The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Unhealthy

  • Kaka: it’s unhealthy for stable politics

    FORMER Ogun State Deputy Governor Senator Gbenga Kaka yesterday bemoaned the defection of  some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the National Assembly(NA) to the opposition political parties, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC).

    He said the development would not augur well for the “stability” of the  nation’s politics.

    Kaka, who represented Ogun East at the Senate from 2011 to 2015, however, added that the defection of the APC lawmakers during plenaries at the chambers of the upper and lower chambers was not a thing of surprise.

    Speaking with reporters at the main campus of the Olabisi Obabanjo University (OOU), Ago – Iwoye, Ogun State, about the development, the senator said a good number of party members knew that defecting to PDP was the game plan with the formation of Buba Galadima – led Reformed – APC.

    He expressed worry that the action of the lawmakers could erode the power of political parties to achieve supremacy over members or enforce discipline on them.

     

  • Location of Olusosun dump site unhealthy, Ambode insists

    Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, on Friday justified the decision of the state government to shut down the Olusosun dumpsite in Ojota, saying the location of the facility was no longer healthy both for trading activities and residents living in the neighbourhood. He spoke while addressing scavengers and other workers at the site following the outbreak of fire on Wednesday, saying the negative health implication of the site to the people is grave.

    The governor, who was visiting the site for the second time since the fire outbreak, said though it was gratifying that there was no casualty, the closure of the site became necessary owing to the need to forestall future occurrence and protect the health of residents. “What we have decided now is that there will not be dumping of refuse here any longer. But the most important aspect of it is that I cannot open my eyes and allow diseases to befall you here.

    “We might say we are looking for what we want to eat but may God not allow us to see what will harm or kill us. I don’t want to stop your trade but I also don’t want to fold my arms and allow diseases befall you. You may not have diseases now, but you see in this area, there is no way you can say you are looking for money without contending with series of hazards and a clear example is the fire outbreak,” the governor said.

    Also speaking, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kehinde Bamigbetan, said the visit of the governor and the decision of the state government to shut down the site was to protect the people and the environment and to ensure their health and safety. While directing waste collection operators to make use of the landfill site at Ewu Elepe in Ikorodu and that of Epe, Bamigbetan also unveiled plans to transform Olusosun dumpsite into parks and gardens.

    “Consequently, waste collection operators are directed to use the landfill site at Owu Elepe in Ikorodu and the second one in Epe. The government has also decided to fence the site. Other efforts to contain the situation include the decommissioning of the site to facilitate alternative use for parks and gardens and other projects. This action is in line with the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) of this administration and conforms with international best practices,” Bamigbetan said.

     

  • Before unhealthy rivalry ruins Taraba

    There is no doubt that many Taraba politicians are already thinking about  2019, which is why it should be expected that truth may become a casualty of the battle for political power. But in the interest of well-meaning Taraba indigenes, it is important to set the record straight regarding allegations of non-performance levelled against Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku recently at a reception held for Senator Joel Danlami Ikenya and some of his loyalists who had just defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    It is also necessary to clarify many of the false claims made against the governor at the event so that he does not fall victim to the timeless saying that if falsehood is allowed to fester, it will don the gab of truth.

    By a stroke of magic, a ceremony purportedly meant to announce the defection of Ikenya from PDP to APC tuned into a forum for defamation and vilification of Governor Ishaku’s person. In their self-imposed task of assessing Ishaku’s performance, the gathering resorted to unprovoked attacks on the state’s chief executive. In a session that smacked of a campaign of calumny, the defectors took turns to embark on specious and tendentious criticism of the governor, waving him off as a non-performer who had failed to deliver on his campaign promises.

    For instance, Ahmed Yusuf, a former Commissioner of Finance in the state, described Governor Ishaku as “the worst performing governor ever in Taraba since 1991.” In his speech at the occasion, he added: “I have been part of all the administrations in Taraba State since 1991, and I can say with authority after an honest assessment that this is the worst regime ever in Taraba State. We are passing through the worst time where huge and colossal sums of funds (sic) are being wasted by the present administration. But today marks a watershed in the political history of Taraba State, given the calibre of personalities who have gathered here to cause a change and move Taraba State forward.”

