DETECTIVE OKORO

Coca is one of the oldest, most potent and most dangerous stimulantsstimulants of natural origin. Three thousand years before the birth of Christ, ancient Incas in the Andes chewed coca leaves to get their hearts racing and to speed their breathing to counter the effects of living in thin mountain air.

Native Peruvians chewed coca leaves only during religious ceremonies. This taboo was broken when Spanish soldiers invaded Peru in 1532. Forced Indian laborers in Spanish silver mines were kept supplied with coca leaves because it made them easier to control and exploit.

Cocaine was first isolated (extracted from coca leaves) in 1859 by German chemist Albert Niemann. It was not until the 1880s that it started to be popularized in the medical community.

Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who used the drug himself, was the first to broadly promote cocaine as a tonic to cure depression and sexual impotence.In 1884, he published an article entitled “Über Coca” (About Coke) which promoted the “benefits” of cocaine, calling it a “magical” substance.

Freud, however, was not an objective observer. He used cocaine regularly, prescribed it to his girlfriend and his best friend and recommended it for general use.

While noting that cocaine had led to “physical and moral decadence,” Freud kept promoting cocaine to his close friends, one of whom ended up suffering from paranoid hallucinations with “white snakes creeping over his skin.”

EBOLA HUNT -NEW -CONTAGIOUS#3

In Liberia, the disease was reported in Lofa and Nimba counties in late March. On 27 July, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Liberian president, announced that Liberia would close its borders, with the exception of a few crossing points such as the airport, where screening centres would be established. Schools and universities were closed,and the worst-affected areas in the country were placed under quarantine.

With only 50 physicians in the entire country—one for every 70,000 Liberians—Liberia already faced a health crisis even before the outbreak. In September the US CDC reported that some hospitals had been abandoned while those which were still functioning lacked basic facilities and supplies.In October, the Liberian ambassador in Washington was reported as saying that he feared that his country may be "close to collapse".By 24 October, all of the 15 Liberian districts had reported Ebola cases.

On 29 October, the WHO announced that the rate of new infections in Liberia was declining, but urged continued vigilance against a reversal of this trend.A report by CDC released on 14 November, based on data collected from Lofa county, indicates that there has been a genuine reduction in new infections. 

This is credited to an integrated strategy combining isolation and treatment with community behaviour change including safe burial practices, case finding and contact tracing. This strategy might serve as a model to implement in other affected areas to accelerate control of Ebola.

TODAY ON: DEMOCRATIC CONSPIRACY#2

Elected deputy governor of his native Bayelsa state in 1999, he was promoted when the governor was impeached on corruption charges in 2005. Two years later, he was hand-picked to be Mr Yar'Adua's running mate in the 2007 election, which the ticket won amid allegations of widespread vote-rigging.

A little-known figure in national politics, Umaru Yar'Adua himself was chosen by outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo as his successor, becoming the first civilian to succeed another without an intervening period of military rule.

Promising wide-ranging reforms, he was dogged by ill health during his three years in office, with the Niger Delta peace process seen as the sole issue on which he achieved substantial progress.

Presidential elections are due in January 2011.

FRESH UPDATES: DEMOCRATIC CONSPIRACY#2

Mr Jonathan, elected along with Mr Yar'Adua as his vice-president in 2007, had already been appointed temporary acting president by parliament in February 2010, after lengthy political wrangling.

Mr Jonathan's rapid rise to power was facilitated by the illness of President Yar'Adua

At his inauguration, he named bedding down the peace process in the Niger Delta, fighting corruption and enacting electoral and energy reforms as his main priorities. Analysts say Mr Jonathan is thought to lack a political base of his own, and is regarded as more of an administrator than a leader.

Goodluck Jonathan was born in 1957 in Bayelsa, a state in the oil-rich Niger Delta. Unlike Mr Yar'Adua, a Muslim from northern Katsina state, he is a Christian from the south. After studying zoology at university, he worked as an education inspector, lecturer and environmental protection officer before going into politics in 1998.

