7 YEAR OLD BOY BEATEN & BURNED TO DEATH IN NIGERIA

It is with a very heavy heart that I write this post today. It actually began when I found myself reading some friends' outraged reactions on their status messages on facebook concerning the beating and burning to death of a seven year old child in Nigeria. Out of curiosity of course, I went in search of the video/photos - sorry I couldn't bring myself to post the videos/photos here. What I saw was horrifying!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. It was so horrible, I wept! I couldn't watch the entire video. I went on to make a comment and somehow I started reading through the previous comments. Almost all of the reactions ranged from outrage to disgust to sadness, then I read one blaming the president for the mishap. This really made me angry, and so for the first time in six months, I am blogging. I have only two things to say;

First of all, what is the world turning into? How can people watch others committing an injustice or even watch something bad happening and all they can think to do is bring out their smart phones and start filming so they can upload to internet to get views and become popular? It is simply unfathomable to me. It is exactly the same thing that happened when the dana flight crashed and caught on fire some years ago. People started filming instead of helping or looking for help. How does your filming save a live? Yes, I know some people will say they filmed it to have evidence and to fight against such injustice. But, let me ask, what if you actually make a call (the original reason for phone production) to the police or similar agencies, even the media houses and report the incident as it happens. Let no one say they don't have the numbers of these people because all you need to do to get it, is search for it on google. Google is not for searching for the latest sexiest videos and photos.

Secondly, how could the actions of 20+ adults who beat another individual -a child no less- to a pulp and proceeded to burn him, be the fault of the president? Is this the first time that this has happened in this country? A child stole something (not sure exactly what it was) and he is killed in cold blood and you blame the president for it because of "the situation of the nation"? This is the dumbest excuse or argument I ever heard. In other words, the people who brought on the excuse/argument are saying to me "if anyone crosses my path or maybe the path of someone who crossed my path, kill them and when asked, say the president caused the nation to be in a situation that made you so angry". Wow! Are you a fish? these people can't even qualify to be a fish. Right from secondary school we are taught the characteristics of a living thing - MR NIGER DAL C. The "A" stands for adaptation, that is what is expected of human beings, not kill each other at the slightest provocation.

After I saw the video, my first reaction was to curse down the perpetrators including the cameraman or woman who most likely did nothing to help - which i did in my home. But all I have to say to them is that God will be the final Judge of this matter. 

"......He that is without sin, let him first cast the stone ...." - John 8:7

Dear Nigerians, let us not let the internet steal away our humanity

Cheers All

See you soon

LEARN HOW TO SAVE A LIFE

Have you ever been in a class and you are wondering about the benefits of the particular lecture? Well, happens to me a lot, but not this time. This lecture wasn’t just about theory (talk and go), it was a practical class on how to save lives. As a doctor, it is my job description to save lives. I have seen people die, have resuscitated some and watched some die despite best efforts at resuscitating them, because in Nigeria, frankly, I don’t know if any hospital has a defibrillator and very few have a mechanical ventilator. Shocker right? Today I want to share with you an experience I had after learning about basic life support (not bragging) and I also would like to pass on this information to you as much as I can. (It is an extremely wide topic).

THE STORY:

She was a neonate and she had been on admission for many weeks because she was born premature with a very low birth weight. Finally she was doing well and gaining some weight and awaiting discharge. One day, she stopped eating and I happened to be the one on call that night. Following her symptom – we decided to rescreen for sepsis and treat accordingly. It was discovered that her PCV (packed cell volume – blood level) had also dropped. So in addition to antibiotics recommenced, we also transfused her. Our treatment didn’t seem to be having much effect on her. She just kept having apneic attacks (stops breathing) requiring persistent ambubagging, suctioning and CPR as her heart rate was also dropping. We did this the whole night. I’m talking about 10 hours straight on one child, alternating with the nurse on duty. Finally, at 6 am, it suddenly occurred to me that something could actually be obstructing her airways despite all our work. I picked her up, turned her around and instituted the anti-choking technique, repeating it about 4 times, then, I drop her back on the resuscitare. A few minutes later, you wouldn’t believe the thick mucus that found its way out of her mouth. The apnea stopped and less than 18 hours later she was crying for food.

LIFE SAVING TECHNIQUES:

There are many things that threaten our lives every single day, some we aren’t even aware of. The scariest of these are the ones that cause sudden death, one minute someone is talking to you, the next minute, they are gone. Sometimes, these situations arise in people that have health problems already like diabetes and hypertension. These are not techniques like cutting up someone’s throat in a restaurant because they are choking like Sandra Bullock did in “the heat” or even opening up the chest wall to let out air in a person with pneumothorax, Christina and her boyfriend from “grey’s anatomy” and Reese Witherspoon in “just like heaven” already showed us how. Lol.

Okay, first things first, Identify the problem. Is the person choking, gasping, unconscious? Are there any friends or family members around who can tell if the parson suffered from a previous illness and if they are on any medications? 

Note** you cannot save everybody by yourself, so if you are trying to help, also make sure that arrangements are been made to take them to the nearest hospital. It’s all about teamwork.

An unconscious patient: check if the pulse or heart rate and the respiration are present.

• If there is no pulse rate and no respiration, check the eyes for papillary reflex. The pupils are the small, round black part of the eye inside the cornea. The cornea can be black, brown, blue or green. Normally, when light is applied to the pupils, it reacts by constricting. In a dead person, the pupil is dilated (i.e. wide open and there is no reaction). If the pupils are dilated, there is no need resuscitating as it shows that the person is brain dead. Well, at least in resource poor countries where we don’t have life support machine to place a person on, and if we did have, it would be a strain on the family’s pocket.
• If the heartbeat is present and/or dropping, and there is no spontaneous respiration, commence CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation). CPR involves doing chest compressions and breaths to the person. Breaths could be given with an ambubag or mouth-to-mouth. 30 chest compressions to 2 breaths in an adult and 15:2 in infants. When giving the breaths make sure that the chest wall rises up. Continue until help comes.

Wikimedia.com

• An unconscious diabetic: better to assume that the unconscious is from hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose). Just give the person a cube of sugar or a bottle of coke and rush to the nearest hospital. This is because hypoglycaemia kills a person faster than hyperglycaemia (high blood glucose).

In a choking adult, do the Heimlich’s maneuver.

• Wrap your arms the person from behind, with one hand firmly holding the other in a fist. Place your folded hand between the stomach (above the umbilicus) and the chest (just below the xiphisternum). Place the person’s legs at “at ease” position, and your right leg in between theirs. Then thrust upward to dislodge the object.

Thefreedictionary.com

• In infants, sit on a chair with your left leg slightly extended at the knee joint to about 100 degrees. Place the child on your left arm resting on your left leg, tilted head down and smack on her back 5 times, turn her over face up on the right arm and apply 5 chest compressions with the index and middle finger of the left hand. Check to see if the object comes out. If it dislodges, remove it, if not, repeat the process.

Photo credit: smmhc.adam.com

Where to check for pulses:

There are so many places in the body where the pulse rate can be palpated peripherally, however, with rapid decompensation, the body focuses blood supply to the vital organs like the brain, heart and kidneys and withdraws from the periphery like the legs. In these instances, it is better to check for the heart rate in these parts;

• The radial pulse is at the outer part of the wrist (same side as the thumb).
• The carotid pulse at the junction between the base of the mandible (jaw) and the neck.
• The heart rate on the left side of the chest. It is usually the last to disappear. Though very rare, some people have their hearts on the right side

I hope you would be able to save some lives with this information.

