HOW TO EFFECTIVELY COMBAT THE CORONA VIRUS IN AFRICA.

Poverty in Africa. 

It is no longer news to us in Africa, the effects of the deadly virus code named COVID 19. Like a dream, what was once a Chinese problem alone became America’s problem, then Europe and now a global menace. While there are lots of accusations and counter-accusations, theories and counter theories about the origin, nature and purpose of the outbreak of the pandemic.

Africa has every reason to be concerned about the spread of the virus. Many African countries that are already infected had been careless in preventing it in the first place. For instance, Nigerian government refuses to close the borders while the country was yet to record a single case of the pandemic despite calls from both citizens and international organizations until we had the first recorded case and now the number keeps rising alarmingly in the country. The country could have scaled through if only it had locked its borders before the outbreak. This is a reflection of the African countries attitude to this pandemic- nonchalant.

Corona Virus And Africa. 

As at today, the number of infected people globally has hit two million and it is still spreading. Though the virus broke out in Wuhan, China, yet China has been able to effectively contain this pandemic, such that there is no new recorded case of the virus. This is where the solutions lies for Africa; the Chinese methodology.

It is true that what worked in China may not work here in Africa for many reasons; nevertheless we can borrow from their experience and methods that they used despite their enormous population. Some people may say that climatic condition in the whole of Africa is too different from that of China and that Africa lacks the resources and skills employed by China in combating the pandemic. Yes, they are right but they are not totally right.

These are some of the methods used by China which we can employ in Africa:

1. Building or equipping standard hospitals at record times.
2. Carrying out massive testing.
3. Borders lockdown.
4. Giving stimulus packages to citizens of some countries where there is lockdown.
5.Usage of local herbs and traditional medical practitioners.

1. Building Or Equipping Hospitals At Record Time.

The state of health facilities in many countries in Africa is appalling. The mortality rate from curable and manageable diseases and illnesses is too high. Hardly are there many hospitals in Africa of international standard. Our political class knows this and this is why they travel out of the continent for medical care at the slightest sign of an illness.

 Meanwhile building hospitals with international standard and the state of the art medical and laboratory equipment within a relatively short time would help bring this pandemic to an end soon in the continent. If china could build hospitals in days, then we should be able to build hospitals in weeks, we have the human and natural resources for such tasks only if the African leaders will take responsibilities for the lives of their citizens for once.
Also, may African hospitals lack modern medical equipment and facilities.

A woman dishing out food to pupils in an African primary school. 

For instance, there were only five (5) ventilators in Nigeria as at March this year, imagine such utter regard for human lives! This is so because the political class and the elite don’t receive healthcare in the continent so they don’t care about the deplorable state of the hospitals in the continent. If we want to bring this pandemic to its knees soon, all these must change. Healthcare must be given top priority in African countries.

2. Carrying Out Massive Testing Every Day.

Once again, I want to make reference to China. China tested over eighty thousand (80,000) infected patients within a short period of time and they were able to isolate those ones from infecting the general populace. As at today, the number of recorded cases in the whole Africa is less than three thousand so it is quite manageable at this level.

Each African country with recorded cases should as a matter of fact carry out massive test on daily basis to ascertain the exact number of infected persons. In Oyo State, Nigeria, a woman single handedly donated two thousand (2000) testing kits whereas the government of Nigeria has only one thousand five hundred (1,500) testing kits! This is outrageously abnormal. Why should a government of the whole federation have fewer numbers of testing kits and gears to a private person?! Our leaders need to be questioned. With enough testing kits and isolation centers for infected persons, we will soon put this unpleasant time behind us in Africa.

3. Borders Closure.

African borders are too porous, especially the land borders. Let’s face the truth, if this pandemic had broken out of Africa, the rest of the world would have locked its doors against us. I remember a couple of years back when Ebola broke out in Africa, many developed countries including UK, US and China placed travel ban on Africans in order to make sure that we don’t infect their citizens.

Now that the pandemic broke out from outside Africa, why are the African leaders reluctant to close down the borders? Sometimes you cannot but wonder if God had purposefully given us imbeciles as leaders in Africa. Our borders should be locked down. This is one drastic measure that can prevent the further spread of this pandemic.

