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Give Biafra to Biafrans, and fight the greater fight

Jennifer UGWA
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Give Biafra to Biafrans, and fight the greater fight

By Ayo-Bankole Akintujoye

A few months ago, I wrote about reasons why the call for Biafra, as is currently being done by IPOB, is crap and a sheer waste of time, for obvious reasons: secessions are not achieved with noise and grandstanding! It takes a calculated mobilisation of financial, military, and political resources to achieve it. IPOB has none. No central coordinating authority to present its course, no formidable military wing, weak financial capacity.

Even what constitutes the Biafran territory is still being argued, with several groups from the Niger Delta region disclaiming Biafra and declaring not to be a part of it; this technically invalidates the old Biafran map of the 1960s. It’s all noise, and a strong willingness to go to any length to make Nnamdi Kanu a hero at the expense of the lives of common Igbo men and women, while his family coast away abroad.

And to further reiterate their ignorant miscalculation, IPOB began to initiate attacks on the institutions of government and other ethnic nationalities, who have done nothing but accommodate their kinsmen and tolerate their continued quest for separation. An attack on the institutions of government reduces local and global sympathy/support, and an attack on other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, either physically, or verbally via hate speech, is historically proven to be self-destructive.

Having said that, I will like to speak to government’s use of the military to tame the fast-rising Biafra agitation. Like IPOB’s struggle, it is a dead-on-arrival strategy. Reasons are simple and not far-fetched. First, IPOB at the moment has not yet evolved into a full military threat on the continuing sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, other than the inciting speeches and recent attacks in Abia, and the consequent clash in Jos, Kanu and his men have to a large extent, been within the confines of a domestic civilian agitation group, and therefore could have been handled with the Police.

The use of the Military has further shown that the Nigerian Police is a failed organisation, and Nigeria is a failed state, at least to the extent of policing its citizenry and providing systemic and reliable security of lives and property. The military is not trained to handle civilians, and history has continuously shown that the use of the military in resolving domestic issues never ends well. It is for a reason that the armed institutions that defend external and internal threats are firmly separated by the constitution. Besides, there are countless other forces such as the NSCDC lying idle that can be deployed, without recourse to the military.

Second, Biafra is a strong ideology that has outlived at least two generations. And every era since the 1960s have had a Biafran voice, in various forms. There was Odumegwu Ojukwu himself, then there is Ralph Uwazuruike’s Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), then there is Biafra Nations Youth League (BNYL) led by Ebuta Ogar Takon, comprising mainly members from the Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bakassi Peninsula, Rivers, Delta, and Bayelsa regions, among many others. Ideologies are difficult, if not impossible, to kill. Nazism still reared its ugly head in Charlottesville, Virginia recently, 72 years after the death of Adolf Hitler and the end of the world war. Even more prominent is the strong influence of Confederate sentiments and supremacist ideas in the USA up till today, especially with the emergence of the Trump presidency, 152 years after the defeat and dissolution of the Confederate secessionists in 1865!

What this means is that Biafra will not die. Not today, not tomorrow, and military action will only most likely exacerbate the agitations, rather than suppress it, as agitators are likely to resolve to armed defence at slight provocation. What I would have expected therefore from the Buhari government is to give unto Biafrans what they want. Give them Biafra. How? Conduct a referendum!

Giving the Igbo a referendum will put to sleep a crisis that has plagued this country for over 50 years. Irrespective of how tiny the fragment of the Igbo population that wants secession may be, we will never be able to assess the degree to which the Igbo really want Biafra just by listening to media show-offs by a few voices, until we conduct a referendum. A referendum, if won by Biafrans, will put an end to the fragile and battered unity Nigeria has managed to knock together since 1960, and its remaining constituent units can negotiate or renegotiate their terms of togetherness. Biafrans can then be allowed to go and govern themselves, as desired by the majority. If lost, then Biafra will be put to rest for good, at least, any agitator will know he only speaks for himself, and not for the majority of Igbo, and the law can be made to define the extent to which such agitations will be allowed or taken as treason.

As a government that rode on the back of democracy and the will of the people to effect change, the Buhari government must realise that a successful and peaceful referendum will engrave the name of the President in the hall of fame in Africa, as it will be recorded as one of the bravest achievements by any leader. Article I of the Charter of the United Nations clearly recognises the principle of self-determination as a fundamental human right, and upon which nations can maintain friendly relations and attain world peace. This fundamental right must not be denied the Igbo.

