By Samuel Chinaza Jennifer
Maintain social distance, wear a face mask, use hand sanitizers, avoid going to crowded places, ensure people around you follow good respiratory hygiene…. These and many more are the chants from the World Health Organization (WHO) in avoiding the further spread of the coronavirus disease which broke out 6 months ago in Nigeria with over 57,000 active cases. However, all these seem like a lullaby for thousands of mourners who converged at the burial site of the late Emir of Zazzau, Shehu Idris at his palace in Zaria on Sunday.
Despite the alarming number of over 2000 active COVID- 19 cases in Kaduna, it seems the mourners who trooped out in thousands to pay their last respect to the departed monarch have built a formidable force that makes them immune to the pandemic; defying social distancing and safety protocol measures laid down by the Nigerian Centre For Disease Control (NCDC) in combating the spread of the disease.
Amongst the crowd who gathered to bid farewell to the late traditional ruler was the state Governor Nasiri El- Rufai, the chief of staff to the president, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari who led the presidential delegation on behalf of the president and other senior officials of government in Abuja and Kaduna.
While schools remains closed down in the state, one wonders if the United Nation’s (UN) prediction of a more catastrophic situation of this pandemic in Africa will be a reality considering views, perceptions, spread and necessary measures to ensure protection are been disregarded.
