The Nation Newspaper

Tag: humanity

  • ‘We’ll continue to serve humanity’

    ‘We’ll continue to serve humanity’

    The 404-B1 District Governor, Lions Club International, Mrs Idowu Omolola Anobili has said that service to humanity would continue to remain the Club’s priority.

    She stated this during the integrated measles immunisation campaign organised by the Club  at School III Playing Ground, Sango Ota, Ogun State.

    The aim of the immunisation, she said, was to prevent childhood deaths caused by diseases such as measles that affect children from age nine months to five years.

    She said members of Lions Club are playing a key role in the worldwide fight against measles and rubella vaccine preventable diseases that threaten the lives of millions of children in the world’s poorest regions.

    Anobili said: “Children are the future of a family; therefore, they need proper caring right from their tender age. One of the ways to care for them is immunising them from age of nine months to five years against the deadly diseases.

    “Lions were drawn into the fight because measles remains one of the leading causes of death among children despite the availability of a safe and inexpensive vaccine. Rubella can have serious effects on expectant mothers and cause fatal death or congenital birth defects known as congenital rubella syndrome. The spread of the two diseases can be prevented at the same time through combined administration of measles and rubella vaccines.”

    Continuing, she said: “The Lions took over the fight in 2010 when they joined the Measles and Rubella Initiative, a global partnership formed in 2001 by the American Red Cross, the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Foundation (UNF). Lions Clubs International Foundation and Lions clubs around the world have thrown their support behind the effort to stamp out the diseases.”

    The District Governor said Lions-led activities include supplementary support to campaigns on children’s vaccination, advocating for increased support for immunisation systems during World Immunisation Week and providing hands on social mobilisation during measles vaccination campaigns to increase awareness and ensure that all children are vaccinated.

    Lions are putting their organisational and educational skills to work to mobilise communities in making a difference.

    “Vaccines can’t save lives if children don’t receive them,” she added.

    She urged the members not to relent in rendering humanitarian services. This, she said, would never make the shadow of the Club go less. Adding that God through whom they serve humanity would continue to bless and uplift every member.

    The mothers present at the event praised the Lions Club International for partnering with the government to immunise children against the deadly diseases.

    Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mrs Akeem Adejoke thanked the club for the initiative and for making it a free exercise.

     

  • Humanity is plagued by injustice

    Humanity is plagued by injustice

    This Synod is very special not only because it is coming immediately after the March and April general elections but also because of its theme “Go Forward” which I consider very fitting.

    At this critical time of our nationhood, particularly in our dear Rivers State, no theme would have been more apt. Therefore as a people, we must “Go Forward” in justice, truth, faithfulness, fairness, and love. Anything short of these Godly virtues will not only be counterproductive but also antithetical to God’s commandment.

    The social dimension to our country’s political crisis was never more evident than during the last general elections when violence, deliberate falsehood and misinformation took a dangerous turn. But for your prayers, I am not too sure we would all be gathered here today.

    But more significantly, the whole world is troubled. Today, humanity is plagued by injustice, intimidation, oppression, impunity, economic challenges of very high dimensions, hopelessness, social strife, anarchy, avarice and unprecedented hatred of man by fellow man.

    Almost every part of the world, from the Gulf States, Latin America and Europe to Africa and Asia, mankind faces the most fearsome challenges ever. Every day, we wake up to gory tales of natural and manmade disasters everywhere.

    In Nigeria, we know how our people, particularly in the North East have fared under terrorists. This same tragedy orchestrated by Islamic terrorist groups is also playing out in the Arab world.

    Some weeks ago, the world woke up to the sad news of how over 150 Christian students in Garissa, a university town in Kenya were brutally murdered in their sleep by marauding Islamists who are members of the murderous Al-Shabab group in Somalia.

    We are also witnesses to the xenophobic madness in South Africa that has led to the brutal murder and destruction of properties of people of colour in the former apartheid enclave. As we speak, more black Africans are still being killed in South Africa.

    You are therefore gathering at a most auspicious time in the history of mankind. The world needs healing and as men of God and intercessors, I urge you to spare sometime at this Synod and pray for peace in the world.

    I need not overemphasize the fact that as human beings, we share a common humanity. It is therefore in our best interest, irrespective of race, colour or creed to build a free, safe and progressive world. I am confident that the peace and progress we seek as a nation will be accelerated with your intervention at this Synod.

    In conclusion, I wish to congratulate Opobo Archdeaconry for the rare opportunity of hosting the 1st Session of the 22nd Synod. May the blessings of this august gathering abide with us in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    •Excerpts of a speech delivered by Jaja, caretaker chairman of Opobo/Nkoro, at the 1st Session of the 22nd Synod of the Church of Nigeria, Niger Delta.  

