History was made Friday April 30, 2004 when over thirty non- governmental and community-based organisations from across Nigeria converged at the International Film and Broadcast Academy, Lagos to examine the HIV/AIDS prevention strategy and proffer innovative ways forward. The groups met under the aegis of the Nigeria Abstinence Coalition – the umbrella body for individuals and organisations promoting abstinence-until-marriage and spousal fidelity within wedlock.
According to Dr. EIB Okechukwu of the Action Family Network who doubles as the President/Founder of the Nigeria Abstinence Coalition, best practice principles in health and development programming demands that strategies or methods with proven efficacy should be promoted and replicated to assure sustainable impact. Abstinence and fidelity, he informed 1FEE the gathering, has caused the HIV/AIDS infection rates in Uganda to drop from 30 percent to less than 10 percent in the past decade. Debunking the general notion that `everyone is doing it' among Africans, he stated that a recent survey revealed that over 87 percent of Ugandan men remained faithful to their wives within the last twelve months while an ever-increasing numbers of young persons view premarital sex as a socially irresponsible behaviour. "If it works in Uganda, abstinence and fidelity can help Nigeria survive the HIV/AIDS scourge", he stressed.

Speaking at the occasion, Philomena Anierobi of the Society for Family Health informed participants that her organisation has been misunderstood by the public as a promoter of condoms only. However, they decided to be part of the Abstinence Coalition because of their new strategy focusing on abstinence-until-marriage especially among the youths. The highly interactive sessions discussed lead papers on the philosophy of abstinence education, shared field experiences of those already running abstinence projects as well as basic fundraising techniques.
Interestingly, more than fifty percent of men who attended the event confessed they wedded virgins. This fact has kept their admiration and love for their spouses above the average. Young men also declared their state of primary virginity despite the lure and challenges of university life.
The participants resolved that abstinence and fidelity should be mainstreamed into the national HIV/AIDS strategies since they offer the best prevention against the cascade of teen sex, STDs/HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, abortions and the deaths and dislocations associated with them. They further identified an urgent need for training, capacity building and provision of educational materials on the abstinence/fidelity strategy. They also opted to collaborate with national and international agencies in pursuit of the objectives of the Coalition, but expressed dismay that no organisation received grant to promote abstinence/fidelity programmes in Nigeria among the awards made recently by USAID under President Bush's Emergency AIDS Plan for 14 countries.

Goodwill messages were received from the Presidents of Abstinence Clearinghouse and Equipping Leaders Internationally both of the USA as well as the country office of Teachers without Borders.