Echotitbits – Nigeria News

Category: Lifestyle

It’s Compulsory: Coronavirus Tests for Travellers Returning to Germany

Germany’s coronavirus testing requirement for travellers flying in from high-risk countries has come into force with few complications on Saturday, DW News has reported.

Operators of airport testing centres across the country reported minimal wait times and ample supplies. Meanwhile, EU members Romania and Bulgaria were added to Germany’s list of high-risk countries.

Coronavirus testing booth operators at Germany’s largest airport, Frankfurt Airport, said they did not see any major problems or notice a large increase in the number of people waiting to be tested.

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“This is slightly more than in the past few days,” Benedikt Hart, the head of the German Red Cross-operated testing center at the airport told the DPA news agency. “The people have understanding. There are no disgruntled passengers.”

A Hamburg Airport spokesperson echoed that statement, saying there were no complications related to the testing, and that passengers arriving from high-risk countries didn’t face more than a 30-minute wait to be tested. In Berlin, tests carried out at both Tegel and Schönefeld airports, as well as the central bus station were carried out with relative simplicity and only sporadic queues.

The tests are typically to be taken directly upon arrival at airports, but are also available free of charge at separate testing centres and medical practices up to three days after arrival.

DW correspondent Konrad Busen, who was at Frankfurt Airport, said the introduction of testing was expected to increase the number of cases identified.

“Up until now here in Frankfurt the number of positive tests has been relatively small around about 1 per cent of the about 2,000 people tested her per day have been positive,” he said. “This number is expected to rise now as compulsory testing is introduced for people traveling from high-risk countries.”

Praise and condemnation

The largest German doctor’s union, the Marburger Bund, welcomed the move, citing a higher rate of positive tests in people coming from high-risk countries. “The obligatory testing could make this even more obvious, because people with a tendency toward risky behavior are more likely to bypass voluntary testing stations,” Marburger Bund Chairwoman Susanne Johne said.

However, other practitioners have criticised the broad requirement. The risk areas are “much too general” and many general practitioners do not have the capacity to handle a “rush of people” asking to be tested, Ulrich Weigeldt, the chairman of the German Association of General Practitioners, told Die Welt newspaper.

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He also said it was “absurd” that returning travellers should have to give a doctor proof that they were abroad, adding that general practitioners are “not a branch of the Federal Ministry of Health.”

As an alternative to being tested in Germany, people arriving from abroad can be tested in the country where they were vacationing within 48 hours of their flight. Health authorities are, however, encouraging travelers to be tested a second time five to seven days after their journey.

Around 130 countries, including the United States, Egypt and Russia are listed as high-risk by the Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s health research agency. High-risk EU countries include Luxembourg, the Belgian province of Antwerp, several regions of Spain and parts of Romania and Bulgaria. A place is considered to be high risk once the number of new infections rises in the past week rises above 50 cases per 100,000 people.
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Photos: IGP decorates newly promoted senior officers in Abuja

The number of infections in Germany has been steadily on the rise over the past weeks, with experts warning of a second wave. The daily number of new infections rose by over 1,000 for the third day in a row on Saturday, reflecting a trend not seen since May. The country has recorded nearly 217,000 cases and a death toll of 9,201.

Idowu Sowunmi

August 8, 2020
Video: updated – My Father, Ebenezer Obey-Fabiyi, is Alive, Says Daughter

Princess Aduragbemi Obey-Jaiye has debunked claims that her father and Nigerian music legend, Chief Ebenezer Obey-Fabiyi, is dead.

She said her father is hale and hearty contrary to claims making rounds on social media platforms.

Describing the report of her father’s death as fake news, Princess Obey-Jaiye said the Juju maestro is full of energy and ready for celebration.

Princess Obey-Jaiye also said earlier: “My Father Dr. Ebenezer Olasupo Obey-Fabiyi is well, healthy full of energy and ready for celebration AND ALIVE…

The Juju Maestro also in a video claimed he’s alive hale and hearty as shown below.

“Stop the Fake NEWS.”

Idowu Sowunmi

July 4, 2020
Finally, US Charges Hushpuppi to Court, Accuses Him of Frauds, Money Laundering

Government of the United States of America (USA) has finally charged Ramon Abbas Olorunwa Igbalode popularly known as Ray Hushpuppi to court in Los Angeles for allegedly committing frauds and laundering ‘millions of dollars from cybercrime schemes.’”

