The Scourge

Cancer is whipping the behinds of AIDS and Malaria in the race to become the single biggest killer of African potential.  It's winning the race almost hands down! Forget the two biggest contenders AIDS and Malaria, forget brain drain, forget infant and maternal mortality.  Think about it, how many loved ones have to lost to any of those causes in the past year?  If you do have a number other than zero, please accept my sincere condolences. I'm willing to bet though, that you have at least an equal number gone to Cancer.
It's come up with a million and one varieties, a million and one cells to affect in a body, and a million and one ways to evade treatment!
Time was when it was possible to directly relate cancer in a patient to a specific causative agent or predisposition: a smoking habit; a family history of breast cancer; long-term exposure to a known carcinogen, possibly from working in a factory; etc.  Today cancer doesn't need any of those excuses to strike anymore!  People who haven't smoked a day in their life die of cancer.  What do you do to predispose you to pancreatic cancer? or breast cancer for that matter?
Time was when we all knew what the carcinogens were and if we stayed away from them we were relatively sure to be cancer-free.  Now every other day something else gets added to the list of carcinogens.  It's practically impossible to live a normal life without being exposed to at least one cancer-causing agent each day!
We're told early detection is the only real solution, and yet a large proportion of detection/diagnosis is still incidental, happening only after treatment for other diseases has failed.  This in particular is the case for people with no family history or known predisposition, and people in (3rd?) world countries like Nigeria.
Young ladies are getting elective mammograms every day now in some parts of the world because they have a family history of breast cancer.  Older ladies are having elective hysterectomies because they have some predisposition to ovarian cancer- and those are the lucky ones!  The ones who are educated enough and aware enough and possess the resources to actually do these procedures. That still leaves the rest of the population who still get blindsided by cancer everyday to deal with the debilitating sickness, the pain, the sheer agony of the sickness.  It still leaves all of those families to watch their loved ones fade away before their eyes.  We won't talk about how traumatic it must be for a woman of any age who takes preventive or even curative measures to lose such a intrinsic part of their anatomy, a portion that pretty much defines them as that gender.  We won't talk about the fact that oftentimes even after these drastic measures they still lose the battle.
Oh how do we rationalize the loss of an able-bodied young man to cancer due to exposure to hitherto unknown or well-hidden carcinogens in the factory where he worked to put food on the table for his family?  What if the carcinogens were already known but he could find no other work?
So even the handful who are willing and able to take preventive measures still do it at a huge cost- emotional, spiritual, financial, relational, psychological costs.
So it looks like any which way we all pay, right?  In some form or the other we pay, whether first hand or 2nd hand we pay. Such a steep price we pay.
So here I am lending my voice to the cry for a cure for cancer.  Can every nation put their money where their citizen's lives are going? Can every millionaire, every billionaire and every philanthropist put some real money into this? Can every religion talk about this on every holy day and consciously pray and fast about it?  Can every research institute make this a priority? Can everybody do something concrete towards a cure when you read this? Please?
I acknowledge and I applaud all of the people who are in any way contributing to that search for a cure right now.  I acknowledge the giant steps that have been made.  I'm just saying I think we can do more if we all really just give it a moment of thought.
RIP Remi Lagos (aged 51), the latest to fall prey to the scourge. I didn't know her personally, but she contributed immensely to putting Nigeria on the fashion map.

This one is dedicated to my dad Professor Amos Babatunde Folarin (died aged 69); to our friend Bayo Muili (aged 44); to a lovely woman Mrs Ogundipe (aged 62); to Uncle Akintunde (50s); to Donna Summer (aged 63); to Yvette Wilson (aged 48); and to all the other people who've fallen, and those that are currently battling...

DanaRama

"The federal government has lifted the suspension of the Operating Licence of Dana Airlines," Joe Obi, spokesman for the aviation ministry said in a statement.

"This follows government's satisfaction with the air-worthiness of the airline after a rigorous technical, operational and financial audit."

