France Presses For New UN Resolution on Syria

France is pushing to renegotiate a United Nations resolution on ending the violence in Syria after the measure was rejected by Russia and China earlier this month. The initiative comes ahead of a non-binding vote by the U.N. General Assembly on the Syrian crisis.

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe says France is keeping up the pressure on Russia and China to back a United Nations resolution on ending the conflict in Syria. Both countries vetoed the measure in the U.N. Security Council earlier this month, blocking the body from endorsing an Arab League and Western-backed plan for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step aside.

Speaking on France-Info radio, Juppe said Paris is trying to renegotiate the resolution in a way that Russia might agree to it. He is to meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Thursday - the same day that the U.N. General Assembly votes on a Syria resolution.

That measure is expected to accuse Syria of rights violations and urge the government to stop its deadly crackdown on the 11-month opposition uprising against President Assad.

Juppe said while the General Assembly resolution is nonbinding, it would be a symbol with force if dozens of countries endorse it. And he described the Arab League plan as the only initiative on the table offering a peaceful way out of the crisis.

Juppe's remarks coincided with a new offensive by Syrian government forces in the city of Hama, and more shelling in another Syrian city, Homs.

On Tuesday, France announced a $131-million emergency fund for aid agencies trying to help the Syrian population. Paris will push the initiative during an international meeting on the Syrian crisis in Tunis next week.

Juppe also said the Security Council should take up another French proposal - to open humanitarian corridors into Syria to allow aid access and link the population to the borders of Turkey and Lebanon.

The French proposals come as the international community continues to increase pressure on President Assad's government The United States and European Union members have imposed tough sanctions. Officials say the EU is expected to announce more sanctions against Syria, possibly later this month.

Poverty, education and Boko Haram

by Olufemi Adebiyi

'From available information at our disposal, pieced together from publications by the World Bank and United Nations, there is a very strong correlation between some demographic factors and poverty in Nigeria. Firstly, there are more poor people in the rural areas relative to the urban centres; and poverty is disproportionately concentrated in families whose primary livelihood is agriculture. Secondly, and within these agricultural households, 75 per cent in the North are poor compared with 59.3 per cent in the South. This underlines the preponderance of poverty in the North relative to the South. Thirdly, and in terms of geographical distribution, the highest concentration of poverty, at close to 70 per cent of the population, is in the North-East, followed by the North-West and North-Central in approximately the same proportion of more than 60 per cent of the population. The zone with the least proportion of poverty incidence is the South-East at about 33 per cent, closely followed by the South-West at about 42 per cent, and South-South at about 50 per cent."

There is no single, universally accepted, definition of poverty. This is because poverty is multidimensional. However, it is not uncommon to describe poverty as a general state of deprivation or as Baker says, “A state of being deficient in money or means of subsistence.”

In recent times, poverty has been frequently defined relative to the standards of living in a society. Thus, it is recognised when all available income is spent on food and the results still fall below a certain minimum level of calories. Recently available information places Nigeria at number 154 out of 179 countries on the Human Development Index, but Nigeria is a frontrunner on the Global Hunger Index, coasting in at number 20!

The causes of poverty in Nigeria are fairly obvious to all. They include the pervasive corruption in the land where very few got everything while the majority got nothing or mere pittance. Failure to distribute the commonwealth equitably has led to economic polarisation or the widening of the gap between the rich and the poor as well as the near total elimination of the Middle class. The pursuit of growth as an end in itself as opposed to a means to improving the well-being of the citizens is also a prime factor. Until the recent weeklong national strike and demonstrations against the removal of fuel subsidy, all major attempts by the government to create employment opportunities (especially for the youths) have been more of sloganeering, with specialised agencies of government set up for this purpose failing to make the desired impact. As a matter of fact, most (if not all) of the agencies are grossly dysfunctional, with little or no systemic coordination of their activities. The National Poverty Eradication Programme, which was set up primarily to coordinate all poverty alleviation programmes in Nigeria as a way of putting this major policy in focus, became an institution for the direct implementation of programmes without the necessary capacity to do so.

