President Muhammadu Buhari today, invited Traditional and Religious Leaders to break the Ramadan Fast at the State House.

It will be recalled that last night, the President hosted the State Governors to break their fast at the State House.

A House of Representatives member, Rep. Muhammadu Kazaure (Jigawa-APC), has disassociated himself from the National Assembly’s plan to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari.

A joint executive session of both chambers of the Assembly earlier on Tuesday passed a 12-point condition for the president to address urgently or face the invocation of the powers of the legislature.

At a news conference shortly after the ultimatum to the president by the lawmakers, Kazaure said that he would not be part of such decision.

”Nobody will impeach the president as long as we are alive in this House because that day, it will be a war day,” he said.

He said that there were senators and members of the house who would not support such move.

The lawmaker urged Buhari to intervene in the matter in the interest of the country and the All Progressive Congress (APC).

”I am sure the president will take serious action and the whole thing will stop.

”You are aware that in 2015, we didn’t have money, we didn’t have power and we never intimidated anybody.

”God gave us this power; so, there is no need for this government to intimidate anybody because of re-election matter or any other reason.

”By now, we should try and be good to people; this is what we should concentrate on,” he said.
He said that with the increase in oil price, the focus of government now should be on how to give Nigerians better welfare package.

”The people are complaining not only about security but poverty, hunger; even in my constituency, the people are complaining about this.”

Kazaure said that he was not in support of Buhari allowing some people to create problems for him by frustrating those who had helped the party to win the 2015 elections.

”These people have assisted us; we don’t want them to go; we want them to come together and assist the president again.

”So, the president must call those people to order because we will lose many votes if this crisis continues.

NAN.

..as FG launches  the Tobacco- free work plan

As Nigeria marks the 2018 World No Tobacco Day, the Minister of Health, Professor Issac Adewole has raise that that Nigerians smoke about 20 billion sticks of cigarettes yearly and that 4.5  million adults engage in this habit thereby making that prone to heart diseases.
Adewole made this known yesterday in Abuja at the commemoration of the WNTD in Nigeria.
According to the minister the theme of this year’s celebration re As you may be aware the theme of this year’s celebration, which is “Tobacco and heart Disease” and the slogan is “Tobacco Breaks the Heart – Choose Health, Not Tobacco”  highlights the link between the use of tobacco products and heart and other cardiovascular diseases.
This indeed calls for increased awareness on the impact of tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke on cardiovascular health, he said.
Adding that the day gives Nigerians  the opportunity to make commitments to promote heart health by protecting people against the use of tobacco product and to strengthen the implementation of the proven MPOWER tobacco control measures contained in the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control , WHO FCTC.

Speaking further on the dangers of tobacco use, the minister informed that the  data from 2014 WHO – NCD Global Status Report showed that heart related diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease killed 38 million (68%) persons out of the 56 million global deaths recorded in 2012, and sadly, more than 40% of these deaths occurred before the age of 70 years.
It is generally agreed that tobacco will kill more than 50% of its users when used exactly as recommended by its manufacturers.

“Globally there are more than 1 billion smokers, and more than 7 million people are killed by tobacco annually. Of this, more than 6 million die from direct tobacco use, and close to 900,000 from exposure to second-hand smoke. I must add that the low and middle income countries including Nigeria bear nearly 80% of the global burden. “

“In Nigeria for instance, over 20 billion sticks of cigarettes are consumed annually, and 5.6% of adults (4.5 million) currently use tobacco products. About 82% of the entire population are exposed to second-hand smoke when visiting bars/nightclubs and 29.3% (6.4 million) when visiting restaurants according to data from the Nigeria Global Adult Tobacco Survey which was carried out in 2012). Recent studies among University of Abuja undergraduates reveal that 33.3% of the students are current smokers.”

According to the minister, every $1 gain from tobacco business about $3 is expended on healthcare cost.
Meanwhile the minister on behalf of the Federal Government also launched the Tobacco – free work plan yesterday.