NEW: CONTAGIOUS#3

Thinking that the virus was contained, MSF closed its treatment centers in May leaving only a small skeleton staff to handle the Macenta region. However, high numbers of new cases reappeared in the region in late August. According to Marc Poncin, a coordinator for MSF, the new cases were related to persons returning to Guinea from neighbouring Liberia or Sierra Leone

On 19 October, the WHO reported that although disease transmission remained intense, of the three districts affected, transmission remained the lowest in Guinea. In mid-November it was reported that, while all cases and deaths continued to be under-reported, there was some evidence that case incidence was no longer increasing.

However, on 7 December, the WHO reported that the trend in Guinea since early October had been slightly increasing, with between 75 and 148 confirmed cases reported in each of the past 7 weeks

NEW- DEMOCRATIC CONSPIRACY #2

Between 1965-1969, Umaru Yar'adua was at Government College, Keffi in present-day Nasarawa State for his secondary education. He then moved to the famous Barewa College Zaria for his Higher School Certificate between 1970-1971. 

For his university education, Yar'adua attended the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria from 1972-1975 where he obtained the B.Sc Education/Chemistry. He returned to the same University from 1978-1980 for his M.Sc Degree in Analytical Chemistry.

Unfortunately, President Yaradua hindered from governing the country due to his illiness that continued to take a toll on him. President Yar'Adua travels to Saudi Arabia to be treated for a heart condition. His extended absence triggers a constitutional crisis and leads to calls for him to step down.

 The decision was taken in order to fill a power vacuum created when the ailing Mr Yar'Adua travelled to Saudi Arabia for treatment for a heart condition in late 2009. Although Mr Yar'Adua returned to Nigeria soon after this, he did not return to work, and Mr Jonathan continued to run state affairs. President Umaru Yar'Adua dies after a long illness. Vice-president Goodluck Jonathan, already acting in Yar'Adua's stead, succeeds him.

DEMOCRATIC CONSPIRACY #2

Tested by such crises, Nigeria's democracy remains fragile, and the challenges faced by Obasanjo and his government threaten to undo much of what has been achieved since military rule was ended. There are still many questions about the internal security of the new Nigeria. 

If 1999 was a critical year for democracy in Nigeria, 2000 will be no less critical in determining the country's future shape and stability. The president faces the daunting task of rebuilding a petroleum-based economy, whose revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement, and institutionalizing democracy. 

In addition, the OBASANJO administration must defuse longstanding ethnic and religious tensions, if it is to build a sound foundation for economic growth and political stability. Despite some irregularities, the April 2003 elections marked the first civilian transfer of power in Nigeria's history.

2007 - 2010,  Democracy Continues...

Despite some irregularities, the April 2007 elections marked the second phase of transfer of power in Nigeria's history when President Obasanjo handed power to Alhaji Musa Yaradua the former governor of Katsina. President Musa Yaradua according to some people is the right fit for Nigeria. 

Who is he?President Umaru Musa Yar'adua, the Executive Governor of Katsina State, was born in Katsina Town, Katsina State in 1951. He started his primary education at Rafukka Primary School, Katsina in 1958. He left Rafukka for Dutsinma Boarding Primary School in 1962 from where he completed his primary education in 1964.

FRESH_CONTAGIOUS#3

The decline in Liberia cases is contradicted in the latest reports from WHO with 439 new cases reported between 23 and 28 November. Sierra Leone also noted a sharp increase in new cases between 23 and 30 November according to the same reports with an increase of 713 new cases in that week.

By the end of November the total number of cases exceeded 17,000 since the outbreak started nearly a year ago.

On 25 March, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported an outbreak of Ebola virus disease in four southeastern districts with a total of 86 suspected cases, including 59 deaths. MSF was helping the Ministry of Health of Guinea in establishing Ebola treatment centers in the epicenter of the outbreak

  On 31 March, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent a five-person team to assist Guinea's Ministry of Health and the WHO as they led an international response to the Ebola outbreak

RE-UPDATED:DEMOCRATIC CONSPIRACY

The latest flashpoint to threaten Nigeria's still-fragile democracy is the issue of religious violence, related to the opportunistic moves by some Muslim-dominated northern states to use the new democratic climate to propose the adoption of Sharia (Islamic Law). The religious issue has always been volatile in Nigeria, but has become increasingly divisive since the Sharia issue came to the fore in recent months. 

Religious protests and bloody clashes between Christians and Muslims have fueled further violent ethnic fighting throughout the country, already on the increase since the democratic transition, and hundreds have been killed and displaced.

