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Category: Saturday Magazine

  • It’s rare privilege to clock 70 after escaping public execution 43 years ago – Bishop Kayode Williams

    It’s rare privilege to clock 70 after escaping public execution 43 years ago – Bishop Kayode Williams

    Bishop Kayode Williams of the late IsholaOyenusi robbery fame, who clocks the biblical three scores and 10 years tomorrow, has every reason to be thankful. Forty-three years after he left prison and got presidential pardon, he has remained unwavering in his commitment to prison reforms, which he considers a bounden duty of some sorts, and he has no qualms telling anyone who cares to listen that he won’t stop to talk about the parlous state of affairs at the nation’s correctional centres until he breathes his last. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf and Funke Cole, the Abeokuta-born clergyman reminisces about life in prison, shares interesting insights on his pet project especially the Prison Rehabilitation Mission International Inc (PREMI), and offers useful suggestions on how to turn the conditions in the prisons around.

    Seventy years is a milestone in the life of anybody. How do you feel at 70?                                                  

    I feel excited because I can’t believe that I am alive today. I was almost tied to the stake and executed for a crime that I committed. But divinely, God intervened, refined and rebuilt my life. Because of God’s mercy, I gave my life to Christ and promised to dedicate the rest of my life to the service of humanity.

    Not only that, my nation Nigeria gave me a Presidential Pardon thereby removing the stigma of imprisonment from my life. All these favours have lifted my energy and verve to give back to this society that recognised that I deserved a second chance and that I can do better in life. So, I don’t want to sit back and lament that I wasted 10 years of my life in the prison. After spending 10 years in prison, I have spent another 43 years outside it today, and I am spending my time in goodness and happiness, transforming lives, engaging people in government to let us work together for the betterment of the country. I mean life can’t be more meaningful than this.

    Before my flight takes off, I want to use the rest of my life serving God and humanity in excitement. That’s all I want to do. I’m not aggressive or desperate about anything in life because I know everything in life is under God’s control and not man.

     At 70, do you have any regret whatsoever? If you had not gone to prison do you think your life would have been any better?

    I don’t have any regret. I think going to prison though is bad in itself, but I think by destiny God had a plan for my going to prison, because it really changed my focus about life. Honestly, going to prison changed my orientation completely. The prison is not anything like life outside at all. It is when you taste the good, the bad and the ugly and God brings you out triumphantly that you can now sit down and rewind the story of your life before you begin to take decision. So, I think it’s an experience that I will continue to remember for the rest of my life.

    I believe that God used my prison experience to turn my life around. So many members of my group were executed. Today, I’m preaching to people, dining and wining with kings.

    I am a bridge builder between the powerful and the weak. So, I have no regret whatsoever.

    You mentioned your group. After you left the prison, did you stumbled on any of them at any point in time?

    On my birthday event, one of the ‘egbons’ in crime, Awonoga (laughs). Matthew Afefe is coming there too. I wasn’t actually part of the Oyenusi gang per se; I was just a boy in their midst. Afefe was held for the Kano robbery in the early 70s. In fact, Afefe was one of the first sets of armed robbers that robbed those bureau de change mallams and the moneybags of Kano in those days. He was my most ‘senior’ brother in crime then, but I’m his pastor now. (laughs).

    How old is he now. Has he changed too?

    (Laughs) He will tell you himself. Of course, he is no more into crime at all, he has settled down and he is a changed man now. But Afefe’s case is very peculiar. He was sentenced to life imprisonment twice. That means he was going to serve in prison forever and ever even in afterlife (laughs).

    When I went to prison, I met him there as a father. When I was going out of prison, he was still there. When he heard what I was doing outside, he sent for me. When I came, he asked me, “Kayode se looto ni? Oo mugbo mo?  Oo se aburu mo? (Kayode is it true that you no longer smoke Indian hemp or do other crazy stuffs anymore?). He was shocked.

    But after some years, as luck would have it, he came out of prison and he visited my church to listen to the gospel. After the service, he came to me and said he didn’t know what to do with himself because he had nowhere else to go. Unfortunately, at the time he met me too, I was struggling and still trying to get on my feet.

    Of course, he was not the only one who needed help; there were many like him all waiting on me but I couldn’t really do much at the time. I remember I took Afefe to a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly then and asked the lawmaker to help rehabilitate him but nothing much came out of it. Afefe found things pretty tough. But one day when he couldn’t bear it any more, off he went to one supermarket to go and do shoplifting in spite of the fact that he had already spent a double life sentence in prison.

    When he got in, he took one of these big champagnes valued at the cost of N70-80k plus and he wasn’t caught. He later came to confess to me that hardship was forcing him into crime again. I was concerned, but again, I couldn’t really do much for him myself, so he left. He returned to the same supermarket some weeks later and took another exotic drink. But as he made to escape this time he was caught because the CCTV flagged him down. So when he saw the shop owner, a lady, Afefe said he already served double life imprisonment sentence; that they should take him away as a criminal who had just returned from prison.

    The lady took pity on him and said she was going to send him to me, not knowing that I even knew Afefe in the first place. I was called by the lady and when I spoke with her about his condition, the lady said she can’t offer him any employment because that’s what Afefe wanted. But she later agreed to be giving him some stipends every month.

    However, when he later returned to Ibadan at a Catholic where he was worshipping, I personally had to visit Ibadan where I met with the presiding priest on behalf of Afefe and pleaded his case with the church and they supported. Today, he is living well and has a family of his own.   

    Who else can you remember?

    Majority of them have been wasted by the bullet. There may be one or two or three of them though. I remember Augustine the Green Jew, Willy Ayanpian, Anyamofu, Wahum robbers, and many others like that who were all wasted by bullets. No criminal ever dies well, and that is my warning to everybody. That is what the government doesn’t seem to understand about bringing people like us to speak to these criminal elements. There is no history of any criminal anywhere that refused to repent and amend his evil ways whoever died well. Omo Pupa, Matthew Joe in Mushin-Idioro, Awon Baba Osewon, including the native doctor that prepares charms for these notorious armed robbers all died uselessly.

    So, I give God all the glory that I’m alive today. I’m telling the whole world that God can use people like me to talk to these criminals. If I stand before any of these criminal gangs and talk anywhere today, they will bow because there is respect in the crime kingdom. So many criminals were not killed by the police; majority of them were maimed and killed by members who vented their anger towards them as a result of insubordination on their part. It’s a case of dog eat dog or robber kill robber.

    You set up the Prison Rehabilitation Mission International Inc., PREMI. What informed that?

    It’s a long story. I came out of the prison yard on June 4, 1980. That’s 43 years ago. While I was in the prison, I discovered that majority of the problems that made people to return to the prison was because nobody wants to welcome them back to the society. Nobody wants to give them another opportunity to get their livelihood.And you know the greatest problem of man is shelter. If somebody comes out of prison and he has no home to go to, no family to go to, definitely he will go back to the same set of people that he knows their language, and that means he will be going to the Indian hemp joints, ghettos, and other hideouts where he can meet his likes. This is because our system in Nigeria is only used to opening the prison gates wide; there is no system of rehabilitation.

    Back to your question, in my own case, the first day I got out of prison, I was in a state of confusion as to where to go. I had a family quite alright but they were not ready to accept me back into their fold. Of course, I had to go to the family house because there was nowhere else I could go at that point in time. I didn’t want to go back to my old friends that we were together before I went to prison in Ibadan. So, naturally, the next port of call for me was to my family house, and they were highly hostile towards me.

    I couldn’t go to my mother either, who my delinquency had made her a social outcast and subject of ridicule everywhere to the extent that she had to leave our home and was squatting with some relations out here after selling her shop and all her personal belongings. But I located her alright, and when I met her she was already half-blind. In fact, she had given me up for dead so you could see the excitement in her when she saw me in flesh and blood again. But I couldn’t stay where she was at the time because as I said, she was staying there on mercy capacity too. So, off we went to the family house, precisely to the house built by her own mother, who happened to be my own grandmother, and I was her only grandchild too. So, naturally, my mom had the rightful claim to the house.

    But the children of my mother’s cousins already took over the house. Unfortunately, on getting to the family house, I was arrested the same week I came out of prison by one of the children of my mom’s siblings.

    Why were you arrested?

    I was arrested for absolutely nothing whatsoever. When I came into the house, I just went to the living room having established that every other room was being occupied safe for one bedroom which I left for my mom. So, I decided to settle down in the living room. But rather than accommodate me or even pity my poor mother, they felt threatened by my presence because of the mindset around here that an ex-convict is a danger to the society.The charge that was later read to me, which was instigated by one police officer (name withheld) married to a member of the mom’s family was that I committed conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace. They did not explain to the judge that I’m a member of the family.

    The day they took me to court I was sentenced to one month imprisonment without an option of fine. It was Barrister Rotimi Akeredolu (the current Ondo State governor) that stood for me as my lawyer. He was able to plead with the trial judge that this man is just coming out of prison yard and he needs a shelter, and this is his family house in the first place.

    When I was in the prison, Rotimi Akeredolu came to see me. He won the case. That sentence was vacated but already the deed had been done. Even when he (Akeredolu) asked them for compensation they started begging that we should settle it amicably as a family. But my mother later took over possession of the property after going to court. Today, we’re living as one united family.

    I decided to regale you with all these details so you can understand the kind of humiliation ex-convicts suffer. So it was after my arrest and detention that I made up my mind that something must be done. Whatever it would cost me, I was going to make sure that anybody coming out of the prison would get an abode and a shelter, where he can lay his head however temporary.

    The first person I approached to support me then was Akeredolu himself, and he said, “Kayode, egbon mi lo je. Kini tofe fa yi, wahala ni. Ijoba o ni lowo si (the country is not ready for the kind of thing you’re demanding).

    Akeredolu said even the government hadn’t been able to provide shelter for the normal people on the streets so is it prison inmates they would focus on then?You know the issue of prison at that time was a big stigma and every ex-convict was treated like a leper.

    I remember at the time, he said he would introduce me to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) as a member. But I never bought into that idea because I was completely involved in missionary activities and all that. So, I was looking for support from churches which they graciously gave me at the time, though not wholesomely as you would expect based on the enormity of the work and responsibility at hand.

    PREMI is 43 years today. Would you say the aims and objectives of the organisation have been fulfilled?

    Yes, I would say to the glory of God Almighty, I have been able to really stamp the issue of PREMI, especially prison reforms, in the hearts of so many Nigerians. Achievement is not only on the visible things you do but it is also in terms of impartation.

    One way you can better appreciate how far we have gone is to come and join me to mark my 70th birthday at Christ Delight Church, Alausa, where you will see things for yourself. About 17 inmates will be coming to give testimonies. I’m not doing the birthday as a celebration per se, but I’m only using it as a reawakening for the rehabilitation, reformation, reintegration and resettlement of the prison system in Nigeria. The first person that would be giving his testimony is Sulaimon Ibilolu, who is now a lawyer. He was sentenced to death and was on death row for some years. But by the grace of God, it was commuted to life imprisonment.

    All the while, he was preparing and taking exams at the Abeokuta prison, and today, after his secondary school education, he took UTME and put in for Law and today he is a practising lawyer. He would be there on that day and will be sharing his testimony live. If Sulaimon, an ex-convict is now a lawyer, you can do the assessment yourself.

    I don’t want to exaggerate the level of success or impact we have made thus far because you can’t really quantify it in concrete terms. There is also Kayode Dada. He was also sentenced to death in the same Ibara Prisons in Abeokuta, Ogun State. We were able to minister to him and luckily he was released and had distinction in all his papers in WAEC, and he opted to study medicine. He secured admission to study in UNILAG but the university said it was against the ethics of the profession to allow an ex-convict to study Medicine. So he was advised to go for physiotherapy and one other related course. He did very well. He also did his Masters and was later employed at Babcock University, where he was a lecturer.

    The very first year of his employment he was ranked the best lecturer. But unfortunately, he is late. In fact, when he died, Babcock University said they would not allow me to bury him; they willingly took responsibility of the entire burial ceremony, saying that he was one of their best lecturers ever. His children and wife are coming to give testimony.

    We struggled to obtain state pardon for him so that the stigma of ex-convict could be removed from his name. Unfortunately, that didn’t materialise before he died.

    Others would be there on that day. I believe if you don’t impact lives and you focus on yourself alone, you will lose followership. That is what we’re emphasising today. This is how I got to know Chief Afe Babalola, Oba AdedapoTejuosho, Hon. Justice Oluseun Shogbola and a few other public-spirited Nigerians out there who have been supporting this cause one way or the other.

    I believe the best way to have a properly reformed prison system or correctional institutions in Nigeria is to call the attention of the wealthy people to give their support by providing opportunities for these inmates to be engaged in their industries so that they can also lead meaningful lives. In the last count if I recollect very well, we have been able to render support to well over 2,500 ex-convicts. But even then, this is just scratching the surface. I believe we can still do a lot more if we are able to open more doors across the states of the federation, the local government areas as well as the federal level as the case may be.

