By Abah Benjamin Eneojoh

The Kogi State Executive Governor, Alh Ahmed Usman Ododo’s groundbreaking decision to pay the 2024/2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WAEC) fees of 18,734 students final-year students has sent waves of excitement and optimism across Kogi State.


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This bold move not only alleviates financial burdens on families of the beneficiaries but also reiterates the government’s commitment to quality education as a cornerstone of development.

Virally, it is trending that Governor Usman Ododo has approved immediate payment of 2024/2025 West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) fees of 18,734 students in public secondary schools in Kogi state.

The aim of this is not just to lessen the burden of fees on the parents of the beneficiaries, but also to reduce the out-of-school children in Kogi State. By this Gov. Ododo is timely executing the mandates of the Northern Governors Forum which is to reduce out-of-School Children in the Region.

By shouldering WAEC fees, Governor Ododo ensures that no child is denied access to quality education due to economic constraints. This initiative is part of a broader strategy to enhance teacher effectiveness, upgrade school infrastructure, and improve access to quality education. Kogi State has already seen a surge in student enrollment rates, kudos to programs aimed at improving access to learning resources

Beyond education, Governor Ododo has championed significant improvements in the health sector. The state has witnessed the establishment of new clinics and the upgrading of existing facilities, particularly in rural areas. The innovative SAVE A LIFE INITIATIVE provides free testing and screening for hypertension and diabetes patients, ensuring a healthier life for citizens

Infrastructure development remains a cornerstone of Governor Ododo’s achievements. Lokoja’s transformation is evident in road construction and rehabilitation, easing transportation and commuter challenges, and boosting economic activity . This gesture has thrown Kogi State into Infrastructure Hub.

The governor’s focus on economic growth, coupled with the recent approval of an international airport, will create jobs, stimulate business opportunities, and contribute to the state’s economy, reducing unemployment rates that will curb vices.

By prioritizing education, investing in health, boosting the economy, and improving infrastructure, Governor Ododo is paving the way for a transformative era in Kogi State, empowering every individual to reach their fullest potential.

Indeed, the citizens of Kogi State are enthusiastic about the rhetorical question “if not Ododo, who would have done all these for us?”

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Abdulrahman Obaje

Prince Abdulrahman Obaje is a Media, Information and Computer Technology Consultant. A quintessential Journalist, online marketer, social media strategist, Mathematician and Computer Scientist is based in Abuja, Nigeria. He is the Founder and the Publisher of The Informavores!. You can reach me on +234 805 939 5252 or send i-witness report directly to me on news@informavores.com.ng.

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Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are viral, parasitic and bacterial diseases that mainly affect the world’s poorest people.

They are also regarded as a diverse group of communicable diseases that prevail in tropical and subtropical conditions in about 149 countries globally and affect more than one billion people across the world. js">

The governments of Ondo State, Ekiti State and Osun State are on top of the list of the governments working to tame this diseases as they are not complacent or leaving anything to chance in its preparedness or response to cases of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), its health officials have said.

The diseases to include Lymphatic Filariasis (Elephantiasis), Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis (STH), Onchocerciasis (River blindness), Trachoma (Granular Conjunctivitis) and Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia).

Others are: Rabbies, Leprosy, Yaws, Snakebites, Leishmaniasis, Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), Mycetoma and Fascioliasis.

Investigations by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in the states shows that the government and its  international partners including Mithosath and UNICEF have sustained the response to NTDs through sensitisation of the populace, provision of potable water, treatment and ensuring clean environments.

The Ondo State Coordinator of the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), Mrs Olanike Oladipupo, said that the state government was working assiduously with all stakeholders in addressing cases of NTDs across the state.

In an interview with NAN in Akure Oladipo said “there is collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources to ensure that everybody in the state has potable water to drink and use.

“We do enjoin our  people to avoid the use of stream or ocean water. People can easily contract infection or diseases such as schistosomiasis and onchocerciasis from such sources because black flies lay their eggs there.

“ Government is also working in earnest to clear drain channels across the state . There was a project carried out in recent time in collaboration with the University of Osun and Ondo State Government whereby some rivers in Ondo State were cleared.

“The aim of the project was to reduce black flies in some communities in the state. If there is reduction, the rate of bite and transmission will be reduced as well,” she said.

The NTDs coordinator said that the Ministry of Environment was also educating residents of the state on proper disposal of their wastes, saying there was aggressive campaign for adherence to environmental sanitation on regular basis to prevent outbreak of diseases in the state.

