News

OPINION: Desperate Crowds And Foods Of Death [Monday Lines]

Published

9 months ago

December 23, 2024

Editor

By Lasisi Olagunju

I died one bright day in 1969 – yes, died; crushed by a motorcyclist. It happened on Ileya Day (Eid el Kabir) in my hometown. I did not know, and still do not know, how it happened. All I know is that I was following my father to the eid praying ground in the morning, then I followed a crowd of other children to cross the road to the other side,…then I woke up in the afternoon, medics all over me, stitching and cleaning. Where I was turned out to be the Baptist Welfare Centre in neighbouring Iree town. A day that was supposed to be a day of feast almost turned grim in our home. For parents of the children who died last Wednesday in Ibadan, and families who lost loved ones on Saturday in Abuja and Okija, Anambra State, this Christmas and the New Year are certain days of mourning. May God comfort them.

The dead got eaten while looking for what to eat. I pray that the bereaved be healed of their mortal wounds. They do not have my parents’ luck: I came back from the dead, head heavily sutured. The children who went to Basorun in Ibadan on Wednesday last week didn’t come back; they won’t be back, forever. Every eid el Kabir reminds me of my own aborted (abortive) death. For the Ibadan, Abuja and Okija families, every year end henceforth will come with spectral, ghostly memories. What happened is an evergreen tragedy, monumental in all ways.

When a similar crowd crush killed 183 children in a hall in Sunderland, United Kingdom, on 16 June, 1883, one of the survivors contrasted the mood in his family with the atmosphere in unfortunate homes in that city: “In our house there was joy and thanksgiving, and one old neighbour laid his hand on my head and told me that my death had not yet been decreed. But in many homes, there was misery and desolation, many a heart was stricken with woe, and many a mother as she bent in sorrow over a loved one so strangely still (said that) indeed, the ways of God are not as our ways.” William Codling, who managed to escape the horrid incident with his sister, wrote the above in December 1894 (eleven years after the tragedy).

Death existed to kill the aged, but today, it is murdering the young, north, east and west. Why? Fuji music philosopher, Saheed Osupa, asks the same question in a song: “Ikú np’àgbà/ èwo ni t’omodé?/ Ilé ayé mà wá di rúdurùdu.” The world is spoilt. In his ‘Yoruba Responses to The Fear of Death’ (1960), Peter Morton-Williams describes death of the young among the Yoruba as “horrifying, an unnatural calamity.” It is true that what we call àìgboràn- headstrong foolhardiness – sometimes kills, but it is also true that the will of the enemy kills more. The enemy in the context of this death discourse is the Nigerian state. Mass misery was the enemy that processed the disasters of last week.

Hunger is a very jealous tenant; it habours no neighbour – not the fear of death, not of death itself. If the hungry feared death, they would know that an uncontrolled crowd is a barrel bomb that kills without borders. Hunger was the devil in the fatal gatherings of Ibadan, Abuja and Okija. I blame the lords of the land. On their watch, everyone begs, or rummages the trash can or joins deadly food rallies for IDP rations. Those are the options. The other available option is suicide – and many pursue life today in ways that suggest they do not mind dying as an escape route.

In 1883, what was promised the kids of Sunderland were toys and “the greatest treat for children ever given.” In Ibadan last Wednesday, what the children were promised was N5,000 for the first 5,000 of them that showed up. Some mothers heard that and put one plus one together: Two kids meant N10,000; three kids, N15,000. They did the maths and thought it was right to gather and rush their entire kids into that ground of death in search of hope. Many got there as early as 5am – five hours before the event was due to start; some mothers reportedly even slept overnight there with their kids to beat the queue. Some more desperate ones threw their kids across the fence into the already choked and charged school compound, the event venue. It was like feeding their future to the demon of misery. Mr. Oriyomi Hamzat, whose Agidigbo FM radio station partnered with the organizers, says in a trending audio clip: “I saw how people were falling on one another. As I was rescuing those that fell, more people were rushing and stepping on those that were on the ground because of small gifts. I pity that woman, and I pity myself. I will never do this again.”

