Sunday, 8 December 2013

2015: Inec to commence voter registration next year



INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega
The Independent National Electoral Commission has concluded arrangements to commence a nationwide continuous voter registration ahead of the general elections in 2015.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of INEC, Mr. Kayode Idowu, told one of our correspondents on the telephone on Friday that the nationwide voter registration would commence early next year.
Idowu said the commission had planned the continuous voter registration for the end of 2013 but had to shift it because of administrative delays.
He  explained that it became necessary to postpone the exercise because the batteries for the Direct Data Capture Machines, which were in the store got worn out and needed replacement.
Idowu added that the commission opted to import new batteries for the DDC machines to avoid the technical hitches that dogged the just concluded governorship elections in Anambra State.
“It (voter registration) would happen next year.
“What is happening is administrative. It would have started before the end of this year. The batteries for the DDC machines had worn out, so we have placed order for a new set of batteries.
“Hopefully, as early as possible, next year, we hope to start.  These are just administrative issues that delay things.
“When you store laptops for a long period of time, the batteries would wear out. We didn’t want the technical hitches that we experienced in Anambra to be replicated in the national exercise; that is why we placed order for new ones.”
Idowu said fears over the non registration of voters were unnecessary as the commission had made a definite commitment that it would carry out continuous voter registration.
He said  the CVR was designed to avail those who had turned 18 since the last exercise in 2011 and those who were 18 and above but were not registered the opportunity of registration.
“There is absolutely no basis for such fear. The commission has made a commitment to the nation that it will roll out voter registration before the 2015 elections and that commitment remains inviolable.
“It will also provide opportunity for those whose data were somehow defective and were thus on addendum register to get properly captured into the biometric registration.
“While awaiting the national roll-out of CVR, we have been carrying out the exercise preparatory to the governorship elections. We did it in Anambra State; we will do it in Ekiti and Osun states. So the fear is unwarranted,” he added
Meanwhile, the commission has asked aggrieved parties in the recently concluded governorship election in Anambra State, particularly the All Progressives Congress, to proceed to the Election Tribunal if they were not satisfied with its conduct and result.
The APC governorship candidate, Senator Chris Ngige, had said he would proceed to court to seek redress over what he described as irregularities in the election.
Also,  the APC had, in its letter to INEC signed by its Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, said prior to the date for the Anambra State governorship election,  “the ominous signs of an election that was predetermined to favour specific interests against the wish of the electorate were already clear.”
The APC had therefore demanded “an outright cancellation of the Anambra election.”

Punch

Friday, 6 December 2013

General Muhammadu Buhari is My Choice to be the Next President of Nigeria By Dr. Abubakar A. Muhammad


 
 
The country called Nigeria is under serious strain and if it is to survive it needs a leader that has the integrity, trust, patriotism, and a positive experience to lead. That servant must be selfless; firm but decent; talented not an intellectual; a person that has seen us through a life of despair and yet hope; an achiever and a team player; a person with the vision to take the country out of the deep seas of trouble brought about by an uncaring leadership in Asorock. It makes one wonder the very people that should have been locked away for good not only for violating our constitution, considering illegalities they committed to remain in power, have the audacity to tell us they intend to retain that power, come what may, for another thirty years, according to OBJ, their Commander- in- Chief. Mr. Aneni, another anointed buffoon of the PDP recently told the World that Mr. President has “the right” to choose who succeeds him in 2007. Those that are mindful of numerous other Aneni’s tongue in cheek outbursts have concluded that the poor man was only carrying out the message from his master, and the fact that OBJ followed Aneni’s statement and announced publicly that his own PDP had not zoned the presidency to the North only confirmed people’s assertion. Never mind the fact that OBJ had said he knew “those” that would not succeed him. Remember we are still operating ‘a democracy’, but does one doubt the General is talking tough and once again bashing the legitimate right of the electorate to elect a leader to be the next president of this country? Lest anyone rushes to conclusion, I am not supporting zoning as a homemade democracy. I say categorically again I am against zoning of any political office, especially the office of the president. And because I firmly believe in the democratic process in a pluralistic society like Nigeria , I am not against any credible contender from the North or the South whose ambition it is to be elected president. The issue I am talking about is the scandalous PDP project of 1999 that smuggled through, albeit democratic protests, a rotten candidate that was elected president because he came from the Southwest, and then we were told there was “needed” to correct the June 12. Nigerians know better that two wrongs do not make a right and it is time the PDP, ANPP, and other parties possessed by the zoning maniac face the rule in a democracy that allows all candidates the right to contest elective posts subject only to the rules of our constitution, and not subject to parochialism, ethnicity, geographic or even religious considerations. It is this view that I, like other well meaning Nigerians strongly hold, that I wish to comment on the mature leadership qualities of General Muhammadu Buhari, a leader per excellence that has been described by numerous political, traditional, and religious leaders, as well as writers and general masses of this country as the most transparent, honest, hard working and performance oriented leader. I might add at no time in the history of this country are such rare qualities of a leader so needed than today, after living through hell and knowing what alternative leadership has brought to Nigeria.  
 
