The Nation Newspaper

Tag: kids

  • ‘How insurgents killed father,his four kids and took away his wife’

    ‘How insurgents killed father,his four kids and took away his wife’

    IT was a few minutes past noon in Mubi, Adamawa State, this day. The streets were deserted. Vultures hovered in the sky above, threatening to descend on the near-decomposing human corpses scattered all over the city. Strange scenes like this have been the lot of the once boisterous, second largest city in Adamawa State since Boko Haram bandits seized control of the town.

    Since the attack, there have been ceaseless tears and sorrow on the faces of residents, especially the about 100 pregnant women who have prematurely given birth to babies in the bush or in the camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

    The Nation gathered that over 300 children, who have been separated from their families since the invasion, are yet to be reunited, while the fate of many mothers, fathers and other members of the family cannot be ascertained.

    According to a resident, who pleaded anonymity, “Even husbands that ran away from Mubi are yet to locate their wives, unaware if they will ever see themselves again. The situation in the town is very grim. As I speak with you, nobody is sure of where other members of their families who have been scattered are or whether they are alive or dead.”

    Survivors, who spoke with The Nation, narrated tales of narrow escape. According to them, the lucky survivors of the attack on Mubi were those who were able to recite ‘kalma shahada’, which they explained was the only sure passport to freedom for residents who are not members of the Boko Haram.

    “I tell you, it was a terrible experience. Many people were gruesomely murdered by the insurgents. The only people who were spared were those who were able to recite the kalma shahada. What happened in Mubi is better imagined than experienced. Even up till now, the smell of decomposing bodies scattered all over the city is still fouling the air.”

    Eyewitnesses’ accounts say most of the attackers are not Nigerians. According to them, most of the attackers are tall, slender, light-skinned and wore coiled hair.

    “Most of these people are not Nigerians. It is easy to identify them. None of the Boko Haram fighters is robust. They are tall, slender and very light-skinned. Their ages should be between 15 and 30 years.”

    A resident of Mubi, Mallam Abubakar Usman, said he narrowly escaped death. According to him, he trekked more than 75 kilometres to escape the onslaught of the insurgents who have now changed the name of Mubi to Madinatu Islama.

    He said he lost his uncle and other relatives. He called on the Federal Government to flush out the insurgents, whom he described as foreign invaders.

    “I trekked more than 75 kilometres to escape. I have never trekked such a distance all my life. Some people who were unable to run were slaughtered by these people. They were killed in front of their children like rams. The insurgents are foreigners. They don’t look like Nigerians at all.

    “A man was killed along with four of his children. They took away the wife with them. The woman was crying and begging them to kill her. She said she could not afford to live without her family.”

    Another indigene of Mubi, Asabe James, is yet get over the shock of witnessing the killing of her parents by the insurgents.  It was the same sorrowful tale for Jana Jabala, whose parents were also killed by the insurgents. However, she is happy to have been reunited with her two siblings who were scattered during the attack.

    “I am happy that my two brothers are alive. At least, I have a bit of consolation that not all members of my family were killed.”

    A source in Mubi pointed out that they were a sizeable number of soldiers at the home of the Chief of Army Staff, Alex Badeh; so, according to the source, it was not clear why the insurgents were able to take the town.

    Many of the soldiers, who allegedly removed their uniforms before fleeing into the bush, were said to have been assisted by the youths of the town to find their way into Yola.

    However, the army authorities have taken steps to address the problem. Shortly after the attack, the Nigerian Army was said to have posted a new commander to reorganise the 232 Tank Battalion, Yola, and pep up the morale of the troops.

    Governor Bala James Nggilari also addressed the people of the state in a broadcast, assuring them of the efforts of his government to secure their lives and property. He also urged the people not to abandon their homes but defend their territories from the invaders. He said efforts were being made by the state government to ensure that all those who left their places were kept away from danger.

    Nggilari promised that the government would resettle all the displaced persons in a decent camp and look after their health and welfare.

    The state government has also imposed a curfew on Yola and other neighbouring communities, while the use of motorcycles has been restricted in the area.

    As at the time of filing this report, more than 2,000 churches in Mubi North and Mubi South had been destroyed. According to sources, the latest church to be destroyed was the Alheli Baptist Church, built in 1922.

    Meanwhile, sources in the town say the youth of the town are willing to confront the insurgents. They, however, lamented the lack of government’s support.

    But the insurgents have already imposed Islamic law on Mubi, while more than 50 people have had their hands amputated for contravening the laws. They are also urging the people to return to the town.

    Latest raids have also seen the Boko Haram taking over Gella, the headquarters of Mubi South Local Government Area. Sources in the area told The Nation that while the council chairman, Yerima Gude, was lucky to escape to Yola, the rampaging insurgents destroyed the palace of the district head.

