In this article, I submit that a certain group of Nigerians I clarify as the elite have behaved irresponsibly in this time of COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic and that through their actions, they put their fellow compatriots in harm’s way, and on this basis, I recommend that these elite should be held to account. Particularly, I recommend that they should be individually or collectively prosecuted for their action and inaction which is contributing to the increasing number of domestic transmission of coronavirus in Nigeria. In the following lines, I make evident my case and hope that the public prosecutors and/or private legal practitioners in Nigeria would be encouraged to explore the merit of my submission.
At the start, I must openly declare that I have no formal training in legal affairs. What I put down here is simple reasoning motivated by angst about the carelessness that some persons who ought to know better but for reasons related to self-centredness, acted or failed to act in manners which run contrary to basic recommended preventive measures to halt the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
Until late February when Nigeria reported the first index case in sub-Saharan Africa, involving an Italian who visited Nigeria on a business-related ground, the rest of the world had pondered on whether the virus which had sporadically spread to the rest of the world from China would spare the region. As of March 31, 2020, about a month later, the figure given by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control put the total number of confirmed cases in Nigeria at 139. Out of this number, nine persons had recovered from the virus infection and only two unfortunate deaths had been recorded. This official figure pales when compared to the global trend and may give false hope that all is well with Nigeria.
Statistics available on the Johns Hopkins live update website indicate that the total confirmed cases across the world as of April 1, 2020, are 859,556, of which about 21 per cent recovery and about five per cent deaths have been reported. Africa’s share in the global pandemic from the aforementioned institutional reports is led by South Africa with 1,353 confirmed cases, 31 recovered and five deaths and they are followed by Egypt with 710 confirmed cases, 157 recovered and 46 deaths as of April 1.
There is, however, a genuine concern that Nigeria’s low number may be as a result of the low rate of testing of suspected cases since the nation’s index case was identified. This should be a concern because despite taking the lead in having the first case, Nigerian authorities were slow to take tough decisions to halt movements and contain the spread of the virus. Consequently, as the number of people confirming positive to coronavirus increases in the country, the net of persons believed to have been exposed to the virus in Nigeria would have drastically increased. Yet, the NCDC’s report of the number of testing is staggeringly low. As revealed by the director-general of the NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, on March 31, Nigeria’s current capacity to be scaled up in the coming week is about 500 tests a day. In contrast, South Africa has conducted over 40,000 tests on suspect cases as of the end of March with a capacity to conduct over 2,500 tests in 24 hours. This brings me to why I am singling out the Nigerian elite.
The coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria is largely elite-driven. Although authorities in Nigeria are not in the business of revealing the identities of persons who test positive to the virus, the number of persons celebrating their status in mainstream and social media attests to the fact that aside from the few expatriates in the Nigerian figure, the majority fall into the class of the well-to-do. They include serving political leaders like the Governors of Bauchi State, Bala Muhammed; Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, and well-known celebrities like the wife of one of the leading Nigerian pop-star artists, Davido, and the son of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. One can equally deduce from the descriptive that the NCDC often uses during press briefings to tell the kind of social class that the majority of people who have tested positive to the virus in Nigeria belong. For example, in announcing an additional two cases to the Nigerian profile on March 24, the NCDC confirmed that the individuals had “travel history to Germany and the UK”. The same story of Nigerian returnees testing positive to the virus continued the following day and had been rehearsed several times at every other turn.
It is not the poor who are hustling on the streets of Nigeria that are making the overseas’ return journey and posing health risks to the nation. It is largely the wealthy Nigerians who upon their return, failed to self-isolate, but went about freely associating and mingling with other Nigerians. They ought to know of their possible exposure to the virus while in foreign countries because the global spread is no news. Instead, they capitalise on the institutional weakness in Nigeria’s coronavirus management mechanism which was slow to take up. Their actions flagrantly disregarded publicly given instructions that are routinely shared by airlines during flights and by the Nigerian authority at the various ports of entry. Among the instructions is the requirement that returnees (especially from identified countries with a high risk of infections like China and Italy) are to isolate themselves for 14 days during which time they must observe their health status for any of the symptoms associated with the virus.
Rather than obey the self-isolation recommended, our elite-returnees went about participating in social gatherings and mingling with others. For instance, while Davido cancelled overseas concerts because of the pandemic, upon his return to Nigeria, he was seen in Oyo State performing at a night club on March 21 and even had a moment with the Governor of Oyo State about the same period. This was barely four days before the star musician decided to subject his wife, associates and himself to testing for coronavirus.
The actions of the elite have exposed too many Nigerians to harm’s way. By neglecting simple preventive instructions to halt the spread of coronavirus upon their return from overseas’ travel and interactions with fellow elite, these folk have knowingly or unwittingly sparked chains of local transmission of which if more aggressive mass testing begins, would start to show in the coming days. There was even a case in which some lawmakers refused to allow authorities at the airport to take their temperature after they arrived from an overseas trip because they considered themselves too privileged. Prof. L. O. T. Lumumba would not shy away from calling these lawmakers “horrible members” of the hallowed chambers.
For the irresponsible actions of these elite, politicians and others, actions which amount to a clear disregard for life, especially those of fellow country wo/men, it is only proper that they should be held accountable. I submit that some actions be taken against them to compensate for the loss on the side of the ordinary Nigerians and to serve as a deterrent in subsequent times.
In a different clime, the kind of proposal I am making is already being pursued. The man facing a legal action is a local politician in Kenya, Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi of Kilifi County. Upon his return from Germany via Amsterdam on March 6, Saburi freely went about socialising and meeting with his constituents in flagrant disregard for the instruction he signed to at the JK international airport, Nairobi. After testing positive to coronavirus on March 22, his county wo/men were furious at his recklessness and have since vowed to prosecute him after his recovery. I submit that Nigerians should follow suit and make the elite pay for their recklessness during this pandemic time.
Okoliko, a PhD candidate, wrote in from Stellenbosch University via okolikoda@gmail.com
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