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Tag: vessels

  • Shippers suffer 88 attacks on vessels

    The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) said it recorded 88 attacks on vessels between 2017 and 2018.

    The Council said the attack, recorded in the Niger Delta region, has forced shipping companies to provide their own security and increase the cost of products shipped into the country.

    Following the attacks, the Nigerian Navy said 150 suspects were arrested for various maritime crimes in the last two years.

    The Council has however urged the Nigerian Navy to assist shipping firms to tackle security challenges in the maritime sector.

    NSC Executive Secretary, Hassan Bello, who spoke during a courtesy visit to the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ibas, said: “One of the major challenges in the maritime sector is security. We have received various complaints from the shipping companies who have been forced to provide their security to escort their vessels to port especially at the eastern port. In spite of their efforts, between 2017 and 2018, there has been 88 attacks in the Niger Delta.”

    On the implication of the security challenges, he said: “The cost of providing their own security is passed on to the consignee contributing to the high cost of the product market. Due to the high level of maritime security incidents in the Gulf of Guinea, the War Risk surcharge is imposed on Nigeria and this impacts on freight charged on Nigeria bound cargo.

    “The security challenges in the maritime sector contributes immensely to the competiveness of our nation’s ports, impedes trade and affect the nation’s gross domestic product.”

    Bello while noting that the nature of maritime security threats require collective security measures disclosed that a committee that will comprise of senior principal Naval officers and the Council would be set up to address the maritime challenges.

     

    He said: “We are going to have a committee made up of senior principal officers of the Navy and NSC to work out the details and see areas where we are going to collaborate. In addition to the various measures being put in place by the Navy and other relevant agencies, there is need for Navy to support the passage of Anti-piracy Bill into law.

    “The Navy need to provide a platform to be placed strategically offshore and guards transferred to each vessel in and then dropped off such that there is always armed naval security presence from about 80 nautical miles off Bonny fairway buoy up to Onne. This will replace the security escort service which members and other shipping companies are currently running.

    “The collaboration is aimed at making our economy stronger and with the protection we will give to merchant shipping, our economy will be stronger.”

    Also speaking, Vice Admiral Ibas disclosed that over 150 suspects were arrested for maritime offences in the last two years while over 130 vessels were seized for maritime crimes.

    He also noted that unhindered access in and out of the Apapa port would ease business and boost the economy.

    He said: “The Nigerian Navy remains committed to improving security in the nation’s maritime sector. If the ease of doing business is to be achieved, we need to look at the enforcement of political and legal framework.

    “We produced harmonised standard procedures on arrest, detention and prosecution of defaulters at sea. The document was launched by the Vice President but the operationalization of the document is what we require to get to the level of making the ease of doing business further enhanced and facilitated.

    On its challenges, Ibas said: “One area that has been of serious concern is enforcement of the harmonised Standard Operating procedure which was launched. In 2018, we arrested over 40 vessels and have in our custody over 150 suspects that we have handed over to various prosecuting agencies. For last year and the previous years alone, we had over 130 vessels seized or arrested for complicity or maritime crimes.”

     

  • Are your heart and blood vessels dying? (2)

    Going by responses to the first part of this series, POMEGRANATE should become one of the nutritional supplements many people challenged with heart ailments will look out for in 2018. Dr. Syed Zair Hussain, of Pakistan, aroused interest in Nigeria, with his experiments which showed how pomegranate helped many people in Pakistan to clear up heart diseases, some of which would have resulted in by-pass surgery. So confident has Dr. Hussain become about Pomegranate therapy that he has launched a campaign against by-pass surgery, claiming cardiologists were merely exploiting their patients by booking them for by-pass surgery to correct coronary heart blockage(s) and circulation dysfunction in the heart. In coronary heart by-pass surgery, an artery from another part of the body is sewn into a heart artery to by-pass the blockage and damaged artery, in order to bring oxygenated blood to dying heart tissue.

    In the United States, a heart by-pass surgery may cost a patient who is not covered by health insurance anything from 70,000  dollars to 200,000 dollars or more.

    This series was spurred by the celebration on September 29 of THE WORLD CARDIOVASCULAR DAY. It is a date every year when world health authorities encourage everyone to save a thought for his or her heart and blood vessels. Concern for the heart and its blood vessel system arose from the fact that more people worldwide are dying from diseases which torment them than are dying from cancer, HIV/AIDS and malaria put together. The internal environment of every human being is, indeed, an interesting one. Unfortunately, many people do not know much about it or take care of this WONDERFUL WORLD WITHIN, as Dr. Roger John Williams titled one of his books. Dr. Williams was an American biochemist who spent his academic career at the University of Texas at Austin where he isolated and named folic acid and helped to discover Pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5), Vitamin B6, Lipoic acid and Avidin. These are some of the chemical food substances which keep our organ healthy and active and prevent us from bowing to disease and dying needlessly. Many of us ignore or are ignorant of that “wonderful world within” and expend vast resources instead on cosmetics, jewelry, power dressing and such other external paraphernalia which add little or nothing to the health of that “wonderful world within” which requires our help to stay young, and disease-free.

    The heart and its blood vessels belong to that “wonderful world within”. The website https://skeptics.stackexchange.com gives us a hint of its magnitude when it says:

    “An adult human has been estimated to have some 60,000 miles (96, 560km) of capillaries with a total surface area of some 800 to 1000m2 (an area greater than three tennis courts).”

    These are only the blood capillaries, tiny branches from the major blood vessels. At interestingthings.info, we learn that, if the heart were to pump blood outside the blood vessels, each pumping can make the blood squirt up to nine meters high. “The length of your blood vessels is about 100,000 kilometers”, says the website. “To understand this distance – the circumference of earth is about 40,000 kilometers. The distance between the earth, the moon, is about 300,000 kilometers. So, if we take the blood vessels of three people, and connect them edge to edge – we could easily step where Neil Armstrong did.”

