Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has called on African countries to step up their games and develop untapped “scientific capital” buried in their forests and ecosystems.
An Online news outlet reports that Moghalu made the call in a statement on Saturday in Lagos while commenting on “Madagascar’s COVID-19 Cure”.
According to him, the cure for COVID-19 pandemic can certainly come from Africa, urging them to establish the “scientific capital” in a manner that was credible and provable.
“I believe Africa should seek homegrown cures to COVID-19. So, I’m curious about the ‘Madagascar’s COVID Organics’ cure claim.
“Like the Chinese acupuncture for instance, the next step for African countries, which have huge amounts of untapped ‘scientific capital’ buried in their forests and ecosystems, was to step up their game.
“They should develop/refine this kind of knowledge and establish it in a manner that was credible and provable.
“Given the risks and sensitivity of the COVID-19 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.
“They should first do the job in the continent, and then, provide evidence of that internal verification,” Moghalu said.
He described science as 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,” he said.
According to him, knowledge systems (the different styles, systems and structures of knowing and establishing empirical reality) are one of the seven components of a clear worldview.
“We need leaders who understand these concepts and can drive us in this direction in a post-COVID-19 world,” he said. (NAN)
Credit: Tribune