November 14 annually, the world commemorates the World Diabetes Day. The day, which is an annual and international commemoration, was instituted in the year 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) to help in raising public awareness on the dangers and control of diabetes.

World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations (UN) Day in 2007 through the passage of the UN Resolution. The day was chosen in honour of the birthday of Frederick Banting who along with Charles Best first conceived the idea which led to the discovery of insulin in 1921.

It’s noteworthy that the campaign attached to World Diabetes Day draws attention to issues of paramount importance to the diabetes community and keeps diabetes firmly in the public spotlight.

The theme of this year’s anniversary is “Access to Diabetes Care”. It acknowledges that millions of people with diabetes around the world do not have access to diabetes care. It emphasizes that people with diabetes require ongoing care and support to manage their condition and avoid complications.

The theme therefore stressed that we cannot wait any longer, hence urging stakeholders at all levels to provide the needed medicine, technologies, support and care for all people with diabetes that require them. It also enjoined governments to increase investment in diabetes care and prevention.

Diabetes is a lifelong medical condition that causes a person’s blood sugar level to become too high. It is often caused by the insufficiency or lack of the hormone known as insulin, which is produced by the pancreas – a gland found behind the stomach.

The amount of sugar in the blood is controlled by insulin. When food is digested and enters the bloodstream, insulin moves glucose out of the blood and into the cells where it’s broken down to produce the required energy.

However this implies that, if one has diabetes, his/her body is unable to break down glucose into energy; because there’s either not enough insulin to move the glucose or the insulin being produced doesn’t work properly.

There are two main types of diabetes namely: Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes. The former is usually more delicate than the latter which is far more common.

In Type 1 diabetes, the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin. As no insulin is produced, the victim’s glucose level increases, which can seriously damage his body’s organs. Type 1 diabetes is often regarded as Insulin-dependent diabetes; it is also sometimes recognized as Juvenile diabetes or Early-onset diabetes, because it mostly develops before the age of forty (40) or usually during the teenage years.

If one is diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, he would need insulin injections for the rest of his life. He would also need to pay very close attention to certain aspects of his lifestyle and health, to ensure that his blood glucose levels stay balanced at all times.

Type 2 diabetes takes place when the body doesn’t produce enough insulin or it cells don’t react to insulin. This type of diabetes is generally known as Insulin-resistant diabetes. Since Type 2 diabetes is a progressive condition, the patient may eventually need medication mainly in the form of tablets.

Type 2 diabetes is in most cases associated with obesity. Obesity-related diabetes is sometimes referred to as Maturity-onset diabetes owing to the fact that it is more common in older people.

During pregnancy, some women possess high levels of blood glucose, which makes their body unable to produce enough insulin to absorb it all. Such a condition is known as Gestational diabetes and it affects up to 18 in 100 women during pregnancy. Pregnancy can as well make existing Type 1 diabetes worse.

Gestational diabetes can increase the risk of health problems developing in an unborn baby, therefore it’s very necessary for a pregnant woman to keep her blood glucose levels under control. Record has it that diabetes is the ninth leading cause of death in women globally, causing 2.1 million deaths per year.

In several cases, gestational diabetes develops during the second trimester of pregnancy, which is weeks 14 to 26, and disappears after the baby is born. But the truth remains that women who suffer from gestational diabetes are at an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later in life.

The general symptoms of diabetes, which often take place simultaneously, are: feeling very thirsty; urinating more frequently than usual, particularly at night; feeling very tired; weight loss and loss of muscle bulk; cuts or wounds that heal slowly; blurred vision, caused by the lens of the eye becoming dry; itching around the private part or frequent episodes of thrush.

Type 1 diabetes can develop quickly over weeks or even days; whilst, many people may have Type 2 diabetes for years without realizing it because the early symptoms tend to be friendly.

Statistics, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), show that about 347 million people worldwide are presently suffering from diabetes. In 2004, an estimated 3.4 million people died from consequences of high fasting blood sugar.

