The Nation Newspaper

Tag: solution

  • Searching for lasting solution to Nigeria’s economic problems (2)

    The thesis is that most of the problems in the economy, politics, education, culture, and public morality are more of effects of unimaginative distortion of the country’s pre-military design of the country’s politics and economy

    The first part of this piece last Sunday gave a historical summary of how Nigeria migrated between 1960 and 1999 from dual federalism to ‘hegemonial federalism’ recently inherited by the Buhari civilian presidency. The core of the column last week is that military dictators in control of the country since 1966, particularly those in power during the phenomenal rise in revenue from petroleum, believed that throwing petroleum dollars at the architecture of the country’s governance was the best thing to do, to keep Nigeria eternally united or indivisible, regardless of whether the result of such new structure improved the welfare of citizens in the 36 largely unviable states created to survive on petroleum funds.

    In view of President Buhari’s pledge to review the constitution to create a federal spirit in the country, today’s piece will show how changing the current ‘hegemonial federalism’ to a competitive federalism among federating units may help President Buhari’s objective to improve the country’s federal system. The thesis is that most of the problems in the economy, politics, education, culture, and public morality are more of effects of unimaginative distortion of the country’s pre-military design of the country’s politics and economy. It is important to examine the causes of the current situation, in order to think out of the box about how to prevent making the same mistake in our effort to improve the economy.

    Talking about federalism before independence and after the emergence and exit of military rule is not new in Nigeria and should not need any grand theory to justify in this column. Chief Obafemi Awolowo remains the grand theorist of federalism in the country. He said and wrote repeatedly that a functioning federal system is the best way to keep Nigeria’s multiethnic nation united and sustainably so. He warned that any other model of governance is more likely to bring instability, disharmony and lack of development to the country as a whole, as well as to its parts. Federalism is a system that has produced and sustained many of the world’s most successful economies: United States of America, Canada, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, India, Spain, Switzerland, United Arab Emirate, South Africa, and Ethiopia, for example. And federalism had worked very well for Nigeria in the years before the advent of military rule.

    It is true, as President Buhari had emphasised at the UK Anti-Corruption Summit, that corruption had served as a way of life for decades in Nigeria. It is also true that the magnitude of corruption in the country has damaged the country’s economy, education, politics, and even culture, but it is necessary to look at circumstances or policies that must have created a conducive setting for the rise of venal men and women in politics in the country, in a manner that did not happen until 1966. Undoubtedly, creation under military rule of a political and economic system that promoted profligacy and parasitism must have boosted the courage of corrupt citizens to steal from citizens with relish. Whether it is at the central government or in subnational governments, politicians and administrators have been groomed since the mid-70s to see their job as directors of consumption of petroleum revenue.The desire of military rulers to use rents from petroleum to nurture a parasitic and predatory elite in the states and at the centre created a basic condition for corruption. There is no better way to illustrate this than the popularisation of Security Vote as a governance instrument at all the three levels of government. Where it could not be justified, lawmakers created constituency allowance as their variant of slush funds.

    Under the leadership of those who created states after states to be funded by revenue from petroleum, a longer concurrent list than can be found in any other federal system on the globe became a permanent feature of Nigeria’s federal system. Most of the functions of the regions before 1966 were given to the central government in the name of Concurrent functions, to justify allocating over half of the revenue from petroleum to a layer of government with no citizens to be directly responsible for. And if the central government failed to carry out any of its concurrent functions, frustration of citizens desirous of resisting the distant central government was guaranteed by the fact that it is only the central government that controls all forms of state coercion. In addition, governors at the state level also found (and still do) it easy to spend the funds allocated to them as corporate social welfare payments, requiring not more than a trip from state capitals to the nation’s capital. Consequently, the system that President Buhari promised in his manifesto to change encouraged venality in government at all levels, for the simple reason that no level of government had to work for the funds at its disposal in the decades of oil boom. The philosophy of military dictators who de-federalised the country: ensuring that no part of the country is productive and strong enough to think of leaving the union had held sway for decades and was acceptable to both military and civilian rulers until the sudden collapse of petroleum price.

    The result of all this is that rulers at the three levels of government got inured to looting the funds from awuff or manna from petroleum. State governors, like their counterparts at the centre, used the near absolute power accorded them by the presidential system imposed on the country’s governance system by the same set that turned the country into a federation of unviable states with zeal. So attractive was having a state to govern or one near home for traditional rulers and their praise singers to milk that even six months before the plunge in oil revenue, the country was awash with calls from the country’s “big men” for creation of more states, most of which would have been created at the instance of the central government if consumers of non-renewable fossil fuel had not gotten wiser than our own leaders were able to imagine.

    President Buhari must have seen the obsolescence of the current unitary system when he said in his manifesto that his government would “initiate action to amend our Constitution with a view to devolving powers, duties and responsibilities to states and local governments in order to entrench true Federalism and the Federal spirit.” He also must have seen the lack of wisdom in the existence of 36 bureaucracies being sustained by rents from petroleum or any other mineral  when he pledged in his manifesto to “balance the economy across regions by the creation of 6 new Regional Economic Development Agencies (REDAs) to act as champions of sub-regional competitiveness and put in place a N300bn regional growth fund (average of N50bn in each geo-political region) to be managed by the REDAs, encourage private sector enterprise and support to help places currently reliant on the public sector.”

    As President Buhari embarks on other projects apart from fighting corruption, such as reforming the institutions of government, he also needs to encourage his attorney-general to embark on preparing a bill towards taking a holistic view of the architecture of governance. For example, promising to create six new regional economic development agencies to be driven by grants of N50bn to each geo-political region is akin to reinforcing the current quasi-federal system. Like corruption, creating subnational governments that can respond to the needs of their citizens through fiscal autonomy and transferring most of the functions currently given to the central government should not wait until Buhari’s second term. If there is any institutional reform that is urgent, it is the reform of the current unitary system.

