The Lagos State Government says it is training 98 women living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) on various trade skills.
Mr Peter Obialor, Coordinator of people living with HIV/AIDS, Community Department in Alimosho General Hospital, Igando Lagos, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday.
Obialor said the empowerment is being conducted by the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA) with the aim of reducing poverty in the state.
“This training is organised for people living with HIV to empower them and make them feel among and not to be rejected and discriminated upon.
“This training at least will help them build their self esteem instead of losing it; and they can equally be free to showcase themselves as people who can do a particular thing.
“The people are being trained on how to make tie and dye, bead making, makeup, gele tying, cosmetology, hairdressing, event management and catering services.
“ We give them starter packs which comprises of what their chosen venture required,’’ Obialor said.
According to him, the participants are from various general hospitals in the state.
He assured people living with the virus to believe that they had a future and urged them not to think that having “HIV is a death sentence”.
He said: “HIV is not a sickness, it does not kill; malaria kills faster than HIV.
“But HIV can live in the body for about three years without one knowing; it is the panic that kills.’’
He commended the state government for its initiative on this disease, noting that “this is the second time the people of Alimosho local government is benefiting from the state government goodwill”.
Miss Happiness Chidinma, one of the trainees on Cosmetology, told reporters that she was blessed to be part of the beneficiaries.
“I feel great and blessed about the training I am currently receiving, I will use the skill to establish a big firm to enable me cater for my children,’’ she said.
Miss Owolabi Olabisi, an apprentice on Makeup and Gele, expressed joy that she finally learnt the skill she had always had passion for.
“I am very happy about the scheme because makeup and Gele tying have always been what I have been trying to learn on my own.
Mrs Amarachi Okafor, a trainee on Catering, also thanked the state government for empowering people living with HIV and “I am determined to set up my business after graduation”.
Similarly, Mrs Rosemary Chukwuma, the event and decoration instructor, urged the women to be creative to enhance their economic development.
NAN reports that the training will last for one month.
Some 360,000 adolescents are expected to die of AIDS by 2030 if investment in HIV prevention is not ramped up, according to a UNICEF report released on Thursday.
The figures show the world is “off track’’ in its goal to end AIDS among children by 2030, UNICEF’s executive director, Henrietta Fore, said.
Projections show there will be a decline in the number of children and young people infected with HIV and dying from AIDS-related causes.
But the UN children’s fund warned progress is notably slower among adolescents – defined by the UN as those between ages 10 and 19.
For example, AIDS-related deaths are projected to decrease by 57 per cent among children below the age of 14 by 2030, compared with 35 per cent among those aged 15 to 19 years.
“Programmes to prevent HIV transmission from mothers to babies are paying off but haven’t gone far enough.
“Programmes to treat the virus and prevent it from spreading among older children are nowhere near where they should be,’’ Fore said.
The report blames slow progress in preventing HIV among young children, along with a failure to address structural and behavioural drivers of the epidemic.
For example, many young people do not know they have HIV, and those who do often fail to stick to their treatment plans.
UNICEF is pushing for more family-centred testing and diagnostic technologies, as well as targeted outreach programmes and a greater use of digital platforms to improve knowledge of HIV among adolescents.
At least 15, 000 people are been targeted for free HIV screening and testing by the Oyo State Agency for the Control of AIDS (OYSACA) in commemoration of the 2018 World AIDS Day
The target areas for the screening include church, mosque and selected hotspots across the country.
Additionally, a good number of the youths are to be lured for the testing through a youth festival
The Chairperson, OYSACA, Mrs Florence Ajimobi made the disclosures during a press conference to herald the weeklong activities lined up to commemorate the day. The event is to run from Friday November 23 through Saturday December 1, 2018.
According to the Wife of the Oyo State Governor, the state annually joins the rest of the world to commemorate the World AIDS day to “show love and give hope to people living with HIV while addressing issues surrounding stigmatization and discrimination.”
Represented by the Project manager, Dr Kayode Ogunkunle at the conference, Mrs Ajimobi said the commemoration is also “an occasion for sensitizing the people on the importance of HIV counseling and testing for early detection and treatment, access to healthcare, adherence to drugs and other important issues, with the projection of bringing an end to HIV as a public health threat in the world.”
This year’s commemoration with the theme “Know your status”, Mrs Ajimobi maintained that the focus of the efforts is a way of adopting a prevention approach to tackling the menace by testing people and immediately linking them to treatment centers and ensure they commence immediate treatment.
She said, “We are targeting at least 15,000 people for testing and all the people who test positive will be linked to treatment centres across Oyo state so that they can commence treatment immediately. This time, our approach is ‘test and treat’.
“The major target of the testing is youth who are the future of the country. If not tamed among the youths early, the virus can wipe off the youth and the future of any country.
“Our challenge still remains funding. But we commend the Oyo state government for the massive support to the agency, especially in the last two years. Today, Oyo state ranks second after Lagos in terms of commitment and prompt release of funds to tackle the surge of HIV.
“The current prevalence rate in the state stands at 1.9 percent but with the ongoing National AIDS Indicator Survey (NAIS) will help the state plan and earmark enough fund to tackle the scourge.”
The details of the seven-day activities as explained by the Project manager include, Jumat Service at Central Mosque, Oja Oba, Church thanksgiving service at Bishop Oyebode Memorial Anglican Church, BOMAC, Agugu, Ibadan, Youth festival at Iseyin, visit by teams of OYSACA and Ministry of Women Affairs to five different orphanages in the state where educational and toiletries will be donated.
Other activities include, the grand finale of Secondary school youths debates and presentation of prizes and awards to outstanding students and schools, Youth festival in Oyo town and Grand finale rally slated for Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan.
Popular musicians include fuji artiste Abass Akande, aka Obesere is billed to perform at the grand finale.
Mr Ogunkunle however emphasized that free HIV testing centres would be created at all the event venues while an additional team would visit hotspots in the areas to carry out the test on people.
The press conference was attended by officials of the OYSACA and representatives of the Civil Society on HIV/AIDs in Nigeria (CISHAN), Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS in Nigeria (NEPHWAN) and APIN Public Health Initiatives among others.
The Imo Government on Tuesday said the state had recorded significant drop in the HIV infection rate,following sustained public campaign on the danger of the dreaded condition.
Dr Ernest Uwaigbo, Commissioner for Inter Governmental and Donor Agencies, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Owerri.
“The drop in the new HIV infections was achieved following a regular sensitisation programmes which the state government has embarked on.
“ Imo Government has set out rehabilitation centres, where infected persons can access drugs with ease and upgraded diagnoses on the virus,’’ he said.
Uwaigbo explained that the state was also partnering with an international donor agency, Global Fund, to rehabilitate those already infected with the virus.
He said the state had also encouraged persons infected with the condition to remain discipline in terms of sexual intercourse to reduce the rate of infection and urged them to take their drugs as prescribed.
The commissioner also advised members of the public to shun stigmatising people with HIV, assuring them that infected persons could still life to the fullest.
In another development, Uwaigbo said the European Union (EU) completed 60 micro projects in the state under Niger Delta Development projects between 2014 and 2018.
He mentioned Market, Borehole, Cassava Meal and rehabilitation of schools among the completed projects.
According to him, the government will continue to collaborate with donor agencies to bridge the development deficit.
Every December 1st is World AIDS Day (WAD) across the globe. Ahead of this year celebration, the theme for the year 2018 WAD is “Do you know your Status”? How many people actually know their status? In Nigeria, the 2005 HIV and AIDS/Syphilis sentinel survey showed that 4.4% are living with HIV and AIDS of the total adult population aged 15-49 years who are still sexually active. The sentinel survey was compiled from data collected at antenatal clinics across the country. The Median HIV and AIDS prevalence among antenatal clinics has levelled off at around 4% , according to FMOH report. However, such a report is a guideline and cannot be considered conclusive as most Nigerian mothers do not deliver in clinics and not all of them do allow themselves to be tested for HIV, according to another report.
Research from UNAIDS Report on the Global HIV and AIDS Epidemic 2002 has it that Nigeria has the third largest global number of people living with HIV and AIDS with an estimated number of between 1.7 million- 4.2 million after India and South Africa, and this has not changed. Countries of the world have been responding to the challenges of AIDS through various awareness campaigns to sensitise her nationals on meaning, mode of spread as well as prevention of the infection. Also, the media have played a pivotal role in the response to HIV and AIDS. In 2004, Global Media AIDS Initiative affirmed that education is the vaccine against HIV and AIDS.
In Africa, millions of people, especially the youths, do not comprehend this disease’s full impact; how HIV is contracted and how to arm oneself against it. HIV which may be contracted through unprotected sex, sharing of unsterilised sharp objects and a host of others, but more importantly, HIV has no cure as prevention appears the only viable option.
Therefore, many media organisations are now rising to the challenge by promoting awareness of HIV and AIDS and educating the general public on its control while lot of researches have been on-going on drugs that could prevent contracting the virus before sex and also after, which is the PEP (Post Exposure Prophylaxis) and PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) that are not available in Nigeria.
The strength of media in influencing people’s perception as well as making society to change their behaviour may be an essential tool for responding to medical and social problem such as HIV and AIDS. In other words, the media could be used to successfully advocate for behavioural and attitudinal change and more specifically addressing people living with HIV, in order to prevent stigmatisation as well as discrimination against the infected and affected persons.
It is in realisation of this fact that many nations of the world are using the annual World AIDS Day programme to further advance the course of responsiveness to AIDS, as well as provide alternative for the control through the use of condom for protection and other ways.
Though, there has been pervasive lack of awareness of and knowledge about HIV and AIDS despite its high prevalence, yet it is important we all join hands together to respond to this menace through leading by example, which is to first know our status, after then we encourage others to follow suit.
By so doing, Nigeria will be driving towards singing a new song as far as HIV and AIDS is concerned.
Research has shown that no fewer than 81,481 persons are living with human immunodeficiency virus, HIV, in Ondo State. The Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA, Dr. Sani Aliu, confirmed this yesterday in Ondo, Ondo West Local Government Area of the state.
Aliu said this when he paid a visit to the Osemawe of Ondo, Oba Victor Kiladejo, to seek the king’s support to mobilise his subjects for NACA survey in the area. The survey is tagged: Nigeria AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey.
The NACA DG, who was represented by Mrs Josephine Kalu, the Director of Resource Mobilisation of NACA, said that 10,000 persons out of the affected persons were on treatment.
“Based on spectrum estimate we have, 81,481 persons that are living with HIV in Ondo State as at 2017 and out of the figure 10,000 persons are on treatment including 2,783 pregnant women. Also, the estimate for new HIV infection is 5,439 persons,” he said.
According to him, the survey is the largest HIV population based survey in Nigeria being supported by the U.S. and Global Funds. He noted that the survey was important for proper planning and development of strategies that would lead to eradication of HIV and hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
“The focus of the survey is able to gather data that will help to fight current level of HIV and hepatitis B and hepatitis C as we are looking at 2030 for a HIV-free generation. We cannot but have data that can be effectively used to fight these,” he said.
Aliu enjoined more domestic resources to curb HIV. Oba Kiladejo commended efforts of the agency and urged it to do more on counselling and to focus more on the vulnerable areas. The monarch who expressed worry with the high number of persons living with HIV, asked for more funds to fight it.
The Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA) has counselled and tested 1,877 residents for HIV at various locations across the state.
Its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Oluseyi Temowo, disclosed this during an interview at Lafiaji community in Eti-Osa Local Government where the exercise held.
He said 733 men and 1144 women benefited from its on-going HIV Testing services (HTS). During the exercise, 18 new HIVpositive cases were identified. In all, 37 referrals, he said, were done. They included other sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) and Tuberculosis (TB).