    In a speech that reeked of self-indictment, Ikenya, who boasted that he was instrumental to the emergence of Ishaku as the state’s governor in the 2015 elections, said he did not know that he and other people who supported the governor’s candidacy in 2015 were packaging cassava for the people whose need was yam. “We are the people who caught the lion from the forest; we are the ones to unleash it,” he boasted in veiled reference to the impending battle for the governorship seat of the state in 2019. Identifying education as the bedrock of any country’s development, Ikenya accused the Ishaku administration of not paying teachers their salaries as and when due.

    He said: “A director in the civil service who has put in 25 years is no longer paid; he has been branded as a ghost worker. Special advisers in Taraba State have become revenue collectors. The condition is so bad that people can no longer afford to give offerings in church, not to talk of paying school fees. The people are complaining and crying everywhere in Taraba State. That is why I have come back to APC with all my supporters to see how we can fix the state.”

    Going by Ikenya’s own admission, there is no doubt that the battle for the soul of Taraba State in the 2019 elections is at the bottom of the coarse invectives hauled at Governor Ishaku at the said ceremony in Wukari. Fair-minded Tarabans are bound to marvel at the web of untruth and half-truth woven around Ishaku to portray him as a non-performing governor. A cursory visit to Jalingo, the state capital, would reveal the massive rehabilitation works the governor is doing on the network of township roads. These include the Jalingo to Kona and Lau; the road from Magami to Moqoi market as well as the one from Works Roundabout to Palace Way, to mention a few.

    Outside the state capital, the reconstruction of the all-important Bali-Serti-Gembu Road has reached about 90 per cent completion. The administration has also told everyone who cares to listen that the problem of potable water in the state was being addressed in collaboration with the African Development Bank (ADB). And contrary to the allegation that the governor has no time for education, a simple example of the governor’s effort in this direction is the construction of an office block for the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to enhance the services of the examination body in the state. With this, WAEC candidates from Taraba State can register for their West African Schools Certificate Examination (WASCE) without travelling to Yola, the capital of neighbouring Adamawa State. It is to Ishaku’s credit that the Wukari General Hospital was rehabilitated for the first time since 1962.

    The staff audit exercise over which the opposition is calling Ishaku out for crucifixion is nothing but an effort to fish out the ghost workers in the state’s civil service who over the years have constituted themselves into cankerworms that are eating very deeply into the state’s finances.

    Given the foregoing few examples, true Tarabans would be shocked at the bare-faced lies being orchestrated against the Ishaku administration.

    In a nation whose constitution guarantees freedom of association as a fundamental right, Senator Ikenya and his supporters reserve the right to remain with the PDP or defect from it. After all, it is said that 20 children cannot play together for 20 years. This, however, is not a licence for the campaign of calumny against the governor. Ikenya and his supporters do not have to give a dog a bad name and hang him.  While it must be admitted that rivalry is the soul of politics, such rivalry must be healthy for Taraba State to make progress.

     

    • Patrick, a media consultant, lives in Abuja 
  • Wike to youths: shun unhealthy conduct

    Wike to youths: shun unhealthy conduct

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike yesterday enjoined youths to shun unhealthy conduct and be patriotic.

    He spoke at the permanent orientation camp of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at Nonwa/Gbam Tai  in Tai Local Government while welcoming over 2,940 corps members for the Batch B Stream 2 camping.

     Speaking through the Secretary to the State Government, Chief Kenneth Kobani, Wike said the essence of the programme was to reorient youths to work in line with the developmental agenda of the government.

    He said: “The one year ahead holds a lot of challenges as you will be required to join government’s efforts in mobilising and sensitising your host communities toward understanding and embracing our reform programmes.

    “Your skills and services will be required in our fight against HIV/AIDS scourge, provision of free legal service for the less privileged, sensitisation of the public on human rights, enhancing the education standard of your host communities, promoting and sustaining healthy environment, promoting and providing medical services for rural dwellers, supporting agro allied activities in your host communities, creating awareness on disaster management, among others.”

    The governor urged corps members to make efforts that would stand the test of time.

