The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Save

  • ‘We couldn’t save anything’

    ‘We couldn’t save anything’

    I LIVE close to the market and to see my shop burn in my presence was a great shock. I couldn’t save anything. I have been in this market for over 10 years. I have not been doing anything since the incident. We have been asked to write down our names and I pray something will be done because I am helpless and I don’t know what to do.”

    These were the words of a trader, Uzor Benjamin, as he counted his loss yesterday in the fire that gutted Mile 12 Market in Lagos last Friday.

    Benjamin, who deals in vegetable oil, and his fellow traders were seen around their burnt shops yesterday, with nowhere to go.

    Another trader, Hajia Romoke Hassan, who sells yam flour, said she and others suffered a huge loss.

    She said she stocked her shop a day before the incident and was yet to make sales, adding: “I arranged with my supplier to pay later because I had weekend customers who bought Elubo (yam flour) in bulk. I had two shops and it was well stocked on Thursday. I was dumbfounded when I received a call that my shop was burning. My supplier, who is aware of the incident, has been calling my mobile line but I am yet to respond because I don’t have money. Promises have been made by the government and top personalities and I pray they assist us. They shouldn’t abandon us.”

    A transporter, Abdullah Sanni, who is the Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Mile 12 Branch, said over 30 shops got burnt.

    “This place is my life. I have spent over 20 years here and this incident hasn’t affected us before. We were observing our prayers that morning when the fire began. It gutted everywhere almost immediately. I lost N350, 000 to the fire and some documents.  It was an awful experience.  We really don’t know the number of men who died because none of them was buried with a complete body. Their bodies were scattered. They were errand boys who sleep in the offices. They were asleep when the incident happened. They were burnt to ashes.

    “We have been asked to collate our names but we are yet to know their plans. Politicians, government officials have been here and have promised to help us. They should please not make only promises; we need action. We are jobless. I don’t know where to go from here because we don’t know if we will be allowed to erect any building again. We need urgent assistance,” Sanni said.

    Usman Ahmed claimed he lost N6million saying: “I don’t feel any less having lost N6million. I believe that what has happened to me is from God and I take it as God’s will that was meant to happen. I will continue to be courageous and move on with my life as if nothing has happened.”

    He showed his burnt shop to The Nation where he said he was selling diesel and petrol to fuel his truck which he uses to transport his produce to other parts of the state.

    Alhaji Isah Umaru, chairman of truck drivers at the market, said his people were the most affected.

    “We need urgent help financially, materially and otherwise. We have lost over 30 shops and more than seven lives. After the fire fighters left, we discovered more dead bodies.”

    Blaming the cause of the fire on the high voltage, Umaru said it was compounded by gallons of vegetable oil and palm oil kept in the shops.

    Millions of naira, he said, were lost as some of his men keep money in their shops for easy access instead of taking it to the bank.

    Lagos East senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mrs Olabisi Salis, who was on a sympathy visit, urged the traders to give their details to members of her campaign team for a relief package.

    Mrs Salis said: “If traders didn’t bring fuel and diesel to sell in the market and if they weren’t smoking marijuana inside their trucks parked in the market, maybe there wouldn’t have been a fire.”

    “We cannot hear a thing like this and fold our hands, we are here to say sorry to the displaced traders and to go back and see what we can do to help the people who are displaced. PDP is solidly behind you,” she said.

  • ‘Help me with N4.8m to save my son’

    You can help save the life of 3-year-old Fatai Owolabi who was born like every other normal human being. The mother gave birth to him without complications but problem began to manifest when the mother was discharged from hospital after birth the following day. Since then the situation continues to deteriorate. For the child to live a normal life is dependent on your kind donation to fly him to abroad for special medical treatment according to doctor’s prescription.

    Fatai Owolabi, was diagnosed of Cerebral Palsy at the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and requires about N4.8million to be flown to an Indian hospital for special medical treatment

    His father, Sulaimon Owolabi who made this information available to The Nation narrated that the child could neither talk, sit down nor stand up; he only rolls on the bed, floor or ground depending on where he is kept at the time. And again, his eyes continue to go up and down every minute of the hour. He does not eat or take breast, though he sometimes takes some fluid.

