An expectant mother, who was rescued from suspected kidnappers by some road safety officials, died yesterday after giving birth to a baby boy.
The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) officials rushed her to hospital after rescuing her around a filling station in Badagry.
She was being driven away by two men in a car marked KTU 356 CE, which was coming from Cotonou, when the FRSC officials came to her rescue.
It was gathered that the deceased might have thought that the car was being used as a cab.
But on realising her mistake, she raised the alarm. Her shouts of Ole! Ole!! Ole!!! were said to have attracted other road users.
The Nation gathered that other motorists pursued the car, which was forced to stop around the filling station.
The FRSC team led by P. Danboyi pounced on the car and its occupants and became suspicious on sighting the injured woman.
While they were interrogating the men, those chasing the car arrived and reported that the woman was screaming for help.
She was rushed to the hospital where she was delivered of the baby through caesarean section (CS) after going into emergency labour. But she died a few hours later around 3pm. Her body has been deposited at the Badagry General Hospital mortuary.
A mob descended on the suspects and set them ablaze. But soldiers put out the fire, dispersed the mob and handed over the suspects to the police.
FRSC’s Unit Commander in Badagry, Fatai Bakare, said the baby was in good health.
Bakare said: “There were three persons in the vehicle, two suspected kidnappers (men) and an expectant woman who was their victim. The woman has sustained body injuries and was rushed to Ola-Oki Hospital, Ibereko for medical attention, where she immediately gave birth to a baby boy’’.
FRSC Corps Marshal Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, in a statement by the Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, hailed the “gallant officers and commended them for their bravery’’.
Boboye said his men were on the road to control traffic and guarantee public safety by collaborating with other law enforcement agencies.
Police spokesman, Chike Oti, a Superintendent (SP), said it was not a case of kidnapping but that of ‘one-chance’ robbers, adding : ‘’She had some goods, boarded a vehicle to convey her to her location but along the line, they wanted to rob her.
“She raised the alarm and the robbers afraid that they might run into trouble with security operatives, pushed her off the vehicle.
“Unknown to them, people heard the woman’s screams and saw when she fell from the vehicle. They pursued the vehicle, caught up with the robbers and attacked them.
“The woman was picked up and rushed to hospital by FRSC officials and she was delivered of her baby through surgery.
“Soldiers intervened and stopped the mob from killing the suspects. The soldiers contacted the police and handed over the suspects to the police. They are currently at an undisclosed hospital.”
Six years after the killing of infants in certain communities around the FCT, Abuja first grabbed national attention, the ripples are yet to settle. In this first part of her report, Dorcas Egede who spent weeks investigating, states that the unusual practice is still going on.
CHILDREN, they say, are blessings and bundles of joy; and when they come in twos (twins), the general consideration in the local (Nigerian) parlance is that the blessing and joy have come double-double (in doubles). Ever since the missionary lady, Mary Slessor convinced the people of Calabar in present day Cross River State to stop the primitive killing of twins in the early 19th century, it has become a thing of the past and literally unheard of that anyone would as much as consider twin children evil, let alone think of killing them.
It is against this backdrop that the news of the killing of twin children and other infants, as has recently emerged from some communities around Abuja, the very heart of the nation, can be considered rather shocking.
The stories, as The Nation’s investigations revealed, are as varied as they are stunning. Take for instance the case of Faith (not real name). When Faith became pregnant shortly after her marriage to her heartthrob, her joy knew no bounds. Soon, it was delivery time and she had twins. Great news, you would say? But to her chagrin, her husband told her they couldn’t keep the babies, as it was a taboo in their family to have twins.
For fear of a backlash from her husband, Faith decided to do her husband’s bidding, and one of the twins was killed, using local herbs. However, as fate would have it, the surviving twin died mysteriously, and without any warning.
In another case, Mama Habiba was said to have lost three sets of twins to this culture. She was married to a Bassa Kuomo man, with whom she had three sets of twins, and other children. The three sets of twins died as a result of this practice.
According to a source who knows Mama Habiba personally, she left her husband twelve years ago for fear of having no child to look after her when she is old and grey, as her husband would have sacrificed them all to his bloodthirsty gods. The source said the first and second sets of twins they had were boys, but her husband sacrificed them all.
In the case of Amina, a young married woman, she was quick to learn that she was pregnant with twins; pronto, she and her husband relocated from their Gurara base in the Bwari Area Council of the FCT to Niger State, so her two babies, Jemila and Jemilu could live. “I left Gurara because of my pregnancy. I went to the hospital and they found out that my pregnancy is twins. So, my husband and I took a decision to leave the place because of their culture of killing twins.” She said.
But would husband and wife go back to their ancestral home now that the twins survived infancy or when they come of age?
“No,” she said, “because they may still kill them, probably by secretly poisoning them.”
While this practice is widespread among traditional worshipers around the FCT, The Nation’s investigations revealed that it is mostly practised among people of the Gbajingala clan of the Bassa Kuomo tribe. The Bassa people are originally from Kogi State, but are found in almost every part of the north, including Nasarawa, Benue and the FCT.
Communities still steeped in this culture, our investigations revealed, include the Gbajingala clan of Bassa Kuomo, Kulo, Gawu, Sabo, Guabe and Chibiri communities in Kuje Area Council. Others are Gomani, Tekpese, Gurugi, Fuka, Lapa and Dogonruwa communities in Kwali Area Council, as well as Kaida and Kutara in Buari Area Council.
Endangered infants
Aside twins, multiple birth infants such as triplets, quadruplets and quintuplets are also endangered. The same fate awaits infants whose mothers die during or shortly after their birth, as they are considered to be possessing dark powers that killed their mothers and must therefore die. Infants who are born with certain physical disabilities like Down syndrome, cleft lips, deformed hands and legs, are considered unacceptable – same for albinos.
In the same vein, a mother can only be assured that her child would live after he or she has passed the teething stage. This is because any child that grows an upper tooth first is considered unnecessary evil and should be done away with.
Speaking to The Nation about the infanticide, missionary and endangered infant-rescuer, Pastor Olusola Stevens, noted that “many people seem to be concentrating on the twins’ story,” whereas it goes beyond that.
“We have other children whose lives need to be saved simply because they lost their mother at birth. Some others are rejected because they are albinos; and some because they have some form of deformity.”