  • Nigeria: The search for humanity

    SIR: Nigerians readily point to the country’s bad reputation as the result of a foreign conspiracy. It is only logical that this is true. The international media’s focus on Nigeria ranges from the barbaric to the unbelievable – surely no nation is capable of generating so much negative news with such consistency. After all, we are the biggest economy in Africa, and a few of our citizens are the continent’s most wealthy individuals on the Forbes list. We, however, concede to our share of problems – every nation has them.

    We believe our bad image comes from the fact that stories out of Nigeria are mostly told by foreigners. They tell it wrong. They lack the proper narrative. They surely are incapable of understanding what it means to be Nigerian. What it means to bask in the glory of being the most populous and industrious black nation on earth.  For this reason, it is important we tell our stories ourselves. Kill off the conspiracy. Perhaps only then would we reflect that we are a people in need of redemption.

    A recent survey on Twitter asked its users to describe their countries in one word. The pool of tweets from Nigeria reflected a few predominant words: Corruption, Fraud and Boko-Haram. It is impossible not to agree that these define the worst of our nation. They reflect the concern of all Nigerians – except the nation’s privileged elite. On the surface, they explain the reason why we have the highest number of school age children not enrolled in school; the despicable state of our infrastructure; an unacceptable infant mortality rate and high poverty indices. Security? I wouldn’t add that to the list. We have none.

    Sadly, these commonplace concerns do not tell the true story. Nigeria is gone. We have lost it. It is lost with our humanity. Ours is a nation without a soul. In this moment, we cannot blame our leaders. The bane is ours to bear. We have given up our collective humanity.

    As news of the atrocities committed in Baga trickles in, it becomes clear how many lives have needlessly been cut short. Satellite images show tales of absolute horror; entire villages wiped out and bodies litter the streets. The carnage barely made our local news, like many others before it. We continue to dispute the number of actual dead – the government in an attempt to save face revised the figures from about 2000 to “JUST a few hundred in the interim.” Where is the outrage? Where are the millions of angry people on the streets denouncing this massacre, and demanding answers from those charged to protect us? In any society, the entire country would have stood still for weeks, with overwhelming outpour of empathy towards the victims.

    But this is Nigeria. Nothing shocks our conscience. The best of us are content to wish away these horrid deaths. The average Nigerian justifies it – viewed through a narrow prism of religion or tribe, which somewhat make these deaths acceptable – and our government simply denies them. It has become a daily fact of life. We have grown fatigued to care about the lives of others, or express shock. We seem incapable of feeling empathy when the victims are neither family nor share our faith or tribe.

    Make no mistake. I too am Nigerian. I too share this trait of indifference. I too whisper a silent prayer, and hope not to be our country’s next victim. I too bow my head in shame. In this, I do not trade blame.

    Sadly, there will be no quick fixes. There can be none. Without doubt, making a difference is a lifelong commitment. It is a long walk. But I hold faith. That someday we shall shed our shackles of tribal and religious bias, and hold the creed that an attack on one is an attack on ALL. Our resilience as a people makes this possible. Our diversity gives me hope. Perhaps the next time I hear news of carnage; I will make time to join a protest march. Perhaps, the next time I feel the warmth of my bed; I will donate a blanket to an initiative in support of internally displaced persons. Perhaps, next time I hear of a soldier’s death in combat; I will spare a day to visit families of dead soldiers and share their grief. Whatever my actions; I MUST do more.

    • Ayobamidele Akande,

     ayobamidele.akande@gmail.com

  • Ali Mazrui: An academic who lived for humanity

    Ali Mazrui: An academic who lived for humanity

    Ali Mazrui, one of Africa’s most firebrand and revered scholars and critics, died during the week in his residence in New York, USA, aged 81.  Edozie Udeze takes a look at the man, who, through his many incisive and profound works, attacked African leaders whom he blamed for the economic and social retardation of the continent, among other issues he focused his attention on.

    The death, last week, at 81, of one of Africa’s most celebrated and outstanding scholars, critics, teachers, authors and political historians, has yet depleted the rank.  Professor Ali Mazrui, author of over 30 books, 2000 monographs and academic papers in different journals of the world, was a Kenyan citizen.  He was more or less a world citizen, someone who did not limit his gaze or attention to the continent of Africa, but used his wide and global connections to champion laudable programmes and ideals for the good of Blacks at home and in the Diaspora.

    Born in Mombasa, Kenya on February 24, 1933, he was educated at the famous Makerere University, Uganda where he graduated with a first class distinction in Political Science.  In 1960, he did his Master’s  degree at Manchester University in Great Britain and his Doctorate in Philosophy at the Oxford University (Nuffield College) in 1966.  Upon completion of his studies, he returned to Makerere University Kampala, Uganda, where he served as head of the Department of Political Science and later Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

    Exile

    In 1973, he was forced into exile by Field Marshal Idi Amin Dada, the defacto head of state of Uganda at that time.  Amin, who had followed Mazrui’s academic progression and his keen observation of the deeds of most East African leaders, said he did not find it comfortable with Mazrui so close to his regime.  From that moment on, Mazrui remained in exile until his demise a few days ago.