The most devastating aspect of diabetes is that almost half of the people suffering from it do not know that they have the disease. In view of this, WHO stipulates that diabetes would be the 7th leading cause of death by the year 2030.

Many more people worldwide have blood sugar levels above the normal range, but not high enough to be diagnosed as having diabetes. This is referred to as Pre-diabetes. If your blood sugar level is above the normal range, your risk of developing full-blown diabetes is increased. Thus, it’s absolutely very important for diabetes to be diagnosed as early as possible because it would get progressively worse if left untreated.

In general, diabetes carriers are advised to eat healthily, take regular exercise and carry out regular blood tests in order to ensure that their blood glucose levels remain balanced. Above all, they are also advised to maintain a very cordial relationship with their doctors or health experts.

As the global community commemorates the World Diabetes Day anniversary, I’m using this avenue to urge the general public to endeavour to live a life that would keep them away from contracting this dreaded disease that has claimed hundreds of millions of souls as well as maimed several lives both in the past and present.

They can achieve this by ensuring they consume balanced diets or staying away from constant intake of starchy or sugary foods without supplementing them with other required classes of foods.

The sufferers of the disease ought to also note that they can live as long as possible if necessary precautions are always taken, or if they continually stick to the modus operandi surrounding the disease, such as eating healthily, indulging in regular exercise, carrying out blood tests regularly, and consistent intake of the prescribed drugs or frequent consultation of a physician, among others.

Diabetes has no absolute cure but can be prevented, or managed if contracted. Hence, it’s worthy to acknowledge we have every opportunity to live without the disease, or live healthily if eventually infected with it. 

Against the odds to excel in a world of instant messaging dominated by WhatsApp and Telegram, MTN’s Ayoba, an instant-messaging app powered by the South African telecom vendor, has increased its subscribers’ base to three million monthly active users in Nigeria.

The threshold beams life into MTN’s dream to facilitate digital transformation in all its markets by establishing other tech businesses outside telecom, its primary venture in and outside Africa.

Ayoba came to the limelight in 2020, after it was introduced to the Nigerian market in support of Covid emergencies, following its launch in 2019. The messaging app partnered with MTN, and has seen significant growth in just two years since it was launched.

Chief Digital Officer, MTN Nigeria, Srinivas Rao, said the milestone is a result of partnership with result-oriented minds to drive digital transformation.

“The world is increasingly becoming a fast-paced digital place with new technological advancements driving the constantly changing landscape. This is why at MTN, we are determined to lead digital transformation with easy-to-use connectivity solutions. We work with like-minded strategic partners, who are committed to bridging the digital divide & bring effortless connectivity services to our customer’s fingertips,” he said.

Ayoba gives users the ability to instantly send, receive text and voice messages with any of their contacts whether they are on the app or not.  The function is available to all users on the App regardless of their device type or network service provider. MTN subscribers, however, get 700MB weekly for usage on the app.

Other key features include the most advanced end-to-end encryption – messages in any conversation are fully encoded until they are delivered to the destination, meant for the eyes of the sender & recipient only. Users can also subscribe to channels for locally relevant content across various categories. In addition, the App enables users to play over 120 games and listen to 200+ top local and international playlists via MusicTime.

MTN aims to connect millions of Africans across the world with the Ayoba App, which is available in 22 languages, including English, Pidgin (Nigeria) Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa. So far, the app is operational in Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Congo Brazzaville, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Afghanistan South Africa and 10 other African countries.

With its lingua franca as bait, Ayoba is poised to win many more users in a short time. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation has an untapped local-language market that has been struggling to cope with the English-based messaging apps.

Another key features driving growth for the messaging app are music and news – provided in a sort of all-in-one way.

As the audiobooks market grows larger, some players in the podcasting space are beginning to find their way into it. Spotify has announced plans to acquire the audiobook services and distribution company Findaway for an undisclosed price.

