As France bans the burkini, Scotland just opened doors for Muslim women

 

 

Police Scotland hope the move will encourage Muslim women to join the force (Picture: Getty)

As a row breaks out over the controversial burkini ban in France, Scotland have just opened major doors for Muslim women.
While many cities in France have limited the freedom of Muslim women by banning modest beachwear, Police Scotland have allowed uniform adaptations and a possible step on the career ladder.
Dear France: The most powerful points about the burkini ban The hijab has become an optional part of the Police Scotland uniform as the force works to encourage Muslim women to join the service.
Previously, officers could wear the religious headscarf with approval, but it’s now formally part of the force uniform.
Police Scotland said it is working to make the force ‘representative of the communities we serve’.

Many cities in France have banned the burkini (Picture: Vantage)

The formal announcement was welcomed by the Scottish Police Muslim Association (SPMA), an organisation set up in 2010 to improve relationships with Muslim communities.
Chief Constable Phil Gormley said: ‘I am delighted to make this announcement and welcome the support from both the Muslim community, and the wider community, as well as police officers and staff.
Muslim woman ordered off French beach amid burkini ban row ‘Like many other employers, especially in the public sector, we are working towards ensuring our service is representative of the communities we serve.
‘I hope that this addition to our uniform options will contribute to making our staff mix more diverse and adds to the life skills, experiences and personal qualities that our officers and staff bring to policing the communities of Scotland.’
A report to the Scottish Police Authority earlier this year showed there were 4,809 applications to join Police Scotland in 2015/16, of which just 127 (2.6%) were from ethnic backgrounds.
MORE: When is a burkini not a burkini?

(Picture: Getty/Met Police)

It read: ‘Based on these figures, it is clear to see that challenge Police Scotland faces. If the black and minority ethnic groups (BME) national average of 4% is to be met within the organisation, an additional 650 BME recruits are required across all areas of the business.
Just a reminder that telling women what they can and can’t wear on beaches has been going on for a long time ‘Considering current application trends, this would appear to be achievable.’
SPMA chair Fahad Bashir said: ‘This is a positive step in the right direction, and I am delighted that Police Scotland is taking productive steps in order to ensure that our organisation is seen to be inclusive and represents the diverse communities that we serve across Scotland. No doubt this will encourage more women from Muslim and minority ethnic backgrounds to join Police Scotland.’
The Metropolitan Police in London approved the hijab as part of its uniform more than a decade ago.

The cost of corruption on entrepreneurship

I have shared many ideas here on available natural resources in the country and how to tap them; exposing opportunities in diverse sectors of the economy especially in agriculture and mining. However, I sometimes get scathing comments from entrepreneurs who have tried those areas and had their fingers burnt. They are quick to point out to me that the government through its policies and agents stall many determined efforts that would have generated new wealth and employment. Vested interests have often instigated myopic policies and dubious implementation that have scared many local investors from trying. Nigeria can still transform from a consumption culture to a production one if the Government can provide the goodwill that would drive the transition. The real change would happen when a particular administration chooses to institute integrity and consistency to enable investors work surefootedly to achieve their set goals.  This, to me, constitutes the real end to corruption.
Corruption goes beyond official venality. It encompasses all the inconsideration, vindictiveness, incompetence and all misapplications of power by government or corporations that ruin industry and human welfare. At the nurturing stage of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, I attended a session where the consensus centred on the need for Nigerians to learn to scrutinise processes rather than figures which are necessary outcomes of faulty procedures.
There is currently a lot of hoopla over mind-boggling amounts alleged to have been frittered off to foreign countries or even subverted locally into incipient luxuries in a third world economy; luxury items that cannot be maintained here. Little attention is paid to the mindset and attitudinal sculpts that make such reality possible and the effect of such behavioural patterns on the collective drive to grow the economy and provide opportunities for the unemployed or underemployed workforce.
Many years ago, a minister (now late) overseeing the defunct Federal Superphosphate Fertilizer Company while investigating the asset stripping and pillage that had occurred in that organisation, wondered aloud at how some heavy plants had been lifted off the factory premises without the collusion of the workers. To me, this is what corruption is really about – a mindset to subvert, desecrate, dismantle and cripple human and material structures to benefit a single individual or a group without sparing a thought for the future and the collective harm that would be suffered as a consequence. That company stopped production and workers were laid off; not because the raw materials had diminished from our earth crust or that our farmers no longer required the brand of fertilizer produced there, but because some people connived and robbed the enterprise lame for selfish ends.

