Jonathan’s Campaign Manager Defects To APC

ENUGU – COORDINATOR of the 2015 Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential campaign organization in Enugu state, Chief Rex Onyeabor, has defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Until his defection to the APC, Onyeabor was a member Board of Trustee, BOT, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and at one time an acting National Secretary of the party.

During his official defection at his country home, Ugbawka, Nkanu East local government area of Enugu state, Onyeabor said he was cross carpeting to the APC because the PDP was not likely to survive it’s present leadership crisis.

He said: “Apart from being former national secretary, I was BOT member which is the highest advisory body in PDP and I attended a lot of meetings, virtually every meeting, reconciliation meeting.
“There are some people who are still there attending meeting to reconcile; you see what they are doing now, Modu Sheriff and Ahmed Makarfi, and recently Jonathan and Seriake (Dickson); it is not likely that an agreement will be reached very soon.

“So I looked at all the efforts we have made in the past trying to restructure the party, trying to bring the party out of the melancholy or depression of defeat, it has not worked; that’s why I decided to pick my bag and take a walk.”

Aside from that, Chief Onyeabor said that APC provides the best platform for changing Nigeria for now, noting that though APC might not be the best party in the world but that it was better than other parties in Nigeria today.

On what might have prompted the mass exodus of notable Igbo politicians into APC, Onyeabor said that Igbos have now seen the light and that given what he knows about PDP, which he said he was not ready to make public, he now believes APC was the best choice for the realization of Igbo aspirations in Nigeria.

Enugu state chairman of the APC, Dr. Ben Nwoye expressed excitement for the influx of political bigwigs into his party, saying that they were joining not only to help win elections but to also organize the party as some of them are political technocrats and bureaucrats.

Notable among former members of PDP who recently defected to the APC in Enugu state include the former Senate President, Ken Nnamani; former Governor of old Anambra State, Senator Jim Nwobodo, and former speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Eugene Odo.

The immediate past Governor of the State, Mr. Sullivan Chime recently resigned his membership of the PDP but is yet to make official declaration into APC.

By Dennis Agbo

Boost your immunity, longevity through fasting

Good news for those that love fasting.

There is now scientific proof that starving yourself each day, or a few days of the weekis a good thing.FoodEvidence already abounds that timed periods of fasting are beneficial and can boost immunity and control intestinal inflammation.Fasting for health reasons for upwards of six to 24 hours at a time has become increasingly popular  especially in the fitness world. But it’s not a new trend—fasting has been around for centuries, even Hippocrates used fasting as a means of promoting weight loss.Fasting alters body mechanisms for the better, says Dr. Courtney Peterson, an Assistant Professor at Pennington Biomedical ResearchCentre. “Fasting lowers levels of inflammation and puts the body into repair mode. Production of antioxidant enzymes increases, and that helps repair and recycle cells.”Traditional medicineResearchers from Emory University Atlanta, USA, say that “Caloric Restriction” in the form of fasting has been used in traditional medicinal practices such as homoeopathy, naturopathy, ayurveda fortreating various ailments.The research team found a mechanism of body’s ability to adapt to nutrient scarcity. They noted that limiting nutrients could be a great booster of vaccine-induced immunity and protective of intestinal inflammation.They identified a gene, whose activation in key immune cells was found to be a sign of a robust, protective immune response.The gene, GCN2, General Controlled Non-repressedkinase, which is a known metabolic sensor involved in sensing amino acid starvation and found to regulate the process of autophagy, a response to starvation or stress within cells. The results were published in the journal ‘Science’ earlier.Fasting has become increasingly popular over the years, and many people are becoming more aware that eating less does have incredible benefits when used sensibly.

Longevity
For instance, it is fact that  the less you eat  the longer you will live. Studies show how the lifespan of people in certain cultures increaseddue to their diets. A primary effect of ageing is a slower metabolism, a younger body metabolises  faster and more efficiently, so the less less older persons eat,  the less toll on their  digestive system.

Weight loss:
Intermittent fasting can be a safe way to lose weight because it allows the body to burn through fat cells more effectively than just regular dieting.Intermittent fasting allows the body to use fat as it’s primary source of energy instead of sugar. Many athletes now use fasting as means to hitting low body fat percentages for competitions.

Insulin sensitivity
:Fasting has shown to have a positive effect on insulin sensitivity, allowing tolerance of carbohydrates (sugar) better than if you didn’t fast.Speeds up metabolismIntermittent fasting gives the  digestive system a rest, and  energises the metabolism to burn through calories more efficiently. It regulates digestion and promotes healthy bowel function, thus improving  metabolic function.

Improves hunger
Fasting helps to regulate hormones in the body so that you experience what true hunger is. Nutritionists say obese individuals do not receive the correct signals to know they are full.The longer you fast, the more your body can regulate itself to release the correct hormones, so that you can experience what real hunger is. And when your hormones are working correctly, you get full quicker.

Detoxification
Fasting can help clear the skin because the body is temporarily freed from digestion and able to focus its regenerative energies on other systems. Not eating for just one day helps the body clean up toxins and regulate the functioning of the liver, kidneys and other parts.