Man jumps into Lagos Lagoon, dies

A yet-to-be-identified middle-aged man has jumped into the Lagos Lagoon and died.

The man drowned after jumping into the Lagoon in the early hours of Tuesday, according Punch.

The deceased jumped into the lagoon after trekking on the Third Mainland Bridge, inwards Lagos Island.

The man was found by some fishermen and officials of the Lagos State Waterways Authority.

A member of the rescue team told the newspaper that despite efforts by paramedics to resuscitate the victim, he eventually passed on.

He said, “The man jumped into the lagoon around 7.24am. He was rescued by some fishermen and transported to Ebute Ero by LASWA officials. After several hours of trying to resuscitate him, he, unfortunately, passed on.

“The man’s identity could not be ascertained. He apparently resorted to the action out of frustration. His body was handed over to officials of the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit.”

The Public Affairs Officer of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Mahmud Hassan, confirmed the report to Punch, adding that some officials of the agency witnessed the incident

Hassan advised people against taking their own lives.

“People should learn to speak out whatever their problem is and they should seek help before it is too late. When there is life, there is hope,” he added. - Daily Post

For the next 90 days, business registration will cost N5,000

From October 1 to December 31st, business registration will cost N5000.

According to a statement released on Tuesday, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo made the announcement in Enugu at the launch of the 19th edition of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Clinics.

At present, business registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) costs N10,000.

“It was observed during some of the earlier editions of the MSMEs Clinics that a lot of MSMEs were finding it difficult to register their businesses as a result of cost,” the statement released by Laolu Akande, senior special assistant to the vice president on media and publicity, quoted him to have said.

“The practice since we began the MSMEs clinics is that most agencies offer price reductions, especially for registration, and all other pre-investment approvals, during the Clinics.

“So, I am pleased to announce that the Federal Government, through the Corporate Affairs Commission, has approved a special window of 90 days from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 to register businesses at a considerably reduced rate of N5000 only, down from as much as N10,000 previously.

“This will afford more MSMEs an opportunity to formalise their businesses.”

Osinbajo said the federal government will introduce shared facilities for MSMEs.

He said the facilities would be based on a partnership between the federal government, interested states, Bank of Industry, NEXIM Bank, FIRS, NAFDAC, SON and interested private sector partners.

“The purpose of these shared facilities is to have a fully-equipped place with machinery and equipment required for various trades and businesses. MSMEs can then do their businesses at those locations at a reasonable cost,” he explained.

“This way, MSMEs are spared the financial burden of having to buy their own equipment in order to be able to do business.

“Where possible, these shared facilities would have been pre-certified by relevant agencies, removing the need for MSMEs to pursue these certifications by themselves.” - TheCable

Google launches voice assistant app

Google just introduced a new Android app to better enable people with limited mobility to use their phones. Called Voice Access, the app offers people a hands-free way to use apps, write and edit text and, of course, talk to the Google Assistant.

It's designed to make it easier to control specific functions like clicking a button, and scrolling and navigating app screens. Currently, the app is only available in English, but Google is working on additional languages.

Google created the app in service of people with Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, and spinal cord injuries, but recognizes that the tool can also be helpful for people whose hands are tied with other tasks. - Tech Crunch

Hopeless country ! Wicked rulers !! ASUU raises alarm over FG’s plan to increase federal universities’ fees

The Zonal coordinator of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Ibadan Zone, Dr. Ade Adejumo, on Tuesday raised alarm over plans by the Federal Government to increase federal universities’ tuition fees.

Adejumo said this while addressing members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the NUJ in Ibadan.

Adejumo disclosed that the leader of the government team was bent on introduction of the increased N350,000 fees.

He called on ASUU to let Nigerian know that there could be labour crisis in federal universities, if the plans is executed.

He said, “The union is again constrained to draw the attention of Nigerian public to an impending labour crisis in the Nigerian universities as a result of the insensitivity of the Nigerian government to issues critical to the survival of the educational system in Nigeria.

“It is no longer news that the renegotiation, which Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, promised was going to last for only six weeks, has broken down.

“The union was confronted with a situation where government is bent on imposing tuition fees, beginning from N350,000, on students in the Nigerian public owned tertiary institutions.

“As to how the students will raise such money, we were told that the government will establish Education Bank, where students will access credit facilities and pay back on completion of their studies.

“The union, speaking from the background that education is the right and not privilege of every Nigerian child, made frantic efforts to make pragmatic explanations on the negative implications and the non-feasibility of this scheme to representatives of government to no avail.“ - Daily Pot

Fertility experts advise Nigerian women to start childbirth before 30

National and international experts on fertility issues have advised African women, especially Nigerians, to begin childbirth at an early stage in life.