The government, in a comprehensive affidavit on Friday by the US Department of Justice, said Hushpuppi carried out business email compromise frauds that targeted US law firm, a foreign bank and an English Premier League soccer club.

The charges against Hushpuppi compiled by a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Andrew John Innocent, was filed before the US Magistrate Judge, Honourable Rozella Oliver.

Though the affidavit discussed several fraudulent schemes involving Hushpuppi, it failed to disclose the identity of the law firm, foreign bank and the English Premier League club he allegedly defrauded.

If found guilty, Hushpuppi may end up spending many years in prison in the US.

The affidavit reads in part:

“RAMON OLORUNWA ABBAS is a Nigerian national living in the
United Arab Emirates (the “U.A.E.”), whose social media accounts frequently
show him in designer clothes, wearing expensive watches, and posing in or with
luxury cars and charter jets.

“The FBI’s investigation has revealed that ABBAS finances this opulent lifestyle through crime, and that he is one of the leaders of a transnational network that facilitates computer intrusions, fraudulent schemes(including BEC schemes),1 and money laundering, targeting victims around the world in schemes designed to steal hundreds of millions of dollars.

“ABBAS participated in these fraudulent schemes and money laundering in coordination with multiple coconspirators, including the persons referred to herein as Coconspirator 1 and Coconspirator 2.

“This affidavit discusses several fraudulent schemes involving
ABBAS. First, messages found on the iPhone of Coconspirator 1 (reviewed
pursuant to a federal search warrant issued in this District) reflect that ABBAS, Coconspirator 1, and Coconspirator 2, with others, committed a BEC scheme that defrauded a victim in the United States of approximately $922,857.76, including 1 BEC fraud schemes often involve a computer hacker gaining unauthorized access to a business-email account, blocking or redirecting communications to and/or from that email account, and then using the compromised email account or a separate fraudulent email account (sometimes called a “spoofed” email account) to communicate with personnel from a victim company and to attempt to trick them into making an unauthorized wire transfer. The fraudster will direct the unsuspecting personnel of the victim company to wire funds to the bank account of a third party (sometimes referred to as a “money mule”), which is often a bank account owned, controlled, and/or used by individuals involved in the scheme based in the United States. The money may then be laundered by wiring or transferring it through numerous bank accounts to launder the money, or by quickly withdrawing it as cash, by check, or by cashier’s check, approximately $396,050 that ABBAS, Coconspirator 1, and Coconspirator 2 laundered while Coconspirator 2 was in Los Angeles, California.

“Second, ABBAS and Coconspirator 1 conspired to launder funds intended to be stolen through fraudulent wire transfers from a foreign financial
institution (the “Foreign Financial Institution”), in which fraudulent wire transfers, totaling approximately €13 million (approximately USD $14.7 million), were sent to bank accounts around the world in February 2019. Coconspirator 1 conspired with the persons who initiated the fraudulent wire transfers, and also conspired with a number of others, including ABBAS, to launder the funds that were intended to be stolen. ABBAS, specifically, provided Coconspirator 1 with two bank accounts in Europe that ABBAS anticipated would each receive €5 million of the fraudulently obtained funds.

“Other communications between ABBAS and Coconspirator 1 indicate
that, in addition to these schemes, ABBAS and Coconspirator 1 conspired to launder tens, and at times hundreds, of millions of dollars that were proceeds of other fraudulent schemes and computer intrusions, including a fraudulent scheme to steal from an English Premier League football club.
III. STATEMENT OF PROBABLE CAUSE
A. Identification of ABBAS.

“Analysis of Coconspirator 1’s iPhone and other online accounts showed that Coconspirator 1 operated and tasked money mule crews for a number of fraudulent schemes, including BEC schemes and cyber-heists. Analysis also
showed that Coconspirator 1 communicated with the U.A.E. phone number +971543777711 (“Phone Number 1”) about multiple fraudulent schemes and money laundering. As described below, Phone Number 1 was one of the phone numbers ABBAS used during 2019 and 2020.

