BY CHIMA NWAFO
Right now, more than 1.5 billion people around the globe is on lockdown, ordered to stay at home, as the world enters a critical stage in responding to the accelerating coronavirus pandemic which rate of infection and death toll grows by the day. But, Italy and Spain were the worst hit. An Italian the medical officer said it’s a disaster; his female colleague describes it a tsunami. The media team said the visit to Lombardy, Italy, was a difficult assignment. But China from where it began seems to have won the fight, even if some doubt their figures. The shipment of test kits donated by billionaire businessman, Jack Ma, to African countries, including Nigeria, strengthens their claim.
In the United States, the Senate on Wednesday, March 25 unanimously backed President Donald Trump’s $2 trillion bills aimed at helping unemployed Americans and industries hurt by COVID-19 pandemic, as well as providing billions of dollars to buy urgently needed medical equipment. Unfortunately, by Friday, the death toll in the US has exceeded Italy and China.
In the United Kingdom, a lot of thoughtful and humane measures had been taken since January by the responsive Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Several meetings followed by daily/weekly media briefings were held, before a total lockdown was announced on March 24th. Latest on the table is a multi-billion-pound package to protect the 5 million self-employed workers in the UK. From Sky News, of Thursday 26th:
“Rishi Sunak (Chancellor of the Exchequer) will announce an emergency package for the self-employed at Boris Johnson’s daily Downing Street news conference today; promising help for groups such as builders, taxi drivers, hairdressers and child-minders. However, the monthly cap for such workers is likely to be lower than the 2,500 pounds promised to staff employees because many self-employed pay less tax.”
China, has reported fewer and fewer confirmed cases in the past three weeks, culminating in a statement that “Wuhan had seen zero new local cases for four days in a row, from March 18 to 21. Elsewhere in China, 46 new cases were reported on March 22, all but one attributed to travellers arriving from abroad.” However, by Tuesday, March 24, Associated Press reported that in China’s Hubei province, where the outbreak started late December, Chinese authorities are lifting the months-old lockdown. But one international affairs pundit asks: Can we trust those numbers? In Africa, China is above board. No sensible beneficiary queries the actions and intentions of the benefactor.
On March 26, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed additional figures, bringing the total to 51 cases and by Friday it has jumped to 65, with only one fatality. Lagos still tops the list with 44. However, the Federal Government and state governors (some of who are on isolation) did not disappoint in their response to the pandemic global threat. “Follow follow” panic measures were dished out by sinecure federal and state executives without a thought on the impact of their measures on the millions of poverty-stricken and unemployed Nigerians across the nation most of who survive on daily takes. We hear some palliative measures are being considered by the Federal Government even as millions of donations are being announced, Nigerian billionaires. However, despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s commendation, a school of thought insists Nigerian billionaires should follow Jack Ma’s example and provide specific medical equipment, technical materials and kits all of which are lacking, rather than pledging billions of naira which may or may not is retired, given that in Naija anything can happen. Much as the 20, 000 Test Kits from China is appreciated, Health minister said that more of such is required.
In Nigeria, it appears the government is on lockdown already. As a colleague quipped, “they were not doing much in the first place.”
“Suspension of the weekly FEC meetings until further notice; postponement of the meeting of the Council of State scheduled for Thursday 26th March 2020; all land borders that have been hitherto under partial closure shall now be closed for human traffic for four weeks; effective 23rd March 2020.” These are measures approved by President Buhari and announced by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, who doubles as chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 Pandemic, on Monday, March 23. Some aver that former Lagos State governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, is eminently qualified to head a task force on COVID-19 given his efficient and effective management of the Ebola crisis.
Besides suspension of the FEC and Thursday’s meeting of the Council of State, the Nigerian Senate had also gone on a two-week break, leaving the lower chamber as the only arm currently functioning, as the National Judicial Council (NJC) has ordered closure of courts. Earlier, churches and mosques and other public gatherings have been commanded to shut or restrict gathering to 50; but, in Lagos, Governor Babatunde Sanwo-Olu reduced the number down to 20, with a pledge to enforce compliance.
