Monthly Archives: October 2023

Today I want to call China out for racism against black people. That China is taking over Africa before our very eyes is no longer news, even though it is also clear they want to take over the whole world. I do not have a problem when people enter into agreements negotiated on the table and signed off by appropriate authorities, even though I personally think that some of the people that sign off on deals with China should not be anywhere near the corridors of country leadership. But that will be a discussion for another day

Today, I am appalled by the inhuman treatment black people receive in China, as exposed during this covid-19 lockdown. I do not advocate for Chinese people in Africa or elsewhere to be treated the way China treats black people in China, but I can see that happen if China does not address some of their discriminatory and racial approaches to things, and their gross disrespect for the Blackman, urgently and timely.

I hope I am not the only one watching and seeing what China is doing to black people under the cover of COVID-19 that Is entirely China’s fault. While China still has a lot of explanations to make and lots of questions to answer about corona, the way and the manner they treat black people is unacceptable and intolerable to say the least, and I call on the Chinese government to do something really quick about it. It is annoying, it is nauseating and it is unfortunate.

It wouldn’t be out of place for the government and leadership of China to apologize for the dehumanization of black people otherwise the world will soon begin to resist Chinese people everywhere and anywhere. What is good for the black is good for the Chinese. This is how I see it and this is how the world should see it.

If China continues the way she is going unchecked and unchallenged, a time will come when China will dictate the rules of engagement for you in China and in your own village. There are enough Chinese people in Africa and while Africa is still watching a time will come when the people will demand that ‘China must go’ and then it will be another story entirely

If China wants to still do business anywhere outside of China, then the Chinese government needs to address this madness in China that we see all over social media. I am sure I am not the only one pissed off by all these unimaginable posts and video clips from all over the places in China. Black people did not introduce Corona virus to the world, China did and if anybody should be punished or held accountable for corona virus, whether in China or elsewhere, it should be the government and the people of China. Enough said for now.

Mezie Okolo is a leadership analyst @mezieokolo.com

As the price of crude oil has bottomed out and the next year looks uncertain. so does the fate of countries that rely solely on crude oil for everything. This is the case in Nigeria but we knew this a long time ago that it was only a matter of when not if, a situation like this was theoretically imminent and practically inevitable. What is surprising though is the fact that Nigeria seems to be surprised that this is happening. If so, then we are welcome to the world of unlimited possibilities and obvious realities.

If indeed oil is the only language that unites all the regions of the country, and the common denominator with which everything is accessed, then maybe it is time to renegotiate the deal on the table and decide if and how Nigeria as a nation will continue to exist and operate in the next generation. While certain sections of the country are not happy about the price of crude oil, there are other areas that are indifferent due in part, to negative effects of oil, oil spillage and oil exploration in their communities, the environment and human life in those geographical spaces that have now been doomed with oil. For them, while others see oil and the proceed of oil sales as blessing, they see it as a curse. And all of us are to blame for this ugly experience of theirs.

Who would have thought that availability of oil in any space could be a curse. That is what obtains when inequalities and inequities go on unchecked. If indeed there is opportunity to make wishes and experiment on ideas in the Nigerian geopolitical space, I would suggest that crude oil should remain at zero dollar for a long time. I believe that will be of benefit to the country and all of Africa for a number of good reasons

You cannot go wrong with Agriculture and Africa is the last hope for humanity in this aspect, because she has vast arable soil that is rich in minerals and nutrients. Unless we mechanize and invest in agriculture, we risk famine, which is going to be worse than corona. Several countries have no crude oil yet they are doing way better than Nigeria in all ramifications. It seems that oil has been more of a curse than a blessing to us. It is time to engage the next gear.

Solid minerals and natural resources are deposited in large quantities all over the places in Africa, including Nigeria. Ajaokuta steel was supposed to be the largest steel manufacturing factory in Africa. What happened to that plan? How much has been budgeted and plunged into this white elephant project? At what stage of competition is it? Even if it is completed today, at what capacity can it run and by how many trillion has it been over budgeted? The greatest enemy of Nigeria seems to be the leaders of Nigeria.

