Obasanjo berates those against girl-child education

...as expert counsels on diabetes

....says 537m adults are patients worldwide in 2021

By Oladunni Adeniyi 

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has condemned those against girl-child education in the country, declaring that woes betide anyone against such step.

Obasanjo made this declaration at the Year  2022 World Diabetics Day, organized by the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation (OOF), held at the Main Auditorium of Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta,  Ogun State capital. 

In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi on Tuesday,  hinted that Obasanjo emphasised on the need for contentment in every human endeavour as it could also reduce the chances of getting Diabetic.

Obasanjo, who is the chief visioner of the Foundation, said that among other reasons, his personal experience on a girl-child education, made him to include girl-child education as among areas of concentration for the Foundation.

According to Obasanjo:"When I started school in the village, I had a junior sister, after two years of starting school  my sister started school. I was first in my two years and as I went along, my sister was also first in the school she started and suddenly, our father decided that - because a girl-child education ends in the kitchen, pulled her out of school - I remained in school. 

"And that singular action made the difference between her development into adulthood and my development into adulthood. And, I thought that when I come back from UK I will send her to school. And by the time I came back from UK, my wife had given my sister to marriage and that ended my sister's education. 

"Then, I vowed that whatever I can do for girl-child education, I will always do. And this unfortunate idea of girl-child education ending in the kitchen is unimportant. The culture of giving preference to a male child over female child is an idea and culture that must be killed. Woe betide anyone who attempt to relegate my eldest child, Iyabo. Iyabo will crush such person, be he or she," he said.

Obasanjo responded to newsmen question on his including letter "C" to his DREMS (DREMS+C) acronym for conquering Diabetes and other NCDs. He explained that "C" stands for Contentment, stressing that contentment should be key is staying alive and healthy, and this only comes from the Almighty God. 

Earlier, Professor of Medicine, Olufemi Fasumale emphasized on the need for government to make policies that will promote healthy living and policies to improve access to high quality health care services.

Fasumale urged the people to always maintain a healthy lifestyle, learn to eat healthy diet and avoid taken tobacco. 

He explained that Nigeria has limited access to an expert, saying the nation has 150 practising diabetologist, which he described as one of the major challenges facing the health sector.

The 2022 world Diabetes Day with the theme: Access to Diabetes care, is focusing on the need for better access to quality education for health care professionals

About 537 million adults worldwide has been diagnosed to be living with diabetes in the year 2021 and the number is expected  to rise to  about 643 million by 2030.

Meanwhile, almost 1 in 2 adults ( 44%) with diabetes remain undiagnosed, with more than 3 in 4 people with the ailment live in developing countries.