FreeGlobe:
if orji kalu today decides to withdraw all his investments from Lagos, about 5% of the state's economy will be seriously affected

Means if he withdraws his investments from the SE, 80% of the SE economy will be affected

What does he have in Lagos?

None of his companies is in the top 100 companies (dead and nearly dead) in the state

[b]
Hey, Bukky, sleep paralysis is a feeling of being conscious but unable to move. It occurs when a person passes between stages of wakefulness and sleep. During these transitions, you may be unable to move or speak for a few seconds up to a few minutes. Some people may also feel pressure or a sense of choking. Sleep paralysis may accompany other sleep disorders such as narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is an overpowering need to sleep caused by a problem with the brain's ability to regulate sleep.

Sleep paralysis usually occurs at one of two times. If it occurs while you are falling asleep, it's called hypnagogic or predormital sleep paralysis. If it happens as you are waking up, it's called hypnopompic or postdormital sleep paralysis.

As you fall asleep, your body slowly relaxes. Usually you become less aware, so you do not notice the change. However, if you remain or become aware while falling asleep, you may notice that you cannot move or speak.

During sleep, your body alternates between REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep. One cycle of REM and NREM sleep lasts about 90 minutes. NREM sleep occurs first and takes up to 75% of your overall sleep time. During NREM sleep, your body relaxes and restores itself. At the end of NREM, your sleep shifts to REM. Your eyes move quickly and dreams occur, but the rest of your body remains very relaxed. Your muscles are "turned off" during REM sleep. If you become aware before the REM cycle has finished, you may notice that you cannot move or speak.

Up to as many as four out of every 10 people may have sleep paralysis. This common condition is often first noticed in the teen years. But men and women of any age can have it. Sleep paralysis may run in families. Other factors that may be linked to sleep paralysis include:

Lack of sleep
Sleep schedule that changes
Mental conditions such as stress or bipolar disorder
Sleeping on the back
Other sleep problems such as narcolepsy or nighttime leg cramps
Use of certain medications
Substance abuse

If you find yourself unable to move or speak for a few seconds or minutes when falling asleep or waking up, then it is likely you have isolated recurrent sleep paralysis. Often there is no need to treat this condition. However, check with your doctor if you have any of these concerns:

You feel anxious about your symptoms
Your symptoms leave you very tired during the day
Your symptoms keep you up during the night

Most people need no treatment for sleep paralysis. Treating any underlying conditions such as narcolepsy may help if you are anxious or unable to sleep well. These treatments may include the following:

Improving sleep habits -- such as making sure you get six to eight hours of sleep each night
Using antidepressant medication if it is prescribed to help regulate sleep cycles
Treating any mental health problems that may contribute to sleep paralysis
Treating any other sleep disorders, such as narcolepsy or leg cramps

There's no need to fear nighttime demons or alien abductors. If you have occasional sleep paralysis, you can take steps at home to control this disorder. Start by making sure you get enough sleep. Do what you can to relieve stress in your life -- especially just before bedtime. Try new sleeping positions if you sleep on your back. And be sure to see your doctor if sleep paralysis routinely prevents you from getting a good night's sleep. [/b]