In Okija, Anambra State, the promise was rice; in Abuja, it was imprecise ‘palliative.’ The Ibadan, Abuja and Okija gesture of magnanimity unfortunately turned to foods of death; a pledged gift of chickens took whole bulls from many families. In ‘The Gift, and Death, of Blackness,’ Joseph Winters of Duke University, North Carolina, United States, writes about what he calls “the gift of death.” Some gifts become poisonous when wrongly given; they kill. We have become so depraved that we volubly advertise philanthropy. Gordon B. Hancock, in a June 1926 Social Forces article, writes on “the evils which inhere in excessive advertising.” He asks one troubling question: “Is the unlimited sway of advertising compatible with society’s highest good?” Whoever is probing last week’s serial disasters should seek an answer to that question. An effusive promise of gifts on a popular radio station roused several thousands of hungry children and adults to the Ibadan funfair of death. Similarly hyped promises of gifts poured over two thousand school children into Victoria Hall in Sunderland in 1883 – 141 years ago. William Codling, who was quoted above, narrated how the Sunderland disaster happened: “It began something in this wise: A man delivered a handful of bills outside the school doors on the Friday night setting forth the entertainment in glowing terms and we were all wild to go.” And they went. As it turned out, no one left that venue, and all the Nigerian venues of last week, with what was promised. Instead, death, which was not promised, was the harvest. In the UK experience, a whole class of 30 Sunday School children were among those picked up dead from the stampede. In Ibadan, some mothers reportedly lost all they had to the tragedy.

Hunger, or even fear of hunger, push people to plunge into deadly irrationality. On Thursday, 24 October, 1918, eleven women, four children and a police officer died in a stampede at a market in Cairo, Egypt, simply because they feared they wouldn’t get enough cereals to buy. They were not looking for freebies; they died because they scrambled to buy what was scarce.

“In the aftermath of tragedies,” writes Ellen Walker in a November, 2022 article, “it’s easy to focus on the assignation of blame. But how well do we understand the causes of crushing crowds?” The piece is on ‘Death by Crowding.’ All probes and available literature on crowd accidents abroad blame the same issues: poor and “inadequate planning, excited crowd, lack of crowd management and a flaw or hazard in a facility” (J. F. Dickie, 1995: 318). We have those factors here compounded viciously by unremitting hunger courtesy of bumbling governance, and a colada of existential concerns.

Grim and tragic as last week was, will it be the last? We pray it is so, but it may not be unless we check the causes and yank off the throttle, drivers of such tragedies. In ‘The Life of Reason’, Spanish American philosopher, George Santayana, warns that: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

A passage in J. F. Dickie’s ‘Major Crowd Catastrophes’ published in 1995 suggests exactly that. Dickie writes about the Sunderland disaster of 1883 with 183 fatalities, the London crowd crush of 1943 with 173 fatalities; Bolton of 1946 with 33 fatalities; Glasgow of 1971 with 66 fatalities and Sheffield of 1989 with 96 fatalities. He then sculptures those crowd-crushing disasters into a dizzying revolving door of calamities. Because man does not learn from his bad experiences, they come in repeated times like Wole Soyinka’s Abiku. Dickie notes that “the Ibrox stand incident of 1902 in Glasgow reoccurred at Bastia in 1992 where the potential for an enormous tragedy existed. The crushing accident at Bolton in 1946 has a striking similarity with the Hillsborough disaster. The Sunderland catastrophe of 1883 is similar to the Bethnal Green incident of 1943 which repeated itself on a smaller scale in New York in 1992.”

We have them in Nigeria here too. I quote a BBC report of the Ibadan stampede and its predecessors: “Nigeria is grappling with its worst economic crisis in a generation, which explains why more than 10,000 people reportedly turned up for the event. There have been several similar incidents this year. In March, two female students were crushed to death at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, near the capital Abuja, when a rice distribution programme by the state governor caused a crowd surge. At least 23 people were injured. Three days later in the northern state of Bauchi, at least seven people died in another crush when a philanthropist and businessman was giving handouts of 5,000 naira. Earlier in February, five people were reported killed in Lagos when the Nigerian Customs Service auctioned seized bags of rice. A crowd surge for bags of rice being auctioned for about $7:00 led to the trampling to death of five people with dozens more injured.” The BBC did that recap on Wednesday, four days before the twin tragedies in Abuja in the north and Okija in the east – a perfect completion of the usual pan-Nigerian triangle of evil.