    He advised them to be hardworking, and dedicated to the national assignment, noting that the state would provide support for the programme’s success.

     ”I expect you to build on the legacies your predecessors have left in the interest of our country. I enjoin you to exhibit the highest level of loyalty, dedication, discipline and commitment to the nation.

     ”You must take a decision to abandon any past unhealthy conduct and disposition and become hardworking, forward-looking, caring, motivated and patriotic members of the society,” Wike said.

    NYSC state Coordinator Mr. Omotayo Adewoye hailed the government for getting the camp ground ready.

    He said at the close of registration on Wednesday night, 2,940 youths, comprising 1,106 men and 1,830 women, were registered, adding that some corps members deployed in the state were yet to be registered.

  • ‘Airlines’ de-marketing unhealthy for growth‘

    ‘Airlines’ de-marketing unhealthy for growth‘

    An aviation expert, Captain John Okakpu, has warned players in the aviation sector to desist from de-marketing airlines, describing such as an unhealthy trend  for the industry.

    Okakpu, who is Chief Executive Officer (CEO), ABX Cargo, said it was wrong for players in the sector to pull down any airline by insinuating that such carrier flies aircraft that are not properly maintained.

    He was reacting to public outcry over alleged negligence of Arik Air aircraft maintenance.

    Okakpu said people spreading such misinformation about Arik Air do not have the interest of the sector at heart, saying such destructive and baseless allegations were counterproductive.

    The expert said such allegation would damage public support and confidence in the sector.

    Okakpu said safety was the first obligation of any airline, adding that in the present circumstances, Arik is the only structured airline in West Africa with state-of-the-art maintenance facility.

    He said: “As a stakeholder in this industry, it beats my imagination for some people to believe wholeheartedly that Arik would play down on safety, knowing very well that any slight mistake leads to catastrophe.

    “Though the airline has made clarification on the maintenance status of its aircraft, it is still quite instructive to plead with Nigerians not to kill this ‘baby’ through rumour mongering.

    “As a stakeholder in the aviation industry, I can’t feign ignorance of the fact that flights are delayed or cancelled, leaving bad impressions on the minds of passengers. But that is totally different from ignoring safety measures.

    “It is not only unpatriotic, but malicious and total sabotage for someone to make such baseless allegations just to deceive the public.”

    He said should Arik depart from ICAO set standards, experts will call on the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to exercise its regulatory powers.

    Meanwhile, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has warned industry stakeholders to avoid anti-competitive practices in the sector.

    The warning was contained in a statement by the regulatory authority’s spokesman, Sam Adurogboye.

    He said the NCAA is getting worried over recent cases of disinformation prevalent in the industry.

    Adurogboye said it was unfathomable that some questionable sources have been posting and circulating some fictitious stories about some airlines – insinuating a crash or claiming a particular carrier does not possess aircraft spares to sustain a safe operation, using the online platform.

    The NCAA, he said only recently carried out a safety audit on Arik Air and no issue of safety concern was found.

    He warned: “All those involved in this nefarious activity should promptly desist from this course of action as the consequences is seriously detrimental to the industry, particularly the confidence of the passengers.

    “The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is well aware of the high volume of passenger movement within the country and from the Diaspora during the yuletide season.

    “NCAA’s Aviation Safety Inspectors (ASI) have, therefore, embarked on increased surveillance on Airline operations in addition to our daily Ramp inspection diligently carried out so as not to leave room for anyone to cut corners.”

    Also, the management of Arik Air has countered effort to de-market it by those that may have axe to grind with the company, claiming that the airline does not adhere to the maintenance schedule of its fleet.

    In a statement, its spokesman, Adebanji Ola denounced the allegation.

    Ola said the airline has led the pack in adhering to international safety and operational regulations, using modern aircraft in addition to having high maintenance and safety standards.

    Ola said: “This is evident in the airline achieving the stringent IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) four consecutive times with the last two audits cleared successfully without any findings. This achievement has also earned Arik Air, EIOSA (Enhanced IATA Operational Safety Audit), making it the only airline in West and Central Africa regions to have such certification.