According to him the work plan outlines education, enforcement and monitoring for compliance including the ban on sale of tobacco products to and by anyone below 18 years of age; ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship of any kind; ban on smoking in public places; and ban on sale of tobacco products in piecemeal quantity but in packs of 20 sticks for cigarettes or 30g for smokeless tobacco.
WHO Nigeria Representative, Dr  Wondi Alemu who was represented by Dr Mpazanye Rex  said, ” tobacco use is one of the leading preventable risk factors of non communicable diseases and a threat to any person
regardless of gender, age, race , cultural or educational background.
He promised WHO’s support to Nigerian government in the passage of regulations to enforce the National Tobacco Control Act of 2015.
End

Lawmakers argues with the Senate after it confirmed the nomination of three Resident Electoral Commissioners and a National commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The appointment which was confirmed on Wednesday June 6 has on it, Festus Okoye (Federal Commissioner/South-East), Monday Udo Tom (REC/Akwa Ibom State), Attahiru Garba Madami (REC/Niger State) and Ahmed Bello Mahmud (REC/Zamfara State).

The Senate, who confirmed based on the recommendation by the Senate Committee on INEC. however overruled the committee’s recommendation not to confirm Mahmud for the third time.

The recommendation had sparked a war of words between Senator Kabiru Marafa ( Zamfara-Centra) and other members of the Senate, as lawmakers had earlier unanimously approved the non-confirmation recommendation by the committee.

Marafa had however insisted that the committee was wrong to have asked Mahmud not to be confirmed based on a petition by Governor Abdulaziz Yari alleging that the nominee did not originate from Zamfara State.

He cited Order 157 which mandates a committee to act on a petition against a nominee only when the petition has the name of the sponsor, their signature, a verifiable address and an affidavit deposed to on the veracity of the petition’s content.

He said, “There was a petition by the state governor opposing the nomination of Mahmud. In that petition, the governor alluded to just one thing, that Mahmud was not from Zamfara State. According to him, Mahmud is from Sokoto State.”

While Marafa admitted that Zamfara is not Mahmud’s ancestral state, the nominee was born and had his elementary education in the state, and was later appointed into public offices in Zamfara by previous administrations.

“This is hypocritical. It is hypocrisy at its best,” he said, alleging that the current Head of Service, a former commissioner and Chief of Staff to the Governor in Zamfara does not hail from the state.

The lawmaker alleged that Chairman of the Committee on INEC, Senator Suleiman Nazif, had been compromised.

“This report, again, I want to say, is not a true testimony of what happened in the Committee on INEC. Senator Nazif is compromised. Yes, he is compromised and I have evidence,” he alleged.

A very sad accident took place in Torino, Italy, as a Nigerian Lady in her early 20’s, identified as Bella, poured raw acid on her best friend on Sunday June 3rd over a man.

According to reports, Bella has since been arrested and the police is investigating the root cause of the attack, while Odion battles to survive.

A friend of Odion, Benjamin Precious, who shared the details on facebook wrote;

Odion who do u dis will never go free una see waytin frds dey do person 4 dis life, bella na ogun go kill you and ur generations 4 doing dis to my blood u will never have peace in your life na dat prison u go die put amen

Photos below:

The story however gathered a lot of reactions from Facebook users.

See Below:

Saggy breast in the society has received so many negative reactions, although some women are naturally born with saggy breasts,others are caused by a number of bad habits you could be guilty of.

According to a Leading surgeon,Dr Dirk Kremer of Harley Street Aesthetics, who told Glamour that a number of habits that you might not immediately recognise as risk factors, such as failing to apply sunscreen and sleeping on your stomach can all contribute to sagging.

Read on to find out how many mistakes you’re guilty of, and what you should do to correct them.

DON’T: Sleep on your stomach

Pressing your breasts against the mattress for hours on end won’t do them any favours, while lying on your side will cause the ligaments to stretch over time.

If you want to maintain uplift in your cleavage, then sleeping on your back is the best position.

DON’T: Rely solely on high impact exercise

According to Dr Kremer the research is not conclusive, but some experts believe that ‘back-and-forth repetitive motions that happen when you run or do a similar workout can lead to a breakdown of breast collagen.’

If you want to be on the safe side, alternate between sports such as running and lower impact exercise like swimming and yoga.

DON’T: Wear a bra all the time

A study by French researchers found that constant support can weaken chest muscles and make the breasts sag.

