OCI Foundation hosts Top Aso Rock Chapel Reverend and the Founder of Sweet Home Africa Foundation, as consultations intensify ahead of the ArOY Campaign national roll-out (August 2, 2020)

As part of the consultations ahead of the national roll-out of the Arm our Youths (ArOY) Health Campaign, the OCI Foundation’s Advocacy Team on Sunday, July the 2^nd, 2020, hosted the President and Founder of the Sweet Home Africa Humanitarian Foundation (SHAHF), the Rev. Dr. Austin Epunam (JP), at its Office in Abuja, Nigeria. The SHAHF is the publisher of the Sweet Magazine, a regular publication that has empowered many youths within and outside Nigeria.

Dr Epunam is also a pioneer member of Aso Rock State House Chapel (Abuja, Nigeria), and an Ambassador of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission, both of which are under the Nigerian Presidency, As Rock Villa, Abuja.

The OCI Foundation’s team was led by Mr. Sam Agwa (Head of Advocacy). Other members of the Foundation in attendance were Ms Felicia Dagu (the Foundation’s Admin Officer III) and Mr. Luter Ikyobo (a member of the Advocacy Team).

Fruitful discussions were held, and major progress was made on how to involve the leadership of various Nigerian religious institutions, as well as other key stakeholders that will be vital to the smooth national roll out of the ArOY Campaign.

For the records, 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 45^th 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.