    Some of the things I like to do in the lives of anyone that follows me, especially these ex-convicts, is to make sure he has a shelter, a job and he is settled into a family, because once he is resettled, he won’t go back to crime. And that is where the 4Rs of prisons system, namely rehabilitation, reformation, reintegration and resettlement, come in. And these are very important codes of PREMI.

  • Southeast states face existential erosion threat

    Southeast states face existential erosion threat

    The menace of gully erosion now poses the biggest existential threat to Southeast states. Already, many communities in Anambra, Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi states have been cut off by rapidly expanding gully erosion sites, even as houses and farmlands have been submerged, throwing residents into panic and despair. Bureau Chief NWANOSIKE ONU (Awka), CHRIS NJOKU (Owerri), DAMIAN DURUIHEOMA (Enugu), SUNNY NWANKWO (Umuahia), EMMA ELEKWA (Onitsha) and OGOCHUKWU ANIOKE (Abakaliki) report.

    For residents of Nigeria’s Southeast states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi,  Enugu and Imo, the fear of gully erosion is now the beginning of wisdom. Their houses and farmlands are being swept away by rapidly expanding gully erosion sites, resulting in many residents in the affected areas abandoning their ancestral homes.

    Farmers in the affected communities are also counting their losses as reduction of income forced by poor harvest, loss of biodiversity, development of fragmented lands, and shortage of land for other uses threaten their livelihood.

     It is estimated that there are over 4,000 erosion sites in the Southeast. Anambra State alone accounts for over 1,400 of the figure, earning her the unenviable description as the worst erosion-hit state in West Africa by the World Bank and other international donor agencies.

     Erosion is said to have taken over half of the 178 communities in the state. Some of the affected communities in the state include Nanka,

     Agulu, Oko, Ekwulobia, Obosi, Onitsha, Achina, Nise, Amawbia, Umuchu, Nnewi, among others.

     The latest devastation caused by gully erosion in Anambra State is the one that cut off the ever-busy Onitsha-Owerri Expressway, which has put an uncountable number of buildings and firms in and around that axis under serious threat.

     Many of those who are indigenous to the affected areas and government establishments are equally at risk of being swept away. The Nnamdi Azikiwe National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Unity Permanent Orientation Camp at Umuawulu-Mbaukwu in Awka South Local Government Area is also in danger of being submerged.

     In response to the alarm raised by panic-stricken residents and other major stakeholders, the Anambra State Government has appealed to

     President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to rescue the state from natural and man-made disasters, especially those caused by gully erosion.

     Governor Charles Soludo has already dispatched his Chief of Staff, Mr Ernest Ezeajughi to some of the sites. He called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on erosion menace in the state.

     The obviously overwhelmed governor, however, said the State Government has embarked on some interventions to ameliorate the situation before other measures as the people of the state are most hit by the scourge.

    “We have over 1,000 active erosion sites in Anambra State. This is just one of them. We are acting on an emergency,” he said.

     The lawmaker representing Anambra Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Victor Umeh said there was a need for the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in Anambra State because of the erosion devastation in the Southeast.

    He, however, called for more urgent and serious work in the affected areas to save houses and industries that are already threatened by the gullies.

     The Vice-President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Okeke-Ogene told The Nation that environmental impact assessment has not been carried out in the state.

     He described the erosion that has infested Anambra State as cancer, noting that Nanka Community alone has over 20 erosion sites. The Igbo leader said that the Federal Government cannot even handle it because the World Bank had estimated over N500 billion to tackle the scourge.

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    On his part, the State Commissioner for Environment, Mr Felix  Odimegwu, described Anambra State as the erosion capital of the country, even as he urged the Federal Government to increase the ecological funds allocated to the state.

    Imo also badly hit

    In Imo, residents have urged the Federal and State Governments to come to their aid as erosion has made their roads impassable.

     Investigations by The Nation revealed that erosion has devastated several communities in the state even as most roads have become death traps.

     For instance, a visit to Umuchima Community in Ideato South LocalGovernment Area revealed that erosion has created a deep gully and wide crater that put the homes of about 826 families at risk of being submerged because the channel is continuously expanding at an alarming rate.

    This is as a result of persistent flooding that has left many parts of the community, which links it to Anambra State, devastated. Every rainy season brings a tale of woes to the people, as gully erosion has become a nightmare.

    Umuchima prides itself as the home of crafts. People from the community and the local government area are recognised for their hard work in agriculture and commerce which are their main occupations.

     But all these are being eroded, as many indigenes of the area are worried by the devastation. Most of them are leaving in droves for safer environments where they will not be affected by environmental hazards.

     A native of the community and former Transition Chairman of Ideato  South Local Government Area, Boni Ebili, said his people have been abandoned for long, leaving them to be ravaged by erosion. He lamented that the once bubbly community has almost become a shadow of itself.

     He stated that the community had suffered incalculable losses due to the menace of flooding.

    The President-General of Umuchima Community, Chibueze Emelu, said their joy was short-lived when former governor of the state, Rochas

     Okorocha brought in some contractors who tried to work on the road but abandoned it.

    Emelu said that the gully is getting so close to Nkwo Market, the biggest market in Ideato South and North local government areas. “We urge the Federal Government not to allow our people and communities to be sunk by the gully,” he said.

     The Mgbe-Umuchima-Orlu-Akokwa Road is another dead trap. All the houses have gone under. The road has been in dilapidated condition and the situation is getting worse by the day.

    On a visit to another community, Umuojisi in Ideato South Local  Government Area, it was discovered that erosion had destroyed several buildings in Umuduruaku Village and many villagers in Okwaracheke have been forced to relocate from the gully sites to safe villages.

     The Deputy Governor of Imo State, Prof. Placid Njoku, on inspection of the area with his team, expressed shock at the level of devastation in the area. Prof. Njoku, who represented the Governor, Hope Uzodimma, reassured the people that the governor was passionate about tackling the menace and had sent a “Save Our Soul” (SOS) message to the Federal Government.

     The Deputy Governor, while calling for palliatives for the victims, pointed out that the erosion menace was far beyond the capacity of the state government to handle.

     He, therefore, called on the Federal Government to rescue the people by providing some interventions. He regretted that the federal road that links Imo to Anambra State has been completely washed off by erosion.

     Also, the Head of Operations of the National Emergency Management  Agency (NEMA), Nnaji Ifeanyi, promised to ask for relief materials from the Federal Government to cushion the effects of the menace.

     The situation at Nzerem Ikpem, Umuoma, Obinetiti, Dioka Road in Ehime  Mbano is very pathetic as erosion has destroyed one part of the road and subjected the residents to hardship, so much so that they have to resort to carrying their dead ones on their heads to the mortuary as the roads are in deplorable condition.

     Igwe Damian Anyanwu, Igwe Ohazurume 1 of Obinetiti Nzerem, expressed regrets over the hardship the people in the community are facing as a result of bad roads since the creation of the state, saying  Nzerem/Ikpem as the food basket of Imo had suffered neglect by past administrations.

     He said the contract for the construction of the road was awarded through the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to a contractor during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in 2013.

     However, the Commissioner for Works, Ralph Nwosu, did not respond to an enquiry on the cause of the delay in the completion of the road. A source, however, said work on the road would begin as soon as the rains are over.

    Enugu also reeling

     In Enugu State, concerns are mounting in several communities over the adverse effects of gully erosion on agriculture and roads.

     Already, some communities have been cut off from the rest of the society while there is the likelihood that many more may be cut off if urgent action is not given to the gully erosion that is fast spreading and submerging some areas.

     With the rainy season at its peak, most landscapes are giving in to degradation in most parts of Enugu State; same as other states with porous soil formations.

     The Nation learnt that there are numerous erosion sites dotting the state. Prominent among them is the Ugwuonyeama gully erosion site on Enugu end of the Enugu-Onitsha Highway in Enugu metropolis, as well as the Eha-ulo/Eha-Ndiagu/Mbu/Agu-Umabor/Umabor Ring Road in Nsukka Local Government Area.

     It was also gathered that there are worse erosion sites in Enugu North Senatorial District, especially Udenu and Igboeze North local government areas, are facing serious erosion threats.

     Udi, Ezeagu and Oji River council areas are also among the worst hit in terms of erosion menace, and the effect included the gradual disappearance of available land for agriculture, the collapse of buildings and the destruction of roads.

     At the Ugwuonyeama gully erosion site, our correspondent observed that the situation has been one of the major causes of road accidents on that road.

    Recall that no fewer than seven people, including a family of five, lost their lives at the Ugwuonyeama following a crash that involved a tanker truck and other vehicles.

     The member representing Enugu North and South Federal Constituency,  Chimaobi Atu noted that if nothing was done on the site, it would result in more road crashes.

     Atu, who spoke through his assistant, Dr Okwy Ekwe, said gully erosion was shrinking the land mass in the area. The lawmaker, who had already taken the matter to the floor of the National Assembly, also called on the Federal Government to address the problem.

     Also worried by the continuous neglect of the town’s challenges, youths of the Eha-Alumona Community in Nsukka Local Council recently urged the state government to declare a state of emergency on the  Eha-Ulo/Eha-Etiti/Eha-Ndiagu/Mbu Road.

    According to them, the collapse of the road, which is a major link road to other communities, had made life unbearable for the people.

     Attempts by our correspondent to get reactions from the Ministry of Environment were futile as none of the staff members agreed to speak.

     Meanwhile, the Enugu State Government has commenced the reinforcement of different means to address the imminent erosion and environmental challenges the state is predicted to face within the next couple of months.

    The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof Chidiebere Onyia, stated this in Enugu at a meeting with stakeholders and members of the task force constituted to assist the government to control and mitigate the impact of the flooding.

     Members of the task force were drawn from different professional agencies in the state, such as the National Emergency Management  Agency (NEMA), State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Enugu State Waste Management Authority (ESWAMA), Enugu State Ministry of Health, and Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA).

     Others included the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, the Nigerian Red  Cross Society, Town Planning Authority, the chairmen of the affected council areas, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), among others.

     Addressing the task force, the SSG warned residents against erecting structures on waterways, dumping of garbage in drainage systems and deliberate obstruction of canals.

    He noted that the State Governor, Dr Peter Mbah, was worried by the predictions and immediately directed that taskforce that would protect the lives and property of the citizens be constituted in order to swing into action not only to forestall the environmental disaster but also to draw up a sustainable plan on the strategic engagement of future disasters.

     Prof. Onyia further appealed to members of the public to cooperate with the task force in the course of carrying out its lawful duties, identifying buildings on waterways, evacuating illegal structures and blocking drainage.

     The Secretary of the task force, Mrs Chinasa Mbah, lamented that the state had been experiencing erosions such as devastating flash floods with consequences on livelihoods.

     Some of the local government areas with a high risk of flooding include Enugu East, Enugu South, Enugu North, Nkanu East, Nsukka, Udi,  Ezeagu, Nkanu West, Igboeze North, Igboeze South, Igbo-Etiti, Oji River and Uzo Uwani, among others.

    Abia residents groan

    The three senatorial districts in Abia State (Abia North, Abia Central and Abia South) are not left out in the erosion menace. It is one of the commonest but worrisome problems facing the districts, as the gullies have cut off members of the community from their kin.

    They have lost their agricultural produce and economic trees to the gully with many houses already caved into the gullies, just as the communities risk losing their ancestral lands to the gully.

     Some of the erosion sites in Abia State include Okpulukwu Gully  Erosion at Umuosu Nsulu, Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area and two lives have been lost to the erosion; Umuchime gully erosion located in Ogbodiukwu—Umuopara, Umuahia South Local Government Area.

     It has submerged buildings in the community.

     The available record shows that the Nkwoegwu/Okata Umuawa/Umuda Isingwu gully erosion in Ohuhu, Umuahia North council area is threatening residential buildings, farmlands, and rural/community roads. It is also affecting vehicular movement in the community.

    Another community in Abia North threatened by gully erosion is  Amuzukwu/Mbom in Umuahia North Council, which has made the road impassible.

     Our correspondent learnt that some houses and other properties worth millions of naira had already been submerged by the gully erosion with many properties and over 500 houses feared to have also caved in.

     It was gathered that the state government never carried out any palliative work on the site.

     Meanwhile, the Abia State Government has assured the people of Ogbor  Ancient Kingdom of the administration’s readiness to address the gully erosion menace.

     The Special Adviser to Governor Alex Otti on Aba Rejuvenation, Mr Uche Ukeje visited the erosion site for an on-the-spot assessment of the impact of the erosion on the community. Mr Ukeje, who spoke to reporters after inspecting the erosion site, described the impact of the erosion on the community as massive.

    Ebonyi, too

    In Ebonyi State, the people of Edda in Afikpo South Local Government Area have waging a long-standing battle with erosion and landslides.

     At one point, the local government headquarters was relocated as erosion literarily submerged the buildings.

