The Nation Newspaper

Tag: HIV/ AIDS

  • Hope for HIV-positive nurse, 24 years after

    For 24 agonising years she bore the pain, the stigma and the rejection that is often the lot of people living with HIV/ AIDS. She was battered, abused and dehumanised by the very company she risked her personal safety working for.

    She was abandoned by colleagues, family members and acquaintances but she remained resolute; she was not broken in body or spirit as she fought the attendant stigmatisation.

    That has been the travail of Mrs. Georgina Ahamefule, an auxiliary nurse, who got infected with HIV while working in a private hospital in Lagos in 1995.

    Now relocated to her Amuzi village in Ahiazu Mbaise Council Area of Imo State with her equally sick husband, Mrs. Ahamefule recounts her ordeal and her unsuccessful battle to get justice.

    She narrated her chilling encounter to The Nation.

    “This problem started since 1995 when I was working with a medical centre (name withheld) as an auxiliary nurse,” she said. “I was pregnant then, I was sick but not seriously sick. I thought it was because of the pregnancy, I went to see the doctor, who gave me some drugs, after which I came back but he told me he did some tests on me and he told me the result was out and he referred me to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) without telling me the kind of test he did. I didn’t know what the result was; he just gave me a sealed envelope to see another doctor there.

    “When I went to LUTH, the doctor there opened the envelope and asked me to go for another test, it was there that they told me that I was HIV positive, that I had AIDS and was going to die.

    “What saved that day was my godmother who was working at LUTH then. I went straight to her and told her what they told me, she was the one that counseled me and told me that I was not going to die, that many people who are positive are still living. Meanwhile I was still pregnant so I went back to the doctor at the place I was working and he directed me to go and see his secretary and the secretary gave me an envelope and when I opened it, it was a sack letter so I left and due to the shock I started having problems with the pregnancy and I went back to the hospital and told the doctor and they did a scan and the result was that the baby was dead, so I had a miscarriage because of the trauma and I pleaded with the doctor to wash my womb and they said no that they cannot touch me because they don’t want their instrument to be contaminated but that was the same hospital where I contacted the virus as a result of exposure.

    “I wasn’t really feeling sick then but I was broken down by the way the management of the hospital treated me so I was directed to the Social and Economic Right Action Centre (SERAC) and they started counseling me and thereafter they approached the management of the hospital where I was working to recall me or pay me compensations so that I can start up a small business but the management did not agree and I had to sue them to court.

    “So when we sued them to court, the judges said I cannot come to court because I will infect them with HIV virus unless my lawyer will bring a foreign doctor who will undertake that my presence in court will not put their lives at risk. That was when my lawyer went to Appeal Court, that took a long time before we got judgment and I was allowed to come to court. We went to High Court and the matter lingered for many years, it was in 2012 that the first judgment was given. Meanwhile my lawyer was claiming N10 million from the management of the hospital because they didn’t care for me and it was in the course of my work that I was infected because there, they used to do a lot of abortion and other things that involved contact with blood and we as auxiliary nurses that used to clean up the place with our bare hands.

    “The court awarded me compensation of N7 million, I was here one night when my phone rang and my lawyer broke the news to me that I have been awarded N7 million by the court, that I should come to Lagos in the morning. I rushed to Lagos in the morning and before I got to his office, he has already assembled journalists in his office for a press conference. He has not given me the money but the whole world has heard that I got N7 million after then all the people that used to help me abandoned me because they thought that I have collected the money without informing them.

    Read also: Random jottings from HIV treatment centres

    “So from that 2012, my lawyer stopped calling me and I was kept in the dark about everything that was happening, meanwhile during the press conference at the lawyer’s office, I was asked by one of the journalists what I will do with the money, I told them that my priority was my son, that I will send him to school to any level, my lawyer promised me there and then that my son’s education will never be a problem but up till now he never asked after my son. When this was happening my son was in the secondary school, when he got admission into the university in 2013, I told the lawyer but he did not say anything, the money he said that I won I did not see it.

    “Finally another lawyer took over the matter and one day he told me that they have passed the judgment, that was in 2017, that what they have agreed to give me now is N2 million instead of the N7 million, and I said okay collect it, at least if I have N2 million I will be sure of my son’s education, but I didn’t see anything till now. Instead of the owner of the hospital to pay the compensation, he went to court and told them that I was dead.

