Tag: Nigerian Newspapers

In the last three series that I have written on “Improving teachers’ image”, I have discussed what the government/training institutions/school owners, others, have to do for the teaching profession.  But this piece is about what the teacher has to do to improve him or herself for the sake of the profession.

Teachers face a lot of challenges in Nigeria, some of which I detailed in the other three series, namely, poor training, poor pay, and poor teaching/learning environment.  As a result, many teachers do not give their best.  A teacher who is poorly paid and has to trek part of his way to get to school; does not have requisite facilities to work with, and has to deal with difficult learners and a heavy work load has all the reasons in the world to complain and not to be productive.  However, that will not pay such teacher. I am not saying teachers should not protest these harsh conditions and seek for a better life, by all means, we should all advocate for change in our education system.  But, regardless, the teacher has to do his/her job in such way as to stand out as a shining example of what a teacher should be.  When such teacher stands out and is noticed, he/she is in a better position to advocate for change because he would have the ears of the people that matter and can effect the change.

In the course of my journalism career, I have met some of such teachers and been truly inspired by them.  There was one teacher who I wrote about before I met him.  It was his boss, Mrs Bimpe Careena, who was then Principal of Surulere Secondary School, Surulere, who told me about him during a British Council connecting classrooms programme many years ago.  She said Mr Oni was the one who heeded her call anytime she needed a teacher to train pupils for one programme or the other, run errands, do something outside his core responsibility of teaching a subject and assessing his learners.  She said others complained about the workload without extra pay and would run away at the slightest opportunity.  Well, when time came for the British Council exchange visit to London, Mrs Careena nominated Oni.  Oni went to London for the programme.  After the training, while sightseeing, someone saw him, shouted his name, and prostrated on the streets of London.  It was one of his former pupils, who was delighted to reunite with a teacher who made a difference in his life.  That pupil, connected with other alumni and they came to visit Mr Oni, coming with gifts for him and his family.  Would Oni have got such if he worked only according to how he was paid? I doubt.

Another of my favourite teacher stories is that of Mrs Rose Nkemdilim Obi, the pioneer winner of the Maltina Teacher of the Year Award in 2015.  I can still remember the day she was announced winner at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, venue of the event.  I interviewed her husband, who said he was happy she stuck to her job as a PTA teacher at the Federal Government Girls’ College, Onitsha despite being paid peanuts as a part-time Mathematics and Chemistry teacher and yet doing the same work as full-time teachers.  Mrs Obi kept at it for almost 10 years before she was employed by the Federal Government on full-time basis.  She was driven by passion to give her best regardless.  And it eventually paid off when she won the award in 2015.

The most recent inspiring teacher story I have is that of my interaction with Prof Adewale Solarin, former Director-General (DG) of the National Mathematical Centre (NMC).  I spent a precious one hour hearing how he differentiated himself as a teacher of Mathematics.  He said he had all his education in Nigeria.  A turning point in his career was when he participated in a Fellowship in Italy, as a young lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife.  There, he met scholars from other parts of the world who demonstrated such mastery of their subject in a way he did not have.  He then resolved to improve himself in every way and learn the subject to mastery level.  He said years later (before he became a professor), by the time he got a DAAD Fellowship at a German university, his reputation as a distinguished scholar was such that the university inviting him was amazed he was a black man.  And when he got there, he delivered.

As a lecturer, Prof Solarin said in taking his students, he goes beyond  the Nigerian curriculum for the subject.  He tells students to study particular topics as they are taught by renowned universities of the world like Harvard, Princeton, MIT, ahead of the class.  By the time the students attend such class and share ideas, they gain so much more from the lesson.

These teachers are examples that attitude, resourcefulness, hard work, dedication, and determination on the part of the individual teacher matters and can go a long way to improve the Image of the teaching profession.

Young people from Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and other countries across Africa are scheduled to participate in a conference holding August 16 and 17 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The conference with theme: “Back to the Future- Young People Reimagining today’s Politics”, is being organised by the Baywood Foundation to enlighten African youths about the leadership roles they must play to lift the continent out of poverty.

Its founder, Emperor Chris Baywood Ibe, said at a briefing in Lagos on Tuesday that the conference would be used to herald the organisation’s programme to boost youth participation in political leadership.

