BOOK - VOICES OF WOMEN WORLDWIDE - YEAR 2011

VOWW - YEAR 2011

 The scar on my belly

Posted by Vivian Ifeoma Emesowum on June 20, 2011 Blog

Each time I stand in front of the mirror to look at myself. I imagine how transformed I look after God's creation. The beautiful belly I had has gone and left me with a scar with divided my lower region to looks like two lobes because of the surgical needle and thread that has pass through there twice within six months interval.  Only one man still see it beauty-my husband. He says, you stomach is taking shape everyday. Look more beautiful. It maybe true but I see it as a tease.

Many women have scar as a result of surgery which commonly comes from Cesarean section. I have already counted about five people who were carried out of the theater room before I slept off that night in the hospital. By morning, every bed in the maternity ward of the hospital was occupied with 70% of women who delivered through CS. I imagined how many CS would have be carried out in various hospitals nationally and globally.

Child bearing is sweet but I know that today women do not find joy again when they are pregnancy becos of fear of complication which CS could be the only way out. But it is "safety first" and an option to save women at birth. 'Women die while giving life'. So bad, so unfair. Something has to be done and all hands must be on deck to save a woman's life. "She is too important and beautiful to die ".

For some, it does not matter how the baby comes as far as mother and child live (me inclusive) but for so many in Nigeria it is a taboo to give birth through cs, you are weak and cannot push, is the most common say. When a woman is told she will give birth through cs the next word that comes from her is "God forbid". The next place you find her is in the church or traditional birth attendance home. Yes, some have been successful. Others have not; they are no more to tell their story. Someone have to take time to explain complication like hypertension in pregnancy, placenta previa or rupture, abnormal position of the baby and other conditions to pregnant women as as to save their life

Our medical personal are sometime not patient to explain this conditions to them. Women need counselling when they find themselves in a mixed condition. Then the next problem is the huge medical bill for cs. It fears a lot. Who pays the bill? Where is the government, what are they saying or doing about this. Where are the friends of the needy, you can help. The medical personals, what are their next plans about this. Can the bill be cut down, thus you are there to save life. Please do what you are called to do. Some say it is becos of the money that doctor always prefers the option of cs. I don't know, that is what people say....

One woman who was given the option of cs if her baby did not come after some hours but finally came without cs said “if I have gone through that operation and my husband pays the bill. I would have stayed hungry all my life because I know the type of husband I have". The torture she was going to face after cs was her problem. Could there be another option to safe delivery without cs. Then let hear it. Some people fear that they will die in the course of the operation. They say “I may not wake up again after the anesthesia. Someone have to assure them that there is much improvement in medical practice now and the options of anesthesia are different.

Nigeria has a 40 percent rate of illiteracy among women, one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world, and the third largest number of HIV infections. Our women needs grass root education to be empowered.

Comment by Velma A. Sampson on June 30, 2011

Vivian, yes, I have no doubt there are worse things unheard by these ears or seen by these eyes; and it saddens me for we are all the same, no matter who or where we may be living or have been born.  We all come from the same source, are all created equal and of the same substance, all have the same spiritual essence...the only variation is the beautiful variety...like a wonderful garden in its shapes, sizes, colours, fragrances.  We celebrate nature and we destroy our kin.

 Comment by Vivian Ifeoma Emesowum on June 30, 2011

Dear Velma, my sorry may sound incredible to you cos you have not heard or seen such because i tell you, there are so many Nigerian women who have worst experience than mine. That is the country we live in. You are fortunate to have free information, support and help. How many of our Nigerian women have such help, such information they need to support themselves. 

I am certain that your Nigeria friend will give you more information when you bring up the issue.  Thank you

 Comment by Velma A. Sampson on June 23, 2011

I am sorry; sorry when I read this to see how blind I can be to the struggles of women especially in the beautiful and natural and God given state of child bearing and child birth.  Living in Canada these are not stories I would ever hear; we are educated and made aware of each new development and challenge we may face and we are freely provided with information, support and the help that is needed, when it is needed.  To read of illiteracy and the lack of knowledge about basic and natural life giving processes is a shock to anyone such as myself, living in a country where everything has always been made available and if not known is researched, understood and then shared with the populace at large.