Cheers……

10 Ways You MUST Protect Your Kidneys

About 2 months ago, we lost a renowned Nollywood actor, Muna Obiekwe,  it was a very sad story. Prior to that we had lost a renowned radio talk show guy, Chaz B, who had touched the life of so many people including myself as I drive home from work every evening. While I pondered on the cause of their demise, 2 days later, I got a shocking news of the death of my brother in-law, from the same cause. It is a disease that is sweeping over Nigeria and many parts of the world and taking away our young vibrant youths who make the mistake of crossing it's part, knowingly or unknowingly. It is called KIDNEY DISEASE! A friend of mine informed me of a walk against kidney diseases they held on Saturday in Lagos and I decided it was time to complete and post this article.

It is alarming the rate at which kidney failure is been diagnosed at the hospital these days, if a kidney function test were to be done for every 20 patients that enter the emergency room, at least 1 would have a deranged result. I wondered why this disease was becoming so rampant these days. Is it because we now have the technology to make the diagnosis? I sincerely don't think it has much to do with it. I think it has a lot to do with our fast lifestyles and lack of proper knowledge about the disease especially in a country  like Nigeria where people leave all issues concerning their health solely up to the doctors, or are still attributing every illness to an any in the village for which they have to battle spiritually in the church, or even making wrong choices when they do seek orthodox care. (This article will tell you what I mean).

The kidney like many organs in the body can come down with a lot of diseases ranging from acute (usually reversible) to chronic (irreversible). These numerous diseases can arising from many causes. In medicine, they are divided into pre-renal, renal and post-renal causes, (renal simply means kidney). Pre-renal is any cause that arises before the kidneys, like in the blood vessels, hypertension and dehydration are good examples. Renal involves problems arising from the kidneys themselves, like polycystic kidney disease, acute glomerulonephritis e.t.c. While post renal diseases are those that cause kidney diseases from anywhere after the kidneys e.g. any form of obstruction of the urinary tract e.g. ureteric stones.

For the sake of this post, I'd concentrate on some practices that we carry on with without knowing their implications. For example, while hypertension has been regarded as the biggest culprit in causing kidney diseases, did you know that kidney problems is the number suspect if you meet a young person (below the age of 40 years) with an unusually elevated blood pressure?  So, it is possible that the kidney problem caused the hypertension and not the other way round. It is also possible that something else caused the kidney problem which then caused the hypertension. There are some chronic diseases other than hypertension that have been implicated in causing major kidney wahala. The commonest of them with us in Nigeria are diabetes mellitus and HIV/AIDS.

What is your drinking water habit like? What harmful practices do you indulge in that could cause constant dehydration for you? Let's say alcohol consumption for example. In the days our parents, they drank on occasion, during parties and all. Maybe they didn't have the money to spend or the alcohol wasn't readily available, or maybe it was just their way of life. Then, anyone sitting in the beer parlor night after night was seen as a drunkard. Today, it is a way of life. Everybody wants to "hangout" and have fun. Well, let's hope the music doesn't change while the fun is on going. Other than that, drinking water is very essential. Had an experience while I was in my second year. I developed serious backache (sides of my back) and was taking paracetamol as relief. I thought it was stress of sitting down for long hours. After 1 week, I complained to a senior colleague who asked about my water consumption. To tell you the truth, I took less than 1 liter of fluid per day. He simply went to the nearby shop, and bought 3 liters of water and asked me to finish it immediately. I can say it wasn't funny at all but I had to do it. Within an hour, I urinated 2 times in one hour and that was the end of that pain till date. Drinking water aids in the flushing of waste products from the body and in the prevention of stones formation.

These days, our diet has moved from home food to fast food, and fast food means more meat. Imagine eating a quarter of a chicken. It didn't used to happen. It may be value for your money but what about on the long run. Don't forget it is the kidney that mostly has the job of flushing out toxins from the body. Also, proteins are not stored in the body,  when you breakdown proteins, you get nitrogenous waste. These nitrogen help in the formulation and accumulation of BUN which is what we look out for in the kidney function tests.

Often and often, I see ladies who come to the dermatology clinic with trivial skin complaints. They don't want a spot they acquired at age 10 anymore. They want smooth, shiny skin, and they want to be light in complexion. Many young men are following the trend now. They call it toning. I call it bleaching. Simply, understand this, any substance that is strong enough to change your skin color can definitely do some damage to your organs.

When was the last time you have sorethroat and actually treated it? And I don't mean with strepsil. Sorethroat may simple enough but can be very deadly if left unattended. Did you know that the organism that causes the sorethroat can react with your antibodies (immune system) and form a complex substance that gets deposited on the kidneys and heart leading to bigger problems. What about malaria or a urinary tract infection? Did you know that their complications include renal disease? When was the last time you bought pain killers over the counter? They have also been implicated, especially those like ibuprofen, diclofenac e.t.c. Don't go seeking for the cure of every little thing that happens to you in the hands of a spiritual healer, some of their herbal mixtures are toxic. Even heard blue holy water is equally toxic. It contains copper. Be weary of the use of aloe vera. The research of its uses is not totally done yet.

Now that you know a little bit more about kidney diseases, what can you do to prevent them? Well, keep reading to find out.

• Check your blood pressure regularly.
• Check your blood sugar and HIV status.
• Drink adequate amounts of water. A 70kg man requires 3 liters of fluid per day.
• Watch your diet and reduce your animal protein intake.
• No need to "tone" or "bleach", be comfortable in your own skin.
• Treat any sorethroat, malaria, or any form or infection properly.
• Beware of using and buying over the counter drugs. Go to the hospital instead.
• Beware of herbal mixtures.
• Aloe Vera leaves aren't meant for your consumption please.
• Do a kidney function test!!!

Finally, some kidney diseases are idiopathic. There may be no identifiable cause. I leave you with one advice. Take charge of your health/life. Most kidney disease don't have symptoms until it's too late. Acute renal failure and acute kidney injuries can be reversed only if they haven't lasted beyond 3 months. Do a kidney function test today. Prevention is always better than cure.

Cheers......

PENNY WISE, POUND FOOLISH

So many times, we have either heard of, or used the popular idiom; "penny wise, pound foolish". We have also heard of, and used this one too - "a stitch in time, saves nine". They mean basically the same thing - do the right thing now and avoid future complications. So much goes on in our daily living, and also in the hospital (where I spend most of my time), requiring us to constantly make decisions. Sometimes, we make the right ones, sometimes, we make the wrong ones. Other times, we just make the foolish ones.

A day doesn't go by, that I don't see at least 10 patients (especially in the pediatrics clinic) who have been to the patent medicine dealers, or some other form of healer for health counsel before showing up at the hospital for the doctors' advice. On many occasions, it is too late for the advice they seek.

