Spain has just passed a law allowing those that experience painful periods to take paid ‘menstrual leave’ from work.
The law is the first of its kind to be enacted in European.
The sexual and reproductive health law, which includes the right for women to take time off work when they have their period, came into effect on Thursday.
The Gender Equality Ministry’s bill, put forward by the left-wing government, was approved by parliament in February.
Since then, amendments have been passed as part of the new law.
Barriers have been removed, which makes access to abortions and changing the gender of trans-people easier.
After the parliamentary vote in February, Equality Minister Irene Montero spoke of a “historic day for the advancement of feminist rights.”
Menstrual leave is not a common regulation as there is no comparable provision in German law.
In Taiwan, women can only stay at home for three days in a year, and can only get 50 per cent of their salary.
In South Korea, employers have to give their female employees one day off a month if they make a request, but the law does not regulate who pays the employee’s salary.
To take menstrual leave, female workers in Spain require a doctor’s note and the duration of the leave from work is, in principle, unlimited.
According to the law, it depends on how severe the menstrual pain is and how long it lasts.
The legislation entitles employees experiencing period pain to as much time off as they need, with the state social security system, not employers, picking up the tab for the sick leave.
The law gives the right to a three-day ‘menstrual” leave of absence’, with the possibility of extending it to five days, for those with disabling periods, which can cause severe cramps, nausea, dizziness and even vomiting.
As with paid leave for other health reasons, it requires a doctor’s approval, though the length of sick leave is not specified in the law.
About a third of women suffer from severe menstrual pain, according to the Spanish Gynaecology and Obstetrics Society.
“Periods will no longer be taboo. No more going to work with pain, no more taking pills before arriving at work and having to hide the fact we’re in pain that makes us unable to work, ”Montero said after the law was initially approved by the cabinet in May 2022.
Comedian Seyi Law has asked the Almighty to grant his children the ‘omoluabi’ (worthy) character of Seyi Tinubu, son of the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In an appreciation post,…
The Federal Road Safety Corps has said that Sharia law will not be introduced in the enforcement of traffic regulations.
This was made known in a statement signed by the Corps Spokesperson, Bisi Kazeem on Saturday.
The sector commander of FRSC, in Bauchi, Yusuf Abdullahi, had on Thursday called for the application of Sharia law to prosecute traffic offenders to stem road crashes in the country.
However, the Corps explained that it is neither a religious nor sectional organisation, but a Federal Government Agency established with a mandate that is guided by the provisions of an establishment Act.
The Corps Marshal, Dauda Biu, has recalled with immediate effect, the Sector Commander to the National Headquarters Abuja, for necessary administrative action for breaching the FRSC regulations and the Standard Operating Procedures
Kazeem said, “It is key to inform the general public that the FRSC is a Government Agency with statutory responsibilities for road safety administration in Nigeria and sensitive to the country’s multi-religious as well as heterogeneous ethnic composition.
“The Corps was founded through Decree No. 45, as amended by Decree 35 of 1992 referred to in the statute books as the FRSC Act cap 141 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. The Act was passed by the National Assembly as FRSC (establishment) Act 2007.
“By this very fact, it is important to posit that the Corps is neither a religious nor sectional organisation, but a Federal Government Agency established with a mandate that is guided by the provisions of an establishment Act; and not a Sharia, Mosaic, customary, canon or any other law whatsoever that contradicts the provisions of its establishment Act, or the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Our lead agency role is shielded in our strict compliance with established regulations duly passed by the National Assembly. As such, the public is humbly called to disregard the entire content of the opinion as published because it is outrightly baseless, unfounded and does not apply to our operations and service to the Nigerian people.”
General Manager, Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory (LSMTL), Funsho Elulade, has said a new law to make substandard construction impossible in the state is on the way. Elulade said this…
The Governing Council of the University of Abuja has approved the appointment of the youngest professor of law in Nigeria and the first female professor from Northwest Nigeria, Aisha Maikudi, alongside Professor Philip Afaha as Deputy Vice Chancellors Academic and Administrative respectively.
