The Nigeria HIV and AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) says it has completed the ongoing HIV and AIDS survey in 21 states in the country.
Dr Adebobola Bashorun, NAIIS’s Director in charge of Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilisation, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)` on Monday in Abuja.
Bashorun said the four states each in three geo-graphical zones and three states each in three other geo-graphical zones in the country had been completed.
“In North Central, Nasarawa, FCT, Kwara and Niger had been completed with 84 per cent, 79 per cent, 81 per cent and 86 per cent total response rate, respectively, while data cleaning was ongoing in Kogi.
“Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna and Sokoto had been completely recorded in the North West with 71; 86; 89 and 85 percentage response rates, respectively, while data cleaning is ongoing in Kebbi.
“From the South West, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and Ekiti had been completed with 73; 71; 80 and 83 percentage response rate, respectively, while data cleaning is still ongoing in Osun.
“From the North East, Bauchi, Gombe and Adamawa states had been completed with 82; 88 and 86 percentage total response rate, respectively, while data cleaning is ongoing in Taraba,’’ said the official.
He said in the South East, Enugu, Anambra and Imo had been completed with 82 per cent, 81 per cent and 81 per cent response rate, respectively, while data cleaning was ongoing in Abia.
“In the South South, Cross River, Rivers and Bayelsa had been completed with 81 per cent, 77 per cent and 87 per cent response rate, respectively, while data cleaning was ongoing in Akwa Ibom,” Bashorun said.
He, however, acknowledged the support of the various state governments visited, adding that they had been supportive in the provision of logistics and venues for field teams.
NAN recalls that the Federal Government launched the National AIDS survey on June 28, to determine the true distribution of HIV and AIDS, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C in the country.
The survey, with a sample size of 170,000 people drawn from the 774 local government areas in the country is expected to be completed at the end of December.
A Federal High Court in Lagos, on Monday, ordered that a businessman, Chidi Ofoekwe, charged with alleged Copyrights infringement be remanded in prison custody, pending bail application.
The accused is charged with 24 counts bordering on Copyright infringement.
The prosecution alleged that the accused conspired with others now at large, to sell copies of volume I and II of the popular Nigeria Weekly Law Reports 2015, which copy right subsist, in favour of Nigeria Law Publications Ltd.
The offence contravenes the provisions of sections 20(2) of the Copy Rights Act, Cap C28, Laws of the Federaltion, 2004.
In the 24 count charge filed by the prosecutor, Mr Emmanuel Eze, the accused was said to have committed the offence between January and August 2017, at Legal Crest Ltd located in Lagos.
The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.
After his plea taken, Justice Muslim Hassan, adjourned the case until Nov. 20 for hearing of the bail application of the accused.
The Nigeria HIV and AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) says the team will be moving into Borno and Yobe States on the final round of the exercise.
Dr Adebobola Bashorun, the Advocacy and Mobilisation Manager of the team, made this known in a statement made available to the Journalists on Monday in Abuja.
Bashorun noted that both states had to be considered among the last to be covered because of the unpredictable situation caused by activities of insurgents in the area.
“All key stakeholders gathered at the NAIIS Central Office in Abuja for a thorough review of the process guiding the survey in Webs 5 and 6 states in Nigeria.
“Participants were drawn from the Central, Zonal and State Teams as well as security personnel with insights into how to navigate the tough terrains in some states of the country, especially the North East states of Yobe and Borno.
“The gathering was aimed at reviewing the geographic outlay of the states to be visited, their current status based on their volatility and strategies to aid coverage, in spite of their inherent challenges,’’ Bashorun said.
The statement also quoted Dr Aliyu Gumel, the Chief of Party of NAIIS, as saying that specific attention must be given to the safety of the field teams as they visited the area.
“As we proceed into the final phase of the survey, all hands must be on deck to ensure the safety of all data collectors, as well as community mobilisers as they visit these regions.
