The Unimaginable!!

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Thursday carpeted the wife of Ekiti State Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, over the death of two students of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) on Tuesday during a protest.

It said the manner in which Mrs Fayemi absolved herself of any blame over the tragedy was a total disappointment coming from a public figure like her.

NANS accused Mrs Fayemi of dishing out untruths in her bid to deflect the burden of blame over the death of two of its members during the protest over poor electricity supply.

It declared the “Almighty God is the biggest judge and will dispense judgement as due to her.”

NANS PRO, Comrade Adeyemi Azeez, spoke in Abeokuta.

He also implored the Federal Government to probe how their promising colleagues were cut down prematurely.

Adeyemi described the fate that befell the ‘FUOYE two’ as something akin to “planned assassination” and urged all students in Ekiti and beyond to remain calm as the national leadership of NANS would take all necessary and lawful steps to compel the government of Ekiti State to tell Nigerian Students the motive behind the killing of their colleagues.

He said: “We read yesterday with dismay, the reaction of the suspected assailant where she made baseless claims but for us as students and young people who have what it takes to fight her, considering the quantum of our population, we know that God almighty is the biggest Judge and will dispense judgement as due to her.

“In fact, Ekiti people have coined a new name for the woman which is ‘ a woman with 9 mouths’ considering the spate at which she was telling lies through her release yesterday.

Firstly: the Ekiti first lady said she was in the hall when the student started rampaging and allegedly destroying people vehicle.

“This statement is too sweet to be true; can such riot act be going on outside a hall to the extent that peoples vehicle were being damaged and the owners of the vehicles remained calm in the hall?

“Secondly as the first lady, she claimed to remain in the hall while the damages were being done, why not address the students instead of ignoring them, if truly she wasn’t wishing and praying evil for the students.

“If truly she regard the students as her children why not speak to them instead ordering the police to be ruthless with them.

Also, if truly you have a heart of gold you should be concerned about what happened to the students and not running away.

“You and your husband have the state powers and as result should be able to restore normalcy to any uproar, that is why you were elected.

“Her husband, who used to be one of our well respected elders in NANS, is also gradually losing our respect as he has not said anything since this crises started instead he is busy fighting for security votes.

“If we have our way we would suggest that Ekiti state security vote be removed since the governor has not been making judicious use of the ones he has been collecting which is evident in his inability to secure our students.

We must however note that even if your security votes is increased to N5 billion on a monthly bases, we would not still surrender the lives of our students to you.

“We however call on the federal government to probe this killing of our students in Ekiti as this can best be described as a ‘state planed assassination.

“Even when the rich oppresses the poor in Nigeria, it is not done in the open but the reverse was the case of Mrs. Fayemi who threw two families into sorrow and gnashing of teeth without remorse.

And against the expectation of mothers, Erelu as fondly called, could still lie even when the lives of two promising young Nigerians were involved.

“This pitiable situation which has been on between the rich and the poor might graduate into a revolt of the poor in this country.

“Despite our respect for Governor Fayemi, his wife has successfully turned our backs against each other as we would not toy with the life of any of our students.”

A 400-level student of Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) identified as Chukwuemeka Akachi, has said to have allegedly committed suicide on Monday.

According to an eyewitness who pleaded anonymity, he said that Akachi went to an uncompleted building along Sullivan Road where he drank two bottles of ‘Sniper.’

He explained that it was some students who were going towards the direction that saw him battling between life and death who raised alarm before he was rushed to UNN Medical Centre.

“Some students saw Akachi in a state of coma raised the alarm and he was rushed to the University Medical Centre, where he was taken to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital,(UNTH) Ituku, Ozalla Enugu, where he was confirmed dead by doctors on duty.

Our correspondent gathered that Akachi had pasted a suicide note on his personal Facebook wall hours before committing the act.

The suicide note reads: “Forgive me. In case you are the one who found the body, I am really sorry. It had to be someone, you know. I have chosen Jo Nketaih’s poem as my suicide note: ‘They said you came looking for me. I don’t drown, I was the water.’

Where do atheists go when they die! Lol. Amen,” he wrote.

Late Akachi also wrote on his Facebook wall on May 12: “My mental health has been on life support for a while now. Thanks to those who call. Text. Visit. Speak to me. May we always remember. May we never forget. You may have added a few hours, months or days to my time here. But you know life support is expensive right?

Thank you for trying. Amen.”

