From the hands of a teen, an affordable test for pancreatic cancer
Rejected by 199 different laboratories, a 15-year-old boy from Maryland finally received one ‘yes’ to pursue a groundbreaking idea he had developed.
That teenager was Jack Andraka, and in 2012, he was motivated by the painful loss of a close family friend to pancreatic cancer.
He discovered that the disease is often detected too late because early detection methods were both costly and unreliable.
During a high school biology class, he conceived an idea for a simple dipstick-style sensor to detect a specific protein called mesothelin, an early marker of certain cancers.
His method combined carbon nanotubes with antibodies on a basic strip of paper. The entire test cost about 3 pence and took only five minutes to perform.
This remarkable ingenuity earned him the top prize at the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, which included a £75,000 award.
While celebrated, it is essential to note that the test was an innovative experimental approach. The protein it detects, mesothelin, is also found in ovarian and lung cancers.
His work brought hope and inspired a new generation of young scientists, although the test itself has not yet been approved for widespread medical use.
2. What to expect with compulsory building insurance
This 2026 go be helele. Tax go nearly” kpai” Nigerians.
No need to say who will bear the brunt of this new Insurance law when it is implemented.
It is the people who pay rent and those who benefit from whatever services are rendered by the owners and occupiers of the compulsorily insured buildings.
One can understand the need for people to take out insurance for their vehicles. Vehicles are more exposed to risk as they move around.
Why force anyone to insure his house?
The next time someone may come with a Bill seeking to compel every Nigerian to take out a Life insurance policy because they want to ” deepen” the Insurance industry.
They won’t tell you that they have interests in the insurance companies, and so their goal is to make a substantial amount of money.
Indeed, the average Nigerian is beleaguered from every angle.
Increased Electricity bills without any increase or improvement in supply.
More and higher taxes without any improvement in infrastructure or human development.
Tinted permits glass permits. Compulsory insurance premiums. Tolled highways. Hug Petroleum product prices. Increased exchange rates. Higher tariffs and Import duty. Inflation. Insecurity, etc., etc.
All this in the face of dwindling incomes and eroded money value.
The hardship in the land is genuinely overwhelming.
There is no sign that it will abate anytime soon.
Yet some tell us that, in the long run, things will improve.
That isn’t easy to believe.
According to John Maynard Keynes, a prominent economist, “In the long run we are all dead.”
He believed that focusing on long-term benefits alone” can be misleading when addressing immediate economic or social problems.”
Keynes pointed out that” policymakers should prioritise addressing current issues rather than waiting for long-term solutions that might not materialise in the present.”
One hopes they have expanded the holding capacity of the prisons, as many of us are likely to end up there.
How many people can afford to pay the fines or penalties for defaulting or not paying all these new taxes, levies, premiums, and whatever?
Trouble dey. 2026 will go hot well
Well.
Below are some comments and observations about this new bill from concerned Nigerians.
GEE
COPIED
***”This obnoxious law will push the majority of Nigerians into abject poverty.
The poor masses and accommodation renters will pay the total cost of these taxes/insurance policies through their noses.
Why must government workers be the sole beneficiaries of public funds and have free insurance coverage, while funds generated by taxpayers (everyone) are not available to them?
Why does the federal government of Nigeria demand taxes from patent traders, the self-employed, and micro companies, but exclude them when it comes to housing schemes and other incentives the federal government provides to its workers?
Suppose someone in Nigeria consistently pays all these direct and indirect taxes and compulsory insurance policies and later loses their job. What machinery has the federal government put in place to ensure that this person will have food on the table and help them find another job?
Finally, is there any strong and well-articulated legislation to compel insurance companies to pay compensation to clients within two weeks, as is done in countries that the federal government of Nigeria is trying to emulate in hypocrisy?
Where there is a dead or malfunctioning judiciary, insurance policies will always be a tool for witch hunting, tribalism, financial slavery and a vehicle that conveys all sorts of fraudulent activities.
Everyone should prepare for next year.”
***”I’m not against insuring buildings and other related structures. However, the chaos will begin when insurance companies start failing to meet their own part of the insurance business. The judiciary is very lame and captured by the elite class.”
***”This is actually going to be a revolutionary legislation. This means that public buildings, such as hotels, hospitals, government offices, private sector high-rise buildings, and airports, must be insured. However, the specified insurance capitalisation of at most N35b is inadequate to carry such risks.”
****”I am also pointing out the other dangers and inconsistencies in the Act. How can an insurance company capitalised to the tune of btw N10b and N35b, be insuring buildings valued at over N500b each? Much like requiring a cat to carry an elephant! That is a recipe for failure already.
3. A Thanksgiving Speech to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR)
Your Excellency, Sir, we, your persistent and perpetually plaintive children of this nation, have gathered today to express our deepest gratitude. Not because times are hard, but because you have rescued us from imaginary catastrophes far worse than our current circumstances.
We thank you, Sir, that the dollar is only ₦1,600. Without your divine economic wisdom, it would have been ₦5,000 by now. This is not inflation, this is deliverance.
We thank you, Sir, that petrol costs only ₦900 per litre. Without your paternal care, we would now be trekking to our villages at ₦3,000 per litre.
We appreciate that the Lagos–Abuja flight costs just ₦150k. Ordinary economy! Now, when we Nigerians talk abroad, we can proudly say, “We too pay a premium like New York to California.” Thank you for giving us global relevance.
We thank you for the rice at ₦80k. Sir, you have saved us from the abomination of paying ₦180k per bag. What is hunger when we have you? NAGODE 🙏.
We thank you that Agege bread is only ₦1,400. Some foolish citizens were crying over sliced bread at ₦1,800, but you, in your infinite mercy, reminded us that luxury bread is a fake life mentality. Agege is our national heritage, and you have preserved it. ẸṢEUN, Asiwaju wa! ✊.
We thank you, Sir, that the transport from Lagos to Onitsha is just four times higher than it was during Buhari’s time. Without you, it would have been ₦250k. Who needs affordable travel when we can sit at home and dream of Onitsha? Innovation, Sir, innovation.
We thank you for the electricity bills that shock us more than the current itself. At least, unlike blackout, the bill is a constant light in our lives. Hallelujah!
We thank you for the school fees of ₦350k per term for nursery. Sir, you are preparing our toddlers to pay student loans in advance. What a vision! A vision that will leave no child out of school.
We thank you that pure water is ₦50 per sachet. Water is life, and now it is also an investment. We are drinking our future in instalments.
And now, an International Passport at 100k, yet some of us are wailing. But we later realised this is the best decision to reduce the rate at which doctors, nurses, teachers, innovators, young and brilliant minds are ‘japaring’ out of Nigeria. This is something we are grateful for, Sir. Nigeria first!
Your Excellency, Sir, every hardship is a hidden blessing. Every suffering is a disguised miracle. Every cry is a song of thanksgiving we don’t yet understand. Who are we to complain when you are leading us to the Promised Land?
Ladies and gentlemen, let us rise and shout together in chorus:
Hip, hip, hip – RAISE AM! ✊
Thank you, Mr. President.
Copied!
