By Oluwafunke Ishola

Dr Ebun Bamgboye,a Consultant Physician and Transplant Nephrologist, says the prevalence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in Nigeria is estimated at 20, 000 new cases yearly.

Bamgboye, also a Clinical Director at St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, made this known at a virtual webinar in commemoration of the World Kidney Day in Lagos.

The webinar was organised by the Medical, Pharmaceutical and Allied Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

Theme of the event was: Kidney Diseases: Common Causes, Early Symptoms and Treatment.

Bamgboye said kidney disease was a global health problem that affects 850 million people worldwide.

He said that the end-stage renal disease (ESRD) was the final, permanent stage of chronic kidney disease, where kidney function had declined to the point that it could no longer function on their own.

Bamgboye said that in such a situation, a dialysis that comes in two forms: hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis would be required to assist the patient remove wastes and extra fluid from their blood.

Roughly, there are about 100 new cases per million population yearly in Nigeria; with our population at 200 million, we expect that there will be 20,000 people requiring care, dialysis or transplant yearly.

If you add that to our pre-existing patients, we should have close to 100, 000 people on dialysis, the expert said.

He said that the total patients with ESRD on management at all the dialysis units in the country were less than two thousands.

According to him, estimated expected expenditure on dialysis yearly is N316 billion.

Currently, there are 188 dialysis units all over Nigeria (102 public, 88 private), with over 180 trained and actively practicing nephrologists in the country, he said.

Bamgboyesaid that the financial burden of renal therapies was huge, with three sessions of dialysis costing N75,000 weekly per person, which amounts to about N4 million annually.

According to him, a kidney transplant cost about N7 million to N10 million; medication for post transplant care cost about N150, 000 per month for life, amounting to N1.8 million annually.

He added that there were additional costs for follow up and tests.

The nephrologist noted that renal transplant compared to dialysis confers the best possible quality of life and reduces mortality risk in ESRD patients.

Bamgboye disclosed that 770 renal transplants had been done thus far in the country, adding that all were live donors.

Our experience at St. Nicholas is that we see about 150 patients yearly, thats about 10 to 15 patients per month, and we do over five thousands dialysis yearly.

We tend to have a younger population of people that require kidney care than in the western and developed countries, he said.

Bamgboye said that to reverse the trend, the country must accept that the provision of Universal Health Care was a fundamental human right which must be respected and implemented.

He said the country must ensure that it develops capacity to deal with full range of care; noting that services should be available for all at affordable cost and at urban and rural locations.

Bamgboye said that screening and early diagnosis were critical to reduce prevalence and outcomes of treatment.

Also, Prof. Oluwatoyin Amira, Consultant Physician and Nephrologist, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), said that the prevalence of chronic kidney disease was about 11 to 20 per cent in Nigeria.

Amirasaid that at least 22 to 36 million Nigerians suffer from various degrees of kidney disease.

In LUTH, on average, we get about 40 to 50 new cases of chronic kidney disease per month from the emergency units and clinics.

In Nigeria, it affects people in the economically productive age group of 30 to 50 years, she said.

Amira said mortality was high due to high cost of treatment and late presentation, adding that 10 of their patients on dialysis were alive by one year.

She said hypertension and diabetes mellitus account for about 70 per cent of the disease worldwide, stressing that it was cheaper to prevent it than to treat it.

Commenting, Mrs Toki Mabogunje, President, LCCI, said that the increasing number of Nigerians with kidney disease and a large proportion being unaware at early stage of disease makes its management difficult.

Mabogunje, represented by Mr Gabriel Idahosa, Vice-President of LCCI, called for increased awareness and orientation on kidney disease to curb the progression of the disease into advance stage.

She also called for the strengthening of the countrys healthcare system to ensure effective management of the disease and improve access to healthcare for those living with the disease.

Mabogunje said that the coverage of the National Health Insurance Scheme should be improved to cover cost of kidney treatment so as to lessen the financial burden on the patients.

Commenting, Dr Niyi Osamiluyi, Chairman, Medical, Pharmaceutical and Allied Group, LCCI, said that issues of kidney disease and its management were critical to health sector development, considering its high prevalence in the country. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Bosede Olufunmi

Kano State Fire Service says it has put out the fire outbreak that razed 11 offices in Army Bukavo Barrack in Kano.

