A Non-Governmental Organisation, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Nigeria, has set up an advocacy club known as ‘Power Voices’ in Adaka community, Makurdi Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State, to empower community members to identify their challenges and be able to advocate for solutions to them.

AHF, a global organization, which is working in about 45 countries, has its presence in 13 African countries, Nigeria inclusive, with a Bureau office in Kampala, Uganda.

Speaking at the advocacy orientation and inauguration meeting at the community last Friday, the Advocacy and Marketing Manager, AHF Nigeria, Steve Aborisade, said the advocacy club is an initiative of the African Bureau of the organisation.

“It is their initiative that we should initiate Community Advocacy Clubs called the Power Voices. The sole purpose is to empower communities so that, on their own, they can identify the challenges that they are facing and be able to advocate and solve these problems by themselves.

“So, what AHF is doing is to build their capacity to know what advocacy entails and the processes involved for a successful advocacy. We will also help them to bring in the needed partnerships to address the challenges that they have identified.

“We are also building their capacity to be able to implement some health awareness activities in the community, especially in HIV education, sexual and reproductive health education, and tuberculosis among others.”

Aborisade said AHF is establishing the clubs across their seven states of operation in Nigeria stressing that “it is vital because for you to achieve anything you have to start from the community where we all came from.

“The communities have been neglected and this is our way to tag them along. So, we are building their capacity to know that this is the problem and also know how to rally themselves for solutions,” he said.

He appreciated the leader of the community, Chief Daniel Uzo, for being welcoming and rallying members of his community for the advocacy meeting saying, going forward, AHF will work with the club executives to support them in tackling some of the critical issues they have identified that are affecting their community.

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He also expressed joy that after the first training, the executives were already demonstrating some knowledge of advocacy to build others up and make a mark in the lives of the community.
Also speaking, the State Adherence Counselor for AHF Nigeria, Kenneth Ode, said the meeting was to initiate advocacy club to ensure that every community has a voice to bring up their challenges and peculiar issues which is not out there in the society.

He said the club which comprised of 25 members will stand as a voice of the community to the larger society.

“It’s a community-owned club and AHF will be collaborating and guiding them while they work. We have started this in Akwa Ibom, Nasarawa, Anambra, Kogi and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and for Benue, this community is privileged because we are flagging off this idea in Adaka community in Makurdi.

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Chairman of the newly inaugurated Advocacy Club Adaka Makurdi, Moses Usue, appreciated AHF for bringing the initiative to them. He said they have been facing a lot of issues in the community, but they do not have a platform to voice them out.

Usue, who identified challenges facing the community to include scarcity of potable water, lack of health facilities, issues of early marriages, youths indulging in drugs, displacements of families, especially women and children, increasing number of out-of-school children, poverty among others, noted that with the support of AHF, their voices of appeal for help would be heard and attended to.

He pledged to mobilise his people to ensure they the club achieve its aims.

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Also speaking, the Assistant Secretary of Advocacy Club Adaka, Priscilla Tule, said: “We feel very happy. We have faced a lot of challenges, but we have not had a platform such as this to put out our voices. So, we see this as a big privilege, and we are happy to embrace it.”

In addition to challenges of water and health facilities, Tule lamented that cases of insecurity have led to high incidents of robbery, teenage pregnancies and drug abuse.

She said going forward they are calling on the state government to establish standard Government hospitals and health clinics as well send health professionals to man the hospital as they equip the hospital with modern equipment so that those of them who cannot afford private hospitals can access proper health care.

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She called for the establishment of entrepreneurship and skill acquisition centers to enable them get trainings that would make them self-reliant.

Earlier, the Central Chief of Adaka Community, Chief Daniel Uzo, appreciated AHF for their interest in the situation of things in Adaka community.

Uzo said “They discovered that we have three main challenges here, these are lack of water, healthcare facility and the issue of armed herdsmen attacks and they have offered to assist us address the issue of water scarcity and get the Primary Healthcare Centre fully functional.

“I am very happy because they came to encourage and support my community to be involved in development activities. We will ensure that when these things are done for us, we will take possession and protect them like our personal property.