    Describing the strangeness of the illness, Owolabi said he had gone to many native doctors, spiritualists, churches, men and women of God seeking solution to the problem thinking it was a spiritual matter, “until someone enlightened me that the matter with my child is a medical problem” that was when I took him to (LASUTH).

    The father who is a furniture and carpentry maker said he had spent all the money he had on the boy’s health yet there is no positive result. He said that he has sold his piece of land in order to raise money to secure adequate treatment for the child but all to no avail.

    He lamented: “I cannot even calculate or say exactly how much I have spent on him. I have been on this matter since his birth and I didn’t know it was a medical issue. The problem the boy has is from the brain and the doctor said it is called cerebral palsy and that we need to fly him out for special treatment, and that will cost us N4.8million”, where do I raise this money he cried.

    He is therefore appealing to the Lagos State Government and other good spirited individuals to rally support for him to raise this sum of money to enable him take his son to overseas for treatment

    “I started carrying him up and down for help, some gave us stipend, some did not respond to our request at all. Even the governor of the Lagos State, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola who saw the boy promised that he will help us, he sent someone to us but the person has not given us any reply up till now, I have been calling the man on phone it was later that the man told me that the governor said that I should take the child to hospital but when they gave me the report of the child to give back to the governor since then I have not set my eyes on the man”, he expressed.

    On how the problem started, Owolabi narrated: “The mother gave birth to him a normal delivery and after about five minutes he cried but when we took him home the following day he could neither cry, take water nor breast, his eyes began to go up. We took him to hospital where he spent about a month and half and when they discharged him to us we felt that the problem was over, but after three months we expected him to respond, but he couldn’t respond to us”.

    “The mother began to get worried but I tried to calm her down urging her to still examine him for some time but after the sixth and seventh months he couldn’t respond even to the call of his name that was when I started looking for solutions

    The Chief Medical Director of LASUTH, Dr. M A Salisu in a telephone call confirmed that Fatai Owolabi was diagnosed of Spastic Diplegic Cerebral Palsy of moderate severity. In addition, the boy suffers from sensory deficits including visual, hearing and speech impairment.

    In a report presented to The Nation Dr. Salisu said that management of the boy’s condition would be a long-term and would involve the use of medications, rehabilitative procedures and expected inter-current illnesses. It is recommended that he attends the paediatric neurology clinic bimonthly. For donations, please contact Sulaimon Owolabi on 08096596569 or pay in to GTB, Account Number 0140780425.

     

  • Lagos fire: ‘We couldn’t save any of our goods’

    Lagos fire: ‘We couldn’t save any of our goods’

    Traders, who suffered losses in the fire that ravaged athree-storey shopping complex in Ereko, Lagos Island, are still bemoaning their fate – three days after the incident.

    The traders are planning how to return to business.

    It was learnt that the first, second and third floors are managed by Rembak Textiles, a fabrics company.

    The remains of some of the burnt goods littered the building.

    Some traders were yesterday trying to pick pieces of the destroyed items. The shops were locked. None of the traders including those not affected opened shop.

    Lagos State Ministry of Urban and Regional Planning has invited the caretaker, Kamorudeen Ajagbe-Balogun, for explanation.

    Ajagbe-Balogun said the ministry’s officials came to empathise with the victims and invited him for talks.

    “Although the owner is aware of the incident, after meeting with officials of Urban and Regional Planning Ministry, we shall know what next to do,” he said.

    The owner of Rembak Textiles, Hajia Tawakalitu Oshodi, said she and other occupiers of the building suffered “great loss.”

    According to her, the second and third floors are used as warehouses while the first floor is for shops.

    “We just offloaded one container of different textile materials last Saturday. We couldn’t save any of our goods from the warehouse. Even the little we saved from the shops are wet. We may end up selling it at a lesser price. As I speak, sales are so low. Everything is dull because all the new designs I purchased went with the fire. I thank God no life was lost and it happened at day time because other buildings would have been affected if it happened at night,” Hajia Oshodi said.

    The ever-busy complex looked desolate. Traders on the ground floor were still in shock.

    Oscar Osadebe, one of those on the ground floor, doesn’t know what the future holds for them, especially those not affected.

    “I have been selling cotton materials for over six years and I realised that when situations such as this happens, we don’t know what is next. Since Tuesday, we have not made sales,” Osadebe said.

