Woman Escapes Death As Electric Cable Catch Fire

By Ayomide Ayano

Electric cable used for illustration

A woman in Agege area of Lagos state has narrowly escaped death in a fire incident at her residence on Friday night.

A lady was bathed with an hot water by another man's spouse

By Kufuli Mohammed Sodiq

A lady in Lagos has been bathed with hot water by the wife of the man who she had anal sex with. The lady was said to have been lured into the woman’s matrimonial bed by the husband, of which information later leaked to the woman.

The incident happened at Aunty Toyin Street, Kedeibo Estate in Ijegun area on the outskirts of Lagos.

The couple, Mr. Chigozie Ezeofor and his wife Isioma have been arrested and charged before a Lagos court for their alleged involvement in criminal offenses against the victim.

The court ordered the suspects to be remanded in prison custody at Kirikiri town, Lagos.

Reports have it that while Chigozie was charged with anal penetration of the victim, his wife was charged for causing serious harm by pouring hot water on the victim.

it was also reported that the victim and the suspects lived together, but the wife did not have the premonition that the husband had been sleeping with the lady. When she eventually knew, she became furious, boiled hot water and poured it on the victim which caused serious injury to her body.

The victim was immediately rushed taken to an undisclosed hospital where doctors have been making effort to save her life.

However, the woman realized at the police station where they have detained that it was her husband that actually forced the victim against her wish, and not as she had initially been told by neighbors, but by then the damage has been done.

When they were arraigned before Ikeja Magistrates court, they pleaded not guilty.

The presiding Magistrate, Mrs. B.O.Osunsanmi granted them bail in the sum of N500,000 each with two sureties in like sum.

They were remanded in prison custody pending they will perfect their bail condition.

The matter has been adjourned until 1 February 2018.

'The health sector has been and still is in a deplorable condition'- Health expert reveal

By Esther Odili

‘Special needs’ children are kids born with Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy and other diseases that leave them sometimes with limited dexterity in carrying out simple tasks like eating, drinking water, talking and many more. These thereby affect their physical, mental and psychological condition, which predispose them to many health complications and as well affect their overall good health.

Lack of adequate awareness and limited funds remain a common thread for the parents of less privileged and some special needs children. These factors primarily informed the decisions of some people in the country to develop and establish homes that cater for the needs of these kids.

Mrs. Rose Ekaete Mordi, is a British Trained Business Administrator who was born on 13^th January 1948. She is the founder/National President of Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria an NGO that caters for children/adults with Down syndrome in Nigeria and other West African countries.

Her passion to affect lives positively led her to founding the 'Down syndrome Association of Nigeria'

(DSAN) in 2001, which later evolved into a Foundation in 2010.

In a chat with Esther Odili, on kids with these ailments, their challenges, and the health sector.

Excerpts Below;

Children with special needs, how can you identify these needs in them?
All special needs (disabilities) have their unique characteristics and method of management, which can easily be handled by trained professionals; the first point of contact by families of children with disability is to see an experienced pediatrician.

Cerebral palsy, autism, and Down syndrome, how dangerous are these ailments and how do you work on the defect?
The three are all various forms of disability and their causes are different from one another.  These various disabilities are not ailments, illnesses/diseases but conditions which could be as a result of several factors.

Sponsorship, how do you source for sponsorship and donations?
We source our funds through donations from corporate organizations, groups, and individuals.

What challenges does your foundation face?
More than  50% of kids with down syndrome are predisposed to a lot of health problems, the most serious being congenital heart defect which usually requires urgent correction and the Foundation faces a lot of challenges in meeting their needs because of lack of adequate funds.

Government support; has it been helpful in the past and now?

There has not been any support from the Government.

What other steps does your foundation take in raising awareness and support for families with special needs children?
We carry out awareness creation through various events and collaboration/partnership with other organizations.

 How do you locate these children, are they brought to the foundation by their parent or abandoned by their parents?
Through a referral from various hospitals and organizations, and also from our awareness events.

What health, emotional, psychological and schooling challenges do the children face?

Because of the stigmatization faced by families of children with Down syndrome these children are usually denied of their basic needs.

Your advice to parents with special needs children?

