MENDIE, UDUAKOBONG EMMANUEL
REG. NO: 11/AR/CA/741
1.
STORY ABOUT MARY ONYALI-OMAGBEMI
Biography of Mary Onyali-Omagbemi
Nkemdilum (Mary) Onyali
Omagbemi is her full name; she is a female of 5’6’ (168cm) height and 119 Ibs
(54kg) weight. Mary was born on February 3, 1968 in Gongola, Adamawa, Nigeria.
She is a Nigerian sprinter who won the Bronze medal in 4 x 100 meters relay at
the 1992 summer Olympics and in 200 meters at 1996 summer Olympics. She also
won the 1994 Commonwealth Games.
During her early years in
Nigeria,
the sport of track and field was never a priority. She lost her father at her
tender age and her younger siblings, a sister and two brothers were raised by
her mother. Much of the responsibility of child raising fell strongly upon Mary
because she was the oldest of four children.
Her mother constantly emphasized the important of their education and
to her, everything else was just extracurricular. Her mother believed that a
woman was to go to school and eventually work and focus on marriage and having
a family. Mary was not interested in marrying and having children. Her traits
of self will and stubbornness found her going against the social norm. Getting
involved in the sport of track and field was mere coincidence for Mary. In elementary
school, a sport was part of the curriculum and she participated in everything
there was. She always seemed to be extremely competitive at every thing and
always proved to be the best.
Mary continued track and
field once she reached high school. She competed in the long jump, high jump
and track events and also continued to win. At this level she realized that
this was something that she not only enjoyed, but was good at. After high
school, she continued to run, with hopes that one day she would be given a
scholarship to go to college. As a junior, she competed in the junior and
secondary categories championship and won. In 1983, she was denied the right to
represent Nigeria in Ghana in the
senior category which was to be her first international competition with the
excuse that she was young and did not have enough experience. Mary was also
denied the second time to compete in the 100 and 200 meters race but was
allowed to run the 4x100 relay in Kwara. These criticism and lack of faith by
her fellow country men only made her stronger and more determined to win when
given the opportunity.
In 1986, she competed in
the World Junior Championships in Athens,
Greece and won
a silver medal in the 200metres. From then on she was recognized as the little
Nigerian girl who did not quit and was very likely to stay. One of the
recognitions came from the then Athletic Director of Lagos,
Nigeria
who is now her father-in-law.
In 1987, Mary competed
in the Olympic Games in South-Korea. She also competed in both the 100 and 200 meters.
She realized that there was money to be made when she went to Europe
to compete. After her graduation, she dedicated all her time to track. In 1990,
Mary won silver at the World cup in both the 100 and 200 meters and in 1991;
she won an African Games gold medal in the 100. She went on to become a World
championships finalist in the 100 and 200 meter dashes.
Tragedy struck again
when Mary was prepared to compete in the third Olympic in 1996. She had been
accused of testing positive of ephedrine five months prior to the start of the
Olympic Games and was placed on a 3 month suspension. Until this day, this has
remained a mystery to Mary-she had no clue how it got in her system and did no
knowingly administer it. With the support from her husband and coach, she could
not give up and go home when she was placed 7th in the 100 meter
race although she had qualified for 200.
In 1997, she had a
beautiful baby girl which has been her most rewarding decision ever, but she
didn’t think that it would be as challenging as it is to be mum and athlete.
The biggest challenge was the emotional well-being.
Mary performed
especially well in the All-African Games, wining a total of 7 individual medals
in the short sprints. She won 100 meters in 1991, 1995, and 2003 and took a
bronze medal in 1987, gold medals were taken in 1987, 1995 and 2003.
Furthermore, the Nigerian 4x100meter relay team won all races between 1987 and
2003, at the African Games.
Truly, Mary
Onyali-Omagbemi has made a name for herself in the track and field world,
establishing several prestigious marks on the way. She is popularly called the
Queen of Nigerian sprints, Mary continues to hold the Nigerian 200 meters
record, and is stilled ranked in the top 10 of collegiate all time list in both
the 100 and 200 meters.
2.
malaria and maternal/infant mortality in Nigeria
Malaria is considered as one of the major causes of maternal and infant
mortality world wide hence the huge investment of the MDGs in the Nigeria’s
malaria control programme.
The MDGs along with
other partners like the Global Fund, USAID, DFID and the World Bank have
continued to execute the Roll Back malaria plan, including the distribution of
long lasting Insecticide Treated Mosquito Nets (LLITNs) Atemisimin Combination
Therapy (ACTs) and the indoor residual spray.
