For some people, Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom was their first experience with the idea that America may not be the greatest country in the world. The gaspin the room when Will McAvoy (played by Jeff Daniels) expressed his doubt about it hints at how Americans may feel about the idea that something they’ve been told all their lives and one that may have formed the basis of sneering at people from other countries, may, in fact, be untrue. It’s how I feel when confronted with the facts that gnaw at the assertion that my country – Nigeria – is the giant of Africa. 

Granted, Nigeria is so called mainly because of her population, but also because of its political power and wealth back in the day. It may be hard for many people to fathom this, but the Naira did not always cower at the sight of the Dollar. 

For some of us, we’ve always felt we are way better than many of our neighbours in other countries; yet today, I have seen Ghanaians, who were once learning filmmaking from Nigerians, produce such beautiful pieces that Nollywood – Nigeria’s film industry – can barely match. That is just one of many examples. 

Here is another – according to internetworldstats.com, Kenyans have an internet penetration of 87.2% while Nigeria has 61.2%. While some would raise intelligent arguments about population and other factors, one truth stands out; the average person in Kenya has better access to internet service than I do and that doesn’t help me when I’m in the middle of those very interesting and engaging Twitter wars between Nigeria and Kenya. So, we may lag behind most countries in the arts, tourism, internet penetration, healthcare, and infrastructure, but the Giant of Africa, we are.

Much like Nigeria, America’s might lies in numbers and stories. According to ‘the media’ (we’ll catch up with this guy later), America is the greatest country on earth. When I watch American movies, I can see why and how Americans would believe that. Americans always save the day. American superheroes save the world and the American SWAT team can do all things; but these pale when held against real news stories and statistics that mirror the realities of the American experience. I still cannot get over the fact that conversations around gun legislation are so polarised. To me, it is probably the most interesting thing about America – that people would worry more about guns than life, even their own lives. I know that I may be biased because I live in a country where people don’t just own guns. Apart from that one incident where a distant relative strutted out of his house with a dane gun and fired it into the sky to mark the new year, I have never been in doubt about how guns make me feel – threatened. Even at the hands of my country’s law enforcement officers, guns are a source of trepidation. So, I know that they are not playthings and I find it baffling that Americans don’t mind the risk of putting guns in the hands of “unstable people”; especially because they are notorious for this. According to the American Center for Disease Control, 39,740 people died from gun violence in 2018. Americans are supposedly smarter and this sounds like a no brainer, but what do I know. “The second amendment was put there for a reason” and every gun needs a home.

Well, a country where people have so many unchecked security loopholes would not be my first choice. Nobody wants to leave his house thinking, “if I drive carefully and no drunk person runs me over, maybe someone will hit me during a mass shooting at the mall; but thank goodness for 911. I know help will show up in time”. As a Black person, this is heightened by the thought that anyone – even the police – may hurt me just because they feel threatened by my existence.

But why do I care at all, you may wonder. I am Nigerian and I live a safe distance from white supremacists, greedy pharmaceutical companies, and trigger-happy white people. All these should not be my business especially because I have many problems of my own. In an episode of ABC’s Boston Legal a citizen sued the United States for the ethnic violence in Sudan. The argument was that America’s declaration of interest in the fight against terrorism “wherever it thrives” made other countries that would have stood up to help Sudan, to hold back. Shirley Schmidt (played by Candace Bergen) the prosecuting attorney, asked that if America couldn’t rise to the occasion, it should say so. That’s how I feel about America in many ways.

As we wade through this pandemic, one can hardly quantify what the mixed signals from America have caused governments and individuals outside America, who still look to her as the greatest country in the world. One day, COVID-19 is a small fly and the next, it’s a serious issue; one day Hydroxy-Chloroquine is the answer and the next, it isn’t. One day, bleach can probably work to clear the human system and the next, it resumes its seat on the table of substances that are unfit for ingestion. In the words of Shirley Schmidt, “maybe as a compromise, we can get the US government to declare ‘hey, not our problem’. That way, the world will be on notice that someone else can “play hero” and we can turn our attention to a country like New Zealand, that is swift with a response to gun violence and pandemics and has a better healthcare system. 

One may also ask, if all these are true and America is not the greatest country in the world, why are Africans still flooding U.S. embassies to get visas? Say hello again to our friend ‘the media’. Good stories make good believers and the American media does a fantastic job. I also believe that for most of us, it’s the devil we know. Our family members are there, we’ve learned their culture through movies, etc., we know the language and even if Black people are sometimes killed for no reason, we know we’ll find our own there as opposed to searching for countries that are even more welcoming of immigrants. The rules are more explicitly spelled. The risks too.