Let me quickly state reasons why General Muhammadu Buhari is different from other Generals, and some of the civilian leaders that one hears have their eyes to the presidency. Unlike General Olusegun Obasanjo who had the fortune to be drafted president from the prison, General Muhammadu Buhari started to seek the office by undertaking personal political transformation. On his own General Bubari first formed a social-political movement, The Buhari Organzation [TBO] to gather public support for a kinder and gentler Nigeria before he saw it fit to join a political party that he believed he could use to bring the leadership difference that could make Nigeria great again. Unlike the General that is now occupying Asorock, and unlike the General from Minna, General Buhari had gone into the rough and tumbles of politics, visiting all the four corners of Nigeria in a campaign mode and seeing first hand for himself the suffering and stresses the populace go through on daily basis and with that knowledge in hand he vowed solemnly and publicly to be a candidate for change. The rest is history when ANPP, the party the General revived through his sheer dedication and public appeal declared him to be its presidential candidate in 2003. While OBJ became “the President” without any political transformation, hence his habitual dictatorial style and temper tantrums, the idea that the Minna General will be a candidate for the 2007 presidency has so far remained speculative at best as he has made no such commitment to begin with. Nigerians have also reason to wonder if the General will not recycle the dreaded SAP or other failed projects of the first time he was president. Another rumor has it that Brigadier Marwa is also considering a run for the presidency; if he does he is going into politics so far with neither political platform nor experience he would surely need to be successful should he be elected president. A successful ‘Military Governor’ does not necessarily translate success in Asorock. While it may not be argued that Atiku Abubakar, the Vice President, has had experience in politics, indeed lots of experience, it can be stated that the duo’s current performance in Asorock is one that Nigerians look forward to put behind them. Clearly, if truth must be told none of those mentioned this far and more could be the success story like General Muhammadu Buhari has been in different leadership positions.
 
I am aware that innuendos, distortions, and even outright falsehood had been propagated to trash and denigrate the General’s tenure as a successful and disciplined Military Head of State between 1983-1985. Partly we seem to forget that General Muhammadu Buhari’s time was a defining moment to re-invent morality and deal with the cancer of corruption, that seemed to be out of hand, hence, some draconian emergency decrees were introduced by his Supreme Military Executive Council to deal with those and other pertinent issues endemic to the society. Compared to other military regimes before and after him, General Buhari’s administration can be described as a benevolent dictatorship though ruthless at times and the regime succeeded in saving the moral fibers and souls of its citizens, or at least until General Buhari’s government was untimely replaced by the “evil genius”. More importantly, by leading people with qualitative and disciplined leadership that was free of corruption, inertia, nepotism, racial and religious disharmony; it also gave Nigerians hope and reason to work diligently and selflessly together for the benefit of Nigeria. Remember the numerous new culture on self-reliance, discipline, honesty, integrity, reporting to work in time, queuing up to get things, while traditional artist’s like Sani Dandawo and Musa Dankwairo have had field day composing songs on morality, diligence and discipline? And while all that was happening Buhari was telling the world that he would not sell our oil in the cheap even if he had to go by trade barter to import commodities we needed while saving our foreign reserves. The “leaders” of a gang that stroke and terminated that revolution did Nigeria an irreparable damage. Comparing the military administration of General Muhammadu Buhari and the past regimes before and after him gives one the picture of a leader that was different, and caring; one that spared the lives of its citizens whereas other governments murdered them; it was a government that gave Nigerians total security and peace, a period that was certainly at variance with the current failed administration under OBJ and ATK; an administration that has seen thousands of Nigerians murdered in cold blood due to pervasive insecurity. Still thousands of other innocent citizens lost their lives through government’s extra judicial slaughter by a gang masquerading as “security agents”: the police, the army, and hired thugs and they are committing such as of murder under the very eyes of those who are supposed to be in power. In a way some would argue that General Buhari’s military regime was excessive in part in its effort to bring some of our corrupt politicians and business tycoons to book and penalized others in numerous ways because of high corruption. In such isolated cases of abuse the regime must be held accountable, like all governments of sort, for some violation of human rights. By the way the current administration that is supposedly “democratic” stands tall more than others, civilian or military, in the history of the Nigerian State when it comes to brutality and violation of human rights. One thing is certain; General Muhammadu Buhari as a transformed democrat would never take the route of a dictator to govern this country again even as we all know a leader that is not committed to true democracy like OBJ-ATK leadership can still use a symbolic National Assembly and the Judiciary to push through draconian policies to suffocate civil rights and labor movements, to impose deregulation, local government reforms, party de-registration and numerous other anti-people hidden agendas that are in reality aimed at giving the president powers the constitution has not provided him. And watch my word, if OBJ can have his way before 2007 Nigeria will end up with one political party totally controlled by one cruel and vindictive dictator. My point is that General Muhammadu Buhari understands the difference between a military and a democratic government with its attendant checks and balances and unlike those leaders that are supposedly thinking to join the political arena, General Buhari can be trusted to keep his words. Here is a man who for almost two years now is still fighting over the rape of our democracy that was the “419 elections” when others rumored to have declared their ambition for the presidency have either financed or supported the same election frauds that brought the current illegitimate regime back to power. For this alone General Buhari is a qualified champion and defender of democracy on behalf of all of us that care for democracy. Here is a man who is still speaking out his mind over the same illegality when others have remained mute. In this General Buhari, more than any leader today stands to represent our voice and freedom of expression. Here is a man that believes the power to elect a leader rests with the electorate when those touted to enter the presidential race with him believe you can either use the power of incumbency, money or brutal force to grab power and keep it. In this General Buhari has become the embodiment per excellence of the idea and ideals of a free and fair election, and while others shamelessly hold on to illegality, General Buhari is holding on our behalf the expression and practice of legitimate representation. Here is a man that majority of Nigerians feared could not change the national political ethics that suggest only moneybags can “win”, but he has proved the doubters wrong. In this he is taking us back to the good old days when service for the nation does not have to be bought and yes, the poor too deserves the right to serve or lead. Here is a man who is deeply dedicated to salvage his wounded country and people when others only want to become president for the sake of power and keeping it for good. In this fight he leads all of us to win and to accept patriotism as a high national honor. Here is a man that continues to warn the masses and the electorate who listen to protect their votes and their rights when other “leaders” are only too eager to buy those votes and rights. In this General Buhari practices what he preaches and he is making us aware enfranchisement is the most potent tool of democracy. What a leader! What a General! What a true democrat!
 
