By Chiedu Uche Okoye
SIR: Humanity had, in times past, battled fierce global health scourges, which threatened to wipe human beings off the face of the earth. We read about the influenza and Spanish flu, which decimated the populations of countries in the past. Other pestilences, which caused unquantifiable fatalities in our world, are still in living memories.
However, with the passage of time, and with mankind’s pushing back the frontiers of knowledge of medical science, nobody thought about the likelihood of the emergence of a deadly disease, which would afflict humans and defy cures as the Covid-19 is doing now.
It is sad and incredible that this disease, the symptoms of which include persistent coughing and high fever, has no known cure till now.
Since the outbreak of the disease in Wuhan province in China in December 2019, it has spread to countries like Italy, Spain, France, and the United State of America, causing deaths of people.
More so, it had caused deaths of thousands of Chinese people in China before the scourge abated there. Recently, it’s reported that the disease caused the deaths of over seven hundred people in Italy in a day. It has caused a great number of fatalities in Iran, Spain, and America, too.
When Nigerians thought that the Covid-19 pandemic was a fairy tale told by unemployed gossipers and busy-bodies, an Italian business man brought the disease into the shores of Nigeria. Now, not a few Nigerians have contracted the disease. In fact, some members of the ruling political elite and other well-heeled Nigerians have since contracted the disease owing to their travels in America and Europe, which have become the epicenters of the disease.
The spread of the Covid-19 in states across Nigeria has caused the lockdown of states like Lagos, Kaduna, Rivers, Enugu, and Anambra. And, many states in the country are gearing up to prohibit inter-state travels and close their markets.
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The aforementioned measures are commendable, well-thought out, and judicious. We are not unaware that Italy is being severely hit by the disease for failing to lock down early.
But, in the absence of economic stimulus and welfare packages for the suffering masses, the complete lockdown of Nigeria will exacerbate our people’s poverty, cause hunger among us, and aggravate our fragile security situation.
Here, some people eke out their livings or livelihoods by working daily as bus conductors, commercial bus drivers, laborers, and artisans. And there are people who hawk sachets of water, biscuits and gala in markets and streets to make both ends meet. So, won’t these people at the lowest rung of the economic ladder starve to death if the lockdown is prolonged or extended to an indefinite long period?
A responsive and responsible government prioritizes the overall well-being of the citizens above other consideration. Governments exist, we are told, to guarantee the safety of life and property and assist the citizens to live meaningful lives. But here, the insensitivity of our governments at different levels to our plight is obvious.
Instead of building modern hospitals and equipping them with modern medical equipment, our leaders divert public money into their private accounts.
So as the Covid-19 pandemic continues its deathly march through the continents, our government should see the need to build good hospitals and equip them with modern equipment, improve the welfare conditions of medical personnel, and approve periodic refresher courses and trainings for them.
The Covid-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of our having a robust and prosperous economy, which is not dependent on crude oil sale to survive. If Nigeria were an economically prosperous country, our leaders could dish out economic stimulus, welfare package and other financial handouts to millions of poor people, who are caught in the web and quagmire of the national lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Chiedu Uche Okoye, Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State.
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