    He had lampooned African leaders as iron-fisted people whose roles could not help Africa to move forward.  Once he was driven out of Uganda, Mazrui headed to the University of Michigan, USA, as a Professor of Political Science where he was later appointed the Director of the Centre for Afro American and African Studies.  A restless and incisive scholar, with a big heart to create his own ideals for the sake of humanity, in 1989 he moved to the University of Binghamton, the state of New York as the Albert Schweitzer Professor of Humanities and the Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies.  This was a position he maintained till death.

    However, Mazrui’s research interests centred more on how to improve the lot of Africa and Africans.  In serving on the editorial boards of more than twenty international scholarly journals, he was offered the opportunity to breathe down on despotic leaders in Africa.  He never spared them for being the architects of the retrogression of the African peoples.  Even when he was widely sought after to help in fashioning new ideals by most of the heads of states and governments in Africa on political strategies and alternative thoughts, Mazrui never lost the chance to tell them the truth.

    Writings

    An Uganda-born Professor of History and International Human Rights, Amii Otunu, who teaches at the University of Connecticut, USA, described him as a great Pan-Africanist.  “Yes, Mazrui turned his life into a great Pan-Africanist in the mould of Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana.  He was a great African, one of the most prolific and controversial African writers.  Indeed, he was one of the most revered Pan-Africanist of the century.”  He was an innovative thinker, someone who put Africa on the world map of popular African ideals.

    Otunu further stated that he used biography and juxtaposition of ideals to explain Africa in a way no one else could have done it.  He did so especially with his 1986 Africa: A Triple Heritage documentary which was jointly produced by the BBC and the Public Broadcasting Service in Washington in association with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).  That film exposed the innate social and political and economic potential of Africa and then zeroed down on how some of these are being daily siphoned by the cabal to deprive the youths of their own golden chances.

    Professor Tunde Babawale of the University of Lagos who had close contacts with Mazrui described his death as a big loss to scholarship in Africa.  “He was indeed one of the foremost African intellectuals of this century.  His commitment to Africa’s autochthonous development is unequalled.  He was a powerful advocate of African cultures as a tool for independent development.  He also dealt extensively with the positive role Islam and Islamisation has played in African politics.  Mazrui has become one of the loudest voices in the need to democratise the continent as well as the need to have a more politically oriented leadership for the continent.”

    Mazrui, whose second wife, Pauline Uti, is a Nigerian, attracted the ire of most sensitive Nigerian leaders when he suggested that the Muslim North are meant to rule Nigeria in perpetuity.  A great advocate of Sharia and the rule of law, he held vehemently that Sharia should form part of a democratised society.  This was a stand for which he received hard and several knocks from many world and African leaders, yet Mazrui did not budge.

    While rejecting violence and terrorism in its entirety, he equally gave vent to some of the anti-imperialist and capitalist sentiments that play important roles in modern Islamic fundamentalism.  At the same time, he was a prominent critic of the current world order.  To him, the composition of the current capitalist tendency is deeply and unfortunately exploitative of Africa.  What the West does to Africa, he contended, was merely and could be conveniently described as global apartheid.  He was opposed to the Western interventions in whatever forms in the developing world.  His attention was particularly directed at the Iraq war which he insisted couldn’t have happened if the West did not meddle in  Iraqi internal affairs.

    He didn’t quite toe the line of the Israeli government in settling the political quagmire in the middle East.  To him, most of  Israeli policies were totally anti-Islam and therefore should be opposed and discountenanced for the sake of peace and progress in the region.  He, in fact, linked the treatment of the Palestinians by the Israeli government to the Apartheid situation in South Africa.  This was one sentiment that also earned him doses of attacks from most world leaders.

    Trial of Christopher Okigbo

    In one of his prose fictions dedicated to the late Nigerian poet, Christopher Okigbo, he lamented the sudden death of this great son of Africa.  A book that was supposed to be a fiction somewhat passed on other comments that invoked undue nostalgia and ill-feelings.  In his own comment on the death of Mazrui, Chijioke Uwasomba of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife, Osun State made specific reference to Mazrui’s demeaning of Okigbo, even though as a great man, Mazrui, himself lived a total life dedicated to scholarship.

    Uwasomba said: “In spite of his demeaning work, The Trial of Christopher Okigbo, he was a damn good African historian, politically-engaged intellectual, a resounding voice for the African and a source of inspiration to the upcoming African and Africanist scholars.  No doubt, he was in the class of Samir Amin, Walter Rodney, Aye Kwei Armah and other well-meaning scholars who through their intellectual exertions wrote back to imperialism and empire builders.”

