The World Health Organization (WHO) recently alerted the international community that the monkey pox epidemic is now a global emergency. For a world that is currently battling a fifth wave of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, the news is depressing. Many economies have not recovered from the impact of the 2020 pandemic that has so far killed millions and still counting.

Many countries got very creative in trying to assist their citizens and by implication national economies to recover – even if not up to pre-pandemic buoyancy level, but at least to a sustainable level in the interim. Many countries including the developed nations are not totally out of the woods but progress is being made. Going by the spirit of global multilateralism, many developed nations and some global agencies have tried to send vaccines, funds and other medical requirements to less developed nations to either assuage the impact of the pandemic, assist in getting victims back to good health or prevent further spread and fatalities from the pandemic so as to get countries back to better economic and social standing.

Nigeria as a developing country has been a recipient of Covid-19 intervention funds and other materials meant to assist the people to be healthier and more productive, as the world almost ground to a halt two years ago. Sadly though, one of the hallmarks of the historic #ENDSARS protest at the peak of the lockdown period were mob raids on some warehouses across the country stocked with what was then described as Covid-19 palliatives. In the usual mob mode, the warehouses were broken into and stacked palliatives looted, with most already decayed or expired.

omission or commission. What had passed as a typical Nigerian riddle is, however, now being investigated by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which is probing some Ministries, Department and Agencies for mishandling of Covid-19 intervention funds and other procurement abuses. We pray the Commission will take the road less travelled by getting to the root of the matter and letting Nigerians have the full details of its investigations.

The palliatives issue goes the way of most programmes and even budgetary allocations at all levels of governance where some people in authority exploit misfortunes and sabotage the very people they are in office to protect. There have been cases of public officers exploiting the vulnerable. Stories about sad experiences of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) across the country, including alleged sexual exploitation and starvation, abound even when funds from national and international agencies was not lacking. In similar manner, at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown, Nigerians watched in horror as desperate citizens broke into warehouses stacked with items that should have been distributed to them in an orderly manner. Speculations were that politicians appropriated the items to share during festive seasons for political capital rather than help the needy through the lockdown period.

We commend ICPC for initiating the probe and hope this will not be for mere optics, or the agency barking without biting. It should come up with answers to spoken and unspoken questions by many Nigerians, home and abroad, who were shocked by the palliatives scandal and tacky handling of Covid-19 procurements by government departments. There is always a need to make public officers pay for dereliction of duty. The probe is only the first step, its outcome must be brought to public domain and persons found culpable made to face the law as deterrent to others. By getting violators of the law punished, others would learn to be conscientious and diligent in serving those who pay their salaries. That is the world best practice.

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