History was made today as the Executive Governor of the Ondo State, His Excellency, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu sworn-in Elder Ayodele Akande as substantive Chairman Akoko North West Local Government.

Ayodele who flew the All Progressive Congress ticket defeated other contestants at the just concluded local government election that was held on 22nd August 2020.

Gov. Akeredolu in his remark urged the newly elected executives of the 18 councils in the state to shun impunity and to prioritize people-oriented policies.

One of the residents of Ikaram Akoko Ayomide Samuel who spoke to our correspondent expressed happiness that the wishes of the people came to reality. He described Ayodele candidacy as God sent and pray to God to help him (Ayodele) to succeed.

Bayern Munich won the European Cup for the sixth time on Sunday as Kingsley Coman’s goal gave them a 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in an engrossing Champions League final in Lisbon, completing a fantastic season for the German giants and leaving their opponents still searching for the trophy they covet more than anything.

It was often a cagey final, with a bit of needle between the teams, but chances too, especially before Coman appeared at the back post to head in Joshua Kimmich’s inviting 59th-minute cross and wrap up a treble for a team who had already won the Bundesliga and German Cup.

Hansi Flick’s team will feel they deserved their victory, yet PSG will regret not taking any of the chances that were offered up to them on a surreal occasion at an empty Estadio da Luz.

Kylian Mbappe in particular should have done better than shoot straight at Manuel Neuer right on the stroke of half-time.

The France World Cup-winning forward had spoken of his determination to go down in his country’s history by helping PSG become just the second French winners of European football’s greatest prize.

But they will have to wait for the chance to match Marseille, who won the inaugural Champions League in 1993.

PSG’s Qatari owners spent a combined 402 million euros ($474m) on Neymar and Mbappe in 2017 to win this competition, not just reach the final. However, in the end it was one who got away from Paris who denied them.

The 24-year-old Coman was born in Paris and started his career at PSG, only to leave in 2014 for Juventus, sensing he wouldn’t get the regular football he desired if he stayed put.

He had been on the bench in the semi-final against Lyon but was promoted to the starting line-up for the final, replacing Ivan Perisic on the left wing.

Now he may not be welcome back in his home city again.

Champions League
But at Bayern he will always be remembered as the man who won them this trophy in 2020, in the club’s 11th final and seven years after they were last European champions.

– Mbappe’s big miss –

Flick’s team have ended this season with 21 straight victories and unbeaten in 30 matches. They deserved to be crowned in a full stadium.

However, only a few hundred lucky invitees were inside the cavernous home of Benfica to see the denouement of the ‘Final Eight’, at the end of a competition so long delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The strangest of finals pitted together two clubs who have taken very different routes to becoming part of Europe’s elite, with Bayern’s status as Germany’s most successful and powerful side long established and PSG having left the rest of the French game behind following the Qatari takeover of 2011.

But if this was a mismatch in terms of history, on and off the pitch right now they are almost perfectly balanced.

That translated into the kind of proper match-up on the field that neither side often experiences these days.

Bayern came desperately close to opening the scoring midway through the first half when Lewandowski — looking for his 56th goal of the season — took down an Alphonso Davies cross, turned and struck a shot against the post.

The Pole also came close with a header that was saved by Keylor Navas, PSG’s goalkeeper who won the Champions League three times with Real Madrid and who was returning after injury ruled him out of the semi-final against RB Leipzig.

But Bayern take risks by playing with such a high line, and PSG should have punished them in the first half.

Neymar was denied by an excellent Neuer save after being set up by Mbappe, while Mbappe himself contrived to fire straight at the goalkeeper after David Alaba gited him the ball in the Bayern box.

Alaba had earlier seen his central defensive colleague, Jerome Boateng, limp out seemingly with a recurrence of the hamstring problem that forced him off against Lyon.

Niklas Suele replaced him and helped contain the Paris attack as Bayern held onto their lead.

Bayern had broken the deadlock just before the hour mark in a move that began with a sprayed Thiago Alcantara pass forward, and ended with Coman arriving to head in Kimmich’s perfect delivery.