Americans complain about their current president so bitterly. I understand we are watching the deterioration of her democracy under his leadership, but I know this man. His kinsman has been my president since 2015 and will remain so until 2022, all things being unequal. If he berates women, embarrasses his state and office, has been part of efforts to oppress certain parts of the population, is uncouth with his words, and lacks empathy; he is pretty much my current president. The only difference is, Trump seems to love pressers but we haven’t had one with our President for years. It doesn’t also help that ours isn’t tech-savvy enough to handle his own Twitter account. 

We know your demons, America and even if our issues are louder than yours, we can risk living with them. We can also live with the fact that, according to one of your journalists, Will McAvoy, America is “7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in the labor force and number 4 in exports.” 

I will confess that beyond all the justifications I have given for my interest in America’s unraveling, there is a more interesting and selfish truth: while I live with the realities of my ailing country, I watch with an embarrassing amusement as Americans wake up to their problems and cry out so loudly over things like health insurance, dwindling respect for democracy and value of life; because as it appears, you are warming up to things my friends and I have lived with, and thrived in spite of. Over the years, we have tried to say that we who go out of our way to do honest work in this country deserve respect in the way you write about us in your movies and books, but all you have always chosen to hear and see is that we are all corrupt alms-seeking beggars. 

Well, what if all I know about America is racism, drug addiction, a corrupt government, mass shootings, and the Capitol take over?

By PI Imoesi

Recently I read in the news how Nigeria is preparing to procure the COVID-19 vaccine for her citizenry. Is anything wrong in procuring a COVID-19 vaccine? Certainly not, but is there a need for a rush? No. In this piece of write-up, I will address why Nigeria shouldn’t be in a rush in getting the COVID-19 Vaccine, the type of COVID-19 vaccine we should be aiming to procure, and the need for a robust nation-wide seroprevalence study before contemplating on a vaccine.

The current COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t had a devastating effect on the African continent as initially predicted due to the poor healthcare system, poor social amenities and a high population density. Apart from South Africa, the abysmal testing on the continent is completely insignificant in spite of many African countries flouting the COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions.

This is equally applicable in Nigeria a country of over 200 million people, and since the start of the pandemic, Nigeria is yet to test 1% of her population.

Despite the slow testing pace, nonadherence to COVID-19 guidelines, the total death recorded in the country is less than 1500. Some have doubted the accuracy of reported deaths, but when compared to the average death rate over the same 10-month period of the previous year(s) no surge is apparent.

Due to the flouting of precautionary measures aimed at preventing the spread of the COVID-19 disease, one could deduce, a possibility of widespread infection rate in the population. But for reasons yet to be established scientifically, many of the cases in the country are mild or asymptomatic.

Chances are that many Nigerians may have already contracted the virus, recovered without knowing, and by extension acquired a certain level of immunity. Since many of the precautionary measures are completely flouted, there is the possibility of continuous exposure to the virus and depending on the level of immunity based on previous exposure, there could be a risk for continuous reinfection.

In recent preprint paper from Imperial College, London, it was reported health workers with continuous exposure to the virus had no changes in the rate of antibodies positivity. Also, in a recent study conducted 16 – 18 weeks after the first lockdown in the United Kingdom, and published in Science Immunology, it was reported individual with mild or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection had neutralising antibodies and complemented by multi-specific T-cell responses at 16 – 18 weeks after infection. However, it is unclear how long this level of immunity could last, and the same goes for the current vaccines.

Before deploying a COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria, it is highly necessary to conduct a large scale seroprevalence study in densely populated cities and towns across the country. This robust study will help establish the true representation of Nigerians with the antibody against SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The situation of COVID-19 in Nigeria is not high burden compared to countries such as South Africa, Brazil, United States of America or the United Kingdom etc. Therefore, the need for hastened mass vaccination may not be so urgent.

Also, the current COVID-19 vaccine is yet to undergo a clinical trial in a black dominant population. And in terms of case fatality rate, cases in Nigeria or Africa are far less compared to western countries, and the average median age of the country is 18.1 and life expectancy 55.8. Based on these peculiarities and the behavioural pattern of the virus in our clime, it is highly essential a clinical trial of the vaccines be carried out. For instance, the Oxford AstraZeneca is currently under clinical trial in Indian under the name COVIShield in line with the Indian Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation.

There have been instances where a few vaccines such as polio and typhoid vaccines proven to be effective in a western population failed to stimulate immunogenic reaction in an Indian population. Also, since the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is currently under clinical trial in Kenya, it is imperative Nigeria and many other Africa countries wait for the final clinical data.

When we finally decide to procure a vaccine, a number of factors should be considered: one, is the vaccine tested on a black dominant population? Has the vaccine undergone thorough clinical trial of Phase I, II, and III? Are the clinical findings published in a reputable peer-review journal? Do we have the right mode for storage? For emphasis, no vaccine is licenced against COVID-19, the current vaccines are authorised for emergency use only. This implies if a COVID-19 vaccine is to be use in Nigeria, such vaccines should undergo thorough clinical trial.

