PANDEMICS AND THE WORLD... 

In the past week, I have learnt interesting facts about Pandemics and what it does to the world and even Nigeria. Funny facts like Garri became a staple food in Nigeria because of a Pandemic #THREAD

There are effects from 2 Pandemics that fascinate me the most and I will share.

1) BLACK DEATH (Bubonic Plague): 1346-1353, 

The plague claimed about 75 – 200 million lives & resulted in a huge change in the dynamics of the world, specifically Europe but Nigeria wasn't left out

Effects on Nigeria

i) The plague destroyed Ile-Ife's Glass industry

Ife's glass was unique from other types of glass produced in the world & it's postulated that knowledge of glass production in Ife was regulated by a limited number of individuals who passed due to the plague.

ii) Another interesting idea postulated is that the practice of burying a dead Elite (King) with servants stopped after the Black plague as a result of labor shortage and it had become socially costly.

Effects of the Black plague on the World 

a) What we refer to as Middle class now was a result of the impact the plague had on serfdom. So basically the plague created the Middle Class.

b) Start of English as the world's lingua franca.

English replaced Latin as the principal language of elites in Britain because the now middle class (former Serfs) mostly didn't know Latin, this was later followed with Britain girdling the world & English becoming its language

c) It transformed the Hospital from a charity endeavor where condemned sick people die to a place where the sick actually go for treatment

d) It caused the spread of the printing press & information

e)Labor shortage led to labor-saving technology & better farming productivity

2) FLU PANDEMIC (Spanish Flu - It has no relation to Spain): 1918 and 1920

This plague killed a lot of the world’s healthy young adult population, ending the lives of 20 – 50 million people.

Effects on Nigeria

i) The reason why Garri is a major staple food is attributed to the Spanish Flu. This title was taken from Yam, which was more labor-intensive and in shortage during the flu, this resulted in the partial displacement of yam & the enduring adoption of cassava..

..as a quasi-staple food which was less preferred at that time.

ii) It also resulted in the death of 255,663 in the more populated Southern Nigeria (Pop - 9,075,560) and 199, 325 deaths in the less populated Northern Nigeria (8,615,376.

iii) Another important fact is that what we refer to as indigenous Churches became very active during this period with the founding of the Aladura movement (Praying people) which started in the heat of the Flu in 1918, this became a safe refuge to several people with the Flu.

The movement gave birth to 2 important categories of churches in present-day Nigeria,

A) Aladura Pentecostals (CAC is referred to as the precursor of Aladura Pentecostalism) 

B) Aladura Spiritualist (sometimes referred to as White Garment churches)

*The 1918 Aladura movement is different from the Church of the Lord popularly called Aladura (1925).

iv) People of the Muslim faith were also encouraged to drink water in which Qu'ranic passages had been soaked in as a prophylactic to cure the Flu.

Effects on the World

a) People began to see life as fragile and the future uncertain, this was most common in the USA and was a gateway to the period we refer to as the "Roaring Twenties".

b) There was major growth in American urban cities, as people left rural areas. This created a reliance on technology, creating an innovation boom. Electricity! Telephones! Radios! Taking Pictures! Automobiles! A new day brought a new idea & people were ready to spend

c) Starting in the 1920s, many countries created or re-organized their health ministries and embraced the concept of socialized medicine – what we call National Health Insurance now.

d) An international bureau for fighting epidemics was also created in Vienna, Austria — this was a forerunner of today’s World Health Organization

*SIDE NOTE: Historians say the 1918 pandemic hastened the end of the First World War since both sides lost so many troops to the disease in the final months of the conflict.

So what major ground-breaking changes will this Pandemic (COVID-19) cause? 

Time will tell... 

Sources: 

1)https://t.co/s6R9wD0qIu

2)https://t.co/K69ll1ndOc

3)https://t.co/yCa8C3LLUe

4)https://t.co/meb3DMK1sR

5) https://t.co/XhPyIikLNz

6)https://t.co/AsQZOgBhN4

7)https://t.co/0xJLBBkDFy

8) Various Veritable Online Sources

© Joshua Ayo Omomia