However, going braless all the time is likely to have the exact same effect.

The best approach is to give your breasts a break now and again and ditch your bra.

DON’T: Skip sunscreen

UV rays will stretch out collagen and damage the skin, leading to the dreaded sag.

DON’T: Crash diet

Every time you gain and lose weight, the breast tissue will become more slack.

DON’T: Smoke

Even if it’s just a few cigarettes, any smoking decreases blood supply to the surface of the skin, which will weaken and age it.

Residents of Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, especially those living in the satellite towns and villages, have continued to lament incessant attacks on them by suspected cultists.

Just late last week, a resident of Gishiri Village, Katampe, Abuja, Okolo Alfred was stabbed severally by suspected members of cult group, leaving him in pool of blood at his residence.

Mr Okolo, who spoke to Nigerian Pilot after partial recovery from the attack, stated that about three young men invaded his residence in the evening of May 27 with words of threat, saying he was “digging” his grave with his hands and immediately began to cut him at different parts of his body with machetes.

He said while he demanded to know the reason for their attack and tried to run for his life, he unfortunately passed out in a pool of blood, only to regain consciousness the next day, after he was rushed to a hospital by neighbours.

“On May 27, I sat outside my room when three young men walked up to me and said ‘you are using your hands to dig your own grave.’

“I tried to ask them how and they started to beat me up and stabbed me in different places. I think they were some kind of cultists because they were shouting some words like ‘Ayee, Ayee…’ I tried to run for my dear life but fell unconscious in the process. Though I don’t really know their names but they were three in number. I was immediately rushed to the hospital by those who saw me bleeding seriously,” Okolo informed.

He also noted that the case was immediately reported to the Mabushi District Police Station, where the police swung into immediate action after filing the report.

However, he added, the culprits were already at large as they were alleged to have fled the village in a vehicle that almost knocked the  Officer-in-Charge, OC, of Gishiri  Police Post in the process of trying to escape.

Okolo also recounted that one of the gang members who claimed to be currently in Anambra, called him on phone to apologise after the incidence, pleading that he only took part in the attack in order to save his own life.

“The police went for their arrest the next morning but they had escaped. People said they entered one vehicle and zoomed off, almost knocking down the Officer in Charge of Gishiri Police Post down when they were escaping.

“One of them who said he is now in Anambra State even called me to apologise; and he said that he was trying to build wall of defense for himself which I really don’t understand,” he added

The victim noted that he had been responsible for his treatments as the police were still on the watch out for the culprits.

Efforts to speak to the IPO in charge of the case yielded little fruit, as he said the needed information would be provided, but never did up till the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, similar attacks have continued to be reported from various suburbs of the nation’s capital for more than a year now.

In late March this year, a woman said to be going home in the morning from a church vigil was attacked by suspected cultists in Kubwa, Bwari Area Council of the FCT, stabbed in the tummy and some of her belongings snatched from her.

An eyewitness, who simply gave her name as Tawa, informed this medium that the woman was quietly being trailed by the suspects until she got to the spot where she was waylaid and stabbed beneath her stomach.

The source further disclosed that the most astonishing side of the incident was that the incident occurred very close to the gate of a naval quarters around the Phase 2, Site 2 area of Kubwa.

Also late early last year, a fresh university graduate met his untimely death when a group of boy suspect to belong to a group stabbed him to death while taking a walk in the evening.

The incident, which occurred at the Byazhin Across area of Kubwa, instilled fears among the residents, some of who disclosed that since that unfortunate occurrence, they found it difficult to stay out of the house late in the evening.

A source who gave her identity as Odera Obasi, a commercial motorcyclist informed our correspondent that attack victim was seen exchanging words by the roadside, and that after a while the group of boys started dragging him towards an uncompleted building where he was stabbed in the neck and chest.

“I saw his body before it was carried away by the police,” Obasi said.

Some people said they saw him exchanging words with some boys, after a while they started dragging him to an uncompleted building and the next was they saw the boy running out and shouting. Then he fell by the roadside with all his body soaked with blood. As he fell down, people rushed to him, but he died immediately. Nobody saw those boys again or know how they escaped.

