The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, has kicked against the planned moves by the federal government to privatize the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, and federal hospitals in rhe country.
Speaking in Abuja at the end of its inaugural National Executive Council meeting, NEC, the President of TUC, Comrade Festus Osifo, said that the decision was taken because Nigerians have not felt the impact of previous privatizations by the government.
Osifo said that the TUC will no longer encourage any form of privatization of government’s assets again, saying that the privatization of the Distribution Company PLC Discos and the Generation Company PLC Gencos, done years ago for effective and efficient service delivery failed as Nigerians are yet to “see anything better from that sector”.
“You know today, the government have made some announcements, that they are going to privatize TCN, the Transmission Company of Nigeria and that they are also going to privatize some federal hospitals in the country.
“As TUC we take a complete exception to this and as TUC, the NEC we frown at this because of the privatization that was done before now, where are we today?”
“In 2012, 2013, the privatization process started and at the end of the day, the Discos and the Gencos were privatized, but do we have more light today than we had pre-privatization…the answer is no,” Osifo said.
According to him, most of the facilities privatized in the past ended up being sold to individuals saying that there is no guarantee that the same fate will not be the case with the planned privatization being peddled.
On the privatization of some federal government hospitals, the TUC said that it is like “adding salt to injury”, as people are already overstretched financially.
“Privatizing hospitals, it will be very costly for our hospitals to be privatized. That means healthcare is going to go beyond the reach of the common.
“Today things are difficult in our country, today, the common man has been battered, today, the living wage can no longer even pay our transport to work talk less of feeding our families or sending our children to school”, Osifo said.
He said the present challenges in the country as fundamental and called on the government as a matter of urgency to address and arrest them.
On the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU and other Unions in the Universities in Nigeria, the trade Union Congress called on the government to resolve the contending issues with the Unions stressing that the prolonged strike could not have been as a result of lack of finances on the part of the government.
“TUC as a body is here to protect our national interest. We will do everything possible to ensure that we engage the government, and also engage ASUU as well as to find an amicable solution.
“You will agree with me that where there is a will, there is always a way. Recently the Federal government spent about 1.4 billion naira to buy vehicles and donated it to the Government of the Niger Republic. If the government is serious, I can tell you that they will resolve this issue of ASUU within 48 hours.
“Go through the budgets and you will see the different budget heads. So, it is the value that is placed on education. The value that is placed on our University system is the reason why we are here today” TUC stressed.
Wanted fugitive from justice, Francis Oduwanor Odiakose aka Big Fish who was only recently declared wanted by the Delta State Commissioner of Police and Delta State Security council, DSS has attempted to fraudulently use a letter purportedly from the offices of the respected Senior Advocate Kanu Agabi SAN who was a former Attorney General of the Federation to secure his release from custody at the Delta State Police Command headquarters.
In a letter signed personally by the respected Senior Advocate and sighted by our correspondent, Kanu Agabi SAN wrote a disclaimer in which he stated as follows: That Ibrahim Ernest Ojochegbe Esq, Kanabilweze Esq, or D I Otutu Esq who have entered appearance as counsel are not under the employ of Kanu Agabi (CON) SAN & Associates neither do they have the authorisation of the renowned Learned Silk Kanu G Agabi to prosecute any suit on his behalf.
‘Take notice that whosoever might be transacting with either Ibrahim Ernest Ojochegbe Esq, Kanabilweze Esq, or D I Otutu Esq on the assumption that they may be acting for Kanu G Agabi (CON) SAN & Associates does so at his/her own peril as the office of Kanu Agabi (SAN) shall not be held liable for whatever liabilities or duties as may arise from such misassumption,” the letter added.
“These lawyers who have been disclaimed by the revered Senior Advocate purportedly wrote the petition on behalf of Kanu Agabi & Associates to the Inspector General of Police and Deputy Inspector General of Police Johnson Kokumo to complain about the wanted declaration of Francis Oduwanor Odiakose,” he said.
In addition to the recent WANTED declaration by the Delta State Police headquarters against Francis Oduwanor Odiakose and his brother Christopher Odiakose for terrorism, attempted murder and other charges, the courts in Delta State have also revoked his bail on gun running and illegal possession of firearms charges he is facing in the courts in the state.
His bail was revoked for failing to appear at several court dates for his criminal trial that has been going on for the past year.
Discrete sources in the Police informed our correspondent that the suspect, Francis Oduwanor Odiakose was arrested last week in the police headquarters in Abuja after he fled the state upon his being declared wanted.
