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Tag: childhood

  • My childhood friend, my brother!

    A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and allows you to grow”-William Shakespeare.

    Perhaps, the above captures very succinctly the relationship between my childhood friend and brother, Dr Christian Ngozi Umeh (Gallant Pieces) and I. Umeh was snatched away in his prime, by the cold hands of death three weeks ago.

    I don’t really know how and where to begin. I lack words. Yet, I should be in position to write a book on the life and times of my childhood friend, Ngozi Gallant Christian, Pieces Umeh (NGCPU) as he fondly abbreviated his initials.

    My predicament stems from inability to come to terms with the sad reality that Gallant can disappear from my sight just like that. That the company and affection we shared through the years have been truncated by the wicked hands of death. And a relationship that has been the admiration of many, crashed when its fruits were beginning to fully mature.

    All those who knew Gallant well either from childhood or later in life can attest that we are two of a rare pair. Not many know the genesis of our relationship or how long it has lasted. Two of us may not even fully account for how it all started given our age at that time.

    This is because the friendship is as old as our ages minus our age the day we enrolled at St Jude’s primary School Ikpa-Eluama Osina in the present Imo State. That was the period you were required to place your right hand across your head to touch your left ear as a criterion for admission into the first class in the primary school.

    If your right hand touched your left ear, then you are qualified for admission and vice versa. So we found ourselves in that preparatory class together with other mates. I cannot recall how we started as friends so early in life or the incident that brought us close. But my guess is that our performances in that rural primary school class could have been the bond. He was very eager to learn and highly elated each time he performed excellently well. I still recall the exclamation he made the day our teacher announced he scored 80 per cent in one of the subjects. The whole class burst into deep laughter when he exclaimed: uwa a a a…( the world….) as the teacher called his name and announced his score. He was enthusiastic to learn; very hungry for knowledge, always trying to show his peers that he has something more to offer.

    Even at that tender age, he had learnt some French language from one of his cousins COC Umeh who was then in a secondary school. It was from him that for the first time, I learnt bonjour monsieur was a French equivalent for good morning sir. He pronounced monsieur badly as I came to realize when I started French years after in my secondary school. So he was above his peers in such innovative issues and somehow, we got attracted to each other due to competition to excel.

    St Jude then prepared pupils for admission into St Mary’s primary school which was the senior arm of the Catholic primary school. I had thought two of us completed two years at St Jude before proceeding to St Mary’s until his cousin Jasper Umeh who was also with us( but in a different class) told me a fortnight ago he left briefly to Alaogidi primary school Uhualla due to some political pressure.

    However, we rejoined in primary four at St Mary’s after the transition from standard to primary in the school calendar system and were together until we took the First School Leaving Certificate. My younger sister, Chinwe used to remind me of how he usually escorted me to my Aunty’s house- the Ebosie’s in Uzii after school each time my father sent me on errand there. The distance is not less than 10 kilometres to and fro. Chinwe lived with my Aunty after our mother’s death very early in our lives. She reminds me of how we usually sneaked to the backyard to pluck some pear as we left.

    While in primary six, we took common entrance examinations. He was later to attend Earnest Gems Grammar school Akokwa while I attended Holy Ghost Juniorate, Ihiala. Our friendship continued throughout our secondary school period especially during holidays. On completion of his secondary career, he enrolled at the famous Christ the King College, Onitsha (CKC) for his Higher School. We met again at the University of Ibadan when he was admitted to read Geography in the same faculty of Social Sciences. There, the comradeship continued. At Ibadan, we had other friends like Dr Chika Ohia and late Dr Linus Dim.  We worked together and shared common vision regarding the progress of our town, Osina.

    In liaison with other friends in other universities: Bernard Nnagha and JO Eze both at the University of Ife then, Christian Maduekwe and Lambert Eze, UNN, we built a formidable relationship that changed the course of history in the community for the better. Issues relating to this are for another occasion.

    Suffice it to say we all enjoyed our relationship. We trusted each other and enjoyed the confidence of each other. Between two of us, the confidence was much stronger because of our childhood experiences. We were with each other after our national service and when we secured our initial appointments. We spent our initial salaries savouring and oiling our relationship. Such was the story until responsibility set in after we started marrying one after the other.