From available information at our disposal, pieced together from publications by the World Bank and United Nations, there is a very strong correlation between some demographic factors and poverty in Nigeria. Firstly, there are more poor people in the rural areas relative to the urban centres; and poverty is disproportionately concentrated in families whose primary livelihood is agriculture. Secondly, and within these agricultural households, 75 per cent in the North are poor compared with 59.3 per cent in the South. This underlines the preponderance of poverty in the North relative to the South. Thirdly, and in terms of geographical distribution, the highest concentration of poverty, at close to 70 per cent of the population, is in the North-East, followed by the North-West and North-Central in approximately the same proportion of more than 60 per cent of the population. The zone with the least proportion of poverty incidence is the South-East at about 33 per cent, closely followed by the South-West at about 42 per cent, and South-South at about 50 per cent.

Also from available data, the incidence of poverty in Nigeria decreases with increasing levels of education; and this is where the worry of policymakers should be. Poverty is highest in households without education and least in households with post-secondary education. The highest concentration of the poor as well as the least educated in Nigeria is in the North-East, and this is the base of Boko Haram, which literarily means 'Western education is sinful or bad. Although leaders of the sect have claimed their actual name is Jamaatu Ahlil Sunna Lidawati wal Jihad, the group has not hidden its hatred for the West and 'western education', even if its members are using the products of the West, such as automobiles, mobile phones, assorted guns, motorcycles and even the western bomb-making technology to prosecute their campaign.

In our view, the greatest policy challenge the government has to confront is helping the North, especially the North-East', to deal with illiteracy and poverty. Firstly, there should be a massive sensitisation and awareness creation in the North and the message is that there is no substitute to education in the 21st Century. Someone once said that if anyone thinks knowledge is expensive, the person should try ignorance. In the part of the country where I come from, there is a saying which, in literary translation, means 'A child is stupid, but the parent says let the child not just die; what kills faster than stupidity?'. The people must first be convinced that education is good and it is in their best interest to be open to learning. I once read somewhere that the illiterate of this century will be those who refuse to learn, re-learn and unlearn. The first step in learning is for someone to know what he does not know but which he needs to know. That is the role of sensitisation and awareness creation. The 21st Century person must understand and appreciate how to respect the sanctity of life and the right of other people to live and be entitled to their opinion. It is the beginning of the development of a sound mind. If a person has learnt or believed anything to the contrary, then he has to un-learn whatever it is and re-learn what is universally adjudged as the fundamental principle of normal, sane living.

The Boko Haram phenomenon, though may have political dimensions as is being frequently canvassed, is in my view more poverty and education-related; and efforts to correct this anomaly should represent the focus of policy. A person with no education and who has no means of livelihood will likely place little or no value on his life, and his mind could be negatively twisted or influenced with ease. We must draw a comparison with the young man who set himself ablaze in Tunisia, which triggered the Arab Spring, and his counterpart in Nigeria who in the process of committing suicide decided to kill other innocent people. While the Tunisian was educated and would rather die alone in protest against social deprivation, his Boko Haram counterpart in Nigeria, who is most likely an illiterate and has therefore been easily brain-washed, would for one morsel of food kill himself and other innocent people without qualms. It must be noted from their tactics that none of the leaders of Boko Haram wants to die (at least the last one that was shown on television was, ironically, wearing a bullet-proof vest!), but they have many foot soldiers who are socially deprived and would, therefore, readily serve as cheap canon fodder.

The promotion of education should be an emergency in many parts of Northern Nigeria, and the Federal Government must nudge the state governments in this regard. The Federal Government must deliberately do this because some of the politicians at the helm of affairs in some of these Northern states, who are benefitting from the status quo, may not see or appreciate the sense of urgency. In the North, the opportunity cost of sending children to school is the main reason for not enrolling or for dropping out of school, and not the issue of school fees. This is why the North has more children out of school despite the fact that most of them are implementing free education. There is a need to deliberately adopt moral suasion and appropriate sensitisation techniques to check incidents of child labour and early marriage/betrothal. I know this is an uphill task, especially when cognisance is taken of how deep-rooted this problem is in the North. It may be recalled that a senator, who hails from the North, reportedly married a minor not too long ago and this became a matter of public discourse. If Nigeria must remain one indissoluble country, which is our great desire and prayer, then this issue must be given topmost priority.