Finally, and more importantly, the Buhari government must defeat IPOB, and any other of such groups across the country with real and measurable development. That is the only true way separatist ideas can be subdued. Rwanda is an example of this, with a country healing well and living in peace after barely 20 years of a brutal genocide, Rwanda has emerged as a model for economic growth and infrastructural development in Africa, with Paul Kagame as the face of African leadership, stirring the country to greatness irrespective of racial or ethnic divides.

President Buhari has a date with destiny, to win the bigger war of peace and development, or relish in the victory of smaller battles against IPOB and other agitators; the choice is his.

Ayo-Bankole Akintujoye is a Political Scientist and Strategist. He has worked with some of the world’s biggest consultancies to advise organizations and governments in the areas of Strategy, policy formulation, transformation initiatives, and process improvement. He also holds a Master’s degree in Political science. He tweets from @AyoBankole

Who will tell Buhari the truth about the economy?

Editorial
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Who will tell Buhari the truth about the economy?

By Dele Sobowale

President Buhari, while reminding the Ministers and CBN Governor that reviving the economy was one of the major planks on which the campaign of his party was based, expressed gladness that things were looking up after two years of serious work — Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.

No President or Prime Minister can know everything — even if he holds ten doctorates. One lesson most Presidents soon learn, some too late, is that their top officials can and often mislead them with their briefings. Ministers tell the President what he would love to hear not what he should know. Late President John Kennedy of the US learnt this hard fact after the Bay of Pigs disaster which his top military advisers had assured him would never fail. It did and since then, most Presidents of the US have devised a method of checking what the officials tell them.

Everyday, they set aside at least one hour during which they request for the leading newspapers and read directly for themselves instead of from the clippings sent to them. Kennedy was shocked on the first day he did that to discover that some patriotic Americans had been warning government about the disaster while his officials did not bring the dissenting views to his attention.

Bill Clinton went one step further. He devoted two hours a day and that was before receiving his officials. Frequently, he confronted them with the articles, editorials and news reports which they would have hidden from him in the belief that telling the truth if it is bad is not in their interest.

Buhari must understand that, once appointed to high office, people immediately develop an interest to protect – even if it means lying to the President. This is more easily done when it is known that the President does not take the trouble to collect information directly himself. So, Buhari’s meeting with the Governor of the Central Bank, the Minister of Finance and the Minister for Budget and National Planning without any prior attempt to gather information independently was bound to produce the result it did. He was assured that “things were looking up”.

But, was that the truth? Certainly, if the President had called Professor Soludo, Bismarck Rewane and Pat Utomi, he would not have sent out Adesina to make the announcement he did. That is precisely the problem. Buhari we have been told does not read newspapers. He receives digests and thus becomes a captive of those undertaking the digest. None of them wants to be the bearer of bad news.

However, there are reports floating around that Buhari’s views are shaped by some individuals he trusts. All Presidents are alike in that respect. It is fine by me if Daura, Bello, Kyari and Samaila Funtua are his close confidants. That means we have people who can carry messages to him which his ministers would not want him to receive. So, if any of them is reading this column, or their staff, they should be kind enough to tell the President that he has been deceived about the state of the economy. Things are not looking up – except, of course, the pockets of his officials.

Since Daura, Bello, Kyari, Funtua and Dr Turkur had been identified as the “Bedroom Cabinet”, which is even more powerful than the “Kitchen cabinet”, perhaps they will start by taking a few items with them when next they speak with Buhari to help open his eyes. Those are not all, but, we can start with those and develop a pattern of alternative briefing from others in addition to the official briefings. Call it what you want, but my major concern now is Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, which is one of the measurements of an economy in which “things are looking up”.

So, permit me to start with that to demonstrate that “things are certainly not looking up”. The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, tucked under the National Planning Minister, recently released its second quarter (Q2) report for 2017. The report stated that the foreign investment flow into Nigeria for 2017 amounted to $294.47bn  from January to July. But, the report did more than that. We were also informed that first half year result for 2016 was  $221.2bn  while second half year result was $398.9bn. For quick reference the report is summarized below.

If we received  $398.9bn  in the last half of 2016, July to December, and only  $291.4bn in the first half of 2017, can anybody even with primary school education call that “looking up”? Furthermore, while the FDI inflows into the country were aimed at long-term investments, the bulk of the 2017 half year inflow went into the capital market to create a bubble which might collapse any time and capital flight will follow leaving us in a quandary.

