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It might be love


From where I come, falling in love it tough. In fact, in most cases, you don’t even know you have fallen in love. It’s different where I live now. It is easy to love in love at the grocery checkout or gas station.

Celebrities are infamous for falling in at incredible speed, and falling out even quicker. There is a saying in my local language that translates into, “haste makes waste”. It means literally what you read.

I’ve cannot recall most of the high profile celebrities in Africa so permit me to use examples from where I live. Any way, readers from Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania and other African countries perhaps know these people more than I do.

Rihanna and Chris Brown, Madonna and Guy Ritchie,Jon and Kate Gosselin, Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo, Tiger Woods, Bristol Plain and Levi Johnson, Antwaun Cook, Christina Milian, Fantasia, Antwaun Cook, Amber Rose and even Kanye West. What is that is common with all these folks. These are singers, actors and actresses, and athletes. The one thing that unites all of them is that they knew how to fall in and fall out of love quickly.

Well, the truth is, it is not a celebrity phenomenon. All of us do run into it. Some of us are lucky we aren’t significant enough to have our stories on the cover of the National Enquirer. When that kind of feeling is so fresh and ‘feely’, attempting to apply algebra to the situation is just nonsense. There is what feels right, and then what is right, but when you’re in that ‘feely’ mode, what feels right always wins.

So how to you know you or someone is falling in love too quickly?

Below are some red lights:

1. Everyone is telling you that you are moving way too fast.

If your close friends or family — the people who know you best — think you’re rushing into things, they just may be on to something. Listen to the people you trust the most; they have your best interest in mind.

2. You fell in love over a vacation.

You were all in your best moods, you had the trendiest attire, and just perfect in all sense. Hei, the time the two of you spent together was extraordinary. But remember that ‘that feely’ feeling is usually transient.


3. You don’t know each other’s full name.
If you’re like that friend of mine who could not pronounce at the fiancée full name during the wedding rehearsal, you’re surely running too quickly. That is probably fine if you’re looking for a room-mate, but for lifetime partner? I’m afraid you are just too fast. I’ve got to go to bed now but feel free to add some more red lights in the comment form. Others will surely benefit from your wisdom

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Eradication of malaria is within reach, WHO reports

Picture from Roll Back Malaria
Picture from Roll Back Malaria

The World Health Organization, the UN agency which over ten years ago started a campaign to cut the number of malaria cases and deaths in half by 2010, reports that Malaria is fast declining in countries where it had been endemic.

Just five years ago, the anti-malaria campaign was in such poor shape that this news from the UN agency is surprising and gladdens the hearts of both researchers and residents of regions prone to malaria.

Even though experts agree that the campaign will fall short of meeting the goals it set over a decade ago, significant progress has been made over the past few years in distributing the means to prevent and treat malaria and in bringing down death rates in many countries.

As a result, malaria-related deaths have also fallen globally from 985,000 in 2000 to 781,000 in 2009, with most of the deaths registered in children under five. In short, the anti-malaria campaign efforts are saving around 204 000 lives per year right now over the baseline in 2000.

In Uganda, for instance, the report shows that the number of households owning at least one insecticide-treated mosquito net has increased over the last two years from 42 to 47 per cent.

Over the past three to four years, millions of insecticide-treated bed nets have been delivered to sub-Saharan Africa. The number of people whose houses were protected by insecticide spraying jumped to 75 million in 2009, protecting another 10 percent of the population at risk.

The most encouraging news is that experts say that with continued effort, the number of malaria deaths could be halved by the end of 2011 and practically eliminated by 2015.

We posted an article here on November 7th 2010 with the title ‘Eradicating malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa, Yes We Can’

How ‘prophetic’ we were.

We actually can.

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Nigeria’s Millionaires by Promo

