Ebele Jonathan: ‘young brain, old brain and brain care’

It is a pity that former President Goodluck EBELE Jonathan has reduced good governance to the youthfulness of a leader. He was purely Afghanistic when he proposed last month that African presidents by law should come from the 50-60 age bracket. In Journalism, Afghanistanism is the casting of stones on pseudo enemies outside the frontier when the real target is in-door. In other words, Jonathan aimed at Nigeria but merely shrouded his intent with Africans which, no doubt, has a legion of aged presidents with anachronistic ideas. His trip to Afghanistan reminded me of the yoruba saying that the stones a man hurls into the market square will surely hit some members of his household.

Saheed Fuad, of Mainland FM radio station in Lagos, was right in his interview programme with KOKOROEDE (language key) that presidential or governorship acumen is not manual labour or boxing or of lifting 50kg bags of cement at a construction site. Fuad also gave the example of United States President Franklin D Roosevelt which, in such matters as this, I always cite with Moshe Dyan, the Israeli Foreign Minister for several years who was blind in one eye during a war to defend Israel against its Arab enemies. Franklin Roosevelt suffered polio in 1921, at the age of 39, but was elected United State’s President from a wheel chair in 1933 for an unprecedented four-term tenure spanning 12 years which ended in 1945, only because the congress at that time limited an American president to only two terms in office. John F Kennedy was elected U.S. President in 1961, despite his severe back pain and Addison’s disease, a condition in which stress of certain adrenal glands fail to produce hormones such as cortisol and aldosterone, causing symptoms such as fatigue, weight loss, low blood pressure and skin darkening. U.S President Woodrow Wilson was hit by a stroke in 1919, became partially paralysed, but remained in office till 1921. In Azerbaijan, Rahman Babaev was re-elected president from a wheel chair after a stroke which left him wheel chair bound. Moshe Dyan lost his left eye in 1941 during world war II, but his country found him fit enough to be defence minister for seven years from 1967 to 1974. What counted for all these men was the blessing for their country in their brains, not in the muscles in their arms or legs. Even in the blessings in a brain, what matters is not whether the brain is that of a young man or that of an old man. For “young or old” is not just about calendar years but the power of biology and chemistry in the brain. Beyond that, we can also talk about the power of connectivity of the brain with transcedence, if we agree that everything immaterial but resident in the material comes from transcedence, is designed while in the material to be guided from transcedence to which it must return upon leaving the material. In other words, whether a young man’s brain, or an old man’s brain is well connected to its guiding Light, and is, thus, a balanced brain, and what a young man or an old man thereafter does with his brain is what will determine whether the brain can stand the test of heavy duty work and time. It is possible former president Jonathan was genuine and patriotic. It is possible, also, he spoke from an unrelenting psychic pain of his defeat by Mohammadu Buhari in 2019 which made the country less governable until the rebound since 2023. It is possible, as well, that Jonathan was counting on being asked back into politics, and is bitter because his preferred political platform is severely battered and probably crippled for the next half decade or more. Whatever his intentions are, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (2010 to 2011 and 2011 to 2015 ) has given us important mental health question to debate: Whose brains are healthier, for presidential responsibilities, more functional and able to bear more work load and pressure…the brains of young persons of about 50 calendar years of age, or those of calendrically older persons? What do we make of calendar age gaps with biological health, when a brain is calendrically younger but biologically older? Can a seventy something-year-old who regularly defends his brain with brain specific antioxidants, brain specific phenolic compounds, brain specific circulation optimizers, anti inflammatories, brain specific nutrients and heavy metal chelators, among others, not have a younger and more resilient brain than a fifty-something year old who is a careless, brain health illiterate and whose brain is riddled with free radicals and toxins of all sorts? In any case, what does the Nigerian constitution imply when it abhors discrimination? The National Anthem gives the assurance that ours will be a land where “no one, young or old, is OPPRESSED”.

Where I am going is that Nature provides abundant medicines for the brain’s upkeep to make it usable and efficient in one’s earth-life, however long the span. I will add, also, that when we discuss the brain, we appear to be unaware that the human ego within the body, the spirit, makes the body which included the brain. Accordingly, to understand the brain, we must have an understanding of this ego and of its coming to being on earth.