    Another occupant, Yinka Twins who also trades in textile materials said: “I have been trading in this complex for over 10 years. I am confused. I don’t know if they will demolish the building because I have no place to go and if I should eventually get another place, it may not be a favoured spot. I plead with Officials of Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) to dispose the charred remains of the fire in front of our complex so we can start business again.”

  • ‘Save my boy with shattered hip’

    ‘Save my boy with shattered hip’

    David Sopuruchi Chibuzo is not a happy teen. He dreams of being not just a pastor, but an evangelist who would traverse the world, breaking strongholds and converting souls. But, he risks not fulfilling his dreams.

    David has cerebral palsy (CP). A fall  during seizure has left him with a dislocated hip and shattered bones. Thus, he needs N5 million for brain and hips surgery at Vikian Specialist Hospital in India.

    CP is a disorder that affects muscle tone, movement and motor skills. It is caused by brain damage that occurs before or during a child’s birth, or during the first three to five years of a child’s life. According to studies, about 50 per cent of children with CP have seizures, where abnormal nerve activity disturbs the functioning of the brain.

    David’s ordeal started in 1999, when he was just nine months old. He and his two siblings were diagnosed of cerebral malaria, but David’s case proved more severe. He was in coma for eight days after which he was resuscitated but at that point things had gone awry; he had lost his memory and since then, living has been a struggle for him.

    At 17, David cannot live a normal life like his peers; he still lives like a baby under age one – usually aided to do his activities. He is unable to perform a simple function as helping himself to the restroom and it pains him that as a teenager, he still depends on his parents and siblings to help him with all activities of life.

    Every little opportunity he gets, he tells you of his dream of being a pastor, how his present predicament is standing in the way and how he wished he could be well and save his family of their suffering. And everywhere you find him; there is always his Bible by his side. Although unable to pronounce most of the words, he still clings to it.

    Recounting how it happened, his mother, Mrs. Christy Chibuzo said: “David was born hale and hearty on August 7, 1998. As at nine months, he had started to hold things to stand and move about the house like every normal baby. But one Monday in May 1999, his two older siblings took ill and were admitted at Oredugba Specialist Hospital, Ikate, Surulere, Lagos and were later diagnosed to have cerebral malaria. That day, he was healthy and presented no signs of any illness. But on Tuesday, the doctor in charge called me and said he wanted to place him on malaria treatment because he wouldn’t like what happened to his brothers to happen to him. I obliged and they started giving him injections. It was like that night, the injections brought out all the temperature; if you put wet towel on him, it would dry. So that Wednesday morning, I reported our last night’s experience to the doctor and he said he was going to change his drugs. I agreed and told them that I will come for the drugs after the other two might have been admitted in Havannah Specialist Hospital – a hospital recommended by one of our sisters in church when no impressive improvement was seen in their health.

    “On the way, I discovered he was having the same experience his brothers had. By the time we got to Havannah, he couldn’t breathe again; so they took him directly to the theatre and placed him on oxygen and we started praying and after a while, he regained consciousness and they placed him on observation. After two days on oxygen, he started convulsing hard. The drip stopped going, but after 45 minutes, God stopped the convulsion. However, after sometime, he entered into final coma that lasted for eight days. It was just by the grace of God that he survived.

    “They even brought surgeons from the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), who took samples from his brain and spinal cord to check if it was meningitis,. They did all sorts of tests after which they concluded it was CP. At a point, they put drip through his nose from where they fed him. He was not responding to anything apart from needle at the sole of his feet which kept our hopes high that he was alive.

    “Having regained consciousness, they started giving him treatment. At a point, he started desiring breast; they said I should give him; they started putting syrup and light pap with raw egg from the pipe. Gradually, he kept responding and so on the 16th day, they discharged us but at that time, he had lost every memory. He couldn’t even recognise anyone; he was just like a log of wood. We took him home and we were going from home to the hospital, and after sometime, we started going from LUTH, to Havannah and numerous other hospitals that were recommended. That has been the journey so far,” she said.

    At age one, Mr and Mrs Chibuzo Onuegbe registered their child at the Children Development Centre (CDC), Surulere, Lagos. There he was taught motor skills and a host of other things but today, David is out of school as a result of the dwindling resources of his parents.

    David’s father, Pastor Chibuzo Onuegbe, is a pastor with the Assemblies of God Church, whose income depends on what the church pays; and managing CP is not any easy task for an average income family. Thus, the illness has ended up leaving the family’s purse dry.