They gave the advice during the eighth annual international conference of the Association of Fertility and Reproductive Health (AFRH) which held in Lagos.

Answering questions from journalists, Steward Disu, consultant gynaecologist based in London, says it is advisable for women to have their children before the age of 30, which he says is when fibroid typically sets in.

Asked why fibroids and other infertility issues are more prevalent in African women, Disu said: “We know that it is genetic, we know that west African women, Nigerians, Ghanaians, three out of four of them have fibroids compared to Caucasian women,  one out of four women have fibroid.

“And that is the genetic component that Africans have more than the Caucasians. Two, fibroids grow maximally between 30-40 years old. And most of us, with the current socio-economic reality don’t start having children, the women having their children later after they have gotten a decent job, by that time, fibroid to will show itself.

“We know that in the west part of Nigeria, Ijesha yam is responsible for twins. One of the factors, apart from genetics, is that the nature of the estrogen in the yam is thought to be responsible or supportive of having twins.

“If you use that ideology, then fibroids are probably more common in women that have been exposed to this yam tuber from the age of 9 to the age of forty. It doesn’t mean that every woman that eat yams have fibroids.”

Also speaking, Joyce Harper, an IVF and reproductive genetics specialist, also advised women not to wait too long before seeking help.

She, however, called for steps to reduce the cost of treatment, which she says discourages many people from attempting ART treatment.

“I have had three IVF children and I am not worried about it. We certainly need to follow up with the children. There is no option, if you don’t go through this treatment, the option is no children,”  Harper said.

“The best thing is to start trying younger, to not leave it till you grow older cos in the female, it just gets worse. They need to try it sooner. The definition of infertility is trying for one year. One of my best friends have tried 11 times and was not successful.

“A lot of women come when they are 40 and their eggs are just finished. They are not gonna get pregnant cos their eggs are bad.

“My concern is that because a lot of the clinics are private, they have made it very expensive, and who suffers? The patient, because the patient has to pay. So, I have an issue with that.” - TheCable

Is he normal ? Femi Adesina: Nigeria’s poor rating on corruption is a low mark for citizens – not government

Femi Adesina, spokesman of President Muhammadu Buhari, says Nigerians share in the blame of the country’s bad ranking in Transparency International’s  (TI) corruption perception index (CPI).

In 2017, Nigeria dropped from 136 in 2016 to 148 on the index of TI.

The ranking was seen as a blow to the current administration which claims to have the fight against corruption as one of its core mandates.

But speaking during a Channels Television’s programme on Monday, Adesina said the ranking is about Nigerians and not the federal government.

“My position is that that ranking is not strictly about government, it is about Nigeria and her people. Some people want to make it seem as if it is a vote of no confidence in government or a lower mark for government, I don’t agree,” he said.

“I think it is a lower mark for the people, because the people constitute the country. And I think if things do not seem to have worked as they should work, the people also have part of the brunt; they have part of the blame to bear.”

He also chided TI for the ranking, saying the country does not need it to verify whatever effort the current administration is making in anti-graft war.

“As much as I respect Transparency International, I don’t think we necessarily need them to authenticate what is going on in the country because we Nigerians know that there is a war against corruption ongoing and that war is succeeding. There are strides being taken. We may not be there yet but we are on our way there,” he said.

“So, let no agency from any part of the world come to think that whatever it says is the gospel to us. It can help, it can inform what is happening but it s not something that will be a milestone round the neck of government.” - TheCable

Strange Land ! Thunder kills 23 cows in Ekiti

No fewer than 23 cows have been killed by thunder in Ekiti State.

NAN reports that the incident, which occurred at Okeowa Eluju, a farmstead in Iloro-Ekiti, Ijero Local Government Area of the state, has caused apprehension among local residents.

While confirming the incident, a Fulani herder and owner of the dead cows, Abdulkadri Kadiri, said he was devastated by the development.

“I went to farm after about six hours heavy downpour on Monday morning, only to discover that 23 of my cows had died.

”After careful observation, I found that there was no trace of bodily injuries on the dead cows. I want to believe it is an act of God since I did not offend or quarrel with anyone,” he said.

Kadiri, however, said he had not experienced such incident in his 35 years of of business.

The Regent of the community, High Chief Joseph Alofe, who also confirmed the incident, described the victim as a gentle and peace loving herder.

The community leader, who also described the incident as strange to the village, called on government and well meaning individuals to assist the herder, to revive his business. - Daily Post