Mode of killing
The killings, this reporter learnt, are carried out in the most gruesome ways. Reports have it that poisoning with herbs is one very common way of eliminating the unwanted babies. Other methods include, using a calabash to cover the face of the infant until he suffocates. In other instances, they are left unattended and allowed to die from hunger. The latter method is used to exterminate babies whose mothers died during childbirth or right after they were born. Some sources even revealed that such babies are sometimes buried alive with their mothers.
Another method, which isn’t so popular anymore, since the killings are no longer done in the open (like in the past), is where a masquerade visits such baby’s home, whisks him away, cuts him with a machete and throws the remains into a flowing river.
In the case of multiple births, however, some communities don’t kill both babies. What they do is keep one of the babies and get rid of the other/others. Stevens revealed: “One Gbagi man confessed to me that his father was a twin but he could not tell what happened to his twin brother till date. The dad told him that something will happen to one, while the other will survive.”
He quoted the man as saying, “I never bothered to know until I read your story; and now I’m wondering if that was the practice in my place.”
Missionary interventions
What is comforting is that well-meaning people are rising up against the evil. Osun State-born Olusola Stevens, who’s been quoted variously above is one of them. He runs a rescue home in Kiyi, a village in the Kuje Area Council of the FCT. Before venturing into child rescue missions some 22 years ago, Stevens and his wife, Dr Chinwe had served as missionaries with the Christian Missionary Foundation (CMF).
He said: “Before the home started, my wife and I had been volunteer missionaries to a body called, Christian Missionary Foundation. We served successfully as missionaries under that foundation for about 27 years. It was in the course of our work and preaching into the interiors of the FCT, especially wherever we found that there were no churches, where the people were still worshipping idols or where they were all still Muslims or traditionalists and got people to repent, that God opened our eyes to this other side.”
The first child the couple rescued was in Kiyi community located in Kuje Area Council. The child had been brought to them by her mother who feared that her husband, who had allegedly sacrificed three sets of twins, was going to sacrifice their baby girl for a bountiful harvest. “She wasn’t a twin. She was brought here based on another practice, which has completely stopped now. Back then, at the beginning of the planting season, a child is supposed to be sacrificed to their fertility god for bountiful harvest. They won’t kill the child; they just take him to the shrine and off goes the child. When they get to the shrine and the child gives up, then they know that the sacrifice has been accepted.” Stevens explained.
Since rescuing that first child in 1996, the Stevens have rescued no less than 120 children from communities around the FCT. Stevens is of the opinion that the efforts of missionaries who leave their home states to come to the interiors of the FCT to preach the gospel, have contributed in no small way to reducing the killings. He noted that since the killings are rooted in their traditions, it is only the gospel of Jesus Christ that can change things. “One thing about belief is that if you don’t have something else to counter it, it will work against you. But if people have a change of belief, either from animism or traditionalism to Christianity or Islam, there is a tendency that taboos and beliefs which you hitherto believed would harm you would also change, because now you’re on another level.”
One Kuje-based preacher, Pastor Chijioke, who condemned the killings, which he said he had heard happened in parts of Kuje, Kwali and Abaji Area Council, told this reporter that, “The only thing that can stop the killings is what the man in Kiyi (Stevens) is doing, and the efforts of missionaries who keep bringing the gospel to the locals. The power of the gospel can change the situation.”
The rescue home
Stevens founded the Vine Heritage Home in 2004. The first home was in Gwagwalada. With the combined evangelism efforts of his family and other missionaries, it became clear to the locals that it is evil to kill babies they didn’t create. As a result, the number of rescued children grew. Soon there was need for expansion, hence the home in Kiyi in Kuje Area Council.
At the moment, Stevens said, “We have 125 children. We have 12 sets of twins; two of them are very identical. We have other twins who are not identical, John and Joyce, Favour and Favourite (they are girls), Martin and Matilda. We also have a triplet and an albino.”
Their age distributions also cut across infants, toddlers, teenagers and young adults.
Continuing, Stevens said: “I prefer to call this place a rescue home or a fostering home instead of an orphanage. You know orphanage is basically about orphans, children without fathers and mothers. Under government regulation, you have motherless babies’ homes, orphanages, fostering homes. Our children are not orphans. They have parents, and from time to time, they come to visit them. However, I don’t tell them those are their parents, so as not to confuse them. My wife and I are the only parents they know.”
Apart from the rescued children, Stevens said there is a second category of children in the home – children of converts, some of whom have been trained to become pastors, who still live in the interiors. Their children need to go to school and this second category is a way of encouraging them and letting them know that they can still have a better life now that they have left animism for Christianity.
He explained that the home is run on the goodwill of many Nigerians and some international organisations. They, however, didn’t start enjoying the goodwill until they started getting media attention around 2012.
Rescued from the jaws of death
After two weeks of fruitless search for a real human who had managed to be alive in spite of the infanticide culture, this reporter was only too excited to meet Habiba (not real name).
Habiba, 21, is one of the lucky survivors of the killing that was prevalent in her Kiyi community. But for the timely intervention of her mother who took her to the rescue home in Kiyi, she most certainly would have been a victim. Dark skinned and petite, Habiba cuts the figure of a subdued rather than shy lady in her faded tee-shirt and black skirt. The tee-shirt did a poor job of covering her already bulging stomach. She was the first child rescued by Stevens and brought up in the Vine Heritage Home, the home run by Stevens in Kiyi. Today, she has been reunited with her family. Interestingly, she took that decision so she could go take care of her father who now suffers from river blindness, having been deserted by his wife.
When she spoke, it became instantly clear that Habiba has also enjoyed good education. She spoke in fairly fluent English and responded intelligently to every question posed to her. “My name is Habiba Haruna,” she began. “I was brought up in Vine Heritage Home. The woman that brought me up told me that my dad was killing children. She told me there were either four or five children before me, but now I’m the first surviving child of my parents. I have two other siblings. I learnt that up to three sets of twins died. If you go to our house now, you will see the altar built for the twins. When twins die (are killed), they build the altar as their home. They usually sacrifice on the altar.”
Looking at her baby bump, this reporter out of curiosity asked; “What if you have twins now that you are pregnant?”