    “My husband here is sick since January last year, he had a partial stroke but I thank God he is getting better. All these problems, I am not working, the little petty trade I do has collapsed because that is our only source of survival, there is no help anywhere, all my friends have gone. But when I was in Lagos many NGOs came to me, they will video me and ask me questions and they will promise that they were going to the USA to raise funds for me but I didn’t see anything, many people have used me to make money for themselves”.

    At last the fate of now forlorn and fragile looking Mrs. Ahamefule has gotten the attention of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA).

    The Programme Officer, Gender, Human Rights and Care Support Services, Community Prevention and Care Services, NACA, Mr. Esor Fabian, who led a delegation on a visit to the victim’s family, regretted that she was put through such ordeal.

    He said that it is against the law to stigmatise people living with HIV, adding that the virus cannot be transmitted through mere social contacts.

    According to him, NACA will take up the case through relevant Civil Society Organizations to ensure that the victim gets justice.

    He also promised that she will be enlisted in empowerment programmes organized for people with similar challenges.

    He said, “It is a pity the way she was treated but NACA got to know about not quite long and we have gone ahead to speak with our collaborating agencies to ensure that she gets justice and thereafter she will be enlisted in our empowerment programme.

    “She should not have suffered such fate, it was most unfortunate the way people treat others like animal. It is wrong to stigmatize people living with HIV, most people do this out of the erroneous belief that one can contact the virus by associating with HIV positive persons. You cannot contact AIDS by mere shaking of hands or eating from the same pot with the person leaving with HIV, the virus can only be contacted through blood and fluid contact”.

  • Tribal marks; The Nigerian tattoo

    Tribal marks; The Nigerian tattoo

    “Not many people know that I have three identity cards. The first is the International Passport; the second is the National Identity Card and the third is my tribal marks” – Obasanjo.

    Beauty and Relevance, just like a lot of other words, are words whose pertinence are quite restricted to particular persons, environment, location, culture, age, educational level or even, a particular generation. Over the years, a lot of things have been considered beautiful and relevant and whose features are not so appealing to a lay man. A small Nokia phone would be beautiful and quite relevant to a village kid, but it’s quite unalluring to an urban youth. Gone were the days when Dansiki, Iro and Buba, Abeti Aja (All Yoruba traditional attires) were the order of the day, today’s youths find it uninteresting and unappealing. However, we would have made a great mistake criticizing those who find these seemingly outdated cultures pleasurable and satisfactory. We all have our freedom to like what we like.

    “Títa ríro là ńko ilà; Tó bá jiná tán, àà doge”

    (The process of getting a tribal mark is quite painful and achy; but it becomes a beauty to behold when healed)

    The adage above could be said to have sprung out of the painful process of getting the supposed beauty scar on one’s face. According to oral history, the wife of Sango, a great Oyo king, decided to punish her adulterous slave by giving her scars to make her ugly, but she turned out more beautiful. Hence, the popularity of the marks. Tell me, who wouldn’t want to be more beautiful? Though the truthfulness of the story cannot be ascertained, it sure proves one thing. It was considered beautiful! They loved and adored it the way we love and adore Henna designs and Tattoos today. “How could they love that?”, you might ask. Well, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear the next forty generations say that about our precious IPhone 8.

    “Mi ò lè wá omo tí ò ko ìlà”

    (I can’t search for a person without tribal marks)

    A Yoruba man would have heard that adage tons of times. It is used to say you cannot stress yourself. This saying outstretched from the times of slavery and wars in the Yoruba empire; times when people would be taken forcefully out of their family, tribes and scattered abroad in and out of Nigeria. Tribal marks were given as a you-belong-here stamp, so people could be easily recognised as a part of the family, whenever their generations meet in the future. You see the sign, and you’re like, “Behold, an Egba man in Europe!”. This signifies how relevant tribal marks were in those days.

    Why have they now gone so outdated? The beauty and the relevance doesn’t appeal to this generation anymore. The marks are considered abusive, the carriers lose self confidence, the process is considered forceful, the tools, barbaric and the eventual outcome, ugly. It might be considered that this generation lost the beauty of its culture, but if the reasons stated above brought about it, maybe the marks have fulfilled their purpose.

