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Sierra Leone lifts ban on pregnant girls going to

Sierra Leone lifts ban on pregnant girls going to school.⠀
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On Monday, Sierra Leone lifted an internationally criticized ban that prohibited pregnant schoolgirls from attending school and sitting exams.⠀
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#SierraLeone introduced the ban in 2015 after a rise in rape, abuse and poverty during the #Ebola outbreak fueled a spike in teenage pregnancies.⠀
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After years of advocacy, human rights groups filed a case against Sierra Leone with the #ECOWAS court in 2018. The court ruled in their favour last December, saying the ban was discriminatory and violated the right to equal education.⠀
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The government maintained that allowing pregnant girls to attend school would tire them out, expose them to ridicule and encourage other girls to get pregnant. Critics said the ban increased stigma and set thousands back in their studies.⠀
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‘Overturning the ban is the first step in building a radically inclusive Sierra Leone where all children can live and learn in safety and dignity,’ the education ministry said in a statement.⠀
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Several other #African countries also ban pregnant girls from attending school, including #Tanzania and #EquatorialGuinea. Tanzanian schools routinely force girls to undergo invasive pregnancy tests and permanently expel those who are pregnant.⠀
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📝: Ibukun x Ugonna, Editorial Interns⠀
📷: A 15-year-old Sierra Leonean student, Mariatu Sesay, smiles as she carries her daughter outside her house. 11 July 2019. Photo: Cooper Inveen/Reuters

Nigerians don’t trust their government. In a pan

Nigerians don’t trust their government. In a pandemic, this is a big issue. #OnSite⚡️#RxCOVID19⁠
_ ⁠
In our latest online essay, Hakeem #Onapajo and Jelili #Adebiyi analyze how the Nigerian government’s track record of failing to deliver may affect its current efforts to manage the coronavirus crisis. ⁠
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According to Hakeem and Jelili, in 2015, most of the funds—roughly $2 billion—allocated to combating insurgency in north-eastern #Nigeria was misappropriated by authorities. Before the misappropriation scandal became public, the government had assured Nigerians that it was working hard to defeat Boko Haram. ⁠
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Although it is risky to entertain any doubts about the threat of COVID-19, examples like the one above show that Nigerians may have justifiable reasons to be sceptical about the government’s approach to handling the coronavirus crisis.⁠
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So far, Nigeria has reported 70 cases and 1 death. But if people don’t trust the authorities, they are less likely to stay safe or report symptoms. This reduces our chances of overcoming the coronavirus.⁠
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How do you think the Nigerian government and health authorities can build trust at this critical time? Comment with your best one or two ideas. The comment with the most likes by the end of the week will win a year’s digital subscription to The Republic.⁠
-⁠
For more on this topic, click the link in our bio. ⁠
____________⁠
📝: Hakeem Onapajo and Jelili Adebiyi⁠
📷: A man wears a protective mask outside the Yaba Mainland hospital, where an Italian citizen is being treated after developing COVID-19 symptoms, on Feb. 28, 2020. Photo: AP.

Lagos discharges five coronavirus patients. #RxCOV

Lagos discharges five coronavirus patients. #RxCOVID19😷⠀
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On Monday, the #Lagos State Government released five #coronavirus patients who were being treated at the Infectious Disease Hospital in #Yaba. So far, eight patients in total in Lagos have recovered fully from the virus.⠀
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In a short message, Governor Babajide #SanwoOlu reassured Lagosians that the state government is 'doing all within its powers to curtail the spread of the virus so that life could return to normal.'⠀
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He said that the recovery ‘is another pointer to us that with a concerted effort, we can defeat the coronavirus in Lagos and Nigeria.’⠀
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On Monday evening, #Nigeria reported 23 new coronavirus cases and one death, bringing the total number of cases and deaths to 131 and 2, respectively. Lagos has a total of 81 cases.⠀
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📝: Ibukun x Ugonna, Editorial Interns⠀
📷: Governor Sanwo-Olu. Photo: Babajide Sanwo-Olu/Twitter