“No one can dispute how committed and audacious the entire team has been so far as they kept on moving even in tough places.
“We seek for maximum support from state governments and security personnel as we move towards the last web states in the survey.
“No stone should be left unturned as we bank on the leadership of the government of Nigeria to record success in all the states,” Gumel said.
Kangimin Ubangida village in Kaduna State, Nigeria
KANGIMIN UBANGIDA is a community in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Northwest Nigeria that has been abandoned in all facet of life by successive administrations in the state, yet they pay taxes and participate in politics. It is35km away from Kaduna town and about 12 km away from the local government headquarters with a population of about 9,000 to 10,000 inhabitants made up of surrounding villages. It lacks all modern amenities including health facilities. The inhabitants are predominantly peasant farmers or petty traders. They trek or bike for 21 to 35km to access near decent health facilities. Investigation revealed that they have existed for over 200 years, but successive government in the state ignored them and their wives and children are left to die unattended during pregnancies writes Dominic Uzu
The story of Kangimin Ubangida could be likened to the fate of Gwauro Community still in Igabi Local government, they share everything in common, except that the latter has resorted to self-help, trying to build health center through community effort while the former still remains helpless as they converted the village head palace to temporary antenatal center. Apart from that, the two communities are seriously in dilemma of accessing health and other social amenities to reduce the high rate of maternal and infant mortality in the areas.
From our investigations, the profile of the community in focus has long met World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria which stipulates that a community must hit a population of 10,000 or stay as far as 5km away from the nearest health clinic, health post or primary healthcare Center. Kangimin Ubangida has the population and stays in a distance of 12km to the nearest health post but the Director of Health in Igabi Local Government Area, Mr. Barem Habila who accepted that he was very new in the community doubts if the community qualified to have Primary Healthcare Center. As if that was the only thing they lack. Pregnant women lost their babies on the bumpy road of Kangimin trying to attend antenatal in Kaduna town. They also lack portable water, no electricity, no schools. The only thing that has semblance of school in the area was a block of two mod classrooms erected by the community. Children die of malaria, typhoid and other diseases that easily breakout in the community.
A residence of one of the Kangimin citizen
Living in Kangimin Ubangida could be compared to someone living in hell or in a war-torn community or worst still in a community hit by severe drought as pregnant mothers and their children go through torture of all kinds, trying to survive the harsh and cruel environment they found themselves due to lack of basic amenities of life. Successive governments have consistently abandoned this people despite several promises during electioneering periods.
This is perhaps the community that has recorded the highest rate of maternal and infant mortality in Igabi Local Government if not Kaduna state as a whole in recent time as the Village Head, Alhaji Abdullahi Ubangida simply told this reporter that about 120 women died during child birth in five years, an average of 24 death per year and about 60 children also died within the year in review.
“We have continued to bury our wives and infants in this community due to lack of hospital or any medical facility of any kind. Women die here due to pregnancy complications or during delivery because we don’t have any emergency arrangement for pregnant mothers neither do we have trained nurses or health workers here. I have lost count of women and children who died here but from 2013, we may have lost up to 120 women through one pregnancy complications or the other and over 60 infants have also died.
“What I have been doing for the past five years since the demise of my father who was also the Village head of Kangimin Ubangida is to use my car to convey any emergency situation to Mararaba Jos or Kawo, Kaduna which is a distance of about 21 and 35 kilometers respectively. Emergency can occur at any time, some time they wake me up at 3am sometimes midnight we will hit the road to Kaduna town. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes they die on our way. Like last week, we lost Hauwa Kabir during one of the emergencies. She was in labor and our intention was to rush her to Amana Clinic or Kawo General Hospital because of the nature of the complications but on our way we lost her. That is how bad it has been,” the Village head narrated
Children and women been attended to at one of the health talk at the village head house
Unguwarzomas(Traditional Birth Attendants) or the Quacks to the Rescue
In a situation where the village head was not around in an emergency situation to convey such patient to PHC, Aisha A. Abdullahi, Hafsat A. Dauda,Nana Ubangida and Hajara Sani known as Unguwarzomas (traditional birth attendants) will take charge. These women have no formal medical training but their clients would have no option than to submit to them as they apply the traditional way of delivery on them because they don’t have the financial means of going to Kaduna town for delivery. Sometimes, the fear of the unknown due to the bumpy roads and the condition of the patient, the locals and the quacks will be allowed to take charge.