    For some reason, two of us were among the last in the group that married. And when it came to choosing his marriage sponsors, my wife and I were his choice. He was also the Godfather of my first son at baptism. We understand the chemistry of each other and have never had cause for serious disagreement even with our personality differences. He was quiet, non controversial and largely apolitical. Yet, we found common grounds to cohere.

    He taught for some years at Abbot Girls’ Secondary School Ihiala, in Anambra State before securing appointment as a teaching assistant at the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri. While at Alvan and in very quick succession, he enrolled for his post graduate diploma certificate in education and Masters Degree at Imo State University, Owerri. On successful completion of the two programmes, he went for his doctorate degree which he successfully obtained within record time.

    He rose fast to the rank of Reader/Chief lecturer at Alvan. Dr. Umeh also held so many positions in the college: Head of Department of Geography and Environmental Science, chairman School of Social Sciences Teaching Practice Committee and departmental project coordinator among others. He has many publications.

    Umeh exudes a lot of wits and very famous for inventing interesting and sharp remarks, many of which his circle of friends cannot forget in a hurry. Those witty sayings still dominate our discussion till date. The frontiers of his knowledge are wide covering the sciences, medicine, engineering and architecture.

    A versatile and humorous person, Gallant will be highly missed by his numerous friends. He showed considerable determination to live even in the face of the odds. He displayed an uncommon resilience and doggedness as he battled health challenges in the last couple of months. It is sad he eventually succumbed to the wicked hands of death. Gallant will be missed by his family, his friends and all those who came into contact with him.

    May the God almighty grant his soul eternal rest in His bosom and the family, the fortitude to bear the sad loss! May I end this tribute by quoting from Lisa Whelchel: “There’s something about childhood friends you just can’t replace”. Gallant, I miss you and will continue to miss you until we meet to part no more. It was indeed a sweet friendship that refreshed the soul-proverbs 27:9.

  • How malnutrition fuels childhood diseases, by experts

    How malnutrition fuels childhood diseases, by experts

    The sights are scary. The sight of children lying down on mats or cloth-beds spread on bare floors could strike terror in the hearts of many parents.

    Some are carried by their mothers, they hungrilly suck on dry breasts. The mothers too looked malnourished, having nothing left to eat. These are Nigerian Internally Displaced People (IDP).

    Hauwa Salah (not real names) is two years old. She got integrated in one of the camps, but could not get enough food. She became emaciatedand her skin clung to her dry, skinny bones. A  non governmental organisation, Adopt -A- Camp,an initiative that assists internally displaced persons in the Northeast,came to her rescue and a few others were provided with life saving nutritional needs. Now, she is bouncing back to life.

    Since May 2013, Nigeria has seen an intensification of conflict due to Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe. Insurgency and counter-insurgency have inevitably resulted in the displacement of people across the troubled states.

    Over 56 percent of the total IDP population are children of which more than half  are aged up to five years while 42 percent are adults. 1,188,018 IDPs (149,357 households) were identified in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states. (DTM) Another 47,276 IDPs (5910 households) were identified in Plateau, Nasarawa, Abuja, Kano and Kaduna states.  According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the total population of IDPs in northern Nigeria is 1,235,294. The highest number of IDPs however are in Borno state with 672,714, followed by Adamawa 220,159 and Yobe state with 135,810.

    According to statistics, in war and unrest, women and children are the most vulnerable groups and according to NEMA records, this group formed the bulk of the IDPs all over Nigeria.

     

    The war against Measles

     

    It is becoming increasingly difficult for Nigeria to win the war against measles.According to new scientific research, there is an important link between nutrition and the prevention and management of diseases.

    According to a foremost virologist, Prof Oyewale Tomori, young children (six to 60 months of age) with mild-to-moderate malnutrition had 2.2 times the risk of dying from measles during the follow-up period than their better nourished counterparts.

    Severely malnourished children had 6.8 times the risk of dying during the follow-up period than better nourished children.”Therefore, since measles is a very severe disease, which in malnourished children can carry a case fatality rate as high as 50 percent, malnutrition should be a prime indication for measles immunization, and certainly not a contraindication,” he argued.

    Prof Tomori’s concern is justified because the coalition of experts from Federal and State Governments, development partners, civil society and academia after concluding a two-day meeting to discuss the results of research on activities carried out by the Working to Improve Nutrition in Northern Nigeria (WINNN) programme in the states of Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Yobe, and Zamfara, also announced the urgent need to address the root causes of child malnutrition in this region.  According to WINNN, this is germane to reducing the staggeringly high rate of child malnutrition in northern Nigeria, nay the childhood diseases, especially measles.

