TheNewsGuru

Tag: Humanity

  • Where is our humanity? – By Francis Ewherido

    Where is our humanity? – By Francis Ewherido

    I have been somber for much of the week. I had a bumpy week. Beyond my personal issues, a news item I saw on Monday made me really sad. A headline in GWG, an online news platform, sent my heart racing: “First-Class UI Graduate Beaten to Death for Allegedly Stealing Bread.” I asked myself questions. Why will a graduate, not to talk of a first class graduate steal bread? Is it another case of envy?  A butcher, Usman Buda, was killed in Sokoto State last month by a mob in the guise of blasphemy. It was later alleged by those who are privy that his death was instigated by those who shared the same market with him out of envy. With a sunk heart, I raced through the story. The initial story was that Opuofoni Ebimotimi Freeborn, 32, a University of Ibadan first class graduate of business administration, was killed for stealing bread. My initial reaction was why anybody should be killed for stealing bread. Stealing is wrong, but killing someone for stealing bread is killing a fly with a sledge hammer. I do not want to make excuses, but there is hunger and suffering in the land. In such cases, being right is good, but being compassionate is better.

    The removal of fuel subsidy and the unified exchange rate regime have led to inflation and exacerbated an already bad economic situation. Let me quickly add that I support both policies. The old policies were not sustainable. They were riddled with fraud and a huge drain on our dwindling resources. No one had the guts to take the bull by the horns. They were not just a bulls, but bulls that a red cloth was waved at. Like cancers they spread to other parts of the body polity. Had the cancers been removed when they were still localised, the impact would not have been so devastating.

    Now we are all feeling it. Rather than income growing some of us have had our income shrinking. As I was reading, I saw a story that the networth of Mike Adenuga, the owner of Glo, has reduced by over $2b. Aliko Dangote was temporarily displaced as the richest man in Africa, before he regained the spot due to a surge in his networth. As an insurance broker, for instance, my motor insurance and fire insurance portfolios have shrunk. Some clients now opt for motor (third party) insurance, to take care of third party liabilities for death, bodily injuries and property damage only, while their vehicles they invested millions to buy are without insurance protection. It does not matter to them that should the vehicle be stolen, burnt or accidentally damaged, some have no resources to repair or replace them.

    Virtually everyone is feeling the negative impact of the economy. That is not to say I am comparing the impact of the economy on small me with someone who still earns the miserable minimum wage of N30,000. That will be cruel and insensitive. A friend asked me how the very low income earners survive. I told her there is no way I can know. Those who wear the shoe are in a better position to tell her where it pinches, but it is depressing to even imagine it.

    It is in this light that I saw the killing of Opuofoni Ebimotimi Freeborn. So many things have been going on in my mind. One, UI became a university college in 1948 and a full-fledged university in 1962. It is a first generation university with pedigree. I am not disrespecting the newer universities, but UI has a longer history of excellence. Coming from a comparatively educationally disadvantaged state, Bayelsa, why is Freeborn not employed? It might not apply in his case, but our recruitment system sometimes puts merit aside and it is not good for a society that wants to get to its destination. Many Nigerians in diaspora are excelling today because they operate in societies where merit counts.

    Two, this idea of taking laws into our hands has led to the premature death of many Nigerians. It is unacceptable and should have no place in our society. You cut a young man’s life short because he stole bread? After he was caught, some people were willing to pay for the bread he stole, but the mob chose to lynch him. Can the killers bring him back to life? I advised two weeks ago that people should refrain from taking people’s lives unjustly because we do not have the powers to create life. That is God’s exclusive preserve. So, do not take it.

    Three, the incidence of jungle justice in Nigeria is rising because many Nigerians have lost fate in the police. I slept behind the police counter once even though I was the complainant. They knew what they were doing was wrong, that was why they did not have the courage to put me in the cell. Even though it was a church matter for which I became the scapegoat, the investigating police officer (IPO) still wanted to collect bribe before releasing me. When my parish priest refused to play ball, my release was delayed. Later when the injustice became very clear, the Divisional Crime Officer verbally apologized to me and my parish. When we requested him to put it in writing, he refused. The police needs to clean up its act. Only good deeds can solve the trust deficit, not publicity, propaganda or “the police is your friend” slogan.

    Four, now to the family and friends of the deceased, my sincere condolences. For a poor family, according to the report I read, his death is below the belt. But excuse me even if I sound insensitive. “According to sources, he had been stealing bread from the bakery. He had successfully stolen loaves of bread that night but returned on another round when he was caught red-handed and beaten to death.” Apparently, he was not eating the stolen bread alone.  If it is true, where they not seeing him with bread, especially knowing he was jobless and without income. Who else was he sharing the bread with? How come no one cautioned him? Is it possible other family members or friends were partaking in eating from the stolen bread?

    Five, if the story is true, Freeborn had a major character flaw. Please spare me the excuse of the hardship in Nigeria. He could have applied and worked in the bakery as a casual worker and received legitimate bread. My in-law who owns a bakery regularly gives his staff bread. Construction work is going on in Yenogoa and other parts of Bayelsa State. Working temporarily at a building site even with a first class degree is more honourable than stealing bread.