    Mombasa

    Even though Mazrui left East Africa, his birth place in 1973 and never went back to live there, he has requested that his body be taken home to Mombasa, Kenya, for burial.  Known to have died of natural causes in his Vestal home, in New York city, Mazrui is said to have come from one of the most renowned and famous families in Fort Jesus, Mombasa, the city of his birth.  The family cemetery was where his parents and other late family members have been interred over the years.

    As at the moment, the Kenyan government is not opposed to this request.  Even Mazrui’s children are ever eager to take his body home for burial to end an era riddled with the nostalgic fears of exile.  To them, it is now time for their sage, a man who brought the family to global limelight to have his final rest where no more exiles or despotic and erratic leaders will haunt and hunt him.

     

  • ‘My innermost beauty got me the crown’

    Blessing Bassey Okosin was crowned Miss Humanity Nigeria 2014 in Benin last February  and will represent the country at the Miss Humanity International world’s final to be held in Bridgetown, Barbados today, August 24th. She shares her expectations and life on the runway with Morakinyo Abodunrin 

    MISS Humanity Nigeria is not yet a popular pageant like Miss Nigeria or Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, how do you feel about this?

    Yes, Miss Humanity is new in Nigeria and I’m the first to win the coveted crown. I have never felt and won’t feel inferior (because it is not as popular as others you mentioned).Beauty queens are born not made. Miss Humanity is known in over 30 countries in the world. I feel great for being the first to be crowned Miss Humanity in Nigeria; it’s also an ultimate and prestigious title.

    What does it entail to be Miss Humanity?

    Being Miss Humanity, one has to be intelligent with inner beauty, God fearing, beautiful and a humanitarian at heart; all these aforementioned qualities, by God’s grace, I exhibited during the competition.

    There is this belief that you have to compromise before wining beauty pageant; what was your experience?

    Compromise? No experience about that, I won on merit because a lot of beautiful girls contested with me, but my innermost beauty got me the crown.

    Has winning Miss Humanity opened doors for other things to you?

    Undoubtedly, Miss Humanity has exposed me to plaguing vices in the society but it has given me the boldness to attempt proffering solutions; and has also given me an opportunity to meet new people.

    What is inner most beauty, because you mentioned it earlier?

    We are all aware that true beauty must be found from within us. It does not matter how physically beautiful, fit ,smart ,clever, strong or flawlessly and painfully perfect you are, you will never feel true harmony within your body if you strive to achieve these things for approval, attention, admiration and competition.

    You are a graduate of Marine and Environmental Biology. Will being Miss Humanity debar you from doing something related to what you studied?

    Being a beauty queen can’t stop my academic activities. I will say beauty without purpose is vain.

    So, what other things do you do aside being a beauty queen?

    I run a fashion house (offizle’s dress code) and also I’m a safety practitioner.

    How long is your reign as Miss Humanity and what are you doing as your pet project?

    My humanitarian advocacy is child’s rights – promoting the right of young girls to equal education.

    What have you been doing to promote your humanitarian advocacy?

    In my attempt to promote my humanitarian advocacy, I have collaborated with numerous organisations such as Help the Child Foundation, as well as sought advice from my First Lady (Mrs. Obioma Liyel-Imoke of Cross River State) Foundation, which is Mother Against Child Abandonment. I conduct symposia in institutions, especially female institutions, to educate them on the need for formal education and its benefits. In the process, I discourage premarital sex which may lead to early marriage, abortion, child abandonment, health-related and social problems like VVF, STDs, which by extension have attendant problems on the society.

    In that case, what’s your take on the abducted school girls?

    Sincerely, I won’t want to say a word about those girls.

    What is your most prized possession?

    My sash is my most prized possession?

    What is a sash to a lay man?

    A sash is a colour ribbon worn round the body draping from right shoulder to waist (after being crowned as a beauty queen).

    What other interesting thing would you love to share with our readers?

    You will never fail until you quit. Everyone should aim higher and remain focussed, because to move ahead, you need to believe in yourself and have conviction in your beliefs and confidence to execute them. Not forgetting, success is a welcome gift for the inhibited mind.

    Will you love to contest for Miss Nigeria or MBGN in the future?

    No, Miss Humanity is my ultimate crown and I will be representing Nigeria in the world finals in Bridgetown on August 27th.

    What are your chances?

    Greatness is my choice and winning is my watch word.

    What are you most looking forward to when you get to Barbados?

    I am looking forward to meeting the good people of Barbados. I also intend to experience their culture and tradition; experience the beautiful white beaches of Barbados, and most of all meet and interact with other delegates.

    If you win Miss Humanity International 2014, how would you use the title?

