health-ministers

"14 of these new cases are male and 16 are female. Most of these patients are asymptomatic. We also have two new recoveries."

"All patients had presented with a mild case of the disease and were recovering well."

"The small southern African country has recorded its tenth coronavirus case."

"A total 10 covid-19 cases are confirmed in the country. Four have tested negative for the coronavirus out of which three have been discharged. One is undergoing processes for discharge."

"Three of the patients are admitted at the isolation facility in Siteki, while two remain under home care. The latest confirmed case is still undergoing processes of admission for care."

"Nobody should be made to suffer in the way Caster was made to suffer in the past several months"

"There's also steady progress in the representation of women at senior levels of the public service"

"Irrespective of our political background, I am sure we will all agree that this situation is unacceptable"

"We hope she will continue to be an inspiration to those looking to her as an example of a young woman determined to succeed in her chosen field. I am very happy about this"

"We will also be working within the existing frameworks such as broad-based black economic empowerment and (the) Employment Equity Act to ensure that current equity targets for women and persons with disabilities are met"

"The objectives are to preserve and build on African women's strength and to leverage on global and regional political goodwill for the advancement of African women with a focus on youth and grass-roots women"

"Our country has taken a number of steps to mainstream gender perspectives in poverty-reduction strategies. These have led to the implementation of various income support programmes including development initiatives for rural women"

"when you are deployed to a particular space like the provincial government sphere, you are humbled by the fact that you are one of the chosen few to be mandated to represent your organisation in government."

"Twenty-thousand interns will shortly be appointed as labour inspectors to ensure that businesses are complying with employment equity legislation."

"Henceforth, the scale at which the partnership between government and business is to be elevated, there is much hope that we will see a turn on economic growth yielding to job creation"

"Whilst government has continued to put in place interventions like addressing load shedding, resolving transport and logistics challenges, the economy is not growing as expected"

"You are the village it takes to raise a child"

"I believe that the only way of changing theeconomy of our province is to ensure that development targets the rural space, and agriculture is one sector that can assist with that"

"We remain deeply concerned about the high unemployment rate of 33.5% among South Africans, particularly affecting our youth"

"My father had already been imprisoned for months following the brutal suppression of the first uprising in Sétif on May 8, 1945, and he feared for his life. We were under constant surveillance. In 1952, my parents emigrated to France with my brother and sister. As the youngest, I remained in Constantine with my childless uncle and aunt. I lived in fear, particularly when soldiers would knock on the door at night and search the house."

"It is imperative for the international community to act swiftly to prevent another tragedy similar to that of the Al Ahli Baptist Hospital last Tuesday (17 October 2023), where nearly 500 Palestinian civilians, including children, were massacred by an Israeli airstrike on the hospital."

"I have been a socialist all along. I discovered early in life that a lot of the codes of Islam are patterned along socialist lines."

"The word 'tribe' is insulting. It is the European who refers to us as tribes. Such words should be banned. I would rather say I come from Kano State than say I am Fulani...."

"Anyone who wants to be a leader must be the servant, not the boss, of those he wants to serve."

"I am more interested in the purpose of government than its mechanics–though the means should at least be good enough to lead to the ends desired."

"I hated government that sat on people"

"The road to freedom is full of thorns and fire, yet happy is he who follows it!"

"What we have to do in this country is to try as much as possible not to be identified with any socialist camp but only that of the Nigerian experience. . . . [My brand of socialism is ] Nigerian socialism. To achieve it, we should take into account our traditional way of life, our temper, our economic potentialities and resources, our attitude to family life, our attitude to work and international good neighbourliness. These are what will give us the ingredients for our own kind of socialism. This will make us avoid the mistake of copying other people's arrangements which may be unsuitable for our particular situation."

"What Nigerians want is really very peddling things, now for example what is constitution, what is independence, what is 1st October if I go to bed hungry, or the next morning I wake up without breakfast, for my children to go to school without a meal?"

"We [at NEPU] interpret democracy in its more traditional, radical sense, and that is the rule of the common people, the poor, the illiterate, while our opponents (the NPC) interpret it in its modern Tory sense, and that is the rule of the enlightened and prosperous minority in the supposed interest of the common people."

"One must scratch that part of the body or mind that itches."

"If we go on foot, we will not walk, we will run. And if we fall, we will pick ourselves up and run again. But mark you, we will not go on foot. You might tell us to go by camel, or horse, but we will even skip the motor car and go by plane. And the British had best not deny us the choice of our means of transportation, no matter how fast."

"...the economy is a living thing, if you play with it, it can kill you."