    Aside from his inability to help himself with anything, David’s case is worsened by recurring convulsions, a symptom associated with CP patients. Each time this happens, the family spends days or even weeks in the hospital, depending on the severity of the attack. Aside the money spent in hospitals, the recurring pains he goes through is pathetic. Sometimes when it happens while alone with his siblings, or mother, all they will do is to watch him groan in pains or left at the mercy of mature male neighbours to help lift him into a car so they could rush him to the hospital. All these things the family has been shouldering. Though burdensome, what would they do? Stay and watch him groan and die in pain?

    “The journey has not been an easy one but God has been gracious. We were told that once a week physiotherapy in LUTH will not solve the problem. So, we had to engage a physiotherapist that came thrice a week and worked on him for seven years. With the help of the massage, David started learning to hold his neck. We started to teach him how to sit down by putting him in a carton and guarding it with clothes and pillows; we taught him sounds – how to open his hands. Today, his hands are good only that they are a bit weak but he can grip biro and spoon. At a point, he started rolling and they told us it was still part of movement. Then, he started sitting, moving with his buttocks and even attempted to stand by grabbing things,” explained Mrs. Chibuzo.

    While the parents were excited about his improvement, another tragedy struck. David at 15 had a fall while playing with his siblings and this changed the course of the improvement. At first, he showed no sign of injury or pain, but after two weeks, he started screaming with pains and when taken to a General Hospital in Lagos, he was checked and certified okay, but unknown to his parents, his right hip was dislocated. He kept screaming with pains in the right leg, which in time started to get thinner and shorter than the other.

    The family ever since then has been praying and getting help wherever they could, but the leg situation seems not to be improving. They were advised to go for x-ray, and the result showed that he had a dislocated hip and some broken pieces of bones. Since then, this young lad had been in severe pain.

    At a General Hospital in Lagos, he was given a caliper which was sooner discarded because rather than help improve the situation, it caused bruises. They were then referred to the National Orthopedic Hospital, Igbobi. From Igbobi, they went to a hospital at one of the Army cantonments in Lagos. There, the doctor said they could not handle such a situation and referred them back to Igbobi.

    It was at Igbobi that they got the highest discouragement ever. They met a surgeon who said he could carry out the surgery for a million naira, but said he had a 50/50 survival chance and his parents agreed. When they came back at the next appointment day, he chased them out “like dogs”, asking if they could not see that the leg was irredeemable.

    However, a little ray of light came their way when one of their members, who went to India for heart-related surgery, took the x-ray with him. There a team of experts examined it and assured that they could correct the problem. They had also consulted other hospitals, but have settled for Vikian because of their known records in surgery success.

    According to medical analysis done by the Indian doctors, David has got a good chance of recovery. The brain surgery will work to completely eradicate the seizure attacks, leaving it with greater chance of correcting all the imbalances caused by the attacks, while with the hip surgery, David might be able to walk with time. But in all, the severe pains this young lad is feeling will be completely gone.

    With respect to this hope, the Onuegbes are passionately appealing to whomever the story of David has touched to come to their aid in their quest to save the life of their son.

    “This issue has drained our resources and also put us in debt, yet we cannot afford to keep watching him groan in pains. He has been recommended for multiple surgeries abroad, which is estimated at N5 million and my family cannot afford it. We are therefore, passionately pleading with all whose heart God will touch after going through the agonies of our boy to please assist us with whatever amount God has laid in your good hearts to support us with the surgical operations,” appealed Mrs. Chibuzo who fought to hold back tears.

    Should you want to support David in his battle for survival, you may render your support through this bank account: Onuegbe Chibuzor N. Account No: 2018357079; First Bank of Nig. Plc. Or call any of these mobile numbers: 08033284171, 08035137845 or 08085853139.

  • ‘Help save our baby’

    ‘Help save our baby’

    •Parents agonise over N1.6m bill for son’s surgery

    They waited for two-years for their bundle of joy. After several miscarriages, the baby came on October 26, 2012. Rather than develop like a normal child, the growth of 23-month old Isaac Eyitayo Pamilerin Timileyin Agbo is stunted. Reason: he has a congenital heart defect which requires surgery to correct.

    But there is a snag – his parents do not have the N1.6million required for the surgery. That was the amount as at March when a consultant paediatric cardiologist recommended him for surgery in India.