Confirming the incident, a senior security personnel in UNN Security Department who pleaded anonymity said the incident was reported to them at the security unit of the institution on Monday morning.

He said this was not the first time the said Akachi made attempt to take his life as in two occasions he had drunk kerosene and fuel in the past to kill himself but was rescued.

“But on Monday he drank Sniper and was rushed to UNN Federal Medical Centre first but was later moved to UNTH Enugu where he was confirmed dead, “he said.

When contacted, the Enugu State Police Public Relation Office, Ebere Amarizu, confirmed the incident, describing it as very pathetic. He said that police would investigate the matter to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the death of the student.

According to NAN, a statement signed by the Secretary of the board, Malam Al-Hassan Yakmut, said the Chairman of CDFIPB and Minister of Interior, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd), gave the approval at the board’s meeting held between May 9 and May 10, in Abuja.

Yakmut said after the board’s meeting, a technical committee was immediately set up to work out modalities for the implementation, adding “including the harmonisation of ranks in accordance with the abolition’’.

He said the board also approved the recruitment of 2,200 candidates into the Federal Fire and 7,475 candidates into the Nigeria Prisons Services.

“The meeting also approved the recruitment of 2,200 candidates into the Federal Fire Service, and 7,475 candidates into the Nigeria Prisons Service.

“Dambazau wishes the candidates a successful career in the services and pledges commitment of the board to ensuring adequate pre-deployment training,’’ he said.

From the breakdown and analysis given by Ishaq Oloyede, the Registrar of the board, it became pretty clear that, just like last year, another precocious student, emerged as the overall best student.

Ekele Franklin, 15, is this year's superstar!

To score the highest mark in UTME, at whatever age, is no mean feat. To do it at the age of 15, when most of your contemporaries are still tied to their mother's apron strings, is breathtakingly incredible. And when you consider the number of candidates that sat for the Examination(over 1.7million!) Franklin and his kith and kin have every reason to be on cloud noun. The teenager from Imo state is now the envy of his age-mates.

However, Franklin's joy may be short-lived, the impressive result may not secure him the desired admission for this reason.

Is it fair, however, that such a brilliant mind be held back by age?

An Unwritten But Attractive Law
There is an unwritten law, effective though, that puts a limit on the age by which a student can start his/her academic odyssey in any public University in Nigeria.

According to the unwritten law, the 'standard' and official age for admission into public University is Sixteen(16). The admission seeker is expected to be sixteen by the 1st of October in the year of admission if not all is the hope of securing admission will be a mirage.

For the reason, Franklin whose official age might not be offered admission for his dream course at the University of Lagos, come to the beginning of a new session except he is 16 by then.

Are There Precedents?
Yes. Thousands of brilliant admission seekers had been denied admission solely because of this unwritten but active law. Though most of the people that had been at the receiving end of this law are faceless, a case will suffice; That of Faith Oluwatomi Oyende.

Faith Oluwatomi Oyende, at the age of  21(now a graduate of biochemistry), graduated with a 4.68 cumulative grade point average, CGPA,  to emerge the best graduating student from the Faculty of Science at the 21st convocation ceremony of Lagos State University (LASU).

While answering questions from the Vanguard Newspaper last year on how she achieved the feat, Faith said: "It is a long story. I actually wanted to become a medical doctor. But I was denied admission at both University of Lagos, UNILAG, and LASU because I was not yet 16years old.

Having finished secondary school at age 15, I wrote and passed the Joint Admission Matriculation Board Examination. But during the post-JAMB test,  I was told I must have completed 16 years on or before October 1, 2011. Unfortunately, I was to be 16 on January 1, 2012."

The same fate befell the brilliant Orishenye Okorogheye who, after having A1 in the students he sat for in  May/June 2018 WASSCE, emerged as the best UTME candidate in 2018 at the age of 15  as well. He was stopped in his tracks while trying to apply to UNILAG for Post-UTME despite scoring 332.

Justification Of The Law
There are many justifications for this Law both from academics and counsellors. The summary of which is that most of the under-16 brilliant students are not 'emotionally mature' to withstand the multi-tasking that tertiary education demands. Another reason is that they are still impressionable and may fall easy prey to the antics of the adults in the ivory tower.

Though the age-limit 'policy' has no legal backing it has become the gold standard for securing admission. Do you think the 'law' is retrogressive and be done away with?

It is not clear what prompted them to share the 16 guidelines, but a recent embarrassing viral video of an officer hassling a driver at a checkpoint for a bribe might be behind it.

