Water borne diseases on the rise in Nigeria

Christiana J.  asked a question yesterday on whatsapp and i did not want to answer  the question because that i was too lazy to type but somehow i will answer your question with information from my course water science.

Your question was why is it that cholera, typhoid and pneumonia is still on the rise in the country Nigeria and why was the death of 50 people recorded in Lagos last week due to cholera?

Answer..

1.       Borehole water is the main source of water in the Nigeria but is the water hygienic?  NO:

Why?

2.     1.  The rain water is not pure due to it mixing with pollutants from the air( smoke from cars ,

soot from industries and women who cook with firewood (producing CO which mixes with water rain water to produce HCO3 which is acidic) and when this water is consumed it is dangerous to the health.

3.       2.The mechanic who repairs cars leaves engine oil on the ground (engine oil is rich in hydrocarbons) and is washed down by rain water or erosion onto the underground water.the soil can only remove some part of the hydrocarbon but the other constituents like Mercury cadmium etc are able to get in small concentration into underground water and this is what you drink in your borehole. Mercury destroys livers and kidneys (Now you also see why kidney and liver damages are on the rise too).

4.      3.  Your sewage system (your suck away am not sure of the spelling but you can correct me if you know the spelling) is underground. Your waste product from your toilets, your fats carbohydrates and also proteins from your kitchen are washed and flushed underground and this finds its way into underground water with the soil just being capable through absorption to remove a small amount from it and the rest is dissolved into the underground water system which is where you get your borehole water. Your Faeces contains so many Escherichia coli and bacteria and this cannot be absorbed by the soil because it is a living cell and its washed into the water and multiply because water is  good solvent for life and you drink this, causing more exposure to cholera.

5.    4.   Your refuse dump on the street and roads produce methane and other gases which are released into the air (by the way causing global warming and that’s why our temperature are rising every year) and this mixes again with rain water producing more organic compounds that are washed into the water which you drink.

6.       As I was in Nigeria in July I took my time to see our drainage system and this contains used water(fats, proteins, carbohydrates etc) which are acted upon by bacteria and is the rest is drained into water system and also rivers and lakes which  is a direct link to underground water and this is a source of underground water pollution.

Hope you learnt something from this lilltle write up.  Love to hear your questions, criticism opinions and suggestions.

CROSSING THE BRIDGE OF DIVERSITY

“I feel my heart break to see a nation ripped apart by its own greatest strength--its diversity.

                       Melissa Etheridge (American Singer, b.1961)

       Variety they say is the spice of life. It’s also true to say that diversity is also the spice of life. What happens when the zest that the spice brings is lost and the flavor is nothing but pain and trauma that rocks the tongue that tastes the food.

 So is the manner of the bridge that Nigerians have to cross. Crossing the bridge can either bring them together stronger as a nation or divide us as different people, different cultures and different mentality. A walk back into 1967 when the country was ravaged by civil war that left nothing less than a million souls dead. That should have been the rope that binds the country together but that rope has always been severed many times by religion, political views, greed and over all bad leadership. I remember sharing the same room during my national youth service with Emmanuel from Kano state and we sharing ideas about what the north and south all have in common and even with our level of education and intelligence we still could not come to the same conclusion. For one year that we lived together was character with lovely and unbelievable scenes that would ever flush my mind. That the populace differs in ideas, principles, knowledge and character should have been the bond that links us together but never the less has been out curse.

       Correct me if am wrong, of the 16 leaders that we have had in Nigeria,9 has been from the northern part of the country and how come that that part has never been developed, it is a desert that much must be done for it to look like Arizona (USA), says a part of me, but then the truth of the matter is also that the quality of leaders that we produce is so low in standard and that can also be traced not just to the people but also to the education standard of the country. There have been calls for sovereign national conference and would also be a welcome idea but it will not just be another walk in the park but also a call to save not just the future for our children but also that more lives, more youths, women that can be saved.

       When I finally read that  the president wanted dialog with the group from the northern part, I thought he must have been reading my mind  but he did make it clear no amnesty. So what’s the solution to our major problem? I have read in many write up and also comments that we are on the brink of dividing but will not in any way solve our problems as it did not solve that of Sudan. I am of the opinion that instead of alternating presidents within the ethnic group, I would suggest that the country be ruled regionally and these regions be governed by a regional president who makes laws and passes it to the senate or house of assembly as the case maybe and the overall president signs it after the senate debates. The governors remain but are under the regional president who is under the overall president. I mean switching to Federalism as practiced by the Europeans, as we all know,  kin-selective altruism has made its way into Nigerian politics and has spurned various attempts by tribalists to concentrate Federal power to a particular region of their interests. Nigeria's three largest ethnic groups (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba) have maintained historical preeminence in Nigerian politics; competition amongst these three groups has fuelled corruption and graft. we have reached  a point where we should let the best man win and let the best person represent us and not just selecting someone from our kin, this is killing us.

