Peoples Daily Newspaper, Nigeria

Too much red meat can raise the risk of developing type 2 diabetes

Peoples Daily — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:52:29 +0000

Eating more red meat can significantly increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, researchers have warned.
They found raising consumption by more than half a serving a day led to a 48 per cent increase in risk over the next four years.
In contrast, reducing red meat consumption by the same amount led to a 14 per cent lower risk of the disease.
Experts said the link may be due to the fat contained in red meat – mostly saturated fats – which means people should be encouraged to choose leaner cuts.
The number of Britons diagnosed with diabetes hit three million this year for the first time – equivalent to almost one in 20 of the UK’s population.
Type 2 is strongly linked to lifestyle factors such as being overweight or obese, leading a sedentary lifestyle and eating an unhealthy diet.
In the latest research, scientists analysed data from three earlier U.S. studies involving around 150,000 men and women, in which diets were assessed using food questionnaires.
The researchers recorded more than 7,500 cases of type 2 diabetes, says a report online in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
It found that compared with a group with no change in red meat consumption, an increase of half a serving a day resulted in a 48 per cent rise in the risk of developing diabetes over a four-year period.
Cutting consumption by half a serving a day led to a 14 per cent cut in risk.
Lead researcher Dr An Pan, from the National University of Singapore, said: ‘Increasing red meat intake during a four year interval was associated with an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus during the subsequent four years.
‘Our results confirm the robustness of the association between red meat and T2DM and add further evidence that limiting red meat consumption over time confers benefits for T2DM prevention.’
In a commentary in the journal, Dr William Evans, from Duke University in North Carolina, said: ‘A recommendation to consume less red meat may help to reduce the epidemic of type 2 diabetes.
‘However, the overwhelming preponderence of molecular, cellular, clinical and epidemiological evidence suggests that public health messages should be directed toward the consumption of high-quality protein that is low in total and saturated fats.
‘These public health recommendations should include cuts of red meat that are also low in fat, along with fish, poultry and low-fat dairy products.
‘It is not the type of protein or meat that is the problem: it is the type of fat.’
Dr Carrie Ruxton from the industry-backed Meat Advisory Panel , said the study showed an association but did not prove that eating red lean meat causes diabetes.
She said ‘As a result of this research, we should not change our meat consumption habits and we should stick to consuming 70g of cooked lean red meat per day and up to 500g per week, as recommended by the Department of Health.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk
‘Average intakes of red meat in Britain fall well within this guidance, suggesting that, for most people, red meat consumption does not need to be reduced.
‘Red meat plays an important part in a balanced diet. Red meat supplies crucial nutrients which are often lacking in the British diet.
‘Lean red meat can provide the nutrients needed to make up the dietary shortfall frequently observed in UK diets today.’
Source: Dailymail.co.uk

The post Too much red meat can raise the risk of developing type 2 diabetes appeared first on Peoples Daily Newspaper, Nigeria.

APGA crisis: Obi seeks reconciliation with Umeh, says Aide

Peoples Daily — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:50:29 +0000

Gov. Peter Obi has urged Chief Victor Umeh, the factional National Chairman of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) to reconcile with the Chief Maxi Okwu-led faction of the party.
The Special Adviser to Governor on Political Matters, Mr Fidel Okafor, said this in Onitsha, Anambra, yesterday.
Okafor said the party was not chasing anybody out but had resolved to bring everybody back into the fold.
“Chief Umeh should soft-pedal on his stance against the current leadership of APGA and accept the truth in the interest of Ndi Igbo and the political legacy of Chief Chukwuemeka Ojukwu,’’ he said.

He said that the current leadership was ready to welcome Umeh and other members back as well as accord them their due respect and regard.
He said, “I want to use this medium to advice Umeh to soft pedal.
“If all of us believe that this party is good enough for the Igbo people, one cannot continue going ahead creating impressions that there are problems. There are problems here and there.
“There is no problem again, the party is willing and ready to re-integrate him, but it does not make any sense if he continuous to fight to be national chairman.
“One, between you and I, there is no political party in this country that has retained one national chairman for 10 years.
“Victor Umeh started acting as national chairman in 2004, next year it will be 10 years and he is not tired.
“Look at, just go and study all the political parties in this country, there is no party that has retained one national chairman for more than four years.
“That is how parties grow, this party thing is not a personal business; you do your beat, you shift and another person will come in.
“It continuous to change, but in APGA it is as if it has become somebody’s empire or dynasty, where you must be there, probably hand-over to his son.

