The Nation Newspaper

Tag: drowning

  • Lagos issues safety rules on drowning

    Lagos issues safety rules on drowning

    Lagos State has issued an advisory to public facilities to adhere to the swimming pool rules of 2021.

    This followed tragic incidences of drowning to ensure safety of residents and visitors.

    Director General of Lagos State Safety Commission, Lanre Mojola, decried increasing drowning incidents with loss of lives in the last weeks.

    “These events have occurred across locations, including hotel swimming pools, beaches and the lagoon.

    “The government condoles families and would prevent further loss of lives,” he said.

    Read Also: Bobrisky: Beneath the surface

    Mojola said the state swimming pool rules are to create a safety culture, outline policies, standards, practices and key provisions, including presence of trained lifeguards, proper signage, reporting protocols and restrictions on alcohol usage and fire around pool areas.

    He said operators of public swimming facilities should “comply with these to prevent further incidents.

    Mojola said the government would “enforce these regulations and penalise on any facility found in violation.”

    He added: “For more information on Lagos State Swimming Pool Regulations and safety tips, please visit the commission’s website on (www.lasgsafety.com).

    Whistle blowers should escalate any unsafe practice or infraction to 07000SAFETY.

  • Drowning: The Need for Nigeria to Look for a More Effective Way to Combat a Leading Killer

    April 2018 is a day that the Musa family will never forget, the mother of Abdulaziz, Halima Musa is still shocked as to how her eight-month-old baby would have managed to get drowned in a drum of water just few minutes after she left him to ease herself in the bathroom which is outside their room, even the operatives of the Edo state Command are still investigating how an eight-month-old baby boy would have drowned in the house.

    The incident which occurred in the early hours of Wednesday at number 53, Obakhavbaye Street in Benin City, the Edo State capital still had neighbours puzzled as to how such incident could have occurred.
    Some months back, a famous Nigerian Celebrity lost his son to drowning, the son who was left unattended to fell into the swimming pool and before he was discovered, he was already dead.

    Also in April 2018, a final year computer science student of the Isfop-Benin University, Cotonou, Aliyu Abubakar was reported to have drowned in a beach in Cotonou just few weeks to his graduation while another report revealed a public administration student of the Federal Polytrechnic, Ekowe, Bayelsa state identified as Adekunle drowned in a river close to the school when he went to fetch water due to lack of water in the campus.

    In August 2018, seven members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) drowned in a river southeast of Taraba State when they went on a swimming expedition in River Mayo-Selbe, a major tributary of the Benue River.

    In 2007, a famous Nigeria television survival show was suspended after a contestant drowned in preparation for the programme; Anthony Ogadje who was 25 and nine other contestants had gone to Shere Hills Lake in Nigeria’s hilly Plateau State to prepare for the show when he drowned in a river he was supposed to cross, all attempts to revive him by the attendant medical team and the life-guards, including his fellow contestants, failed.

    While in Niger state, thousands drown yearly from flood which occurs between April to October yearly; this and many more deaths result from drowning, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 372,000 people die yearly from drowning out of which over half of all the drowning deaths occur among young people under 25 years and have become one of the 10 leading causes of death for people under this age group.

    Drowning has been said to be the third leading cause of unintentional injury death and the drowning death rates in the African region is 20 times higher than those of other continents.

    WHO reports that 135,585 children under 15 years lose their lives each year globally from drowning and drowning has been rated the leading cause of death and disability adjusted years among children under 15.

    Drowning accounts for 75 per cent of deaths in flood disasters which is becoming more frequent especially in low and middle income countries where people live in flood prone areas and the ability to warn, evacuate or protect the communities from flood is weak.

    However, WHO has posited that drowning is preventable only if the government of all nations can develop a national water safety plan which would provide strategic direction and a framework to guide multisectoral efforts to prevent drowning.

    The Coordinator, Department of Management, Non Communicable Diseases, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention at the World Health Organization, Dr. David Meddings during the Merit Maker Field Trip which was part of the activities of the 13th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion in Thailand said that governments world over need to take a clue from the Thailand government in bringing down the high rate of drowning among its populace.

