In Nigeria today, Cholera is king. At the last count, figures from the Federal Ministry of Health indicate that the death toll from the recent epidemic of the disease which has been reported in eleven northern states has hit 350 and is rising. In fact, the whole nation is now said to be at risk especially for a nation where containment of simple diseases is perhaps more challenging than sending a man to space.
It is shameful to observe that in this age and with all the resources available to us as a nation, we should still be making world headlines for such preventable diseases as Cholera. This is no surprise given the poor state of hygiene prevalent all over the country and even more shameful the lack of potable clean drinking water for the people.
One wonders indeed where all the money budgeted annually for Water Resources end up? Where are the boreholes? Where are the damss, where are the taps?
Sometime last year, there was a similar outbreak of Cholera. It now seems that some people benefit from these recurrent outbreaks and the fire brigade emergency efforts that always follow them thus there seems an intentional effort to neglect what should be done so that annually some palms help them selves to emergency response funds.
It however most disheartening to observe that even as Cholera makes easy prey of our citizens, the Government, especially of the affected Northern states are more engrossed in succession maneuvering and Zoning arguments. The Governors are seen speeding along the streets of Abuja and attending endless nocturnal meetings with little or no interest in what is happening back home.
Health officials have already warned that at the current rate we all, including those in far off parts of Southern Nigeria are at risk of infection and when you consider the cross country daily transport of food stuff, including livestock from Northern Nigeria to the South, you will appreciate the fact that this is scarier than we care to note.
Here is the time to call on our Government to quit playing politics with our lives and do what should be done. Beyond the containment of these current epidemic is the need to fix the problem for good. Water the most basic necessity for life, in its pure form, must be made readily available to our people. We can afford it and it is a Right. Related to that is the need to urgently look again at our Primary Health Care system in this country.
In this age and time, Cholera mocks us and we should hide our faces in Shame that we find our selves at its mercy because our Government does not know shame.