He said: “Baywood Foundation in collaboration with the African Union (AU) is organising an interactive Conference on the August 16 and 17 2019 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on the critical issue of increased participation of youths in politics and governance.

“Countries represented include Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Mali, Botswana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Africa, Tunisia, Kenya and Tanzania. It is our fervent hope that the conference will stimulate effective discourse to drive a sustainable action agenda on this issue. This conference has been designed to be stakeholder-resonant and appropriately representative of the pan-African situation on this critical issue.

Read Also: Int’l Youth Day: We’re equipping young people to actualise their dreams – Obaseki

“A major outcome of this Conference would be a pathway to the actualization of a pioneering Baywood Foundation initiative which not only creates inclusive opportunities for youth but also develops their intrinsic capabilities for future leadership roles.   Baywood Foundation is proposing this initiative which offers leadership development and a path to greater involvement in political governance for youths throughout Africa.”

Regarding the initiative, a yearlong internship for young Africans, Ibe said the Foundation would post selected youths as interns in government establishments, political organisations, agencies, or even private sector to learn the ropes of governance.

He said they would be paid stipends for the period but called on the AU to endorse the training so as to ensure that they are employed after the one year.

“We do not want to start the programme without the buy-in of the AU because after one year and they are not employed, it will not be good,” he said.

Since its inception in 2005, Ibe said Baywood Foundation had invested a lot in rural areas in the areas of education, health care, economic empowerment and others.

He said the Foundation in its 14 years of operation had employed teachers for community schools, provided financial educational support and to less privileged children to attend school.

“Right now, the foundation has 20 teachers on its payroll.  There are community schools without teachers.  So what we do is engage these teachers and move them to these communities.

“We have primary school scholarships for children whose parents cannot buy uniforms, books, others.  We believe in intervening at primary level.  This fundamental support – that may be N500, here, N1,000 there goes a long way to ensure children go to school. I found out that N100,000 can do a lot in the rural communities.  When you spend N1million you reach out to many people in the rural areas more than urban areas,” he said.

Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) has been awarded a $100,000 Ford Foundation Project Grant for the development of an Art Museum project for the College.

The project, which will incorporate advocacy against Sexual Harassment (SH), and Gender Based Violence (GBV), will be handled and supervised by the grant research team made up of Dr. A. A. Abiodun, a Chief Lecturer in the Department of Chemical Science, Dr Funmilayo Doherty, a Principal Lecturer in the Department of Biological Science and Mrs Odun Orimolade, a Principal Lecturer in the Department of Fine Art. The trio wrote the proposal that won the grant for the College.

Senior Programmes Officer, Ford Foundation, Prof Paul Nwulu, who was in the College to flag off the project disclosed that the partnership between YABATECH and the Foundation is that of progress and development.

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Rector of the College, Mr Obafemi Omokungbe thanked Ford Foundation for the grant and assured Nwulu that the Management would support the project.

Afterwards, the Rector led the party which included Nwulu, the Polytechnic Librarian, Mrs Taye Adebowale; Dean, School of Art, Design and Printing, Dr Kunle Adeyemi; Project Desk Officer, Dr. Olusola Dada; and the grant research team to the designated location of the project in the basement of the School of Art, Design & Printing.

The Project will be monitored by Dr Dabaseki Mac- Ikemenjima, and the grant Manager of the Ford Foundation Office of West Africa, Mrs Joy Ehinor-Esezobor.

I was still in a state of advised caution last Saturday when I received the first bottle of hemp (CBD) oil from a friend, who wanted me to try it for my vision. What has held me back until now has been my fear that “pap water is pap”, as we say in Nigeria, that is … CBD oil or cannabinol or medicinal hemp cannot be from different from psychotic Indian hemp that I have known for about seven decades make its users high or stoned. But now, science and medicine are telling us that cannabinol comes from a non-psychotic specie of the cannabis plant known as hemp. Nevertheless, I remain a cautions  person. All around me in Lagos, practically everyone in my age bracket is using CBD oil and claiming  wonderful results. I consider myself  lucky to be avoided by all but one of the health challenges of senior citizens, glaucoma.

