%0 Journal Article
%T Mistrust in Dysfunction, Culture in/Sensitivity in Era of Pandemics: How Ibibio People of South Eastern Nigeria Responded to 1918-1921 Influenza Vis a Vis COVID-19 Pandemics
%A Michael Onyedika Michaels
%A Felicia Ihuoma Michaels
%J Sociology Mind
%P 1-19
%@ 2160-0848
%D 2022
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/sm.2022.121001
%X In an exhibition of social responsibility against COVID-19 outbreak, almost
all governments of African nations have taken proactive measures to close down potential
sources of the virus transmission to the public. In this paper we engaged sequential
text interpretation of historical and current health documents, professional publications
and media reportage on the post WW1 influenza and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemics
in order to fully explore the tensions and issues arising from the responses of
Indigenous Ibibio people of South Eastern Nigeria
to the pandemics¡¯ interventions. We employed anti-colonial theory and the
philosophical trajectory of African traditional ecological knowledge, TEK to investigate
the two devastating global pandemics. We observed that the Ibibio people¡¯s responses
to intervention efforts of the ruling authorities and NGOs in the two pandemics
were shaped by suspicion, and as the world is urgently turning into a densely populated
global village, trust has become an essential commodity with respect to ways professional
multinational corporations and agencies deal with the Indigenous peoples around
the world. Non-toxic, unbiased, and accurate information from media reportage is sine
qua none in fostering trust and restoring the confidence of Indigenous communities in Western science, a condition marred by misinformation and experiences of
racism and stereotype. We argued that a multi-world
approach to understanding and finding solutions to global socio-cultural,
and health problems will provide sustained benefit to the multicultural society
the world has become. We conclude by advising that the continents of the world share
a collection of diverse Indigenous peoples¡¯ epistemic saliencies (lived experiences).
The unique ecological approach each of the Indigenous communities has lived with
over the centuries constitutes their identity with the ecological environment. To
gain the trust and
%K Influenza
%K Epistemic
%K Ecological
%K Intervention
%K COVID-19
%K Response
%K Colonial
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=114113