The story of US based Dr. John O. Alizor can aptly be described as a rise from grass to grace. He lost his parents at a very tender age but today he has become a force to be reckoned with globally as a leading entrepreneur, executive advisor and consultant.
Alizor who recently published a book on leadership titled: Leadership: Understanding Theory, Style & Practice spoke with Lekan Otufodunrin, about his upbringing, new book and how he hopes the book would provide the needed impact on leadership
Congratulations on your new book. Why did you decide to publish a book on leadership?
During my tenure as a public school high school teacher, in the state of California, I was astonished when I found out that some school principals could not differentiate between leadership and management. As a result, I decided that I must write a book on leadership to help increase understanding and mitigate the misconceptions on the subject.
What is the main message you want to pass on to readers of the book?
I want the readers of my book to know that leadership is not innate and that anyone can acquire the skill to become a leader.
There are many books on leadership already, how is yours different from others?
Most of the leadership books simply address theories of leadership; others expand the text to include practice. Here is the difference between my book and other leadership books:
It is a guidebook on leadership for theory (leadership model), style, (the way to lead) and practice (how to lead).
Other leadership books tend to limit the discourse on the subject to theory, style or practice. In other words the leadership components are presented in isolation, but my book linked the three components to help you better make the connection and apply them to your leadership decision making process.
It helps you identify your own style that you have unconsciously or consciously used over the years to guide your leadership judgments. It introduces Dr. Alizor’s Leadership Effectiveness Matrix used to help individuals assess the kind of leader they are.
It provides you case studies on actual leadership challenges followed by a discussion of the cases to help you discover solutions to challenges that are relevant to you. It incorporates reflective questions meant to further discussions on leadership.
I believe that an understanding of how these three aspects of leaders, theory, and style, and practice, work together can help you become a better leader. For example, in part III, I introduced the practice of leadership by synthesizing all the three elements.
As a Nigerian, though living abroad, what is your assessment of the various levels of leadership in the country?
I am unsure if I can speak to the leadership in Nigeria because I have lived in the United States most of my life. However, one thing that I do know, as a leadership expert, is that nations and corporations face similar leadership issues. They are both in the business of meeting the people’s expectations, specifically their needs and aspiration.
Leadership effectiveness is measured by the degree in which leaders meet the needs and aspirations of their followers. Therefore, the assessment of the various levels of leadership in Nigeria must be based on the degree to which they meet the needs of the diverse citizenry of Nigeria. Leaders must do what is right for their followers and not only do the right thing for a few.
What do think would give the country the kind of leadership it really deserves?
As mentioned earlier in this interview, I have been away from Nigeria for a very long time, I am unsure if I can speak to the kind of leadership that it really deserves. However, Nigerian leaders, as with every other leader, can learn from the needs of their constituencies and strive to provide resources to fill the needs of their people. Leaders need to understand that they are elected to serve the people, and not the other way around. I spoke of various leadership styles, in my book, to guide leaders.
What is the role of followership in ensuring good leadership?
First of all, I don’t subscribe to the notion that followership role produces good leaders since leaders are the custodian of their vision for their followers. It is not the followers’ duty to influence their leaders; rather it is the leader that influences their followers. This is the core dimension of leadership. Hence the one that influences is the leader and the one that is being influenced becomes the follower.
What was your experience living in Nigeria and how did you become an orphan?
My experience living in Nigeria was less than desirable, partly because I belonged, at the time, to a low socio-economic class. The system, then, in Nigeria did not provide resources for me to excel in academics, specifically because our family was very poor. You asked me, how did I become an orphan? Well, my parents died when I was in primary one (US 1st grade). I did not witness my father’s death, but I was told that he was very sick for a long time without a trained physician to tend to him. I did, however, witness my mother’s death, she too was very sick with a tumor on the right side of her stomach.
Tell us more about your mother and her dying wish for you to get education?
I was brought to my uncle’s house, my mother’s brother Azagbaekwe, because my mother had requested to see me before her death. It seems as if she was aware that she had only few hours to live. When I arrived, I saw her lying on her brother’s dried mud bed waiting to die. It was then that she reached out and took my hand and delivered her immortal last words to me, “nǒdi ulǒ akwukwuǒ, (stay in school) and the other was to leave the village after my education. My mother never went to school, so her sense of educated person was limited to primary six (US 6th grade). She was still holding my hand when she passed away.
How did you make your way to the US and survived?
I made my way to the US through building a pen pal relationship with a Christian Caucasian elderly woman in the United. I started writing to her that I wish I could come to the US to learn typing and shorthand. I also told her my story about my parents. So she developed interest in me and through her I came to the USA. Once I arrived in the US she provided support for me to survive, and enrolled me in a high school. Her name was Ms Bessie Gardner Sharpe. I know that she would be very proud of me if she was alive today.
How did you make your first million dollars in the manufacturing sector and now operating your business?
I invented hair product for the maintenance of the Jheri Curl for African Americans. I coined the name “Curl Activator” for the hair moisturizer and it became popular in the early 80’s in the United States.
If you had stayed in Nigeria do you think you will be as successful as you are now?
Definitely not.
What is your line of business?
My line of business is leadership business solutions and executive consulting. I have concluded that top executives need experts that are not a member of their inner circle (closed sphere of influence) to guide them in making difficult decisions. So I provide the service to help them focus on the solution that they need to move to the next level.
What will you say are the secrets of business success?
I think that this is a very important question. I think that the core secrets of business success are as follows:
● Respect for employees
● Provide services or products that help people
● Altruism, putting other people’s interest ahead your interest.
● Integrity
● Honesty
● Keeping smart people around at all times.
● Show clients and customers that you care about them.
● Show confidence in yourself and in your product.
● Embrace innovation
● Practice fairness
What do you hope to achieve with your new book?
To have every entrepreneur have a copy at all times as a guide book to leadership business solutions on their desks. Equally important is to help others enhance their leadership approach and become effective leaders of their organization.
What is your advice to Nigerians who want to come abroad to seek greener pastures?
I hope that I have not painted the picture that leaving Nigeria to reside abroad is a road map for greener pasture. I think that I was extremely blessed in my own case. My advice to other Nigerians who want to come to the USA is that they should try to build a relationship with someone in the United States, tell them your story and be truthful about what you hope to achieve once you are in the United States.
It is given that every girl from the age of 13 knows what her perfect day should look like; the colours, the feel and the sounds. As she grows older and her tastes change, the colours may change, the vibe she wants to create may get some tweaking but still the dream stays alive.