It is an open secret that many of our so-called “leaders” fear the General because nowadays in our society one is feared when one stands up for the truth. General Buhari as such is the last person our “leaders” want to see back in limelight not because they love the country but because they fear they will have no chance of winning in a contest one to one with the General. But then should he win their days are numbered and I make bold to say the cause the General is leading us may end up creating yet another revolution of a kind. Who knows?  So the idea is they must all stand up in arms to stop someone who is doggedly unstoppable because he only cares for the truth and by God we want to see him win so that he can with the support of the Nigerian people that he deeply cares about remove the rot that is about to destroy all of us. If he wins people win and if he looses what a tragedy again! I have no doubt corruption will be dealt a heavy and fatal blow not by gimmicks, antics and hypocritical slogans but by action and in practice while General Buhari leads. I am also confident he will institute legality in the process of apprehending the thieves and making them pay their dues in full for their economic racketeering and political crimes they continue to commit even as I write. I am optimistic the General as a democratic leader understands that he does not need the Wabaras, Mantus, Jibrils, Ubas, and a host of them to defend or cover up his political or economic interests to remain in power. I am optimistic the General will, perhaps on his first one hundred days in office send packing the INEC, ICPC, SSS, NNPC, FRAC, EFCC, NEED, and a host of them because they have not performed and he is not one that surrounds himself with inglorious, corrupt and non-performing commissions or parastatals only to disguise himself and fool the public. I am optimistic General Buhari is neither the “Maradona” nor the “Baba” that aid and abet Assemblymen who did not win elections to make our laws. I am optimistic General Buhari will have no political or economic godfathers that take delight in trashing the constitution and whom he rewards with patronage and sale of our natural endowments and holdings. And those in power, including Governors, may have distaste of the General because he overshadows their deceitful image and personality, and because they know should he become the president they will be sent to the cleaners to give account of their loot.  
 
That General Muhammadu Buhari is a religious zealot who will turn Nigeria into an Islamic State is yet one more diet in the menu of those political, ethnic, and religious rumormongers and pundits. This nonsense is tragically believed by even some of our innocent citizens because the media of the Lagos-Ibadan axis in particular, see it fit to carry out the tale for sensationalism, for profit, and because they have been financial induced by Muhammadu Buhari’s rivals. One wonders how General Buhari who introduced severe restrictions on the number of pilgrims to perform Hajj [in order to conserve the foreign exchange] could under any imagination be the one to establish an Islamic State? General Buhari’s curtailing of the rights of Muslims to perform a fundamental religious obligation was a feat no past leader, military or civilian had dared to conceive, hence the action was certainly unwelcome by all Muslims and it brought General Buhari’s government at logger head with our clerics. It was reported that our erudite scholar, Sheikh Abubakar Mahmood Gummi [May Allah have Mercy on him] was actually placed under house arrest over the issue and other matters of concern for “security” of the State. So to ignore all these unpopular actions that General Buhari’s government took, and to lampoon the same person as an “Islamic zealot”, “fundamentalist”, and so forth, is beyond human intellect of reasoning. If Muhammadu Buhari could not establish an Islamic State at the time his word was not often challenged, how could he possibly create the same in a democracy?  Yet even as I write we have a "president" that has misused government’s resource to build a Church and pulpit, with a   paid and full time Chaplain, and uses these facilities every Sunday to broadcast live on national networks his evangelical Christian prayers to Muslims, Christians, Traditionalists and atheists Nigerian population. Not one of our so called national electronic and or print media from the South found it fit to cry foul because the president should know that such hypocritical sermons do not represent the Faiths of the majority in Nigeria and it was time he was told his insensitivity has been “a joke carried too far”. It is all well and good when national houses of worship are built from resources of followers of those Faiths, but when the president builds a Church in Asorock, the seat of government, and used the naira and kobo of the tax payer to do that then the message is loud and clear. Religious partisanship in a multi-religious, multi-cultural society like Nigeria is unacceptable, and I believe in my heart General Muhammadu Buhari will not be that president. So all the hyperbole about the man’s religious extremism does not hold water and leaders like Reverend Hasan Kukah and General Yakubu Gowon who know Muhammadu Buhari have spoken out in favor of his non-partisanship.
 
