By Chiedu Uche Okoye
Sir: The Bubonic fever and Spanish flu caused the deaths of millions of people of the world at different times. Between the time the last pandemic occurred and now, diseases like HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis have claimed millions of human lives, globally. These diseases still have high mortality rate despite the fact that humans have pushed back the frontiers of epidemiology and medical science.
Sadly, late last year, China was caught unawares by the outbreak of the corona virus disease in its Wuhan province. It killed thousands. But the Chinese political leadership rose up to the occasion and executed measures aimed at stemming the tide of the spread of the deadly disease.
While China witnessed the abatement of the disease, it spread to countries like Iran, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Great Britain where it caused deaths of thousands of people. Even America has not been spared the morbid and deathly bite of COVID-19. It struck in the densely populated area of New York and mowed down thousands of people. America with its technological know-how was caught napping.
Not a few countries executed measures such as lockdown of their countries, physical distancing, and maintenance of personal hygiene to thwart and impede the onslaught of the disease. But, then, the lock-down of Nigeria hasn’t stopped the spread of the disease. Our people’s non-adherence to WHO’s guidelines on how to avoid contracting the disease is one of the reasons behind the rapid spread of the disease in Nigeria. And the myths woven around it have strengthened some people’s belief that the COVID-19 is non-existent. But the stark fact is that the lockdown of the country, inflicted immense economic hardship on many people as millions of Nigerians whose businesses were stopped depend on their daily earnings to survive.
Again, the desultory sharing of palliatives to people caught in the maelstrom of the lockdown failed to address holistically and comprehensively the fallout of the lock-down, which is starvation. So, angry and hungry people would defy the lockdown order to engage in their private endeavors. This had resulted in people’s clashes with security operatives, which caused the deaths of people.
The COVID-19 health issue has brought to the fore the issue of our neglected health-care delivery system, which needs urgent revamping and rehabilitation. So, if we continue to neglect our health-care delivery system, it will be at our own peril. Our leaders should up their ante in this fight to exterminate COVID-19 in the country as it has the potential and capability to decimate our huge population. We are not unconscious of the fact that Nigeria’s huge population is an incentive and fillip to her developmental initiatives. Human labour, especially skilled labor, is critical to the development of a country.
Nigeria should key into global efforts to stamp out the COVID-19 monster in our country.
- Chiedu Uche Okoye,
Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State.
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