#WorldMalariaDay: Why were mosquitoes created?

Mosquitoes are the known vectors or carriers of the parasite that causes malaria. To be precise, it is the female mosquito known as anopheles, that carries the parasite, which is known as plasmodium. All these are facts taught in primary and secondary schools. One would wonder, why teach these things if for years, we are unable to find a lasting solution to the fatal disease? I mean, what is knowledge without wisdom? 

Prevention, they say, is better than cure, so the message being preached over the years is that people need to stop breeding mosquitoes around their homes and places of abode. By so doing, they wouldn't get bitten by mosquitoes. Insecticide treated nets have been invented, mosquito repelling creams produced, drugs that kill the parasite have been discovered, we've even come to the realization that combination therapy works better in the treatment of malaria, but how about the insects themselves? 

I monitored a discussion about the causes, treatment, and prevention of malaria, and someone asked a really thoughtful question. If mosquitoes cause malaria, which in turn leads to one spending so much for treatment and could also lead to death, then why were they created? Some religious folks may not want such discussed, but just imagine a little child posing this question to you? It's really not a matter of questioning the Creator, but getting to understand why some things are the way they are. 

Shying away from the truth keeps us in a place of doubt and ignorance and I doubt if God created us to be undeserving of the truth. After all, He says "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free". But what is the truth about mosquitoes? Here's what I think. 

First off, God, after creating the birds of the air, the fish in the sea, creatures and all creeping things, including creepy crawly, said they were all good. So everything created has its purpose. As for insects, we are told that they pollinate plants and are responsible for the fruits and food we eat. Our friend, the mosquito (if the Police is our friend, why can't mosquitoes be?) falls under this category, so they are not only disease carrying insects. 

Secondly, someone once told me that we are custodians of the earth. God created man and gave him dominion over everything He made. So the deterioration we see is as a result of our action and inaction, including the prevalence of malaria. Just ponder a little more on this. Before you begin to think of how to #EndMalaria, let's start from here. How clean is your environment? How neat is your drainage? I made a short video clip in commemoration of #EarthDay2019 which depicts how people really don't care about the environment. The drainage which is constructed to DRAIN water from our roads and streets when it rains are used as refuse dumps. The areas that are clean become storage for water after it  rains. Other areas have sand resting in them. 

In this part of the world, we have Community Development Chairmen. We also have Local Government Chairmen who are meant to cater for things at the nonexistent Local Government Council. The council exists, but no governance. As for the Community Development Committee, the community and Chairmen exist, but no development whatsoever. How we know they function is in the collection of levies for electricity and security in some areas. Yet, power supply is abysmal, while communities are rife with insecurity. So, the real question is not why were mosquitoes created? The real question is why were these custodians put in place? Why do we always make excuses for our failures and look for whom to blame? Why blame mosquitoes for the spread of malaria? 

Finally, taking care of the disease which claims the life of one child every two minutes, according to the World Health Organization, starts with you. I came across a report that vaccines are being tested in several countries in Africa. Unfortunately, Nigeria is not one of them. Leave vaccines for now and tell yourself this: #ZeroMalariaStartsWithMe!