Nobel Prize winner shares some good news about the coronavirus pandemic

CC™ News - By Shawn Langlois (MarketWatch)

Michael Levitt, a Nobel laureate and Stanford biophysicist, has delivered an optimistic take on the coronavirus pandemic to the Los Angeles Times over the weekend. 

Levitt was credited for correctly calling early on that China would get through the worst of its devastating outbreak before many other health experts predicted.

On Jan. 31, China had 46 new deaths compared with 42 the day before, which Levitt recognized as a slowing rate of growth. So he sent out an optimistic report.

“This suggests that the rate of increase in number of the deaths will slow down even more over the next week,” he said in a note widely shared on Chinese social media. Levitt, who won the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry, also said the number of deaths would soon start decreasing every day.

He ultimately nailed his call for a mid-February peak with a total tally of about 80,000 cases and 3,250 deaths. As of March 16, China had counted a total of 80,298 cases and 3,245 deaths — in a country of almost 1.4 billion people where about 10 million die every year.

He’s got a similar view for the United States.

 “What we need is to control the panic... we’re going to be fine,” he said, adding that the data doesn’t support the gloom and doom epidemiologist have been warning about.

Levitt looked at the stats from 78 countries with more than 50 reported cases of COVID-19 every day and sees “signs of recovery,” focusing on the number of new cases, not the cumulative figure.

“Numbers are still noisy but there are clear signs of slowed growth,” he told the L.A. Times, claiming that, however, the trajectory of deaths in the U.S. back up his findings.

There are now 35,224 cases and 471 deaths in the U.S., as of Monday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University. On Friday afternoon, there were 16,018 cases and 210 deaths.

Levitt said social-distancing mandates and getting vaccinated against the flu are both critical to the fight against the spread. Italy’s strong anti-vaccine movement, he explained, likely played a factor in the explosion of cases, because the spread of the flu likely was a factor in overwhelming hospitals and increasing the chances of coronavirus going undetected.

He lays some of the blame on the media for sparking panic by focusing on the increase in cumulative cases and spotlighting celebrities, like Tom Hanks and Idris Elba, who have been infected.

Levitt is also worried that an overreaction could trigger another crisis, with lost jobs and hopelessness creating their own set of problems, such as a surge in suicide rate.

On Sunday, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said he sees the U.S. unemployment rate hitting 30% in the coming months as the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic. If his projection proves true, unemployment would be worse than it was during the Great Depression and three times worse than the 2007-’09 recession.

While those kinds headlines continue to spread fear, Levitt sticks by his simple message: The coronavirus pandemic is “not the end of the world.”

Adulterous husband contracts coronavirus on trip to Italy with mistress

CC™ News

A cheating UK husband is "in a blind panic" over his extra-marital affair - now that he contracted the coronavirus on a secret trip to Italy with his mistress, according to reports.

The unnamed patient, in his late 30s - described as "well-heeled and with a high-flying job" - told his wife he was away on a business trip within the UK, The Sun reported.

"This patient is the talk of public health officials," a source with knowledge of the situation told the outlet. "His case would be funny if it wasn't quite so serious."

"The man confessed [to doctors] what he'd been up to in Italy, and that his wife has no idea," the source added. "She thinks he just picked up the disease on his business trip away."

The man is expected to survive the infection - "unlike his extra-marital relationship," the source told the outlet.

The man's wife-only aware that he has COVID-19-has isolated herself in the couple's lavish home in Northern England.

He admitted to doctors that his affair is with a woman, but he refused to identify her, according to the report.

Italy is battling the largest coronavirus outbreak outside Asia - with 31,506 total cases and 2,503 deaths reported by Tuesday, officials announced.

Source: The Sun

Female doctor responsbile for the key detection of first Covid-19 case in Nigeria celebrated

CC™ Global News 

Nigeria’s Southwestern Ogun state government today revealed the identity of the doctor who suspected the index case of coronavirus in Nigeria. 

The state ministry of health in a series of tweets appreciated the doctor, Amarachukwu Allison, whose vigilance and brilliance it said “led to the early diagnosis and rapid containment" of the first Covid-19 infection brought into the country by an Italian expatriate.

Allison is a doctor at Lafarge Plc, a cement manufacturer. The disclosure comes almost a month after the index case of the Italian who arrived in Nigeria on February 24, was confirmed by the Lagos State government and the Federal government.

