‘How I started breast cancer awareness campaign’

Miss Ajadalu Ivie Yvonne is Miss Comely Queen South South Nigeria 2017 and the Breast Cancer Awarness Ambassador. The Accountancy graduate from Ambrose Alli University spoke to about how she is out is to save young girls and women from the ravaging breast cancer disease.

What is the Miss Comely Queen about?

Miss Comely Queen is a breast cancer awareness pageant, the pageant is out to support and create awareness for breast cancer. It is about educating women about the risk factor and how to detect breast cancer. Breast cancer is really much in Nigeria and killing lots of women. So the pageant is out to stop breast cancer in Nigeria.

What pet projects do you have?

I am focusing on now is cancer awareness campaign. As cancer ambassador, my aim is to reduce cancer incident to the breast minimum through awareness campaign. I am doing that in collaboration with other group like Lift Above Poverty Organisation Women Medical Association among others. I am happy to have carried out successful awareness campaign during the world cancer day celebration.

What has been your awareness strategies?

I have been going to schools and market places to educate women and girls on the danger of cancer as well as ways of examining their breast to know if there is cancer or not. I always tell them once they discovered any lump or hard substance in their breast, they should inform their doctors. The reason breast cancer is killing people is that most of them don’t care even if they discovered that one of their breast is bigger than the other, Instead of going to the doctor, they just relax and felt there is no problem. These are some of thing we highlight during awareness campaign.

Do you have limitations to the reach of this campaign?

The most important one is funding and transportation. We need logistics to carry out the awareness campaign. The attitude of the people towards the campaign forms another hurdle Sometimes, when we visit school, we may not meet the principal and some ladies who ought to attend to us make the entire thing frustrating.

Why do you choose a campaign on cancer?

The desire to save lives propelled me to taking to cancer awareness. Winning Miss Comely Queen gave me the opportunity. I have always loved beauty pageant since I was a child. So when I won Miss Comely South South 2017, I decided to take cancer awareness as one of my pet projects to also save life.

As a young female advocate, what would you tell others?

My advice to other ladies is that they should learn to follow their dreams because it will lead them to where they want to be in life and also give them glory. They should also remain focus to actualize that dream.