She knows who her maid of honour is even before she meets her groom. In her head, her wedding day plays very often like a feature film. It‘s her escape from the world. She sees that perfect day in her mind’s eye, smiles and carefully makes tiny adjustments to this dream that would someday become a reality.
Fast forward a few years and she meets the person who fits into this perfect picture and the struggle is taking this day she created in her head to reality. As events unfold most of her fantastic ideas are increasingly hard to turn into reality.
She needs her day to play out just the way it did in her head and truly, everyone deserves the chance to have their dreams come true. Sadly the horse she planned on riding from the church to the reception may not be possible because the distance just wouldn’t let her.
At this point, whether or not she realises it, she needs someone who could assist her in creating something that would bear the semblance to the day she has pictured in her head. She cannot do this alone and as much as she wants to take charge and protect this dream which only she has lived, she sees the need to hand over the reins to someone who would be less emotionally invested and think practically on how to help create her special day.
Depending on the scale of the wedding, everyone needs a wedding planner, whether this person comes in the form of a professional or a relative with good organisational skills.
Another option is to plan one’s own day but hire a consultant to ensure the smooth flow and running of the big day.
Ayeesha Adofikwu of Vier Events, a professional event manager, shares top reasons why every bride needs a wedding planner:
Vendor Archive: A wedding planner has a wide range of service providers tailored for different budgets that he or she has worked with. Therefore hiring a wedding planner gives you access to an expansive vendor archive.
Professional Touch: It is almost impossible to hire a professional planner who knows his/her job and not have your guest marvel at the touch of professionalism.
Trends: He/she is aware of new trends and is able to keep you abreast of them.
Best Market Prices: Based on the professional’s familiarism with the market, he/she is able to offer you the best market prices.
Details: As it is popularly said, ‘The devil is in the details’ there are details you may not be able to see because of your emotional involvement in the main event. The professional is trained to see these details and tie up loose ends.
Weight off your shoulders: This is by far the most important reason to hire a planner. Delegating authority and responsibility to someone else takes the burden off your shoulders and gives you freedom to focus on the day and allows you to enjoy your event.
Employing the services of a wedding planner may come with a price tag but if a successful and well coordinated event is your priority, then it is completely worth it.
Growing rates of overweight and obese women is triggering a new generation of overweight children.
Women over the age of 25, and especially those over 35, have the highest risk of gestational diabetes. It can be genetic but experts agree that one’s lifestyle is the most important predictor.
Up to 60 per cent of women who have gestational diabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years of their pregnancy.
If you’re overweight or obese, your chances of having gestational diabetes is two and four times higher, respectively, than women of normal weight, according to a report in the journal Diabetes Care. If you use tobacco, your chances double.
Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that affects women during pregnancy, causes babies to be large for their gestational age, and sets mothers and children up to suffer type 2 diabetes and related conditions later in life.
Most women who have gestational diabetes can deliver healthy babies but it increases the likelihood of needing delivery by C-section. Excess blood glucose that is seen in diabetes crosses the placenta, triggers insulin and promotes fat storage. Larger babies get wedged in the birth canal and can suffer severe birth complications.
Gestational diabetes can also cause early or preterm birth and respiratory distress syndrome – both major contributors to high infant mortality rates. Babies of mothers with gestational diabetes are more likely to experience respiratory distress syndrome even if they’re not born early.
After birth, when insulin starts to kick in and the baby’s blood sugar drops, the infant is at risk for seizures, jaundice, polycythaemia vera, low calcium and low magnesium, according to Dr Timothy Morley, medical director for Women’s Healthy Hormones. Immediate breastfeeding can often normalize a baby’s blood sugar level.
Gestational diabetes can cause high blood pressure, preeclampsia and eclampsia in otherwise healthy mothers. Preeclampsia is the most common complication during pregnancy and is characterized by a sudden, sharp rise in blood pressure.
Preeclampsia affects about 1 in every 20 pregnancies but obesity trends are causing it to become even more common.
“More people are going into pregnancy overweight,” said Dr Danine Fruge, director of women’s health and family medicine at the Pritikin Longevity Centre and Spa.
Many women who aren’t diabetic going into pregnancy may still have metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance – risk factors they may not have had if they had a normal body mass index (BMI), Fruge said.
Type 2 diabetes is a major risk factor in the development of heart attack and stroke. Women who had gestational diabetes have a 26 per cent higher 10 year-risk for heart disease, according to a recent study in the journal Circulation.
In a similar study published in the journal Diabetes Care, women who have had gestational diabetes have a higher risk of blood vessel disease, cholesterol problems, clogged blood vessels, and metabolic syndrome.
Exercise is the most effective way to improve insulin control, keep blood sugar in check, reduce harmful cholesterol and lower blood pressure that is linked to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Exercising during pregnancy is perfectly safe and can promote a healthy baby and mother. However, a woman should not try to lose weight during pregnancy without first consulting with her doctor.
A mother can reduce her post-labour risk of type 2 diabetes by 58 per cent by losing 7 per cent of her body weight and exercising moderately 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
Couillard is an international health columnist that works in collaboration with the World Health Organization’s goals of disease prevention and control. He can be contacted via:
On the scale of 10, how ethical is your organisation? Can you beat your chest to say your firm is actually making success? What about the employees in your fold and their personal ethics. Do they truly represent the organisation’s core values?
Ethics is defined as a system of accepted beliefs and principles of conduct typically based on moral imperatives that govern the behaviour of individuals and the groups to which they belong.
Here are six unethical practices that can ruin your organisation:
Bribery:
Getting the biggest advertising account in town isn’t a stroll in the park neither is securing billionaires to save in your institution a child’s play. But the moment you make it a do-or-die your organisation is bound to tow the unethical part.
One of such is offering bribes. A bribe subordinates the recipient to the donor. Inducing a process portends the organisation as unethical and soonest such enterprise will be in ruins.
Dishonesty:
How true are you to customers and prospective buyers? Integrity is key when dealing with people. The moment you lose the confidence of your customers, the moment an organisation’s dwindling resources begin. Being dishonest will only ruin your organisation’s reputation, which will be difficult to regain even with an Ivy Lee led PR team.
Conflicts of Interest:
Failing to give every bidder for a contract a level playing ground just to favour your relative, business partner and long time pal portends a conflict of interest. Conflicts of interest are unethical practices that pitch personal interests against the general good of the organisation. When such practices happen, a blink second is what it takes to ruin the organisation.