Unfortunately, when nasty stories break, it is not easy to test their veracity because they sound too horrible to be true; yet they could be true? These stories emanate from highly placed sources which we are supposed to trust and where we may also find it difficult to investigate. Some years back, we heard in the news that finally, the government was exploiting its coal resources and that a large quantity had been exported. That meant that the ‘erstwhile’ moribund solid minerals industry was moving forward?
After that particular regime left office however, an elder statesman who had worked in that subsector in its heyday informed us that the minister who made that claim had lied. He told us he even confronted the minister as an insider and the politician replied that he did so to have the nation believe that the administration he served was not neglecting the solid minerals subsector. Many years later, I also met a retiree who, on learning of an administration’s interest in developing the nation’s coal resources and engaging major policy implementers for authentication, wholeheartedly invested in the manufacturing of coal briquettes; projecting that just as it is a viable investment area in Europe, China and other civilizations, it should do much more over here. He was soon to realise that the policy statements and media hype promoting the industry were mere sophistry meant to portray the government as one interested in developing the non-oil sector. Soon enough, the mines were shut and there were no raw materials to work with. He had to shut down; and he lost his investments.
Another scenario is that in an apparent move to encourage utilisation of indigenous resources for road construction, quarry owners and prospects were given concessions to import equipment with duty moratorium as incentive. Many jumped in with more optimism than the government’s pronouncement deserved and, before the machinery got to Nigeria, the policy had been reversed.
Copyright PUNCH.

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How to treat, manage low sperm count punchng.com

