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The National Working Committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday and presented to him the party’s financial report. (more…)

Usman Abdallah, the Head Coach of Enyimba International Football Club, says he has confidence in the ability of his team to recover from their 2019/2020 CAF Champions League opening game loss.

The two-times African champions lost 0-1 to hosts Rahimo FC of Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou in their First Preliminary Round first leg clash on Saturday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Issou Zonon scored the only goal in the match’s second half to underline their early dominance and secure a vital win.

The result means the Aba giants need a 2-0 win at least to advance to the second preliminary round in September.

Abdallah told NAN however that the People’s Elephant are still very much in contention to progress to the next phase since they suffered only a slim defeat.

“It was not a good result for us, but at the same time we are not in a very difficult situation because it could have been worse if we had lost by two or three goals.

“This was just our first game in the campaign and  sometimes results can go this way, but I can assure that the second leg in Aba will be a different ball game,” he said.

Abdallah noted however that the Burkinabe side have going for them their youthfulness and agility.

“But with the first-hand knowledge we acquired from Saturday’s tie, it will now be ‘easier’ to plot their downfall in the second-leg.

“They have a young team with very good mobility and good techniques and they are very fit.

“The goal they scored was a deflection and could have been avoidable, but now we have to go back to Aba and cancel the goal and also get another one more goal to seal the deal.

“This is definitely not beyond our reach, given our pedigree. So, I am confident that we will have no problem advancing,” the coach said.

NAN reports that the second leg tie will be played at the Enyimba International Stadium in Aba on Aug. 23.

NAN

Your brain is arguably the most important organ in your body. Sure, there are several others that you can’t live without, but the brain controls them all. And not only does it keep your heart beating and your lungs breathing all the time, it is also the repository of everything that makes you, you. All your thoughts, feelings, and memories originate or reside in the brain.

Obviously, it is important to keep this most vital organ happy and healthy. Proper nutrition can mean the difference between a clear head with a sense of purpose and a foggy head with a sense of desperation. As a lifelong habit, healthy eating also slows the rate of aging-related cognitive decline and reduces the risk of developing dementia.

On the flip side, there are foods that are just the worst for your brain. Indulge too often and you will likely experience confusion, low mood, and slowed reaction times. In a vicious cycle, a depressed brain has poor ability to make the right decisions in order to improve.

If you know you have some bad habits, it is time to start scaling back. Your brain won’t like a massive dietary overhaul all at once, and even though you know it’s the right choice, you’ll struggle to maintain it. Instead, remove the following 7 items from your diet one by one, making a gradual shift that will protect the health of your brain for the long haul. The easiest one to quit is probably #7.

1. Trans Fats

The good news is that not all fats are bad for you. However, a particular kind of fat called trans fat does have a detrimental effect on the brain. Trans fats are found naturally in animal products including meat and dairy, but even these are not as problematic as the industrially produced trans fats that get pumped into all sorts of packaged foods.

Otherwise known as hydrogenated oil, people who eat a lot of trans fat in the form of margarine, store-bought baked goods, chips and crackers, frozen and canned meals, and creamy beverages are at a greater risk for Alzheimer’s and dementia. Studies have shown that high consumption of trans fats also leads to earlier cognitive decline, lower brain volume, and poorer memory.

2. Sugary Drinks

Sugary drinks like soda, sports drinks, energy drinks, and even fruit juice have little to no nutritional value. Regular consumption of sugary drinks can lead to a whole host of physical impairments, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and yes – Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

A high intake of fructose, a mega-concentrated sweetener that’s found in many sugary drinks, has been shown to reduce learning ability, memory, overall brain function, and the formation of new neurons in the brain. It may also lead to increased inflammation in the brain, which negatively affects all types of brain function.

3. Refined Carbs

products made with processed grains. They may not necessarily taste sweet, but they break down into sugar in your body very quickly. That’s because the refining process strips all of the fiber and nutrition out of the original grain. A meal rich in refined carbs represents a high glycemic load that spikes your blood sugar.