One woman that was favoured by divine providence in this community was Aisha Abdullahi 33, a mother of eight (8) children who had all her children at home except her first born. For her it was share luck and determination to endure during pregnancy; “Having babies in our community was like going to hell because we have a lot of challenges. I was extremely lucky because my husband was ready to sponsor my going to Kawo General Hospital for Antenatal but it was very exorbitant, many families in my community could not afford it.”
Aisha is one of the Unguwarzomas (traditional birth attendants) who took to this profession because of the situation in her community. She said she had no formal training in birth attendant other than what she learnt from her mother-in-law; “I took interest in child delivery because so many women were dying in our community. If my mother in-law who is also a traditional birth attendant is not around and the Village head who conveys the women to hospitals in the town is not around, we usually have crisis, so I decided to watch them when they attend to expecting mothers and that was how I became one of them.”
Our investigations also revealed that women in this community are now scared of becoming pregnant because of the uncertainty. Nobody wants to experience the troubles associated with pregnancy, whether newly married or old couples. Sometimes if a mother survives it her child may not because of so many challenges like Malaria or Typhoid which usually attack the new born baby and because of no medical facility, the child will die. Both young and new have embraced family planning in this community.
This is the only source of water within this community
When Government Turns Deaf Ears
According to the Village Head, they have done everything humanly possible to attract government attention but to no avail; “My father tried making the government to build a Primary Healthcare center while he was alive but he didn’t succeed and he was 103 years when he died. Within this short period of my taking over as the head here, precisely in 2013 we tried to reach the government twice, during Namadi Sambo and late Ibrahim Yakowa on the same issue but it failed again. When this government came to power we were very optimistic that our prayers will be answered, we again approached them to remind them of our previous letter in 2008. In that meeting we were given hope of having electricity that year. We even made some effort by clearing and cutting the trees on the road but alas, it didn’t also work. We went to the local government headquarters and represented our request for Primary Healthcare Center, water, school but it was all empty promises. After our concerted effort and nothing was coming from the government, I donated part of my palace to serve as a make shift clinic where the women could be coming for their antenatal.
A copy of one of the several letters from the community to the Igabi Local Government, requesting for PHC.
“At this time, we were losing our women and infants frequently, again, I decided to go to the Igabi Local Government Headquarters to complain and one Hajiya Binta a medical health worker was attached to us and asked to be coming to check the women from time to time. We were grateful to this arrangement but it was not enough as she does not reside here with us. The last letter we wrote to the Igabi Local Government, requesting for a four-bed health facility was dated 14th July, 2008 and nothing was done.”
According to Mr. Barem, Igabi Local Government has 68 clinics but had to close eight (8) due to lack of man power. He said it is not easy to build clinics all over the place without man power to do the job; “Besides the State Primary Healthcare has a guide line for establishing a clinic which says that the population of the community must be up to 10,000 and the proximity 5km away from the nearest clinic or PHC.
“Though I am relatively new in this local government, I resumed here June last year but even Mararaba Jos that has density population can hardly get 10,000 people.
“That does not mean that we will not attend to them, I do know that in one of our outreaches, one health worker who goes there to attend to women and children on monthly basis to see pregnant mothers and give the children polio, BCG vaccine still goes there. I will be going there this morning to ascertain the true situation particularly their population.
