What Your Eyes Say About Your Health
The importance of a regular eye examination, often, is underrated. Having annual eye examination should be as routine as having a dental check-up every six months. Regular eye examinations are crucial to maintaining a healthy vision and can often detect major medical problems in the early stages of development, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, reports Sade Oguntola.
It was rather fascinating for Mr. Fatia Adeleye, a school teacher, to learn that eye examination can help to identify and recognise minor problems before they become threatening and serious. It was at an awareness meeting organised by his kinsmen as part of the town’s anniversary ceremony that he got the enlightenment.
“I knew getting your eyes checked was important, but I didn’t know it could shed light on so many other health concerns,” he said, adding, “If only, I had had that knowledge much earlier, may be I would have been able to take earlier steps to prevent my mother from dying blind.”
The eye is the window of the body through which it feels its way and enjoys the beauty of the world. When you look at someone’s face, you can even predict the person’s mood, all because the eyes are the windows of the body. This is what psychologists, swindlers and even some native herbalists use. The moment someone comes in, they look at the person’s face to know whether the person has a problem burdening him/her.
The eye, though small, comprises many parts; cornea, iris, pupil, retina, nerves and some other parts. Studying the different features of the eyes like iris, cornea, the shape of the pupil, the optic nerve head, conjunctiva, anterior chamber, the light reflex, amongst others, can go a long way to ascertaining the health status of the body and even predict diseases affecting it.
Health, also, can be observed through the eyes. Doctors often judge a person by the condition of his eyes. Eye examination, besides helping to seek to correct defects in one’s eyesight, is crucial to maintaining healthy vision, and detects major medical problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure in the early stages of development.
Dr. Gboyega Ajayi, an ophthalmologist at Ojolowo Eye Clinic, Veterinary, Mokola, Ibadan, declared that many people were not paying enough attention to their eye health, even though such simple steps such as a yearly eye examination, could detect the presence of many diseases in the body.
He declared that the eyes could reveal a lot, considering the fact that it is the only organ through which blood vessels can be examined directly to know the status of the cardiovascular and the neurological system. Every tissue and fluid type in the eye is a representative of every tissue and every fluid type in the rest of the body.
He emphasised that eye examinations were “even more important for people who are already using corrective lenses;” who might “assume they just need a different lense prescription, when they really have a more serious problem. With eye diseases and disorders, as with most health issues, early detection and treatment are often the keys to avoiding permanent problems.
Some of the existing health problems or an impending one that an eye examination can give, and their possible signs, include the following:
Anaemia: A pale eye indicates insufficient blood. Insufficient blood could be due to many reasons like blood disorder, bleeding, malaria, sign of pregnancy, cancers etc.
Jaundice: When the eyeballs are yellowish, it could mean either jaundice or liver diseases or other problems related to the blood like hepatitis.
Hypertension: If you look through the pupil (with an ophthalmoscope) into the interior part of the eye, you can detect a patient that is hypertensive, and guess the severity of the hypertension. Those suffering from blood shot eyes may be experiencing high blood pressure.
Diabetes: An insight into the eye can also detect diabetes and even the duration of the diabetes. The length of time the persons had suffered from this disease can be actualised. Diabetes affects the blood circulation in your retina (the back of your eye), which causes changes in the blood vessels. The changes occur slowly over many years, therefore, you probably won’t be aware of any difference until the problem becomes acute and your vision is affected.
Sickle cell disease: Though yellowness of the eyeball is common with all sickle cell patients, the study of the internal parts of the eye can still go on further to give the exact type, whether HSS or HSC very specifically.
Cancers: Even though the study of the features of the eye may not be able to categorically state where cancer is actually is in the body, however you can still detect them. These include cancer and tumour of the brain.
Nervous diseases: From the conjuctivita signs, nervous diseases like paralysis and trauma can be picked .
Muscle diseases: Muscle diseases like Myaesthenia gravis sometimes starts with the eyes, and the patients might have double vision and drooping of the eye which could indicate paralysis of some nerves. Also, continuous drooping of the eyelid could signify an auto-immune disorder, particularly thyroid diseases.