  • ‘My kids shouldn’t take to newspaper distributorship’

    ‘My kids shouldn’t take to newspaper distributorship’

    An ex-insurance worker and widow, Mrs Ezinne Olovoeze, reveals how she ended up a newspaper distributor. In this interview with SUNNY NWANKWO, she admits, though, that she will not encourage any of her six children to take to the business in which she has invested her resources and 30 years of her life. Excerpts:

    How did your newspaper business start?

    It was my in-law who started it and I used to assist him when I was still going to school. While schooling, I worked under him. So he taught me the business, and I’ve spent 30 years in it. After my schooling, I joined an insurance company (Amicable Assurance Company), where I worked for 24 years before retiring and joined the newspaper business fully. Though I was working with the insurance company then, I was still coming around to help my in-law, so I didn’t leave the business entirely even when I was still with the insurance company.

    Do you subscribe to the notion that newspaper distributorship is for the uneducated?

    No, I don’t subscribe to that. My reason is that, it is just like every other business that one might wish to do to put food on his or her family’. The literate ones are in the business and the illiterate ones are also in the business. So, it is just like every other business.

    How have you coped with your colleagues who seem to dominate the business?

    We have no problem. The business is meant for everybody regardless of one’s sex. You know I am a distributor. So, the challenges I do encounter is that when I give supply to some of the vendors, they don’t pay and when they want to pay, they will be paying in such a way that the money would not even be useful to the person. Some will even run away with your money and change to other businesses and hardly will you see them to recover your debt, meaning that the money has gone into thin air.

    Compare your business now to what it used to be

    In fact, the business is almost dead now because in those days, you would sell and make out something from it, but it is not so now. Like I have about six children, it is from here that I made money to train them up to the university level. But these days, we are no longer selling anything; people don’t buy again. In the past, we had branches in all the big towns in the federation: Jos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Aba and Umuahia. But now, we can only boast of two (Aba and Umuahia). We closed other branches because vendors owed us huge debts.

    What is the relationship between distributors and newspaper publishers?

    The relationship has been very cordial but we are complaining is that there are no incentives from them to motivate some of us that are trying to sell their papers year in year out under rain and in the sun. From their records, they should be able to know those that are performing very and just like other companies do, these persons should be motivated so that they can do more.

    Some say that they even read the paper on the internet before the paper comes out on the newspaper stand and therefore they don’t have any need to buy the hard copy again since they have read it online. You can see, it has drastically affected the level of patronage and also affects the number of unsold that some of the agents return to the company.

    So, it is affecting us negatively and the company negatively as well. I am sure that the level of unsold copies today and in the past is not the same. It is higher today than in the past.

    Given its apparent low profit margin, will you still stay on in the business?

    Since I don’t have anything doing now, I will still continue to do it until my God says that it is okay.

    Would you encourage any of your children to succeed you in this business?

    As it is now, I won’t encourage any of my children to take up this newspaper business because there is nothing in it again; they won’t make money in it as it was in the past.

    Do you think that the business will grow in future?

    I can’t predict and I don’t pray that it will crash. I pray that it will grow better than what it is now.

  • Giving love to inmates’ kids

    Giving love to inmates’ kids

    For no fault of theirs, they find themselves behind bars, alongside their mothers.  Children born to prison inmates often have certain basic rights and comforts cut off simply by their circumstances. Organisations such as the Victorine Home for Children were established to restore some of those abridged rights such as right to proper care and education, among others.

    It is three years now since the Victorine Home has been nurturing children born to people behind bars and other needy kids. Their third Annual General Meeting of the organisation attracted many philanthropists who are equally committed to the welfare of the less-privileged.

    And it was just as well that at the AGM, more help came for the  children whose mothers are prisoners or dead or facing one challenge or another.

    The Victorine Home was established in 2012 by selected individuals to cater for the less privilege children. Some of its members are catholic worshippers.

    Those whose mothers are incapacitated were not left out. Women who were convicted while in pregnancy also had their children picked up.

    When a woman is sentenced to prison, the innocent child sadly partakes in the punishment, and are thus denied good motherly care. Those who also put to bed while serving jail term easily get attention of the Home. It was all a mission to care.

    A visit to the home revealed that the children were as little as two years old. Some could hardly talk while others were excited to welcome the unexpected strangers. They were furnished with all manners of gift. Already, the kids had different toys either purchased by the management or presented by humanitarians. So they enjoyed their day largely dependent on good Samaritans.

    The 2014 winner of Miss Aso, Ogenna Ekwubir, during her visit to the kids, shared her compassion alongside her team. She spent almost the entire evening playing with the less-privileged. They took pictures and had fun. The kids had another opportunity to play with an outsider. Their morale clearly was boosted having a considerable  sense of belonging.