In it, an officer is captured asking for a bribe of 4,000 naira ($10; £7) because the initial offer was, according to him, not enough.

Such incidents have reportedly ended in motorists being shot dead after drivers refused to oblige.

The police do not address the issue of bribe solicitation in their "tips for safe and cordial relationship at checkpoints", but advise that:

So, just in case you're wondering how to comply with the guidelines, here's what a motorist should do:

Slow down as you approach the checkpoint, ensure the car's interior lights are on, if it's at night, and keep your hands visible to avoid spooking police officers.

Lowering the volume of the car radio would be greatly appreciated:

Goading a police officer is also not a good idea:

So is touching an officer:

The police also felt it was necessary to warn about the potentially fatal consequences of fighting an armed police officer:

Most Nigerians don't trust the police because they see them as unprofessional and corrupt, according to BBC Nigeria editor Aliyu Tanko.

They often complain about the ubiquitous checkpoints, which many feel have been set up purely to extort bribes.

Nigerian police are among the worst paid and ill equipped in the world, our reporter says.

The police, however, see bad interactions with the public as being a result of misunderstandings.

They advise the public to be courteous when engaging with them:

The guidelines are being seen as part of efforts by the police service to burnish its image. It comes after the police held a public engagement event on social media.

The reaction on Twitter to the police checkpoint guidelines has been mixed:

High cholesterol is associated with an increased risk of developing glaucoma, but a new study suggests taking statins to lower cholesterol helps to reduce this risk.

Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions that can damage the optic nerve, typically because pressure builds up inside the eye. The current study focused on the most common form, known as open-angle glaucoma, which starts with gradual loss of peripheral vision.

Researchers followed more than 136,000 healthy adults for over a decade, starting when they were 40 years old and had no signs of glaucoma. By the end of the study, 886 glaucoma cases were diagnosed.

People with any history of high cholesterol were 17 percent more likely to develop glaucoma, researchers report in JAMA Ophthalmology. And every 20 milligrams per deciliter of blood increase in total cholesterol was tied to a 7 percent increase in glaucoma risk.

In contrast, any statin use was associated with a 15 percent lower risk of glaucoma overall, the study found. And people who took statins for five or more years were 21 percent less likely to develop glaucoma than those who had never used the drugs.

“The potential mechanisms by which statins may lower the risk of primary open-angle glaucoma is by lowering intraocular pressure, which is a glaucoma risk factor; by helping to maintain adequate blood flow to the optic nerve and by strengthening neuroprotective mechanisms,” said lead study author Jae Hee Kang of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

“The relation with high cholesterol is not well understood but may be related to impaired blood flow to the optic nerve or to the exacerbation of neurodegenerative processes with aging,” Kang said by email.

Statins are typically prescribed to people with high cholesterol or a high risk for heart attacks or strokes. Side effects can include muscle pain, liver damage, upset stomach, elevated blood sugar and memory problems.

To explore the connection between statins and glaucoma, researchers examined data from three long-term studies of U.S. nurses and health professionals. All participants had regular eye exams and were periodically assessed for statin use or diagnosis of high cholesterol.

Among people who never used statins, 34 to 56 percent had high cholesterol.

High cholesterol was even more common among statin users, affecting 84 to 94 percent of people on the pills for up to two years and 96 to 99 percent of patients on statins for at least five years.

The effect of statins on glaucoma risk was most pronounced in older participants. People over 65 who used statins for at least five years were 30 percent less likely to develop glaucoma than individuals who never used these drugs, while people under 65 saw no risk reduction.

One limitation of the study is that researchers relied on participants to accurately recall and report any statin use or diagnosis of high cholesterol. Results from a study of predominantly white health professionals also may not reflect what would happen in other groups of people.

Even so, the results highlight the need for further research to explore whether statins might one day be prescribed to prevent glaucoma, which is not currently an approved use of these pills, said the co-author of an accompanying editorial, Dr. Yao Liu of the University of Wisconsin-Madison

“This study is important because glaucoma is a serious eye condition that can cause permanent vision loss” and for which there’s no cure, Liu said by email.

“The only way we currently know how to prevent glaucoma damage is by lowering eye pressure (using medications, laser or surgery), but some patients continue to lose vision despite lowering their eye pressure,” Liu said. “New treatments to prevent glaucoma are needed to prevent vision loss and preserve patients’ quality of life.”