Sequel to a presidential directive issued on Sunday evening, two of Nigeria’s most strategic cities, Lagos and Abuja went into lockdown from 11 pm on Monday. A third state, Ogun was added to the list owing to its proximity to Lagos which for the moment is the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria.
President Buhari’s actions are understandable in view of the menacing effect of the coronavirus attack across the globe and how world leaders, global health experts and city administrators have responded to the onslaught of the pandemic which began in the Wuhan region of China around December 2019. In the consideration of the president, Nigeria cannot afford to leave its people vulnerable and exposed to a virus no one truly understands nor has any cure for. Closing down Lagos and Abuja and then Ogun in the estimation of the president and his advisors was the smartest way of cutting down the spread of the virus as health experts battle to keep the lid on things.
Already, there 143 confirmed cases in Nigeria and because there is an acute shortage of test kits in the country, it is difficult to say the exact figure of infected persons. Several commentators have put the estimates at somewhere between the region of 1, 000 to 10, 000. What is however clear even to the health officials is that no one can say for certain, the number of persons in Nigeria currently infected with the virus.
We know that a former managing director of PPMC has died as a result of the virus, it is confirmed that the president’s chief of staff Abba Kyari is somewhere battling to keep his breath, Nasir El Rufai, the governor of Kaduna state announced over the weekend that he has the virus, Seyi Makinde of Oyo too. The public is also aware that the popular musician, David Adeleke’s girlfriend, Chioma is infected. There is also the report of an FIRS staff who flew into the country on a British Airways commercial flight from London on March 13th who has the virus.
While these are known cases, you can, however, see a few common features around them. They are known, influential people who can afford to be given priority testing by officials of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). Several other powerful Nigerians have also been tested including President Muhammadu Buhari, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, former Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, David Adeleke whose girlfriend is infected and many others have all had their blood samples tested by CDC officials and each announced that his test came out negative.
Many are however concerned that it appears only the rich and powerful are getting tested. We are not hearing much about the drivers, cleaners, cooks and domestic aides of these senior government officials and celebrities who must have been in contact with them since their infection. Nigerians are also in the dark about efforts made by relevant government agencies to track down the individuals who may have been in regular contact with these individuals. For example, the infected FIRS staff who reportedly works at the headquarters in Abuja may have been in contact with scores of people while the virus was incubating in his system. Interestingly, the FIRS building around Wuse is fitted with biometric attendance devices which several staff use to clock in and out of the office daily. How many of these staff have been tested in the past one week? What do we know about their health status? That of their families and close associates?
All of these should worry public health officials who know too well that we live as a community in Nigeria. The man living in Maitama has a domestic staff that lives in Nyanya or Jikwoyi. The big politician who lodged at Transcorp Hilton would be served, not by the son of a business magnate with an Asokoro address. No, he will be attended to by a hotel staff who lives likely in Lugbe or Dei Dei. A government official who lives in Victoria Island or Ikoyi will likely employ a driver who resides somewhere around Ojodu Berger. The music star with an Ikoyi address will likely buy banana from a woman whose ultimate prayer is to live to see the next day.
You will agree with me that with the reported mechanism through which the dreaded virus is being transmitted, all of us, rich or poor, educated and ignorant, the religious and unbelievers are all at risk. Consider also that almost all of us buy and sell in the same market. Shoprite may be more popular with the urban elites but you still find that their fresh bread loaves also appeal to those whose average income falls within the minimum wage category. Next Cash ‘n’ Carry in Abuja is favourite shopping arena for Abuja’s biggest boys but then like Shoprite, they also sell bread, confectionaries, and cooked meals that many people outside the billionaire class love and enjoy.
Top ranking nightclubs in Abuja and Lagos are playgrounds for the rich and powerful. However, every once in awhile, you find the son of a rich person take his friends from not-so-affluent backgrounds to these places. They drink, merry and take to the dance floor together. In the nightclub, once you are in, there is no class distinction. That’s the rule. And that is the issue. If things are left on their own without the government stepping in as we have seen public authorities in America and across Europe do, the pandemic may claim its biggest casualty here.
However, government made one fundamental error in declaring the lockdown: inability to take cognizance of the peculiarities of our economy and the impact a sudden lockdown will have on the economic health of families. You can close schools, places of worship and certain government offices and few would protest. However when markets are arbitrarily closed, then you can be sure the government is inviting social unrest.
