By Chioma Ugboma
Lagos – Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has called on African countries to step up their games and develop untapped “scientific capital” buried in their forests and ecosystems.
Moghalu made the call in a statement on Saturday in Lagos, while commenting on “Madagascar’s COVID-19 Cure”.
According to him, the cure for COVID-19 pandemic can certainly come from Africa, urging them to establish the “scientific capital” in a manner that was credible and provable.
“I believe Africa should seek homegrown cures to COVID-19. So, I’m curious about the ‘Madagascar’s COVID Organics’ cure claim.
“Like the Chinese acupuncture for instance, the next step for African countries, which have huge amounts of untapped “scientific capital” buried in their forests and ecosystems, was to step up their game.
“They should develop/refine this kind of knowledge and establish it in a manner that was credible and provable.
“Given the risks and sensitivity of the COVID-19 pandemic, African countries can’t expect to make such claims without clear proof, and, in that event, without being challenged.
“If the belief is that the Western scientists are inclined to find a way to ‘kill such claims as part of scientific imperialism’, then, we have scientists versed in standard ‘western’ scientific traditions.
“They should first do the job in the continent, and then, provide evidence of that internal verification,”
Moghalu said.
He described science as a matter of exactitude for the most part; “so, what is scientifically true can be largely, even, if not always completely, proven.
“We have seen this in the controversies over other COVID-19 medication hypotheses around Hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir and so on, as well as the controversies over ‘cures’ for HIV/AIDS,” he said.
According to him, knowledge systems (the different styles, systems and structures of knowing and establishing empirical reality) are one of the seven components of a clear worldview.
“We need leaders who understand these concepts and can drive us in this direction in a post COVID-19 world.
“The President of Madagascar, Andre Rajoelina, has reportedly withdrawn his country from membership of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and has called on African nations to do the same after WHO said the cure-claim should be tested.
“I am fully aware of the international politics of science, in which scientific knowledge in Africa and of Africans is often questioned because it’s not ‘Western science’.
“But, it ought to be independently and certifiably tested, to be certain that it’s safe for general consumption and has no dangerous side effects.
“There is also need to ascertain that it actually cures the COVID-19 disease, just as other drugs touted as a cure even in the West. African science should meet this test too,” he said.
(NAN)