    WINNN has more scary statistics. As a result of malnutrition, 58 per cent of children under five in these states suffer from stunting, meaning their physical and mental development has been impaired. An estimated 370,000 children with severe acute malnutrition in these states will require lifesaving treatment this year. Without such treatment, some 70,000 of those children are likely to die.

    While treatment for severe malnutrition remains essential and has been the focus of State Governments’ activities, the participants at the WINNN meeting said increased attention should be paid to prevention, which is critical to addressing the problem in the long term. Research presented at the meeting confirmed that many mothers do not understand the importance of exclusive breastfeeding, even when healthy and even giving water to a baby under six months old can lead to illnesses and malnutrition.

    A researcher/microbiologist at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Dr  Adesina Adeiga, said children with severe malnutrition will be highly susceptible to diseases especially measles. He explained: “Cells in the body need protein to develop and perform body activities. Due to less protein intake, the white blood cells will be poorly developed and will not be able to defend the body. This makes the immunity both at the cellular level and the soluble antibody to be highly compromised. This makes the children in this nutritional compromised situation to be susceptible to diseases and when they are not able to withstand the disease, they die in the process.”

    He however explained that Measles infection is vaccine preventable, “When children are immunised at nine months, they are protected from infection. This can only happen when they are not nutritionally compromised.

    “When there is poor nutrition or  problem of protein calorie malnutrition, they will not be able to develop immunity when vaccinated. When there are many of such children in the community, most of them will be infected in measles outbreak. But if many of the children develop immunity upon receiving measles vaccination, the unvaccinated children in such community will not be seriously affected in Measles outbreak unless the vaccine is of poor quality,” he stated.

    Immunization: Measles (% of children ages 12-23 months) in Nigeria was last measured at 51 in 2014, according to the World Bank. Child immunization measures the percentage of children ages 12-23 months who received vaccinations before 12 months or at any time before the survey. A child is considered adequately immunized against measles after receiving one dose of vaccine.

    “Immunity of the children in the community is called Herd Immunity. When there is high herd immunity, the spread of measles during outbreak is very low. But if the herd immunity is low, which can occur when there is severe malnutrition. This can cause mass death of children from measles infection,” Adeiga said.

    Mrs Bukola Shonibare of Adopt-A-Camp is of the opinion that a child can win the war against malnutrition, nay any childhood disease, as evidence by the output of her NGO activities that saw some of these malnourished children bounce back, after feeding them adequately.

    One wonders where all the money budgeted for such have gone. For a study by Displacement Tracking Matrix/DTM Round II Report (February 2015) revealed that households in 20 states have access to food distribution. In terms of frequency, 13 sites receive food distribution every day; another 13 sites receive irregular food distribution. In three sites (all located in Adamawa) individuals have never received food distribution. Households in all sites with the exception of one reported having no supplementary feeding for children or breastfeeding mothers. Screening for malnutrition has not been conducted in 27 sites.

    This does not sit well with Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN).

    CS-SUNN believes without good nutrition, human mind and body cannot function well. Malnourished children have an increased risk of disability and premature death and are highly predisposed to infectious diseases.

    It explained that nutrition programs and interventions are still largely under funded by government at all levels.

    “Hence strategic actions needs to be taken to reduce malnutrition, the window of opportunity is the first 1000 days of life- a critical time for physical and mental development of a child. By making extra effort through investing in maternal nutrition, Infant and young child feeding (MIYCF), Nigeria can stop the death of about 700000 children every year, and mitigate human pain of families that lose their children,” it stated.

  • Childhood dream fulfilled

    Childhood dream fulfilled

    A book, The Sun Will Soon Shine, written by Mrs. Adejoke Ajibade Bakare, a Corporate Communications specialist at an oil and gas company, was presented in Lagos last Thursday, NNEKA NWANERI writes.

    Mrs. Adejoke Ajibade Bakare’s life-long dream was fulfilled last Thursday at the LCCI Conference and Exhibition Centre, Alausa, when a collection of her poems entitled: The Sun Will Soon Shine, was presented to the public.