    In March, a bill was sponsored by Senator Dino Melaye against tribal marks, saying “These tribal marks have become emblems of disfiguration and have hindered many situations of life. Some have developed low self-esteem, they are most times treated with scorn and ridicule…many innocent people, mostly children…had inadvertently been infected with the deadly HIV virus. Sharp instruments used by the locales to inscribe the tribal marks were not sterilized, thus exposing kids, even adults, to the risk of HIV/ AIDS,”.

    All being said and done, here comes my humble view. As outdated as some cultures or practices may be, they still remain admirable to some particular persons, and these persons have a freedom to like what they like. So, in a bid to control this “self esteem damaging” and the health challenges surrounding the situation, a person should be left to decide whether or not they want it. If they do, they should go to a nice hospital to get it done. Whatever springs out of it would have been their choice and theirs only.

    Tattoos and Henna designs are left to the bearer’s choice. It is not coerced nor enforced. Tribal marks could be our Nigerian Tattoos too.

  • FG plans N1b support to fight HIV/AIDS through NHIS

    FG plans N1b support to fight HIV/AIDS through NHIS

    The Federal Government said on Monday that it would support the fight against HIV/AIDS programmes through the National Health Insurance Scheme ( NHIS ) in 2018.

    The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said this at the opening of a two-day Nigeria HIV/AIDS intervention symposium in Abuja.

    Adewole said that the support had become important because of the prevalence of the epidemic in the country and the world at large.

    He explained that in 2016, the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS ( UNAIDS ) report had revealed that 36.7 million people live with HIV and AIDS globally, out of which Nigeria contributed 10 percent of this burden.

    According to him, out of every 10 HIV positive persons in the world is a Nigerian.

    “President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is poised to reverse this ugly trend by making prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV infection one of the signatory projects in the health sector.

    “I am making this pledge that the Nigerian leadership is committed to supporting all interventions that will ensure sustainable reduction of new HIV and AIDS infections in Nigeria.

    “Nigerian’s HIV and AIDS response plan has equally benefitted from increased government funding.

    “Furthermore, an additional one billion naira has been approved by the National Assembly through National Health Insurance Scheme ( NHIS ), to support the HIV and AIDS programme in the country,” he said.

    The minister said that an estimated 3.2 million people live with HIV and AIDS in Nigeria, which ranked only behind South Africa.

    He said that although no fewer than one million Nigerians presently had means to anti-retroviral treatment, access to care by those in need remained a challenge.

    The health boss advised the participants to imbibe sustainable HIV and AIDS control programmes as well as increase health care service delivery services to achieve meaningful growth.

    He also called for proper data management on the number of persons with HIV to encourage strategic planning, realization of fights against the epidemic and also reduce gaps in the national health sector response.

    The event which attracted stakeholders across the country featured discussion on challenges and way forward for preventive strategies on HIV and AIDS.

    NAN

  • 28% of people living with HIV in W/A not on drugs – UNAIDS

    28% of people living with HIV in W/A not on drugs – UNAIDS

    The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS ( UNAIDS ) on Wednesday said only 28 per cent of people living with HIV in West and Central Africa have access to anti-retro-viral drugs.

    Dr Djibrill Diallo, the Regional Director, UNAIDS, made this known at the regional media workshop organised by the agency in Dakar, Senegal.

    The theme of the workshop is: “Informing the Messengers to Change the Face of the Fight against HIV in West and Central Africa’’.

    According to Diallo, of the 6.5 million people live with HIV in the region, only 28 per cent of them have access to anti-retro-viral drugs.

    “Eastern and Southern Africa have a little above 54 per cent access to anti-retro-viral drugs,’’ he said.

    The regional director said that UNAIDS has designed Catch-Up Plan for West and Central Africa with the aim of fast-tracking HIV/AIDS response in the region.

    Diallo said that the catch-up plan was an essential step toward the realisation of 90-90-90 UNAIDS target by 2020 and ending AIDS as a public health challenge by 2030.

    He said that 90-90-90 target means 90 per cent of the population would know their status, 90 per cent of people found to be living with HIV got enroll into treatment by 2020.

    The regional director said the last 90 refers to the 90 per cent of the people living with HIV, who were enrolled on treatment suppressed the virus in their body by 2030.

    Diallo said that the catch-up plan was an 18-month initiative aimed at enhancing HIV response in the region to the speed of those countries already on track of achieving the 90-90-90 target.

    He said that the plan aims to put additional 1.2 million people living with HIV on treatment by the end of 2018.