    The expression on their faces told it all. Immediately they saw the goodies, they were filled with enthusiasm, jumping with full excitement.

    Eventually, the kids were presented with food items such as bags of rice, garri, tubers of yam, groundnut oil and toiletries, among other consumables.

    Ekwubiri narrated why she visited the home. She said it was her vision to help the needy at any opportunity, saying, it is part of her empowerment pet project.  The beauty pageant disclosed that the mother of the children should have something to live on, upon gaining their freedom from the prison. People are moved to action based on different variables. But she expressed how she was emotionally touched when she heard that the concerned children have their parents either in the prison or demised.

    According to her, after the imprisoned mothers have been reintegrated into the society, her initiative would provide further assistance especially in terms of empowerment through agriculture. she said the initiative already got supports from development partners while other government institutions such as Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

    “They deserve to be assisted when they get their freedom. It is only when they have something doing that they will be able to cater for these kids. So it’s important other Nigerians show love to these kids. It is our hope that with our programme, their mothers would have better chance to take care of themselves and the children. In fact, that is why we are partnering with the federal ministry of women and social development to further get to the grassroots.”

    In a chat with Matron of the Home, Sr. Jovita Nkem Nzeduru, it was discovered 20 children had left the home to meet their parent while 14 others are currently under tutelage of the home. She said the children are mostly reintegrated back into the society after being offered the needed care. It was gathered that a child recently got scholarship in one of the private schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    President of the Victorine Home, Okechukwu Onyejuwa told Abuja Review activities of the home centred on children whose mothers are in prison. He said the Home absorb children from the least age of one to about four years. “When these women delivered while in prison, the children are taken out of the prison and given best treatment the foundation can offer.”

    “We cater for them, put them in school and later reunite them with the mother when they are released. Some of them don’t even want to go back again because they are offered best treatment. The children don’t know religion; it cuts across religion and denominations,” he said.

    Onyejuwa went further to explain how medical doctors showed their kindness by offering free medical care to the children. The same also applied to pharmacists and other medical officials.  He narrated how the kids were made to experience what a normal child should enjoy while growing up. “They go to party. They attend church services, go to school and enjoy life just like every other kid. Perhaps that’s why they often feel reluctant to go back to their parent when necessary.”

    It was eventually gartered during the AGM that the home made N2 million as income while N13.4 million was made in 2013 accounting year. Though, the entire income was not in cash but some were quantified at market value. It had a physical cash of about N2.9 million in 2013 and made an overall running cost of N8.4 million for the year.

    The home appealed to generous Nigerians to support the vision by transforming lives of the under privilege children in the home and country at large.

  • Union of officers’ kids

    Union of officers’ kids

    The cream of the society turned out last Saturday for the wedding of Idris Olabode, son of former Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye and Aminat Aderonke, daughter of former State Security Service (SSS) Director Col. Kayode Are in Lagos. AMIDU ARIJE and OMOLARA OGUNWALE were there.

    It was a wedding of children of military chiefs. The groom, Idris Olabode, is son of former Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye and the bride, Aminat Aderonke, is daughter of former Director of State Security Service (SSS) Col. Kayode Are. Their fathers’ friends, colleagues and associates came to share in their joy.

    The Oriental Hotel in Lekki, Lagos was packed full of dignitaries from far and near.

    Aminat, in her white flowing gown and silver earrings, was a beauty to behold. Idris looked radiant in his black suit, white shirt, pink tie and a pair of black shoes to match.

    The reception hall was decorated in various colours of satin material. Big flower vases were placed at strategic positions. Ushers in black and pink gowns led guests into the hall.

    Guests took their seats hours before the couple’s arrival.

    Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola arrived early and went round interacting with guests before the couple’s arrival.

    There was no dull moment; guests were entertained by the Shuga Band. Guests nodded their heads in rhythm to the music.

    The couple arrived in a white Infinity Limousine with the bridesmaids and groomsmen. They moved straight to sign the dotted lines at a makeshift registry inside the hotel.

    The bridal train made a grand entry into the reception hall, coming in in a lift.

    The bridesmaids wore pink gowns; the groom’s men were in grey suit, white shirt and pink tie. They danced into the hall.

    The guests, who were eager to catch a glimpse of the couple were surprised not to see them in the train. As they were stil wondering what is happening, the lovebirds entered through the back door to take their seats. They danced to the amusement of the gathering before sitting down.

    The couple’s parents were dressed in wine Aso Oke and cream lace with matching caps and head gears. They danced into the hall to be introduced to the guests.

    The duo of Okundalaiye Ayodele and TEE-A, a comedian anchored the ceremony.

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun chaired the occasion. It began with prayers by Dr Segun Akintoye and Alhaji Ahmed Agbaje.

