Civic Issues- Miracle River? Or not…

A man claims that there is a river with healing powers in Nigeria. He says that the river was created behind him, after traveling far and wide on dry grounds. He believes that it was a sign of hope and healing. He told his relatives who then told others. Pretty soon thousands of people flocked to the so called “magical” water. They would bathe AND drink this water, hoping that its healing powers would cure their diseases. Multiple claims like this on have been made, all with similar results. This claim has to do with a river near a town called Nachi. Even though not one person since this man has experienced these healing powers, people still flock to this river in search for a cure.

The sudden increase in human population makes the water unsanitary, and does the exact opposite of what the people want it to do that come to the river. Disease is spread through the river and people become more sick. Many of the people who come to these rivers are poor and can’t afford medical attention. They hope that they found a free and easy way to get ride of their problems, but in reality they are just making their problems worse.

I understand how hope can effect people and when people are given just a little bit of hope that they will do anything they can to hold into it. I also think that it is unrealistic for them to believe that water will heal them, especially when they can see how polluted the water is. Scientist even showed people how bad the water was for them, and that it will only get worse. I think hope is a very important thing, but blindly following it is not the way to go. The drastic increase in infections and diseases caused by these so called “magical” rivers is a perfect example of this.

The people living in Nachi, the town near the river, are greatly effected by this flow of people as well. Yes the new increase in travels may help their town for a small period of time, but in the long run they will have many more problems on their hands once everyone leaves. They will have no freshwater to drink from, because the river will be so polluted, they won’t be able to farm because the soil is so infected, and there will be a great lack of animals in the area because they will all have either migrated away or died.

Now lets talk about how these claims effect the rivers themselves. The inflation of people visiting these rivers will cause the animals and organisms that live there to suffer as well. The lack of fresh water and a healthy ecosystem created turmoil in the animals lives and will most likely cause the species to die out. These effects can be awful for the environment surrounding the “magical” rivers. The land in the area will be infected with the polluted water and will not be able to grow plants properly. People need to realize that their “hope” is more harmful than they realize. Then need to realize the effects that they have, not only themselves and each other but also on the environment. A peaceful river with a healthy ecosystem around it can be destroyed within weeks from claims like these. If I were a river I would not want to be “chosen” as magical, because pretty soon there won’t be anything magical happening around me. The only thing that would be happening is disease and death.

The people making these claims also need to realize the damage they are creating. People can die is greater numbers because of this claim and they can destroy an entire area. Even though these people probably don’t realize the effects of what they say are I think it is important that they are informed. We need to do something to prevent claims like these from happening, they only cause disease and false hope.

http://www.popsci.com/blog-network/unpopular-science/danger-nigerias-new-miracle-river

 

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