“Based on my review (pursuant to federal search warrants obtained in
this District) of data from Coconspirator 1’s iPhone and from an online account connected to that phone (the “Online Account”), other law enforcement personnel’s review of that digital data, and from discussions with United States Secret Service (“USSS”) and FBI personnel, I know the following:

“Coconspirator 1’s iPhone listed Phone Number 1 (+971543777711) with the contact name “Hush.” The phone also contained a contact for Snapchat username “hushpuppi5,” which listed the Snapchat contact name “The Billionaire Gucci Master!!!”

“Searches of Phone Number 1 and the contact name “Hush” in Coconspirator 1’s iPhone revealed messaging conversations between “Hush,”
using Phone Number 1, and Coconspirator 1. (For ease of reference, communications with this moniker and Phone Number 1 are referred to as communications with ABBAS in the remainder of this affidavit.)

“In or around December 2019, April 2020, and June 2020, I reviewed the publicly viewable Instagram account of “hushpuppi” at www.instagram.com/hushpuppi. Based on information available on the profile page, the user of that account made more than 500 posts and had 2.3 million followers as of June 2020.

“This Instagram account included numerous publicly viewable images
of a man who appeared to be ABBAS, based on comparisons to photographs of ABBAS in passports and other identification documents referenced below inparagraphs 16.c to 16.c.iv. Hundreds of these images on the Instagram account showed ABBAS in designer clothing and shoes, posing on or in luxury vehicles, wearing high-end watches, or possessing other luxury items, indicating substantial wealth.

“For example, on June 6, 2020, ABBAS posted a photograph of
a white Rolls Royce Cullinan that included the hashtag “#AllMine.” On February 27, 2019, ABBAS posted a photograph of himself in front of two vehicles, one of which he described as his new Rolls Royce Wraith. Based on review of publicly available pricing information, the starting price for each of these vehicles is approximately $330,000.

“More than two dozen images showed ABBAS in front of, on top of, or inside other luxury vehicles, including multiple models of Bentley, Ferrari, Mercedes, and Rolls Royce.

“On numerous occasions, ABBAS posted photos of himself wearing items and/or holding shopping bags from luxury stores such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Channel, Versace, Fendi, and more.

“On multiple dates, including April 17, 2020, June 19, 2019, and July 1, 2019, ABBAS posted images of himself inside or in front of private jets.

“Multiple photographs also appeared to show ABBAS posing in locations around the world (such as Dubai and Paris).” and attached.

July 4, 2020
Nigeria ranks second highest with 60 million who do open defecation
- Tobiloba Kolawole
Nigeria with about 200 million people is at the risk of a national disaster that could stem from diseases associated with open defecation.

An environmental activist, Hamzat Lawal, who spoke to TVC News in Lagos on Monday stated that a situation where over 60 million people cannot access toilet facilities is dangerous.

In November 15 of 2108, the Federal Government through the Ministry for Water Resources led by Engineer Suleiman Hussein Adamu launched a strategic document for Open Defecation Free Campaign.

It is however worrisome that according to current information on the website of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Nigeria is ranked second highest in the world with cases of open defecation.

The environmental activist stated that to avoid an uncontrollable breakout of cholera, government needs to declare a state of emergency to tackle open defecation.

Lawal said: “they need to consolidate on their effort and this is not the sole role of government alone. As much as government needs to put in place policies and regulatory framework, this presents an opportunity here.”

I think we all shy away from the fact that this is shit business; we need to ensure the private sector is involved. If you look at our major cities today, they don’t have mobile toilets where citizens can have access”, Lawal said.

He emphasized the need for a policy roadmap that will encourage private sector investment in dealing with open defecation because government effort alone is not enough.

“I think most importantly someone has to pay the price. We need to look at the investment chain, create an enabling environment to bring in the private sector’, Lawal said.

He expressed worry that many Nigerians still do not understand the health Implication of open defecation.

“Today we are experiencing cholera outbreak in most rural communities because where they defecate is the same place they have streams, which goes to the river bank and people will drink this water and use it to cook food.”

Nigeria is battling with infant mortality, if we don’t deal with open defecation, particularly at the grass root, especially rural communities, we will keep losing lives and value for money”, Lawal said.

He also spoke on how quickly the menace of open defecation should be dealt with and meeting the 2025 target for eradicating the scourge.