So far, over 62 million
nets have been procured and being distributed to the communities. By the end of
2010, it is expected that 92 million nets would have been distributed to the
communities. At the same time, ACTs are regularly distributed to the primarily
health care centres. Midwifery service scheme-The federal government of Nigeria
(FGON) under the 2009 federal appropriate ACT establish the midwifery service
schemes (MSS). Under the scheme, a total of 2, 480 midwives were deployed to
652 primary health care facilities in rural areas to ensure increased coverage
of skilled attendance at birth at all times so as to facilitate reduction in
maternal, new born and child morbidity and mortality.
Malaria during pregnancy
is a recognized risk factor for low birth weight and probably decreases the
survival of offspring, particular during their first month of life. On the
other hand, acquired maternal immunity may protect infants against malaria
infection or disease. This study assesses these two opposite effects
simultaneously.
The data of a large
epidemiological study on malaria (Garki project) was used to analyse the impact
of malaria during pregnancy on survival of offsprings in their first year of
life. The data set contains 138,197 survey records, representing 12,849
subjects. Of 633 reported deliveries, 417 could be linked to survival data for
the newborn.
The mortality rate
during the first year of life was independent of maternal malaria infection
during pregnancy (crude rate ratio 1:0). After adjustment for malaria in
infancy, the rate ratio was 1:2. The corresponding rate ratios for maternal
malaria during the second half of pregnancy were 1:46 and 1:73. None of these
ratios was statistically significant. This may be due to the small number of
deaths in the first year of life with a complete record of maternal malaria (27
deaths). The infants during the first four months of life had the lowest risk
for Plasmodium Falciparum, R malaria and P. Ovale infections which may be partly
due to acquired maternal immunity. There was a positive association between
malaria during pregnancy and malaria during first year of life which might be
due to similarity in exposure risks within a family, or confounding effects of
socioeconomic status. However, this association was weaker in the first four
months of life, and in those women who contracted infection during the second
half of pregnancy. This may indicate that acquired immunity is stronger in this
group and partially protects babies for a few months.
In conclusion, it seems
that on the whole, malaria during pregnancy was not a major risk factor for
infant mortality in Garki project. These results suggest that ignoring acquired
maternal immunity may overestimate the hazard of malaria during pregnancy on
infant survival.
- A PROFILE OF MYSELF
NAME: MENDIE, UDUAKOBNG EMMANUEL
SEX: FEMALE
DATE OF BIRTH: 30TH MARCH, 1993
COMPLEXION: DARK
NICK NAME: NITTY
NATIONALITY: NIGERIAN
STATE: AKWA IBOM
LOCAL
GOVERNMENT: UYO
VILLAGE: AKA OFFOT
RESIDENTIAL
ADDRESS: NO. 106 AKA ROAD, UYO
NAME OF MOTHER: MRS GRACE E. MENDIE
NAME OF FATHER: MR. EMMANUEL EDEM MENDIE
NEXT OF KIN: NSEABASI, EMMANUEL MENDIE
NAME OF CHURCH: CHRISTIAN PENTECOSTAL MISSION
HOBBIES: SINGING,
CHATTING AND READING
RELATIONSHIP: SINGLE
SCHOOLS
ATTENDED:
PRIMARY SCHOOL: ASCENSION
NURSERY/PRIMARY SCHOOL, NO 25 OBIO
IMO STREET, UYO, AKWA IBOM STATE
SECONDARY SCHOOL: APOSTOLIC
CHURCH SECONDARY
SCHOOL, IKOT OKU, NSIT IBOM LGA, AKWA IBOM STATE.
TERTIARY INSTITUTION: UNIVERSITY OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA.
FACULTY: ARTS
DEPARTMENT: COMMUNICATION
ARTS
LEVEL: 100
QUALIFICATIONS: SSCE
FUTURE AMBITION: JOURNALIST
FAVOURITE FRIEND: GOODNEWS NATHANIEL
FAVOURITE FOOD: FRIED RICE
FAVOURITE COLOUR: PINK
FAVOURITE PLACE: LIBRARY
FAVOURITE GAME: LUDO
FAVOURITE MOVIE: WORLD APART
FAVOURITE ACTOR: IME UMOH
FAVOURITE ACTRESS: INI EDO
PHONE NUMBER: 07038878038
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