DREAMS OF MY BELOVED COUNTRY
Recently, someone said, "God wants us to dream great dreams". And I smiled to myself, because I've been dreaming for so long and the reality is nearer...
I've dreamt of the people of my beloved country, finally realizing that they have been shortchanged for in the last 12 years, demand for the CHANGE that they deserve.
I've dreamt of integrity returning to our schools, hospitals, police stations and courts.
I've dreamt of roads being built and awarded contracts being executed faithfully.
I've dreamt that those who stole in the past were caught, tried and convicted and stolen monies were returned to government coffers - and the new leaders willingly chose to steal no more.
I've dreamt that the weak and helpless, the children and the youth had hope returned to them.
I've dreamt that clean water ran from taps and water-borne diseases became a thing of the past.
I've dreamt that the gutters were cleaned up, proper sewage disposal systems were put in place and stagnant water for mosquitoes became a thing of the past.
I've dreamt that the electricity problem was finally fixed and children born in the coming days never knew what it signified to shout for joy when epileptic electricity was restored.
I have dreamt...
NOW IS THE TIME FOR ACTION...Don't you want these dreams to come true? Vote Wisely next month...
This is where the healing begins...This is where our healing starts...
Monday, March 21, 2011
Saturday, March 05, 2011
Suffering Children
(I wrote this piece about 2 years ago when I was doing a rotation in Paediatrics...the pain the children face is REAL...like Michael Jackson said, "...let's make the world a better place..." and I would add, "...especially for the children")
He was supposed to be twelve but he looked more like six. He was obviously tired of life because of all the suffering. His eyes were a deep yellow and he wore a gross sigh that showed despair. He was in a lot of pain and had to sleep in a sitting position every night because if he lay down, his lungs will fill with fluid and threaten his very breath. He suffers from sickle cell anaemia and today he was having a clinical picture of acute kidney failure.
Suffering Children have done nothing to deserve all the pain they go through. It saddens my heart whenever I see a child with Paediatric HIV - suffering for a virus he knew nothing about, practically did nothing wrong to get and did not deserve. Children with severe malnutrition - brought into the world to literally die of hunger. Children with cancer - many of them not even marking their second birthday but yet doctors declaring that they can't possibly see the next one.
I feel sometimes the parents are to blame. For example, when a man and his wife decide to forgo family planning and start having numerous children for whom they provide little or nothing and these children fall victim to severe malnutition diseases (such as marasmus and kwashiokor, where the ribs stick out and the child is so weak that he can barely eat even when food is brought to him). Such parents are not being just and should not be allowed to allow innocents to suffer. Another example is when two couples in love who are carriers of the recessive sickle-cell gene forgo the reality of sickle cell, tie the nuptial knot and end up in misery two years later when they have a child with the sickle cell disease who has to endure so much pain and suffering for much of his usually short life span. I therefore plead with would-be-parents to please consider what it takes to bring up a child and make up their minds to give these ones the best and if they are not able to, please remain single and don't jeopardise another's future and bring someone into sorrows and anguish.
However it must be said that sometimes the parents and the child are not at fault and an example is the case of a six month old infant who has bilateral eye cancer and in the best case scenario is blind for life as both eyes must be removed by surgery and in the worst case scenario dies before the age of five after a protracted battle with the cancer. That is why a campaign must begin for childhood cancer to be treated for free in our hospitals. Both the government and the private sector must join hands to make this possible. I have seen children die of cancer because they couldn't buy the next course of cytotoxics that cost N20,000 ($150) that may have given them a chance - this is unjust and unfair. A bank recently gave away N50 million ($350,000) as prize money in a promotion and GSM companies give out millions in their numerous extravaganzas but a fraction of that sum will make a difference in the life of thousands of little children.
Make a difference today.
"...AND OF SOME HAVE COMPASSION, MAKING A DIFFERENCE" Jude vs 24
(I wrote this piece about 2 years ago when I was doing a rotation in Paediatrics...the pain the children face is REAL...like Michael Jackson said, "...let's make the world a better place..." and I would add, "...especially for the children")
He was supposed to be twelve but he looked more like six. He was obviously tired of life because of all the suffering. His eyes were a deep yellow and he wore a gross sigh that showed despair. He was in a lot of pain and had to sleep in a sitting position every night because if he lay down, his lungs will fill with fluid and threaten his very breath. He suffers from sickle cell anaemia and today he was having a clinical picture of acute kidney failure.
Suffering Children have done nothing to deserve all the pain they go through. It saddens my heart whenever I see a child with Paediatric HIV - suffering for a virus he knew nothing about, practically did nothing wrong to get and did not deserve. Children with severe malnutrition - brought into the world to literally die of hunger. Children with cancer - many of them not even marking their second birthday but yet doctors declaring that they can't possibly see the next one.
I feel sometimes the parents are to blame. For example, when a man and his wife decide to forgo family planning and start having numerous children for whom they provide little or nothing and these children fall victim to severe malnutition diseases (such as marasmus and kwashiokor, where the ribs stick out and the child is so weak that he can barely eat even when food is brought to him). Such parents are not being just and should not be allowed to allow innocents to suffer. Another example is when two couples in love who are carriers of the recessive sickle-cell gene forgo the reality of sickle cell, tie the nuptial knot and end up in misery two years later when they have a child with the sickle cell disease who has to endure so much pain and suffering for much of his usually short life span. I therefore plead with would-be-parents to please consider what it takes to bring up a child and make up their minds to give these ones the best and if they are not able to, please remain single and don't jeopardise another's future and bring someone into sorrows and anguish.
However it must be said that sometimes the parents and the child are not at fault and an example is the case of a six month old infant who has bilateral eye cancer and in the best case scenario is blind for life as both eyes must be removed by surgery and in the worst case scenario dies before the age of five after a protracted battle with the cancer. That is why a campaign must begin for childhood cancer to be treated for free in our hospitals. Both the government and the private sector must join hands to make this possible. I have seen children die of cancer because they couldn't buy the next course of cytotoxics that cost N20,000 ($150) that may have given them a chance - this is unjust and unfair. A bank recently gave away N50 million ($350,000) as prize money in a promotion and GSM companies give out millions in their numerous extravaganzas but a fraction of that sum will make a difference in the life of thousands of little children.
Make a difference today.
"...AND OF SOME HAVE COMPASSION, MAKING A DIFFERENCE" Jude vs 24
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