₦airaland Forum

For the first time since August 24 when he made a daring flight in the tyre compartment of an Arik Air flight from Benin to Lagos, Daniel Oikhena, saw his mother, Evelyn, at the State headquarters of the Directorate of the State Security Services (DSS).

Daniel, a Junior Secondary School (JSS) I pupil in Benin, Edo State capital, was released from DSS custody yesterday morning to officials of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Development.

Mrs. Oikhena was informed of the processes her son would go through and later asked to go to the ministry for further briefing.

It was gathered that the government planned to send Daniel to a correctional facility before being allowed to return to school. Several efforts to see him and his mother failed until information filtered in that Governor Adams Oshiomhole would meet with Daniel at 3:30pm.

Daniel’s celebrity status was tested yesterday as government officials left their offices to catch a glimpse of the stowaway kid.

He rode into the Government House in the same car with the DSS State Director, Bakori Tukur.

Reporters were barred from recording Daniel’s entry as he was taken inside through a back door.

Daniel’s father, Osaigbovo, made a surprise appearance at the Government House shortly after his son and wife were taken inside.

He was not invited to join the meeting.

Osaigbovo said he was a commercial bus driver and that he was told about the scholarship offer by his wife.

The father, who was accompanied by some of his relatives, denied allegations that they showed up because of the scholarship offer.

He said he has been taking care of his children contrary to the uncaring attitude of his wife.

Osaigbovo (44) said he had a problem with his wife to whom he had been married for the past 20 years.

He displayed a photograph of himself and two of his children during a family outing.

“I came to tell the world that I am Daniel’s father. His mother and I had a misunderstanding last year. I did not leave my home. I invited my wife to join me but she said where I was staying was too far and she decided to stay away. It is a lie that I have not been taking care of my four children. We are not divorced.”

On why he has been quiet about his son’s predicament, Osaigbovo said his wife asked him to calm down that she would take care of everything.

“I went with her to the police station but she said I should keep quiet.

“I was shocked when I heard the news. Initially, I thought my son was kidnapped but I thank God he is alive. I am here to make sure my son is really alive. I am not married to another woman. My wife refused to give my number to the DSS when they asked for it .

“My son likes movies. He is quiet and easy going.”

A volunteer group, De RAUFs, which had indicated interest in Daniel’s welfare was at the Government House.

Represented by Yinka Muyiwa, head of its legal team, De RAUFs said it came to Edo State to reaffirm the scholarship it earlier gave the lad to continue his education up to university level.

Muyiwa said: “The boy did not commit any offence and as such should not be detained any longer.

“The boy had to do what he did because the system failed him. There was no crime involved in what he did as far as we are concerned.”

Phema: Will have to start cooking and eating home made meals! Now, I can stay for 3 months without Cooking at all!

Will have to sharpen my "house chore" skills as fiance says he doesn't want a house help (not that he can even help much).

Will lose my precious privacy .

Will lose the ability to do whatever I want to do anytime I want to do it. Make decisions and execute them without accounting to anyone.

My beautiful and sexy last name .

Will drop. . . Oh Lord, too many things to drop!

Saraben: not married yet...BT I guess I will drop d husband

owolabifunke14: I asked an intelligent question. I was taught artificial insemination in ss2 agric. Hand massaging technique. I asked to know whether the same technique is used in man. Please don't call me ashawo again. Don't force me to hate you. Thanks

owolabifunke14: How are they going to get the sperm out. Does it mean the nurses will grab their joystick and manipulate it to ejaculate? End time really

Mucokey: @OP
I need the proper address ASAP. This Runz girl wey say I go pay am 7k after wey I don pay hotel finish...na so my money for don accumulate upto getting married self.
I beg for the hospital address once more

People get married for different reasons. While some seek companionship in marriage, many go into marriage for procreation. For couples who look forward to having children immediately after marriage, being declared ‘infertile’ by experts is like a death sentence.

While it is generally agreed that it takes two to have a baby and every couple is expected to be in optimum health to have babies, medical experts claim men are having more fertility challenge now. Sperm concentration in men is said to have decreased by a third since 1990s while sperm count is said to have decreased by half over the past 50 years.

Studies are also showing genetic abnormalities in sperm particularly in older men. For men therefore, quantity, quality and motility of spermatozoa are seen as important factors in fertility.

Since the male factor is a prominent cause of infertility in couples, sperm donation has become vital in assisted conception treatment.