Glaucoma: When the eye experiences high blood pressure, it is referred to as glaucoma. It affects the whole body, and when such is left unattended to, can cause blindness. Those that are most at risk of glaucoma are diabetics, senior citizens, Afro-Americans, and those who are short-sighted in addition to people with family history of glaucoma.
River blindness: When eye lesions are noticed during eye examination, especially in people living near fast-flowing streams or rivers, river blindness remains one of the causes to be suspected.
HIV: Mere looking into the eye ball, a precise diagnosis of HIV virus is possible.
Pregnancy: While it is not specific for pregnancy, one can use it, in conjunction with other tests, to confirm pregnancy.
Drug abuse: Even medication used in excess like chloroquine can be diagnosed looking into the eye. Cases of drug addiction, and the type of drug addicted to, can easily be known even this way.
Syphilis: Syphilis is one of the sexually transmitted diseases, predictable through the study of the eye. There would be lesions on the iris.
Cataracts: A cataract is a clouding of the normally clear lens inside the eye. It can be compared to a window that is frosted or “fogged” with steam. The presence and extent of a cataract can be detected during a thorough eye examination. Most cataracts associated with aging, progress gradually over a period of years. However, other cataracts, especially in younger people and people with diabetes, may progress rapidly over a few months and cause a more dramatic worsening of vision.
How can I prevent problems with my eyes from developing?
• Keeping your blood sugar levels well controlled reduces your risk of developing eye diseases or delays the onset.
• Control your weight, your cholesterol levels and your blood pressure through diet and exercise.
• Have a regular appointment with your ophthalmologist at least once a year. It is much easier to stop eye disease from developing into something serious if it is treated in the early stages.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Problems Of Leadership In Nigeria
Problems Of Leadership In Nigeria
There is no gainsaying the fact that the once promising Nigerian nation is lost deep in the wilderness of underdevelopment and insecurity, due to the effects of corruption and tribal scheming. The situation has become so bad that it would take only a very courageous leadership to get Nigeria out of the woods.
Unfortunately, every administration, since 1960, has come and acted in manners that suggest the nation would require up to a century to have its problems fixed. It has now become a tradition for Nigerian leaders and their aides, both at the state and national levels, to either hide or deny their failures by casting stones at their predecessors.
For half a century, Nigerian leaders have fooled the masses. By all standards, leadership is not supposed to be a tea party like many have taken it to be. Leadership is strictly an instrument for development, unity, peace, and security. Society is usually exposed to varying degrees of threats, whenever leadership fails.
It is often said that bad workmen quarrel with their tools. The same thing applies to leadership. Bad leaders are fond of blaming others for their failures. One prominent characteristic of bad leaders is the readiness to invest in the recruitment of orators and propaganda wizards to help deceive and pin down the patience of hapless citizens.
The blame culture our leaders indulge in has helped to expose one painful fact most public office holders do not understand the true meaning of leadership. Some, therefore, see leadership as opportunities to advance tribal or religious agenda. Others simply see leadership as platforms to amass wealth. Except our leaders begin to appreciate what leadership truly is, Nigeria might continue to suffer underdevelopment, unemployment, poverty, crime and insecurity.
It will be an understatement to declare that Nigeria has lacked purposeful leadership for the most part of its 49 years, as an independent nation. Nigeria would, therefore, need a legion of leaders that are prepared to invest honesty, faithfulness and patriotism. Without this, the nation might not experience growth and peace. There is no doubt that Nigeria has, one time or the other, been blessed with honest leaders. The problem has been that these honest leaders mostly surround themselves with dishonest people in the form of advisers, ministers, and confidants. It is natural for honest leaders, that accept support from dishonest people, to become dishonourable within a very short period of time.
The success stories of Nigerians in the diaspora show that there are enough honest Nigerians who can work with our leaders to fix the myriad of problems that have continued to bedevil this nation. Unfortunately, the nation’s faulty electoral system makes it quite impossible for most leaders to assemble a credible team to work with.
