The Nation Newspaper

Category: Wednesday

  • Online learning at Elizade University

    Online learning at Elizade University

     Niyi Akinnaso

    As the novelist William Gibson once said, “The future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed.” The same can be said of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, typified by new ways in which the technologies and infrastructure of the Third Industrial Revolution are becoming embedded within societies and various sectors of social life.

    One of the major offshoots of the Third and Fourth Industrial Revolutions is the evolution of robust online platforms, better known as Learning Management Systems, which allow for the digitalization of knowledge and its simultaneous transmission via text, voice, and video over space and time.

    However, as Gibson once mused about the future, while it is no longer hype to tout the digitalization of knowledge made possible by online platforms, it remains an elusive goal for many universities in Africa, Nigeria inclusive.

    That is, however, not the case for Elizade University in Ilara-Mokin, Ondo state, where all courses offered by the university went fully online, following the shutdown of primary, secondary, and higher education by the Federal Government as part of the measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    True, the Federal Ministry of Education would like all Nigerian universities to offer their courses online during the period of the shutdown, only a few, mostly private, universities have been able to do so. Besides EU, others include Covenant University, Ota; Bowen University, Iwo; American University of Nigeria, Yola; and Nile University, Abuja.

    Long before the advent of COVID-19, each of these institutions has integrated one online learning system or the other into its teaching and learning practices. For example, Covenant has been using the Moodle system for quite some time, while EU has long been using iLearn to upload course outlines and lectures, which students can access from anywhere at anytime. It was, therefore, easy for these institutions to augment the relevant system in order to put all its courses online.

    At EU, a combination of iLearn and Google Suite for Education was deployed. In particular, Google Meet supports virtual classrooms and meetings, enabling teaching, learning, and working from anywhere with video capabilities. Each faculty, staff, and student of Elizade University has an e-mail account mapped with the University account, and these accounts have been designed for every faculty and student to initiate and participate in the on-line classes.

    This platform allows faculty to set up their classes and invite the students via e-mail which is sent to the students to ‘meet’ the lecturer for the class online. This is accompanied by video access, giving room for the lecturer and the students to see and interact. However, the student can choose to pause the video and make do with the audio only.

    EU’s online success is made possible by the robust IP Network backbone, a modern Tier 3 Data Center, an STM1 MPLS backhaul Broadband internet pipe, and 24/7 power supply in which the University’s Founder, Chief Michael Ade.Ojo, OON, had invested from the beginning and which he continues to augment as recommended by the University’s ICT team. The present system allows for the seamless delivery of online teaching  and learning.

    This is not to say that all has been well with EU’s online learning nor has the university been able to optimize cutting-edge resources for the purpose.  For example, some students have found it difficult to log in all of the time due largely to one or more of the mitigating factors discussed below. Nevertheless, with the culture of online learning being developed in the university, a good template has been set for transiting into a robust system, such as Blackboard or edX. Fortunately, the university is already exploring the possibility of transiting to Blackboard.

    The beauty and versatility of Blackboard is demonstrated by the Blackboard App, available on IOS and Android mobile devices. It is designed especially for students to view content and participate in courses,  via text, voice, and video simultaneously, even without the hassle of a computer or tablet and the attendant power supply problem. As a result, students can learn from anywhere, without having to carry along a bulky computer or tablet.

    Without a doubt, it has not been smooth for online learning in Nigeria, because there are far too many mitigating factors: How robust is the university’s ICT infrastructure? Does it have a top-end Learning Management System? Do the students own computers or tablets? Have faculty and students been properly trained on how to use and navigate the system? How adequate and regular is power supply? How robust and steady is Internet connectivity? What is the situation with the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities-are they on strike or at work?

    It is not clear how many of these questions were raised and thoroughly answered before the Federal Ministry Education mandated the universities to offer their courses online during the COVID-19 shutdown. It is equally unclear why the Vice-Chancellors agreed to comply, knowing full well the numerous mitigating factors, some of which the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Idowu Olayinka, recently communicated to the university community.

    To be sure, school closure is needed to contain the spread of COVID-19. It is equally pedagogically agreed that students tend to forget 30-70 percent of what they learned, if there is no opportunity for reinforcement for a long period of time. Nevertheless, it is disingenuous of the government to appear to be solving this pedagogical problem by mandating online learning in the universities in which it has not properly invested. It is even doubly disingenuous when the government has failed repeatedly to resolve the industrial dispute between it and ASUU.

    This, of course, does not absolve ASUU from culpability at this critical period, when its members should have put their intellectual capital on display in solving numerous problems associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Here again lies in the advantage of private universities and why they have been able to rise to the challenge of continuing to educate their students during the nation-wide shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission indicated in his convocation lecture at Elizade University’s first convocation ceremony in 2017, the future of university education in Nigeria may well lie with private universities like Elizade University.

  • The coronavirus diaries (5)

    The coronavirus diaries (5)

     Festus Eriye

    How times have changed! It wasn’t too long ago that President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesman was defending his silence at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak as a matter of style. Now, in the space of four weeks he has delivered three broadcasts!

    I never thought the day would come when people would look forward so expectantly to a Buhari speech. Given rising tension over the four-week lockdown, such was the anticipation that someone in Aso Rock leaked a rough draft of the address and it was all over social media in minutes.

    Two weeks ago, the president warned the ‘lockdown would last as long as was necessary’. He said lifting it would depend largely on what science had to say. On Monday, as he announced a gradual easing in Lagos, Ogun and FCT, it was clear economics had trumped science.

    For weeks in this diary, I had reported how widespread poverty was undermining the lockdown.

    So while he talked up the positives of the shutdown, Buhari admitted Nigeria couldn’t pay the economic price.

    For now, those who made the case that hunger would kill more people than the virus may have had their way, but it could very well turn out to be a pyrrhic victory.

    It is certain that as the population mingles more, the rate of infection would spike. It is good talking about wearing masks, washing hands and keeping a safe distance, but as we have seen during the lockdown enforcing these things is a tall order. If we couldn’t curtail massive violations of the stay-at-home directives, I doubt whether we can be too optimistic about policing curfew and wearing of face masks.

    We don’t have adequate public transportation in key cities like Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Abuja. Mass transit remains in the realm of futuristic planning. So, today, it is a fond hope to expect any form of distancing in our danfo and molue buses, or in our cramped slums.