The Italian, who is a consultant with Lafarge, reportedly spent the night at an undisclosed hotel near Lagos airport and moved to the company’s facility in Ewekoro, Ogun state, the next morning.

He was said to have spent the night at Lafarge’s facility when he fell sick and was taken to the company’s medical centre where preliminary diagnosis began.

After testing positive for the disease, he was subsequently quarantined at the Infectious Disease Centre in Yaba, Lagos state. He has since recovered and tested negative twice after that, and has thus been discharged by the Lagos State medical outfit that treated him.

Responding to the Osun government’s tweet, Allison thanked God “for intuition and knowledge” and for the safety of her teammates.

“I want to thank God Almighty for intuition and knowledge and also for the safety of my teammates and I who worked together at the time,” she said.

“My special prayers to health workers around the world who have paid the supreme sacrifice and to all families who have lost loved ones. To all unsung heroes, thank you.”

She effectively enters the league of Stella Adadevoh, a Nigerian medic celebrated in the country for having kept out the Ebola epidemic from the country years back.

Adadevoh helped curb the spread of Ebola virus in Nigeria by placing the patient zero, Patrick Sawyer, in quarantine despite pressures from the Liberian government.

Amarachukwu Karen Allison@mzGolden17

I want to thank God Almighty for intuition and knowledge and also for the safety of my teammates and I who worked together at the time.

Special thanks to Lafarge, @NCDCgov @OGCovid19update @LSMOH @Fmohnigeria  @IntlSOS for their prompt and professional https://twitter.com/OGCovid19update/status/1241311535051481088 …

OgunCovid-19Update@OGCovid19update

The Ogun State Government appreciates the young female doctor who suspected the index case in Nigeria in our State, Dr. Amarachukwu Karen Allison of Lafarge Nigeria. Her singular brillaince led to the early diagnosis and rapid containment of the first Covid-19 infection in

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10:40 AM - Mar 21, 2020

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Iran leader refuses US help, citing virus conspiracy theory

CC™ Politico -  By Jon Gambrell (AP) 

Iran's supreme leader Sunday refused U.S. assistance to fight the new coronavirus, citing an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus could be man-made by America. 

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments come as Iran faces crushing U.S. sanctions blocking the country from selling its crude oil and accessing international financial markets. 

But while Iranian civilian officials in recent days have increasingly criticized those sanctions, 80-year-old Khamenei instead chose to traffic in the same conspiracy theory increasingly used by Chinese officials about the new virus to deflect blame for the pandemic. 

“Possibly your (offered) medicine is a way to spread the virus more,” Khamenei said. “Or if you send therapists and doctors, maybe he wants to see the effect of the poison, since it is said that part of the virus is built for Iran." 

There is no scientific proof offered anywhere in the world to support Khamenei's comments. 

However, it comes after Chinese government spokesman Lijian Zhao tweeted earlier this month that it “might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe(s) us an explanation!”

Lijian likewise offered no evidence to support his claim, which saw the U.S. State Department summon China's ambassador to complain. 

Wuhan is the Chinese city where the first cases of the disease were detected in December. In recent days, the Trump administration has increasingly referred to the virus as the “Chinese” or “Wuhan” virus, while the World Health Organization used the term COVID-19 to describe the illness the virus causes. Even a U.S. senator from Arkansas has trafficked in the unfounded conspiracy theory it was a man-made Chinese bioweapon. 

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. 

Scientists have not yet determined exactly how the new coronavirus first infected people. Evidence suggests it originated in bats, which infected another animal that spread it to people at a market in Wuhan. The now-shuttered Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market advertised dozens of species such as giant salamanders, baby crocodiles and raccoon dogs that were often referred to as wildlife, even when they were farmed. 

An article published last week in the scientific journal Nature Medicine similarly said there is “strong evidence” the virus “is not the product of purposeful manipulation.” 

“It is improbable that (the virus) emerged through laboratory manipulation of a related SARS-CoV-like coronavirus,” the article's authors found. 

Khamenei made the comments in a speech in Tehran broadcast live Sunday across Iran marking Nowruz, the Persian New Year. He had called off his usual speech at Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad over the virus outbreak. 

His comments come as Iran has over 20,600 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus amid 1,556 reported deaths. 

