Curator

http://ift.tt/2p7WC8m Hepatitis The Guild of Medical Directors (GMD) has held a conference (and its 24th Annual General Meeting) in Abuja to deliberate on measures to check the upsurge of hepatitis in Nigeria. The conference with the theme: “Let’s Make Nigeria Hepatitis Free,” listed underscoring the invidious nature of the disease, where the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, represented by Director of Health Services, Dr. Joe Amedu, stated that whereas other infectious diseases have acute symptoms that can easily call for attention, hepatitis was a silent ailment that causes chronic liver disease, liver cancer and ultimately death. While commending the GMD for supporting ministry’s efforts in its drive towards a healthy nation, he said: “The conference is appropriate as it will create awareness on viral hepatitis. This will reduce the dangers associated with lack of knowledge on Hepatitis and prevent it from reaching epidemic levels like Meningitis and Ebola viruses.” ...

http://ift.tt/2rkSKoZ Ibadin Michael is the Chief Medical Director of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. Prof. Ibadin Michael is the Chief Medical Director of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. He was appointed in 2009 and will be exiting the office in a couple of days. In this interview with MICHAEL EGBEJULE, he speaks on the challenges of being a CMD, proffering solutions to the challenges in the health sector, among other sundry issues. Excerpt Brain drain has become a challenge in the health sector, what is responsible for it? Brain drain is there, we cannot stop it, its not only doctors that are immigrating, other people are also immigrating. As long as there is a mark differential between what we earn in Nigeria and what is earned abroad, people would want to travel. What I think is responsible is the condition of service. If the condition of service here is preferable to what we have abroad, people would want to live here. If you compare the situation abroa...

http://ift.tt/2taK8h5 Obasanjo In his characteristic mien, he craves for his desideratum with unceasing sturdiness. And in most cases, he gets them, albeit accidentally as he once admitted. But his latest devotion is certainly not by accident. Ordinarily, one will want to ask what an 80-year old wants to do with a doctorate degree. Though few cases of octogenarians enrolling for first degrees abound, however, it is quite rare to find people in that ‘rank’ seeking to be PhD holders. But for Olusegun Mathew Aremu Obasanjo, former military head of state and civilian president, his latest academic voyage might provide reasons why a ‘grandpa’ will return to school to seek greater depth of knowledge, create new knowledge, discover new things and develop new skills. In about three years from now, the village ‘boy’ whose name cannot be ignored in the country’s developmental history hopefully will add a doctorate degree in Christian Theology to his epaulets. His life has been that of a re...

http://ift.tt/2o1TV70 Sir: When are we going to get our priorities right? When will our pensioners be treated well and honoured by our governments? As at June 8, 2017, pensioners under the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) have not yet received their May 2017 pension. On enquiry, the reason given is that no monetary allocation has been made to PTAD. However, workers in service have been paid their May 2017 salaries whilst pensioners have not been paid yet everyone goes to the same market. Apart from money for feeding, what of medication and other incidents of living. I use this medium to appeal to the Federal Government to direct the Ministry of Finance to immediately release money to PTAD to pay pensioners their May 2017 pension. It is not only wicked but callous and insensitive to deprive or to delay pensioners’ monthly pension. They should not be made to bear the brunt of recession having served their fatherland loyally and meritoriously. Or is the Federal Gover...

http://ift.tt/2pRdqzf Eric Omare Says Ijaw nation not part of Biafra The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has described as baseless and senseless the demand by some northern youth groups for Igbo in the North to move out of their region. President of the IYC Worldwide, Eric Omare, who spoke with The Guardian in Yenagoa, said they believed that it was criminal-minded persons who want to hide under the umbrella of speaking for the North to loot property belonging to the Igbo in the region. Also, the IYC while reacting to a statement credited to a leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Solomon Chukwu, published in one of the national dailies (not The Guardian) on Tuesday, maintained that the Ijaw nation and Ijawland were not and would not be part and parcel of the territory of Biafra. In a statement by its spokesman, Henry Iyalla, the group said the Ijaw and Niger Delta people had always maintained separate and distinct identity from their ...