This most recent challenge to the still-young democratic government is viewed by many commentators as the most serious threat to the nation's unity since its return to democracy. It is symptomatic of the difficulties inherent in establishing democracy in such an ethnically-diverse country after so many years of military rule.

FRESH UPDATE: CONTAGIOUS#3

According to a WHO report released on 19 November 72% of patients in Guinea are recorded and isolated, while the figure for Sierra Leone and Liberia is still dire. During the week of 9 November only 20% of cases were in isolation or treatment in Liberia, and in Sierra Leone the figure was as low as 13%. Most of these cases not in treatment or isolation are not counted in the official reports, while patients at home were also excluded.

In mid-November the WHO reported that while all cases and deaths continue to be under-reported, "there is some evidence that case incidence is no longer increasing nationally in Guinea and Liberia, but steep increases persist in Sierra Leone".

EBOLA VIRUS_FRESH UPDATE CONTAGIOUS#3

On 29 August, Senegalese Minister of Health announced the first case in Senegal. The victim was subsequently identified as a Guinean national who had been exposed to the virus and had been under surveillance, but had travelled to Dakar by road and fallen ill after arriving.This person subsequently recovered, and on 17 October, the WHO officially declared that the outbreak in Senegal had ended.

Two Spanish health care workers contracted Ebola and were transferred to Spain for treatment where they both died. In October, a nursing assistant who had been part of their health care team was diagnosed with Ebola, making this the first Ebola case contracted outside of Africa. 

The nursing assistant recovered and was declared disease-free on 19 October.There have been Ebola cases in the United States of America as well. A Liberian man who had traveled from Liberia to be with his family in Texas was declared to have Ebola and subsequently died on 8 October. 

Two nurses who had cared for the patient contracted the disease; both of the nurses have subsequently recovered and tested Ebola-free on 27 October 2014. On 23 October, the first case of Ebola in Mali was confirmed, a two year-old girl who had returned from Guinea,and further cases were reported in November.

FRESH UPDATE ON DEMOCRATIC CONSPIRACY

Despite these positive developments, Nigeria's democracy remains fragile. Particularly problematic is the challenge of economic rejuvenation in the context of years of corrupt rule and a massive external debt burden, as well as the difficult issues of regional inequalities, ethnic and religious tensions, and the necessity for more equitable distribution of the wealth generated by Nigeria's natural resources. Nowhere is this issue of responsible resource management and the need for democratic governance more urgent than in Nigeria's oil-producing Delta region.

For years, the Niger Delta has been the site of a highly complex crisis, rooted in the long-term political and economic alienation of its communities, the destruction of their environment and the oppression of their peoples by the military state in league with the multinational corporations that exploit the region's oil (Shell, Chevron etc). 

The reliance of past regimes on repressive tactics over dialogue, and their repeated failure to address the Delta's fundamental problems, made this a human rights crisis and a threat to Nigeria's stability.

While President Obasanjo visited to the Delta in June 1999 and promised to bring greater development to the region, events since then, in particular the violent military operation in Odi in November 1999, have raised questions as to the government's credibility in taking a new and democratic approach to the problem. With rival minority ethnic groups competing for resources and political voice, and with the Delta communities engaged in a long-term struggle with the oil companies and security forces, the seemingly intractable crisis in the Delta remains a tinderbox in the new Nigeria.

DEMOCRATIC CONSPIRACY -FRESH UPDATES

Former General Olusegun Obasanjo, previously a military ruler of Nigeria (1976-79), was inaugurated President on May 29, 1999, promising "fair and transparent government", and vowing to tackle the difficult legacy of previous military regimes. However, one year on, Nigeria's democracy remains fragile, and, despite some important positive developments, there remain serious challenges to the country's stability and to the new political order.

Promising signs of democratic change came swiftly on the heels of Obasanjo's inauguration, and included the creation of panels to investigate past corruption and human rights abuses, and the forced retirement of key military officers involved in previous military regimes. Nigeria became an active participant in regional affairs, helping to broker the Sierra Leone peace agreement and committing financial and military resources to the peacekeeping operation.

Nigeria's democratic transition ushered in a new era in US-Nigeria relations. The end of Nigeria's "international pariah" status was symbolized by President Obasanjo's official visit to the US in October 1999. 

