Shun Complex: Varsity Don, Lumumba Challenges African Scientists On COVID-19 Vaccine
BY UBON EKANEM, CALABAR – Controversial and fiery Kenyan University Lecturer, Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba, has challenged African scientists to shake off inferiority complex and compete on the global stage in developing a vaccine capable of curbing the ravaging effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on the continent.
He said the time has come for African scientists to rise above mediocrity and face the challenge of their professional calling rather than waiting for crumbs and handouts from their foreign counterparts.
Lumumba, who is a law professor at the University of Kenya, Nairobi, lamented that widespread cases of COVID-19 in the continent have exposed Africans to another level of mental and psychological colonization, due to the ourL over-reliance and unending wait for imported vaccines developed in United States of America (USA), Europe, and Asi
Delivering a lecture as Guest Speaker at the second edition of Leader Olumba Olumba Obu annual lecture in Calabar, Prof Lumumba challenged African Scientists to prove their mettle in the field.
He said the Coronavirus pandemic has provided a challenging platform for them to demonstrate their competence and capacity by developing vaccines that can be comparable to the ones being imported from other continents.
The University Don said; “Folding our arms to wait for imported COVID-19 vaccines when our people are dying on a daily basis does not show that we are ready to match the intellectual capacities of scientists in other continents of the world and an indirect way of proving that Africans are not yet ready to shake off the effect of colonization.”
The eloquent lawyer,, who spoke on the theme “Reflecting on the Unique Treasures in Africa”, described Leader Olumba Olumba Obu as an “African unique treasure” whose brand of gospel has been exported to all continents of the world and urged African scientists to follow suit.
According to him, Leader Obu of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star is an epitome of meekness and kindness and above all, a unique shining spiritual light who has contributed monumentally to human development through the way and manner he has chosen to exemplify the teachings of Jesus Christ as contained in the Holy Bible.
Born on July 17, 1962, Prof Lumumba served as Director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) from September 2010 to August 2011. Since 2014, the former anti-graft Czar has been Director of The Kenya School of Law.