Still the Community source of water
“Any woman who died as a result of child birth is a big problem to us and that is why the local government directed that every care center must record any death as a result of pregnancy so we can take measures to stop future occurrence. Our major problem here is that majority of the women prefer to give birth at home and that is one of the major contributors to maternal mortality. We have record of every pregnant woman in Igabi and children from age 0-5 years because they are the most vulnerable and like I said I will be going to Kangimin Ubangida this morning to take their statistics. Presently we have 68 clinics in Igabi and we had to close eight (8) of them because of lack of technical personnel. We need about 133 technical workers to start with and until we get them, it will be very difficult to attend to everybody adequately but we know that the state government is making effort to employ about 3,000 technical personnel,”
At the Kaduna State Primary Healthcare Agency, one of the Deputy Directors, Hamza Ibrahim Ikara promised to look into the plight of Kangimin Ubangida with the view of attaching them with the closest facility where they can access medical care for now and or medical health workers send to the community.
The question is, how long will this community wait before basic amenities or dividends of democracy could reach them?
From East to the West, North and South, the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption-ROLAC programme of the European Union and the Strengthening Citizens Resistance Against the Prevalence of Corruption – SCRAP-C programme of the United Kingdom Aid have been traversing the length and breadth of Nigeria, spreading the good news of the Freedom of Information Act.
For ROLAC, an anti-corruption programme funded by the European Union, but managed by the British Council, the journey started with an assessment of the use and implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2011. The assessment, conducted in collaboration with the Freedom of Information Coalition, Nigeria – FOICN and Media Initiative against Injustice, Violence and Corruption-MIIVOC on one hand, and the Federal Ministry of Justice on another hand, focused on four states of: Adamawa, Kano, Lagos and Anambra, and of course, the Federal capital territory for federal Public Institutions and civil society organisations.
The need for empirical data on the level of citizens’ knowledge and use of the FOI Act on one hand and the level of compliance with the provisions of the Act by public institutions on the other hand informed the decision of the ROLAC programme to support a Rapid Response Assessment on same. The Assessment of the level of FOI implementation and compliance among federal public institutions, as well as state public institutions in Adamawa, Kano, Lagos and Anambra was the crux of the study for public institutions. Structured Questionnaire, Observation and Personal Interview were the instruments used for data collection. The choice of the four states and the federal capital territory was informed by the fact that they are the focal states/areas of operation of the ROLAC programme.
The study was coordinated by the leadership of the Freedom of Information Coalition, Nigeria. Findings show that the knowledge gap on the provisions and use of the FOI Act remains wide, particularly, at the state level, requiring that deliberate steps be taken to enhance same.
According to the findings, the percentage level of awareness of public institutions on the FOI Act in Adamawa is 9%; Lagos- 20%; Kano -11%; Anambra -10%; while the federal capital territory is 35%.
On compliance, the percentage level of public institutions with the FOI Act in Adamawa is 0%; Lagos – 10%; Kano – 7%; Anambra – 0%, while the federal capital territory is 25%.
On the part of the Civil Society, about 90% of the respondents in Adamawa have no knowledge of the provisions and application of the FOI Act; 87% in Lagos; 93% in Kano and 91% in Anambra do not know the provisions and applications of the FOI Act.
On the use of the FOI Act, data gathered shows that 93% of respondents in Adamawa state have never made an FOI request; 87% in Lagos; 91% in Kano and 90% of civil society actors studied in Anambra have never made an FOI request.
The findings therefore informed ROLAC’s decision to, in collaboration with the Freedom of Information Coalition, Nigeria-FOICN, Media Initiative against Injustice, Violence and Corruption-MIIVOC and the Federal Ministry of Justice to commence an elaborate capacity building programme, targeting state and non-state actors in the areas studied.
The overall objective was to increase citizens’ demand for accountability and transparency from public institutions, through enhanced awareness and capacity on effective use of the FOI Act on the demand side (civil society); and to improve compliance and implementation of the FOI Act on the supply side (public institutions). So far, two states- Adamawa and Kano have benefited from the week-long capacity building exercise, which took stakeholders through the rudiments, provisions, application and all the elements of the FOI Act, 2011. Lagos State is next to benefit from the exercise. Following the trainings, excited Kano State Civil Society actors are firing from all corners, making demands on public institutions.