Temowo noted that the programmes is to execute UNAIDS 90-90-90 initiative, especially the first ‘90’, based on the policy that 90 percent of the people must know their HIV status and extend it to the second 90, which states that 90 percent of those that know their status get anti-retroviral treatment before the third 90, which emphasise that the 90 percent of those getting treatment must have suppressed the viral load and would not be able to infect others.
…HIV positive kids can do everything other children do! – Delta Govt
Nigeria’s HIV epidemic affects all population groups and geographic areas of the country. Consequently, February 2015, the Federal Government signed into law the HIV/AIDS anti-discrimination bill to protect the rights and dignity of people living with HIV. Thus, making it illegal to discriminate against people based on their HIV status.
In this fourth edition of the diary-like five-part investigative series on HIV across seven states in Nigeria- Ogun, Lagos, Delta, Imo, Benue and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, TOBORE OVUORIE, reveals many parents in Delta and Imo states respectively, are still ignorant about HIV. Thus, stigmatizing and discriminating against children living with the virus. These children are not only overlooked when populations disproportionately impacted by the epidemic are assessed, they are also denied their human rights to educational opportunities.
THE STORY SO FAR
The journey to Lagos state which birthed the first part of this series was an eyeopener for me garnished with a potpourri of extra findings and emotions.
I will write about the extra findings in a followup publication to this series.
Ogun state- the schools and parents, which unveiled the second partof this race left me with a mixture of goose pimples and pounding headache. My pen wasn’t missing but my muse abandoned me. While it was on holiday, I shuttled the hospital hunting for a cure to the pounding headache which caressed my head.
“You are reacting to unpleasant experiences,” my doctor told me. Sadly, I couldn’t share the trauma with him. Only my editor has such pre-publication right. He gave me some medications. “These at least, will help you sleep and relax,” he told me with a so-you-don’t-wanna-tell-me-what-is-eating-you expression.
A combination of my Lagos and Ogun state experiences have created a hollow, numbness, and pains in me. These experiences, like the Sahara desert’s heat, have sucked my words. Reason I can’t explain exactly how I feel.
But I kind of got my groove back with Edo state. I laugh alone night-after-night, while playing back unused interview tapes. “My people no dey carry last!” I exclaim often; most time, about 2am. Parents’ responses reeked of discrimination and stigmatization, yet had this hilarious bend. I have many unused interviews from Edo, (Lagos and Ogun states as well), but I play them almost every night so I can laugh and be able to write.
The story’s journey so far, has re-birthed me. I have gotten used to being told and snubbed with varieties of no! It doesn’t mean anything to me anymore. I doubt if I would give a damn should someone from any of the places I have been to recognize me and tell whoever that my supposed kids and I are HIV positive.
But to be honest, writing this fourth part of the series has been tedious for me.
“I feel like my head is filled with air,” I remember telling Mr. Muyiwa Lucas, one of this paper’s line editors. We were just about leaving the newsroom Friday August 24th. It was 10:05pm, my wristwatch told me.
“You need to sleep, eat and rest. It’s a sign of fatigue,” he had advised.
“I will,” I promised. But added a caveat. “After the whole series have been delivered, I will pamper myself to a day’s sleep and rest before hitting the road for the next stage of the developing story.”
“You’re too stubborn!” Mr. Lucas picked his bag and walked away.
I keep talking to myself, asking, “if I were living with HIV, is this what I would be facing?” I am holding onto the light with my hands and using my legs to kick the darkness my Lagos, Ogun and Edo states experiences have ushered in.
I don’t know which is better: the Lagos and Ogun state schools where I was outrightly told no without pretense and diplomacy or the Delta and Imo state schools where I was also told no, with so much smiles but well accompanied with caveats?
DO NOT BRING YOUR HIV CHILD TO THE SCHOOL UNTIL THE HIV TREATMENT IS COMPLETED!
Her voice was cool. And accent on point. I wished my friends who always mocked me that those of us from Warri can never speak good English no matter how well travelled, were there. I would have told them “Edulyn Schools is in Warri Delta state! Come and listen to correct English straight from Warri!”
The discussion kicked off well with the school administrator telling me all teachers will be on ground first week of September. Learners, like my supposed daughter, would be welcomed second week of September, while the entry form is N3,000 only.
Possibly, I should have allowed the conversation linger some more. Truth is, I never expected what followed. I had gone on to tell her my husband wanted me to confirm if our daughter’s health status wouldn’t be an issue. “The child is HIV positive,” I had calmly announced.
There was silence. It seemed like eternity to me. Then, she hummed. And hummed. A double “Y-e-a-h” followed. Then, she continued with so much finality like she had earlier rehearsed for it. “For now, we may not have to admit her anymore. And thank you for informing us. I think the treatment has to take place. Has she started the treatment?”
“Yes, she has started.” Again, like while in Lagos and Ogun states, something in me died.
“When the treatment is completed, I think we may have to admit. But for now, I wouldn’t say we are going to admit.”
I was confused. “HIV treatment completed? Is it ever completed?” I asked myself in a flash of seconds.
“Because we don’t have the facilities to check it. We don’t,” she added.
I became confused the more. “Facilities to check HIV in a school? What facilities?” I asked myself again. Make she kuku say dem nor want HIV pikin instead of all dis kakara talks, I was speaking to myself in Warri pidgin. She should simply say a child living with the virus is not wanted in their school, rather than dancing around a cycle, I said to myself.
I tried to push further. “I will call subsequently when the session has begun, maybe you may want to have a review of her.”
It didn’t work.
She added a caveat. “But please, let the treatment be completed before you bring her to the school. We will appreciate it.”
The excited me died.
SCHOOLS IN DELTA STATE DON’T NEED FACILITIES TO MANAGE HIV POSITIVE STUDENTS
This is supposed to be just a story. So, I don’t understand why I was so pained. Actually, I still am. So, much more later; before publication, I put a call through to Dr. John Osuyali, Executive Secretary, Delta State Agency for the Control of AIDS (Delta SACA) to confirm if schools need any or certain facilities before kids living with HIV can be admitted.
He giggled. I heard it clearly. Then replied.
“I am not aware of that.”
I went further to briefly share my experience with him. And asked again if schools need certain facilities before students living with the virus can be admitted?
“Not in Delta.” He answered.
HIV TREATMENT IS NEVER COMPLETED!
As I write this report, I still don’t understand why the response from the Edulyn school’s administrator ruffled me. It sure did. Reason when I spoke with the Delta SACA helmsman, I reeled on “Please sir, I equally want to find out, in children, can HIV treatment be completed?”
He didn’t giggle this time.
In his usual very calm manner, he replied “We don’t treat HIV half way.”
Oh. If the Edulyn school administrator actually knew HIV is never treated half way, then she was only garnishing the no she told me with some chocolates! I imagined again with my eyes fixed on the wall clock in my living room.
SORRY! OUR BOARDING FACILITIES NOT FOR HIV POSITIVE KIDS
PEARLVILLE SCHOOL, OWERRI
22nd, August 2018,
7.25pm
Dr. Nneka, a Business Developer with Pearlville School, Owerri, smiles often. And has so much warmth and positive vibes emanating from her. She phoned me night of the last day of Sallah. It was a working holiday for me. One of the downside of journalism.
The online editor of the paper, Mr. Lekan Otunfodunrin was planning how the series would be published when Dr. Nneka’s call jumped in. I answered the call but placed it on speaker, while a colleague recorded. She told me how she had been trying to track my phone number all the while, the reason she was phoning that late.
“Anything goes, provided I get my story,” I told myself smiling.
When I made the admission inquiry (earlier), I had disclosed the supposed child’s status. And she had promised to phone me after speaking with the school’s doctor.
Though later. But she did.
“When I called the doctor, then, I had to call the management for a quick meeting and we were like there is no problem with that (admitting a child living with the virus). But when the doctor now called back, she said actually, there is no issue with that but only that the school is a boarding school. If we have a day school, because they are only four in a room, that wouldn’t have been a problem. The problem is not us. The problem is that it’s a boarding school. She (the school’s doctor) advises that the child attends a day school. For now, we are not running a day school yet. That is the issue now.”
Honestly, I was confused. “Why can’t a child living with HIV be in the dormitory?” I have been asking myself. I still am.
HIV POSITIVE KIDS CAN DO EVERYTHING AND ATTEND BOARDING SCHOOLS!
Indeed, I was worried after being told my supposed daughter should be a day-student, as she cannot be in the dormitory. I turned to Dr. Osuyali.
“Children living with HIV, can they attend secondary schools with just boarding facilities. That is, can they be boarders in secondary school?”
In his usual very calm manner, he answered “There is no discrimination in Delta state to the best of my knowledge. Please, let me know if there is anyone you have identified. And if they have, well, if you bring it to our notice, we will look it up.”
“So, you are saying in essence that children can attend boarding schools even though they are living with HIV?”
“Everything. They are totally covered to do everything other children do,” he said with 100 percent finality.
Mr. Steve Aborisade, Advocacy and Marketing Manager, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), was dismayed when I sought a second opinion from him if kids living with the virus are not supposed to be in boarding schools.
“Why are we zeroing in on HIV? That is the question?” he began with much emotions. “There are so many other conditions that are there. Why HIV? So, why do people think children living with HIV cannot stay in a boarding house?” he continued.
I could hear the thundering echo of wherever he was. And his voice kept rebirthing it. “There are acts of discrimination. There are acts of stigmatization fueled by ignorance anywhere, everyday. It happens. It’s happening,” he added.
He said there are so many acts of discrimination even within families. According to Mr. Aborisade, there are families that send their kids (who test positive to HIV) out of the house. He also disclosed there are families that abandon their children. “Just because they don’t understand the issue. It is ignorance.”
He said the discrimination is as a result of the fact that people lack knowledge about the issue. And blamed the media for the populace’s ignorance, saying the public depends on the media to define their reality.
Schools like Ray Jacob Boarding School, Mgbidi and Alvana Model School, Owerri, both in Imo state, didn’t stab any part of me. They are expecting my supposed daughter living with HIV when their new academic calendar begins September 10th. I saw and felt their sincerity of wanting her.
Every other schools visited in Delta and Imo states respectively, buried a part of me. There are over 10 of them. For now, I wouldn’t list their names. I am hoping before I write the followup to this series, they would have honored their words to phone me like they promised. I have been phoning them since the initial contact. Some do take my calls telling me they will still get back to me. Others don’t. But when I use another phone number in calling, they all do take my calls but immediately tell me they will be in touch soon.
***
Out of over five million persons in Delta state, 78,359 person, according to the state’s governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, are living with HIV. The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) says the state has a prevalence rate of 0.7 percent. At the moment, 8,257 are eligible for treatment in the state, while 28,000 are currently accessing the life-saving Anti-Retroviral Drugs (ARV).
NACA and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) in a 2017 Spectrum Estimates indicate no fewer than 2,634 kids between the ages of zero to 14 years are living with HIV in the state. Of these, 57.55 percent are covered by the Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) scheme.
The NACA/UNAIDS survey further reveals no fewer than 30,900 persons from 15 years and above have the virus in them within the state. Of these, 69.22 percent are covered by the ART care.
The survey also states no fewer than 1,220 persons in the state have freshly contracted the virus, while no fewer than 2, 772 mothers are in need of prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) care.
The Dr. Okowa, December 2017, had called for increased advocacy on HIV/AIDS to eradicate stigmatisation and discrimination in the country.
DR OKOWA
“I enjoin all stakeholders to re-double their efforts at educating our people on the HIV/AIDS pandemic, as well as to take proactive steps at eradicating stigma and discrimination among the citizenry.
“It is a known fact that many people are generally aware of HIV/AIDS, but correct knowledge on how to prevent the infection is rather limited, due mainly to unfounded myths and outright denial of the reality of HIV/AIDS,” he had said during last year’s World AIDS Day.
