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CHIBOK GIRLS 500 DAYS

Memorials and services for the 500 days since 200 Nigerian Chibok Schoolgirls were taken. It would be 500 days on August 27, 2015, since Nigeria's Chibok School girls were abducted by the Boko Haram insurgent group.

People around the world campaigned with the hashtag #bringbackour girls. A campaign which hits over 2 billion tweets and the biggest social media fails in 2014. Most of the parents of the missing teens still harbor griefs, frustrations and a thin hope that their daughters will be rescued coming to 500 days after they were abducted at Chibok. Co-ordinators, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili and Hadiza Bala Usman are planning a “Global Week of Action” to commemorate the tragedy of their abduction.

They said “we never envisaged that our girls would still not be rescued nearly 500 days after their abduction. We are extremely saddened as the 500- day mark approaches.

“However, in the last few weeks, we have had cause for a rekindled hope, our confidence boosted, and are more assured that sooner than later our girls shall return. “This is as a result of some pragmatic steps our government has been taken recently: our president’s December 2015 deadline to have the terrorists decimated; what we see as the compliance by our military to annihilate the terrorists by November, and so on. “We call on all to hold special prayers at their various places of worship this weekend. We encourage many more, who are empathetic to the cause of our #ChibokGirls in Nigeria, and around the world to join in this “Global Week of Action.”

“This Friday, August 21, 2015 marks the beginning of our “Global Week of Action” (GWA), themed, “500 Days On, Chibok Girls – Crying To Be Rescued, Never To Be Forgotten.” 

#BRINGBACKOURGIRLS #CHIBOKGIRLS #CHIBOKGIRLS500DAYS

MATERNAL MORTALITY IN NIGERIA

MATERNAL MORTALITY IN NIGERIA

BY; TIJAN SHERIFF OLUWAMAYOWA

Just as piece of information may save lots of lives from unanticipated death, maternal mortality particularly is an area people pay less attention to despite the number of lives lost as far as the term is concerned. In a quest to improve the awareness and in the process save the lives of many mothers not due to death during childbirth or death during pregnancy but death due to ignorance and nonchalance, a comprehensive study has been made into the causes, details and prevention of maternal deaths and most especially to sustain the lives of our mothers and intending mothers.

Maternal death is defined as "The death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and the site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes."

The world mortality rate has declined 45% since 1990, but still 800 women die every day from pregnancy or childbirth related causes. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) this is equivalent to “about one woman every two minutes and for every woman who dies, 20 or 30 encounter complications with serious or long-lasting consequences. Most of these deaths and injuries are entirely preventable.”

UNFPA estimated that 289,000 women died of pregnancy or childbirth related causes in 2013. These causes range from severe bleeding to obstructed labour, all of which have highly effective interventions. As women have gained access to family planning and skilled birth attendance with backup emergency obstetric care, the global maternal mortality ratio has fallen from 380 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 210 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2013. This has resulted in many countries halving their maternal death rates.

ACHIEVING THE FIFTH MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL ON MATERNAL MATERNITY

Improving maternal health is 1 of the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted by the international community in 2000. Under MDG5, countries committed to reducing maternal mortality by three quarters between 1990 and 2015. Since 1990, maternal deaths worldwide have dropped by 45%.

In sub-Saharan Africa, a number of countries have halved their levels of maternal mortality since 1990. In other regions, including Asia and North Africa, even greater headway has been made. However, between 1990 and 2013, the global maternal mortality ratio (i.e. the number of maternal deaths per 100 000 live births) declined by only 2.6% per year. This is far from the annual decline of 5.5% required to achieve MDG5.

WHERE DO MATERNAL DEATHS OCCUR?

The high number of maternal deaths in some areas of the world reflects inequities in access to health services, and highlights the gap between rich and poor. Almost all maternal deaths (99%) occur in developing countries. More than half of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and almost one third occur in South Asia.

The maternal mortality ratio in developing countries in 2013 is 230 per 100 000 live births versus 16 per 100 000 live births in developed countries. There are large disparities between countries, with few countries having extremely high maternal mortality ratios around 1000 per 100 000 live births. There are also large disparities within countries, between women with high and low income and between women living in rural and urban areas.