Let me give you a typical example of some of the experiences I've had. A woman calls up a doctor she knows. She had gotten the number on a day her child was very sick, and she was scared and desperate. She didn't want to go home and be stranded should something that she couldn't handle come up during the course of treatment. 2 months later, the child develops a fever. She calls up the doctor and narrates the present condition of the child. The doctor politely tells her that she was not in town at the moment , but that she should take the child to the nearest hospital for early diagnosis and treatment. Guess what? She replies 'okay' then takes the child to a chemist, where some medications including the injectable forms were adminster to the child by the attending personnel. She didn't know the name of the medications.

2 days goes by, and she calls the doctor again to complain that the fever was not abating and that the child was now vomiting. One simple question by the doctor gave her up. She was asked "madam what did the doctor at the hospital tell you was wrong with your child?" She confessed that she had actually gone to the chemist and not the hospital. She was adviced to make sure she goes immediately to the hospital for expert care. She agreed to do so. Another call the next day revealed that she had opted for a maternity instead and was still there as at the time she was making the call. The nurse did a PCV test and gave more injections. The poor child was still burning up.

After much talk by the doctor. She presented at the hospital without much funds required to treat the child. She had used whatever little she had to undergo sub-standard treatment at  the other places she had been to. A donation had to be done among staf and other patient relatives present to save the child's life. This is a good example compared to others that are brought in gasping or already dead.

I began to ponder at the possible causes of such a behaviour among people and I have come up with these few reasons.

• Ignorance: a lot of people simply do not have the information they require to make sound decisions. Many causes and outcome of diseases are still based on spiritual beliefs and hearsay. The problem with hearsay is that the information been shared is never accurate.  It is usually reported from the person's own perspective after adding sugar and spice and the tale spins on. A typical example is when a patient tells you that they have had antimalarials, then you ask for the specific one and they reply amoxyl.
• Spirituality and beliefs : Nigeria is a country in which many people including myself belief that there are principalities and powers. However, turning to a spiritual healer everytime there is a minor health disturbance and labelling it "an attack" may not be very helpful. Imagine a child has malaria and develops a distended abdomen because of the enlargement of the liver and spleen and instead of coming to the hospital,  the child is taken to one "baba" who cuts the abdomen into different designs in the name of letting out the "bad blood" that is causing the distension. They usually applied herbs mixed with dirt to the wound, so that by the time I'm seeing  such a child, I'm no longer treating just malaria but sepsis too. The annoying part, the parents usually want you to perform a miracle.
• Wrong advice from friends and family members: charity, they say begins at home, well, so does learning and trust. We tend to believe and trust people we've known over a period of time than a doctor (with all his knowledge) that we just met. It is a normal reaction than doesn't yield the best result sometimes. A grandmother who tells you to put pepper and oil into the eyes of a8a convulsing child, is telling you what she knows/thinks and with love but it might just help to blind the child.
• Poverty: I believe this is another very important factor that is easy to explain. If you don't have a dime, and you don't a good lending record, then you can't get the proper help most times. Simply because the hospital will ask for money first. They have learnt to do so because of the bad experiences they've had. 

My recommendation, poverty alleviation and public enlightenment. Never easy jobs to take on. So my advice, seek the best when looking for solutions to any problem you might have.

Cheers.....

URGENT HELP NEEDED

Hello everyone,

Recently, the rate of renal problems (especially in young people) have increased exponentially, and I often wonder what could be the cause of this dramatic increase. This post is a call for help and I'm hoping that you, my esteemed readers would respond appropriately. A couple of times, I have come to you via this medium to ask for help for some seriously ill people. I can't say how many of you responded, but I'm believing that you did. You will find their stories here and here. Unfortunately, sometimes we win some and we lose some - like we did Emma. However, that we lost someone doesn't mean we should give up and not help the next person.

Above is a photo of such a young lady, 32 years old Ironuah Susan Akuchinyere, who has been dealt a bad deal by life. She developed chronic renal failure and was able to have a kidney transplant after an appeal on the national news in 2007. She was given a bit of respite till July 2013, when the disease reared its ugly head again. I say a bit because even after the renal transplantation, the dialysis never really stops because most of the time, it fails, rejected by the body of the recipient. Currently, she has to undergo dialysis 3x a week, she will need blood transfusions or erythropoeitin injections to help her maintain a normal red blood cell volume. One of the complications of chronic renal failure is anaemia. Her diet will have to be specific to her needs.  So, you see, she is in a lot of trouble, financially, health wise, and of course emotionally to say the least. She requires a huge sum of amount to go for a second transplant to give her a shot at life again. I'm talking about tens of thousands of dollars, about N8 million naira.

I want to appeal to you for support towards her recovery, her hospital bills have gone off the roof and she still needs more funds in order to put this behind her. Please for well meaning individuals who would like to be a part of the #letshelpaku campaign, u can make ur donations to the account details below: 

• Accouht name: IRONUAH SUSAN AKUCHINYERE.                                                         Bank name: UBA                                                                                                       Account number: 2049404153. 

You can also get more people to donate by spreading the word. Reshare and rebroadcast this post, start the trend on twitter and facebook, share on instagram or even start a "save our souls" board on pinterest for people who ned help. You can also offer your prayers on herself behalf. Help comes in so many forms.

Let's help save her life. #LETSHELPAKU

Remain blessed. 

THE CURE IS IN YOUR HANDS

When I was in clinical medical school, there was one thing I was sure of doing whenever I went home for the brief holidays. It was the simple task of checking my grandma's blood pressure, then of course, that of every person in the house, (whether they needed it or not). Grandma was hypertensive and some reason, my mum always told me to tell her that all was well with her no matter what recording I got. When I asked why? She'd simply reply; that's what the family's doctor does. His explanation for not telling her the truth picture of her ailment was that it would scare her, or cause her more anxiety and as such elevate the blood pressure to an even higher and more dangerous level. To me at that time, it was a perfect reason and a wonderful practice. I pocketed it as one of the lessons learned on my way to becoming a great doctor. Nobody wants to be mediocre!

As I progressed in the medical field and started to practice, I saw that this was a practice by many people. A man is sick, on admission with cancer or whatever terminal illness you can think of and the family says; "don't tell him, he'll die faster". Another person has diabetes or hypertension (high blood pressure) and the same story goes. I began to wonder how the relatives can manage them without them (the patient) realizing that he is sick. Is it possible to give a person drugs or change the diet without him asking why? Well, unless that person is unconscious.

Overtime, I discovered that there was a high percentage of patients who weren't adherent to their treatment plans. Whether it was medications or a change in diet or even exercise. They come back every clinic day with the same problems, the blood pressure or blood sugar is going higher no matter how many drugs these patients are on. For example, you see them today, give then 2 drugs and give a 1 month appointment. They show up with elevated BP, you add another drug and another and another until you can add no more. Lol. The simple thing that has happened is that you prescribe drugs, they leave your consulting room (sometimes dissatisfied with services rendered), hiss and dump your prescription till the next clinic day. In a place like the one I work, you can come 4 times and meet 4 different doctors. Sometimes, they hope to me a different doctor and hope for a different approach.

My choice to go for a residency training in family medicine is one that I won't regret anytime soon. In family medicine, we are thought to look at the patient's illness from the patient's point of view, then treat using medical knowledge. We realized that a patient is a human being just like anyone of us and would desire to be treated as such. If you are a medical doctor and your are reading this, ask yourself this simple questions;

• How would you like to me treated if you fall ill?
• If it was any of your friends or relatives on the sick bed, what would your reaction be?