The ego is the human spirit, the tenant in the human body which uses it as a cloak, vessel or implement. Thus, it is not out of place to assume that all brains cannot be the same, just as all eyes, kidneys or tongues cannot be. Each brain is adapted to the nature of the ego and to the task the ego has come to the earth to perform. If society recognises so, it would place its leaders in the right places for however long it may be necessary. Before I move on to the core matters of brain HEALTH for all classes of brain, I would like to add that Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon and Lt Col Odumegwu Ojukwu were young men when they plunged Nigeria into the Biafra Civil war of 1967-70. Murtala Mohammed and Olusegun Obasanjo were young men when they impulsively tried to solve Nigeria’s economic problems. Obasanjo last month mentioned massive rice importation as one of their worst mistakes. He could have added to the list the strangulation of Nigeria’s poultry industry in favour of foreign farms and the wastes of foreign reserves on the unecessary adventures in the economy. Better Edi and Yaga Bello are young persons. Which enduring legacies did Goodluck Ebele Jonathan leave behind in Bayelsa state as Deputy Governor to Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyesigha and, later, as the Governor? Did Boko Haram not sack the police headquarters and the United Nations office in Abuja when he was president? Was he not too timid to take over the presidency after the demise of President Yaradua until activists from the South-West paved the way for him? Did he not say he could not engage Boko Haram because he was not a soldier?

THE MAGNIFICENT BRAIN

What can anyone do without a healthy brain well cared for? What do we know about the brain to care for it and to make it healthy throughout an earth-life? These questions are germane to the questions of “young” brains and “old” brains, and which brain is better for an African President to possess.

The brain is the control center of the body. A president who would hold a country or nation together should have a healthy, well functioning brain. “Well functioning goes beyond what many people think. It is not only about speedy reception, storage and retrieval of information. It has, besides, to do with architecture and control of the body by its owner, the human ego or human spirit, through harmonious functioning of all parts of the brain. There is no doubt the nutrition plays a significant role in this, as we shall soon see.

BIOLOGICAL ARCHITECTURE

The brain is divided into a left and a right hemisphere like the walnut and seperated, like the walnut hemispheres, by a pith (corpus callosum). This suggests a secret code or signature tune that the walnut and its leaves could be nutritious for the brain. The nut is a rich source of omega 3 fatty acids and antioxidants which are good for brain health, and the leaves are endowed with anti- inflammatory substances which may protect the brain against inflammation. In France, walnuts are eaten to quieten brains intoxicated by alcohol. The leaves, taken as tea or as powder in meals, are said to help certain mental conditions. Are the similarities in the shapes of the brain and the walnut mere co-incidences or a signature tune or secret code?

BIG BRAIN, SMALL BRAIN

There is an argument over whether the different sizes of the frontal brain ( cerebrum) and the back brain (cerebellum) is a bioligical misconstruction or whether it arose from overcultivation of the intellect by humanity. I am on the side of human blunder and error. Nature makes no mistakes. There is no big eye or a small eye, big kidney or a small kidney, big hand or leg and a small hand or leg. Where there are variations, the cause is to be found in the over-use of the bigger one or under-use or dis-use of the smaller. Whatever is regularly used grows bigger through the Law of Development while what is under-used atrophises or shrinks. Man has become a thinker. Thinking overstimulated the frontal brain and it became bigger than the back brain. Were man more intuitive than he is today, thinking less to solve his problems, both parts of the brain should be propotionate in size.

THE BALANCED BRAIN

A young president with a calendrically “young” brain may be an unbalanced person and, being unbalanced, he may cause more problems for his country than he can solve.

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Volodynyr Zelensalyy became the sixth President of Ukraine on 21 April 2019 aged 41 and, wasting no time took decisions over Crimea which escalated Russian invasion of his country. He probably took less notice of the fact that Crimea’s History was complex. A part of the Soviet Union, source of bickering with Britain, France and Germany, ceded to Ukraine in 1954 when it was a member of the Soviet bloc, A Ukraine now wishing to join the Euro American bloc with Crimea was a subtle betrayal of trust which would make Russia wish to annex Crimea.

THE BALANCED PERSON IS INTUITIVE, NOT THINKING. That means the spirit in the Earth body receives guidance from its helpers and guides beyond the earth through its intuitive facilities, and transfers the reception to the cerebellum or back brain. The back brain received the messages pictorially and transmits them to the frontal brain which decodes them into thought and other physical actions. Its because the back brain has become less used for generations as the spiritually receptive part of the brain that it has become stunted as the small brain and the frontal brain, being used in thinking out values, has enlarged to become the big brain.

The Law of Balance holds the universe together. Young presidents who are not balanced cannot make their countries balanced, however young their brains may be. The same is true for an unbalanced, physically old president. However, a calendrically old president who is brain balanced may have youthful and healthy well co-ordinating brains which may make his country a balanced one.

