The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian women

  • More Lagos women embrace family planning

    With a ratio of one in 13, Nigerian women are at an elevated risk of maternal deaths, compared to one in 26 in sub-Saharan Africa. This is why Daniel Adeleye’s report that family planning users in Lagos are on the rise, comes as cheery news.

    THE family planning clinics installed by the Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI) in some selected Primary Healthcare Clinics (PHCs) in Lagos State are gaining roots and yielding the desired results.

    To assist residents of the centre of excellence to attain quality lives, the NURHI in 2016 began a 72-hour renovation and equipping of family planning clinics in about 60 selected public health facilities in Lagos State under the aegis of NURHI 2.

    A tour of some of these facilities organised by an NGO, Development Communications (Devcoms) with some selected journalists of print, electronic and online platforms, showed that family planning in Lagos State is yielding the desired results among residents.

    At Dopemu Primary Health Centre, the clinic register showed that 275 residents of the area visited the PHC for family planning between January and March, 2018.

    The Community Health Extension Worker at the facility, Olamide Oladegun, confirmed this while interacting with journalists. She noted that the turnout of residents coming for family planning is shooting up with a minimum of ten users per day.

    Oladegun admonished women, especially nursing mothers, to endeavour to go for family planning immediately their babies clock six weeks, to avoid being pregnant while they are still breast feeding.

    She said some of the residents have “expressed their joy for adopting Family Planning because it has reduced mortality rates among them and helped them live up to their (desired) standard of living.”

    At Odunmbaku PHC in Orile Agege LCDA, the chief nursing officer, Abisola Badejo, stressed on the various family planning methods available for both male and female.

    Badejo said, apart from helping with the regular community dialogue, which has geared up the data of users in the Orile Agege area, NURHI has also helped in renovating the Odunmbaku PHC to make it more accessible for the clients’ flow.

    “Before I came to this facility in 2016, there was low turnout of users, but now with the help of NURHI 2, the number has shot up.”

    “Before NURHI’s intervention, we were having about 20 per cent but now we are having over 90 per cent. On a daily basis, we have at least ten people coming for family planning daily,” she revealed.

    Explaining the methods available at the facility, Badejo said, “We offer all family planning methods here in Odunmbaku PHC, except the permanent one, which is called vasectomy or tubal occlusion.

    “We offer the pills; we have for the breast-feeding mother and we have for the regular users. We have the injectable for two months, 200ml and the one 150ml taken every 3 months.”

    “We have implant, which we insert in the hand. We have for 3years, which is called ‘implanon’ and we have 5years which is called ‘jadelle’. There is another one which we call Inter Uterus Device, IUD, which we insert into the uterus,” she explained.

    Speaking on the benefits, the chief nursing officer said family planning helps women save money in terms of buying pads every month, adding that they will be able to space their children and have time for their husbands.

    “If a woman is on family planning, she may not menstruate and that does not mean the woman is pregnant.”

    Badejo flayed the belief that family planning predisposes women to cancer, saying cancer has hereditary factor, which family planning cannot expose a woman to.

    One of the users, who spoke to The Nation, Ramat Ganiyu, a 35-year-old mother of three, opined that family planning is the best source of happy home.

    Recounting her ordeal when she got pregnant for her second child, when her first was barely six months, Ganiyu said, “I went through hell. For that reason, I encourage nursing mothers to go for family planning before six weeks after delivery.”

    30-year-old mother of two, Temitope Rasheed, encouraged women to embrace family planning, saying she has been enjoying her marriage since she started using it.

  • 2019: Women seek Vice President’s seat

    Some Nigerian Women on Friday pushed for the seat of Vice President of Nigeria to be reserved for women in subsequent elections in the country.

    Women, under the platform of the Nigerian Female Parliamentarians made the demand when they paid a courtesy call on President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Speaking on behalf of the delegation, which comprises of elected lawmakers from the nation’s 36 states, Elizabeth Ativie said Nigerian Women are being marginalized by their male counterparts.