    Amosun enjoined the couple to love each other and be wary of external interference in their affairs.

    “To Aderonke, as from today, your husband is now your dad, respect him; Bode, your wife is now your sister, mum and everything to you; you will both give birth to male and female children,” he said.

    After his speech, Amosun called Fashola, who he referred to as “Class Captain” to supervise the cutting of the cake.

    Fashola joked with guests as he moved to the cake stand. Before performing the function, he urged the couple to love each other and to hold on firmly to Allah.

    He led the gathering to spell LOVE before the couple cut the cake.

    The couple took to the stage to feed each other in their first assignment. Then came dancing time. The bride and her father took the centre stage for the first dance. They were sprayed crisp new naira notes.

    The couple danced their hearts out amid spraying of naira notes by guests.

    The toast was made by Seyi Liz Kanu. He described the groom as friendly.

    Aminat described the day as her happiest, referring to her husband as “a wonderful man”.

    “It is a wonderful day, I am happy and I thank God for this, am very lucky to meet him; he is wonderful,” she said.

    Idris thanked Allah for the day’s success.

    In attendance were former Ogun State Governor, Olusegun Osoba; Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, John Jonah; President Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Chairman, Forte Oil, Mr Femi Otedola; Chief Obafemi Olopade; Olorogun-Ide of Lagos, Chief Ismail Oladehinde Folaji; Obanikoro of Lagos, Chief Adesoji Ajayi Bembe and Oluwo Jakande of Lagos, Chief Ibikunle Bailey led the white cap chiefs; Yeye Oge of Badagry Kingdom, Mrs Lara Senami Adeniji Adele-Awhligan; Olukotun of Ikotun-Ile, Kwara State, Oba Abdulrasaq Adedayo Abioye; Chief Executive of Obasky Estate in Lekki, Chief Gbenga Obasa; Prof Dapo Afolabi; Lt. Gen. Alani Akinrinade; Dr Segun Awolowo among others.

     

  • Etisalat launches products for kids

    One of the leading telecommunication companies in Nigeria, Etisalat, has introduced a unique educational and children-friendly product for children ages between 8 and 15 years in Nigeria tagged: Cliqlite.

    “Cliqlite is a revolutionary product in Nigeria; it comes with pre-installed educational content that allows children to have access to a world of learning possibilities.

    It was launched at the Oriental Hotel Lagos. It brought together hundreds of students from across Nigeria which feature comedy, dance, seminar and presentation of the new brand “Cliqlite”.

    In his welcome address, Chief Commercial Officer and Acting CEO of Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Matthew Willsher, said that Etisalat is driven by a sustained commitment to enriching customer experience. Innovation remains part of our DNA and we believe technology has the potential to revolutionise learning.

    Willsher said: “Children have an insatiable appetite for technology and innovation, worldwide a significant number of online users are under the age of 18, it is therefore our responsibility as parents to make sure our future generation is equipped with the right tools to successfully harness and hone their burgeoning potential.

    “Cliqlite is a revolutionary product in Nigeria; it comes with pre-installed educational content that allows children to have access to a world of learning possibilities. Educational websites such as passnownow, mindset, JAMB, WAEC are accessible even without an active data connection”, he said.

    He said further: “It features free data weekly plus access to seven websites, five educational, one game site and one social website. Free credit on your birthday, 14 NERDC textbooks SSCE current syllabus preload on the Cliqlite tab and interactive lessons and Norton parental control app to enable parents/guardians monitor online activities of their children/wards.“

    Director, Consumer Segment, Etisalat Nigeria, Oluwole Rawa noted that Etisalat’s Cliqlite was especially designed with parents and children in mind, one of the innovations that came out of this customer centric approach are the important security features which assure parents that their children are safe and only interact with appropriate content while browsing the internet.

    Rawa said: “Parents can also worry less about what information their children are exposed to when they are given an internet enabled device like the Cliqlite tablet or Cliqlite phone because of the level of parental control that comes with these devices.”

  • Construction giant protects Akwa Ibom kids against malaria

    Construction giant protects Akwa Ibom kids against malaria

    AS parts of its Corporate Social Responsibility, Julius Berger Plc has donated over 3,000 insecticide-treated bed nets to school children in a bid to fight and win the war against malaria.

    The donation was done at St. Saviour Afrian Church School, Uruk Uso, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, where each pupil smiled home with one insecticide treated bed net and a pamphlet on how to use it to prevent mosquito bite and malaria.

    Over 1,000 pupils received it while pregnant women and children received one each of the nets at Primary Health Centre, West Itam, Itu local government area and Primary Health Care Centre, Wellington Bassey Way, Uyo.