Indeed, interviews with many parents and kids in secondary schools in the state confirmed Dr. Okowa’s assertions.
“NO SCHOOL FOR OUR CHILDREN WHO TEST POSITIVE TO HIV!”
Mr. Gentle is an automobile repairer at Jakpa, in Warri, Delta state. He said it is none of his business if his younger brother’s classmate is HIV positive because he or she may have contracted the virus after absconding from school to partake in “illegal sexual matters.”
It doesn’t end there. Should his younger brother test positive to HIV, he says he wouldn’t give a damn. But he fears contracting the virus from him.
However, he wouldn’t allow his sibling be friends with anyone who is HIV positive. But if it were his sibling living with the virus, he wouldn’t disclose it to the school for fear of discrimination.
But he later changed his mind. He will inform the school about the brother’s HIV status only after he has been withdrawn from school. That way, according to him, the school can check other students if anyone has contracted the virus from him.
Mr. Gentle believes withdrawing his brother from school is the only way to prevent spread of the virus in the school community.
“People living with HIV do not live long,” he said. He doesn’t know there is a medication- antiretroviral, for HIV. Though he has been seeing it on TV, he doesn’t know it is real.
Many parents interviewed, not only in Delta state, feel ending a child’s education is the way to go in curbing the spread of HIV. Mary, a trader at the Sapele part of the state, joined other parents in saying she will withdraw her child from school should the classmate test positive to HIV. She fears her child will contract the virus because children play with anything, sharp objects inclusive.
But if her own child were to test positive to the virus, while seeking admission, she wouldn’t disclose his status to the school authorities “because they will not admit him.”
She talked about her brother too. If he were already in school when his status is discovered, she wouldn’t disclose it to the school authorities. She would rather withdraw him from school. She fears he will play with sharp objects, thus endangering the lives of others by spreading the virus.
“I will tell my child not to eat with his classmate who tests positive to HIV,” said Mr. Lucky, an automobile repairer in Ughelli, Delta state. I told him the virus cannot be contacted through eating together. And he asked me why. “It requires exchange of blood for transmission to occur,” I told him.
He didn’t believe me.
He went on to tell me the virus will spread if someone who is HIV positive uses his teeth in tearing a piece of meat for an HIV negative person to eat. He is not against his child playing with a kid living with the virus but wouldn’t allow them eat together.
When I asked if he would inform the school authorities should his child test positive to the virus, he retorted “how will you say my child has HIV!?. My child cannot have HIV.” I calmed him down that that is why I had included ‘God forbid’ in the question.
He let it slide.
But Mr. Lucky believes HIV cannot be hidden as it is visible on anyone living with the virus. I told him it is never written on the forehead. He admits being aware of that fact but still insists “It cannot be hidden. It will still show. People will still know.”
TRANSMISSION OF HIV THROUGH TEETH-MEAT SHARING? IT DEPENDS…
Mr. Lucky is not the only parent who has fears that kids without the virus could contract it from those with it while sharing chewed meat or that shared with the teeth (by the infected person). I contacted Dr. Angela Uwakem, Commissioner for health, Imo state.
“You know how HIV is transmitted. First of all, there has to be some fluid exchange. So, it is not as simple as that. It depends on the fluid. If there is fluid in the mouth; saliva. That is why we talk about kissing.
“So, it depends on what is the fluid content. If the membranes are intact; there is no blood exchange, there will be no problem. But if saliva becomes exchanged, there is a risk. So, it depends,” she explained while on a journey by road from Enugu to Imo state.
Mama Glory, as she is called by everyone, is a trader who often has many children flock around her shop where she sells different household items. Though she loves children and feels comfortable having them around, but it comes with a condition: they must never test positive to the virus. Should it turn out the other way, and such a child is classmate to hers, she will withdraw her own child from the school. Mama Glory is afraid her daughter may contract the virus because “HIV is a disease.”
MAMA GLORY
I listened to her bare her mind. She believes HIV can be cured. Asked if her daughter were HIV positive, would she inform the school while seeking admission? She said “I will first get her treated before taking her to school. I must be certain she is healed before I get her into a school.”
She would do this in order to prevent the spread of the virus in the school community. Mama Glory is driven by the belief: Do unto others as you want it done unto you.
Mr. James, a business man, will also not inform the school should his child test positive to the virus. “No need of telling the school. How can I tell the school? I will do it (take care of her) on my own,” he said.
He fears that telling the school will lead to either her expulsion or people rejecting her.
I pushed our talks further by asking if he will allow his daughter marry a man who is HIV positive. He retorted “is HIV a good thing!?” He wouldn’t allow her because “there is nothing good in HIV.”
Pa. Raphael Obamwonyi, though elderly still works. He is a businessman and father of many children. He has them old and very young. He showed me his very young set of twin. And like other parents I had asked what they would do should their child’s classmate tests positive to the virus, he felt the classmate must be a girl.
“I will tell him not to go close to the girl,” he said. Unlike many parents interviewed, he will not withdraw his son from the school.
Should his son test positive to HIV, Pa Obamwonyi thinks not disclosing the status to the school authorities is a sin. “As an elder in the church, I don’t need to hide sickness since it is unfortunate that the child is sick, but for it not to spread, I will tell the teacher.” He said possibly the school authorities may have some useful advice for him.
Then, I pressed the wrong button.
I asked if he will support his son if his fiancee were living with the virus?
Pa Obamwonyi went hysterical.
“Haaaa…! Noor! Why are you talking like this?” He gesticulates with hands flying in the air. Though an elder in church, Pa Obamwonyi said he will first gift his son a thundering slap for daring to want to marry a lady who is HIV positive. He told me it is an impossible mission
“You mean if a child tells the father he wants to commit suicide (via marrying someone with the virus), won’t you first kill that child yourself than he dying by himself? That is death!” he retorted.
He doesn’t believe someone without the virus can be married to a person living with HIV and yet not get infected.
“No father will tell such a child to carry on knowing fully well his child isn’t living with the virus…I will punch his mouth to remove his teeth so that the HIV positive lady won’t marry him anymore.”
He was still hysterical.
I turned the table around. And he maintained that if it were his son with the virus, he will allow only a woman living with HIV to marry him in such situation.
The NACA and UNAIDS spectrum estimates indicate 3.61 percent persons are living with HIV in Imo state. The state tops 17th position amongst the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory, in NACA’s HIV ratings.
Imo state, according to the NACA/UNAIDS survey, is one of the high burden states supported by international partners. Notwithstanding this, no fewer than 115,303 persons from 15 years and above are living with the virus. Of these, 34.94 percent of them are under the ART coverage.
The survey yet reveals 7,782 children between age zero to 14 years are HIV positive in the state with 45.58 percent of them under the ART coverage. Unfortunately, no fewer than 13,987 persons freshly contracted the virus in the state while 7,227 mothers are in need of prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) services.
Governor Rochas Okorocha
March 2017, the state governor Mr. Rochas Okorocha had cried out over the spread of HIV across the state.
He had blamed the state’s bubbling night life for the increase in the spread of the virus, saying there was no hotel that is not filled every weekends in the state. He had urged parents and guardians to caution their children and wards.
“Night life has no doubt, improved in Owerri. We will continue to light the streets. We should however remember that the situation carries with it, a collateral danger like HIV and this is why we should be very careful,” he had said last year.
Children of school age, unfortunately, are a part of these statistics in the state. However, like adults living with the virus who are discriminated against, they too are not spared.
CAN’T SHARE CUTLERIES, UTENSILS, WITH HIV POSITIVE PERSONS!
Mrs. Chibueze Chimobi told me she is a staff nurse while I warmed her up for the interview. Other parents interviewed before her, while listing their HIV prevention measures included not allowing their kids share cutleries with persons living with the virus. So, I asked her a question in that direction.
“No. No, I will not because of the risk.”
She went on to tell me there may be a mistake. “Being children, they do make mistakes. So, I will not allow my child to share anything with anybody to avoid mistake because fork is part of sharp objects and anything can happen.”
Mrs. Chimobi is not the only parent who has issues with their child sharing cutleries with a person living with the virus. Mrs. Mayah Ikechukwu, a fruits and vegetables seller also tilts in that direction.
“No, I am not going to allow that because my child may have a sore in his or her mouth and if he shares cutlery with this particular HIV person, virus is bound to get into the sore and infect my own child,” she said.
However, should her child test positive to the virus, she would inform the authorities of any school where she goes scouting for admission for him or her. Mrs. Ikechukwu opines that her honesty should pay. And if it doesn’t, there certainly will be a school which would recognize it and grant her child admission.
Her disclosure is for the protection of other kids in school, she told me.
It isn’t just parents who have issues with an HIV negative person sharing personal items like cutleries with a person living with HIV. Tomiwa Sanya, a 17 year old student wouldn’t as well.
I could feel and see sincerity written all over him that he wouldn’t stop being friends with a friend who tests positive to the virus. He has measures in place to protect himself. But like Mrs. Chimobi and Ikechukwu, he too will not share cutleries with anyone living with the virus.
He however takes it further “…I will of course not use his utensils as well.”
He admitted that notwithstanding the virus “only works inside the human system,” he wouldn’t be able to share clothes with a friend from the moment he is confirmed HIV positive.
“At this point, no! no! no!. I don’t know, I feel like it’s just fear; for anything can happen… It’s just the fear of everything,” he told me, while I stood behind the camera, holding onto the handle of the tripod and staring at him
HIV DOES NOT SPREAD THROUGH SHARING OF CUTLERIES
“Cutleries has to do with the spoon, the table knife, the fork. And no research has told us that using all these, you can contract or share HIV.” This is Mrs. Florence Oyakhilome-Edemode, Executive Director of the Edo State Agency for the Control of AIDS (Edo SACA).
Reacting to parents not wanting their children share cutleries with kids living with the virus, the Edo SACA helms-woman said persons who test negative to HIV can only be at risk of contracting it when they share sharp objects. These, according to her, include needles, razor blades,and other sharp unsterilized objects.
“In the first instance, a child is not going to be using table knife to cut fingernails that will endanger him or her to have blood contact through these cutleries.
“Research has told us that except this sharp object is having direct contact with the infected person’s blood, that is the only way he can infect another person.”
“THESE PARENTS ARE BEING DRIVEN BY IGNORANCE!”
Mr. Aborisade explained that these parents are being driven by ignorance.
“What happens when a child plays? Do you get infected with sharing a plate? So, I don’t think we should be giving space to ignorance as projected by these parents, if there are any of them.”
I wondered what he meant by ‘if there are any of them.’ I had sent him link to the first part of this story in which there are audios and videos of such parents.
“I don’t think we should be giving it any attention because they are just speaking from ignorance.”
He said “we simply need to educate them.”
I went on to describe the meat-tearing/sharing fear of some parents.
“I think we are speaking to ignorance. The scenario itself, I doubt if it is going to happen. How many people share meat? How many people use their teeth in cutting meat?” he asked.
I wanted to tell him while I was a child, even now as an adult, while eating, I used and still use my teeth in dividing meat. And while feeding a little baby, I use my teeth in getting some chunk, chew a little to soften it and give to the child. And I see many mothers do it. But I could feel the passion in him and decided not to interrupt his flow.
Mr. Aborisade said such parents are not to be given attention. “We have passed this stage. And that is the reality. We have passed this stage. Anyone who is not aware should come and be educated. We have passed this stage.
“If they were saying this in the last 15 years, that’s okay. But now, we shouldn’t be saying this. And that is the fact. We shouldn’t be saying this. We need to make them understand the fact that the only solution here is for them to be educated.”
He said there are so many other important things (about HIV) than giving space and voice to the ignorance of parents. “If they exist, we shouldn’t educate them because it is taking us to where we have left.”