    His mother, Mrs Juliana Agbo (31), is seeking assistance from well-meaning Nigerians and corporate organisations to save her baby.

    Mrs Agbo started having complications three months into her pregnancy in March 2012.  She almost lost the baby to constant bleeding and was rushed to hospital.

    “I was admitted for about two weeks, I was treated and discharged but when I got back home, the same issue started again. I was admitted again at another hospital. Luckily for me, the child escaped that process. After the scan, we were told the baby was alright. And although my job is not strenuous in any way, I was asked to stop work and anything that would put the baby at risk. I stopped working on Wednesday, April 4, 2012.

    “At that time and even later on, the doctors didn’t see anything wrong, I was told there was no problem. I went ahead to register at the General Hospital in Ikorodu, Lagos so that they can monitor me. I was delivered of a baby boy on October 26, 2012. Although the stress was too much when I wanted to deliver: they induced me to start the labour. I gave birth, and they didn’t see anything was wrong; even before then the scans did not show my baby had hole in the heart.”

    Three months after Eyitayo’s birth, he was diagnosed of having a hole-in-the-heart. Mrs Agbo said: “I was so happy when I had him that now at least, I have my own child. Before I had him, I had many miscarriages. So you can imagine how I feel when we discovered he has heart problem a week after his naming. Then, we noticed some irregularities in his breathing and was not comfortable with his breathing, which was very fast. We took him to the General Hospital at Ikorodu where he was diagnosed of Bronchiole Pneumonia and the doctors prescribed some drugs. But when we gave the child the drug, he couldn’t sleep.

    “We took him to a health centre close to our house where a doctor with Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) checked him and after asking us some questions, he told my husband that our baby has heart problem but he cannot say how the heart problem is. He then referred us to LASUTH at Ikeja.”

    At LASUTH, after series of tests, that Baby Eyitayo, who was three months old then, was diagnosed of having congenital heart disease. According to the doctor’s report, signed by the consultant paediatrician/paediatric cardiologist, Eyitayo has “large perimembranous Ventricular Septal Defect partially covered by RCC, double chambered RV, Tiny PDA with severe pulmonary Hypertension.” It added: “Patient requires surgical correction of the defect which will cost an estimated sum of N1.6million, including travels.”

    Mrs Agbo said: “Through the X-ray, it was discovered that infection was in his heart; he was given antibiotics. But we were asked to do an ECO Scan where the result showed that my baby has a hole in the heart and needs to undergo a corrective heart operation in India to save his life. When I was shown the hole on my baby’s chest on the computer, I almost fainted and felt great pain. He was merely three months old then, and had become so thin, weighing 2.8kg when he should be weighting above 6 or 7kg. We were told that it would cost us about N1.6 million for the trip, which would cover the travel expenses and medical bill.

    “My sister, since then we have been running everywhere to see if we can raise the money. My husband, who has been catering for us since, works at a fish farm; and I have stopped working to care for my child. The burden is already too much. We even wrote to Lagos State Ministry of Health through LASUTH for assistance. I am sure there must be a long queue of persons seeking help like us from government because since April last year that we wrote, we have not received any response. But my baby’s case is getting worse. When help was not coming from any quarters, we resorted to prayers.”

    Mr and Mrs Agbo, who visited The Nation’s corporate office in Matori, Lagos, are praying Nigerians to help save their Eyitayo.

    “We prayed to God to give us a wonderful child and we did. Despite what we are passing through we are still happy having him. But we feel bad for the pain he is passing through. We need help to do so. That is why we have come to the public: please, help us save our son. We are telling people to look at us and help us,” the couple said.

    An account has been opened at FirstBank with number: 3086969070  under his name: Agbo Isaac Eyitayo .

  • Ebola: Spread the word and save the world

    Ebola: Spread the word and save the world

    The member representing Alimosho 1 state constituency in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Bisi Yusuf recently organized a public enlightenment campaign on the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) for members of his constituency. OZIEGBE OKOEKI was there. 

    The fear of Ebola disease has become the beginning of wisdom. And for a deadly disease that has no cure the only solution for now is enlightenment on preventive measures so as to curb the spread of the disease. This was why Hon. Bisi Yusuf, member of the Lagos state House of Assembly representing Alimosho 1 constituency organised a sensitisation programme on the prevention of the epidemic for his constituents last week at Ipaja.

