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Tag: sleeping

  • Six harmful effects of keeping your phone beside you while sleeping

    Six harmful effects of keeping your phone beside you while sleeping

    Sleeping with your phone beside you is widely discouraged due to serious health, safety and psychological concerns. 

    From disrupted sleep cycles to potential overheating hazards, experts agree that keeping mobile devices close to your head at night poses avoidable risks. 

    While long-term radiation effects remain scientifically inconclusive, the immediate and well-established impact on sleep quality makes it wiser to place your phone at a safe distance before bedtime.

    Below are six key health impacts of sleeping next to your phone:

    1. Sleep disruption

    Mobile phones can ring, beep or vibrate unexpectedly, interrupting rest even when notifications are minimal. Beyond that, many people suffer from FOMO – the fear of missing out – which creates a psychological urge to check their phones long after deciding to sleep. This constant anticipation keeps the brain alert, trapping users in the light Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage instead of progressing into deeper, restorative sleep.

    2. Increased brain activity

    Scientific studies indicate that prolonged exposure to electromagnetic radiation may compromise the blood-brain barrier, leading to albumin leakage in brain tissues. Additionally, wireless signals can stimulate increased brain glucose metabolism, meaning the brain becomes more active at a time when it should be resting and repairing.

    3. Possible cancer risk

    Controversy persists around the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), which measures how much radiation the body absorbs from phones. While no conclusive scientific evidence has proven that mobile phones directly cause cancer, some researchers have suggested potential links. These concerns prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to issue a precautionary advisory, especially urging parents to limit children’s exposure to mobile devices.

    4. Cognitive and behavioral effects

    A 2009 study found that exposure to radiofrequency radiation is associated with slower response times during spatial working-memory tasks. Other findings show behavioural changes that mimic symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), including reduced attention span, hyperactivity and poor impulse control.

    Read Also: Experts seek innovation to fix Nigeria’s food crisis

    5. Reproductive malfunctions

    Electromagnetic radiation poses potential risks to reproductive health. For pregnant women, there are concerns about unknown genetic mutations affecting developing embryos. Among men, studies have linked prolonged exposure to reduced sperm count, lower sperm quality and possible fertility issues.

    6. Fire and overheating hazards

    While it may not set the bed “literally” on fire, there have been multiple instances of flagship phones overheating or exploding while charging. Sleeping with the device close to the body increases the risk of burns or catching fire during malfunction. To reduce this danger, experts strongly advise keeping phones off the bed and away from direct physical contact during sleep.

    Overall, the safest practice is to place your phone on a table or shelf away from your bed, switch it to silent mode, or activate “Do Not Disturb” features.

    Prioritising your health and sleep quality begins with creating a phone-free sleeping environment.

  • Pastor arraigned for ‘sleeping with married woman’

    A 34-year-old pastor of the Global Influence Ministry in Benin City, Edo State, Joseph Igwemoh, has been arraigned at an Oredo Magistrates’ Court, Edo State, for alleged abduction and having carnal knowledge of a married woman, Stella George.

    The woman is said to be a chorister in the church.

    The Nation learnt that the suspect joined the woman and her husband, Mr. Paul Nosakhare, in holy matrimony.

    Pastor Igwemon, who was arraigned on a two-count charge of abduction and an act likely to cause a breach of the peace, was accused of sleeping with Stella inside the church.

    He pleaded not guilty.

    The charges read: “That you, Pastor Joseph Igwemon, on the 15th day of October, 2018, at about 1200 hours, in your church, Global Influence Ministry, located at 16, Owoseni Street, off Mission Road did conduct yourself in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace by having carnal knowledge of one Stella George, who is a chorister in your church, having wedded her and her husband, one Paul Nosakhare and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 249 (d) of the Criminal Code Cap 48 Vol II Laws of the defunct Bendel State of Nigeria 1976 as applicable in Edo State.

    “That you, Pastor Joseph Igwemon, on the same date, time and place in the aforesaid magisterial district, did abduct one Mrs. Stella George by keeping her in your home for months, knowing that she is married and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 361 of the Criminal Code Cap 48 Vol II Laws of the defunct Bendel State of Nigeria 1976 as applicable in Edo State.”

    Magistrate Isi Ukhun Iyoha granted the pastor bail at N200,000 and a surety who must be employed.

    She adjourned the case till November 29 for hearing.

  • When sleeping becomes a crime

    WHEN should a man fall asleep?

    Simple.

    So I thought until this innocuous question became a subject of hot debate for social scientists who turned it all into a matter of theoretical contestation.

    Nature seems to have settled the question, a layperson would think. We sleep at night and stay awake in the day.

    Not so simple, rejoin the experts, among whom, I must confess, I do not number myself.  Some people sleep during the day because they work at night. Among them are those in the essential services – medical personnel, fire fighters, soldiers, journalists, policemen, and many others. Others just follow the law of nature, sleeping only at night. Doctors, we must note, advise a siesta, a nap during the day. It is, according to them, a health booster

    If doctors recommend that of the 24 hours we have in a day eight should be devoted to sleeping and nature ensures that we go to bed at night, why then should there be arguments about this phenomenon? In other words, when does sleeping, a common routine, become a subject of controversy and a crime to be severely punished? Is it when it lasts more than eight hours? Is it a question of where one sleeps? How much control has a man over when and how he falls asleep?

    Dear reader, forgive the rather long preamble. We will get to the issue at hand presently. And I assure you, it is not a voyage into the minds of somnambulists, their ailment and its management. Neither is it an exploration into narcolepsy, jet lag and related conditions. No. Not at all.

    It is an attempt to comprehend the fate that has befallen a member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Hon. Sunday Akinniyi , who is representing the good people of Ikere Constituency II. Akinniyi also goes by the onomatopoeic appellation, Gbosa! He was suspended indefinitely last week “for sleeping too much” at plenary in the last three years.