On the 3rd of June 2012, at least 159 of God's most precious creation lost their lives in an untimely and gruesome manner.  Multiply that number by an infinite exponential factor and you can begin to get a picture of the number of lives that were really affected, the number of families that were thrown into grieving, mourning, disarray, despondence, hopelessness, truncation, stagnation- you get the drift- on account of this one incidence.
Exactly 94 days after that ill-fated journey, on the 5th of September 2012, we hear the above announcement over various news media.
After the crash, people were understandably hurt and angry and the authorities did the right thing by opening an investigation into the cause of the plane crash, and suspending Dana from flying.  The black box from the aircraft was sent abroad to be decoded, in aid of said investigation. 

Forgive me for repeating information that we all got from the news media, I'm just testing to see that indeed that information was not available to only me, who had access to it by some special priviledge or connection with the powers that be.  If indeed it is true that this information was openly available to us all, am I over-reaching in thinking that through the same news media, we should also have gotten the information on the results of the investigation, and at least a layman's account of the details of the 'rigorous technical, operational and financial audit?'
As far as I know, at the end of every audit there is an audit report. So I am not wrong in assuming that such a report must exist and must be in the possession of our highly esteemed officials, right? 
Would it be too much to ask that they share that report with us, seeing as we are still grieving for our dearly beloved departed friends and family, and we would like to feel that we are doing something to ensure that their lives have not just been wasted, and that at the very least our authorities have done something to mitigate against a repetition of the same factors causing a future accident even though they are not God and cannot mitigate against other, as yet unknown factors?
Would it be presumptuous of me to expect to hear the news of the results of that investigation, and a report on a review of Dana's, and indeed all the other airlines' processes and procedures, before the news of the lift on the ban on Dana airlines?

It's 94 days after.  Each victim didn't even get one day of respect?
Don't get it twisted, 94 days is sufficient to do all that's required, so I'm not advocating that Dana continue to be punished even after all that's required has been done.  I'm saying let's show a little respect for the citizens of this nation.  Let's begin to put their lives and welfare ahead of other interests, personal and commercial.  Show us that due diligence has been done and I would gladly go out and fly Dana or any other airline that's expedient in the moment. It's simply not enough to announce that he ban has been lifted.  All is not uhuru.

If, again, I am the only one who does not have this information on account of my reclusive lifestyle and lack of basic infrastructure, and indeed all this information has been made publicly available, then I apologise for my tirade, but today, I just don't feel like turning the other cheek!

Ibiye and His Goat

There's an adage in my local language that I've probably heard a handful of times but never really thought much of.  Seemingly out of nowhere, I started to think about it and I think I finally understand it.  Picture this: There's a blind man named Ibiye.  Ibiye owns a goat, which also happens to be blind.  The adage describes Ibiye's goat as being the cause of much abuse or insult to its owner on account of the fact that it's blind, just like it's owner.
Doesn't seem to make much sense at first perusal, right?
Well if you consider that in the same language, the exact same sentence could mean 'you blind goat' or 'you blind man's goat', then it begins to make a bit more sense.
So, if there was a son of an alcoholic dad who got drunk one day at a family meal and someone said 'what a drunkard'!  Who would you reckon they're referring to?  
As with most Yoruba proverbs, the meaning of this one is multi pronged.
On the surface, it may mean something akin to 'those who live in glass houses should not throw stones'.  It could translate roughly into: If there is already a propensity towards some negativity in your life, do not do anything to perpetuate that notion.  I know! I know!  That last sentence goes against everything I know about writing and speaking but I'm going to let it stand.
On another level it says to Ibiye: because you're blind, to most people, your goat is never going to be anything more than the goat of the blind man, no matter what great feats it accomplishes.
To the goat it says: were you not also blind, at least your blind master would have one good thing in his life, one thing to be proud of or happy about.
Essentially, it's saying to fathers, mentors, and all people in the superior position in any relationship to set worthy examples and to keep their image untarnished so that their misdeeds do not reflect negatively on their protegees; and it's saying to all children, protegees or all people in the 'junior' role in such relationships to ensure that they do not repeat the mistakes of their superiors.  Chances are that they may have been able to make said mistake on their own without anyone making to much of it, but given their superior's record, the conclusion , justifiable or not, would be that 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree'.
So there's the lesson, whoever you are, watch what you do lest it reflect poorly on your loved ones.  Afterall, the evil that men do does live after them.