Nigeria is blessed with Human Resources in their shapes and forms, with all manner of skills and talents, yet a vast majority is unemployed and therefore not able to contribute to national development. Investment in Human Resources means better funding for education; respect for human right; creation of jobs; promoting and creating enabling environment for entrepreneurship; promoting local manufacturing and discouraging unreasonable importation of all manner of things including match sticks and toilet papers; identifying, encouraging and harnessing of skills and talents that are distributed in the population…and respect for human life which is hitherto absent.

Not only is the pseudo-federalism practiced in Nigeria design, fabricated and based on lies, deceit, manipulation, inequalities and all manner of fraud; the leaders are redundant and incapable of creative thinking because all they have done is redistribute oil blocks and reshuffle government cabinets, give them account numbers and police them to ensure that money is being paid into the specified account per time. Not only do they not know how much oil is generated, they have no clue how many barrels are sold a day. The same way they have no idea exactly how many people live in Nigeria even though so much money is spent on census, the government has no idea how many tankers of crude petroleum leaves the shores of Nigeria each day. How ridiculous? How can analog people lead digitalized people?

Nigeria without oil will be a Nigeria where leaders will go back to the negotiation tables and make use of their brains. We have to come up with Nigeria’s solution to NIgeria’s problems. It will be good if, before we elect new leaders we demand that they present manifestos. As an undergraduate at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, we conducted much better elections than the country…what a shame! What happens in Nigeria during elections is a joke…if that is democracy, no country should be doomed with that nonsense. It is a caricature of democracy as theoretically defined.

Even if we still have oil and oil prices come up, it will be paradigm shifting to let anybody or group of persons who campaign for any position tell us what they plan to do and how they plan to run the affairs and business of governance without recourse to oil or oil stipends from Abuja. Enough of running up to Abuja and looking at the president for tips. Unfortunately our kind of democracy over-empowers the individual and under-empowers the institutions if indeed they do exist.

Time and space will not allow me to go into all the details, but I must not forget to lament that while other country leaders use their own brains to solve problems, we use ours to create and encourage chaos in society. I know this is not what you want to hear but unless Nigeria begins to think and act in ways that de-emphasize oil and over-dependence on oil, the next generation of criminals will be sophisticated and digitalized….if we think there is insecurity now, we haven’t seen anything yet. Fix and diversify the economy, get your people educated and gainfully employed, encourage entrepreneurship and take no more loans from China. How difficult are these?

Our population will continue to increase geometrically but our economic activities are not diversified and robust enough to carter for the population. And how do we not see the danger in this malady? The world is moving away from oil and Nigeria still base annual budget and projections for new debts on oil…how has the 2020 budget faired? When would we wake up from this deep slumber?

The earlier government gets started the better. It will definitely get worse before it gets better but I think we need to pay attention to the other three dozen export ready natural resources we could harness and build a robust economy that will be famine proof…and disaster proof…else we are headed for what could be a post corona depression.

…to be continued !

Mezie Okolo is a pharmacist, an epidemiologist and a leadership analyst @mezieokolo.com

A lot of theories have been propounded to explain this covid-19 situation. While some people believe it is one of those natural disasters that occur by happenstance, others believe that it was actually masterly planned, designed, fabricated and released with an underlying mission. While I don’t have enough evidence to argue in favor of any of these opinions, I also don’t have enough evidence to refute the other.

What seems clear though is that there is something that doesn’t add up, which means that something is not being told, either by the people who claim to know better or those who should know better. The more questions we ask the more questions we raise. There is something that doesn’t fly with the way we are going about this virus, which has given certain persons the impetus to call it a plandemic. I didn’t know there was a word like that until this global lockdown. Webster dictionary needs to add it when next they update.

Epidemiological events are defined in terms of person, place and time. Usually we want to know ‘who is affected?’, ‘where?’ and ‘when?’; leading to what could be described as outbreaks, epidemics, endemics or pandemics. They differ in magnitude, severity, spread and duration.

