Late Abba Kyari

Aso Villa, Nigeria’s seat of presidential power is bereaved. On Friday, April 17, 2020, it recorded its first major casualty of the Corona Virus disease, in the person of the President’s Chief of Staff, Malam Abba Kyari. With Kyari’s death, Corona Virus has claimed its third high profile victim in Nigeria. Before Kyari was the former Managing Director of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Suleiman Achimugu and Ambassador Kabiru Rabiu, the first index case in Kano. As at the time of this writing, Nigeria has recorded a total of 21 COVID-19 deaths. But Kyari’s death resulting from complications related to COVID-19 has a different hue, and given the high office that he occupied, has understandably attracted more attention. I knew the late Chief of Staff from a distance. In my days as Chairman, Editorial Board/Editorial Page Editor of The Guardian newspapers, Abba Kyari was one of our regular contributors and he was quite a compelling contributor each time he submitted a copy. 

I do not remember ever rejecting any essay that he penned. His writing style was lucid, with every sentence in place.  His understanding of public affairs was unimpeachable. He had been a journalist, rising to the position of an Editor, he also had a background in sociology, law, public administration and banking and he had strong connections with persons in high places. His essays showed an astute understanding of Nigeria and its many problems. The only problem was that he wrote long essays and commentaries but he got published nonetheless, often in a serialized format, because of the beauty of his thoughts and the lucidity of his prose which had an irresistible Oxbridge accent. Graduates of Cambridge and Oxford are trained to write in a peculiar manner: they are strong on logic and lucidity. But I don’t recall ever meeting Abba Kyari in person. We always spoke on phone and exchanged intellectual banter and I can attest to the fact that he was one of the brightest ones from the North. 

The closest opportunity I would have had to meet him in person was two years ago. I had written an essay in this column and he called to protest that I didn’t have enough information. He argued the government’s position. I disagreed. He then told me to call him up whenever I was in Abuja, and he would be glad to continue the argument and give me relevant documents.  I eventually found myself in Abuja and I called him. But his line was busy. It was clear to me that as the President’s Chief of Staff, he had a very busy schedule and could be often unavailable. That passed. There were other phone calls from him subsequently. But the one that I can never forget was a phone call from him on my birthday last year. I missed the call because I was busy co-anchoring The Morning Show on Arise TV. He later sent a text message: “Good morning sir, to wish you a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, didn’t know Segun Adeniyi is your senior!!! Best wishes always. - Abba Kyari.”  As soon as I got off the set, I called him back. He said he was in London and with the President. He just wanted to wish me a happy birthday and see if the President could also say hello to me. But he was no longer with the President, happy birthday to me all the same. I thought that was very kind of him.  

With Abba Kyari’s death, Nigeria has lost a hardworking, dedicated, public-spirited intellectual, a man who wanted the best for his country, a loyalist and a patriot. It is instructive that Abba Kyari contracted the COVID-19 disease while on national assignment as the head of a Presidential delegation to Germany to negotiate a subsisting and on-going, proposed intervention by Siemens in Nigeria’s electricity sector. From Germany, he went to Egypt and on his return he held meetings with government officials and state Governors. Many Nigerians, including Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari, and the National Security Adviser, General Babagana Monguno have had cause to complain about Abba Kyari’s overwhelming influence as President Buhari’s Chief of Staff.  Others referred to him as Nigeria’s de facto President. When he tested positive for COVID-19, there were comments to the effect that this was a case of Karma, because he had no business going to Germany in the first place. From that moment, his enemies wished him dead. Those enemies must not jubilate. As Chikwe Ihekweazu, the CEO of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) tells us - Corona virus “is not Karma. It is a virus, an infection.” For the benefit of those who accused Kyari of hijacking Presidential powers, my understanding is that there is no way any staff of the President can be more powerful than the President. What exists in the corridors of power is the same laws of power that have dominated palaces and power centres for centuries. Those who have the eyes and ears of the man of power, and who enjoy access to him, are bound to be more influential than those who do not have that advantage. Such persons are bound to be targets of envy, palace intrigues, in-fighting, mischief and malice directed at them by other influence-and-access-seekers whose protests are usually borne out of selfish interests of their own rather than any concern for public good. 

Abba Kyari was probably the most influential Chief of Staff in Nigeria’s Presidential Villa since the return to civilian rule in 1999, comparable only, with essential differences, to Obasanjo’s General Abdullahi Mohammed, and Mike Oghiadhome during President Jonathan’s early years in office. General Mohammed was a strong Chief of Staff but he could not overshadow his boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo who was an equally capable man and a workaholic. Oghiadhome ran the Jonathan office with clock-work efficiency but he also could not upstage his boss because President Jonathan was a hands-on, healthy, hardworking boss. Those who accuse late COS Kyari of being a surrogate President may have been unfair to him. He only became so dominant because the President allowed him. Both Abba Kyari and President Buhari needed each other and I’d rather remember him as a loyal and efficient man who ran the engine room of the Presidency diligently and kept everything together from 2015 till the time of his passing. He was also very self-effacing. He didn’t hug the limelight. He did not try to outshine the Master. His influence was felt and ascribed, not something he himself shouted on the rooftops. He helped his boss to build bridges. He was a perfect courtier and a master of the game of entrenchment. Most of the people who condemn him merely base their impressions on hearsay. 

One of the first messages I received after Mallam Kyari’s death read: “Reuben, I now fully agree with you that some demons are in the Villa in Abuja.” The message was in reference to a controversial article I wrote in 2016 titled “The Spiritual Side of Aso Villa” (The Guardian, October 14, 2016)  in which I argued, based on experience and direct observation, that Nigeria’s Presidential Villa is a haunted place, overtaken by demons and magic, and that anyone who works or lives there is a potential victim. The biggest achievement for anyone who works in that Presidential Villa would be to leave the place alive, and not to lose a family member, contract a deadly disease, or to go back home with all kinds of life-long afflictions. My thesis was opposed by persons who had never spent a minute inside the place, and whose objections were based on their own untested beliefs. Very few persons worked in the Villa since 1999, without making a sacrifice. Officially, Abba Kyari died of COVID-19; because he was elderly, and had other health complications, he could not defeat the disease. But I will not argue with those who go beyond science to adduce metaphysics for his case. Abba Kyari probably became a target the moment President Muhammadu Buhari publicly identified him as the go-to person in his government. In the court of power, when a leader openly identifies a favourite, he or she becomes a target for all kinds of arrows – verbal, physical and spiritual. Abba Kyari never knew peace from that point onwards. He lived long in any case. He was 81, we are told. Some persons insist he was 67. It is only in Africa that simple things like dates of birth or death are matters of speculation and controversy.     

So, what next for President Buhari? He must now appoint a replacement for Abba Kyari, and in so doing, he would need someone with the same intellectual heft and skills. The stability of his administration would depend greatly on how well he manages this moment of transition in the Presidential Villa. In appointing a replacement, he should look beyond ethnicity and religion and appoint a seasoned, experienced and competent administrator, who also understands politics and power. That said, there are many lessons to be learnt from the passing of  Malam Abba Kyari and certain unanswered questions need to be addressed.  One, if money could save a life, Kyari would be alive today. He was treated in a private hospital which must have been more expensive than an isolation centre. After his death, he was flown from Lagos to Abuja. His burial was also handled by a specially deployed team wearing Personal Protective Equipment. At great risk to their own lives, some persons followed his corpse to the Defence Guest House where prayers were held and Gudu Cemetery in Abuja to witness his burial. The Presidency insists that the right protocols for the burial were followed, and that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control gave necessary approvals. The ceremony as shown on television however raised concerns. Nobody observed social distancing and it looked like there were too many people at a COVID-19 burial. The protocols were observed more in the breach! There should be a standard burial protocol for all COVID-19 persons. Didn’t the Minister of Information say the other day that COVID-19 corpses will not be released to their families? The public will need further clarification on this score. There must not be different rules for different people. And why did Kyari have to relocate from Abuja to Lagos to get treated? Are there no standard isolation centres in Abuja that can accommodate a top official?

One big lesson from it all is that COVID-19 is not a respecter of persons. It is an unbiased, egalitarian, non-discriminatory, non-partisan disease. Both the rich and the poor have fallen by its sword. In the last few days, there has also been an attempt by key persons in the Presidential Task Force to demonize private hospitals treating COVID-19 Task Force members. Could that have been as a result of Abba Kyari’s condition? Could Abba Kyari have survived if he was treated at the Lagos state isolation centre where many cases have been successfully managed? In ordinary times, Abba Kyari would have been flown in an air ambulance to the best hospital in the world. But with the entire world shut down, and every country in isolation, countries are left with no other option than their own healthcare systems. African leaders have failed over the years to invest in the development of world-class health infrastructure. Their standard option is to embark on medical tourism to seek treatment for the smallest of ailments, including toothache. In the time of COVID-19, this has been impossible. Hopefully when all of this is over, COVID-19 will prove to be a wake up call and a call to action, forcing African leaders to upgrade healthcare systems from the primary to the tertiary level. 

When Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom tested positive for COVID-19 and began to have respiratory problems, he was treated at St. Thomas Hospital, a publicly-owned hospital, by NHS nurses and doctors. He survived and has since been discharged. In his subsequent broadcast, he had words of commendation and praise for the NHS staff that attended to him. Our public health facilities should be good enough to cater for both the poor and the privileged. In addition to that would be the need to take better care of our health care professionals. The same health workers whose salaries and allowances are often unpaid, and who are perpetually threatening to go on strike are now the ones leading Nigeria’s war against corona virus. Sometime last year, the Minister of Labour and Productivity boasted that Nigeria has more than enough doctors and any doctor that wanted to seek greener pastures overseas was free to do so. Today, every country of the world is acknowledging the great work being done by doctors and nurses and other medical staff on the frontline and calling for volunteers.  Only a healthy country can be a productive country. We can learn a lesson from the transparent leadership demonstrated by UK PM Boris Johnson. Why for example was the identity of the Lagos private Hospital where Malam Kyari was treated shrouded in mystery for so long? And why was a large gathering allowed at the internment of the late Chief of Staff? Every person at that burial in Abuja should be corona-shamed and asked to self-isolate for the next 14 days! 

Abba Kyari’s death should also provide an opportunity for introspection about life itself. Life is short. No man can live forever. Nobody knows tomorrow. For Abba Kyari, the journey ended suddenly. Before he left Abuja for Lagos, he had issued a statement in which he said he hoped to get back to his desk shortly. He never made it back to that desk. He has now been buried not in Aso Rock, but in Gudu, in a shallow grave. The coffin in which his body was conveyed to the cemetery was left behind and set ablaze. The Presidency says there will be no condolence visits. Death is the most certain end for all men. Those who are tempted to gloat over another man’s death should be reminded of their own mortality… May the Almighty comfort the family that Malam Kyari left behind and grant him Al Jannah Firdaus. 

Whenever man is confronted with a terrifying aspect of the world in which he lives, his natural instinct is to seek to understand the new phenomenon and bend it to his will. Pre-historic man opted for ritual as a means of mollifying and dominating his environment, but man soon moved from the age of rituals to the age of science, the advancement of which conferred on mankind enormous powers of manipulation and exploration, and the illusion of omnipotence. The paradox, however, is that the more man conquers his space, the more he is confronted with the realization that there is still a lot about the world that he is yet to know. Science has helped man, but it has also failed him, and each time man is confronted with yet another unknowable, he falls back on his primordial code of religious ritual. 

Man also tries to tame nature, still, Nature continues to show him that there is something else that is beyond man. The limits of science that man has experienced is a reminder of the fact that man with all his intelligence cannot alter the Order of Things and of Nature. It is therefore instructive that the current Corona Virus pestilence has been traced to man’s tampering with animals: eating all kinds of animals, from snakes to bats, selling them in the markets, both clean and unclean animals, against the order of nature. When man engineers and suffers for his own vulnerability, he simply attributes the occurrence to a mysterious force, and at that moment, he remembers the superiority of the Cosmos and of an Original force that he refers to as God, and worships through the vehicle of religion. 

