Yola: letter of death as Student gives HIV to 124 including Lecturers !

Yola: letter of death as Student gives HIV to 124 including Lecturers !

Outrage and amazement are some of the emotions currently on display in Yola, Adamawa State, after the startling revelation contained in a letter addressed to a radio station in the state capital, Radio Gotel, by a lady who claimed to be an undergraduate of the Federal University of Technology Yola (FUTY).The lady, in the letter which was sent to the producer of the programme, "Heart to Heart", said she contracted the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) from her student boyfriend and has, in revenge, willfully slept with some 124 students and lecturers at the school.The letter also contained the writer's threat to make public the names of those who have had sex with her "on the notice board." This has led to panic and spirited discussions among the male population in Yola, especially within the school community. The school's authorities, however, claim to be unaware of the letter, but promised to look into it.The letter reads, in part: "I have a well-documented report of all those guys and lecturers who crossed my path, since I got infected with this deadly disease in the campus. So far, I have had 124 students and lecturers; out of these, only six (6) used condoms".On a revenge missionContinuing, she said in the letter, "I owe nobody an apology and am still on a spreading till I spread it no more."The writer, who did not hide the trauma and disappointment she faced, explained in the letter that her first impulse upon the discovery of her HIV status was to take away her own life."I, however, did not confide my status to anyone until today (i.e the disclosure via the letter)," she said. "Since 2006, I promised myself that it's in the university I got it and here I will leave it. I have indeed lived to keep my promise."I was in year three when a student on his attachment in our school proposed for a relationship. He had all the qualities a woman would want in a man so I gave in. He told me all a girl would want to hear. In my innocence and naivety, I succumbed to his pressure to have sex with him. Consequently, I lost my virginity to him."After his placement, he reported for his final year and we still had contacts. I visited him on a number of occasions, I have even lost count the number of times I visited him. He was my first and only love and, therefore, hanged on every word he told me."My boyfriend later graduated and we lost contact until last month when his sister told me about his whereabouts. Before registration in the faculty of science, I went for medical test as is the requirement. I then opted for an HIV/AIDS test, which unfortunately turned out to be positive."It then dawned on me that I have traded the rest of my life for a university student who had deliberately and intentionally preyed on my innocence".

Child Trafficking

CHILD TRAFFICKING
One of the most pressing issues of concern that is currently disturbing our contemporary globalize world, is the issue of child trafficking. Perhaps, In a study conducted by the United Nation’s Children Emergency Funds (UNICEF), it argued that about one million and three hundred thousand children are being trafficked annually, also in a separate survey conducted by the united state’s department in 2004, found out that an estimated six hundred to eight hundred thousand children are being trafficked yearly.
Further more, the first internationally agreed upon definition of child trafficking is embodied in united nation’s protocol to prevent, suppress, and furnish trafficking in persons, especially children, supplementing the UN convention against transnational organized crime (2000), as follows:
The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by of the threat or use of force or other means of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payment or benefits top achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. The exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slave, servitude or the removal of organs.
In a different conception, though with the same meaning, child trafficking refers to any act or transaction where by a child is transferred by any person or group of persons to another for remuneration or any other consideration. This refers to the process that puts children in a situation of commercial exploitation as its practicable now in most countries of the world especially African countries. There are different of child trafficking which include child labor, child slavery, child prostitution and pornography, children used in armed conflict, children used for crime and also domestic child servant.
More over, if we take children in armed conflict for example, we will come to understand that it means the involvement of children as combatants or supporting workers in armed conflict, whether by government forces or rebel forces, whether recruited forcibly or voluntarily. Article 3(a) of the international labor convention 182 includes specifically the case of “forced or compulsory recruitment of children for used in armed conflict,” and Article 3(d) which covers “work which, by its nature or circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children” would include the broader case of children used in armed conflict, as such work can universally be seen as likely to harm the safety of the children. This is reinforced by article one of the optional protocol to the convention on the rights of the child on involvement of children in armed conflict, which requires states to take all feasible measures to ensure that members of their armed forces who have not attained eighteen years of age do not take a direct part in hostilities.
Besides, children who have voluntarily joined government forces that are presently involved in hostilities may not strictly be considered part of this category, but information about them has been included to give a broad picture of the situation.
In Nigeria for example, in 2003, the government passed the child rights Acts which comprehensibly deals with child trafficking. Mean while, it also ratified the UN protocol to prevent, suppress and furnish trafficking persons, especially women and children in 2001, and passed a national law on trafficking in 2003 entitled “Trafficking in persons (prohibition) law enforcement and administration Act 2003.” Though Nigeria is one of the countries in the world that passed such law on trafficking, more still needed to be done in terms of its enforcement because available are showing that hundreds of thousands of children are being trafficked yearly, with an estimation of one million, eight hundred thousand of them are vulnerable to trafficking, out of which 80% of them are girls below the age of eighteen years.
As a matter of urgency, all hands must be on deck for us to reverse the trend. However, we must acknowledge the efforts of international donor agencies and international non governmental organizations, and also our own domestic non governmental organizations, in their attempt towards reversing the menace of child trafficking. Governments the world over and most particularly Nigerian government, should as a matter of urgency deploy more resources, commitment and political will that adequately help in ending child trafficking. One key important thing that we have to understand is that, any society that failed to place the issues of children as their priority, that society will have no future at all.
LONG LIVE WORLD CHILDREN!!!

