By CHIMA NWAFO

No matter the reasons adduced by the Federal Government of Nigeria for the lockdown – which most southern states followed sheepishly – it was a replication of measures taken by other countries to contain the coronavirus pandemic. But to announce a strategy by which Nigeria can exit the stranglehold of the COVID-19 pandemic requires critical thinking by the leadership of the country. And this is where the major problem lies. Without an iota of doubt, no action or decision of President Muhammadu Buhari since he assumed office in 2015 recommends him as a true leader and critical thinker. Sad, none of his lieutenants at the presidency has proved to be one, either. To move forward, Nigeria needs a thinker at the helm. This determines how equitably the country is governed and the respect a nation and her citizens are accorded on the global arena.

Take this exchange between Senator Ali Ndume (APC, Bornu) and the presidency; same issue of inequitable distribution of a so-called Social Investment Programme which some unbiased politicians and social commentators have berated: “If you see a Minister or Big Person anywhere going personally to do something, then, know that there is something wrong. While the pitiable situation of the poor is visible to everyone, few individuals are rushing to squander the money meant for the poor.”

Much as one agrees with the French President Emmanuel Macron, that there are knowledge gaps about China’s successful approach to the containment and prevention of the coronavirus, the Chinese President Xi Jinping, proved his leadership mettle in the timeliness and urgency of his actions. According to the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Zhou Pingjian, the president who presided over the meeting of the highest ruling body, Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), after hearing reports of prevention and control of the outbreak of the virus, decided immediately to set up a CPC Central Committee leading group to oversee the work and also send groups to Hubei province and other hard-hit regions, to direct the work on the ground. And given that people were chosen on merit and not ethno-religious sentiment, which is a norm under President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime, the committee hit the ground running in patriotic performance of their assignment. Dr Zhou continued:

“Since the outbreak, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC’s Central Committee has convened eight meetings within three months to guide and ensure the effective deployment of pandemic prevention and control.” It is important to note that equivalent of “$16.6 billion dollars was allocated for virus prevention and control efforts” nationwide. Nigeria is sure to spend above that for “school feeding” of children in their parents’ homes as well as pay a nameless Consultant who gets N100 million monthly. Let’s sum the envoy’s article in the Daily Sun of April 3, 2020 with this: “Holding a meeting on the Spring Festival, the first day of the Chinese lunar New Year, which has traditionally been a happy time for family reunions and other gatherings, is for the first time ever in New China’s history.”

According to Lolly Daskal, “The best leaders are critical thinkers.” And she rightly believes that what makes some leaders stand out is their “ability to think decisively, evaluate options, weigh in on the alternatives, connect the dots and look for potential in order to make informed decisions.” Measured against the words of Daskal, the Chinese president passed the test as one of the best leaders.

Since the Federal Government Nigeria has etched the financial future of Nigeria on China – through poorly defined contract terms and all forms of borrowing – it won’t be asking too much if we say President Buhari should also borrow some executive ideas from China on how she successfully prevented and controlled the pandemic. The government should equally ask China how to deploy the resources of a nation for the benefit of the whole, rather robbing Peter to pay Paul. And given pathetic state of Nigeria’s medical system and manufacturing sector, the government should be sincere enough to borrow ideas on how they were able to build and equip hospitals during the peak of the pandemic as well as sustain manufacturing such that they produce more than enough for the vast domestic market and leads the world in export. It is not enough to award all our railway lines and major construction jobs to Chinese companies, the government should please, ask China how she managed to produce such a large army of medical doctors, engineers and technicians when we cannot even engage our few graduates in productive employment.

As stated earlier, lockdown is a mimicked administrative gesture. Exit strategy challenges the mind. The Western nations which have suffered painful fatalities have their science and research laboratories in and outside universities currently working hard for a way out of this Wuhan virus that has locked down more than half of the planet. Germany’s efficient and accurate testing has helped in reducing the numbers. United Kingdom’s Vallance Patrick bluntly stated: “The way out of this is vaccines and therapeutics.” But experts believe vaccines are not likely to be ready before September.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government agencies say they don’t even have enough Isolation Centres for the Nigerians returning from the hotspots. It is the inadequacy of such facilities since four weeks ago that compelled the Federal Ministry of Health and Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to allow potential carriers from Europe and Asia to report themselves, and go on self-isolation, due to inadequacy of tracking facilities. These are things a thinking leadership, following China’s example, could have mobilised the states and professionals from the private sector to do.

Former Anambra governor, Mr Peter Obi’s recent television interview highlighted two points on Covid-19, though he simply stated that Nigeria needs more “aggressive testing,” even as he charged the Federal Government to set up testing centres in every state. Obi said: “South Africa has tested over 80, 000 people; 2,000 tested positive, that is 2.5 per cent of those tested. Ghana has carried out 38,000 tests, about 566 tested positive, that is about 1.5. In Nigeria, we have tested 6,000 with over 300 positive cases, showing 5 per cent of people tested are positive. “In this case, the statistics is accurate. What extenuating factors can anyone advance for Nigeria with all the resources at her disposal, lagging behind Ghana, by as much as 32,000 tests? South Africa’s is understandable.

The points are clear just as the narrative is moving on an even keel. Even in a state of an emergency, someone must provide leadership. The leader must be seen to have laid a solid foundation on which followers would build. Both to contain the spread of the coronavirus and putting in motion a strategy for prevention and control, some questions yearn for answers.

Besides those Nigerians itching to come back now, how efficient is the tracking system of returnees from the hot spots? How many testing centres do we have across the country and how well-equipped are they? Given the state of health-care infrastructure in the country, who supervises or approves the various isolation centres? Do we have a regular source of personal protective equipment (PPE) to meet the need of medics on frontline service? Do we have a local producer/s of surgical or face masks to meet national demand? People are ordered to use hand sanitisers, is there any standard to ensure quality of the products? Given the state of the economy and manufacturing particularly, how much of these items needed in the war against Covid-19 can produce locally or have plans to produce in the near future? How soon will the NASENI ventilators and mobile disinfection machine go into production? Has the Federal Government any plans to encourage local production of the findings from Abia Stae University, Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi and manual ventilator by a student of Ahmadu Bello University?

Certainly, since no one knows how long the Covid-19 pandemic, the foregoing questions and more call for urgent response. Besides, the World Health Organisation has given six terms for easing restrictions. These include: “National health systems must be able to find, test, isolate and treat every new case, and all recent social contacts of every infected person must be tracked down. In addition, countries must minimise infection risks in hot spot settings, such as hospitals and nursing homes. It is important that communities are fully educated, engaged and empowered to adjust to the new norm of behaving in ways that prevent new infections.”

If the leadership continues on the same path of parochialism and total dependence on foreign help, Nigerians may be heading for grave danger. We should not let Melinda Gates revelation/warning – “I see corpses litter African streets” – materialise in Nigeria.

Notwithstanding, God will protect His people.

Nwafo, Consulting Editor, News Express/Environmental Analyst can be reached on: chi_dafo@yahoo.com; +2348029334754.

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