“The worst thing about this place is that people will you fighting with another person, nobody will care to ask or assist. The other day it was young girl who was being beaten by two young men; people were just watching from their shops until they stabbed the girl. Everybody believed the girl must be their girlfriend, not until later that people realized she only came out to buy akpu for her night food. It was her roommates who later saw her body when looking for her that told people around that she went to buy akpu,” Obasi further said.

He therefore called on the FCT administration to come to the aid of residents against “constant” attacks by cultists in the area.

When visited for reaction, a senior police officer at the Kubwa Area Command of the Nigerian Police, who refused to comment on the menace for non-authorisation, directed our correspondent to the FCT Police Command where he said the PPRO could be found.

Two lives were claimed by a heavy rain flood in Karshi, a suburb of Abuja, at the weekend, when a Sienna space bus with plate number SMK 903 ES, with four occupants, was washed away by the flood.

The two persons later were identified as Ambrose Umelelle, 26, and Esther Aka.

One of the occupants sneaked off the vehicle through the window to safety while the other passenger was still being searched for by the search and rescue team of the FCT Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, at the time of filing this report.

Commiserating with the people of Karshi over the incident on Saturday, permanent secretary of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa also condoled with the families of the two victims who were said to be from neighbouring Kokosu community of Nasarawa State.

Ohaa, while on a visit to Karshi, called on the residents to be at alert on possibilities of flood as the rainy season enters its peak in the coming months.

“I have directed that our team of engineers should be dispatched to study the situation with a view to stemming future occurrence. From all indications this is a natural disaster. I am happy that our team is on ground for the search and rescue operations,” he said.

Speaking to journalists, the Chief of Karshi, Alhaji Ismaila Mohammed debunked rumours making the rounds that the incident was caused by a burst dam.

“The dam is still intact and still under construction. I thank the FCT minister for his quick response in dispatching the FEMA team who have worked with local inhabitants since last night to retrieve the bodies of the victims,” the chief noted.

According to him, “This kind of flood has never been witnessed in this community. Weather has been very erratic. We in the community would embark on measures to ensure that the roads are safeguarded during heavy rains until a permanent solution is found.”

Briefing the minister on the incident, the acting deputy director, Forecasting, Response and Mitigation, Mrs Florence Wenegieme indicated that upon receiving the information later that fateful day, the agency immediately arrived the scene of the incident and swung into action., adding that the efforts yielded results when they recovered the bodies of the two dead early the the next day, as well as the Toyota Siena, Space-wagon in which they were travelling.

“We have gone as far as three kilometres into the waterway without seeing the body, the search continues,” she said.

Wenegieme also disclosed that the river bisecting the community and neighbouring Nasarawa State had risen above its banks on account of massive rains and consequent flood from the hills overwhelming the box culverts and overflowing the roads.

Information had it that many of the road users were forced to wait on the banks of the flood when the driver of the Siena opted to make an attempt through the flowing waters.

