which to flush out the unexplainable stupidity they noticed. Honestly, I still don’t know if they have succeeded.

    Sometimes, some teachers flounder in this role as it appears they are doing now, going by the stories in the media; and the nation is flummoxed on account of that. The reports of ‘sexcapades’ named among some male lectures in our nation’s tertiary institutions are becoming worrisome, to use the well-worn cliché. The media calls the phenomenon ‘sex-for-grades’. This happens when the teacher fails in his modelling duty. This is worse than being caught napping in class, and it’s called failure to model. Today, we are going to address this failure to model in the tertiary institutions.

    Over the years, the teacher’s role has expanded for many reasons, the most important of which is the fact that the family roles are thinning out and parental responsibilities are contracting. Many students now find themselves needing answers and the teacher becomes the most viable and available role model to give them, especially when the parental one fails.

    It is gratifying to note though that many parents are still performing their duties to their children. They know where they are at all times, are interested in their children’s interests, and guide the children towards life enhancing goals. Too many parents, quite unfortunately, have left these duties undone, preferring to chase after money instead. The nation hardly notices the parent’s failure to model though, but sits up at the teacher’s failure.

    The teacher’s failure to model has attracted many reactions. Many, including the law, have condemned the teachers involved, and rightly so too. Many have blamed the attitude of some females, and rightly so too. However, these blames can hardly scratch the problem. We must go to the source of the matter, which is the society.

    I listened to the argument that said that the teacher has been given a job to do; and it is his responsibility to do that job, come hell or high water. Even if some girls have taken it into their tiny brains to seduce the male lecturer for grades, he should be strong enough emotionally, mentally, psychologically and physically to resist Lucifer himself should he come as a woman. The only problem I have with that is that Lucifer is so much stronger than us mere mortals. Unless the male lecturer is moulded in the form of an archangel, the ability to resist may not really be trustworthy. So, the theory of inner strength might not really fly, especially when confronted by a determined femme fatale.

    Did I ever tell you of the day I met a young female student standing in front of a male lecturer’s office, waiting to go in? I did? Good, I will tell you again. You should have seen her; she was literally dressed to kill; i.e. kill me. Since it was a harmattan season, I told her that the sheer transparency of her dress was killing me with the shivers and I felt cold just looking at her. She was a woman with a purpose, and unfortunately, her free will overrode my objections that day.

    True, the fellow that lady was going to see that day should have had enough brawn to throw her out of his office and reprimanded her for her brazenness. Yep, in a fairy world where I am grossly rich and do not have to work my fingers to the bone to earn a living. No such world exists. So, sir, relying on a man to always invoke his power of resistance on the female that ‘strips’ herself in his office is not very realistic. What’s on a man’s mind, asked the famous psychologist, Sigmund Freud, I say nothing but dross.

    True, there is something very dastardly, low, common, and ungentlemanly for a man to take advantage of a little one’s desperation to gain admission into university or get good grades. However, I have since learnt two things. One, nothing is ever as it seems. Two, no story is ever one-sided; you must always find the other side of the coin.

    Anyway, I believe the society has contributed somewhat to this anomaly. To start with, there is not enough censor of the national malaise, which is the parental failure to model. Too many parents actually encourage their children to take short cuts to ‘success’. After all, as they say, you can only teach what you know. I think the nation should begin to hold parents to account on their wards.

    Now, you’ll ask, what about illiterate parents and their children? It is all the same thing. An illiterate parent can still model for his/her child based on the inner goodness and generosity of spirit engendered in him or her which is transferrable to the child. A concerned parent is a concerned parent. Even an illiterate can inspire his or her child to maximum performance. It is a matter of how much he/she is concerned.

    ‘Parental failure to model’ is just as important as ‘teacher failure to model’. I believe that parental failure to model is at the heart of children not being properly guided towards the right paths in life. There are many students in courses they are not equipped to take either by interest or ability. They are there because their parents have put them there. And that’s another thing. There are also many students who are in tertiary institutions they are not intellectually equipped to sustain but are there because of parental influence and insistence. The pressure to succeed can lead children down all kinds of paths.

    We are celebrating all our teachers today, but this bit on modelling needed to be said. It is the duty of the teacher to give his or her wards second, third, fourth and all the chances they require in order to succeed. However, the greater modelling needs to come from the parents who must ensure that the child is adequately equipped for life outside the home. Failure to model is a societal thing that needs to be tackled, societally.

  • Failure to inaugurate NSITF board stifles productivity, says NECA

    The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has criticised the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, over his insistence on not inaugurating the boards of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), and other Federal Government agencies under his ministry, saying the development was stifling their performance.

    According to NECA, which represents the interest of employers in Nigeria, the failure to inaugurate the board members, several months after they were appointed, contravened the law establishing such agencies. He noted that such action was inimical to the growth and performance of the agencies.

    NECA Director-General Timothy Olawale, who criticised the development in a statement, lamented that more than one year after President Muhammadu Buhari announced the membership of the boards, some recalcitrant Ministers have remained defiant to President’s directive without any repercussion.

    To avoid eroding the confidence  built over the years in the institutions by Nigerians, the NECA scribe said the implication of total absence of a governance framework, which is to regulate the activities of the agencies, three and half years down the line, after dissolution of previous boards, was grave.