I have another concern. The debate that our ex-Generals or ex-members of the Armed Forces should not participate in politics is bankrupt as it is undemocratic. Nigerians should be ready to embrace any leader worth his or her salt because our constitution has made no such segregation of people by their work for them to participate in politics. Nor is it reasonable to bar any Nigerian from partisan politics because they have made too much money they can use against opponents. After all one can make the same argument that over the years our civilian leaders have equally been involved in acquiring illicit wealth for their own benefit and so the idea that Generals are too corrupt is also true with majority of our politicians who are not only selfish and greedy but they go into politics more so to steal that to provide national service.  I consider it as an act in futility to ask General Babangida for instance to apologize to the nation for the so called June 12 annulment when it is clear even to Wole Soyinkas that what happened then could not be conceived as the sin of one man even though he was the Head of State. Besides why does he [Wole Soyinka] not demand for the same apology from both the military and civilians [representing all groups in the country] for forcefully removing our First and Second Republics and especially for the unwarranted, brutal and barbaric massacres of our leaders in the first military incursion? Indeed to most Nigerians the January 15, 1966, army rebellion and the uprising of December 31, 1983, that toppled two democratically elected and fully operational governments of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Alhaji Shehu Shagari were much more serious and critical to our democracy and our survival as a nation than the so called June 12 annulment of an election that frankly was at best in-conclusive. But the likes of Professor Soyinka are only interested in issues they can use for their own diabolical agenda of divide and conquer. It must be stated though that ex-Generals had tarnished their profession and perhaps the honor of the country when they got involved in every dirty politics for power and that was how they became victims of their own selfish motives. We cannot though ban them wholesale from exercising their fundamental right to lead in a political process, and having put their lives on the line at different occasions to defend the territorial integrity of our country they certainly deserve equal voice when it comes to seeking elective office, including the presidency. True, many of those ex-army Generals and politicians that we know are thoroughly corrupt, but it must be stated in fairness there are some among them that are not and General Buhari and others of his caliber are our beacons of hope. We surely need a leader of his stature to succeed; a leader that has Faith and audacity to face challenges; and one that has no fear but the fear of God, Almighty, should he fail. I know no one at this time that can do better and take the country safely and gloriously to success than the General from Daura.
 
Nigeria needs and deserves a leader it can trust. It needs and deserves a leader that is strong and visionary; he is strong not because he is stubborn but he has tenacity to get through the most difficult of circumstances the office and duties of the president require. Nigeria needs a can do leader, a listener, a team leader, and a high achiever because the numerous years since our independence had been wasted through greed and graft by our leaders; through war and unrest; and through countless changes of rules and governments that were run by people most unqualified to move the country forward. Instead new and great ideas were often abandoned midstream while another bunch of new ones came into play; it was like a merry-go round without achieving much. If we have courage to practice real democracy one would hope we have finally landed on the promised land of great opportunities.  The truth is we are still far from those democratic ideals and practices that can give a country both promises and realities of success. And Nigeria just like any other nations on this planet has the God given talents to work and explore workable solutions and ideas we can harness to reach our destination, not destruction. That is why a visionary, strong, trustful and dynamic leader as president is needed the more this time around. And should the “419” presidential election case in the Appeal Court drag on unresolved through the year 2007; or should the “victory” be confirmed in favor of the PDP [as I am afraid it may turn out], the 2007 elections will perhaps be the most eventful this country will face; it is also one that in my view may make or break the country. Only time will tell!
 
 
Dr. Abubakar A. Muhammad writes from the State of Pennsylvania, United States of America.