Neymar ended the game with a yellow card for chopping down Lewandowski, and a runners-up medal, while Bayern celebrated.

AFP

(Source: Punch)

Professor Akin Abayomi, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, has tested positive for coronavirus.

Commissioner for Information and Strategy in the state, Gbenga Omotoso, made the announcement on Monday on Twitter.

“Subsequent to close contact with persons feeling unwell and testing positive for the COVID-19 infection, the Honourable Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, has tested positive for the virus. Professor Abayomi became aware of his status following the required testing protocol of contact tracing procedures,” Omotosho said.

“However, he is doing well with no symptoms.

“Adhering to the protocol of the homebased strategy in Lagos State, the Honorable Commissioner will be isolating in his home for the next 14 days but will continue to discharge his duties both as the Deputy Incident Commander of the Incident Command System for COVID-19  and most especially, as the Honorable Commissioner for Health.

“Our prayers are with him and his family during his period of isolation.”

Modern medicine has made giant strides in the last fifty years. There has been appreciable progress in the evolution of healthcare and contemporary medical science. And today, the world is a much better place, in that regard.

New technologies and research are helping to produce drugs and medicines to improve treatments. Several illnesses and diseases that were formerly thought to be incurable such as poliomyelitis, arthritis and bronchitis, are now almost treatable, or at least better managed.

Advances in modern medicine have developed to the point where doctors can perform virtual surgeries in different locations (without being physically present), use laser beams to correct eyesight, and create vaccines for viruses. Whereas modern healthcare has truly impacted the lives of people positively, one issue that still presents a challenge is malnutrition. Malnutrition, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy or nutrients.

Protein deficiency, a type of malnutrition, is the absence, or serious inadequacy, of protein and amino acids in the human body. A continuous intake of a poor diet, or foods devoid of protein, will lead to an overall decrease of protein nutrients in the body, causing malnutrition.

Protein deficiency is rampant in Nigeria, affecting millions of people, including children. Presently, reports from the WHO indicate that malnutrition is the main cause of over 45 percent of child deaths. Additional reports from the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the Global Strategy For Infant and Young Child Feeding, have shown that one third of children under five, in developing countries including Nigeria, are estimated to be stunted as a consequence of poor feeding and malnutrition.

Proteins are nutrients the body requires to function properly. Without proteins, the body cannot carry out its metabolic activities, as there will be no development and tissue repairs. A less intake of protein  is the consequence of primary malnutrition, as it impedes growth of infants and children.

Protein deficiency is strongly associated with ill health, both as a cause and as a consequence. People who are protein deficient are more susceptible to diseases and infections, due to a weakened immune system, and tend to take longer to recover from incidents of illness. Long episodes of sickness, can also result in protein deficiency, as individuals tend to eat and drink less when they are ill.

Individuals from the lower socio-economic classes (SECs) are more likely to be malnourished in any given country. A recent report by released by Nigeria Protein Deficiency Survey showed that the bulk of individuals battling with protein deficiency in the country belong to the lower socio-economic classes. It also indicated that protein intake among Nigerians is generally insufficient.

This is as a result of food insecurity and lack of access to protein-rich foods. There are too many people with not enough to feed on. An increased incidence of protein deficiency also arises when the cost of protein foods is relatively high. If an average Nigerian cannot afford protein foods within their means, the next alternative becomes any affordable food choice that may not contain any, or enough, protein that can help the body.

Kwashiorkor (hair loss, and a swollen stomach), marasmus (severe undernourishment, causing significant weight loss), hepatomegaly (abnormal enlargement of the liver) and even oedema (fluid retention in the hands and joints) are some of the health challenges that could arise from protein deficiency.

Invariably, pregnant women and children are at the greatest risk of being protein deficient. This is not only as a result of low dietary intake, but also from higher physiological requirements; as pregnancy and childhood development often increase demand for specific nutrients, vitamins and minerals.

In children, deficiency in protein may lead to stunting, fatigue and diverse ailments as a result of reduced immune function. Childhood stunting is a situation where under nutrition has leave a child to become too short for his or her age. It is also commonly associated with reduced appetite, developmental regression (no growth) and low levels of physical activity.

