Opinion
By Bashorun J.K. Randle
PART II
IT all started off with a sketch on “Saturday Night Live” on NBC by Mist and Fogg (nobody knows whether it is only one actor or a double act.) It was meant to be light-hearted lampoon of a serious (Covid-19) matter which has been disguising itself under an adopted stage name – Corona Virus!! Nothing under the face of the earth has created so much fear and panic globally in the last one hundred years. Being the devil it is, it crept up on us stealthily killing everything in its path or sending its victims into isolation or quarantine. Then, suddenly it announced a change of name. Henceforth it would no longer be referred to as an epidemic (as if that was not sufficiently frightening) but by the fiercely awful cognomen – Pandemic. For the last six months, it has dominated the airwaves as well as the print media plus electronic/digital media and the social media where the frenzy has reached stratospheric and record-breaking decibels.
Mist and Fogg threw down the gauntlet and called the bluff of the dreaded virus. “We are going to stand our ground. Everybody is suffering from Corona Fatigue. It is a new disease that is killing everybody.
Even before the programme was over, President Donald Trump twitted: “It’s all scaremongering. It will soon blow over. It’s the Democrats who are behind it all. It’s all about the politics of the November Presidential elections.”
That was the spark for Resilience Television which has blacked out all references to the Corona Virus.
The bandwagon quickly rolled on with the likes of South African comedian Trevor Noah, the host of “The Daily Show”, an American satirical news programme on Comedy Central, insisting that the Corona virus has been aggressively pursuing an apartheid agenda.
Woody Allen quipped:
“The virus is a robber. That is why it wears a mask. Anyway, by which virus do you want to be robbed – mine or yours?”
As for Spike Lee, this is what he had to say. “With his new film, the peerless American filmmaker – self-isolating and reflective in New York – unsettles past and present conflicts.” He insists that we must deal with the urgent need to cleanse America from top to bottom.
Spike Lee used Woody Allen to make a point about “cancel culture” and has now apologized following backlash over his remarks.
During an interview that aired Friday on New York City’s 710 WOR’s “In the Morning” program, Lee used the example of Allen while talking about the “cancel culture.”
“I’d just like to say Woody Allen is a great, great filmmaker and this cancel thing is not just Woody,” said Lee, who was on the show to promote his new Netflix film “Da 5 Bloods.” “And I think when we look back on it we are going to see that — short of killing somebody — I don’t know that you can just erase somebody like they never existed.”
Lee referred to Allen as “a friend of mine” and “a fellow Knick fan” adding, “So I know he’s going through it right now.”
Allen has been deemed “cancelled” because his estranged daughter, Dylan Farrow, 34, has long alleged that he sexually assaulted her in 1992 when she was 7 years old.
Allen has consistently denied the allegation and was not charged. Investigators concluded at the time that Dylan Farrow had not been abused, according to The New York Times, which covered the custody proceedings after Allen filed for custody of his three children with Mia Farrow in 1992.
Lee’s comments were not received well, and the filmmaker took to Twitter to write, “I Deeply Apologize. My Words Were WRONG.”
Resilience Television has adopted “Amazing Grace” as its signature tune:
“Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.”
Professor (Dr.) Anthony Fauci, who is a trustworthy voice, often correcting U.S. President Donald Trump on the Coronavirus crisis and in a valiant attempt to abort the baby insisted on appearing on the fledging television station;
“Forget about emotion, fear or backlash. Let’s focus on the data and science,”
Fauci says. Based on the scientific evidence, he also doesn’t entertain an alternate theory—that someone found the coronavirus in the wild, brought it to a lab, and then it accidentally escaped.
Before Dr. Fauci had concluded his intervention, President Donald Trump could not resist firing off another twitter:
“We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself.” Seven weeks later, with an unemployment rate at 14.7%, and counting, with manufacturing output down a record 13.7% in April, and retail spending collapsing a record 16.4%, Trump likely has concluded that his only chance for re-election is if the economy—somehow—starts to improve. As more than 86,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19, the question of opening or not is also preoccupying governors of the 50 states; of the states, four are closed for the foreseeable future, while the other 46 are either open or in the process of reopening.