    To bring life to the writings, she recited two of the poems. With passion in her eyes and strength in her voice, she acted out every word from I Am Woman and Arise Naija, both excerpts from the book. Everyone in hall listened with rapt attention.

    The book is a documentation of her thoughts at  every stage of her life. The author confessed that the unveiling of her book was a day she had anticipated for a long time; a dream she had nursed till she found her voice in poetry.

    On her journey into the world of poetry, she said: “Poetry found me as a form of expression. I needed a way to let it out in my own way, so one day in the United Kingdom, while I was pregnant during my master’s programme, I picked up my pen to jot down my first thoughts.

    “Since then, I have come to know that it is a beautiful thing to write because poetry has a lot to offer the world and make it a better place.”

    The book was reviewed by three people. Mrs Bridget Nwokocha, a quality analyst, said the descriptions in the book are as vivid as watching a movie.

    “Though Joke is a busy person, she takes time to view the little things around her. Her poems are an influence of the environment. This book will take tension away from the reader and help one relax.”

    An engineer and the CEO of Pekulia Production Limited, Mr Bambo Oguntoyibo, also reviewed the book, which he described as a classic chronology of tales from the womb to the tomb, with something for every age grade. He also noted that some poems in the book will give hope in a challenging country.

    “In this book, she creates imagery from everyday happenings with all forms of literature encapsulated in it.”

    The author’s boss and Corporate Affairs Manager of Total, Mr Albert Mabuyaku, who said he met Joke three years ago, said he knew there was something unique – one who is full of dreams and ideas.

    Mrs. Fatima Ololade, a literary editor, who gave the last review, added that the book is a unique biography of the phases and faces of womanhood; with personal glimpses into the transition of a girl-child into womanhood – an inventive documentation of our being.

    Naval Captain Bayo Adekoya described the title of the book as prophetic and a harbinger of hope, being timely, apt and relevant.

    Students of Taqwa Primary School, Iju performed a poem from the book entitled: Each one of us a Chibok girl.

  • Dangote Foundation to campaign against childhood diseases

    Dangote Foundation to campaign against childhood diseases

    The Dangote Foundation has promised to step up its advocacy campaign against preventable diseases in the country.

    This followed report that an estimated 124,000 children under the age of four years are dying annually due to poor sanitation,

    The foundation’s Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Zuoera Youssoufou, gave this promise in a message she sent to the Community Staff School, venue of the demonstration of the United Nation’s Global Hand Washing Day observed in Abuja in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and other organisations like the United Nations Children’s Funds (UNICEF) and Water Aids.

    She lamented that Nigeria was still contributing so much to the number of children deaths recorded globally, owing to poor sanitation and described the situation as unacceptable.

    Mrs. Youssoufou stated that the foundation had already planned to scale up it advocacy and intervention in the preventable deaths, owing to equally preventable diseases such as poor sanitation, hunger and malnutrition, diarrhoea, cholera and dysentery.

    The Foundation boss explained that it was in realisation of the factor of hygiene and good sanitation in the prevention of these avoidable deaths that made the United Nation to set aside a day to mark the Hand Washing Day to demonstrate and encourage the children on the need to always wash their hands and maintain good sanitation so as to stay healthy.

    She said a situation where the nation is losing her children to preventable deaths would not augur well for the development of the country in future because the rank of the children on whose shoulders the task of the development lie would have been depleted.

    Said she: “Children are change agents and that is why we have to target them to ensure they stay healthy for the betterment of our society. Our partnership with the Federal Ministry of Water resources on this demonstration of globally accepted hand washing methods was in furtherance of our believe in focusing more on the health of our children.”

    The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr. Musa Istifanus, said the hand washing campaign was introduced to reduce childhood mortality rates relating to respiratory, diarrhoea and other related diseases by introducing simple behavioural change of hand wash with soap.

    The UNICEF Country Representative, Kannan Nadar, pointed out that a survey carried out recently indicated that in six states, 53 per cent of the children don’t wash hands after defecation, which, he said, was “a great disincentive to the campaign for proper sanitation among the children”.

  • ‘Better nutrition panacea for childhood brain disorder’

    ‘Better nutrition panacea for childhood brain disorder’

    Children, whose diets lack vital fatty acids, such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are at risk of hyperactivity disorder, uni-polar depression and aggressive resentment, experts have said.