We are thought to look at the patient and his illness in the context of his family and vice versa. We do not forget that the patient has religious beliefs especially in a place like Nigeria. We learn how to communicate with people, counsel them and break bad news. The act of managing a "difficult" patient is not something you can do without. With all these said, we have one problem. It is a problem that plagues every doctor and infact the health sector. It is TIME! Patients are maybe the only group of people who have been wrongly titled. Have you ever heard the phrase, "patients are not patient?" so true. They are in the waiting area, ranting that the doctor is taking up so much time with one patient, then they go in and refuse to come out and the cycle goes on. Lol. The doctor tries to compensate and then misses out on the need to adequately counsel the patient and just prescribes drugs, hoping to get a better chance by the next visit, and..... then we are back to the scenario painted earlier.

The moment I realized this defect, I decided it was time to refresh some of the things I'd learned over the years. In my mind, it was time to empower these people with the simple truth they deserved. Why hide information and continue to mismanage a patient? To tell you the truth, contrary to what had been in practice, these people want to know the truth. I adapted a few strategies to work around the time constraint and patient's demand.

First, I divide the patients into 2 major groups as the consultation begins;

• The ones with acute illnesses that will recover completely with medications and no sequelae e.g. people who present with strictly malaria or straight forward urinary tract infection. 
• Those who have chronic diseases, terminal illnesses, emotional or family problems. E.g. diabetes, hypertension, asthma, peptic ulcer e.t.c.

The first group I see in a bit of a hurry, minimal counselling and off they go. The second group, the reason this post, I have to counsel extensively, sometimes over several visits. They are always the reason a developed my rule to counselling a patient. It is my 80/20 rule.

Secondly, I apply my 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule is simple. Just let the individual know from the onset that his recovery is totally up him. I tell my patients with chronic diseases this so they can step it up a notch. Many come to me feeling dejected and I let them know that the battle is up to them to decide if they fight and if they want to win. My favorite line simply corresponds to "when life throws you lemon, you make lemonades". Sometimes, I tell them that my job ends with making the right diagnosis and implementing the correct treatment plan, but it is entirely up to them to follow through or not.

Thirdly, I do not fail to employ something I learnt about counselling a patient with a chronic medical condition while in medical school. They need to know the cause of the illness from you the expert. You don't want them getting infomation from relatives or babalawo (native doctor), that will be the downfall of your management. They need to know the course of this illness. How will it progress? Any there any complications? What are the treatment modalities?

The patient leaves the consultation feeling satisfactied, empower and much better. They leave you with many thanks and a heart full of joy for a job well done. This post is to tell you! that you have every single right to know what you are been managed for, the right to know to names of the medication(s) you are given. People have died from not knowing the name of their medications. Families have been torn apart because the bread winner didn't get to know he was dying enough to make a will before the time.

Empower yourself today and take charge. The CURE is in your hands......
Cheers........

THE MOST DANGEROUS STORAGE CONTAINER

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the prolonged silence, (wasn't my intention). I have been so busy planning the nuptials of my brother that took place yesterday. Remember him? He celebrated his traditional marriage last December. Like I always say, I think it's only in Nigeria that you have to get married 2 -3 times before you realize that indeed, you are married. Lol. Anyway, will be giving you a detailed analysis of the wedding as soon as possible, so watch out. Today however, I just had to make out time to post this. It is sad, but we must learn from other people's experiences.

How often do we go out to get one form of container or another to store items in our homes. Many of us have various kinds of containers for different objects. For people like me who are organizational freaks, we even have containers for some of these storage containers. That's awesome. However, certain containers are not made to be used as storage cans and most definitely not for certain materials. I decided to go ahead and write a bit on this topic because of some events that happened in the hospital recently. About a month ago, I managed a child that had ingested insecticide. Throughout the period, I was so afraid of the possible complications that could arise. Luckily, he scaled through. When it looked like we could take a breather, just last week, another child was rushed into the emergency room. This one had ingested kerosene!

How? You may ask, did these children come in close contact with these dangerous fluids, up till the point of drinking it. The answer is very simple really, especially if you have had to store kerosene before. These children simply drank what they thought to be water because these fluids were stored in water bottles and then kept within or in close proximity to the kitchen. The brain of a child doesn't work like that of an adult. They function by recognizing something and attributing a meaning to it. It's just like when you carry a baby that isn't yours. A neonate would simply turn his head towards your boobs when it's hungry, while an infant who has recognized his mother would continue to cry until you hand him over to his mother.

This second child wasn't as lucky as the first one, she developed pneumonia 2 days after admission, and a whole lot of issues. Further investigation into the matter brought more to light. I realized that as with many health myths in Nigeria, ingestion of any poisonous substance also has its myths and practices. The commonest of these practices is inducing vomiting after the child has been noticed to have ingested a poison. Please!!!! I beg you, don't do that. Inducing vomiting for a substance like kerosene or a corrosive substance like caustic soda would worsen rather than better the person's condition. The reason for this is simple, kerosene is very volatile and can easily be aspirated into the lungs leading to many complications. Corrosives just burnup the digestive tract.

To avoid such disasters, do the following; 

• DO NOT store clear nonedible fluids like kerosene,  methylated spirit, or their like in water bottles. Labelled or not, home or hospital. A colleague of mine almost drank methylated spirit at work.
• Use appropriate storage cans for such substances and label them neatly. 
• Keep them out of reach of children and dispose of any empty containers.
• If you however, find yourself in such a situation, by some "uncanny" happening, immediately take the child to the nearest hospital for care. Many of these substances have antidotes. 
• On NO account should you try to induce vomiting. 
• Share the word and educate your neighbour.

Remain blessed, 

Cheers......

BLOGGING TIPS

Hello everyone,

This is something I learnt from +Divya Uikey P. I realised it helps us get a lot of information from one post. Basically, all I have to do is gather links to some very nice post that could help improve our blogging. So, I'm back again with more tips on blogging and learning how to improve your blog

1) Blog hop - engage and participate

2)Unique header - http://ab4b.blogspot.com/2013/10/our-guide-to-making-unique-header.html (blogging for bloggers blog)

3)Free photos for your blog - http://socialmediatoday.com/mycreativeteam/166847/top-19-free-photo-sites-bloggers (Harry Hoover)

4)Back to top button - http://www.smtutorial.com/2013/12/Back-to-Top-button-on-blog.html with  +Divya Uikey P. This is the site you go to if you are a newbie to blogging. She has so much to offer, I just couldn't put it all in this one post

5) Want to learn how to create adverts/banner with blogspot? then visit theses sites

• Advertising on your blogger blogs - http://www.wazobiablog.com/2013/01/how-to-add-random-ad-banners-widget-for.html
• http://www.advancenaira.com/2013/10/how-to-place-advert-banner-on-blogspot.html#.VDbzvWddVnR
• http://www.ngbuzz.com/index.php/topic,1092.0.html

6) If you want to really really make money online as a blogger or even be a successful blogger, then this is where you go - http://notopoverty.com

That's all for now guys. Unfortunately, couldn't find anymore. Either I didn't look well enough or people aren't be creative with blogging or maybe there is absolutely nothing new to learn anymore. Hit me up if you've got any useful links.