I spend some of my valuable time watching power and its drama. This past week, I bit my lips watching the indiscretion of the president’s men organizing a voluptuous boat regatta for him in Lagos in spite of the Ibadan disaster. I shook my head at the politics of a last-minute cancellation of that boat regatta not because of Ibadan but because of similar disasters in the north and in the east. The president and his Lagos men were almost echoing Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: “What touches us ourselves shall be last served.”

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: Of Kings, King Kong And Honour

The president has been busy with statements after statements mourning the dead. He needs to do more than issuing condolence messages. PR stunts of cancellation of a boat regatta won’t turn back hungry crowds from journeys of death. The president should convince himself that his policies are not life-friendly; they kill the poor and impoverish the rich. I hope he knows this and believes this and makes amends. He is his number one problem; the second are those who sing Emperor Nero’s anthem while his Rome burns. Fawning fans of power will insist that the president and his policies have clean hands in this mass death matter. They will talk of palliatives of the past as proof of the president’s humanity. Unfortunately, as Zimbabweans say, “you cannot tell a hungry child that you gave him food yesterday.”

Defenders of power would point at pre-May 2023 crowd-crush disasters in this country. They would say they happened before this regime; they would cite the several deadly stampedes outside Nigeria across decades and centuries. The Muslim among them would cite Quran 63:11: “Never will Allah delay a soul when its time has come.” The Christian among them would quote the Bible, Ecclesiastes 1:9: “There is no new thing under the sun.” Yes, a stampede in a Chicago theatre in 1903 killed 602; another in a Moscow stadium in 1982 killed 340. A stampede in Mecca in 1990 killed 1,425; many more follow-up crowd crush disasters in Saudi Arabia claimed hundreds of lives. Further down history in 1863, a Church stampede in Santiago, Chile, killed 2,000 persons. Regime backers here will use these figures to scent the arse of their palace. They won’t think of one distinguishing fact: in all those places, the disasters were not because the people were starving and dying. Even the Egypt food scarcity that birthed the disaster of 1918 was not because government was unfeeling; it was because a world war was ongoing. Here, there is no war, yet people are dying in droves as if there is a war here.

Kings and presidents should pause their greed, rethink their policies and create some space for the people. They can remain big without being “superfluous and lust-dieted.” They can let “distribution undo excess” so that “each man (will) have enough.” The words in quote here are from Shakespeare’s King Lear. And, ‘enough’ in every culture here means life’s basics: food, shelter, clothing and hope of advancement. It is only when the “houseless heads and unfed sides”, when the “poor naked wretches” are weaned of their want that the country can have peace and stop crying over spilt milk of fatal stampedes. In whatever remedial steps we may take, I see a need for urgency. We need to act fast, otherwise – and this is my conclusion here – the next stampede may not spare the elite.

News

Scientists Find Proof That Breast Cancer Recurrence Can Be Eliminated

Published

3 hours ago

September 6, 2025

Editor

In a medical breakthrough that could transform breast cancer care, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have shown it’s possible to detect and destroy the “sleeper” cells that cause the disease to return years after treatment.

In a landmark clinical trial, researchers used existing, repurposed drugs to eliminate these hidden cells in most breast cancer survivors, pushing survival rates above 90 per cent. The findings, published in Nature Medicine, offer the strongest proof yet that breast cancer recurrence may no longer be inevitable.

The principal investigator, Dr Angela DeMichele of Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, said, “The lingering fear of cancer returning is something that haunts many breast cancer survivors. Our study shows that by targeting dormant tumour cells, we can prevent recurrence—and give survivors a real chance at a lasting cure.

“This changes the game. We finally have a proactive strategy—not just waiting for cancer to come back, but stopping it before it does,” DeMichele said.

The trial, known as CLEVER, enrolled 51 breast cancer survivors who had completed treatment but still harboured microscopic traces of dormant tumour cells, also called minimal residual disease (MRD). Standard scans cannot detect these cells, which can “wake up” years later and fuel incurable metastatic cancer.