Money is good, and so everybody wants money. But the proliferation of promos and lotteries by telecommunications companies and even banks, by which many hope to get rich quick are essentially anti-social. While a few might be lucky and start thanking their stars that they are now millionaires in naira, and even in dollars, this get-rich-quick attitude needs to be examined. It is like robbing many to enrich few, not even to talk about allegations that the companies running the try-your-luck games in town often undercut the intelligence of their unsuspecting subscribers.
The Director-General of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Mr. Peter Igho, once said that “one of our major telecom operators made a profit of N2 billion from a lottery game and I do not think it gave up to N20 million to the public who played the lottery. Imagine the impact on the people if N1billion had been given to the public as prizes won in the lottery.” (Daily Trust, September 13, 2009).
Aside the cheating claims, the main reason why I think both the telecoms and the participating population should review this kind of lottery is that it tends to promote a materialist and consumerist society. Every young person is made to think that money is everything and the adverts for these lotteries seem to suggest that gambling is the best source of wealth. Instead of focusing on the lottery mentality, telecommunications companies should improve on their services. Call drops, bad networks, undelivered (yet charged) text messages are too common to enjoy the benefits of the global system for mobile communications in Nigeria.
They should use part of the proceeds from these lotteries to execute social responsibility services in schools and health centres. Banks should give scholarships to diligent students and modest loans to indigent ones. Many of our students in public schools cannot afford food and books and when they hear about enrichment by lottery I wonder what they think.
There is no doubt that lottery is a matter of choice, and that there are laws that govern it. Even in the UK some are becoming millionaires in pounds by hitting the jackpot. Yet, the psycho-social impacts of lottery mentality, especially when it is not properly regulated and is being branded as the most normal source of wealth, can only give rise to a material-driven and heavily monetized society, where people, especially the youth, would want to chase money by all easiest means possible.

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Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan wins 2010 BBC award

Gyan misses a critical penalty at 2010 Word cup in South Africa
Gyan misses a critical penalty at 2010 Word cup in South Africa

Ghana and Sunderland star Asamoah Gyan has been crowned BBC African Footballer of the Year for 2010.

The Black Stars striker clinched the title with an overwhelming majority – receiving more than half of the vote.

He finished well ahead of fellow Ghanaian Andre ‘Dede’ Ayew, Ivorians Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o of Cameroon.

“I’m so happy, I can’t believe it,” he said. “I’m so thankful to all the fans who voted for me.”

He added: “It was really hard to win this award, especially because of all the other players I was up against.

“So I’m so appreciative to all my fans in Africa – especially my family and fans in Ghana.”

Gyan had a memorable year internationally, leading Ghana to second place at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, scoring three of the four goals that helped Ghana reach their first final in 18 years.

At the World Cup in South Africa, the 24-year-old grabbed the world’s attention as his three goals helped the Black Stars progress from the group and into the quarter-finals.

But he shot to prominence through unfortunate circumstances as his missed penalty against Uruguay with the last kick of the game denied Africa its first semi-final berth.

He then earned widespread praise and went some way to redeeming his error when recovered his composure to score in the shoot-out following a 1-1 draw.

World Cup Exit

Despite the disappointment of the World Cup exit, the finals boosted his career as he left French side Rennes to become Sunderland’s record signing at £13m.

“Asamoah has been a fantastic addition to the Sunderland squad,” said Sunderland coach Steve Bruce, who presented Gyan with the African Footballer of the Year trophy.

“As our record signing, he had a lot of expectation placed on his shoulders but he has embraced the club wholeheartedly and has settled in very well.

“He’s a strong, quick player and brings something different to the side.

“He has formed positive partnerships with other strikers and he’s a real bright spark around the place too – always smiling and happy.

“He has an infectious joy for football, and we are reaping the rewards of that.

“I’m thrilled for Asamoah that he has been awarded this honour, it is thoroughly deserved.”

The search for BBC African Footballer of the Year 2010 began on 15 November when fans were given a chance to choose their African football hero from a shortlist selected by experts from each of the continent’s 52 countries.

Public voting closed on 10 December 2010 – with votes cast online at bbc.com/africanfootball or via text messages.

(BBC)[ad#Adsense-200by90]

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“Sleeping beauty’ and societal implications

What does Kobe has to worry about?
What does Kobe has to worry about?

The key to looking attractive and healthy is simpler than you will imagine: it’s all in a ‘good sleep’, a new scientific research suggests.

The idea of ‘beauty sleep’ was an ancient myth but now experts say they have uncovered the first scientific backing for the concept.

The team of researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, recruited 23 healthy adults aged 18 to 31.  The volunteers were photographed after eight hours sleep and again after being kept awake for 31 hours.
The photographs were standardised, meaning the people were the same distance from the camera, wore no make-up and wore the same expression.

The pictures were then presented in a random order to 65 untrained observers.  The observers were asked to rank the participants on a scale according to how healthy, attractive or sleep-deprived they looked.

The results: The observers scored the sleep-deprived participants as less healthy and less attractive while the volunteers who had adequate sleep were ranked the opposite: healthier and more attractive.

The result is published in the British Medical Journal.

Conclusion: Humans are sensitive to sleep-related facial cues, with potential implications for social and clinical judgments and behavior.

My personal commentary:

Whether it is the University student’s apprehension about a pending examination, or the petty trader’s anxiety about the economy, sleep debt is a major problem in most hard-pressed economies such as those in Africa.

