Necessity they say is the mother of invention and this perhaps explains the triumphal entry of the ‘Blessed salt’ into Nigerian markets as well as the prescription of a hot water salt bath and salt solution that has replaced all bathing soaps and creams in Nigeria since the outbreak of the dreaded Ebola virus. As we are yet to take delivery of the lifesaving ZMAPP, said to be an antidote to Ebola, some hot headed dudes came up with what has become a household name, the ZSALT. People have been poking fun at those that used this prescription but my dear, this is not a matter of education, sophistication or ‘I too know’ but a matter of survival. Even in the Bible, 2 Kings 5, Naaman who had leprosy was instructed by Elisha the prophet to ‘’go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed’’. If this bath in the River Jordan restored Naamans health, why have we become doubting Thomases over the efficacy of the ZSALT. Again, since we neither have the means nor the capabilities to combat this virus monster head long, why die in our swagallicious obstinacy instead of trying out the salt solution? After all, is modern day medicine not a product of trial and error? Ndi Igbo si na onye afo otoro amaghii ohia agbara. If you have never attended to a ‘very sick’ person before, you’ll never understand the import of drinking this hot salt solution. My only problem with this prescription and indeed all other traditional medications is with dosage. If for example, the prescription is one table spoon of salt for the medicine to work ’well’ , many patients will put two tablespoons of salt so the the medicine will work ‘well well’. It is just like when 9ja police tells you to park, then know that it is a small matter but if police tells you to park well well, my brother know ye that no be 20 Niara matter. This ‘well well’ syndrome explains why people are now dying in hordes from this ZSALT prescription. I heard some ‘ezioukwu bu ndu’s’ have started adding a ‘little’ kerosene, nchuanwu and nnuanwuru’ to the concormixture. We are crying over salt solution, what of people that are asked to drink their urine as a last line when all modern medications have failed to cure their aliments. Our people say that anybody who has never experienced famine should not brag about what he or she doesn’t eat. When famine comes, those things you detest will become hard sought after delicacies. Ask people who witnessed the Nigerian civil war how ‘achara awolowo’ became a very yummy vegetable. Is it not war that turns people into cannibals, feasting on the remnants and carcasses of their dead compatriots to survive? Oria adii mma ooo! Now, there is this news that Nigeria is ‘begging’ the US to send ZMAPP to Nigeria to help combat Ebola that is said to be in its early stage in the country. The question is why do we always turn to the West for assistance each time we have problems that most at times we can even solve ourselves? I heard that even before ZMAPP, a renowned biologist Maurice Iwu had started a research on a virus to cure Ebola Virus using bitter cola but this research was truncated when Iwu was made the INEC umpire. I have never seen a country that plays ‘ball u eeh’ with its academic and research life. Of all the human resources that Nigeria is blessed with, there was nobody else to be made INEC chairman other than Maurice Iwu who as a researcher should have been encouraged and motivated with research grants and other enabling environments. Chaiiii! Now that Iwu is back to academics and research, I am sure that he must have lost all his research papers and even if he has them, he must have forgotten his scientific codes because the only language he speaks and understands now is the language of money. So why won’t people drink and bath with salt water when there is no other alternative. Forget this gra gra wey many people de make for facebook, if you get a salt detecting machine, you’ll find out that the slat level of almost all Nigerians don pass Lot own. Remember Lot in the Bible? Chaiii! Umunnem aragbuole na nnu oooo! But please make una take am jee jee ooh make the salt no come enter the wrong places, especially the babes, anyi eshikweni na Ebola fere na nwhe ozo. Anyi gala kashaa otu! One thing I have noticed with this ZSALT is that Nigerians are now taking their destinies in their hands instead of this over dependence on divine intervention. I know that men of God sokwe raa the nnu. Thank God the Nigerian man placed in quarantine in faraway Hong Kong on suspicions of Ebola has tested negative to the virus. This is really good news for some of us makana onwere out guys shi elewem anya here. Asim onye naewneghii ekete ero efurule ya oooo!
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 05:02:33 +0000