ONDO STRANGE ILLNESS: MEDICAL OR SPIRITUAL?

Last week, I heard a news that the Ebola virus was back in Nigeria. You can't begin to imagine the amount of fear that went through me. Instead of panicking and spreading the news though, (I'm pretty sure it would have brought some traffic to my blog), I decided to investigate further. I swear I should have been a detective. Lol. Anyway, I  found out that there was indeed a strange disease in town (restricted to one town in Ondo State) and it was killing people, 18 so far. This disease is so deadly because it kills its victims within 24 hours of infection.

It's symptoms include headache, blindness, paralysis and death - all within 24 hours. Wow! It was confirmed that it wasn't ebola as initially suspected, ebola has a longer incubation period, is associated with fever, flu-like symptoms, hemorrhages and death. Problem now is, no one knows what is causing the disease. Trust naija though, I started getting bbm messages to spread the news so no one goes to Ondo state. 

Further investigation has shown that the disease wasn't caused by any organism, not bacterial, viral, fungal or even a parasite. They are suspecting that it is methanol poisoning from locally made gin. 

However, there is another twist to the story, the ruler of the community came out to say that the deaths was brought about by an angry god. According to him, the people who died are a group of youths who desecrated the shrine of the god and stole some artefacts.

So, right now, it is "wait and see" for the people of Ondo state and Nigeria. But whatever it is, I hope it ends and doesn't spread further. What do you think of this situation though. Hit me up with your thoughts in the comment box.

SAY NO TO XENOPHOBIA

What?! What is all the rubbish that I hear? My ears must be deceiving me, though it has never once failed me. South Africans, what did we do to you? Why the racism against your very own brothers and sisters? This news indeed is very sad. It is heart breaking. What wrong could they have done by seeking asylum in your country? Is this xenophobia or hate for the black race, I wonder?

South Africa bleeds

The map looks crooked? Maybe that is what will become of Africa if we continue like this. We speak of being one great African nation. is that even a realistic dream? Is it possible? Citizens of SA, if your fellow South Africans were treated this way in other countries, how would you feel? Do you think that there are no South Africans in other parts of the world? There are, and they enjoy every freedom. By the way what is xenophobia? For those who don’t know;

“Xenophobia is the intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries”.

Last year I wrote this post when Nigerians were being attacked in India. I asked a few questions, stated some facts. Those facts still hold today. I blame the Nigerians for always fleeing from their country. No, I don’t blame them. Instead, I blame the Nigerian government who has made life difficult for its average citizens. They have to seek for greener pastures outside the country. These same government that has refused to implement stringent immigration rules like other countries. Hmm… I may not blame them so much, for even when life was a bit bearable, Nigerians always found their way out of the country.

Who should I blame then? Yes, I know. I’ll blame you and me, not for moving around and relocating (that’s part of human life), but for being unaccommodating. Everybody wants to lock up their borders (with good reasons too). However, we need peace. It is the only way forward.

But wait oh, is it not these same South Africans that were oppressed for so many years by the white men in the name of colonialism? I don’t see them asking the white folks to leave their country (kindly or otherwise) – no offense. Finally, maybe this is just transferred aggression.

Say no to Xenophobia, speak out loud against it. Everyone is a foreigner somewhere.

Peace.

NIGERIA HAS DECIDED

Finally! The collation of the much awaited and anticipated results of the presidential elections of Nigeria 2015 is over and we have a winner in the person of General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB), despite many troubles caused by both parties. Nigerians and the world can breathe at last. In my experience, this is one election in Nigeria that got almost everyone involved. Many friends fought verbally on facebook and twitter, unfriending themselves and so on, even family members were opposing themselves. People were glued to their radio and television sets with their pen and paper, writing out the results as it is being announced, myself included. (We didn’t need any foul play at all!)

Prior to the elections, I had no idea that to win, a candidate was required to have 25% of the votes in 2/3rds of all the states. Let’s take a look at the results for each of the state. This is for the benefit of mostly the Non-Nigerians, Nigerians in diaspora and the very few Nigerians too busy to get in contact with a radio or TV. 

*Please these results are strictly for APC (General Muhammadu Buhari – GMB) and PDP (Goodluck Ebele Jonathan – GEJ). For the results of other political parties, kindly visit a news blog or online newspaper or INEC website. Thank you.

