SO WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH COCONUT OIL

                         

Medical use of coconut oil                                                                               Stress Relief – relieve mental fatigue by applying coconut oil to the head in a circular, massaging motion. The natural aroma of coconuts is extremely soothing thus helping to lower your stress level.   Digestion – the saturated fats in coconut oil have anti-bacterial properties that help control, parasites, and fungi that cause indigestion and other digestion related problems such as irritable bowel syndrome. The fat in coconut oil also aids in the absorption of vitamins, minerals and amino acids, making you healthier all around.

  Fitness – coconut oil has been proven to stimulate your metabolism, improve thyroid function, and escalate energy levels, all of which help decrease your unwanted fat, while increasing muscle.

 Nose bleeds – coconut oil can prevent nose bleeding that is caused by sensitivity to weather such as extreme hotness and extreme coldness. This condition happens when the nasal passages become dry because of cold or dry air resulting to burns and cracks in the mucus membranes so bleeding happens. To prevent this just put coconut oil in you nostrils. Coat your finger with coconut oil and then lie down and coat your finger inside your nose. Doing this will strengthen and protect the capillaries in the nasal passages. A Vitamin C supplement will also help prevent nose bleeding.  For breastfeeding moms, consuming 3 ½ tablespoons of coconut oil daily will enrich your milk supply. Helps with weight loss & controlling cravings.  Helps keep blood sugar levels stable and/or helps with cravings in those with diabetes.

                       THE MONSTER CALLED POVERTY.

              Poverty is a world view, in Nigeria, the culture of poverty walks side by side with the culture of underdevelopment.

 Given our history, one would think that by now, Nigerians could manage oil spill disasters sites better, but really given the way things pan out without recourse to measured corrective measure, there is little to suggest these occurrences will not reoccur, judging from the news of the mass deaths and mass burial that occurred in rivers state on July 12 is one of the too many terrible calamities which has visited Nigeria with only half of the year gone.

There are no easy answer but without any prejudice to the dead, I believe what killed those people is poverty. The inferno came after the 1998 Jesse Hell-Hole and other major oil spill deaths in the Niger Delta, but it is not a kind of poverty of not having enough to eat or having enough to survive a few more days. Rather it is the monster which on its own, is self- regenerative and after a while becomes pathological and mental then goes further to fossilises into an ingrained culture, most of us who have enough money and education to insist on some dignity still do not escape the culture of underdevelopment.

 It marvels all around us example are our power holding company, the name speaks for itself has failed us, we have resorted to all sorts of devices from the generator and all manner of rechargeable devices which are imported from china (where it’s not needed) even the local source candle, why can’t these same Chinese, work with NEPA and our government provide a more suitable power surge that will serve the country, but yet again the graduates who have gone into various business of selling these devices (generator, rechargeable lamps) what will they fall back on?  hmmmmm!  Another form of underdevelopment (unemployment).

 Our transportation system, because of lack of efficient transport system, we invented okada and the keke NAPEP , literary speaking, drivers of poverty in themselves, because we live in a country where we think little or not of the safety of our lives, either on land or in the air.

 Nigerians has placed themselves that for every journey we embark on whether it is in public vehicle or the airplanes, we pray earnestly and cover the driver, tyres and steering wheels with “the blood of JESUS”. Our telecommunication company’s depicts a story in the bible of David and goliath when it comes to guaranteeing quality services, were we buy multiple phones all in the name of marginal services. 

The culture of poverty and underdevelopment has eaten too deep will buy a “tokunbo” car smuggled across the border. The irony is that in countries like japan where most of those cars are produced, they have such an efficient transport system that they hardly even use those cars themselves.

According to a scholar, Oscar lewis, put it this way: “the people in the culture of poverty have a strong feeling of marginality, of helplessness, of dependency, of not belonging. They are like aliens in their own country, convinced that the existing institution do not serve their interest and needs. Along with this feeling of powerlessness is a widespread feeling of inferiority, of personal unworthiness.”

            SOCIAL NETWORKING AND DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA.

In an article in New York Times, the rise of popularism, in which the writer, Thomas Friedman, raised question about social networking media and the democracy. He said “the wiring of the world through social media and web- enabled cell phones is changing the nature of conversation between and led everywhere.

We are going from from large one way conversation top-down to overwhelmingly two-way conversation bottom –up and top-down. This has many upsides more participation, more innovation and more transparency, but can there be such a thing as too time and tracking the trends that they become prisoners of them? I found the article interesting yet I disagreed with its overriding assertion like the President Goodluck Jonathan who states that social media and its link by Nigerian by Nigerian use this medium to criticise his government. The man who usually called for ideas on social media suddenly finds it problematic? I am positive of he is aware of Nigeria disaffection towards his administration detect slackness. Friedman missed the gist of the the age we are now, thanks to social media sites, there is more “power to the people” unlike the slogan the people democratic party that sounds like a crude joke and a mockery of political system the social media empowers political dialogue.

Communication is largely uncensored and not guided as they are wont to be even on a live media chat and nowhere is this truer than to examine Jonathan’s Facebook account two years ago, when the president invited Nigerians to enter into dialogue with him of Facebook, he had 19,000 friends. Today, that figure rose by more than 700,000 and herein springs the charge of abuse by replication. This was the same medium used the president who claimed he reversed the football ban on the nation’s football teams from international competitions in 2010 because Nigerian begged him on Facebook?

Today things have largely improved as reality has forced Nigerians to be more critical and level of surveillance is higher. Imagine how things would be different if there was a social media during the era of Babangida and Sani Abacha! Today, world leader are seeing the power of the voices of the people in a post- technology world even countries like Nigeria which have yet to arrive property at modernity gate are forced to confront questions that stage of social evolution has yet prepare them for. We know what role social played in the Arab spring.