I have read of and heard about many hilarious testimonials that  CBD oil chases away glaucoma.  One man said last week that after dropping the oil in the eyes of his father for about three weeks, the old man  began to see the sharps of palm trees on the grounds of their home in the village. Hitheto, he saw nothing.  Another woman said she was introduced to CBD oil in the United States for her glaucoma. Soon after, opthamologists there said her eyes were clear. She hopes to reconfirm the report with her Nigerian eye doctor whenever she returns home. In none of these testimonials did I see before and after doctor authenticated report.

How I wish I could be  child-like (not childish) in matters such as this when  Mrs Folake Sanusi, who learned the modern  uses of herbs from me, gave to me a bottle of locally compounded herbs for cataract and glaucoma which she said took away the glaucoma of a gentleman she knew.  Prior to using the herb, he had to be led by the hand wherever he went, she said. But when I  studied the ingridients and noted that cannabis was among them, I kept the medicine away and told her so. It did not matter to me that from her account, the gentleman could now move about town, unheeded.

In the small study I did thereafter, I discovered that the hemp, which charges the nerves and makes the brain high and the face stoned, does indeed, lower intraocular pressure (IOP), a major cause of vision damage when it is high. But the user would have to “high up”no fewer than eight times in one day to control IOP over 24 hours. Quite naturally, no self- respecting eye doctor or any doctor would apply this therapy. For not only may it damage the brain and cause lung degeneration, it  may compromise the heart and reduce blood and oxygen flow to the optic nerve, which carries visual impressions from the eye to the brain. Incidentally, poor circulation in the optic nerve is one of the causes of nerve death and blindness.

In response to enquiries about weather CBD oil lowers eyes pressure,  an Indiana University study was carried out, which showed that this hemp oil had no effect on IOP at low dosages, but raised IOP at higher dosages.

Glaucoma challenged people world wide and their doctors would appear to be in a fix. Surgery and eye drops to managed glaucoma are unpalatable for many challenged person because of their negative side  effects. In  many cases, newer and safer  therapeutic options become inevitable. In the process, for example, it was suggested that glaucoma was caused by “diabetes of the brain” and, among doctors there is no serious disagreement that the eyes is the largest store of Vitamin C in the body. In fact, Dr Linus Pauling won the Nobel prize for his work two times on Vitamin C. One of his conclusions was that  large amount of Vitamins C in the eye naturally lowers occular tension. So, the question goes: Do glaucoma challenged persons suffer from Vitamin C deficiency? Did Pauling recommend between 3,000mg and 6,000mg of Vitamin C everyday where many conventional doctors do not prescribe more than 60mg? The concept of “diabetes of the brain” will be explored some other time. Concepts of the implications of liver and kidney deffiencies we are probably well aware of.

Also, we know Alternative Medicine is making in-roads into glaucoma management. It is clear to many challenged persons that intraocular pressure is not their only challenge. They have to deal also with challenges such as inflammation,  oxidative stress and damage, insufficiency of antioxidants, poor blood circulation and fragile or incompetent blood vessels.Since this awareness, no fewer than 20 nutritional factors have been researched and found helpful in glaucoma therapies. Among these are Vitamin A; Vitamin B Complex; Vitamin C; Vitamin E; Rutin; Ionic Magnesium; Ionic minerals; Gingko Biloba; Taurine;  Resveratrol; Grape seed extract; Zinc; Glatathione; Super oxide Dismutase; Essential fatty acids; Alpha Lipoic Acid; Promegrante; Amala (Indian Gooseberry); Goji berry; Bill berry; Blueberry;  Marigold; Lutein; Zeazanthin; Astazanthin and lately, CBD oil. But of CBD oil, eye doctors are still not speaking with one voice, as they do in respect of surgery and pharmaceutical eye drops.