    If I win this title, I will be absolutely over the moon. I cannot even put into words how much it would mean to me. I feel like all the little seeds I have planted in my life are growing in the right direction, pointing towards my future what I want to do and the person I want to be. Promoting everything is what I have to achieve in life, allowing opportunities to be a voice to be heard, accelerate the  work I do and allow opportunities to be a voice for those who cannot be heard and allow opportunities for further humanitarian work. I love educating others and speaking openly about areas in need of societal improvement, it would be a dream come true to be a positive role model for young women. I wish to expand my humanitarian efforts in many areas as possible. I will use my title to form strong relationships with other countries and businesses that are based internationally. I will create educational programmes in schools and promote going-green campaign to save our environment.

  • Preaching the gospel through water for humanity

    Preaching the gospel through water for humanity

    The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Lagos Province 25 has taken  the gospel to the communities providing the much needed social infrastructure for the less privileged. SEUN AKIOYE reports

    It was a short ceremony but it was enough to change a whole community. Scores of residents of Surulere community in Ahmadiya, Ijaiye Ojokoro Local Council Development Area (LCDA) danced and sang as the members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Throne of Grace parish arrived to commission the newly built water project for the community, donated by the church.

    Access to potable water has been a major concern for the members of Surulere community; to get water to drink and for other domestic use, children and adults would have to cross the busy Lagos-Abeokuta expressway to the community on the other side. This is no mean feat as the venture is both dangerous and strenuous; and it has not been without causalities as many of the residents have suffered horrible vehicle accidents with some losing their lives.

    That was when the RCCG came in and dug a borehole for the whole community. The Assistant Pastor in-charge of Lagos Province 25, Pastor Shola Obadofin who commissioned the project said the reason behind the gift was to fulfill the commission of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to continue to carry out the policy of the RCCG. He said one of the cardinal teachings of Christianity is to change lives and in every way the RCCG is determined to change lives starting with the communities around the church.

    He also promised that more of such projects will be sited in different locations before the end of the year. Also the Pastor in-charge of Area 1, Dotun Adelowokan said the church is just following the policy of the RCCG to impact communities around it.

    He said: “Jesus commanded us to let our light shine before men. It has therefore become imperative to show love, that is why RCCG as a whole adopted the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Jesus Fare, street light etc and it is being supervised in the province by the Pastor In-charge, Pastor Debo Akande and Pastor Shola Obadofin, the Assistant pastor In-charge. This is to enable us touch the communities around us. ”

    Adelowokan said the church also organizes “Jesus Fare” where church members donate goods and foodstuff and members of the public can buy for cheap.  “For instance, a pan of rice which is normally sold for N150 will be sold for N20 or N10, chicken that is worth of N1,500 will be sold for N200 or less.  This is done two times in a year and we have been doing it for the last five years now,” he said.

    Members of the community showered encomium on the church for the provision of the borehole saying such gesture would save the community the trouble it has been confronted with over water.”We can only thank God for this water.  We never thought that such could come our way, because getting water has been a major problem of our community. Last week, one of our children was hit by a driver driving against traffic, but we thank God that he didn’t die. So this is good and it will be mentioned anywhere, any day,” one of the community leaders said.

  • Serve God, humanity, cleric tells Fayose

    The General Overseer of Rapture Assurance Ministry (RAM) Lagos, Pastor Daniel Ikpe, has urged Ekiti State governor-elect, Ayodele Fayose, to remember his vows to God and serve humanity in his second-coming.

    He reminded him that God played His part in bringing him back to power against all odds.

    Ikpe recalled how he met Fayose in 2006 at the peak of the impeachment plot through a domestic aide attending the church.

    He claimed that God told him then that Fayose would be impeached but restored if he retraced his steps.

    “When the impeachment issue was on, this man introduced Fayose to me and we were invited to Ado Ekiti. I and five other pastors in the ministry went to see him.

    “After seven days of prayers, God told me he would be impeached but that He, God, will bring him back to power,” he recalled.

    He stated that many doubted the prophesied impeachment because several other men of God were making pronouncements to the contrary.

    Ikpe called on political leaders to dissect prophecies by men of God through discernment, saying many of such prophecies are fuelled by greed.

  • Bigger threat to humanity

    AS we watch man threaten its very existence with its inhumanity to itself, our focus is very dangerously taken off a bigger peril. While we plant bombs and launch arsenals in a bid to win unwarranted wars, a silent war against the human race is being declared by an even bigger threat to humanity.

    An ongoing epidemic of the Ebola virus is spreading throughout West Africa. The world’s deadliest Ebola epidemic is currently ravaging many communities in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, among others. So far, the World Health Organization has reported a total of 888 Ebola cases, including 539 deaths since February this year. In a statement, the organization expressed how dire the situation has become by labeling it a ‘precarious’ one which had surged at an unprecedented rate. Figures released by WHO in April indicate that there have been 157 suspected cases, including 101 deaths. Essentially, what we are witnessing is the slippery slope that has the potential of leading to the most severe outbreak of Ebola ever recorded in recorded history, both in the number of cases and fatalities.

