The word depression may sound very simple in the ears of many, but it is a silent yet virulent killer described by psychiatrists as “ the common cold of psychiatry.” But one fundamental issue about it is that despite its negative effect it has not received the deserved attention and worse still, little has been published on the subject all over the world and particularly in the African world. It is in response to this, that Dr Vivian Ikem, a scientist who has experienced it came up with a new book entitled, Shadows In the Mirrow: The Many faces of Depression.

DEPUTY governor of Delta State, Mr Kingsley Otuaro, weekend, said the state government would continue to pursue and guarantee a peaceful state, necessary for actualization of its programmes.

DELTA State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, has promised to give oil bearing communities across the state what is due them in terms of social services, manpower and infrastructural development.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, yesterday, urged the country to pay more attention to the non-oil sectors of the economy in view of the dwindling revenue from oil.

National president of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Dr. Lawrence Kayode Obembe, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to increase funding of the health sector, particularly government hospitals to ensure the desired efficient and effective health care delivery to Nigerians.

National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC weekend took its fight against fake drugs to the Lagos International Trade Fair, warning producers of unregistered products to stay away from the fair or face its wrath.

Online marketplace, Konga.com has introduced the bank verification number, BVN as part of its authentication process for online payment in its recently introduced e-payment platform, KongaPay. In order to make online transaction more secure, KongaPay utilises One Time Password, OTP culled from the user’s bank verification number (BVN) to authenticate transactions.

The critical economy segment placements include: Senator Udoma Udo Udoma (Budget and National Planning); Babatunde Fashola, former goveror of Lagos State (Power, Works and Housing); Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, an investment banker (Trade, Industry and Investment); Kemi Adeosun, former Ogun State Commissioner of Finance (Finance); Ibe Kachikwu, Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (Petroleum Resources), Kayode Fayemi, former governor of Ekiti State (Mining); and Audu Ogbeh, former Chairman of PDP (Agriculture and Rural Development).

The housing sector is the bedrock of the economy of most developed nations, an important tool for stimulating growth. Housing construction indices are some of the most common measures used by analysts to gauge economic trends in OECD countries. In more advanced countries like the United States of America, Britain and Canada, the sector contributes between 30 percent and 70 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Investment in housing accounts for 15 percent to 35 percent of aggregate investment worldwide and the sector employs approximately 10 percent of labour force worldwide.

Operators in the nation’s capital market have called on the newly appointed Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, to chart clear economic policies that will leave nobody in doubt of where the country is heading to in order to restore investors’ confidence in the market. They also called on the minister to deemphasize the practise of laying more emphasis on the progress of the money market above the capital market, saying that both segments of the economy are ‘two sides of the same coin.’