    He said that there are various strategies of preventing child drowning pointing out that one of the most effective strategies is installing barriers controlling access to water which include covering wells, using doorway barriers and play pens, fencing swimming pools and having a community based supervised day care centers for preschool children.

    For children older than four years and above, there is the need to teach them basic swimming, water safety and safe rescue skills which can go a long way to preventing drowning, “with these skills, the children and youths can survive for hours in water and this would go a long way in reducing drowning”, Meddings said.

    He further stated that effective policies and legislation are also important for drowning prevention pointing out that setting and enforcing safe boating, shipping ad ferrying regulations, building resilience to flooding and managing flood risks through better disaster preparedness planning and early warning systems can go a long way in preventing drowning.

    Meddings urged governments across the world to emulate the Thailand government’s strategy which had succeeded in reducing drowning incidents rate by 50 per cent through its national drowning prevention strategy called ‘Merit Maker’ which was taken from the implementation guide of preventing drowning by WHO which covers six measures and four strategies on drowning prevention for government to review and implement.

    Giving an explanation about the Merit Maker program, the Vice Governor of Surat Thani Province in Thailand, Mrs. Jamjit Poolsawadee said Thailand had a record 9,547 children dying from drowning in the last ten years adding that the high rate of death recorded by drowning led the government of Thailand to develop a the Merit Maker drowning prevention strategy program.

    She disclosed that the Merit Maker drowning prevention covers all ten elements that are important measures for preventing drowning which include policy, management, situation and date, risky water body management, child development center operations, knowledge dissemination, survival swimming training, CPR training, public communications and research/evaluation adding that children as little as three to four years are being tuaght basic drowning prevention skills.

    The Vice Governor also said with the introduction of the drowning prevention program, drowning incidents rate had decreased to more than 50 per cent as 708 incidents were recorded in 2017 as against the 957 deaths experienced yearly in the past.

    A recent survey carried out indicated that several children tend to drown because they lack the knowledge of water safety and correct rescue procedures which the Merit Maker program seek to address. Drowning prevention measures should cover risk factors related to both personal and environmental aspects as only one measure or action cannot properly deal with the problem.

    If Nigeria can take a cue from these program, it will go a long way in reducing tgebrate of drowning across the Nation.

    Dr. Olakunle Alonge, an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Health in John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is of the opinion that Nigeria will not pay serious focus on drowning when the Nation still deals with maternal mortality, communicable diseases, infant mortality and other deaths lamenting that there is no data regarding the rate of drowning in the country.

    “There are so many issues in Nigeria and drowning does not come on the top. Nigeria is still dealing with maternal mortality, communicable diseases, infant mortality and so on. There is a huge burden of drowning in Nigeria and I think the first step is to get data that speaks to the burden, to first characterize the size of the problem.

    “The next step is to discover what are the underlined factors for this burden before we begin to talk about solutions.”

    Alonge urged leaders in Nigeria to take examples from practices nations have implemented that have reduced the rate of drowning, “There are solutions that are already in play in some countries like Thailand and Bangadash but there is need to do a thorough job of understanding the probkem and risks of the burden that is associated with this factor. We run the risk of going for the wrong solutions to solve the problem if this understanding is not made.”

    Advancing some solutions, he said the less cost intensive solution to drowning in the country will be to set up daycare centers, initiate survival swimming for children six years and above and incorporating swimming into school curriculum.

    “Nigeria can take cue from nations where people are beginning to embed swimming within the school curriculum. It can be put in as physical education that is being done in Nigeria. There are so many schools doing physical education in Nigeria and I encourage the government to put in survival swimming, it will go a long way to reduce drowning casualties across the country. ”

    Currently, schools, especially public schools in the country have not incorporated swimming into its curriculum due to the absence of swimming pools, only few private schools have swimming pools which had made it possible for the students to learn how to swim but the ratio is to minute.