    Scores of traders, politicians, residents, artisans, School teachers, religious and traditional leaders, CDA, CDC, members and others were attracted to St. Andrews Primary School, Ipaja venue of the event. Coming into the programme ground, your temperature is first checked with an infra ray thermometer,  you proceed to wash your hands with soap and sanitised water before you proceed to check your blood pressure and sugar level free of charge. Every person who came for the programme which was jam packed passed through this process before taking their seats.

    Speaking on why he organised the event Yusuf said, since the importation of the virus to Nigeria by the late Mr. Patrick Sawyer from Liberia and his subsequent death on Friday July 25, 2014, Ebola has become a monster to Nigerians. “And Alimosho is the biggest constituency in West Africa, apart from the land mass, it is the most populous. I represent them and I know Ebola is a deadly disease. It is more deadly than Boko Haram which is limited to a section of the country, but Ebola could ravage the whole place if not quickly controlled.

    “When I was campaigning, I said I would be a representative of  living souls not the dead. And I know if a single person contracts this disease in this constituency millions of people will go for it. Knowing that prevention is better than cure, the only thing I can do is to organise this type of a thing so as to bring the world to the doorstep of every member of my constituency”.

    According to him, because of the large population of the constituency, “I cannot call all of them here, so what I am doing is to train the trainers. All the artisans, tradesmen and women, market women and men, CDAs, CDCs, Kabiyesis, Baales, teachers, especially health teachers,  all of them in Alimosho are here. So that when they are trained here they would be able to create a desk with a desk officer who will be able to train others and watch over the children when they resume. They would also give them the rudimentary preventive measures to use”, he said.

    He disclosed further that he has branded an electronic motor that will go round market places and all the local councils on a daily basis to educate the people on the preventive measures. “Spread the word and save the world”, that is the slogan. You can see that when Ebola came into the country it affected Nigeria economically, socially, culturally and our image in the world; you see how European countries are treating our people and as a result of that I decided that none of my people shall be a victim of this monster they call Ebola”, Yusuf said.

    The lawmaker who is chairman, House Committee on Transportation, Commerce and Industry commended the Lagos House Assembly for being proactive, saying that, with what is happening, no lawmaker needed to wait for anybody to assist him to organise this kind of programme, adding that the Assembly had always risen to every occasion.

    He also said it was wrong for the government to have reversed the October 13, 2014 resumption date for school children, adding that he stood by the decision of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), which did not support the reversal. “We are always worshipping money in this country, the private schools owners are not concerned about the lives of the people, they place profit above people’s lives.

    “For me, I would not allow my children or grandchildren to go to school until October as recommended by NMA. They know the danger in the disease, and they gave a resumption date, government should not have reversed the decision since it is not the school owners that are controlling the country, the children are very vulnerable,” he stated.

    The representative of the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Public Health, Dr. Yewande Adeshina, Dr. Jemilade Longe, who is also the Director of Disease Control in the state Ministry of Health gave the talk on Ebola and the preventive measures at the event.

    He said Ebola is a deadly disease that should be prevented from spreading in the country. He warned the people to avoid unhygienic behaviour, which he said is the best way to prevent the spread of the disease. He reminded them that Ebola started from Monkeys, bats, chimpanzees and some other bush animals.

    While tracing the history of the disease in the continent and in Nigeria, Dr. Longe advised that whoever notices the symptoms of Ebola such as high body temperature, vomiting, diarrhea, cough (which may contain blood), muscle pain, sore throat and others should go to the designated hospital in Yaba, Lagos.

    “The incubation period is between two days and 21 days. We have treated many people, who were later healed of the disease. When Patrick Sawyer died, we packed his bodies in multiple body bags, put him inside iron casket and later put him inside an incinerator. We now started aggressive contact tracing of those who had contacts with him including those that were with him in the aircraft, those who met him in the hospital and others,” he said.

    He also told the audience that the Lagos State Government is motivating the health officers that are taking care of Ebola patients with money ranging from N40,000 to N50,000 each daily and that the disease had almost been contained before someone, who was being observed took it to Port-Harcourt in Rivers State.