Buhari’s close confidantes need not believe me, but they should talk to oil marketers owed about $2bn unpaid subsidy. They are threatening to sack employees owed as much as eight months salary – meaning Nigerians who have not received a kobo from their employers in eight months. Surely, for them, things are not “looking up”. Instead the victims look up to heaven for deliverance from government officials rendering fake reports to Buhari.

It was not only the NBS which was publishing reports giving the lie to those issuing fake reports. The International Monetary Fund, IMF, early in August had noted that preliminary data for the first half of the year 2017 indicates substantial revenue shortfalls with interest payments to revenue ratio remaining at 40 per cent as at the end of the half year. A look at the 2017 Budget would reveal ratio of only about 28 per cent. So, how can 40 per cent be called “looking up”?

Fashola had blown the whistle on revenue shortfall which others sought to conceal from Buhari. Read next week what he said.

To be continued.

ASUU: There’s poverty, hunger, general suffering despite exit from recession

Kingsley OBIEJESI
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ASUU: There’s poverty, hunger, general suffering despite exit from recession

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says it is unhappy with the level of poverty, hunger and general suffering in the country.

Biodun Ogunyemi stated while addressing a press conference to announce the suspension of the union’s industrial action.

Ogunyemi said that aside ASUU’s demand for the federal government to address the decadence in the education sector, the union also wants government to improve the welfare of the citizens.

“Having addressed the matter of the strike action, it is crucial that we address even a more fundamental issue; the state of the Nigerian nation,” Ogunyemi stated.

“Whatever happens to the nation ultimately impacts the university system. The current sorry situation of the country, therefore, is a matter of grave concern for ASUU.

“From education to the economy, from the society to national security, and to the livelihood opportunities, the situation is worrisome.

“The government has announced with glee the movement away from recession, but to the ordinary Nigerian citizen the reality is different. Neither poverty nor hunger nor general suffering has reduced in level or intensity in our country.

“The general unrest among the labour unions is a reflection of the deplorable condition under which the Nigerian worker operates, just as the growing incidents of suicide are an indication of the level of frustration and hopelessness of the average Nigerian citizen.

“There are no advances in policies that can substantially provide the welfare needs – employment, health, education, etc – of Nigerians outside the ruling class.”

Ogunyemi lamented the increase in the level of insecurity in Nigeria, saying that instead of addressing the situation adequately, the elites surround themselves with “massive security personnel … leaving the masses unprotected, at the mercy of the violent hoodlums who have overrun the country”.

“The plague of armed robbery, kidnapping, and other forms of criminality are enough threat to the peace of any polity,” he said.

“However, these violent acts are treated as minor problems in Nigeria, even when they are compounded by the rising tide of ethnic and religious conflicts.

“The crux of the problem, in all these, however, is the inconsistent responses of the government, and its use of double standards in addressing the various issues, persons and groups that tug at the fabric of the country.

“ASUU is firmly convinced that the solution to the underdevelopment of our people is re-orienting Nigeria’s economy from neo-liberalism to a peoples-oriented model.

“The starting point is to exit the envelop-style budgeting and accord education its pride of place in the scheme of things.”

ASUU suspends industrial action temporarily — just till October

Kingsley OBIEJESI
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ASUU suspends industrial action temporarily — just till October

The Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) has called off its strike, following a meeting with the federal government on Monday.

The announcement was made by Biodun Ogunyemi, ASUU National President, who noted that the suspension of the strike is only provisional until October.

Ogunyemi said this will afford the government ample time to fulfill the demands made by the union.

ASUU said lecturers are expected to resume duty from Tuesday, September 19.

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Nnamdi Kanu is the master of hate speeches, says Lai Mohammed

Kingsley OBIEJESI
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Nnamdi Kanu is the master of hate speeches, says Lai Mohammed

Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information, says the federal government tolerated Nnamdi Kanu’s excesses and hate speeches for too long, hence the decision to clamp down on him and his Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Mohammed, who spoke at a press conference on Monday, said Kanu is the master of hate speech and leader of a “band of lawless people”, adding that there was no way such acts should go unpunished.

“The self-imposed IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is the master of hate speech. His supporters should listen closely to his inciting remarks and cruel statements. If such does not constitute hate speech, then tell me what hate speech is,” Mohammed said.

“We have tolerated the excesses of Kanu for too long. Mention one country in the world where an organisation has set up a military organisation, confronted the national army and engaged in exploiting of people without consequences.

“There is nothing like genocide anywhere in our country today. What we have in the south-east is a clampdown on a band of lawless people who have no regard for the laws of the land.”