    A study of the Physical and Health Education (PHE) curriculum in Nigeria for primary schools shows various subjects like fundamental movements, basic movements, athletics, games and sports, health education, pathogens, diseases and prevention, drug eradication and responsible parenthood while in the Junior Secondary School (JSS) has sub-topics like basic human movement, sports and games, health education, moving our body parts, athletics and contact and non-contact games.

    Although there are subjects where swimming can easily be incorporated, it is still not being taught in public schools. The purpose of the swimming lesson is to equip the children with skills of surviving in water and teach the younger ones the dangers of water, either still or moving.

    “This story was made possible with support from the ICFJ-WHO Safety 2018 Reporting Fellowship Program and Bloomberg Philanthropies”

  • NYSC, NSCDC lament drowning of corps members

    NYSC, NSCDC lament drowning of corps members

    The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Bayelsa State have lamented the death of corps members in boat mishaps at the weekend.
    The two agencies raised the concern when the new state Commandant, NYSC, Mrs. Loto Bolade, paid a courtesy visit to the state Commandant of the NSCDC, Desmond Agu, in Yenagoa, the state capital.
    Corps members serving in some riverine communities in the state have been dying following boat mishaps.
    But Agu urged NYSC authorities to impress it upon youths participating in the scheme, especially those posted to the coastal areas to always make use of life jackets when travelling.
    He said: “Bayelsa State has a different terrain. It is 70 per cent water.
    “So, always tell the corps members to carry their life jackets and wear them whenever they are travelling. Even if they can swim, they should not be over-confident.
    “NYSC should also ensure that they are constantly in touch with youths posted to remote areas.
    “Always keep in touch with the youths and ensure that their employers are treating them well.”
    Agu said his command will always contribute to the success of NYSC programmes in the state by providing the needed security.
    He advised all federal agencies should work together in the discharge of their duties.
    Bolade said NYSC was working hard to ensure that members of the corps posted to rural areas in the state were given life jackets.
    “We will continue to talk to the corps members posted to the riverine areas to always wear their life jackets. We will keep talking to them,” she said.
    Bolade, who was redeployed from Niger State, thanked the NSCDC for its cooperation especially in the areas of security.
    She appealed for more support and demanded security presence at the Kaiama camp for the forthcoming orientation programme.

  • Two remanded in prison for drowning colleague

    An Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court has remanded two labourers in Lagos prison for touring and drowning their colleague for allegedly stealing phone.

    The accused – Ayuba Abu, 32, and Dogo Yakubu 30 – are facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and murder.

    They were alleged to have murdered Mamudu Amidu, 34.

    The Magistrate, Miss B.O. Ope-Agbe, said the accused should be kept behind bars pending advice from the State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

    The Prosecutor, Sgt. Jimah Iseghede had told the court that the accused committed the offences on July 8 at Plot 10, Prime Adesoji Ajose St., Ogudu GRA Phase 11, Lagos.

    Iseghede alleged Abu and Dogo had vowed to beat that Amidu (the deceased) for stealing a phone, but was pardoned after much plea from the deceased.

    “But a neighbour, now at large, who heard about the matter, insisted that Amidu must be punished for the offence.

    “The accused and the neighbour later tortured Amidu in a stagnant water, bathed and dipped him in the water … he lost consciousness and was later found dead,” Iseghede said.

    The offences, he noted, contravened Sections 221and 231 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 221 prescribes a death sentence for offenders.

    The magistrate has adjourned the case to Sept. 13.

     

  • ‘Bode George is a drowning man’

    The Ekiti State government has condemned Chief Olabode George’s statement that Governor Kayode Fayemi “lost” the June 21 governorship election because he did not pay workers’ salaries.

    The statement was credited to George, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and published by a national newspaper on July 30.

    In a statement, the government said: “While it may be needless to join issues with the ex-naval chief, who is fast becoming a drowning man and a failed politician, there is need to set the records straight and tell the world that the Ekiti State government, under Fayemi, has in the last three-and-a-half years been responsive to the yearnings of civil servants and Ekiti residents.

    “It is on record that the Ekiti State government pays workers’ salaries and allowances before the end of the month and has statutorily done this without failing since its inception in October, 2010.

