💥Africa MUST find Afro-based solution to the Coronavirus crises.
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When I hear things like social distancing, total lockdown, shutdown the markets, kiosks and shops, stop transport, and all services, in Africa, I mean in Africa, I wonder what type leadership is this.
I hear things like wash your hands for 20sec, and I ask, what does it mean to the man who has no running tap water. In Europe where every house has a running tap water, 20sec means open the tap, place your hand in the running water and wash for 20sec.
If someone has to wash his in the wash hand basin or fetch and pour it out with a cup which more than 70% in Nigeria will do, what is 20sec? It is meaningless.
Is there no one thinking about the Afro- Solution to Coronavirus crises. Are we doomed to copy and paste from Europe and America. All this Abuja, Aso rock, Nicon hotel messaging make no sense to the reality of the more that 70% of our people.
It is clear that our leaders are never prepared for any crises. They simply copied what they heard from European and American leaders and started implementing, without thinking about the reality of our social, infrastructure and economic conditions.
After many years of corruption, the chickens has come home to roast. Govt is exposed at all side. This is for another day. Let get back to Covid 19.
Enforcing the lockdown is a mountain to climb. It is almost impossible. Where will you start
From face me I face you houses to slums to shanties littered all over the country, what is our Afro solution to stopping Coronavirus. Sit at home is not just it, because for many Nigerians, home is not what the govt in Europe know.
I've seen videos of the military violently destroying people shops and goods, police beating people up in the street because they refused to sit at home, but I ask, what alternatives did the govt provide for the people.
Take Nigeria for example, there is no pipe borne water to most homes. In fact, 80% of the homes have no water supply. Even the houses in the cities have non. The ones that have are Estate that provided for themselves. People must go out to the flowing stream and commercial and public boreholes to get or buy water. Estates who have water depend on power to supply. The power supply is dead. So what is this total lockdown?
In my own estate, since morning, there has been no light. Going to buy fuel for the generator, the filling stations are locked down. Since yesterday, there has been no drop of water from the tap.
Imagine the slums, the villages and thousands of out of site community, what is going on them. With no toilet facilities, and everyone including children sitting at home with no water, one can only imagine what is actually going on. I hope someone is thinking the ripple effect of this.
The result will be an exponential level of poor hygiene.
It is a question of time before cholera, lassa fever, and other epidemic diseases will explode in many communities in a Nigeria even in the cities.
Infections more dangerous and difficult to cure than Coronavirus will be left to kill people in Nigeria after Coronavirus if the right measures are not taken.
African, Leaders must find an Afro based solution to the Covid 19, knowing the African condition.
Most Nigerians live by daily hustling. By this, they must go out in the morning to find what they will eat in the evening. The vulcanizer, the hair dressers, the taxi driver, the market women, Barrow cart pushers, are all in lockdown and some say it is for 2-3 weeks.
Are you thinking what I am thinking.
Total lockdown we agree, but what is the govt's alternative to support people.
Canada announced $47billion immediate relief packages for the people. Cheques are being sent to more than 1million people. USA is working out $2.2trillion package in response. UK is using digital tracking to pay people who are at home.
In Nigeria, From Federal to state to the local govt, there is nothing in place. No social welfare. No financial support. No palliative of any kind and the govt is enforcing total lockdown.
Governors jumping on the TV screen to announce copy and paste lockdown measures without telling the people how they will survive, how they will get food water and medicine.
It is a question of time before people will start dying of malnutrition related disease. People's body immunity will drop, weakening the body to bacteria and virus infections. Is this the best leadership can think of? Do we not have anyone in govt thinking.
When survival instinct sets in, people will start breaking doors to steal to survive. Crime will geometrical increase. There must African solution to this crises.
Africa must also be careful of the economic implications of a total lock down, and its duration. Nigeria for example already have a huge budget deficit. With unemployment higher than 30%, pre-Covid 19, there is need for a critical thinking to find a solution that will keep the economy in motion. A one month total lockdown in America and Europe is workable but it is an economic death sentence for Nigeria and many African countries.
Even Trump is strongly pushing yo open the economy. What is African leaders strategy? What is the Nigerian leaders strategy? What is our governors thinking.
After Covid 19, It will be more borrowing. IMF and World Bank are just waiting. There is a big problem coming. Investors have pulled out their money from the African markets. Most companies will never come back post Covid 19. We must start thinking.
The current copy and paste of the European solution is not sustainable. We must understand our communities, social structure and infrastructural challenges and spin solutions that will make us stronger at the end of this crises. It is a solution that could create more problems, disease and infection, hunger, crime, and depression for many Africans, more than the Coronavirus itself.
It should not be a choice to die by Coronavirus or die by cholera and infections, hunger, crime, and depression.
What are the alternatives?
1. Instead of closing all the markets, create smaller markets within communities and estates with limited duration and timing to operate within the day.
2. Insteaf of total market lockdown, Create a cluster of people number with time alloted within which they can come to the market and shop to reduce the number of people at the same time.
3. Instead of no water for days, provide water tankers to take water to the communities where people are locked down within the Estates and villages.
4. Govt Federal and states should immedialy send money directly into verified citizens accounts, starting from civil servants no matter how small. Social support must be triggered. It may not be perfect, there will complaints, but it will help. We live a communal life.
5. Businesses should be encouraged to keep people at work with tax relief and free interest loans and many other means from the govt.
6. Instead of closing churches, because there is no gathering, let churches help to provide relief support materials like food and water to the people within their communities. As little as they can. Govt should partner with churches. Most of the people belong to one church or the other.
7. Hygiene is key. More community health workers should be empowered paid very well to visit the communities and help guide people on personal hygiene over this period. This is the time to motivate every health worker.
8. Production factories are essential services to the economy. Do not shutdown your production factories. I repeat, if you have a factory, do not shutdown your factory. Factories in China, Europe and America have worked out strategies to keep producing and selling to the world.
Things are different here. This is Nigeria, this is Africa not Europe. We must think differently and find our Afro solutions to this problem, if not, when this problem is over, we will find it more difficult to recover.
Let me stop here. You can drop your own solutions and thoughts. Let the leaders hear you