    He said it was unfortunate, especially for a government that prides itself in the rule of law.

    He advised that government should ensure and encourage the practice of good corporate governance at all levels, saying the Acts establishing the various agencies had provided for the composition of the board members and in some instance ‘institutional representatives’ to the boards mentioned.

    It would be recalled that there were pressures on the Minister of Labour and Employment to inaugurate the boards. Till date, his promise has failed to come to pass.

    The minister, he said, also assured that the board would be inaugurated in order to assist the implementation of the audit committee he set up to study financial infractions in the Fund.

    Ngige had announced that the implementation committee of the audit report, which had since been established by him to effect the various policy recommendations  aimed at sanitising and strengthening the weak internal audit system of the Fund.

    The Federal Government had in August 2017 nominated former NUPENG General Secretary, Frank Kokori as the Chair of the board with Vice President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Peters Adeyemi, Treasurer of NLC, Khaleel Ibrahim, representatives of Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), NSITF  Managing Director and Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment Permanent Secretary,  who represents the Ministry on the board as members.

    Kokori had in a public forum, while commending President Muhammadu Buhari for recognising June 12 as the official democracy day in Nigeria, reported the matter to the presidency.

  • Benefits of failure

    In my third year in the university as a student of law, I failed a course –  Law of Torts.  This was a four-unit course and this incident ruined my cumulative grade point.

    I felt like a failure. I do not remember the exam being tough or being difficult. In fact, I remember enjoying writing the paper. So, finding out that I failed was a huge shock. Well, at first, my parents were upset with me, but I will never forget that they took a six-hour drive to see me in school about two weeks after I had gotten the result for this exam. They didn’t come alone. They even came with gifts. This was the most shocking act they had ever done for me at that time.

    They came to encourage me, remind me of my potential and even help me develop strategies on how to do better when I re-sat the exam. This was the first time I ever failed an exam and was asked to re-sit it in all my academic life.

    Throughout the next semester, I made friends with the smartest student in the course I had failed, and every weekend she gave me her notes which I read and used to form my notes till it was time for me to take the exam with my ‘junior’s’

    I matched gallantly into the exam hall, took a seat in front and finished the exam in no time. When the results were released I scored an A in this course I had previously failed, not just this but the fact that I took an extra course added extra units to my total and this singular course revived my previously dwindling cumulative grade point average.

    This experience marked my induction into the hall of fame of failure.

    In this hall you would find many notable people, some you may have heard of like J. K. Rowling – author of the Harry Porter Series, Richard Branson – Founder Virgin Group, Bill Gates – Founder Microsoft, Elon Musk – Founder Tesla and of course my humble self.

    What is it about failure that makes us reject it, and fear it?

    It is simply a matter of perception. Our society has a habit of stigmatising failure and tagging people as failures.

    This stigma has made many of us blind to the benefits of failure, and in our fear of failure many of us have chosen ordinary, mediocre lives, where we are stuck in our comfortable routine. We have decided not to explore our greatness and told ourselves ‘what if I fail’, I say ‘what if you don’t’?  Or better still,  ‘what if you fail and learn from your failures’?

    For our perception on failure to change we must begin to see failure as feedback. It is that simple, failure only teaches us how not to do it, and so it brings us closer to the answer of how best to do it.

    Below are a few benefits of failure

    It encourages innovation: Once upon a time everyone agreed that the only way to cross the Atlantic was through ships, the Wright brothers believed that there were other ways. This belief cost them many painful failures and for every time they failed, they were able to learn something new about how their planes would fly better. What can you learn from your past failures that will change the world?

    It builds resillience: Can you believe that J. K. Rowling, whose books have sold over 500 million copies and movies, have grossed hundreds of millions, got rejected by 12 publishing houses?

    The first Harry Porter book was rejected by 12 publishing houses, one rejection is enough for someone to be tagged a failure but 12?  Rowling remained resilient and refused to give up. At the 13th try, she got a publisher that agreed to publish her work and today she is the acclaimed writer we all know about.

    Gives feedback: Failure is the best, most honest, and rawest form of feedback anyone can get. It is much easier to learn from your failure than to ask other people who don’t know half of what you went through for feedback.

    Embrace your failures, ask yourself what lessons you can learn, what you should have done and what you shouldn’t have done.

    For parents/ guardians

    Kill the insistent need to compare your child with the Joneses. The child already feels bad enough to have fallen short. Your role is not to put him even further down. Instead,  it is to tell him that failure is not the end and doesn’t define him and that he can rise above. Remember the first time the child tried to walk? That exactly is how life is. It’s a game of learning to walk by falling till you can walk perfectly.

     

     

     

     

    FOR TEACHERS: Teach children to be creative by showing them how they can learn from what others may tag a failure, as a teacher you play a nurturing role in unlocking that child’s genius.

    FOR THE ADULTS: Always be on the look-out for lessons, stop embracing mediocrity because you are scared of failure, the fear of failure has killed many dreams. J. K. Rowling said, “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”

    EMPLOYERS: Try something different by asking that prospective employee to tell you about the time they failed and how they overcame it or the lessons learnt from the experience. You don’t just want to employ someone with head knowledge, be sure to employ those that have the grit and creativity to get the job done.

    I always joke that a good success story is only interesting to hear when it is spiced with trickles of failure, no one really wants to hear how everything went well for you. So if you want to have a good success story, be ready to have a good failure story.

