Abortion: A Lingering Epidemic Among Nigeria Students

Random First Lines: Before I go to sleep I want to see the world the way it was projected To inhale its spiritual beauty long... : Poetry » Read

Link to Article Submitted By: amosaluko
Editorial and Opinion

Tags: education

By Amos Aluko

Abortion, as viewed by many is a method of fertility regulation. It is an elimination of unwanted pregnancy which is mostly done out of one’s volition. Among the learned people in our society, large percentage still regard abortion as a norm one will have to bend to when the need arises.

Today, if we check our tertiary institutions, we will discover that a lot of students have become ingrained in sexual immoralities. In fact, it has become a norm that cannot be hidden. You see a male student publicly boasting of sleeping with the beautiful ladies on campus. You also see a lady proudly saying, “My guy is sexually pro-active. This shows that sex is a norm among the unmarried young people. Innocents and virgins that find themselves in this society are often mocked, scorned, and ridiculed. They are made outcasts in the midst of all. We all know that if a new student gained admission into higher institution of learning, in no time she will get socialized to her new environment. Socialization here will either have a positive impact or a negative impact.

Ordinarily, an act of sex is enough to result into pregnancy more so, acts of sex. What a sensible person should ask himself or herself before going into sex is “am I ready to bear the responsibility of this act? But today, the question has never been asked, even if it is asked there is an alternative response that awaits the answer – “if it clicks we can always flush it out”.
Gynecologists say the restrictive law has not stopped women, especially the married ones, from going for abortion. The Nigeria Health Review 2006 says that about 10,000 Nigerian women die annually due to abortion-related complications. This is out of the more than 610,000 abortions carried out annually in the country. The report says that many more women, who survive the complications, suffer permanent disabilities. The Nigeria Health Review says that many women “resort to clandestine and dangerous methods rather than evidence-based safer methods” to procure abortion.
According to the publication, this is to avoid the long arm of the law and the high cost of procuring abortion by qualified personnel. The report added, “Such methods include insertion of dangerous objects into the vagina like pins, bicycle spokes, candle sticks and coat hangers.” Others are “ingestion of harmful drugs and chemicals such as potash, codeine, laundry blue, turpentine, detergent, bleach and tea made from livestock faeces.” The publication says that quacks who resorts to such methods cause damage to the uterus. “Worst hit are teenage girls, especially those in secondary schools”.

The fact remains that a very large percentage of the people carrying out abortion do not know the implication now; they look at it as a mere cure of an ailment which is based on self treatment or otherwise. That is why today, you can hear of somebody that aborted pregnancy as much 7 times within a year. If by luck nothing happens to such, she will always be lively to encourage as many people around to do such, drawing from her own experience.

Abortion has become a norm in our campuses today. Female students who do not know what to do in case of unwanted pregnancy have always been wrongly advised. It is very disheartening to hear that even among the educated ones, abortion has remained a norm. Every now and then people are dieing of abortion and wombs of awaiting mothers of tomorrow are getting severely damaged; yet this does not open the understanding of students to this epidemic. According to the report of Nigeria Health Review stated earlier, if the women that manage to survive abortion will still suffer permanent disability, then there is no sensible justification in carrying out abortion. The perpetrators of abortion today would become a minus in the nation tomorrow. This might not be acceptable now, until statistics will begin to reveal the percentage of women with fertility problem in the country.

Being a student, if after knowing all these facts one will still remain stuck to abortion, then why bother getting an education? To the ladies that feel carrying out self-abortion is a proof of maturity (big girls), they should not forget that they might be turning big fools. Of course that may sound abusive, but it is a reality, only time will tell. Let us all be responsible, both male and female. You should not chew what you do not want to swallow because if the sweetness persists in your mouth, you might be tempted to continue chewing until you will swallow. Always think and ask yourself questions before sex. Ask yourself “am I ready to father or mother a baby now?” The right answer to this question should determine your decision.

However, for the ones who get pregnant by chance or mistake while on campus, abortion is not the right option. Anything could happen to anyone that carries out abortion. It will be better to enduringly carry the baby and hold chances of having more in the future than aborting the pregnancy and blocking the chances of having one. Abortion can shatter the whole of one’s life, but enduringly carrying the baby might only cause a delay to the academical life, but one will always get to the desired pinnacle. Let every Nigeria student therefore be a crusader against abortion in the student world.

View table of contents...