A President’s Address And The Dictum Of Chop And Quench

As the most virulent virus that ever hit mankind in recent times, continues to exact heavy human casualty across the globe, paralysing the economies of nations, including that of my beloved country Nigeria, it is wondrous what merits there were, in the last nationwide broadcast of President Muhammadu Buhari. If it was an attempt to stave off criticisms of failure on the part of the government in rising up to the occasion, particularly of mitigating the real and social costs of the pandemic, it obviously fell below par.

If it was another way of saying, “Oya” if it is food that you want or if food is more important than your life, take and leave me alone? , then, it has left much to be desired.

In making this submission, the underlying message of Fela Anikulapo in a 1973 album – JEUN KOKU, CHOP AND QUENCH, readily comes to mind.

Fela, notable social commentator using the avenue of music, couldn’t have been more prophetic in that creative work of over 47 years standing.

This is because a tenet of good leadership is the ability to inspire followership; it is the capability to rally support towards a common purpose. A leader is a dealer in hope. Everything rises and falls with leadership particularly in a time of crisis. To these extents, any decision at this time should not be one of political expediency or convenience but based upon a dispassionate consideration of the welfare of the citizenry, a decision that cannot be faulted by posterity.

As much as President Buhari’s level of patriotism and obvious commitment to getting Nigeria out of the woods is not in doubt, that he was caught in a dilemma this time, is not in doubt: it was being hooked in the middle between doing the right thing which was extending the lockdown period for another two weeks, and succumbing to pressures from both the bourgeoisie class earnest in keeping their wheels of income running and the poor masses, whose source of sustenance is daily run on the streets.

Doubtless, continued lockdown, translated to an infringement on the rights of this latter class to survive. It, however, stands to question, what durability such kind of survival could muster.  Yet, that was the side that the 78-year-old pandered to. Some people will call it seeking short-lived popularity at the altar of sustainable longevity. Yet, Buhari opted for the former, with its glaring negative aftermaths.

His undeclared affirmation was: “I have done my own, the rest is in your hands, fellow Nigerians”.
This would amount to the best decision in terms of political exigency, but it will end up becoming a costly decision because of the consequential impact on the long run.  One foresees a looming disaster in both human and economic terms comparable to what happened in Marseille in 1720. I hope I am wrong.

Perhaps, a brief recap would be necessary here. Marseille is a major port city in the south of France that shares similarities with the city of Lagos as a commercial hub.

The Government of Marseille in 1720 was also caught between releasing the goods in a quarantined ship, as a result of strange infection to help the economy, or leaving the goods worth millions of dollars to perish, but saving human lives.

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The government took the former option and released the ship and its consignments. That indiscretion led to the death of more than half of the population of the inhabitants, a disaster that came to be known as the  “Great Plague of Marseille”.

Some powerful businessmen led by the Deputy Mayor of Marseille (who was also the owner of the ship) had convinced his friends in government to release the quarantine as some merchants needed its cotton and silk cargo for an upcoming festival in Beaucaire.

It was only a matter of days, and infection broke out in the whole of Marseille. People started dropping dead. They died so much there was no longer graves to bury them. Dead bodies littered the streets of Marseille. Till date, the incident remains a sore point in the history of Marseille.

Apparently what happened was, the government tried to be clever. Those in control then told themselves “we will only move the silk and cotton on the ship into the city but not the infected people on the ship”.

They did not reckon that in moving the goods, they unknowingly moved infected rats which then infected people. As people got infected, they infected one another. At a point, the government of France had to wall off Marseille to stem infections in the rest of the country.

But 10,000 people from Marseille had already ran into neighbouring cities, and 50,000 people died outside of Marseille. It will not be our portion in Lagos in the name of Jesus.

There are some risks not to take when dealing with a densely populated city centre like Lagos. The case of Marseille bears this out eminently. It is symptomatic of a government choosing to save the economy over saving lives.

Without mincing words, the decision of President Buhari to ease the lockdown on May 4th is ill-informed and misplaced and may end up being our undoing.

The inability of the President to provide a convincing articulation or rationale for easing out the lockdown in the address is a reflection of poor judgment. Unlocking the economy in a moment of this nature, cannot be done in isolation, but should have been accompanied by other precautionary measures.

Extending the lockdown would have given the government tremendous opportunity to take charge of some ends in the bid to contain the virus, meaning that it should have been graduated.