These are indeed dangerous times for Nigeria and Nigerians.
In any sector of the nation’s life, there is the reality and appearance of one danger
or the other in the horizon. It is not as if these indicators have never been there,
they have always been, save for the fact that the rapidity with which they resonate these
days and the telling implications they pose to Nigeria’s democracy and survival as a
nation state are alarmingly.
With the 2019 elections barely 256 days away the polity is increasingly being heated
up by the actions, inactions, utterances and body language of key stakeholders in
our democracy. The trend is worrisome.
The survival of this country as one united
indivisible body before, during and after
the polls next year is critically at stake.
But I hasten to state that though I believe
in miracles, the God of miracles that most
Nigerians cry, call and look unto does not
sanction the happenings in our country
today. After all, God looks at the heart and
intent of the supplicant before he showers
his miracles on the person.
For the prayer warriors and their
wannabes who see the political arena as
one platform they can blackmail, kill,
maim, frustrate and steal in order to score
some political edge over their opponents;
for all those who by their actions and
inactions plot through the day and night to
derail our democracy and institutions, I am
sorry to let them in on the incontrovertible
fact that the true God of miracles does not
manifest the kind of victory they sort that
way.
Today the entire nation is like a boiling
cauldron. With Boko Haram causing
sleepless nights for Nigerians in the
North East, (forget what the military says to the contrary,) Biafra agitators in South
East keeping state governors and security
personnel there on their toes added to the
kidnappings and killings in Kaduna, Zamfara
and Kano states alongside the heartless,
overbearing and overwhelming recurring
killings, maiming, raping of Nigerians and
destruction of villages and the means of their
livelihood in Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Plateau,
Taraba and Adamawa states by alleged
herdsmen, our bucket of fears runneth over.
As if that was not enough warning to all
that there is danger in the horizon, our key
democratic institutions are at war with each
other.
Several months back, the federal
government via its security agencies hit so
hard on the judiciary leading to the sack and
arraignment of some top judicial officers for
corruption. Just when Nigerians thought
that calm was coming into the relationship
that must exist among the three critical
arms of government, Executive, Legislature
and Judiciary, the National Assembly and
the Executive branch began to have their
bad relationship escalated on the pages of
newspapers.
Only last Sunday, Nigerian Police asked
the Senate President, Bukola Saraki to make
himself available at the Police Headquarters
in Abuja to answer to allegations levelled
against him by some bank robbery suspects
in their custody.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh
Moshood, said at a press event that the
suspected leader of the deadly Offa bank
robbery gang allegedly confessed to having
relationship with the Senate President. The
Police had alleged that five of the suspects
linked Saraki and the Kwara State Governor,
Abdulfatah Ahmed, to the robbery in which
nine policemen and over 27 others were killed. Both have denied knowledge of the
accusation.
Following Saraki’s summon by the Police,
the Directorate of Security reportedly
withdrew some of its operatives attached
to the Senate President and curiously, the
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Yakubu Dogara. President Muhammadu
Buhari was also reported to have given
the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim
Idris, the go-ahead to arrest Saraki, if found
culpable in the investigation. Pronto, the
President of the Senate Monday revealed that
he has ordered his Aide-De-Camp to collect
the police invitation for him to appear over
the alleged bank robbery in Offa, Kwara State
on April 5, 2018.
Late Monday night, the Police boss, Idris
was to make a U-turn ostensibly influenced
by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. The new
position is that a written explanation by the
Senate President on the allegations against
him will do.
The foregoing notwithstanding, not a few
now fear that the ruling government may be
out to muscle up any identified threat to its
desperation to return to power May 29, 2019,
Saraki, Dogara and members of the powerful
nPDP constitute formidable threat to the
APC.
The nPDP members had had reasons to
publicise how the ruling APC to which
they were joiners have relegated them to
irrelevance over the past three years. Their
first attempt to resolve the problem via a
meeting with the Vice President, Prof. Yemi
Osinbajo in his Akinola Aguda residence
inside the State House, Abuja and later
with President Muhammadu Buhari ended
in fiasco. That was last week. Another was
scheduled for last Monday to further discuss
their grievances and chart a way forward for
possible resolutions.
But the apparent rattling of Saraki by the
Executive branch according to observers
is to ensure the nPDP negotiates with the
APC government from a point of weakness
especially as the nPDP had threatened to
pull out of the APC if the ruling party fails to
address marginalisation of the group within
the APC fold. Latest development indicates
that the aggrieved nPDP members backed
out of a scheduled meeting with Osinbajo,
giving the that APC is at the precipice of
factionalisation. Pity!
For a federal government that has had
to contend with defending its actions and
inactions on all fronts including those of
marginalisation, blackmail, intimidation
and oppression of the opposition, the recent
addition of the word “witch-hunt” to its
baggage of wrong doings is a telling sign of its
diminishing standing.
Now, Nigerians in their droves are
beginning to anticipate the application of
the emerging Saraki formula to opponents
of the Buhari and APC administration like
Theophilus Danjuma, Olusegun Obasanjo,
Ayodele Fayose, Aminu Tambuwal, Atiku
Abubakar, Femi Fani-Kayode, Kwankwaso
and a host of others.
The countdown to 2019, is evidently
ominous, do Nigerians need further be told
that danger is nigh?

Nwankwo Kanu, retired Nigerian footballer has named Alex Iwobi and Odion Jude Ighalo as the good players in the Super Eagles team that he see fit for the World Cup He said that the young players are the spark of the Nigeria team and expects them to do well in Russia because of the tranquility in the camp ahead of the World Cup.

