By Danjuma Amodu
Commemorating World Sickle Cell Day, 19 June 2026
“Guts, determination and resilience” are not just words to Judith Ojonugwa Matthew. At 31, she embodies them. You would not guess it looking at her, she does not “look like what she has gone through”. But behind her smile and camera lens is a story of loss, hospital beds, and a stubborn refusal to let sickle cell anaemia define her.
Judith lost her elder sister to sickle cell at age 5. That loss cracked her world open. Years later, she discovered she was a sickle cell carrier herself. The diagnosis could have shrunk her world. Instead, it became the reason she built a bigger one for others.
Today, she is the founder of the Judith Ojonugwa Sickle Cell Foundation, JOSCEF. JOSCEF does not just talk awareness, it holds hands, building a community for warriors.
The foundation raises awareness, provides counselling, supplies drugs and medical assistance to “warriors,”
The name JOSCEF proudly gives carriers and patients. It sponsors indigent youths in education, runs social work programmes, discovers hidden talents among warriors, and empowers them through JOSCEF’s skill acquisition centre.
Apart from being a warrior, Judith is popularly known as “The Sickle Motivator”, a name she has earned through years of advocacy, content creation and peer support.
“WE ARE MORE THAN OUR PAIN”
Judith’s own battle is far from over. Complications from avascular necrosis, AVN, mean she sometimes depends on a walking aid to move. In October 2025, she faced pleural effusion, fluid became trapped in her lungs and ribs and had to be drained at the Federal Medical Centre, Abuja. She went through it all with Favour Ihotu Matthew, her step-sister and caregiver. Though younger, Favour pays attention to detail as if she were made for it: running errands, ensuring Judith is safe, and recording every pain from surgery to needle pricks. Those records later become videos for awareness content to educate parents on genotype testing so their children do not go through what Judith is undergoing.
On World Sickle Cell Day, 19 June, Judith left this message:
“Behind every smile is a battle most people never see: the medications, the hospital visits, the blood transfusions. The endless hydration, the pain that arrives uninvited and changes everything. Today, I honour every sickle cell warrior fighting battles that do not always show on the surface. We are more than our pain; we are resilient, ambitious, beautiful, and deserving of a world that understands us. Sickle cell is not a death sentence. WE ARE MORE THAN OUR PAIN!”
— Judith Ojonugwa Matthew
Even in moments when pain tries to mute her, Judith chooses to speak louder. She knows her voice reaches parents, young carriers and policymakers who still need to see the human face behind the statistics. That conviction feeds her next words to anyone wanting to drive change:
“The change you seek is within you. You can be anything you want to be. Embrace the collective and go for the goal. Do you. Be you.”
— Judith Ojonugwa Matthew, Founder, JOSCEF
FROM LUGBE TO LOKOJA, SURVIVOR TO BUILDER
She started at LEA Primary School Lugbe, Abuja, moved to Bishop Delisle College Lokoja, then earned her National Diploma and Higher National Diploma from Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja. She also completed foundational education at the University of Abuja, now Yakubu Gowon University. Judith has gone on to complete a Postgraduate Diploma, PGD. On achieving this feat, she said, “My health challenge did not limit nor stop me from actualising my goals. Congratulations to me, PGD done.”
Despite her condition, Judith is everywhere: social media influencer, content and video creator, events manager, photographer, blogger, fashion designer and life coach. She fronts adverts for brands and hopes to secure a major role that will help fund and amplify her advocacy. She once ran Abacha in Kogi, an Igbo food vendor service, and Nugwa Clothiers, her fashion brand.
Her next big ambition is to partner with Nigerian celebrities and Nollywood stars on a short sickle cell film to take the conversation deeper into grassroots communities where stigma still costs lives.
GOVT ACTION CATCHES UP: KOGI MOVES
Judith’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. In the wake of World Sickle Cell Day 2026, Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo matched pronouncement with action as the Kogi State Health Insurance Agency, KGSHIA, commenced data capture and enrolment of sickle cell warriors resident in Kogi State. The state also commended ‘Hope@Dawn Foundation’ and Judith Ojonugwa Sickle Cell Foundation for their work.
It is a signal that advocacy like Judith’s is forcing policy to move — from speeches to enrolment lists that will have real impact.
CLOSING THE SURVIVAL GAP: NATIONAL PUSH
Nigeria still carries the highest sickle cell burden globally: 25% of adults carry the gene, and about 100,000 infants die annually from complications.
Marking World Sickle Cell Day 2026 in Abuja with the theme “Closing the Survival Gap: Equity in Sickle Cell Care,” the Coordinating Minister of Health, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, reaffirmed commitment to equitable care:
“The Federal Government remains firmly committed to strengthening prevention, expanding access to quality care and improving outcomes for people living with sickle cell disease. Together, we can build a future where every person living with sickle cell disease is treated with dignity.”
— Professor Muhammad Ali Pate
Interventions include newborn screening in Lagos, Kano and the FCT with CHAI; revised guidelines on Hydroxyurea therapy; PHC worker training; six Centres of Excellence with HPLC machines; and adoption of Sicklescan point-of-care testing. Professor Obiageli Nnodu said over 38,000 babies have been screened in the FCT and more than 10,000 patients registered across 25 centres.
COMMUNITY VOICE: FOR EVERY WARRIOR, FOR EVERY CAREGIVER
Brands are also joining in: “For every sickle cell warrior. For every parent. For every caregiver. For every family that has had to be strong even when tired. Today, we see you. Today, we honour you. Today, we stand with you. Praise Jah Herbal Blood Tonic was created to support the blood where it matters most, naturally, consistently and with care. You deserve more than pain management. You deserve support.”
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT JUDITH
Her impact echoes in the words of those she has touched:
Ekpelimode Sophia: “Judith Ojonugwa Matthew is one friend you should have in your corner. She is so kind… When I fell ill during NYSC and needed money for food and medication, she sent money. When I needed an oven for my meat pie business, Judith said, ‘Go and get the oven, you can refund me any time.’ My love… Thank you for being a good person.”
“To know Judith is to know resilience. Judith has the brightest smile and gives the warmest hugs. I celebrate her for the awareness she has created and the love she has given to people who look up to her.”
She does not look like what she has gone through. Perhaps that is the point. Grit does not always look like struggle. Sometimes it looks like Judith: 31, laughing, creating, advocating, and refusing to let sickle cell write her ending, especially on a day like World Sickle Cell Day when the world pauses to see warriors.
Judith is open to collaborations. Reach her on Instagram and X @sicklemotivator or email ojonugwajudith@gmail.com.