The ping-pong back and forth-like game of argument is in favour of caution in the use of CBD oil as eye drops to treat glaucoma.   It is like a tumultuous sea into  which the wise swimmer does not plunge without precautions. The following report by Sally Miller, Laura Daily, Emma Leishman, Heather Bradshaw and Alex Straiker represent the thinking of dissenting voices in opthalmology. Their research was founded by the National Institute of Health  of the United States and published online in 2018 as follows:

 

Tetrahydrocannabinol  and Cannabinol Differentially  Regular  Intraocular  Pressure

 

Abstract:

 

Purpose: It has been known for nearly 50 years that cannabis and the psychoactive constituent -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) reduce intraocular pressure (IOP). Elevated IOP remains the chief hallmark and therapeutic target for glaucoma, a major cause of blindness. THC likely acts via one of the known cannabinoid-related receptors (CB1, CB2, GPR18, GPR119, GPR55), but this has never been determined explicitly. Cannabinol (CBD) is a second major constituent of cannabis that has been found to be without effect on IOP in most studies.

 

Methods:

 

Effects of topically applied THC and CBD were tested in living mice….by using tonometry and measurements of mRNA levels. In addition, the lipidomic consequences of CBD treatment were tested by using lipid analysis.

 

Results:

 

We now report that a single topical application of THC lowered IOP substantially (28%) for 8 hours in male mice. This effect is due to combined activation of CB1 and GPR18 receptors each of which has been shown to lower ocular pressure when activated. We also found that the effect was sex-dependent, being stronger in male mice, and that mRNA levels of CB1 and GPR18 were higher in males. Far from inactive, CBD was found to have two opposing effects on ocular pressure, one of which involved antagonism of tonic signaling. CBD prevents THC from lowering ocular pressure.

 

Conclusions:

 

We conclude that THC lowers IOP by activating two receptors—CB1 and GPR18—but in a sex-dependent manner. CBD, contrary to expectation, has two opposing effects on IOP and can interfere with the effects of THC.

Cannabis has a long and storied history tracing back thousands of years. Only recently have we begun to understand how its constituents act in the body.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, THC) is understood to be the chief psycho-active ingredient of cannabis. The year 1971 marked the publication of the first work by Hepler and Frank, demonstrating that cannabis inhalation has a salutary effect on intraocular pressure (IOP). This set in motion a flurry of research to learn the nature of this effect. Remarkably, however, we still do not know through which receptors the principal components of cannabis regulate IOP. It is often assumed that THC does this via cannabinoid CB1 receptors, since CB1 receptor agonists lower IOP, but this has not been demonstrated. Ocular research into the two principal phytocannabinoids—THC and the noneuphoric cannabidiol (CBD)—largely ceased after the early 1980s, well before the first cannabinoid receptor was identified in 1990. CB1 receptors remain the best-characterised cannabinoid receptor and are widely in the brain and eye and regulate important physiological systems such as pain, mood, movement, and memory. But the cannabinoid signaling system consists not only of CB1 receptors, but of CB2,  GPR18, and GPR11910 and perhaps others, as well as enzymes that produce and metabolise the lipid cannabinoid messengers.

We have determined that at least, three cannabinoid-related receptors (CB1, GPR18, GPR119) regulate IOP in the vertebrate eye. THC activates CB1 and GPR18 and perhaps GPR19. This means that the action of THC may be quite complex.

THC is not the only phytocannabinoid found in cannabis: CBD can be present at quantities comparable to THC and plant strains have now been developed (e.g. Charlotte’s Web) that have a CBD to THC ratio that is heavily skewed toward CBD. Long considered inactive, CBD has shown benefit in clinical trials as an anti-epileptic in Dravet’s syndrome18 and has recently been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an anti-epileptic. But CBD is also assigned many other properties, including activity at GPR18 and the cannabinoid-metabolising enzyme FAAH (fatty acid amide hydrolase)21, but CBD may act as a negative allosteric modulator of CB1 signaling. This is significant because this means that CBD may antagonise THC signaling. Three of four studies that have tested CBD for effects on IOP have reported no effect, but the fourth has reported an increase in IOP.24

The current study was an examination of the receptor dependence of the actions of THC and CBD on IOP….

THC substantially lowers IOP for at least, eight hours but in a sex-dependent manner. (A) Topically applied THC (5 mM) lowers IOP relative to contralateral vehicle-treated eye in mouse. Effect persists for eight hours. (B) In contrast, females only see an effect of THC at 4 hours.