    Akinniyi was also accused of “pugnacious behaviour in his constituency against his people”, according to a report in this newspaper. He got the push also for being “regularly regular in absenting himself, especially when issues relating to his constituency are slated for discussion”.

    The report quoted a source as saying that the lawmaker’s suspension was to preempt his planned defection to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the crucial July 14 governorship election. No fewer than 10 lawmakers are said to be planning to jump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ship. When they eventually do, there is no doubt that they will be accused of “sleeping too much”.

    Will the attentive public, not excluding the mammoth clients of the state’s flagship programme, the vote-harvesting Stomach Infrastructure, not begin to query what makes the lawmakers yield so easily to sleep in, of all places, the hallowed chambers of the Assembly where the delicate business of lawmaking for the wellbeing of the people is conducted? Why should a lawmaker sleep for three years before the authorities of the House moved against him? When is “sleeping too much” indeed too much to attract such a stiff sanction?

    Akinniyi, who is reported to have fallen out with Governor Ayo Fayose, had earlier been removed as the Chief Whip on May 24 for alleged “disloyalty to the governor and other un-parliamentary activities”.

    A former deputy speaker, Mr Olusegun Adewunmi, suffered the same fate.

    There are fears that this problem of “sleeping too much” may have gone beyond the four walls of the Assembly. The indications are clear; more lawmakers who may be finding it difficult to stay awake may soon get the Akinniyi treatment. And why not? No House worthy of its mace will tolerate members who are half awake or simply snoring away the day when important and urgent matters of state are being discussed.

    The fears, as I have said, may have spread. And, irony of ironies, many are stacking the blame at the door of the very programme that has been hailed at home and abroad as the most ingenious of its kind, the Stomach Infrastructure under which indigenes are fed to their fill – free.

    The excuse being bandied all over the place is that overfeeding through this lofty government programme may have induced oversleeping, a development which the Assembly is desperately striving to curtail.

    This strange sleep problem, a keen observer of the Assembly said the other day, may have struck most of the members when His Excellency tendered the budget for ratification.

    All was quiet in the chamber as the governor placed the document on the podium and asked repeatedly: “Those who want this budget to be passed speedily say yes.”  The gallery erupted: “Yeh!”

    “If you want this budget passed speedily, say yes.” The gallery yelled: “Yeh.”

    If you want this budget passed speedily, say yes.” “Yeh!”.

    “Those who want the budget passed speedily, say yes.” “Yeh!.”

    “Those who doesn’t (sic) want this budget to be passed speedily, say no.”

    All was quiet. Fayose banged the table with the gavel he had brought to the sitting. The gallery – an assortment of youths, okada riders and artisans – erupted in jubilation.

    But the lawmakers were dead quiet.

    Many were asking after the session: “What hit the lawmakers; were they dumb and deaf?” Now they should know. Their sleeping sickness may have reached a clinically discernible stage at that time, but many, being no experts, did not notice.

    Why did it take the Assembly and its ever-dutiful leaders this long to discover that a rather strange ailment had hit the House? Complacency? Carelessness? Indifference? It is neither here nor there?

    A confidential source, who is close to the leadership of the House, has just told me that the leadership has ordered an audit of every Honourable’s sleeping habit to find out if it conforms with legislative recommendations or not. Doctors, specialists, of course, will be called in.

    Besides, a Bill to ban sleeping in the chamber in whatever guise is in the works. When it becomes law, the first of its type anywhere, it will make it an offence to snore, sleep and doze at plenary. It will be punishable by expulsion, the logic being that mere suspension will be unfair to the constituents of the affected honourable member. If he or she is expelled, the constituents will know that they are simply not being represented. This, as the popular thinking goes, is better than having a sleeping representative.

    Those who are knowledgeable about such legislation are already thinking of how to make the National Assembly adopt it to whip its sleeping and snoring members into line so that the nation can get value for what is believed to be our lawmakers’ jumbo pay.

    By the way, Hon. Akinniyi defected to the APC on Tuesday.

     

    A World Cup update

    THE World Cup is in full swing. It is too early to predict the winner. But the giants have not been finding it easy. Defending champions Germany lost 0-1 to Mexico. Brazil drew 1-1 with Switzerland. Senegal pounded Poland 2-1.

    Besides, there has been no goals drought. Is the rank of good strikers growing?

    Since the Super Eagles lost their first game 0-2 to Croatia, the fans have been restless. Every Nigerian has become a soccer expert. The coach has been tongue lashed for the 4-3-3 formula the team played. Odion Ighalo, the lone striker upfront, was easily rendered immobile by the Croatian defence.

    Off the pitch, the Super Eagles were the toast of fashion aficionados. Their jersey was rated the best. Their travel outfit was hailed as the most creative – and it is home-made, we are told.

    Back home, members of the team are the subject of ludicrous jokes. They are scorned. A friend sent me a picture of a flat plate full of pieces of meat. “The pig that predicted Super Eagles victory has been slaughtered. Here is the meat,” he wrote.

    And this on the social media: “Journalist: Why did the Super Eagles’ lose their match? Lai Mohammed: It’s part of the problems created by PDP. We inherited a poor team.”

    Yet another: “According to the news this morning, the President of China spoke about the Eagles loss at the World Cup. He said:’ Shai choi ting yang teng wong feng deng fung chan kin kong cho fungi lin.’ I agreed with him because it is for our benefit.”

    After Senegal beat Poland, some Nigerians hit the social media to claim their Senegalese origin, saying their great, great grandmas were born in that country.

    Now that attention has shifted a short while from the horrors that threaten our humanity, we should all see ourselves as winners; no losers. All the best to the Super Eagles as they face Iceland tomorrow.

  • Father remanded for allegedly sleeping with daughter

    An Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrates’ Court in Ekiti State yesterday ordered the remand of a 55-year-old man, Adeyanju Basiri, in prison custody for allegedly sleeping with his daughter.

    Police prosecutor Monica Ikebulo told the court that the accused allegedly committed the offence on September 11 at Irona Street, Ado-Ekiti.