“As the years go by we keep growing and planning, getting more experience. I believe we have the best young players in the World Cup, in terms of age.

“They are doing well, The hunger is there and this is the first time that they have a peaceful camp, in terms of everything [being] well organized.

“Alex Iwobi, Odion Ighalo, There is a lot of them that you can mention. We don’t really call them star players but all round we believe they are a good team.

“That was the best. You do everything you do at club level just for you to be in the World Cup.

“The best players in the world have to come to the World Cup. For every player, that is a dream.

“For me as a player I always look forward to the World Cup because it is every four years, it is not something that comes every year.”

SOCIETY for family Health,
SFH, is to distribute 3.6 million
mosquito nets in Katsina State to
tackle burden of Malaria disease
in the state.
General Manager of Society for
Family Health, Mr. John Ocholi
revealed this during a visit to
Katsina Radio Station.
Ocholi explained that the nets are to be distributed to families
across to state from September
to October this year.
He said that the distribution
of the net is in collaboration
with malaria eradication
programme under Federal
Government and will
be assisted by Katsina
Government.
He said his organisation will soon commence enumeration to
identify family and household
for successful distribution of the
nets.
Ocholi solicited for media
cooperation to ensure success of
the programme towards tackling
malaria disease.
Earlier, General Manager
of Station, Sani Bala Kabomo
commended society for family for its contribution in the
different sectors in the state.
Kabomo said the station is
ready to assist in enlightening
the public of the activities of
the organisation.
He warned families to benefit
from the distribution of the
mosquito nets not to sell it but
use it to protect their children
fromcontacting malaria.

Thieves in the early hours of Wednesday broke into Super Falcons camp in Banjul, Gambia and making away with some valuables.

According to the information sent to the Nigeria Football Federation,NFF by the Head of Women Department, Ruth David, the Falcons went for a light training only to come back and discovered that their rooms had been burgled.

The matter she explained has been reported to the Gambia security personnel adding that they would not allow the matter to distract them in the bid to qualify for the African Women Nations Cup.

The encounter came up later on yesterday.

Falcons are the reigning African champions having defeated Cameroon on their soil two years ago

A NON-GOVERNMENT
organisation, NGO, Initiative
for the Support, Care and
Rehabilitation of the Mentally
ill Destitute, INSCREMID, is to
collaborate with Ugo-Life Health
Initiative of Enugu first lady, Mrs.
Monica Ugwuanyi, to establish
psychiatric clinics in Enugu State
Prisons.
A retired consultant
psychiatrist, Dr. George Eze, who
is the Chairman of INSCREMID,
disclosed this in an interview
with newsmen on Sunday. Eze, a former Enugu State
Commissioner for Health,
said that INSCREMID has
started discussing with
Ugo-Life Health Initiative
on the modalities for
collaboration in order to
set up psychiatric clinics in
prisons in the state.
He said that the purpose
of establishing the clinics
in prisons was to cater for
the numerous mentally ill
inmates.
The Consultant, is
presently helping the
government of Sierra Leone to set up the Department
of Psychiatry and Mental
Health, in their newly
established University
Teaching Hospital.
He also revealed that he had
also expanded his frontiers
by providing recreational
materials like television sets,
indoor games, among others
for the destitute in-patients at
the only psychiatric centre at
Kissy, Freetown.
“I call on well-meaning
citizens of the world to
financially and materially
support INCREMID to restore the human dignity
of this forgotten branch of
humanity,” he said.
It would be also recalled
that Eze, the founder of
INSCREMID, in 2017
donated materials worth
N500, 000 to patients of
the Enugu State University
Teaching Hospital, ESUTH,
Neuropsychiatric Clinic,
Emene in Enugu.
The NGO also conducted
free medical check-up for
all the inmates in ESUTH,
Neuropsychiatric Clinic,
Emene near Enugu.