    This is a great picture many of us do nothing about until we suffer damage to it in one form or another. What we have just learned is that if the blood vessels of three people are stretched out and joined together, they would be long enough to reach the moon from the earth. Heart diseases were explored in the first part of this series. This section will explore the problems we may encounter in the blood vessels. As stated, Arteries take blood from the heart to all parts of the body. Capillaries take the blood from the arteries to nooks and crannies of the organs to give them oxygen and nutrients, and to remove carbon dioxide and other wastes which they pass on to the veins. The veins are smaller than arteries and take used blood back to the heart, from where this is pumped to the lungs to be re-oxygenated and ridden of the poisonous carbon dioxide waste through the breadth.

     

    Diseases of blood vessels

     

    Disturbances in blood vessels are often called pheripheral blood diseases or artery disease. The blood vessels become narrowed either in the arms, abdomen, legs or any other region of the body. The narrowing is caused by a buildup of plaque or fatty deposits. The narrowing means less blood will flow through them and, consequently, reduced blood flow will mean less oxygen delivery to the cells, tissue and organs. With poor oxygen deliveries over time, the cells begin to weaken, wilt, age and even die. Blood vessel disease presents some signs which may include muscle pain, cramps, aches here and there, pale skin, cold hands and feet, discoloration of the nails, long-term injuries such as diabetic ulcers. When some old wounds are scratched, and a blackened under surface is exposed, or the hairs on the legs, feet and toes begin to fall off, or if the pulse in the legs or feet becomes pale or dull or when exercise brings pain which subsides during a rest, it may be time to suspect that enough oxygen is not being delivered to these sites by blood vessels. This is a cause of the amputation of some limbs.

    Dr. Ann Wigmore experienced this when she suffered from gangrene in one limb. The limb was to be amputated on the advice of her doctors. But she was strong-willed and objected, preferring to die instead. Providentially one day, she asked to be wheeled in her wheel chair to her garden. There, she observed that sick cats were coming to eat a particular grass. She observed them for days and weeks and when she found they were getting healed. She, too, began to eat this healing grass. The healing grass turned out to be wheatgrass, the juice of which her grandfather used to heal the gunshot injuries of World War II soldiers in her country. Soon, blood began to flow better in the occluded limb of Ann Wigmore and the limb began to heal till the amputation once prescribed was no longer necessary. This shot up the reputation of wheatgrass as a healer.

     

    Retinal vascular occlusion

    The retina is the light-sensitive layer of the eye. It is populated with rod and cone-shaped structures which convert light signals to nerve messages. These are passed through the Optic nerve to the brain, where they are converted to vision. It is possible for blood vessels in the retina to become blocked by cholesterol plaque or blood clot. This will reduce oxygen flow to the retina and the eye and cause fluid buildup. The retina may be prevented from picking light efficiently. This may impair vision. Retinal vascular occlusion or blockage are of two types, and each type depends on which blood vessel is disabled. The blockage may be in the artery or in the vein. The blockage may be in the main eye artery or vein or in their branches. Occlusion in the main vessels are often more serious conditions than those in their branched vessels. Hardening of the vessels (arteriosclerosis) and blood clots are thought to be the culprits. A blockage or narrowing of the neck’s carotid arteries is also a risk factor. Other risk factors may be irregular heart beats, like diabetes and high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, free radicals, macular edema (fluid buildup), thickening of the central part of the retina and inflammation disorders. Whatever it is, vision may become blurry, temporary or permanent, and urgent medical attention may be required. Some complications may develop. This, as said, may include Macular edema in which blood builds up in the central part of the retina, or neo-vascularisation, in which a lack of adequate blood flow and oxygen supply a compensated by an abnormal blood vessels growth. In an article on age-related macular degeneration, Maureen A. Duffy edited a contribution by Lylas G. Mogk in visionaware.org which says:

    “In wet age-related macular degeneration, abnormal blood vessels under the retina begin to grow toward the macula. Because these new blood vessels are abnormal, they tend to break, bleed, and leak fluid, damaging the macula and causing it to lift up and pull away from its base. This can result in a rapid and severe loss of central vision.”

    Neo-vascular glaucoma may occur in which a fluid-buildup in the eye chambers may threaten vision. Seldom does retinal detachment occur.

     

    Cerebral blood small vessel disease (SVD)

    This refers to small blood vessels in the brain. These vessels, too, are affected by arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and atherosclerosis (blockages) and micro bleeding. They, too, can be subject to inflammation. Normally, an MRI examination sees brain matter as white. When you read in a radiologists report that the MRI suggests “brain matter changes”, that may indicate a SVD…small vessel disease. It is possible a small vessel has been leaking or has leaked on some areas of the brain tissue. The symptoms may be mild, moderate or severe. Sometimes the SVD is “silent”, presenting no symptoms. SVD may affect cognition, walking gait, depression, dementia, stroke et.c. Many doctors say there are far too many possible causes of SVD that they do not wish to boil them down. But some mention risk factors in stroke, including hypertension, diabetes, high blood cholesterol, cerebral amyloid, angiopathy, aging, free radicals. Many doctors prevent or treat SVD by treating hypertension and other risk factors, with mixed results. In Alternative medicine, SVD treatment goes hand-in-hand not only with cardiovascular system health therapies but, also, with therapies specially adapted to the brain. As was stated in the first part of this series, addition of Magnesium supplement to the diet offsets the possibility of extra Calcium load causing arteriosclerosis. Dietary supplements such as Cayenne, Lecithin, Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs), Ginkgo biloba, Bilbery, Chromium, Grape Seed Extract, Pomegranate e.t.c keep the blood vessels free of atheroma and atherosclerosis. Grape Seed Extract is a unique food supplement in that it is one of those few food or medicinal factors which easily crosses the Brain-Blood-Barrier (BBB) not only to thin the blood and prevent an infringement of the Law of Motion (unhindered blood flow) but to also protect all brain contents against the damaging effects of free radicals. Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) will be found useful here, too, because it is one of those few antioxidants which are simultaneously active in fat and fluid media. Bleeding can be stopped with a number of supplements such as Pawpaw (papaya) leaf juice, Shepherd’s purse, Mimosa Pudica (especially in excessive menstrual bleeding and in leg or foot swellings), Yarrow et.c. If blood vessels break and leak because they are fragile, we must look at the fragility of connective tissue and deploy either Horsetail or Edible Earth (Diatomaceus or Diatom) or the appropriate cell or tissue salts. Horsetail is useful because it is rich in Silica. Diatom is about 96 percent Silica, a bonding agent. The cell salt silica (No 12 in the series) is about 100 percent Silica. Rutin, a member of the bioflavonoids family, tightens leakage areas to prevent blood leakages. Aluminium cookware should be avoided, as should aluminium tea pots and plates as they leach aluminium into food and this may be an ingredient in amyloid plague which damages blood vessels. The sing-song should be antioxidants, antioxidants and antioxidants.