    Addressing teachers and pupils at St. Saviour African Church Primary

    School, Uruk Uso, Ikot Ekpene, the Public Affairs Manager of Julius

    Berger, Clement Iloba, who led the CSR team of the company, said the audience that apart from building roads, bridges and other infrastructure for the development of Akwa Ibom, Julius Berger is also interested in helping to secure the health of the people.

    Iloba said this was why the company decided to donate insecticide treated bed nets to pregnant women and chidlren to protect them from malaria related deaths.

    Explaining that malaria kills many children before they reach five years, attacks pregnant women and other individuals, Iloba, however, said with the proper use of the insecticide treated bed nets Mosquito bite could be prevented and lives preserved.

    Revealing that Nigeria has a prevalence of malaria leading to 25 per cent childhood mortality rate and 11 per cent maternal mortality,

    Iloba said the company’s intervention through insecticide treated bed nets is to bring down this alarmingfigures and give children the opportunity to grow up and contribute to development.

    Demonstrating the use of the net, the Public Affairs Manager said it should be hung over a bed, tightly fited to prevent access to mosquito noting that five persons could  sleep under one of the nets, which has a life span of five years.

    He said since the company started the malaria prevention campaign,

    8000 nets have been distributed to pregnant and nursing women and students in local schools.

    The CSR team also visited West Itam Secodnary School, to donate fifty footballs as part of its contributions to sports development. Receiving the items on behalf of the school, the principal, Dr. Patrick Edem, thanked the company, saying that it has proved to be a responsible corporate citizen in Akwa Ibom State.

  • For the health of mothers, kids

    For the health of mothers, kids

    The statistics are grim. In every 1000 births, 88 newborns die, while over one million kids do not live beyond age five. Also, one 13 women never make it out of Labour Room.

    This disorients the wife of Abia State governor, Mrs. Mercy Odochi Orji, and she wants something done to scale back the trend.

    She, therefore, called on every stakeholder in the health sector to come together to fight the scourge.

    Mrs Orji spoke while flagging off the first round of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW) at Mbalano, Isuikwuator Local Government, saying the rate of infant and maternal mortality is unacceptable.

    She had other advice. “To help reduce the high maternal mortality rate, women of child bearing age must register and attend regular antenatal in recognised hospitals and desist from patronising quacks.

    “They also must desist from patronising traditional midwives and must practice family planning by spacing the number of children they intend to have as these would help reduce the threat of deaths”.

    The governor’s wife also called for regular de-worming of children and expectant mothers against ailments caused by worms which feast on blood and cause malnutrition and poor physical development as well as basic health education in every home.

    She urged nursing mothers to develop the habit of washing their hands before and after breastfeeding just as they should  administer Vitamin A supplements on children between 0-59 months every six months as this would help reduce death arising from measles, malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia.

    The Abia governor’s wife said that MNCHW was developed to reduce the spate of deaths arising from pregnancy and child delivery, adding that the programme is aimed at scaling up an integrated maternal neonatal and child survival intervention that have been proven to reduce

    neonatal and child mortality rate arising from measles, malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia.

    Mrs. Orji commended the theme of this year’s celebration, “Universal Health coverage for Improved Maternal and Newborn outcome as apt to promote safe child birth and good health of every mother and child.

    She used the forum to restate the commitments of Governor Theodore Orji’s administration to achieve better health care delivery for all Abians and well being of women of child bearing age and children under the age of five.

    Earlier, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Okechukwu Ogar said that MNCH as a high profile initiative was put together to fast track the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) four and five which focuses on reducing child mortality and improving maternal health and Nigeria has been rated among countries with insufficient progress towards attainment of MDGs four and five.

    Dr Ogar said that with high risk of women dying from pregnancy and delivery related cases in Nigeria, the MDGs seek to reduce under five mortality rate and maternal mortality rate by two third by 2015 and called on parents and care givers to compliment government efforts to

    improve maternal health and reduce infant mortality.

    The representative of the Director-General, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency [NPHDA], Prof Okezie Akpala said that the agency was committed to improve the health care needs of the people.

    Prof. Akpala said that this could be achieved through critical strategy and that the agency has helped in building 170 primary health centres and commended the state government for ensuring the payment of allowances of midwives deployed to the state.

  •  NGO donates to kids, widows

    Disturbed by the growing rate of poverty in some families in Lokogoma, a suburb of Abuja, the Sure Smiles Women and Children Advocacy Initiative (SSWCAI), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) has provided some gift items for no fewer than 200 children and widows who gathered at the St. Benedict Catholic Church, Lokogoma to benefit from the NGO’s benevolence.

    The Parish Priest of the church, Rev. Fr Thomas Asen who received the items on behalf of the church urged people not to leave the progress of the country and the well-being of the people for government alone.

    While noting that giving is a tradition sanctioned by God, Fr Asen said “givers never lack.”