Unethical employee:
Having in the fold employees that have questionable characters could be a stain on integrity of an organisation. An unethical employee translates to an unethical organisation. Employees make up an organisation so their morals, values and principles must be ethical.
Sexual harassment:
Unwanted sexual looks and gestures, touching, grabbing and attempted rape are examples of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment has damaging impact on the victim and organisation. Mostly sexually harassed are the women. Becoming known as a company that has a hostile environment for women will damage your brand.
Double standard employer:
An employer of labour who desires an ethical organisation must be a leading leader. He must lead by example. Never must he be heard indulging in unethical practice. An employer is an influence on his employees and hence a promoter of ethical practice must he be. Employers should not only concentrate on creating structures and systems to guide employees’ behaviour but should also ensure that their personal conduct sets the standard for ethical behaviour.
It is a harsh life for Nigeria’s child brides; besides the trauma of protracted labour on bodies too young to birth a child, the death of the child and severity of injuries sustained during labour, the child bride loses her role as wife and mother. This loss is nothing compared to the trauma of ostracism and betrayal she suffers by her parents and other family members, writes OLATUNJI OLOLADE, Assistant Editor
A victim of child marriage
Just off the highway that leads to Kubwa, an Abuja outskirt, twilight bounds softly on the path to Lima’s spot. Lima, in skintight pants and transparent sari, sits in a corner of an open bar. Unlike the other girls, she does not loiter too close to the entrance, neither does she try so hard to gain the attention of every male patron; she tries not to be too obvious.
“I am not a common prostitute…I don’t parade myself like bad tomato,” she explains. There is something instructive in her analogy of the “bad tomato.” It puts in a nutshell, the realities that shape the life of the 17-year-old divorcee and social outcast.
Lima’s predicament began eight years ago in Danjida, Kano State. Just before she clocked10, her mother told her that she would be escorting her to a traditional family festival; the party was allegedly organised by the family’s elders for pretty young girls like Lima, as an initiation into womanhood. The nine-year-old was ecstatic; she was going to be a woman and, according to her mother, she would receive a lot of expensive gifts from her family friends and relatives.
The evening before the event, Lima and her mother departed from their Kawaje neighbourhood for a large compound in Danjida, her ancestral homeland, where they sat all night with her first cousins, distant cousins and other girls whom she could barely recognise. The girls waited expectantly and watched with admiration as their mothers chatted animatedly and danced to the drumbeats.
They were there all night but at the first streak of daylight, Lima’s paternal aunt, Aunt Sajida, emerged from the backyard to lead her to her fate. “She told me not to cry and urged me to do our family proud. She said if I did, I would get a lot of gifts and grow to become a very beautiful woman,” says Lima.
The nine-year-old followed her aunt sheepishly to the backyard. there, she was led into a dark room occupied by two women. According to her, no sooner did she enter than the women grabbed her hands and held her in a tight grip, one of them locking her legs and the other her arms. While she struggled with terror and an intense foreboding of what was to come, a third woman entered the room and lifted her wrapper. As Lima was struggling, her pant was practically torn off; then she felt excruciating pain. Blood gushed from her private part and cascaded her legs. In seconds, Lima (who clocked 10 years overnight) passed out.
By the time she woke up, she had undergone the gishiri cut (circumcision) and has thus become a woman by cultural standards. But nobody told her of the pain; after her circumcision, the women sewed up her private part without anaesthesia, thus causing her great pains and she bled continuously from the wound. Panic-stricken, her mother and aunt screamed repeatedly at the women who circumcised her and the latter ran helter-skelter to stop the bleeding.
Eventually, somebody brought some black powder and applied it on the wound, but it only caused her to smart and squirm some more. Lima bled the whole day and as she cried, her mother and aunt applied the black powder intermittently on the wound, causing her more pain. “I could not pee. Every time I tried to, I felt intense pain in my genitals,” says Lima, adding that she fell ill from the wound over a long period.
The following year, Lima was forcefully married to 76-year old Baba Ahmadu, her father’s best friend in a hastily contrived marriage ceremony. The details, she says, were unclear to her but she remembers that money changed hands between her father and her husband. The first time she had sex with her husband, there was a lot of trouble; Lima lied to him that she needed to pee and thereby fled to her parents’ house but her father ordered her brothers to return her to her husband. “My mother slapped me and issued me a stern warning not to disgrace her. Then my brothers tied my hands and flogged me with horsewhip,” she discloses.
They delivered her at the tender age of 11 to her husband, feet and hands bound and legs held firmly apart so he could consummate the marriage. Before the consummation, an elderly woman whom Lima identifies as her husband’s younger sister came in to undo the stitches sewn on her genitals after her circumcision. Lima had to go through this without any form of anaesthesia, hence she was in great pains. Then her brothers held her in position for her husband to mount her.
“I was already in great pain and I bled profusely before he mounted me. I begged my brothers to release me; I pleaded with them to stop holding me down for Baba Ahmadu but they turned deaf ears. They kept telling me to shut up and looked away. After he (her husband) finished, I saw him dip his hands into his pocket and give them (her brothers) N1,000,” recollects Lima with a sob.
The next day, her Aunt Mariam came visiting and tearfully, Lima recounted to her, her gruesome experience in the hands of her husband but to her horror, the latter patted her on the back and told her to cooperate with her husband. “She said I was no longer a child and that the more I struggled with him, the greater disgrace I bring upon our family. She said our ancestors would curse me if I did not stop disgracing our family…when I told her that my genitals bleed and hurt me badly, she said if I relax the next time my husband lies with me, the pain would stop and the wound will heal quicker,” says Lima.
But the pain never stopped nor did the wound heal quickly as her aunt assured her. Lima claims she felt violated and hurt every time her husband had sex with her and for a week, she could not stand or walk upright. “I could not sit down or walk upright because of the pain. I hated my husband more every time he slept with me. He virtually forced himself on me and he was very rough. Eventually, I became pregnant in two months,” she says.
However, due to complications from protracted labour, Lima’s baby died at birth and she suffered a severe case of obstetric fistula. At the onset of the disease – vesico vaginal fistula (VVF) or obstetric fistula – Lima’s husband abandoned her. She says: “He took me to the clinic and abandoned me there. He said I was destroying his home with urine and faeces. Then he sent my belongings to my parents. He said he was no longer interested in marrying me. He said I had brought him agony and bad luck.”