Mohammed said the IPOB’s next line of action will be to begin disseminating false pictures and videos as a tool for cheap propaganda.

“Now they are writing to the government and the national parliaments of some Western nations to give the impression that they are victims of violence orchestrated by the government, hence they need protection,” Mohamed said.

“Some of the tools that have been employed by IPOB include blatant lies and cheap propaganda, and the medium of choice for the organisation is the social media.

“IPOB has harvested gory videos and pictures from other lands and the distant past, which they are now circulating via the social media, to deceive the international community.”

This is the first public statement by Lai Mohammed since the defence headquarters designated the IPOB as a terrorist organisation on Friday, September 15.

In 2013, Mohammed, then the National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN),criticised the Goodluck Jonathan-led federal government for proscribing Boko Haram and Ansaru as terrorist organisations.

‘Hard work and faith in serving God’ — why Violet Brown lived for 117 years, 189 days

Chikezie OMEJE
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‘Hard work and faith in serving God’ — why Violet Brown lived for 117 years, 189 days

Violet Brown, a Jamaican who until Friday was the world’s oldest person, lived for 117 years and 189 days. Want to know why she lived that long? Hard work and Christian faith.

Brown, who lived through three centuries, was born on March 10, 1900. She also made history for being the oldest living person with the oldest living, who eventually died at 97 n April, few days after she was named the world’s oldest person.

She took over the title of the oldest living person in the world in April from Emma Morano from Italy, who died at the age of 117 years and 137 days.

SECRET OF HER LONGEVITY

Anytime Brown was asked about the secret of her longevity, she would say: “My faith in serving God, and believing strongly in the teaching of the bible,” according to a foundation instituted in her honour by one of her grandchildren.

“She is especially fond of the part of the scripture in the Bible that says honour your parents that your days on this earth may be long.”

“I love the Church, the devout Christian told a Jaimaican newsper, the Gleaner, in 2010.

“I have been baptised since I was 13 years old and I have over 50 years of staunch contribution to the Church.”

Apart from crediting her longevity to her devout Christian life, she said hard work kept her going, as she remembered the days she used to walk three miles barefooted to fetch water and be home in time to go to school by 9 a.m.

“I tell you, these young people these days have it easy — piped water, taxis and buses to bring them where they want to go.

“Everything to their convenience. When I was younger, and even as an adult, I had to work so hard that sometimes when I look back, I cry at how hard I had to work to make a living for my family.”

SHE AVOIDED PORK AND CHICKEN

Longevity is often attributed to good eating habit bust Brown said she ate everything, except pork and chicken.

“Really and truly, when people ask me what I eat and drink to live so long, I say to them that I eat everything, except pork and chicken, and I don’t drink rum and dem tings,” she told the Gleaner.

“You know, sometimes I ask myself, ‘Am I really 110 years old?’ Because I don’t feel like 110.”

LIFE AND WORK

Brown was born in the small town of Duanvale, located in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica. She lived in the house that she was born until she died.

She married Augustus Gaynor Brown and they had six children she told the Gleaner four sons and two daughters.

She worked as a domestic helper, farmer and a dressmaker. She became a widow in 1978.

Brown was strong throughout her lifetime and did not suffer any major illness apart from mild deafness. She said she did not feel her age, attributing her long life to “serving God and working hard”.

OLD AGE IS FOR WOMEN, NOT MEN

The Gerontology Research Group (GRG) keeps a validated list of supercentenarians, persons that have lived more than 110.

Most supercentenarians, according to the GRG, are women. In this elite club, it is 42 women to one man.

The GRG is the official consultant on supercentenarians by Guinness World Records.

Guinness told the News that while they work with the GRG to verify the oldest living person, they will conduct additional research before awarding the next person in line with the official title of World’s Oldest Person.

“There are a number of candidates we are researching at the present time, therefore there is no confirmation of the new title holder, nor will there be until our thorough processes are complete,” said Jakki Lewis, a Guinness World Records spokesperson.

Following the demise of Brown, the next on the list of oldest persons is Japan’s Nabi Tajima, who is 116 years and 256 days old.

The longest confirmed human lifespan in history is that of Jeanne Calment who died on August 4, 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days.

Zanna Mustapha wins $150,000 UN prize — for refusing to shut down his school despite Boko Haram attacks

Chikezie OMEJE
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Zanna Mustapha wins $150,000 UN prize — for refusing to shut down his school despite Boko Haram attacks

 

Zannah Mustapha, a lawyer in Borno State who negotiated the release of Chibok girls from Boko Haram captivity, has won $150, 000 UN prize for providing an education to children caught up in conflict in the northeast part of the country.