    To know more about how you can get coached on the benefits of failure you can follow me on Instagram @coachgbemz or send a mail to gbemieobadan@gmail.com

    Till next week I wish you all the wonderful and amazing benefits of failure.

     

  • Osinbajo berates preachers for failure to preach against corruption

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has berated gospel preachers for failing to lend support to the Federal Government’s anti-corruption war by failing to preach against the scourge.

    Speaking at the 30th National Biennial Conference of the Students Christian Movement (SCM) of Nigeria holding in Enugu, Osinbajo noted preachers were preoccupied with preaching prosperity rather than righteousness.

    “Very rarely do you hear our preachers talk about corruption from their pulpits. If a nation is not righteous nothing will help it.”

    Osinbajo said that the problem with Nigeria was neither ethnicity nor religion but systemic corruption.

    He said that corruption had been so entrenched in the country that if you dare challenge it, you will be in the minority.

    He challenged the youths to change the narrative and make the difference by checking the impunity of those that had stolen the resources of the country.

    “Our problem in this country is not ethnicity or religion; it is not about Christians or Muslims. Our problems are the same wherever you go in this country.

    “The story of our country is about good and evil. It is about those that have left us in this condition by stealing our common resources.

    “Do not let anyone deceive you.”

    The acting president challenged members of SCM to ensure that the movement becomes one of the tools that will move the country forward.

    “You should understand that our country can be delivered by people like you.”

    According to him, young Christians have special and distinct roles to play in the transformation of the country which is superior to those of other sets of people.

    “All of the great nations of the world were transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not a gospel that tickles people’s imaginations or dwells on prosperity.

    “It is not a gospel that fits your fancy. It is a gospel that teaches that righteousness exalts a nation.”

    Osibanjo appealed to Nigerians to stand against the plundering of the nation’s resources as well as support the anti-corruption initiative of the Federal Government, irrespective of party affiliations.

     

  • Dapchi as failure of leadership

    Dapchi as failure of leadership

    Governments exist primarily for the protection of lives and properties of the governed. Sadly in spite of President Buhari’s giant strides in his crusade against corruption, revamping of the economy and ending the nation’s drift after 16 years of impunity, the February 19 carting away of 110 students of Government Girls’ Science Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, in 11 trucks by suspected Boko Haram terrorists in military fatigues, was but a confirmation that all that has been going on  either in Abuja or Damaturu, Yobe State, were nothing but motion without movement with little or no governance

    The president decision to beg the traumatised parents of the abducted girls was at least an admission that the buck stops at his table. However, his description of Dapchi as tragedy  while the April 14, 2014 abduction of 214 Chibok schoolgirls which formed part of the President 2015 campaign promises was yet to be resolved and on the heels of  an ongoing mindless killing  and sacking of communities by suspected Fulani herdsmen across the country, as ‘a national disaster’ was an understatement. It was a national embarrassment, or as Isha Sesay of CNN puts it – “a national disgrace”.

    Both President Buhari and Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State should be held responsible for the Dapchi tragedy. It was all about failure of leadership. This often finds expression in absence of governance. By governing with a mind-set of an emir while delegating governance to his unelected aides that from their actions and pronouncements, are widely believed to harbour anti-Nigeria agenda, the president has betrayed the nation. Yobe’s Gaidam, like his predecessors in office was also until recently opposed to state and community policing. This reactionary mind-set cannot be said to be borne out of a desire to safeguard the interest of the governed in Yobe State.

    A people that fail to learn from history, as the Chinese say, will be punished by history. Apparently not much lesson has been learnt from the failure of ex-President Jonathan by the Buhari administration if anything, criticism of his handling of the Chibok tragedy as it has now turned out, was an excuse for in-effective governance. It has now taken a government that blamed its failure to rescue all the Chibok girls on Jonathan’s foot-dragging within the first 24 hours of the Chibok tragedy, several days before “urging Nigerians, including the rural dwellers who might have information that could lead to the location of the girls, to bring such information to the attention of the military authorities?” But Nigerians would want to know the measures put in place by the minister of internal affairs and his counterpart, in defence to protect the girls’ school – a soft target for Boko Haram insurgents in the north? What happened to the DSS officials whose duties were to carry out covert activities for other security arms? Where were the police and military joint checkpoints when 11 trucks laden with priceless Dapchi girls sped through our ‘borderless’ borders to Niger far away from Nigerian territory we were told was secured a long time ago?

    The military has also denied Governor Ibrahim Gaidam’s allegation that “prior to the attack, the army units stationed in Dapchi and Bayamari towns were removed”. But I think the military owes their commander-in-chief and by extension Nigerians, an explanation on why a military formation located only 30 kilometres from the scene of the tragedy needed the president’s directive several days later before sending “more troops and surveillance aircraft to keep an eye on all movements in the entire territory on a 24-hour basis, in the hope that all the missing girls will be found?”

    If indeed there was anyone in charge before the tragedy, why did we need to resort to our usual ‘fire-brigade’ approach by declaring after the tragedy that “henceforth, the police and the Civil Defence Corps will ensure that their presence is strong in every school to serve as a deterrent to the insurgents?”