This has forced our leaders to have hoards of mainly dishonest people around them. It is sad to note that even the few honest ones that find their way into government are usually recommended by dishonest kingmakers. This is mostly responsible for the several cases of honest Nigerians who danced naked in the market square shortly after joining government.
For a country with a faulty electoral system, Nigerians do not need a prophet to confirm that the art of king-making in Nigeria is dirty and stinks to the high heavens. There are no internal democracies. Not only are candidates forced on party members, elections are openly rigged by political kingmakers for a price: key to the treasury. This would best explain why, despite all the noise about ICPC, EFCC, and CCB, corruption has continued to grow in the country. It is now fashionable for government to decide who is to be investigated, arraigned in court, bailed, or even convicted.
This has indeed rubbished the much dramatised Rule of Law and war against graft of the present administration. The earlier our leaders stopped deceiving the citizens, the better for the future of this country. Nigeria does not need more than four years to get back on its feet.
Nigeria would reach the sky in a span of four years if the amount of zeal deployed to tackle militancy in the Niger Delta region is directed at corrupt and super tribal zealots in government. No doubt, Nigerian officials are reputed to be among the best fiscal policy formulators and budget planners in the world. The irony, however, is that Nigeria is occupying the bottom rung of the ladder in terms of budget implementation.
This is a clear case of poor leadership. Nigeria would have been among the first 20 most industrialised countries in the world, if her leaders had implemented annual budgets to the tone of 85% at the state and national levels in the last ten years. Nigeria only requires stable power supply, efficient transportation system, access to long term credit facilities, transparency and accountability in government business to enable the private sector drive the nation’s economy up the ladder. All of these would not cost the nation a fortune.
It only requires the right leadership. Perhaps, one should add here that our leaders do not lack the capacities to fix these issues. The snag is that our leaders have been swallowed by their own greed and other human weaknesses.
Just like in the case of the Niger Delta, where those that were benefiting from the activities of militants never wanted peace in the region, there are several thousands of Nigerians who are benefiting from the nation’s poor leadership culture. Some of these persons believe they would lose substantial stake, if there is steady electricity in Nigeria. Is it not a shame that despite the abundance of natural gas in the Niger Delta region, constant power supply has been a mirage in Nigeria? The petroleum sector is no better.
As the sixth largest producer of crude, Nigeria still imports more than 50 percent of petroleum products to service local markets. This status quo is maintained just to make sure some persons have the opportunity to make huge profits through the importation of petroleum products. For how long would our leaders continue to fool the citizenry? To make matters worse, government has been making much noise about the planned withdrawal of petroleum subsidy.
For a nation suffering from poor leadership culture, there is no doubt that subsidy is the only benefit the masses are sure of. Ordinarily, Nigerians will surely resist attempts by government to further impoverish them with the planned increase in the prices of petroleum products by 1st November, 2009.
Furthermore, there are many Nigerians that think an efficient transportation system in the country would impact negatively on their businesses. This is the reason why our federal roads are deliberately allowed to turn into ponds and death traps, despite the existence of FERMA. It is also for the same reason that the rail system has gone comatose over the decades.
More than that, a handful of Nigerians benefit substantially when government businesses are done in secrecy. It has, therefore, been difficult for the nation to reap the benefits of transparency and accountability. All of these persons enumerated above are members of the platoon of kingmakers. They work hand in glove with our leaders to destroy the country. Somehow, the masses have always tended to undermine them because of the subtle manner they operate. They are mostly faceless, but quite a formidable force.
They are very wealthy and influential and too ready to contribute resources to install and manipulate political leaders to their advantage.
One ready question that has always hung on the lips of many Nigerian leaders is: “Is it morally right to bite the fingers that fed me?” This is the problem with leadership in Nigeria. The foundation of many Nigerian leaders can be traced to the heart of dishonest kingmakers. It would be difficult for Nigeria to enjoy quality leadership, as long as the masses are prevented from choosing their leaders. This is the strong reason why the electoral laws should be reformed to make votes count. Electoral fraud is indeed one very big brush that our leaders have used to paint Nigeria black in the eyes of the international community.
