Three Top Nigeria Stories

Okey Ndibe, Nigerian author and political commentator

Nigeria’s Most Deadly Virus

No, it’s not a new disease!

Okey Ndibe writes about healthcare in Nigeria today. He identifies corruption as the virus that is the cause of so many needless deaths, saying it is, “Nigeria’s most deadly, deadening virus. And I mean that in a literal sense.”

He posted on BribeCode.org. “Corruption has robbed the country, at all levels, of the vision to define a viable healthcare system and the funds to bring it into being.” His post describes the approach among Nigerians.

Those who can afford to go abroad for medical care, a tiny number, do so. Far more are left to cope with the expensive but often poor care in Nigeria. Those who can’t even afford that are left with no care at all, grasping at miracle cures or turning to shamans.

What is Bribecode? I find it’s a campaign for legislation, the proposed ‘Corporate Corruption Act’. It provides for stiff penalties for corporations involved in bribery. You can read the five main provisions here.

Nigeria’s Election March 28

Vice President Biden has made some calls to encourage a peaceful election in Nigeria, just a week away. I read in an ABC News story, “Biden spoke separately Wednesday with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and his opponent, former military dictator Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.”

“The White House says Biden commended both leaders for signing an accord committed to a nonviolent election.” I blogged about it a few weeks ago. As part of the accord there will be American and other observers in Nigeria for the election. I hope we get their reports quickly after results are released.

I don’t know if Biden’s phone call will make a difference. At least it lets Jonathan and Buhari know that people in the U.S. are watching, for what that’s worth.

Education vs. Athletics – No Contest

The New York Times ran a wonderful story about the Nigerian athletes here in the U.S.  The story begins with five women who were born in the U.S. to Nigerian immigrant parents. I was surprised by this sentence, “About 380,000 Nigerian immigrants and their children live in the United States, up from 25,000 in 1980.”

That number seems too small. But the next sentence was no surprise: “They have settled in metropolitan areas like New York, Houston and Washington, and as a group, they are far more likely than the overall American population to receive undergraduate and advanced degrees, according to a 2014 analysis done for the Rockefeller Foundation and the Aspen Institute.”

Felicia Aiyeotan of high school in Philadelphia

The article highlights several women who are playing on high school and college teams, including a school in Philadelphia.

“The country’s top-ranked girls high school basketball team, SS. John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic High School, in Philadelphia, has two players from Nigeria: Christina Aborowa, a 6-foot-4 senior forward headed to Texas, and Felicia Aiyeotan, a 6-9 junior center.”

I wonder if my daughter and her family in Philadelphia have heard of these players.

“We believe in hard work,” Aborowa said of herself and other Nigerians. “It’s in the blood, to go hard every time, to go for what you want.”

That sounds familiar!

Writing Women’s Lives

Book cover cookie, or “bookie”

And an extra note:

Marcelle Soviero and I spoke on Friday at the Westport Library. We had a great audience, with wonderful questions. I signed a lot of books!

Aline, the amazing publicist, brought cookies.

Hard to see under the wrap, but they are gorgeous replicas of the book covers, about two inches high, with detail you wouldn’t believe.

Everyone who bought a book got a cookie, or as Aline called them, a “bookie.”