    Babagana Monguno, the National Security Adviser (NSA) who announced deployment of 100 jet fighters to search for the missing girls eight days after the tragedy and  constituted a committee with  membership from the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Police, Department of State Services (DSS); Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) “to unravel the circumstances surrounding the abduction”, should have done that two years back to forestall the Dapchi tragedy.  Monguno who lives in an analogue age has no business in modern government. And indeed if there is any form of governance going on in Abuja, he and others that have failed the nation ought to have by now tendered their letters of resignation if the president will not fire them.

    Similarly, the protection of lives and properties of the governed in spite of the constraints of our imperfect constitution is the core responsibility of elected governors. Unfortunately, with the exception of Lagos and a handful of others, many other state governors behave like parasites collecting huge allocations in addition to security votes from Abuja and turn around to blame the centre for their security challenges. That Governor Ibrahim Gaidam and his entourage were stoned by traumatised parents of the abducted girls was not just a vote of no confidence in his government, but sufficient proof that the governed also know their real enemies.

    It is on record that since the death of Ahmadu Bello, the revered northern premier in 1966, nearly all northern governors have continued to oppose community and state policing. Many observers believe the only plausible explanation for this reactionary mind-set in an age when community policing has been adjudged as ideal for fighting municipal crimes and securing communities, is probably the desire of northern minority rulers to guarantee easy passage for their fellow Fulani cattle-grazing compatriots who live across Nigeria’s borders and who often become important variable during census, election and religious crisis that define Nigerian politics.

    They have cited the recent subtle support by some prominent northern emirs for herdsmen’s resistance to anti-grazing laws promulgated by some states. There was also the recent threat by the leadership of Miyetti Allah to invite Fulani herdsmen across West Africa to wage war on Nigeria if their demand for open grazing was not met. They have equally cited the case of an influential emir from the northeast who during the 2014 Confab told his colleagues during the debate on the national question that unlike them, he had an option of crossing over to join his fellow Fulani in northern Cameroon if Nigeria descended into chaos.

    Many informed Nigerians believe Dapchi tragedy could have been avoided if there had been community and state policing. It is not likely indigenes, unlike the military and the Nigeria police who are today trading blames after a monumental tragedy, would stand by and allow their daughters to be shipped away in 11 trucks by those who exhibit instincts worse than those of animals.

    Now the chicken has come home to roost. The nation is haunted by perfidy of those who allowed our nation to be infiltrated by jihadist in the guise of Fulani herdsmen. And more tragically, four weeks after an agreement between the Presidency, governors and lawmakers that state policing is the only answer to effective governance, beyond a consensus celebrated on pages of newspapers with howling headlines, there is no evidence any bill has been initiated.

  • NIFOR and failure of palm oil mandate

    Sir, The mandate of the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) is to conduct research into the production and products of oil palm and other palms of economic importance and transfer its research findings to farmers. Nigeria has imported palm oil worth over $3.2billion in the last 10 years. NIFOR is totally disconnected from potentially small-scale and out-grower smallholder farmers of palm oil plantation and failed in its mandate.

    Today, there is no policy statement on how Nigeria can return to its status as the largest producer of palm oil in the world and the institute is always waiting for its annual subvention from Abuja. It lacks innovation. There is need to review the operations of NIFOR and reposition it to deliver on its mandate. Today, the institute has no record on the number of private individuals and organizations that have established palm oil plantations in the last 20 years in Nigeria. NIFOR is located in Benin City and he does not even know the number of palm oil estates in Edo State. Rather there is always struggle for managerial positions in the institute. How can the institute deliver on its mandate when it has no records or database of palm oil estates in Nigeria? Federal Government should as a matter of urgency review the operations of NIFOR.

    Some newspapers reported that Nigeria imported 450,000 tons of crude palm oil valued at N116.3 billion ($323.1 million) in the first 10 months of this year. The amount imported increased by 12 percent from July because of rising demand, thus pushing up the price from $663 per metric tonnes in July to $718 per tonne as at November.

    Before NIFOR, palm oil was among the first commodities of international trade, after the slave trade, between Nigeria and Europe. The world trade in palm oil at the turn of the 20th century and up to the Second World War, was dominated by countries of British West Africa (largely Nigeria), the Belgian Congo (later Zaire and now the Democratic Republic of Congo), and the Far-East Asia notably the Netherlands East Indies, (Sumatra and Java) now Indonesia.

    Palm oil, hitherto one of the nation’s major foreign exchange earners in the early 1960s is massively imported into the country from Malaysia and Indonesia. Recall that Nigeria was the largest producer of palm oil in the world with a market share of 43 per cent in the 1960s. But currently, it has a world share of 2.9 per cent, with Indonesia leading by 33 million metric tonnes, Malaysia, 19.8 million metric tonnes; Thailand, two million; Colombia, 1.108 million metric tons and Nigeria, 970,000 metric tonnes.

    The institute failed because it is presently managing only two oil palm estates namely the Federal Oil Palm Estate Obotme (525ha) and the Federal Oil Palm Project, Erei (720ha) on behalf of the federal government while many other palm oil estates have been taken over by forest. The institute also runs advisory services relating to palms management, analytical services and quality assurance and diagnostic services to the palms industry in Nigeria. In this respect most of the fertilizer recommendations and policies of some major oil palm companies in Nigeria are based on the yearly routine soil and foliar analysis carried out for them by the institute’s consultancy service.

