COVID-19: We must not repeat yesterday’s mistakes

It appears we are at it again. We seem to be treading the same pernicious path that eventually cost us so much.

It was believed in 2020 that had the Nigerian government shut the nation’s airspace to foreign airlines early enough, perhaps, Nigeria could have been saved the invasion of the deadly virus at the time it was discovered in the country.

Now, the second wave of the pandemic is here and another variant of the dreaded virus is also feared to be in the country.

Yet, the nation’s airspace is once again left open for all manner of travel activities.

Many countries are already being categorised as dangerous places to visit, as the numbers are spiking daily, yet, Nigerians are travelling to such countries without let or hindrance.

By now, it is expected that stringent measures should have been put in place to restrict movements in and out of the country.

Whereas government has shut down schools, clubhouses and has placed restrictions on other social activities that bring people together, it has turned a blind eye to those who are travelling in and out of the country, even from countries where COVID-19 is raging.

Can we not borrow a leaf from countries that have placed a travel ban on some other countries? Does it mean nobody is monitoring what is happening at the airports, for instance? Are people really monitoring the laid down conditions and the protocols to be observed? It appears we have not learnt any lessons.

It was those travelling in and out of the country without proper scrutiny and testing that brought the virus into Nigeria, and it is happening again.

Moreover, the fight against the novel virus in Nigeria has been a controversial issue. Many Nigerians still believe that government has not come clean on many issues on the pandemic.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country early last year, controversy has been trailing the fight.

Recall that a lot of money, in billions of Naira, was contributed by corporate organisations and private individuals.

Although some states took the fight seriously, establishing isolation centres and other necessary facilities, there have been doubts on the deployment of the money donated for the fight. Calls for proper accounting have not been heeded.

Up until this moment, a state government or two do not officially believe the COVID-19 story in Nigeria. A state governor was on national television describing what is going on as racketeering in the name of COVID-19 fight.

In Kogi State, for instance, schools are in session and other social activities are going on without hindrance.

While the Federal and State governments are mounting campaign for social distancing and observance of COVID-19 protocols, the actions of some politicians are not in sync with government pronouncements.

Nigerians watched in awe as politicians moved from one part of the country to another on political jamboree, even during the lockdown. Political rallies were held without regard for lockdown and social distancing.

While the government is shouting itself hoarse over observance of protocols, the burial of public officers who presumably died of COVID-19 complications were allowed to be attended by large crowds by the same government that has every power to ensure such did not happen.

Even the National Identification Number (NIN) registration exercise mandated by government across the country, was not conducted within the ambit of COVID-19 protocols.

These conflicting actions have not given the ordinary Nigerian sufficient conviction that the pandemic is real after all.

With the new wave of the virus ravaging Nigeria at the moment, we see a difficult time ahead. The reasons are obvious.

One, government may not muster the amount of money needed to do the fight, since it is unlikely that there would be such massive cash donations by individuals and corporate bodies that came to our rescue the first time.

Second, most of the isolation centres that were built have since been decommissioned and it is unlikely that they would be rebuilt due to paucity of funds.

Three, the trust deficit from the citizens has gone so low that they think whatever government is doing now in relation to COVID-19 is a joke.

The situation is worsened by the belief that government is not likely to impose a fresh lockdown on the nation in light of the economic reality in the country.

But on a daily basis, Nigerians are dying of COVID-19-related complications. With the unclear direction from government on when the much-expected vaccines would land in Nigeria, the situation could get really bad before we realise what we had done to ourselves.

Bold decisions need to be taken, not necessarily imposition of fresh lockdown, or indefinite closure of schools, but ensuring that Nigerian airspace is properly monitored to avoid influx of infected persons into the country.

We must not forget that “a stitch in time saves nine.”