Tag: maths

  • 60.55 per cent obtains five NECO credits in Maths, English

    60.55 per cent obtains five NECO credits in Maths, English

    THE National Examinations Council (NECO) has announced its 2016 November/December examination results with 60.55 per cent of candidates making five credits and above, including Mathematics and English Language.
    Its Registrar/Chief Executive, Prof. Charles Uwakwe, said this known to reporters yesterday while announcing the results in Minna.
    Uwakwe said 47, 941 candidates registered for the external examination, but that 47, 118 of them sat for it.
    “The number of candidates that excelled with five credits and above, including Mathematics and English language is 28, 530, making 60.55 per cent,’’ he said.
    He added that 35, 744 (75.87 per cent) passed with five credits and above, irrespective of Mathematics and English language.
    The registrar said 7, 699 candidates (16.3 per cent) of the number that sat for the examination were involved in examination malpractice, which was lower than the 9, 940 candidates involved in various forms of examination malpractice in 2015.
    Uwakwe said the results announced 60 days after the conduct of the examination, was a landmark achievement for the council in the business of conducting “a hitch-free and credible examination in the country”.
    The NECO Registrar added that improved logistics arrangement ensured that appropriate standards and excellence were maintained from planning stage to the release of results.
    Uwakwe advised candidates to access results using their examination registration numbers and the council’s approved result checker on: www.mynecoexams.com.

  • FUTA students for Bulgaria maths contest

    Four Students of the Mathematics Department of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA, will fly Nigeria’s flag at the International Mathematics Competition (IMC) at the America University, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria holding July 25-29, 2016.

    This follows their wining the 8th National Mathematics Competition for University Students (2016 NAMCUS) in Abuja organised by the National Mathematical Centre.

    They beat 23 other universities with teams of four students to earn a spot in the international competition.

    The FUTA Team was made up of Michael Omolaja, a 500-Level student who got a gold medal and the title of Best Student Mathematician across Nigerian Universities; Mary Akinade and Segun Ofe, also 500-Level students who won silver medals; and Desmond Dike, a 300-Level student who picked a bronze medal.

    They were supervised by Dr Babatope Omolofe and Mr. Ayodeji Afolabi, lecturers in the Department.

    In Bulgaria, at the competition organised by the University College, London, the team would compete against students from about 80 countries.

    The competition would feature two sessions of five hours each with problems from Algebra, Real and Complex Analysis, Geometry and Combinatorics.

    Speaking on their success talisman, Omolaja, said the team depended on God and worked together. Omolaja, who has a record of tutoring students at Masters and PhD levels, is a Fluid Numerical and Complex Analysis major with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.69. Already, he has published several papers.

    Akinade, the only female on the team, has a CGPA of 4.68.

    Ofe, who is a second time participant has a CGPA is 4.59.  He said of the upcoming Bulgarian competition: “It is a privilege to represent Nigeria and we are going to put in our best to make the most of the privilege”.

    Dike, who has a CGPA of 4.68, said he learnt from team mates in order to give his best.

    The Vice Chancellor, Prof Adebiyi Daramola, praised the team and assured its members of total support. He described their feat as a big boost to the university’s image and a testimony of its excellence in academic matters.

  • 10-year-old beats 347 others in Maths contest

    The Ultimate Mathematics Ambassador competition (TUMA) has produced another Mathematical guru, Daniel Emeka-Ilozor, a 10-year-old pupil of Grace Children School, Gbagada, Lagos State.

    Daniel, a grade five pupil, emerged winner after scoring 93.5 per cent. He contested with 347 pupils from different private primary schools in Ogun and Lagos states. He went home with N125,000 and a plaque, while his mathematics teacher got N50,000 and a plaque and his school was given a laptop, printer, textbooks and a plaque.

    The event was sponsored by The Ambassadors  Schools, Ota, Ogun State, which also hosted the event that produced 10 winners in all.

    Daniel expressed his gratitude to his school as well as his teachers who supported and helped prepare him for the competition. He, however advised aspiring competitors who would be coming for the next phase of TUMA to believe in their ability and also be confident.