    According to him, the plan was adopted by the Head of States at the 29th African Union Summit in June 2017.

    “In Nigeria, because of the emergency catch-up plan, additional 100,000 people were put on treatment in the country.

    “As UNAIDS, we will work with the countries to do a strategy that will address the first wave countries in the region,’’ the regional director said.

    He said that the plan would initially be implemented in eight first wave countries in West and Central Africa which were divided into three categories.

    Diallo said that the four countries that bear the brunt of HIV infections are Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    The regional director said that three countries, whose health systems were wiped-off due to Ebola Virus Disease, were Liberia, Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone.

    He said that the third category was the Central African Republic whose health systems become very fragile due to conflict.

    Diallo said that domestic funding for HIV/AIDS programmes has grown in the region including efforts in Cote d’Ivoire with 400 per cent increase and pledges by Nigeria and Senegal to increase funding HIV/AIDS programmes.

    NAN

  • Stigma: Linguists, medical experts adopt new names for HIV/AIDS, prostitutes

    Stigma: Linguists, medical experts adopt new names for HIV/AIDS, prostitutes

    A team of Nigerian linguists and medical experts have adopted new names for HIV, AIDS and prostitutes in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba in order to reduce the scourge of stigmatisation.

    A statement on Saturday by Prof. Herbert Igboanusi of the University of Ibadan, said the adoption was to eliminate stigmatisation and discrimination of persons living with HIV and AIDS.

    He said that the study adopted the following names as more appropriate for the HIV/AIDS.

    HIV in Igbo is Ori Nchekwa Ahụ meaning something that fights or weakens the body immunity while AIDS is Mmịnwụ, a condition that causes emaciation.

    According to the statement the Yorùbá, appropriate term for HIV is Kòkòrò Apa Sójà Ara (KASA) meaning sickness that which kills the body immunity while AIDS is ààrùn ìsọdọ̀lẹ àjẹsára a sickness that completely weakens body immune system.

    In Hausa, HIV is now Karya garkuwa meaning that which weakens the body immune system while Kanjamau a sickness capable of emaciating one’s body has been chosen for AIDS.

    Igboanusi said that the study was a two-year research titled “A metalanguage for HIV, AIDS and Ebola discourses in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba” sponsored by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

    He called on speakers of the three languages to adhere to the use of these chosen terms in order to avoid confusing HIV with AIDS and consequently reduce their spread through behavioural change.

    “It is the researchers’ belief that behavioural change is only possible when the people are familiar with the appropriate terminology for HIV and AIDS in their own languages.”

    Similarly, the experts also adopted a new name for commercial sex worker in line with international practice.

    “Since it is now more acceptable to refer to certain persons as “commercial sex workers” rather than “prostitutes”, we agreed that Ndị mkwụ̣gharị people who hang around for them in Igbo.

    “Gbélé pawó, women who stay at home making money in Yoruba and Mata masu zaman kansu that is women who are living independently in Hausa.

  • I regret marrying many wives

    I regret marrying many wives

    Amidst the widespread rumour that he is currently laid up with a debilitating illness that requires urgent medical attention, you would have thought that he is still supine on his sickbed, while he is being drip-fed. But alas, it is a wicked rumour! During a recent visit by BABATUNDE SULAIMAN to the Alagbado, Lagos home of Alhaji Abdul-Razaq Kolawole Ilori, a.k.a. Kollington Ayinla, he was in a meeting with two relations within his expansive compound. Interestingly, as if the Fuji music maestro, who has 105 albums to his credit, had been hankering after an opportunity to unburden his heart, he opened up on some of his hitherto kept secrets, among other riveting issues

    RECENTLY, it was rumoured that you were hospitalized and that you wanted to put up your house for sale in order to defray the medical bill. Could you give me the true picture of your state of health?

    I am happy you can see me sitting in my compound today. So, what kind of ailment will you say I am suffering from? I have not contracted HIV/ AIDS and I don’t have cancer either, as it is being speculated. So, why will I want to sell my house so as to raise money for whatever treatment? I am hale and hearty. I was admitted to Amcad Hospital over three months ago and the doctors diagnosed little traces of ulcer and typhoid, and I was treated.

    So, I was surprised when I read that I wanted to sell my house or that I sold my house because I needed money for my treatment. Oh my God! What kind of profession have I chosen? If one farts, people will say it is blue and if one pees, people will say it is green! But honestly, there is no iota of truth in that report. If I was sick, would I be sitting here? I would like to use this medium to express my gratitude to well-meaning Nigerians who have been calling to ask after my wellbeing.

