By Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku
SIR: Among the states that Nigerians adjudged to have proactively managed the Covid-19 after it hit Nigeria in March 2020 was Edo. One of the first things the state government did was embark on a massive enlightenment campaign on guidelines for safety. The message Obaseki successfully sent to Edo people that resonated with that that the UK and US governments, and indeed most Western countries, sent out was: stay home, observe social distance and wash your hands with soap and running water. Obaseki also carried out a near day-by-day update on the Covid-19 situation in the state. And at a time when there were issues related to the shortage of testing of testing kits, and personal protective equipment, PPE, Obaseki struck a deal with the Chinese for the provision of screening and test kits and PPE for health personnel.
He did not stop there. He went ahead, and at a speed considered insane by even the staunchest of critics renovated the Stella Obasanjo Hospital as a model screening and testing centre. And again, at a time when contemporary administrations were pussyfooting on testing and screening, Obaseki had several boots on ground, and carried out several screenings and tests. The question at that time in Edo was not in the availability of screening and testing kits, but with the people, most of whom were anxious to come forward to be screened and tested.
But things took a curious turn before and after September 19, 2020 governorship elections in Edo State. In the shenanigans revolving around his many battles for political survival, Obaseki seemed to have abandoned, or better still jettisoned his stay at home-wash your hands-maintain-social-distance mantra to Edo people and residents. While churches, schools, markets, and businesses were supposed to have remained shut, political activities revved full throttle. People gathered together at political campaign avenues and venues of both political divides. There was no social distancing and most people did not don face masks. It is impossible to arrive at a conjecture at what could have happened if Edo people had actually responded to the stay at home mantra and did not get involved with, in the political processes leading to his re-election as governor. But in participating in the processes of the Edo governorship election on September 19, 2020, everything the governor, the Covid-19 managers across Nigeria told Nigerians within the ‘first wave’ of the pandemic ran counter to the Covid 19 mantra.
What bewilders most Edo residents today is that with the ‘second wave’ of the Covid-19, and with news that it has a deadlier strain than that of the ‘first wave’, the man responsible for doing the utmost to safeguard his people from the Covid-19 is the same man asking the federal government to give him money to organise a sports festival in Edo State. With the recent news that the second wave would be more deadly than the first, Obaseki has flooded the streets of Benin City with information and enlightenment posters like the ‘Coro neva go’, campaign. He has tasked Edo people to practice social distancing and has been arresting those flouting laws on face masks.
In the light of the above, most Edo people say that Obaseki seems to be making a mockery of the Covid-19 safety rules and guidelines for the sake of political expediency. In one breathe, you have a government seemingly putting all the structures in place to protect the lives and property of her citizens against Covid-19. In the other however, you have him seemingly playing Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with the fortunes of Edo people with this huge interest in bringing in over 20,000 sports men and women in the name of a sports festival – and during a precarious epoch. He seems to cherry pick and choose which of the Covid-19 safety rules to follow.
We believe that Godwin Obaseki has done well with initial narrative on how to stay safe and avoid spreading or contracting the Covid-19, especially at this ‘second wave’. But making whatever preparations to organise a sports festival at this critical period of a ‘second wave’ of the Covid-19 is a bit awkward. A sports festival is a big crowd of persons – like a church, school, or market. While schools, churches and markets close and the participants go home, this proposed sports festival will have activities taking place daily, and stretching the capacity of resources available to manage the already difficult ‘second wave’ of the Covid-19 in Nigeria if accidents happen with the management of the protocols.
- Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku,
Benin-City.
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