“So, that is what we want to stop; it is a national party that gives the Igbo people identity, so we have to do things democratically to reflect how parties are run everywhere.
“Our party’s constitution makes it clear that no one person can occupy one position for above, I mean more than eight years; from 2004 till now.
“My prayer is that he sees reason and accepts peace; if he wants to remain in APGA we can give him a pride of place as a former national chairman, maybe whatever thing he wants.
“But he must let the leadership of the party be, must let the party be because the implication of what he is doing is – if it is not me, let it die.’’
Okafor noted that the convention that produced Okwu and others from the ward level to the national level was free and fair and had been upheld by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Responding, Umeh, factional Chairman of APGA, said that he would not join issues with aides and subordinates.
Umeh noted that Okafor should be making his appeal of reconciliation to people at his level. (NAN)

The post APGA crisis: Obi seeks reconciliation with Umeh, says Aide appeared first on Peoples Daily Newspaper, Nigeria.

CPP chairman decries lack of internal democracy in Nigeria

Peoples Daily — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:41:12 +0000

The National Chairman, Citizens Popular Party (CPP), Mr Sam Eke, has said that his top priority as helmsman of the party is to entrench internal democratic principles.
Eke made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja yesterday.
He said his decision was based on the reoccurring issues of lack of internal democracy within political parties in the country.
“Most political parties in the country lacks internal democracy and this is one of the set goals I intend to achieve as the new chairman of CPP,’’ he said.
Eke said he would make sure that internal democracy was sustained and well entrenched in the party and by extension sale out the idea to other political party leaders in the advisory council meetings.
“Internal democracy is the bedrock of participatory democracy,’’ he said, adding that most political parties in Nigeria were unprepared for democratic governance from their inception.
Eke said that the situation arose because issues the parties canvassed were lacking in clear cut ideology on how they intend to be achieve.
“Many political parties claimed to have ideologies, but none of them has been able to display this virtue in the way they run the affairs of their parties,’’ he said.
He called on the leaders to work with their party manifestos and the constitution of Nigeria to move the nation’s democracy forward.
“As a politician, I have realised that you cannot give what you do not have.
“For you to be a good teacher, you must have been a good student and you must have acquired knowledge to transfer as a politician or a leader,’’ he said.
On membership derive in his party, he said it came with misconception, adding: “In Nigeria membership of political parties does not translate into electoral success.’’
He said that electoral success was based on focusing and implementing issues that affect the well-being of the people.
“The issues that are current must be on the front burners so that people will be attracted to the party to move the nation forward and deepen our democracy,’’ he said. (NAN)

The post CPP chairman decries lack of internal democracy in Nigeria appeared first on Peoples Daily Newspaper, Nigeria.

Don urges LG officials to fulfil social contracts with people

Peoples Daily — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:40:44 +0000

Prof. Sam Egwu of Kogi State University (KSU) Anyigba, has urged elected local council officials nationwide to keep to the social contract they signed with the electorate.
He said this could be achieved by fulfilling their promises on the social and economic wellbeing of the people.
Egwu gave the advice on Tuesday in Lokoja at a lecture he delivered on ‘’enhancing healthy relationship between the executive and legislative councils in local government system in Kogi State’’.
Egwu spoke at a three-day induction workshop, organised by the state House of Assembly in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, for newly elected council officials.
He said: ‘’We want the promissory notes of democracy to be realised. This is part and parcel of the social contract.’’
Egwu added that for any government to be legitimate, it must be socially responsible to the people.
The don said that legitimacy of government in the country was on the decline due to crisis of governance.
Egwu, who is a Professor of Political Science, decried the insulation of the leadership from the followership, adding that the legitimacy of government was on the decline because the leaders were “alien to the people”.
Egwu added that the political class had taken advantage of “the ignorance and powerlessness of the people” to seize power and deprive them of their democratic rights.
He said the situation had also denied the people the power to effect change in leadership when dissatisfied.
According to him, countries that are serious about transformation must decentralise and transfer power to the people easily, to enable them to determine their destiny.
On the legislature, Egwu said the arm of government was “historically weak and under-developed due to pathology of inferiority complex’’.
He said that so far, there had been a culture of “executive dominance” due to the belief that it could not be checked by other arms of government.
On the military, the professor noted that it kept the legislature in limbo for a long time to the extent that it dwarfed its development to the advantage of the executive.
Egwu, however, called on the councils “to change the trend of things, deliver the dividends of democracy and accord the people the opportunity to exercise their legitimate democratic powers”. (NAN)

The post Don urges LG officials to fulfil social contracts with people appeared first on Peoples Daily Newspaper, Nigeria.