High youth unemployment is a major threat to our future. It is even worse when the affected youths are illiterate. The dividing line between an illiterate adult in this century and a mad man is very thin. Just put any of the modern technological tools, especially those that are lethal in operation in his hand, and this point will be more vivid to understand. If you do not believe, ask anyone who has given any of today's modern cars to his old mechanic for repairs and his experience will convince you. Lack of education is a poverty-aggravating point, and unless geographical targeting, with bias towards the North is given urgent priority, then all of us - the rich and the poor alike (since this government does not like the middle class and will want it exterminated at all cost) - should forget about sleeping with two eyes closed. It is not too late. The traditional institutions should be engaged in this awareness campaign about education. It is the surest way to tackle the Boko Haram phenomenon from its root.

Adebiyi wrote in from R&S Consulting Limited, Lagos, via adebiyifemi@...

Lasa Fever Kills Doctor, Nurse, 11 Others in Jalingo

Camillus Nnaji
 

AN outbreak of the deadly Lasa fever has claimed the lives of 13 people, including a medical doctor and a nurse in Jalingo, Taraba, a week after it was first diagnosed.

The deaths were largely recorded at the Federal Medical Centre Jalingo, a situation which had forced officials of the centre to close down the Accident and Emergency Unit.

The outbreak of the disease had also led to panic among patients on admission at the centre who had deserted it in droves, leaving the wards virtually empty.

The state Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Mustapha Hamman-Gabdo confirmed the development to newsmen in Jalingo on Tuesday.

He said that a female medical doctor named Aisha Isa died on Sunday at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital while Amina Abdullahi, a nurse died in Jalingo on Monday, adding that the deceased were staff of the centre.

He said that some patients admitted into the centre for different ailments were diagnosed with the disease.
The commissioner, however, assured that the state government was making efforts to prevent further spread of the disease.

Also in a chat with journalists, the state Epidemiologist, Dr. Innocent Vakai said the fever started from Mayo-Ranewo village in Ardo-Kola local government area of the state.

He said the disease spread after a patient from the village was brought to the centre for treatment.

Vakai, explained that the disease was caused by rats' excreta and advised the people to keep their environment clean and ensure that their food was not contaminated by rats.

Our correspondent however reports that other public hospitals in the town were attending to patients.

Chinese VP: US, China Must Respect Each Other's Interests

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping says China welcomes the U.S. playing a "positive role" in the Asia-Pacific region. But, he said, the world's two largest economies should respect each other's "core interests and major concerns."
In what has been billed as the major policy speech of his four-day visit, Xi addressed a luncheon in Washington co-hosted by the U.S.-China Business Council and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.
A number of China's most prominent corporate leaders are accompanying Xi on his trip.
Xi also met with U.S. Congressional leaders Wednesday and travels later in the day to Iowa. He will stop in California before heading back to China on Friday.
Xi's visit is being closely watched in both countries, as he is expected to become China's Communist Party leader later this year and president in 2013.
Chinese state media have carried glowing accounts of the high-profile visit, describing the U.S.-China relationship as the most important in the world.
Vice President Xi met at the White House Tuesday with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. The White House says specific human rights cases and the situation in Tibet were raised in the discussions.
Xi's government has been deeply embarrassed by a series of self-immolations by Tibetans protesting Chinese policies. But during his White House meetings Tuesday, Xi said his country will continue to advance the "tremendous and well-recognized" achievements on human rights he said it has made in recent decades.
But Phelim Kine, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, told VOA Wednesday there was nothing new in Xi's remarks.
"Vice President Xi Jinping's comments on China's human rights situation are tried-and-true boiler plate comments, which Chinese leaders make on every visit to the United States," said Kine.
Obama assured Vice President Xi on Tuesday that the United States welcomes China's rise in the world, but said all countries must follow the "same rules" when it comes to the world economic system and human rights.
The United States is also using Xi's visit to reassure Beijing that the "pivot" in U.S. military power toward Asia is not meant to contain China's rise.
Xi was honored with a 19-gun salute when he visited the Pentagon Tuesday afternoon. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta greeted him on the building's north steps, accompanied by parading soldiers.
In an interview published Monday in The Washington Post, Xi warned against a U.S. military build-up in Asia, even while maintaining that there is "ample" room in the Pacific region for both countries.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

