By Femi Ojo
SIR: If there is one thing that the Covid-19 pandemic has done especially in Africa and particularly in Nigeria, it is that it has exposed the many years of lies, governance flop, degeneracy and wickedness of both the past and the current proximate political actors in Nigeria’s diseased health sector.
Few private sector players, even struggling but altruistic citizens and some politicians have donated to the coffers of the federal government and some state governments.
Only two days ago, the federal government announced that she would need the approval of the National Assembly to spend a whopping N500 billion to fix the nation’s health sector and also to fight the pandemic.
Not only that, President Buhari also is ready to withdraw $150 million from the National Sovereign Investment Authority funds to halt this epidemic. This is aside technical and material support from high net worth individuals, NGOS, local companies and religious organizations.
In the words of Nigeria’s Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), ”these are tough times, but they are also good times.
This (coronavirus) crisis, we shouldn’t waste it. It’s bad enough to have a crisis, but it’s unforgiveable to waste one. So, for me, this crisis may produce Nigeria’s finest hour if we put (Nigeria’s best human) capital (and resources) to use.”
This is the crux of the matter. How can Nigeria, the self-acclaimed giant of Africa and the economic power house of the continent seize the opportunities inherent in this pandemic brouhaha?
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Nigeria is a country abundantly blessed with sound brains spread over the world in different industries including science and research, ICT, engineering just to mention but a few. How can we lead other Africa nations and stop waiting for the West to proffer solutions in terms of drugs that will combat this scourge?
In other climes, governments, researchers, scientists and even investors are busy finding medical solutions to the current pandemic by carrying out clinical trials of various drugs that can heal anyone infected with coronavirus. On the contrary, African governments are not looking inwards but waiting cap in hands for western nations to come out with a global solution.
Like the Asians, Africa is blessed with herbs and the current renaissance in traditional medicine with many educated folks in that sector, African governments need to strategically explore this option.
We know the claim of the West that this sector does not have proven scientific proofs and that practitioners in traditional medicine do not have laboratory procedures to lay claim to any solution.
But must we wait for western validations even if we are sure of proffering solutions via our most cherished and time proven herbology? African traditional medics from time immemorial have consistently used medicinal plants for human treatments.
Luckily, this industry has attracted educated folks who now adopt some basic scientific procedures for clinical solutions. Why can’t African government think about this logic and internalize western ways in synergy with herbology to shine at this period of our history?
The billions of naira for instance being donated in Nigeria by private sector players can be channeled into research and science in our herbs while we also use parts of these funds to revitalize our diseased health sector coordinated by the private sector similar to what happens in other African countries.
If the political leadership of the second-largest and second most populated continent in the world can look beyond the threats that characterized COVID-19 pandemic, it may be Africa’s finest hour to shine!
- Femi Ojo, Lagos,
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