Dayo Sobowale
WHEN US President Donald Trump this week suggested that he could be described as a ‘war president’ given the gravity of the Coronavirus which has locked down both the global economy as well as that of the US, nobody for once doubted that he was telling the truth. In Iran it was reported that an Iranian was dying every 10 minutes from the coronavirus while in New York Governor Cuomo was warning passionately that Misinformation and Panic on the virus are as dangerous as the virus itself. In Nigeria the South West Governors took the lead in closing schools and religious worship and banning gathering of over 50 people and that gave Nigerians a lot of hope that we are not sitting on a keg of gun powder in terms of complacency and benign neglect of a pandemic that has literally brought the world to its knees in terms of the speed of its impact on global trade, communications and sheer human survival.
These events then provide a prism to look at the viral ravages of this deadly virus as it spirals around the world and creates fear and panic at the speed of light in a world we once proudly called a global village . This was then because of the fast spread of useful information and knowledge arising from the advent of the internet and information technology . However the misinformation and panic that have accompanied the dissemination of news and spread of the virus globally in recent days, show clearly that too much information can be as deadly as too little, and that in terms of quality of information with our present level of technology, not all that glitters is gold. Simply put, Fake news and misinformation have made it very difficult for the global authorities to know how to contain the coronavirus and its spread. Which is a terrifying tragedy indeed for the entire world.
Let us now look at the topic of today to illustrate how the world has been brought to its knees and can be described as being at war .We shall look at the reality of evolving situations as well as their back ground and antecedents and reach our conclusions there from. We shall use the US President and the British PM to illustrate the irony of the war situation . With Nigeria we shall see how the exposure of governors that were once derided as’ foreign imports ‘to our politics have helped in grasping the enormity of the health crisis locally in Nigeria . In the EU we shall examine how closed borders arising from the virus is swiftly eroding the empire building goal of the EU just as the Justinian plague ages ago destroyed the Ancient Roman Empire and brought in the Dark Ages in Europe .
On a lighter note , if that is possible with this killer virus, if someone had told the US President that he will be called a war president he would have thought that the war would be with Iran, China, or Russia, nations with which the US is contending to lead the world .Now Donald Trump is invoking war acts to protect his people and the economy, the apple of his political eye for reelection and the prospects are not that lively and that is making the usually boisterous deal maker quite tired and looking morose nowadays. In the same manner UK PM Boris Johnson was reported as wanting to be seen as a war Minister in the mould of Winston Churchill, Britain’s legendary leader in WW2, with regard to Brexit . Now Johnson has won his Brexit but faces and unexpected war in the Coronavirus and it s not difficult from his countenance and speeches on the virus that this is not the type of war Prime Minister he wanted to be. Unfortunately unlike one of his predecessors he cannot invent weapons of mass destruction in a foreign land with an American president because both of them are in the same boat nowadays , fighting for their political survival in the way they fight a virus rather than the much expected military foe.
Without mentioning names or even states, many Nigerians are relieved by the speed with which the SW governors have moved positively to contain the virus in our environment. I commend them for their proactivity, foresight and care. Of course some have called them American and foreign products at the advent of primaries that eventually put them in power. With their foreign exposure and experience however, they have read the handwriting on the wall in the way the virus is making the governments of the west and the US prostrate, and have not allowed procrastination to be the thief of time in moving against the virus here at home. They have overnight to me metamorphosed from foreign products to good Nigerian leaders and again I commend them and wish them and all of us luck in grinding this virus to a speedy end for good, and in good time.
Let us now use a mix of modernity and history to illustrate further the effect of this coronavirus on the world. I read of the Justinian Plague during the reign of Roman Emperor Justinian who united the Western Roman Empire with East whose capital was Constantinople. The plague historically killed half the population of Constantinople, now Istanbul, and weakened the army and people of the Empire such that they were overrun and defeated by smaller but stronger armies and that led to the collapse of the Roman Empire and ushered in the Dark Ages. Compare that with the openborders and free movement of people in the EU which was a thorny point in the Brexit Deal or No Deal talks. Now look at the borders being erected by EU member nations against one another to prevent cross border spread of coronavirus and you cannot but see that unless the virus is contained speedily the EU will disintegrate just like the Byzantine or Roman Empire on which it was modeled ; several centuries ago .
Lastly one can see that it is possible for some good to come out of the coronavirus even from the hostile , rancorous and partisan US politics . This was revealed in the way that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo spoke in glowing terms of how President Trump is prepared to offer Federal help to the city and state of New York . Cuomo said Trump was ready and sincere and has a good and competent team in place to help New York tackle the virus . He cautioned against panic and fake news on the virus but he never doubted the sincerity of the US president to help. Both Trump and Cuomo are strange bedfellows on the unity they have brought out to fight a common enemy which is the virus because Cuomo is a Democrat and Trump is Republican who just survived Impeachment by the Democrats. Indeed Trump recently fled New York to live elsewhere because of the hostile Democrats administration of both the Mayor and Governor of New York. Obviously the fear of Coronavirus is the beginning of wisdom in tackling the common foe that this virus has become not only in New York but indeed our entire world. Once again long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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