    She said the accused and a herbalist at large were arrested for allegedly attempting to use the defendant’s seven-year-daughter for money ritual.

    Ikebulo said the accused claimed he slept with his daughter nine times.

    She said the accused told the police he always used a white handkerchief given to him by the herbalist to clean his daughter’s private part after having sex with her.

    The prosecutor said the offence contravened Section 31(2) of the Child’s Right Law.

    She told the court she had duplicated and sent the case file to the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.

    The plea of the accused was not taken, as his counsel, Mr. Simeon Ojo, sought adjournment, pending the legal advice.

    The Magistrate, Mrs. Dolapo Akosile, ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody till outcome of the legal advice from the DPP.

    He adjourned the case till October 12 for further hearing.

  • When was Tinubu sleeping?

    When was Tinubu sleeping?

    (What a week it has been of fulsome and certainly eminently deserved applause across partisan divides for National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on his 65th birthday. To commemorate the occasion, I reproduce today an abridged version of a piece I published as Chief Press Secretary to the governor, in the This Day newspaper of July 8, 2001, at least to give one perspective on the no easy path traversed by the Jagaban Borgu on the path to today’s still unfolding glory.)

    Again and again, one confronts the view in media commentaries and private conversation that the Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has at last woken up to the responsibilities of his office after a long slumber. The impression created sounds rather funny. It is as if Governor Bola Tinubu simply went to sleep after assuming office in 1999 and governance in Lagos State promptly proceeded on vacation. While deep in sleep, Governor Tinubu must have projected himself astrally into space, visited the abode of the gods and obtained a magic wand to enable him perform dazzling acts of abracadabra.

    It will be recalled that barely a month after he assumed office as Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu came under a heavy barrage of savage criticisms from impatient analysts and vengeful political opponents desperately seeking to draw blood. They accused him of lethargy and non-performance and wondered why he could not follow in the action-laden footsteps of Marwa or Jakande. The cartoonists had a field day chastising Tinubu for the innumerable pot holes and veritable craters that characterized Lagos roads, the skyscrapers of refuse heaps that had embarrassingly become the trade mark of the centre of excellence and the high crime rate resulting in the untimely demise of scores of innocent citizens.

    The critics would give no quarters. It did not matter to them that the bad roads, refuse heaps, water scarcity, high crime rate and other problems were inherited from successive regimes by the Tinubu administration. Lagos State vividly illustrates the dilemma and herculean challenges confronted by Nigeria’s public office holders in the post-IBB/Abacha/Abubakar era. The most populous, ethnically heterogeneous, economically strategic and politically viable in the country, Lagos State was left to decay to an unimaginable degree during the wasted years of the military locusts. Any meaningful effort to re-build Lagos State and address the cause rather than the symptoms of problems in the post-military dispensation could therefore not be a rushed affair. It required deep thinking; careful planning and systematic, focused implementation of well thought out policies which might not yield discernible fruit in the short run. This was the challenge Tinubu set for himself while displaying a rare and courageous willingness to sacrifice short term populist acclaim in the larger public interest.

    Today, Tinubu’s decision to choose the higher moral ground of statesmanship rather than petty political partisanship appears at last to be yielding results. Even his severest critics are now singing a more refreshing, up-beat tune. As his various programmes crystallize, mature and bear fruits, the public is becoming increasingly more appreciative of the governor’s vision and sense of mission. What I find personally very interesting is the new surge of support in the state even for policies which only a while ago were derided as being unnecessarily inconvenient and burdensome for the individual. I refer to policies such as the intensive demolition of illegal structures that obstruct drainage channels, construction of road demarcations to enforce traffic discipline and the introduction of measures to enhance safety of vehicles on Lagos roads among several others.

    Even as the opinion writers, analysts and editorialists laud Tinubu’s performance, however, most of them still insist that he slept for too long before waking up. Indeed, they seem to suggest he would have continued sleeping but for the cacophony of their virulent criticism. None of these critics has thought it fit to own up to what was obviously a grave error of judgement on their part. None has graciously admitted that Senator Tinubu was probably right after all in taking his time to lay a solid foundation for the successful and effective delivery of his programmes.

    I find it necessary to challenge and correct this erroneous notion at least for the records. When, I ask once more, was Tinubu sleeping? Was he sleeping when even as governor elect, he had commenced exploratory talks with energy firms in the United States for the revolutionary Independent Power Project (IPP) that has broken the back of monopoly in the country’s energy sector? Have we forgotten the spate of ethnic and communal clashes instigated in Lagos State in the early period of the administration with the aim of derailing our nascent democracy? Was Tinubu sleeping when he held scores of meetings with various ethnic, cultural and communal groups to soothe frayed nerves and restore peace? It is so easy to lose sight of the fact that without an alert and responsive governor at Alausa, the enemies of democracy could have succeeded in their plot destabilize the entire country through sponsored disaffection and violence in a sensitive cultural melting pot like Lagos.

    Was Tinubu sleeping when he introduced the Private Sector Participation (PSP) scheme in refuse management that not only generated 10,000 new jobs but also decisively addressed the refuse problem in the state? Was he sleeping when he introduced   novel schemes like the Highway Managers and Drain Ducks with a combined strength of 7,000 workers to keep the highways clean as well as clear drainage channels in the state? Was he sleeping when in his first year in office, he recruited 3,000 new graduates into the civil service? Was it a sleeping governor who in his first year in office supplied close to 100,000 pairs of desks and chairs to primary and secondary schools, rehabilitated 41 secondary school buildings at a cost of N51 million, constructed wall fences in 17 schools to enhance security and supplied biology, chemistry and physics equipment worth N20 million to 25 secondary schools?

