Issues Archives - Page 9 of 64

November 3, 2012

Beyond the Information Age: What Next?

The world has experienced a series of Revolutions. The 21^st century is highly characterised with information explosion like never before in human history. Today, with just a click on a mouse, interested individual can access scores of information on virtually any issue of concern in life. Gone are the days when few ‘elites’ reigns in knowledge and intellectual prowess over the majority. Nations that recognizes the importance of information-empowerment to her citizenry have left no stone unturned in entrenching it in their constitution as a fundamental/civic right of the governed. Decades ago, nations that appeared as world ‘giants’ are today facing stiff competition from emerging world powers owing to information technology.

It spread so fast as with a scourge on rampage, covering lands and territories, infecting inhabitants of high-tech nations in the West to village dwellers of developing communities in Africa with its ‘sting’ of relevance. In the years preceding the 21^st century, when an issue of global or national interest occurs and those in the corridors of powers decides to conceal such from the knowledge of the people, they succeeded in some cases. There were high secrets in high places. Today, the converse is the case. With the advent of the internet, information dissemination and closing of knowledge gap has been made much easier. Such accounts for what makes the headliners in most local and international dailies as the corrupt hidden ‘mess’ of unscrupulous elements are brought to bear and appropriate penalty applied. Those professionally vested with the responsibility of acting as ‘bridgers’ between the government and the governed are alive to their responsilities with the adoption and implementation of the freedom of information law. What is more, the various component regions of the world are inter-dependent on one another in a global village. No doubt, access to information in an unprecedented scale is a gift to our generation. Continue reading “Beyond the Information Age: What Next?”

October 28, 2012October 28, 2012

Two Die and Several Injured Rushing to Meet Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo

Two people dead and several others seriously injured Saturday following a motor riding display during the arrival of NPP’s presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo in Northern Regional capital Tamale.

Hundreds of supporters of NPP in the Northern Region took to the streets of Tamale on their motorbikes and cars displaying skillfully as a way of welcoming the NPP presidential candidate to the town.

The accident happened at Datoyili on the Tamale-Kumasi road.

Nana Addo is in the regional capital for a four day campaign tour as well as to participate in the IEA presidential debate on Tuesday.

The deceased has since been buried in accordance with the Muslim tradition, while the injured are responding to treatment at the Tamale Teaching Hospital.

Dr Ken Sagoe is Chief Executive of Tamale Teaching Hospital, who confirmed the death to Joy News, said young people in the area often join enthusiastic crowd and engage in “various acts of acrobatic” on their motorbikes.

“Too often we have some of them get injured, and sometimes it can get fatal. Like yesterday, we lost two people from that event alone, and we released the bodies for burial yesterday, and then a considerable number were treated and discharged, a few were admitted.”

October 27, 2012

New York Times Endorses President Obama for Re-election

By Sabrina Siddiqu

President Barack Obama picked up the endorsement of The New York Times on Saturday, a decision the paper’s editorial board said was due to administration policies that have placed the economy on the path to recovery, the passage of landmark health care reform, the advocating of women’s rights and a foreign policy agenda that has kept unstable regions from combustion — all accomplished, the board argues, in the face of an “ideological assault” from the Republican Party.

The endorsement is hardly unexpected but is significant nonetheless coming from one of the most influential papers in the United States. The Times’ liberal-leaning editorial page backed Obama in 2008 and has, throughout the 2012 cycle, painted a stark contrast between the president’s vision and the policy proposals of his opponent, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. That choice is emphatically laid out in Saturday’s editorial, “Barack Obama for Re-Election,” in which the Times states that Romney “has gotten this far with a guile that allows him to say whatever he thinks an audience wants to hear.” Continue reading “New York Times Endorses President Obama for Re-election”

October 27, 2012October 27, 2012

A Step Closer to a Screening Test for Stuttering

A screening test for children starting school that could accurately detect early signs of a persistent stutter is a step closer, experts say.

The Wellcome Trust team says a specific speech test accurately predicts whose stutter will persist into their teens.

About one in 20 develops a stutter before age five – but just one in 100 stutter as a teen and identifying these children has so far been difficult.

Campaigners said it was key for children to be diagnosed early.

Stuttering tends to start at about three years old. Four out of five will recover without intervention, often within a couple of years.

But for one in five, their stutter will persist and early therapy can be of significant benefit. Continue reading “A Step Closer to a Screening Test for Stuttering”

October 27, 2012October 27, 2012

Mitt Romney-Barack Obama Race May Come Down to Wisconsin

Amanda Terkel and Sam Stein

WASHINGTON — With President Barack Obama stubbornly maintaining a small but clear lead in Ohio polls, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign is contemplating a shift in its electoral map. The pathway to denying the president a second term that once seemed premised on taking back the Buckeye State is increasingly shifting focus to another Midwest state: Wisconsin.

Romney campaign officials would never publicly announce a change in approach. And it’s not that they are giving up entirely on Ohio; they certainly have the money to compete anywhere. But Republican sources say Romney headquarters in Boston is increasingly seeing Wisconsin as a state more apt for flipping. Less campaigning has taken place there, meaning fewer voters have been overwhelmed by, and tuned out, political ads. Moreover, the Badger State has, in recent months, been more conducive to Republican success and possesses a stronger ground operation.

Continue reading “Mitt Romney-Barack Obama Race May Come Down to Wisconsin”

October 24, 2012October 27, 2012

Malaria Drug Finance Scheme Questioned

By Jane Dreaper Health correspondent, BBC News

The charity Oxfam has cast doubt on an international scheme that aims to boost the provision of the most effective treatment for malaria.

The UK government has contributed £70m to the Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria (AMFm).

Oxfam says there is no evidence the programme has saved the lives of the most vulnerable people.

The body behind the AMFm says an independent study shows it has improved access and reduced drug prices.

The scheme was introduced three years ago by the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria.

It acts as a global subsidy to provide greater access to combination therapy for malaria, particularly through private-sector drug retailers in developing countries.

The idea is to reduce the use of older treatments that carry a higher risk of resistance, and to untap the potential of the private sector in reaching remote communities.

More than 200 million people contract malaria every year and 655,000 die from the disease – most of them are young children. Continue reading “Malaria Drug Finance Scheme Questioned”

September 29, 2012

Rethinking Segregationist Policies

My lawyer-friend, Timi Olagunju, recently sued President Jonathan and six others over what he called gender discrimination in the YouWin Women programme of the Federal Government. The policy, in its current format, my friend argues, violates section 42 of the 1999 Constitution. Aside the YouWin Women, the recently launched Almajiri Education System by the Federal Government, and the proposed 5000 naira note by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), are, to say the least, segregationist.

The YouWin programme should be for all young Nigerians, irrespective of their gender. The federal government can attempt to bridge the ‘gender gap’, if that truly exists among millions of unemployed Nigerian youths, through a more humane and gender sensitive quota (say 60/40 percent in favour of women). I think that was the method they used for YouWin last year.

Similarly, in the wake of incessant Boko Haram menace in parts of the North, the federal government introduced the Almajiri Education System, whereby potential (future) recruits by religious extremists would receive free primary education and feeding along the line. It is meant to integrate Islamic and Western education. Whereas, like YouWin Women, Almajiri education is meant to bridge some gap, it might end up widening the gap. Just like the YouWin Women would endanger gender equality and promote segregation among our youths, Almajiri education would foster social, economic and religious segregation. Continue reading “Rethinking Segregationist Policies”