That causes all the same issues as if you had eaten straight sugar, including memory impairment, inflammation, and a higher risk of developing dementia. Studies have shown that children who consume diets high in refined carbohydrates score lower on nonverbal intelligence tests. And elderly people who take in more than 58% of their daily calories in refined carbs have twice the risk of mental impairment and dementia than those who eat more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

4. Processed and Packaged Foods

Processed and packaged foods remove important nutrition from whole food and replace it with sugar, fat, and salt. This is our so-called Western diet, one which relies on convenience and fast foods over slow-cooked homemade meals. And we get it – people are busy and sometimes it just isn’t possible to make your own sauces, dressings, pastas, and baked goods.

However, it is important to cook with whole nutritious foods as often as you can swing it, because the Western diet is notorious for causing an accumulation of fat around the vital organs. This, in turn, is associated with damage to the brain tissue and a reduction in the brain’s volume. It may also cause disruptions to the blood-brain barrier, the membrane that is responsible for protecting the brain from harmful substances.

5. Alcohol

It’s probably no surprise that alcohol can harm the brain, considering how much stupid stuff people tend to do under the influence. Getting tipsy every once in awhile probably won’t cause permanent damage, but alcoholism and bouts of binge drinking absolutely can.

Chronic consumption of alcohol tends to shrink the brain and disrupt the neurotransmitters that your brain uses to communicate. Alcoholics also often experience a vitamin B1 deficiency, which can lead to the development of Korsakoff’s syndrome. That syndrome is responsible for severe brain damage that causes memory loss, confusion, unsteadiness, and intermittent loss of eyesight.

6. Fish High in Mercury

Fish in general is a healthy addition to your diet. It is low in saturated fat yet contains healthy omega-3 fatty acids as well as vitamin B12, zinc, iron, and magnesium. However, some fish is especially high in mercury, which is a heavy metal contaminant and neurological poison. Mercury stays stored in animal tissue (including human) for a long time.

Fish that are longer lived and predatory tend to have the highest concentration of mercury in their flesh. That’s because as long as they live, they are consuming other fish that contain lower levels of mercury. Over a lifetime, these fish can accumulate mercury levels of 1 million times the concentration in the water they swim in. It is best to avoid or seriously limit your consumption of tuna, swordfish, orange roughy, king mackerel, shark, and tilefish to prevent disruption of your brain’s neurotransmitters.

7. Aspartame

Unfortunately, it is not possible to avoid the harms of too much sugar by replacing it with an artificial sweetener – especially not aspartame. While producers of this sugar substitute swear that it is safe, several studies have linked aspartame to behavioral and cognitive problems. As a chemical stressor, it can cause deleterious effects on the ability to learn and regulate emotions.

In one study, just 8 days of a high-aspartame diet cause participants to score lower on mental tests and feel more irritable and depressed to boot. Another study revealed that people who drink a lot of diet soft drinks, which replace the sugar with artificial sweetener, have an increased risk of dementia or stroke. For now, the FDA says aspartame is safe, but also mandates warning labels on products that contain it.

The Federal Government said that the political will demonstrated in the execution of the N-Power programme,  insulated it from corruption and other forms of sharp practices that marred similar youth empowerment endeavours in the past.

Communications Manager, National Social Investment Office (NSIO) Justice Bibiye, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, said the  transparency in running the programme was also responsible for its huge impact on its beneficiaries and the economy.

He said that media reports highlighting minority views expressed by a few critics who made bogus allegations bordering on corrupt practices in the implementation of N-Power did not reflect the true picture on ground.

Bibiye said that N-power, one of the social intervention programmes of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, remained the most successful government-driven youth empowerment schemes in history.

“It is either those critics have lost touch with existential realities as it concerns this government’s strict approach in implementing its policies and programmes, or that the resounding successes recorded, as evidenced in the outpouring of sincere and honest testimonies by the beneficiaries, is lost on them.