According to her, the state government is in partnership with Mithosath, a Non-Governmental Development Organisation and UNICEF in addressing NTDs in the state.

“ We have been collaborating with Mithosath, an NGO, and UNICEF so that there is proper dissemination of information about NTDs and the treatment across the 18 local government areas of the state.

“As it is known, government cannot do it all,  other stakeholders should support.

“ The partnership enables us to get to people at the community level and they are in charge of NTDs programmes, so that no one will be left behind about NTDs and what they can do to prevent the diseases and the treatment.

“In that, Mithosath is helping the state to ensure that people have access to preventive chemotherapy like worm repellants and other necessary things.

“Those are  the drugs given to people during  mass campaign.  Nobody is paying for the drugs and it’s for everybody.

“Before we distribute, we carry out powerful advocacy in all local government areas  so that people will come out in large numbers to access the drugs. And they will use them in our presence, that is Directly Observed Therapy (DOT).

“ UNICEF is also doing a great job as regards this. It ensures hygiene promotion such as a programme called WASH, giving support to the government so that people will not bathe in rivers and streams nor defecate there. They also provide logistics,” she said.

Oladipupo explained that some of the NTDs could be prevented even without taking drugs, depending on one’s attitude to cleanliness and proper hygiene.

She said that through the partnership with the Mithosath many affected by NTDs across the three senatorial districts of the state had benefitted from surgical operations.

“There is Morbidity Management and Disability Prevention. This also goes to Mithosath in supporting the state. Some people that have hydrocele, that is swelling in their scrotum and those with lymphatic filariasis  have access to free surgery.

“ The phase one was done in  Idanre in the Central  Senatorial District and the phase two was done in  Okitipupa in the Southern Senatorial District  of the state while the third phase is ongoing now as I speak with you in Ikare Akoko in the Northern Senatorial District.

“ The most common NTDs in the state are: schistosomiasis, which is a water-borne infection, lymphatic filariasis; onchocerciasis which is also known as river blindness and it is caused by black flies and soil transmitted helminthiasis, which is worm disease, and it is common among school age children.

“ The state government has intervention of distributing worm tablets to them so that their growth will not be stunted,” she said.

Also, the Ekiti Government says modern best practices at sustaining quick responses and preparedness to outbreak of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), among others, are being adopted by the state.

The Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Oyebanji Filani made this known in an interview with the NAN in Ado-Ekiti.

He said Neglected Tropical Diseases, NTD’s are not new and as such are being tackled headlong.

“The state government therefore is doing everything humanly possible to prevent such diseases from escalating in identified communities.

“We are in collaboration with various multi-national agencies, among which is Mitosath, working with Ekiti State Primary Health Care Development Agency (ESPHCDA), to fight NTDs,” Filani said.

He assured that for now, Neglected Tropical Diseases are under control in the state

” Presently the state is distributing drugs, I mean mass distribution, to pre-school and school age children, to prevent transmission,” he said.

A community health doctor at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti, Dr Ipinmoye Taiwo, identified poor awareness, especially among people in rural communities, as a challenge to ending the spread of the diseases.

“The diseases are called neglected because they tend to affect the world’s poorest, and yet, receive less attention than other diseases,” he said.

He called on governments at the national and state levels to get involved in ending NTDs and its spread across the country.

In Osun, the state government has put in place measures to fully monitor, combat and control any outbreak of diseases, Dr Abiodun Boladale, an official in charge of NTDs in the Ministry of Health, has said.

Boladale said that the department of public health in the ministry was on top of situation and highly  prepared to respond to emergencies in the state.

“Lasa Fever and Covid outbreaks equipped the state for emergencies and presently we have emergencies operation centres in the state where diseases are monitored.

“NTDs are among the diseases we are monitoring on the dashboard of the centres.

“We also have ‘Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response Unit’, which form part of the team monitoring diseases relating to NTDs.

“We are working with Disease Surveillance Monitoring Officers and Disease Notification Officers at the local level to stay on top of diseases’ outbreaks in the state.

“We also have NTDs officers at the local level who keep the ministry informed and document diseases outbreaks.” he said

Boladale said in case of outbreak  of NTD outbreak, the state  would follow national guidelines in managing them.

He said some foreign partners and organisations, in conjunction with the Federal Government, had been providing drugs and other medical support to the state to handle NTDs.

