Opinion

It is tough being a Nigerian. Every aspect of the Nigerian life, from the existential to the political is charged with presumptions and assumptions and suspicion. Buying anything on the street attracts deep anxiety; appointing anyone to any position draws deep skepticism. And all these are to be expected in a state whose foundation was laid on historical animosity and current distrust.g

On 17th April, 2020, my world came crashing down and my heart shattered into a billion pieces. Upon receiving the news of my father’s passing, I immediately felt the most excruciating pain – a pain I would not wish on my worst enemy. My biggest fear in the world had materialised.

This is a piece around and about what I have seen about Coronavirus in Nigeria, from a sociological perspective, and not a report of any pathogenic experience. It has been more than a month since the Federal Government placed Lagos and Ogun states, and the Federal Capital Territory on a lockdown on account of the spread of COVID-19 in those three parts of the country.

As a science journalist and following the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus, I always took precautionary measures to ensure I did not contract the dreaded disease.

On Monday, April 27, 2020, British oil and gas giant, BP, became the latest in a growing number of energy firms to declare a massive quarterly loss. Their loss was in the region of $4.4 billion dollars. Bear in mind that this was a conglomerate that posted a $2.6 billion profit in the corresponding quarter of 2019.

Address By H.E. Muhammadu Buhari, President Of The Federal Republic Of Nigeria On The Cumulative Lockdown Order Of Lagos And Ogun States As Well As The Federal Capital Territory On Covid-19 Pandemic At The State House, Abuja Monday, 27Th April, 2020

As the inks flow in tributes to Abba Kyari by those who loved and despised him, let us not forget that Abba was much misunderstood and often maligned.

Mallam Abba Kyari died on Friday 17th of April, 2020 at the age of 67 years. The patriot died the way he would have preferred, at the very front line of service, sadly seized by a plague against which he was defending his beloved fatherland, Nigeria.

When I started editing my book, “Doctor Strangelove” in 2005, I had over thirty chapters to work with. But then the Lord said to me: “Femi, this book will have eighteen chapters.” I took that as a prophecy. I kept my eye on it and was excited when, through editorial work, the book finally shrank to eighteen chapters. I had run with the vision and fulfilled it. Or so I thought.

On January 18, 2020, when I first read of the new coronavirus on the BBC website, my heart missed a beat because of what China means to the world. The headline was: “New virus in China ‘will have infected hundreds’.”

Mallam Abba Kyari, who died on 17th April, 2020, at the age of 67 from complications caused by the Coronavirus, was a true Nigerian patriot. My loyal friend and compatriot for the last 42 years – and latterly my Chief-of-Staff – he never wavered in his commitment to the betterment of every one of us.

The threats hanging over the African continent with regard to the spread of Covid-19 demand our individual and collective attention. The situation is critical. Yet this is not about mitigating another African humanitarian crisis, but to diffuse the potentially damaging effects of a virus that has shaken the global order and put under question the bases of our living together.

As many people are now aware, the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID–19) in China has rapidly permeated and profoundly changed the world.

Something must definitely be wrong with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) if they would-as they did yesterday- dismiss the important national broadcast by President Muhammadu Buhari as “disappointing,” a speech for which the European Union, through their Ambassador to Nigeria, congratulated the President, describing it as ‘‘a very powerful address to the nation last night.”

The world was awoken from slumber concerning the global health challenge posed by COVID-19 pandemic not too long ago which was first reported in Wuhan in faraway China.

But I decided to write, out of the permissive will of God. The Yoruba people say if you don’t call a wicked man by his name, he will think he’s among those remaking the world, and turning it to an Eldorado.

The pandemic now referred to as ‘COVID-19’ is a very familiar situation and very little will be gained in either profiling or analyzing it.

Before the novel coronavirus pandemic hit the globe, Nigeria spent 42 per cent of her earnings on debt servicing. We have arrived at a new reality today: even if we devote 100 per cent of our income to rebuilding our economy, it still will not be enough.