    According to Longe, the treatment of Ebola is very expensive. “But once you get the signs of the symptoms quickly run to the hospital. Let us know that the disease is deadly, so let us wash our hands regularly, use sanitizers, but washing hands with soap is better. There is no Ebola in Alimosho, even in the whole of Lagos, we have chased it away with the APC broom,” he assured the people

    The lawmaker, who was proud to say that the efforts put into the project is worthwhile also made sanitizers, and an audio visual CD on the disease and prevention  available to all those that were at the event free of charge.

    Some of the special guests at the occasion were Hon. Yinka Ogundimu from Agege Constituency 1 in LSHA, Chairman of Ayobo/Ipaja LCDA, Hon. Shakiru Yusuf, Oba of Ipajaland, HRM, Oba Sylvester Akiniyi (Ajagungbade 1), APC Chairman of Ayobo/Ipaja, Mrs. Toyin Onileyan amongst others.

     

  • Dabiri urges youths to save Nigeria

    Dabiri urges youths to save Nigeria

    House of Representatives member Hon. Abike Dabiri-Arewa has charged Nigerian youths to salvage the country from disintegration.

    Addressing reporters  at the grand reception in honour of the  FIFA 2014 Women Under 20 World Cup Most Valuable Player, Azeezat Oshoala, in Ikorodu, she said the youths have the potentials to move the country forward.

    She said : “The younger ones should stop saying they are leaders of tomorrow. I must say they are leaders of today. They have to rise up to the occasion to save the country.

    “The youths believe that the salvation of the country can only come later when they would take over from the present leaders, but I must say that impression is wrong. The  future is in what we do today.”

    The lawmaker explained that the country cannot overcome its present challenges without the youth’s involvement in its socio-political development.

    She said the performance of Oshoala at the youth women football tournament is a testimony that Nigerians were creative, noting that it was imperative to deploy the skills to rescue the country from its economic predicament.

    She said: “Today, there is deficit in leadership, security is out of place and there are many other problems facing the country. The situation calls for youth involvement in addressing the ills facing the country.”

    Dabiri-Arewa said the youths have been relegated for long, stressing that if the situation is not changed it would get out of hand.

    Also speaking, Oshoala said her performance at the tournament was due to her commitment and dedication to the game. She urged government to create the enabling ground for youths development.

    She thanked the lawmaker for organising the warm reception in her honour. Oshoala said: “I am proud of Ikorodu, Lagos State and Nigeria. I will continue to make myself available for the country and hopefully to wine more laurel for the country.”

  • Indigent parents require N3m to save boy’s life

    Indigent parents require N3m to save boy’s life

    With indigent parents, who can barely feed, eight-month-old Emmanuel, who is battling hole-in-the-heart ailment, faces a bleak future. He requires N3million for treatment, an amount which his parents cannot afford.

    His father, Henry Mekwunye is a casual worker; the mother, Oluchi, a petty trader.

    Emmanuel was diagnosed of the ailment at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, Lagos, on June 14 following an x-ray after he developed sudden cough.

    With her hands resting on her bosom, Mrs Mekwunye looked hopeless as she sat on the bed where her son was laid at the hospital yesterday. She watched how her son was being drip-fed instead of breast feeding him. “Life has not been fair to me,” she said, sighing.

    On June 13, it was discovered that Emmanuel had a cough and he was taken to a neighbouring pharmacy for first-aid medication.

    His father, who said the family thought it was a minor thing because they had always taken the boy’s health seriously, added that they were forced to take him to a private hospital when the symptoms persisted.

    After examining him at the hospital, the baby was referred to LASUTH, where series of tests were conducted.

    A chest x-ray exposed the hole in the boy’s heart which is known in medical parlance as Tetralogy of Fallot.

    “I was destabilised when it came to my knowledge that my son was going through such pains. And sadly, he could not talk to explain the extent of the pains.” Mekwunye said.

    Emmanuel has  been on oxygen for eight weeks to aid his breathing.

    The consultant in charge of the Department of Paediatrics at LASUTH, Dr Barakat Animashaun, has assured the family that Emmanuel’s ailment is curable.

    Since the hospital lacks the facility for the surgery, it was agreed that Emmanuel should be taken to Rak Hospital in Ras al-khaimh, United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the treatment, which would cost N3million.