The ROLAC FOI trainings are delivered by the Chairman, Board of Governors, Freedom of Information Coalition, Nigeria- FOICN, Dr. Walter Duru, Secretary of the Board of FOICN, Longe Ayode and Mr. Benjamin Okolo, Head, FOI Unit of the Federal Ministry of Justice, who always leads the Ministry’s team. Pwanakei Dala, ROLAC’s anti-corruption programme officer is always on ground to give support, while the ROLAC Staff in the focal states ensure that everything is in place for each of the trainings. ROLAC’s anti-corruption Programme Manager, Emmanuel Uche is always on ground to show leadership.
The highlights of the training are Paper presentations, practical FOI request writing by civil society participants; practical writing of responses to FOI requests by participants from public institutions, interactive and experience sharing sessions, questions and answers sessions, among others.
Speaking on the progress recorded so far, ROLAC’s Anti-Corruption Programme Manager, Mr. Emmanuel Uche expressed delight at the interest of citizens of the states to participate in governance, taking advantage of the FOI Act.
Uche, an anti-corruption expert described the Freedom of Information Act as the foundation stone for strengthening democratic values.
“The FOI Act is the most critical foundation stone for strengthening democratic values of any society. Democracy, which is also one of the core tenets of a free society is based on choice. Choice is not possible where citizens do not have perfect access to information on the available choices. Access to information law is one of the best things that have happened to Nigeria.”
Speaking on ROLAC’s interest in FOI, National Programme Manager, Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Programme, Mr. Danladi Plang described the Act as central to the work of the programme, following its capacity to entrench openness in governance.
“Well, ROLAC has three central themes – Criminal Justice, Anti-corruption and Access to Justice. Our work on the FOI supports and complements the work on anti-corruption, particularly, in the area of prevention. Increased citizens’ use of the FOI Act will improve transparency in the system. When public institutions realize that citizens now have a law that empowers them to ask questions about government business and get the answers they desire, they will be a bit more circumspect. There is no doubt that effective implementation of the FOI Act will prevent and reduce corruption in Nigeria”
Lamenting over the low compliance level with the Act, Plang identified low awareness on the existence and provisions of the Act as one of the challenges, promising that ROLAC will do more in spreading the message of the FOI Act. He added that the “FOI Act can help to open up government for citizens participation,” making a strong case for grassroots advocacy on the Act.
Frowning at the reluctance of some state governments to implement the FOI Act, Plang argued that “a reasonable government should encourage the citizens to participate in governance, if they are genuinely interested in the welfare of the citizens.”
Adding her voice, Component Manager on Enhancing Civil Society Engagement in Criminal Justice and Anti-Corruption Reforms, Toyosi Giwa described ROLAC’s Civil Society FOI engagements as strategic.
According to her, “for Civil Society to effectively engage the government, they need to have their capacity enhanced. Our interest in training Civil Society on the use of the FOI Act is aimed at deepening their understanding of the provisions and applications of the Act to enable them apply same effectively. Government is not usually too responsive to the citizens. One of the tools to hold the government accountable is the FOI Act. We are committed to enhancing citizens’ capacity on FOI Act to increase their participation in governance, with a view to ensuring that transparency is a culture in Nigeria’s public institutions.”
Impressed by the impact of the engagements so far, Giwa stressed: “Available statistics show that some of the civil society actors in the states we have trained are already using the law. This is very encouraging. Reports we are getting from Kano State, for instance are very encouraging. It shows the quality of engagement; but we are not there yet. We want to start seeing the outcome of those FOI requests and positive responses from public institutions.”