Cheers......

I GOT MY MIRACLE

Hello there everyone,

Right now, I'm in a jubilant mood and I want to shout a big ALLELUIA from the rooftops to my marvelous God. Sitting down on my bed, about to call it a day and turn it for the night, I began to contemplate on whether or not to write this post. While I was at it, I decided to browse through blackberry updates. A particular display picture caught my attention and made my mind up for me. This photo is shown below. The story of my miracle continues after the photo.

So, I woke up on Saturday the 3rd to see that finally, the harmattan decided to show up. (Harmattan is just like winter - the African type. It's cold and dry, the whole weather is hazy and bad enough to disturb flights but it snows dust. Lol). Anyway, so there is harmattan and I chose to lend a hand to do the dishes. The water was sooo cold, I was sneezing in minutes, literally! Well trust "the doctor" to have a handy explanation for that. The sneezing continued till the end of the day and I decided I may have developed catarrh afterall. I took a very hot bath, crossed my fingers and went to bed hoping for the best. (Doctors are the worst patients right?).

Woke up Sunday morning with more cold and a terrible shoulder pain. The shoulder pain, I attributed to poor positioning as I slept. My mother decided it was time to take some action, so she pulled out her medicine bag and gave me something for cold and a big jacket, since I was also traveling that day. The journey was mostly uneventful, but I remember waking up at some point and realizing I'd worn the jacket inside out. Got home. Still no Biggy. Did what needed to be done and went to bed. And I never go to bed early. 

Woke up sometime on Monday morning to my younger sister asking if I wouldn't be going to work. Thank God I was on afternoon shift that day. I slept most of the day, got up at 1pm and went to work. Work was terrible that day. First of all, one of my colleagues met me at the gate and told me about a mortality we just have in the emergency room. Secondly, there was an overload of patients from both the on-going johesu strike and the holidays. The emergency room was overflowing and I was alone. After taking over, I decided to review the patients, send some to the wards, some home, and stabilize the remaining. To cut the long story short, I lost 2 patients at the end of that shift, 30 minutes apart. I became very sad (thankfully I didn't get to the depression line). Again, the shoulder pain from the previous day became generalized body pains after doing CPR (cardiac massage). That day, when I got home, the first thing I did was sleep. I woke around midnight to eat, take some pain relievers  and headed straight to bed again.

By Tuesday morning, I felt broken. I ached from head to toe. I knew the harmattan was in town, but I also knew from experience that it wouldn't make me wear a leather jacket in the afternoon. I was beginning to think that something was wrong somewhere. I pulled out my own medicine basket, brought out my antimalarial drug, (in Nigeria, everyone thinks once you feel feverish, it's malaria until proven otherwise) called my senior colleague to give me the "go ahead" to take the drug, and he says "hold off on the drugs, why not get to the hospital so we can talk about it? ". I called my hubby, and he says "do a test first before throwing medicines in your mouth". (So now, I'm feeling like a drug addict, I tell you, we doctors are really terrible patients.  lol). So, I follow their advice and waited. After consulting with my colleague, he thinks I may be too stressed up. "Take some multivitamins and rest, he says". To tell you the truth, I was truly tired of taking medicines. I'd been taking antimalarials almost on a monthly basis. With joy, I headed home to start the multivitamins. That night was worse than the others. I normally bath with hot water, but that night, the temperature of the water was almost at boiling point, and I was still shivering. I called for my sister to give me a hand with applying some hot balm to my body. She obliged me, and as she applied, I began to complain bitterly. She also said it could be due to stress or lack of multivitamins. She however, said one very important single word - PRAY.

I did pray, and on Wednesday morning, I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock. Until that moment, I hadn't realised that I hadn't heard that sound in a couple of days. (Somehow, I slept through it). I said a short prayer, got off my bed and made breakfast. At the end of the day, I felt even stronger. Filled with so much joy, I decided that maybe I should share it with you.

I don't know what you might be going through right now, or whether you have totally given up on God, I am here to tell you that he lives and he is true to his words (the bible). He is the same God yesterday, today and forever, and he never changes.  Call on him while believing and you'll be glad you did. Remember, his grace is sufficient for us.

Have you had any miracle lately?  Even the tiniest one? Maybe a near miss? Then, feel free to share your experience with the rest of us.  Someone out there may be in need of some encouragement.

Cheers........

EXIT OF AN ICON

Hey there everyone, 

Finally, the last day of 2014 and my last post for the year. Yesterday started with my taking stock of the events of the year. I chose to go with a joyful moment. Later in the day, while reflecting, I realized that my stock taking wouldn't be complete if I shared only my joys and not my sorrows, my trials and tribulations and how God saw me through it all. Someone might just be going through the same problems and looking for a way to overcome and move on with life. As they say; "life is not a bed of roses". There is a proverb aamong my people (the Igbos), that says "afor gbara aka lawa" which this last year go empty handed, don't take any lives. I used to wonder at such a saying. I wondered why they didn't say "this year go with all the bad things you brought upon us".

The story I'm about to narrate was my worst hit for the year. Exactly 2 months and a week after I got married, I got the news of the demise of my dear father-in-law while in the middle of an update course. I can honestly say I was heartbroken. Me! Who barely knew him. I couldn’t imagine what my mother-in-law, my husband or his brothers could be feeling, but I knew they were devastated. If you could say someone lived a good life, then my late father-in-law would be one of those people. By living a good life, I don't mean having fun and throwing parties day in day out. I definitely don't mean drinking, smokin or chasing women like there was a trophy to be won at the end. No, I mean living a life worth emulating. A life of sacrifice and of helping people, touching as many lives as he positively could.

Whatever little I knew of him was confirmed at his burial by family, friends and people whom have been touched by him in one way or the other. Prior to his death, I've had cause to bury my grandparents but I never went into the nitty gritty of what my custom demanded of the bereaved. I already knew that parties were thrown by the bereaved for guests to come and eat, as if it is a celebration. For the first time, I took note of the support offered by friends and relatives. Many came with food and money, others with words of encouragement. I just used to think that everything was left for the affected family to sort out. It used to make me so upset to the point of asking why we couldn't be more like the westerners, who (from movies I've watched), just wear black that day and assemble at the cemetery. Then they go home to meals brought in by friends or not.

Now, when I look by at my father-in-law's burial ceremony, I am happy it turned out the way it did. He was well deserving of it. We had like four asheobi groups including the one worn by us his children. Many singing and dance groups displayed their talents. Usually, a typical Nigerian burial is a 3-day event, and this one was no different.  There is usually the wake-keep (service of songs) which keeps of the process, followed by the burial itself, then the thanksgiving service for a successful burial the next sunday.

Im sorry I don't have any photos from the burial day to share,  we were too upset to "say cheese". Below is a photo from the thanksgiving service. Finally, I decided to make this my last post for the year since we would be exiting 2014, why not a post of an exit to go with it.  Also praying that 2015 would be the bomb! See you there.

Cheers y'all and I wish you a very happy new year!!!!.....

WHERE ARE THE CHIBOK GIRLS?