The Nansen Refugee Award, which is bestowed by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), has been won in the past by Eleanor Roosevelt and Luciano Pavarotti, and the winner receives $150,000 to fund a project complementing their existing work.

Mustapha is the founder of two schools offering free education, meals and healthcare to its pupils, and even enrol children born to Boko Haram fighters to learn alongside those orphaned by the Islamist group’s eight-year insurgency.

“I am exceedingly happy and motivated to do more … I will scale up my efforts,” Mustapha told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.

“Some of the students that started in my school have graduated, and they are now going into university — I can use this money to help them complete the cycle,” Mustapha added.

Speaking with the UNHCR about the school, he said: “This is the place where every child matters, no matter what religion, background or culture… Our aim is make positive changes on their lives.”

A former barrister turned property developer, Mustapha set up the school for orphans and vulnerable children in 2007.

He was concerned by the growing numbers of children on the streets of Maiduguri – the heart of an insurgency that has killed an estimated 20,000 people and displaced some 2.3 million others.

He feared growing insecurity and the ensuing military crackdown was producing a generation of children with no education, and that this would in turn create even more problems for one of the poorest regions of the country.

“There were children everywhere, on the streets all alone… If they have no education what will happen to them… I kept wondering what would happen to my daughter if I died, who would pay for her education? I realized I had to act,” he added.

“When I was a young man growing up you did not see this sort of thing. The family looked after orphans, but this has become more and more difficult.”

Mustapha pictured with some of his pupils

His first venture, Future Prowess, opened a decade ago and was the only school in Borno State to remain open when Boko Haram began its brutal campaign to carve out an Islamic state in 2009.

UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi hailed Mustapha for helping to foster peace and rebuild communities devastated by violence.

“Education is one of the most powerful tools for helping refugee children overcome the horrors of violence and forced displacement,” Grandi said in a statement.

“It empowers young people, equips them with skills and works to counter exploitation and recruitment by armed groups.”

Mustapha’s work also includes helping to negotiate the release of more than 100 of the 220-odd girls snatched from their school in Chibok in April 2014.

The return of 82 of the girls in May marked the second group release of the Chibok girls by the militants — with both deals brokered by Switzerland and the Red Cross and mediated by Mustapha — after a group of 21 were freed in October last year.

A few others have escaped or been rescued but it is believed that about 113 of the girls are still held captive by Boko Haram.

Mustapha will be presented with his award in Geneva early next month.

FLASHBACK: How soldiers assaulted a civilian in Mararaba in 2015 — and got away with it

Kingsley OBIEJESI
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FLASHBACK: How soldiers assaulted a civilian in Mararaba in 2015 — and got away with it

 

There is ample evidence to suggest that the Nigerian military may not live up to its promise that the video clip of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) members being brutalised by soldiers in Abia State will be investigated and the culprits punished.

This is because similar human rights violations by soldiers have gone unpunished, even after the authorities had promised to punish the offenders.

A video that surfaced online on September 13 showed alleged IPOB members being beaten with sticks and forced to lie face down in a muddy pool along the road.

The video, apparently filmed by a soldier who was unhappy with the incident, showed one of the boys lying in a pool of his blood and the person behind the camera saying “this one don die o.”

But a day later, the army released a statement saying that the video was being investigated with a view to ascertaining its authenticity.

“The attention of the Headquarters 82 Division Nigerian Army has been drawn to a video clip trending on social media and other platforms purportedly showing troops humiliating some people at a check point in Abia State, Nigeria,” Sagir Musa, Deputy Director of Army Public Relations of the 82 Division of the army, said.

“The issue is being investigated with the view to ascertaining the source and the actors in the clip.

“Our Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement are quite clear and any officer or soldier that infringed on any of such directive if found guilty, will face full wrath of the military justice system.

“We do not condone any act of indiscipline in the conduct of our operations and training exercises. Any claim of rights violation would be investigated and when confirmed, appropriate disciplinary action would be taken against the erring personnel.”

But this is not the first time such statements had been issued yet nothing was done about it.

ONE BAD PRECEDENT — MARARABA 2015

On August 8, 2015, some soldiers were caught on camera brutalising a civilian whom they claimed was a robber, in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, very close to the Federal Capital Territory.