    “Pupils should be determined. They should strive towards their goals and never be discouraged,” Daniel said.

    Mother of the winner, Mrs Mary-Jane Ilozor, expressed her appreciation to the school for their support toward her child.

    She said: “They have helped him aim and succeed at this competition. It was not an easy task but I thank God for his support. My boy is very confident and always ready to learn even at home. He said to me that he must win this competition even if it is the last thing he would do” she said.

    Adekunle David, a pupil of Lifecrown Private School, Abeokuta and his counterpart in St. Bernadette School, Ipaja Kabiawu  Kolawole, emerged second and third positions respectively.

    David won N100,000 and a plaque, his mathematics teacher got N30,000 and a plaque while his school was presented with a laptop, textbooks and plaque.  Kabiawu also went home with N75,000 and a plaque, his mathematics teacher got N20,000 and a plaque, while his school got a printer, textbooks and a plaque.

    Other winners were: Olopade Oluwafikunayomi, Duje Samuel, Matilukuro Theresa, Abioye Oluwaponle, Mabinuori Racheal and Aliyu Ideraoluwa.

    The guest speaker, Prof Oluwole Agbede told the audience the importance of Mathematics.

    He said:  “Mathematics is an everyday routine of the house.  Without realising it we are using mathematics every day whether we are literate or illiterate.

    “Mathematics is practical and theoretical. It is the process of thinking and the language we use or an art that we are involved in. We use mathematics while cooking, travelling, banking and at school.” Prof  Agbede said.

    The Zonal Educational Officer, Ado-Odo/Ota, Mrs O. M. Oloko, described mathematics as the key to economic prosperity, saying it   contributes to economic development as well as technical progress for the country.

    “It is a subject that sharpens the mind and increases our mental alertness,” she said.

  • 61.32% fail English, maths  as WAEC stops 13 states

    61.32% fail English, maths as WAEC stops 13 states

    616,370 of 1,593,442 get credit passes
    in five subjects

    MORE than half of the candidates who sat for the May/June 2015 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) cannot advance to higher institutions.

    Reason: They failed English and Mathematics. The two core subjects are compulsory for admission into tertiary institutions, especially the university.

    The council released the results yesterday. But, candidates in some 13 states have their results withheld because their states are yet to pay the fees.

    Only 616,370 of the 1,593,442 (38.68 per cent) of the candidates got credit passes in at least five subjects, including English language and Mathematics.

    The percentage, according to WAEC Head of National Office Mr. Charles Eguridu, is a slight improvement on last year’s examination, which recorded 529,425 (representing 31.28 per cent) and 639,760 (38.30) in 2013.

    Announcing the results at WAEC’s office in Yaba, Lagos Mainland, Eguridu said: “Out of the 1,605,248 candidates that registered for the examination, with 1,593,442 candidates who sat for the examination,616,370 candidates representing 38.68 per cent obtained credit in five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

    ”The results of 118,101 candidates, representing 7.41 per cent, are being withheld in connection with various cases of examination malpractice as the cases are being investigated and the reports of the investigations will be presented to the Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC).

    ”Out of all the candidates who sat for the exams, 758,849 candidates, representing 47.62 per cent,  obtained six credits and above; 949,862 candidates representing 59.61 per cent obtained five credits and above, while 1,114,988 candidates (representing 69.97 per cent) obtained credits and above in four subjects. In addition, 1,292,915 candidates, representing 78.81 per cent obtained credit and above in three subjects, while 1,376,743 candidates, representing 86.40 per cent obtained credit and above in two subjects.”

    Eguridu said that of the 109 visually impared candidates, who registered for the examination, 20 of them (representing 18.34 per cent) obtained credits in five subjects, including English language and Mathematics.

    In a further breakdown, Eguridu said 864,096 male and  729, 346 females registered for the examination as candidates.

    He said: “Of the total number of candidates that sat for the examination, 1,498,069 candidates, representing 94.01 per cent, have their results fully released while 95,373 candidates, representing 5.99 per cent, have a few of their subjects still being processed due to some errors, mainly traceable to the candidates and schools in the course of registration or writing the examination.”