“We are aware that some persons have assumed the role of perpetual pessimists of the SIPs, following the institution of processes and procedures that frown at selfish tendencies and corrupt practices at the NSIO.

“We, however, owe it a duty to Nigerians to continue to set the records straight whenever naysayers come up with falsehoods to mislead the public.

“We wish to state categorically that there are no N-power ghost beneficiaries neither is the programme embroiled in corruption as alleged by those who have decided to see nothing good in the scheme.

“From application, selection, deployment and payment of volunteers, the process is transparent, being technology driven,’’ he said.

According to him, at inception, the BVN of successful candidates are sent to Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) for verification.

Bibiye, said that NIBSS, being the custodian of the BVN data, authenticated the identity of each and every name, number and account number submitted by the NSIO, and anyone not verified was dropped from the list of successful beneficiaries.

“For the first set of 200,000 beneficiaries submitted for verification, NIBSS verified 93 per cent of the total number, after which only those verified were submitted to the various States, which entities are saddled with the responsibility of physically verifying the beneficiaries and deploying them to their Primary Places of Assignment (PPA).

“Upon confirmation of the deployments to the PPAs, the NSIO then signs off to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, which makes payment directly to the accounts of beneficiaries through the NIBBS.

“This process also applies to other components of the social intervention programmes except for the National Conditional Cash Transfer programme, where due to logistics challenges, mobile money agents (MMA) are engaged to reach out to beneficiaries in the rural areas.

“The successful MMA’s are selected through an open process in compliance with the BPP Act, and even though they pay beneficiaries in remote locations where there is a dearth of banking infrastructure, they each have a backend technology that enables visibility and timely reconciliation of payments, as a pre-condition to engagement,’’ he said.

He said the Federal Government remained favourably disposed to constructive criticisms and the feedback that would aid ongoing efforts to strengthen the execution strategies of the SIPs for greater service delivery to Nigerians.

Bibiye however said that critics were also encouraged to follow up closely and interrogate the processes of the programme to avoid making remarks that were not evidence-based.

He said that Nigerians, particularly beneficiaries of the programme and their dependents, should be rest assured that the SIPs were not crumbling or coming to an end any time soon as predicted by naysayers.

The communications manager said that the Federal Government, through the NSIO, would continue to redouble efforts to ensure that the intended objectives of the Social Intervention Programmes were achieved in line with public expectations.

NAN

By Shehu Danjuma
President Muhammadu Buhari has sympathized and commiserated with internally displaced persons (IDP’s) in eight local governments of Katsina state who were displaced by armed banditry.

Buhari, who sympathized with the victims on Wednesday in Batsari Local Government Area of the state, said that the victims deserved sympathy from the government and other well-meaning Nigerians.

Buhari was at the camp to sympathise with the victims from Batsari, Safana, Danmusa, Kankara, Jibiya, Sabuwa, Faskari and Dandume local government areas.

“I am here to sympathize with the entire people of the state over the unfortunate incidents that have been claiming lives of innocent people,” he said.

The president said that the bandits that have been killing people should not claim to be true Muslims.

“Islam did not give individuals the right to kill others without following due process in the court of law.

“The Federal and states government will do everything possible to eradicate all forms of insecurity in the nation as soldiers and police have been given all the necessary support by the government.

“We are doing our best to checkmate the activities of armed bandits and insurgents in the country.”

Earlier, Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina said: “We have assembled some of the victims, and their representative comprising their traditional, religious and community leader before the president.

“The communities living along the fringes of Rugu Forest across these eight LGA’s had to contend with series of recurring incidents of armed bandits,” he said.

In his remarks, the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir, called on the rural people not to hoard information’s about the bandits.

Kabir advised the rural people to always pass information about the armed bandits to their traditional rulers or the security agencies for action.

Eight local government areas of the state had been experiencing the activities of armed bandits and cattle rustlers for the past two years. (NAN)