The words, ‘low sperm count’ and ‘no sperm’, are very frightening terms for many men and couples alike, especially when there is a history of infertility. But what do they mean?
Oligozoospermia or ‘low sperm count’ refers to semen with low concentration of sperm cells. It is commonly associated with male infertility.
Based on a recent World Health Organisation criteria, an ejaculate with a concentration of less than 15 million sperm/ml of semen is termed oilgozoospermia.
There are also different classes of oligozoospermia (mild to severe). Mild refers to a concentration of 10 million to 15million sperm/ml while moderate is between five million and 10 million sperm/ml and severe is 15 million sperm/ml.
Azoospermia (no sperm) refers to complete absence of sperm in an ejaculate. It is a well-known cause of male-factor infertility.
Cryptozoospermia applies to a situation in which sperm cannot be seen in a fresh semen sample but later found after an extensive centrifugation and microscopic search.
In our society, the burden is placed more on the female partner when it comes to conception. When a couple can’t conceive after a year, the society automatically blames the woman. This assumption is often false. As a matter of fact, male infertility accounts for about 40 per cent of infertile couples. About seven per cent of men are said to be infertile. But a lot of men with fertility problems are reluctant to come for further testing and treatment.
The good news is that a diagnosis of oligozoospermia or azoospermia is not the ‘end of the road’. These conditions can be treated and a lot of men have benefitted from various treatment options. Furthermore, it has been observed that the success rate for the treatment of infertility is higher when both spouses face the issue and attend the clinic together like in the developed countries.
But before listing the treatment options it would be important to discuss preventive measures which would include lifestyle adjustments such as not smoking, avoidance of recreational drugs and environmental toxins, cutting down alcohol and caffeine intake.
It is important men avoid exposing their testicles to high temperatures such as hot tubs, long-distance driving and tight underpants and seeking prompt and regular medical care as a number of medical conditions are associated with infertility such as mumps, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, like gonorrhoea and syphilis.
Management
A detailed history and physical examination is done by a clinician  to check for possible causes like varicocoele, testicular atrophy, undescended testis and other abnormalities.  A seminal fluid analysis is done to properly assess the sperm parameters. Usually, patients are advised to abstain from intercourse for between two and seven days before doing this test for optimal results.  Further testing, including hormone profile and scrotal ultrasound may be done, especially to check for other underlying causes.
In our centre we also recommend bioenergetic testing to determine food allergies, environmental toxins or the presences of pathogens.
Medical treatment
Depending on the underlying cause, patients can benefit from various drugs. The following are commonly used:
Gonadotrophins:  Gonadotrophins, especially human chorionic gonadotrophin,  have been used successfully in treating some patients with azoospermia, especially those with underlying hormonal imbalance.
Anti-estrogens: Drugs like clomiphene citrate and tamoxifen have also been used in patients with oligospermia/azoospermia. These drugs have been used in patients with idiopathic oligozoospermia, as well as patients with low levels of the male hormone – testosterone.
Dietary supplements and anti-oxidants: The use of antioxidant therapy in treatment of patients with male infertility has been associated with statistically significant improvements in sperm parameters. This is because many of these anti-oxidants are required at different stages of sperm production. Co-enzyme Q10, for example, has been shown to significantly improve sperm concentration, motility and strict morphology in patients undergoing treatment.
Other drugs used include aromatase inhibitors like  Anastrazole and cyclic steroids (for immunosuppresion). It is important to note that these drugs can be combined to get better results. It is the duty of the clinician to identify the underlying causes and appropriate medication to use.
What we find most successful is to use all these medication in a sequence but not together. For instance,  many people use a testosterone medication like proviron on a daily basis for several months. Unfortunately in men, the physiological levels of testosterone is not constant; hence, the need to prescribe them in a pulsatile fashion for good results.
Lifestyle modification: Patients should be encouraged to stop smoking cigarettes and other psychoactive substances. Stress relief and  weight loss, dietary modification, avoidance of toxins have all been shown to be beneficial in treating male infertility.
Body detox: A lot of people are exposed to toxins from the environment, preservatives in food, drugs, cosmetics and stress. These toxins may accumulate in vital organs, leading to organ damage and infertility. Total body medical detoxification in a medical spa helps to remove these toxins, thereby improving fertility
Assisted Reproductive Technology
These refer to the use of advanced techniques to achieve conception. The following are commonly used:
Artificial Insemination and Fallopian Tube Sperm Perfusion: Patients with mild and even moderate oligozoospermia can benefit from this non-invasive treatment. It involves direct intrauterine injection of ‘sperm suspension’ usually after adequate sperm processing (washing). The aim is to achieve higher concentrations of sperm in the ‘fallopian tubes’ to facilitate conception.
Pregnancy rates are about 20 per cent per trial and multiple births are common when combined with superovulation.
Intra-cytoplasmic Sperm Injection
This is used for patients with severe oligozoospermia. It involves direct injection of sperm into the oocyte (eggs). For this to be done, the oocytes have to be retrieved from the female partner while semen is collected from the male and processed. This method has been extremely beneficial for patients with very low sperm concentrations. Globally, pregnancy rates are around 35 per cent to 45 per cent and can go up to 60 per cent with multiple trials.
Advanced sperm retrieval techniques
A number of procedures can be used to collect sperm in patients with azoospermia using local anaesthesia. Many patients with absence of sperm in their ejaculate (semen), still have some sperm in their testis (organ where sperm is produced) and epididymis, which stores mature sperm. Certain procedures can be used to collect this sperm directly from these organs with the help of special needles.
We have reported a number of pregnancies and babies have been born through these techniques.
In summary,  there are various treatments available for oligozoospermia and azoospermia. The type and extent of treatment can only be determined after proper evaluation and testing by a skilled fertility physician using appropriate techniques and procedures.