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FG To Cater For Cancer Survivors In New Cancer Plan

Published

2 years ago

October 21, 2023

The Federal Government says it has made plans in a new policy plan for cancer survivors to be adequately catered to.

The Director-General, National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT), Dr Usman Aliyu, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja.

According to him, the plan is contained in one of the three cancer policies aimed at aiding cancer prevention and treatment in Nigeria, which the Federal Government will inaugurate soon.

He said that the institute has, since its establishment in January, been working on the policies that are expected to ensure that cancer prevention, treatment, and research into all cancer issues are put on the front burner.

“We have drafted our second National Strategic Cancer Control Plan. The first one ever drafted for the country was for 2018–2022, which has expired, but I’m happy to announce that the institute has drafted a new cancer plan.

“It is a five-year plan that will span from 2023 to 2027, and that is all-encompassing. The plan will be a leading guide to all the activities of cancer in the country, and it cuts across the areas of cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, palliative care, and even survivorship for the first time.

“We are having this component of cancer survivorship in our plan for survivors, which is actually a neglected area.”

Aliyu also said that the institute has finalised work with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other partners to develop the nation’s first National Cervical Cancer Control plan for 2023–2027.

He said that the plan would give direction on how the institute intends to follow the agenda of the WHO for the elimination of cervical cancer by 2030.

He also said that being a research institute, research was a very strong component of NICRAT, but that it could not just dive into it without having an agenda.

“So we have drafted the first National Cancer Research Agenda 2024-2028 for the country that will pave the way and pave a direction for cancer research in Nigeria”, he said.

The D-G said that all the documents would be inaugurated during the 2023 International Cancer Week scheduled for Oct. 23–26 in Abuja, with the theme ‘Addressing Cancer Care Disparities through Research and Improved Access to Treatment’.

He said that the theme was aimed at addressing the disparity in cancer care as there were renewed calls by oncologists globally to try and close the gaps.

“If you look at the disparities that we have in the areas of maybe race, ethnicity, and even tribality, it is gross, so the concept was coined out of what the global scientists are focusing on now.

“If you look at America, they are pumping a lot of resources in the area of cancer prevention, research,, and treatment, but they are not getting the outcome they are expecting, so they embarked on research.

“In 2022, we had almost 19.7 million new cases and more than 10 million deaths from cancer and there is a report that by the next few decades, this is going to increase by 70 percent.

“About 80 percent of this number is going to emanate from Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) or which is majorly Sub-Saharan Africa.”

He added that it was a pointer to something being wrong which indicates the disparity in cancer care.

Aliyu also said that this informed the decision to begin to look into how to close that gap.

He said that the week would also feature interactive sessions and presentations on cancer registries, adding that cancer registries are the key to getting data on cancer.

“In the area of research, the Institute is already working on how to carry out a general cancer mapping for the country. This is important because we want to standardise the data that we have in the area.

“We mapped out all the cancers that we have using the cancer registries that we have, the research tools, and even the individual hospitals that are not in the cancer registry.

“The data will be more robust and more reliable than just making an estimate based on other diseases or what our neighbours have to take decisions on Nigeria as well in other areas of cancer.”

News

Bumper Harvest: Foundation Distributes 6,000 Fertilizers To Farmers In Bauchi

Published

13 hours ago

August 14, 2025

Editor

A group, Wunti Al-Khair Foundation has donated 6,000 50kg bags of fertilizer to farmers in Bauchi state in order to have a bumper harvest.

Speaking during the flag off ceremony of the distribution of the fertilizers on Thursday, Mr Abubakar Mohammed, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Wunti Al-Khair Foundation, said the distribution was only for the indigent farmers in the state.

He said the fertilizers would be distributed to farmers in underserved communities across the three Senatorial Districts of the state.

“We are gathered here to flag off the free distribution of fertilizers to farmers, especially the indigent farmers that don’t have the means to buy fertilizer for their farms.

“That is the reason why the founder of this foundation bought the fertilizers and distributed them to the low income farmers in the state.

“We have gone round the nooks and crannies of the state to identify the underserved communities and those that deserve this particular gesture.

“We planned to distribute about 6,000 bags of fertilizer and due to the populous nature of the Bauchi LGA, they have the largest share but some other local governments too have hundreds of beneficiaries which we divided into Senatorial zones,” he said.