Saminu Yusuf, the Spokesman of the service, made this known, in a statement, on Friday in Kano.

Yusuf said the fire, which occurred about 9:10p.m, also destroyed four stores and toilets in the building.

On receiving the information, we quickly sent our rescue team to the scene at 9:19p.m.

The fire was put under control and no live was lost, he said.

He added that the cause of the fire was being investigated.

He urged the public to keep fire extinguishers at home and offices to curtail fire incident. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Justina Auta

The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs (FMoWA) has urged the United Nations Women (UN Women) to prioritise its partnership with the ministry on women and children for optimal results.

A statement issued on Friday in Abuja by the Director, Press, FMoWA, Mr Shehu Maikai, quoted the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr Anthonia Ekpa, as urging donor agencies to discuss their programmes with the ministry before engaging its directors.

Ekpa made the call during an interactive session with Mrs Patience Ekoeba, UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, Ms Comfort Lamptey.

According to Ekpa, the ministry is committed toward ensuring that all donor agencies programmes billed for implementation in the Ministry are coordinated in order to reduce unintended results.

The Ministry will no longer tolerate a situation where International Programmes such as the International Women Day Celebration and other development projects are carried out haphazardly.

The Permanent Secretary called for collaboration between the ministry with development partners in the area of data generation and staff training, staff training on monitoring, research and evaluation of projects.

There is the need for development partners to provide the Ministry with work tools to include, facility for conducting webinar, computers and laptops, she said.

In the area of communication, the Permanent Secretary called on development partners to work with the Ministrys media team to develop videos clips and dramatization on the need for women to get involved in politics as is done in other clime.

The statement also quoted the UN Women representative reiterating their commitment on execution of projects such as the Spotlight Initiative, security and peace programmes and the Women in Governance project. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Deborah Coker

The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Edo, says no fewer than 38 suspects have been arrested for various crimes in the state, in the last 10 weeks.

The states Commandant of the corps, Mr George Edem, who was speaking on the achievement of the command during the period under review, said this at a news conference on Friday in Benin.

Edem explained that the suspects were arrested for various criminal offences, ranging from illegal mining, vandalisation of critical national assets, farmers/herders conflict to armed robbery, amongst others.

He also stated that the command, during the period under review, also resolved more than 50 cases between farmers and herders across the state.

The commandant further stated that the command trained 40 personnel as mediators and conflict resolution experts, to mediate and reconcile farmers and herders in the state.

According to him, the Agro Rangers unit of the corps had also put so much effort in ensuring that farmers return to their farms.

The command has also deployed officers and men of the corps to designated schools in the state to curtail the spate of attacks and kidnapping of students.

We are also working out modalities to sensitise students on their personal safety and security.

We are saddened by the abduction of students in some part of the country by suspected bandits.

The NSCDC will continue to play its role to ensure that there is peace in the state and the nation at large, Edem said.

He noted that there was no better time to do it than now.

Eden stressed the need for civil society groups, traditional rulers, as well as religious leaders and security institutions to assist the corps with intelligence reports regarding movement of strangers within their domains.

He stated that intelligence sharing remained key in neutralising the activities of bandits and other criminal elements, within the state.

The Crisis Management unit has carried out rescue operations and controlled volatile situations, he said.

The commandant, however, enjoined citizens of the state to be law abiding, as the corps remained committed to discharging its duty with utmost integrity. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Monday Ijeh

Some youths in the South East under the auspices of Igbo Youths for One Nigeria (IYON) have commended the Federal Government over its Social Investment Interventions in the region.

The group gave the commendation in a statement jointly signed by its President, Mr Chukwunyelum Okonta and Secretary, Ms. Chinonye Okoh, on Wednesday in Abuja.

It said that the social investment intervention of the Federal Government, especially the N-Power had not only created employment for the youths but had made them employers of labour.

It explained that apart from skills acquisition in various fields, beneficiaries of the programmes were also given tokens to start their businesses across the five states that made up the South East.

According to the group, the enrolment of good number of South East youths into the Federal Government N-Power and other social safety nets is an indication that President Muhammadu Buhari truly loves the Igbo people.