THE WORLD Health Organisation,
WHO, Representative in Nigeria, Dr.
Wondi Alemu has said that every
Tobacco user risks 15 years off their
lives.
Alemu, who was represented by Dr.
Mpazanje Rex said this on Monday at
the commemoration of the World No
Tobacco Day, 2018 in Abuja.
Alemu said, ‘’Tobacco use is the
leading cause of Cardiovascular
Disease, CVD, after high blood
pressure with up to half of all tobacco
users dying prematurely from
tobacco-related causes. On average,
tobacco users lose 15 years of life.
In the African Region, about 146,
000 adults aged 30 years and above
die every year from tobacco-related
diseases.
According to him, tobacco use is one
of the leading preventable risk factors
for non-communicable diseases and
a threat to any person, regardless
of gender, age, race, cultural or
educational background.
Despite the known harms of
tobacco to heart health, and the
availability of solutions to reduce
related death and disease, knowledge
among large sections of the public that
tobacco is one of the leading causes of
Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is low.
WHO used the occasion
to congratulate the Nigerian
Government for taking steps against
consumption of Tobacco such as an
upward review of excise duty rates
for tobacco and alcoholic beverages
taking effect, June 4, with the aim
of raising government’s fiscal
revenues and reduce the health
hazards associated with tobaccorelated-
diseases. And also for the
approval by the Federal Executive
Council, FEC, to ratify the protocol
to eliminate illicit trade of tobacco.
‘’Tobacco control is seen as
one of the most effective means
to achieve SDG target 3.4 of a
one-third reduction, by 2030,
of premature deaths from noncommunicable
diseases.’’
Every person can play a role
in promoting healthy hearts by
committing to not use tobacco,
helping others quit, and protecting
all people, including family
members, workers and children,
from tobacco smoke, Alemu
admonished Nigerians.
WHO says that the World
No Tobacco Day, WNTD, is
celebrated every year on the
31st May, to highlight the health
and other risks associated with
tobacco use, and to advocate for
effective policies to reduce tobacco
consumption.

Director, Grassroots Sports Development in the Ministry of Youth and sports, Dr.Ademola Are has said that no fewer than 250 athletes will participate in the 2018 African Youth Games, AYG scheduled to hold between July 18 to 28 in Algiers, Algeria.
The director said while addressing sports journalists on the country’s preparation for the Games that athletes of 18 sports out of the 23 the country would be taking part in, were already in their various camps in four states.

He listed the states as Lagos, Kaduna, Bayelsa, Jos and the FCT.

“We took part in the first edition of the AYG in Morocco and we did very well; the same thing in Gaborone, Botswana, in the second edition where we came third with only 13 sports.

“But in this third edition, we want to ensure we have full representation with 23 sports at the Games to give Nigerian youth the opportunity to be part of the age group competition.

“It will help Nigeria fight for the topmost position, realising that most of these countries that did better than us in the first and second editions of the games are engaged in multi-medal winning sports.

“So we want to be fully represented and get the best out of the games, especially podium successes,” Are said.

He applauded the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari at ensuring that Nigeria participated in every international competition through the release of intervention funds.

The Director also said the minister had requested for another presidential intervention for funding of the Games through the Ministry of Finance.

“If you look at what President has been doing to us, he has been magnanimous enough in releasing presidential intervention fund for all our programmes because ordinary allocation cannot do it for us.

“Mr President has been approving funds for Nigeria’s participation in sports events; so we appreciate that.

Former Premier League referee, Mark Clattenburg, has admitted that he almost lost his job for making some racial comments against Super Eagles Captain Mikel Obi during his time at Chelsea.

The 43-year-old who will be part of ITV’s team at this summer’s World Cup said it was most of his challenging time as a referee.

He made comments against Mikel Obi back in 2012 during a Premiership league encounter between Chelsea and Manchester United.

The referee was alleged to have abused the then Chelsea midfielder after a clash with Manchester United and admits he considered quitting as a result.

“It is one of the challenging times in my refereeing career that spanned twenty years.

“The first few days I was soul-searching you know you’re innocent yet you’re made to feel otherwise. “I knew it wasn’t true, but I could not speak. Me and my family went through hell — I even thought about quitting.” Meanwhile, out of the 99 officials chosen, no England referee and assistant were chosen to officiate at the forthcoming Russia 2018 World Cup. Als

Clattenburg said this amidst the news that there will racial comments and abuses during the World Cup finals and advised referee to steer clear of this.