To her chagrin, her parents sent her belongings to her at the hospital. According to her, “They sent my eldest brother to give them to me with a sum of N900. He told me that I was not expected back home since I had brought shame on my family. He said my father had chased mother out of the house and spat at me.”
It took Lima two years and a month before she got cured and when she did, she departed for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, by the assistance of a nurse. The latter handed her over to a childhood friend who purportedly runs a food canteen in Kubwa, Abuja. With gratitude and optimism, Lima departed Kano for Abuja with her benefactress. But the truth didn’t dawn on her until she got to Abuja; there was no waitress job waiting for her at a food canteen, rather she was forced to squat in a tiny room at the back of her benefactress’ makeshift beer parlour in Kubwa. There, she survives by hawking sex for money, even as you read.
Lima says things are looking up for her; four months ago, her Madame granted her the freedom to entertain her own clients between 5 a.m. and 3.30 p.m. every day. Notwithstanding her predicament, Lima says: “I don’t fling myself at any man. I am not some cheap prostitute. I respect myself,” she says with the coolness of a sex worker who knows that patronage may be acquired by more discreet measures, like elegance and stubborn pride.
A suicide mission
A visit to Lima’s hometown heralds a pilgrimage of sort; the whereabouts of Lima’s mother and eldest brother is unknown and her father, Audu, currently grapples with old age. He suffers fecal and urinal incontinence brought about by age; he urinates and defaecates where he sleeps and his body is riddled with bedsores. None of the three wives he married after Lima’s mother stays with him. “they all deserted him as his condition worsened and it became clear that he lacks the means to cater for his household,” reveals Saidattu Mohammed, a bean and corn syrup seller who claims to be responsible for the 89-year old’s breakfast and supper every day. “Nobody pays me for what I do. I do it for God,” she claims.
Despite his predicament, the 89-year old betrays no love for Lima neither does he feel contrition for the way he treated her. His eyes widened and he got very agitated when the reporter revealed that he had spoken to Lima. Idrissu, a gangly youth, presumably in his mid-20s who identified himself as Lima’s immediate elder brother, ushered me out of their compound, muttering curses under his breath. According to my guide, any attempt to stay longer would have ended disastrously.
Five cows for a daughter
Like Lima, Hamida suffered the raw end of the deal from her husband and family. Hamida, 18, sells fruits at the Mararaba orange market in Nasarrawa. But that is her day job; at night, Hamida joins two of her friends at a popular roadside bar in Utaku, Abuja. At the back of the bar, she changes into tight-fitting blouse and skimpy skirt. Then she stands by the roadside to beckon on would-be patrons for ‘short-time’ sex or ‘till-day-break’ romp.
The 18-year-old’s journey to infamy began six years ago on a quiet afternoon in Kajuru, Kaduna State. According to her, she was just starting to heal from circumcision ritual when her mother and eldest sister, a widow, sat her down to inform her that they had accepted a marriage proposal on her behalf.
“When I protested that I was too young for marriage and that I would rather go to school, my mother told me that education is not meant for a cultured and dutiful daughter. Immediately, I rushed to ask my father why he did that. I told him he wouldn’t do that, if he truly loved me but he brought out a whip and started flogging me. He said he had accepted five cows for my hand. It was the first time my father flogged me in two years…I begged him not to marry me off, I cried that the marriage will kill me but he said I had become wayward and threatened to disown me if I failed to obey his wish,” reveals Hamida.
Eventually, she did her parent’s bidding and Hamida got married to Usman, a 65-year-old cow dealer at the age of 12. After the wedding, the newlywed relocated to Jibiya, Katsina State, where Usman sold cows. However, the matrimony was never as heavenly as Hamida’s mother assured her it would be.
“I had two senior wives and life with them was hellish. None of them had ever gotten pregnant and the fact that I got pregnant one month into my marriage made them hate me. They taunted me endlessly, claiming that I had charmed their husband and that God will deal with me…Eventually, their wishes came true; when I went into labour, my husband had travelled on a business trip, hence my senior wives invited a local midwife and abandoned me with her.
“They didn’t care that I had complications. The midwife said my waist was too tiny to birth a child and I had lost too much blood. After three days of painful labour, I was delivered in my room. I was there for about three days. I experienced serious pains and bled continuously. My baby never cried; I tried to breast feed him but he refused to feed. His breathing was barely audible. Worried by his state, the midwife prepared some herbal concoction and forced it down his throat; this caused his stomach and the left side of his chest to become distended.
“They said it was his heart that got bloated. At this point, the midwife stopped coming. When I sent a neighbour’s child to find her, they said she had travelled…Eventually my neighbours helped me to the hospital. When I got there, my son was confirmed dead. He died on the day that we were supposed to have his naming ceremony. While I cried, the doctor told me that I was very sick and they referred me for further treatment at the big hospital in Babbar Ruga (Babbar Ruga Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF) Centre in Katsina State). By that time, I was defaecating and urinating all over my body. The doctor and the nurses covered their noses and mouths while they attended to me.
“More painful was the fact that my husband at his arrival from his business trip, came to inform me that he was divorcing me. He accused me of killing his child and told me never to set foot in his house again. My mother came to see me in Babbar Ruga but she only came to give me two wrappers and N2,000. She said I should try to beg my husband and get back into his house. She said no one would welcome me back into my father’s house,” recollects Hamida.
After undergoing corrective surgery at Babbar Ruga, Hamida relocated to Abuja with two of her friends. Today, she survives by petty trade in fruits at daytime and a nocturnal trade in sex for money.
VVF patient dripping with urine
Customary disaster
The plight of Lima and Hamida illustrates the stark misery characteristic of the world of many child brides in the country. By its magnitude, VVF is a major public health problem in Nigeria. Prevalence estimations range from as low as 100,000 to as much as 1,000,000 cases. Health experts, however, quote 400,000 to 800,000 even as Dutch surgeon, Dr. Kees Waaldijk, who has worked with the Nigerian government in the past 25 years, to end fistula through his direction of the Nigeria National Fistula Programme, states firmly that the backlog is 200,000 to a maximum 250,000 patients.
The incidence is estimated at 20,000 new cases a year; while 90 per cent are untreated. This implies that about 55 women are infected by VVF and 18,000 cases are untreated daily. It is estimated that two million women suffer from obstetric fistula globally. In Nigeria alone, the north has over 85 per cent of these cases. The vast majority of VVF is caused by obstructed labour, gishiri (circumcision) cut and obstetrical trauma.
