Sokoto, Supreme Court and precipice
According to Wikipedia, the story concerns the stratagem by which the Greeks finally entered the city of Troy and ended a fruitless 10-year siege of Troy . The Greeks built a huge figure of a horse inside which 30 soldiers hid. With the Greeks pretending to sail away, the Trojans pulled the Horse into their […]
According to Wikipedia, the story concerns the stratagem by which the Greeks finally entered the city of Troy and ended a fruitless 10-year siege of Troy . The Greeks built a huge figure of a horse inside which 30 soldiers hid. With the Greeks pretending to sail away, the Trojans pulled the Horse into their city as a victory trophy. However, in the night, the Greek soldiers crept out of the Horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army, which had sailed back under cover of night. The Greek army entered and destroyed the city of Troy , decisively ending the war. Today, a “Trojan Horse” is used to depict any trick in which a rival invites a foe into a securely protected bastion or place to overcome the latter.
But for those who like to weave conspiracy theories, one can be constructed regarding to tortuous relationship between pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and the government of Kano state. It would go like this: in offering to settle for an out-of-court resolution of their matter with the government of Kano state over the Trovan misadventure, and offering to pay a huge monetary compensation package, the company was not oblivious of the potential of money to destabilize its opponents. That is exactly what is happening.
To go back to the Trojan fable, the priest Laocoön did warn his people that Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes (“I fear Greeks even those bearing gifts”) but the god Poseidon sent two sea serpents to strangle him, and his sons Antiphantes and Thymbraeus, before he could be believed. Cassandra, King Priam’s daughter, who was the soothsayer of Troy, also warned that the horse would be the downfall of the city and its royal family but she too was ignored.
Maybe someone should have warned Kano people against accepting the aspect of Pfizer’s compensation that involved sharing money. It is believed that 100 families of patients were involved in the trial and all the patients are supposed to share the $30 million compensation according to their proven degree of infirmity.
Early this month, a news report in The Guardian said that a disagreement had erupted between Pfizer and the compensation committee on whether or not to refund excess funds from the amount budgeted for compensation. It seems that, owing to a number of factors, there simply are not enough genuine claimants to be compensated. The factors include the following: some of those affected have died and their relations may not be aware of their entitlements under the settlement; some may have relocated or are not aware of the compensation; the list circulating round Kano City had been grossly inflated, anyway; and the idea of submitting claimants to DNA tests may eventually get rid of the horde of pretenders.
This would result in excess funds. Typically, persons put in charge of administering this compensation seem to believe that the best option in the circumstance is to help themselves to the excess funds. The only problem is that the persons concerned are some of Nigeria ’s finest – which makes it improbable that such a crazy idea was ever mooted. I am willing to give the following eminent Nigerians the benefit of doubt on the matter: Hon. Justice (Rtd.) S.M.A. Belgore; Bala Borodo,M.D.; Professor Isa Hashim; Muuta Ibrahim, M.D.; Prosper Ikechukwu Igboeli, M.D. ; Hon. Justice (Rtd.) Abubakar Bashir Wali; Professor Shehu Galadanchi; Ibrahim A. Haruna; Adamu Jafiya; Adamu Aliyu Kiyawa; Habibu Sadauki, M.D.; Professor Auwalu Yadudu. And one can’t but remember that the settlement itself was reportedly brokered by, among others, the very respectable General Yakubu Gowon.
But then, they have to come out with their own position on this issue before some smart individual soils their hard-earned reputations. Already, the Trovan Victims’ Forum led by Alhaji Maisikeli has been accusing them of buying expensive cars and living like royalty on the compensation funds.
The appetite of many Nigerians for ill-gotten wealth knows no limit. They are so hungry for wealth that they would dig up a corpse, undress it and sell the clothing as Tokunbo (second hand)!
But good Nigerians should stop them in their tracks. It is usually the silence of the good majority that emboldens the vicious minority. Indeed, with the issue now effectively located in the public domain, the door should be opened for a national discussion on how best to utilize the monetary compensations beyond individual entitlements. The idea of building a huge hospital in Kano with the other tranche of funds from Pfizer hasn’t been controversial. This suggests that less contentious options need to be adopted for the utilization of any eventually unspent funds.
A countless number and assortment of vaccine-preventable childhood diseases are still rampant in Kano. Traditional practices that endanger people’s health and lives are still prevalent in Kano. There are so many areas crying for intervention but we can’t expect a foreign multinational to provide facilities which government ought to have provided in the first place.
Can basic education also benefit from any crumbs that drop from the beneficiaries’ table? Maybe that is the area we should be looking at because education provides information that makes people live healthier lives.
Pfizer has done its part of the bargain. Let us, as a nation, show more than a passing interest in the ends to which the funds that the pharmaceutical company has provided are put, to ensure that they are not channeled into private pockets but utilized to change miserable lives for the better – for the individuals and the larger society.
Abubakar is a development worker based in Kano