I was shocked, so asked “are you saying we shouldn’t educate them sir?”
“This is not education. Do you understand what I am saying? This is not education. And there are serious issues. There are serious issues, more serious issues that we need to focus on. That is my position,” he answered.
WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DE-STIGMATIZE HIV!
But Nigeria’s health minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole doesn’t travel same path with Mr. Aborisade. In an interview Saturday August 11th, he expressed concern over the findings in this investigation. He said “What you just told me, if confirmed, shows we still have a lot of work to do in order to de-stigmatize HIV.
“My day will be a day when we will treat HIV just like how we treat hypertension and diabetes. With the treatment we currently have, HIV has become any of those chronic disease that cannot be cured but can be controlled.”
HON MINISTER OF HEALTH, PROF. ISAAC ADEWOLE
He said the parents and school authorities’ discriminatory acts is a reflection of the amount of work yet to be done by the country. The health minister called on all Nigerians to join the movement in eradicating HIV stigmatization in the country. He said people’s discriminatory actions (those in this story and others) is as a result of stark ignorance about how HIV is transmitted.
“It’s not just schools. It’s a situation in which all of us must be involved in education, improving awareness, eliminating ignorance and letting them know HIV is not even like TB where someone is coughing and you pick it. It’s not like pneumonia, it’s not like flu.
“This is good work (referring to this story). And I will pass this message to the team that we have serious work to do. And I will also work with my education colleague (minister of education).”
Editor’s Note: The interview, audio-visual of the child- Master Tomiwa Sanya, in the story, are used with parental consent.
This story was produced with support from Code For Africa and her Naija Data Ladies Fellowship Programme.
STIGMATIZATION: That is terrible! I am shocked and really amazed- NACA DG
“…Schools discriminating against children will be sued!”
Nigeria’s HIV epidemic affects all population groups and geographic areas of the country. Consequently, February 2015, the Federal Government signed into law the HIV/AIDS anti-discrimination bill to protect the rights and dignity of people living with the virus. Thus, making it illegal to discriminate against people based on their HIV status.
In this second part of her diary-like five-part investigative report across seven states in Nigeria- Ogun, Lagos, Edo, Delta, Imo, Benue and the FCT Abuja, TOBORE OVUORIE reveals children of school age living with HIV are overlooked when populations disproportionately impacted by the epidemic are assessed. These kids, the investigation discloses, are not only stigmatised and discriminated against by the society but are denied their human rights to educational opportunities.
ISOLOG JUNIOR SCHOOL
It’s been five months since Mrs. Oduntan told me a double NO! The first no was for my daughter. The second, for my son. My supposed daughter and son, actually. All the same, over 16 weeks later, I still remember line-by-line every words that left our mouths in that spacious office, particularly her telling me she is certain my daughter will affect the nation; is for signs and wonders; the lord will perfect her healing; among other blessed ironies.
The sound of her “we love her,” I will never forget.
Can you really love someone- a little child, yet reject her because of her health status? I still do ask myself.
I yet remember clearly the smile on her face when escorting me off the school building and promising to keep in touch in order to check on my daughter’s health. Was the smile and her words real? I now ask myself. If so, why hasn’t her 08033476444 ever beeped my phone?
BIRTHING MY HIV POSITIVE KIDS
It all began sometime in February 2018 when I pitched a story; this story actually, to the Code For Africa team. “What about making it a series rather than a long narrative,” the Nigeria office of the team had suggested amidst the numerous back and forth via emails and slack- our official communication channel. Then, my colleague and friend, Vanessa Offiong of Daily Trust Newspaper, chipped in what I would later discover to be a life saver: “don’t go to any school close to where you live.”
The story?
I was to move around as many schools as possible, across seven states, on a simple mission: to find out if the school authorities will grant my kids admission without any form of biases because of their health status.
What about their health status?
They are living with HIV.
Yes! The Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
HIV POSITIVE KIDS ARE CREATED FOR GREATNESS BUT WE CAN’T GRANT THEM ADMISSION INTO THIS SCHOOL!
March 28th, 2018
10:28AM
ISOLOG PRIMARY SCHOOL, OGUN STATE
“Your baby, what class is he?” the elderly man in a t-shirt had asked me.
“There are two of them. One is in primary one and the other is in primary two,” I had answered sitting right in front of him with a table between us. I had always driven past the school but never knew it was this gigantic within.
“The Primary one, what is his or her age?”
“She is five years old, while the one who is in primary two is seven years old,” I answered again. Then the floodgates of money-list was unleashed. Registration form at N2,000. N63,000 tuition and N1,000 PTA fees. Then an additional N18,000 for new pupils and another N10,000 for graduating students. All these aren’t a part of the N25,000 transportation fare (to and from home), N15,000 lunch, N6,000 after school lessons, N5,000 swimming classes. All per term, but the N10,000 graduation fee is not.
I almost yelled, all these for a child in primary one? I sat still, listening to him. And he reeled on. This time, about the boy.
“We would give them tests before being admitted. If we have been the one teaching the child from the beginning, by six years he should get to year two. If I put him in year three, can he move easily to the next class?”
Anything was acceptable, provided we arrived at the crux of my visit.
ISOLOG JUNIOR SCHOOL
He continued. N2,000 for registration. N65,000 for tuition and N1,000 for PTA. An additional fee of N20,000 and N5,000 for him as a non-graduating student. N25,000 transportation fare (to and from home), N15,000 lunch, N6,000 after lessons and N5,000 swimming. All per term.
I almost burst into laughter. All these money for primary one and two? What are they learning in school? I was asking myself again.
AND THE STORY CHANGED
“The major reason we are actually changing the children’s school is because the girl is HIV positive. Hope it won’t be an issue,” I hit the nail.
The elderly man whose name I never got the opportunity to know sat back, placed the pen he was holding on the sheets of paper in which he had calculated all the children’s educational cost. Then, he told me he will send for the section’s head.
The section’s head would later tell me she is Mrs. Oduntan, a guidance counsellor by profession. After exchanges of pleasantries, I repeated the same question. “The major reason we are actually changing the children’s school is because the girl is HIV positive. Hope it won’t be an issue.”
And Mrs. Oduntan couldn’t hide the shock. Like other schools I have been to, their first reactions were “Aaaah!” She did the same thing.
“It is risky. It is risky,” she answered as if her voice was moulded into a whisper.
I don’t know why I felt so much weakness in my knees. Isolog primary school wasn’t actually the first school I had visited. Neither was it the first where I was told no. Then, maybe, because it is a school with so much religiosity and is owned by a major church which preaches holiness and love. The school on her website promises ‘brotherly love and affection among staff and students’. Even new pupils are ‘ushered into the presence of the Almighty God.’
“Why do you think so?” I asked, my eyes fixed on her.
“The child is HIV positive. The children, they play and while they play, there may be cuts and do you know what that means? Contamination. That means they would be easily infected.”
It was supposed to be a story. But I was heartbroken.
“Does that mean it’s only the boy that can be taken? He is not HIV positive,” I tried to make a case further. At least, there could be some light at the end of the tunnel.
“Why not put them in the same school?”
I missed a breath. Even him too? I asked myself.
“What I am saying is that I don’t want to be selfish. I am a guidance counsellor,” she continued. “When you have siblings, it is better they are together….siblings should be together.”
I don’t understand why, but I became numb. How many parents could have been told this? And, how many more would be in my position? I kept asking myself.
The shock-series was not over.
Mrs. Oduntan collected the sheets of paper which the elderly man had written the breakdown of the school fees for the two kids, from me. She smiled while at it and prayed that she is certain my daughter will affect the nation positively; she has been created for greatness; is for signs and wonders; the lord will perfect her healing…and promised phoning me to check on her health.
“We love her,” she said at the exit after we had exchanged phone numbers.
Over 16 weeks later, not even a beep from her.
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) pandemic is by far the most persistent medical challenge of man and science at the turn of the century. Since its discovery in America, the virus which is responsible for the development of AIDS has eluded medical solution. The HIV, reports indicate, is most severe in the developing world, with Sub Saharan Africa being the most affected.
Unfortunately, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) says Nigeria has the second largest HIV epidemic in the world with 3.2 million people living with the virus in 2016, among whom only 30 percent were accessing antiretroviral therapy. She also has one of the highest rates of new infection in sub-Saharan Africa with 220,000 persons freshly infected in 2016, and 160,000 AIDS-related deaths. It is estimated that almost two thirds of HIV infections in West and Central Africa in 2016 occurred in Nigeria. Together with South Africa and Uganda, the country accounts for almost half of all new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa every year. This is despite achieving a 15 percent reduction in new infections between 2005 and 2016.
Many people living with HIV in Nigeria are unaware of their status, while the country continually falls short of providing the recommended number of HIV testing and counseling sites. Studies so far in Nigeria, reveals low levels of access to antiretroviral treatment remains an issue for people living with HIV, meaning that there are still many AIDS-related deaths in Nigeria.
Among pregnant women living with HIV, according to the National Agency for the Control of Aids (NACA), 32 percent were accessing treatment or prophylaxis to prevent transmission of HIV to their children. An estimated 37,000 children were newly infected with HIV due to mother-to-child transmission. Among people living with HIV, approximately 24 percent had suppressed viral loads.
The NACA says Nigeria is guided by the National Strategic Framework 2017–2021. The devised strategy aims at ending AIDS by achieving zero new infections, zero AIDS related deaths and zero discrimination, with elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV being a top priority.
Global discusses indicate zero discrimination is the only environment conducive to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030. Unfortunately, stigma and discrimination has been a major challenge towards reducing the tide of HIV in the country. And some Nigerian government parastatals such as the Ogun State Education Ministry, allegedly, legalizes the discrimination against children of school ages.
“WE ARE DIRECTED BY THE GOVERNMENT NOT TO ADMIT HIV POSITIVE CHILDREN INTO STATE OWNED SCHOOLS…”
Zumuratul Islamiyyat Primary School II Ogun State
March 29th, 2018
8:00AM
“Next term is third term. The problem now on ground is that we have specific numbers that government gave us. And, in as much as the number has reached the number given us, any child we want to admit will need to go and purchase a form from them at Pakoto, at N5,000 and after that N5,000, you will pay PTA levy here,” the headmistress of Zumuratul Islamiyyat primary school II in Ogun state explained in details.
She later told me to call her Mrs. Oyegbami, after giving the monetary implication of bringing my daughter to the school. After the journey to Pakoto which is along Ifo road, Sango, in Ogun state, I was expected to return to the school to pay N4,550 from which my child will be given uniform, while the rest would go for policy and insurance respectively.
ZUMURATUL ISLAMIYYAT PRIMARY SCHOOL
“The total amount will be N9,550. But if there is space for the pupil, if he can get a space, I don’t think there is space in primary two anymore, is it a boy or a girl?” she continued.
“It is a girl.”
“I don’t think there is space.”
I was willing to pay anything to get the story. “Don’t worry, I will pay,” I quickly added hoping the bargaining will stop.
“If you cannot go, there are some money we have already collected, if you bring the money, we can go together, and I will help you to get it. After that one, you will now be paying N1,000 every term,” she continued.
That, I agreed to as well. Then, went straight to the point. “The reason why we want to change the child’s school is that the child has HIV. Hope it doesn’t count?
“HIV?” she asked as if trying to remember what it meant. Then, there was something like confusion written all over her face.
“Yes, HIV. The child is HIV positive.”
And a reality I can’t really explain flashed from nowhere and hit her. “Ahhh! We can’t admit her o,” she answered shaking her head vigorously to both sides.
ZUMURATUL ISLAMIYYAT PRIMARY SCHOOL
“Why?” My eyes were still on her.