    “Besides this, the government has increased workers’ salaries and allowances twice without pressure. Teachers enjoy a relatively higher pay than their counterparts in any part of Nigeria because of the 20 per cent Rural Allowance and 20 per cent Core Subjects Allowance introduced by the Fayemi administration, as well as the 27.5 Teachers Pecuniary Allowance.

    “To achieve a consistent and hitch-free payment system, the government introduced the bio-metric data capturing scheme that enables workers to get paid on the same day, thus enabling them to receive salaries and allowances much earlier than their colleagues in most states.

    “Many analysts and political commentators have adduced reasons for the controversial outcome of the June 21 election and not one of these analysts, except the myopic George, has attributed the result of the election to the purported failure of the labour-friendly government to pay workers salaries when due.

    “One  would have thought that the once highly respected chief ought to have matured with age, stature and status and analyse topical issues as a statesman, rather than seeing things from a parochially-partisan posture and platform, in view of the fact that he served the country in various capacities at both the state and national levels.

    “George is advised to reflect on his pepper soup and champagne days as the military governor of the old Ondo State, where he stood on the commonwealth of the state for years without initiating any meaningful project in Ekiti Division, which was an integral part of the then Ondo State, other than his famous statement that ‘the people would always remember that a Lagos boy once passed through the state’.

    “Notwithstanding the misinformation contained in the statement of the ex-naval chief on the Ekiti election, we are compelled to sympathise with him, as he is presently currying the favour of his paymasters in Abuja in order to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into the main stream of the purported largest party, having crashed from the mountain top to the valley of power, during which he lost touch with the realities of time.”

  • President drowning in scepticism

    In the matter of the National Conference, very many informed Nigerians simply cannot trust President Goodluck Jonathan. In the same vein, they cannot trust the President of the Senate, or the National Assembly. In this very critical development in the history of our stumbling country, the credibility of our whole federal establishment is close to zero.

    The president said this week that our politicians should cease speaking against the conference. But he needs to get the truth loud and clear. It is not only our political leaders across the country that are sceptical about the president’s actions concerning the National Conference – it is most of us Nigerians. Even the ones among us who most strongly support President Jonathan’s re-election bid do not believe that he sincerely intends to get any fruit out of the National Conference that he has initiated. What they believe is that his initiating a National Conference is just a smart move to rally support for his re-election bid – and that, after the election, he will do nothing about the outcome.

    And the reasons for all this disbelief, distrust and scepticism are obvious. We Nigerians are not used to honesty and straight-forward conduct in our government – especially in our so-called federal government. And so we are not used to trusting it. Since independence, the federal government has been no more than a tool for the accomplishment of hidden, special, and even narrow personal, objectives. For most of us in most parts of Nigeria, the federal government is a stranger – an imposition. The fact that we elect representatives to the National Assembly does not make any difference. Our running around at election time in order to get this or that favourite son or daughter elected to the National Assembly is a waste of our time. Once they get to Abuja, they almost invariably cease having any memory of us, or of our desires and expectations. All they do is to focus on their own business – which is to benefit personally from the largess that Abuja controls aplenty. That is the way the system has been deliberately developed. Most members of the National Assembly hardly ever utter any significant sentence throughout their tenure.

    Naturally in the circumstance, the National Assembly has always been easy to manipulate and use by those who come to it with some sectional or other narrow agenda. And the opinions and expectations of the rest of us in Nigeria have not the least chance there. That is why nothing important to the improvement of governance, or important to the welfare of Nigerians, hardly ever passes through the National Assembly. A resolution legalising for all Nigeria the marrying of under-age girls (a practice unique to a narrow part of Nigeria) might pass excitedly and noisily through the National Assembly; but very crucial measures like the Uwais Report on Electoral Reform has no chance of being tabled and debated there for years upon years.

