It is safe to say that 2020 so far, has been a play of three key words which I have coined the ‘Three Big Ls’ of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Governments world over have essentially danced around these three decision areas, ironic too, that they all start with the same consonant sound.
- Lives – preserve to ensure continuity of the society
- Lockdowns – enforce to curb the insidious spread of the virus
- Livelihoods – halt economic activities due to lockdown directives but with a detrimental impact on lives over an extended period.
In the earlier part of the pandemic, I was one of the strongest proponents of Lives and Lockdowns over Livelihoods As a socially conscientious individual with a passion for humanity, it just made logical sense to prioritise preservation of lives over everything. If lockdowns were the best way to achieve this over continued economic activities, then it would be a fair bullet to bite, I surmised. The past few months have however shown that with an unprecedented situation like the invisible virus that continues to leave uncertainty in its trail, making the best decision for the society as a whole becomes less clear-cut.
Globally, it appeared that taking a cue from other countries in an almost copy and paste fashion was the trend across board, and logically so. Afterall, the sensible thing is to learn from others who have experienced the outbreak and unfortunately have to be reference points for others. However, it would seem that this approach only made sense for territories that are comparable in terms of systemic structure and strong prevailing macro-economic conditions. For their less developed counterparts however, the copy and paste approach may not have been the most ideal, especially in countries lacking structure and with poor macro-economic conditions. While some have argued that due to such differences, the same approaches could and should not have been applied, I have a dissenting viewpoint.
Judging from countries that are currently confident to start to re-open their economies, such as Greece, Taiwan, Hong-Kong, New Zealand, Germany etc. what they all have in common in their success stories thus far, is their nimble decision making and strict control on lockdowns to preserve lives – #StayHome #StayAlive.
It however gets a little trickier for countries like Nigeria, barring the poor infrastructure, poor governance, ailing macro-economic conditions and the slowness to take quick action – it has come to bear that the greatest challenge in fighting the pandemic is the Nigerian people. In a country where military presence is required to keep people orderly in a queue, or where littering the roads is second nature, due to, what in local parlance, is referred to as “Anyhowness” it would come as no surprise that lockdown directives were met with little or no regard. According to the urban dictionary, Anyhowness is doing something without direction and aimlessly, essentially throwing caution to the wind.
This “Anyhowness” mentality pervades the Nigerian society and strongly came to the fore, when on May 4th, the first day of the lockdown easing, thousands of Nigerians literally burst into the streets like there was an announcement that the pandemic was over. People were seen in their hundreds huddled in clusters with ill-fitting or incorrectly worn face masks. Clearly all sensitisation efforts by the government to preclude indiscriminate movements and guide social behavior had been rendered futile. What make this more disconcerting is that this mentality is not restricted to the lower class, it actually cuts across all social-classes and often purported as being street smart or “sharp”.
And so my questions are as follows, due to our way of being and seeing that COVID-19 is a social infection-
- Can lockdowns, no matter how long they are imposed, work effectively for Nigeria?
- Should government take a hard position and stick to the lockdown ease and essentially leave Nigerians to choose for themselves – Life or Livelihood?
Like my sister-friend in New Jersey said, “Until it starts to happen in close proximity to you, no one will need to force you to stay home”. New Jersey is only over an hour’s drive from New York, and so like their neighbors, they have recorded an unprecedented number of deaths, such that almost everyone knows someone who has been taken away by the deadly virus.
As for me – the decision will be lives over livelihood, because the livelihood does not exist without the lives. However, seeing that the solution to our problems lies in our hands ultimately, I would like to leave you, dear Nigerian with one question – What are you going to do about your Anyhowness?
Author: Chinasa Ken-Ugwuh
Email Address: [email protected]