Iran is one of the hardest-hit countries in the world by the new virus. Across the Mideast, Iran represents eight of 10 cases of the virus and those leaving the Islamic Republic have carried the virus to other countries. 

Reassigning blame could be helpful to Iran's government, which faced widespread public anger after denying for days it shot down a Ukrainian jetliner, killing 176 people. Widespread economic problems as well has seen mass demonstrations in recent years that saw hundreds reportedly killed. 

Iranian hard-liners have supported conspiracy theories in the past when it suited their interests. Following the Sept. 11 attacks, some publicly doubted al-Qaida's role and state TV promoting the unfounded conspiracy theory that the Americans blew up the building themselves. 

Former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad similarly raised doubt about the Sept. 11 attack, calling it a “big lie," while also describing the Holocaust as a “myth.” 

Associated Press writer Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

In the midst of all the negativity, some good news on the coronavirus front.....

Dr. Chikwe Ikpeazu - Nigeria Centre for Disease Control

CC™ Perspective

The Covid-19 virus is believed to have started in the Wuhan province in China and quickly spread to other countries with a serious effect on the world economy and the general well being of people.

How about some positive news for a change, in the midst of all the gloom and doom?

• China has closed down its last coronavirus hospital with no news of internal infections.

• Doctors in India have been successful in treating Covid-19 with a combination of drugs: Lopinavir, Retonovir, Oseltamivir along with Chloroquine. They are going to suggest the same approach globally.

• Researches of the Erasmus medical center claim to have found an antibody against Covid-19.

• A 103 year old Chinese grandmother has made a full recovery from Covid-19 after been treated for six days in Wuhan, China.

• Apple re-opens all 42 China stores.

• Cleveland clinic developed a Covid-19 test that gives results in hours and not days.

• Good news from South Korea, where the number of new cases is declining daily.

• The Italian who brought coronavirus to Nigeria has been treated and now tested negative twice.

• Italy is hit hard, experts say, only because they have the oldest population in Europe.

• Scientist in Israel likely to announce the development of a coronavirus vaccine.

• In Kenya, no one has died as a result of coronavirus infection.

• Three Maryland coronavirus patients fully recovered, able to return to everyday life.

• A network of Canadian scientists are making excellent progress on Covid-19 research.

• A San Diego biotech company is developing a covid-19 vaccine in collaboration with Duke University and the national university of Singapore.

• Tulsa county’s first positive covid-19 case has recovered. This individual has had two negative tests which is the indicator of recovery.

• All 7 patients who were getting treated for coronavirus at Safdarjung hospital in New Delhi have recovered.

• Plasma from newly recovered patients from Covid-19 can treat others infected by the virus.

Yes, we still face challenges to slow the spread of the deadly virus, but it is important to know that progress is being made on all fronts to eventually defeat the virus. Let's stay positive and take care of each other in the mean time. 

China accuses the United States of importing Coronavirus to Wuhan

CC™ Global News

Chinese foreign ministry has suggested that the U.S. Army may be responsible for bringing coronavirus to Wuhan, China.

COVID-19 which began in December has so far spread to more than 50 countries and has been declared a global pandemic.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian claimed that the U.S. government was hiding the numbers of COVID-19 cases.

According to Zhao, the U.S. has a lot of explanation to do and needs to disclose its data to the public.

On his verified Twitter page, he wrote: “CDC was caught on the spot. When did patient zero begin in U.S.? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals?

“It might be the U.S. Army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! U.S. owe us an explanation!

Since the outbreak of Coronavirus, Italy, Iran have recorded more cases and increase in death toll.

The spread of COVID-19 has worsened in the past few days as footballers, government officials have tested positive to the deadly disease.

FLASHBACK: The choices before the Emir of Kano

HRH Muhammadu Sanusi II

CC™ Introspective - By Eric Teniola

Alhaji Isa KAITA (1912-1994) was the Northern Region Minister for works between 1954-1957 and later Minister of Education between 1957-1966. He later became the Waziri of Katsina. Alhaji Kaita was one of the few closest advisers of the late northern region premier Sir Ahmadu Bello (1909-1966), the Sardauna of Sokoto. 

