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Tag: sustainable

  • Stanbic IBTC assures shareholders of sustainable returns

    Stanbic IBTC assures shareholders of sustainable returns

    The board of directors and management of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc have reassured shareholders that the financial services group is steadily on track to sustain its long-term strategic growth and profitability objectives in spite of the macroeconomic challenges.

    At the annual general meeting in Lagos, the management of the bank reemphasized the strategic growth plan of the bank and assured shareholders that the group remained committed to delivering outstanding value to all stakeholders.

    Chief executive officer, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Mr. Yinka Sanni said the bank’s strategy of building a franchise capable of generating sustainable returns to its shareholders remains in place as it continues to invest in building a cost-efficient and customer-friendly organization.

    According to him, despite a slowing economy, the group remains in a very sound financial shape as attested to by Fitch Ratings, which recently reaffirmed the national ratings of both Stanbic IBTC Bank and Stanbic IBTC Holdings.

    He pointed out that the group has earnestly continued to grow its customer base through innovation and customized financial solutions, which should simultaneously continue to ensure better earnings and positive outcomes for all stakeholders.

    “Our customers and stakeholders are the epicentre of our existence and will remain so. Our balance sheet remains strong and we believe it will get stronger in the coming years. We will continue to deliver exceptional service and value to our customers, together with profitability and growth in a sustainable manner,” Sanni said.

    He said the bank would continue to prioritise asset quality through diligent and systematic approach to risk management.

    During the meeting, shareholders approved a dividend as recommended by the board, re-elected retiring directors and appointed additional directors. Key extracts of the audited report for the year ended December 31, 2015 showed that the group recorded gross earnings of N140.027 billion, up from N130.654 billion from 2014. Profit before tax stood at N23.651 billion during the period, while profit after tax was N18.891 billion. Total assets decreased to N937.6 billion by December 2015, while customer deposits was largely flat at N493.5 billion during the same period.

    Stanbic IBTC had been embroiled in a long-drawn dispute with the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria. The dispute was resolved late 2016. In a statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on December 21, 2016, Stanbic IBTC indicated that its 2015 audited financial statements, which had been held in abeyance due to the dispute, had been signed off by the external auditors, Messrs. KPMG Professional Services, paving the way for the group to make the report public.

  • ‘Sustainable funding of universities key to educational development’

    ‘Sustainable funding of universities key to educational development’

     Prof Suleiman Bogoro, former Executive Secretary, TETfund, yesterday said that sustainable funding of universities was the key to educational and national growth and development.

    Prof  Bogoro stated this while delivering a lecture at the convocation ceremony of the Plateau State University in Bokkos.

    He condemned the manner the governments and private proprietors are funding the existing universities and other tertiary institutions in the country.

    He said: “In spite of the funding problem, some Nigerian universities are being ranked among the top 10 universities in Africa as demonstrated by the University of Ibadan (UI) which is currently ranked number 601 in the world.

    “Altruism and the underpinning patriotic contribution to national development and more so inclusive education must take the front seat as the main objective for establishing public universities,’’ he said.

    He pointed out that such underfunding of universities and other higher institutions was the basis for incessant strike actions by workers which deny the sector and the nation the desired growth and development.

    He said: “If not for ASUU’s agitation during the time of Prof Attahiru Jega as National President in days of Gen Ibrahim Babangida to think outside the box for the funding of tertiary institutions, nobody knows what could have been the fate of education in Nigeria today”.

    Prof Bogoro, who is currently a lecturer at the Department of Animal Science at ATBU, Bauchi, said: “Once development is not inclusive, it is not sustainable. Therefore, government must ensure that the less privileged are included and benefit educationally.’’

    He suggested that if state governments would religiously apply funding laws that require them along with local governments to contribute specific annual budgetary funds to their universities for 10 to 20 years, the impact would help in reducing their subsequent financial obligations.

    The former TETfund boss lamented the problem of access to higher education as manifested by the inability of universities to admit all qualified candidates, seeking admissions into higher institutions in the country.

  • N/East and Sustainable development

    SIR: As part of measures to restructure the north east region, the Senate recently passed the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) Bill into law. The bill empowers the federal government to set up an independent commission to fast-track the rehabilitation and development of the states in the North-east devastated by insurgency. The states to benefit are Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba, Kano and Plateau states. The fund to restructure the region is expected to come from a 3% allocation of the country’s Value Added Tax (VAT) for a 10-year period.