    She said the country only had one principal officer in each of the two chambers of the National Assembly since the return to democracy in 1999.

    She also said that as the President, anything he said at the gathering “will become policy and subsequently law”.

    Read Also:Former Vice President Atiku ‘s son remanded

    She said “Whenever the president is a man, the Vice President should be a woman”.

    Mrs. Ativie also said for every three senatorial seats in the states, one should be a woman.

    She said “Where there are nine House of Reps members, the men should take six and leave three for women”.

    Responding, President Buhari jokingly said “it is a pity that the Vice President is not here, but I am sure the Secretary to the Government of the Federation will brief him that his position is threatened “.

    He however appreciated the support given to him by women generally in the four times he ran for president.

    He recalled reports he received during elections in which women in labour queue to vote for him.

    He asked the delegation to take a message to their colleagues to extend the same support since he has declared to seek for second term.

    On their request, the president simply told the gathering that he is not “as powerful as you think”.

    He said such requests could only be made by a military head of state, but, he has today dropped the uniform for “agbada”.

     

     

  • 26 Nigerian women found dead at sea

    26 Nigerian women found dead at sea

    Italian prosecutors are investigating the deaths of 26 Nigerian women – most of them teenagers – whose bodies were recovered at sea.

    There are suspicions that they may have been sexually abused and murdered as they attempted to cross the Mediterranean.

    Five migrants are being questioned in the southern port of Salerno.

    A Spanish warship, Cantabria, docked there, carrying 375 migrants and the dead women, following several rescues.

    Twenty-three of the dead women had been on a rubber boat with 64 other people.

    Italian media report that the women’s bodies are being kept in a refrigerated section of the warship. Most of them were aged 14-18.

    Most of the 375 survivors brought to Salerno were sub-Saharan Africans, from Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, The Gambia and Sudan, the daily La Repubblica reports.

    Among them were 90 women – eight of them pregnant – and 52 children.

    There were also some Libyan men and women on board.

    People-smuggling gangs charge each migrant about $6,000 (£4,578) to get to Italy, $4,000 of which is for the trans-Saharan journey to Libya, according to the Italian aid group L’Abbraccio.

    Many migrants have reported violence, including torture and sexual abuse, by the gangs.

    In the year to 1 November, 150,982 migrants arrived in southern Europe by boat from North Africa, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reports.

    Of them, 111,552 (nearly 75%) came via the Central Mediterranean route to Italy. The number who died on that route was 2,639, the IOM says.

    The others arrived in Greece, Cyprus or Spain. The total is less than half the 335,158 who arrived in the same period of 2016.

    Last year the total for Greece was higher than that for Italy.

    Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora Mrs Abike Dabiri said “it is tragic, unfortunate and heartbreaking”.

    She said: “We need to step up sensitization and awareness on the dangers of such method of migration.

    “The boats being used are now smaller and more dangerous and the people on the other end are not so eager to safe them anymore.

    “Don’t forget also, that they pay as much as $4,000 to go on such trips.

    “Even if they survive, they only end up as slaves wherever they end up.

    “The President Muhammadu Buhari Administration has been working with IOM to bring back volutary returnees.

    “About 5,000 were brought back in the last six months, full of regrets and tales of woe that they wished they were never deceived into such trips.

    “I condoles with the families of the victims and appeal to our your to stop being victims. It is not worth it, either in the short or long term.”

