Despite public outcry on the severity of the health and economic implications of the coronavirus, some state governors have chosen to live in denial of the disease and turned deaf ears to recommendations necessary to contain the spread. However, some others have been applauded by health experts for their bold leadership in tackling the spread of the virus.
Public health experts say the situation in these states in denial risks the lives of citizens and could increase the number of infections in the country.
Nigeria has recorded 3,526 cases of infection across 34 states and the FCT as of May 7, including 601 recovered cases and 107 deaths, according to data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
That’s the highest in West Africa and a 1,288 percent increase from the 254 total cases that were recorded a month ago, particularly in three states of Lagos, Abuja and Ogun. This shows how fast the disease is spreading and raises worries in the hearts of public health experts.
While much of the numbers can be linked to a ramp-up of testing in the country by some states, from a total number 2,000 tests a month earlier to over 23,000 tests as at Friday, this cannot be said in some few others who have to a large extent downplayed the extent of the virus.
Of the 37 states of the federation including the FCT, only the states of Cross River and Kogi are yet to record a single confirmed case of the virus. No tests have carried out in both states.
In an April 30 letter sent to the desk of President Muhammadu Buhari through the office of the secretary to the government of federation, a group, Efik Leadership Foundation, raised concerns on the governor’s nonchalant response towards the fight against the coronavirus.
According to a copy of the letter seen by BusinessDay, the group alleged that the state governor, Benedict Ayade, has shown no interest in testing citizens of the state for the virus, even though most states in the country have reported an outbreak.
Among other things, the group in the letter, which had first been sent to the governor on April 9, said there is a political motivation for the governor to keep testing low so that the state records no cases of the virus to the credit of its sub-national government.
As a result, preparation to contact-trace, isolate and treat infections has suffered although large financial withdrawals have been made from the state’s account, Efik Leadership Foundation claimed in the letter of complaint sent to the presidency late April.
The group said non-land borders of the state remain open, allowing for interstate movement, among other allegations of gross incompetence laid against the state governor and his health response team.
Similar to the reports seen in Cross River, the Kogi State Chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association also complained that the state government is not testing suspected cases of the disease and warned that such a move could lead to devastating outcome for Kogi.
“If the state is not testing anybody despite having many suspected cases, it only translates that there may be more cases to deal with later and we don’t know where they are now,” said Kabir Zubair, chairman, Kogi chapter of NMA, in an interview with Premium Times.
Zubair warned that community transmission was inevitable, portending an impending doom for Kogi.
Kogi State alongside Cross River, Yobe and Nasarawa recently came under fire from the NCDC head who expressed dissatisfaction over the low samples submitted by the states for COVID-19 tests.
Chikwe Ihekweazu, head of Nigeria’s frontline health response team, warned that the states cannot hide cases of the novel coronavirus forever.
Phone calls put across to both states to get their side to these allegations were not immediately responded to.
Despite the ordeal, a number of state governors have shown high leadership skills in their quest to keep the spread of the virus at bay, and which other governors can take a cue from.
Whether it is through ramping up testing or working with various private sector players in building more isolation centres so that those who are confirmed to have been infected with the virus can be isolated from the public, these have been very helpful in containing the spread and have attracted various commendations from the public.
In Lagos, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu swept into action by first strengthening protocols at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, carrying out an assessment of some of the measures used to screen travellers coming into the country and state.
His decision to make the airport his first point of action stemmed from the fact that most of the cases reported at that time were mainly imported.
To further curb the virus spread, he put measures in place to strictly enforce travel restrictions, limited gatherings and events to no more than 50 people and ensured appropriate social distancing must be observed, all in a bid to protect residents from physical and other potential threats.
The governor also commenced grassroots sensitisation with fliers, on radio and other channels, using local dialects just to increase awareness of the disease and how it can be contained.
As the disease entered the local communities, Sanwo-Olu also ordered public parks, including those in private and residents’ estates and other public places, to shut down until further notice in a bid to curb the virus spread.
Also, on March 24, markets were ordered to close for seven days, except for sellers of food, medicines, medical equipment and other essential life-saving products.
These were aimed at isolating those who are carriers of the disease, as the state worked more to improve on the testing capacity.
On March 26, the Lagos State government deployed disinfectant equipment to fumigate the entire state. The next day, the advocacy team of Lagos State was empowered with more vehicles to aid information dissemination to all parts of the state.
The governor also worked with various private-sector players in building additional 110-bed space fully equipped isolation centres.
As a way of encouraging health care workers in the state, the governor increased their hazard allowance to N25,000 from a previous amount of N5,000.
In the South-South region of the country, the Edo State government has embarked on the use of mobile money to properly channel the distribution of relief packages to the most vulnerable people in the society.
Godwin Obaseki, the state governor, is collaborating with four telcos to create a social-register to identify 125,000 people who need relief.
This would go a long way in cushioning the effect of the pandemic on the livelihoods of its citizens.
Taraba State has also had a very good response in the fight against the spread of the pandemic and up to now there are only 14 cases, and these were people transiting through the state that were placed in quarantine.
The private sector-oriented governor, Darius Ishaku, had enacted a lockdown of the state before Lagos or the Federal Government lockdown came!
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and his counterpart in Ekiti, Kayode Fayemi, who is also the head of the governors’ forum, have done greatly in terms of communicating to members of the public on the incidence of the disease in their states, which has gone a long way in arousing public interest in the dangers of this disease and what they should do in order to limit the spread.
This is commendable when compared to the data secrecy on the mysterious deaths happening in Kano, Jigawa and Gombe that has left the public in the dark.
Fayemi, who championed the call for the enactment of restrictions on interstate movement, has also been reported to have been investing heavily on digital learning to enable continued online learning for students in the state who have been forced to stay at home due to the pandemic.