     However, the Federal and State Governments, through the Ecological Funds and some donor agencies, especially the World Bank, have tackled the menace in the area. A resident of the area, Okenwa Uka, who spoke to The Nation, commended the state government for the work done to arrest the situation in Nguzi Edda.

     He, however, noted that another erosion crisis is threatening to cut off the community from other parts of the state as the only road linking it to the state and neighbouring Abia State is being threatened by erosion.

     Another resident, Dick Oko called on the government to save the community from imminent isolation.

     Meanwhile, work is in progress at the mini-estate being built by the federal and state governments at Ogwuma Edda to relocate hundreds of families affected by the landslide which cut off the community and others from other parts of the state last year.

     The state government had moved in to clear the blocked road while the Federal Government had provided funds to rebuild the collapsed retainer walls and relocate residents endangered by the constant landslides.

     Inspecting the projects recently, the Chairman of Afikpo South Local  Government Area, Prince Chima Ekumankama, expressed his happiness at the speed of work which has reached the roofing level.

     He encouraged the contractors to expedite action on the work in order to complete it on schedule.

  • ‘How to manage post-subsidy removal issues’

    ‘How to manage post-subsidy removal issues’

    With issues around subsidy removal and economy still dominating public discourse, Prince Adewole Adebayo, presidential flag-bearer of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the February 2023 general elections, offers insights into what the government should do to minimize the negative impacts of increases in fuel price, a development being controlled mainly by market forces. In this interview with some journalists, he spoke on many other issues bordering on the economy and welfare of the people. Associate Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF was there. Excerpts:-

    Subsidy removal, palliatives and other issues

    There are two types of people who criticise the subsidy removal. Some of them are hypocrites and some are consistent. Those who criticised subsidy removal like me and other people, they have grounds to criticise the programme. But those who supported anyone, any platform that said they would remove subsidy from day one are hypocritical. Once you agreed to throw a five year old child from 10 floor of a building, you cannot say I am surprised the child broke the limbs. There is no way you will implement the policy they are implementing now that you are not going to have the same consequences. Economics does not admit of cheating. You can cheat in politics, you can inflate your numbers in politics, but when it comes to economics, you can’t. You have to take the right policies. If you don’t take the right policies, the consequences of wrong policies will follow.

     When we are talking about hypocrisy, the hypocrisy didn’t start with the labour unions, hypocrisy started with people who opposed former President Goodluck Jonathan when he had smaller amount of subsidy adjustment and all of them went on the streets against it. And when they came to power, they went in the opposite direction finished everything once and for all. It is not a political statement when you say people are hypocritical. We predicted all this. We were discussing it then. Nobody can pretend that they are not aware that it will affect factor cost. If it affects factor cost, it will affect cost of living. If it affects cost of living, more people will go into poverty. Just look at the position they took before and look at the position they are taking now. There is nothing new in what has happened; it is just the natural consequence of the action. And that was why during the presidential debate, we were pushing for alternative view that they should not do it, but they have done it now, nothing has surprised me at all.

    First, we should stop misusing the word palliative. With N8,000, this is carried over from the existing 2023 budget. The carryover is the by-product of the plan the Buhari administration left behind as to how they would manage the subsidy removal. Even this £800m from the World Bank was negotiated by the past government. Policy watchers shouldn’t behave as if they didn’t know that it was in the offing. It appears the government is not aware of what we called monetary neutrality. When you have no food, you have no means of transportation, and when you have no Medicare, throwing money at you is not going to increase the number of service providers; it is not going to increase the value of real goods in the market. What it is going to do is that there would be waste, and the money will not be well used. When the money gets to the end user, it is useless to them in real terms because it does not have goods to chase with the money. In the end, it may cause a little bit of inflation. The way to go about it now is that the consensus as it appears that the Nigerian elite is behaving as if there is no alternative to subsidy removal. The subsidy has gone. I don’t agree with it though, but it is a policy of the government and it appears every mainstream political party and analyst agreed with that policy.

     And if you want to continue along that line, what you do is to delink the people from the value chain of petrol. And the way to do that is, for example, from the transportation and logistics point of view, you make sure that price of petrol does not impact on the ability of people to commute. That is why you see many cities, whether it is Singapore or London, what you see is that the common people don’t see the effects when the price of petroleum goes up or down because the government has provided public transportation that has been delinked from that. The common people are the easiest to take off that line.

     There are three factors affecting it (prices of goods) and none of them is accidental. It is the byproduct of our politics. We are either importing as we are importing now, or we are preparing the market in continuation of importation, meaning even if you are producing petroleum in Lagos, or Port-Harcourt or Akwa Ibom or Kaduna, the intention of the policymakers is that just as we don’t regulate the price of telephone, shoes or clothing or anything you buy in the market, you just follow what goes on in the international market. That is the policy position taken by APC, PDP and Labour, that is the mainstream right-wing parties in Nigeria.

     They are leaving the naira to what they call market forces and the market is regulated by foreign currency. So, even the Nigerian government has lost control over its own currency and has no control over how the petrol is traded. The inputs you use for petrol, whether it is the crude oil or refinery engineering cost, administration or manpower, they are all regulated by the US dollars. Unfortunately, most of the things people need in their lives are controlled by government policy but politics controls who goes into government. So, if you don’t identify your interest very well and articulate them and decide which of your life’s activities is going to be dependent on government decisions. Those who are dependent on government decisions should be involved in your politics

     If your well-being, sustainability, cost of living, employment, purchasing power, and ability to preserve the fruit of your labour to live in peace, all are implicated by government decisions. Therefore, they should be the ones to dictate your politics. These are the things you should consider when you are in politics. In economics, everything is about choice. There are many alternative routes to development. Nigeria is a resource-rich country. I am not saying that because of the number. I am saying it because of the quality of the people we have. Nigeria is rich in manpower. I think it is not too late for the government, starting with President Tinubu and co, to rethink and have a backup plan because I have a feeling, and I am saying it with every sense of responsibility, that if they go the way they are going, they will fail woefully. Not because they hate the people, but because they are adopting models that never worked. It will surprise everyone, including President Tinubu that, in the past two months, more people have entered into poverty and they are yet to succeed in lifting five people out of poverty. The measures they are taking now will not help the economy.

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    Subsidy is one out of about 2, 000 government programmes that require spending government money. I studied them when I was running for President as I was looking for ways to cut cost. If you are looking at the top 100 money wasters, subsidy for petrol is not one of them. One of them is establishment costs – running the National Assembly and Presidency. Another is military spending. These are major wasters of government money. We need the military but not the waste that is there. The third is the management and funding of the JV (Joint Venture) and production-sharing contract. The fourth is fiscal management of taxation, the waivers they give which is a government programme where, apart from giving waivers, they tell business people to pay a little tax. The fifth is the way we subsidise foreign exchange. There are more than these I have stated though.

     We have a duty to refine locally because it is an industrial policy decision, except when the production is toxic and problematic. It is always better to produce locally. However, it doesn’t automatically guarantee lower prices. Of course, it guarantees employment, and reliability in case of distortion in the market and you have a marginal decrease in cost. Look at other things being produced in Nigeria. Their prices are not down. Most of the cassava we consume comes from Nigeria. Why is the price of cassava not falling? We have been producing cement in Nigeria for one decade after former President Olusegun Obasanjo was everywhere supporting few people who wanted to create a monopoly market or geo-monopoly market in cement. He said once we start producing it, everybody would have cement cheaply. Cement has never been cheaper. Rather, it is even worse than before. When the government wants to commit your resources to their favourites, they will tell you “let us put our money in the hands of rich private people and you will get good prices along the way.”

    You will see that Nigerian banks don’t charge you more than the foreign banks even though the banks are in Nigeria. The law of economics doesn’t have a brother or sister. Once the person is in the capitalist world and he is trying to maximise his profit, he will sell anything to his own mother at any price. So, price mechanism is just a small part of developmental economics.

    Possible effects of 40% electricity tariff hike as demanded by DISCOs

    It is like government driving a trailer load of cement on top of somebody’s leg and you are saying you want to reduce the pain, yet you refuse to move away from his leg and yet you don’ t want the person to cry. This cannot work. How can we pretend that we don’t know that everybody in that value chain would continue to adjust his price to cope with it? You throw dirt upstream; everybody in the downstream waterway will have to deal with the debris. The product you are fighting over is in itself dependent upon on other factor cost. If you went down to adjust the factor cost, they will raise theirs too. Those are micro-economic decisions for individual firms to make because a government that cannot guarantee the price of petrol and take a policy decision and say “it is not my responsibility to guarantee petroleum prices,” such government cannot guarantee CNG or LNG. I think what government needs to do is to foster energy production by lowering cost for everybody including finance cost, infrastructure cost, freight cost and regulatory cost.

  • Laughing into hell

    Laughing into hell

    Concerns as addicts resort to blowing drug-laced balloons

    The next time you attend a party or an entertainment arena and you are given a balloon, you may actually be blowing your way to destruction or early grave if you choose to inflate it. Most times, such balloons are laced with nitrous oxide, which has ruined many lives within and outside the country. The involvement of many artistes and celebrities in the practice at shows and videos appears to be turning it into a status symbol. It is their way of luring unsuspecting followers to buy into the deadly substance popularly known as laughing gas, INNOCENT DURU reports.

    – Sedate unsuspecting girls with ‘laughing gas’ before raping them
    – How music stars, celebrities goad followers into using substance
    – NDLEA clamps down on dealers, users

    Cathia, a young lady with a promising future, had herself confined to a wheelchair after many years of inhaling nitrous oxide popularly called laughing gas. She lost sensation in her legs after taking up to 600 balloons a week.

    Her story and that of many other young people who have had their bourgeoning lives shattered by the use of laughing gas are all over social media.

    Another young female user of nitrous oxide filled into a balloon recently shared a tik tok video where she revealed how the substance inflicted injuries on her hand.

    In the said video, the lady was seen inflating a balloon with nitrous oxide. Along the line, the substance slipped and touched her hand, burning it severely. The affected hand got swollen with liquid in it. The swollen parts subsequently opened, leaving indelible scars she had battled to no avail to clean off her hand.

    Checks showed that the use of laughing gas in balloons is widespread.

    A social media user, Emmanuel Maduka, shared his experience about how the use of balloons for that unholy purpose has permeated the society.

    His words: “I went to this particular area where a group of young boys and girls were walking around with the balloon. It seemed like it was an ordinary balloon, but it was nitrous oxide. They were inhaling it as if they were sipping from a hot coffee … so scary.”

    The unholy practice, according to findings, had been fuelled by the brazen display and use of such by music stars and celebrities.

    Last week, popular social networking site, Twitter, buzzed to a boiling point after the picture of popular musician Olamide holding a bare backside of a white lady standing in front of him surfaced online.

    The reckless sexual display was not so much of a concern to many who were enraged by the picture as that has become a unique selling point in many music videos. What was of concern to many was the sight of balloons suspected to have been filled with laughing gas.

    Alarmed at the sight of the balloon, Dr Sina Ajidaun drew the attention of many unsuspecting followers to the substance.

    Ajidaun wrote: “Peep the picture…see canisters of nitrous oxide close to the bed. Obviously pumped into the balloon Olamide is inhaling.

    “I maintain, if we will win a war on hard drugs, we need to clamp down on celebrities.”

    Following brash use of such balloons in public places, including videos by artistes and celebrities, a worried Nigerian who goes by the name Oluwadamilare said: “Now more people would be introduced to balloons. We aren’t done with colorado and we are about to be hit by another endemic in canisters. Sigh!”

    Expressing shock at the information on nitrous oxide, a responder, who was oblivious of the reason why it was being used, said: “Up until now, I literally couldn’t figure out why adults were blowing air into balloons in clubs, lounges and all.”

    Before the controversial picture surfaced online, numerous other artistes had in different online videos been seen laughing hysterically while inflating balloons.

    In one of such videos, a musician who uses the name of Jamaican reggae idol and another artiste who is said to have bowed out of the industry because of pressure from his pastor-father, were seen inhaling laughing gas from balloons and laughing hysterically.

    Popular blogger Kemi Olunloyo had also reportedly called out some popular music stars on her instagram page for inhaling laughing gas.

    Mentioning some of the artistes, the blogger said: “Please leave inhalants alone. Stop videotaping these drug sessions and remember young fans are emulating you. My own advice to you, the followers, is to be educated about Hippy crack a.k.a. Risky.”

    Laughing gas used to sedate, rape females

    Many females are said to have been sexually abused by depraved men who sedate them with laughing gas.

    A user of nairaland, a social platform on the internet created a thread after learning how girls are sedated with laughing gas and raped.

    The poster said: “After having conversations with a couple of girls, I realised that most of them told me they lost their virginity when they visited a guy who poisoned their drinks with sleeping pills or used laughing gas on them, then took advantage of their unconsciousness…

    “So, I decided to create this thread for ladies to share their experiences and reactions afterwards.. also, guys, did any of you ever do that to a lady?”