A study by the Society for the Study of Male Reproduction stated that “a male factor is solely responsible in about 20 per cent of infertile couples and contributory in another 30 to 40 per cent.”

According to experts, even when sperm numbers are great, a high proportion of men may have DNA damage that significantly impairs the chances of natural conception. Besides, male sperm deteriorates with age the same way it does for women.

Studies have also shown that if a man has poor health, smokes, drinks too much or has a bad diet, it’s very likely his sperms are also going to be unhealthy.

Indeed, investigation by Saturday PUNCH showed that sperm has become a commodity in high demand in Lagos. The Chief Consultant and Head, Obstetrician and Fertility Department, Eko Hospitals, Dr. Adegbite Ogunmokun, said fertility problem, based on recent experience, had tilted more towards the male factor.

He said, “If 10 couples come in, there will be problem with the male in six of them, using our parameter of 20 million sperm per millimetre. But 10 to 15 years ago, maybe about four out of 10 men would have problem.”

Our correspondents, who visited some fertility centres in Lagos, learnt that more men are having low sperm count, thus necessitating the need for more volunteer donors. But because donors are scare, fertility clinics offer as much as N50,000 to men who are interested in selling their sperm.

They also pay more when sellers have special features that the beneficiaries are looking for.

Like blood sellers, investigations show that many people in Lagos, especially students, now sell their sperms anytime they need money.

A student of the University of Lagos, who identified himself as John, said he had sold sperm to a few fertility centres in Lagos. John said he had been funding his education for the past two years with what he earned from selling his sperm.

John said he was introduced to the programme by a friend and that he had in turn brought in two other friends to ‘business’.

“I’ve sold to a number of fertility centres. The money has really helped me to stay in school. It takes care of my tuition and some other personal needs,” John said, with a measure of satisfaction.

“It’s cool money, really and I’m also doing a service to mankind by helping out some people in need. Even friends that I introduced to it have not turned back since then.”

An employee in a Lagos fertility clinic, who identified himself as Olufunsho, told Saturday PUNCH that some women would pay any amount to get a sperm seller with the features they want.

He said, “We pay N50,000 here but there are times when women come in and request that, at all cost, they must get a tall man. The person can earn more when they make such requests, especially if we don’t have any that fits the profile in our bank.

“There was a time a woman came and requested that we get a tall man for her at all cost. I showed her the samples we had, but she did not like the profile. She said she was not satisfied with the heights. And we were unable to get what she wanted from the sellers that came at the time.

“The sellers that came then were either AS, or positive with hepatitis B or had low sperm count. We had up to twelve sellers that came and we were unable to get anybody. In such cases, we could offer a lot more when we find the right person. Sometimes, such people are also in a position to negotiate for what they want.”

However, subsequent drops attract lesser amounts of money for the same seller.

To sell sperm, the person, according to Olufunsho, must stay off sex for five days. He undergoes some tests to confirm that he is not HIV positive and that he also has healthy sperm among others.

He said, “If the same person is still interested and we still need him, he would repeat the screening process again. We pay N10, 000 per ejaculation for other subsequent ones. With my own discretion, if the quality of the sperm is good and we have somebody who needs something that matches perfectly with that seller, we may reduce the probation period, but the sperm must be very good.

“Although that is the protocol, it could always be amended when there is nothing wrong with the person. Even if someone ejaculates the first time and in twenty minutes time, he does the same, it is still going to be good, but not as good as the first one.”

At the various fertility centres where our correspondents posed as potential sperm seller, the clinic workers made keen attempts to have them start the process immediately, by leaving blood samples for tests.

On one occasion, a clinic worker told one of our correspondents that he was willing to waive the two to five days’ probation period of abstinence, after our correspondent said he wished to “sleep over it.”

The worker said, “What is there to think about? After all, you already said you’re not married. You can leave your blood sample for testing while you go ahead and think over it.”

Investigation showed that fertility centres want sellers between 18 and 45 years of age and expect them to abstain from sex, two to five days before giving sperm sample, depending on the centre.

Other conditions to be met by potential sperm sellers include testing negative to HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C, sickle cell and some other sexually transmitted diseases. Tests are also carried out to determine the count, morphology (shape) and motility of the sperm cells.

In addition, fertility centres claim to also place a high premium on average intelligence, education and lifestyle. Although, Saturday PUNCH learnt that such claims are not always true as more emphases are actually placed on height and other physical attributes.