Ibrahim Mohammed Ma'aji

Perspective on Sexual Health and Right

MY Perspective on Sexual Rights and Health

Let me start by sharing with you the real life experience of a female friend of mine who once married. She told me that her unforgettable day was the day her former husband approached her and requested to have sex with her, she declined because she said to him, she was not feeling fine. The husband did not agree with her and decided to tear the cloth she wore and forced her to sex. It was only in the morning she said, after he had finished satisfying himself, he realized she was not well after touching her body and found the body was hot. To that morning, she reported him to his parents but they said to her it’s a normal thing because that is how she can adapt herself as a NEWLY married woman.
Furthermore, Then she later decided to report him to her parents that she was no longer interested in the marriage and her parents after consulting with their son in-law’s parents decided to disengage the marriage. She was in tears when she was telling me the story, and she said to me she does not even want to see any of her former husband’s relatives, she also said to me that she is afraid of getting married to another man because she doesn’t want to experience the same thing which happened to her. After learning from her experience and the subsequent experiences learnt particularly among the participants of National Youth Consultation on Feminism held last year here in Abuja, Nigeria. I decided to stay back to critically and clinically look at the issues of sexual rights and health as it mostly affects the life of girls and women in our society (Nigeria).
Generally, I view rights as indispensable to human existence because they are what human beings requires or entitle to have in order for them to earn a live meaningfully. They include rights such as right to sustainable livelihood, quality basic services such as health, education and also right to be heard and also have identity. These rights are universal, in alienable and indivisible to all human born or alive irrespective of gender, religion, etc. I personally view these rights as indispensable because without them, human beings will live a life that I prefer to term as “empty life” with no purpose of being in existence as human being.
Moreover, my own understanding and at the same time conception of what sexual rights and health is, based on the above experiences, is having a satisfying and safe sex life that is free of violence, discrimination and without hindrance to relationships based on equality, respect and justice, and also have control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to your sexuality. These rights should include right to bodily integrity, choose to be sexually activity or not, to have sexual relations that are consensual, right not to be pressured into sexual activity, to get married to one’s own free will, and also rights to information, access to contraception, birth control, fertility regulation, abstinence by informed choices, and prevention and treatment of STI’s including HIV/AIDS.
Conclusively therefore, sexual rights and health are very indispensable to human existence born or alive. These rights should be re-emphasized and humans should be allowed to enjoy them, failure to do these will turn our society to be lawless or even anarchical and by extension morally unstable.

NURA IRO MA’AJI
PROGRAMME MANAGER
GENDER, DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIETY FOR YOUTH AWARENESS AND HEALTH DEVELOPMENT, KANO, NIGERIA WITH SUPPORT FROM IWHC USA AND GPI NIGERIA
+2348025699001
nuramaaji2000@yahoo.co.uk

Being a paper presented at the 3rd african conference on “sexual rights and health” held in international conference centre, abuja, nigeria.