This was disclosed in a statement by the university said on Monday. The Council gave the approval at its 96th Regular Meeting held between Thursday, May 4 and Friday, May 5, 2023.
The council’s approval followed the selection of the duo at the 78th extraordinary meeting of the senate held on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in accordance with the provision of the University of Abuja Act.
“The appointment which took effect from May 5, 2023, was for a period of two years in the first instance.”, the statement said.
The PUNCH reports that the new DVC academic, Maikudi was born on January 31, 1983. She obtained her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Reading in 2004 while her Master of Laws degree was obtained from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2005.
She bagged a doctorate in International Law in 2015 from the University of Abuja.
Information from the school’s website stated that Maikudi joined the services of the university in 2008 as lecturer 2 before rising to rank of professor in 2022.
“A professor of International Law, Maikudi became the first female Deputy Dean, Faculty of Law, in 2018, and later the pioneer director, University of Abuja International Centre in 2019. She is also the youngest professor of Law in Nigeria.”
The DVC administration, Philip Adaha was born in 1972. He obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Uyo in 1995 and 2004, respectively. He later bagged a doctorate degree in History in 2011 from university of Abuja. Afaha joined the services of the university in January 2013 as a senior lecturer before rising to the rank of professor.
Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun has commiserated with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and the nation’s judiciary on the passing of the former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola.
Ajibola died early Sunday, at the age of 89.
Abiodun described him as a jewel of the Law Profession and an accomplished judicial officer.
The condolence message is contained in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, in Abeokuta.
The governor described Ajibola’s death as a big loss to the judiciary, saying his legacies in the justice administration system, philanthropy and educational development would never be forgotten.
Abiodun also commiserated with the Owu Royal Family of the former minister, his friends, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, as well as members of the Baptist Boys’ High School, Old Students Association.
He further noted that the legal icon’s death was “saddening, devastating and marked the end of an era.”
He maintained that the death of the illustrious son of the state, a celebrated jurist and judicial activist, public intellectual and elder statesman was a severe blow to everyone who knew him.
“Words can not adequately convey my heartfelt sorrow over papa’s death, for he was a kind and beautiful soul, who spread love to all who encountered him,” the statement read.
The governor who recalled that Ajibola, after serving as President of the Nigerian Bar Association, and also served as the nation’s number one law officer, attorney-general and minister of justice, answered the call to higher duties at the International Court of Justice, Hague, in Netherlands.
“He was a jewel of the Law Profession and an accomplished judicial officer of prodigious hue. Baba was a go-getter who delivered on any assignment committed to his hands because of his belief that service should always come first.
“Besides, he was a great religious influencer and philanthropist who established the faith-based Crescent University in his hometown, Abeokuta,” he stressed.
Abiodun however urged the Olowu of Owu, Oba Saka Matemilola, the Olowu-in-Council, sons and daughters of the Ajibola lineage and the entire Gbadela Royal Dynasty of Owu to be consoled by the fact that the deceased selflessly served God, humanity during his impactful life.
“On behalf of the government and people of Ogun State, I commiserate with the immediate family of the deceased on this very huge loss.
“May the Almighty Allah grant the family the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss,” Abiodun said.
Born on March 22, 1934, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Ajibola attended Baptist Boys High School, Oke Saje, Abeokuta and University of London.
He was the president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) between 1984 and 1985.
Ajibola was the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of Nigeria from 1985 to 1991 and a Judge of the International Court of Justice, Hague, Netherlands, from 1991 to 1994.
He was appointed the Nigeria High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2002.