In the same month, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Nigeria and announced a proposal to increase US aid four-fold in support of the democratic transition. Nigeria represents an important economic partner for the US, with bilateral trade on the increase - from $4.9 billion in 1994 to $6.7 billion in 1996. The US imports 8% of its oil from the Delta region.

CONTAGIOUS #3 EBOLA

Researchers believe that a 2-year-old boy, later identified as Emile Ouamouno, who died in December 2013 in the village ofMeliandou, Guéckédou Prefecture, Guinea, was the index case of the current Ebola virus disease epidemic.His mother, sister, and grandmother then became ill with similar symptoms, and also died. People infected by those initial cases spread the disease to other villages. Although Ebola represents a major public health issue in sub-Saharan Africa, no cases had ever been reported in West Africa and the early cases were diagnosed as other diseases more common to the area. Thus, the disease had several months to spread before it was recognized as Ebola.

On 25 March, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that Guinea's Ministry of Health had reported an outbreak of Ebola virus disease in four southeastern districts, with suspected cases in the neighbouring countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone being investigated. 

In Guinea, a total of 86 suspected cases, including 59 deaths had been reported as of 24 March.By late May, the outbreak had spread to Conakry, Guinea's capital, a city of about two million inhabitants.On 28 May, the total number of cases reported had reached 281 with 186 deaths.

In Liberia, the disease was reported in four counties by mid-April and cases in Liberia's capital Monrovia were reported in mid-June. The outbreak then spread to Sierra Leone and progressed rapidly. By 17 July, the total number of suspected cases in the country stood at 442, overtaking the number in Guinea and Liberia.By 20 July, additional cases of the disease had been reported in the Bo District and the first case in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, was reported in late July

The first death in Nigeria was reported on 25 July: a Liberian-American with Ebola flew from Liberia to Nigeria and died inLagos soon after arrival.As part of the effort to contain the disease, possible contacts were monitored – 353 in Lagos and 451 in Port Harcourt. On 22 September, the WHO reported a total of 20 cases, including eight deaths. The WHO's representative in Nigeria officially declared Nigeria Ebola-free on 20 October after no new active cases were reported in the follow up contacts

FRESH - DEMOCRATIC CONSPIRACY

Under the Presidential System of government, the executive is made up of the President, Vice President and the Ministers. After the President has been elected, he is free to choose anybody with good credentials and reputations as his Minister. The Ministers are individually responsible to the President who can dismiss any if found wanting.

Nigeria as the United States of America operates a single Executive system- a situation where a single person functions as both the head of state and head of government.

The Executive initiates most of the bills that are passed into law by the legislature arm. They also have delegated legislative powers which enable them to issue orders, proclamations etc.

It generates finance for the State through tax, rates, customs, and excise duties etc. it draws budget and presents to the legislative as finance and Appropriation Bill for its approval.

The Executive formulates policies for the government on the account of the internal and external affairs of the state. It recruits, train, deploys and monitors staff to ensure that government policies are realised.

FRESH: DEMOCRATIC CONSPIRACY

These pressures have had more symbolic effects than substantive impact. They have fallen far short of more comprehensive sanctions demanded by Nigerian pro-democracy forces. Legislation introduced in the US Congress, but not yet voted on, would authorize additional economic sanctions, while still not including a comprehensive embargo on Nigerian oil.

When public attention and the media spotlight shifts off of Nigeria, diplomats tend to revert to business as usual, relying on the false hope that quiet diplomacy with the Nigerian government will eventually bring about the promised transition to civilian rule and avert further crises. The military regime is running a well-financed public relations campaign to convince African-Americans and others that it is sincere about change. Real progress toward democracy is unlikely, however, unless more significant steps are taken to weaken the military regime and to strengthen popular democratic forces.

Representatives of pro-democracy groups within Nigeria, hampered by difficulties of communication and recurrent repression, are best contacted when travelling or through overseas representatives.

In recent years, particularly since the death of military ruler General Sani Abacha in June 1998, Nigeria has undergone significant political change. Abacha's successor, General Abubakar, successfully executed a transition to democratic rule, culminating in the elections of February 1999 when Nigerians voted in their first civilian democratic President and legislature in over 15 years.