    The president should pass Chief Emeka Anyaoku’s recommendations, made repeatedly in the last few years on how to grow Nigeria’s democracy and development to his attorney-general as background materials for thinking out of the box in order to change a system that has failed citizens over the years. The mindset that re-engineered Nigeria away from federalism cannot solve the problem created by the culture of lethargy and venality spawned by centralism and looking for centrally mobilised funds to continue to do what we have done inefficiently since the 1970s is to add to the shambles that compelled Nigerians to vote for change in 2015.

  • Refinery outsourcing as solution to fuel scarcity

    There are no ways to spin it; it is undeniable shame that in an oil-producing country as big as ours, in Nigeria, fuel scarcity is a perennial problem. The recurring sighting of long queues at our filling stations should disturb any thoughtful mind and make one ask why this situation has remained so till now, after many years of supposed management in this sector of our national life.

    I believe it simply requires thinking beyond the surface to proffer a lasting solution to the recurrent ill. Now that the present crude oil price has fallen, the federal government can solve this problem of fuel scarcity by outsourcing the processing and refining of out crude oil, and afterwards bring back the refined product for distribution and sale, at 50% off the present cost.

    Since we produce crude oil, it only makes sense that we shouldn’t continue to have persistent fuel scarcity; it makes us a laughing stock in the comity of nations. We shouldn’t be starved of what we have the ability to produce in abundant measures.

    It isn’t rocket science to understand that a decision by the country’s NNPC/PPMC, to simply employ or contract the refining of our crude offshore, and just pay only for the cost of that refining, will help allay this current unpalatable situation

    With this arrangement, the price of refined product would not be more than N30/litre. This will not only solve the fuel scarcity, it will also deflate the economy, thus, reduce the cost  of creating energy, cost of generating electricity, cost of transportation, and the cost of running industries,  etc.

    The overall effect of this is a favourable and drastic reduction in the cost of products and services, making general livelihood better.

    It is only when this is done, that is, employing the wisdom of outsourcing crude oil refining for both short term and long term benefit that the country can then talk about practical developmental ideals of industrialization, incentive-driven attraction of foreign investment, and the development and encouragement of entrepreneurship.

    We will remain in this awkward and strange situation that leaves us a mere laughing stock, if we refuse this idea of outsourcing and leave the fate of the whole country in the hands of few cartels who control the production and distribution of Petroleum products.

    The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, should be ready to take necessary steps to encourage this move that will not only ensure fuel flows readily, but also at half the present pump price.

    It only takes careful thought to know that if we were selling PMS at N97/litre when the price of crude oil was $140/barrel, how much should we now be selling PMS when the crude oil price is at an average $35 per barrel? From this, it takes mere elementary mathematics to decipher that the pump price of fuel shouldn’t be more than even N20 per litre.

    Added to outsourcing, the federal government should also remove the present restrictions on the importation of fuel, and make it open, while the job of the NNPC in this regard would be just to regulate this unrestricted access to importation via monitoring and assessment of quality. The present draconian system, where only the NNPC and very few licensed people import, has continuously proven not to be sufficient enough to handle the demand of our giant population. With this restriction, it seems like tying both the hands and legs of the people. I mean, when it is consistently clear that a few licensed importers cannot meet the demand of the huge population, why not remove restrictions and grant open access to importation to enterprising Nigerians, and give incentives to Nigerian entrepreneurs to set up refineries in the country by giving them crude oil lifting permit with the intent of using the profit for part take-off for the refineries? Why not?? This will do a lot to complement fuel availability and supply.

    For the sake of installing human value into our policies, this present progressive government should be honest enough to abandon the mundane and archaic way of doing things, unlike the past administration, if we truly desire progress for the people. This present archaic style of policy management in the petroleum sector favours corruption at the expense of the people, many small scale businesses are on the death row because of it and it dislocates the economic realities of our people as they are forced to pay for their livelihood at extremely inflated rates.

    We must be quite honest with ourselves and get very open to the benefit of outsourcing and the removal of oil importation restrictions; we must forget economic diplomacy in this regard in order to take advantage of the present fall in oil prices to diversify the economy.

    We can sensibly manage the situation to get productive results instead of constantly being perennial victims that live the shame of recurring fuel scarcity and grueling queues.

     

    • Dr. Abraham, a Chartered Engineer, is governorship aspirant of the All Progressive Congress in the Ondo 2016 election.

  • Minister seeks solution to economic challenges

    The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, has said that polytechnics can play a crucial role in improving the nation’s economy and are capable of moving Nigeria from being a consumer to a producer nation.

    According to him, polytechnics have the capacity to provide solution to the challenges of food shortage and its attendant crisis in Nigeria and the world at large.

    Adamu, who stated this during the 14th combined convocation ceremony of the Federal Polytechnic, Bida in Niger State, emphasised that polytechnics need to be involved in the administration’s bid to diversify the economy from oil to agriculture and mining.

    “Today, the country needs graduates of polytechnics more than ever before, giving the emerging world food crisis. I am aware that the polytechnics have the capacity to provide solutions to the ongoing challenges of food shortage and its attendant crisis in Nigeria in particular and the world in general.

    “The role of science and technology in the development of any nation cannot be over-emphasised as no nation can afford to depend on borrowed or imported technology for its industrialisation. Polytechnics are therefore expected to play a crucial role in this regard.”

    Adamu, who was represented by the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), called on NBTE to ensure that standards are not compromised in polytechnic. She stressed the need to ensure strict adherence to the 70:30 carrying capacity policy in favour of technology courses.

    Also, the Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, reiterated that polytechnics in the country have the capacity to address the high level of unemployment in the country if they receive the desired attention from governments.

    According to him, polytechnics are widely known for impacting innovative, inventive and entrepreneurial skills on their students.

    “Once polytechnics remain focused and receive the desired attention, the disturbing high-level of unemployment being experienced in this country today would be drastically reduced considering the innovative and incentive skills being acquired by polytechnic graduates.”