Habiba, who had yet to attend an ante-natal clinic session, looked up with a gaze that showed a clear intent to keep her baby or babies and said, “One day I was just playing with my dad and told him that my first child will be twins. He asked, “In which house?”
“I told him this house. I told him that I will dash him one. He told me he doesn’t want because the ones he had died. I said to him, “Are you not the one that killed them?” He asked me to get out that I’ve started with my mouth. They were now afraid that I want twins. I asked why they are afraid and if twins are not children? He said some twins are not good, that they are wicked, that they are not good people.”
To further underline how deep her father is into the fetish practice, Habiba told the story of how he has refused to eat yam, even when everybody has started eating yam (after the harvest). “I asked, Baba, everybody is eating yam, why don’t you want me to bring yam (yam harvested from his farm)? He said I should not touch it, that they want to do Sadaka (sacrifice) with the yam first. They will cook the yam, put palm oil without pepper, then give it to the twins first and say, ‘See what I brought from the farm.’ It is after that that they will now share it to the children to eat. When I told them I wasn’t going to eat from it, they told me I have to eat as the most senior.
“They said they perform the sacrifice so that the twins will not be taking their things. I asked how that’s possible even when the twins have died, they said they are still around and whatever you bring from the market, whether it is N5 or N10, you must put it in the shrine.”
Asked if she could show this reporter other houses, where twins had been born and sacrificed and they had such shrine, Habiba said, “It’s like only my father gave birth to twins in the village, because I haven’t seen that shrine in any other house apart from ours.”
Habiba shed further light on her community, when she said, “In my community there’s no church and no mosque; they are traditional worshippers. They believe that they came from the ground and when they die they will go back to the ground.”
Did she have any idea why her parents were separated? “My mother left my father because her children were dying. She got married to another man from Bassa, and she has a child with him.”
Asked if her father’s belief and actions were influenced by poverty and illiteracy, she said, “My father was well-to-do. He had farmlands and everything. He used to come and visit us at the home when we were in Gwagwalada, and he would bring yam and other things for us.”
On the culture of killing in her community, Habiba said, “From what I heard other children say, in some communities, the masquerade (potese) will come into the house and chase away the mother, he will then cut the babies into pieces and pour them in the river. In other instances, he will cover them with calabash to suffocate, or poison them with herbs.”
Would Habiba go back to school after she’s had her baby? Her response revealed a broken lady who believed that by getting herself pregnant, she had lost out on the opportunity to make anything out of life. “I’m crying for myself because I have already scattered my destiny with this pregnancy.” She said flatly.
As at the time of speaking, she had yet to register in any hospital. This reporter thus offered to take her for a scan, where it was discovered that she was already seven months gone, although she had earlier claimed it was six months.
•Identical twins at the Vine Heritage home
More than meets the eye
Our sources believe that there are supernatural powers behind this culture of killing and that it goes beyond just killing twins. Stevens recounted a rather spooky story: “We have a case of a nursing mother, a Christian, who tried to replicate what we are doing on her own. She took the child of a woman who died. In their own case, they don’t kill the child; he or she is abandoned and left to die of hunger. This woman decided to pick and nurture the child alongside hers, but a day came when, according to her, a form appeared to her, accusing her that ‘that child is my child; it’s an evil child that killed me. So, why are you nursing him? You will also die and follow me, since that child is supposed to be punished and you’re nursing him.’ Strangely, the woman died. She suddenly became ill and died. In fact, it was after the woman narrated the story to her husband that he left the community.”
Stevens continued, “Twice we have had cases of spirits attacking us while praying for some of the rescued children. A lady missionary working with me was the first to have that experience; on the second occasion, it was my sister that had a similar experience. That is the spiritual aspect of what we are doing. Many people tend to forget that it’s a spiritual work and it must be approached that way. I’m not just a humanitarian person, I’m first and foremost a missionary trying to save lives according to the instruction I received from God. And God is divine; so I won’t just do the work from the physical aspect alone. While I provide the physical care, I also trust God to strengthen me to cover them spiritually. I cannot tell you all our experiences in the spiritual realm. There are times that a child you just rescued would just go for hours, and we’d have to start praying for the child to be revived.
“One of them told us how she was playing and an elderly woman walked up to her, pushed a ball into her mouth and disappeared. The next thing was that the child fainted. For hours, we had to gather the other children to start calling the name of the child and praying in the name of Jesus. She eventually came back to life. She is still alive today, she’s in SS1.”
Gagged to secrecy
The greatest obstacle this reporter faced in the course of investigating this story was secrecy. Too many people didn’t seem to know anything about the culture, even those supposedly born and bred in Abuja municipality. Some who were born and raised in these communities where this death culture still holds sway, claimed not to know anything about it.
Those who claimed knowledge of it seemed to have been gagged. One missionary who would not want to be mentioned told this reporter of some communities where the killings still go on. But the information came with a warning: “It’s happening in Kwali Area Council. Go to Tugbudu and Tekpese. But, the people won’t talk to you about it. They have been warned by the government not to say anything about the issue again. In fact, recently, one of us was almost sued by the government because of the matter.”
True to her warnings, visits to these communities yielded no result whatsoever. Even purported visits in the guise of an NGO, a researcher for an international organisation, a philanthropist, and even a student carrying out a research for a term paper or thesis didn’t yield any result.
This wasn’t altogether a surprise. Aside the warning by the lady missionary, even Stevens, who had more or less become a resource person for this mission, didn’t reveal much. Aside speaking about his work, he wouldn’t even give names of communities still in the practice; neither would he reveal the identities of those who brought their children to him for nurturing. His reason for not telling was that he didn’t want lose the trust of the communities. He had gained their trust over the years and wouldn’t want to lose it. If the communities perceived that he was giving information about them to the media, it may endanger the lives of other infants he may need to rescue. He would not even allow this reporter take pictures of the children – not even with a promise to blur their faces.
Since it was necessary to have some photos to at least show that there were indeed children in the home, rescued from the affected communities, this reporter had to devise other means. Fortunately, she was able to get two other people, who, together with her tour guide, went on a visit to the home with supplies for the children. It was only on this occasion that the visitors were allowed to take photos.
