Which Way

ROTARY – The Polio Challenge

July is a special month in the convivial world of Rotary International (RI), undoubtedly the world’s largest and most influential humanitarian organisation: the Rotary year runs from July 1 to June 30 annually. For “Rotarians” (as members of Rotary in thousands of Rotary clubs and districts across the globe are called), July marks the automatic transition from one RI President, District Governor or club president and set of officers to another. To end each year, RI organises an international convention in a designated city. The first RI Convention was held in Chicago in 1910 and the 2008 Convention recently ended in the city of Los Angeles, California. Remarkably, this latest gathering of service minded men and women witnessed the presence for the first time under one roof of four spearheading partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative: the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and The Rotary Foundation (TRF) - the fundraising and grant making arm of Rotary International.

Another remarkable thing that took place at the 2008 Rotary International convention was a resolutuion by Rotarians concerning the sum of US$100m bequeathed to their organisation by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to buoy the global onslaught against polio. With thunderous unanimity, the over 25,000 delegates affirmed a resolution to launch Rotary’s US$100m Challenge – a three–year fundraising commitment aimed at marching the colossal US$100m contributed to Rotary’s polio eradication war chest by Bill and Melinda with another hefty US$100m to be raised by RI. What this means is that every dollar given to the Rotary PolioPlus Initiative during the next three years will be dedicated to matching the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation dollar for dollar.

And guess where the bulk of this hard currency is going? It is coming to Nigeria because our country, unfortunately, is one of the remaing four countries of the world where polio has remained endemic. The other countries in that league are India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. By a curious coincidence, the man who will pilot the Polio Challenge is soft spoken Jonathan Majiyagbe, a Kano based lawyer who made history in 2003 by becoming the first African to serve as International President of RI and who presently serves as Chair of Rotary African Regional PolioPlus Committee and the Rotary International PolioPlus Committee.

Rotary which has become a global phenomenon today had the most humble beginnings. A lonely lawyer named Paul Harris who lived in Chicago in the state of Illinois invited three business associates – Silvester Schiele, Gustavus Loehr and Hiram Shorey – one evening in February 1905 to discuss his idea of a new club that would renact the jocularity and trustworthiness of their childhood days which was missing in the dog-eat-dog environment of the big city. From Chicago, Rotary clubs spread to other cities of the US, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. From friendship, service to the community increasingly became the focus of Rotary. In 2005 Rotary celebrated a century of service. The Centennial Convention to mark 100 years of Rotary was held at the monumental McCormick Place Convention Centre in downtown Chicago in June 2005. For Rotarians it was a historic homecoming to the city where Rotary began. Today, the hallmarks of Rotary clubs all over the world are high ethical standards, fellowship among members, and commitment to service to the community without counting cost or returns.  With a global membership exceeding 1.2m men and women who belong to over 32,000 clubs in more than 200 countries, Rotary boasts of a large pool of business and professional leaders in virtually every city where it exists who task themselves and their friends to build goodwill and peace across frontiers.

The story of Rotary and polio is a moving one. Poliomyelitis (polio) is an infectious, crippling and often fatal disease that attacks children especially those under the age of five. Since 1972 when Dr. Robert Hingson of the Rotary Club of Oakland, Pittsburgh gave a vocational talk on his invention called the “peace gun” which could be loaded with multiple doses of vaccine and used to immunize larger numbers of people faster than the traditional syringe method, the idea of a massive attack on worrisome health syndromes has been of concern to Rotary. Following a pilot vaccination programme in the Phillipines, Rotary envisioned a polio–free world and challenged the rest of the world to pursue that vision. The initial idea adopted by RI in 1982 was to immunize all of the world’s children against polio by the time of Rotary’s 100th anniversary. This programme which was tagged ‘Polio 2005’ was later changed to ‘PolioPlus’ in recognition of Rotary’s support of a global initiative to combat vaccine-preventable childhood diseases. At the 1988 RI Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the WHO proposed changing the goal from ‘control’ of polio to ‘eradication’ by the year 2000. Indeed, it was Rotary’s vision that inspired the 1988 resolution by the World Health Assembly which committed governments to the eradication goal. The combined efforts of WHO, UNICEF, CDC, TRF and various governments reduced the reported incidence of polio by 99% from 350,000 in 1988 to 2000 cases in 2006. Read more »

Government

ROTARY – The Polio Challenge

July is a special month in the convivial world of Rotary International (RI), undoubtedly the world’s largest and most influential humanitarian organisation: the Rotary year runs from July 1 to June 30 annually. For “Rotarians” (as members of Rotary in thousands of Rotary clubs and districts across the globe are called), July marks the automatic transition from one RI President, District Governor or club president and set of officers to another. To end each year, RI organises an international convention in a designated city. The first RI Convention was held in Chicago in 1910 and the 2008 Convention recently ended in the city of Los Angeles, California. Remarkably, this latest gathering of service minded men and women witnessed the presence for the first time under one roof of four spearheading partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative: the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and The Rotary Foundation (TRF) - the fundraising and grant making arm of Rotary International.