“Haaa. We can’t admit her o. Thank God that you opened up. We can’t admit her. In fact, there are some policies whereby they (the government) asked us if we have anything like that we should indicate and send it down. There are some people that indicated and they sent it back and said they should not allow them (not grant such kids admission).”
“At Pakoto?” I was rather amused the government would have such policy.
“No, at Abeokuta.”
“The ministry of education?” I prodded further knowing fully well that is the agency she meant but there’s no harm in confirming in definite terms.
“Yes,” Mrs. Oyegbami answered concretely.
“Why?” I wouldn’t let it go just like that. I was still amused.
“We don’t know. It’s like you, you are a well educated person. Some people may be illiterate, they won’t take proper treatment. That is just the issue. Some won’t take proper treatment, while some will be hiding it, by so doing, it will affect others. And here, they do injure themselves all the time. In fact, while they were playing last week Thursday, another person just pushed a boy. And, the teeth of that boy just entered the head of the other boy. And even the teeth cut. Can you imagine that? If you see how blood was coming out, coming out; so they always injure themselves.”
I cringed. I am certain she saw the goose pimples all over me.
“So, may be that is the reason why they (the ministry of education) did not allow it. They (the kids) injure themselves, at times, they stab themselves with biro. This primary school level, in short, one has to be very careful. Secondary school, they may still play maturity at times, but these junior ones, they can eat together, they can do things together. Like the one that happened last week, in fact, if that boy is having something like that, when the teeth entered his (the other boy’s) head, the blood stained him. These are the things.”
Grief and concern were written all over her face. The students’ injuries is obviously something she witnesses often but doesn’t talk about. Well, I pushed my luck a little further but in a different direction. “But my aunt’s son we are looking at bringing from the village doesn’t have anything of sort. Do I buy the form for the boy?”
“Yes, you can buy the form. When you are ready, bring the money. During the holiday, we can go and buy the form before resumption,” she answered with this motherly air all over her.
At least, the boy didn’t get thrown out with the ‘dirty bathwater’ unlike the experience at Isolog primary school, I told myself while leaving the school for my next location in the state.
WE CAN’T ADMIT YOUR HIV POSITIVE KIDS. THEY MAY INFECT OTHER CHILDREN IN OUR SCHOOL…!
Peaklane Primary School, Ogun State
March 2018
9:45AM
The interior of the school is awesome. ‘This one is by far finer than Isolog primary school. I am sure their fees will send me running and screaming,” I said to no one in particular while sashaying into Peaklane primary school’s premises.
At the reception, I could barely hear her well. The school was obviously having a party or about to. I had to raise my voice. “I am here to make inquiries about bringing kids to the school next term.”
“How old?” Mrs. Kadiri the front office manager asked. “One is five years old and the other is seven,” I answered.
“First, you will obtain a form for N3,000 each. Then, they need to write a test. And it is that test we would use in placing them in a class.”
Test ke? For ordinary primary one? I almost replied. “The one who is five is presently in primary one,” I tried pushing.
“It is the test that determines the class they will be placed,” she replied quietly. “Then, what is the school fees like?” again, I tried for some more talks.
“Between N90,000 to N100,000 without meal and transportation. Meal is N13,000 and transportation is N16,000” she reeled on like she does this round the clock daily.
PEAKLANE PRIMARY SCHOOL
Hmmm. These figures are more than the monthly income of many journalists in Nigeria. Can reporters who live on just their salaries which often don’t come as and when due, afford all these? I was already imagining. I don’t know why, but for every school I visited, something in me died. Possibly, it’s the big money these schools charge for just a five year old in primary one. The fees for primary five will then be how much not to talk of secondary school!? What are they teaching sef? I imagined and consoled myself.
The school’s fees were beginning to give me a headache. I simply went straight to the point. “The one who is five years old is HIV positive. Hope accepting her won’t be a challenge?”
“I will need to ask the director. Come tomorrow for feedback.”
“What time tomorrow do I come?”
“This time, tomorrow.”
“It is 9.52am. So, I will be here tomorrow 10am.”
“Okay”.
10.00AM NEXT DAY
The whole school was agog with music. They must be very merry folks. The few teachers I saw dressed better than many bankers and the students looked very happy and well fed. I am certain the teachers own those flashy cars at the school’s car park. If I weren’t a choleric, and restless soul, possibly, this would have been a great place to work, I told myself quietly. And Mrs. Kadiri turned up from wherever she had been.
“I told her (the director) about it and she said no.” Her voice was softer. And her eyes full of pity.
“What reason did she give?”
“That,” she kept quiet suddenly.
“Please, feel free to speak,” I had gotten used not only to the no! but the hows and whys that accompany them.
“That those children, if we are not being careful enough, it might somehow be transferred carelessly. That is why before they come in, we ask them for medical reports to give us details.”
“Before they come in, you take their medical reports?”
“Yes”
“They are to go to their own hospitals?”
“No, we have ours…”
As I journeyed through Ogun state, I got used to school authorities telling me: No! Almost everyone I told the child for admission is living with HIV openly exclaimed: “Aaaah!” Then, some tossed me back and forth. And stopped taking my phone calls.
For several months, all efforts to get the Ogun state ministry of education to confirm if the state has such anti-HIV policy as claimed by Mrs. Oyegbami the headmistress of Zumuratul Islamiyyat Primary School II, and other head of schools, have been futile. The education ministry and state government never responded to even emails and letters sent to them.
***
Ogun State Government, January 18th 2016 said 100,000 residents of the state were living with HIV. In NACA’s most recent score card: ‘Nigeria Prevalence Rate’, Ogun state is indicated as the third state with the lowest HIV incidences, after Zamfara and Ekiti states respectively.
The State’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, had said the government would not renege on its responsibility of providing adequate treatment to the patients. He also called on the public to stop stigmatising persons living with the virus.
“The number of people living with HIV in Ogun is about 100,000, but its has drastically reduced and HIV has declined from 3.5 per cent to 0.6 per cent as contained in the current statistics by the Federal Ministry of Health,” he had said.
According to him, the virus was prevalent in sexually-active people who are older than 15. He asked young people to avoid multiple sexual partners or use protection during sex.
But in a medical research: ‘Prevalence and Seasonal Variations of HIV 1 and 2 Infection among Children in Abeokuta’, Dr. Babatunde Olanrewaju Motayo of the University of Ibadan; Iheanyi Omezuruike Okonko, University of Port Harcourt and Phillip Okerentugba of the latter’s institution, say in Nigeria, there is lack of sufficient data to demonstrate the actual burden of paediatric HIV in Nigeria, although there are several reports of institution based studies showing various prevalence rates across the country.
The three researchers say studies done retrospectively have however indicated that likely seroprevalence rate may range from 5.7 to 20 percent. In developing countries such as Nigeria, new infections of paediatric HIV are mostly acquired through mother to child transmission. Symptoms of paediatric HIV infections include respiratory tract infections, otitis media, diarrhoea disease, malnutrition and septicaemia. This puts infected children at great risk of mortality as severe immunosuppression commences early in children.
The three researchers indicate children as the most severely affected sub-population groups with various medical and social implications. In 2008 alone, about 2.1 million children were reported to be living with HIV. This figure has brought to bear the extent of burden exerted by paediatric HIV infection globally.
Recent studies have also shown a high prevalence of HIV infection among children in Nigeria. Ogun state still remains un-investigated for the exact prevalence of paediatric HIV infection. Researchers so far have only tried to bridge this gap in knowledge by determining the prevalence of paediatric HIV infection in Abeokuta.
For instance, a six month retrospective HIV 1 and 2, Paediatric infection study was carried out by the group between January and June 2010 to determine HIV sero-prevalence and seasonal incidence of HIV. About 269 children ages 18 months to 15 years, median age five years comprising 164 male and 105 female children, were screened.
Age range six to 15 recorded a higher prevalence with 7.9 percent (10/131) while age one to five recorded 5.8 percent (8/138). The highest incidence of infection was seen in the month of May with 154/1000 children tested and the lowest incidence was recorded in the month of January with 18/1000 children tested. The study showed a relatively high prevalence rate of HIV infection among children in Abeokuta.
OUR KIDS CAN’T BE CLASSMATES WITH HIV POSITIVE CHILDREN!
In interviews conducted in different parts of the state, parents kicked against schools admitting kids living with HIV. Even children, teenagers and young adults did not welcome the idea of sharing personal spaces with anyone living with the virus.
Mrs. Temitope Igbodipe a seamstress and mother of two said she will immediately withdraw her daughter from the school notwithstanding her being in primary or secondary school. She said children in primary school are carefree, while those in secondary school, typical of teenagers, will do the exact opposite of whatever instruction they are given.
Nofisat Bolaji, an 11 year old in her first year as a junior secondary school student said she will remain in the school and be friends with the classmate living with the virus but the friendship will be well defined.
Miss. Bolaji said she wouldn’t share personal items like cutleries, books and clothes with such a person. She wouldn’t sleep in the same bed with a friend who is living with HIV.
“If she sleeps in the bed, I would stay on the floor…because I don’t want to get infected,” she said.
Mrs. Opaleye, a trader popularly known as Mummy Bukky in her neighborhood in Ogun State, admitted to have heard radio jingles that people shouldn’t discriminate against persons living with HIV as they can and do live normal lives.
“But as a human being, you know, once one is aware of something negative, you can take away your eyes, but can’t take your mind off it. So, I will withdraw my child from the school as my mind won’t be at peace.
“You know, little children can make the slightest of mistakes. They can play with razor blades in class and what if it is the child with HIV that last used the razor blades and the rest are now playing with it? Kids in primary schools, they can make any mistake and the ones without the virus will now use the razor blades on themselves, they could get infected through such. It is not only through sexual intercourse that people contract the virus. So, it is better I take my child away from there”.
She would do same were the child in secondary school. “To just take him away is better because you may think it’s just one person that has it, meanwhile he has infected so many people. Even children in secondary school do pack friends and move around.
“Their wisdom may not have gotten so matured. They may do stuffs together (with the infected person) and make a mistake at anytime. They may cut their nails, shave their bears or armpits in class; there is no play kids don’t play …my mind can’t be at peace to leave my child in such a place at all,” she stated.
Mr. Olusegun Bamgbose, a student, first said he will warn his child not to share razorblades and sharp objects with the classmate living with the virus.
OLUSEGUN BAMGBOSE
He however emphasized he will tell his child not to run away from such a person as people living with the virus can still be our friends. But if the child is in primary school, he said “I will change the school. I will just change the school because anything can happen.”
CREATE SPECIAL CLASSES OR SCHOOLS FOR HIV POSITIVE KIDS
Renowned lawyer, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and human rights activist, Mr. Festus Keyamo in an exclusive interview said the law frowns at every form of discrimination against people living with HIV. While condemning schools for refusing to admit kids living with HIV, he noted they are afraid of the social stigma because parents will withdraw their children from such schools immediately they hear someone with HIV is in the class.
He however said the federal government must do something about this, while suggesting creation of special schools or classrooms for children living with HIV.
“Like I said, it is against the law to discriminate against them, but even if the schools are willing, I am talking about practical reality, if the schools are willing to follow the laws by admitting children who are HIV positive, we the parents will not help the situation. We will go and withdraw our children from the school, and at the end of the day, they will end up being in that school alone.
“You know, children play with themselves a lot, they scratch themselves with items and may exchange their blood while playing together, parents may not consider it safe. But the government must do something about it if there is a widespread practice like that, either in a particular school, they create a special class or create a special school for them. But it is important that they are not kept at home. Government has to do something to accommodate them,” he said.
IT IS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, NOT ONLY KIDS LIVING WITH HIV
Prof. Bem Angwe, a professor of law and former executive secretary/Chief Executive Officer of National Human Rights Commission said creating special schools and classes for children living with HIV must not feature in the list of solutions. “It is not appropriate. It is discriminatory. It is against the provision of the constitution which prohibits any form of discrimination,” he stated.