     

  • Footprints of Nigerian women

    Footprints of Nigerian women

    If you are thinking of buying one book this year or for the last time in your life, there is only one that you should really consider: The Art of Nigerian Women by Chukwuemeka Ben Bosah (BB).  BB is a role model, a man with talent and output worthy of celebration.
    I can no longer remember how BB and I fell in love with one another, but our relationship became consolidated with his first book, A Celebration of Modern Nigerian Art: 101 Nigerian Artists which he released in 2010. Then he came to Austin when I hosted a conference in honour of dele jegede, the distinguished scholar and fine artist with an old Genesis beard that defines the territoriality of his body. By that time, BB had released Celebrating Chinua Achebe: Essays on His Life, Legacy and Works. I loved this book and decided to buy from him about 50 copies that I gave away to others. And then I discovered we shared a common interest in poetry—as it turns out, I am so small compared to him, too little to share the same reading space. Glimpses from his forthcoming The Lamentation of the Returnee will announce his uncommon talent. Just wait.
    He has done what will become definitive as the preeminent coffee table book on 75 of our outstanding women artists, supported by brilliant essays from Frank Ugiomoh, Moyo Okediji, and Neelika Jayawardane, all in 355 pages of enriching and inspiring text and images. Other sound voices, presented under the matriarchal rubric of the “power of women,” include those of Chiderah Aalisa Monde, Carol Boram Hays, Tobenna Okwuosa, Abiola Bolarinwa, Temitayo Ogunbiyi, Erica Garber, Minna Salami, Nkechi Abii, and Tushar Hathiramani. Clearly, a distinguished cast of artists and art historians reflecting on production and experiences, in addition to wonderful and delightful artist statements.
    Moyo Okediji, one of the continent’s best in semiotics, sets contents in context, combining images with poetry. His masterpiece contribution to the book merges genres to create compelling textual narratives. Moyo is a competent reader and decoder of images, adding an eclecticism of words to the eccentricity of creativity.
    This is a beautiful book—hardy, sturdy, majestic. Its beauty is like that of an onion, from cover to cover—as you peel one skin, it reveals a layer of another set of beauty. Colourful, vibrant, brilliant. The emotive forces of images move me from laughter to happiness, but also eliciting some moments of sadness.
    Let me tease out just a handful of the many ideas that the images in the text convey. Those that provide a reconnaissance that take us back to the origins of our ideas, our identity, are particularly instructive. Women understand their own past, their own making, their own ambition, even the enemies they have. So, it is not a surprise that a number of images by the women artists indicate the siege in which we find ourselves, like the very oxymoron of citizenship in contested spaces. In other images, women speak truth to power, and in metaphors, of the release of their gender from marginality, revealing talents and enlightenments. Social alliances come through, from one image to another, permeated by cultural assumptions and logic. The women offer reflections about Nigeria, but also about their gender. As to be expected, there are strong voices on feminism and womanism. Yes, powerful words, images and reflections on innovations, revolutions, and inspirations are all embroidered into a tapestry that reveals collective efforts and individual achievements. The women artists take strong, powerful, purposeful strides defying anonymity—the bane of past historiography on women. The maidens are now in the open! No one is faceless and hidden any more. Erstwhile ‘hidden figures’ have established footholds in the expanding creative space, from the house to the art market place. The book has broken silences, and given us fresh perspectives on women artists in Nigeria. Clearly there are many more women artists to come to light; nonetheless the work is a bold contribution that future scholarship will expand. In the Art of Nigerian Women, BB presents:
    i) a diversity of ideas of talented artists;
    ii) passion, translated into forms;
    iii) distinctions between images and voices; and
    iv) the variety of forms of installation sculpture, painting, textiles, multimedia installations, and photography, among other stunning works that women artists produce.

  • Saraki to women: Be bold for change

    Saraki to women: Be bold for change

    The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, has called on Nigerian women to be “bold for change’’ and work towards redefining opportunities for future generations of women.

    Saraki, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Gender Advocacy, Fatima Kakuri, made the call as the world marks International Women’s Day.

    He said that the Day presented an opportunity for every Nigerian to recognise and celebrate the talent and achievement of women and girls.

    “We must appreciate the fact that 49.6 per cent of our mothers, wives, daughters and sisters own or manage 48 per cent of the informal micro-businesses in Nigeria.