    Continuing, the Priest said: “They have brought so many things to enable us to reach out to the needy. This is the kind of gesture we need in the country. That is what we should do because people are in difficult situation. We should not leave everything in the hands of government.

    ”We are experiencing difficult situation here. The bomb blast is a wake-up call for us to reach out to those who need help. The leaders should be assisted because leaving everything to them will be too much for them. Let us identify those who are in need of help and share what we have with them.”

    The widows and pregnant women among the beneficiaries said the goodwill will go a long way in cushioning the effects of poverty in their families.

    The Coordinator of the initiative, Mrs. Chioma Uzo-Udegbunam said: “We are aware that there are some in the society who don’t have. We decided to come and share with them so that they can be in good spirit despite the challenges confronting us as a country.”

    She called on Nigerians to form the habit of giving to others who are less-privileged.

    “I feel Nigerians should learn to share with others. We should not make the less-privileged ones among us to feel forsaken or feel that God has forgotten them.

    “When others are celebrating and rejoicing, you should not be left out. I believe that there is joy in sharing and the hand of the giver is always on top.

    “We have brought this to Lokogoma for you to share to these children and widows so that they can be happy amidst the difficulties and violence going on in the country.”

    One of the beneficiaries, Blessing Monday said: “I feel good. The gesture by the group will impact my life in more positive way. My prayer is that God should add more power to their elbow. I also pray that God should lift us too so that we can help other people.

    Kaka Ismaila, another beneficiary said: “They gave me two shoes and a gown. I am very grateful to them.”

    Some of the gift items distributed to the beneficiaries were rice, biscuits, tomato paste, salt, onions, clothes, foot wears, indomie noodles, cheese balls, tissue, bobo milk drink and carpri-sonne.

  • Limbless kids tell tales of loss, agony and hope

    Limbless kids tell tales of loss, agony and hope

    They are like child soldiers carrying wounds that bore fatal remembrance of a distress battle they  had  gone through. Hannah Ojo tells their stories of agony.

     

    What makes Medinat Jimoh different from other babies? It is not just in her radiance or the vivacity of her dainty steps, shown in the manner she warmed up to the inviting smile of this reporter, coiling into  her extended hands with consummate familiarity.  She is three months away to clocking two, yet she has withstood intense pain and anguish that would jolts adult an  individual faced with the same circumstance.  The story of her limb loss commands sympathy; her arm simply fell out with the towel her body was wrapped with on getting to the hospital. According to her mother Mrs Motunrayo Jimoh, a fashion designer, who resides in Igbo Olomu, a hinterland in Ikorodu, Lagos State, she noticed some days after Medinat’s naming ceremony that she couldn’t wriggle her right hand the way infants are wont to do when they cry to get attention.

    “The third day after her naming ceremony, I took her for immunization at the Ikorodu General Hospital. I had a misgiving when the nurse wanted to inject the same arm that wasn’t moving well but she assured me not to worry saying injecting it would prevent infections from getting into it.  Knowing the attitude of nurses in government hospitals, I kept quiet because I can’t teach them their job”.

    It was a week after the immunization on the injected arm that complications began to set in. Slowly, the arm began to deteriorate and the peace of the baby was disturbed.  At barely a month old, Medinat was bearing pains which prevented her from eating and sleeping well. Following the disturbance, her mother took her to a trado-medical clinic at Oworo, a community which she had patronized in earlier times for the delivery of the first three issues she had before Medinat. With the affected arm becoming dark, she was told to rub Shea butter (ori) in order to relieve the baby of pains.   By the second day, the hand had darkened so much that the softness of the bone could be felt at just a touch.  It was at this point that she was advised to take the baby to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi Araba.  Recalling how Medinat’s  limb finally came off, she said: “ When we got to LUTH, as the nurses made to remove the wrapped towel from my baby’s body to begin treatment, both the towel and my baby’s arm fell off together. The bone was just standing. I was shocked”.

    To save her life, the remaining part of the arm had to be amputated. Battling to control her emotions while relieving the painful experience of her child’s limb loss which led to her spending close to three months at LUTH in 2012, Motunrayo believed her baby must have been a victim of some spiritual attack.  “My baby was attacked”, she said  with a firm iota of certainty. However, investigation by this reporter showed a contrary possibility.  The eventual loss of Medinat limbs may have been as a result of the circumstances surrounding her birth and the ignorance which trailed the handling of the situation thereafter. Dr.  Orlando Ugwoegbulem, a consultant Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, affirmed that weakness at the upper limb of a child can occur as a result of the circumstance surrounding the birth.

    According to him, “There is a possibility that in the process of trying to deliver a child, the hand might have been pulled and the nerve that powers it becomes stretched so the hand becomes weak and the child usually is unable to make use of that hand. Commonly when you notice that, what you do is to rest the hand or send to a physiotherapist, it would regain its power”.