Male, Female Brains Are Wired Very Differently, Scans Show

LiveScience  |  By Tanya Lewis 
Men aren't from Mars and women aren't from Venus, but their brains really are wired differently, a new study suggests.
The research, which involved imaging the brains of nearly 1,000 adolescents, found that male brains had more connections within hemispheres, whereas female brains were more connected between hemispheres. The results, which apply to the population as a whole and not individuals, suggest that male brains may be optimized for motor skills, and female brains may be optimized for combining analytical and intuitive thinking.
"On average, men connect front to back [parts of the brain] more strongly than women," whereas "women have stronger connections left to right," said study leader Ragini Verma, an associate professor of radiology at the University of Pennsylvania medical school. But Verma cautioned against making sweeping generalizations about men and women based on the results. [10 Surprising Facts About a Man's Brain]
Previous studies have found behavioral differences between men and women. For example, women may have better verbal memory and social cognition, whereas men may have better motor and spatial skills, on average. Brain imaging studies have shown that women have a higher percentage of gray matter, the computational tissue of the brain, while men have a higher percentage of white matter, the connective cables of the brain. But few studies have shown that men's and women's brains are connected differently.
In the study, researchers scanned the brains of 949 young people ages 8 to 22 (428 males and 521 females), using a form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) known as diffusion tensor imaging, which maps the diffusion of water molecules within brain tissue. The researchers analyzed the participants as a single group, and as three separate groups split up by age.
As a whole, the young men had stronger connections within cerebral hemispheres while the young women had stronger connections between hemispheres, the study, detailed today (Dec. 2) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found. However, the cerebellum, a part of the brain below the cerebrum that plays a role in coordinating muscle movement, showed the opposite pattern, with males having stronger connections between hemispheres.
Roughly speaking, the back of the brain handles perception and the front of the brain handles action; the left hemisphere of the brain is the seat of logical thinking, while the right side of the brain begets intuitive thinking. The findings lend support to the view that males may excel at motor skills, while women may be better at integrating analysis and intuitive thinking.
"It is fascinating that we can see some of functional differences in men and women structurally," Verma told LiveScience. However, the results do not apply to individual men and women, she said. "Every individual could have part of both men and women in them," she said, referring to the connectivity patterns her team observed.
When the researchers compared the young people by age group, they saw the most pronounced brain differences among adolescents (13.4 to 17 years old), suggesting the sexes begin to diverge in the teen years. Males and females showed the greatest differences in inter-hemisphere brain connectivity during this time, with females having more connections between hemispheres primarily in the frontal lobe. These differences got smaller with age, with older females showing more widely distributed connections throughout the brain rather than just in the frontal lobe.
Currently, scientists can't quantify how much an individual has male- or female-like patterns of brain connectivity. Another lingering question is whether the structural differences result in differences in brain function, or whether differences in function result in structural changes.
The findings could also help scientists understand why certain diseases, such as autism, are more prevalent in males, Verma said.

HuffingtonPost

A Must Read: 11 Things You’re Doing That Could Cause You To Die Young


Are you sitting down while reading this? Well that could be shortening your lifespan.

Let’s be honest: From the moment we’re born, we’re all dying just as we’re living. But certain mundane things we do every day may actually be helping us get there faster. None of this means we should even try to eliminate these behaviors from our lives entirely, but it’s proof that overdoing anything, even when seemingly innocuous, can have serious impacts on our health. Below we’ve rounded up 11 everyday things you’re probably doing that could potentially shorten your lifespan.
1. You’re having a hard time finding love.
Having a difficult time finding a mate can shave off months of your life, while being single for prolonged periods of time could cost you a whole decade. A study found that communities with gender ratios skewing significantly more male or female caused the minority s*x to have shorter lifespans. Even when exposed to short time frames of competition, such as attending a high school entirely of one gender, participants were found to have generally shorter lives.
On top of all this, another study found that never getting married could increase risk of death over a lifetime by 32 percent, and led to the previously mentioned loss of a decade.
2. You’re sitting down for more than a few hours every day.