    Finally, the report said that some people have been arrested in respect of Freeborn’s killing. If after investigation, they are found culpable, the law should be applied to the letter. No one has the right to take other people’s lives. Flawed as the police is, it remains their responsibility to arrest offenders and many Nigerians have found justice via the Nigerian Police.

  • Floods anywhere is a challenge to humanity everywhere – By Owei Lakemfa

    Floods anywhere is a challenge to humanity everywhere – By Owei Lakemfa

    The Confluence Hotel in Ganaja, Lokoja used to be my favourite spot whenever I visited Kogi State. Its main attraction to me was sitting down to watch the Rivers Niger and Benue warmly embrace in an eternal wedlock as their waters flow down south to the Niger Delta before emptying themselves into the Atlantic Ocean.

    Sitting there, I never forget that one of the tributaries of these great rivers, with their confluence in Ganaja, is the Forcados River on whose banks I was born.

    I used to dash from Ganaja to eateries in the city centre; it took only a few minutes by taxi. Then some days ago, the usually friendly skies opened up, drowning several parts of the city. The Ganaja-Lokoja Road became a place only amphibious vehicles dare ply. The roads I used to go through had become extensions of the River Niger. Now, to move on the road required a boat. On Tuesday, October 4, 2022 a boat ferrying people along the road, capsized and two people drowned. Four others drowned in the adjoining area.

    All these sounded incredible until more videos emerged showing that in the Korton Karfe area leading to Lokoja, the flood that had submerged the town was so much that it was difficult for motorists to differentiate the road from the River Niger. But Kogi State was in a better state than Yobe State. There, as at October 2, seventy-five fatalities had been recorded and over 31,000 households affected across 255 communities.

    Although the floods have swept through 27 of the country’s 36 states, affecting half a million people with over 300 killed, including 20 last week alone, it does not appear government has woken up to the disaster. Rather than a sense of national disaster which requires emergency steps, including mass evacuation of affected or endangered communities, normal activities are going on, with the political rally industry booming.

    However, Nigeria is in a far better shape than Pakistan where 75,000 kilometres or about a tenth of the country has been under water. As at September 30, some 767,488 houses had been destroyed and over 1,277,000 damaged, especially in the Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, KP, provinces. Tragically, over 1,700 persons have been killed, and at least 12,800 injured. Over 4,000 children are on the casualty list.

    In a vastly agricultural state, over 3.5 million acres of croplands were destroyed and at least 1,162,000 livestock perished. This means that the livelihood of many households have been wiped out, with food insecurity staring many in the face. This is in a country that is politically unstable and already under severe strains of hyper-inflation which had seen food prices in unprecedented rise. In the last fortnight, the number of Pakistanis directly affected by the floods was 33 million, including some 800,000 Afghan refugees. As the flood waters recede, they leave behind millions of hungry and destitute people at the mercy of water- borne diseases, and a world diverted by unnecessary wars, especially that in Ukraine which is claiming huge amounts of humanitarian aid. Response to the appeal funds by international agencies may also be affected by the aid to war- torn areas.

    However, beyond nature, the greatest challenge to humanity is the politics of floods. Hurricane Ian tore through Western Cuba on September 25, destroying electricity facilities, flattening homes, devastating farms and making the economic situation accentuated by six decades of economic blockade and COVID-19 worse. Michael Doering, the Latin America Liaison at World Help who visited Cuba, said entire villages along with crops had been wiped out. In many cases, the Cubans have to start from ground zero.

    Just as is the case with the US which is also partly devastated by Hurricane Ian, people across the world want to come to the aid of the Cuban citizenry, but the US would not, even for a second, waive the punishing sanctions which make it difficult to send aid, including food, medicines and financial contributions, to the Cuban people.

    Also, some donors are afraid that the US would sanction them if they send aid. This dilemma is put in better perspective by Manolo De Los Santos, the Co-Executive Director of the New York City-based People’s Forum: “The centre is definitely taking donations, but they have a major challenge, which is, the bank they use, for example, in Cuba, is sanctioned by the U.S. government. We’re scratching our heads trying to figure out how to get resources directly to them.”

    Although the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control says it could allow disaster relief materials to be sent to Cuba, such donors would require licenses. In the face of this, it is unlikely that charity organisations and aid agencies would want to be seen assisting a country the US regards as an enemy and a danger to its security. When the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the world, sending many to early graves, Asia’s richest man, Jack Ma, decided in March, 2020, to send massive aid to virtually all countries, including the US. In the Latin American and Caribbean Region, 24 countries, including Cuba, were picked to receive the aid. Specifically, the Jack Ma Foundation decided to send to Cuba 100,000 facemasks, 10 COVID-19 diagnostic kits, ventilators and gloves. But Cuba never got the aid as the Avianca Airlines, the cargo company distributing the aid, declined to deliver to Cuba because it is owned by a US-based company subject to the American trade embargo on Cuba.

