By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja.
Initiative for Grassroot Advancement in Nigeria (INGRA), has called on Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo of Kogi to as a matter of urgency, assent to the Anti-stigma/Discrimination Bill recently passed and transmitted to him by the state House of Assembly.
Mr Hamza Aliyu, Executive Director of INGRA, a Civil Society Organization (CSO) made the call at a One-day Media Roundtable on Advancing The HIV Anti-stigma Bill And Addressing Issues Around HIV Stigma Reduction on Thursday in Lokoja.
Aliyu said that the Bill which is a domestication of the 2014 national HIV Anti-stigma law was passed as a private sponsored bill by the state House of Assembly on June 19th, 2024 and transmitted to the governor with eight others.
He said that the six Executive Bills were passed by the governor living out the HIV Anti-stigma Bill and one other private bills because they had to undergo some procedural processes.
The INGRA Executive Director therefore implored Governor Ododo to expedite the processes and sign the Bill into law in view of its importance.
The Bill is titled: “A Bill For A Law To Provide For The Prevention Of Hiv And AIDS Based Discrimination And Protection Of The Rights And Dignity Of People Living With And Affected By HIV and AIDS And For Other Related Matters, 2024.”
Aliyu said said that the Child Rights Law and the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law currently operating in the state are almost same with the Anti-Stigmatization/Discrimination Bill in implementation.
“This Bill does not have implications on the state government in terms of resources as it will be domiciled in the already existing and functioning Kogi State Office of the Public Defender and Citizens’ Rights Commission.
“So, we don’t have to establish any other enforcement mechanism. We don’t have to established any special courts to enforce this law, the existing courts suffice” Aliyu explained.
He said that Kogi State has a lot and everything to gain from passage of the Bill into law saying, “The section of our population that is vulnerable in terms of HIV has got to as many as 200,000 persons living with HIV/AIDS in KOGI State.
“If you compare that to the number of persons who voted in the Governorship Election in Kogi State, you will realize that if everybody who is HIV-Positive voted for a candidate, that candidate would have won the election.
“So, it is a sizable chunk of our population who are going to benefit from this law just as the larger population would also benefit from having a lower prevalence rate and a better and healthier public sector.
“About 99 per cent of our population are HIV-Negative and that is to say, less than one percent are HIV-Positive. It means that it is better for us to prevent the infection on the larger population than for them to be infected and go for treatment.
“This law is one of the tools for preventing new infections because it protects the rights of those who are infected and help same to access treatment by preventing stigmatization and discrimination”, Aliyu pointed out.
He implored the general public to accord known HIV infected persons all constitutionally guarantees rights and privileges devoid of stigmatization or discrimination in employment, family, education, religion, access to Health facilities among others. (Ends)