Help Ijeomah live

I met her mum about this time last year. I didn't think we were going to keep in touch and become friends. A few 'his and hellos' once in a while was our routine until I saw her dp and read about her daughter in the Punch news paper . I met Ijeomah for the first time a few days ago and all I could do was brace up and pray for this young lady. Having to go through at least 3 dialysis sessions every week is enough to sap energy and the will to live from anyone; but it isn't so with Ijeomah. Even after her 37th dialysis session, she smiled and spoke with little strength; yet full of hope and aspirations! I took solace in her contagious smile and decided to join her in this battle against death. I decided to help her win her life back and assist her in becoming a doctor  as she hopes. Ijeomah is presently in a battle with Renal Failure and needs a Kidney transplant to surmount this obstacle.  My subsequent post will be to enlighten my readers about renal diseases; but today's post is about helping Ijeomah. Ijeomah is 19years and was in S.S.1 until her recent crisis. Thanks to her health challenge, she has lost some years in her education and can only hope to catch up when this sordid ordeal is over. She's the only daughter of her single mum, Oby who is a Masters degree holder that recently relocated to Lagos to start a career in the corporate world after several years of teaching in Abuja Please check the link below to read Ijeoma's interview with Punch newspaper. http://www.punchng.com/feature/jebose-boulevard/i-want-to-live-teenage-girl-with-kidney-disease-cries-for-help/ To win this battle, Ijeomah needs a renal transplant ASAP! A renal transplant in Nigeria costs about 10 Million Naira; In India, it costs 7 Million Naira; In USA, it costs 12 Million Naira; In UK, it costs 12 Million Naira. While waiting for her transplant, she has to undergo at least 3 sessions of dialysis per week and each costs an average of 40,000 naira. Dear readers, please help me help Ijeomah Let's help her win this battle against  renal disease and help realise her dream.  For further details please contact me via email ogunleyea.m@gmail.com

Global Handwashing Day

One of my favourite memories is my nursery school days. I loved my school. Everything seemed like fun. Learning was fun! Each class was like a tower, with colourful chairs, wall paintings, crayons and plasticine and of course wonderful peers and instructors!
I loved school then. Transitioning to Primary school was a rude shock! Even though both schools shared a fence, that was all they had in common!

Anyways, I remembered my nursery school experience cause I was reminiscing on the global Hand washing day. Nursery school had a lot of rhymes and songs about hygeine that still crop up once in a while , but I can't remember any that taught me about proper Handwashing.  
(pls if you have one post it as a comment).

Thanks to Dettol, Safeguard and Lifebuoy antiseptic soaps, we all know that we have unseen germs on our hands. And thanks to the recent Ebola Virus outbreak, Hand washing is becoming a norm in our society. 
However, there is a difference between Hand washing and proper hand washing.

Here a few tips about proper hand washing:

• Before you wash your hands, take off any jewellery.
• When you wash with soap, use regular liquid soap. You don’t need antibacterial soap to remove dirt and germs. In fact, using antibiotics when they aren’t needed can lead to antibiotic resistance – that's when germs get stronger and harder to kill.
• Use moisturizer on your hands. Washing your hands can dry out your skin. If your skin is dry, it can develop small cracks, where germs can hide. So put moisturizer on your hands after cleaning them.

When to wash your hands:

• Before and after you eat,
• Before, during and after you prepare food,
• After you use the bathroom or change diapers,
• After you blow your nose, sneeze or cough;
• Before and after taking care of someone who is sick,
• After touching animals, their toys, leashes, or (poop),
• After touching something that could be dirty (garbage can, dirty rags, etc.),
• Before and after you clean a wound, give medicine or insert contact lenses,
• Whenever your hands look dirty.

Proper hand washing is the cheapest way to stay healthy!  


Our Health is in our hands! 

Keep clean! 

International Day of the Girl Child!

Today, 11th of October marks the International Day of the Girl Child; when the whole world emphasises on the girl child's rights and the inequalities we face based on our gender.
Today, 11th of October marks the 180th day since our Chibok sisters were abducted and forced into untold hardship and horror.

What better way to celebrate the girl child day than to bring to the fore front again the plight of the Chibok girls and their loved ones?
No one thought at the beginning of the #bringbackourgirls campaign that they wouldn't have been returned 180 days after.