    Governor Bello, who was represented by his deputy, Alhaji Muhammad Ketso, said there is a need to get things right for the nation to get the best out of its educational system.

    He said more attention should be given to functional and entrepreneurial education in polytechnics adding that, “entrepreneurial education is the bedrock of socio-economic development and societal transformation.”

  • ‘Allow govt find solution to clashes’

    Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has urged the people to allow the government find a solution to the clashes between herdsmen and farmers.

    Ortom, who addressed the people of Nongov at Saghev, in Guma Local Government, said his meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yielded result, as the Presidency sent a delegation to ascertain the level of crises at Agatu.

    He said the government would enact a law to stop kidnap and other crimes, stressing that this could only thrive in a peaceful atmosphere.

    The governor, who thanked the Nongov people for their support, restated his administration’s commitment to build roads, primary health centres and put in place projects.

    Tyoor Uwouku Abanka hailed Ortom for the efforts his administration made in security and education.

    He assured him of the people’s support, enjoining him to address bad roads and insecurity.

    The Special Adviser to the Governor on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Dr. Magdalene Dura, described Ortom as a leader, who matched his words with action.

    Others who spoke at the event included ex-Head of Service Mike Iordye and the Caretaker Chairman, Guma Local Government, Mr. Samuel Aga.

  • Devaluation not solution to economic woes, Labour tells govt

    Devaluation not solution to economic woes, Labour tells govt

    |The President, Trade Union Congress (TUC), Bobboi Bala Kaigama, has said naira devaluation is not the answer to the country’s economic problems.

    He urged the Federal Government not to embrace devaluation  unless the percentage of devaluation is equivalent to the percentage increase in the national minimum wage.

    Speaking with The Nation, Kaigama agreed that a combination of the after-effects of years of fiscal indiscipline, mismanagement of resources, unacceptable electioneering spending, corruption, policy reversals, unproductive borrowing, falling crude oil prices and serious issues of internal security had dealt a blow to the economy.

    He said inflation had hit double digit, while the value of the naira had collapsed against major international currencies, noting that as an import-dependent country, the implications for the ordinary Nigerian are enormous. Apart from forcing the cost of living to rise, the purchasing power has dropped and jobs are being lost.

    Charging the Federal Government to look inward, the TUC boss cited countries, such as India, China, Malaysia, South Africa, Indonesia, and others, which were nowhere in terms of development in the 1970s/80s, but have transformed into giants and premium net exporters of goods and services and are doing well today.

    He advocated for the re-negotiation of Nigeria’s current loans in the light of the burden debt-servicing constitutes to the budget –  about 23 per cent of the total budget.

    The United Action for Democracy (UAD), in a statement titled, “IMF never means well for working class-people, the poor must not bear the burden of “Recovery”, also warned that nothing good can be expected by working class people from the international financial institution.

    Its National convener, Baba Aye, said IMF would never throw its weight behind a developmental agenda that is beneficial and is driven by the working masses.

    He said: “The removal of fuel subsidy by sleight with the mask of price modulation is itself based on IMF policy advice calling for deregulation.

    “Without fixing the problem of domestic refining, fuel pump price is likely to rise despite falling global prices of oil, as a result of freight and related costs of fuel importation. Removing fuel subsidy instead of pulling down the house of corruption that has smeared it amounts to throwing away the baby with the bath water.

  • The Yerima Solution

    The Yerima Solution

    He is not known to possess some thespian talents. Neither is he a showbiz impresario. But, let’s concede it to Senator Ahmed Rufai Sani (Yerima Bakura- to his army of admirers): he pulled off what is, arguably, the biggest show ever in Zamfara State when as governor he launched the strict Islamic law, Sharia.

    Some flashback. A sea of people flooded the streets of Gusau, screaming Allah akbar (God is great) on January27, 2000 when His Excellency introduced the Sharia. The atmosphere was electric, gripping everyone, including those who did not understand what it was all about and those who saw it all as a religious revolution, which will revolutionise all other things. People were dancing and sweating, jumping and yelling, throwing their hands in the air as if a new king was being enthroned. It was magical.

    Buba Jangebe (remember him?) made history when he had the honour of becoming the first man to be punished under the sharia. His right hand was amputated for stealing a cow. As he was being led away to face his punishment, Jangebe was all smiles – to the amazement of the throbbing crowd of anxious folks who had gathered to be part of history. Why? As he later said in an interview, he had a profound inner joy that found expression in his face that was wreathed in smiles – that a 12-year career as a thief had ended. Besides, he said he was happy earning a honest living as a messenger in a secondary school in his hometown of Jengebe.

    “When I was a thief, there were lots of problems; there was no money. I had no peace. At that time, my relatives deserted me. They were afraid of me,” Jangebe said.

    Two other convicts who had their hands chopped off were rehabilitated later after a passionate appeal to Yerima, who was no longer the governor. Bello Buba, who stole a cow, got N500,000 to start cow rearing, thus fulfilling a life-long ambition. Wali Isa, who confessed to stealing bicycles, became a cement merchant in 2012. Lucky guys.

    Did these cases foreshadow what was to come later? I really can’t tell, but Yerima himself was on January 21 docked at a Zamfara High Court, charged with alleged diversion of a N1b loan meant for the repair of the Gusua Dam in 2006. He pleaded not guilty, saying the expenditure was approved by the House. The crowd at the court premises was hostile. Officials of the prosecuting Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) were lucky to have escaped the scene alive.

    Why the mob? Were they protesting that Sani was not brought before a sharia court? Could His Excellency have preferred a sharia court to the high court? What punishment does the offence carry in a sharia court – amputation of one arm or both? Was it all politics? Or an attempt to vault politics into the hallowed temple of justice? I really could not tell.