PROF. BEM ANGWE
Rather, he recommended massive enlightenment campaigns and which must be taken to school authorities. “On a broader level, there is the need to enlighten even the school authorities on some of the provisions of the constitution that prohibits acts of discrimination in respect to grounds of health, status, sex, race, tribe of origin and so on and so forth.
“It is better to give a general reorientation and to launch a campaign in that respect. If you have a particular child who is refused admission on such discriminatory circumstances, then the child’s right can be enforced,” he said.
Mr. Obatunde Oladapo, the Executive Director of the Oyo State Agency for the Control of AIDS (Oyo SACA), declared the riot-act when contacted by this reporter.
“There is a law against the stigmatization of persons with HIV. If you know those schools where such has happened, I will give you the number of a colleague and you just tell him I asked he should followup on that.
“In Oyo state, there have been cases of stigmatization and discriminatory practices against people living with HIV and when I came on board about one year ago, one of the things we are putting in place is to ensure we have a robust response to that. There is also an anti-stigma law in Oyo state. Therefore, there are sanctions against discrimination against people living with HIV. And people that are found wanting or have contravened the law will be prosecuted,” he stated.
Obatunde Oladapo
Mr. Oladapo cited the case of a teacher who was sacked by his employer- a school owned by a church in Oyo state, for being HIV positive. The teacher had disclosed his HIV status to the school authorities who then got him tested. The result confirmed he was honest about it. Then, he got sacked after being told “we would be praying for your healing but need to protect the school community.”
“We have referred the case of that school and the laboratory involved to the ministry of justice. And we want the school and the hospital that carried out the test to be prosecuted,” he said.
He however warned that when people claim they are acting based on directives, most of the time, it is their personal biases at work. “That is very, very wicked, and that is something we should take very seriously….If these things are happening across seven states you have sampled in the country, that is a bigger problem.
“Interestingly, I raised the issue of all these testing at private facilities but I didn’t expect it to be as bad as you have just depicted….Let me tell you, it is a crime, not just against those persons but against humanity, for you to deprive any child access to education on account of that person’s HIV or any other form of health status. It is criminal.
“There are laws in Nigeria that are against it. There is the national anti-stigma law that makes it a crime anywhere in this country. And the law has been domesticated in many states in Nigeria. I know of Lagos, Oyo, Ekiti, among other states. I am not sure of that of Ogun state,” he emphasized.
AFFECTED PARENTS MUST SEEK JUSTICE
Mr. Oladapo, who for over a decade has been standing up for people living with HIV, said anyone living with the virus who has been discriminated against should seek redress. And this includes children.
On how to seek redress, he cited an example with his jurisdiction “you report to the Oyo State Agency for the Control of Aids, or the ministry of justice through the office of the attorney general and minister of justice in the state.
“But beyond those official reporting route, there is the network of persons with HIV in the state that can also take up peoples’ issues, and I want to tell you even in our office at SACA, people can report such cases and we have actually resolved many cases….we have not, sincerely, had one reported case of a child being deprived of access to education on account of his or her health status, but a school that can send a teacher out of the school saying we are praying for you and want to protect the school community, but will be praying for your healing and it is even a christian school for that matter, will definitely reject an HIV positive child. Sincerely, if we have a case like that, we would not take it lightly, “ he added.
HIV/HEALTH STATUS NOT DETERMINANT FOR ACADEMIC PROWESS
Medical documentations so far reveal treatment as prevention is now the accepted global standard in curbing HIV/AIDS. A cross sampling of medical experts’ opinions indicated once anybody tests positive, placing the person on treatment immediately is the safest way of ensuring other persons don’t get infected. Treatment, the medical experts disclosed, is a veritable major prevention strategy which the whole world has now acknowledged.
“Therefore, everybody should test, know their HIV status, and anybody that tests positive should be placed on treatment. And what that means is that assuming I am a parent with an HIV positive child and I want to enroll him in a primary or secondary school, I don’t have to tell the school, but if for any reason I just want to tell because sometimes we might want to disclose for one reason or the other, the school does not have a right to deny that child admission. The HIV status, or health status of a child is not a basis for determining whether a child is fit for admission in a school for studies or not,” Mr. Oladapo said.
SCHOOLS DISCRIMINATING AGAINST HIV POSITIVE CHILDREN WILL BE SUED!
Dr. Sani Aliyu, Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) in an exclusive interview expressed shock on hearing findings of this story.
“That is terrible! …I am shocked and really amazed that in this time and age, people out there are still considering HIV as a topic to run away from. Within the populace, there is a lot of hypocrisy,” he said.
He disclosed that the anti-discrimination bill passed in 2015 is being updated by the national assembly to accommodate children in particular, emphasizing that people living with HIV have a right to normal life, grow a family and the kids do have rights to education and other privileges a child without HIV accesses.
“I am not aware of anybody (people living with HIV) who went out to deliberately get infected. So, why on earth would you discriminate against such a person? Even the lady at the school you spoke about, if she tests for HIV, does she know if she might be HIV positive or not?” he queried.
He stressed that discrimination lingers because no one has been used as a scapegoat, especially schools which are legal entities. “They can be sued and they need to be sued if that is what they are doing. They need to be taken to court and an example made of one or two schools,” he added.
DR SANI ALIYU
Dr. Aliyu said HIV is not that infectious and is contracted only through intimate contact. He also stated that when on treatment, people can’t be infected, even through sex. “So, why on earth will you discriminate against a child? It is unacceptable. At NACA, we would support any child discriminated against. It’s not what society wants.
“We shouldn’t be discriminating against people living with HIV. How do they know who has it? They live healthy normal lives. HIV is like any other viral infection. Do they do the same thing to people with other viruses? So, what is so special about HIV that people get treated in a different way? I am very disappointed that the schools are behaving in such a way,” he further expressed dismay.
The NACA DG urged Nigerians to be bold enough to declare their HIV status. He stressed that one of the reasons stigmatization lingers is because public figures still keep their status secret.
“If people know there are members of parliament, people in the executive and governors who have HIV and they openly come out and declare it, maybe the perception of society will change. What is wrong is wrong. It is wrong the way schools are treating the children and we will definitely not allow that,” he said.
SCHOOLS TESTING STUDENTS FOR HIV AS ADMISSION PREREQUISITE IS ILLEGAL
Dr. Aliyu warned schools testing kids for HIV as part of admission prerequisite to desist from the act for it is illegal. He said schools can test for tuberculosis, chest x-ray, and check if a child has had the routine immunization because certain infections like TB and chickenpox are much more common and infectious.
“I am yet to hear of any school child who has transferred HIV to another child in the whole world. So, it is of no benefit doing a HIV test if it is for the purpose of the school,” he added.
He however stated that if such test is for the purpose of the child, it will help initiate treatment for him/her but must be done with permission of the parents, lest it is illegal. “And doing tests to determine if to admit (a child into school) or not, is illegal,” he emphasized.
Editor’s Note: The interview, photograph, audio-visual of the child- Miss. Nofisat Bolaji, in the story, are used with parental consent.
This story was produced with support from Code For Africa and her Naija Data Ladies Fellowship Programme.
…We still have a lot of work to de-stigmatize HIV- Health Minister
Nigeria’s HIV epidemic affects all population groups and geographic areas of the country. Consequently, February 2015, the Federal Government signed into law the HIV/AIDS anti-discrimination bill to protect the rights and dignity of people living with HIV. Thus, making it illegal to discriminate against people based on their HIV status.
TOBORE OVUORIE, in her diary-like five-part investigative report across seven states in Nigeria- Ogun, Lagos, Edo, Delta, Imo, Benue and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, reveals children of school age living with HIV are overlooked when populations disproportionately impacted by the epidemic are assessed. These kids, the investigation discloses, are not only stigmatised and discriminated against by the society but are denied their human rights to educational opportunities.
BIRTHING THE STORY
It all began sometime in February 2018 when I pitched a story; this story actually, to the Code For Africa team. I was to decide the editorial. The states I want combined and those to go independent. Code For Africa has no control over editorials.
My-colleague-turned-to-friend-and-sister, Vanessa Offiong of Daily Trust Newspaper, whom I had confided in, warned me not to go to any school close to where I live.
“Don’t even go to a school within the jurisdiction where you live. Tobore, we are Nigerians. The news will spread fast that your kids have HIV. You don’t want to start hunting for a new apartment because your landlord won’t understand.”
The story?
I was to move around as many schools as possible, across seven states, on a simple mission: to find out if the school authorities will grant my kids admission without any form of biases because of their health status.
What about their health status?
They are supposedly living with HIV.
Yes! The Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
GOD WILL HEAL THEM BUT WE CAN’T ADMIT HIV POSITIVE KIDS INTO THE SCHOOL…!
March 28th, 2018
It’s like she was on red alert before my arrival. “We don’t accept students during third term. It is until the new session in September.” The head teacher of Ojodu primary school three at Grammar school bus-stop, a suburb in Lagos state.
Maybe there was something about me which oozed of admission inquiry.
“What class are they now?” She sort of changed her mind.
“They are presently in primary one.”
“If they are presently in primary one, maybe I can help you.” My lucky hunch!
“Thank you very much.”
“But you will need to bring them let me see them first. Are they your children?”
I nodded in the affirmative, silently praying she wouldn’t change her mind. She seemed impulsive.
“What of the school they are going to?”
“They are in Delta state. The issue is that along the line, they tested positive to HIV and the school then advised after the exams that we can’t keep them in the school anymore.”
“And how are you sure that we would put them in our own school?…We have nurses that used to come and attend to these children…How are you coping? The HIV positive patients, they use drugs?”
“Yes.”
“And you are using it for them?”
“Yes.”
“We also have nurses that attend to our children. Maybe when we resume, you come and see me let me make inquiries maybe there is a way we can help them.”
And then she answered a personal phone call. I was there and heard everything she said over the phone. There was nothing related to the kids and I. How come immediately she got off the phone, she sang another song, I still can’t comprehend over 16 weeks later.
Ojodu Primary Schools
“You know these public school children, they play a lot. And it is not something you can start telling teachers that this child is having this thing o. They will just start treating the child somehow…”
She went on to tell me about how the students at schools one, two and three play rough, then how they injure themselves and the gushing blood. “It’s only God who really protects these children. Now, you can imagine what would have happened if any of them had that thing?”
I couldn’t believe she was referring to HIV as ‘that thing’. Besides, the school doesn’t test the students for HIV before they are admitted, so how could she make such sweeping statement about what would happen if any of the students were living with the virus?
I tried to persuade her that my kids are on antiretroviral (ART) so pose no threat. She didn’t understand. And didn’t want to know.
“It is dangerous. It would be risky admitting them.”
“They are on medications and very healthy.”
“Before we know it, other children will have it too because children will be children. They are innocent.”
“My kids are on very great health regime. Their viral load is undetectable so their classmates will be safe with them.”
There was a brief silence. Seemed like she was having a rethink on hearing about their undetectable viral load.
Ojodu Primary Schools
“How did they get it?”
I wondered if there was any correlation between how they got it and their right to educational opportunities. Or, was she trying to assess me too? If they contracted it from me? Well, she sort of had the knife and the yam.
“Through blood transfusion.”
“Madam, don’t worry, God will heal them. You believe God still performs miracles? But the kids here are so many. They are over 3,000 of them in the three schools occupying this compound, so the teachers can’t really monitor them.”
I was shocked. And speechless. So why those questions? I wondered.
“There is this other public school at Saabo. Just tell an okada rider to take you to the government school at Saabo. They will take you there. It’s the only one there and is owned by the Lagos state government. They are fewer in population.”