    According to him, the errors were being corrected by the Council to enable the affected candidates get their results fully processed and released subsequently.

    He said the Council has decided be hard on states that eventually defaulted in paying WAEC fees after the expiration of its two-week deadline.

    Eguridu: “Due to challenges facing the council, which l alerted the nation to on the indebtedness to the council by some state governors, candidates in 13 states whose governors have not paid the Council will not be able to access their results until the states affected produce advance payment guarantees from reputable banks, so that the Council will be assured that the fees will be paid.”

    Although, he refused to name the debtor-states, Eguridu said the issue had been brought to the attention of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), noting that payments were still being made by some states. It will, therefore, be premature to name the states, he said.

    Eguridu said the examination was also conducted in Benin Republic and Cote d’lvoire due to “wishes of parents of Nigerian origin who are not satisfied with the education of their wards there and want them to come to Nigerian higher institutions. WAEC is also open to other nationals who wish to patronise it.”

    There were cases of Nigerians colluding with their wards and schools to engage in examination malpractices. Such cases have been recorded and such results withheld, Eguridu said.

  • When application demystifies Maths

    When application demystifies Maths

    Pupils can now overcome their fear of mathematics with a new internet application that can help them master the subject.

    The Mathematics Laboratory Limited has launched the Naija Mathematics Olympiad (NMO), a mathematics application that helps pupils in secondary school to study and pass the subject.

    Chairman of the organisation, Andy Akhigbe, said during the launch in Ikeja, Lagos, that the application follows school syllabuses to teach pupils through quizzes, practice questions, mock tests and mathematics competitions, whose solution processes are thereafter explained step by step.

    He noted that if people give attention to maths early in life, it would be easier for them to become whatever they want to be, as the subject is central to other courses.

    Among the website’s advantages are the ability to download practice questions, such that pupils do not need to be connected to the internet every time they need to practice, thus giving them a 24-hour access to the practice questions.

    All it takes is the registration payment of N6000, and the application is open to every child for a full academic session of nine months and the child’s life is insured with the sum of N500 000 by Mutual Benefits Assurance Limited, a partner with the organisation.

    Managing Director of Mutual Benefits, Mr Ademola Fagbeyin, attributed the disdain for mathematics to lack of proper equipment and learning platforms that could help in its learning.

    He said the fear of mathematics is a contributing factor to the country’s underdeveloped state.

    “To be successful, you need mathematics. The idea of this application would transform destinies, add value and change lives. Immediately a child logs on and registers for the first time, there is a life assurance covering the guardian; so in case of casualties, there is a benefit of up to N500 000 to cover the child’s education,” he said.

    A major partner of the firm, Mrs Scholastica Adeniji-Fashola, said NMO was designed to provide pupils with access to questions based on the class they register in the application.

    She hopes the NMO would correct the general impression that mathematics is difficult and help pupils love the subject.

    “We are here to let students know that mathematics is not so difficult, it is as easy as any other subject. We wanted to make maths a subject that every Nigerian child would love because maths is one of the subjects that form the basic foundation for any discipline at the university level. This is why we developed this app. We see a lot of students using the phone, laptop or iPad to play games. We want them to channel some of that energy they use on games to learning, which would be beneficial to them. The students can actually have their phone and learn maths and practise it anywhere they are across the globe,” Adeniji-Fashola said.

    In the event of any challenges encountered in the process of using the application, she said good support had been put in place to help users in handling the app.

    Supporting the firm at the launch, President of Mathematics Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Rasaq Jimoh, decried the increasing rate of failure of mathematics by pupils.

    He said: “We abuse maths. People are not usually bothered by its failure, whose rate keeps growing every year. It is just a tool for technological development. Maths develops the mind intellectually, physically, emotionally and socially. Maths is fun.”

    Jimoh advised parents not to discourage their children in the study of mathematics, with negative comments about it.

    “Whenever people say maths is difficult, please don’t join them so that you can encourage the youths. Even if you did not like it in school, please do not tell them that. If we build manpower to teach maths, it would be a good thing,” Jimoh added.