    This determination by the federal government and the National Assembly (NASS) to initiate laws to support the restructuring of the devastated north east region, and bring succour to the IDPs in the region, should be seen as a welcome development. In the last six years, the region has witnessed heavy economic devastation following the activities of insurgency. Several thousands of lives have been lost and displaced from their homes, while properties worth billions of dollars have been damaged in the region. The kidnap of over 200 school girls in Chibok since two years, some of whom have been released, was one of several incidents that took the sail off the winds of the ship of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

    For us to understand the critical issues to be addressed in the North-east, let us juxtapose the situation there with that of the Niger Delta.  In the case of the Niger Delta region, there are still indications of rising tension despite the creation of the Ministry of Niger Delta (MND) and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). These institutions have yielded little contributions to the growth of the region, since their creation over a decade ago. The region has gulped about $40billion which came from oil companies, Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, 13% derivation and other intervention funds. The region has struggled to annex its potential and liberate the people from poverty, unemployment, insecurity-borne out of increasing militancy, and humanitarian crisis. Leaders in the region have continued to enrich themselves at the detriment of the ordinary people. The lack of accountability and transparency, politicization, poor implementation of projects, has worsened the environment and deepened poverty rather than bring peace in the host communities. Consequently, the people in the Niger Delta region have become poorer than they were even before the commissions were established. A critical example is the state of oil pollution in Ogoni land, which has crippled the economic sources in the region, bringing untold hardship to the people.

    To avert such malicious experience of the Niger Delta from repeating itself, the NEDC must do everything it can to dismantle the obnoxious Almajiri caste system. Rather than blame the plight of children in the North-east to the insurgency, let us look inwards and tell ourselves the truth: that years before the Boko Haram insurgency the Almajiri caste system had already confined the life of the boy-child to one of uncertainty. On a good day, the boy-child in the North East is usually left to the battle with the elements. Left without food and decent clothing and recreation, he easily becomes prey to powerful religious predators lurking in the wings that will use him to foment trouble. Therefore, if the recent bill passed into law for the North East will be expected to deliver on the quality of life of the people especially of the children, that caste system should be tossed out of the window.

    Furthermore, the NEDC must be fully committed and focused on establishing infrastructure such as good roads, housing, information technology centres, building of schools, primary health care centres, address ecological challenges, support agriculture and technology industries, among other issues Germaine to rebuilding the region.

    Also, the newly established Presidential Committee on the Northeast Initiative (PCNI) – must be ready to provide effective coordination and support, towards addressing the humanitarian crisis. There must be plans to resettle and reconstruct the region, as well as the installation of social and public services due to the massive destruction of public and private infrastructure. Both agencies must work hand-in-hand to sustain the effective management of resources within their jurisdiction and avoid duplication of roles.

     

    • Charles Iyare,

    Benin City.

  • 193 UN member-nations okay strategy for sustainable cities

    The development of cities and towns across the world has received a boost. A new framework expected to set the world on a course of sustainable urban development has been adopted at the Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador.

    The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who led the country’s delegation to the conference, called for urgent action to sustain development of the growing urban population.

    Fashola, at the conference, explained that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, has demonstrated renewed political will to install a functioning urban system through the pursuance of efficient, transparent and accountable governance, including progressive economic reforms that are directed at creating jobs, reducing poverty and promoting stability. These are essential elements to sustain growth and development.

    “The National Housing and Urban Development Policies have been reviewed, with the incorporation of new development strategies for dealing with the pertinent issues of housing finance, climate change, resettlement, participatory governance, and better land management and administration,” he said.

    It was a memorable gathering for participating countries as the 24-page document, which took four months to negotiate before it was finalised in September, was not altered in Quito. The new urban agenda is a non-binding but global framework, which last month was agreed to by all 193- Member states of the United Nations.

    The agenda stressed that tackling air pollution in cities is good both for peoples’ health and for the planet and through it, leaders have committed to increase their use of renewable energy, provide better and greener public transport, and sustainably manage their natural resources.

    Among the key provisions are a call for equal opportunities for all; an end to discrimination; cleaner cities; strengthening resilience and reducing carbon emissions; fully respecting the rights of migrants and refugees regardless of their status; improving connectivity and green initiatives, and promoting “safe accessible and green public spaces.”

    In signing the declaration, UN Member States are committing to action over the next 20 years, to improve all areas of urban life through the Quito Implementation Plan, in support of the outcomes of Habitat III and the New Urban Agenda.

