Obasanjo’s Wife Begs Govt To Support Diabetic Patients

The wife of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Mrs Bola Obasanjo on Thursday gave an intellectual lecture to diabetic patients in Ogun State, Naija News reports.

Speaking at the two-day event organized by a Diabetes Centre, the wife of the elder statesman, appealed to both state and federal governments to give their maximum support to diabetic patients.

Mrs Obasanjo mentioned that the cost of maintaining diabetes is outrageous, hence, patients need support from the government and philanthropists.

Naija News understands that the event was attended by 29 participants drawn from six states across the country.

Addressing the organizers of the event, she said, “Now, those people from Jigawa State, I think there should be a follow-up.

“Is it possible to make it known the help needed from the ministers and commissioners of their states because they need some help? It is very expensive to manage it and at the same time, it is not that very expensive.

“When you don’t tell them (the government) they won’t know. They have so many other things doing. You help them first and they’ll help you.”

Mrs Obasanjo advised participants of the event (diabetes patients) to take to the life skill lessons given to them to maintain and survive the disease like her husband, Obasanjo.

According to her, there is no disease that is not deadly, but at the same time, if well managed, one will live his life fully.

“And nobody will know that you have an illness as long as you maintain and do the right thing at the right time,” she said.

Mrs Obasanjo added: “The food you eat is what you are. As a diabetic patient, you don’t eat sugary and starchy foods.

“The education you have given them is very good but we need to support them. The governments of their states need to support them in feeding, education, in so many ways. What they wear is also very important because they must not have any cuts.”

In his remarks, a diabetic specialist, Dr Olubiyi Adeshina, who was also the Ogun State coordinator of the centre, stated that the camp was organised to educate the participants on how to live with the disease.

Adeshina noted that the participants were mostly young people with Type-1 diabetes.

He said, “We have organised this camp for young people with Type-1 diabetes to equip them with life skills on how they are going to manage Type-1 diabetes for the rest of their lives.

“Once you have diabetes, it is not curable; it is something you will have to live with for the rest of your life.

“And Type-1 diabetes, we tend to see it in children and adolescents. It can also occur in adults but it is very rare. So, what we have done here is to gather 21 young people.”