AD mourns Dosunmu, Mogaji

Peoples Daily — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:40:17 +0000

From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

The Lagos State Chapter of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) yesterday condoled with the families of late Senator Wahab Dosunmu (PDP stalwart) and Mrs Habibat Mogaji, mother of ACN Stalwart, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Dosunmu, a former Minister for Housing and Mogaji Iyaloja General were buried in Lagos on Sunday according to Islamic rites.
In a statement signed by its State Chairman, Chief Kola Ajayi, the AD stated that the death of the two illustrious Nigerians was sad.
“AD shall forever remain fond of the memories of these eminent persons who have defined themselves in the finest traditions of Lagos as a center of excellence.
“The late Dosunmu was a quintessential Lagos gentleman who inspired and reached out to people accross political party, ethnic, religious and class lines.
“He was a man of peace and AD prays that his gentle soul will rest in perfect peace with Almighty Allah.
“Mogaji was our dearest Iya Oloja (President-General) of the Market Women’s Association of Nigeria.
“Indeed Mama Mogaji was so dedicated to the cause of tresourceful and hardworking market women everywhere.
“She was a key pillar in the birthing and sustenance of the Alliance for Democracy in Lagos State.
“She was fully there through thick and thin during the eight years when AD governed Lagos and her contributions helped to preserve AD’s enviable place as the longest ruling political party in the history of Lagos state” the party stated.
It however commiserated with Tinubu, a former governor of AD in Lagos state and son of the late Iya-Oloja.
“Tinubu deployed his mother’s tremendous support and mobilisation skills which helped him to build the foundation and platform that have continued to sustain the AD and kept it alive in the hearts of the people of Lagos. We pray that God will give him the strenght to bear the loss” the party added.

The post AD mourns Dosunmu, Mogaji appeared first on Peoples Daily Newspaper, Nigeria.

Adedibu’s widow commends Ajimobi

Peoples Daily — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:39:50 +0000

From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

Widow of the late Strongman of Ibadan Politics, Chief (Mrs.) Bose Adedibu, has commended the Oyo state governor, Abiola Ajimobi, for his performance in the areas of security, urban tenewal and environmentaal sanitation.
Mrs. Adedibu, like her late husband, Chief Lamidi Adedibu, is a staunch member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party that ruled the state between 2003 and 2011.
While featuring on a Yoruba weekly television programme on the State-owned Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) recently, she acknowledged the fact that the Ajimobi administration had been able to restore the peace which had eluded the state for some years back.
“I am not a member of the Action Congress of Nigeria but a staunch member of the Peoples Democratic Party and I am not leaving the party. But I cannot say because I am a PDP member, I will not acknowledge good performance.
“In all honesty and without being unnecessarily biased, Governor Abiola Ajimobi is doing well. There is peace and security now compared with the violence and brigandage that used to be perpetrated by street urchins,” she said.
According to her, a couple of years back, the state was besieged by violence which made it uncomfortable for virtually everyone living in it.
“I remember vividly that at that time, the people of Oyo State used to live in perpetual fear of insecurity. But now, everywhere is peaceful and people are going about their business without fear of molestation,’’ she said.
Mrs. Adedibu also acknowledged that Ibadan, and indeed, the entire state, is now wearing a new look owing to the massive urban renewal programme of the state government.
She dismissed insinuations by the opposition that shops were being demolished and that traders were being subjected to unnecessary pains, saying that it was only those plying their trades on the streets that were being relocated by government.
“The traders that had been relocated were those trading on the streets and what the government has been doing is to ensure their safety and prevent avoidable accidents and loss of lives,” Mrs. Adedibu said.
The widow maintained that, in spite of that, the government had been building shops for traders on the streets who were removed from roadsides.

The post Adedibu’s widow commends Ajimobi appeared first on Peoples Daily Newspaper, Nigeria.

Harmonious legislature, executive relationship key to good governance – Osunbor

Peoples Daily — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:39:09 +0000

A former Senator, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor, said a healthy and harmonious legislative and executive relationship was key to good governance.
Osunbor said this in a paper he presented at a two-day International Conference on Emerging Democracies in Africa with the theme, “Challenges and Opportunities”.
The paper is entitled: “Legislature, Executive Relationship, Toward Building a Pact for Good Governance and Accountability’’. He said the disagreements between the two arms of government were often exaggerated and over dramatised.
He said that in some instances, such disagreements might help to reinforce mutual respect between the two arms of government and promote accountability
Osunbor said that the failure by the executive to implement budgets in full had remained one of the reasons for conflicts between the legislature and the executive.
He said that while the executive had the responsibility to manage the economy, the legislature was saddled with the responsibility to know how the resources were being managed.
“As representatives of the people, members of the legislature will always resist any attempt to shut them out of the decision as to who gets what, when and how,” he said.
The former senator enjoined the two arms of government to establish a platform or mechanism to bridge differences that would provide a link between them.
He attributed the stability being witnessed by the legislature in the country to the ability of members to elect their officials without external influence.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference, among others, is expected to evaluate the roles and weaknesses of institutions and actors in the democratic process of emerging democracies. (NAN)

The post Harmonious legislature, executive relationship key to good governance – Osunbor appeared first on Peoples Daily Newspaper, Nigeria.