     

    Small vessels disease of the hand

     

    On a radio programme last week, a listener called a presenter, a medical doctor, to know why three of his fingers in one hand appeared to be lifeless. The doctor replied that the condition may have to do with nerves, and that he may seek help from his doctor. Nerves may, indeed, be the cause of the numbness. But so may, also, be a condition in the wrist know as carpal tunnel syndrome, which response to Vitamin B6 therapy. If you turn your wrist up, you would notice what appears to be a “gutter” at the base. It is a condit or tunnel through which tendons and Median nerve go into the hand to the fingers. If the nerve is under pressure and inflamed, this may affect nerve energy flow to the thumb and the next three fingers which are controlled by this nerve.

    As for small vessel problems in the arm and fingers, there may be as many as five possible scenarios. Trauma is one of them. The vessels become compressed, that is…flattened. We are by now more familiar with blockage.  Growths or tumours may throw spanners in the works. Spasms (something akin to muscle pulls) may cause narrowing. Some of the signs may include pain, colour changes in the finger tips, sensitivity or hypersensitivity to cold and/or cold hands and arms, wounds that do not heal easily, numbness of the finger tips, swellings. Other presentations may be decreased or absence of pulse in the armpit, elbow, wrist or finger tips, wounds or gangrene. Sometimes, the arteries or veins may be tangled at birth or later in life, not to mention varicose veins which present like a spider web. Some people suffer from vasculitis or angiitis, other names for inflammation of vessels, which may cause those vessels to narrow and reduce blood flow to organs, thereby damaging them. When veins are inflamed, the condition is venulitis. Only the experts can advise us about the various forms of vasculitis and venulitis and their deep-seated causes. But it has been observed that they sometimes follow the patterns of some types of diseases such as immune dysfunction, infections, including Hepatitis B, cancers, exposure to some chemicals and some medications, rheumatoid arthritis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). The mention of SLE seriously disturbs the peace of mind of one of my female acquaintances, a lawyer. It affects her scalp, not as SLE perse, but as Discoid Erythematosus (DE), which is not life threatening, although it breaks blood vessels here and there and is causing her alopecia. Vasculitis can be a terrible disease in the brain, it may cause headaches, seizure, stroke, paralysis, lightheadedness et.c. In the lungs, cough and shortness of breadth are common symptoms. Kidney failure may occur in the kidneys. Muscle pains are not left out. So are skin discoloration and ulcers if it presents in the skin. Congestive heart failure may arise in the heart. Weakness, fatigue and weight loss are members of this family as well.

    Treatment of many of these conditions are as already mentioned for coronary heart disease and other presentations. A few years ago, a nutritional network marketing company in Nigeria sold a product named CARDIOTONIC PILL. To demonstrate its capacity to create thoroughfare for blood circulation in blood vessels, the company carried out an experiment in which human hands were placed in a freezer to freeze circulation and induce chilblains. Then, Cardiotonic Pill was orally given to the guinea pigs. The conditions of the hands were examined with MRI before and after the therapy. The images showed a frozen hand and then a normal hand within about five minutes after Cardiotonic Pill was taken. The magic wand was said to be the presence at one percent of Camphor in the composition of Cardiotonic Pill. As for Vasculitis, we have many Alternative Medicine recipes today which work better than Ibuprofen the treatment of choice in conventional medicine. One of them is CUCURMIN 2000X. This is Cucurmin combined with Cayenne in such ratio as is said to make Curcumin 2000 times more active than in its natural state. Orange peel is anti-inflammatory. So are greens such as Barley grass, Wheatgrass, Kale and Spirulina, to mention a few. Their high Chlorophyll content cleans up the dross that may be causing irritation and inducing inflammation, their oxygen molecules burn out disease and they stimulate the immune system to normalise the system, among their many benefits.

    Small vessel disease occurs in other part of the body such as enlarged veins in the scrotum.

  • Are your heart and blood vessels dying? (1)

    DID you think of your heart and blood vessels last Friday? About 17million people die world-wide every year possibly because they do not pay enough attention to them. Such people may have been having chest, shoulder, back and arm pains or swellings in the foot or feet and other parts of the body. They may have been hypertensive, suffer from severe and constant headache or suffered from dizziness. At 27, I ran into the first book on the heart at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, bookshop. The title is: “NINETY DAYS TO A BETTER HEART”. I was fascinated by the subtitle of a section of the book which said…”you are as old as your arteries”.

    It was from the book, young as I then was, that I learned that there were two types of age…biological age and calendar age. Biological Age means you can be 40years old while your heart and other organs are 70. And you may be 70 years calendrically, but looking 40 inside you.

    Since 1977, my health library has been blessed with more books on heart health. One of them is HEALTHY HEART by Patricia Bragg and Paul Bragg, daughter and father. Paul Bragg opened the first health food store in the United States more than 100years ago, at a time conventional medicine in that country did not wish to see the link between diet and disease or diet and other lifestyles and heart health or heart disease. In the United States today, say the Braggs, more than 30million people have been diagnosed with heart disease. It isn’t any wonder, therefore, that last Friday was WORLD CARDIOVASCULAR DAY.