Perspective on Open Letter Turai Yar'aduwa

Dear Nura,

What sickens me most is that both Prof. Akunyili and Mrs Yar'adua don't seem to have an alternative source to corroborate their careless statement(s). They have not shown any factual cause to defend their careless assertions. I am disturbed that the highly respected Prof. will associate herself with such an unscientific way of determining data.

They should be more concern in addressing the problem irrespective of whether we are doing badly down below or not. No mother should die giving birth... it is absolutely unacceptable. Mrs Yaradua and Prof should face the very hard reality and make the issue as important as the so called RE-BRANDING of Dear Nigeria or what ever they choose to call it. How can they re -brand Nigeria when they cannot do a simple scientific and credible research on the issue of maternal health.

Yes Nigeria is at the bottom end, it is ranking second lowest after the Democratic Republic of Congo and yes the UNICEF says so, SAVE THE CHILDREN says so, Yes PATHFINDER says so, Yes WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION says so, Yes WORLD POPULATION LIST says so and so many other credible organisations are saying and will continue to say so. More over the Nigerian people see these deaths happening every day. I am not surprised Mrs Yar'adua is saying so because her daughters may never see a Nigerian hospital when they are having their babies.... lucky Nigerians they are!

Dear Nura lets ask them to give us their own version of a credible data assuming they have one!

Sincerely,

Sa'ida Sa’ad 08037876939

LETTER TO TURAI YAR'ADUA

LETTER TO HER EXCELLENCY FIRST LADY HAJIYA TURAI YAR’ADUA

Your Excellency, I find it necessary to write this short letter to you, in response to the comment you made, as reported by Ruby Rabius of daily trust newspaper of January 18th 2009, concerning the 2009 report of United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), on the state of the world children, which estimated that out of 5.6 million babies born in Nigeria, one million of them die annually before the age of five years. The report also said Nigeria’s national mortality ratio is 800 per 100, 000 live births, resulting in 47, 000 maternal deaths annually, “and indicating that every woman who dies of maternal causes, at least, six newborns die and four babies are still born”. Your Excellency, you categorically argued that the report “is not factual and does not reflect the true situation in the country, and therefore could not be true in the face of numerous interventions by government and other partners to reduce the alarming rate”. Your Excellency, while every Nigerian enjoys the freedom to express his or her opinion on the report, ordinary Nigerians like me are not convinced by your argument and have some comments and suggestions to offer. While I agree with you that Federal government, your self as a first lady, a select few other state governments, and development partners, and in addition, other NGOs across Nigeria, are making efforts towards the reduction of maternal and infant mortality in the country, a lot still needs to be done because most of the government health programs ended up in the cities rather than reaching out to the people at the grass root. Your Excellency, UNICEF’s report should be seen as an opportunity to re double your effort to all part of the country.
Your Excellency, are you aware of the fact that, other studies conducted by other International Humanitarian organizations also support UNICEF’s position? For Example, in 2008, Save the Children, a US-based International organization also assert that one million under-5 children die annually in Nigeria. Your Excellency, with do you respect, if you said you will not accept UNICEF’s report, what about world development indicators that was released by world bank in 2008 which shows that poverty, as its directly linked to maternal and infant mortality, is widely spread in Nigeria, with about 70% of the population living on less than 1 dollar per day? With do you respect Your Excellency, If not of the likes of donor agencies, international NGOs, Individual philanthropists, and numerous other NGOs across Nigeria, the situation would have deteriorated more than what UNICEF reported, and by looking at some past happenings in the ministry of health which led to the resignation of the then minister of health Prof. Adenike Grange, is a clear manifestation of the kind of mismanagement and other corrupt practices that has been going on in the ministry. It is also even more unfortunate to say that the performance of 2008 budget was between 40 – 45%, which is not even up to 50%.
Your Excellency, as a Development worker, and a mother to us all, and at this stage of our national live, we cannot stay dwelling on whether to accept UNICEF’s report or not, the reality is, this things are real we cannot closed our eyes and say they are not. Let us engage UNICEF and many other donor agencies to continue to help change the situation, and we need to use a more holistic collaborative approach on the issue, and it has to be done in all the three tears of government. In doing so, all the three tears should collaborate with the donor agencies, International NGOs, domestic NGOs and various other community based organizations so as to reach people at the grass root. To our wealthy Individuals, I say, its time to look up to people like Bill Gate, who came all the way from USA to make his own contribution purposely to ensure the eradication of polio in Nigeria, and start changing lives. I thank you very much your Excellency for your time, and look forward for answers to my questions. May God continue to guide all of us.