Patients received either one or two study drugs, both already FDA-approved for other conditions. The results stunned researchers. Dormant tumour cells were cleared in 80 per cent of participants, and the three-year survival without recurrence exceeded 90 per cent for patients on single therapy and reached 100 per cent for those on combination therapy.

Further, only two patients have relapsed after more than three years of follow-up.

“This sleeper phase is the window where cancer is most vulnerable. explained senior author Dr Lewis Chodosh, chair of Cancer Biology at Penn. Surprisingly, drugs that don’t work against active tumours can be highly effective against dormant cells. That’s the key—we’re hitting cancer while it’s asleep,” explained senior author Dr Lewis Chodosh, chair of Cancer Biology at Penn. The trial builds on decades of Penn research uncovering how dormant breast cancer cells survive in the body, sometimes for decades, and what biological pathways sustain them. By targeting autophagy and mTOR signalling—mechanisms that help the sleeper cells persist—the researchers found a way to wipe them out before they reactivate.

The implications are profound. Until now, breast cancer survivors at risk of recurrence had little more than “watch and wait”. For the 30 per cent of patients whose cancer returns, the disease has been incurable.

The Penn team is now preparing larger clinical trials to confirm the results and explore whether this approach can be applied to other cancers with similar dormant-cell behaviour.

For millions of breast cancer survivors worldwide, the research opens the door to a future where remission means freedom—not fear.

Delayed breakfast linked to early death for elderly

How late you eat breakfast could be more important than you think. A major new study has revealed that older adults who push their first meal of the day to later hours face a higher risk of illness and even early death.

The research, published in Communications Medicine by scientists at Mass General Brigham and collaborators in Turkey, tracked nearly 3,000 people in the UK for more than two decades. The results were clear: as people age, breakfast and dinner times creep later, but those who delay breakfast are more likely to suffer from depression, fatigue, poor sleep, and declining health, and they die sooner.

“Breakfast timing may be an easy-to-monitor marker of health in older adults,” said lead researcher Hassan Dashti, PhD, RD, of Massachusetts General Hospital.

“Our findings show that late breakfasts are tied not only to health challenges but also to higher mortality. This gives fresh meaning to the saying that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”

The team found that people genetically inclined to be “night owls” also tended to eat later, compounding risks as they aged. Meanwhile, those who stuck to consistent and earlier meal routines showed signs of healthier ageing and greater longevity.

The findings could spark a rethink of popular diet trends such as intermittent fasting, which often encourages delaying the first meal. While the approach may benefit younger adults, the study suggests it could be harmful for seniors.

For doctors, families, and carers, the message is simple: watch the clock. A later breakfast may be more than just a habit – it could be a warning sign.
(VANGUARD)

News

30-minute Exercise Slashes Cancer Cell Growth – Study

Published

3 hours ago

September 6, 2025

Editor

A new study from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has revealed that just 30 minutes of vigorous exercise—either resistance training or high-intensity interval training—can reduce cancer cell growth by up to 30 percent. The research, led by PhD candidate Francesco Bettariga, focused on myokines, proteins released by muscles during exercise that possess anti-cancer properties.

The study found that a single workout session significantly boosted myokine levels, even in breast cancer survivors whose bodies have been compromised by treatment.

Blood samples taken before, immediately after, and 30 minutes post-exercise showed a 20–30 per cent reduction in cancer cell proliferation due to the surge in myokines. While this effect has been observed in healthy individuals, Bettariga’s study is among the first to confirm similar benefits in cancer survivors.

The research also explored how consistent exercise improves body composition, reducing fat mass and increasing lean muscle – key factors in lowering inflammation, a known driver of cancer recurrence and mortality.

Fat tissue releases inflammatory markers that can fuel tumour growth and suppress immune function. Exercise, by reshaping body composition, helps neutralise this threat.

Quick fixes to reduce fat mass, such as dieting alone, would not have the same beneficial effects. Bettariga emphasised that weight loss without exercise fails to preserve muscle mass and does not stimulate the production of beneficial myokines.