The incident was published on the front page of Daily Trust Newspaper the next day, and it caught the attention of the army hierarchy.

Sani Usman, Director of Army Public Relations issued a statement, first condemning the newspaper for going public with such report and as a result doing “incalculable damage to the image of the service”.

“The army has also reached out to the management of the newspaper over this poor and worrisome editorial judgement by giving this misdemeanour prominence in their paper,” Usman said. “Alerting appropriate Nigerian army authorities would have been a better option that will be met with prompt response.”

He further stated: “The Nigerian army wishes to inform the public that the perpetrators of the offence have been identified, summoned and would face disciplinary action.

“We wish to assure the public that the Nigerian army would continue to protect and respect human rights and that this regrettable incident should not be used as a yardstick to judge the entire army.

“The Nigerian army is aware of the demand by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) requesting for the release of soldiers involved in the unfortunate incidence of ill treatment of robbery suspected as shown on the front page of today’s Daily Trust.

“I wish to inform the commission and the public that all those involved would be released to the NHRC after carrying out our investigation in accordance with our regulations.”

Months later, when The Cable got in touch with the National Human Rights Commission, they found that the issue had more or less been forgotten.

“They told us they had identified the perpetrators, and that they would hand them over to us when they finish investigation,” an official of the NHRC said.

When Usman was asked, he said the incident had been “overtaken by events” and that the media should stop “over-flogging the issue.”

“The whole issue was blown out of proportion,” he said. “Yes, the soldiers have been charged and given appropriate punishment. We should not be over-flogging an issue that has been overtaken by time and event.”

Two years on, the soldiers who carried out the assault are walking free. On the strength of this case, there is little hope that the soldiers behind last week’s assault on IPOB members in Aba would be punished.

As we speak, one woman is dying from breast cancer, says ‘cancer doctor’ Akanbi

Rebecca Akinremi
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As we speak, one woman is dying from breast cancer, says ‘cancer doctor’ Akanbi

Breast cancer alone kills at least 40 women in one day, including one at the moment, Saidat Abisola Akanbi, a public health professional and Founder of Cancer CareLink, has said.

Speaking with the ICIR on Monday, Akanbi identified late diagnosis as the main reason for the deaths, saying treatment is no longer effective at the late stage of the disease.

“Breast and cervical cancers are the commonest reasons why women die from cancer in Nigeria,” she says.

“Did you know that breast cancer alone kills at least 40 women in one day and as we speak, one woman is dying from breast cancer? Our women are dying because they present themselves to hospitals at late stages of the disease, when the cancer has spread and the treatment is not very effective.

“But then, why do they present late? There are three major reasons. They lack access to correct information — information about what cancer is, about prevention, about early signs and methods of detection.

“They lack access to healthcare and that is probably linked to the third reason, which is that they lack access to funds, access to financial power to procure healthcare.

“Our women are not on National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), and anyway, the NHIS does not cover cancer care. So women are left to fight the disease alone; in other words, the woman who has cancer and her family are left to raise the funds; they are left to battle a diagnosis of cancer.”

For these reasons, Akanbi, whose several years of professional experience in the healthcare sector includes operational, clinical and research activities spanning Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and United Kingdom, decided to establish Cancer CareLink.

Dr. Akanbi (middle, with soldiers)

“Cancer CareLink is acting as a link between these under-insured women in under-served communities and we are trying to put them in contact with those three things that are lacking in our communities,” she says.

“Those three things that are lacking in our community — correct information, healthcare and funds — are what we did with the 2,000Breasts Initiative, our mobile breast cancer clinic.”

One Saturday in July, the nongovernmental organisation had close to 50 health professionals in Ibadan attend to 200 women from General Gas, Alegongo, Akobo-Ojurin and Olorunda axis.

The activities at the session included routine checkups, such as blood pressure and blood glucose checks, followed by a health education session on breast cancer, plus a training session on early detection of breast cancer early.

“There was a spotlight, that is, there was a survivor who shared the emotional story of what she had gone through on her journey,” Akanbi says.

“This survivor is a 30-year-old lady whom Cancer CareLink had helped identify, diagnose and support through treatment. After this survivor talked, there was then hands-on treatment of the women in attendance, and provision of investigations.

“The investigations included breast ultrasound and biopsies, and we offered all these services free of charge. We were able to identify a couple of women; one of them obviously had a breast cancer, and for us, our work has just begun, as we will be working to support and ensure that these women that were picked would get prompt quality treatment.”