    Was he sleeping when he paid N99 million as NECO examination fees for 90,000 SSS III students and N50 million as bursary award to over 5,000 students in tertiary institutions as well as Lagos State law students? And these were all in his first 12 months in office. By the end of his first 365 days as chief helmsman of Lagos State, Senator Tinubu had rehabilitated over 500 pot-hole infested roads, modernized the refuse dump sites at Solous, Olusosun and Abule Egba,  purchased sophisticated equipment worth over N300 million for the state’s hospitals. His administration had initiated comprehensive judicial sector reforms including enhancing welfare of judicial officers, upgrading and modernizing court facilities as well as establishment of the Office of the Public Offender (OPD) to provide free legal services to indigent persons as well as the Citizen Mediation Centre (CMC) as an alternative and faster dispute resolution mechanism. All these could certainly not have been accomplished without the governor and his team consistently burning the midnight oil.

    It will be recalled that the Tinubu administration inherited a budgetary outlay of less than N15 billion. This was raised to N19 billion in the 1999 budget and then N43 billion in the Y2000 budget. This unprecedented quantum budgetary leap is a function of the herculean challenges the governor has set for his administration. A less ambitious governor could easily have set himself a less demanding agenda.

  • Sleeping safely and soundly in a mosquito den

    Small doctor, where art thou?

    This is the season of the rain and of the mosquito! Small Doctor is the nickname of Temitope Adekunle the musician from downtrodden Agege, a suburb of Lagos, who sang hardly known mosquito killer but almost levelled up with high flying stars, such as Olamide, when he came up with Gbera.

    Mosquito killer is like a rudderless ship on a stormy sea, directionless and prone to wreckage. Even when the Small Doctor came up with a video presentation to charge the batteries, literally speaking, the effort would appear to come to naught. For, still there was no clearly visible message in the marketing matching. The lyrics are all about “I dey kill mosquito well well” which translates somewhat as “I am good at killing mosquitoes”. But, for goodness sake, which mosquitoes aret hese? Are they the treasury thieves or the social parasites, Tunji Braithwaite said in a presidential election campaign were “rats and cockroaches” he would eliminate from the corridors of power if he became president of Nigeria in 1979 or 1983?” or, are they real mosquitoes which kill hundreds of thousands of Nigerians every year, striking the young and the old, men and women, pregnant women and infants?

    I took little interest in MOSQUITO KILLER until the idea for this column came up, just before the rain season when scorching heat deploys hordes of mosquitoes into many homes.

    I thought about the Small Doctor, about Mosquito killer and about Mr. Erumoselle Sanni Isah. Mr. Isah runs a communications ideas company in Lagos, Still eto productions which generates marketing ideas. I wondered what he would do with Mosquito Killer if it comes his way. As for me, I would make a video in which the Small Doctor would don the garb of a sanitary inspector, fumigating all open drains and water receptacles, handing out “treated” mosquito nets and making small talk about how to keep the mosquito at bay, to reduce the incidence of malaria and malaria fever induced deaths and things like that. The dancing will be minimal. The message will ride high on it. It is possible the government or the World Health Organisation (WHO) or any other organisation would recognise the Small Doctor and make him its “Ambassador” in the battle against the mosquito! Mr Isah agrees such a project may make the Small Doctor to “blow”, as they say in the Nigerian music industry. Meanwhile, the Small Doctor has caught on a little more in the market with GBERA than he did with MOSQUITO KILLER.This new song is about dog racing, a current social trend which he has highlighted from the shadows to the point that this title, GBERA, has gained the currency of a slang in the crowded streets and neighborhoods. I hope that the video presentation would not lack a good massage.

    Mosquito catcher

    On a more serious note, the mosquito killer of old is back in town. This time, it is called mosquito catcher. I do not remember what name it bore in the 1950s when my father hung it from the ceiling of our rooms. It looked like a roll of photographic film unwound from the spool and bore a sticky surface with sweet fragrance. The fragrance invited to it insects such as the fly, the cockroach. Once they perched on it, presumably for the “nectar” they got gummed to the wax and died there. And when in my fathers’opinion, this device had caught enough insects, he brought it down and fixed a new one. I guess this protected our family against mosquito bites and malaria fever. But the mosquito killer disappeared from the Nigerian market soon after the country’s independence. I took little or no notice of it when I grew up and was on my own.

    Thought of it flooded back to me last month when, like many people in Lagos, I was bombarded by a hail of mosquitoes every night despite a perfect mosquito-proof netting on all windows in the house. You only needed to run your palm over your arm to realise many mosquitoes had lined up there for a while to suck your blood.  I hate the mosquitos spray and the mosquito coil because of the dangerous side effects of their chemicals. And I was to learn the well-advertised anti-mosquito body cream, which keeps mosquitos away from you, have bits of insecticides. Bits of them are said to be safe for human health. But I have learned to see well beneath the surface of such claims. I am persuaded the explosion in the use of mosquito insecticides (sprays and coils and air fresher’s) have a hand in the growing wave of asthma and respiratory ailments, and even cancer of all sorts.

    HEN my bedroom became a semblance of a mosquito den a few weeks ago, I went for a brand of insect (including mosquito catcher) which performed some wonders. my son who hung one on the ceiling of his room says the mosquitoes are virtually gone. Mrs. Florence Akinbom Fusi has another testimony and has promised to tell mosquito-troubled people about her experience. She and her daughters, Cella and Daisy, were finding it difficult to enjoy a shared evening, watching television, in the sitting-room because of mosquitos. Their bedrooms faired only a little better. But since they have been using the mosquito catcher in these rooms, they have encountered little or no mosquito menace. Mrs. Fusi says she doesn’t know how it works for she has found no mosquitoes stuck to the insect catcher. Rather, she has seen flying termites, those winged insects which besiege a light source for warmth, the evening after a rain. As children we caught plenty of them, threw them in a bucket or bowe of water, washed them thoroughly, strung them on a clear broomstick, immersed the broomsticks in saline (salt) water and finally roasted the game for a meal. Mrs. Fusi says it is possible the mosquitoes get near the insect catcher and are knocked out and down by the smell of chemical on the wax. I tend to believe her because my son’s insect catcher, too, like mine, has caught no mosquito, yet our rooms are mosquito free, and actually, there is a mosquito impression on the package of the product. The experiences of other users of this product should make interesting reading. I suspect the mosquito catcher even better when stuck to the celling near and electric light source. But what happens when power fails all through the night?

