Ebola and the Nigerian Difference

In a news conference today a representative of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States suggested that Nigeria appears to have beaten back the Ebola outbreak that came onto its shores from Liberia. The case of Nigeria appears to demonstrate that there should be nothing fatalistic or apocalyptic about this Ebola outbreak - in can in fact be beaten back. The problem in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, as the CDC representative suggested, is not so much that Ebola is dangerous as it is that the means of curbing the spread of the virus is woefully lacking. The dread of the virus increases where the means to arrest its spread are lacking. Thus, the havoc this virus is causing in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, should not be attributed to the viciousness of the virus itself but rather to the lack of infrastructures to deal with it. The many deaths resulting from the spread of the virus are therefore preventable. The problem is not with Ebola itself because the virus can be contained, as Nigeria has demonstrated, but with the poor infrastructure available to contain the spread of the virus. There will always be deadly viruses; we just need to be prepared to deal with them when they break out. That is the difference Nigeria has made in this case.

African Tatoos As Marks Of Difference

African tattoos do not only serve aesthetic purposes; they are also marks of identity and difference. See more here.

Hassan Hajjaj est magnifique!

Hassan Hajjaj in praise of hybridity.

1000 Days of Protesting Paul Biya's Thirty-One-Year Dictatorship in Cameroon

Today marks 1000 days since flourishingafrica started protesting the eternal presence of Paul Biya's dictatorship in Cameroon. This protest is going to continue until Paul Biya is no longer there. We see no scenario where it is necessary for one person to be the president of a country for over three decades, even as they destroy the economy and the vision of the country.

Ebola May Be Halting Boko Haram

Since the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the activities of Boko Haram in Nigeria and Cameroon seem to have declined. Perhaps it could just be the case that the Ebola outbreak has pushed Boko Haram off the news cycle. However, some Nigerians I have spoken with have expressed the view that what the Nigerian government has been unable to do thus far - halting Boko Haram - is being done by Ebola. It is suspected that members of Boko Haram may be limiting their activities because they may be afraid of contracting the deadly virus. If this is the case, this would only be an unfortunate and very short-lived way for the activities of this barbaric group to be checked. The fact of the matter is that the spread of the Ebola virus will be checked and when that is achieved Boko Haram will once again resume its reign of terror. We need African leaders to take more proactive moves toward eliminating the anti-life forces, such as the Ebola virus, that have been threatening the lives and livelihood of Africans. The African Union should be at the forefront of fighting Ebola rather than only complaining about what others are doing. It would be foolish, dangerously misleading and even criminal to see the Ebola virus as a providential way of dealing with Boko Haram. Both are enemies of the African people and they need to be stopped.