Awful  that child kidnapping, baby factories and sale of infants are thriving in democratic Nigeria

Our recent essay dealing with the preponderance of quack drugs and merchants in Nigeria is garnering a large readership.

   

The instant essay focuses on another corruption that is mushrooming or rapidly gaining ground  in Nigeria, It is none other than the crime of selling infants under the pretext of overcoming poverty or assisting persons facing childlessness.  Consider the Biblical story told in first Chapter first Book of Samuel.

The purpose of this essay is to suggest that Nigeria ought to do away the crime of child kidnapping and sale of infants which  still persist in the country despite all attempts to stamp out the iniquities.

No family or marriage is considered whole or successful until a child is born. A woman without a child is a complainant, worse than a petitioner seeking a redress  in a court of law where she has hasn’t got jurisdiction.

 The childless woman is likened to a beggar on the street taken advantage of by a panhandler who sells her a baby for the price of a plate of jollof rice.  

This essay takes the position that a family afflicted with childlessness is the talk of the town where the infertile woman lives.

People point at the man and say “he’s without an issue” and of the woman they say “her’s is a body that cannot produce  ‘fruit of the womb’”. A childless person is an oddity.

Oddity is a peculiarity that turns into a laughing-stock in the community, A childless woman is worse than just a laughing stock; she is a caricature. A caricature is a laughter that occurs when a victim is subjected to general mockery or ridicule.

If you are childless, you are caricatured in that you are mimicked, satirized,  aped, parodied. The reason for being pointed out is that you are object of lampoon reserved for one who is destitute,  a person that has nothing, not even a  child.

 Childlessness has been a problem from time immemorial, from antiquity even before the birth of the Savior the Christ. Remember the story of Hannah married to a husband  named Elkananah?.

Like many Nigerian men, including this writer’s brother-in-law who has my sister and another woman as wives,  Elkananah was a Hebrew polygamist who was married to two wives named Hannah and Penninah.

Penninah had several children while Hannah had none. Penninah often tormented childless Hannah, calling her all sorts of names. Hannah often wept, refusing to eat or be comforted,

Though her husband had given the childless wife Hannah more belongings than he had given the child-bearing Penninah, things seemed to get worse rather than better. Elkananh did show partiality in order to create harmony in the family.

 “Give me a child or I die,” Hannah often cried to her husband’s  greatest annoyance. Invariably, Elkananh thought in his mind: Look-oo  na big trouble-oo.

“Am I God to give or withdraw babies?” The husband  protested at  his childless, weeping, sorrowful , inconsolable wife. A family where there are no children is a devil workshop that manufactures palaver (Nigerian word for problems).   

In my home Nigeria, many women are hard at work conceiving and producing  as many babies as they possibly can in order to feel  accomplished and be desired by their husbands..

Some unscrupulous citizens (men and women) are busy kidnapping other women’s children and selling them  for money in order to avoid pennilessness and to succor women afflicted with childlessness.    

In Nigeria, kidnapping and human trafficking of infants are crimes that seem thrive as a means to solve the problem of childlessness or hunger.

But the crimes  are becoming increasingly commonplace or conventional, as a result of poverty created by the Muslin-led government.

That child kidnapping  persists along with the selling is undeniable. The incontrovertibility, incontestability, or unquestionableness  is as obvious as the selling of Eba (garri) and osikapa (rice) in the open at Alaba Market .  

Although the Nigerians notice or should have noticed that the crime of buying and selling babies is unnatural,  yet they go about their businesses unperturbed,  pretending to not notice.

The story is told of a daughter who was pushed out of her family, excommunicated from her kindred and disinherited because she refused to sell her newborn in order to provide money to feed the rest of the clan.

Read » Baby selling factories are still a thing in Nigeria, yet we won’t embrace adoption on YNaija

from YNaija https://ynaija.com/baby-the-injustice-blog-while-many-are-trying-hard-to-conceive-others-are-selling-theirs/

Poverty is not and should not be sufficient excuse to drive out a child that refuses to engage in human trafficking,  namely the sale of her baby, just as having no money  does not ipso facto  justify prostitution.

