The mere mention of the word cancer alone in most cases sends shivers to many, especially those that in one way or the other had either directly or indirectly been victims of the dreaded disease.
To say cancer is a terrific illness is an understatement. Yes, cancer is a ruthless and disparaging disease that has sent millions of people to the great beyond. It has time without numbers snatched away the lives of many people.
It makes children orphans, husbands widowers, parents childless, etc.
However, there is something about the phenomenon of life. Cancer may have power to do and undo, nevertheless, its power is limited, because there are many that are by every ticking of the clock waging relentless war against its devastating nature through scientific/traditional means, massive awareness campaign, etc.
Yes, they are waging war against it through the media, massive door to door campaign via religious gathering, seminars, workshops, sensitization, etc. So, its operation and so called reign is very limited and, by the grace of God, it must be humbled in a short time from now!
You see, cancer no matter how it may claim to be powerful, can never
cripple love, it cannot shatter hope, it cannot eat away peace, it
cannot crumble faith, it cannot destroy confidence, kill friendship,
shut memories, silence courage, reduce eternal life and quench the
spirit.
This is because there are virtuous human elements, as buttressed from the onset, that are using their wealth of knowledge, intellectual
capacity, resources to challenge its authority head on. I am talking
about human elements that are busy taking the message across the
globe.
Besides, there are African health activists as well as other
well determined activists that are fantastically doing the same on the shores of Africa and in Nigeria.
No doubt, to say Nigerians are not victims of cancer could
be seen as one of the best joker of the millennium. Cancer has sent
thousands of both the rich and the poor in Nigeria to their early graves.
Almost in every home in Nigeria, there must be victims of cancer
infection.
We may not be able to bring out the case of most of those
attacked by cancer right now, however, we will not be fair if we
fail to remember how cancer took the precious life of Nigeria’s first lady, late Mariam Babangida, wife of onetime Military President Ibrahim Babangida in 2010.
As a result of the devastating nature of cancer, many governmental and non-governmental organizations have been taking the campaign against cancer vis-à-vis early detection and even possible cure to the door steps of both the rich and the poor in Nigeria.
And the campaign has by all standards recorded great success. In this connection, the recent cancer awareness campaign which was carried out by the first lady Aisha Muhammadu Buhari in conjunction with the highly productive concept of the Director General of the National Center for Women Development, Barrister Mrs.
Mary Ekpere, cannot be easily forgotten or underrated. This is in view of the tremendous achievements accomplished by the awareness campaign across the 36 states of the federation including Abuja, the Federal Capital
Territory.
Health activists and public affairs analysts that were interviewed in regards to the awareness campaign described it as one of the best awareness campaigns against cancer to be ever organised in Nigeria.
According to them, for the first time in the history of the country, the campaign wasn’t only staged across the length and breadth of Nigeria but had full participated by representatives from the 774 local government areas in the country.
Due to the huge success recorded by the campaign, the wife of the president was instantly moved to announce the establishment of Cancer Centers, to be sited in each of the six-geopolitical zones in Nigeria.
Accordingly, massive construction has begun in earnest on the sites of the
centers in order to meet up with timeframe designed for the
construction of the Cancer Centers.
In fact, writing about Cancer could not be said to be an easy task because cancer doesn’t discriminate; it’s a cross-gender sickness for both the males and the females.
That’s why health activists and analysts who witnessed the success recorded by Barrister Mary Ekpere and her compassionate, courageous and determined team headed by Mrs Alayingi Sylva, poured showered encomiums on them for their compassionate gesture
against cancer.
Indeed, and in all ramifications, their campaign which has received national and international recognition is greatly yielding positive result across every segment of Nigeria for the fact that even a 12-year-old child in Nigeria as at now knows clear tips on early detection and preventive measures of cancer, all thanks to the office of the first lady of the of Nigeria, Aisha Buhari, Mrs. Mary Ekpere, the Director General of National Center for Women Development and, Mrs Alayingi Sylva, the wife of the Minister of State for Petroleum.
Great-King writes from Abuja.
