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Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
The Northern Governors’ Wives Forum, has described cancer as a timing bomb waiting to explode in the country, adding that the deadly disease could be worse in crisis-affected areas in the Northeast states.
Wife of Kebbi State governor, Dr Zainab Bagudu, made the disclosure on behalf of the forum during an awareness campaigns visit of the forum to an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Maiduguri, yesterday,
She said it was important the IDPs were aware of the disease ravaging many people in the world.
“It may not look like a priority to you now because of the insecurity and humanitarian challenges you’re facing but you should know cancer is a timing bomb. Cancer is a very dreaded disease and we should avoid anything that could trigger off the disease,” she said.
Bagudu cautioned that smoking, drug abuse, rape and unhealthy foods or life-style which she noted were prevalent in IDPs camps, could trigger cancer-related cases.
She also urged displaced persons and others to go for test for early discovery of the disease.
“Early detection is vital. You need to regularly go for screening and if we discover it early, we can treat it early and deaths will be avoided,” she said.
Wife of Borno governor, Dr Zainab Zulum, lamented that over a decade of insurgency had affected more women and children in the state, calling for more support to the displaced persons.
Chairperson, Borno State Emergency Management Agency (BOSEMA), Hajiya Yabawa Kolo , disclosed that 1.5 million women, 2.3 million girls and 1.9 million boys affected by the violence in the northeast.
Zulum thanked the forum for donating 1,020 dignity kits to adolescent girls, 1,200 bags of rice (25kg), 300 gallon of vegetable oil and 1,200 bags of maize to the IDPs. The governors wives were in Maiduguri for the quarterly meeting of the forum.
which was attended by wives of the Sokoto, Kebbi, Jigawa, Plateau, Bauchi, Adamawa, Gombe, Nasarawa, Kogi and Borno states governors.