    With news that a man in Lagos just died from the virus, the impact of Ebola has just become all too real to Nigerians.

    The man was a Liberian who had been quarantined when he arrived in Lagos on Sunday, July 20 with symptoms of the Ebola virus. His death is the first recorded case of one of the world’s deadliest diseases ever in Nigeria.

    In Liberia, there have already been 21 cases, including 10 fatalities, of which five have been confirmed as Ebola. Mali has seen nine suspected cases with tests showing that two of them did not have the virus. Also, one death has been recorded in Ghana since the outbreak started. Various organizations, including the US Center for Disease Control, European Commission and ECOWAS, have been donating funds and have mobilized personnel to help counter the outbreak.

    Heads of West African governments have met under WHO auspices and have agreed on a coordinated regional strategy. However, much more is needed in terms of effort, cooperation and funds and much more is required from every single person living in the West African region, in terms of awareness.

    Ebola was first discovered in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). The virus is named after the Ebola River where one of the first recorded outbreaks occurred. Bats are believed to be largely responsible for the Ebola virus. Studies have shown that the virus was originally transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission, with fruit bats of the ‘Pteropodidae’ family considered to be the natural host. The largest-ever outbreak was in 2000-01 in Uganda, with 425 cases, about half of whom died, according to WHO estimates. From the time the virus was identified in humans, pharmaceutical researchers have been unable to develop an effective drug or vaccine to combat the disease.

    The treat of Ebola cannot be underestimated by any of us or by the governments within the region of West Africa. It is a ruthless killer; one of the world’s deadliest viruses, killing up to 90 percent of those infected. Much like so many other incurable and harsh diseases before it, the public seems to be somewhat carefree about learning the facts of it at a time when it can be controlled. Granted, at this very point, the Ebola virus is a huge threat to all of humanity but, at this time, it is also a threat that can be brought under control because the epidemic is still in the early stages.

    We must protect ourselves from Ebola. And we can do so by first knowing the facts about the virus and doing everything possible to prevent its spread. We must empower ourselves with knowledge of the symptoms to look for and our government must immediately start a nation-wide awareness scheme.

    The disease itself is contracted through contact with infected blood or through the exchange of body fluids from an infected person or animal. Early symptoms of the disease include, fever, headache, chills, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, sore throat, backache, and joint pains. Later symptoms include bleeding from the eyes, ears and nose, bleeding from the mouth and rectum, eye swelling, swelling of the genitals and rashes all over the body that often contain blood. It could progress to coma, shock and eventually death.

    Presently, there is no vaccine or specific treatment for the Ebola virus but anyone infected must be admitted into hospital as soon as possible if they are to have any chance of survival.

    The view of Ebola from Nigeria is extremely disturbing. The news that the virus has reached Ghana, where a single US citizen was reported to have been infected, is one that Nigerians and the government needs to take very seriously.

    Presently, there has only been that single case reported in Ghana, but that one case is all the warning we need! The question now is; exactly how prepared is Nigeria to prevent and combat this scourge, in the event it needs to? Is the Federal Government equipped enough to forestall or limit the Ebola plague if indeed it needed to do so? The fact that the Federal Government is currently inundated with a profound level of insecurity in the nation, primarily by murdering, blood thirsty, evil and crazy insurgents; does it have the wherewithal to preempt such a potential plague? Proactively, other countries across West Africa have already begun bracing themselves against the spread of the epidemic, with countries like Senegal closing the border it shares with Guinea. Liberia and Guinea are now currently doing all they can to try and control the virus from spreading further.

    While Nigeria has not reported a case of Ebola, the Federal Government through the Minister of Health, Oyebuchi Chukwu, recently admitted that there is a real threat to Nigeria judging by the rate at which the virus has been moving.

    The Minister said, despite the threat, preemptive measures, such as the production of information leaflets, have been taken by the Federal Government. If so, that measure is just not adequate enough in preventing the entry of the deadly virus into the nation’s borders. It is outrageous to think that the mere sharing of leaflets is adequate enough to fight an uncompromising killer like Ebola.

    The problem of our porous borders must be addressed, not only to combat security but monitor the influx of disease as well. A ferocious awareness and sensitization campaign, giving the public information on the risk factors and protective measures of Ebola, through mainstream media, social media, in hospitals, schools, markets, industries and government offices must be launched with immediate effect.

    The awareness campaign has got to be educative and shocking, particularly in pointing out that the virus is highly infectious and has no known cure or vaccine. Furthermore, the government should ensure that health workers and practitioners have all the information they need in addition to providing them with extra protective gear such as gloves.