    Since refusing aid to a people in need is morally indefensible, the Trump administration had claimed that the Cuban government will benefit from such sanction relief. About two months after this, Venezuela which was also in dire need as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, dispersed a Special Envoy, Alex Saab, to buy food and medicines from Iran. On June 13, 2020, he made a stopover in the West African country of Cape Verde to refuel. There, the US coerced the government to seize the ambassador for allegedly violating American sanctions against trade with Iran.

    When the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Court ruled that Ambassador Saab’s detention is illegal, the extradition process requested by the American government be terminated immediately and that Cape Verde should pay him $200,000 compensation, America pressured poor Cape Verde to disobey the court. It rather, extradited Ambassador Saab to the US where he still sits in jail.

    Floods anywhere is a challenge to humanity everywhere; therefore, the US should without any exception, allow humanitarian assistance to be given to all humans who need them irrespective of ideology, religion, creed or race.  Basically, all human beings are the same with equal rights, and should be treated as such.

  • Why our civilisation lack humanity – Pope Francis

    Why our civilisation lack humanity – Pope Francis

    Pope Francis has said civilisation is ageing and lacking humanity because the richness of parenthood is being lost.

    Pope Francis made this known while addressing scores of Catholic faithful at a general audience in the Vatican audience hall on Wednesday.

    Pope Francis criticised couples who choose not to have children at the meeting.

    “Too many couples don’t have children because they don’t want any, or they have only one because they don’t want any more.

    “But they have two dogs, two cats. Dogs and cats take the place of children.

    “Yes, I understand, it makes you laugh, but that is the reality,’’ the leader of the Catholic Church continued.

    “Civilisation is ageing and lacking humanity because the richness of parenthood is being lost,’’ he stressed.

    According to the pope, “those who live in the world and marry must think of having children.

    “Having children naturally or through adoption is a risk, but not having them is even riskier, he said.

  • At 84, Obasanjo dedicates ‘rest of his life to global peace, service to humanity’

    At 84, Obasanjo dedicates ‘rest of his life to global peace, service to humanity’

    Former President Olusegun Obasanko, said on Saturday that he would live the rest of his life by serving humanity.
    Obasanjo spoke in Abeokuta at the 20th anniversary of the Communion Faith Assembly/dedication of its new cathedral.
    The Pastor in charge at the church is Bishop Tunde Akin-Akinsanya, the chairman of the Ogun chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
    Obasanjo, who spoke during the dedication service, said he arrived from Sudan on Friday night and would be traveling back to the United States (US) on Sunday.
    “I am committed to global peace and service to humanity and I am here to play my part in peace building.
    According to him, the best way to determine a successful life is by measuring the positive impacts that life has made on other lives.
    He explained that he had chosen a worthy path and he would not deviate from it.
    The former president said he was happy to identify with the CAN and its leadership in Ogun because they have continued to act as peace agent in the state
    He commended Pastor Akin-Akinsanya for his commitment to expanding “God’s kingdom on earth” and enhancing peaceful co-existence in the state.
    Salisu Shuaibu, the Chief of Staff to the state governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, also acknowledged the key role CAN is playing in sustaining peace in the state.
    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that the ex-president clocked 84 earlier this month.
  • Covid at Xmas: Humanity as Pawn, By Michael West

    Covid at Xmas: Humanity as Pawn, By Michael West

    By Michael West

    Whoever is updated with information, politics, economy and contraption of Covid-19 will know that the foretold and orchestrated second wave of the virus will be prevalent at Christmas. I described it as ‘orchestrated’ because it is contained in the strategy document of Rockefella Foundation which states that in the last two months of the year 2020, a resurgence of Covid-19 would be hyped using the media to spread fear and panic to generate grounds for another round of global lockdown. Consequently, the scheme will justify mandatory vaccination proposal which is the ultimate goal of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – a sinister motive that is driven towards human population reduction. Bill Gates has never been shy about his anti-humanist agenda.

     

    In case you’re not aware of the premeditated plan on the second wave of Covid-19, the document was reportedly scooped and was broadcast to the public via soundCloud.com by a Ghanaian researcher in August 2020. A check on the website this week indicated that the broadcast has been removed. Likewise, the said document had been stepped down from Rockefeller’s website. Fortunately, not a few Africans, and, indeed, citizens of the world had the privilege of listening to the audio broadcast.

     

    Therefore, media hype and medical antics employed in highlighting the inevitability of vaccines as if it is the lasting solution to the pandemic, are well funded. They have shown their hands too early for the discerning and informed people to fall for their tricks. I’m aware that these unfolding scenarios, too, have been foretold in the Bible. Expectedly, many world leaders will key into the end time deception. Behold, the tribulation dispensation is here already. So, beware!

     

    Death cases attributed to the new Covid wave are not surprising. The narrative is the same like the first wave. Over 90 percent of deaths recorded for Covid in the first wave were reported to have underlying health conditions which ordinarily could have possibly killed the victims. Most of the diseases are terminal and severe. Every day, people die. With or without Covid, people will continue to die. The conspiracy in the medical world will not allow some truths to unravel about Covid. A US former pharmaceutical company marketer, Brandy Vaughan, who risked her life by exposing the ‘genocidal’ compositions of some vaccines was killed last week. She founded a Vaccine Safety website where she informed the public of the hidden harms in the millions of vaccines rolled out at intervals. For instance, some injections by Remdesivir with trade mark “Jubi-R” (a single dose intravenous infusion) and Hetero – Covifor among several others were boldly scripted on their packs: “Not for distribution in US, Canada or EU.” Apparently it is meant for Africa.

