By Mike Ebonugwo Thursday, February 10, 2022 was a day of joy for the people of the Igbedi community in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. And to demonstrate their feeling in this regard they had put on their dancing shoes and trooped to the venue of the inauguration of the newly constructed 4.5km Igbedi […]

Former Commissioner for Information, Ogbuagu Anikwe , votes against zoning in Enugu State, but for a different reason.

A mirage! That’s the presumptuous word for democracy. Though expertly defined as the government of the people, by the people and for the people, it’s hardly the case. It’s rather contextual, apparently subsumed in the thoughts and imaginations of the affluent, the powerful and the political mavericks who twist it to suite their own whims and caprices.

You do not even need to be deliberate about looking out to identify street children in a place such as Oshodi, Lagos, for instance, before noticing them. They are all over every nook and cranny of Nigeria and easily identifiable; dirty, from head to toe and with mien that says a lot about substance abuse.

Two weeks ago, Angela, 47, a banker, walked out of her 19 year old marriage. It had not been a very happy ride anyways, having been the family breadwinner since Chuks lost his job about five years ago. But the shocking discovery that her husband had not only been cheating on her all these while and even sired a son outside their matrimony was the final straw.  

When Doris, a 30-year-old civil servant suffered series of successive pregnancy failures, she and her spouse were encouraged to seek specialized pregnancy care service.

To  re-route male attention south wards from her boobs, Margaret confessed she’s tried wearing baggy black T-Shirts and vice-like sports bras to no avail.

Though information about family planning issues and the various contraceptive options available to couples have increased tremendously over the years, freedom of decision and choice, as well as access to services have continued to dodge the steps of many women, especially in rural settings.

A lot has been achieved in the last six years on many fronts: in infrastructure, social care, governance, Nigeria’s image and influence in Africa and the international community.

The subject of menstruation remains an issue of gender inequality, especially in low- and middle-income countries with limited menstrual education and little or no access to safe menstrual materials.