On several occasions, promises by Stevens to bring parents of some of the rescued children in audience with this reporter also fell through. There was always one reason why the parents couldn’t be present. Soon it became clear that Stevens, for reasons best known to him, was sieving the information he was releasing to the reporter.
I left my husband so I could have surviving children
–Habiba’s mum
Why did you leave your husband?
I left him because he was hiding something from me. If I could be pregnant for him and nurse the baby for nine months in my womb, then I should know anything relating to the baby. Some of my children that survived, it was because of the pastor that helped me, if not all my children would have been killed. I never fought with him; I left him because of the death of my children.
How did the children die?
Bassa people don’t like twins, so whenever I had twins, they would conspire and kill them. They believe that twins are abominations, who have come to defile the land. That belief is still there up till now. The twins have their day to die: one dies the first day and the second one dies the next day. My husband killed my first set of twins. The second set died of natural cause; one in my stomach, and the other immediately I delivered. The third set died a month after delivery. Their father buried them all in one place. He built a shrine for them and they throw money there every day.
If you have twins today, will you allow them to be sacrificed?
I love twins; I will like to have them again but won’t want them to die. Even if I can’t keep them, I will take them to pastor (Stevens). You have to be in agreement with the tradition for it to work. My husband agreed to the twins dying, that’s why they died. I will never agree to such.
Community leaders deny any involvement
AS if playing out an unwritten script of secrecy, virtually all the communities visited denied involvement in any kind of infant killing. This reporter in her search visited very remote villages adjudged to be still primitive, as far as Pandagi in Abaji, Takpese and several other communities, but like they say, ‘mum was the word.’
Pandagi, Abaji Area Council
After about a week of searching, the first piece of information led this reporter to Pandagi in Abaji Area Council. Pandagi, unlike many other communities, looks more like a town, with modern houses. It is a close-knit community, where they knew one another. The commercial motorcycle rider that conveyed this reporter and her tour guide took them right to the residence of the missionary they were looking for.
There, the local missionary who had only been transferred to the area about a year ago but thought he had lived there long enough nearly truncated this mission.
“About the killing of twins; as a missionary when I came, I started checking this place for strange things; I didn’t come across anything like that. I have been here for a year, I have tried to cover other villages around here, I’m putting my ears to the ground, searching for things to help my work. I have not seen anything like killing of twins happening. Among the Ganagana people, there are twins, we have so many tribes here, the Ganagan, the Igbira, Agatu, Gbagi, Bassa, I don’t hear of anything like that and I’m not aware of any such culture, even if there is, it is not something that people are doing openly, it’s hidden,” said he.
Tepkese, Kwali Area Council
Tekepse is a typically rural community. The journey from Kwali to the community took about an hour car ride. The journey seemed more like one through a desert, as the roads were laden with more sand than is available on a sea shore. The houses in Tekpese are mostly mud houses, which are few and far between.
In Tekpese, the reporter and her team met a group of welcoming men, young and old. It was a sunny afternoon and they had taken shelter under a huge umbrella-like tree. The team presented itself as a group of researchers interested in the cultures and traditions of rural settlement like theirs.
About 8 pairs of eyes watched the team curiously. After explaining their mission, the reporter and her team were told to wait for their leader, the Aguma of Tekpese, Chief Yakubu, who was away on his farm. He arrived in no time, and then began another round of introduction.
Tekpese is a community largely inhabited by people of the Bassa Kuomo tribe. They claim to have a fairly large population which is enough to propel political aspirants to travel the distant and desert roads to reach out to them during election campaigns. They are predominantly farmers. The only sign of government presence in the community is a primary school and a dysfunctional Primary Health Centre.
The only person who understood English among the men the reporter met was Daudu. He helped with interpretation. They claimed to have no taboos or things they consider abominations. They are fully aware of the infanticide practiced by some communities, but they don’t practice such. “I would be happy to have twins” was the Aguma’s reaction.
Daudu, however, told the team that some time in the past, some government officials had come investigating the killing of babies but went away without finding any evidence of such. Though Takpese people claimed not to have ever been involved in the killing of twins, albinos and deformed babies anytime in their history, the information department of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) listed them as one of the communities that were once culpable.
Dogonruwa, Kwali Area Council
The journey to Dogonruwa took about 50 minutes on bike, as the roads leading up to the community after Dafa were completely unmotorable. This is a typically rural community with mud houses scattered all over. They seem to grow a lot of grains as silo-like mud sheds for storing grains appear to be more than the houses; this reporter almost confused them for houses.
Here, this reporter and her team posed as students working on a term paper. The questions raised about the culture, traditions and abominations of the Bassa people were direct. But in response to the question on abominations, the response was, “We don’t want stealing, killing, witchcraft.”
Aren’t they among those communities that consider twins evil? Their answer was, “We don’t kill twins here. Even if we have 10 children at once, we will receive them with so much happiness.”
•Aguma of Tepkese, Chief Yakubu, left and other community elders
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has recounted how hard he tried to know his actual date of birth.
He went as far as consulting an astrologer in India to ascertain the date, he told an audience yesterday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
The astrologer, failed to tell him the date, but told him he would become great and live long.
Obasanjo said when he met the astrologer, he stretched forth his palms towards the man and asked him to read and determine when exactly he was born.
Speaking at the “2017 International Youth Variety Day” and the public presentation of his books entitled: “The World of the Tortoise”, the two-time leader, who is the Balogun of Owu Kingdom, noted that consulting an astrologer in India was part of the measures he took in the past to unravel his birth date.
According to him, his largely illiterate parents kept no record of his birth in 1937.
The opening of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) on Siun-Sagamu Road, Abeokuta, to mark the ex-President’s 80th birthday was also part of the event.
It was organised by the Centre for Human Security (CHS), an arm of the OOPL.
Explaining further, Obasanjo said that the astrologer could not help the situation after reading his palms.
The ex-President, who will join the Octogenarian club on Sunday, reiterated his earlier stand that he does not know his birth date and would not want to leave anybody in confusion about it.
His words: “Let me say this, I do not know the date of my birth, when I started school, we were asked to give our date of birth. I used to ask my mother, she would say ‘You were born on Ifo Market Day.’
“She said ‘you were born on Ifo Market Day. Tell them you were born on Ifo Market Day. All the my mother, an illiterate woman, could remember was that it was an Ifo Market Day and before the people who went to the market returned, he had fallen into labour and I was delivered,” he said.