About four months ago, I wrote this post on the kidnapped Chibok girls. The whole country and the infact the whole world when on a #bringbackourgirls campaign. Even the first lady shed tears on national television. This led to some popular phrases commonly used in Nigeria now like "chai, chai, there's is God oh!" or "na only you waka come" even "all these 'things' you are sharing". In other words, her little effort turned out to be a joke. Well, that is besides the point. At some point, the international aids came in to help with the search. An information spread around the country that the girls have been located in the Sambisa forest using drones. Everyone excepted the next news to be one of rescue of the girls. No such news came. Soon the International aids disappeared from the scene like they where never present.

A few weeks later, the world took on something that would bring smiles to their faces - the world cup, while the whole issue about the chibok girls is swept under the carpet and expected to lie there quietly. This same world cup is supposed to unite the world. I guess it does that for a few weeks amidst the rivalry. The Nigerian team gets kicked out of the world cup and a few people trace their steps back to where we were before the euphoria of the event overtook everything else. This was in July.

Some typical Nigerians decided to make fun with the matter

The month of August greeted us with something even more scary than boko haram. That something scary is ebola. It is what everyone talks about, and with good reason too. My worry now is what has happened to those young girls? Should they be considered lost to us forever? Is this a political thing? I ask over and over again. What exactly did the internationals see to make them pull away. My conclusion is simple, The system has been severely compromised. You can't tell me that the sect has more ammunition than the military. Let's not forget than these same Nigerian military are the ones sent for peace keeping in other African countries. Who supplies them these arms? 

Anyway, I have said my bit. As far as I'm concerned, Nigerians shouldn't rest until we've been told of what has happened to the chibok girls. Let's not forget it could have been anyone in their shoes, Would you like to be forgotten just like that? Again I ask, WHERE ARE THE CHIBOK GIRLS?

HELP PREVENT THE SPREAD OF EBOLA

Hey Everyone,

In the last few days, I've written some posts on the Ebola disease virus (EDV) that hit West Africa and in particular, Nigeria. I've also thought of ideas through which I can further protect myself and my immediate community like family, friends, coworkers and the small amount of the general public I can reach through this media. On this matter of how I intend to protect myself and community, let me first relay my experience to you. This happened in the last two days from the place I went to eat and then, to church.

• I went out with my friends to eat and we had to use a taxi, been too self conscious, I complained that I didn't know who had open the door before me, or who had sat on the chair. I wore my leather jacket even though I was beginning to get hot. (Thank God it was a short distance). We get to the eatery and start to lecture the caterers on the need to wear gloves. They reassured us that they wash and sanitize their hands every 30 minutes. We paid and looked for the nearest tap to wash our hands. Anyway, long story short, they were true to their words. They even sanitized every table once a client left (not just wiped with a wet rag). I was impressed. Yesterday, I went to church, had to go through the same ordeal of ""who has touched this door handle?" "who has sat on this chair?" Then, I said to myself, "Keren, count your blessing, what about those in the hospitals right now?" After that little pep talk, I relaxed a bit but my mind was on full drive. The next thing I heard were the following as part of the usual celebration of mass
• Priest: "peace of the Lord be with you" 
• Congregation "and with your spirit". 
• Priest: let us now offer each other the sign of peace.
• Congregation turned around and started shaking each other 
• You see I am a catholic and I totally forgot about that part of mass until that very point.

In my mind: are you guys for real? I turned to the woman on my left, she smiled at me and extended her hand, I returned the smile and shook her finger tips while noting that her fingers were dry. After that I folded my arms across my chest and didn't turn again. The lady in front of me turn and was extending her hand. I simply smiled at her and waved. I'm sure I seemed very rude, afterall we were in Church and God would protect us. I mean, we were at least 300 people in the church today and it wasn't full to capacity. One person shakes at least six other persons. Do you now follow my train of thought? After the mass, the announcer started the announcements and the one that caught my attention was when she said summer school registration was still on-going  and parents should endeavor to register their children, wards and any child they knew couldn't afford it. It was then that I decided it wasn't enough for me to come here on this blog and lay my complaints. It was time for me to contribute the little that I could. Here are the little things I came up with apart from regular hand washing;

Let's help One Another (not necessarily by holding hands

• Firstly, public places like eateries, restaurant, banks, churches, shops and supermarkets that have a high rate of turnover of people coming and going, should make extra efforts in sanitizing their places. For example, these places should follow the example sited above by cleaning surfaces, door and cart handles with alcohol based sanitizers or bleach. The opening and closing of the doors should be done by a limited member of the staff.
• Unnecessary gatherings of a large number of people from different homes or different parts of the country like camps, certain conferences should be possibly postponed for now.
• Churches, especially orthodox churches that receive holy communion should ask their congregation to wash their hands before coming for holy communion, (the priest and people giving communion should also follow suit). The congregation should receive the communion with their hands and put it into their mouths themselves. Not one priest putting in everyone's mouth. (The virus can be transmitted through saliva). About the issue of offering each other the sign of peace, putting your hands together in front of your chest and bowing your head to your neighbor would do. Or simply wave your hands from a distance. (We doctors called it the BLUETOOTH HANDSHAKE OR HUG, Lol). This is already the practice in some countries like India. I admit it was quite strange the first time I experienced it, but now I see their possible reason.
• The offering bowls should be big enough with a wide opening not a peephole. Also, there should be a limited number of  people handling the money (while wearing disposable gloves). I must emphasize the need for this. Remember, the money has already been handled by a number of people you know not. I must also stress that the church is also as venerable as hospitals in this kind of cases that have no cure yet, especially in Africa where many people still believe in God and still go to churches to get healed for curable diseases like malaria.
• Corporate bodies, churches, hospitals e.t.c. should hold seminars on educating their staff about this disease, its cause, symptoms, course, progression, available management plans and prognosis. This would help forestall undesirable consequences to rumors. Besides, even though I have said in my previous posts that the government should focus on getting to the grassroots, I know that they can't possibly do it alone. (Not in a country like Nigeria I daresay. In fact, sometimes, I believe they would abandon ship if the worse comes to worst. Afterall, they fly abroad for simple cases of food poisoning). We should take the correct information to our relatives living in the rural areas.
• What I need the government to do in addition, is get much of that corruption money and do some good with it. Buy #zmapp at any cost for your citizens, (experimental or not).
• Lastly, my people, if we don't take care of ourselves, who will? Spread the correct information. If you get an information you are not sure of, open the web on your smart phones and check it out. Or better still, ask someone with the real information on these matters. Buy hand sanitizers, wipes, gloves or even tissue for use especially in public places, to open doors, operate the ATM or POS machines. Make sure to wipe your phones regularly (it is what is always, always in your hands). Ladies even wipe your handbags (especially the handles).
• Also maintain constant hand washing. You can refer to this post for ideas on proper use of your hands

I hope this goes a long way to help, read and reshare to help as much people as we can. If you have any good important information on how to further help, please do enter it in the comment section. Until another time.

Cheers....

TERROR STRIKES NIGERIANS: EBOLA!!

It's been almost two weeks now since the news of the deadly virus,  Ebola, hit Nigeria and the level of fear is unbelievable. Lots of information (true and false) suddenly showed up on the media and the streets. Before I go into the possible reasons for the fear amongst Nigerians, let me take a moment to share some basic information about this deadly virus. 

