Edo PDP Governoship candidate's wife convoy attacked in Oshiomole's domain.

THE convoy of Dr Idia Ize-Iyamu, the wife of the PDP governorship candidate was yesterday allegedly attacked in Iyamho, Estako West local government area of Edo State by thugs said to belong to the APC deputy governorship candidate, Philip Shuaibu.
Dr Idia Ize-Iyamu, however, escaped unhurt.
A statement in Benin yesterday by the State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Chris Nehikhare, said the incident happened at Jattu market when the PDP women were campaigning from shop to shop educating the people on the contents of the PDP manifesto, tagged SIMPLE AGENDA and how to vote right during the election.
He added that during the enlightenment campaign, the market women were heard chanting “PDP!” and “Change the Change!” and this was said to have infuriated the thugs allegedly led by Philip Shuaibu who destroyed several cars in Dr. Idia’s convoy.
This led to violence erupting in the market with market women burning any broom in sight, he added.
However, Philip Shaibu in swift reaction distanced himself from the issue, saying that he is not known to have history of violence rather ‘’the PDP factional governorship candidate, Ize Iyamu has a history of violence. He, Ize Iyamu, in 1984 was expelled for bathing a fellow student at the university of Benin with acid, as SSG under Lucky Igbinedion Administration political assassination was at its peak in Edo State and in 2015, same Ize Iyamu led thugs to unleash mayhem on the Edo State House of Assembly.’’
Shaibu said he and other APC faithful were in a road show tagged: “Sweep them away” when the mayhem unfolded as PDP thugs sighted APC supporters sweeping the Jattu – Auchi road in Jattu market area and started throwing stones.

why would Nigeria sell off NLNG that contributed $26bn to Nigeria economy?

Managing Director of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, NLNG, Mr. Tony Attah, has said the company in which Nigeria holds 49 per cent equity, has contributed $20 billion in revenue and $6 billion in taxes to the economy in the last five years.
Attah made the disclosure, yesterday when he visited the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Abuja.
He commended the minister for the role he had played in bringing positive change to Nigeria.
He said: “Minister, we appreciate your role in the Change Agenda, we appreciate your role in carrying the entire Nigeria along in terms of the Change Agenda through positive information because, as we say, an informed society is a society that is most likely to move along to a positive height,” he said.
Attah said the organization was equally playing a critical role in technology transfer, in collaboration with some universities, adding that it was also intensifying efforts to develop LPG to further diversify the energy source for the country.
On his part, the minister commended the NLNG for promoting creativity through the NLNG Literature prize and urged the organization to extend similar gesture to the Federal Government’s National Re-orientation Campaign, tagged ‘Change Begins with Me,” to be launched on Thursday.
He said: “Of all the good things you have done, the one that struck me most has been the Literary Prize. It speaks volumes for a company, which is involved in gas exploration, to realize that it must also institute a prize for the creativity industry. It is a realization that the single most important investment you can make is the investment in human mind.”

Dangote takes:
Nigeria and African richest business mogul, Aliko Dangote has urged the federal government to sell off the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas company, NLNG as well as other dormant but huge capital-generating sectors and invest the proceeds back into the economy to bring Nigeria out of its current recession before the end of fourt quarter.
In an interview with CNBC Africa, the billionaire said: “The only way for us to get out of this recession is to make sure we move into action quickly; action by diversifying the economy quickly.
“If I had challenges in my company, I would not hesitate to sell assets, to remain afloat, to get to the better times, because it doesn’t make any sense for me to keep any assets and then suffocate the whole organisation.
“What we need to do now in my own thinking… we have a lot of assets to sell. We can sell part of the joint venture; part of the shares. You know government normally owns 60 percent.
“We can sell in an open tender be it Chinese. We can change the term and make it an operating one, just like what we have in NLNG. We also have another asset I think we don’t really need.
“The African finance corporation; it can fetch them $800million easily. My own suggestion before was that they should even sell 100 percent of NLNG. I don’t think government should be in any business of investing in sectors of LNG.
“A company like that, with earnings of $1.5 billion on the average, they should get anywhere between $12 billion and $15 billion.”
Dangote suggested investing the proceeds back into the economy to boost development.
“You will not believe that the crisis that we have today, if we have $15 billion, adding it to our $25 billion, that is $40 billion reserves. That will give confidence, confidence will come back, then government will back it up with proper economic policy, where people can see the roadmap.
“Latest by fourth quarter we will be out of recession. It should be a partnership between government and private sector. We have all the answers, Nigeria falling into recession does not really scare me, if we take action.
The businessman said if the government boosts reserves as suggested, the naira may fall to 250 to the dollar and help the economy.
“Once we can sell assets, and put $15 billion together, you’d be very shocked at how much the dollar will actually drop, you can easily see 250. What is happening today is mere speculation.
“To currency, everybody will speculate, banks will speculate, companies will speculate, individuals will speculate, because if you have money you want to send in from abroad you will keep sending in trickles.
“If you know that CBN has $40 billion in reserves today, if you have $100,000, you might even sell it forward because you know that this rate is going to crash and you must quickly sell it.”