    Yerima’s is just one of the legion of cases the courts are hearing. They involve many prominent citizens, including former National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki, who is accused of turning his office into a cash machine for politicians, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spokesman Olisa Metuh, whose appearance in handcuffs evoked a barrage of criticisms and former PDP Chair Haliru Bello Mohammed, who was wheeled to the court from a hospital. Besides, there are many suspects. Some are in school; others are in hospitals.

    The sheer magnitude of the scandals has triggered a frenzy of rage, with many warning that the rule of law should not be deployed by the accused to obfuscate   facts and figures, bamboozle the judiciary, forge an escape route, bridle it all and live happily ever after. But some insist that no matter the enormity of the infractions the accused are said to have committed, they remain innocent, until proven otherwise and, going by this legal trite, deserve to enjoy their human rights unhindered.

    Those of the latter school of thought are not as vociferous as those who, as some critics put it, have been stricken by a strange mob mentality. We understand. There is so much bitterness in the land – that a few politicians have dipped their hands in the till, taking so much for even the blind to have noticed and never knowing when to pull the brakes on their lethal action.

    To former All Progressives Congress (APC) interim Chairman Chief Bisi Akande, “corrupt people do not deserve bail because they are murderers”. He told his interviewers syllogistically: “Our Constitution says that murderers must not be let off the hook until judgment is passed. So what do you mean by the rule of law? It’s a matter of interpretation. You can say the man who used cutlass to kill is direct. The one who used corruption to kill is indirect. Killing is killing. So a corrupt man is a murderer… .”

    A newspaper screamed: “Reps may consider hanging for treasury looters.” House of Reps Minority Whip Umar Yakubu, who represents Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency in Kaduna State, was quoted as saying that some members were planning to push for a law that will prescribe a visit to the hangman for treasury looters. His logic is that if people go to jail for stealing N1000, treasury looters do not deserve to live.

    “If you ask me, I will tell you that if someone steals fromN1m to N100m, he or she should have his hand cut off … so that when we see you on the street we know that you stole… and those who steal in billions should be hanged,” he said.

    As it is usual in situations of this nature, the debate has given rise to an army of charlatans posing as legal experts and pontificating about what they have described as the complexities of our jurisprudence.  Besides, many – apparently out of sheer tetchiness – have voted for the Yerima Solution.

    But there is a problem. If we decide to cut off hands, how many of our lawmakers, our elected representatives who will never allow us a mere peep into their pay packet, will keep theirs? With so many big men carrying chopped hands, won’t we unknowingly be creating a huge market for German pyrotechnics (artificial limbs) manufacturers and, by so doing, frittering away the scarce foreign exchange we are battling to conserve and making nonsense of the Central Bank’s foolproof policy, which a reliable source told me will soon make our foreign reserve the envy of those so-called industrialised countries?  Won’t we? If we cut off hands, won’t those proponents of sharia mock its opponents, saying: You said our sharia was political; what do we call yours now?

    What if a man chooses to die rather than have his hand cut off, will the state grant him the luxury of choice? Will two hands be cut off? Or just one? How much will it cost us to import the guillotines for this delicate job? Who will get the contracts? Will local manufacturers be encouraged? Do we have enough experts for this crucial vocation? What if they join the labour unions and decide to go on strike; who does the job? How much will the guillotine man be paid? What will be his qualification – OND, HND, MBBS, B.Sc.,WASCE?

    Besides the self-proclaimed legal experts to whom I had earlier referred, there are those who see the development as an opportunity to laugh at the Nigerian condition – the greed of our leaders and the incivility of our compatriots. Consider this, which appeared on this page a long time ago. A friend has just rebroadcast it:

    “Japan invented a machine that catches thieves. They took it to several countries for a test. In the US, it caught 20 thieves in 30 minutes; in the UK, in 30 minutes it caught 500 thieves and in Spain, in 20 minutes, it caught 25 thieves. In Ghana, in 10 minutes, it caught 6,000 thieves; Uganda, in seven minutes it caught 20,000 thieves and in Nigeria, in five minutes, the machine was stolen.”

    There is really no need for extremism; the law will take care of the crisis, but the actors need to be fair and firm.

       OLUWOLE DAVIDSON AKOJA (1960 – 2016)

    It has been cascading tears from the great hills of Okeagbe since January 22 when a golden boy of the land suddenly took the final bow. He had a surgery but there was no sign he was at death’s door. No. Women have been crying, the elderly have been shaking their heads in utter bewilderment and the youth have been wondering why Oluwole Davidson Akoja had to depart so soon – and suddenly so.

    He was not so rich but giving was just part of him; he always had a boisterous laughter that rang out at the least provocation; he had access to resources but his integrity was never in doubt; little wonder he rose through the ranks to become a deputy director at the National Sports Commission.

    Farewell, “Ewenla”, “Ewe Show”, my worthy  classmate at Ajuwa Grammar School, Okeagbe – Akoko, Ondo State and a great fan – and sparring partner – of “Editorial Notebook”. Irewole Bamisile. Samuel ‘Olege’ Gbadebo, Kehinde Omoegun, Ojo ‘Oji Soccer’Adegoke, Ogunyinka Olasebikan, Clement Tunji Ojo and all the other patriots who left us. Greet them all. Should the hereafter permit sports, I am sure you will raise a damn good team in any of the games.

    Good night, my brother.

  • Solar energy best solution to power problem

    SIR: The energy deficit in Nigeria that lingered for several decades often fuels a sense of fatalism and paralysis. Inadequate and unreliable electricity undermines economic growth, development and investments. The social, economic and human costs are devastating. Many of our citizens are living without electricity.

    Energy is the single most important key to eliminate poverty. If Nigeria wants to reach its target of vision 20/20, affordable, reliable and accessible electricity has to be available to the populace. Nigerian economy may be booming and the largest in Africa, but continuing growth and quality of life can be jeopardized by lack of electric power.

    NEPA/PHCN has delivered tonnes of excuses and disappointments to Nigerians. During his presidency, former President Olusegun Obasanjo told Nigerians that the electricity deficit was caused by the distribution not generation of power. Back in 2011 former vice president Namadi Sambo earnestly informed us that the use of generators as power sources in the households across the country will be a thing of the past within two years.

