A CELEBRATION OF THE NIGERIAN INTELLECT:
Dr. Bennet Omalu
After doing a spotlight on Dr. Bennet Omalu on the 26th of November 2015 I decided to do some more digging as to understand why all the rave about him NOW. Yes he discovered a disease that America did not want to acknowledge,Yes he is Nigerian and risen to the top of his filed. was he victimized because he was Black? Was he victimized? The million dollar question should be Why was it so hard to get people to listen and acknowledge his work?
I have not watched the movie but during my search online, one thing that was clear was that Dr. Bennet Omalu discovered something of note because he was not afraid to ask questions. If you think about it the questions started from his initial assumptions when he saw the subject. He did not know that the body before him was that of a sport Hero- former Pittsburgh Steelers star Mike Webster, from his professional eyes he saw an old man not a 50 year old white man.
M4W TAKE: There is nothing wrong in making a professional assumption or Hypothesis but we should be fluid with it, let it guide us for it will lead us to great discovery.
Another thing that was clear was that it was obvious he was not American. As an individual that has had the pleasure to have studied abroad I am proud to say I have never been to America and I am as American as someone that has lived there most of his/her adult life. The reason why his origin matter is that you can almost hear the note of surprise and skepticism from Dr.Bennet Omalu experience.
This is a Scientist that was trained here in Nigeria all the way to University level and even did his clinical training here before he decided to leave the county. So that firstly states his foundation was solid and good enough for him to have been able to further and position him in the room of discovery. Yet it was not just his credentials that was put to the test but He as a person- being of Nigerian decent - was put into question.
M4W TAKE: No matter how good you are on paper there would be those that will be skeptical of your skills, But just keep doing what you do so that you can prove them wrong.
Dr. Bennet's story is inspirational in so many ways and motivational to all of us I can just imagine the emotional and psychological trauma he would have gone through during this period in his life. If you go by how Hollywood depict a battle with Corporate America, talk-less of a sporting institution like NFL Dr. Bennet showed his tenacity as a true 'Igbo Man' .
Come to think of it Corporate America or institutions like NFL and other sporting bodies are truly heartless! so rather than save the lives of people they are willing to have people continually die just to not have status quo not be affected? How much money can truly justify this. This is coming from a nation that is more advanced and better off than my beloved Nigeria and Africa as a whole ( personally I remove SA from the Africa equation but hey I am not apologetic for that one). In Nigeria you know you are been bullied and not been give a fair end of the stick by these entities but they are honest about it but in the WEST! The uses all the right propaganda tools to destroy the problem. Who remembers the McDonald's issue with the case for Obesity? or is it the Pfizer and the Polio drugs? oh! lets bring it closer to home with the case of all these Oil magnates and their activities in Nigeria? In sport we saw what it took for them to admit that all that blows to head and Brain damage had a connection, and there are many such cases of Sport governing Body as the Bad guys. I guess the major difference is that in the West the Big Boys can be held accountable (in the long run) while in developing countries like mine the chances of justice is slim to none.
Am glad that Dr. Bennet Omalu was able to see this battle through and I am glad his action is been documented in the movie Will Smith was in- Concussion. I just wish more stores of the little guy winning get told. There are too many everyday people with exceptional ideas, programs and business that is changing the way nations, organizations and community do things. These are the people that need to be celebrated constantly. They are some of the people that make it to Talk show sofa and share their lives with us in our homes from across the glob yet there are not many of those stores in Nigeria. You have to have made major drastic move from ZERO to BIG HERO and more than likely its your Bank account that would do the indicator. I hope to find more everyday heroes like Omolabake Bode Mathews, Tolulpe Adegbite, Pro. Abiola O Awoshika, Adunola Ajunwon, Lola Soneyin, Funke Micahels, Olabode Salewa, etc and shine the spotlight on them. They deserve the spotlight.
O well, I can't wait to see the movie so i cannot give a review about it but I cannot stop celebrating the man that defies the 'nothing good comes out of Nigeria' statement. To the Concussion Doctor, the intellect, the Igbo Man to Dr. Bennet Omalu.... Keep Moving Forward....
If YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE (Google is your friend!) here are some of the places I went to:
1) Wikipedia
2) https://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/pathology/our_team/faculty/OmaluB.html
3)https://johnib.wordpress.com/tag/mtbi/
4)http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/how-nigerian-doctor-bennet-omalu-changed-american-football/
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