Regina Daniels‘ mother, Rita Daniels has acquired a Bachelor of Law degree from the National Open University. The veteran shared photos from the varsity’s 12th convocation over the weekend. Read…
Comedian Seyi Law is elated about the red rail lines as well as the opportunities and status it’ll accord Lagos State upon completion, stating Nigerians would finally be able to…
BLESSING AFOLABI examines the prevalence of child abuse in the country and the low enforcement of the Child Rights Act
Busola Oyediran and her partner, Akebiara Emmanuel, had been molesting her kids consistently for a while at their house in Bariga, a suburb of Lagos State.
Incessant beatings with canes, belts, and horsewhip were the daily meal of the two children, whose searing cries of agony many times awake other tenants in the house. The kids bore legible torture marks on their battered bodies.
The abuse persisted until one of the neighbours summoned courage and walked into a police station to alert officers to the constant battery.
The couple was subsequently arrested and arraigned before Chief Magistrate B.O. Osunsami of the Samuel Ilori Court, Ogba, Lagos State.
Oyediran’s children were lucky to have been rescued on time. This was not so for the three-year-old daughter of Chinelo Udogu, a woman based in Awka, Anambra State.
In October 2022, Udogu flogged her daughter to death, put her remains in a bag, and threw them into a bush at Amikwo Awka.
When interrogated, the suspect said her child started convulsing after being beaten and she took her to a hospital, where she died.
“So, I threw her body here,” she told the police.
Recently, an unidentified caregiver was caught on camera in a daycare in Lagos State beating a child.
The child, who was said to be sick, defecated on her body.
The caregiver, who was supposed to clean her up, started hitting her.
The police declared her wanted for the act.
Worrisome child abuse statistics
According to the World Health Organisation, violence against children includes all forms of violence against people under 18 years old.
For infants and younger children, violence mainly involves child maltreatment (physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect) in the hands of parents and other authority figures.
Boys and girls are at equal risk of physical and emotional abuse and neglect, and girls are at greater risk of sexual abuse.
As children reach adolescence, peer violence and intimate partner violence, in addition to child maltreatment, become highly prevalent.
The United Nations Children’s Fund describes violence against children as physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, which happens in all countries and any setting – home, community, school, and online.
In some parts of the world, violent discipline is socially accepted and common and for many girls and boys, violence comes at the hands of the people they trust – parents, caregivers, teachers, peers, and neighbours.
But the most devastating types of violence, UNICEF said, were often hidden from public view. Perpetrators go to great lengths to conceal their acts, leaving children, especially those who lack the capacity to report or even understand their experience, vulnerable to further exposure.
UNICEF also stated that about 15 million adolescent girls aged 15 to 19, experienced forced sex in their lifetime.
About 10 per cent of the world’s children are not legally protected from corporal punishment and over one in three students aged 13 to 15 years, experience bullying worldwide.
Approximately, one in four children under the age of five (about 176 million) live with a mother, who is a victim of intimate partner violence.
Roughly, three in four children between the ages of two and four (around 300 million) are regularly subjected to violent discipline by their caregivers.
According to UNICEF, in both the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Sustainable Development Goals, countries committed to ending violence against children.
The SDGs call for the end of abuse, exploitation, and all forms of violence and torture against children by 2030.
But with low enforcement of the law to deter people from perpetrating the criminal act, there are uncertainties if Nigeria will achieve this goal alongside the global community.
The WHO notes that violence against children can be prevented. Preventing and responding to violence against children require that efforts systematically address risk and protective factors at all four interrelated levels of risk (individual, relationship, community, society).
Child Rights Act
The Child Rights Act (2003) is the law that guarantees the rights of all children in Nigeria. So far, 34 of the 36 states in the country have adopted the Act as a state law.
The remaining two states of the federation, have yet to domesticate the Act in their laws 20 years after it was passed.
A child, as defined by the Child Rights Act, is any person under the age of 18. In the CRA, the punishment for child sexual abuse as indicated in Section 32 is 14 years’ imprisonment. For child labour under section 28, it is a fine of N250,000.
Meanwhile, in the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act passed into law in May 2015, imprisonment of five years or a fine of N100,000 or both is meted out to anyone who willfully inflicts physical injury on another person by means of a weapon, substance, or object.