The risk of maternal mortality is highest for adolescent girls under 15 years old and complications in pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among adolescent girls in developing countries.1, 2

Women in developing countries have on average many more pregnancies than women in developed countries, and their lifetime risk of death due to pregnancy is higher. A woman’s lifetime risk of maternal death – the probability that a 15 year old woman will eventually die from a maternal cause – is 1 in 3700 in developed countries, versus 1 in 160 in developing countries.

NIGERIAN CASE STUDY

Every single day, Nigeria loses about 2,300 under-five year olds and 145 women of childbearing age. This makes the country the second largest contributor to the under–five and maternal mortality rate in the world.

Underneath the statistics lies the pain of human tragedy, for thousands of families who have lost their children. Even more devastating is the knowledge that, according to recent research, essential interventions reaching women and babies on time would have averted most of these deaths.

Although analyses of recent trends show that the country is making progress in cutting down infant and under-five mortality rates, the pace still remains too slow to achieve the Millennium Development Goals of reducing child mortality by a third by 2015.

Preventable or treatable infectious diseases such as malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea, measles and HIV/AIDS account for more than 70 per cent of the estimated one million under-five deaths in Nigeria.

Malnutrition is the underlying cause of morbidity and mortality of a large proportion of children under-5 in Nigeria. It accounts for more than 50 per cent of deaths of children in this age bracket.

The deaths of newborn babies in Nigeria represent a quarter of the total number of deaths of children under-five. The majority of these occur within the first week of life, mainly due to complications during pregnancy and delivery reflecting the intimate link between newborn survival and the quality of maternal care. Main causes of neonatal deaths are birth asphyxia, severe infection including tetanus and premature birth.

Similarly, a woman’s chance of dying from pregnancy and childbirth in Nigeria is 1 in 13. Although many of these deaths are preventable, the coverage and quality of health care services in Nigeria continue to fail women and children. Presently, less than 20 per cent of health facilities offer emergency obstetric care and only 35 per cent of deliveries are attended by skilled birth attendants. This shows the close relationship between the wellbeing of the mother and the child, and justifies the need to integrate maternal, newborn and child health interventions.

It is important to note that wide regional disparities exist in child health indicators with the North-East and North-West geopolitical zones of the country having the worst child survival figures of maternal death rates with an estimated 36,000 women dying in pregnancy or at child birth each year. At least 5500 of these deaths are among teenage mothers. This is as Jigawa topped the list of teenage mothers with 78 percent of its girls between ages 15-19 in early marriage. Jigawa is closely followed by Katsina, Zamfara, Bauchi and Sokoto states.

These figures were revealed in the Demographic Health Survey 2013 which also noted that 70 percent of the maternal deaths in Nigeria are due to four conditions: haemorrhage, eclampsia, sepsis and abortion complications. It disclosed that only 9.8 percent of Nigerian women use modern family planning methods, while 16.1 percent have an expressed unmet need for family planning.

"51 percent of pregnant women had at least four antenatal care visits...only 38 percent of the annual 6.6 million births in Nigeria were assisted by a skilled attendant,"

Data made available by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) however noted that over the last 20 years, Nigeria has made significant progress in reducing the maternal mortality ratio. It however added that Nigeria has to make concerted efforts to reach the Millenium Development Goal of 300 per 100,000 (or under 20,000 annual deaths) by 2015.

Nigeria also has about 260,000 neonatal deaths annually, 13 percent of which can be prevented with live saving interventions such as provision of required maternal health medicines and supplies. 

On child marriage, it was revealed that Nigeria has one of the highest child marriage prevalence rates in the world.

CAUSES OF MATERNAL DEATH

Factors that increase maternal death can be direct or indirect. Generally, there is a distinction between a direct maternal death that is the result of a complication of the pregnancy, delivery, or management of the two, and an indirect maternal death. That is a pregnancy-related death in a patient with a preexisting or newly developed health problem unrelated to pregnancy. Fatalities during but unrelated to a pregnancy are termed accidental, incidental, or non-obstetrical maternal deaths.

The most common causes are post-partum bleeding (15%), complications from unsafe abortion (15%), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (10%), postpartum infections (8%), and obstructed labour (6%). Other causes include blood clots (3%) and pre-existing conditions (28%). Indirect causes are malaria, anaemia, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular disease, all of which may complicate pregnancy or be aggravated by it.

