…As 432 children infected with HIV/AIDS in 6 months in Kwara***
Members of the Not- too-Young-to-Run movement in Gombe State have raised the alarm that some state governors were working to frustrate the leadership ambition of the youths by hijacking the sale of nomination forms.
They alleged that state governors were working to edge out the youths from vying for elected public offices by making the expression of interest and nomination forms exorbitant and out of their reach.
The National Leader of the movement, Hamza Lawal, said this in Gombe at a press conference organised by the movement.
Lawal decried the high cost of the expression of interest and nomination forms for the 2019 general elections being sold by political parties in the country.
The high costs of the forms, according to him, will make youths and qualified politicians to shelve their ambitions.
He said the whole idea of paying an exorbitant rate for nomination form smacked of a grand conspiracy to keep the system only for the moneybags and shut out those with less financial muscle.
He said, “The movement notes, with concern, the announcement on the cost of nomination forms by various parties which presents a major impediment to youth participation in politics.”
He recommended that the cost for nomination forms by various parties should not exceed N2m for the presidential aspirant, N1m for governorship aspirant, N600,000 for senatorial aspirants, N400,000 for House of Representatives and N200,0000 for state House of Assembly.
He, however, lauded the leadership of some political parties that had reserved tickets for young men and women with character, capacity and competence.
In the meantime, the Kwara State Action Committee on HIV and AIDS (KWASACA) has recorded no fewer than 432 children infected with HIV and AIDS between January and June in Kwara.
The Coordinator of KWASACA, Dr Seleem Alabi, disclosed this at the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) Kwara Chapter Week in Ilorin on Wednesday.
The programme was organised to sensitise women journalists on the importance of regular screening on HIV and AIDS.
Alabi in his presentation entitled: “HIV/AIDS an Opportunistic Infection”, said that the cases recorded were from mother-to-child transmission either at birth or through breastfeeding.
He explained that when babies were exposed to infected blood or breast milk, they would be vulnerable to the condition.
The KWASACA coordinator said that HIV was a virus that lives in human blood, sexual fluids, and breast milk.
According to him, it weakens the immune system, so that the body will have a hard time fighting off common germs, viruses, fungi, and other invaders.
Alabi said that the infection would spread from person to person when certain body fluids were shared, usually during vaginal or anal sex, or when sharing drugs through injection.
He said that it could also be passed to the human body from infected needles, tattoos and body piercing.
Alabi said it could also be spread through oral sex, but added that the chances were slim.
The coordinator said statistics had shown that about 35 million people were victims of HIV and AIDS worldwide while 3.3 million of them were Nigerians.
He pointed out that advances in anti-retroviral therapy had made it possible for people with HIV to live longer and healthier lives.
Alabi said with HIV, a weakened immune system would increase vulnerability to a number of opportunistic infections, cancers, and other conditions.
He said that the public could prevent HIV and AIDS transmission by avoiding the sharing of sharp objects such as razor blades, used needles and syringes.
He said the state government had put in place laws that imposed between N50,000 and 100,000 fine on anybody stigmatising people living with HIV and AIDS.
Alabi also explained the 90/90/90 target to end HIV and AIDS by 2030.
He said that it meant: “90 per cent will be on anti-retroviral therapy, 90 per cent will get tested,
and 90 per cent are zero HIV and AIDS infection in the society.’
Additional report from Punch