The group urged beneficiaries of the N-Power in the South East states to help propagate the positive impact of government programmes in the region to restore the peoples confidence in the Federal Government.

It urged Igbo sons and daughters, at home and in the Diaspora to support the Buhari-led administrations efforts toward enthroning national unity and cohesion.

According to it, the disposition and passion of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq for the vulnerable has remained unparalleled.

As an indigenous South East group, we want to let the world know that we have benefitted tremendously from the social investment programmes of the Federal Government.

The idea behind our action is simply to correct the erroneous claims in some quarters that the social investment programme was discriminatory against the South East.

Apart from being self-sufficient and self-reliant, we are also employers of labour, courtesy of the skills acquisition programme of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, the group added.

Source: NAN News

By Ifeanyi Nwoko

Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Sidie Tunis says payment of outstanding community levies for the development of ECOWAS institutions will bethe focus at the Extraordinary Session on March 23, in Freetown, Sierra-Leone.

Tunis disclosed this at an interactive session with newmen on Thursday in Abuja in commemoration of the first anniversary of the fifth legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Community Level Assessment Report by the ECOWAS Commission, Member States owed about 797 million dollars as outstanding community levy in the last 16 years.

To address this, Tunis said that strategies on ensuring outstanding and subsequent payments would be the focus of the first physical Extraordinary Session of the fifth legislature scheduled to hold between March 22 and April 3.

The Sierra Leone meeting will be dealing with our strategic plans: What we really intend to do as a Parliament, strategic plans from 2020 to 2024, that is, through the lifespan of the fifth legislature.

We would also have a plan and seminar that will be dedicated to Community Levy, how countries can help the ECOWAS generally to raise funds.

Because there are certain countries that put in a lot of efforts, there are those who are not doing so well.

That is one reason why at that particular Seminar in Freetown, we will have the Commissioner of Finance in the ECOWAS Commission and other players who are directly connected with community levy.

We will also have a resource person from Gambia who is one of those, who actually started the whole idea of community levy in ECOWAS.

So, all of those experts will be in Freetown on March 23to explain to Parliamentarians, to ensure that we are able to raise enough money for our programmes in ECOWAS.

Not just ECOWAS Parliament but ECOWAS institutions generally, we have the West Africa Health Organisation (WAHO), they are doing extremely well, they are the frontlines in the fight against COVID-19.

We have the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, the Commission is there that is providing the overall coordination for all the institutions.

So, we are expecting that the Sierra Leone meeting, which is the first in-person meeting for ECOWAS Parliament will go a long way to look at all of these issues.

And, to make recommendations to the ECOWAS Commission that will eventually go to the Council of Ministers and to the Authority of Heads of State Tunis said.

According to Tunis, the ECOWAS Parliament is expectant that the meeting would be a success because Parliamentarians come from all of the countries in the sub-region, hence are Ambassadors of their countries to Parliament. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Doris Esa

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Muhammad Nanono, on Thursday inaugurated the 5Council of Nigerian Institute of Animal Science, expressing confidence it could deliver on its mandate.

Nanono, at the ceremony in Abuja noted that the core function of the institute was to offer leadership in the governance of the affairs of the institute

I have no iota of doubt that this council, filled with an array of accomplished Animal Scientists of various professional disciplines will fulfill this core function.

I am particularly happy that the institute since its inception in 2007, it has proved its mettle in the fight to engender national self-sufficiency in safe animal protein intake through appropriate regulations of the livestock industry.

The minister said that the regulations were indeed potent in curbing quackery and promoting safety of animal products and trade competitiveness.

However, there is still a lot of ground to be covered if the institute must fully deliver on its mandate and remain relevant as a key regulatory body in the livestock subsector.

We must forge ahead without losing track of the achievement of the past.

The institute must not shy away from playing a deserved lead role in proffering the needed solution to the current burning issue of incessant conflicts between herders and sedentary farming communities in Nigeria.

According to him, land resource is indeed scarce and not expandable but science has proven that we can generate all we need with renewable agricultural strategies for both crop and livestock production from the available land resource without any form of conflict.

I strongly call on the institute to come up with scientific and practicable models that the government can adopt to finally lay to rest this front burning problem.