    “We have analysed and discussed the challenges that our cities are facing and have agreed on a common roadmap for the 20 years to come,” Joan Clos, the Executive Director of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), told the closing plenary of the conference, which has drawn around 36,000 people from 167 different countries to the lush equatorial capital of Quito for the past six days.

    He said that the action-oriented outcome document, known as the New Urban Agenda, enshrined now in the ‘Quito Declaration on Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements for All,’ should be seen as an extension of the 2030 for Sustainable Development, agreed by 193 Member States of the UN in September 2015.

    “The New Urban Agenda is an ambitious agenda which aims at paving the way towards making cities and human settlements more inclusive,” said Mr. Clos, who also served as the Secretary-General of the conference, adding that it would ensure “everyone can benefit from urbanisation, paying particular attention to those in those in vulnerable situations.”

    Above all, he said, it was a “commitment that we will all together take the responsibility of one another and the direction of the development of our common urbanizing world.”

    Clos reminded the world gathering of national leaders; mayors, civil society representatives; non-governmental organisations (NGOs), urban development experts, and other stakeholders that “we will have to act for these commitments.”

  • ‘Agric data vital for sustainable development’

    Nigeria must improve the quality and quantity of its data on agriculture if it is to continue meeting the demands of a growing population, a consultant to the World Bank, Prof Abel Ogunwale, has said.

    Ogunwale of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTHEC), Ogbomoso, stressed that strengthening agriculture statistics is crucial to long-term development of the sector.

    He said data was vital for effective planning and strategy as they determine the nature of agricultural and rural development policies in the region.

    According to him, the  government needs reliable baseline information on determining the implementation strategies while availability of accurate comparable agricultural data would enable farmers to make better production and marketing choices. This, in turn, will boost productivity and incomes.

    He said the industry could not provide  reliable information on crop and livestock production, trade, stock, and animal feed to estimate food availability and address food vulnerability issues.

    He stressed that  accurate  and quality statistics  would  help the  overall effort to improve the sector’s competitiveness through raising productivity, product quality and the value added to the products.

    Ogunwale noted that agriculture is still the backbone of the economy, playing an important role in stabilising the macro-economy.

    However, he said there were some shortcomings, such as poor planning, unrealistic policies and lack of speed in applying technology in production.

    Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organisation Global Office (FAO GO) of the Global Strategy has  conducted a comprehensive exercise to capture all projects related to agricultural and rural statistics recorded last year .

    The results of the exercise would enable stakeholders to better understand the state of statistical capacity in agriculture, rural development and food security at global, regional, and country levels. It is envisaged that resource partners and implementers will be able to improve coordination, reduce duplication, align activities with institutional strategies and, ultimately, enhance country level activities.

    The GO compiled the list of global, regional and country-based projects from recognised sources of information on agriculture, food security, rural development, and statistical capacity-building. These sources include FAO’s Field Project Management Information System (FPMIS), the Partner Report on Support to Statistics (PRESS) produced by PARIS21, multilateral agencies, regional development banks, and bilateral government agencies. Projects encompass activities related to agriculture, food security, and rural statistics in the form of capacity development, data collection and information system projects.

    Last year , 106 active agricultural statistics projects were identified for a total amount of  $ 311,208,826. The amount reflects the entire lifecycle of a project, as long as it was active during any period last year. More than 40 per cent of the number of projects and total amount was allocated to the Africa region.

  • Achieving sustainable reform

    It is common for civil society organisations (CSOs) and groups campaigning for reforms to identify challenges with government systems and governance processes then suggest possible solutions. This can only bear fruit with governments willing to listen, and collaborate. Increasingly, such campaigns rarely achieve set goals as at when needed, consuming more time and resources in instances where any result is achieved.

    So do collaboration work? Can organisations and people advocating for change work collaboratively with government to achieve desired changes or reforms in line with the wishes of the larger population? I can say it is difficult when reform campaigners and civil society organisations begin trying to work with government, even though not an impossible undertaking. The difficulty is in part driven by the fear that the organisations’ credibility will be questioned by the very public they serve. There is also a problem if a lack of the capacity required to collaboratively work with government exists, as well as the moot point that governments change, more so with officials in selective posts who are changed at the whims of their principal.

    However, the challenges faced by the citizens leave no room for self-doubt or undue hesitation over these difficulties; we are required not only to speedily identify challenges and articulately suggest solutions, but to roll up our sleeves to put in the manual work towards reforming governments at all levels.

