Ogun State Youth Ambassador Takes to YouTube During COVID-19 to Share Reproductive Health Advice

The threat of COVID-19 has brought young people in Nigeria indoors – often away from school and social events with friends. Sounds boring, right? Not for Chinenye Ikeobi, who works with The Challenge Initiative (TCI) in Nigeria as a Life Planning for Adolescents and Youth (LPAY) Ambassador. The vibrant young woman from Ogun State decided to take advantage of her downtime to launch a series of videos on her YouTube channel (ICON’s VLOG) to spread helpful information on love, life and health in the time of COVID-19.

Chinenye released a two-part series (Part I and Part II) on “all you need to know about reproductive health.” She lights up the screen, welcoming young people to let their guard down, become informed and make the right decisions based on the facts.

“Hey darling, do you think you know everything? Are you certain that those things you know are not myths and misconceptions?,” Chinenye says. “Darling, I’m going to be spilling all the tea regarding reproductive health.”

She laughs that “Mr. Google” may provide some answers, but it does not always direct young people to the right sources.

“I recommend that you visit approved websites that are targeted to addressing sexual and reproductive health for people,” she says. “An example that I am going to relay is www.tciurbanhealth.org. If you visit that website, you get all the information that you need to know regarding your sexual and reproductive health.”

She also encourages young people to go to their local government primary healthcare center: “Request to see a healthcare provider… These people have been trained, number one not to be biased or to stigmatize against you, but they have also been trained to give you the right information. They are youth-friendly.”

Through her passionate videos, Chinenye provides local governments with incredibly relevant and engaging content to be shared with Nigerian young people. With her help, young people can become more informed during the pandemic and feel comfortable to seek out sexual and reproductive health advice from local health providers.