Evidently, protein deficiency is a blight on any community or society, aiming to achieve a natural, healthy life for its citizens

Governments and all stakeholders in the health and nutrition sectors have a role to play in dealing with protein deficiency in all its forms. The communities need to be sensitized on protein deficiency and its causes, and proper establishment of medical centres must be carried out nationwide to educate the masses.

To alleviate protein deficiency, and to truly achieve good health, Nigeria must awaken from its slumber and begin to take drastic measures to curtail this lingering challenge.

Reginald Onabu is a public affairs analyst based in Lagos State.

Former House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, has spoken out on the speculations that he would run for the presidency in 2023 with former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, in 2023.

In July, Dogara dumped the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling APC.

On Sunday, his spokesman reacted to “stories and images are being circulated on social media.”

“Our initial decision was to ignore them since they are utterly baseless but it appears that the promoters of this fallacy are unrelenting in spreading the falsehood and have now succeeded in making it sound believable to the extent that even some conventional and ‘credible’ media platforms are beginning to take it up.

“In order to stop the further spread of this deliberate mischief whose objective is yet to be ascertained, the public is hereby advised to disregard and totally discountenance the purported story and pictures for what they are – handiwork of mischief makers.

“These stories and pictures we understand are being sponsored by officials of the Bauchi State government in their desperate bid to lend credence to the infantile delusions of their principal, captured in his ludicrous postulations that Rt. Hon. Dogara left the PDP just because he was “deceived” by the APC with the promise of a position come 2023.”

The statement said Bauchi state Governor, Bala Mohammed “had publicly alluded to this and has continued to push these narratives all in an effort to malign and disparage the person of Rt. Hon. Dogara and divert attention of the people from issues of poor governance in the state.”

It said 2023 is still years away, “and therefore, it is unnecessary, distracting and insensitive to start making unfounded declarations at this time when all hands ought to be on deck in tackling the challenges of our nationhood.”

“To our best knowledge, no political party sells nomination and expression of interest forms for the post of a running mate as he/she is only appointed or selected by a flag bearer. It is therefore preposterous for anyone to claim that someone is running for the position of VP when no flag-bearer has emerged.”

Dogara said he is busy helping to rebuild and reposition the APC in Bauchi State and wishes to be allowed to focus on just that.

Tinubu is the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Source: Daily Post

As part of plans to resume international flight operations in the country, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency has disclosed the creation of nine new Performance-Based Navigation Area Navigation 10 (RNAV10) regional routes across the nation’s airspace.

It explained that the need to enhance regional connectivity, reduce flight time as well as fuel consumption for airlines, reduce C02 emission into the environment, and reduce operators’ cost necessitated creation of the nine new navigational routes.

NAMA Managing Director, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, said the move would also reduce pilot workload and enhance airspace capacity.\

Through a statement released to newsmen on Sunday, Akinkuotu listed the newly created PBN routes as UQ300- connecting Lagos to the Central African Republic; UY604-linking Abuja, Port Harcourt to Southern Africa; UQ181- connecting East and Central Africa to Europe through Nigerian airspace and UQ400-connecting southern Africa to North Africa through Nigeria to Europe.

Others are UQ324-from Adis Ababa to Niamey through Nigeria; UY333-from Tunisia/Algeria to Lagos; UY87-from East and Central Africa through Nigeria to Accra and Abidjan; UY57-from East and Central Africa through Nigeria coastal airspace to Cotonou, Lome, and Abidjan as well as UQ200-connecting Yaonde to Lagos.

The NAMA boss also disclosed that the agency has created six new flight-plannable direct routes, which are OK DCT POLTO; ARDEX DCT EDUKO; LAG DCT XIRON DCT JOS; KORUT DCT KDA; POLTO DCT APRUN DCT DETAR/ KORUT and KELAK DCT POSIB DCT GURAP DCT IBA DCT POLTO.

“The flight-plannable direct routes are to be used by compliant airlines’ flight management systems.

“It will avail them the opportunity of flight- planning and routing within the Nigerian airspace from an entry point directly to an exit point without recourse to existing Air Traffic service (ATS) route network,” the statement read.