     

    I marvel at the lies and hypocrisy of some proponents of Covid vaccines especially in America. While the likes of Bill Gates and Anthony Fauci would not allow themselves or their family members to be inoculated, some of those who volunteered to receive the vaccines were merely mocking the gullible public. For instance, the Mayor of London came out to be inoculated, it was discovered later that he merely fooled the public. No vaccination took place as the cap was still on the needle while he was pretending to be vaccinated. Even the United States’ President-elect Joe Biden’s vaccination was suspect. It is very likely that, if he was truly vaccinated, it could be a placebo or a different vaccine stuff wrapped in the touted Pfizer Covid vaccine label. He’s part of the pro-mandatory vaccination clique.

     

    African leaders have no spine to reject whatever rubbish imposed on them by the West. Many of them are already queuing for the delivery of vaccines. It is even worse if they are induced with money. They could mortgage their own souls and that of their people for money. If Covid vaccines are brought to Nigeria, the exercise should start with our political leaders. I will suggest that they should not be vaccinated in Abuja because it is possible to package dummy vaccines for them thereby deceiving the unwary public into taking the haphazardly prepared luciferous DNA-induced doses of vaccines. Let all political office holders go to their localities to be vaccinated like they normally do during elections. They should be vaccinated in public with the same vaccines the people will receive. Any resistance to this arrangement should automatically lead to outright rejection of the vaccines. This is partly because some of the people volunteering to receive the vaccines are collapsing and getting into unconsciousness being adverse reactions to the vaccines; even deaths were rumoured to have been recorded as a result.

     

    The speedy production of vaccines for Covid-19 is suspect. Why vaccines? Why not oral drugs or injections? How can we rationalise the fact that in 40 years of research there’s no vaccine for HIV? With several decades of research into cancer, yet, no vaccine. Surprisingly in less than a year, nine months precisely, pharmaceutical companies have swiftly developed vaccines for Covid. Wow! I insist, there’s more to the pandemic than meet the eye.

     

    Does it mean that I doubt the existence and severity of the virus? Not at all. I know the virus is with us and it is deadly if not quickly treated. It is infectious and life threatening but I know it is preventable, treatable and curable. There’s no cause for alarm about Covid if proper precautions and prescribed protocols are adhered to. I want to commend the government for sparing us the agony of another lockdown. The people may defy the lockdown order if hunger wants to kill them at home.

     

    I want to suggest that government should rather educate, sensitise and encourage the citizenry on the best and feasible ways to avoid, nip and treat the disease if anybody is infected. Thousands of people have been treated and cured at various isolation centres without vaccines in Nigeria. Therefore, we should embolden the infected and asymptomatic carriers to combat the disease with approved measures, drugs and herbs including organic supplements at their disposal.

     

    Incidentally, today is Christmas. We need to celebrate and thank God for His blessing, mercy and protection throughout the turbulent 2020. Government should not allow Nigerians to be used as vivisections or pawns in the laboratories of anti-humanity agenda sponsors. They don’t mean well for the common man.

     

    Families should get together and enjoy the warmth of one another. Reach out to the needy in your area and share the little available for you with others. Play safe and stay healthy. It is time to worship, praise and celebrate Christ at Christmas.

    Merry Christmas, friends!

     

    From the Mailbox

     

    Re: Wrong Choice, A ‘Killer’ Pitfall

     

    Mr. West, in every 10 marriages in our society today, less that three are rightly paired. I see two factors as being responsible for this: City life syndrome or environmental effluence. Those who grew up in the cities have been affected by this mentality. Secondly, ostentatious lifestyle syndrome: This is a delicate factor affecting many young married people in our society. I think what we need is a gradual return of value system where we accept ourselves the way we are and not based on money or material wealth we possess. – Chief E. Diadenaru, Abuja.

     

    Quote:

    “If Covid vaccines are brought to Nigeria, the exercise should start with our political leaders. I will suggest that they should not be vaccinated in Abuja because it is possible to package dummy vaccines for them thereby deceiving the unwary public into taking the haphazardly prepared luciferous DNA-induced doses of vaccines.”

     

  • Men who gave humanity a humane face, By Owei Lakemfa

    By Owei Lakemfa.

    Chris Otokito, 37, is not known in Nigeria. He is not a famous actor, singer, boxer, businessman or millionaire. However, he has been honoured at least thrice within three weeks by the British establishment on the two prevailing universal issues; the Coronavirus pandemic and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests. He and four of his friends have also had good mentions in world media and received universal commendation for teaching humanity how to be compassionate.