In 2019, Spotify had announced its ambition to become the world’s leading platform with an expansion into podcasting through the acquisitions of Anchor and Gimlet. Two years later, the company is widening its reach through the Findaway acquisition.

“It’s Spotify’s ambition to be the destination for all things audio both for listeners and creators. The acquisition of Findaway will accelerate Spotify’s presence in the audiobook space and will help us more quickly meet that ambition,” Gustav Soderstrom, the company’s chief research and development officer said.

Findaway operates multiple businesses, including distribution of audiobooks to various platforms and offering audiobook creation services under its business Findaway Voices. The company pairs authors with narrators, which could become a new and valuable source of revenue for Spotify.

“We’re excited to combine Findaway’s team, best-in-class technology platform, and robust audiobook catalog with Spotify’s expertise to revolutionize the audiobook space as we did with music and podcasts,” Soderstrom said.

Besides other benefits, the acquisition will also make Spotify both a commercial bookseller and a publisher of audiobooks, a title the company has been hesitant to accept for its podcasting efforts. The purchase also marks Spotify’s most significant investment in audiobooks, and is the latest sign of its ambition to grow beyond a music app to become the default service for audio of all kinds.

“The goal is for Spotify listeners to be able to buy any audiobook in the world. If you are a true-crime podcast junkie, you are buying true crime audiobooks as well. Spotify has experimented with audiobooks for a couple of years, offering some titles in the public domain, like “Jane Eyre,” for free,” Soderstrom explained.

Findaway has invested billions of dollars in the purchase of podcast studios and technology. The company expects the purchase to close this year, at which point it will begin adding more audiobooks to its service. As part of the acquisition deal, Publishers and authors working with Findaway must agree to distribute on Spotify and it will sell individual audiobooks to all of its users.

Authors and publishers who use their own payment processing technology will be able to keep all of the sales, while those who use Spotify’s technology will share the revenue. Individual authors will be able to self-distribute books. Findaway will maintain its headquarters in Solon, Ohio, and will continue to be led by founder and Chief Executive Officer Mitch Kroll.

Amazon.com Inc.’s Audible is the dominant player in audiobooks, and Spotify hopes to compete by putting books in front of its nearly 400 million listeners.

The two companies are expected to work together to accelerate Spotify’s entry into the audiobook space through innovations that will also help creators on their platform to achieve economic growth.

The Audiobooks market was valued at $4 billion in 2020, and is estimated to reach $20 billion by 2030. Audiobooks were launched in 1932 by The American Foundation for the Blind, to give visually impaired people access to books. It is recently becoming more popular, and companies are reaching out to cash in on its popularity.

The last time I checked, the most talked-about Anambra Gubernatorial election in Nigeria had graciously come and gone, to the glory of God. In other words, the concerned electorate are at the moment not unaware of their next Governor.

Life generally is conspicuously characterized by tremendous intrigues and intricacies. This is the reason some persons who truly comprehend the features of nature don’t seemingly hold anything firmly.

They do so, believing that whatever one beholds can depart at anytime, and in most cases, it happens unannounced. This set of individuals, that’s invariably found anywhere across the globe, is often referred to as a group of realists.

Realism is simply the ability to face any ongoing circumstance or trending events squarely as they appear without making any effort to twist their real outlook or value. This school of thought enables mankind to be rational and real at all times.

In elections or electioneering era for instance, several intrigues are usually observed by the onlookers. Taking Nigeria as a case study, each time any election approaches, the concerned aspirants or political parties are – rather than dwelling on issue-based campaigns – relentlessly involved in exposing their dirty lilies in the public domain.

An aspirant or candidate who is expected to inform the people what he/she intends to do towards ushering in the anticipated good governance when he emerges victoriously, would end up telling the electorate why they shouldn’t vote for his/her rival(s), thereby contradicting the scenario.