The nation needs to quickly transit from this conflict era to becoming a net exporter of premium beef, emulating and surpassing the enviable achievements of countries like Uruguay and others.

Uruguay has metamorphosed over the recent years into a leading exporter of premium beef to the EU, U.S. and even the Chinese markets.

It took Uruguay years of branding, food safety and quality reforms as well as investment to get to that enviable market leadership. It will take us nothing less, he said.

Nanono said that the ministry had handed over the National Livestock Training Centre to the institute.

I am confident that you will put the facility to efficient use not only in training but also in the establishment of model units for livestock production that will impact the economy through improved livestock productivity, he said.

Earlier, President of the Nigerian Institute of Animal Science (NIAS), Prof. Baba Abubakar, thanked the minister for his support to the institution.

Abubakar also appreciated the hard work, passion and dedication of the institutes founding fathers and mothers adding that our best is yet to come, God willing.

There are two issues that I would like to flag with the minister; one is with regards to the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) which was recently launched by the Federal Government.

I dare say that if there is any organisation that can play a major role in the implementation of this programme, it is certainly NIAS.

This is not far-fetched as we have collection of the requisite technical expertise in virtually all disciplines of animal husbandry to effectively facilitate the implementation of this plan, he said.

He called for the establishment of additional animal husbandry research institutes.

According to him, if we are to compete favorably with the sub-regional, regional or global livestock space, then we need to do the needful by establishing additional livestock research institutes in the country. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Leonard Okachie

Mrs Karima Babangida, a Director at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), has said that Nigeria has the potential to produce more than 40 metric tonnes per hectare (mt/ha).

Babangida said this on Thursday at a workshop on cassava production, held at the National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI) Umudike, near Umuahia.

She described the country as the worlds leading producer of cassava with 10 mt/ha.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop, tagged Capacity building of farmers to address yield gap in cassava production, was organised for youth and women farmers in the South-East.

Babangida, who was represented by the South-East Regional Director of FMARD, Mr Felix Kehis, said there was need for farmers to intensify efforts to improve productivity.

According to her, increased productivity would attract more people and benefits to cassava production.

Nigeria is the worlds leading producer of Cassava, in spite its low yield of 10mt/ha, compared to other countries such as Thailand.

However, the country has the potential of having good varieties that could give more than 40mt/ha, she said.
Babangida said that the workshop was to ensure that the yield gap in cassava production was bridged.

She said the target could be achieved through the dissemination and adoption of improved technologies and innovation by smallholder farmers.

She said that the ministry would continue to support relevant activities of cassava value chain to utilise and produce improved cassava planting materials.

In a remark, the Abia State Director of FMARD, Mr Victor Ihediwa, said the ministry would continue to support relevant activities of cassava value chain.

Ihediwa urged the participants to put all they learnt into use toward achieving the national policy on food security.

In an address of welcome, the Executive Director, NRCRI, Prof. Ukpabi Joseph-Ukpabi, said that FMARD was working towards achieving food and nutrition security in the country through its various activities.

Joseph-Ukpabi, represented by Dr Namdi Eke-Okoro, urged participants to disseminate every knowledge they acquired at the workshop to other farmers.

A participant, Mrs Chinyere Agbai, expressed gratitude to the organisers, saying that the workshop had further enriched her knowledge in cassava farming. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Emmanuel Oloniruha

The Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum (PDP-GF) has pledged to support the Federal Government to address insecurity and restore peace in troubled areas of the country.

The Chairman of the Forum and Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, said this while briefing newsmen at the end of the forums first physical meeting held on Thursday in Abuja.

Tambuwal said that the PDP governors agreed to support the federal government initiatives in ensuring that whatever would re-establish peace in Nigeria, be it discussion, negotiations or kinetic approach.

This is a very productive meeting that review the situation of the country, the security challenges in the country.

As governors of the PDP, we have agreed and resolved to continue to work with the federal government with the sole aim of reestablishing peace in troubled areas of the federation.

We must not play politics with security and we must all work together to ensure that we bring back peace in our land.

So we have agreed to continue to work with the federal government in that regard.

Tambuwal said that the forum however appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to continue to support state governments in the discharge of their mandates.

We are appealing to Mr President to reconsider certain measures by bringing more succour and relief to the people of Nigeria.