State                              APC                             PDP

Abia                                   13394                             368303

Adamawa                         374701                           251664 

Akwa Ibom                       58411                              953304

Anambra                            17926                             660762

Bauchi                             931598                            86085

Bayelsa                              5194                               361209

Benue                                373961                             303737

Borno                               473543                              25640 

Crossriver                         28368                               414863

Delta                                    48910                              1211405

Ebonyi                                19518                               323653

Edo                                     208469                               286869

Ekiti                                    120331                              176466

Enugu                                 14157                                553003

FCT                                    146399                                157195

Gombe                              361245                                  96873

Imo                                    133253                               559185

Jigawa                                885988                               142904

Kaduna                              1127760                              484085

Kano                                  1903999                                215779

Katsina                               1345441                                  98937

Kebbi                                   567883                                 100972

Kogi                                       264851                                149987

Kwara                                  302146                                  132602

Lagos                                   792460                                  632327

Nasarawa                              236838                                 273460

Niger                                     657678                                   149222

Ogun                                      308290                                 207950

Ondo                                      299889                                   251368

Osun                                      383603                                   249929

Oyo                                         528620                                   303376

Plateau                                  429140                                    549615

Rivers                                      69238                                   1487075

Sokoto                                      671926                                   152199

Taraba                                    261326                                    310800

Yobe                                           446265                                     25526

Zamfara                                  612202                                     144833

TOTAL:                                     15424921                               12853162

The interpretation: PDP got 25% of the votes in 25 states and APC got 25% in 27 states. However, GMB had more votes than GEJ with a difference of almost 2.6 million, hence making him the winner of the 2015 presidential elections and president elect of Nigeria.

Permit me to analyze the entire campaign and electoral process till date, In my opinion, GEJ shot himself in the face. While the APC campaigned with manifesto of what they intend to do if they are elected, PDP campaigned with things they thought they have achieved. For example, you can’t come out and tell me that you have improved power by 4000megawatts or so and I don’t see light for up to 7 hours in a week. He also campaigned against APC with GMB’s past, throwing more light on GMB, portraying him as a formidable contender. The Final blow was becoming so desperate it pissed off many of his supporters. The areas that I think GEJ failed are in fighting corruption, providing power and security. I have to pay my respects to 2 important people that made this election a success;

• Firstly to Prof. Attahiru Jega for the best elections held in the history of Nigeria. Thank you, Sir, for a job well done.

• Also, kudos to you Sir, GEJ, the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for conceding defeat honorably to forestall any unnecessary violence.

My elder said something that I think we should take away from these elections, “never give up”. GMB has refused to give up since 2003 and now he has made as the president of Nigeria. Congrats to GMB! Long live Nigeria! Let’s wait for the next four years. If we get an unsatisfactory result sheet from GMB, then we also vote him out.

Salut!

NIGERIANS AWAIT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RESULTS

Finally! The elections havecome and gone *phew*. Jega and the INEC (independent electoral body) are busy collating the results while Nigerians have their hearts in their throats. So far, nobody knows whih way it will swing. Especially not when Jega gets up every 1 hour, to take an almost 6 hours recess, after reading results for less than 10 states.  I wonder if he is pregnant. Anyway, so that we don't die from hypertension before the end of the collations, some very talented Nigerians decided to ease off some of the tension. Check out what they have done.

One thing is certain though, come tomorrow, there will emerge a victor. I'd love to encourage you to spread word of peace no matter the outcome. #votenotfight

Cheers......

W.H.O DECLARES NIGERIA EBOLA FREE

"Free at last!" are the words that came to mind when I heard the news of Nigeria being declared Ebola-free by the world health organisation (W.H.O). I recalled all the terrifying emotions that most Nigerians, including me went through when we confirmed the first case. The fear was palpable. For the first time since my adulthood, I saw Nigerians act as one,  (well, almost if you count those who would have sabotaged our efforts by remaining in hiding or running away).

The fear of ebola made many Nigerians fall victim to some rumors like the kolanut cure, and the salt water bath. We decided at that point that it was time to start fighting it and set out to educate people on proper prevention as there was and still has no known cure. It looked like all hope would be lost when we heard of a new case in Port-harcourt. The fear came again when the necessary protective gears were not provided for health care workers and again when it was time for children to go back to school. 

When the case showed up in the United States, to tell you the truth, my heart dropped! Why? Because what if a stable individual who has already contacted the virus, but is stable walks into our country today? That is exactly what happened in the case of America. The patient was fine. He only developed the fever after he was in the country. No fever scanner could have detected him as ebola positive in the airport. We (Nigerians) were lucky because our index patient collapsed right at the airport.

So, dear Nigerians, YES!!! we should be proud of ourselves this time. We conquered ebola. We should pop champagne and celebrate, but, in the midst of all the celebrations, we should remember that the battle is not over until it is truly over. Liberia, Sierra leone and Guinea are our neighbours. The threat is not over. We should "keep calm and watch out!" Our level of vigilance shouldn't dwindle at this time.

Doctors, Please continue wearing your protective gears. Everyone, please continue regular hand-washing, it saves you from a host of other diseases on the long run. continue using your hand sanitizers. Continue to spread the news and educate as much people as you can. In short, continue monitoring until we rid the world of ebola. The battle continues.....

Cheers......