    “Such numbers are truly significant because they demonstrate that Nigerian women contribute immensely to our social, economic and political development.

    “In everything that we do, we need to be bold for change. We need to challenge bias and inequality by standing up when women are excluded from positions of leadership,’’ he said.

    Saraki called for synergy between men and women to ensure sustainable development.

    NAN reports that the International Women’s Day is celebrated every March 8 throughout the world to commemorate the struggle for women’s right.

  • Nigerian Women Reveals Why They Don’t Enjoy Sex With Their Spouse (Must Read For Men)

    Unhappy woman lying in couch

    A lot of women are suffering from Dry, Boring and EVEN painful sex because their man is weak and unskilled in bed.

    That is because…the whole sex routine of many men is something like this:

    – Fondle her breasts for like a minute

    – Insert his penis and ejaculate within 2 minutes

    Many men are doing the two above, without paying attention to the sexual needs and pleasure of their woman.

    As a man, if you find out that your wife or sexual partner is too reserved and is boring in bed, it is mainly because you are not performing your duty as the man.

    You see, if you are in a relationship with a woman and you are unable to make her experience SWEET sex, the result is that she will no longer be interested in sex.

    You will think she is boring, but the truth is she is not enjoying the sex.

    Not all women are vocal, so most of them would not tell you, but instead keep quiet so that they won’t hurt your ego directly.

    But the bold ones are sharing their sexual frustrations and revealing why they don’t enjoy sex with their partners on gossip blogs such as Linda Ikeji Blog and Stella Dimoko Blog.

    Here’s a comment by a woman who is frustrated and she revealed exactly why she is not enjoying sex below:

    her-hubby-sucks-in-bed

    You can tell that this woman is frustrated and she is not enjoying sex because her husband is suffering from what is called “Premature Ejaculation”.

    If you are a man and you find out that you “release” after 2 to 3 minutes of sex, then it means you are suffering from premature ejaculation.

    If you only last for 1-3 minutes, then it means you are not strong in bed. Not only that, your woman will not enjoy love making with you.

    Luckily, if you suffer from Premature Ejaculation, you can do something about it today here.

    And one of the quickest way for you to get rid of premature ejaculation from your life is for you to take food supplements that will build your stamina and make you last up to 40 minutes in bed.

    Get details of how to get this food supplements that will help you last long in bed at this link here: http://realmandigest.com/pe-solution-56/

    Moving on…

    Here’s another comment left by another real Nigerian woman on why she is unable to enjoy sex with her husband:

    cheatingwoman

    This woman is already cheating on her husband because her man lacks adequate knowledge and skills on how to pleasure a woman in bed.

    A lot of men don’t know how to touch, stimulate, build the sensation in their woman. instead, they rush and just want to enter her.

    If you are unable to satisfy your woman, someone else will do the job for you behind your back without you knowing about it.

    Whatever you do, don’t let this happen to you. Sign up here to get details of how to make your woman become sexually satisfied: http://realmandigest.com/pe-solution-56/

    As the man, you should be able to seduce her, help her relax in bed, educate her, get her excited and ultimately satisfy her.

    To learn exactly how to make her enjoy sex and have intense pleasureable orgasm, you can sign up exactly how here: http://realmandigest.com/pe-solution-56/

    Here’s another comment left on Stella Dimokorkus blog by another woman on her husbands weak sexual performance in bed below:
    softhardon1

     

    In this case, this woman’s husband is suffering from what is called Erectile Dyfunction.

    That is when your erection is weak and you are unable to maintain or sustain erection.

    This erectile dysfunction could be caused by issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, anxiety and even depression.

    If you are a man and your erection is soft and very weak, then you need to do something about it.

    There are supplements that can nourish your body and help you “wake up” your erection, boost your stamina and give you an erection that is hard like a rock.

    To get more information about this powerful supplement, click here: http://realmandigest.com/pe-solution-56/

    When your body is weak, your sex life is also going to suffer as well.