Fistula, the Latin word for “pipe,” is an “abnormal passage” between organs —in this case, between the vagina and the bladder, the rectum, or both. The hole makes the woman uncontrollably incontinent of urine or feces or both and transforms a healthy person into a leaking, reeking, “cesspit,” in the words of Lima.
Obstetric fistula results from obstructed labour, which occurs when the baby cannot pass through the mother’s birth canal because it either does not come head first or is too large for her pelvis. Prompt medical intervention, often including Caesarean section, permits a delivery safe for both mother and child. But thousands of times each year across the country, birthing women receive no such aid and their labour is a futile agony lasting between three and five days, with uterine contractions constantly forcing the baby, usually head first, against unyielding pelvic bone.
The unremitting pressure usually kills the child and prevents blood supply to the soft tissues of the vagina and other organs trapped between the baby’s skull and her pelvis. Eventually these tissues also die, forming one or more fistulas and the baby’s head softens sufficiently for the stillborn child to pass from her body. Should she survive, the mother soon finds urine, faeces or both leaking unstoppably from her vagina.
In about a fifth of cases, the woman also suffers nerve injury that can cause a condition called footdrop, which prevents normal walking. Constant contact with urine or faeces irritates and infects her skin and other tissues. Her kidneys, bladder, or other nearby organs may also be damaged. Her menstrual periods may stop, rendering her infertile.
If Lima and Hamida’s experiences are more favourable than most, their years of destitution and social banishment are disturbingly typical. The Nation findings reveal that the majority of VVF sufferers are abandoned by their families, divorced by their husbands, and forced to fend for themselves, often by begging, menial jobs and prostitution.
Hopeful interventions
Nigeria has a long-standing history of fistula repair: Dr. Sr. Ann Ward was Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and fistula expert and trainer at St. Luke’s Hospital, Anua, Akwa Ibom State. She recently retired after a 40-year career. She also was in charge of the vesico-vaginal fistula treatment at nearby Itam. However, the acceleration of surgical interventions began with the arrival in Katsina in 1983 of Dr. Kees Waaldijk, a plastic surgeon from the Netherlands. He came primarily to repair the leprosy patients but quickly devoted his energy exclusively to fistula repair and training.
In the early 90s, the National Foundation on VVF was created with Dr. Waaldijk as the leading surgeon. With the commencement of the Campaign to End Fistula nationwide, fistula repair in Nigeria progressed in higher gear. An extra boost for advocacy as well as repair was given through an event that still is the referral activity: the organisation of the Fistula Fortnight in four Northern states in 2005.
Currently, there are approximately 20 centres providing VVF treatment on a regular basis in the country. According to Dr. Waaldijk, 11 of these centres are part of the National VVF Project. By 2008, the National VVF Project had performed a total 25,000 VVF/RVF repairs and related interventions since its inception.
The exact number of fistula repairs carried out annually in Nigeria is, however, unknown. Most VVF treatment centres collect information on the number of interventions carried out, but recording and reporting is incomplete and non-systematic. A centralised recording and reporting system is not in place either. It is, however, estimated that approximately some 2,000 to 4,000 fistula repairs are done every year.
But even as studies enumerate anatomical, matrimonial, and demographic factors that increase risk, experts emphasize that the basic reason for fistulas lies not in women’s bodies, social lives, or diet alone, but in the failure of health systems to provide the resources needed to ensure safe childbirth. Many studies lay “undue emphasis…on early marriage as the aetiology of the disease,” states Dr. Mohammed Kabir of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in Kano. According to him, the lack of skilled supervision, of childbirth and adequate emergency facilities are to blame.
Further findings reveal that the prevalence of obstetric fistula is embedded in a complex network of social issues, including socio-cultural perceptions of the status of women, the distribution and availability of health care resources, perceptions about the nature and importance of maternal health problems, and the social, economic and political infrastructures of affected societies.
“Three stages of delay,” according to medical experts, prevent victims from get-
ting the help they deserve. First, embarrassment, tradition, cost or misplaced optimism delays the realization that labour has gone awry. Second, distance, bad roads, or lack of a vehicle delay the journey to a clinic or hospital where the situation could probably have been salvaged. Finally, crowding, understaffing, or lack of resources may delay the needed services when the woman finally arrives at the clinic. A Caesarean section performed within the first 48 hours of labour will generally prevent fistula, although it may not save the baby.
An affliction of the poor?
Fatimatu Saliu, a Zaria-based nurse and social worker, argues that a greater percentage of VVF patients usually fall within the low income and impoverished economic divide. “You hardly see the rich marrying their underage daughters off for money. Many of the victims come from poor homes and their parents marry them off at a tender age for economic gain,’’ she says.
One perception too many
Marriage historians have noted that it will take more than a couple of decades to rewrite a marital playbook that is thousands of years old. The institutions of child marriage are a remnant of medieval marital culture. Men who practise these types of antiquated marriages adamantly resist and reject contemporary notions of marriage as a partnership of equals based upon mutual love and free-will. The practices of child marriage rely upon the historical, social and cultural assumptions and beliefs that support marriage as an economic transaction, whereby a woman or girl, is merely an object for exchange between one man and another.
These practices inflict great harm upon women and girls. According to Milda Okonedo, a social psychologist, it traps young girls in relationships that deprive them of their childhood and education while making them vulnerable and at risk for abuse, disease and even death; this impact negatively on the woman they eventually become.
Nigerian VVF patients waiting for treatment at a local VVF centre
Social constructions of the child bride
As a married partner, her new social set is supposed to be other married women, but being a mere child, most of these women will be older and not likely to be an easy social fit. Consequently, married girls straddle two worlds and frequently find that they are alone and isolated in their new marital homes. For instance, interviews with victims reveal that they are isolated and under the control of their husbands and co-wives. Their isolation compounds their diminished access to information and services, making them not easily reached by conventional mechanisms such as youth centers or peer education.
The federal Government has attempted to outlaw child marriage. In 2003 it passed the Child Rights Act, prohibiting marriage under the age of 18. But to correct the anomaly, Janet Essiet, a Kano-based lawyer and ‘women’s rights activist’ suggests more government interventions at the grassroots. “Research findings persistently reveal that child marriage is perpetrated mostly among impoverished folks in the country’s rural areas. The government needs to make its presence felt at these local levels. Government could bolster its efforts by improving agricultural support and facilitating more income-generating opportunities for many families at the grassroots. If parents can adequately cater for their children’s needs, they won’t be forced to marry them off at ridiculous prices for survival,” she says.