If not dealt with, an escalating sleep debt can result in fibromyalgia syndrome, also called chronic fatigue syndrome. This syndrome leads to prevalent pain and fatigue of just about any muscle in the body. Usually, it brings about other forms of psychological conflicts like depression disorders.

In fact, losing sleep can even have negative consequences for your heart health. Heightened risk of cardiovascular diseases and mortality has been associated with sleep debt.

What you can do:

Spread the word. Help your people.[ad#Adsense-200by200sq]

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Dozen countries added to nations with forced child labor

WASHINGTON — The Labor Department is adding a dozen countries to the list of nations that use child labor or forced labor, as officials warn the global economic crisis could cause an upswing in the exploitation of children and other workers.

From coffee grown in El Salvador to sapphires mined in Madagascar, the agency’s latest reports released on Wednesday identify 128 goods from 70 countries where child labor, forced labor or both are used in violation of international standards.

“Shining light on these problems is a first step toward motivating governments, the private sector and concerned citizens to take action to end these intolerable abuses that have no place in our modern world,” said Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

New to the list are Angola, Central African Republic, Chad, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The annual reports are not intended to punish or shame the countries where an estimated 215 million child laborers toil in factories, on farms or as domestic helpers. In fact, the agency says many of the countries that appear on the list are taking steps to address child labor problems. Labor Department officials say making the public aware of the problem helps promote efforts to combat child labor.

While the total number of child laborers fell by about 3 percent from 2004 to 2008, the rate of decline has slowed in recent years.

“I think the very recent picture gives us significant cause for concern,” said Sandra Polaski, deputy undersecretary for the Bureau of International Labor Affairs. “That has a lot to do with the economic crisis.”

India remains home to the greatest number of child laborers, followed by China. But smaller nations in sub-Saharan Africa have a much higher proportion of children – up to one-third of children under 14 – who go to work instead of school each day.

For the first time, the reports include a set of proposed actions for each government to consider to help reduce the problems detailed.

The agency praises India and some other countries for working to address the problem through anti-poverty programs and compulsory education. Brazil, Thailand, Jordan, Ivory Coast and Ghana also win plaudits for their efforts to combat child labor.

At the same time, the report calls out some of the worst offenders. They include Uzbekistan, where local officials require children to pick cotton, and Myanmar, where forced labor of adults and children helps produce everything from sugar and teak to rubber and rubies.

“They know what the problem is and they know how to fix it, they just need to get serious about doing it,” Polaski said.

The problem is complicated in countries like India, Pakistan and Tonga that have no legislation setting a minimum age for work. That makes children more vulnerable to being pulled into hazardous or grueling trades.

Some of the most common products produced by child labor or forced labor include cotton, sugar cane, tobacco, coffee, bricks, gold, diamonds and coal.

Since 1995, the Labor Department has spent more than $740 million in programs to help more than 80 countries combat child labor.

The agency is also working to combat instances of child labor in the United States. Last year, for example, investigators from the agency’s Wage and Hour Division found children as young as 6 working on blueberry farms in Michigan. Eight farms were fined about $36,000 for violating federal migrant-housing and child-labor laws.

Solis said inspections this year during the harvest in Michigan, New Jersey and North Carolina have yet to find child labor violations.

Labor Department: http://www.dol.gov/

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Making Government Work Can Transform Africa

Tony Blair, Former British PM
Tony Blair, Former British PM

Tony Blair

As British Prime Minister I trebled aid to Africa. At the 2005 G8 summit we took far-reaching steps in debt cancellation worth more than $100 billion to the poorest African nations. I am immensely proud of what we achieved at Gleneagles: Every day since, the aid given to developing countries has been saving thousands of lives. But I came to recognize that aid alone is not the answer.

The truth is that ultimately Africa’s future prosperity lies with the decisions of Africa’s leaders. We need leadership that is democratic, accountable and transparent. But in addition, we need leadership that is effective, that can shape plans and deliver policies that will make a difference on the ground.

The problem for many African countries is not the absence of the right vision or the right intentions. It is the simple lack of capacity to achieve them. Government today, even in the West, has often far less to do with ideology, but to do with delivery. The techniques for this are not that different from the private sector — the right mix of focus; prioritization; capable people and machinery to deliver; performance management and innovative ideas.

This is hard enough for developed nations. It is a vast challenge for African leaders, whose governments very often lack the most basic levers of delivery, the expertise and the know-how.