Then Dr. Sanjay Gupta Sanjay who is an American neurosurgeon, medical reporter, and writer gate-crashed. He serves as associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, and as associate professor of neurosurgery at the Emory University School of Medicine and Chief Medical Correspondent for CNN. He was born on 23rd October, 1969 at Novi, Michigan, United States of America.
“I can understand why some people are consumed with anger, grief and guilt. However, I plead for understanding and perseverance. We have sacrificed far too much. The contest is not between the face mask and face shield. The virus is armed and it is dangerous.”
William Osler
Next was Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, FRS FRCP was a Canadian physician and one of the four founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first residency program for specialty training of physicians, and he was the first to bring medical students out of the lecture hall for bedside clinical training.
He was born on 2 July 1849, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Canada. He was right:
“The person who takes medicine must recover twice, once from the disease and once from the medicine.”
He added a vignette from Thomas Edison
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
Thomas Alva Edison was born on 11th February 1847 in Milan, Ohio, United States of America. He was an American inventor and businessman who has been described as America’s greatest inventor. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures.
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.”
As for the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, he regularly pops up on Resilience TV to declare:
“The Corona virus is only a little flu.”
He has joined President Donald Trump in aggressively promoting hydroxchloroquine as the cure-all for every ailment from malaria to cancer, bone fracture, and Coronavirus.
With dazzling speed, experts have emerged from highly reputable institutions to deliver very sound professional opinion based on science on the virus that it ravaging the entire world:
(i) Professor Michael Osterholm
Professor Osterholm was born on the 10th March, 1953 at Waukon, Iowa, United States of America. A Regent Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, a professor in the Technological Leadership Institute, College of Science and Engineering, and an adjunct professor in the Medical School, all at the University of Minnesota. From June 2018 through May 2019, he served as a Science Envoy for Health Security on behalf of the US Department of State. He is also on the Board of Regents at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.
He is the author of the 2017 book, Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs, in which he not only details the most pressing infectious disease threats of our day but lays out a nine-point strategy on how to address them, with preventing a global flu pandemic at the top of the list.”
(ii) Professor John Ioannidis
Professor John Ioannidis was born on August 21, 1965. He is a Greek-American physician-scientist and writer who has made contributions to evidence-based medicine, epidemiology, and clinical research. Ioannidis studies scientific research itself, meta-research primarily in clinical medicine and the social sciences. Ioannidis is a Professor of Medicine, of Health Research and Policy and of Biomedical Data Science, at Stanford University School of Medicine and a Professor, by courtesy, of Statistics at Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences.
(iii) Professor Richard A. Joseph
Richard Joseph previously taught at Emory University, Dartmouth College, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Ibadan (Nigeria), and the University of Khartoum (Sudan). He has held research fellowships at Harvard University, Boston University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Institute of Development Studies (Sussex, UK), Chr. Michelsen Institute (Norway), and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (France).
Joseph has devoted his scholarly career to the study of politics and governance in Africa with a special focus on democratic transitions, state building and state collapse, and conflict resolution. He directed the African Governance Programme at the Carter Center (1988-1994) and coordinated elections missions in Zambia (1991), Ghana (1992), and peace initiatives in Liberia (1991-1994).
He has been a longtime member of the Council of Foreign Relations. Joseph is the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards including a Rhodes Scholarship, a Kent Fellowship, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2002-03, he held visiting fellowships at the U.S. Institute of Peace and the National Endowment for Democracy. He was a Fulbright Scholar in France and a Fulbright Professor in Nigeria.
Regardless, those who have become addicted to Resilience TV are unrepentant. They are adamant and have stoutly declared: “We have made up our mind. Don’t confuse us with the facts.”!!
Matters have taken a nasty turn with the discovery, through extensive surveys by Gallup; “New York Times”; “Washington Post” (owned by Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world) and CNN that it has become a class war (or war between the classes) – the elite versus the underclass. The elite are dismissive of anything that has to do with Resilience TV but the underclass especially the frontline consisting of nurses, para-medics, ambulance drivers and other first responders just adore it. According to them, it is the voice of the voiceless.
