Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
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As some of you may already know, I am a huge Nollywood fan and have been in the business of collecting and watching these films since time immemorial... If you don't know, any time you see the name "Isong" attached to a film, expect a well-produced film. Time and time again, I have been simply dazzled by Emem Isong films.
Just as of today, I learned of another Isong in the film industry, Uduak Isong Oguamanam, the mind behind the blog, Artsville. With Desmond Elliot as director, she and Emem Isong co-produced the "nocumentary,***" Edikan, a film highlighting the ills of the "child witch" phenomenon in Akwa Ibom. The film premieres Friday, July 17th at Terra Culture by 5:30pm. The film "attempts to enlighten the parents of affected children who are themselves victims of the greed and wickedness of some fake pastors. ..." I can't imagine that the film will be anything less than amazing and kudos to the director and producers for highlighting such an important issue in a format that I am sure is accessible to the Nigerian audience. Hoping that the film will soon cross the Atlantic for my...I mean, our...viewing as well...(hint, hint...).
Below is a youtube preview of the film (Uduak, hope you don't mind)...
***Nocumentary = Nollywood meets documentary
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I have been following the Akwa Ibom child witch phenomenon for some time now. unfortunately the only time i mentioned their plight on this blog was in reference to Maduekwe's incredible denial of their existence. For more information and the organization that seeks to protect our society's most vulnerable members, Child's Right and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN), I would check out the following posts from members of the Nigerian blogosphere...
naijablog - has been following the story since 2007
bellanaija - her personal take on the situation
Nigerian Health Watch - a more recent piece on the CRARN attacks
Fortunately, the children of CRARN are taking matters into their own hands, peacefully, and protesting police brutality against the children and staff members. See the article here. Inspiring. However, I went to the comments and found that one particular fellow seemed to deny the existence of maltreatment of these children. Of course I reacted (hopefully 234NEXT will publish my comments soon). However, I began to wonder, beyond Maduekwe, how widespread is this attempt on the part of Nigerians to close their eyes to the horrible "child witch" phenomenon in Akwa Ibom? I have talked primarily to my fellow Naijamericans here who do believe that such is happening and needs to be addressed promptly (however, I have noted that many have used it as a platform to rehash their horrid stereotypes about the perceived backward-ness of some ethnic groups in the South-South - to which I whole-heartedly disagree with....).
Anyway, it may be my naivete....but how and why would someone read about the plight of these innocents and then figure that such news is not real? Am I missing something?
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victims....
Few months ago, the world was abuzz with the outing of the heinous crimes occurring against mere children deemed as witches in Akwa Ibom. For more on this subject click here. I think it was generally agreed upon that driving nails through the skulls of adolescents and young people in efforts to rid them of the devil is not the most humane route.
Fortunately, Akwa Ibom, after much international and local uproar took a stand against such acts and prosecuted perpetrators of such acts. Strangely enough, we did not hear from the federal government until now.
Our good friend failed-Transportation-minister-turned-foriegn-affairs-minister finally provided the world with the Nigerian government's reaction to the plight of these children. These children, who suffered very tangible physical and psychological bruises from their ordeals, were PAID, yes paid to admit they were tortured, reports NEXT from the Universal Periodical Review session on Nigeria. From a previous post and comments I have made on other blogs, I am sure you can tell that I am not his biggest fan (and that horrendous striped Kangol cap doesn't help matters either). However, this latest admission trumps all - it reflects his blatant disregard for the basic human rights of communities less-privileged than those he may find himself in. His statement is analogous to blaming the rape vicitm for his/her rape or rather denying those very real events. It is because of people like Chief Ojo Maduekwe, "O Gbu Umuntakiri I" of Nigeria that victims remain victims.
Under normal circumstances, Yar'adua should have him sacked as the spokesperson of Nigeria to the outside world....but then again, the case of Nigeria is not a normal circumstance.
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sometime ago, i wrote on the recent rise of the polio epidemic in the north and its inextricable link to the 1996 Pfizer drug company scandal. as a result of the unethical practices undertaken by Pfizer during that time period, many northerners to this day remain wary of immunization campaigns, and understandably so.
the mysterious aftermath of the Pfizer scandal and the very real possibility that some communities are still perceived to be susceptible to be used as human guinea pigs (please see Naapali's comment on that post) has caused many parents of Plateau state to refuse the polio vaccine for their children. the health minister of the state, Dr. Angela Miri in response has called for punitive measures against parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated stating that the behavior of such parents is "very shameful and uncalled for."
while i acknowledge that the vaccination of children against the life-crippling polio is critical to its ultimate eradication, i have to disagree agree with the approach of health officials in Plateau state. The abuse of northerners in the name of medicine was a very real event and so far no measures have been put in place to prevent a repeat of 1996 meningitis trials.
i think health officials would further their cause by first acknowledging the legitimate fears of the Plateau state parents. i am very sure that the parents of Plateau state are looking out for the best interest of their families in light of a system that fails to protect them from internal and external medical/scientific exploitation. in acknowledging those fears, the government should then proceed to address them - possibly educating the public on how to avoid being "419'ed" by multi-national drug companies and the like. then, as was done in the past, work with religious and community figures in convincing parents of the need to vaccinate their children.