    The experts, which include President, Paediatrics Association of Nigeria, Prof Adebiyi Olowu and Senior Scientist, Global Nutrition Development, FrieslandCampina Innovation Centre, the Netherlands, Dr Anne Schaafsma, said the problem could be tackled with appropriate fatty acids.

    They spoke at the FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc 10th Annual Nutrition Seminar in Lagos tagged: “Physical growth and brain development of the Nigerian child: The challenge of our time”.

    The solution, the experts said, is appropriate nutrition, adding that when infants are fed with appropriate essential food, they become smarter, faster and happier.

    Conversely, improved health and nutrition will lead to enhanced economic development.

    The speakers presented papers on the importance of nutrition in optimum brain development in a child.

    Brain development and mental health of a child, according to them, are vital and should not be neglected.

    Moreover, the first five years of development of a child is crucial and it represents the period the child needs essential nutrients that support overall brain development, especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid that is a primary structural component of the human brain, cerebral cortex, skin, sperm, testicles and retina.

    Wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, identified lack of awareness by mothers on what adequate nutrition should be as one major problem to be tackled because the significance of nutrition in the first five years of a child’s life cannot be over-emphasised.

    Mrs Ambode called on healthcare practitioners to “take opportunity of the Nutrition Seminar organised by FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria to dialogue on new strategies, and new perspectives alongside sharing of current knowledge on ways to improve the nutritional well-begin of the Nigerian child.”

    Managing Director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria PLC, Rahul Colaco, reiterated his company’s commitment to nourishing Nigeria with quality dairy nutrition; part of which includes providing adequate up to date researched information on child nutrition.

    According to Colaco, “FrieslandCampina has invested huge funds into research and development of quality and affordable products to cater for the needs of the consumer. So, we are confident of our support to healthcare practitioners in ensuring proper child nutrition.”

    The seminar, which had held in Ibadan, Abuja, Port Harcourt and, reinforced the importance of public-private partnership (PPP) in responding to key national issues, particularly in the nutritional development of the child.

    FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria said it will continue to partner key stakeholders to help reduce incidences of malnutrition among women and children.

  • Childhood cancer is real, Foundation says

    Pupils from eight schools in Lagos State sang at a childhood cancer awareness programme organised by the Children Living With Cancer Foundation (CLWCF) last Saturday.

    CLWCF’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mrs Nneka Nwaobi,  said the event, which held at the Avicenna Schools, Ikeja, was organised to teach the pupils about cancer in order for them to spread the news to others.

    Mrs Nwaobi said teaching young ones about the disease is more effective than talking to the adults, who she noted tend to spiritualise things. She said the rate of the illness is becoming alarming and some parents are not bold enough to talk about it.

    “We are creating awareness to get children to understand that children do have cancer. We are using the children because most adults in Nigeria are just ignorant to learn about childhood cancer or any bad thing at all. So, because of that we decided to go through the children believing that when they are informed they would communicate it with their parents.

    “I know a parent who has not told his relatives that his child has cancer and most parents that we deal with think that it is spiritual; something that they need church or native doctor’s assistance to tell them who is behind it,” she said.

    By enlightening the pupils, Mrs Nwaobi said she hopes they would learn to be charitable rather than stigmatise children with the illness.

    She said the prevalent type of cancers in children include leukemia;  cancer of the kidney; neuroblastoma; cancer of the bone, while cancer of the ovary is rare.

    She said early diagnosis makes managing the disease easier.

    “Unfortunately, it is not like adult cancer where you would say that there are pre-diposing factors such as drinking or smoking and some other things. In children, the youngest I have seen is six weeks old, so how do you tell the parents to prevent that. The most important thing is the screening and coming in early and then knowing that there is a cure at the end. Most of the ones we have cured came in early while those we have lost came in late and a few of them had mixed diagnosis,” she said.

  • YOUNG STARS- Nigerians children making waves

    YOUNG STARS- Nigerians children making waves

    Childhood is the best time to set the building blocks and subsequently give direction on how to shape a better future. It is a time to show children love as well as explore the potentials available considering the challenges. As the country marks the Children Day on May 27, Yetunde Oladeinde takes a look at some outstanding children and the things that set them apart from the rest.

    IT’S time to celebrate as we mark this year’s Children’s Day, this day is  significant all over the world and it is spent honouring the achievements of children in different spheres of life. Scroll down memory lane to 1925 when the day was first proclaimed by the World Conference for the Well being of children and you find that a lot of changes have been recorded.