    Knowing this, and knowing the nightmare scenarios that could play out, the government buckled under pressure and took away the only measure which, for now, appears to be blunting the virus.

    Critical to this decision was the position of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), mostly politicians, who have to contend with pressure from a restive population.

    To be fair, the coronavirus emergency caught many nations and governments by surprise. For most the experience has been akin to feeling their way about in the dark.

    Many governors are rushing around issuing decrees about a situation they haven’t taken time to understand. In Ebonyi State, Governor Dave Umahi, threatened those who wouldn’t wear face coverings with floggings. I understand his need to look busy, but for a while it felt like being in a time warp listening to a military governor.

    On television recently, the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, was asked what magic has kept his state out of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control’s (NCDC) daily Covid-19 rankings. He replied that they had an app for monitoring the situation! Oh, really!

    His state is like a few others who appear to think that the coronavirus infection is some badge of shame to be avoided at all cost! It’s as if they are in a beauty contest and any outbreak would mar their looks.

    Take the case of Akwa Ibom State which at the outset was virtually forced to shut down schools. When the NCDC announced the first set of cases in the state, the Health Commissioner disputed the figures with such vehemence you feared he would head for the Supreme Court to challenge them. Just the other day, the state’s chief epidemiologist was fired for ordering 30 tests which his boss felt was excessive. Amazing!

    It’s like a man who shuts his eyes all morning just to deny that day has broken.

    In Kano State, it’s a similar scenario. With over 600 people dying in matter of days, the authorities were struggling to blame it all on malaria, diabetes and assorted maladies. Some equally pointed out Covid-19 wasn’t such a swift executioner.

    But given that there was no functioning testing facility on ground and the government was playing religious and political games when drastic action was called for, it isn’t beyond the realm of possibility that coronavirus has been reaping a grim harvest here.

    Elsewhere, the constant refrain about hunger made the federal government’s offers of help a hot topic. Oyo and Akwa Ibom States which were given 1,800 bags of rice each as ‘palliatives’, looked the gift horse squarely in the mouth and said no, thanks. According to them the items were weevil-infested, expired and unsafe for human consumption.

    It’s been a tough time for vulnerable groups. Take the almajiris – children street beggars across the north. Kano and Kaduna have ordered their expulsion to curtail the spread of coronavirus. When I see northern governors taking such steps it makes me wonder whatever happened to regional, ethnic or religious solidarity.

    Apparently, in the time of coronavirus self-preservation has buried the same regional identity deployed for many dubious political ends at other times. Now, it’s every state for itself!

    As the nation enters the next phase of the battle against the pandemic, I am struck by the prevalent lack of understanding of our new reality. For many, easing the lockdown means a return to life as we knew it. Not so. It is actually the beginning of the journey into an uncertain future.

    The lockdown didn’t kill the virus; unlocking it won’t make it disappear. The pandemic still lives with us; that’s why certain countries are insisting there would be no easing up until infections drop to certain levels. Two weeks ago the national total in Nigeria was a little over 300. As of yesterday that figure was 1,337. Who knows what further testing in hotspots like Lagos and Kano would reveal?

    Now we can dart around from 6.00am to 8.00pm until the curfew kicks in. But it is doubtful what good this would do because even in normal times vehicular movements and human interactions diminish as night falls. Our populations are actually locked down nightly, making this new curfew superfluous.

  • Clash of two creators

    Clash of two creators

    By Dapo Thomas

     

    We are fortunate to be living witnesses to an epochal battle between two creators: the “supernatural system” and another that we can christen simply as “science” or if you do not mind this combination which looks and sounds like a lyrical echo “science system”.

    In defining these systems, I am guided more by intuitive interpretation than conventional perceptions. What is supernatural system? It is simply a complicated force with a character of invincibility whose operations transverse numerous cosmic territories. Just that! Then what is science? It is an alternate system invented by man, better still it is an unknown system that created man. Darwinism, according to Wikipedia, is a theory of Biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual’s ability to compete, survive and reproduce.

    By popular conventional acclamation, the Supernatural system is universally known as GOD. He is the complicated force behind the myths, the mysteries and the mystique of existentialism. I think it is better we clear this first, the supernatural system and existentialism have their own conflicting antagonism since existentialists claim that humans are responsible for their own actions and inaction. By inference therefore, the supernatural system is alien to existentialism. Consequent upon this fundamental divergence, I will prefer to operate with the theoretical physicality of human existence rather than flow in the troubled waters of existentialism.

    The only evidence linking the supernatural system to creation of man and his palatial geography is the biblical narrative of a man called Adam and his wife called Eve and their geographical Garden of Eden. Beyond the trajectorial evolution of these two humans, there are other narratives of creations by the Supernatural System that are being contested not only by science but also by men of catholic intellection.

    As for science, because it is seen as alternate creator by its faithful, it is the inspiration behind human adventurism to either unlock or demystify the existence of the supernatural system and its celestial mysticism,

    This epic rivalry, intensified by the projectorial experimentations of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution, has provoked bitter argumentations between scientists and supernatural enthusiasts. Amplified by sheer sentimentality, the scientists, though proclaiming evidential advocacy, have attempted to defend the limitations of science claiming that an enduring process of interrogation is immune to finality. To some extent, this argument is logic friendly, but why claim victory or superiority over a system with a character of immortality? If science is an enduring process, without finality, what do we now say of a supernatural system that is immortal? If the supernatural systemists allow science sufficient space and time for its dynamic experimentations, why is science and scientists in a hurry to dismiss the existence of a supernatural system that superintends over science and its interrogations.

    Entangled in an epistemological duel over who should claim primacy in this dialectical warfare provoked by COVID 19 or coronavirus, proponents of both creators are whinning in indulgent acrimonies, the allies of science, relishing the venomous impact of their virus and its capacity for global lockdown are excited that once again, science has triumphed with one of its lethal microbes being invested as a global conqueror. But on philosophical reflection, this looks more like tragic triumphalism—the kind of victory that makes the victors sob blood for a high-priced conquest-—that depresses science.