Parents are advised not to hide their children with disability but should be well informed and feel free to approach organizations like ours for help in catering for the needs of their kids.

Presently, how many kids are in your care and what extra efforts does the foundation make to see to the well-being of these children?

Presently we have about 65 children in our Lagos centre (school) who are receiving formal/vocational training; we have also helped many children to receive corrective heart/eye surgery abroad. We have opened a centre in Ibadan, Oyo state and hope to open more in other parts of the country so that many more families can receive help for the well-being of kids with Down syndrome.

How has the journey been so far?

The journey has been quite challenging but fulfilling; we have gone a long way from when we started nearly 15 years ago as we have been able to render assistance to numerous families across the country - we still have a long way to go though.                  

How would you grade the health sector of the country in the past and now, what is that thing that needs to be changed?

The health sector has been and still is in a deplorable condition; health care should be given priority by having the right structures in place so that service could be accessible to all.

Please can you share your most challenging experience so far in
the foundation?

Lack of support to put the right structures in place to cater for the needs of the numerous families who require our services.

DO HUMAN BEINGS LIVE HERE?

By Caleb Sonia

The deplorable state of health and housing related conditions of the Orisumbare Community Ajegunle area is that of concern to most concerned Nigerians in all sphere. The squalor makes it look like a dumping site or some waste sorting depot,but in actually fact,it's home to thousands of families of different cadre in the society. One may wonder why their have not been disease outbreak as a result of the state of their environment.
The major source of water for domestic use being the surrounding natural waters which is daily being polluted by waste disposal of all source.

The Ajegunle community in Lagos state ,Nigeria is a unique community in the sense that, encircling them closely are highbrow estates and corporations as they are close to the Island.
Another unique thing about Ajegunle aka AJ city is that even with its deplorable condition and challenges as a community, it has been known to produce some notable entertainers and sports men and women who have,and are still making the country proud....

However, one may wonder why the government is yet to beam its social developmental search light on this communities with a view to improving their living conditions,especially with the high number of family with children and infants residing in it.
The government should as a matter of urgency unveil a developmental plans towards improving their living standards especially in the area of hygiene. It is pertinent to note that its importance and need to do the needful in that community cannot in anyway be over emphasised.

STANDARD OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA FALLS WITH SPEED...

The standard of education in Nigeria has been experiencing a free fall for over three decades and the decay presently being felt in the sector, spreads through the primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.

The primary level which ought to serves as the basic foundation for every child is not given adequate resources and attention; hence the quality of education is poor. In the secondary level just as it is in the primary level, lack of adequate learning and reading environment is absent, libraries without books or no libraries at all, lack of equipments and chemicals for the technical and science laboratories.

On the same note, the tertiary institution has not fared any better with all the above mentioned problems, coupled with problems of incessant strikes due to nonpayment of lecturers’ salaries, inadequate classrooms for lectures etc

This situation over the years has lead to the near total collapse of the education sector in Nigeria and the most displeasing aspect is that the average Nigerian student is assumed to be half baked and going by the advancements in technology in the 21^st century which we are presently, the Nigerian education sector, vis-à-vis the youth will be left behind by the world, hence the advancement towards assuming the status of leaders of tomorrow will not be achievable by the youths.

WHO IS TO BLAME; PARENTS OR GOVERNMENT?   It is often said in the African contest that the parents, by themselves alone cannot train a child, rather the

Society as a whole tends to lend a helping hand in training such child or children. Nonetheless, the children spend the better part of their time in school under the tutelage of their teachers for both intellectual and personal development and general supervisions.

 Having said that, it is now the responsibility of government to ensure that formal education is accorded every Nigerian child of school age, hence the government could strongly be held responsible for the fall of education.  

Below are some of the cause and effects of governments’ inactions towards improving the standard and quality of education:-

-Lack of qualified tutors: The poor state of the education sector has made teaching as a profession unattractive to prospective teachers. This overtime has caused scarcity of qualified tutors to teach students in most government schools.

-Lack of incentives for tutors: The absences of adequate incentives that will enable teachers develop and advance themselves are not available, the teachers therefore seek employment elsewhere or are being offered better package by the private sector, and not all parents can afford to take their wards to private schools due to the cost.