    In Nigeria, the celebrations are observed on May 27th every year. Some children have actually carved a niche for themselves in different spheres of life. These child prodigies have motivated others and put the nation positively on the world map.

    Recently,  Omoyiola Ayomikun Eunice, a  primary six school girl, clinched  the ‘Ambassador for Peace’ Centenary Award in Abuja, for her creativity and distinctive paintings captioned: “Peace in the midst of the storm” and , “United we stand”.

    It was a wonderful experience for 10 year old Ayomikun as she sat and dined with leaders of different countries. Her passport to fame was being diligent in her painting and having a clear focus of a bright future.

    “Before I came to the school, I had started drawing at the age of four.  Then I used to draw figures, animals, fruits etc. So, when I left my former school to join Queensland, the passion increased because it has a good art teacher.”

    According to her, “I went there to present my drawings to the President through SGF, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim who commissioned my paintings and recommended me to the President as the youngest Nigerian kid to receive an award at the time when Nigeria is celebrating 100 years.”

    This dream just did not come on a platter of gold, she had put in so much efforts overtime to become a golden fish. “Before the centenary award, however, I participated in art competitions, among them was Indian Language Art Competition 2012. I’m still participating in more because painting is my hobby, even though I would love to be an engineer.”

    On the prestigious list of Nigerian child prodigies, you would also find fifteen year old Beauty Ofoegbu. The talent from Vivian Fowler School for girls won first place in painting for the senior category. The feat changed her fortune and today she is listed at the National Arts Gallery hall of fame.

    In 2012 Amarachi Uyanne emerged as the season one winner of Nigeria’s got talent. She was just eight years old when she walked into stardom appearing in a number of billboards in style. She moved on to produce what was dubbed the Amarachi dance video directed by Clarence Peters.

    Like Amarachi , Ozzy Bosco is also making waves in the entertainment scene. The six year old boy dubbed by fans as the ‘Wonderkid’ got recognition for handwork at the last Dynamix youth awards. As one of Africa’s youngest entertainers, he has collaborated with artists like Olamide and Flavour.

    In the pack, you also find Anjola Victoria, who passed WAEC exams the November/December 2013 at the age of nine years. Her words: “I studied a lot during the period of the exam. I even had to study books that were for SS3 students. I also studied the oldest past questions of the GCE examination that I could lay my hands on because the older the questions, the harder they are,” she recalls.

    Determined, Anjola who looked small went to the centre armed with registration number 5250802098. “I registered for seven papers but only wrote two, English and French because I readily had teachers in those two subjects, dad and mum. I made C5 in French Language and C6 in English Language.”

    Her parents are lawyers but her dream is to be a medical doctor, if possible be the youngest medical doctor in the history of Nigeria.”I advise children of my age to cultivate the reading culture and be ready to learn and show seriousness in their studies because having the right attitude is better than hard work and knowledge. When there is a will, there is a way.”

  • Deji finally fulfils childhood dream

    Deji finally fulfils childhood dream

    Dreams, indeed, diehard for Deji Olarinoye, following his transition from a ball boy to the Golden Eaglets’ physician at the 2013 UAE FIFA Under-17 World Cup.

    It all looks like yesterday when a blue-eyed boy served as a ball boy during a crucial 1994 World Cup qualifier against Algeria at the National Stadium in Lagos. That experience was a turning point for the younger Olarinoye who vowed not to do anything in life other than a career in sport, writes MORAKINYO ABODUNRIN.

    It was that desire that made him turn his full attention to sports medicine and the dream of that ball boy of yesterday has crystallised so much so he’s making his debut at an international tournament.

    “I’m lucky to have come from a background where almost everything I knew was sports,” said Olarinoye who graduated from the University of Ilorin in 2008. “I virtually eat and drink sport but football was my favourite.”

    Deji is the scion of Dr. Steve Olarinoye, erstwhile Head of International Competitions at the Nigeria Football Federation, and the current coordinator of the south-west zone of the Nigerian Sports Commission (NSC) in Ibadan.

    “Though my parents are involved in sports, I had this burning desire to play football but my dad especially wanted me to focus my attention on education, of which I have no regret today,” explained the young man.

    “In fact, my love for football and my desire to contribute to the development of the game made me vow to become a sport physician some 15 years ago.

