SICKLE CELL: MRS. IKPEAZU BAGS ANOTHER AWARD FROM THE GUILD OF MEDICAL LABORATORY DIRECTORS OF NIGERIA.

The wife of the Governor of Abia State and the founder of Vicar Hope Foundation, Mrs Nkechi Ikpeazu, has been recognized by the Guild of Medical Laboratory Directors, on their 22nd annual conference and AGM Abia 2020.

Presenting the award, the president of the association, Mrs. Chioma Austin Onuorah, disclosed that the award  is in recognition of Mrs Ikpeazu's commitment to humanity in care of persons affected by sickle cell disease, using her vicar Hope Foundation. According to her, the inspirational endeavors of Abia first lady's foundation will establish a sustainable foundation in providing  and promoting the values in persons affected by sickle cell disorder.

Responding, Mrs Nkechi Ikpeazu who was respresented by Mrs. Edith Nwosu, vice president of vicar Hope Foundation thanked  the association for making her a part of attendees to the Annual General Meeting of the Guild of Medical Laboratory Directors of Nigeria and which Abia, hosted. 

"I will make bold to say that Sickle Cell disease is a health priority in Abia State and my foundation is a major driver of the policy" she stated.

 She went further to inform the association that in November last year, the state Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, directed the setting up of seventeen sickle cell care mini-centres in all the Local Government areas of the state. According to her, the objective is to bring care, testing and counseling services closer to be the people are the grassroots. 

She however, stressed that her NGO, Vicar Hope Foundation, and Abia State Government are working hand in glove to achieve the lowest statistics of SCD in the state. "We are technical partners on a few projects"

"One  of the planks of my Foundation’s work in SCD is awareness and sensitization" Over the past four years, we have held countless sensitization and awareness programmes that include street-walks, rallies, community engagements, house-to-house, person-to-person, roadshows, radio shows, online media campaigns, and television shows, and even using movies as a medium.

She ended by saying that the numerous works that my Foundation has done on SCD has created increasing demand for testing services in Abia State.

This places a burden on medical laboratories operating within Abia and beyond, making this conference very timely. "It is my expectations that the deliberations, and conversations instigated by this conference will translate to better services for sickle cell patients, and roadway towards possible eradication of the disease.

Eradication of the disease can only be achieved through mass testing, as well counseling. 

The event which was held at the Aba Sports club 1926, Aba, On September 30th 2020, had participants from all walks of life in attendance.

INDEPENDENCE DAY GIFT TO ABIANS: GOVERNOR IKPEAZU SIGNSVIOLENCE AGAINST PERSONS PROHIBITION LAW.

  

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has signed into Law the ABIA STATE VIOLENCE AGAINST PERSONS PROHIBITION (VAPP) LAW effectively placing Abia in the comity of states with robust legislation and safeguards against various forms of violence against humanity. 

The Governor signed the law in a small ceremony witnessed by a few top government functionaries. 

The governor’s assent comes after months of painstaking work by the Abia State House of Assembly, and amidst pioneering advocacy by the wife of the Governor. 

Speaking about the significance of the event, Chief Press Secretary to the Wife of the Governor, Chika Ojiegbe said, “It is like an Independence Day gift for Abians by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, and Abians are immensely thankful to the Governor. He has once more proven his commitment to protecting the rights of the citizens. I think it is a milestone for Abia State and a feather in the hat of the First Lady, Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu. 

Recall that for over two years the first lady and her NGO Vicar Hope Foundation has been the arrow head for the move to get the VAPP law passed and signed in Abia. She and other stakeholders had engaged the House of Assembly on the matter many times. 

In fact she has gone down in history as the first governor’s wife to visit a statehouse of assembly and address all the members. Sure enough, the House passed the law and today, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu gave his assent”. 

Experts say it the passage of the law has brought about amore robust legal framework for implementing justice for gender based issues and rape. Lawyers, and human rights advocates, say numerous cases of abuse are tied up in the courts because extant laws have proven inadequate.

“It may shock you to know that before now no laws specifically protects or prescribes punishment for the rape of a young boy or a man. In pre-existing laws on rape, only vaginal penetration using male genitalia is classified as ‘rape’”, says Mr. Ojiegbe. 

“Before now, only women can be ‘raped’ in the legal definition of the word. 

However, the new VAPP law provides that males CAN be raped. The law defines that un-consensual unlawful anal or oral sex can be rape and not sexual assault as current legal definitions infer. The law also provides that the violence of rape can be inflicted with instruments other than the genitalia as against what is obtainable in extant laws”.

“The VAPP law covers psychological, socio-economic and physical violence. It makes provisions for violence perpetrated by spouses,deprivations by spouses, battery, harmful widowhood practices, female genital mutilation, indecent exposure, incest, abandonment of children, as well as harmful substance attacks, for example, cases where someone pours acid on a fellow human being. It even further protects citizens from violence perpetrated by recognized state institutions or agencies”.

“Another good news is that the law makes it possible for relevant state ministries such as the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social development to discharge important parts of their mandate such as the protection of vulnerable women and children”. 

Former Chairman of the International Federation of Women Lawyers in Abia State, Mrs. Chidinma Alozie said in an interview said “We owe a lot to the determination of the Wife of the Governor to get this law passed and signed. I also salute in a very special way, Mr. Governor for timeliness in signing the law. It provides a more robust legal framework for implementing justice for gender based issues and rape. We have many very clear cases of abuse and violence that do not see the light of day in court because some extant laws have proven inadequate for diligent prosecution”.

A few days ago Governor Okezie Ikpeazu commissioned an Ultra-Modern Half-Way Home in Umuahia, built with support from Total Upstream, which cumulatively makes Abia very ready to effectively take on the increasing social challenges of gender based violence and displacement caused by it as well as by human trafficking. 

Meanwhile the World President of Medical Women International Association On behalf of the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA),Dr. Eleanor Nwadinaobi thanked the State Governor for putting a smile on the faces of Abians by signing into law the Abia State Violence Against Persons Prohibition law. 

In a message to the Governor, Dr. Nwadinaobi said the global organization is “aware that this Executive endorsement of the law is a culmination of months of collaborative efforts championed by the Wife of the Governor, Deaconess Nkechi Ikpeazu’s, pioneering efforts in pushing the bill to the State House of Assembly and working with other stakeholders to get it passed”

The statement further reads: “With Your Excellency graciously giving your imprimatur to the bill and making it a full-fledged Law,Abia State has joined other states in the Federation to commit to the protection of persons and ensuring that perpetrators are brought to book”.  

“Following the signing into law of the VAPP act by the national assembly in 2015, the following states have signed the VAPP act into law; Anambra 2018, Bauchi 2020,Enugu 2019, Kaduna 2018, Lagos 2007, Oyo 2016.Others passed by State Assemblies include Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo,Ekiti, Ogun , Osun and Plateau. 

“We therefore remain grateful to Your Excellency and your wife Deaconess Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu Ph.D, and urge you to kindly put in place a strong task team to ensure implementation of the Abia VAPP act.”