Obasanjo explained that since he did not know his true age, he elected to rely on the age bracket of his mates, whose birth dates are established to pick a date for himself.
On why he established the OOPL after his tenure as a democratically-elected president in 2007, he said it was meant to address the dearth of “institutional memory” in Nigeria.
He said the OOPL, modelled after the United States (U.S.) Presidential Library, will serve the young and old on collections and preservation of past records and bridge the gap between Nigerians’ behaviour and attitude, which he noted are fast eroding the society.
Going down the memory lane, Obasanjo recalled his prison experience in Yola, Adamawa State. He said his interaction with inmates revealed that they were victims of parental and societal failure in the promotion of moral values.
He said: “One of the confusion in peoples’ mind is that presidential library is the same as normal library. And I see many people sending books to me. The Library is for the both young and old. I also believe that it might start bridging the gap between in our behaviour and attitude.
“One of our behavioural pattern and attitude is that we have no institutional memory; that is what brings about the idea of presidential library. If you go into our national Museums, what you see will be pathetic but these are national treasure.
“When I was growing up, if people are very doubtful of your source of wealth, you are isolated, you are ostracised. If your father goes out every night then, the conclusion is that your father maybe a thief. And we would be cleverly told to mind how we relate with children from such father,” Obasanjo said.
Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano, who spoke on the occasion, said his state shared a common affinity with the former President regarding “promotion of reading culture and eradication of illiteracy” in the country.
Obiano revealed that his administration has through its three-prong programme on education, infrastructure and teachers’/students’ welfare, raised the people’s reading culture and access to quality and affordable education.
The governor, who was represented at the occasion by the Anambra State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Kate Omenugha, shared his thought on the theme: “Presidential Libraries will reduce leadership deficit in Africa”.
The topic was also extensively debated by secondary school pupils and varsity students drawn from over seven states across the country.
He said his administration has an objective to position Anambra as one of the states with the highest literacy figure just the same way Obasanjo, through writing of books, building of library and investment in education, has been helping to increase reading culture and literacy level.
Obiano, who decried the fast declining culture, particularly among the younger generation, recalled a situation where a third year undergraduate who was asked to write ‘trader’ wrote ‘trada’ because he did not correct spelling.
He lauded Obasanjo for his continued contribution to the growth and development of the country even at 80, especially working to revive reading culture among the younger generation.
In her remarks, Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s wife, Olufunso, urged the youths to “imbibe the culture of hard work, perseverance and good work ethics” as they aspire to achieve success in life.
“Greatness is only achievable through hard work and perseverance. Nothing good comes easy and any disappointment should be viewed as part of the learning curve and winding road to success”, she said.
Speaking earlier, Education Minister Mallam Adamu Adamu and the maiden African President of the International Geographical Union, Prof Akin Mabogunje, paid glowing tributes to the former President, who they maintained, remains an exceptional leader.
Adamu described Obasanjo as a detribalised Nigerian and a “rare gift to Nigeria”. Prof. Mabogunje said the former President “stands tall among world leaders.”
“I am conscious of the fact that as an accomplished gentleman, an engineer, a General, a leader, a politician and at 80, you are still a student. You legacy will always be protected by all us”, the minister, who was represented by Dr Yakubu Gambo, said.
Commended Obasanjo for written a children’s book, Adamu said the book would be bought and distributed across schools in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Mabogunje, who chairs the Governing Board of the CHS, at the OOPL, highlighted the benefits of the library noted Nigerian and African youths, saying that visiting the library would give then transformational encounter.
The renowned geographer added that Obasanjo’s library, if adequately explored, would improve leadership in Africa.
Mabogunje tasked Africans “on good governance through commitment, resilence, diligence, probity and not through corruption.”
Pupils from 47 secondary schools and students from 30 universities across seven states participated in debates entitled: “Young people will benefit from Presidential Libraries in Africa than old people” and “Presidential Libraries will reduce leadership deficit in Africa.”
Four babies at the first go! That is the joyful lot of Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State after his wife,Rachael, yesterday delivered a set of quadruplets in an undisclosed hospital in the United States of America (USA).
The boy and three girls are the couple’s first children after many years of marriage.
And they came 24 hours after the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja upheld Dickson’s election for a second term in the January 9 poll.
The governor’s Chief Press Secretary Daniel Iworiso-Markson broke the news to reporters yesterday.
He said: “The season of celebrations continues in the family of Governor Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State as his wife, the First Lady, Dr. Rachael Dickson just put to bed in the United States of America.
“She was delivered of a quadruplet; a bouncing baby boy and three beautiful baby girls. Mother and children are doing well.
“This is particularly good news for the family and Bayelsans because this bundle of joy is coming after many years of praying and waiting upon the Lord.
“Governor Dickson thanks friends, family members and Bayelsans for their prayers and support and enjoins them to continue to pray for the family”.
Hope rises for Adetomiwa as Ogun summons doctor over his scalding with hot water Parents and physician to meet with Justice Ministry officers Feb 10 Legal experts highlight medical negligence and duty of care They took the baby away during treatment —Doctor
A rafter of pain hangs jarringly above the household of Tella. The family of four lives in abject terror of the sad fate of Adetomiwa, the baby of the house. The four-year-old still hobbles back and forth the compact expanse of their residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Four years after he was scalded at birth by Dr. Biodun Akinola, the 73-year-old physician who delivered the mother of the child, Adetomiwa is handicapped by the wounds he sustained from the tragic and life-threatening incident.
However, one week after The Nation exclusively published the report of his traumatic experience in the labour room of Akinola’s Tobiloba Clinic and Maternity Home, off Tobiloba Way, off Lubi Drive in Adigbe, Abeokuta, a semblance of hope has risen for the child as the Citizens’ Rights Department (CRD) of the Ogun State Ministry of Justice has summoned Dr. Akinola to its office to arbitrate in the matter involving him, the four-year-old and his parents.
The CRD, in a letter dated January 25, 2016 and titled: “In matters affecting medical negligence on Master Adetomiwa Tella,” requested the presence of Dr. Akinola at a meeting involving the victim, Adetomiwa, and his parents on February 10, 2016. The CRD invited Dr. Akinola at the directive of the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Olumide Ayeni.