    Otokito, a bank manager in London and martial arts and fitness trainer, is the son of Anthony. H. Otokito, a Nigerian who 44 years ago, left his Otuokpoti, Ogbia home in Bayelsa State in search of the proverbial golden fleece in Britain, and naturalised.

    While Britons during the Coronavirus pandemic outrage were under lockdowns and people feared for their lives, Otokiti and his wife, Eleanor, were going through the streets of Croydon and the train station providing and distributing food to the hungry especially the elderly, and assisting the needy. The city on June 30, honoured Chris for his “incredible” work during the pandemic. Croydon City Mayor Humayun Kabir told Otokito the city was honouring him: “ …for your hard work, compassion, commitment and sheer dedication to go above and beyond throughout this crisis.”

    However, it was the protests that drew universal attention to him and his heroic friends. As the BLM protests gathered strength in Britain, the far-right White Supremacists decided to hold a counter rally on June 13. The latter wanted a violent confrontation under the guise of defending ‘national monuments’ It promised to be a day of bloody fights and the police mobilised for the inevitable clashes.

    Otokito and four of his friends, Lee Russel, Jamaine Facey, Pierre Noah, and Patrick Hutchinson, who are into mixed martial arts, decided that they could not be absent from the rally. They decided to use their skills to protect the BLM demonstrators against the expected far-right attacks.

    Otokito said the five were a band of brothers: “We’re all from similar backgrounds, we’re all from the same community and the streets of London. Same South London background, same morals, same principles. We’re all fathers, we all have our families as well – we’re trying to set an example.”

    Facey in taking to his Facebook page to mobilise for the protests, wrote: “You couldn’t be bothered to be there when you were asked to help the future generations. So do not comment now that the outcome doesn’t fit your narrative.’

    Hundreds of racist protesters led by the Britain First far-right group gathered at Parliament Square. They did not waste time carrying the fight not just to the anti-racism protesters, but also the police. The battles started from the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square spilling into the streets close to Whitehall towards Chelsea.

    As the battles became fierce, the BLM protesters, caught a bloodied man, dragged and threw him down the steps near the Royal Festival Hall. Then they advanced for further attacks. Otokito and his four friends realised that the man, later identified as 55-year old delivery driver, Bryn Male, was in mortal danger. Instinctively, they formed a protective shield round him as the protesters hit them in an attempt to get at their target.

    Otokito said having read the situation correctly he and his friends knew that they stood little chance protecting Mr. Male against the surging crowd; it was at that point Hutchinson took the decisive step of scooping the half conscious Mr. Male from the ground. He said of that decisive moment: ” they (his four friends)created a barrier around him, and I was the last one to come in. I scooped him up into a fireman’s carry and marched him out with the guys around me, protecting me and shielding me and protecting this guy from getting any further punishment. I had no other thoughts in my mind apart from getting to safety…I could actually feel strikes and hits as I was carrying him, so these guys were probably taking some of that themselves on their person.”

    Mr Noah, a teacher said: ‘If we didn’t (help) I wouldn’t like to think what would have happened to the poor guy. We wanted to save his life and save the Black Lives Matter campaign as well.”

    Mr. Male realising that he owed his life to the five men said through his 21-year old son, Harry Male that he would want to meet and thank his rescuers. The British establishment is already doing that. Most major news channels featured and celebrated men who did not hesitate to come to the rescue of an adversary thereby teaching that all lives matter including that of a man who does not share such cherished truth.

    The five were invited to the House of Lords where they were received by Michael Hastings, Baron Hastings of Scarisbrick. The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan sent the men a commendation letter dated June 19, 2020 in which he wrote: “ I want to thank you for the incredible humanity you showed during a day marred by violence, desecration and racism displayed by right-wing extremists. I know your intentions were not to be seen as heroes but your actions demonstrated the very best of us and were the antithesis of the hate and division the right-wing extremists were determined to sow.”

    Famous American Civil Rights leader, Reverend Al Sharpton called Hutchinson on television to say: ‘I saw what you did, and it warmed my heart. I had just come from a demonstration the day before, and had done several speeches and what I had tried to articulate you did in one gesture…You demonstrated that, without opening your mouth, without any drama or without any press notices, and I want you to know, you put the movement in a keener perspective than anything those of us that’s been out there could say or do… You’ve done a tremendous thing, because we’re not marching out of hate, we’re launching out of love for everybody, and if we become infected by the rancour and the hatred that we’re fighting, then we become the replacements, not the reformation or the answer.”

    As they soaked in well-deserved praise and commendation across the globe, Otokito said what he and his friends did sent: “ a different narrative to how the image of a Black man is usually painted…we went down to make a change and make a difference. And it’s only going to happen if everyone stands up together and does that.”

    I wonder why Nigerians are not holding up Otokito as an example of who we are; why Africans are not celebrating these five men for giving humanity a humane face and pointing to all races, the path to universal emancipation.

     

     

  • Covid-19: Humanity and faith on Trial – Hope Eghagha

    Covid-19: Humanity and faith on Trial – Hope Eghagha

    By Hope Eghagha

    COVID-19 is a test on our humanity, our faith and the limits of science. It shows how limited our knowledge of the cosmos is, how weapons of war are vitiated by a little challenge posed by one of the vagaries of nature. Nature? Mutilated nature or pristine nature? Of course, there are conspiracy theories about Covid-19, details of which I don’t intend to inflict on the reader.

