Begging for Joy in Borno State, Nigeria

  
Street scene in Nigeria

The Nigerian government did not take AIDS seriously until 1996. Consequently, its populace suffers from a relatively high infection rate and a relatively low level of awareness. Indeed, citizens of neighboring countries often blame Nigeria for the spread of HIV/AIDS into their lands. The Nigerian government is hoping to improve its reputation and make up for lost time; currently they are organizing a top-down structure of "Action Committees on HIV/AIDS." This began with the National Action Committee (NACA) and was followed by Action Committees at the state level. Now the government is struggling to bring their initiatives to the local level, to make LACAs.

Ms. Tina Olayemi is the Coordinator of the Civil Society on HIV/AIDS in Borno State of Nigeria, an expansive state in the extreme north that borders Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. That means that she volunteers to coordinate the efforts of citizens and NGOs involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS in a predominantly Muslim state with a larger population than the nations of Gambia and Gabon combined.

  
Ms. Tina Olayemi and Nate Calhoun

We caught up with Ms. Olayemi at her residence in the Maiduguri College of Education just hours after her return from a five-day tour of nine far-flung local government areas. She was not encouraged by what she saw. "Just this morning I spent time with a village of Fuulani herders who had not even heard of HIV/AIDS." She explained that these semi-nomadic people are particularly vulnerable because they have especially beautiful women and pass with regularity through larger towns where they are likely to put themselves at risk. The Fuulani were not the only ones to prove ill-informed; Ms. Olayemi found ignorance about HIV/AIDS just about everywhere that she traveled, which made the necessity of Local Action Committees on HIV/AIDS particularly apparent.

That doesn't mean that Ms. Olayemi is optimistic about the initiative. Another AIDS worker, who asked to remain anonymous, explained that the Borno State Action Committee on HIV/AIDS (BOSACA) is run by one state-appointed man who is overseen by nobody. When the federal government rewards Borno State with money to fight HIV/AIDS, some of it eventually ends up in the hands of this man, who apparently prevents it from moving much further. Our source explained, "The NGOs are ready, but they have no money. BOSACA always says, 'Come back tomorrow.' "

Many, many organizations in Africa lament their level of funding and claim to have inadequate resources; some people sit around all day waiting to be paid lavish per diem fees while using their basic salaries to whine and remain idle. So we asked Ms. Olayemi what she needed the money for. Most people that she works with are volunteers; they have other jobs or supportive families. She and the other NGOs are asking for help with some of their own costs, including transportation, food, and lodging (while they are on assignment); but mostly they are asking for money on behalf of people living with HIV/AIDS. They need help to feed, transport, medicate, test, and support the impoverished people that the state neglects.

  
Posters for the advocacy of better health practices

When asked where her current funding comes from, Ms. Olayemi admitted, "Mostly, we go begging people." Ms. Olayemi lives in a very modest house with ten children, nine of whom are not connected to her by blood. She lectures at the university, she is finishing work on her PhD thesis that focuses on health-seeking behavior in youths, she coordinates all the work on HIV/AIDS in Borno State, and she goes begging people for money. Thankfully, this combination does not seem capable of exhausting her or making her bitter. She explained, "I find joy in changing people's faces. It is not only your satisfaction that matters. People should sacrifice more time to help others." And there was nothing self-congratulatory or staged about these statements. The civil society that she heads collects dues from its members and then uses this money, in addition to whatever funds they can squeeze from the moneyed and contented people in their vicinity, to carry out the work that is rarely paid for or assisted by BOSACA.

Meanwhile, she and her colleagues face a considerable number of challenges. There is only one center in the entire state that can test for HIV/AIDS and the cost is prohibitive. Even small local NGOs are forced to pay nearly five hundred dollars for state recognition—a prerequisite for grant proposals. The Borno State association of people living with HIV/AIDS has only thirty public members and an impoverished person with AIDS is often treated by her family "like a dog in a cage." The traditional practice of quickly remarrying any widowed woman leads to an especially rapid spread of the disease. And anti-retroviral medications (ARVs) are all but unaffordable for the majority of the population. Ms. Olayemi explained that some of the people who do have access to ARVs are actually making the situation worse: "The wealthy man looking buoyant and well-fed on his ARVs will still use the small girls or even boys. The ARVs cover them up. Sometimes I wish it was written on their heads. You will see that the skinny ones are negative and the plumpy fat ones are positive."

Obviously, Ms. Olayemi has her hands full. She hopes that drawing attention to her situation may prove helpful and we hope so too. Ms. Olayemi would like to add that she is grateful for the assistance that she receives from BOSACA and that she respects the Nigerian government's recent initiatives to bring the epidemic under control. She shares her concerns in the hopes of garnering additional support for the people suffering from ignorance or from AIDS in her large and culturally diverse corner of Nigeria.

If you wish to contact Ms. Olayemi please write:

Tina Olayemi
KICOE PMB 1469
Dept. of Education, Foundations & Management
Maiduguri, Borno State
Nigeria

Or use her email addresses:  domicares@yahoo.com,  cisnhanbo@yahoo.com