AFRICAN PLUME

By Akin Ojumu To live is a surefire guarantee that we will encounter pain and to be alive is an assured inevitability that we will experience sorrow. And as Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rumi, the 13th century Persian poet, once said, "The wound is the place where the Light enters you." Exactly one year ago, pain made a landing in the Greater Aruntola Dynasty and the Modupe family encountered sorrow like never before. September 30, 2020 was a day we will never forget. It was the day our Matriarch, Beatrice Oyinwande Modupe, passed to the beyond. Mummy, the past 365 days have been harrowing for us all. When you left us to be with the Lord, a huge hole was dug in our hearts. Your Egbon remains devastated, inconsolable, and he has aged 12 years in 12 months. None of us has been able to do for him what you did for him in your 52-year loving relationship. Despite our pain and regardless of our sorrow, however, a light shines bright in our hearts. It is light of the knowledge that you are

By Akin Ojumu A defining characteristic of the modern age is the preoccupation with the outward appearance. Hollywood’s false portrayal of the glamorous persona only serves to fetishize external attributes. And the reality TV fictional depiction of what’s considered elegant has only catapulted the situation into the realm of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Professional careers are built around image shaping and an entire industry is centered on brand identity. People go to great lengths – spending significant amounts of their wealth and fortune or, as the case may be, their meagre resources – to make themselves look good to the gaping world. With the advent of cellphones and the social media, the lid has now been blown off our innate desire for vainglory, which had hitherto lurked deep within our soul with no outlet of expression. The pathological fixation with the outward appearance is epitomized by the kind of stuff people post on their social media feeds.  The following two examples

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19 in humans or animals.  Ivermectin is approved for human use to treat infections caused by some parasitic worms and head lice and skin conditions like rosacea. Currently available data do not show ivermectin is effective against COVID-19. Clinical trials assessing ivermectin tablets for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 in people are ongoing. Taking large doses of ivermectin is dangerous. If your health care provider writes you an ivermectin prescription, fill it through a legitimate source such as a pharmacy, and take it exactly as prescribed.  Never use medications intended for animals on yourself or other people. Animal ivermectin products are very different from those approved for humans. Use of animal ivermectin for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 in humans is dangerous. The most effective ways to limit the spread of COVID-19 include getting a

By Akin Ojumu When you are a social influencer with close to 200 million followers across multiple social media platforms, the words you speak carry a lot of weight. There’s some responsibility that comes with being a celebrity with global appeal. Those with such a massive following of adoring and trusting fans across the globe, who look up to them and lap up everything they say, owe those fans the duty of choosing what they say with utmost care and thought.  Nicki Minaj woefully failed in that regard when she took to Twitter 3 days ago to spread dangerous misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines. In a typical case of my “sister's-friend-cousin-niece-colleague-brother-son-wife-told-me” fib, the famous pop artist tweeted the following to her 22 million Twitter followers on Monday, September 13, 2021: “My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl ca

BALTIMORE, MD – The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore will begin vaccinating specific species that have been proven to be susceptible to COVID-19 within the next few months. “We expect to receive the vaccine in the fall from the animal health company Zoetis, which has developed a vaccine specifically for animals,” said Dr. Ellen Bronson, senior director of animal health, conservation, and research at The Maryland Zoo. “We have not had any cases of COVID-19 in the animals here, but the vaccine will add another layer of protection for the animals in our care.” “We plan to vaccinate those species at the Zoo that we have assessed to be most likely to contract SARS CoV-2, including the North American river otters, the chimpanzees and our cat species – Amur leopard, cheetah, bobcat, and lion,” continued Dr. Bronson. “Many of these animals are trained to participate in their own health care, meaning they willingly work with the animal care team and veterinary technicians to receive injections, and in

By Akin Ojumu Thousands of members of the Peoples Temple who followed “Pastor” Jim Jones into his remote agricultural settlement camp in Jonestown, Guyana didn’t think their charismatic leader, whom they so passionately adored, was a cult leader, nor did they know they belonged to a religious cult.  These people considered themselves true worshipers of God and believed, without the shadow of doubt, they were committed adherents to the Christian faith. In their minds, they were just ordinary men and women seeking the Lord and desiring to serve Him. Rather sadly, we know how that turned out. Compelled by their Dear Leader, close to a thousand members of the cult committed mass suicide after they were forced to drink cyanide-laced fruit punch. According to the Rolling Stone; “Until the September 11th attacks, the tragedy in Jonestown on November 18th, 1978 represented the largest number of American civilian casualties in a single non-natural event. It is unfathomable now, as it was then,

When it comes to COVID-19, there are 2 face mask options you need to stay alive.  For those who are fully vaccinated, a simple cloth across the face will do the trick to keep the deadly germ away. Just put it on and you are good to go. If you are an unvaccinated anti-vaccine conspiracy theory propagandist and/or consumer, however, the chances you'd end up with a face mask hooked up to long tubes, loud creaking machines, and tall oxygen cylinders to keep you alive is pretty high. The choice is really yours to make.