  • Nigeria seeks pact with Japan on maths, science education

    Nigeria has approached the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for support in running the third cycle of the Strengthening of Mathematics and Science Education (SMASE) programme for teachers at the pre-service level, the Minister of Education has said.

    SMASE is a programme initiated by the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) with the support of JICA to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics and science in Nigeria through the training of teachers and use of enhanced techniques and tools.

    Addressing the Cycle Two, Fourth Cohort of the SMASE training for teachers drawn from Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Imo and Yobe States at the NTI headquarters in Kaduna last Monday, Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, said the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) was also considering the proposal for the third cycle for teachers trained in the colleges of education.

    Shekarau, who was represented by the SMASE National Coordinator, Mr. Joseph Aguiyi-Ironsi, said planning for the third cycle is in full swing as the national coordinating units have been meeting with the stakeholders to ensure the success of the programme.

    “The third cycle of SMASE would introduce the programme to teachers at pre-service education level. NCCE is considering our proposal, while a proposal has been sent to JICA for consideration. Having gone through the primary school with success, the federal government has approved the content for the secondary school phase to be developed.

    “The federal Ministry of Education implemented SMASE phase one between 2006 and 2009, while phase two ran between 2010 and February 2014 with JICA support. JICA withdrew its support in February and since then there has been expansions with all 36 states and FCT as pilot states.

    “During the second phase only four inset cohorts were run, but since February, NTI has been able to implement three cohorts of cycle two and we are here for the fourth cycle,” the Minister added.

    The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NTI, Dr Aminu Ladan Sharehu said NTI has trained 413 teachers on SMASE and conducted seven cohorts of cycle one from all states and the Federal Capital Teritory (FCT) except Lagos State.

    “We have trained three cohorts of cycle two this is the fourth cohort. SMASE training is progressing and succeeding and NTI is fully committed to Smase training and improvement of teachers’ education in the country. We have included computer training in SMASE inset training with a computer laboratory while we are on the verge of completing our science laboratory.”

     

  • Brain health and mass failure in Maths, English (2)

    Many people do not look after their brains. They do not even remember it exists until they have a headache or their memory begins to fail. How can such people be expected to relate poor school performance or failure in examinations to poor brain nurture or food and ebbing brain health? I remember Mrs. Bikkesteth, my primary three class teacher in 1958 at St. Andrew’s Primary School, Ibara, Abeokuta. She forced the class to memorise the Bible verses such as Romans 12:17-21 irrespective of whether we had enough brain power to do so. Children who were slack about it padded their buttocks and back with extra clothing because Mrs. Bikkesteth was quick with the cane. Some other teachers were worse. Their punishment for slackness were heavy knocks of the knuckle on the head. They either didn’t know, or it didn’t matter to them that this traumatise an already irresponsive brain. So, many children of my generation dreaded school, hated some teachers and the subjects they taught, were happy on Fridays because there would be no school on Saturdays and on Sundays, and would end up hating English Language and Mathematics. Who in the 1964-68 ‘O’ Level set at Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo. In the class, the French teacher made us read the French grammar book in turns. Many of us preferred the back seats. Then, one day, he began the routine from the back row. Omolewu couldn’t pronounce quest que ces’t? Pretending to help him, the teacher read the three words as kese ko se?/ in trust, Omolewu read on, after him. The class roared in rib-cracking laughter. Even the teacher couldn’t help reeling in laughter. The class nicknamed Omolewu kese kose, his nickname till this day.

    Today, I see many university graduates around who cannot balance the tenses of grammar when they speak. They remind me of the General Studies class of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in the 1973/74 session. The Use of English was a component of this first-year course. The examiner asked the students to identify gerunds in some sentences and to form sentences of their own with gerunds of their choice. Your guess is as good as mine: mass failure. Yet a gerund is no more than a verb which ends in ingas long as it doesn’t function as an adjective. Thus, the verb go, derived from the words to go, becomes a gerund in the sentence… Going to school yesterday, I saw a rat.