Just a few days ago at a gathering, one of my readers jokingly said 'B8, our girls are still missing o!' and I could only nod and wonder if they'll ever return. 
A vast majority of Nigerians have not forgotten these girls but we have moved on like we always do. I guess their immediate family members will be doing the same soon if they haven't already. 

I have often wondered what we will have to do in order to get our Chibok sisters back.
A lot of people have argued that they aren't girls again, that they can't return the same way they were taken and I do not disagree with this school of thought, but no matter how changed they might have become, we want them back.

As we join the world to mark the International Day of the Girl Child, we should remind our leaders and ourselves that this kidnap is no faux and that the reality is- our girls are still missing. 
Another fact is that if this happened before, it can happen again!
If 276 girls can be kidnapped from their dormitories in a state that was in a state of emergency, and more than 2/3 of those girls are still missing, then why can't it happen in any other region of the country where there isn't a state of emergency? 

Since every event in Nigeria seems to be centred around 2015 elections, maybe we should make a demand and tell our politicians and leaders that if they can bring back our girls, they'll earn our votes; maybe they'll take us seriously then, and bring back our girls! 

Happy International Day of the Girl Child Nigeria!

#Bringbackourgirls! 

Hasta la vista dear Khaki!

A few months ago, I penned down my frustrations about wearing my Khaki every Thursday. In that memoir, I ranted about how annoying it was that every one on the street felt they could start a conversation with a corp member once they sight their Khaki.

A friend of mine read through it, and thanks to him I have a fresh outlook about wearing my khaki.

I sort of converted my khaki into an armour and face each day squarely.

As my Mandatory one year winds to a close, my opinion about my experience has shifted.

I have stopped getting angry at the gentleman that feels referring to my khaki is a cool pick up line. I have stopped dreading my weekly 180minutes journey to Bwari for my CDS. 

I have ceased shivering at the thought of going to work on a rainy day.

Yet I have to warn everyone ( especially guys); when you see a female corp member in her Khaki, the chances are that she has had a tiring day either dealing with NYSC officials ( who aren't exactly friendly people) or has spent her hours in a meeting where absolutely nothing was achieved. 

So please spare the poor babe the ordeal of having a conversation that could add to the challenges of the day.

In my opinion, the NYSC programme was instituted for a good purpose,but like most vision, it has to be reviewed regularly lest it loses its essence and becomes a waste of time like most people believe.

I have reviewed the past year and I am grateful that it's over.  

Will I like another chance to do this again? NO!

Will i miss being a corper? NO!

It's Hasta la vista for good dear Khaki! 

I'll be glad to see you go!

Our Symbols are crying too!

As usual, the media has been buzzing about our 54th Independence Anniversary and advertising several talk shows and analytical programmes to reminisce on our progress so far and the way forward as a nation. 
I couldn't help but think about our symbols of National Identity and how we treat them.
I remember being taught that our Symbols of identity as a nation are sacred and should be honoured as such.  
But that isn't the case today.

The other day, I came across the Nigerian Flag in front of a library and I wondered if the flag was a true reflection of the present day Nigeria. The green 3rd of the flag was hanging on to the middle white portion by just a few strands of material. It seemed like it was struggling to stay united with the greater part of the flag.
The ethnic, tribal and religious rivalry in Nigeria is still very palpable in our society, even after 54 years of coexistence as a people and we appear to be struggling to remain together as a nation.

Fast forward to how we handle the Naira. 
On a typical work day, I couldn't help but comment on the way a bike man squashed and squeezed several naira notes into his pocket and handed me a 50 naira note. It would be an understatement to say that the note was a shadow of itself. 
Maybe i'll start a free wallet campaign with bike men and help them treat the Naira better. 

Our National Anthem and pledge are also victims of our desecration. It wouldn't hurt to stop and spare a few minutes to pay attention to the lyrics of our anthem and words of our pledge whenever it is being sung and recited. constant reflection on these words could help us become better citizens. 

The only symbol that seems to have been shielded from disdain and disregard so far, is our coat of arms and I would love it to remain so. Yet, a few people have come up with a caricature of that too. Its components seemed to have become complacent in their posts and just whiled away time; very similar to what you find in several government owned offices.

As we celebrate our 54th year of Independence, let us honour our symbols of National identity and pay attention to what they represent: strength, dignity, unity, fertility, peace, progress and beauty. 

God bless Nigeria.

April Fool in September ?