For instance, the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine recently published their data in The New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet Journal respectively. In contrast, there is the COVaxin (Indian), SputnikV (Russia) and SinoPharm (China), these vaccines have been greeted with several controversies within the science community due to lack of transparency.

If we must procure a vaccine in Nigeria, we should be considering the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna or Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. However, since the logistics to deploy the Pfizer/BioNTech requires -70 degree and the Moderna -20 degree; the Oxford AstraZeneca stored at 2 – 8 degrees seems to be the best suitable option for our clime. In terms of cost, the Oxford AstraZeneca cost about £3.00 compared to the Moderna £15.00 and £25.00 for the Pfizer respectively.

I will recommend first, the Oxford AstraZeneca, next Moderna (-200C) and finally, Pfizer/BioNTech if we have the -700C storage capacity. My recommendation is premise on the thoroughness of the development of these vaccines and the transparency; also, the clinical trial data are published already in peer-review journals.

The government of Nigeria should be critical in picking a vaccine backed with reasonable efficacy data in a black dominant population. It is clear the virus as behaved differently in Africa and this should be put into context before procuring any form of COVID-19 vaccine.

PI Imoesi, Ph.D.

Molecular Neuroscientist and Research Fellow, 

Institute of Medical Sciences,

School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition,

University of Aberdeen.

Scotland, United Kingdom.

Work-profile: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/people/peter.imoesi/

Blog: www.drimoesi.com

Email: peter.imoesi@abdn.ac.uk

Follow my twitter handle @DrPI_Imoesi.

Hyperlinks:

Rush-vaccines: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/scientists-criticize-rushed-approval-indian-covid-19-vaccine-without-efficacy-data?fbclid=IwAR2zS4FaH9VFoumwHZCnM_C8BH7qUITTuHUsdavJHdBTFpEKrHLuixjdvkY

Imperial College Preprint: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.26.20219725v1

Moderna: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2022483

Pfizer: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2034577

Discordant neutralising antibodies: https://immunology.sciencemag.org/content/5/54/eabf3698?fbclid=IwAR2AWyxPqW9K3F2cIb_oMgmH4bgMDdNEKZmyUoGBF9px6Doi6RVJ5qi0DA0

The temporariness of power seems to be a lesson completely lost on many individuals, including African leaders, who find themselves in the position to wield it. Whether through the ballot or through the gun-barrel, many of those at the helm of African nations often realise, after they bow out, that power is an illusion.     

The continent has seen exemplary and outstanding leaders like South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, and Ghana’s Jerry Rawlings, revered at home and abroad.

There have also been a host of tyrants and despots notorious for their misrule, including Idi Amin of Uganda, Jean Bedel Bokassa of Central African Republic, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, now Democratic republic of Congo, and Samuel Doe of Liberia. 

These men are no longer living, but there are also several, whom fate has granted the privilege of staying alive to see the results of their rule … or misrule as the case may be.

The case of Africa’s one-time youngest head of state is nothing short of pathetic. Captain Valentine Strasser was 25 years old when he led a group of young officers to topple President Joseph Momoh of Sierra Leaone in April 1992. He was overthrown by members of his own junta, 4 years later in January 1996.

Strasser left for the United Kingdom, where he studied law at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England. He dropped out after a year and returned to Sierra Leone where he now reportedly lives in penury.

The case of Strasser’s national next door neighbour, Charles Taylor of Liberia is probably worse. He is currently languishing in jail in the UK. Taylor literally shot his way into reckoning after waging an armed uprising against President Samuel Doe. Although Taylor eventually came to power through elections in August 1997, his fearsome reputation ensured only a token opposition. 

He ruled with an iron bloody fist for six years, until forced to resign amid international pressure in 2003. He was eventually convicted of crimes against humanity at the international criminal court at the Hague.

For South Africa’s Jacob Zuma, he might still be a free man but he is still being dogged by justice as he continues to face criminal charges of fraud, racketeering and money laundering, while in power. 

In fact, Zuma is no stranger to the courts as, during his years in the presidency, he faced a range of charges including rape and corruption. After succeeding Thabo Mbeki in 2009, he was forced to resign in 2018 following a vote of no-confidence in Parliament.

In December 2020, South Africa’s Deputy Chief Justice ordered Zuma to resume testifying before the Zondo Commission, to answer charges of graft. 

But it’s not entirely gloom for past African leaders, as a number of them, including Nigeria’s Olusegun Obasanjo, John Kuffour of Ghana and Liberia’s Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf have evolved into respected statesmen whose wisdom, experience and influence are being tapped, both in their home countries and across the continent.

If only leaders would remember that there is life after power, perhaps they would do things differently when they are in government. Except for those who ultimately desire to remain there for life. Even then, everything has an expiry date, including life itself.