    While we ponder on the sub-regional scourge of the Ebola virus, its fatal effects, the current threat to Nigeria and the ,realization that there is no known cure for the disease, halting the spread of the virus must involve every Nigerian.

    Everyone should be alert, involved and be on the lookout for any signs of the disease. Everyone should do their bit by learning more about Ebola, protecting themselves, ensuring that their environments are cleanly maintained and also improving on personal hygiene, like washing hands often.

    We must all maintain methods and practices of disinfection, cleanliness, observation of contacts, rodent control and precaution in any interaction that requires the exchange of bodily fluids.

    Infection can occur through eating fruits that have been contaminated with by bats with the virus. As a result, it is vital to wash every fruit before eating. Likewise, the creative manner in which some Nigerians devour bush-meat has to be carried out with utmost caution, because if we have learnt anything from these kinds of diseases, it is that their natural reservoir is usually wild animals, especially wild monkeys and wild rodents.

    For now there has been only one reported case of Ebola in Nigeria; one hopes it stays that way. One also hopes the spread of the virus in other West African countries can be brought to a complete halt. As individuals, we each have a responsibility and duty of care in disease control. Let us invest our time into learning about the Ebola virus, let us each make an effort to stop its spread.

    So, while man-kind faces the threat to its very existence through the self-inflicted bombs, missiles and wars it imposes on the human race, it would be worth our while to unite and battle the bigger threat currently to humanity… the threat of the Ebola disease.

  • Government without humanity

    Government without humanity

    ‘If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity’ — John F. Kennedy: In his address at American University on June 10, 1963.

    Is there any humanity left in the running of public affairs in this country? Could it be that respects for human life and right to peaceful existence have taken flight under the President Goodluck Jonathan-led (mal) administration? These two questions agitated my mind early morning of Wednesday when my ten-year-old niece called me from London with her mum’s phone and in a troubled tone, demanded to know whether Mariam, my four-year-old daughter, was safe. Her reason for asking the question: She just watched on foreign media that girls in Nigeria were wantonly abducted by Boko Haram insurgents and she felt we all were no longer safe in this country. I tried to convince her that I lived in Lagos which was hundreds of kilometres away from the scenes of this savagery. But all fell on deaf ears. When it became clear to her that I was not ready or planning to leave the country for any perceived safe country, she pleaded with me to at least relocate Mariam and her brother and mum abroad. I refused her entreaties and her mum took the phone from her and reiterated her daughter’s fears.

    Well, I quite appreciate the apprehension of my niece and her mum but the truth is that yours sincerely never contemplated relocation and would not relocate Mariam or any other member of my family abroad, but would continue to pray for the return of absolute peace in the country. The only thing is that if the current government is proving incompetent to handle the ongoing criminality, then, it should rather resign; otherwise, Nigerians should show unwaged resolve to reject it by voting it out of power in 2015.

    What I went through that day is what many other Nigerians with friends/relatives abroad suffer when the barbarity going on in the country is being beamed and reported to the global world by the international media. The problem especially with the new dimension where girls were being abducted as if there were no government in place is very disturbing. In over twenty days, the country has been in sombre mood over the uncertain fate of the over 250 abducted girls in Borno state by Boko Haram criminals. Yet, the government has not come up with clues over the whereabouts or state of wellbeing of the girls, leaving their distraught parents, and millions of concerned citizens, including yours sincerely, across the country in a quandary amid ravaging angst. Again, does this administration have any empathy?

    This question becomes necessary in view of federal government’s carefree attitude despite the sad mood of the nation as exemplified by its hosting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The capital of the nation is now under lock and key for three days on the orders of President Jonathan despite the justifiable ongoing inexorable rage of women across the country over the abduction of innocent girls in Chibok. After his azonto dance in Kano and Ibadan, the president is now relishing on his wasteful WEF hosting.

    This government has shown unbridled contempt for mothers in the country and this has not properly situated those at the helm of affairs at that level as responsible parents with the desired empathic feelings. From Maiduguri, Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan and other major towns and cities were published and aired, pictures of flustered mothers/women staying in the sun, rain and sometime cold weather with placards protesting government’s lackadaisical handling of the madness of Chibok. Yet, government is so unconcerned that it still went ahead to host WEF in the FCT, and paralysing the federal capital for what could be rightly described as a jamboree that mocks the pains of struggling mothers. What idea or policy framework is WEF going to come up with that has not been crafted before for successive governments in the country? Can’t the summit be shifted to a better period when the girls would have been found and the foul mood of the nation diffused? What is so inevitable in this summit that makes the government feel it can undermine the emotions of the women folk and other men of conscience in the land by forcefully hosting it?

