Young people must remain virgins until marriage – Ayade

Governor Ben Ayade

– Governor Ben Ayade has said that young people must remain virgins until marriage to end the HIV scourge in Nigeria

– The Cross River state governor also notes that married couples must remain faithful to their partners inorder to end the HIV scourge

– He describes the usage of condom `campaign’ as creating a false feeling of protection

Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River state has said that the only way to end the HIV scourge in Nigeria is for young people to abstain from pre-marital sex and for married couples to remain faithful to their partners, Vanguard reports.

The governor made this known on Thursday, December 1, during the commemoration of the 2016 World AIDS Day in Calabar.

He said: “The absolute factor that can put an end to HIV/AIDS spread is total loyalty and abstinence.

“Married couples must be faithful to their partners. Young people must remain virgins until they get married and never allow any barber to use unsterilised clipper to cut your hair.

“Whatever the story, AIDS is real, it is a scourge, you must avoid it.”

According to Ayade, it is time to teach young people the true African culture where sex before marriage is a taboo.

He described the usage of condom `campaign’ as creating a false feeling of protection, adding that the use of condom had not helped in stopping the scourge.

He said: “Rather, it increases the level of promiscuity among the younger generation and encouraged unfaithfulness.”

Ayade noted that the state government would do everything within its power to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in Cross River.

Meanwhile, the federal government has said the country is 10% away from reaching the 2020 goal of eliminating new HIV/AIDS infections in the country, at which point the number of new infections would equal the number of those on treatment.

The government said the help of local and international donor partners would be helpful in this regard.