Nigeria's Tope Folarin, winner of the 2013 Caine Prize.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Tope Folarin wins top prize for African Writing
His short story, "Miracle," is a semi-autobiographical look at the Nigerian diaspora
The prize includes $15,000 and a position as Writer-in-Residence
(CNN) -- Nigerian writer Tope Folarin has been announced as the winner of this year's Caine Prize for African Writing. The U.S.-based author scooped the accolade -- which has been described as Africa's leading literary award -- for his short story "Miracle," a tale of faith and deceit in an evangelical Nigerian church in Texas.
"Winning feels tremendous -- I still can't believe it," enthused the 31-year-old author. "I feel like I'm walking on air."
Folarin spent a year writing the story, which explores the relationship between a blind pastor-prophet and his faithful congregation. "It's a community I know quite well," he explained. "'Miracle' does have an autobiographical quality to it, because the dreams and desires described are ones I share as a writer in the Nigerian diaspora."
Watch this: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie cries over praise
Turning Nigeria's civil war into fiction 'Fearless' writer cries over praise
The Washington D.C.-based author, who was born and raised in the U.S. but lived in Nigeria for a year, said that fellow members of the community had responded well to his story. But striking the right tone had its challenges. "I spent a long time trying to get a particular voice down, and that was the greatest technical difficulty I had when writing the novel," Folarin said.
"Watching Woody Allen's 'The Purple Rose of Cairo' -- where a movie star walks off screen and into real life -- helped me to define that voice, and introduce the narrator's transition from using 'we' to 'I'."
Teen wins 'Nobel Prize for Children'
Gus Chaseley-Hayford, chair of judges for the prize, described Folarin's winning prose as a "superb Caine Prize winner -- a delightful and beautifully paced narrative, that is exquisitely observed and utterly compelling."
The decision was announced at the 14th Caine Prize ceremony, held Monday night at Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford, where Folarin beat his four fellow shortlisted candidates. Three of the other contenders were Nigerian, as was last year's prize winner, Rotimi Babatunde.
"I know that myself and other Nigerian writers have been empowered by a long tradition of Nigerian authors writing beautifully," said Folarin. "At times when we're struggling to write, we derive great power from the work that has come before us."
I know that myself and other Nigerian writers have been empowered by a long tradition of Nigerian authors writing beautifully
Tope Folarin
Folarin has previously received literary fellowships from The Institute for Policy Studies and the journal "Callalloo," as well as studying for two Master's degrees at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. His Caine Prize win means he is eligible to take up a month's tenure as Writer-in-Residence at the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice at Georgetown University, which he plans to begin before the end of the year.
Describing himself as a "savings freak," Folarin has no grand plans for his £10,000 ($14,840) prize fund as yet, but his future literary plans are more defined. "'Miracle' is part of a manuscript I've been working on for three years, which ties together a number of novels through a single lead protagonist," he divulged.
"I hope to get that published at some stage in the future, but my main focus right now is just being the best writer I can be.
"Nothing else matters to me."

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yemi Adesokan, Nigerian scientist, wins MIT's World Top Young Innovators Award





While several young Nigerians are busy complaining their country has not done anything for them, 35- year- old US- based Nigerian born researcher, Yemi Adesokan, has put his country's name on the map of nations of innovation.

Adesokan's discovery which has potential to change the way mankind responds to disease pathogens, according to experts, may bring an end the era of increased burden of drug resistance in the world particularly, in sub Saharan Africa.

When he moved to United States in 1996, little did the young innovator have realise that he was going to rub shoulders with some of the greatest names in scientific technology.

But today, Adesokan who has been listed by Technology Review, an independent media company owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (MIT) USA. as one of the TR35 Award of the 2011 World top innovators. Past recipients have included Sergey Brin (Google), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), and Konstantin Novoselev (later a Nobel Laureate in Physics).

Adesokan is being so specially honoured for his work in the application of next generation sequencing to clinical diagnostics. Adesokan, who is also the founder of Pathogenica Inc., was selected as a member of the TR35 class of 2011 by a panel of expert judges and the editorial staff of Technology Review, who evaluated more than 300 nominations.

By this recognition, he will be joining other TR35 honorees in discussing their achievements at the Emtech MIT 2011 conference, taking place at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, October 18 to 19, 2011.

In this chat with Chioma Obinna, he speaks on the award and the benefits of his innovation in the diagnostics world.

Excerpts:

What it is all about

This work is being carried out by a biotechnology startup that I founded with Prof George Church of Harvard Medical School DNA technology. The Pathogenica's test kits are able to identify the presence, allowing for physicians to screen for multiple diseases with accurate results and a rapid turnaround.

I founded pathogenica with genomics pioneer and Harvard Prof George Church in 2009 in order to commercilaise applications of pathogen sequencing.

Sequencing technologies have improved a million – fold in the past seven years, bringing scientists a wealth of individual genomics and the key now is to employ the data to improve clinical practice. The DNA sequence of each individual or organism is unique, and is the most detailed signature for identification.

This year marks one decade since the completion of the Human Genome Project, a three billion-dollar effort to sequence a human genome.