    In his inaugural address, President Muhammad Buhari stated that the government has spent over $20 billion in the electric power sector from 1999 to date. He promised to set up a committee to handle the crisis in the energy sector.

    It was revealed that Nigerians spend about $6 billion annually to fuel their generators. The country boasts the highest concentration of small scale generators in the world.  An average Nigerian spends on electric energy about 60 times more than the citizens of Canada, Russia, America or Belgium.

    Yet on the flip side of this crisis are enormous opportunities for Nigeria. As the population increases so do the electric power consumption. For Nigeria to meet up with its energy needs, it must diversify and look for alternative sources. The electricity generation should diversify to include significant share of different sources such as diesel, coal, biomass, wind and solar.

    Solar power system can become a viable solution to Nigeria’s electricity crisis. Nigeria has some of the world’s most abundant and least exploited renewable energy sources especially solar power. Solar energy technology can be sized to fit the energy needs anywhere in this country, from light to business, households, schools, hospitals, ministries to an entire village. Apart from the initial cost of  installing solar systems, the technology does not require any running cost, unlike the traditional petro/diesel generators .

    Nigerian Government should encourage and support the use of solar systems in various part of the country by educating the population on its cost effectiveness, introducing specific programmes to help facilitate rural energy access, implementing tax exemption on all solar products and encouraging the private sector, NGOs and distributing companies to get involved in the provision and development of solar technology.

    • Hassan Musa,

    hmringman@yahoo.com

  • Hijab ban, no solution

    IR: The Muslim Hijab (female veil) or Niqab is not only an Islamic religious symbol and identity, it is also an apparel and garment of feminine modesty and an outfit commanded to be worn by God (Allah) to conceal the outward beauty of females and preserve them for their husbands alone, and to maintain the chastity and pride of womanhood. If the words of President Muhammadu Buhari during his maiden edition of presidential media chat held on Wednesday, December 30, 2015 were to be taken seriously, the federal government is already considering a possible ban on Hijab if Boko Haram terrorists continue to use it to perpetuate evil.

    It is true that the use of female minors wearing Hijab as suicide bombers by terrorists has been on the increase recently. It is also true that the veil has always created a cover of some sort for suicide bombers, making it difficult for security agents to know or easily identify who is strapped with the deadly explosive and who isn’t. Banning the Hijab will be an unrealistic approach in Nigeria’s fight against terrorism. It is on record that deadlier attacks had been carried out by Boko Haram using vehicles, motorcycles, hand bags and even cell phones during which hundreds of innocent Nigerians have lost their lives while thousands more have suffered degrees of injuries and permanent disabilities. Yet the federal government hasn’t considered a ban on vehicles, motorcycles, handbags or cell phones anywhere in this country.

    A number of terrorist activities, armed robberies, kidnapping and assassinations have been carried out by men in suit in so many parts of Nigeria at different times during which several lives and valuable properties were lost, yet the government hasn’t deemed it necessary to consider banning the use of suits. Hence, a ban on Hijab if anything will only make the Boko Haram terrorists get more creative in seeking alternative ways in carrying out their evil acts of terrorism. Rather than banning the Hijab, the Muslim feminine religious symbol which is capable of sending the wrong signal and further create religious tension, the federal government should map out a more holistic approach to prosecuting the ongoing war on terror.

    If the government bans Hijab, will they also ban Agbada, Babanriga and Kaftan garments due to the fact that bombs and explosives could be easily concealed underneath? Instead of considering an outright ban on Hijab which would be tantamount to treating the symptoms of an illness and neglecting the actual illness or its root cause, the government should rather consider more practical approaches like acquiring high power bomb detective gadgets which can detect bombs and explosives from a comfortable distance to be used and installed in public places like schools, hospitals, motor parks, churches and mosques, and other public gatherings. The war against terrorism should not be allowed to deprive or rob a people of their moral and decent dress code, and religious identity.

    If Boko Haram is so powerful to dictate what we should wear, what we should eat or how we should move around, it therefore means that the terrorists may have successfully instilled fear in Nigerians and gotten Nigeria to its knees. Does this not amount to technically losing the war to Boko Haram?

    Hussain Obaro,

    Ilorin, Kwara State.

  • Some causes of pain and some solution…4

    This series has explored such pain challenges as headaches, neck pain and upper and lower back pain.

    This section of the series will examine, also, carpal tunnel syndrome, that pain in the wrist which affects people in certain professions, and then examine some healing approaches to managing or resolving them. Incidentally, the exploration, so far, has been limited largely to bone malaise, including bone joint problem. In the second part of the series, nerve and muscle discomfitures as possible causes of the three major types of headache featured.

     

    CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME PAIN

    This subject reminds me of three old friends. One of them is a barrister. For weeks, he could not sleep well or write with his right hand.

    Often, he cried like a baby. My second friend, a seamstress, gave up her lucrative office because pain in her right wrist and pain forbade her to work.

    Tutu Folashade Koyi, who helped me at The Guardian newspaper of the 1980s to pioneer traditional medicine reporting, supported this venture at The Comet newspaper and is now the News Editor of The Sun Newspaper, is the third friend. I remember today, Editorial work at The Comet, now defunct, could keep a reporter at his or her desk for days, mind you not hours, but on end. Being about the only computer literate person on her desk at that time, Tutu had to typeset editorial materials that may fill as many as four or eight pages in addition to her other routine work which involved writing. Soon, the pressure took its toll on the wrist and her shoulders. She suffered serious nerve, hand and shoulder pains. But the harder the pains hammered, she threw herself at her work.

    Sometimes, as in this case, journalism can be a brutal profession, and this explains why journalists make a success of whatever they do outside their profession, where the pressure is much kinder, even in mid-career changes.