    Cardiovascular is a marriage of two words…Cardio (heart) and Vascular (blood vessels). If you wonder why the heart and blood vessels gained the world’s attention last Friday, as they do every September 29, it is because about 17.1million people worldwide die every year of diseases which damage the heart and blood vessels. Seventeen million deaths every year from heart and blood vessels diseases are more than deaths from cancer, HIV/AIDS and malaria put together, going by world health records, and have been rattling the thoughts and work of sick care and health care givers alike.

    Cardiovascular diseases are too many to mention here. According to Wikipedia: “Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. Cardiovascular disease includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, heart arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis.”

    This column cannot explore all the problems faced by a heart and its distribution chain of blood vessels. That is the job of a cardiologist. Nevertheless, we can share experience on some common ailments.

     

    Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)

     

    The heart is a muscular organ which pumps blood round the body without going on a holiday from conception to death.

    According to www.wonderopolis.org: “If you use an average of 80 beats per minute, your heart beats about 4,800 times per hour. That’s a whopping 115,200 times per day. Over the course of a year, your heart would beat about 42,048,000 times! If you live to be 80 years old, your heart would have beaten approximately 3,363,840,000 times! That’s over 3 billion heartbeats! What a muscle!”

    Like all tissues, the heart requires oxygen-rich blood to work well. When it doesn’t get enough blood and oxygen, its muscles begin to die gradually. Therefore, one can imagine a careless person at, say, age 40 living with a heart that is only 60 percent alive, or a man of 50 who cared for his heart which, at that age, is about 90 percent intact. The blood and oxygen needs of the heart are supplied through coronary circulation.

    The heart is divided into four chambers. There are two upper chambers and two lower chambers. The four are divided into two halves, the right and the left. The upper and lower chambers on each side communicate or are open to each other through non-return valves. The two half sides do not communicate. The biggest blood vessel in the body, the aorta, emerges from the upper left sides of the heart to distribute oxygenated blood round the body. As the Aorta rises from the heart, two branches emerge from it to distribute oxygenated blood within the heart itself. This branches of the aorta are called coronary arteries. One of them distributes oxygenated blood in the left side of the heart while the other distribute in the right side through their own branches. Any blockage of this micro-circulation will leave the cells without enough blood and oxygen and may cause myocardial infarction (death of the muscle cells denied blood and oxygen by the blockage). This is also known as heart attack.

    Blockage of coronary circulation may be caused by atherosclerosis or homocysteine buildup. Atherosclerosis arises from a buildup of atheroma, a fatty plaque deposit in these arteries which may come from cholesterol or other sludges. Cholesterol is not bad on its own. It becomes dangerous only when it exceeds a certain bound in relation to the composition of other blood components, or when a part of it which is easily oxidised, the Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) outstrips its ratio with the good cholesterol, High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) in the total cholesterol matrix. If the blood receives enough amounts of the right antioxidants in the diet, it may be possible for these antioxidants to prevent damage to the arterial wall caused by oxidised LDL and other fats. Homocysteine is a greasy substance produced when the body uses an amino acid (protein) called Methionine. If the grease is not dissolved, it may block coronary circulation. Mercifully, it is easily dissolved by a diet which supplies the blood with Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid. This is the beauty of such greens as Spirulina, Kale, Wheatgrass, Barley grass, Chlorella, Alfalfa et.c. There are other equally problematic risk factors in coronary heart disease. These may include diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, lack of exercise and smoking. Elevated blood sugar may not only thicken the blood and slow blood circulation, oxygen delivery and waste evacuation, it may damage tissue through a process known as glycation in which blood glucose molecules damage proteins and fats in and around the cells. Lack of exercise may cause fat accumulation as may obesity. Hypertension or elevated blood pressure may cause rupturing of fragile blood vessels and lead to internal bleeding which may become prolonged if there are not enough platelet cells to seal the leaks. Ulceration caused in the burst blood vessels may cause infections and weaken of the heart.

    Coronary artery disease gives some warning signs. One of such signs is Angina Pectoris. Angina may present a confusing symptom like heartburn. In that case, the ordinary treatment for a heartburn may not suffice to rid the sufferer of the problem. A more common symptom of Angina is chest pain, dull or sharp, on exertion, such as when climbing the stairs, or during emotional upsets or exercise. A well-known symptom is a chest pain which may travel or radiate into the shoulder, shoulder blade, the back and the left arm, neck and, sometimes, even the jaw. Shortness of breadth should not be overlooked as this may not be caused by low red blood count, a possible cause, but damaging events in the heart as well.

    There are more signals the ailing heart may send before its troubles develop into heart attack or heart failure. One of these is Arrhythmias or irregular heart beat. It may prevent as flutterings in the chest, racing heartbeat or tachycardia or Bradycardia (slow heart beat). Chest pain and shortness of breadth may be co-passengers in the train. So may be light-headedness or dizziness, sweating, near-fainting or fainting. This condition may arise from an ongoing heart attack or a previous one, or from changes in the heart structure and scar formation in heart tissue.