According to him, today was the flagging off of the Bauchi South Senatorial District, adding that the extension of the gesture would commence in Bauchi North and Bauchi Central Senatorial Districts tomorrow.

Mohammed explained that the only criteria used in selecting the beneficiaries were underserved communities and low income farmers, adding that “we know that a large number of the farmers in Bauchi state are low income farmers.

“Those are the people that we identified, verified and they are our beneficiaries and we have warned the general public about the activities of some unscrupulous elements that go round to impersonate our foundation.

“Wunti Al-Khair Foundation is not charging a kobo for every part of its activities, be it education, healthcare, economic empowerment and community development”.

Responding, one of the beneficiaries, Emmanuel Samson, described the support as a timely intervention that would greatly enhance his farming activities and appreciated the foundation for the intervention.

Another beneficiary, Salisu Maidawa, who was short of words for the gesture, said the gesture came at a time when he was in dire need of it.

News

IYC Urges Tinubu To Sack NCDMB Boss

Published

13 hours ago

August 14, 2025

Editor

Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Western Zone, has urged President Bola Tinubu to immediately sack Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for allegedly not “keeping up to the fundamental mandate,” upon which the agency was established.

This was contained in a statement jointly signed by Comrade Nicholas Igarama, Comrade Ebi Joshua Olowolayemo, and Comrade Tare Magbei, Western Zone
Chairman, Secretary, and Information Officer respectively, and made available to newsmen in Warri on Thursday, August 14, 2015.

According to the IYC, the call for Ogbe’s sack becomes necessary following his incompetence and ethnic bias, adding that Ogbe has turned the agency meant for the whole Niger Delta to his Itsekiri ethnic group alone.

The IYC, while noting that efforts to meet the NCDMB Executive Secretary to discuss critical issues as they affect the region and its people have proved abortive, said it can no longer fold it arms and watch while things go from bad to worse.

“As Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Ogbe has consistently failed to input his supposed industry track record in the advancement of the mandate upon which the agency was founded.

“He has continually had a sectional engagement with his fellow Itsekiri Kits and Kin, thereby shutting all other ethnic nationalites in the Niger Delta region out.

“Repeatedly, he avoided critical youth engagement in the region while sponsoring that of his Itsekiri ethnicity through different human capacity development initiatives, while other ethnic nationalites are left unattended.

“As Ijaw, mostly from the western flank where Engr. Ogbe also hails from, we will not sit and watch others benefit from the resources that we produce without our practical involvement to better the lives of our people as well.

“It is on record that the leadership of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Western Zone has tried to establish communication with Engr. Ogbe, for the last ten months, but every medium of communication to get his attention has fundamentally proven to be abortive.

“As youths, we can no longer have leaders in office who have now equated themselves to demi-god and have refused to attend to most significantly youthful issues in the Niger Delta Region.

“To this end, we therefore call on President Bola Ahmed Tinibu to immediately sack Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, who has consistently displayed disregard for critical actors in the Niger Delta and has also exhibited the highest level of gross inefficiency by not keeping up to the fundamental mandate upon which NCDMB was founded,” the statement reads.

The IYC also called for the probe Ogbe as Executive Secretary after his sack.

Efforts to reach Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, the General Manager, Corporate Communications, NCDMB, for reaction proved abortive.

News

I’m Being Impersonated – Goodluck Jonathan Disowns Social Media Account

Published

15 hours ago

August 14, 2025

Editor

Former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday said he is being impersonated by fraudsters.

Jonathan alleged that a fraudulent Instagram handle has been impersonating him.

In a statement by his Media Aide,
Ikechukwu Eze, the former President insisted that he does not operate any Instagram handle.

The statement is titled ‘Beware of fake Instagram account impersonating H.E. Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’.

“Our attention has been drawn to a fraudulent Instagram account operating under the handle goodluck_ebelejonathan, which is falsely impersonating former President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

“This impostor account has been deceitfully posting content, some copied from Dr. Jonathan’s Facebook page, while pretending to represent the former President.

“We wish to emphasise that Dr. Jonathan does not operate any Instagram account.

“The media and members of the public are strongly advised to disregard, avoid sharing, or promoting any content originating from this fake profile,” the statement read.