I’m worried. Why is it that at any given time, there must be something to kill us? It is unfair, unjust. This cannot be God’s plan for us. Yes, some things happen to try our faith in God. And for those who believe in divine healing, God has never let us down; I can testify. But God is too good to afflict His children with deadly diseases. He is full of love; not cruelty. He wishes, above all things, that we have sound health.
What is Ebola? I learnt the disease is named after the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the disease claimed its first victim in 1976. With such christening, Ebola has become an African phenomenon. Is it made in Africa for Africans? God forbid!
Ebola is worse than the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that results in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). You know why? Just like AIDS, it has no cure; but worse than AIDS, it kills too fast. In other words, it cannot be managed. Africa Check describes it as “a terrifying phenomenon” that kills 90 per cent of infected people; “death can occur in as little as a week.”
Ebola kills care-givers and patients at the same time. You now understand why I’m worried? What this means is that immediately you contact the disease, forget about calling a doctor; simply kneel down, confess your sins while you still have the strength to talk; commit your life to God and wait for certain angelic-flight announcements.
Nowadays, shaking hands with friends and colleagues has been informally banned in Nigeria; and, in fact, in the entire West African sub-region. I witnessed some strange behaviours on Wednesday at the National Judicial Institute (NJI), venue of the national conference. Conference staff returning from public holidays seemed reluctant to shake hands with one another. Those who dared to engage in the friendly act would quickly dash to the bathrooms to have their palms thoroughly washed. If you noticed a sweating colleague coming, the best thing would be to move in the opposite direction.
Just imagine stretching your hands for a high-five with a colleague you have not seen for almost a week, only to be asked: “Were you in Lagos during the public holidays? Or you went to Cotonou? I didn’t see you in town.” As the questions are being asked, you notice that your colleague’s two hands are deeply rooted in his pockets while he keeps taking a few steps backward to avoid your breathe.
If your answer was yes, your beloved friend would instantly raise alarm and take to his heels. Suddenly, friends would advise you from a distance to see a doctor. Ebola has come to severe friendship in Africa. Hugging a friend or relation, which used to be a sign of cordiality and love, has been cordoned off by Ebola.
Entering a taxi or bus to the office or market has become a serious problem. How would you sit in a car or a bus without your body touching the next person, or without inhaling a probably infected breathe from fellow passengers, or without the sweaty clothes of the hawker or even the conductor touching you? It’s almost impossible.
Which one is actually worse: Ebola or Boko Haram? Which of them should we be more afraid of? Without doubt, we can’t run away from any of them. Both are unseen killers. Ebola is imported. Boko Haram is home-grown. From all indications, the dangerous product has exported itself to Cameroun already.
God, have mercy on us! Why should we, as a people, be surrounded by enemies we can neither fight nor identify? Neither Ebola nor Boko Haram is written on anybody’s face. Terrorism came as a concept. It later became a masquerade. Now it is a reality and lives among us. How did we arrive here?
Most times, I try to think like the parents of the Chibok girls kidnapped to an evil forest many months ago. I try to imagine their sleepless nights and the nightmares invading their irregular sleep. It is difficult to describe what goes on in their minds day and night.
Then I start wondering: where are the girls? In what conditions are they being held? Are some of them pregnant already? Have they been sold out as slaves as threatened by their abductors? I have been struggling to discard the thought that they could be the teenage bombers who are now roaming the streets, disguised as hawkers.
Some people have asked why President Goodluck Jonathan has not ordered the military to invade the evil forest and rescue the girls. The same people also know that any such effort by the military will lead to the death of all the girls. They would be used as shields to receive the bullets.
I can also imagine the heap of dynamites planted around the routes leading to where the girls are enslaved. One wrong step and both the troops and the captives would perish in hellish flames. Such thoughts give me nightmares.
I believe that an end will come to all evils; be it Ebola or Boko Haram. But we, as a people, can speed up that end. Now that all human efforts have failed, prayer has become inescapable. Carrying placards on the streets and abusing Jonathan is not the solution. Only God can thwart the Ebola-Boko Haram conspiracy against Nigeria. Let’s do it!