    Ever since I sat in a screening room in University of Louisville Kentucky to watch a movie centred on the military establishment killing JFK, I have learnt how to dismiss conspiracy theories. Suffice it to say that the globe is at the mercy of a monster which if not promptly and methodically contained could wipe millions from earth’s surface. While it raged in China, it was a Chinese disease. And the rest of the world did not prepare for it. It was theirs; not ours. And the man who occupies the highest office in the world’s most powerful nation in the world virtually gloated over China’s adversity! Humanity was missing. As at press time, America has overtaken China in rates of infection. The scare is if it descends on Africa, what would the end be?

    Often adversity tests our humanity. It tests humanity on how humane or human humanity is or can be in extreme conditions. Codes of cultural and social engagements are tried when our humanity is stretched by circumstances beyond our control. And I remember Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It is a frightening novel of children caught in an island without adults that anyone who is interested in human behaviour should read. Man often ‘conquers’ (read destroys) himself, disregards the niceties of civilization in extreme situations. And he offers no apologies. In a queer manner I also remember The Plague by Albert Camus.

    Our generation had not really witnessed a global test or trial of faith until COVID-19. Until Covid-19 I never really gave a thought to the Spanish influenza which was taught to us very early in church as we studied the return of the Saviour. At the religious level, that influenza was a marker of the end of times, when Jesus Christ took on the reins of ruler ship over the world and Satan threw the world in the First World War. So, it was a spiritual thing. I did not feel. The casualties were just statistics to me. Eighteen million people dying killed by a single influenza was and is incomprehensible till now! Now, if Covid-19 plans to annihilate half the victims of the Spanish influenza, then we have only just started a downhill slide that will alter humanity forever.

    It is true that vicariously and individually there have been experiences, life altering experiences that have affected our way of thinking, our assumptions and beliefs. Some of these experiences are local. Yet the lessons are universal. But that which is felt, experienced is different from that which we see in a movie. Or which we read in books or watch on the news, especially cable news. We will never forget the planes that flew directly into the twin towers in New York. But the African too will never forget the trauma of slavery and how four hundred years of slavery altered the mentality and personality of the Black man. Yet, except we visit monuments or engage physical relics of the encounter slavery is a distant blur in our memory.

    The current pandemic is real. In this period, virtues are on trial. Ironically, faith is on trial. Science is on trial too. So, there is a meeting point, an intersection of sorts that make us pause to reflect on the nature of things. That is, to ponder on how the fate of man is determined and how his faith is challenged in the current scheme of things. Has man forgotten God and His rules?

    Is God now an old man whose ways are no longer fashionable? Covid-19 therefore is a call to faith in a Creator, owner of the universe whose grand plan is to bring man back to Him. Covid-19 therefore is like a call to return to the ways of the Creator whose presence is scantily acknowledged in the developed world. God is a private experience. Not for the State to acknowledge. Secularity rules the day, even in the big established orthodox Christian groups.

    Here in my homeland, ignorance is bliss. Not my portion. Social distancing is European. How can we social-distance in Mushin, Igbudu Market, Oshodi, Mile 12 market? Well-nigh impossible they assert. So we must search for an indigenous solution. Hunger threatens the mass of the people who live by the day. Hunger, they say, will kill us more than the virus. So, let us into the market place and consume our local brews and coronavirus will return to sender. These are practical issues confronted daily. Not theories. Not the beautiful pictures we see on TV.

    Group meetings are banned. Collective worship in physical form is a threat to humans. So, we resort to virtual meetings, made possible by the very achievements of science. Therefore, science promotes our capacity to express and disseminate faith in a time of adversity. Yet the science we have promoted in place of faith which has produced tonnes of arms and ammunitions that can destroy the world several times over was not prepared for the menace of a tiny virus that started in China. Science has been humbled. Governments have been humbled. It is not the weapons of war that will guarantee safety. It is investment in our humanity, our faith and the meeting point between science and religion.

    To bring the issues home, faith is stronger here in Africa perhaps due to the absence of the wonders of science. And poor leadership too! So, necessarily, the poor people of my continent rely on the supernatural, on God, blind faith that though the plague could come to the world (though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death), there is a shield of protection over the poor relations of the developed world whose faith is largely in science. Not in God. God is not mentioned in public. If the indices supplied by the advanced world are anything to go by, the African continent is doomed to a repeat of the Spanish influenza. But the abundance of faith and the tiny efforts of our determined doctors, the world might just be proved wrong. God is God. Science is science. In the final analysis God will triumph over science. My blind faith in action?

    Eghagha can be reached on 0802 322 0393 or heghagha@yahoo.com

  • Covid-19: A New Humanity, A New World – Owei Lakemfa

    By Owei Lakemfa

    Imagine you are in a cruise ship with 681 others and then discover that some of them have contacted a highly infectious virus that has neither cure nor vaccine.