http://ift.tt/2rXKvy2 Tunde Fowler The Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, (FIRS) Mr. Tunde Fowler, has dismissed as fantasy, the claim that it awarded huge contracts to a young company, Active Solution Integrated Synergy, without following procurement process. FIRS’ vote for the company, Fowler told the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Procurement, was on account of the national revenue emergency, which demands that FIRS thinks outside the box to generate enough revenue for the nation. His words: “The proposal from Active Solution Integrated Synergy Ltd, came at the nick of time when FIRS tax revenue collection was nose-diving as a result of the recession in the economy and the perpetual fall in crude oil prices which exerted more pressure on non-oil revenue. Government set high revenue targets which FIRS was expected to meet. “FIRS was determined to pass the litmus test set by the high revenue target and is poised to provide succor to government funding ...

http://ift.tt/2ouiQ5O Akoh stressed that the problems faced by Nigerians prompted effective measures for re-launching primary healthcare in the country with a view to revitalising the healthcare system to ensure quality services to Nigerians. President of the National Association of Community Health Practitioners of Nigeria (NACHPN), Akoh Jude has said the country’s healthcare system was skewed towards the rich, dysfunctional and thereby unable to solve 70 per cent of the health challenges. He disclosed this at the annual national workshop for healthcare practitioners across the 36 states of the country tagged: ‘Re-launching Primary Healthcare in Nigeria,’ which held in Lagos. Akoh stressed that the problems faced by Nigerians prompted effective measures for re-launching primary healthcare in the country with a view to revitalising the healthcare system to ensure quality services to Nigerians.  Speaking at the event, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, who was ...

http://ift.tt/2rXs2lo A total of 308 premises made up of 38 illegal pharmacies and 207 patent Medicine Stores were sealed for various offences some of which are operating without registration with Pharmacist Council of Nigeria. The Pharmacist Council of Nigeria (PCN) yesterday reiterated the need for licensed pharmacists and patent medicine practitioners to continue to operate within the Nigeria Regulatory Act Cap P17, LFN, 2004. Addressing a press conference in Benin City, Edo State, Director, Inspection and Monitoring, Mrs. Anthonia Aruya, said 308 facilities in Edo operating illegal pharmacies and patent medicine stores were closed during their operations in the state adding that the core mandate of PCN is ensuring rational distribution and dispensing of medicines that are safe, effective and of good quality to the public. “Members of the public are advised to purchase their medicines from licensed pharmacies and simple household remedies from licensed patent and propriety medi...

http://ift.tt/2s6elSd Pinterest Inc. raised $150 million in venture funding from a group of existing investors at the same share price as two years ago as growth at the closely held company fails to keep pace with internet rivals. The last fundraising round was in April 2015, valuing the business at about $11 billion. Because the number of shares in the company has grown over time, its new valuation is $12.3 billion, Pinterest said. The company filed securities documents associated with the financing, which were analyzed by private stock market firm Equidate and shared with Bloomberg. By raising money, Pinterest is choosing to delay a potential initial public offering as its business model matures. The company generates revenue by selling ads that look like posts on its site. Each month, 175 million people use Pinterest to collect and post images related to fashion, travel, cooking and other interests. The San Francisco-based company is targeting revenue of more than $500 million t...

http://ift.tt/2rXB5Tk Dr. Olaopa is executive vice-chairman, Ibadan School of Government & Public Policy (ISGPP). A political scientist and public administrator, Dr. Tunji Olaopa has said devolution of more powers to states and local governments; regionalising the six geo-political zones; reviewing the federal character principle and decentralizing anti-corruption strategy and policing will proffer solutions to the Nigerian problems. The renowned public crusader said these are the five basic ways through which Nigeria could be restructured, if it hopes to effectively and immediately douse the tension of ethnic militia groups that have been persistently calling for the balkanization of the country. The Executive Vice Chairman, Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP), came up with the suggestions in a paper he presented at a conference by the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NPISS), Kuru yesterday. Addressing the topic titled: “Re-fede...

http://ift.tt/2rXOYBd Moody’s Analytics, a leading global provider of risk management solutions and Inlaks, a leading infrastructure solution provider in Nigeria and West Africa, have forged a new collaboration as part of the Moody’s Analytics Partner Alliance programme.   This partnership will allow Moody’s Analytics to provide clients of both firms with its award-winning regulatory and risk management solutions, which Inlaks will complement with its local business expertise and in-country support to Nigerian banks.    However, the alliance, according to the two companies, is non-exclusive, and both companies remain independent to collaborate with other parties in the best interest of clients.    The Managing Director, Enterprise Risk Solutions at Moody’s Analytics, Andy Frepp, said: “Moody’s Analytics offers Nigerian banks a unique range of expert solutions to help make informed corporate lending decisions and meet evolving regulatory requirements...