    Asked whether  the immunization which was injected on the same hand could  have worsen the case, he said; “That injection would have introduce an infection into the bone which now caused gangrene and the hand dropped off.  That is the likely pathology of what happened. It is the immunization that would have introduced an infection and that infection now caused what you call osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone”.

    In actual fact, Medinat was not delivered in a hospital. Her mother, Motunrayo was rushing from her base in Ikorodu to Oworo, where the trado-medical clinic she patronizes is located.  “I took an Okada (motor cycle) to Igbo-olumu junction but I could not go on again.  There was no hospital around so some women came to help deliver the baby and I went back home. I usually don’t have birth complications”.

    A dream on the fringe

    There is a future prospect which makes 10 years old Dorcas Adepitan cheer with excitement. She imagines herself in a white coat holding a stethoscope. Little wonder she tells anyone who cares to listen that she wants to be a doctor. However, a sad development occurred, her dream is on the verge of being washed out as it appears to be hinging on a fringe. The JSS 1 pupil of Elvan Adelaja Secondary School, Bariga, Lagos was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a cancer of the bone. This led to her right leg being amputated in order to prevent the tumour from spreading. Life was normal until on an ill-fated day; she hit her leg against a desk in school.  She relates her experience thus, “I was staying on my seat and the boy was running so I hit my leg on the desk. I told my mum and she started rubbing it for me. It started swelling up so they took me to LUTH. The result came and they said they had to amputate.”

    Describing her daughter as a loving and happy child, Mrs Erinola Adepitan, a petty trader relayed her fears for the future: “I need help so that I won’t lose her. She has taken more than six doses of chemotherapy. I am reaching out to Nigerians to help me.  If we can meet a helping hand on time, the cancer won’t kill her.  I can’t do it alone. What am I selling? For me to spend money on her and end up losing her would be a huge loss”.

    Bone setters, Phony Prophecies and needless loss

    The tales of Adebowale Alabi and Afeez Usman are cases of acquired limp losses which might have been prevented if help had been sought at the right time and the right place. When Oscar Wilde, the Irish poet wrote in his book The Importance of Being Ernest that “Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it, and the bloom is gone”, he certainly didn’t have Mrs Ayomide Alabi in mind. The young woman had been force to abandon her private business owing to the burden of caring for a child with a missing limb. She did not heed to the doctor’s advice to take her son for surgery when his fracture became complicated because she was told at the churches where she went to pray that her son might die or end up being amputated. So she hoped for miracles and heeded to the advice of an Imam to hire the service of an Ijaw bone setter to treat her son.  Her son, 7 years old Adebowale  Alabi had sustained an injury while playing ball with his brother. After the passing of time with the bone setter in charge, things took a turn for the worse. The leg later developed a swelling which seems to contain a mixture of blood and water.  “Although the bone setter said I should ignore it that the boy was only responding to treatment, I called a nurse who advised that the wound should be pressed to remove the pores.  She used scissors to open it and said I should buy antibiotics.  After they opened the wound, for five days the boy couldn’t sleep again. He was in pains. I didn’t want to go to Igbobi because of the message I heard. When I eventually took him there, I was subjected to rains of abuses with the way I handled the case. The doctor said I should take my baby away if I didn’t want surgery”.  After the surgery, Debo has been fine. He is looking forward to receiving prosthesis from the Irede foundation, an NGO dedicated to raising hope for limbless children.

    She learnt the hard way and is quick to warn others. “Don’t listen to people who said it is someone that is behind your situation. If I had not listened to people that (the prophecies) and gone to the hospital on time, maybe this would not have happened. The second one I regret is that local treatment is not good. Anybody with any kind of problem should go to the hospital in this case”.

    For  Afeez  Usman, the  lad sustained an injury on his hand while playing with his step brothers at Ilorin.   In the course of five days, the hand got swollen and the mum took him to a bone setter in Bariga on returning back to Lagos.  The hand which began to decay was amputated at a General Hospital at Ilorin.  Aware of the limitation that his limb loss cost him, the young lad actually shed tears when the reporter met him and his mum. “Whenever he returns from school crying, I can always guess what the problem is. That means his mate has called him alapakan (one hand man) and I will console him and urge him to leave them to God”.  Afeez who has been without a limb for five years is also waiting to get prosthesis fittings at Irede Foundation.  Her mum expresses her joy at the prospect. “That means he would be able to help with the house chores and also wear fine cloths”.

    Although it is quite common for parents to employ the use of bone setters to treat fractures, the trend however could be dangerous. It was learnt that 75-80 percent of amputations in children which occurred at the The National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi was a result of complications from bone setters. It is in lieu of this that Dr Ugwoegbulem further said the efficiency of bone setters is limited in treating fractures because there are important structures in the bone which they may not be able to identify and treat appropriately.