Oppression leaders of the world have learnt their lessons, hopefully though; unfortunately, in the case of Syria, Bashar al-Assad has become more brutal. In Saudi Arabia a country that restricts women from driving for some reasons in wake of the Arab spring shifted grounds on women voting rights and also send female athletes to the Olympics this year, former Philippines President Joseph Estrada, blamed his ouster on the SMS.

In India, corruption is being challenged with the power of the web. So if the Jonathan chooses to see the power of voices on the social media as negative, it’s probably because he still expects people to act docile to be model citizens. In one of his interview in January he said he was not easily swayed by public opinion because the majority could be wrong. Well said but in a democratic government, A leaders interest is to pay attention to the people. 

                                                  President on facebook Nigeria government needs to embrace the social reality the social media is engendering and reach out to the people. People want to participate actively in government without the chain of command mediating them. One way to foster this is to get rid of the “media chat” system. It is too mediated and is as analogue as the two telephone numbers displayed on the screen. A one person interviewer is better as it allows a more fluid flow of follow –up questions. For instance, when there was an interview with the president when he said Nigerians would begin to see changes in 2013, I expected the interviewers to grill him on specific issues like the railway and agriculture revolution rather than waiting for the telephone lines that are not meant to work and whoever thought up that cheap trick should have taken questions from the social media which would have made it more challenging for the president and even more interactive between both the president and the people.

 The truth is that the president can’t run from public criticism of him and his government he should learn to aspect criticism, unless if he keeps running it will land him to the alternative highway just like president George Bush who Muntadhar al-Zaidi a journalist who tried to to speak with him then but when words failed, he removed his shoes and hauled same at Bush’s head during a press conference in Iran some time ago he should also understand that the world is a global village.    

PUNCH/ IDEGWU MAUREEN .O.

UBULU-UKU - MY HOME

Ubulu-uku my village my home. Ubulu-uku is situated some thirty kilometres (30kms) west of the River Niger in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State. Eastwards it shares a boundary with Ogwashi-Uku, westwards with Obior; northwards with Issele-Uku and southwards with Ubulu-Unor.

Ubulu Uku is sited in an undulating environment with its Enugu-Iyi and Abuedo end at the top of a long stretch of hills, while its centre, fanning out from the Ubulu tree, to Isho, Akwu, Ogbeofu, Idumu-Osume etc are located in a valley.Rolling down these hills are rivers which run through the entire clan to the sea through other neighbouring clans. Iyi Agor ( River Agor) stands out prominently among these.

Ubulu-Uku is the largest and most populated town in Aniocha Local Government Area. Topograhically it is a hilly town that could be easily compared to Agbor in Delta State, Auchi in Edo State and Ibadan in Oyo State. This hilly nature of the town accounts for the serious problem of erosion which it faces. The Problem has made some of the streets impassable especially the street leading from the major road to Ogbeofu.

On the other hand when one looks at the town from any of the hilly spots especially at night, one sees beautiful scenery that could be said to be one of the best that nature has bestowed on this part of the earth. The town has one major stream called Iyi-Agor which was the main source of water supply before the advent of pipe-borne water. A few other minor streams like and Iyi- Nkpitime-Isho, Iyi-Nta, Iyi-Eko Ozala also

serve people in various parts of the town.

Three major roads run through the town . One runs from Asaba via Ibusa to ogwashi-uku then through Ubulu-uku to Obior and Umunede. The second road branches out from Ubulu-uku to umunede road at Idumu-Osume village via Akwu village and then to Issele-Uku. The third road branches out from Ubulu-Uku to Umunede road at the post office junction and runs through Akpama, Agbonta-Udogwu and Isho village to Ubulu-Unor.

Occupationally Ubulu-Uku men are farmers, weavers, hunters, and palm wine tappers. 

As for Ubulu-uku women they are expert weavers. With their hand looms they produce materials that are highly treasured by both foreign and Nigerian visitors to the town. These beautiful clothing materials are won by men and women even children but mostly won during occasions like festive periods, wedding and burial ceremonies. It has a blend of brand indication of name of families, places etc. the women are highly skilful dancers, the men are not left out too and d children hmm! Beautiful houses made from mud which makes the houses feel cool even when it’s dry season.

 Ubulu_uku is blessed with palm trees which palm oil, palm wine which the men enjoy so much, there is also what we call ude-aku which is also gotten from palm nuts when processed it is used as a body cream and bathing soap for newly born babies it can also be used as an healing agent from fire burn or bite it has it unique smell. Ubulu-uku is also blessed with cassava which the local flakes are gotten from also known as garri.

They are specialised in garri making in different varieties which are the red and the normal white garri.

    In ubulu-uku,there are three groups who assist the king who is known as OBI. these groups are called OKWA IYESE, OKWA ONISHE and OKWA OJIBA.THE OKWA ONISHE is made of administrative chiefs, who assit the obi in the day to day running of affairs of town , the OKWA IYESE is made of war chiefs who responsible for the defence for the town against any external aggression. The OKWA OJIBA is made up of palace chiefs who are responsible for the internal welfare of the OBI. They all have their greetings the OKWA ONISHE is OGENE, EDE ,OJUNWA, OJIGWU. The OKWA IYESE have greetings like ONUNWU which is for the men and AJEE for the women etc.

      Finally we have our right and beliefs in the case of a marriage for bride pride price its just 1000 (one thousand naira) very cheap so if you are looking for a wife or a husband remember the women are pretty, hospitable and caring while the men are hardworking, lucrative and modest.