    English Language is an interesting subject. I must admit that, like many of today’s schoolboys and schoolgirls, I, too, hated the English class. Adjectival clauses were Greekish. Adjectival clauses sounded like Latin. Today, even teachers of other subjects, such as mathematics and chemistry, cannot balance equations on both sides of a simple sentence. I often hear lettered people say, for example, if I knew he was a bad man, I would have avoided him. That is wrong. The correct expression would be: if I knew he was a bad man, I would avoid him. OR: if I had known he was a bad man, I would have avoided him.This problem of the Use of English as a second language manifest everywhere. Your secretary is likely to mess up a simple letter many times. Business centres are worse. The boys and girls who work there probably have no good ‘O’ Level pass in English Language. If you rely on them for a large job, you would have to proof-read several times to make the work at least 80 per cent error free. Newspaper readers who complain about typographic errors do not know what editors go through in one work day. As a newspaper editor, I strained my eyes every day reading 70 per cent page proofs of editions of no fewer than 40 pages. New proofs would come with new errors of punctuation, tense, spelling etc that I didn’t introduce! With a deadline to beat, the editor often throws up his arms in defeat. Isn’t it better to get the paper out than not to have it read? Thus, we can see that mass failure in English Language and in Mathematics examinations is a complicated matter which will require deep-rooted solutions.

    Today, I address only the possibility of supporting brain function with food supplements known in folklore and in clinical experience to prevent brain weakness or damage, nurture the brain, improve memory and enhance brain output. There are too many of them than can be accommodated here. So, I will probably address only about ten that I have found useful over many years. I would like to begin by situating the brain and brain function in a world of these herbs and food supplements.

     

    The Brain 

    The brain is a fatty substance. That means it must be nourished by food which contains the components of this fatty substance. And as fat oxidize or rot easily under oxidative impact, the brain needs protection antioxidants. How many of us include brain foods and brain specific antioxidants in our daily diet, or add them to the diet of our children, especially those involved with serious learning and examinations?. Many people take their brains for granted, as they do many organs of their bodies, and only remember they have something “upstairs” when they have headaches, migraine or they begin to suffer from memory loss.

    These problems are more rife today because of the oxidizing effect of the cell phone. Fat accounts for between five to 15 per cent of the average human brain. The rest of it is water and protein. Most of the fat surrounds the myelin sheath or covering of the nerve oxons. The sheath protectively houses the nerves, and the fat protects the sheath.

    The brain is divided into three parts: frontal, middle and back. Inside the brain are about 100 billion neurons. Neurons are nerve cells which send signals to all parts of the body through the Central Nervous System (CNS) and receives signals from them. There are global cells in the brain as well. The support the neurons and are more numerous than them. Neurons transmit signals at about 200 miles per hour. There are many types of neurons. They function biochemically in ways too complex for this column to describe. That is the job of neurologists. I am fascinated by the fact that neurons branch into what are called dendrites.  I am fascinated because I may not have had the optimum number of neurons at birth. So, as the brain stops growing at a point during babyhood, I may have lost that chance forever. Yet the more the neurons the more the intelligence the brain packs. Neurons are tightly packed like sardines in the can, so, if I add the better information then to my receipt, storage and diet, my retrieval is faster and grows more efficient than if they were loosely packed or distant from one another. Dentrites are like tentacles of neurons. Distant neurons can communicate, though not as efficiently as if they were closer, if they grow dentrites towards one another certain foods and herbs support the growing of these dentrites. An average neuron has about 1,000 to 10,000 dentrites. The interesting part of it all for me is this

    1)         If a pregnant woman takes enough Omega-3 fish oil to support the pregnancy, the baby in her womb will likely have more neutrons and dentrites than the baby of a woman whose diet was Omega-3 deficient. Now know that the more neurons, the more intelligent the baby is likely to be. Adults whose mothers cheated on Omega-3 may not grow new neurons as adults because their brains have stopped growing, but they may benefit from a flourish of dentrites from neurons. These dentrites help to bridge that gaps between these neurons somewhat. But they cannot have the effect or impact of tightly or closely packed neurons. It would appear that Mother Nature still makes room for amends outside the womb, for the brief period the brain continues to grow after the birth of a baby.