        And on a final and maybe funny note, the entire constitution should be overturned and made shorter, I have tried reading but could not finish it, I think we have one of the longest constitutions.

TACKLING THE HARAM

TACKLING THE HARAM..........

Boko Haram: Timeline of terror

·         2002: Founded

·         2009: Hundreds killed when Maiduguri police stations stormed

·         2009: Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf captured by army, handed to police, later found dead (killed by Nigerian military force on the street)

·         Sep 2010: Freed hundreds of prisoners from Maiduguri jail

·         Dec 2010: Bombed Jos, killing 80; blamed for New Year's Eve attack on Abuja barracks

·         2010-2011: Dozens killed in Maiduguri shootings

·         May 2011: Bombed several states after president's inauguration

·         June 2011: Police HQ bombed in Abuja

·         Aug 2011: UN HQ bombed in Abuja

·         Nov 2011: Coordinated bomb and gun attacks in Yobe and Borno states*

·         Dec 2011. Bombed a church killing dozens
        
      Jan 2012 Bombed police station

                   *Source: culled from the BBC News website

History has proven to us over and over again that politicians make the same mistake over and over again, not just in Nigeria but the world all over. The intelligent ones learn from history and the not too intelligent is left gullible. The group also known as The Jama’atu Ahlus Sunnah Lid Da’awati Wal Jihad may have achieved most of what they set out to do and have done it so well that they are now known internationally Italy, Germany, and Usa all condemned the group and they have been compared to the Al Qaeda. Such a comparison shows how successful thy have been.

So what’s the way forward? Let’s take a look at some ways the problem can be eradicated.

1.       Amnesty: This would be another shortcut in solving the problem using the nation’s resources on paying them off but can the country stand another amnesty?

2.       If you can identify a problem, then it is half solved. That was the solution when the president came out that his government has been infiltrated and that takes boldness. So what should be done is now Names calling of who has been proven to be in contact with the group by getting telephone details of his ministers, getting private detectives to follow suspected ministers in his cabinet. Is that too undemocratic and abuse of private human rights? Then government secrets continue getting leaked to the terrorists. After all the Christmas day bombing suspect was found in a governor lodge in company of an air force officer. Were they all arrested including the governor and the air force officer or even questioned? Why was the suspect not transferred to Abuja and why was he left in Maiduguri and why is the police boss Ringhim still in office? He has proved not to be able to live to expectation and he should be questioned too and even arrested.

3.       Arrest and trial of the governor who brought sharia into the country. The country had her laws and constitution, bringing sharia into the country was an offence that should be punished. Zamfara State governor Ahmad Rufai Sani should be tried and punished by the law for bringing a different law into the country. The violence that ensured when he brought the law also went unpunished.

4.       I have this gut feeling that the heart of the crew is in the desert and could also be in the Chad, Niger Republic. After all the suspect was arrested along the borders. These people get help from the terrorist in these countries and seriously controlling the borders will help Nigerians. After all  the US government spend 49 BILLION DOLLARS to protect her Mexican border. Nigerians should all have a passport that also comes with a customized ID card that the citizens should always walk with because we have  aliens among us and thousands of illegal and undocumented immigrants are living with us.  

5.       Increase the Police force. We have seen that the force is not well equipped enough and the military are too brutal and do not even know the constitution of the land. The police force should be increased and not just increased but also well groomed and well educated.

6.       The greatest problem lies in our borders and should be well policed by customs and all the forces. No one without passport should come in to the country like it is done in all European and developed country. The group could be planning the wicked acts there and carrying it out in Nigeria.

     

   7. Dialog and a national apology not over the way their leader was killed on the street but the military men who took the law into their hands  and masacared men who had not been tried by the law . And haram is still angry and wants vengence for that and that is why they still attack police stations and all till tommorow.

8. Take these actions seriously and stop hoping for a miracle from God. Its never going to happen unless we stand and fight this menace together.

While i was writing this, Boko Haram were bombing police station in Kano state.

another amnesty?

     So how did the south south pull such a trick while all Nigerians were wide awake? The federal government deiced to offer amnesty to Militants from the south south apparently because one of theirs is in power. And how many so called militants turned out?about 8000 militants…So where were they all these while? Ohh hiding in a creek where so one could see them.. I  mean 8000 people and not a single helicopter could see them. Two things its either most of them are not militants and they are just milking money from the government or the government is lying to the people who voted them in. 

    President Jonathan promised them planned mega projects in the region such as the regional railway project.liquid and gas (LNG) new refinery, gainful employment opportunities, new town projects vocational trainings across the country and abroad. So many promises and goodies were given to killers,criminals and looters who had killed so many innocent people and had burned and bombed government properties. while graduates masters degree youths are walking the streets still looking for job that would them more law abiding citizens.

    forward to 2009,Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf was caught and him and his captured members were questioned and they were slaughtered on the street... No questions asked, no inquiry, no trial, not needed.

