COVID-19: Bello And Audacity To Be Different
BY SIMON REEF MUSA
The apprehension over Coronavirus to unleash unprecedented devastation and foist a fear-provoking future has made the pandemic the most dreaded infection of our times. Not only are economies of the world crumbling, health systems of countries are taking a dive down the valley of fear. With no fewer than 333, 000 killed globally by the unseen enemy, the world is walking on a tight rope.
Not only are nations in disagreement over what best option to adopt to rein in the health devastation caused by the infection, the hope of finding a cure is growing narrower by the day as the light gets dimmer at the end of the tunnel. Amidst the fright and fretfulness over epidemic, the world has been reduced into an object of fright over an invisible enemy that has caught the world unprepared.
If we thought that COVID-19 would just fizzle away like Ebola, the recent disclosure by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that humans should learn to live with the infection indicates that the cure for the epidemic may take a long time to come. Long before WHO came out with its frightening disclosure, the United States of America had alleged the global health body was in bed with China over the virus said to have originated from Wuhan in China. Presently, the prospects of continued operations by WHO has come under threat as President Donald Trump recently threatened to withdraw USA’s $400 million contribution to the organisation over alleged conspiracy by the organisation and China over full disclosure on the pandemic.
In Africa, owing to deplorable health systems made worse by endemic corruption, the battle against the plague has taken a worrisome dimension. From available statistics, no fewer than 3,000 people from Africa have been killed. In Nigeria, the combat against the infection has been fraught with unending controversies and bourgeoning polemics over what best option to adopt.
Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, had earlier assured citizens of the country’s preparedness to deal with the virus. However, when the virus finally berthed at our shoes, confusion reigned supreme as it became glaring that government had been caught napping. Over three months since the first index case was diagnosed, testing centres for COVID-19 in the country is still dismally low. Wealthy Nigerians have called upon to donate buildings to be converted into isolation centres, among others.
The setting up of a Presidential Task Force (PTF) by the Federal Government to monitor and coordinate responses to the pandemic has revealed disturbing level of laxity. With doubtable statistics to back up earlier spread of the infection as claimed by the NCDC, states soon commenced the building of isolation centres as prologue to demand funding from the Federal Government. With the passing of each week, it became too obvious that states were in competition in setting up isolation centres even when they had no any index case.
Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi, amidst pressure to join the league of COVID-19 states, refused to join the other states. When the NCDC officials expressed their intention to come to Lokoja, the governor made the 14-day quarantine period mandatory and that ended the game. After insisting that the anxiety over the virus is politically motivated, Governor Bello distanced himself from participating in the spending spree associated with COVID-19, emphasizing that Kogi would never succumb to a conspiracy over something that does not exist.
It is to the credit of Bello that Kogi has remained an island of no-COVID-19 patients amidst a vast ocean of other states’ citizens said to be suffering from the dreaded pandemic. With Cross River state, Kogi is insulated from the corruption and politics of an epidemic spreading fears across the country. Like Nicaragua that has one of the lowest Coronavirus rates in the world, citizens of Kogi and Cross Rivers are free from the dread of a conspiracy of an infection. If Bello’s Kogi had joined the others in welcoming the infection, nearly a thousand Kogites would have been diagnosed of COVID-19.
Tanzanian President John Bombe Magufuli sees the infection as a clear case of international conspiracy to heighten tension and divert attention to the urgent task of development. Like Trump, the Tanzanian President says there are more questions than answers over the veracity or otherwise of a virus that has left the world largely uncertain on its nature and management.
For an illness that does not have a cure, the use of malaria drugs for treatment suggest that there is more to it than meets the eye. The Chairman of Daar Communication and owners of the African Independent Television (AIT), High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, who tested positive for the infection, disclosed he was treated with malaria drugs. So, why is NCDC not concentrating on the cure, but rather taking pleasure in hyping the deadly spread of the infection and providing frightening rates of the virus on a daily basis?
Some state governors may be genuinely involved in the fight against COVID-19, but most of them are in the race to access cheap funds. The release of N10 billion to Lagos state to fight the virus provided an eye opener for other states that were already financially stressed due to waning revenue occasioned by falling prices of crude oil in the international market.
The morbid fear over the epidemic provides an opportunity for corrupt elements in government to game the system. So much have been done under the table regarding the management of the infection. The humungous rot that has trailed the management of the pandemic remains a blot in a government that has vowed to deal with corruption.
In a fight where health workers should take the lead, politicians are taking advantage to milk the nation dry. Having recorded over 320 new cases on Thursday May 21, 2020, the sight to ending this circus show of falsehood may not end soon. The panic over the virus that is far less terrible that hunger will continue for a long time in order to allow states access free money on the claim of fighting the virus. In a time when fear and apprehension has seized both state and national leadership over the assumed devastating threat of the pandemic, the irrevocable example of Governor Bello remains a glowing.
It may be undeniable that COVID-19 exists, but the concentration by NCDC to harp on statistics of the virus spread only pushes the country into a frenzy and panic mode. This is why corrupt elements in Nigeria have taken advantage of the global fight against an epidemic into a sleaze that had led to the frittering of hundreds of billions of naira in the name of curbing the global health challenge.
The fight against the epidemic in our country is becoming a huge drain and now a bottomless pit for siphoning public funds. The time is ticking for those who have taken advantage of the infection to line their pockets and impoverish Nigerians. With some states still under lockdown, food insecurity stares us in the face as farmers are now under lockdown and may not provide for the nation’s food needs.
More than the current dread over COVID-19, we need political leaders who are capable of resisting attempts at making economic capital out of our collective tragedy. Governor Bello has demonstrated the audacity to be different over the current infection. That we are yet to see people falling on the streets of Kogi over the virus indicates that patriotic leadership is all that is needed in stopping crippling fear over a pandemic that has been politicised.
