ROTIMI AMAECHI AND MAGNUS ABE'S LOYALISTS DIFFER ON RECONCILIATION IN RIVERS APC

    Magnus Abe              Rotimi Amaechi

Members of the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress loyal to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; and supporters of the Senator Magnus Abe-led faction of the party, have accused each other of threatening to destabilise the party.

State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Ogbonna Nwuke, who is an ally of the minister, in a statement, in Port Harcourt, on Wednesday, said, “As we speak, we have come upon credible information that allies of Governor Wike and Senator Magnus Abe have lined up new cases that are being filed by different persons at this time.”

He further said, “We have also learnt that some members of a judicial ring that has been used repeatedly in the past to deliver objectionable decisions are to be used as vacation judges.

“The plan is to secure injunctions by any means possible; injunctions intended to halt the APC, which, by the grace of God, and the leadership of Rt. Hon Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation, is transforming into the mainstream party of the Rivers people.”

In response, a former member of the State House of Assembly who is an ally of Senator Abe, Golden Chioma said, “To be fair to you, Ogbonna Nwuke is very aware that he is lying. Senator Magnus Abe in well-orchestrated public events had told everybody that he is not interested in legal solution. Rather, he would exploit a political solution to the crisis in the party.

“It is also a known fact that the Senator Abe group would bend over backwards to show good faith in reconciling the party.

“We have done everything humanly possible for us to reconcile, but the other side is bent on acquisition or conquest, but peace.

“It is unfair to human understanding. Every man was born with inalienable rights to express himself or to seek justice.

“Even if it is your slave, there is a way you run your slave, he will start to object. Even when you own a bull and you use it to plough your field, when you over plough with the bull, it will stop.”

PALM WINE, PAP DOESN'T ENHANCE FLOW OF BREAST MILK – PHYSICIAN

A physician, Agnes Nwoke, who works with St. Charles Clinic in Urum, has said that the cultural practice of consuming palm wine or pap by nursing mothers does not enhance the flow of breast milk. Ms Nwoke, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Awka on the sideline of the commemoration of 2021 World Breastfeeding Week. She said there was the need to demystify the myth about the effect of palm wine or pap on breastfeeding.

According to her, breast milk production obeys the law of demand and supply.

“It is not the amount of fluid taken via pap or palm wine, it is the intensity of suckling and time of suckling that help the nursing mother to produce more milk.

“The more the breast is emptied, the more it produces or flows with milk. “Also mothers should breastfeed more at night because the hormone called prolactin functions more at night as it contributes to high flow of breast milk,” she said.

Ms Nwoke said that palm wine contained alcohol on the average up to six per cent, saying it might have sedative effects which can make mothers and even babies sleep.

“When a nursing mother takes palm wine, the alcohol in the palm wine gets into the breast milk and it can make the baby agitated or sleep and unable to suck.

“Palm wine does not enhance the flow of breast milk, it is a cultural practice, not medically proven.

“Breast flow is, however, increased by staying hydrated, eating a well-balanced diet, putting baby to breast on demand, resting and having enough sleep.

“Breastfeeding is important for the optimal nourishment, immunity, growth and development of the infant,” Ms Nwoke said.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in a recent statement, highlighted ways to support mothers to have adequate breast milk production after delivery.

The statement urged health workers to encourage women to take plenty of water during pregnancy and lactation, as well as examine and encourage breast care during pregnancy. It further stated that health workers should help mothers put their babies to breast within one hour of delivery and ensure suckling until breast milk starts flowing.

It also discouraged giving water or any fluid or infant formula to babies in the first six months, saying that breast milk is a complete food that contains all the water the baby needs in the first six months of life.

(NAN)

'ALLOW YOUR HUSBANDS TO SUCK YOUR BREASTS', CHIEF NURSING SISTER (CNS) TELLS PREGNANT WOMEN

Mrs Oladimeji also urged pregnant women to prepare their breasts during pregnancy to avoid lactation problems after delivery.

Chief Nursing Sister (CNS) asks pregnant women to allow their husbands to suck their breasts (NAN)

Mrs Roseline Oladimeji, a Chief Nursing Sister, in Lagos on Thursday advised pregnant women to allow their husbands to suck their boobs to prepare them for breastfeeding after delivery.

Mrs Oladimeji gave the advice at a sensitisation programme marking 2021 World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) organised by Amuwo Odofin Maternal and Child Centre (AOMCC), Festac Town.

“Allow your husbands to suck your breasts during pregnancy. Apart from bonding, it will help the nipples to be out and make it easier for your baby to latch on.

“You can also rub vaseline on your nipples at night before going to sleep. It also helps to soften it,” the apex nursing sister said.

She urged pregnant women to prepare their breasts during pregnancy to avoid lactation problems after delivery.

She added that the colostrum – the yellowish milk that flows within the first five days of delivery – contains nutrients that helps boost the baby’s immunity.

“It is still breast milk,” she said.

Mrs Oladimeji cautioned that certain food, herbs and medications could hurt babies if they cross into the breast milk.

She particularly noted that drinking palmwine to improve lactation could introduce alcohol into the baby’s system during breastfeeding.

Mrs Oladimeji further cautioned mothers seeking advice from people who were not qualified to take care of babies to avoid causing harm to their children.

Also, the hospital’s Dietician, Ms Gbemisola Ogundipe, advised lactating mothers to ensure they take well-balanced meals and lots of water to increase the volume and quality of their breast milk.

“A breastfeeding mother should have meat, fish, eggs and vegetables in her meals. She should also take a glass of juice or smoothies.

“She should increase her fluid intake and this can come in form of water, milk, yoghurt, ice cream and pap,” she said.

Ogundipe also cautioned women against weaning their babies before they get to one year because of the misconception that breast milk changed to blood when a child turns one year.

She said exclusive breastfeeding was not only beneficial to the babies but also to the mothers and their families as it helps to take the mother to her pre-pregnancy weight and lessen financial pressure for families.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the 2021 WBW was, ‘Protect Breastfeeding: A Shared Responsibility’.

NAN reports that the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF said that though there had been progress in breastfeeding rates in the last four decades, the rates in Nigeria reduced with age.

In a joint statement issued by the Director-General of WHO, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus and the Executive Director of UNICEF, Henrietta Fore, they stated that rate of exclusive breastfeeding rose from 17 per cent in 2013 to 29 per cent in 2018.

They, however. said that the percentage of children breastfed within one hour of birth in Nigeria estimated at 42 per cent was still less than 50 per cent.

“Breastfeeding rates in Nigeria reduced with age – 83 per cent of the children are breastfed up to one year while 28 per cent are breastfeeding till two years.

“It will show that the proportion of the children who are not breastfeeding increases with age,” it said.

- NAN