By Amuche Agbo, Abakaliki
As part of her effort to improve the welfare and lives of Women in the society, the Wife of Ebonyi State Governor Mrs. Rachel Umahi has trained over forty two repaired fistula patients on cosmetology, bakery and empowerment of cash gifts to improve their lives.
She, however, lambasted Men for unwarranted abandonment of their wives during health challenges.
Mrs Umahi made this known to Journalists during the discharged ceremony of repaired clients at National Obstetrics Fistula Centerz Abakaliki, the Ebonyi state capital.
The wife of the Governor represented by her Special Assistant on Welfare Matters, Mrs. Patience Offor Okorie said the training and empowerment of the women were boiled out of passion to ameliorate sufferings and challenges faced by women especially the way they were abandoned by their husbands for selfish reasons, describing the situation as callous and primitive.
She said that a woman in such condition need the support of their family members especially the husband as a helper to summount the situation.
She advised the general public to rise against such primordial attitude of insensitive husbands who abandoned their needy wives to curb the ugly menace, noting that she would continue to champion the repair of fistula and to project Ebonyi State as a relief destination for VVF, RVF patients.
The wife of the governor assured victims that she would never relent from providing relief for Women girls through different platforms and declared war against female genital Mutilation FGM in Ebonyi State.
According to her, fistula is one of the most serious and tragic injuries that can occur during child birth stressing that 90 percent of it was caused by prolonged labour.
She added that statistics have shown that over twelve thousand Nigeria Women have cases of fistula each year, five thousand repaired while seven hundred thousand left unattended to.
She revealed that fistula can happen to anybody irrespective of economic capacity, academic status, tribes and religious differences.
Continuing, she added that over one hundred and twenty nine cases of fistula have been handled in her office this year which cut across the Southern part of the country, stating that regular repair of fistula clients has continued to put Ebonyi State on the global health map.
She charged repaired patients to keep all medical advice so as to increase their Joy and avoid reoccurrence and commended the management of the hospital for their quality service delivery.
On his part, the Director National Obstetrics Fisticular Center,Prof. Johnson Obuna noted that fistula happened to both ignorant and educated person.
He warned pregnant mothers to as a matter of urgency rushed to the government approved health facilities for their antenatal care instead of visiting chemist for safe child delivery, and health practitioners from being unprofessional but constantly referred critical cases to the appropriate quarters to reduce maternal and fistula rate in the country.
He further advised them to stop pregnancy for the period of one year to avoid reoccurrence.
Lending his voice,Coordinator family succor and upliftment foundation, Evangelist Chukwuma Elom thanked Wife of the Governor for her exemplary leadership.
He called on married men to avoid abandoning their wives in the time of difficulty but embrace it and remain resolute in God for its solution, appealing them to cooperate at all time for their own interest.
Interestingly, some of the patients while narrating their ordeals including Mrs Marcellina Ogbaga from Ebonyi, Mrs Chizoba Elijah from Abia and Mrs Abigail George from Akwaibom told us that their husbands dumped them when the problem started describing such men as unfaithful.
They applauded Wife of the Governor Mrs. Rachel Umahi and every other persons who contributed in one way or the other for their recovery and prayed God to bless her abundantly.
Meanwhile, the women at the end of the event went home with bags containing cash and food items.