    The present conundrum, attributable to science experimental labyrinth, throws up challenging theories about science culpability and its indiscretion in managing its laboratory of evil. The virus in question, potent in character and nature, is being explained as one of science’s loose monsters on rampage, lurking on metals and surfaces with noxious venom into human constitution, invariably settling for the fatal capitulation of the lungs, the virus jugular adventure is finally accomplished with one more statistical casualty. Latching on its universal leverage of decency, science penchant for chemical and biological fetishism is treated with dismissive superciliousness by the world powers and their conspiratorial agencies. Enough of science and its streaming killer adherents and agents.

    Equally affected by the consequences of the global shutdown as all spiritual monuments are operationally grounded, the proponents of the supernatural system, are suggesting that our present freedom forfeiture and curtailment as a result of this microbe’s assault is nothing but the fury of GOD on all knavish humanity, crippled by leaders’ policy of trial and error to subdue the virus, the church establishment worldwide is vehement in its opposition against the lockdown demurring its inability to collectively mitigate for mercy from the supernatural system on behalf of humanity. Some are even doing a prophetic linkage between the virus’ onslaught and the end-time prophecy. Overlooking the exuberance of science flexuous enthusiasts who believe that only science has the antedote to this virus, the church rued its exclusion from the frontline in the battle against the pandemic. Exercising the faith expected of the faithful, the supernatural systemists, elated about the subpoenaed viral miscreant from above on collective humanity, believe that their GOD—the one who instituted creation for His pleasure, who is inclined to mercy after ire, will soon remove the plague once the objective of his wrath has been accomplished. But the science systemists, pooh-poohing what they regard as delusive presumption, mocked the God’s men calling them “fantasy Army” and undaunted by primitive distractions, elected to resolve this viral riddle by intensifying its effort on the vaccine or the drug to check the virus. This situation produces a paradox that confounds the wise. If medicine men (doctors) say that “We cure but GOD heals”, how then can they advance in their search for a cure if they are doing “professional distancing” with the one who heals? Already the alchemy of science seems to be failing it and falling asunder with science nations like U.S., Spain, Italy, Japan in health management quandary having been overwhelmed by the corpses already despatched beyond this territorial space and those on the waiting list of death. This is not the time for science to contest space with the supernatural system as there are ample proofs that this plague may be what science can assess, dissect and analyse, but it is obviously not something it can liberate from the land. You don’t decree out of existence what you did not create. Invention is not creation; one creator (supernatural system) creates, the other creator invents.  There is a big difference between a creator and an inventor. Science is not a creator because it was also created. The failure of Science and its soldiers to elevate their status to the creator’s level manifests glaringly in their incapacity to find the cure for Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, lupus, polio, Asthma, Schizophrenia, Cancer, amongst others.

    Manifesting the character traits of system anger, the spiritual system, not minding the impact of its action on the kingdom select group (the church) and the Aljanah congregation, shut down every structure of worship all over the world and dispersed their congregations into their various residential apartments as reclusive prayer warriors and distant worshippers. Essentially, GOD, the system, was saying all have sinned and fallen short of HIS mercy. Some leaders in power who knew and saw that whatever could overwhelm science (system) and stretch it beyond its natural elasticity could not have been an hypothetical enigma but a superior system calling their attention to the gradual abandonment of the creator while shifting advantage to an unessential denominator. Exhibiting gracious wisdom, such leaders in United States, Italy and Spain convoked their citizens for individualized (national) prayers to propitiate the angry supernatural system for a factory reset of the activity buttons.

    Factorizing how science, and now technology, is being re-configured by the superpowers into a weapon of zero- annihilation, those of them who still have some dosage of systemic spirituality, should by now understand the vanity of science: Science is not to be worshipped; it is to be subordinated. What man invented for experimental explications of preternatural phenomena should not become an idol of adoration.

    Science was not to take the place of the supernatural system. Science was not meant to play GOD. It was not meant to be an alternate system but an alternative system to explain creation mysteries for men with little or no faith. All creations, including science were and are created as toys for the pleasure of the supernatural system. HE does as He pleases irrespective of the tragedy of humanity. That is why His own call HIM UNQUESTIONABLE. In this titanic clash of two creators, only one system can emerge the victor, and that is, GOD, the only Supernatural system that dictates the operations of all other systems human or technological.

  • COVID-19 and local production of face masks

    COVID-19 and local production of face masks

    Niyi Akinnaso

     

    “THE challenge for Africa is no less than the restoration of its intellectual freedom and a capacity to create … The dearth of political will and the extractive practices of external actors can no longer be used as excuse for inaction. We no longer have a choice: we need a radical change in direction. Now is the time!”

    — Wole Soyinka and other writers, in a letter to African leaders, urging creativity in the fight against COVID-19.

    The fragility of the African economy; the infrastructure shortcomings, especially in the education, health, power, and housing sectors; the high rate of poverty; rampant illiteracy; and inadequate levels of hygiene, all make the continent, especially the subSaharan region, especially susceptible to infections. These shortcomings are already showing up as the continent struggles to combat the ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19.

    It is against this background that we must contextualize the dire warning by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, indicating that “Anywhere between 300,000 and 3.3 million African people could lose their lives as a direct result of COVID-19, depending on the intervention measures taken to stop the spread”. The figures indicate the range between the best and worst case scenarios.

    UNECA identified at least three key problems that could complicate the fight against COVID-19 in Africa. One, “56 per cent of the urban population is concentrated in overcrowded and poorly serviced slum dwellings (excluding North Africa) and only 34 per cent of the households have access to basic hand washing facilities”.

    Second, Africa has lower ratios of hospital beds and health professionals to its population than other regions and it is highly dependent on imports for its medicinal and pharmaceutical products. Yet, the underlying conditions that may worsen the outcome of COVID-19 infection are prevalent in Africa. They include tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS as well as heart, lung, and kidney diseases.

    Third, African economies are too weak to sustain the health and lockdown costs required by the fight against COVID-19.

    True, many African countries are already taking steps to combat the pandemic, but the preparations are way too little and too late, given the number of weeks that Africa had to prepare long after the virus had spread to Europe. The failure to prepare ahead of the index cases in the various countries led them to reactive measures. Unfortunately, these measures are being taken against the dearth of medical and pharmaceutical supplies on the continent.

    The closure of borders by Asian and European countries, on which Africa depends for these supplies, not only worsens matters; it also amplifies the call by Soyinka and associates in the opening quote. One area in which African leaders must now take charge of their own affairs is the health sector.