    Many people suffer from Carpal tunnel Syndrome. This condition derive its name from the bones on the wrist, the carpals. If you turn your palm up, you would find what looks like a gutter running up to the base of the palm. This is the carpal tunnel. It is like a conduit pipe. The median nerve, which serves the fingers, and some tendons, which make the fingers to move pass, through this tunnel.

    When the wrist joint is moved or used too frequently, metabolic wastes may be produced by this activity which, if not quickly and efficiently removed, may irritate the nerves and tendons. Irritation of tissue is often the cause of inflammation, and inflammation the foundation of pain.

    In inflammation, the connective tissue will be overstretched, and the overstretching may lead to tearing, an injury that micro-organisms such as candida and other yeast may exploit to cause infection and tissue degeneration.

    In the book titled THE DOCTORS BOOK OF HOME REMEDIES, written by the Editors of Prevention Magazine Health Books, we have some graphic descriptions of how this condition may present. Say the editors:

    “Three paragraphs into the letter to your grandson and the aching tingle in your writing makes you put down the pen. You spent weeks finding the right paint for the kitchen, but after a few short strokes bothersome pain in your wrist and hand make you leave the brush in the bucket. At night you wake up with numbness on your hand and wrist for no apparent reason. If incidents like this are happening to you, chances are, you have Carpal tunnel Syndrome.

    The United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health suggest that Carpal tunnel Syndrome may affect such workers as “meat cutters, cashiers, data processors, assembly line workers, pneumatic hammer operators, the kinds of people who absolutely must use their hands on the job.

    The institute says that even people who work at home may be at risk as well.

    “Carpal tunnel Syndrome has been known to attack home makers who spend lots of time wringing wet laundry by hand, sweeping with a broom, dicing with a knife, or even shelling peas. Even weekend Do-It-Yourselfer can do themselves in. Excessive use of a staple gun over the weekend is enough to trigger the disease but diegut have to”.

    The editors produce additional insight from Dr. John Sebright, M.D., head of the hand surgery section and director of microsurgery Laboratory at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michugan, who says:

    “If the wrist is repeatedly flexed and extended, the pressure is increased.” But Dr. Sussan Isernhagen, a physical therapist, believes wrist and hand pain may not always suffer Carpal tunnel Syndrome but, indeed, be a syndrome of osteoarthritis, a degeneration condition of bone joint. “If you get a crackly or crunchy feelings in your wrist when you exercise, that’s not a sign of Carpal tunnel Syndrome; it may be a symptom of osteoarthritis.”

     

    PHYSICAL THERAPIES

    octors advise that cold compresses may do help to reduce the swelling. Hot applications are ruled out. Crepe bandaging is also discouraged, as this may congest circulation traffic and balloon the problem. It is suggested, also, that the hand be always raised above the shoulder to reduce pressure in the Carpal tunnel.

    Being an inflammatory condition, anti-inflammatory natural remedies are prime solution for the condition. They work, also, for many, if not all conditions of pain, caused by inflammation. Fish Oil has become well known for its anti-inflammatory powers. Researchers and doctors keep telling us that it supports the production of anti-inflammatory substances and that it is better than Aspirin which works wonders but impact some dangerous side effects, including lacerations in the stomach and intestine, which cause bleeding and possibly, anemia.

    Since Aspirin is extracted from Small Powered Willow herb, and anti-inflammatory whole herb which supports shrinkage of enlarged prostate gland and comfortable urination, it seems reasonable to assume that the willow herb will do Aspirins Job without the side effects. As for fish oil, if there is only doubt about its purity, because some people suspect contamination from fish caught in polluted sea, chemical and toxin KRILL OIL offers good safety valve. Krill fish resides in unpolluted water, and has become the toast of fish oil lovers. But is a little more expensive than the regular fish oil. Flax seed oil, obtained from flax seed, is a good option, too. But the oil has to be converted in the body before it can be used. Some losses may occur during this process.

    I would like to quickly mention that the Nigerian antioxidant and blood growing proprietary herbal formula, JOBELYN, has shown remarkable anti-inflammatory effects in studies carried out for this activity in Germany and the United States.

    Originally designed to rapidly counter anemia in 24 hours, for which in 1994 it earned from The Guardian newspaper, the accolade of an “alternative to blood transfusion,” it was soon found by researchers at the college of medicine of the University of Lagos to also help diabetes, arthritis and other conditions. Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) has run a study which found Jobelyn improved the wellbeing of people challenged with sickle cell disorder.At the University of Ibadan, it proved helpful in a psychiatry study. A study at the Military Hospital, Ikoyi, Lagos, found that it helps people with HIV.

    VITAMIN B6

    There is hardly any Carpal tunnel Syndrome proprietary remedy worth its name which does not include Vitamin B6 in its contents. It helped my barrister friend. The Doctors Book of Home Remedies says: “Recent Scientist studies are showing that physicians supervised used therapy with Vitamin B6 can help relieve the symptoms of Carpal tunnel Syndrome. In 12-year study conducted at Louserville Kenturky, Morton kar kasdan, M.D., found that 68 percent of his 494 Carpal tunnel Syndrome patients improved while taking Vitamin B6 daily.

    John Ellis, M.D., a surgeon and family practitioner of the institute for Biomedical Research in market pleasant, Taxes, has been using Vitamin B6 for so many years to treat Carpal tunnel Syndrome. Dr. Ellis believes that Carpal tunnel Syndrome is caused by a deficiency pure and simple. In a high percentages of case, the patients are deficient in Vitamin B6.

    “Dr. Ellis says over the past 26 years, he has successfully treated hundreds of patients with large Vitamin B6 dosed daily and they have no side effects, Vitamin B6 treatment does not bring about immediate relief,” he warns. “You have to be patient”, he says, “it often takes about six weeks until the enzyme changes are sufficient enough that the symptoms gradually begin to subside.  From six weeks you will really notice a decided difference in your hands and fingers, he says. The numbness, toughing, stiffness and pain in your hand subside.” Dr. Ellis also says that, “a number of people have a recurrence of Carpal tunnel Syndrome when they stop taking the Vitamin”. Incidentally, Vitamin B6 is present in good dosage in green herbs such as Spirulina and Kelp, often mentioned in this column.