Continuing, she stressed that “low knowledge and application of the FOI Act is as a result of opaqueness of government. If government is open, it should even be promoting the FOI act. The ongoing training is timely. The approach of ROLAC is also very good. Training public institutions alongside civil society is a brilliant approach, so they are on the same page. A lot of awareness still needs to be created.”
She however advised civil society actors in Nigeria to remain steadfast in their efforts in speaking for the people.
In another development, as part of its support towards ensuring openness in public service and effective citizens’ participation in governance, the Strengthening Citizens’ Resistance Against Prevalence of Corruption – SCRAP-C Project organised a 3-day training (in three different locations) for civil society organisations and citizens in Nigeria on the use of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011.
The first phase of the training was held in three locations: Lagos (for south-west participants), Uyo (for south-south participants) and Enugu (for south east participants). The training was carefully designed to build the capacity of participants to have a working knowledge of the purpose, provisions, application and benefits of the FOI Act. It was further intended that at the end of the training, participants drawn from across the Southeast, South-South and South Western states of Nigeria, were empowered with enhanced capacity in the use of the FOI Act. It was aimed at deepening participants’ understanding of the law.
The training was delivered by four resource persons: Newton Otsemaye, Project Manager, SCRAP-C; Chairman, Board of Governors, Freedom of Information Coalition, Nigeria and Executive Director, Media Initiative against Injustice, Violence and Corruption-MIIVOC, Dr. Walter Duru; Dr. Tope Olaifa of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and Mr. Ezenwa Nwagwu of ‘Say No Campaign’.
Speaking on the relevance of the training, SCRAP-C Project Manager, Newton Otsemaye explains:
“SCRAP-C is interested in enhancing the capacity of civil society to participate actively in the anti-corruption war. The FOI Act is a veritable tool for the citizens to hold the government accountable. The idea is that ensuring that the citizens understand the provisions and application of the FOI Act is one sure way of increasing their participation by asking relevant questions regarding government activities. We are interested in ensuring that the citizens take advantage of the FOI Act to make the government more accountable.”
The SCRAP-C project is a 5-year UKaid supported project through the Anti-Corruption in Nigeria (ACORN) Programme. The project seeks to address corruption through change in social norms and attitudes that encourage corruption in Nigeria. The project is managed by a consortium of three National Civil Society Organisations: ActionAid Nigeria, Centre for Democracy and Development, and Centre for Communication and Social Impact.
With the great efforts of ROLAC and SCRAP-C in FOI implementation, donor agencies have shown that they are indeed interested in the development of Nigeria by supporting initiatives that will open up government to the citizens.
ROLAC, in addition to operating at the federal capital-Abuja, has four focal states of Adamawa, Kano, Lagos and Anambra. SCRAP-C has six states- Akwa Ibom, Bornu, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano/Jigawa and Lagos. Other donor agencies should quickly take steps to support the spread of the message of the FOI Act to other parts of the federation.
Citizens must therefore take advantage of the FOI Act to participate in governance, hold the government accountable and secure the future of the citizens yet unborn.
Until citizens own the anti corruption war, it may not go far. One sure instrument for an effective war against corruption in Nigeria is the FOI Act. All Nigerians must therefore embrace it, take advantage of it and participate in the business of governance.
Public Institutions/office holders themselves must realize that they manage the people’s resources on trust. Any government that claims to have the interest of the citizens at heart must therefore support the vigorous implementation of Nigeria’s Freedom of Information Act.
A culture of transparency and accountability in governance is the surest solution to Nigeria’s woes. This, the FOI Act can achieve. No genuine anti-corruption war can be won without the vigorous implementation of the FOI Act.
Former Vice-President of Nigeria, and PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar
Former Vice-President of Nigeria, and PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar
The Acting National Coordinator of the Atiku Advancement Project, Barr. Soalabo West has in totality condemned the harassment of the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar by the security agents at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Abubakar landed in Abuja from Dubai on Sunday morning but was humiliated in the name of search by the security operatives at the airport.