Sociodemographic factors such as age, access to resources and income level are significant indicators of maternal outcomes. Young mothers face higher risks of complications and death during pregnancy than older mothers, especially adolescents aged 15 years or younger. Adolescents have higher risks for postpartum hemorrhage, puerperal endometritis, operative vaginal delivery, episiotomy, low birth weight, preterm delivery, and small-for-gestational-age infants, all of which can lead to maternal death. Structural support and family support influences maternal outcomes. Furthermore, social disadvantage and social isolation adversely affects maternal health which can lead to increases in maternal death. Additionally, lack of access to skilled medical care during childbirth, the travel distance to the nearest clinic to receive proper care, number of prior births, barriers to accessing prenatal medical care and poor infrastructure all increase maternal deaths.

Unsafe abortion is another major cause of maternal death. According to the World Health Organization, every eight minutes a woman dies from complications arising from unsafe abortions. Complications include hemorrhage, infection, sepsis and genital trauma. Globally, preventable deaths from improperly performed procedures constitute 13% of maternal mortality, and 25% or more in some countries where maternal mortality from other causes is relatively low, making unsafe abortion the leading single cause of maternal mortality worldwide.

·         severe bleeding (mostly bleeding after childbirth);

·         infections (usually after childbirth);

·         high blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia and eclampsia);

·         complications from delivery;

·         Unsafe abortion.

PREVENTION OF MATERNAL DEATH

Four elements are essential to maternal death prevention, according to UNFPA. First, prenatal care. It is recommended that expectant mothers receive at least four antenatal visits to check and monitor the health of mother and foetus. Second, skilled birth attendance with emergency backup such as doctors, nurses and midwives who have the skills to manage normal deliveries and recognize the onset of complications. Third, emergency obstetric care to address the major causes of maternal death which are haemorrhage, sepsis, unsafe abortion, hypertensive disorders and obstructed labour. Lastly, postnatal care which is the six weeks following delivery. During this time bleeding, sepsis and hypertensive disorders can occur and newborns are extremely vulnerable in the immediate aftermath of birth. Therefore, follow-up visits by a health worker is assess the health of both mother and child in the postnatal period is strongly recommended.

·         Medical Technologies

·         Public health

·         Policy

·         Family planning approaches include avoiding pregnancy at too young of an age or too old of an age and spacing births. Access to primary care for women even before they become pregnant is essential along with access to contraceptives.

Most maternal deaths are preventable, as the health-care solutions to prevent or manage complications are well known. All women need access to antenatal care in pregnancy, skilled care during childbirth, and care and support in the weeks after childbirth. It is particularly important that all births are attended by skilled health professionals, as timely management and treatment can make the difference between life and death.

·         Severe bleeding after birth can kill a healthy woman within hours if she is unattended. Injecting oxytocin immediately after childbirth effectively reduces the risk of bleeding.

·         Infection after childbirth can be eliminated if good hygiene is practiced and if early signs of infection are recognized and treated in a timely manner.

·         Pre-eclampsia should be detected and appropriately managed before the onset of convulsions (eclampsia) and other life-threatening complications. Administering drugs such as magnesium sulfate for pre-eclampsia can lower a woman’s risk of developing eclampsia.

To avoid maternal deaths, it is also vital to prevent unwanted and too-early pregnancies. All women, including adolescents, need access to contraception, safe abortion services to the full extent of the law, and quality post-abortion care.

CONCLUSION

From the study it has been discovered that no pregnant woman would deprive herself of the adequate health care except the very few who suffer from ignorance and healthcare negligence.

In high-income countries, virtually all women have at least 4 antenatal care visits, are attended by a skilled health worker during childbirth and receive postpartum care. In low-income countries, just over a third of all pregnant women have the recommended 4 antenatal care visits.

Poor women in remote areas are the least likely to receive adequate health care. This is especially true for regions with low numbers of skilled health workers, such as sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. While levels of antenatal care have increased in many parts of the world during the past decade, only 46% of women in low-income countries benefit from skilled care during childbirth. This means that millions of births are not assisted by a midwife, a doctor or a trained nurse.

Other factors that prevent women from receiving or seeking care during pregnancy and childbirth are:

·         poverty

·         distance

·         lack of information

·         inadequate services

·         cultural practices.

To improve maternal health, barriers that limit access to quality maternal health services must be identified and addressed at all levels of the health system.

PROJECT CREDIT

Ø  Conde-Agudelo A, Belizan JM, Lammers C. Maternal-perinatal morbidity and mortality associated with adolescent pregnancy in Latin America: Cross-sectional study. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2004, 192:342–349.