     

    Remedies

     

    We cannot exhaust the treasure trove of Mother Nature. I have a special passion for Hawthorn berries and Ubiquinol. Hawthorn improves the muscularity of the heart, its pumping power and, together with Vitamin B1 (thiamine) and Garlic, reverses enlargement of the heart. Hawthorn also dilate blood vessels to make blood flow more easily in them and, thereby, lower elevated blood pressure. Ubiquinol is the more bioactive form of Co-Enzyme Q10 (CoQ10), that fat molecule that was the MOLECULE OF THE YEAR in one international news magazine a few years ago, when it was discovered to be an invaluable energy source for not only the heart cells but all cells of the body, including, as it is now being shown, cancer cells that become healed. The heart works without resting. It needs all the energy it can get. Ubiquinol promotes formation of mitochondria in the cell. The mitochondrium is the cellular engine room where energy is made. The more Ubiquinol consumed, the more mitochondria formed and the more energy produced. Dr. Karl Folkers, who has researched CoQ10 and Ubiquinol since 1952, found that whenever Ubiquinol levels in the heart drops by about 25 percent, troubles begin in that organ. Ubiquinol levels decrease with age and the version of it available in most diets, UBIQUINONE, is not readily bio-available. People who take cholesterol-lowering pharmaceutical drugs are at risk of losing Ubiquinol in their system as these drugs, known as STATIN drugs, block the pathway of Ubiquinol supply, which is the same pathway of cholesterol synthesis. Omega-3 fish oil reverses the inflammation which atherosclerosis causes in the Coronary arteries. Inflammation causes enlargement which may cause tearing if the inflammation surpasses tensile strength of muscle fibers, and tearing may cause scarring. Omega-3 Fatty Acids may be sourced from oily fish such as Titus, Salmon and Sardine. Cod Liver oil and Shark Liver oil are anti-inflammatory as well. There is a lot to say about Potassium and Magnesium. They have been found not only wonderful in the treatment of primary hypertension and diabetes, they are also good for heart problems. Magnesium in particular is relaxing. All too often, the hypertensive person may have too much calcium in the system in relation to Magnesium. Calcium combines with Magnesium in a ratio of about 2:1. Where there is free calcium, this may settle in the soft tissues of the shoulder, for example, causing frozen shoulder, in the joints, causing arthritis, and in the soft muscles of blood vessels, causing arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. This condition does not permit blood to flow freely, increases tension, may cause hypertension and, thereby, weaken or damage the heart. By increasing the Magnesium content of the diet, more Magnesium frees the calcium lodged in the soft muscles and this may reverse a dangerous condition. Antioxidants are crucial. We should begin with antioxidant Vitamins…Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Vitamin E. I take the solubilized form of Vitamin A every day. This is the water-soluble version of the naturally-occurring fat soluble Vitamin A, which is difficult for some people to absorb in good quantum. It is well recommended not only in heart conditions but also for people challenged with cancer and glaucoma, for example, where high amounts of Vitamin A are needed. Water soluble Vitamin A should be excretable where an excess of fat-soluble Vitamin A may not be good for the liver. The Shutte brothers of Canada opened the eyes of health-care givers to Vitamin E decades ago when they used it successfully in their clinic to heal many difficult heart conditions. The Vitamin E should comprise tocopherols and tocotrienols and should be the natural variant d-alpha and not the artificial and cheaper type dl-alpha sourced from petroleum residue.

    I always wonder if wheatgrass cannot be a magic wand. Afterall, it saved Dr. Ann Wigmore from amputation of one leg that was troubled by gangrene. She refused amputation, watched sick cats eat a grass in her garden and get well, began to eat this grass, wheatgrass, and blood began to circulate again in her dying or dead leg tissues.

    Antioxidant minerals such as Calcium, Magnesium, Manganese and Selenium, to mention a few, play a crucial role as well in helping the heart ward off free radicals, especially in the coronary arteries. We cannot forget Lecithin. It is one of Mother Nature’s greatest emulsifiers. It dissolves fats and, thus, helps to prevent or reverse atheroma blockages and atherosclerosis. Cayenne pepper is another herb which guarantees thorough fare for blood circulation in the blood vessels. It is also an energizer of the heart and an antioxidant. In the cell salt or tissue salt category, Calcium fluoride would fight inflammation and Ferrum phosphate would dislodge congestions. Magnesium phosphate (Mag phos) will improve metabolism, Kali phos (potassium phosphate) supports regular heart beat, Silica improves the strength of connective tissue. Pomegranate, an antioxidant fruit with high ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbent Capacity) value, is mentioned in many coronary circulation literature as a wonderful recipe for angina pectoris and other heart troubles.

    In https://healthunlocked.com, Dr. Syed Zair Hussain says he has used it successfully even in patients awaiting by-pass surgery. He said the sixth successor of (Iman) to Prophet Mohammed (May the Peace of Allah be upon him) prescribed two things, lukewarm water and pomegranate for human health.

    “Pomegranate is a seasonal fruit in Pakistan, so I tried an experiment with dried pomegranate seeds. I prepared a decoction boiling the fistful of dried seeds in half a litre of water for 10 minutes, squeezed the seeds, strained the decoction and advised those patients suffering from painful angina to use a glass of lukewarm decoction on an empty stomach in the morning.

    “An amazing result was observed, the decoction of dried pomegranate seeds worked like magic. The feeling of tightness and heaviness in the chest and the pain had gone.

    “It encouraged me to try more experiments on all types of cardiac patients. So, I tried other experiments on patients who were suffering from painful angina, coronary arterial blockage, cardiac Ischemia (insufficient blood-flow to the heart muscle) etc., waiting for a bypass surgery.

    “The same lukewarm decoction was used on an empty stomach in the morning. The patients experienced quick relief in all symptoms including painful condition.

    “In another case of coronary arterial blockage, the patient started using half glass of fresh pomegranate juice everyday for one year.

    “Although all symptoms were completely relieved within a week, he continued taking it for a whole year. It completely reversed the plaque build-up and unblocked his arteries to normal.

    “The angiography report confirmed the evidence. Thus, this decoction of dried pomegranate seeds, fresh pomegranate juice or eating a whole pomegranate on empty stomach in the morning proved to be a miracle cure for cardiac patients.

    “But the lukewarm ‘dried-seeds decoction’ proved to be more effective, compared to eating a whole pomegranate or fresh pomegranate juice.

    “Use of pomegranate, in any way, has demonstrated even more dramatic effects as a blood thinner and as a pain killer for cardiac patients. It also lowers LDL (low-density lipoprotein or bad cholesterol) and raises the HDL (high-density lipo protein or good cholesterol).

