Yesterday was  World Malaria Day and I can comfortably say it is my best Malaria Day yet.
My University Radio station, UNIZIK94.1FM, organized a special event for some selected primary school children of class Five and Six(one of the participants was of class two) in Anambra state to commemorate the World Malaria Day. The event was in the form of a competition for the students who had earlier submitted essays on Malaria at our request, and were told to write the same essay yesterday in front of the audience, Judges and their parents as well in other to confirm that they were indeed the authors of the original essay they submitted to us.

When our station manager,Mrs. Ify Obi, told me of the idea and how she would like me to help make it a success, I felt unbelievable joy at having a big opportunity to spread the message of TUNZA Eco-generation of saving the environment. With over five schools represented and over forty members of the audience (both parents and journalists present),it was a perfect platform for me to drive home my Malaria Day message of "Clean your environment. Save a life for the future". I quickly requested my station manager that I be allotted enough time to speak in the event as part of my community  enviroment advocacy programme for Tunza Eco-generation, and she was more than happy to grant my request. In fact,from her excitement, it appeared she must have silently been wishing for such before I came up with my proposal.

And then, the event started. The children,in their numbers, were writing their essays with sheer determination with their parents and members of the audience watching keenly. We had an Associate Professor of Parasitology, Dr. Aribodor (a man very passionate about fighting Malaria and Mosquito) as our quiz master as well as representatives of a pharmaceutical company who were sponsoring the event. Just after the essay competition, I had the floor.

I stood up with smiles on my face,feeling a deep sense of joy at having these amazing kids in the audience.
I started by introducing myself and Tunza Eco-generation as well as expressing my joy at having such a complete audience to speak to before I delved into the crux of the matter, "The Environment".
I told the audience that it is quite shameful that malaria is still predominant in our continent, Africa,despite the numerous efforts being made by many local and international agencies. I told them in clear terms that the reason why we are yet to achieve full success in the elimination of Malaria is because we abandoned our primary task in this regard which is to constantly keep our environment clean.
I highlighted the importance of a clean environment in the fight against Malaria as that is the easiest and cheapest way of eliminating the threats of this scourge in Africa. "If we get rid of mosquitoes from their breeding sites by cleaning up our environment, there will be no malaria but if you are unconcerned about the state of your environment leaving it to other inhabitants of your community, be sure you won't escape the hurt when the mosquitoes attack in their numbers", I said.
My speech turned more emotional when I reminded them that many babies were denied the chance of coming into earth through miscarriages just because of mosquito bites. I made them think so deeply when I asked "how would you feel if you lose someone to a 'mere' mosquito bite?", they all kept quiet and were looking at me in a sober mood.
As I ended my speech,we made a pledge thus, "CLEAN YOUR ENVIRONMENT, SAVE A LIFE FOR THE FUTURE". The children, their parents and other members of the audience expressed their satisfaction at my speech with deafening hand claps. My station manager was indeed happy to listen to my speech.

It didn't end there, we headed straight for our radio studio and after taking the audience round the radio facilities and the studio,I took the first seven students that emerged from the first round of the essay competition into the studio with the quiz master for a LIVE radio quiz on Malaria and Environment questions. Questions ranged from the habitat of mosquito to the group of malaria victims.
The children did well and it was a happy moment for me as well because three(all girls) of the seven finalists as well as the overall winner were from the primary school I attended,St. Paul's primary school Awka,Anambra state, and it was a proud moment for me.
After the announcement of the results, sharing of gifts to all the participants and light refreshments, I had another plan for my community environment advocacy programme. I requested that the seven finalist should make a pledge of cleaning their environment by holding a hand-written commitment that I have prepared, so they did and we were done with the event.
Indeed, I was deeply satisfied that I was able to pass the message of caring for our environment to such a complete and wonderful audience. The kids and their parents(who stayed all through) were absolutely amazing.
What a day it was for me, one that I will surely look back to and say,"I am glad I did".
Don't forget to 'Clean your environment and save a life for the future'.