He is said to have made his way to Abuja and used a letterhead from Kanu Agabi to write a petition against his being declared wanted.
He was apparently invited by the DIG DOPs Bala Zama Senchi to interview him about his use of policemen to intimidate members of the public in Delta State. After an extensive interview by the DIG DOPS and his staff, the DIG cautioned him against his use of the police and also for parading himself as a traditional ruler despite documentations from the State Government stating he was not a Traditional ruler. It was after the interview and report by the DIG to the Inspector General of Police that officers from the State Headquarters in Delta State arrested him and took him back to Delta State.
But in a bizarre twist, immediately after reaching the Delta State headquarters, the suspect according to our sources started bragging that he had made arrangements with some officers in Abuja to be returned back to Abuja to be released despite his court warrant for his revoked bail and also the warrants issued for the new charges he is facing.
Our confirmed sources have stated that the fugitive is still currently in the custody of the Delta state police.
Documents sighted after his arrest indicate that he has made plans to flee to Accra, Ghana if he is able to secure his release by officers in Abuja.
Court sources in Delta state have confirmed that the same fake letters from the Kanu Agabi SAN’s chambers have been used by other gang members such as Chibuzor Anayo and Jossey who are suspected members of the gang of Francis Oduwanor and who were recently arrested by the Nigerian Army during an armed robbery incident and are currently facing trial in the High Court in Delta State.
They apparently used the forged letters in their attempt to secure bail and release from custody from the courts in Delta State.
The judge in those cases has denied them bail based on advice from the DPP in Delta State.
The Area Council Election Tribunal in the election to the office of the Chairman, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Federal Capital Territory has ordered a Stay of Execution on the judgment delivered by the Tribunal between the AMAC Chairman, Hon Christopher Zakka Maikalangu of the PDP and his challenger Mr Murtala Karshi of the APC.
This followed a Motion on Notice brought pursuant to Section 143 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010 as Amended and Sec285 Sub Section (7) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended by the Respondents, Hon Christopher Zakka Maikalangu and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Subsequently, the Tribunal granted the Stay of Execution pending the determination of the Appeal filed against the said judgment at the FCT Area Council Election Appeal Tribunal.
The election tribunal sitting in Abuja on Friday to look into the February 12 election in which Hon Christopher Zakka Maikalangu won the election with a total vote of 19,302 votes while Mr Usman Karshi secured 13,249 votes.
However, the Tribunal granted over 21,000 votes to PDP’s challenger, Mr Murtala Karshi of the APC, with the current AMAC Chairman Zakka still maintaining 19000 votes, making Murtala Karshi the valid Chairman of AMAC in the process.
The National Coalition Group (NCG), have inaugurated newly elected national executives to oversee the youth wing of the All Progressive Congress(APC) Presidential campaign team to fruition come 2023.
The new national executives were sworn in by Mr Francis Shoga, a representative of the NCG Board of Trustees (BOT) at the Tinubu campaign office in Wuse2 Abuja.
Shoga urged the newly elected executives who are drawn from all walks of life, to use their wealth of experience to strategize programmes and events that will not only educate, enlighten Nigerians on why APC presidential flag bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is the best man to lead Nigeria, come 2023.
The NCG had its elections on Monday after receiving other groups on the grounds of merger for the purpose of ensuring that the Ahmed Bola Tinubu-Shetimma who are riding on the APC presidential ticket sails to harbour.
The Chairman during a chat with the in House media personnel at the end of the inauguration, said the NCG is in high spirit and is ready to set the ball rolling at ensuring that no stone is left unturned in ensuring that the APC presidential flag bearer is victorious.
For their part, the Deputy National Chairman North, Mrs Abiodun Essiet; Deputy National Chairman South, Comr.(Sct.) Ekene Nwokoro; explained that the youth population makes up a huge chunk of the electorate population, hence the need for the youth to support the candidacy of Tinubu and Shetima.
According to the duo, the inauguration of the executives would aide the activities mapped out for the success of the principal, considering the fact that youths need to be more enlightened on the issue of legitimacy of their franchise and why they should give their mandate to a leader who would salvage the country’s situation.