    “The airline operates the youngest fleet in West Africa with an average hull age of 7.8 years and has an existing contract with world renowned maintenance providers such as Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Cityline under full “turnkey” maintenance service contracts and other leading maintenance service providers such as SAMCO Engineering, South African Airways (SAA) Technical and Ethiopia Engineering.

    “Arik Air also maintains a well-stocked spares parts store with market value of over 250 Million USD.

    “The Maintenance/ Engineering department of Arik Air has been audited severally by external auditors from the oil and gas sector, who have attested to the airline’s provision of a safe and reliable aircraft operation, first class planning, efficient spares holding, whilst increasing aircraft utilisation with no compromise on safety.

    “This department is responsible for reliability monitoring, original equipment manufacturers service letters and American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) notifications, ensuring Arik Air’s fleet is maintained according to standards complimenting air worthiness at all times.

    “We appeal to our guests to ignore any message alleging that the airline’s aircraft are not well maintained.”

  • CPC tackles unhealthy foods, advertisements

    CPC tackles unhealthy foods, advertisements

    As consumer organisations all over the world continue to celebrate World Consumer Rights Day, which came up last Sunday, the federal government has been called upon to come up with statutory regulations to discourage unhealthy foods and their advertisements.

    The call was made by the Consumer Protection Council, Lagos, during a symposium in Lagos to mark the consumer day.

    The theme for this year’s Consumer Day celebration has been aptly titled ‘Consumer’s Right to Healthy Foods’ as Consumer International, the umbrella body of over 220 consumer federations and organisations, seeks ways to inculcate healthy eating habits into people’s life style.

    The international organisation, of which Nigeria is a member, noted that unhealthy diets have been linked to four of the ten biggest causes of death in the world.

    According to their reports, “unhealthy diet is linked to obesity, high blood pressure, high glucose and high cholesterol. Obesity alone is estimated to cost the world $2 trillion annually.”

    Recent reports from the World Health Organisation (WHO) also stated that while the global obesity figure stood at 1.6 billion in 2005, about 2.3 billion adults are likely to be overweight this year.

    Other health implications, experts warned, include arteries destruction when unhealthy fast foods are consumed over a long time. Junk foods also deplete energy. They reduce immunity to fight disease. The additives used in making most fast foods to enhance appearance, taste, flavours and texture are mostly dangerous in the body.

    In Nigeria, the Consumer Protection Council of Nigeria kicked off the event on Friday, March 13th, with a presentation on consumers’ right to healthy foods in some selected mosques and Sunday, March 15th made presentations on the same topic in various churches.

    For instance, while top officials of the CPC Lagos office were at Saint Leo’s Catholic Church Ikeja and the Foursquare Gospel Church, OPIC Estate, Lagos, the Director General of the council, Dr. Dupe Atoki, spoke on the need for healthy foods at another church in, Abuja.

    Thereafter, there was the Walk for Health to create awareness, undertaken by the staff of CPC zonal offices including the head office on Monday, March 16th. This was then followed up by sensitisation talks in various schools like the Lagos Progressive Senior and Junior Secondary Schools, Surulere.

    The CPC Lagos office is also poised to visit more schools such as the Community Senior and Junior High Schools, Surulere, Ilupeju Senior Secondary School Oshodi, Ilupeju Junior Secondary School Oshodi, Sunnyside Schools Ilupeju and Penman College Ilupeju.

    Speaking with the CPC Lagos Head, Mr. Tam Tamunokonbia, last week after the Walk for Health programme in his office, he said that government should take deliberate steps to support the agencies assigned to protect the consumers to carry effective awareness programmes and come up with statutory regulations to discourage unhealthy foods and their advertisements.

    Lamenting the absence of effective regulations, he said that there is no standard labelling or packaging guidelines to determine what most eateries in Nigeria dish out to consumers.

    “Nutrition labelling on pre- packaged foods appears to be the trend, Nigeria cannot afford to be otherwise. Such labelling educates the consumers and fulfils his rights to both education and information.”

    The CPC Lagos Head also called on the food and beverage industry operatives to regulate their operations by maintaining health standards in their kitchens or factories by reducing their sugar, salt and addictive contents in their foods and drinks.