She already stood up while speaking. I got the message. I left the brief comfort provided by the chair in her office. When she was done talking, I put in a simple “thanks a lot ma, I greatly appreciate your efforts.”
“Don’t worry, God will heal them.”
KIDS ON HIV TREATMENT HEALTHIER THAN HIV-NEGATIVE CHILDREN
Mr. Obatunde Oladapo, Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, Oyo State Agency for the Control of AIDS (OyoSACA) when contacted over this, said “A child that is HIV positive and is on treatment is not a sickly child, is not less active, is not less intelligent, and the child who is on HIV treatment is most likely going to be healthier than other children because the child is being put through a better health seeking practice.”
Obatunde Oladapo
He continued that “Once anybody’s HIV viral load is undetectable, that person is not infectious anymore. Therefore, the fear that if the child cuts him or herself with razor or whatever or the other, and it cuts another child and all these balderdash we have been hearing, is not there anymore”.
WE DON’T ADMIT ANY CHILD WITH HEALTH ISSUES, HIV, INTO THIS SCHOOL!
All schools I visited shared something in common. The headmasters, headmistresses, principals or whoever represented the school either exclaimed “Aaaaah!”, or moved their heads backwards or had their eyes wide open or their lips parted with nothing coming out, immediately I told them my kid for whom I sought admission into their schools is living with HIV.
I decided to head for the school owned by the church I attend. Maryland Comprehensive High School is not located within the compound of St. Agnes Catholic Church by mistake. It is owned by the Catholic church and a Reverend Sister is in charge of its administration.
I remember vividly it was the second day of August this year. I walked into the premises with so much confidence after morning Mass that breezy Thursday morning.
“I am here to make inquiries about bringing two kids to the school,” I began at the secretary to the principal’s office.
Unlike every other schools I had been to where I was told all financial implications, it was quite different here. The secretary told me “what is obtainable here is you will purchase a form first, after the form, every other information will be given to you.”
“How much is the form?”
“The form is N10,000. Let the child pass the exam first, and we will give you every other information you need.”
“N10,000 per form?” I was kind of shocked. Too expensive for just a form with no certainty a child will be granted admission, I thought.
“Yes, per form. Our school is doing summer coaching, if you’ll want to put them too, you can, it is open to everybody.” She went on to tell me that the summer coaching had started, while the entry examination into the school will hold on the 25th of August. She wouldn’t tell me the cost for school fees until after the kids have written and passed the exams.
MARYLAND COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOL
While speaking, some women filed in like soldier ants and sat down. “Please, could I see you about something, I can’t really say it out here? It’s as regards the kids,” I asked the young lady remembering Vanessa’s advice. Though I don’t live around, but I worship here. These women must not hear I have anything to do with HIV. She agrees to join me outside her office.
“I am wondering if this will be an issue after the children must have written the exams and passed it. They are HIV positive. Will they be accepted” She interjected “the both of them?” And I answered in the affirmative.
“Because we too, we do our medical tests, when we do our medical tests, I don’t know o. I don’t know.” She sounded worried and confused.
“You have the school hospital and all that?”
“Yes.”
“They are actually confirmed and they are on antiretroviral.”
“That is what I don’t know. Even some that are, when it comes to health issues in some children, they will tell them if it is what the children can easily get from each other, they will tell them that they should… it depends on the health issue sha. It depends on the health issue. I can’t really tell.”
She went on to tell me they have never had an issue like mine, so couldn’t tell me a yes or no. I suggested if she would like to confirm from the school authorities first. Then, she offered me a seat on the corridor just opposite her office’s door.
Vanessa was right. Few minutes after the secretary went back into her office, one of the women who came in to sit while I was there, opened the door and peeped, no, stared at me, for it was not for a few seconds. I was sitting alone at the time and she looked directly at me with our eyes locked. When I removed my glasses to match her with a do-I-look-like-your-missing-child stare, she backed off, and shut the door.
I waited for very well over an hour watching parents, teachers and other persons go in and out of the principal’s office. There are many trees lined in front of the school building. In short, the mission compound is full of trees. And with this comes breeze and cold. I shivered during my long wait for a response. The jacket I wore was just a figurehead.
I least expected the secretary when she walked up to me. I had gotten used to her opening her office door, walking down the corridor and back without saying a word to me. In all the while, several persons had come sit by my side, gone in to see the principal and left. A woman few minutes before the secretary surfaced, had sat on the same bench with me by my left. Then, the secretary turned up and bent over me to my right speaking in almost a whisper.
“I have been able to see her (the principal) regarding that thing. She said no. There is no how they can do that admission.
“Why?”
“Hmmmmmm…”
“You said?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know. But that is how they operate here. It has been like that. Before they (the students) come, they have to do X-ray and everything, and everything, and anyone with health issue is not taken.”
“Ok. Anyone with health issue is not admitted?”
“Yes. Yes. That they will just be carrying the health issue up and down.”
“Ok.” I became numb. And don’t know why.
“It is well. God bless you.” She straightened up immediately, turned back and walked into her office as if well rehearsed.
The HIV pandemic has ravaged mankind for over three decades with Nigeria having her first case in 1985 in a sexually active 13 year-old girl. Reports however indicate the incidence of new infections to have declined globally and this may not be unconnected with increased prevention and control measures.
The Lagos State Agency for the Control of AIDS (LSACA) says there have been increased surveillance activities to complement control measures in recent years.
But in a 2017 spectrum estimates by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) and National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), there are 196,534 persons age 15 years and above, living with HIV in Lagos state, whilst only 38.84 percent of them are on antiretroviral (ART) coverage. Unfortunately, 21,520 children between the ages zero to 14 years have the virus, with 50.39 percent of these kids on ART coverage.
Recent statistics courtesy the Lagos state governor, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode revealed 9,579 fresh HIV cases were recorded in the state between January and June 2016. But NACA/UNAIDS in their joint survey say 17,667 mothers are currently in need of PMTCT (prevention of mother to child transmission) care. The duo health bodies indicate 17,801 persons are newly infected in the state.
Unfortunately, children in all categories described so far, are presently in primary and secondary schools respectively all over Lagos state.
WE WILL ADMIT THE HIV POSITIVE KIDS IF HEALTH STATUS IS KEPT A SECRET
2nd August 2018
Mrs. Olaleye, a staff at the school told me for the kids to be students at St. Gloria’s College, Ikeja, Lagos, I am to first buy the school’s admission form at N8,000 each. Then, they will write a test. The date will be fixed after purchasing the form to note their placements into the junior and senior secondary schools respectively. If they perform well, they will be offered admission, if the other way round, she said “We always have a way around it with the parents, if we can work on them from home, probably get them a lesson teacher to brush them up to meet up to the standard.”
She said the fee for the first term is N215, 000. The fees for all the classes are the same. “N215,000 for first term, N215,000 for second term and N215,000 for third term,” she emphasized.
The N215,000 is for tuition, stationery, lunch and ICT, while for uniforms, textbooks and PTA, another N90,000 would be needed for the first term. Subsequent terms, I would pay only N215,000.
St Gloria’s College
Then, I went straight to why I was there. “I wouldn’t know if this would pose as a challenge. The child that is going to JSS two, she is HIV positive. I wouldn’t know if it would be a challenge accepting her?”
Mrs. Olaleye told me she couldn’t answer that. She suggested I dropped my phone number with her and she will revert to me after discussing with the principal because it is not a decision she could make. “I may look at it as there’s nothing wrong, while she may look at it as there’s something wrong. I don’t know. So, it has to be a decision that will be taken by the principal.”
I collected her phone number too. Since my moving around schools, no one who collected my phone number ever called as promised. On my way out of the school, Mrs. Olaleye stopped me and asked “I hope it isn’t something that is showing on her physically?”
She advised I stopped disclosing her status even to proposed schools for admission. “Even the way you have also said it, I don’t know, I don’t think it is something that you should be saying to people, personally, I don’t know. Personal opinion.”
She advised I counsel my daughter that her living with HIV is something she must not tell any other person in order to avert being stigmatised.
“I will ask her (the principal) since you have mentioned it. Assuming you didn’t mention it, it would have just remained like that. But since you have mentioned it, I will mention it to her, if probably she would also want to see the mother, aunt or whoever, to have a one-on-one discussion, it’s left for her to decide,” were her parting words to me.
9TH AUGUST 2018
Exactly a week later, I phoned Mrs. Olaleye for the principal’s verdict.
“You are the one that said she would call me that I will give you a feedback?” she tried confirming my identity.
“Yes, ma.”
“Can I know your name? What is your name? You know, you told me your name that day, so I just want to confirm through that.”
“My full name is Efetobore Mit,” I remembered telling her exactly that.
“Okay. I discussed with her. She said there is nothing wrong in her being in the school and she would also want to have a word with the parents. I don’t know what with the discussion. You know I told you that day…that is the only thing she said.”
Oh. My lucky hunch. Not a bad outing after all, I told myself.
Mrs. Olaleye then dropped what I never expected nor imagined.
“She is going to have a word with the parents. The child can be admitted if it is not said everywhere. You know, like some people will go here and there and they will begin to say it. She doesn’t want that. That if it is exposed to the children (students in the school) and they (their parents) heard at home, it can become another issue. But to her, she does not discriminate.”
“Interesting!” I said aloud after ending the phone call. No life was in the room with me.
SCHOOLS AFRAID OF SOCIAL STIGMA
Renowned lawyer, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and human rights activist, Mr. Festus Keyamo exclusively told me the law frowns at every form of discrimination against people living with HIV. While condemning schools for refusing to admit kids living with HIV, he noted they are afraid of the social stigma because parents will withdraw their children from such schools immediately they hear someone with HIV is in the class.
“THEY (HIV POSITIVE CHILDREN) WILL GIVE US TROUBLE!”
OJODU JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
The security guard watching over the Ojodu Junior High School introduced me to Mr. Adeniji, who works with the school. I would later get to know he is a senior officer on level 15 due for retirement December this year. It was very sunny that 28th day of March while the OJHS students, as they are called, played around. Perhaps it was their lunch break. I then told Mr. Adeniji I had a set of twin for admission into JSS one the following term.
“It is a question of little money. Just N12,000. Just for their names to come out. No uniforms o. Nothing again o. Just to help you for their names to come out, that is all,” Mr. Adeniji stressed.
This is a government school so why the N12,000 just for their names to come out? I as usual imagined. Then he continued “When out, you pay N1,430 for registration which includes a tie and sportswear. You will buy them exercise books, you will buy them bata (shoes) black, socks black, belt black, and you will buy them uniforms.
Ojodu junior high school
As usual again, I agreed to everything he said. Then told him about the HIV status of the kids.
“That is a very tough one. How will they be taking their medication? … It is better you work on that one. … The scientists are working to find solutions to it. … I will find out about the government laws on this.”
Exactly five months later, I was back at the school and met with Mrs. Thanni- Olodo, Asisat Folabomi, secretary to the school principal. I told her I had a set of twin for admission into JSS two.
“Haaa. JSS two?” I responded in the affirmative. “If it is JSS two, by this time tomorrow, you won’t have the opportunity again o.”
“Why?”
“Because the form is closing tomorrow.”She told me each of the forms costs N25,000
N25,000 for one person” I asked to be certain I heard well. Ojodu Junior High School is government owned, how come the entry form costs a fair fortune? How many indigents will be able to afford this? I thought.
“Hmmn. Those people I am processing for, they asked me to send their dates of birth. Right now, I am just sending them. It is JSS two.”
When I asked what time was deadline for sales of forms the next day, she said “If possible you can send the money today, it’s better and I’ll send it to them.” Then, she told me the entrance examination is for 27th of August. I told her the money would be sent same day before nightfall. And she requested we head for her office so she could capture the details of the set of twin.