The Ebola virus

Ebola is a haemorrhagic disease caused by the Ebola virus, it was named after the Ebola river where the first outbreaks occurred in 1976 in the democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). It kills about 90% of its victims, is transmitted through contact with body secretions like sweat, saliva, urine, faeces, blood and semen through broken skin or mucous membrane. It has an incubation period (time of infection to manifestation of symptoms) of 2 -21 days. Patients become contagious when they are symptomatic. Symptoms initially begin with flu - like symptoms like catarrh, cough, then the patient develops fever, joint and muscle pains, sore throat, headache, weakness, vomiting, diarrhoea. A patient at this stage could easily be mistaken as having malaria.  At the terminal stages, the patient may develop internal or external bleeding from orifices (nose, mouth, ears e.t.c.) Women may experience heavy and irregular menstruation. It's primary hosts are animals like apes,  monkeys, fruit bats, even antelopes and porcupines.  Transmission from animals to man is also via contact, by handling these animals dead or alive. Prevention is by proper hand washing with soap and water, use of sanitizers, gloves and protective gears; avoidance unnecessary contact like handshakes; washing your fruits and vegetables properly before consumption; be alert and report any suspicious cases; lastly, fast, hands- off burial practices.

So, in a discussion somedays ago, someone asked a question and this is how it went, "if given a choice to choose between HIV, cancer or Ebola, which would you choose? Without wasting much time, I heard the response from someone else in the discussion,  "HIV". The reason for that answer was this; "people are now living comfortably with the disease, provided they follow the rules, they will be fine and they don't die within a month. That response took me back to a time when HIV was the most dreaded disease in Nigeria. HIV, the reason why lots of people committed suicide, the reason for so much stigmatisation, is now more desirable in comparison to the Ebola virus.  Now you can only begin to imagine the level of fear that struck Nigerians when the diagnosis of Ebola disease was made on the Liberian man -Patrick Sawyer 2 weeks ago.

When I heard of the probable outbreak of Ebola in Nigeria, my initial reaction was "why the hell did the Liberians allow their citizens leave their country? " Then, I thought "No, why didn't the Nigerian government shut down the airports to the affected countries as a preventive measure?" Anyway, whatever my reactions were is irrelevant now as the virus is already in the country. Right now, the next thought in my head is what do we do? You see, Nigerians are not the best when it comes to emergency response.  In fact, I really don't think we know the meaning of the words emergency preparation. Remember the floods of 2013,  how did the response to that go?  The general gist was that the government had been informed weeks earlier that a neighbouring country would be opening their dams, and Nigeria should put measures in place to cub any flooding.  I daresay, the level of response to that warning was at 0 level,  and the emergency response when the floods did ensue was at -0 level. So, now you understand that saying terror has struck Nigerians is actually an understatement. We are petrified! If the government couldn't so much as manage a disaster as flooding,  can someone please tell me how they hope to effectively combat a disease as virulent as Ebola?

At a time like this, I don't know if I should be thankful that the medical doctors are on strike. Most doctors know what to do theoretically,  but with the health sector as poor as it is, their hands are tied. The only disease similar to the Ebola, that we have had cause to manage is Lassa fever which is endemic to certain parts of the country. Now, the small doctors who know what to actually do are on strike, and the big oga doctors at the top,  all them commissioners,  directors and ministers of health who have been so out of touch, I wonder if they know the current treatment of malaria are in charge. We are in hot soup for sure. So tell me folks, how do you prevent a disease like Ebola in a country like Nigeria, where everyone's way of greeting is hugs and handshakes? A country where a simple procedure like quarantine is a big deal, a country where anything goes. A place where contact tracing for patients with tuberculosis is next to impossible.

As always, the first reaction to any bad news is denial. At the beginning, almost everyone said "it is yet to be confirmed, he's just a suspect because he's a Liberian". Then, it was confirmed and he passed on.  The story changed to "well no other person has been diagnosed of it, we'll do our best to keep it that way". They decide to spread the news of stop eating bush meat. For goodness sake Ebola is not endemic to Nigeria unless the animals from the affected countries cross over. The news begin to circulate in the media, whether WHO or United States said it or not.

I've actually been meaning to write this post for sometime now, but what actually prompted me into writing today is the treatment metted on me by the airline. An airline from which my wristwatch was stolen from inside my checked in luggage oh! (Story for another day). So I was flying back from Abuja yesterday,  and as the cabin crew carried out their usual take off routine,  I heard an announcement,  "because of the Ebola alert,  we are going to spray you with insecticide. If you are wearing contact lenses or you are allergic to it, we apologise." My jaw literally dropped!  Like for real??!!!.... How does spraying insecticide stop the spread of the disease? It is caused by a virus not an insect! It isn't even transmitted through insect bite. At this point,  I was thoroughly pissed! I just got out my pen and paper and began to write this post. Upon landing, I tried to educate the cabin crew on better ways to prevent the spread of the disease by wearing gloves for instance especially when sharing the food and handling overhead lockers, they should try to seat people with spaces between them especially when the craft is not full. One of the the crew members was glad for the advice,  (intelligent young man), the other one a lady decided to be a wise a**. (Why do women have to be so da***d difficult especially when you are a fellow female trying to correct them?) This is the discussion that ensued between us:

Hostess: what are you guys still doing in the plane? (Addressing her colleague and I)

Colleague: she's telling something useful that could help us as per the Ebola.

Me: I actually said, it would be safer if you shared food wearing gloves, it protects you and I.

Hostess: how would you feel if I served you wearing gloves? (Typical Nigerian way of answering a question or statement in this case with a question - sarcasm).

Me: I'll feel fine, knowing the situation of things in the country,  besides in other affected countries, people wear gloves as a way of life now, even to shake others.

Hostess: I would prefer to give a handshake wearing gloves than share food wearing gloves. If I was given food by someone wearing gloves,  I'll feel bad.

Me: really?  What's the difference?

Hostess: the doctor said we should spray insecticide. (Do you now understand my problem with non-practicing doctors who have no clue what to do?)

Me: your doctor is confused.  I am a doctor.

Colleague: waow!!!

And I walked off the plane. I get home and the story is even much worse. Apparently, my dear "Igbo brothers" have to bury their beloved relative who died in Liberia (cause of death - unknown) in the country. They go ahead to fly in the body. I'm almost certain they'd go ahead and do the proper wake keep where people can freely cry and touch the body and collect. Let me inform you now that the death of the host doesn't mean the death of the virus (a virus has both living and non living characteristics). It can be transmitted through contact with clothings too. Then I heard that the medical doctor that treated the Liberian has been diagnosed with the disease. One dumb Nigerian said it was the ploy of the doctors on strike to get more money. That the medical doctors brought Ebola into the country and would stop at nothing, no matter who gets hurt. Imagine such a response! (http://www.punchng.com/politics/doctor-who-treated-dead-liberian-tests-positive-to-ebola/).  Again our ogas at the top decided that the best way to combat the spread was to visit a prominent church pastor in Nigeria and ask him not to accept sick people from outside the country for healing.  Meanwhile the pastor thinks Ebola is a rumor (http://www.punchng. com/news/ebola-lasg-visits-synagogue-church/).