In August 1963, Alhaji Isa Kaita was dispatched to Lagos by his friend Sir Ahmadu Bello. The mission was to inform the then Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa(1912-1966) on the plan of the premier to depose the then Emir of Kano, Sir Muhammadu Sanusi from the throne. 

When he got to Lagos he met the then prime Minister in company of his five ministers, Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu (1910-1965), Alhaji Shehu Shagari (90),Alhaji Zanna Bukar Suloma dipcharima(1917-1969), Alhaji Maitama Sule (90) and Alhaji Tudun Wada(94). The ministers advised against the premier's decision.

Upon delivering the message, the then prime minister told Alhaji Kaita that the Sardauna should not act that way. "Tell the Sardauna that he should not do it, for Kano will be on fire."

The emissary told the prime minister and the five ministers present that "I am not here for permission. I am here to inform you that the Sardauna had made up his mind, am afraid no going back". That was how the meeting ended. Selection and deposition of traditional rulers is the sole responsibility of state governments.

The son of the Emir, Alhaji Aminu Sanusi who was serving in the Nigerian Embassy in Cairo, Egypt at that time, intervened on behalf of his father on the question of exile. The prime minister discussed with the premier and the choice settled on Azare, headquarters of then Katagum Emirate in Northern Bauchi province. 

Two days later the Emir was dethroned and banished to Azare in the present Bauchi state. 

He later died in 1984. Some of the details of the deposition are contained on pages 603 to 605 of a book written by Mr. Trevor Clark titled" A RIGHT HONOURABLE GENTLEMAN" on the life and times of Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Mr. Clark, a Briton, served as the deputy secretary to the executive council, the governor's office in Kaduna. He was a personal friend of the Prime Minister.

Before the deposition, Mr Clark wrote that" the Kano native finances had largely broken down, and in September 1962 could not meet its monthly staff wages bill nor nor its other debts; the water supply undertaking and the purchase-of-corn local industry in particular were now audited because virtually unauditable".

In my interview as the National Assembly Editor of THE PUNCH newspaper, with Alhaji Isa Kaita in October 1983 while he was chairman of Code of Conduct bureau, he said Sir Ahmadu Bello did not take that decision without consultation. He described the deposition as "A RIGHTEOUS ONE". 

When I asked whether the late premier had any regret in deposing Alhaji Muhammed Sanusi as the Emir before he too was murdered by the military on January 15,1956, his reply was "why should the Sardauna regret his actions, Sanusi was not deposed on mere statement, go and find out. Have you read the report of David Muffet".

David Muffet, a Briton was appointed by Sir Ahmadu Bello to probe into Kano Native Financial affairs in 1963. Later Mr. Muffet wrote a book titled"LET THE TRUTH BE TOLD".

Unfortunately, Alhaji Isa Kaita, a former broadcaster could not write his autobiography to shed more light on the deposition of the Emir before he died in his house in Kaduna no November 26, 1994.

After the deposition of the Emir, the Turaki of Kano between (1927-1939) and district head of Dawakin Kudu, Alhaji Muhammad Inuwa Abbas born in 1901 became the Emir. His reign was less than 12 months before he died. He was succeeded by Alhaji Ado Bayero who died recently after reigning for 51 years.

The history of the deposed Emir was in sharp contrast with that of his father Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero who was Emir between 1926 and 1963.

Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero was the son of Emir Muhammadu Abbas. He was district head of Bichi before he was appointed the tenth Fulani Emir of Kano in 1926. He was officially installed in February 1927.

Under British supervision, he carried out some reforms of the Emirate government. The economic prosperity continued in his reigned despite the slump going on in the post-Second World War years and considerable development was financed from Native Authority funds; by the early 1950s the Kano NA was spending over £1 million annually for its programs.

Under the Emir, whose good relations with the British were shown by a procession in which he and the governor took part in 1936,Kano became important to the British a civil air route terminal (1936), air base in the Second World War, and a major groundnut center as it had been since 1912. He encouraged many factories to be established in Kano.

He virtually turned Kano into a major trading center across the whole of Africa. The Arabs turned Kano to their second home, hence the reason for many mulattoes in Kano today.

In 1934 Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero visited Britain and was received by King George V. He went to Mecca twice; the first time, in 1937, he traveled by car and became the first ever Emir of Kano to perform the Hajj; he performed it again in 1951, that time by air, and on his return opened a new mosque. He followed the Reformed Tijaniyya Moslem confraternity, and was much influence by Sheikh Ibrahim Niass of Kaolack (Senegal), who preached it in Kano.