Some people argued that our leaders were reluctant in locking down the borders because of its economic implications but now that Africa is infected, we don’t only lock down our international borders, we also declare total lockdown in some cities in Africa, thereby bringing the same economy to its knees. Where is wisdom in locking down the borders after we have been infected?

4. Giving Stimulus Packages To Africans Where There Is Lockdown.

Currently, Nigeria is facing a more serious problem. The spate of crimes (rapes, incest, arson, divorce, robbery and kidnapping) had increased in the past few weeks because the Nigerian federal government declared a total lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja and some state governments too declared lockdowns.

The cases of crimes had increased exponentially because the Nigerian economy, like other African countries’ economy is not structured in such a way that many people can work from the comfort of their homes. Apart from joblessness, idleness and restlessness, many people earn their living daily, yet they have been forced to stay indoor for weeks. How will these people survive?

Declaring a lockdown is one of the efficient means of bring this pandemic to an end but what has the government done to encourage peole to stay in their homes and avoid public places? Nothing!
Despite the huge contributions from corporate organizations and individuals to the Nigerian government to provide stimulus packages to the citizens, we are yet to see a judicious use of those funds.

 I don’t know a single person who had been included in the federal government’s welfare scheme for this pandemic period, yet majority of the people living in my area are living below a dollar per day! So because government has not fulfilled its own part of the bargain, these poor people too continue living their lives as if there is no stay-at-home order. They go out to the streets to hawk, they hug each other when they meet on the streets and they stay out at night to catch fun despite the curfew.

Can we really blame these people? The only message a hungry man would listen to is FOOD. If you are talking about a paradise from somewhere, he would not care at all. So African leaders should step out behind those mansions walls where they are hiding and touch the lives of their citizens. This is not the time to be embezzling public funds for generations yet unborn, this is the time to make a difference in the lives of the people who are still alive.

If government wants the people to stay at home, then the same government must at least provide food for the same people while waiting for this period to be over.
I am working for some private organizations here in Nigeria. Could you believe that the last time I was paid by these organizations was February? Yes. These schools will not pay March salary because the schools had closed before the month ended so as an average Nigerian, I have been living on next to nothing.

Unfortunately, I am still better than millions of other people who didn’t even have a paying job. The truth is, despite the government’s order to stay at home, if I see a job that will pay me at this period, I’ll defy government’s order and go out to do it because I’d rather be infected with the virus than to die from starvation. This is the reality for many Africans.

5. Usage Of Local herbs And Traditional Medicare.

Africa is blessed with many healing herbs and the wisdom of our forefathers concerning healthcare and wellness must not be disregarded no matter how educated or civilized we claim to be. Since the outbreak of this pandemic, we have had testimonies from some infected persons who claimed to have used traditional ways in combating the virus.

One of the most prominent individuals among them is the governor of Oyo State here in Niger, Governor Seyi Makinde who claimed that while he was in isolation, he was made to eat enough fruits, veggies, natural honey and local herbs which boosted his immune system and when he was tested a week after, he was negative!

The white men have demonized and degraded our traditional methods of healing, thus, we the younger generations have little or no faith in the healing powers of the African herbs. During this pandemic, African governments should empower health workers and pharmacists in Africa to come up with natural vaccines made from African herbs. This is not impossible; it only needs a a more visionary and well-coordinated government to do that.

African leaders should as a matter of urgency encourage in every possible way, African pharmacist and health workers to come up with vaccines and drugs which can be effective in treating the virus. I don’t believe that this is a rocket science and I am confident that we have many young minds among our health workers who have bright ideas about how to go about developing a vaccine that would end the pandemic.

Finally, Africa is a late comer sin this pandemic infection but I have a feeling that we would be left behind when the rest of the world finally finds a way of getting out of it. We are not so organized in Africa. Many African countries don’t know the population of their citizens; they only base their numbers on assumptions and records from foreign countries.

The pandemic is still at its early stage in Africa and there’s no saying how long it will stay here or how grievous its consequences would be. If drastic measures are not taken and soon enough, we may end up being the worst hit continent when this is over. In order not to let that happen, proactive measures (as stated above) must be taken to combat the spread of the pandemic.

Thank you.