OCI FOUNDATION PRESENTS ANTI-COVID19 MATERIALS TO THE NUJ, FRCN CHAPEL, ABUJA, NIGERIA (07/07/2020).

In continuation of the OCI Foundation’s effort to assist Nigerians in protecting themselves against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foundation, on Tuesday, July the 7^th, 2020, donated its customized face masks and writing materials to the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ). The recipients were members of the Chapel of the NUJ associated with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) Headquarters, Abuja, Nigeria.

The materials are meant to help protect the journalists, who are front liners in the fight against COVID-19. Our face masks can also be found in parts of Anambra, Benue, Abuja, Kano, Lagos, Gombe and Jigawa States. Other parts of Nigeria will be reached in due course.

It is hoped that, in the near-future, the FRCN will become official partners to the OCI Foundation’s “Arm Our Youths (ArOY) Health” Campaign. The  ArOY Campaign is a novel, evidence-based, Harvard-endorsed, and WHO-supported anti-breast and anti-cervical cancer initiative, that targets all senior secondary schools in Nigeria. It is already fully functional in all senior secondary schools in Anambra State of Nigeria (since September 2019), with advanced plans already in place to have it rolled out across schools in Benue State, once the COVID-19 lock-downs are fully eased. Early negotiations are in place with stakeholders in Gombe and Jigawa states, and all the senior secondary schools across all the 36 states of Nigeria, as well as the FCT, are expected to benefit from the ArOY Campaign before the end of 2025.

Current partners include the Innoson Group, the NYSC, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs (Nigeria), Nollywood Nigeria, the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, and a number of other reputable Nigerian and international institutions.

Lately, discussions have reached advanced phases to strike formal partnerships with the American Centre for Disease Control (CDC), and Next-Gen-U, the world’s first online university, whose founders are based in Canada. These partnerships will provide vital international support that will assist with the implementation of the ArOY Campaign across Nigeria.