The National Human Rights Commission, as part of its mandates to promote, protect and enforce the rights of all citizens as well as foreign nationals in Nigeria, undertakes several procedures of promoting and protecting the rights of children under this age because they are vulnerable.
Despite the NHRC’s commitment to child rights and Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, child abuse still thrives. This could be hinged on the law which is not being enforced coupled with jurisdictional limitations.
Child molesters and predators are left unpunished due to the law enforcers, policymakers, and judiciary negligence to act accordingly and this fuels the act.
Over the years, child rights activists opined that these laws against violence and abuse are not deterrent enough and have fuelled an infiltrating style of silence.
Unending child abuse
Usually, sick children are pampered and given preferential treatment to make their recovery faster. But in December 2021, a sick three-year-old girl was flogged to death by her 25-year-old father, Godsgift Uweghwerhen, in Aladja community, in the Udu Local Government Area of Delta State.
Child abuse
The suspect flogged the child with a cane and inflicted bodily injuries on her after she allegedly entered their neighbour’s apartment.
Uweghwerhen fled the scene after noticing that his daughter had given up the ghost.
Another case was that of a pre-nursery pupil of Arise and Shine Nursery and Primary School, Asaba, Delta State, Obina Udeze, who was flogged by a teacher, Emeka Nwogbo.
Though there were several versions of the story, the reasons given for flogging the child were insignificant.
The infant fell ill after the incident and died some days after.
His mother, Gift, who spoke to Sunday Reportr Door at the time of the incident, said her son returned from school with marks of strokes all over his body.
She recalled, “I took him back to the school immediately to enquire why he was beaten that much. The proprietress asked me if I knew the gravity of my son’s offence; a boy of a year and seven months. I told her I would come back the next day to know the person who beat him.
“On my way home, some pupils of the same school told me how my son was tied up and given several strokes of cane because he said he was hungry. Throughout the night, he had a running temperature. On Tuesday, I took him to the school to complain. The woman said I was disturbing the peace of the school.”
She stated that she took her son to a hospital after she left the school, adding, “On Thursday, he went into a coma. The proprietress didn’t come to check on him. That was when I involved a non-governmental organisation and the police went to the school. The woman’s son (Nwogbo) told the police that he flogged my son.
“He said he (Udeze) was playing with the tap but his mother even said my son’s hand couldn’t reach where the tap was. At the GRA Police Station, he changed the narrative; he said my son pushed another child and he beat him. The proprietress herself claimed my son was stubborn and cried a lot.
“They said she collected a box from him and complained that he cried too much. They said the proprietress’ son tied him up and started flogging him. He was my only child; my everything. He became weak and died this morning at the emergency ward of the FMC,” she stated before breaking down in tears.
Apart from maltreatment, the rate of sexual abuse and child trafficking is still on the rise. On Tuesday (February 21, 2023) four women were caught in Rivers State for kidnapping and trafficking a four-year-old boy to Aba, Abia State.
In the same state, another suspect was nabbed for trafficking a 15-year-old girl, Favour, to Lagos for prostitution after she had earlier trafficked two 16-year-old girls.
A 13-year-old promising girl became a sex toy for her guardian, a professor of Geophysics at a federal university in Ebonyi State.
He allegedly consistently pounced on the poor girl, who had no one to turn to for help.
Surprisingly, the professor, who was alleged to be a repeat sexual offender, was released after his first arrest but later rearrested after several agitations. It was later discovered that he had impregnated another teenager and made her drop out of school.
Victims narrate ordeal
At a very young age, Bola Enitan was sent to live with her aunt, who had three other children, because her father could not afford to care for her.
Her polygamous father married four wives and had 14 children, including her.
Her mum, who was the first wife, abandoned the marriage when she could no longer endure the constant conflicts in the family.
A victim of child abuse
Enitan, the first child of her mother, suffered the pain of her parents’ separation.