Before taking up the cancer challenge, Akanbi earned her medical degree from the University of Ibadan in 2010, after which she received a Master’s in Public Health from the same university.

She proceeded for another Master’s (MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine) from the University of Oxford, where she graduated with Distinction.

An ExxonMobil Global Health Scholar and a President Bill Clinton Global Initiative fellow, Akanbi has worked with the University College Hospital, Nigerian Army, President’s Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Oxford Health Systems Collaboration (OHSCAR), Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)-Wellcome Trust, and currently a Health Systems Consultant with LoftyInc Allied Health Partners.

She is a member of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), and a licenced Practitioner of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Saidat is a UK STEM Ambassador, and co-founder of HealthySTEM initiative, which leverages a network of female STEM role models to equip schoolgirls in Nigeria’s under-served communities with tips to stay healthy and pursue STEM careers.

Akanbi dreams of a Nigeria where every woman — even the poorest and in the most remote areas — has access to all the resources and care required to prevent or combat cancer.

“CCL’s mission is to connect under-insured women in Nigeria’s under-served communities with the resources needed for preventing and combating breast and cervical cancers, and provides grassroots leadership through advocacy and awareness,” she says.

“Our reasoning/justification is that breast and cervical cancers are the commonest cancers in Nigeria and a major killer of Nigerian women. In developed countries, fewer and fewer women are dying from this disease, but in Nigeria, more women continue to die. This cannot continue.”

Akanbi’s 2,000Breasts Initiative, a mobile breast clinic, convenes 50 healthcare professionals to a selected community in Nigeria to create awareness, educate and train women on breast self-examination and early symptoms of breast cancer, and offers them clinical breast examinations, breast ultrasound and biopsy.

“There was one woman with a conclusive diagnosis of breast cancer, the other four had lumps and other signs and are awaiting results of investigations to establish if they are benign (non-cancer) or cancerous,” she says of the initiative’s last activity.

“We would be taking the walk with them, counselling and reassuring them as they await investigation results. Once these are out, we facilitate treatment for each of them, connecting them to leading health centres where they will receive definitive treatment.

“For those who cannot afford care, CCL hopes to support them by linking them to willing sponsors. Our role is to be a link between these women and healthcare professionals, diagnostic investigations, funds and healthcare.”

A million pythons cannot dance away the Biafra question

'Fisayo Soyombo
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A million pythons cannot dance away the Biafra question

 

Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding. — Albert Einstein

Whoever he is, the military officer who coined the code name ‘Python Dance’ is a genius. Although an original version of the military operation, the Python Dance I, held between November 27 and December 27, 2016, no one should have looked any further than the code name to deduce the possible outcome of the army’s latest incursion into the south-east. As a rebel scientist, I’ll break this down.

‘PYTHON DANCE’ MORE THAN MERE NOMENCLATURE

Although they are a family of nonvenomous snakes, pythons, scientifically Pythonidae, can be extremely dangerous. They are some of the largest snakes in the world, and are notorious ambush predators in that they typically lay motionless to evade the notice of a passing prey but then suddenly strike when danger is least expected. Ordinarily, no one should tease the python — that is where Nnamdi Kanu and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) got it wrong. Even though it looks innocuous when motionless, a python cannot be active without inflicting harm — that’s the misjudgement of the army, the thought that the operation would run without tension.

Prior to the take-off of the operation, the Nigerian Army acted like a python, listing a raft of harmless activities to cover up its one controversial aim of the operation. David Dawandi, a Major-General and Chief of Training and Operations of the army, said in a statement on September 8, that “during the exercise, emphasis will be placed on raids, cordon-and-search operations, anti-kidnapping drills, road blocks, check points, patrols, and humanitarian relief activities such as medical outreach”. That’s the motionless python. The statement also made it clear that there would be a “show of force to curb the rising threat to national security in the south-eastern part of the country”. A “show of force”? That’s a python in ambush mode. The summary is that it was an unnecessary operation. For many reasons.

NEEDLESS DANCE

Nnamdi Kanu’s court trial is ongoing. When he returns to court on October 17, the court will hear the federal government’s application for the revocation of his bail. There is no chance Kanu will win that argument — unless Justice Binta Nyako, who granted him bail in April, wants to make a mockery of herself and the judiciary. Kanu has repeatedly violated his bail conditions, the most obvious being his prohibition from hanging out with a company of more than 10 or granting interviews. The violation of the latter Kanu has already tried to defend, bizarrely claiming that he doesn’t “grant interviews” but he only “answers the questions” of journalists because it would be “rude and arrogant” of him to keep quiet when asked a question! But no such ingenious explanation exists for the former; there are numerous footages of him among scores and hordes of people, including videos of him preaching raw hate. Kanu’s return to prison will be permanent in October, so first question to the army; why roll out the pythons against a drowning adversary?