I have an acquaintance here in Toronto, who is from Nigeria; have known him for a dozen years or so.  He returns to Nigeria and lives there six months every year.  He is a man, he has family and sisters and the like, and yet, never once has this type of information been shared, these types of topics discussed.  It makes me wonder why?  Why isn't this person sharing, especially with the influence he has here in Canada; he is involved and connected with our politicians and from what I know comes from a very influential family in Lagos area.  Surely the next time we speak, this and other such matters will be raised, at least by me.

 My dear sister, I thank you for sharing your heart, your pain, your hope.  Namaste.

 Comment by Vinanti Sarkar Castellarin on June 23, 2011

Thanks Vivian ... this is an incredible story of opening our eyes to what is happening in Nigeria where 40% of women face illiteracy with one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates and the third largest number of HIV infections where your women need grass root education to be empowered ...

THERE WAS MUCH TO LEARN FROM 

AUGUST 2013

Nigerian's Youth Celebrates the Int'l Day With 3 months Strike of the ASUU

Posted on August 14, 2013 at 3:11am  Feature1 Comment 3 Likes

It is not questionable that youths are the larger population of the world and are regarded as the engine of national development. They are disempowered usually as a result of unemployment and poverty in the world which limit their expectations in life. In this sense, the rate of a country’s development is directly related to the extent to which the enormous potentials of its youths are harnessed and utilized by the political leadership to promote and sustain economic growth and development.

As young people around the world celebrates 2013 International Youth Day, Nigerian youths celebrates with deep pain and fear of their future due to the 3 months strike of the Academic Staff Union. To celebrate the day, various youth groups conducted road walk, seminars, peaceful demonstrations to speak to the authorities concern of their desire to get back to school soon. They call for a resolution of issues at stake at lest for the interest of the students.

With the theme of this year celebration: “Youth Migration: Moving Development Forward”, the dream of many average young persons in Nigeria is relocating to other developed countries in search for green pasture and better life especially as the present strike situation leaves them at home, idle and jobless.

Young people across Nigeria are facing increasingly tough times; youth unemployment is at an all-time high and opportunities are scarce, especially for those who have not pursued a high-level education, which is a major reason millions of the nation’s young population are anxious to leave the country in search of a better future.

According to the National Population Council, there were 167 million Nigerians as of July 2012 and that 70 percent are between the ages of 18 and 35, a vital reason the governments at all levels should give priority to youth development in the country, analyst says.

In the last few decades, different administrations have attempted to solve the problems facing the young population in the nation, with a view to reduce the migration of youngsters through various schemes and development programmes but none has yielded any quantifiable result.
Nigeria youths are faced with the strenuous processes of migrating from the country, with fraudsters smiling to the banks after duping unsuspected victims who are always willing to pay any amount to secure a visa.

Some of them are however involved in an arduous journey in crossing the Sahara Desert through a desolate and dangerous environment to their destination and transit countries of North Africa. Many of them have died in the process.

Early this year, 65 Nigerians, mostly youths arrived the country after they were deported from various countries in Europe following a range of alleged offences.

Also in June, 52 Nigerians were arrested in Malaysia during a midnight raid by the Malaysia Immigration police. They were put in custody awaiting deportation from the country.

Young Nigerians outside the country are also are faced with the threat of collective deportation, discrimination, harassment and abandonment in the desert.

In 2010, the Federal Government estimated that there were at least 59,000 Nigerian citizens without valid documentation temporarily resident in Maghreb countries and countries along the West African coast literally awaiting onward transit to Europe.

Millions of Nigerian youths, while in search of greener pastures, engage in illegal means such as forgery of travelling documents, marriage under false pretenses, claims for asylum, human trafficking among others, to leave the country due to the poor economic condition. However, most of them end up in various prisons abroad, either deported or killed, making the country to lose of their talents and knowledge. Young Nigerians are always willing to leave the country due unemployment, blaming the government for not creating a conducive environment for youths development in the country.

We have millions of graduates who are unemployed on our street; they can’t afford the cost of processing visa, while few are not meeting the requirement needed to legally leave the country, so they opt for other means of getting to those economical advanced countries.

Even after exposing them with various film show of the dangers of irregular migration conducted in the just concluded 2 months campaign organised by Human Support Services with support from IPPR, few are still determined to travel out of the country by any available means and do not find any hope in the country.

Achieving the mission of the MDG on Education is a very tall order and may not be achieved in Nigeria.