“I think we need to decentralise. What I mean is that Federal Government must not only lead the effort. What are our local institutions doing, what are our state governments doing, most importantly how much is government budgeting at the local, state and national level?”

Also, how much of this budget are being released and how are civil societies able to track the effective use of public resources?”

I believe if we can effectively ensure that public resources are put to public use, then we will ensure that every citizen has access to public toilet facility.”

Frontpage recalls that in 2016, during the 6th National Roundtable Conference on Community led Total sanitation, which held in Akwanga, Nasarawa State, the Ministry of Water Resources launched a campaign document titled Making Nigeria Open Defecation Free by 2025.
April 23, 2019
PPLD International to train 1 million young graduates in 2019

By Tobiloba Kolawole

A training and development organization, Purpose Power and Lifestyle Design (PPLD) International is set to train young graduates through its Prep for Success (PFS) programme.

According to the Chief Inspiration Officer of the organization, Tunde Makun, the PFS will hold for two days, Thursday 24^th and Friday 25^th.

The Prep for Success programme, which is in its 13^th edition, is the company’s initiative to breeding a new crop of business and thought leaders who will drive the emerging African continental growth.

Makun said: “Our young graduate population continues to grow rapidly in the job market. And while that’s going on, confusion and disenchantment deepen. For the few who are lucky to be invited for interview, most employers aren’t pleased with the quality of the interview candidates. Clearly, we have a duty to not only provide for them, but also to guide them.

“That’s why we created the hugely experiential graduate Prep for Success

PFS training program to help Young Graduates lay an amazing foundation for a fast-track into the future; securing and growing in a choice career or business”, Makun noted.

Some of the facilitators and sponsors that will attend the training are Mrs Gbemisola Adetola, a Public Relations Consultant; Mrs Adebola Fashaun, a retired Judicial Officer and Mrs Bioye Animashaun, a Legal Practitioner.

Makun added that, “The truly transformational 2-day PFS program is the code you need to navigate the future with confidence. Now in its 13th class, the testimonials from this program have been phenomenal.

Tunde Makun, a successful entrepreneur in the oil and Gas marketing industry also expressed regret that the country is not thinking much about the young ones. He noted that in 2019, PPLD will do a lot to deepen its connection with the youth especially, helping them to navigate through tortuous environment to attaining successful careers.

He said: “Our connection with the youth this year is very ambitious. We are looking at reaching to as much as a 1 million youth. The idea is to make sure that there are some key deliverables. Leadership is one of them, and helping them to redefine how to live in a community.

“We want to train the youth to lead themselves in a community where they live according to rules of engagement that works for communal living rather than individual living”, Makun said.

Notable past facilitators and mentors at PPD training programmes include Prof. Pat Utomi, Dr. Doyin Abiola, Mr Leo Stan Ekeh, Dr. Christopher Kolade and many others.

The internationally certified coach said he is collaborating with partners in the United States of America, who would become mentors and share resources to help PPLD achieve its goal of catapulting young graduates to success in Nigeria.

January 25, 2019
Federal and State governments to deploy ICT for economic recovery.

By Tobiloba Kolawole

The Federal Government and State governments in Nigeria are consolidating efforts to take advantage of the far-reaching potentials in the deployment of information and communications technology for social and economic gains.

At the opening ceremony of the 6^th regular meeting of the National Council on Communications Technology, which held last Thursday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, the Executive Governor of Ogun State, His Excellency, Ibikunle Amosun reinforced the need for governments at all level and the private sector to invest in ICT to fast track development and reduce unemployment rate to the barest minimum.

In his opening address, Governor Ibikunle Amosun, who was the chief host of this year’s NCCT meeting underscores the impact of communication technology on development. He said, “The interests to share and the ideas to exchange among the people have assumed a multi-dimensional proportion and have totally become driven by technology. These evolving challenges of information management have led to advancements in Big Data, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cryptography and Robotic Engineering.”

It is imperative that a society that is desirous of continued growth and development must not only put in place necessary machinery to ensure seamless information and communication but must also place a high premium on the various means of communication. This is why the conception and hosting of the 6^th National Council on Communication Technology in our dear State, is a welcome development at this critical time in our nation’s development.”

