Harvesting Organs and Futures

The case of a Nigerian senator who has been arrested and charged in the UK with trafficking a person with intent to harvest body parts has reverberated across U.K. and Nigerian newsrooms and social media. It appears to be a gruesome instance of abuse of power and exploitation of a vulnerable and deprived person. There are claims the senator enticed the victim with promises of a better life in the U.K. but secretly planned to use him as an organ donor for the senator’s unwell daughter. A different claim is that the victim was being paid to come to the U.K. as donor but was not a match and has made the accusations to avoid being sent back to Nigeria. It is possible that one, or even both of these accounts are true but we will find out in due course. 

Nigeria actually has a murky history of abductions and organ harvesting. Of recent there have been unconfirmed reports of wealthy people engaging criminal gangs to abduct, murder and harvest organs for their use. However, Nigeria’s history of this goes back to ancient times predating colonialism. Certain tribes were known to abduct people to be used in sacrifices or ritualistic offerings to gods. These practices were outlawed and phased out with the coming of colonialism and Christianity. However, there have continued to be cases and allegations of people killed, or body parts harvested as part of wealth rituals. These murderous and inhumane practices appear to be living on in a different guise  

Poverty has reached extreme levels in Nigeria. It is estimated that approximately seventy percent of the population live below the breadline. Not only are people chronically impoverished but they receive absolutely no direct support from the government by way of welfare or social benefits. Under these circumstances it is very likely that a considerable number of people would be coerced into making organ donations for payment. It is tragic that the very people responsible for raiding public coffers and neglecting public services are the same ones likely to be the beneficiaries and instigators of crimes involving organ harvesting.

As a result of mismanagement and corruption by current and successive governments and legislators in Nigeria healthcare in the country is worse than it was thirty years ago. The current Nigerian president is notorious for frequently traveling abroad to seek healthcare during his tenure. A lot of Nigerians often travel to countries like India or Turkey for critical healthcare. Nigeria is not on course to achieve any of its Sustainable Development health goals; and the WHO estimate life expectancy amongst Nigerians to be around fifty years. Less than ten percent of the national budget is spent on health. Health facilities are rundown and most rural areas have almost no access to proper healthcare. Healthcare in Nigeria is a regional lottery subject to political whim. The richest with the lower needs get the most and best healthcare while the poorest with the greatest needs get little or nothing. The NHIS is a programme that reinforces inequality and does nothing to provide access to universal healthcare.

It’s indicative of the collapse of government, political, judicial, law enforcement and health systems in Nigeria that it has taken an arrest abroad to bring these matters to the surface. It is still unlikely that very much will be done to address it. However, we are reaching the point where we can’t keep covering our nakedness with sacking and cry out hope. Our very present and futures are being harvested right before our eyes. The rot has set in and it may be too late to stop it.

Yo Johannesburg, Why So Sour?!

I have only been in Johannesburg for a little over a week; and it has already provoked some mixed feelings in me so far. I recognise that South Africa is a massive country covering a huge geographical area, and with a rich diversity indigenous and migrant ethnicities. However, the latent hostility I have observed coming off people in Joburg is nothing short of saddening.

It’s understandable that concerns about safety and security might make people cautious and wary. However, as a Black African visiting the city walking the streets feels like running a gauntlet. There just appears to be a distinct lack of consideration and care for others mixed in with the cautiousness that dogs people’s every step. People might instinctively sense a foreign presence and feel a degree of  suspicion. But a person going about his business innocuously shouldn’t come across as threatening.

A friend mentioned the fact that the wave of xenophobia spreading across South Africa makes for a less than pleasant atmosphere at times. There have been reports of incidents of immigrants from other African countries being threatened and attacked. Unfortunately it does not appear that these are just isolated instances of some brewing bitterness between nationalities. I am Nigerian and so may be considered an understandable target. However, it wouldn’t be apparent on seeing me walking down the street what nationality I am. I know I am Nigerian but the cold stares and shoulders I observe don’t really seem to make any distinction.

Another explanation might be that the South African psyche bruised and battered through the apartheid era hasn’t healed yet and still isn’t healing now. The decades since the dismantling of apartheid haven’t heralded a golden era social development. The combination of political spoils sharing and a reluctance to implement comprehensive social welfare reform has left parts of the population experiencing extremes of deprivation and social exclusion. The recent flooding in the KwaZulu-Natal Province has demonstrated that local government has been equally as ineffective as the national government in taking care of those people most in need.

South Africa has been plagued by the continuing spread of AIDS and HIV, poverty, violent crime, alcohol and substance misuse, and mental illness. While these are not typical of just South Africa the country’s approach to tackling these problems will be seen by some as abandoning the ideals of equality and social justice of all that were so dearly fought for during the apartheid era. There is definitely a need for a stronger push for social welfare and healthcare reform in the country. This should be supported by a national mental health strategy that not only starts to tackle the mental scars of the past and present, but also focuses on equipping the children and youth with the skills and resilience needed to ensure better emotional wellbeing as they go through life.

While social problems are not unique to South Africa there is a lot more the government could be doing to tackle them. The noncommittal approach to making life better for all only serves to entrench both the feelings and experience of inequality. Economic development without social security will only lead to social dysfunction and disorder. Something needs to be done to put a smile on the faces of South Africans. Let’s hope the politicians decide to make that a priority.