This has been an aspect of COVID-19. Religion has played a prominent role in the spread and containment of the disease, as cause and effect, as explanation, as obstacle and as balm and risk, with clear indications of the conflict between religious freedom and public good.  It is noteworthy that shortly after the formal announcement of the incidence of COVID-19 in Wuhan, Hubei Province in China on December 31, 2019, the next major item on the Chinese calendar was a religious, cultural and traditional event, the Lunar New Year, the Festival of the Spring, preparations for which actually begins as early as December 23 or 24.  Contemporary attitudes to religion in China are mixed and ambivalent, but even those who insist that the Chinese Lunar New Year is strictly cultural – a holiday period, a time to re-unite with family - do not overlook its religious overtones: the spirituality of it as evidenced by the “send off of the Kitchen God”, praying to the Jade Emperor God (the Bai Tian Gong), ancestral worship, visits to temples, the firing of loud firecrackers, and the staging of the Dragon Dance to scare off evil spirits. China may proclaim state atheism as an ideology, but the people are deeply religious at heart. 

At the commencement of the COVID-19 pestilence, religion was the first victim. China promptly shut down many parts of the country. The Lunar New Year 2020 could not be celebrated. No temple was opened. No dance or festival could take place. Persons who had travelled from one part of the country to the other to observe the two-week Lunar New Year festivity were stranded either in transit or behind closed doors. For me, this was the first indication of the meeting point between COVID-19 and religion. Lunar Year 2020 – the Year of the Dog - is the dullest ever in more than 100 years. The people of China complied. They did not insist that the world will end if they did not send off “the Kitchen God.” Nobody protested that they must have “the Dragon Dance.” People moving beyond superstitions and obeying the call of science is important in the war against pandemics.

As the virus embarked on a trans-national journey, we encountered other scenarios elsewhere. South Korea was the next major stop for the virus after China. As COVID-19 sero-prevalence in that country jumped drastically, it was observed by the authorities that religion was a major obstacle. South Korea which had successfully combatted the SARS-Cov epidemic, with its highly sophisticated medical facilities, suddenly found itself unable to check COVID-19. The figures climbed daily and the highest numbers were reported from the Daegu region. Eventually, the explosion in numbers was traced to a Christian group known as the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a secretive religious group that is regarded as a cult. Even the Catholic Church called for a dissolution of this occultic church where members refuse to obey rules of social distancing, and hence endanger themselves and others. The 88-year old leader of the group, Lee Man-Hee and 11 others are likely to be charged for homicide and violation of the Infectious Disease and Control Act. Angry South Koreans want the church disbanded. But it was not only in South Korea that religion presented itself as a risk. 

In various parts of the world, believers have become slaves of the faiths that they profess, and ignored the warnings of health authorities and political leaders. On the Muslim side, believers, in search of COVID-19 protection, trooped to holy sites in Saudi Arabia to kiss the Kaaba and receive cure, protection and salvation. The Saudi government has since suspended pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina, and is considering cancelling this year’s Hajj.  Even the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem has been shut down. In Iran, an epicenter of outbreaks, home to major Shiite shrines, the authorities, after weeks of resistance and denial, have finally shut down shrines in Mashdad and Qum. Across the Middle East, Friday prayers have been cancelled. All major holy sites of the Islamic religion are on lockdown. In India, where the people love religious rites like Lollipop, the government cancelled the annual festival in honour of Lord Rama in Ayodha. In Iran and India, the people protested. They were not pleased at all. On the Christian side, churches across the Western world and elsewhere have been shut down. In Italy, another epicentre of the outbreak, and home of the Vatican, Catholic Mass has also since been cancelled.  Even the Pope now conducts virtual Mass. In one church in Italy, members of the congregation were asked to send family pictures. Family portraits replaced human beings in church. Corona Virus has changed the mode of worship and everything else. 

In Africa, the response of religious leaders to COVID-19 has been for the most part, ridiculous, if not absurd, with only a few voices of reason in-between. It is difficult to overlook the opportunism of these African religious leaders. The first pattern that emerged was that of many religious leaders, mostly Christian Pastors claiming that they had predicted the Corona Virus affliction or that they have an idea of what the cure would be. Nigerian clergymen – Prophet G.F. Adetuberu and Prophet T.B. Joshua were said to have predicted Corona Virus long before it happened, and their followers provided video evidence to that effect. The latter Prophet would later speak up when he predicted that COVID-19 will disappear after a heavy rainfall on March 27. Many Nigerians looked forward to that rainfall on March 27. People tend to believe pastors and astrologers in Africa. On March 27, there was no heavy rainfall, and the number of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria has increased geometrically since then! 

Other Pastors have also offered solutions. By February 5, a Ghanaian Pastor, Daniel Obinim, CEO of the International God’s Way Church launched a Corona Virus Anointing Oil which he claimed would cure the disease. A bottle of the oil costs 200 Ghanaian Cedis (about 37 US dollars) and according to him, it has been approved by the “heavenly department of the FDA”.  Obinim would later deny the claim. But there has been no denial yet from a Kenyan colleague of his, Climate Irungu Wiseman, founder of the Bishop Climate Ministries in Camberwell, London who is also selling a protection oil called Plagues Divine Protection Oil, at the rate of 91 pounds per bottle. Bishop Climate claims that his oil works and he has since sold over 1, 000 bottles. In Nigeria, Pastor Elijah Ayodele also says he has found a Corona cure: holy water and anointing oil- the only difference is that he is willing to give out his solution free of charge. It is not only African pastors that are guilty. Pastor Kenneth Copeland says he can blow Corona Virus away.  Pastor Jim Bakker, another US televangelist claims he can cure corona virus too. 

The effect is that across the world, the religious right has been defying stay-at-home restrictions to hold vigils and prayer sessions in the belief that Corona Virus can be cured through supernatural means. They have in many countries received the support of political leaders. In the last month, the Presidents of the United States, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa have declared National Days of Prayer. The Vatican is not left out. On March 27, Pope Francis declared a Special Day of Prayer. He was joined by Catholics worldwide. Religious groups have also declared special days of fasting and prayers. This may be an expression of faith and social solidarity, but it has also prioritized superstition over science. It has also prompted many church-goers to reject the health guidelines on Corona virus and insist that they are covered by “the blood of Jesus”. But of all the claims by Pastors that I have read about, the most ridiculous would be that of a certain Nigerian Prophet, Dr. Goodheart Val Aloysius, the Metropolitan Senior Pastor of Father’s House International Church in Calabar. “My Father, My Father” as he is otherwise known, has called on the Nigerian government to gather all COVID-19 patients in the country together in one place and on Monday, April 13, he will pray for them and they will all be healed. He says if he fails, the government of Nigeria should ‘hang” him. It will be nice to see a rope around the neck of many of these Pastors who have been misleading people. The Federal Government should take him up on his offer, and get the hangman ready. 

So far, security agents have had cause to disperse worshippers who fail to obey the rules of social distancing, but perhaps the time has come for religious leaders to be arrested and punished. In Lagos, Nigeria, two Pastors have generated even more disturbing controversies by claiming to know the source and nature of the Virus. On March 27, Pastor Johnson Suleman of the Omega Fire Ministries was reported as having said that the virus is a “chemical weapon” invented by the Chinese to embarrass US President Donald Trump. He added that the disease is spread through testing and hence, Christians should not go for testing or use any Corona vaccine, lest they are turned into slaves under a New World Order. The dust had hardly settled on Apostle Suleman’s conspiracy theory when another famous Pastor, Chris Oyakhilome stretched the New World Order Theory further by announcing that there is a connection between 5G technology and Corona Virus and that the Nigerian Government is laying 5G fibre cables in Abuja and Lagos to promote an anti-Christ agenda. Whatever may be the purpose of these Pastors making all kinds of claims, they have not been helpful at all. Corona Virus has turned pastors into scientists, herbalists and historians. They should be called to order!

The bigger problem may well be that political leaders are also buying into the spiritual narrative and after days of lock-down in Nigeria, many state Governors are beginning to lower their guards. Last week, the Katsina state government announced that it had lifted the ban on Friday Jumaat prayers. In Bauchi state, the state Governor Bala Mohammed who tested positive for COVID-19, and later tested negative, went straight to the mosque for Friday prayers. The pictures did not show him observing social distancing! Some other states in fact more or less suspended the stay-at-home order. In Abia, Ebonyi, Ondo, Ekiti, and Niger states, Christians were told they could go to church for Easter. Ondo state has since done a volte-face after recording a second Corona case. In Abia, the excuse is that the state has no reported case of COVID-19.  Governor Okezie Ikpeazu in fact boasted that there will be no COVID-19 in the state because it is the only state in Nigeria that is mentioned in the Bible! Ikpeazu has a Ph. D in Biochemical Pharmacology. Corona Virus is beginning to make ordinarily intelligent people sound strange. On Friday, mosques in the Middle East were empty. On Sunday, the Pope conducted Easter Mass in an empty Cathedral. Africans are busy carrying received religion on their heads! If they were making original and informed statements, we would understand, but most of them are merely imitating the ultra-religious right in Europe and North America without making an effort to think.   

The duty of the religious community and its leaders is to support the people and lead them aright, not to use Holy Books to promote disease, murder and suicide. But let us reserve words of commendation for those religious leaders who have demonstrated leadership and commonsense.  Some churches and mosques, in the face of it all, have contributed in cash and kind to the war against COVID-19, in addition to the direct distribution of relief materials to aid the poor. I also salute those Nigerian Pastors who have refused to join the 5G conspiracy theory and any such other theories. In Rivers State, Governor Nyesom Wike, on Thursday, April 9, held a state-wide broadcast in which he relaxed restrictions on religious gatherings for Muslims and Christians in the state. The Catholic Church in the State opposed the Governor’s directive and asked its congregation to stay home and stay safe. That is leadership. No political leader should politicize COVID-19. Wike eventually reversed himself. At the appropriate time, there will be need to look at the heroes and villains of the Corona Virus season, surely most of the villains will be political and religious leaders who opted for myth, conspiracy, superstition and witchcraft. Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has extended the lockdown order in Ogun, Lagos and the FCT. Ekiti state has also done so. Religious bodies must comply. 

Social distancing is a privilege. It means you live in a house large enough to practise it. Hand washing is a privilege too. It means you have access to running water.  Hand sanitisers are a privilege. It means you have money to buy them.  Lockdowns are a privilege. It means you can afford to be at home. Most of the ways to ward the Corona off are accessible only to the affluent. In essence, a disease that was spread by the rich as they flew around the globe will kill millions of the poor. All of us who are practising social distancing and have imposed a lock down on ourselves must appreciate how privileged we are. Many…won’t ve able to do any of this” – Jayshree Shukla, India, March 22, 2020. 

To the relief of many Nigerians who had been inundated with conspiracy theories about the status and whereabouts of President Muhammadu Buhari, and his level of involvement in the war against COVID-19, the President, obviously in response to pervasive public opinion addressed the nation in a televised broadcast on Sunday, March 29, more than a month after the first index case in Nigeria was reported. As at the time of that broadcast, the country already recorded 97 confirmed cases and 2 deaths. This was a jump of more than 400% in one week.  The numbers kept increasing. Fear gripped the land. Whereas Africa had significantly low numbers compared to the numbers of confirmed cases and deaths in Europe and the United States, African countries faced a similar exponential rise in COVID-19 figures. With the fragile health systems in Africa and shortage of medical personnel, many African countries were compelled to ramp up their COVID-19 containment measures. President Buhari’s broadcast could not have been more auspicious: a better late than never effort nonetheless.  He provided an outline of all the measures that had been introduced so far by the Nigerian Government to stem the tide of COVID-19. He also announced additional measures to protect livelihoods, businesses and the Nigerian economy. 

There were many grey areas in the President’s speech, but it was obvious that the government was going through a learning curve. How for example would Nigerians access the cash transfers that was promised? Schools across the nation are all on holiday, yet the President announced a school-feeding programme? Attempts have since been made to either modify or clarify some of the grey areas. The biggest of all the measures, and the most far-reaching is the announcement of a cessation of all movements in Lagos, and Ogun states and the Federal Capital Territory for an initial period of 14 days with effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30^th March 2020. “All citizens in these areas are to stay in their homes.” Food processing, distribution and retail companies, petroleum distribution and retail entities, power generation transmission and distribution companies, media workers, seaports and private security companies were exempted. The lock-down became effective as directed, except in Ogun State which asked to be allowed to commence its own lock-down on Friday, April 3 to allow the people to stock up on food and other items. President Buhari singled out Lagos, and the FCT because these are the two areas with the highest number of COVID-19 cases, and Ogun - because of its proximity to Lagos. As it turned out, state Governors also took the initiative to either declare a curfew in their states or shut down their borders. There has been a race to set up isolation centres across the various states. 

