Okechukwu Jake Effoduh has been a radio presenter for 7 years, anchoring a radio programme on HIV and other issues. He shares his experience to mark the celebration of 1st December – World AIDS day.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!In 2006, after rounds of auditions, I was privileged to be selected as the anchor of the radio programme called FLAVA, a youth lifestyle radio gig on sexual reproductive health under the BBC Media Action (then known as BBC World Service Trust). For the 7 years of doing this programme, it was aired every week in every state in Nigeria with about 105 radio stations subscribed to it and 24 million listeners tuning in every week.
At the start of the same, my first radio interview was with this young lady who needed a lawyer to help her challenge the government for not making adequate health needs available for people living with HIV. As a law student at that time and a new radio presenter on FLAVA, I was very gingered to assist her, so I went all the way to join her in advocacy including making placards for demonstrations and writing a letter to the National Assembly. She was the first person I was meeting who was living with HIV and was open about it so I had my initial fears, shock and a lot of questions. But even with that, I was very impressed with her confidence, her openness and her drive to advocate for the rights of people living with HIV.
My job required a lot of research and reading on sexual reproductive health and not just standing behind a microphone. Another fun part was the many trips I made round this beautiful country! As I travelled to a new state almost every month, interviewing health care workers, people living with HIV, their families and friends, etc. My understanding on HIV began to broaden and I begun to set into the realisation that a person’s HIV status makes no difference to what a person can look like, do, or become. I met people who have been living with HIV for 10 years, 12 years and even 18 years – living healthy and strong, some even without drugs or medication. In just 3 years I had met over 200 people living with HIV and by this time my fears vamoosed. I didn’t see HIV as the “deadly disease” anymore neither did I cringe when a person disclosed their status to me. From one episode of FLAVA to another, the listenership of the programme grew and with the topics, many Nigerians had begun moving from a place of ignorance to a place of understanding about HIV.
I was really touched by the stories of discrimination and stigmatization faced even from family members or friends who they confided in to tell their HIV status to – all stemming from the ignorance that people have about HIV. I was tripped by the way some people were able to encourage themselves to do even much more than they would have done if their status was other wise: starting a fish farm, opening a restaurant, getting married and having kids, setting up an NGO, opening a record label, applying for a masters degree etc. As the presenter of FLAVA, people reached out to me personally, asking lots of questions that I had to answer or respond to because of my position as the radio presenter of a radio programme: “I just slept with a guy and we didn’t use a condom, what do I do?” ,“ I just went for a test and it says I am HIV positive, where do I go from here?” I got text messages like these often, even to my private line so I had to make close friends with health consultants and doctors who would always step in to assist with information and services. I learnt about Pre and Post Exposure prophylaxis – to prevent a person from contracting HIV even when they have been recently exposed to the virus, I learnt about the correct and consistent use of use of condoms (male and female condoms) and even microbicides, I leant really technical stuffs like prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) and sperm washing to decrease and even prevent HIV transmission completely, from parents to their offspring.
Asides the technical stuff, I learnt that a person can live to the fullness of his/her life with whatever their HIV status is and I learnt that I cannot contract HIV by caring or showing love and affection to people living with HIV. I realized that anyone could be infected hence the need to always reiterate the mode of transmission and ways to prevent the same. Above all, I recognized the need for legal protection of people living with HIV hence I took interest in pushing for the HIV anti-stigma bill yet to be passed by the National Assembly.
In my 6th year as a radio presenter, my advocacy was deep in and had moved beyond the radio programme FLAVA. I went further by attending and organizing support group meetings for people living with HIV. The very first court case I took up when I was called to the Nigerian Bar as a barrister was a case on employment discrimination faced by 2 people living with HIV. It’s been 7 years and I am very grateful for what I have learnt and how I have been able to contribute my quota to the cause but more needs to be done. The theme for this year’s World AIDS day is “Shared Responsibility: Strengthening Results for an AIDS-Free Generation” this means that all hands much be on deck, every single person in whatever area of employment or sphere of life has a role to play in ensuring that AIDS becomes history. Even as the HIV prevalence rate in Nigeria is declining, we need to double up to achieve our desired goal. Lets beat that fear and go for the HIV test because knowledge is power, lets abstain from sex or make correct and consistent protection the gate pass of every sexual activity and most importantly let us show love, care and support to all those who are living with HIV.
Okechukwu Jake Effoduh is an award winning radio presenter and human rights lawyer advocating for the rights of minorities in Nigeria, he is also the anchor of the radio programme “Talk Your Own” a 30 minutes governance radio magazine under the BBC Media Action aired on over 115 Radio stations nationwide. www.facebook.com/flavapresenter
