Good work being done

... in Africa, by Jimmy Carter and others, to eradicate the guinea worm. Fascinating story. I urge you not to follow the links if you are in any way squeamish and don't already know what a guinea worm is. Instead, revel in this example of Nigerian political discourse. The context is the effort by a local chief, Matthew Egede, to overcome resistance to the eradication programme in one of his villages:

He convened a meeting of "the elites," a local chiefs' council. Furious, they ordered the village to accept the pesticide treatment and pay a fine of "one very mighty native cow, plus goats, yams and kegs of palm wine," Chief Egede said. The council sent the general an effusive letter of apology.

"As Socrates of the old Greek people took a cup of hemlock poison from his people for the love of his state, so have you borne our people's churlish misbehaviour," it said, further comparing him to William Tyndale, who translated the Bible into English and was martyred for heresy, and to St. Polycarp, who smiled as he was burned at the stake.