    That is why you MUST do something about your premature ejaculation and weak erection today.

    If you would like to improve all areas of your sexual life, you should sign up to get more information on the supplements that you can start using that will help you become a strong man in bed.

    To get supplements that will help you win the war on premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction, please click here: http://realmandigest.com/pe-solution-56/

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Nigerian women celebrate Abike Dabiri

    Nigerian women celebrate Abike Dabiri

    A strong woman is an icon, an emblem of success and a role model to other women. Abike Dabiri-Erewa is no doubt a strong woman. This fact is largely recognised by most Nigerian women who have come together with a celebratory tone in her honour. In many ways, Abike epitomizes the nature of positive revolt, always at odds with the present, and forever evolving. After a hugely successful eight-year stint in the House of Representatives, she has another national responsibility thrust on shoulders. Her recent appointment as a Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora to President Muhammadu Buhari is a testament to those beautiful qualities in Abike Dabiri-Erewa. Before her latest appointment, she was a former Chair of the House Committee on Diaspora Affairs and Chair of the House Committee on Media and Publicity.

    The former broadcaster, who was born in Jos, Plateau State, was elected into the House of Representatives, representing Ikorodu Constituency in Lagos State in 2003 and she was re-elected in 2007 and 2011.

  • Nigerian women silent Congo to reach Table Tennis final

    Nigerian women silent Congo to reach Table Tennis final

    THE venue was filled to the brim and the atmosphere was tensed but for over two hours, the Nigerian women team yesterday silent the Congolese fans when they defeated the home team 3-0 in the table tennis event of the 11th African Games.
    This victory confirmed that Nigeria will be battling it out in the final against Egypt who had earlier defeated Algeria 3-0 to hit final.
    But the Nigerian tie against Congo Brazzaville was not without intrigue as the noisy Congolese fans intimidated Nigerians throughout the encounter.

  • Nigerian women honoured in UK

    The Nigerian Students’ Society (NSS) at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom has celebrated some selected women during the International Women’s Week held in the university.

    The honorees included Chimamanda Adichie, the late Dr Stella Adedavoh, Prof Viola Onwuliri, Kate Henshaw, Pastor Esther Ibanga, Tiwa Savage, Ms Amina Mohammed, Diezani Alison-Madueke, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, Blessing Okagabre, Funmi Iyanda and Bilikis Adebiyi-Abiola.

    Speaking at the event, the president of the Society, Kelechi Anyikude, who was represented by the Publicity Secretary, Adeola Adeyemi, said that the women were chosen based on their achievements and for being role model to the youth.

    Adeola said many women deserved to be honoured for their exceptional activities in Nigeria. He pointed out that the honorees were selected from numerous women who do extraordinary activities. He paid a special tribute to the late Adedavoh whose heroic act save Nigeria from the spread of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). He urged everyone to remember her in their prayers.

    A billboard which displayed the honorees’ photograph stood at the Society’s office for seven day during which students from various countries read their profile. The Society’s members, including Dami Adebayo, Anietie Usen, Efemena Onedo and Chisom Ohioma were on ground to tell visitors the stories which made the honorees outstanding.

    It would be recalled that similar event was held by the Society last year, where 12 female entrepreneurs were honoured, including Folurunsho Alakija, Adenike Ogunlesi, Mo Abudu, Betty Irabor, Linda Ikeji, Tara Fela-Durotoye and Olayinka Adebayo, among others.

  • Nigerian women arise

    “O, ye daughters of Africa, awake! Awake! Arise! No longer slumber, but distinguish yourselves. Show forth to the world that ye are endowed with noble and exalted faculties.” Maria W. Stewart 

    As we celebrated the International Women’s Day on Saturday March 8, we Nigerians (especially our women) have major issues we need to focus on, discuss and find lasting solutions to.