ORANGES HELP TO TACKLE OBESITY

Though the field of medicine continues to advance and branch out in so many ways, nutritionists and health experts continue to praise the benefits of some foods.
In fact, eating citrus fruits like oranges, grape fruits, lime and lemon has been shown to lower ischemic stroke risk, maintain blood pressure, and support heart health by preventing the harmful effects of obesity.
Citrus are rich in several antioxidants, which are chemical substances that may prevent a range of health concerns. Experts exploring the health benefits of citrus fruits found that it prevented the harmful effects of obesity in mice fed a Western high-fat diet.
In the study, the researchers treated 50 mice with flavanones, an antioxidant and chemical substance in oranges, lemons, and limes that has antioxidant properties, over a period of a month.
Mice fed this citrus extract had a reduced fat accumulation and damage in the liver by at least 50 per cent unlike compared with mice on the high-fat non-citrus extract diet.
The investigators presented the results of the study at the 252nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Obesity is a significant factor in increasing the risk of developing heart disease, liver disease, and type 2 diabetes. Consuming a diet high in fat can lead to a build up of fat in the human body. Fat cells produce excessive reactive oxygen species, which can damage cells.
While the body can fight off oxidative stress molecules with antioxidants, obese patients have enlarged fat cells, which can lead to higher levels of oxidative stress that overwhelms the body’s ability to counteract them.
According to Dr Thais B. Cesar, the study’s team lead, “Our studies did not show any weight loss due to the citrus flavanones. However, even without helping the mice lose weight, they made them healthier with lower oxidative stress, less liver damage, lower blood lipids and lower blood glucose.
“This study also suggests that consuming citrus fruits probably could have beneficial effects for people, who are not obese, but have diets rich in fats, putting them at risk of developing cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, and abdominal obesity.”
Previously, new analysis from the Nurses’ Health Study has shown that high intake of flavanones, a subclass of flavonoids found in the greatest concentrations in oranges and grapefruit, is associated with a 19 per cent lower risk for ischemic stroke in women who drank one glass of freshly squeezed orange juice a day.
Some experts encourage people to eat up to two oranges per day for the fruit’s beneficial phytochemicals, flavanoids and vitamin C content. But the best way to consume oranges is in moderation, pairing them with other healthy fruits, vegetables, proteins and whole grains to ensure a balanced diet.
Also, experts have found that onions, green tea and olive leaf extract can fight obesity and its related diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and fatty liver, even when a high-fat and high-carbohydrate diet is indulged in.
In the 2011 edition of Journal of Nutrition and the Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, they indicated that onions and olive leaf extract contain a flavonoid called rutin — also found in apples, tea and red wine — that reversed or prevented metabolic changes in rats fed the high-sugar, high-fat diet.
In 2013, scientists in a study published in the British Journal of Pharmacology, also discovered that a component of grapefruit and other citrus fruits may successfully block the development of kidney cysts and possibly a candidate treatment for polycystic kidney disease.
Polycystic kidney disease is an inherited disorder that causes cysts to develop in the kidneys. The disease can lead to loss of kidney function, high blood pressure leading to heart attack and stroke, as well as brain aneurysms. Onset is most common between the ages of 30 and 60.

• Also, a bit of lemon and its peel may help to control diabetes by helping to improve insulin resistance. A key ingredient found in lemon peels is polyphenols, which plays a major role in minimising insulin resistance. An increase in insulin resistance leads to less responsiveness from the insulin hormone, resulting in uncontrolled levels of blood sugar.