    Did you grant any interview recently, where you mentioned that you were sick?

    Yes, I actually granted a reporter an interview, but I am surprised he misrepresented me and injected false information in his report. Please, look at the house in question (pointing to an uncompleted building within the premises). Can I sell this kind of house? Or will I sell this other one that I live in?

    Many even think you want to sell the only house you have?

    If that is true, will I now be putting up at a motor park or under a bridge? Today, I am most grateful to God for His favour in my life. He has given me fame and I don’t pray for a reversal of fortune. By the special grace of Allah, I have houses and some of my children too have built their own houses. Before now, some people thought I was living in Lekki. Yes, there is a big mansion in Lekki built by one of my daughters, who is a registered nurse in the US. I had a plan for the house from the outset. So, why will I sell my house to raise money in order to treat malaria or ulcer?

    What was your plan?

    I wanted to use it as a hotel. However, I was advised against such a plan on the grounds that I might not be able to maintain it later on. They also advised me that it might be mismanaged by the workers. So, I was confused and didn’t know what to do with the house any more. Consequently, I stopped work on it for a good reason.

    Could you expatiate?

    I don’t want anyone to kill me over my property. That is the main reason I said that I could put it up for sale some day, if I so wish. The Yoruba say, Ara ile e ni, ni ota eni (Your family is your enemy). I alone know the spiritual battle I am fighting within my family. You see, the fall of a yellow leaf is a warning to the green one. All my children are faring well in their respective professions. Most of my children are graduates and they live in different parts of the world. They are not the ones after my property.

    But the enemies within are those that I had mistakenly got married to in the early stage of my career. These are the people plotting my death, so they can take over my property. But I won’t allow such a thing to happen after my death. As far as I am concerned, those people who made me go through hell in life will not have access to my property. Therefore, rather than allow this property or any other one to be inherited by these people, I will sell it off. So, that was what I told the reporter. I never said I sold my house; yet, he reported that I did because of health condition. I am a not a sickler!

    How will you react to the insinuation that you built the house in Lekki, which you claimed is owned by your daughter, after you played Baba Ijebu lotto and won some millions of naira?

    I swear with Allah’s name and that of the holy Prophet, I don’t know how the Baba Ijebu lotto paper looks like and I have never met Baba Ijebu either. It is more than five years since I started hearing the rumour that I won Baba Ijebu lotto. They said I won N400million and that I sued Baba Ijebu to court when he defaulted. They also said Baba Ijebu promised to be paying me N1million monthly. I have refuted all these rumours several times, but nobody seems to believe me.

    Maybe the people saying this have carried out an evaluation of the house and concluded that you couldn’t have built it, if you didn’t make so much money possibly from playing Baba Ijebu lotto.

    Yes, you are right. But you see, as a father, whatever your child owns is indirectly yours. As I said earlier, it is owned by my daughter who lives in the U.S.

    You said earlier that you made some mistakes in the past. Could you expatiate?

    It is rare to find a musician, especially in this part of the world, who has not fallen into the same pit. In my case, I regret marrying many wives. If I knew things would later turn out like this, I wouldn’t have married so many women. Human beings are unpredictable! Don’t also forget that women are very jealous; they don’t like rivalry in any way. But we were too young and ignorant to know all these at that time.

    In our kind of profession, if you don’t invite them (women), they will come running to you. If you have a relationship with five people, you will find someone who will be acting like Judas among them. I am not pointing finger at anyone. So, once you know that some people are after your life, even if it is a rumour, you must be very wary. So, I am trying to be smarter by wanting to sell my house, so that no one will inherit what is not rightfully hers.

    If you decide to sell all your property because of the fear of attack by some so-called enemies, don’t you consider what will happen to your children?

    Most of my children are graduates, so they can’t be interested in my property. In my case, I am not so educated and I didn’t inherit anything from my parents. It was by God’s grace that I got to this height in life. So, the children too will sort out themselves.

    How true is the report that you have 15 wives?

