On the 27th of February 2020, Nigeria recorded its first case of corona virus; 88 days following the emergence of the global epidemic. Since recording the first case, Nigeria acted almost spontaneously, and it makes one wonder if that was because the carrier was an Italian. Though unverified, it is believed that the national quarantine facility is below standard and rid of quality health fittings. This sheds a limelight to the unpreparedness of Nigeria.
In other countries where the outbreak of the virus is notorious, the preparedness was lucid and virile. In China, where the virus pioneered, efforts were geared towards deliberate quarantine of sick individuals; health technologies were deployed and research into the cure were all on high end. All these are lacking in Nigeria.
While the WHO praised Nigeria for acting swiftly to the corona discovery few weeks back, another case of the virus surfaced this week. What baffles everyone is how these patients were not identified in the airport. Clearly, the screening infrastructures are not well utilized; if there are any. With the mode of this week’s discovery, it is likely that there are more corona patients than what is disclosed, all to paint the country in a good light.
Furthermore, countries like Kenya, Egypt, Chad and Ghana have closed their borders to foreign nationals. Presidents of these countries have made a state of health emergency declaration. None of these is evident in Nigeria as we speak. The federal government reiterated its open arms to foreign nationals, and no one has an inkling if president Buhari is conscious of corona virus in Nigeria.
The rapid spread of corona virus is as good as the ability to contain the menace. While Nigeria has done well in the area of orientation, health infrastructures and operations are not in tandem to control the virus. At a time like this, Nigeria should have disbursed its health emergency fund (if there is any), supply sanitizers to local communities and hand hygiene equipment to public places.
Concluding, these are my fears with Nigeria’s approach to corona virus
- Nigeria is understating the number of affected individuals, knowingly or otherwise
- The spread will be enormous when a flu carrier goes straight to less-developed states with less monitoring facilities
- Once this flu recedes, no effort will be put into establishing proper infrastructures; employing committed medical staffs and instituting speedy operations when it comes to global epidemic
- No single law will be proposed or enacted on rampaging global diseases for posterity cause.
Hopefully, the Nigerian government learns from this and gets better prepared against disease outbreaks in the future