He should support state governments in the discharge of their mandate, by making available resources to the States.

This is important so that we can execute our mandate and ensure that we engender good governance and good condition of living in our respective states throughout the country.

On PDP, Tambuwal commended the National Working Committee (NWC) initiative for constituting the National Reconciliation Committee to reconcile aggrieved members of the party across the country.

We have received interim report from that committee. They are doing very well and we are encouraging them to continue in that regard.

The governors forum is going to back their efforts strongly so that we can possibly bring back those members of our party who have left out of anger and certain situations.

Tambuwal also said that no member of the forum was contemplating of leaving PDP for another party.

As you can see, most if not all of the governors of the PDP attended this meeting.

This a very clear statement that no governor of PDP is contemplating leaving the party for any other party.

We are brothers and we have committed ourselves to the party and to ensure that we continue to deliver on our mandate to the people of our respective states.

Tambuwal said that the governors also agreed to work together with the NWC of the party to continue with what they started.

On e-registration of members of the party, Tambuwal said the governors appealed to the NWC to immediately set up machinery in motion to actualise it.

He also disclosed that the forum set up three committees on finance, legal matters and legislative interface.

The committee on finance is being led by the forums Deputy Chairman and Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River; legislative matters by the governor of Bauchi, Bala Mohammed, and that of legal matters, led by Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers.

On the protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress on alleged plans to move minimum wage from executive to concurrent list, Tambuwal described the accusation by the NLC as misplaced.

He said that no governor advocated for that.

Former Senate President and Chairman, PDP National Reconciliation Committee, Sen. Bukola Saraki, speaking to journalists after the meeting, said the committee briefed the governors on its efforts to reunite the party.

We briefed them on efforts we have made so far, what we have been able to achieve, our strategy, and how we are going to work together, he said.

He said that the committee efforts was already yielding positive results.

We had stakeholders that were not ready working together. Now theyre working together, they are meeting.

We have states where we have differences. People now are coming together.

Also in attendance were governors of Abia, Delta, Oyo, Edo, Enugu, Bayelsa, Benue, Zamfara states and deputy governor of Adamawa. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

By Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma

Transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange returned to negative territory on Thursday, following sell pressure on Dangote Cement and 10 other stocks.

Consequently, the All-Share Index declined by 234.08 points or 0.60 per cent to 38,697.17 from 38,931.25 on Wednesday.

Accordingly, the month-to-date and year-to-date losses increased to 2.8 per cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively.

Also, the market capitalisation shed N123 billion or 0.60 per cent to close at N20.246 trillion in contrast with N20.369 trillion recorded on Wednesday.

The market loss was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks, amongst which were Dangote Cement, Zenith Bank, United Capital, University Press and United Bank for Africa (UBA).

African Alliance Insurance led the losers chart in percentage terms, by 8.33 per cent to close at 22k per share.

Mutual Benefits Assurance and Sovereign Trust Insurance followed with a loss of 7.14 per cent each to close at 36k and 26k per share, respectively.

University Press lost 4.92 per cent to close at N1.16, while Jaiz Bank dropped 4.41 per cent to close at 65k per share.

On the other hand, Smart Products drove the gainers chart in percentage terms, gaining 10 per cent to close at 22k per share.

International Breweries followed with a gain 9.89 per cent to close at N5, while Champion Breweries rose by 9.09 per cent to close at N2.40 per share.

Royal Exchange rose by 8.33 per cent to close at 26k, while Livestock Feeds appreciated by 7.65 per cent to close at N1.83 per share.

Also, the total volume of trades transacted declined by 54 per cent as investors bought 169.35 million shares valued N2.12 billion exchanged in 3,568 deals.

This was against 368.22 million shares worth N4.46 billion traded in 4,437 deals on Wednesday.

Transactions in the shares of AIICO Insurance topped the activity chart with 19.67 million shares valued N23.34 million.

UBA accounted for 16.24 million shares worth N113.24 million, while Zenith Bank sold 11.49 million shares valued N247.42 million.

AXA Mansard Insurance traded 10.47 million shares valued N10.33 million, while Jaiz Bank transacted 9.46 million shares worth N6.06 million. (NAN)

Source: NAN News