The government also needs to cooperate with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) committed to the eradication of the problem, argues Zulaykha Habib, a guidance counsellor and owner of Muslim Sisters Development Foundation. “Efforts should be geared to sensitise parents on the need to delay their daughters’ marriage and instead pursue their educational and psychosocial development,” she advises.
Higher levels of education significantly decrease the risk of child marriage, with secondary education, especially strong in stalling age at marriage until a girl is 18 years or older. Governments and NGOs fighting against child marriage may focus on education and making parents aware of the benefits of allowing their daughters go to school. They need to know that education provides alternatives for their daughters that can lead to employment, earnings and an economic future that will benefit not only their daughters, but their family and community as well.
But as the government and other stakeholders return to the drawing board, they will do well to include severely damaged and disillusioned divorcees and former child brides like Hamida and Lima in their loop of schemes. “Leaving such kids to their devices forebodes greater doom for them and the society at large. The misery and disillusionment they feel destroys their psychology and inflicts upon them a jaded view of the entire world. They have lost hope in the society and average human’s capacity to be good. This is a horrific way to see the world, particularly for teenagers and future mothers,” argues Okonedo.
Okonedo couldn’t be too far from the truth; a journey through Lima’s mind for instance reveals world-weariness characteristic of the aged who considers hope inconsequential after suffering through many tragic disappointments in her lifetime.
Lima hurts severely every time she remembers her first time in the dimly lit room where Aunt Mariam hushed her to sleep with promises of pleasure and folk song. Aunt Mariam had been sent in to calm her after she got restless and hysterical at the prospect of ‘lying’ with Baba Ahmadu, 76, her father’s best friend.
Aunt Mariam was convincing: venomous threats and thinly veiled lies leapt from her lips in measured cadence; the effect was frightening, it kept Lima from screaming and attempting further escape from the dark room. Although she eventually escaped, seven years on since the sad incident, she is still in the dark room.
The hair is the crowning glory of the woman. Because of this, the time, money and dedication to ensuring well styled hair are never overlooked by women.
Every woman who worth her salt will go the extra mile to ensure her beauty is not compromised through an unkempt hair. In Nigeria, most beauty salons record high patronage on weekends. Women throng to these beauty salons to ensure their hair is taken care of before activities of the new week.
Asides the volume of female hair stylists in this beauty business, there abound male hair stylists. These male stylists from findings appear to be more acceptable by the women folk than their female counterparts.
Creative, Passionate, Industrious are words to describe these young male hair stylists who labour to enhance the beauty of the women.
When The Nation visited a beauty salon in Ogba, Mrs. Chinelo Osita, was been attended to by a male stylist. This didn’t come without her insisting on a male stylist rather than the female stylist who was idle.
For making such request, Mrs Osita had to wait for the male stylist to complete the job he had at hand. Thirty minutes later, the male stylist was through to resume duty on her hair. While the styling lasted, she stole a look at the large mirror opposite her seating position at intervals wearing a satisfied look as she will confess to this reporter later.
It took one hour for the stylist to complete the braiding. Satisfied with the good job, she paid for the service rendered.
When asked why her preference for male stylist she said: “It is my choice to decide who touches my hair. I prefer male stylists. Nothing more, nothing less.”
She recalls: “Before now I have always had female stylists make my hair. But one day, a male stylist had the course to do same and did a good job.
“My friends kept on asking me where I did such hair. After that encounter with the male stylist, I have never relented in going back to them for a perfect hairdo,” the lady who appears to be in her late thirties said.
Male stylists
For the male stylist it was a story of creativity, passion, excitement and fulfilment.
Seun Haolu is a graduate of Petro-Chemical Engineering, University of Benin. He is a hair stylist. To him, being a stylist is due to his creativity and passion he has for beauty.
“Being a stylist today is as a result of my creativity and passion for styles and fashion. I became so endeared to this job long time ago and got determined to make a living from it.
For how long has Haolu being a stylist? “I started a long time ago while in school but started off professionally in 2011.”
Two years down the line, he says he has achieved satisfaction from making women beautiful. “My experience has been awesome. From this I am able to fend for myself rather than be a burden to people.” To him, he is comfortable doing what he derives pleasure.
For the 19-year-old John Zion, an apprentice hair stylist, he regards his highly creative mind as the major influence on his decision to become a renowned hair stylist.
For eight months, young Zion has continually worked as an apprentice in a Lagos- based beauty salon learning the ropes.
When asked on the challenges, he says: “I must confess it has been a worthwhile experience and I hope to learn more skills needed to be successful in this field.
“Although most times one tends to be overworked but all the same I am coping,” he says.
Unlike Haolu and Zion, Dapo Oluwole attraction into the beauty business was born out of his friend’s success in hair styling. He believes he can also achieve such feat.
Oluwole said: “I was influenced by my friend who trained me in this craft. Doing this has made him travel round the world, live in big houses and ride Porsche cars so I believe to achieve this feat.”
He is quick to add that most of the male stylists world wide never came from a background of affluence just like him but they go ahead to excel due to their creativity.
“A rich man’s son will not be a stylist. Check the history of male stylists in the world, not one is from a rich background. But, through styling one carves a niche for himself. It is a good business if you are highly creative,” Oluwole who appears to be in his late twenties explains.
Speaking on the challenges, he says: “It has been challenging since I started in 2010. Interacting with women can be tough. I always respect them despite the fact that some of them insult you and shout at you unjustly.
“Since my three years in this business I have come to understand that there are two types of customers: Quiet and Outspoken.
“The quiet persons can be dangerous because they do not utter any word. They watch meticulously and if they are not satisfied with your services they won’t patronise
“On the other hand, the outspoken voices her displeasure and commends when necessary. I am able to handle them aptly by the grace of God,” he says.
Corroborating Haolu, popularly called ‘Mexzy’ admits the ‘difficult’ characteristics of women. For him, he believes attending to them appropriately involves: patience, good communication skills and tolerance.
“Some of them enter the salon visibly angry and ready to tear down anyone but I try to speak courteously to them.”
Recounting his experience, the UNIBEN-trained-engineer says: “I remember a lady who I styled her hair. When she came into the shop, she wore a very fiery look. The moment I started plaiting, she interjected with a loud voice expressing her displeasure with the way I went about it.
“To the amazement of other stylists mostly females, I was able to calm her and assured her of my competence in a cool manner. When she left the salon, the female stylists while commending me also disclosed they will never have done such a thing I did.”