    Collaboration, in my experience, works best when government institutions are led by reform-conscious officials who will be more receptive when solutions are not merely mooted, but implementation frameworks and partnerships are simultaneously offered. It is that tangible leap from saying “this is the problem” to adding: “these are the exact steps we could take together to eradicate it” that puts the action in collaboration.

    For example, in 2015, BudgIT intentionally chose to broaden its adoption of this approach, working with the Kaduna State Government on Nigeria’s first Open Budget platform, with the Nigerian Police Force Intelligence Bureau on intelligence data gathering and analysis, as well as with several government agencies in the security sector (in partnership with Public and Private Development Centre as lead) on guidelines for classifying security information with respect to FOI and the Nigerian Police Headquarters on a mapping of Police Stations in Lagos.

    I am aware of the work that Public and Private Development Centre did with Open Contracting Data Standards using their recently built procurement tool www.budeshi.org which led to the recent announcement of government adoptionof Open Contracting Data Standards; and the collaboration between Right to Know Nigeria (R2K) and Bureau for Public Sector Reformto build an online FOI platformfor the bureau.

    For organisations looking to use these methods, it is critical to: identify a champion, ambassador or “face” within the government institution clearly looking to implement reforms; prove then communicate your clear and unbiased understanding of the solutions being proffered; evaluate your capacity to carry out the work and find the resources required to implement the ideas. Where capacity is lacking, it is important to find similarly-driven partners who can help. Collaboration is an opportunity to invest your resources, and it is advised that the only gain should be seeing tangible change take root.

    Reforming government through collaboration comes with organisational risks and is not — and should never be — an opportunity for financial gain from government. Regarding these risks, care must be taken to ensure that the values of the organisation are not compromised at any stage and the CSO must ensure it remains open about the collaboration at all stages of the project. Carrying the public along will ensure that their questions are answered, doubts cleared and the focus is persistently sharp, giving advocacy and reforms more bite.

    It is pertinent to seek donors; avoid the exchange of money, especially between governments and your organisation. This will ensure operational independence to implement relevant reforms to the best of your ability. Just as important is this: do not overstate what will be achieved. Rather, start with the simplest things to show what is possible, build trust and continue to improve on previous achievements, as project lifespans can be extended.

    Funding collaborations with government institutions can be challenging, so early planning during programme design with donors and funding partners is essential. Donors understandably always have ideas about what they want to fund and have restrictions on what their funds can be used for. Therefore, it must be reiterated that CSOs must carefully design programmes in such a way that it will meet donor conditions and simultaneously assist recipient organisations implement reform.

    This approach, of collaboration and working for the people with the right government champion can lead to positive and lasting reforms that outlive government officials. There is an assurance that is established once initial success is achieved. It wins over any individuals initially opposed to the reforms, opens the gate for more to be done, bags you a seat at the table and earns you a reputation as an organisation that gets things done.

    If there is one thing I must say from my experience of working on institutional engagement programmes it would be this: with collaboration, it is never about the CSO, but about the people they seek to represent.

    Therefore, in the name of democracy there can be no enemies when the goal is reform. If we must name one, then our collective enemy in the struggle for a better life for our fellow citizens should be: institutional opacity.

     

    • Achonucoordinates Open Alliance Nigeria – a group of CSOs working on Open Government Partnership. He writes from Lagos.

  • Keys to sustainable wealth, by Inyang

    Christians must position themselves to explore the various wealth creation opportunities around them, the Senior Pastor of Sure Word Assembly Lagos, Dr Dennis Inyang has stated.

    He spoke at the Access to Wealth Creation Conference 2016 by the church in Lagos with the theme creating wealth in a depressed economy.

    Inyang said the gospel of Jesus is holistic, stating the same grace that saves is the one that grants access to healing, wholeness, prosperity and long life.

    He noted the way out of poverty or lack does not rest on the shoulders of government but individuals who understand the economy and are able to explore them effectively.

    According to him: “It is sad that many youths come out of school without jobs; the economy is biting hard and worst still many youths do not have the required skills and creativity to explore the various potentials in the market which need urgent attention.”

    He challenged youths to rise above the frustration in the system by strategically locating how they can earn satisfactory incomes.

    Inyang added that the difference between prosperity and materialism is purpose because anything can be abused if there is no proper understanding of its purpose.

