"Igbe
Gburuu, Eebi Gburuu at KUDETI: Rivers and other Ibadan Water Bodies as
Victims, Carriers and Transmitters of Cholera, 1970-1996" as presented
by SMB Sesan Johnson
#Note: This is an abridged version of my paper remotely presented @ "Shaped By the Sea: Histories of Ocean, Science, Medicine and Technology" Conference @ University of Manchester, UK
Ikudaisi left Gege Oloorun early in the morning to make some heaps at his farm only to be proclaimed dead in the evening. Aghast, Ikudaisi's wives and children could not believe that they were seeing the 'dead body' of Ikudaisi. He was well before he left this morning. He was only complaining of vomiting the day before. Like a terrorist and a scourge, cholera had snatched life out of Ikudaisi declared Mogaji Ikulanbe, the family head. Cholera is presently ravaging the whole city opined the Mogaji. It's now becoming a case of 'je amala ni Oje, lo Shan Owo ni Adeoyo". This described some of the public health problematics of Ibadanland between 1970 and 1996.
It's clear that the present generation is faced with a series of unique environmental dilemma and public health problematic, largely unprecedented in human history. While the environment has been a perennial theme in human thought, water bodies (seas, oceans, rivers, lakes, etc) as subsets of the environment and how humans value and think about the environment has become a vital aspect of recent social history. On the one hand, the 1970s signalled a period of intense academic research into the processes of environmental appropriation. On the other hand, during the same period, the environment in Africa (particularly Ibadan) was experiencing a sea of effects from human actions just like other parts of the world. Within the realms of environmental problematic, Ibadan between 1970 and 1996 was characterised with open defecation by riversides (Ona, Kudeti, Ogbere, Ogunpa) and lakesides (Eleyele) and Asejire Dam; abysmal wastes disposal protocols (Gegeoloorun, Foko, Oja'ba, etc.); poor sanitation and illicit WASH framework.
From Lagos, cholera spread to Ibadan in December 1970. Cholera was considered a stranger and a scourge because of the quantum effects in terms morbidity and mortality rates.
Cholera remains a killer disease and a major public health problem in Africa. In the public health discourse of the Yoruba speaking people of Nigeria, "igbe gburuu, eebi gburuu" is the generic description of cholera symptoms, that is, severe vomiting and acute defecation.
It's was great serving as remote speaker/panelist alongside Dr Cristiano Turbil (University College London) and Elina Maanitty (University of Helsinki) at the ongoing "Shaped By the Sea: Histories of Ocean, Science, Medicine and Technology" conference at the Centre for the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine at University of Manchester, UK.
#Note: This is an abridged version of my paper remotely presented @ "Shaped By the Sea: Histories of Ocean, Science, Medicine and Technology" Conference @ University of Manchester, UK
Ikudaisi left Gege Oloorun early in the morning to make some heaps at his farm only to be proclaimed dead in the evening. Aghast, Ikudaisi's wives and children could not believe that they were seeing the 'dead body' of Ikudaisi. He was well before he left this morning. He was only complaining of vomiting the day before. Like a terrorist and a scourge, cholera had snatched life out of Ikudaisi declared Mogaji Ikulanbe, the family head. Cholera is presently ravaging the whole city opined the Mogaji. It's now becoming a case of 'je amala ni Oje, lo Shan Owo ni Adeoyo". This described some of the public health problematics of Ibadanland between 1970 and 1996.
It's clear that the present generation is faced with a series of unique environmental dilemma and public health problematic, largely unprecedented in human history. While the environment has been a perennial theme in human thought, water bodies (seas, oceans, rivers, lakes, etc) as subsets of the environment and how humans value and think about the environment has become a vital aspect of recent social history. On the one hand, the 1970s signalled a period of intense academic research into the processes of environmental appropriation. On the other hand, during the same period, the environment in Africa (particularly Ibadan) was experiencing a sea of effects from human actions just like other parts of the world. Within the realms of environmental problematic, Ibadan between 1970 and 1996 was characterised with open defecation by riversides (Ona, Kudeti, Ogbere, Ogunpa) and lakesides (Eleyele) and Asejire Dam; abysmal wastes disposal protocols (Gegeoloorun, Foko, Oja'ba, etc.); poor sanitation and illicit WASH framework.
From Lagos, cholera spread to Ibadan in December 1970. Cholera was considered a stranger and a scourge because of the quantum effects in terms morbidity and mortality rates.
Cholera remains a killer disease and a major public health problem in Africa. In the public health discourse of the Yoruba speaking people of Nigeria, "igbe gburuu, eebi gburuu" is the generic description of cholera symptoms, that is, severe vomiting and acute defecation.
It's was great serving as remote speaker/panelist alongside Dr Cristiano Turbil (University College London) and Elina Maanitty (University of Helsinki) at the ongoing "Shaped By the Sea: Histories of Ocean, Science, Medicine and Technology" conference at the Centre for the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine at University of Manchester, UK.
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