The lockdown in Nigeria is meant to enforce social distancing, and to check the spread of COVID-19, a measure that has been adopted globally to prevent persons from transmitting the disease. But here in Nigeria, the lock down has done more in terms of exposing and highlighting the character of our people, their circumstances, the attitude of state agents and the socio-political implications of the initiative. This has prompted calls for an African solution to COVID-19, and the description of social or physical distancing as an imported Western response. Africans by nature are communal; they are brought up to imbibe the philosophy of “ubuntu”: that is “I am, because we are”, and this is expressed in various forms: they eat together, indeed in many cultures, out of the same plate or bowl. They are happier when they are in a gathering either in the villages or in the cities. To ask an average African to lock himself up at home could be an inversion of his social reality. Even if it is possible for the mentally colonized middle and upper middle classes in Africa to observe social distancing at home and outside, it is near-impossible for the poor. The rich live in comfortable neighbourhoods, in flats, mansions or duplexes with small household units of not more than 4 or 5 persons, the poor live in slums and rural areas where they are huddled together in one room, or a room-and-parlour, in a six or eight-room building occupied by probably eight families, with each family having a minimum of six children, and all the tenants have at best access to just one communal bathroom, one toilet, and a well in the yard as source of water supply. In the rural areas, most families live inside a small hut. It is probably better to disperse such persons than to ask them to stay at home in the face of a communicable and deadly disease like COVID-19. 

Besides, many Africans earn their living on a daily basis. They are farmers or fishermen or traders who must go to work in the morning to survive. Sub-Saharan African countries do not have social safety nets, the types that exist in developed countries. In Nigeria, more than half of the population lives below the poverty line. Over 40 million persons are unemployed or underemployed. They have no access to food stamps or unemployment benefits. For these persons, life is a daily struggle. Even the employed are either under-paid and over-worked and their salaries and pensions are not paid as and when due. The other problem is that not many Africans believe in science: they are committed to traditional, superstitious beliefs: the animistic belief that there is no problem that cannot be solved spiritually through witchcraft, sorcery or the use of herbs and rituals, or the religious conviction that pastors and imams have the powers to solve any human problem. Getting such persons to respect science is a problem. In Osun State, for example, one Corona patient ran away from the isolation centre. He had to be hunted down and brought back by security agents. Poverty and ignorance complicate the people’s situation. The worst part is that the people do not trust their governments. This alienation between the people and their leaders makes the management of COVID-19 in Africa far more challenging. 

By the third day of the lock-down in Lagos State, the chickens had come home to roost. On the first day, there was relative calm as people generally tried to obey the stay-at-home order. On the second day, Lagosians had begun to complain, and rebel. I saw young men on the streets, playing football. Or simply walking up and down. On Wednesday, April 1, the Federal Government modified the directive by declaring that shops and supermarkets could be open from 10 am to 4 pm, and food markets from 10 am to 2 pm. It was a rather strange announcement because there was nothing said about how people are supposed to access the shops and supermarkets, since the ban on transportation was not lifted. What was meant to be a form of relief for the people ended up fuelling their anger. In parts of the country some state governments set up emergency food relief centres and embarked on the distribution of food items. Private individuals and non-governmental organisations also provided food and water in various places which in principle is a demonstration of public-spiritedness, but the relief efforts, public and private, were poorly co-ordinated. 

The poor fell over each other to collect packs of food or COVID food items, without observing social distancing. Government officials in Lagos State ended up receiving condemnation rather than praise. The people protested that they would rather be out on the streets to seek their own food and survival. One woman, a mother of four, disclosed on television that all she had left was N700, which is less than two dollars. The President announced cash transfers but we have only seen some government officials distributing raw cash. The Private Sector Coalition against COVID-19 and some individuals have raised as much as N19. 9 billion, but the poor people of Nigeria are more concerned about the risk of part of the funds ending up in the pockets of government officials.

Many Nigerians remain in denial, both rich and poor. They don’t understand why they should be told to stay at home or maintain social distance. In Cross River State, the Governor has made the wearing of facial masks compulsory for every one in the state, with penalties for disobedience. It is a way of forcing the people to realise that in these unusual times, health safety guidelines must be obeyed. The people’s reluctance to do so, has brought them in conflict with the security agencies. On Friday, April 3, a strong-headed Muslim cleric decided to hold evening prayers in Agege, Lagos in violation of the lockdown order. The worshippers were dispersed by security agents. Market women who did not obey the rules have also been forced to comply. On Sunday, April 5, the police arrested a celebrity actress and her husband for staging a crowded house party in Lagos. They have been charged to court and convicted. 

The only problem here is the high-handedness of the security agents. Rather than help the people through persuasion and advice, they have for the most part resorted to force. In Warri, Delta State, a soldier shot and killed a man who allegedly refused to stop at a checkpoint when he was flagged down. In Lagos, two soldiers in a recorded video that went viral, threatened to rape women and infect them with HIV for daring to challenge the military. In Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, a Police Sergeant assaulted and broke the arm of a medical doctor who insisted he was out and about on essential duty. The situation is the same in Uganda where security forces have been accused of excessive use of force. The best way to save the people from themselves is not by killing or maiming them. African governments must resist the temptation to use the excuse of COVID-19 to further dehumanize the people. In Botswana, however, where a 28-day lockdown has been declared, the people are complying without the security forces having to enforce the order. Different scenarios in Africa depending on the level of trust between the state and the people and the level of engagement. What is important is that the enforcement of lockdowns must be strictly within the ambit of the enabling laws. 

State authorities must be careful not to ignite a social crisis that may result in riots and mass revolt. Rather than take advantage of the people, because of the lockdown, security agencies should pay more attention to a likely rise in crime and social unease. One woman was on television the other day to lament that someone stole her pot of soup in the communal building where she lives. She had left the kitchen briefly. By the time she returned, her pot of soup had vanished! That is how it starts. For as long as the lockdown persists, without sustainable support from government, people will steal food and other things in order to survive. African leaders may end up paying a bigger price for neglecting their people over the years and for failing to build strong institutions. 

Steps should also be taken to stem the tide of infodemic, that is the alarming spread of misinformation. On Saturday, while taking notes for this commentary, I was bombarded with stories about how Corona Virus is linked to the 5G communication technology. I learnt that 5G masts were already being destroyed in the UK by angry citizens. Before I could investigate this any further, I received an international call from a very jovial friend:

“My brother,” he said. “I greet you Coronally, Coronally”. 

“Ore, compliments of the Corona season oh,” I responded. 

“A ku lockdown oh”

“I hope you are good at your end. Please keep safe.” 

Then all of a sudden I thought I heard something that sounded like a cough at the other end. I didn’t know when I threw my phone away on the bed. I had just read about 5G and the internet of things (IOT) and the likelihood of a radiation tsunami. What if it is true as alleged that viruses can travel electronically? 

“E ma wa ko ba mi jare? If you know you have a cough, or you are sneezing, don’t call me on phone! It is not good to take chances with this heartless COVID-19,” I muttered.  

The truth has since been told about 5G by those who should know. It is not the anti-Christ. It is not the Corona Virus. People are just so hysterical, one of the ways they try to cope is to just make up stories perhaps to manage the terror of time and uncertainty. Some Nigerians insist for example, that Nigeria should not seek the assistance of Chinese medical experts or accept any donations of test kits or ventilators from any foreign source. They think there may be a covert attempt to turn Nigerians into guinea pigs. After all, two French doctors – Jean-Paul Mira and Camille Locht - openly identified Africa as the best testing ground for possible COVID-19 drugs. Race is a worrisome dimension of the Corona Virus debate. 

So is the spike in cases of domestic violence and gender-based abuse. Lockdowns ordinarily should strengthen filial relationships especially between husbands and wives, but the opposite has been reported in France, the UK, Spain, the United States… and even here in Nigeria. Self-isolation and social distancing seem to be putting all relationships on trial. Even commercial sex workers have registered their displeasure! On April 1, we forgot to play pranks. On Palm Sunday, the churches opted for elegies, instead of odes. Our world is unravelling.  

Nigeria announced its first COVID-19 case on February 27 - an Italian who came into the country on February 24 and displayed symptoms of the disease while visiting Lafarge Cement Company in Ewekoro, Ogun State. He has been treated and discharged. Since then Nigeria has recorded a total of 111 cases, as at the time of this writing, with two reported deaths. The Nigerian government has introduced a number of measures: monetary measures by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and fiscal measures by the Federal Ministry of Finance. State governments and the private sector are also taking steps to contain the virus, treat the affected and prevent an escalation of the disease. But of all the measures taken so far, it seems to me that not enough attention is being paid to the psychological impact of COVID-19 and its effect on the mental health of Nigerians. Psychology is very important to our management of the pandemic. I am beginning to observe very unusual behaviour among Nigerians. People are responding to the Corona Virus pandemic in very unusual manners that may have a worse effect than the pandemic itself, such that long after the disease may have receded, we could have a large population of damaged persons who may be struggling with the after-effects. 

COVID-19 pandemic is probably the biggest scourge and uncertainty that the world has faced since the Spanish Flu of 1918 -1920 and the World Wars of 1914 and 1944. Uncertainties induce stress. People respond to change in unusual manners and coping mechanisms may be different and elastic. Nigerians don’t seem to be handling the psycho-social implications of COVID-19 too well. With the two-week stay at home order that has now been announced by President Muhammadu Buhari in Lagos, Ogun, and the Federal Capital Territory, we may be dealing with something fatal. How will people cope? How can they be helped to cope while staying at home to prevent a community spread of the scourge?  

I first noticed the psychological crisis that we face when immediately after the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Federal Ministry of Health announced that sanitizers, face masks and gloves can be used to protect oneself against COVID-19. Nigerians didn’t take chances. They bombarded all the available shops and super markets. When President Donald Trump assumed the role of a scientist and further announced chloroquine as the clinical solution to COVID-19, many Nigerians bought up all the chloroquine tablets in the city of Lagos. Long before President Buhari announced a two-week lockdown of Lagos, Ogun and the FCT, Nigerians had also already begun to stockpile all kinds of items. It was worse a day after the Presidential address. Even street corner shops had long queues of persons, buying things they may not need, or perishable items that they can do without. A week ago, I went to a confectionery, I saw people struggling to buy bread. One man bought 20 loaves of bread! When he was accused of greed and insensitivity, he told his accusers to shut up. After all, he was spending his money.  At another super market, I saw a guy struggling with three trolley loads of toilet paper. I saw him as he loaded the toilet paper into the trunk of his car. I was actually also going into the same supermarket to buy toilet paper. Afraid that the fellow may have emptied the entire store, I didn’t know when I blurted out: 

“Oga, na wa for you oh. Wetin?”

“What have I done?”, he responded.

“Oga, look at all these packs of toilet paper. Na only you dey shit for Lagos?” 

“Man, you can’t blame me. Have you not seen what is happening in London? People are stockpiling food and other essentials. I advise you to do the same. Buy whatever you can buy because we don’t quite understand how this Corona thing will turn out.”

When I got into the supermarket, I was confused.  Entry was controlled, the managers having adopted what they called a “Q” system. Despite the fact that there was no crowd inside, the few persons allowed in at a time were busy buying every available item as if the world was about to end. I saw a lady with a trolley- load of eggs. I ended up observing other people. I really couldn’t buy as much as I wanted. I felt as if I was surrounded by persons suffering from what psychiatrists call obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), or better still, anxiety disorder. COVID-19 has turned so many persons into mental health cases. Fear has driven the people into all kinds of strange behavior. The fear of dying and suffering is probably at the root of man’s survival instinct. My doctoral research in thanatos and thanatomimesis showed that the fear of dying is perhaps worse than death itself. See, for example: Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Illyich (1886); Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain (1924), and Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, On Death and Dying (1969).  In the face of COVID-19, many are dying silently out of fear, panic and anxiety. Who will save or help such persons?  

Perhaps the biggest psychological indication that I have observed is the crisis of “over-confidence” fuelled by the illusion of control, dangerously complicated by ignorance of an African peculiarity. Over the weekend, I was in Ogun State. I was shocked to see the markets bustling with reckless energy and stupid community spirit. Nobody was observing social distancing. I saw young men hugging each other, shaking hands and carrying on as if COVID-19 was a foreign tale told by idiots. At a point, I had to challenge a group of youths, huddled together, playing draughts (that is -  checkers), excitedly, without a care in the world. 

“Eyin boys, what you are doing is not right. Have you not heard of Corona? You should observe social distancing. This is not the time to play draught, back-slapping, sitting close to each other. Corona Virus kills,” I said. 