    Alerting females about this, a medical practitioner identified simply as Dr Wale, who posts videos on health and social issues to educate the citizens, said: “In case you don’t know, ladies, nitrous oxide can also be used as a sedative to sexually assault women.

    “Before you get carried away with the trend, drag your ear and know what you are getting yourself into. Everything is not trend, everything is not play, everything is not funny.”

    Laughing gas on sale publicly

    Findings showed that laughing gas has for a very long time been on sale in public places.

    Online checks showed that they are freely advertised on various online marketplaces.

    Some of the sellers boldly advertise themselves as party gas suppliers with balloons tucked somewhere in their name.

    Numerous deaths caused by addiction to laughing gas

    In the developed world where accurate records about causes of death are kept, addiction to nitrous oxide has been found to be responsible for the untimely death of many people, especially the young ones.

    In one of the numerous reports about the calamities being wrecked by addiction to nitrous oxide, a public schoolboy was said to have died after inhaling laughing gas with his friends.

    Joe Benett, 17, suffered a heart attack and brain damage after taking gulps of nitrous oxide – nicknamed ‘hippy crack’ – from a canister, the report said.

    He remained in a coma for a month before his condition deteriorated and he died in hospital with his family at his bedside.

    His sister, Camille, warned of the dangers of using the popular middle-class party drug, saying: “I think having experienced how much this hurts, people should think about whether they are putting themselves in danger.

    “You do need to think about what you are doing, not just for yourself but for the sake of the people who love you.”

    In another report, a young dad was said to have died after taking eight canisters of laughing gas in the space of around 50 minutes.  An inquest said 29-year-old Matthew Brannelly was with a workmate inhaling balloons in the car park at Duxbury Park Golf Club in Chorley, on October 20 last year.

    At Preston Coroner Court, workmate Steve Houghton told the inquest: “He’d been taking it for about a year and-a-half.

    “I think he was sniffing lighter gas too but with lighter gas he would hide it because he didn’t want us to know as we would have had a go at him.”

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    The story was different for 19-year-old Gaskell. Unlike others who died after inhaling nitrous oxide, Gaskell in his case killed people after getting high on laughing gas.

    According to the report obtained by our correspondent, Gaskell had been inhaling laughing gas from a balloon when he injured two other pedestrians. The teen lost control at the wheel of his Land Rover Freelander before the hit-and-run crash where he mounted the pavement in front of a Wigan pub.

    The incident happened on the evening of April 8 on Ormskirk Road, Pemberton – the day before Gaskell’s 19th birthday and just two months after he was handed a suspended sentence for a previous dangerous driving offence.

    As Gaskell led the scene on foot, 44-year-old teacher Laura Hazeldine lay dying outside pub Number 15.

    Gaskell had picked up a number of passengers in Garswood and was driving to Pemberton. Prosecution barrister Rachel Woods told the court that one of the passengers said that Gaskell’s driving was originally fine but then he started speeding and going through red lights.

    One of the passengers asked to get out of the car because the teen’s driving was so dangerous- which Gaskell ignored. Gaskell then asked front seat passenger Matt Valentine for a nitrous oxide balloon and after initially refusing, Mr Valentine agreed.

    Gaskell held the balloon in his mouth as he drove and other drivers on the road at the time described seeing Gaskell attempt an overtaking manoeuvre but instead mounted the pavement and smashed into three pedestrians before hitting the pub wall and a lamp post.

    Mum-of-three Laura Hazeldine died in the collision. Two of the pedestrians were twin brothers, Jack and Ben Atherton.

    Medical use of nitrous oxide and implications of overdose

    Two medical practitioners who have been vocal on the dangers of rising abuse of nitrous oxide, Dr Shina Ajidaun and Dr Wale, have explained what the substance is professionally meant for. 

    Shedding light on this, Ajidaun, in a post, said: “Nitrous oxide is a gas that has both medical and industrial use. 

    “In medicine, it is used to sedate patients during surgery so they don’t feel the pain. It is used for anaesthesia.

    “The Nitrous gas is usually inhaled by taking it through the nose or mouth. The gas is able to get into the blood, which carries it to the brain and other organs in the body.”

    Same nitrous oxide, he said, is used in car nitro boosts (Remember Fast and Furious). Nitrous oxide is commonly called laughing gas due to a sense of euphoria. Meaning it can gas the person up so much they feel so high happy on top of the world.

    “Feeling like the next Elon Musk, they can start to see things which are not truly there.”

    On the fake happiness it creates, Ajidaun said: “Here is where it gets dangerous. Prolonged exposure to this gas can damage the brain and spinal cord.

    Nitrous Oxide blocks Vit B12, so parts of cells are not produced. Blood levels drop.

    “It also can cause abnormal ringing in the ears, dizziness. Fainting studies have shown that the gas is so toxic to the baby in pregnant women.

    “The gas can diffuse through the placenta to the baby. It can actually kill the baby or cause deformities in the baby.

    “Some other dangers are, in the long run it can cause memory loss, can drop the blood pressure sharply. It can cause heart attacks, sudden death and even problems with reproduction.

    “Non-specific symptoms like blurred vision, abnormal movement and many more – the list of death goes on and on.”

    Continuing, he said: “Now, this is what celebrities are introducing to us as a big flex. Think about this before you experiment. It is high time NDLEA and other relevant bodies sweep into action before we start having deaths. Balloons might be the next drug pandemic.

    On his part, Dr Wale, in an online video, expressed Nigerians’ lackadaisical attitude to issues.

    His words: “Nigerians, you people play too much and there is nothing anybody can say to change my mind.

    “Because something is called laughing gas you feel the only effect it has on your body is for you to laugh, abi? Dey there dey play.

    “Laughing gas, in case you don’t know, is nitrous oxide, and this compound is a potent sedative that is actually used as an anesthetic for people undergoing medical procedures. Nitrous oxide is safe when taken in appropriate doses.”

    He added that recreational use of nitrous oxide in balloons like “I have been seeing on social media puts you at the risk of overdose, and that is when it becomes a very dangerous substance.

    “You see, on that level, it is no longer laughing gas again, because everything that is happening in your body is no longer funny.

    “It can cause paralysis, permanent nerve damage, low blood pressure, heart attack, memory loss dependence and addiction and psychosis. “These are just the few that I can mention now.” 

    NDLEA warns artistes, clamp down on sales of laughing gas

    As part of its efforts to stop malleable youths from being influenced into drug abuse, The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), recently warned artistes and celebrities against glamorising drug use in their works.

    Earlier this month, the NDLEA ordered a crackdown on illegal sale, use of ‘laughing gas’ following its abuse by recreational users.

    The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), ordered all commands and formations of the agency to begin a crackdown on the substance with immediate effect.

    According to the command, the decision to clamp down on those involved in the illegal sale and use of nitrous oxide followed the analysis of the effects on those who abuse the substance, which include “dizziness; disorientation, headache; lightheadedness; fainting spells; hallucinations; falling unconscious and/or suffocating from lack of oxygen; and other neurological complications, especially psychiatric symptoms.”

    In a 2021 report, the agency revealed that over 40 per cent of Nigerian youths between the ages of 18 and 35 were deeply involved in drug abuse.

    The order by the NDLEA boss paid off last week when operatives of the agency intercepted over 64, 863.5kgs consignments of nitrous oxide at the Apapa seaport in Lagos and Imo states.

    The spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement said:

    “NDLEA operatives at the Apapa seaport, on July 12, intercepted two containers marked MSKU 7626856 and MSKU 7689448 suspected to contain cartons of nitrous oxide and plastic pressure release nozzles imported from China.

    “As a result, a joint examination of the containers was carried out by NDLEA officers, men of the Customs Service and other stakeholders the following day, July 13.

    “During the search of the two containers, a total of 522 cartons of nitrous oxide, containing 16,366 packages weighing 64,852kgs were recovered along with the paraphernalia for recreational use.

    “The importer of the consignment, 30-year-old Stephen Eze and his agent, Michael Chukwuma, were thereafter arrested and detained for further investigation.”

  • It’s grass-to-grace story for Binta

    It’s grass-to-grace story for Binta

    She cut her entrepreneurial teeth from a humble beginning as a bread hawker, propelled by the life-changing Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) of the Federal Government’s National Social Investment Programme (NSIP). Today, Binta Ismai’il is a proud owner of a thriving shoemaking workshop based in Abuja. Her inspiring grass-to-grace story, encouraged by the NSIP, going forward, could be the template for similar programmes aimed at enhancing and uplifting the living standard and livelihood of ordinary Nigerians. BOLAJI OGUNDELE writes.

    The owes her meteoric rise to fame and fortune to being a beneficiary of the life-changing Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), an intervention programme under the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development. Today, Binta Isma’il, a hitherto obscure roadside bread hawker, is a proud owner of a thriving shoemaking workshop.

    Binta, a resident of Abaji Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), is the new kid on the entrepreneurial bloc; her workshop, which is located in the same Abaji, serves as an employment outlet for apprentices and a profit-making venture for the owner.

    It is also an income stream for those workers who earn their daily bread from the workshop. “I used to hawk bread at Abaji market. However, since I started collecting this money, I used it to register my new place of work,” she said, pointing at her shoemaking workshop.

    Recalling with nostalgia how the CCT saved her life and improved her livelihood, Binta said: “I started benefitting from 2019 and it is the money that I used to buy these sewing materials and equipment that you are seeing in this shop.   

     “From the beginning, I enrolled and paid to learn the trade from the initial installment of the CCT that was paid to me, because at that time, I was hawking at Abaji market.

    “I was hawking bread on my head, but since I started receiving the CCT stipend, I used it to register and learned the shoemaking trade and also used the same money and purchased the materials that I’m using for sewing, including the machines and equipment that I’m using for the trade,” she emphasised.

    The CCT that propelled Binta to her current enviable status in the Nigerian entrepreneurial space is an intervention scheme under the NSIP established in 2016 by the Federal Government, under former President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The NSIP was aimed at addressing the immediate and long-term socio-economic imbalance and inequalities in Nigeria, alleviate poverty and stimulate accelerated economic growth for national growth and development. 

    The NSIP was strategically conceived, designed and tailored to provide safety nets to address the immediate and long-term socio-economic challenges faced by the poor and vulnerable in Nigeria.

    This was to bring succour and uplifting their living standard and ultimately accelerates rapid national development by enhancing their man power capability and up scaling their financial status through financial intervention in their businesses and other economic activities.

    Apparently worried by the growing poverty, inequality and poor living standards of the citizenry, which led to uncomplimentary poor living standard ratings of Nigerians by local and international institutions, the Federal Government had introduced poverty alleviation measures aimed at mitigating and squarely addressing the negative impact of these socio-economic imbalances on Nigerians, who unarguably, constitute the majority.

    This effort at uplifting the standard of living of the people and enhancing their socio-economic wellbeing was embarked upon by the government, despite failed attempts by successive administrations to address the nagging problem of excruciating poverty and poor living standards of majority of Nigerians.

    Indeed, the majority of Nigerians have been wallowing in poverty, despair and hopelessness, despite huge human and material resources that abound across the length and breadth of Africa’s most populous country.

    However, mindful of failure of past attempts by various administrations at different times, at addressing ravaging poverty among Nigerians, the Federal Government, under former President Buhari in 2016, established the NSIP.

    Records have shown that the NSIP is the biggest and most expansive social protection and poverty eradication programme put in place by any government in Nigeria in order to address poverty and enhance the living standards and condition of the people.

    Since its inception, the NSIP, which is domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, has benefited millions of Nigerians and continues to benefit directly and indirectly many poor and vulnerable people through its programme’s different clusters.

    Many of its beneficiaries, who were hitherto poor or vulnerable, have been lifted out of poverty through the CCT. Many of them now own small businesses thus improving their quality of life significantly.

    Another component of the NSIP, which has greatly impacted positively on the lives of many Nigerians, especially the youth who direly needed a push to actualise their dream and unleash their potential, is the N-Power programme.

    The N-Power programme was aimed at providing Nigeria’s teeming youth with learning opportunities and job experience, as well as available income for start-ups of economic transformation initiatives for a more meaningful life and better living conditions.

    While examples abound of many beneficiaries of the NSIP, Binta stands out. Prior to becoming a beneficiary of the NSIP’s CCT, she was a roadside bread hawker who earned her living from the hazardous trade of street hawking.

    It is a known fact that street hawking is one of the major human capital development challenges militating against the personal development of its victims and constitutes a clog in the wheel of progress of developing nations including Nigeria.

     No wonder, the NSIP targets the disadvantaged and the most vulnerable members of the society such as the jobless and those who engage in petty trading and sometimes demeaning trades like street hawking.

    The menace of street hawking poses a major threat to young people, particularly the girl child, who, apart from being denied the opportunity to acquire education for personal and national development, also falls victims of various forms of abuse such as rape, which cases are on the rise with daily report of sexual exploitation of young girls.