Dear Nigerians government where are your senses oh! Your sense of safety and obligation? After writing about this and thinking about it for so long,  I begin to ask the question "why doesn't this virus have a vaccine yet?" It's been there for over 3 decades now. Yellow fever is a haemorrhagic disease too yet it has a vaccine.  Is it because Ebola is not yet a pandemic? Then the news about bitter kola being able to inhibit the growth of the virus in the body. I dont know how true this is,  but read this http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/411030.stm

So since the government is always letting us down, many Nigerians have found ways to relieve the tension. Many faced God (our only true source of hope right now), others decided to make some money through this, while the remainder tried to laugh it off.  Check out photos below

The person I got this from said it was the perfect description of Ebola since its first outbreak was near a river and it is scary.

Right now, I'm worn out, so dear Nigerians, I leave you with this little piece of advice, this is not the time to laugh or joke about everything. Prayer is good, but heaven helps those who help themselves.  Instead of using your phones for irrelevant facebooking and twittering,  go to Google at least and check out ways to help yourself and your community.  For now, it's entirely up to us.

Adios....

THE GOVERNOR AND THE VERY LUCKY WIDOW

This is not a romantic story, so dispel any thoughts that it is. It's also not news cause if it were, I'd be presenting it very late, wouldn't I? I'll just begin with the general gist of what went down before I get to my main reason for this post.

A couple of weeks back, a widow selling her wares got insulted by the current governor of Edo State in Nigeria. From the gist I heard, he (the governor) decided to take rounds around the state capital himself. There had been reports that the officials put in place to checkmate any unlawful practices like street hawking were taking bribes and allowing some people carry on. Now since he's assumption to the office of the state governor, he has tried everything to beautify the state. He started by making sure that nobody sold things on the road-sides. This helped to greatly reduce traffic in many market areas. He also went ahead to redo the roads to standard specifications with drainage systems, walk-ways and all.

The Governor and the Widow

On this fateful day, The widow was selling her stuff on the road and she got caught. Her things were thrown away (that's what I heard oh!). I don't know what transpired between her and the governor, but he issued a curse on her. "Go and die" he said. A few people heard his utterance, blew it out of proportion and the media helped. Before anyone could say Jack Robinson, it became the talk of the town. The governor conceded and apologized to the woman. Unfortunately by that time, it was a bit late for it had become a political affair.

The opposing party decided the best thing to do was to give the woman the sum of N250,000 as compensation. When the governor's party heard of it, they decide to retaliate. They gave her a job, her son received a state scholarship. It didn't end here, he went ahead and gave her the sum of N2 million naira.

Now to the crust of today's matter. I totally understand the need for an apology if necessary but a compensation? Hmmm.... Remember guys, this woman was at fault. She was doing the wrong thing by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She can't say she wasn't aware of the state code on such matters. It has been on for 5 years. It's just like saying you enter Benin today and start riding an "Okada" (motorbike) on the street after it has been banned. What do you think would happen?

The media grabbed at this new piece of info. Some called it a political agenda or propaganda. I don't know. Others said a little amount could have been enough and the millions used in building new markets which would be more beneficial to a larger number of people who are forced to be on the streets everyday because as they say, "they have no shops". My mum said "he should has tried to control himself and avoid being put into such a situation in the first place". What do you think? Let me know.

13 year old boy

An almost similar thing happened some months back when a 13 year old boy snuck into a plane through the tyres and got to Lagos. He said "he thought the plane was headed abroad". After so much noise, he was awarded a scholarship by 2 state governors. A few months later, another boy tried it, he was caught. He too wanted a scholarship, unfortunately, he got none.

Finally, what are our leaders trying to portray? Is it that we should be the first to break a law, commit a crime and then get rewarded for doing so? Cause I think they got it backwards. To me, that kid should have been sent to a correction facility for a few weeks before anyone starts thinking of a scholarship. My mum still doesn't understand how the boy survived for more than 30 minutes in the wheel stowaway. What do you think?

Cheers......

HELP SAVE A LIFE TODAY

If you've read my earlier blogs, then you'll know Mr. Emma Ugolee. He is a Nigerian friend I met while was in India early last year. He is also the inspiration behind the article "an idea" and "jokes extraordinaire". You would also have read my posts "help save vincent please" and "brief flashback and appreciation". It's about a boy you all helped save through your prayers and donations. He made it through and is doing well now.

I do not run a non-governmental organization, neither do I belong to any activist groups but in situations like this, when I see young people sick, suffering and dying, mostly due to lack of funds and through no direct fault of theirs, I have to speak up and lend a voice to the voiceless. And so, I'm sorry but I have come to ask for your help once again in saving a life.

21year Emmanuel (standing) with my friend Emma Ugolee

Last night, I got a text message from my dear friend, Emma Ugolee and this is what it read;

• "Today was one of those days when grumpy is too weak a term to describe the mood. Money on my mind like mad. The craving to raise a few millions and get this transplant over and done with. Yea, I have got CKD (chronic kidney disease). Yea! it makes the death nap seem welcome sometimes. I know, I know... 'Emma stop sounding negative, it's worse for some people'. The easiest thing to say till the shoes are worn. By the way, do I really know anyone who has it worse? Well, back to the annoying routine of dialysis. I went to the hospital and barely noticed the nurses who were stretching out squeezed 500 and 200 naira notes. Thinking it was for the normal KFC lunch, I asked them to count me in for a piece of crispy chicken. They said it wasn't for lunch but contributions to help pay for dialysis for a 21 year old boy who was N10,000 short for his session. Felt my pocket, did a cash inventory and voilaaa!!! After my bill, there was left exactly N10,200. I dropped it on the table and said "keep una money abeg" (meaning keep your money please). 5 minutes later, the door was banged open with such force, I almost jumped off my bed. Robbers? A fight? before I could figure it out, an elderly lady and 2 young men went on their knees. 3 pairs of crying eyes pouring every blessing thinkable on me. I was so embarrassed, all I could keep saying was "No Ma, Amen, Please Ma, Amen, No Ma, Get up Ma, Amen". She was his aunt. He had missed dialysis for 2 sessions. He is an only son who lost his dad a few years ago and his mum joined his dad 3 months ago. And she who I thought was his aunt turned out to be the old lady of a friend. He was a semi hostage before I came in. Oh my! I offered to do 1 more session on Monday and the tears were released a lot more. My tears were held back as an ebubedike (strong man) until I asked for his name and he said "Emmanuel". Come see me dey cry. I promised him I would ask for him as well everywhere I try to raise funds. After the rivers were cried, I looked at my God and said "please forgive me, I do not have it worse. I'm sorry for not being grateful. Thank you". 
• What's your pain? Do you know that even with it you are among the fortunate? please always give thanks..... Emma Ugolee

I understand that not all my readers are Nigerians or reside in Nigeria and may not be able to help out by making financial donations. You can do your sharing of helping by putting him in your prayers. You can also call him up (the 21 year old Emanuel) and give him some words of encouragement. Here is his phone number - +2348053283932

To make your donations, pay into his account. Details listed below

Account name: ODUTOLA EMMANUEL OLUWASEUN 

Account Number: 0018164155

Bank: Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB)

I have called him and he was extremely grateful. Very nice young man. Remember that the greatest investment you'll ever make is that of investing in someone's life.

Thank you