“Baba Alaye, e gboju n be. Corona is a big man’s disease. It cannot do anything to us.  It only affects corrupt people. Awa o je gbi, a o le ku gbi. We are not corrupt. Corona cannot touch us. Let the elite deal with their problem. Corona for where? Me sef, I be Corona. If Corona see me, we go look at each other Coro, Coro. Oju koro ki i pa oju koro je.”     

I tried to offer some information. I didn’t want to antagonize them, so I put the blame on the Ogun State Government, not doing enough to sensitize and mobilize the people to see reason and respect Science. I talked about the supremacy of Science in these strange times… It didn’t work. 

“Egbon, oro alakowe le n so yen o. We local people have a solution to it. I know the herbal concoction that will drive Corona Virus away, by the time I use herbs, with incisions and spiritual meal, Corona will pick race so fast, it will find itself back in China. Awon a ti tani. Egungun be careful.”

I was perplexed. Corona Virus is a matter of life and death. It does not respect geography. It does not distinguish between members of Nigeria’s political parties: it doesn’t know whether you belong to the Peoples Democratic Party or the All Progressives Congress. It is a contagion, a deadly, infectious disease. The smartest scientists in the world are struggling to understand what it is. Some characters sit in Nigeria’s rural communities and insist that they have a herbal formula or a spiritual formula that can cure Corona Virus. If Corona Virus moves from Nigeria’s cities to the hinterland and rural areas, we should expect death on a ferocious, Italy-like scale. 

I mentioned ignorance earlier. There are also some religious leaders going about telling the people that Corona Virus cannot touch Christians or Muslims. One popular Pastor even preached on Sunday that whoever goes for testing is likely to be infected and so, no Christian should go for testing because Corona Virus is a manifestation of the anti-Christ. In Katsina, one Muslim cleric insisted on holding Friday prayers in defiance of official directives. The State Task Force on Corona Virus dispersed the crowd. What followed was that some of the members of the group stormed a police station and burnt down the vehicles in the compound. They said they were defending their right to pray and assemble. They are mad. Every Pastor or Imam who violates the rules on the containment of COVID-19 should be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.  

Some Corona Virus lawyers have also been quoting the law and insisting that government does not have the right to shut down borders or states or ask people to stay at home. You see: the psychological aspect of Corona Virus should be addressed! Law is made for man, not the other way round. Corona Virus is a threat to human existence. No responsible lawyer should insist on those rights that can accelerate the extermination of the human race. Whoever is not happy should go to the courts and test the law: there are enough laws and precedents to sustain a counter-argument. 

Along the spectrum of the psychotic disorder that COVID-19 has generated is the growing community of hypochondriacs and germaphobes. Have you met anyone like that in the last few weeks? I have. I am talking about the “don’t-touch-me” “don’t-come-near-me”, “maintain-social-distance” crowd. These are overnight scientists. When they step out every morning, it is as if they are approaching a war zone armed as they are with face masks, sanitizers, and sanitary wipes. One even sprayed me before I could say “good morning”. They have become obsessed with COVID-19. They soak in every piece of information on social media, particularly WhatsApp where a unique type of psychosis is on display. Every minute you are likely to get a forwarded message saying one thing or the other about the disease. I can’t fully recall all that I have read - from conspiracy theories to jokes to treatment advisory: turmeric, ginger, lemon and all sorts. 

Ordinarily, human beings are tactile. They like to relate with one another. We like to touch each other. All of a sudden, we are being told that we cannot touch, hug, kiss or do all the things we ordinarily do. Social distancing has disrupted our lives. I try to imagine what life would be like after Corona Virus. We simply have to re-learn the habits that used to govern our lives. Even the way we speak has changed. Corona has affected human language and may find its way into the English Language dictionary. One famous phrase today is COVIDIOTS – persons who refuse to self-isolate or respect official health advisory on Corona Virus like the Pastor who says the disease is anti-Christian and the Imam whose followers attacked a police station in Katsina. You may also have heard of the word CORONIALS. These are children who may be born in the season of Corona Virus, products of love and passion in the time of COVID-19. 

I recall meeting a lady the other day and somehow we started talking about Corona Virus, the key subject of the year. She told me: 

“My biggest problem is that my husband is now always at home. He likes to watch football, but there is no football anymore on TV.  All the European Leagues have been suspended. He has become restless and demanding. I don’t know how I will cope with him.” 

“Madam”, I said as quietly as I could. “Don’t worry. You will be fine. The worst that can happen is that in nine months’ time, we will come for the naming ceremony of a CORONIAL baby.”

“Me? I reject that. I am done. What do you think I am? A baby-making machine?. You can’t sexualize me. I am a professional,” she thundered.

I didn’t push further but a big concern about the Corona Virus lock-down is that nine months from today, we may end up with a spike in Nigeria’s population. Husbands are being forced to stay at home with their wives. A week ago, commercial sex workers in Nigeria were already complaining that Corona Virus is not good for business. The stock exchange in that sector has crashed, far worse than the spot price of crude oil, and the crisis in the foreign exchange market. All the customers are now at home. They are not allowed to keep roaming about, sowing wild oats. 

In Germany, a state official committed suicide because of Corona Virus. SUICIDE! But perhaps we should also worry about substance abuse. Across Africa, people are abusing drugs, herbs and alcohol. I have seen young men in our local communities who insist that Corona Virus cannot survive in an alcoholic environment and so from sun up to sun down, they are busy taking alcoholic drinks to attack any virus that may find its way to their throats. To the best of my knowledge, the only link between alcohol and COVID-19 is the advisory that we must all use alcohol-based sanitizers. I have also heard the tale being bandied around that Corona Virus is an evil spirit and that marijuana and cigarette will neutralize it. I don’t think that is true. But of course, the COVID-19 crisis has created a virtual and physical industry in myths, conspiracy theories and fake news. The way I see it, the world is going crazy and we need to deal with that. 

Governments, in countries, where it is possible, should not just mobilize doctors and nurses, they should immediately mobilize psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health experts, and counsellors who can help stem the tide of global psychosis, before and after COVID-19. The latter is even more important because the pandemic is disrupting the equilibrium of households and livelihoods. It has also made small scale entrepreneurs who are hiking prices for opportunistic reasons crazy. Unfortunately, the emerging poverty and hunger viruses may last longer than Corona Virus. We are certainly in a tight corner. Beyond social distancing, we should reach out to one another as a community and as friends, families and colleagues. The short and long term solution to this plague probably lies in collective strength, co-operation and good leadership at all levels.   

Devil is on the loose,
Fire is on the loose
This could be our noose
Unless we cut the noose

Someone loves the noose
He rigidly fiddles for the noose
Cos he has nothing to lose
If we all face the noose

Our necks are tightened by the black noose
Black patriots cry about the noose
Even white strangers cry about the black noose
Yet fat messengers of the noose
Indolently remain on the loose
To praise the hands of the noose
Till the raging fire of the noose
Consumes us with herdsmen's noose

Who then shall tell the news of the noose?

(c) Hope Eghagha

This is my third commentary on the Corona virus pestilence (see “E ku Corona o” – ThisDay, March 3, and “Amala and the Corona virus patient” – ThisDay, March 10), and now, three weeks later, the most important subject still remains this mysterious plague that has changed the way we live, the way we think, the nature and character of markets, physical and futures, the face of globalization, relationships, and the world as we know it. This is not the first time a pestilence will afflict the world: commentators have traced the genealogy all the way to pre-historic times, with the most often quoted being the Biblical times, at the time of the 10 Egyptian plagues and  the travails of Jews in Egyptian captivity, 5^th C, BCE, as narrated in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, the Plague of Athens (430 BC), the Black Death (1346 -1353), the American Plagues (1519),  the Great Plague of London (1665 -1666), the scourge of cholera (1817), the Spanish flu which infected 500 million people (1918 -1920), and in more contemporary times, the outbreak of  HIV/AIDS (since 1981), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) – since 2002,  Zika (2015 -2016), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) – since 2012, and Ebola – since 1976, most impactful 2014 -2016, 2018 -2019. But whereas the death rate for these other diseases may be on the high side, the current strain of Corona Virus code-named COVID-19 has proven to be worse than anything else mankind has seen. It spreads like wildfire. It has no known confirmed cure and science has not yet fully decoded it. World leaders from Boris Johnson to Donald Trump, UN Secretary General, and Angela Merkel have compared what the world faces and is experiencing to a state of war, and indeed mankind is at war, a different kind of war, which exposes humanity to the full extent of its own vulnerability.  

In the natural chain of being, man sees himself at the head of the chain. He imagines himself to be the master of the universe, the most wondrous creation of God, gifted with immense cognitive powers to dominate and master the environment and modify nature to his own will. At the height of his glory, man celebrates his own genius and invincibility. Epistemological advances from pre-history to the present have thus been about man and the beauty of his capacity to tame nature and the environment and cast himself in the image of God. But for all his accomplishments, the biggest irony is that the more man seeks knowledge and attempts to master nature, the more he is reminded of the dimensions of the unknowable, the infinite immensity of the Cosmos, and the more this happens, man strives further, literally struggling with the proverbial task of Sisyphus in one myth and that of Atlas in another. In the face of this existential, or ontological dilemma, man is ultimately reminded that he is no more than a gnat, a very small part of the cosmos. Covid-19 is a reminder of this infinitesimality of man in the scheme of things. 

It is also a  most humbling experience about the power of science and reason, for it is clear to me that even if science catches up tomorrow with this rampaging mystery, and the Gordian knot is deciphered, there is no guarantee that humanity will not again be confronted with another challenge. Natural disasters have buffeted the world. Corona Virus has dismantled the well-known Elizabethan Chain of Being template on which many societies are based, even Queens and Princes are in self-isolation today. Celebrities and the High and Mighty have been humbled. The streets are empty. The markets are grappling with unusual demand and the crisis of supply. The world is literally on its knees. We are all left wondering: why? We can’t touch surfaces. We cannot hug loved ones. We cannot sneeze or cough. Or kiss. We are told to stay away from others. The same world that is supposed to be a global village has suddenly become a vast collection of neighboring but isolated islands. All the things that make us human are suddenly weaponized as tools of separation by a pestilence called Corona. In the year 2020, mankind has been reminded of the limits of its own intelligence. Is this a test? From where? And by whom?  Or is this a case of man overreaching himself, using his own intellect and ego to self-destruct and cause havoc for the community of a hitherto “coherent” whole? 

Throughout known history, whenever man faces a crisis of such unknowable nature, his tendency is to resort to religion, faith, and ego. Ego, first: man believes in the worst of circumstances that he is invincible. In the face of Corona Virus, we have seen scientists racing against time, we have seen competition between the United States and China – the race is more about who will be the first to find the cure. Added to that is the racial dimension amplified by the megalomaniacal US President Donald Trump who insists on referring to COVID-19 as the Chinese Virus. This is not the the time for the world to play the politics of ego. What humanity needs is social solidarity in the face of one of the worst manifestations of Evil since the Biblical Last Temptation. Faith, second: Human beings are animals of faith. They simply believe that no matter what, they will defy every odd. This is the source of all the conspiracy theories around and about Corona Virus: from black people insisting that black does not crack and that even Corona Virus cannot affect a black man to the delusionary thinking that Corona Virus cannot survive in the Tropics. The same people have since heard about the status of Idris Elba and his wife, both as black as this writer, but they won’t listen. They have been told that a Nigerian in Canada, another in the UK,  and another Nigerian in Nigeria yesterday, have died of Corona Virus, still they won’t believe. They insist that the consumption of alcohol or brewed Neem leaves (Dogonyaro as it is known locally) would help. President Donald Trump turned himself into a self-appointed Chief Medical Director of the world when he announced that the use of chroloquine phosphate is the cure for Corona Virus. He has since been disowned more or less by the US Food and Drug Administration agency, the FDA, which says it is still investigating possible cures for Corona Virus and has not made any discovery to that effect. Nonetheless there are persons around the world who by Trump‘s say-so have embarked on chloroquine self-medication.  President Trump’s declaration is irresponsible. Over the weekend, Nigeria recorded cases of chloroquine poisoning simply because some people listened to one powerful fake doctor called Donald Trump. World leaders have every right at this moment to empathize and show solidarity but they also have a duty to make only strictly responsible statements.  