 The human baby and body are sacred  and ought to be treated as such, despite the degree of hunger  or the number of childless women lining the gates of Aso Rock.

Although the Nigerian Government has established orphanages to facilitate the care and adoption of infants, many Nigerians still persist in frequenting baby factories under the guise of  trading or solving the problem created by childlessness.

As one cannot rob Paul to pay Peter, and as two wrongs do not make a right, you either make it all right or leave the wrong alone. Trading on babies is reprehensible  and subjects Nigeria  to general mockery and ridicule in the committee of civilized nations.

A crime is a crime and ought to be punished as such to the fullest extent of the law both for the sellers  and buyers of babies, and families which promote such illegal transactions.

  

According to a report by Punch, 4-year-old Elo Ogidi, who  went missing during a church service at the Christ Embassy, has been found in Benin, Edo state, in an orphanage after she was kidnapped on Sunday, July 8, 2018.Read more:  https://www.pulse.ng/gist/metro/missing-4-yr-old-girl-during-church-service-found-in-orphanage-id8770062.html.

In another case, the Nigerian Police as recently as Monday, October 8, 2018,arraigned 48-years-old Akwaja Adaeze, in Wuse Zone 6 Magistrates’ Court in Abuja, for allegedly kidnapping a minor and selling him off for N650,000. Read more: https://www.tori.ng/news/107858/woman-arrested-for-kidnapping-and-selling-another.html

Defendant Akwaja- Adaeze, who is a trader and resides in Imo, had pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge of criminal conspiracy and kidnapping leveled against her. She could be claiming that “the child is mine.”

The prosecutor, Mr Fedelix Egwube, told the court that the Police Command in Imo had arrested one Pricilia Egole with a child suspected to have been abducted.

Egwube said that during police investigations it was revealed that Adaeze kidnapped the minor along Zuba-Suleja Road in Abuja.

He added that Adaeze allegedly took the minor to Imo without the consent of his parents and sold him to Egole for N650,000 (1831 US Dollars).

The prosecutor, Mr Fedelix Egwube, told the court that the Police Command in Imo had arrested one Pricilia Egole with a child suspected to have been abducted.

 Prosecutor Egwube made several allegations. First, police investigations revealed that Adaeze kidnapped the minor along Zuba-Suleja Road in Abuja.

Secondly, Adaeze allegedly took the minor to Imo without the consent of his parents and sold him to Egole for N650,000.

Egwube also said that the police has released the kidnapped victim to the parents after appropriate investigation.

The prosecutor said that the offence contravened the provisions of Section 97 and 273 of the Penal Code.

Mr Jeojima Thompson, Counsel to the defendant, thereafter, filed an oral application seeking the court to admit his client to bail.

 Thompson said the alleged offences were bailable, adding that his client would always be available to stand justice. He said: “I assure the court that the defendant would not jump bail if admitted,’’ he said.

 The Magistrate, Ahmad Ndajiwo, granted bail to the defendant in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum, and ordered the sureties must reside within the court jurisdiction and he adjourned the case until Nov. 13 for hearing.

Th9s essay would not end without noticing that Edo State seems to be leading the nation is championing illegal trade in minor children.

This writer has had conversations with a 50-something-year-old aged  Nigerian childless woman who had travelled  to Edo to adopt a little girl.

After paying N400,000 ($1,600 at N250/$ at that time) and returning to Abuja with the adoptive , the adoption agency asked the adopting mother to return the child  with the excuse that the birth mother did not approve of the adoption .

The purpose of this essay is to state categorically that adoption is in shambles in Nigeria as there is no meeting of the minds of all concerned stakeholders.

The conclusion is a moral question. Isn’t it extremely anachronistic that baby factories  and sale of infants are thriving well in my democratic country? There is no way to ascertain how many of the kidnapped children are actually adopted by childless couples  and how many perish at the hands of evil cultists.

