There is a Comprehensive Health Centre established by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in my village, Ikot Udo Ossiom in Ukanafun Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State in 2004. For the past 21 years it has remained uncompleted and abandoned by the Commission. Recently, the people of that village and neighbouring villages held a peaceful demonstration at the site of the uncompleted hospital urging the NDDC to complete the project and make it available for use by thousands of people in all the surrounding villages. Yes, a vital facility, a 24-bed hospital, has been abandoned for 21 years. Isn’t that outrageous? The representatives of the community issued a press release on the project during the protest, expressing their exasperation. I am respectfully requesting you as a newspaper of conscience and a moderator of governance to intervene in this matter by kindly urging the NDDC to complete the project for use.
Ray Ekpu,Ikot Udo Ossiom, Ukanafun LGA, Akwa Ibom State
Letter2
SCHOOLS AND THE GIRL-CHILD
“I’m not going today,” Ruth mumbled, barely lifting her gaze from the floor, and at the same time using her right leg to draw invisible lines on the floor. Her mother blinked, “Not going where?”
“School.” A pause. Then came the inevitable question from her mother: “Why not?”
Ruth heaved a sigh that carries a little too much weight for a teenager. “It’s that time again, Mum. I’m on my period and, well, you know the bathrooms at school are… disgusting.
No water, no bins, not even doors that close properly. How am I supposed to manage this without feeling like a public spectacle?”
That concern hit her mother in the chest. Previously, she had heard murmurs from other mothers too. Girls, lots of them, silently withdraw from school every month. Some never even return in some rural areas. There’s a sad irony in this: we push for girl-child education yet ignore the very basics that help them stay in school. How can anyone learn with the looming fear of leaks, stares, and whispered giggles?
When we ignore the needs of half the student population, you’re not just failing them. You’re telling them they don’t matter. How difficult is it to provide decent toilets? Sanitary bins? Running water? Not rocket science, the last time I checked.
Every girl deserves to go to school without carrying shame in her backpack. Facilities that support girls’ health aren’t luxury, they’re necessity. If we truly care about girl-child education, then we need to start caring about what happens between the lessons.
All hands must be on deck.
Grace Ehi Ekainu, Kano State
Letter3
A GAME OF BINGO!
The haphazard tariffs of President Trump have gone from strange where the penguins of Heard Island made the tariff list, to random with Indonesia hitting the list at 19%.
There are a number of possible explanations for the range of tariffs including how much President Trump likes them or their leader, the ratings of ‘The Apprentice’ there, or even the temperature for the day but there is one other possibility.
This could be a massive game of Bingo with a new number issued every few days and played by either the world leaders or the White House office workers. The first to get a full Bingo card gets either a reduced tariff or a gold Trump phone.
Who will be the winner when the next 3 A.M. tweet comes out?
Dennis Fitzgerald,
Melbourne, Australia
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