Another remarkable thing that took place at the 2008 Rotary International convention was a resolutuion by Rotarians concerning the sum of US$100m bequeathed to their organisation by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to buoy the global onslaught against polio. With thunderous unanimity, the over 25,000 delegates affirmed a resolution to launch Rotary’s US$100m Challenge – a three–year fundraising commitment aimed at marching the colossal US$100m contributed to Rotary’s polio eradication war chest by Bill and Melinda with another hefty US$100m to be raised by RI. What this means is that every dollar given to the Rotary PolioPlus Initiative during the next three years will be dedicated to matching the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation dollar for dollar.

And guess where the bulk of this hard currency is going? It is coming to Nigeria because our country, unfortunately, is one of the remaing four countries of the world where polio has remained endemic. The other countries in that league are India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. By a curious coincidence, the man who will pilot the Polio Challenge is soft spoken Jonathan Majiyagbe, a Kano based lawyer who made history in 2003 by becoming the first African to serve as International President of RI and who presently serves as Chair of Rotary African Regional PolioPlus Committee and the Rotary International PolioPlus Committee.

Rotary which has become a global phenomenon today had the most humble beginnings. A lonely lawyer named Paul Harris who lived in Chicago in the state of Illinois invited three business associates – Silvester Schiele, Gustavus Loehr and Hiram Shorey – one evening in February 1905 to discuss his idea of a new club that would renact the jocularity and trustworthiness of their childhood days which was missing in the dog-eat-dog environment of the big city. From Chicago, Rotary clubs spread to other cities of the US, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. From friendship, service to the community increasingly became the focus of Rotary. In 2005 Rotary celebrated a century of service. The Centennial Convention to mark 100 years of Rotary was held at the monumental McCormick Place Convention Centre in downtown Chicago in June 2005. For Rotarians it was a historic homecoming to the city where Rotary began. Today, the hallmarks of Rotary clubs all over the world are high ethical standards, fellowship among members, and commitment to service to the community without counting cost or returns.  With a global membership exceeding 1.2m men and women who belong to over 32,000 clubs in more than 200 countries, Rotary boasts of a large pool of business and professional leaders in virtually every city where it exists who task themselves and their friends to build goodwill and peace across frontiers.

The story of Rotary and polio is a moving one. Poliomyelitis (polio) is an infectious, crippling and often fatal disease that attacks children especially those under the age of five. Since 1972 when Dr. Robert Hingson of the Rotary Club of Oakland, Pittsburgh gave a vocational talk on his invention called the “peace gun” which could be loaded with multiple doses of vaccine and used to immunize larger numbers of people faster than the traditional syringe method, the idea of a massive attack on worrisome health syndromes has been of concern to Rotary. Following a pilot vaccination programme in the Phillipines, Rotary envisioned a polio–free world and challenged the rest of the world to pursue that vision. The initial idea adopted by RI in 1982 was to immunize all of the world’s children against polio by the time of Rotary’s 100th anniversary. This programme which was tagged ‘Polio 2005’ was later changed to ‘PolioPlus’ in recognition of Rotary’s support of a global initiative to combat vaccine-preventable childhood diseases. At the 1988 RI Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the WHO proposed changing the goal from ‘control’ of polio to ‘eradication’ by the year 2000. Indeed, it was Rotary’s vision that inspired the 1988 resolution by the World Health Assembly which committed governments to the eradication goal. The combined efforts of WHO, UNICEF, CDC, TRF and various governments reduced the reported incidence of polio by 99% from 350,000 in 1988 to 2000 cases in 2006. Read more »

Politics

David Mark Senate President Wins!

The Court of Appeal sitting in Jos, delivered judgment in favour of the Senate President, Senator David Mark. In a judgment legal luminaries are still querying, the court of appeal’s decision to over ruled the judgment of the Benue State Electoral, which had ordered a by-election in two Local Government Areas within the senatorial zone. The lower tribunal had ruled that Young Alhaji, the challenger in the disputed April 2008 election, had the highest number of valid votes cast.

By the strength of this, Young Alhaji cross appealed, praying the court of appeal to announce him the winner but David Mark in his own appeal, petitioned that there were irregularities in the other Local Government  Areas that Young Alhaji won. The Court of Appeal unanimously held that David Mark won the election.