Are they not threatened by the female stylists? He says: “I do not feel threatened by the female stylists. The sky is large enough to accommodate every bird who desires to soar. However, I feel it is the other way round.
“The ladies prefer us (male stylists) than our female counterparts. They want someone who will respect them, tolerate them and their numerous complains and do a perfect job. They believe we are careful and make neat braids.”
He says that he and his other colleagues are not threatened by the females because the percentage of patronage. Although, he explained that this patronage do not go down well with their female colleagues.
“Most times they portend to be quarrelsome and hostile to their male counterparts on petty issues. Presently, a female colleague is serving her suspension period for the same act. Female stylists feel threatened by our presence. The clients always require the males to style them thereby putting them out of job,” he noted.
For young Zion, “From what I have observed, most of our customers request for male stylist because they are fast.”
The women’s choice
For Wunmi Dosunmu, she prefers the male stylists because: “They take their time to do hair but females don’t. They (female) are good but not in the same league with their male counterparts.”
In the same vein, Naomi Olamakinde, an undergraduate of the University of Lagos admits to the high patronage of the male stylist. “I have seen a whole lot of people especially along University Road, Yaba patronise the male hair stylists.”
According to her, the reason for the high patronage of male stylists is due to their neat work. “Most ladies believe that male stylists do neater and better jobs.”
For Esther Diobi she will not hesitate to pick a male stylist above the female stylist. “If I am told to choose between a male and female stylist of the same level of expertise I will go for the male.”
Why? She feels they will know better on how to fix the woman’s hair. “There is a belief that for a man to be a stylist, he will most definitely like girls and will know what suits them.”
But for Kate Ushiekpan and Folake Adeyanju their preference for male stylist is due to their high level of concentration, reticence and respectful disposition.
For Ushiekpen: “They pay attention to details. They don’t talk too much when they are working and they are faster.”
On her part, Adeyanju said: “I prefer them to the female stylist. They concentrate and are not saucy. Females also are good but my preference is the male.”
It was a good start to the beginning of a brand new month, I just finished having fun celebrating the Diwali festival with my colleagues at the office and I was given two days off work which I was really grateful because it has been a pretty hectic October. I and six other friends (all foreigners) of mine decided to embark on a 12 hours bus trip from Mumbai to Goa. I never knew I was going to have a nightmare experience there.
We arrived at Goa the next day (2nd November), we settled in our hotel and rested for a few hours before stepping on to the beach. I met a young 15 year old bartender, he asked me where I am from and after I told him, he asked if I knew about the fight between the locals, the Police and Nigerians which I said no.
He brought me a page of the newspaper (Herald Goa) where the story was covered. He informed me that I was the only Nigerian around and there was a police search on-going for Nigerians. I was pretty uncomfortable and a bit scared but I was there already so I hoped for the best.
Later that night, my friends and I all went out to an open bar. I felt so uncomfortable because everyone was staring from the outside but I felt a little bit better when I saw a black guy with dreadlocks. I noticed he was not so bothered and he was well known.
So that made me the only unknown black man on the street with over 3000 Indians plus foreigners. A few minutes later, the two policemen came on a motor bike and started talking to people in the bar. The bartender came up to me and asked me where I was from. I didn’t understand why he was asking (so as all Nigerians do) I replied him with a question; I asked him why he was asking. He said that the policemen asked everyone around. I just ignored him because I could not claim being from another country.
I guess the policemen couldn’t come to me because I was surrounded by foreigners so maybe they thought I was not a Nigerian.
But my tension increased so much when a man walked up to me while I was standing outside the bar with my Greek friend. He said: Yeah man, what’s up? (Stretching out his hand to shake me), then he came very close to me and said: with all due respect, a black guy like me was killed yesterday (i.e. illustrating the situation to me by touching my neck with his fingers folded like a gun).
Then, he started begging me for drugs and he was mentioning on sort of names; like “do I know this guy, do I know this guy”. So I told him that not every black guy you see, sell or do drugs. Immediately, I told my friends that the environment was not safe for me again.
We were about leaving Goa, and then we took a taxi to Mapusa Bus Park. Unfortunately for me, I was standing 20 metres away from a banner with inscription – Say no to Nigerian, Say no to drugs, in the midst of over 1000 Indians; all eyes were on me.
Luckily, I wasn’t alone so nobody came to me; after waiting for about two hours, we finally got on the bus heading to Mumbai. After traveling for 50km, suddenly, the bus driver stopped the bus at the Police Checkpoint in Patradevi (i.e. Goa’s border).
Immediately, the three armed policemen came in and told me to get out; they came in to bus to look for me because I guessed someone had tipped them. Even without asking where I am from, they just started harassing me. What surprised me was that, they didn’t ask the other foreigners for their passports or where they are from. They asked me if I had been arrested before. Fortunately for me, my boss who is Indian and my friends who are foreigners came to my rescue. I would have been victimized or even jailed because I am a Nigerian.
From this experience and from many more, it is now obvious more than ever before that the discrimination against Nigerians is getting too much especially in some parts of the world and things are going out of hands.
I am calling on those in authority to intervene with a view to stop this ugly trend. Let me also use this medium to reach out to my fellow Nigerians in diaspora to imbibe good culture of behaving themselves properly wherever they find themselves.
New research published in the journal PLOS Medicine has revealed that depression is the second leading cause of disability worldwide. Despite its prevalence, most people do not receive the care or support they need.
Stigmas associated with depression and poor access to treatment are major obstacles in seeking the necessary help. The initial symptoms of depression often present at a young age and affects women more commonly than men.
“Our findings not only highlight the fact that depressive disorders are a global health priority but also that it is important to understand variations in burden by disorder, country, region, age, sex and year when setting global health objectives,” says the researchers.
One or two mothers out of 10 report depression after childbirth. This depression often limits a mother’s ability to care for her child and negatively affects their growth and development. Yet, many are in denial or spouses prevent them from seeking help. This causes depression to remain hidden – not treated or talked about.
“The burden is different between countries, so it tends to be higher in low and middle income countries and lower in high income countries,” says Dr Alize Ferrari, lead researcher from the University of Queensland’s School of Population Health.
“What one person recognises as disabling might be different to another person and might be different across countries as well, there are lots of cultural implications and interpretations that come in place, which makes it all the more important to raise awareness of the size of the problem and also signs and how to detect it.”