    “Apart from serving as a ball boy during a match between the Super Eagles and the Fennecs of Algeria at the National Stadium in Surulere, I was excited to see the medical team attend to players and that really influenced my decision to turn my attention to sports medicine.”

    Young and energetic, Deji brings so much passion to his job and his puritanical devotion was there for all to see,with the manner he discharges his duty with the Golden Eaglets.

    “ Frankly, the role of a team physician is very tasking,” noted Deji in apt reference to the challenges he has to cope with, especially with the novel Magnetic Image Resonance (MRI) Test recently put in place by the world soccer ruling body, FIFA. “First and foremost, you must be equipped with the knowledge and be abreast with any new development.

    “Sports medicine, for instance, is multi-disciplinary and as the head of a medical team, you must not be found wanting; so it is a continuous learning process and good enough, I’m working under technocrats who have varied experiences with the national teams even before I was born!

    “ By and large, it is an interesting job because it allows me the opportunity to enjoy the sport I really love so much despite the fact that I couldn’t fulfil the dream of making it as professional player,” he reasoned.

    Like in all profession, you must earn people’s trust, and this, according to Dr. Deji, as he’s fondly called in the National-Under-17 set up, is very important or as Ernest Hemingway put it: ‘The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.’

    “Footballers are special people,” declared Deji, whose other past time is playing table tennis and surfing the internet. “But as a sports physician, you need to understand what they go through so that they can have confidence in you because the job could be difficult if they don’t have your trust.

    “My priority is to ensure that the players are in good medical condition so that they can give their optimal best and I do go the extra mile in order to ensure that the players are ready, fit for the rigours of their job.”

    On a lighter note, Deji still rued the fact he never fulfilled the expectations of his secondary teacher who noted, inter alia, on his report card: ‘the boy who will play for Nigeria.’

    Said he: “Well, at my own level, I played football on the streets as well as in school. In fact, I was the captain of my school’s medical team.

    “Of course, it would have been nice to play football to the highest level especially with the kind of money being earned by professional footballers today, but I’m fulfilled being involved with the game in another relevant capacity,” added Dr. Deji

  • Care, trauma and coping with childhood cancers

    THOUGH Theresa’s words flowed smoothly, a quaver in her voice signalled all was not well. How could it? Her son, was placed on admission in the children oncology ward in the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital, (LUTH), Idi-Araba. Despite the cheerful artworks of the walls, the mood of the patients here is far from cheerful.

    While cancer in children comes as a rude shock to many, children are actually afflicted with the ailment. And the number of afflicted children is increasing. This deadly killer has been rampaging children and there are no signs of it stopping. February 15 has been set aside as a day to draw attention to the cause of children living with cancer.

    According to reports, about 11,630 children in the United States under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer in 2013. And while statistics to determine the incidence of cancer among Nigerian children is scarce, a visit to tertiary health institutions in the country reveals that the disease is blind to ages. According to Patience Okoro, a matron who has worked in LUTH for 17 years, cancer in children is on the increase. “We used to have few cases before, but last year we had over 30 cases.”

    Also, the survival rate is still low in Nigeria where only about 10 to 20 percent cure occur compared to the 80 to 90 percent figure which obtains in other developed countries. With poverty overwhelming many victims, it is going to be tough redressing this situation. According to Dr. Ajekigbe, “there are many who can’t afford the treatment.” The solution, he says, is “either we use alternatives that are much cheaper that even we are convinced will not do the job because the body has requested for another thing. That is the truth. But having said that, some non governmental organisations (NGOs) help minimally but they are also not rich.”

    However, in Nigeria, one organisation which cares for this category of patients is the Children Living With Cancer Foundation (CLWCF), founded by Dr. Nneka Nwobbi in 2002.

    According to Dr. Nwobbi, there is also the lack of information amongst some victims’ families, thinking the disease is a result of the child’s fault. “Some of these children think it is their fault that they have cancer,” she said. “They begin to think it is punishment for something they have done.”

    No doubt, the treatment of cancer is expensive. But the cost would have been reduced if treatment were available locally. For instance, Dr. Remi Ajekigbe, Head of Radiotherapy and Oncology Department, LUTH, said that machines for treating cancer with radiation in the country are functional in three of the cancer centres: LUTH, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Kaduna State and Eko Hospital, Lagos. But, he said, a situation where there is “just one functional machine for the whole hospital is not just good enough because any machine can break down.”