Governor Amosun further emphasized that there is a nexus between modern development and Information technology, which necessitates that any country that is desirous of achieving a turn around transformation in the economy, social welfare delivery, employment, effective agricultural process, education, and other areas must proactively invest in ICT.

Amosun said “on our part as an Administration in Ogun State, we appreciate the need to deploy technology in all our programmes and policies. Our belief is that, in Ogun State, by building an ICT ecosystem and leveraging on the benefits of technology, we will not only sustain the momentum of the achievement of our Administration, but we will also fast-track the process of development.”

The Ogun State Governor highlighted his government’s efforts to identify and help channel the exuberant energy of youths in Ogun State towards innovation. He said the aim is to encourage a crop of tech-savvy people who will deploy disruptive innovation technologies to solve society’s socio-economic challenges.

“This is one of the major reasons, amongst others, for featuring Technology in our 2018 Investors Forum and, the hosting of the 2018 TechSummit Ogun on Thursday 18^th January 2018”, Amosun said.

He also said “Apart from opening up a wide range of opportunities in employment generation for our teeming youth on a macro level, the TechSummit Ogun was also conceived to explore the potential for creating new economies along the ICT value chain, such as web development and maintenance; programming; software design and hardware engineering. It is my joy that our dear State has continued to take full advantage of the expected manpower needs by facilitating ICT hubs to provide needed skills acquisitions.”

FrontPage recalls that about two weeks ago, the Ogun State Executive Council approved a new ICT policy that highlights the development of human resources; provision of infrastructure; the roles of Government and other stakeholders; and strategies to be adopted in the deployment of ICT towards the development of vital economic sectors such as education, health, Agric, commerce and industry, tourism, etc.

The Chairman of the National Council of Communications Technology and Minister for Communications, Hon. Adebayo Shittu reiterated the impact of ICT as a veritable tool for advancing the growth and economic diversification in countries. The minister noted that a World Bank econometric study carried out in 2009 showed that every 10% increase in ICT investments generates a 1.38% increase in GDP.

In his address, Shittu said that “the Nigerian ICT sector today is one of the fastest-growing despite the economic recession and contributed 9.8% in GDP in 2014. The challenge is how to address the issues of revenue, investments, cost savings, employment generation, and national productivity among others.

“In pursuit of national agenda, we have continued to reposition the ICT sector in the areas of infrastructure and industry development, local content optimization, enabling policy, legal and regulatory framework; deepening of ICT in Government and mainstreaming of ICT into all spheres of national life among others”, Shittu said.

While highlighting some of government’s efforts towards ICT integration, the Minister said that through Galaxy Backbone, internet access has been provided to about 40 MDAs, over 11,000 nodes of wireless LAN to all MDAs at the Federal Secretariat, over 40,000 email addresses for government officials under the gov.ng and mil.ng domains, which is aimed at ensuring that government data is hosted locally on a secured website with data back-up to MDAs and 200 servers hosting 94 MDAs.

“We are working to have ICT infrastructure designated as critical national infrastructure. Efforts are being made to procure additional communication satellites to complement the existing NigComSat-2 as a means of reaching areas that cannot easily be covered by terrestrial fiber”, the Minister explained.

He said further “we are also working to make more investments in building the capacity and harnessing the talents of our youth. In particular, we are increasing Accelerators and Incubator programmes as a means of building and harnessing the capacity of our increasingly ICT savvy youth population.”

“Going forward, the government will expand its investment in ICT infrastructure to extend connectivity to un-served and underserved areas. In this regard, attention will be paid to the issue of multiple taxations of ICT infrastructure. A robust, safe and resilient infrastructure is the key enabler of a digital economy.”

Also, the Special Adviser on ICT to the Governor of Ogun State, Bunmi Adebayo stressed the need for a synergy between ICT professionals and service providers on one hand with the aim to recognize problems and attendant solutions for alleviation. He further emphasized the Government’s role in creating and enacting necessary social policies to address such problems.

Adebayo highlighted some of the achievements of the Ogun State Government through the Bureau of ICT.