A major issue in Nigeria today, is that some sterilised water may contain harmful pathogens. The technology is useful in screening a range of pathogens in water, livestock (poultry, etc.), and in food manufacturing. The key point for this technology is its high multiple. As it scales up, we actually see a reduction in price.

With the innovation, the cost of DNA sequencing has dropped more than 40,000_fold since that time to just $5,000 today. The price continues to drop. We are applying this fast, inexpensive technology in a unique way to improve routine clinical diagnostics.

Impact on clinical practice

The utility of the innovation in clinical practice lies in the low error rate, thereby reducing the number of inaccurate diagnoses due to false positives or the emergence of drug resistance mutations undetected by current methods. This reduces the occurrence of patient mortality (death) due to misdiagnosed infections.

In addition, the technology does not require cultures as samples. Tuberculosis (TB) samples can take over one week to culture. We can demonstrate diagnostic results in a single day. This would reduce the spread of Tuberculosis In the case of HPV, which causes cervical cancer and other types of cancers, this technology can be used for detection with a very low occurrence of error. The error rate is very low.

Plans to bring it to Nigeria

We are very interested in finding partners in the Nigerian private and public sectors, particularly as TB is not an issue in the US market. We plan to visit Nigeria around November to give some presentations on the utility of our technology, particularly in the case of drug-resistant infections.

TR35 Award

The TR35 award is presented each year to 35 innovators under the age of 35 whose "accomplishments are poised to have a dramatic impact on the world. The TR35 recognises the world's top innovators, spanning energy, medicine, computing, communications, nanotechnology, and other emerging fields.

It is given by MIT's Technology Review Magazine. Needless to say, Technology Review has an excellent track record in predicting innovative technologies. Pathogenica, Inc., was selected for this award based on my work on the development of fast DNA sequencing technologies for clinical diagnostics.

Nigerian government and Research

I think more can be done, especially in encouraging young innovators. The establishment of technology incubators to nurture and fund young companies would be a good starting point. There is need for the government to send science and technology representatives to scout out new innovations worldwide, and encourage private sector venture capitalists to invest in local technology innovation.

My God!

My God!

My God!

Which kind joke be dis

Space reserved

Oluwande Muoyo, the Ogun state commissioner for budget and planning has disclosed that the 2013 Ogun state budget size of N211.8 billion which was approved by the State House of Assembly in December 2012 had recorded a cumulative overall performance of 61.26 percent in the second quarter (Q2), just as the State monthly internally-generated revenue (IGR) stays at N4 billion.

The budget performance, according to the commissioner, was better than that of 2012, which stood at an average of 50 percent at the same period last year.
Muoyo said though the 61.26 percent budget performance in the second quarter of 2013 was better than that of last, it however performed below government financial expectations, therefore “there is still a lot more to accomplish”.

She said, “This improved performance was made possible by our aggressive and collective commitment to our Internally Generated Revenue IGR drive. The result of this is that our IGR now stands at an average of N4 billion monthly. We must appreciate the key stakeholders that have committed themselves to the mission to rebuild our dear State”.

Muoyo, who addressed pressmen in Abeokuta on Tuesday on the “Ogun State Mid-Year Budget Performance”, also revealed that the State Capital and Recurrent Expenditure split stood at 53:47 respectively, in the second quarter, which she declared was “still marginally below the State target for 2013 fiscal year that is projected at 55:45” for Capitals and Recurrent.

She highlighted the basics of the 2013 Budget premised on the Governor Ibikunle Amosun-led administration development agenda and cardinal programmes, to include affordable qualitative education, efficient health care delivery, agricultural production/industrialisation, affordable housing and urban renewal and rural, infrastructural development as well as employment generation.

The commissioner however, emphasized the significance of funding in ensuring that State projected developmental projects and programmes are executed, she therefore, urged the citizens and residents “to perform their civic duties and ensure that their employers pay their taxes to the coffers of the State where they reside as and when due”.

http://businessdayonline.com/2013/08/ogun-posts-61-26-percent-q1-budget-performance-as-monthly-igr-stays-at-n4bn/