    “There are more than 50 different types of heart diseases; the most common being Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), which is the number one killer of both women and men in some countries, and there has been no medicinal cure for this disease.

    “Many cardiac patients have reversed their heart diseases on my advice, using one glass of lukewarm decoction of pomegranate dried seeds, half glass of fresh pomegranate juice or eating a whole pomegranate on an empty stomach in the morning.

    “It was the very first real breakthrough in the history of cardiology to successfully treat the cardiac diseases by the use of a fruit.

    “More super foods to obtain even faster results for cardiac patients, (which are most promising for curative and protective agents) are fresh raisins, quince, guava, prunes (dried plums), natural vinegar, mixture of grape-fruit juice and honey in the morning (on an empty stomach), basil leaves, chicory leaves, powder of oregano leaves and rock salt in equal quantity (in case the patient is not hypertensive) and sesame oil as cooking oil for cardiac patients.

    “I regret to say that treating the heart patients and bypass surgery has become a far more profitable business around the world, which has failed to help avert life-threatening heart attacks and life-time cardiac complications, resulting in an almost paralysed life.”

  • Navy arrests two vessels with suspected stolen diesel

    A Merchant Vessel (MV), Shirley and Motor Tanker (MT) Vine allegedly laden with 745 metric tonnes of stolen Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) – diesel – have been arrested by the Nigerian Navy (NN).

    The vessels, which were arrested with their 14 crew members by operatives of the NNS BEECROFT, were handed over to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    MT Vine with six crew members was laden with products, which flashpoint was higher than the specification of the regulatory agencies. MV Shirley with eight crew carried low quality products.

    At the handover, the Flag Officer Commanding  (FOC) Western Naval Command (WNC) Rear Admiral Sylvanus Abba said MT Vine was arrested on June 9, at about 1:30am, on its arrival at SB Bakare Jetty, Kirikiri,  to discharge the about 600MT of AGO it was carrying.

    He added that the flash point of the product was higher than that specified by DPR and Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

    He said the colour of the product was off DPR standard as indicated by lab analysis, adding that when the vessel’s haulage was checked, it was discovered that MT Vine was carrying about 600MT of AGO against the 400MT quantity authorised.

    For MV Shirley, the FOC said it was arrested at about 6:10pm on April 19, at Lagos anchorage for allegedly dealing in petroleum products illegally.

    “The vessel was laden with about 145MT of AGO without valid documents for carrying petroleum products in Nigerian waters. Samples of the products were taken for laboratory test to ascertain its quality and the result indicated that the sample did not meet DPR/SON specifications, which indicated that it might have been refined illegally.

    Abbah reiterated that the navy would not tolerate any fraudulent activities.

    He said: “The command has zero tolerance for every form of criminality in its area of responsibility. Defaulters are advised to desist from such acts or face the wrath of the law.”

  • NLNG to take delivery of $1.41b vessels

    NLNG to take delivery of $1.41b vessels

    The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) will this month receive the last of the six new vessels (ships) it bought for the transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to various parts of the world.

    Its Managing Director, Babs Omotowa, told The Nation that five of the six vessels were delivered between November last year and March this year, adding that the last vessel will be delivered this month.

    Omotowa said the acquisition of the new ships became imperative as Train plant approaches nameplate capacity and LNG cargoes currently delivered to distant destinations across the world increases in response to changing business opportunities.

    To meet this demand, he said an arm of the NLNG, the Bonny Gas Transport, in 2013, ordered six new dual fuel diesel engine (DFDE) vessels to be constructed by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), while  Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) was ordered to build four.

    Financing for the six vessels, according to him, was arranged in two programmes: a-$310 million six-year additional programme debt (APD) facility and a-$1.1 billion 12-year new vessel debt (NVD) facility.  The APD, he noted, was additional indebtedness under 2006 vessel financing arrangement, while the NVD was a fresh facility with several international commercial banks and export credit agencies (ECAs) as lenders. These lenders include Korean Export-Import Bank (KEXIM) and Korean Trade Insurance Corporation (K-SURE). The deals were signed on March 26, 2013, he added.

    Omotowa said he was excited by the project because it created training for 600 locals in ship building in both Nigeria and the contractors’ shipyards in Korea. It also created an opportunity for utilisation of qualified Nigerians in the contractors’ shipyards as workforce for the construction of the vessels.

    Besides training and job creation, the project made use of suitable goods and services worth $10 million provided by local firms. It also led to the promotion of the establishment of a ship repair yard in Nigeria for in-country development of repair and maintenance capacity for LNG ships and other large carriers. The drydock yard in Nigeria will be supported by Samsung and Hyundai.

    With the drydock in operation, Nigeria and other neighbouring countries will no longer take their vessels to Europe and Asia for maintenance, he added.

    Omotowa also said the firm has shipped over 3,500 cargoes of LNG in its 15 years of operation, contributed substantial revenue to Federal Government’s coffer, as well as the state and local government where it operates.  Currently, NLNG accounts for seven per cent of the global LNG market and is the fourth largest LNG plant in the world.

    (NLNG) will this month receive the last of the six new vessels (ships) it bought for the transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to various parts of the world.

    Its Managing Director, Babs Omotowa, told The Nation that five of the six vessels were delivered between November last year and March this year, adding that the last vessel will be delivered this month.

    Omotowa said the acquisition of the new ships became imperative as Train plant approaches nameplate capacity and LNG cargoes currently delivered to distant destinations across the world increases in response to changing business opportunities.

    To meet this demand, he said an arm of the NLNG, the Bonny Gas Transport, in 2013, ordered six new dual fuel diesel engine (DFDE) vessels to be constructed by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), while  Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) was ordered to build four.