New Face of Healthcare in Delta State

                                                Churchill Oyowe

            It is a well known fact that happiness and prosperity are strongly

tied to sound health. This is because a person that is not healthy cannot be said to be happy and an unhealthy person can likewise not be said to be prosperous since prosperity comes from productivity. It is against this backdrop that the Delta State Government through the Ministry of Health decided to introduce several people-oriented health programmes aimed at not just reducing the disease burden of Deltans but ensuring that the death rates resulting from sickness and disease are brought to their barest minimum.

            One of the ways the government has been achieving these grand objectives is through the effective implementation of the free maternal programme. Launched since November 17, 2007, the programme provides free ante natal services, laboratory investigations and drugs right from conception to six weeks after delivery, inclusive of ceasarian section. The idea is predicated on Millennium Development Goal No. 5 that is targeted at reducing deaths resulting from pregnancy and child birth to 75 per 100,000 live births by 2015.

            The position in Nigeria has continued to be alarming at about 800 per 100,000 deliveries. However, a survey carried out by the UNFPA in 2005 put the maternal death rate in Delta State  at 456 per 100,000 live births, while another done three years later (2008) by the National Demographic and Health Survey showed that the maternal death rate was 545 per 100,000 live births.

            These figures, though, not as high as the national average of about 800, were still unacceptable to the Government of Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, hence the vigorous efforts to reduce maternal deaths. Structures like the engagement of extra doctors specifically for the free maternal and construction of special clinics were put in place. All the necessary logistics were also not left out. Besides, women and parents generally have since keyed into this laudable scheme and are ever grateful to the State Governor for the wonderful gesture. The outcome today is that the maternal death rate in the State has reduced by more than half from 545 in 2008 to 261 in mid 2011. Even at that, state hospitals’ authorities are the view that the reduction could have been much lower if poorly managed cases had been brought to government hospitals on time, particularly those of emclasia, a condition of persistent but increasing high blood pressure that sometimes accompanies first pregnancy.

            As at mid 2011, over 150,000 women have benefited from the free maternal programme. However significant this feat may be, what is more paramount to the state commissioner for health, Dr Joseph Otumara, is to further reduce the maternal death figure to 150 by 2013 and eventually to 75 by 2015. A major impediment to achieving these targets, according to the commissioner, is when pregnant and expectant mothers patronize quacks and allow their cases to be mismanaged. ‘There is no reason why any woman should go to traditional birth attendants when the state is giving them free and qualitative services’, the commissioner queried, adding: ‘we have put in place a lot of structures and we are well able to reduce maternal mortality rate to two digits by 2015.’

            With the structures and achievements on ground so far in enhancing maternal health, it is obvious that Delta is very much on course to meeting the health related MDG targets. The snag, if any, is that the State does not blow its own trumpet despite being the foremost in the country in terms of having a comprehensive maternal health package that is not only free and qualitative but also accessible to Deltans. This is evident in the unparalleled 65 hospitals that the State manages and spread across the 25 LGAs, out of which six have been upgraded to a central status, acting as referrals to the general hospitals. This is outside the teaching hospital in Oghara, with state-of-the-art facilities, Magnetic resonance Imaging (MRI), CT Scan, Fluoroscopy, ECG, Ultrasound and Angiographic studies. This is without doubt why the teaching hospital coupled with seasoned personnel, is grouped among the few best in Africa. In addition, the state boasts of 446 functional primary healthcare centres (PHCs) which far exceeds the national and WHO recommended number of 225, considering the State’s land mass and the one PHC for every five kilometre radius target.

