Yesterday in a suite at @Taj51BG I experienced a maelstrom of emotions. Joy at being reunited with people I had fought shoulder to shoulder with, in the greatest battle I have ever been involved in. Underneath the joy was fresh anger provoked by relieving the events of 2006…. …. recalling the totally unnecessary human costs of that battle, rage at the cynical inhumane way in which powerful people had tried to commit a blatant injustice because they felt the victims were voiceless & powerless & that no one in the UK cared very much about them anyway…

I don’t know if you read any Ladybird fairytales when you were a child. These with the Abiriba folktales (complete with call & response songs to heighten audience participation) which my parents, grandparents & most relatives regaled us with fired up my childhood imagination Many of the stories of Mbe the cunning tortoise & his antics to outwit his fellow animals to gain an advantage sometimes veered into the absurd & the ridiculous. Looking back though, I’m constantly amused by the story of The Princess & the Pea. For those who have forgotten…

Towards the end of the weekly family Zoom call, one of the silver linings in the Covid cloud, my mother says “Ike, please help me find my old school teacher, Miss Hebb. She taught me at Ibiaku & later came to visit me at @RoyalHolloway where she had studied years before…” I think, you are 80, are you sure your teacher will still be around but I don’t say it. I type “Hebb teacher Nigeria” or something similar into Google & immediately come up with this. So close. Just 9 months ago. I read it aloud & my mother groans “Oh no!” funeral-notices.co.uk/notice/hebb/48…

Shout out to @bakery_nina for superlative customer service. Having discovered it was the birthday of one of my favourites, thought I’d surprise them with a small cake. Had realised power of surprises during a milestone birthday in lockdown which a stream of surprises made 🔥 🔥 So I googled London same day cake delivery & after reviewing picked one. On website had no slots till Wednesday. Rang them & no one picked up. Looked again, conscious of time passing & picked @BakeryNina. Had problems on website. Rang. Picked up immediately. Ordered easily

When I collapsed in 2014 with a bleeding duodenal ulcer, a day after returning from Nigeria, St Mary’s @ImperialNHS didn’t use genomic therapy or high tech equipment to save me. Just blood, O2, fluids & excellent nursing & dr care, monitoring my vital signs & adjusting input…

https://twitter.com/asemota/status/1045936602491604992

Had I collapsed in Nigeria, doubtful I’d be tweeting now. Why? People. A core reason for my view on refocusing debate on healthcare in Africa away from listing all that we don’t have; to “What are we doing with little we do have?” “Are we making the best use of what we have?”

@Hermesparcels Is this some kind of joke? Your courier was supposed to deliver a package. You sent an email giving a 2 hour slot. Cancelled appointment to receive it. Sitting by the front door I get email saying “Sorry we missed you”. Missed who? Me that was sitting by the door? Contacted the sender of the package to alert them. She tells me that when she checks the package status, @Hermesparcels tell her “the business was closed”. Which business? House that is very obviously residential ? Or did you open a business here without telling the occupants?

To all the businesses & organisations issuing statements in support of #BlackLivesMattter how about instead of platitudes, you tell us exactly how many black people you will have on your Board & in the senior management at your organisation by this time next year It isn't only meaningful metric & won't resolve many facets of a complex issue, but it is within your gift, is measurable & practical & will have impact. And individuals who say they are committed to the cause, ask your employers, clients & organisations you work or do biz with

Professor Jennifer Prah Ruger writes in @FT “Although the @WHO suffers from a lack of independence, it should be fixed, rather than scrapped...” & goes on to recommend 5 areas to focus on ft.com/content/df7289… The call for reform is one that has been made before (see attached from typing “reform WHO Ebola into Google) with some success looking at WHO AFRO today & there are always opportunities to improve & strengthen such a sprawling, often unwieldy organisation. But isn’t WHO caught..

Please please please, don’t be the person asking “what can I do to help?” We are in an all hands on deck moment, please say “this is what I’m doing, how can I make it better?” I’ve shared some examples here

https://twitter.com/ikeanya/status/1244999810559680512

@chimaonoka on behalf of @cmdanigeria also made some brilliant practical suggestions on how different people and organisations can contribute to the campaign against the COVID pandemic from a Nigerian perspective it also useful elsewhere. Tweeted here

https://twitter.com/ikeanya/status/1242458431434510336?s=21

https://twitter.com/ikeanya/status/1242458431434510336

Getting calls on how do I volunteer. Starting point maybe contact organisations in health sector eg @NCDCgov @AfricaCDC via website, twitter or Facebook pages. Usually respond promptly. Make it easy in busy time. Be clear & real on skills, where you are, what you can offer... But there’s a lot you can do on your own without recourse to anyone. There are masses of resources & guidelines on @NCDCgov website. You could commit to sending those to 100,200, 300 people. You could commit to ringing people & talking them through the guidance...

London in the time of COVID, a series London in the time of COVID, a series

On social media break but peeking briefly into Twitter, stunned at some of the reactions on COVID, so I’ll share a few points I think are important. I do not in any way intend to minimise the seriousness of the challenge the world faces, but hope these may be of value to some.... I’ve been trying over the last few months to use the serenity prayer to guide my actions & reactions: “Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, & wisdom to know the difference”. It’s been helpful for my mental health...

Look how this @CrossCountryUK catering staff just created extra work for himself. Caught in terrible traffic,ran like mad through the station, ticket barriers & just managed to get on the train. Thanks to my hosts, I’m in first class. I find my seat & hot,stand & remove my coat I don’t want to sit yet, want to regain composure so I’m still standing in the aisle when young man pushes catering trolley out. I step aside so he can pass, but he pauses in front of me, frowns & asks for my ticket. I’ve done this trip often, catering staff don’t check tickets..

“I come from Canada, race doesn’t matter in my country; I’m from a small British town of 5000 people we are not complicit in racism...” I’m sure you’ve all heard variants of these...” @LindiMazibuko & Robin Di Angelo dropping words of wisdom at the gorgeous Conduit Club this am “As a white person who grew up in a largely white space, ask yourself when did you first realise that black people existed, and in what context? Was it by watching Disney? How were they portrayed?” Robin di Angelo, author of White Fragility at the Conduit Club

Privileged Nigerians on Twitter, as we debate macro issues, let’s not forget the human beings behind them. In Abiriba this weekend, my aunt, a secondary school teacher (who hasn’t been paid for 7 months btw) talked of her bright students who can’t afford WAEC exam fees.... I asked how much fees were. 17k naira for the fees & 6k school fees per term for the final year. So 35k naira. £76 or US$96. Less than some of us drop in a night at a club. I asked if she knew any. She reeled out names. Did what I could but kept wondering...