    Even, if there were a cure, it was not within reach as you are afloat in the ocean and no country wanted you to berth. So your ship becomes not just a prison but a virus-infected laboratory with no escape except to leap into the roaring waves. Therefore, you are condemned to wait and live in fear of the highly contagious virus, spreading. It is a nightmare, but not one you can wake up from as it is a reality running into weeks.

    That was the nerve wracking experience passengers on board the British cruise ship MS Braemar underwent. The passengers were 668 from the United Kingdom and the rest from Italy, Colombia, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Japan. On board, five had Coronavirus Covid-19 while 28 other passengers and 27 crewmembers had been isolated after experiencing Coronavirus-like symptoms.

    The ship was denied docking by the Dominican Republic, Barbados and the Bahamas. The mighty United States was not offering any assistance, but the small island of Cuba which is also experiencing the virus beckoned on the ship to dock at its port of Mariel as an act of solidarity.

    The relieved passengers, throwing kisses at a country they were not scheduled to visit, were transported in a caravan of buses and ambulances to a Havana airport terminal and flown to the UK.

    British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab joined in the appreciation: “We are very grateful to the Cuban government for swiftly enabling this operation…”

    The Cuban action to the passengers and their loved ones, is an unforgettable act of bravery which saved lives. That in international diplomacy is called soft power diplomacy. But knowing the Cubans, that was not their intention. Rather, it is in their character and tradition to come to the assistance of people in need even if it would cost them lives. That was what they did in the anti-cholera fight in Haiti, and in 2014 during the Ebola scourge that threatened to wipe out countries like Liberia and Sierra Leone.

    We Africans can also not forget that in the 1980s when Apartheid held South Africa and Namibia in a strangulating grip and marched across Angola to seize that country, it was only Cuba that came to our aid, pouring in some 55,000 troops, losing thousands of their youths in battle, but effectively crushing the Apartheid military leaving the racists with no option but to dismantle their evil system and grant Namibia and South Africa independence. In the last 56 years, Cuba has sent over 400,000 health professionals to work free in 164 countries.

    Italy is now the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic with deaths in the past one week, averaging four hundred. Almost all countries in the world are protecting just themselves and conserving their finances, health workers and medical supplies for their citizens. In contrast, tiny Cuba is mobilizing and sending thousands of its medical professionals to countries ravaged by Covid-19. Just this Saturday, it sent 52 doctors and nurses to Italy, a developed European country, to help battle the virus. Italy’s Permanent Representative to the European Union (EU) Maurizio Massari, had complained that his country’s cry to EU member countries for medical help to combat coronavirus had gone unanswered.

    The Cuban deployment of its “armies of white robes” to Italy, was the sixth international medical brigade it was sending out to fight Covid-19. It had sent them to Grenada, Nicaragua, Suriname, Venezuela and Jamaica.

    When the 140 Cuban medical professionals arrived Kingston, the Jamaican Health Minister Christopher Tufton greeted them thus: “In a time of crisis, the Cuban government, the Cuban people … have risen to the occasion, they have heard our appeal and they have responded.”

    The Cubans are dogged fighters who no matter how bad the situation becomes in those countries, will not turn their backs. For them, no matter the battle field; military, medical or humanitarian, neither retreat nor surrender is an option.

    Watching a video of the Cubans arrival to the applause of grateful Italians, was quite emotive for me. It was a definitive statement that all human beings are one irrespective of ideology and colour, and even level of development. The acts of the Cubans in rescuing the passengers of the British ship, MS Braemar and sending doctors to Italy, is also a lesson that a financially poor, underdeveloped country can come to the rescue of rich and developed countries.

    It is instructive that Cuba, an island that is just 110,860 square kilometres with a population of 11.3 million, relying over the decades on raw sugar and tobacco export, has been under American economic, commercial and financial embargo since October 19, 1960. Yet, is has an almost 100 percent literacy and one of the most developed health systems in the world. In fact, one of the main medicines China used successfully to treat Covid-19 patients is Interferon Alpha 2b, a drug Cuba produced in 1981 to fight the dengue virus.

    For many years, Cuba stood alone and isolated in the Organisation of American States. But through commitment, willpower, consistency and development paradigm, it won over most of the states to its side.

    Cuba teaches us in Africa, particularly Nigeria, that there is no alternative to being self-reliant; to building basic institutions and investing in the people. It teaches the Nigerian elites who appropriate the country’s resources to themselves and their Western masters, that there is no alternative to building local capacity. That if they had built the health system rather than think they can always go abroad for medical treatment, they would not be patients in the dilapidated hospitals now that the Coronavirus has shutout the outside world to all Nigerians irrespective of status.

    The Cuban example is no fluke. It is built on the foundations of its founding fathers like the poet, Jose Marti, 1853-1895, General Antonio Maceo ‘The BronzeTitan’1845-1896 and the later generations like Fidel and Raul Castro, Camilio Cienfuegos, Haydee Maria and Celia Sanchez who taught that humanity is one and that its resources must be deployed for common good, particularly in favour of the poor, the weak and marginalized.