    Mrs Mekwunye burst into tears as she bemoaned her family’s helplessness: “I know if my son is not treated with utmost urgency, it may affect other organs in his body system. He has rapidly lost weight, his tongue and lips have turned black. Each time he coughs, he throws up. I have no job, let alone bank savings. How are we going to raise such amount of money since we have nothing to put on sale? And my only child is my life; God, please help me,” she said.

    Mekwunye is an employee of a chemical company in Lagos struggling to make ends meet. Sources said the family has been surviving with God’s grace.

    The family is looking up to well-meaning Nigerians, government and non-governmental organisations for help.

    The family has an account with Access Bank Plc, No: 0690421712 and First Bank, 3085435732, under the name: Emmanuel Obinna Mekwunye.

  • Efforts to save Enugu deputy governor fail

    Efforts to save Enugu deputy governor fail

    Efforts to save embattled Enugu state Deputy Governor Sunday Onyebuchi from impeachment hit the rocks at the weekend. The state PDP caucus failed to get him a soft landing.

    The caucus which met on Saturday at the Governor’s Lodge reportedly advised the embattled Onyebuchi to resign or await the House of the Assembly is action after its investigations.

    The House in the penultimate week, moved a motion for the deputy governor to be served with an impeachment notice. He was accused of gross misconduct.

    The members of the PDP caucus were bitter that Onyebuchi allowed his relationship with the governor to degenerate to the level that the House had to intervene.

    A source at the meeting said prominent members of the caucus, particularly Senator Ken Nnamani, Amb. Fidel Ayogu and Mr. Dubem Onyia, were not happy after listening to Governor Sullivan Chime narrate his experience with his deputy in the last seven years.

    Senator Nnamani told the caucus members that the deputy governor ran to him to Abuja where he told him to return home to resign or wait for the House to complete its investigation the source said.

    Onyia and Ayogu also were said to have took the line of Nnanami for the deputy governor to bow out since Chime told the caucus meeting that he was not prepared to work with Onyebuchi for any day longer.

    However, the source said Senator Gil Nnaji and Peace Nnaji representing Nkanu East and West in the House of Representatives, pleaded with Chime to pardon his deputy.

    The source said Senator Nnaji praised Chime for the good work he was doing in the state and urged him to give his deputy a second chance.

    But Chime was said to have told Senator Nnaji that his plea was belated since his deputy came to him in Abuja and he did not deem it fit to call him until he was invited to the caucus meeting.

    The source said majority of the caucus members were of the opinion that it would be futile to try to save the deputy governor since his boss said he could no longer work with him.

    Besides the source said the caucus said asking the House to jettison the impeachment process would amount to “ridiculing democratic practice in the state”.

    Chime was also said to have insisted at the meeting that members of the National Assembly from the state who had served for  two or more terms should return home to serve in other capacities.

    The majority of the caucus members who were not in the National Assembly had asked the members of the National Assembly who were all at the meeting except Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, to speak their mind but none opposed the governor.

    The caucus advised the lawmakers to abide by the gentleman agreement reached in 2011 and consider running for other positions other than the ones they have occupied for more than two terms.

    The House of Assembly had last Thursday advised its clerk to paste the impeachment notice on the known addresses of the deputy governor since he could not be physically served and it adjourned till Thursday.

  • Rulers move to save Enugu deputy governor

    Rulers move to save Enugu deputy governor

    •Onyebuchi gets notice 

    Traditional rulers in Nkanu land yesterday attempted to save Enugu State Deputy Governor Sunday Onyebuchi from being impeached.

    The monarchs visited the Government House, Enugu where they met Governor Sullivan Chime.

    A source said they interceded on behalf of the embattled deputy governor, begging the governor to intervene.

    The source said the royal fathers told the governor that their son had shown remorse and assured him that he would not disobey his directives again.

    Chime, however, reportedly told the monarchs that he wished he could intervene in the matter.

    He said it was beyond his power, as the matter was a legislative issue, saying: “The executive does not interfere in the functions of the legislature.”

    The deputy governor was served the notice of impeachment yesterday.

    The Assembly on Tuesday began an impeachment process against Onyebuchi, alleging gross misconduct.

    Moving a motion for the notice, the Leader, S.K.E. Udeh Okoye, representing Awgu North, said they were exercising the power vested by Section 188(1)–(9) of the 1999 Constitution.

    Allegations of abuse of office and disobedience to the lawful directives of the governor were brought against the deputy governor.