    Financing for the six vessels, according to him, was arranged in two programmes: a-$310 million six-year additional programme debt (APD) facility and a-$1.1 billion 12-year new vessel debt (NVD) facility.  The APD, he noted, was additional indebtedness under 2006 vessel financing arrangement, while the NVD was a fresh facility with several international commercial banks and export credit agencies (ECAs) as lenders. These lenders include Korean Export-Import Bank (KEXIM) and Korean Trade Insurance Corporation (K-SURE). The deals were signed on March 26, 2013, he added.

    Omotowa said he was excited by the project because it created training for 600 locals in ship building in both Nigeria and the contractors’ shipyards in Korea. It also created an opportunity for utilisation of qualified Nigerians in the contractors’ shipyards as workforce for the construction of the vessels.

    Besides training and job creation, the project made use of suitable goods and services worth $10 million provided by local firms. It also led to the promotion of the establishment of a ship repair yard in Nigeria for in-country development of repair and maintenance capacity for LNG ships and other large carriers. The drydock yard in Nigeria will be supported by Samsung and Hyundai.

    With the drydock in operation, Nigeria and other neighbouring countries will no longer take their vessels to Europe and Asia for maintenance, he added.

    Omotowa also said the firm has shipped over 3,500 cargoes of LNG in its 15 years of operation, contributed substantial revenue to Federal Government’s coffer, as well as the state and local government where it operates.  Currently, NLNG accounts for seven per cent of the global LNG market and is the fourth largest LNG plant in the world.

  • Navy hands over 15 suspected oil thieves, vessels to NSCDC

    The Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder at Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, yesterday handed over 15 suspected oil thieves and six vessels to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for prosecution.

    NNS Pathfinder‘s Executive Officer Capt. Olusegun Soyemi said the suspects were arrested for alleged illegal bunkering.

    The naval officer said one of the suspects was apprehended while discharging about 108,000 litres of diesel from a large wooden boat into five vessels without a licence.

    He said: “On October 20, we got intelligence report about an illegal bunkering at a private jetty, opposite the Slaughter Market in Trans-Woji, Port Harcourt.

    “Arriving at the jetty, our troops intercepted five vessels and a large wooden boat, loading products suspected to be stolen diesel.

    “The vessels – MV Denis, MV Faith, MV Lum VII, MV Eliora and FP Comfort – had no approval from the naval headquarters for the transaction.”

    Soyemi said the prime suspect, who he said was also the middleman for two companies in the alleged theft, provided useful information during the Navy’s preliminary investigation.

    The Naval executive officer said the owners of the vessels were invited for questioning, adding that they tendered their statements.

    He stressed that the owners would be further investigated by the NCDC to ascertain their innocence or otherwise.

    Soyemi said: “On October 2, troops of NNS Pathfinder impounded a 3,000-metric tonne ship, MT Everest, which anchored at a location, a few metres from a pipeline, without any official reason to anchor there.

    “We discovered that the vessel, which had been in operation since 2007, had no certificate of registration and clearance from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and was (also) without an approval from the Navy for its operations…”

  • Be vessels of honour, Christians urged

    Christians have been encouraged to add values and be assets to the body of Christ.

    A former General Secretary of the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), Rev. (Dr) Ademola Ishola, stated this last Sunday.

    He spoke at the dedication of the sanctuary, appreciation of past leaders, ordination of new deacons and 30th anniversary celebration as well as reunion with members in Diaspora of Victoryland Baptist Church Isolo, Lagos.

    Ministering on Household of God, Ishola pointed out a living church must be built on the Lord Jesus Christ.

    While noting it is good to beautify sanctuaries, he said churches must not neglect their communities as well.

    H lauded members of the church for a job well done but advised them not to relent as they have a long way to go in transforming the lives of people around them.

    Addressing the new deacons, he said: “Only the Bible can transform lives and strengthen the goodness of your lives so use the Bible as a model.”

    Ishola urged them to be committed to the various assignments committed to them and win souls for Christ individually and collectively.

    The church Pastor, Rev. (Dr) Femi Ajayi, noted that the church would be model of what God wants.

    Chairman of the anniversary committee, Deacon Deji Onifade, thanked members in Diaspora for their presence and contribution to making the four- in- one programme a success.

  • OPS nabs 19 suspected oil thieves, three vessels

    The Operation Pulo Shield (OPS), which removed the Joint Task Force (JTF) from its name, at the weekend, arrested 19 suspected oil thieves and three barges for offences of oil theft in the creeks of the Niger Delta.

    The Coordinator of the Joint Media Campaign Centre (JMCC), Lt.-Col. Isa Ado, said the three barges were seized by the OPS troops of Sector 2 patrolling Alakiri creek and Ikwete waterside of Rivers State.

    He said the barges were filled with Automated Gas Oil (AGO) suspected to have been siphoned from the Pipeline Products Management Company (PPMC) pipeline at the Imo River.

    Though he said no suspect was arrested during the operation, Ado added that the troops intercepted two tankers loaded with AGO and six Gulf cars conveying illegally refined products.

    He named other items recovered during the patrol as a bus loaded with stolen products and five speedboats.

    The barges, the spokesman said, were in the custody of OPS while the other equipment had been destroyed.

    Ado said troops at Makoba waterside arrested 13 suspected oil thieves operating with 24 locally-made boats filled with illegally refined AGO.

  • NNPC lifts embargo on 113 crude oil vessels

    NNPC lifts embargo on 113 crude oil vessels

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) yesterday lifted the embargo it placed on some 113 Vessels from engaging in  Crude Oil/Gas loading activities in any of the Terminals within the Nigerian Territorial waters.

    The Corporation said lifting the ban is predicated on  the receipt of Letters of Comfort from all Terminal Operators, oil companies and Off-takers of Nigerian Oil and Gas as guarantee that nominated vessels, pending the outcome of detailed investigation, are unencumbered and would not be utilised for any illegal activity whatsoever.