 The readers shall agree that producing babies in factories for the sole aim of selling to persons who want to avoid poverty or assisting childless couples to have children, is anachronistic, old-fashioned, outdated, obsolete, archaic, antiquated. It is primitive when education in the sciences ought to provide batter options than human trafficking.

Dr. James C. Agazie, jamesagazie@gmail.com; jamesagazies.blogspot.com

TOWARDS A PHILOSOPHY OF IGBO UNITY

This essay, first conceived in 2012, is arguing that, despite what they have been through and what has been dished out to them, the Igbo shall rise again and survive.  They have always survived and would continue to survive in present-day amalgamation.

 The Igbos have many lessons to learn as they go through the so-called 40-year trek through the desert to the promised land. They shall have many transformations to make. 

We Igbos are in a class of our own, unique, steadfast, resourceful, full of energy, and self-propelling. Yet, we Igbos are disunited.

We seem to be iPhone with tiny computer chips manufactured in China, Japan, and many other different countries that perform wonders when used simultaneously, an electrical whittle that is in-built, ingrained, integral, and intrinsic.

When one comes in contact with a group of Igbo men and women, one can’t help walking away with a bit of nostalgia, a feeling that these people are something else: their electrical impulse is magnetic and  springs forth as energy, power, force, and oomph (defined as vigor, livelihood, get-up-and-go).

This is not to say we Igbos are not without fault. What is true of Igbo men is just as true of the women. The Igbo woman is a glowing force in motion.

Someone once described the Igbos as the “essagasimotion”, meaning the air that is a gas in motion. Even the tiny Igbo child you saw dancing unashamedly behind the masquerade On U Tube programming at Afikpo last week  strikes you as surreal, weird. It is amazing.

A few years ago, this writer once cried and complained about the difficulties encountered in sailing through a doctoral degree until someone believed to be Igbo pulled him aside and asked a rhetorical question: ”Aren’t you Igbo?” The rest is history.

With all our smartness and stick-with-it-ness, why aren’t we Igbos where we ought to be? The answer can be encapsulated, compressed in just one word-unity.

A few years ago, a Kenyan woman flew into Atlanta from Lagos to deliver her fourth child which arrived earlier than expected because she fell down while buying goods she was loading  into someone’s container for shipment to Lagos.

”Who are you?” This writer asked when he finally tracked her down in Texas with a phone number her Igbo friend had provided . She said nothing; and stood there just thinking.

“Who are you?” I demanded again and again, amazed at how a Kenyan could work so hard. Her response was “I am a Kenyan married to a Nigerian.”

I then, I asked rather sarcastically: “And what type of Nigerian husband you’re talking about?”

This writer said in his mind Everyone who works hard is said to be a Nigerian.  He was surprised when this Kenyan said she was married to an Igbo husband surnamed Ugochukwu (real Igbo name) from somewhere in Anambra,  in Nnewi LGA.

We say all this to say this: anything the Igbo touches is bound to turn to gold, to be accomplished big time. That proves the point. A hardworking Igbo is dangerous  wherever he or she goes, whether dead or alive.

Is that why there is so much fuss about the Igbos in Nigeria, and why they are being killed, marginalized , and sent to the periphery of society?  

Even the woman the Igbo marries is equally as dangerous as a firecracker that is lit and tossed away during the America’s Independence Day celebration on July 4^th.

We ask readers: “Don’t you think the Igbo’s dangerousness is a result of hard work habit? Is that the reason Igbos appear to be hated, vilified, and chased from pillar to post?”

We want to ask Yorubas and their governors: “Why do you think you own Lagos and can you develop Lagos alone without the contributions of the Igbos? And if you answer in the affirmative, aren’t you then the biggest liar?”

The Igbos are victims of lies peddled across Nigerian and the world by envious mouths of the Yoruba and non-Igbos. The most pathetic fear of the Yoruba is Igboclasstrophobia (made-up word), meaning fear that Igbos may outclass the Yoruba in education and Onitsha dethrone Lagos as the center of commerce in West Africa.