This well-remembered Emir died on 25 December 1953. Bayero University was named after him.

The son of the now ailing Emir of Azare, who hosted the deposed Emir of Kano for 21 years, Baba Farouk, the Seriki shirra, is today the Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Water Resources. And the grandson of the deposed Emir is today the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Lamido Sanusi Lamido.

He is not the first son or grandson of a deposed traditional ruler to regain the throne of his father or that of his grandfather. The father of the present Alaafin of Oyo, Iku Baba Yeye, Oba Lamidi Layiwola Adeyemi III (76), that is Oba Adeniran Adeyemi II was once deposed in 1954 and died in exile. His son,the present Alaafin succeeded Oba Gbadegesin Ladigbolu on November 8, 1970. The whole world is awaiting when he will mark 50years on throne in 2020. 

The former Oba of Benin, Oba Uku Akpolokpolo, Omo n'Oba n'Edo, Akenzua II (1899-1978) was another one. His grandfather King Ovonramwen who died in 1914 was dethroned and deported to Calabar where he died seventeen years later. 

The present Olowo of Owo in Ondo state, Kabiyesi Victor Folagbade Olateru Olagbegi is another one. His famous father Sir James Titus Olateru Olagbegi II was dethroned in February 1968. He fought back and he claimed his throne on November 2, 1993.

As for the present Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, in spite of his unfortunate detention in Jos prison during the General Sanni Abacha era and the personal effort which the late Emir, Alhaji Ado Bayero made in securing his release without facing charges, he could boast of having a grandfather and a great grandfather as Emirs of Kano. A truly unique pedigree upon which to build his own tenure.

He has two choices before him today. Either to follow the footsteps of his great grandfather Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero who transformed Kano or follow the footsteps of his grandfather Alhaji Muhammed Sanusi who was deposed after reigning for 10 years.

It is his choice to make.

Long Overdue: Nigeria issues travel ban on the US, UK and 11 other countries

Health Minister Dr. Osagie Enahire

CC™ Global Health News

In a move seen as long overdue, considering virtually all the recorded COVID-19 cases in Nigeria and much of the African continent have been transported to the latter by European, Asian and other non-African migrants, the Nigerian government finally decided to shut its doors to travel from the US, UK and 11 other countries.

The affected countries are the United State of America, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Iran, Switzerland, Norway, Netherlands, France, South Korea, Germany, Italy and Spain. The Federal Government also had on Tuesday, placed a ban on travel by public servants to countries highly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Mr Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), announced this on Tuesday after a closed-door meeting with the Presidential Task Force Committee on COVID-19 in Abuja. 

Also, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Wednesday morning ordered that all orientation camps across Nigeria be shut as preventive and precautionary measures against coronavirus. President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday also approved postponement of the National Sports Festival as a precautionary move against COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has furthered strengthened the argument of most on the African continent (and Africans in the diaspora) on the need to push more aggressively for intra-African trade and commerce, while also dversifying the continent's economy away from the over-dependence on its vast oil resources. 

The world has become a much smaller place as well and most business and related transactions can be carried out without the need for parties to be physically present in either Europe, Africa or Asia.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures and no stone should be left unturned to ensure the fragile healthcare system in Africa is not overwhelmed by this novel pandemic. 

We are still confused as to why Coronavirus is not killing Africans - European Scientist

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari

CC™ Global Health News 

European scientists remain baffled as to why the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has still not killed a single African and has not gone viral in Africa, with a few of the cases there being related to Europeans that actually brought the virus there as migrants.

In a post by the publication "New Scientist", European scientists say they are puzzled by the zero mortality rate and low infection rate from the COVID-19 virus among Africans, when compared to that of Europeans and the rest of the world, moreso in light of Africa's heavy trading with China, the purported origin of the COVID-19 virus.

The information is fully explained on their website as the writings and assertions are based on the opinions of experts in the field. To date, there have been only two reported deaths on the African continent from the virus, with one being a foreigner and the other being an elderly Moroccan woman that died due to comorbidity from the viral infection. She was 86 years old.

Also, while there have been far more cases of infection across Egypt in the North, far fewer cases with zero mortality have been reported across much of sub-Sahara Africa with 37 of the 50 countries on the continent now having testing capabilities, a hugely significant jump from just two at the end of January.

