Nigeria’s Clueless, Clueless Politicians!

 

By paying scant attention to SCD, politicians in black Africa’s most populous nation display unimaginable cluelessness.

 

If the statistics are anything to go by, 25 to 30% of the entire Nigerian population of roughly 200 million has sickle cell trait (SCT). This amounts to between 50 and 60 something million citizens.

 

Add to that the estimated 3 to 5 million who have SCD; add to that the unknown millions who have neither SCD nor SCT (their relations, friends, colleagues, caregivers) who will give anything to improve their lives.

 

From the highest office in the land to the lowest, the aspirants all fall into the categories stated above. Most – if not all – of the aspirants have one thing or another connecting them with SCD.

 

Not only is Nigeria the nation with the highest burden of SCD/SCT, it is perhaps the only nation on earth where practically every household has or had a member with sickle cell!

 

Add to that the estimated 3 to 5 million who have SCD; add to that the unknown millions who have neither SCD nor SCT (their relations, friends, colleagues, caregivers) who will give anything to improve their lives.

 

How SCD has been forgotten, how it is not a subject of political manifestos or campaign (though unfulfilled) in this country is baffling to say the least. It cannot be stigma because we all have it one way or another.

 

Any politician who comes up with a pledge for SCD already has a constituency that would listen – and listen attentively. Pledges like free medicare, comprehensive insurance, energetic research, etc are heartwarming messages to a community long overlooked.

 

Nigeria’s politicians sure lack clues!