Today in 1951, South Africa’s Group Areas Act we

Today in 1951, South Africa’s Group Areas Act went into effect.⠀
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The Group Areas Act was the title of three acts of the Parliament of South Africa enacted under the apartheid government of #SouthAfrica.⠀
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Passed in April 1950, The Group Areas Act forced physical separation and segregation between races by creating different residential and business districts for each race. Thousands of Coloureds, Blacks, and Indians were forcibly removed from areas classified for white occupation. In some cases, the non-whites were loaded onto trucks and dumped into the bush to fend for themselves.⠀
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The government set aside ten ‘homelands’ for relocated non-white residents, mostly scattered bits of unwanted territories, based on ethnicity among the Black communities. The Act hugely affected communities and citizens across South Africa. By 1983, more than 600,000 people had been removed from their homes and relocated.⠀
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The Act also restricted ownership and the occupation of land to groups as permitted, meaning that Africans could neither own nor occupy land in European areas. The law was also supposed to apply in reverse, but the result was that the government took Black-owned land and allocated them for white use only.⠀
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Pass Laws were later established to require non-whites to carry passbooks, and later ‘reference books’ (similar to passports) to be eligible to enter the ‘white’ parts of the country.⠀
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The Act allowed for the infamous destruction of #Sophiatown, a suburb of Johannesburg. Sophiatown was a legendary black cultural hub that was destroyed and turned into a residential area for whites.⠀
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After apartheid ended in 1994, the new African National Congress (#ANC) government, headed by Nelson #Mandela, was faced with an enormous housing backlog.⠀
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📝: Ibukun x Ugonna, Editorial Interns⠀
📷: A road sign common in #Johannesburg, South Africa in 1956. During the racial segregation period, these signs greeted Black workers upon their return from working in white communities. HULTON ARCHIVE.

Coronavirus prevention measures in Africa turn vio

Coronavirus prevention measures in Africa turn violent. #RxCOVID19😷
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On Sunday, #Nigeria became the latest African country to announce lockdown measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.
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Since #Egypt confirmed the continent’s first coronavirus case in mid-February, #Africa has recorded over 4,000 confirmed cases and over 140 deaths across 46 countries.
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On 22 March, #Rwanda became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to order a nationwide lockdown because of the coronavirus.
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Since then, other countries, including #SouthAfrica, #Ghana, #Senegal, #BurkinaFaso, #Uganda, #Tunisia, #Zimbabwe and #Mauritius, have followed suit and imposed a range of measures. However, these virus prevention measures have taken a violent turn in many countries.
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On Friday, #Kenyan police fired teargas at a crowd of ferry commuters in the port city of #Mombasa and officers were captured in mobile phone footage hitting people with batons.
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On Saturday, South African police and soldiers used rubber bullets to enforce lockdown orders after hundreds of shoppers gathered outside a supermarket in #Johannesburg.
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On Friday, Ugandan police reported that two men were in the hospital after being shot for violating transport restrictions.
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📝: Ibukun x Ugonna, Editorial Interns
📷: 1. Fruit vendors are chased off the streets of Kampala, Uganda. 26 March 2020. Badru Katumba/AFP

2. South African National Defence Forces take up positions outside a hostel in a densely populated Alexandra township east of Johannesburg, South Africa. 28 March 2020. Themba Hadebe/AP

3. Police force ferry passengers to lie down after firing tear gas and detaining them in Mombasa, Kenya. AP

4. Officers of the Lagos State Government Task Force destroy the goods of a shop owner while enforcing shutdown orders.

Many Nigerians continue to defy state regulations

Many Nigerians continue to defy state regulations on coronavirus. Why?#OnSite⚡ #RxCOVID19 [Swipe left!]⠀
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In the wake of the growing COVID-19 pandemic, the Nigerian government banned social gatherings of more than 50 people and encouraged returning citizens to self-isolate. ⠀
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However, many Nigerians continue to defy the state directives flagrantly. Places of worship and recreation have carried on business as usual. In our latest online essay, Hakeem #Onapajo and Jelili #Adebiyi discuss some of the reasons for this defiance. ⠀
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So far, #Nigeria has reported 111 cases and 1 death. But according to Hakeem and Jelili, many Nigerians dismiss the reality of COVID-19 because they perceive it as a deliberate attempt by the political elite to create an emergency and a justification to siphon public money.⠀
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Do you agree with Hakeem and Jelili? What are some of the rumours you’ve heard about the coronavirus? Let us know in our comments. For more on this topic, click the link in our bio. ⠀
____________⠀
📝: Hakeem Onapajo and Jelili Adebiyi⠀
📷: Muhammadu Buhari addressing the nation in Abuja, Nigeria. 29 March 2020. BAYO OMOBORIOWO.

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