An outbreak is the sudden increase in the number of cases of a disease in a place or area; when the disease spreads within an area over a short time period or the number of cases is higher than expected and gets out of control so to speak in that locality or region we now have an epidemic. An epidemic can become a pandemic when it gets a passport and travels abroad (global). So it is geographical spread that turns an epidemic (local) into a pandemic (global). When the disease gets permanent residence (green card) and now domiciled in a place or the new place it has traveled to, we have endemic. Outbreak can as well happen from endemic situations, when the number of cases exceed what would otherwise be expected. So an epidemic ( and a pandemic) can become endemic if it stays perpetually, so to speak. The question is, ‘how do we measure perpetuity? After how long do we now consider a disease endemic vs epidemic? How long does it take an illegal immigrant to get green card? You get my drift?

When you have a new disease emerge in the society like corona did, it is like when armed robbers show up in your house unannounced. What do you do? The initial rush of adrenaline means you ‘fight or flight’. Sometimes you take off running and then decide that it is better to fight. I think that is the best way to describe what we have done with corona virus. Because we were not prepared, we didn’t know how to respond. Even the medical experts still don’t agree on the best way to tackle this enemy. The clinicians seem to have done more of experimentation than actually treating patients because they didn’t quite know what would work in every situation. Chances are that certain persons actually died of the wrong treatment regimen than from the corona virus itself.

By this time I believe that the rush of adrenaline is no longer at its peak. The medics now have some idea of what does not work especially those at the front lines that have seen people die even when they did what they thought would work. In emergency situation we don’t have time to wait for the results of clinical trials next year before we can save a life right now. Do you see chaos at its peak here? Some people said Azithromycin and Hydroxychloroquine work while others who have the microphone said the claim is anecdotal. The man who is sick said give me the anecdotal drug anyways. When you have the disease, even bitter leaf water will taste like beer in your mouth…you do anything to get some relief. Prayer also goes a long way too.

Whether this is plandemic or pandemic is not our concern now, but we need to plan for the next ‘whateverdemic’. Preparedness is key. Did you see how corona destabilized even the organized and advanced health systems? Can you now imagine the situation in Nigeria where budget for health is a joke and where leaders would steal all the money that should have been budgeted for health. How much did Nigeria spend in London to treat Buhari for 104 days? How many hospitals would that have built and equipped in Nigeria? If you calculate all the money spent in medical tourism by Nigerian politicians in one year, then you wonder if we actually live in 2020 or we are aliens that came from some wild zoo. How could we spend so much more money on individuals than we spend on the entire country. How do we not know that health and education take priority over other sectors? In Nigeria, those are the most neglected sectors because we let people that have no clue rig themselves into public offices. What a shame!

If corona becomes endemic what is our plan going forward? If we could hardly survive one month of lockdown, what is the plan going forward? What if Toyota virus hits harder than corona? Do we have a plan for the next ‘demic’ (sounds like demonic)?

Have we evaluated how the economy will survive a protracted lockdown? Those of us who are one paycheck away from bankruptcy, how are we going to survive the dual jeopardy of corona virus and hunger virus? What is happening to our body immune system while we hide and eat without getting out and about our usual activities? What is the impact of all these on mental health of the community? What about obesity, stress level, anxiety and depression?

We need the health economists to do cost-benefit analysis for us on this corona lockdown and see if they agree with me that we need to open back the economy and deal with corona as it comes. We need to take immune boosting supplements, eat healthy, exercise regularly, practice basic hygiene but go back to work. If corona is like any other virus, it will kill some people but the vast majority of people will beat it. If you have symptoms you quarantine and get help. We cannot let corona destroy us out of fear. We know a few places that did not lockdown and they have not all died of corona either. While the lockdown was one approach to it as it came upon us like a thief in the night, it is time to review the lockdown order in the light of the experiences of the last few months and the impact on other aspects of life and human existence. What is your opinion on this?