    No, I am not married to 15 wives! It is a lie! Yes, I have wives and children. This is one of the problems I have with the Nigerian press. They don’t build, but destroy. Well, I won’t really say that it is destructive; after all, they didn’t report that I stole anything. A white man may choose to have a wife or not and he may choose to have children or not. But nobody will make a fuse about it. Sometime ago, I was discussing with my children, in company with a white guy, at a restaurant in Chicago. When I mentioned that my problem is that none of my wives lives with me, the white guy wondered why that should be a problem for me.

    But this is Africa?

    Yes, you are right and I told him so. You see, in my heart, I truly wish I have a woman living with me. I want to live a responsible life. But if you are battling with a spiritual problem, it will be hard to live a responsible life. Also, once the foundation of one’s life is shaky, it will be really tough to actualize one’s dream in life. Once you make a mistake in your choice of woman or even in your affairs with women, it will take the grace of God to make any correction. So, I urge the younger artistes to be very wary of women.

    So, none of your wives lives with you at the moment?

    I won’t lie to you that I have a particular woman living with me at the moment. Well, those of them who have children for me come maybe when their children are getting married and go back afterwards.

    Why do celebrities shy away from disclosing the number of their children and wives while they are alive so as to prevent a situation where unsubstantiated reports are peddled about their families when they pass on?

    All I will say is that I am married and blessed with children. But the tradition doesn’t permit me to disclose the number of my children.

    When specifically were you admitted to the hospital?

    It was about two months ago. After I was discharged, I have gone to perform at Osogbo with Musiliu Isola Haruna.

    Looking back now, would you say you squandered the first millions you made, as most young and budding artistes are wont to do?

    If I did, would I have this kind of house? In 1983, I opened a fish depot at Adua Bus Stop. Unfortunately, I lost it to spiritual attack. At that time, I was sick for 13 years.

    Did you say 13 years?

    It was a spiritual attack and they couldn’t diagnose anything. At that time, former Nigerian military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, directed that I be taken to the1004 Hospital, Lagos. They ran a series of tests on me, but nothing was found. They flushed out typhoid from my system and I thank God for saving my life at that time. When I travelled to America and was admitted to a hospital, they still couldn’t diagnose anything. But I knew something was wrong with my system.

    Later, they suggested that I consult traditional medicine practitioners. We then began to patronise Alfas and traditional medicine practitioners before I got well fully. May Allah grant my friend, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, eternal rest. Whenever he visited me at Crown Hospital, he would massage my legs because I was on drip. In fact, on some occasions, I would leave the hospital to play and return there. I was in and out of different hospitals. But I spent more time at Crown Hospital. The truth, again, is that it was all due to my affairs with women.

    Certainly, you must be close to IBB for him to have done that for you.

    It was because I was singing mostly about current affairs. I was introduced to the former president by Chief Alex Akinyele, who was then the Minister of Information. Even when my first house was gutted by fire, IBB sent a minister to console me. In his speech, the minister explained why the government’s delegation had visited me. He said it was because I had used my music to promote the government’s policies. He gave me a cheque; the late MKO Abiola, Gen. Sanni Abacha, Col. Raji Rasaki also gave me money. In fact, Col. Raji Rasaki gave me a house in Ogudu. I spent six months at the Gateway Hotel and I didn’t pay a dime. So, I beg these people to allow me enjoy my remaining years on earth. Come to think of it, am I not the owner of the house? Can’t I do what I like with it? Don’t kill me as you killed my friend, Barrister.

    Did anyone kill Barrister?

    Didn’t they kill him? Are you saying it wasn’t a spiritual attack? Imagine someone who was bedridden for that long. At the outset, they carried all sorts of rumour about him until he eventually died. So, people should allow me enjoy the fruit of my labour. I can do whatever I like with my property.

    But people say you and the late Barrister were not the best of friends.

    It is all business gimmicks! We were not enemies as such. This is a friendship that developed in 1963 when we didn’t know we would be famous at all.

    What do you miss most about him?

    Oh! I miss him a lot. Whenever he visited me, we would joke, play and recount old memories. Sometimes, he would just deliberately say, “Let me poke Kola” and I would say, “Go ahead and see the result.” He once came here and while we were eating, he said, “Do you know that as we sit here, some people are out there fighting one another over us?” and I said, “Yes”. One day, he came here with his son, Barry Showkey, who had just produced an album. He told me he had blessed it, but he wanted me, as Barry Showkey’s second father, to do the same. That day, he also said, “Kola, let’s put an end to this rivalry” and I said, “Who is fighting you? Are you not the one who always insults me with proverbs?” And we all laughed over it.