This writer asks fellow Igbos: “Don’t you think we can perform  great wonders if we Igbos  learn to work amicably with Igbos and non-Igbos alike, and why can’t we  do greater wonders  if we can turn our  Biafra area into the wonderland it ought to be and call our new home the USI (United States of  Igboland) or the AIU (Ala Igbo United)?”  

The Igbos have met opposition in Northern Nigeria for decades; the Igbos are meeting opposition in Western Nigeria, especially in the no-man’s land called Lagos; and the Nigerian Igbos are experiencing opposition in South Africa. It seems the Igbos are experiencing difficulties everywhere they go.

The purpose of this essay is to grapple with the thorny question as to why a hardworking people often meet opposition. What is it that has been keeping the Igbos back, and how can the Igbos  move forward through, beneath, around, or beyond the opposition?

 Is it money that is keeping the Igbos back? Is it intelligence? Is it a curse? What is it? Perhaps it can only be unity or lack of political power.

 I can love you without being in unity with you, but I cannot be in unity with you without loving you. Political power ties whatever it takes to move things forward together.

By the same token, love alone cannot hold a marriage or a tribe permanently intact; you need commitment which is a stronger bond, more unbreakable and more unifying than mere love in action.

But it takes something greater than love and commitment to build something as simple as a beehive or anthill, or a viable Igbo Nation. The Igbos need the magic of unity.

Magic is enchantment, fairy-tale. Unity is agreement, harmony, accord, unison, unanimity, or Igwebuike (Igbo for unity is strength). Consider the tiny ants. Look at bees in a beehive. Look at hyenas hunting in a group.

The honey bees and ants are teachers of UNITY. What follows is a developing (not fully developed) philosophy of IGBO UNITY. It consists of purging poison out of our corporate body. To purge is to get rid of harmful substances.  We must get rid of certain Igbo habits, idiosyncrasies.

Pride: We must get rid of astounding titles: Just as Owambe is killing the Yorubas dead, and jihadhist violence is the Achilles heel  leading to the downfall  of the Hausas, jaw-breaking titles are rendering the Igbos disunited and obsolete.

 Titles I have a homeboy I once knew as Joachim. Then  one day, his name changed to Nze (Chief) Joachim. Next thing I knew was Sir Nze Joachim. Finally, I met Joachim at a party. He was introduced as Dr. Joachim,  PhD, EdD, MA, MSc, Med.

Ah ah, we got scared, not able to shake the Joachim’s hand any more for fear he might reject our handshake or thrust your right hand aside. And you want me to dance with the Joachim’s wife at a party?

I say I am afraid of the man, and you are asking me to risk my life, boogieing  owambeing in a dance with this man's wife who goes by the strange title Lolo Ogbuefi.  Am I crazy?

 What of the friend I used to know as Simon. Didn’t I develop migraine when I read the email from Dr. Simon. The email’s sender was Gburugburu.

I didn’t take Igbo language in the GCE or WASC examination, but I take gburugburu to mean something that  goes around or surrounds one completely,

Hasn’t General Emeka Ojukwu been described as Gburugburu? Does every Igbo want to be an Ojukwu? Pride and title are effective killers of Igbos.

Now, I am scared to pick up calls from Simon. He might be asking me to pay a fee for talking with him on the wireless. Some of the weird titles I have on my cellphone include Engineer Chief Ukwumango (mango tree) and Egozurumba  (Money Is Everywhere).

Consider  Architect Cardinal Nwachinemelum (God Does Things  For me),  and Accountant  O. Charlie whose title is Ome Mgbe Oji (Spender of money When He has It).

Each title holder acts superior to the others. How can their children come to play together or marry each other when bombastic titles are separating them?

Westernism: We must get rid of Westernism: We need to stop pretending that Igbo Nation would be a reality when we copy everything from the West and fail to recognize things from our culture that define who we are, or fail to get rid of the virus that causes our preference of individualism (separateness) from Njikoka ( umunna-ism or togetherness). Westernism  is the direct opposite of Umunna-ism.

