By Amatesiro Dore
Mrs E was the Lagos head of a global courier company. Her twenties were devoted to work, church and the pursuit of happiness which finally came in her thirties after she met a man, who loved her, accepted her spiritual beliefs, supported her dreams of professional excellence and made her a proud mother of two boys. At the peak of life, she discovered a small lump in her breast which later disappeared during months of prayers and healing sessions. She threw a thanksgiving bash and all was well until the lump returned in a few years and took her life within months of emergency treatments. In a twinkle, her husband was widowed, her children lost their mother during their early primary school years, a global courier company lost one of their most promising leaders and the church lost one of their most consistent donors.
In 2010, Ms Dorothy Aken’Ova was on a working visit to Lagos when she noticed unusual discharges which soiled the wrapper around her chest. As an advocate of breast cancer awareness, it was quite jarring to discover one of the symptoms she had educated people about manifesting on her body. She contacted an associate in the medical field who recommended a proper diagnosis at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, in Zaria, the closest institution to her home base, Minna, equipped to carry out the appropriate tests and examinations. At the end of the process, it was confirmed: breast cancer, stage two. Chances of survival: high. State of mind: shock.
Treatment was a gruesome experience but it commenced on time and Ms Aken’Ova lives to spread the message: cancer does not translate into death and early detection saves lives. In the spirit of the season, the International Centre for Sexual Reproductive Rights (INCRESE) held a campaign rally on Saturday, October 21, 2017, in Minna, to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual international health campaign organised by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure.
The rally was supported by our institutional partners such as the Global Fund for Women who sponsored our peer educators and participants as part of our Hajara Usman Girls Leadership Programme; Breast Without Spot, an advocacy pressure group founded by Professor Ifeoma Okoye; and the lovely breast cancer awareness shirts donated by a group of journalists: Abdul Mohammed Isa, Shuab Uthman Sambo, Suleiman Waziri, Ibrahim Yawale Nuhu and Abubakar Abaji.
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