     

    CURCUMIN

    here is a wonderful proprietary product blend on the Nigeria market called CURCUMIN 2000X. It is so called because it is compared to CAYENNE, another anti-inflammatory healer, which, as the name of this product goes, is said to make Curcumin 2000 times more active than it ordinarily is. Curcumin is the yellowish part of Tumeric, which is a component of curry powder. It is widely believed that intestinal problems, such as inflammation and pile, were infrequent in the days Nigeria women cooked with Curry powder and Thyme alone. The situation is said to have drastically reverse in these days of Monosodium Glutamate (NSG) spicing. It is largely for this reason that Tumeric is thundering back to popularity as part of any protocol for healing many of the health challenges of todays, which  are boiled down to preventable inflammation. Mrs.Bukola Aseez, chief executive officer of Budget Travels and Tours, a travel agency, asked me last week for information about Tumeric. She had difficulty moving her bowels, and her friend in England, Mrs. Omolara Bello, had sent her a jar of Tumeric Capsules which she took as advised on the label. Her bowels moved almost immediately to her surprise.

    According to Robert Rester, author of Japanese Herbal Medicine, the healing Art of kampo:

    Tumeric root branches have been used in Kampo at least since the middle of the seventh Century AD. An acrid, bitter and warming herb, it invigorates the blood. The action unblocks delayed menstruation, and relieves swelling and pain caused by traumatic injury. Tumeric root is thought to invigorate the flow of vital energy, or quicken especially through the shoulders. By simulating the flow of energy, this herb quells wind disorders, in which painful symptoms seem to migrates from one side to the other throughout the body.”

    Turmeric rhizome, used in Japanese medicine even longer than the root, is reported to be more fabulous. Together, they not only stimulate energy and blood, they break up congestions, heal chronic sores, supports the heart and the liver, intestine, and joints, it clears phlegm, quells agitation and anxiety, mental derangement and seizures.

    Curcumin is about four percent of Tumeric, but is said to be the most active component for these purposes. In Curcumin 2000X, Curcumin is said to have been concentrated to 96 percent. Lister says of Curcumin in his Japanese herbal medicine book: “Curcumin is a powerful cancer preventative. It inhibits the action of P450 a liver enzyme that causes some environmental toxins to be processed in ways that make them Carcinogenic. Curcumin affects cancers associated with tobacco use by absorbing nitric oxide, a chemical produced in the lungs when they are exposed to tobacco, which prevents reactions associated with cancer and inflammation. It also stops the cellular reaction in both the lungs and the mouth that activate cancer-causing agents in both cigarette smoke and smokeless tobacco. “

    Curcumin helps prevent colorectal cancer. It works in the same manner as do Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), by suppressing the substances for both the start and spread of cancer. Curcumin suppresses two gene necessary for colorectal cancer development and prevent damage caused by afflatoxin, a poison produced during improper storage of grains and peanuts.

    Tumeric can relieve inflammatory conditions by stopping the relieve of PAF, it stops the reactions that induce an asthmatic attack. Curcumin also relieves the discomfort caused by bursitis and Carpal tunnel Syndrome by deactivating immune system cells that may cause inflammation without harming the body’s ability to defend itself. Clinical studies have confirmed that the volatile oil in turmeric can ease acute pain caused by arthritis, eczema, gastritis, psoriasis or tendonitis. Its effectiveness is equal to that of steroid preparations such as hydrocortisone and phenolybutazone, but without their side effects.

  • Some causes of pain and some solution…3

    Some causes of pain and some solution…3

    When you have a challenge that is a “pain in the neck” for you, it is often a heavy cross to bear. Such is the medical pain in the neck which may warrant the wearing of a neck collar, or even surgery. As a young sub editor in the newsroom of THE DAILY TIMES, I developed such a medical pain in the neck, and had to wear a neck collar for many months. Sub editing in those days was a tasking job. The sub editor was the last bridge between the newspaper and the reader. That is, the quality of the newspaper depended on the quality of its sub editing. We ran up to three or four editions of the Daily Times.

    In those days, Alhaji Babatunde Jose, (Chairman/Managing Director or Mr. Henry Odukomaiya (Editor) could fire you on the spot if a spelling or tense error found in the newspaper was linked to you.

    Our heads were always bent forward on the copy. Mr. Glad Anson Diri often wore a neck collar, and so did our boss Mr. George Okoro. Soon, I developed a tingling pain in the index left finger, and before you could call Jack Robinson, as they say, my arms and neck were, literally speaking, on fire. The doctor was to place me on some drugs, which must be anti-inflamating, and gave me a neck collar.

    The pains subsided, and I soon forgot the experience. But, in later years, at THE GAURDIAN newspaper, they returned. In those formative years of that newspaper, there was hardly time to look after one’s health. But I was soon reminded of the neck collar by the side of Sunmi Smart-Cole, photo editor, and later, editor of Lagos Life, now defunct, who wore a neck collar regularly. An x-ray of my neck bones showed that some of them were wearing. Doctors give this condition a huge and scary name… Cervical spondylosis. They say it is age-related, which means bones must wear, and the pain must come as we grow old. But I was only Twenty something when the x-ray report suggested an onset of this condition. Yet there are many old people who have not experience this condition.

