Dead: Repulsive replay of violent South Africa

By Paul Arhewe

The killings of 34 protesting South African miners penultimate Thursday quite unfortunately amplified the global perception of Africans still ruminating in the Stone Age, in spite of the privilege of co-existing among people of civilised parts of the world where the value for human lives is inestimably cherished and protected. The apartheid era in South Africa was a blight in world civilisation because of the callous indifference of the minority white rulers to the rights of black Africans and the regime’s dehumanising and discriminatory practices against them, especially treating them as second class citizens and subjecting them to all kinds of cruelties.

The massacre of the 34 miners by South African police at the Marikana platinum mine, Rustenburg, Johannesburg brings back memories of the ugly affairs of the apartheid state.

Poverty reduction, not dollops, for our pregnant women

By Paul Arhewe

A Nigerian health personnel attending to pregnant women


Access to antenatal services is one sure way of uncomplicated labour and childbirth for pregnant Nigerian women. With a reputation of the second highest rate of maternal death in the world, Nigerian governments would need radical reforms in their healthcare delivery system. It is within this context I situate the recent moves by the federal government to introduce monthly stipends for our pregnant women to enable them access available antenatal services and thus bolster our healthcare service delivery system. The latest United Nations estimate puts annual global deaths during pregnancy and childbirth at 287,000 out of which India accounts for 56,000 (19 percent) and Nigeria 40,000 (14 percent). Nigeria is still miles away from plugging the loopholes and obvious gaps inherent in its ill-equipped public healthcare centres. Accessing full antenatal services at our various health centres, no doubt, would bring down drastically the problem of deaths during and after pregnancy.