    NNPC’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ohi Alegbe, who made this known in a statement, said the Federal Government has approved the establishment of an Inter-Agency Committee made up of the Department of State Services, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Nigerian Navy, Department of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC.

    The body is mandated to collect data and investigate the activities of the banned vessels within Nigerian territorial waters. In addition, it is expected to appraise the culpability or otherwise of each of the vessels in the time past and advise appropriately, the statement said.

  • 113 blacklisted vessels: The untold story

    113 blacklisted vessels: The untold story

    Indications are rife that the decision by the federal government to ban some of the 113 shipping vessels from lifting crude from the 27 oil terminals within the length and breadth of Nigerian territorial waters may not have been justified, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

    President Muhammadu Buhari had remarked in an interview during the heat of the political hustings last March that if we don’t kill corruption in Nigeria, corruption will kill us…

    The import of that statement is beginning to manifest what with the stringent measures already been taken by the Buhari administration in recent times to rein in the hydra-headed monster called corruption, across all sectors, especially in the oil and gas industry considering the fact that the nation generates over 90 per cent of its revenue from the sector.

    It would be recalled that President Buhari had met with the leadership of the Nigeria Customs Service and the Navy to emphasise the need for them to step up their processes to ensure close scrutiny of all NNPC’s operations at all terminals within the country’s territorial waters.

    Tellingly, one of the steps towards addressing the intractable problem of corruption in the oil and gas sub-sector, informed sources revealed to The Nation, is the banning of 113 crude oil vessels from doing business in any of the 27 oil terminals within the length and breadth of the Nigerian territorial waters  over illegal acts of economic sabotage.

    The ban, The Nation gathered, followed a directive contained in a memo dated July 15, 2015 by the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Gbenga Komolafe, to all terminal operators.

    Copies of the memo were also sent the Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources; Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration & Safety Agency, and the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service.

    Affected vessels

    Some of the affected vessels include MV Eliza, with international maritime organisation registration, IMO, No. 9387578 with MV Happines, with IMO No. 9212905; MV Progress, with IMO No. 9180152; MV New Harmony (No. 963207); MV Cosgrace Lake (No. 9294587) and MV Plata Glory (No. 9172674).

    Others include MV Humanity (No. 9180281); MV Scf Shanghai (No. 9325968); MV Tenyo (No. 9222443); MV Astro Challenge (No. 9237072); MV Maran Thetis (No. 94214427); MV BW Bauhinia (No. 9315070); MV Dream (No.9356893); MV Xin Dan Yag (No. 96140048) and MV Desim (No. 9395305).

    Although no official reason was stated in the memo as to why the ban was imposed on the affected vessels, The Nation was reliably informed that the NNPC got an intelligent report and based on that, they published those names.

    The source, who pleaded not to be named, as he was not authorised to speak officially on the issue, said the NNPC had faced the challenge of explaining huge differences between the volume of crude oil lifted from Nigeria by these vessels and what they actually delivered to customers abroad.

    The source further disclosed that the decision may have been done hastily because it is already ruffling feathers.

    “Publishing these guys name is affecting their clientele abroad. So they want to clear their names. These guys should be given a right of defense, a fair hearing as it were. You claimed that the basis of publishing those names was based on investigation but nobody knows the basis of that information,” the source said.

    The source, who declined to mention the names of affected vessels, maintained that some of them were fronted by politicians and did not properly register for lifting crude oil. Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, could not be reached for comments as at the time of going to Press.

    But another source in the Corporation said: “The President Buhari-led administration has a clear insight into the workings of the industry. It should be trusted and supported to transform the industry and by extension the nation’s economy.”

    Executive Director, Spaces for Change, Mrs. Victoria Ohaeri, a close watcher of developments in the industry, disclosed that the ban was in order if they were found to have been involved in illegal operations.

    “I strongly believe that the oil and gas industry is important to many stakeholders, especially the oil companies and the Federal Government that needs to generate adequate funds for the implementation of its projects.”

    “Consequently, it becomes imperative for the government to bring about sanity in the industry in order to prevent leakages and corruption,” she maintained.

    Findings by The Nation revealed that the global oil tanker industry association, INTERTANKO is not happy with the decision of the federal government.

    The Nation gathered that the association, in a letter of protest, demanded that the ban should be lifted immediately as no grounds had been given for the measure.

    INTERTANKO, whose independent members own the majority of the world’s tanker fleet, said in a letter to the NNPC, dated July 22, that there were no “evidence or grounds” given for the ban.

    “INTERTANKO protests in the strongest possible way that these bans should be lifted with immediate effect until grounds and evidence for the ban have been given to each vessel and vessel owner/operator, and the owner/operator has had an opportunity to respond,” the association’s General Counsel, Michele White, wrote in the letter.

    “The timing of the ban is clearly a political signal to show the Buhari administration is clamping down on oil theft,” said Alex Vines, head of the Africa Programme at Chatham House.

    “The challenge now is for the Nigerian authorities to provide credible proof that these indexed vessels were engaged in illicit activities,” he added.

    Meanwhile, a sample of 75 vessels on the list showed that only around 14 had been to Nigeria or neighbouring countries in the last 180 days.

    White said the list of banned tankers was “not exhaustive and already further tankers are being added.”

    The INTERTANKO general counsel said in a separate note to members, “Our current understanding is that these ships may have been targeted due to a failure to provide official outturn figures at their last call and/or commercial differences between load and discharge figures for cargo and free water.

    “This may also, however, be part of a general crackdown by President Buhari on corruption in Nigeria’s maritime, oil and gas, financial services and security sectors, including illegal bunkering and fuel sales.”

    Checks at the Ministry of Petroleum revealed that the international shipowners have perfected plans to visit Nigeria this week to state their case as they were not happy with the blanket ban by the federal government.

    “I can confirm that the shipowners are making move to see officials at the Ministry of Petroleum just to be able to make representation to the government. That is fair enough because you can just place a ban without allowing right of response. It is against international diplomacy,” the source said.