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Parents Now Sell Children To Survive, Ozekhome Blasts Buhari
Eminent and fearless lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, has lamented the sorry state of affairs in Nigeria which clocked 59 years, yesterday, saying the citizens now live like walking corpses due to poverty and hunger in the land.
He further said parents now sell their children to survive in a country which was once the biggest economy in Africa and the 3rd fastest growing in the world.
According to a statement made available to press, titled, “Tears, Sorrow, Blood, Lamentation for Nigeria at 59,” the lawyer said, “Parents now sell their children to survive and the children do likewise. Husbands kidnap wives and wives kidnap husbands’ for cheap ransom.”
Ozekhome said, “Tears. Sorrow. Blood. Pains. Pangs. Anger. Hunger. Melancholy. Dejection. Hopelessness. Haplessness. Disillusionment. Poverty. Ignorance. Termites and maggots eat up the national edifice.
“Chaos and anarchy reign supreme. Impunity triumphs. Irredentism, cronyism, clannishness and nepotism strut around like a proud peacock. Corruption multiplies geometrically, ravaging the land.
“Nigeria is now the second most corrupt country in West Africa and one of the 148 most corrupt in the world. Rule of law is subsumed, human rights crushed, democracy is vanquished.
“Even basic civil liberties are suppressed and subjugated. Judges are brutalised, humiliated and denigrated, for doing their jobs.
“The Judiciary is weakened, traumatised, pauperised. The legislators haemorrhage the national purse with fantastic and indefensible out-of-the-world pay packets. The Executive acts imperiously, untrammelled, uncontrolled, like Louis X14 of France.
“The cabal holds the nation down by the jugular. Less than 20 people dictate the fate of 200 million Nigerians. There are no checks and balances. Absolutism, dictatorship, fascism, brutality, bestride our democratic space like a colossus. Yet, the people, the civil society, remain docile, complicit, frightened and cowed.
“Mediocrity is enthroned in place of meritocracy. Hypocrisy, lies, revisionism, propaganda are elevated, celebrated and dressed in the false garb of truth and patriotism. Genuine criticism, dissent, opposition, plurality of views, are treated as treason, and at best as treasonable felony. Nigerians now murmur, rather than discuss freely.
“Soliloquy and monologue take the place of robust dialogue. Nigerians now live like walking corpses, like the living dead. The common man and woman languish in abject penury. The middle class diminishes. Industries relocate to neighbouring countries. Massive disinvestment becomes the order of the day.
“Nigeria, once upon a time the biggest economy in Africa and the 3rd fastest growing in the world, is today the poverty capital of the world. Parents now sell their children to survive and the children do likewise. Husbands kidnap wives and wives husbands for cheap ransom.
“Insecurity becomes the order of the day. Boko Haram, herdsmen, kidnappers, armed robbers, hired assassins, control our highways, pathways and forest routes. Nigeria has been turned into a gruesome crimson field of bloodbath.
“There is mass suicide and homicide. Mass unemployment is the order of the day. Retrenchment becomes a norm. Education and certificates are racketeered. Children learn under uncovered roofs in rain, storm and sun, sitting on bare floor.
“Graduates roam the streets without jobs. Our beautiful daughters and sisters are sold into second slavery as sex objects. Young able-bodied men take to kidnapping, armed robbery, internet scams and Otokoto rituals. Money bags are celebrated, no matter the illicit sources of their wealth.
“The church and the mosque are complicit in this societal degeneration. Morals, ethics, values, recede into the abyss of historical oblivion. Prices of food have gone out of the roofs, leaving the poor prostrate and defeated. The tail now wags the dog; the leaders molest the people whose mandate they utilise.
“They laugh the people to scorn, exploit them, beat them, scourge them, impoverish them and misuse them. God, where, when, how and why did we find ourselves in this scandalous state of nadir, doldrums and national calamity? Nigeria at 59!!! A woman still crawling, misused, dehumanised and degraded. There will still be sunshine at the end of the storm. Yes, a silver lining on a dark cloudy sky. God help us.”
The Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China, has teamed up with a renowned hospital group in Port Harcourt, the Meridian Hospitals, which is in partnership with the Pilgrims Health Foundation, to carry out a one-day medical outreach last Tuesday.