The new national executive of the NCG include, the National Chairman of the group, Dr. Bako Muhammed; Deputy Natioanl Chairman North, Mrs Abiodun Essiet; Deputy National Chairman South, Comr.(Sct.) Ekene Nwokoro; National Secretary, Miss Martha Agba; National Coordinator, Mr Idris Jibril; National Legal Adviser, AbdulAzeez T. Ahmed Esq; National Auditor, Sadiq Abdulfatai; National Director Project Design and implementation, Mr Ahmad Abdullahi; National Director Policy Strategy Development Delivery and Implementation Prince Shinna Agoi.
Others are National Director Media and Publicity, Mrs Aminat Aminu-Isah, National Director Logistics and Oversight, Hon. Chukwuma Patrick; National Director Welfare, Ashlee Momoh, National Treasurer Mr. Olanrewaju Obasa; National Director Youth Mobilisation and Consultation, Mr Musa Abdulrahman Idoko; National Director Community Engagement, Dr. Justice Chikezie; National Director Finance, Funding and Sponsorship, Mr Samaila Audu Director. Finance, National Director Women Affairs and Development, Hon. Mary Ofie Odey.
Also elected are, South West Zonal Coordinator, Mary Adekemi Oluwajana; Zonal Coordinator North Central, Ibrahim Tahir; North West Zonal Coordinator, Mr Yusuf Amosu; Mr James Omini, Zonal Coordinator South-South; South-East Zonal Coordinator, Ms Ogechi Michael.
Following the judgment at the FCT Election Tribunal today, the leadership of Abuja Municipal Area Council has renounced the judgment passed in favour of the All Progressive Party (APC), alleging manipulation and manufacture of ghost votes against the ones that was legitimately announced after the February 12th elections which to us, is an embarrassment to Nigerian the judiciary.
The Council Chairman, Hon. Christopher Zakka Maikalangu, shortly after the judgement called on residents of the council, especially, supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to remain calm and not take laws into their hands following the judgment at the election tribunal as his legal team has already appealed the matter on a competent court.
In a statement jointly signed by Ephraim Audu and Kingsley Madaki, CPS and Senior Special Assistant on Media respectively, it said that the call is against the backdrop of violent celebrations by supporters of the APC who flooded some parts of the city centre and AMAC Secretariat defacing posters of the PDP and barricading entrances of the AMAC Secretariat chanting provocative, brandishing dangerous implements in the guise of their tribunal victory.
In addition the leadership saw the wisdom to forestall any breakdown of law and order in the council and across the nation. In a shocking arithmetic conundrum conjured in connivance with some government officials, the February 12 election which Hon Christopher Zakka Maikalangu won the election with a total votes of 19,302 votes while Mr Usman Karshi secured 13,249 vote. It appalling that the table turned at the tribunal allocating over 21000 votes to PDP’s challenger Mr Murtala Karshi with the current AMAC Chairman Zakka still maintaining 19000 votes.
According to Madaki, the judgment appeared to be completely biased and against the will of the people, who came out en mass in the AMAC chairmanship election on February 12 to vote for the candidate of their choice.
The media aid stated it, wondered where and how the judge got the votes he allocated to the opposition contender.
He said that it is obvious that some people are head bent on taking over power in AMAC by all means, using whatever means they believe would give them victory against the will and desires of AMAC residents.
“The judgment of today is completely unacceptable. We cannot call that a judgment, because it was one-sided, with a clear picture of being manipulated. We cannot allow such judgment to stand, because there was no clear basis for such a judgment to be given in the first place.
“The present Chairman of AMAC, Hon. Christopher Maikalangu had a landslide victory during the election with wide margins. So, I wonder where the Judge got his record from that Murtala Karshi won the election. The tribunal judgment is a farce to the judiciary which the common people depend on.
“There is no way such a judgment should be allowed to stand because it completely subverted the will of the people which they exhibited by voting for their chosen candidate during the FCT area council election.
“So, I am appealing to residents of AMAC and PDP supporters to stay calm and be prayers, because it is only God that gives power and by the grace of God, we will appeal the judgment and get the justice we deserve,” he said.
According to Kuje Area Council residents, people who bought and erected homes along the neighborhood’s railway corridors did so at great risk despite being informed that the government had set aside the area for a specified use.
This occurs while the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) keeps up its onslaught against the neighborhood’s unlawful constructions.
The FCT Administration destroyed a number of buildings on Tuesday in order to reclaim the railway lines, including churches, small towns, eateries, and businesses.
Some of the locals reported that despite many of the buyers supposedly receiving cautions to stay away from the property, they disregarded the sage counsel.