    “They also need to reduce their advertisement appeal, especially to children,” regretting that self regulation has not worked because of profit motive.

    However, he observed that self regulation and nutrition labelling cannot work in the absence of effective government statutory regulation. “Where the laws are silent, regulations should be enacted to meet the needs of consumers.”

    Emphasising that the CPC, NAFDAC, and SON are already protecting consumers in the food and drink industry, he urged them to collaborate to protect the consumers not only in asserting his rights but in protecting him from the clutches of manufacturers and vendors of unhealthy, unsafe fast and junk foods.

    Also speaking at a one-day symposium organised in Lagos by brand journalists to mark the World Consumer Day, Mr. Tamunokonbia noted that unhealthy food intake will ultimately deplete the national work force.

    Speaking at the symposium which seeks to unravel the ‘Implications of Unhealthy Food intake to National Development’, he argued that every nation develops with its human resources. “A nation that allows its generation of youths to be hacked down by unhealthy food-related diseases will soon run out of its work force to produce its wealth,” adding that “Health is Wealth”.

    Furthermore, he said that the majority of those who survive the ailments will hardly have enough strength to produce for the nation.

    The tradition of setting aside March 15th every year to celebrate the consumer can be traced to that date in 1962 when John F. Kennedy, then American President, addressed the parliament on Consumer Bill of Rights.

  • ‘Operating environment unhealthy for manufacturers’

    The operating environment remains challenging and it has affected the productivity and competitiveness of manufacturers who have to contend with rising production costs due to structural and institutional problems.

    The Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Muda Yusuf, who stated this in Lagos, said though the challenges persisted, they did not deter foreign direct investment into the country, as investors daily explore the country for investment purposes.

    Yusuf told The Nation that the economy has continued to post relatively good growth figures and has offered a large market for consumer goods.

    He however, regretted that leveraging on these opportunities is still a herculean task for investors, especially the indigenous entrepreneurs. He listed some of the challenges facing indigenous entrepreneurs in the country to include lack of electricity supply, insecurity and lack of access to credit.

    While noting that the power situation is still a major problem for businesses across all sectors, he said energy cost remains a major threat to business sustainability. He said expenditure on diesel and other fuels has continued to increase despite the power sector privatisation, lamenting that  profit margin of most firms is yet to improve due partly to rising cost of alternative power supply.

    He said the chamber’s 2014 Business Environment Survey revealed that key sectors in the economy like construction, agriculture, manufacturing, oil & gas, have experienced poor growth. He therefore, called on the National Electricity Commission (NERC) to urgently address the growing concerns of consumers over outrageous electricity bills.

    According to Yusuf, most Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) spend considerable sums on payment for power never supplied. He called for the review of fixed charges, insisting that it is an unfair demand on power consumers.

    Hear him: “Manufacturers, especially SMEs, still have major challenges such as worsening power supply, lack of access to credit, influx of fake and substandard products, and regulatory infractions, among others. He said with cost of fund generally hovering between 20 and 30 per cent, not many businesses can generate turnover to match the cost.”

    The LCCI DG also decried the security situation in the country, noting that it has assumed a global and disturbing dimension with implications on investment evidenced by declining investors’ confidence across the broad spectrum of domestic, foreign and prospective investors in the economy. This, he said, is aside from the negative impact on the image of the country globally. According to him, a number of businesses have been relocating from the troubled spots in the country, coupled with several abandoned projects and escalating humanitarian crisis.

  • Expert warns against unhealthy diet, lifestyle

    Expert warns against unhealthy diet, lifestyle

    Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)   have been warned against unhealthy feeding pattern and lifestyle.

    An expert on healthy living, Mrs Victoria Kayode, who is the founder of LivinMedia Nigeria Limited, gave the advice in Abuja at  a seminar she organised in conjunction with Baytit Investment Limited. The seminar was tagged ‘Reclaim your Health.

    In an interview with journalists at the seminar, which was held at Grace Point Resort Hotel, 7one 6, Wuse, the expert said she believed that it is better to stay healthy than looking for healing.