Though Nigeria is believed to be giant of Africa, the international community see the true giant in Ghana and South Africa. This fact should help grow patriotism in our leaders.
Yar’Adua had once flaunted his patriotism, when he openly confessed that the 2007 presidential election that brought him to office was flawed. He followed this confession with a firm promise to overhaul the nation’s faulty electoral laws. This honest disposition earned the former governor of Katsina state so much respect among the Nigerian masses and civil society organisations. But with the election season just a few months away, they are beginning to feel betrayed.
Some have gone to the extent of cursing the day they accepted to forgive the ruling party of all her electoral sins before, during, and after the 2007 presidential election. Many Nigerians have begun to argue that the president’s blatant refusal to cede the power to appoint the chairman of INEC is as good as not having any electoral reforms at all. The president’s unwavering resolve to keep the all important right to appoint the electoral commission’s boss has left wide gaps for fertile suspicions among watchers of Nigerian politics. Civil society organisations and opposition politicians have already cried fowl against the continuous delay of the long planned review of the nation’s constitution which was stalled owing to very trivial issues.
Even the claim by the deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, that a whole of N500m was inadequate to enable the National Assembly review the nation’s constitution has been quickly interpreted to be part of a grand plan to scuttle the much anticipated electoral reform process ahead of the next general elections. Whichever way one wants to look at the unfolding drama, the truth still stands out: our leaders are suffering from severe agoraphobia.
It is pertinent to note at this point that Nigeria does not need just honest leaders. There is also an important need for honest followers as well. Honest followers would not ridicule leaders that are unable to own fleet of cars and mansions after leaving office. Many public office holders indulge in corruption because of undue pressure from family members, friends, and political associates. This should, however, not be an excuse for public office holders to steal government money while in office. They should rather put the interest of the nation first and grow the courage to resist extreme demands from whatever quarters.
This is the right time for Nigerian leaders to face the realism of fact. This is even more urgent because the patience of the Nigerian masses has run out. It was mainly for the fear of military intervention and possible disintegration that Nigerian masses ignored the charade that was the 2007 presidential elections. But unfortunately, Nigerians have been gravely hurt by the slow pace of development and high incidents of corruption in the polity.
What is government expecting from the masses that are witnesses to the fact that most public office holders clearly live above their incomes, while they wallow in abject poverty? Nigeria has become a time bomb. It would, therefore, be catastrophic if President Yar’Adua continues to take the patience of Nigerians for granted. For now, the endurance limit of Nigerians has become even shallower than the lower course of the River Niger.
Government’s propaganda can no longer navigate the heart of suffering Nigerian masses. To successfully dredge same, the president should ensure that the electoral system is reformed in line with popular opinion, before the next general elections. This would enable the electorates to take charge of the driving seats and disengage all the unpatriotic kingmakers and apostles of corruption that have held this country back for nearly half a century.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the once promising Nigerian nation is lost deep in the wilderness of underdevelopment and insecurity, due to the effects of corruption and tribal scheming. The situation has become so bad that it would take only a very courageous leadership to get Nigeria out of the woods.
Unfortunately, every administration, since 1960, has come and acted in manners that suggest the nation would require up to a century to have its problems fixed. It has now become a tradition for Nigerian leaders and their aides, both at the state and national levels, to either hide or deny their failures by casting stones at their predecessors.
For half a century, Nigerian leaders have fooled the masses. By all standards, leadership is not supposed to be a tea party like many have taken it to be. Leadership is strictly an instrument for development, unity, peace, and security. Society is usually exposed to varying degrees of threats, whenever leadership fails.
It is often said that bad workmen quarrel with their tools. The same thing applies to leadership. Bad leaders are fond of blaming others for their failures. One prominent characteristic of bad leaders is the readiness to invest in the recruitment of orators and propaganda wizards to help deceive and pin down the patience of hapless citizens.