We must throw away Westernism (European and American culture with emphasis on urban life, nuclear family and what’s -mine-is-mine-and-what’s-yours-is-yours mentality).

Collectivism: We should embrace Umunna-ism (which emphasizes the communal, extended family , village-ness, and inclusiveness). Am I not the keeper of every Igbo and doesn’t it take the whole village to raise a child?

Competitiveness: We must get rid of proneness to overpopulation and unhealthy competitiveness: Why push your village wife to have 13 children or your daughter to marry Awusa senator just to beat out your siblings and become the family champion? Then you spray Naira at parties called to confer on you the ubiquitous title of Igwe (paramount chief of your village).

Have you been to a traditional wedding where akata husband marries an Igbo girl and the girl's father introduced his son-in-law as Igwe? Akata is pejorative/derogatory for the Black American.

 Igbo elders invited to the occasion became offended that Igwe title reserved for an elderly, seasoned Igboman was being conferred upon a young non-Igbo .

Isn't  President Buhari been conferred chieftain titles in Igbo communities he has been to to gather votes?

In many families, there are two warring camps: Ndinwere-ego  (money people) and Ndiguru-akwukwo (educated people). The first group consists of cousins and uncles who have accumulated billions of Naira from importations and who have mansions and homes scattered everywhere and at Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu, in London, Aba, South Africa, and Asaba.

The other group has little money but several lawyers, teachers, and small-time traders. All through the year and at Christmas, life is like a soccer or ping pong match between Ndinwere-Ego v. Ndiguru-Akwukwo. There is no communication between groups, just benign neglect and excessive pride.

Love of money: We must get rid of inordinate love of money. To be inordinate, the love would be excessive, undue, unwarranted, immoderate, extravagant, unreasonable, disproportional , or too much.

This Igbo friend was alright until he opened a second used car dealership in downtown Macon. But when he announced the openings of a 3^rd and 4^th outside the city limit, his love of money began to change his personality. He’s no longer accessible for me. or his friends.

Relatives tell me of a wealthy Lagos family friend who was good until “money pass water”, prompting him to run over his wife with a vehicle in the heat of passion. He tells neighbors: “Even if I killed with motor, nothing can happen to me because I have money, and I can bribe the Judge.”

He dared anyone to challenge him. He even hired some policemen to run off in-laws who wanted to give the wife a befitting burial.

We lament the death of a favorite real doctor (Dr. Amobi of Ogidi trained in Britain) whom wicked men assassinated in front of Oyibo (white)  wife because the doctor sought  the village chieftaincy title that was due him but an over competitive opponent assassinated the good doctor .

Polygamy: We must get rid of polygamy: When a man marries several wives, children grow up hating each other. The competition to outclass, outshine, and out-monetize siblings is rampant even though they all come from the same polygamist’s genital.

 Mothers join in to out-dress, out-glamorize, out boyfriendize other wives, while the husband enjoys sampling the goodies of multiple wives. 

Animosity: We must get rid of animosity and learn to nurture each other and provide benevolence. To nurture is to cultivate, cherish, encourage, foster, develop, raise, rear. Benevolence is the state of providing kindness, generosity, munificence, goodwill, altruism, magnanimity, or obi oma (Igbo for kindheartedness).

We must get rid of separatism in the family. Your brother’s children in Mbano or California are totally estranged from your own children in Atlanta simply because you and your brother are busy giving your children don’t –mind-that –fool lessons; antagonizing your brother and creating dissension amongst spouses and cousins.

We must get rid of reprobate values and morals. Current Ndiigbo values and morals militate against fostering successful unity.

We praise wrong people when we throw parties for the thief that successfully stole government contract money or who sacrificed his mother at alusi (idol) for money.

We insult wrong people when  we ridiculed the truck-pusher who lost his wheel barrow which he sold in the attempt to pay off the debt he owes on rents to house his children.