    Kayode, who lamented that majority of diseases and sicknesses that are prevalent today are as a result of intake of bad diets and bad lifestyle, said her passion to see people live well and make those that are sick get well, prompted her to go into the field.

    Her words: “We see people moving about with many conditions that are in a major way as a result of what they eat, what they do and what they fail to do, so we preach diet and lifestyle change”.

    She said her team has been teaching healthy living in churches, schools, mosque, offices, seminars, conferences, among others.

    However, it was the first time she was organising a free seminar for the general public in the FCT, while she disclosed plans to reach out to those at the grassroots.

    “We have been teaching healthy living as our own quota to bring to the barest minimum(if not to eradicate) sicknesses and diseases in our environment for the past eight years and we believe we still have much ground to cover”, she said.

    Highpoint of the event was talks on different health issues delivered by resource persons, blood pressure, height and body mass Index by experts and responses to questions on health asked by participants.

    While speaking on the topic Reclaim your Health, Reverend Tony Akinyemi advised Nigerians not to wait for diseases to strike before making moves.

    “We can pre-empt, prevent, be proactive and there are things we can do to stay healthy. There are preventable and avoidable diseases so everybody should be alive and awake to take the various responsibilities they have towards themselves in making sure we maintain a healthy nation because from a healthy nation we will have a healthy, productive workforce so that we can enhance our overall development as a nation,” the reverend said.

    Other resource persons who spoke at the seminar are Brigadier-General Abimbola Amusa, a doctor in the Nigerian Army who spoke on orthodox medicine and healthy living issues and Pastor Titi Somefun, who spoke on Look Fine but Unhealthy Inside.

  • Unhealthy competition worries insurers

    Stakeholders are worried that unhealthy competition in the industry may get worse this year, especially with the introduction of the ‘no premium no cover’ policy by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

    Chairman, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sir Sunny Nwosu, said the policy would create a ‘rat race’ among firms.

    He said insurance companies would find a way to retain their customers, whether premiums are paid immediately.

    “What is most likely going to happen is that, if one insurance company does not take the client and finds a way to do business with them, another company will do it,” saying the major problem that confronted insurance firms in the past had been the issue of undercutting each other and this is going to continue.

    ”There is no way NAICOM will be able to catch all those destroying the sector because they will do it in such a way that there will be no evidence to show,” he said.

    The Managing Director, Riskguard-Africa Nigeria Limited Mr Yemi Soladoye, said unless insurance operators adopt cost effective and non-volatile distribution channels, unhealthy competition would get worse.

    He said most problems in the industry are caused by operators’ refusal to adopt retail strategy as a business policy, adding that one way to get out of the problem is for firms to adopt retail marketing.

    He said operators tackle the unhealthy competition because they have boxed themselves into a narrow distribution outlet – the brokering market – adding that in such a situation, price becomes the only strategy.

    He noted that clients are asking for reduced price because they are yet to see any strategy from the operators, saying insurance companies concentrate on premium growth instead of market expansion.

    “The future and the solidity of the operators can only come from market expansion and not competing for the few available channels.

    “Unhealthy competition will get worse, until they look for better, cost effective and non-volatile distribution channels,” he said.

    According to the Riskguard chief, retail marketing strategies means that insurance firms can identify organisations they can partner with to reach the target market.

    “Bankassurance, which is collaborating with banks, is a retail channel. It also means engaging in alliances with organisations, such as Shoprite, Megaplaza and others, which are working with cooperative societies.

    He said though the channels are there, the market will not expand except they are adopted.

    ”There’s no alternative; it is compulsory, for they are feeling the bite of the narrow distribution outlet that they are using at the moment.

    “Most of the problems they face, which include high cost of doing business, premium reduction, unhealthy competition, are manifestations of the fact that they are using narrow distribution method. If you have an alternative, you would be able to do business on your own terms, but when you do not have alternatives, you have to achieve what ever any body tells you. That is the problem with the operators for they are not creating alternative distribution outlets for themselves,” he added.

    He urged insurers to return to the drawing board to examine their operations, adding that each company needs to sit and draw strategy on how to develop its business and adopt retail marketing strategy and that when this is done, issues of unhealthy competition, premium reduction and others will stop.