THC lowers IOP through combined activation of CB1 and GPR18 receptors as noted in the introduction, THC lowers IOP, but the mechanism by which it does this remains undetermined. A preferred hypothesis is that THC lowers IOP via CB1 receptors. We, therefore, tested whether the effect of THC would be absent in CB1 receptor knockout mice. Interestingly, we found that CB1 deletion only partly eliminated the effect of THC….This is the GPR18 receptor since, as noted previously, GPR18 can lower IOP in mice and is activated by THC…. We find that the regulation of ocular pressure by THC and CBD is more complex than previously appreciated. THC acts via a combination of CB1 and GPR18 receptors in a sex-dependent manner, while CBD can both raise IOP and interfere with the effects of THC. The potential of CBD to elevate ocular pressure should be evaluated further as a potential deleterious side effect, particularly with long-term use.

Our finding of sex dependence of cannabinoid regulation of ocular pressure suggests that the current academic view that topical phytocannabinoids are without effect (e.g. the 2014 AAO position statement on cannabis and glaucoma) may be premature. Most of the studies on which this position is based include female subjects, but are underpowered to evaluate a potential sex dependence of effect. However, it should be stressed that the findings presented here highlight the complex endogenous cannabinoid signaling system that can be selectively targeted and harnessed to lower ocular pressure by other means.

For instance, we have shown that it is possible to enhance endogenous cannabinoid signaling by blocking the cannabinoid-metabolising enzyme monoacylglycerol lipase and so lower ocular pressure. Similarly, we have found that activating CB1 directly can achieve the same outcome. Our findings for THC suggest that a dual CB1/GPR18 agonist may prove advantageous. The study of phytocannabinoids such as THC and CBD, but also others derived from the plant, may therefore, point to novel strategies.

 

Following prevalent cases Lassa fever and other viral deceases among pupils in both public and private schools in the country, teachers in Anambra State have promised to promote hygiene education in schools.

Over 80 teachers, comprising of Directors, Education Secretaries from the 21 local government areas of the state, Area Education Officers, and others made the pledge during a one-day sensitization seminar in Awka, the state capital.

They also resolved to improve sanitation and protection of the school environment.

Addressing participants during the occasion, Commissioner for Basic Education, Prof Kate Omenugha, underscored the need for proper maintenance of hygiene among teachers and pupils in all schools in the state.

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She regretted that the culture of hand-washing and sterilizing which was effectively practiced during the period of the dreaded Ebola disease, was gradually dwindling among pupils, stressing the need to revive it again.

“This workshop is to further create awareness on the necessity of maintaining hygiene and sanitation among our stakeholders in various public and private schools across the state,” she said.

Prof Omenugha said the teachers were strategically selected in view of their regular contact with pupils.

Delivering a paper on Preventive Measures for Lassa Viral Hemorrhagic Disease, one of the resource persons, Dr. Tony Okwukaogu, described the disease as endemic and on the rise, calling for deliberate efforts on environmental cleanliness and protection.

Earlier, Acting Director, Education Services Department, Lady Vera Ogbalu, was confident that the exercise would go a long way to assisting in checkmating the spread of the disease among teachers, students and pupils in the state.

The Educational Aid Global Initiative (Edu-Aid), a Non-Governmental Organisation run by the Covenant Christian Centre, Yaba, has announced plans to hold the third edition of its conference for teachers in Lagos on August 24.

The Lagos Teachers’ Conference, which has as theme: “Teaching for the future”, would feature issues around professional motivation, work-friendly environment, training, recruiting, supporting, empowering and inspiring teachers to be future-oriented.

Coordinator, Edu-Aid, Olufemi Orawusi, said speakers and panelists at the conference would also discuss how to build capacity and strengthen competence through exposure, and provide relevant information on vital skills and current teaching principles, styles and techniques.

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Orawusi said massive investment in recruiting, supporting, and empowering teachers has been identified as a major key in realising Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Four, which aims to achieve inclusive and lifelong education for all by 2030.

He added that the free-to-attend conference would provide a platform for teachers to network and develop relationships that will advance the teaching profession.

Experts to speak at the event include managing director, The Education Partnership Centre (TEP Centre) Dr Modupe Adefeso-Olateju; Rufai Oseni Rufai Oseni, author, global speaker, entrepreneur and development expert; chief executive officer, Teach for Nigeria, Folawe Omikunle; and publisher of educational magazine, ‘Proffs and Learners’, Iruonagbe Emmanuel.