    “If you acquire wealth to put it to good use, helping the poor and needy, creating jobs for the common good, making a difference in the society or your community, investing in the expansion of God’s kingdom and such other things, that is not materialism,” he explained.

    On reason for the summit, he said: “It is the will of God that we prosper and because of that we want to equip the people with God’s way of creating wealth

    “We want to encourage entrepreneurship and teach God’s people biblical principles for wealth creation. We teach good money skills and investment options.”

    He pointed out the high rate of corruption in the system will be reduced if the church teaches people the best way to create wealth without stealing or compromising their faith and conviction.

    In his lecture, the Chief Executive Officer of Business Incorporated SGS Inspection Services Nigeria Limited, Mr. Emeka challenged Nigerians to tap into the various opportunities in the exporting market.

    “From available data in the world, only a few counties in the world can match Nigeria’s endowment in terms of natural resources. Nigeria cocoa has the best flavor in the world better than Ghana, Cameroon,” he stated.

  • N165b monthly salaries not sustainable, says Adeosun

    The N165 billion monthly salaries to federal civil servants was over-bloated and could no longer be sustained by government,  the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has said.

    The Minister, who spoke at a meeting with the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN)  hosted by her counterpart in the Ministry of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the figure, represented 40 per cent of the total spending of government, an amount she claimed, was too high.

    She pointed out that government was pursuing aggressive measures to detect and eventually prosecute ghost workers and other saboteurs in the system that have resulted in the malaise.

    “We spend 165 billion every month on salaries and when I came in there was no checking.

    “Now, we have created a Unit assigned with the sole responsibility of checking the salaries and catching those behind the over bloated salaries,’’ she said.

    Mrs. Adeosun said the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) introduced by the previous administration was faulty and sabotaged by the elements benefitting from the salary fraud, adding that many Federal Government establishments, including the Police were yet to be captured in the system.

    It is shocking that the Nigerian Railway Corporation which was not fully functioning, still had 10,000 workers in its payroll serviced by government, she said, assurring that government would correct the anomalies in the payroll system and weed out all ghost workers in the service.

    Mrs. Adeosun said the fiscal focus of the administration is to ensure an economic growth that would be measured on job creation and productive sectors.

    “The economy is not measured by how many private jets we have, but how many jobs we create People must be productive for the economy to grow,” she said.

    She expressed disappointment that Nigeria has been a consumer economy, stressing, “we want to be productive and stop buying everything from abroad. We have been borrowing to pay salaries for years and that has to stop because it is not sustainable.”

    She said last year, the nation spent N64 billion on travelling and only N90 billion on roads. Travelling does not grow the economy and this must also stop,’’ she stressed.

    Mrs. Adeosun said that the compound Gross Domestic Product ( GDP) of the country has been growing negatively in the last 10 years, staing that the administration is working to correct the trend.

    Also, the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh said government would reposition the agricultural sector to become the mainstay of the economy.

    “The ministry will give policy direction and coordination to make farming attractive and for people to practice it as business,” he said. adding that government will put policy in place to recover the $22 billion which is floating out of the country’s resources to sustain farms in other countries.

    He said government will also ensure that banks review the two digits interest rate on loan to farmers and other productive sectors.

    Ogbeh assured that the Change promised may appear to be slow, but it is actually taking place, he said saying that year, the country has harvested a million tons of rice..

    The Minister of the Environment, Amina Mohammed said government would complete the clean-up of the Ogoni land in the next one year and ensure the degraded land was revived for productive purposes.

    She said the Great Green Wall project of planting trees to control desert encroachment would also be given priority by the administration.

  • ‘Creativity, innovation key to sustainable enterprises’

    ‘Creativity, innovation key to sustainable enterprises’

    Without creativity and innovation, business enterprises will stagnate and the much-need sustainable economic growth and development will not be achieved, the newly elected President/Chairman of Council, The Institute of Business Development (IBD), Prof Ifeanyi Achumba, has said.

    Delivering a paper titled “Survival is not enough” during his investiture/induction of members and Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, Achumba said innovation is key to sustainable success in an increasing competitive world.

    Insisting that enterprises must rapidly and repeatedly re-invent themselves to survive competition, he said the economic environment requires renewed dynamism in approach, adding that creativity and innovation are the new tonic or name of the game.

    According to him, only discerning organisations can manage the inherent changes in the new environment.