     

    Omega – 3 Oils

    Dr. Joseph C. Maroon, M.D., and Dr. Jeffrey Bost, P.A.C; wrote a book titled FISH OIL, THE NATURAL ANTI-INFLAMATORY in which they advocate use of Omega-3 fish oil as an anti-inflammatory in place of ibuprofen or even aspirin as a blood thinner.

    In respect of Omega-3 uses for brain health, they say:

    “A developing foetus obtains EFAs through the mother’s dietary consumption. Omega-3 EFA supplementation has shown many benefits for both the pregnant mother and the developing child, including prolonging gestation and preventing pre-term labour. In 2002, in a randomised iced, double blind, placebo-controlled study, which is the most stringent way to evaluate an effect, S.F. Olsen and colleagues show that supplementation with DHA prolonged gestation by six days. In 2003, C.M. Smuts and colleagues showed that supplementation with fish oil prolonged gestation in women with high risk for pre-term delivery”.

    Omega – 3 essential fatty Acids (EFAs) are in two major fractions: EPA and DHA. EPA is used more for the treatment of inflammatory conditions. It is DHA that is more specific for the brain and the eyes.

    Remi Cooper, in the booklet The essential omega -3 Fatty ACID DHA says: “How much of the brain is composed of DHA? The exact amount is not known, but it is believed to be at least at 330 per cent and probably more… of particular importance is neural development in any human development. There is a large body of research investigating the role of DHA in the development of the brain and nervous system in foetuses and young infants. The fact that DHA is specifically incorporated into the membrane phospholipids of the brain and retina, and that it is the “preferred” essential fatty acids for these tissues is not disputed. In fact, so prevalent is DHA in the makeup of the brain and retina that researchers and health experts are beginning to emphasise how important this fatty acid can be.” In a research by Nettleton, Trial animals denied DHA in their diets for three weeks lost half of their brain DHA when animals were fed DHA, their brain DHA levels increased copper adds: “There is too much research to ignore the notion that lack of dietary DHA for developing fetuses and infants can have serious adverse consequences later in life, particularly in the area of the brain and nervous system.”

    From the foregoing, we can easily observe the folly or stupidity of many adults and parents. Mothers do not take Omega-3 fish oil during pregnancy or during breastfeeding. They send children too early to nursery schools where their brains are prematurely opened for intellectual development without Omega-3 oil to help the brain cope with the pressure. And since Mother Nature abhors a vacuum, the brain uses Omega 6 and Omega-9 oils instead of Omega-3. Can this make the brain as efficient as it should? Any wonder that these children cannot cope easily with tedium? Yet Omega-3 oil is abundant in the “Original” Titus fish and Sardine. Health shops sell well-formulated Omega-3 fish oils. Udo’s Oil and Ultimate Oil are about the best brands. Do not buy artificial omega 3 oil.

     

    Ginkgo Biloba

    Anytime I suggest Ginkgo biloba to a woman, I tease her. This is because, originally, this herb was known as Maiden Hair. It was so called because it made the hair of women long, thick and beautiful. It is surprising that they would ignore it today and prefer instead chemical relaxers which cause a host of health problems for them. The Ginkgo biloba tree species is about 150 million years old on earth, and the individual tree can live for about 1000 years. When researchers investigated why it made female hair look so beautiful, they found it was because a tea of the leaves promoted micro blood circulation in the brain. Trust men! They took over this herb and renamed it Ginkgo. The Chinese led the world to Ginkgo biloba, using it for memory enhancement, to ease asthma, bed wetting, bladder irritation, intestinal worms and gonorrhea. Ginkgo has helped people suffering from dementia to improve their thinking, memory and social behavior.