     

    Cervical Spondylosis

    lso called Cervical osteoarthritis or neck arthritis, this condition simply means bone joints in the neck are wearing and are probably pinching on the nerves which jot out from nerve outlets in these bones. The bones are arranged in a well-aligned structure where two bones are separated and are not permitted to touch each other. There are seven cervical bones. Each is covered by a cartilage. The cartilage is one of the structures which prevent bone-and-bone contact to prevent surface wearing and pain. The cartilage is maintained by glucosamine and Chondroitin sulfate among other nutrients. Its surface is lubricated by a fluid called Synovial fluid which is separated from the other by a disc. Each disc is a load bearer. All neck bones are saved from the pressure the weight of the neck impact on the spine. Between Ten and Fifteen Pounds would have impacted directly on them, probably crushing them. When the neck structure is not well maintained with good diet which furnishes the right amounts and quality of Calcium, Magnesium, Manganese, Zinc and other bone-structure minerals, and when the neck structure is not well exercised to prevent the muscles in the joint capsule from becoming still, making the neck less mobile or mobile with pain, these disc may lose tone, become dehydrated or even become herniated, that is break. When they herniates and their contents spill on surrounding tissue, especially the nerves, an infection may arise in the affected region which may give rise to the familiar pain in the neck, arms and fingers.

    Other possible courses may include occupational lifestyle and bad posture, writers and hair dressers, for example, may discover through self-education, that their heads are always bent forward. This may put pressure on the muscles at the back of the neck.

    Besides herniation of the disc, spinal subluxations, too, cause problems. Edgar Caycee spoke always about them. He was a Christian seer who went into trances whenever his patients consulted with him. He diagnosed their conditions from his trance state and wrote his prescriptions. He said spinal subluxations caused many diseases. Chiropactors of today also attend to spinal subluxations in addressing many health challenges. We can see a chiropractor as a bone adjuster. He looks at the arrangement of the bones in a sick person, may conclude a misalignment problem and then knock the structure back into fine shape. As chiropractor define spinal subluxation today it is “the altered position of the vertebra and subsequent functional loss, which determines the location for the Spinal manipulation.”

    According to www.healthline.com, subluxation is: “A partial abnormal separation of the articular surface of a joint.” In chiropactic medicine, spinal misalignment is considered a process which makes tissue change and cause symptoms of disease and/or pain. Some of these changes are:

    • Hyperemia
    • Congestion
    • Edema
    • Minute haemorages
    • Fibrosis
    • Local ischemia
    • Atrophy
    • Tissue rigidity

    In Hyperemia, there is “an excess of blood in a particular area of the body.” Obstruction of blood flow sometimes causes it. A joint dysfunction may cause congestion in a muscle, and this may cause toxin accumulations which irritate nerve endings and produce pain. Edema may arise from damaged small blood vessels called capillaries. The damages may cause blood to leak from them into surrounding tissue. In minute haemorages, small amounts of blood leak from blood vessels. In fibrosis, normal tissue is damaged and replaced with scar tissue which limits joint mobility and causes pain when the limit of mobility is to be exceeded. In ischemia, there is restriction to blood flow in the muscles which causes pain. Atrophy of muscles or the wasting away of muscles develops from disuse or inactivity, disease, nutritional deficiencies or other factors.

    Rigidity is often an end-point of these conditions. It occurs not only in the joint capsule but may also affects ligaments and tendons as well. Edgar Caycee spoke often of adhesions. These are foreign bodies growing or perched on strange tissue. When a disc ruptures or herniates, spilling its contents on surrounding tissue, the nerve, for example, is in  pain- pain is a constant feature. A few months ago, doctors misdiagnosed prostate disorder in the case of an 84-year old man who suffered from an almost permanent pain in his penis. It took the Grace of the Most High for one of them to discover an adhesion on the bladder was the source of this problem. Thus, adhesions on muscles, ligaments, tendons or nerves in the neck region may be a cause of neck pain.

     

    Spondylitis and Ankylosing Spondylosis

    Cervical Spondylosis is arthritis of the neck bone. Spondylotis is inflammation of any bone joint. In Ankylosing Spondylitis a fusion of the bones of the back occurs, particularly with pain in the Sacroiliac joint, meeting point of the spine and the pelvis. The pain may be felt, also in the eye, hip joint, the heels, waist joint, ankles or other joints. In some cases, Ankylosing spondylitis affects the rib bones at their junctions with the Spinal bone causing tightness in the chest and breathing difficulty that may be misdiagnosed as a heart or lung condition. The pain of Ankylosing spondylitis responds to exercise, a feature which distinguishes it from spondylosis and spondylitis. If left untreated, it may cause a forward curvature of the spine. Some authorities believe it is called by the failure of calcium to deposit in the bone. Bone spurs may fuse two vertebrate bones, or fuse one bone to ligaments, tendons, muscles or nerve.

    Treatment

    Stiff neck muscles, like strained neck muscles, responds to sensible exercises. In my days at The Guardian Newspaper when 20 hours schedules was common, I learned of the turtle exercise from a book titled BURN DISEASES OUT OF YOUR BODY.

    It requires one to lie on one’s abdomen on a flat surface, place one’s arms by one’s sides, raise head, turn it slowly from side to side for counts which range from, Say, 50 to 100 or multiple of them, take a break by resting the head on the plane surface, and starting all over again for full count.

    Warmth may be felt especially in the back next muscles. This is an indication that blood is flowing through them, and they are receiving oxygen and other nutrients, while their waste are being taken away. This exercise counters the forward lurch of the head in which many people find themselves for several hours in one day, and, in a way, fulfils the law of Balance, one of the Laws of Nature, in the use of front and back muscles of the neck. In another neck exercise, one may sit or stand and rotate the head alternatively in clockwise and anti-clock wise positions. In yet another exercise, one may use a bed or a table. The head droops from a free side or edge of either and then is raise, with muscle action, to the level of the rest of the body, held up there for as long as possible, while rotating the head from side to side. One last suggestion: in an upright position, a bath towel is held at opposite ends, one end in one hand, and placed against the forehead. Then, a backward pressure is applied against it, to which the head responds with counter force resistance.

    A count can be taken for as long as the exercise can be tolerated. Next, the direction of the exercise is reversed, with the towel placed at the back of the neck to impact forward pressure against backward pressure of the head.