By Ladesope Ladelokun

THE world is going through one of the most trying times in history. With humans streaming to graves in thousands across the world on a daily basis because a stubborn and deadly virus is bent on mercilessly decimating the population of the world, panic has become an unwanted companion. Indeed, nothing evokes fear across the world more than the coronavirus pandemic.

Many who are familiar with the Christian holy book- the Bible- argue that it is a sign that the end time has come. But it is pointless to get into such debate as it would neither stop the wind of death blowing the world over nor lead us to the solution that we earnestly need to bury the sorrow that pervades the air.

Like the days of Pharaoh in Egypt when there was a great cry in the land owing to the plague that provoked wailing and gnashing of teeth, coronavirus has stolen joy from numberless homes and freedom from the world, making grieving a daily routine – an aftermath of a war without guns and the boom of bombs.

But this period will vanish like the pandemics before it. Remember the Bubonic plague of the 14th century that has been described as the worst pandemic recorded in human history, leaving up to 75 to 125 million dead globally?

Or the Spanish flu that reportedly killed at least 17 to 50 million people from 1918 to 1920? We shall conquer coronavirus, bid it   farewell and have our normal lives back.

However, there is no denying the fact that we will grapple with the effect of this period when it is all over. With over almost two million cases across the world, the International Monetary Fund, IMF, Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, had warned that the coronavirus pandemic will cause a global recession in 2020 that could be worse than that of 2008. “The economic impact will be severe but the faster the virus stops, the quicker the recovery will be,” she added.

Kristalina hit the bull’s eye. We are battling a disease that has not only changed the way we live but threatening to bring the whole world to its knees. Perhaps the world would not have been caught unawares if it has seen it coming.

READ ALSO: Africa reports 17, 247 COVID-19 cases

Forget the prediction often mentioned in Koontz Dean’s The Eyes of Darkness that saw a virus that only affected humans, but Live Science reported that the first dog with coronavirus infection had died. Or the prediction that the virus does not last outside the human body more than a minute. Time has indeed given the lie to Dean’s predictions.

Beyond the preparedness or lack of it for the pandemic currently ravaging the world, the lessons this moment brings must not be lost if we must stop circling the same mountain.

It is no fairy tale, for instance, that politicians descend from their high horse when they need the votes of the electorate. You will not struggle to see them fraternise with the commoners in   barbershops, football fields, restaurants and other public places.  Granted, the fear of coronavirus is the beginning of wisdom, but donating the kind of cash they throw around during electioneering to assist the needy and fight against coronavirus will not harm.

No one should be fooled by politicians that donated a portion of their salaries but left their far more humongous allowances untouched, or those who have their faces and names etched on the souvenirs shared to their constituents in this trying moment.

They already have their original motive advertised. Well, that’s the way of politicians. It underscores the point that the electorate are just a tool to actualise the ambitions of politicians who throw cash at them when they are needed and get them disposed when they are done like a piece of trash.

It is gratifying to know that 11 million Nigerians are being targeted for palliatives by the Federal Government to mitigate the effect of hardship precipitated by government-imposed lockdown. In a country where poverty is headquartered, the effect of coronavirus on pauperised Nigerians is better imagined, particularly in a lockdown situation.

But the Federal Government’s 11 million target raises concerns. In its 2019 report, an international human rights organisation, Oxfam, said there were at least 94 million Nigerians living in extreme poverty. Clearly, the Oxfam report exposes a wide gulf between Nigeria’s wretched and the portion selected for palliatives. It has again brought to the fore the need to have a unified data system to provide a single pool of data for all citizens.

But the coronavirus pandemic is a sad reminder of the failure of leadership here. Long before now, long-suffering Nigerians were left alone to suffer the pains of a decaying health infrastructure. Now that Nigeria and other countries with state-of-the-art health infrastructure are locked down, those who abandoned the decrepit hospitals here will now be compelled to use the facilities that yield death certificates should they have any health emergency.

Little wonder the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha attracted knocks from angry Nigerians when he said he never knew Nigeria’s health sector was in such a parlous state until he was appointed the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on coronavirus. Mustapha’s statement only bears testament to the fact that a great number of leaders in this part of the world are detached from the agonising realities of our situation.

Truth be told, the coronavirus pandemic has no doubt provided an opportunity to assess the governance structure and institutions of countries across the world, playing up why we all need one another. Interestingly, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Labour, Mr. Festus Keyamo, had in a tweet said coronavirus was the consequence of our sins, explaining that it was God’s way of redirecting our steps.

Hear him: “God has allowed COVID-19 to afflict the human race only to redirect our steps back to him. We have so distorted God’s word to suit our own human weaknesses and satisfy our greed,even in supposed holy places. We should collectively ask for forgiveness and it will all end in praise.”

While it cannot be established that the coronavirus pandemic is a punishment from God, it cannot be incongruous to tell the ruling class that Keyamo belongs to begin to redirect its steps back to God. And, there cannot be a better way than sparing a thought for ordinary Nigerians by seeing the global pandemic as a wake-up call to fix health infrastructure, education and other critical sectors that are of immense importance to ordinary Nigerians without the financial muscle to leave the country, even when they find this space unliveable. That is the repentance we need from our rulers.

No doubt, coronavirus will one day leave with its troubles and return our stolen freedoms. But the bigger tragedy is allowing it to leave with its lessons. When this siege is over, we must begin to have honest conversations about our deplorable health infrastructure. Unified data system. Our porous borders. Other national illnesses the coronavirus pandemic has exposed. It is the way to go.

Ladelokun, a social commentator, wrote via [email protected]

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