One of the residents, Lukman Abduralman, revealed that the sellers also wooed by the sellers to buy land there, but refused to take such risk.
According to Abduralman: “they know that this is government land, because they were told by those who know. I have been here since 2015. They were told that railway passed through here, but they claimed that the railway has been diverted.
” They even told me to come and buy a portion for N200, 000, but I refused to buy. The buyers said they are aware that the place is temporary and that anytime that government comes, they will leave”.
Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to FCT Minister, Comrade Ikharo Attah said the demolition along the Kuje railway corridors would be sustained for days, until the illegally acquired lands were reclaimed.
He, however, noted that the FCT Minister, won’t relent until the railway corridors were reclaimed.
His words: ” The Kuje railway corridors clean up is one of the touchy exercises we are carrying out . It is quite pathetic situation, because when the team from the Department Development Control came to mark this buildings, but they never believed them.
“Our officers are badly touched doing this demolition, some were almost shading tears, that people who really ought to know and parking out from their illegal structures didn’t park.
“The sellers of the illegal land gave the people hope that government was not serious and won’t come to demolish, and on this the Minister has proved them wrong “, he further stated.
The Compulsory Social Health Insurance will provide coverage for 83 million underprivileged Nigerians, according to Prof. Mohammed Nasir Sambo, Director General of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).
Furthermore, the agency is prepared to implement the Act and help people internalize it, indicating that the path toward achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is on track.
Sambo stated this on Tuesday in Abuja during a one-day workshop/news conference for health correspondents on the NHIA Act.
This development makes it more feasible than ever before to combat the high prevalence of poverty brought on by out-of-pocket medical expenses by providing health insurance to all categories of Nigerians by 2030.
According to him: “The moment President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Act , the NHIA Act empowers the Authority to see to it that all Nigerians and legal residents have health insurance. This is a complete departure from the previous law that made health insurance optional.
“The NHIA Act brings renewed prospects for the delivery of effective health insurance in Nigeria, fundamentally resets the ecosystem.
“The Act establishes and empowers the NHIA to ensure provision of health insurance for all Nigerians through a mandatory mechanism, in collaboration with state health insurance agencies.
“Specifically, Sections 25 and 26 of the Act establish the Vulnerable Group Fund (VGF), indicating the various sources from which funding would be drawn.
“Furthermore, the legislation strengthens the NHIA to discharge a wide range of regulatory and promotion functions to ultimately ensure that every Nigerian receives access to quality and affordable health care”, Sambo stressed.
Fielding questions from newsmen on the inclusion of cancer treatment in NHIA programme, the Director General said the agency is in partnership with Roche Products Nigeria Limited on Cancer Care Reimbursement initiative. While adding that Roche will pay 50% of the amount, NHIA will pay 30% of the money and the patient pay 20% of the amount.
Responding to a question on integration of informal sectors into the NHIA programme, Sambo said health is compulsory for people in the informal sectors, the new law has made health compulsory for everyone. ” The public sector is already in, organized private sectors will be compelled and persuaded to join.
” There are numerous benefits in health insurance which is to protect them. Government will also come up with policies that of you have to enroll your children in schools, you have to present an evidence of health insurance. Even when you don’t go to school, you will go to the hospital, you must produce the your health insurance evidence. Almost 70% of out of pocket expenditure. We want to ensure that out of pocket expenditure is reduced to below 50%”, he said.
Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has said that about 95% of Abuja’s parks have completely departed from the FCTA park policy.
This comes as he directed the popular Millennium Park to reopen following it two years of closure due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The park, which was constructed and given to the citizens of the FCT a number of years ago, was shut down in 2020at at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Bello hinted that the event was more than just reopening of the park, but also appreciating the Almighty Allah for having taken us safely throughout the pandemic period.
He , however, appealed to the media and the public to support the FCTA’s efforts towards rediscovering Abuja from what it was meant to be by the founding fathers.
The minister urges those opposing the FCTA park policy to have a rethink and support the administration in the journey to transform all parks to what it was meant to be.
According to him: “Today signifies a very important milestone for the city. A day when officially our own Millennium Park in Abuja will be open after over two years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
” For us in the city this occasion today is more than just the reopening of the park but appreciating God Almighty for having taken us safely through all this difficult times.
” More importantly it is a day when we are going to say thank you Salini Nigeria L.td., for being a very reliable partner and cooperate citizen in Abuja, who have singlehandedly constructed this park over 22 years ago.