In a press statement made available to journalists in Port Harcourt, Rivers State West pointed out that Nigeria is fast sliding into a full-blown dictatorship and tyranny under President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
He called on Nigerian electorate to vote wisely in 2019 Presidential election and ensure the emergence of Atiku as the next Nigerian leader, who will make Nigeria great again.
Meanwhile, Atiku said on Sunday that the exercise was meant to “intimidate” him and his staff members.
Atiku will challenge President Muhammadu Buhari in the February presidential election.
Atiku had tweeted via his verified Twitter handle, @atiku “I arrived to Abuja this morning, to a search by agents of the state, aimed at intimidating me and my staff.”
Also, PDP has issued a statement saying it “condemned in the strongest terms the unleashing of a special security squad of army, police and paramilitary agencies by the Muhammadu Buhari presidency to physically harass our presidential candidate.”
It alleged that the “Gestapo-style attack” was carried out “on orders from above.”
The statement said the agents “rushed our candidate… and attempted to physically manhandle him before invading his aircraft with dangerous weapons to conduct a violent search.”
It said the search did not turn up “anything incriminating” but that the agents “tampered with” Abubakar’s belongings including campaign documents.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, described the incident as “routine” and said the process applied “to all international arrivals” in a statement responding to the claims.
“While it is true that the Task Force on Currency at the airport did the routine action of checking the former Vice President’s travel bag, he was accorded full respect as a senior citizen,” he said.
Over the years, many a personality has endeared themselves not only to their immediate native villages but also to their communities, the less privilege and even to widows, with the aim of bringing succor, joy, simile and hope to the pessimistic.
Jef Raskin has the like of Prince Lawrence in mind when he said, “An interface is humane if it is responsive to human needs and considerate of human frailties. Again, When Meyers Jr said, “Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good has an individual like Prince Lawrence in mind.
Humane and also philanthropic in his ways, Prince Lawrence Ozoemena Ezeh is the Prince of Mburubu in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu state. He is the Chair of Buzuzu Company, a company he has used to empower, employ many unemployed youths and extended his philanthropic, charitable works to his people.
To demonstrate his empathy to the plight of his people, Prince Lawrence Ozoemena Ezeh constructed a 4.5km asphalted road, and has been grading Nara – Mburubu – Nomeh road more than four years now. In addition to these, he gave scholarship to about fifty less privileged persons, repaired some inaccessible portions at Ugbawka- Nara road and also provided more than 20 high tension electric concrete poles at Ugbawka.
Spyder Kenn in a post captured the reason Prince Lawrence has endeared himself to his people thus. My father once told me that “Ajaa dike na nke o kere, o kee ozo”. He also told me that the word, “Ya dikwara gi na mma” will always affect one’s life positively. On this note, I wish to thank Prince Lawrence Ezeh, the son of the traditional ruler of Mburubu, a town in Nkanu East Local Government area of Enugu state, the government are not aware of our existence, and successive governments has abandoned this road and these surrounding communities to their fate, but we are not going to forget ourselves. We might have to resort to using our own money to build our own roads now, while other communities in Enugu state get their own roads built by the government. The injustice of the whole process is not lost on the people of Nkanu east, who cannot boast of any government presence. Nomeh, Mburubu, Nkerefi and many other Nkanu East towns have been forgotten by the government. Posterity will not fail to dig up this bit of our history when the time comes. Once again, we thank you Prince Lawrence Ezeh using your money to grade our road even as the government cannot. O ga adiri gi mma. (From the people of Nomeh-Unateze).
Again, Mr. Petrus Obi in his piece titled “Nkanu East People Heave Sigh of Relief as Illustrious Son Constructs Three Bridges” encapsulated what Prince Lawrence did when he wrote, “The councilis identified as one of the most backward council areas in terms of development and infrastructure.
“It was, therefore, not a surprise the way the people trooped out to celebrate the construction of a new bridge in the area, more so when it was through the individual effort of one of their sons.