    This is particularly true of Nigeria, where the elite and the political class have depended on foreign medical treatment for far too long, thereby neglecting to develop the health sector at home. The ongoing pandemic has exposed the inadequacy of the nation’s health facilities and the shortage of medical supplies, such as face masks.

    Yet, face masks are critically needed for protection against the spread of the coronavirus disease, especially now that the country has entered the community-spread phase of the pandemic. It is suggested that, on the one hand, wearing a face mask mitigates the spread of the virus by someone who has it. On the other hand, wearing a face mask could help in preventing one from contracting the virus.

    At the press briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on April 16, 2020, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, and the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Chikwe Ikweneazu, amplified the CDC guidelines on face masks. They both indicated that face masks could be made of cloth, provided it is properly handled and washed in warm water with soap after each use.

    At the same press briefing, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, elaborated on their comments by suggesting the local production of face masks. It was a suggestion that came naturally to Aregbesola: While he was the Governor of the State of Osun, it did not take him much time to establish a Garment Factory in his state to produce school uniforms, while also training tailors and generating employment.

    An interesting amplification of this suggestion followed less than a week later, when the Governors of the Southwest came up with a face mask policy of their own: Effective Friday, April 24, 2020, “wearing of face masks will be made compulsory for everybody coming out of their homes”.

    Already, Lagos and Ondo states have announced plans to embark on mass production of face masks to serve their populations. At a recent press conference, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and his COVID-19 team wore an array of locally produced face masks. I particularly like the one worn by the Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso.

    Arrangements to produce face masks are also underway in Osun, where the early start of curtailment measures has limited the state’s exposure to COVID-19 and extended the no-new-case window beyond two weeks since the Ejigbo 127. The robust arrangements also account for the high rate of recovery and no death of positive cases in the state.

    Interestingly, during the PTF briefing on Tuesday, April 21, 2020, the SGF himself appeared in a colourful locally manufactured face mask, apparently to demonstrate the possibilities. Incidentally, weeks earlier, Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State had converted the state’s Garment Factory to a face mask production industry to service his government’s no mask no movement policy.

    The ongoing focus on the production of faces masks is only the tip of the iceberg regarding the “radical change in direction” advocated by Soyinka and associates. The extent of the neglect of the health sector and the tardiness of state actors is illustrated by the ongoing scrambling by federal and state governments to produce mere face masks three months into the pandemic. Cleary, a dual lesson from the COVID-19 is to imbibe the culture of stockpiling essential medial supplies and to strengthen the public health sector to the point that the President could seek cure in a local hospital, like the British Prime Minister did in the United Kingdom.

     

  • The coronavirus diaries (4)

    The coronavirus diaries (4)

    Festus Eriye

     

    TWO men were bragging about who had the better lawyer. One said: “My lawyer hardly ever loses cases.” His friend replied: “My lawyer is so good he can find a loophole in the Ten Commandments.” You guessed right: his lawyer was Nigerian!

    Nigerians can find a way around any law or regulation. Just give them a few days to work it out. And so it has been with the lockdown orders laid down by federal and state governments. They have been tested every which way by an incredibly creative people – leaving them looking like a sham.

    Traffic may be a fraction of what it used to be, but many who want to move about – even when they are not on essential duty – are managing to do so, undermining what the lockdown was meant to achieve.

    Last week, Dr. Sani Aliyu, National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, raised the alarm about reports of people being smuggled in trucks out of Lagos. He said inter-state travels were encouraging community spread of the disease.

    Several governors have made grand announcements closing their boundaries and yet inter-state travels continue unabated. A reader who blames it on rampant corruption on the part of security agencies who should enforce the restrictions, recounts his experience.

    He wrote: “A few days ago I got a call from a young man who schools in Benin Republic. He called me from Port Harcourt. “How did you get into Nigeria and pass through Lagos with the shutdown?” I asked. His response was “Oga, we paid at the border to enter Nigeria. I paid police to move through Lagos. I left Lagos on night bus. We paid extra and the driver paid the police at the checkpoints on the road. We even carried police on the trip.”

    He gave other examples of the contractor who hired police escort to drive from Delta to Rivers State over the Easter period, as well as a government big shot who drove from Port Harcourt to Abuja several days ago, using a ‘platoon’ of mobile policemen and soldiers to beat the checkpoints.

    The poor are more likely to be compliant as they can be easily intimidated by the coercive instruments of state. They only become defiant when driven to the wall by hunger. Not so the elite who live to subvert the system.

    The last one week further exposed the double standards of those who should be leading by example, becoming breakers of the rules they set.

    The big event was the death in a private Lagos hospital of Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, of complications arising from the coronavirus.

    He came down with the infection following a trip to Germany. On his return, he didn’t self-isolate as required by protocols established by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), but rather continued with business as usual.

    After he tested positive he chose to use a private hospital, ostensibly as not to put more pressure on government’s healthcare facilities. But he was just one individual! How was taking care of one man however highly placed going to crash the system?

    British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, who just recovered from coronavirus subjected himself to treatment by the public National Health Service (NHS).

    Kyari came to Lagos, checked into this private facility, at a time when the Federal Government was repeatedly declaring that such hospitals had not been cleared to treat Covid-19 patients. The state’s Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, even said at a press conference he didn’t know the whereabouts of the president’s major-domo.

    After his sudden death, the same commissioner issued a statement acknowledging that Kyari had died at the First Cardiology Hospital and that it was a facility approved by the state government for the management of Covid-19 cases.

    The sequence of events raises a string of awkward questions. At what point did the commissioner who claimed not to know where Kyari was become aware that he was being treated at the hospital in question. At what point was the private facility approved for treatment of coronavirus cases?

    The death of the Chief of Staff shocked many in the corridors of power. But how did they react? Not with any sense that the penny dropped. The same voices who have been delivering homilies about physical distancing and hand washing were captured on live TV as part of the crowd that stood shoulder to shoulder at the funeral prayer at Defence House, Abuja.

    Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, who doubles as chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, has apologised and acknowledged that mistakes were made. That’s nice, but is there any way of ascertaining the damage these mistakes have caused?

    On Sunday, April 5, 2020, Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer, Catherine Calderwood, resigned after she broke her own advice to stay at home to help slow the spread of the coronavirus by visiting her second home. She apologised but quit after a wave of criticism calling her a hypocrite and irresponsible.

    We don’t do resignations in these parts so we would make do with Mustapha’s apologies. However, this episode makes it harder to preach to the populace when they can’t see you living your message.