The free treatment scheme took place at Oromenike Government Girls Secondary School in D-Line, Port Harcourt, with over 100 persons accessing free treatments, including free eye-glasses and booking for eye surgeries.
Other areas of treatment included general health consultations and treatment; blood pressure and sugar level testing; malaria testing and treatment; free prescriptions; preventive health talks focusing on hygiene, maternal health, and nutrition.
The scheme was conducted under the theme: ‘Bringing Healthcare to the Community.’
Newsmen who visited the venue of the scheme found that enthusiastic beneficiaries had thronged the area as early as 7a.m. After setting up, the medical team began attending to the patients.
Mr. Jerry Onwuso, a 63-year-old patient, who was first to see eye doctors and got eye glasses and drugs, told newsmen that he was pleased with the medical intervention.
He made it clear he did not pay any money to get all the treatments and glasses, and pleaded that the scheme be sustained.
Another patient, Loveth Sam, expressed satisfaction with the scheme and appealed to the sponsors to continue to increase the benefits.
Throwing some light on the scheme, Mr. China said he worked in Meridian Hospitals as a Lab. Scientist 19 years ago, but resigned because he could not bear to see patients struggling for life because they had no money to pay for treatment.
He said he came back to help extend free medical treatment to the less privileged.
Sources said China was always having issues with the hospital authorities when he would insist on critical patients being allowed to be treated first, with or without money.
Years later, China, who now goes by a brand name, the Mayor of Housing, returned to the Meridian Hospital headquarters to support free medical scheme.
He also went the next day to the headquarters of Meridian, after the one-day medical outreach, to give cash gifts and palliatives to workers he met when he worked there but had remained in service since he left.
He encouraged them to continue to give their all to humanity through the hospital. The Mayor of Housing called most of them by name and a cloud of emotions descended on them during the reunion.
Appreciating the gesture, the Founder and Chief Medical Director, Dr. Iyke Odo, said China had always manifested hard-work, ambition, and impulsive giving.
According to him, the then young bright boy was full of humanity, kindness, love, and made friends easily, adding that “not everybody that gives is a giver. The difference is that givers are given to give.”
Dr. Odo used the opportunity to call on governments to review Nigeria’s health insurance system and make it work in Nigeria to save lives.
He said it was sad watching critically sick persons abandoned because they did not have money for treatment.
He also condemned harsh tax and electricity tariffs whereby facilities like his now pay N12 million instead of N500,000 few years back.
He wondered why hospitals were being made to pay tariffs like oil companies, citing many other countries where medical facilities were placed on low rates and tariffs so they could charge moderate fees from patients.
The Renewed Hope Initiative in conjunction with the Rivers State Government has empowered 500 elderly citizens in Rivers State with financial support of N200,000 each.
The empowerment programme was part of activities to celebrate the third anniversary of the Renewed Hope Initiative Elderly Support Scheme RHIESS, a social investment policy initiated by the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.
Speaking at the event which held at the Government House, Port Harcourt, recently, under the theme, ‘Finding Joy in Old Age,’ Senator Tinubu said the gesture which has become traditional since 2023 was a mark of gratitude in recognition of the invaluable contributions of the senior citizens to nation building.
The First Lady who was represented by the wife of the Rivers State Governor and State Coordinator of the Renewed Hope Initiative, Lady Valerie Fubara, said the scheme was to “support two hundred and fifty (250) vulnerable elderly citizens aged 65 and above in all the 36 states of the federation, the Federal Capital Territory, and veterans from the Defence and Police Officers’ Wives Association (DEPOWA) totalling 9,500 selected beneficiaries across the nation.
She urged the beneficiaries to engage in activities that will make them find joy in old age.
“I encourage you to continue playing your part by staying healthy and active, nurture both your body and mind through regular exercise and meaningful engagement,” Senator Tinubu advised.
On her part, Lady Fubara said the State Government through the magnanimity of the governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has increased the beneficiaries of the programme from 250 to 500.
She restated the commitment of the State Government towards provision of social welfare and improving the standard of living of the elderly in the State.
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary, Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme (RIVCHPP), Dr Vetty Agala, said the State Government has through the Health4allrivers Initiative, introduced free medical care for senior citizens in the State, in line with the Renewed Hope Initiative.
