Nigeria: In Defence of the Pope
by Nwachukwu Egbunike
4 May 2009
...
I was in Cameroon for the papal visit and his statement on condoms was a non-issue. On the contrary Cameroonians were grateful to Benedict for telling the truth to power. His admonition to Christians to speak out against "corruption and abuses of power" was a hit, precipitating a domino effect. Curiously enough, this was hardly reported by most foreign media. Perhaps threatened by Benedict's nerve to contest their 'infallibility' in setting global agenda for HIV/AIDS, the media became hysterical.
This condescending attitude was not lost on most of us in the news business. This is not the first, nor will it be the last time that Africa will be viewed from the biased prism of a childish continent. The issue of condoms and the curtailing of transmission of HIV/AIDS have always been controversial.
Remarkably there are two schools of thoughts. Some elitist African puppets, who have been milking most of these foreign agencies, give the impression that all we need is condoms. On the other hand, the less vocal majority, know that the African worldview is essentially polygamous. Thus any intervention that does not put this into account is bound to fail.
That is why; condoms will not solve the AIDS palaver, rather it will only aggravate it. Condom advocacy is like trying to quench a fire with petrol.
But of course, well, honestly, he's just a darkie.
What can he possibly know?
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