    MALARIA FEVER

    Many people like me can live with the mosquito for as long as it doesn’t disturb our sleep by humming into our ears. Such people are GENOTYPE AA and such people buckle easily. SS and SC genotype people are the worst. AS people take things for granted. Maybe they wouldn’t, if they knew that the mosquito can cause disease similar in severity to the Lassa fever caused by a specie of rats. For AA, SS and SC people, the fear of the mosquito should be the beginning of wisdom. Thus, after several bouts in one year with the attendant loss of energy, money and the time to do useful things, they seek help from alternative medicine when pharmaceutical medicines have failed. I have an AA genotype son who, like the mother, also an AA, has outgrown his malaria fever attacks. Mr. Rogba Okunlade, one of my colleagues, first at The Guardian Newspaper and later at The Comet    Newspaper, should remember this story. Mr. Okunlade and I traveled in his car to Babcock University for the matriculation of a Marylyn, daughter of an acquaintance of mine. Halfway through the programme, I received a text message on my cell phone from the boarding house master of my son at MODEL COLLEGE, KANKON, near Badagry. It read:”Your son is ill, come quickly otherwise it may be too late”.

    We rushed out on a journey of about 100 kilometres through Sango Ota,Ilaro/Ado Odo and places such as these, suffering three tyre bust. To cut the story shot, we brought him to June 1 Hospital on Opebi Road, Ikeja, Lagos, where, in addition to his medication he also took his herbs. These included Lemon grass tea, Karela tea and Egungun eja (Brimstone). I can vouch for them all in the therapy to prevent or cure malaria fever. There is yet another called Chanka Piedra called stone Crusher by the Asians because it dissolves kidney and gall bladder stones. It is a tropical rain season herbs the Yorubas call Ehenbi Sowo or Ehin Olube. These herbs are bitter.So, many children, including my son, didn’t like them. I was tired of being summoned at short notice to pick a sick child from school. So, I struck a deal with my son. He had attained the age during which young boys become conscious of their bodies and wish to grow muscles for sex or other appeal. At that time, I sold a product named MUSCLE BLAST, which sportsmen took to grow muscles. I did not like him to take tinned milk or powder tinned milk or powder milk to school. The damaging effects of the sludges they cause in the intestine were obvious in oral thrust (candida) on his tongue, breadth and foul-smelling poop.

    HE MUSCLE BLAST is sweet, and, so, I would not give it to anyone who does not burn sugar by the minute. But I conceded it to him. In his presence, to carry him along as they say, I mixed one whole jar with one whole can of FOREVER ALO LITE, a nutritional milk formula, and the powder of lemon grass, Brimstone, Karela and Ehinbisowo. The taste was balanced slightly in favour of Sweet. The anti-malarial herbs did their jobs well in this unusual marriage. And till he left school, my son never came down with malaria fever. When I lived in a company house at Ikeja, I grew about 100 heads of Lemon grass, the flower beds which lined the perimeter fences. I also grew Blue Vervain (Verbana Histata) for the Iiver, gums, sound sleep etc. and sundry other herbs. I obtained the powder herbs from Mrs. Elizabeth Obauwana, of Health Ways, who freeze-dried them at Iju for sale on Allen Avenue. Today, although she is still agile enough for such business, this well-known florist would appear to have developed interest in other fields of human activity. I will always remember her especially for KARELA, which also helps to lower blood sugar. As for Lemon grass, no one in my family had breakfast without having taken a glass or two of Lemon grass tea in those years our children were growing up. Such was my confidence that Plasmodium, the mosquito-injected parasite which causes malaria fever, cannot exist in a bloodstream infused with Lemon grass that I briefly advised our doctors not to give our children anti-malaria injections or other medications whenever they ran temperature and went to hospital. Many doctors, quite naturally, like to climb a mountain not from the summit. Thus, unless a blood test had been run to guide them, they would like to assume malaria attack. It is only after anti-malaria medications seem not to work that other assumptions would come up. Only few doctors add antibiotics to the starter anti-malaria. I had read of the finding of a study by Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and of another by the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO) that hot water extracts of Lemon grass effectively kill Plasmodium in the blood stream without much ado. In my work as a public advocate of Traditional Medicine, there was a time I wore Lemon grass oil as perfume to invite attention to lemon grass medicine. If people who were down with malaria were brought to my office, I would ask them to procure water in 1.5 litters bottle. Into this, I would discharge between two and three drops of lemon grass essential oil. Within about 30 minute or one hour of sipping the water, they would be on their feet again, agile and cracking. I often did the same with (clove oil) for people who had tooth ache.

    Another proprietary product I will not easily forget is DOMKAT ALI, sold by DYNAPHARM. Known more for its potential to boost stamina, especially for male sexual virility. Domkat Ali has at least one anti-malarial component which gives it the kicks against plasmodium: all of these, and many more that would be mentioned from time to time, should help the earnest health hunter overcome the menace of mosquitoes this rain season. For the Small Doctor, nothing is lost as yet. I DEY KILL MOSQUITO WELL WELL is an evergreen lyric which will continue to sell for as long as there are mosquitoes around to torment our health and disturb our peace of mind, and for as long message in this song (MOSQUITO KILLER) can be well adapted to our circumstances and immediate needs.

    So let us all welcome the rain season and the mosquito with more confidence irrespective of whether our genotype is AA, SS or SC or even AS.

  • Aunt burns niece with pressing iron for ‘sleeping’ with landlady’s son

    Aunt burns niece with pressing iron for ‘sleeping’ with landlady’s son

    •Police detain victim

    A 16-year-old girl, Bimpe Badmus, has been burnt with a hot pressing iron, allegedly by her aunt who accused her of sleeping with their landlady’s son.