After a great deal of anguish and soul searching. Resilience TV went to town with what it described as a:
“Special (and for once daily)” devoted to the front page of “Daily Trust” newspaper of May 23, 2020.
Headline: “KANO GRAVEDIGGERS MIGHT BE DIGGING OWN GRAVES.”
“Grave diggers and cemetery attendants in Kano might be in great danger as community transmission of COVID-19 increases in the state. Daily Trust observed that since the spike in death due to a strange sickness hit the state last month, no conscious effort is being made by the state government to protect the people who receive dead bodies at the graveyards for burial despite their risk of contracting the diseases that might have been the cause of the deaths.
Though no formal proclamation has been made linking the deaths with COVID-19, there are speculations however that a sizeable number of them might not be unconnected with coronavirus. This therefore raises concerns that by relating constantly with corpses at the grave sites, these traditional cemetery attendants could easily get infected with the deadly virus as they carry out their voluntary service to the society without any form of protection.
These fears have been intensified by the secrecy surrounding the burial of those presumed to have been killed by the novel disease. Daily Trust gathered that since Kano State started counting deaths from coronavirus, the processes for the burial of the victims and even where they are being buried remain unknown to the public, which therefore raises fears that COVID-19 deaths might be among the ones being presented to traditional cemetery attendants for burial.
As at yesterday, 36 people were reportedly killed by the disease in Kano State, and residents alleged that there has been silence regarding the identities of the dead and whether they have been buried or not, describing the secrecy around the deaths as counterproductive to government’s efforts at curbing further spread of the disease among its populace. Alhaji Sheriff Hadi Kabir, the chairman of Fagge cemetery committee emphasized the need for cemetery attendants to be provided with protective kits.
He said since the cause of the many deaths is yet to be established, cemetery attendants across the metropolis should be given protective equipment and training on how to stay safe in their voluntary service in the face of the current pandemic. Danbaba Muhammed is one of the oldest cemetery attendants at Kofar Mazugal cemetery. He said for over forty years he has been working in the graveyard, he has never witnessed a period in which people die in droves as the state had experienced in the last months.
“Though the situation has stabilized we are still concerned about our safety and wellbeing. Our protection, we believe, is from Allah but there is need for the government to provide us with basic protective materials like common hand gloves, face masks and hand sanitisers because we deal directly with people who die from different causes.” The cemetery attendants also called on the state government to disinfect the cemeteries from time to time to protect the visitors and other burial teams from contracting any contagious diseases within the graveyards. The chairman of gravediggers Association, Kofar Mazugal cemetery chapter, Malam Awalu Mohammed had earlier lamented about the welfare of gravediggers and cemetery attendants, alleging neglect by the state government.
He said for over twenty years that he has been working in the graveyard, most of the grave diggers live on handouts from bereaved families or other visitors to the cemeteries. “We are appealing to the state government to come to our aid, especially within this period of massive deaths because we work from morning till evening. You must know that working like that will not allow you, if you are a businessman, to go to the market to fend for your family. “People are dying every day and it’s our duty to ensure that they are buried befittingly in accordance with Islamic injunctions. Though some of us have been receiving some stipends from their respective local government areas N5000 stipend is not sustainable, especially during this Ramadan period.” Our reporter gathered that even those on N5000 monthly allowances have not been receiving their stipends consistently, and the backlog are never paid.”
Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, writer, director and film producer. He is known for his creation and portrayal of several fictional satirical characters, including Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard and Admiral General Aladeen. Like his idol Peter Sellers, Baron Cohen adopts a variety of accents and guises for his characters. He interacts with unsuspecting subjects, who do not realise they have been set up for self-revealing ridicule. On these interactions, The Observer states, “his career has been built on winding people up, while keeping a deadpan face”.
Events took a dramatic turn when the immitable Baron Sacha the brain behind “Borat” took matters into his own hands. He graduated from Cambridge University.