    Anyway, as it stands, children cannot speak out for themselves. “They need people to speak for them,” Dr. Nwobbi said.

    Alice Ada Bissong, a nurse and social worker who has worked in a number of public hospitals before retiring from the National Hospital, Abuja about four years ago, agrees that the scourge of cancer is on the increase in children. She has helped to save the lives of some people who would have died of cancer and other terminal ailments. “I was not well myself . I had recurrent umbilical hernia. I actually did surgery at the National Hospital and at a point I had obstruction and had to go to India for another surgery.”

    Luckily, her life was saved and the experience made her decide to help other people. “When I came to Lagos I discovered that there were so many cases of people affected by cancer in different ways. It then occurred to me that I could touch the lives of people who were having problems like me.”

    Bissong added that “I called Dr Milind Wagh and he had a seminar on reconstructive surgery. I brought the surgeons to Nigeria, and after that they realised that most of those people who were coming up were indigent and this gave birth to my organisation.”

    Challenges? “Getting funds to help them with the prognosis can be really bad. But then we cannot leave them to die. I have an eight-year-old boy called Hamilu from Kogi State who was born with a complicated heart condition. It degenerated to cancer and he is battling for survival at the moment. Of course, you know that we cannot leave someone who is eight years old to die. We also have 10-year-old Eze Ebube whose right hand was amputated. He is a very brilliant boy with a lot of potentials.”

    Crystal Chigbu is another woman who is passionate about helping children in this regard. “We have been able to provide prosthesis for Kelechi, a two-year-old bilateral amputee that lost both legs after a brief illness. With her prosthesis, she now stands and walks.”

    Chigbu’s daughter had cancer of the bone and the ailment opened her eyes to the trauma many parents go through. “About three years ago, I went into labour and had my child. Along the line, we found that she had a funny thing with her leg and we were referred to the National Orthopedic Hospital, Enugu where it was detected that she had congenital absence of her tibia and patella.”

    The family made a number of medical consultations and they were given a lot of options like fusion of the tibia. “But we wanted to seek a better option or a second opinion. It is not easy to amputate your child’s leg. We even travelled abroad but everything pointed towards amputation. At a point, we just had to take a decision that was best for the child. She was in school and was the only one crawling in her class at the age of two,” she informed.

    Beulah’s leg was amputated about two years ago and she is doing very well now. “I believe that the worst kind of disability is in the mind and it is important to be positive at all times. So I am driven to share with all kids with limb loss, their families and care-givers ways to manage limb loss with the right outlook.”

    This led to the birth of the Irede Foundation (TIF) which provides prosthesis and other helpful aids to indigent children between 0-18 years. ”Our focus is on children who are living with limb loss, either congenital or acquired. We also encourage children living with limb loss to live a life of fulfillment. Over the first year of launch, our goal is to sponsor the provision of 18 prostheses to indigent families with limb loss cases. We also plan to capture 50 families in our support group.”

    The types of cancers that occur most often in children are different from those seen in adults. The most common cancers in children include leukaemia, brain and other nervous system tumours, neuroblastoma, wilms tumour, lymphoma,

    Rhabdomyo sarcoma, retinoblastoma and bone cancer. Other types of cancers are rare in children, but they do happen sometimes. In very rare cases, children may even develop cancers that are much more common in adults.

  • Unhappy childhood linked to heart risk in later life

    EMOTIONAL behaviour in childhood may be linked with heart disease in middle age, especially in women, research suggests.

    A study found being prone to distress at the age of seven was associated with a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular disease in later life. Conversely, children who were better at paying attention and staying focused had reduced heart risk when older.

    Study leader Dr Allison Appleton said more research would now be needed to work out the biological mechanism that may underpin the finding.

    “We know that persistent distress can cause dysregulation of the stress response and that is something we want to look at.”

    Maureen Talbot, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said it was already known that a child’s health could often have a bearing on their future wellbeing.

    But she added that more research was needed before it could be clear that any possible link existed between emotions in childhood and the risk of cardiovascular disease in later life.

    “There are positive steps parents can take to protect their child’s future heart health.

    “What we learn when we’re young can often set the tone for our habits later in life, so teaching children about physical activity and a balanced diet is a great place to start.”