Ø  Patton GC, Coffey C, Sawyer SM, Viner RM, Haller DM, Bose K, Vos T, Ferguson J, Mathers CD. Global patterns of mortality in young people: a systematic analysis of population health data. Lancet, 2009, 374:881–892.

Ø  Say L et al. Global Causes of Maternal Death: A WHO Systematic Analysis. Lancet. 2014.

Ø  UNICEF, WHO, The World Bank, United Nations Population Division. The Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME). Levels and Trends in Child Mortality. Report 2013. New York, USA, UNICEF, 2013.

Ø  Cousens S, Blencowe H, Stanton C, Chou D, Ahmed S, Steinhardt L, Creanga AA, Tunçalp O, Balsara ZP, Gupta S, Say L, Lawn JE. National, regional, and worldwide estimates of stillbirth rates in 2009 with trends since 1995: a systematic analysis. Lancet, 2011, Apr 16, 377(9774):1319-30. [in press, will be published 15 May 2014]

Ø  WHO. World Health Statistics 2014. Geneva, World Health Organization; 2014.

Ø  Ban K. The Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health. New York, NY, USA, United Nations, 2010.

I SEEK DIVINITY

I SEEK DIVINITY

Pray for me

The help I seek is divine

For nothing else can unhook me from this madness

This am sure cannot be magic

Defiance most probably

You take from me my smiles and sweet grin

This minute am gone and the next am back

Last night I glowered and sent out of my heart

And this morning I question myself why

But you made me do it, you made me!

Tear from you I don’t deserve

Your actions leave me in shreds

You mince my heart and leave it perforated

Still I can’t just let you go

Is your love sweet in pains?

Or is it my feeble mind that forgets pain so quick

You rip out my heart and left it to be preyed on

You stripped me of my shelter and left me in the cold

You took away my lucidity

Enrolled me in a committee of mad people

Still in my madness it’s you I dream of

I can’t fathom this anymore

Indeed I need help

But again the help I need lies in you

I have drifted

I have tilted

I have stumbled and fallen off the edge

By morning am fine again and once again Its you I want

AFRICALYPSO

AFRICALYPSO

My forefathers in ascension

With their thick black skin

Spreading all over the corners and waters of this world

Took with them our customs and culture

Our way of life, drama and music

Off to the Americas, Europe and the West Indies

Indeed black is beautiful

Black was the zeal they possessed

The blood is red the veins black

Black is strong

The muscle is red the flesh is black

And the spirit in our fathers

That sustained their culture in the diaspora

That repelled the assimilation of the white man

And boosted the emancipation against the whites

That spirit remains in us today

The spirit is pride and self esteem

The spirit is strong, the spirit is black

In all spheres of life today

Blacks stand tall with garlands round their necks

The foundation then dug by our forefathers

We have today built upon

I see it as black taking over

I call it africalypso

MY MIND REHABBING

MY MIND REHABBING

For many reasons we do things

Sometimes the reason we know

Sometimes there exists no reason

But we just do them

And no matter how hard we find it fun doing

Is this because there exists something that makes it worth doing?

Or because our subconscious just on its frolic

Without the minds permission finds it deserving?

About how I feel at the moment

Like am stressing on a person who seeks being left alone

Why do I bestow on myself unrequested obligations?

Even if deserved, why do I not see the stop sign?

Why do my ears get deafened to the stop word?

And at the end puncture myself with daggers of hurt

Plainspoken, I need a rehab

My outward care need be reconfigured

I need to understand that what ones deserved

Could at a later time become unworthy

For nothing is evanescent as life itself halts at a point

Obligations end and duties get wound up

Caring for someone else’s’ well being

Despite several signs saying ‘thank you, I want it not’

Continuing in the same part is foolhardy

It should culminate and am sorry the last I did was the finale

Why should I for an unsafe sake get impulsive?