    That Nigeria, just this year alone, has imported 450,000 tons of palm oil to the tune of N116.3billion, is as grim a reality as it is worrisome and failure of NIFOR to deliver on its mandate. With an ever increasing population, a steady decline in palm oil production, and a proliferation of the uses of various products from palm oil, it is an economic fact that there is high demand for palm oil in Nigeria. Therefore, it is a tragedy that Africa’s greatest potential is spending so much money on the importation of what it can produce.

     

    • Inwalomhe Donald,

     Benin City.

  • 2017: Scattered sense of hope and floods of failure

    SIR: So the year 2017 is almost at its terminal end. For us as Nigerians, it will be difficult to say it has not been the same difference. Like the weather forecast, scattered showers here and floods here, sunny there and cold with strange winds there.

    It was the year of operations…from python dance to crocodile smile. For the young secessionist Nnamdi Kanu who referred to us as animals in the zoo he may not be wrong, except that he equally ran away from the zoo.

    Budgets when not padded went missing in action; let us not even discuss the percentage of execution, which was a near miserable 10%.

    In between, the likes of Owelle Rochas Anayo of Imo State was on an, ‘erectus happilus’; erecting happiness all over his domain while salaries were left in voicemail for civil servants and pensioners groaned. His records in owing only bested by Governor Yahaya Bello, the lad in charge of Kogi State. It was strange that these kind of men were those Nigerians were accursed with as governors who reduced governance to comedy and comic relief with their utterances and actions.

    We were continually treated to the politics of rice production but in truth Nigerians barely could put a plate of rice on their tables, at least there were tomatoes yet money was unavailable to have a rich pot of stew.

    It was a year of drama; one recalls the DSS versus judges and lately EFCC versus DSS. The whole anti-graft war was largely media fought and with loads of mysterious recoveries, from Ikoyi to Kaduna the discoveries kept us busy while the economy bit hard. Not one conviction of the high and mighty thieves was gotten.

    Agitations grew, from fiscal federalism, to resource control, regionalism and then we had the war of words led by the General without rank Nnamdi Kanu and some jobless corporals on the other side.

    As usual NNPC wasn’t an establishment that would be left behind, whatever the figure or currency there was bound to be a billion attached to it as they regaled is with their usual jumbo scandals. The latest being the TSA-less N55bn.

    At home herdsmen, farmers, pastoralists or any nomenclature we used, were engaged in a seemingly one-sided war of cleansing. That raised questions with each attack than answers. No culprit was arrested and prosecuted and convicted. Counter accusations, allegations and counters. The economy and Nigerians suffered all the imbroglio of phantom Fulanis and indigenous AK47 wielding criminals.

    There were talks of billions everywhere, whether it was the River Niger Bridge or the various express roads we heard the figures we saw no new roads. Both bad roads and criminal entities fought for right to kill and maim citizenry. As the year ends, we are talking another billion to fight the Boko Haram ideology. Remember we took some billions for Chinese trains and tracks. Anyway without being an unrepentant pessimist we spent billions on a few repairs at the Nnamdi Azikwe airport; in essence big men things. And it was successful!

    We were engrossed with politics and religion, at different time frames, it was either we fought over which faith was in the school’s curriculum and one faith or the other cries wolf in terms of employment and sectionalism in appointment neither of which translated to progress for the group.

    The educational sector was not left out…strikes everywhere, from ASUU to NASU; we did the same thing over again and expected a different result. Kaduna State then exposed the shame of a nation with their illiterate teachers and as usual we debated for and against and where are we now?

    Political masquerades everywhere. As PDP attempted rebranding, Atiku sought to articulate, and President Buhari’s body language pointed towards 2019.  In a nation where we are hardly in agreement on any one issue other than maybe soccer, it remains difficult a task to get us to agree whether we made snail speed progress or we still remained stagnant or we have retrogressed.

     

    • Prince Charles Dickson,

    pcdbooks@outlook.com

  • Experts suggest ways to reduce heart failure

    Experts suggest ways to reduce heart failure

    To avert sudden death, usually caused by heart failure, Nigerians have been asked to check their lifestyle.

    A fatty deposit within the lining of the arteries causes heart failure.

    Experts who gathered in Lagos, noted that to prevent heart failure people must shun smoking, take healthy foods, reduce salt intake, engage in regular physical activity, keep their weight and waist size down and drink alcohol in moderation.

    They listed the dangers of heart failure, stating that it is imperative to seek medical check-up with qualified cardiologists from time to time, to facilitate preventive measures and ensure early diagnosis in some cases.

    They pointed out that cardiovascular diseases are diseases of the heart or blood vessels. However, the term cardiovascular disease is used to describe diseases of the heart or blood vessels that are caused by atheroma. And the narrowing of the blood vessels can lead to cardiovascular diseases, including heart disease (for example, angina, heart attack and heart failure), cerebro-vascular disease (transient ischaemic attacks and stroke), and peripheral arterial disease.

    According to a consultant cardiologist, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH), Prof. Micheal Balogun heart failure is responsible for about 30 percent of hospitalisation and eventual death in Nigeria.