“We have been innovative in this end in Ogun State and it may interest you that Ogun State is the First State to provide the longest Government Sponsored 250-kilometer Fiber optic layout in the Country in partnership with MainOne Cable, a private sector company, in a “Quid pro quo” arrangement by giving concession on Right of Way fees. The first to deploy a Satellite-based ICT solution to deliver Precision Management to Agricultural potentiality of our land, Pertinent positioning of our Agro-cluster and Agricultural yields.”

The first to host the only CISCO Networks Academy Support center (ASC) for English Speaking West and Central Africa stretching to the Gambia and Southern Nigeria which is managed by the center”, Adebayo said.

The theme for this year’s meeting of the National Council on Communications Technology was Leveraging ICT as a Vehicle for Economic Recovery and Growth. It began with a technical session on Monday 19^th November and ended on Friday 23^rd November. The meeting focused on how the highly acknowledged potentials of the ICT sector can be used to achieve the main policy objectives of economic recovery and growth.

The National Council on Communications Technology is the highest governmental policy advisory body in the ICT sector with the Federal Minister for Communications as the Chairman.

Members of the NCC includes the permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Communications, State Commissioners and highest state official in charge of ICT matters across the 36 states of the Federation; Chief Executives of Government agencies and parastatals in charge of ICT and key private sector stakeholders.

November 25, 2018
Ogun to become ICT hub, government approves new policy

By Tobiloba Kolawole

The Ogun State Government has on Tuesday approved a policy on information and Communication Technology with a vision to make the state IT driven and a key player in the Info-tech sector using ICT as an engine for sustainable development and global competitiveness.

In an exclusive interview, the Special Adviser to the Governor of Ogun State on ICT, Bunmi Adebayo said “the approval of the new ICT policy and implementation strategy goes a long way to show the commitment of Governor ibikunle Amosun to transforming the state into an ICT driven economy, which is part of the mission to rebuild agenda”.

Adebayo also stated that “the Ogun State government deemed it imperative to put in place an ICT policy in response to emerging global reality, to bridge digital divide and to enhance the quality of service delivery from government to the people of Ogun State and other stakeholders”.

The policy, which is tagged ‘Deploy ICT’ is designed to ensure that information and communication technology resources are available for research and development, urban and rural development, agriculture and forestry, including trade and investment for the purpose of fast tracking development in Ogun state.

“Some of the objectives of this policy are to empower Ogun residents to participate in software and IT development, integrate IT in mainstream education and build a pool of IT literate manpower in the civil and public service” Adebayo said.

The special adviser further reiterated that “In agriculture, ICT will be used to improve food production and security, in tourism, it will be used for the promotion of all our tourist potentials and in environment among others, ICT will be deployed to re-engineer and improve urban and rural development schemes”.

Since about two decades ago, information and communication technology has been a catalyst for development in a rapidly changing global environment. It has challenged nations around the world to device bold and courageous initiatives to address a host of vital socioeconomic issues such as reliable infrastructure, skilled human resources, open government and capacity building.

Meanwhile, the state government is set to host the 6th General Meeting of the National Council on Communications Technology. The event, which will begin on Monday 19th November and end on Friday 23rd November is being held at the June 12 Cultural Centre in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

November 16, 2018
World Diabetes Day 2018: 400 people, including children around the world at risk

By Tobiloba Kolawole

The International Diabetes Federation has urged families to learn more about the warning signs of diabetes. This was the call by members of the body around the world to mark Diabetes Awareness Month and World Diabetes Day 2018, which also held in across Nigeria last Wednesday.

In a statement, the body revealed that new research from IDF has discovered that parents would struggle to spot this serious life-long disease in their own children. Despite the majority of people surveyed having a family member with diabetes, an alarming four-in-five parents would have trouble recognizing the warning signs. One-in-three wouldn’t spot them at all. The IDF also said these challenges and recent findings underline the need for education and awareness to help people, particularly families, spot the diabetes warning signs early.

This year’s event was marked with the theme of Diabetes and the Family because the impact of diabetes on the family has been described as a big challenge to raising healthy children.

Since 1980 Diabetes cases have risen from 100million to 400 million people living with diabetes in 2018. In a television interview, a Lagos based medical doctor, Tuyi Mebawondu said: “as non-communicable disease, we are seeing a kind of pandemic of diabetes and its impact is essentially a burden on the family”.