Two whole years of your life could be cut just from sitting more than three hours a day. Australian researchers found that even regular exercise couldn’t deter the potential negative effects of sitting for long stretches of time. Another study published in the JAMA Internal Medicine found that sitting for more than 11 hours a day increased the risk of death by 40 percent over the next three years, compared to sitting for under four hours a day. Time to get that stand-up desk.
3. No Friends.
People with weak social connections were found to die at much higher rates than their counterparts, according to research. The same researchers found that prolonged loneliness could be as bad for your lifespan as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
On top of all this, elderly people with large circles of friends were found to be 22 percent less likely to die over a tested study period, and those social connections generally promote brain health in aging brains.
4. You’re vegging out in front of your TV.
Watching just two hours of television a day can lead to an increased risk of premature death, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, according to Harvard researchers. The negative effects of watching television seem to overlap with the potential negative effects of sitting too much, but watching television seems to make the negative effects of sitting even worse. According to the New York Times, “every single hour of television watched after the age of 25 reduces the viewer’s life expectancy by 21.8 minutes.”
5. You’re eating too much unhealthy food.
Perhaps this sounds obvious, but the truth is that so many of us continue to do it. As far as what foods to especially avoid, eating red meat seems to shorten life expectancy by as much as 20 percent when eating extra portions.
6. You’re still looking for a job.
Being unemployed can increase a person’s risk of premature death by 63 percent. Other more specific studies found that “the two factors most strongly associated with higher death rates were smoking and not having a job.” Another found that older people who lost their jobs during the recession could have seen their lifespan decrease by as many as three years.
7. You’re dealing with a long commute.
Commutes of about an hour have been found to increase stress and have been linked to the same negative effects as sitting. Long commutes also reduce the likelihood that individuals will consistently participate in health related activities. The greatest lifespan risk is with female commuters, who were found to have significantly shorter lifespans after consistently commuting for 31 miles or more. The cause for the dip in female life expectancies has been the topic of much speculation lately, but while the Swedish research was able to link commuting to obesity, insomnia and a higher rate of divorce, it wasn’t able to pinpoint why female mortality rates are higher.
8. You’re having a dry-spell.
A study among men found that failing to climax for extended periods of time can potentially cause your mortality rate to be 50 percent higher than for those who have frequent orgasms. This result was found even when controlling for factors such as age, smoking, and social class. On the opposite spectrum, orgasms have been linked to quite a few additional health benefits.
9. You’re putting up with annoying co-workers.
Missing out on strong connections with your co-workers can also potentially mean missing out on a longer life. Peer social support, which could represent how well a participant is socially integrated in his or her employment context, is a potent predictor of the risk of all causes of mortality. Although having feelings of encouragement coming from bosses and managers didn’t seem to affect the subjects’ lifespans, those who reported feelings of low social support at work were 2.4 times more likely to die over the study period.
10. You’re not sleeping enough (or maybe too much?)
Harvard Medical School points out that research has shown that life expectancies significantly decrease in subjects who average less than five or more than nine hours a night.
Most of us suffer from too little rather than too much sleep, but research suggests there truly is a sleep “sweet spot” — at least if you’re primarily concerned about living for as long as possible.
Chronic lack of sleep is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, some cancers, dementia, cognitive and memory problems, weight gain and early death. And some research shows that too much (dramatically, unusually too much) regular sleep could be problematic as well.
Research has also shown that we need an average of eight hours to function optimally, but another, somewhat controversial study found that getting more than seven hours of sleep a night has been linked to shortened lifespans.
11. You’re fearing death or that you won’t live for as long as you’d like.
This is a painful paradox. A fear of a shortened lifespans, or Thanatophobia, can potentially end up causing – a shortened lifespan. A 2012 study on cancer patients ended up finding that, “life expectancy was perceived as shortened in patients with death anxiety.”
Outside of cancer patients, an intense fear of death can also lead to a three to five times increase in the risk of cardiovascular ailments, according to research on Americans who feared death from another terrorist attack following Sept. 11, 2001. Although a slight fear of death has been shown to have positive benefits, like an increase in exercise and healthy eating, the fear has been shown to significantly affect lifespans, especially in adults nearing the age of being considered elderly. These effects can also be correlated to especially paranoid people having weaker connections with society and increased feelings of alienation – the negative effects of which were both discussed above.
Huffington Post