    The incident occurred on Ogunjirin Street, Ketu on the outskirts of Lagos.

    The Nation learnt that Miss Badmus’ aunt sought assistance of two friends, Khadijah and Iya Daniel, to hold her hands and legs before using the iron to burn her on several parts of her body.

    Miss Badmus was said to have confessed sleeping with the landlady’s son.

    An eyewitness said the girl was severely beaten and chased out of the house.

    He said: “They all live in the same compound. It was Khadijah that told Bimpe’s aunt that she was sleeping with the landlady’s son. Khadijah brought the hot iron from her room and gave it to Miss Badmus’ aunt while she and Iya Daniel held her neck. It was when they chased her out that the neighbours rescued her.

    “The annoying thing is that it is not as if these married women are clean. I don’t know why they did that to her. It was when residents couldn’t stand the horrible situation that they took them to Ketu Police Station.”

    Mr Fatai, who claims to be Miss Badmus’ distant brother, said: “When I got to the police station to see Bimpe, I was sad because the sight was horrible. My sister (Bimpe) was writhing in pains and when I asked the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to release her for treatment, he refused. I asked the aunt if she was under a spell to have gone this far because it won’t stop her from having an affair. This is cruel.”

    The landlady’s son’s elder sister, Tope Abimbola, said: “Even before they were taken to the police station, she was in pain. I thought she was going to die. I quickly went to a nearby pharmacy to get an ointment to relief her of the pains. It is really painful. She has been admitted at the General Hospital, Ikeja and she is responding to treatment,” he said.

    Khadijah’s husband, Jimoh, said his wife had been  problematic.

    When The Nation visited the police station on Tuesday and asked the DPO why the girl was still being kept despite her condition, the officer declined comment. He walked the reporter out of the premises.

    Eye witnesses, neighbours and on-lookers were stunned when the DPO said he did not care if his reactions are published in the newspaper.

    But, Bimpe denied sleeping with the landlady’s son.

    ”He has never slept with me. I am really in pains. I can’t even go home because I don’t know what will happen. While they tortured me, they kept asking so many questions. I pray God heals me fast,” she said.

    Lagos police spokesperson  Patricia Amadin, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said the suspects had been arrested and will be charged to court.

  • Sleeping legislators

    Sleeping legislators

    Just a day before the Senators had to bid goodbye to the Red Chamber of the National Assembly, they chose to do what was unprecedented in the annals of law making anywhere in the world as 46 Bills were introduced, rules suspended and all passed, awaiting presidential assent. It was a classical example of how not to make laws.

    Chairman of the Rules and Business Committee, Senator Ita Enang, guided his colleagues in suspending Order 79 that spells out the procedure to be adopted in legislation. He explained that, having been passed by the House of Representatives where the due process was reportedly followed, it would amount to a waste of time if the Senate, too, had to pass the Bills through the First, Second and Third Readings. As far as Senator Enang was concerned, it would amount to duplication of efforts if the Bill had to be referred to the relevant committees to examine the clauses and advise accordingly on what should be done.

    To the senior lawmakers, it was sufficient to adopt whatever had passed through the Green Chamber on that last day of deliberation by the Senate. It was preposterous. It negated all that informed the establishment of bicameral legislature. The Senators were quick to forget that there had been many cases when the two chambers disagreed on Bills, including Appropriation. They had to sit at Joint Conference in such cases to iron out the differences. The few dissenting voices were quickly drowned and overruled by the majority.

    In electing the senators, the electorate had assumed that they were men of great experience and knowledge. If, as the senators averred in suspending the due process, there was no need further scrutinising whatever had passed through the other House, then they had presented a perfect argument for scrapping the Senate. It is a justification for the loud suggestion that bicameralism is sheer waste of scarce resources, especially with the very high cost of maintaining each of the federal lawmakers and the chambers.

    If anyone needed proof that the senators had been indolent for much of the 48 months they were in office, that single incident provided it. What were they doing that the Bills piled up so much? Most times, they were in their towns and villages politicking and engaged in irrelevancies. They were only interested in their fat salaries and allowances to the detriment of the primary task that they were elected for. The argument that they had to do so in view of the resources committed to the process by the House of Representatives is lame. The rule expects them to have complemented the House. The Rules and Business Committee, the Senate Leader and the presiding officers failed in doing their jobs of tracking developments in the other House. Had they been alive to their responsibilities, they would not be waking up to the reality 24 hours to the expiration of their tenure.

    In a country crying for patriots and nationalists, the privileged lawmakers are only interested in feeding fat on the public. They are doing less than was demanded of First Republic legislators who had to perform the task part-time, yet they (present lawmakers) concentrate more on destructive plots and schemes than building a new society.

    As senior lawmakers, the National Assembly members, especially senators, should realise that lawmakers at the state level look up to them for guidance. Nigerians have incessantly complained about the quality of services rendered by state lawmakers, describing the legislature at that level as mere rubber stamp. The senators owe it a responsibility to these men and women to show enthusiasm in the performance of their task.

    We call on the eighth National Assembly to learn from the foibles of the preceding Assembly by offering quality services in making laws and ensuring that the executive works in the overall interest of the people. There are so many laws that are out of tune with today’s reality. Some of the laws date to the colonial times and the fines imposed are simply ridiculous. We expect that the statute books will be cleaned up to set the stage for a dynamic society. All public officers, be they in the executive, legislative or judicial arms of government should realise that we live in borrowed times. There is a budding crisis of expectation and sleeping legislators have no place in the new scheme of things.

    President Muhammadu Buhari had pledged his commitment to effecting the necessary changes that would make the country better. The lawmakers should similarly change the lackadaisical approach to doing their job.