Markets are as strategic as they are critical to the daily survival of millions of Nigerians in the big cities. Many Nigerians rely on what the strength of their brow each day could bring to survive. Whatever it is they earn from their workplace, they take to the market, make purchases (mostly food) and take home to their wives for the day’s meal. You find the labourer, bricklayer, artisans, bus drivers and conductors, okada riders and several other categories of Nigerians here.
Another strategic error made by the government in announcing the lockdown was the failure to make transport arrangements for workers providing essential services. Government ought to have known that several journalists, health workers and bakers do not own private vehicles and rely on the public transportation system to be able to get to their stations each day. When you announce a lockdown without an effective transportation arrangement for this class or workers, then you must expect some chaos.
It was therefore not surprising that less than 48 hours into the lockdown, reports of clashes between security operatives enforcing the presidential directive and angry Nigerians were received from several parts of the affected cities. Many had warned against a complete lockdown when the matter was first muted in view of the fact that the government does not possess the capacity to manage a lockdown. In Europe and America, adequate provisions were made for families and those whose earnings would be affected by an economic shutdown. Even Ghana mapped out a hundred million dollars as both palliatives and logistics assistance in support of the citizens during the hard times. In Nigeria, the exact sum is open to speculations, rumours, half-truths and outright lies.
As the lockdown continues, here are a few takeaways officials must begin to pay serious attention to:
Absence of reliable data will always be a hindrance to any social welfare initiative: The government through the ministry of humanitarian affairs and disaster management announced on Tuesday that billions have been transferred to vulnerable families as palliatives during the lockdown.
Many observers quickly sensed fraud and asked the government to provide the data used in deciding who the vulnerable individuals are and how much each family was given. Many also asked questions about the geographic spread of the beneficiaries and other parameters used in assessing them.
The government provided no responses nor bothered to offer clarity. Then on Wednesday, pictures emerged on the internet showing government officials sharing raw cash at a few locations in Abuja. This again exposed the officials to further ridicule. Who still shares physical cash in this age? How do you identify those you have paid and prevent double payment? How do you guard against attacks by armed robbers on the team conveying the money and secondly, on the beneficiaries?
It was not hard to realise that the government was out of its depth here and the national embarrassment orchestrated by the confusion in reaching out to the vulnerable families could have been avoided if only there is a reliable database to be used in the management of these grants. Sadly, there is none and from what one knows of the government, no serious plan is in place to create a reliable database of economically vulnerable Nigerian homes.
Government actions are hardly well thought out: From the look of things, it is clear the Buhari administration never weighed the implications of a lockdown in Abuja and Lagos critically before announcing it. Now how can you close the markets and turn around to share money to vulnerable families for the purchase of food items? How will they get to the markets since they are not essential workers and would likely be stopped by the soldiers implementing the lockdown? How about the fact that the residents of the affected communities were hardly given enough time to get themselves prepared for the lockdown? The government again could have avoided imposing this unnecessary hardship on the people by being more painstaking and logical in its approach.
Nigeria is in far greater trouble than many understand: Allegations of corruption at the test centres, failure to manage the fallout of a hurried lockdown, security operatives harassing workers on essential duty, lack of empathy from government officials, absence of transparency in managing donations made by corporate bodies and rich individuals in support of the fight against the pandemic and the paltry sum mapped out by the president in the ongoing attempt at taming the virus are all indicative of a bigger crises: the present government has failed drastically in delivering quality governance to Nigerians.
Where else do you hear about the rich and connected monopolising the test kits to the detriment of the other members of the public if not in Nigeria? Is there corruption at the NCDC test centres? How many people have been investigated for being shoddy? Why would police and military men be harassing those whose jobs involve saving lives? How much has been donated by wealthy Nigerians and how are they being channelled?
Aren’t these evidence that all the talks about fighting corruption in the country are mere propaganda set up to deceive the gullible? Besides, why is President Buhari seemingly absent in his own government? If other world leaders, including septuagenarians like Donald Trump and Angela Markel are active and present to reassure their citizens, why is Buhari not leading the efforts at fighting this virus? Isn’t it clear that Buhari could have been better at any other job but being the president of a 21st century Nigeria?