Jonathan as the fiddler-in-chief?


Jonathan as the fiddler-in-chief?
Former British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, is famous for saying that 48 hours is a long time in politics. That statement is a vote for speed and clarity of thought and action.
It is, of course, a truism that without a clarity of thought reflected in clear-cut strategy, decisive action becomes impossible. A good strategist is one, who knows where he is going and sets about mobilising forces and resources to align with such goal.
But so far, nothing illustrates the absence of these elements in President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration more than the recent defection of five of the G-7 Governors from the powerful PDP to the opposition APC. The defection seemed to me like a last resort, more like the rebound affection of a lover scorned who may end up with the next available suitor that showed a bit of kindness. Otherwise, give it to the devil. Over the years, PDP had built a formidable reputation as the place to be for power mongers and many people who left the party only did so when they had been so hounded and brutalized by the monster that they had no choice.
Leaving is their way of making the point that PDP is not the end of the world, but in most of the cases, even those that left often ended up returning, feeding into the myth of the party’s invincibility and hubris. Otherwise, the conglomeration of those coming together into what is now potentially a majority party in opposition, APC, is more of marriage of convenience than any stretch of ideological affinity. Yet, if that is what it would take to dislodge PDP, who cares, as long as the point is made that power is no party’s eternal heritage, but subject to the will of the people.
We may never know how much of hubris is responsible for the tactless, witless and arrogant way the presidency and PDP had handled the grievances of the G-7 Governors, up until they delivered their blow of leaving the party. Or how much of it is just a matter of sheer lack of grasp of the power game, especially by President Jonathan in particular and his handlers in general. There is no question that the root cause of the crisis in PDP is the question of power realignment for 2015 general elections, with particular emphasis on who becomes the president. While President Jonathan would like to exercise his right to second term, there are many, including, as have now become so evident, members of his own party, who felt that his performance so far in his first time has not been up to scratch.
It is even particularly embarrassing that some of those, who hold such a dim view of the president’s performance are not just members of the Northern political elite, who desperately want power back or the vocal South-west elite, who are pushing for a change at all cost, but also dissenting voices from the president’s South-south zone represented by Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva whose second term dream was burst by the president. In a manner of speaking, a man’s worst enemies are usually the variety called, the enemy within or to use a popular spiritual lingo, household enemies. Even Amaechi seems to be grappling uneasily with the dilemma of seeming to stand in opposition to a south-south brother against a potential northern candidate.
The build up to the defection of the governors was long in coming. First, the futile power struggle of the president’s men with Governor Amaechi was the first signal. It was not just that the attempt to impeach Amaechi was frustrated by the Governor’s stiff resistance and the coalition of forces in the National Assembly who took over the Rivers State House of Assembly, stalling possible impeachment move, Amaechi went on to win 19 votes at the election of chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum against the 16 votes for Jonah David Jang who was the president’s anointed.
Faced with the devil’s alternative, the president lost the grace of magnanimity by sticking with the fiction that 16 was majority over 19 votes! Then followed the now famous walk-out drama at the PDP convention at Abuja by the G-7 Governors led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. The apparently well orchestrated open humiliation of the president was not just unprecedented, it was also made worse by the fact that even though those behind the drama had prepared the Yar’Adua Centre as an alternative venue, the president’s handlers didn’t seem to be aware of the plot, despite their access to diverse security reports, thereby exposing their principal to needless embarrassment. I had always wondered whether it was a case of internal sabotage, the usual arrogance of those at the helms, a case of confusion in high places or simple lack of vigilance.
Once the implosion in the party became open, the only options left for the president was either to call the bluff of the G-7 Governors or to negotiate. It would have been inconceivable that by walking out, the G-7 Governors realistically hoped to wrest the party from the president. What was more likely was that it was a high-stake bid for negotiation, a quest for concession and perhaps, a degree of balance of power rather than total control. This is the essence of democracy which we see in operation in other climes as exemplified by the perennial battles between President Obama and the far right GOP activists in the US Congress who recently shut the government down for weeks.
But for three months, it seems the negotiation had been marred by lack of good faith and decisiveness especially on the part of the president who had so much to lose. This point can best be illustrated with two examples from history. In 1992 when Bashorun M.K.O.  Abiola arrived Jos, venue of the SDP convention to choose the party’s presidential candidate, he discovered that 12 of the 14 SDP governors were backing either Alhaji Babagana Kingibe or Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, leaving him with only Chief Segun Osoba firmly for him, and Chief Kolapo Ishola who was partially on his side. Despite money already disbursed which disappeared into different pockets other than the delegates, fresh money was also needed to mobilize. Abiola had only that night to reverse the mountainous obstacles against him. His wife, Dr. Doyin Abiola, was dispatched to Lagos with Abiola’s private plane to bring fresh money while Abiola, Osoba and co spent the night moving from governor to governor, delegates to delegates, until he had gained enough support to secure ultimate victory. On that night, 12 hours made a world of difference between victory and defeat, and between history and an event. With the type of indecisive tardiness on display at the seat of power today, Abiola would not have stood a chance in a hell.
Then, in 2002, almost all the PDP governors led by Atiku had turned their backs on President Obasanjo, insisting he was unsuitable for a second term and advising him to go for a Mandela option of voluntary one term only—an echo of what some of the governors want Jonathan to do. But again, overnight, the crafty old Obasanjo, one of Nigeria’s truly imperial presidents, stooped to conquer the ring leaders of the governors, negotiating, begging and kneeling to some of them, to allow him a second term. He won them over, albeit with fake promises—the point here being that he moved decisively!
Once he had won though, he was to deal with all those that gave him tough time. To some of them, he reportedly boasted, “I knelt down for you for ten minutes but I will make you kneel down to me for life!” The morality of Obasanjo’s behavior is not so much the issue as the fact that he moved decisively to deal with threat to his second term dream in a pragmatic manner rather than Jonathan’s woolly and dithering negotiation that seems to linger for ever.
Jonathan’s desperate parley with the two governors is evidence that perhaps, in retrospect, the president now recognized how critical some of these governors are to his second term ambition, despite the grandstanding otherwise. It is perhaps possible that the president’s handlers had relied too much on the enormous power of the president to rally party structures on his behalf rather than face the political reality on the ground that may ultimately defy presidential power at the polls. Or more realistically, as some sources argued, the president had been hostage to some crony bad advisers who mistake the corridors of power for real politick.
You don’t linger when astute APC politicians are busy fishing in your garden, promising everything to those you had needlessly deprived, only for you to move promptly to scramble for the remaining two governors after you’ve lost five of them already. It makes you wonder at Jonathan’s decision-making process. Perhaps, this is a reflection of how he runs the nation too, fiddling while the nation burns, a good enough reason to explain why much of the time, nothing seems to be happening. It makes you wonder: is there a captain to this titanic ship called Nigeria or are we just drifting on our own, hoping by some good luck, to avoid the ice berg? I truly fear and tremble as 2015 looms large.