    In a few days the lockdown would lapse. President Muhammadu Buhari must decide whether to extend or terminate the measure. Conventional wisdom says don’t loosen up too quickly when there’s no evidence that the outbreak is waning. Doing so could lead to a more devastating second wave of infections.

    But the Nigerian government like many across the world are caught between a rock and a very hard place. The economic realities of our people make an extended lockdown unsustainable. In Lagos and several other places it is unravelling.

    I suspect government would be forced to loosen up a bit, with certain restrictions remaining in place, knowing infections would spike. Hopefully, the nation as whole now has greater capacity to test and manage any upsurge in cases than it did four weeks ago.

     

  • COVID: Exercise; Mass Open Online Courses-MOOC

    Tony Marinho

     

    Exercise, don’t justt exercise Legs are made to walk and run

    Mouths to eat and talk- for work and fun

    If you don’t use your legs

    They become just weak pegs

    Unable to take your weight

    Which you WILL hate

    You will not be able to get out of bed

    On standing they will be lead, feel dead

    If you don’t sing, whistle, chit-chat, smile

    You could lose your speech in a while

    If you don’t listen to others and look around

    You will appreciate and respect only your sound

    There is no body exercise

    Except your brain and fingers

    When you texterise, Twittercise,

    Whatsappercise, Computergamercise

    Sittingworkercise, Sittingplayercise

    Sitndrinkercise

     

    Knees and legs become weak

    And your walking future becomes bleak

    By the time you are 60, or latest 70

    You cannot stand up, without a hand up

    Or a push up from the table or chair

    Take more interest in your body care

     

    You can walkercise, joggercise

    You can runnercise, gymercise

    All are funnercise, smilercise

    But do not sitercise, or just criticize.

    As you get older

    Exercise, exercise, exercise longer

     

    Bathroomrunningonthespotercise

    Legskneesercise, Stairsclimbercise,

    Armsercise, Gardenrunnercise

    Dancercise, exercise a lot

    Can help get to the needy muscle spot

    Everyday do Som exercise

    The lockdown has serious consequences for family health and exercise regimes. This poem can be cut out, kept and read aloud playfully regularly by the family for planning and action during and even after the COVID-19 pandemic has gone. It will go!

    And women please bring out your simple plastic surfaced ‘easy-to-wipe-clean with spirit’ handbags. Hide difficult-to-clean designer bags for any ‘Post COVID-19 Handbag Celebration!

    The COVID-19 records deaths are approaching 170,000, infections 2,500,000 and around 700 cases and approaching 25 deaths officially in Nigeria.  Costs are unquantifiable but in $10trillions+. We are on the brink of civil unrest as robberies and attacks are on the rise. Only massive government palliative support will save the day and night.

    In my clinic, I see many young students from home because Covid-19 lockdown has closed their universities if not the ASUU strike. From their phones I surmise that they have access to WhatsApp and search engines like google. I am sometimes inspired by our conversations but mostly disappointed.

    There are economics, social and political science, communication students, history,  medical and other students who I challenge  will say ‘I get out of bed at 8.30am’ and ‘ I’m bored most days’ and they have ‘zero’ and I mean ‘zero’ knowledge and pathologically little interest in the ‘Great Economic Covid-19 Melt Down’  and consuming all  during their own time.

    They have no eye or head or plan to collect data, record, document, interrogate and interpret the economic impact and cost of the pandemic called Covid-19 estimated in the $10s of trillions and its associated trauma-causing events.

    These events include the effects of the oil price crash to $12, the 30% devaluation of the naira, the worldwide 10-50% unemployment balloon, the medical and health impacts, the impacts on economies of the closed businesses and devastation to the vulnerable unemployed and daily paid left for weeks without a daily meal for themselves and their families or any or a grossly inadequate financial safety net.

    Add the impact on their own home, family, friends, local businesses, neighbourhood, community, country, continent and planet. Every student is sitting on enough material for the best essay on return university.

    ‘What did you do in the 2019-2020 Covid-19 War?’. ‘What is the impact of COVID-19 on Nigeria’. Every single child worldwide will be challenged similarly. Then many of the answers will upset and shock teachers.

    The terror, hunger, loss of parents and friends and relations, hospital stay, uncertainty, loss of focus, mental challenges of isolation and helplessness all weigh down everyone involved and the effect of job losses will produce a plethora of different experiences.

    Some are involved in or witnessing violence due to hunger and deprivation. Of course, there is already and there will be more art, music, poetry, prose, plays and films many of which are already in the writing – all created out of the ‘cancer’ of COVID-19.

    Get your youth to search for Free University Courses from many top university’s and brilliant cutting-edge lecturers. Any undergraduate in Nigeria who has not heard of or explored or enrolled in some ‘MOOC’ or ‘Mass Open Online Courses’ should be informed of opportunities being missed. COVID must not kill our youth brain.

    Nigerians, know Idriss Deby and thank him, if Nigeria will not. As Chadian president, he lost 98 soldiers to Boko Haram, an organisation founded in Nigeria. Within three weeks, he led thousands of troops in counter-attacks and routed the Boko Haram plaguing his country.

    Nigeria was not involved. Probably for fear of a leak by informers observing the military movements or in the ranks of our gallant armed forces who frequently are engaged in fierce battle. We pay tribute to them. The death toll to Boko Haram and Fulani and other herdsmen’ attacks rivals total deaths to COVID worldwide so far. Who cares?

    Certainly, the still displaced in poorly managed IDP camps, 2+MILLION and scattered around Nigeria 3+million, are about double those infected by Covid worldwide at present. That is the extent of our delusion in Nigeria. We react to crisis and ignore our daily responsibility to the citizenry. Common market fire-fighting is nuclear physics in Nigeria. We must step-up against Boko Haram.

     

  • COVID-19 and the plight of daily paid workers

    COVID-19 and the plight of daily paid workers

    Niyi Akinnaso

    There is a very large group of Nigerians, who live on daily wages. Think of traders, day labourers, and the large group of artisans, including carpenters, bricklayers, tilers, electricians, welders, mechanics, vulcanizers, “rewires” as well as taxi, kabukabu, okada, and tricycle drivers. These are among the daily paid workers across the country, who live daily on what they earn each day, and that’s only when they are lucky to be engaged.