” And more importantly continue to maintain it to this international standard that you all see today without charging a kobo. What we have seen today is what truly a park support to be in Abuja.”
” Very unfortunately, almost 95 per cent of the parks in Abuja have totally derailed from our park policy. What you see here is what we call the FCT Park Policy in action.
” They have an opening time, they have a closing time, they have perimeter fence, lights, security and toilet.”
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Salina Nigeria Ltd Dr Piero Capitano, thanked the administration for all the support to the company.
Represented by the Project Manager of the company, Mr Gennaro D’ltria, Capitano, said that the park was a century of relaxation which provides freedom and peace.
The nation’s capital city’s Kuje town is currently undergoing a large clean-up and demolition of illegal structures by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).
After months of public education campaigns, abatement notices from the relevant authorities, and support from Kuje stakeholders, the exercise which was a part of ongoing efforts to reduce the growth of illegal structures that are allegedly obstructing the movement of vehicles and pedestrians in the area took place.
Around 10 AM, FCTA leaders rushed the area backed by a sizable security team made up of members of the military, police, and paramilitary organizations to clear roadside encroachments from the famed tipper garage to the Kuje main market.
During the clean-up exercise, which lasted for about seven hours, hundreds of structures ranging from kiosks, containers, attachments to stores and worship centres, shanties and sign posts encroaching on the road corridors.
It was however observed that some encroached areas were cleared by the owners and occupants before the enforcement team arrived for the actual removal.
Speaking with newsmen, Senior Special Assistant to FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement, Comrade Ikharo Attah hinted the exercise is under the Minister’s directive and under the guidance of police Commissioner, Sunday Babaji and other security heads in the Territory
According to Attah, the Minister has not been comfortable with the nature of Kuje, as the extreme contraventions in multiple places in Kuje, makes the area very unsafe, illegal settlements, due to the extreme road encroachment, road side trading, encroachment of rail corridors, and other contraventions in Kuje.
“The clean-up would be a week long exercise, as Kuje has been very worrisome in some areas of insecurity.
“Today, we have been able to address the issue of road side encroachment from tipper garage to the main market, we couldn’t enter the forest, but we told them to park that forest is not supposed to be a market while we also touched the fruit market.
” Tomorrow we will be claiming the rail corridor, the entire rail corridor, and keep it safe and children can use it for recreation.
“We marked Kuje about four months ago. And we have been waiting for long, so the word of caution is what they have seen today”.
Speaking on the encroachment of the railway, the SSA explains: “Kuje chiefs and indigenes have denied selling the rail corridor to anyone and we have asked them who sold to them, they can’t say. So we have been directed by the Minister to reclaim the rail corridor.
“The Tipper garage, being a notorious place, we will keep coming, and Kuje is now like Gwarinpa”
Charity Onu, one of the traders, who owns a shop in Kuje market said often than they are forced to bring goods to roadside, patronage is low, due to the obstructions on the road leading to the market.
According her: “Clearing of the road is very good as it will pave a way for people to come inside, but I will like to appeal to the government to give the dislodged roadside traders new place, where they can do their business”.
Dr. Shafiu Isah devotes his days to caring for children who have a neglected illness that few people have even heard of in his capacity as Chief Medical Director at the Sokoto Noma Children’s Hospital in the northwest of Nigeria.
A gangrenous condition called noma affects the bone and soft tissues of the face. Without treatment, it kills over 90% of its victims the majority of whom reside in remote, difficult-to-reach areas within a matter of weeks.
“Due to extreme poverty and lack of awareness, unfortunately, a lot of these children die at home without even making it to the hospital,” Dr Isah says, which in turn exacerbates the substantial knowledge gaps regarding this preventable and treatable disease.
In the absence of reliable epidemiological data, a 1998 World Health Organization (WHO) global estimation of 140,000 new cases yearly remains the most widely cited source on noma. The majority of these cases are found in sub-Saharan Africa in children between the ages of two and six.
Even for those who ultimately survive the disease, if not treated immediately, it takes mere days for them to be left with severe facial disfigurements that make it hard to eat, speak, see or breathe. In turn, this often leads to severe stigmatization within their communities and a range of accompanying human rights violations.
“We’ve had cases where when the patient presents to the hospital, the whole of the lower jaw is already gone, or the whole of their nostril pathway is gone,” says Dr Abubakar Abdullahi Bello, Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee at Sokoto Noma Children’s Hospital.Nigeria seeks to eliminate severe and often lethal mouth disease 28 July 2022
As Chief Medical Director at the Sokoto Noma Children’s Hospital in the northwest corner of Nigeria, Dr Shafiu Isah dedicates his days to treating children suffering from a neglected disease that few people have even heard of.