Greed We enter wrong deals. Why have you and I gone into a joint venture, and you are bent on taking the whole profits and seeking to drop some poison in my cup of beer?

Why can’t you give me my fair share of profit we made and let us repeat the process until you get more than you would working alone after killing me?

We must not rid ourselves of the desire to get rid of these troublesome habits, including the habits of greed, pride, excessive individualism, and parroting. mimicking, or impersonation  of Western values.

Dr. James C. Agazie,  jamesagazie@gmail.com, jamesagazies.blogspot.com

N is for Nigeria in a Loving Relationship

The purpose of this essay is to add a little icing to the cake that sweetens our democracy. When we govern ourselves through our responsive representatives, we practice democracy.

 It is important that in our democracy we are concerned with solving problems that concern us  rather than beating about the bush, chasing the whirlwinds  and serving the non-essentials.

 

We are in a marching band and our song is a mantra by which we solemnly swear to uphold our nation at whatever cost even with tears and laughter:

We are Nigerians first and foremost, let’s make Nigeria nice and glorious

The emblem of steadfast stability, the devotion of every fiber in our being

Raise the triumphal shout high; let not the feet touch the ground

We’re the Alpha and Omega, First of all and Servant of all

Nigeria is a relationship, not just a piece of land or the expansive, sprawling. capacious forest ; it is an enduring  relationship.

A relationship is the connection, association, affiliation, rapport , bond, liaison, link, correlation, or bond that binds us and represents to our common goal.

This essay is devoted to the 5 healthy ingredients that Nigerian needs as we march toward the next Century. We need Self-Love.

In order to have a healthy, loving relationship with another human being, you must first learn to love yourself.

Self-love is not the self-absorption that robbers and kidnappers have as they partner in crime. It is the self-abnegation that neglects self, values connection,  and puts others first.

Every Hausa boy shall connect with a fellow child  of another tribe, meaning he shall have love in his heart for every Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba he endeavors to meet and trust.

Trust may seem obvious, but many of us have partners we do not trust. Trust is the faith, belief, hope, conviction, expectation we have that it is good and shall be well with Nigeria.

Trust is the confidence, expectation, reliance we repose in each other. It is the confidence Igbos have in that Western landscape that he shall be safe in the neighborhood as the day shuts its eye in darkness.

Do the Nigerians love other Nigerians and are willing to appreciate their common historical experiences, music, cuisine and religion and negate the differences that divide?

Are Nigerians able to go to the mosque that is beside the United Methodist church that is a stone throw behind the Jehovah Witness  building in which the Jewish observe their Torah on the Sabbath?

Trust may seem obvious, but so many people are with citizens they don't trust. Church burnings and beheading are perpetrated by persons that have no trusting relationships.

In addition to self-love and trust, a Nigerian needs honesty which is the uprightness, morality; honesty is the trustworthiness, goodness, and decency.

Honesty is the goodness, the principles and scrupulousness that prevents involvement in corruption or the giving and taking of bribes.

Honesty  is the rectitude, righteousness that makes the governor easy when teachers’ salaries are held beyond the end of the month; that renders the President uneasy in foreign hospitals.

Honesty is the light that shines in every heart and drives the darkness far away . There can be no relationship without open communication and connection among Nigerians

Communication is the jabbering, the chattering, babbling, prattling, rambling, blathering in every tribal tongue that asks “What’s in the name Nigeria?”

N is our Native Nigeria while the first I is the Independence we shall forever cherish

G is our Generosity and E is the Energy that goes into serving our nation

R is our Reliability and Responsibility in the work of nation-building

The second I stands for the Indebtedness we feel we owe our nation

Finally, the A signifies the Awesomeness that is embodied in Nigeria

Posted Sat, Oct 6, 2o18 at 5:10am

Dr. James C. Agazie, jamesagazie@gmail.com

How many Nigerian lives are being lost to quackery and isn’t quackery taking its ugly toll?