    According to Dr. H.C.A. Vogel in his The nature doctor: “In Cases where the brain does not receive sufficient blood, the tincture made from the leaves has proved to be efficacious. Also, a deficiency of oxygen to the brain can be remedied quite rapidly which is very important after a stroke. Blood viscosity, that is, its consistency and rate of flow will increase in a short time. This makes it possible to eliminate the symptoms of a defective circulation such as headaches, buffing in the ears, problems with hearing and sight, depression and the state of fear panic. Some people over the age of 70 have registered a notable improvement in health after only four to six weeks when they have taken a double dose of the tincture three times a day (the normal dose is 15-20 drops three times a day). Relief is even more certain when a low protein diet but one that is rich in vital substances, vitamins and minerals is also followed. It is possible to normalise high blood pressure after just a few weeks of taking Ginkgo biloba, viscosity will be favourably affected. Improved blood circulation and supply of oxygen ensure that the cells of the central nervous system are better nourished and hence more efficient.

     

    Alpha Lipoic Acid

    When it comes to protecting the brain against free radical damage, Alpha Lipoic Acid is of great value. It is fat and water solube, that means it is active in both fat and water and as antioxidant. This makes it of great value as an antioxidant is of inestimable value these days of the cell phone.

    It has been shown in some experiments that the cell phone has a microwaving effect on auditory tissue and the brain, with the possibility of ionizing them. Young people spend a great deal of time on the cell phone and may does be impacting ionizing radiation on their brains. Antioxidants protect these tissues. The traditional antioxidants, Vitamins A, C and E cannot be left out. So is their big boss, Grape seed Extract, which is about 50 times more powerful than either vitamin A or Vitamin E. the beauty of Grape Seed Extract is that it is one of the few substances which easily cross the brain-blood barrier. Dr. Ray Strand, author of What your doctor does not know about nutritional medicine, may be killing you in ever fails to include it in any of his prescriptions. It was one of the remedies which saved his wife from fibromyalgia, bone, muscle and nerve pain of many years.

     Lecithin

    This is a fat emulsifier or dissolve which many people are aware of who use it to dissolve gall bladder stones or to reduce high cholesterol levels. It has two major fractions, choline and inositol which are important for nerve and brain health.

    Lecithin is a major component of cell membranes and is important for healthy nerve growth and function. Egg yolk is a good source of lecithin. But many people keep away from egg because of Cholesterol problems. So, many people have turned to soya beans, which is now the commercial source of lecithin. In many human studies, in which lecithin effects on the brain has been targeted, this fat like substance has been found to help cases such as Alzheimer’s disease, bibolar disorder (manic depression) and attention deficit. In the book Optimun nutrition for the mind, nutritionist Patrick Holford suggests one tablespoonful of lecithin granules to the cereal everyday helps the memory of many people. In Nigeria, lecithin granules are not as common as the lecithin softgel sold as 21 grain/1,200mg per gel. Over dosage may occur at between 10 grams 10,000mg,             ( 30 grams or 30,000 mg), accordingly to Vanderbilt University, overdosage may create symptoms such as gastrointestinal problems, diarrhoea, weight gain, a rash, headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and or a fish body odour”

    Based on the brains critical need for Omega-3 fatty acids and lecithin, researchers have developed a means of binding both and delivering them to the brain. In a study of, people who took this remedy for memory or learning problem, the Clinical response was 2.4 times greater than in a placebo group. Although this particular remedy is not available in Nigeria, Omega-3 fatty acids and lecithins are available and should be consumed by young and old people alike.

    Sugar and other Brain Enemies

    Young people depress or damage their brains without being aware they are. They do not drink enough of plain water. Dehydration causes brain shrinkage and heat which may oxidise the fatty components of the brain. Aluminium cookware (pots, tea cups, spoons etc) leach into food and end up in the brain. Even the commercial pepper grinding machines leach iron and grease into food and these affect brain health. This is not to mention alcohol and sugar consumption.

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

     Language

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

    Mathematics  

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

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

    •The starting point, God, and

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

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

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

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

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

  • ‘My mission is to solve maths problems’

    ‘My mission is to solve maths problems’

    Moshood Abiola, a Mathematics Education student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), has developed a Mathematics Board Game, which he calls Math Race 1. He designed the game to help children understand mathematics. The 400-Level student tells TOSIN ADESILE how he came about the idea. 

