The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. — Sun Tzu Fifty years ago, this past January, the short-lived country called Biafra came to a very humiliating end. To say that the Igbo people and some of their cousins in the old Eastern Nigeria passed through a meat grinder in the preceding three years would be a great understatement. However, that history is largely lost on the majority of Igbos living...
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa: Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Catholics! Catholics…they never cease to amaze me. You should know, I am a dyed-in-the-wool Catholic and wouldn’t trade this faith for another. Glad we have that out of the way. Somewhere at the beginning of Mass, those lines appear in a faith recital to absolve everyone in attendance of sins they might have committed. As a result,...
Despite the ominous signs that were coming out of China late in 2019 the entire world now seems taken unawares by the novel virus (Coronavirus) that is currently ravaging the entire planet as we know it. There is no cure as we have been told, there is no remedy and all that the medical science could offer is for everyone to retreat into their respective holes and stay quarantined in place until this pandemic subsides....
Once again, the argument for a restructured Nigeria appears plausible as states frantically search for their best response in managing COVID-19 in line with each state’s standing with the deadly virus. Nigeria so far has recorded over one thousand, three hundred confirmed cases, with about forty deaths. Looking at the demographics in states, one sees that the virus did not adopt Nigeria’s federal character in its spread. Instead, it is spreading according to how predisposed...
Anambra state government just announced its decision to relax the lockdown and stay at home order, which has been on for over four weeks. Within these weeks, Anambra recorded only one case of COVID-19 positive, tens of contacts were also traced to the index case. Nonetheless, last week the index case was released after testing negative to coronavirus twice. In his address four days ago, the governor of Anambra state Chief Willie Obiano had said...
If you are a state governor in Nigeria and you are not already working round the clock, night and day, you are playing with fire. Red-hot, napalm FIRE! Here is your reality. Bonny Light (Nigeria’s crude oil) is trading at about $11. This is half the cost of producing the barrel. Even at that price, Nigeria is not able to sell her crude oil. She has tens of millions of barrels of crude oil in...
Tony Nwaezeigwe is doing exculpatory narrative. There is no other meaningful way to explain it. For him, the Igbo of the west bear no responsibility for the situation of the Igbo. Just the Igbo of the so-called South East who are confused and without leadership. This branch of the Igbo is the main problem. Therefore, as a result of the incoherence of the heartland Igbo, people who were once Igbo have a right to carve...
In Igbo cosmology of identity definition, a family of criminals does not stand for a family without good persons but a family where the hell criminals predominate and the good ones are unable to act to remedy the bad reputation of the family. This is idiomatically expressed in the Igbo saying: Ofu aka luta mmanu ozuo ora aka onu—“when one finger touches the palm oil it spreads to the rest.” That the Igbo as a...
Precautionary measures outlined by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, and awareness level of the dreadful coronavirus may be compromised by years of unhygienic practices and the state of markets in the nation. A typical market in Nigeria has lock-up stalls built by the government and sold to a few privileged ones while the majority are seen hawking their products which they either carry on their head or wheelbarrows. These markets know no barrier...
When it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic, African countries’ unique challenges demand a regional response from an institution with the medical expertise to address its needs and leverage its strengths—the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). On April 2, 2020, the World Bank Group approved its largest-ever support facility in response to an emergency. The first group of projects through its dedicated, fast-track facility for COVID-19 response provided $1.9 billion for 25...