Noma is a gangrenous disease that attacks facial tissue and bone. Without treatment, it kills around 90% of its victims, most of whom live in hard-to-reach rural areas, within just a few weeks. “Due to extreme poverty and lack of awareness, unfortunately, a lot of these children die at home without even making it to the hospital,” Dr Isah says, which in turn exacerbates the substantial knowledge gaps regarding this preventable and treatable disease.
In the absence of reliable epidemiological data, a 1998 World Health Organization (WHO) global estimation of 140,000 new cases yearly remains the most widely cited source on noma. The majority of these cases are found in sub-Saharan Africa in children between the ages of two and six.
Even for those who ultimately survive the disease, if not treated immediately, it takes mere days for them to be left with severe facial disfigurements that make it hard to eat, speak, see or breathe. In turn, this often leads to severe stigmatization within their communities and a range of accompanying human rights violations.
“We’ve had cases where when the patient presents to the hospital, the whole of the lower jaw is already gone, or the whole of their nostril pathway is gone,” says Dr Abubakar Abdullahi Bello, Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee at Sokoto Noma Children’s Hospital. “But if the cases present to the hospital early, then they don’t have such issues. That’s what we are advocating for. With early admission, we can also reduce the duration of the stay in the hospital and these patients will not require surgical intervention.”
Noma can be prevented by basic public health interventions such as improving nutrition and oral hygiene; controlling comorbidities such as measles, malaria and HIV infection; and improving access to routine vaccinations.
In recent years, Nigeria has sought to increase awareness of noma and scale up its response activities as part of a commitment to eliminate the debilitating disease. Since 2016, it has been among 10 priority countries to form part of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) African Regional Noma Control Programme.
Nigeria has developed and implemented the programme’s national action plan for noma prevention and control in collaboration with WHO and other partners.
The Nigerian Ministry of Health has integrated noma into its existing surveillance system and incorporated it into the curricula of all national and district health professional schools, while the country now commemorates an annual National Noma Day in November each year. Funding from WHO, as well as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has also helped the Ministry to scale up training of primary care workers, with 741 having received training on noma in 2021 and the first half of 2022.
On 28 July 2022, WHO launched a new free and interactive online noma course through OpenWHO, the first WHO platform to host unlimited users during health emergencies.
“This course will be a useful self-learning tool for health workers to increase their capacity to prevent, identify, treat and refer noma considering both public health and human-rights aspects. Officers in charge of noma at the national and district level can also utilize the course material to train primary care workers,” says Yuka Makino, a technical officer for oral health at the WHO Regional Office for Africa.
Back at Sokoto Noma Children’s Hospital, Dr Isah is encouraged by his country’s increased focus on noma after so many years of neglect. “This disease is still not very well known in our communities, including among health care workers, who often mistake it for cancer or other illnesses. But I am optimistic that this is beginning to change,” he says. “With the help of other stakeholders, I think we are getting there.”
Isah’s optimism is not ill-founded. Since the hospital opened its doors in 1999, it has been the only specialized noma facility anywhere in Nigeria. But in May this year, Nigeria Aid Noma Initiative (NANI) began construction of a new 100-bed national noma treatment centre, funded by German non-profit Hilfsaktion Noma e.V, within the National Hospital grounds in the country’s capital, Abuja. For now, noma patients continue to come to Sokoto from all over the country in search of treatment, often after having been identified by the hospital’s outreach teams. Mulikat Okanlawan was one of the first such patients. More than 20 years ago, and after many years of referrals and failed operations at other facilities, she travelled all the way to Sokoto from Lagos, some 1000kms away, to seek specialized care and finally find hope.
“I used to cry every day. I didn’t associate with anyone due to the stigma. I was alone. But after I was treated here, everything changed. I began to admire myself. I began to relate to other people. I continued my schooling. I began to do everything that I couldn’t do before,” she says.
Having subsequently completed her tertiary education at the local Gwadabawa School of Health Technology, Mulikat now works as a hygiene officer at Sokoto Noma Children’s Hospital, where she also provides psychosocial support to noma patients.
“These patients that come to the hospital, they can see that I was like them but now I am better and I am working,” she says. “It helps to give them courage.”