Former Deputy Senate President, Legogie dies at 76

Peoples Daily — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:32:57 +0000

By Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin

Former Deputy Senate President and a pioneer member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Albert Legogie, is dead. He was aged 76.
Legogie died in a private hospital in Benin City.
The Septuagenarian hailed from Ugbekpe Ekperi in Etako Central Local Government Council and represented Edo North Senatorial district during the ill-fated Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) transition programme.
He was also the Company Secretary and Legal Adviser to the Bendel Newspaper Company, Publishers of the Observer Group of Newspapers and General Manager of New Nigerian Salt Company, Oghareki.
Eldest son of the deceased, Victor Legogie, said his aged father “suffered malaria and was taken to the hospital. He recovered and was brought home. In fact, he was doing well but later, he was ill again and we rushed him back to the hospital and unfortunately he died at the hospital”.
“So as you know, my Dad was a man of many parts. So we have to inform the National Assembly and the state government before we will be able to fix a date for his burial. We are consulting with a lot of people. We never expected this, it is shocking to us” he said.
Asked why his late father stayed away from politics before his death, he said “it is not as if he has not been playing politics; it is just that he has been at the background, mentoring people. My dad mentored a lot of politicians. He believed that the younger ones should be given opportunity to take over power. That was his philosophy and that was why he decided to be at the background”.

The post Former Deputy Senate President, Legogie dies at 76 appeared first on Peoples Daily Newspaper, Nigeria.

SURE-P: LG chairmen charged on internet facilities

Peoples Daily — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:32:22 +0000

From Umar Dankano, Yola

The 21 Local Government Area Chairmen in Adamawa State have been charged to hasten the installation of internet facility bases in their respective councils, without which the target audience cannot access the SURE-P programmes.
State Coordinator and Chairman, Implementation Committee of the Federal Government Subsidy Funds, SURE-P, Alhaji Salihu Yunusa Belel, gave the charge in an interview with journalists in Yola, stressing that all their empowerment programmes are being processed through the internet.
Alhaji Yunusa Belel said his committee has sat severally with the council chairmen and has agreed to establish at least one internet facility in their domain for easy access to information on the ongoing SURE-P laudable programmes introduced by President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
“In our several meetings with the council chairmen, we agreed that an internet base would be installed for easy access of our information and programmes in which most of them have complied and we have posted our desk officers and coordinators for counseling and guidance on the programmes”, he said.
Belel stated that under the YOU WIN programme which started last year, 227 women have qualified in Adamawa and have already started processing their funds from N2 million – N10 million respectively.
On the Community Service Scheme, he said about 400 youths have been captured who are enjoying the package of the scheme while on the
Graduate Intensive Scheme where fresh graduates of various disciplines are employed for training to be self-reliant with a salary of N18, 000 per month, he explained that so far, 3,000 youths have been employed and a balance of 2, 000 youths currently being processed for the programme in the state.
According to him, the federal government through SURE-P Programme doles out over N35 billion while over N200 million comes to Adamawa state SURE-P office monthly for disbursement to beneficiaries under various schemes of the programme.
“Let me use this opportunity to call on our teaming youths to patronize this laudable programme that is meant to empower them to be useful to themselves and our society because the federal government via fuel subsidy programme (SURE-P) gives N35 million monthly which is shared by the state offices of SURE-P and my state (Adamawa) receives N200 million monthly for the programme”, he said.

The post SURE-P: LG chairmen charged on internet facilities appeared first on Peoples Daily Newspaper, Nigeria.

Kebbi NDLEA boss worries over importation of drugs, dealers

Peoples Daily — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:31:48 +0000

From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi

The Kebbi State Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr.Ulo Okon, has expressed dismay over the increase in the sale and distribution of Diazepam and Cannabis as well as barons that have escaped arrest in boarder settlements in the state.
In a statement signed by him and made available to newsmen in Birnin Kebbi yesterday, he lamented the increase in drug dealing at boarder towns with Benin Republic, adding that the Agency is working out a modality to curtail this menace in the area.
He further explained that recently the Agency had arrested 19 drug suspects while 62.2 kilogrammes of Cannabis had been seized across the state. Four “clients” were admitted for counseling and rehabilitation within two months.
Mr. Okon also pointed out that its command has a full-fledged counseling and rehabilitation center for drug addicts and traffickers where addicts are trained in Tailoring, ICT, Barbing and other skills work.
He then urged parents and relatives of affected drug victims to take advantage of the Agency’s counseling and rehabilitation programme to end drug abuse.
He however appealed to the residents of border communities to assist the agency to curtail importation of drugs and other illicit acts of drug abuse.

The post Kebbi NDLEA boss worries over importation of drugs, dealers appeared first on Peoples Daily Newspaper, Nigeria.