Religion: I have left this as a last point to be addressed because this is precisely what many fall back upon in a season of distress and so it has been. As Corona Virus arrived in Africa, and made its landing in a few countries, the people trooped to places of religious worship in typical default response. Africans, victims of Karl Marx’s often wrongly contextualized statement that “religion is the opium of the people” usually blame God for everything. They regard God as the ultimate solution, indeed as the know-it-all-Being, the invocation of whose name can provide all answers to everything on earth. Richard Swinburne, a theist argues in his book - Is There A God? (Oxford University Press, 2010), that whereas the existence of God is “the ultimate brute fact”, human beings also have “obligations” or what he calls “supererogatory good actions” or “moral truths” to which they must abide even as they profess their love for God. Africans often mix this up. As the Corona Virus pestilence spreads in the continent from one or two cases to over 1, 500 cases and over 50 deaths, more of the people rely on the assurances of Pastors and Imams who promise a cure or advertise the possibility of it. In Ghana, one Prophet said he had found an anointing oil to cure Corona Virus, and the Chief Imam of the same country reportedly announced that all Muslims are now free to consume alcohol to combat Corona Virus. While Europeans and Asians are in quarantine, Africans rush for anointing oil, alcohol and herbal solutions. When Trump proclaimed chloroquine as cure, they obeyed him robotically. In Nigeria, pastors and all sorts have come up with passages in the Bible to justify the pestilence and how the cure is spiritual. Corona Virus vigils and special deliverance programmes have since been announced across communities.  The people ignore science and reason and decide to follow religion. It is the most scandalous part of the experience so far in Nigeria. The matter was put to the test just this last Sunday. 

By Friday, the Federal Government of Nigeria had announced that no church or mosque or any event at all should have a congregation of more than 50 persons. To our utter surprise, the Friday prayer worship was held in mosques across the country. Every announcement that Jumat prayers had been shut down in Iran and the entire Middle East, and that Nigerians should do the same, fell on deaf ears. The people insisted that it is at a time like this that the people need God. The Christians repeated the offence on Sunday. Lagos and Ogun state governments had to call out Task Forces to disperse church services which violated the official directive that every one should observe social distancing. In Lagos, event centres were sealed off, bars and restaurants were shut down.  What is it about our people? 

There is a video now making the rounds on social media about how some persons in Zimbabwe had to be caned to get them out of church on Sunday. Nobody caned people in Nigeria. But given the fact that nobody has any right to endanger the lives of others or even commit suicide, I am recommending that this week, should any strong-headed person refuse to obey the directives on social distancing, either on Friday or Sunday, such persons should be physically whipped by Nigeria’s law enforcement agencies. Nigeria has recorded up to 40 cases of Corona Virus with one death. That was how it started in China, Italy, Iran, the US and the UK.  Nigeria should not become the epicenter of Corona Virus in Africa, just because some people believe that God will do it. The painful truth is that many Nigerians, Muslim and Christians alike, including the educated, suffer from the “Jerusalem syndrome.” This is the biggest threat to all efforts so far to contain the spread of Corona Virus. The Jerusalem syndrome is a form of mental disorder, a kind of delusion, the pain that believers inflict on themselves. Extremely religious people behave as if they want the world to come to an end, in line with their expectations and tantrums. They should not be allowed to put all of us at risk. 

Christopher Hitchens who likes to identify as a libertarian anti-theist, is the author of a book titled “God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything” (London: Atlantic Books, 2007). He argues in Chapter Two of the book that “Religion Kills” and in Chapter Four he writes: “A Note on Health to Which Religion can be Hazardous”.  It is perhaps not an accident that in South Korea, the most affected group is a religious congregation. Italy, the home of the Vatican, is the epicenter of the pestilence in Europe and has since displaced Wuhan as the global epicenter.  

Friedrich Nietzsche before eventually proclaiming the Death of God (1882), wrote about what he called the “futility of an illusion”, that is the illusion that religion can save humanity, or the futility of illusions that we embrace in order to make life possible. Sigmund Freud in 1927 wrote a similar book about The Future of an lllusion. Today, we are in the age of illusions. There have been too many illusions especially around the subject of the Corona Virus. People ignore the reality and embrace illusions. They want to live but they ignore the biggest threat of the decade. This is why in Europe, sanctions are being imposed on persons who refuse to obey the social distancing and lockdown rule. The UK Prime Minister has promised more drastic measures if people refuse to stay at home. In Italy, the police are out on the streets to arrest those who defy the Corona Virus order. Nigeria must follow up all existing measures with strict sanctions for those who continue to embrace the illusion that Corona Virus is a foreign virus. It is not. The pestilence is here. 

For a fact: Nigeria has adopted a number of measures: schools have been shut down, airports have been closed, state governments have responded, some steps have been taken to protect the economy and businesses (not far-reaching enough), but the big missing link, I insist, is the absence of sanctions for those who continue to argue that the pestilence means nothing because they believe “something” will protect them. That something may feed their illusions, but it may not protect others. It is because of such persons that Nigeria should impose strict, enforceable sanctions. As we have seen, Corona Virus is not a respecter of boundaries, nations, persons, status, faith or size. What is missing is what Nietzsche calls the “gymnastics of the will”, the will to confront a wicked problem with reason and common sense. Rwanda, Ghana and South Africa are doing much better than other African countries. Nigeria has the largest population in the continent. It carries a much heavier burden of its own and for the sub-region, if not the continent. We need more purposeful leadership, and a greater sense of urgency. Let me end this with this:  China has often proclaimed its love for Africa. It has managed so far to combat its own Corona Virus burden. Will it step forward at this critical moment to help Africa or look the other way?  

In the world of literature and the arts- imagic, plastic, graphic and visual – there is no power in the hands of one dominant, tyrannical individual as may be found in partisan politics, power is located in a widespread but felt realm of imagination, distributed into the hands and minds of many individuals, agents and reincarnations of the Muses, who distinguish themselves with the fecundity of their talent, the awesomeness of their imagination, and their natural capacity to build, illuminate, re-define and extend the traditions of human thought and accomplishments. It is our duty as a community and as beneficiaries to celebrate these special individuals whose outputs transcend the boundaries of colour, identity, race, ethnicity and religion, and who by their efforts in the kingdom of the imagination, affect, enrich and transform our lives. From the village, ancestral griots in Africa, to the ritual priests of Egypt, the priests of ancient Hellenistic post-ritual enactments, the gladiators of Roman festivals, through the centuries to the Alarinjo, Ayinla Omowura, Rihanna, Beyonce, and Tiwa Savage and all the poets, drummers, the dancers, actors and actresses, painters, wordsmiths, and the models who capture time and  space with their hips and swings, my firm belief is that humanity owes those who think, create, and engage society with their reconstruction of verbal and non-verbal imageries, a great debt of gratitude. Today, I devote this column and pay tribute to one of such persons: Odia Ofeimun, the poet, polemicist, author, journalist, publisher, and politician who turned 70, yesterday, March 16. 

At 70, Ofeimun has lived through many of the great events of post-independence Nigeria  and he is without doubt, one of the most articulate and persistent chroniclers and critics of that experience. He is a key voice in the perpetual search for a transformative, regenerative Nigerian revolution. For the better part of his life, Odia Ofeimun has devoted his time and energy to the task of “taking Nigeria seriously”, and yet this is a country that hardly rewards commitment and diligence. Instead, we reward characters who have no clear understanding of what it means to “take Nigeria seriously”.  In a country of 200 million people that can hardly generate up to 4, 000 MW of electricity, one clown from Niger State showed up in the Senate the other day and proposed a bill to ban generators. In Odia Ofeimun’s native country, so many other clowns have showed up over the years, but that has not deterred him from “taking Nigeria seriously.” Every brilliant Nigerian who continues to take Nigeria seriously is a patriot and an agent of change and hope. 

The man I celebrate today, Odia Ofeimun achieved intellectual maturity quite early and under quite inauspicious circumstances and this should serve as a lesson to the younger generation. Born and raised in Iruekpen in the Ekpoma Division of what later became known as the Mid-West, Odia Ofeimun arrived in Lagos as a secondary school drop-out and with nothing other than Primary School education. His father was a rich mechanic who fell on bad times. His grandfather was a man of noble extraction, with many wives and an active, fertile loin. Faced with family misfortune, Odia found his way to Lagos. His first job, as he told me the story himself, was as a factory worker in Ijora-Badiya area of Lagos. The name of the company is West African Thread Company. He did night-shifts, carrying load and managing to sleep wherever nature called. This did not discourage him.  He studied privately on his own and eventually wrote the School Certificate Examination, the famous GCE. He passed. He also enrolled privately later for the Higher School Certificate Examination. He also passed. In those days, the HSC was a prestigious piece of qualification. It was the ticket for Direct Entry admissions into universities. But there was something else about this factory worker: he loved words and he discovered poetry and literature. He scribbled on scraps of papers and notebooks. By sheer accident of fate, he sent a few of his poems to the then Mr. Wole Soyinka, who had become a celebrated African writer, and who was at the time putting together an Anthology of West African poetry. Soyinka has a life-long reputation for responding to every mail, especially from younger writers seeking his attention and support, and also being ready to encourage younger artists in general. In making his selection, Soyinka who did not now who Odia Ofeimun was, selected his poems and included them in the anthology. The factory worker became a published poet! Odia Ofeimun’s life would never be the same again.

Fate would also later bring him in contact with Mr. Bola Ige (as he then was), lawyer and rising star in the political firmament of Nigeria’s Western region.  Ofeimun’s HSC result got him a place at the University of Ibadan where he studied Political science.  He once told me Chief Bola Ige (as he later became) supported him financially. A few years ago, Odia Ofeimun visited the same factory in Ijora, Lagos where he was just a factory hand. He was surprised to find some of his old colleagues still on duty!  They had heard about his accomplishments. They were excited to see one of their own who had now become a superstar on the global stage. Ofeimun’s story is inspirational. Every young man who is depressed and thinking of ending it all at the Lagos Third Mainland Bridge, Nigeria’s suicide highway should remember Ofeimun’s story, the son of a bankrupt mechanic who made a name for himself on his own steam. Odia Ofeimun does not have billions in the banks, he has no powers to remove a traditional ruler from office, but the President of Nigeria has issued a statement congratulating him on his 70^th birthday!         

From a small factory in Lagos as labourer, Ofeimun created a manufacturing factory of his own. The only difference is that he manufactures words. He writes. He talks. He thinks. His factory of words is large, expansive, prodigious, his exports have earned him a solid, unimpeachable reputation. That dirty-clothed factory worker in Ijora is now a foremost public intellectual, and an undisputed leader in his chosen vocation, dressed in his own fashion choice of aso oke attires as a man of culture and as a promoter of African cultural symbols. It is a great privilege to know him.  It is a great blessing to be “one of the boys” of this immensely gifted writer who we refer to affectionately as “Baba” (for he is indeed a father figure in Nigerian arts and culture), or “Owanle” (in his native Esan language, that means “Elder”) or as most of us do, we just call him “Odia.” He doesn’t mind. He is a man completely without vanity, pretentions or affectations.

The thing that appeals to me most about him is his formidable intellect, which confers on him an unmistakable authority in both personal and intellectual circumstances. His mind is nimble and rich. He is able to turn every conversation into an argument and enrich it with his advantage of rich exposure. He is an orator even if he lacks the diplomacy of an orator seeking to win an audience to his side. Odia does not seek to persuade. He challenges you and he can be very obstinate with his views. He has an uncanny capacity to switch the template in an argument, he will take ownership of your argument, explain it better with facts, history and anecdotes, dismantle your original argument and then insist on his own original position. This unusual talent has brought him into conflict with those who consider him too intellectually aggressive and uncompromising. When he speaks, he sounds like he is writing. When you read his writings, he sounds like an orator’s delivery with all the emotions. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. He got a full measure of the implications of this when as Secretary General and later President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), he thought he was in a position to direct the past, present and future prospects of the association. He was stoutly resisted by those who thought he should not be allowed deploy literary leadership as a tool of management and organizational knowledge. Many years later though, it is beginning to look as if he was the actual owner of some, not all, of the arguments.  

Odia’s big shortcoming is that he does not hesitate to make his position very clear and he has enough vocabulary to prove his point. He is a voluminous thinker. Whereas his poetry is precise, his prose is a big volume of words, carefully scored to a rhythm. Every subject for him is a philosophical problem wbich must be analyzed to the point of exhaustion. Odia’s essays do not end; they stretch into other arguments.  Long before Corona virus became a public health crisis, Odia Ofeimun infected the younger generation of Nigerian thinkers with the coronavirus of thought and ideas in the public domain.