    Therefore, the NSIP’s targeting of such unfortunate young girls gives hope to the hopeless and set the tune for national rebirth.

    In this regard, the selection of such beneficiaries like Binta, whose hawking experience couldn’t be different from that of many young girls roaming the streets, rekindles hope and inspires her to achieve her full potential and serve as role model for others as encapsulated in her testimony. 

    Binta, who has since been soaring on the wings of NSIP’s CCT intervention programme, was full of inspiration and admonition for those who engage in her former trade, which is not only demeaning to the women folk, but also detrimental to their physical, psychological, mental as well social well-being.

    Such detriments ultimately, hinder women’s personal growth and constitute major development challenge, which, if left unchecked, could spell doom for the particular individual and the nation as a whole.

    In the euphoria of her excitement, Binta has a piece of advice for prospective and fellow beneficiaries of the CCT programme. She admonished them to use the stipend by first enrolling to learn a trade of their choice and thereafter, save to secure a place such as a workshop.

    Indeed, a visit to Binta’s busy workshop shows how life-changing interventions like the CCT can turn dreams and aspirations into reality. She said from the time she started selling her products (showing off some bags from their hangers), the intervention has proved to be a clear testimony of a new lease of life for its beneficiaries.

    As enunciated by her testimony, the choice of Binta as a beneficiary of the NSIP’s CCT programme, indicates a programme with multiple benefits not only for the beneficiaries, but also for those who aspire for self reliance, economic independence and actualisation through personal development and exploit of their potential.

    Indeed, if previous programmes of similar aim with NSIP were executed in the manner the CCT was handled, the poor rating of Nigeria on development indices by both domestic and international institutions would have a far better one which the citizens would be proud of.

    This is so because the multiplier effects of the intervention resonate in many homes in Abaji, and beyond, which hitherto were either lacking in income or completely had no reliable, stable source of income for their sustenance. 

  • Making life bearable for sickle cell sufferers

    Making life bearable for sickle cell sufferers

    Judging by the excruciating pains sufferers of sickle cell disease (SCD) and the trauma their caregivers or parents experience, experts and stakeholders maintain that the Federal Government’s involvement in tackling the scourge should be improved upon and sustained. Associate Editor, EMMA ANYA reports

    Sickle cell is not a commonplace disorder.  Usually, its symptoms appear early in childhood and vary from person to person; from mild to life-altering or threatening.

     Experts reel off anaemia, jaundice, swelling of hands and feet, stunted growth and development, stroke, pain, infection, fatigue and pulmonary hypertension as some of the indicators.

     Caregivers of sickle cell sufferers have as much as traumatic experiences as those who are victims.

     Narrating her experiences in giving care to her child, Keside, Mrs Calista Oluchi said: “It could be a harrowing experience taking care of a sickle cell sufferer. Nearly at age two, my last kid began having a recurrence of illnesses. Often, he would bounce back within two days.

    “But one got me and my husband worried. The boy cried and shivered uncontrollably.

    “I dashed across to the home of a family doctor adjacent to ours.

    Immediately, the doctor came and examined Keside. He asked to know the genotype of my husband and I. ‘AS and AS,’ we said.

    “The doctor administered some drugs to him and advised that we took him to the hospital if we did not notice any sign of improvement in hours.

     “As the doctor made to leave, he said: ‘Your boy should be screened to determine his genotype in our hospital, the Federal Medical Centre (FMC).

     “To us, his advice sounded outlandish. When Keside was one and a half years, we had taken him to a popular laboratory in our neighbourhood.

     “He was screened and the result was AA.”

    Even though Keside’s health improved significantly after the doctor attended to him, Mrs Oluchi and her husband still headed for the FMC the following morning.

    Attendants at the FMC rescreened him for genotype. The result was stunning. Keside was SS.

     To make assurance a double, the couple presented him for another round of screening; this time, at a well-known laboratory close to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). There it was also reconfirmed.

     It was then that the couple was convinced that they have a huge challenge before them.

     Keside has grown into an adolescent; and at 16, he is alive and is coping, even though, according to his parents, each time he has a crisis, he experiences excruciating pains.

     Aside from the pain Keside undergoes any time he has a crisis, his mother stated that the financial implications are humongous.

     Explaining their trauma, Oluchi said: “As parents, we do not only suffer emotional pain, the financial implications of managing a sickle cell child is monumental. At home, we ensure that all essential/recommended drugs are available in our mini-pharmacy. This is whether or not our Keside is sick.

     “There are two significant incidents in the challenges we have faced managing our son. They remain fresh in our minds.

     “One was an admission period in LUTH. It had to do with blood transfusion. Prior to this, he had had four or five that went without a hitch. This particular instance was harrowing. Keside was on oxygen. At the same time, he needed blood. Non-medics and resident doctors were on strike. There was also blood scarcity. To worsen the situation, Keside’s blood group (B negative) is hard to come by.

    “For three days, we searched from public blood banks to privately-operated ones without success. On the fourth day, someone referred my husband to a blood bank at Adeniran Ogunsanya Street in Surulere, where luck smiled at us.

     “The snag, however, was that it was costlier but we had no choice. Our son’s life was more important than money.

     “My husband bought the required quantity and headed back to LUTH.

      “A consultant at the blood bank rescreened the blood and said that it had only two days to expire.

    “At this point, my husband panicked so much. Keside was in bed desperately in need of blood and the doctor was mentioning expiration.

    “Sensing my husband’s mood, the consultant tried to calm him down: ‘Let them go ahead with the transfusion but be sure you boost your son’s blood with blood tonic without iron and blended Kiwi,’” he advised.

     “After the transfusion was carried out, Keside started showing signs of improvement. Two days later, we were discharged.

     “The second time I will not forget was when my husband was away from Lagos. At 2:00 a.m., I called to inform him that

     Keside had another crisis. He was 700 kilometres away from us.

     “My voice conveyed the level of the crisis and my concern to him.

     “What could be done? Our oldest child, Justice, was nine years then. There was absolutely no way he could be left alone at home.

     “My husband directed that we should go the FMC. He knew it was risky but he assured me that God would take control.

     ‘Do not panic. Wake Justice and lay him in the back seat of your car to continue his sleep. Get Keside in the front seat and move,’ my husband said.

     Mrs Oluchi had no option but to move as her husband advised. She drove to the FMC Ebute Metta at that odd hour.

     Mrs Oluchi’s narrative formed part of the common threads that permeated the presentations and speeches by experts and guests at the June 19 World  Sickle Cell Lecture organised by Nigeria’s foremost sickle cell advocacy group, the Sickle Cell Foundation of Nigeria (SCFN).

     Experts have maintained that wrong diagnosis is the first problem encountered in taking care of a sickle cell sufferer. The second is the challenges of managing sickle cell disorder (SCD) persons. Others were late diagnosis, knowing your genotype before marriage.

     The experts that made the presentations were Professors Edamisan Temiye and Titilope Adeyemo of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi Araba, Lagos.

    Sickle cell disorder in Nigeria

    Nigeria is said to be the epicentre of the life-threatening disorder globally. According to records, there are about 46 million sufferers in Nigeria.

     As far back as 2008, Nigeria was reported to be losing 100,000 infants to SCD yearly.

    Indices from the World Health Organisation (WHO) also showed that the country accounted for 75 per cent of infant sickle-cell cases in  Africa and about 80 per cent of infant deaths from SCD on the African Continent.

     Out of the 200,000 infants born with SCD yearly in Africa, Nigeria accounted for 75 per cent of the births.

     WHO said that sickle cell disorder is particularly prevalent in areas of high malarial transmission.

     “The mutant sickle-cell gene confers a survival advantage against malaria which explains the prevalence of the disease in Nigeria where malaria is endemic,” it added.

    In spite of the huge pains posed to people suffering from the disorder and the financial challenges faced by their parents, the Federal.

    The government’s involvement in tackling the scourge is more than lethargic. This leaves SCD sufferers and their parents on their own.

     Former President Mohammadu Buhari, in one of his interviews last.

      December told a story of how he lost two children to sickle cell. He described the experience as harrowing but made no reference to what his administration was doing to tackle the scourge.

     In May 2023, the immediate past Minister of Science and Technology Olurunimbe Mamora announced at a ministerial press briefing that the ministry had invented Nutraceuticals for the management of disorders such as sickle cell.

     This elicited joy from people living with SCD and their parents, but findings revealed that the drug, whose name Mamora did not mention, is still in the works.

     In countries where the scourge is far minimal than in Nigeria, SCD sufferers enjoy better health care at a near-free cost.

     Those in the United Kingdom, for instance, do not only get free drugs, they enjoy free Medicare and, therefore, live healthier and longer than their counterparts in Nigeria.

     Before this, the nearest contribution by the government toward tackling the disorder was the development of Niprisan by the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD).

    Niprisan, a phytochemical, was formulated from indigenous plants (Piper guineenses seeds, Pterocarpus Osun stem, Eugenia Caryophylum fruit and Sorghum bicolour leaves.

    But, Niprisan’s commercialisation was hampered by a lack of pharmaceutical capacity for drug formulation in the country.

    Sickle cell disease explained

     The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has described SCD as a group of disorders that cause red blood cells to become misshapen and break down.

     With sickle cell disease, an inherited group of disorders, red blood cells contort into a sickle shape. The cells die early, leaving a shortage of healthy red blood cells (sickle cell anaemia) and can block blood flow; causing pain (sickle cell crisis).

    People who have sickle cell disorder inherit two faulty haemoglobin genes called haemoglobin S–one from each parent.

     Types of SCD

    There are several types of SCD. Some are HbSS, HbSC, HbS, , Hb HbSO and HbAS and HbSD. While HbSS and HbSC are common in West Africa, rare cases  as HbS, HbSD, HbSE, and HbAS and are not.

     The specific type of SCD a person has depends on the genes they inherited from their parents.

    HbSS

     According to health experts, people who have this form of SCD inherit two genes, one from each parent, that code for haemoglobin “S.”

     Hemoglobin S is an abnormal form of haemoglobin that causes the red cells to become rigid, and sickle-shaped commonly called sickle cell anaemia. It is usually the most severe form of the disorder.

       HbSC

     People who have this form of SCD inherit the haemoglobin “S” gene from one parent and a gene for a different type of abnormal haemoglobin called “C” from the other parent. This is usually a milder form of SCD.

     SCD crisis

    It is the pain that happens when blood vessels to parts of the body are blocked. The pain is usually extraordinarily severe and could last days or weeks. The four main types of crisis are aplastic, acute sequestration, hyper-haemolytic and vaso-occlusive.

     A sickle cell crisis is usually triggered by physical or psychological stress, cold weather, alcohol, tobacco products, loss of fluids (dehydration), infection, malaria parasites, and low blood oxygen (hypoxemia).

     Hypoxemia can result from very strenuous exercise, high altitude or certain medical conditions.

     People with SCD are prone to illnesses such as stroke and ulcers of the leg. The disorders also cause swelling of hands and feet, delayed growth and poor vision.

     Preventing SCD crisis

    To checkmate the SCD crisis, medical experts recommend a daily intake of easy-to-access drugs such as folic acid, paladin, B-Complex, Vitamin C, Niprosan, Jobylin and immune-boosters.

    Specialists also recommend that people with SCD make water their companion. Water, according to them, helps blood flow, thereby preventing the sickling of red cells.  Other liquids like juice that are rich in vitamins are also helpful.

     Fruits that are rich in minerals such as carrots, mangoes, apples and guava, among others also complement in preventing the crisis.

    One of the main problems of SS people is low blood counts. For people with AA and AS genes, the life cycle of their blood cells is over 100 days. But for SS people, it is only 20 or 30 days.

    While the full blood count of an AA or AS averages 36, for an AS, it is a maximum of 23. Because of their challenge with blood, it is highly advisable that they eat vegetable-rich meals, and take blood tonics without iron, beetroot and Kiwi regularly.

     It is also advisable that people with SCD should eat a lot of local beans called Olo by the Yoruba and sleep under the mosquito-treated net to prevent mosquito bites.

     The challenges of some SCD people are also compounded by ulcers and strokes.  For years now, SCFN is known to have taken the bull by the horn by ensuring that Nigerian children with SCD do not suffer a stroke as they grow. This is done by ensuring that those between two and 12 years undergo a screening process known as Trans Cranial Doppler (TCD).

     Managing SS crisis

     Most often, crisis sets in with joint pain, high temperature, headache, and other signs. When mild, home treatment can commence with the administration of painkiller drugs like Paracetamol or ibuprofen.

    Regular water intake is also very important. Close monitoring is essential.

    But, if the symptoms persist after some hours of home care, it is advisable that the person having a crisis be taken to the hospital for expert attention.

    Advances in the management of sickle cell disorder

     Professor Temiye, a Consultant Haematologist at LUTH listed blood transfusion, HydroxyUrea and BMT transplantation as some of the new advances in the management of SSD.