  • ‘I escaped when our Boko Haram guards were sleeping’

    ‘I escaped when our Boko Haram guards were sleeping’

    Their escape must be a combination of factors. One was the fear of what might happen if they stayed  with the terrorists; the other, the courage to flee.  Two Adamawa State women captured by Boko Haram insurgents narrate how, against all odds, they evaded their captors, GRACE OBIKE reports

    In Kwabaru camp, Karu, Nasarawa State, where people displaced by insurgency are sheltering, you will find Mrs Mariamu Yakubu and Mrs Mariamu Musa. There is much more to them than their common names. Married with children, they stood face to face with young, bloodthirsty fighters of the Boko Haram sect. One ended up with other women in a dark, dreadful cave surrounded by thorns, outside of which none of them were permitted to go, not even to answer the call of nature. The other, alongside her 10 children, was made to lie face down and asked to produce the key of another person’s car. They escaped but their ordeal will probably live in their minds forever.

    Kwaburu camp has about nine makeshift rooms in which hundreds of displaced persons are quartered. Most of them are women and children but there are also a few men who escaped from the invading insurgents. Due to space constraints, the women and children sleep in the rooms while the men and boys from age 13 and above sleep outside on straw mats in the sand in the open air near the toilet.

    Thirty-five-year-old Mariamu Yakubu, now safe with her 10 children in the dreary conditions of the camp, relived her ordeal, her last child strapped to her back.

    She said that although she had always heard of the insurgents kidnapping young and unmarried girls, she never thought she would ever be a victim. One reason for this was because she was already married and had children. But she was wrong as she indeed became a victim.

    She said she came face to face with the insurgents on her way from the farm when two boys, who had already kidnapped two other women, confronted her, pointing a gun to her head and ordering her to follow them. Mariamu mustered the courage to ask where she was being taken, pledging that she be allowed first to return home and prepare dinner for her children.

    Their reply shocked her. They told her they were going to provide her with a more spiritual husband who will give her better children than those she had.

    “They told me that they will provide me with a more spiritual husband and that I will be able to have better children,” she said. “So, they tied up my hands and dragged me along with the other women and took us to a cave surrounded by a thick bush with thorns. They made us sit in the cave and warned us against trying to escape.

    “When we complained of hunger, they brought us corn and asked us to cook it and eat, but we refused. As if to prove to us that they meant business, they refused to allow us outside even to urinate. We had to urinate, defeacate and sleep in the same place for three days.

    “On the third day, I waited until it was dark and everyone, including the boys keeping vigil outside with their guns were fast asleep before sneaking out of the cave and ran into the bush. I ran inside the bush till I got home. I had injuries all over my body by the time I got home because of the thorns in the thick bush”.

    Her story is slightly different from that of her namesake, Mariamu Musa who had to flee her home with her children and grandchild in the wake of the attack on Gwoza by the insurgents. She was unaware of the whereabouts of her husband and could not abandon her children to their fate. Her biggest shock, however, was when she discovered that the same Okada rider who normally took them to and from the market was the same person who led the insurgents to her residence. Narrating her ordeal, Mariamu Musa said before the attack on the community, she had given up hope of living and was ready to die. According to her, she felt she was too old and lacked the strength to run away from the only home she knew after her husband who was an old solider had since run away when the terror increased, leaving her alone with the children.

    But after she and her family were subjected to a horrible ordeal by the young Boko Haram boys who were well known to them, she knew it was time for her to seek refuge in a much safer place. The boys had made them lie with their faces to the ground demanding the keys to the car parked outside the house. But when they could not provide the key since the owner had escaped with it, they became very angry and started shooting sporadically into the air. Having survived that ordeal, she took her children and left Gwoza to an unknown destination, walking several days and sleeping in caves and bushes, not knowing exactly where she was heading. Mariamu was lucky that the battery of her daughter’s cell phone did not run out and with it, they were able to contact a relative who directed them to the Kwubaru camp where she eventually found her husband. Before rejoining him at the Kwabaru camp, they had spent a few days at a similar camp in Adamawa State.

    She said, “The atrocities that I witnessed in Gwoza are more than I can tell you. They invaded our village in August, shooting sporadically and everybody ran away scared. They killed our children, especially the boys. When they see a boy of about ten, they will just kill or kidnap him. We the women ran into the forest and hid behind the rocks in order to avoid them. But they will still come after us shooting. We lived in the mountains for three days; then they sent a message to us that they are not killing women and that we should return home. But when we returned home, they started going from house to house attacking women. In my compound, we were 23, with two of us being older women and some young girls who had small children. One day, two young Boko Haram boys entered our house and asked us to give them the key to the car parked outside. We told them that the owner was not around and that he went out with his keys. They threatened to shoot us if we didn’t give them the keys. So, I knelt down and started crying, begging them not to kill us. But they shot inside the room several times to scare us. They asked one of the young girls to carry her baby on her back and follow them but we all cried and pleaded with them before they went outside and scattered the car before leaving”.

    She said further: “One of the boys that attacked us was a boy that I knew very well. He was the small okada boy that was always carrying me to and from the market almost every day before they began to attack us. I cried and said God so it is our own children inside this same Gwoza that are killing us like this? They asked us if we were Christians or Muslims and when we told them that we were Christians, they told us that they were going to kill us because we were the ones that they were looking for. I began to cry and beg them not to harm us. We were afraid of what will happen next and so, we stayed inside that room for ten days without going outside, without any food or water. The children were crying because they were hungry. One the 11th day, we escaped from the house and ran into the bush and walked for three days on foot inside the bush from Gwoza to Mazaghalli and then continued till we arrived Michika. After we left, they broke into our houses, stealing our properties. Eventually, it was someone who knew this place that brought us here because my daughter went to school and has a handset. so she was able to use it to call people that helped us. If not for the help, of people, we would have starved, they are always contributing to us, this one will bring seasoning, and this one will bring corn, this one yam to feed us here, that is how we have been surviving so far.”

