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Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Recently, the vice chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Prof. Charles Esimone, delivered an inaugural lecture on the world of microbes.
He said microbes, those tiny living things that are found all around us but are too small to be seen with the naked eyes, can save and also kill.
It was the 49th inaugural lecture of the university, and the title of the lecture delivered by the 49-year-old professor of bio-pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical microbiology was “Our Fight Against Unseen Enemies – the Microbes.”
Noting that many living organisms were classified as microbes because of their minute sizes, he said such organisms as bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa, algae and archaea are all microbes though bacteria, fungi and viruses are tagged “celebrity microbes” because they are more popular than others.
Describing micro-organism as ubiquitous in nature, he disclosed that such exists in the air, water, soil and all over the environment while some of them can inhabit some extreme locations where humans or other higher life forms cannot survive in.
“They are also able to live inside us as normal micro flora. In fact, millions of them live on our skin, inside our digestive systems and the orifices. They are simply everywhere. Wherever they are found, they influence our environment and our lives positively or negatively.”
He admitted that the emergence of micro-organisms that are resistant to antimicrobial agents had become a global public health concern, regretting that mankind’s abuse of antibiotics contributed to such resistance.
But reflecting on the ways microbes’ serves as friends to man, Esimone posited that microbes may have been originally created to add diversity to life, to help man in creating wealth and enriching his food through fermentation.
But he still warned that micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa, algae, among others were capable of eliminating man from the surface of the earth if neglected.
He regretted that micro-organisms have killed billions of men over the centuries, underscoring the need to exploit microbes, which, he said, were originally created to add diversity to life, help man in his quest for longevity as well as to create wealth and enrich his food via fermentation.
The professor identified over-prescribing of antibiotics, patients not finishing their treatments, over-use of antibiotics in livestock and fish-farming, poor infection control in hospitals and clinics, lack of hygiene and poor sanitation, and so on, as some of causes of resistance by microbes.
“Microbes run the world, and they run our lives; they are akin to demons and we must look for ways to subdue them by exploring and exploiting them for our good, especially in the food industry,” he said.
He said microbes are frequently but not always ill-intentioned, noting that that man’s focus should be on how to curtail cases of unintended initiation of a disease or toxicity.
He said microbes’ lack of due diligence in seeking to live, survive, metabolise, excrete and multiply in human systems is at the roots of the man-microbes conflict. He asserted that if microbes can be taught to conduct environmental impact assessment, they would be in a better position to enjoy a healthier relationship with man and avoid indulging in activities that trigger ‘environmental degradation.’
“A parallel can be drawn between the last statement above and the activities of oil producing companies and herdsmen. With both agencies, economic exploitation of the ecosystem in search of oil deposits and pastures respectively result in environmental degradation and invite hostilities.
“The importance of fossil fuel is well understood, but it is wished that oil mining companies had developed a technology for exploration and production without attendant environmental degradation and pollution. The case of herdsmen is even more apt because of their inclination to assert claim to a right of passage through every land, including whether cultivated or fallow.
“In the same vein, microbes do not respect territory, and like herdsmen, microbes have staged a conquest of many human systems establishing habitats in both likely and unlikely places including in the nose, hair, mouth, ears, skin, rectal region, colon, scalp, palms, fingernails and even sweat ducts.
“In fact, microbes do not discriminate between presidents and peasants. All human physio-anatomic systems and all races of humans are considered as a veritable host for conquest. As we have witnessed with herdsmen, this penchant for indiscriminate invasion of privately held lands and property may be tolerated by the host for a while, but inevitably result in hostilities at the right time.
He said the major difference between microbes and oil companies or herdsmen as painted above is that whereas all herdsmen and oil companies look and behave fairly alike and use comparable equipment, the term microbes does not refer to a homogenous group. Rather, it refers to the most diverse of all living things spanning hundreds of genera, and thousands of species and strains of sub-microscopic organisms with different genotypic and phenotypic characteristics.
He said that like the Israelites of old, humans are bounded by these extremely different and diverse microbial neighbours and as such, must learn to exploit them and subdue them.
Though he noted that microbes and man are engaged in an unending ‘war’, Esimone offered hope noting that there are several avenues available to man for the purpose of gaining the upper hand in the reciprocal conquest for exploitation and subordination between man and microbes.
He declared that man can seek total elimination of microbes and also build robust impregnable immune systems even as pharmaceutical microbiology has provided the requisite arsenals to fight in this regard.
While urging the Federal Government to key into global fight against microbes to sustain the efficacy of available antimicrobials in order to curb the spread of ESBL-producing pathogen he called for more research and development of arsenal to fight microbes, noting that it would involve collective efforts.
He made a forecast saying the elimination of infectious diseases will be hinged on the development of effective vaccines more than any therapeutic agents. He recommended that new presentation formats for drugs should replace the currently used bitter and sometimes nauseating medicines as well as using herbal drinks to replace herbal drugs.
On his thoughts for the future, the VC said that to be a successful third world researcher, one must think more about personal motivation and how to build a network from simple academic relationships and how to use those networks to circumvent equipment challenges and limitations.
He observed that a great deal of honesty and diligence was required to build a network and sustain it, warning that any act of slothfulness could jeopardise such collaboration.
He noted that young academics who fail to imbibe the virtue of self-motivation may end up complaining ceaselessly about the “system” and how it simply doesn’t work. This he said can cause a lot of harm, disenchantment and frustration.
It was the first time a VC would be delivering an inaugural lecture in the university, though Esimone’s inaugural lecture has been fixed before he became the vice chancellor in June this year.
Earlier, pro-chancellor and chairman of the Governing Council of the university, Alhaji Azeez Oladotun Bello, said the lecture offered a platform to showcase the research works of the lecturers and the relevance of their discipline.