According to the publication, a WHO representative believes the running tally of COVID-19 cases across the continent to be accurate due to heightened awareness across the African continent unlike the laissez-faire approach the United States and much of Europe adopted at the onset of the pandemic.

According to data, most cases in Africa have been imported not from China but from Europe. Four African countries have imposed quarantines on visitors from coronavirus hotspots. Unlike virus cases, quarantine numbers aren’t being reported.

More broadly, on the monitoring efforts to detect the virus at airports and other entry routes, Whitworth says “a lot’s being done”, citing coordination by the WHO and both the African and US Centres for Disease Control. Rwanda, for example, has recruited final year medical students to undertake screening at airports.

African countries are both vulnerable and potentially more resilient to the coronavirus. On the one hand, the population is much younger than in Europe and China. The median population age in the UK is 40.2 and in China it is 37, but this figure is 17.9 in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. “If you look at the statistics from China, the people that have worse prognosis are the older people, not necessarily the young.

Source: newscientist.com

Dethronement of Emir Sanusi - A Reason for Nigeria to Make a Decision

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

CC™ Viewpoint - By Benjamin Aduba

Nigeria has three different and often confusing systems of government. One is Democracy brought into Nigeria by the British. The democratic form of government is anchored by the federal government, state governments, and local governments, i.e. president, governors’, and local government chairmen.

The second system of parallel government is the native laws which was in place before the British came in and messed everything up. This second parallel of government is anchored by Emirs, Igwes/Obis, Obas, etc., and town unions chairmen/women..

The third system of parallel government is theocracy. This system is operated by Iman’s, sheiks, pastors, bishops, etc. This system is mostly prevalent is Sharia states of Nigeria but the influence of bishops in SE Nigeria, for example is profound.

Many Nigeria politicians have had occasions to fight with some of the leaders of the parallel systems for example there is the case of Premier Awolowo with some Obas and the current fight between the governor of Kano State, Ganduje and Emir Sanusi. There are many local fights between Town Union presidents and the local government chairmen.

Some of the causes of the conflict are: inherent conflict between native tradition which has existed for centuries, and the British traditions; conflict between democratic principles dealing with elections and life tenure of emirs, igwe/obis, obas. Others include conflict between newly introduced Islam/Christian versus traditional religious beliefs of the millenniums of years in Africa.

To make matters worse the political leaders (the adherents of democracy) appoint the traditional leaders. And according to accepted phraseology: if you can hire; then you can fire comes to play. Governor Ganduje thinks that he can fire Emir Sanusi. The British allowed this parallel system to exist because they found that they could use the traditional rulers to quieten the natives while the traditional rulers were in no position to challenge their authority. But things have changed since the British left. 

Traditional rulers are now as educated, as urbane, as knowledgeable as the president, the governors, and the local government chairmen. Sanusi, a world renowned economist and former governor of the Central Bank, is as savvy (even more so) than Gaduje. The Igwe of Awka is a former Vice Chancellor of a university and is as knowledgeable as the governor of Anambra state.

If the native ruler has a strong character, is as popular as the governor, and has a following; political rivalry is bound to erupt. If there are differences of opinion on how the community should develop, the rivalry intensifies and is worsened when the territorial boundaries are equal as in Kano where the emir and governor share almost the same geographical authority.

The decision facing Nigeria is this: Which system to retain and which to abolish for the three systems should not be tolerated. Efforts to integrate the three has been made and it has not worked. The British idea was merely to use the traditional rulers as surrogates. They even created traditional rulers where there was none before as in parts of the republics in Igbo land. Only Onitsha and Midwest Igbo had strong traditional rulers in the early parts of the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Left to me I will abolish the democratic practices of state governors and local government chairmen and theocracy and let the emirs, igwe/obis and Obas reign. These leaders are integrated with the communities and understand every day folks. Governors are far removed from the people and are exactly like the British governors owing allegiance to foreign entity like political parties. The traditional ruler’s allegiance is only to their community. Town Union leaders are elected by the town elders who know them intimately.

The Federal Government would be the amalgam of the emirs, igwe/obis and obas, something like Federal House of Chiefs who would elect one of themselves as Igwe of the federation with very limited powers.