    The presidency is not better. In many respects it is even worse. No person holding the position of Prime Minister or President of Nigeria since independence has ever treated all Nigerians as his people or all of Nigeria as his country. Partly pursuing the agenda of his ethnic group or the religious agenda of his faith, partly pushing the narrow, and sometimes criminal, objectives of a party, usually treating some Nigerian nationalities as enemies that must be disrespected, marginalised or even subdued, and always engaged in sordid schemes of personal aggrandizement, the top executive of Nigeria’s federal government has usually been like a spoilt conqueror ruling over a conquered country. Even on those few occasions when citizens from the marginalized and subdued parts of Nigeria manage to sneak, providentially, into the position of president, they too cannot resist the temptation to operate like conquerors, and to behave as if only they know what is good for Nigeria. That is why, to most people who knew General Obasanjo and the place of his origin in Nigeria, his eight-year presidency turned out to be a shocking betrayal and disaster.

    And that is why, as things stand today, President Jonathan needs to be told an unpalatable truth – namely, that most Nigerians just do not trust him. Providentially, he found his way to the presidency from the most brutalised and most abused corner of Nigeria. Countless youths of his home area have sacrificed their lives in the fight against the excessive powers that have been grabbed for the federal government, and against the excesses of the manipulators of federal power. Naturally, as he stepped into the presidency, the expectations were very high that he would lead Nigeria onto the path of change. Countless citizens were poised to back him on that path of change. But all we have seen in him for about four years is just another typical Nigerian president sunk in the excesses of federal power and money.

    Admittedly, by announcing his decision, on October 1, to initiate a National Conference, President Jonathan suddenly upped his chances of being better assessed by a lot of Nigerians. But all these people have become used to not trusting him and, therefore, their attitude has been mostly to wait and see. Even though what he was convening was not the Sovereign National Conference that most people have been demanding, a lot of citizens were still willing to wait and see.

    However, sadly, a few days ago, President Jonathan made the staggering statement that his intension was that the report of the National Conference would be submitted to the National Assembly, so that the National Assembly may use it to amend some sections of the Nigerian constitution. As far as most Nigerians are concerned, that is limitlessly bad news. Its effect on the president’s credibility and image are simply disastrous. For President Jonathan to rise out of the hole into which that statement has tossed him, he must urgently revise his plans concerning the National Conference and inform our country without delay. Nigerians know what the National Assembly, as it is today, will do with the report of the National Conference. The leaders of the National Assembly will put it away in a locker, where it will gather dust for years and years to come – or perhaps even forever.

    In the characteristically Nigerian presidential super-wisdom (which most Nigerians have always detested, and which has always poisoned Nigeria), President Jonathan turned down the Sovereign National Conference that most Nigerians asked for. To now insist on putting the decisions of the National Conference in the death-dealing hands of the National Assembly will just be too much for most Nigerians to accept. Nigerians want, at least, a National Conference of the Nigerian nationalities which, by its rounding-up resolution, will specify the fate of its own decisions. And most of us would insist that that rounding-up resolution must be obediently adhered to by the Federal Government of Nigeria. For a change in Nigeria’s history, the dog refuses to be wagged by the tail.

    President Jonathan must stop giving the impression that he is playing tricks with the National Conference issue. It is too late in the day for most Nigerians, as individuals and as nationalities, to tolerate such a game.

  • Wike wrong to aspire to succeed Amaechi, says Rep

    Wike wrong to aspire to succeed Amaechi, says Rep

    •‘He’s drowning man’, minister’s supporter replies

    THREE-term member of the House of Representatives from Rivers State, Chief Andrew Uchendu, said yesterday that it was wrong for the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike to aspire to succeed Governor Rotimi Amaechi in 2015.

    Uchendu (Emohua/Ikwerre Fed Constituency) in an interview also condemned the recent threat by Wike to make life more uncomfortable for the governor until he begged him (Wike).

    He described the minister as a rascal and an ingrate, who should not be taken seriously or allowed to succeed Amaechi since the two of them are from the same part of the state.

    However, an ally of Wike, Mr Samuel Nwanosike, dismissed Uchendu as a politically-drowning grandpa whose views on Rivers politics carry no weight.

    He said Uchendu should be the last person to talk about zoning, having ‘monopolised’ the seat he is currently occupying for the third term.

    But the Rep charged back, saying: “You can imagine the level of ignorance displayed by Wike and his foot soldiers. Don’t they know that legislators can go for as many times as possible?”