She was made to hawk every day in the morning before going to school and after she returned in the afternoon, and was subjected to all kinds of ill-treatment, including flogging.
Enitan told our correspondent that the hardship she went through as a child made her run away from home to marry early.
She said, “I struggled to complete my secondary education and my dream was to become a nurse but I couldn’t achieve that because I was abandoned by my parents. I experienced hell living with my aunt, though she’s dead now.
“I was beaten several times and made to hawk every day. If I didn’t make sales, I wouldn’t be given food to eat. I remember a particular incident when I still had goods to sell and I stayed out late till midnight because I knew I would be beaten mercilessly if I returned home. I was lucky to be taken home by a vigilante who saw me; unknown to me there was Oro (night ritual) that day. At that, I was still beaten to a pulp.
“The experience I had growing up made me really hard and limited. I struggled with trust issues for a long time and I was suicidal at a point. But I’m grateful to God that I’m doing well with my family and business now. If not for the kind of molestation I faced as a child, I’m sure things would have turned out better. It made me vow to give birth to the number of kids I can take care of and never let my kids live with anyone.”
A middle-aged man, Stanley Dolph, said he was sexually molested by his neighbour as a child, which turned him to a sex addict.
Recalling the incident, he said, “When I was little, my mum was a teacher and my dad travelled frequently. My siblings attended the school my mum taught in but I went to a different (private) school.
“One day, my mum took me to our neighbour’s house to stay because we were told to stay at home from school for a reason. I was sexually abused that day by the lady.
“Receiving such treatment at that age did something bad to me. I became wild and hungry for sex. It did some damage to me; it’s my first time saying this. It’s God’s grace and self-discipline that helps me control myself when I see anyone in skirt. The level of abuse children face is beyond control.”
Maltreated children suffer rejection, trauma – Psychologists
A professor of Developmental Psychology, Grace Adejuwon, says maltreatment is an aspect of child abuse that is meted out in various forms such as food, social and emotional deprivation.
According to her, abuse has adverse effects on victims both as they grow up and when they become adults.
She said, “For pre-school children, some of them could be experiencing nightmares; they just wake up at night and cannot sleep. Such children find it difficult to follow instructions; there are those who drop out of school and cannot contribute effectively to society as adults because of their experience.
“School-age children get into more trouble than other children; they have a physical ailment like a lot of headaches and stomach ache; some of them will not have friends and are withdrawn. Some may begin to feel guilty and blame themselves for contributing to their being beaten. This makes them begin to have low self-esteem and because they are withdrawn, they don’t participate in school activities and they begin to fail in school.”
The don added that maltreated teenagers usually engage in fighting, skipping school, risky sexual behaviour, alcohol, and drug use and suffered from low self-esteem.
The long-term effect of maltreatment, Adejuwon noted, was that the victims would become abusive and develop bad behaviour such as fighting, stealing, and killing.
She said, “Children who grow up not being loved or have any attachment to anyone are at a high risk of having health problems, which include mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, heart disease, poor self-esteem and some of them develop suicidal ideation as adults.
“Each child responds differently to abuse and trauma; some are more resilient and some are sensitive but the important thing is that a child experiencing abuse can recover with a good support system or a good relationship with trusted adults. There are psychological therapies that can help them to overcome their traumatic experiences.”
The don said a study carried out among adults who had lost a parent and as a result experienced stressful life as teenagers found out that they had more health problems than those who didn’t experience such.
She urged parents who engaged domestic workers to be sensitive and create efficient communication lines with their children.
The professor explained that children who were abused had the likelihood of engaging in abusive and toxic relationships, saying if care was not taken, abusive relationships would become a cycle for them.
“Even babies get deprived because they are not well fed and taken care of, the list is endless. The society we are in now is producing more deprived children and this is not helping us to build a society that is safe for us all,” she added.