    The Cuban philosophy is embedded in the thoughts of a man like Ernesto Che Guevera who taught that: “The life of a single human being is worth a million times more than all the property of the richest man on earth.” The Cubans are living Che’s advise that: “We must strive every day so that this love of living humanity is transformed into actual deeds, into acts that serve as examples, as a moving force.”

  • Photo: Buhari meets, applauds Bill Gates, Dangote for service to humanity in Nigeria

    Photo: Buhari meets, applauds Bill Gates, Dangote for service to humanity in Nigeria

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday applauded the contributions of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Aliko Dangote Foundation to humanitarian and developmental activities in Nigeria.

    Meeting with the duo at the sidelines of the 74th United Nations General Assembly in New York, the President said they have touched humanity in many positive ways, and congratulated them “for achieving what you had set out to do.”

    According to a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Chief Femi Adesina, the President added “Thanks for deriving pleasure in helping people. Congratulations to you for returning part of your wealth to the people in diverse ways. Whatever we save in areas in which you have intervened, we can deploy to other areas like building of infrastructure,”

    On agriculture, in which Alhaji Dangote makes huge investments, the President noted that farmers were very happy in Nigeria now, “as we have made fertilizer available, cut the price by half, and given many other incentives. They have no regret going back to the lands. The more we invest in agriculture, the better for us.”

    Mr Gates congratulated President Buhari “for assembling a cabinet that excites us,” saying he was pleased that one of the priorities of the administration was human capital development, of which health, nutrition and education are key components.

    Noting that Bill and Melinda Gates and Aliko Dangote Foundations keep track of Nigeria’s attainments on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as enunciated by the United Nations, he submitted that they were encouraged that there was improvement in reduction of child mortality.

    “Every local government area has better health/education situation today than in year 2000. We are delighted about that. Nigeria is our biggest commitment in Africa. It’s only in India we do more in the world,” Mr Gates said.

    On polio eradication, he said Nigeria reached a zero wild polio virus free milestone for three years in August, noting that the next six months were critical, so that the country could finally be declared polio free.

    Alhaji Dangote appreciated the Nigerian military for helping with vaccination in the theatres of war while fighting insurgency, thus adding to the advances in the country’s polio status.

  • Olakunrin gave her best to humanity – Tinubu

    The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has described late Mrs Olufunke Olakunrin, the daughter of Chairman of Pan Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, as someone who gave her best to the humanity and worthy of emulation.
    The former Governor of Lagos State said this at the commendation service and a night of tribute held in her honour at Harbour Point, Victoria Island, Lagos, urging Nigerians to emulate her virtues
    Olakunrin was killed by gunmen in a kidnap attempt, between Kajola and Ore along Ondo-Ore Road last week, when she was travelling to Lagos.
    Tinubu in his tribute said the attackers of the deceased were wrong thinking they killed Funke Olakunrin, adding that ‘her spirit continues to reside with us and make us better’.
    According to him, Olakunrin was closer to the ordinary people than the rich and the mighty, noting that she did her best to better lives of those who came her way.
    He said the deceased was full of compassion and quick to forgive those who crossed her path.
    “To know Funke is to know an exceptional human being. All who encountered Funke attest to her goodness, her nobleness, and decency. She cared for the poor more than she cared for the rich. She tended to be weak more than to be strong and mighty. She gave more than she took and laugh more than she cried.
    Her actions showed her motivated by her concerned her words to those who are of compassion or not. The person she came to be, will be an honour to her parents and the entire family.
    “This bright star was taken from us in the most terrible way. Her lost cut us deeply and make the world darker. Those who know Funke and the charity of her soul would know that Funke will advise us not to be sad and even forgive those who took her from us. She will tell us not to carry hatred in our hearts because hate destroys yet she would also want her assailants to be captured and delivered unto justice, not so much in vengeance but so that they will not repeat their crime and bring unto another family the sorrow we share here today.
    “The is the kind of person she was and we must share this ideal so that we may continue to give meaning to the life of this great woman. In the spirit of Funke, let those who love peace regardless of the religion or tribe or political affiliation pin hands so that what we can do all we can to put an end to such criminality in our society. So that our women and children may travel this nation free of fear.
    “Funke and I shared what I believed an exceptional friendship. We regularly exchanged ideas and advised, we could get on the phone with each other and speak for hours about everything from politics to family matters. I was enriched by her word of advice and encouragement. I shall miss our talks and care that animated from this human who I considered my sister.
    “I pray that the Almighty God will give the family and the father the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.”
    Speaking, Pastor Tunde Kolade said the late Olakunrin did not die in vain, noting that all must make their paths clean.
    “We should be prepared to meet our maker. Those of us who are still alive still have every opportunity to change in order to occupy the mansion our Lord has prepared for us.
    “It will not be healthy for us to suffer here and suffer after we quit this vicinity. We must strive to do what is good and godly because nobody knows when the trumpet will blow,” he said.
    Present at the event were Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel; Afenifere chieftain, Ayo Adebanjo; former Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria, Akin Osuntokun; Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode; APC chieftain, Pius Akinyelure; Hon. Jide Benson and others.