AMAZING HEALTH BENEFITS OF MUSHROOMS

Although most people think of mushrooms as vegetables, they’re in fact a type of beneficial fungus. The term “mushroom” refers to any macrofungus with a distinctive fruiting body large enough to be seen with the naked eye and picked by hand. As of now, mushrooms constitute at least 14,000 different plant species — and perhaps way more. The number of mushroom species on the earth is estimated to be 140,000, which suggests that scientists only know about 10 percent of the possible species at this time.
Although various types of mushrooms differ in terms of their exact calorie and nutrient count, in general they’re very low in carbohydrates, calories, fat, sodium and sugar. Meanwhile, provide a high level of nutrients — especially antioxidants, energizing B vitamins, copper and selenium.
With so many species in existence, plus numerous compounds within each species that offer their own unique qualities, it’s hard to sum up the health benefits of mushroom nutrition and the perks one gets when one eats them regularly. But, here are some benefits common to most types of mushroom varieties:
Fight cancer
Known to be a natural cancer remedy and one of the best foods for increasing “natural killer cells” — the type of immune cells that seek out and destroy dangerous cancerous cells — mushrooms are praised as powerful anti-cancer foods. According to the medical journal 3 Biotech, mushrooms anti-cancer compounds play a crucial role as a reactive oxygen species inducer, mitotic kinase inhibitor, anti-mitotic, angiogenesis inhibitor and lead to apoptosis, and eventually checking cancer proliferation.
This means mushrooms can inhibit tumor formation, protect DNA from damage and stop cell mutation, all while protecting healthy cells and increasing the body’s ability to detoxify itself of dangerous substances.
Improve immunity and lower inflammation
According to a 2005 report published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, mushrooms contain “compounds and complex substances with antimicrobial, antiviral, antitumor, antiallergic, immunomodulating, anti-inflammatory, antiatherogenic, hypoglycemic, and hepatoprotective activities.”
That may sound like a mouthful, but what it means is mushrooms can enhance almost every system in the body and protect a person from numerous diseases since they’re associated with lowered inflammation (which is really the root of most diseases). Mushrooms also help alkalize the body, which is associated with improved immunity. A balanced pH level is crucial to health because, as some experts say, “disease cannot grow in an alkaline environment.”
Mushrooms also have the natural ability to fight dangerous bacteria and viruses. In fact, mushrooms need to have strong antibacterial and antifungal compounds just to survive in their own natural environment, which is why it’s not surprising that these beneficial compounds can be isolated from many mushrooms and used to protect human cells.
Mushrooms are even shown to have special fighting abilities against deadly multi-resistant bacterial strains and microorganisms responsible for gut and skin problems. In fact, some substances present in common antibiotics given to people when they’re sick — including penicillin, streptomycin and tetracycline — are derived from mushroom fungal extracts.
Protect heart health
Eating more mushrooms is one way to lower cholesterol levels naturally. Many types of mushrooms help lower “bad” cholesterol and keep arteries from hardening, which are risk factors for heart disease.
Mushrooms have sterol compounds that interfere with the production of cholesterol in the liver, yet at the same time they can raise “good” cholesterol. They also contain potent phytonutrients that help keep cells from sticking to blood vessel walls and forming plague buildup, which maintains healthy blood pressure and improves circulation.
Support energy and improve brain function
Mushrooms are a great source of B vitamins, which help support adrenal function and turn nutrients from food into useable energy. B vitamin benefits include the ability to help with neurotransmitter function, which makes them stress-defying nutrients that help break through “brain fog,” prevent thyroid disorders and support a healthy metabolism.
Is chronic stress killing your quality of life? Certain types of mushrooms, especially reishi, are also considered adaptogens that lower cortisol, which means they can help your body to deal with stress and keep your mood more upbeat. Mushrooms can also lower inflammation that can trigger a decline in cognitive function, mood problems, low energy and age-related neurodegenerative diseases.
Help with weight management
Studies find that regularly substituting mushrooms for meat might help you to lose weight, since mushrooms are a low-calorie, nutrient-dense food. Eating mushrooms several times per week is linked with a healthy body weight, reduced waist circumference and better overall health.
And while you’re working to improve your weight, mushroom nutrition benefits include the ability to protect your heart and vital organs from suffering the consequences of inflammation and imbalanced hormones.
Provide vitamin D
While we know that vitamin D is best obtained from sun exposure, certain kinds of mushrooms can also provide a decent source of this important vitamin. Vitamin D deficiency is a serious problem for many people and linked to everything from heart disease to depression.