Parents of the handicapped child, Biodun and Yetunde Tella, expressed their profound happiness at the state Ministry of Justice’s prompt intervention in the interest of their child. According to Biodun, “It is encouraging that the government has taken interest in the case of my son. It is always heart-rending to see him waddle about the house. He can’t play football with his mates because of the handicap he suffered as a result of Dr. Akinola’s negligence while delivering the mother of the baby. My son can’t play football or race with his mates. It is very sad to see him sit by and watch despondently as his mates kick the ball around. He can’t play police and thief with his friends; his handicap has effectively ruled that out. There is no greater sadness for a parent than watching your four-year-old son grieve over a handicap he can make no sense of.”
Corroborating him, his wife, Yetunde, lamented that, she retires to bed and wakes up with a heartbreak every day. Most nights, she cries herself to sleep as she silently prays for a miracle, an intervention from a higher power and the government, in securing justice for her scalded son.
“It was my earnest wish that the government intervened in the interest of my son. Now that the government is involved, I hope the Ministry of Justice will make Dr. Akinola understand the gravity of the pain and handicap he inflicted on my son. The psychological trauma he has been going through is agonising to behold. The emotional torture I experience watching him grow with the handicap everyday is killing me. Let all well-meaning Nigerians come to our aid. Please. Hear a mother’s cry. Dr. Akinola should pay for what he has done to us,” she said.
What the Tellas want…
Biodun and Yetunde demand that Dr. Akinola write a formal letter of apology to Adetomiwa. “The letter will be given to the child once he grows up to enable him understand what happened to him at birth, to enable him understand how the doctor that took his delivery hurt him as a child. In case he decides to study medicine and become a doctor in future, he would learn to take great care and not visit on his patients, the kind of hurt Dr. Akinola visited on him at birth. It is noteworthy that Dr. Akinola gave my child the name, Iyanuoluwa – which translates to ‘The Lord’s miracle’ – because he was apparently astonished that the child could survive after what he did to him,” said Biodun.
More importantly, the couple wants the embattled doctor to foot the bill of corrective surgery abroad of their child’s handicap and badly scarred back. “We want him to pay the travel expenses, the cost of corrective surgery and associated medical treatment of Adetomiwa in developed countries where facilities for such treatment are available. We do not intend to be difficult but Dr. Akinola needs to be responsible for what he has done to our child. All along, he had been apathetic to the child’s plight,” said Biodun.
Reacting to the claim by Dr. Akinola that she visited his clinic to take away Adetomiwa before the completion of his treatment, Princess Adepeju Ajibike Tella (nee Gbadebo), matriarch of the Tella family and grandmother of Adetomiwa, stated that his claim is untrue.
“I never visited the clinic to take away the child. We did Adetomiwa’s naming ceremony in Dr. Akinola’s clinic because it would be foolhardy to take him home given the severity of the injuries he sustained from the scalding. The child and mother stayed at the clinic after the incident but they were discharged by Dr. Akinola after one month apparently because he needed his bed space. I only visited the clinic to urge Dr. Akinola to issue a medical report for the child to aid travel arrangements for a corrective surgery abroad. And on the day of my visit, Dr. Akinola was not around,” she said.
Genesis of the dispute
Akinola, a medical doctor, incurred the wrath of the Tellas soon after he took delivery of Adetomiwa from his mother Yetunde; because the infant child did not cry at birth, the 73-year-old medical doctor ordered one of his nurses to place a bottle containing hot water on his back.
According to Akinola, “The baby was delivered but it was weak after delivery and we were resuscitating the baby. While we were doing that, we wanted to keep the baby warm. We did not know that the hot water bottle placed on the baby’s back leaked. The hot water gave the child burns.”
Thus soon after he was delivered from his mother’s womb, Adetomiwa Tella suffered severe burns from the very hot water placed on his back in the labour room of Tobiloba Clinic and Maternity Home, off Tobiloba Way, off Lubi Drive in Adigbe, Abeokuta, Ogun State. He was four minutes old. In five minutes, the wound had caused severe burns all over the child’s back and along his spine.
The hot water scalded the child badly, causing his mother, Yetunde, to forget her postnatal pains and instead, worry about the safety and survival of the newborn. As you read, Adetomiwa treads with infirm steps through infanthood. Unlike his peers, he cannot walk normally; the burns he suffered at birth severely handicapped him, causing him to waddle and bend sideways every time he attempts walking.
Dr. Akinola’s defence
“I will never deny what happened. And if I was not there personally, I would have said maybe the people did it wrong. I took the delivery of the baby personally. He had prematurity. That is why I said the case is with my lawyer and it is not different from what I am telling you. You see, when you tell the truth, the fact will never change. By the grace of God, I cannot crucify myself. Let anybody who wants to judge everything we have said do so. How can I say I made a professional error to resuscitate the baby? Is it an error to try and keep the baby warm? If the bottle leaked, that was an accident. An accident is not something done intentionally.
“So, what should I have used? That is why I said if they want to go to court, by the grace of God, my licence will not be seized. If my licence should be seized today, at 73 years old, I can take a forced retirement. Look, when I retire from civil service,…I retired as a Permanent Secretary from Federal Civil Service. This incident happened in the eighth year into my retirement. I retired in January 2003. This thing happened in November 2011; what do I want to gain in injuring people’s children? I have my children. My first born is a medical doctor; he is in Britain. I have a lawyer among my children, I have an engineer, accountant.
“All my children had become what they are before this incident happened. If the baby had died and I am being accused of using the child for rituals, they will feel happy. But this child sustained an accident while resuscitating him. If that is professional incompetence or whatever they want to call it, it is fine. I still have it on record that we succumbed to the pressure for them to take the baby away,” he said.
What the experts say about medical negligence and duty of care
According to the Tellas, Dr. Akinola exhibited negligence while treating their child. They claimed he chose to use steaming hot water in a leaky water bottle to resuscitate their child even though he had oxygen lying on the floor of the labour room.
Experts opined that Dr. Akinola should have used a bag and mask ventilation technique or oxygen to resuscitate the child instead of the hot water measure that scalded and eventually handicapped Adetomiwa five minutes after his delivery.