Baron Cohen was educated at The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School, an independent school in Elstree, Hertfordshire, read History at Christ’s College, Cambridge and graduated in 1993 with upper-second-class honours. As an undergraduate, Baron Cohen wrote his thesis on the American civil rights movement. While a member of the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club, Baron Cohen performed in plays such as Fiddler on the Roof and Cyrano de Bergerac, as well as in Habonim Dror Jewish theatre.
At the 2012 British Comedy Awards, he received the Outstanding Achievement Award, accepting the award while reprising his Ali G character. In 2013, he received the BAFTA Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy.
In 2018, The Times named Baron Cohen among the 30 best living comedians, and in 2019 a panel on the television channel Gold included him in a list of the greatest ever British comedians.”
He set up a group of five hundred volunteers at Cambridge Universtiy who are victims of cumulative stress – all related to the Corona Virus. Henceforth, they would only watch Resilience TV where there would be no mention whatever of epidemic, pandemic or any other virus.
Oxford University provided a control group of a similar number of volunteers who would be fed daily with the press briefings by President Donald Trump (United States of America), Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Britain); President Emmanuel Macron (France); and the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo and their host of scientific/medical advisers – all of them (with the exception of Trump) delivering dire warnings about the Coronavirus. All this in addition to the CNN hourly “Breaking News” on the dreaded pandemic.
Even before the expiration of three months, the results were already rolling. Alas, the Oxford University group had been severely decimated by scary reports regarding shortages of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) (not Politics, Philosophy and Economics!!); testing equipment; isolation centres; ventilators and ICU’s (Intensive Care Units) as well as utter confusion over quarantine regulations and appalling death rates at Care Homes for old people. Even more devastating were the collapse of major companies – JC Penny; J.Crew; Hertz; Neiman Marcus; Art Van Furniture; Pier One; and the attendant job losses.
On the other hand, there was no single death among the Cambridge University volunteers!!
That is when Professor Anthony Fauci intervened and insisted that every participant must be alerted regarding the results. Also, in consonance with what he described as “Best Practice”, each volunteer must be given the option of exiting from the Oxford group to join the Cambridge Group – or vice versa.
In response to the stringent outcry and vehement protests from the scientific community that the result did not conform with “Best Global Practice”, Baron Cohen quickly assembled 500 volunteers from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America who were only allowed to watch Resilience TV. Strictly no mention of COVID-19 pandemic or any other virus.
Against them was a “Control Group” of 500 volunteers from Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America who were bombarded day and night with data, figures, projections computer modelling etc about the Corona Virus pandemic – even beyond saturation point.
Guest what? The casualties amongst the Harvard group was virtually a replica of what had happened to the Oxford University group.
By way of contrast, the Johns Hopkins group were thriving and having great fun at the expense of fear and anxiety. They had replicated the triumph of the Cambridge University group.
Even Professor Anthony Fauci was lost for words.
One of the best kept secrets of Resilience TV is the reason why the channel does not want to have anything to do with President Donald Trump. The mortal damage was done when 76-year-old actor Robert De Niro flew in all the way from Los Angeles, California to New York to lambast Trump:
“All this stuff with Trump and all his shenanigans and nonsense is what is setting the tone for what is going on. We all know it. It’s beyond a disgrace. He’s low-life. He’s going to ruin this country. He’s beyond a horrible person. I went on television the day after he was elected and I said, “I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.” But he’s worse than we ever thought he would be. He’s an idiot. He’s a fool. He’s a buffoon. He’s silly. He’s tacky. He’s dangerous. That stupid show “The Apprentice”,” people bought it. They buy into it ………They created a monster.”
Perhaps the best advice we can offer President Donald Trump are:
(i) “Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”
– Mark Twain
(ii) All well-governed States and wise princes have taken care not to reduce the nobility to despair, nor the people to discontent.”
– Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)
Resilience TV bluntly refused to carry the following front page report of “The Guardian” newspaper on June 3, 2020.
