30 Oct 2020 ArOY Campaign history made, as Nigeria’s NOA hosts and pledges support and partnership with the OCI Foundation (27/10/2020)
On Tuesday, October the 27th, 2020, another ArOY Campaign history was made in Abuja, Nigeria, as the Country’s National Orientation Agency (NOA) made an in-principle pledge to support the OCI Foundation’s Arm Our Youths (ArOY) Health Campaign across all of Nigeria’s 36 States.
The Director-General of the NOA, Mr Garba Abari, announced the collaboration at a round-table between the agency and a 3-man delegation of the OCI Foundation, led by Mr Abdullahi Aliyu, the Foundation’s Networking Manager and member of the Advocacy Team. Mr Abari, was represented by Mrs Ruth Ogun, the NOA’s Director of Public Enlightenment and Mass Mobilisation.
Other members of the OCI Foundation’s Advocacy Team at the meeting were Ms Felicia Dagu (Admin Officer III) and Mr Ifeanyi Anueyiagu.
The ArOY Campaign is a novel, Harvard-endorsed, WHO-supported, and evidence-based health promotion initiative of the OCI Foundation, which is being introduced across all senior secondary schools in Nigeria as a way of tackling breast and cervical cancers. In September 2019, it was rolled out across all the 261 senior secondary schools in Anambra State of Nigeria, and a similar event, scheduled for Benue State in May 2020, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All of Nigeria’s 36 states (and the FCT) are expected to benefit from the ArOY campaign on or before the end of 2025, and the ongoing consultations are part of this whole process.
The ArOY Health Campaign has the support of the, NextGenU.org (the World’s first online University), the United States Centers for Disease Control (U.S. CDC) and the University of British Columbia, Canada (ranked 45th in the world, according to the 2021 QS World University Ranking). Experts from these institutions, along with others from the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) and the Griffith University (Australia), will work with the OCI Foundation and the Nigerian Government on the roll-out, implementation and monitoring of the ArOY project. In addition, the prestigious Harvard Medical School, USA, of which Dr Chris Ifediora (the Founder of the OCI Foundation) is an Alumnus of, had earlier endorsed the Campaign, and made significant contributions to the Campaign’s design ahead of its roll out in Anambra State last year.
A number of other reputable Nigerian institutions partnering the OCI Foundation on this initiative include the Innoson Group, the NYSC (National Office), the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs (Nigeria), Nollywood Nigeria, the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, the Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS), Silk Road Restaurant (Abuja), and the Post Primary Schools Service Commission, PPSSC (Anambra state), among others.
There are also plans to involve the Office of the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Nigeria’s Governor’s Forum (which includes the Governors of all the 36 States of Nigeria), and Nigeria’s ministries of Health, Education and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
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