"We have noted some gaps in section 29 of the Child Act, and already the government is in the move to work on it accordingly."

"another service that will be provided include adoption of children and step-parenting."

"Fulfilling children’s rights by providing them with basic education, adequate nutrition, health care and protection from harmful practices, breaks this cycle. Their chances of survival and of a productive future are greatly increased – as are the chances of a truly fair and peaceful global society."

"Although, in a democracy, relationships between consenting adults are based on personal choices, these choices are not acceptable when the relationship has to do with a minor who has not reached the age of consent. In such instances, all guardians of democracy must protect the rights of these children and others who, though they are adults, are also vulnerable by reason of retardation in their level of physical, mental or social circumstances."

"In conclusion, economic development alone cannot get us to the promised target year of 2020 as one of the first 20 leading economies of the world. Economic development must go hand in hand with socio-cultural and political development."

"They must be protected from physical, mental, sexual and other forms of abuse such as child trafficking and subjugation to hazardous labour. A child’s first few years are critical not only for survival, but for her or his optimal physical, intellectual and emotional development. Therefore, deprivations especially during this period greatly hamper children’s ability to achieve their full potential thus contributing to a society’s cycle of endless poverty, hunger and violence."

"There is need to re-examine the contract of marriage that is based on violation of the rights of the girl child. Child marriages have gained acceptance in some cultures because the parents have put their selfish interest and needs first before those of the children."

"In many instances, these child brides are not physically, mentally and emotionally mature for childbearing and child nurturing, hence several of those who had consummation of their marriages as children die or become disabled during child birth. The commonest of such disabilities is vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF) which means that the abnormal passage which has been created between the bladder and the vagina leads to uncontrollable leakage of urine from the victim."

"However, the retention of some of these practices is incompatible with the adoption of the democratic principles which we now accept as the guiding principles that will lead us to attain a lofty position among the first twenty world economies by the year 2020."

"Thus, critical social indices must be measured regularly and put on the same scale as the economic indices so that the true balance can be revealed. Government, NGOs and the private sector must work together in order to give the needed support for the achievement of appropriate economic and social objectives through the application of appropriate strategies."

"Many of the children of these ‘child mothers’ also succumb to malnutrition and preventable childhood diseases. These conditions in many cases lead to physical or mental retardation. Exposure to HIV/AIDS may further complicate the situation. Many societies have their own practices that have enjoyed wide social acceptance for many generations."

"Unfortunately, the current participation of young mothers as co-breadwinners has often led to the restriction of the time devoted to what is usually considered as their primary responsibility. This calls for greater flexibility in task sharing between couples especially in parenting. Of course, in polygamous relationships the arrangements could be even more complex. Whatever be the case, the Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Nigeria is a signatory stipulates that the welfare of the child must be the first consideration and decisions taken at all levels must be in the best interest of the child."

"This means that social developmental indices such as the number of children per family, the number of children receiving uninterrupted schooling for a minimum period of 10 years, the number of children who have access to basic education and health care and the numbers whose inalienable rights are protected, which are intermediate indicators of maternal and child mortality rates are just as important as the indicators that measure our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Income (GNI)."

"Poor diet, healthcare and sanitation coupled with overcrowding also meant that disease was rife and mortality high. Large numbers of children were also orphaned and ended up living on the streets. Some were forced into prostitution, while others sought shelter in sewer pipes. This is virtually the situation in developing countries today. Also, at that time, specific legislation did not exist to protect children from cruelty. A change in societal attitudes inspired many philanthropists to take action. In most cases, people were inspired by a sense of religious duty. It was not until the end of the 19th Century that government began to intervene. The lesson to be learnt here is that economic growth alone does not automatically guarantee the development of a comparable level of humaneness in society."

"During the Victorian era in Britain, as illustrated by Oliver Twist, it was quite bleak for children in poor households. There was widespread deprivation and this meant that children were often forced to work long hours in hazardous occupations inside factories, down mines and up chimneys."

"Enforcement of this policy helped mainly to reverse the widespread level of child abuse that existed in developed countries up to the beginning of the 20th Century. The second effective strategy employed in developed countries is the encouragement and support of couples to have only the number of children that they are able to take care of and provide for."

"Misuse and abuse of power by rulers invariably leads to loss of confidence in governance by the ruled and sets up a vicious cycle of tyranny on the side of rulers and perceived rebellion and non-adherence to the rule of law by the ruled. This is why governance must be well grounded on democratic principles that guarantee the evolution of a just, free and egalitarian society. National underdevelopment carries with it the burden of caring for its masses, particularly those who are living below poverty line. This has been said to constitute 60 percent of Nigerians."