Nigeria National League (NNL) Scribe, Lawrence Katken has disclosed that the league body has put machinery in place to stage a flawless competition which will be the pride of all Nigerians.
Katken assured that the officiating of league matches will be fair to all clubs, and he expects that teams can go outside their state to win games if they play well.
The NNL was blighted by reports of bad officiating all through last season.
SIR: The legislators should debate homosexuality scientifically, not merely scripturally, but that is not the concern here. I observe that some university administrators also practice cultism without knowing they do; they never asked themselves what cultism means. It is cultism when a Vice-Chancellor gathers around himself loyalists with whom he conspires on shortchanging workers, or in the case of a Christian or Muslim Vice-Chancellor who gathers around himself or herself fellow believers from among the staff and conspires with them on how to project their own religion and hammer other religion(s) in a federal or state university.
Cultism is mostly about getting undue advantage or favour. When our Christian and or Muslim rulers collude to secure undue advantages or favours, they plot it at night somewhere or in the secrecy of their offices or houses; they are secret cultists. The ritual aspect comes in the name of worshipping the same God in the same religion.
Some university administrators don’t know that cheating workers is worse than sexual promiscuity, particularly if the sexual act is consensual rather than a rape. It is a clear case of rape when you shortchange workers; you do it without their consent, and so, you are a robber, thief. These clarifications are necessary to conscientize Nigerian rulers and administrators who are committing sin against humanity and still proudly calling themselves Christians and Muslims.
Those who say that African Traditional Religion (ATR) is responsible for cultism in Nigerian universities miss the point. I have read books on cultism in which the name “Africa” or any African country does not even feature! Why are Africans raised to hate their roots, their ancestors to that extent? Yes, it is a cultist mentality which some or many develop or which is developed in them through indoctrination to promote their Christianity or Islam, selfishly. That renders many persons myopic. They lack rebirth in the art of “openness to life”. Too many “educated” persons are still living at the catechetical level, and it is children and not adult catechism.
Imagine that hardly any of the students caught in acts of cultism comes from “pagan” homes; they are baptized or have undergone ritual birth in one “Godly” religion or another. I grew up in ATR and I never heard about secret cultism of the favoritism type within the system in Yorubaland. Cultism is an art of conspiracy born out of clique mentality, not religion.
Yes, women must not see Oro, Agemo, Oloolu, and things like that in Yorubaland, but not like conspiracy as a religious modus Vivendi. Original Christianity and Islam don’t enjoin cultism, but those indulging in it in our universities are at least ninety-nine and half percent Christians and or Muslims. Yes, pariah status is bad for any university academic staff union congress; shortchanging workers is also un-Islamic; can it be Christian?
• Pius Oyeniran Abioje, Ph. D,
University of Ilorin.
The Coordinator of the FCT Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme, Dr Saddiq Abdurrahman, has advocated equal treatment for people suffering from leprosy.
Abdurrahman told journalists in Abuja that people affected by leprosy had the same rights as other patients and should be accorded equal treatment.
He said that leprosy globally had reached its elimination target, while the cases in Nigeria had declined significantly, with few recorded cases in some states.
According to him, Leprosy is one of the neglected tropical diseases and this gives wrong impression that the disease is no longer of public health importance.
“Leprosy is a chronic disease caused by a germ known as mycobacterium Leprae, transmitted via nasal droplets.
“Early sign is lighter skin patch with loss of sensation,’’ he said.
He, however, said that it was curable as treatment was available using Multi Drug Therapy (MDT), provided free in all health facilities in the FCT.
Abdurrahman explained that preventive measures include health education, awareness creation, training and retraining of health care givers and conducting outreach activities.
“FCT Administration, in its quest to ensure all persons affected by leprosy are well looked after, provided about six hectares of land at Yangoji Alheri Village in Kwali Area Council.
“Basic infrastructure such as houses for each family, clinics staffed with doctors and nurses, schools, motorised borehole, market stalls and power supply with a step down are provided,” he said.
The doctor said some socio-economic rehabilitation activities such as provision of farm lands, establishment of microfinance corporations registered with microfinance banks had also been put in place.
He said the FCTA also provided physical rehabilitation activities for the leprosy patients to take care of their limb ulcers by themselves.
“The FCTA Health and Human Services Secretariat (HSS) had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Leprosy Mission of Nigeria,” he said.
According to him, the World Leprosy Day, which is usually held on every last Sunday of January, has its theme as “ Equal Rights and Justice for Persons Affected by Leprosy and Their Family Members”.
The coordinator explained that the purpose of the day was to create awareness within the community and the general public on the causes, early sign, mode of transmission and prevention of leprosy.
The World Leprosy Day is set aside by WHO to commemorate awareness creation on the leprosy disease.