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Nigerians Stuck Between Lockdown And Hunger
By Chuks Ekpeneru
If I perish, I perish- was the response of Esther, the Jewish born queen of Persia to save her people from annihilation in the hands of Hamman.
This illustrates the situation in Nigeria, where there have been pockets of protests by some over the lockdown imposed by the federal and state governments to curtail the spread of Coronavirus .
As of Tuesday, April 21, 665 cases of the COVID-19 infection had been confirmed with 188 recoveries and 22 deaths.
However, it is remarkable that besides the figures, that in Delta, Lagos, Abia, Anambra, and some other states more have died confronting the security agencies who are implementing the lockdown policy.
The main anger of the people is what they say is the absence of palliatives to cushion the negative effects of staying at home.
In some cases, protesters have even carried placards to drive home their grievances.
Last week, the African Independent Television (AIT) presented an exclusive report of a commercial taxi driver in the FCT who went naked to protest his arrest by the Task Force implementing the lockdown.
Even the warning by the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu that strong indications are that COVID-19 would spread to every state in the country has not deterred Nigerians from defying the government lockdown.
Since the NCDC boss made that startling revelation, the number of COVID-19 positive cases in the country has doubled echoing fears of community spread of the virus.
However, it is remarkable that besides the figures, that in Delta, Lagos, Abia, Anambra, and some other states more have died confronting the security agencies who are implementing the lockdown policy.
This is echoed by the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr. Rufus Ebegba who cautioned Nigerians to abide by the stay at the home directive of the Federal Government or face the consequences.
Ebegba noted with dismay the flagrant abuse of the stay at home directives of the Federal Government.
He said the pandemic is now spreading into communities, saying community spread of the disease will be difficult to trace and manage due to the nature of some communities in the country.
“This Virus has started transmitting into communities and this is going to be bad for us as a nation if it is not properly managed and it can only be managed with the cooperation of the citizens, ” the DG stated.
Meanwhile, as the federal and state governments adopt different measures to deal with the deadly virus, some say the only way success can be recorded is improved and effective management of interventions in people’s livelihoods.
The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN), Federal Capital Territory Chapter, recently described the lockdown order put in place by the government without adequate palliatives to cushion the effects of the move as wickedness against poor Nigerians whose means of livelihood had been severely threatened.
In a statement by its Chairman, Dimeji Macaulay, and Secretary, Akande Daniel, the SPN said the move by the government was against the interest of the masses without any type of welfare package in place.
Meanwhile, a report on the Africa situation on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has warned that if basic livelihoods cannot be secured, a comprehensive lockdown is not practical.
The report said that poor people will prefer the lottery of infection over the certainty of starvation. This is the situation facing Nigeria even as the rate of infection continues to rise.
As the cases of COVID-19 continue to increase, what is urgently needed is a balance. Ignoring the lockdown will be devastating. Not providing enough to cushion the stay at home will cause more harm.
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