    Long before the advent of COVID-19, the national economy had taken a downturn and power supply, on which most of them depend for their work, has been inadequate. As a result, many artisans had been suffering from low patronage. This explains why Nigeria recently became the poverty capital of the world.

    Today, the lockdown in most states in response to the Federal Government’s directives on COVID-19 has put virtually all these artisans out of work. To complicate their plight, they are not covered by the Federal Government’s palliatives or the individual states’ social protection programmes. At the end of the day, therefore, neither the Federal nor the state government’s COVID-19 financial or material assistance reaches them.

    This discovery hit me hard recently with an increase in the number of artisans, asking me for financial assistance to see them through the lockdown period. This led me to ask several questions:

    How many artisans and daily paid workers are in each state? I doubt if any state has reliable statistics. As a result, it is difficult for any state to plan any measure of intervention for them. Yet, these statistics are not all that difficult to collect. For one thing, most of them have unions or associations in each town or city. The Ministry of Planning and Budget could easily aggregate these data by working through the associations as well as ward and Local Government Chairpersons.

    Why do these artisans need assistance now? First, many of them have families, like the elite. They pay have to feed their families and educate their children. Some even have the elderly to care for. In other words, they often have as much responsibility as the elite members of society, at least at the domestic level. If they can suspend expenditure in some areas, feeding cannot be one of them. They and their family members must eat.

    Second, neglecting them is a major security risk. The likelihood is very high that some of them might join area boys and other jobless individuals on risky, if not criminal, activities, such as the ones being witnessed in Lagos and Ogun states recently. To be sure, many of them are honest, hardworking people, some of them even deeply religious. Nevertheless, hunger is a passport to temptation, and it must be avoided.

    What can be done? At the Presidential Task Force briefing on COVID-19 yesterday, Tuesday, April 14, 2020, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, made a suggestion, which, unknown to him, has been my guiding philosophy, more so in the last two weeks. He suggested basically that those who have should share with those who don’t in these trying times. Among those in need in these trying times are those wage earners, who are cut off from their means of livelihood by the lockdown, curfews, and other restrictions.

    The above notwithstanding, however, it is important also to stress the need for public education about the COVID-19 pandemic. It is dangerous to assume that those who congregate in markets and roam the streets, without wearing masks or maintaining the required physical distance from others, understand the danger posed by the deadly coronavirus.

    The elite may think that they are safe now, by observing the necessary restrictions and the attendant hygiene measures. What they forget is that mechanics, electricians, carpenters, and other artisans, who may work for them in the near future, may be the ones to infect them, when community spread of the virus kicks in on a wide scale. That’s why they need to educate the artisans in their network, keep them off the street, and assist them the best way they can during the lockdown.

    Such assistance should not be limited to money and food. They also need the equipment to defend themselves against the coronavirus infection, such as masks, sanitizers, and hand-washing soaps. These are things many of them cannot afford to purchase at this time.

    Equally important is the role of state governments in public education and assistance. It is not enough for the government to announce tough measures. It is even more important to educate the public as to why those measures are being taken.

    The concept of “the vulnerable” being used in distributing palliatives needs to be widened to include artisans and other daily wage earners. These are people whose vulnerability could be temporary but nonetheless need state assistance to weather the storm of the lockdown. Otherwise, they may become ardent critics of the government and remain so through the next round of elections. State governments with formidable opposition should be very careful in handling this group of citizens as their criticisms may amplify existing negative narratives.

    In order to make public education meaningful, federal and state governments should also be transparent. For example, the Federal Government has opened itself to unnecessary criticism by masking recipients of the palliatives by a nebulous register. Apparently, each state has this register, but the citizens do not know how it was compiled. The insinuation, therefore, is that non-party members are excluded.

    Finally, as transparent as the Federal Government has been on COVID-19 infections, thanks to the invaluable work of the Presidential Task Force, headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, the secrecy surrounding the treatment status of the President’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, is unsettling. It took days before there was clarity on his test result. Since he has opted for private treatment, we have heard nothing about his status.

    True, he made it clear that he was going to get treated on his own private funds. But that does not remove his public status as the Chief of Staff to the President. I just hope he knows that there are those who wish him well and would, therefore, be glad to know that he is making progress.

     

     

  • The coronavirus diaries (3)

    The coronavirus diaries (3)

    Festus Eriye

    As the initial 14-day lockdown ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja, drew to a close last week, pent up frustrations began to boil over. One 30-something man’s road rage captured in a viral video somewhere in the federal capital summed up the feelings of many.

    Security agents had just impounded his taxi for breaching the stay-at-home order to eke out something for his family to feed. Cue the most unusual one-man protest you would ever see. Ranting and raving about the injustice that had been meted to him, he starts shedding clothes until he was left with just his boxers.

    Reporters who recorded the bizarre striptease asked why he was out when the government had expressly asked people to stay home. He retorted that he couldn’t remain indoors as he had a wife and two kids to feed.

    Reminded that the lockdown directive was for his wellbeing, he replied that he wasn’t worried about death by coronavirus as the ‘hunger virus’ would probably finish him off before Covid-19 has the pleasure.

    In another surreal video filmed in Igbore, Abeokuta, Ogun State, an elderly woman of indeterminate age was captured offering sex to any man who would pay N500 so she could feed her children! The footage was posted last Friday by journalist Kolawale Atanda Adejojo on his Instagram page.

    Incredulous, her interviewer wondered if she could still be involved in such amorous activity at her age just to feed. “Why not”, she replied matter-of-factly. This poor woman’s desperate deployment of her last remaining asset just to keep hunger at bay for another day attracted the attention of the likes of celebrity music producer, Don Jazzy, who despatched N100,000 to her as an act of mercy.

    The lockdown threw up many other acts of desperation revolving round the themes of hunger and poverty. In the last 72 hours newspapers were awash with tales of street gangs swarming all over neighbourhoods in Lagos and Ogun States, dispossessing hapless citizens of their possessions.

    Some of these teenage criminal gangs with names like ‘One Million Boys’, ‘Awawa Boys,’ are not spontaneous by-products of the coronavirus crisis. They have long operated in different areas of Lagos where they are noted for their proclivity for violence.

    For those who had been groaning about the deprivations of the shutdown, the sudden rash of robberies was the perfect storm of misery. Many cowered in their homes and sent SOS to the police who most times were of no help. In one particular case, a caller got through but was told that their cells were already full!