Hopefully we will all survive the coronavirus onslaught even though it will change our approach to a lot of things going forward. Be safe and have a blessed weekend.

Mezie Okolo is an Analyst, Epidemiologist and Pharmacist at www.mezieokolo.com

Enough of walls Africa, it is time to build and to consolidate bridges. The only way to reap the benefit of unity in diversity is to build bridges across the nation states that make up the African Union (what used to be called the OAU).

After the oil boomed in Nigeria, the economy began to go down due mostly to gross mismanagement and in 1983, the infamous Ghana Must Go displaced over one million mainly Ghanaians from Nigeria. While apartheid lasted, all the nations of Africa joined voices and forces in condemnation of apartheid until change happened. South Africans took refuge and found succor amongst their brethren in Zimbabwe, Namibia and other neighboring states but now, as the SA economy picks up, xenophobia was introduced. This is not the spirit behind African Unity.

Even locally we see these ugly policies and practices rear their heads…Ijekoebee were forced out of Waawa….a people that used to be the old Anambra State up until the 80s. We see these behaviors among Hausas, Fulanis, Igbos, yorubas and even among other African groups. In America, even among blacks divided along the countries of origin, you still see this tension and reluctance among African-Americans and other black African people, basically those that have accent different from the accent on this side of the Atlantic.

Who did this to us black folks? Why are we doing this to us? I look forward to Africa that is home to all black people irrespective of where they were born or whose passport they carry. We want to see Africa that celebrates the different shapes and shades of our culture, our color, our languages, our accents, our people and where the common passport we carry will be the African passport. I want to see before I die the Africa where all Africans can move freely by train or bus from one side of Africa to the next without answering many questions at unnecessary colonial-made borders. Why can’t a graduate of the University of Harare decide to look for job in Lagos even though he was born and raised in Kenya? If an American can move from coast to coast at will in search of the America dream, why can’t an African?

What I suggest is Africa without walls. Why haven’t we explored this option and develop our economies in such a way that we can cross pollinate and cross fertilize ideas through collaboration and free trade relations. Africa where every African is home in any part of Africa and where nobody is called ‘foreigner’ is what we propose and what we want to see happen in no time. This will be the only way she can compete with China and the rest of the world. We therefore charge our leaders to go to work and get this done for us.

Let me know your thoughts

Mezie Okolo is a leadership analyst at www.mezieokolo.com

Most of us who are familiar with Nigeria and the war in Biafraland back in the day will recall “On Aburi we stand”. Although a nice place in Ghana, beautiful enough to host presidents and world leaders, Aburi represents truce in Nigerian history. When things go wrong, be it in a country or any relationship for that matter, it is always a good idea for a retreat, as was the case at the behest of Gen. Ankrah at Aburi, in Ghana.

If you have not read the Aburi Accord, maybe you can google it and get a better understanding of the issues raised in bullet points. The military is precise and concise so it will not take five minutes of your time to capture several days of deliberation by leaders of the then nation states. On that document, you will notice the underlying emphasis on equitable distribution and on regional governance, two issues that still plague us till this day.

Recently we read that the senate has requested the executive to decentralize the police force. If and when that is done, it will be a step in the right direction. Security has become a very crucial issue in Nigeria today especially in the South East where persons, whose identities are not fully elucidated, are being brought in truckloads under the cover of darkness every night. While the rest of us are in quarantine and observing curfew, people that look like boko haram are being smuggled into our space, and they occupy the bushes of Biafraland. The events that led to Aburi are repeating again now, but there seems to be no General Ankrah to summon a meeting and broker truce. Nigeria seems to be at war with herself, and that does not smell good.

Different regions of the country need to be equipped to lead security operations in their region, so that miscreants and undercover boko haram operatives can be fished out and handled accordingly. The federal government cannot afford to pretend like we are on lockdown for coronavirus while foreigners that disguise as Fulani herdsmen are roaming about freely. I didn’t know that cattle rearers have a different set of laws that they abide by, different from the rest of us. And if truly the cattle rearers are above the law, then I want to buy a couple cows and become a rearer too.