    Dr Sunil Gupta, a Haematologist and renowned Cable News Network (CNN)

     Health analysts said that low blood count occurs when a person has fewer red blood cells, fewer white blood cells, or fewer platelets in the body than what is typically considered to be normal.

     “In other words,” Gupta says, “the bone marrow of such an individual is not making enough of one type of a person’s blood cells.”

     A person with low blood count, otherwise known as Anaemia or cytopenia in medical terms, experiences tiredness, shortness of breath, fast heartbeat and weakness.

    For those with SSD, the symptoms are usually more severe. To quickly rescue such persons, blood transfusion is usually introduced.

     Transcranial Doppler Scan (TCD) which SCFN introduced recently in Nigeria, said Temiye, has helped to save many with SCD, especially the young from stroke.

     TCD scan detects  , air, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, and many other compounds.

     It provides rapid, non-invasive, real-time measures of cerebrovascular function and can be used to measure flow velocity in the basal arteries of the brain to assess relative changes in flow, diagnose focal vascular stenosis, or detect embolic signals within these arteries.

     Temiye also provided insights into research breakthroughs in diets such as “Cajanus cajanb (…..) that have proven to contain abundant glutamine, alanine and phenylalanine with comparable effects on SCD with Hydroxy Urea.”

     Hydroxyurea, according to experts, does not only make red blood cells bigger, “it helps them stay rounder and more flexible and  less likely to turn into a sickle shape.”

    The drug, according to the experts, does so “by increasing a special kind of haemoglobin called haemoglobin F.”

    Haemoglobin “F” is also called foetal haemoglobin because newborn babies have it.

    Although Temiye believes in the effectiveness of HydroxyUrea in SSD treatment, he warned that it has serious negative effects on the liver and kidneys, if abused.

     To forestall, the negative consequences, he recommended dosage based on the age of a user must be strictly adhered to. He also admonishes every user to always stick to programmed liver and kidney tests as recommended by experts in the management of SSD.

     He also alluded to Gene therapy as yet advancement in the curative approach to SCD. 

    Gene therapy is “the introduction of normal genes into cells in place of missing or defective ones in order to correct genetic disorders.”

     The expert, however, noted that Gene therapy is accessible only to individuals with high income.

     He assured that there is the possibility of a definite cure for SCD through technological improvement in gene editing tools and stem cell harvesting as well as promising clinical trials.

     As of today, he said, the only cure for SSD is Bone Marrow Transplant

     (BMT); a procedure in which “bone marrow cells are collected from a donor’s bloodstream with a needle inserted into a bone; typically a pelvic bone.”

    Oftentimes, donors are usually direct siblings of persons requiring BMT.

     But some diseases such as multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, can prevent one’s sibling from donating marrow or blood-forming cells.

     A donor’s age is also usually considered in carrying out BMT. If the age difference is much, it is not always advisable.

     However, a new SS drug is currently being used in the UK. The drug,

     ADAKVEO, a brand of crizanlizumab, was produced by pharmaceutical giant, NOVARTIS.

     It is expected that 5,000 people with SCD will be treated with ADAKVEO injection, over the next three years.

     Experts in Nigeria are however yet to queue into the usage of the drug, which is highly regulated in the United Kingdom.

    One of them told our correspondent that they were yet to embrace crizanlizumab in the treatment of crisis because “even in the UK, the long-term effect is still being studied.”

    Importance of early and accurate diagnosis of SCD

    Another expert, Prof  Adeyemo used some cases she personally handled to stress the need for would-be married couples to know their genotypes.

     Besides the deliberate decision to know one’s genotype, a number of opportunities do crop up, especially in gaining admissions into schools and employment, travelling and even during marriage counselling.

     In most of these instances, direct requests, she said, are made for would-be employees, admission seekers and about-to-wed persons to show proof of their medical fitness.

     Adeyemo lamented that most often, people fail to realise that complying with such requests could save them from negative health implications or even death.

     “Pre-school, pre-employment, pre-marital, pre-natal, community screening (outreaches),” she stressed, admitting however that  “there is yet the problem of misdiagnosis and genotype misidentification which have been very rampant as a result of lack of standards and quality control.”

     As Temiye, Adeyemo advised that SS screening should not end with one laboratory. According to her, the keyword is “repeat” the screening at a reputable health facility.

    Early management of their case is imperative for married couples who knowingly or unknowingly find themselves producing children with SS.

    Adeyemo advises that SCD children between the ages of two and five be made to undergo regular TCD screening to prevent them from being stroke-prone, having leg ulcers and kidney problems.

     “At eight to nine months of life, the kidney already shows signs of dysfunction (Sickle Nephropathy). Since SCD is a lifelong disorder, it, therefore, requires life-long comprehensive care,” she said.

    She also identified associated risk factors such as recurrent acute chest syndrome, Vaso occlusive episodes as well as severe anaemia as some of the challenges always faced by SS people.

     Adeyemo said that “protective factors have been found to be induction of foetal haemoglobin by hydroxyurea.”

     “It is possible to live full lives and enjoy most of the activities that other people do as an SS person. An SS person should need to learn how to stay as healthy as possible, and that starts with the early and accurate diagnosis of the disorder followed by being enrolled in an SCD care programme.”

     Adeyemo advocated that the unlisted be carried out,  especially by the government and regulatory agencies:

    •intensify national universal newborn screening programme advocacy

    •engaging regulatory bodies to ensure laboratories eliminate/minimize systematic errors by routinely calibrating their equipment using controls, maintaining instruments and equipment and comparing values, and compelling laboratory operators to train and re-training their scientists.

    Surviving and thriving with SCD

    Toyin Adesola, a warrior, radio host and emotional intelligence coach was diagnosed with SSD at age six.

     She is now 56 and has pushed through most of the pains associated with the disorder. Today, she moves with two mobility aids–a mini-electric bike and a walking stick.

    When you see Adesola, you notice a life of triumph – smile and hope radiating all over her.

     At the event, she told her story, including how her mother prayed for her to become a conqueror and warrior, a beacon of hope to others with SSD.

     Adesola’s key message was for those with SSD and their parents to “have positive mindsets tailored at conquering in the face of health challenges.”

     She also canvassed better healthcare and support from governments at all levels.

     Adesola also advised warriors to build “a support network within their families, friends and healthcare professionals.

     This, according to her, “will help them rise above the physical and emotional effects of the sickle cell disorder.”

    Stakeholders speak

    Eminent Nigerians that attended the SCFN event included Olorogun Sonny Kuku, Prof. Ibironke Akinsete and Founder of SCFN, Prof. Olu Akinyanju.

    Also in attendance were Ibijoke Claudiana Sanwo-Olu, wife of Lagos

     State Governor represented by Dr O.J Olunuga, medical director,

     Ebute-metta General Hospital; CMD of LUTH represented by the Chairman Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC), Dr Oshodi; World Health Organisation represented by Dr Memuna Esan; Pfizer Medical Director represented by Dr Chioma George, Global Action Network for Sickle Cell and other Inherited Blood Disorders (GANSID) represented by Mrs Lanre Ajayi and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health represented by Dr Deborah Odoh.

     Akinyanju, in his comment, stressed that SSD “is not something one should hide from the public. He pointed out that it was important to keep the “positive values of living above the myths around sickle cell.”

     While other guests, especially Kuku emphasised that sickle cell today is not a death sentence, Pfizer’s Medical Director stated that four million to six million people live with the disorder in Nigeria.

     The guest of honour, Prof. Akinsete lauded SCFN for sustaining the National Sickle Centre and contributing to research-making innovations.

     But Akinsete, who also pointed out that SCD was not a death threat, knocked the Federal Government for not doing much to tackle the scourge.

     She advocated Modern Comprehensive Care to drive the development of a holistic approach to management through medical and non-medical teams.

     Akinsete also stressed the need for a “concerted effort of both federal and state governments as well as international agencies to come up with a strategic plan for the management of SCD as well as financing.”

     Governments at all levels, according to her, should allot an appreciable percentage of budgets for the “creation of a comprehensive health care for those living with sickle cell disorder.”

  • Philanthropist lights up 62 Oyo communities

    Philanthropist lights up 62 Oyo communities

    Some communities in Ilaji in Olorunda-Ogunsola Local Government Area of Oyo State, including Idi-Obi, Kure, Jigan and their environs were seeing electricity for the first time in over 200 years of their existence. It took the efforts of the Chief Executive Officer of Ilaji Hotels and Sports Resort, Dotun Sanusi, to provide electricity for about 62 communities. TAYE ADISA reports.

    or hours on Monday, June 5, 2023, guests from far and near joined the people of Olorunda-Ogunsola as well as Idi-Obi, Kure, Jigan and their environs, in Oyo State, when Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State inaugurated the electrification projects embarked upon in the communities by a man that is filled with the milk of human kindness and a revered philanthropist, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Ilaji Hotels and Sports Resort, Dotun Sanusi.

     The road leading to the community, the venue of the event, was literally shut as a huge crowd made their way to the site of the transformer installed by the philanthropist as his contribution to the social well-being of his people. The people that made up the huge crowd were there to behold a spectacle and catch some fun which rarely has been experienced in the community at least for a very long time.

     As electricity came alive when the governor switched on the transformers, the people burst into uncontrollable excitement. There was heavy drumming, singing, trumpeting and breathtaking dance steps by cultural dancers who thrilled guests who had gathered before the arrival of the dignitaries.

     The different talking drums of local drummers of Ilaji released deafening sounds in the effusive eulogistic oration of the man they fondly referred to as Ilaji, even though he originally is the Mogaji (family head) of Ile Olugbade in Ibadan. He also doubles as the Apesinola of Ibadan land.

     To signpost their happiness, residents of the affected communities trooped to the venue in numbers and in colourful attire of the day-an Ankara aso ebi. They danced, dined and wined as they marvel at what one of them called the unrivalled generosity of the Ilaji owner.

     It was all glamour and show of opulence, as an estimated crowd of  20,000 that included the governor’s entourage, traditional rulers, leaders of thought in the communities, community and religious  leaders, members of the benefiting communities, friends and  well-wishers gathered to witness a rare act of charity and benevolence  by one of their own.

     The weather was clement as if nature was exultant with the Mogaji’s magnanimity. It also depicted a natural endorsement of the act of  charity as the sun shone brightly out of the azure sky.

    It could be understood why the people made merry till late into the  night. Many of the communities were seeing electricity for the first  time in over 200 years of their existence. So, for them, it was  welcome to the modern world.

    Chief Abiola Adewale, the Akeweje of Akanran, a retired school  Principal, who supervised the power projects on behalf of Dr Sanusi,  said that the people of Akanran Local Government Area cannot but be  grateful to Baba Ilaji (Sanusi) because he has always come to their  aid.

     He said: “In 2018, the entire Akanran community was thrown into  darkness when electrical equipment was vandalised at Olorunsogo.

     Darkness enveloped the few Akanran that had electricity at the time,  extending to Olorunsogo in Ibadan.

     “We had met a contractor who gave a bill of N70 million and when we  met with Dr Sanusi, he asked whether we wanted money or the power  project. We told him we wanted electricity restored. The following  day, he bought 189 electricity poles and other materials and, within a  short while, the light was restored.”

    That project, according to Chief Adewale, covers Alagbaa; Akanran  Village; Lanlehin; Oluku; Owanran; Alatise and Okugbaja villages.

    Apparently impressed by the speediness with which Dr Sanusi handled the Akanran-Ibadan power problem, the community, again, through Chief Adewale, approached him with a list of communities, many of which have  never seen electricity in over 200 years.

    Two projects were immediately agreed upon, leading to the execution of  the Olorunda-Ogunsola and the Idi-Obi, Kure, Jigan and their environs’  power projects with the electrification of two 300 KVA transformers  installed by Dr Sanusi.

     Adewale listed the communities that would benefit from the   Olorunda-Ogunsola power project  include Aare Alaasa Village,  Oniyangi, Ori Okiti, Ogunniran, Elesu, Daleko and Olubokun. The second  300 KVA transformer fixed for Idi-Obi, Jigan and Kure communities also  covers Alaago, Maye, Akuukutan, Adeitan, Isokan, Seriku, Ashipa,  Ekerin and Idi Ogun villages.

    “Many of these communities have never seen electricity since their  existence,” Chief Adewale said. According to him, the twin electricity  projects have potentially turned around the fortunes of the Ona-Ara  Local Government Area socially, economically and politically.

    “More markets will open; more event centres and more businesses will spring up. It will increase the tax collectable by the local  government and Oyo State. And to land owners, this is a period of  economic boom. The value of land has already increased from N200, 000  to N600, 000 per plot, unlike before when we used to sell an acre for  N150,000.

    “A lot of people prefer to come here and stay rather than stay in the  town and we also know that the power projects will reduce security  threats,” the community leader said.