Mahathir Mohammed spent 24 years from 56 years of age to 80 to build Malaysia into a modern economy. He handed the country to Najib Razak, 64, and this man so damaged the country that Mahathir Mohammed was recalled at 92 to refix it.

THE NERVES

We and our brains are nothing without our nerves. Without them, I cannot read a newspaper, sip tea from a cup or verbally mention my name. They originate as Neurons in the brain and travel to all parts of the body, including fingers, the skin and the toes, among other places.

There are about 86 billion neurons in the brain of an average adult. Important as they are, neurons account for about 10 percent of brain cells. The rest are Glial cells which support neurons. When neurons die or are damaged, they are hardly replaceable. This is why we should take care of our neuronsDoesn’t Nature help? It does in diverse ways, but many of us do not co-operate with it. There is a brain bloosd barrier (BBB) which does not allow toxins and pathogens in the blood stream to reach the brain. Excessive alcohol and sugar intake disrupts the BBB, causing inflammation and oxidative stress and free radicals in the brain.

Has Nature no answers for this? It produces three basic antioxidants for clearing up the brain and protecting the neurons. These are Gluthatione, Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) and Catalase. They are made from amino acids, which comprise essential amino acids that must come from the diet. Like a body guard, Gluthatione protects neurons against free radicals and oxidative stress. SOD converts Superoxide to hydrogen peroxide (H202) and then reduces it to water and oxygen.

To have enough Gluthatione, SOD and Catalase, the diet must have complete proteins. Animal flesh has it, but it impacts toxins that may not be good for some persons. Spirulina, the blue green algae offers a better option, because it offers all the essential and non- essential amino acids in simple forms.

If catalase and SOD are like “clean-out-crew for neurons, maintenance cells are the building crew”. They provide neurons with oxygen, nutrients, fight infections and maintain acid alkaline balance, clear cellular debris among other functions. Deep sleep, omega 3 fatty acids, exercise and anti-oxidant rich foods protect and grow their population.

And the nervous system? The neurons give rise to the nerves. If the nerves are stretched out in a line, they would measure about 160,000 kilometers (100,000 miles) long. That is about nine round trips between Lagos and New York. This complex mesh needs protection and nurture. The protection involves immunity against pathogens and infections, free radicals, toxins, heavy metals and inflammation, among others. Nature would not leave unprotected a system this important.

In high school, we learned Vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency may cause BERI BERI, and even paralyse nerves. That is why white or polished rice and processed foods which Nigerians hanker after are bad foods. Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and its cousin, selenium, are important for healthy brain. Dr. Ray Strand, in What your doctor does not know about Nutrition may be killing you eulogises grape seed extract for neurons and nerve health. Dr. Rita Levi Montaloni discovered Lion’s Mane Mushroom during World War II and, for this, became an ambassador penipotentiary for her country. This Mmushroom, now found to fight cancer and other terrible diseases, is reported to repair mangled or damaged nerves and to help the brain to produce neurotrophic factors or Nerve Growth Factors (NGF) which promote neuronal efficiency. Ginkgo Biloba has been shown to help in dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Gotu Kola, well associated in Asia with longevity, promotes blood circulation to and in the brain like Ginkgo, and balances both hemispheres of the brain. The fat content of the brain is important. Fats make 60 percent of brain content dry weight, support cell membrane structure, supports nerve transmission, helps cognitive function apart from helping to embed the neurons. It is prone to deterioration and needs protection. When fatty meat and lean meat are kept beside each other for days, the fatty one is the one which first begins to become rotten. One of the protective agents for brain fat are anti-oxidants active in fat and fluid tissue. Aipha Lipoic Acid (ALA), one of my favourites for the brain, is one of such. Fatty fish is another. Phosphatidyl serine is another. Others are antioxidants and phenolic compounds. Ditto Bacopa monnieri, Green tea, Ginseng tea, tumeric tea, Ashwagandah tea, Lion’s mane mushroom tea. In the minerals sector, the following counts well…Magnesium, zinc, iron, copper and selenium.

The brain is often bogged down by heavy metals lealed into food from cookware such as aluminium pots, kettles, dishes and steel pepper or metal grinders. Chlorella helps to bring them out of the brain into the blood stream while Coriander (efo ebolo in Yoruba) drags them out of the blood into urine.

Inexhaustible is the treasure trove of Mother Nature. I can’t mention here all I know for brain health. There are too many for cognition, mood upswing and behaviour balance. A young man who knows about them early enough and keeps to the rules will enjoy his brain to ripe, old age while an aging person who runs into them before it is too late has an opportunity to have a brain younger and more efficient than that of a younger man who did not know about them nor go the extra mile to keep His brain upbeat.

Is former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan listening?

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