    In less than one month, 20 of our daughters were abducted by Boko Haram and about 59 more of our children weremurdered in their sleep in cold blood by the same Boko Harm sect! Our children in Federal Government College in Yobe State were killed by Boko Haram! And several more of our children in that school were injured from the attacks!

    Our children are being maimed! Our children are being murdered! Our children are being killed by terrorists! Our children are being killed in plane crashes! Our children are being killed in car crashes! Our children are being killed by preventable sicknesses and diseases! Our children are being killed – PERIOD! And where have we been? What have we done? And where are our VOICES?

    Where are the voices of the daughters of Nigeria? Where are the voices of Nigerian ladies? Where are the voices of Nigerian mothers? Where are the voices of Nigerian grandmothers? Where are the voices of Nigerian women? Where are our voices? How come our nation cannot hear our voices? Is Boko Haram drowning out our voices? Why can’t our voices be heard? Why?

    This is not the first or second secondary school to be attacked. Twice last year in Yobe State, gunmen believed to be Boko Haram attacked our children. On July 6, 2013, a secondary school was attacked and 42 people died many of whom were children. About another 40 students were killed on September 29, 2013 when gunmen opened fire on them while they were sleeping in their hostels. About two weeks ago 20 school girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram. We still haven’t heard what happened to them. How many schools must be attacked before our voices are heard? How many of our children must die in these violent attacks before our voices are heard? How many body bags of our youth must we count before our voices are heard? How many pictures of our dead children must we see before our voices are heard? How much more blood must flow from the veins of our children before we make our voices heard? How much more…?

    Nigerian women were is our outrage? Where is our anger? Where is our fury? Where are our collective outrage, anger and fury? Where?

    The blood of our daughters has spilled to the ground! The blood of our children has poured to mother earth once again (and this has become one too many times). Their blood is crying out! Their blood is crying out for justice! Their blood is crying out saying “avenge our death” and make sure we did not die in vain! Their blood is crying and screaming out “avenge our death” and make sure it doesn’t happen again to any other Nigerian child! Can’t we hear the cry? Can’t we hear their petition? Can’t we take off time from our busy schedule to hear the cry?

    Is it so hard for us to hear the cry? Are we hard of hearing? Can’t we hear the cry of the parents of these young ones? Is their cry seemingly so far away up North that we feel it is none of our business? Is it that we are so far removed emotionally, financially, socially etc. that we can’t hear their cry? We definitely cannot go on like this! When are we going to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH? When are we going to say NO MORE KILLINGS? When are we going to say NEVER AGAIN?

    When our children are being killed, it is time for us to awaken from our slumber! When the lives of our children are cut short, it is time for us to step up to the plate of RESPONSIBILITY! When our children are attacked in their sleep, it is time for us to arise and stop the killings! When the life of the future generation of Nigerians is being threaten it is time for us to STAND UP AND SAY NO MORE!

    There is so much madness flying around in our country. There is the madness of killings by Boko Haram, the madness of corruption – billions of dollars unaccounted for, the madness of politics etc. We must show our own madness! We must show a woman’s madness and undying love for her children! We need to display a mother’s madness of protecting her children just like the madness of a hen when she is protecting her chicks from harm! We need to exhibit a mother’s madness of defending her brood so that they can mature into adulthood as responsible citizens of Nigeria! And we must have a method to our own madness of preserving the next generation of Nigerian children.

    O ye daughters of Nigeria, now is the time to show our madness for our children, family and our nation! Arise Nigerian women! Arise QUICKLY! Arise with a SENSE of URGENCY! Arise NOW!

    SPEAK UP! STAND UP! SPEAK OUT! CHANGE THE STATUS QUO FOR THE GOOD OF NIGERIA AND OUR CHILDREN!!!

    Desmond Tutu once said “Women, we need you to give us back our faith in humanity.” And NOW Nigerians are saying “We need you our women to give us back our faith in NIGERIA and HUMANITY!”

    • Ms Simoyan writes from Lagos