TheSun

ASUU: University Don Says Lecturers’ Children Suffer Too


A Professor of Counselling and Psychology at the University of Lagos, Ngozi Osarenren, on Thursday said ASUU’s insistence on getting its demands met is not out of a callous desire to keep students away from school as their own children are enrolled in the same schools, and are victims of the strike.
“ASUU members are not barren. They have children staying at home too,” she said.
Speaking on Sunrise Daily, she said the struggle for a better education sector is not for the personal gratification of the members and association. She said “no ASUU member is sharing from the money it is demanding.
“It’s for the revitalization of the education sector and it’s very painful that people who ought to know are shamelessly playing the ostrich, pretending not to know,” she said.
The former commissioner for education in Edo state disclosed that the association had sent a letter to the Federal Government on the 22nd of November but until December 5th, there has been no reply.
“How come the government cannot communicate to ASUU since then? The government has not sent any reply to ASUU. We are only hearing this in the media.”
She stated that they have been labelled militants and described as subversive but “we are not asking for salary increase. No ASUU member is sharing from the 200 billion naira.”
She stressed the fact that no Nigerian university ranks among first 10 in Africa despite the title “Giant of Africa” which the nation lays claim to.
She accused the government of regarding ASUU members as non-serious people who are not to be reckoned with, adding that what they sent to the government was leaked to the press.
Despite the Federal Government’s disclosure that it has created an account in the CBN for ASUU, Mrs Osanrenren stated that they have only seen it in the media and that the government is yet to reply ASUU’s letter.
Speaking about those who have resumed in UNILAG, she said people who have other reasons may have resumed but insisted that there are no factions in the school.
“The press is making the faction issue in UNILAG to thrive. If you are not on strike, it does not mean that there is a faction,” she said.
Asked when ASUU will call off the strike, she said, “once we get official document to show that these things have been done, ASUU will call off the strike.”

ChannelsTV

GOING ON WITH ONE UNIQUE MONARCH AND LAUREATE: OBA EREDIAUWA CFR


“The Cradle of ideas: a compendium of speeches and writings”

28th of November 2013, was indeed a historical reality. Different strokes for different folks. The Omo n’ oba nedo uku akpololo’s book “The Cradle of ideals: a compendium of speeches and writings”, was publicly presented at the oba Akenzua II cultural complex. General Yakubu Gowon Rtd. Was chairman of the occasion and Prof. Wole Soyinka was presenter. History repeats it self “not exactly in the same way or mode, but it overlaps in a similar manner.
General Yakubu Gowon detained Wole Soyinka during the civil war for going to Biafra to try and save soul. That to led to the writing of “The Man died”, a book I read when I was sixteen, did not understand, and tried to read again when I was forty. The week I picked the book up from my fathers library, the old man died. My father G. N. I. Enobakhare was the first Benin man to possess a degree in mathematics. He was the first indigenous principal of government college Ibadan. He taught both Wole Soyinka and Omo n’ Oba nedo.
Wole Soyinka’s books are powerful, spiritually and otherwise. They are page turners. Prof. Places antiques on the table he writes on, to give each book a soul. His inspiration to us as a “Generation that almost did not exist, not wasted like his” is enormous when he believes in a cause, he puts everything on line. For instance, his belief in the return of stolen artifacts goes beyond the ordinary. He actually went to Brazil and “stole one“, just to return it back to the original owner at ife. The frustration of finding out that it was a British museum copy made him shave his hair during Oba Erediauwa’s coronation 1979.
The night before the book presentation, I ask General Gowon “did you ask Alabi Isama to be relocated to kirikiri?” His voice changed. He explained that he did not detain Alabi Isama, even though the detention saved his life. He (Alabi) would have died at Asaba with a whole battalion lost while trying to cross a wired Niger River. The Omo n’ Oba, a Cambridge trained lawyer, was a federal permanent secretary under Gowon. A head of state who owned no house at end of his abruptly terminated tenure.
The Oba’s book presentation did much more than raise money (about two hundred million naira). The political history of Nigeria was reprogramme. An event of this significance and magnitude only occur once in a century. Things has not fallen completely apart. We are yet to unearth Abiku’s Limbs. The Aladuras still “pray for Nigeria”. Especially general Gowon.
The Omo n’ Oba has cast the first stone. Many others will follow. I congratulate His royal Highness Prof. G. I. Akenzua. He and a dozen other gentlemen and women put this event together (including my humble self). I salute the Comrade Governor for his belief in relevant things. He said this event was the most important event he has hosted as governor.
I look forward to a hundred years from now. When the sun must have set on us mere mortals that congregated at the cultural complex. Innocently, we made history. Comparable not to the birth of Jesus, but to the end of apartheid. The man must not die in our intellectual considerations and compilations. The man must not die in our developmental strides – hiccups and all. With Solomonic wisdom, the man is alife. Alife in this great book by a “unique royal majesty of a unique kingdom”. It is a road map into there future of the Benin monarchy. A Cambridge library material. A terrain that only the brave explore. I implore that Wole Soyinka and General Gowon Phd embrace. The royal majesty has made it possible. Oba gha to okpere ise.

AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF “CRADLE OF IDEAS: A COMPENDIUM OF SPEECHES AND WRITINGS”
OBA EREDIAUWA CFR OBA OF BENIN IS AVAILABLE THROUGH PROFESSOR G. I. AKENZUA 08036815451, Email: giakenzua@yahoo.com
COST $1, 000 INCLUDING POSTAGE. ALLOW SEVEN WEEKS FOR DELIVERY


via: Eno Louis fb