http://ift.tt/2oyxGd2 Bolanle Ambode Now that the social media mob action, or shall we say mob reaction that followed the skewed story about Lagos State government sacking the Chaplain in its church has subsided, a cursory look at the fundamental issues that were somewhat overlooked or deliberately downplayed can be logically revisited. The trumpeted narrative had read like a scripted first draft of a play that didn’t go through a review before the actors were ordered onto the stage. The wife of the Lagos State governor had attended an anointing service at the state-owned Chapel of Christ the Light. She allegedly got angry for not being recognised and accorded due privilege after which she had either stormed out in anger or waited to be anointed anyway but left displeased and unplacated (the narrative didn’t seem to have a first-hand experience of how the episode actually ended. Nor did it seem to matter to those who hurried to let the concocted narrative out). The next day, the ...

http://ift.tt/2pToGNf Ifeoma Ndiolo-Enaholo Mrs. Ifeoma Ndiolo-Enaholo is a multi-talented author and poet. Having worked in the media, banking and insurance sectors and having acted in the movie Glamour Girls, she has put her experiences and those of others for readers to learn from. She recently unveiled a book, You Too Can. She spoke with OMIKO AWA What prompts you to write? I started writing ever since I could remember. I am a very observant person; I pay a lot of attention to what happens around me and that forms my writings. I actually started writing early. I began with poems, but in the real sense of it, I began to give writing a greater thought during my youth service when my sister reminded me of how I have been writing since we were in secondary school and wondered what I have been writing about. Apart from this, I became conscious of my writing, when some of my poems were published in Panorama in 2013. Things I see around me prompt me to write; I observe what happen t...

http://ift.tt/2pXUXGb The strap line is used in a promotional video for Amazon Go on YouTube that’s been viewed more than 9 million times. The company has opened a futuristic test store under that name in Seattle that has no cashiers or checkouts. Amazon.com Inc. is laying the groundwork to bring its checkout-free grocery store Amazon Go to Europe, as the U.S. giant steps up its efforts to crack the $800 billion global market. The U.K. Intellectual Property Office on Friday approved the Seattle-based company’s application to trademark the slogans “No Lines. No Checkout. (No, Seriously.)” and “No Queue. No Checkout. (No, Seriously.)” A corresponding application is being reviewed by the European Union’s equivalent agency. The strap line is used in a promotional video for Amazon Go on YouTube that’s been viewed more than 9 million times. The company has opened a futuristic test store under that name in Seattle that has no cashiers or checkouts. Instead, it uses sensors and a smartph...

http://ift.tt/2qJFHtP Fela Durotoye This month, as the world celebrates Children’s Day, Rainbow Book Club will review Fela Durotoye’s book, 17 Secrets of High-Flying Students. Durotoye’s book is not just for children alone, but also for adults, who wish to motivate young people to excel academically and other areas of life. A statement on the book’s blurb says, ‘If you desire success in your academics and life as a whole, this is your chance to make your dreams come true… packed full with exciting life-changing stories, nuggets and principles, 17 Secrets Of High- Flying Students gives you the wings to fly….’ Book lovers will join Rainbow Bok Club to review the book at 9:30am on Friday, May 26, 2017 at Alliance Francaise, 20 Herbert Macaulay Street, Amadi Flats, Old GRA, Port Harcourt. Vía The Guardian Nigeria Newspaper | Nigeria News and World News http://ift.tt/2qD6E3O

http://ift.tt/2pXLhM0 DNA And one does not mean family tree or DNA in the way fathers and mothers use their children’s bank accounts to hide away stolen money. What is meant here is what two writers of books on corruption are trying to say. There is THIS PRESENT DARKNESS: A History of Nigerian Organised Crime by Stephen Ellis, 2016, published by Jacana Media, South Africa and APARTHEID GUNS AND MONEY: A tale of profit by Hennie van Vuuren, 2017, published by Jacana Media, South Africa. Taking its title from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians – For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places – Stephen Ellis attempts to provide a background for the present spate of criminality in Nigeria (remember our recent column entitled Nigeria as a Crime Scene?) by going to Nigeria’s colonial period. He documents specific criminal acti...

http://ift.tt/2qJIZ01 Vía The Guardian Nigeria Newspaper | Nigeria News and World News http://ift.tt/2qDa7iK