    Recently, Queen Salawa Abeni was ill and your name was never mentioned among the people who visited her while she was on sickbed. This, to me, further shows that you have not resolved your issues.

    I still spoke with her three days ago, when my daughter came to inform me that she was going to London. I speak regularly with her. I read about her illness in the newspapers and I felt that I should be the first person to know about it. I am her husband in the whole wide world; after all, she can’t be thinking of getting married to any man at her age now. We don’t have any issue. But I later visited her at home..

    You claim to be her husband when you are not legally married to each other.

    She has three children for me and you are still asking me if we are legally married or not.

    Maybe that is why she feels she is not obliged to tell you certain things.

    She was just being funny then. Now, she knows I am her husband and I know she is my wife.

    Is it not possible for both of you to live as husband and wife, under the same roof since you said there is no woman living with you at the moment?

    The reason we can’t live together is that I don’t want to endanger her life. If she moves in with me, don’t you think her seniors will kick against it? I am happy at the way she is. Besides, she takes care of my children. In the same way, I can’t bring in any of the other women. So, I only need to reorganize myself.

    Is this the biggest mistake you have made in life?

    It is because of it that I have not been more successful than I am. If not for their problem, the fish depot would still have been in existence. I made the mistake of entrusting it under the care of a woman. So, at the height of the spiritual attack, I had to sell it to raise money to treat myself, in addition to all the money I got from the government and individuals.

    How many albums have you produced?

    105 albums.

  • HIV/ AIDS

    The term AIDS is an acronym that stands for “Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome”. It is

    acquired because the victims do not inherit the condition, but contract it. Immune deficiency means that the victim’s natural bodily defense mechanisms are unable to function properly, and “syndrome” refers to the combination of different abnormalities or diseases making up this condition.

    AIDS is a complex of diseases and symptoms resulting from unexplained immune deficiency; caused by a retrovirus, culminating in a “mixed-bag” of life-threatening opportunistic infections, which invariably results in death.

    The retrovirus that causes AIDS is known as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) with types I, II, and III already isolated.

    Although there have been wide speculations and insinuations as to the origin of the virus (HIV), the fact still remains that the first cases of AIDS were diagnosed in North America, Europe and Central Africa about the same time in

    1981. Since then, cases are being reported all over the world and most countries now have people with “full-blown” AIDS as well as carriers infected with the virus. It occurs in about 1 to 10% of the population and the incubation period is 4 to 10 years.

    The virus has been isolated mostly from semen, vaginal secretion and blood. It is generally believed to be contracted through sexual intercourse, transfusion of contaminated blood, use of un-sterile instruments such as needles, blades and catheters, trans-placental infection, organ transplant, tattooing and circumcision as well as breast-feeding.

    The major characteristic feature of AIDS is weight loss of about 10kg within 1 month without a known cause. Other symptoms include chronic diarrhoea, persistent cough, skin infections, oro-pharyngeal candidiasis, swollen lymph glands and night sweating.

    Prevention

    Prevention of AIDS is achieved through avoidance of casual sex, and other factors that may predispose to HIV infection; as well as sterile procedures in clinico-surgical practices.

    Treatment and Control

    Before recommending our treatment and control packages for HIV/ AIDS, it is pertinent to ask the following questions:

    1. Why do outbreaks of serious infectious diseases leave some people devastated and others free?

    2. If some people are known to be carriers and could go around with the virus for up to 15 years before they physically breakdown, couldn’t there be ways of helping to cleanse the virus from the system before it manifests?

    3. Are the sufferer’s thoughts, aspirations and living habits not affecting the disease cycle as well as response to treatment?

    If yes, then in Holistic Lifecare, we are committed to total cure of HIV/AIDS sufferers when they have just been tested and diagnosed positive, when they are still able to eat, drink and move around on their own, but not when they are expecting their funeral the next day!

    The Holistic Natural Remedy being suggested for restoring good health, vitality, and total cure in HIV/AIDS sufferers; is a combination of herbal, nutritional and psycho-social therapies at the appropriate time and in the right proportion. Notable among the useful herbs for HIV/AIDS are Aloe vera, Allium sativum, Harpagophytum zeyheri, Echinacea augustifolia and Zingiber officinale.