What is good for the goose…..if we say we are on lockdown, let everybody be on lockdown including cattle. We don’t worship cattle in Nigeria. When people are at home, herds of cattle are in the farms destroying peoples crops and nobody says or does anything about it. Is that the new Nigeria or an old Nigeria resurfacing as in the late 1960s which ultimately led to Aburi, the accord that was later ignored by the federal government leading to the war that claimed over 3 million people. Let us remove the hand of the monkey from the soup before it becomes the hand of a human being….Nigeria seems to be sitting on a keg of gun powder as we speak. Our leaders must do everything to avert an impending doom. The time to act is now.

Mezie Okolo is your leadership analyst and can be reached at www.mezieokolo.com

Eternal vigilance, they say, is the price of Liberty. In my book, The Ideals of Freedom, I illustrated that freedom is an ideal that is attained through ordeals. It takes a lot of commitment to achieve freedom and much more commitment to sustain it. The freedom of Africans on Africa’s soil is constantly and continuously challenged and undermined, and the fact that people live with fear of the unknown is no longer news. This has attracted the attention of Africans in diaspora and the international community needs to be aware of it too.

The situation in South East Nigeria demands urgent attention and thorough investigation. You must have heard that trailer loads of people sandwiched between bags that are supposed to be food stuff, are being taken to the East from the North. Claims have been made of the discovery of thousands of guns and ammunition in mosques in Biafraland. While we wait for someone to come forth and challenge those claims, we wonder if mosques have become military barracks or if mosques have become depositories for guns per Nigeria’s constitution.

They declared lockdown and curfew, but allow cattle rearing Fulani men to roam about and destroy crops and farms of citizens who are quarantined at home. Even when you meet them in your farm, you behave or be beheaded because instead of the bow and arrows they carried back in the day, these cattle rearers now carry AK47, machetes and daggers. They are terrorizing indigenous people every single day and nobody is able to do anything about it. I thought this was civilian regime, obviously this regime will go down in history as the notorious regime of oligarchy. They locked up people for disregarding the lockdown order but nicodemusly unleash strangers to our bushes by night, while we slept.

While men slept, the enemy is being smuggled into the bushes of South East Nigeria. Are they planning to gather, retrieve their guns and decimate indigenous people? What is the agenda of these men, some of whom don’t look like they are Nigerians. In fact, there is no doubt that some of these people are from Fouta Djallon. Nigeria has become a no man’s land, porous and conducive for all manner of terrorists and terrorism. We had thought that Boko Haram was the enemy with whom to contend, these new faces with unknown agenda may be worse than boko. If they are related, then these must be their guerilla Troops.

One would think that Nigeria is not at war with her members. Well, we must think again. If indeed these men that are above the law, men that don’t observe lockdown, men that have to be smuggled in at night, men that don’t even speak language that you will properly understand….if these are not and have nothing to do with the guns that are discovered in mosques, then who are they and what is their mission? What job do they do and what business brought them to the East? Are they beggars or laborers? Are they herdsmen or Boko men? Why and how did they pass the checkpoints?

Could this be a planned attack on a section of the country or is it just one of those coincidences? If it is a coincidence then where are they from? Are they displaced in the north and where is their destination? Why haven’t our governors addressed these issues and why are our leaders keeping mute? Could someone explain to us why we have many questions and no answers on this issue of security?

While men slept….everybody has to be vigilant and be sensitive to your environment. The things that are happening right now need to be properly investigated and nipped at the bud before there is bloodshed. We cannot afford to have any more bloodshed because Nigeria cannot survive it. Whosoever these people are, federal government should remove the hand of the monkey from the soup before it becomes the hand of a human being.

Arise oh compatriots, Nigeria’s call for vigilance obey. You can make a difference and you can air your voice until we see normalcy return in our land. What we see now is not normal. If this doesn’t arouse your curiosity, I wonder what will.

Mezie Okolo is a leadership analyst and a voice from diaspora.