MAIZE LEAVES, HOME REMEDY FOR FEVER, DIABETES

To many people, all there is to corn is food. But, corn does much more than feed people and livestock. Aside tea from corn silk that helps soothe urinary tract infection and prevent drug-induced kidney damage, experts found tea made from its leaf is a good home-remedy for malaria.
In a new study, experts found that its tea significantly relieve the pain and symptoms of diseases that are caused by inflammation such as arthritis under laboratory conditions in a dose –dependent manner, and thus a suitable remedy.
For the study, the scientists assessed the effects of different doses of the ethanol extract of corn leaf on experimental rats which were made to have pain and symptoms of arthritis.
The relieve in pain and inflammation achieved in the test animals was significant relative to control and the effect of the highest dose at 30 minutes was more than that of the standard drug used for the treatment of the problem.
Although the effectiveness of corn leaf extract was not comparable to that of the standard drugs used for the problem, the researchers said the study’s finding however confirmed its use in Ibibio ethno medicine.
The 2016 study published in the Journal of Herbal Drug involved Jude E Okokon; Koofreh Davies and Bassey S Antia, all from the University of Uyo.
The researchers, however, stated that further work was required on the extract of corn leaf to fully understand its components as well as its mechanism of action in alleviating pain and inflammation.
Leaf of corn plant is used traditionally in Ibibio ethno medicine in Southern Nigeria for the treatment of various illnesses such as malarial fever, pains and inflammatory conditions.
Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, fatigue, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases it can cause yellow skin, seizures, coma, or death.
Besides its nutritive values, maize stalk and inflorescence are also used in ethno-medicine for the treatment of several ailments. The ash of the cob is used for the treatment of cough as well as inflammatory diseases.
The husks are also used in the treatment of pains and arthritis. It is also taken as warm tea for the treatment of malaria in Ibibio traditional medicine.
Folklore uses of a tea made from its cob include treatment of nose-bleeds and menorrhagia (an abnormally heavy and prolonged menstrual period at regular intervals).
In traditional medicine, corn is used for relieving diarrhoea, dysentery, urinary tract disorders, prostatitis, hypertension and tumour.
Researchers have found that the tea made from leaves and roots of corn could be used in the treatment of strangury (slow and painful discharge of the urine, due to spasm of the urethra and bladder), dysuria (painful or difficult urination) and gravel.
Previously, experts had reported the blood sugar regulatory effect of a tea made from corn leaf in West Algeria. According to the 2008 study published in the Asian Journal of Chemistry, individuals only need to take a cup of the tea a day to lower blood sugar level in a diabetic.
Diabetes mellitus (DM), commonly referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which there are high blood sugar levels over a prolonged period. Symptoms of high blood sugar include frequent urination, increased thirst, and increased hunger. If left untreated, diabetes can cause many complications, including heart disease, stroke, chronic kidney failure, foot ulcers, and damage to the eyes.
Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough insulin or the cells of the body not responding properly to the insulin produced.
In addition, experts in the 2010 edition of the Journal of Medicinal Food investigated the effect of corn husk extract in rats and indicated that it also relieved pain in a dose-dependent fashion.
The researchers Owoyele BV from the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Ilorin in collaboration with others like Negedu MN; Olaniran SO; Onasanwo SA and Oguntoye SO.
These results provide scientific validation for the use of corn husk decoction for the treatment of pain and inflammatory conditions in Nigerian folk medicine.
They suggested that its pain reliving and anti-inflammatory effects that may be due to its tannins and polyphenolic constituents.

Policeman, Yahoo boy killed in Agege

THERE was palpable confusion in Agege area of Lagos State on Sunday afternoon when a police corporal attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Lagos State Police Command was shot death.
The death of the police officer was said to be reprisal by some hoodlums, who were protesting the shooting of two people, simply identified as Sulaimon and Segun by the deceased policeman.
The police in the state confirmed the death of the policeman but denied that he was killed in retaliation for killing two people.
The image maker in charge of the state police command, Joe Offor, insisted that the policeman did not commit suicide but shot in the head.
It was gathered that the deceased policeman had gone to the area to rescue an internet fraudster, popularly known as ‘yahoo boy,’ when he was shot.
The deceased officer, Sergeant James, was escaping with the ‘Yahoo boy’ when some hoodlums reportedly killed him and the internet fraudster.
A source at Amoo Street, where the incident happened, told the Nigerian Tribune that the internet fraudster was driving around the stadium when he was stopped by some street urchins.
The ‘Yahoo boy’, simply identified as Obey, had reportedly called the policeman to come and rescue him when he could not satisfy the request of the angry hoodlums.
The deceased policeman was said to have shot into the crowd, hitting two of them in the process, before escaping with Obey in a car.
Some hoodlums were said to have chased the policeman and Obey on a motorbike and killed both of them.
Offor, while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune confirmed the death of the policeman but denied that he had earlier shot two people.
He also said that the police in the state had begun investigations into the incident.

25-year-old to die by hanging for stealing phones, wristwatches

A convicted armed robber, Rasak Ogedengbe, 25, has been sentenced to death by hanging.
Ogedengbe’s journey to the gallows began when he attacked the family of one Mr Chukwujekwu who just returned from church at Ejigbo and carted away some of their valuables, which included money, wrist watches and phones.
The victim had gone to report at Ejigbo police station when he saw Ogedenge in the police van after the suspect had already been arrested by the police.
The police searched the polythene bag with him and found some of the valuables stolen from the victim.
Ogedengbe did not produce any witness and also pleaded not guilty to the offence but the prosecution had called two witnesses to testify and all their evidence were taken by the court.
While delivering her judgment, the presiding judge, Hon.Justice Olabisi Akinlade said that Ogedengbe was accused of criminal conspiracy and armed robbery under Section 403 and 402 of the criminal code, law of Lagos State 2003.
She said that the prosecution has been able to prove the elements of armed robbery and conspiracy and therefore found Ogedengbe guilty of both offences.
He was therefore sentenced to death by hanging.