Tuyi emphasized that parents ought to make it a priority to ensure every member of the family is tested for diabetes, including children. He stressed that early detection will help in the effective treatment and management of the disease. “The diagnosis of diabetes at the early stage is key because if you don’t pick it at the early stage you will pick it when life-threatening complication sets in” he stated.

“Our lifestyle has to change a lot. This is because as much as you want to alter your diet, as much as you don’t exercise, you smoke and live a sedentary life, the chances of having diabetes is higher” Tuyi said.

Again, diabetes has a critical impact on the organs of the body. It increases the risk of heart diseases, stroke and hypertension; in fact, it is the most common cause of blindness and amputation. Unfortunately, treating diabetes is becoming more challenging and expensive placing a burden on the family”.

LIFESTYLE CHANGES

The medical doctor advises people living with diabetes to have lifestyle changes starting with their diet. He said “the more your weight increases the more the challenge of your body using sugar, especially in type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes constitutes about 90% of diabetes cases all over the world”.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TYPE 1 & TYPE 2

In his analysis, Tuyi explained that “the difference between type 1 and type 2diabetes is in their etiological factors, that is how they originate. Type 1 diabetes is what we call childhood-onset, which depends on insulin. In this case, the pancreas, the organ responsible for making insulin is not producing sufficient insulin”.

He further said that “In type 2 the usage of sugar at the cellular level is having challenge because the body is not taking in the sugar and as you know sugar is the biological fuel that the body uses to get energy. So because most adults have loads of sugar in their system there could be a challenge for the body to take care of those sugars”.

HOW DIABETES IMPACT ON THE FAMILY

“It could be a big challenge to diagnose or quickly spot diabetes in children. One of the signs could be a mother having to change her baby’s diaper frequently, or a child not seeing properly. If there is a family history of diabetes then it is important to screen the children for diabetes” Tuyi said.

WHY WOMEN ARE MORE PRONE TO DIABETES

Tuyi also explained why women might be more prone to diabetes than men. He said “the disease has sex and age preference. For women, it could be because women are more likely to gain lots of weight or lifestyle peculiar to women. Also, when women pass through pregnancy, they pass through what is called gestational diabetes. So that puts a lot of load on the system to process sugar. There are about 400million people living with diabetes worldwide and about $1.2 trillion is being spent in terms of direct spending for treatment.

The theme for World Diabetes Day and diabetes awareness month 2018 and 2019 is The Family and Diabetes. A two-year time frame has been chosen to best facilitate planning, development, promotion, and participation. Materials and actions that IDF will develop over the two years of the campaign will aim to raise awareness of the impact that diabetes has on the family and support network of those affected. Also to promote the role of the family in the management, care, prevention, and education of diabetes.

November 16, 2018
Tony Elumelu Foundation invests $7.35 million in African entrepreneurs

By Tobiloba Kolawole

No less than 5,000 African entrepreneurs, private and public sector leaders and the broader entrepreneurship ecosystem converged on Lagos on Thursday, October 25, 2018 for the annual Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Forum. The event is a unique opportunity for bringing together young business talent, creating dynamic networks and transmitting the message to policymakers that a vibrant and responsible private sector will deliver economic transformation.

The forum which is now in its fourth year, is the graduation of the 2018 cohort of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, after a tedious nine-month duration of training, mentorship and funding. This brought the total number of beneficiaries of the Programme to 4,470 and about 300,000 applications received since the start of the entrepreneurial initiative.

A major highlight of this year’s forum was the unveiling of TEFConnect, a revolutionary digital community that serves as a complete convergence of the entrepreneurship ecosystem across Africa and beyond. The platform includes entrepreneurs, investors and the broader business community in one digital community, connecting them with three vital elements for success – capital, market and business tools. TEFConnect brings to fulfillment a key responsibility in bringing together entrepreneurs across the Africa, a continent that is riding a wave of rapid technological driven change spreading through payment systems, education, agriculture and infrastructure.

The event commenced with a battery of goodwill messages from major stakeholders in the investment, governmental and development communities. Other important highlights were pitching competition, panel discussions, as well as a vibrant interactive session between the Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo and entrepreneurs; and moderated by TEF Founder, Tony O. Elumelu.

The event also included a marketplace exhibition where past beneficiaries of the programme showcased their products and services.

October 27, 2018