The official said that the Osun State University recently received a research grant for Schistosomiasis, a major NTD peculiar to the state.

NAN

Author Profile

Abdulrahman Obaje

Prince Abdulrahman Obaje is a Media, Information and Computer Technology Consultant. A quintessential Journalist, online marketer, social media strategist, Mathematician and Computer Scientist is based in Abuja, Nigeria. He is the Founder and the Publisher of The Informavores!. You can reach me on +234 805 939 5252 or send i-witness report directly to me on news@informavores.com.ng.

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From moderate exercising regularly, to managing stress, to eating vegetables and be on other plant-based diet, these healthy lifestyle choices can add literally decades to your life.

The first 8 healthy habit is contained in a recent groundbreaking new research, presented at the annual meet-up of the American Society for Nutrition, Nutrition 2023, which showed that the lifestyle habits of about 720,000 military veterans aged 40 to 99, as reported by CNN.

All of these individuals participated in the Million Veteran Program, a long-term study that examined the overall wellness and health of veterans in the United States.

The unpublished study revealed that a 40-year-old man who incorporated one healthy habit in his routine added 4.5 years to his life. The results of adding another healthy habit? This man’s life was extended by an extra seven years. And making a total of three healthy lifestyle tweaks? That resulted in 8.6 more years of life. The moral of the story here is the greater number of healthy habits added to one’s lifestyle could tack on almost 25 extra years of life.

Women reaped the benefits of making their routines extra healthy, too. For females, following one healthy habit extended a woman’s life by 3.5 years, and two positive behaviors lengthened her life by eight years. Three healthy habits tacked on 12.6 years, and combining all of these good-for-you habits added 22.6 more years to a woman’s lifespan. Pretty awesome, don’t you think?

“Doing all eight had a synergistic effect, sort of an added boost to extend your life, but any small change made a difference,” explained the lead author of the study, Xuan-Mai Nguyen to CNN. “[The research revealed] an 87% relative reduction in all-cause mortality for those who adopted all eight lifestyle factors compared to those who adopted none.”

Nguyen further revealed that, “There’s a 20-year period in which you can make these changes, whether you do it gradually or all at once. We also did an analysis to see if we eliminated people with type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, stroke, cancer, and the like, does it change the outcome? And it really didn’t. So, if you start off with chronic diseases, making changes does still help.”

1. Do Moderate Exercise.

Experts have explained that moderate exercise is the number one habit that can give your overall health a boost, so much so, in fact, that working out can lower your risk of mortality by 46% when compared to individuals who do not engage in physical activity.

2. Live opioids-free Life.

The next healthy habit that elongate ones’ lives is staying off opioid. The research showed that doing so reduced the chance of early mortality by 38%. Opioids are a crisis in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

3. Live a tobacco-free life.

Living a tobacco-free life from the get-go can lower the risk of mortality by 29%, according to the research. The researchers did not take into consideration individuals who used to smoke.

4. Manage your stress level.

Chronic stress is literally a killer. The study revealed that dealing with stress effectively can lower the chance of premature mortality by 22%.

5. Consume a plant-based diet.

A plant-based diet can increase your life by as much as 21%, the study explained. According to Nguyen, you don’t need to go fully vegan or vegetarian in order to soak up the benefits, though. Simply maintain a nutritious diet like the Mediterranean diet, or one that is full of leafy green veggies and whole grains.

6. Manage your alcohol consumption.

Managing your alcohol consumption or staying totally away from it can give your life a boost. Even a moderate amount of alcohol can put you at risk of death. Limiting your alcohol consumption can lower the possibility of death by 19%.

7. Get enough sleep.

Getting enough sleep each night works wonders for your overall health. You should get between seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep in order to lower your risk of early all-cause mortality by 18%. Bad sleep patterns can lead to a plethora of negative health conditions, such as early death.

8. Surround yourself with healthy relationships

It’s important to avoid being isolated or lonely, especially as you age. Mingling with individuals who make you the best version of yourself and give you a happiness energy can increase your life by 5%, according to the study.

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9. Stay close to God and His Teaching

Religious Leaders have also showed that staying close to God by reading your holy book and following the teaching contained therein can give you confidence and boost your overall health.

10. Following the above Healthy Living Tip

The last but not the least is to follow the above healthy living tips religiously. You can make the list and paste it somewhere where you can be seeing it every day. If you have more healthy living tips, you can share it in the comment section of this article. Thanks for reading.

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