Saturday, November 25, 2006

healthy, wealthy, wise?

One of the images of Africa in the Western media is showing unhealthy people: either mal-nourished or dying of aids.
LIke most of the images that we see in the West this is based on truth, but only shows a small part of the big picture.
One of my strongest impressions of Nigeria is that the typical Nigerian is healthier than the most Europeans, both physically and mentally.
In fact my own health improved considerably in the two years that I lived in Abuja. I practice martials arts (Shorinji Kempo) and had a major problem with my back.
While in Nigeria I started daily exercises to improve my lower back strength and found a big improvement.
Living in a warm climate made a big difference, but I think that the major factor that helped me was the quality of the food.
Most of the food that we eat in the UK is processed, and not very nutrious, whereas food grown in Nigeria is generally organic and probably a lot healthier.
I also found that my mental attitude improved a lot when I was in Nigeria, perhaps partly due to the weather, (although I actually like the variety of having four seasons).
People living in a big city like London tend to be withdrawn and isolated, which can lead to depression and other mental health problems.
In contrast, I never felt lonely in Nigeria; there is always some-one to talk to or give you a friendly smile and a welcome.

Thinking about these health issues, I came across an article on the web about human organs for sale:
I find this to be very worrying, especially having experienced the attitude of some Westerners who see Nigeria as a major market opportunity.
I think that countries like Nigeria have to be very careful about opening up their markets, and to make sure that they are not a target for this kind of exploitation.

2 comments:

Chxta said...

Scary. Imagine the market for human parts that would open up in Naija...

indar ph said...

Yes, it is. But it's already happening in India. Let's make sure that these vampires don't start to prey on Nigerians.