A central concern of contemporary medical ethics has been the relationship between physician and patient. Aspects of this relationship continue to be the source of ethical dilemmas. For instance, what is the extent of the doctor’s duty to a patient if treating the patient places the doctor at risk?
Oyinkansola Sulaiman, a Lagos-based lawyer, argued that medical negligence translates to a failure on the part of a medical practitioner to exercise reasonable degree of skill and care in the treatment of a patient. “If a doctor administers medical treatment to a patient in a negligent manner and causes him harm, the patient can bring an action of negligence against the doctor claiming damages for the harm suffered. The plaintiff must, however, prove the following three conditions in order to succeed in an action of negligence against a doctor: (a) That the doctor owed the patient a duty to use reasonable care in treating him or her; (b) that the doctor failed to exercise such care, that is, he was in breach of that duty and (c) that the patient suffered damage(s) as a result of the breach,” she said.
According to her, “Once a doctor undertakes to treat a patient, whether or not there is an agreement, a duty of care arises. The doctor must exercise reasonable care and skill in treating the patient; it is immaterial that the doctor is rendering such a service ex-gratia. A doctor in the hospital owes a duty of care to patients in the ward in which the doctor is employed to work, a private physician who has contracted to provide medical services for the employees owes a duty of care to such employees who are on the clinic’s list. Medical centers and hospital authorities also owe the same duty of care to patients accepted for treatment in their facilities, whereby they must provide proper medical services for them.”
Corroborating her, Otaobayomi Sanya, a lawyer, stated that, a medical practitioner may also be liable criminally and may be asked to pay damages by way of civil remedy where it is discovered that the act or omission of the medical practitioner falls below expectation.
An Abuja-based gynecologist, Dr Kola Osibote, has said mothers with diabetic conditions are at risk of giving birth to children with brain defects.
Osibote told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja yesterday that diabetes increases pregnancy related risks and causes lots of negative effects to the mother and child.
He explained that brain, spinal cord and heart problems associated with diabetes could be identified at the early stage of pregnancy.
He said that blood sugar was the baby’s source of food which passes to the child through the placenta.
“When a woman has diabetes and her blood sugar is poorly managed, excess amounts of sugar are transported to the baby.
“In this case the baby does not have diabetes and can increase the production of insulin substantially in order to use this extra sugar,” Osibote said.
The gynecologist stressed that the existence of the abnormal cycle result in diverse complications.
He said one of the complications associated with diabetic pregnant mothers is giving birth to over weight babies also known as “macrosomia”.
“Diabetic pregnant women stand the chance of been delivered of over weight babies weighing more than 3,500 grams or be born greater than the 90 percentile of the gestational age.
“This happens because the baby responds to the excess sugar which the large amount of insulin produced by the baby is converted to body fat.
“We can just say that the baby is been overfed while still in the uterus,” he said.
The expert said the delivery of such a baby could be more difficult for both the baby and the mother; adding that caesarean delivery would be required.
He observed that most obstetricians conduct an ultrasound to approximate the weight of the baby before delivery so as to determine if vaginal delivery could be attempted.
Osibote warned against delivering a large baby through the vagina when the mother is diabetic.
He added that it could be life threatening and exposing the woman to the most frightening obstetrical emergencies.
He also said that such a delivery could expose the child to a shoulder dystocia (where the baby’s head delivers but the shoulders are too large to fit through the birth canal).
Osibote further said that a child could also have low blood sugar after birth, which is “neonatal hypoglycemia”.
“If the baby’s pancreas is making large amounts of insulin in response to the mother’s high blood sugar, it will continue to do so for a time after delivery.
“Since the sugar supply from the mother is no longer present once the baby has been delivered, blood sugar can drop too low,” he said.
Osibote advised that it was important that babies born to women with diabetes should be monitored very closely for the first few hours of life to check their blood sugar.
He added that such babies might require more frequent breast milk or bottle feeding to maintain their blood sugar at a normal range.
The expert said that birth defects could be recognised within the first six months of pregnancy, adding that infecting the child at that stage could be preventable.
“The most common birth defects to a diabetic mother are brain, spinal and heart defects, and some of these defects can be detected during the first half of the pregnancy.
“This can be diagnosed through ultrasound checks and prenatal tests,” he said.
Wife of Lagos State Governor, Dame Abimbola Fashola has said training traditional birth attendants (TBAs) is in line with the vision of the state to reduce infant and maternal mortality during childbirth.
According to her, training of this cadre of healthcare professionals in modern and essential skills in child delivery will support the government to achieve its goals.
Mrs Fasholoa spoke at the First Convocation of TBAs at the Lagos State College of Health Technology.
She said TBAs play important roles in the communities, stressing that they should be valued because of the services they render.
Nigeria, she said, is among countries with the highest rate of infant and maternal mortality, adding that this should not be.
Mrs Fashola said: “One of the obvious reasons for high infant and maternal death ratio (IMDR) is that expectant mothers in the communities prefer the services of TBAs who do not have formal knowledge on the modern and essential skills in child deliveries and other precautions.”
The training of the TBAs, she noted, would help to reduce infant and maternal death significantly, and even to “zero level” because the exercise will be done more regularly and across the country.
She enjoined the beneficiaries to put to use the skills acquired during the training to ensure qualitative delivery.
Special Adviser to Governor Fashola on Public Health, Dr Yewande Adeshina advised the TBAs to operate within the capacity of their job.
She said the hospital remains the best place for delivery, adding that TBAs can be helpful by referring critical cases to health facilities where expectant mothers can deliver unharmed.
Dr Adeshina warned them to know their limit because unnecessary delay can cause preventable deaths of mother and child.
Chairman, Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board (LSTMB), Dr Bunmi Omoseyindemi said the TBAs were trained through collaboration between the college and the board.
The TBAs, he said, have been classified as Community Based Health Workers (CBHW) by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), stressing that their training was a strategy to improve healthcare coverage in the communities.
“This is in line with the World Health Assembly (WHA) strategy on development of traditional medicine to improve health care coverage. This made the World Health Assembly pass some resolutions to recognise the importance of traditional medicine to provision of essential health care, especially to populations with limited access to healthcare system.
“Traditional medicine was recognised as one of the resources of primary healthcare (PHC) services that could contribute to improve health outcomes, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” he said.
