Twitter Hash tags and the Bandwagon effect in Nigeria

Only a few countries in the world can boast of a splendid economy with good people and still be a great nation in Africa.

Nigeria is grand like that, with a complex mix of poverty, inequality and the bandwagon pop culture.

With that in mind, please be reminded that Nigeria is not the most complex, should-not-have-been-a-nation brand in the world.

But truth be told. In the last 4 decades or so, leaders have failed heroes past and generation next.
Military rulers, Democratic leaders, pressure groups and opposition parties have done the same thing differently.

Corruption, Nepotism, poor maintenance culture, selfish interest, greed... Its a long list of reasons why Nigeria is so Nigerian.

But not so long ago came the time, and like one who has eaten the forbidden fruit, the political eyes of Nigerians opened.
Nigerians have become more politically conscious.
We now live in a time where more responsibility lies on the youths than the leaders.

But people want to be more involved without necessarily changing and this has a lot to do with Nigerian youths.
The demand for change and continuity in Nigeria is mostly driven by stomach infrastructure and the bandwagon effect.

Social media is where it is worse. Hash tags compete for relevance and Handles desperately crave for attention.
Perhaps there is really no love in the city and twitter is the getaway.

On social media, twitter is the playing field and hash tags are just a tool for voltrons, overlords, activists, intellects and publicists.

A few years back the #OccupyNigeria movement brought the best and worst out of Nigerians.
It showed how we want things to get better and how easy it is for Nigerians to come a compromise with mediocrity.
Perhaps #OccupyNigeria was a movement that thrived on a bandwagon effect.

A lot of young people who called GEJ names back then with #OccupyNigeria are now screaming #BringBackGoodluck2015.
Amazing Grace! Once blind but now i see! Its not a bad thing to change anyway.
But the problem is the bandwagon effect. The crowd mentality of Nigerian youths.

Today, Youths are either opposing or promoting government. Its about which one pays more in cash or attention.
Meanwhile, it is also a hobby for a lot people to take a shot at Mr. President from time to time. it has become
popular culture.

But how easy is it, to call GEJ corrupt yet you can't even open your cupboard for fear of the skeletons you have within.
How easy for you to call GEJ clueless yet your character and motives are so questionable you don't even have a clue.
Who cares about character when you have reputation?

Its so sad Nigeria has boko haram to contend with, amongst other socio economic issues.
For months the world have screamed #BringBackOurGirls. No thanks to boko haram after abducting more 200 chibok schoolgirls.

But trust Nigerians. Like the #OccupyNigeria movement, a lot of people have moved on.
#BringBackOurGirls have become become #BringBackGoodluck2015

Its all about hash tags and some have even moved to the next one. #30percentornothing.

I like #30percentornothing. 30% of youth involvement in leadership, politics and governance.
The concept is good, but like other movements before it, the bandwagon effect is playing out.

Well, When it comes sustaining movements, Nigerians hardly follow through.
Its about an ambition to fix the stomach and not necessarily a passion to fix Nigeria.
Its about social media association and political affiliation. A movement of convenience.

If you get #30percentornothing, how will you make Nigeria something?

#OccupyNigeria dead, #NISexamscam gone, #BringBackOurGirls going. what is #30percentornothing if #EnoughisnotEnough?

Dear Youth. Join a party. Get into politics if you want....
If you've got no values to stand for something, then #30percentisnothing.

Enough of the bang wagon trend for attention and popularity or the crowd mentality for where the money is.
#30percentornothing. Maybe #50percentforgood.....

Nigeria cannot get to new heights with old ways. So let the real youths stand up!

The African Disease; Any cure in sight?

In today's world, there is so much to live for and fight against, so much to enjoy in life and nothing to die.

Turning our gaze away from philosophy to medicine, it is believed the world is better equipped now than any other time in history to combat infectious and potentially fatal diseases.

Despite the progress made in modern day medicine, this hasn't prevented new dangerous plagues from emerging at an accelerating pace.

According to medical experts, discoveries have been made into the molecular cause of about 4,000 diseases but treatments are available for only 250 of them and many wonder what’s taking so long to find a cure?

The world is at a stage where systematic drug discovery is
imperative, even for rare and complex
diseases.

Is it time to teach old drugs new tricks? Are humans winning the fight against infectious diseases?

Many say significant progress have been made against the three biggest killers - AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
However, a number of chronic diseases are a “slow-motion” disaster and continue to be a threat.

When it come to the volume of diseases per continent, Africa is the most affected. It has been this way for decades for a continent with great potentials, big brains, but hardly learn a thing to solve its problems.

Asia learnt lessons from the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong and southern China.
Between 2002/2003, the disease was estimated to have cost the Asian economy about $30 billion dollars.

When it comes to fighting diseases, the whole world is in it together (as we are made to believe) and while some diseases are easily associated with region (Africa) and social status(the poor), some know no boundaries.

Take cancer for instance, most Americans thought a cure for cancer would be discovered within five years but more than 40 years later,
few experts talk of a handful of cure for the 200 known types of cancer.
The belief is that curing cancer is certainly more complicated
than landing on the moon.

All around the world, Pharmaceuticals and research companies play a big role in drug production, vaccine development and disease treatment and in the midst of the good work they do, they are not excluded from the conspiracy theory of being against a world where diseases are eradicated.
Perhaps, its all in the multi billion-dollar investment that the business of finding a cure to diseases have become and the cartel behind it all.

Again, let's turn our attention to Africa where it seems disease control and medical research is not a top priority.

Over-population, poor sanitation, climate change and the constant mutation of organisms are reasons for disease outbreaks in Africa.

Yesterday, it was the fight against malaria and HIV/AIDS, today its the deadly Ebola virus.

Since Ebola broke out in February/March this year in Guinea, the virus has kept on going beyond borders.

From Sierra Leone, to Liberia and then unfortunately Nigeria, no one is sure where the next case of the disease would be recorded.

Sensitization efforts has increased  with health workers caught in the middle of Ebola's worst outbreak in world history.

But has Africa been through this road before?

Is the continent at any point prepared to fight any outbreak, even the slightest advanced form of headache for instance?

What are national institutes of medical research in various African countries doing?

How long will affected countries stare from the edge of the Atlantic waiting for a few shipments of Ebola vaccines?

What has happened to Africa's natural healing remedies?

What is policy on healthcare and the budgetary priority placed on medical research in Africa?

Let's assume Ebola is air borne and can be transferred by mosquitoes. assume scientists are excluding that fact. Will Africa do something?

For now, Africa is on a long thing and nothing on Ebola is news anymore until one head of state dies of the disease.