            A conducive health structure and package of this magnitude is certainly the envy of all. This is why it is no longer news that even indigenes of neighbouring states and elsewhere cross borders on daily basis to benefit from the state’s big-hearted disposition towards healthcare delivery. Sometime in the recent past, there was a case of a woman of Taraba extraction who relocated temporarily to Delta because of the need to have her baby delivered free through caesarian section. Cases of this nature are commonplace but for the State Government, any sacrifice to reduce the maternal mortality rate in the State will not be too much to bear. On how the State Government hopes to tackle non-Deltans infiltrating the scheme, Dr Otumara said, ‘We do not see the need to start screening beneficiaries of the scheme to eliminate non-Deltans because that measure would end up creating bottlenecks that would defeat the very essence of the programme to drastically cut down maternal mortality rate in the state.’

            Just as the fight to combat challenges facing maternal health is vital to the State Government, so also is that of children from age zero to five years. The importance attached to the survival of this group of individuals who represents the future generation, made Governor Uduaghan to launch a free healthcare scheme for them on May Day in 2010 at the Central Hospital, Sapele. This initiative by the Government was hinged on the need to meet MDG No 5 which targets reduction in child mortality. A United Nations report in 2005 indicates that death rates in children under age five are dropping but not fast enough particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The report says 11million children a year-30,000 a day-die from preventable or treatable causes. The report added that most of these lives could be saved by expanding programmes that promote simple, low cost solutions. Like maternal, child mortality is closely linked to poverty. The state governor understands too well these relationships which propelled him to key into the UN policy of expanding programmes that would provide simple, low-cost solutions. Today, the free medical services for children below five years of age are real in Delta State. When it was first launched cynics saw it as a dream too tall and certain to be abandoned but because of the success of the programme over time, others have started replicating it in their State.

            The beauty of the Delta State package is that it is comprehensive. The reasoning of the Government is that if parents cannot afford to pay for treatment and drugs because they are poor, they would certainly not be able to pay for surgeries. Hence, the programme covers treatment, drugs, laboratory investigations and surgeries free-of-charge.

            Providing the logistics for the effective implementation of the under-five programme like that of free maternal has been less of a challenge. What is worrisome unfortunately is enforcing compliance by medical and health personnel, some of whom are bent on sabotaging government’s effort through sundry sharp practice and outright dereliction of duty. This accounts for why the health commissioner, Dr Otumara has continued to pay unscheduled visits to State Hospitals to ensure that Deltans and non Deltans alike get the desired benefits of the programme. His dogged approach has to a great extent brought sanity in terms of compliance and service delivery.

            About two years after the free under-five was launched, the embarrassing story of child mortality rate has changed for the better. How? In 2008, just over three years ago, the death rate in Nigeria in a study carried out by the National Demographic and Health Survey put the under-five mortality rate at 157 per 1000 live births and 138 per 1000 for the South-South states. The result of this survey is similar to an early one in 2007 done by UNICEF that put the national death rate at 138/1000 and that of the South-South states at 111 per 1000.

            From all indications, the death rates are relatively lower in the South-South when compared with the national figures. But this did not in any way make the Government of Delta State to rest on its oars. This is so because hospital data between June 2010 and May 2011 put the death rate at 17.2 per 1000 for under-five children in Delta State. This is a very significant achievement in just one year. In fact, since the launch of the free under-five medicare in Delta State, it has been steady progress in meeting the MDG target of one digit death rate for children, akin to what is obtainable in advanced countries. This is a feat Dr Otumara described as the index for measuring development and standard of living. According to him, the death rates determine how civilised and advanced a country is in the comity of nations, saying that one thing paramount that the state government owes the people of Delta is joy and happiness, stressing that it is delivering on this obligation through its many health packages.