    Hence, the experts pointed out that one’s blood pressure and cholesterol level are highly important. All people aged over 40 years should have a cardiovascular health risk assessment – usually available at pharmacies, clinics and hospitals. If you have a high risk of developing a cardiovascular disease, treatment to reduce high blood pressure (hypertension) and/or cholesterol may be advised.

    On the threats heart failure pose, Prof. Kamilu Karaye of Aminu Kano University Teaching Hospital (AKTH), explained how the disease impede the everyday life of its sufferers; causing them constant pain, swollen legs, general discomfort, decline in social interaction, among others. The professor identified depression as one of the deadliest conditions that accompany heart failure, stating that without proper care or seeking professional help, the depression is likely to lead to suicide.

    The cardiologists suggested that psychological and physical support from caregivers of heart failure patients is one of the most effective ways to improve their everyday life. They explained that close monitoring i.e. helping with the administration of medications, is also consequential in helping them lead a normal life.

    Regular use of recommended medication by a qualified doctor or General Practitioner, eating healthy, minimising stress levels, and a few more were identified by the cardiologists as other imperative methods of managing heart failure among sufferers of the incurable disease.

    Other cardiologists at the event included Consultant cardiologist, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Dr. Ikechukwu Ogah; Consultant cardiologist, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Prof. Amam Mbakwem; Consultant cardiologist, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Dr. Maclean Akpa; Consultant cardiologist, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Prof. Ibraheem Katibi; and Consultant cardiologist, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Dr. Dike Ojji.

  • Astragalus root, kidney failure, chemotherapy, immune boosting

    Introducing Astragalus to a health meeting last week, I faced the additional task of educating the audience that we were not discussing Asparagus. Readers of this column became fascinated by Asparagus a few months ago following reports of its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-cancer properties, especially of its cleansing and healing effects on the genito-urinary system.

    With Astragalus coming up so soon after Asparagus, many people may become easily confused by these names. That is understandable. Even in the training seminars of the multi-level marketing companies, many distributors of their health products still get confused about arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis. Lucky are those who are advised that arteriosclerosis is the hardening of blood vessels by calcium and other deposit in their soft muscles, a cause of hypertension. Lucky, also, are those who can distinguish atherosclerosis as blockage of the inner space of these blood vessels by cholesterol, homocystaine and other deposits, another possible cause of hypertension. Arteriosclerosis hardens the blood vessels and makes them not to dilate as they should when blood flows through them, increasing tension. Atherosclerosis reduces the space for blood to flow through, making the heart to pump blood with more force than it should, stressing the heart and possibly creating grounds for its enlargement.

    In the case at hand, we must separate Astragalus from Asparagus as we do always separate arteriosclerosis from atherosclerosis.

     

    Asparagus

    Almost fat-less, loaded with folate, vitamin K, less endowed with other vitamins and minerals, and possessing no sodium, it helps bone density with vitamin K which helps calcium absorption into the bones, thereby helping to prevent fractures, especially of the hip bones, in elderly people. It is anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. For people who retain fluids, Asparagus is diuretic, cleans up the digestive system, frees it of constipation, thereby preventing colon cancer. The high level of follate (folic acid) supports pregnancy, encourages fetal growth and prevents neural tube and other defects and low birth way. Being an antioxidant, Asparagus can nail free radicals which are implicated in many cancers and other degenerative diseases. Accordingly, it is believed to protect the bone, breast, lungs, cervix, and colon against free radicals and the cancers they cause in those tissues. The growing rate of stress in all societies has led to a growth in the cases of depression. In stressful situations, the body produces inadequate amounts of Dopamine, Serotonin and Norepinephrine, hormones which help to stabilize the brain and keep the spirit high. As Asparagus supports the production of these hormones, it is seen as an anti-depressant herb. Studies suggest Asparagus reduces Cholesterol and Homocysteine levels and reduces blood sugar as well. There is a lot more to say of Asparagus. It beautifies the skin, balances female hormones and sorts out female problems, including a boosting of fertility, prevents kidney stones, knocks out hangovers, protects the eye, controls blood pressure, fights tuberculosis and epilepsy, checks internal bleeding and is a wonderful support for people who have challenges with their thyroid glands. We can go on and on…and on.

     

    Astragalus Root

    There are more than 2,000 species of Astragalus. But only two of them are used medicinally. Even then, it is their root that is used. Even then, still, there are harvested from Astragalus plants that are at least four years old. The medicinally useful Astragalus species are Astragalus membranaceus and Astragalus mongholicus.

    Their roots do what Asparagus does…and more, fighting and breaking down tumours, boosting immunity, reducing the negative impact of Chemotherapy, making chemotherapy more effective, elongating the lives of some kidneys beset with kidney failure, especially those caused by the complications of diabetes, preventing collagen degradation (a cause of eye problems and blindness), wiping out viruses (HIV, Hepatitis et.c). European and American researchers agree that Astragalus is effective for a wide range of ailments but say there are not enough clinical studies on them to make fairly settled assertions. They say some of the studies on this herb are poorly designed, and, so, make such a valid statement difficult.