Also, a professor of Child Psychology and Early Childhood Education, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Queendoleen Obinaju, said children undergoing maltreatment in the hand of their parents were not normal.
Obinaju said, “Here in Africa, any mother, even if for an unwanted child, after that child has been born, there is a bond that is established among the mother, father, and the child, provided they live together. The only one that you can talk about is a child that may have some maltreatment maybe from a father who rejected the child during pregnancy; that way, no bond has been established. Once there is a bond that has been established, it is difficult to have maltreatment.”
On stepmothers and guardians maltreating their stepchildren and maids, Obinaju stated that such a situation could be transferred aggression or “a neurotic case.”
She added, “The aggression may not initially have been towards the children; it could be towards the husband and she is noticing that she cannot rise to the husband so she transfers the aggression to the children.
“Also, there may have been some dispute or disagreement between her and her husband while he is moving around, and now the results are these children. All these disagreements and what she remembers will be what is behind the treatment given to the children. It will get worse if the children are not submissive.”
The feelings of abandonment, rejection and trauma, the don stated, were the effects of maltreatment on children.
“Separating a child from the mother already brings some atmosphere of threat; that child is unsure of himself or herself. When a child’s confidence and self-esteem are eroded at an early stage, then the child is open to anything. It is very easy for an external force to convince him and he will bow. This is the root of joining cults, committing early atrocities, rebelling against the house, and lack of love,” the child psychologist added.
Obinaju said children’s continuous complacency with instructions could cause parents or guardians to angrily correct them.
On his part, a professor of Guidance and Counselling at the National Open University of Nigeria, Rotimi Ogidan, said any form of maltreatment was dehumanising.
He explained that it created a feeling of inferiority, which had a far-reaching effect on the wellness of an individual.
The researcher on child discipline and violence in Nigeria said, “Low or poor self-concept means that one would not be in any way interested in making any effort to achieve and whether it is a school or a vocation centre, it makes one not to aspire to achieve. It also makes one not want to interact with others and when one does that, it is as good as dying by suicide. That is why we see many of them running away from the family and joining bad gangs.”
To curb these, Ogidan said maltreatment was not a way to guide children, adding that kids who were being maltreated should open up to counsellors in their school and religious organisation.
An official of a non-profit organisation, Child Care Trust, Adeola Samuel, said abuse could be caused by lack of financial resources, good education, skills, unpreparedness to have a child, single parenting, disability, depression, mental illness, unforgiveness of a spouse or parent of the child.
“In the case of a special needs child, if the parent or caregiver doesn’t understand the child’s needs or development, it could lead to maltreatment.
“Parents and caregivers who were abused or neglected as children tend to pass it on because you can’t give what you don’t have. This is part of the reasons we take our caregivers through training that can better equip them to offer excellent services. But the number one prerequisite is love and passion,” she added.
On measures that can be put in place to stop the menace, Samuel proposed that parents, caregivers, adults, guardians, and children be sensitised to how to handle situations properly and the provisions of the Child Rights Act.
She said, “Don’t cover any evil deed done to a child, i.e., report any form of abuse.”
Report violence against children, says UNICEF
UNICEF’s former representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, said violence against children could lead to psycho-social damage.
He also noted that female genital mutilation had witnessed a slight decrease but getting to zero cases was the collective objective of UNICEF.
Hawkins said, “Then, we have the general protection of children where we have children on the streets, especially girls, children under the conditions of child labour and marriage. There is a real concern about how to protect children to not be abused, to finish their education and be able to aspire for themselves.”
He further expressed concern about the violence against children who were victims of armed conflict, citing examples of attacks on schools and the kidnap of schoolchildren.
On what could be done to prevent further violence against children, Hawkins stated that everyone owed a duty to report any form of violence to the authorities.
On November 5, 2022, after the signing of the Child Protection Law in Adamawa State, UNICEF representative in Nigeria, Ms Cristian Munduate, reiterated the importance of domesticating the Child Rights Act.