    “The allegations levelled against me are mere hearsay and untrue. All the roads have been completed.”

    However, Nwanosike said although Wike had not declared his intention to vie for the governorship, Uchendu should point to any section of the 1999 Constitution criminalising an ambition by any qualified person, including Wike, to be governor of his state.

    He said: “Chief Uchendu is the wrong person to talk about zoning of elective office, because he has not lived by example. If he did, why did he not relinquish the House of Representatives slot to Ikwerre LG, the way his predecessor, Appolos Amadi, did after one term in office?

    “Instead, Uchendu kept the office to himself for three solid terms. At that time, he saw nothing wrong with one man from one section of the constituency holding on to office for 12 years, to the exclusion of all others.

    “By jumping to the arena in order to please his master, Governor Amaechi, on Wike’s statement that he would make life uncomfortable for persons who want to destroy Obio/Akpor LG, Uchendu has merely admitted that he is one of those who want to destroy Obio/Akpor LG.

    “By that admission, does Uchendu expect the Obio/Akpor people to fold their arms and watch him and his collaborators destroy the LGA? Those who have no intention to destroy Obio/Akpor LG have nothing to worry about what the minister of state for education said.

    “Uchendu is a man who is looking for soft-landing, so that he can escape the wrath of the people of Emohua and Ikwerre LGAs, who he has cheated by poor representation in the House of Representatives for 12 years.

    “He should address the press on his record of achievements for 12 years and say which of the road projects given to him by the Amaechi government that he executed or failed to execute. Has he forgotten the Elibrada-Oduoha Road that he abandoned, after collecting so much money from his master, Chibuike Amaechi?”

    Uchendu said he has fixed all the roads in question.

     

  • Dickson to Sylva: you are a drowning man

    Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson has described his predecessor, Timipre Sylva, as “a drowning man”.

    The duo resumed hostilities, following the non-payment of pensions to retirees for five years.

    The governor set up a judicial panel of enquiry to probe the Sylva administration, to which Sylva told his successor to resign.

    In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, Dickson said he would not join issues with Sylva, describing him as a drowning man.

    The statement said Dickson’s competence was not in doubt as “it is very much evident for all to see”.

    The statement said the decision to establish the panel was to address the rot and systematic failures of some civil servants and political leaders.

    It said: “These persons have, over the years, siphoned the N5billion meant for pensioners.

    “Concerned about the plight of these pensioners, Governor Seriake Dickson paid N1billion to the pensioners to clear the backlog.

    “Instead of hiding their faces in shame, these people have chosen to embark on a campaign of calumny and propaganda against the government by inciting some of the pensioners to protest.

    “To this end, the government decided to set up a judicial commission of enquiry to probe why pensioners were not paid for five years.

    “It is laughable that some people, who may have perpetrated the scam, are questioning why the governor limited the period of the investigation to five years.

    “Those who were responsible for the payment of pension and gratuities during the period should be ready to provide answers.”

     

  • Agencies rescue 25 pupils from drowning in Lagos

    Agencies rescue 25 pupils from drowning in Lagos

    Over 25 pupils were yesterday saved from being swept away by flood by officials of the Lagos State Emergency Response Agency (LASEMA), theNational Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS).

    The pupils of Ogba Primary School were playing in the rain on their way home after school when the incident ocurred.

    A LASEMA official said some of the pupils were injured.

    He said: “We were called that there was a situation around Ogba Prayer School and that over 25 children were drowning.

    “They said the head teacher asked them to go home while it was still raining and instead of running home, the children were playing in the flood.

    “When we got the information, we quickly alerted LASAMBUS and got there on time to save the situation.

    “Officials of NEMA also joined hands with us to ensure that the situation did not get out of control.”

    NEMA’s Southwest spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye said: “We were called while we were going round the state to check the flood situation and ensure that the people were safe.

    “The pupils were trapped in the flood. I appeal to schools not to send children home when it is raining, even if it is closing hour.

    “To ensure their safety, schools can hold back their pupils till 5pm on a rainy day.”