    However, the Chinese who have used Astragalus for more than two thousand years to prevent and cure diseases do not consign themselves with clinical investigations as much as Euro-American researchers and physicians do, before they scientifically accept folk lore claims. While thinking about this column, I limited my self to three areas in which Astragalus root may be of benefits to radiant or ailing health, because of their prevalence in today’s Nigeria. These are Kidney health, lessening of chemotherapy side-effects and boosting of immunity. Kidney, Prostate and other uro-genital diseases are growing in number. Like the American Medical Association and the American Cancer Society which heavily supports chemotherapy and radiation for cancer treatment, the Nigerian Medical Association endorses these toxic therapies although they kill and severely maim many patients. Because many people do not eat well and live under stressful conditions, their internal hygiene is toxic and their immunity is poor, giving rise to an overgrowth of microorganisms, especially fungi, which have been implicated in cancers and other degenerative diseases. Any herb which supports kidney health, reduces chemotherapy side-effects and boost immunity among its many medicinal potentials, should be of high value to health in a society such as ours.

    One of the investigations into Astragalus root use comes from PubMed Health which says:

    “Chronic kidney disease affects increasing numbers of people around the world, but as yet effective strategies to control its progression has not been universally accepted. Astragalus is one of the most widely used herbs for treating kidney disease. We conducted this review to evaluate the benefits and potential harms of Astragalus for the treatment of people with chronic kidney disease.

    “We searched the literature published for up to July 2004 and summarised 22 studies involving 1,323 people with chronic kidney disease, including both on dialysis treatment or not.

    “Although we found some promising evidence suggesting that when given with conventional treatment, Astragalus may help to decrease the Serum Creatinine, reduce the amount of protein lost in the urine and diminish the effects of some complications, such as anaemia and malnutrition, evidence quality was low. We found that errors and omissions in study methods and reporting were likely to have flawed results among the studies we assessed. Possible adverse effects associated with Astragalus injection should be noted, although we had no relevant report from included studies.”

    In Science Direct, we learn: “Several types of herbal preparation have been used as supplementary therapies for the treatments of progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD), but the scientific evidence for their use is scarce. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of Astragalus membranaceus on renal outcome in patients with progressive CKD. The study population consisted of 35 patients with CKD stages 4 and 5 whose estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decreased over a 3-month period before the start of A membranaceus treatment despite the use of conventional therapy (from 14.6 ± 6.28 mL/min/1.73 m to 11.6 ± 5.24; mean ± SD, p < 0.05). Similarly, the eGFR of 15 patients with CKD stage 4 decreased over the same period despite conventional therapy (from 20.8 ± 4.59 to 16.7 ± 4.17; r = “1.298; p < 0.05), but increased after the initial period of 3 months of supplementary treatment with A membranaceus (to 18.6 ± 5.67; r = 0.973; p < 0.05) and remained at that level at 6 months (17.8 ± 5.60) and 12 months (16.3 ± 5.89).

    “However, in 20 patients with CKD stage 5, the beneficial effect of A membranaceus was limited to the first 3 months only (“3 months: 10.5 ± 2.7, baseline: 8.0 ± 2.75, 3 months: 8.4 ± 2.96, 6 months: 6.8 ± 2.45). A membranaceus had no significant effects on other laboratory parameters. Only seven patients (1 in stage 4 and 6 in stage 5) required dialysis within 12 months of A membranaceus treatment, whose eGFR at baseline was relatively low (7.4 ± 1.06).

    “The results suggest that A membranaceus can maintain stable levels of eGFR and delay the initiation of renal replacement therapy in patients with progressive CKD stage 4.

    “With increasing numbers of patients undergoing renal replacement therapy, the cost of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is rising worldwide. The number of patients requiring dialysis therapy in Japan has also increased almost linearly, about 10,000 a year, since surveys began in 1983, reaching 297,126 at the end of 2010. Therefore, it is important to establish strategies to delay the progression to end-stage kidney disease in CKD patients. However, despite significant advances in conventional medicine, no specific treatment is available for patients with stages 4 and 5 CKD. There is definitely a need for the use of combinations of different treatment modalities to control the progression of CKD, highlighting the importance of research on discovering new pharmacological agents for CKD. In Japan, not only traditional herbalists but also nephrologists have occasionally used herbal medicine for treatment of patients with CKD, including some imported from China, as part of combination therapy. Traditional herbalists usually prescribe a blend of several herbs such as Astragalus membranaceus, Angelica sinensis, Angelica acutiloba, Salvia miltiorrhiza , and rhubarb to patients with renal disease. Among these herbal medicines, formulations containing A membranaceus have often been used for renal disorders based on their diuretic action and reduction of proteinuria. In addition, A membranaceus is believed to have beneficial effects on other conditions such as diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular, digestive, hepatic, neurological, and allergic diseases. Several recent experimental studies using animal models of diabetic nephropathy and unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) renal fibrosis have highlighted the potency of A membranaceus. To our knowledge, however, there are only a few clinical case reports in the English literature on the effects of A membranaceus when used alone for membranous nephropathy.

    “The objective of our prospective study was to assess the efficacy of A membranaceus in progressive CKD when used in combination with conventional therapy.

    “As it is not randomised, we set up the primary endpoint to decline rate of eGFR before and after treatment with A membranaceus. Since several species of herbs are usually prescribed in combination, the present study is the first clinical trial on the use of A membranaceus alone.

    “Of the 41 patients who were initially enrolled in this study, six were unable to continue treatment with A membranaceus for 3 months, and their data were excluded from the analysis. The reasons for cessation of treatment were revocation of consent ( n = 3), start of dialysis therapy ( n = 1), diarrhea ( n = 1), and change of hospital ( n = 1). Therefore, the study population eventually consisted of 35 patients (15 with CKD stage 4 and 20 with CKD stage 5) who were treated with A membranaceus daily for more than 3 months.”