Headline: “DRAMA AS GANG FORCIBLY MOVES COVID-19 PATIENT FROM ASABA ISOLATION CENTRE”
“A mild drama ensured at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba, Delta State as a seven-man gang stormed the facility, beating security agents and forcibly moved one Nwachukwu Michael Mordi, who tested positive to COVID-19 on May 23, 2020.
The forced movement of Mordi, a 53-year Chief Nursing Officer and employee of the Central Hospital, Agbor, who was admitted into the Treatment Centre at FMC, created some apprehension in Asaba and its environs.
Consequently, the state Ministry of Health expressed displeasure at Mordi’s resistance, even after testing positive for coronavirus on May 23 and was admitted into the FMC Treatment Centre, Asaba on May 23, 2020.
It warned that the abductors constituted grave danger to their own health and that of persons and the communities they would come in contact with.
In a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the FMC, Ojebo Donald, management expressed concern that Mordi’s admission at FMC Isolation Centre, had witnessed aggression.
He disclosed that he (Mordi) had continuously threatened caregivers and also rejected medications, alerting members of the public about the public health danger of associating with the patient and those who have had contact with him.
A source at the hospital told The Guardian that the men who came in two cars, who claimed to be Mordi’s relatives, stormed the facility at about 6 pm against the consent of personnel on duty and took him away.
Meanwhile, Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu said the setting up of Operation Delta Hawk would not stop the state from participating in the proposed Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta (BRACED) Commission security outfit for South-South region.
He noted that the state security outfit would concentrate mainly on internal security in Delta State, while the regional outfit would tackle the region’s security issues, adding that the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration was committed to ensuring security of lives and property in the state.
Aniagwu added that the government would continue to assist security agencies operating in the state in order to ensure a safer state, as there would be effective intelligence sharing among all security agencies.
“On security, we have gone beyond the establishment of a regional security outfit to establish Operation Delta Hawk because there are regional security threats and domestic security threats.
We are committed to the setting up of the BRACED Commission’s regional security outfit and we are also empowering and equipping the security agencies, even when they are Federal agencies because they are protecting our people,” he added.
It also refused to carry the front page story of “ThisDay” newspaper on June 3, 2020.
Headline: “A TAKEAWAY NOT TO BE IGNORED”
– Kayode Komolafe
“The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report in its 2020 Human Development Perspectives declares that the (Corona Virus) pandemic was superimposed on unresolved tensions between people and technology; between people and the planet; and between the haves and the have-nots. These tensions were already shaping a new generation of inequalities – pertaining to enhanced capabilities, the new necessities of the 21st century, as defined in the 2019 Human Development Report. But the response to the crisis can shape how those tensions are addressed and whether inequalities in human development are reduced.”
Similarly, the channel chose to ignore the front-page report of the “Vanguard” newspaper of June 3, 2020.
Headline: “MANY NORTHERN VIPs ARE PRODUCTS OF ALMAJIRI SYSTEM” – Okorocha
Blasts northern governors for treating almajiri children with scorn
“Former governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, yesterday, flayed northern governors over rejection of almajiri system. According to him, VIPs in the north, at present, are products of the almajiri system.
Okorocha, who represents Imo West senatorial district in the Senate, spoke in an interview with BBC Hausa Service monitored in Kaduna. He said the northern governors had been unfair in their dealings with the almajirai, who they described as urchins.
Okorocha said: “These children (almajirai) need help, educate them and give them jobs. Who knows, one of them could be a president some day.
The governors and other rich individuals should help transform the almajiri system of Islamic education, instead of subjecting them to humiliation. Many of our prominent people now were once almajirai.’’
Okorocha said the system was not the problem but hunger and poverty, adding that almajiri children need love and care like other children in the society.
He said: “The system had its origin from the migration of Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. ‘’When he migrated from Mecca, some people followed him in search of knowledge and they were catered for. They were not left hungry, they were fed.’ Okorocha reiterated that the abandoned children needed care, while the system should be reformed by all.
He added: “Some of us who have excess that we don’t need, should channel such towards enhancing the living standard of such children. They are our children.” He said Okorocha Foundation had established schools in Kano, Yola, Zaria and Sokoto with the sole aim of providing education to the almajirai.