In a situation whereby the ruling party is contesting for a certain position or reelection and its closest rival happens to have tasted the leadership seat in the past, the two parties – both the ruling and opposition – would be mainly involved in castigating each other as they go about their day-to-day campaigns towards gaining the people’s votes.

They unabatedly concentrate on this wayward style of campaign, and they do so vigorously and doggedly, forgetting what the voters really need to hear from them is their plan on how to position or reposition the country or state, as the case may be, positively if they became elected at the polls.

This character assassination as mentioned above, popularly known as “blame game”, had in recent times eaten deep into the bloodstream of the Nigeria’s political system and its likes. It has hitherto continued endlessly as was witnessed in the just concluded Anambra State governorship election.

In the aforementioned polls, such a game was keenly, though ‘shamefully’, played by three key political parties namely, the All Progressives Congress (APC), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

At the moment, it’s obvious that after the rigorous blame games that heralded the said election, a victor consequently emerged as was publicly declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer in the person of Prof. Florence Obi on Tuesday, 9th November 2021 after the supplementary poll that took place in Ihiala LGA, the area where votes weren’t cast on the election day being Saturday, 6th November 2021.

Prof. Obi, having painstakingly studied the outcomes of the elections as were separately conducted in the existing 21 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the State and consequently tendered by the various Returning Officers from the LGAs, graciously announced the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo of the APGA, which is the current ruling party in the province, as the winner of the keenly contested poll.

It’s noteworthy that the Certificates of Return were presented to the duo of victors Prof. Soludo and his deputy, Dr. Onyeka Ibezim on 12th November 2021, as requested by the extant law.

Millions of people the world over are currently celebrating with the victors, whilst some others are reportedly aggrieved with the pronounced outcome of the polls. Whatever the case might be, the bone of contention remains that a winner had finally emerged from the blame game after the suspense and intrigues that transpired.

At this juncture, I want to candidly appreciate Nigerians, particularly the people of Anambra, for the maturity and patience displayed before, during and after the polls. Election as an exercise is a process, hence entails various sections. The first part of it is for the electorate to collectively cast their votes; the Anambranians participated in this phase with extreme maturity despite the odds.

The second phase entails awaiting the pronouncement of the outcome of the election. This section equally requires to be participated with a patriotic mindset imbued with patience. Anambranians in their numbers also did as expected while in this very phase.

The third phase involves declaration of any of the contenders as the victor of the exercise or competition. It’s noteworthy that the victor is constitutionally the candidate who garnered the maximum number of votes against his/her co-contestants as well as acquired the required spread across the available States or LGAs in the country or State, respectively, as might be the case..

I equally commend the citizens for accepting this section in good faith as we appeal to the defeated candidate(s) who wish(es) to query the outcome or the declaration to use the apt channel, which remains the legal means.

The PDP has already announced its displeasure over the outcome of the election, and may be approaching the Election Tribunal soonest. We therefore enjoin them to remain calm and mature till the entire proceeding is over.

Similar appeal goes to the candidates or political parties who were reportedly defeated. They must endeavour to use the right and lawful channel in showcasing their respective grievances.

So, as I congratulate the Governor-Elect, Prof. Soludo and his Deputy, Dr. Ibezim alongside their entire team, for emerging as the next democratically-elected Governor of Anambra, I equally congratulate the teeming Anambranians for the fantastic and remarkable role they variously played towards ensuring that peace and harmony were maintained across the shores of the State.

Above all, as I appreciate the INEC for eventually concluding this labour and cost intensive task, I enjoin the commission to look inwards to ensure that whatever lapse(s) experienced in the last polls isn’t/aren’t witnessed in the impending ones.

Hence, the electoral umpire must tactically go back to the drawing board. The various technical hitches recorded at different localities on the day of the election must be considered, aptly x-rayed and addressed for the sake of future elections.

All in all, as Anambranians collectively enjoy this relative peace, I urge them to continually remind ourselves that there’s no other State, aside Anambra, they can proudly and boldly call their own.