The blame culture our leaders indulge in has helped to expose one painful fact most public office holders do not understand the true meaning of leadership. Some, therefore, see leadership as opportunities to advance tribal or religious agenda. Others simply see leadership as platforms to amass wealth. Except our leaders begin to appreciate what leadership truly is, Nigeria might continue to suffer underdevelopment, unemployment, poverty, crime and insecurity.
It will be an understatement to declare that Nigeria has lacked purposeful leadership for the most part of its 49 years, as an independent nation. Nigeria would, therefore, need a legion of leaders that are prepared to invest honesty, faithfulness and patriotism. Without this, the nation might not experience growth and peace. There is no doubt that Nigeria has, one time or the other, been blessed with honest leaders. The problem has been that these honest leaders mostly surround themselves with dishonest people in the form of advisers, ministers, and confidants. It is natural for honest leaders, that accept support from dishonest people, to become dishonourable within a very short period of time.
The success stories of Nigerians in the diaspora show that there are enough honest Nigerians who can work with our leaders to fix the myriad of problems that have continued to bedevil this nation. Unfortunately, the nation’s faulty electoral system makes it quite impossible for most leaders to assemble a credible team to work with.
This has forced our leaders to have hoards of mainly dishonest people around them. It is sad to note that even the few honest ones that find their way into government are usually recommended by dishonest kingmakers. This is mostly responsible for the several cases of honest Nigerians who danced naked in the market square shortly after joining government.
For a country with a faulty electoral system, Nigerians do not need a prophet to confirm that the art of king-making in Nigeria is dirty and stinks to the high heavens. There are no internal democracies. Not only are candidates forced on party members, elections are openly rigged by political kingmakers for a price: key to the treasury. This would best explain why, despite all the noise about ICPC, EFCC, and CCB, corruption has continued to grow in the country. It is now fashionable for government to decide who is to be investigated, arraigned in court, bailed, or even convicted.
This has indeed rubbished the much dramatised Rule of Law and war against graft of the present administration. The earlier our leaders stopped deceiving the citizens, the better for the future of this country. Nigeria does not need more than four years to get back on its feet.
Nigeria would reach the sky in a span of four years if the amount of zeal deployed to tackle militancy in the Niger Delta region is directed at corrupt and super tribal zealots in government. No doubt, Nigerian officials are reputed to be among the best fiscal policy formulators and budget planners in the world. The irony, however, is that Nigeria is occupying the bottom rung of the ladder in terms of budget implementation.
This is a clear case of poor leadership. Nigeria would have been among the first 20 most industrialised countries in the world, if her leaders had implemented annual budgets to the tone of 85% at the state and national levels in the last ten years. Nigeria only requires stable power supply, efficient transportation system, access to long term credit facilities, transparency and accountability in government business to enable the private sector drive the nation’s economy up the ladder. All of these would not cost the nation a fortune.
It only requires the right leadership. Perhaps, one should add here that our leaders do not lack the capacities to fix these issues. The snag is that our leaders have been swallowed by their own greed and other human weaknesses.
Just like in the case of the Niger Delta, where those that were benefiting from the activities of militants never wanted peace in the region, there are several thousands of Nigerians who are benefiting from the nation’s poor leadership culture. Some of these persons believe they would lose substantial stake, if there is steady electricity in Nigeria. Is it not a shame that despite the abundance of natural gas in the Niger Delta region, constant power supply has been a mirage in Nigeria? The petroleum sector is no better.
As the sixth largest producer of crude, Nigeria still imports more than 50 percent of petroleum products to service local markets. This status quo is maintained just to make sure some persons have the opportunity to make huge profits through the importation of petroleum products. For how long would our leaders continue to fool the citizenry? To make matters worse, government has been making much noise about the planned withdrawal of petroleum subsidy.
For a nation suffering from poor leadership culture, there is no doubt that subsidy is the only benefit the masses are sure of. Ordinarily, Nigerians will surely resist attempts by government to further impoverish them with the planned increase in the prices of petroleum products by 1st November, 2009.
