Sudan adds insult to Africa’s injury

By Ike Willie-Nwobu

Since Sudan relapsed back into military rule in 2021, the country has been ruled by a council of generals led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan who is the head of the army and in effect the country’s president, and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo who is the head of the 100,000-strong Rapid Support Forces.

The recurrent crises in Sudan remind a resilient country and a long-suffering continent of the long road to peace and the unmistakable profile of the men who have kept Africa in the backwater for far too long.

The Sudanese people starkly and stoically hoist a hologram of fortitude and even defiance. This defiance has been anything but reckless or suicidal. If anything, it has been measured and methodical, recently proving its worth as democracy’s last stand in one of Africa’s great hopes.

This defiance emblazoned in Sudanese men and women, young and old, has proven to be the undoing of many dictators. On 19 December 2019,street protests began what is now known as the“ Sudanese Revolution.”

The revolution which lasted until 10th October 2019 was to consume the thirtyyear- long blood-streaked rule of Omar al-Bashir. By the time al-Bashir was deposed in a military coup, an ICC arrest warrant was hanging over his head.

The exertions of the International Criminal Court, whose work has proven more symbolic than substantial, were however, not enough to deter defiant Sudanese protesters who remained in the streets of Khartoum to insist that they wanted to see substantial change that went beyond removing al-Bashir.

Since al-Bashir was toppled on April 11, 2019, and the military decided to hand power over to a chaotic mix of military men and civilians known as a transitional government, the Sudanese people have known no little tumult and trouble.

The arrangement lasted all of two years before it was terminated by another military coup on 25th October 2021. Today, one of Africa’s great hopes is on the ropes, suffocated by a military stranglehold that first took roots when al-Bashir took power in a military coup in 1989.

Now, the country where a massacre at the heart of the revolution resulted in the murder of 128 people and rape of over 70 on June 3,2019, is again the center of global attention. Fighting first broke out on April 15 after matters between Sudan’s regular army and a paramilitary force known as Rapid Support Force(RSF) which was responsible for the June 3 massacre came to a head.

Since Sudan relapsed back into military rule in 2021, the country has been ruled by a council of generals led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan who is the head of the army and in effect the country’s president, and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo who is the head of the 100,000-strong Rapid Support Forces.

The fighting has already resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians with thousands displaced as a result of the fighting to plunge one of the world’s poorest countries into greater peril.

It Is another sad development for Africa and a country where the military continues to harbour an inexcusable and utterly egregious entitlement to power.

Whether Africa can live up to its promise continues to fade as misguided military men leading rapacious advancements against institutions of state continue to gain traction.

While these happen and civilians are left at the mercy of criminals masquerading as military men, regional bodies look on helpless.

It is tragic that at a time an African country of great potential such as Sudan should be working towards lifting many of its 46 million people out of backbreaking poverty, it is instead grappling with a conflict that is nothing more than the power tussle of two crazed military men.

The African Union and the United Nations must muster a far more forceful response to the crisis. The military in every African country must also be told in no uncertain terms that it has no place in the corridors of power.

Action must also be taken against all those who while hiding behind military fatigues are harbingers of insecurity.

Experience the world over has shown that meaningful national progress can only be made when strong institutions prop up democratic governments that listen only to the voice of the people and nothing else.

African countries like Mali, Sudan, Burkina Faso where the military hold sway with little or nothing to show for it have to abandon this unproductive path and hit the only road that can lead to true development – that of genuine democracy.

Since it appears that all of Sudan’s problems are not homemade, identifying and holding to account all those who have a hand in this destabilizing conflict is key to fixing a challenge that has left innocent civilians in dire straits.

Ike Willie-Nwobu is a Public Policy Analyst.

NAFDAC trains health workers on dangers of breast milk substitute

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

Aglobal nutrition initiative, Alive & Thrive (A&T) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Wednesday trained health workers in Kaduna State on the dangers of Breastmilk Substitute (BMS).

Mrs Sarah Kwasu, Zonal Coordinator of the organisation, said on Wednesday in Zaria, that the training was under the A&T Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) in Nigeria programme.

Kwasu said that the training was organised by the State Primary Health Care Board as part of efforts to promote optimal breastfeeding practices.

She explained that the World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months towards reducing infant morbidity and mortality, especially in developing countries.

She added that to achieve this, the World Health Assembly in 1981, adopted the Code of Marketing of BMS to discourage the promotion of substitutes globally and ensure full adoption of exclusive breastfeeding.

She attributed the current low MICYN practices in the country to the continued violation of the International Code of BMS by producers and marketers of breastmilk substitutes.

“These violations include the inappropriate labelling and advertisement of BMS, distribution of promotional items, hospital visits and engagement with health workers, as well as direct contact with expectant and new mothers.

“Also, awareness of the Code is very low among health workers and government employees,” she said.

She said that the A&T initiative was being funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to save lives, prevent illness, and improve the health and wellbeing of mothers, children, and adolescents.

This, she said, is being achieved using evidence-based approaches in collaboration with governments and other partners at global, regional, national, and community levels.

She pointed out that as a regulatory agency, NAFDAC was specifically assigned the responsibility of implementation, enforcement, and monitoring of adherence to the Code.

She said that NAFDAC had been conducting an awareness campaign to ensure compliance with the International Code of marketing of BMS to improve knowledge, practice, and attitude towards exclusive breast feeding.

She said that the A&T had earlier supported NAFDAC to sensitise health workers from 16 health facilities in four selected LGAs namely Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Chikun and Igabi.

The Zonal Coordinator described the sensitisation as a “huge success” following the step down of the training to a total of 672 health workers.

According to her, the current training was to support NAFDAC and the State Primary Health Care Board to scale up the training to other LGAs.

“The participants are expected to regularly step down the learnings to other staff of their respective facilities.”

The State nutrition Officer, Mrs Ramatu Haruna, said the training was designed to improve the health workers’ knowledge on their role in protecting pregnant women, mothers, and their infants from inappropriate use of BMS.

Haruna added that the training was also to re-orient the health workers on the importance of promoting the early initiation of breast milk and six months exclusive breastfeeding in health facilities.

“The training was also organised to discuss challenges to BMS regulations, and compliance in health facilities and community and identifying areas for further support.

“We also want to reflect on how NAFDAC, State and Local Government Area actors can successfully work together to address these challenges.

“At the end, we want to secure commitments from the Primary Health Care workers in addressing Code noncompliance and promote MIYCN programming through their various platforms,” she said.

Mrs Rahila Maishanu, BMS Officer, NAFDAC, Kaduna State Office, said that healthcare workers have a duty to control the introduction, use and movement of BMS in health facilities.

Maishanu called on the health workers to support, protect and promote breastfeeding towards building a healthy and productive population for the development of the society.