            This is probably why the health sector in Delta State is seen in many quarters as a major pillar supporting the human capital content of the three-point agenda of the present administration, largely due to the fact that its health policy and programmes are aimed at touching the lives of the people directly. Of particular reference in this case is the Free Rural Health Scheme. Designed as an interventionist aid to meet the many health care needs of Deltans, especially those in the rural areas of the hinterlands and riverine communities, the scheme started in 2005.

            The broad objective of the scheme is to effectively bridge the socio-economic barriers to getting curative, primary and secondary healthcare to the doorsteps of residents of Delta free-of-charge. One interesting feature about the scheme is that it covers all ages: the infant, the young, the old, men and women alike with diverse ailments and health conditions.

            The scheme is also unique to Delta State for now. Some states like Ondo that intends to replicate it are still planning seven years after it became a reality in Delta, and has expanded severally over the years, all because of the need to give more satisfaction to Deltans and other beneficiaries. For instance, in 2005 and 2006, the scheme provided medical services, drugs and laboratory investigations, while in 2008, surgical services were introduced. The 2011 edition witnessed further expansion with the inclusion of immunization of children and dental care.

            The achievements of the free rural health scheme have continued to be astounding. Since 2008, over 78,000 persons have benefited. In 2008 alone, 19,974 persons from 93 communities across the 25 LGAs, while in 2009, 101 communities were visited with 19,567 persons benefiting. In 2010, 74 communities were covered and 14, 879 persons benefited while that of 2011covered 100 communities with 24,194 persons benefiting.

Also, during the period under review (2008-2011), a total of 365 visits were made to different communities in the 25 Local Government Areas. The number of patients attended to was 78,614, while 3,678 surgical operations were done. A breakdown of the surgical operations indicated that 1,234 patients were for general surgery such as hernia, hydrocele, lipoma, renal cyst and appendicitis; 298 for gynaecological cases such as uterine fibroid and ovarian cyst, while 2,143 were for ophthalmologic conditions such as removal of cataract, excision of pterygia, lens repositioning and conjunctiva mass excision, among others.

Just to mention a few, let us recall the case of Master Sunday Ifekam from Obiloh in Ukwuani Local Government Area who had an advanced renal cyst operated on successfully. He could not continue schooling and was even derided for being a wizard carrying a woman’s pregnancy in the protruded abdomen. One year after the operation, Sunday Ifekam is hale and hearty and has since started schooling.

Even the likes of the Eleberis from Emuhu town near Agbor are not left out where four members of the family got their sight restored. If the head of the family, 84 years old Pa Raphael Eleberi and his cousin, Mrs Josephine Usikpo (78 years) were just happy to have regained their sight, that of Pa Raphael’s children, Kingsley and Lovelyn is certainly more; having been unable to school beyond the primary level or engage in any trade because of vision impediment, they now are opportune to either continue their education or learn a trade that would guarantee a bright future for them.

In the area of obstetrics and gynaecology, the likes of Folashade Adeola who hails from Ekiti State but resides in Warri, benefited from the removal of multiple fibroid from the uterus. Like the saying goes, where babies will not go, fibroid will take over, but for the hundreds of beneficiaries looking forward to the fruit of the womb who had fibroid or ovarian cyst operation done for them, it is not just a case of relief from pain and monetary cost of operation but now of hope to bear children.

Looking back at the feats of the free rural health scheme, one can see that it has over the years been a source of relief to thousands of persons in and outside the State. Those suffering from either partial or complete blindness have had their sight restored; those with health conditions requiring general or obstetrics and gynaecology intervention were all operated on successfully. Medications and necessary health counselling were given to many others with health conditions such as malaria, hypertension, and arthritis, among others. The import of this is that the sickness and disease burden have been reduced greatly over time among the people, especially those in the rural areas. This, in essence, means that their productive capacities have been boosted, thus, making them to be self reliant.

No doubt, the three free medical services of the state government have proved to be veritable sources of direct dividends of democracy to the people, particularly the poor and rural populace. Beneficiaries of these programmes and other stakeholders have of course acknowledged that the health sector in the state has performed creditably. But for the Ministry of Health, and indeed, the State Government, no sacrifice will be too much to ensure that the health of its citizenry is safeguarded at all times.