Wife of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Mrs Bola Obasanjo, has urged government at all levels to support indigent diabetic patients in the country.
Mrs Obasanjo lamented that the expenses incurred in the care of diabetes is huge, adding that the patients need help from government and philanthropists.
She said this at a two-day Ogun youth diabetes camp organised by Talabi Diabetes Centre in Ogun State. The camp was attended by 29 participants drawn from six states across the country.
She said, “Now, those people from Jigawa State, I think there should be a follow-up.
“Is it possible to make it known the help needed from the ministers and commissioners of their states because they need some help? It is very expensive to manage it and at the same time, it is not that very expensive.
“When you don’t tell them (the government) they won’t know. They have so many other things doing. You help them first and they’ll help you.”
She further advised the participants to take to the life skill lessons given to them to maintain and survive the disease like her husband, Obasanjo.
“There is no disease that is not deadly but at the same time, if you manage it very well, you will live your life fully. And nobody will know that you have an illness as long as you maintain and do the right thing at the right time.
“The food you eat is what you are. As a diabetic patient, you don’t eat sugary and starchy foods.
“The education you have given them is very good but we need to support them. The governments of their states need to support them in feeding, education, in so many ways. What they wear is also very important because they must not have any cuts.”
Meanwhile, a diabetic specialist, Dr Olubiyi Adeshina, who was also the Ogun State coordinator of the centre, stated that the camp was organised to educate the participants on how to live with the disease.
Adeshina noted that the participants were mostly young people with Type-1 diabetes.
He said, “We have organised this camp for young people with Type-1 diabetes to equip them with life skills on how they are going to manage Type-1 diabetes for the rest of their lives.
“Once you have diabetes, it is not curable; it is something you will have to live with for the rest of your life.
“And Type-1 diabetes, we tend to see it in children and adolescents. It can also occur in adults but it is very rare. So, what we have done here is to gather 21 young people.”

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