“It is not immediately that we pay. We prefer AA genotype because it can be given to anybody, unlike AS that cannot be given to just anybody,” Olufunsho added.

However, an employee in another fertility clinic in Lagos, Akin, said sperm sellers could get paid within a week of starting the process. This is possible only if they satisfy the conditions.

He said, “If the motility is good, the count is good and you’re okay, then, you can produce for us. If everything is okay, within a week, you can get your money.”

A 2012 study into the reproductive health of 26,600 men in France, warned of a sperm crisis worldwide. It said that sperm concentration has decreased by a third since the 1990s. The study found a continuous 32.2 per cent decrease in sperm concentration over a period of 17 years.

During the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology annual conference in London in July 2013, some experts, critical of the study’s validity, said it did not completely represent the situation in certain areas, particularly the developing world.

However, a fertility expert at Mother’s World Care, Ikeja, Lagos, Dr. Margaret Olusegun, said the situation is similar in Nigeria.

She said, “A man should have a good count, up to 40 to 50 million sperm per millimetre of semen upward. But you find that these days, men have more challenges with fertility than women.

“Although, I don’t have the statistics, men are the ones with more challenges now, even though they are the ones who drive out their wives if they can’t bear children.”

Olusegun explained that good sperm should have “at least 50 per cent motility (activeness) because sperm cells can be active, sluggish or dead.”

“For morphology (shape) too, which could be normal or abnormal, sperm should have upward of 50 per cent normal cells. And there should not be bacteria growth,” she added.

Ogunmokun described low concentration of sperm as “Oligospermia.” He, however, said a sperm count with a minimum lower limit of 20 million sperm per millimetre of semen would still be considered normal. But he added that any sperm concentration of less than 20 million per millimetre of semen could be categorised as mild, moderate or severe oligospermia, depending on the count.

Ogunmokun said fertility problems could be with the man, the woman or the two of them.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that the demand for sperm has made the fertility business a lucrative one. Many of the fertility centres in Lagos have facilities for sperm preservation, where it’s freezing costs about N50, 000 per quarter.

Ogunmokun said, “After collection, the semen is processed and seminal fluid and all other things are removed. The sperm is put in little bottles and placed in special containers called dewars, connected to a power source. It is stored at very low temperature and there must be an indicator for monitoring should there be a change in the condition.”

He, however, added that there must be a standby generator in a place like Nigeria, where power supply is unstable, as sperm can be frozen for decades.

“Although, there are many other reasons why people freeze sperm, someone living far away from his wife can decide to freeze his sperm for the wife’s use while he’s away. Also, someone going for cancer treatment can freeze his sperm before starting the treatment since such treatments affect sperm production,” he added.

Ogunmokun said fertility centres focus more on university undergraduates to ensure that sperm donors have a certain degree of intelligence.

He said, “The current practice is to actually recruit sperm donors and the focus is on undergraduates. The focus is on students because they should be able to provide their ID cards so that background checks can be done.”

According to Ogunmokun, the perceived increase in the number of men with low sperm count is as a result of infection and lifestyle habits like sitting for too long and wearing of tight underwear.

He said, “The testes are not supposed to be too close to the body because of the higher body temperature. The testes are naturally colder, so people who travel long distances or sit in traffic for long can be prone to infertility.”

Ogunmokun advised that men should “exercise appropriately, take good nutrition, avoid tight underwear, premarital sex, cigarette and alcohol to try to prevent low sperm count.”

However, Olusegun identified good hygiene as key to the prevention of low sperm count, saying, “Our environment is too contaminated.”

Shaadey: Ok

rapcy: Ok...

THE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday said it will ask the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to resume negotiation with the Federal Government for the resolution of their differences.

NLC President, comrade Abdulwahed Omar, spoke after the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja.

He said there were reports that the union had issued a statement to withdraw from the negotiations with the Federal Government.

Omar said: “Congress resolved at the meeting that we are also going to make consultations to ensure that the negotiations resume immediately. We want to ensure that they are resumed to resolve the issues, not to resume and continue to dangle around without making any headway. We are also going to study the situation and make some proposals.

“But we, at the meeting, also did deliberate on one or two other issues, particularly on the issue of strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

“We are all aware that ASUU has issued a statement saying it will withdraw from the negotiation with the Federal Government following the government’s failure to make a headway in the negotiation.