The northern governors had in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19 in Nigeria, expressed dismay over the almajiri system and had repatriated the children to their various states of origin for fear of the spread of the disease.
Rising from one of its meetings last month, the Northern Governors Forum, under the leadership of Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong, resolved to put an end to the almajiri system and have the children sent to their states of origin for proper parental care.
Echoing the decision of the governors, Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, said it was a subject of deep deliberations of the governors in the region for the past 12 months. “We’ve been looking for the ways and means to end this system because it has not worked for the children, it has not worked for Northern Nigeria and it has not worked for Nigeria. So, it has to end and this is the time,” he said.
He said his state had been expanding the capacities of schools in Kaduna with the hope of accommodating the subsequent integration of the children as the best alternative for them.”
However, what has gone rival on Resilience TV is the extract from the book:
“Escape From Dubai” – by French author, Herve’ Jaubert:
“Emirati women are tired of being married to their cousins, traded for camels, and being treated like chattel.”
Now women tune in to the Channel in droves.
A big hit on the Channel was 70-year-old former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State who on the front page of “The Punch” newspaper of May 30, 2020 declared: “We had good leaders in Nigeria but our good leaders were not allowed to do what they were supposed to do. WE NEED A NIGERIAN WHO IS SLIGHTLY INSANE TO LEAD US.
Then he reminisced about his experience as Deputy-Governor.
Question: “You were a deputy Governor and deputy governors are usually seen as spare tyres. Were you treated like one?”
Alao-Akala: “If there is anything worse than the spare tyre, I was treated worse.
You even take care of spare tyre because of emergency needs but this spare tyre was left deflated so I could not be used. As deputy governor, I was not treated well at all. I was just going to the office to read newspapers. I was not assigned roles. I just forced myself in; they didn’t allow me. When my boss was reinstated as governor after the impeachment saga, he removed me from the deputy governor’s office and put me outside the secretariat, very close to the present Ministry of Environment. My office was outside the secretariat. Secondly, he prevented me from attending the executive council meetings. Till that regime ended, I did not attend executive council meetings.
Viewers have been drooling over the superlative achievements of Ms Florence Nwando Onwusi Didigu who at the age of 73 bagged a doctorate degree from the prestigious Howard University, United States of America – reliving her experience of the Biafra War (1967 to 1970).
According to the front page of “The Tribune” newspaper of May 30, 2020, “She experienced the Civil War firsthand as a young lady of 23. She not only survived it, she lived with the memory, and today she has turned that experience to advantage and a fount of knowledge for others. Her doctoral dissertation is entitled:
“Igbo Collective Memory of The Nigeria-Biafra War: Reclaiming Forgotten Women’s Voices and Building Peace Through A Gendered Lens.” It is a reflection of the Igbo women survivors of the brutal war which maimed or entirely destroyed over three million lives.”
She dazzled viewers with her effervescent personality:
“The day the Nigeria-Biafra War ended, I, like everyone else was wallowing in anxiety and fear about what would happen to us as the vanquished. A very optimistic gentleman came over to me and asked: “Why are you so sad; can’t you see you have survived this terrible war?”
“I stood up, even though the Nigerian Airforce was on its last bombing raid, and leapt up in the air in mad glee, repeating to myself and others: “Yes, I have survived, I am a survivor!”
“This powerful survival instinct in me, which I call daring, and God’s help are what made me overcome all personal challenges during my doctoral programme and get to where I am today!”
The front page of “ThisDay” of May 30, 2020
“FIVE YEARS OF BLOOD, BLUBBING, AND CLANISHNESS” – Yemi Adebowale
“The entire Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State is still in tears; tears for the 74 people killed by bandits who attacked Garki, Dan Aduwa, Kuzari and Katuma communities in the area last Wednesday. Children have been turned to orphans and women turned to widows. Some tears may never dry. This brazen attack reflects the level of insecurity in Nigeria in the last five years. Daily, it degenerates.