“The traditional rulers from the various communities were present as the people sang and danced without restraint to the praise of one of their own, Engr Lawrence Eze (the Prince of Mburubu). The Rivers State-based engineer has constructed three bridges which hitherto hindered movement within the nearby communities, thereby wiping out the tears of his people.
“The bridges, which were abandoned for years by previous administrations in the state, had become a source of worry to the people of the council area before Engr Eze decided to take it upon himself to reconstruct them before the rains set in properly. The bridges include Ojorowo Bridge,Ugbawka; Ovu Bridge, Mburubu and Nvuna Bridge, Nomeh.”
From the foregoing, it is clear that the people of Nomeh-Unateze do recognize the salient contribution of Prince Lawrence towards the need to ameliorate the hardship road users in the aforesaid communities pass through on daily basis.
It was therefore a great pain to many observers how this philanthropic, humane, rare and unsung son of Nkanu East lose out of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Enugu East Senatorial Primary election, or rather was betrayed after committing so much to the PDP.
To so many, it came as a welcomed move for him to defect to the All Progressives Congress, APC not minding contrary opinions in some quarters, where he seeks to actualize his senatorial aspiration.
In view of Prince Lawrence Ezeh’s rare contributions to his constituency, someone who has not tasted any elective post, but has done commendably well for his people, it therefore behooves his constituents to do the needful to ensure his victory as the general elections draw near. The time to act is now.
Despite increase of family planning (FP) users in Nigeria, only 13.8% of women aged 15-49 are using modern contraception in the country, and one-in-four married women aged 15-49 have unmet need for modern contraception.
A report released Monday at the ongoing International Conference on Family Planning in Kigali, Rwanda, reveals that over 1.7 million additional users of modern contraception in Nigeria have been added since 2012.
The report also shows that modern methods of contraception have prevented over 2 million unintended pregnancies and 735,000 unsafe abortions between July 2017 and July 2018.
The report entitled FP2020: Catalyzing Collaboration has been produced by Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) – a global partnership that supports the rights of women and girls to freely decide whether, when, and how many children they want to have. The report for the first time ever includes new data on government spending on family planning in Nigeria.
According to the report, more women and girls in the world’s 69 lowest-income countries are making the voluntary choice to use contraception.
“Rights-based family planning is a catalyst that unlocks the potential of girls and women in Nigeria and around the world. Our goal is to ensure that each one is able to exercise her basic rights to self-determination, health, dignity, and equality.
“This is a core strategy for countries to improve the health and well-being of their citizens and economy. Today said Beth Schlachter, Executive Director of Family Planning 2020.
“Women represent half the global population, and there can be no healthy population globally or in Nigeria without reproductive health care.
“As we continue to build the framework for Universal Health Coverage (UHC), we must ensure access to full, free, voluntary contraception is included for all women and girls. As countries build UHC strategies, rights-based family planning and SRHR services must be integrated within primary health care systems.”, she said.
In Nigeria, among women aged 15-49, an estimated 13.8% or 6.2 million are using a modern method of contraception in 2018. This is 1,713,000 more than in 2012.
The rate of modern contraceptive use among married women has increased to 12.2%.
As a result of modern contraceptive use between July 2017 and July 2018:
○ 2,060,000 unintended pregnancies were prevented
○ 735,000 unsafe abortions were averted
○ 12,000 maternal deaths were averted
However, 24.8% of married women aged 15-49 have an unmet need for a modern method of contraception.
Globally:
The number of women and girls using a modern method of contraception in the world’s 69 poorest countries had grown to more than 317 million, as of July 2018.
This is 46 million more users than in 2012 (the year FP2020 was launched) – an increase that is around 30% greater than the historic trend.
The use of modern contraceptives is growing the fastest in FP2020 countries in Africa: as of July 2018, 24% of women of reproductive age in these countries are using a modern method.