“According to the paper I read, it was also due to the lack of seriousness on the part of government concerning the negotiation. I think it is a very serious situation we are facing today, that we allow the lecturers to remain on strike for upward of two months without resolving the issues. I think it is a very serious issue.”

Interior Minister Abba Moro yesterday urged ASUU to reduce its demands. .

He said university students should also advise their teachers to review downwards their demands and yield to government’s position.

The minister spoke in Abuja when he received officials of the National Union of Benue State Student (NUBSS).

He said: “I assure you that the ongoing strike is one that the Federal Government is tackling headlong. In spite of the problems that have hindered further discussions, the government will continue to explore all avenues that are aimed at resolving the crisis in our universities, especially now that the government has given money to tackling all the problems in our universities for infrastructure.

“Since you are children, I expect that some of your teachers are also parents. The government is making efforts to let ASUU see things from the position of the government, expect that you too have a role to play as students.

“You must be in the position to advise and sometimes plead with teachers to take into consideration the future of the youth as leaders of tomorrow and mellow down on some of their demands…”

House of Representatives member Farouk Lawan has urged the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to explore other means to resolve its differences with the Federal Government other than the ongoing strike.

The lawmaker said incessant strikes are detrimental to the country’s educational system and standard.

Lawan spoke yesterday in Abuja on the lingering ASUU action, which he said has dire consequences on the nation’s education sector.

There was a twist yesterday to the candidacy of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the November 16 Anambra State governorship election.

A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt ordered the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the candidate elected by the Ejike Oguebego-led faction of Anambra State PDP.

Senator Andy Uba won the primary.

But Tony Nwoye won the primary conducted by the Ken Emekeyi-led faction of the party.

Both congresses were held last Saturday in Awka.

PDP Chairman Bamaga Tukur yesterday gave the certificate of return to Nwoye as the party’s flag bearer.

Senator Andy Uba told the court presided over by Justice H.A. Nganjiwa that the primaries that produced him as the candidate followed the laid down procedures. Joined in the suit as defendants are the PDP national leadership and INEC.

The suit was filed before last weekend’s primaries. Oguebego, the state secretary of the PDP, Chief Gilbergt Okoye, and the Legal Adviser, Chucks Okoye sued for themselves and on behalf of the State Executive Committee of the PDP.

Justice Nganjiwa ordered that the result of the primaries conducted by the Ejike Oguebego-led executive, where Uba emerged as the candidate, should be upheld, pending the hearing and determination of the suit by the applicants.

He said the PDP and INEC should accept the results that emerged from the wards and state congress, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice or hearing and determination of the motion to set aside the interim order.

The judge said: “The first and second defendants are to forthwith comply with the order of this honourable court made on the 26th of August, 2013.”

Prior to the ruling, the court gave an exparte order restraining both the INEC and PDP from dealing with the Ken Emeakayi faction, pending the hearing of the main application. The court adjourned the matter till tomorrow.

However, at the meeting of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) in Abuja, Tukur pronounced Nwoye the winner of the primaries and governorship candidate, following the report of Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Shema, his Gombe counterpart, Ibrahim Dankwambo, and Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba, who monitored the primaries.

Nwoye was yesterday presented with a certificate of return by the national chairman.

The presentation came just as the Uba brothers, Andy and Chris, shunned the summon extended to them by the leadership of the PDP.

Also summoned alongside the Uba brothers were Chief Benji Udeozor and Mrs. Tonia Nwankwo. They were ordered to appear before the party’s leadership at 10am yesterday. None of them honoured the invitation.

They were summoned to explain their roles in the conduct of the August 24 parallel primary election through which Andy Uba emerged as PDP candidate.

Shortly after collecting his certificate, Nwoye told reporters that he remained the authentic candidate of the party.

The Southeast zone also insisted that Nwoye is the party’s candidate.

The zone’s position was made known during its Zonal Executive Committee meeting in Enugu yesterday.

Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, Governors of Ebonyi and Abia states Chief Martin Elechi and Theodore Orji, House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha, Senator Hope Uzodinma and former PDP National Chairman Vincent Ogbulafor, among others, attended.

The Southeast PDP Publicity Secretary, Ali Odefa, who read the communique at the end of the meeting, said the zoning arrangement for all PDP’s National Working Committee given to the Southeast Zone had been retained.

He, however, stated that elections for the positions would take place, adding that people would be advised not to contest for positions that were not zoned to their states.

According to Odefa, the leadership of the party passed a vote of commendation on people from the Southeast zone that held positions in the NWC of the party in the past.