This study adds to a growing body of evidence positioning exercise as medicine – not just for prevention, but as a therapeutic tool during and after cancer treatment. With implications for treatment protocols worldwide, these findings could help redefine survivorship and recovery.

You never want to reduce your weight without exercising, because you need to build or preserve muscle mass and produce these chemicals, which you can’t do through just diet alone.

Whether you’re a cancer survivor or simply health-conscious, the message is clear: 30 minutes of sweat could be a powerful shield against cancer.

News

FG Move To Establish Rehabilitation Centres For Persons With Spinal Cord Injury Nationwide

Published

5 hours ago

September 6, 2025

Editor

Federal Government on Friday unveils plans to establish Medical Rehabilitation Centres for Persons with spinal cord injury across the country, with a strong focus on neuro rehabilitation.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities, Hon. Mohammed Abba Isa disclosed this in Abuja at the Symposium with the theme: ‘Fall prevention, Spinal Cord protection, empowering lives, enhancing opportunities’, to commemorate the 2025 world spinal cord injury day organised in collaboration with the Spinal Cord Injury Association (SCIAN) FCT Chapter And Brain and Spine Foundation Africa.

Hon. Isa who delivered the keynote address at the occasion reiterated President Bola Tinubu administration’s resolve towards advancing spinal cord health and disability inclusion in Nigeria, by ensuring that persons with disabilities, including those with spinal cord injuries, are empowered to live full, dignified, and productive lives.

He disclosed that, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is fully aware of this reality and is working assiduously to improve the quality of life for Nigerians living with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities.

“Through targeted interventions, provision of assistive devices, and promotion of inclusive policies, the government is reaffirming its commitment to ensuring that no citizen is denied access to health, dignity, and opportunity.

“Partnership for Rehabilitation: Specifically, my office, the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities has partnered with the Medical Rehabilitation Therapists (Registration) Board of Nigeria (MRTB) to establish Medical Rehabilitation Centres across the country, with a strong focus on neuro rehabilitation.

He said: “This initiative is currently at the Situation Assessment Stage carefully evaluating existing structures, identifying gaps, and laying the groundwork for the development of a National Policy on Rehabilitation and a Strategic Plan.

“When fully implemented, this framework will transform the rehabilitation landscape in Nigeria and offer renewed hope to countless individuals and families.”

In her address, Chairman, Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) FCT Chapter, Comrade Grace Ike expressed grave concern over the globally statistics which indicated that over 15 million people live with spinal cord injuries, contributing to more than 4.5 million years lived with disability.

According to the record, in 2019 alone, nearly one million new cases were recorded. Road crashes and falls account for over 700,000 of those injuries.

Comrade Ike who was the Special Guest at the 2025 World Spinal Cord Injury Day, who pledged the Union’s resolve to support for Persons with Disabilities including persons with spinal cord injury, called on Policymakers to strengthen road safety laws, workplace protections, and health systems.

“To our communities: create safer environments and raise awareness. To the Media: amplify stories that matter and keep disability at the heart of the public agenda. And to every individual: take personal responsibility—at home, at work, and on the road.”

On her part, Chairman, Spinal Cord Injury FCT chapter, Chioma Maureen Egede observed that the theme for 2025, ‘Fall Prevention, Spinal Cord Protection,’ could not be more timely or urgent.

“Falls remain one of the leading causes of spinal cord injuries globally, and here in Nigeria, the impact is felt deeply—across homes, workplaces, and public spaces. This theme challenges us to act: to educate, to innovate, and to advocate for safer environments and stronger support systems.

“As Chairman of the Abuja Chapter, I am proud of the strides we’ve made in rehabilitation, peer support, and public engagement. But today reminds us that our work is far from over. We must continue to push for inclusive infrastructure, accessible healthcare, and policies that prioritize prevention and dignity for all.

“Let us use this day to amplify voices that are often unheard. Let us celebrate the courage of those living with spinal cord injuries, and honor the tireless efforts of families, caregivers, and medical professionals who walk this journey alongside them.

“Together, we can build a future where spinal cord injuries caused by falls are not a tragic norm, but a rare exception. Let this gathering be a spark—igniting change, inspiring action, and strengthening our resolve.”