The purpose of this essay is to report on a personal experience with quack medicine in Nigeria. On a recent visit to Nigeria, this writer ran into and had conversations with a “nurse” who practices her profession at a Nigerian maternity hospital under a “doctor” who says he graduated from a Nigerian medical school.

The writer had conversations with the so-called doctor/medical director of the maternity , but had no way to determine legitimacy or qualifications, but it was a large house built with cement blocks and shiny marbles.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

The nurse delivers female babies for 7,000 Naira. She delivers male babies for 8,000 Naira, and is charging extra 1,000 Naira for circumcision of boys.

The nurse says she practices nursing but has neither the training nor the required license. She makes  10,000 Naira (28 dollars)  monthly and lives in a two-rooms place for which she pays 2,000 Naira ( 6 dollars) a month.

Quack medicine  is endemic, widespread, prevalent, rampant, pervasive in Nigeria. The government is aware of the practice, and even persons engaged in medicine are aware of quackery. However, they ignore it or are unable to do something about it.

Quackery is a fast-money maker. Quackery cannot be stopped. Everyone is into quackery. It is quackery. Quackery is here. Quackery is there. Quackery is everywhere.  Quack! Quack!

Quackery is practiced in all parts of Nigerian among all tribes, including the Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, Yoruba. In fact, there are quack doctors all over my country.

Traders import tons of quack drugs from China, India, and local Nigerian quack producers. The fight against quackery is tough, tougher than the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier boxing match.

A Nigerian medical doctor, travelling from Nasarawa to Awka to attend a medical convention, was beaten to coma for opposing quackery, an unprofessional medical practice,  by owner of a pharmacy he  had stopped at to pick up over-the-counter medications for a travelling companion. Read more:  https://www.tori.ng/news/107814/shocking-lawmaker-beats-doctor-into-coma-for-oppos.html

Upon observing the employees of the pharmacy perform treatment the doctor considered to be dangerous and unprofessional , the doctor complained about quack.

Because the doctor was trained in Western medicine and opposed quack and its practitioners, the quack employees called the owner of the quack pharmacy to report what was happening.

The owner came, and after discovering the identity of the medical practitioner and being told about the unprofessional medical procedure being complained about, took the law into his hands

Pharmacy owner complained that the doctor was attempting to destroy his business and then descended upon the doctor whom he  beat up and sent to the hospital. with a broken vein in the brain as well as a crack in the spine as a result of battery by the pharmacy owner who is also a lawmaker.

What followed was unfortunate. The doctor, Dr. Umaru, chairman of the NMA (Nigerian Medical Association) called to report the pharmacy’s quackery.

The owner of the pharmacy,  Honorable Emenaka, House of Assembly member who was reported to have accused the doctor of trying to ruin his business, started to pull strings with higher ups and fellow politicians to keep the crime under rock carpets.

The incidence showed the total breakdown of the rule of law as well as a lack of respect for life of the average Nigerian. Why does a “licensed” pharmacy engage in unprofessional procedure that endangers life and isn’t it to make money?

Years ago, while the writer was teaching primary school in Benue State, he  observed quackery practiced at its most deplorable stage.

Local traders would purchase what looked like penicillin from Lagos, Nnewi, or Onitsha markets, then come to the villages to inject unsuspecting farmers.

Injection syringes were unwashed, environment unhygienic, and diseases transferred from one person to another . God must love Africans greatly; otherwise they would have been wiped out in a second. Wham!

The farmers were usually poor, uneducated, and easily fooled. They were too trusting. Illiterate. Illiteracy  can enslave one and usually does.

One farmer was injected with drugs meant to cattle. The drug was so powerful it knocked the farmer unconscious. Upon regaining consciousness, the farmer agreed that he had received the best treatment.  and was asked to pay top price.

The question to ask is:  How many Nigerian lives have been lost and continue to be lost as a result of quackery?

Sunday, October 7, 2018

Dr. James C, Agazie, jamesagazie@gmail.com; jamesagazies.blogspot.com