LONG LIVE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

LONG LIVE WOMEN, YOUTH AND CHILDREN

NURA IRO MAAJI
SYAHD, KANO, NIGERIA
08032601697
nuramaaji@gmail.com
www.nuramaaji.blogspot.com

Perspective on Maternal Mortality

Dear All,

Thank you very much Nura for bringing this up at this crucial time of our existence in Nigeria. You have surely touched on something very dear to my heart!

I am so glad to see that the issue of Maternal Health and Infant Mortality is beginning to be at the forefront of issues initiated, discussed and debated by men and women alike. It is alarming and unfortunate that Nigeria and Northern Nigeria in particular is ranked to be doing woefully in the preservation of the life of our WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

The causes of Maternal Morbidity and Infant Mortality are very clear, and they are simply related to lack of or inadequate access to proper medical care. 92% percent of maternal and infant death is caused by lack of access to medical facilities. Access to medical care does not include a large building infested by cobwebs cockroaches and rodents. It means a well equipped emergency facility with well trained medical personnel, it means a clean building with adequate in patient and out patient facilities, it means ambulance services, it means a hospital/health care center travel of less than 20km within every local Government areas of every state of the Federation, it also means capacity building for Traditional birth attendance, it means Girl Child education and empowerment, it means Primary health care centers within communities. It simply means holistic and sustainable health care intervention in our communities.

We are all in agreement that Govt has a responsibility to provide access to medical care to all its citizens and most specifically to WOMEN AND CHILDREN. It is actually a fundamental Human Right of Nigerians; however this and so many other social responsibilities have been ignored with impunity and total disregard to our Divine RIGHTS. We have come to a time when individuals and communities must work together actively, effectively and sustainably to move this agenda forward by making noise, I believe it is the only way our Government will hear this and all the yearnings of its people. We have no choice but to radicalize our approach to ensure that our Govt and Policy makers give us what we deserve or they continue to cart away our resources to take their families and loved ones out of the country for minor hiccups and rashes(true).

To the Northern Governors, chairmen, Representatives and other policy makers celebrating their weddings and getting ready for overseas childbirth(s), Allah is watching all of you! They should bear in mind that for every child/mother that dies as a result of their disregard to the duties, The Almighty will surely ask them on the day of reckoning! Well most of them rigged and committed all kinds of atrocities to get there anyway so what do we expect?

Nigerians made a lot of noise when we collectively killed the third term agenda in 2005, the world heard us, and it was a determination shared by all alike. Sometimes I wonder if we can implore that kind of fire and determination for all our aspirations to make Nigeria a better place for us and those yet unborn. THE PEOPLE spoke so loud to throw out the third term bid, so why can't the same people do the same this time? Could it be that MH/IM and other social issues are not as serious as third term?(remember the idea of debating term issues is surely about Leadership and Leadership here is about making the lives of all Nigerians better) Is it that issues of Nigerian women and children is unable to raise hell loose?

We must demand an end to this unnecessary waste to human lives. The statistics are unacceptable. In this modern age when countries have long eradicated the menace of MH/IM 100s of years ago and most have considerably reduced its occurrence significantly. Nigeria has the resources, man power (mostly in the Diaspora) and skills to take care of its women and children.

