Africa must seek homegrown cure for COVID-19, says Moghalu

Former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, says Africa must seek homegrown cures to Covid-19 that is safe for general consumption and has no dangerous side-effects.

He stated this while reacting to the withdrawal of Madasgascar from membership of the World Health Organization (WHO) over its refusal to accept the COVID-19 cure developed in the country.

It would be recalled that the President of Madagascar, Andre Rajoelina, has reportedly withdrawn his country from membership of the World Health Organization (WHO) and has called on African nations to do the same after WHO said the cure-claim should be tested.

“The next step for African countries, which have huge amounts of untapped “scientific capital” buried in their forests and ecosystems, is to step up their game and develop/refine this kind of knowledge and establish it in a manner that is credible and provable, much like Chinese acupuncture for example.

“Knowledge systems (the different styles, systems and structures of knowing and establishing empirical reality) are one of the seven components of a clear worldview, and we need leaders who understand these concepts and can drive us in this direction in a post-Covid world.

“Given the risks and sensitivity of the Covid 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 that should first do the job in the continent, and then provide evidence of that internal verification.

“Science is 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.

“The jury is still out on a cure for Covid-19. It can certainly come from Africa, but we can’t just expect that we or anyone else in the world should take anyone’s word for it without adequate proof,” he added.