While the pythons were still dancing, the defence headquarters rushed to designate IPOB a terrorist group without even taking a moment to find out the procedures, as laid down by the same law they claim to be enforcing. The army erred by failing to follow the provisions of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011, amended in 2013, that “setting up or pursuing acts of terrorism, the judge in Chambers may on an application made by the Attorney General, National Security Adviser or Inspector General of Police on the approval of the President; declare any entity to be a proscribed organization and the notice should be published in official gazette”.

Even that move itself is an overkill. Of course, Nnamdi Kanu is very annoying — I can imagine the Chief of Army Staff watching him in one of his numerous hate videos and itching to grab his throat and strangle him. There can be no arguments that he is unstable: how can a man who so passionately preached Nigeria’s unity under Goodluck Jonathan now so vehemently champion secession? But a more careful look at him will reveal his true nature: a mere radio/internet noisemaker elevated to the status of Biafra champion by a zealous and unlawful Muhammadu Buhari government. Kanu would never enjoy half his current popularity if he wasn’t repeatedly denied bail. Kanu talks too much; die-hard rebels talk less and act more. His Biafra Security Service (BSS) is toothless; not one of the so-called trainees carried any sort of weapon. They, in fact, looked too confused to be able to withstand confrontation by a private, the lowest-ranked officer of the Nigerian army. Little wonder Kanu himself is now in hiding.

LESSONS AND QUESTIONS

The deployment of soldiers to the south-east has caused needless tension. The death of a hard-to-ascertain number of people, the assault on suspected IPOB members (which, by the way, will go unpunished despite the army’s claim to be investigating it), the combing of buses by IPOB members in Aba for Hausa to harm, the Igbo-Hausa tension in Jos and Port Harcourt are all worrying scenarios that would have been avoided without military action. The seething inter-ethnic tension is worrisome; this is how wars start. In the past week, whether we admit it or not, Nigeria took one giant step towards a second Civil War. The good thing, though, is that the situation is still reasonably under control. To avert a total breakdown of law and order, our leaders must learn from our history and ask themselves the hard questions.

Speaking of lessons, it is hard to imagine how quickly our leaders have forgotten the role of military action in the escalation of Boko Haram from a nonviolent ideological group under Yusuf Mohammed to a ruthlessly violent one under Abubakar Shekau. The 2009 police crackdown on Boko Haram in Bauchi led to violence in Kano, Yobe and Borno states; and after Mohammed’s capture by the military and extrajudicial execution by the police, the reins of Boko Haram fell on the bellicose, blood-thirsty Shekau. The rest, as they say, is history. It will take decades for the north to recover from the ruin of this insurgency — the deaths of hundreds of thousands, displacement of at least 3million people, the humanitarian crisis, the sheer destruction of flora and fauna, the physical and socioeconomic regression. So, even if the military succeeds in taking out Kanu, the Biafra mantle will naturally be transferred to someone else, who may even be more dangerous than kanu. Tact, not force, is what President Muhammadu Buhari needs to handle Kanu and the Biafra agitation.

There are two questions the government must answer if Nigeria must remain peaceful. Why, despite his apparent weakness of character, lack of purpose, unruly choice of words, does Kanu continue commanding huge youth following? And, why, after almost four decades post-Civil War, are we still discussing Biafra? I do not have all the answers, but I’ll supply some.

First question: as I said earlier, Kanu is the number-one beneficiary of government’s misuse of power. But more importantly, Kanu’s followers are mostly made up of unemployed or unprofitably employed, disillusioned youth who have finally found someone to identify with their struggles. For the second, it must mean that the Biafra question was never addressed after the war. Buhari must think long and hard about what the Igbo want, why they feel sidelined, and what he can do to make them feel part of Nigeria.

Otherwise, a legitimate Biafra question will be left in the hands of an opportunistic Kanu, and we will lose a golden opportunity to once and for all resolve our differences and strengthen the bond of our nationhood. Buhari should let the courts decide Kanu’s fate. He must jettison the use of force and embrace dialogue — because whether we like it or not, a million pythons cannot dance away the Biafra question!

 

Soyombo, Editor of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), tweets @fisayosoyombo

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