Let’s flip to the popular Muna Garage camp for Internally Displaced Persons in Maiduguri. It was gutted by fire last Saturday, with 1,613 temporary shelters destroyed and two persons killed. This camp, home to thousands of IDPs, has been devastated by fire severally with hundreds of people killed. In the first quarter of this year alone, several IDP camps in Nganzai, Ngala, Mafa, and Monguno were destroyed by fire, with scores killed. These traumatised IDPs dream of going home, but they can’t because their towns and villages are still dominated by Boko Haram terrorists. The few that returned home had to scamper back. As I pen this piece, there are over 700,000 troubled people in scores of IDP camps in Borno State. They struggle for a meal a day, while scores die daily of hunger, disease, and malnutrition.”
Under normal circumstances, The front-page story (plus three inside pages) of “The Nation” newspaper of May 30, 2020, should have captivated any audience especially with its bold headline:
“CIVID-19: “HOW US-BASED NIGERIAN MOTHER AND DAUGHTER NURSES SURVIVED ON THE FRONTLINE”
A Nigerian mother and her daughter who are both nurses in the United States of America, Uchenna Onyia and Ona Onyia, were recently celebrated on Mothers’ Day/ Nurses’ Week by a popular American TV host, Jimmy Kimmel and famous American actress, Courteney Cox, for their contributions towards saving the lives of COVID-19 patients in New York.
The duo who hail from Anambra State was declared the latest health care heroines for their feat after they were deployed from Arkansas to New York in April to help save lives. They were rewarded with $10,000 each during the Jimmy Kimmel Live T.V show.
The daughter, Ona Onyia, a COVID-ICU nurse in New York, told our correspondent via an Instagram chat that a pandemic of the proportion of the current coronavirus was the last she anticipated when she started her nursing career about two years ago.”
But even though it was not a challenge she anticipated, Onyia put her personal safety and security aside and gladly accepted the task of saving the lives of infected people when the Coronavirus pandemic broke out in the US.
She said: “I was actually deployed to NYC (New York City), the world’s epicenter of Covid-19, last month. Never in a million years would I have thought, I would experience a pandemic in my lifetime, not to talk of being a nurse in one. I have officially completed 21/21 nights of working here in NYC as a COVID-ICU nurse.
“I worked 21 nights straight (12-hour shifts) with one day off. This assignment pushed me completely out of my comfort zone and I had to remind myself that sometimes seeking discomfort and taking risks will cause you to grow.
“This experience has been mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting. I’ve seen more people die in 21 days than I’ve ever seen in my entire nursing career. I’ve seen people going from talking to being put on the ventilator within minutes.
People are dying alone because no family is allowed in the hospital. Resilience TV declined very firmly regardless of the resonance of the synopsis:
- “I’ve watched more people die in my care than I’ve seen in my nursing career.”
- My mum and I decided to leave Nigeria back in 2002.
- I want Nigeria to learn from Italy, Spain and New York City. Please use them as a lesson. The people in these different countries/states suffered in terms of dead bodies.
Nigeria cannot handle what other parts of the world are going through. There are not enough ventilators if there is a huge hit in the country. Ninety percent of the patients I took care of in NYC were on ventilators. On the COVID ICU unit I worked on, 28/30 patients were on ventilators.
I’ve seen people die with absolutely no past medical history. I’ve been in a situation where doctors chose not to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a patient because while coding a patient we are at a higher risk of infecting ourselves than doing any good.
This disease affects the lungs so badly that we rather put a person with a critical condition on the ventilator because we know that if we do, there is 80% chance of them not coming off the ventilator.
She advised that Nigeria should impose harsher restrictions till “we get more testing to everyone and have a vaccine for this virus.”
The report captioned: “CALAMITY AT LAGOS FARM” suffered the same fate:
An outbreak of swine flu in a Lagos pig farm reputed as the largest in West Africa has caused the death of no fewer than 145,000 pigs whose monetary value is estimated at N4.9 billion.
Located in the Oke-Aro part of the city, the farm was a beehive of activities with thousands of workers and businessmen and women who thronged it daily.