-Inadequate teaching and learning materials: Most teachers in most government schools lack the basic teaching materials, while the students are unable to learn properly due to little or no materials available. And due to the high cost of these materials such as books, parents are often not able to purchase these books for their wards to study with.

-Inadequate structures: Most public schools are dilapidated and unfit for use as a learning center for studying and due to the fact that a larger percentage of Nigerian children attend it and most parents are unable to send their children to private school due to economic situation. 

-Insufficient budgetary allocation: The rapid decline in education can readily be attributed to insufficient allocation to the education sector in the national budget and when allocated, it is often not properly accounted for. This has lead to inability of subsequent administration to effectively tackle the prevailing inadequacies in the system.

-Poor remuneration for tutors: The teaching profession is one of the least paid in the work force in Nigeria; this has lead to lack of dedication and professionalism in the impartation of knowledge by tutors and in some cases the teachers resort to using the school environment as a medium for commerce and hawking of varied wares for both teachers and in some cases to students. 

-Poor sensitization campaign: With the recent development and establishment of the UBEC, that is, the universal basic education in Nigeria aimed to ensure that every Nigerian child of school age enrolls in government’s schools, it is worthy of note that most parents are not aware of such programmes by the government, hence are not able to have their children benefit from it.

-Poor organization and coordination: As can be seen or experienced by majority of student’s year in year out in the tertiary institution especially on the rigors and hardships students have to go through in getting admission to higher institutions in the country owing to problem associated with taking jamb and the eventual post jamb aptitude tests that requires such students travelling thousands of kilometers to the institution of choice. Considering the inherent risk and insecurity associated to such journeys. This has most often necessitated in parents and students’ patronizing quakes and failing victim to unregistered satellite campuses.

-Educational flight: It has become obvious that Nigeria education system is below what is obtainable in most part of the world; hence some parents choose to take their children abroad to acquire better education. Also, people in government equally are exporting their children abroad, hence abandoning the institutions at home which invariably, will not have any chance of being improved upon owing to the fact that our government officials who ought to facilitate the needed policies for such to take place have conveniently and comfortably exported their wards oversea

The importance of education in the development of any nation cannot in anyway be over-emphasized .Nigeria, as a developing nation needs to invest in its educational sector in order to give its youngsters same opportunity obtainable in other   parts of the world. The recommendation will be for the government to intensify effort in its policies towards improving the sector, while also putting in place processes aimed at creating a system of continuity.Also, checks and balances should be put in place.

By Caleb Sonia

Being an entrepreneur pays better to being jobless because an idle man is the devils workshop. By caleb sonia

Father rapes his 13 year old daughter to spite his wife

By Caleb Sonia.

A father raped his 13 year old daughter just to spite his wife.
The 39 year old man, a native of Edo state , was reported by his daughter after much endurance of her father's illicit midnight escapades with her to a neighbour Mrs Elizabeth, who then reported the man to the community Landlords where they reside in sango ota, Abule ijoko, Robiyan community in Ogun State.

During our correspondent inquiry, the neighbour confirmed what the girl said, that her father sleeps with her about four times in a week and any time she refuses and wants to struggle he will chock her throat. " I could not tell any body because he threatened fo kill me if I do but when it got too much I had to tell our neighbour " said the girl.

Further inquiry with the neighbour,the father was quoted to have said that the mother of the girl travelled by road to Europe about two years ago, leaving with him four children to charter for. He admitted to have raped his daughter severally and firmly said it was to spite and punish his wife for abandoning him with the children to travel abroad.

An N.G.O , Jashabel Touch a Heart  Foundation who showed interest in the matter visited the girl in other to have counseling session with her in respect to the trauma she had passed through but were told that the mother's family have taken custody of the children, while there father is yet to face the law for the barbaric crime he committed which is also Incest.

The foundation is currently working towards bringing the man to justice through reporting the matter to relevant authorities so that the poor girl can get justice and rehabilitation.

Also,a member of the landlord association who claimed anonymity said the case  was reported to Agbado police station by the community landlords and the man has been arrested and detained for further investigations. This claim has however not been confirmed at the time of writing this report.