 

By Akin Ojumu This morning, a colleague of mine – who is a physician and for whom I’d use the pseudonym JGS – sent the following e-mail to the group to call out sick. On September 10, 2021, at 7:00 am, JGS (jgs&&&&@nih.gov) wrote: All,  I am going to take a sick day today. I have a respiratory illness and I feel terrible. I have had both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, but 4 months after my last dose, I have now tested positive for COVID (by the rapid test) and will be quarantining for the next 2 weeks – but plan to work once I feel a bit better. Thanks, JGS Upon, reading the e-mail, I felt terrible for my colleague. So, I replied with the following: Hi JGS, I’m sorry to hear about this rather distressing news. I wish you quick and full recovery. Akin Subsequently, my colleague and I had the following e-mail exchange: JGS: Thanks, Akin. I was not expecting a positive COVID test… AKIN: Do you have any idea how you caught it? JGS: No, I don’t. But I wasn’t wearing a mask whe

By Michaeleen Doucleff Some scientists have called it "superhuman immunity" or "bulletproof." But immunologist Shane Crotty prefers "hybrid immunity." "Overall, hybrid immunity to SARS-CoV-2 appears to be impressively potent," Crotty wrote in commentary in Science back in June. No matter what you call it, this type of immunity offers much-needed good news in what seems like an endless array of bad news regarding COVID-19. Over the past several months, a series of studies has found that some people mount an extraordinarily powerful immune response against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19. Their bodies produce very high levels of antibodies, but they also make antibodies with great flexibility – likely capable of fighting off the coronavirus variants circulating in the world but also likely effective against variants that may emerge in the future. "One could reasonably predict that these people will be quite well pr

By Akin Ojumu Many Born Again Believers claim they believe in the Bible. Some Christians will even fight you in defense of the inerrancy of Scripture. Yet, you don't have to look too deep into the lives, beliefs, and practices of these self-proclaimed "Bible Believers" to discover that their supposed belief in the Bible is skin deep. When you pull the curtain off the superficial spirituality and listen to them speak on certain issues, you’ll be shocked to find that their belief in the Bible is ephemeral, conditional, and weak.  Follow along, I will illustrate to you what I mean. Pastor Z engages in a conduct unbecoming of a Bible believing Christian. His wife gives a huge sum of money to build a pagan shrine and he himself cuts the ribbon to declare the pagan shrine open and, together with his wife, worship at the pagan shrine where they sit on the high throne.  Brother B is just an ordinary Christian. Upon hearing about the conduct of Pastor Z and his wife, he picks up h

By Akin Ojumu Mother Esther Ajayi, the founder of Love of Christ Generation Church, Cherubim & Seraphim (Worldwide) has never hidden her agenda to corrupt the Church and she has long made known her intention to infest Christianity in Nigeria.  The C&S high priestess herself has told anyone who has ears to hear and who wishes to listen that all she wants to accomplish is to drag the Redeemed Christian Church of God to come and bow to the god of Cherubim & Seraphim and all she is about to entice evangelical Christians to worship her demons. Now that you know the motive of this priestess of Baal, it is up to you to decide whether it was appropriate for Pastor Enoch Adeboye to have gone to cut the ribbon for the opening of her demonic shrine and whether it was the Holy Spirit that told him to go dedicate the altar to principalities and powers.  Having been informed of the objective of prophetess Esther Ajayi, you would have to twist yourself into pretzels to rationalize that it

By Akin Ojumu Pastor Enoch Adeboye was the keynote speaker at the grand opening of a new multi-billion Naira auditorium of the Love of Christ Generation Church, Cherubim & Seraphim (Worldwide) founded and owned by Reverend Mother Esther Ajayi. By speaking at the event, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God lent his weight of spiritual authority in support of white garment Churches. The respected GO puts his stamp of spiritual approval on an occultic sect when he cut the ribbon to open an edifice dedicated to demons. Perception matters, especially for a spiritual leader.  The not-so-subtle message the fraternization of Pastor Adeboye with Mother Esther Ajayi sends to millions of his followers worldwide is that C&S is one and the same with RCCG and there’s no difference between the leader of RCCG and the spiritual head of C&S. Pastor Adeboye’s appearance at the event has elevated Mother Ajayi in the eyes of the Christian world. The GO of RCCG is basical

By Akin Ojumu By refusing to block a Texas law that prohibits almost all abortions in the state, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has handed the evangelical conservative movement a long sought after win in their protracted war against a woman’s choice over her own reproductive health. The SCOTUS, with its ruling, has pushed the religious right one step closer to achieving one of their primary missions and reasons for existence, which is to end all abortions in the United States. The same people who would not hesitate to let the world know that nobody can tell them what to do with their bodies are the very same people who now insist they have the right to tell a woman what she can or cannot do with her own body. The same people who call public health measures put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 tyranny and government overreach are the same ones who have passed a law that bans virtually all abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy. This is a law that doesn’t even make