In a related questionable circumstance, the Osun State Electoral Tribunal sitting in Osogbo, yesterday, entered judgment in favour of the incumbent PDP Governor Olagunsoye Oyinola against the petition of Rauf Aregbesola of the Action Congress. There is an uneasy calm in Osun State, following what the AC called rape of justice by the active participation of the judiciary.

At the wake of the April general election, a flash in the pan boost was given to the battered image of the judiciary, especially the judges of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court showed rare courage when she ruled in favour of Peter Obi of Anambra State, whose mandate was stolen and kept in custody of Dr. Chris Ngige, while the then president, Olusegun Obasanjo kept criminally silent.

But this mirage has turned into full bashing of the judiciary, especially the members of the Court of Appeal. One wonders if these judgments are not endorsement of survival of the fittest and who can mobilize the greatest and ferocious thugs on election day.

Nigeria Question

Niger Delta: The Burden Of Appellation.

The Niger Delta is older than the 1914 amalgamation of Nigeria. But as a political force, Niger Delta is the youngest of the six geo-political zones in Nigeria. Her teeth were sharpened by the Abacha government, when rotational presidency was a thorny issue and consequently, South-South was born to differentiate them from the South East and position them from for a slot in eventual rotational presidency that never got constitutional blessing.

South-South, as an encompassing name for the peoples of the South of Nigeria (Edo, Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers State), did not adequately represent the interest of the peoples, whose environment have been degraded by oil exploitation. Furthermore, South-South, especially, the nomenclature South-South Peoples Assembly, was sponsored by the sitting governors of that region to anoint themselves as the sole presidential candidate. Being anchored on the ambition of the political class, the people felt alienated and the erstwhile foot soldiers of the South-South, armed by the politicians, turned against each other. To give relevance to the gang clash, these “soldiers” dusted the lukewarm struggle of the Ogoins over Shell’s abuse of the environment and gave it a broader nomenclature called Niger Delta Struggle.

This new name in content alienates some states of the South-South. Edo, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers were sidelined and the theatre of the “struggle”, Rivers State becomes the alpha and omega of the expression Niger Delta. Their younger brother Bayelsa, gets peripheral mention by virtue of her Ijaw ethnic tribe content. The question smothering in the mouth of many Nigerians is; Is the Ijaws the only peoples of the Niger Delta? Check the content of MEND, defunct Asari’s group and Ateke Tom.

Agreed the Ijaws a on water living people, are the most affected by the careless oil spillage by these oil multinational pirates, who cares no hoot about their environment, so long as their home country gets fat return. If the Niger Delta struggle is to have a lasting solution, the word Niger Delta should include all the peoples of South-South. If not any solution in the present “Niger Delta”, will spark up a “Niger Delta” kind of struggle in another South-South state. The inland oil producing states of Imo and Abia, will also take up arms.

It is the non-understanding of the true Niger Delta that has made the problems of the Niger Delta appear unsolvable. When Ken Saro-wiwa staged his fight, he narrowed it to the Ogoins. Had he expanded the struggle to incorporate other peoples of the South-South, there may not have been any sector of the people left out for the foot soldiers of the politicians to fall to after falling out with their godfathers. If you can remember, these modern day soldiers for the emancipation or defence of the Niger Delta, never set out to do so. They were purely political thugs, who ran out of favour with their sponsors and became over night champions of the Niger Delta struggle.

As a result, different names have been appendage to them. First they were labelled cultists. Then their clashes were against each other, in order to deliver their area of control at the next election to the ruling party or any party that dropped the weightiest Ghana-Must-Go. When it appeared to the other groups that a group, is getting more government attention, embarrassing the government by kidnapping oil expatriates became order of the day. These kidnapped expatriates were released to governor(s), to give the impression that the governor is in charge. In the process, the governor gets international applause and a nod from Aso Rock, without anybody asking how much was given to the boys in the creek to release the onyibo.

If the federal government is serious about solving holistically the Niger Delta crisis, the nomenclature must be apt. But the government is as confused as ever. The backward march of Yar’Adua’s government bared its nakedness last week, when the Vice President, Jonathan Goodluck, announced that the government is dropping the name Niger Delta Summit (NDS) for Niger Delta Dialogue. By this act of cowardice, the government has shown that she has no understanding of the issues in the Niger Delta. There has been dialogue about oil exploitation and its environmental impact since the first exploration in Iho North West of Imo State in 1951 and in Niger Delta since oil was discovered in commercial quantity at Oloibiri in 1956. Rather than creating tension with Gambari, who did not understand the Niger Delta struggle and called Ken Saro-wiwa and Co. Common criminals, the government should have quietly dusted the files of ageless documents on the Niger Delta and implement them. The NDDC for starters can be given a patriotic face lift to meet the needs of Niger Delta and not a source for job for the boys.