Unsafe sex out of pity is mad

Unwarranted care for no reason is madder

Might take some time for a person to understand

But someday one will and that’s the point all changes

At that point one cares no more

Only then will the other party begin foolish requisitions

FATE REBORN

In thorns and sharps had we lived

Green white green turned guns blood bodies

And we wake from our deepest sleeps

Then powerful words fall off our unconscious lips

In prayers for an end to this hurtful rage

For a day when our lives will turn a new page

Even the journey of the Maggi had an end

And the blessings of the arrival had no bend

For they arrived when the child of salvation was born

They gave their blessing and embarked on their return

The blessings till today remains

I reminisce on the past six years

All I see; remains of the blessing; pains

With everyday graced with tears and fears

Let our minds be open to the soon to be born lad

And put behind us memories of hurts that’s fast becoming a passing fad

For Every time we hark back to the lost years

Let’s remember how worthless it is musing over wasted tears

A flock once abandoned by its shepherd

Left its flock to be preyed on by wolves of cowardice

Now has to itself a true shepherd

Who fights off all threats, predators, wolves even mice

I only wish I can truly say

That pain has fixed for itself a death date

What’s more, this day marks the end of our tears, 29^th May

As today marks the day my strive puts food on my plate

Then again our fate is fence hanging

With hearts beating and thoughts banging

For even a soothsayer knows not what awaits at king’s landing

Shall we a clairvoyant? Yes or not, in few months we’ll know where we're standing

FATE REBORN

In thorns and sharps had we lived Green white green turned guns blood bodies And we wake from our deepest sleeps Then powerful words fall off our unconscious lips In prayers for an end to this hurtful rage For a day when our lives will turn a new page Even the journey of the Maggi had an end And the blessings of the arrival had no bend For they arrived when the child of salvation was born They gave their blessing and embarked on their return The blessings till today remains I reminisce on the past six years All I see; remains of the blessing; pains With everyday graced with tears and fears

Let our minds be open to the soon to be born lad And put behind us memories of hurts that’s fast becoming a passing fad For Every time we hark back to the lost years Let’s remember how worthless it is musing over wasted tears A flock once abandoned by its shepherd Left its flock to be preyed on by wolves of cowardice Now has to itself a true shepherd Who fights off all threats, predators, wolves even mice I only wish I can truly say That pain has fixed for itself a death date What’s more, this day marks the end of our tears, 29th May As today marks the day my strive puts food on my plate Then again our fate is fence hanging With hearts beating and thoughts banging For even a soothsayer knows not what awaits at king’s landing Shall we a clairvoyant? Yes or not, in few months we’ll know our stand

IF YOU WERE MINE

If you were mine

Sweet will my life be like pine

My sun and stars will glow and shine

And till I die, I’d everyday with you wine and dine

So many times I ask myself a question why

Why my lime light is so extra bright

But then I remember, with you it is trite

That we show to the world how much we can fly

Be with me till forever

To you I’d give good cloth and shelter

We’ll blossom like the cinnamon leaf

We’ll for all times take honey with beef

Like holly tree our love would be evergreen

Only you I’d hold tonight and leave with a sweet grin

I don’t wanna live without you baby

I wish to be so bold to call you my lady

But it’s hard for me while you’re acting shady

Stay with me and my life would stop being crazy

Please let me be the man you accord the name my baby

Promise to take care of you and in your duty never be lazy

If you were mine

Never would your care be on the line

Promise you’d always be fine

Plus the promise of no concubine

Our lives would be ablaze and with love shall shine

Your world will be laced with silver line

So darling, would you be mine?

With you alone would my life be fine

And till the day that I die

You won’t but always be mine

I’ve been crushing on you for too long

I know my heart can’t be wrong

Girl with me you’d be strong

Inside my heart you belong

THE PIG

So they run around and their tongues hangeth

Like nylon in a whirlwind they move around like a sachet

With human masks on their faces what they really are is the title

Abashed actions wondered me, read not they the bible?

Hays they make not but when the moon approaches

Shame they eventually face like hungry cockroaches

Daughters of smelters married to sons of hungry leppers

Loot treasuries do them so as to be ‘once upon a time beggars’

Pigs the plural of pig

Would remain but a pig mind not how big

Let’s call a spade a spade

Look into the truth you! Tare it open with a blade

And so they sayeth ‘give to me your mandate’

Reacheth there they, hard they become like palm date

Pocket people’s money and become an entrepreneur

No matter how far or near they’d never make the ark of Noah

The crown that swimmeth in the canals of corruption

Taketh the hope of the proletariats and replaceth with heaps of stolen national treasure

Shall face the wrath and their gaol we shall not measure

Believeth me their remains shall know no pleasure

Brothers their votes and mandates we shant rig

Maketh them pigs that dig big and findeth a bigger pig

Washeth, clean, rubbeth in and exeunt of a pig

A pig no matter how doeth remains but a better pig