     He said upon the completion of the twin projects, Dr Sanusi has also  kick-started efforts to electrify more villages located within Ona-Ara  and Ido local government areas of Ibadan land.

    The communities, according to him, include Bioku Alaadun, Tai Village,  Modina, Thy Will (Alaafia loju), Ifetola, Gbeleyi, Alagbaa-Mayo,  Ojugbode, Laduntan and Ifedapo in Ona Ara, while Lasokun-Apata in Ido  Local Government Area has also been listed. “In all, we are targeting  15 transformers for these communities,” he said.

    The Baale of Olorunda-Ogunsola Community, Chief Oluranti Aremu, with  147 villages under his control, said that the communities will ever  remain thankful to Dr Sanusi, whom he called Baba Ilaji, for turning  around the living standards in his area.

    He said: “What we can say is that Baba Ilaji has renewed our lives.

    Ona Ara to d’otun (Ona Ara has been turned around). Before now, the  people of Ona-Ara were regarded as not indigenous to Ona-Ara and only  as farmland.

     “We never had industries here, but with the coming of Ilaji,  everything has changed. We used to only cultivate cassava, maize and  pepper. Now, we have different lifestyles here. There is no difference   between Ona-Ara and the main city.”

    He said that Dr Sanusi has also touched the lives of the people in  different ways, including maintaining the only access road to the  area. “There was a time when the Olorunsogo-Akanran Road was only  accessible by motorcycles and bicycles. Dr Sanusi came to our rescue  and stabilised the road. He spent several millions of Naira doing that  for years. We are thankful to him,” he said.

    On the impact of the electricity projects on the well-being of the  people, Chief Aremu said: “The electrification projects made us happy.

    We have been waiting for years. Our artisans, including rewires,  welders, and others, have all become okada riders. But now, they have started repairing their shops and now businesses such as cold room can even spring up.”

     A representative of the Ori-Okiti Community in Olorunda, Mr. MutiuJimoh, also thanked Baba Ilaji. “Ona-Ara ti d’otun niyen. We thank  God,” he said in a mix of Yoruba and English languages, adding,  however, that the electricity projects were not the only way Dr Sanusi  has touched the lives of the people.

     He added: “Dr Sanusi has remained the lone star around here with  unequalled philanthropy. He always carried out repair works on the  Olorunsogo-Amuloko-Akanran Road before the state government recently  awarded the contract for the construction of the road.”

     But what drives the man who is already becoming popular as today’s  Idameji Ibadan ti won n pe lenikan (One man equal to half of Ibadan  land)?

    The late Ilorin-born Mohammodu Odolaye Aremu popularised the “idameji  Ibadan” concept in his music when he eulogised the late strongman of  Ibadan Politics, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu.

    According to Odolaye Aremu, in recent history, only two Ibadan sons  have held Ibadan city (state) spellbound, with their control of  politics, power and money. The duo of Adedibu and Alhaji Abdulazeez  Arisekola-Alao were so recognised by the man I will call a poet,  spoken word exponent and musician.

    He, however, declared that Adedibu was the “Idameji Ibadan ti won n pe  lenikan” (one man who is equal to half of Ibadan land).

    Today, not a few who are knowledgeable about the goings on in Ibadan  land and, by extension, Oyo State, would agree that the pedigree of  the Ilaji owner is fast equaling the status of that heraldic emblem as  modelled by Odolaye Aremu.

    Above all, his trade name is Ilaji (half). His touch is visible in  every aspect of Ibadan (Oyo State) life. His Ilaji Resort is always a  beehive of activities, hosting the high, the mighty and the  not-so-high. It is also a tourist location of choice and a sports  complex nurturing youths for all kinds of sports. He is a businessman, an educationist and a top player in the oil industry.

    He is a Mogaji, a high-ranking Chief of Olubadan; he is home with the  traditional institution, Muslims, Christians and traditionalists. He  says he has not joined politics but politicians won’t leave him alone.

    The need to help people live a good life, he says, is the driving  force behind his numerous activities, as he adds that what is today known as Ilaji was originally Oloyo Village in Akanran.

     “Ilaji is the trade name of my mum who hails from Ile Ilaji in the Idi  Arere area of Ibadan,” he said.

    Yes, he agreed, his philanthropy has cost him a fortune. Electrifying  over 62 communities, and maintaining access roads and such efforts  have cost him over N500 million, between 2017 and 2023.

    That notwithstanding, nothing, he said, will deter him from doing more for the people.

    •  Adisa contributed this piece from Ibadan, Oyo State.
  • Reminiscences, as famous NDA 37RC bows out

    Reminiscences, as famous NDA 37RC bows out

    Some have called them the class of many firsts and others have described them as the pillars of innovations in the Nigerian Armed Forces. Though members of the 37 Regular Course, Nigerian Defence Academy voluntarily retired from service following the appointment of their juniors as service chiefs; Precious Igbonwelundu reports that their legacies, dedication and patriotism will continue to resonate.

    They played with the tiger’s tail, the lion’s ears; poked the Jaguar’s eyes and even bit the eagle’s claws. They criss-crossed the desert, navigated the mangroves of Bonny, Etioke and the mountains of Mandara without fail.

    A journey that commenced 34 years ago with 200 youngsters saw some summarily dismissed, others wounded in battle and yet another sent home three times but returned each time after being found innocent of all accusations.

    From the Forest of River Cess; plantations of Firestone; slippery roads of Robertsport and windy highlands of Turbmangberg, Swen, Bo waterside; Tine to Gbanga, Voinjama, Saw Mill, Kalahun and Kockry, members of 37 Regular Course, Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) scaled through each task to the glory of God.

    Creeping from Star Base to Freeport Junction through Battery Factory, Charlotte City to Garnesville junction with the Guerrillas dashing through the swamp to Coca-Cola junction; the diehards went head-on to red-light, wheeled to Mount Barkley through Chinese Farm, VOA 2 to 15 gate…

    “It was at this dare devil’s gate I recall the bald headed Akigbe beckoned me: “FC pickin, come and see the job we are doing”- a ditch full of the dead and babies wailing in the pool of blood of their dead parents, uncertain where they were or when they will be answered,” reminisced one of the officers, Maj Gen Moundhey Gadzama Ali, pioneer Commandant, Nigerian Army Special Forces School, after 34 years of active military service.

    Like many of his course mates, Ali considered each deployment a selfless and national duty. He remains one of the military officers who in the course of his career was dismissed twice, sent to ASCON and recalled after each situation for being innocent of all allegations.

    Renowned for producing 100 generals, including a Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Farouk Yahaya (rtd.); two Commandants of Special Forces School, NASI Jaji; over 20 General Officers Commanding (GOCs), Flag Officers Commanding (FOCs), and Air Officers Commanding (AOCs); three Commandants of the Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre (NAFRC), Oshodi; a Commandant of NDA; one Director-General (DG) of Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria, DICON, the 37RC was also the first direct course to be awarded degree at the NDA.

    The course also had a Commander, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC); Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI); Chief of Defence Space Agency (CDSA); Military, Naval and Air Secretaries, among other sensitive operational and strategic commands, departments and unit’s heads.

    It goes without a doubt that officers of this course left indelible footprints throughout their service year. It was they who championed the cause of indigenous manufacturing of military hardwares. From reconfiguring HOWO and normal tippers to military war fighting trucks, building of conquerors, to the production of Ezegwu MRAPS, the 37RC also made history as the only course that produced a historian who manufactured real fighting vehicles, local shipbuilding efforts, in-country Periodic Depot Maintenance (PDM) of some war planes and locally sourcing needed materials to keep military equipment functioning and by so doing, saving the country huge capital flight in foreign exchange.

    In a recent chat with The Nation, Gen. Ali, who was pioneer Commander, Nigerian Army Special Forces Command, 4 Special Forces Command, who led several clearance operations in Operation Lafiya Dole, recalled how he broke his legs twice, was court-marshalled, and retired on three different occasions for volunteering information on Liberia’s weapon dumps and observing training in civil dress and slippers at NATRAC as well as administrative mismanagement in the Theatre.

    His being relieved from service in Liberia during that country’s civil war almost cost him his life, especially the betrayals from colleagues and bumpy traps placed on the way to take him out.

    Ali said: “I was retired three times, broke my legs twice and was court marshalled for volunteering information on National Patrotic Front of Liberia’s (NPFL) weapon dumps.  But when our Rapid Response Team led by one Major Eregbu went for the search that day, they saw only weapons hidden at the centre of a football field (kickoff spot) and in the ceiling of rebels place of abode but didn’t see these in the scooped anthill.

    “So the Intelligence Officer, Lt BA Alabi now GOC 1 Division, came to pick me to show them the anthill.

    “On getting to the search area based on my information, I took them to the anthill. Unfortunately, the weapons were relocated. I met the arrested Lt.-Gen. Isaac, Commander of the NPFL and accosted him.

    “He confessed that one of the Brigade Commanders relocated his weapons that were in the anthill to a village where he was processing palm oil. Coincidentally, I knew the village because I was tasked with Capt. F. C. Amadi the previous day to go to NPFL General Koko Denis’ base close to Gbanga for collection of surrendered mines, explosives and weapons.

    “I opted to go and I sat with troops at the back of the truck to enable Maj Ereogbu, the Operation Commander and Lt B.A. Alabi, the Intelligence Officer, to sit in front of the truck. As the truck pulled off, I saw Ereogbu sitting by the other arrested rebel. I stopped the truck and told him, I left the front seat for him.

    “He retorted that with the revelation I brought, the troops will kill the other rebels if he left, so, I should lead the general for the arrest of the Brigade Commander. We got to the first village and we were told he was in the next village. On getting to the next village, the Brigade Commander appeared and Gen. Isaac, who led us, asked for permission to ease himself. I tactically followed him, pretending to see the graveyard where he squatted to defecate.

    “Suddenly despite standing barely half meter to him, he disappeared leaving his slippers and faeces by me. It was later I learnt they had a charm in which when one is in trouble, he mentioned the other party and once their eyes met, the culprit vanished.”

    On return to the rebel’s camp, Gen. Ali later found out that a lieutenant, Adenekon, had told Major Ereogbu that the rebel leader, Isaac, promised him a new generator if he allowed him escape.

    “Unfortunately, Adenekon, my course-mate didn’t warn me before I took the general in search of his Brigade Commander, holder of the missing rifles hidden in the anthill.

    “Immediately, Maj Ereogbu called the attention of all the officers (Capt P.B. Fakrogha, Lt Adenekan, Lt B.A. Alabi (now GOC 1 Div) and Lt G.M. Mutkut (GOC 8 Div) and declared he was going to charge me for he was aware I collected the Generator offer to release Gen Isaac of NPFL.

    “Before now, I gave Alamba the 7 ECOMOG Brigade Intelligence Commander information on 1,300 arms matted and hung in Buchanan- Cestos road’s forest and then Capt O.O. Kolajo was tasked to recover them. I also gave information on weapons buried in rubber drums at the Liberian Agricultural College (LAC) and it was found as I gave it until this episode.

    “It was the charge that landed me in Court Marshal that led to my first wrongful dismissal…” He narrated.

    Another member of the 37RC and immediate past Commandant, NAFRC, Oshodi, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Charles Ohwo (rtd), who was pulled out of service amid fanfare on Tuesday, said he was grateful to have had an unblemished career.

    The senior officer, who held several appointments in the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) before his posting to NAFRC as Commandant in January, also listed some of the milestone achievements and innovations he introduced in the service.

    As the first indigenous combat pilot, AVM Ohwo, from available information, trained many combat helicopter pilots of the NAF, many of whom were part of the air components in various theatres of operation across the country.

    “As I transition into the next phase of my life, I carry with me a deep sense of pride and gratitude for the opportunity to have served our great nation. On a personal note, in January 2023, when I was appointed as the 39th Commandant of NAFRC, I recall that I stated amongst other things that: “I will harness the available human and infrastructural capital to transform NAFRC into a world-class centre of excellence with international best practices in vocational training. The centre has continued to explore ways and means to enhance its process of teaching and learning to produce better citizens for the development of a greater nation.

    “In retrospect, and with a great sense of humility, I wish to say that we have matched our words with actions, as evident in the past five and half months in-spite of the numerous and obvious challenges.

    “These principles and foundational truths were a culmination of my life and service experiences for the past 38 years.

    “From Cadetship up to Generalship, I served with diverse senior officers, colleagues, junior officers, senior Non-commissioned Officers (NCOs), men and women in various positions, locations and capacities. These interactions, engagements, routine and extreme encounters as well as diverse experiences revealed the undeniable love and zeal of the Nigerian officer and soldier, Airmen or Rating to serve the fatherland.

    “By association and institutionalisation, I was inducted to serve the nation and with all humility I truly served. I humbly submit that I was prepared for this journey of service by God’s divine grace and favour as well as the providential contributions of certain men and women of character…”

    Appreciating his family for the sacrifices they made throughout his service years, Ohwo said: “The journey has been tortuous with valleys of shadow of death along the way, but, under God, you held on with your firm support. This will never be forgotten. You are my love and my inspiration, and I never would have made it without you.