Tuesday, March 24, he announced a partial lockdown, with effect from Thursday 26th, that will see markets and shops shut with the exception of food and medicine sellers. People are ordered to stay at home without any regard for private-sector workers and those on essential duty. But, the Central Bank issued a statement Thursday that commercial banks should remain open. Members of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were seen enforcing the order. Yet, it was not until Wednesday, March 25 that some staff of the Lagos State Ministry of Environment was spotted at Surulere disinfecting some areas, which an official described as “proactive.”
Earlier, Kaduna Governor Mallam Nasir el-Rufai had ordered the closure of markets, except those selling food and medicine. Other governors are taking similar panic steps. But interestingly, the rate of compliance with the lockdown order in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, is reportedly low. A resident interviewed by Channels TV boldly stated: “I’m a poor man. I cannot afford to stay at home because there will be nothing to eat if I don’t go out.” Another lady from Niger State where an 8 am to 6 pm curfew was imposed agreed with other interviewees that the curfew cannot work, adding: “Except they want us to die of hunger before the coronavirus infection.” Perhaps, someone should tell state governors who mechanically issue lockdown orders to think before they act. Their fear, however, is understandable: COVID-19 seems to aim at the upper class. After all, some governors and presidency staff have tested positive. Therefore, no government official cares how the petty traders and artisans who depend on daily earnings will survive a two-week or one-month lockdown. Governors and their civil servants are fed and maintained at public expense. So, they can afford to stay indoors for as long as they wish. But do they bother to read the humane actions of Western nations? The UK provided for the lowest cadre of citizens irrespective of party membership. Denmark offered to pay 70 per cent of private-sector workers’ salaries.
Dishing out others to close schools and tertiary institutions are so easy. But no one thinks about a creative solution or negative after-effect of the measures. In the West, children and tertiary students are not abandoned to sit idly at home without electricity and online learning facilities. Social-distancing is ordered and people are expected to comply in their own interest. But returnees from the danger zones are left to self-isolate, just as tracking contacts are left for individuals.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has raised the alarm over influx of people from countries with high cases of coronavirus, saying they are the biggest source of transmission. “Our biggest source of risk is in travellers returning from high-risk countries and are expected to self-isolate for 14 days. Our appeal to #Nigerians is to #TakeResponsibility & prevent further transmission of the virus. Collective action is critical to control spread,” stated in an official NCDC twitter handle.
The Vanguard Newspaper report also recalled that the Lagos State Director of Epidemiology, Biosecurity and Global Health, Dr Ismail Abdul-Salam recently disclosed that on a daily basis, not less than 38,000 people come into the country through the ports; and that 730 of the number are from coronavirus high-risk countries. Notwithstanding, Health Minister Ehanire, in Thursday’s media briefing, was referring to an article in a newspaper commending Nigeria for taking preventive measures, unlike the United States. No doubt such an article could only be written by a Ministry of Information staff or their numerous paid-pipers. As a matter of fact, what measures did Nigeria or any other black nation with zero or very low fatality and infection rate do that UK and West European countries did not do? Besides, they have an educated, patriotic, economically empowered and compliant population. Ehanire is definitely undermining the place of the Almighty God in the inexplicable nature and killing pattern of COVID-19.
Before announcing a lockdown on Monday, after several top-level deliberations and regular media briefings, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had named a senior minister to take charge of the country, in case he is diagnosed with COVID-19. Sky News reported that “Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will step up in the event.” That is a selfless leader whose every act is driven by patriotism and not sectional interest and personal aggrandisement. In Nigeria, any such suggestion of a replacement at a time of emergency would be termed hate speech and a death wish, with dire consequences.
Nevertheless, Nigerians in the oil-producing areas are still threatened by deadly gas flares, soot and pollution from oil exploration and production activities in the Niger Delta. While this cannot spread like a virus, it has a longer-lasting deadly effect on both people and the environment. Yet, neither the federal nor state governments have risen to the health and economic challenges environmental pollution as we see in the last few weeks of the pandemic.
*Nwafo, Consulting Editor, News Express/Environmental Analyst, can be reached on: [email protected]; +2348029334754.
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