Daily Independent (Lagos)
Adeola Yusuf
3 December 2008
Panic spread fast among Nigerian workers on Tuesday as the Federal Ministry of Labour confirmed the existence of Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV) among some workers in the federal and state ministries, and their counterparts in the private establishments in Nigeria.
Deputy Director and Lagos state controller of the Ministry, Nofisat Arogundade who made this confirmation at the World Aids Day awareness campaign organized by the African Petroleum (AP) in Lagos stated that measures have been put in place to curtail the surge "and protect the victims against stigmatisation."
Although Arogundade declined comment on the statistics of the workers infected with the decease, she disclosed that Federal Government has, through the Federal Ministry of Labour, updated extant labour laws "in order to meet with the rapid changes and innovations in the world of work."
"Those infected with the HIV/Aids in the work force are receiving the care and supports. They are not being sent away. They are sure of their jobs security. We have centers all over the states where we also have trained medical doctors to give ART treatment to those infected. The Federal Government is doing this but when you talk of what NACA is doing in a large phase, you will see that the Federal Government has shown full commitment to deal with HIV issues in this country," she said.
Pouring eulogies on management of AP for standing up in arms against the scourge "by organizing the campaign for its workforce," the deputy director charged corporate organizations to emulate this feat and join hands, more than ever before, with the political leadership of the country at the National, State and local government levels on their commitments in response to AIDS-particularly the promise of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support."
The extant labour laws, she continued, "are being updated in order to meet with the rapid changes and innovations in the world of work. I would also like to recall that the National Workplace policy on HIV/AIDS has bees developed and produced to provide guidelines and identify strategies and programmes for, among other things, promoting and protecting the rights and dignity of workers infected and affected by HIV and AIDS and elimination of stigma and discrimination based on real or perceived HIV status."
Corroborating Arogundade's views, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of AP, Tunde Falasinu, maintained that the oil company has identified the HIV/AIDS as a challenge that most be addressed.
"From the statistics made available to us by the medical researchers, the age bracket in which this decease is rampant falls within the labour bracket and this shows that this scourge is a threat to the economy. For over 20 years now, no solution has been found for this chronic decease. AP has therefore associated with all NGOs especially in Nigeria on creating awareness to stop the spread of the decease," he said.
"When most of our tanker drivers leave Apapa for the North, they usually use three days for the journey. Out those days, we can tell you how many days they use at Ogere (in Ogun state) to enjoy themselves. As much as we try to transact businesses with them, we believe that it is a must and a service for us to organize a forum like this to tell them and others that HIV/AIDS is real," he said.
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I know that I will be criticized for saying this . . . but it is a timeless truth. One DRAMATIC way to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS is for everyone who is not married to NOT engage in sexual intimacy. For thousands of years (because of God's word, the Scriptures) people realized that fornication, adultery, homosexual acts (a perverse form of fornication) and bestiality were WRONG. For the vast majority of people staying "pure" until marriage was a given. As a result there were no plagues of a sexual origin. If we return to God's ways as a civilization… [Read Full Text]