Recognising the disease burden of depression, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently launched awareness campaigns amongst policy-makers to combat the problem.
“It’s a big public health challenge and a big problem to be reckoned with but not enough is being done, says Dr Daniel Chisholm, a health economist at the department for mental health and substance abuse at the WHO.
“Around the world only a tiny proportion of people get any sort of treatment or diagnosis.”
The prevention and early detection of depression are areas that deserve attention. Many prevention programmes implemented across different demographics have provided evidence that depression can not only be effectively treated but also prevented.
Effective community approaches look to reduce risk factors while strengthening protective aspects. Risk factors often start in childhood and school-based programmes that target cognitive, problem-solving and social skills of children and adolescents have been found to be highly effective.
Other lifestyle choices also play a role in the development of depression such as poor diet, physical inactivity, lack of sleep and the use of alcohol and tobacco. Exercise programmes are highly effective to boost self-esteem, balance depression-causing hormones and prevent other health conditions that can lead to depression.
Couillard is an international health columnist that works in collaboration with the World Health Organization’s goals of disease prevention and global health care education. Views do not necessarily reflect endorsement. He can be contacted through: Email: drcorycouillard@gmail.com, Facebook: Dr Cory Couillard, Twitter: DrCoryCouillard
Waking up in the morning and rushing to work with an empty stomach may not be the right way to a healthy living. Eating a nutritious food in the morning boosts your energy and strengthens your body system for daily activities.
Here are some simple foods that can be eaten without taking time to prepare:
1. Watermelon
Water melon is an excellent way to hydrate in the morning.
Watermelon contains just 40 calories per cup, landing it on lists of so-called negative-calorie foods that supposedly burn more calories during digestion than they add in.
This juicy fruit is among the best sources of lycopene- a nutrient found in red fruits and vegetables that is important for vision, heart health, and cancer prevention.
2. BlueBerries
Studies suggest that eating blueberries regularly can help improve everything from memory and motor skills to blood pressure and metabolism.
Blueberries are also lower in calories than a lot of other fruits (they contain just 80 per cup).
3. Strawberries
Berries are super foods because they’re so high in antioxidants without being high in calories.
A recent study found that women were less likely to have a heart attack over an 18-year period if they ate more than three servings of strawberries or blueberries per week.
4. Tea
Tea has a pretty impressive resume of health benefits too. Because it has less caffeine, it hydrates you more effectively than coffee, and it’s also a rich source of the immunity boosting antioxidants known as catechins.
Research suggests that drinking five cups a day can increase your body’s metabolism and help you lose more weight around the middle.
All tea (black, green or white) provides antioxidants, but green tea maybe healthiest of all.
5. Orange Juice
Fresh squeezed orange juice is a classic (tasty) morning beverage. It is one of the few dietary sources of the sunshine vitamin, higher levels of which have been link to a lower risk of osteoporosis, depression, certain cancers.
6. Cereal
Top off your bowl with skim milk and fruit for the complete package. Whole grains to fill you up, protein to supply all-day energy, and antioxidants to keep your immune system humming.
7. Bananas
There is nothing like banana at breakfast to keep those mid-morning cravings at bay. Bananas are a particularly good choice for people with hypertension. It helps lower blood pressure naturally.
8. Eggs
Once shunned for being high in dietary cholesterol (one yolk contains about 60% of your daily allotment), eggs are now embraced as a healthy source of protein and nutrients like vitamin D.
Most people who die in traffic accidents have no access to a car. Moreover, the bulk of the country’s public transport system encourages carnage on the roads. Expanding seatbelt enforcements and child restraints could save thousands of lives.
If present trends continue, road traffic injuries will increase dramatically over the next two decades, with the greatest impact falling on the most vulnerable citizens. By 2020 it is predicted that road traffic injuries will kill more people than malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS.
Seatbelts and child restraints are the most effective features in a vehicle to reduce the severity of injury that results from road traffic crashes. Seatbelts have been found to reduce the probability of being killed by 40 to 50 per cent for drivers and front seat passengers and by about 25 per cent for passengers in rear seats.
Yet, we see workers hanging over the edge of trucks, overcrowded racing minibuses, and children standing in backseats. Where is the logic in this?
When a crash occurs, a person without a seatbelt continues to move at the same speed at which the vehicle was travelling before the collision. This can cause one to be catapulted in any direction – most likely into the steering wheel if they are driving, or into the back of the seats.
An unrestrained rear seat passenger poses a serious threat to any restrained person seated directly ahead of them. Seatbelted rear seat passengers can therefore reduce the severity of injury to themselves, the driver and passengers in the front seats.
Even worse, an unrestrained passenger can be ejected from the vehicle completely. Being ejected from a vehicle drastically increases the probability of sustaining serious personal injury or being killed, especially in children.
Being ejected safely in a crash is almost impossible. When you’re thrown, it’s common to go through the windshield, be scraped along the pavement, or even crushed by the vehicle. Being securely held by a seatbelt gives you your best chance of not being injured or killed.
Child restraints are highly effective in reducing injuries that occur during crash and non-crash events, such as sudden stops, swerving manoeuvres or a door opening when the vehicle is still moving.
According to the World Health Organisation, “a child up to 4 years of age has a 50 per cent lower risk of injury in a forward-facing child restraint and 80 per cent lower in a rear-facing seat.
For children aged 5 to 9 years, child restraints reduce injury by 52 per cent, whereas for seatbelts alone the reduction is only 19 per cent. For older children aged 10 to 14 years, seatbelts reduce injury by 46 per cent.”
It’s important to note that seatbelts and child restraints are secondary safety measures; though effective, they do not reduce the risks of a crash. Be aware that most crash deaths occur close to home and at low speeds. This emphasizes that everyday transport to a friend’s home, school or the local store poses the greatest crash risk.
Initially people may find seatbelts uncomfortable, confining or inconvenient simply because they’re not used to wearing them. But this in no way compares to the imaginary discomfort or the inconvenience of sustaining a serious injury.
Couillard is an international health columnist that works in collaboration with the World Health Organization’s goals of disease prevention and control. Views do not necessarily reflect endorsement. He can be reached through:
ns of child marriage are a remnant of medieval marital culture. Men who practise these types of antiquated marriages adamantly resist and reject contemporary notions of marriage as a partnership of equals based upon mutual love and free-will. The practices of child marriage rely upon the historical, social and cultural assumptions and beliefs that support marriage as an economic transaction, whereby a woman or girl, is merely an object for exchange between one man and another.