But that was before tragedy struck with an outbreak of the swine flu that killed the pigs in thousands and rendered the farm virtually desolate.
Worse still, there was no sign that the tragedy was about to abate when our correspondent visited the farm during the week.
Some of the affected farmers were said to have died of shock while some others were being hospitalised, having collapsed with thoughts of how to repay the loans they took to expand their businesses.
Fears are rife that more farmers may fall, victim, as the virus continues to sweep through what is left of the farm.
One of the affected farmers is Cordelia Osimeha, a single mother who at the beginning of the year decided to expand her business and take care of other pressing family needs.
Towards this end, she spent a lot of money fattening her pigs in the hope that she would sell them to pay the fees of her children who are in the university. Sometime in April, however, a virulent attack ravaged the entire farm, killing 60 of the pigs she had hoped to sell.
The single mother said: “I was raising the animals in the hope of selling some of them to pay my children’s school fees, but they all died.
As a single mother, I am psychologically and emotionally affected. To be honest, the development has seriously affected my children. I learned that they would be going back to school in June.
My children are at university and it is from this business that I have been training them. It is through this pig business that I am doing everything in my life. I don’t have any other business.
What kind of business can I do outside this? I told you it is very good business. I know that the downfall of a man is not the end of his life.
It is a business you will enjoy if you have money because they eat a lot and their drugs are very expensive. If you go to our farm now, the whole place is desolate. The farmers are crying as customers who are coming to buy pigs are all returning home empty-handed.”
Asked how long she has been in the business, Cordelia said: “I have been in this business for five years. The business had been moving very well since I started it after leaving my job.
The swine fever got to my pen in April. I have lost 60 pigs. I have some others left and I am hoping for the best.
Cordelia recalled that when the problem started, they all thought it was the usual kind of sickness. “When they have foot rot, we do give them injections, and once we did that, they would be well.”
But the way this one came was different. In the morning, you will see them eating well but by evening time, you will see them lying down. Once that happens, the next thing is death.
The problem has no medication at all. We have used all manner of medications, including native ones, all to no avail. The government should come to our aid. We need grants, not loans. There is no way we can continue if the government does not assist us.”
Another woman farmer badly hit by the problem is Mosunmola Akinyemi who claimed to have lost 250 of her animals worth about N7 million.
She looked devastated as she shared her experience with our correspondent. “I have lost well over 250 animals because I have a big pen,” she said.
“I have lost over N7 million. It is devastating seeing animals worth between N80,000 and N130,000 dropping dead. We also have to bury the dead animals.
The incident has devastated my financial position greatly in the sense that I am not able to fend for the family anymore.
Now that the devastation has come and upset my whole plan, it is only by the grace of the Almighty Father that one is surviving.
The shock is too much to bear. Some farmers have collapsed and are in the hospital while some have died because a lot of money has gone down the drain.
They nurtured the animals from birth, and at the point of selling them, they are dying. It is very devastating.
Many pens have been locked up because there are no more animals in them.”
She reckons that the business is highly profitable, saying: “I have been in piggery business for well over 15 years. Funds from my piggery and poultry business are all I have been using to provide for my household.
It was a very profitable business. Our customers come from Warri, Badagry, Cotonou, and so on. They buy the animals and take them to their destinations to slaughter.”
Akinyemi recalled that it is not the first time an outbreak of swine flu would occur on the farm.
She said: “It had occurred twice before I came here. This time around, the strain of the virus is very virulent so it kills them outright.
In the past, we had a survival ratio of 50 percent. But this time around, once they get infected, they stop eating or drinking water. Consequently, they emaciate and die.
We are helpless as the disease has defied all medication and vaccination.
There is nothing that you can think of that is working for them. We are helpless as we watch our investments go down the drain by the day.”
Bashorun J.K. Randle is a former President of the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and former Chairman of KPMG Nigeria and Africa Region. He is currently the Chairman, JK Randle Professional Services.
– Jun. 19, 2020 @ 11:45 GMT |
Tags: Resilience [Forging Ahead]