Furthermore, there are many Nigerians that think an efficient transportation system in the country would impact negatively on their businesses. This is the reason why our federal roads are deliberately allowed to turn into ponds and death traps, despite the existence of FERMA. It is also for the same reason that the rail system has gone comatose over the decades.
More than that, a handful of Nigerians benefit substantially when government businesses are done in secrecy. It has, therefore, been difficult for the nation to reap the benefits of transparency and accountability. All of these persons enumerated above are members of the platoon of kingmakers. They work hand in glove with our leaders to destroy the country. Somehow, the masses have always tended to undermine them because of the subtle manner they operate. They are mostly faceless, but quite a formidable force.
They are very wealthy and influential and too ready to contribute resources to install and manipulate political leaders to their advantage.
One ready question that has always hung on the lips of many Nigerian leaders is: “Is it morally right to bite the fingers that fed me?” This is the problem with leadership in Nigeria. The foundation of many Nigerian leaders can be traced to the heart of dishonest kingmakers. It would be difficult for Nigeria to enjoy quality leadership, as long as the masses are prevented from choosing their leaders. This is the strong reason why the electoral laws should be reformed to make votes count. Electoral fraud is indeed one very big brush that our leaders have used to paint Nigeria black in the eyes of the international community.
Though Nigeria is believed to be giant of Africa, the international community see the true giant in Ghana and South Africa. This fact should help grow patriotism in our leaders.
Yar’Adua had once flaunted his patriotism, when he openly confessed that the 2007 presidential election that brought him to office was flawed. He followed this confession with a firm promise to overhaul the nation’s faulty electoral laws. This honest disposition earned the former governor of Katsina state so much respect among the Nigerian masses and civil society organisations. But with the election season just a few months away, they are beginning to feel betrayed.
Some have gone to the extent of cursing the day they accepted to forgive the ruling party of all her electoral sins before, during, and after the 2007 presidential election. Many Nigerians have begun to argue that the president’s blatant refusal to cede the power to appoint the chairman of INEC is as good as not having any electoral reforms at all. The president’s unwavering resolve to keep the all important right to appoint the electoral commission’s boss has left wide gaps for fertile suspicions among watchers of Nigerian politics. Civil society organisations and opposition politicians have already cried fowl against the continuous delay of the long planned review of the nation’s constitution which was stalled owing to very trivial issues.
Even the claim by the deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, that a whole of N500m was inadequate to enable the National Assembly review the nation’s constitution has been quickly interpreted to be part of a grand plan to scuttle the much anticipated electoral reform process ahead of the next general elections. Whichever way one wants to look at the unfolding drama, the truth still stands out: our leaders are suffering from severe agoraphobia.
It is pertinent to note at this point that Nigeria does not need just honest leaders. There is also an important need for honest followers as well. Honest followers would not ridicule leaders that are unable to own fleet of cars and mansions after leaving office. Many public office holders indulge in corruption because of undue pressure from family members, friends, and political associates. This should, however, not be an excuse for public office holders to steal government money while in office. They should rather put the interest of the nation first and grow the courage to resist extreme demands from whatever quarters.
This is the right time for Nigerian leaders to face the realism of fact. This is even more urgent because the patience of the Nigerian masses has run out. It was mainly for the fear of military intervention and possible disintegration that Nigerian masses ignored the charade that was the 2007 presidential elections. But unfortunately, Nigerians have been gravely hurt by the slow pace of development and high incidents of corruption in the polity.
What is government expecting from the masses that are witnesses to the fact that most public office holders clearly live above their incomes, while they wallow in abject poverty? Nigeria has become a time bomb. It would, therefore, be catastrophic if President Yar’Adua continues to take the patience of Nigerians for granted. For now, the endurance limit of Nigerians has become even shallower than the lower course of the River Niger.
Government’s propaganda can no longer navigate the heart of suffering Nigerian masses. To successfully dredge same, the president should ensure that the electoral system is reformed in line with popular opinion, before the next general elections. This would enable the electorates to take charge of the driving seats and disengage all the unpatriotic kingmakers and apostles of corruption that have held this country back for nearly half a century.
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