Of course I came up with this while eating dinner, so it is not the most well-thought out course of action. but i think simply punishing Plateau state parents because in their perceived best interests for their children refuse vaccines serves as a temporary bandage on an ever-festering wound.
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my dears, thank you for all your well wishes and posts while i was on hiatus. they were highly, highly appreciated. I had to hold myself back from posting on other's blogs during that time, lest i find myself spending hours online that should have gone towards schoolwork. i will be replying all of your posts within the next 24 hours or so. also, watch out for some of my comments on your blogs as well, especially the "Brutish Airways" debacle (I have long since boycotted BA and wondered why it took the rest of y'all so long to do the same too...I say that with love and respect...welcome to the light).
speaking of scandals, does anyone know what came out of the Pfizer meningitis clinical trials of 1996 - I know very very old...but I was discussing it with someone the other day and could not find updates on what happened so far. For a brief recap....
In 1996, northern Nigerian witnessed an unprecedented meningitis outbreak in which 12-15,000 people died within a span of six months. During this time, Pfizer scouted for potential young participants for a clinical trial of the antibiotic Trovan, which, at the time, was largely untested for use in children. In a field hospital in Kano, 200 children were selected for this trial and half were administered Trovan, while the other half were given a low dose of another antibiotic. As a result of the trial, several children died or were rendered permanently disabled, claims the Nigerian government.
The problems: I think in terms of ethical research case studies, this is probably the worse I've encountered in recent history. Here's why:
- The trial was performed at at time when Doctors Without Borders, who, true to their mission, sought to alleviate the epidemic by providing free and effective antiobiotics at the same field hospital. The conspiracy theorist in me wants to believe that Pfizer took advantage of this in that families could have consented to signing their children up for the Pfizer trials thinking that the Pfizer and Doctors Without Borders were one in the same.
- Pfizer claimed that the clinical trial was approved by the Nigerian government. However the letter of approval written by some Nigerian ethics committee was a fake, written more than a year after the trial had ended. In fact the letterhead used was created months after the trial.
- No documents detailing if and how consent was obtained by parents of participants exist. Pfizer maintains that nurses on the ground obtained verbal consent from parents, though parents who are suing Pfizer deny this claim.
- Patients whose condition worsened after use of the experimental drug were denied standard therapy. A big boo-boo, to say the least.
- In 2006, the Nigerian government released the results of a panel meant to look into the Pfizer trial and reports found that Pfizer not only violated Nigerian law, but also flouted the International Declaration of Helsinki, and mandates espoused by the UN Convention on the Right of the Child. The best part is that the results of this Nigerian investigation is that the report had been suppressed for five years. It is only as of recent that anyone has come to know of the findings of this report.
Google Pfizer and Nigeria and I am sure you will find more details, I have only scratched the surface. But to give an update, Trovan has since been banned in the United States and Europe because of its life-threatening side effects. And as many of you know, as a result of the Pfizer trials, the once-eradicated polio has resurged in northern Nigeria and has spread other parts of West Africa. Muslim clerics in northern Nigeria used the Pfizer trials to bolster their arguments that polio vaccines were part of a plot to extinguish the Muslim population.
Recently, in 2005, the suit against Pfizer went to court in the United States but was dismissed on the grounds that the US did not have jurisdiction over this case. And in January of this year, a federal high court in Abuja issued a warrant for the arrest of eight former directors of Pfizer Nigeria.
However, beyond this, I have no idea what has happened in regards to this case. If someone can please shed light on what is currently being done to adequately bring justice, please let me know. But this issue brings up several potential points of discussion. One, corruption is not solely a Nigerian commodity. It seems as if in this case, corruption was initiated by the multinational corporation, Pfizer. The former NAFDAC director claims that this trial was conducted without the consent of the Nigerian government. However, we must acknowledge that the Nigerian environment, in fact the developing world environment allows for such tragedies to happen. What if anything can be done to prevent such in the future? (I apologize for the open-endedness of this post, but I have to reorient myself back to the blogosphere once again). By the way guerreiranigeriana, a post on my take on the short-term medical mission's phenomenon and its abuses is forthcoming.