What we have in return is a rich harvest of over 40 books and seminal essays. A balance sheet of Odia Ofeimun’s public career further reveals a number of high points, beyond the narratives above. One, he was the Private Secretary to Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the legendary and iconic Yoruba leader in the middle and later part of the 20^th Century. Ofeimun competed for that position with some Yoruba sons, but he was Awo’s choice. Awo did not know him. He had never met him. He got the job purely on merit. Awo was a living legend and sage. Working for him was like serving tutelage at the feet of an Avatar. In due course, it was reported that some documents escaped from Awolowo’s private bedroom which showed up on the pages of a national newspaper, and exposed the great Awo to gross embarrassment. The Yoruba elements who never wanted Odia Ofeimun on the job conspired against him, and made him the scapegoat. Till today, nobody knows exactly what happened. But I am shocked that each time this topic comes up, Odia refuses to be malicious. He remains an Awoist and a friend of those he believes may have been behind his travails in the Awolowo household. He continues to adore and promote Awo.  

He moved beyond the Awo debacle to become a strong force in the market place of ideas. Man is born to rise and fall and rise again. He experiences the cycles of fate: he lives and dies and rises again. Odia Ofeimun’s life is a script written in the city of the Phoenix. His resilience is the stuff of genius. He served as a member of the Editorial Board of The Guardian newspapers. He was an editorial writer and an active contributor to the polemics on the pages of Nigerian newspapers in the 80s and early 90s. It is sad that there is no debate on the opinion pages of Nigerian newspapers today. Every character who ever passed through the newsroom is now a columnist. Opinionitis – a disease as bad COVID-19, is now rife. Creativity is scarce. We are now in the age of the columnist as a consultant-propagandist. Ofeimun belongs to a different generation. That generation survived for a while, until it ended up in the hands of anyone who ever wrote a news intro.  

After The Guardian, Odia went abroad. But fate bought him back and he lived in the Aromire- Ikeja area of Lagos where all the young boys learning to write poetry converged on his space and he became the Godfather of a whole generation of Nigerian poets. He later became the Chairman of the Editorial Board of The News and Tempo and was part of the struggle for Nigeria’s second independence- that is the independence from military rule and Northern totalitarianism. Odia’s journalism bears the same imprints as his poetry. A skilful reader of his writings  across the genres will see a persistent attempt to reach a high level of perfection and idealism, a devotion to humanism, and a determination to correct what is wrong with society. In his various essays, Odia is not afraid to engage in theoretical disputes. And is he fully armed? Yes, he is.  He is a romantic though. He does not often appreciate the aesthetic, delicate, distance between theory and action.  

He has always boasted that he is in a position to teach Nigerian politicians how to play politics. I guess this is why in 2015, he aspired to become Governor of Edo State. I wrote a piece in The Guardian in which I lampooned him.  It is good he didn’t make it. His fate would have been worse than that of Godwin Obaseki, current Governor of Edo State, whose biggest challenge is the scourge of the the politics of “Godfatherism.” Odia would have written poems and essays to attack the Godfather and his agents and he would have been in bigger trouble. 

I admire Odia Ofeimun. But I particularly do not like the fact that he extends his intellectual authority beyond his own limits. I recall how he tried in my younger days to act as a marriage counsellor: his only qualification being the fact that he was at my wedding and the naming ceremonies of my children. When he tried to start intellectualizing about how to be a husband, I reminded him that he had never married a woman in his life, and so, he should not act like the Pope. Once Odia knows your wife, you cannot take even an innocent female Personal Assistant to his house! He claims to be an expert in matters like that, when we all know that he and one famous Ijebu Chief’s daughter are…Okay, I have to stop there… Look at your ears, aproko somebody, you too like gist! Odia is a good cook. He knows how to entertain. He dances well.  He doesn’t drink alcohol, although if you invite him to a party, he is likely to bring a bottle of wine. He is a wonderful friend and mentor. My family knows him as Daddy Odia. From all of us, may you live long sir to become the Odionwele of your clan in Esan West Kingdom.  Congratulations.  

Of all the updates that have been given so far by the Lagos State authorities on the government’s efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus, and ensure proper care for the reported index case, and other possible cases (there is a second case now), the most intriguing update for me is the disclosure that the Italian index case who has since been quarantined at the bio-security facility in Lagos, is recovering -  indeed so well that he now eats a local delicacy, called “Amala”. This disclosure was attributed to the Manager of the Bio-security Centre in Lagos, Dr. Bankole Akinwale. Let no one be under any mistaken impression that the doctor was trying to suggest that the eating of amala, is any form of cure for corona virus; he being a Yoruba had to find the most graphic way to convey the patient’s health status as at the time he made that disclosure six days ago.  

Amala is a special delicacy that is very popular among the Yoruba people of Nigeria. It is in two forms, white and dark brown colours: the former is made from cassava, and is far more popular among the Egba people of Ogun State. They call it Lafun. The latter which is the standard paste is made from yam. Both are best consumed with a variety of soups particularly okro, ewedu, ogbono, or well-made egusi soup or vegetables. When a Yoruba man tells you that he is eating or enjoying amala, it is an indirect way of telling you that he is in good health. In Nigeria, it is not unusual to find persons who associate a good appetite with being well and alive. It is assumed that the sick may not really have a good appetite. This is why the moment a sick person begins to feed well, that is seen as a good sign of recovery. There may be no scientific basis for it, but at least that is what the people believe. 

And so when the doctor in charge of the coronavirus isolation centre in Lagos reports that the Italian in the facility’s care has started eating amala, he simply spoke “YorubaEnglish”.  An Italian eating Amala? When did he develop the taste for it? Many of the persons I discussed the matter with began to wonder whether there is actually a kitchen at the isolation centre. We tried to imagine the recuperating Italian dropping dollops of amala into his mouth, with slimy okro and ewedu, and having a good bite of goat meat, intestine, tripe, stockfish, fresh fish or what Iya Sunday, my favourite amala seller calls “orisirisi.”  

Only one person objected to the disclosure of the information about the Italian who now eats Amala.

“That was an overkill,” he said… 

“It was okay to just tell us that the Italian is recovering. Telling the public that the man now eats Amala. Do you know that some hungry Nigerians can now show up at the isolation centre, hoping to also eat free Amala?, ” he added. 

“God forbid! What kind of joke is that?” another person quipped. “We are talking about Corona Virus. It is a deadly disease. Why would anybody go to an isolation centre just because he or she has heard that they are serving Amala there. It is an isolation centre, not a restaurant.” 

“Dey there. You don’t know some Nigerians. There is so much poverty in this land. People will do anything just to have three meals a day. Government is using its resources to address the corona virus challenge. Testing and treatment are free, and if you recover quickly, you may be served hot piping amala. People will troop down there for a free meal. And may be a bottle of beer.” 

“I beg, jare, do you know if they will also serve nkwobi, isi ewu, tuwo shinkafa, and edikaikong at the isolation centre?”, one obvious clown interjected. 

The conversation went on circuitously, and was beginning to assume the shape of a pepper-soup joint repartee when someone sternly reminded us all that there was nothing funny about Corona Virus and that since the index case was identified, there has been another confirmed case in Nigeria, effectively bringing up the number of cases to two. What makes it all the more frightening is the fact that the second person contracted the virus through contact with the first reported case. It has been more than a week since that Italian was quarantined in Lagos. The second reported case during that period has been out there also making contact with other people, who have also contacted others.  Nigeria’s early response mechanism and multi-sectoral collaboration to contain the spread of the virus may be commendable, but two weeks later, there are obvious gaps that need to be addressed, and efforts need to be further intensified. How effective is the contact tracing protocol for the two identified and confirmed cases? 

There are reported 23 laboratories and isolation facilities in the country. But what is their quality? Senate President Ahmad Lawan and a team from the National Assembly recently visited the two isolation centres in Abuja. He had to raise an alarm. He met the facilities in such a poor state, he had to threaten to return with his team within a week to check if there have been any improvements. Senator Ahmad Lawan also lamented that the Ministry of Finance has not released money ear-marked for the fight against Corona Virus. His protest helped. Three air conditioners were hurriedly installed the day members of the National Assembly visited. Other states of the Federation including Ekiti, Plateau, Benue, Kano, Bauchi, Osun, Ondo, Cross River, Nasarawa, Edo, the FCT and Ogun have announced measures to contain the spread of Corona Virus, but in reality only Lagos State appears to be better prepared. In the event of an outbreak, even the facilities in Lagos and the FCT will be overstretched. 

There are lessons that we can learn from elsewhere. As at February 7, 2020, Italy reported only three confirmed cases of Corona virus. By February 16, the number had risen to 21.  What followed was an explosion in the numbers. About 9, 172 people are with the virus in Italy today. Over 463 have died. Italy is the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe. Italian Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte has released a health decree imposing restrictions on the movement of people in the region of Lombardy and about 15 provinces, thus quarantining about 16 million people in Northern Italy. They are not allowed to move in and out of the territory until April 3. Violation of the restriction order will attract stiff penalties: jail time and a fine.  Italy is now effectively on complete lock down. Sporting events around the world are being postponed. Football matches are now being played behind closed doors. Supermarkets, cinemas have been shut down. The United Kingdom is in a panic mode. The NHS is already overstretched.  Many nations are imitating China. The United States has set aside $8.3 billion. This is not just the flu. The world is on fire! 

I do not think that the average Nigerian even takes the Corona Virus threat seriously. One enlightened fellow, a man who should know, told me the other day that we don’t need to panic. He insisted there is too much hysteria over Corona virus and that in six months, it would have passed.  One famous Pastor has been quoted as saying there will be rainfall before the end of the month and that rainfall will wash Corona Virus away. The Pastor has a large following. His followers believe him. In Ghana, another  Pastor is now making a fortune out of what he calls Corona Virus Anointing Oil. Yes. Anointing Oil! In Nigeria, churches are also making brisk business out of Corona Virus. They are organizing prayer sessions and night vigils where worshippers hold hands, sneezing in each other’s faces and polluting the environment with saliva. Nigerian cinemas are still open and crowded every weekend. Wedding and funeral parties remain busy. People are still going about sticking out their tongues for a kiss. A serious public health crisis is most certainly around the corner. We need to be better prepared. This is how bad the situation is: Every other country began its encounter with Corona with one index case and gradually, the virus spreads…  

The time has come for President Muhammadu Buhari to take personal charge of the crisis and address the nation.  Human lives are in danger. The Nigerian leader must step forward and give the people hope. More so, as the Corona Virus pandemic is threatening not just the global economy but the Nigerian economy which is bound to take a terrible hit. During the last global financial crisis, Nigeria managed somehow to survive the external shocks. With the present global threat, the circumstances are different. A week ago, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, drew attention to the fact that the fundamentals of the 2020 Budget would have to be reviewed in collaboration with the National Assembly. When Mrs. Ahmed spoke, the spot price of Brent crude had gone down to $52 dollars per barrel due to the Corona effect on global demand for crude.  

With the travel and tourism industry and the manufacturing sector shut down in many countries, oil prices have crashed. OPEC had on its agenda a discussion of further cuts for its members: an additional 1.5 million barrels per day. Nigeria’s 2020 Budget is based on a projection of 2.1 million barrels per day, and an exchange rate of N360 to the dollar. Since Mrs Ahmed spoke, things have turned worse. Oil prices have collapsed! As at yesterday, the price of Brent crude was down to $31.80. The major catalyst for this is the price war between Saudi Arabia and its long-time ally, Russia. Russia refused to agree to further production cuts, insisting it can survive on a price of $25 per barrel, and enough reserves to support its national currency, the rouble. Saudi Arabia is also threatening to flood the oil market by raising its own production level, thus forcing prices down.  Saudi Arabia has a number of advantages. Russia can also absorb the fall-out. But where does a collapse of oil prices leave Nigeria and others? Lower oil prices will affect economies that depend on crude oil.  Global stock markets virtually came to a standstill yesterday. The New York Stock Exchange had to shut down for 15 minutes. Faced with the biggest shock since 1991, trading was halted. Stocks plunged. Yields on government bonds moved southwards.    

What is happening is enough to cause panic in Nigeria. Can Nigeria afford to sell crude oil at $25 per barrel? Our production cost is about $30 per barrel. Our daily production capacity is between 1.7 to 2 million barrels of crude oil per day. Can we afford like Saudi Arabia and Russia to increase production? Truth: We don’t have the capacity. Oil and gas business is oily and capital-intensive. We don’t have the resources. And even if we produce more oil, who will buy from us given the emergent energy demand crisis in the world? The worst case scenario, if the present situation persists, is a huge shortfall in Nigeria’s oil revenue.  If prices fall below $30 per barrel, our economy will simply fail. We cannot boast like Russia that we have enough reserves to absorb the shocks. Our effective foreign reserves cannot offer us much protection. The Excess Crude Account is depleted. All essential indicators: inflation, unemployment interest rates, debt to GDP ratio are all likely to rise. Nigeria thus faces the threat of another recession, and probably an inevitable devaluation of the Naira. Poverty will spread. Growth will stall.  