    Achumba, who stated that the on-going reforms of the Federal Government should be reinvigorated to achieve the desired objective of being less-dependent on imported goods, materials, services and technology, however, added that: “Our success, therefore, will depend on the seriousness with which enterprises undertake creative and innovative activities in terms of indigenising inputs, sourcing and developing new indigenous products.”

    He said the society would benefit tremendously from individual enterprises undertaking innovative and creative activities, hence, they  should not be left to government agencies to execute.

    “It therefore, becomes imperative for an enterprise to continuously challenge itself to finding new and better ways of doing the old thing or in fact, create new ways of doing new things,” he stated.

    Promising to bring his wealth of experience to bear on his new position, he made a case for an inward-looking strategy to move the country forward.

    The highpoint of the event was the induction of four members made up of three associates and one fellow.

    The Registrar/CEO, IBD, Mr. Paul Ikele, said the induction was an aspect of the institute’s continued professional development to ensure that members acquire new knowledge to develop themselves and grow the institute. He said the fellows were expected to bring the knowledge from their various organisations to bear on it.

    Ikele said the institute’s plan is to continuously innovate and be pro-active and creative, as well as think deeper on how to turn around the economic fortunes of Nigeria so it  can compete with other developed countries. “We want to build that edge to ensure we key in,” he told The Nation, on the sideline of the induction.

    IBD’s immediate past President/Chairman of Council Mr. Ifeanyi Obibuzor agreed with him, noting that there is a need to make the institute more visible. “We have to be more aggressive and reach out to the media. We also need to take our institutional problems and begin to solve them. We must look into the challenges of the small and medium businesses that have survived under this environment,” he said.

    Giving his scorecard as the third president, Obibuzor said the institute under his watch acquired a befitting office. He also said the its membership drive led to an improvement in membership.

    He charged the new president to build on the achievements of his administration, saying, “We need to look at long term planning as an Institute and as a nation and then access what we have done, the gaps and how to bridge them.”

  • Holistic medicine key to sustainable health

    Holistic medicine key to sustainable health

    A natural health practitioner, Dr Gilbert Ezengige, has advocated holistic medicine for the treatment of diseases. Holistic medicine identifies (diagnoses) and treats diseases from the roots (causes).

    According to Dr Ezengige, this form of medicine allows practitioners to diagnose the major causes of patients’ illnesses because, “that is the best way for treating the problem and preventing future occurrences of diseases. Palliative measures would not take anybody anywhere”.

    Besides, this principle impresses on heathcare service providers the responsibility to ensure that all diagnostic and therapeutic procedures carried out on a patient are safe.

    “The procedures should not worsen a patient’s health status. If this advice is taken seriously by health care givers, over 80 per cent of iatrogenic (doctor- induced) disorders would not occur.

    “The father of modern medicine, Hippocrates says, “If a doctor can’t help, he should be prevented from doing harm”.

    Ezengige said holistic medicine embraces the healing power of nature.

    Moreover, the duty of health practitioners is to facilitate and augment a well-ordered, intelligent and natural healing process.

    “Care givers should facilitate the healing process as they are known to enhance it with their timely intervention. They do not start the healing process because it is inbuilt. The cells in the body follow the inbuilt healing programme as instituted by God and executed by the natural forces.

    “Holistic health care providers at best imitate nature’s ways and cooperate with her to dispense healing to the sick,” he said.

    Holistic medicine practitioners, he said, make out time to teach their patients healthy lifestyles.

    “Some time is devoted to teaching the patient or educating him about his diseases and most especially the role he or she is expected to play towards recovery and indeed good health. The healing approach allows treatment to be directed to the person’s mind, body and soul,” he said.

    Other benefits of Holistics healing,according to Dr Ezengige are, “Adequate attention paid by practitioners to his patient’s words, non-verbal heart transmissions (often sensed by conscientious practitioners), gesticulation, demeanor, carriage, voice and tone. Having identified the area of his clients’ life requiring urgent attention, the practitioner consequently incorporates or modifies his treatment plan to cater specifically for those needs.”

    He said holistic medicine places emphasis  on prevention rather than cure. “This is because prevention of diseases is cheaper and more noble (very befitting of humanity) than seeking for cure. Methods of disease prevention are among the top priorities for holistic medicine practitioners. If all the sophistication, technological ingenuity and efforts are geared towards the development of modern medicine therapeutics and research pursuits channeled in the direction of preventive medicine, the world would become a better place for all,” Ezengige said.