It's no more news that the biggest April fool prank in Nigeria's history was recorded today, howbeit on a Wet Ember month.

I have learnt in the course of the present Boko Haram crisis, to hold with a pinch of salt whatever our Defense headquarters delivers to us as an update on the war against terror; not because I don't trust them, but because my heart has become embellished  with several suture lines and healing wounds following repeated heart breaks caused by the disgraceful state of Nigeria's insecurity.

I was delighted when I heard the rumour, wishing and hoping that it had an element of truth in it. 

But like every Nigerian, I am just so dazed right now that such rumour could have sipped from no grapevine but from the defence headquarters itself.

It came as no surprise as I read on twitter, people's angry comments about the false statement released by the Nigerian military that some of our Chibok girls have been released.

I sniffled a sardonic laugh as I read Brigadier Olukolade's rejoinder that the buses conveyed other girls but not our abducted Chibok sisters.

How can such a delicate statement be released to the media without a personal and detailed verification?

Was it a bid to gain face with the Nigerian public that made this fine gentleman make such a blunder without checking twice? 

I would have imagined that such a news would have been verified and re verified before it is aired. 

Parents of the supposed released girls should have confirmed that these were their daughters that were abducted before the town crier is given the message to spread! 

I mean, what is wrong with us? 

Why won't we do things right?

How can we toy with already frayed emotions? How can we do things that would easily snap an already frail lifeline called hope?

Dear sir, thank you for the information, but that's not what we asked for. All we asked for and are still asking for is the safe return of our Chibok sisters!

We didn't know about the buses until you raised our hopes and told us that our sisters were back!

I expect an elaborate apology to the parents of the missing Girls and every Nigerian by the defence headquarters, delivered and read by Major General OluKolade himself and an accompanying resignation letter.

I believe that no one is above mistakes, but some mistakes are incomprehensible. 

And this is one mistake that I still cannot understand! 

Meanwhile, we will continue praying for our sisters, we will keep the campaign alive, we will keep vigil till today's mistake becomes our reality!

#bringbackourgirls#

Awake o compatriots!

While I was on my Media Sabbatical break last week, a lot of events must have happened and some of them would have slipped by unnoticed; after all, the world is in a frenzy run and waits for no one. 

So it came as no surprise when I heard for the first time from a friend that another journalist had been killed during the course of the past week. 

Dimgba Igwe was killed by a 'hit and run' driver in his Okota neighbourhood of Lagos state during his routine workout session.

I thought to myself that he has unfortunately joined the list of unsolved murder cases of journalists in Nigeria.

Remember the young journalist that was killed in his home a few months ago? It was all over the news then and the police promised as always to investigate thoroughly.

So it wasn't news as I read that the IGP had promised a special and thorough investigation for this veteran journalist and Pastor. 

While we wait ( hopefully not endlessly) for the outcome of their investigation, I would like to bring to the fore some glaring questions:

1. How come no one got a glimpse of the vehicle , vehicle plate no or the driver responsible for this tragedy? 

I assume that if we had functioning security cameras on our roads and cities, I wouldn't be asking this question. Would I? 

2. Are our roads pedestrian- friendly? Do we have side walks and lanes for joggers and strollers? 

I was in Okota a few weeks back and believe me, asking for a side walk would be like asking for dessert when you haven't even had the proper meal.

I would be mincing words if I described those roads as a hell hole and I know that Okota residents would agree with me.

3. How soon did he get the proper medical  attention? Was he even given first aid at all? Did he get to the hospital?

 We are smacked in the face again with the reality of  an absence or near absence of effective emergency response and ambulance services in our country.

I could go on and on, but there's just one conclusion :

Dimgba Igwe's death like many other Nigerians who have died could have been avoided and prevented in a proper functioning society. 

His death like many others is a result of our failing state as a nation. 

The bitter truth is that only his friends and family would experience  the true  impact of his death.

After the tributes from far and wide,  initial 'Gra Gra' of the media ( which was his community) and empty promises of our men in black ( now men in blue, still MIB), Nigeria will move on and many more preventable and avoidable deaths will continue to occur. 

This sad trend will continue unless we wake up and act right.

One of my favourite musicians , Lagbaja put it rightly in his song '200 million mumu', which he ended by saying:

"Mumu no fit sleep forever, one day mumu go wake up. May the Almighty deliver us from evil".

It's time to wake up from our slumber.