Mr Bode Ososami, Arise News Business Analyst expressed the view on The Morning Show on Arise News yesterday morning that somehow, Nigeria is always resilient in the face of worst scenarios. I admire his optimism. But if anything, Corona Virus has exposed Nigeria’s utter vulnerability, particularly with regard to our over-dependence on crude oil revenue. When South Africa slipped into recession recently, some Nigerians started jubilating that the Nigerian economy had overtaken the South African economy. Two weeks later, Nigeria faces its own prospect of recession and yet, the South African economy is far more efficient and competitive. Right now, the US is also mulling the possibility of a recession. The US government is talking about economic stimulus options. What are we saying in Nigeria? We need all the economists, virologists, epidemiologists and all the talking heads, real and fake to start talking. What options are available? The emergency that the country faces cannot be left to the political leadership alone. We need a frank and open conversation on one critical subject: how to save Nigeria. And two co-joined things: public health and the economy. 

Yes, there is so much going on in Nigeria right now. I know that. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank, the outspoken and cerebral Emir of Kano has just been deposed.   We can deal with that: the security implications, the morality of it, the meaning for the people of the North. Emir Sanusi didn’t need the job anyway. He has enough talent, intellect and skills to survive in the open society. His detractors may end up regretting his removal because they may have just turned him into a hero. There is also serious in-fighting in the ruling party, the APC. The gladiators should learn to keep their egos in check and put Nigeria first!. The National Assembly has also approved an external borrowing plan of $22. 7 billion: right now, who will that help? The simple point is this: nobody should play “amala politics” with Corona Virus. The President should personally lead the fight against this global scourge that threatens to cripple the economy and throw more Nigerians into poverty and misery. It is not enough to set up another committee.  

The Yoruba people of South Western Nigeria, described by one English Language dictionary as the fun-loving people of the Southern part of West Africa have a habit of greeting people over everything. Whatever the matter is, they just like to greet, and they will go to any extent to design a message around any event. If the sun is high in the sky, they will greet you and draw your attention to the heat. If it is too cold, the average Yoruba man will remind you that the weather is cold and try to identify with you: “E pele otutu yi.” For other Nigerians who have a different culture and tradition, it can be somewhat irritating. I once thanked a Fulani friend of mine for supporting me when my mother died, he had to remind me that I had already thanked him three times and he felt embarrassed being thanked again and again. He told me to stop!

I recall, most fondly the case of one of my late bosses in my days at The Guardian. Chief as we all called him was the eyes and the ears of the owner of the company. He was Mr. Alex Ibru’s cousin. In his own right, he was a distinguished journalist, one of the best that the Nigerian media industry ever produced. Knowledgeable, confident and self-assertive, Chief was not anybody’s fool. He was a no-nonsense person. He knew the job. He knew everybody. He was not afraid to make enemies. He groomed younger persons.  He was our father. But one morning, one Yoruba boy made the mistake of greeting him too much. Yoruba people are very bad when it comes to greetings: they will look at the clock and tell you: “e ku asiko.” Other Nigerians don’t understand why an entire ethnic group must always greet people.  

At The Guardian, this young Yoruba boy ran into Chief Andy Akporugo, and greeted him: “E pele sir. Migwo sir.” 

Chief fired back: “Shut up. This is the fifth time you are greeting me today. Don’t you have work to do? And why are you not at your desk? Everywhere I go, I run into you and you are busy greeting. Go and sit down and work. Only God knows how many people you have greeted today. If I run into you again and you greet me, I will have you sacked.” 

Before long, word went round that it was a crime to greet Chief Andy Akporugo twice in a day. The only problem was that Chief was everywhere. He moved around like a spirit and the staff felt obliged to greet him and pay homage. Some of us got away with it. He would tell me: “Abati, you know you are a brilliant young man, that is why you get away with everything.” God bless Chief’s soul. But I see his point. Yoruba people greet too much. I was in Abeokuta on Saturday. It was Lisabi day. Lisabi is the patron saint of Egbaland. In 1830, the people of Egbaland in the South Western part of Nigeria declared a nation and formed a government – The Egba United Government (EUG). They related directly with the British and other parts of Europe. In the course of the civil war in Yorubaland in the 19^th Century, the Egbas were led by a man called Lisabi; that army later teamed up with the Ibadan army to protect the entire Yorubaland against the onslaught of the Fulani Army. They won the war. 

They stopped the Fulani Army from dipping the Quoran into the Atlantic Ocean. But the Egba people betrayed Lisabi, their Generalissimo. To atone for that sin, Lisabi is celebrated every year by the people of Egbaland. The Egba National Anthem pays tribute to this valiant warrior. Every Egba child is known as “Omo Lisabi”. Whatever prayer that is taken to “Igbo Lisabi” the spot where the warrior decided to end it all, is answered. So we are told, even when there are other Egba heroes: Balogun Sodeke, Chief Apati of Kemta Lemboye and Ayikondu of Igbein, Ogundipe Alaqtishe, Nlado of Kemta, Ogundeyi of Iporo, Sorunke and Aboaba of Igbein etc.  In 1914, Lord Lugard amalgamated the Northern and Southern Protectorates, and the Lagos Colony. Egbaland thus became part of a new Nigeria. In 1859, Abeokuta was the first Nigerian town to have a newspaper: the Iwe Irohin founded by Henry Townsend of the Church Missionary Society (CMS). Its children will also become the many firsts in Nigerian professions due to early contact with Western education.  In 1930, the people of Egbaland celebrated the first centenary of the Egba nation. There is a Centenary Hall in Abeokuta. The current Alake of Egbaland, Adedotun Gbadebo III, is planning to build a new monument to commemorate the history of the Egba people.   

On Saturday, I was in Abeokuta. Although I was not directly involved in the preparations for Lisabi Day, having so far put off all chieftaincy title acceptance ceremonies, I felt a sense of duty to be in the town on the day the iconic Lisabi was being honoured. I was in town also for political reasons. There had been reports in the newspapers about further frictions in my political constituencies: Ogun Central and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state. You will recall that I was a Deputy Gubernatorial candidate of the PDP in the 2019 general elections in Ogun State.  I was a genuine running mate with only one name and solid certificates, if you know what I mean. I needed to talk to the stakeholders, the foot-soldiers and the people we call “strikers” to get a good sense of the politics. The first man I met was more interested in Corona Virus.

“Deputy, e ku Corona Virus oh.”  

That threw me off balance. Two days earlier, an index case of Corona Virus involving an Italian who returned to the country on February 25 had been reported. The Yoruba people of South West Nigeria wasted no time in constructing a greeting around it: “E ku Corona o” (that is an announcement of awareness and an expression of concern”).  “E pele Corona” (that is an expression of sympathy”).  “A o ni ri ogun Corona lagbara Jesus” (that is a prayer in Jesus name). “Corona ko ni ko wa lo o” (These people are terrible: this statement means Corona will not destroy us.). “E de ku ti Corona yi o” (that is another expression of concern). The way Yoruba people greet and pray, you simply can’t stop them. Every hello is a paragraph. Every greeting is a philosophy. You just need to be patient. I was. 

Nigeria’s first index case who is now in Yaba at the Lagos State Infectious Diseases Hospital was said to have visited Ogun State. He arrived in the country from Italy and went straight to Ewekoro, where there is a cement factory, less than 30 kilometres from Abeokuta.   He then returned to Lagos where he has since been isolated. Ogun State has isolated 28 persons with whom the index case, hopefully he won’t be a super-spreader, reportedly had contact. Across the country, Nigeria has been on the equivalent of a red alert. The Federal Capital. Territory has isolated up to 9 persons. The Benue State Government has set up a 17-man committee to address the likely menace of Corona Virus. Plateau State has quarantined 43 persons in  Wase LGA: 25 Nigerians and 18 foreigners. Edo State has put a mechanism in place to track all travelers to Edo State from every part of the country. On the face of it, Nigeria seems to have done better than other countries of the world.   There is big panic in the United Kingdom with senior doctors protesting that the country is not prepared. In the United States where the first death has been recorded in Washington State, the people think a lot more can be done. In Italy, perhaps the second worst hit country, the authorities are just not prepared. Italy is overwhelmed. Iran is confused. 

I have heard a few voices commending Nigeria. But we are not yet doing enough. We need to do more. It is not enough for President Muhammadu Buhari to tell us not to panic. Nigeria should panic. We face a public health safety crisis. Nobody should tell us not to panic. About the same time that Corona virus made its landing in Nigeria, we were told that Lassa Fever is a major problem in the country: over 100 reported deaths already in more than 27 states. Nigeria also has one of the highest rates of maternal morbidity and infant mortality in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has further reported that Nigeria has the highest sero-prevalence of tuberculosis in the world. HIV/AIDS rate may have reduced in Nigeria but it also remains a serious problem around here. Nigeria also ranks among countries with the highest rates of open defecation in the world. Thus, Nigeria is a country with a public health emergency. It is the more reason why every step must be taken to ensure that Corona Virus does not spread in Nigeria. So far, over 33 countries have been affected including the United States.  There is no cure yet, and what we hear is that the fastest vaccine trial effort in Israel, will take up to three months. Since the Virus left Wuhan, its epicenter, there have been more cases outside China, with the new virulent cases being reported in Italy, South Korea and Iran. The entire world is vulnerable. Our world is at risk. Nobody is safe. The entire world faces the threat of disease. Humanity is humiliated, reminded forcefully and starkly, of its vulnerability and mortality. What is it that we do, that reminds us again and again of the helplessness of man in the face of the immensity and supremacy of the cosmos?   I have no answer. 

Before I left Abeokuta, however, I was shocked when someone asked me to pay for Corona, again in Yoruba language: “Deputy, e sanwo Corona oh”.  I thought this was a joke. I felt like telling the guy he was mad, but he meant business. “E fun wa lowo Corona oh.” He was literally asking me to give him some money for Corona. He had no fever. Nobody around him had been diagnosed as a Corona patient. He just wanted money and he thought mentioning Corona would do the magic. I played along. “Corona ko ni ko wa lo o, tomo tomo.”. In Nigerian politics, you must learn to speak the people’s language and identify with them. The bigger epidemic in Nigeria, in any case, is the epidemic of empty pockets. The ordinary Nigerian will do anything to fill the emptiness of his or her pockets. It is therefore not surprising that the prices of sanitizers, face masks and hand wash have gone up. I won’t be surprised if very soon, there is a Nollywood movie on Corona Virus! I have already seen photos of some beautiful women carefully posted on Social media with the message: “Not all Coronas are deadly!” Phone numbers are discreetly attached. In the midst of everything, sad and tragic, Nigerians always manage to be humorous. The only problem is that there is nothing laughable about a global epidemic.  The World Health Organization (WHO) is yet to declare it a global pandemic. I think the time has come for that. 

COVID-19 as it is designated by the WHO is worse than MERS, SARS, Zika and Ebola before it. Nigeria woke up early to the crisis. We must commend all the agencies that began with public sensitization and enlightenment programmes. The Federal Government, the state governments of Lagos, Ogun, Edo, Plateau, Benue and Edo States have so far done a good job of mobilizing the populace to take precautions or quarantine likely cases.  But we certainly need to do a lot more, relying on lessons from other jurisdictions. 

Is it possible for example for Nigeria to ban arrivals from all high-risk countries until further notice and that should include China, Japan, Italy, Iran, and South Korea? Can Nigeria also issue a travel advisory insisting that any Nigerian that has been in Europe in the last two weeks should be compulsorily isolated, and that no other Nigerian should go to Europe or Asia until further notice? Is it also possible to put every Nigerian state on red alert? There are reports that there is now in Nigeria a scarcity of hand wash, face masks, and sanitizers. The Federal Government should try every effort to ensure adequate supply of these protective materials particularly for our health personnel who are most at risk. Every available isolation and laboratory centre should also be upgraded. We should scale up medical checks at our ports of entry. The index case in Nigeria came in through Murtala Muhammed Airport. He should have been quarantined at the airport and not allowed into the community. As the Yoruba would say: “A o ni ri ogun Corona. Corona o ni ko wa lo o”. You will have to understand Yoruba to get that. 

