Down the ages, right from time immemorial, plagues and pestilential diseases have been killing many different people(s) of the world. Didn’t mankind suffer bubonic fever with its morbid consequences in the distant past? And the Spanish flu caused the deaths of innumerable people in the world many years ago. Other plagues had afflicted the people(s) of the world over the centuries; however, they couldn’t cause the extinction of the human race on earth. Maybe, the episodic occurrences of plagues and pestilences are ways through which nature checks population explosion.
Today, from Geneva to Casablanca, from New York City to Havana, from Accra to New Delhi, COVID-19 is on everyone’s lips. The mere mention of it (COVID-19) sends cold shivers down the spines of people because it has high fatality rate. But towards the end of 2019, a great number of the residents of Wuhan, China, became afflicted with COVID-19. It caused the deaths of thousands of Wuhan citizens within weeks after its outbreak.
It should be noted that China’s quick, effective, and well-coordinated response to the pandemic halted its spread from Wuhan to other provinces.
However, Nigeria is not spared the pangs and devastating effects of the disease what with the deaths resulting from the disease in Nigeria. Before then, the news reports about the deadly disease and how it causes quick deaths in China, America, and Europe were disbelieved by many Nigerians. They thought those reports to be chimerical tales told by gossipers and loafers.
Because Nigeria dilly-dallied before it closed its borders, some American and British returnees (Nigerians) infected with the disease caused the spread of the contagion in our country. Now, the number of people infected with the deadly viral disease has continued to rise exponentially.
But the sad fact is that Nigeria does not have the capacity to test the great number of people, who want to be tested because of the non-availability of testing kits. The money generated for combating the COVID-19 pandemic should be judiciously and solely used for exterminating all traces of the disease in our county. And when the pandemic has been totally eradicated, the governments at different levels should account for how they spent the money. That’s what responsible, responsive, and accountable political administration entails and demands.