In the last three years, the charity I set up, the Africa Governance Initiative, has focused on these issues. We bring in dedicated teams of international staff who have worked in government or for leading private sector organizations. They work alongside the leader’s office and key government ministries, building capacity to prioritize and get things done. Because the only long-term route out of poverty is economic growth, we make a big thing of helping the governments we work with to attract quality private-sector investment to create jobs and livelihoods. Our staff — with expertise gained working in the international financial sector — sit alongside the government and coach them to bargain on equal terms with big multinationals.

Over the past three years, we have been working in three countries — Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Liberia. In each case, of course, the prime movers are the leaders and their teams. And in each country the results are both deeply impressive and offer real hope for the future. Rwanda was the fastest riser in the World Bank place to do business rankings last year. Sierra Leone has seen Freetown with the lights on, and a 90 percent cut in deaths of children from malaria. Liberia has seen astonishing progress, not least in attracting major private investment, with $16 billion committed in the past four years.

This is all part of the change now happening in Africa. There is still a long way to go. But the feeling of optimism is palpable.

For its part, the international development community needs to find new ways to support, not just exhort, leaders in Africa to do the right thing. The democracy and accountability revolution that has swept across Africa over the last 20 years has done immeasurable good. No leader deserves a blank check. But it is not enough for us to just say that Africa needs more Mandelas and fewer Mobutus.

Instead, the goal must be to create a dynamic where current African leaders can deliver real improvements in the lives of their citizens and where the next generation of leaders — in some countries the first to grow up under stable, democratic rule — have models of true public service they can aspire to follow.

What these leaders need is practical support in articulating and delivering on their priorities, so that the donors can align their assistance behind them. That is how we give real substance, not just symbolism, to the idea of “country ownership.” Here, the World Bank, USAID and others have been breaking new ground in making the new partnership with Africa, which Barack Obama articulated on his visit to Ghana, a reality.

The development community already invests a great deal in keeping Africa’s leaders honest. The question is whether it invests enough in supporting them to succeed. Good leadership is about capacity, not just character.

LIVE WEBCAST: Watch Tony Blair’s keynote speech to the Center for Global Development at 10:00 a.m. EST.

Tony Blair was UK Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007, and is Patron of the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI). ‘Not Just Aid: How Making Government Work Can Transform Africa’ is published by the Center for Global Development.[ad#Adsense-200by90]

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Text messaging to combact malaria

Mobile phones could soon be helping re-assure Nigerians and Ghanaians they are getting genuine medicine.

Text messaging to combat fake pills
Text messaging to combat fake pills

A pilot scheme in the two nations has begun putting unique scratch codes on more than 500,000 medicine bottles and packets of pills.

When the code is texted to a free phone number, a return message will reveal that a drug is genuine.

The scheme hopes to boost efforts to tackle diseases such as malaria and combat the rise in fake medicines.

Security alert

About 700,000 people suffering from malaria and tuberculosis die every year around the world because of fake drugs, suggest statistics from think tank International Policy Network

Globally, about 10-15% of all drugs are believed to be fake but in some parts of Africa this rises to 50%. The problem is made more acute in Africa because some fake medicines being offered to the sick are watered down versions of the real thing and dent the efficacy of the full strength drug.

“Some genuine medicines have lost their potency because of the counterfeiting,” said Gabriele Zedlmayer, a spokeswoman for HP which is a partner in the labelling scheme.

Fake pills are a big problem in Africa where diseases such as malaria are endemic
Fake pills are a big problem in Africa where diseases such as malaria are endemic

This can be a particular problem with malaria as the disease is so widespread in sub-saharan Africa where it is the leading cause of death.

The scheme is being backed by governments and drug companies who have pledged to publicise how it works in pharmacies, surgeries, hospitals and community centres.

Painkillers, anti-malaria drugs and amoebicides from pharmaceutical firms May & Baker in Nigeria and Kama in Ghana will be the first to get the scratch-off labels.

Such a scheme was very important in Africa where about 80% of medicines are generic, said Bright Simons, founder of mPedigree which developed some of the technology to underpin the pilot.

By using the codes, people would get to know pharmacies, hospitals and other outlets they can trust, he said.

Mobiles were the best way for people in Nigeria and Ghana to find out about their medicines because they were so ubiquitous said Mr Simon, adding that even those who do not own a handset themselves can get access via friends and family.

Each packet or bottle has a scratch-off code that can be used only once, said Mr Simons. The security system behind the scenes flags any attempt to re-use codes. As well as letting people know they are getting genuine medicine, it will also alert people when fake medicines are being peddled.

If the pilot proves successful, the scheme will be extended to cover more than six million bottles and packets in the next 12 months.

“This is just the first step,” said Ms Zedlmayer. “It can be applied to any kind of medication.”

(Story by BBC)

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