    Interestingly, inside the IDP camp where these two women live with hundreds of others lives little Reuben, grand son of Mariamu Musa. During this encounter, lit was obvious that the one and half year old child was unaware of where he was or what was happening around him. Even though he, along his relations lost their homes to the insurgents, he appears happy laying with his rubber band. It is also evident that several of the kids in the camp have developed serious distrust for visitors having gone through so much in their life time than most adults outside their region will ever experience and have escaped death on several occasions with the parents and family they trust.

  • ‘I don’t sleep when others are sleeping’

    ‘I don’t sleep when others are sleeping’

    Her story reads like something from the pages of an inspirational book but one need to meet Miriam Imoroa, Head, Business Development of Cedarfield, a company she founded three years ago, to know that hardwork and service are the background to good success. She reveals her staying power in a competitive business environment to Hannah Ojo.

     

     

    WHAT is Cedarfield about, and how did you start the business?

    Cedarfield is a company I founded three years ago. Basically, we do web branding; we design websites, corporate identity, among other activities. We have done websites for over 300 companies, locally and internationally. We have done corporate identity up to 100, if am not mistaken, for corporate organisations. We help organisations in revamping their corporate identity and for some we help build their corporate identity from the scratch. We are also involved in training and consulting services. We train people on web skills. I have experience in consulting firms and while working there, I always put in my best and my boss was always impressed and I was encouraged since I am gifted in designing. Actually, I never knew that I would have a business of my own anyway until the day a friend of mine suggested I launch out on my own. The name Cedarfield is actually inspired by God. The first time the word ‘Cedar’ came into my mind, I discovered it while reading my bible; then I googled it. And then I saw several cedar but I wanted something different that can actually differentiate me from other people. So the idea of ‘field’ came up. When I looked up the word field in the dictionary, and I got a different meaning that I was hitherto not familiar with, so I put the words together and it made sense and from there I called my lawyer to register the business. I started by getting referrals; I did a job free for someone and gradually they started referring me and the business began to spread. When I started, I was still working with a consulting firm because I needed to put resources together and get things in place. Then I would do my office work from Monday to Friday and then do my personal business on Saturdays and Sundays and most times I had to work through the night just to get the customers’ job done to their satisfaction. When I finally took the decision to stand on my own and my MD at the time got to know, it was a big blow for him and he didn’t really find it funny; but I had to get started because it was clear to me that it was the right time for me. At the early stage, my clients had to come to my house but eventually I was able to put things together, got an office space and employed other people.

    Your field is quite competitive, how have you been able to stay afloat of competitions from other quarters?

    We have made an impact as much as web designing is concerned. Although the market is very competitive, being a woman in this line of business has been good. Our works speak for us. We get referrals and we try as much as possible to influence our clients positively. When you take a look at some of the things we have done, you see that we take our time because we are very careful about corporate branding. So we always put in our best to make sure we deliver on time and to expectation. Some of the people that work with me are graduates; although when they came here, some were not really good in web designing but we had to brush them up to actually meet up to our clients’ demands and expectations.

    Your market is quite competitive; what are the principles that have sustained you?

    Number one is determination. Other principles are the fear of God, consistency and perseverance. When others are sleeping, I am awake thinking of the next idea. I think of what next I should learn and things I need to discover and explore in order to keep myself afloat despite the competition. I find myself trying to keep up with things that could give me an edge. Also, I thrive on persistence and prayers. God has actually been my strength from the very beginning. Although I engage in constant prayers, but as I said, when others are sleeping, I don’t sleep because it is in the early hours of the morning that I get my ideas.

    How do you manage challenges?

    I have heard people who say they started business and could not continue because of the challenges. I see more of divine intervention because sometimes I will map out my own strategies, things will not work out but God will just work in his own way. This is our third year and so far so good, things have been working out well. We don’t’ take proposals around like the early stage when we had to wait for three or five months before getting calls. Now, our clients come looking for us. If you log on to the internet and you are looking for website design companies in Nigeria, we are among the list of companies. Most of our clients actually contacted us via that avenue. Thankfully, we never really struggle to pay salaries.

    How financially rewarding is it starting out on your own?

    I find fulfillment in what I am doing because people are paying for my ideas. Every effort and skill that I put in is profitable. I am able to meet the needs of my staff, my own needs and other people around me. Even when it looks like business is slow, that is when we are happy the more. We just take our time, treat ourselves nicely and wait for the next opportunity to come.

    People complain that there are no jobs, but here you are standing on your own and doing quite well, what can young people learn from you?

    First of all, they need to identify with their maker. They need to discover the field and skill that they are passionate about. They should also surround themselves with the right people. I always surround myself with people who inspire me a lot and I have been passionate about learning. Young people need to grow at what they are good at and they should not be afraid of starting out while also learning to serve others. They should put in their best in any organisation because if you help someone achieve their vision, someone else will help achieve your own vision; that’s what I have realised. If you ask from my former employers, they can testify to my ability because I took the work as if it were mine and I put in my best because I always strive for a touch of excellence.

    Your educational background does not correlate with what you are doing now, what other things influenced you to go into web designing?

    Surprisingly, I am doing business administration as a course and I have a background in banking and finance but I am not working along that line. Actually, my mom was a banker, she worked in the Central Bank of Nigeria and that period I wanted to be like my mom, so I think I got into banking and finance for the wrong reasons. It was while working at PMD, a consulting firm, that I learnt about performance training and then I thought it would be of immense benefit to know more, so I ventured into business administration. I had also been opportune to work with several companies. I started working at the early age of 15 and in each organisation, I was always lucky that my papers and certificates did not come into play. What counts most is what I am able to bring to the table. I am a stickler for excellence and that had always worked for me. In the companies that I have worked, each time I noticed that things weren’t in place, I went out of my way to work on them. I worked as if the company was my own and that work ethics have really paid off for me.

    Do you have plans for expansion?

    Yes certainly! My dream is to take Cedarfield to the next level. We are growing, not really big yet, but we’re coming up. I am looking at a future when Cedarfield will become a household name. We are evolving around web-based application development. That is the path for the future.