In a statement on UNICEF’s website, she said, “The law aims to safeguard the rights of children by preventing and addressing the killing and maiming of children, child labour, abductions of children, sexual violence against children, and the recruitment and use of children by armed groups, among other grave violations of their rights.
“UNICEF hopes that the new law in Adamawa will be effectively implemented and that vulnerable children are supported to survive, thrive and become successful members of society.”
Copyright Reportr Door
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from Reportr Door.
Director of The Vale College Ibadan, Mrs. Funso Adegbola, has called for joint efforts to ensure implementation of the Mental Health Act, to improve mental health services and funding among others in the country.
Adegbola made the call at the third Jemila Abubakar Memorial Essay Award ceremony organised by Asido Foundation held at the International Conference Centre Ibadan on Wednesday.
Adegbola in her keynote address, while commending Asido for contributing immensely to mental health advocacy in Nigeria, said mental health must be a priority for all individuals and society at large.
She alluded to the World Health Organisation sayings that “There is no health without mental health!”, noting that for the mental health act to be successful, “we as individuals must champion the advocacy and awareness creation that the Asido Foundation and many others are doing, around the law.
“Other challenges facing mental health include low levels of government priority for mental health, policies and legislation that are obsolete or poorly implemented, as well as widespread ignorance, shame, and stigma associated with a mental health diagnosis.
“Superimposed on these is the paucity of mental health professionals available across the country.”
In his remarks, the Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Mr. Adebayo Lawal extolled the virtues of the late Jemila Abubakar and enjoined everyone present to emulate her.
Lawal, the Chairman of the occasion, represented by his wife, Mrs. Ajibike Lawal, urged everyone, the youth in particular to develop their passion to impact their world positively.
Also, the Co-chairman at the event, a professor of medicine and Neurology, Adesola Ogunniyi stressed the importance of unravelling the myths and misconceptions about medicine, particularly mental health.
He commended Asido for its advocacy work in demystifying all the stigmas associated with mental illness.
“I feel we should embrace the idea of making mental health something we should not be ashamed of for individuals that we need to help,” Ogunniyi said.
Also, Prof. Oye Gureje, in an interview, speaking on the mental health act said, “the signing of the bill into law by President Muhammadu Buhari as good as it is, it is only calling for more advocacy by everyone.
“We need to try and get the government to implement the law. This particular law commits the government to not just provide human resources but also financial resources, in terms of implementation.
“And you know anything that does that usually in Nigeria, gets relegated to the background. I really have my concerns that this is not what the government will implement quickly unless we continue with the pressure that has been going on for years. A lot of work still needs to be done,” Gureje said.
Earlier in his address of welcome, the Founder of Asido Foundation, Dr. Jibril Abdulmalik, said there was an 80 per cent treatment gap in persons with mental health, adding that misconception and stigmatisation of the illness had not helped in proper medical treatment of the illness.
He identified human rights abuses of affected persons such as shame, stigma, and discrimination. “Stigma is a broad term, encompassing problems of Knowledge, that is ignorance. The attitude which comes with prejudice, and behaviour is discrimination.
“We are usually afraid of things which we do not understand. The societal impact of Mental ill-Health includes human rights abuses, Stigma, and discrimination, beliefs in supernatural disease causation, drug abuse, and insecurity, few mental health professionals as well as reduced access to care, which is the treatment gap.”
Abdulmalik further said the JAME award of excellence was to celebrate the legacy of its pioneer program manager who served selflessly.
He said the qualities she possesses are values we love young people to emulate. “This is why we chose to immortalise her by establishing the Jemila Abubakar Memorial Essay Competition: To continue to hold her memory alive and encourage other youth to emulate her life of sacrifice and dedication to humanity.
“To promote mental health awareness among young students across the country and to enroll the top fifteen winners in a leadership and mental health fellowship to become mental health advocates.”
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the event featured decorations of some distinguished personalities as special ambassadors and patrons of the organisation.