Just a few days ago, owing to what my friend went through in trying to care for his sick wife, it dawned on me that most people in Nigeria as we speak are a few illnesses away from being broke and delving into poverty if not watched closely.

In order to add to the illustration made above, just yesterday we were at Imo State to bury one of us who unfortunately could not survive the battle with breast cancer, we unfortunately lost her to the illness. The worst irony remains that no one seems to be spared in this cancer scourge.

Engr. Chiedo Akwarandu is my Late Dad’s elder Sister’s son, which qualifies him as my cousin. This young man has seen life in all of it’s forms and shape, such that I thank God for the rare miracle of the man we call Dee Chiedo to be alive at this time of my writing this article.

This phenomenal son of Amaoji in Isiala Ngwa North, Abia State is one man I know to be very diligent at his chosen career, who has an unexplainable passion to serve humanity. This was one of the things that inspired him to join Rotaract Club as an undergraduate and then Rotary Club International thereafter as an established man.

Owing to the trajectory of Engr. Chiedo’s life, I have always looked upto him for advice and words of wisdom with which to pursue my life goals. He has been a deliberate man when it comes to making life choices but I have always faulted him prior to now as one who has not been very intentional about his gastrointestinal health. For many years, we lived with the reality that Dee Chiedo rarely or barely made out time to eat.

Fast forward to so many years later after he had consistently lived a life of paying the least of attentions to eating basic food, a form of cancer came calling with the ultimate aim of cutting the life of this exceptionally promising Father short. Fortunately for those of us who are related to Engr. Chiedo Akwarandu, his battle with cancer despite being an exceedingly difficult one has seen him go under the knife severally with the only beauty being that this young man is still alive this day.

Moreso, you would not understand how tortuous this cancer journey can be until you have a close relative or a friend who has gone through the torment of having any form of cancer.

In most cases, cancer would drain you of every available resource you have, to the point that you become broke and worse of it, remains that you are almost certain that you would most probably die from the illness, with a few exceptions of some people, who survive despite all odds which Engr. Chiedo Akwarandu represents.

As it is typical of most people whom I share similar genetic make up with, we are wired to always use every available opportunity at our disposal to serve humanity. That is why when I heard that Engr. Chiedo Akwarandu and some of his friends whom he shares similar passion with, have founded an NGO called Nest Of Hope, to raise awareness on cancer, its diagnosis, treatment and support for cancer patients, in any way possible, I was excited to reaffirm that this is a man who has used his pain to offer better options to other people who are in the league of cancer patients, who cannot ordinarily afford the cost of quality health care.

One may want to argue that there already a lot of NGOs with interest in cancer but permit me to remind you that at the rate the disease is ravaging the Nigerian society without any much people being aware of it, we must be deliberate about rallying like minds to face this monster squarely and get the various levels of government to commit to making sure that this quality of care as are needed by these patients are made available to them at the most affordable cost owing to our financial reality as a nation.

We must drive conversations about the government providing infrastructure for early diagnosis of cancer, its treatment, the follow up courses of chemotherapy and radiotherapy which takes as much as up to six (6) months in most centers around Nigeria, to get an appointment.

Finally, various degrees and ranges of cancer is wreaking havoc in the Nigerian society and we must encourage men and women of Engr. Chiedo Akwarandu’s disposition to engage with the government on policies and its implementation with the ultimate aim of enacting legislations that makes it compulsory for government to invest in the infrastructure for research, diagnosis and treatment. The South Eastern region of Nigeria is at the mercy of God as we can rarely readily access care in the region for most cancer patients in functional government owned institutions.

Sincerely, whatever way you can support them in this passionate campaign to make life more meaningful for cancer patients, please give it all that you have got and make no mistakes about it, this foundation is out to do things differently which is ultimately aimed at making life better for others who are not privileged. The worst part of my existence on earth is each day Engr. Chiedo Akwarandu shares the exclusive footages of some cancer patients who are battling for their lives.

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