Yesterday I watched former Nigerian Senator Dino Melaye talking gibberish about the AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine. He said Nigerians are receiving an AstraZeneca vaccine rejected by Europeans because of its low level of potency! The man actually believes covid-19 is real even though he is from a state whose youthful governor has been telling whoever cares to listen that covid-19 is fake, does not exist, and has no effect on the people from his state, Kogi. On the other hand one could pardon Melaye on the basis of his antecedents, usually brash and uncouth. This is the sort of character we black people usually ‘vote’ into power to rule us and that is why there is no progress not just in Nigeria but in Africa.
Yes, the Moderna and the J and J and the Pfizer vaccines are far more effective than the AstraZeneca vaccine whose efficacy is put at just over 60%. But even some European countries are vaccinating their citizens with the same ‘low quality’ AstraZeneca vaccines. Can we handle the extreme cold storage needed for the Pfizer and other vaccines? Instead of Melaye condemning the AstraZeneca vaccine why will he not shut up and let those of us who are brave enough to risk having it to do so? Where is the vaccine that he and those others who have been ruling us manufactured for us? Yes, a major European nation, a country of white people, suspended the use of the vaccine because one person died and another got sick after being vaccinated. They are waiting to see if the vaccination was the reason. South Africa also stopped the vaccination because people died. They have not told us the vaccine killed them.
Nigeria does not have the capacity or the research infrastructure to develop a vaccine for covid-19. Coming to think of it what vaccine has ever been developed in Nigeria? Malaria, yellow fever, Lassa fever, meningitis and other illnesses have been killing us from time immemorial. But we have usually depended on white people to develop vaccines for our use. Black Africans have never developed a vaccine. Even the malaria vaccine that Kenya, our neighbours Ghana, and little Malawi have recently been crediting with developing has been done in cooperation with white people. If you look into the vaccine for Lassa fever Ghana is about to launch you may find some white people involved. Indeed the equipment would obviously have been produced by white people. Black people should learn to give credit where it is due.
Black Africa’s attitude to covid-19 cure has been poor. Madagascar announced that it has a cure with fanfare and gifted parcels of it to Nigeria, South Africa and some other African countries. Nigeria, being big brother, could have had NAFDAC test it and declare it an immune booster like it did the Catholic Monastry’s Paxherbal Cugzil capsules or the one the Ooni of Ife has recently launched. At least one African country could have tried it on somebody dying from covid-19. There is no information that this was done. The WHO insisted on scientific trial. But Madagascar lambasted the WHO and was reported to have opted out of the organization.
Unfortunately there has been a lot of confusing matter on social media including the US ‘doctor’ who has said the plan is to use vaccines to eliminate the three billion ‘useless’ black Africans. There is even something on social media picturing Melinda Gates saying things in the same direction of controlling the population of the world beginning with black Africa. And there is a Zambian doctor saying the vaccine should not be applied to any Zambian until Zambian doctors verify that it is safe. How? What have they been doing all this while? They could have produced a vaccine for us suffering black people. How can we black Africans with our begging bowls want to dictate to the Caucasians which of the vaccines they laboured to produce at great cost they should donate to us? Whither Africa?.