Blame plight on witches, wizards
THEY cut a pitiable sight for the observer, but they are less disturbed about their plight. And like a camel saddled with a big burden, hundreds of residents of Ajara community in Badagry live with protruding lumps around their necks with measured despondency. And while a camel might know the source of its burden and certain that the burden would be lifted after some time, it is not so for Badagry’s army of goitre victims. They cannot place the source of the epidemic and are in the dark about how the yoke could be taken off their necks. Goiter, it was learnt, has been ravaging the serene community for years.
According to the preliminary 2006 census results, Badagry has a population of 241,093, however, the number of people battling with goitre in the community are in large number.
Only recently, the Lagos State Government flagged off a surgical operation programme to address the scourge in the area which according 2006 . It was gathered that some of the victims who made themselves available for the exercise had their goitres removed through the intervention and their health have since been restored to normal. Investigation, however, revealed that a good number of the victims are not convinced that the solution to the problem lies in medical treatment. While they have been taking part in the various tests prescribed by the medical personnel, they have deliberately avoided the surgery that would see the lump removed.
Some of the victims who spoke with The Nation strongly believe that their problem is spiritual. They remain rigid about their belief that their conditions resulted from attacks by their enemies. For all they care, the solution to the problem not medical but spiritual.
One of the victims who share in this belief is 60-year-old Maria Godonu. Recalling the genesis of her problem, she said: “I started noticing it about 20 years ago. I went to the hospital the very moment I noticed it but they couldn’t carry out an operation on me because I was pregnant. I didn’t go back after giving birth. I have been going from one place to another in search of remedy to the problem.
“I went to the primary health centre after it was announced that Governor Babatunde Fashola had flagged off a health programme to help the victims. The medical team has been calling to inform us about their plans for us.
“They have taken us to the Lagos Island General Hospital on two occasions to undergo medical tests. I did about three tests between April and May but I don’t really know what the results were. All I know is that the results are with them in the hospital.
“Apart from the tests we did in Lagos, we have also done some here in Ajara. They brought some medical personnel to examine us.”
Spiritualising the problem
After all the efforts she has put into the exercise, one would expect Godonu to jump at any offer of surgical operation to have the lump removed, but this is not the case. She cited spiritual reasons for staying away from surgical operations on two occasions.
She said: “I would have gone for surgical operations long before now, but a prophecy from my pastor made me to jettison the idea. When I was contemplating going for the operation, I went to church one day and in the course of praying, a prophecy came that there was someone in the congregation who wanted to go for surgical operation. I was warned against doing so because it would lead to death. That was why I could not go for the operation.
“After some time, I had a rethink and made up my mind to go for surgery. I took the decision because I realized that no matter how much one tries to run away from death, it remains an inevitable end.
“At this point, my mind was made up once again to go for an operation. A few days to the time that I was supposed to go for the operation, my husband attended a church service and a prophecy came to him that I shouldn’t contemplate operation at all. They told him that the operations would be successful but it would lead to my death.
“The prophecy further dampened my morale to go for the operation because it confirmed the first prophecy. If the prophecies had come from the same church or persons, I probably would have dismissed it as a conspiracy. I bought into it because it came from two different places and persons. One must be careful and never try to pay deaf ears to such warnings.”
Asked if she could change her mind and go for a surgical operation, she said: “I don’t think I have the courage for an operation anymore. If God is speaking to you, you must be attentive because you don’t know who is after you. May God protect us from those that are after our lives but pretending to be friends.”
Another victim, who identified herself simply as Sauda, says she dreads an operation because there is more to the problem than medical treatment can solve. “I have heard of the government programme but I don’t think I can be part of it,” she said with a tone of finality.
“I am not convinced that the solution lies in medical treatment. I know somebody who went for a surgical operation to remove his, but as I am talking to you, the goitre is back on his neck. It has even grown bigger than it was before the operation.”
Bose, a beneficiary of the state government’s health programme, said she was initially reluctant when she was asked to go for an operation.
She said: “I was scared of going for an operation at the initial stage because I never thought that medical help could take care of the problem. Like several other victims, I had the belief that the affliction was not natural. I also lived with the feeling that some forces of darkness were behind the affliction in the entire area. Our fears were heightened by the rate at which the problem has been spreading in our area.”
“Actually, if you look around, you will discover that this is the only area where the case is widespread. I have not really seen any area where the problem is endemic as it is in this area. In fact, we have had people that always campaign against going for operations to correct the anomaly because they feared that victims would die in the process.”
Common challenges
The victims say the problem gives them sharp pains which cause them sleeplessness nights.
“I have been having sleepless nights because of it. The pains wake me up many times in the night. I have developed a sort of phobia for night. I have been a trader all my life but my children stopped me from engaging in business activities because of this,” Godonu said.
Sauda also explained that the pains caused by the problem sometimes weaken her to the point that she would not be able to go about her normal business.
She said: “There is no how this kind of heavy load would not make one to have pains. At times, the pains would be so severe that I would be incapable of doing anything. It can be more worrisome when it happens at night, because I would writhe in pains all night and have my eyes wide open all through the night.”
A 70-year-old victim, Pa Jonas Penuola, also spoke about the pains caused by the problem.
He said: “It used to give me a lot of pains in the past, but I hardly feel it in recent times. At the initial stage, I went to the hospital for treatment but it did not change the situation.