    Congenital limb loss in children

    Congenital deficiencies can be the complete absence of a limb, more commonly, part of the limb is missing and the remaining portion has not formed normally. Sometimes, surgery is performed to straighten the limb or to address limb length inequality. At other times, surgery may be recommended to reshape the limb to enhance prosthetic fitting.  Mrs Elfrida Usman, a civil servant who gave birth to a child with congenital limb loss describes her shock when she delivered her baby and noticed his limb was missing. “When the nurse raised him for me to see and one leg was off, I just said wow! She told me ‘ Thank God you have other children’. Immediately I just felt this is like having a child and the child dies”.

    At that moment what were you thinking? She was asked.  “It was like carrying a child for nine months. I actually tried to console myself that I have other children, I mustn’t die because of one since I have to be there for the others. That moment I didn’t feel too bad at that time but later the impact of what had really happened dawned on me”, she said further. Elfrida who named her son Isaac has come to see the special ability in him. Even though one of his limbs is missing and he has no fingers, he attends a regular school and he is able to write and even help with house chores. “There are certain things my son does that other children of his age can’t do. If Isaac should pick up a broom and sweep the floor, you will be wondering who swept it. One of the teachers called me and said ‘this boy is an amazing child he is going to do great things’.  She showed me how Isaac kneaded tiny holes during art work. He feeds himself”.

    Hope springs eternal

    At a cocktail event organized by The Irede foundation in August last year, 3 years old Beulah Chigbu who was born with  a missing tibia and patella in her right leg, came out to render a poem thanking donors for giving hope to child amputees. Her mother, Crystal Chigbu, a top manager with one of the multi-national companies in the country could not hold back her tears.  She confessed to her inability to hold back the emotions at other moment when she sees her child aiming for things without limitation. “A case in point would be when she had to compere an event in school and she was standing for over one hour. I can go on and on with such moments when I see her trying to cook, dance ballet and swim.   With that I am excited and a lot of times I ‘tear up’”.

    When her daughter was born with congenital limb defeat, Crystal had a hard time accepting her daughter’s fate. With the support of her husband, she moved on and was inspired to start a foundation to help child amputees after seeing the difference a prosthesis fitting made for her daughter. The Irede Foundation was founded in 2012 and with the support of donor partners is giving hope to child amputees by providing them with free prosthesis so that they can confidently live a self-sufficient life   free of limitations and social stigmatization. Some respondents who shared their limb loss experience with this reporter have benefited from the foundation while others are waiting in line to get prosthesis.  Reacting to how it feels to keep parents on hold before getting prosthesis, she said; “It can be very painful. At those times I just feel I wished I was the richest woman in the world. We are beginning to learn that life is in phases and things have to be done in phases so our call  is for people  to support what we are doing so that we can attend to these children faster and better. We would like to do a lot more than we are doing today but it is tied to a lot of finances. We are hoping that we would keep getting better and we can reach out to more kids”.

    It is more common to see children with disability using more of clutches as against prosthesis owing to the cost involved. Mrs Juliana Aluko, the Assistant Director, Prosthetics and Orthotics department, National Orthopaedic Hospital Igbobi  also opined that prosthesis is the best option for a child  when it comes to mobility. “Mobility with clutches is not the same as artificial limb. When a child has artificial limb, he would be able to walk and go back to normal life”. She also speaks on the types of prosthesis available for mobility: “There are the conventional types of prosthesis which is called exo-skeletal because the outer shell is hard. It is made of plastic and wood.  The second is the endo-skeletal type or modula prosthesis. It has a pipe that represents the bone of the patience. That pipe is covered with foam which represents human flesh and is covered with holes called cosmetic stockings.  The foam represents the muscle of the patience such that when you touch it, you feel a soft part of that prosthesis. It is easy to assemble, it is durable, lighter but it is more expensive”.

    According to a development report, every year, 2000 children are born with a disability or become disabled before the age of 19. 70 percent of these children are in developing countries like Nigeria. It is said that without access to adaptation assistant tools 90 percent of these kids born into developing world like Nigeria may never have the opportunity to access education, employment, marriage or even a self-supportive lifestyle.  For the countless kid caught in this quagmire, hope can still play its part. It is time for a forward thinking Corporate Social Responsibility from both individuals and organizations.

     

  • Meat price goes up

    Meat price goes up

    The price of meat has gone up in Lagos markets.

    Butchers at the Harmony Abattoir Management Service Limited said the increase in the price was caused by hike in fares. According to meat sellers, they risk their lives to get meat transported from the North.

    They said Boko Haram problem is a major cause and that most of them get killed when ferrying cattle from up North to Lagos.