    Quickly grasping that help wasn’t coming from the security agencies any time soon, communities rose up as one in self-help. Young and old turned vigilantes patrolling their streets all night to ward off would-be invaders. By weekend many who had been moaning about hunger now had sleep starvation to add to their woes.

    Underlying these dramatic incidents is the very real dilemma of how to balance the benefits of the lockdown against the need for people earn a living. Several countries are battling with this. There have been protests in India where the nationwide lockdown has been extended to May 3; in the US people who are conscious of the dangers of the virus, are just as terrified of losing their jobs.

    President Donald Trump doesn’t want to see too many deaths arising from the pandemic, but is concerned about the damage being done to the economy by the extended shutdown. He has openly wondered whether the cure may not be more devastating than the ailment.

    It was the same question President Muhammadu Buhari had to address in his second national address in two weeks. Acknowledging the sufferings of millions who survive on a daily income, he warned that the pandemic was ‘not a joke’ and called on people to endure.

    To underline the seriousness of the situation, he pointed to examples of mosques in Mecca and Medina which have been shut throughout this period, as well as the Pope delivering his Easter homily to an empty St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.

    But his examples were foreign ones too far-removed for millions of his listeners to relate. In today’s Nigeria not too many are impressed about the severity of Covid-19. It doesn’t matter how much preaching is done by public officials.

    A colleague told me of an encounter with a middle level police officer mid-week. He was dismissive when she made a case for sustaining the current measures. His every word dripping cynicism, he asked if she had encountered any Covid-19 patient. He then declared that it was just a ruse by people in power to embezzle money!

    We face a massive task of getting people to take the pandemic seriously. Evidence all over the world suggests that many don’t stop to take notice until things get to a crisis point.

    Even in the UK where people are dying by the hundreds every day, newspapers have been forced into shaming ‘covidiots’ who keep flouting lockdown guidelines. Imagine how much harder it is to drive home your message when officially total fatalities in Nigeria are just 10.

    Even worse, I sense dwindling enthusiasm for enforcing the restrictions on the part of security agents. If the lockdown is being increasingly compromised you wonder what good it is doing. Are we just going through the motions or truly aiming to achieve an end?

    Buhari and the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 have stated that great progress was made slowing the spread of the virus in the last fortnight. This suggests that more of the same medicine in the next two weeks could result in further improvements.

    Unless there is a sudden deterioration, we must begin to prepare for life post-shutdown.

    Given the strains and stresses on the populace in the areas affected by the lockdown, it is hard to see how this measure can be sustained for much longer. Irrespective of the uncertainties, pressure is bound to increase on government to ease the restrictions unless it can show that things are worse than we thought.

  • COVID-19@Easter, Palliatives & Media Strategies

    COVID-19@Easter, Palliatives & Media Strategies

    By Tony Marinho

    Happy Easter2020: Hopefully it went well even though it was different and many were broke in pocket but not spirit. It must have been strange to view the world and witness several billions of human beings silently using traditional electronic and social media as they bowed and knelt in front of televisions, radios and cell phones communicated, if they had electricity or battery power, with their chosen Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, with ringing Resurrection Halleluiahs as did many worshipping other religions.

    What has Covid-19 not done to the human race? It has interacted and degraded every aspect of human life. But did you listen to the stock market trader who said some have been praying for this pandemic because it is a great opportunity to make money? Stock markets like commercial markets should have been closed down and stock speculation banned and not admired. Shamefully many such stock and futures betting traders will get COVID-19 caused ‘BANK BONUSES’ in 2020. But no bonus for saving lives or dying as medical and other staff killed in action against COVID-19 on the virus warfront. Coffins have no colour and are colour-blind to contents-corpses. In a capitalistic world, cash made even from coffins for pandemic deaths is evergreen and rewardable with bonuses. We learnt nothing from the US stock market crash due to the housing loan scam debacle.

    COVID-19 records deaths approaching 120,000, infections 2,000,000 and around 350 cases and approaching 15 deaths in Nigeria.  Costs are unquantifiable but in $10trillions+. In Nigeria, we expect a deeper cut in petrol and also diesel prices. With perhaps a N500billion federal fund added to the already huge individual and corporate support, how do we avoid a repeat of our traditional ‘Epidemic Corruption’ in Nigeria? Shall we call it ‘COVID-19 Corruption’?

    In Nigeria, transport like the cramped 16-passenger danfo or the spittle from the speeding okada rider talking backwards actually entering the passenger’s mouth will spread the virus.  Reusable masks must cover both the mouth and the nose, not to be decoration around the throat or neck. Make your own from scarfs. Never go out without a facemask. The life you save may be your own.

    It is worth repeating that infected hands are never cut off but always recycled – washed in soap and water, rinsed in methylated spirit. Medical professionals must recycle mask, plastic apron and gloves.

    Though frequent hand washing and social distancing are essential, a lockdown is now known to cause several societal effects. There are prison riots, serious civil unrest, armed robbery and strangely even a fall in gang warfare. In some countries, dangerous murderous drug-running gangs are now jointly distributing palliatives to the communities they plagued. Police in the area, knowledgeable in the viciously violent history of the gangs, are cautious and not particularly hopeful that the usual intergang warfare that turned into ‘intergang welfare’ and goodwill will outlast the virus. Nigeria does not usually follow any established plan and by some miracle there may be ‘Peace On Earth And Goodwill Towards All Men, Women And Children’ as a result of COVID-19. Too many pockets and stomachs and days are empty. Unfortunately, even the dustbins are hungry.

    While the politicians are not directly responsible for Covid-19, though some arrogantly contributed to its spread, they are collectively as a body directly responsible for our poor health service. When comparing their budgetary approvals, and the fat Salaries and Perks SAPping the country dry, to salaries of professionals, politicians have behaved badly. They have a malignant history of foreign medical tourism, all expenses paid by the rest of us. Now they must be treated in rubbish hospitals they denied an upgrade as they can no longer travel. No one is sorry for them as they have nowhere to run for their medical needs. They flaunt undeserved titles of Excellency, Distinguished and Honourable and recently purchased 2020 series NASS utility vehicles. For years, they have waved a red flag before a ‘hangry’, ‘hungry and angry’ bull -the citizens who have so far contented themselves with fighting for and feeding on the droppings by political horses at elections and on visits to their ‘country homes’.