Omoseyindemi said the TBAs are involved in assisting in the birth of newborn in developing countries but they are largely self-taught or informally trained.
“They provide additional services, practical help and education as well as counselling to women. Although they cannot substitute for skilled providers, they can contribute to the survival of mothers and newborns by facilitating access to needed information, clinical services and support,” he said.
He said their role usually reflects the culture and social structure of the communities, adding: “In some communities, a TBA may be a full-time worker who can be called upon and who expects to be paid in cash or in kind.
Omoseyindemi said 110 TBAs graduated from the college after successful completion of their programmes.
Any traditional birth attendant and mission house operator who record deaths of pregnant women during child delivery will henceforth be prosecuted by the Ondo State government.
They are therefore advised to refer all pregnant women that came to them to give birth to government hospitals.
This was part of the resolutions reached at a health seminar tagged “The Role of Traditional Birth Attendants in Maternal Health and Child Survival” organized by Hala Nigeria.
Participants were drawn from the health sector for one common goal of redefining the roles of traditional birth attendants and mission houses.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dayo Adeyanju who believes in the efficacy of prayers, however said the lives of the pregnant women should not be put in the hands of operators of mission houses.He warned operators of such centers to desist or face the full wrath of the law.
In order not to render them useless, the Commissioner mandated them to refer pregnant women to government hospitals.
The youths have been urged to promote national unity, regardless of their social or religious difference. This advice was given by the United States ambassador to Nigeria, Mr James Entwistle.
Speaking on the topic: Youth empowerment to forge a strong Nigeria at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), the US envoy said the youth must labour to create a new country despite the challenges of unemployment and insecurity.
He said: “Your country faces a lot of challenges, especially in the areas of security and employment. But I fully believe that your country can as well overcome these challenges and move into a great future. Nigerian youths can play a role in ensuring political stability and security.”
He added that the US was willing to partner with Nigeria to empower young leaders, saying: “The United States is committed to partnering and sponsoring on-going effort in public and private sector to empower youths because they are the leaders of tomorrow.”
The envoy called on religious groups to preach the gospel of peace and harmony.
He charged the youth to use their skills and talents for the growth of the country, adding that they must not be used as thugs during election.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Benjamin Ozumba, said he was optimistic that the visit would foster enduring partnership with the United States Government and her research institution.
Beneficiaries of Fulbright exchange programme, Dr Chinenye Amaonyeze and Chiamaka Echeta, 200-Level Pharmacy, praised the efforts of the embassy to promote education .
The girls wore printed gowns, and skirts and blouses of all shades and colours, some of which matched with their rubber slippers. One or two were pregnant; another one or two had babies. There was no illusion about their humble backgrounds – after all – they live in Makoko – that part of Yaba known for ungainly environment and stilted houses suspended over the Lagos lagoon. Some of them had dropped out of school; others hardly attended. With no education, limited financial support from their parents, and no huge funds in the bank, they are vulnerable. That is why the vocational training offered by an NGO with the support of the Lagos State government means a great deal to them and their families.
As I sat watching them, I tried to imagine them in a different setting – as children born into privileged homes. I took particular interest in one tall lanky girl, who had the Koroba hairstyle on. If she had a banker mother and a geoscientist father working in an oil firm, she would have been enrolled in one of the exclusive private schools in Lagos. She would have been chauffeured to and from school, gotten shopping sprees as birthday gifts, or even spent her holidays abroad. She would not have to paddle canoes between stilted huts or lived with the awful smell that pervades her community because the lagoon serves as dump for poo, pee and other waste.
The scenario took my mind back to another environment, the Greensprings School, Lekki, where pupils are taught in a very comfortable environment. While touring the facility, we visited the hostels reserved for International Baccalaureate students. Each of the rooms, designed to house one or two people, had an adjoining toilet and bathroom. It was accommodation that would cost at least N6,000 per night in some states across the country. Pupils that attend this school are definitely born to parents who can pay the six-figure fees each term. The school boasts of excellent sports facilities – swimming pools, multipurpose courts for basketball, volleyball and handball, a football pitch, among others.
However, I remember clearly that the Deputy Head of School, Ms Dolapo Fatoki, mentioned that the pupils are always reminded that they are privileged to have the kind of lives they live – one full of comfort and luxury. Juxtaposed next to their peers in Makoko, their lives are indeed one that came, not because they deserve it but because of privilege.
Like the bible says in Ecclesiastes that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, riches to the men of understanding, and favour to the men of skill, those forced to live in Makoko are not there because they are lazy or lack the desire to enjoy the good things of life. But as the holy book explains, ‘time and chance’ happens to them all.
It is of great importance that parents who can afford the good things of life remember this and pass on the lesson to their wards. They should teach them not to look down on the less privileged but learn to share from their abundance with those that have little to live on.
From my Inbox
Re: Chibok on world stage (published June 12, 2014)
Belo-Osagie, in fact I admire your article titled: Chibok on world stage in The Nation of June 12. It is interesting and I wish you to keep it up. May God bless Nigeria because it is the only country of our origin. Form 08056772—.
There is an adage in my language which says, “If the fire burning the house of the one-eyed man is not extinguished on time, it will extend to the house of the two-eyed man.’ If some prominent Nigerians fail to contribute their quota to to the resuce of the over 200 abducted girls of the Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS) in Chibok and devise means to end terrorism because their daughters are not among, they should not sleep with their two eyes closed because Boko Haram may do worse than it did in Chibok. The earlier they act, the better for ‘One United Nigeria.’ Albert Simeon, Seme Border.
Dear Kofo, do you see the Boko Haram insurgency as a natural phenomenon or an ill omen? The content of your piece has nothing to do with Chibok being on world stage. Stones will soon be aimed at our so-called leaders. Williams.
Dear Ma,
Please consider writing about: Relationship of Higher institution courses to demands of the Nigerian economy, currently and projected.
Almost all our higher institutions have departments of business administration, banking and finance, international relations, etc, with astronomical carrying capacities.
Where are the job prospects for graduates of these disciplines? How relevant are the planning departments of NUC and others in the projection for our manpower requirements?
What are the parameters for a introduction of a new course of study in an existing institutions? What are the approval requirements of courses in a new institution? Regards, Femi Fadairo.
