Corona Virus: Nigeria Is In An Almighty Mess USA have already mapped out 2.2trillion dollars as aide to companies in the country to pay ...
USA have already mapped out 2.2trillion dollars as aide to companies in the country to pay their workers whether they're working or not throughout this period of corona virus outbreak. Each US citizen(adult) is entitled to a sum of one thousand, two hundred(1,200) dollars which is equivalent to four hundred and forty thousand(440,000) naira in the Nigeria currency. Every child in the US is entitled to five hundred(500) dollars(one hundred and eighty-three thousand naira). This is more than a show of love and care from the government to the citizens and even investors in America.
Meanwhile in Nigeria, the government is fighting corona virus by deploying military and police to force people to remain indoors. While the rest of the world are moving higher, we are sinking deeper into abyss every second of the day. As a Nigerian citizen, this period of corona virus pandemonium is a time your government should show you how much they love and care for you. Not a matter of confining you to a stinking room in the name of self isolation or quarantine. Other countries that are mandating their citizens to stay indoors already have food banks which have the capacity of feeding their country for not less than five years should events like a pandemic or war arises.
What is economic blueprint of the government to sustain the average Nigerian citizenry who solely rely on their daily hustling as a means of livelihood? What is the economic plan to sustain companies and businesses that will definitely shut down in the face of the uncontrollable explosion of the pandemic, as well as the vulnerable working class? What is the Nigeria government really doing other than the obscure release of daily statistics of corona virus patients and shutting down of borders?
The real problem is that Nigerians are too docile to reason properly. Have you asked yourself why USA and European countries have evacuated their citizens from Nigeria, despite the fact that their respective countries are worse hit by the pandemic than Nigeria as it stands? Of course, nothing is worse than a wise man dying at the backyard of an ardent fool.
When I first saw the list of individuals and banks making donations to Nigeria government to fight corona virus, I wept for this country. Is Nigeria really unsalvageable to that extent? Who will account for millions of barrels of crude oil that leave this country on a daily basis? Who will account for the taxpayers money? Who will account for the Nigerian citizens when Nigerian citizens are now the ones bailing their government out from socioeconomic doom and the worst of health crisis.
All over the world, politicians are cutting down their salaries by almost 50%, but in Nigeria, the politicians are even booking few ventilators in the country for themselves and their families. Nigeria is currently under economic strangulation because all the monies have been embezzled and deposited in foreign banks. A friend of mine living in USA said the only investment Nigerians are known for over there is buying of houses. Ninety percent of these Nigerians are politicians; I hope this solves the puzzle of why the country won't stop borrowing across the world.
Corona virus has a bigger lesson for Nigerians; it has exposed the irredeemable rot in the system of governance and highlighted the gross insensitivity and ineptitude of the political class. While the rest of the world is looking for a permanent vaccine for corona virus, Nigeria on the other hand is in dire need of an explosive revolution that will usher in a sane society.
(Paul Ihechi Alagba is an Analyst and Deputy National Leader of Family Writers Press International.)
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