    What else needs to be done to create a social crisis? The crude scattering of over-labelled and highly publicised but often ‘petty or mini-palliatives’ by our over-bloated politicians is already backfiring and being rejected in many communities. Ask yourself in your neighbourhood, ask your friends, and report if the government-backed financial and food support scheme is working. Also examine the palliative efforts of businesses and NGOs in your area. Only such ‘SITREP’ observations will give an early warning about any coming social unrest problems to prevent a complete breakdown of law and order.

    The government must use many more known artistes and musicians as ‘anti-covid-19’ health and anti-violence communication ambassadors to publicise the anti-Covid-19 strategies and social packets. This may allay the fears and violent tendencies of the suffering people. Even the hungry sometimes smile between the frequent wincing from the hunger pangs of stomach ache. But the smile is temporary and not relief. Every government must bring new ‘honest male and female’ faces and voices with ‘reliable hands’ faces and voices much closer to the people on daily TV and radio updates discussing where the relief is distributed on a daily basis and get the people’s voices heard and faces seen on TV and radio.

  • The semiotics of the coronavirus disease in Nigeria

    The semiotics of the coronavirus disease in Nigeria

    Niyi Akinnaso

     

    THE novel coronavirus disease, code-named COVID-19 is a complex sign, sending multiple messages to the entire world. At the level of denotation, coronavirus disease is a killer coronavirus, the like of which we have never experienced before. It has proved to be more widespread, more severe, and more deadly than SARS and MERS before it. While both SARS and MERS killed less than 2000 people altogether, and only in specific countries, coronavirus disease has already killed over 70,000 across the globe, and there is no respite in sight. The message is clear: despite recent advances in medicine, the state of preparedness is still not sufficient.

    At the level of connotation, coronavirus disease is much more than a disease. It is both a social and economic disaster of global proportions. The social distancing and lockdown measures imposed across the globe have paralyzed physical social relations and economic activities. While the disease may be put under control soon, as the search for cure and vaccine is being accelerated, the social and economic effects will linger for years, if not decades, to come. This is especially true of Nigeria, where economic activities are paralyzed over decaying infrastructure and lackluster governance. With oil prices dipping precipitously, the hardships to follow may be greater when the lockdown is over.

    Already, about 1.4 million people have contracted the coronavirus disease, and nearly 80,000 of them have died. United States, arguably the strongest and wealthiest nation on earth, has the highest number of infections (nearly 400,000), while Italy has the highest death toll of nearly 17,000.

    This leads to another connotative feature of the disease: The power of this pandemic to subdue erstwhile powerful nations is illustrated by the apparent helplessness of American leaders as they confront the shortage of needed medical personnel and equipment and the overall inability of the American health system to cope with the pandemic. At the same time, the American example shows how lackluster leadership and delayed action can put an otherwise strong nation in peril.

    The coronavirus disease has also bred fake stories and conspiracy theories, like any other major global problem. The belief that it is the disease of the rich originated from its spread by air travellers, who are assumed to be rich because they include government functionaries, businesspeople, sportspeople, media personalities, and tourists. They happen to be the index cases in many countries. For example, the first set of infected victims in Nigeria were those, including government officials, who recently returned from foreign countries with reported cases.

    Ironically, however, the disease started as a bottom-up infection in the Wuhan “wet market”, a predominantly meat market in China, where dead and live animals, including fish and birds, are sold. Such a market poses a high risk of viruses jumping from one animal to another and then to humans.

    Investigations by The New York Times revealed how thousands of travellers left Wuhan in January, unknowingly carrying the virus (with or without symptoms) and dispersing it across the globe through major airports. By the time many governments started scrambling for defense against the pandemic, casualties were already mounting.

    Regardless of where and how the disease started and who the global carriers were, the reality today is that the coronavirus disease is a global pandemic that infects anyone on contact and can kill anyone, regardless of race, class, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, and any other social cleavage. True, those with pre-existing conditions, such as lung, heart, and kidney disease, or genetic predisposition are more likely to die of the disease, no one is immune to infection.

    It is, therefore, wrong to assume that only the rich will be afflicted by the disease. Although the data on the coronavirus infection in the United States have not been analyzed for class status, it is being widely reported that minorities and the poor are the hardest hit. For example, in the Midwestern states of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan, Blacks account for a disproportionate percentage of deaths from the coronavirus disease, although it was brought into their communities by affluent Blacks and Whites.

    Here in Nigeria, the state of Osun provides a striking example of how the coronavirus disease strikes just anyone in its path. At least 18 of the 127 returnees into the state from Côte d’Ivoire tested positive for the coronavirus last week. These are traders and artisans, who initially resisted testing, believing partly in the rich-man-disease theory and partly in the  routine temperature test they had passed while crossing the border. Only the resilience of Governor Gboyega Oyetola and his COVID-19 Task Force made it possible to detect that some of them did indeed carry dangerous viral loads of coronavirus disease that would have endangered the public.

    The extent of the Governor’s contribution to national security in this regard is underscored by the number of indigenes of other states in the group. The states are Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Edo, Delta, Imo, and Abia.

    Incidentally, Osun happens to be one of the earliest states to set up mitigation measures against coronavirus disease, thanks to the Governor’s proactive stance and the spadework of his Special Adviser on Public Health, Olusiji Olamiju of AKOL Pharmacy, who also spearheaded the fight against Lassa Fever in the state. Long before Nigeria’s index case was discovered, Osun state’s COVID-19 Task Force had identified Holding and Isolation Centres as well as an appropriate Laboratory for coronavirus tests.

    There is no doubt that the coronavirus disease has sent important messages to Nigerian leaders and Nigerians in general. With the insularity arising from border closures across the globe, the wealthy elite, including the political class, cannot go overseas, not even for treatment after contracting the deadly coronavirus disease! Instead of rushing to London or Berlin, Abba Kyari, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, who tested positive for the coronavirus, had to go to Lagos from Abuja. But then, he had to go to a private hospital, rather than a government hospital.

    It is high time the government built state-of-the art hospitals so as to limit medical tourism and the attendant capital flight. Similarly, it is now imperative that the nation’s infrastructure be revamped to support manufacturing industries so that needed medical equipment and supplies could be produced in the country. Nigerians should be weaned from reliance on Chinese products.