Lance corporal Idibia arrived the Murtala Mohammed
International Airport in high spirits, he had been part of the United Nations
Peace keeping contingent to the Sudanese region of Darfur. He and his
colleagues had just been relieved by another battalion after spending close to
a year under the harsh climatic conditions of the area, where waves of dust and
regular whirlwinds were a normal occurrence.
Top on Idibia’s mind on arrival, was how to find the wife of
his dreams, his 35th birthday was approaching and he knew it was time to settle
down, but there was a problem, he wanted a girl with good moral upbringing,
untainted by the greed and immorality that comes with city life. As a soldier,
he was known for his up rightness and high moral standards and he concluded
that the city was not a place to find one.On a trip to Oturkpo his home town,
he shared his burden with
Maria his elder sister who suggested Ochanya, the daughter
of the village priest, she was the poster girl for chastity in the village. He
accepted her recommendation and sought the family’s approval to marry their
daughter.
On his next visit, a wedding date was fixed, and few weeks
later the wedding took place to the delight of both families and Idibia
returned to the battalion with his new bride Ochanya. Nine
months later, Ochanya gave birth to a baby boy to the
delight of her Husband and the family was doing quite well.
Trouble started when the child fell sick and hospital visits
became regular. At 20 months old the child was diagnosed with AIDS, Mr Idibia
was stunned! He knew he tested Negative on return from peace keeping mission,
and never had any sexual relationship with anyone outside marriage! How could
his child be HIV positive he argued. He and his wife were later screened and
the results came back positive.
Shocked and enraged Idibia confronted his wife who feigned
ignorance of how the family came about the Infection.As the controversy raged
on, an enlarged family meeting was summoned by the village head with both
families in attendance.However, the meeting ended in a stalemate as both
families pointed accusing fingers at each other.
The controversy was not resolved, until Ochanya opened up to
her mother on her death bed, she told her that on the day before Idibia came to
ask for her hand in marriage, she had sex for the very first time with Ogaba
the village church choirmaster who died of AIDS six months earlier, with tears
rolling down her eyes, she pleaded with her mum to forgive her, as she lay
helpless on her hospital bed coughing intermittently.
I come from Benue state, North central Nigeria where the
virus continues to ravage many communities, not because governments have not
intervened but because our people have refused to change the lifestyle that
brought us to this pitiable state, our actions has ensured that we made
headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Sadly, many others have copied our dangerous lifestyle which
has transformed farmers who previously cultivate large hectares of farmland to
paupers. With sky rocketing rates of teenage pregnancy and alcohol induced
suicidal behaviors, the world expects more from a state that prides itself as
the food basket of the nation.
Quote
I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone
across the waters to
create many ripples.
—Mother Teresa
http://www.publichealth.com.ng/hivaids-what-is-hiv-symptoms-transmission-phases-diagnosis-treatment/
No comments:
Post a Comment