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The address probably hints on the belief in some quarters, that while the initial lockdowns subsisted, the government was not really thinking. Otherwise, why was it difficult to come up with a more convincing approach of containing or staving off the virus going forward?

Truly being on top of it, would have meant, amongst others, unveiling a reliable and reassuring assessment of the situation, backed with the management of limiting its influence going forward.
It would have included an increase in our testing capacity which is at a very abysmal rate for now, which averaged 4000 samples weekly in a country of 200 million population.

There are only 17 laboratories in the country.
According to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), plans are underway to have a laboratory in each of the 36 states of Nigeria.

Over the next 3 months, NCDC aims to test ONLY 2 million, other things being equal. ( 2million in 3 months).There are shortages of testing materials nationwide, as witnessed in the Kano case whereby NCDC officials in Kano ended up being infected and which eventually led to the closure of the Kano office, just a week after it was opened.

Nigeria only has 2,388 confirmed cases with 385 discharged and 85 deaths out of 16,558 tests carried out.

Testing is only available to the big boys with the deep pocket. There were unconfirmed reports that some centres are charging as much as 30,000 Naira to test. It means that tests, for now, is for the highest bidder. Unfortunately, the poor masses, the most sidelined in testing access, are also the people agitating for a total lifting of the ban. Sadder still is that the President succumbed to their ill-informed request, in an obvious attempt at dodging blames or absolving his administration of charges.

The President’s message did not adequately address the state of preparedness of our health care system except the purported insurance that would cover 5,000 healthcare personnel and the training of 10, 0000 health care workers. These are abysmal numbers when Lagos state will need more than that figure to be able to rise to the occasion in terms of the surge in the numbers of infected patients lately.

What efforts, if any, is the federal government making to complement the efforts of the state governments particularly Lagos state in ramping up the hospitals’ and the intensive care units’ capacities?

Understandably, the reason for such vehement agitation to lift the ban on the lockdown was the absence of the Federal Government’s palliative programmes which was fraught with an allegation of corruption of different manifestations.

The cash transfer initiative does not have much impact across the country particularly in Lagos State.

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We are yet to have a list of the beneficiaries of the scheme which the Federal Government supposedly implemented. Nor do we have testimonies of the recipients but in the Northern part of the country, there are pieces of evidence of individuals collecting as much as 40000.00 Naira and several bags of rice and other relief materials.
The government at the centre has failed the nation and the president’s message was an attempt at diverting attention from the ineptitude of the administration in handling this crisis.

The decision to ease out the lockdown will do further harm to the economy and the citizens of the country.
There are shreds of evidence that the worst of this pandemic is yet to come particularly with the steady increase in the number of infected persons across the country including in the most populous state in Nigeria, Lagos.

The Lagos State Governor, the only governor in the forefront of the fight against this virus recently made a startling revelation that there would be a large number of COVID-19 cases in his domain soon. There are anticipatory plans to decongest the mortuaries. The situation in Kano is even more worrisome.

The shortages of bed spaces for COVID19 cases in Nigeria as lamented by the Director Of NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, is a pointer to the impending doom being forewarned by this article.

And why my compatriots appear to be oblivious of this impending disaster beats my imagination.

How my fellow Nigeria’s are oblivious to this disaster in waiting, is incomprehensible.

Why, all of a sudden, we subscribe to President Buhari’s quest to open up his restaurant across the nation is unfathomable.

Nigerians are known to be resilient, creative, adaptable etc, but these virtues should not blind us from the reality of the impending danger.

We have cried out of hunger, thereby giving the president an impetus to open his restaurant. The grand opening of the restaurant is May 4th to which all have been invited. This restaurant will be localised across the country. I hope and pray that the restaurant will not experience any patronage.

It is for the above reasons that I am calling for an extended lockdown period, for another two weeks.

You don’t have to buy the argument of Monday 4, as lifting date for the lockdown, even if momentarily.

If you would listen to me, go out only if it is absolutely necessary, otherwise, stay at home. Get your face masks all the same, and keep handy for when the coast would be fully clear. The next 2 weeks will be crucial. The President message is not only ill-conceived; it is also misguided. I envisage another lockdown and I hope it will not be too late. Lagosians, please stay at home.

By Otunba TJ Abass