“I started noticing the growth about 10 years ago. It started very small, and as time went on, it started increasing in size till it got to the stage it is right now. I am prepared to go for an operation whenever they ask us to come. I have no fears whatsoever about going for an operation.
Stigma and exploitation
Madam Godonu recalled that she had been fleeced of her hard earned money by fraudsters masquerading as traditional healers.
She said: “I have spent so much money trying to find a solution to this problem. There was a time that somebody came and assured me that he would cure it. He made a concoction of bitter leaf and asked me to be rubbing it on the affected part. I was full of joy when he gave me the assurance that the goitre would disappear after using the concoction.
“I followed all the instructions he gave me and used it religiously. Unfortunately, the concoction made the situation worse. Instead of curing me, it started giving me sore. I quickly discontinued its usage before it could worsen my situation.
“Shortly after that experience, I went back to a nearby general hospital and was given some medications that made the goitre to reduce in size. If not for that medication, it would have become far bigger than you are seeing now.”
She also spoke about the stigma and embarrassment she has gone through with the problem.
“I have suffered series of embarrassments because of my condition. There was one woman who publicly abused me because of it. She told me to go and remove the heavy load on my neck simply because we had a minor misunderstanding. There has been countless number of similar insults on me over the years.
“Besides, whenever I attend social functions, the guests would leave everything they are doing and fix their eyes on my neck. It is very embarrassing but there is nothing I can do about this, because it wasn’t an affliction I brought upon myself.”
Pa Jonas also spoke about his ugly encounter with traditional healers, saying{“I have also tried several native medicines without any improvement. I have spent so much money patronising herbal medicines. I stopped doing this after I discovered that they were only ripping me off. There is no human being that would be happy to have this kind of burden on his neck. It easily disfigures the victim. I have lost my handsome look since I developed the problem.”
Community leaders react
A community leader who simply identified himself as Alhaji Raji noted that many people in the community were unwilling to go for operation because they believe the affliction is the handiwork of witches and that any attempt to operate it would lead to death.
“The efforts of the government to have good number of the victims operated has suffered a setback because some of these people strongly believe that the problem is supernatural and can never be cured medically,” he said.
“Even though some of the victims in this community have successfully undergone operation, numerous others have remained skeptical about going for it. They easily cite the examples of their colleagues who died shortly after they were operated upon in the hospital. They are never interested in knowing the cause of such person’s death. All they go about believing is that it was the surgical operation they had that killed them.
“Another reason some of them give for shunning operations is the fact that some people who were successfully operated upon earlier experienced a fresh growth on their neck after some time. In fact, some of the victims have fled the community out of fear.
“There is a particular woman who would never want to have anything to do with you the moment she knows that you are out to discuss the problem with her. She deliberately avoids medical personnel any time they come around.”
Another community leader, who gave his name as Osawe Babatunde supports those who believe that the problem is spiritual.
He said: “I would never blame anybody who refuses to go for operation. The problem cannot be ordinary and I don’t think that surgical operation is the answer to it. I cannot even advise my enemy to go for an operation because it will have dire consequences.
“From every indication, the problem appears to have some invisible hands behind it. When you observe such development, you don’t just rush into applying medical treatment. It is pertinent that you do some consultations with the elders that are grounded in traditional healing methods in the community and do the needful.
“If you ask me, I think there is an urgent need to appease the gods in the area so that the challenge can be taken care of. Medical efforts would only be a short term thing,” he added.
In his remarks, the Chief Medical Director of Global Hospital, Alimosho, Lagos, Dr. Johnson Babatunde, dismissed the insinuations that goitre is the handiwork of witchcraft. He urged victims to be courageous enough to embrace the intervention of the Lagos State Government by going for surgery to remove their goitre.
Babatunde said: “It is sad that people can still be holding on to unsubstantiated thoughts about goitre being the machination of witches and wizards. For the avoidance of doubt, goitre is the swelling of the neck resulting from the enlargement of the thyroid gland, and it can be caused by multiple factors, one of which is iodine deficiency.
“It can be associated with over-function of the thyroid gland, excessive thyroid hormones, under-function of the gland or inadequate levels of thyroid hormones. When a goitre becomes very large, it can sometimes cause symptoms because it presses on adjacent structures such as the oesophagus and the trachea. Symptoms related to a large goitre include difficulty with swallowing, shortness of breath, wheezing (sound that results from turbulent air flow in and out of the trachea) and hoarseness.
“And just as goitre cannot be linked to one particular disease, there is also no one specific treatment for it. The treatment depends upon the cause of the enlargement. Treatments for goitre can include medications, surgery, treatment with radioactive iodine, and simple observation. I want to therefore admonish those living with goitre to seek adequate medical solution or remedy to their problems.”
A nutritionist, Mrs. Nkechi Okafor, said: “Goitre may occur in people who live in areas where the soil and water do not have enough iodine. As a result of this, people in these areas might also not get enough iodine in their diet.
“The use of iodised salt in many food products in the advanced countries today prevents a lack of iodine in the diet and this is the reason why the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended minimal intake of iodised salt to prevent further spread of the disease in Nigeria. Therefore, it is necessary for people to ensure use of iodised salt in their diet or cooking.
“In many cases of simple goitre, the cause is unknown. Other than lack of iodine, certain foods such as soy beans, peanuts and vegetables in the broccoli family have also been linked to goitre. To this end, consumption of these foods should either be reduced or discontinued.”