    How did you come up with the idea of Mathematics Board Game and what is it all about?

    I discovered children love to have fun by playing games. Then, I conceptualised the idea when I was in SSS 1. I have always been wondering about the possibility of a mathematics board game. Ever since then, I have been working on it. Fortunately for me, I got the right pattern and design of the game when I went to urinate at the Elkanemi Hall of the University of Lagos. The design of the toilet tiles gave me the clue on how the pattern should look like. Math Race 1 is a mathematics board game for primary school children within Basic 2 to 6. The game will improve their knowledge in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division at the same time while they have fun.

    What do you hope to achieve through it?

    First, it is to solve the problem of abstract nature in Mathematics. It will also get children excited about mathematics. Secondly, it will make everybody to have sound mathematical foundation.

    How far have you gone with the idea?

    The sweetest thing is that it keeps getting easier. After the Math Race 1 was unveiled, I have also invented Math Race 2 for junior secondary school. Currently, I am working on a new game called Math War, which will be completed by the end of this month.

    Are you aware if this is not a duplication of existing idea?

    I am 100 per cent sure that nobody has done this. It took me 10 years to invent this game. I strategised and re-strategised until I finally got the solution.

    How many players can play the game?

    A maximum of six players can play at a time. It can also be played by one person. But the more the players, the more interesting it will be. It is also a family game. Parents can play with their kids. It can also be used for school competition.

    How have you been coping with your academics, given your innovative mind?

    It has been easy, considering the fact that what I do is connected to education. I spent one hour in the laboratory every day. Laboratory in this context is anywhere. It can be my hostel, class or any place I may find myself. I make sure I spent my time, thinking about a problem and finding a way to solve it.

    Do you have a role model?

    God is the best inventor. So, God is my role model.

    What is your philosophy of life?

    Find a problem and solve it.

    What would you be doing in a few years?

    I want to be a business man.

  • Counselling ‘can solve Maths failure’

    THE Women in Technical Education and Development (WITED), has recommended counselling to address pupils’ phobia for mathematics.

    The group also suggested enlightenment campaigns in allaying the fear of the subject and sciences.

    Its President, Mrs. Osiki Francis, told reporters in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, at the association’s national coordinating committee (NCC) meeting, that there is no reason to fear the subjects.

    “Fear already defeats the individual even before he confronts the problem. That is why self defeatist attitude should be addressed through counseling. We need public enlightenment campaigns. Information is key to allaying fear of mathematics and sciences,” she said.

    WITED’s call follows mass failure in mathematics in the West African Senior Schoor Certificate Examination released by West African Examination Council (WAEC) last week.

    On the challenges facing women taking up mathematics and technical education courses, Francis said: “The challenges varied. It could be socio-cultural. There are some places where women are to be seen and not heard. They just have to be in the kitchen, but that concept is changing. Although, fundamentally, our place is in the kitchen; another is religious factor and so on.”

    WITED, she said, was borne out of the desire to encourage girl child, who have the God-given flair to appreciate mathematics, science and technical courses.

    Said she: “For meaningful national development, the female folks that constitute about half of the population of Nigeria should not be left behind.

    “Government can encourage girl child to take up mathematics and technical courses by giving scholarships and awards to those excelling in these subjects. Besides, science laboratories should be well equipped, science and mathematics teachers should also be encouraged, because when they are happy they will be at their best in their works and the students will do well.

    “Parents’ roles cannot be overemphasised. They are the starting point of the life of the child. Parents should be enlightened as they have the right attitude to the girl child in pursing these subject areas.

    “Women, who have the ability, are being encouraged to come on board. There should be no force, no coercion. It is those that fit into the programme that are encouraged to come on board.

    “Our approach is to go to the primary and secondary schools to sensitise the girl child that she should have no phobia for courses such as mathematics, sciences and engineering. The grassroot is our first target, from there we will move to the traditional rulers, who are the custodians of culture, to pass the message to their subjects and allay fears of mathematics and technical subjects.”