     

   Silence was the norm for a long time till they came back and started wreaking havoc that we all know of today. What more can I say that you don’t know about? The attack on churches, Police headquarters, on the streets of the northern states, police stations and many more.

What should be done? Another dialogue with more killers and murderers?  Will the government promise to give them more goodies at the expense of the law abiding citizens? will the government dialogue with police,Christians and civil servant killers? Time will tell.......

AND THE WINNER IS.............

We have all seen this picture before but the same people have always won. Nigerian Labour finally called off the strike calling it a success and how that a success was, still baffles my mind. We heard how they hired mercenaries to fuel the strike and how they were paid if these were true that I don’t know. With people killed and about 600 injured, the price was then fixed at 97 Naira http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16579001 (60 American cents while the Americans pay as high as 3 dollars per liter In  some citieshttp://www.automotive.com/gas-prices/33/colorado/jefferson/arvada/. 

Well the Americans cannot complain because they have everything from good security, Stable electricity, good health care and all which the average Nigerian man cannot or may not be able to afford so removing the subsidy is wicked (that was the average argument of the masses).to this point is okay

But how did the protest become successful as claimed by the labour unions. So from 65 naira to 97 naira and that’s some 32 naira increase. A smile for the Federal government but the 141 naira would have been perfect for them and then more money for at least what they planned to do and which the Nigerians populace really doubts. They get to probably make money and then either better the lives of the people or do whatever they like with it.  Nigerians see the fuel as the only benefit they get from their country's oil wealth, a good part is pocketed by corrupt officials not known to the common man and probably referred to as on the street as the cabals.

The 97 naira would just do for labour unions and the man on the street who does his daily business would be so happy to get back to work as the whole six days that the strike took place. The greatest winner still include the federal government of Nigeria and the common man who will still go on and pay that black market fuel so as to be able to run his business that cannot depend on the electricity of the government---if the government uses the money for the common man then they both (the man benefit and the government gets reelcted). If not the pain continues and the struggle continues. Hoping things get better.

three different colours

                            THREE DIFFERENT COLOURS……

Governing Nigeria is sometimes like standing in the middle of old Trafford and singing a different song as the home crowd. You are expected to be corrupted, fight corruption, if possible do all you can and make all the laws you can make but at least do not touch the price of the only thing that makes the people tick, the only thing that keeps the people going…don’t touch it or don’t over touch it in case you feel tempted to….the people`s gold….petrol

Make laws on petrol and you may get a backlash and may not even get reelected again. But what makes Nigerians so unbelievable violent and sensitive when it comes to fuels…..  It is the source of power not just for homes but also industries and companies due to constant irregular power and also poor security that ravages the country all year round. That makes the people to always come around and celebrate whenever they get the chance.

Why the diverse reaction to the subsidy removal? It simply shows how the country fare year in year out... different groups of people with different  cultures, food, mode of life, different ideas and different styles of life… and they strive to put their differences aside and try to make it through the normal but hard days that they face every day. The south did not bother to protest. Support your man.

The other parts had pleasure voicing their opinion and hurling insults on the man who had come to take away their only joy, source of livelihood and maybe their rope of unity.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpc8gwCXDn8

Was  it a wrong decision? No.it was never a bad idea. what did he do wrong? It’s like jumping ten steps and moving over to the eleventh step and then making the tenth step look so hard that you promise to make up for the other missed or roughly done steps look unbelievably hard.

What makes a Nigerian president? Fight corruption, improve power supply, put logistics in place to make the lives and properties safe. If you can achieve that then you have endeared yourself to the people. So easy and done…..

The nigerian mamonth

It`s a little exciting how things have turned from normal to almost anarchy in a country that has been viewed has the giant of Africa and a force to reckon with in the future. Watching what has been happening on Television and following on internet is a strong pain in the bone.
In germany its a crime punished with 5years in jail,in China,North and South Korea its is punished by death. How the people of Nigeria made history hurling insults of all manner on their President is almost unbelivable http://www.ngwriters.com/fuel-subsidy-removal-goodluck-johnathan-the-most-insulted-president-on-facebook.
I really dont see how he may stand and look into other presidents face when they are having meeting. Protesting against a reform is different from hauling insults at the president.
The National assembly has not passed goood laws yet they can be passing laws against Gays and Lesbians.

FORWARD....
Dialogue is the only way forward.Let all involved have a sit down and look on how to solve the giant mammonth eating into the fabrik of the tiny unity that once held us together.....lets protest peacefully without insulting  the head,the man who we voted.
If we call him a fool,then how did we fool  a fool in power?