    (My apologies go to readers who may not have followed technical jargons in the study quoted above. The study was quoted for the benefit of our specialist doctors (Urologists) who read this column and are interested in incorporating herbal medicines into their practice.)

    ALTHOUGH Western researchers and physicians are not definitive on the  medicinal values of Astragalus root, especially in cancer treatment and immunity boosting, the Chinese are unrelenting in saying this herb has continued to work for them for thousands of years. Four of Western defenders of this herb are Michael McCulloch, Caylie See, Xiao-juan Shu, Michael Broffman, Alan Kramer, Wei-yu Fan, Jin Gao, Whitney Lieb, Kane Shieh, John M. Colford Jr. They put up a case for Astragalus root in jco.ascopubs.org saying in an abstract of their work:

    “Systemic treatments for advanced non–small-cell lung cancer have low efficacy and high toxicity. Some Chinese herbal medicines have been reported to increase chemotherapy efficacy and reduce toxicity. In particular, Astragalus has been shown to have immunologic benefits by stimulating macrophage and natural killer cell activity and inhibiting T-helper cell type 2 cytokines. Many published studies have assessed the use of Astragalus and other Chinese herbal medicines in combination with chemotherapy. We sought to evaluate evidence from randomized trials that Astragalus-based Chinese herbal medicine combined with platinum-based chemotherapy (versus platinum-based chemotherapy alone) improves survival, increases tumor response, improves performance status, or reduces chemotherapy toxicity.”

    The four men researched 1,305 publication. Of them all, 34 involved 2,815 patients. Twelve studies involving 940 patients reported reduced risk of death at 12months. Thirty other studies involving 2,472 patients reported “improved tumour response data” other studies indicated reduced risk of death in 24 months.

    The conclusion was: “we found evidence that Astragalus-best Chinese  herbal medicine may increase effectiveness (by improving survival, tumour response, and performance status) and reduce toxicity of standard platinum-best chemotherapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. However, affirmations of these conclusions in rigorously controlled, randomised trial is required before more firm conclusions about this therapy can be drawn.”

     

    Immunity

    Euro-American researchers and physicians become more dispassionate when death stares their communities in the face and their own brand of medicine has come to its wit’s end. The swine flu pandemic has brought Astragalus root to public limelight as an anti-viral and immune-boosting refuge. For thousands of years, the Chinese have used this herb for these purposes and more.

    Nicholas Reavley tells us in the New Encyclopedia of Vitamins, Minerals, Supplements and Herbs:

    “Astragalus is one of the best researched immune system stimulants now available. It works like Echinacea, in that both herbs increase the number and activities of immune cells. However, Astragalus concentrates on building the immune system and, unlike Echinacea, it can be taken on a daily bases. Echinacea boosts immune system activity and promotes fast recovery, especially when taken at the onset of symptoms. The most potent formula has a peculiar tingling and numbling effect on the tongue.

    In the complete Encyclopedia of Natural Healing, Gary Null, Ph.D., tells us:

    “Astragalus is another ancient Chinese herb that is frequently combined with Ginseng to strengthen the body’s natural defences, namely the immune system.

    Cardiologist Stephen T., M.D., Sinatra says:

    “Examples of popular adaptogenic herbs include Astragalus, Ravex, Ginseng, Siberian Ginseng, Lonicera, and Glycyrrhiza also known as Licorice root. They herb Astragalus has been researched thoroughly. Studies have revealed that Astragalus is quite effective in enhancing immune function and can be used to treat a wide variety of illnesses ranging from the common cold to cancer. Instead of directly attacking infectious organisms, Astragalus helps the body by fortifying the existing immune system.”

    So, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Astragalus world.

  • Drama over Qatar Airways’ failure to airlift passengers

    THERE was confusion at the Departure Hall of Lagos International Airport yesterday over Qatar Airways’ failure to airlift stranded passengers for two-day running.

    The aggrieved passengers besieged the airline’s check-in counter demanding to be put on any available flight to enable them meet up with their engagements outside the country.

    They had on Sunday boarded the flight at 10a.m en-route Doha to connect to their respective destinations only to be disembarked due to operational reasons.

    One of the passengers, Rev. Segun Agbetuyi, said they were taken to the hotel later on Sunday.

    “They woke us all up at 4.30a.m this morning (yesterday) to bring us to the airport for boarding only to get to the airport and find that little arrangement had been made,” he said.

    Lagos Airport Police Command spokesperson Joseph Alabi, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), who confirmed the development, said the issue had been resolved.

    He said: “They have left since and the issue has been resolved. I learnt that there was a delay and the passengers were not happy.

    “However, when I arrived, I saw things moving smoothly at the check-in and I was informed that arrangement had been made to convey them to their destinations.”

    On his part, a media consultant to the airline who simply gave his name as Mr. Mike, said the passengers were agitated because they had been in the hotel for two days and their flights had been delayed.

    “They need to get to their destinations and so when they came in here, it was crowded. But we have sorted out the issue and put some of them on the flight. The few of them that is remaining, we are taking them to other airlines,” he said.