Emmanuel Oladesu
Are the gains of the temporary lockdown likely to be wiped out by the lifting of restrictions on movements?
According to commentators, it is debatable. The debate has polarised Nigeria into protagonists and antagonists of the lockdown, which was triggered by the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic.
The Federal Government was in a dilemma. Even, during the lockdown, the cases were increasing. It appeared the lockdown was lifted reluctantly by President Muhammadu Buhari. The lifting could not be attributed to deficiency in courage, but to pressures on government by starving Nigerians who maintained that hunger virus was as dangerous as Coronavirus.
The Federal Government may have also acceded to the agitation against lockdown extension because it could not contemplate a second phase of palliative distribution, following the failure of the first phase, which floundered as from day one.
Lagos, in bowing to the public pressure, was ambivalent. Caution was the watchword. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was realistic. He directed civil servants to still stay away from work, except those on essential services. The Incident Commander also passionately appealed to Lagosians to maintain an uncanny fidelity to safety measures, bearing in mind that prevention is always better than cure.
Well informed people, medical experts, government officials, and other segments of the elite have access to a pool of information which suggested that the hasty lifting of lockdown was dangerous. They feared the tragedy of monumental proportion that befell Ghana, Hong Kong and Germany after relaxing restriction orders in the wake of the pandemic.
In fact, some historians also delved into the achieves, emerging with the gory tales of the Spanish nation, which hastily lifted the lockdown triggered by the strange flu in 1918, only to lose millions of citizens to avoidable deaths.
But, all the explanations and entreaties by the protagonists of partial movement ban fell on the deaf ears of the antagonists, who insisted that the lockdown deprived the poor and indigent residents of meagre opportunities to earn a living and meet their subsistent needs.
Perhaps, there is the third group, which craves for a delicate neutrality. Their assumption is that lockdown or lifting of lockdown may not necessarily draw the curtains on national emergency imposed by the pestilence. Therefore, in their view, only a predictable and durable cure, and the timely invention of a preventive vaccine can reduce the fatality and stem the general apprehension. The starting point, they also argue, is to look inward by threading the neglected path of alternative medicine.
Some quacks have invaded the social media, urging patients to consider the use of herbs. But, they cleverly avoided the measures in their half-hearted, dubious prescriptions. Orthodox and unorthodox medical practitioners want government to consult or patronise them. But, the health minister dismissed their claims as untenable. There is no sure remedy in sight for now, which means that Nigeria would risk more cases which would make another lockdown more compelling.
But, how was the lockdown, which failed in Nigeria, sustained in saner climes? What factors aided its enforcement in advanced societies?
The difference between developed countries, which successfuly mobilised citizens to support the restrictions, and Nigeria, which incurred the wrath of citizens for imposing the same measures, is clear. While Europe and America can conveniently cater for their nationals and residents in a period of distress, Nigeria, a permanently disarticulated, curiously poor, mismanaged and battered society, lacks the capacity, initiative, methodology and antecedents of a caring national government.
However, it is not the government that will bear the greater risk of lockdown relaxation in the face of gross violations of its accompanying rules. The message may have been indirectly passed by government. Self-preservation is the key to survival, as candidly enjoined by the Minister of State for Health during the week.
Self-preservation is an individual decision. The corollary is personal responsibility. Yet, it is a betrayal of sociology. Nobody is an island in a world of inter-dependence. Self-preservation may fall within the framework of idealistic yearnings. It is weak in group dynamics. When the group is endangered, individuals may not be safe. But, people are only urged to pull the break in wider social interactions for a brief period to keep safe.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control NCDC) may be bracing for startling statistics about community transmission from this week, both in the North and South, due to the easing of lockdown and disobedience to curfew and ban on inter-state movements.
In the North, response to the danger is full of drama. The unity of the so-called monolith North was promptly destroyed as state governments were exchanging almajirins. The region is paying dearly for its disdain for birth controls and poor child upbringing. Fear gripped the governors and religio-cultural ties were not considered. There is indisposition to regional cooperation on Covid-19 matters.
Besides, inter-state movement has proved abortive in the North because secutity agents mounting state borders sold out. In some states, suspected virus carriers ‘jumped isolation’ and forcefully reintegrated themselves into the communities. The disaster is better imagined.
Also,the region continues to record massive crowds at burial ceremonies. In Kano, the confusion was aggravated by the decision to ease lockdown by a state government that was simultaneously crying for help from every quarter.
In Gombe, those in isolation protested and trooped out of their isolation centres to complain that they were not fed.
To the surprise of members of the House of Representatives, the Deputy Speaker disclosed that a particular federal legislator had contact with a patient, who he drove to the hospital. The disclosure caused a stir. The saving grace was that the unnamed lawmaker did not turn up for the plenary this week.
The North, according to observers, may have been drawn back by a combination of population explosion, soaring poverty and literacy level, which had rendered the enlightenment and information dissemination largely ineffective. During the week, emirs were drafted into the mainstream of the sensitisation programme.
But, what about the South, which tends to have a comparatively higher literacy level?
Lagosians, and residents of Ogun and Abuja, which were initially the epic centres, trooped out on Monday to enjoy a new found freedom guaranteed by the lifting of the ban. It was as if they were put in a cage for four weeks.
There was no sober reflection. People were even congratulating one another for a sort of liberation from an inexplicable house arrest.
The mad rush on the streets, the surging crowd at motor parts, the sea of heads at markets, and other public places underscored the previous frustrations and desperation to make up for the lost time and opportunities during the previous lockdown.
Around 5.30 am, there was a terrible traffic snarl on the Lagos Third Mainland. The city-state woke up from what was misinterpreted as induced slumber. Markets were like carnival-like political campaign grounds. Many were stranded at bus stops. Many trekked long distances. Hawkers invaded the highways.
A lot of residents put on their masks as recommended by the NCDC. But, many more were indifferent. They violated the rules of social distancing in public places, apparently daring the likely consequence. Or was it out of ignorance or the peculiar regression to lackadaisical behaviours?
Curiously, many people who also moved about without nose masks are educated. In crowded danfo and other commercial vehicles, passengers were still lapping themselves.
Banks across the city of Lagos were jam packed. Customers were rushing to go inside for transactions. The long queues at the ATM machines were confounding.
As customers struggled to enter banks, social distancing collapsed. According to reports, in some banks, which tried to enforce the use of masks, people started lending their masks to their friends and fellow customers.
Unscrupulous elements who are not on essential duties still indulged in night crawling, thereby violating the curfew imposed by government to prevent intra and inter-state movement from 8pm.
The federal ministry of health, NCDC and presidential task force on Covid-19 are assessing the situation. If the cases continue to rise in geometric proportions, can a national lockdown be foreclosed?
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