Yesterday at Arise News, Collins Khumalo of Arise Play came visiting. He had just returned from Europe. We greeted each other shaking legs. He too shook legs with Ijeoma Nwogwugwu, the MD of Arise News.  I later exchanged leg greetings with Chika Mbonu, Arise News Business Analyst.  When I ended up doing high-fives with Ijeoma, I quickly rushed into the bathroom to wash my hands. She provided money for the purchase of hand wash for all toilets in the building.  We later resolved to advise one of our colleagues who just returned from Europe to stay away from the office for the next two weeks if she doesn’t mind. Covid-19 has brought a new form of madness into town. It is disrupting relationships and the the way we behave and do business. Even the Nigerian Stock Market is down. The spot price of Brent Crude has crashed throwing Nigeria’s economy and the 2020 budget into disarray, with genuine anxieties about the eventual value of the national currency, the Naira. Market capitalization has declined. What have we done to deserve this? “E pele Corona oh.”

Here is the main problem with Nigeria’s electricity sector: Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation, but it has failed consistently to generate, transmit and distribute enough electricity to power its development process and accelerate economic growth. Between 1999 and 2007, President Olusegun Obasanjo focused on the reform of the electricity sector as one of the major priorities of his administration. Gas-powered plants were set up across the country under his watch, turbines and other equipment were imported. His government laid the foundation for reform in the power sector but could not complete the process, particularly the privatization of the power sector.  Obasanjo’s legacy includes the National Electric Power Policy (NEPP) of 2001, the National Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 which established the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), and the establishment of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), to replace the notorious National Electricity Power Authority (NEPA). The PHCN was later unbundled into 18 successor companies. By the time President Obasanjo left office in 2007, power generation in the country had increased from about 1, 200 MW in 1999 to 4, 000 MW in 2007. For a country of Nigeria’s size and population, this was not enough to transform the country.  Obasanjo was succeeded by President Yar’Adua.

In the course of his campaign for Presidential office, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua stressed the importance of the electricity sector as an engine of growth. He promised to declare a national emergency in the sector. He eventually didn’t declare an emergency but shortly after assuming office in 2007, President Yar’Adua established a Presidential Committee for the accelerated expansion of Nigeria’s power infrastructure with a mandate to ensure the delivery of 6, 000 additional megawatts within 18 months and an extra 11, 000 MW by 2011. By the time President Yar’Adua gave this directive, Nigeria’s power generation capacity was down to 3,000 MW per day. South Africa with a much smaller population was at the time generating 36, 000 MW. Egypt with a population of 78 million also had a generating capacity of 36, 000 MW. The Yar’Adua Committee which was given 18 days to do its work, submitted its report one year later! 

The House of Representatives also conducted a probe of the electricity sector. The House Committee on Power led by Hon. Ndudi Elumelu accused the Obasanjo administration of having spent over $10 billion on the electricity sector without having much to show for it. The Committee disclosed that between 2000 and 2007, the Obasanjo administration spent over $10 billion on various projects in the power sector. The Elumelu Committee raised questions and demanded answers. The Presidential Committee meanwhile recommended that the country would still need about $85 billion to meet the target of 20, 000 MW generating capacity as recommended by the Vision 2020 Committee. President Yar’Adua in the course of it all, ordered a probe of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). The Chairman of the NERC and six commissioners of the agency were suspended from office and invited for questioning. 

President Yar’Adua’s government soon entered into discussions with General Electric (GE) and later signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the German Government on power development projects in Nigeria. Siemens was one of the six German companies included in that MOU. The Government also launched a Gas Master Plan to address the problem of gas supply to the Papalanto, Omotosho and Geregu power plants built by the Obasanjo government. Contracts worth over $660 million were awarded, but despite all its good intentions, the Yar’Adua government could not make much difference. Power supply remained epileptic in Nigeria. There are many who believe that the efforts of the Yar’Adua administration were abbreviated by a lack of urgency occasioned by the President’s health challenges and the obsession of that administration with the past administration’s expenditure in the power sector. It was so bad that power equipment worth $5 billion that had been imported in 2, 500 (or 800?) containers by the Obasanjo administration, which arrived three days after President Obasanjo left office were abandoned at the ports for three years. Taxpayers incurred a demurrage of N4 billion! 

President Yar’Adua was succeeded by Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. As former Chairman of the National Economic Council and former Chair of the National Council on Privatization, Jonathan was certainly privy to the Electricity Sector Road Map and the Power Sector Master Plan. He continued where his boss former boss stopped, but even more so, from where Obasanjo stopped, and by avoiding the ugly politics and blame game that had developed around the subject of electricity delivery in Nigeria, he was able to make significant process in the areas of accelerated reform, policy execution, provision of power sector infrastructure, public-private sector partnership and privatization. 

President Jonathan had threatened, right from his early days in power that he would privatize the PHCN, and reform the electricity sector. In due course, he launched a Power Sector Transformation Plan and gave full effect to the Nigeria Electricity Sector Regulatory Act of 2005. He commissioned and upgraded a number of power plans including the Azura-Edo power plant, the first fully privately owned Independent Power Plant in Nigeria. He re-organized the PHCN by selling off the Federal Government’s majority stakes in the 18 companies unbundled from PHCN in the shape of six Generation Companies (GENCOS), 11 Distribution Companies (DISCOs) and a Transmission Company owned fully by the Nigerian government. Private sector investors in the GENCOs and DISCOs paid as much as $3.3 billion for the acquired PHCN assets in what was considered an open and fair process even by international observers. Nigerian banks supported the process, investments were also attracted to the gas sector.  By 2013, the power sector had resurrected with installed generation capacity at about 12. 910 MW, but available capacity nevertheless remained at less than 7. 652 MW. Transmission capacity was 8, 1000 MW while a distribution peak of 5, 375 MW was recorded. Thus, the problem of low capacity utilization persisted. 

President Goodluck Jonathan handed over to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. Like other Presidents before him since 1999, President Buhari even as a candidate promised to transform Nigeria’s power sector.  In the run up to the 2015 elections, President Buhari in a document titled “Covenant with Nigerians” and also in the “APC Manifesto”, promised that “The APC government shall vigorously pursue the expansion of electricity generation and distribution of up to 40, 000 MW in 4 to 8 years.” The promised figure was twice the Vision 2020 Committee projection of 20, 000 MW by 2020. The reality is that the Buhari administration has not been able to deliver on that promise. In 2017, former Minister of Power, Housing and Works, Babatunde Fashola claimed that the government had achieved a record 5, 074 MW in actual power generation.  From 2015 to date, President Buhari has continued to give assurances that his administration will sort out the electricity sector crisis. 

The administration has reportedly spent more than N900 billion on the power sector as intervention fund. It has signed a six-year contract with Siemens of Germany for an upgrade and technical input across the value chain to generate up to 25, 000 MW in three phases. The Buhari administration accuses previous administrations – Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan’s of wasting Nigerian resources on the power sector without results and the Jonathan administration of mismanaging the privatization process. It is alleged that over $6.8 trillion has been spent on Nigeria’s power sector since 1999. Meanwhile, the country remains literally in darkness. Many companies have had to relocate from Nigeria. Businesses, homes and families are compelled to provide their own electricity. The cost of diesel is high. Many lives have been lost to generator explosions. There are communities in Nigeria that have not seen electricity for seven years, simply because they are not connected to the national grid! The House of Representatives has asked President Buhari to declare a state of emergency in the electricity sector. The standard response has been to blame either the former ruling party, the PDP (1999- 2015) or the Jonathan privatization process or more specifically, the power distribution companies. In 2017, the Buhari government mooted the idea of probing the power sector from 1999- 2015. 

Needless politicking, sentiments and emotions have proven to be the bane of the electricity sector in Nigeria. Every Minister of Power since 1999 has always been ready with an excuse for inefficiency.  Babatunde Fashola, as Buhari’s Minister of Power, Works and Housing heaped the blame on the privatization process. Buhari’s NERC blames the DISCOs and even threatened to revoke their licences. This blame game continued last week with Fashola’s successor as Minister of Power, Engr. Saleh Mamman threatening that the DISCOs are the problem of the electricity value-chain and if they do not sit up, their licences will be revoked. He says he has even sent a memo to the Federal Executive Council to that effect. The FEC should ignore his memo. Mamman doesn’t sound like he knows what he is talking about. Ignorance is bad in itself, but the kind of tripodal ignorance that has been demonstrated by the current Minister of Power is curious! 

It seems to me that government needs to go beyond scapegoating, passing the buck, sentiments and politics, to address fundamental problems of the electricity sector, and cross-cutting issues in the entire value chain. There are consequential steps that should have been taken after the privatization exercise of 2013/2014 to deepen the transition process away from PHCN which the current administration has conveniently ignored. This is in part responsible for the distortions within the entire value chain. If the Minister of Power does not know what these are, he should consult the Bureau for Public Enterprises, the National Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Vice President’s Office which oversees the National Council on Privatization.  If he does not trust anyone in those departments, let him talk to Nasir el-Rufai, the Governor of Kaduna State who as Director General of BPE, at the time of the commencement of reforms in that sector can tell the story much better -  that is, if he doesn’t choose to play convenient politics. 

If el-Rufai plays politics with the matter, let him talk to Dr. Lanre Babalola and Bola Onagoruwa. For example, the Gas Production and supplies to the various Power Plants are still largely dependent on NGC/NNPC which are government-controlled and as usual cannot respond to the 24 hours need of the privatised power generating plants. Unfortunately, in the last 5 years, this critical component of the value chain of power generation has not been resolved by President Buhari’s Government. Gas Production and supplies is yet to be privatised and NNPC/FGN remain the major bureaucratic problem for the gas-based electricity generating investors. Even the gas price in USD has not been allowed to be translated into appropriate naira tariff for the entire value chain of electricity supplies.

Recently we read in the media, that the Federal Government has granted sovereign guarantee to NNPC to build gas pipeline from Ajaokuta to Kano (AKK) for $2.8 billion, with about two captive gas-powered generating plants along the gas pipeline. But any discerning observer of the industry will ask whether this AKK should be a priority now, when you can deploy the $2.8 billion to solve the immediate problems of the stranded 10 gas-powered generating plants in the hands of NIPP/Niger Delta Power Holding Company. It is certain that this $2.8 Billion project will not be completed in the next 3-4 years and may never get sufficient gas to reach Abuja or Kano, when even Kaduna refinery built since 1989 with Crude Pipeline from Escravos has never gotten enough to refine Nigeria’s export crude on a daily basis. These are the issues each of the Ministers has refused to look into, focussing instead on chasing the DISCOS as the weeping child.

Is Minister Mamman aware at all of the existence of 10 power plants that are being managed by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), a limited liability company that is managed by public officers? The Minister of Power was quoted as saying Nigeria now has a generating capacity of 13, 000 MW in 2020. In 2013, Nigeria had a generating capacity of 12, 910 MW. What has been added since 2015? Even if 7000 MW is produced today, can TCN with its 330KVA/132KVA transmit that much to all the DISCOS? The answer is capital NO. The Minister pretends not to know that TCN is the weakest link between the GENCOs and DISCOs. The Minister should show us how much has gone into 330KVA/132KVA in the last 5 years across Nigeria. 

The Federal Government could have sold ten more power plants to increase capacity. It has not done so. Even then, the so-called claim of 13, 000 MW is at best academic and fictitious. Minister Mamman claims that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has a capacity to transmit 7, 000 MW but it actually transmits about 5, 000 MW out of which the DISCOs can only take about 3, 000MW. There is shortage of electricity in the country and so, high demand for limited supply has driven up prices and yet government is insisting on the withdrawal of subsidy and a hike in electricity tariffs by April 1. I don’t get it.  No wonder all the private sectors, industrial and commercial houses generate electricity at about 70-85 Naira per kilowatt hour for themselves, but this has disenabled them from competing with other manufacturers around the world. This is one of the major reasons that the private sector must be allowed to take over the entire value chain of the electricity industry. Since 2015 that Yola DISCO has been returned to the Federal Government, it will interest the general public to hear from the Minister, how much investment in 132KVA, 33KVA and 11KVA infrastructure has been provided in the entire North East that Yola DISCO covers.

The Buhari government simply needs to move beyond politics and sentiments. If President Buhari succeeds in solving the electricity supply conundrum in Nigeria, that alone will be enough legacy for his administration. He should listen only to those who know. Engr. Saleh Mamman has absolutely no clue. I hope the Minister knows he is a member of the National Council on Privatisation and therefore cannot take any policy decision without NCP approval first.