    In case President Jonathan has forgotten his history so soon, he needs to be reminded that women’s power of protest had led to the crumbling of even powerful traditional institutions in this country. One example will suffice: In 1949, Madam Funmilayo Ransome Kuti (1900-1978), a women’s rights activist and one of the most prominent leaders of her generation led other women of the Egba clan in their campaign against arbitrary taxation and presented documents alleging abuse of authority by the Alake, who had been granted the right to collect taxes by his colonial suzerain, the government of the United Kingdom. This led to the forced abdication of the Alake’s throne by Oba Ademola II. The great woman alongside her women comrades also oversaw the successful abolition of separate tax rates for women. In 1947, the West African Pilot described her in its editorial as the “Lioness of Lisabi” for her steadfast leadership focus given to the women’s liberation struggle against political oppression and economic suppression. It was during this period that she made her famous statement to wit: “Alake, for a long time, you have used your penis as a mark of authority that you are our husband. Today we shall reverse the order and use our vagina to play the role of husband.” Yours sincerely hopes that the president would not allow Nigerian women to be forced to make such weighty statement against his administration with his tardy handling the case of the abducted Chibok girls.

    The problems persist because of the mystification of everything Boko Haram even from the stupefaction of Sambisa Forest of evil in the East Mountains of Borno State where the criminals live and; the fact that the military sent on this operation are largely demoralised and humiliated; while their topmost hierarchy amass vainglorious ill-gotten wealth and live in eye-popping opulence.

    Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in his most recently published article titled: ‘Nigeria bleeds and it needs all of us,’ succinctly pointed out the lack of capacity of this administration to quell the insurrection: ‘Some now say parts of Nigeria are ungovernable. I disagree. The issue is not that parts of the nation are ungovernable. The real problem is that the current administration seems incapable of governing these and other areas. No parts of the nation are ungovernable…Given the obvious danger before us, may this government regain sobriety and a sense of purpose equal to the moment and the challenge we face.’ Will this government be able to come up with the desired clear-headedness and courage to rise up to the occasion as admonished by Tinubu?

    The answer will unfurl in days ahead as the America may likely come with the much-needed assistance to rescue this government that is bereft of humanity. These innocent girls must not die or be sold into slavery as threatened by Boko Haram, but be returned safely to their agonising parents – and thereby put the nerves of the country’s bewildered citizenry at rest. For now, this column hopes that the ongoing women insurrection will not lead to something more historic. It is not too late for Mr President and his lieutenants to do the needful – now!

  • Child marriage is crime against humanity

    SIR: Oliver Gold Smith said, ‘Law grinds the poor and rich men rule the law’. That is the case in Nigeria. Education is progressing to a level at which it becomes a game exclusive for the rich and robbers. As if evil is pleasant, as if the people pray for pain and poverty, a greater burden and evil is being introduced, to drain and dry the value of the poor.

    Child marriage, basically for underage girls, is a baseless issue which overtly opines that the essence of the existence of the female folk is to be used and overused or misused by the male folk at will.

    It is irritating that despite hard facts about the evils of child marriage, such as hard evidences of medical implication, many of the people’s representatives prefer to allow child abuse, female oppression, female abuse, in term of child or early marriage.

    There are several cases of Vesico Virginal Fistula (VVF) in Nigeria.

    Nigeria is said to record the highest cases of VVF in the world. The minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina revealed that Nigeria has the highest cases of VVF in the world with an ‘estimated’ 400, 000 to 800,000 cases of which 20,000 cases added annually.

    Why then, should some people fail to consider the well being of the young girl and risk their health by making them liable to becoming victims of VVF? No good reasons for this other than selfishness, Wickedness and heartlessness. Even in slavery, this was extremely unpleasant, infact, not practiced, and only in slavery can people be treated against their comfort, according to the owner’s wish. Children are not commodities, they are not disposable valueless-valuables, but assets worth protecting no matter their sex.

    There are claims that the law makers did not legalise child marriage in their recent resolution; that something similar to child marriage has been in the constitution; that the people should be grateful to the law makers for creating awareness and that many of the critics should not speak as if it is a new thing in the constitution. These claims seem correct- the law makers only refused to delete that law. But, must we retain evil because we did not initiate it? Is it compulsory that only those who make a law or initiate something can alter it? Must we continue everything that was done in the past?

    Concerning error, is it not because we are involved, is it not because it is in us, is it not because we agree with it and because we love to practice it, that make us to conclude that error should remain?

    Child Marriage affects mostly the female (and the poverty stricken frustrated parents). So it is still an aspect of the many evils of ‘a blind patriarchy system’ which still sees female as a property just for man comfort.

    Child Marriage is a crime to humanity. If we discuss the issue according to custom or culture of some people and conclude that it must be allowed, why did we not allow human sacrifice even though it used to be part of the custom of some people?

    Child marriage is a crime to childhood, womanhood and humanity. It is not as if the marriable or the mature are finished or scarce, it is not as if the underage will not attain the proper age so what is the essence of child marriage?

    •  Kuye Samuel O.

    University of Lagos