Ojodu Junior High School
At her office, she phoned her contact who works at the Lagos state ministry of education. The contact agreed I should send the money. “This JSS two’s trouble is becoming too much. Before I’ll know it, they will phone again that they need another thing,” she lamented to herself aloud. Then, gave me a sheet of paper to write the full names of the twin, their dates of birth, home address and my phone number.
She asked if I had LASRA. I didn’t know what that was. “Do you have tax clearance?” I immediately tell her yes, but it is for Delta. “Since you have that, you will do LASRA,” she continued. Wow! Does it take all these for a child to gain admission into Lagos government owned schools? I imagined.
She scribbled her bank details on a sheet of paper and handed it to me. That is where the money was to be lodged. It read:
“They are going to write exam o. Please, tell them to read their book.” It sounded like a tell-them-not-to-waste-your-money alert.
“Please o, the form is closing tomorrow, except you want them to be in JSS one. Assuming you came around that last week, it was N20,000. It’s because this is late. After tonight, I won’t collect any money from anybody because the form will be closing by 12 noon tomorrow,” she added while I was writing details of the children on the sheet of paper offered me.
“Lest I forget, hope this would not be any problem at all. As in, the health status of the children.”
“Are they SS (sickle-cell anaemia)?”
“No. They are HIV positive.”
She asked “HIV positive?” as if trying to make sense of it.
‘Yes, they have HIV.”
Silence. Then she continued, “that means you won’t disclose it to anybody.” She phoned her contact at the ministry of education again. “They are human beings, it is not their fault,” she said, as she dialed the phone number.
“Ma, the children who just want to come are HIV positive, what should we do?” From the position I was sitting, I could hear the woman at the other end though Mrs. Olodo’s phone number was not on speaker. The contact sounded surprised. “Iro o!”she said no, it can’t be true, in Yoruba language and Mrs. Olodo repeated the question.
OJODU JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
“No! No! No…! Don’t accept them,” the contact answered and burst into a witch-like uncontrolled laughter.
Mrs. Olodo sighed and ended the call. “She said no.”
“Is it against the school’s policy or what?”
“I don’t know, although she is not the principal of the school. But she is in charge of admission over there.”
“At the (Lagos state) ministry of education?”
“Hmmmn.”
“So, even if the principal says yes, they over there are the ones to take the decision?”
“It is because I informed her. Is it glaring seeing them?”
“No o. They are on medication. They are taking the antiretroviral so it’s not glaring.
“I hope they don’t have dos and don’ts that will affect them?”
“They don’t have those.”
“Maybe they have the environment or the type of people they need to move with?”
“Haaa. No, no, no o, they don’t have dos and don’ts. Nothing of such.” Then she tried phoning someone else at the Lagos education ministry.
“Maybe I will not inform this person about their health status. I won’t inform her.”
“If they know, they will say no?”
“Yes. I won’t inform her. So, you people will pretend as if you just discovered. They (the kids) are human beings, they need to live normal lives now. Like my first son, I am AS and my husband is also AS. My first son is SS. They are human beings, since God gave him to me, I need to take care of him. But if you see him, it is showing because I did not discover on time.” The alternative she wanted to reach out to wasn’t answering her calls. Mrs. Olodo tried calling the initial contact. She answered.
“They said they (the twin) are on medication.” Then, she ran out of call-card and we had to continue the call with my own phone.
“What is the number Ma?”
“07088653088.” I repeated the numbers after her, then dialed.
“Ma, I am the one Thanni. They said they are on medication, what should I do?”
“Don’t accept them at all.”
“Okay, I have heard.”
“I said don’t accept them, the stress that would come with it will be too much.”
“In what way will it (the stress) be much, Ma?”
“They would be following me everywhere. It would have where they would follow me to. These children that are not well.
“Okay. I have heard Ma.” She ended the call and turned to me. “She insisted that no. Let me call another person.”
“Is it against their policy?”
“No, it is not against their policy. She is the one that sees it as something big. I made a mistake.”
The alternate person at the Lagos education ministry phoned and Mrs. Olodo answered immediately, saying “there are some persons who want to come into JSS two, but they said the children are HIV positive.” The alternative obviously didn’t allow her to finish the sentence. “You don’t want? Hmmmmnnn. Okay. I have heard. Okay.”
Mrs. Olodo turned to me with pity written all over her. “I will call you.”
“Oh. She too did not agree?”
“Hmmmnn. I will find someone else to call.”
While on my way out, she called me back. “Please, don’t tell people about their health status so that they will not see them as outcasts. You know Nigerian belief. Even my son that is SS, if you see the way they treat him, whenever they are doing something in the school, they do isolate him. Let’s say they want to do end of year party, you know all those activities like singing. I don’t understand Nigerian mentality. And the boy do feel bad. To be sincere to myself, last party they did, I didn’t pay. I have three kids there and I didn’t pay for party…”
“Because they will not allow him do anything?” I interjected.
“Of course, and the boy do feel bad,” her voice was full of emotion.
“Oh my God. How old is the boy if I may ask?” I couldn’t mask the pain too.
“Nine years old. Even when he was in Command (primary school), the same thing. When others are going for sport, they will keep him indoor, he will be the only one in the class.”
“Haa. Na wa o. But these two children, they don’t look it at all. They don’t look sickly at all.”
“I don’t know Nigerian mentality, they will see those kids as outcasts. I don’t know. Most of the time I do feel bad when my son is complaining. Honestly, I do feel bad.”
Pains took over her pretty dark face as she lamented the maltreatment of kids by adults over health conditions the children never chose. She was almost two decibels away from tears.
LAGOS STATE NOT AGAINST CHILDREN LIVING WITH HIV
Mr. Adesegun Ogundeji, Public Relations Officer to the Lagos state ministry of education, Saturday August 11th, distanced the ministry from all actions by Mrs. Folabomi, Mr. Adeniji and the education officers.
He said the Lagos state government does not discriminate against anyone for whatever reason, rather, assists such persons get medical attention. The PRO emphasized that medical reports are never requested to admit children into Lagos state owned schools and stressed that the change of transfer forms cost N5,000 not N25,000.
Shocked that N25,000 was already being collected by Mrs. Folabomi and others in the admission-ring, Mr. Ogundeji said “The ministry has no hand in that. It is criminal. N25,000 for what? We must get to the root of this matter. I want to know those education officers doing that kind of a thing.
“I want to know when they became medical officers that determine who gets what on medical grounds. And I want to know who sent them to sell forms for N25,000.”
Mr. Ogundeji called on everyone to help make Lagos a better state.
AUGUST 13TH, 2018
Exactly 10am, I was at the Lagos state ministry of education while Mr. Ogundeji; Mrs. Folashade Lediju, director administration and human resources of the ministry, as well as Mr. Biodun Oni, director of financial services, listened to recordings of all my transactions with Mrs. Folabomi, the education officer and Mr. Adeniji. The Lagos state ministry of education same day commenced on-the-field-pick-ups and investigations into the fraudulent activities and discriminatory acts. Mr. Ogundeji promised to disclose details of the outcome of the investigations to me.
SHOULD A CHILD’S HIV STATUS BE DISCLOSED?
Prof. Bem Angwe, a professor of law and former Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of Human Rights Commission, said it is necessary for parents to disclose the HIV status of children to school authorities.
“The important thing is to ensure that that act of discrimination be stopped. We must end all forms of discrimination on grounds of health or ill health. It is really not right for you to just conceal the status of the child because you want the child to gain admission or because the child may not be given admission if the status is disclosed.
PROF. BEM ANGWE
“I don’t think it is proper, because disclosing it will even help prevent that disease from spreading. I think it is a social issue where massive campaign needs to be launched and then, people need to be told there is no point discriminating, or isolating or stigmatizing people or children with HIV. I don’t think it is right to start concealing the status of one’s children,” he said.
Nigeria’s health minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole said it is not necessary for parents to disclose the HIV status of children to school authorities. He however emphasized “And if they disclose by any chance, it is expected confidentiality is observed.”
HON MINISTER OF HEALTH, PROF. ISAAC ADEWOLE
WE DON’T WANT HIV POSITIVE CHILDREN AROUND!
In interviews conducted in different parts of Lagos state, parents said they will withdraw their children from school should any of their classmates test positive to HIV. Even children, teenagers and young adults did not welcome the idea of sharing personal spaces with anyone living with the virus.
Miss Stella Ezike, a 13 year-old JSS two student said should any of her classmates or friends test positive to HIV, she wouldn’t share personal items like razor blades, sharpeners, hair combs and spoons with the infected person.
Though ready to be friends with the affected one, she said the friendship would however be well defined since she would be afraid and doesn’t want to contract the virus. She wouldn’t even share clothes with anyone living with the virus for fear of contracting the virus through the person’s sweat.
Mrs. Bukola Bolaji, a nurse, said should her child’s classmate test positive to HIV, she would withdraw her from the school to prevent chances of her own child “contracting disease.”
Even if her child were already in junior secondary school, she insisted she would still withdraw the child from the school because of the virus. Mrs. Bolaji fears her child may contract the virus from the classmate while they are playing.
Olayinka Sekoni, a fashion designer said she would first see the owner of the school to inquire if the affected child would be withdrawn from the school or not. If the child would remain, she wouldn’t allow her own child to “contract that deadly disease.”
She said if the child is not withdrawn from the school, she will take hers away in order to save her life. She fears kids could be very playful and in the process injure themselves and should her child touch the blood of the infected child, she will automatically contract it. “I don’t have any explanations for the father. When I am not infected, why should my child contract it?” she retorted.
Mrs. Ayo Lawal, a trader, said she wouldn’t withdraw her child from the school, neither will she tell her child to run away from such a person. But she emphasized that wisdom will be applied since “It is wisdom the elderly use in avoiding cows. So, we will be using idea.
“If before they used to eat together when the classmate’s status was unknown, now, we will be very careful by ensuring his/her personal items are not used, but we won’t run away from such one.”
Miss Olamide Timothy, an undergraduate admitted that though people living with HIV should not be avoided, she however can’t even sit with such persons for fear of contracting the virus through their sweat.
She is willing to eat with persons living with the virus but can’t share cutlerries with them. She wouldn’t share clothes with anyone who tests positive to HIV. She is afraid she could contract the virus through the person’s clothes.
WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DE-STIGMATIZE HIV!
Nigeria’s health minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole in an interview Saturday August 11th, expressed concern over the findings in this investigation. He said “What you just told me, if confirmed, shows we still have a lot of work to do in order to de-stigmatize HIV.
“My day will be a day when we will treat HIV just like how we treat hypertension and diabetes. With the treatment we currently have, HIV has become any of those chronic disease that cannot be cured but can be controlled.”
He said the parents and school authorities’ discriminatory acts is a reflection of the amount of work yet to be done by the country. He disclosed that the health ministry is decentralizing HIV management in Nigeria, thus, has granted Lagos her own treatment programme. He further disclosed that the ministry is moving next to Imo, Oyo and Kaduna states respectively.
“The ministry is currently conducting the largest HIV indicator survey (globally) to determine the exact prevalence of HIV in Nigeria in order to calibrate our work and determine what we are doing.”
The health minister called on all Nigerians to join the movement in eradicating HIV stigmatization in the country. He said people’s discriminatory actions (those in this story and others) is as a result of stark ignorance about how HIV is transmitted.
“It’s not just schools. It’s a situation in which all of us must be involved in education, improving awareness, eliminating ignorance and letting them know HIV is not even like TB where someone is coughing and you pick it. It’s not like pneumonia, it’s not like flu.
“This is good work (referring to this story). And I will pass this message to the team that we have serious work to do. And I will also work with my education colleague (minister of education).”
Editor’s Note: The interview, photograph, audio-visual of the child in the story, are used with parental consent.
This story was produced with support from Code For Africa through her Naija Data Ladies Fellowship Programme.