    For further information and consultation on Holistic Lifecare research and services, especially on Blood Infections, Infertility, Sexually Transmitted

  • How to prevent HIV /AIDS

    Manager, Project Management Team (PMT), HIV/AIDS Prevention Unit, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Co-oporative, Mrs. Titilayo-Onu Abaraham, has identified testing as a key to the prevention of HIV/AIDS.

    She called on people to go for regular testing.

    According to her, knowing your HIV status would prevent the disease from infecting others.

    Abaraham made this known at the unit’s testing, sentisisation and counselling programme for farmer’s association members in Badagry division of Lagos State.

    She said HIV/AIDS can be managed, stressing that one can be positive and still look healthy like every other person.

    She added that this can only be achieved if the virus is noticed early enough and the person living with the disease starts medications immediately.

    PMT member, Mrs Shola Faboyode, advised the farmers to ensure they protect themselves from sexual intercourse and prevent themselves from every other thing that could make them contact the virus.

    She noted that the use of sharp objects that had been infected as a way of also contacting the disease.

    Faboyode identified the sharp objects to include blades, knife, needle, clippers as well as farm tools, among others.

  •  HIV/ AIDS

    The term AIDS is an acronym that stands for “Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome”. It is acquired because the victims do not inherit the condition, but contract it. Immune deficiency means that the victim’s natural bodily defense mechanisms are unable to function properly, and “syndrome” refers to the combination of different abnormalities or diseases making up this condition.

    AIDS is a complex of diseases and symptoms resulting from unexplained immune deficiency; caused by a retrovirus, culminating in a “mixed-bag” of life-threatening opportunistic infections, which invariably results in death. The retrovirus that causes AIDS is known as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) with types I, II, and III already isolated.

    Although there have been wide speculations and insinuations as to the origin of the virus (HIV), the fact still remains that the first cases of AIDS were diagnosed in North America, Europe and Central Africa about the same time in 1981. Since then, cases are being reported all over the world and most countries now have people with “full-blown” AIDS as well as carriers infected with the virus. It occurs in about 1 to 10% of the population and the incubation period is 4 to 10 years.

    The virus has been isolated mostly from semen, vaginal secretion and blood. It is generally believed to be contracted through sexual intercourse, transfusion of contaminated blood, use of un-sterile instruments such as needles, blades

    and catheters, trans-placental infection, organ transplant, tattooing and circumcision as well as breast-feeding.

    The major characteristic feature of AIDS is weight loss of about 10kg within 1 month without a known cause. Other symptoms include chronic diarrhoea, persistent cough, skin infections, oro-pharyngeal candidiasis, swollen lymph glands and night sweating.

    Prevention

    Prevention of AIDS is achieved through avoidance of casual sex, and other factors that may predispose to HIV infection; as well as sterile procedures in clinico-surgical practices.

    Treatment and Control

    Before recommending our treatment and control packages for HIV/ AIDS, it is pertinent to ask the following questions:

    1.    Why do outbreaks of serious infectious diseases leave some people devastated and others free? 2.    If some people are known to be carriers and could go around with the virus for up to 15 years before they physically breakdown, couldn’t there be ways of helping to cleanse the virus from the system before it manifests?

    3.    Are the sufferer’s thoughts, aspirations and living habits not affecting the disease cycle as well as response to treatment?

    If yes, then in Holistic Lifecare, we are committed to total cure of HIV/AIDS sufferers when they have just been tested and diagnosed positive, when they are still able to eat, drink and move around on their own, but not when they are expecting their funeral the next day!

    The Holistic Natural Remedy being suggested for restoring good health, vitality, and total cure in HIV/AIDS sufferers; is a combination of herbal, nutritional and psycho-social therapies at the appropriate time and in the right proportion. Notable among the useful herbs for HIV/AIDS are Aloe vera, Allium sativum, Harpagophytum zeyheri, Echinacea augustifolia and Zingiber officinale.

     

    For further information and consultation on Holistic Lifecare research and services, especially on Blood Infections, Infertility, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Chronic Debilitating Conditions as well as mental and social problems, please call  on: 0803-330-3897 or visit: Mosebolatan Holistic Lifecare Centre, Adeyalo Layout, Ogbere-Tioya, Off Olorunsogo Express Bridge, Ibadan. Website: www.holisticlifecare.com. Distance is no barrier, we can send remedies by courier if need be. We also have facilities for accommodation, admission and hospitalization in a serene and homely environment.