    “Your steadfast encouragement and understanding have been my guiding light. I am forever grateful for the sacrifices you have made on behalf of our nation and our family. I promise henceforth to make myself available…

    “For the newly appointed CDS and Service Chief, my sincere wishes and prayers are with you all as you strive to provide the required security environment needed for democracy and economic prosperity to strive.

    “In the search of life’s purpose, the Holy Book states divinely that ‘there is an appointed time for everything and there is a time for every event under the heaven.

    “Going forward, there’s a saying that “old soldiers never die; they just fade away.” While my time in uniform has come to an end, the lessons, friendships, and values I have gained during my years of service will remain with me always.

    “Farewell to you all and in particular to my SKY HAWKs; may you continue to serve our nation with honour, courage, and unwavering dedication,” Ohwo said.

  • Magnetic in silk or cotton adire options

    Magnetic in silk or cotton adire options

    African designs and fabrics keep evolving and the options are making waves locally and on the international scene. The Ankara and Adire fabrics now fit into virtually every event nicely and they have become cool and irresistible.

    The adire jackets and palazzo options are a must-have interesting have become really exciting.  Ladies love to wear fabric in different ways and for gowns, tops, skirts, trousers, and more.

    The silk variety is brighter, lighter, and more colorful. It dazzles and it brings attention to the wearer thanks to the creativity of our designers.

    In addition, they are simple to manage and flexible because you can vary your look by wearing them in different ways.

    Interestingly, the adire jacket has become the lady’s choice these days especially because of the class it connotes and it brings to the wearer.

    It is also common to find them made into Bermuda shorts, pants, long and short gowns, caftans, or boubous.

    The styles that are made with the silk version are contemporary and that brings a classy look that cannot be ignored.

  • Relief in troubled Northcentral communities as joint efforts decimate river blindness

    Relief in troubled Northcentral communities as joint efforts decimate river blindness

    • •Plateau health official: We’ve not encountered any case since elimination was announced
    • •Why disease persists in Niger

    ESTLED with hills and valleys is Seri, a village in Plateau State’s Kanke Local Government Area where Antonia Peter, 70, is lying on an old wooden bench, flanked by young children who are playing various games. At their age, Antonia’s world was abruptly veiled in shadows when she fell victim to the merciless grip of river blindness.

    “I started struggling with my sight and my skin was also itching often. I cannot remember how old I was when it happened,” she said.

    In the 80s, 90s and early mid 2000s, river blindness (or Onchocerciasis) was prevalent in Seri.

    Due to how early she contracted this disease, she was unable to get formal education because of the far location of the only school at the time. However, she attended catechism at a catholic church beside her parent’s house and got baptised by the missionaries who gave her the name Antonia.

    River blindness is a parasitic disease caused by the filarial worm Onchocerca volvulus transmitted by repeated bites of infected blackflies (Simulium spp.). According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), these blackflies breed along fast-flowing rivers and streams, close to remote villages near fertile land where people rely on agriculture.

    Seri stream is located about two hundred metres away from where Antonia was lying down. Most of the early residents of this village depended on this stream for domestic needs and agriculture.

    The downside of the stream was the increased exposure of the community to this neglected tropical disease (NTD). “We were told stories of many of our ancestors who died from this disease,” says Amos Bitrus, a community leader at Seri.

    As of 2018, “Nigeria (was) the most endemic country in the world for river blindness, accounting for as much as 40% of the global disease burden,” according to Dr Frank Richards, senior advisor to the Carter Center’s River Blindness Elimination Programme.

    The Global Burden of Disease Study estimated in 2017 that at least 220 million people required preventive chemotherapy against Onchocerciasis, 14.6 million of the infected people already had a skin disease, 1.15 million had vision loss and over 99% of infected people live in 31 African countries—including Nigeria.

    Halting the plague

    In 1996, The Carter Center, in collaboration with other partners including Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), commenced a project to curb several NTDs in Nigeria, including river blindness. This initiative was aimed at doubling down on the efforts of Nigeria’s River Blindness Foundation which began in 1991.

    “At one time, elimination of river blindness in Nigeria was deemed impossible, and the government of Nigeria and The Carter Center set their sights on merely keeping it under control,” according to the Center. However, in 2013, the co-founder of the Carter Center and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said that “River blindness can and should be eliminated, not just controlled, even in the most afflicted areas of Africa.”

    With its partners, The Carter Center set up offices across the country, with its headquarters in Jos, Plateau State—where the disease was more prevalent. During the programme, The Carter Center and its partners provided health education in rural communities like Seri, alongside mass drug administration (MDA) of the medicine Mectizan®, donated by Merck & Co., Inc.

    “The White people and some other Nigerian medical personnel (referring to The Carter Center team and its partners) visited our village every month to teach us safety precautions and also administer medications. Older people, pregnant women, and children were prioritized,” Mr Bitrus said.

    Antonia Peter is one of the beneficiaries of the initiative. “After many years of struggling with these diseases (river blindness and elephantiasis), I had given up on recovering,” Antonia said as she struggled to speak while lifting her face mapped with deeply etched lines, revealing the countless stories within the tapestry of her existence.

    Antonia did not receive any treatment throughout the period when she went down with the NTDs. “No one knew what these ailments were. We did not even have herbal medications for it,” she said.

    However, two years after she was administered Mectizan®, Antonia said she got healed.

    “I started walking to distances I was not able to cover before that time. I can’t do that now because of old age but you can look at my eyes and legs, they look ‘normal’ unlike before,” she added.

    Mectizan kills the parasite larvae in the human body, preventing blindness and skin disease in infected persons, and stopping the transmission of the parasite to others.

    After delivering 27 million doses of medication over more than 20 years, The Carter Center announced in 2018 that it interrupted the transmission of river blindness in Plateau and Nassarawa states and has also halted the mass administration of Mectizan® in affected communities.

    “Stopping the mass drug administration Programme in Plateau and Nasarawa states is a major achievement,” Richards said. “But we must be careful to monitor closely over the next few years to ensure it does not come back. This will require continued effort and perseverance.”

    As of June 2023 when one of our reporters visited The Carter Center office in Jos, it was still operational. According to Dr Yao Sodahlon, director of the Mectizan Donation Programme, “It is the largest ‘stop MDA decision’ in the history of the struggle against onchocerciasis.”

    The Carter Center said that over 6,000 people and more than 18,000 vector black flies were tested and found free of river blindness infection, confirming the need to stop the MDA in both states.

    “Since the elimination was announced, we have not encountered any case of the disease,” says Mafullu Rafan, the deputy health officer at Primary Health Centre (PHC), Amper Centre, the largest healthcare facility close to Seri Community.

    Engaging the communities came with hurdles

    Initially, when the river blindness intervention started in Plateau State, the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and the Plateau State River Blindness Foundation were using existing primary healthcare facilities—like PHC Amper Centre—to distribute the medication as a way to cut costs.

    However, the intervention transitioned from a mobile delivery system to community-based distribution (CBD), leveraging village-based personnel to hasten the process.

    As of 1992 when this transition started, most of the eligible volunteers who were mostly recommended by their community leaders were school teachers. This was due to their communication and arithmetic experiences.

    “The community-based distributors (CBDs) were required to be available for five to ten work days just before and during the treatment period,” the Carter Center said.

    As part of this transition, CBDs were provided with monetary incentives ranging from ₦100 to ₦200 (approximately $8–16 in 1992). However, some of these distributors were underpaid or received no payment at all. Also, favouritism affected the selection of competent CBDs in these communities, as community leaders often selected their relatives or friends for the roles.

    However, at the end of 1994, over 1,000 CBDs were trained in Plateau State.

    Why Niger still battles to eradicate NTDs in 25 LGAs

    Niger State is one of the states that is still endemic for onchocerciasis, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis, soil transmitted helminths and trachoma. According to a mapping survey by the state Ministry of Health carried out in the 25 local government areas of the state, NTDs were found to be prevalent in these local government areas, ranging from 2 per cent to 88 per cent.

    The Niger State Coordinator on NTD Elimination, Hajiya Nauzo, said that onchocerciasis was the major cause of blindness in many rural communities across the state, pointing out that even though the state has effectively eradicated trachoma, it is still battling with combating Onchocerciasis as there are often spots of cases reported once in a while.

    The state coordinator highlighted insecurity in some parts of the state, high attrition of community implementers (Community Directed Distributors), low commitment of health workers and community implementers, diminishing community support in many communities’ endemic for NTDs, lack of release of counterpart funds at all levels, weak involvement of line ministries in the elimination activities of NTDs, and the non-conduct of regular operational research to address programme challenges as reasons why Onchocerciasis and other NTDs may not have been successfully eliminated in the state.

    “Niger state is faced with insecurity, and this is greatly affecting the fight against the elimination of NTDs.

    “Most often when we are about to go for field work, we get information about attacks and turn back.

    “Sometimes you will be in the field, and then you will start hearing gunshots up and down and you have to stop whatever you are doing and look for a place to hide.

    “Last year, that was what happened to those who went to the Mariga, Rafi and Shiroro axis.

    “They were inside when these attacks occurred, but they could not leave. They had to stay in the bush, including the partners who came in from Abuja.

    “Several of them are unwilling to go to the area. But they need these drugs because they are also endemic to the NTDs.

    “The security challenges are so serious that if not addressed, we will not be able to totally eliminate NTDs.”

    Nauzo said that the state adopted the Community Directed Treatment with Ivermectin (CDTI) strategy as the main strategy of programme implementation, while for the collection of data, Lymphatic filariasis (LF) mapping and baseline surveys were conducted.

    The Mission to Save the Helpless (Mitosath) is one of the organisations helping the state government in the eradication of NTDs. According to Salome Marcus, the initiative has been in place in the state for seven years.

    She pointed out that there has been a massive reduction in cases of river blindness, but it has not been totally eliminated in the state.

    She noted that schistosomiasis is the most prevalent in the state, while Onchocerciasis is endemic in 21 local government areas.

    “We are using the standard community and school based approach during the NTDs interventions.

    “Sometimes strategies are initiated based on situations or problems confronted in the local government areas to ensure smooth implementation,” she said.

    Marcus also disclosed that for effective monitoring and evaluation, Mitosath also provided the local government coordinators with motorcycles so that they would be able to get to hard-to-reach communities.

    She expressed optimism that river blindness and other NTDs would soon be eradicated in Niger State as several local government areas have passed the transmission assessment survey (TAS 1), which is a surveillance tool to determine that infection levels are sustained below target thresholds, which is an indication that treatment is working.

    FCT on course in drive to eliminate river blindness

    In Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, onchocerciasis is prevalent in all of its six area councils: Abaji, Abuja Municipal, Gwagwalada, Kuje, Bwari, and Kwali.

    However, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), with support from its partners — nongovernmental organisations like the Christian Blind Mission (CBM) — is working towards eliminating river blindness and other NTDs in the FCT.

    CBM’s intervention for the elimination of river blindness in the FCT commenced in 1995, Joseph Kumbo, the organisation’s NTD Technical Specialist in Nigeria, revealed.

    “We have been supporting the FCT to carry out mass drug administrations (MDAs) against river blindness and other NTDs for the past 28 years. At baseline, the FCT was one of the most endemic areas for river blindness in Nigeria.

    “In fact, people raised concerns at the time about the location of the federal capital territory here due to the prevalence of black flies.

    “But we were able to push it down, thanks to the regular donation of drugs from the WHO,” said Mr Kumbo.

    He noted that while onchocerciasis (river blindness) is still endemic across all six area councils of the FCT, interventions are continuous and ongoing until total elimination is achieved.

    Kumbo said: “Onchocerciasis is one of the diseases set for elimination by the Nigerian Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) Elimination Programme.

    “Currently, we have reached the stage of impact assessment. The first transmission assessment survey was conducted last year, which is the epidemiological assessment, where children from (age) one to nine were tested to see if transmission was going on amongst them.

    “We got a good result, which moved us to the second level of assessment, where we had to monitor parasites inside the black flies, which lasted for one year, ending in 2022.”

    He noted that results from the second assessment showed that black flies were still vectors of the parasite, which meant that intervention was still required.

    “The elimination committee has directed us to continue with MDAs once a year for two years across all the area councils.

    “But for the two area councils, Bwari and Abaji, where the positive black flies were caught, we are having two interventions in a year, for two years,” he said.

    He revealed that residents in the FCT are at risk of being infected with river blindness and advocated preventive measures to reduce the chance of infection.

    “Most times, people do not see the physical manifestation of the disease, but it is still there.

    “So, it is advisable that people living within the FCT take a dose of Ivermectin at least once a year as a preventive measure,” he said.

    •This story has been made possible by Nigeria Health Watch, with support from the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems.

    By Justina Asishana, Johnstone Kpilaakaa, & Uchenna Igwe