Putting issues of women and children at the fore front of National programs will by no doubt expedite the development of Nigeria, because access to medical care will bring about an improvement to almost all spheres of our daily lives. In giving access to medical care you take care of various other needs in our communities. like good roads, electricity, clean water, education especially that of the girl child, Bringing back home our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora, trained medical personnel and of course a strong and healthy nation.
So Malam Murtala, agreed CORRUPTION has eaten up the very fabric of our existence but we cannot sit back and watch these hyenas continue to disrespect our humanity and making a fool of us. We must all get active in the governance of our Country bearing in mind that we disassociate ourselves with the dirty 'Bull dogs'.
There are several NGOs; pressure groups etc working on different themes all geared towards developing MOTHER NIGERIA, but all there efforts are looking more and more futile. I guess what we have to start doing now is networking effectively, getting together like minds to form a coalition (for lack of a better word) to get down to practical solutions. Enough about Seminars/conferences/round tables/workshops etc. Let’s get down to basics and stop doing grammar.
Get involved in your Local Govt; find out what these Chairmen are doing there. It has to start from down up!
Let me know your thoughts on how to loud this agenda.
Sa'ida Sa'ad
0803 7876939

BENI LAR VS PENAL CODE OF NORTHERN NIGERIA

BENI LAR V.S PENAL CODE OF NORTHERN NIGERIA

“Our lives begin to end the day we became silent about things that matter”
- Martin Luther King Jnr


In response to the text message sent to daily trust newspaper of January 15, 2009, by a woman from Maiduguri , criticising the statement made by Chairman House committee on Human right Honourable Beni Lar on the interview granted to her by the same newspaper of January 14, 2009. In the interview, Beni Lar was asked: “what do you have to say about wife beaters especially when you here men say I paid her bride price so I can beat her when I feel like?” In her response she said, I quote “I am sure you know a wife is a human being and a woman is as good as any man. I would believe that the problem we have with that is the penal code in northern Nigeria allows wife beating and that is very outdated.” So the woman from Maiduguri has this to say, I quote “Let me correct a very wrong impression making the rounds in Nigeria . Whoever said that the penal code in northern Nigeria allows wife beating is a big liar. Northern laws have respect for women.” It was as a result of this encounter, I find it necessary to make my own input concerning the subject matter so as for all of us to have a clear picture of what Beni Lar means.

As a result of a survey and series of consultations to some learned gentlemen and women, I was made to believe that section 55 of northern Nigeria ’s penal code really allows wife beating, below is an excerpts from the section:

“Wife beating is permitted in so far as it does not amount to grievous injury… Nothing is an offence which does not amount to the infliction of grievous hurt upon any person and which is done by husband for the purpose of correcting his wife, such husband or wife being subjected to any native law or custom in which such correction is recognised as lawful.”
I was also made to believe that penal code came in to being as far back 1958 in an attempt to reconcile English criminal law with Islamic Shari’ah law and also the traditions of the people of northern Nigeria who are predominantly Muslims. From the foregoing, it is very clear to me that many men hide under the provision of section 55 of the penal code, to perpetrate violence against women, there by denying them the opportunity to enjoy their right as contain in the chapter four of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria .

Another interesting thing raise by Beni Lar was that, her self and personalities like Honourable farouk Lawan are currently working on a bill that will help in bringing the perpetrators of violence against women to book, so as for them to face the appropriate penalty. To me, this is a very interesting development and is one of the best things that will ever happen in the Nigeria ’s national assembly. According to Beijing declaration and plat form for action, violence against women “result in or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.” It has many forms ranging from raping, beating, and any other thing that can cause physical or psychological harm. The must annoying and disturbing thing in Nigeria, is that the perpetrators of this acts are most of the time left unfurnished, as the Secretary General of Women’s Right Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) observed, she said while reacting to what happen to Ms Rosemary Dzer, a victim of acid bath, that “gender based violence in Nigeria rather than reduced is increasing by the day and with new and hitherto unknown method of attacks.” This is perhaps more than unfortunate and shameful.

In order for us to have a violence free society, we need to have violence against women bill both at the federal and state level, failure to do that our society will eventually decay. I am personally advising the entire members of our law making body (National Assembly) to corporate with Beni Lar and other members who are working on the bills, so as to ensure a successful passage of the bill as soon as it come out, and to also prevent our society from moral decay.


NURA IRO MA’AJI
SYAHD, KANO STATE , NIGERIA
nuramaaji@gmail.com
2348032601697